High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Everything in Life is 50/50, it’s Either Gonna Happen or it’s Not (Plus Mickey Moniak)

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are joined for the second time by friend of the podcast Mickey Moniak. The guys talk to Mickey about his hot spring, what it was like to finally make it to the bigs, and much more. Plus, James and Jack talk Spring Training and Archie Bradley. 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. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking of the High Ops Podcast. And yeah, I brought the yo out because coming up in a few. Well, I mean, we got Mickey Moniak on the pod, Jack. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Not bring out the yo for Mick, for our guy, like my new favorite Philly?

Let's go, Mick. He is the greatest i do ah we're both swooning so obviously the uh the magic of podcasting um we just recorded with mick yes uh so you'll hear that coming up soon but let me tell you we're both in love with mickey moniak like just a just a dude so in hashtag officially our guy yeah he's our guy he's our guy on the phillies he's our number one guy by the way we never did this but but our other guy is gone so so goodbye barrels i miss you we didn't say an official goodbye to phil gosling but phil is gone we need a guy mickey has filled the spot. Mickey is the official Philly of the IELTS podcast. How about it?

And also, he's the hottest hitter on the planet. So, I mean, it makes sense. Star in the making. Yeah, of course. Star in the making. Yeah. We will get later to who is the official not Philly of the IELTS podcast. We'll get into that.

All right. Before we get to Mick, which we'll get to in a few minutes, and trust me, it's awesome. You definitely want to stay for it. Let's talk a quick catch up with what's been going on in spring training since we last spoke, Jack. What's stuck out to you the most since we spoke the last few times? anything is it i don't know because because in philadelphia um certain people um maybe named harry roseman have gotten in trouble for talking about factories right but jack huh the power pitching factory maybe all this team does is develop hard throwers been saying it for years it is i gotta say, it is hilarious to me that all we did was complain about how the Phillies have no power pitching.

And the guy who, I mean, you said you didn't want it all. I always love Dave Dombrowski. Oh, yeah. He came in here and said, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna get some power arms. And, like, you just see it. I mean, every game, it's just like, oh, here's a guy that throws 97 to 100. came in here and said you know what we're gonna do we're gonna get some power arms and like you just see it i mean every game it's just like oh here's a guy that throws 97 to 100 here's jose

alvarado who is an absolute superstar i mean it's just like a superstar like let's not the only thing jose alvarado has to do is stay healthy like that's it because if he stays healthy he's gonna be awesome well i don't know even why you're allowed to react to any spring training results after last podcast. So I don't want you. It has nothing to do with spring training results. He just looks healthy, Jack. That was my only issue. He looks healthy.

I'm in. Let's go. All right. I just don't want you to get too ahead of yourself and dampening all of our spirits about spring training results. Why are we even talking about it? Well, I don't know. Well, because I'm not even remotely close to being over it but um but yeah no it's just it's just like crazy you sit down you watch every game

and you know for for forever it was like jonathan pettibone coming up 91 miles an hour and like all these guys i don't know why i singled out jonathan pettibone sorry john um you're always you're i'm always thinking about jonathan pettibone and how disappointing he was. But it was like 91, 92, 93. That was the max. And then you met Klintak, who was allergic to guys who threw hard. And now it's just power arms, power arms, power arms. But you know the nice part, James, is that they have a good mix as well.

Like a Tony Watson just coming in in the middle of the game, throwing off people's looks. Brandon Kintzler, who is actually throwing the hardest of his career right now, or harder than last year at least. But he's up to 93 as well. But even that's like softer than most of the bullpen guys. Like it just gives us, you know, a lot of looks for teams to, to, to worry about.

Yeah, no, it, and that's a really good point. And that's actually something that'll come up when we talk with Mickey, but the idea of you do need that change of speed, you do need a different look and look again, like I know I've said it before and I'll say it again, and I'm still not ready to say this bullpen is going to be great or good or or whatever but i do like the idea when you mentioned tony watson when you mentioned brandon kentzer i like the idea that i've actually watched these guys pitch in major league baseball before and i've seen them get big outs i've seen them get saves before like both those guys i've owned on fantasy teams jack

like just having major league pitchers in that pen is like, wow, what a miracle. We've got guys who've gotten outs before. I think it just underlines, because look, I'm really excited about Kinsler. I'm excited about Watson. I'm super excited about Alvarado. Obviously, as a player, excited about Archie Bradley, whatever. I'm excited about the moves that they've made to boost the pen. But it's not like they went out and got a bunch of studs. It's not like they went out and spent a bunch of money to boost the pen but it's not like they went out and and got a bunch of

studs like it's not like they went out and spent a bunch of money to rebuild the pen like it just underlines and underscores just how pathetic and atrocious that bullpen was last year that that the moves they've made are are such big upgrades yeah yeah and it's like this is kind of how I felt when Daryl Morey took over, where it was like he just made the obvious moves, and everyone's like, wow, this is great. Totally. Like the Josh Richardson for Steph Curry trade was like, duh. Like, oh, yeah, duh.

Josh Richardson doesn't fit on this team at all. Someone who can shoot threes that well? Like, what a perfect move. What a perfect move. It's crazy. And that's how I feel watching the Phillies right now. It's like everything with them just makes sense. Even assigning like a Brad Miller, even assigning like Matt Joyce,

although I'm not sure he's going to make the team, to go along with bullpen, it's like this is building a roster, right? I mean, if there's one thing that Dombrowski definitely knows how to do, it is build a roster that can compete. Brad Miller's not the best player in the world, but for $3 million, he's going to play a bunch of positions and hit bombs. Getting Tony Watson and Brandon Kintzler on minor league deals, trading Garrett Clevenger, who's older than Jose Alvarado,

for Jose Alvarado, getting him in here, a power lefty that they could develop and make sure he's healthy. These were all no-brainer moves. And I feel like I said this for two off-seasons in a row, was it's not that hard to build a good bullpen. It's just not that hard to build a good bullpen. I don't know how good this Phillies bullpen is, whatever. They're definitely going to be better than last year. And I just trust them to consistently get outs on a night-in, night-out basis. Are they going to be the best bullpen in all of baseball?

Probably not. But Brandon Kintzler and Tony Watson are like your 5-6 guys, whereas last year they're probably the best guys in the bullpen. So it's just such a massive upgrade. was such an obvious upgrade obvious moves and you're it's you're paying dividends right now i mean the the the guys who are actually gonna make this team pitching wise have have done their job so far in in spring training so um it's just such a breath of fresh air and it just you know last year every time we every time they took a lead it was like well here we go like i can't wait till it's like well this will be fun

how are they gonna blow this tonight but um they don't blow them anymore hopefully and um i don't know i i just it's gonna be so nice not watching with anxiety as to how are they gonna blow it tonight i don't think you can underscore that like it it'll be so refreshing to not feel like every game is over when you have a lead and you're not gonna win it again and honestly even more so you talked about this a lot last year i thought it was one of your rare great points right um i i the point that like you could see it on the players you know you could see bryce harper kind of slumped down when they would bring someone in you could see like like and how much if we feel that way if we're watching the games and we feel like oh we got no chance because this bullpen like those players have to feel that way too like they're there for it they're

seeing it and like how much energy and life that sucks out of a baseball team i think was palpable and i i thought that was a really great point by you yeah and um i don't know i just it feels like there's like a renewed sense i mean you saw how you saw committed bryce was to getting brandon kinsler here i mean you know brandon kinsler is not a world beater he's a good pitcher but b but price is like dude please like i'm we need you i need you and and and this isn't talked about enough when when projecting this philly's team you know a lot of people are i think they're gonna be good but it's like 80 81 to what 86 wins you would say i mean that seems to be somewhere in that range like those uh those middle 2000s boa teams um but larry but but what uh but what i think a lot of people don't realize or remember Those middle 2000s Boa teams. How about Larry?

