Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley•blogs.fangraphs.com

Sports

Baseball

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

Last refreshed: June 17th, 2026 at 5:23 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Effectively Wild Episode 2493: Baseball Has Marked the Time

Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer ’s Van Lathan banter about Van’s love of baseball, his origin story as a fan, how he got back into the sport, MLB’s resurgence in popularity, advanced stats questions, why the percentage of Black players in MLB fell, how average sports fans perceive MLB’s labor battle, and much more (warning: language). Then (1:25:38) Ben talks to Thomas Gilbert, author of Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero , about how Jim Creighton revolutionized ...

Jun 17, 2026

Effectively Wild Episode 2492: Pride Goeth Before Baseball

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball’s time to shine after the NBA/NHL seasons and a structural difference between basketball and baseball, Jacob Misiorowski achieving escape velocity and entering the deGrom Zone (and a change he’s made that may matter more than his increased speed), the impending posting of red-hot Teruaki Sato , the losers and losers of the Rafael Devers deal one year later, what the trade deadline will look like in this topsy-turvy season, and (42:55) what MLB s...

Jun 16, 2026•1 hr 35 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2491: How Not to Get Hurt

Tarik Skubal is the latest athlete to return to play faster than anticipated thanks to a new surgical technique or technology. But there’s something even better than coming back more quickly from an injury: avoiding an injury in the first place. Can injury prevention be improved as much as injury treatment? In this themed episode, Ben Lindbergh talks to four guests about three potential ways to keep players healthy. First (5:14), Mariners biomechanist Cedric Attias joins to discuss how pitching ...

Jun 13, 2026•2 hr 19 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2490: Hogging the Spotlight

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the listener response to their conversation with Adrian Chiles, newly minted major leaguer LuJames Groover , and a big Giants comeback (in defiance of the team’s historically walk-averse ways), then (21:25) answer listener emails about how long-term team outlooks factor into present-day disappointment levels, spectacle vs. analysis in closer-entrance pageantry, whether ump...

Jun 12, 2026•37 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2489: Baseball: Better Late Than Never

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bunt’s rehabilitation and (17:49) the President publicly picking a side in MLB’s labor battle, then talk to two guests about falling in love with and learning about baseball as adults. First (32:35), beloved BBC presenter and The Guardian columnist Adrian Chiles breaks his baseball silence to expound on how he got bitten by the baseball bug, his long-distance Rays relationship, the loneliness of following baseball from afar, cross-sport comparisons, ...

Jun 10, 2026•2 hr 4 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2488: Ohtani Rules

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s career-year pace, how often his number of times on base has exceeded his times on base allowed in his two-way games, and his awards outlook, discuss Aaron Judge’ s injury and the wide-open AL MVP race, and then (1:06:39) Stat Blast about the most former catchers in one game, Brayan Bello ’s woes as a starter, clustering a team’s plate appearances in one in...

Jun 06, 2026•35 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2487: A Time to Canseco and a Time to Leap

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the duality of Jo Adell’ s defense (after the FARTBAT low that followed his triple-robbery high), Spencer Arrighetti and MLB’s monthly player honors as the last bastion of old-school-stat-based awards, whether a team with a losing record could make the playoffs this season, Paul Goldschmidt’ s pleasing platoon role, how much credit the Brewers deserve for Kyle Harrison’ s success, Louis Varland’ s value, the Tigers’ rapid plummet out of contention, the t...

Jun 04, 2026•1 hr 50 min

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