High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - A Split Against a Good Team on the Road? What a Weird Series it Was

Episode Date: May 23, 2019

Joe Giglio is in for James as the guys quickly recap a Phils split against the Cubs. What a weird series but hey, a split's a split. 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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94 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. That wasn't my really yo it is, but I can't be Seltzer, and unfortunately Seltzer is not with us today.

We'll see where Seltzer is. We'll see where he's at, but thank God Joe Giglio is here. Joe, welcome back to the Iowa's podcast. Wow, it only took whatever James is going to tell you, the reason he's not here next week, for me to come back. It's my first appearance since the Philly St. Andrew McCutcheon.

The emergency podcast. Yeah. Why was I here with you? Was it snowing? Well, because, yeah. I mean, James was at home. With a baby, maybe? Maybe with a baby.

I think it was with the Saguaro one was with a baby. Oh, yeah. But I was here for that. You were here for that one. Joe was our emergency fill-in guy. And Seltzer will be back on Tuesday to recap Brewer's series. I feel a lot better heading into that series now. A split is better than losing three out of four.

Oh, man. That was a split that we needed. Game one was just a fantastic baseball game. And that was one of those games where it was like, it feels like the Phillies are a good team. The last two days, I mean, the Irvin start, whatever, the blown game in game two, today was just like, never a doubt. Yeah, never a doubt except lots of doubt. That series felt like a playoff series. Three of the four games, that was intense. All those games going down the stretch,

except when Cole Irvin pitches. It did feel like a playoff game. Yep. I'm excited for it. Those teams are so similar to me. They both have crazy managers who... Who just do stuff to drive their own fans crazy. They don't even make sense.

They just don't even make any sense. They're just needling the opponent. And both the offenses are similar. They walk a lot. They strike out. They hit home runs. They're just needling the opponent. Look, and both the offenses are similar. They walk a lot. They strike out. They hit home runs. Look, that was a fun series. And a split in Wrigley, that's probably what we could have hoped for.

They weren't getting three out of four. If you can go 500 on the road, that's a win. And I think that they are that now, right? Because they've got to 500 after the last road trip and now two and two here. For as frustrating as they've been on the road, I thought that was a – I mean, just to split that series. And and really they didn't play their best baseball but i will say like the offense impressed me this week like the weather's heating up um jt is red hot well jt now he's marlins marlins road splits jt oh the one they traded for yeah the first listen the

first month he's learning the pitching staff which takes a while it's harder i think for catchers think, for catchers to hit on a brand new team because they have so much stuff they have to learn. Yeah, you're thinking about defense pitching. Yeah, I mean, he has to get there early. He has to sit down with Chris Young. He has to develop a whole game plan for these pitchers. Then you have guys like Vince Velasquez who shake him off, and I assume that's mildly frustrating. And I think the bat is the last thing to come, and now you got JT rolling.

Like, Hoskins is in a slump. When Hoskins slumps, Hoskins slumps. Much like when the Phillies lose, the Phillies lose. You know when Reese is in a slump. Hoskins, after the Cardinals series, I think was batting 300. And now it's maybe 250-ish. Yeah, so when Reese goes into a dive, he goes into a dive. And now you have guys like McCutcheon has stepped up.

Segura is still Segura, the straw that serves the drink. You have Harper, who had three hits last night. He had the single today. He bunted the other day. You enjoy that? I enjoy them when they work. When they don't, I scream and say, swing the bat. Swing the bat, Bryce. Kingery's hitting

since he came back? The most shocking thing, not the most shocking thing, but one of the most shocking things is that Kingery came off the DL and is back to hitting. You would think he missed a month? You think he'd come in and it would take him a week or so to get going? Nope. Boom. Right in there. We're recording this right after the game. I mean, literally

Hector Neris just got... Who did he get at the last out? Whatever, he popped him up. Well, he allowed a double to Tyler Chatwood before he got the last out. Yes, never a doubt, though. No doubt Neris. He's their closer. He had to go two innings today. I mean, today's game was – listen, Nola – we were recording our take during that,

but you have to get six innings out of Nola there, and it was an aggressive move to get him out of the game and bring in Adam Morgan, who wasn't great. But Nola, you need him with this bullpen to get through that sixth inning with an 8-3 lead. It's still an 8-3 ballgame, and that was the first time he really had any stress outside the fourth. They won, so you feel good about the way that ended

because they got the win. But this game reminded you that despite what he did last Saturday, Nola with the 12 strikeouts against the Rockies, he's still not back because last year, you give him that kind of lead, he rolls to seven or eight innings with maybe one run allowed. And they needed it today. They could have really used that.

