High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - 162-0 is STILL in Play and Harper is Set to Make His Return to D.C

Episode Date: April 1, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phillies are baseball's last undefeated team. The guys talk about this magical weekend, get ready for Harper's return to D.C and more! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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To get started, just open the app. It's as easy as that. See the PC Optimum app for details. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds. Well, without the computers. Talking about the Philadelphia Phillies.

On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. It is a the Phillies are the only undefeated team in Major League Baseball edition, Jack Fritz. James, I gotta be honest with you. I'm feeling a little sweepy today. Oh, look at you. Feeling a little sweepy. I thought I was the dad making dad jokes. No? No.

Okay, good. It's only me and I am more of a dad than you. Feeling real sweepy. I'm feeling a little sweepy. Oh, brother. I'm not the only dad in Philadelphia. Yes. Our boy, Bryce. So here's my question about that. Does he name it Jack?

Maybe. He should name it Jack. He's going to name his kid Philly Harper. No, he's going to name it Rocky. Okay, here's my question. At what age is it appropriate for me to start hooking Zoe up with his future son? I'm not hooking up. Immediately. Hang out.

I'm talking marriage. I'm talking betrothed. I'm talking life. Spend their lives together. I think you need to let it happen organically. Oh, man. Yeah. It's like that episode of The League where they have the Cutler baby.

That's a good point. Okay. We'll let it happen organically. Listen, he can think it can happen organically. We'll just be pulling the strings. Oh, see, I like this. Okay. Yay. Okay, so that's the plan.

Well, no, I'm not lying to you. I've never lied to the I Hope's People. I was in Chipotle with Jill today, and I was like, listen, I think it's about that time. Yes. These guys need to grow old together. Yes. I can start a plan that we can become best friends with the Harpers. That's my goal.

I've already... This has already happened in my mind, Jack. I'm already at their wedding, so it's great. Oh, okay. Yeah, Zoe and Rocky Harper. Damn, man. You I'm already at their wedding. So it's great. Their wedding? Oh, okay. Yeah, Zoe and Rocky Harper. Damn, man. You're going to be like 60 when she gets married. It's Uncle Bryce, man. Come on.

Let's go. I mean, talk about a guy. Like, he comes here, rakes all weekend. And then has a kid on Monday. He's so in a zone right now That he goes back to back moonshots And then on his off day Messes it around and announces he's having a kid He's going to name it Rocky isn't he

I can see him just going Philly Philly Harper He is really He is full barrel All in Mr. Philadelphia I thought Rory Halliday was all in when he got here Remember his opening press conference This is the only place I wanted to be.

It's like this one's steroids. It's crazy. No one has ever come to this city and been more all in from the jump to Bryce Harper. And guess what? We love it. It's awesome. Keep doing it, Bryce, because you are freaking perfect. You're too good to be true.

Speaking of which, Jack, let's just get into it my man hit a 465 foot home run tank shot and oh like immediate you're just like oh well he just murdered that i'm so i'm so glad it wasn't like a wall scraper i'm so glad it was like alex bregman i watched alex bregman at a homer this weekend that like literally bounced off the top of the fence and went over. Yeah, I'm so glad it was like a, I'm so glad there's a no doubt about it. Like just absolute tank shot to right. We were talking about in the opener how it was so clear that he was trying to swing out of his cleats. That's what happens when you actually connect them when you're swinging out of your cleats.

No, I know. It's crazy. It's like his swing is the weirdest. It's so violent, but so smooth at the I know. It's crazy. It's like his swing is the weirdest. It's so violent, but so smooth at the same time. It really is. It's actually a really good way to put it because it's incredibly violent on the body, but it's so smooth through the zone. And he almost, he should have had two

home runs last night because that double off the wall. Yeah, he hit that ball hard. That gets out every single night of the year, except when the wind is just whipping out to right field. He is looking locked in and man, just Franski's call is giving me chills. I did get, I think I started welling up when he did the curtain call thing. It was so perfect.

He goes out, and it's just like, between the image of us having a superstar, the image of the Philly fans being all in, and the roar. We haven't had that roar since 2011, man. We haven't had that level of roar since Game 5 in 2011. It's that kind of... We are so back from a baseball standpoint.

Tell you what, from a Philly standpoint, you could have not scripted a better first weekend. Outside of Pavetta not pitching great, and Arrieta walking everyone and that game just being horrible for the first five innings yesterday, this has been such a great baseball weekend. And I think it was so important for them to get off to a hot start because now everyone's all in.

Everyone's in. This city is so Phillies-ed up. It is unbelievable. It's so cool. Well, baseball's dead. It's great. No one cares about baseball. It's over, Jack.

It's just crazy how like philly's fans have just been begging for a good product on the field and now i feel like it's a combination of everyone's excited about this team and also we all now remember like we a lot of my generation at least we never had a good philly's team like 93 was a little bit we were all super young but now my generation like the 2007 and 2011 Phillies were the first great Philly team that we really, really, really remember. And now that whole generation is feeling nostalgic about it. And everyone is having this nostalgic feel about baseball being back.

And now the team's actually really good. Well, and it's a great point because, look, it was all we talked about after the opening day game was the electricity in the ballpark, how great it is to have it back and have it matter again. But it really has been amazing how quickly, how easily everyone in Philadelphia has just fallen back into it. It's just like that. We're back.

Baseball. We love it. Let's go. Right. It's like the last eight years never happened. It never happened. We're always good. All the freaking fights that I got and the people we yelled with, the people who said baseball is dead.

It's awesome. To the curtain call point, that is bar none, far and away the best curtain call I've ever seen in my life. It's always, and I love it. I got no problem with come out, you do the little hat tip. You're like, thank you. Very cool. Bryce Hark runs out and he's like, let's go. Let's go.

It was so in the moment and such pure fire and adrenaline and him feeding off the crowd. You know in that moment when he was coming out to do the curtain call, when he's yelling, let's go, in his head he's saying, thank God I'm not in San Francisco. Thank God I'm not in San Diego. Thank God I made the choice I made. I don't know how you could... I think he's definitely just ecstatic to be here.

