High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - A Frantic Comeback Falls Short but Phils Stay Hot

Episode Date: August 31, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phils fall just short to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night. Still, Phils take 2 of 3 and are well positioned heading into the stretch run with the trade deadline looming. 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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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 Y P. Yo, Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast.

A late night edition, Jack. We thought we were going to be recording in like the sixth inning, and this ended up being a wild game in the end. They didn't pull it out, but five in a row, they fought back tonight. I'm way more optimistic than pessimistic. What did we say? Take two or three. And then we, we say,

we say it before every series, but, uh, especially true this series. I mean, they need to take two or three. They took two or three. Um,

you know, I don't know. They got down by 10 tonight and it was like, all right, game over. Um, and they fought back and made it an interesting game. I think that's important.

I agree with you. I agree with you. I think it says something about them. They were down 10-0. And they were right there, man. When Kutch hit that homer, it was like, oh, my God. Wow, this could actually happen. Well, especially because they had to come back against what?

It was Minter into Martin. Martin, yeah. I mean, Minter is absurd. That guy's ridiculous. He's like their long man. I mean, their starting staff is just like garbage, the Braves. I mean, honestly, my main takeaway from this weekend was like the Braves aren't that good.

I mean, obviously, Acuna getting pulled tonight hurt, the their top end of the bullpen is really good like they have they have a really good bullpen that starting staff is just terrible um and you know I mean obviously Freeman's always gonna kill you like I don't know how anyone ever gets Freddie Freeman out yeah Acuna's a monster uh uh Dan's just a nice year. Azuna feels like he always kills us. But, like, I don't know. I'm not leaving this weekend totally, like, scared of the Braves. I think the Phillies could run them down. Yeah, look, I mean, the Phillies are just as good offensively, you could argue.

The starting pitching's way better. And, you know, the bullpen is way worse. But, I mean, you could argue they're they're not i agree with you like they're not the gap is not as wide as i thought it was when you watch these two teams play this weekend and look i mean the phillips are gonna hit man they're gonna hit this lineup is is cooking right now and we'll get into like specifics and all that but i mean you look through the lab and everyone i mean mean, everyone has like an 800 OPS or higher. It's crazy. I mean, they are, they are really cooking and you know, Eflin look great. We'll get into that. I think there's look, I mean, you know, I'm, I'm not like talking world series or anything yet, but they're a good baseball team right now. I mean,

they've shown that if the, if the bullpen isn't going to just kill them, they can win some games. Yeah. Honestly, tonight felt like an 08 game. It felt like one of those games that Hamels didn't start in 08, where it was just like, all right, the offense is going to hopefully get us a lot, and the bullpen could not grab the bed. I feel like I watched a lot of 12-10 baseball games in 2008.

Just not like this one. This was a unique one. This is a totally weird baseball game. It was even weirder that the Philadelphia teams were the only teams that have come back from 10-0 loss. Yeah, that was just super weird. I was like, wow, that's crazy. It almost felt destined.

And they kept showing the graphics. It was like, all right, ESPN, chill out. We get it. We get it. Dude, I hate i hate him i hate him the whole thing was brutal with that but like like you said i mean it does show first of all like we talked so much this season about not having urgency and not feeling like they were you know playing it like a 60 game season we certainly saw a ton of urgency and just to fight back the way they did, I mean, it shows some chutzpah, Jack. You know, I know you love when I talk about chutzpah. Oh, yeah.

Anytime you can work chutzpah into this podcast, I'm all for it. And look, it's coming off. I think it means a little more coming off five in a row after that disastrous doubleheader in Toronto. And to, like, bounce back the way they did and to win five in a row for the first time since 2018, which is just still absurd. They could have made it six, but they tried. They tried. Coming off that to show, like, to not just, it felt like, look,

how many teams down 10-0 in the second just say, all right, whatever. You know, it's Sunday night. We're just going to pack it in. It ends up being like 14-4 or something like that. And that didn't happen. And they fought, and they fought hard. And they showed they can hang with the Braves, taking two or three, obviously.

It's encouraging, man. And look, record-wise, where they sit, I mean, they're tied for second in the division, and I think getting second in the division is actually far more important now than we thought. I mean, you don't want to be the eighth seed. You don't want to run into the Dodgers buzzsaw, although maybe you could argue that getting them in a three-game series

makes more sense if you're going to have to roll through. Oh, they're beating the Dodgers? Yeah. No. What? Come on. That's the problem. That's the problem.

All right. Let's go through game by game because it was a really fun weekend of baseball, and there's a lot to get to. Let's start with Friday night. Obviously, the Kingery walk-off. We'll get to that but um not the the best wheeler we've seen but certainly you know just kind of keeps trucking along what'd you see yeah i i teach he's just good you know he's he's never gonna wow you with

the strikeout numbers but you know he said something interesting maybe it was a week or a week week or two ago about how how he started studying the best pitchers of baseball. And sure, the Coles of the world and the really, really elite guys, Scherzers, they get strikeouts, right? And Wheeler is just not striking out guys at this point, which is whatever. It's kind of frustrating. And it kind of makes you wonder if he's going to regress a little bit here, if that ERA is going to regress. But at the same time, if you look at his expected stats, his expected stats are right around where his ERA is now. So it's not like the underlying numbers are some crazy.

