High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Are The Phillies Allowed To Be Hot In April?

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies sweeping the Padres, Alec Bohm's red-hot start and Taijuan Walker's first start of the season. Presented by Miller Lite. 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

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 B.I.B. 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. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Odyssey and Sports Radio 94. WIP. Yo!

It is another edition of the High Oaks Podcast, sponsored by Miller Lite, official sponsor of the Philadelphia Phillies. Tastes like Miller time, Philadelphia. Celebrate responsibly. A sweep to start a West Coast trip, Frenzy? Is that allowed? I thought that was against the rules of Major League Baseball.

What's going on here, buddy? Pills are hot. Pills are hot. Pills are hot. Pills are hot. Pills are hot. Pills are a wagon, buddy. Oh, dude.

They're just good. Get on board, dude. They're just good. They just win games. They have the third best record in baseball, but second in their buddy. Oh, dude. They're just good. Get on board, dude. They're just good. They just win games. They have the third best record in baseball, but a second in their division. Handle business. It's a joke. How about it? Hey.

What an unnatural spot we are in. Best April for the Phillies in 13 years. No big deal. Can we please delete the first podcast of this season? can we please delete the first podcasts of this season? Because all of it is a whole bunch of moot points, buddy.

Team's hot. They're good. They're just a damn good baseball team. I think this podcast could be five minutes. You want to know why? They're good. That's it. We don't mean anything. It's as simple as that. They just go out and pitch and hit and play baseball.

Getting the June to September Phillies of the last two years in April is one of the weirder things I've ever seen. It's jarring. Dude, they're just going to do their jobs. Again, you talked about it on the show on Friday. They're like, what do you think they're going to do in San Diego? I'm like, probably one and two, if I'm being honest. They freaking swept.

Just took care of business. Showed up. It was no other than, you know. One care of business. Other than, you know, Taiwan. Other than one bad moment. Listen, I'm as anti-Taiwan as everyone. He got a little unlucky. I mean, the first home run

he struck the guy out. He did. That was a BS call. And JT was hot about it. I don't usually see JT like that. And yesterday, I mean, Bryce could have made that play. Yeah. So, hey, leave Taiwan alone. That's always been my position on Taiwan Walker.

Yes, that's right. Leave Taiwan alone. Let Taiwan do his thing. Hey, let him go. By the way, hold on. Real quick. Sorry. But you know how people get mad when I do the Schwarber,

their record within the leadoff spot? Just saying. Oh, goodness. What's Ty one's record when he starts games? Dude, I think they're 22 and 10. Dude, they might be the best team in baseball and Ty one Walker starts. He's one and oh.

Dude, all he does is win, man. It is sickening, his win-loss record. Oh, it's unbelievable. And look, in this case, and they won the game, but I blame Topper more than Ty one. Look, I know unbelievable. And look, in this case, and they won the game, but I blame Topper more than Taiwan. Like, look, I know it was only 73, 74 pitches, whatever, but it's his first start back, six innings, three runs.

Yes, it's like a nice start, and you have a fresh bullpen. You just had two guys go eight innings. What are you doing? No! Disagree. So 73 pitches, yes, but he's been up to like 110 pitches in the minor.

So it's not like he's not ramped up. He should have had someone ready. It's as simple as that. He should have had someone ready. Yes. If nothing else, like, fine. If you want to let him start the inning, that's fine. Once there are two runners on base,

there's no way you can let him stay in to face Compasano there. When you got a guy that knows how to win games like Tyron Walker, sometimes you got to let him. Well, he only had a four-run lead, so he could give up a three-run homer and we'd still be okay. Exactly right. Exactly right. Exactly. Right. Exactly. Right.

Exactly. Right. I will say it is it. The Phillies are sort of, they're so like throwback in a lot of ways. The first off, like a Thompson, I think is more,

it's so funny. He gets crushed. Like the critiques of Thompson. He lets pitchers stay in more than any manager. I remember in recent years, there's a go-to of it. There was a couple. I just ripped him for it.

There's a couple of times, even ripped him for it. There's a couple times, even like where they would allow a run, like the Noble start on Friday, where he allows a home run. And I think every other manager is like, we got to get him out. Yeah. And he's like, whatever. He pitched like two more innings. Yeah. He went eight, dude.

I mean, Ranger went eight. Taiwan was pitching into the seventh. I know. These guys, they go long in the games, man. Especially early in the season. They talked about it. They're like, oh, you don't want to work these guys too hard early. And look, it's because they've been so economical with their pitches.

You know, it's like it's all about the pitch counts going. It doesn't really matter how many innings it is other than if, you know, like the turnbull thing, if there's a long half inning, maybe you don't want a guy sitting that long and stuff but in all these spots it's like yeah he's you know other than town because his first start back but it's like 74 pitches after 60 of course he's gonna go up like what who wouldn't you know so it's that they've they've just been so economical and and they've allowed toppers like yeah keep on going buddy let's keep rolling here i'll tell you what it makes the manager's job easier when

guys just go out and do their job. And when your team just starts hitting a ton of home runs all of a sudden again. Well, he said they were going to slug. Who to thunk it? Who to thunk it? Who to thunk when this team started slow offensively that they weren't going to stay slow offensively all season long? I'm just shocked about that.

