Effectively Wild Episode 1577: Chaos Theory

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about whether the idea of sports as a distraction from the pandemic has panned out, whether unexpectedly hot-starting teams like the Rockies and Tigers should “go for it” (and what that would entail), and what, if anything, MLB should do to address the curious case of Trevor Bauer ’s spiking spin rates, then answer listener emails about the ideal balance between chaos and predictability, why lower pitch counts haven’t kept pitchers healthy, a clever solution for preserving extra-long games in the era of the automatic-runner rule, and pitchers calling their own pitches, plus a Stat Blast about how many more homers some of history’s greatest sluggers would have hit if they’d batted higher in the order. Audio intro : L.E.O., " Distracted " Audio outro : The Go-Betweens, " Your Turn My Turn " Link to Will Leitch on how it feels to watch sports now Link to story about streaking Tigers Link to Ben Clemens on the hot Rockies Link to playoff odds changes since Opening Day Link to Ben on foreign substances and Bauer’s spin rates Link to Jeff Passan on foreign substances and Bauer’s spin rates Link to article about projections and the 2015 season Link to Phil Birnbaum on the limits of predictions Link to Ben on 2020’s injured pitchers Link to Neil Paine on the unsolved injured-pitcher problem Link to Russ Hull’s Stat Blast Song cover Link to Michael Baumann on the odds of anyone reaching 700 homers Link to Aaron Gleeman on the new no. 2 hitter Link to video of Greinke calling his own pitches Link to story about Maddux calling his own pitches Link to Ben Gibbard’s “Centerfield” iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Effectively Wild Wiki Twitter Account Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source