High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Are You Worried About Zack Wheeler Yet?

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

With Jack Fritz mysteriously missing, James Seltzer and Tucker Bagley react to the Phillies losing their series in Seattle against the Mariners and discuss their concern-level for Zack Wheeler after his latest start. The guys also preview this weekend's series against the Angels and give props to Bryce Harper for the huge month he's had. Presented by Miller Lite.To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com

Miller Light, the official beer partner of your Philadelphia Phillies, is proud to serve as presenting sponsor of WIP's High Hopes Pod. So whether you're listening to the game, catching off on the latest High Hopes pod or at the ballpark. Remember, it tastes like Miller time, Phillies fans. Celebrate responsibly. This is the High Hopes podcast. High Hope! On the Odyssey app and Sports Radio 94, WIP. The crowd is singing high hope.

I feel a little less alone. edition of the podcast, sponsored by Miller Light official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Tastes like Miller Time, Philadelphia, celebrate responsibly. No Fritzy tonight. The West Coast was too much for him, I think, Tucker. You know, it's just you needed a break.

You know, Jack, sometimes he just needs a break from the Phillies, right? I mean, you know. Yeah, I mean, of the people on this podcast, the one that talks about their sleep schedule the most is Jack Fritz. I think most people are aware of that. Is he needs his duty sleep? We know how many other things he loves in life. Like so many other things that matter to him besides the Phillies.

So he could probably just focus on some of those other things. I mean, we know how much he loves the Eagles and the Sixers and the Flyers and all these other thing going on. Like, you know, sometimes the Phillies just have to take a pack bearer, you know? Yeah, like of all the people that I work with, he's the one that I wouldn't say,

well, text me at 5 a.m. His random Phillies thoughts. That's not Jack Fritz. Like, dude, there is, I'm happy he said that because there is no one in the history. of my life who has texted me about the Phillies during other major sporting events more. Like, Eagles are in the Super Bowl.

Phillies text from Jack, you know, like the greatest game seven of all time, Philly's text from Jack. You know, like, whatever big thing is happening, Jack is texting us about the Phillies. So you know it was not his choice to not be here today. In real.

No, no. He had some extenuating circumstances, but I'm sure he'll be. Everything's good. I'm sure he's fine. I'm sure he's excited with all he's got going on right now. Yes, a lot going on in the Fritz House. All right.

Let's dive into it because look, I don't think he picked that particularly. I actually think Jack, if this were a quote unquote, like bigger pod, you know, if there were more going on in this series out in Seattle, he would have like fought tooth and nail to get here somehow. But he's like, you know what? It's okay. Not much happened out there. What do you make it that?

Let's dive into the series. Yeah, look, not a ton. There's really no news since then. I think there's one big thing that happened in Seattle that clearly, I think, is the main headline of the pod, main headline of what's going on with the Phillies right now. And that's the Wheeler thing. Look, we'll get to Lazzardo and thank God for Ais's Lazzardo. And obviously, I thought a nice win yesterday, a team that was like, all right, we just came off

this nine game streak, you know, had the biggest win in this season. And I thought they would lose the first game. I didn't know that they would lose both the first two, but I'm not shocked by it. I thought yesterday felt like, all right, like, stop leaping around. We're on the West Coast. We're on the right time now.

Let's play some baseball. And it felt good. So I feel, I feel solid going at his Angel series. I don't have any real issues with the series. I expected them to falter at some point. The real concerns Wheeler, who has not looked good really since that, you know,

the All-Star break when he, you know, made that, like, F-U push after not getting, the initial bid and all that. And not only has he not looked great for six or seven starts, which is very unwheeler-like, but, you know, eight runs, four innings or whatever. I don't even have got through for it the other night. Where you out on Wheeler, what do you make of?

I think it was interesting because after the game, JT comes out and, you know, talks a little bit more openly than you expect. Manly talk about not tipping pitches or rid of tips, this and that, is it tipping this and that? Is it a dead arm? period. Do they need to fan them out? There's so many little like what's going on here. Where are you at with the other? Yeah, it's weird because it's mostly a location thing, I think, right? Like his his fastball is still has the same velocity, right? And it might be

kind of a dead arm thing. He doesn't feel like himself. I mean, he hasn't thrown more than five innings in a start since I think over a month, July 27th. His first start after the All-Star break, he was actually okay since then. I mean, he had the start that was kind of cut short by the rain delay. He was only able to go two innings, but he's got 24 innings pitch in his last six starts. It's allowed 31 hits. It's allowed 16 walks,

which is a really high number for him. And he just hasn't been able to locate his pitches. And he said that as much, you know, after the game the other night, that he's really having an issue locating anything besides his fastball and even his fastball. I think the location has been kind of spotty.