It has to be. This is the difference. The Philly difference is unlike any other... Boston, I think, has it a bit. Unlike with the Patriots. They don't really care about the Patriots. They act like they care about the Patriots. You bet your time in Boston. Boston is a Red Sox And Celtics down

100% I mean Fenway Park is in Like it's in the city It's in the center of the city Right and that That ballpark gets electric Yes Yankee Stadium

Peak Yankee Stadium Back in the day Yankee Stadium New Yankee Stadium Has never been electric yet And might never be Well Jeter's Jeter's last game

Yeah Was electric But Sure But like The electricity in that ballpark It's like It's the weird the

weirdest thing to me is that last year there was 40 000 people there for the dodgers series they sold out four games last year already sold out three this right right but like even though there was 40 000 people there and there was legitimately it was never like loud it wasn't even close to what it is now like it wasn't even close and now it's like every little thing is getting cheered well people are actually paying attention every pitch there even close. And now it's like every little thing is getting cheered. People are actually paying attention to every pitch. There's tension in between pitches. It's not just like, I'm going to go hang out at the ballpark and there'll be a game

going on at the same time. I'm going there to watch the game. Dude, how about Arietta's at bat last night? It was like Brett Myers. It was like Brett Myers in 2008. Exactly what it was. And the crowd's going crazy and they're getting into it. Everyone is so back in on the Phillies. It just't i can't it just warms the heart it really does as as you know and look the high it was 130 000 people the first 130 000 again three straight no doubt about it

sellouts but obviously the high hopes crew has been with us but it's been dead in this city when it comes to baseball. Like two years ago, you couldn't pay someone to talk. Oh, wait, I got paid to talk about the Phillies. And it was really hard to do. You couldn't pay someone to talk about the Phillies two years ago. And now it's just immediate. It's so exciting, man.

It's the best. All right, let's dive into the games themselves. Obviously, we've talked about Harper locked in. It's outstanding. It's very exciting. We have to get to it. Can I give one last Harper thing that I think is really, really interesting? There are never enough Harper things. No, I get it. I get it. But I thought this was really, really,

really interesting from last night. While you're looking up, I'll give one more Harper thing we forgot to. Shout out for the obviously the cleats on opening day were super cool. Very cool with the fanatic they put the harper picture on his romance and and the other thing with harper too real quick is and i know that there are some old fuddy duddies out there joe to camera being one of them who don't like celebrations or whatever play the game the right

way screw all that bryce harper has brought an infectious excitement to this team. He does one of my favorite things that Victor Martinez used to do this to. It is one of my favorite things that a ball player can do. The individual handshakes for every player on the team, that is so cool. That takes, like, effort, and it makes you think, like, oh, this guy actually cares about me in some way or this or that and it just it fosters such camaraderie especially when it's coming from the face of the team i've just loved the attitude we've seen from this yeah i mean for your 330 million dollar

player to have handshakes with every single player on the team and like he mentions michael franco all the time like how cool is that like that's just not that's not something that typical superstars do and i i saw something over the weekend from a Nationals beat reporter, or a former Nationals beat reporter. I think she's doing the presidential beat now. She was watching the games, I guess, and she was like, I've never seen Bryce Harper

this happy. It's awesome. We talked about this a lot. The Washington thing, it felt like a burden was on him that whole time. 100%. Being here, I feel like this is the real Bryce Harperce harper yeah and also the burden of as we talked about playing for that contract building up to that thing like this is the first time in his career and obviously there's pressure you're making 330 million that's inherent pressure but it feels like for the first time in his career he can exhale and just go out and have fun yeah and

he is doing just that like this team is just full of just good, genuine dudes that seem to all love to win. And seem to love playing with each other. They do. And have fun while they do it. For a team that's three games into the season, I feel like I've been watching this team for a decade. Me too, man. Me too. So we're recording this on Monday, if you're not listening on Monday.

But there's an off day today, and I'm losing my mind. All I want to do is see them play again. And I know they need off days, all that type of stuff. Just give me Phillies all the time. Rejecting my veins. I know. So the one Bryce Harper staff that I love. Bryce Harper has two batted balls hit 113 miles per hour in his first three games.

He had only three all of last season. What does that tell you? He had only three all of last season. What does that tell you? I mean, that's a very interesting and I think it says a lot type of set. Right. But yeah, this team is just on fire. And up and down the lineup, everyone's having fun. Everyone's believing each other.

I think the fact that they were able to start the season at home, I think, is a huge help because it gets the camaraderie with the fans. Totally. And the fans and the fans get to be all on this team like last year kind of sucked like they go on the road to the Atlanta to start the season then they go to New York and then they come back and then the booze happened and like it kind of just derailed the whole first part of the season now it's like it's like McCutcheon leads off the home run and everyone's they all have handshakes already um the one

downfall I guess has been the starting staff hasn't looked as good as we thought it was going to be. Andrew McCutcheon is one of my favorite players in the team. It's not even close. I love the guy. I love him. I love Andrew McCutcheon. He's already a fan favorite. The bowing on opening day, the home run last

night. What if we got a mixture of MVP McCutcheon, but less than MVP McCutcheon? It does seem like there is a, and again, as someone who watched him play a lot with the Yankees last year, there seems like there's a kind of new pep in his step, almost. Well, I think he wants to prove a lot of people wrong. His bat looks really fast.

He's driven two, like that ball last night, obviously field home running, right? That's probably what, a single in PNC Park? Oh, yeah. Or the double in AT&T Park? Probably a double, yeah. So he's playing in a hitter's ballpark outside of the Yankee Stadium thing for the first full season in his entire career. I think that's going to pay huge dividends.

It's just, we should probably talk about the lineup. The lineup is freaking ridiculous. It's relentless, this lineup. It's pick your poison.. It's pick your poison. It's absolutely pick your poison. As soon as you think you get to the first five in the lineup, then you have Oduble, Cesar, and Franco. Yep.

And we saw over the first three games, especially obviously games one and two, when those three guys are contributing, this lineup is borderline unstoppable. Because those first five are as good as any first five in baseball. If those three guys are hitting, there's no downtime. There's no break for a pitcher. There's no break for a staff.

