High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Breaking Down the MLB Draft

Episode Date: June 13, 2020

The guys are back as they break down Brian Barber's first draft as scouting director. Are they writing Mick Abel's hall of fame speech? Casey Martin is the next Kingery? See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast recording on a Saturday morning, Jack.

It's early. It's early and it's Saturday. But why are we here, Jack? Why are we here? Because the Phillies have a scouting director. They have a leader. They have a new draft class that is very very exciting um so listen we're gonna make it happen because we have to talk about this and it's just like since the draft has ended

i don't know why but i've just slept so well um and i think it's because every night that i let my my head hit the pillow i know that the phillies are in good hands for the rest of my life. Yes, Brian Barber is never leaving. And everything's great. Everything is great in Jack's world. Everything's great in James' world. I mean, James, like, you were even breaking down Casey Martin on the air the other day. I was happy.

I was like, wow, he's really developing into where I need him to be at for this podcast to fully thrive. Yeah. Draft guy. All right, well, let's dive in. I'm sure a lot of people don't care at all what I have to say but care a lot about what you have to say about this. Well, that's not true. Wow. You gave very detailed...

You had your best performance on a podcast ever with Keith Law. And... You know who didn't have as good a performance? Keith Law himself. Who saw that coming? Keith Law was pretty sure they weren't taking a high school pitcher in the first round.

Let me just say something. Real shame to see that um i mean he was strong in his they're not taking high school pitcher like aggressively strong um we haven't had a kind of slightly rude to you in doing so i was like hey man i just think nick bits goes good um also i like nick bits going he's like you're a moron you idiot how could you ever think that yeah well i do feel i do feel great that bits goes going to the rays hall of fame lock it in your hall of fame prediction got a big bump when the rays drafted him there's just nothing there's gonna be nothing more classic than him turning into like a superstar for the race like you can just like that he's gonna be all right like they have blake snell there

right now but he's fine uh they'll eventually just trade him away and for nothing because they can't afford him like his life bro oh bro i'm risking my life um but but this is not the Nick Bitsko podcast. This is the Nick freaking Abel podcast, James Seltzer. All right, talk to me about Nick because it's not something we talked about much prior. I think you had said to me that you didn't think you would be there at 14. The fact that the Phillies took a high school pitcher, big arm, all that stuff,

what do you think? Yeah, I mean, for as excited as I am about Mick Bitsko, or sorry, Mick Abel. You reined it in. It's a Saturday morning podcast. I have only had a half a cup of coffee. So for as excited as I am about Mick Abel, just the fact that the Phillies had the stones to make that pick, I think, is massive. You know, because the last couple of years, ever since really Moniak and Cornelius Randolph before him, it's been a lot of, oh, you know, I just want to take the safe college bet that can make its way to the major leagues as fast as possible.

And and just kind of take a chance on a high floor guy. And I guess when you're trying to compete and trying to have the quickest turnaround in Major League Baseball history, I guess it's fine to kind of go that route. But I think when you're the Phillies right now and you see where you're at and you see that you need some high level talent in your farm system if you're going to make the bryce harper uh jt realm you to hopefully contract worth it is that you need to kind of take a shot on some guys that have really really high upside um and mick abel is just that and yeah i didn't

talk about him leading up to the leading up, honestly, he hadn't been connected to the Phillies at all. And it's, I mean, good job by them that that didn't leak out at all. But he wasn't connected to them at all. And I honestly, I thought Mick Abel was a top ten pick. And a lot of people have asked me, who do you like more, Bitsko or Mick Abel? And I like Bits go a little bit more just because i trust his body um like six four like he's he's shredded for for six four 220 and 17 years old like he i i don't have the same i guess arm concerns i would have about about mcable like

able is is lanky uh the ball like the ball explodes out of his hands um but he's he's lanky and and generally until those guys put on muscle like it can be uh a little bit dangerous when you're talking about projecting those guys so uh it was more like a 1a 1b for me but just in watching in watching mcable and and now kind of taking a step back and realizing he's the guy and kind of doing some deep dives, like I was always impressed with the fastball just because of, yes, I watched the perfect game, All-American Classic, and the fastball just jumped out to me. Now, he did have command issues in that game, but that's more, I think, jitters than anything. He was the starting pitcher, first one out there, playing against the best high school players in the country