I'm shocked that Bryce Harper and Trey Turner, I'm shocked these guys hit. I mean, who to thunk it? Who to thunk that they would eventually hit? By the way, I think it's my favorite analytic. It's not an analytic. It's just a number to steal Howard's line. It's my favorite

Howardism. Speaking of slug life. It's my favorite Howardism. It's not analytics. It's numbers. Kind of the same thing. By the way, happy birthday. Oh yeah, King. I'm at it. I believe they're now 7-0 when they hit three or more home runs in the game. Well, kind of the same thing. By the way, happy birthday. Oh, yeah, King. I'm at it. I believe they are now 7-0 when they hit three or more home runs in the game. Yeah, which is, of course.

They're leading the league in homers all of a sudden. Are they really? Yes, they lead the league in home runs now. Wow. Like that. Like, oh, there we go. So they have the best pitching staff in baseball. They have the most home runs in baseball.

Defense has been pretty solid. Bullpen. It's so funny seeing Alvarado's ERA because I swear he hasn't had a lot of hits since the first game. But he's had five ERA still. It's like, does it ever go down? What are we doing here? Yes. I know.

And like the things we complain about now, like what is there to complain about? It's like Taiwan and Saranthony. Saranthony. Yeah, that's it. Nick. I mean, Casio. Yeah, that's it. Nick. I mean, Casio. Casio. Hey, man. This is a big series.

Three walks yesterday. Dude, he did get three walks. Those are big, too. I believe he's had three walks. I think it's like a once a year thing, if I'm not mistaken. Okay. I think he had three walks once last year. Or no, not even that.

I think it's once every few years. I think it's like he's had like three three-walk games ever. It was jarring. I will say. You kidding me? Yeah. But good signs. And will say. It was shocking. You kidding me? Yeah. But good signs. And look, they were important walks. In both those cases, they

led to the stat two-run homers where the first one, you know, then they go down 3-2. Exact same thing happens. Cassidy hits the walk, Stott hits the homer, bang, 4-3 again, and then they, you know, kind of took it from there. But those are important walks. Like they told you in Little League, buddy. Walks is good as a hit.

He's definitely the walks as good as a hit kid. Don't swing. Seriously, do not swing. He will walk you, I promise. But I guess here's the big difference, and I don't want to boil it down to a simplistic form here, but the big difference between yelling that at a Little Leaguer and Nick Castellanos is that the little leaguer is playing

for free and the right fielder is making a hundred plus million dollars is that is that different so when you are when you are in the dugout yelling at nick saying hey walks as good as a hit like that guy's being paid 20 some million dollars a year meanwhile little leaguers picking danny lyons you know it's it's a i. I wanted to make that clear for everyone listening that there is a difference. I'm happy you did, because people probably would not have realized that. Exactly, exactly.

And you know what's funny? It's not even, like, Rojas, I think, has even gotten past the walk as good as a hit. Rojas is a way better hitter right now than Nick. Put it this way, if you had to say, all right, one of you guys has to get a single or a hit, period period to save my life, I would pick Johan Rojas over Nick Cassiano today.

I feel like you've been putting your life on the line a lot more this year. I feel like it's such a good way to set the stakes. Really lay down the gauntlet. It's serious stakes. This is baseball. Yes. It's a 162. It's important to react.

It's a sport that doesn't matter. This is baseball. It's important to react harshly to every single thing that's through every single thing that's happening your life on the line at least 20 30 times a season what are we doing what's the point yeah what are you even doing a baseball podcast at some point so all that's great everything's going well with the baseball team and then there's a guy who my my my little head hits the pillow at night, and I start drifting off. I start thinking about, how about Alec Boehm? You mean MVP frontrunner Alec Boehm?

Still plus 20,000 for MVP, by the way. He's batting.365. I know. I know. I know. And you know what's so funny? Obviously, this is not our listeners. This is more the casual baseball followers to the team.

I tweeted out Friday night that he is, or maybe, I don't know, whatever. I said that it's pretty crazy that he's developing into prime Rendon in front of our eyes. People commenting, why would you compare him to that bum? It's like, do you remember how good that bum it's like do you remember how good anthony rendon was like do you remember the reason he got a 280 million dollar contract anthony rendon was a monster for like five years you know what's funny i i am positive that i said on a podcast during that run there at one point or another if i had to pick someone in baseball to get a hit with my life on the line i would take anthony rendon like that sentence definitely left my mouth at some

point on this box i was such a rendon guy like i i i always felt like he's just you know doubling up all over the place so but that's who alec bomb always has reminded me of what i thought he could be is yeah he's not going to be i don't think he's ever going to be a 30 to 35 home run guy even though he's 65 but i always thought that alec bohm should be a guy that should be over 300 or at least 290 every year and should be close to the league lead in doubles and it's actually it's funny because so many doubles so many doubles it's so many doubles but But he does have also prime Castellanos to him. I mean, like, that's the player he should be, is a doubles machine. He should be batting over 300 and hit 20 to 25 home runs a year. I mean, that's what he should be.