Instead, Gabe's got to start mixing and matching. And I don't like when Gabe gets mixy-matchy. Five relievers today morgan dominguez nishak alvarez naris yeah five to get through it yeah i i honestly i i i like gabe i defend gabe i did not think gabe had a great series i thought it was a it was a uh like monday night and we'll go back to it um it was a it was an exhale game. I did not feel confident with what Gabe was trying. The knee-shaking. The knee-shaking. The shack. The shack game. So let's go to Monday night.

Arrieta was fine. I mean, it was a for Arrieta to go six innings, one run in his return had to be emotional for him. Revenge season? Revenge season, Arrieta. I don't know. I don't know. It was he got balls ripped off him

in that game well that's been a lot of this season it happened to be right at people it just felt like a bunch of exhale moments for Jakey

but the bullpen Monday became the story the bullpen Monday became the story Sir Anthony goes out there throws 11 pitches looked at

the best Sir Anthony has looked this season that was his best inning since that looked like last year Sir Anthony and then it just fell apart after that.

And I can't get into his head. I don't think he's confident enough. Like, I don't think he's confident. But the Phillies, they can't do anything about it. Like, I was thinking in my head today, what if they sent him down to Lehigh Valley? But they still need him here. I know, that's the problem.

If you send Sir Anthony down to Lehigh Valley, you're hampering your bullpen too much. I think he needs a trip to Lehigh Valley. If I'm being honest, I think Sir Anthony needs to go to Lehigh Valley, you're hampering your bullpen so much. I think he needs a trip to Lehigh Valley. If I'm being honest, I think Sir Anthony needs to go to Lehigh Valley and just get right, get a bunch of appearances and just get back into that rhythm

he was in before he got called up last year. But they can't do it because he's one of their four best bullpen options and they've just been running to the ground. Like right now, it's Morgan, Nair, Sir Anthony, Neshek. That's it. When they win, those guys pitch.

That's it. Gabe has four guys he goes to and wins. In an eight-man bullpen, it's Morgan, Nair, Sir Anthony, and Neshek. That's it. When they win, those guys pitch. That's it. Gabe has four guys he goes to and wins. In an eight-man bullpen, it's hard. And when you're playing all these games without a day off, you're going to have a game like Monday night where the whole thing is screwed up. Well, Tuesday became screwed up because of what happened Monday. Right. So Sir Anthony comes in, has a dominant 11-pitch inning.

I didn't have a problem sending him back out there because at least it was a clean inning. And only 11 pitches. It was only 11 pitches. And he looked great. And he looked great. The second guessing of Gabe there I think is a bit unfair. Well, because everyone goes back to what you were on a lot last year that Dominguez wasn't good last year in the second

inning. He sits down, he comes back, he wasn't good. But they hadn't tried it this year really. This was the first time. And my more main point on that was that I didn't like when he would come into a high-leverage situation, get out of it, and then they put him back out. So, like, two guys on, one out, he gets out of it, and then you've got to ramp it up again. Yeah, because then you're just messing with a guy

who kind of has the exhale, whew, I got out of that, and he relaxes, and his focus level is down. But Saranthi pitched a clean inning. He came into a clean inning, got out of a clean inning. Neshek's not ready to go. So they can't go to Neshek. And then Descalso ties the game on the Herrera misplay in left field

or McCutcheon misplay in left field. Luckily, they come back and win. I mean, for them to come back twice in that game, I think that was a big turning point in this season for this team. Because they haven't played well on the road. then for them to to get that kind of win they never win that game well i mean last year that game was just like last year except them winning it like they would compete against the good teams last year i didn't see that loss 100 times yeah and that was all last season like and then there was the heartbreaking loss the end

you're like damn it and that's what that game was except they came back and won it yeah they never they never they never come back and won that game. The questionable game decision outside of the Neshek thing, which wasn't totally his fault, was in the 10th inning. He has Adam Morgan out there. And on deck you have Descalso again. Right. But he had a right.

