Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a genuine, no-foolin’ instance of “Strategy” (aka a mid-PA pitching change), Christian Walker ’s affinity for Dodger Stadium, a Triple-A Waxahachie Swap, the Nationals optioning EW legend Joey Meneses , the Marlins DFA’ing Tim Anderson , and the latest Royce Lewis injury, plus follow-ups about bullpen-cart-driver tipping and fan catches. Then (36:10) they bring on Patreon supporter Wayne Teeger to discuss responses to recent discussions about K-Zone, ABS...
Jul 06, 2024•2 hr 7 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Phillies reliever José Ruiz threatening Ryan Webb’ s career record for games finished without a save, Aaron Judge ’s Hall of Fame case, the Mariners having a .540 winning percentage, just as Jerry Dipoto foretold (sort of), Dallas Keuchel being back in the big leagues, the White Sox, weirdly, dictating the trade deadline, and the collective performance of the Boras Four (or Five), then (54:27) answer a listener email about catchers fooling pitchers into ...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the one (and only one) case where the zombie runner was warranted, why pitchers throw strikes to Aaron Judge (10:00), and MLB’s new Home Run Derby rules (21:11), then answer listener emails about how different baseball would be if runners didn’t have to tag up (34:49), the best arguments for full ABS over the challenge system (49:56), and what would happen if ejected players couldn’t be replaced (1:11:16), plus a few follow-ups (1:22:57). Audio intro : J...
Jul 03, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a player/league/umpire spat over on-screen strike-zone plots, whether “K-Zone” and its ilk have had a harmful effect on the game, where they stand on a hitter vs. pitcher dispute about the mid-game use of advanced pitching machines, the promotion of Nationals top prospect James Wood (and the future of Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday ), and Byron Buxton ’s recent success. Then (59:08) they identify and discuss the teams, hitters, and pitchers that h...
Jun 29, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Nolan Schanuel’ s aversion to day games, the Astros reaching .500 and coming for the Mariners, Houston’s weekend opponent (the Mets) making it back to .500 and nearing a playoff spot, the success (and good fortune) of Reynaldo López , the bad fortune of Adam Duvall , and how “expected” stats have changed perceptions of performance, Hunter Greene and vomiting on the mound, a Dodgers bat…man’s clutch catch, Shohei Ohtani ’s RBI streak, Ohtani’s dog’s backp...
Jun 28, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Edwin Díaz’ s sticky-stuff suspension, a new name for the internal brace alternative to Tommy John surgery, Blake Snell’ s latest setback, the success and extension of Cristopher Sánchez (and the Phillies’ excellence), Shota Imanaga’ s regression and Meg’s preseason prediction about Imanaga vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto , Kyle Finnegan ’s first-of-its-kind clockoff, the respective impressiveness of starts by Bailey Ober and Pablo López , a follow-up Steven Kwan...
Jun 26, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the highlights of the MLB at Rickwood Field game and broadcast, Mike Trout’ s unsurprisingly slow return from knee surgery, Matt Waldron’ s sustained success, the incredible Royce Lewis , the challenge system’s continued ascendance over full ABS, Barry Bonds as a baseball ambassador, Elly De La Cruz ’s stolen-base slump, the Yankees-Orioles AL East race, Michael Jordan and subjective stats, Buck Showalter’s scouting criteria at the MLB Draft Combine, and...
Jun 22, 2024
Ben Lindbergh, Rany Jazayerli , and Neil Paine discuss the death of Willie Mays , Mays as the last legendary link to an earlier era, the statistical cases for Mays as the greatest all-around player and greatest player, period in major league history, and (36:45) baseball’s new greatest living player, plus (46:02) banter about Kansas courting the Royals with public funding and (50:38) the competitive trajectories of the Royals and Mets. Then (1:01:08) Ben brings on frequent Stat Blast corresponde...
Jun 20, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Nike’s City Connect uniforms have run their course, the Dodgers’ double whammy of injuries to Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (and Kyle Bradish going back on the IL), the approaching returns of Gerrit Cole , Max Scherzer , and Clayton Kershaw , Carlos Correa’ s hot streak, Elly De La Cruz and the excitement of scoring unexpectedly, a better way to handle a hypothetical hitter who only hits grand slams, David Fletcher’ s strange season and tra...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 25 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley answer listener emails about Kyle Schwarber batting leadoff, teams paying their players not to do in-game, on-field interviews, the phrase “potential World Series preview,” a team purchasing and privatizing a valuable public baseball website, a player who can’t hit anything except grand slams, a player who homers in every game he plays but is usually injured, Justin Verlander ’s Hall of Fame plaque cap, and what constitutes a “teammate” (plus a real-time reaction to ...
