High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Explaining Eagles Chants/We're Going To Wilmington

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss what they were up to at the ballpark this afternoon and announce a special trip for High Hopes listeners. Presented by Miller Lite. 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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or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! On the Odyssey app and Sports Radio 94 WIP. The crowd was singing High Hopes. Smiling through a broken nose. Oh, High Hopes. High Hopes. I feel a little less alone.

Yo! It is another edition of the High O's podcast, sponsored by, as you can see, if you're watching, which you should be, the beautiful Miller Lite in Jack Prince's hand. Sponsored by Miller Lite, official sponsor of Philadelphia Phillies tastes like Miller time Philadelphia celebrate responsibly I might have had a few Miller Lights today Jack down at the ballpark maybe a few would never accuse you of that but it was it was a day at the ballpark today it was it you know what let me tell you I'm still hot.

Dude. I've been home for like two hours, and I'm like boiling. Yeah, so. It was unreal out there today. So the good part is, obviously, the ballpark was 120 degrees. It's unbelievable. There was no shade. The best part is, first off, it took me, I don't know, about an hour and a half, two hours to get home.

And I had to go pick up Jill. And then I got home, and I was like, all right, I got to do the podcast. Great. Then I remembered I went up to my, you know, up, up, up bedroom or whatever to do the podcast. And I forgot. It's the hottest room in the history of the world. Oh, no. Oh, no.

So it's been – listen. Hey, hey, on the positive side, shedding some LBs today. Dude, you look good, honestly. Snacks is, yeah. You've been bringing it. Snack is in your snack right now, especially with that hat on. Looking good, buddy. I stole the idea from Crocker. Crocker's been wearing this hat.

It's a good look, man. Crocker knows what he's doing. He's been doing it for a while. He's always been a style guy. You know that. Yeah. All right. So let's get to the most important thing.

Aside from Miller Lights today, a Phillies game where they lost, but we got a series win. And also all the freaking amazing people we hung out with. Listeners to WIP. A lot of High Hopes fans, which was awesome. Shout out to Maddie McDonald. Jody McDonald's daughter, fan of the pod. Maddie Mac. shout out to maddie mac um but met a bunch of awesome people but but i think the number one thing that people want to hear about you doing eagles chance of philly's

game at the philly's game today that was it was honestly it was a tough scene it was a you you you might have embraced it a little more than i expected that's awesome well as we are told you might as well jump both feet in if you're gonna do anything you didn't half-ass it which i was both impressed and horrified well it was a dual thing as our favorite one i think i think he's your favorite tv character and someone that i have molded my life after ron swanson oh absolutely the best of all time you know don't what know, don't half-ass one thing, whole-ass something, essentially. That's right. So something along those lines. But regardless, yeah.

And did a Miller Lite. Whole-assed it. He did. Did a Miller Lite or two help? Yeah. So let me just get this out of the way. The floor is yours. The floor is yours.

Yeah. Okay. So for those of you who don't know, that don't listen to wip that's perfectly fine by the way i have learned i have learned via social media that wip not allowed to have fun everyone else the word yes they don't like it it's not allowed to have fun yeah we're serious we're journalists exactly we are doing serious serious journalism so yeah let's establish the rules fun bad always fun. Fun is always bad. So for people that don't listen to WIP, I said on the show I would quit the show if they cheered Reese Hoskins hitting a home run. Which was only days after you said I will quit IOPs if Spencer Howard is good against the Phillies.

We didn't hold you to that. Well, if you want to check the – if you want to like really break down the tape, I did say quality start. Okay, good. I like that you went back and figured that out. I think someone sent me that. But either way. It's still good work.

It's still good work. Either way. Yeah. So, okay. So I said I'd quit the show like obviously having fun. Tongue in cheek, as they say, yes. Because like I would have been surprised if they cheered reese hoskins hitting a home run it just happened to be the perfect scenario for it to happen scenario three nothing no big deal the moment it was like perfect and i would have cheered

too like it was it was a cool moment it was fun so of course we have our fun with it and instead of quitting the show they make me do five five Eagles chants at the Phillies. Because they don't want you to quit the show. Let's be honest. That would have been a bad thing for them. So they were like, how can we spin this where we're still going to give it to Jack, but we don't actually want him to follow through. And I have long had an anti-Eagles chance phillies games i think a lot of people listening know this yes it's something can i take it a step further i would say like if i had to

list how about this a top five things that jack hates the most like it would probably be on the top five like it would be in the consideration eagles chance at phillies games would be one of the the five things that probably meet the top five. Totally agree. So, yeah, like, you know, we were there. We're having a good time. And it was also funny. We went up right in front of Fraske in L.A.'s booth.

I saw the video of that. Obviously, we talked to L.A. before. And Fraske, you know, we've talked about eagles chance at philly's games so so yeah you know it was fun it was funny i ended up doing six so just one day they didn't credit the first so i actually thought this was a very a deft move by you jack shows up we're all hanging out with listeners or a bunch of us there jack shows up doing an eagles chant so a like get it and it didn't work out for you but get one out of the way right but you also i felt like you caught people off guard and people just heard it we're like oh and like you almost it was like kind of a trick one and i guess spike wasn't having it

never never so anything that it makes me feel or makes me as embarrassed as possible. So now that that's out of the way, it was for anyone thinking, oh, this is what Jack loves now. He loves. I want that to be nipped in the bud. Squash that right away. None of that. It's not what I love. So we'll get to the Phillies.