at Pecco Park in a major league stadium. You're going to be a little bit jacked up for that. I don't care if you're as mature as McAble is. You're going to be nervous. So he's a little bit jacked up for that start, but I was just impressed with the fastball command and the fastball uh diving all over the place it kind of seemed like but then i really started diving into the slider and he said i

guess he can throw two types of it two different versions of it um and uh like it's like it's already spinning at elite spin rates and the thing i love the most of what i've read is that he's all in on the analytics and the rapsodo stuff and and just trying to figure out how to get the most spin out of these pitches. And the fact that I think his slider can already play in minor league baseball, and I think it's only going to get sharper. We're going to see a pitch in a couple years that we're going to be talking about. We're going to tell our grandkids about. We we're gonna tell our grandkids about we're gonna we're gonna tell our grandkids about mick abel's slider like it's only because it because it's already disgusting like his slider is already disgusting and the fact that he's gonna work with

the rap soto he's gonna get the spin efficiency up uh the fact that he knows he said he can throw it in any count which is like like that reading the first couple of mick abel stories it feels like hamels when they drafted him because if you remember well obviously i was like 10 when they drafted hamels but in reading some books about when they drafted him the thing they love the most is that he could throw a change up in any count whenever he wanted and that's how mick abel talks about his slider so uh i i am i am very very in on on mick abel for sure yeah and look for what it's worth it seems like he was the top prep arm for most people in the draft i know you had bits go slightly ahead but a lot of people thought mick abel the top prep arm in the draft um it seems like he's very advanced for his

age for an 18 year old to as you talked about have a legitimate s. It seems like he's very advanced for his age for an 18 year old to, as you talked about, have a legitimate sire. It seems like he's got what four pitches already and has command, it seems over them. It just seems like he's very advanced for his age, but on a basic level to the original thing you said, look, this franchise, if you could have said, all right, what is the number one thing the Phillies need in this franchise, in this organization? It's a young, big arm with ace level upside. Like that's what they needed the most. And that's exactly what this kid is. And I think with the 15th pick in the draft in a weird draft in a weird year, I think that's the perfect

time to take a shot on someone who whose upside is just higher than a lot of other guys in the draft i mean when you're watching the draft and then the the aftermath of it and the three comps that you continue to hear are justin verlander steven strasburg and jack freaking flaherty i'm to get pretty hyped about that, Jack. I'm sorry. I'm going to let myself get excited when those are the three comps I see with this kid coming from everywhere. Yeah, now we're not going to acknowledge Al Leiter's comparison to Rick Borsello. No, that never happened.

I think you might have dreamt that. That probably didn't happen. Well, and I also think I dreamt that he won a Cy young because he's freaking terrible and i hate rick borcello like i just say i hate rick borcello um but uh i don't see i don't see the flarity thing i mean i guess if we're just talking straight stuff he could be flarity-esque um but i i don't personally see a comp to flarity uh vertlander's a lot i mean like like like that's just a lot um my comp to him my comp to him was mark prior and i know like that kind of sends a chill down everyone's spine um but like mark prior when he was healthy was disgusting um so one of the best pitching prospects in the history of baseball.

Yeah, and super clean mechanics, and unfortunately he got hurt. But just raw stuff-wise, I think his two-seamer sinker moves like his used to. His slider is a lot like his. But, yeah, I think the one thing I really like about just looking at his mechanics and whatnot, now he has two things mechanically that he's gonna have to fix and i'm sure like once he gets around majorly pitching coaches so like he cuts himself off a lot um so he is not very like straight linear down the mound and when you cut yourself off it does lead to putting a lot more stress on your arm um and could lead to some arm issues

so he does cut himself off a little bit and like and it's a violent delivery too it seems like it definitely looks you worry about the elbow when you watch the delivery yeah i mean it's violent but it's like it's an f but it's weird because it's violent but it's also an effortless 95 you know what i mean which is which is great to have which is great to have so uh i think he has to work on not cutting himself off and just letting his his arm fly um and the other thing is that i think there's legitimate growth potential for a change up um now most high school pitchers don't have a change up because honestly if you're throwing 95 against

high school hitters like they're not going to touch you um and if you have a slider as good as his to couple that with like you're just you're going to be disgusting in high school especially when you're pitching in oregon i mean it's not exactly a baseball hotbed sorry la um but you don't really need a change up but if you look you look at his mechanics, there's a ton of potential there for a really, really solid change-up. Like, his arm angle is very similar to Luis Castillo's, and his change-up is obviously otherworldly, but they come out with the same kind of arm angle.

