High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Do We Overreact to the Phillies Team?

Episode Date: July 8, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back talking about a Phillies team that is now at the All Star break in the wild card hunt. The guys talk the trade deadline and Alec Bohm at the futures game.  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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Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. 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. Listeners, you might not believe this. We've been displaced again. Again.

The disrespect of the High Hopes Podcast continues. We're not even on the floor that we're normally. We had to go to a different floor to record. We're outside. We are recording in the middle of the sidewalk. They're like, get out of here. They kicked us out of WIP, mostly because we're spreading the truth. They can't handle us there.

That's what's happening here. So once again, listen, we'll take the show on the road. Whatever we got to do. We are an adaptive podcast. That's right. And I tell you what, it's okay.

Oh, look at that. Is that how you feel about the Phillies right now? I'll tell you what, it's okay. It's all just okay. Everything about the Phillies right now is just it's just just okay very just okay straight up okay yeah all right we'll dive into it all first real quick jackson's the last time we talked something we thought never would be made public was made public the bryce harper podcast the bryce harper podcast

happened and i think i think people enjoyed it they should have enjoyed it i mean like we sound like idiots i have not had the heart to listen yet oh i got like halfway through it i was like oh my god it sounds like i got i pretty much got to the john middleton line and i was like oh man what a what a disaster what was i doing and i was i was like listening to it i was like man we're wrong about a lot. Like a lot, a lot. But yeah, I'm glad that people got to listen to it. It's a good listen. If you haven't listened,

check it out. In my head, people were listening to that episode and then immediately listened to the Bryce Harper emergency podcast. Which is the way to do it. And talk about a draining day. I mean, it was like literally three minutes

after we finished recording. 45 minutes of, ah, this is horrible. And, and an hour of just straight jubilation. But if you enjoyed the Bryce Pepper podcast, enjoyed all of that fun stuff,

come talk about it with us at High Hopes Night. Oh, look at that. We got out of the way early. We got a professional over here. Listen, I do this for a living. August 17th, Citizens Bank Park. Tickets are available. Pin tweet on Jack's Twitter, on my Twitter.

And the High Hopes Pod Twitter. And the High Ops Pod Twitter. And the High Ops Pod Twitter. The best Twitter of all of us, if we're going to be real about it. Yeah. Yeah. It's all it does. It's just retweet. It doesn't do anything.

It's great. I'm going to embrace the thirst guy. I'm a fan of that. So come hang out with us. August 17th. It's going to be awesome. We've already sold a bunch of tickets. There's going to be a lot of High Ops listeners there.

It's going to be fun, man. Yeah. I'm very looking forward to it. It's good. The Padres. Hopefully the team's still good yeah we'll see let's dive into it all right since the last time we talked you could say things haven't gone great things have happened we said you know don't get swept by the braves they didn't no positives here they took the first game of the series which sure didn't think it was possible sure did. Didn't take the rest, though. No. All right.

And then Mets series. Look, they take two at three, but really felt like they were going to sweep. And then Jay Garriotta happened. There's a lot to dive into with that. Let's just start with it all. The Phillies at 47 and 43. They're six and a half back of the Braves. They're a half game back of the Washington Nationals.

I'm out, Jack. They got hot. They got hot. They came out of nowhere. Yet, at the All-Star break, technically, if the season ended at ended at the also break the phillies would be playing the nationals in the wildcard i know it's a real mixed emotions type of thing jack where you out with the phillies right now well it's so weird because like when you look at the team and you watch them every day you're like man this team isn't very good and then and then you watch this you look at the standings and they're like this team's not that bad like Oh, they're a playoff team. Like, what are we complaining about? Obviously, a lot of that had to do with early in the season and whatnot.

Where I'm at with this team is I think the offense is legit coming around, and I think they've been playing. I think they've been doing well offensively ever since they kind of talked about. I know the curveball machine was the joke, but they actually did talk about how they changed their philosophy. Went after fastballs and all that stuff. Crazy concept, hunting fastballs. Who would have done that?

Hit the straight ball that comes at you. Yeah, who would have thought? So I feel good about where the offense is, and Real Muto's batting like 400 in his last seven games, just absolutely scorching hot. Bryce Harper has been really, really solid for his last 15 games. He's looking at OPS over 1,000. So I feel good about where the offense is.

I think Kingery at the leadoff spot, we had called called for it but i think that's really made a difference i think he's just the kind of spark plug a guy that can you know he'll either hit a home run like he did um to open the game to open the game which was awesome um jacob degrom off of degrom no less i know which is crazy and or he'll he'll get ahead get on first base and he'll make something happen i think he's kind of sparked them a little bit. Jay Bruce, I mean. Is there enough good that we could say about Jay Bruce? Jay Bruce is crazy.

He's the greatest Philly of all time, for Christ's sake. He's not really. His numbers are incredible, and he already has like 23 RBIs. He's hit 10 homers as a Philly. He's like fourth on the team in home runs. It's crazy. As a Philly. So I feel good about what the offense is, and honestly, thank thank god because the offense is the one thing that's healthy right now

yes like they're they're the ones that are supposed to be carrying this yeah I was about to say ultimately coming into the season we all thought if they had a chance to do anything it was because the offense and not the pitching so right they need the offense to come around now on the on the other hand not great Jack the pitching staff makes me want to stab myself with a spoon. It's really bad, dude. It's really bad. I mean, we're talking, and we'll get to all of it, but the fact that it came out on Saturday after the game that Jake Arrieta's bone spurs in his elbow and either has to pitch through

it or be done for the season, and my thought process is, I don't know whether I want him to stay or go because he's so horrible, but they don't have anything better. Like, where are we at, Jack? I really didn't know how to react to that. I saw that news in my first thought. I was like, good, screw Jake. He stinks. I don't need to see him.

And then I'm like, wait. Is it me, Cole Irvin's pitching? What do we do? What do we do? That was after he said he's going to put a dent in Todd Frazier's skull. He did say that. He did say that. It was a little aggressive.

He was just like, come on, Jake. Relax. A little over the line. I mean, Todd Frazier is such a baby. He's annoying. I can't stand Todd Frazier. I agree. He sucks, but he thinks he's good.