But he said basically he studied the best pitchers in the sport, and they would go deep into ball games and they would try to get early outs. And it's very old school, you know, kind of pitching the contact and trying to get early outs and not trying to get deep accounts and letting guys foul balls off and whatnot. And yeah, it's, it's 98 contact stuff, but it gets the job done and I just feel confident every time he goes out there, he's going to give me at least like, I just feel like six innings, seven innings, three runs or less i mean he he's definitely he's definitely found his his groove here a little bit obviously you want to see the strikeouts come up but um listen i'll

take a 98 mile an hour contact picture i mean whatever and i think honestly the fact that his expected stats are right around where his actual stats are, I think is really big because that's one thing you worry about with the strikeouts not being there is that his numbers could kind of regress to the mean a little bit. But it seems like everything's fine. And yeah, I mean, it's just so relieving not having to put all the pressure of the starting rotation on Aaron Nola. You know, the fact that you have Wheeler behind him just makes everything so much nicer. You know, it would be great if they traded for a starter tomorrow. I don't know how realistic it is,

and they're probably looking for a controllable guy. But just the fact that you have Nola Wheeler at the top, I think Eflin's good, and then Spencer Howard is getting better, and then obviously you have no idea what you're getting from Jake Arrieta. The starting staff is good. And I feel confident in every single Zach Wheeler start. It doesn't seem like guys can consistently barrel up the baseball against them. I mean, it's 98 with legit run.

And, yeah, it's just good. I like watching Zach Wheeler. Well worth the contract so far. Obviously we were a little worried about Wheeler coming in. But, I mean, he's just 100% lived up to it so far i was a little obviously we were a little worried about wheelie coming in but i mean he's he's just 100 lived up to it so far yeah no he's the definition of consistency so apart from this team he's been really the only guy you can count on every single time he's taken the mound he's giving you a good start at least you know something solid and that's super useful when your bullpen is horrendous yeah it's really important to have

um let's get eflin out of the way and then we'll talk about all that kind of offensive stuff that went down and you know obviously a lot a lot there and and obviously uh you know some guys are they back or not a lot of guys are back i'm just saying a lot of guys are back i i think a lot of guys are back um eflin i thought eflin was awesome and and obviously if it weren't are back i i think a lot of guys are back um efflin i thought efflin was awesome and and obviously if it weren't the rain out i think he or the rain delay probably could have gone another inning um we've seen efflin have the strikeout stuff this year which he's you know to a level he's never come close to before but it seemed like he really put it all together on saturday night or saturday day i should say yeah and it

was about time i mean i if you want to talk about expected stats like his his era was like in the high fives but his expected era was in like the two fives so it finally seemed like everything was kind of calming down a little bit from that standpoint um but eflin i just love watching him and and maybe it's i I obviously love JT, but I also really like watching Andrew Knapp call a game. Because, like, I feel, I don't know this for a fact, but I feel like Andrew Knapp's kind of in my head. And me and Andrew Knapp will both call the same games.

So I really like that me and Andrew Knapp are on the same page when it comes to calling games, especially for Zac Eflin. I feel like I could be in the dugout and call a Zach Eflin game because I just know him. I just know Zach Eflin too well. We're just on the same page. It's a beautiful thing. When there is podcast to pitch our synergy, you don't find it very often,

but the fact that we have it is just so massive. Yeah, well, I mean, you also are both known for having heavy bodies at times, too. No, I think that's rude. And I think that I don't like that one bit. But it's okay. It's a fair shot, given all the old jokes that I've made on this podcast. Yeah, well, I'd rather have you out there arietta is arietta as old as you no area is not as old as you no there are a few there's you you're you're darn right pal um yeah

not many man yeah i just i i just really really enjoy watching eflin and a lot of people talking about his curveball as like a reason for the strikeout increases and it is nice that he's you know finally showing a semblance of having an off-speed pitch that could be a weapon like that was the thing that was always frustrating about eflin the last couple years was you know the curveball kind of spun and and uh didn't really do a job but he talked about he talked after the game about how he's which is crazy because he's 27 years old and he's probably been pitching forever but he just realized that you're supposed to throw your curveball like your fastball and then the

last second you know kind of turn your rotate your wrist and snap it off like a freaking curveball so it's a it's nice that zach eflin has figured that out in his age 27 season or whatever um but yeah he's talking about how he's he's he's better late yeah sure whatever um but it is nice that it so basically he's trying to throw his curveball like his fastball and that's his mindset he's trying to spin it harder and whatnot and if you look at the numbers like he's not the the spin rate isn't really increased that much and the horizontal and vertical movement profiles are about the same the one thing that is interesting is that it's jumped two miles an hour. So the average velocity last year was like 77 miles an hour,

and it's up to 79 now, which is good. I mean, if you can throw a curveball harder and make it spin as hard as you were at 77 miles an hour, it's obviously going to be a better pitch. So that's good to see. And, yeah, Eflhan's a guy that when you just let him go and get rolling and the balls jump and like just don't even worry about taking him out of the ball game like he'll have his games where it's five innings of of just slog and it's

just trotting but when he's on a roll like he'll just throw a complete game in like 87 pitches and like that's what he was on pace to do on saturday yeah it was yeah so i i really like the fact that the fact that we could be i don't know what two three years away from a rotation of um you know wheeler nola howard abel and efflin has like your five is a luxury efflin has a four five is an absolute luxury and uh i just, I really enjoy watching them. And Andrew Knapp, I just appreciate that you, we call the game together. Yeah, well, I mean, you know that you're talking to one of the founding members of the Andrew Knapp fan club.