And I do wonder if it is just kind of a real struggle for him to get on the mound every fifth day. I mean, you think about where he was a year ago, where he was dealing with a career threatening injury, right? Like, like not just a season ending injury, but an injury that a lot of pitchers have never come back from. And the fact that he did come back as quickly as he did before May 1st, and he did pitch as well as he did in the first half of the season,

where it looked like a Cy Young candidate, if he had enough, enough innings to go. And now you kind of look at him now. It's a wonder he kind of made it to this point anyway. And we've seen this before with him, right? Like in 2022, I think you took two weeks off in September before coming back for the final push of the season and making it, you know, to the postseason. So it is worrisome because of what he's dealt with to get here. But it's also not really anything that new for Zach Wheeler.

I mean, the guy's 36 years old. He's talked about the end of his career pretty consistently now at this point. And given all he's dealt with in the last 12 months, the fact that you're saying, saying, hey, man, like, you might be running out of gas in August. I don't think it's that crazy to see. Yeah. And so it's one of those unique situations where you don't know if he is running out of gas or not because of past seasons where, again, I mean, we all remember 2022.

They phantom Ield. And we've seen this type of thing from Wheeler before where he's, you know, kind of run into an August or early September kind of lull. And then, you know, whether it's a fan of my Elston or not reestablishes. and by the playoffs, you know, he's, he's lights out Wheeler again. I think you hit on the thing that I have to assume, certainly for me, and I think for most of these fans is that the big concern is that this year is not like all the others.

This is a year where he didn't have his normal off season. He didn't have his full ramp up period. He didn't have all these, you know, normal check marks that he hits off before he starts the season. He did start the season late. And again, he is coming off something where we didn't know if he'd ever pitch again, much less come back and look as good as he has. So I'm with you.

I'm pretty concerned about Zach Wheeler because of the unknown. Like I would it shock me if in a couple more starts, whatever, or they give them some time off, but whatever happens in two weeks, three weeks, Zach Wheeler figures it out and he looks like himself again. Not at all. I think it's totally on the table.

But I just don't think we can ignore the fact that like there is this, this like, you know, extra element to this that wasn't a part of it before, that makes it much more of an unknown now. Yeah, I mean, if I added, say, you know, my concern level is probably a seven out of ten, six out of ten, some are kind of in the eye area. Where my antenna is up, I'm not sounding the alarm bells yet.

But, I mean, this is a guy, and you kind of think about what this team is built to do in the postseason. It's throw Sanchez, Wheeler, Lazzardo out there and pray that they do enough to where the offense can come around and hit enough to win. And if he's not a part of that equation, if he's only able to go five or six max and allow three runs, like that's a big issue for a team that has questions in the bullpen. Yeah, yeah, no doubt. I think, I mean, the way this team's constructed, and look, any team can get hot, any team can go on a run. That's the way baseball is if this team hits and two guys are great, they can win.

But to your point, I think it's going to be really hard for this group to win the World Series without those. three guys being really good for the majority of times they take the hill. It's just the heart of what this team is, both, you know, both just logically looking at the numbers, but also in terms of how this team is put together. And in terms of like taking the field and Wheeler gets bombed in a game, like, I don't know. I'm not going to have a ton of team. And you hope they're hitting and maybe they can hit to get back in the game. But then we're also talking about a bullpen that is the part of the team I trust the least heading into the playoffs. So it just really, it just raises, it highlights things that were already a question, makes things more important than

they were prior. And, you know, I, again, I am very concerned about Wheeler, while also completely leaving over the possibility that this is nothing in two weeks. I really do think that's possible. But again, to your point, I am definitely more, I'm over 50% in terms of concern. You know what I mean? It's not like, oh, 50, 50 for me. Like, I've crossed the 50% threshold, but not by that much. You know what I mean? I think I'm closer to 55 or 60 in terms of nervousness, where I did appreciate what Wheeler said after the game.

It feels like he saying he feels okay, you know? And we don't always know that what we hear from players is the truth, obviously. But I was encouraged by what he said, the team seems to be going a far way to say, hey, he's not hurt. Like, this is a command thing. Like, this is okay. I just this mitigating factor makes it something that that's incredibly nerve-wracking.

All right, let's move on to the other two starters because outside of Wheeler, I mean, really, you know, we'll get to the bullpen, but starter-wise, I mean, obviously Lizarro is their best pitcher right now. Nola, though, I mean, another really, I mean, they don't hit, it's really strange. It feels like all of a sudden they've decided they don't want to hit for Aaron Nola anymore. It feels like every last couple starts. right it feels like that goes out there and just doesn't get any support but um what did you make of what do you make of aranola right now as a potential four start in the playoffs as someone do you think they as particularly with what's going on with wheeler and sanchise right now and particularly wheeler in terms of the the struggles he's going through can erin nola for for a few weeks help lift them up and stuff too where you're at with nola how real is the last you know a couple months of him yeah i mean i think it's been really encouraging because you you see what he's really struggled at the beginning of the season, struggle both finding the zone. And I really think for him, especially,

the ABS kind of messed with him. I remember looking back in, I think it was in May when he was really, really going forward. Yeah, and that's why it makes me think like it's not crazy to say. He might just be a routine guy. Like if you go on baseball there's a percentage of

your pitches that are on the edge of the zone, right? And usually in Aaronola's Square, he was between like 45, 50%. Right. And that was his thing was, you know, he didn't have the best fastball, but he was going to live on the edge of the zone. And he'd probably pick up a few advantageous calls from umpires because of his reputation. But he was a guy who missed bats by kind of living on the black. And early on the season, he was at like 30% of his pitches on the edge of the zone.

