Meg Rowley and guest co-host Eric Longenhagen discuss the conclusion of the World Series, including how Brian Snitker and Dusty Baker managed their depleted pitching staffs, the future of postseason pitching, Jorge Soler ’s pyrotechnics, when they realized Atlanta was going to win the Series, and what’s next for the Astros and the Braves. Then they turn their attention to winter ball, including the balance of talent between pitchers and hitters in the Arizona Fall League, the challenges the AFL ...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Meg Rowley and erstwhile Effectively Wild co-host and current Tampa Bay Rays employee Jeff Sullivan discuss World Series game start times, how Jeff’s job has changed compared to the 2020 season, Wander Franco , the Rays’ uniforms, what it is like to root (and work) for a team in the playoffs, the Rays’ ALDS against Boston, our emotional experience of momentum, and what it’s like to prepare for an uncertain offseason. Audio intro : John Sebastian, “ Welcome Back ” Audio outro : Broken Bells, “ Oc...
Nov 03, 2021•56 min
Before Game 3 of the World Series, Meg Rowley and guest co-host Emma Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated discuss postseason travel for sportswriters, the forgotten virtues of suburban malls, Emma’s piece on how Atlanta shifted its stance on the shift midseason, and how the front office, Ron Washington , and the players came together to adopt the defensive strategy, as well as the length and pace of postseason games. Then at a listener’s suggestion, they draft replacement players for each World Ser...
Oct 29, 2021•43 min
In a crossover event Marvel would envy, Meg Rowley and guest co-host Michael Baumann of The Ringer discuss Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, what the loss of Charlie Morton means for Atlanta, the narrative role of the starter, how to navigate the moral conundrum that is fandom, the ever-growing length of postseason games, the conveyor-belt nature of Houston’s offense, Luis Garcia ’s delivery, and what we might expect from both teams as the series shifts to Atlanta. Then they turn their attentio...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Sarah Langs of MLB.com banter about Sarah’s participation in MLB’s first game to feature an all-women broadcast crew, her research process, and what makes for a good fun fact. Then Sarah shares some Braves and Astros statistical oddities ahead of the World Series, including fun facts about Joc Pederson , Brian Snitker and Dusty Baker , Eddie Rosario , the Astros’ offense, Tyler Matzek , and more. Finally, Sarah offers what could make (and break) each team in the Fall...
Oct 26, 2021•55 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Ben Clemens discuss the Astros’ pitching woes, the role of starters in the postseason, Dave Roberts’ decision to have Brusdar Graterol hit in Game 5 of the NLCS, Yordan Alvarez , how a 3-2 series deficit feels for fans of the team with the upper hand, and Ben’s look at Ian Anderson ‘s first-inning struggles. Then they consider Other Ben and Rob Arthur’s assessment of MLB’s rule experiments in the Atlantic and minor leagues, before answering listener emails on an unor...
Oct 23, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Grant Brisbee catch up on some non-postseaosn news, including Grant’s elbow injury, MLB’s decision to provide housing for minor leaguers, and Rob Arthur’s research suggesting spin rate and pitch movement have recovered after cratering in light of sticky stuff enforcement, then banter about Laz Diaz’s strike zone in Game 4 of the ALCS and the use of starting pitchers in the playoffs. Then they turn their attention to the San Francisco Giants, including the team’s wild...
Oct 21, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Meg Rowley is joined by guest co-host Mike Petriello of MLB.com. They discuss Mike’s role in the booth as a part of ESPN’s Statcast broadcasts, how what is affectionately referred to as the Nerdcast got started, how Mike prepares for games, how he balances being analytics-heavy while still appealing to a broad audience, how the Nerdcast has evolved along with Statcast, what makes for a fun booth, how he works with Jason Benett i and Eduardo Perez , and what might come next for the Nerdcast as mo...
Oct 15, 2021•49 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Bradford William Davis of Insider discuss his new job as an investigative features writer and what the shift from being a daily columnist has meant for how he engages with players, sources, and baseball, and the stories he’s able to tell. Then they turn their attention to the playoffs and discuss the White Sox/Astros series, how Chicago faltered and Houston triumphed, the Astros embracing their heel turn, how players and fans view guys like Carlos Correa and Alex Bre...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Jon Tayler of FanGraphs banter about the Boston Red Sox’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays to advance to the American League Championship Series, including Jon’s experience of the series as a Red Sox fan, Alex Cora’s managerial style, Boston’s particular brand of chaos ball, when Jon knew Garrett Whitlock was worth watching, Enrique Hernández ’s incredible playoff run, the rule that robbed Tampa of a run in Game 3, and what Jon expects from Wander Franco in the years ...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio discuss his recent trip to Monument Valley before recapping the weekend’s ALDS and NLDS action and looking ahead to what might come next, including thoughts on the Giants’ approach to platooning, Cody Bellinger ‘s season-long slump, AJ Pollock ‘s past postseason woes, the Brewers offense, Eduardo Escobar , Milwaukee’s bullpen, Atlanta’s starters, Houston’s bats, Craig Kimbrel ‘s role, Wander Franco , the Rays’ young starters, J.D. Mar...
