Effectively Wild Episode 2052: New Kids on the Block

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about classifying throws by infielders that are actually made in the outfield, imagine a multi-sport two-way Shohei Ohtani, and belatedly acknowledge Scott Cooper’s singular cycle, discuss Kyle Schwarber’s possible sub-replacement-level 40-homer season, break down the NL MVP race featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman, pat Kyle Barraclough on the back for wearing one, note that regression has come for Mickey Moniak, and offer another hosana to Julio Rodríguez. Then they follow up on the previous episode’s mystery about why wild pitches and passed balls have declined, first (1:06:51) by interviewing Yankees quality control and catching coach Tanner Swanson about improvements in catching technique and the evolution of catcher defense, and then (1:37:13) by presenting additional data and theorizing, followed by (1:47:29) a Future Blast from 2052. Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Elly’s 99.8 mph throw Link to Elly’s 99.7 mph throw Link to Elly’s 97.9 mph throw Link to infield-throws leaderboard Link to infield-throwers leaderboard Link to Winn’s 100.5 mph throw Link to Winn’s 99.9 mph throw Link to arm strength leaderboard Link to Haberstroh on two-sport players Link to post on Cooper’s cycle Link to Cooper’s cycle game Link to Cooper’s cycle video Link to Schwarber tweet Link to sub-replacement sluggers Link to Eli Ben-Porat on batting average Link to Tom Tango on batting average Link to Tango on batting average again Link to Ben Clemens on batting average Link to FG WAR leaders Link to B-Ref WAR leaders Link to Mike Petriello on MVP Mookie Link to SB leaderboard Link to FG post on Freeman’s baserunning Link to story on fans and Acuña Link to video of fans and Acuña Link to Moniak slump stretch Link to Posnanski on the Stargell Award Link to MVPs w/multiple teams Link to Mearns on Barraclough Link to Stathead on Barraclough Link to EW Stat Blast about WP/PB Link to team catcher defense Link to story on Swanson and Garver Link to story about catching’s future Link to Swanson MVP Machine reference Link to story on Swanson and the Yankees Link to Ben on Flowers Link to Franke/Rogers catcher slides Link to Kai Franke on Twitter Link to Jack Rogers on Twitter Link to team CI leaderboard Link to EW on the CI surge Link to Tango on interference and framing Link to WP/PB totals Link to Cooper on one-knee catching Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 2 Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 3 Link to Rick Wilber’s website Link to Future Blast wiki Link to Tango on errors/hits Link to Cooper on errors/hits  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: [email protected] var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source