I want to make sure we do this early in the pod. Yes, at the top. We did it in the last minute of the pod last time. Let's go right to it. This is honestly more important than you do an Eagles chance, but I just saw you do the Eagles chance, so I had to bring it up. Yes, Aiden Miller. Let's get to the more important thing here.

Aiden Miller, Justin Crawford, maybe George Clawson. We're coming. We're coming. So we'll get to the Padre series. But tomorrow morning, I'm going to tweet out a way for you to get tickets to come join us down in Wilmington July 3rd. We got a good response to what we talked about last time. So if you missed it, basically, we want to go to Wellington. It's a lot closer, I think, for a lot of us.

You know, from rather than Jersey Shore, North Jersey, whatever. It's about 35 minutes below for mostly everyone. So they're playing there July 3rd. It's a fireworks night, so that makes it even more fun. And we just want to go cheer. Family friendly, as they say. Family friendly. Big Wellington Blitz blue rocks guy.

And we've just want to go cheer on Aiden Miller and, and Justin Crawford and, and all of our guys and, and having a, an old school, like authentic high hopes kind of trip down and, and, and see the guys play and,

and support them and stuff like that. So we talked to the blue rocks. They put together a section for us. And all you got to do is follow the instructions that they sent me in a flyer. So I'll tweet that out tomorrow. I'll put it on the High Hopes Instagram account, which I barely use. And what I have realized, James, is that there are people somehow that listen to this podcast that are on social media that are

not on social media so uh if you want to go don't have social media and you want information on how to get to the willing to gain then just email me or email us even though it's me responding all the time totally jack i don't even know the password yeah i don't i forget the password. I forget the password too, but I'm logged in, so it's fine. Thehighhopespod at gmail.com. So we're going. I hope we get a big group going and we can go see Aiden and just look like crazy people for a Wednesday night in Wilmington on Blue Rocks fireworks night. Honestly, this is the most authentically High Hopes thing

that we have done in a while. You know, I'm not saying we've gotten big time or anything like that. You know, we can't believe that anyone... Yes, we are rootsmen. We can't believe anyone comes to say hi to us. We can't believe we do shows on WIP. It's all still surreal to us.

But, like, this is the kind of thing that this podcast was founded on, has believed in from the start. And, I mean, let's be honest. Like, getting to go to a Meyer League game with Fritzie, I mean, that should be on everyone's bucket list. I mean, that is – you want to see true joy in the eyes of another human being. Watch Jax see Aiden Miller hit live.

Like, you're just going to see, like – you know when they talk about, like, love at first sight, or there's something you can see in their eyes or whatever whatever. Like people can just look at you and like, it'll be a magical thing to see that kind of love for something, anything in the world. So I mean, can't miss, can't miss. It is, it is a bit of a touching time for me. You know, you caught me in an emotional state. That's true. Because not only did I do something that I hated today, of course, but speaking of my real son and not Aiden Miller, he took like six, seven steps today. Oh, buddy.

The little guy's starting to walk, which is – He's already pretty energetic. Good and bad. Good and bad. Yeah, you met Zoe. Yeah, so he's moving a little bit. So listen, a lot of things going on right now. But yes, I think the best way to describe watching Aiden Miller play in person is I'm

going to have, I mean, you've seen this face. I know. That big, dumb, goofy smile. That's what you're getting. That's what you're getting when i sit like because in my head i'm like this is so stupid but like i find it hilarious i think it's the again i think it's the most authentic thing we've done in a while please coming out with that's gonna be awesome and we can see that you know the best phillies prospect since mike sch. Not my words. Like, people who really know what they're talking about's words.

Okay, let's address this. First, I want this out of the way, too, because again, I have to clear my name of a lot of things. I was not the scout. I'm taking myself out of the running. It was not me. I appreciate the quote.

Let's be honest. If it were Jack, who was the scout, the quote would have been, Aiden Miller's way better than Mike Schmidt. Get ready. Well, if it was really me, I would have leaned into he's Pedroia with a better bat. You totally would have. It's exactly right. Yes. Thank you.

People would have known if it was you. It would have sounded exactly like that. Thank you. So, yeah, the quote's aggressive. It's definitely aggressive. We've had some pretty good prospects. I mean, Cole Hamels was a huge prospect. Obviously, Don Brown was a huge prospect.