So basically there was a lefty to start the inning. I forget who that was. But he gets out the lefty. It might have been Hayward. He gets out Hayward in the 10th. What was the Morgan versus Hayward series? He gets out Hayward in the 10th. There's a righty up.

Oh, there's Almora's up, right? So Almora's up. Gabe pulls Morgan there, goes to Nicasio. He goes to Nicasio to face Amora. And then Amora singles up the middle, bringing up Descalso. Where, if I was Gabe, I would have left in Morgan to face Amora, who, for some reason, the Phillies turned into a good player this weekend. Like, Albert Amora is garbage.

He hit everything this week. Albert Amora, he can't hit. And the Phillies made him seem like he was one of the five best center fielders in baseball. So he gets him out there and instead of having a Morgan versus Descalso pairing, it turns into Nicasio versus

Descalso and then the double play that kind of got a little bit. Seemed like he didn't want to use Morgan but he had to, right? Because Morgan, that was the fourth in five days. Yeah. I always wonder when Gabe does this, it's like, he'll go to a certain point. Like, I don't want

to pitch Morgan tonight. All right, damn it. I have to pitch him for one batter or two batters but I'm not going to throw him for an inning. Right. Like, Gabe has these weird,

and it's not a bad thing. I think he has these very hard and fast rules about how he uses relievers and he's not going to go off that. Right. Like, he's not going

to hurt Morgan and he might lose, and we'll talk about Tuesday. He lost the game Tuesday because he's not going to pitch these guys. Right. Like, he's not going to hurt Morgan, and he might lose again. And we'll talk about Tuesday. He lost the game Tuesday because he's not going to pitch these guys more than he thinks they should. Right. And whether that's modern baseball, whether it's not modern baseball, I don't really care. Pitchers are at their best, and they're performing at their peak levels when they get enough rest. There's enough stats on that.

Yeah. You can't – the old days of, oh, take the ball whenever. But then guys aren't pitching as well, and their stuff isn't nearly as dominant. That's the domino effect of having guys that can just always pitch is that they're not always effective. And they get hurt, too. They're fatigued.

And they get hurt, especially with the pitchers these days. They just can't do it. But my problem with that, Joe, is that it doesn't feel like Gabe has a plan with that. So Tuesday happens right and their plan was for Eflin to go deep

into a ball game which he did shockingly he had 32 pitches in the first inning he still went 6 which I was shocked at Eflin has got the

mental fortitude that you need to stay up in this league he has like if Pavetta or Velasquez are in that situation it's a debacle but Eflin has the kind of mental makeup where he can settle down and grind through a ball game and he got Pavetta or Velasquez are in that situation, it's a debacle.

But Eflin has the kind of mental makeup where he can settle down and grind through a ballgame, and he got them six. But you can't – if I'm Gabe, you can't plan on your starter going deep into a ballgame, and that's like it. Let me ask you this because I think what you said about Gabe's plan or not having a plan, I think it's true, but it's almost like I think Gabe knows the end of the story, but doesn't know how he's going to get there. It's almost like he knows, alright, over these five

days, I'm going to pitch these guys this many times. I'm not going to go over that. But like this, what just happened was they won four in a row before Tuesday's game. He had used those guys all those days because he wanted to win all four of those games. When you get to day five, you're screwed. But I wonder if over time that's the right

strategy. Because he won the first four games by going with his strategy. But basically, by doing that, Tuesday he went into the game with his hands high behind his back. I don't know. Well, I guess over time we're going to find more. If this keeps winning, he's going to feel validated in this.

But you can't go into every baseball. You have to have some kind of emergency plan. Well, I guess the emergency plan was Della Santos, right? Here's what I feel. Dave, he pitched like Edgar Garcia was in a one-run game. I think the emergency plan was we're going to lose the game. I think he was okay losing the game. A schedule loss.

Yeah. Well, if Neshek is fine. Well, that's the point. If Neshek is good to go that game, they win. I think it's as simple as that. You know what it feels like? It feels like they have to win every game that he's aggressive with. Because once you blow the bullets, there's no more bullets two days from then.