But what I think a lot of people don't realize or remember or whatever, it's like the Phillies, they held the second most leads in the NL last year behind the Dodgers. They blew so many games last year because their bullpen was so bad that they didn't have a chance. Well, they had a chance to make the playoffs, but whatever. But they had the second most leads in all of baseball last year because their bullpen was so bad that they didn't have a chance. Well, they had a chance to make the playoffs, but whatever. But they had the second most leads

in all of baseball last year. The second most leads in the NL last year. And the Dodgers won the World Series. They're the best team in baseball. They had the second most leads in the NL last year at the end of the year. And this bullpen was such an atrocity that they couldn't do anything with those

leads. So, you know, I'm not going to say they're a 92 win ball club or whatever, but like we need to factor that in when talking about this Phillies team. Yeah, I'm with you. I think it's a really good point. Uh, what else is stood out to you from spring training before we get to make in

a minute? Um, I don't know. Like there's, you know, it's the, the offense is like, before we get to Mick in a minute? I don't know. The offense is like, I don't want to overreact or whatever because there's no point to overreact. For me, pitchers always are ahead of batters at the beginning of spring training, and the hitters kind of start seeing live pitching again,

and they figure it out. But the hitters don't look exactly sparkling. Now, with them more than I would say a lot of guys in the bullpen, I'll take track records and all of that. I'll take track records of this guy knows how to get it done, this guy knows how to get it done. The one guy I am genuinely concerned about, and we talked about it a little bit last podcast, is Scott Kingery.

Now, I know he squared up Garrett Cole today, 98 miles an hour, but it was also a fastball down in the zone where Kingery can get it. Like, Kingery has such a huge hole in his swing when it comes to fastballs up. Like, he just can't make contact with them. And when he does, it's like a foul ball right behind him. Like, he has such a huge problem hitting fastballs right now. And until he fixes that, he's just not going to be the player that,

that we hope he can be, or the hashtag jet packs back. I mean, he batted one 43 against fastballs last year and fastballs are the pitch that in modern baseball, you have to do damage against. I mean, you're not going to,

you're not going to be a good major league hitter. If you can't do damage against fastballs, this is what, this is what got Bryce off to a slow start a couple years ago, was not catching up to fastballs. We acknowledged it, whatever. Well, Kingery's doing the same thing now, except he has a huge hole where if you throw a fastball up, he has no shot at making contact on it.

All of his hard contact outside of today and last year was on change-ups or curveballs and stuff like that because he can catch up to it. And right now he can't catch up to fastballs. So until he fixes that, I'm just not super high on hashtag JetPacks back. So with that sad fact, part of this, but what does that make you think about the center field spot? I mean, I had almost, coming into spring training, assumed that Kingery or Haseley, and obviously the Haseley injury changes things.

But I assume that that Kingery would play there. You know, it made the most sense to at least more often than not. I know he gives you a lot of, you know, options as he could play so many places. But if Kingery continues to struggle this spring and shows he can't play, what do you think happens? I don't I mean, I think we know what happens. I mean. Do you really though?

Because I don't, I'm not there yet. What about the guy we're about to talk to? That's what I'm talking about. Mickey Moniak can't be my starting opening day center fielder. I got a new hashtag, James. You ready for it? I've been waiting. I'm like on the edge of my seat right now.

Hashtag why not Mick? Why not Mick? Yes. In fact, here's what I'm going to do. Here's what I'm going to do. Okay. This is very unlike me because I'm not Mr. Twitter guy like you. Okay.

I'm going to tweet it out right now. Right now. While we're on the pod, I'm just going to tweet out just the hashtag and no one's going to have any idea what we're talking about. And it's going to be one of those things that people who listen to pop will go back and see that hashtag why not mick because this is so unlike me you do bits on twitter you do i tweet out links to stuff yeah and you know everyone's all about but like me just tweeting out a hashtag out of nowhere it's happening right now you're ready for this i actually do it yes i just tweeted. Nice. Hashtag why not Mick. Just tweet. Hashtag why not Mick.

And that's it. That's all I put out there. Well, in all seriousness, like, I just, I need the Phillies, I need the Phillies to at least give him a chance, like, in the starting. Like, if he's going to continue to be this good and Girardi's going to say all the things about how he's in the mix and, you know, if there's a reason why he's in camp and and all that stuff they gotta let him start i mean they're not even they're they gotta let him just see how he does against the garrett cole or the actual starters in baseball like he's doing

great it's just against guys that are fringe roster guys if you're serious about him actually being in the starting in the starting center field uh conversation and you're not just trying to get a certain someone to be the opening day center field, like, give him a chance. I mean, see what he can do against the guys that are up there. See how far he really has come. And I understand it's going to be a long shot for him to be the starting center fielder on opening day,

but if he's your best option and he goes out there and does it against major league caliber arms, like, hashtag why not Mick? I mean, why not? Like, why not Mickey Moniak? I mean, is that not a good scenario where he goes out? They've been waiting for someone to come take the center field job. What if it's the 22-year-old guy you drafted number one overall?

I mean, why can it not be that guy? Like, really, Adam Haisley? Seriously? Roman Quinn? Seriously? The he who shall not be named? Like, why? Like, don't Adam Haisley? Seriously? Roman Quinn? Seriously? The he who shall not be named? Like, why? Like, don't downplay it.

What if he's good now? What if, like, what if Moniac's good now? What if he's good now? What if he can just go and take center field and be a major league caliber center fielder? That's a good scenario. So, like, until they put him in the starting lineup and see if he can do it against major league caliber pitchers like i just i think they're they're this is trending towards where we don't want it to trend to and i i just i i want to see i want them to give him a chance yeah i i mean look again it'd be the and again he's only 22. Dude, that's crazy.

I know. That's the thing. A lot of guys, most guys don't reach the majors by 22 even. It's not crazy. So, I don't know. I'm with you. I mean, maybe we are gushing because we just talked to him. Because he's awesome.

Yeah. I don't know. I want to see them at least, at least give him a shot. See if he can do it. I know they're worried about, you know, him having playing time getting up here. They want to give him at bats and maybe they don't want to hurt the confidence by putting him in there and, and he struggles a little bit in spring training and then he's not where he needs to be.

