About this episode

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss various MLB topics including All-Star Game pitching, player extensions, and technology in dugouts.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s jury duty and his reaction to Meg and Craig’s pillow talk on the preceding episode. Then they discuss why All-Star Game pitching is overpowering, whether the Home Run Derby balls were juiced (and whether it matters), another earliest-ever Opening Day, MLB’s crackdown on teams’ boundary-pushing use of dugout iPads, Shohei Ohtani ’s pitching pause, MLB app complaints, extensions for Chase Burns and Kyle Bradish , Luis Arraez as a prize of the trade deadline, and the funniest tech startups the Dodgers have seeded. Audio intro : Kite Person, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Ian Phillips, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to EW Episode 2506 Link to Kepner on the ASG Link to 2018 ASG box score Link to Heyman on Harper Link to Insta post with Harper quote Link to MLB HRD notes Link to longest Harper homers Link to longest Caminero homers Link to longest Contreras homers Link to exit speed responsibility Link to 2024 NBA ASG wiki Link to 2026 NBA ASG wiki Link to top-selling jerseys Link to Sheehan on the lack of stars Link to Paine on ASG philosophies Link to 2027 MLB…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley

Topics covered

• All-Star Game
• Home Run Derby
• MLB news
• pillow talk
• dugout technology
• player extensions
• trade deadline

Keywords

• All-Star Game
• Home Run Derby
• Shohei Ohtani
• Chase Burns
• Kyle Bradish
• Luis Arraez
• MLB
• dugout iPads
• pillow talk

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dodgers

Books & works: Effectively Wild Theme

Places: MLB

More episodes of Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

• Effectively Wild Episode 2506: All-Star Showers Bring Second-Half Flowers · July 16, 2026 · 39 min
• Effectively Wild Episode 2505: Game Recognize (All-Star) Game · July 15, 2026 · 1h 42m
• Effectively Wild Episode 2504: I Choo-Choo-Choose You · July 13, 2026 · 1h 40m
• Effectively Wild Episode 2503: Very Important Prey · July 11, 2026 · 36 min
• Effectively Wild Episode 2502: The Cycle of Major League Life · July 10, 2026 · 1h 46m
• Effectively Wild Episode 2501: Stay on Target · July 7, 2026 · 1h 43m

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