Well, today was an example of that. Right. He used his whole war chest today, which means by Sunday, if they're close games, he's going to be out of pitchers again. They've got to win the games he wants. It's like when Gabe tries to win a game, they better win the game. Because then you have Tuesday, which it was just like, when are they going to

lose this? Oh, we both knew. When is this going to... When is it going to break? I mean, Edgar Garcia was in a one-run game. Jose Alvarez, who was starting to pitch better. I mean, Jose Alvarez, I called the human white flag before. Not totally the human white flag anymore. Is he figuring it out? Luis Garcia

for Jose Alvarez? Did we win that trade? You know what would help this? It would help if they score more runs in these games. I think the offense is starting to get there. Last year, I thought Gabe was involved in too many games. It felt like Gabe Kapler had to manage through every game. No manager should have to do that.

If they put 10 runs on the board one of these days, guess who sits there and can leave the game and they still win? Gabe. But that happened today, though, and he still almost over-managed it. Well, that's a look at that. I mean, it was 8-3. I mean, whatever. I just think that going into a game in Wrigley Field against that Cubs team with four of

your best relievers down, I don't like that. Okay, would you be okay then losing Saturday or Sunday because he's thinking about Tuesday? It's like he has to make a choice. Either he's more diligent getting there or you might lose Saturday or Sunday if he's not as aggressive. It's a tough decision to make. You know what it is? They need more competent bullpen arms. Yes. It's a tough decision to make. You know what it is? They need more competent bullpen arms. Yes.

That's what it comes down to. We only have four you trust. We're going to keep having this conversation. It's not even a chicken or the egg thing when it comes to this pitching staff. They need one more starter, and they need one more. A Bumgarner-Will Smith trade

just fixes almost everything. Yeah. Even though it's a one-year investment. For both those guys. For both of those guys. They're both free agents at the end of the year. If you go bring those guys in, you have another lefty to pair with Morgan who can get out righties. Any other starter should be able to give you at least six

innings. Which means on those days, the other days, he can be more aggressive with the bullpen. If he knows, like you just said it about Eflin, he's got to take a lot of innings. You know Bumgarner will do that. Yep. Yep. They need both.

Like, it's not one or the other. They absolutely need both, which leads us to Wednesday. Cole Irvin, Mr. Quadruple A. That's him. I like Cole Irvin, but there's the problem with a guy that throws 84 miles an hour. When he misses, the scoreboard breaks in right field. You can't miss an 84. All of a sudden, Anthony Rizzo turns into the natural.

Holy moly. That falls to that dude. Yeah, look. Obviously, he's a good AAA pitcher. He came up here. I imagine if they bring him back up at some point, he could probably pitch a couple of games. But that game last night is going to happen with him. I don't think he can be your consistent every fifth day he goes out there guy because eventually teams are gonna

get a book on him he can bring you a spot start definitely he's good enough to do that he can be in the the oh nine hap role where he just and or kendrick before him where he just like can come up give you some like if you if you need to lengthen out your starting rotation like if you need a six man yeah like if you want to go for a six man rotation for a week or two and kind to lengthen out your starting rotation. Six-man? Yeah, if you want to go for a six-man rotation for a week or two and kind of lengthen out guys to give them a little bit of rest, I trust Cole Irvin to come in and do that. But I'm telling you, 86 to 93, he has to be perfect or else the Rizzo home run happens.

Almora. Yeah, it's one thing to be Tom Glavin 2.0 against the Royals. It's another thing to go to Wrigley Field. For Christ's sake. I mean, we were throwing out Tom Glavin, who needs Keuchel? Well, because everyone loves a soft toss that they can throw. It's like, man, it's like Jamie Moyer. I do love a guy that knows how to pitch.

I know you do. I know. But I also like a guy that can strike some guys out. So Cole Irvin gets sent down today. I got to be honest. It's going gonna be either velasquez or pivetta it's cole irvin is not gonna get another start and they can't well salisbury wrote about it because so i think salisbury said they could they have a day off monday so they could go with a four-man rotation until next saturday that's the next time they would need a fifth guy because they could use the monday as just skip the start but he has to stay down for 10 days so he couldn't even take that start next saturday like they need

someone to take over right so it can't be cool it's gonna be pivetta velasquez and for velasquez to come out yesterday and be like that's my spot it's like come on vince and gabe was like i don't know about that gabe was like not so fast my friend not so fast so uh looks like it could be velasquez or piv. I don't know, man. I just don't want to see Vince Velasquez anymore. No, is this a Pavetta take or is this Velasquez? It's Velasquez. I don't want them to bring up Pavetta unless he is back.