He was right behind Trout and Harper. We know about Kyle Drabeck. We know about Utley coming through. We know about what Ryan Howard was doing when he's blocked by Jim Tomey. We know about Jimmy Rollins. I appreciate it. I love Aiden Miller. I think he's blocked by jim tommy we know about jimmy rollins like it's i appreciate it i love aiden miller i think he's really good it's it's such an aggressive quote that i actually hate because because if he doesn't pan out and become a a really really good player it's a lot of

expectations well it's the same thing they have with kingery dude like kingery was a really good prospect but it only been doing it for like a year like a year and a half essentially yeah exactly and like people held that against him for forever so why you told me he's pedroia with it's like so i don't know he's he's he's really good i think he can handle all this stuff will he be able to handle a high hopes night where we're cheering for old buddy him and justin crawford and the what is happening right now yeah i i don't know but either way i appreciate the quote and yes before anyone asks he's untouchable yeah great point i will i will tone it down a bit okay i'll take it a level down just think about it this way if you're like oh should i come july 3rd

you have to work the next day no big deal whatever if you're like, oh, should I come July 3rd? You have to work the next day. No big deal, whatever. If you're like, should I do it? Should I not? Whatever. Forgetting us, forgetting anyone else. Think about 20 years from now, 25 years from now, when Aiden Miller is on the steps in Cooperstown being inducted in the Hall of Fame, you could say, I saw him win.

Just file that one away. That's all I'm saying. Not to put expectations anywhere where they shouldn't be. Just say, and I would never put myself on the same level as Ray Dittinger. I am very intrigued to see where this goes. Please continue. But can't you already see the play being written? Aiden and me.

Aiden and me. Aiden and me. This is, yeah, it's really good. I'm giving a speech yeah just kidding just kidding so are you though yeah just playing seats truth in every statement right yeah yeah so either way the only difference there ray dinger was like a kid when he met tommy and that whole thing started it's a little weirder when it's the you know 30 year old guy following around the 20 year old kid or whatever being like hey man

can i carry your helmet i think you're gonna be good what if i did what if i just like quit my job and became a jersey shore blue claws bat boy it would be a bold decision but then but then as soon as he moves to the redding it's like well damn it all right do you need a bat boy you just gotta follow him around yep i'll be the bat boy? You just got to follow him around. Yep. I'll be the bat boy if you need me to be the bat boy. That's good. You'd be a good bat boy.

Yeah. You're a baseball man. Yeah, dude. Listen. There's nothing quick. Any role, you'll freaking bring it to the team. You're an asset. Dude, you need me to keep the book?

I promised in 2014 I would never keep another book. But if you need me to do it at the minor league slash big league level, I'll keep the book. Yeah. But they need that these days. There's no other way to track these stats. Correct. It's important that someone busts out the pencil in the program and dives in.

So thank you for your heart. 56 straight. 56 straight perfect books at PSAC record. It's one of my favorite things that you say. It really is. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from

Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe as we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that's going to make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need.

Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Coming out with us, it's going to be awesome. We'll keep talking about it. But July 3rd, Wilmington, Aiden Miller, Justin Crawford, mostly Aiden Miller. It's going to be awesome coming out with us it's gonna be awesome we'll keep talking about but july 3rd wilmington aiden miller justin crawford mostly ed miller it's gonna be awesome coming out okay 50 15 minutes by the way yeah just let you know how long we that's literally i looked at i was like all right we gotta talk yeah we gotta do some phillies i also told jack again you know super tired in the sun waking up in the morning had some Miller lights I believe you are are you

doing this podcast and your jam is I I am I'm not wearing pants right now I'm wearing boxers yes yes yes I was about to stand up and show it and I was like a pressure no we are a family show we're a family show buddy I'm in I'm in my boxers so I originally said all right 30 minute pod that's not happening all right not even close yeah let's talk pods phillies that look we won the series last night obviously today i'll be completely frank i saw zero percent of the game like i turned around when i heard people cheer for harper's two homers and i was like it so i love going to baseball games i have no idea what happens in the game like that's why especially these ones because we're with a bunch of listeners you want to get to talk to people meet people

people come and hang and you pulled in this way that way this way that way and then it's like you're just all of a sudden it's the fifth inning and i'm like i have no idea what's happening i will say the the if you can get a good seat out in center field the view is really good it is it's a really good view like you see all the game but so But so obviously I'm going to watch it once they eventually upload it, which MLB.tv takes forever to upload these games. It's a little annoying. I'm with you on it. They claim it's a half hour after the game.

It's an hour and a half. Yeah, I've never stayed up long. I've always done it the next day. It's always been too long for me that way. Yeah, but Ranger looked good. Harper had two runs. Soto came in. And I think one of the biggest takeaways of the padre series is while i agreed with the rojas sundown and i'm okay with it like i think they wanted him to work on some things i think they were were i think they wanted him to work on the little things that he

was not getting to work on at the big league level. And Pache, I'm not sure he's an everyday player. The drop-off defensively from Brandon Marsh in center field, or from those guys and Brandon Marsh, it's pretty severe. Like, Brandon Marsh is a really high-level left fielder when it comes to defense. But there's been a couple times. And even that Soto ball, I think he could have gotten. I think Rojas gets there for that ball off of Soto.

And in the Sanchez start the other night, arguably both of them. I was in the car for one of them. And the second one where the only earned run came in on, that's a ball that Rojas gets to pretty much in his sleep. So while I agree I'll take more offense because I think this team needs more offense than defense, you did see early the downgrade in defense, especially in the center field spot. Yeah, I think it's noticeable. And look, I think Pache is clearly better than Marsh out there.

