High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Can Dave Dombrowski Save The Phillies?

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

Joe Giglio and Tucker discuss what the Phillies could possibly do in the next 24 hours to fix their team. 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

Whether the action is at the link or the bank, there's never an off day on Broad Street. It's the biggest news of the day, every day, with takes from someone who's never short on them. It's WIP Daily with Joe Giglio. Welcome on in, WIP Daily, Joe Giglio with you. Appreciate everyone subscribing, following the podcast. Leave us reviews, and that will obviously help the podcast grow. So we appreciate that. And our 94.5 YouTube page, which we love putting the podcast up on video.

Tucker will join me in a few minutes to give his reaction to an abysmal Phillies weekend. And now what? As we go towards the trade deadline, Tuesday at 6 p.m., the MLB trade deadline. And really what's on my mind this morning is can Dave Dombrowski fix this? Is there anything he could do to get this team, which really I think we've lowered the bar so much. Like if you say, well, they're only half out of a playoff spot, they're supposed to be in a playoff spot. They have one of the highest payrolls in baseball. They went and signed Trey Turner to add to a team that was in the precipice of winning the World Series.

The Phillies have been a major disappointment this season. There's no other way to say it. They've been a disappointment. This weekend in Pittsburgh was a disaster. If the Pirates' third base coach isn't a dummy on Friday night and actually sends a runner when he should have, that game's tied. I'm not sure if the Phillies win that game after the rain delay, and they probably get swept out of Pittsburgh.

I mean, obviously they got beat up on Saturday night, and they deserve to lose on Sunday. I mean, whether or not the game was close, back and forth, they played to lose the baseball game on Sunday. And I am now at the point watching this Phillies team. It's not a small sample. We are well over 100 games into this season. You know, the Phillies have played 107 baseball games.

I mean, this isn't a small little sample here. This is 103 baseball games. They're 56 and 49. 103 baseball games. It's not a small sample. This is who they are, which is a team that's barely above water in terms of run differential. I think they've actually been kind of lucky to have the record they are because you look at some of their underlying numbers, they're more like a 500 team than they are a team seven or so games above 500. And you watch them

play every night and you see the reasons. I mean, this team barely hits. There have been an average offensive team across baseball. They have a bullpen that has carried them, but now is maybe starting to show some leaks. They have starting pitching that is adequate, but really only one really, really good pitcher in Zach Wheeler. Nola hasn't been that this year. Ranger's been okay for the most part. Good. Then now he's been okay for a while. Tywon Walker, I would classify as okay, ups and downs. And Christopher Sanchez has been mostly good, but as we saw yesterday, the Phillies consider him basically a five inning pitcher. And yesterday was kind of weird because apparently had a stomach issue. But as we go to the deadline, the Phillies are obviously going to try.

They're going to be buyers. They're going to try to do something between now and 6 p.m. on Tuesday. But I'm not sure that anything they could do is actually going to fix this because as time has gone on, and we've done a lot of different ideas on who they should get the trade deadline. The big names have been removed from the market. At least it seems that way. The Angels have come out and said, we're not trading Shohei Ohtani. The Cubs, who have been red hot and might catch the Phillies in the NL wildcard race,

have said, we're not trading Cody Bellinger. The Padres, based on their run differential, based on how mediocre everyone is in this playoff race, would be foolish to trade away Blake Snell and Josh Hader and specifically Juan Soto as it applies to the Phillies. That'd be foolish because the Padres absolutely could catch these teams and make a run in the playoff. So I don't think Soto's getting moved. Ballinger's not getting moved. Otani's obviously not getting moved. The Cardinals have bought the idea of Arenado or Goldschmidt. They obviously want to retool for next year. So the caliber of bats that are available have diminished here. So the Phillies have to make a big decision by 6 p.m. on Tuesday,

which is, you know, how much do they go all in for this year? What do they go get? Right now I would prioritize a left fielder that can actually hit because they need another bat. I mean, the bats they have and we'll get to Castellanos and Turner will be just so, so disappointing. Turner the whole year and Castellanos the last four weeks or so. But they need a bat that could hit because it's funny watching the reaction of Rob Thompson's lineups and finally dropped Trey Turner down on the lineup on on Friday night. It was like, yeah, but he put Castellanos in there.

And it just shows the issue that Rob Thompson has. This is not Rob Thompson's fault. He doesn't have more than three or four hitters at a time that can actually hit. He doesn't. And most of the guys that can actually hit are left-handed. So it becomes a – it's almost like doing a puzzle, but you're taking away some of the pieces. You say, why can't you finish the puzzle? Well, I don't have the pieces.

