Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jorge Soler charging the mound against Reynaldo López and whether a team could dupe an opposing ace into getting ejected, Konnor Griffin’s extension becoming official, whether Jose Altuve is benefiting from the reshaped strike zone, a wave of MLB injuries, teams whose playoff odds have changed the most in the first two weeks of the season, Tony Vitello’s PR performance, the debut of brimless hats, a few follow-ups, and more.

Audio intro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Cease vs. Ohtani game

Link to brawl story

Link to suspensions story

Link to Soler vs. López stats

Link to Bois database

Link to Bois spreadsheet

Link to “aggro” wiki

Link to Armadillidiidae wiki

Link to Dan S. on Griffin

Link to MLBTR on Griffin

Link to Olney’s deleted tweet

Link to Rosenthal on Griffin

Link to marriage/divorce stats

Link to Woodrum on the strike zone

Link to Seidler on Altuve

Link to wRC+ leaderboard

Link to batter challenges leaderboard

Link to Altuve called-strike rate

Link to Judge called-strike rate

Link to Altuve mistake-strike rate

Link to Judge mistake-strike rate

Link to five-year out-of-zone-strike rate

Link to five-year in-zone-ball rate

Link to Petriello on height 1

Link to Petriello on height 2

Link to banging-scheme player data

Link to report on Altuve’s sign-stealing

Link to FG post on recent injuries

Link to Dan S. on slow starts

Link to demure/mindful meme

Link to playoff odds changes

Link to Red Sox panic

Link to Breslow quote

Link to Ben on ex-player GMs

Link to most consecutive one-run losses

Link to Ben on dugout game-calling

Link to Vitello article 1

Link to Vitello article 2

Link to Vitello article 3

Link to Vitello article 4

Link to Vitello article 5

Link to Chapman/Schmitt clip

Link to Alcantara/McCullough story

Link to Rockies start story

Link to Sheehan on Caissie

Link to Walker’s hot start

Link to new City Connects

Link to White Sox giveaway hat

Link to mitre wiki

Link to Baumann post

Link to Rangers statue post

Link to Jake hat photo

Link to Jordan hat photo

Link to “Yankee with no brim” clip

Link to 2025 Jensen article

Link to new Jensen celly

Link to Jensen celly video

Link to May sunglasses clip

Link to Igawa post

Link to “sled dog” post

Link to Jackson photo 1

Link to Jackson photo 2

Link to 2025 Jackson HR

Link to MLBTR on Davitt

Link to Davitt on EW

Link to date blast image 1

Link to date blast image 2

Link to date blast image 3

Link to date blast image 4

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Carter Jensen’s several (inadequate) alarms and why big leaguers don’t oversleep more often, Artemis II, Daniel Susac as the sequel to Andrew Susac, the timing of Konnor Griffin’s call-up, the many ways to marvel at (and value) Jo Adell’s home-run-robbery spree, Patrick Corbin the Blue Jay, a quintessentially 2026 half-inning, and follow-up emails, plus (1:40:47) a postscript featuring an Afterball by Ben about national announcer stats.

Audio intro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “It’s Been Awhile”

Link to Jensen oversleeping story

Link to Pasquantino quote

Link to Jensen TikTok clip

Link to Russell on young baseball brains

Link to overview effect wiki

Link to Yankees/Marlins Artemis story

Link to Artemis wholesomeness

Link to Apollo and baseball story

Link to Susac’s nephew

Link to Baumann on Griffin

Link to MLBTR on Griffin

Link to Olney’s deleted tweet

Link to info on extensions and PPI

Link to Adell catch 1

Link to Adell catch 2

Link to Adell catch 3

Link to 2026 OF FRV laggardboard

Link to Adell’s DRS

Link to SIS on HR robberies

Link to Ben on HR robberies

Link to Ben on Trout’s 2011

Link to Ben on pre-WAR valuations

Link to Adell’s 2020 FARTBAT

Link to FARTBAT naming

Link to Angels-M’s box score

Link to FG post on Adell

Link to win probability tweet

Link to Tango on wall balls

Link to Tango on catch probability

Link to Adell photo

Link to article about Adell catch

Link to Trout’s Twitter reply

Link to Hunter on Adell

Link to “wallowing” wiki

Link to MLBTR on Corbin

Link to Jays SP projections

Link to Jays RR depth chart

Link to BP on Corbin

Link to BP on ATL-AZ inning

Link to Albies challenge

Link to 2016 Young quotes

Link to Grifol on the eclipse

Link to Theo “trade”

Link to Stokes-Lyon match

Link to Snicko wiki

Link to EW Episode 1875

Link to Calcaterra on Dirks

Link to Dirks Pull%

Link to Dirks HR spray chart

Link to HUAL episode

Link to USR broadcast database

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about rookie batters’ blistering start to the season, then Stat Blast (10:15) about how long it typically takes for there to be no remaining teams that are winless or undefeated (or both), the latest a team won or lost by a margin that matched its record, and the seasons that featured the most Hall of Famers (at all, and in their primes). Then they talk to three listeners who created brand-new apps/sites that enhance the experience of following the season: Tristan Rodman of Baseball Scores (28:00), Zach Gines of First Pitch (46:45), and Ezra Thompson of Play-O-Graph (1:09:30), followed by assorted updates (1:26:58).

