The Ringer MLB Show

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann talk to Dodgers setup man Grant Dayton about being a 28-year-old rookie, his whirlwind success in 2016, his fascinating whiffs-and-flies fastball, and how a move from the Marlins to the Dodgers helped him embrace his unconventional pitching approach (0:35). Then they bring on hitting instructor Doug Latta to discuss working with big leaguers without being employed by an MLB team, reinventing Justin Turner, and why the uppercut, fly-ball-oriented swing is replacing an outmoded belief in "hitting down on the ball" (23:50).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann play "College Baseball Player, Figure From American History, or Nicolas Cage Character?" (02:40) and talk to Twins pitcher Glen Perkins about his return from a torn labrum (09:45), embracing advanced stats (18:00) and preaching sabermetrics to teammates (30:30), reliever valuation and usage (33:30), and setting an entrance-song trend (38:24).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann talk to former White House press secretary Josh Earnest about his Royals fandom (03:20), following baseball in the White House (13:55), President Obama's trash talk (15:30), sticking (or not sticking) to sports (20:15), MLB's PR approach (24:00), the Cardinals hacking scandal (28:50), and his plans for the future (32:35). Then they bring on veteran big league reliever Craig Breslow to discuss how he used statistics and technology to emulate other relievers (36:25) and reinvent himself at the age of 36 (53:50).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann produce one last edition of 'What Did Jerry Dipoto Do?' with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto (01:08), who dishes on trading tactics (03:43), GM etiquette (08:58), communicating with players (12:22), and jet lag (28:58). Then Ben and Baumann talk to MLB.com writer Mike Petriello about Statcast's progress (34:45), the fragile balance of pitcher-batter power (45:45), and coping with Coors Field (47:43).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann remember Yordano Ventura (01:32) and talk to Baseball Prospectus writers Jeff Long and Jonathan Judge about their new attempts to quantify how some pitchers use command (04:53) and 'tunneling' to achieve more success than their raw stuff would suggest (24:46). Lastly, Ben and Michael discuss how stats have changed the way we talk and write about baseball (50:49) and bring back BP's Meg Rowley for an abbreviated edition of "What Did Jerry Dipoto Do?” (56:07).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann bring back Baseball Prospectus writer Meg Rowley for a second round of "What Did Dipoto Do?" after another active week for the Mariners GM (1:46). Then they talk to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Dugas about a pivotal test of a new procedure that could repair pitchers' elbows much more quickly than Tommy John surgery (12:20). Lastly, they discuss the news that college coaches are considering equipping catchers with headsets to improve the pace of play (41:49).

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Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann talk to Cubs pitcher David Rollins about changing teams five times in 36 days (01:25). Then they bring on FanGraphs writer Nathaniel Grow to discuss a legal loophole that could make Mike Trout a free agent before his contract expires (13:43). Lastly, they talk to Baseball Prospectus writer Meg Rowley about Jerry Dipoto's latest trades (29:31), the Mariners' strange rotation (35:57), and Edgar Martinez's Cooperstown case (43:33).

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann bring on writers/analysts Jeff Sullivan (2:30), Rob Arthur (14:42), Corinne Landrey (26:40), Gerald Schifman (36:08) and Jeff Zimmerman (47:10) to discuss their recent research into several sabermetric subjects that yielded new insights in 2016, including catcher framing, defense and Statcast, the positional spectrum, competitive balance, and injuries.

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Inspired by ‘Rogue One,’ The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann pick the former players they’d like to see CGI’d back into their primes. Then they bring on Jonah Keri of CBS Sports to discuss his Hall of Fame philosophy and stump for Tim Raines. Lastly, they talk to WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed about the results of a large-scale study in which minor league players wore his company’s fitness tracker when they weren't on the field.

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The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann talk to Cleveland Indians coach and former longtime catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. about his team's 2016 playoff run (4:31), his two tough World Series losses, leadership and diversity in the dugout (7:18), the 1990s Indians' crazy clubhouses (10:47), manager Terry Francona's disgusting gum-chewing (35:23), and more.

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