But even Pache is not quite robots. But Pache is good. And I couldn't believe how close he got to that home run. Like it was, I actually thought he had it in the moment. He timed it so well. I thought he had it in the moment. I was like, I can he had it in the moment i was like i can't believe he got that like wow and obviously just missed it but he's he's pretty good out there pache like i feel pretty confident with him but it is it is a a drop off from rojas to him and it is it is a much steeper drop off when you get to marsh and

again marsh isn't a bad center fielder he's just not good he's like it's just it's just like when you see that those guys and then you see him it's like oh there's definitely a difference here and the the single most annoying thing that people did when rojas got sent down was well he's been a disappointment in center field defensively it's like what are you watching like he sometimes the ball glances off his glove and that's yeah i think that was something that yeah it's annoying but there's a bit of a lackadaisicalness to it at times but it's because he gets there so fast it makes it look the point is plays that he he might screw up like that someone's not even touching the baseball exactly yeah exactly like we're no one

else is in the stratosphere that that j Rojas is to get to the baseball. So I think that is 100% overstated. Listen, maybe he goes down and really – Hits and comes back, yeah. In a perfect world, heading into the deadline for the next month, that'd be awesome. I thought the way Topper said it, and I think part of it is to prop Rojas up, but I thought he – like it felt genuine when Topper said it, and I think part of it is to prop Ross up, but I thought he, like, it felt genuine when Topper said the best version of this team is Johan Ross in center field. Like, the best that we can be is when that guy can handle being in that spot.

You know? Without a, I guess, without a trade for. Without, yeah. Well, yeah, as of now. And without, like, a massive drop off offensively, whatever. Sure, I agree. But I think he's right about that. You know, I don't think that was just lip service to make the kid feel better when he sent him down that's my point yeah no i agree i i agree it's just the biggest question is going to

be deadline what do they do and like and like absolutely let's say they in in a world where they don't get a center fielder is johan rojas back at back up yeah well i think it's more likely that rojas gets another shot then they're just like all right christian you're the guy like certainly and a question of martian pache like if they get taylor ward or something as an example of someone who is not you know louise robert and this massive thing but someone who can come in and play every day for you i do think you're looking at a marsh pache split to start but i think ideally they would much rather have rojas there and and put marsh in both spots or whatever depending on matchups

and stuff i think that's ideally what they would do if they don't make it a trade for like a big dude you know yeah yeah i think i think if they don't trade for louise robert i i don't think they're just going to trade for a center fielder to trade for a center fielder. I think they would look more towards a bat, a right-handed. They feel like they can move stuff around out there if they have to, rather than forcing trading someone just because they play center field. Sure. I do think that they would trade for Luis Robert, 100%. That's obviously.

And then, again, he's hitting 177, but he's also got the second highest barrel percentage in all of baseball. He's got the hardest hit percentage. Yeah, in all of baseball. Now, it's a small sample size because he's getting back from injury. He also is hitting the ball the hardest he has in his entire career. Like, there's a lot of – That's the kind of stuff you want to see.

There's a lot of good underneath the surface, rather than just looking at the batting average with Luis Robert. Again again it's probably the most torn i've been on anything in it while we've been doing this podcast is the idea and i've old statement dude it's because like the upside is the upside he is the white socks are brutal and like if you can go get him with three and a half years left at 26 years old plus he's a gold glove caliber center i feel like i see all the positives and then it's also doesn't walk strikes out and is injured all the time so it's just like and on top of the prospect cost that it's probably going to take to get the deal done i i would be ecstatic if they trade for him but

there's definitely a little voice in the back of my head that's just like i don't know so that's where i'm at with louise robert but you think about some of the names out there and i really hope the red socks sell i really do because a tyler o'neill or or rob reppsnyder ball so hard tyler o'al. It's like sometimes when people hit the baseball, you feel bad for the baseball. That's Tyler O'Neal. It's like he is so angry when he hits that ball. It just explodes off his bat. Well, the one-off NOLA in Boston was just launched. Launched.

Yeah. Yeah. So, Tyler, again, off the top of my head, the names that released the guy are O'Neal, Ref Snyder. I love Rob Ref Snyder. Taylor Ward. And, like, Joe Adele's available, but he's another one that's hitting in the 190s. And does not have the success that Robert has.

No, not even close. He's never shown. Like, he was a similar prospect, same type of thing, like top-tier guy, but just has never shown it at the major league level where robert you at least have that to fall back and be like look what that dude did in the major leagues you know yeah so i don't think this is the end for rojas i think he'll barring a trade for for louis robert or which he would be a part of i think if

they trade for louis robert rojas is in the deal. If not, I could go anyway. Sure. I think that, yeah, so that's when he's back up here. And then if they don't get Robert, it's more one of those corner outfield, big right-handed kind of power bats. I don't – given how Baum is playing – and by the way, huge that Baum is looking back to the first month and a half of the year. That's what we needed. Because that four spot was worrisome

like you need someone look it's still it's still i'm not saying it's soft like we know that like a boom's great right now this is good if he keeps doing this fine but like like if they at like robert if they like the point is it's not a lock that boom stays in the four hole depending on who they are yeah i mean i think louis ro Luis Roberts hitting there. That's my point. Exactly. He's going to be there hitting behind Harper. And, I mean, that's pretty exciting. That changes everything. Yeah, exactly.