And yeah, obviously, anyone watching says drop Trey Turner down the lineup. Oh, yes, he did. Well, who do you have to put up there? OK, Castellanos, he stinks now. Why is he up there? Well, OK, who are you going to put there? Boom. Fine. I'm totally cool with Alec hitting second behind hitting second behind Schwarber. Schwarber, Boehm, Harper, then what? Because if you want to drop Trey Turner down and we don't trust him, well, he can't back clean up. Castellanos stinks right now. He can't back clean up. Real Muto has stunk for the most of the year. He can't back clean up. So once you start moving guys like Boehm or Stott up, it's fine, but it leaves a major void. It's like, well, who do you want there?

I don't want him. Well, I don't want him. I don't want him. There's nobody to put. The Phillies are at the point now where the bat they acquire needs to be able to slot into either the number two or four spot in the lineup. That's a daunting task because I just said there's probably no those kind of bats out there.

Unless DeBrasi's going to overpay for Elaine Thomas, who's having a career year down in Washington and pay a lot for him. I'm not sure they're going to find that bat. Like maybe they run into a hot streak of, of Tommy fam for a couple of months and he could suffice. Mark Canna could maybe bat second again on base. I don't know what they're going to do because the bats that seemingly are available out there.

I'm not sure if they could fix the mess Dombrowski created himself. And he created this mess. Let's not put it any other way. Dave Dombrowski created this mess. These are his players. These are his contracts. It's funny. Everyone,

the guys that everyone wants to do the top of the lineup or move them up rice and stock. Alec bone. These are not Dombrowski players. He didn't draft these guys. These guys were here when he got here. And yeah, give him a little credit for his staff and his coaching, you know,

his people developing them and helping them get to this point. But the issues with this team arise from right now mostly Castellanos and over the last month who's just reverted so far back to what he was last year and Trey Turner. I mean, that's $400 million of Dave Dombrowski free agent acquisitions that can't hit right now. And unless those guys start hitting, I'm getting the feeling this acquisition they make at the deadline,

whether it be Tosca Hernandez or it be Adam Duvall, they're not going to be able to fix this. The issues run deeper than what they have right now. They really do. And as you watch the Phillies play, if it wasn't for the extra wild card, I think we would be taught, or if we were back in the old days of just the one wild card, we would be having a conversation of,

should they even be a buyer? Is this even worth it? And because there's six spots, the Phillies are going to buy. They're not going to give up on this team. They're going to go for it to some degree over the next 30-something hours. They're going to try that. Remember how hard time you listen to this episode. But they don't look like a playoff team.

They don't hit like a playoff team. And I'm not sure whatever Dave Dabrowski does could fix all the other issues. So he could go out and get a Tommy Pham or a Mark Cannon right now. By the time you listen to this and watch this, he may have done something like that. But if, if it doesn't change the overall picture, one hitter and those guys, and it seems like the guys available,

aren't super impactful. They're, they could be good and they could have certainly a nice couple of months. I mean, Tommy Pham's had a nice year and Lane Thomas had a great year. Like all these guys could help for a couple of months. There's, there's no question about that,

but are they enough? And you watch the Phillies day to day, and you see the holes. I mean, they have a hole right now at shortstop. He's a hole. They have a hole right now in left field when Kyle Schroeder DHs. They have a hole in right field. They have a hole in their bullpen, which is becoming glaring as the days go on. Look, Craig Kimbrough looks like he's tiring a little bit.

Okay, that's to be expected. Alvarado's still not back off the IL, and he's had two stints this year. I'm not sure what he is when he comes back because he wasn't that good when he came off the first time. Sir Anthony Dominguez looks nothing like the guy he was last year. So if the Phillies are going to think they could win all these close games for the next two months, these one-run games, with Jeff Hoffman doing what he's done all year,

with Kimbrel not tiring, with Junior Marche doing it. That feels tricky. I mean, the Phillies really need to go get, I think, a real relief pitcher, and they need to get a bat that could come in here and hit. And even then, that might not be enough. A really disheartening weekend for the Phillies, Tucker, who if not for the Orioles needing to rest their clothes this past week, we may be talking about like four straight series loss.

The Phillies are not playing good baseball right now. No, and it's weird because I think yesterday a lot of people boiled it down to, well, Rob Thompson took out Christopher Sanchez. This is Christopher Sanchez. He's really sharp. I mean, he hit three batters. His command was kind of all over the place. You mentioned the stomach bug.

Like, I had no problem with him taking Christopher Sanchez out. I had a problem with the 18 errors and 17 base running mistakes this team has made over the last three days. And adding a left fielder, adding a first baseman, adding a middle reliever, it's not gonna fix how stupid they are sometimes right like that was the thing i got was man they're sure lucky the pirates absolutely stink because any real baseball team would have 10 run them the last

two games i mean they were not playing good baseball the last two days and you know i joked yesterday during the game that with each passing inning my wish list for the trade deadline grows longer which is true i mean they need help in the rotation they need help um in the back end of their bullpen especially if serenity dominguez is gonna pitch like this for the rest of the season and they definitely need help at the top of their lineup the issue is anyone you add like they're not taking at bats away from trade Turner who's killing this team right now they're not taking at bats away from Nick Castellanos who's killing this team right now they're not taking at bats away from Jade Cerro Muto who's been killing

this team for about three months now I mean this team just needs their stars to start playing better they need to play smarter obviously but the way they've played you know the last couple days and maybe we'll just chalk it up as one of those series they get out of Pittsburgh and Need to play smarter, obviously, but the way they've played the last couple days, and maybe we'll just chalk it up as one of those series they get out of Pittsburgh and they'll figure things out when they start their next series in Miami tonight, but it was troubling, right? Whatever you thought was worst-case scenario for the Phillies, it played out over the last 48 hours.