That's why I find it hard to believe like pivetta will ever learn a change up just because his arm angle doesn't really like lend itself to being able to develop a change up like kurt schilling never could throw a change up so he decided to split it like same thing with with holiday like they're both straight over the top able comes off a little bit from the side so So the first thing I would work on with him is getting a legitimate changeup because I think once he gets a feel for that, and given his advanced approach already at 18 years old, I don't think it's going to be a problem at all.

But one of the things that has me excited about him is definitely that the changeup is something that he could develop into, I would say. Yeah, again, I think the fact that how advanced his arsenal is, especially like you said, as somebody who probably didn't need that advanced an arsenal outside of that 95-mile-per-hour fastball in high school, is impressive to see. I think that's a real positive. We've heard a lot about his makeup and his attitude and all that. And I think that plays into that. And obviously that's important coming to Philly. Yeah, look, I couldn't be happier with this pick. It was not someone I

expected them to pick, but it's a big swing with the 14th pick in the draft. They have a chance to end up with the best guy in the draft. You know, he's that type of guy where, you know, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing ever. If he lives up to these comps, he's going to be the best player in this draft. So I think that's exciting, Jack. I think that's exciting. Well, and a couple other things that are cool is his dad's 6'5", 270. So it's like a natural thing a little bit.

Right, right, so it's like a natural thing a little bit. Right, right, right. So what a lot of these scouts look for, um, and it's funny cause I remember going through this like very, like definitely not in the same category as Mick Abel, but I remember like coaches like looking at my parents and the fact,

and the fact that I was taller than them, like I was tall. I've been taller than my dad since I was like 13. So I was pretty much maxed out when I was entering into college. But it's a legitimate thing. Like these coaches and scouts look at the parents because those are what the players are going to hopefully grow into. And the fact that his dad's that big is pretty big for mixed growth. Well, that's the point. At 18, I mean, throwing, what, 95 to 97, all this stuff, he's still not in his adult body yet.

Like, he's still going to grow, whether it's height or size or whatever. Like, you're not fully grown at 18, so there's still potentially more upside in this guy's body, which is crazy to think about because he's really far advanced at 18. Yeah, and I just think that I think in any other draft, he's a top 10 pick. And I think that given the circumstances, given the fact that he didn't throw one high school pitch this year, given the fact that the last time these scouts saw him, it was the end of the summer. They were at Petco Park. He was jacked up. It wasn't like a dominant inning.

So I just think that if he had gotten on the mound and replicated what he did in his junior season, which was a 1.26 ERA, 119 strikeouts, and 74 innings. And by the way, like 74 innings for a high school kid is a lot. So I don't know. Yeah, it sounds like a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. I mean, can we just say that, like, can we put a general PSA out there to all of Philly's nation to not freak out when this guy has Tommy John surgery?

Because, you know like most of them do along the way so there's a real chance that at some point i'll have to have tommy john's surgery yeah i would like to say two things to phillies fans because they've been in my mentions and boy do i just love when i get nothing makes me happier than when i see phillies mentions um two things he's probably gonna have some kind of arm injury, and that's fine. I mean, Noel had arm injuries, and he turned out to be fine. So many do. And for the love of God, can we just stop with the Jesse Biddle thing

and the whole, well, high school pitchers, like, never. Like, dude, I get it, man. Like, high school pitchers are a risky bet but jesus christ like there's good high school pitchers in every single freaking draft can we just be happy that maybe the phillies got the one like why is it always got to be the well like i don't know if you know this but uh they get hurt a lot and you don't know how they're going to project. It's like, yeah, I know, man. Yeah, no bleep. We get it.

But I think it's important that they took the chance. Hey, guess what? Same thing happens with college pitchers too, just at a slightly lower rate. Every single pitcher ever, except for me. I never had arm issues. So, I mean, I would have been a good bet if the Phillies were looking for a pitcher back in the day.

And again, back to this point I made before, but it's true. Look, you know me. I like to draft hitting more than pitching in general. I just feel like it's more projectable, easier to project down the road and sign my pitchers, whatever. But again, unless you take a swing, a risk like this, you don't have a chance to get the best or one of the best players in the draft with the 14th pick. That's it.

