Effectively Wild Episode 2483: Brush It Off
5/27/20262 hr 8 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Craig Kimbrel’s new home, Colton Cowser’s walk-offs, Chris Taylor’s rapid retirement, unretirement, and re-retirement, whether the Mets should sell (and whom they could deal), the relative improvement of MLB’s worst teams, the Blue Jays’ (and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s) punchless contact, the historic hitting of this season’s MLB debutants, Gage Jump and the best-ever early returns for a draft class, whether the Athletics’ and Pirates’ production has been as lopsided as expected, an Oneil Cruz update, a trio of teams that has benefited from stable rotations, the Astros’ combined no-hitter, the Cubs’ extreme streakiness (and nondescript roster), more Giants innovations in thrusting, and Bryce Harper’s toothpaste/toothbrush technique, plus postscript updates.
Audio intro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Link to MLBTR on Kimbrel
Link to post on Kimbrel’s destinations
Link to team RP over prior 14 days
Link to team RP over prior 30 days
Link to Diekman predictions pod
Link to final Diekman stats update
Link to Cowser post
Link to Cowser gamer
Link to MLB.com on Taylor
Link to MLBTR on Taylor
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Mets impending free agents
Link to article about 2025 Blue Jays hitting
Link to 2026 team wRC+
Link to 2025 team ISO and K%
Link to 2026 team ISO and K%
Link to 2025 team Barrels/BBE%
Link to 2026 team Barrels/BBE%
Link to 2025 team hard-hit %
Link to 2026 team hard-hit %
Link to MLB debutants spreadsheet
Link to B-Ref’s new debuts
Link to Nishida debut story
Link to MLB rookie offense
Link to Passan on Jump
Link to 2024 first round
Link to MLBTR on Jump
Link to draft-class data
Link to Ben on the Pirates and A’s
Link to team hitter WAR
Link to team pitcher WAR
Link to on-pace leaderboard
Link to single-season strikeouts leaders
Link to combined no-hitter gamer
Link to FG post on the no-hitter
Link to BP post on the no-hitter
Link to Bumpus SABR bio
Link to SABR Bumpus no-no story
Link to Langs on Bumpus/Santa
Link to 2026 MLB RP stats
Link to 2026 MLB SP stats
Link to team SP leaderboard
Link to Cubs WAR leaders
Link to Sam on the 2016 Giants
Link to streaky teams spreadsheet
Link to McCringleberry sketch
Link to McCringleberry homage 1
Link to McCringleberry homage 2
Link to Harper’s TikTok
Link to Lindbergh burrito method
Link to Nishida throw 1
Link to Nishida throw 2
Link to Cubs streak fact 1
Link to Cubs streak fact 2
Link to Rangers’ revenge stat
Link to Sox scoring stat 1
Link to Sox scoring stat 2
Link to Marlins/Cardinals/Twins candidates
Link to list of ballpark claimants
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 0· Soundbite0:00
[singing] The show is called Effectively Wild. It's about baseball and stats. We might be a major league guy. We break down some of the funniest acts. Effectively Wild. Effectively Wild. Effectively Wild. Effectively Wild.
Ben Lindbergh· Host0:30
Hello, and welcome to episode 2483 of Effectively Wild, a baseball podcast from FanGraphs, presented by our Patreon supporters. I am Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer, joined by Meg Rowley of FanGraphs. Hello, Meg.
Meg Rowley· Host0:44
Hello.
Ben Lindbergh· Host0:45
Well, on our last episode last week, I sounded the alarm that Craig Kimbrel was on the loose.
Meg Rowley· Host0:52
Mm-hmm.
Ben Lindbergh· Host0:53
And in fact, he is no longer on the loose, because he has been captured by the Tampa Bay Rays. So the Mets designated- Yeah ... him for assignment, and as we were recording, I brought up a blog post that was published by one of the Sports Illustrated affiliated blogs, that suggested that there were four bullpens that Craig Kimbrel could help right now.
Meg Rowley· Host1:18
Mm-hmm.
Ben Lindbergh· Host1:18
And I pooh-poohed the idea that he- Yeah ... could help any bullpens. What evidence do we have that he could help bullpens? And the four bullpens in question were the Reds, the Dodgers,