But listen, eventually he's got to, he's got to do it. And, and spring training is a good time to do it. So I, I just, you know, I want to see it i want to see it hashtag why not mick hashtag why not mick all right uh you got anything else on spring we'll do the take bag obviously i'll save it all for the take back all right well then let's get to it because the best part it's the best part of this podcast the one the only mickey moniak and it is our distinct pleasure to welcome back to the pod for the second time we can officially say a friend of the podcast the hottest man down in florida one the only mr mickeyak. Mick, dude, thank you for coming back on, man.

We really appreciate it. Absolutely. Thank you for the introduction. Well, Mick, I mean, do you feel bad having the unfair advantage of seeing beach balls right now down in Clearwater? I'm trying to. You know, just, I mean, it's been good. I think, you know, a lot of hard work this offseason,

a lot of good work with Joe D. down here. And, yeah, man, it's baseball. When you're seeing the ball this well, I think, you know, baseball is a really fun sport. And, you know, just trying to keep it going, trying to stay consistent. So, it's been fun. I'll tell you that much. Mickey, what would you say is the biggest difference

between last spring and this spring? I mean, other than, I mean, I think just maturing, you know, mentally and physically, just having an extra year under my belt and having the confidence of knowing that, you know, I did get up there last year and, you know, kind of just, you know, seeing big league pitching, being in the clubhouse last year, seeing what it takes and, and, you know, kind of knowing what it takes has been, you know, huge for me going into this camp. And, you know,

last year was, was a crazy year with COVID and falling down the stairs and, and going to the old site and then finally getting called up. And I mean, it was just, you know, so much stuff to build off of. And I was excited going into this off season and excited to get out here. And now that I'm here, it's just time to go out and play baseball. Yeah. I didn't even think about what a wild, like it was a wild year for everyone last year and in baseball, but for you to be at the alt site and then called up

and that your first taste of the big leagues, that's a pretty wild ride. What was it like to get that first taste in the big leagues? And what's the biggest difference from going from seeing minor league pitchers to major league pitchers on a night-to-night basis? Yeah, no, I mean, first off, it was a dream come true. Just be able to make those phone calls to family and friends and let them know that, you know, all the hard work paid off

and it was time and just kind of, you know, kind of just validating for me, just getting up there, you know, fulfilling a dream. And, you know, my whole thought process ever since I got drafted, you know, I got drafted and then it was what's next you know went to the minor leagues what's next is getting to the big leagues we'll get into the big leagues now it's staying in the big leagues so um it was it was wild i think um you know the biggest difference from from playing every day in the minor leagues versus playing in the big leagues is is the consistency of the guys up there uh the fewer mistakes um you know just little things like that they're still the, the fewer mistakes, you know,

just little things like that. They're still the same pitchers and, you know, there's obviously a lot more information when you get up there on both sides, you know, on you and then also on the pitcher. So it's just being able to kind of utilize that information, figure out what works for you and just go out there and play. Because at the end of the day, you know, it's a tough sport. You know, if you're thinking too day, it's a tough sport.

If you're thinking too much, it's going to usually end up bad, at least for me. But, you know, it's crazy, man. It was fun. Now, Mickey, one of the founding principles of this podcast is that we don't lie to the High Hopes listeners. And, you know, welcome into the trust tree. And we just talked about your big league debut. Obviously, you didn't start that night, but let's say it was your big league debut. Were you nervous if you had to face Jacob DeGrom that night?

Whew. I would be lying if I said I wasn't. It was a crazy day. You know, I got the call in the morning, you know, had about five hours in between, you know I got I got the call in the morning um you know had about five hours in between you know five hours in my hotel room in Lehigh from the time I got home from the field to the time I was getting picked up by the car service and it wasn't even it wasn't even a done deal you know COVID I wasn't you know allowed to be at the field until they made a roster move. So I got to the hotel in Philly, was sitting in the bed, you know,

for another hour and a half just kind of waiting for them to give me the phone call to get to the field. And I remember getting to – I didn't even think about who was pitching that night. And I remember getting to Philly in the hotel room and looking. I was like, oh, I wonder who we got. And saw and I was like, oh, well, you know, here we go. Like, whoops.

But, yeah, didn't get the start. But it was, I mean, I think we got him that night. You know, we put a few runs on him, got him out early. So it was a good first taste. Well, listen, it's about time he falls back down to earth. I mean, we can't have a Mets pitcher be the most dominant player on earth. But you eventually did get the first hit off of A.J. Cole, I believe. What was it like getting that first hit and finally getting it out of the way?

Oh, man. You know, I think that was the first time in my professional career where I felt like I was pressing a little bit. You know, I got my first professional hit that first game, so that was easy. Got that out of the way. It felt good. And then, you know, it took a few games just getting up to the big leagues. It took a few games and just getting that one.

I remember getting to first base and telling Paco, the first base coach, you know, now we go. Because, you know, get that first one out of the way. Now you can kind of relax, take a deep breath, and get back to playing baseball. And, yeah, I mean, after that I felt comfortable. And, you know, it was sad, you know, how it ended. And, you know, now I think we're hungry to, you know, not let that happen this year.

Yeah, you could say that again, Mick. What did that taste do for you for this year? In terms of getting the opportunity to feel what it's like to be a major leaguer, be a part of the team, face major league pitching, how has that helped you heading into spring training this year and heading into the season this year? Has it made a big difference to have already gotten that little bit of a taste even though it wasn't a super long time or anything

like that? Absolutely. I think there's a comfortability level to getting that taste and that validation that you are a big leader. No one can take that away from you. I think that going into this spring training, seeing pitching last year

in the big leagues and just knowing what they're going to try to do. I think, you know, going into spring training, there's a lot more, I feel a lot more comfortable in the box. I think, you know, I think that there's a confidence level right now that, you know, I belong and just trying to go out there and compete and fight for a job and, you know, try to control what I can control. And, you know, at the end of the day, what I can control is, you know, what I do in between the lines.

And then after that, it's, you know, it's management, it's the coaching staff, it's all that, you know, the decision makers. I'm just here to, you know, play baseball. Mickey, what's it been like playing under a guy like Joe Girardi? Obviously, he wins the World Series. He's in New York forever. That's obviously the biggest market in the world. Now he's your manager.

What's it been like playing under Joe? Oh, it's awesome. I mean, I think when we signed Joe, when he decided to come here and be the manager, I was extra excited just knowing that track record and knowing that he's Coach Jeter, A-Rod, all these big names. knowing that he's, you know, Coach Jeter, A-Rod, you know, all these big names. I think, you know, having him at the helm, there's an experience level to him. I think, you know, when it gets down to it, I think, you know, he's going to know what to do. And, you know, this year we got a good group of guys.

