High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - 9 of 10. They've Won 9 of 10.

Episode Date: September 4, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phils have actually won 9 of 10. What a time. Enjoy. 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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Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. This is the High Hopes Podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94. W-I-P. dot com and sports radio 94 wyp is another edition of the high hopes podcast i hope that didn't wake zoe i tried my best to

sorry zoe yeah i think it was pretty good i I think we did good there. Here's the thing. All right, since we have the last slogan, Bryce Harper is getting a ton of credit right now for the 9 of 10 proclamation. They did it. We did it. They actually won five games in a row, and now they've won four more, sweeping the Nats,

sucking Nats, burying the Nats. But the problem is that everyone's giving Bryce Harper all this credit when the real person who called the run is right here on this podcast. Jack, we doubted you. People doubted you. And then Bryce followed your lead.

That's what I say. That's my story. I couldn't agree more. And I wasn't the one that had what like one hit this week so buddy who who had go we're recording super late at night I'm drinking a beer just to bring it uh let's go who had a bigger impact on the Phillies making this run was it Bryce Harper or was it me it's really hard to say it is really really really really really hard to say um but uh you know listen if bryce wants

to take the credit that's fine um i do just like to say that i get told a lot james and james uh you know i take a lot of things said on twitter very very personally um i've been told a lot in my my minuscule uh career in radio and media that uh i'm a mush and i ruin everything and i'm just ultimately just a uh i hurt my teams more than i help my teams this is a major win for me this this might not you needed this if a guy ever needed something more than me uh with when it comes to breaking down the mushes um it's me so uh i just ever it was gonna be something it would be you believing in a phillies team because it's so unlike you no i it doesn't it takes a lot for me to start believing in a baseball team, especially the Phillies. So, you know, listen, all I'm saying is as soon as Nappy made the player of the year,

I knew this team was going on a run. A season saver. Richie had a great come for it on the air. He called it the Jake Elliott 61-yard field goal for the Phillies. I was like, I like that. Let's go with that. Does that hurt you? Does it bother you that Nappy?

Where were you when Andrew Knapp saved the Phillies season? You're talking to a charter member of the Andrew Knapp fan club. I don't even know what you're referring to, sir. I have never wavered in my love of Andrew Knapp fan club. I don't even know what you're referring to, sir. I have never wavered in my love of Andrew Knapp this year. What if he hits over 400? I mean, he's batting like 450.

I mean, Gwynn... I think he's batting like 470, isn't he? It's crazy. I think it's back to 450, you're right. Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, almost Tony Gwynn. Almost Tony Gwynn. Andrew Knapp.

Andrew Knapp. Hugh Duffy territory. He's going to threaten Hugh Duffy's 432 or whatever it is. Onus Wagner and Andrew Knapp. Oh, buddy. God, I love them. Don't you just love this team? I think about them a lot.

They're easy to root for, man. They're fun. They play hard. They play the right way. Girardi has them. Yes, they're easy to root for, Jack. And they're fun to watch because they freaking pound the baseball every night. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. I mean, this is what the 06, 07 kind of feeling was. It was like every night the pitching staff will probably suck but they're gonna hit the crap out of the wall and like the thing is is the thing is is that they actually add on you know like we've seen some philly's teams in the past that'll they'll put a couple runs up and they'll have maybe like one big inning and then they'll just be like ah that's fine we're good this team actually has the wherewithal to think hey maybe we should add on to this lead which is i've never seen a phillies team get insurance runs um and it's just really impressive

that the phillies are able to actually add insurance runs to um their leads so it's unheard of oh especially for this baseball team and also the way they do it too like last year you know the whole like home run or nothing philosophy this team hits the ball like you know they're they're attacking offensively and they're stealing bases like they run like crazy they're aggressive on the base paths i mean they're doing all the stuff that we talked about like loving the – and granted, you know, maybe there was some cheating involved. But like the 2018 Red Sox, we were gushing about them

and how fun they were to watch. I was like, this feels like that type of squad in terms of like they see a baseball and they hit a baseball, and it's not all relying on home runs and they manufacture runs and they're stealing bases. It's just fun, man. Well, they're stealing bases it's just fun man well they're playing baseball i mean that's playing baseball exactly which is great exactly right and and it and i i couldn't agree more with you like they've gotten they're trying to barrel up baseballs rather than trying to launch baseballs and i think that was the main ultimately i think

that was the main flaw of john maylie was john mayley was so obsessed with with launching and that stuff um and joe dylan's gotten them back to the point where it's like hey let's make solid contact and then hopefully hit the ball out of the ballpark and believe me you know if you've listened to this podcast enough you know that me and you are are both very pro analytics and all that stuff but what i saw what I'm seeing right now from this Phillies team, and tell me if you agree, James, and it might be a bit of a reach, but listen, this podcast has always gone overboard. No, never, especially not you with the Phillies. I don't know what you're talking about.

And when this Phillies team wins 8 of 9 or 9 of 10. 9 of 10, Jack, 9 of 10. I feel like I'm allowed to go a bit overboard am i allowed to i mean yes please i feel like we've earned this our podcast is named high hopes right i mean come on it's under the nickname but but what i'm watching right now is how i felt when i watched the nationals last year and i know we don't have rendon and whatnot but I mean Alec Boehm's close and and and Alec Boehm dude Alec Boehm's such a good hitter we'll get into it we'll get into it I know like what a hitter dude just uh just like just such a joy just such a joy the two strike approach like choking up on the bat, shortening his swing. He's just like a real hitter.

Look, Jack's obviously using a little bit of hyperbole or joking a little bit with the radio thing, but he's that type of hitter, right? He's someone who is just like a savant when it comes to hitting and just is going to be able to take the baseball where it needs to go and have an immaculate approach. I'm not saying that he's Anthony Rendon right now, but in a couple of years, I mean, we could be talking,

like, I'll put it out there this way. Let's put it out there this way as fair as I can. If Alec Boehm does not compete for a batting title, something goes wrong. Like if he doesn't lead the league in doubles in one year, something went wrong. Totally with you. He's J.D. Martinez, Anthony Rendon. That's what he is. That's what he is.

