Episode 982

On this week’s episode of FanGraphs Audio, Ben Clemens and Dan Szymborski banter about recent baseball happenings before coming up with a new way to quantify how compelling players are to watch.

Dan recently ran his ZiPS midseason update for each league, inspiring him and Ben to talk about the Astros and red-hot Yankees having a chance to break the single-season win record, and contemplate how the rebuilding Tigers have been a disappointment even by their standards. The pair also discusses how ZiPS feels about a few intriguing players, including Isaac Paredes, Luis Arraez, Julio Rodríguez, and the ever-incredible Yordan Alvarez. On the subject of Alvarez, the duo spontaneously create the Science vs. Romance stat, which helps to identify batters who are especially fun to watch at the plate. Finally, we hear about Ben’s trip to an amusingly named wine country, which he is happy to recommend.

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Audio after the jump. (Approximate 52 minute play time.)

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