High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Brad Keller Reaction & Mailbag Pod

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies signing reliever Brad Keller to a two-year contract and takes questions regarding the next offseason moves in this mailbag podcast. 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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I can't tell the podcast, Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Of course, we're always brought to you by Miller Light for those of you that are watching on YouTube and not consuming this in podcast form. this is my my new basement so the the nice cinder block wall in the background i think is a really nice touch i i am i am the the my computer is on the stairs i am on one of my kitchen chairs sitting up a little bit propping it up to make sure that we have the right camera angle for what is

a true emergency podcast an emergency podcast yes the adoles garcia signing we're talking ourselves into it we're getting excited about the idea of gold glove caliber right field defense and he's obviously going to bounce back i mean 30 home runs my up the total from 25 to 30 it's good to have right-handed power back in the phil's lineup but the real reason that we are having an emergency podcast is brad keller is a philly and a heartbreaking loss to the organization one that true high hopes listeners are very, very aware of. And when I heard the news, it really felt like a good, a good punch in the gut. So we will get some thoughts on all of that.

But it's also a little, you know, Q&A, AMA. Mostly when we do AMA stuff, everyone asked me about like minor league prospects and they asked Seltzer, you know, his favorite rock band of all time. So, I'm just kidding. But all good. So Fireway, you know, get some comments in Tucker will. picked the best and we'll kind of go from there so big one if anyone else has noticed this it means you're a true sicko but every one of their signings has happened at around 11 in the morning when

i happen to be driving to work so the the adoles garcia signing was 11 something Brad Keller, 11-something, Schwarber, 11-something, and being the responsible human being that I am, of course, you've got to pull to the side and get a tweet out, like a very, very normal way of going about life. So today, I'm driving around trying to find parking in Philadelphia, cortisol levels rising, stress levels rising. But I tell you what, you get the notification

that Brad Keller is a fill, and you just calm right now. You say, hey, I know that spot was open a second ago, or I drove past a spot, and the person left as I was passing it, who cares? That spot may never open again. You know what? That little ray of sunshine, that is Brad Keller. And I know there's a lot of people. It does, of course, when you tweet anything positive about the first.

Phillies, there is a onslaught of, we sucked forever, stunk as a starter. I'm begging people, just begging people to go watch some tape. If you were a baseball savant head, go check out the baseball savant. Brad Keller is sick. Now, in an effort to be fully transparent, when they first signed him, I was like, huh, I assume that a guy who had been a starter for a majority of his career, after having a great year with the Cubs in the bullpen, may want to transition back into being a starter. So my first thought was, maybe this is Taiwan insurance. But then you start thinking about it.

You saw the contract, two years, $22 million, $11 million a year. And slow, I think Gell was the first one to say that they obviously are using him as a reliever. Then you start to get even more excited. because like a swing starter is fine Taiwan you can get off Taiwan whatever Brad Keller the more and more you look into it you watch the stuff you see how the Cubs started using him at the end of last year some Cubs fans I believe yesterday one of the bigger Cubs accounts was begging for them to re-sign him as a closer gotcha but you start thinking about it you started watching the tape and this

dude is a real bridge, like a real bridge piece to get the ball to Duran. And he can close games. He can close games. So if Duran's been used two straight games, bang, I think Brad Keller can come in there and do a job. What I love about him, I love when starters, guys who have been starters for a long time, go to the bullpen. There's usually an uptick in velocity, but the nice part about them. is that they generally have a good feel for more than just two pitches. And Brad Keller, what is so exciting about him,

he's got three different fastballs. And they're all pretty nasty. You know, just when you think you can't get too geeked up about 99, that's like a heavy 99, like a heavy, heavy 99, he whips out a 96 mile an hour two seamen on your hands. Then he can go cut off of that. three-pitch mix with his fastball and out of nowhere he developed one of the better sweepers in baseball like it feels like they got brad keller as an ascending arm it actually reminds me

a little bit of strong you know strong was always someone that the the analytics people loved because of the the spin on his fastball he didn't throw a hundred but it had really it got on you it got had good life brad keller i think had more success last year than strong ever had before he got to philadelphia but i think brad keller regardless of what his starting career was i think that the phillies today went out and signed an ascending arm everyone knows i'm a luke weaver head i love luke weaver he got sheld at the end of the year that might be a descending arm that the mat's got today i think the philly's got an ascending arm and that's what's exciting about about the brad keller

Brad Keller edition was so funny about me and the people out there that watched some Brad Keller last year and we're like, who is that? Not from the standpoint of we didn't know who Brad Keller was. We're very aware of who Brad Keller was. Brad Keller on the Royals was the most like nondescript 94 boring starter in all. all of baseball. He was so boring. He was a,

he was like a 2015 Philly starter. The Pettibone, Pettibone was, Petibone must have been there in 15. Like a souped up Jonathan Pettibone. Not to pick on Jonathan Pettibone, but you get the point. It was just a boring fastball. Nothing interesting about him.

