Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Effectively Wild Episode 2538: No Time Like Late September

#7 trending · Baseball

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about “October” as a (somewhat imprecise) metonym for the playoffs and the popularity of postseason coverage, praise the Yankees’ pitc

Oct 1
1 h 46 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2537: The Playoff Parts Draft

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley wrap up the action from the end of the regular season, including the last starts of Justin Verlander and (maybe) Max Scherzer (with mini-Blas

Sep 29
1 h 40 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2536: Wrong Division

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the heroics of Astros outfielder Lucas Spence

Sep 26
28 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2535: It’s Go Time

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Bregman likening getting hit by a baseball to getting hit by a baseball bat, the latest Aaron Judge-Aaron Boone drama, whic

Sep 25
1 h 47 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2534: Breg Sits

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s return from vacation and their podcast-producer search, then discuss the uncertain statuses of Aaron Judge, Alex Bregman,

Sep 23
1 h 41 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2533: You Win Some, You Lose 40 in a Row

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh goes long with a few guests and segments. Fi

Sep 19
44 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2532: Can the Public Still Teach Teams?

After a brief PSA about an open producer position (email wanted@fangraphs.com with the subject line “Podcast Editor 2026” to apply) Ben Lindbergh (kind of) continues his

Sep 17
2 h 04 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2531: The Regular-Season Two-Week Warning

With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts. Next Up: The Baseball Show With Rany an

Sep 14
1 h 52 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2530: The Top 24 Players 24 or Younger

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurre

Sep 12
28 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2529: The Bandwagon Re-Reunion

With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts. Next Up: The Bandwagon, featuring Hanna

Sep 10
1 h 53 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2528: The Roundtable Reunion

With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh brings a few dearly departed baseball podcasts (briefly) back to life. First up: The Roundtable, featuring EW cofounder (and Pe

Sep 9
1 h 40 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2527: Feels Like the First Time

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about duplicate episode titles and the Angels being

Sep 4
32 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2526: How Ballpark Sound Got Both Better and Worse

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce an upcoming livestream and then react to the semi-surprising sale of the Angels by Arte Moreno to Stan Kroenke, considering the sign

Sep 3
1 h 46 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2525: Espresso Written Consent

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the research Meg saw on her trip to Saber Seminar, a vintage Max Scherzer start, Tarik Skubal’s espresso-machine maneuver, a Kev

Sep 1
1 h 39 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2524: Take This Cup From Me

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a baseball reference in summer sci-fi flick Th

Aug 28
33 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2523: Upon Further Review

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about takeaways from ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast on Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara, disappointing parity (46:41), the latest public-fun

Aug 27
1 h 36 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2522: The New Funnest Fact

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball’s new reigning fun fact (courtesy of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Randy Arozarena), Kade Anderson’s debut and Dan Wilson’s s

Aug 26
1 h 31 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2521: Keep Your Eye on the Small Ball

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Chris Sale vs. Jacob Misiorowski matchup and

Aug 21
36 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2520: Catch 22–0

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Brewers’ record-tying shutout/blowout of the Mariners (warning: profanity), Bryce Rainer and the continued absence of a post

Aug 20
1 h 35 min

Effectively Wild Episode 2519: The Secret Life of Walter

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the deepening monetary morass surrounding Mark Walter and whether it will eventually ensnare the Dodgers, the struggles of Edwin

Aug 19
1 h 37 min

Chart trend

Position in the Baseball chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#17#32JulAugSepOct

all-time peak

days in the top 3 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 2, 2026).

#18 ▼ 2 Baseball US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Meg and Ben hit it out every episode! They joke and banter and get silly running every question to ground. They are smart and curious and open minded. And, the intro/outro musical contributions are often stunning.

your pal Al · Dec 2025

I love Ben and Meg's insights, two great baseball brains. However I find my self turning off the episodes once they begin to talk themselves in long repetitive circles about one topic without making much progress. I'm all for a free flowing natural conversation but sometimes they make a point and continue to make the same point four or five times before moving on. These circling conversations and sometimes oddly defensive tip-toeing language just turn me off from the show. Not sure if its the pacing, editing, or just my personal preference. They aren't as funny as they think they are.

4LokoOno · Apr 2024

Best baseball podcast and it’s not even close. Great analysis, hosting, humor etc. can’t recommend enough if you’re a diehard fan of this great game

CLH1021 · Feb 2024

Perhaps the best distillation I can give of why I adore this podcast: Seeing the title of Episode 2101 (“Eating Crow”) and wondering how Ben and Meg could dedicate so much time to breaking down the big Tyrone Taylor/Adrian Houser for Coleman Crow trade, and being delighted to realize that it was instead a discussion of grammar school pottery.

Cdwilco33 · Dec 2023

I was a paid subscriber for years and didn’t ever mind supporting BONUS content. However, the new Pay to Listen format capitalizes on the FOMO of listeners in an attempt to extract additional money for something they already got for free. Not cool to turn loyalty into additional revenue.

JackieDaytona1 · May 2026

This is one of my favorite baseball podcasts and I firmly understand that they can’t continue to operate it while losing money, but to claim “freemium” while blocking off a third of the main podcast from normal listeners is absurd. Just own it and say you’re a pay to listen podcast now. Monthly bonus episode? Freemium. Discord access? Freemium. No ads? Definitely freemium. But block a third of your content behind a paywall and try to claim it’s freemium get out of here. You could accomplish this same exact thing by making an ad-free subscription for those that can afford that luxury without boxing out the over half of baseball consumers that don’t have a disposable income to be able to afford a 10$ a month subscription. Give us ads in the content, don’t take away the content from people that actually enjoy it. [Side track thought: the irony of them claiming they are losing money on a podcast when they also operate a very successful website and Ben is at the very least involved in other podcasts that are giving him some sort of revenue while also actively bashing the Yankees owner for doing the same thing when he claims he’s losing money operating the Yankees but has all his other business ventures, yes I know it’s no where near the same scale but cmon, in an alternate universe there’s a Meg losing her mind and a Ben chuckling sarcastically at these two for this.] TL;DR: A lot of low income people like baseball, keep it accessibly to them through ads instead of putting up a paywall. See Section 10/Baseball Is Dead for a good model.

Jejbejxjhjsbd · Mar 2026

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