Is your jersey in yet or it's not in yet? Well, I've got one of each jersey. He's worn four jerseys this year. So now I got to get one of each. Just when I got my numberys this year so now i gotta get one of each i feel like just when i got my number 15 nappy jersey and he switched it to seven so it's very disappointing it was it was seven yeah five 42 it's great yeah he's he's covering it all that's that's a good that's a good nugget there um all right uh nothing to say about Arrieta, right? He just is what he is, and he mostly sucks, and every once in a while he'll be okay.

Is that – do we need to elaborate on that? Like, maybe the biggest waste of money I've ever seen in my life. I just hate him, man. When you consider that he was the first Philly athlete to ever make $30 million in a season, like, you could – and granted, that's obviously since, you know, the tobias yeah type of stuff but but i mean it was uh i mean he is definitely one of the big bus money just pure money wise we've seen him yeah well dude it's like it would be like paying babin 30 million a year like like like he's just he's just the worst

even when he pitches he's so not when he pitches well i hate it like because it's like he's just the worst. Even when he pitches well, I hate it. Like, he's just, you know, and freaking Veskersian, who I usually like. Like, the whole first two innings, he's like, yeah, he's just pitching around this guy. It's like, no, he's not. He has no idea where the freaking ball's going. Like, Jake Arrieta has no idea where the ball's going. And, you know, I'm just so sick and tired of every every time he pitches decently well in the postgame. He's like, yeah, great bullpen.

I'm I'm basically back now. Like Jake Arrieta has said he's been back like 17 times since he's been here. Yeah, he should never be allowed. Oh, dude. Just like they should. They should just when when it's time for for like media availability, they're like, sorry, Jake's not. No, just go away. I can't wait to never watch him again.

I truly can't. I can't wait. I can't wait. I will never, ever, ever. Vinny drives me crazy. Actually, no. I would rather watch Jake Garrett than Vinny. I don't know.

It's both awful. Just truly awful experiences. I mean, I want him to go away so bad. He ruins every game I sit down and watch. Yeah, well, we have five starts left. I mean, because even if they make the playoffs, there's a 0% chance Jay Gary. Ah, come on, man. You know Girardi's going to use the, oh, he's a veteran.

Oh, you better not. All right, we're getting off this topic. I can't even let that enter my realm of thought. He knows how to pitch, James. He knows how to pitch. Yeah. Yeah. All right, let's talk about the fun part of this team.

Because what a fun thing to have. I forgot what it was like to actually have a consistent lineup that hits most nights. All right, we're going to get to the people who I think we can both agree are definitely back. And, you know, by saying that, I'm alluding to what I think. But Kingery gets to walk off on Friday night. It was fun. You know, barely got out. But he got it out.

How do you get to take a shot at him? Just enjoy the moment, would you? I mean, come on. You don't have to say it barely got out we're gonna talk about guys that are back scott kingery i think you texted me and said kingery's back you don't actually think no i know i i this is 100 dead serious i think he's taking i think he's taking nice strides forward hey this is hey hey we're gonna get to a guy that you probably were mocking me for believing he's back it reese i did so all i'm saying all i'm saying and this is i mean did i not just admit that i

love andrew knapp what more do you want from me jack listen why don't you why don't you learn how to evaluate talent over there and appreciate a good at bat no but no but my thing with kingery is i think he's done a way better job of being more direct to the baseball obviously like i mean the thing that was frustrating about kingery for a while there was that it just felt like he was think he's done a way better job of being more direct to the baseball obviously like i mean the thing that was frustrating about kingery for a while there was that it just felt like he was trying to uppercut everything and trying to launch everything and his at bats the last couple days i mean he's been hitting the ball harder like he's had i mean it's just facts if you go look at he's been hitting the ball harder i think he's getting more direct to the baseball and i think

we're going to start seeing a much better Scott Kingery the next two weeks. I mean, he's putting together better at-bats. I'm not saying he's perfect. I'm not saying he's back, back, back like Mr. Hoskins, but there are signs of life from Scott Kingery. How about that? Is that fair?

Is that fair? Is that not going too overboard? You know what i i gave you a lot of crap for for saying the run was coming and uh you know listen just let me let me hey hey sometimes you gotta feed the guy when he gets hot this is like an alan irison possession let the yeah yeah kind of thing yeah okay all right i get down with that all right uh what did you know something i'm gonna tell you something that you might know did you know that that reese hoskins has an ops over 900

uh yeah and you know who doesn't have an ops over 900 no that big fraud in new york that's a first baseman. JT is actually just over. Yeah. Wow. Listen. Yo, so Ree's back. Back, back. Back, back. Really back. Like, fully back. Back, back, back.

I mean, did you see me at Bass tonight? I mean. Dude, he was awesome. He was all weekend. I mean, really, not great Friday night, but Saturday and Sunday, he was awesome. And the swings have been. He hit that homer against the Nats where it was like there it is off the off the 64 mile per hour curveball or whatever that was like felt like a reese swing

it was like that looks like reese hoskins like that's the dude and then we saw him this weekend i mean the homer on saturday the homer on sunday just uh the one on saturday hit into right center and also had the loud out prior to that i I mean, he looks really good, man. This is what we've been talking about. If they could get this guy, how dynamic it makes this lineup. And I'm just so happy for him. I didn't like watching Reese struggle. I didn't like how the city was kind of turning on Reese.

