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With Meg Rowley sidelined by an ill-timed landscapers visit, Ben Lindbergh brings on two great guests. First, Japanese baseball expert Yuri Karasawa (aka <a href="https://x.com/yakyucosmo" target="_blank">Yakyu Cosmopolitan</a>) joins to talk about the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks dynasty, whether the Hawks&#8217; success has induced a Dodgers-esque backlash or desire for a salary cap, NPB&#8217;s adoption of the pitch clock and universal DH, the league&#8217;s partial offensive bounceback, Yuri&#8217;s MLB expectations for <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/teruaki-sato/sa3063811/stats/batting" target="_blank">Teruaki Sato</a>, <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kaima-taira/sa3062990/stats/pitching" target="_blank">Kaima Taira</a>, and <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/hiromi-itoh/sa3063835/stats/pitching" target="_blank">Hiromi Itoh</a>, whether Japanese fans are frustrated by the departures of so many NPB stars, whether losing top amateur talents such as Shoki Oda poses an existential threat to Japanese pro ball, how to follow NPB from afar, and more. Then (1:03:39) Ben welcomes <a href="https://x.com/mjmcclellan" target="_blank">Michael McClellan</a>, newly promoted director of analytics for the Rockies, to talk about leaving the Rays for the Rockies, how the Rockies can catch up to earlier data adopters, how to handle Coors Field, quantifying pitch-calling, what teams are looking for in applicants, how teams are (and aren&#8217;t) using AI, and more.
Audio&nbsp;intro: Liz Panella, &#8220;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wNnie0fLF2HVQsb4d-w5OqxMzyqfvImV/view?usp=drive_link" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Effectively Wild Theme</a>&#8221;
Audio&nbsp;interstitial: Jonathan Crymes, &#8220;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u9uMDVhB3JbuuT3HQYDzXcl4cXc-mY4Z/view?usp=drive_link" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Effectively Wild Theme</a>&#8221;
Audio&nbsp;outro: Nate Emerson, &#8220;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EquxhP2rk11C79uLJ6UGylakDUOcbvzY/view?usp=drive_link" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Effectively Wild Theme</a>&#8221;

<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1xhlmcr/2026_japan_series_game_4_the_fukuoka_softbank/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to latest Hawks victory clip</a>
<a href="https://www.yakyucosmo.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Yakyu Cosmopolitan site</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka_SoftBank_Hawks" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Hawks wiki</a>
<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2026/10/29/baseball/hawks-sweep-japan-series/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to article on the Hawks win</a>
<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2026/10/26/baseball/japanese-baseball/softbank-hawks-modern-dynasty/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to article on the Hawks dynasty</a>
<a href="https://yakyucosmopolitan.substack.com/about" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Yakyu Notes newsletter</a>
<a href="https://www.justbaseball.com/author/yurikarasawa/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Yuri&#8217;s Just Baseball archive</a>
<a href="https://japanball.com/author/yuri-karasawa/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Yuri&#8217;s JapanBall archive</a>
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-yakyu/id1869829809" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Talking Yakyu podcast</a>
<a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/110402/moonshot-this-wave-of-japanese-talent-is-the-beginning-of-a-pipeline/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Rob Arthur on NPB pro talent</a>
<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/181/jason-coskrey/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Jason Coskrey archive</a>
<a href="https://jballallen.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Jim Allen&#8217;s site</a>
<a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/shoki-oda-to-skip-npb-draft-to-pursue-mlb-dreams" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Oda news</a>
<a href="https://dodgersdigest.com/2026/10/31/what-we-know-so-far-about-shoki-oda-and-the-dodgers-pursuit-of-him/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Oda Dodgers post</a>
<a href="https://npbstats.com/eng/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to NPB Stats</a>
<a href="https://1point02.jp/op/index.aspx" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to DeltaGraphs</a>
<a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/07/25/mlb/yusuke-okada-japanese-bill-james-sabermetrics-nippon-professional-baseball-e8e42fe874d9" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Ben on DeltaGraphs</a>
<a href="https://grantland.com/features/npb-mlb-scouting-foreign-baseball-players-yokohama-dena-baystars/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Ben on NPB imports</a>
<a href="https://friarsonbase.com/padres-tatsuya-nogami-signing-brings-an-unusual-development-gamble-from-japan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Nogami signing post</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/scouting-players-from-asia-2026-2027-offseason-update/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Eric on NPB exports</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-wild-episode-1236-local-and-national-color/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to EW Episode 1236</a>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mcclellan-phd-27924431" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Michael&#8217;s LinkedIn</a>
<a href="https://www.purplerow.com/post/-US1Ac6sgw7_" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Monfort letter</a>
<a href="https://community.fangraphs.com/author/simplegifts/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Michael&#8217;s FG archive</a>
<a href="http://www.banishedtothepen.com/author/michael/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Michael&#8217;s BttP archive</a>
<a href="https://x.com/ZackScottSports/status/2112255190023991604" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to R&D department sizes</a>
<a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/07/18/mlb/mlb-expansion-mexico-city-drawbacks-7cbce43269ac" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Ben on Mexico City</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-wild-episode-2472-jason-b-on-nbc/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to EW Episode 2472</a>
<a href="https://www.theringer.com/2025/11/12/mlb/colorado-rockies-weird-dick-monfort-paul-depodesta-moneyball" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Ben on the Rockies</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7212433/2026/04/21/paul-depodesta-rockies-browns-moneyball/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to The Athletic on DePo</a>
<a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48176507/mlb-2026-paul-depodesta-colorado-rockies-moneyball-coors-field" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to ESPN on DePo</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1649617/2020/03/04/inside-the-rockies-new-idea-to-finally-cure-the-coors-field-hangover/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to hangover effect article 1</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/another-look-at-the-coors-conundrum/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to hangover effect article 2</a>
<a href="https://www.purplerow.com/2024/7/29/24208465/colorado-rockies-news-monday-rockpile-why-cant-the-rockies-conquer-the-coors-hangover" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to hangover effect article 3</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7204050/2026/04/17/rockies-pitch-calling-dugout-coors-field/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Rockies pitch-calling article</a>
<a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49385415/mlb-restricts-dugout-ipad-use-prevent-artificial-intelligence-game-decision-making" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to iPad crackdown news</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/job-posting-colorado-rockies-senior-or-lead-analyst-forecasting/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Rockies job posting</a>
<a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/104530/across-the-pond-a-crash-course-on-fastball-movement/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to FB &#8220;dead zone&#8221; info</a>
<a href="https://saberpowers.com/jobs/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Scott Powers site</a>
<a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/job-posting-new-york-mets-applied-ai-engineer-2/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to Mets job posting</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/28/style/gen-z-job-market.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link to NYT on applicant screening</a>

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Effectively Wild Episode 2554: Is MLB Bad for NPB? And Can the Rockies Catch Up?

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