Like, this is the only guy they could have taken in that spot. I mean, obviously, look, Mike Trout was, what, 23rd and ended up being the best player of a generation, much less his draft. I'm not saying, like, you can take someone later and then end up being the best player in the draft. But, like, the point on Mick Abel is that the 15 uh 15th pick in the draft like they're taking a home run swing like they're taking a swing on a guy who has a chance to be someone who if you redrafted this draft in 10 years with is the automatic first pick you know like that's what they're going for

and i i think for an organization that needs ace pitchers, like needs that type of arm in their organization, like Spencer Howard's the only thing we have that's even close. And he's not a true – for people, like think about this. We talk about Spencer Howard and all that. Mick Abel's ceiling is higher than Spencer Howard's. Is that fair, Jack? I think it's fair, but I think both have a legitimate one. I love Spencer.

Yeah, Spencer Howard, I love. I'm not saying he can't be a one or whatever, but just trying to point out to those people who are upset about the high school pitcher, I get it. I know there's a lot of risk, but I'm trying to point out just how high Mick Abel's ceiling is. A kid like this with this arm at this age, what they could theoretically be.

Yeah, exactly. And I think I said this to you when I came in on Thursday. And I just envision two years from now, we're watching MLB Network's Top 100 Prospect Countdown. And we've talked about it on the podcast before, I get depressed every single time because I'm like, wow, look at all these superstars. But i i can just see jim callas and jonathan mayo and and nick ables in the top 25 and they're like oh he's a year away from being in the top

like five um like i can i can already see abel being on the the top 100 countdown and that makes me very very excited and you know he kind of there's a chance that we could have like he it could be mackenzie gore-ish you know i think it if mackenzie like if mackenzie gore hadn't pitched in a high school season like there's a chance he would have been there at 15 like the like abel kind of reminds me of that a little bit like he i think he could be a mackenzie gore-ish kind of prospect so um couldn't be more all in and you know you just mentioned spencer howard have i gone to bed each night thinking about thinking about what a 30 i'd say a 31 year old nola uh 34 year old wheeler

uh 27 year old spencer howard and like a 22 year old mcable like if it is i think i think i think jim callis i think jim callis callis said he thinks he's gonna be up in 2023 which is like really fast for that'd be super fast man but but when you look at his stuff you look at his makeup you look at his command of all like the fact that he can already spot a 2-1 fastball on the outside corner again he's developed he's further developed than you would think for a kid that age in that spot right and he's just gonna put on more weight and given the projectability of his dad um so like i think i don't think he's gonna spend too much time in the minor leagues like he he reminds like he could be like nolo and not as fast as nola but but but i'm saying like if he goes to oregon state and he drafts him in like in after his junior season

you're you're anticipating him to be in the big leagues in in a year right so like i think he could be up by 20 by his age 21 22 season i mean i i just he has that kind of he has that kind of makeup i think i don't think he has he's not like some big project that they have to fix like he just has to add strength and and work on that change up and he could be up here pretty quickly all right let's talk about my dude my guy as your guy i've been touting up up on the radio. No, to be fair, in actuality, I'm watching the MLB draft on Friday night. Which is good work. It was Thursday night or Friday night? It was Thursday night.

Thursday night. Which is good work by you. I'm surprised you're watching that. Oh, I was locked in. And I'm actually texting Jack. I'm like, why is Cole Wilcox still on the board? I'm like, I'm in on it. I'm locked in.

But Jack texts me back, really want Casey Martin. I'm like, okay, sure. Cool. Looked up Casey Martin. Oh, yeah, I could be in on this. Boom. Ten minutes later, Casey Martin's affiliate. It was a very, very impressive call by Jack Fritz.

But I get it. Like, I'm in on Casey Martin. As you heard me say, like, after watching with, you you know, this kid's highlights reading about him, I'm all in. I love the idea of a guy who was going to be a first round pick until he had like a bad two months. Like I'm so in on that, like that archetype of a guy. Cause I just think that like, there seems to be so much talent with this kid it seems like it seems like again as someone who clearly is novice like with my mlb draft knowledge it seems like one of the steals of the draft jack from from everything i'm seeing in here well you're not wrong um i so so

it wasn't even a james james it wasn't even a bad two months, man. It was a bad like three weeks. Really? Yeah. Yeah. It's terrific. Like he, he, so I think entering into like the, like he was just starting to heat up when the season got canceled.

Like I think his last game I watched it and he had, I think he had four hits, right? So he was, and at that point, like he had like three he had four hits right so he was and at that point like he had like three hits two games before that like he was just starting to figure it out a little bit and you know i was watching some early season casey martin and the bat didn't look as fast and looked like he was kind of pressing and he was jumping at everything and it kind of seems like he was one of those guys that was projected to be a top 15 pick. The first ever mock draft I saw, true story, in, I don't know, January, when I started doing some research, was Casey Martin, 15 to the Phillies. Wow.