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to freemium model announcement

Link to written explanation

Link to checksum explainer

Link to seasonal rookie batting lines

Link to 2026 rookie batting line

Link to 2026 rookie pitching line

Link to Baumann on Painter

Link to Kepner on the rookies

Link to aging curve research 1

Link to aging curve research 2

Link to Ben on 2015 rookies

Link to Ben on 2015 youth

Link to Fernandez debut game

Link to two-homer-debuts query

Link to winless/undefeated teams data

Link to 1894 game

Link to 1911 game

Link to 1986 game

Link to 1993 game

Link to 1996 game

Link to 2000 game 1

Link to 2000 game 2

Link to HoFers data

Link to HoFers graph

Link to Frisch VC info

Link to listener emails database

Link to Baseball Scores site

Link to Tristan’s site

Link to The Gagnés theme 1

Link to The Gagnés theme 2

Link to @dril tweet

Link to Angell quote

Link to First Pitch site

Link to NERD scores

Link to B-Ref Stream Finder

Link to Skubal-Gallen gamer

Link to Play-O-Graph site

Link to playograph wiki

Link to FotMob

Link to Moneyball clip

Link to Grounds Crew Baseball site

Link to The Number Wall site

Link to “meme” origins

Link to Yates press conference

Link to Orioles tap-off

Link to Crawford walk-off story

Link to pre-Artemis II batted balls

Link to Artemis II launch story

Link to xkcd comic

Link to Bucknor play story

Link to Bucknor play video

Link to Bucknor injury story

Link to Ben on forgotten counts

Link to Bois on forgotten counts

Link to Retrosheet forgotten counts

Link to video of Smith PA

Link to Smith PA on Gameday

Link to Alvarez PA on Gameday

Link to Chris’s Reddit post

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joey Wiemer, Colt Emerson’s contract, the concept of “sticking at shortstop,” and pre-arbitration (and pre-debut) extension trends, then (29:11) answer listener emails about A.J. Preller trading himself, Harrison Bader and the press conference threshold, plotting to prevent a switch-hitter from batting from both sides, no-selling a World Series ring ceremony, giveaway promotions at every game, a Craig Kimbrel PitchCom hypothesis, the top five MLB owners, pitch-count limits in a World Series perfect game bid, technical fouls in baseball, the aesthetic appeal of platooning, and lifetime .500 franchises.

Audio intro: Garrett Krohn, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Baumann on Wiemer

Link to MLB.com on Wiemer

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard

Link to “small sample” song

Link to Voros’ Law

Link to “WDJDD?” (short)

Link to “WDJDD?” (long)

Link to MLBTR on Emerson

Link to Nichols’ Law of Catcher Defense

Link to Passan tweet about Emerson

Link to FG post on Pratt

Link to Sam on extensions

Link to Bader story

Link to Seinfeld “sponge-worthy” clips

Link to Kiri on promotions

Link to “Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things”

Link to Meg on the baseball penalty box

Link to Diamondbacks bullpen story

Link to “Maddux” stat

Link to Ben on ex-player execs

Link to franchise W-L records

Link to listener emails database

Sponsor Us on Patreon

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’s hot start, Dub Gleed’s (nick)name, the challenge system as a mainstream sensation, several tactical considerations, listener emails, premature conclusions, and pedantic points after a weekend’s worth of ABS action, Munetaka Murakami’s early slugging, a Brewers call-up and extension, NBC’s broadcast crews, and more, plus a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to the other ABS

Link to Gleed trade story

Link to challenge system tweet 1

Link to challenge system tweet 2

Link to Ben on the challenge system

Link to Sam on the challenge system

Link to UmpScorecards data

Link to Rosenthal on the challenge system

Link to Passan on the challenge system

Link to ABS system wiki

Link to FG community blog

Link to Petriello on 2025 ABS data

Link to team ABS leaderboard

Link to ABS dashboard

Link to ABS player leaderboard

Link to Crizer on the challenge system

Link to debutant dingers query

Link to 2026 debutant dingers

Link to Murakami NPB analysis

Link to Murakami fun fact

Link to Reds Opening Days story

Link to Shelton ejection clip

Link to Bucknor story

Link to Bucknor challenges

Link to Bucknor scorecard

Link to Bucknor story

Link to Cora ejection

Link to ABS and manager ejections info 1

Link to ABS and manager ejections info 2

Link to ABS and manager ejections info 3

Link to Quero call-up info

Link to MLBTR on Pratt

Link to FG Brewers list

Link to Sam on check swings

Link to AP on Benetti

Link to MLBTR on Pratt

Link to listener emails database

Link to “burn the ships” wiki

Link to article about Syracuse team

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: [email protected]

Effectively Wild Subreddit

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Apple Podcasts Feed

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YouTube Playlist

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Get Our Merch!

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