He was afraid to throw it there is the point. Either, you know, way off the plate or he was just coming, coming, you know, right down the middle. So the fact that he's been able to upgrade that, like last I checked, it's kind of back to his normal career average. Like he's back up to, to 43% on the season now. So that's certainly impressive. And you just watch the confidence he has now.

Like he's still giving up a home run or two every game. He's actually given a home run in every start since July 5th, which is pretty impressive. That's eight in a row, nine in a row. Hard you do. Something like that. Like that's impressive in and of itself. Like that's a Jamie Moyer.

A few of those are just the only run of the game that he gave up, you know? Yeah, like one home run, two runs allowed. One home run. It was a solo shot. One home run. solo shot, one home run, two runs allowed, two home runs, three runs allowed. Like he's been fine mitigating the damage because he's just giving up solo home runs. Like it's still kind of crazy that the mistakes he makes are getting planted in the seats.

Like he doesn't make a mistake and a guy hits a flyouts, the warning track. He makes a mistake. It's going 450 feet. Yeah. It's wild. So, I mean, that's still a little worrisome. But I mean, in the way I'm confident and Wheeler kind of finding himself because he's a veteran and he's done it before and we've seen him kind of battle through adversity in his career.

That's why I feel a little encouraged with Aaron O'nall. Because, like, we've seen growing pains with him in his decade here in the Phillies rotation. Like, it hasn't always been perfect. Like, he's had great seasons. He's been his top five inside Young voting three times. But it's kind of been a lot of up and down. Like, he's had blow up moments.

He's had a lot of them this year. But, yeah, what you've seen the last month, the last five weeks, whatever it is, you have to be encouraged by it. Like, you really do. The only thing that you said is worrisome is it scored one. run for him and for that. I guess they won to start before the game you threw seven innings. They went for one.

But yeah, I mean, just what you've seen, he looks like the guy that you gave this huge contract to last year or two years ago, whatever it was. I mean, you know, Jack joke for most of the first half of the season, four more years. Now it kind of looks like, okay, like if this is the guy, this is the guy. It's not terrible. It's fine. It's not right. I don't know if it is.

He's going to age. Very encouraging time. I totally agree with you. And to your point, it's both. important for now and important for the future because if he can it felt like a ronola had a chance to be a you know a five year a fifth starter for a hundred million for the last you know four years hundred plus million the last four years of contract you know and it doesn't feel like that is a lock anymore all right uh last thing on the pitching then we get to the bullpen and the best we get out of here

um i will bring in uh our missing pal you know the third member of our trio here for a moment because I will read a tweet to you from the one, the only Jack Fritz, and I will see if you agree or disagree. Take it all into account. And remember that it is August 27th or 28 games left in the season. We are still a ways away. Jack Fritz tweeted at 6.10 p.m. yesterday. Lizardo should be the game one starter.

Agree or disagree. It's hard to argue after watching yesterday, right? I mean, I think, yeah. I thought it was funny. I saw people arguing, should, you know, should Wheeler or Nola be the game two start? I think Lizarro being the game one starter is a lot more compelling to me than who's going to be game two or really, really game three.

Now Lazzardo also, and the thing that would make me kind of weary is he's really good at home. His numbers on the road haven't been. So Sanchez, though. I mean, Sanchez is the same way. Yeah. And, you know, it's hard to argue after yesterday when he allowed one hit over seven in Seattle.

But, I mean, there you have two guys at the top of your rotation right now. lefties. I mean, I think right now he should be the game one start. Like, he's your best pitcher. He is the most swinging miss stuff. As good as Sanchez has been, and he's been fine the last few weeks. He hasn't been as light out as he was, obviously, since that scoreless streak. But he isn't missing as many bats as Lazzardo has. And what Lazzardo's been able to do in the last really three months since he got off to that rough start, I mean, his ERA is under 3.3. after that month of April he had. I mean, what he's been able to do

and the way he's been able to establish himself with the swing and miss stuff he has, it's hard to not think that he shouldn't be the game one starter. Yeah, look, I think the key is that we're a month away from it, over a month away from it. And I just don't think we could say today. Like, if Zach Wheeler reestablishes himself, I'm giving the ball to Wheeler over everyone in game one.

And I don't know that they'll do that, but Zach Wheeler, if he looks like Zach Wheeler for a few starts for the playoffs, has proven to be an all-time great playoff pitcher. Like, that is not hyperbole. We know, like, in one of the greats in the playoffs in the time he's been given. So I would just trust Wheeler the most

if he can reestablish himself. You know, a couple good starts for the playoffs. I'm good. You know, I just trust him when the lights are brightest. I do think you make a really interesting point. As of right now, they would be on the road for that first round series. They're two games back in the Cubs.

