Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 2025’s record number of 25-25 players and whether the current power/speed version of the sport is rendered any less impressive by its recent rule-change origins, the historic pre/post-All-Star break splits of Julio Rodríguez and whether the Mariners can help him become less of an extreme slow starter/fast finisher (phrasing?), the lockstep seasons (and recent slumps) of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ceddanne Rafaela, the impending retirement (and on/off-field legacies) of Clayton Kershaw, and MLB’s new Amateur Recovery Period Policy, plus follow-ups (1:21:31) on a few of those topics.

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

Link to power-speed fun fact
Link to Opta Sports wiki
Link to Opta EW interview
Link to power-speed number
Link to power-speed by season
Link to ’87 HR spike info
Link to more on ’87 spike