He's never going to be the 40, 50 home run guy. He's going to be 300 with like 25 to 30 home runs that's what he's gonna be he's an awesome he's an he is an he is an awesome again like i can't emphasize enough the what did he he's 24 now right he was 23 and now he turned 24 like or whether he's 23 or 24 like to have the the approach to hitting that he has at this age and what he's showing at the major league level is like crazy impressive. Like so beyond his years as a hitter. Like that's why I think it's – like he is a batting title type of hitter. You're absolutely right.

Yeah, and here's the thing. It should only get better. He's a rookie. He's a rookie. He's a freaking rookie, man. Now, Reese did look like this when he came up, but the difference between him and Reese is that Reese was always streaky. Whether it was in the major leagues or minor leagues, Reese always had up and down swings.

And, boy, when they're down, they're down. And, boy, when they're up, they're up, which I'm sure we're gonna talk more yeah yeah it's freaking crazy man but but uh but boom is just like so consistent just so consistent and uh to the ground ball is driving crazy sometimes yeah um but they're gonna happen and and then he then he see that just the shooting the ball to right field. And he had the, he had the at bat tonight, I think earlier in the game,

third or fourth inning. And it was like a curve ball that was out of the strike zone down. And he has hit the right field. And I was like, Oh, there's Jason worth. Like, I know,

I know it's frustrating that every, like every national broadcast brings up that he looks like Jason worth, but he literally, everything he does is just like jason worth it feels very worthy yeah which is something you said that before he was up you were calling him jason worth well my first comp was jd martinez um and i think that's gonna end up being okay yeah i mean no offense to worth who's a great great player but he's not quite that or jd martinez no, no, no, no.

Dude, they won 9-10. The Phillies team won 9-10. The Phillies were able to actually do this. I just haven't been able to stop smiling since the game. I know. And I know. And real quick, it's because what you were just talking about. Like, this Phillies team is doing things that we haven't seen a Phillies team do

in a while. Dude, a decade. A decade. They're handling decade a decade they're handling games the way they're supposed to i mean they're getting right now at this moment all facets of the game contributing for the most part well and and how about how about even just executing like mccutcheon late in the game like how about boom at the end of the game and even then it was short it was short to center. But, like, just getting enough of it.

I mean, they continue to execute. That's what we were talking about before, like manufacturing runs. Yeah. That's how teams win. They're taking advantage of opportunities, man. Yeah. Listen, the home runs and that stuff, that works in the regular season. And I think that's the –

This is a great point. This is a great point, Chad. But, like, that's the philosophy of a lot of these, like, the analytic – really, really analytically driven teams is it's all home runs and all that stuff. But that's regular season baseball. It's a great point, Chad. I love this point. Over 162, it evens out.

Like, sure, yeah, water finds its level. If you hit more home runs, you're going to win more games. That's fine. But when it comes down to postseason play, you have to be able to do the little things. And I felt like the first two weeks of the season, we didn't really see that. And obviously, they're on a hot streak. I mean, they've won 9 of 10. I don't know how many times I can say that.

The Phillies have physically won 9 of 10 ballgames, which I know is – Again, like, look, they've already exceeded their highest win total – like, win streak in a row since 2018, and now they've tied it again. Yeah. Like, just in the span of 10 games. Like, let's go. So if winning five games in a row was the equivalent of a 13-game winning streak, what is 9 of 10 in equivalent in 60 games?

I think it's something like 25 out of 28. It's crazy. Oh, man. 25 out of 27. It's legit. It's a serious thing. It's crazy. That just warms my heart. Imagine if they actually won 25 of 28 thing it's crazy ah that that just warms my heart imagine if they actually

won 25 and 25 of 28 i mean imagine that would be like leading sports center you know yeah yeah it might be a little less than i might be like 23 out of 26 or something but it's like something ridiculous i know that eight of nine was 21 out of 24 essentially like with some decimal points so like it's got to be something maybe like 24 out of 27 or something like that hey wild hey official high hopes position it's 25 of 28 i think that's we don't we don't have the numbers in front of us but uh we're gonna go with yeah we're just gonna go with that one it feels right in the gut doesn't it like it it does yeah really it feels like the right number yeah it really does i just

i love i just love the brand of baseball they're playing right now we're seeing joe gerardi's the fingerprints all over this finally right finally the impact we're seeing and one thing real quick before we move on to just because i want to highlight this and i think it's super important because a lot of people gave him crap early in the season for not pitching Nola deeper, not pitching Wheeler deeper, not letting guys go deeper into games. And for those who are not paying attention to what's happening around baseball, there have been an insane amount of starting pitcher injuries, and the Phillies have not suffered them.

I think Joe Girardi was way, way dead on with that. I think that in this weird season, that short ramp up, he was really smart to hold his guys back early on so that they could work it up. And I think that he deserves some credit for that. Well, I think it's not only that, but I think it's also not pitching guys in back-to-backs of doubleheaders. And he's starting to use guys in back-to-back days

like Phelps he came in today and in back-to-back days like Phelps he came in today and worked back-to-back days. Listen, I understand he let up the home run. Whatever, whatever. Michael Taylor owns us for some reason. Yeah. Phelps is good. You can just see it like eye test guy, like watch him pitch.

He's just nasty. He's just good. Yeah, it's kind of how I feel about Tommy Hunter, just nasty every time he goes out there fully fully confident he's gonna get the job done uh so so but yeah i mean uh he took a little while to kind of uh build up the i feel like it took a little while for him to build up the arms in the bullpen um especially like tommy hunter getting him to get up to where he is now where he feels like he can take the ball every single time he needs him to take the ball and just not getting anyone hurt like remember what the was it the first double header he didn't use narrows in the first game yeah yeah totally and people gave him a lot of crap for remember

because yeah well he know he what happened was he had to use narrows for one pitch in the first game oh yeah yeah and he had to use narrows for that one pitch and i didn't bring him in the second game and he got, he got killed for it. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and it's just, it's just really,

it's really nice to be validated with the, with the Girardi thing. Cause honestly we, we never lied to the, I hope listeners, we, I mean, this is the staple of this podcast.