You know, goes to the White Sox, gets released, Red Sox pick him up, with an idea of changing his repertoire around and they unlocked something. He came back from something similar to Wheeler, came off surgery from that, they put him in the bullpen,

probably made mechanical adjustments. I assume he went to drive line to unlock more velocity. Whatever he did, it worked. And in watching him with the Cubs last year, it's a 99 that gets on you. It's a two seamer

that dives Cutter gets off the barrel to Ritey's and that sweepers a real weapon. So I don't view this

as someone that's going to be that's going to be a swing starter. I think he is their high leverage righty. It's Kirkering Insurance

if Kirkring can't bounce back or I mean he hasn't been someone that you've there's a times where you can trust them but for a majority of times

I guess you could trust him. I think he is your high leverage righty coming in, eighth inning, and he is getting the ball to Juandran. The other thing that I think this does open up the possibility of is a strong trade. We talked about the strong trade all offseason, you know, since I think, I think Gell was the first one to put it out about, they were thinking about moving on from Matt Strom. I don't think Keller is someone that is going to struggle against left-handed hitters. I think he's and he's going to come in and get the job done against them. Strom, if he moved off him, would free up $7.5 million.

I'm not in favor of, like, I'm not gunning to get Matt Strom out of town. I would like Matt Strom to be on the team with Brad Geller and Alvarado and Durant and Kirk Gring and build one of the better baseball, build one of the better bullpens in baseball, although, you know, Zach McCambly is coming. But I do think this could open up a possibility. of them moving on from Strom, freeing up some money there, maximizing his value, and going from there. So I mean, that's a lock, no, but it was definitely one of my thoughts

when you started working your way through the Brad Keller signing. So the settings up there, that's the Brad Keller kind of reaction. Again, get some comments in. I'll answer them at the end and get to as many as. as we can the other one i was going to do a solo podcast tonight regardless because i was so excited about about brad geller this one not so fun so end of the show today like spike and fritz afternoon show all of a sudden passed on my phone a pass on notification and the first thing i saw was like was like i don't really need to pay attention but i did a little double-take

I saw an I saw anna and I did a real double take and opened up the full tweet and all of a sudden Anni colombie is no longer with the fills he has joined the Washington Nationals and from everything that I've heard about what the nationals are doing front office wise they might be a problem here apparently the guy they hired to be the Ani was hired as the GM under their president of baseball ops, a young kid from Boston who has like been described to me as Theo, like a young Theo, which is terrifying. But

losing Ani, Ani, I think, is someone who was making a lot of the under the radar moves. You know, like Dumbrowski, Debrowski, obviously, takes care of the big ones, Tehran, stuff like that. But like the minor moves,

the Moises Chasse move, I mean, every rage trade they have made the last couple of years. Maybe his going away gift was Yoni El Curriott. That would be amazing.

You know, if they found a diamond in the rough there. But he was really, really smart guy. I think he really helped the organization. They've made a lot of random smart under the radar moves i i think the edmundo move was was ony you know they've they've

one of the things that they needed to fix post matt clenstack because matt clenzac who was starting to be remembered like ed wade was really good at at bringing in some some marquee talent obviously wheeler harper j t sigora like he he he could get start ours here. But what he struggled at was the fringe guys and the edges of the roster. And I think Ani, from that standpoint, really, really helped his team. So there's a lot smart kids in baseball. You know, he's, he's a 31 year old. Some 31 year olds are podcasting on the stairs of their house and some are general managers of baseball teams. But I think it's a real loss for the team. I think he's

someone that was really valued in that building, and it's going to be one that hopefully they can replace, and I assume they will replace it. Will they get an Anni replacement before they announced Don Mattingly

as the bench coach? Who knows? Who knows if Don't know what's taking so long. It seemed like it was done at the winter meetings, and And we're still here. We're still here. So the only thing, a huge bummer.