And he's also a cleanup hitter for that team that night, I think, which is embarrassing. They hit him cleanup a lot. It's a really strange lineup. I feel sorry that he stinks. Another thing that was weird about the Mets is that Dom Smith has 14 RBI. Dom Smith? Well, he's batting like 320 or whatever it is it's unbelievable it's like how does he even happen he's eight home runs in 14 rbs how does that even happen it's crazy it's impossible it's weird uh

so the area had a thing after he said he wants to put a dent in john frazier's skull which which so i listened to the whole mets broadcast on the way home it wasn't a fun listen it was it was like it was fun because i went they they were winning. You're talking about the Sunday game Sunday game. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday I drove home

from Vermont. Yes. And there is there are so enraged by the Jake area comments. They're like he needs to be suspended. There's no doubt about

it. People get suspended for that. He was put a dent in his skull. If he did put a dent in his skull, he might get suspended.

Also, they're they're kind of roasting Frazier at the same time because they were like he's like he's like I've been hit byzier at the same time because they were like, he's like, I've been hit by this team all the time. And they're like, nah, it's only three times. It's not that crazy. And what was the change up?

Do you really think? Well, that's the point. It's like, that's the thing. It's like, get as mad as you want, but he clearly wasn't intending to hit you, man. Like, that was not the point. If he's going to hit you, he's going to hit you with a fastball. It was a one-two change up.

Yeah, what are we talking about? He had deepened the count. He had beaten the count. Like, it was so silly. I thought it was so silly the way fraser was so peak macho baseball exactly what it was 98 all over again they don't forget anything like the baseball players for whatever they don't forget a thing like the fact that todd fraser yeah i've been hit this many times like i need to i'm pissed off by that it's like you've been hit only three times relax but they don't forget uh but arietta yeah i was kind of same way i was like oh like cool but then i realized

there's no one left that's it like we were joking about trading arietta deadline well guess what if you trade arietta deadline or whatever like do whatever with jake arietta you're not putting us in there like you're putting cole irvin you're putting the rangers for us unless like they need i i hope the move is to bring on damon jones like damon jones has a 0.83 era in redding and i know he will throw hard and has a wicked slider that's all i know i will i will take that a lot more than you can say he strikes a ton of guys to the 0.83 83 era at redding obviously a different ball like the ball in redding and then going to the ball at lehigh valley is a different story but like i just want someone that at least has some kind of upside because i know cole irvin doesn't and i know rangers waris doesn't like i

just and we know jared eickhoff doesn't and we know all the guys we've seen and we know aniel de los santos doesn't he's a bullpen piece yes and needs to learn splitter like yesterday um but yeah like damon jones just let's see what he got let's see what he has how could it be any worse we're at the point where I'll try anything when it comes to starting pitchers in the Philadelphia Phillies right now. Look, it looks like Arrieta will probably pitch through it. It'll probably be the same Jake Arrieta we've seen.

Judging by Saturday. He's got like a six-something ERA over his last 10 starts or whatever. Great. It's awesome, man. He's so cooked. You have the bone spurs. He's so done. He's just done. You have the bone spurs and you have the knee last year uh and remember how excited we

were at the knee we're like oh oh that was it he'll be better yeah he had the knee how could you pitch with a knee like that could you ever do that come on i know no not the case he's just cooked he's just cooked and he like watching him, I feel like in his head, he's like, how is this happening? He looks like a guy. He's like, why can't I throw as hard as I used to? What's happening? He's throwing as hard as he is. Why does it move?

Why does it move like he used to? Yeah, exactly. It's the absolute problem there. But with this pitching staff right now, like, Eflin's taking a step back. Yeah, no question. I want to get into Eflin a little bit because, like, it looks different than what was going on. We're going to go through each guy but like it the staff but here's the thing is i think that if they get one solid starter just just give me one so if you have two guys over the five day

road if you have nola guy you're like okay right because if you have a solid two with nola obviously being back to nola nola looks great nola's back to being Nola. And then, listen, if you can bump down the Pavettas of the world and let him be like your 4-5, everyone's melting down about Pavetta. Pavetta's melting down about Pavetta, Jack. He sure is. He's not handling it great. Did you hear his comments after the game? No, what did he say?

He was like, I made two bad pitches. No! You know that in his head, the ball glancing off Swanson's hand and that double play that would happen there, that was it. The moment that happened, everything else was not on him. Well, what was funny is

in that game too, I think it was that inning when everything melted down, was he had what he thought was a strikeout and he got the ball back and stood on the mound, behind the mound for like 10 seconds. And I was like, well,

there it is. And then it's a three on home run. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But if you can have Pivetta, if you can have Eflin and Pivetta bump down one more spot, make him lower on the rotation, bring in like a solid two, I just, the bullpen's getting healthier. The offense has turned a corner, I think. So I don't think it's as bad.

I think this is the worst behind us. Wow, some positivity from Fritz. Listen, anytime you can take two or three from the Mets, I feel pretty good. That's all they do is beat the Mets. They don't beat anyone else. Remember when the Mets owned us? Of course, for years. For the last five years. Years. Like years of the Mets. I know, but we're back.

We're back. No, I really do think that. You sound positive. You're way more positive Than I am I look at this team And I'm like What's there to be excited About right now The offense

Yeah I hope so man The offense I hope so I don't know I feel good about Where they're at As a team

And I think they're One move away From being At least In the wild card mix See I feel like There's so many holes On this team

Right and bench bat Well look They're in the wild card mix Right now They are a wild card team Right now And I look at the other teams In the See, I feel like there's so many holes on this team. Right, and BenchBet. Well, look, they're in the wildcard mix right now. They are a wildcard team right now. And I look at the other teams in the NL, I'm like, I don't know. I don't think any of them are that good. Fair. There's a lot of holes on these teams. Like, the Cubs are thinking about blowing it up. They're in first place in the NL Central.

I know. They're talking about, like, potentially trading Hamels and stuff. What is happening right now? Well, Theo. How many times? Yeah, the Brewers are a mess right now. Which is weird. Everyone in the NL West will fall off. It will only be the Dodgers.

They're already starting to fall off. The Diamondbacks, the Padres, they don't matter. Right. The Rockies? Oh, I forgot about the Rockies. So I think it's a five-team race for two spots. I think it's the Nationals, the Phillies, the Rockies, the Brewers or Cubs whoever falls back there the Cardinals

that's the teams that I would say and the Cardinals are 500 but they're I think talented enough I don't believe in the Pirates

I don't believe in again the Diamondbacks the Padres I think it's a five teams for two spots are the Phillies one of those five teams maybe

and here's the question is it worth it so like if they get to the deadline well that's the philosophical question that's what it comes down to. Because even if you beat whoever in the wildcard game, you're facing the

Dodgers in the five game series. You're losing. Is it worth really investing a lot in this team? Well, that's the point. It's a balancing act. It's how much is it worth investing because I think you and I both agree that just basically, on a basic level, making the playoffs is worth it. That's a big deal for this franchise. And it can

get you jump-started and getting these guys this kind of experience. Getting all the playoffs is worth it. That's a big deal for this franchise. And it can get you jump-started and getting these guys this kind of experience. Getting all the playoffs started. Like, get the 07 to 08. We talk about that all the time, but that mattered. Losing to the Rockies in that series mattered. Getting over that finish line, finally being a playoff team did matter to that squad. So, I do think it matters, but

you're not selling your top three prospects to try and beat the Dodgers. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Very unlikely to happen. And it's baseball, but I think baseball Right, that's why I said, that's why I changed it. Not going to happen. Very unlikely to happen. But baseball has just changed so much to where the teams are so, so deep and so top heavy now

to where it's like, like Ross Stripling would be our second best starter. Easily. He's their fill-in guy. He's like, oh, Rich Hogan on the IL. Bring in Ross Stripling. And then if he gets hurt, bring in Julio Urias. It's unbelievable.