Because he didn't pitch well. I mean, he walked Tim Tebow. Joe, he walked. Yeah, I know. When I tweeted about Pavetta, everyone told me he walked Tim Tebow. You can't bring back up a guy that walked Tim Tebow. All right. Well, if it's not Pavetta, it it's velasquez i know it's gonna be velasquez so all right let me keep what we keep saying velasquez bullpen i think that might

eventually happen but like i feel like once you do that you can't go back if they put him turning it's like turning jalen mills into a safety he's a safety then yeah so you're gonna like his innings will go down his arm strength will go down so like they can't do it unless they know they have another starter right so it's gonna be vince it's gonna go down. So they can't do it unless they know they have another starter. Right. So it's going to be Vince. It's going to be Vince. And he doesn't deserve it. He is frustrating to watch.

And it hurts me watching the same story you always see with Vince. It's the same stuff every single time. You ready? No, I'm not ready. I don't want to deal with it. I just don't. I can't deal with it. I can't deal with Vince anymore.

But he's. That's a Dodgers start too, isn't that a Dodger game that Saturday game? Yeah. Cardinals then on the road to L.A't that a Dodger game, that Saturday game? Yeah. Cardinals, then on the road to L.A. Vince in L.A.? You have seven runs, three innings. Come on, you don't think Vinny Sunshine can handle it? No. You don't think so?

Against that offense? But yeah, it feels like it's Velasquez. Unless... I guess Pavetta could have one more start before next Saturday? Because he pitched the other night. He pitched two nights ago. So they could let a play out one more Pavetta sort, see if he's ready, and then make a decision.

I know, but I don't think they want to jerk him around. I don't think they want to bring him up, and then if he doesn't do well, send him back down. I think when they want to bring him up, they want to have him stay up. Like when the Yankees sent Mickey Mantle down, and then he came back and he never left. Roy Halladay with the Blue Jays?

Same thing. They don't want to screw around. You can screw around with the last guy. You come up, you go down, you come back, you go to the Hall of Fame. If so, fact. Mantle, Halliday, Pavetta. All three of those are the same exact thing.

I completely agree. All right. Today, honestly, it was nerve-wracking. Didn't love the way the game was trending. I'll say that. It felt like a loss multiple times. Nola seemed like he was getting back on track. There's still the four walks, which you don't love to see.

He did pitch well in warm weather again. Again, he's only at 93 pitches. I think it was a mistake to pull him out there, bring in Morgan there. I want to see Nola finish out a ballgame. That's where I'm at. Well, at least a 6-3. Not finish out a ballgame, but at least get you through the 7. Then the plan makes more sense.

Then you can go Morgan or Sir Anthony for seven. Morgan, Sir Anthony, seven, eight. And then Neres for the ninth. Yeah, I think the questionable decision by Gabe today was not let him get through the sixth because that started the parade of relievers. He wasn't going seven. Part of this is on Nola, too. Aaron Nola, you were saying Bumgarner, if you have a guy that can go deep in games and

changes the bullpen usage, Nola's got to be better. I'm with you on Gabe that maybe today was too early, but at 93 pitches, that means he's only going to get through the six. Gabe's not going to let him throw 120 pitches in seven innings in May. Today, he's only going six. But here's the thing. He just did this with Nola last weekend, where he let him finish it out because he looked like Aaron Nola again, and now he's pulling him him finish it out because he looked like Aaron Nola again.

And now he's pulling a Mergley. Well, because he didn't look like Aaron Nola. Not yet. So it's just. When are we getting Aaron Nola? That's the problem. We don't know when we're going to get him. We know he's going to be good.