That was a punch to the gut when he saw that for most people. One guy accused me online of that being clickbait. And, you know, I think we've gone a little too far in what sells and what is clickbait. I don't believe lower level front office talk is driving revenue for as much as I love it. But, yeah, definitely a bummer. So, Brad Keller, I'm not dead. Very excited about Brad Keller.

And I think he's going to really help the bullpen. Doesn't walk to many guys. He strikes out a lot of guys. Closed and ball games for the Cubs last year. It works. He's actually on the Hoffman track, except I think his arm is, is healthier. So it's exciting.

And I was surprised that they had, frankly, I was surprised they had the money to do it. I was surprised that they were able to, to shell out $11 million for a reliever. It does show you that they're pretty interested in competing this year, in my opinion. So it was exciting. It was definitely exciting. So, yeah, good stuff.

All right, Tucker, going about 15 minutes on Brad Keller and Ani Colambi. Probably a good time to get some questions up here. Hey, Ontario. Come on down to Bent MGM Casino and see what our next. The 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. Check out how we've reimagined three of the show's iconic games,

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wherever you get your podcast. What's up? It's Draymond Green. I'm back for my 14th NBA season. and my podcast, the Draymond Green Show, is back too. This season, I'm breaking down games, reacting to the biggest NBA stories, and sitting down with teammates, rivals, and culture shapers. And trust me, I'm not holding back on the court or on the mic. Two new episodes every week, new segments, big conversations, real basketball,

talk for the real hoop heads. Listen to and follow the Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcast. We're back, we're better, let's get it. no my my basement is not a prison but i could see if you're on the uh the stream it would look like that it really would no my basement's pretty nice it's uh it's it's it's fully carpeted which is great for the boys and i got this like gymnasia or not not a like jungle gym thing where there's like eight things in one so there's a little rock wall on it There's a swing, there's a rope wall, there's something where you can climb up and over, there's rings, there's a little slide because I want to, I want to up their athleticism and make sure that they're ready to go from day one.

And if they know how to pull themselves up and things like that, I feel like they're going to be in a pretty good spot. I was originally, I was like scoping out of the basement and I was like, oh, the leg's pretty good over there. Maybe I'll sit over there. And then I got over to that corner of the basement and realized it was right next to the heater. So everyone would have heard an annoying hiss the entire time. And I feel like doing that for the people. So I'm sitting at the bottom of the steps of my basement. The camera's about halfway up.

And we're talking about Brad Keller and Anni Colombe. So just a normal Wednesday night at the Fritz House. right what's next from andrew tiger on bone moved but i don't think it'll happen so it's almost like i'll believe when alec bone is not a philly when i physically see alec bone not starting at third base for the phillies i think i've got to that point i was i was definitely in the beginning of the off-season committed to the idea of like, all right, well, if you can't go get Bregman and you can't go get Bichette on top of, off of Schwarber, I'm okay if you roll with Kemp and Sosa until Aidan Miller is ready, just to change it up.

I think there's a couple things. I think the Phillies have never felt like they got fair value in a trade for Alec Ball. But I also think the Phillies overvalue Alec Ball. and they look at the counting stats and they're like well he does that blah blah blah dude the guy's one year from free agency he's going to be what 29 this year he is what he is he's improved defensively he he's a good contact hitter but sometimes it's early contact so that's sometimes why he doesn't strike out and the power is just not there like I would I would rather try something else and and the mopiness drives me crazy so

I have gotten to the point where they're really just going to run back like they're going to bring bone back so I'm holding out hope that they get in the market of Bregman and Bichette I think that would talk I think that would that would take

obviously shedding salary it would take not bringing JT back and I don't think they could bring JT back and sign one of those guys but these guys are difference makers and it doesn't feel like there's a trade out there for a third baseman and then maybe they can flip bone for a pretty good middle reliever type.

Because I think that's what his value is. I don't know what they think they can get for Alec Bone. But in my opinion, I think that what they can get is a pretty decent middle reliever. And it's what is this. Maybe they get creative and try to get a prospect from another team, an interesting prospect. But I'm starting to have the fear that, at home will be the opening day third baseman and he'll be batting cleanup and it'll be back like we never left but i'm holding out hope that they can get into one of those markets they're

not what they thought those guys their market isn't what they thought it was and the Phillies can get off of strom and castie and and maybe maybe Taiwan even they kind of need Taiwan they would have to get creative but if you if you can add a difference maker Like one of those two guys are, especially with the money fully coming off the books after next year. Although if you trade those guys, it wouldn't totally matter, get the point. It's something I hope they are exploring, and I hope they're not just throwing their hands up and being like, well, guess what was bring Bone back? Because that's, I know it sounds simplistic, just over it. I'm just over the Al-G Bone experience.