Wow. Yeah. They got him at 87. Right. And I think he just, I think he was pressing a little bit. 87 right and i think i think he just i think he was pressing a little bit and um by the time i saw him by the time i watched him at the end of the season the bat looked much faster it looked like he kind of got that swagger back like casey martin is is definitely a swagger guy you know like he plays with the chip on his shoulder and kind of gets the like he he kind of seems like the the uh the straw that stirs the drink for that Arizona

or the Arkansas Razorbacks team. So I just think that his confidence had been down early in the season, and then right when the season kind of ended, he started to get it back up. But, yeah, the tools are loud. I mean, just quick, quick, quick hands, and the ball flies off the bat, and he's fast as anything like so fast like it's sometimes you know you'll you'll get told that people are fast like they don't look that fast like you watch this kid run and you're like oh that dude is fast man he flies yeah listen

he just he just looks like kingery. He has a lot of Kingery. A lot of Kingery. Same kind of launch, all that stuff. You can see Pedroia, but you can see Pedroia from Kingery as well. So Pedroia, Kingery, Casey, Martin, they all kind of remind me of each other. Martin and Kingery just seem like such ballplayers that I'm excited for him. Now, the obvious concern here is the swing and miss stuff. I mean, he swings and misses a lot.

And just in watching him, just didn't do a great job of laying off curveballs and swinging over a lot of curveballs, a lot of sliders. But I'm of the mindset of just give talented hitters to O-Chart and let them figure it out. And when you get a guy at 87, like Casey Martin, who was first team all SEC, and every one of the SEC coaches talks about what kind of a gamer he is, you're taking that upside and obviously the Phillies went under slot in their in their last couple of picks which is fine because like I don't like get me get me the legitimate talent and then and then go under slot

wherever you need to do to save money like it's fine it's not that big of a deal like coming out of this draft with Casey Martin and and Mick Abel for the money that they're going to cost is just great like it's just it's just great and like casey martin i just i love him i think i think he needs to get short he he might be he might be what we thought kingery was not from the standpoint that i think he's better than kingery but i think he has a better stand i think he's better than kingery but i think he has a better stand i think he's a better chance of playing short second third and center like his best position is probably third base yeah it looked like at least from the highlights we saw it seemed like third base was his most natural position yeah and he's super small for it which

is whatever but like if he's small, I mean, he plays it well. Cannon arm, like, it works. Yeah, and that's what we're talking about, like the tools. Like, he's got a hose. He's fast as crap. He's got a ton of power. Like that? Yeah, very fast bat.

Like, very fast bat. It reminds me of Austin Beck from a couple years ago. But I just, I'm all in. I wish there was a minor league season because i wish we could kind of see what he was going to do up in williamsport this year um but it looks like that's not going to happen but just the fact that they took the chance again like the fact that they took the chance and you know they didn't want they didn't play it safe like i i was watching the draft and it's like i see the dodgers just getting steals all over the place and it felt

nice that the phillies got some steals they got some steals all over the place and it felt nice that the Phillies got some steals they got some steals in McAble and they got an absolute steal in in Casey Martin so uh good on you Brian Barber yeah what what a crazy thing having a professional talented scouting director what a I don't know what a crazy thought and that was something that could work well don't you think it's crazy that like we haven't seen one comment from klintzak or mcphail like none they said i i jack i noticed that it has been very interesting that they and and you know what props to them for letting barber shine in his moment but like it has been all brian barber it's been really it look they it seems like

for the one of the first like you know that's my thing with any of this stuff, whether any sport, any business, like as you can have to get the best out of employees and whatnot. Just, like, put smart people in good positions that you think they'll be successful in and let them succeed. And that's what they're doing with Brian Barber. So, it's awesome. So, what you're saying is let Brian Barber cook? Yeah. I mean, like, can we just make Brian Barber the GM already? Do we need to wait?

