High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Are the Phillies Finally Showing Some Fight?

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

The Philadelphia Phillies lost their ninth game in a row yesterday, but did push the Cubs to extra innings. Jack Fritz and Tucker Bagley react to the loss and discuss what can change this weekend against the Braves to possibly save Rob Thomson's job. Presented by Miller Lite. To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com 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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This is the High Hopes podcast. On the Odyssey app and Sports Radio 94 WIP. smiling through a I feel a little less along. I don't feel like doing the yo. I don't know. Like, it's kind of weird without Seltzer here.

So I'm just going to say what I usually do when I do like the final out, which is welcome on. And it's another edition of the High Hopes podcast presented by Miller Light. And I tell you what?

Well, they're going to need some Miller Lights. I think that might be the year of Miller Light. So as you can tell, uh, no Seltzer today. But we do have Tucker as you know, some people on this podcast had that dog in them.

You know, they show up. They want to talk about the team where they've lost age straight. Our pet says are falling off. It could be Thompson's last weekend. And I tell you what, don't love all the stats out there about how hard it is to overcome the start that they have had. But Tucker Bagley is here. Tucker, how you doing, pal? I've been better, you know.

But, you know, baseball season's a grind. And it's not going to be. You win every day. You know, you lose nine in a row. Guess what? You show up again tomorrow. Maybe you go to the team that's currently, you know, 10 games ahead of you in the division standings. And you make up some ground, right?

I mean, we saw some fight yesterday. Did they end the losing streak? No, but they got a moral victory, right? That counts for something. Morally, the end of the losing streak again. Morally, the streak's over as far as I'm concerned. In the win, lost, Colin? Maybe not.

Maybe not. Maybe not. What a sick joke, you know, the nationals get to face. J.R. R. R. R. and Fuentes in their major league debuts. Meanwhile, we get the three studs this weekend in Holmes, Sale, and Bryce Elder. And by the way, I simply don't care what Bryce Elder has done so far this year. If he goes seven shot out against his team, cancel the season.

I mean, this is, Tucker, we are heading into, and I don't think this is hyperbole at all. And we'll obviously have more thoughts in the Cubs series. But we're heading into the biggest weekend of Rob Thompson's, his tenure. I know that Dave Naprowski said the other day, he kind of gave the benchmark of 40 games. But if they go down there and they get swept and the

losing streak reaches 12 and you can't really make a move, you already cut Taiwan and will you get more into that later? I don't think it's hyperbole because I don't think we really, I mean, in a

positive way we do that on this podcast, but I don't think it's hyperbo. to say that that Rob Thompson's job is on the line this weekend. They have a off day Monday. This weekend is just ginormous for the future of this team and the future of Rob Thompson. Yeah, I mean, you just have so much riding on it because you've come into it with this nine game losing streak. You're pulling against the best team in your division. You mentioned like they have your work cut out for you with these pitching matchups coming up. Hopefully, Zach Wheeler, when he comes back tomorrow on Saturday, hopefully that's a, boost to morale and you know maybe you can take two out of three or at least you know try and

stem the tide a little bit but you're right i mean monday going to a home series against the giants there should be some big news if the phillies are unable to you know at least look a little bit more improved and you know i don't know it feels weird asking them to take two out of three after what we've seen but if they're not competitive if they're playing the way they have the last three weeks then yeah i mean someone's not getting that playing from atlanta back to philadelphia whether that's Rob Thompson or Kevin Long. Well, listen, I can try to compose myself.

The Kevin Long comments were some of the most infuriating, excuse-making, and I tell you what, I think for the remainder of my life, Tucker, for the remainder of my life, even on my deathbed, I will not forget him saying the biggest issue by hitting left-handed pitching is they can't find someone that could throw left-handed batting practice. Why didn't even put out a social media video like Gabe did? Yeah, at least they tried.