We bolstered that bullpen. You know, pitching's looking good. Guys are getting their timing down. So I think a lot of things are coming together and and having him at the uh at the helm is is definitely you know we're in a good spot what uh what have joe dylan and and jason no chart like well how influential have they been and you you kind of breaking out here i think you know you know, I think Joe, Joe Dillon going back to last spring training has been huge for me. I think just,

he kind of got me back to where I was in high school and really made me, you know, think about, you know, what got me here and what I do good and, and, and kind of just my strengths. And that's just, you know, putting the ball in play, hitting line drives, just in the whole field. I think for a while, my swing got a little loopy getting caught up in the analytic side of, you know, launch angle and all these things, the blast motion, you know, the K-vest,

your kinetic sequencing, all this stuff that makes absolutely no sense to me. I feel like it does not help me whatsoever. But I think having O-Chart, who knows all that stuff, has been huge because, you know, he doesn't expect me to know that stuff. He kind of just relays the information and kind of tells me, tries to tell me in a more old-school baseball way how to do it. And I think, you know, Joe Dillon is that old-school baseball guy that knows but also knows the analytics side.

So I think going back to last spring training, just working with him and then going into the quarantine try to build off of that um you know i've come a long way since last spring training you can you ever get a chance to talk to joe dillon i'm sure he'll say the same thing but um you know right now i feel like i'm in a good spot and i credit a lot of it to to those two guys for sure mickey moniak talking about jason ochart is probably the most high hopes thing that has ever happened on the high hopes podcast so many that's awesome so many of our guys in one it's like our guys it's just our guys uh speaking of of you know philly's

guys um look 22 year old mick coming up to the big leagues, 21, you know, now 22, coming up to the big leagues and playing with guys like Andrew McCutcheon, who you saw win an MVP as a kid, you know, Bryce Harper even watching for, you know, in high school and stuff like that. What's it like to play with these, like, larger-than-life guys and not just be playing with them, but they're your teammates. Like, you guys are on the same freaking team. Like, what's that like, Mick?

Oh, it's unbelievable. I think, you know, before I knew him, you know, obviously getting to know him and watching them work and the stuff they do every day is, you know, there's, it's obvious to why, you know, they've had the success they've had. And it's just something that's awesome for me to watch because, you know, I'm trying to get better every day. I'm trying to get to their level and just kind of picking things from you know maybe their routine that might work for me and trying different stuff out you know by just watching them it's been

incredible I think that you know before I met him it was like like you said you know watching McCutcheon win an MVP watching Harper win an MVP you know Harper being the chosen one in high school and hitting balls off the back. It's, you know, Tropicana field was, I, I'll never forget that being like in sixth grade watching his YouTube video of just him putting balls, you know, out at Tropicana field as a sophomore in high school, just, you know, hitting the back wall and, you know, now he's my teammate and, you know,

it's, it's crazy, but you know, he's just, he's just a normal guy. He's just a normal guy. He's got incredible talent and, you know, now he's my teammate. And, you know, it's crazy. But, you know, he's just a normal guy. He's just a normal guy. He's got incredible talent. And, you know, he's a great teammate. He loves his teammates. And he wants to win. And I think it's just been awesome, man. It's definitely, I would say, a dream come true.

And I think that, you know, just having guys like that is only going to benefit me and this team, you know, just having guys like that is only going to benefit me and this team, you know, immensely. Mickey, what would you say was the nastiest pitch you saw in the bigs last year? That familiar sinker is a tough one. And he's getting it up there at 98 and it's, you know, moving like a bowling ball. It's not fun, but, you know, it's called making an adjustment. I think, you know, maybe next time I'll see it a little better. I think there's a little bit of, you know, nerves,

adrenaline going that first time. But I think, you know, I think that's the one that stood out. Obviously, Edwin Diaz is Frisbee, you know, two-seam. But, yeah, there's, I mean, in the short time, I think I saw a couple guys that were impressive. Yeah, I mean, I think the first, was your first start against Seth Lugo? And, I mean, his curveball is disgusting.

Yeah, no, he's got good stuff. I saw him pretty well, actually. I think, you know, obviously he got me out a couple times. But, yeah, that was, you know, it's the big leagues. You know, they're consistent. They know what they're doing. You know, you've got to really be on your game to succeed up there for sure. Mickey, if a 22-year-old Mickey Moniak, you know, up to 205,

which, I mean, it's crazy. You came in at 168, and now you're 205, absolutely yoked. If you could give 18-year-old Mickey Moniak any advice, what would you give him? Buckle up. It's going to be a crazy ride from a lot of ups and downs, from, you know, the GCL all the way until now. It's going to be a lot of ups and downs,

and just enjoy every second of it because, you know, as we've seen with COVID, it can get ripped away real quick when you least expect it. And, yeah, man, I think that that would be the best advice I could give. You know, I'm still trying to go, you know, take that advice right now as we speak. And yeah, it's been crazy. It's been a crazy year, that's for sure.

Yeah, I'm 39, Mick, so I'm significantly older than both of you guys, which Jack likes to remind me of every freaking day. But let me tell you that advice, it's much easier to give yourself advice than to follow it and and that never changes oh mickey aren't you surprised at how high his voice is for how old he is like aren't you a bit caught off your voice get lower when you're old like is that is that how it works no i don't know i don't have the deepest voice so yeah i'm right there with look

at this guy over here my like basically like he's's young enough to be my son, Mick. You both are, sadly. Sadly. All right, let's get to the important stuff. Speaking of this guy that keeps talking over here, let's be honest, Mick. I mean, do you worry that your career is constantly just hanging in the balance through no fault of your own

based on whether Jack decides to put you in the bio or how does it feel just to be a Fritz guy? the balance through no fault of your own based on whether jack decides to put you in the bio or or how does it feel just to be a fritz guy i mean that's like the kiss of death mick if we're going to be real so do you worry about that you know what i uh i don't i don't i think the whole by the whole bio thing i i don't know if i told you this the last time i was on but my buddies were were texting you know out of the bio when i was in clear water and i started going off a little bit and i had no clue what the hell they were talking about and i would ask them what the hell does that mean and they would they'd be like don't worry about it you're out of the bio and i was like

it would take me bad for a while because I was like, they would not say it. And then finally, finally I figured that out that that was it. But, I mean, hey, you know, it's an honor to be a Fritz guy. You know, I'm trying to put on – I'm trying to perform and, you know, be his guy up there. So, we'll see what I can do. Wow.

You just made his day. Yeah, I got – Not even day, year, year. Maybe life. It's possible life. I just appreciate – I appreciate your buddies appreciating the bio. I mean, the bio is a very dangerous place, Mickey. But you are out of it for now.

But don't get hot. Forever. Forever. I know. I know. Let's not mess with our guy here. I know. This is our guy. I know. But if he mess with our guy here. This is our guy.

I know. But if he gets hot, Mickey, I'm going to throw a victory lap. I mean, I'm just going to start dunking on fools, all right? I say perfect. I love that. Mick, thank you for putting up with this guy. Because speaking of this guy, along those lines, because, you know, we've talked before, you know, the whole the Jack Fritz thing. In terms of like feet or distance, how far could you hit a Jack Fritz pitch?

