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 leaderboard
Link to rookie hitter leaderboard
Link to Sheehan on Skenes
Link to Ben’s preseason prediction
Link to Yankees hair link 1
Link to Yankees hair link 2
Link to Yankees hair link 3
Link to Yankees hair link 4
Link to Yankees hair link 5
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 standout trends, teams, and players of the amateur draft, the demographics of amateur baseball, trading draft picks, and more.

Audio intro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”
Audio outro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Skenes ASG highlights
Link to Ohtani ASG highlights
Link to 2025 schedule
Link to featured rivalries
Link to Cubs promo video
Link to Longoria quote
Link to Superman news
Link to Caught Stealing
Link to Ben on movie sequels
Link to Gittell on EW
Link to Gittell’s book
Link to A Quiet Place scene
Link to Gameday 3D explainer
Link to possessed player clip 1
Link to possessed player clip 2
Link to Maldonado leaderboard
Link to MLBTR on Maldonado
Link to Ben on the foul lines
Link to Eric’s Day 1 recap
Link to Eric’s Day 2 recap
Link to Condor HR record
Link to college offense article 1
Link to college offense article 2
Link to Nightengale tweet
Link to ESPN top 100 athletes
Link to Manfred on draft picks
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 about Aaron Judge, and a strikeout-rate plateau.

Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Manfred on the unis
Link to K-zone story
Link to K-zone tweet
Link to Manfred ABS comments
Link to Sale interview
Link to EW on game-calling
Link to Fletcher game log
Link to Fletcher investigation
Link to BP on Stubbs
Link to Dodgers depth chart
Link to MLBTR on May
Link to Ryan call-up
Link to Wells prediction
Link to Wells tweet
Link to Wells tweet 2
Link to non-pitcher K rates
Link to Picard clip
Link to preseason predictions update
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 NBC Sports and The Baseball Network president Ken Schanzer about the 30th anniversary of TBN, the first U.S. TV network owned by a pro sports league.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Calcaterra on Glasnow
Link to Devers shoulder story
Link to ASB IL placement data
Link to Sam on first-and-third 1
Link to Sam on first-and-third 2
Link to Clemens clip
Link to Clemens gamer
Link to Manny’s cutoff
Link to Russell on post-2013 changes
Link to Pebble Hunting
Link to Scholten call
Link to Scholten clip
Link to Scholten pitching
Link to Scholten local news clip
Link to Scholten’s B-Ref page
Link to Scholten’s wiki
Link to Gazette story on Scholten
Link to WaPo on Scholten
Link to SI on Scholten
Link to Honkbal wiki
Link to Congressional Baseball Game EW
Link to The Gazette on the blackouts bill
Link to Offerman on Field of Dreams
Link to EW on Field of Dreams
Link to canceled Field of Dreams series
Link to Scholten’s Substack
Link to Scholten’s campaign site
Link to Evan on EW 2168
Link to Evan on a national TV deal
Link to 1994 TBN theme song
Link to 1994 ASG at B-Ref
Link to The Baseball Network wiki
Link to ’93 WaPo story on Ken
Link to 1993 most powerful people
Link to 1991 most powerful people
Link to The Baseball Network sources
Link to Schanzer retirement story
Link to rookie All-Star SP
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 lineup, whether championships reside with a city or a franchise, whether umpires could wear shorts, the definition of a “clean inning,” what it means for a throw/tag to be “not in time,” and the requirements for breaking out of a slump, plus closing banter (1:33:23) about Paul Skenes as an All-Star starter.

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

Link to 2B HR leaderboard
Link to White Sox 2B
Link to 2B projections
Link to White Sox 2B tweet
Link to Neil Paine’s Substack
Link to Neil on All-Stars
Link to Neil graphic
Link to ASG roster rules story
Link to WAR and ASG story
Link to 1989 Canseco/Schmidt story
Link to Reddit post
Link to Pujols/Miggy ASG
Link to Castro selection story
Link to Castro record tweet
Link to debut age/number sheet
Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter
Link to HR hang time comment
Link to sprint speed leaderboard
Link to Elly speed quote
Link to 1917 Stanley Cup info
Link to World Series doc thread 1
Link to World Series doc thread 2
Link to 2019 umpire manual
Link to umpire shorts forum post
Link to EW on pants-splitting
Link to Dickson on “clean inning”
Link to Pudge/Eno underwear ad
Link to Julio power slump story
Link to Friends hair scene
Link to NL pitcher WAR
Link to Skenes gamer
Link to Jones max-effort story
Link to listener emails database
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 Barbour performing the song, “Will the Bird Bones Be Unbroken?”