That's pretty exciting. So a lot of things that could happen between now. I'm just so giddy about the deadline, man. I can't wait. It's fun. Like, finally. We do perfect deadlines every year, and it's like us spinning our wheels,

being, how cool would this be? It's like, oh, go get a Struble Cabrera. Like, this is cool. This is every year and it's like us like spinning our wheels being how cool would this be it's like go get a strubel cabrera like this is cool this is cool and it's real all right speaking of the deadline one other thing before we get back into the padres and the take back and all that the other name that was thrown out and also just the concept of a nightingale mentioned but buster only coming in strong and basically saying the phillies are getting a reliever i don't care what anyone says that Dave Dombrowski is trading for a reliever. And of course, you know, throws Mason Miller out there. I, I just like, sure. I take me similar. I just can't, I can't see a world where the Phillies are going to trade what it would cost to get Mason Miller considering the other needs and their situation. But what do you make of only A, being so emphatic and a reliever of some sort,

and then B, throwing Mason Miller out there? So two thoughts. One on Mason Miller himself. I wonder if the thought process, if the Phillies do it, is he's a closer now that they think can turn back into a starter. Which would be very interesting, you know, because he's a starter. He's got five years before arbitration. And he was pretty decent when he started last year.

Like, he was young and stuff, but he had some really nice moments last year when he started. Of course. So I wonder if that would be a part of it, if the Phillies did get involved in the Mason Miller thing. The Nightingale and Olney thing, it just feels like they are talking about Dombrowski's reputation versus... More than the specific knowledge of the situation.

Correct. That's what it kind of looks like to me. It did with Olney. The way he phrased it, he's like, if I know Dave Dombrowski, he's not... It wasn't like, look at this team. They've been calling around or whatever. No, there's been way more stuff about outfielder than closer. And in a perfect world in a vacuum yeah getting a

mason miller getting a lockdown closer is fine it's just the phillies have one move for like a big swing and using that on a closer when you have the options they have in the back of the bullpen just just feels like a mistake plus like you could probably go get tanner scott for a lot less he's got a 1. Again, this is when I look before the J.D. Martinez home run, but he had a 1.3 ERA. He's been really good. He's really tough from the left side. He's closed out games

before. While it's not really playoff games, I know the Marlins made the playoffs last year. He either has Mason Miller for what it's worth. I know he's nasty, but that dude's never pitched in a big spot for just comparison's sake. And he pitched in nasty, but that dude's never pitched in a big spot, you know? For just comparison's sake. And he pitched in Division 3. He pitched in lowly Division 3, so how does he know anything about big games?

But yeah, so like, and Tanner Scott's a free agent at the end of the year, so would cost significantly less than Mason Miller. So I just, again, would I be mad if they got Mason Miller? No, unless it costs you Aiden Miller or Andrew Painter.

But I just, I don't feel the need to go get a real closer. Like, go get Tanner Scott if you really want to go get and have him replace Soto, dude. Imagine, like, replacing Soto with Tanner Scott and you can go him, Strom, and Alvarado with Hoffman, Kirkering, and Sir Anthony. Like, that's pretty locked down. Ins Anthony. I mean, it's insane. Pretty locked down, yeah. Insane.

I mean, you're not going to use all those guys in the playoffs. You can, but we remember, and look, 2022, they were a guy short, but in 2022, the Phillies came damn close to winning the World Series with two relievers we trusted. That was it. It was Alvarado and Sir Anthony, and that was it. There was Roberts and Bishley. There was no one they brought.

Eflin, by the end, was like... The point is they had no one else to bring into a game who we trusted at all. And even by the end, Alvarado was, you know, at the end of the locker room. Shaky. And they almost won the World Series with that. We're talking about having six of those guys. Like, five of those guys. It's a totally different thing.

Well, and by the way, I think the complexion of the starting staff has totally changed things as well in 2022 Ranger is not going deep in games last year Ranger was not going super deep in games start a World Series game in 2022 think about that I want you I want you to bring that to a quizzo night and roll that one out there but like Chris Sanchez was not going deep in those games last year. You know, it was pretty much Nola Wheeler. Of course, they would go deep. But, you know, unless they believe that Rob Thompson is going to be

as aggressive as he's been the last couple of postseasons and that's why you want to get a real lockdown guy, sure, I get that. But I do think the starting staff has changed from the standpoint of they're going deeper in a baseball game so like do you need to manage them like it's game seven of the of the of the playoffs you know what i mean so like i don't think it's going to be ranger goes three innings and there it is we got to get them out of there we we got to get someone else in there i don't think there's any chance of that i agree yeah i the bullpen's fine i know people the old adage you can never have enough pitching sure i i agree it's just we gotta we gotta talk about the best use the best uses of resources

here and i just don't think investing everything in mason miller is is a good use of resources yeah i'm 100 with you all right uh anything else on the padre series before the take back i thought you know obviously yesterday's win was super fun and seeing him come back against Suarez was just was neat you know Schwarber another big hit I think Suarez man 4-5 for Cassie with the winning hit

it does feel like Cassie at home just is so much more comfortable I also I'll tell you one thing I love about I knew he had two all golf hits a third is his third of the year I love about, so I knew he had two walk-off hits. A third, it's his third of the year. I love how he waits for everyone to come to him. You know what I mean? Most guys get the walk-off hit, they run in and duck their head.