Like 700 feet? 800? Is that too far? Is that humanly possible? Like 550, 600? I mean, how far could you knock one? Oh, man. Well, that's a tough question. Yeah. I'm not a power guy. I don't like, if I think of myself as a power guy, I'm going back to that. Yeah, but you weren't a power guy

though. You're developing. Developing. Exactly. That's what I like. A developing power guy. Line drives that turn into homers. That all it is but uh i don't know if i can put a number on that one i mean the guys have my back all you know my whole career i don't know if i want to do that to them you know what i mean well especially when especially when you factor in i mean i don't know how you how well you do with cutters but we're talking like an 80-mile-an-hour cutter in on the hands. Good luck getting your hands on that pitch,

Mick. That's all I'm saying. It might be so slow that it throws you off. Maybe Jack has an advantage that you're like, wow, I haven't seen a pitch that slow in a long time. Hey, that's a real thing. I will tell you right now that that is a real thing. So, I don't know. I think the cutter definitely brings

an interesting aspect to it. I think out of one pitch in pro ball that I've really had to work on, it's the cutter. I think if you would have told me that a couple years ago, I'd have been definitely more worried. But, you know, we'll see.

So the Phillies, I mean, they're bringing in some power arms. I'm sure you see it. Like, which of those guys do you think you'd have the toughest time against, and why is it Jose Alvarado? You're good, dude. You are good. I mean, he's nasty.

He is gross. I am so glad that he is on our team now because I remember last spring training, being in Port Charlotte the day that we got shut down and he was in that last inning and I remember being you know borderline in the hole you know kind of counting down the counting the lineups as all baseball players do to see if they're going to get up or see if you know what are the chances and I remember him being in the game just it was the opposite. Usually I'm counting the lineups to see, you know, I'm ready to get up. This time I was like, okay, you know, how many guys have to get out so I don't have to face this guy?

And now he's on our team. So he's, I mean, it's fun to watch from the outfield, that's for sure. Mickey, what were you eating this offseason to go from 195 to 205, or is that just pure strength at this point? I think maybe, like, you know, puberty. Yeah. I don't know. I think, you know, the body – I always tell people that if I did nothing

in the offseason, I think I would still put on five pounds just from strictly growing as a human being. But I tried to eat this, this off season was huge for me. I tried to eat as healthy as possible. I really tried to focus on, you know, what I was putting in my body as well as, you know, coming off a knee injury last year. I think that, you know, I wasn't a hundred percent last year, obviously, you know, healthy enough to play, knees are tough because you're good enough to play, but there's always something a little bit off. I worked hard

with the physical therapist all offseason and felt like I got a lot of good work done there. It was an important offseason for sure and I felt like I got the most out of it. You're still only 22.

You're still growing and stuff. I think that makes a ton of sense. All right, Mick, one more for me. So again, to the I'm old and you guys aren't thing. That's right. Yes, I have a two-year-old daughter. Shout out to Zoe. She's awesome.

She's the best thing ever. I'm obsessed with her. But with that in mind that I'm – yeah, she's the best thing ever i'm obsessed with her um but with that in mind that i'm yeah she's the best she's awesome um but with that in mind um if you had to choose if i if i had to have someone babysit zoe for a night a phillies player those are my only options the the the roster of the philadelphia phillies and i come to my good friend mick because because you know you to my good friend, Mick, because, you know, you're my best friend on the team. That's pretty clear.

You're, you know, our guy. If I come to you and I say, Mickey, who do I leave my daughter with? Who on this team is the person that is going to do the best job babysitting my two-year-old girl? Who would you tell me to take? Listen, there's a lot of guys surprisingly usually i feel

like when people talk about you know sports teams it's a bunch of just crazy dudes that you know like to have a good time we like to have a good time but there's a lot of guys that i would suggest and i think the best one number one would be zach effleman oh that's a great answer just one of the best guys of all time yeah one of the best guys of all time your daughter would be in great hands she would be safe when you came home so that's that that would be your guy for sure I love that you had an answer locked and loaded for that like you didn't first of all I love that you said a lot of people because it makes me think oh we got a team full of good dudes.

But then to have F ready to roll. Mick, that's why you're the best, man. You're the best. Appreciate that. Seriously, Mick, we can't tell you how much we appreciate it, you coming back on. And especially now that you're crushing baseballs and about to become a big star, don't forget about us.

That's all we ask. Don't forget who is there always. You know, we're just saying. Seriously, Mick, we really, really, really appreciate it. I promise. I will tackle Jack Fritz if I have to, if he tries to put you back in the bio. You have my word.

Okay, thank you. But we're one hot streak away from being in the bio, right, Mick? One hot streak away, one cold streak away. You know, everything in life is 50-50. It's either going to happen or it's not. Wow. What an attitude. What a quote.

I think we found the name of this podcast, Mick. Yeah, yeah. And I'll tell you, for a 22-year-old, Mick, it's a good attitude, Dad. I mean, I'm 39 and I'm still not that zen about things. That's good work. Like you said, taking your own advice is the hard part. I'm still working on it. I can talk all I want.

Mick, I appreciate it, man. We'll talk to you soon, okay? Absolutely. Thanks, guys. I love this guy. I'm gushing, Jack. I'm not one to gush over guests very often it's not my thing i'm gushing i'm all in on mickey moniak i i want nothing but success for this guy that's about time you know i mean it is you know what you know what that's fair i i won't give you crap for that you're right it is about time this is uh it's a bad job by me

well and and now he's i mean i mean just just just his friends like being in on the bio bit i couldn't believe it i so i've never had a moment when we've had someone on the pod before where i have been more um you know upset that we weren't in the same room together because i wanted to see your face when he said that because i know it was an ear-to-ear moment for you i know you were like wow mick's friends were telling about the bio how cool is that i mean the bio has reached mainstream at that point what how funny is it how funny is it that a ph Philly understands one of our dumbass bits? It's beyond funny. It's hard to believe, to be honest.

To be completely honest, I struggle to believe that it is real, Jack. So do I. I know we're sitting here, we're physically doing this podcast. I don't think the first 20 minutes of this podcast happened. I genuinely don't think the first 20 minutes of this podcast happened. I genuinely don't. For as much as Bryce Harper acknowledging Harper lent, I blacked out. I don't remember it.

Mickey talking about the bio and being a Fritz guy is way too inside my warped baseball brain for me to comprehend. Yeah, it is too much. It's just too much. It is, it is, it is. It really is, man. It it is too much it's just too much it is it is it is but uh it really is too much it's awesome seriously how you know what seriously how great is that guy like what what an awesome talker what a likable person like i know that anyone who listens

you know anyone listens to this pod is a mickey moniak fan now and i think they should be uh they definitely should be hashtag why not mick hashtag why not back that's right all right um let's get to the take back i got something else coming up too you're very excited about this i will have a thing i want to do jack's i make fun of me for it but i actually did have one more thing too before we get to the take back okay um uh what do you think about b more thing, too, before we get to the take bag. Okay. What do you think about Bryce Hayton on analytics? We alluded to it a little bit with Mick, but what do you think about that?

Like a shot across the bow, or are you okay with it? Where do you come down on this? You know, I just think it's a little rich that the only reason he got paid $330 million is because of analytics. No, I mean, honestly, I don't care if players, like, there's no reason for players to worry about exit velocity.