Julio Urias should be the second best starter in the Phillies right now. Yeah, we would be super excited, too. What are we talking about? I know. So, yeah. So baseball's changing that aspect. Yeah, you could say that.

I think. I think just the top teams are so much cheaper than the other teams. But I think staying in it and going on a run and getting that wild card spot and whatever happens, happens. They can do both here. We can accept that a lot of things have gone wrong for this team this year. The injuries have hurt.

Offenses and consistencies. It's Harper's first year, so we'll give him a little bit of a break, even though I think he's starting to round into form now. It's a balancing act between if you want to give up a little bit of a break, even though I think he's starting to round into form now. It's a balancing act between, if you want to give up a Keele May type prospect for an Astruble, although hopefully, they talked a lot about how the players last year that were brought in weren't the best locker room, the clubhouse guys, not that they're bad guys,

but this year they're really vetting the process. Which is Jay Bruce is the opposite type of guy. And Brad Miller. Yeah, and Brad Miller too. Look, Bamu Brad, the whole thing. But Jay Bruce has talked a lot about that, a lot about being someone who can come in and kind of fill a leadership void,

fill a veteran presence type of void. And I think he's been a great addition from that perspective. Not even mentioning, obviously, the best player in Philly's history. Not even mentioning the 10 home runs. Yeah, I'm just talking strictly off the field. That's all I'm talking about. He's only here for clubhouse purpose.

Yeah, that's all I needed. We don't even care if he's... Veteran leadership guy. Yeah, a bunch just talking strictly off the field. That's all I'm talking about. He's only here for clubhouse purpose. Yeah, that's all I need. We don't even care if he is. Veteran leadership guy. Yeah, a bunch of veteran leadership guys. So I just understand there's a lot of doom and gloom and whatever, but I just think this team is starting to get better. Obviously, the pitching staff is a freaking disaster, but I think they're getting healthier.

I think the bullpen is getting healthier. I think they're getting closer to. Such positivity here. Listen, man, when you hike a lot. I'm loving this. When you're drinking heady topper and hiking in vermont better you don't even have a phone i don't have a phone right now your phone got destroyed in a rainstorm that's why this is happening right now i'm so i'm so level-headed

because i haven't had my phone that i i did i drive in eight hours yesterday that should have been a six-hour trip turned into an eight-hour trip because i'm driving through new york yes oh am i driving crazy yeah a little bit crazy um but but but you drove through new york yeah to get home yeah why i don't know it's how the gf gps said to go just check it out see what's going on i like it i want to make sure the strongest signal for the phil's mets game that's good work right there look at you think about that um good work yeah so like and speaking of vermont like i was so i was up in vermont the last whatever four days or whatever um for you we get it and i listen i think i deserve a few days oh yeah i'm very tired um me too always every second of every day but

when you're out there when you're hiking or whatnot through whatever jackie outdoorsman listen people forget that i was a life scout what one below eagle scout i think is that a real thing yeah a life scout well all right so there's eagle scout i had no idea that life you know what eagle scout is yes i've heard of it yeah i've heard of it so i was one below that i didn't finish it what how are we however many episodes we are in the house podcast i never knew this. Yeah. I'm a life scout. So you're like a high level boy scout.

Yes. A very high level boy scout. Oh my God. That is a revelation. I had two years to finish my Eagle Scout project. So if we get lost in the forest, you can like keep us alive and stuff? Pretty good at it. Like build a fire, do all that kind of stuff? I hiked 101 miles in New Mexico when I was in ninth grade.

This guy. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Jackie Outdoorsman. Jackie Outdoorsman. I'm blown away by this. Yeah. No, it's a real thing. I had no idea. Now I'm in ninth grade. What? This guy? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, Jackie Outdoorsman. Jackie Outdoorsman. I'm blown away by this. Yeah, no, it's a real thing.

I had no idea. Now I'm in horrible shape, and hiking hurts, but while you're out there hiking, you have a lot of time to think. I can see that. I've got a lot of time to think about this, because it's you.

And I feel pretty good. I can tell. I want a little violate. I need a ruling from you. Okay. Is it wrong that, so every night we would go out and we'd sit by like the i'm gonna say it's wrong go ahead okay well you're probably right we would go out and sit by the pool like around the tables around or whatever and everyone's like watching the sunset over the mountaintops. Tell me you had the Phillies on your phone. On my laptop.

I had the Phillies on my laptop. While everyone's trying to enjoy the sunset, there's me clapping and getting excited about the Phillies. I was wrong. That is totally right. That is very right. Thank you. Big fan.

I think we're probably two of the few people who would say that was right, but all in support of that. My wife would have literally killed me in that situation. It's come down to this, is that I really only care about the Phillies. It's gotten to that point where it's- It's like uncomfortable. Yeah. It's like, this is all I care about.

This is all I think about. I just think about the future of this team. It's all I think about. On the trail, I'm wondering what Jill's thinking about. And I'm thinking to myself, what are you thinking about? You're definitely not thinking about the Phill the trail I'm wondering what Jill's thinking about and I'm thinking to myself what are you thinking about you're definitely not thinking about the Phillies I'm only thinking about

I'm thinking about you your life together all the things going on in her world yeah Phillies I'm locked in I love it

that's why we do this maybe that's why I'm positive today very positive yeah because I've mapped it all out in my head at least you didn't let it take you the other way

you could have come in incredibly negative if that walk had not been as uplifting and positive as it. Yeah, no. First of all, walk. Life scout. Please.

Hike. Hike. I was dying. It was like we were hiking. Not surprised. We were hiking at the highest peak in Vermont. Wow. And we were three quarters of the way up and started dumping rain.

