Effectively Wild Episode 2380: Clinching Chaos

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners clinching the AL West, the benefits and drawbacks of MVP debates, the power of great players to enhance a season for spectators, the Cardinals’ and Giants’ reciprocal eliminations, the near-extinction of the 200-inning pitcher, the Nationals’ new head of baseball ops, and how predictive a track record of adept drafting is. Then (53:15) they answer listener emails about whether a player could/should ever challenge a ball/strike call that went their way, whether increased pitcher injuries have contributed to the lack of great teams, sticky-stuff inspections on broadcasts, how many pitches it takes to evaluate a pitcher, whether/why baseball managers incur fans’ wrath more than other sports’ coaches, whether teams are turning fewer double plays than they used to, and Trey Yesavage ’s many 2025 teammates, plus (1:40:47) a postscript. Audio intro : El Warren, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Beatwriter, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to 2015 MLB promo Link to Ben on Judge vs. Ohtani Link to Giants elimination story Link to Cardinals elimination story Link to pitcher IP leaderboard Link to preseason pitcher IP projections Link to Passan on Toboni Link to MLBTR on Toboni Link to WaPo on the Nats Link to Ben on pitcher injury rates Link to Ben on pitcher workloads Link to Rodón quote Link to MLB GIDP% Link to Jays tweet Link to quote-tweet Link to Kenny Jackelen Link to 2025 teammate leaders Link to single-season teammate leaders Link to listener emails database Link to BP on Blalock Link to Blalock leaderboard Link to highest ML ERA (min. 55 IP) Link to highest ML ERA (min. 100 IP) Link to FG wOBA values Link to BP location research Link to FG playoff odds Link to Darowski update Sponsor Us on Patreon Give a Gift Subscription Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Effectively Wild Subreddit Effectively Wild Wiki Apple Podcasts Feed Spotify Feed YouTube Playlist Facebook Group Bluesky Account Twitter Account Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source