Effectively Wild Episode 2478: MLB’s New Main Characters
Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley
4.7 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 107 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest lima-bean-related revelations about Tarik Skubal’s elbow surgery, the Giants’ censored synchronized thrust and the history of homoerotic celebrations in baseball, Coby Mayo’s dog’s devotion, the Orioles’ rotation issues (and a Rico Garcia update), Atlanta’s unexpectedly productive DHs, Ben’s invisible baseball neighbor, and Konnor Griffin’s glow-up, plus (1:12:33) a check-in on the hitters and pitchers who’ve over- or underperformed their projections the most through the first quarter of the regular season, and the players who’ve made cases to become new MLB main characters.
Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”
Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Link to The Athletic on Skubal’s surgery
Link to Seinfeld squirrel surgery scene
Link to Giants celebration clip
Link to Key & Peele sketch
Link to Baggarly post
Link to Baggarly article
Link to other article on the edict
Link to JHL’s possible smooch attempt
Link to new bow celebration
Link to Gilbert GIF
Link to Vitello thrust
Link to Posey ownership story
Link to Charles B. Johnson wiki
Link to Johnson donations article
Link to Mets outfield imitation
Link to 2022 Mookie celebration
Link to Mookie Twitch stream answer
Link to Mookie Twitch clip
Link to bukkake wiki
Link to Mookie’s Ohtani comment
Link to 2024 Dodgers crotch bump
Link to 2016 Cubs crotch bump
Link to 2014 Mariners celebration post 1
Link to 2014 Mariners celebration post 2
Link to 2019 Rangers crotch grab
Link to Red Sox celebration info
Link to Dodgers memorial announcement
Link to Collins obit
Link to MLBTR on Fried’s elbow
Link to Mayo game story
Link to Mayo quote clip
Link to Mayo quote text
Link to Argos wiki
Link to mid-March team SP projections
Link to team SP WAR to date
Link to Orioles SP stats so far
Link to team hitter WAR
Link to Elias’s Eflin/Rodriguez quote
Link to 2026 Elias SP quote 1
Link to 2026 Elias SP quote 2
Link to 2026 Elias SP quote 3
Link to team defense leaderboard
Link to .000 BABIP streaks
Link to MLB.com on Garcia
Link to Profar DH article
Link to team DH production
Link to team LF production
Link to 2026 Location+ leaders
Link to Link to 2024-26 Location+ leaders
Link to latest Skenes gem
Link to BP on Griffin’s rookie eligibility
Link to Griffin’s early-season sample
Link to Griffin’s second sample
Link to hitter leaderboard since Griffin’s birthday
Link to “quarter pole” definition
Link to preseason hitter projections
Link to preseason pitcher projections
Link to hitter pace leaderboard
Link to pitcher pace leaderboard
Link to hitter over/underperformers
Link to pitcher over/underperformers
Link to Hogg on Miz velo post
Link to Hogg on Miz velo article
Link to Jones on Miz velo
Link to Miz vs. Jones velo fun fact
Link to Crizer on April 2025 main characters
Link to Clemens on Walker
Link to Raleigh shower story
Link to BP on Turang
Link to Blue Jays IP leaders
Link to Orioles shutout gamer
Link to 2475 Podsednik Stat Blast wiki
Link to 1879 Podsednik Stat Blast
Link to 1885 Podsednik follow-up
Link to Podsednik walk-off
Link to corvids wiki
Link to icterids wiki
Link to Vandy video clip
Link to Vandy controversy summary
Link to Vandy-Mizzou gamer
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Well, it's moments like these that make you ask, |
| 0:03.0 | how can you not be horny about baseball? |
| 0:07.0 | Every take hot and hotter, |
| 0:09.0 | entwining and a budding, watch him climb digging mountain, |
| 0:13.0 | nothing's about nothing, |
| 0:15.0 | every stitch wet with sweat, breaking balls back, |
| 0:18.0 | Dormy on effectively wild, can you not be horny? |
| 0:24.5 | When it comes to podcasts, how can you not be horny? |
| 0:30.8 | Hello and welcome to episode 2478 of Effectively Wild, |
| 0:35.0 | a fancrafts baseball podcast brought brought you by our Patreon supporters. |
| 0:38.4 | I'm Meg Rowley of Fangraphs, and I am joined by Ben Littemberg of the Ringer. |
| 0:43.0 | How are you? |
| 0:45.1 | I regret to say that I have another Terik's Goebel Elbow update. |
| 0:50.0 | I'm pretty sure I suggested that the one on the last episode would be the final update, at least until he returns. |
| 0:56.0 | But no, I have more courtesy of an excellent article by Cody Stavenhagen at The Athletic that answered a lot of the questions about the scuba procedure that came to our minds when we recorded on Monday. |
| 1:08.9 | First of all, we got another degree of precision about the size of the loose body, the joint |
| 1:15.7 | mouse that was removed from Terrick Scoobel's elbow. |
| 1:19.2 | And we have also learned what it was exactly. |
| 1:22.0 | It was a speck of calcified cartilage. |
| 1:25.6 | And last time we learned that it was about the size of a lima beam, |
| 1:29.9 | according to Scott Boris. Well, Dr. Neil Eletrosch, who performed the surgery, now specifies |
| 1:35.7 | that it was about the size of a fat lima bean. Okay. So now we're getting increasingly precise. |
... |
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