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Eric Longenhagen banter about Walker Buehler ’s unusual approach to opening beers and their own past dental emergencies before recapping the AL Wild Card game. They consider what went wrong for the Yankees, and assess the Red Sox’s good starters, potent lineup, and shaky defense, as well as Nick Pivetta and Garrett Richards . Next they shift to the Red Sox/Rays ALDS matchup and consider the state of Tampa Bay’s pitching, the Rays’ talented hitters, and whether playof...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Craig Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus recap the final weekend of regular season baseball before previewing this week’s Wild Card games. They discuss the Mariners’ decision not to promote Julio Rodríguez , their disappointment at the lack of tiebreaker games, franchise player farewells, the current playoff format, what comes next for Seattle and Toronto, and what they’re most excited to watch in October. Then they turn their attention to the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 29 min
With the postseason around the corner, Meg Rowley and guest co-host Ben Clemens discuss the playoff picture, how the Seattle Mariners got where they are, which team Ben would prefer to see his Cardinals match up against in the NL Wild Card, and the biggest surprises of the season. Then they discuss Ben’s recent work assessing FanGraphs’ playoff odds, what the odds do well and less-well, what kinds of teams they tend to be too low on or overestimate, and how the model could improve. They also off...
Oct 01, 2021•48 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what Shohei Ohtani might mean for the Mariners’ slight playoff chances and Riley O’Brien ’s recent debut, before Ben shares some (good) personal news. Then (17:33) they bring on Will Leitch to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals. Will shares what it has been like to root for the team during its win streak, when he realized they were playoff bound, what has gone into this incredible run, and which Cardinals are candidates for some postseason devil magic. Plus...
Sep 30, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Giancarlo Stanton ’s awe-inspiring weekend at Fenway, the most aesthetically pleasing home run hitters, what the Cardinals’ 16-game winning streak portends (or doesn’t portend) for their playoff hopes, and the last week in the remaining playoff races. Then (26:32) they bring on Patreon supporter Dylan Buell to talk about his career as a professional sports photographer and answer listener emails about setting a winning-percentage cutoff for admission to ...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about teams pitching around Shohei Ohtani and a second conspiracy theory about Rays/Jays Cardgate, then rank the fun quotient of potential playoff teams and draft their preferred playoff matchups. Audio intro : Steve Gunn, " Protection " Audio outro : Frankie Siragusa, " I Don’t Want to See You Again " Link to article about Ohtani’s walks Link to lineup protection explainer Link to Tom Tango on lineup protection Link to Davis-West card article Link to current ...
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Cardinals being unbeatable, the Giants setting a record for outperforming PECOTA, the Orioles’ and Diamondbacks’ race to MLB’s worst record, the White Sox and Yankees also having identical records (and the vagaries of unbalanced schedules and divisional assignments), the saga of Drew Maggi ’s call-up and demotion and the phenomenon of “phantom ballplayers,” the Phillies’ weird ways of winning, and Shane Baz in the playoffs, then answer listener email...
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unwritten rules controversy stemming from Kevin Kiermaier absconding with a Blue Jays scouting card, the Padres’ collapse, dysfunction, and outlook for 2022, the Cardinals’ surge and the Braves’ revamped outfield, Anthony Gose ’s return to the majors as a pitcher, a number of injured arms making comebacks, the Pirates yet again failing to sweep, and the impact of depressed pitcher pay on team payrolls, then (41:43) talk to Jonathan Judge of Baseball ...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the potential benefits of a 15-second pitch clock and the massive winning-percentage mismatch between the NL’s impending wild card winners, then answer listener emails about intentionally swinging at a wild pitch to reach base, the obsolescence of ERA, whether Statcast should be used instead of video to make fair-foul calls, and whether DJ LeMahieu is good, then meet major leaguers Kaleb Ort and Sammy Long and do Stat Blasts about whether relievers are r...