Or is that five years down the road? I don't know. How's that? Well, listen. I stated at the beginning of the podcast,rian barber is never is never allowed to leave we're gonna get barbs on the show can we call him barbs oh i feel like we're on that level i mean i think so too i think i mean i think i kind of feel like i'm his best friend i mean i don't know i kind of feel like we're the reason he's here i mean we we did no reason no reason to kind of feel

that way that's just spitting facts like that's james factual statement j mean we we did no reason no reason to kind of feel that way that's just spitting facts like that's james factual statement james we we pressured the phillies into taking like remember it was like oh maybe we'll we'll uh promote within yeah yeah yeah and we said no no no no no no that's not that's not gonna happen you morons can you just go get the right guy and make this whole thing work? But yeah, listen, if Matt Klintzak and Andy McPhail want to do nothing for the rest of their tenure here and just let Brian Barber. You're welcome to do this. Please.

Let Brian Barber, the scouting department, the analytics department, and John Middleton sign the big players. Like, cool. Whatever it takes, you know? Whatever it takes is well said. Also, hold on, hold on. One final quick draft note. I mean.

Well, I wanted to get your thought quickly with that. No, no, no, no, no. I know, I know. I got you. But real quickly, we have to talk about Haim's sweater. Did you see? Dude, all right. So for those who didn't actually watch it,

and I thought it was really cool to see the major league baseball draft on ESPN in prime time being covered, like, you know, obviously less people, but like covered, like they covered the NFL draft. I thought it was really neat. wearing this, basically it was a red socks cardigan. It was like a red cardigan sweater with the buttons and like the red on one side and the socks on the other. Let me tell you this, Jack. If I wore that sweater, I would get laughed off the television screen. I would look like an embarrassment to the world. And that's just how great Chaim Bloom is that somehow this man was able not even to pull it off he looked amazing it looked like he was born in that sweater Jack yeah and he had all kinds of Red Sox uh uh famous like photos behind him I know he had Martin Luther King behind him it was like it was like oh someone who actually is like huh I'm I'm going to be on television. Maybe I should make my area look nice or, you know, be prepared to be on television. Unlike like some of these other people who are on TV and they're just like, what are you doing?

Where are you? What is happening right now? Now, I will say disappointing first draft from Chaim. I mean, disappointing. You know, Nick York, I think is fine, but he's a third round pick. And Blaze Jordan stinks. Like Blaze Jordan. Wow,ordan wow i like this shots fired at jaim yeah i mean listen if he wants to get fired in two years and come down here that's his plan you think about that maybe he's going to tank it there so he can come home you know well the good thing i'm here the good thing is the red sox fans won't care right they right? They're not passionate up there.

They're not paying attention anyway. Yeah, yeah. What do they care? They're basically the Rays. All right. So we are both super, super excited about Abel and Martin. What about the other two picks? Another pitcher and a guy who looks like he can hit some pretty damn far home runs but might not hit the ball that often uh with the last two picks what do you think about

the last two guys uh for as much as i am very much in on on casey martin and nick abel i love carson ragsdale i might be i might be the only person that loves carson ragsdale besides like his family but i i couldn't be more in on carson ragsdale and you want to know why james i do is it because his name's carson no but there could be a fight for quarterback one in in philadelphia um but so uh i guess he had tommy john in 2019 and he's just getting back on the mound this year. Love that. Get it out of the way, baby. This is great.

Yeah. Yeah, also went to the same high school as Nate Pearson. So there's not a non-zero chance he could turn into Nate Pearson. But, yeah, so he goes to South Florida. That team is terrible. Just a terrible baseball team. I think they were 6-11 this year when the season got shut down but but carson ragsdale's last start of the season came against an undefeated number one florida gators team in gainesville and what does carson ragsdale do four innings 10ks one walk

no runs well unearned run but one walk 10, and four innings against the best team in the country. Like, that is, that's something. Like, that's something. And I don't know what his upside is from a starter standpoint. I think he's eventually going to be a reliever. But if you go back and you read some of the stuff about when the yankees drafted dell and batances and brian barber was there for the dell and batances draft pick there's a lot of similarities and i watched the i watched his start against florida um it was really just his strikeouts against florida they didn't really i couldn't find the full game anywhere so i was just

able to see the strikeouts i mean for like the slider is just it's just i think it's a 70 grade start a 70 grade slider and that's that's really it's really really good it's really good um now i think mick abel also has a 70 grade slider he's 18 which is phenomenal uh love see the phillies although i like seeing the phillies go all in on the slider because the slider if you talk to any hitter like it's just it's it's harder to hit than a curveball and if you can really spin it hard like it's just it just works better but anyway um I love it you know he's a he's a guy that you can take a shot on if he pitches the rest of the season maybe he goes higher um but I just think that I don't think he's gonna be a starter I don't think he's good enough to be a starter but I think he could definitely

be a bullpen guy he was already 95 as a starter move him to the bullpen you maybe you can see 98 with that wipeout slider so i mean i mean a dumb dumb matances dumb matances light in the fourth round is an amazing pick so fingers crossed yeah and i just think that i think people i think maybe this podcast will help them but i think you should be excited about carson rack still i mean that's some legit legit stuff i mean going into florida and doing that against that team um so yeah now a lot of people are very excited about uh baron radcliffe and like i think i think he could be i think he could be good um he's another guy that that you just hand you want to talk about swing and miss, right? Right, right, right. He batted like 237 in the cage.