No, it's not. I mean, it's up and down the lineup. Sometimes when you're pitching and you know you have the first five, and it's really good. And you get through that. You have that exhale, like, oh, I'm good. Totally. And then the bottom of the lineup's like, even 08, that team was loaded, but you have Feliz and Ruiz at the end of the lineup.

Now you have to go through, like, Cesar Hernandez is top 10 in pitches per play appearances. When Oduble's going well, he's a good player. And Michael Franco has 20-plus home run per 10 for the 8-hole. At least if nothing else with Franco in that 8 hole like he will crush mistakes and and he has and he has

he has crushed mistakes so it's just been really good to see and and the like the main difference between this year

and last year is the talent on the field I get it but like last year last year they were they were pitching their way to the first place

and now they're hitting and that's way more interesting for the casual baseball fan to get back in on. And that's a great point. You're absolutely right. And it's also more sustainable. It just is in terms of, especially with the guys they had last year, we were waiting for it to fall off.

Eflin, Velasquez's good stretch that he had. Even Pavetta in his first season, the amount of innings, you were just waiting for them to regress to the mean. This offense is at its mean. This is what this offense is supposed to be doing, and it's doing it, and it's going to continue to do it. It is much more projectable though. And the guys that are

doing it actually have track records. That's my point. Yes, yeah. Alright, let's get to it. Poor Jack. I was getting so many texts from Jack. It was like the Alec bomb thing on steroids yes all right so nick pavetta didn't have his great first start to the season everyone on twitter let you know that oh dude it was like my mentions were just on fire and it was like it was like it was like the randomest stuff it was like like, oh, you know, you're a fraud.

The newer shouldn't believe. It's like, oh, my God. Like, it's baseball. My main critique with the whole beginning of this season so far is that, like, that people think baseball is easy. And the best players in the world fail seven out of ten times when you're batting. Like, that's just a fact. Players fail all the time. Everyone's burning a doable last night, right?

And, of course, you never want to swing first pitch after a guy walks with those guys. But let's look at that objectively. That is, out of the hand, that looked like a fastball down and in, which lefties absolutely mashed. That's the one spot you can't miss with a fastball because that ball gets hit over the fence. That's just what happens. And it was a changeup that fell right off the table.

And you're a baseball player who is coming up with the bases loaded. I agree with you. In that spot, you should take a pitch. You should give it a chance to make him work for it. But at the same time, you're coming up with the bases loaded. You're a good hitter. You see a pitch you can hit, you're going to go after it. Well, and I think their whole philosophy from a hitting standpoint is being selectively aggressive and i wouldn't be surprised

if if john maylee said to him hey you're looking for one pitch one spot in this situation and that one pitch one spot is down and in because that's a ball that lefty hitters just absolutely freaking mash so like i was just really i'm really frustrated so far with like people not understand that it's baseball and like are going to go wrong sometimes. And that, taking it a step further, that it is an incredibly long season. It's a grind. This is hopefully one of 32 or 33 starts Nick Pavetta is going to make this season. Right.

Like, Pavetta has one bad start and I was like, whoa, I told you so. You stinks. Yeah. You're wrong, Jack. Yeah, it's like, all right. He didn't pitch well the first three innings of the game. In the fourth inning, he got squeezed and a Freddie Freeman ball got through the shortstop hole

that wasn't occupied, that was off his hands. He got squeezed in the fourth inning. He had a tight umpire all day. Did Pavetta pitch well? No. Was I frustrated that he came out of spring training where he was doing the things that they were trying to implement with him and reverted back to old Pavetta? No. Was I frustrated that he came out of spring training where he was doing the things that they were trying to implement with him and reverted back to old Pavetta? Yes.

Did I think he started getting in a groove in the fourth inning before he got squeezed? Yes. I thought he was starting to figure it out a little bit. It was a frustrating start. I understand everyone's frustrated. I mean, he is the linchpin to this team going from good to great. Well, they're already great. Let's go great to World Series caliber.

I agree with you. I think that's a good way to put it. Because they're going to hit their way to the playoffs. I mean, they really are. I mean, you know, with Nola and whatnot, and the bullpen needs to show up and stuff, but this offense is good enough to carry this team to the playoffs. James, my main takeaway from opening weekend is I thought this team was going to be really good.

They're better than I thought. That's my big takeaway, too. I predicted 92 wins, and I feel like that's low. And that's crazy. Dude, I thought they were going to be, like, really good. They're better than I thought. That's my big takeaway too. I predicted 92 wins and I feel like that's low. And that's crazy. Dude, I thought they were going to be like really good. They are excellent. Like they're solid defensively. The pitching staff, like that was as bad as I could

really expect them to be. Like I think they're going to get, obviously they're going to get even better. Dude, Nola didn't even pitch well. We talked about that. And look, Arrieta credit, got out of some jams. It was a cold night, all that type of stuff. Well, I mean, I could tell you all you need to know about throwing in the cold. Yeah, Jack, the king of throw, you couldn't do it.

Listen, freshman year Fritz, that's the only reason why I'm here right now. I feel bad, yes. Is that my fingertips were freezing off and I'm going against the number 24 team in the country. It's so unlike you to have an excuse for why I didn't work here. For my career? Yeah, it's very unlike you to have an excuse for for why for my career yeah it's very unlike you i blame keystone light i blame i blame the cold in virginia um what else can i blame the the commons food that that i can also blame that definitely mostly the cold definitely not me

yeah it's not about me i lost my cutter somehow i blame that on the baseball gods um so if you want to keep going i I mean, there's a reason why. Oh, trust me. I believe that you could rattle off excuses for the next hour. Well, the first game of my entire career, I'm on a bus for eight hours, and then all of a sudden, I'm thrown into a 1-1 game in the seventh inning. Like, sorry, a freshman can't handle that. Oh, man.

It's good. You're really good at this. I thought about it a lot. It's really impressive. Yeah, this is something you've really thought about and come up with many layers of uh yeah but um so the one thing i thought was really interesting about last night um with arietta is that chris young was the reason they won that game oh so what a take right there so chris for those who don't know new pitching coach chris young he was the assistant last year. How about Rick Cranach showing up in Atlanta all weekend?

I feel like, Rick, you did a good job last year. Thanks, Ricky. Anyway, so Chris Young, the new pitching coach. And Chris Young, not the super tall righty. No, yeah, not the Padres. Super frustrating that no one could hit. Nor the outfielder, Chris B. Young. Not that as well.

