Wharton Moneyball

The road to the College Football Playoff is not as straightforward as a preseason ranking suggests.Bill Connelly, ESPN staff writer and creator of SP+, breaks down the analytics shaping the college football season. He examines why roster turnover creates a wider range of outcomes, how schedule strength affects playoff chances, the difference between the SEC and Big Ten, and the teams best positioned to contend. He also shares what his season simulations reveal about the title race and why a few unexpected teams could break through. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are today's MLB pitchers harder to hit than ever?Adam Ottavino, former 15-year MLB reliever and current ESPN analyst, explains how pitch-tracking data, high-speed cameras, and personalized pitching labs reshaped his own career and changed player development across baseball. He breaks down how pitchers design new pitches, use bat-tracking data to attack hitters, and adapt their strategy from pitch to pitch.Ottavino also examines why pitching may have gained an edge over hitting, how teams use data to plan pitch selection, the limits of velocity, automated ball-strike challenges, and what a temporary velocity drop can mean for a pitcher such as Paul Skenes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if baseball’s most trusted pitching limit is more habit than science? Travis Sawchik, baseball analytics writer and author of Big Data Baseball and The MVP Machine, breaks down why pitch counts can miss the real stress on a pitcher’s arm, how workload units and acute-to-chronic ratios offer a better view of fatigue, and why teams may need to rethink how they build pitching capacity.The conversation also covers MLB trade deadline strategy, the Dodgers’ title odds, the Brewers’ risk calculus, when teams should chase variance instead of average gains, Baker Mayfield’s recent production compared with Patrick Mahomes, the Ravens’ coaching changes, Saquon Barkley’s workload, and college football playoff storylines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The right limits can lead to better ideas and better performance.David Epstein, bestselling author of The Sports Gene, Range, and Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, joins Wharton Moneyball to explore how constraints can strengthen creativity, focus, and decision-making.Epstein discusses the value of tight briefs and rapid prototypes, why first ideas are not always the best ideas, and why young athletes may benefit from playing multiple sports before specializing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.