The first couple of weeks I was like, Oh, this is, we, we overrated managers. Uh, I was wrong you know managers really don't make that much of a difference and i know obviously they've won

nine to ten that's the disclaimer i got it whatever but whatever they won nine to ten yeah they won nine to ten they won nine they're hot i want to make sure for the record nine to ten got it and i would just like to question again and i don't know who did this but who let the phils get hot is it the braves did the braves the phils get hot i mean very sad very sad from atlanta um but it's very sad by the way before we forget the national season is over they will not be defending their world series crown so that's pretty sad too just so we you know kind of make sure that's out there yeah james that team stinks man that team what are they 12 and 23 right now and with they i think they have like 25 left to play like they're cooked

like it's you know i mean it's about i would guess i haven't looked at the numbers but i would guess they have like a two or three percent chance to make the playoffs. And, you know, that like numbers are meant to be broken and all that kind of whatever. But I would guess it's like 2% or 3% maybe. Their luck ran out last year. I mean, 19 and 31, turning that into the team that they turned into. Crazy. And then, look, Strasburg like just out this year and then losing.

And, again, hey, you know what? Losing Anthony Rendon rendon yeah that's gonna hurt your team who yeah yeah you should have you should probably replacing replacing anthony rendon with carter key boom who to thunk that wouldn't work i don't know truly shocked and dave martinez is a dog crap manager i don't care that he won the world series last year i don't hate him like oh he's terrible whatever and brock hall's terrible uh intelligence guy oh yeah sure sure just like dougie just like dougie p yeah like that dude first off victor robles like how how are you feeling the ball like you just did on like you had an hour to get under that pop fly today and you you catch it flat-footed? Yeah, I mean, that was actually embarrassing.

Like, I couldn't – like, that was a short fly ball. Like, that should have been a play. That was an embarrassing thing. I mean, but, you know, Robles owes us for the many – Yeah, I mean, like, I still have not forgotten that home run in the ninth, whatever it was, last season, like, game eight. The Phillies were about to be eight and three, uh whatever it was last season like game eight the phillies were about to be eight and three i believe it was and that homer and then they have seven four and like they never

like they never got back there or eight and two i think it was eight and two they were seven and two that's what it was they were seven and two and they were gonna be eight and two and they lost that game and then that was the beginning of the end that was the game that that was the game that uh harper homered off strasburg uh they had that win like yeah i that game it was down to the last pitch it was the last strike on robles like i've never forgiven him still as you can tell wow i know i know you're really banged up about it i mean eddie ramos is literally in the dodgers system now so i think everything's gonna be okay the philips one nine and ten and they're better than that nationals team last year yeah i mean literally

they had and again disclaimer i understand the phillies are hot and i understand the national Okay, the Phillies won 9-10, and they're better than that Nationals team last year? Yeah. I mean, literally. And again, disclaimer, I understand the Phillies are hot, and I understand the Nationals won the World Series last year. But, but, but, this team's been a lot like that Nationals team last year. Like, they bought at the deadline, and they bought only bullpen pieces. I don't think Wheeler and Nola are as good as Strasburg, Corbin, and Scherzer. Well, yeah, obviously. I don't think, but Aaron Nola, whatever.

But it's at least semi-comparable. Yeah, the two are. I mean, the third, like if we're really doing it, is Atherton is not Corbin. Eh, eh. You sure? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, whatever. Corbin throws 89 now like i corbin that contract

is going to be a freaking disaster yeah but still they won i know they won the world series i got it i got it but this really seems a wagon and wheeler was a better signing than corbin anyway like wheeler was a better signing corbin like we can all call we can all be fair here. I mean, Wheeler is just tremendous. Yeah, I think for the money, but still, it's hard to underrate the role Corbin played in winning a World Series. Well, if you know one thing about me, we overrate championships. Flags fly forever, Jack. Except when Bryce wins them. Except when Bryce wins them, then they matter a lot. But really, though, the Nationals last year bought the deadline.

They bought Daniel Hudson. They bought Hunter Strickland. They signed Fernando Rodney, who is now a free agent. Maybe the Phillies need to sign him. Unbelievable. They made a no. I forgot the other move off the top of my head. But they brought in a bunch of bullpen pieces at deadline.

They had a starting staff with Corbin Scherzer, Strasburg, the Phillies. Brandon Kintzler, was that the other move? He was definitely in there as well. And then the lineup, I mean, listen, this lineup reminds me a lot of the Nationals lineup. They don't have the Rendon, but Boma's similar. They have the big-time pop. I mean, Soto's obviously – I know we said tatis over soto not sure about

that one um it's still it's still to tease but it's like really close dude the thing here's the thing we had a kunya in that group and it's it's probably to tease soto and then a kunya um if you had to bet right now does does does soto get 700 home runs oh Oh, man. It's no. Really? Look. Dude, he's like a 30-homer-a-year guy. I know. I know.

And he's so young, and he's so freakish. It's just like I feel like it's always a bad bet to bet on someone to get to that level because of injuries, this, that, whatever. But if I had to bet on anyone in major league baseball to get to 700 runs it would 100 be one side is that fair i think that's fair i think that's fair uh i think i think it's fair i don't i don't like that you disrespected bryce um but i i agree with your with your overall assessment. This team is awesome. I'm sorry.

9-1. 9-10. 9-10. 9-10. 9-10. 9-1 in their last 10. That's another way you could say it. I might wake up to it.

We never really talk about the title of the podcast when we're doing the podcast, but this podcast absolutely has to be named 9-10. Well, I mean, we're usually big 2 of 3 guys. It's true. Now are we 9 of 10 guys? I would like to. Yes, the official high-ups position, 9 of 10 guys. I said 3 of 4 against Washington.