Obviously, I was concerned about Reese, but it's just so nice that this player is still in there. And I think that the biggest reason why is his eye is still really good. Even when he was barely hitting balls out of the infield, for some reason, pitchers... He was still walking. He walked forever. He never stopped walking. I have no idea why pitchers were were like pitching around well that's a different story yeah so um but yeah i mean even saw it listen with reese it comes down to right

center field and when he is thinking right center field he keeps that shoulder in he's just he just is a really good hitter and man with him back it's it's a scary scary scary lineup i mean we'll talk about it in a second i'm sure but like mccutchen's definitely back mccutchen's like way back mccutchen's back this might be premature but uh mbp Kutch might be back. I mean, some are saying that MVP Kutch is back. I mean, he's been awesome. He's crushing the ball. And in big spots, too.

I'm so happy. That makes me so happy. You know I've said many times on here, he's my favorite player on the team. And the way he went down last year, and as we said, the Phillies would not be able to recover from it. Coming back to start of the season, it was clear that he just wasn't

quite back. The timing was off. He was still working into trusting that knee, and now to just see him be cut again, it's just awesome, man. It's awesome. Yeah, and the nicest part about where they're right now is is harper and jt are kind of going through it right now uh no i know and they're yeah well we'll give them a pass since they've literally carried the team the entire year

yeah yeah they get maybe a little 10 game pass it's fine um but dude i mean if they can get those guys back on track i mean it goes kutch hoskins harper real muto dd who's just been good all year i think what he had like maybe five games there where it kind of cooled off but overall and and has maybe consistently the best at bats night tonight on this team like even when even his outs like he's working seven eight nine pitch a bat like he is he is a really good hitter 100 i mean between him and segura i mean segura made the play tonight that was infuriating but oh god how how do you get caught off base there like how how it was like a weak little and like and like where are you going i mean if it falls you'll be there exactly exactly where are you

going if it falls you're getting a second base no matter what. Right, but I mean, Segura right now is scorching hot as well. Three more hits tonight. So it lengthens the lineup. I mean, like, Boehm is legitimately your seven, eight-hole hitter. I mean, and Boehm has definitely cooled off. I mean, he is really, they are just breaking balling him into the ground. I mean, just sliders in the outside corner. And that's something that he's going to adjust and be fine um but it happens to every year yeah exactly

like it is just yeah and everyone's like you know i mean obviously there's some overreaction to everything that happens in baseball but uh yeah it bone might legitimately be your seven hole which is ridiculous like it's it's a and that's why man i know i know what would suck to give more prospects and clint act probably getting fleeced again but like like you don't know what this you don't know what this team could be if they get another bullpen weapon i mean gerardi's already pretty much found his guys it seems like it seems like he's settled into who he can trust and where he can go. And it was nice getting to look like Neris is kind of on his way back.

I mean, Hector's one of those guys that you just get rolling and go. But, man, if they could just add one more impact reliever, they could be semi-dangerous heading into the playoffs. With that offense, and it seems like they can square up everyone, think we're finally starting to see the joe dylan effect kind of kind of take over i mean they've been they've been barreling up some baseballs now he's got to tell bryce to stop bunning and that'd be great but yeah it's just calm down and i'm happy bryce admitted that he was being an idiot bunning with two strikes at one time but just in general it's like man like here's the thing if him bunting this much was gonna actually change the analytics

so the teams did not shift on him so much and it was an actual competitive advantage he was gaining by other than maybe getting a single out of it I would be like all right maybe there's some long-term value to this but but swing the bat, man. You're the best hitter on the team. Swing the bat. I don't know if this is going to make you feel any better, but Arietta said after the game that they don't need to make any more moves heading into the deadline.

Oh, thanks, Jake. Super. Well, at least we didn't throw a teammate under the bus. Yeah, I think he's saying, like, don't replace me in the rotation. I'm fine. It's cool. Yeah, I got bone spares or something. That must be it this time.

I just don't... Do you think Jake is just really struggling with the fact that he sucks? Do you think that Jake is just like, yeah, it's shoulder this time? Or do you think he's... Yeah, he seems like one of those guys who always has his name in his shirt. Yes.

If that's what you're asking, yes, absolutely. It is never Jake Arian's fault. He's made that very clear, I think, many times over. It is never his fault. It's everyone else's fault and anything else's fault. Yep. So, yeah, great. Five more starts.

Thanks, buddy. Five more starts. Thanks, buddy. Five more starts. Thanks, buddy. Just go away. Go away. Go away. All right. Bullpen real quick because you brought it up.

You talked about the guys. Do you like – look, this bullpen is still a disaster. We saw it tonight. Brandon Workman, we got to talk about Workman in a sec, but who do you trust? I'm not even going to say trust. Who do you semi-trust in this pen? I mean, Blake Parker to talk about work in a sec, but who do you trust? I'm not going to say trust. Who do you semi-trust in this pen?

I mean, Blake Parker has been really good. I don't know. We've talked about it. I don't know how the hell he wasn't on the opening day roster. JoJo? JoJo? JoJo, what do you think of the pen? Give me the Jack Fritz breakdown of the Phillies bullpen right now, heading into the trade deadline tomorrow,

and we'll talk about Hader and all the stuff that's out there. But what's the Jack Fritz breakdown of this pen right now? Who can you trust loosely being used here? But who can you trust and who's dead? Well, here's the thing. And I think this is, if you talk to anyone that covers the sport, they always talk about, well, Girardi manages the bullpen. There are some Yankees fans that disagree with that. But I think what we're seeing now is he has found guys that he pretty much can go to every

single night if he needs to. I mean, he feels like he's using Hembree and Hunter and Morgan and Neris and Workman all the time. It seems like that's his five guys. He definitely doesn't trust young guys. I mean, we saw that a little earlier this season. I mean, I can't believe he used Ramon Rosso in the first game there. I know.