All right, what's next? Go Sixers, 12. There's no way this is actually their outfield, right? Marsh could not be on their roster. You know, I do think we've gone a little overboard on the Brandon Marsh, like, totally stinks thing. I would still trade them. I got a perfect world. I would trade Crawford, sorry.

I would trade Marsh, put Crawford and left, and re-sign Bader. And then Bader. Crawford, Garcia. Okay, I like that. But I don't think Brandon Marsh is just some bad baseball player. He went 0 for April and that hit 300 for the rest of the season. Postseason, yeah. He is not shown to be a good postseason player. I was thinking about it last night. What are Brandon Marsh's postseason moments? And it's the home runoff of Morton. And it's the double, double against the diamond backs. I think that was game four, I think that was game four, where it felt like we were going to do it, and then they lost.

It was either game three or four, but he had doubled down there that was good. And I don't know, he has not been a great postseason player. That is, that is for sure. But he does provide great corner defense. and if you can like let's say they sign rob refsnyder and it's refsnyder and marsh in left field marsh against righties and refsnyder against lefties combine that player is is an all-star so if you think of it that way you know you feel you feel better about it marsh against lefties never shown the ability to do it but if you get ref Snyder and then you have you have Crawford

center again i seems like they're just sinking put them out there and it'll sink or swim which is a strategy but when you are a a team in a in a world series window it's certainly a bold strategy maybe the maybe timbrowski saying the outfield is set was a little pressure on harrison bader to say hey you really want to be here that are lower their lower that asking price or drop a off of your your contract demands because we'll roll with crawford and center field i don't know that but maybe that it maybe that was a little bit of a nudge his way and then maybe that's where a marsh trade comes down so i wouldn't rule out of mars trade you know i think i think marsh bone even stop but but not to the same extent but marsh bone and and strom i think of the

three. Taiwan, maybe, but I think they kind of need Taiwan. Those three are ones to watch. I don't buy the idea that the roster is set before Christmas. I think that's, I think it's just GM speak. So I think those are the three to kind of look at. And if they have to shed salary to possibly bring in a Bregman or Bichet, those are the ones to watch. But I also don't think that Brandon Marsh is a, is a nothing player. I think he, I think he's pretty, good and i think he's pretty good all right what's next from michael cogan save a starter go four innings but the game is somewhat close pitcher frets pulls a hammie come on man never pulled a hammy how do you manage uh innings five through nine with the current oh with the current arms

wow um well well i mean the one nice part about keller is that he could give you multiple innings because he does have he does have starter background um obviously you don't want to you don't want to do that necessarily but um just pulling up the 40 man roster real quick just to see how deep we can go here because I've got to figure out who's pitching that fifth inning. I mean, right now for me, it's Zach McCambly. But you go four, a lot of righties in the lineup.

I mean, obviously it depends if it's a righte starting that inning or a lefty and what portion of the lineup is at the top, is at the bottom. You know, if it's the bottom of the lineup, maybe you see you put out there McCambly, put like Lazar put your you're a long man for an inning or two and then you know when it's time to get a big lefty out then it's Banksy that gets you through the that gets you through the sixth five six I need someone to take down five six big lefty Banksy going Keller going to Ron I guess that's my quick on the fly December 17th bullpen decision making i think that's a it's a proper time to bring that up mike i appreciate the i appreciate

the question Tucker i feel like you put that in there to see how how i would answer that and i don't know if i did a good job at all but i think i think we got there all right what's next from jordan noose any thoughts on how potential lockout in 26 affects the philly's off season thinking this year. Well, if you believe Preston when he was on with us, he said that it's not, they're building their team, how they're going to build their team. And if a lockout happens, a lockout happens. And I think that's a fair way to go about it.

We don't know that a lockout's going to happen. I guess I'll believe it when I see it. I think there's going to be a delay for sure. But I don't think the owners really want to lose an entire year of revenue. And I think the players are really committed to not adding a salary cap. So I think the owners will eventually cave and we'll have like a 145, 140 games season. I hope baseball doesn't think that's what the future is because I do like the 162. But I think there will be a 2027 lockout.