Jun 15, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about this season’s giant cluster of wild card contenders, the potential for an inactive trade deadline, the role the White Sox will play, whether the compression of the standings is good or bad for baseball, and expanded-playoffs incentives. Then (33:46) they talk to NPR producer Alana Schreiber , creator and executive producer of the NPR/MLB podcast Road to Rickwood, about the history of the park that’s hosting its first MLB game this month, plus a postscrip...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 24 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Bryce Harper pandering to Londoners, Kiké Hernández booting a ball during an in-game interview, banning player scouting cards to lower BABIP, the effect on home runs of widening the foul lines, Yusei Kikuchi , Tyler Soderstrom , and a foul-territory hypothetical, crediting managers for sacrificial ejections, Aaron Judge ’s scalding hot streak, Luis Gil performing like Gerrit Cole , the Yankees’ candlelit clubhouse, Matt Waldron as the small-sample best p...
Jun 12, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ’s recent resurgence, then answer listener emails about what a dynastic team could do to avoid being widely hated, a mid-plate-appearance batting change, widening the foul lines to increase offense, whether reducing pitcher injuries would be worth bringing back pitcher hitting, the popularity of a perfect ump, the fairness of unintentional foul tips, and which Mario Kart power-up would be best in baseball, plus additional banter abo...
Jun 08, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the showdowns between Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani , Skenes’s strengths and weaknesses as a pitcher and an entertainer, the least and most exciting types of strikes, and more. They then discuss the improbable longevity of Aroldis Chapman’ s triple-digit pitch speeds, whether the risk of losing the most games ever should stop the White Sox from selling, whether outfield positioning is suppressing offense more than the shift ever did, the less lively but ...
Jun 07, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss MLB’s clearing of Shohei Ohtani and banning of five other players for betting on baseball (including Tucupita Marcano’ s permaban), touching on MLB’s culpability (or lack thereof), gambling ads, the future, and more. Then (39:32) they banter about the latest instance of Tommy Pham going aggro, which demotion is more surprising, Spencer Torkelson’ s or Edouard Julien ’s, leaguewide parity and a purported lack of good teams, a Garrett Crochet trade rumor, a mem...
Jun 05, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley bring on FanGraphs associate editor Matt Martell to discuss the scenes at Citi Field that kicked off the Mets’ Jorge López saga, the resulting DFA and fallout, and what this silly/sad sequence of events suggests about the potential for player intent to be lost in translation, how off-the-field issues can manifest on the field, and the line between LOLMets and more serious situations. Then (42:00) Ben and Meg are joined by Trout-tier Patreon supporter Andrew Simard to...
Jun 01, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Simeon Woods Richardson’ s podcast-approved use of written notes, whether David Fry or Jurickson Profar has the most delightfully surprising stats, Kevin Pillar’ s post-White Sox hot streak, MLB’s offensive outage in May, Blake Snell and other slow-starting late-starting starters, Matt Waldron’ s knuckleball usage and Jeremiah Estrada ’s strikeout streak, and the worst way for the zombie runner to end a game. Then (45:35) they talk to Keith Morrisroe, Na...
May 30, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the career and competitive implications of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s latest season-ending injury, the retirement of infamous ump Angel Hernandez, the aesthetics of umps issuing warnings, the Brewers’ success sans Craig Counsell and David Stearns, a new unwritten rule against any(?) bunting, White Sox players vs. White Sox skipper Pedro Grifol, Tim Anderson’ s offense, Aaron Judge ’s defense, and team meetings prior to Patrick Corbin starts. Then (1:02:12) they ...
May 29, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about which slow-starting 2023 pennant winner (Diamondbacks or Rangers) is more likely to get back on track to return to October, explain (9:37) the saga of Dick Windbigler, the rare pitcher who actually hurt himself by pausing mid-delivery (featuring an appearance by Dick’s widow, Melba Windbigler), then (30:04) answer listener emails about the requirements for claiming to have seen a game played in every MLB ballpark, the funniest MVP chant alternatives, cha...
May 25, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of the Orioles’ sweep-less streak, Oneil Cruz ’s mismatch between top-tier tools and pedestrian production, the Phillies’ strength of schedule, Steven Okert and the etiquette of tipping one’s bullpen-cart driver, Kyle Hendricks and the decline of the 2016 Cubs’ core, and some Shohei Ohtani real-estate news. Then (47:14) they talk to The Athletic senior writer Evan Drellich about Rob Manfred’s press conference on Thursday, the uncertainty surround...
