Effectively Wild Episode 2419: TJ and TK in Triple-A
Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley
4.8 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 26 December 2025
⏱️ 122 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ben Lindbergh talks to two pitchers who topped out at Triple-A in 2025, which was a demotion for one and a promotion for the other. First, he brings back Rangers pitcher Declan Cronin, the only major leaguer alum of Ben’s high school, to discuss a setback of a season that included a mysterious hip injury, compromised mechanics, diminished stuff, a cutthroat release and, finally, Tommy John surgery. Along the way, they cover the urge to play through injuries, joining the Rangers after being unceremoniously jettisoned by the Marlins, what tearing a UCL feels like, the incentives that lead to elbow problems, Declan’s plan to bounce back from a challenging year, MLB-NWSL romances, and competing with other players for wedding dates. Then (1:05:45), Ben talks to White Sox pitcher/sportswriter Duncan Davitt about becoming a journalist on the side, being on both ends of interviews, being blacked out of baseball broadcasts, the plight and importance of local media, his deceptive delivery, being traded and making a 40-man for the first time, what he has to do to earn a call-up, whether pitchers wear protective cups, and much more.
Audio intro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme 2”
Link to “TK” journalism term
Link to MLBTR on Soderstrom
Link to Regis High School wiki
Link to Declan’s first pod appearance
Link to Declan’s second pod appearance
Link to article about baseball weddings
Link to Declan t-shirt
Link to MLBTR on Declan’s TJ
Link to list of TJ surgeries
Link to cascade injury article
Link to MLBTR on Declan’s deal
Link to team RP WPA
Link to team RP WAR
Link to staff page at Tread
Link to Tyler Zombro wiki
Link to Paige Monaghan wiki
Link to Paige’s wedding post
Link to Dansby/Mallory article
Link to Peña/Grosso engagement
Link to Duncan strikeout reel
Link to Register feature on Duncan
Link to Sox Machine feature on Duncan
Link to Duncan’s wedding post
Link to Rays prospect ranking
Link to traded prospects ranking
Link to minor league IP leaders
Link to Ben on deception
Link to Indianola IA website
Link to Indianola wiki
Link to J.D. Scholten appearance
Link to Indianola IA sports page
Link to Duncan’s boys’ basketball article
Link to Duncan’s girls’ basketball article
Link to Duncan on the offseason
Link to Duncan on the trade
Link to Duncan on the 40-man
Link to Duncan on Triple-A
Link to Duncan on big league belief
Link to Laurila’s notes column
Link to Ben on the gap in 2025
Link to Ben on the gap in 2015
Link to Davenport on the gap
Link to MLB.com on Abbott Elementary
Link to Schwarber’s 4-HR game
Link to MLB survey question
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to |
| 0:09.0 | Hello and welcome to episode 2419 of Effectively Wild |
| 0:13.0 | Baseball podcast from Fangraphs presented by our Patreon supporters. |
| 0:17.4 | I am Ben Lindberg of the Ringer, hoping that you had a nice Christmas, even if it |
| 0:21.1 | wasn't quite as lucrative as Tyler Soderstrom's, and I did indeed have a happy birthday. |
| 0:25.4 | So thanks to those of you who wished me one, I got some good gifts. I did not receive an |
| 0:29.8 | $86 million extension. Meg will be back next week, and I will put out one more call for |
| 0:34.5 | stories we missed in 2025. We'll be going team to team and talking about |
| 0:39.3 | some aspect of each team in 2025 that we did not discuss, at least not in any depth during |
| 0:45.5 | this year. So if you have a nomination for a particular team, please email us. But today, |
| 0:49.8 | in Meg's absence, I am once again joined by two excellent guests, Declan Cronin and Duncan Davitt. |
| 0:55.7 | Declan and Duncan. Duncan and Declan, D&D. Both are right-handed pitchers who topped out at |
| 1:01.5 | AAA in 2025. Both pitchers have interesting second jobs. And both are recently married. Aside from that, |
| 1:08.7 | their years couldn't have gone much differently. Declan had a down year. Duncan had an up year, but they both ended up at the same level. So it was the worst of times, it was the best of times. But either way, it was AAA. Now, if you've been with us for a while, you've heard from Declan before. He has made two previous appearances on the podcast. And like Joe Sheehan, one of my guests on episode 2418, and also like |
| 1:28.7 | Bugshambi and Pablo Torre, for that matter, he attended the same high school as me, Regis High |
| 1:33.5 | School in Manhattan, which made him of immediate interest to me when he made the major leagues in |
| 1:37.9 | 2023. And in fact, we did a meet a major leaguer segment back then, on which Declan himself |
| 1:43.6 | appeared. I literally met him, |
| 1:45.3 | at least via audio. So that was episode 2040. He debuted with the White Sox. He then spent just about |
| 1:51.2 | the entirety of 2024 in the majors with the Marlins. He came back on the podcast on episode 2216. |
| 1:57.6 | So I thought it would be nice to extend the streak to three straight ears appearing on the |
| 2:01.4 | podcast. The problem was, things didn't go as great for him this year. But I thought that might be |
... |
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