Sorry, I think there will be a 2027 season. I think it's just going to be a little bit delayed. There's going to be labor strike, everything mad. There's going to be threats of cancel in the season. But I don't think it actually gets canceled because I don't think the owners want to lose an entire year of revenue. And the sport is in such a healthy spot that it would be freaking nuts for them to blow it like this just when they are pretty firmly back into number two in the hierarchy of American sports. So figure it out. Hopefully there's no lockout.

think the Phillies are building their roster with the idea of a lockout in 27. Build, play, and display with the 3-1 Megablocks preschool sets. The Building Go Race Car revamps into a pickup truck and hot rod, and the build and enchant unicorn transforms into a puppy and Pegasus. Each easy-to-build set comes with rolling wheels, 26 blocks, and easy-to-read building steps, compatible with other mega blocks sets for endless big building fun shop three and one megablocks at walmart for ages three plus all right Tucker maybe we'll do like two more from s will bill was the most you to give up for kattel marty i would not trade painter

or aden miller for him if they want crawford i would trade crawford for marty my package for him is Stott, Arun, and ideally Matthew Fisher, but if it would take Gage Wood, I guess I would do it. They want pitching. You know, it seems like the Red Sox are hot and heavy, or not hot and heavy, but it seems like they're the favorite to get them. They're going to have to trade Connolly Early or Peyton Tolle, whatever, to get him. It feels like Gage Woods, like, right there.

Those guys are probably, they're higher rated than Gage, because they actually made the big leagues last year. But, I mean, that's what I would do. You know, maybe Chasse, too, just for another arm that's pretty interesting. But all of a sudden, D-Back's in on Bregman. So you go, you bring him Bregman, you trade out Marte, you get some starters.

You see the vision. But I, and if they get Bregman, now it's taken out of stock. but that would be my trade package for for marty and i think it gets you close if they're serious about trading them i think that gets you pretty close and every day a second baseman that brings a lot of value with value defensively uh arun eskabari top five prospect with a with a really really good bat and then a a first round pick last year that projects to be a competent big league starter to better than competent big league starter so

and then maybe Chasse or some other like Jean Cabrera or some other interesting arm to have in the minor leagues. But I would not trade Painter for him. The only guy I'm trading Painter for, if it's even remotely possible, and this is just throwing it out there. I wouldn't trade him for Marte. And for some reason, the Padres trade Jackson Merrill. I don't know why they would again, but I think Finesand put it out there the other day that Jackson Merrill might be available. in a trade, and I know there's some whispers at the deadline that he's available to trade. If he's out there, $15 million a year for the next seven years of Jackson Merrill, who I think is

amazing, it would be Painter Plus, but I would trade him for Payne. I would trade Painter for Jackson Merrill in a Jackson Merrill package. I think he is a stud, and I think he got hurt, and I think he would solve your center field problem for a long, long time. that is strictly wishful thinking all right what uh last one here talk is adley rutchman still a possibility i got this question today too my thoughts on adly are this the guy they paid is more of a dh in my opinion so they still need to catch her i think the orioles view him still as one one guy and top prospect and i think they're going to super over volume and trades

And I don't know if I view him as some undervalued or underutilized asset. He might just be overrated. So it's a really big gamble that's still going to cost you a lot prospect-wise. I think if they don't pay JT, you piecemeal together with Marshaun and one of the veteran options out there. Maybe you get in the market for a Ryan Jeffers trade. But I think you kind of make it work and you hope for that money that you save, you can get into the Bichette or Bregman markets. But Ruchman, I don't know if they're actually even trading them,

but I do think the guy they paid is more of a D.H. I think that they're going to still ask for a ton trade-wise, and I don't know if you're going to get great value out of that. And maybe I'm scarred because of that one video of him hitting the home run in AAA, the swing was so ugly and dead looking that I'm scarred but I got to be honest I'm really not interested in the Rudgeman I'm just not so I would not trade a lot of assets for them like if you want to if they're giving them away and I can trade a couple five through 10 prospects okay or or and maybe someone off the big league roster okay but I'm not trading I think I think they would probably ask for Aiden I'm not

trading 80 Miller for for Ali Rajman so that's kind of my thoughts on that which is shame because I used to I used to love him I thought he was going to be the next posy and he is really really falling off so a bit of a bummer for for the Orioles so that's going to do it for this little solo mailbag and Brad Keller and annie colombie emergency podcast thanks to everyone who hung out and I'm sure that James will be back next next to week unless they do more moose and then you might be getting another solo podcast do not but we'll probably be back next week with a with a full pod so thanks as always for listening and we'll talk to you soon