It's wild in hindsight, right, with the way he's. Jojo Romero looks like he could be a guy. Like, he might be. Yeah, I've been so impressed. I might like him more than Morgan. And he just, like, yanked him tonight for Parker. Oh, and Parker is a guy. But I still feel like he thinks Parker is, like, you're up.

A fringe guy. Yeah, like he's up 6-2, you know, trying to get through the end of the game. But, yeah, it feels like, you know, Hector is a guy that I still trust. I know he went through it a little bit there, but the stuff that he flashed the last two outings were really good. And even the game prior to these last two, he got squeezed on one that was definitely a strike.

I think Neris is kind of turning back into Neris. And honestly, if he's going to get on a roll where he can just go on one of those Hector Neris rolls, get him to freak back on the closer role i hate brandon workman and i know i know he's he's converted what two of three saves but like he sucks man like it is i tweeted out but it's like watching dollar store lich man it's it's 89 miles an hour he doesn't know where the ball's going he like pushes it. It looks like he's never worked on his mechanics a day in his life.

First off, throw the curveball all the time, dude. I'm sick and tired of seeing this nasty curveball that he throws once every four pitches. I hate him. It should be the only pitch he throws. Seriously, what are we wasting our time for? Your bleepity-ass slider. This trade does not look good. I mean, because Heath Emory does not look great. I know he had that first outing where it was like, oh, wow, Heath Emory.

It's not been great since. This is a trade we'll look back on when Connor Seabold's a three or a four somewhere, or Boston or somewhere else. I mean, the fact that he didn't name Pavetta hurts a little little bit but i mean seriously like who do you think you're talking to like did you no is this is the first podcast you've done with me i mean yeah i should have i should have put that together i knew yeah well i mean i mean high on high on high on did go up and meet with him personally to see where he's at. So they clearly believe in him. Look, if they believe in him, then, you know, it's hard to argue.

Hembree will be fine. I think Hembree will be fine. He's never going to blow you away. Workman is just brutal, man. Oh, dude, the worst. Workman is so tough. So tough. And he's closed out two of three, I mean, or whatever.

Really the only two, the first one he kind of, I guess he didn't close that one out, but they ended up. Because of Nappy. Well, Nappy got the play at the plate. Yeah, Nappy. Well, no, that was the one before. He came in the game before that, too, right? He blew last Saturday. They won Sunday.

Blew last Saturday. And then he struck out the Nationals on a check swing on Wednesday. So he has, say, three out of four opportunities, even though one of those was. He definitely does a lot check swing on Wednesday. So he has saved three out of four opportunities, even though one of those was... He definitely does a lot of life on lunch. Plus, we should probably mention, as you know that I am not surprised by this, but David Robertson will not be contributing

to this Phillies team this season. What a shock. Who could have possibly said that David Robertson would not be contributing to this team this season? Was it me? That's because you don't have any hope for anything he did was it me i i think i know that's because that's because you just look to keep everyone down and don't like anyone getting excited about anything i am i push

everyone down so i yes that is my my thing yep that sounds just about right um yeah i mean honestly i feel bad for him because he he seemed like he was really gunning to get back. Yeah, he tried. It seemed like he really, really gave it an effort. I mean, just the fact that they were talking about him being close. It's a miracle. Well, it's, it's not like they hinged their entire bullpen plans on him being healthy like Sir Anthony.

So yeah, no, it's love this team. No, no, no general manager would actually, no, just, just this one. That's just this one. Who's going to get, like all right hey hey matt i know i i know this podcast can't stand you but like oh putting it lightly like how the hell do you let michael gibbons get traded for peanuts under your watch to the rock yeah when like when like you traded freaking pivetta and seabold for two bleep relievers you know like michael gibbons is disgusting and it's just like yeah oh michael gibbons is better than either guy yeah not even like maybe put them together they wouldn't be as good as michael gibbons is with one more with one more year of. I mean, get this guy out of here. Whatever.

Yeah. He's a disaster. Like, it's just, that's why it's, so let's talk about the Hader thing now. Oh, yeah. So there was the rumor today that the Phillies have been in on discussions with the Brewers about Josh Hader, and I'm sure there are other relievers they're probably looking at, too, and who knows if they're looking at starters or whatever. But Josh Hader, the best reliever in baseball probably.

I think if I had to pick one reliever to start a team with, it would be Josh Hader. Granted, he theoretically could be a starter at some point, maybe still two. Three years of team control, it would cost a lot to get Josh Hader. What's the type of package do you think it would cost to get josh hater and and on a bigger scale because we're talking about it do you trust matt clintag to be made do you want matt clintag making this yeah it's like it's it's this you

know the larry david gif where it's like it looks like he's just pondering yeah yeah that's basically that's basically me waking up every day or that's basically me until four o'clock tomorrow because on one hand i'm like go for it you know this this offense is legit starting staff's good enough and the bullpen blows um and a hater is like that and like someone who can come in and give you two innings in the playoffs if you need to do whatever, that kind of stuff. Like he is lights out. Yeah, I mean, if your core for the next three or four years is Wheeler, Nola, Harper, JT, God willing.

We'll get to that too. Hoskins, Hoskins, Baum, probably not Deity. Howard. Yeah, Howard, Howard, obviously. Ekins, Bohm, probably not Deedee. Howard. Yeah, Howard. Howard, obviously. Eflin. Got to throw F in there. And then you have Hader as the back-end guy.

