Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the likenesses, word counts, and stat citations on Hall of Fame plaques, what would happen if all past stats disappeared, the impending returns of Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw (and the recent return of J.T. Realmuto ), the end of James Paxton’ s time with the Dodgers, Jo Adell’ s breakout fakeout and Jarren Duran ’s belated breakout, Francisco Vicioso and Shaq Thompson , the morphing meme of Nick Castellanos , and the Brewers, the Mariners, and the cha...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 31 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the BBWAA’s new sports gambling regulations, then (11:22) discuss the stories they’re most interested in following for the rest of the MLB season (plus, the implications of a bearded Aaron Judge ). Audio intro : Cory Brent, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Alex Ferrin, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to tweets about BBWAA code Link to EW about journalist betting Link to Paine’s questions post Link to Kram’s power rankings Link to rookie pitcher l...
Jul 20, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the highlights of the All-Star Game, a hypothetical Evan Longoria unretirement scenario, the newly announced 2025 regular-season schedule (featuring Tokyo contests and a “Rivalry Weekend”), a baseball movie-mention conspiracy theory, players possessed by Gameday 3D, the timing of Martín Maldonado ’s DFA, and the potential effect of moving the foul lines. Then (36:54) they bring on FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen to break down the standou...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr 56 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Home Run Derby, the Futures Game and skills competition, Globe Life Field, All-Star uniforms, and more reflections from All-Star Week, then (34:18) discuss a challenge-system-driven change to broadcast K-zone displays, Chris Sale’ s aversion to pitch-calling, quantifying game-calling, David Fletcher ’s latest knuckleballing, using a position-player pitcher against a hitter who’s going for homer history, the shorthanded Dodgers rotation, a prediction ...
Jul 17, 2024•1 hr 30 min
Ben Lindbergh talks to Sam Miller of Pebble Hunting about the increase in IL stints at the All-Star break and Sam’s obsession with the evolving strategy of first-and-third situations. Then (41:29) Ben talks to Iowa state representative and Sioux City Explorers pitcher J.D. Scholten about his incredible baseball comeback at age 44, his baseball background, balancing baseball and politics, and his efforts to end MLB blackouts. Finally (1:20:14), Ben and The Athletic ’s Evan Drellich talk to former...
Jul 13, 2024•2 hr 4 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about homerless White Sox second basemen, the recent history of teams with homerless positions, and the upsides and downsides of the trend toward focusing on present-season performance in All-Star selections, then (37:11) answer emails about an award for utility players, a player’s debut age matching his debut number, whether an infielder could rob a home run, whether fatigue would make a four-player batting order of stars worse than a regular, nine-player lin...
Jul 12, 2024•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s daughter coining a baseball term, how the on-screen strike-zone plot (slightly) delays the rest of the broadcast, Jose Miranda and the surprising 12-consecutive-hits club, David Robertson ’s elite relief career, whether Shohei Ohtani should stop pitching, an attempt to quantify players’ smiles, how this season stacks up in terms of total team days at .500, and the latest player to break a bone punching a wall, followed (1:31:24) by Ben and Jessie B...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 37 min
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