And we were like basically walking down waterfalls. It was horrible. Sounds horrible. Was that Mount Washington? Mount Rainier? It was Mount Mansfield. Mount Rainier is in Washington. and started dumping rain and we were like basically walking down waterfalls it was horrible sounds horrible was that mount washington mount rainier it was mount mansfield mount rainier washington or no mount washington is in bar harbor maine okay i don't know where any of these things are i hiked some mountain in maine last year that was really horrible as well i kind of like mountain you know what i do i don't hike mountains yeah well kind of my thing okay so let's let's get back to the fills yeah why don't we talk some bills all right let's

uh let's dive through anything uh just quick thoughts from the weekend or the brave series before we kind of go through some specific players anything else in a macro level that stood out to you from either of those two well let me just say i'm playing hurt today because i don't have my usual notes oh yeah no phone i have nothing to write i know so i feel like i'm lost you look jacked right now no no pun intended ripped yeah no i'm excited i'm looking like i'm in shape excited don't show me your mod stop it stop it i'm in shape jack just took me to the gun show there's nothing much there um uh i want to talk about effflin because he's obviously taken a pretty big step back

he looked awful in that break that was one of those games where they spotted him four runs and he was like eh whatever I think he's got to a point where he's rushing a little bit to the plate so what made Eflin really good

his first two months of the season was he was getting to his balance point, and then he was really fully balanced and ready and then delivering his pitches. And now he's not getting to a full balance point. He's kind of just turning and going. And I think that's taken some of the zip off his pitches. He's also getting – I just think teams have figured out Zach Eflin.

Oh, great. That's what we want to hear want to hear it wasn't that complicated of a plan i mean it was fastballs up and whatever um and now with his fastballs up instead of missing up and out of the zone with his fastballs he's missing down and when he when he's bad yeah when you don't want to miss down when you're trying to go up and you miss like down that ball's getting smoked barrels yeah barrels for life. And that's kind of what's happening to Eflin right now. So I think his fastball, instead of missing up and away or up and out of the zone, he's just missing down and he's getting smoked for it. His fastball location is just way off.

There's a couple times in that Braves game, I went back and watched, where the Real Amido was set up on the outside corner and it was just trending over the middle of the plate and getting smoked. Also, I think for Eflin to really – think i think efflin's a really good pitcher i think he's going to get better and i i don't i think right now it's kind of a blip in the efflin radar but i would love for him to go and work with um kyle yeagers one of the the driveline guys so he was he was brought in by the phillies to be a pitch designer and i just think that efflin he needs to design a slider that can actually get swings and misses because he's not getting any swings and misses on anything right now like his

the strikeouts have gone down in every single start last four starts and i just think that teams are just have just started to barrel him up and when he's not when he's not having pinpoint fastball control um or command like. His slider just looks so flat, and he doesn't have anything else to counteract. Even what makes Nola so special is when his fastball is off, a little bit off, he still has a changeup, still has a curveball to come back with. When Eflin's fastball command and control is off,

he has nothing to combat that with. He doesn't have a dominant slider that he can throw in any count whenever he wants. I think there's a path to him developing a really good slider. I think he needs to get uh with jaegers and and design a new slider what does design a slider mean like you know how like so sometimes it's really just a grip change but like so what they do what they do with driveline what they do with the phillies minor league system and all over baseball is they have these rapsodo cameras where they can hook up and see the spin of your slider so or whatever pitch you want really they hook it up and you throw it into a net and it'll track how much rpms it has the spin rate off of it so if you mess around with

one grip and it spins more and more they just try to emphasize that grip and so it's basically it's designing messing around with grips and finding what works right and but they're they're actually able to track it rather than actually using technology to find out what works yeah so like you'll use a rhapsody camera and if it's spinning like if if one slider grip gets 20 2500 rpms and the next one gets 2700 rpms they'll they'll use that slider grip and perfect that pitch kyle yeager is a strong name yeah it's a good well it's a good name what's funny is that is that when i was coming up there was this thing called jaeger bands which were all about like the they're like the first bands of resistance and yeah and i thought they're related they're not related not yeah not at all no no so still a good name yeah no it's

really strong name and i just think that eflin i think the eflin's going to be a really good pitcher um but he needs some kind of secondary pitch you can get him back into competitive counts and use that 95 mile an hour fastball and i think if he works on designing a slider that can get swings and misses i think there's a path to him being a really really solid three or four it is amazing when you watch other teams whether it be against phillies or the package uh how many people throw hard now yeah it's because you watch the phillies you don't notice it as much and then you watch every other time. Like that dude Bryce Wilson

who's not even that good a pitcher. Oh, I know. Just pumping 97 and they're like boom, boom, boom. Like nonstop. Like where are our guys who throw 97, 98?

Well, it's so funny because we call Vinny Velasquez Vinny Velo. The guy throws 93. He's not a Velasquez. Yeah, exactly. He's not even Bryce Wilson. Dude, Tommy Hunter

throws harder than Vince Velasquez. That's what I'm saying. Where are the hard-throwing guys? It's so funny. And the Bryce Wilson, that game was so frustrating because he was literally. Maleska. That's what I'm saying. Where are the hard-throwing guys? It's so funny. And the Bryce Wilson, that game was so frustrating

because he was literally off-bats. Just all fastballs. And they're all like 97, 98. Boom, boom, boom, boom. It's like, why

can't they hit this? What is happening right now? I know. Listen, it's so frustrating. They need, they have to be able to

find guys with VLO and I think they're starting to get there with guys like Damon Jones and some of the draft picks. We talked about the last draft.

A little more emphasis on it. Like, oh my god. Obviously the Futures game is the best all-star event oh it's the best it's not even close how how amazing the features game is better than the all-star game and then you see these guys of these other teams and it's like everyone like matt manning and he wasn't very good last night i'm still like no i'm only a quarter of the way through it so i'm working away through the future so i'll get there okay okay i saw debbie garcia i mean all these guys it's just the talent is is overwhelming it's crazy and overwhelming listen very happy booms there or bomb i think it's actually bomb

but i like bone better it's a bomber yeah bummer i like it so better than bomber it's way better um but but like i was i'm happy the bones there, and he played well. But there's just so much crazy talent that the Phillies, I feel like, are just missing out on. So while I'm overall positive about the Phillies major league team and how they're rounding the form, man, am I frustrated with the whole organization top to bottom. Lack of high-end talent. That's for sure.

That is for sure. It's so annoying. Like Wander Franco leading off for the AL squad it's like that dude they just went and found that kid he's the best prospect in baseball now

not even close oh who come on the race of course right why wouldn't it be the race Chaim Bloom

go find that guy I love Chaim Bloom give me Chaim Bloom is that how you say it Chaim Chaim Bloom from here by the way is he really

yeah Philly guy should make it that easy. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Come home, Chaim! Klintak. Come home! We are monitoring them at Klintak department.

