Effectively Wild: A Fangraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben and Sam banter about Noah Syndergaard, then answer listener emails about 1-2-3 innings, what David Ortiz could do to replicate Kobe, conservative replay reviewing, and more.

Ben and Sam banter about Walt Weiss and Nolan Arenado, then continue their discussion of potential 2016 trends with multiple investigations into pitcher usage.

Ben and Sam banter about Rich Hill, Jon Lester, and the no-longer-winless Braves and Twins, then discuss some possibly premature evidence that the game has changed since last season.

With help from Twins fan Aaron Gleeman and Braves fan Alex Remington, Ben and Sam attempt to determine which of MLB’s two winless teams has had the more demoralizing start to the season.

Ben, Sam, and FanGraphs writer Jeff Sullivan banter about ballplayer humor, then talk about players (including Garrett Richards, Starlin Castro, and Stephen Strasburg) who are doing something notably different so far this season.

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about whether they would want to play in a major league game, un-fun facts, chyron decisions, GM hypotheticals, robot pitchers, and more.

Ben and Sam banter about the most popular picks in BP’s “Beat PECOTA” game, then discuss Rich Hill, the Cubs’ strong start, Ray Searage’s promising pupils, and more.

Ben and Sam discuss two surprise stars of week one, debuting Dodgers starter Ross Stripling and Rockies rookie slugger Trevor Story.

Ben and Sam talk to MLB’s Official Historian, John Thorn, about a trio of founding documents now up for auction that casts light on the truth behind baseball’s long-disputed origin story.

Ben and Sam banter about Kenta Maeda’s debut, then talk to Sports Illustrated’s Joe Sheehan about how pitcher-centric roster construction is making baseball more boring (and what might make it better).

Ben and Sam banter about Rich Hill, a controversial game-ending call, and bad baseball ads, then answer listener emails about unfun facts, Theo Epstein’s future, and who’s seen the most major league baseball.

Ben and Sam talk to Yahoo! Sports columnist Jeff Passan about his new book, The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports.

Ben and Sam banter about Opening Day games, the Astros’ closer situation, Albert Pujols, and more, then discuss some of the BP staff’s standout preseason predictions.

Ben and Sam preview the Dodgers’ season with Vice Sports editor Eric Nusbaum, and Jeff talks to Los Angeles Times Dodgers beat writer Andy McCullough (at 21:22).

Ben and Sam preview the Cubs’ season with authors Mark Armour and Dan Levitt, and Jeff talks to Mountain Goats frontman/Cubs fan John Darnielle (at 21:40).

Ben and Sam banter about a listener-suggested expression, then answer listener emails about Albert Pujols’ impact on the Cardinals, rooting against incentive clauses, what a lack of analytics looks like, and more.

Ben and Sam preview the Indians’ season with Pete Beatty, and George talks to MLB.com Indians beat writer Jordan Bastian (at 23:44).

Ben and Sam preview the Mets’ season with Mike Vorkunov, and Jeff talks Mets prospects with Toby Hyde of BP Mets and SNY.tv (at 22:49).

Ben and Sam preview the Rays’ season with ESPN Insider’s Tommy Rancel, and George talks to Tampa Bay Times Rays beat writer Marc Topkin (at 24:47).

Ben and Sam preview Boston’s season with Providence Journal Red Sox beat writer Brian MacPherson, and George talks to Brian’s ProJo colleague, Tim Britton (at 28:41).