Sep 18, 2021•1 hr 33 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jake Arrieta ’s sub-replacement pitching and the sorry state of the Padres’ starting staff, Bryce Harper , Juan Soto , and the NL MVP race, Shohei Ohtani , Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , and the competing, persuasive narratives of the AL MVP race, and the ascendance of micro sports betting. Then (31:49) they talk to FanGraphs writer Jay Jaffe about tracking “Team Entropy,” fun and far-fetched tiebreaker scenarios, the potential for wild endings to 2021’s divisi...
Sep 16, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Padres reliever Austin Adams tying the single-season hit by pitch record (and some resulting safety concerns), Corbin Burnes pitching (most of) the season’s record-setting ninth no-hitter and the changing norms around pulling pitchers mid-no-no, Max Scherzer ’s recent run, pitchers whose whole careers are covered by pitch-tracking tech, and Scherzer vs. Walker Buehler , the Padres’ stretch-run incentives, the Blue Jays raking and the Orioles imploding, t...
Sep 15, 2021•1 hr 32 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays’ hot streak and playoff outlook and the meaning of clutchness, then meet major leaguers Andy Ibáñez of the Rangers and Janson Junk of the Angels. After that (37:07), they’re joined by Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus to discuss the state of starting pitching, the future of pitcher usage, and the ebb and flow of competitive balance in MLB. Audio intro : Magnolia Electric Co., " North Star " Audio interstitial : Justus Proffit, " Split Into "...
Sep 11, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Salvador Perez’ s power output, durability, defense, and career, Shohei Ohtani ’s offensive slump, the Rays calling up Josh Lowe to go with Brandon Lowe (but not Nathaniel Lowe ), and the desirability of being teammates with one’s brother or father, then draft unsung players who are having good seasons that haven’t been mentioned much on the pod. Audio intro : Ages and Ages, " Unsung Songs " Audio outro : John Prine, " Pretty Good " Link to Patrick Dubuq...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 17 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Yastrzemski , “bubble guts,” and the right way for a manager to publicize a player’s intestinal distress, then follow up on Miguel Cabrera and the factors that influence players’ career ratios of pitchers homered off of to total home runs, review the state of the standings, discuss the Cubs’ unexpected contributions from Frank Schwindel and Rafael Ortega , and answer listener emails about Patrick Wisdom and the difference between building blocks and...
Sep 08, 2021•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee and SB Nation’s Eric Stephen about the last series of the regular season between the tied-for-first-place Dodgers and Giants, the historic greatness of their race, the state of (and outlook for) their respective rosters, the strengths and weaknesses of each team, their secret sauces, each team’s most pleasant surprise, the highlight of their season series so far, what went wrong for the Padres, how the Dodgers and Giants compare a...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Wander Franco coming into his own, Kevin Newman ’s steep offensive falloff post-spring training, a strikeout milestone for Robbie Ray , the Kendall Graveman – Abraham Toro trade and promotions/extensions for the Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais, the new-and-improved Blake Snell , Austin Adams’ historic hit-by-pitch pace, Cardinals radio broadcaster Mike Shannon discovering and attempting to explain NFTs on the air, and the difference between bad ...
Sep 02, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Ben Lindbergh talks to Defector ’s David Roth about the Mets’ freefall in the standings, the extremely Metsy controversy surrounding multiple players giving the thumbs down to fans, and how the franchise still practices Wilpon-era self-sabotage. Then (46:18) Ben “benters” with Ben Clemens from FanGraphs about the post-sticky-stuff collapse of demoted Cleveland closer James Karinchak , the continued success of aged ace Adam Wainwright , and the consistent kind-of-good-ness of the still-contending...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Ben Lindbergh talks to The Ringer ’s Zach Kram about how the red-hot Yankees have salvaged their season, mounted their longest winning streak in 60 years, and put themselves in playoff position. Then (27:33) Ben brings on John Poff , former major leaguer and Stat Blast star, to discuss his brief big league career, walking away from the game, being a bookworm in baseball, playing before big salaries, the evolution of coaching, failure fueling art, his peripatetic post-baseball life, his career as...
Aug 28, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Ben Lindbergh follows up on a Stat Blast that generated a lot of listener emails, then (13:04) talks to former major leaguer and current Angels catching coach José Molina about his unparalleled receiving skills, fooling umpires, the importance of framing compared to throwing, blocking, and game-calling, whether stealing strikes can be taught, aspects of catcher defense that still aren’t being measured, robot umps and electronic pitch-calling, Shohei Ohtani , the quarter-century reign of the Moli...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 31 min