Oh, man. We are a few weeks away from full-on assault. Yeah. Klintak has taken quite the nosedive in terms of public perception. Yes. From the offseason to now. Well, when you've seen their pitching decisions they've made in the last year and a half, or ever since the Arrieta signing.

It's hard to blame them. I see where a lot of people are coming from. Speaking of pitching decisions, Nick. Nick? Nick. Not aware. Who are we talking about? Again, not great

two three run homers are what did him in but he'll just settle so he'll suck and then he'll settle in and he'll look lights out and then he'll just have

a bad inning and then the whole start is lost he's so close to being he is though I know that's what I'm saying

he like like 85% 90% of his starts are great it's that 10 that ends up making them awful it's it's really crazy it's uh it's great and he is he is your classic like this guy's too good to give away because too much talent you see everything there but also like holy crap are you so frustrating to follow and root for at the same time drives you crazy and it's the it's the mental stuff it's just like dude come on stop just stop what you're doing just be tougher just grow up yeah but he's 26 i don't know if he's ever i think this is

probably who he is it's the problem though he still needs to grow up yeah act like a man can't do it i know he can't do it but this the thing is is that true jack fritz he's it's a lot jack fritz that's why i love him so much but like he's he's so close to being good it's just it's frustrating when he he allows the three runs which is fine like that's fine if it's your your four or five guy and then it happens again and you see it happening coming from a mile away and like that was his best that was for the first first five innings of that start or whatever until it started blowing up I was like

this looks like the guy that we saw when he came back from the minor leagues like he was aggressive and pumping fastballs and whatnot but then it just all

reverted back to classic pathetic and it was it was just like it's so simple it's just like one thing goes wrong and it just

it's like triggers the whole thing pulling a thread and then it just all falls apart I know he's like Jeff George man Jeff George yes not quite as talented not as quite but i mean this happens all the time i mean this happens all the time with super talented pitchers that never able to figure it out um it's frustrating that

this is happening right in front of our eyes but listen you can't take him out of the rotation because he's there the upside is there of him being really good um you just like to see the consistency and unfortunately it's not there yeah yeah consistency, and unfortunately, it's not there. Yeah, you could say that, Jack. It is not there. No, it's not. All right, Mets series. What stands out to you?

Obviously, they went 2-3. That Arrieta start is just infuriating, man. They should have won that game. Yeah. They should have won that game. They should have been sweet. Spotted him a 4-0 lead, too. Right?

Yeah. Yeah, I think so. It was off Syndergaard. Yeah. Fraud. Fraud. Syndergaard, I think Noah Syndergaard is the biggest waste of talent in baseball. Wow.

That's a bold statement. He's such a waste. Like, he's 98 with a 91-mile-an-hour changeup. I mean, he's got the best fastball in baseball, or at least the hardest average fastball in the last year in all baseball. Yeah, but he gets smoked. Yeah? Imagine Pavetta, but on steroids.

Literally and figuratively? That's Noah Syndergaard. I would be so infuriated if I was a Mets fan with that dude. It's like, man, you could be way better than the Negron. He's way more talented than the Negron. Just pure talent. He's just more talented.

Negron's a thousand times better than he is. Because I'm close. I can't believe they won the Negron start. I mean, it's a thousand times better than he is. A thousand times better. He's not even close. I can't believe they won the DeGrom start. I mean, it's DeGrom versus Velasquez, right? I would have bet my life they weren't going to win that. I mean, poor Zoe. She can't go to college now, right? Because you lost all of your money.

You put her college fund on the Mets that night. On DeGrom, yeah. It's a shame. It's a real shame. Impressive late in the game. Yeah, they win it in the ninth. I mean, a five- run ninth or whatever real needle doubled all Jay Bruce does is get big

hits this guy Bryce Harper big double yeah I just I really now that Bryce is kind of settled in and it's not like the striking out all the time I just love watching that guy play and I know people are so frustrated with some of the base running stuff I'll take over aggressive instead of under.

I will too. He gets thrown out a lot though. He does. It's almost unbelievable. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. But I do think someone that does, like if he gets on second base yesterday on the Cano play,

I think that kind of sets the tone for the rest of the game of like, that's our superstar doing that. I think it kind of sets the tone for the entire team. I like it more than not. If I have to choose aggressive and get thrown out more not aggressive get thrown out less i'll take the aggressiveness it is shocking how much it's it's hard to it's like oh well rice got thrown out again yeah it's almost like it's almost like he has absolutely no base running instincts like it's is he so used to only hitting dingers i think it's just he goes like it doesn't

matter whether he should or he shouldn't he's running i think he's so to only hitting dingers growing up? I think it's just he goes. It doesn't matter whether he should or he shouldn't. He's running. I think he's so used to hitting dingers as a kid that he's like, what is this base running stuff? That's weird. I've never had to do this before. I've never had to do this before. I just trot.

That's what I do. I just have dominated my entire life. He does hustle. He does hustle. And he's been great defensively, too. We haven't talked about it a lot, but I feel like every night he's making plays out there defensively. he's been a really good right fielder for them and you know what we haven't talked about in a while cesar's defense like cesar's fine it's he's been fine he's been

that was just one of those weird like three week blips where all of a sudden a guy forgets what he's doing it was crazy um like that maybe i'm maybe i'm more positive on the team because i think everything outside of the starting staff, I think, is all coming together. Even the defense. Kingery's played a really good center field. Yes. Really good.

Shockingly good. Instincts. Knows where to be. Talk about a guy that's just an athlete. Talk about a guy who we would be lost without this season. Oh, my God. We were not counting on Scott Kingery for anything this year. Jay Bruce has been fine in left field. Mikey can get really good on balls

right at him. Hey, Mikey, I mean, he makes those plays. I'll give it to him. Like, he does,

as long as he doesn't have to go side to side, he'll make the play. No, a tractor trailer can get thrown. Yes. But hey, he makes some nice plays.

Yeah, when they're right at him, he nails it, man. Yeah, he's got an arm. He can throw. Yeah, so.

And Jay Bruce has been a much better defensive left fielder than, and not good. We'll still remember that Braves game. Don't get me wrong. But he has been much better than I expected. He's competent, it feels like, in left field. Yeah, he's barely even played left field most of his life. Yeah, that's a good point.