Like, they need to go hit a baseball. Like, leave that for the front offices, you know? I'm with them on the feel of baseball. I get that to an extent, although guts are inherently stupid. But I thought it was fine. I don't know i thought it was fine i don't know it seemed like i don't know i don't it was fine i'm not gonna get too worked up about it um bryce is very favored in the analytic uh the analytic age um but you know whatever leave leave the leave the analytics of the front i i am i am pro players not worrying about analytics and exit velocity and all that stuff and just playing baseball.

I want my front offices to worry about that stuff. Yeah. Big, big, big time. Big time. All right. What do you got in the take back, bud? All right. Well, number one, we're still working on getting Jim Constanti in the Wall of Fame.

Yes, we are working on this. It is our thing. 1950 nlmvp jim canstani meanwhile we got mike lieberthal on the wall of fame but um another thing outrage if i've ever seen an outrage like and even though what are we doing even though he died in 1973 we are still uh uh you know continuing the the legend um hector narris working on a slider he he flashed a slider the other day that pretty good bite to it i don't know how it's gonna do or how it's gonna play if he can't throw for a strike um in the season but honestly so i was thinking about it like his splitter if all, if you're a righty hitter, and his splitter falls top to right, so it comes down to the right,

if he can eventually get it to a point where he can tunnel the slider and the splitter from the same angle, like, one falls to the right and one falls to the left. Like, the splitter goes into righties, and the slider goes away from righties. But if he can throw it in the same spot spot and they both have the same depth to it, like I don't know how you hit Hector Neris in all seriousness. Like that is a disgusting one-two punch if he can do it when you couple it with his 96-mile-an-hour fastball.

Like if you, for example, if you're a righty hitter and Neris first pitch 96 outside corner up a little bit, and then he puts a splitter same spot, you think it's fast, but you're swinging right over it. You're waiting for it again. Oh, wait, it's a splitter going the opposite way. Like that is absolutely lethal. So that is definitely a pitch to monitor. lethal um so uh that is definitely a pitch to monitor uh if he can if he can perfect the slider to go along with a splitter i'm gonna say it again james i don't know how you i don't know

how you hit i can't i can't wait i don't know how you hit hector nares yeah i thought you were gonna say uh hector nares is the next mariana rivera or some such type statement. No, he's the next Jim Constanti. Well done. Yes, thank you. That was legit good work. Yes. By the way, by the way, can I quickly jump in, since we're speaking at the bullpen,

just with a quick who was it, like a who said it type of thing real quick that I have? It's a who said this quote. You good with that? Yes. Okay, here's the quote quote unquote connor brogdon is the new ryan madsen who said it me you said it that's right that's right i've been on that i've been on that for a while you know i know i know i just love it i feel like i feel like people are like kind of thinking oh you just jump jumping on the bandwagon like no no no no no no

no no no no no and i i even went back and watched the madsen change-ups and i'm like this is it dude i i legit like dude i was thinking about this the other day they're back four however they want to use it they can use this multiple multiple times a week they could mix and match but how good how good is a final four of brogdon alvarado bradley narris like potentially it's legit it could be really good you know i that and then you you know you got watts and you got kinzer you got jojo. It's pretty exciting. I'm coming around on the bullpen. Do you believe they're going to have a lower ERA than the starting staff yet? No, I'm still more concerned about the bullpen.

Interesting. Did you see Fangraph said the Phillies have the seventh best starting staff in baseball? Did you see that, Jack? I did not see that. Yeah, they put out their top 10 staffs in baseball, starting staffs in baseball, starting rotations of baseball. And they, the Phillies is the seventh best in baseball.

Yeah. And that look, I, and that, you know, however people want to judge rankings or whatever, but I do think that one thing that we hear in Philly and especially just following your own team and all that,

like there are not a lot of good four and five starters across baseball. Like most teams have bad four and five stars, particularly five starters. So like I do, I get it. Like I do think that maybe sometimes while we focus on, on concerns about the end of the rotation, every team for the most part has those concerns too.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess we were just spoiled with the four aces they were like ah this is how every team needs to do it um but yeah you know and i and we were pretty hard on the chase anderson signing but through two games like i see why they signed him look good yeah well it's not that he looks like unbelievable it's just like oh i can see that he's gonna take that down a ton. He's a major league pitcher.

He's a guy I'll eat some innings for. Again, it is what it is. Innings eaters are a thing. There's a reason there's a frigging term for it. I do think that in this year, when you're coming off a season, again, where these guys were pitching 60 innings max coming off a year before that. It's a great point. They're throwing 150 innings max coming off a year before that. That's a great point. They're throwing 150 innings, going from 150 down to 60

and trying to ramp it back up to 150-ish. That is not good. That's not good on arms. It's not good on arms. That's a great point. This year could legitimately be one of those kind of war of attrition kind of years. Having guys like Chase Anderson, who have done it forever,

met more through the most innings in all of baseball last year, it's a pretty smart plan if we're just coming at it from that angle. And Chase Anderson, his upside isn't tremendous. He has a career. Well, there's not much upside. Right, but I mean like – It's more of a if luck bounces his way upside type of it's more like uh it's more like if he pitches to a four-year area you're happy you know you're

ecstatic i think you're very if he is if he's in the three nine four range you take that and run as fast as you can right like i'm expecting like six innings four runs to be the regular you know so i'm not even expecting that but i'd be ecstatic if we got yeah that's how i feel about matt moore now too i mean uh i i am i am buying i am buying that more stock like it just hold up hold up so what is the official how long did it take yourself to talk yourself into matt moore uh two spring training starts there we go okay guys for the record yes that was all yes you can cut this audio um buying stock and matt more um but in all seriousness his plan of attack is really good um and he he has one of those fastballs that is into righties that they just seem to not be able

to consistently swear up now maybe it's because he does a good job of working his changeup away and all that stuff, working his fastball away. But when he gets his fastball inside, it's a legit weapon. I mean, even the Blue Jays start, the Pirates start before that. It wasn't a start against the Blue Jays. He relieved Vince Velasquez. But there was two straight batters in a row where he threw a fastball in the inside corner and a righty couldn't square

it up. He's shown good location, been spotting some pitches. Changeup I think has become more of a weapon than I was anticipating, and I still think the knuckle curve of the lefties is a nasty pitch. So, with that being said, I don't think he's going to be the worst pitcher in baseball like he was from 2017-2018.

Yay! What a win! It like a win for all of us yeah and honestly like again same kind of thing as chase anderson like i'll take a three nine four like like era from from matt moore all day yeah are you kidding me of course i will yes yes again to the point there are not many four fives in baseball that pitch to that level. There just aren't. Now, I do have something that is concerning me a little bit. I know you'll get to this a little bit later. The two things that I'm monitoring

that are causing me strife in this day of spring training, which is I talk myself into every player on the roster, just one to monitor. And this is not a bit. This is actual baseball, like, watching. This is not a bit. I can confirm. I'll take care of the bit part.