Yes, not the guy that backed up Jake Peavy on that awesome Padres. Not the guy who I owned on a few fantasy teams thinking he was going to bust out. But so last night, Gabe mentioned it after the game. So the first couple innings, I thought, from watching Arrieta, the first couple innings, I thought he was just tight, and it looked like the Arrieta last year

where he's pulling everything, and he could never really settle into a rhythm, and I thought he was cutting himself off a little bit, and that just affects your location, glove side, all that fun stuff. I thought he was cutting himself off a little bit and that just affects your location, glove side, all that fun stuff. I thought he was back to last year's form. It looked different than what I was seeing in spring training. Both Pavetta and Arrieta

through the first four innings were different than what I saw in spring training, so I'm still encouraged by that. But what Chris Young did was he took the tape from the first four innings and was watching it the entire time, noticed what Arrieta was doing wrong, went to Arrieta, and Arrieta was like, oh, I see it. Wow, really?

Yeah, and his last two innings were good. That is awesome. Yeah, no, it's really. Like in the moment, watching video, making changes. Yeah, that's, first of all, just the fact that he's doing that, just the fact that he's in-game watching video shows the level of dedication you like, but the fact that he could notice that in the moment like that and make a change i think said something well there's a reason coach there's a reason why rick kranitz isn't here yes i mean a lot of people

believe chris young was the reason for the success last year and a lot of people think that well arietta believes i think that uh well no actually it was it was sam fold that found the the change in his arm angle. Sam Fold? Yeah. Former outfielder. All this technology is a good thing? Oh, no. Crazy.

Stop. You're telling me you can save a guy's career? Stop. But yeah, no, I thought that was really interesting. And just from the way the staff has handled this season so far, we might have a really good staff. I've been really impressed with Gabe. I thought Gabe was excellent all weekend long.

I thought he did a great job this weekend. He did, look, for all the, and this podcast has not been one of them, but for all the Gabe haters out there, you have nothing to complain about after the first weekend. Same lineup all three games, handled the bullpen, dare I say, brilliantly.

Yeah, I mean, for everyone chirping me about Pavetta, where's the Adam Morgan appreciation? I was just about to get there. Where is it? 1-0? Pitch another clean inning yesterday? Listen, my man. Adam Morgan. Listen, the most important thing that happened this weekend. More important than Nick Pavetta, obviously. That was your big call all season.

No, just more important than the Harper home runs, the curtain calls, the crowd being back, is that Adam Morgan is a legitimate shutdown lefty. And did you notice that he threw a ton of sliders? Of course I did. It was all I was looking for. His slider is actually disgusting. It's a good pitch.

It's a really good pitch. And in general, I agree with you. I was very impressed with both Gabe and the bullpen. Other than the Neres home run opening day and the Robertson homer in an 8-4 game, you know, that happens. The bullpen was shut out the entire weekend. I guess my one problem with the Robertson thing is like, I understand he's a veteran

and he got to use him this entire season. I agree with that, yeah. He pitched four innings. There was no reason to use him in that spot. No, no, no. I'm talking about like, I don't think he was ready to go this season. He only had four appearances in spring training.

Oh, I see what you're saying. So he's still working himself up. He certainly has not looked like the David Robertson from last year yet. No. And I was shocked because on the 8-4 game on Saturday, when it became 8-6, I thought I saw a little deer in headlights. And I was like, dude, you pitched in New York. Yeah, dude, you pitched in the World Series.

What are we talking about here? He looked a tad nervous. And I was like, come on, man. We're paying you some money. Come on, man. We're paying you some money. I was impressed with the bullpen from the standpoint of they have a lot of righties they can just throw at you. Nicasio looked really good the other day. I like

him in that spot. Neshek's been great. I was just about to say. As much as we hate on Pat Neshek, the man gets out. Oh, the guy's just good. He just gets out. Good against lefties, too. He just gets out. Oh, the guy's just good. He just gets out. And he's good against lefties, too. He just gets out.

Sir Anthony looks like Sir Anthony. Sir Anthony. Jose Alvarez looked really good getting that one batter, but came in and did his job. Yeah, so I thought Gabe was great. He took his hands off the wheel, and they've talked a lot

about the human element, and I think that's really, really important. I don't think Gabe fully got that heading into last season. I totally agree and just him talking about being pissed off about Hoskins like getting thrown at yeah like it's

just it's just those little things phrasing but yes and the thing and then what he said I get really mad when I think about balls being under Hoskins chin I was like I don't want to phrase it that way I got you Gabe I got you the afternoon show is going to clip that one of course are you kidding me that way that's. I got you, Gabe. I got you. The Afternoon Show is going to clip that one. Of course they will.

Are you kidding me? It's like their dream drop right there. No, I know. But they stopped. Oh, so my main take is that I think the more I realize it and the more I look back, 2018 was more about data gathering than actually winning games. We talked about this in the moment, actually. We talked about a few of these things as things they were doing

as just ways to gather data and for the future. And I think in hindsight, I really agree with you. I mean, look, we're not saying that they weren't trying to win baseball games. Well, they went out and made additions to help the ball club win games. They're trying to win baseball games, but I agree with you. I think they did some things last year to see how they worked. Right. The one thing I hated last year

was when a guy would get out of a big spot and he would be- It was one of your things. It made me so mad. Because that was not thinking with your head. That was not thinking the emotional side. So the scenario is, like,

Sir Anthony or Neshek or whoever would come in- Bases loaded, two outs type of situation. Or second and third, runner on third, whatever. Whatever. A big moment in the game. They would get out of it. And then Gabe would put them back out there for the next inning.

And what frustrated me was like if you go in the mind of a pitcher, right, and you're all amped up for that one time you get to come in, get out of it, get out of a big spot, your emotions are on an ultimate high, to come out for that next inning, like they usually don't have like that's just it's weird it doesn't make total sense i get it but that's just the emotion of a pitcher that when you get out of a big moment like that to send them back out there it's like coming down it's just it doesn't usually work out well um but and just as to my whole you know athletes are humans like that makes sense that you're on even this emotional high.

