Episode Details

After a brief preamble about the betting scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the first game of the regular season, whether gloves have gotten more permeable, the odds of a DH-only Ohtani MVP season, Ohtani’s lucrative endorsements, whether the addition of in-app gambling info to NBA League Pass portends a similar future for MLB.TV, the pitfalls of pervasive sports-betting ads, the implications of Eury Pérez’s elbow injury, the chances that Pérez will win multiple Cy Young awards, and the decimated Marlins rotation. Then (34:39) they answer listener emails about what makes pitchers aesthetically pleasing, whether Blake Snell is effectively wild, whether coaches spend more time on stars or scrubs, moving the bullpen beneath the mound, whether MLB has too many multi-team markets, and joint broadcast booths, plus Stat Blasts (1:12:04) on the Dodgers’ daunting top of the order and the Padres’ profusion of shortstops, followed by (1:37:49) a real-time reaction to the Ohtani-Mizuhara news and a postscript with additional details and thoughts.

Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to shortstop PPR
Link to Gromit GIF
Link to Cronenworth play
Link to opener box score
Link to Duffy glove fail
Link to Vlad glove fail
Link to Ohtani MVP odds
Link to DH MVP article
Link to NL WAR projections
Link to 2023 AL WAR leaders
Link to endorsement leaders

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