Show notes
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the “death ball,” a curveball variant that could be baseball’s next sweeper-esque pitch-design innovation, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of separate classifications for “new” pitches that are subsets of other pitches, and the importance of continuing education among fans and media members. Then (39:23) they talk about the Aroldis Chapman, John Brebbia, James Paxton, and Joey Gallo signings (with another contract over/unders draft update and a Clayton Kershaw check-in), the possibility that NPB phenom Roki Sasaki will come to MLB next offseason, Alex Blandino’s knuckleball conversion, a Willians Astudillo lowlight, and a player mercenary follow-up.Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”Audio outro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme (“We Looked Like Giants” cover)Link to death ball BP articleLink to sweeper definitionLink to Passan on the death ballLink to Tread videoLink to “Public Enemy No. 1”Link to Ben on young newsbreakersLink to Cotillo on EWLink to FG on Chapman and BrebbiaLink to over/under draft resultsLink to Pirates payroll pageLink to MLBTR on PaxtonLink to story on Paxton’s kneeLink to Paxton eagle incidentLink to MLBTR on GalloLink to Ben on Gallo in 2014Link to “genericization” articleLink to Sasaki articleLink to MLBTR on BlandinoLink to Blandino knucklerLink to Blandino throwing 90Link to Jannis EW interviewLink to Ben on knuckleballsLink to Astudillo dropLink to game outcomeLink to Astudillo HR robberyLink to Astudillo in centerLink to Astudillo draft articleLink to other Astudillo draft articleLink to Farnsworth revenge articleLink to HoF voting results 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: podcast@fangraphs.comvar SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {});Source