But he's another guy that you give to O'Chart and kind of say, hey, you know, it's worth the risk in the fifth round. Like, it's not going to hurt you at all. That kind of raw power. Right. I mean, 470 pop is dumb. Oh, no.

I mean, like, the highlights that went around, it's like, oh, this boy can hit. Like it's like back to the pitching thing. It felt like when you watch him kind of like effortless power. Like the ball just kind of just explodes off the bat in a way you're not expecting. Yeah. He kind of reminds me of Eric Thames a little bit. Just like from a swing and miss standpoint but also like dumb pop so uh he's

another guy that you kind of just hand to ochard and and and see if you can work on the swing and miss stuff i i think swing and miss is just hard to correct you know it has a that's not something you can kind of fix in a driveline uh like place because it's it's really about what your eyes see and it just comes down you can't really fix people's eyes so uh like listen it's it's really about what your eyes see. And it just comes down. You can't really fix people's eyes. So, like, listen, it's a fine upside projection pick. The power is dumb. The swing and miss is real. But, again, if you just hand him to O-Chart

and see if the driveline guys and all the hitting guys that they brought in can get something out of him and work on the swing and miss and i mean there's there's there's legitimate legitimate upside there so it feels like they took necessary risks all over the board like it feels like mick abel was a guy at 15 that's like listen this guy's a top 10 pick we're getting him at 15 we have to take that casey martin i mean just fell because of swing and miss concerns um but was projected first rounder before the season started we have to take that risk here uh uh carson ragsdale another guy six eight like we'll we'll take a shot here on on him being a a good reliever for us and then and then baron rackliff same kind of thing you know the the power is the power is legit the

swing and miss is legit but it's the fifth round and you know maybe we can find our next ryan howard i don't know but he was the fifth round pick with the same kind of numbers coming out and at least georgia tech was way bigger than where ryan howard went so um yeah it's a it's a it's i think it's a necessary risk upside uh pick yeah look it seems like um it seems like it really like you said before but it it seems like, you know, Brian Barber went in and was really given the autonomy to draft the way he wanted to draft, you know, kind of build it the way he wanted to. And I think the results are speaking for themselves.

Obviously, it's all crapshoot. We'll see what happens down the road. But, yeah, I'm pretty excited. So, overall, wrapping it all together, you kind of just did your breakdown. How would you, like, you were not big on grading or whatever but like in general like you would say you're you're pretty damn happy with this draft yeah yeah i'd give it a solid solid b plus a minus um awesome yeah yeah i mean i i actually i like last year's draft a lot too i think they've had back-to-back good drafts um and yeah i think it's i think it was just a good draft i think they've had back-to-back good drafts um and yeah i think it's i think it was

just a good draft i think they they they took some necessary risk uh i think able 15 like i was i was thinking back to when i really started getting into draft stuff and i remember the first time i saw hazley i was like all right i see what they see you know a bats of all guy i don't know where the pop comes from um but you hope he's a 280 to 300 hitter with 15 to 20 home runs like it's a safe it's a safe fine pick uh boom first i saw him impact bat don't know where he's gonna play defensively but i think the bat's gonna be a difference maker and that's kind of turned out to be that way um stott first time i saw him i was like oh just good at everything not great you know but just just all five tools are average to above average but again a safe player like i watched able and i was like this is it like this is this

is what this is what you're looking for um when you're looking for elite prep talent. And I wish there was minor league baseball this year. It's a real shame we're not going to get any because I would love to see what Casey would have done up in Williamsport and what McAble would have done. But honestly, I think it could be good for Able to kind of work in his own environment. His fastball RPms were already insane he's been throwing to adley rutschman and adley rutschman's talking about like i didn't know this kid but i didn't know this kid was in high school yeah he was the first overall pick last year and and he's talking about how special he is um so honestly if he spends this whole summer kind of working with the cameras