I mean, they couldn't field the ball. They struggled to hit, especially with the runners in scoring position, which has just been a thing all year. I don't know. Like, I just, obviously, they need to do something to fix it. But you mentioned, like, there's no star out there. And the idea that Dave Dombrowski is going to go star hunting like he always does and he's going to go find a blue-chip talent,

I just don't know if that guy's going to be available. And if they add someone like Mark Anna who absolutely kills the Phillies. So maybe that's a little addition by subtraction. I just, I don't know. I don't see them making an impact deal within the next 24 hours. I don't either, which makes me believe Dave Dabrowski can't fix this.

I mean, like sometimes a GM can do something in the trade deadline, and it's enough. And I look at what Dombrowski can do, what's likely out there. Tucker just mentioned, and we've talked about it, it's probably not a real impact hitter that's going to get traded. If there is one, Candelaria with the Nats might be the best hitter by OPS this year that's actually moved over the next 24-plus hours.

And I don't think the Phillies are going to get a third baseman because it really displaces Alec Boehm, who has been one of their better offensive players this year. So it doesn't fit. So they're in a really tough spot to where they've pigeonholed themselves now at the just left field. Bellinger is likely off the table. Soto off the table.

So the impact bats are off the table in left field. Now we're talking about just role player kind of types. And I said it six weeks ago, Adam Duvall is going to be a Philly, and I still expect that. That's the guy that feels like who they're going to go get. But the other issues with the team are so glaring that I'm not sure whatever Dabrowski does could push them over the top. I don't know how they score enough runs with the way the lineup is right now.

Like, they got away with Turner being horrendous because Castellanos was hot. And that kind of made up for other things. You know, Schwarber, for as much as Schwarber frustrates people, you kind of know what you're getting. Month to month, you know what you're getting. A lot of walks, and he's been on a walk splurge lately, and a lot of home runs. And you may not love that baseball, but it's like you can kind of figure out what you're getting, and's been on a lot of walks, and he's been on a walk splurge lately, and a lot of home runs. You may not love that baseball, but it's like you can kind of figure out

what you're getting, and you can build off of that. Castellanos, for two months, two and a half months, you knew what you were getting, which is a lot of production with guys on base, a lot of base hits, offense. Bryce, we now, I feel like for this year, we're getting not much power, but he gets on base, and he'll put the ball in play.

Right. Perfect. Turner and Castellanos now, but together, like they got away with Turner not hitting for forever because Castellanos was, and it was just enough to get by. I watched this offense day to day with Castellanos swinging like this and Turner swinging like this. And I'm like, I don't know how they score enough runs. And to ask them to win every one-run game, 3-2 or 4-3, just because they have a shot to win it, it's a lot. It's a lot on Rob Thompson to hit every button right every game. It's a lot on Craig Kibble to pitch this much. He's faded down the stretch the last couple years.

So Dabrowski has his work cut out for him. He really does. If he's going to fix this thing, he needs to really, whoever he gets, better come in here and have a great two months even if i'm a great player and the other thing is he better hope his original decisions on this team start to pay dividends because it's getting late it is getting late for trey turner season and it is starting to look really really just bad when it comes to the castellanos it's like last year and we with this player, when he goes into ruts, sometimes it takes him a long time to get out of them. If Castellanos

doesn't rebound and Turner doesn't ever wake up, we have to accept the reality. This team could miss the playoffs. They absolutely could miss the playoffs. They don't look to me like anything like a lock to make the playoffs. It's one of those things where if they get in, yeah, they're dangerous. Sure. Sure they are. It's baseball. And we saw what happened last October. But right now they are behind the Giants, Miami, Milwaukee.

They are barely above Arizona. The Cubs are coming. The Padres are coming. You know, if this does, if something drastic doesn't change, whether it's an acquisition who hits a lot when he gets here or the guys that are here start to hit. We could look up in three weeks and say, how the heck are the Phillies four out with six teams ahead of them? That is all on the table right now for the Phillies if they don't wake up. Tough weekend.

And Dave Dabrowski, can he fix this? I don't feel confident he can. It's on him to do it now before the tradeout. Appreciate everyone watching, listening, subscribing. Of course, following the show. Back tomorrow, more WIP Daily. And of course, thanks for watching our 94 WIP YouTube page.