You're at that point. You go down. You sit on a dugout for a while. Go back out there. It would make sense that you wouldn't be able to bring that same level of intensity. Yeah, and I think they still, obviously, they do the analytics. The analytics are great. Like they're good for baseball.

But I think if you want to win over a clubhouse, I think trusting Jake Arrieta in the sixth inning to get out of that, I think that's big. I think that's a season-defining moment right there. And I think trusting Jake Arrieta in the sixth inning to get out of that, I think that's big. I think that's a season defining moment right there. And I think he learned that last year early. I think that even that first game of the season, taking Nola out after 68 pitches, and I know he had reasons for

it and all that, but I think that was the first data point. And he's seen it time and time again that certain spots, and he's talked about it a ton. Gabe has talked a lot about trusting his gut in spots and talked about not necessarily just sticking to the numbers that there are certain situations where you have to weigh the collective versus the one individual decision and i think that's all really good stuff and i think it's going to bear itself out this season i really do and i And just the vibe from the clubhouse.

I mean, Neshek, I guess, talked to reporters yesterday, and he said that Gabe's changed, and Gabe's really – it feels like the clubhouse is all behind them, and it feels like that clubhouse is just tight-knit. And the Phillies brought in – they brought in guys this offseason. Culture guys. Right. And I think that's just so lost upon the modern sports.

I totally agree with you. Culture in a locker room is more important than what the numbers say sometimes. Bring in Andrew McCutcheon. This is where you go away from the analytics. A little bit. And I'm with you because I do think you have to balance it. It can't

just all be one thing. You have to take it all into account. Right. And listen, we're not trying to say that we don't like analytics. I mean, you love... Very clearly we do. Very pro analytics. We're big analytics guys.

But when you look at recent rebuilds and some of the most important players that those teams have brought in to put them over the hump, they are players like Andrew McCutcheon.

Like the Astros brought in Beltran. Beltran wasn't good anymore, but he's an important culture guy. David Ross and that Cubs team. Last year's Red Sox team, J.D. Martinez is obviously a superstar, but he was the guy that really brought the team together,

that gave Mookie production. Justin Turner in Los Angeles. You see, I mean, he was there, but that's that type of guy. Right, and McCutcheon, he's definitely not washed, if we've seen this opening weekend. And by the way, I can't believe Reece Hoskins was our left fielder last year. It's so absurd. The Cutchins, like, legit.

Like, an actual left fielder. Zero errors. Over opening weekend? How about that? It's crazy. Oh, people actually fielding balls that are hit to them, being in the right place when the balls hit there. It's wild stuff, man. It's great watching a Major League Baseball team. Oh, what a thing. What a thing! But having a strong clubhouse and i know gene segura gotten gotten the fight last year in

seattle but i think i think from watching him so far guy plays hard yep plays every single day and seems to me like he loves to win and has a great lower body him and antonio bastardo they're gonna go in the trunk they're gonna go back to that love it but I'm with you and we talked about this in the midday show but that moment where the second runner that JT Romito

threw out Segura makes the tag and looks back at Romito and does like the fist pump like and like pointing at him

like my guy like he feels like that type of fiery culture type of guy and look maybe Dee Gordon couldn't handle that

they probably couldn't I mean Dee Gordon couldn't handle that. He probably couldn't. I mean, Dee Gordon is clearly soft. I think we all know that. Very soft. Very soft. You know, you're the kid of a player

all the time, you know, you get soft. But to that point, I do think that, I think, first of all, I think it matters immensely

this type of stuff in terms of the culture and throwing that type of thing. But I think that the guys they brought in, it's a great point, Segura, McCutcheon, Romudo. I mean, and obviously Harper is the face of this and taking it to the next level. And Harper's been unbelievable from that standpoint. Unbelievable. That's what I mean.

We talk about bringing in these all-star players, which it matters. The talent part matters. But they also got four guys who are all-star level type players, and it feels like McCutcheon's back to at least that type of level of player, but they're also four guys who are culture guys. You're bringing in, like, you get the best of both worlds with this. No, I know, and Arrieta, like, Harper was talking yesterday to Vaskirj, and he's like, Arrieta's my favorite teammate.

Wow, really? And he's like, I love that guy. It's just this team, I love this team, this team loves each other, and it is just, it's going to be, this team is a match made in heaven

for Philadelphia. They rake, they play hard, they have one ace in Aaron Nola that all the nostalgic baseball people can be like, oh my God, we're watching Aaron Nola pitch. And they play with a passion that befits this city.

You know, whatever people want to say about Philadelphia sports fans, the one thing that we can't be knocked for is we bring the passion. We bring the passion, and I think we've legitimately pushed this team to another level. I think we push Harper to say, hey, we need to go out there and bust it every single night. Like, Reece Hoskins, the moment he came up here, he got that, and he's been waiting for a moment like this where he can really let it happen and let his emotions flow. We saw it last night when he got thrown at,

and with the mouth thing of the F word, which was amazing, because I was doing the same thing. I was doing the same thing. And by the way, to that point, like, outrageous. Get over yourselves. Pitch better. Sorry. Pitch better. Sorry. Pitch better and you won't.

You're probably going on written rules and all that stuff. Whatever. They're celebrating a home run. Get over it. Get over it. I agree. All right. I will never endorse throwing at heads.

I think throwing at heads. No. No one should endorse it. That is outrageous. That's the unwritten rules. I'm fine with throwing at a. No, no one should endorse it. That is outrageous. That's the unwritten rule. I'm fine with throwing at a body. That's what happens. But I think that the reason, it's a different thing if the batter points the pitcher or

if he does something really disrespectful. But celebrating with your teammates because you did something good, get over yourself. That's outrageous. I mean, Carl, it's a childish way to go about it. It is childish. I agree with you. But I will always stand up for the unwritten rules. I know you will. I will always defend the unwritten rules.

I have no problem with the unwritten rules. I'm fine with this is the way we do things and go about our business. But do it for the right reasons. Don't just do it because you gave up a home run and they celebrated it. Do it if he disrespects you. That's not disrespect.

That's celebrating with your team. Sorry. I would have liked to see in a 5-1 game to maybe throw one at the ribs, but that's just me. Just a little bit inside. I would have too. You're talking about the Phillies you're talking about. Yeah, I'm fine with that.