I forgot about that. That's a good part of it. So, yeah, I mean, it's really nice having Tommy Hunter back. I mean, thank God. He would have thunk it. I know, but I mean, it's really nice having Tommy Hunter back. I mean, thank God. Who'd have thunk it? I know, but he looks better than last year, though. He does. At least in the four innings he's pitched or whatever.

He's been really good. Yeah. Like, legit. Like, striking guys out. Like, stuff. Got stuff going. Yeah, I mean, if you have Morgan, Hunter, Neres, that's solid. It's something.

It's solid. And then if Robertson, supposedly, he's throwing live Thursday. Okay. So if he throws live Thursday and it's fine. It's something. It's solid. And then if you get, if Robertson supposedly he's throwing, he's throwing live Thursday. Okay. So if he throws live Thursday and it's fine, I'll take it. So you're at the point where you're just taking whatever you can get. I'll take whatever I can get. Dude,

how many more times I've seen Edgar Garcia's pitch in the seventh inning, JD Hammer in the eighth inning. This is my go-to high leverage guys. I don't need that anymore. I know, but it's all, it's all getting there. So, all right.

So to sum up, you feel really good about where the offense is and is heading. Yeah. You feel good somehow about the bullpen coming together. I feel good about the future of the bullpen. I don't feel good about the current bullpen. Okay, fair. And then the starting pitching is the issue. All right, so let's get into the whole trade deadline thing coming up

because that's a big talking point right now, as we know. What should they do? How should they approach this? And look, I think the first seven games back here, three against the Nats, four against the Dodgers, will play a role. Oh my God, yeah. It has to.

If they go two and five in those games, you're not breaking the bank to go out and get guys, nor should you. It's going to be hard for Middleton to swallow. He spent a lot of money this offseason, last offseason to bring in guys, but if you go 2-7 and you're fighting

for a second wildcard spot to hopefully win and play the Dodgers in a five-game series, that's just dumb. It's malpractice to go all-in. It's very dumb. But, I mean, owners... They probably shouldn't go all-in-game series, that's just dumb. It's malpractice to go all-in. Yeah, it's very dumb. But, I mean, owners— I mean, they probably shouldn't go all-in no matter what, where they're at. No, they shouldn't go all-in no matter what.

And here's the thing is, even if they sell, what do they really have to sell? Well, yeah, we talked about that. I mean, like, Jay Bruce, and why would you sell him? He's got no money on the contract the Phillies are paying. It's almost like there's not a ton of upside to what you're going to get for him. Cesar, maybe.

I mean... Just let Kingery play second base and whatever. Yeah, but they don't have guys to sell. This is not a team built with pieces that you can just cut off. I mean, Romulo, if you really wanted to sell, you'd probably trade Romulo. The RealMuto thing, I think, is super interesting.

So I thought a lot about the RealMuto trade on my hikes. And if I can get, if I can, I think there's a path to a JT Real Muto for Kyle Sucker trade. And I think the Astros would do it because I think they probably wouldn't do it in the offseason. They do it to go for the World Series. To go for the World Series. Like, dude, going from Robbins and Torino, who I think is fine. Yeah, to Real Muto, it's a massive upgrade. Massive.

And they don't really need Kyle Sucker? No, they just brought up Jordan Donald friggin' Alvarez. They don't need anybody. It's unbelievable. And he's going to be the Josh Raddick replacement if they do keep him. But I just think that... Kyle Tucker's a good hitter. Kyle Tucker's a really good hitter.

He's a good hitter. So I almost... If that's possible, and they go two and five... Can you imagine? But here's the thing. Here's the thing. A team would have a year and a half left of Romito. The Phillies have not signed to an extension yet.

And truth is, he's going to be a 30-year-old catcher. It's a very fair point, especially from at least what we've seen from him this year. The vast majority of his value comes from playing catcher. Yeah. Well, he's the best defensive catcher in baseball. Yeah. Calling a game all that stuff, but offensively, he hasn't even been close to the best offensive catcher in baseball this year

right much less an offensive player at other positions where if you're talking about 31 32 33 long-term deal what position is he playing

right I mean you can't put him at first because you have Hoskins at first or if you want to put Bryce at first base eventually like whatever DH comes in actually

and look JT Romero is not a good enough hitter to DH do you want your DH Hoskins and play first base I guess do you want your DH? DH Hoskins. I haven't played first base, I guess. Do you want your DH?

Well, actually, Hoskins is a pretty brutal first base. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying if in that situation, you could move Romero to first and sure. But then you're losing all the value in Romero. And you're going to have to pay him now as a catcher for all those years. You're talking like, what, mid-20s a year or something like that. A million dollars. It's not going to be a cheap contract. 20 plus million dollars a year i think three i feel like three for 60

would get close sure i think that's fair that's the right five years at least yeah five years from now um because you have this year next year and then three on top of that that'll pay until he's 30 you probably have to bump him in the years now too yeah so if you if you i don't want to give away jt ramito because i think you want to you want to compete next year i'm not saying i want them to trade jt ramito but i think it's the smart thing to do if they fall out of it and i like catcher is a position that like it's nice it's like a luxury position like it's not something you absolutely need um and obviously jt ramito is definitely a luxury but if you can get a guy like kyle sucker or if you can get alex verdugo like from the alex verdugo i don't know why you could get him though he's such a big piece of what they're doing yeah but if if and they like

will smith long term like not for right now but they believe in that guy if there's if there's a pact with alex verdugo i would bring me alex verdugo please yes i'd rather have kyle sucker but okay um but i just think that i'm very different players verdugo and yeah tiger i wouldn't hate the idea of seeing what you can get out of a jtrl meet and trade i don't want to give him away because i do think he's a really good catcher and i think you want to compete next year yes and if you don't have him then it's like debbie gruyan and andrew knapp as your battery oh stop what are you trying to do to me i don't know don't do that but i i don't hate the idea of seeing if you can get a legit prospect for the future.

Well, it has to be a Kyle Tucker type prospect. It has to be a no doubt about it. This guy is going to come up and hit. Kyle Tucker could hit right now. If the Astros had a spot for Kyle Tucker, he'd be hitting in the major leagues. Correct. So I would like to see that. And hey, hey, Matt, if you decide to move jt

romito enough with the casting the wide net thing and bring us a stud like that was so frustrating with like the i know clemsack wasn't here but the hamels thing it was like instead of just going for the good player or for the yeah instead of getting nomar mazara who oh wow turns out he's a really good player he'd be nice to have on your. They went for a crop of players rather than one actually really good player. So if you do... That trade in hindsight looks so horrendous when you really play it out now. Yeah, it's a horrible trade.