I mean, that's a core that you can kind of grow with. Now, the problem is the package. I mean, because basically I think the brewers are trying to almost rebuild their farm system in one trade if if they could um and honestly I think it's I mean we're talking what like Abel yeah it starts with those two yeah it starts with Abel and Stott and then maybe you get a Haisley or Moniak in there um and then like Medina like I think I think I think a package would be Medina, Moniak, I think a package would be Medina, Moniak, Stott, and Abel, which is a lot. I mean, it would— It might not even be enough.

Yeah, but, I mean, I don't know who else is—well, I mean, if the Dodgers— I mean, like, maybe it's some, like, lower-tier prospect. But regardless, my point is, is, like, I mean, Josh Hader is an incredibly valuable model. Yeah, it would be ridiculous. I mean, you'd be getting— And valuable model. Yeah, it would be ridiculous. I mean, you'd be getting— And they're not under the gun to trade him. I mean, with three years left of team control, they could still get a lot for him with two years of team control left, too. Yeah, I forget Miller was this scenario, right?

Miller was traded in 16. He might have had two years left. He was a free agent after 18, right? Because he was... Last year was... So it was two years. And they got back, what, Frazier and... Was it Justice Sheffield?

And then flipped him to Seattle for Paxton. So, yeah. I mean, that's a legit package. I mean, Frazier at that point was a guy that a lot of people thought was a starting left fielder, and for some reason... Well, he's a brutal defender package i mean frazier at that point was a guy that a lot of people thought was a starting left fielder and for some reason well he's a brutal defender but i still love his bat um so yeah definitely a definitely legit legit package it would take uh i like i love able obviously everyone knows that um stott's the same way you know stott apparently has just been hitting

the cover off the ball up in the alternate camp. So, yeah, that's just a lot. And I don't blame the Phillies for wanting to do it because, as we've talked about a lot in this podcast, like this is their window. Whether or not they want to admit it, I mean, getting JT signed for the next five years, four or five years, and then if you add in a Josh Hader and then you build around that core, I mean, that's your core. And this is Bryce Harper's prime. This is Reece Hoskins' prime.

This is Scott Kingery's prime. They're not a young team. They're a team that were pretty much built not organically. And whether or not they want to admit it, like they're going to have to invest in this team if they want to legitimately win in Bryce Harper's prime. So I understand the idea of going for Hayter. It's basically like, do you want to win right now or do you want to give yourselves a longer chance at winning? You know?

Like, do you want to go for it right now or continue to be pretty good for the next five or six years once Scott and Abel are up here. Yeah, and you're always a go-for-it guy. Yeah, I hate prospects and the draft. And also, and here's my thing, and I'm not, maybe this is like a me philosophy change, but if you're a good organization, you're a good organization draft well, and it's not that big of a deal. Like,

and I, and there's always another prospect coming up to replace them theoretically. I mean, look, the Padres just made this sort of like massive seven player deal centered around, which is, I don't think anyone's.

Well, I mean, um, but like the, the, the, the, obviously the other pieces are super interesting in that,

but like the, you know, the Padres just have so many prospects that they can afford to give away Taylor Trammell in a deal like that. Because they've got more prospects on the way. And that's what the Phillies need to be. Yeah. So maybe they're really starting to get caught. Your boy Austin Adams in that deal, by the way, too.

For me, he was the headline. Of course. Well, Munoz, I mean, on the other hand, it was a fun trade. And the fellow PSAC alum, Dan Altavela, who threw a no-hitter against us when I was in college. There you go. So, Mercyhurst's finest.

But, yeah. I mean, Preller and DiPoto making trades is something that should happen every year. I know. It should be a forced thing that be a force thing it's for Austin Nola I mean he's a 31 year old utility catcher I mean I get he's having a good year but it's like holy smokes like this is where we're at where tomorrow's tomorrow has a chance to be nuts I mean we could see a Clevenger trade which is so unexpected yeah but but like I did not I know but once once the competitive juices start flowing you see you have

teams like the padres and the phillies who haven't been the playoffs in forever like it just makes sense even even without fans i it's fun i'm glad it's it's so great um i am terrified i'm terrified that the brace you're gonna get clevenger um like if i was them give up pache i mean yeah yeah second i mean clevenger and he's like he could put them into a world series contender i mean legit because they're not going i mean did you see you saw the graphics tonight i mean it's max freed oh it's oh yeah it's free dude what major league roster is is is starting josh tomlin on it like are you kidding me what is it 2012 uh and tommy malone's time alone stinks like get out of here oh that's a joke sorry i mean what do they want to call jason vargas and see what he's up to

i mean you may as well and tommy malone him not that i mean time i get he had a good year but like can we just relax on tommy malone um all right speaking of the core and building around the core uh sign jt we know that's a thing john middleton got to hear firsthand tonight jack what did you think of uh man of the people john middleton gracing the van damme crews signing autographs and uh being serenaded to sign jt what kind of psychopath goes out and signs autographs? What owner does? Steinbrenner didn't even sign autographs. Who does this guy think he is?

It's wild, man. It really is wild. It's not the Harper signing anymore. They're a champ. I mean, can we just read the situation here? Do you not see what the pandemic crew? I'm trying to think of things i want less than a john milton autograph and i'm coming up very well unless you could kind of you

know forge it like if you just accidentally handed him a check yeah just accidentally handed him a check and say here can i get your autograph here sign this autograph oops is that one million that i took from you um yeah what a what a ballsy decision that was and and how much how much is he paying these national guys to say that oh he's gonna spend whatever it takes oh how about that graphic spending money and it was like all like wasn't jay bruce on it i was like all right this is awesome thank you was jay bruce on that graphic because the mariners are paying all the salary they're they're paying jay bruce like eight hundred thousand dollars like can we calm down on i was honestly so i flipped over to the stat cast one um because i just couldn't i couldn't take a rod i a rod is so bad he's brutal

he's really bad it's actually shocking how bad yeah because i actually used to like him later the pregame stuff i thought he's gonna be yeah bad he's become. Yeah, because I actually used to like him when he did the pregame stuff. Me too. I thought he was going to be – Yeah, when he was at the table, I thought he was good. Yeah. Dude, so bad. So bad.