I don't know. I guess they're probably to lose the tiebreaker there, I would think, right? Because I know they got swept in Chicago. So I'm assuming. Yeah, they must. Yeah, they must. So really like three games back there.

And four and out buying the braids right now. So it's unlikely they're going to get. I mean, again, 20 games left, but they're on the outside looking at him for a home playoff series. You hope they can get there. But if they can, I mean, you don't really worry about it for the three gamer because it's all on the road. I think you just,

you pitch your best guys are all pitching. Yeah, you don't have a choice. So I don't even think this is really going to be a huge question in terms of the home road thing. It'll just be a question in terms of like, do you want to lose a series and not let Lazzardo pitch if you get swept in two and he doesn't pitch? Like those kinds of things come into play here. But I generally am with you.

I want them to be willing to do something like this. I'm concerned that they might just say, you know, like we're going to trust the guys who have done it before. I mean, that's a Phillies thing, man. So if I had to bet right now today, I would bet Sanchez is the game one starter. I would think so. Which is funny because he was the one we didn't even mention there, but I think you'll probably have probably. No, but I think based on his reputation, I think he probably just just gets that, that not. And deservedly so.

He has not been bad. Over the last two years, he's been their best pitcher, right? Like since opening day last year. Three to four best pitchers in the sport, the last couple, five best pitch in the sport. And I think there's an argument to be made. He's the game three starter for this rotation. Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

I think, you know, like you're right, especially if Wheeler's healthy. I think, you know, yeah. And again, that's the thing. There's a guy who had 50 and two-thirds scoreless innings to consecutive this year, you know. I do think, and we've talked about his numbers since then, it's started to be a good thing more. But I said it in the moment. Like, I loved it. It was one of the cooler regular season things we've had in a long time in Philly.

But, like, I thought it was going to wear on him. Like, I always think those type of things, like it's so hard to just kind of keep rolling after something like that. You put so much into it. And it does feel like that's affected him somewhat, you know, at least numbers. wise. Yeah, I mean, I just think the intensity of something like that can drain you. And, you know, you hear other athletes say, like even in other sports. Like I've heard Draymond Green say, you know, trying to go for 73 wins that that year in Golden State, as amazing as they were. He's like, that was exhausting. We were completely beat by the playoffs because we were chasing,

chasing this record. And I feel like that's probably the way Sanchez is, right? Like, you are so intense and you're so focused on the singular number. And then once it's finally done, I don't know you exhausted, but you finally can probably exhale and relax a little bit. Maybe your competitive juices aren't flowing nearly as much as they were during the streak. And as a result, I don't think he's necessarily been as sharp. Like, he's still been great. He's had a couple low ups that start in Kansas City. I mean, he's probably going to finish second in Ty Young, right?

I mean, like he's having three years. I mean, like both him and Lazardo, I think are going to finish top five and in and Cy Young voting. Like, Ms. Rowski is probably going to win it. And he's probably going to be honest. I mean, let's be honest. He's been unbelievable.

We can say it. While everyone else has faltered, Mizrowski still is like a 1680 or whatever the hell it is. You know, that it's crazy. I had to, I had to listen to the Mariners broadcast on the radio yesterday as I was driving,

driving home from Niagara Falls. And on XM, they only have the home broadcast. Yeah, yeah, I knew that. Yeah. So they kept talking about how Lizarro,

I think lefties are hitting 144 against Lazzardo this year, which is unbelievable. Lefties against Miserowski this year are hitting 110. Stop it. Like, that's like video game numbers. Stop it. Like,

insane that lefties are hitting 110 against like 140 is unbelievable but 110 and just like don't even bother bringing up a bat just bring a newspaper and hang out for three bitches like Bryce Harper did against the Mets in that playoff series that one time or he did against hobie Milner yeah he'll be miller yeah exactly all right um he's nasty brother he's nasty brother he's nasty brother all right uh I want to get to the bullpen and then the bats before we get out of here but quickly before we do, did you know, Tucker, that one and three people regularly suffer from nausea? And you know, my wife, Emily, she is one of those people. And it has been a real problem in our lives.

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All right, Tuck. The bullpen, then we'll get to the bats. But like not too much from this game. I do, I think, again, that the Nola game, really the one, you know, they bring Kirkring in that spot and stunk again. You know, look, Kirkring is one of the all-time, like, the numbers are solid. he gets a lot of outs and low leverage spots. You know, he works quick.

But it just feels like I honestly don't remember. I don't know that they've ever had a pitcher whose numbers look what they look like, who I trust less in a big spot than the ranker. Like, I am just, I have no trust in a ranker. No, and you can just see it on his face too. Like you can just tell when, you know, he just doesn't have it.