The best players with the Marlins. Yes, and the other best are Nick Williams and Jared Eikhoff. How about it, man? Yeah. How about it? And the one who's in Korea right now. Oh, God.

Yeah. Matt Harrison, what happened to him yeah well whatever what can you do so alec asher but other than that like do you move naris they could they could sell naris if they want look and this is all very very circ or you know uh hypothetical in the sense that i don't think i think the ph Phillies would have to really be out of it to sell. I think that what you alluded to before, that John Middleton didn't go out and do all this in the offseason for his team to sell off parts at the trade deadline. I think they really need

to start to break two and eight or something. They need to be four plus games out of the second wild card, I think for them to sell. Yes, probably. Which is, I can't believe we're sell. Yes, probably. And I think it's unlikely that app. I think ultimately the most likely scenario come July 31st is what we saw last season.

It's these kind of filler, you know, Band-Aid type moves. Or maybe it's Matthew Boyd and you're looking to the future too, or those types of moves where you're getting, and I don't think it will be, I'm just saying maybe it's, all right, we're going to get a guy too, or those types of moves where you're getting. And I don't think it will be. I'm just saying maybe it's all right. We're going to get a guy we think can help us, you know, make a fun little run this year.

But then next year when we're really going for it will be a main piece of that team. It has to be someone who's here for more than a year. Minor. Yeah. Minor or that type of deal. If they make a major move, if they make a Texas Rangers are game and a half out. Yeah, but they're going to. I agree.

Likely. But they're a game and a half out. They're but they're going to sell. I agree, likely, but they're a game and a half out. They're in it. They just are. Yeah. I know. They're best players. They're best players.

I'm with you. Look, I'm with you. I wouldn't be in it on the Rangers, but they're in it right now. It's tough. It's rare that you see teams, even if they know better, that when they are that close and in it, that will just say, nah, we're selling because this is not our year. It's rare.

It's really rare. Yeah. I want to see Klintzak get creative. I want to see something that's interesting, an interesting move that has theoretical upside in it. Every Klintzak move, for the most part, outside of Brad Miller and maybe Jay Bruce, most of Jay Bruce is pretty obvious he fills the left handed

bat need and whatever and that was such a sweetheart deal that it's like we'll pay all of it like who's not gonna make that deal yeah I wanna see

Klintac you know make a not obvious move to help this team I just wanna see I wanna see something from Matt Klintac some ingenuity yeah

from Matt Klintac anyone can pay $330 million for Bryce Harper true anyone can trade their top prospect for JT Romito. I want to see him get creative

and get smart and make a move that's like, wow, look at Klintak, that you can feed off the trolls with. Hey, do you see this move Klintak made? Look, again, I agree with you, it was obvious, but the Jay Bruce trade was a great trade.

The Gene Ziegler trade was a great trade. A very good trade. Maybe a good trade. Well, yeah. I mean, like, look, Santana being an all-star is, you know, it's been a clean up in the all-star game. Have you seen JP Crawford? He's been good.

He's been solid. Yeah. It's an okay trade. You're starting to go the other way. I still think it was a good trade. It was a good trade. If JP Crawford turns into a superstar. Which he won't. I don't think he will either. I think he'll be a good trade. It was a good trade. If JP Crawford turns into a superstar. Which he won't.

I don't think he will either. I think he'll be a good player. Fine player. You're, you're. It was an okay trade. So it is. Look again. It is crazy.

I think that's really the craziest thing for me right now as we sit the all-star break is how we went from King Klentak to is Klentak the guy in a half a season? I think he's made obvious moves since he's been a GM. And he's given out a lot of money to guys who may not be worth that kind of money. Well, some definitely are not.

Jake Arrieta is certainly not worth it. The idea that he's on the books again next year is just a killer, man. He should just retire. Please. Can we start a retire campaign? They're timing fun. Give us our money back,

Jake. No, it's not going to happen. No, it's too good. No, he'll go pitch with bone spurs, whatever he's going to do.

It's again, and I, I'm not going to rip him for that. Like I do. I appreciate that. He's trying like that. He wants to go pitch with an issue. Like,

it's not like he's a, it's, it'd be if, if this were the last year year of his deal if this were a walk year and um i don't know if he would do that um you know i mean i'm i'm uh excuse me i think he would do that the idea of going out to pitch with the bone spurs and pitch through it in not a walk year is commendable in a way. I just hate Jake Arrieta. I'm so done with this guy. I got nothing good to say about him.

I can't even try and say, like, he's tough, man. He's going out and giving us innings. I hate him. Not even an innings eater at this point. No, well, he is. He's just brutal. I don't even like the way he stands. Like, I hate the way he stands. His ass in the air, does the arm thing. I hate it. Everything he does. I can't even like the way he stands. Like, I hate the way he stands. His ass in the air, does the arm thing.

I hate it. Everything he does. I can't stand the guy, Jack. Wow. This is sad. I know. He's going to put a dent in my skull if he hears about this. I got to be careful.

The Mets broadcast will be very handy. He's apparently a psycho who's going on and denting people's skulls. What can you do? I don't know. I don't know. All right. What else do I have on my list here? I don't think I think we got through.

Oh, oh, oh. Oh, Dooble. See you, buddy. Yeah. Peace. Yeah, I'm good. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Don't need to see him anymore.

Fella. Yeah. Never again. 85 games. It is pretty interesting that Major League Baseball is finally starting to slam down. Are you kidding me? Addison Russell got 40 games. It should have been a year.

Yeah, Addison Russell is disgusting. He should have got way more than 40 games. Of course he should have. And at least it's about time Major League Baseball figured it out. Agreed. Also, there's no downside to it. No. Exactly.

Just send them. It's not that big of a deal. Everyone's going to applaud it. We're all good with it. I'm all good. I don't want to see a double anymore. And you never will. No. They'll flip in this offseason or whatever or whatever all right so we had that discussion in the midday show today i who's trading for a duper rare like the pirates that was such a confident answer pirates you think so yeah

they they can't take on they have no they they need good players for cheap contracts yes and oduble is that he He's an okay player. Okay player on a cheap contract. Yes. On a good contract. Yes. Look, the Phillies have to eat all 17 million,

I would assume, of it to get any, I mean, they'll give them away is the point. You're either eating the 17 million and getting like a B-level prospect back or you're eating none of it and he's free.