and getting the spin efficiency to where it needs to be and working on a changeup and not having to go to some small town and not have the same resources he's used to, it might actually be good for his development. And he doesn't have to put a ton of wear and tear on his arm. And it could be good for just developing his pitches more and more. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise,

and maybe the Phillies coaches can get around these guys and have them working and not having to worry about all these game reps, and you can kind of just start the game reps next year. So it could be a nice blessing in disguise. Shout out to Brian Barber. I just love that you're in man i think that i'm in i'm i'm in i'm watching these guys it's crazy this is exciting it is crazy it's it's it's fun stuff you've worn off on me jack love when that happens i know i mean let's get molly jams on espn this

year it's exciting stuff it is exciting stuff um kylie mcdaniel i know that guy how are you kylie mcdaniel friend of the podcast he came on the podcast last year yeah it's exciting it is exciting we're big time in the mlb draft vote jack oh for sure for sure and we'll see if keith we'll see if keith comes on next year yeah i can't wait for him to predict something that's absolutely not going to happen again. That's going to be awesome. Yeah. We should have him on to know that the opposite of what he says will happen,

and it's like a way to kind of indicate what's going to happen. Yeah, that used to be our role, but now we can pass that on to Keith. Yes! All right, this is fun. Any other final thoughts, Fritzy, before we end out here? Yeah, I think it's notable since the first time that – it's the first time we've been able to talk about this last podcast, but it's notable that it got leaked by the MLBPA that they don't have to –

in the article or in the first letters to the mlbpa or whatever in the negotiation like they don't have to get off the prorated thing like it was the whole negotiate and good faith thing is complete bs like mlb exactly what we thought from the beginning by the way we called this to a day like major league baseball admitted that they didn't have to negotiate a good faith like the prorated thing is there and hey mfers let's just play 76 games or something at full 100 pro rated and let's call it a day like let's let's just call it a day and let's get baseball back on the field uh for the love of god yeah and also i mean just here's what i don't understand is the idea that if you're gonna just force a season like

it's something like somewhere between 13 and 20 million more per team they say and this is based on them not opening their books like open your books like i don't understand how you can expect sympathy from people and especially the freaking players when you won't actually prove to them that you're losing what you're saying you're losing i mean i don't know why anyone will believe you i mean one of you guys just came out and said it's not a profitable business when he bought the team for like 200 million and it's worth 1.2 billion or whatever it is now it's just asinine um but i you know i can't even i get so frustrated talking about it at this point, Jack, because I'm so angry at this whole situation. I'm so angry at everyone, but most – far and away most angry at the owners.

And it's just take a hit. Just – I don't understand why you wouldn't just spend that little bit extra to pay their prorated for 76 games instead of 50. If you're going to do 50 anyway, when you can get stuff back at 76, like use the opportunity to whatever 76 68 whatever it is like make a deal instead of just forcing a season where you don't get expanded postseason you don't get any help from the players in offseason revenue this and that mic'd up all these different types of things that the players have offered that all goes away

make a deal spend a little bit more and you can actually get stuff back on your end too it just makes no sense to me well let's end the podcast on a positive note uh bryce harper said that if there's no baseball season he'll play for the eagles i saw that and also speaking of bryce harper shout out to bryce harper getting the phone number of every draftee and call like that's some that's some leadership stuff right there man that's some face of the franchise stuff right there i would just listen first is first to say it we're always the first on top of things and let's get this out there right now player gm bryce harper yeah player coach and gm well we Gerardi. We don't need it, but player GM. I like this. I think it makes sense.

Also, also, is there a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia? I do think that Bryce Harper throws a better football than Carson Wentz. And I would like to just see what it would look like. I think that is a perfect place to stop it. We'll be back next week. Because by then, I think we will have some sort of answer.

Major League Baseball, I think they really are up against it in terms of getting something other than a shortened season. And so I'm sure we'll be back next week. Jack, shout out to Brian Barber. Shout out to Barb's. Shout out to Barb's. It's easy going to bed at night these days. And we got to get Barb's on here. We got to get O-Chart on here.

We will bring some guests your way as we continue to sort this out and talk about the Major League Baseball draft and all that stuff. So thank you. Everyone stay safe, stay healthy out there. And fingers, cross your fingers, cross your toes, cross it all, that this weekend Major League Baseball can finally get out of their own way and salvage the tiniest little shred of dignity at the end of this whole disaster. All right. Talk to you guys next week.

He's Fred Simson. We'll see you later.