It's like he's a robot. It's like he's like the senator from Parks and Rec. Yes. That's a great comment. That's a great comment. But so I flipped over to the Statcast, and the Phillies started coming back, so I thought it was like, all right, well, this is my channel now. So I missed him signing autographs. But I saw it obviously on twitter and it's just like dude who is still

buying what you're selling with this whole like oh i'm the big guy i'm cigar man i'm gonna go out there and do whatever it takes to get this trophy back it's like dude no you're not like and what what makes it so frustrating is is i mean this team's legitimately legitimately a bullpen away from being good like if they invested in the bullpen this offseason i mean we're talking about a team that's in first place right now i mean the bullpen's blown five games five to seven games oh for they are if they had a mlb quality yeah quality. Yeah, if we weren't. Without question. There's no question. They are definitely in for something. I mean, we're messing around with freaking Bud Norris and who's the terrible?

Drew Storen. They wouldn't even pay Liriano. They brought him to camp. They wouldn't even pay him. It's crazy. It's crazy. Wow, he's going to get that trophy back or die trying everyone knows that yeah what kind of what kind of psycho unless i have to pay what kind of psycho is signing

autographs like it like in this like it's unbelievable especially especially because like sign jt is like to the point where like national people talk about it like jeff passon talked about sign jT and his art. Like it's such a thing. Like, you know what you're going to get. Like, what do you think? What do you think they're going to do? Like be like, oh, hey, John, it would be really nice if you sign JT, but I understand money.

You know, it's can be tight. So do we got to do like, what is he expecting? Yeah, like, hey, thanks for Bryce. You know, it's like uh what a what a weird decision that was what a weird it was such a weird thing to do and i think he thought it was like man of people cool guy thing it really did not come off it's all that whole thing's over like we're we're just just sign jt and let's keep keep yeah then, and then, and then stay in the background, hire a MLB quality GM and, and fade into the background because that's what good owners do.

Please. Just, just, just sign the checks. Um, all right. Uh, what was I going to say? I think, I think that's everything I got on my list. I know you got some, uh, take back stuff. Yeah, I do have. I figure, I figure you always have a mass amount of things that we get.

This is actually this is actually a momentous occasion that I have written down. So the runner on second thing, I still hate it, but it really does add some intrigue. Like I'm stressed. Wow. Look, I am stressed. You like this the should they bunt not on that and it's like i like these teams not being able to execute it drives me crazy it's it might be the one thing that that i still i still scream about like i still scream about it it's like, how do you not... First off, get a bunt down.

We're not trying to drag bunt here. Yeah, well, I mean, the fact that every major league hitter should be able to lay a bunt down. Just get the bunt down. Just get the freaking bunt down. And then when you hit the ball to the outfield, seeing teams not be able to execute in extra innings is going to raise my blood pressure by like a

thousand i don't know that's possible i don't know anything about blood pressure but it's going to really stress me out and yeah i'm i'm i'm still out on it i uh it it just keeps being annoying for me because every time i look up and i'm like wait how to run again on second base did i oh i remember now and it's such a it's such an advantage for home teams like it's not even close well it's a massive advantage because then you know if like if they don't score you then you also like also why do these teams not just why do they not intentionally walk the first guy and then still have the double play set up great question jack it's not a bad idea yeah it seems and he's yeah the force at third he's the force at third, so he can knock that run down. Look at you.

I'm just trying to think the game. I know when you're thinking it. I'm with you. It's a smart call by you. I know we were just talking about JT and obviously I'm pro-sign JT. Whatever. But I gotta say, I just

feel like he's never going to get the hit. I just feel like he's never going to get hit like I just feel like he's never gonna get a big hit I know I know his runner scoring position numbers are like fine but like I just don't trust him at all when it comes to like we need a hit to break open the game like I just I feel like he never comes through I know it sounds like a overreaction I just feel like he never comes through I'm sorry I just that's just me watching the games I feel like JT I feel like he never comes through. I'm sorry. That's just me watching the games. I feel like JT never gets the big hit. I have not thought about it,

but I certainly don't feel like when he's stepping up, like I'm super confident, so maybe that's what I'm seeing and I'm not registering it the same way as you. But, yeah, I could see that. I'm not there yet, but I'll pay more attention to it. Tell me what your gut's saying when JT's coming up with runners in second and third and two outs. Yeah, I got to be in the moment.

