Effectively Wild Episode 1847: We Want a Catcher, Not a Belly-Scratcher

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Josh Naylor’s record eight RBI after the eighth inning and the hot-hitting Guardians, José Ramírez taking a hometown discount to stay in Cleveland, Rangers manager Chris Woodward’s seemingly misinterpreted joke about Yankee Stadium, the perils of interpreting text-only quotes, Mets hitting coach Eric Chávez’s theory about MLB selectively juicing the ball, another way in which life is getting harder for hitters, Josh VanMeter’s nightmare inning as an emergency catcher for the Pirates, and Rays pitcher Calvin Faucher’s rude welcome in the majors, plus a Stat Blast (1:14:26) about Sean Hjelle, Tyler Rogers, and the greatest disparities in consecutive pitchers’ release points, a note about a Bill Veeck plan to sign a “giant” hitter, and a few followups. Audio intro: The Pooh Sticks, “Jelly on a Plate” Audio outro: The Mother Hips, “Emergency Exit” Link to Naylor highlights video Link to story on Ramírez’s contract Link to Ben Clemens on Ramírez’s extension Link to Dan Szymborski on the Albies extension Link to Craig Edwards on the Albies extension Link to Sheryl Ring on the Albies extension Link to RosterResource payroll page Link to video of Torres’s homer Link to video of White’s homer Link to video of Woodward’s comment Link to Levi on Woodward’s comment Link to video of Boone’s response Link to Yankees’ 30/30 tweet Link to @NoContextEWPod Link to article about Chávez’s theory Link to article about Alonso’s theory Link to FanGraphs on the ball’s behavior Link to article about VanMeter Link to VanMeter interview Link to Knapp ejection video Link to Russell on emergency catchers Link to Shelley Duncan interview Link to Ben on second-guessing Link to EW episode on Shamsky Link to Michael Baumann on Shamsky Link to Stathead query on Shamsky/Naylor Link to Stathead Link to info on Hjelle Link to video of Hjelle’s debut Link to Hjelle/Rogers release points Link to Stat Blast release-point data Link to release-point height leaderboard Link to league-average release point height Link to Bill Veeck “giant” idea  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: [email protected] var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source