They went all 4. You thought they'd split. How about this? I thought they'd split. I thought I was getting a 7-10 split. Unbelievable. Listen. I went all four. You thought they'd split. How about this? I thought they'd split. I thought I was getting a 7-10 split. Unbelievable. I'm so excited. I'm like, this is

so exciting. I know. They're 18 and 15. They are a playoff team. They're going to make the playoffs. Jack and I were talking today at work when we saw each other and we're like, legitimately and look, the Padres are good. We both concede that. We both really like that. We like that roster.

The Padres are dead to me. It is a fair thing to say that unless they are playing the Dodgers, I will feel – I'm not saying I would pick them, but I would feel confident they can win any series against any team. Like, look, the Padres might be better. The Cubs might be better. The Cubs might be better. The Braves might be better. I don't think they all necessarily are, but they could be. The Padres are super talented. But like, unless you're going in a series against the Dodgers, like,

I don't think you're this like gargantuan, you know, dog in any of them. Like, and that's, Jack, like this team could win a series this team could threaten like and like you said with the Nats last year like I obviously I think this bullpen ultimately at some point will let them down and that's why I wouldn't say I think they're going to win the World Series but like they can win the World Series I don't think they will but it is not crazy to say that they are if you want to say there's like 10 to 12 teams that could win the world series or whatever that that list is like they're on that list like if that's not crazy to say especially in a in a 60 game season exactly in a weird with three game

playoff series in the first round all this weird stuff like that's the point like they're on that list like again i'm not betting on them i certainly certainly, if I am putting my money down on any team right now to win, even though, you know, the favorite doesn't always pull it out. I think the Dodgers are the best team in baseball, like, bar none, as far as I'm concerned. But they could, man. Like, it's not crazy. Baseball's like that.

Yeah. And honestly, how I feel about this team right now is it is kind of how i felt about the when the 2017 2017 eagles started getting on a roll that's what that's why the 61 yard elliott i know you'll go parallel i know it's a great parallel richie said it i was like man that's really good like that's a really good call because it was the season saver like that not play at the plate was the season saver well yeah because you have freaking dollar store brad lich going for two two for two blown saves i i i honestly think that we have to is there a penny store is that a thing out there because it it might be penny store, Bradledge. Yeah, well, whatever.

Phelps is here now. And Neris is back. And Neris is back. Yeah, obviously. I mean, whatever. He looked awesome tonight. Yeah, he strikes out the side, looked just dominant in a tie game in a high leverage spot. Can I just say something?

Can we just leave Hector alone? Please. He goes on these short- He's like the Reese of Pitchers. He goes on this short stretch of being terrible, and everyone's like, see? And it's like, would you just relax? He's mostly good. I would say Hector Neris is good three-fourths of the time. Yeah.

By the end of the season, you're going to look up, and he has somewhere, depending on the variance of the year, between a 2-7 and a 3-3 era and you're like cool yeah yeah because listen bullpens blow it all the time like bullpens literally blow it all the time i think that's one of those things that like and i think baseball nowadays is more than any other sport like the most localized where we are we love like not we you and i like watch a lot of baseball and stuff but like in general baseball fans like watch watch their team religiously and are more invested in their team than other fans of other sports and stuff but they don't necessarily always watch like

the white socks and the tigers or the the dodgers and the giants or this and that like they'll maybe watch me as pain games here and there but like they're not seeking it out as much and that's one of those things i think like when we get myopic with it in philly especially like in sports radio or whatever talking about the phillies like we focus so much on like oh like the third and fourth starter and fifth starter are so horrendous it's like well actually like if you look at the teams around major league baseball like Zach Eflin is not that bad compared to like most of the options at third or fourth starter Spencer Howard the upside of that is not bad compared to what a lot of teams have at that third and fourth starter and even contending teams like

like I just think that sometimes we can get lost in the following the day-to-day of our team and not realize that comparative to some other teams like in and potentially teams you're contending with um certain situations that you don't think as bad as they are are that you think are worse than they are aren't as bad as you think now i will say jake arietta still bad bad. Still definitely bad. Did you notice how I did not mention his name? I said Zach Eflin. Definitely bad. I am so far out on Jake Garrietta. That's why he's not even mentioned there. Yeah.

Only five more starts, I think. Zach Eflin. Zach Eflin. Bye. Zach Eflin is a luxury. I think. First off, not many teams have the one-two punch of Wheeler Nola. That's a great point i was

just thinking that when you said zach eflin's luxury my head went to it i should have said like duh like nola wheeler is like a really good top two to like better than most teams by far definitely especially in a three-game series we're talking playoffs i love that we're talking playoffs like it's like it's like so happy man it's so late and i'm so tired and i and i'm like giddy like i don't even feel it because i'm so happy talking about it's it's 1209 right now and i'm thinking about a wheeler nola back-to-back and how just beautiful that's gonna be and how tough that's gonna be whatever listen i'll take listen phil's and phil's in three whatever phil's in three until he beats the dodgers and then it's like dodgers and six but and we'll bring back uh we'll bring back stairsy i think like i know i know we don't do yeah

ceremonial ceremonial first pitches anymore or whatever but if matt stairs could throw out the first pitch of the nlcs that'd be great um yes i just it's it's so nice it's so nice to be back like James they are a freaking lock for the playoffs they're a lock for the playoffs I know it's 18s I know it's Mickey Mouse I know all that I don't care whatever they're a playoff team I don't care honestly they would probably

obviously if we don't know what would happen in a long 162 game season and all that but in this, if they had not expanded the playoffs, the Phillies would have made the playoffs most likely anyway. You know, like they're probably going to be the five or the four or potentially win the division. But I think they'll be one of the top five teams this season. I think my favorite part about this podcast is that we're 30 minutes in

and we haven't talked about any of the games. I know. You know what's funny is I literally just looked at the clock and i was like huh are we gonna talk about like specifics or anything or just gonna be on this high i don't even need to i mean like and we'll get like again i was i can't i actually remember saying early in the podcast i'm like oh we'll get to that we'll get to that yeah there's so like it's just it's just it how that's the i think that like that shows how excited we are and how like this just feels real like it's just it's just it how that's the i think that like that shows how excited we are and how like this just feels real like it feels like real like we've gotten excited before you know

you've listened to us we don't lie to the high hopes listeners like you know that there have been times where maybe we've gotten a little overboard like maybe the first week of last season or whatever like where we've gotten really excited but like this is the realest it's ever felt since we've been doing this podcast like right now feels like the best phillies team we've ever talked about and that's like it's like awesome man like it makes me excited i'm i'm giddy dude like i that's how i feel i feel giddy and it's weird it feels know. We keep expecting for them to let us down. Like, every time we, because for the entirety of the High Ops podcast, every time we get excited like this, we get let down.