Like Cassius puts his arms out and he's like, come on in, fellas. I love that. I did it again. I love that. Like, I don't know why, but that like hits me every time. But, you know, a really fun win. A laugher on Monday. What a thrill that was.

What else from the series before we get to the takeoff? Well, I thought Chris Sanchez was a really good and a bounce-back start after the Red Sox. I think we just chalk up that first series out of London as these guys are changing time zones and coming back off of a plane, you know. Like, I think it was just more of a blip in the radar than who these guys are. I thought Nola was good. I think he just kind of ran out of gas last night. Chris Sanchez, great.

I mean, the bullpen last night was pretty sick, man. You know, when we talk about those three. That was fun to watch. It was like, oh, this is what it looks like when you just shut it down with these dudes. They didn't allow a hit. I mean, even looking at the box score was cool because it's like uh hoffman 0.86 era strom 0.93 kirk ring like 1.1 or whatever it's like look at this this is nuts dude it felt like that asterisk speaking of 2022 it was like when you looked at that asterisk bullpen it was like ryan stanek has the highest era at 2.2 or whatever

it's like what is happening here you know yeah it Yeah. It's, it's, it's pretty ridiculous. So yeah, I just, you know, Ranger was fine today. Like the starting staff, it feels like has calmed down. You know, Wheeler obviously was not great. His last time out against the Orioles. I'll be shocked if that's like turns into something. I feel exactly. It was a pretty damn good picture.

I think he'll be all right. But yeah, I just, I think the pitching mostly right itself against the Padres. Soto, Soto. People aren't going to trust him. Again, I think Marsh could have gotten that ball. I thought, and he's out of that inning. But yeah, overall,

I think the pitching kind of settled down a little bit this series. And the bats showed up in the first two games. It took a little while in the second second game but the june schwarber thing i just it's gonna be so interesting having to explain that to future generations oh my god i know it's like one of the weirder and you know he loves bits but it's like one of the weirdest ones just again it's one thing to like you know lead the phillies all time in in home runs Phillies all time in home runs per June or home runs per bat, period, which he does.

But to be ahead of Babe Ruth and dudes like that in June, to just be so clearly the best to ever do it in the month of June, it's an over-the-top bit there, my friend. Right. So here's my question, because you know me. Always focus on the future. True. Are you extending Schwarber?

And if you are, for how long? So, I mean, it's one of those you need two to tango, but I don't think there's any question. I think he loves it here. I agree with you. But I think that he is just way too important on too many levels to let go. Yeah. I don't think there's any question. And look,

I don't think, I don't think the power is going anywhere. You know, I don't think the eye is going anywhere. Look, he's not going to hit forever, but like, it's not like his home runs are,

are close. It's not like, Oh, maybe he's a little less powerful this year. And they're, they're not finding their way out. Those homers are getting out. So I think he should age better than you would think for someone who looks like he does,

for lack of a better phrase. Well, at the same time, it's like his swing is – now he tries to launch baseballs, but it's not – like Bryce's swing worries me long term. I feel like Schwarber's swing is pretty okay. I mean, three years, 70? Three years, $70 million? $23 million a year?

I would do that. What about Castellanos? Yeah, no problem. Yeah, no problem. Three years, $7 million. Do you think he would accept that? Because for the clubhouse, he could play for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I'm letting everyone know. Everyone's mad about the leadoff hitter thing. How about a Schwarber extension, baby. How about a Schwarber extension, baby? How about a Schwarber extension? The crazy thing is we've heard so much less of the leadoff thing this year, haven't we? There's still the people who are always going to bring it up. Whenever they lose a game, it's always Schwarber.

Even Howard is like, all right. I'd rather have someone fast at the top, but okay. It's impossible to argue with. It doesn't help when Stott's sitting okay. It's impossible to argue with. It's over. Well, it doesn't help. It doesn't help when Stott's sitting 230. That too. Six or whatever. Now, I think Stott had a breaking series.

And look, that was a big hit. That was a big hit last night. Well, even when he's struggling, I still believe in him. Even when he's struggling, I'm still like, eh, Stott's probably going to come through here. So, yeah, overall, a fine probably going to come through here. Yeah, overall, a fine series. Today was alright. I think it was an emotional win last night.

I think so too. They got, what, 18 hits the night before? I mean, anyone who thought they were going to put up some runs today is out of their minds. That's just not how the Phillies work. Against a knuckleballer? They're never hitting a knuckleballer. Exactly right.