We just don't know when he's going to, if he's going to look like the ace that we saw last year. There's a chance he doesn't. I mean, that's becoming. Oh, it's a month and a half into the season. Yeah. Two months into the season. Look, his ERA was 2-3 something last year

if you had to guess right now his final ERA at the end of the year is 3-4 yeah 3-4-5 that's okay

when you start the season he still has an ERA in the fours I'm pretty sure yeah he gave three runs in five and two thirds today five and a third

right so but still Phil's got the split a much needed split just to feel good about this team on the road for the first time in a while. I was worried that this team, much like last year,

was only going to be a home team that fed off the home energy that now can't put together on the road. But I thought that the offensive approach on the road was really, really good against Chicago. They got Hamels, what, 99 pitches in four innings? I mean, that stuff's fantastic. And, of course, it didn't work. I mean, the game got out of hand because of the home runs.

Two bad pitches from Cole Irvin. But still, the plan of attack was great. McCutcheon's been unbelievable. I love McCutcheon. McClutch? Are you in on that? All right, is McClutch in a good nickname? Yeah, he is McClutch in.

If the Phillies absolutely need a hit right now, who are your top three? Well, if I need just a base hit, Segura's got to come to the plate. Segura's number one. But an extra base hit, it's not Gene. No, that's fine. Second and third, two outs. JT. Eighth inning.

So hold on. So let's go Segura. Segura, JT, McCutcheon. You're JT ahead of McCutcheon. Yeah. Why? I just feel like he's been clutch all year. He goes the other way to single up the middle the other night.

Now he's got the power. I told you before, I'm in on MVP votes for JT this year. If he's catching like this, which has been phenomenal. And the power has started. The power's starting to come. Ever since he tweeted that he needs more power, he saw that tweet and he said, yeah, right, Joey Hot Takes. I'm going to.

Pat Neshek showed it to him. Yeah, Pat Neshek said, hey, look what this guy said. Pat was searching his own name and he happened to stumble upon my tweet about JT. Sounds about right. Neshek, man. That sucks. Not a banner week for Pat Neshek. No, of course not.

It didn't pitch in the game that he was warming up. Look, that might have been partially Gabe's fault, but it just bothered me that Pat went to the media and be like, listen, I was on Twitter and was upset at me, but this is really what happened. And then he just, he sucks when he's in there. He's starting to get... I think we're starting

to see the age of Pat Neshe. Yeah, I agree. His hard hit percentage is up. All his advanced metrics, they're all up. He's pitching fine. I trust him for the most part. But you're starting to see some cracks in the armor. So you're saying one of the four trustworthy relievers isn't any good? They have two guys!

They have two guys. The Phillies have two... In a day and age where there's super bullpens, the Phillies have two guys. They have two guys. The Phillies have two in a day and age where there's super bullpens. The Phillies have two guys I feel good about. Part of it is bad luck, right? Hunter and Robertson are hurt. Even Hunter, it's like, really? Yeah, they're missing one really good pitcher. They are.

Because right now, it's like, what are we talking about? Every night it feels like Gabe's just tightrope walking to the end of the game. He is. Like, Neshek and Sir Anthony have been good. Like, last year good. Neshek's been good this year-ish. Yeah. And Sir Anthony's been so eh, but he's still one of your four best relievers.

That's where we're at right now. Not good. Not great. That's where I'm worried about the like the straw that breaks a camel's back you know what I mean yeah

like the same kind of thing as last year like we all saw it coming I will say the offense is figuring figuring it out and picking it and they're gonna have to win games

for them they have to they will have to Bryce in Chicago his his 15 was it 15 games on base streak?

His LVP of over 500 at Wrigley Field came to an end. But, three hits last night. Good. He caught up to two fastballs, I'm pretty sure. Today. Singled in the first inning. Yep, that was a good at-bat. I think he's batting over 300 in his last eight games.

So I haven't looked because when he's doing well, I don't look as much as I look when he's doing poorly. When we have to defend him. Right. I haven't looked at his strikeouts, but it just feels like the last week the strikeouts way down. Yeah. The strikeouts feel down.