Just take him. Yeah. Like, so either way. And again, I think even if you do eat double contract, I just don't know who's banging down your door for a doable, like no one,

no one, but maybe the pirates, the pirates, Neil Huntington calling him up. Yeah, I could see that. I I'm good. I don't,

I don't want to see him anymore. I'm just done with a doable. Just done. All right. That's all I got my notes. What else you got? Um, listen,

there's a prospect in triple a that has hidden 25 straight games. Ooh, the Phillies I got in my notes. What else you got? Listen, there's a prospect in AAA that has hidden 25 straight games that the Phillies should definitely call up. Ever heard of him? His name is Nick Williams. Why haven't they given this guy a shot yet? Left-handed pop off the bench. 25 straight games is serious. He set the Lehigh Valley record.

Did he? Yeah. How about that? Bring him back. Confirm. Nick Williams, quad. Did he? Yeah. How about that? Yeah. Bring him back. Confirm. Nick Williams, quad A player. We found out. It's good to know. I do. I am very interested to see what they get for him in a trade. He does. I know you're...

He's been banging the drum for the Nick Williams trade. Because I think they can... And forever I have said they're getting nothing in a Nick Williams trade. They will. What do you think? Give me a hard-throwing bullpen piece. You think they'd get that from Nick Williams? A guy who struggled his whole life.

I want them to trade Nick Williams for a guy that has been horrible his whole life, but is a flyer. Like Austin Adams. Like Austin Adams. I would trade him right now for Austin Adams. I know you would. I would too. I'd trade him for Austin. He's going to get traded for something. I'd trade him for now for Austin Adams. I know you would. I would too. For a second. I'd trade him for Austin. He's going to get traded for something. I'd trade him for some dude named Austin who doesn't play baseball.

Some teams are going to take a shot on him. I'm telling you some teams are going to take a shot on him. He has trade value. Okay. You heard it here first. I did. Mark it down. Okay.

He's got trade value. What else? Anything else in the mail? I know you don't have the normal mail take bag today because you got the uh oh phone issue oh is your phone still in rice by the way no i took the apple store today it's completely fried i gotta buy a new one oh no really a lot of fun oh nobody so can you get anything off of it or anything no it's all backed up you back it up okay like yeah a little while ago i backed it okay good oh that was almost a real sad sad story jack yeah how you doing without the phone you getting by

you okay i mean i have i messaged on my computer i'm it's it's a little frustrating though like i'm thinking about you yeah thank you um and you're in our prayers my thought before final thoughts is that i kind of wonder if Chris Young is fostering a non-aggressive philosophy with this pitching staff. So I was thinking about this when I was watching every starter, this last little bit here. They're so not aggressive and they try to be cute on, I i feel like in any count like they'll get to it and i think it's smart pitching in a way like pitching backwards and whatnot but i think it almost comes too much like too much trying to pitch backwards where they get into a 2-1 count

and they'll throw like an off-speed pitch and they'll they don't none of these guys have unbelievable off-speed unless outside of aranola um and pivetta when he feels like it um that they can get back into counts with like a 2-1 and they feel good about what they can throw for a strike or whatnot. And then all of a sudden it becomes like a 3-1 count. And I wonder if Chris Young has fostered this mentality of spinning the ball as often as possible to where it's almost taken away their aggressiveness with their fastballs.

And I wonder, I have a problem with the mentality of let's just nibble around the zone rather than attacking the zone. I agree with you. And really trying. Krantz last year was good at this. And look at the brave starters this year. I was just about to say,

it seems like he's doing a good job down in Atlanta. Right. I'm very worried that Phillies may have picked the wrong guy. May have picked the wrong guy. Phillies might have picked the wrong guy. And everything I've heard about Chris Young, it's like he's so, like he's almost all just looking at the hot zones

and the charts and he's not actually watching these guys. He's seeing the things that have happened and they're looking at the charts or whatnot. So I'm a little worried that he's fostered this mentality of let's nibble and let's be cute and maybe he has the right philosophy but the wrong picturesers for it.

I don't want to crush Chris Young too bad because of what he's working with. He's working with a lot of quad A guys and Edgar Garcia and J.D. Hammer and Pavetta, Eflin, Velasquez, all that. He's worked with not great talent but I do wonder if

he's fostered this mentality of non-aggressive, let's be cute, and try to trick guys into getting out. That's not great. No. Yeah. Which is a thought that I had. Well, let's hope it's wrong.

I hope it's wrong, too. Yeah, me too. Big time. All right. Final thought, Frenzy. My final thought is this. And I'm going to play, is this a good play or not? Ooh.

I like this game. 271 average 347 OBP 344 WOBA 112 weighted runs created plus and a slugging percentage of 473. Is that a good player?

I would say it's like an average. It's a good player. It's better than average but it's not like a good player So It's not a player at all That Is The Phillies offense

From June 23rd to now Look at what you did there That's a good offense That's a good Yeah As a full offense It's really good

Right I know I tricked you with the player thing You definitely tricked Because that's a whole different story For the offensive numbers right they have they have the fourth most home runs in baseball during that span from from from june from june 23rd to now and i would say this is around the time when they started focusing more and more on fastballs they have the fourth most home runs in baseball they have the um they have the ninth highest average in baseball red sox are betting 325 during that

span which is absolutely crazy but they have three four like i think those numbers those numbers are that of a top eight ish offense and we've seen it for now about two weeks it's about 15 games i think it's a start of something positive and bryce harper and jt romito are leading that job i I like this. Yeah, you're welcome. Jack, look at you putting us in a good mood for the rest of the day. I love it. I tried to. I will use my final thought to thank everyone

for listening to the Lost Bryce Harper podcast and still showing back up to this one. We'll see. It means a lot to us. If you're there, if you're not, well, that hurts. Yeah, it hurts a lot. Not cool, it's not out yet. It means a lot to us. If you're there. If you're not, well, that hurts. Yeah, it hurts a lot. Not cool.

Not cool. We apologized. All right. Rate and review the podcast. That's how the Lost Price Partner Pod happened. And I'm sure Jack and I, by the time we get close to 1,000, we'll figure out something cool to do, right? Yeah.

We already did High Hopes Night at the Ballpark, so we'll figure out something next. And you also know that whatever promises we make, we are clearly willing to negotiate, as we originally said, $1,000 and change it to $500. Listen, we are negotiable. We're easy. Yeah. We're easy. All right.

High Hopes Night, August 17th. Get your tickets, our pinned tweets. We'll be back on Thursday to talk about... Something. Not games that have happened, but we'll figure it out. JT Romito's all-star appearance. Yes. The amazing JT Romito catching the ninth inning experience.

It's going to be great. Until then, we'll talk to you guys soon. He's Fred Simselzer. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game it's my podcast it's my passion it's a cause

i started more than two years ago and it's now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is another fact so jump aboard the bib express follow and listen to baseball isn't boring presented by wasabi hot cloud storage on the free odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts