About this episode
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the reaction to and tactical underpinnings of the Yankees’ controversial decision to walk Miguel Cabrera , the balance between win expectancy and entertainment, and whether analytically-driven changes have hurt baseball as a spectator experience more so than other sports, then (15:19) meet major leaguers Simón Muzziotti of the Phillies and Gosuke Katoh of the Blue Jays, Stat Blast (30:31) about whether increased time between pitches or rising pitch counts has contributed more to longer game times, and answer listener emails about critiquing umpires’ grammar, tool grades for big leaguers, whether the pitch clock could kill the zombie runner, whether young hitters (such as Julio Rodríguez ) have ball/strike calls go against them more often, whether surpassing Joe DiMaggio ’s hitting streak could propel a player into the Hall of Fame, why free agents tend to take the most lucrative contract offers, wearing the jersey of a player who’s switched teams, the Marlins rostering every major leaguer named Jesús, team games with no outfield outs, and the most unassisted putouts by a player in a game. Audio intro : Snowgoose, “ Counting Time ” Audio outro : The Glands, “ Welcome to New Jersey ” Link to MLB.com article about IBB Link to Ben Clemens on the Cabrera IBB Link to Joe Posnanski on the Cabrera IBB Link to article about Muzziotti’s lost 2021 Link to article about Muzziotti’s promotion Link to article about Katoh’s promotion Link to spring training article about Katoh Link to Katoh’s Kawasaki tweet Link to Kawasaki’s interview Link to Katoh’s Players’ Tribune article Link to Chris Mitchell on Katoh in 2014 Link to first KATOH article Link to Chris’s tweet about Katoh Link to Axios post about game time Link to Céspedes Family BBQ game-time tweet Link to Stat Blast data Link to Stathead Link to Travis Sawchik on foul balls Link to Travis on fouls again Link to Ben on pitches per PA Link to Justin Choi on Rodríguez’s zone Link to study on veteran bias for hitters Link to study on veteran bias for pitchers Link to Jeff Sullivan on veteran bias Link to study on MLB status bias Link to article about all-star strike-zone bias Link to “Jersey Assurance” policy Link to PCU scene about band shirts Link to list of team games with no OF outs Link to Jeremy Frank tweet about no OF outs Link to Rob Mains on pitcher usage and payrolls Link to article about Sasaki’s next start Link to listener email database Sponsor Us on Patreon Subscribe to Stathead (Code: WILD20) Facebook Group Effectively Wild Wiki Twitter Account iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source