His swing adjustments are very noticeable. He looks different every week. But I think he's starting to find his rhythm. Like Bryce, when he's going, he's a rhythm hitter that doesn't watch any film, which is kind of frustrating. I would like him to watch film. But I think he's found a swing and found an approach that feels comfortable. And when he finds that approach, Bryce is going to be fine

because then he just sticks with it until it gets bad pretty much. Once he finds the right formula, he's going to stick with it until he doesn't have to stick with it anymore. Yeah, and look, we knew he was going to come out of whatever he was in, but man, I love when he is just, when he just puts the bat on the ball, good things happen. He's got so

much power, and last week or so he's been going the other way, the singles up the middle, that's how you know he's locked in, when he's up the middle. We's how you know he's locked in right he's up the middle we'll learn that we'll learn that when he is up the middle and when he the fact that he's starting to finally catch up the fastballs i think is a big deal because that was the one that thing that we were so worried about like if you're 26 and can't catch up the fastballs anymore what like like what is 30 plus year old bryce harper gonna look like um but i think he's done a decent job against uh fastballs recently and i think that's something that's gonna get him out of this I think he's done a decent job against fastballs recently, and I think that's

something that's going to get him out of this little funk he's in. Another guy we've got to talk about is Izzo Duble. I mean, just been dreadful since the 360 start to last year. Just been shockingly bad. Izzo BP over a calendar year is 250. Which is in this day and age is just atrocious.

Kingery's been playing a lot of center field. Gabe today was on the morning show and he was like, we don't have a center fielder right now, which does not send a boat of confidence for Odubel Herrera. I guess it's just going to be Kingery against lefties and Odubel against righties and hope he gets out of that.

Is that a good plan? So almost like a straight platoon, yeah. And look, this week it felt like Kingery was a center fielder because they happened to play a series with three straight lefties. That's rare. I think it's like 70ery was the center fielder because they happened to play a series with three straight lefties. That's rare. I think it's like 70% of the league is right-handed. So Oduble is still going to play a lot if they go off of what you're saying.

He's still going to be part of this thing. Yeah, but I don't even think you can take Kingery out of the lineup right now. The day Kingery starts in center against a right-handed pitcher is the day Oduble's done. It feels like, well, then it's Kingery's job. Kingery's come back from the DL and looking like the guy we saw before the DL, which I'm shocked by. I mean, when you go on the DL, it usually takes you a little – or IL.

It usually takes you a little while to come back into your rhythm, but Kingery's hit the ground running. And I heard when Gabe was on the morning show, he also mentioned Kingery defensively. And, look, I think Kingery's looked jittery in center. He's not great defensively. But you know what? I thought the same thing early last year at shortstop, but then by the middle of the season, you and I were like,

he's not bad over there. No, he's fine. And the way Gabe said it this morning, he called him how athletic he was. I think they think if we just put him out there for a month, he'll look a lot better. I think they just believe in his athleticism so much that they think he'll figure out center field. And I agree.

But the game last night with the pop-up, that's one that— He broke back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He looks like an infielder playing the outfield. He does. But at least he played center field. And I agree. But the game last night with the pop-up, that's one that... He broke back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He looks like an infielder playing the outfield. He does. But at least he played center field in college.

Like, his freshman year of college, he played center field. Can the Phillies ever find a center fielder that's actually an outfielder? Oh, Dubal was a second

baseman. They converted him to center field. Now, now they're doing it again. They refuse to. They love this. Kepler ball.

There he goes. He's reinventing the wheel. All right. I got to catch a train, so I'm just trying to make sure we can get as much in here as possible. Listen, I never lie to the High Hopes crew. I have to catch a train or else I'm not going to be home until like 8.30 and I never get home on time. So, you know, we're going to put out a little podcast because we couldn't not put out a podcast.

After that win? Two of four against the Cubbies? Full disclosure, because you don't lie to the audience here, and I have to go along with how you and James do the show. If Neris had blown that safe, Jack was out of here. Yeah. No podcast. No, I'm not.

No one likes a depressed Jack. I mean, you've dealt with depressed Jack for a long time. It usually happens on Fridays. It's only Thursday. Every single Friday. So, Brewers, are you ready to see Ryan Braun versus the Phillies again? No, but we're going to. How about this, everybody?

Ryan Braun's on a hot streak before the Phillies series starts. He's right on. Let's check it out real quick. Last seven games, batting.353 with a.476 on-base percentage and no home runs, though. So he's not hitting the power. Fraud. Yeah, just wait until he sees the Phillies' P-roll in the town.

Is there anything I can do to jinx Christian Yelich? Maybe you talk about how great he is? At home? I mean, Christian, all right, here, I'll get this out now. Christian Yelich is Ted Williams at home. There you go. He's Ted Williams. No, you ruined it.