See, I would have been fine with that because you're sticking up for your guys. You're saying, if you throw at Reece Hoskins, we're going to throw at you. That's fair. Hoskins got thrown at three times. It's outrageous. Here's the thing. I agree from the celebrations. The one time was, I think, that ball just got away from him. I know what you mean. For example, when Okuna got hit last year,

I thought that was ridiculous. Jose Urena, that was BS. It was. I'm not saying I'm that level. I just always get a little frustrated when people are like, you should never hit a guy. Well, that's not true. That's not the way it works. And look, again, if you hit them appropriately, hit them in the butt or whatever. Just don't hit them in the hands.

Don't hit them in the face. Yeah, agreed. But I tell you what, man. F the Braves. I hate that team. Oh, Like, I hate that team. Oh, yeah. Like, I hate that team. I'm so glad.

Dude, the mock Tomahawk. Oh, it's great. It was, like, Philly fans, it's, first off, Philadelphia's the best chant city in the country. By far. Like, it's just all of a sudden, everyone's like, you got it, you got it, and then everyone does the same thing. It's part, like, the full skull chant. Like, it just, we just get it.

It's crazy how fast everyone's like, oh, you're doing that? Got it? Okay, we're good. We're good fans. We're smart fans. Most passionate, best fans of sports. Yes. It's just like, it was so funny last night, the mock tomahawk chop chants.

That's a mouthful. You got it out. Thank you. It's good work. Listen, I'm done on this podcast. I'm going to go out now. I'm very impressed. I'm done. I'm good work. Listen, I'm done on this podcast. I'm going to go out now. I'm done.

I'm physically done, but, um, we know, um, just like it's back. Like the hatred of other baseball teams, like,

cause baseball is the, but baseball is the ultimate FU sport because it's batter versus pitcher. Totally. You know, and if you, it's mono and mono. Yeah. If you hit a home run FU,

if you, if you strike out a guy FU, like that's just, that's just the nature of the game. And that what makes it like like when the fans get into that too it's like oh it's like sit your ass down it's awesome like it's there's nothing better than it like there's just nothing better than being angry at other teams again and that passion you you mentioned earlier in the podcast like the passion from dead to like 100 all in it's amazing like this yeah it's like oh we remember how love baseball again like i swear to god i don't think these last eight years

happened it's what it feels like it feels like we came off the playoffs last year it was the 2014 phillies like i don't remember the 2014 it really is it's been immediate and that's so cool yeah no it's it's credit to phillies fans look we we've said it here we're not we're not those people who are gonna say oh you didn't like them when they were bad you're not a real fan no i get it it's tough when they suck it's a long season of crappy baseball i don't blame you welcome back i just want people to love baseball that's where i'm at like that's the only reason maybe became friends like my life goal yeah that's how we became friends we're the only two people who want to talk baseball. Yeah.

When the Phillies are bad, we're like- Texting each other. Hey, do you see this? Hey, do you want to talk baseball? Hey, you watching the Astros right now? Yes. No. I just want people to love baseball.

I agree. And boy, I think we forgot how much this city loved baseball. It's crazy. Maybe they're not above the Eagles. I understand that. They're 1 baseball. It's crazy. Maybe they're not above the Eagles. I understand that. They're 1B. Oh, easily. And it's one of those things where at times it certainly can feel the same.

It can. It can certainly feel the same. These last couple of days have been representative of that. It's the most electric park, the most electric crowd when it's fully on. Citizens Bank Park is the most electric stadium in the city. And I know the link can be great and all that, but Football Live just doesn't have that same energy as baseball does. I think that when Citizens Bank is rocking, there's no better ticket in town. I agree.

I mean, because during the summer, you can kind of tailgate, have beers, go in. And man, I cannot wait for tomorrow. Well, that's what I want to get to. So any final thoughts from this from Saturday and Sunday and then we're going to look ahead. Yes. Final thoughts. The one through five hitters 475 OBP.

Yeah. Like they are just machines. Can I can I. Harper Hoskins and Real Muto have a combined like 1400 OPS. Yeah. I love I like that John Ritchie's at 1.476. It was funny. It was funny.

Hey, man, he's trying. He's trying. At least he's looking up OPS. I'm proud of him. He's trying. Also, like, dear umpires of this great nation. Yes. If Bryce Harper thinks it's a ball, it's probably a ball.

Have you noticed that, though? It does feel like in certain spots, the umpires will give him the call because he didn't swing. And McCutcheon, too. Yeah. It feels like they're like, oh, he didn't swing. It's a ball. Have you noticed that though? It does feel like in certain spots the umpires will give him the call because he didn't swing. And McCutcheon too. Yeah. It feels like they're like, oh, he didn't swing. It's a ball. Because it is. It's amazing though. That's what they used to do with Bonds. Like that's what they used to do with Bonds. And here's the other thing with Harper. I was thinking about this on the way in. His eye is so good that you don't

really have to worry about him aging like Howard. Obviously Howard had an unbelievable run. And I don't think Harper will put up the 58 and 142. I don't know if anyone will anymore. That's just crazy stuff. What ultimately killed Howard was that he had his one fatal flaw which was the

sliders. Harper's eye is so good that he'll never really have that problem. I already started thinking about 36 year old Harper when Zoe and Rocky are hanging out together it's gonna be great um um like like his eye is so good that even when he gets older he's still gonna walk a time that's a skill that will age very well for him right it's a great point

and that's that's another thing about mccutcheon like mccutcheon i thought his eye i think mccutcheon's eye might be better than harper's i it it's not, it could, the point is like, it's a discussion. Dude, McCutcheon doesn't swing at anything. It's unbelievable. Unless it's in the zone. He's so, he's so, he's so controlled. He is such a, he is a perfect leadoff. He really is.

Yeah. We were wrong about that. We were wrong. Yeah. No question. We were dead wrong about that. Um, it's just, I'm so happy. I can tell.

Chris has got this big smile on his face. I forgot what Philly's Jack was like. Like, it's just, Philly's Jack? Every day I wake up thinking about the team. Like, it's just, I'm working with Franski every night. He's smiling,

like doing calls and stuff. And LA's happy. Like, it's just, the energy's back. Everyone's happy. The offense rakes. And they rake in a modern way. This is so sustainable.

It's on-base machines. It's home runs. They had one single last night. It was from JTW. Yeah, buddy. In the seventh. And Francie goes, ah, good old-fashioned single to left. It's just like, I get it.

But this is also modern baseball and these guys rake and it's perfect ballpark the fans love this team i love this team this team loves each other gabe is is doing everything well right now it's a perfect marriage nick can you please just hold up your end of the bargain do it for jack no and i was really i was really frustrated with nick i know you were because it wasn't it wasn't i know i with Nick. I know you were. Because it wasn't – I know. It wasn't – you hate to see a person change in front of your eyes. I mean, you've experienced that. And from spring training to regular season – First start of the season, I think he was a little excited.

He was a little excited. He seemed a little jacked up out there, tough to kind of calm down. And that's – we've talked about that with Pavetta. Like, one of his things is he needs to realize that he needs to calm down in some of these situations and work through it instead of, you know,

letting that take over. Yeah, and I thought in spring he did a nice job of letting the game come to him. On Saturday, the game did not come to him.

Yeah, agreed. All right, you're going down to Washington, buddy. Going to Washington. Yes. Yes.

So, I want to wear the I Hope shirt, but I also want to wear my Harper jersey. Oh, it's a tough call, man. So, I I'm going to wear the high hopes under the Harper Jersey. Under and then open. I'll unbutton the first, the first one or two.

So you can see the high hope shirt. It's a way to do it. I think that's a definitive what you should do. Okay. And obviously the, the high hopes way is that if we see you wearing a high hope t-shirt, one of us will buy you a beer. That is right. You will sadly not be there tomorrow.

I will not. No. But I got the last beer for you to get the last beer yes so nick came out to me i said uh and i called him matt when i met him i thought he said matt i'm like oh matt great to meet you and now i feel like an ass yeah well nick i'm sorry okay it was great meeting yes um so i'm looking forward to tomorrow but i'm more looking forward to just being in Harper's Corner when he is getting mercifully booed and we are cheering. It's so cool. Shout out to fans of Philly. Shout out to everyone going on that trip just because that is cool. That is what we do in Philly.

We love our own and we support our own and this is a perfect spot to say, Bryce, we love you, man. We got you. Yeah. Yeah. So cool. When he's getting booed, Bryce, we love you, man. We got you. Yeah. Yeah. So cool. When he's getting booed, we're going to be there cheering. Cheering out the boos, baby. Yeah.

Yeah. And like for anyone thinking, like Gabe said with a straight face the other day that he's going to get a standing ovation. No, he's not. Oh, my God. Really? No, he's not. Stop, Gabe.

Yeah. Gabe supposedly with a dead serious face said, I think he deserves a standing ovation. Here's the thing. He probably does deserve a standing ovation from them. You know what's funny is that Jason Wurst and their Ring of Honor, they got to put it in Harvard. Really? Yeah.

Okay. Sure. What an embarrassing franchise. And by the way, their fans aren't even showing up anymore. That's more the thing is I really feel like you'll be able to hear Philly's fans on the broadcast broadcast well maybe not tomorrow but i was watching some mets nats over the weekend and like it was opening weekend they do the mets fans they freaking take your dog to the park day on the first weekend of the season what yeah it was sunday

and they had freaking take your dog to the ball not great like are you kidding me please come to the games we know we please you can bring your dog. It's okay. We know Bryce isn't here anymore. But, yeah, I'm interested to see how it goes. I hope I don't get too rowdy. Don't get kicked out. When I get in those moments, I just want to defend him so bad.

I know. All right, so let's be honest for a second. We're going to be in right field. You think we link guys? Ooh. Yeah, you think he says right field you think we link guys? ooh yeah you think he says is that the Harperland guy? okay

is he drinking again? no to that he's gonna say is that the Harperland come on you know he is no you don't think he's gonna say is that the Harperland guy

in right field with the Bryce Harper jersey that kind of looks like me? he'll say isn't it is that that guy? no I think you might lock eyes though

cause you don't if for no other reason then you're just yes you're just gonna be staring at him the whole time, waiting for him to look at you. Look at me, Bryce. It's not creepy, I swear.

No, I think he's going to look at me and say, is that Jack Fritz? It is Jack Fritz. We kind of look alike. He could probably strike me out. I don't even know what to say. There's so many things wrong with that. Like, got nothing.

Which was the worst part? I could probably strike him out? He looks like me. He looks like... I can probably strike him out where it's like so you that it didn't even register. He looked...

What are you talking about? Did you see the guy that actually looked like him? It was unbelievable. He looked exactly like him. It was really creepy actually. He was like, what is Bryce Harper doing hanging out in a jersey and cut off jeans three hours

before game time? I wanted that guy to leave. It was a little weird. It was really weird. I thought Bryce would have been creeped out. I would be. You got your body double hanging out. Yeah, it was weird.

Now, if he listens to the podcast, I'm happy for you. Well, he does. Obviously, everyone in that ballpark does. Sure. They should. Why not? They should. I don't know why you wouldn't. If you know someone who's not listening to the IOPs podcast, tell them to listen to the IOPs podcast.

This is the only analysis you can only get here. It's the only Phillies podcast. Some would say that. That's the word on the street. That is the word on the street. Harper's Corner tomorrow. CBP South being back. It's like we remembered everything from the run and started doing it all over again. It's awesome.

It's hilarious. So great. And it's going to be fun. And if you're going down there, find Jack in the IOP shirt, Harper jersey. Probably won't be hard to find. I don't think so. It'll be good. I'm going to be the guy at the front of the line.

Yes. You will be the loud one yelling F you at people. It's going to be great. I get rowdy at sporting events. I know you do. You're a competitor, Jack. That's why. Yes, I'm very competitive.

The bulldog comes out. The bulldog. Well, listen, you don't go to and on high school playoffs without being a bulldog. All right. We'll be back to talk,

look into the weekend twins action as we'll be down at the ballpark. Twins action. Oh, yeah, yeah. On Saturday. I don't know why

I took offense to that. We're going to see the twins in the Phillies. Yes. You got something to say? Jack has something to say. No, no, no. What do you got? I'll say it in front. We're going into final thoughts. That's where I why I took offense to that. We're going to see the Twins and the Phillies. Yes. You got something to say? Jack has something to say. No, no, I'll save it. We're going into Final Thoughts.

That's where I was heading. Yes, okay. So Saturday, fighting for Frankie, Jack's pinned tweet. We'll be there. Still tickets available? Still tickets available.

20 bucks for a ticket. I mean, they just sold out three games. You're not finding $20 tickets and you can come hang out with us, which would be awesome. Final thoughts? Final thoughts.

I got two final thoughts because it's Final Thoughts not Final Thought. That's good work, buddy. out with us would you be awesome um final thoughts final thoughts i got two final thoughts um because it's final thoughts not final thought let's go work by um you're a linguist so supposedly they took down the um the 08 world series portrait in the clubhouse and it's like motivation and they replaced with the opening day photo from last year with shoulder shoulder as you walk into the shoulder to shoulder i'm all in i to shoulder. Such a game phrase. It is. It is. We're going to be standing shoulder to shoulder.

Yes, but it is great. What's better? Be bold or shoulder to shoulder? I like shoulder to shoulder better. I think I do too. I don't like either that much. They're fine. I'm a ring the bell guy. I like ring the bell. By the way,

our retaliation this is from kyle bennett um i love kyle bennett the video was hilarious big fan um even though pivetta crapped the bed but um uh is should we do should we do ring it in retaliation to write it oh yes ring it is great yeah ring it's great ring it's clever i know oh good work kyle as usual we'll get we'll get to work on that but i do i do like the mentality of hey oh it happened we get it we appreciate it this is a new team yep i'm fine with that and my second final thought and i don't want this to be perceived as negative but i really do have to be honest i've never lied to the i hope people this is a really uh i'm nervous right now i don't know what's coming i don't want the

fist pump before the game to happen every game. I think eventually it's going to turn into Oh, you think it needs to be special. I think it's going to turn in genuine.

Okay, hold up, hold up, hold up. I don't think he's fully believing. Are you alright with the bow? I think the bow is great. So bow, no fist pump. I'm actually with you on this. I think the fist pump should be first.

The bow is really good. I like the bow. Because the fist pump like it's too fast. Like if it's going to be if it's going to be a fist pump, I want it before game one of the NLDS. He's like,

you know, he's too quick with it. I wish you could have all seen Jack. Jack like really committed to that fist pump. He's like, like really, you were inhabiting Bryce Harper there for a second. Yeah, but he's too quick with it. It's very quick. It's very like, and I'm worried, let's say they lose five straight and he does it.

It's like, Bryce, we get it. Yeah. Stop pumping your fizz. Go win a baseball game. Yeah, that'll happen. Yeah. That'll happen. You know what I can't wait for this take is Bryce is going to take off for his kid's

birthday. Oh, that is coming. For his kid being. They're in Chicago. Can't take off. Yeah. It's going to be great. The Neanderthal Philly fans are going to be like, he's going to miss his. Yeah, yeah. It's going to be great. The Neanderthal Philly fan is going to be like,

he's going to miss his kid's childbirth. It's going to be great. Does he even want to win? Listen, I understand the fist bump for opening weekend. I like the bow. I like the bow a lot. I think that can be his thing. Bow stays.

Because everyone can see it coming, and it's great. Just save the fist bump. I don't hate this. And work a little tempo into it. I am okay with this take. I think it's a good take. Thank you. I don't hate this. And work a little tempo into it. I am okay with this take. I think it's a good take. Thank you. Okay.

My final thought, Jack Fritz. I didn't realize it until I was thinking about Bryce Harper having his baby and then started doing the mental gymnastics in my head of how Zoe could one day marry Rocky Harper, Philly Harper, whatever it is. Then I thought about Zoe and it struck me. The Phillies have never lost a game in her life, Jack. 162-0. How cool is that?

I don't know how long I'll be able to say that for, but damn, that is pretty cool. My daughter Zoe has never seen the Phillies lose a game. And she may never see them lose again. She probably won't. I mean, let's be real about this. Best lineup in the NFL. What's going to happen?

162-0. All right. Have fun down in Washington. Thank you. let's be real about this. Best lineup in the NFL. What's going to happen? 162-0. All right. Have fun down in Washington. Thank you. It's going to be awesome. We will get on the show later this week, we will get the full report, how Jack was kicked out, what he did to get kicked out. We'll get the whole report.

I mean, I had a four year in a row running of getting kicked out of the Phillies bullpen area. Of course you did. Very, very on brand. I was so good at getting kicked out of the bullpen because I would just start roasting their mechanics. One time there was some scrub on the Mets and I was like, you're pulling off, man. What are you doing? He would just start getting so frustrated. He would start actually working on it in the bed. That's awesome. I was just too good at it and they couldn't handle how good I was at it. It's fair. It's fair. Washington, like, I was just too good at it, and they couldn't handle how good I was at it. It's fair. It's fair. So, Washington, I'm coming, and get ready.

Get ready, Sean Doolittle. Yeah. Get ready, Trevor Rosenthal. Oh, wait. Trevor Rosenthal's already so bad, you don't have to do anything. Who do I want to roast? Man, I wish they still had Jerry Blevins. They don't.

It's a shame. He is such a weirdo. It's a shame. I mean, Trevor Rosenthal, you could just show him his ERA. It's infinity. Yeah. Look at your infinity ERA. Hang's infinity. Yeah. Look at your infinity ERA. Hang him up.

Good. All right. So we will be back later. A Washington report as the Phillies will be 5-0 next time we report. Well, they have another off day Thursday. So we'll do a podcast then. Yeah, we'll do a podcast Thursday. So until then, have fun in Washington if you're going down there.

Say hi to Jack. Force him to buy you a beer. Um, cause that'd be awesome. And then on Saturday, I'll buy the beers as we'll be down for fighting for Frankie beers, beers, the final thought beers, beers.

That's it. As which is appropriate. Harper, Latin, all that. All right, go Phillies. We'll talk to you guys soon.

All star closer. Kenley Jansen. we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion.

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