And yeah, I mean, that game on Tuesday night, like, I think it just confirmed more of kind of what we've thought. about the bullpen and what we've worried about the bullpen, right? And you can, you can argue about Don Mattingley's deployage of these guys and the way he's deployed guys like Kirkering or even Brooks really. Like, why isn't Boland coming out there in that situation? Did you know that he's not allowed to pitch before the eighth inning? Those are the rules, Tucker. Yeah, it actually says on the back, you just have to open, like pull up his jersey in the back and it says not to be used before eighth inning.

So I so that's a worry I have, right? I agree. I agree. about what this bullpen is. Very rigid. Kirkiering's struggles and Alvarado's struggles from the left side. Brooks Riley's been okay. Although I don't really trust him in a big spot because he's had a lot of issues with inherited runners and really holding leads. And since he got here, he's got two blown saves. And obviously had that issue on Tuesday night allowing that single that scored the two runs,

trying to clean up Kirkering's mess. But yeah, I mean, I just this bullpen isn't a strength for the team. the way it has been maybe two years ago. And I don't trust Donnatically's ability to use them in the correct situation, which is an issue that people had about Donomatically when he was the Dodgers manager, when he was the Marlins manager. I mean, the Marlins had a lot more issues than who was pitching the eighth inning when they were winning. But you just kind of look at his reputation and what he's done in his time leading major league ball clubs.

And this has always been a tough spot for him. And through four months, I think we can all say hasn't really learned a whole lot. Like hasn't necessarily really fixed his weaknesses. So, yeah, I mean, as you kind of look at what this team could be in the postseason, and you talk about someone like Lazzardo, who I thought was really good when he came in in that relief appearance in game four against the Dodgers last year. I mean, is that a situation where you started thinking about these guys at the top of your rotation? If Nola is who we think he can be,

and you can trust him to get five quality innings out of him in a game three or four in the postseason, can you move one of these big arms to the bullpen and try and try and freshen it up because right now like you have duran you have bowling and that's really about it and bolin isn't even a guy bull stop bowling isn't even a guy that has a lot of playoff experience right i don't even know if he's ever as far as i know i don't i mean if he's from kansas city definitely not i mean kins city like so like yeah i was the other al center yeah but yeah i mean you just look at a few years ago didn't they the royals like there was uh as a wild car with bobby whit didn't they make it one year Yeah, so he doesn't have, he only 35. I didn't think he had it, but they did make it a couple years ago, right?

The Royals. Yeah, yeah, they did. 2024, I think. Yeah, they lost the division series to the Yankees. But yeah, I mean, you just look at the seam and I don't know if there's a lot of guys out there that you can count on getting big outs. And heading into 2022, you kind of felt that way too. Like you had Dominguez and Alvarado. That's really it.

And Eflin kind of came out of nowhere, but he also almost blew a five-run lead to the Braves and gave one. It wasn't great. but you just, I worry about this team's ability to put together three innings or four innings of quality bullpen pitching in a postseason situation. And if we look at the rotation and how Wheeler has pitched without being able to get super deep into games, Sanchez hasn't been able to get super deep into games. Like, you might be in a situation where you're going to have to be getting nine or 12 outs from these guys.

And I just don't know if you have the horses to do it or the manager who can deploy them correctly to where they're in the best situation. Yeah, I agree with everything you said. That was definitely the book on Magley coming here. Like as far as flaws go was the bullpen management, the usage. I think we've seen that. And again,

I, to your point, it's like, you know, what is he working with? But even still, I've not loved the way he's deployed those guys. And, I mean,

even down to something little like, why have we not seen an up down from Duran yet? Like, we're talking about what they're going to need in the playoffs. Like, you're not winning the world series about you on Duran pitching word one with the way this bullpen is. Like,

I'm not saying every hour. But like, you're going to have a spot where you're on to run is going to have to give you five outs or something. Like, it's just going to happen. Like the way this team is constructed, like you're going to need that. Like figure it out. See if the guy could do it. See how he looks when he does it.

I mean, like I'm just surprised they've not. Am I crazy? Like I just, I feel like to your point, like the only way this works, both bym wise. And ironically, you know, I think we've spent so much time talking about the offense, hanging in the postseason and the concerns about the bats going cold and them not passing the baton and all that. And I think that is all warranted and justified and good happen. but I think by far the bigger concern is the bullpen heading into the playoffs. Like it is, to your point, even with that 22, it is easily the worst pen they've gone

in the playoffs. At least in 22, you had two guys who were elite heading in in the moment. Alvarado and Saranthi were elite. Like they were pitching like elite relievers. Now they ran out of gas at the end, but they look freaking awesome. And then F them was pretty good and could come in and feel confident closing a game for you and all that. Like it's Duran.