Now he's going to go home for 12 this weekend with eight strikeouts. I hope Ben Harris is fuming after this weekend. After that comp. Because you ruined him? Because I ruined it. Now he's going to go home for 12 this weekend with eight strikeouts. I hope Ben Harris is fuming after this weekend. After that comp. Because you ruined him? Because I ruined him. What if I ruin... That's the power of the Jinx. If I ruin Christian Jelic...

Only the best hitter in the world for the last nine months. Eichhoff vs. Chase Anderson. Arrieta vs. Julia Shasin. Zac Eflin vs. Brandon Woodruff. Chase Anderson's been pitching decently. He's another one of those guys that, like, Zach Davies, I think Zach Davies is brutal, but of course he has a 1-5-3 ERA. He's leading the NL in ERA.

The Brewers remind me, I remember like four or five years ago when the Orioles inexplicably made the playoffs like three times in four years, and they had no real pitchers and just a bunch of hitters. That's the Brewers. Like, it doesn't matter who they throw out there, they win. It's crazy. Woodruff's the only guy that really has good stuff. I like Woodruff. I think Woodruff's going to be really good in about a year or two.

So, like we say before every series, take two or three. That's it. Just win the series. Just take two or three. I gotta be honest, I don't feel good heading into the Brewers series. One of three seems more likely. One of three sounds about where we need them to be. Arietta against that offense, not feeling great.

Not missing bats. Eflin Woodruff, that feels like a fun Sunday game. Yeah, for sure, for sure. All right, final thoughts real quick, Joe. Well, my final thought is, I'll throw it on to Reese. So Reese is in a slump right now. And I thought in April when he got through the slump he had then, it only lasted a week, I was like, oh, maybe he's fixed this.

Because his whole career has been hot month, cold month, hot month, cold month. He's kind of month, cold month, hot month, cold month. He's kind of gone back to that. Hot month, cold month. April was great. May has not been so great. He needs to find a way to level off the peaks and valleys. His problem right now is that he's getting so out on his front foot.

He needs to stay back a little bit longer. He needs to start thinking. When he goes into a slump, he needs to be thinking right center field line drives. That'll get him right back in rhythm he goes into the slump, it needs to be thinking right center field line drives. That'll get him right back in rhythm. Everyone goes in slumps, but man, Reese Hoskins slumps and hot streaks, they're just extremes.

I got two final thoughts. I forgot to put in the Brewers thing. Last three games against the Phillies, they outscored the Phillies 22-6. Ouch. And now we're going to the Brewers ballpark, which, I don't know. They're dangerous at home you know what happened

last year there Andrew Knapp hit a home run my guy I gotta bring Andrew Knapp love to this podcast this Andrew Knapp hate podcast speaking of which

Andrew Knapp I'm shocked where Almeida caught today oh I heard apparently he fought Gabe on it what Almeida

yeah like Gabe was trying to get him a day off on you know a night game after a day game after a night game. And JT fights him every time he wants to get him out of the line. Yeah. Real Muto is turning into this generation's Darren Dalton. It's awesome. I just don't want it to be done at 31.

But I'm sure Nap will play a game this weekend. He has to. My final, final thought is that Aaron Altair got picked up by the Mets. Yeah. And new Phillies killer Aaron Altair. He's going to torch us, man. I'm telling you. There's just no doubt. He's going to figure it out. He's going to be a Met and he's going to torch us for years

and years and make fun of us forever. J.D. Davis and Aaron Altair, are you just a Mets fan now? My turn is to the Mets podcast. You've got to believe. It's the Mets podcast. Alright, really quick, high hopes. James will be back on Tuesday. We're not going to do it on Memorial Day.

Can we get a day? Philly's got a day. Philly's got a day. High Hopes gets a day. Shout out to Julio for filling in for Seltzer. I'm sorry I don't have my high-pitched Charlie Day voice. I can't do it as well as James, but who can? That's him.

That's what he does. That's going to do it for High Hopes. We'll be back on Tuesday. Two or three from the Cubs. 2-3 from the Cubs. 2-4 from the Cubs. Beautiful. A road split. That's a good team. We'll be back.

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen. We have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. 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 BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.