Yeah, this is not. Jack is actually serious about this. I'm worried about Archie Bradley's fastball. Like, and I'm just, I'm worried that it doesn't have the same zip. You know, last year when he was throwing 94, like, it still had that good rise and good spin. And so far this spring, it just doesn't have the same zip. Last year when he was throwing 94, it still had that good rise and good spin. And so far this spring, it just doesn't have that same bite,

I want to say, that it had even when it dropped down to 94 last year. It's still 94. It just doesn't have the same backspin to it. So just file that under something to monitor. The curveball is still disgusting. I mean, it's it's it's gross it's a legitimately gross pitch but um there's a part of me when i've watched archie bradley's

fastball that i'm like something doesn't feel right here so i hope i'm wrong again hope i'm wrong i like archie bradley could love archie bradley but um just filing that under something that makes me go. Hmm. Hmm. Speaking of which, I just checked in on my hashtag. Why not make tweet? How's it going? And it good. Nine likes, which is fine because no one has any idea what the hell it is.

But someone responded. Scott R said, dude, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. Really? Question mark. Like, what are you talking about? Like, you know, I know what this is. Like, what does that even mean? Like, dude, like dude really like do you think he figured it out and and talking about mickey moniak or is there is there there's no other meaning for why not mick right

like well i think i think it's one of those those haters out there that think he's a just don't believe in mickey moniak the way that we yeah we we won't take that that slander will not be accepted on our podcast all right jack what else you got um another thing that's making me go hmm although i didn't like his his out i'm in on this things that make you go uh i didn't like his outing today but jd hammer hitting 97 was a uh a nice revelation about it yeah and also to your point something you always bring up like really what it is is it is a uh uh a shout out to the player development staff on this team is what it really is that's exactly right um another you know ho hum more dominant brian mitchell outings been trying to tell people for years

guys nasty um was up to he's up to 98 the other day i mean come on you call him again what'd you call him i can't did you call him? I can't remember which. I can't remember what comp you made with him. The original Jim Constanti? Yeah, that's what it was. I should just assume it always comes back to Jim Constanti. Yeah, well, listen.

Our hero. Yeah, everyone brings up the Andrew Miller types and the Josh Hader types. Wake me up when they win an MVP. How's that that it's a good point jack uh what else i got on here oh mickey moniac's hitting the ball really hard yeah so did you know that so right now he has a 44 hard contact rate in in spring training he is like 1.2 miles out miles an hour away on two different hits from being a hard contact rate, James, of 66%. Like, come on. Come on.

Hashtag why not. It's impressive. Why not Mick? Hashtag why not Mick. Spencer Howard. I feel like I need to have – I feel like we as a High Hopes podcast and community need to come together on Spencer Howard. It might not be this year, whatever,

like that, but that guy is that guy. Oh no. Is that where we're at? That guy may not be this year. That guy, that guy is too talented not to be a very good major league pitcher. I mean,

his stuff is just stupid. And like, like the, his flash has changed up yesterday. that just straight up disappeared on people. Like, it just disappeared on people. So it might be out of the bullpen for this year. But, like, he is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. And I can't wait until he gets there.

I think he's going to be a really good pitcher. He's even throwing his curveball a little bit harder this year. The fastball, once he gets the location down on it just bad right now but whatever like gets that down the change up is a legitimate weapon i just i'm buying if you're selling spencer howard stock i'm buying it and i swear to god if anyone tweets me with freaking oh says the pivetta guy i'm gonna lose to lose my mind. Like, there is a... Hold on. Can we rephrase that sentence? You should be saying, I swear to God, when people tweet me,

because you know that people are going to tweet you that. So let's just accept it now. If you have such a pea brain where you can't watch these two next to each other and see that Spencer Howard has a different level of arsenal, then I just can't help you then I just can't help you. I just can't help you. So I don't know what his role is going to be this year, but whatever it is, I am buying Spencer Howard stock.

His stuff is just stupid. All right, so you can get a deal on Spencer Howard stock not as high as it should be. Buy now. Yeah, buy his top shot, whatever that is. I like that. Whatever that stupid thing people are buying. all right so you can get a deal on on spencer howard stock not as high as it should be by now yeah buy his top shot whatever i like that whatever that stupid thing we don't we don't do that on this i mean it's just what a ridiculous thing can we can we for a second just talk about the fact this is going for millions of dollars and it's like a clip of a highlight like what is happening what is the world coming to how is this this a thing, Jack? How? I have absolutely no idea.

This is all you youngins. This is your fault. Us old people, we don't know anything about this. Yeah, you're actually right. Yeah, I mean, you're dead right. This is all our fault. I mean, wake me up when an Onus Wagner top shot goes for $2 million. It's just like, it's so stupid.

It's so dumb. Don't you have anything else to spend your money on? I know. I just, whatever. I just like it's so stupid like don't you don't you have anything else spend your money on i know i just whatever crazy i just hate it crazy um i know we talk a lot of pitching on this podcast because that's like kind of what i don't know it's like the easiest thing to watch right now um but in all seriousness um andrew mccutcheon's bat looks fast like it looks like his hands are kind of back to being explosive and quick. So, you know, obviously spring training and all of that. But I've been pretty impressed with McCutcheon. Looks like he's moving much better than he was last year.

Yes, that was my biggest takeaway was he looks like he's moving better. He doesn't look like that was the thing. Like all last year, you know, even when he – and he turned it on towards the end of the year. Like he really did start to see the ball better and we thought it would take some time but he's still in the outfield had that almost like a hitch to the way he ran um i'm not seeing it as much so far from what we've seen so that's really that's real positive that is real positive and final thing that i have is so i know we don't talk much of the football team in this podcast, but I came up with like an interesting parallel between, between Middleton and Lori.

And I don't know how to do this, like whatever on the air. So I wanted to bring it to this podcast, but like, you know, I'm pretty down on Lori and I was down on Milton, but like the difference between Middleton and Lori right now is that Middleton learned from the mistake that he made.

And Klintak was a mistake, McPhail was a mistake. And we were all worried about how Middleton was this meddling owner and he was having control over everything. And I think what we've learned with Dave Dombrowski is, sure, he wants to be involved in all that stuff, but if he has a guy that he trusts in there, then he's not going to be this overbearing owner. He lost trust in the Clint Daxon McPhails.

So what he did was he went out and brought in the most experienced guy out there to come in and run his baseball team. And he went out and got Joe Girardi the year before, all of that. Meanwhile, the difference is that Laurie just doubled down on the guy who he knows isn't good. The difference is that Laurie just doubled down on the guy who he knows isn't good.

It's an interesting 30,000-view look at the two teams right now, whereas Middleton got guys in there he trusted, and he's not viewed as this fraud, cheap, meddling owner, whereas Laurie right now looks like a meddling owner that has his hands on everything, and he's running it back with the same guys that he's got control over whereas middleton kind of got away from that and brought in a baseball guy that he believes i love that take that is that is good work now to be fair jeffrey lori does have a super bowl which you know credit i hate credit can we talk about the stupid football team? Credit bringing that awful game up. I mean, seriously, it's your fault.