At least Gabe was out there, you know, on the streets trying to find someone who could throw a little lefty BP. I'm telling you, man, Monday. Monday, if we wanted to as a station, it's probably a little too quick. I just want to have a thing outside CBP for people who are left-handed and would be willing to throw BP and see how long the line would be around the stadium. I think it would be an amazing movement

and it would certainly generate some buzz. But I mean, if I'm John Middleton and, you know, I have a normal sense of where my team is at, and my hitting coach is using that as some kind of an excuse. By the way, it makes the organization look ridiculous with the idea that you can't find someone

that can throw left-handed batting practice. And on the other hand, it's also absurd to believe that that's the reason why they can't do it. I tweeted yesterday, and I understand maybe it's different during the game, and I understand that hitting off of a pitching machine is not the same as like seeing it off the hand, technically, but at the same time, I don't know if you've read anything about what Andy Pa has has done in the entire offseason where he just faced Paul schemes every day for an hour, and he's been arguably the National League MVP so far this year.

and like the Phillies I believe, I don't know, but I believe they have the technology to where they can recreate Chris Sale if they wanted to. Like what his stuff looks like. I was shocked. I thought it was honestly parody. I could not believe the hitting coach my baseball team is saying we can't find anyone to throw BP from the left side and that's why we can't hit left-handed biching. Well, well, that can't be right. There's no way a grown man would say that. And sometimes when you'd see silly things like that, or maybe it was. taken out of context, but, but no, I mean, he, he doubled down on him. Like, he was pretty insisting that, well, this is the issue. Fulking us is, is because I had shoulder surgery last August. Like, what are you doing all winter? Like, this isn't something, and it wouldn't be excusable this way, but it's not like he

got soldier surgery a couple weeks ago, and this is something new that, that's flared up. Like, this is an issue that you're kind of choosing to be the main culprit of her struggles against left-handed pitching, and it's because you got shoulder surgery, like, eight months ago? Like, that's crazy. But even if so, even if so, it's a, it's left-handed. I mean, again, this season does have the feel early. I mean, it has the feel early of a season from hell.

You have, you do have some injuries piling up. I don't think it's the reason they are where there are, but Real Muto, Duran, I mean, Bolin, you have little thing. Zach Pop, it's a big one. Zach Pop is dealing with it with an injury. So you have the Walt Courts earlier in. And he could have been the opener in the back of his game, but regardless. So you have some injuries. You have regression from a lot of players.

I mean, I, maybe it's because of the standing O thing. I just feel like Trey is never held to like the expectation that his contract says he should be held to. There's never like, hey, could Trey maybe just carry us for a little bit? It's like, oh, the $300 million shortstop is just there. He's just there. And there's never this expectation of, hey, you should probably be one of the 10 best players and 10 best players, at least in the National League. And it's never like, can you do something about it?

I know he was great last year. There was a lot of things. If you look at the savant page that would lead you to believe that he was going to have a regression. So you're getting some regression from players. The pitching staff is a huge problem. I actually think the pitching staff were as annoyed as we are at the offense. The pitching staff is way more disappointing. I mean, as a team, I think their ERA is 5.28 or maybe higher, like maybe 5.58.

I mean, their 28th in baseball. And their bottom five is 5.401 right now. 5.12, maybe starter. That's at this 385. Well, of course. As long as you take away the home runs and the base hits, everything's fine. So I The pitching staff

I believe is bottom five in every traditional like old school category Which is which is brutal It has all the makings of a season from hell And I think the Kevin Long quote Could be the Could be the video yearbook title It's it's it's like the quote that we're going to remember of this season

And the thing that's going to be we're going to mock them for For years is just like when McPhail said if we don't we don't is we couldn't find anyone that could throw batting practice from the left side and that's why we can't hit any left-handed starter alive. As if 60 miles an hour,

55 miles an hour from the left side to warm you up and see it off the hand a little bit is going to change the course of you against left-handed starters and left-handers in general. Yeah, I'm sure you've been the same way, Jack, but like the last two weeks,

I've just been kind of laying in bed every night trying to figure out how they can fix things. And it's not like there's really an answer, right? Like there's no one in the lineup. They say, man, you know, this guy's got a hot bat. We have to move him up. Or, you know, they switch this up in the bullpen and give this guy a high leverage

ending. Not that they've necessarily had a lot of high leverage spots recently because the starting pitching has been so bad. But yeah, I mean, you just kind of look up and down the lineup. It's one through 26. Everybody, everybody's struggling. You mentioned trade Turner. The one thing that bothers me to Bob Turner.

And, like, Blast and Stott hasn't hit well either. But at least he's been playing decently well in the field. field. You know, he continues to be a difference maker on that side. Trits to know he isn't hitting also doesn't field well. Like, like, just as a shortstop, I know he had a better year defensively last year, but I don't think he has great shortstop instincts for being the fastest guy in the history at baseball. Certainly doesn't run the base as well. Like a guy you would think who has the fastest sprint speed, like can't go first to third a lot. Schrober hit that double with two outs down the line the other day and he didn't even try to score

from home got held up at third. Just the things he does outside of hitting, like hitting's going to ebb and flow, that's fine. Like he has an OPE has like $6.50 right now. Has he had to come up big in a clutch situation. But it's everything else. It's the fact that he can't feel it's the fact that he's not running the base as well. And that's my issue with Trey Turner is, you know, it'd be fine if you were a cold at the pole, but you're still making a difference.