And like we said, maybe bowling. To your point, I do think Painter is a. a bit of a wild card here just in the way he looked in his last outing. I mean, he, I mean, that was the best out of his career and the stuff popped. I mean, the velocity, you know, so it's like, this guy could get out in October. The guy we just

saw there, I think Alex McFarlane is an interesting guy in that another guy who just has actual stuff. The ball flies out of his hand. You're like, whoa, you know, look at that. That's fast. You can see it. But again, we're talking about painter, a rookie, McFarlane, a rookie, like these guys making

a difference. And then maybe a starter in the pen like on top of pain already. So if they're going to get it done in the bullpen, it's going to be unconventional. And I think they have to start thinking that way and start planning that way. And again, start doing things like getting thrown up that and stuff. Yeah. And I think that was something that, you know,

Rob Thompson didn't do do well. But, you know, I think one of the things that is hindered magically and really the Phillies after their slow start is everything was about, okay, well, now I have to get back to the postseason. We have to win every game. We have to play kind of every game like it's a playoff game as we try and dig out of this huge hole we climbed, and they got out of it, right?

Like credit to them, they played really well for a couple months. They got out of it to playing well again. But I think as a result, they couldn't really have that long view down the line the way they could have last year when they got off to a hot start, or the year before when they got off to a hot start where, you know, Rob Thompson could say like,

hey, I want to make sure this guy, like he did it with Strom a couple times. Like, I want to make sure, you know, he can do an up down. He can get the last out of the seventh and come out and pitch an eighth inning because that's something we're going to have to ask him to do. Now, it was something that he didn't ask David Robertson to do.

And unfortunately, that came back to bite him in game one last year. But, like, that was something that, you know, this team had obvious goals and obvious playoff and World Series aspirations and could kind of look forward to that and climb towards that. And I do think one of the hindrance of this team being so terrible to start the season is their goal, has been so focused on just making the postseason. You haven't been able to really do that. But you're right. Like, you're going to be asking Duran to maybe get four out, five out,

maybe a six out save at some point if it comes to it. And you can win in the postseason with the bad bullpen, but usually you do it because you can out slug the other teams, right? Like because you can go and you can be up, you know, 13 to 6 in the seventh inning and you can figure out that, hey, you know, this guy might give up a couple of runs, but we got enough to play with it. It's like that Rangers team from 23,

Adolas Garcia's World Series team. That's exactly how they won the World Series that team. It's just we're going to out slug people and, you know, we'll be up enough that it won't really matter that our bullpen isn't lights out. Unfortunately, this team doesn't necessarily have the offensive firepower anymore. It's where that's really a possibility. Yeah.

Again, look, it's a possibility. It's baseball. We know that. You know, they do have Harper and Chorber and some guys who can really, really hit our eyes. So if everyone's hot at the right time, it's just,

I think it's so unlikely is the point that it's just really unlikely. Drink up, baby. Fantasy football happy hour is here to get you wins and have some laughs. Matthew Berry here and my podcast, Fantasy Football Happy Hour has the sleepers bus and starts it advice you need to win your league. We're diving into the tape or crunching the numbers to bring you sleepers. Bus weekly starts it advice, whether you're defending a title or desperately avoiding last place, I've got you covered every single weekday.

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Today's show is sponsored by Miller Light and the New Deck Tavern on Samson Street. Check out the New Deck Tavern for every Phillies game. I enjoy $4 Miller Light. Pints and famous Shepherds Pie Miller Lights for Phil's Win, Celebrate Responsibly. All right, not too much to take away, I think offensively from this series. It really did feel, and again, never excusing it, but nine straight, the Schwerber walkoff to end it and, you know, the greatest regular season inning of the year and one of the best we've seen and all that time.

Monday was the most scheduled loss you've ever seen. ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever the wheeler part was the only part of it that was concerning but like the bats going cold for the first few games in seattle like okay i mean george kirby's really good he looked awesome like it happens i'm okay with it and i thought i'm actually more encouraged by them schwerber and harper coming out yesterday i mean like all right we're winning this baseball game um any takeaways for you from the the offense anything like i feel like we're kind of in the same spot we were in when jack and i talked on on sunday or whatever but or monday Yeah, I mean, it's just they're fine.

Like, I'm more interested to see what they do this weekend in Anaheim and see how they kind of finish out the short trip there. And then obviously in Arizona coming back next week. But yeah, I mean, which by the way, it's massive that Arizona series. Massive. That's the biggest. I mean, depending on where you end up against Atlanta, you know, the next time you play them. But this would be the biggest season, biggest series on the on the schedule so far. Yeah, I mean, just.

They were okay. Like, uh, Tray Turner kind of stinks again. No one really talking about how awful he's been this month. He had one month where he was good and happened to be the worst month and for the Phillies in the last like decade. I just, here's what I don't get.

And again, I'm not saying that Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott and all these guys are going to continue with this approach. Because we know this team and these guys way too well to think that come playoff time, all of a sudden everyone's going to pass the baton and then do what works. Like I hope they do. And you hope there's positive reinforcement in there. Alec Bome keeps saying it and a rise makes a different. Who knows? What I do know

is that Trey Turner came here and did his thing and last year he said, I'm buying into this approach. I'm going to pass a baton. And even if it was a lame one, he won the freaking batting title. And then this just goes back to this. Like, that's what I mean. Like, I just, I can't logically get it. Like,

maybe his bat's just slow now. Maybe he just can't catch up. Maybe that was his last gasp. I don't know. I just don't understand when you have an approach that works for you and works for the team in a way that it did last year and then you come back this year and just refuse to do it. He is in the running for least likable player in Philadelphia. Like I just, I, I dislike rooting for trade turner.