Dude, he is third, I still think. I think he's third in the NL in war. I mean, and it's happened fast too. He went from like 340 to 365 in a day. He had 17 hits on a road trip. Yeah, there you go. He had 17 hits this road trip. I mean, that's crazy.

That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. And again, why I want to erase the early episodes of this podcast is because I said, I don't know if he can be the four-hole hitter because I thought he was more of a single-sitter. And ever since,

there's two things that happened. One, I went hard on that, and that happened. And then, Aiden Miller started developing into this stud prospect, and then Boehm's like, hold on, I should probably start lifting this ball. Wait a second here, yeah, wait a second. And

I thought early in the season, the lineup was missing a bat, like an impact bat. And I thought Schwarber, Turner, and Harper, it was so top-heavy. But now when you add a guy like Baum, doing what Baum is doing, it just looks like the lineup just looks longer and more impactful.

And you're starting to see it so far. It's been massive. It changed the whole complexion of the lineup. And moving forward, it's just going to be so much more important. I mean, we've talked about it. Talked about in the playoffs last year, the beginning of the season this year. You know, the whole like, we're a leadoff thing. It's like, no, clean up. Like, that is the most important thing this team has to solve.

And look, again, you know, it's early and all that. But man, if he can step in and be this guy, maybe not 365 guy, but it changes everything. It changes everything about the complexion of the team and what their ceiling is. And oh, by the way, above average defender. Somehow, like, he is like a vacuum over there. The ball gets hit that way,

he's going to make the play practically almost every time. Like, he is, it's so impressive what he has done this year so far and you know you just want to you want to because we've seen him go on to remember last year last year that wasn't this but he was driving the ball more and i think he had like three or four homers in the first you know few weeks of the season we're like here we go and then he reverted back we gotta see him stay where he's at now and make this a permanent change. Yeah. It's actually, you know, Franco used to do this too. Of course he did.

Where Franco would have this like eight-week stretch where it's like, there it is, there it is, there it is. And then it would go right back. The difference is I think that, I think Dustin Lind and, again, our good friend Alex Goff. Yes. Not Adam Lind's brother. Not Adam Lind.

Not Adam Lind. That was an important clarification. Yeah. You don't get, like, Jim Nance, I understand, but the Adam Lind is the Phillies, like, assistant head coach is up there. It's a real deep cut. No, it's up there. It's up there. Yeah, you're right.

It should get more derision than it does. It does. It does. And I feel like, are we essentially just, like, a hype machine for Alex Coffey pieces on this podcast? Apparently. It's good. She's great at this. She wrote this whole thing about Dustin Lind

and them getting in the lab together and shortening up his swing. I think the biggest thing that happens with a hitter or when you're four or five years in is obviously baseball is an incredibly hard sport. I feel like there's a lot

of players that come up and have early success. They usually get figured out and that's how they adjust back. I feel like it takes a couple years for... Some people are freaks, right? Trout and Acuna and Tatis. But most people, it takes a couple years for some some people are freaks right like trout and acuna and that's but most people it takes it takes some years to adjust and readjust and adjust and all that and it feels like boom is is readjusting to what teams were doing to him so like he was talking about how

i can get to every pitch but like what pitches can i do damage on rather than just like yippee i didn't strike out now i guess his whole and it makes sense like they preach selectively aggressive and just in watching them it's it's it's looking to do damage rather than looking to put the bat on the baseball which i think is an important distinction because if you look to put the bat on the baseball what impact are you making you know like sure you're not striking out and that's good. Like, we're not pro-strikeout. No, yeah. But. Prefer you not strike out. Prefer you not strike out, all things considered.

Yeah, yeah, you know, given an option, yeah. But it's about what can I look to launch on? And I think that we're in the progression of seeing Baum get to that point. I think that's the difference. It's massive. And look, he is entering his athletic peak. I mean, you know, your late 20s, you know, 27, know 27 20 29 that's generally when you're thought to have your most physical ability and all that type of stuff we have the year of 27 you play fantasy that's a classic thing the 27

year thing i mean look it's always been a thing my whole life playing fantasy i don't know if it's as prevalent as it used to be but that's the idea is that you know because it takes time first of all your athletic peak physically but then it takes time for guys to adjust to the league and to get to that point where they truly break out. I'm really heartened by it. I'm really like, and, and I, I think it is, I don't think he's going to win the MVP. I don't think he's about three 60, but I think it's sustainable.

I think what he's doing is sustainable. And if it does, it changes everything. Who finishes higher in respective voting? Ranger for Cy Young or Boehm for MVP? So I think Ranger might win this Cy Young. Well, hold on. Him or Wheeler. I mean, I know we had two.

I got Wheeler plus 900. I think that, and look, I think Wheeler, he's the name and all that. I think Ranger, it's all real. I wouldn't be shocked if we're looking at the end of the year, Ranger, everyone's saying, oh, he's a top five pitcher in baseball. Again, I believe it fully. So I absolutely think Ranger.

I think Ranger might win the Cy Young, legitimately. I do not think Boehm is winning MVP. I love it. I think he could be an all-star. I think that's certainly possible. I think Ranger could win the Cy Young. I think this is fully real. Well, I agree on both.

It's just, yeah, I don't think Bones is going to win the MVP. I would be happy if he finishes top 10. I'd be happy if he got votes. Give him one MVP vote. I'd be like, no way, dude. Well done, bro. Big year. Big year.

The Ranger thing is just, and we were at the Green Parrot on Friday. And again, probably the most stress-free High Hopes night of all time. Unbelievable. We need a petition that we only are scheduling High Hopes nights on Ranger nights? Well, first off, fast game. It was a 5-1 game, and it was two hours and nine minutes. I was like, I'm probably not going to be able to stay for the end of the game. I was like, oh, it's done?

All right, time to go home. It was amazing. Yeah, yeah. at the end of the game. I was like, oh, it's done? All right, time to go home. It was amazing. Yeah, yeah.

So he's just, and I'm glad that he surpassed Cliff or tied Cliff with the inning streak because that's who he reminds me of. You've been saying it for so long. Before Ranger was even good, you were comparing him to Cliff Lee. He works fast, throws strikes, is competitive in the strike zone.

He's nonchalant about it, the whole thing. And what makes Ranger so tough, because obviously the stuff doesn't pop. It's nonchalant about it, the whole thing. What makes Rangers so tough because obviously the stuff doesn't pop. It's not, wow, look at how ridiculous the spin on that pitch is. It's just he's so consistent within the strike zone and he can legitimately throw four or five pitches for strikes at any time that

he wants. Someone on Twitter tweeted out a David Cohn quote where David Cohn said, the best weapon a pitcher can have is mystery. Just not knowing what's coming. And with Ranger, because he throws all those pitches and has such command of them,

you never know what's coming. And the other key is that he has, and the most important thing for a left-handed pitcher to really have success at the big league level is you have to be able to pitch inside with your fastball to right-handed hitters. And he has no problem doing it. He'll go up and in 94.

He'll do it anywhere. I feel like Ranger will put the ball anywhere it's supposed to be. He could just put it there and be like, all right, here you go. And he has no fear. He has no fear. And that's the most, he for for true like old school because i feel like you know i i get labeled as not being old school in some ways you know with a lot of my opinions on things but i just funny because you are way more old school than i think sure yes but i grew up i grew up in the mixture of both like i grew up on like

clements and pedro into holiday like these guys that that pitched pitch and then it became the era of stuff and like i'm i am beyond pro stuff like if you want to do 15 minutes on george class and your stuff plus that's how pro you are yeah Yeah, exactly. Huge stuff plus guy. But Ranger is such like a middle 2000s, just good starter guy that doesn't throw overly hard, but just knows how to pitch. And like, if you want to like teach a young kid what pitching looks like, it's Ranger. And it's honestly, it's a lot of these guys, dude.

Like it's Ranger, it's Nola, these guys, dude. Like it's Ranger. It's Nola. It's even Wheeler. It's just like Wheeler. Not everyone's blessed with 96 to 99, but they all got multiple pitches. They all get like throw a bunch of stuff in different counts and all that. Dude,

they are, they are just a, they're, they're a must watch television right now. And it's so funny because usually it's the batters are the must watch guys. Like I got to see Bryce hit. I got to see Turner. I got to see Schwarber.

Can he get one 500 feet? But, like, this starting staff, I think it's must-watch TV right now. And it's just so fun to see them try to one-up each other and pitching deep into games. And it's just good right now. It's thrilling. I know you. I mean, for you, it's just nothing better. Let's just go out and out-pitch people. It's thrilling. I know you. For you, it's just, it doesn't matter.

Let's just go out and out-pitch people. What a thrill. The Phillies just going out and out-pitching and developing guys. Well, they might have been, they might be.

Junior Marte, eighth inning, big spot. Never an out. No problem. Just easy. Like, the Phillies might,

like, maybe the market inefficiency that you're obsessed with is, is, hey, we're going to be competitive in the strikes and don't throw a bunch of fastballs. I think they are 28th in baseball in off-speed percentage,

which means they throw the third most fastballs in the sport. And the other pitching staffs, the Yankees and Cubs, who are also pretty good developing when it comes to pitchers. It's special right now. Pitching, baby. It really is.

It's unlike any start we've had in a while. Again, look at all these other teams. Guys go five innings, five and a third, four, this. To watch these guys go out like eight, eight, six, seven, it really is jarring. It does not feel like, to your point about the whole stuff,

it doesn't feel like what baseball is anymore. It really does feel throwback watching them every night and watching just dudes freaking eating innings and being awesome doing it, but it really feels old school. It's pretty neat. Phillies are good innings eaters. Yeah, they're good innings eaters. Yeah. Eat innings, the bullpen's fully rested.

You know, it's good. It's good. But yeah, they are a throwback baseball team. It's unbelievable. Besides their leadoff hitter. Yeah. Their manager, the whole thing, you know? A center fielder who's not going to hit any home runs,

but plays great defense. Oh, man. Oh, man. Bunch of winners. Let's go. but plays great defense. Oh, man. Oh, man. Bunch of winners. Let's go. Unlike the basketball team. Oh, God. Who I was told over and over again by one friend of ours

how much winners they are. You shouldn't have listened. That was pretty clear. Yeah. Yeah. Poor Elliot. Just losers. Just a loser franchise.

It's a shame. It's a shame. Can't relate. You know what would never happen in a playoff game? Citizens Bank Park would not be run over by other fans. I don't think that would happen. In no world does that happen. Regular season, sure. It's a different thing.

But in the playoffs, a 0% chance that would happen. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe. As we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster wide receivers.

We analyze route running target share and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to reception perception on the free od free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You mentioned Saturday night. Shout out to everyone who came on Saturday night. We had maybe the best turnout we've ever had for IOP's watch party up there.

So many awesome people, a bunch of WIP listeners, obviously a lot of IOP's people. By the way, special shout out, our buddy Dave, a longtime IOP's listener, has come come to many events actually called 5-1 so he had a bowl with homer he's like anytime homer look i bet i was like oh look at you i'm like what's the final score gonna be he's like let's go 5-1 and it was two nothing at that point so shout out then that was an amazing call uh but the place was awesome the owner bob was such a great guy. And just a super fun High Hopes night. I feel like we never go out and they just handle business and win a game.

And they just did it. And you've got to come. We have three more of these. Dates will be coming out. We'll be announcing them. But three more of these watch parties. You've got to come. People won Phillies tickets.

There was trivia, which was really fun. And also, it works out that our Miller Lite account of the week is the Green Parrot. And again, we had such a great time there. Poetic justice. How about that? Today's show is sponsored by Miller Lite and the Green Parrot in Newtown. Check out the Green Parrot for every Phillies game. And enjoy $3.50 Miller Lite pints and their loaded fries with melted cheese and bacon and ranch.

Miller Lite's for Phil's win. Celebrate responsibly. Cannot recommend the Green Parrot enough. It was a great time. We had an awesome, awesome time. All right. Let's stick with recommend the Green Parade enough. It was a great time. We had an awesome time. Let's stick with the pitchers and then we'll get to the bats. What else stood out to you? Nola's start

over the weekend. Just in general from the pitching staff. Nola's good. It was vintage. Friday, always a longer day. Classic, right? I fell asleep on the 5th when they were up 7-1. one woke up in the eighth watch the like it was good how nice is that though right it's like the head yeah exactly

before it'd be like it fell asleep like oh oh the bullpen gave up six runs i was sleeping great and they're all lit started launching bait once i saw like everyone go deep in the first couple innings they got it so noah was good and going back and re-watching. I guess he's just like everyone else on the staff, just consistently good. I think his command looks much better this year of his fastball. It did remind me, though, of watching him. Do you remember when he threw the no-hitter and then they lost the game? Oh, yeah, of course.

Of course I do. That was the only thing I thought of while watching them was, man, I've seen this before. Yeah. I was waiting for the game time. Yeah, yeah. They pushed them. They pushed them.

It all was good. And Hoffman was disgusting on Saturday. He is nasty, dude. Yeah. Well, dude, it's like they, man, and it's a blessing. It's the blessing and the curse of how deep these guys are going is I think a lot of the bullpen guys are out of rhythm. Yeah, they're not getting work. I know.

I know. That was my whole thing with Taiwan. It's like at this point, you've got everybody. You said guys go back-to-back games of eight innings. Like, why not just get him out of here with six innings, three runs, a really nice start. You feel good about it. I know he's up in the Myers,

but it's not like he's pitching a big league game yet this year. You've got dudes who need to throw. Yeah. Well, it was a good thing Alvarado was just fine. Hoffman, fine. I just, they, like, I was actually, man, Marte looked awesome. And that was a big spot too. I know.

You know, it was. Because you don't, you really don't, you have a chance to sweep. You're up 7-1, like, or 7-3, whatever it was, to lose that game. Like, that would have really sucked. Like, that would have been a real bummer on what should have been a real positive series. And Marte held it down there when they needed it. I was surprised he went to him.

I really was. And I guess it shows how confident he is in Junior. I feel like he's always been more of a believer in Marte than... Yeah, he was running him out last year when it wasn't working. Yeah, way too long. I know. Way too long. I think we were like, alright, guys, listen, top. I like the stuff, too.

And I still hate his slider. I just hate it. I can't watch it. I think that's the reason why I can't get super high. But I was really surprised he didn't go to Kirkring in that spot. I mean, Kirkring hadn't pitched since Thursday. So, obviously, they don't have an off day until this Thursday.

For a close game, I think Kirkering has pitched well enough to be in that spot. I guess he trusts Marte. Rob Thompson, man, I just wonder. It seems like we're seeing a lot of the same things as last year,

which is like the really big trust in guys. Like even the Taiwan thing, it's like, well, he's a big leaguer. And it's what has hurt them in the postseason in the last two years. Literally, it has been their Achilles heel. And the regular season's fine. He has moved the lineup around and gotten guys in there and stuff. Moved Marsha up and then boom now and all that but still i'm with you i feel like and sir anthony i think he's gone to a couple

times now nine three on sunday or on friday is fine that's a pretty low level spot to put him in yeah but and even the sixth inning the other night it was still a pretty big lead so i guess it's not like five nothing a super high lever spot it's just it feels like he's always and and and i i do like the idea of trusting guys and i think it does reward him i think people like playing for him because he trusts guys it just always feels like it's two outings too late and and and at some point yeah they had to it's tough balance i think the thompson thing because on one hand you don't want to sink a guy's confidence on the other hand you gotta win ball to sink a guy's confidence. On the other hand, you got to win ballgames. Yeah.

But it's also April. Yeah. So I get it. But it's just there's still a good amount of loyalty, it looks like, from Rob Thompson. Well, and it's also one of those things that's hard to criticize in the as a manager is his culture, the way the guys love him, the way they care about him, the way they believe in him, all that type of stuff. And that goes hand in hand with this trust thing.

So it's one of those things where at the end of the day, when the games matter most, you have to pick the right freaking guy who's going to be able to get a hit, make the outs, whatever. But to get through 162 and to have the kind of camaraderie and chemistry that that topper is as as fostered so far like you know maybe a big part of that is that these guys love them because they trust them and stuff so it's it's a real balancing act that we don't have all the information for either i know yeah and i just i hope it gets rewarded for it because i think it's

a good strategy it's just this is what strategy. This is when people start questioning him. With the loyalty to guys, it's the Kimbrel thing. Yeah, it's the Kimbrel thing. It's exactly what it is. It's Kimbrel. It's Kirkering. It was interesting how quickly he developed a lot of trust in Kirkering last year. I know.

All of a sudden, he's like, all right. He's a high leverage guy. Yeah, no guy. Sure. Yeah. I think it's good. That's, I think, where people get frustrated with Thompson. But ultimately, it's almost like, what do you want, right?

Like Gabe was pulling Kingery in the third inning for a platoon advantage or whatever. Yeah. So I like the strategy. I definitely prefer this more than that. I agree. Especially over 162. That stuff matters. I just, when it gets to the big games, and prefer this more than that. I agree. Especially over 162. That stuff matters. When it gets to the big games, and I think that by that point,

he'll have a better feel for it. I wonder if the postseason, if we'll have a more quick trigger in getting guys in and out. Well, it'll also be, look, it also could hopefully just set up in a way by the time you get to the postseason that the roles are very defined

and that Jose Verado is not tired at the end of the season like Kimbrel was and all that type of stuff where it's Thompson can go to his guys, but his guys perform. I mean, that's the best case scenario. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. All right, let's talk about the bats. Obviously, we've talked about Boehm, and he was absolutely the story of the weekend and

really the last week plus. He'll probably get player of the week this week, which would be... So many players of the week. Back to back, yeah. Rangers get player of the week this week, which would be so many players back to back. Yeah. Rangers player of the month. I mean, theoretically player of the century, probably the best player I've ever seen.

I agree. Anything. Look, it was nice to see stock going. Yes. Finally, some big, big hits there.

And again, you know, a nice, as far as it goes, a nice weekend for Cassidy comparatively three walks on on the homer and a homer man i mean that was like the best thing he's had all year and a blooper on uh you know schwarber's being schwarber you know he'll have these huge stretches where he stinks and then i'll have a big game and he's on pace for like 240 strikeouts yeah it's weird with schwarber because it doesn't you look

it doesn't feel like it i dude i'm so with you i'm so with you it feels like he's had a good start i feel the exact same way and people be like if you look at his numbers, I'm like, they're fine. Right? And then I'm like, oh, they're not good. Still 200. Yeah. So how does he only have a 300 base percentage? It doesn't make sense.

I know. I know. Well, he's not walking as much as he. I think the walks and the homers usually come around the same time. But I do feel like he's getting more hits. Like Saturday was bad. He struck out four times. But I mean, he's on base, what, three times on Friday?

Or three times. Heiday uh or yeah three times he got two hits yesterday it just doesn't i'm surprised his batting average is 200 i'll just say that i'm right there i'm surprised i feel the same way so so yeah i just the lineup feels like it's it's kind of settling in getting stock going is massive you need to get him going for the bottom half huge um and it was good to see like like marsh had a couple slow games you know i obviously got off to the ridiculous start and then kind of tapered off a little bit good to see him just bounce right back and have a big home run just tank shots consistently hitting the ball hard which is which is good turner like it just the nice part where the lineup is is like okay harper goes over

four yesterday and someone else picks him up or one of the big three will go, like Schwarber, he'll go 0-4 on Saturday. Someone else is there to pick him up. Which was the whole point, right? That's the way it's supposed to work. Right, but where I felt like at the beginning of the season and they started winning games with their kind of even Stephen before getting on this run was that it just seemed like

if those three weren't hitting, they were in the toilet offensively. And enough people, JT had two home runs out in San Diego, which is good. Need to get him back going from that department. But they're getting enough production from the others. And obviously, Boehm's turning into, again, Brian Rendon in front of our eyes. It's helped.

It's helped. But yeah, it's good. Yeah, no, I feel good. What a podcast. Even with Merrifield starting to hit a little bit. I know. What a podcast. This is great. It's good. Yeah, I know. I feel good. What a podcast. Even with Merrifield starting to hit a little bit, like, you know, I know it's just like,

yeah, what a podcast. This is great. It's good. Everything is really good. Yeah. Like dynamite, dynamite,

dynamite job in Monty. I, you said it before, but I really do feel that way. Like it does. It feels weird. Like this, having this conversation right now at the end of April,

like it's April 29th. And just talking about like a, a team that's just been awesome. That's exactly all that we asked for. The hot start. Take advantage of that April schedule. They did it all. They did it.

We're there. April's almost over. They did it. They have an 18-win month. Yes. With two days left. With two games left. 20.

That set the record for April wins for them. They got two games left. It could be a 20. Yeah. Now, better not work in reverse this year. Yeah, don't get bad later. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no, no.

Exactly. Hot start that needs to sustain. Sustain, which you're going to have to because, unfortunately, the Braves never lose. Not allowed. I mean, what the hell? I know. It's so annoying.

They are relentlessly annoying. They're relentlessly annoying. They really are. And they keep winning these games like extra innings. I know. It's like enough already, guys. Enough. Strider's done.

Albies has been out. Who cares? Albies back already. How'd that happen? Oh, nice. Nice. Good. I didn't even know.

It's like you're supposed to be at a month. He's back. What? Anyway. That's fast. Right? I couldn't believe it. I thought...

Anyway. I'm with you. Okay. Super. Good. All right. What else? You got anything else? I don't believe it. I thought... Anyway, I'm with you. Okay. Super. Good. All right. What else? We got anything else?

I don't think I have anything else. Do we have anything else? Everything's great. Everything's good. Take back? Do you have to take back? Yeah. Everything else I've kind of talked about so far.

Something on the take back? Everything else? How about the White Sox winning three straight? My take fault? You want to get it out? They doubled their win total this weekend. You want to get it out? They doubled their win total this weekend. You want to take it out of the take fault? No, I'm going to leave it there.

I feel good. Oh, so I gave the speech on Friday. Oh, yeah. My bad. I should have rounded back to that. Yes. So it went well. It was funny because Tommy and his buddy officiated the wedding.

He's also a huge Philly sports fan. Nice. And there was just so many references throughout the ceremony of, and you'll be him when the Phillies lose. That's great. And stuff like that. I could just envision the old school church people being like, this isn't.

Yeah. What is happening? This doesn't have to do with anything. But yeah, so there's a lot of Phillies references in that. And I just thought it was so beautiful. So during my speech, I landed the line about the three things. It worked. That Tommy can't handle.

And the last one was Nick Castellanos. Nice. And you know, you ever like, you can just look at the crowd, right? And you can just feel that they're into you. Oh, of course. So I said the first two and then I gave the old pregnant pause and I was like,

and Nick Cassianos. And he was like, ah! Nailed it. I felt good. It's a good feeling. I kind of felt like a stand-up comedian. I'm not going to lie.

Honestly, not even just like, getting someone to laugh at something you say is like one of the great thrills in life. So yeah, that's awesome.

It went well. I knew you'd do great. It went well. So I ripped'd do great. It went well. So I ripped Cassianos during it, and then Cassianos hit a home run later. It was beautiful. Are we going to say that that's the reason he home run me? It's how can you not be romantic about baseball. That's right.

It always comes back around. And I think we were the first ones out. Had to get back for a walk. Got home right on time to watch the game. It's very adult of you. It's good work. To watch the game. The old man has to leave the wedding.

They'll start at 940. Congratulations on the wedding. Your best man's out. Out. We've got a ball game. We've got Knowles and Mound at 940. That's good work, buddy. Total of that moves all over the place.

I figured it out. I know how to get out of places. I would have been at the wedding until 2 in the morning, tearing up the dance floor. I wonder if I'm ever going to stay up until 1 a.m. It's not as fun as you think. No, it's not. Go to bed.

Yeah. People have forced me to do shots at our event. I'm not happy with you. I'll tell you that much. Never again. I felt it. Right now, Monday, whatever it is, I'm feeling it still. I can tell.

I can tell. The only thing I have in my take bag is, it's so rare that a trade just works out for both sides, but the Marsh for Ohapi trade. Yeah, it's a great trade. Ohapi's been really good for them. Ohapi's been good. The Angels stink.

Trouty. We got to see Trouty. Oh, buddy. Come on. Ask out Trout. Castellanos, hope you enjoy Anaheim. Can we just swap them? Like a Lenny Dykstra, Juan Samuel move there? I could really use.

I could use Castellanos having like a nuclear series. Just think about what this team is right now 19 10 kicking ass you know bone breakout like all this type of stuff that's a best pitching staff baseball thing imagine if they just subbed out Trout and Castellanos like that one thing just put Trout in and Castellanos out it's like wow

okay so best team in baseball winning the World Series could be yeah that's a good argument for it I'm just saying the Dodgers aren't hot. They are not. They are not. Too much talent. There's only one ball.

And the Braves have already stung at the playoffs and they want a strider in the playoffs where it'll matter even more. So just saying. Well, the last time they lost one of their best players, they won.

So just letting you know. I can imagine that. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It is so funny. We've beaten the Braves in the playoffs the last few years.

I still view them as like the boogie. Of course. My entire life We've beaten the Braves in the playoffs the last few years. I still view them as the boogeyman. Of course. My entire life they've won the division. Yes. The Braves, I hate them. I just never get too cocky with the Braves. I never think that we're going to beat the Braves until we beat the Braves. Until we do it, no.