You're the one who I know. Did you say awful game? You mean the greatest game in the history of Philadelphia? Other than, you know, it is better than game five, like because game five was over two nights and whatever. Like that. It's the greatest game in the history of Philadelphia. I know. I know. I get it.

I got it. Yeah. Yeah. You get it. I got it. You get it. No, but honestly, to your point, though, I do think I do think Mid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get it. I got it. You get it. No, but honestly, to your point, though, I do think Middleton deserves credit for that. Like he did.

And it does seem like he is letting Dombrowski do his thing. And he's also trusting Dombrowski, like we talked about, to spend money, to maybe spend more money than he had anticipated spending. Like I do think. And also just the trust that Dombrowski has instilled throughout the organization. You know, we,

we talked about it, but the way Bryce Harper has talked about having Dave Dombrowski here and what it's meant to him to have that guy here running the organization. I do think there's a lot of, again, as, as we've kind of talked about, but it gives a lot of credibility to the organization in a way that it

didn't have under Mac fail. Oh, I should just say fail. Oh. I should just say fail. Yeah. You got anything else? I do not. It's all you, buddy.

Okay, good. Let's get to it because, again, shout out to our favorite Philly Mickey Monia for joining us. We've talked about it. I mean, anyone listening to this podcast knows that we've hoped, we've endeavored to have new Philly Archie Bradley on the podcast and have been rebuffed and shunned in a way. And I would like to first, before we do this, thank you to our listeners. Thank you to the IOPs listeners who consistently have tweeted at Archie,

have responded to tweets. It is so amazing and it makes my heart warm and fuzzy and and makes me feel things when I see all of our awesome amazing beautiful wonderful listeners saying Archie gotta go on IOPs like Archie come on man like what are you doing Archie go on IOPs and I want this to continue I have to, I have to put my foot down. Okay. Um, yeah. And look, Jack, I, you know, I made a little fun of him for fawning over Archie Bradley's

appearance with Angelo, but here's the thing. Like the reason how upsetting that was for me was because if you heard Archie Bradley with Angelo on WIP, you know that he's an amazing interview. Like this guy is so good. Like, he was as good a player interviewer as you'll ever hear with Angela. He was amazing. Like, I loved him.

And it made me that much angrier that this guy won't come on here with the people who truly care about this team. So, Jack, I'm putting my foot down. I have opened up Archie bradley's twitter and wouldn't you know it i'm looking at a tweet about him being on chris rose's podcast chris rose really i know really there's freaking rose i was about to curse i was about to say chris f and rose and i didn't no offense chris rose you're fine but like really archie so here's what I'm gonna do Jack and uh I have to okay I am officially unfollowing

Archie Bradley on the podcast you're right here go unfollow wow I just unfollowed you Archie you will get the follow back when you come on this podcast and again like high hopes listeners you rule the more you want to tweet at Archie to come on this podcast, the better as far as I'm concerned because this is unbelievable. It is almost a slap in the face at this point. That's where I'm at, Jack. It certainly feels like a slap in the face. Now, I will say this. You know, James, you are the only one on this podcast that has a blue checkmark.

So if you wanted to tweet at Archie Bradley, he would 100% see it because he has a blue checkmark. So if you wanted to tweet at Archie Bradley, he would 100% see it because he has a blue checkmark. I have tweeted him five times saying, Archie, come on the podcast. I've tweeted it from the show account. I've tweeted it from my account. I'm just wondering if maybe,

just maybe, you want to... No, I hate this. This is like the worst thing ever that you're asking me your bit here backfired didn't it pal in a big way because i've never once in my history in twitter asked anyone like that to do it ever i've never said we come on a pod like i've never done it i've never done it all i'm saying is this all i'm saying is this just say archie come on the pod and he'll like he'll know he'll know i'm just saying you you have the power of the blue check i don't have the blue check

the blue check would get noticed all right what do you want me to do here just tell me what to do i'll do it i'll do it right here on the pod i hate this this is killing i the why not mick was was was a a joy compared to this all right what am i here's real quick real quick i'm not doing this for you jack okay i'm doing this for the high hopes listeners i love the high hopes listeners and they will join me when you see this tweet tweet at archie with me let's get this guy on the podcast all right jack what do i do my blue check power what am i doing so open up open up a tweet right i have a tweet ready to go it says what's happening all right so here's what i want you to do i want you to put a period put a period period and then i want to say at archie bradley seven

do i have to follow him back no again no i just i'm okay don't do that we don't we don't need to do that archie bradley seven come on at high hope spot. Should I say please? No, please. Sounds desperate. Just say, just say Archie, Archie,

seven comma, comma. Of course. Good grammar. Well, it's weird to put a comma after a handle. Don't you think? Yeah.

Here's what I'll do. I'll do the period at Archie Bradley seven, and then I'll do spaces. So it's like a whole new line here. Okay. And then say, come on at high, come on at high, come on at high O spot.

I think that'll get the job done. Okay, that's it. Yes. So I've got period at Archie Bradley seven and then I did two spaces and I just have come on high O spot. And that's it. This has been a big Twitter podcast for you.

This is the biggest yet ever. And again, it's for you listeners. All right. So should I hit tweet? This is what we're doing? Yeah. I'm doing it. I feel like such a loser. I know.

I did it just for the pod. You guys have to know. I did this for you. I hate it. I've got anxiety about this. I love everyone. I love you guys. I already liked it. Mickey, this does not mean that we have moved on from you being our favorite Philly.

You are still our favorite Philly. We're just trying to have Archie Bradley on the podcast as well. Yes. Mickey's our guy, no matter what. Archie can be another one of our guys if he ever wants to graze us with his presence. That's right. Okay. I can't believe it.

Look at you. You really just turned my bit around. That's why you're the master of bits i shouldn't try and come up with bits i should let you be the big i like this bit good all right i'm happy i'm happy i can see how red i can see how red your face is through this it's really random so here's what you guys need to do for me you beautiful wonderful listeners back me up on this tweeted him follow my tweet or respond to my tweet whatever we got to do here please please please

please help me out here don't leave me out alone in the wilderness here let's get Archie on the pod that's right okay that's all I got Jack oh man I until next week I tweeted twice during this pod I know I know I know until next week when we

maybe or may not have Archie Bradley. And when there's more spring training. I mean, we probably won't. It's okay, though. One day. We want you, Archie. Oh, and by the way, hey, everyone, on Monday, March 15th, don't forget,

wish Jack Fritz a happy birthday. No. You can wish me a happy birthday. Or if you want, you can wish my little brother, Peter Seltzer, a happy birthday. Tweet Jack, happy birthday, Peter, because that's pretty funny, too, because who would have thunk it? Jack Fritz and my little brother have the exact same birthday, except my brother's older than you, which, again, just makes me feel even older. Yeah. Well, no one cares about Peter.

My little brother was in second grade when you were born. Wow. That's an old family you got there. I know. We're a bunch of old guys over here. It's great. It's great. All right.

We good? We're good. He spreads his thoughts.