Every time. Like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Hammer comes down. Like, this time it feels like, if nothing else, we're going to get to see playoff baseball, feel like we have some semblance of a chance, watch a fun team all season long, even if it is a shortened, you know, whatever of a season.

Like it just, it feels different and it's awesome. Like it's so awesome. Yeah. And like they definitely had better winning percentages under Gabe. I mean, they were, weren't they 10 games over 500 in 18 before September? Yeah. I mean, look, in 18

they were in first place on August 31st in the National Leagues. Yeah. That's legit. They're not right now when we're in September in a shortened season. And then I went to Costa Rica and everything fell apart. Literally. literally had like the worst month of september dude i'll never i'll never the rocky series i'll never forget the rocky series i will never forget it like the last guy's just getting

need to finish your sentence i was able to finish it for you because i knew exactly what you're gonna say because i will never forget that series like that was that was close to his in all the years of the phillies sucking my whole life like that was one of the lows like the loss of the lows it's crazy the phillies have lost me 11 000 times and i grew up in a time where like they really sucked 93 was like it for the entirety of my young life and and whatever like like i should have like it wasn't as bad as a lot of teams that were there but that rocky series like felt so low man dude the rockies got the hit every single time like every time i hated that i mean like you got you were able to just watch it home like i produced that series it was it was awful like and i i don't want to uh i don't want to upset any of our listeners that may have been around

to watch the 1918 to 1948 phillies who i just learned the other day had had 30 losing seasons in 31 years there's a reason that the phillies were the first franchise in the history of american sports lose 10 000 games i was at that game i was at the 10 000 loss against the cardinals why why were you there yeah it was fun i used the history my friend uh sure it's the right kind of history so again i was not that's for Again, I don't want to upset any of our listeners that watched from 1918 to 1949. I'm guessing if there are any, God bless you. You are our favorite listeners if you are there and you saw that and you're still trucking and still loving the Phillies.

You are literally our number one listener and we love you. And able to figure out podcasts. that's that too it feels like it feels like a major win um yeah this feels real it feels real and like i we i would try to psych ourselves in the team's last couple years and i we would do a pretty good job of doing it i would say um although i will say opening day last year felt about as real as this well the first like four and oh and then you know seven and two kind of truck along the offense was hitting and then the robles homer you know i know dude the robles burned in my soul but again and what what uh i really hope i really hope uh matt and and john melton are listening to this podcast like dude imagine having jt and dd here for the next couple years i know bryson stott is is there waiting in the wings but dude dd d you know, Kutch, you got one more year.

And, man, what a signing Kutch has been. You know, I thought he was done. And before the injury last year, he was great. This year it took him a little bit to get going. But he's definitively back. And a really, really underrated signing like just just and and i i i know you don't i know you don't believe in john the way that i do and i just think that he watches this team and i don't think he lets i don't think he lets them break up i mean because they might be

closer than we think i mean the phillies might be closer to them than we think. And this is a really deep lineup, one through nine. Even Quinn, who is really frustrating at times, like the Turner inside the park home run. But, man, he's still his effective ball player. Like, he's your only, like, kind of hole in the lineup, and he's still pretty solid most days and if you want to just combine him and hazley and let them kind of just go and whatever i mean sagora is barreling

up everything right now like this lineup is is just dynamic one through nine and i just you got to keep them together like they're not they're this is a this is a championship caliber major league baseball lineup they just are they just are and if you're john middleton and he signed harper's that deal you've done all these things you paid wheeler that contract like and you see this lineup every single night you have to do what it takes to keep them together and it's ridiculous that they went into the season with this bullpen we all understand that's ridiculous but i hope that what has happened in the last nine of ten games which they had won nine of which people

forget um i hope that john middleton realizes team is closer and it's time to invest it's time to put on the big boy pants it's time to put on the big boy pants. It's time to put on the big boy pants, John, because they're closer than you think. And this is a championship caliber lineup with a championship caliber 1-2. Go buy a freaking bullpen, and we'll keep advancing with Spencer Howard and Zach Eflin and have a really good 1-4, and we will find a fifth starter. But invest in the bullpen this team is way closer than i had even thought yeah well especially and this is a point you made before but like what else you're gonna do right at this point with with the way you built this team again to the

point you just made i mean you brought hyper harper in you paid him. I mean, you've got a core of guys who are at the right age to compete. I mean, what else do you do? I mean, you own a farm system, right? I mean, there's no help on the way. There's no like, oh, let's, if we move on from this guy, we can bring these guys up. And there's not much of that that you can count on. So, look, what else are they going to do? I think it's an imperative.

And like you said, the point is, is that it's not just bringing back Didi and JT and keeping the slime together. It's going out and spending. It's buying a bullpen. It's time for John Middleton to look. We have criticized the hell out of him for not going over the tax, but if he is, now is the time to prove that the whole, like, I'm not going over the tax until it's time to go over the tax, and then I'll go over the tax.

Like, hey, guess what? It's time. John, we found it. Like, next season, they better be over the luxury tax. They better. They better. They have to. They might not even have to.

There's $45 million coming off the books this year. Right, but again, you can't do it. better they better dude but they have to they they might not even have to there's there's 45 million coming off the books this year right and but again you can't be but they can't be afraid to they i can't be getting my point the freaking stories too they need to be willing to because to your point jack like you're right they they are a championship caliber lineup they have a championship caliber one two certainly a better one two2 than the last time the Phillies won the World Series. I think we can 100% agree on that. They have a championship caliber 1-2. And a better lineup than the 0-8 team?

What? Did I say that? A championship caliber lineup and a championship caliber manager they need a bullpen and they need another starter and then all of a sudden it's like look like are you going to be better than the dodgers maybe not but are you going to be good enough that you could beat the dodgers in a seven game series yeah that could absolutely happen with the core of what's here and a few additions you know like you have to be willing to go's here and a few additions, you know, like you have to be willing to go out and spend on those additions and you have to obviously hit, but you're absolutely right, Jack. Look, we just said it before, like even this season and they can only make it better.

I feel like after the season with Arrieta's money coming off the ability to kind of maneuver, assuming they can resign Romito and Didi and keep this lineup together. I mean, like this year we said earlier in the podcast that they are one of the handful of teams that theoretically has a chance to win the World Series. Again, I'm not saying they're going to win the World Series, or I think they're going to win the World Series, but it's not impossible. And the last few years, it's impossible. It's impossible the Phillies could have won the World Series few years like it's impossible like it's impossible the phillies could have won the world series like this year it's not impossible and that alone like

if you add to what you have like you've got something man like you've got a chance and also it's not like the dodgers have been you know lights out in the postseason look they yeah it's a really fair point i mean as long as as long as kershaw's there as long as as long as uh clayton manning's there we'll be all right hey um yeah so i think the i think the official high hopes position which has been the official high hopes position for a long time is hey we give you permission you are allowed to go over the luxury tax um yeah that has been our staunch position and also also we give you permission to believe in this and like get excited about this and get mad if they don't go for the luxury tax and if they don't add to this team like they need

to like look whatever happens this season this is the squad we got but but this offseason obviously they need to sign jt obviously as we just said they need to sign dd but they need to add to this team and they need to like treat it like it's a true contender because that has not been something that they've done yeah and again i mean this team would be they'd have at least five more wins if you had a competent bullpen. Absolutely. They would be in first place without a doubt if they had a competent bullpen. I know.

No question they're in first place. How it was allowed for this team to come into the season with the bullpen they had is still mind-boggling, but – Well, you made a great point on the afternoon show about this where you were talking about the Eagles' offensive line and saying it could be like the Phillies' bullpen where we all went into the season knowing it wasn't okay, saying this is going to be the problem, this isn't going to work,

and yet we just waltzed into these seasons with these things. It was a great point. That's how we felt. This is not like it was a surprise that the Phillillies bullpen was historically bad we all expected it to be historically bad wait so you mean that having the guy who's never played right guard before play right guard and have the guy who's never played left tackle before start left tackle is gonna be a problem is that is that what we're saying um but yeah it's just like I'm forgiving it because they won 9-10. If they don't make a deep run and they face what the Padres in the first round

because they're the 5 seed or the 6 seed, I'm just going to be pissed. It's just going to bring up all the old feelings of, hey, this could be a legitimate team if you gave this team a bullpen for the first 12 months. That's why they need to win the division. Yeah. Not playing the Padres would be a really nice thing. Yeah.

Playing like the Rockies or the – and look, the Cardinals, obviously Flaherty is great, but playing the Cardinals. The Cardinals stink. Those teams would be better than the Padres. I hate the Cardinals. It may be because I lost a bet on the Cardinals earlier this week, but I hate the Cardinals. Oh, the Cardinals stink. I think those teams would be better than the Padres. I hate the Cardinals. It may be because I lost a bet on the Cardinals earlier this week, but I hate the Cardinals. Like, Paul DeYoung is my least favorite player in baseball.

But, yeah, like, listen, they're the fourth best team in the NL right now with a chance. I think they could definitely be better than the Cubs, especially as the season goes on. But they're, at worst, the fourth team in the in the nl fourth or fifth is the point yeah like whatever i love them just just just the just the fact that it's back just the fact that baseball is like it feels like it's back in the city and you know what sucks the most is that like the bank would be so electric right now. Like the bank would just be, we'd be getting hit into fun.

No, no one would be getting so into it. It's such a bummer. No one would leave their seats. Um, they, they'd be like, although I will say,

and I want to know if you agree with me on this, cause I had this take in, in my head the other day, the fact that there's no fans, I think really helped this team, uh, the first like month and a half of the season or really before they won nine,

when they struggled, you mean? Yeah. Cause I think, I think, I think it's a great take. If there was no, if there were fans there,

I don't think Reese would be able to bounce back. And I know that sounds bad, but like Reese is openly talked about how last year against the Pirates, he had, like, bases loaded one out, and he popped up, and he got really, again, like, severely booed. And he just talked about how, like, that was really draining for him. And given how bad Reese was, if there was fans there, it would just – I don't know if he would have been able to bounce back from it,

and we wouldn't be able to see the reese that we have right now um you know the bullpen they would have got just booed off the off the field probably can you imagine yeah so um but with no fans there they've been able to kind of stabilize and and they're i mean their their team era is four or five right now now the the bullpen era is i think still six eight which isn't which is a massive improvement yeah we're coming down from the high high eight look phelps is legit jojo is legit best romero best best lefty romero to ever stop it best lefty romero to ever put on a philly's uniform stop it stop it that's heresy um look jojo's nasty man like he's a dude you tweeted that jack tweeted jojo is a dude and i was like that's a perfect tweet because jojo's a dude jojo's dude um he's i did not expect this like a full disclosure didn't expect 97 with a wipeout slider um pleasantly

surprised and two things that two things i think about jojo uh one seems like he'll take the ball and be confident in his stuff and feel like his stuff doesn't stink basically um and he'll go out there and throw competitive pitches and think he's the best pitcher on the planet which i think is massive for uh confidence is so important right and important in sports and i think he's better than adam morgan i like adam morgan a lot i would trust jojo romero over working right now like i it's not even a question for me yeah and i think joe joe joe g that is gerardi uh he definitely does not not trust young guys it doesn't seem like so yeah very clearly uh but i would like for him to trust jojo because he's he's the kind of guy that i think he's starting to more well yeah he doesn't he doesn't have a choice because Morgan's hurt but still yeah he's he's

also better than Ranger Suarez I'm not you know we haven't seen much of Ranger no no I know and he's coming back and I get it but like he's back apparently we just haven't seen much Suarez Suarez is like the guy that had like who doesn't have that good of stuff but was good for two weeks and everyone convinced themselves like oh he's the missing piece no Jojo's the guy Jo doesn't have that good of stuff but was good for two weeks and everyone convinced themselves, like, oh, he's the missing piece. No, JoJo's the guy. JoJo's straight up the guy. It's not Ranger Suarez, who's fine, whatever. But he's closer to Cole Irvin than JoJo Romero.

So, yeah. I agree with you. JoJo's great. I love him. It's a strange sensation to see a guy come out of the bullpen and feel good about it like it's uh i'm still not used to it well him and blake parker is him blake parker is zero zero year shut down shut down like just a dominant reliever and look i felt like you said phelps came up the run but like but I'm all in on Phelps. I would trust that guy with my life or an eighth or ninth inning lead.

All right. We didn't talk at all really about the games except the passing, which is fine. Look, Reeves, so locked in. Shout out to Girardi for the Neil Walker move. I know he got a lot of – he's just – Girardi's – he's got a really good feel for things right now,. I know he got a lot of – like he's just – Girardi's – like he's got a really good feel for things right now. And I know that was a numbers thing and all that.

But, I mean, I would think no matter – 0 for 17 is a sample size, but I wouldn't say a substantial sample size in terms of batter versus pitcher if you look at like really what the data shows. But 0 for 17 is is noticeable but like to take reese out of the lineup there like when he's just the most locked in dude on the planet and then for walker to go three for three and then reese to step back in line today and hit a home run and just be locked in again like it just we were talking about a little before but uh you know just coming back to it really

feels like gerardi's really starting to get a feel for this team his guys when he can use guys on both sides of the ball so to speak um i think it was it was an impressive weekend for him um yeah and and um it really feels like he's just kind of managing. It's almost like basketball where you're managing minutes, but he's managing minutes for these guys heading up to this, what? They have like 29 games in 26 days. And it's seven games. Six doubleheaders, five doubleheaders, something like that.

Two doubleheaders next week. Now, if he keeps batting bomb in the freaking 7-8 hole and not bumping up a little bit, it's going to drive you crazy. Also, like, did you see today when he pitched to Soto with the base open? Yeah, I think everyone on the planet was shocked by that. It's like, what are we doing? I mean, what are we doing? I was actually in the car when that happened, and Franski and L.ki and la were like what the hell is happening i'm sure you know you were

doing the game like everyone knew it in the moment yeah so but yeah no it's like it's like what and i i threw this comp out today but it's really it's what it reminds me of it reminds me of when when doug gets the eagles rolling i I mean, when Doug figures it out. And it feels like Doug figures it out every year, and it feels like Girardi is figuring it out now. I mean, this is what they talk about when they talk about the competent manager that knows what he's doing. Yeah, it's great.

And honestly, it's not even just Girardi.. Yeah, it's great. And honestly, honestly, it's, it's, it's not even just Girardi. I mean, I think like Dylan, Dylan, I think Bryce has made a difference. Dylan,

we talked about last time. Dylan, I think he's making a difference. So good, man. He's got these guys on the barrel and they're, they're just doing damage. And I think they're confident in them.

You know, Girardi talked after the game, uh, two nights ago about how Reese just kind of started trusting him and he had to develop that trust and look at how it's kind of manifested itself uh Reese is the best he's looked since he came up in 2017 so um like Dylan just has these guys on the barrel DD is just squaring up everything I mean Bryson like the fact that Bryce and JT have just gone ice cold

and the lineups, I've never felt better about the lineup, is kind of crazy. But literally, like, Kutch is on the barrel all the time. Reese is on the barrel all the time. DD, Boehm is consistently on the barrel. Gene Segura is barreling up everything. I thought Kingery was starting to barrel up stuff before he went on the IL with the back.

I mean, Goose is obviously a barrel machine. That's why he has a nickname, Barrels. I can't believe they called him Goose. That's on me. Yeah, I don't know. You didn't know who I was talking about? Really disappointed. Yeah.

Yeah, I know. I guess I realized who you were talking about. I thought you were talking about my buddy, Goose. No, my also buddy, Goose, not Phil Gosselin. So you were talking about Barrels.elin? So you're talking about barrels? Yeah, that is what I was talking about. Also, you know what else cracks me up? And I don't know if I'm the only one that has noticed this,

but I know you've got to keep sponsors happy. It's so funny when TMAC is working in the Yingling sponsors. Have you noticed that they'll come back in the seventh inning and whoever pitches well at night like t-mac will be like yeah and aaron noah really earned a yingling tonight or like flash the camera on the yingling sign and t-mac will be like yeah zach wheeler really deserved a yingling after this one and it's just so it's not like really a live read but it's definitely like a hey can you can you mention our product kind of thing um i don't know how i

transitioned that is 12 30 i'm so tired i'm so tired on a team i'm starting to run out of steam i just said i'm starting to run out of tea i know i know you are but the the Phillies have won 9-10. 9-10. What do you got in the note bag? You got any note bag action? Honestly, the podcast right now is kind of like Spencer Howard's fastball on the fifth inning. Yeah, I'm done, man. 9-10. Let's just say 9-10.

Are we good with just saying 9-10? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not okay with that. I got a lot of stuff in here I got to get to. Okay, get to it. Thank you. Also, not worried about Spencer Howard's velocity. It I got a lot of stuff in here. I got to get to get to it. Thank you. Um, also not worried about sensor Howard's velocity. It's just a little,

it's just a leg strength thing. I think for him, um, he's going to like, he was throwing, like it wasn't all the time, but he was hitting 98 and is no header down Lakewood a couple of years ago. So he has shown the ability to throw hard late into games and,

uh, the VLO decreases. I am not worried about and honestly just being able to watch spencer howard every fifth start hopefully going down it's like it's just it's it's nice seeing his growth start to start because we are seeing growth start to start from spencer howard so um that is definitely good to see um actually i guess i thought i had more i still no i should uh it's okay no no i feel like i have to do it i i if i if it came down to one game i would take this line i saw you tweet this i would take this lineup over the 08 lineup i mean sue me oh oh you're going there yeah you're

going about oh the boom thing boom yeah uh so yeah and two things that i fully feel about on my heart you would really real quick real quick you would really take them over 08 because i can't get there yet they're great they're outstanding offensive team but i'm not quite there but i mean it's not the craziest thing ever but i would would you would you say they're deeper yeah i would absolutely say they're deep i don't think bench is ridiculous i mean like they're they're deep man they there is not a whole i mean center field that's the whether it's kingery hazley quinn nice still wish we saw more of adam hazley but that's that's not allowed like i know that's literally the one offensive

hole and it's not even a huge hole. It's fine. It's fine. It's your nine hitter. It's fine. But that's it. Literally it. So they're very deep.

Very deep. And the numbers are very similar. Best Fills teams I've seen in my life. 2011, 2008, 2020. That's how I'd rank them. I can't even. I'm just going to stay. Final thing, I think.

I love JT and Bryce. I tweeted this earlier, but those guys are great. Whatever. We talked about it last podcast. I feel like JT never gets the big hit and bryce does but i don't know i trust alec bohm in a big spot i trust him over anyone what it take anyone i trust him over anyone that guy is always going to put together good at bat and he's going to put the barrel on the baseball he's going to put the barrel on the baseball like i just i fully

believe that i would trust him in the in a clutch spot every single time wow here's the thing i'm i'm trying to dispute this and i can't because you know because you know in your gut that's how you feel i know i feel like look i guess it depends what you're looking for. If I need someone at a home run, maybe it's a different answer. But if I just need someone to get a hit in a big spot to get on base, to get a hit, whatever, yeah, it's probably Alec Boehm. Here's the other crazy thing. Reese Hoskins, way higher on that list than he would have been a few weeks ago.

I'll tell you that much. Reese has a higher OPS than Bryce. Look, he might be number two. It might go boom Reese right now in terms of who I would want up in a big spot. Wow. I'm not going that far. He's been great, man. I watched a calendar year of Reese Hoskins at the Dish.

Well, right now, obviously in the midst of that. I know. I'm sure next week I could say something different. well right now obviously in the midst of that i know i'm sure next week i could say something different um you got anything else in the note bag um oh i feel like we have to get this out there um it's always dangerous when you say that i know but especially at 12 38 in the evening yes morning morning could could well first off first off like 12 30 is night time okay it's not a morning that doesn't officially change at least 3 a.m 3 a.m is when it changes over and i would just like that just like just like new year's i didn't know that was canon is

that canon i don't know but all i'm saying is that two things I fundamentally believe is that the next day does not start until 3 a.m. That is officially morning, and New Year's should be the day after the Super Bowl. The day after the Super Bowl is actual New Year's. January 1st is not actual New Year's. I think your second take is the wrong take. I agree with the thought of it, but the correct take is the day after the thought of it, but the correct

take is the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday. It doesn't have to be New Year's. New Year's can stay where it is. But the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday. No one should have to go to work the day after the Super Bowl. Unless the Eagles are in any work in sports right now. We don't count for that stuff.

Well, listen, if you want to have takes that everyone's had for 25 years, you can be you. But I'm going to be me. Wow. Very good. That wasn't bad. I didn't rate that.

Anyway, so what I was trying to say before we started about talking about the calendar is that even if the Phillies make the playoffs this year, I still want Matt Klintak fired. I don't care. Same. I'm not giving him. My feelings about him have not changed one bit, except maybe I like him even less after having to make those trades

just to fix the bullpen so that this championship caliber team potentially had some semblance of a shot because you screwed up so bad coming into the season. You suck. That's how I feel. Yes. And I feel like I could have made every move that Matt Glentak made. I still say, no matter what happens this season,

this Phillies team is winning in spite of Matt Glentak, not because of him. That's how I feel. So, Matt, I'm very sorry if you listened to 58 minutes of this podcast and just got to this point waiting for roasted yeah waiting for some validation for your work and guess what buddy it's not happening not happening at all and of course as always there is fresh high hops it is gonna be in cans this weekend but not the the can design that i sent you, but it isn't cans. So you will be able to take it home and enjoy it. And, I mean, listen, they won 9-10.

There's no better time to pick up some high ops. And as always, if you go into Four Fingers Brewing Company in Aston, try to talk Phillies with my dad. It is hilarious. He doesn't know anything about baseball, but he tries hard. He tries hard.'s that's all that matters i love this baseball team every single day i wake up and say get me to 705 um and and every throughout the day i'm starting to just smile more i mean i feel like you haven't

seen giddy jack around a lot recently at the office, James. It's true. But I feel like I'm starting to get back to the giddiness. I showed off. I went out to lunch today with a friend of the podcast, Jack Keffer, and I was just showing off. Look at you, two Jacks. Well, there's only one Jack.

I showed off my pickoff move to all of Center City today. Yes, you did. I just couldn't be more in. You act like this is the first time you've done that. Yeah, whatever. And just take two or three from the Mets. We're a 9 of 10 pod now.

Yeah, we're a 9 of 10 pod. Definitely not looking forward to Arietta Porcello tomorrow night. I hate watching... That sounds like torture. I might not watch it. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. at a porcelain tomorrow night like i i hate watching it sounds like torture yeah i might not watch it i'm just kidding but just kidding but nine to ten yeah nine to ten nine bedtime nine to ten never a doubt never a doubt for some of us nine to ten nine to ten never a doubt

all right i'm going to bed you're going to bed let's go well i gotta edit this down so yeah well i gotta record another podcast too so still still wow sucks late night for this guy it's all good hey nine and ten you know what i love high hopes i love the phillies nine and ten he's burnt some seltzer, we'll see you later It's my passion, it's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow

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