Like he is not a fun guy to have on your baseball team. He's not. Yeah, as I famously said in an Emmy award-winning documentary, I just want trade Turner to go away. Yeah, you did. And look at you. I do feel that way sometimes. And like, listen, like everyone on the team always has positive things to say about

trade Turner. like Grace Harper can never say enough things. And they talk about how he's the hardest working guy and like all that stuff. And I clearly respected, but it's just brutal to watch. Yeah. Like he really is. Like his approach at the plate is terrible. I was shocked to learn that he has set,

he only has 17 home runs this year. Wow. Does he really? Isn't that amazing? I think like 12 or 13 or something. I heard that on the broadcast yesterday. They're like, yeah, he's having a bad year. But he's got 17 home runs.

And I almost like drove the car off the side of the road. because I couldn't believe that he had 17 home rounds this year. But, yeah, I mean, his defense has started to go backwards again. He had another big error in Seattle. His offense is just kind of mad, but I just don't know what you do with the lineup right now. If he isn't at the top of it, I don't know who you move there. He doesn't even hit lefties. Like, I know conventionally he's there to break up the lefties.

His OPS against lefties is like 620 right now. I mean, his OPS for the season is 671. It's only five points I had a Justin Crawford, by the way. So I just, I don't know what you do with him. And, you know, I don't want to be negative. He's making 30 times the money that Johnson Crawford is made or more probably, like 30 something. I mean, even Ed Mundo Sosa, who I thought was absolutely terrible until the last week. His OPS is up to 641.

He's been much better. And he's been much better. He had an unbelievable series against St. Louis. He also, I trust him in a moment. Like, I feel like Mundo gets big hits. That's anecdotal, but it just feels that way. Yeah, I do think there's something to being clutch. there's something. I definitely think there is something

to be in clutch. Some guys are hard to beat slower. Like some guys just breathe slower. Like some guys are just more comfortable. And some guys genuinely do get big hits. Like some guys do get hits with the runners and scoring positions. Some guys do come up in big moments. And Tray Turner just doesn't. Like he has had a couple moments with the Phillies.

But at this point, I just, I worry that you're going into a postseason where you have an automatic out of the top of your lineup. And it's really going to let teams, kind of figured their way out around Schwerber Harper and not really put the pressure on opposing teams the way the way those two guys should. So as you were talking there, I'm honestly going through my head. I'm really truly thinking.

I'm trying to see how far down the lineup I get where I would want Trey Turner up in a big spot over another Philly. And I'm pretty sure Garrett Stubbs is the only player on the Phillies that I would rather not be up than Trey Turner at a big spot. Like I would rather have Derek Hill up in a big spot than Trey Turner. I would rather Brian Della Cruz up in a big spot than Trey Turner. Anyone who starts, I would rather have up in a big spot than Trey Turner. How crazy is that?

I just said on a freaking Phillies pod that I'd rather have Brian Della Cruz and Derek Hill. And in this moment, sure, I think a lot of people are nodding and agreeing with me. Think about before the freaking season. There's a guy who's on the team. They cost nothing to come here. Trey Turner is making $300 million to be here. Like how crazy is that? Just in and of itself, in a vacuum, forgetting context,

forgetting what we've seen right now, that on August 27th of the year, 2026, I am sitting on a podcast saying to you that Derek Hill and Brian Dela Cruz are more trustworthy in a big spot with the bat than Trey Turner. Like imagine if I had said that to you four years ago or whatever. Like, it's just such an insane thing to say. And I bet you agree with me.

Yeah, I mean, I just like, he obviously hit the home run to go ahead against the brazen game for the 23 NLDS. Like, I won't take that away from him. That was a huge moment. He had that huge world baseball classic before he signed here. Like, he's had big moments. You could argue the world baseball classic in 20203 was the high point of trade turn to time with the Phillies. Yeah, you really could. Yeah, we were so excited.

Oh, my God. The city was buzzing. I remember text to my wife. like we have the best player in baseball. It's unbelievable. Can you believe we got him for the next 11 years? I tweeted something like Philadelphia.

You are gonna freaking love this guy. But it's funny because I just, as you were talking, I looked up his, his leverage stats on baseball reference. So in high leverage situations this year, sitting 159 with an OPS of 472. There you go.

Home run 10 RBIs. Like he just-jibes with what I would do. It jives, right? Like sometimes it happens and then you look and like, okay, like his numbers are pretty much the same. name, but not in those situations. Like two outrunners scoring position is hitting 180 this year. Men on base, he's hitting 2.14.