Then we do it and I'm like, ha ha, I knew we were going to do it. Gotcha. Never doubt. Atta boy, Harper. Atta boy, Harper. Nic. Atta boy, Harper. Nicely done. But I do have Brakes fear. I don't really have Dodgers fear. I don't either.

They don't, you know, it just feels hollow, the Dodgers thing. There's only one ball. That's right. That's right. Otani just crushing it. Yeah. I know. Mookie's batting.384, I believe.

Well, Freeman hasn't even been hitting, and they're just like, you know. Yeah, well, you know. It'll be fine. I think Will Smith's batting 364. Yeah. I think they have the top, like, three guys in average. Yeah, well. Not anymore.

Maybe Alec Boehm's up there. Do they have Rangers for us? That's right. You're damn right. They do not have Rangers for us. You know what wins in the playoffs, Jack? Pitching. That's right.

Pitching and defense. That's the thing. That's how you win championships. The things. We got those things. Say what? How about the Phillies? Pitching and defense. Let's go. That's what we do. That's how you win championships. We got those things. Say what? How about the Phillies? Pitching in defense.

That's what we always did. Our preseason takes not looking too bad. No, they've turned a corner. They started real bad. Looking alright. Not too bad. Maybe a couple of them we could have back. You're not going to bat a thousand.

But I think we're doing alright. Also, I appreciate there was a great listener at the event on Saturday. Held me accountable for D.L. Hall. Oh, yeah, that was great. Because then I was able to jump in and be like, yeah, me too. And me three. I had him on all my leads. Which is funny because let me tell everyone out there,

and not to blow smoke up Jax, but you know what? His list of Fritz guys is awesome. Well, I think I was. My whole pitching staff in my one league is Fritz guys, and it's awesome. My staff is awesome. I think I'm not. D.L. Hall was like the miss.

Yeah, it was a huge thing. It's so funny. You could have said any other name on your list, and everyone would have been like, free drop, drag. I could have said Reese Olsen. Yeah, among many others. Like, again, my whole, literally, my whole pitching staff is for, like,

Bailey Ober. Bad's first game, great since then. Like, literally, everyone on my staff, hold on, let me get, Lodolo, love that guy. Bryce Miller has been great. Oh, those are three of my babies. I know. Anyway, those are the guys. I got other guys. Hunter Green.

Been great. He wasn't really a Fritz guy. He wasn't really a Fritz guy. You were just in on the speed, but either way. Yeah. He's got good stuff. I'm a stuff guy, except when it comes to the Phillies. Then I just want command. That's right. Just get out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be efficient. All right. Well, listen, we have some late night games.

It's going to be great. It's going to be great. Thursday? Yeah, they're off on Thursday. We'll be back on Thursday. Unless if they get swept by or ugly two of three lost the Angels, we might not be back on Thursday. Not this team. We're going to be back on Thursday. Hold on.

I was trying to remember this today. Was it Drew Anderson that struck out Mike Dr or is that jonathan pettibone this is like the deep cut of deep cut yeah this is like so i feel like it's pet pettibone i think pettibone i think it's pettibone i think pettibone struck out my yeah and that means something although i think drew anderson made his debut in la might have and i said hey that's a heavy fastball.

Yeah. Yeah. And he did not survive. He was not very good. Speaking of Carpenter, do you remember the old Braves reliever Carpenter, David Carpenter? Yeah, I remember David Carpenter. He used to set up Kimbrel, but he was good for like two years. He was my favorite pitcher in baseball.

You are so weird. I love David Garber and Bard dude I used to love Peak Daniel Bard Daniel Bard yeah Peak Daniel Bard Red Sox Daniel Bard

Red Sox Daniel Bard the one that no it's fine but there was like some pitchers who like it was it was like voodoo watching them and now like everyone is like them like Blake Trinan

for a while Trinan was sick but like Joel Zamiah yeah oh Joel Zamiah Joel Zamiah for like one year that dude was like sick dude he was like 104 and a hook yeah Joel Zamiya. Yeah. Oh, Joel Zamiya. Joel Zamiya. For like one year. That dude was like sick.

Dude, he was. He's like 104 and a hook. Yeah. Joel Zamiya was sick. Daniel Bard was sick. Drew, David Carpenter was sick. Like there's just like, and now everyone is just those guys. I wish we had a list of all throughout the years, like the Pavetta obviously, but like the list of guys that you over the years have said something absurd about, like, you know,

next Churchill. Sure. Like, but that is still number one oh it is but it'd be a really funny list yeah well i'm just letting everyone know now i mean louis varlin's next louis varlin's the list buddy he's there we go triple a right now but he'll be back he'll be back he'll be back phil should trade for him yeah sure why not he'd want to stay on here more pitching let's do it that's what we do we're a pitching factory yeah finally finally so you'd want to say on here more pitching let's do it that's what we do we're a pitching factory yeah finally finally so you all you ever wanted buddy what a magical moment yeah all right we done yeah all right there's no more david carpenter john the betta bone references handle the freaking angels okay yeah seriously all right we'll be back on thursday at the top.