Which is neat, by the way. All right. Take back in a sec. Shout out to the light account of the week. Jimmy's timeout. Today's show. Shout out to Jimmy's.

Today's show sponsored by Miller light and Jimmy's timeout. The Northeast. Check out Jimmy's timeout for every Phillies game. Enjoy $3. Miller light. Aluminums along with their famous roast pork sandwich with sharp provolone. Big fan of that. And broccoli Rob on a seated roll merlites for phil's win celebrate responsibly all right take back fritzy and don't give me like a 30 minute take back all

right i'm i'm i it's getting bedtime for your boy here jimmy's time out eh yeah jimmy's time out i mean like yeah i think i'm to put you in time out for this next one. Good, good. Can I just go to bed or no? Yeah, dude. Yeah, yeah. So, first off, is Robert Suarez – now, Greg Frank tweeted this at me last night. Robert Suarez is our new Broxton?

Yeah, I saw it, too. It's a great tweet. And, yeah, I mean, it kind of is, right? It's so funny. I don't care what happened today. Today was a letdown spot. It was a three-run lead. Yeah, come on.

Yeah, yeah. He was terrified last night, and it was amazing because he's been insane this year. Like, outside of Hoffman. He's had a lot of save. He's been phenomenal. He's allowed two earned. He's allowed two earned runs this entire year,

and then bang, four straight hits up. He is nasty. Like, that dude can pitch man yeah yeah yeah but it's and so funny does not matter what robert suarez does for the rest of his career he can make the all-star team this year he could bet the lowest era amongst relievers in baseball we don't care at all we we own oh we own him we own him like we own broxton who was the best reliever in the sport for three years or whatever. Yeah, he's ours. It's a good bit.

It's a good bit. Every Phillies team needs to own an insane reliever. I love it. For a little bit. It's great. Shout out to Willie Mays. Obviously, you know, passed away. The greatest living ball player.

No longer. Formerly the greatest living ball player. Formerly the greatest. Thank you for clarifying. And you look at the stats, and it's just like, dude, this guy's pretty ridiculous. It's insane, his numbers. And his average should have been higher the last few years. He kind of played longer and wasn't quite as good at the end.

But even at, like, 36, 37, he's putting up, like, you know, close to 900 OPS seasons and stuff. He was – like, I grew up with, like like reading about the sport, learning that for all that, where it was like kind of just Willie Mays was the best. Like that was just kind of the accepted feeling was like, you know, Babe Ruth was Babe and then importance of the game. Ted Williams was the greatest dude to ever pick up a baseball bat.

And Willie Mays was the best player ever. Like those were just kind of things that were like known almost, you know what I mean? So yeah. And the say, the say, Hey kid is just an unbelievable nickname. Awesome nickname.

Yeah. Awesome. It was a bummer to see that last night. Obviously Willie may is just an unbelievable player. Mookie bets the, I mean the, the hand fracture seems like it's, it's pretty legit here again.

Like things are now he'll be back for the playoffs and that's not, but that hurts. I mean, that could tap power, all that type of stuff, stuff you know a lot of things are breaking this team's way and i just i we we need them to break through plus it helps the harper mvp run which feels like we're getting a shohei bryce september for the mvp bryce being a three-time mvp with two as a philly would be pretty ridiculous. Well, it's special. That list is very, very, very, very, very, very, very elite.

The three-time MVP list is super small. Like, it's really small. And Bryce is first in the National League voting for the All-Star game. Thank God. Barring. How crazy is it that he's been here since 2019 and we haven't watched him play in the All-Star Game? It's like the craziest. Honestly, he's won an MVP. It's one of the weirdest little dumb quirks of injuries and timing

and the way in the pandemic year and all that, the way it played out, but the fact that it's going to take until 2024 for us to watch Bryce in the All-Star Game is crazy. We saw Craig Kimbrell close out an all-star game as a philly before we saw bryce harvard playing one so again knocking on wood because we've seen him get injured before and it cost him playing in the all-star game yes twice but he should be there and alf bohm 800,000 votes ahead of the next unbelievable the most the most The biggest gap between one and two at any position.

And it's probably going to end up Boehm at third, Turner at short because Mookie got hurt, Harper at first. And then Ranger on the hill, probably. Rojas in center field. By the way, I mean, Marsh is the highest voter. Did you see the numbers with Boehm when Marsh is in the lineup? Yeah, it's awesome.

Shout out to who that was on Twitter. I don't know who it was. Well, no, it was on Philly's Reddit. It was on Philly's Reddit. I didn't know where it came from, but I saw it. But it's unbelievable. It's so funny. He's betting 330 with Marsh in the lineup, like 220 or whatever, 240 or whatever.

It's unbelievable. Again, don't care that Marsh is slugging negative man friendship yeah well he's listen marsh is slugging like negative 100 against lefties yeah he's got a bad he's batting like 130 against lefties he's got to play we we need the best version of avalic bones so it is what it is so um yeah so i'm really digging into the draft stuff. Oh, buddy. Not today, you're not. You sure?