May 24, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the hype surrounding Paul Skenes starts and how Skenes has leveled up since he was drafted, whether Kyle Tucker could finally shed his “most underrated player” label, Gunnar Henderson vs. Bobby Witt Jr. (and the Orioles’ infield/outfield future), the resurgent Royals, Jo Adell’ s (maybe?) breakout, Joey Gallo’ s ever-stranger stats, the Yankees’ success without Gerrit Cole , the powerhouse Phillies, Chris Sale’ s bounceback, Ketel Marte’ s unspectacular ...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 35 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rays running out of mound visits and various visit-related hypotheticals, then (21:00) answer listener emails about “due up” vs. “on deck,” strikes vs. pitches in the strike zone, whether focusing on wins instead of runs makes WAR less intuitive, Quinn Priester and FIP-based pitcher WAR, Ronald Acuña Jr. ’s ping-ponging strikeout rate, whether the ball-strike challenge system hampers strikeout celebrations, how much infielders help control the runnin...
May 18, 2024•1 hr 32 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a fake Ronel Blanco tweet about a fake Ronel Blanco quote, Meryl Streep’s sports apps, how four expected-to-contend teams’ injury-depleted rotations are faring so far, Josh Hader’ s multi-inning outings, fêting Erick Fedde , Elly De La Cruz’ s pursuit of 100 stolen bases, an Austin Hedges bruise, a possible benefit of catchers crouching close to hitters, players reinjuring themselves right after returning from injury, Kyle Bradish’ s non-surgical comebac...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the “effectively wild” debut of Paul Skenes and the Pirates’ bases-loaded walkathon, an in-development TV series about Ippei Mizuhara, the demotion of Craig Kimbrel and possible trade dangling of Mason Miller , the continued success of Davis Schneider , the impact of replay review on the increase in catcher’s interference calls, and whether teams should go back to rearranging their rotations based on opponent quality, then (39:14) bring on Mike Petriello...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 35 min
Ben Lindbergh talks to Rays pitcher Zack Littell (4:33) about his expectation-surpassing conversion from relieving to starting and his affinity for cruise ships. Then (23:33) Ben brings on author and film critic Noah Gittell to discuss his new book about baseball movies and American culture, Baseball: The Movie , followed by six Stat Blasts with frequent Stat Blast correspondent Ryan Nelson (1:16:14). Audio intro : Xavier LeBlanc, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Jonathan Crymes, “ Effec...
May 11, 2024•2 hr 2 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Pirates calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes , Mookie Betts’ s shortstop defense, Willson Contreras , the causes of increasingly common catcher’s interference calls, and catcher technique in an ABS world, rampant reliever shuffling, Chase Anderson as a Phiten necklace “endling,” two ways in which amateur prospects are possibly being exploited or disrupted, Ippei Mizuhara’s guilty plea, Shohei Ohtani ’s WAR and two-way future, and a momentous ...
May 09, 2024•2 hr 9 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Riley Greene ’s latest pants-related wardrobe malfunction, the Padres-Marlins Luis Arraez trade, the continued scuffling of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , a C.B. Bucknor bit, and more. Then (52:30) they’re joined by Neil deMause , author of Field of Schemes , and J.C. Bradbury , author, stadium-funding researcher, and professor of economics, finance, and quantitative analysis at Kennesaw State University, to discuss the latest wave of attempts by teams to obtai...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 36 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a recent uptick in base stealing and why Mike Trout ’s loyalty to the Angels is criticized more than it’s celebrated. Then (16:39) they’re joined by Patreon supporter Alex Levy to discuss Alex’s background as a podcast listener, baseball fan, and mail carrier and answer emails (43:49) about a Mario approach to chemistry in baseball, back-to-back homers, providing players with a destructible piece of equipment, probabilistic robo umps, umps as neutral (bu...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s unexpected experience at the bee-delayed Diamondbacks game, Shota Imanaga’ s hot start, Reed Garrett and the phenomenon of pop-up relievers, Steven Kwan appreciation, how Mike Trout’ s and Bryce Harper ’s careers will be remembered, José Abreu being optioned to the minors, and a declined penalty in baseball, plus follow-ups about convoluted fun facts, promotion/relegation, and alternatives to “group Maddux.” Audio intro : Justin Peters, “ Effective...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 36 min
After a podcast preface by Ben Lindbergh about Mike Trout ’s knee injury (sigh), Ben and Meg Rowley banter (4:19) about a weekend White Sox sweep, the overdue news that Nike is supposedly fixing the much-maligned MLB uniforms, follow-ups about rule rollbacks, ballplayer dirt ingestion, the “group Maddux,” and promotion/relegation, and the Twins’ summer sausage. Then (50:37) they talk to FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens about when it’s safe to evaluate changes in player performance and which hitters and pi...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 51 min