Like, he just doesn't hit in big situations. And it's going to come back to bite them, I think. Like, yeah. I think this offense is good enough and they have enough guys around the line up. The spots are going to find him, Tucker. The spots are going to find him. That's the way baseball works. Like, Tray Turner is going to come up in big spots.

There's going to be a situation where, yeah, I mean, like, Crawford gets a single. Maybe they walk, Schwerver. and then Turner comes up with two guys on and can't get it done, right? Like it's going to come down to that. And as we said, like, this team might have to score a lot of runs to win in the postseason. And you can't be giving away at bats from guys at the top of your lineup. Yeah. The unfortunate thing is I don't know who fills that spot.

Oh, well, that's a problem, especially if there. And again, I am, I agree with everyone who says the, the righty, lefty thing is overblown. I do think, you know, I think it is, I don't think it's as big a deal as, like, I certainly Rob Thompson made a team and all that. But I do think that when we're talking about the playoffs, we're talking about real good leftie relievers, the Tanner Scott's the world, or whatever you want to talk about,

these guys who are like big and throw hard from the left side. Like, I do think that is a tough thing for guys like Shorber and Harper. Like, they're just tough at bats for those guys. So we've seen it. We talked about Holby Milner at the beginning of the pot. Like, Holy Milner's not tough for everyone. He's tough for guys like that. And these guys are on these teams.

You know, I'm with, I'm generally, and at a certain point, like, I'd rather have Brandon Marsh up against a left-hander than Trey Turner up. You know, so it's like, okay, I'll just take my shot or whatever. But, and, you know, Brandon Marsh, obviously, that's a perfect example. But I'm using it to try and go far down the line, but for a lefty, lefty thing. But yeah, we'll see. But I'm with you.

At a certain point, you just have to say, look, I don't, I don't care of these. Put JT up there or whatever. As much as I think JT thinks offensively, at least I trust JT in a spot, you know, like to, to like, to, like, you know, put the ball into right field if he has to or to do this or whatever. Like, I mean, again, I don't feel good about JT. I'm just trying to make the point of, like, how bad I feel about that turn. You know? Yeah.

One positive, though, Bryce Harper's just like red hot again. Like, we won't talk about it. No one saw it because it was in the, it was, uh, obviously on the West Coast. But like, Spanning Harris has jumped like 20 points in the last like two weeks. He's got like a five hundred. Multiple hits in the last four games. He's been unbelievable. Yeah.

He didn't have the same kind of kind of power. But yeah, I mean, the fact that he's been walking so much, the fact that it's on base percentage now leads all of baseball in walks right now. I mean, crazy. How hot he's been. Like, Joe Giulio said on the midday show today, like, if you had to pick a Phillies MVP right now, would probably pick Harper over Sorber. Oh, I think you would. It's close, but just because of the, you know, the walls that Trovers had, listen to this. Like, I was just throwing it out there. Bryce Harper in 24 games in August has a 509 on base percentage in August. 5.09. He has gotten in 24 games. He has. He's slugging in 24 games.

24 straight games. He has got on base over half the freaking time. Yeah. And he slugged at 600, 11.09. Like, yeah, dude.

Like, this is one of the great months of Bryce Harper's Philly's career. Honestly, and it has not been talked about like that in any way, you know? So you're right. No, it's been kind of quiet.

I think because he hasn't had a lot of huge moments. Like, he doesn't have it. I think he only has like 11 or 12 RBIs. He only has five home runs. So, like, the flashy highlight plays haven't necessarily been there. But like,

he's been on base a ton. He's scoring a ton of runs. This is the guy who want to talk about is Bryce or elite what he's done this month has proved it no by the way he did move back to the outfield at least on a part-time basis made a really great catch yesterday too yeah so yeah I'm with you dude I think he's a great point look and he tied his homer total from last year already with a month ago um I don't love that like I I don't I don't want him to play 162 games but I appreciate that he wants to and might you know I get that he like I think it I same thing was

tourber last year like I appreciate someone who wants to show up for work every day like cool you know again I don't know that it's the smartest thing like take a break buddy but he's crushing right now so what am I to say uh but yeah I think after the elite thing and all that it's been a really really really really nice year for Bryce Harper I totally agree all right uh you got anything else before we get out of your talk nope that's it look at that beat of no money oh you know what I did I uh yesterday I stopped the Little League World Series on my way home. Oh, look at you. We're a high hope shirt.

Got a nice shirt as I was walking around in the stadium. Whoever you were, who said that to Tucker? Whoever you were in the mountains of Williamsport. Just know I love you. That's really all I want you to know. No that I love you. And then Jack's not here, but he loves you too. And Tucker obviously loves you.

So thank you. It's beautiful thing. I am in fact wearing one. That's the shirt I wore you. If I hadn't worn it yesterday, I would have worn it today. Love it. we will be back after the weekend or sooner something happens but otherwise we'll back after angels two or three I feel like we could be good about two and three I am I need them to win two or three here

oh yeah no you can take care of business got to take care of business against the angels we're fighting in a huge years of good time backs all right until then he's talk around seltzer