You sure? What do you got? Go ahead. Make it quick. All right. Just a quick little one. There's a couple prep arms. All right.

So, like, Braylon Doherty is my favorite prep arm. Joey Oki is in there. Again. Like Braylon Doherty is my favorite prep arm. Joey Oki is in there again. So like I just like I need you to be the draft. I need you to be the draft because now I'm starting to like pace. You know what I mean? I'm getting into pacing season where it's just like, okay, well what are they going to do? Like do they need to get a prep arm in there because, you know,

Painter and Abel and they're starting to graduate. They have a good base of young hitters in the system. But at the same time, man, like, first off, I love that Brian Barber's strategy is just, like, always a high school kid in the first round just because, like, they're so much more projectable. And, like, if they go to college for three years, then they are going to be, like, the number one pick in the draft most likely

if they're any good. But, yeah, I just – I really, really need it. I really need the draft to come around. And what stinks for me this year and what, you know, all affected last year, any good. I really, really need it. I really need the draft to come around. What stinks for me this year and what all affected last year is it was right after Walker was born-ish. When I took the week off, it was a staycation.

I'm going to be in Canada when the Phillies are drafting. I'm not going to be able to do the full-on breakdown, which I know breaks your heart. No. I mean, devastated. Crush. Try not to be able to do the full-on breakdown, which I know breaks your heart. Oh, no. I mean, devastated. Crush. Try not to tear up. Yes.

The tears are flowing. You just can't see them. So I will be in Canada. Am I smiling too big? Is it too big a smile? I'll try and tone that down. I'm sorry. We'll do a live pod.

Don't you worry. Don't you worry. You will pod from a freaking igloo on the side of whatever. You'll pod from a frozen lake. You will the side of whatever you'll pod from a a frozen lake you will find a way to i know i know don't you don't they don't don't worry don't worry i know you're stressed i know you're stressed yep i got you i got you so much better now there's a there's a lot keith law mocked carter johnson to them today who could be the next Gunner, but I've already anointed. I've already anointed Aiden the next Gunner.

Well, he's a lefty shortstop from Alabama. He's right-handed. He can't be the lefty. He can't be Gunner. Sure. I can't do left-handed and right-handed comps. I just can't do it. It's too different for me. Yeah, so I guess the only reason why I did it is that Gunner was a late first round, second round pick. Gotcha. some more positioning and gotcha gotcha gotcha gotcha you're right

Aiden Miller is steroidless Ryan Braun I love that but better defensively oh 10 times better defensively yes yeah that's great. Wilmington. Come hang out. It's going to be awesome. I'm excited. The families are coming, I think. I think Zoe and Emily are in. It's going to be good. You got anything else? Nothing else, buddy.

Bedtime for your boy. I will say, sadly, I know, as someone who really tries to, you know, not do as much as possible, being out in the sun for like five hours really takes it out of you, man. Sun's hot. Yeah, the sun, the beers, the whole thing.

Like I am feeling it. So I'm happy we made it through this without any incident. I feel good about it. Yeah, it's ours. Yeah, it's good. All right. We'll be back after the weekend. Nice to have a day off tomorrow.

I know you hate it, but I could use the early to bed and get back. Diamondback, how are you feeling about that? D-backs in town. The hate still there? Yeah, because they've been disappointing this year. I mean, I agree. Obviously, Cole might not. That would be fun.

But, like, because, you know, when we talked in the offseason, you were like you were you hated the D-backs. Like it was like I kind of thought you might hate them more than the Braves in the moment. Where's that? I did. Yeah, I know. I know.

I know. But I'm saying, well, the offseason, like heading into the season, it felt like the Diamondbacks were like you're in your like number one in your eye. Of course, man. They suck. They suck, dude. That's why it's hard to hate them so much.

It's like you guys are not good. It was obviously a fluke. It was obviously a fluke. And I'm a sore loser. I don't know if that comes through on the podcast, but 100%. I'm a sore loser. Good. The team stinks. And I told you they're going to

miss the playoffs this year, and they are going to miss the playoffs. Jordan Montgomery is getting shelled. I hate the Diamondbacks. I don't know if I'll be down there this weekend. Cole Knight should be fun. I look forward to the 0-9 NL pennant ring

on Hamels Night. Yep, it'll be special. Remember Cole's contributions to it. I saw that. You probably can't go. You'd be too nervous to walk in the building. See him at any point. What do you do? Man, dupes. It's hard not to be nervous when

greatness is around. It's what everyone says. They see Rich Duby and they have no idea who he is. But if they did, then they would be very nervous around him. You get a little nervous. Dude, that's Rich Duby. When you go say hi to him i can't you're crazy it's rich doobie that's actually what happened between me and jack and cooper's down so yeah all right my boy uh we'll be back after the weekend uh two or three or sweep because it's a diamond max i they only play three i need four to make up for to make up for

last year it won't make up for last year at all but i'm with you you gotta you gotta take four of three just go go in and and step on a throat first ever four or three all right we'll be back to react to it until then he's read some salsa