He's not making a difference anywhere, at least in a positive sense. What's so funny, and I do agree with you, that play yesterday, the first one I won't, I won't kill him for. I mean, that's kind of a moving target play with bone at third base. Like, I don't... And I will Triff going to catch that and he's not necessarily the most graceful athlete. Knowing this team so far this year, that ball ends up in the stands somehow. I don't know how it got here, but there's no way they actually complete that play.

The second one was bad. He just tried to make a turn too fast and it didn't work out. At the same time, I think I'm actually more confident with him in the field than I am with him at the plate, which is not a good spot to be in with the current situation with Trey Turner. And you kind of touched on it there. and it's the one thing I've been, you know, kind of racking my brain in thinking about is we keep saying they're not this bad, they're not this bad, they're not this bad, and while I don't think they're a 60-win baseball team, I don't believe that.

I also don't know how good they are when and if they write the ship. Like, if they're batting, and this is no slight to Felix Reyes. They're betting Felix Reyes, who's third game in the big leagues, in the cleanup spot and debrowski is talking the other day and he's like well you know we don't have a foreheader dave whose job was it to find i know everyone's putting the same meme out there if that's not that's on tim rowinson in the hot dog costume we're all trying to figure out who did this you did you did you did we did the boom thing for the the third year in a row and oh my goodness you know, and that might also be the title of the video yearbook.

Right now we don't have a foreheader. I mean, they gave us a lot of juice this week of possible video yearbook titles. Right now we don't have a foreheader, which could have been the title for the last three seasons. And we don't have someone that could throw a left-handed batting practice. But even if they write the ship, even if they come out of this a little bit, and there are some signs of life from Stott and Bohm. That Bome had a pretty good day yesterday. They looked like they're really focusing. This is like, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

But I really think it looks like they're focusing on keeping them down on the ball. I thought he's really keeping his head on the ball, like it's Little League. I thought he's making it. Yeah, like he's hitting off at sea. They got the chop a tree down just like George Washington did, you know, back in the day. So maybe they're coming out of it. Maybe Adolius with a new swing change. I mean, he did pulse two balls hard, which is a, because he was getting just jammed inside with fastball.

We could handle inside fast falls for a couple weeks. He couldn't. I mean, they opened his stance up more to maybe, you know, be able to get him to that pitch. But I just don't know how good they are even if they get it right. You know, I think the pitching staff has to go on a run here, Tucker. I mean, if they're going to, if they're going to rattle off a 20 and 8 stretch, like I think they kind of need to do, this pitching staff has to be special. Lazzardo, all the sudden, I mean, has just been, even, even,

the one-earned run the other night. That was a horrible outing. I mean, it was 100 pitches in four and two-thirds. He just lost command in the middle of starts. Chris Sanchez, 12 hits yesterday, two home runs. I had a buddy there. He said Bregman was like running up and down the dugout, letting everyone know that the tells that Chris Sanchez had.

So I think he was probably tipping, given that you didn't. Well, they're seeing stiff this much. That's, how is this a storyline every two weeks, every pitcher? Every pitcher in our team is tip. Every pitch on our team is tip pitches at least once in the last two years. Does anyone in our team try to get a tell on their pitcher? I think this is...

Did Lance McCullors in Game 3 of the World Series. It's regular time any time it's ever worked out for the Phillies. Oh, I know. News and was that Hoskins? I think I kind of remember that being... It might have them. Remember Harpo like whispered Sweet Nothings in Alec Bones' ears and then wouldn't tell us what it was? No, they're playing chess in the Phillies Clubhouse.

But one of my things is... Hey, Schwartz. you're just a DH. I know you can go and look at the tape and see what went wrong. Maybe look at the pitcher. Maybe try to figure it out in your downtime. Mike Colitri, you're no longer the bench coach. That's not Madame Lee's position.

A lot of Calitri on the top step yesterday, yelling at the umpires, by the way. I didn't see that much Coletri in four years. Hey, Mike, maybe you get a talent. Maybe we could put the pressure on the opposing team and maybe get a little tell and see if we can get someone to pitches. I don't know why it always happens to us, but for some reason, it always happens to us. So, I mean, I just keep coming back to Tucker. I don't know how good they are even if they write the shit.

Yeah, I mean, like, even Sanchez has been fine. Like, you gave up a ton of hits yesterday. Now it's giving up the most hits in baseball, has 44. Also, has the most strikeouts in the National League at 43. So you can kind of weigh both sides of the coin there. And I think he entered yesterday's second in the National League in the IRA. I think so he's still at 294, even after your S. He's been fine.

Like, if I told you at this point, even ERA under three and led the National League in strikeouts, he'd be fine with that. But, like, Lazzardo hasn't really looked great. Like, Aaron Knowles probably been as advertised, Andrew Painter, I don't think he can necessarily have any qualms with. And that's also kind of what worries me is, like, if Zach Wheeler comes back and he's, I don't know, 70% of what Zach Wheeler was before this injury, I don't know how much improvement you can get out of the starting rotation. You look at the bullpen. Like, Brad Keller hasn't necessarily been great. Duran, who knows how much longer he's going to be out.

like you really have the horses for for high leverage situations if the starting rotation keeps doing these outings where they go six and maybe they only give up two or three runs but they can't get through the fifth or six sitting without raising such a high pitch count and for a team that was really bolt around their pitching and the whole idea was we're going to win games you know three two two to one because shorebors can be able to hit a home run and we have guys on the back end of the bullpen that can kind of lock it down that really hasn't worked and you've seen it in a lot of these games in this losing shake where they go down. 5-1, 5-2 in the second or third inning. That's kind of it. And they kind of just throw a void flag and say, like, well, we weren't really built for this. Hey, Ontario, come on down to BetMGM Casino and see what our newest exclusive the Price's Right Fortune Pick has to offer. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show only at BetmGM.

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I mean, even, we're all frustrated, but it would have made it even worse. And what was encouraging about the comeback yesterday was they were actually doing the things that we've been begging them to do, which was grind out a starter. I know Eddie Cabrero is at like 65 pitches heading into the seventh inning. So early in the game, they were not doing it.

But late in the game, they actually started working counts. Bryce had a big walk. Marsh had a big walk against a lefty. They did the things to get back. And they also finally had some luck go their way. You had the ball of the wall that Suzuki misplayed and then the Bregman error. Whereas the Phillies haven't caught a break all season long. That's why yesterday kind of felt like a win.

it was like, hey, maybe the tide's turning a little bit, and of course, you know, it ended up not going that way. But like before yesterday, you could almost see the life drain from their eyes when one of these starters allowed four in the second or third. And they would go behind and they would say, well, how are we supposed to win this one? That is what made yesterday encouraging. But watching them go down early, it reminded me so much of just the 2020 bullpen, wherever the bullpen door opened. everyone collectively field. Yeah, collectively on the field would just start sighing

the con now. It doesn't matter who was coming out. You know, Jared Hughes. Yeah, Blake Parker actually had a 2.980 already that year. People forget about how good Blake Parker was in 2020. Now bad in 2019. He didn't hear I ever five. But they brought him back. And they said, hey, one more year of Blake. So, like,

I guess, I hope yesterday can be the springboard. I hope that they took away from yesterday we're getting their guy. Like, if they lay down like dogs and then they get on a plane to Atlanta, I think you would have seen just a sullen, sullen baseball team.

Maybe with the comeback yesterday and making it a game at the end and showing some fight, it does springboard them into this weekend. We don't need it to sweep. I'm not even asking for two or three. just win one freaking baseball game and just stabilize this for one millisecond

before the Giants come to town next week. Yeah, I mean, the bar couldn't be any lower for this team, right? And, you know, you kind of look at yesterday in two different ways because I agree with you. Like, I felt better after the game was over. It still sucked, but, like, I didn't feel sick to my stomach because the way they fought and the way the offense played. But, I mean, they also gave up 18 hits.

They also, you know, the Cubs stranded a lot of baseball. base runners and we kind of look at some of the underlying things. You wonder maybe they did get lucky that it was even that close. And, you know, you said they've kind of been devoid of luck completely. Like the amount of, you know, 65 mile per hour broken bat bloopers that have just laid in the outfield and score two or three runs. So it's usually because, you know, the starting pitcher walked a couple guys and got them on base.

But, I mean, this is a team that's been desperate for any sort of, you know, positive luck the rest two weeks. But, you know, you kind of look at what they have to do this weekend. And it seems crazy to say, oh, just win one of three. Because I think if they did win one of three, we'll come back on Monday, not necessarily be that happy about it. But, I mean, that's where we are with this team, right? Like, they're 8 and 16.

They're 9.5 back at the praise right now. There's still time. Like, you still have plenty of time to figure it out. Like, you were seven games under 500 when you hired Thompson and fired Gerardi at the end of May in 2022. Like, this isn't that crazy. I'm sure if you look, I'm sure they've had stretches like this, where they weren't necessarily this awful and getting blown out this way.

But you know, you've had negative, negative times before. I just, I think for the first time, I do feel like yesterday made me feel like there's a way out of this. And there is a positive thing. Yeah. Well, in 23, there was surprisingly six games under 500 at one point. Like, they had a bad stretch. Like, they had a bad stretch there, too.

And, man, it's just, it's such a shame that they lost yesterday. and because you could have came in here today saying there it is. C caveat, I'd say, you do. Everything has to be, yeah, and people are going to be like, oh, this is a bunch of coping. Maybe it's a little bit of noise. Listen, sometimes you got to cope. Sometimes you've got to cope when your team's going through bad times.

But they are a team that was supposed to be. They only have 140 more games. What else are you going to do? I know. And at some point, at some point, I don't think we're there yet. I don't know we're there yet. I start laughing at some of the losses, saying they found a new way to lose one.

But the problem is they're going to go on a run. They're going to make it close. We're going to back to 500. And then then you're going to get your hopes up again. And then that's when you'll get re-mad all over again. I think we're getting close to the laughing at a loss. So that and then the other silver linings is obviously, you know, trade deadline stuff.

What can we get? What prospects are we looking for? and then you're games under 500 their games out of the wild card spot and faking who can we add what kind of veteran outfielder can we add to really shore up this offense they're going to be talking themselves into into we're rounding into form at the right time and you know that's it's it's the lock of the century we're not even going to be able to do the a sell-off a super big buy and then we're going to end up with like the 18th pick in the draft we came and we can't even get into the top six If you're going to suck, you might as well just really bottom out, bottom out.

But they're not going. They're not. Keep them to suck that hard. That's right. They're going to give us a vote. They're going to give us a vote. Some other things that I do want to get to on the pod today. You really had to only do the Schwerbert leadoff thing one time.

What was the point? What was the point? I mean, it's not like Bryce when you put them up there. Obviously, does not want to hit lead off. and he moved him right back. Schwabber likes hitting Leon. Who was against going back? Like who, no one in that scenario should have been against just keeping the line up the way it was.

Turner probably doesn't like the pressure of hitting first now or first now because of his struggles. And he probably feels like I'm coming up in a big spot again late in the ball game. They get someone else in here. You know Schwerber likes hitting leadoff. Thompson's talked all the time about how they've won a lot of games of Swabber hitting leadoff. to do it one game and then just ditch it for no reason. Yeah, it wasn't a matchup thing. You were facing another right-hand of pitch yesterday.

They did it against the lefty. I mean, was it? Boyd started the game that they did it with Schwarber. I just, it was crazy. It was crazy. Give it some runway. Give it a week. Just see what happens.

You have, like, nothing to lose, Tucker. Nothing. No, is that way the offense could get worse, right? Like, I don't know. I, like, Tray Turner isn't necessarily someone I'm worried about upsetting at this point if you move him from one to two. But like you said, it's not like he's hit well enough to where he could handle the pressure of being the lead off hitter. It was an odd thing to say like, all right, we're going to experiment with this now.

And just kidding. He's back to number two. And I want to know who was against it. I don't even know this team too well. I have no idea who was against the idea of just keeping Schwerber there and seeing if it works for a week. So maybe tonight against Grant Holmes down there where you can get Schwerber up to a lead off spot. of course, Bryce will never hit two, God forbid. We could get him in the two spot and let me. He's got a bad three.

He has to be. Even though his most impressive moment as a fill he came as a cleanup hitter. Yeah, it did. It did. That is a fortunate. It just throw flying the ointment of the, you know, get your best hitters more at bats. It's probably a smidge overrated,

but at least in Schwerber's case versus Turner, there's just been so many moments late in the game where Turner's been up, where first off, you don't have confidence. that he's going to come through. I mean, there's been four times since that Friday night against the Diamondbacks, where he's come up late in a ballgame and not delivered.

Now, he did walk yesterday. Now, the pitcher was all over the place. It was on four pitches, I think. But I think it's just so jarring when you get late into a game. And it's like, oh, sweet. We got a little rally going. Oh, like Crawford did something fun at the bottom of the line up, and there's a strike.

That's how far. It's when the lineup turns over. Like, the bottom of the lineup hasn't been good, but when they do get on base, like Romito walks, you know, maybe Crawford, you know, a little infield single, and then it's tray coming up. Honestly, like, I know Bryce won't do it, but I think I would rather him hit leadoff right now.

I would put him one, Schrober two, turn to three. Like, he's got a 355 OBP right now. He has there will be hitting for a ton of power, but you definitely can work it count. I think if you kind of put him in that lead-off spot and kind of gave him that, you know, mandate to, hey, work account, get deep in account, try and get this guy's pitch count up.

Like, I think he'd be good at him. He's done it a few times sparingly, but I don't know. That would be the guy to me who I would say, hey, go hit lead off. Schwabers going to be behind you to protect you. Yeah. And I think that would really kind of change the look at this lineup. It's a very cute idea, Tucker. You know who doesn't want to hit lead off?

Bryce. Now, now, now, if Rob Thompson maybe had a backbone in this scenario, he would just put him there and say, I don't care. You think if Manningley told him, hey, I want you to hit lead off, he'd be like, oh man, eight-time All-Star. You gotta listen. Yeah, I played the game. I think he'd be more open to it.

And that is something that I've been thinking about with Thompson recently. I think they all like Rob Thompson. It's different from Gerardi where I think there was a mutiny in the clubhouse. Like, this guy's miserable. With Thompson, I think they like him. But the one thing that I don't know if he has, now he has won a lot of games, and I get that. But he just doesn't have that cachet of,

say a Bruce Bochy or even even even a buck show alter you know he hasn't won the one the big one but been a big league manager for a while and and whatnot and obviously there's a whole former player angle that that Castianos was talking about they if they do move on from Thompson and maybe that's this weekend no idea but does kind of feel like we're at a at a breaking point with this i don't want it to just be someone from within the organization i know that everyone says maddingly i'm not sure he wants it i i believe him when he says i don't really want to be a manager i don't want to deal with everything that comes with it because he hasn't even been interviewing for manager jobs yeah i mean honestly if you wanted one i'm sure he he would have been

rumored to be a part of any kind of search yeah and and and obviously didn't do it too long ago he was with the marlins but i just i don't get the sense that he really wants to do it obviously if he wants to okay that that's the the natural switch but i don't think he wants to Rather than going to Dusty Woffin or calling up the AAA manager to take over, I would rather they go outside and get one of these old heads who have had success in the past, treated as a quick fix, your last ditch effort to save an agent core. And I don't know if he can get let out of his contract or what his scenario is with the Giants. but I'm sure

Bochi could come in here and figure it out and you know like Doc Rivers was on TV and consulting the box before you know stabbing Griffin in the back and becoming the head coach out of nowhere you know

a freaking what's his face the old flyer Tortorella was on TV and now he's in Vegas just took over the nights halfway through the year or more than halfway through the year so like a bocci and even showalter

I mean just for half season he did have the Mets we win 101 games in 2022 and then obviously crater the next year but for for half a year

or three quarters of a year to just change something up if you can't go get a player right now get someone in there that has maybe a little bit more cachet

than Rob Thompson that can go to Bryce and be like I don't care about you're hitting lead off yeah I mean I think everyone likes Thompson in that locker. I don't think there's an issue with him in the clubhouse, but I don't know how much respect he commands, right?

And you think about Bryce when he talks about how he almost signed with the Giants, but then he found out, you know, Bochie said he was going to retire, so he kind of put that away. I mean, the guys you mentioned, Bryce Harper, obviously with Bochie or even Showalter, because I think he is such a baseball historian, like bringing in guys who have done it before, who have that kind of cachet that he can kind of look at and say, well, you've accomplished something that I really haven't in my career. Like, I do think they would have his ear more than Rob Thompson, who if he said,

hey, Bryce are hitting Lidoff tonight, he could probably say, eh, won't feel like it. Not going to do it. So that was kind of one of my thoughts on that. This episode is brought to you by Tell Us Online Security. Oh, tax season is the worst. You mean hack season? Sorry, what? Yeah, cybercriminals love tax forms, but I've got Tellus Online Security.

It helps protect against identity theft and financial fraud so I can stress less during tax season or any season. Plans start at just $12 a month. Learn more at talus.com slash online security. No one can prevent all cybercrime or identity theft. Conditions apply. All right. I kind of went through all of my take bag things. I don't want to do, you know, the minor league minute because I could talk for at least five minutes about Cody Balker's clear water thresholds out in the other day.

fair setting three innings no hits seven strikeouts very very yeah listen listen there's some exciting stuff going on in the minor leagues but we'll spare trip car yeah yeah could you imagine i'd love to do a real trip to clear water for for spring training and all that stuff uh but with tucker bagley here Tucker Tucker for those of you that don't know he's like a savant when it comes to numbers like he can do the the cert be you are a big stack guy but you know what the two-year credit, you're also a good eye test man. So you fluctuate back and forth between being an eye test guy and a stack guy, but sometimes you

have good stats. So we're going to give Tucker's bag today. Just of some stats might not make you feel good. Could make you feel good. Who knows? But Tucker, take it away. Yeah, not a lot of positive here. Trail the division by nine and a half games,

as I said, biggest deficit in April since 2000s. and they trialed by they got they got swept right the cardinals at the end of april 2000 we're down uh 11 games this is the biggest deficit in 26 years great so and how's the how's the team end up uh 65 wince but then they hired boa and they wanted to run like people don't talk about how good that 2001 philly's team was maybe if you know edway didn't sit on his hands at the deadline maybe they would have made the playoffs who knows hey that's a wall of fame or son that's a that's a wall of fame what's hard the least deserving wall of fame like

you ruined my childhood for the first 13 years of my life. You don't get to be on the Wall of Fame. I'm sorry. I've ranted enough about the Ed Wade Wall of Fame and pretending. And what do you have to do during Jimmy Rollins too? Like, won't you have to cheapen it that way? The whole thing is ridiculous. And just pretending that he drafted those guys when Marty Woolover and Mike Arbuckle exists.

Or every other GM in the history of baseball is like, well, I don't do a whole lot with the draft. Except for Edway. It's like, ah, just kidding, guys. I did all those. I did all of it. I did. The biggest thing he did was not trade any of them. That is the biggest accomplishment of Ed Wade's

Philly's 10 years. Which like, Jimmy Reynolds was in the majors before you got good. Chase Utley was the top 10 prospect only like one year. The only one that I think you could give him credit for holding onto is Howard. Your sweetly was Blockby's Walmart and you requested a trade before Ed Wade got fired. Like that being said,

not a start to the season. One positive, though, so Harper's Obe yesterday now is 852. It's his highest in April since his MVP season. Oh. And he's looked at duty. He just missed that ball yesterday.

Just, I'll just smiths that. Oh, that could have been the moment. You don't have the same kind of power that I think he did maybe three or four years ago. I haven't looked at his bat speed to see if he's really swinging it as violently as before, but he seems sort of locked in than he did it at times last show. Like his OPS right now, like I said, I think it's higher than it was all last year. I think he finished like 8.30 something last year. So just the fact that he, in the port of the season where he's normally cold is hitting

this well, I think is an encouraging sign. Yeah, I do wonder if the season continues to spiral, if he will question post-game if Dombrovsky is elite. I think that would be a nice cherry on top for what has been a dumpster fire of a season so far. It would be great. We were supposed to have an elite jam. I don't know what happened.

He gives a little wink at the camera. Oh, come on. On the other side, Alex Holmes, OPS Plus right now, 21. Not great. If you had him and Bryson Stott, that's 61, that's what Felix race is at right. now, so not ideal, is that Al Drom's OltiS plus would rank fourth

ending 2011 Philly's pitching rotation. I have enjoyed seeing a lot of the, the comps of the 2011 pitching rotation. Was the Kendrick and Worley all were hired at him. Horee Halliday had a negative 22 OPS Plus, which I didn't even know you could get negative.

I just thought it was zero, but it didn't matter. He was a pitcher anyway. He's too focused on pitching. Yeah, that is because obviously a hundred is league average for OPS plus 21. I mean, I saw something. I think weighted runs graded plus.

I think he's the worst hit the worst call if I hit her in baseball. I mean, he's hitting one quarter. Like there's nothing where you could say like, oh, man, he's been unlucky. Like, he's hitting 140. Like, even just his batting average. Oh, it's 151 now. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, he's done nothing positive at the plate.

But I don't know if he saw yesterday. He was really getting down on the ball. He's getting down on the ball, head on the ball, looking to the, to, the, the drive the boys. A couple balls hard. It was finding gaps. He's right back into it. He has.

It's made a big bone weekend, then true. True. So tonight is a big game because no World Series winners ever lost more than nine games in a row. So the Phillies right now are at the peak.

Nice. The 53 Yankees won nine games in a row or lost nine games in a row. That's the max. However, they did win 18 in a row before that nine game losing streak. So things were a little different.

in the Bronx in the summer of 53. Well, that's where we are right now. Now, here's my question. What did the Rangers lost streak get to in 23? I figured out, that way. Okay, so I thought it was 10. So, all right, so I'll trust you on that. Because the 06 Cardinals lost eight in a row twice.

Oh, nice, nice. So. Well, listen, and then 2011 Phillies lost 10 of the last, what, 11? Yeah, they didn't have a good start. Yeah, the, yeah, the, 53 Yankees lost nine in a row. Yeah, from in August of 23, the Rangers lost eight in a row. Then the Cardinals lost eight in a row in June and August of 06.

Rogers lost seven in a row last year, so not that crazy. Well, Tucker, I'll say this. I don't... Obviously, I want them to win the World Series. I don't really care. I just want them to just... Just make the playoffs. Just make the playoffs.

Again, I've said it before, and I will say it again, their path to winning a game feels really hard at this point. I theoretically, or I know in my heart, they will win a baseball game again. But I don't see how. The pitching us through their job, hitting us through their job, they can't mess up in the field. The bullpen has to hold a lead. It's, it's dire. Right.

Like, normally you have one thing going well, right? Like, if you're starting pitching, you're like, hey, man, like, if Sanchez goes out to a seven scoreless, like, we should be fine. Or, hey, if we, you know, earn a tie game late, you know, the bullpen can shut it down. We can figure it out. or hey, you know, the offense, you know, we score six, seven, eight runs, we should be able to outslug teams. Those aren't even any of that right now. Like, they aren't really good at anything.

In the last sport, I have, they've gone 17 straight games, allowing at least three more runs going back to the pitching not being elite. Longest week since 2009, they went 22 straight games. However, the 019 won 13 and 9 in that stretch, because once again, they can out slug teams. Yeah. Well, having a starter pitch through the seventh this year. They have Sanchez, the only one who's pitching to the sixth or through the sixth in the last like two weeks.

So, yeah, starting staff has been unbelievably disappointing. And they really do feel like your normal golf game right now. When you play golf, usually you have your putting down, short game down, that means your driving's way off. When you have your drives, that means your short game sucks. it's like they can't just have all three working at the same time they can't really get one working at the same time when they pitch decently well the offense can't do anything when the offense goes it scores seven yesterday

the bullpen sucks and Sanchez has his worst start in a while it's highly annoying and they're massively unlucky on top of that which is a real cruel sick and twisted way that the season has gone but they have to win again right theoretically they have to win at least the game I agree with you. They should. But again, so much has to go right.

And that's the big question. Will they ever win a game again? You're not going to tackle the Cubs bullpen yesterday. It still didn't work. That's the joke of it all. I mean, it was the body bag game. And they did nothing with it. They did nothing with it.

All right, Tucker. Well, thanks for stepping in. Once again, it's good to see you have that dog in you to talk about a team that's struggling. Hopefully this is not Rob Thompson's last week as Philly's manager, but I don't know. Kind of feels like we're coming to a head here. And just go down there and win one game. Just one game.

And don't lose the Bryce Elder start. I refuse to lose a game with Bryce Elder. And, oh, come on, Zach. Like, just, if Zach could just come back and give a sick shutout. And they should play Rooster in honor of him down there. That'd be the... More important gaming Saturday night? Flyers Penguins game four or Zach Wheelers return to the mound?

Well, don't ask me that. You know my answer. They are a 3-0. They can lose one game. Come on. Throw a back of goalie in there. Who cares? We need a ball game.

We need a ball game. All right. Well, thanks to everyone who hung out, listening to the pod today. As always, brought to you by Miller Light. And we will be back on Monday morning, assuming Monday morning, if we're able to go then.

That would be nice. So we'll talk to you Monday here on the high-o's podcast. Frozen lasagna, Power 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Play Ojo. The online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games.

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