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to DeMarsico episode
Link to DeMarsico episode wiki
Link to pickoff attempt 1
Link to pickoff attempt 2
Link to Miranda hit
Link to MLB.com on Miranda
Link to Episode 1964 wiki
Link to Dropo SABR bio
Link to Higgins SABR bio
Link to SABR on Higgins streak
Link to streaks wiki
Link to Twins Miranda tweet
Link to FG Plus stats
Link to Robertson ERA+
Link to reliever FIP-
Link to Lindsey on Ohtani
Link to Betteridge’s Law
Link to smiles study
Link to SMILE+ leaderboard
Link to facial-recognition bias
Link to .500 percentage graph
Link to story about Brewer
Link to Brewer photo
Link to list of fractures
Link to Ben and Jessie’s song
Link to song lyrics
Link to original song wiki
Link to Carter Family variant
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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, and the challenge system and answer emails about ABS at lower levels, broadcasts missing pickoff attempts, green-screen issues (and other ad problems) on broadcasts, whether the path a champion takes through the playoffs matters to fans, pinch-hitting to negate a mound visit, and tracking 10K games for pitchers. Next, they Stat Blast (1:41:13) about the most major leaguers ever to play for a non-major-league team, followed by (1:48:53) a Future Blast from 2187.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “Strategy” game
Link to Banda pitch
Link to Lovullo clip
Link to Ben on “Strategy”
Link to Girardi on “Strategy”
Link to Walker article
Link to Twins Triple-A Swap
Link to Ben on the Swap
Link to MLBTR on Meneses
Link to Ben on Meneses
Link to Wood’s number tweet
Link to MLBTR on Anderson
Link to lowest wRC+ since 2023
Link to Ottavino video
Link to bullpen-cart driver EW
Link to O’s fan catch
Link to O’s fan pitch
Link to Lewis clip
Link to Lewis quote
Link to MLBTR on Lewis/Lee
Link to Twins prospect list
Link to Wayne’s LinkedIn
Link to KBO ABS article
Link to baserunning leaderboard
Link to Giamatti Rhino scene
Link to pitcher wins article
Link to Stat Blast cover
Link to 2024 Mexican League
Link to 2024 Diablos Rojos
Link to 2022 River Cats
Link to 2013-14 Tigres del Licey
Link to 2009 Bears
Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter
Link to listener emails database
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to Future Blast text
Link to Rick Wilber’s site
Link to Alan Smale’s site
Link to Episode 2074 Future Blast
Link to Episode 2093 Future Blast
Link to Updike article
Link to Williams HR video 1
Link to Williams HR video 2
Link to Gowdy call
Link to Mays catch video
Link to Future Blast sound samples
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 issuing bad challenges under the challenge system, and (1:01:13) meet major leaguers Spencer Bivens, Jake Bloss, and Jacob Bosiokovic.

Audio intro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to GF with no saves leaders
Link to Webb/Albers wiki
Link to Ben on Webb/Albers
Link to Webb/Albers on EW
Link to Triple Crown redundancy EW
Link to EW on Dipoto and .540
Link to Dipoto clip
Link to Dipoto follow-up
Link to .540 spreadsheet
Link to MLBTR on Montgomery
Link to MLBTR on Luzardo
Link to MLBTR on Flaherty
Link to 2023 ABS article 1
Link to 2023 ABS article 2
Link to 2024 ABS article
Link to MaML wiki
Link to B-Ref’s new debuts
Link to Buchanan on Bivens
Link to Bivens on Twitter
Link to Bivens on Insta
Link to Bloss call-up article
Link to Eric’s Astros prospects
Link to Georgetown major leaguers
Link to “The” OSU explainer
Link to “Hoya Saxa” explainer
Link to Cronin on EW
Link to MLBTR on Bosiokovic
Link to MLB.com on Bosiokovic
Link to Dispatch on Bosiokovic
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Rockies-Sox game
Link to Doyle’s catch
Link to zone rate leaderboard
Link to Judge’s zone rates
Link to Petriello on Judge
Link to Judge’s 40-game streak
Link to Judge’s 50-game streak
Link to lineup-protection explainer
Link to new Derby rules
Link to Calcaterra on the HRD
Link to Levi on the HRD
Link to Judge’s Derby victory
Link to Strike Four
Link to Sheehan on ABS 1
Link to Sheehan on ABS 2
Link to strike zone changes
Link to Triple-A ABS change
Link to Ben on ABS
Link to Meg on the penalty box
Link to listener emails database
Link to John Poff’s fundraiser
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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 have most surpassed or fallen short of their preseason projections halfway through the regular season.

Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Drellich on zone plots
Link to Reddit thread on plots
Link to BP piece on plots
Link to ESPN on pitching machines
Link to Ben on pitching machines
Link to Ben on moving the mound
Link to Ben on roster limits
Link to MLBTR on Wood
Link to Nationals depth chart
Link to FG’s The Board
Link to MLB Pipeline top 100
Link to AAA wRC+ leaders
Link to Holliday’s game logs
Link to O’s prospect list
Link to Orioles depth chart
Link to Buxton’s sprint speeds
Link to sprint speed leaderboard
Link to team projections sheets
Link to hitter projections sheets
Link to pitcher projections sheets
Link to preseason team projections
Link to preseason hitter projections
Link to preseason pitcher projections
Link to MLBTR on Phils injuries
Link to Sam on Duran
Link to Laurila on Hauck
Link to Sox pitching piece 1
Link to Sox pitching piece 2
Link to Sox pitching piece 3
Link to Sox pitching piece 4
Link to team DRS leaderboard
Link to Paine on the Cubs
Link to McKenzie feature
Link to Peña interview clip
Link to Ben on in-game interviews
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
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