I got to be in the moment. Speaking also of JT, I am banning any 6-0 Sanchez conversation. Like, I'm just out. Oh, yeah, we're just not talking about it. He's disgusting. Can't do it mean I mean imagine imagine if this is the other way around and like we were watching sex they'll come up it's like oh my god he's so good I don't want to I don't want to imagine it because it's it sounds awesome and

way too fun and this is well at least when they don't pay him in four years he can come back but there you go it's a real positive it's just he's absurd he is disgusting i mean it's yeah and he's and it's like you know how much fun it's pedro i mean it's it's pedro it's like and and and the the the leaks that came out after after they got rid of him was like oh he's just not ready and he's gonna get hurt all the time it's like yeah well listen look at that look at that guy pitch i mean it's someone the most effortless hundred like three digits i've ever seen like it's hard to believe that he it just like it like explodes and i keep coming back to this how the hell did the phillies sign that i know it's a great i mean seriously the most mystifying i mean that guy was a that guy was a philly i mean you're gonna have to explain to zoe when she's like seven like yeah the that

guy was a philly and meanwhile you know i mean that's why maybe that's why clem's act traded him he threw to it she probably won't believe me no they only signed guys that throw 89 come on come on hey hey at least that guy that throws 89 knows how to pitch you know he really knows that knows how to work a strike zone meanwhile six is like piling up cy young's i mean it he's just disgusting please sign jt just please just i know well yeah just just six though okay that's it i'm not talking about six anymore um no i know i didn't bring it up just makes me so sad uh i got my fake trade you ready for my fake trade yeah i've been waiting so tomorrow it's you told me you had one it's all i really i can't wait i can't wait for tomorrow

i am again i am the walking larry david gif's, yeah, I wanted to go for it, but also. So my fake trade is Adonis Medina and Vince Velasquez for Archie Bradley. Ooh, I mean, I would do that in a second. You think the Diamondbacks would do that? They were talking about moving him today. Yeah, I saw they were talking about moving Bradley. he only has a year and a half of control left uh diamondbacks aren't really going anywhere um they're just having a kind of tough luck year um so yeah that's that's uh you know bradley's been his numbers are better than his like his

like traditional numbers are better than all the underlying stuff. It's been that way for two years. But he's been effective, and he still throws hard and has a wipeout slider. I feel like I've never seen the Phillies hit him. So that might be feeding into this. And that's closing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a closer.

And, honestly, if you can go into games with – Hector hopefully gets back on track archie um emory most nights and workman just being the worst and morgan and jojo romero whatever but um yeah medina i still think could be a like he seems like a guy that a team would take a shot on he hasn't lived up to the prospect type that a lot of people have thought but i think he there could be a decent pitcher in there a team like the the Diamondbacks might take a shot on who have been pretty good at developing pitchers over the last couple of years.

And then Vinny Velo, I mean, another scoreless outing tonight. Honestly, it kind of felt like a showcase game a little bit. I would not be surprised. I'll say this. I will not be surprised if Vince is gone tomorrow, and I still think there's a weird outside, outside,

uh, shot that Haseley gets dealt. And also, um, like Moniak being out of the player pool, that doesn't really mean anything. I mean, like they could have just traded him for a player to be named later.

So unless they like, unless they want to name Moniak in a trade, like it doesn't really do anything. They could have said he was a player to be named later. It's not a sign he's getting traded. Right, right. So that's my big trade. Archie has another year of control.

I would do that in a second. I don't know if the Diamondbacks would, but I would do that trade. Well, I mean, if you look at what Michael Gibbons got traded for, that's a better deal. Yeah, look, it's a good point. And Michael Gibbons is better than Archie Bradley. Better, but maybe not, you know, I don't know if he's viewed as better with Major League teams.

I mean, Archie Bradley, I think, still is. I get he has cash, but let's be smart here and not deal with dumb Major League teams. I'm with you. Look, they should have traded for Michael Gibbons. Shocking. Glenn Duck didn't make the smart move. I'm absolutely sure. He's just trying to find a way to give away more top prospects.

Heath Embry and Workman. Everything's fine. Terrific. David Hale. He looked awesome tonight. That was really awesome. Just a bang-up job. Just to finally pitch.

It was like, where the hell's David Hale? Oh, great. Now, to be fair, he hadn't pitched in a month or two months or maybe a year. Yeah. It looked like it. Got to wipe off the rust a little bit. But that's all I got. There is, I think there's going to be,

it's not going to be the high hops design can that I showed you, but I think we're going to have high hops and cans this week. Okay. Yeah, so if you want to. Four fingers brewers. Get brewer, get down. Yeah, if you want to enjoy some high hops with the game, it's still the best beer to enjoy a ball game with.

If you want to enjoy the Phillies run with a beer, the only way to enjoy this Phillies run that is upcoming after their Archie Bradley trade tomorrow is with high hops. So get to Four Fingers Brewing Company. I support that message. I agree. All right, four-game series against Washington coming up here. Any thoughts on that

the nationals stink so they uh they definitely stink um they're not good of course they're not good i told you they weren't gonna be good mets after that four games of mets is a big eight games i feel good man i feel good i feel good they're better than these teams i think they're better than both those teams the mets coming off a disastrous day today, which is great. Well, yeah, after the Yankees had a disastrous day. It's unbelievable how bad Edwin Diaz is. I can't believe he's still bad. Like, his stuff is too good.

It's unbelievable. It really is absolutely shocking. And they gave a clinic for him, which is amazing. I started thinking about the – it's a dark place, but I started thinking about the Marlins seven-game series that's coming up. Oh, gosh, don't go there. I don't want to get ahead of myself. You know what that could be.

Yeah, I'm well aware. The most demoralizing. We said no more sex on talk. I know, I know. You're never going to see sex. But you know what I can't wait for is they win like, what, six of their next eight, and then they play that series and win like two games. All right, do they win three of four?

I'll say they split. Okay, that's probably a smart call. They're going to win three of four, Jack. Every time. All right. Rate and review the podcast. It means a lot to us. Go buy some MyHops, and stay safe, stay healthy,

and we'll talk to you guys later just see you