High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: A Series Win & Jack's Final Draft Thoughts

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

Jack Fritz and Tucker Bagley react to the Phillies' winning 1-0 over the Reds behind a stellar outing from Jesus Luzardo and then Jack goes deep into his notebook for some final thoughts on the top MLB Draft prospects. Presented by Miller Lite.To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com

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The crowd is singing high hope. I feel a little less alone. Never a doubt. Never a doubt. Welcome on in. It is the high host podcast presented as always by Miller Light. And if you've been listening this week, obviously you know there is no final out tonight, which means that everyone gets to go to bed at least 20 minutes earlier. And it also means that Tucker Bagley has joined me for every single one of these post-game podcasts. And tonight, Tucker, my goodness, we're back on the roulette wheel of what they need to trade for. to trade deadline. And tonight, it's time to trade for an offensive piece. Dr. Bagley, welcome on in. And how you doing, Bell? Yeah, I mean, 24 hours after panicking about the bullpen

and the back end of the starting pitching, Hazel Zazaartha throws a gym, Jonathan Bowling, clean eighth inning, John Duron, after, you know, maybe struggling the first couple of banners, finds his own ends it. And we're back to worrying about a right-handed hitter again, just like that. Never a doubt. Never a doubt. Yeah, it was funny. Every Durran ninth now. You've seen Billy Madison. I feel like you went through a big Billy Madison phase. Big Adam Sandler phase, yeah, in like middle school.

Everyone did. Everyone that is, I would say 35 and under appreciate 90s Adam Sam. And the run that he went on. But every single time I watch Jawandahon now. And tonight, a good example of that. You know, tonight he allows the first two runners. You're kind of thinking, and I don't like this at all.

And then he just settles in, strikes out two guys, and then an easy last out. I just think about the scene in Billy Madison where Steve Bichemi is standing there, crossing off a name on a list, and Adam Sandler's like, I'm glad I called that guy. That's why I feel like every Duran 9th is, is like Dave Dombrovsky looking at the Mick Abel

and Eduardo Taitre trade and saying, Man, am I glad I called that guy? Because it is a, after the years and years of Canabel and these rant Kimbrel. Now, Kimbril made the All-Star team in 23, not to the slight first half Kimbril of 23, but going from the slop that we have had closing out games and not to disrespect, 2017, Jen Mar Gomez, to this guy, it is just such a light. a lifesaver at the end of games, man. It is a joy to have to wander around on this team.

Yeah, I mean, like you said, like it's been a very, very long time. I know people don't like him, but really since Jonathan Papillon, you haven't had a closer where when you're going into the ninth inning, you feel truly confident. And they've had guys who had moments, right? Like Jeff Hoffman had a moment.

You mentioned first half Craig Gamble. Like, they've had hot relievers, but, I mean, he's the first true shutdown closer you've had in 12 years, 13 years. I mean, it's really impressive, not only the way he gets out and he's efficient, but when you have nights like tonight, where man,

it really doesn't look like he has it and compare it to someone like Jose Alvarado a night ago who dealt with a similar situation and giving up four runs after walking through batters. I mean, he walks two, or gives up, I guess, that fluky single on the 10 pitch at bat, walks a batter. They have a mound visit,

and then he settles down. gets a couple strikeouts. We can't crown ball to third ballgame. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it feels like JT went out there, and he just said, hey, maybe to strike out the next two guys. And Duran's like, no problem. I got it.

I can do that. I'm going to put you on the spot here. And the nice part about this is that I think they'll eventually just take care of both guys. But let's say you had to only extend one. they both have a year and a half left. Is it Duran or Marsh? I think it's Marsh. I think it's March, too.

I think they're going to take care of both. It's not a big fear of mine that they would let Duran go, especially, you know, after some of the ninth inning experiences we've had here. I think that they will take care of Duran and make sure that he's paid handsomely and, you know, paid like one of the top five closures in the sport, which he is. it is nice obviously having the everyday position player that Brandon Marsh has been it was good to see Marshie get a couple hits tonight it's not the lead story but Brandon Marshall all of a sudden I looked up and his average was at 304 I think he's two for 21 heading into tonight well I mean between him harp is now like oh for his last 19 it's like he made the all-star game and then was just like ah you know first half over first half over and we'll get into

it I'm sure a little bit later but he is in the in the home run derby never a doubt there. Jacker there. Never a doubt that the showman's going to be in the in the home runs derby at CBP. So yeah. But the Duran eventual payday. I think March we pay. I wonder.

I'm very curious what an eventual March, March deal looks like. Because the first number that jumps out is five, 100. He's 28. He'll be 29 at the time of his free agency. 5100 would give. you 20 million a year over five years sounds about fair for him join iran probably between 17 and 20

million over four years um like both those guys are probably going to get paid both those guys cannot leave brandon marsh is very important to the future of this team given that they don't have like an abundance of outfielders coming through the the system that are ready to or knocking on the doorstep to take down that spot and joan de ron it's like you know alex mcfarland sitting at Redding throwing 102, well, don't need to bring him up, so he might as well as pay to run whatever it takes. But overall, wasn't the prettiest series win, Tucker,

but it was a series win, and like you mentioned, and we'll obviously get into it. But, man, Hayes-Lazardo's pretty dang, pretty dang good, my friend. Definitely deserving of that All-Star knot. Like, Zach Wheeler, you felt like pitched the other night, like he was angered that he was snubbed, that he was an All-Star. He's-Lzol-Sazard. to pitch today like he wanted to prove everybody why he was named it named an all-star i mean

that's what he does when he's on he's able to strike people out he kept them off balance he didn't really give up much hard contact if at all um his era on the road now is 1.38 best in the national league that's the best in the n l yeah uh the kid on the yankees i think it's like 1.04 he's the only one lower than him is that schlittler schlittler i was afraid to say his name we're not like There's no FCC regulations here. I know. Yeah, yeah. So, oh, wow, I didn't realize he had the best in the National League.

He's 138, Mizorowski's 166, and those are the only two in the NL. And then Schittler's 104, Gilbert 173, and Nick Martinez, 212. A member of two of my fantasy teams, one of my favorites. Yeah, he was, you know, and he was also chippy, too, which I appreciate. I love when pitchers get a little fire. I couldn't figure who he was yelling at or why he was yelling because it was a pretty routine inning and then he turned to the dugout without any fireworks.

And Team Mac on the broadcast is like, well, maybe he's mad at Ellie De La Cruz for running into Bryson Stott last night. But that seems a little ridiculous. Well, it was two nights ago at that point, you know, so it was a little bit, it was even longer. I have no idea why he was mad. I really don't.

I always assume in those situations that it's sign stealing, that he feels like that they are trying to relay something to the hitters. And I tell you what, again, I was 2 and O in high school playoffs. I was the 45th ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania in 2012. Many people still talk about it. But there is nothing. Who's 44? I don't know. I don't know, actually. That's, are any of them doing a podcast in the Phillies tonight? Probably not. Probably not. But there was nothing more frustrating than feeling like they had something on you, like science thing wise. And like having the bleep you kind of mentality that already comes with pitching. I think pitching is the single most

bleep you position in all the sports. Because it's, you have to believe that if you're going to get out. And it's, it's such just, you feel like you turn into a different person on the mound. Like, Lazzardo is a very mild-mannered, calm guy. And then he's out there. He's, and then all a sudden in the second ending, he's yelling it maybe L.E. Day of the Cruz for almost no reason. Besides, maybe, maybe stealing signs. It was crazy. Either way, I appreciate the level of intensity that he felt, even though that's his last start before the All-Star break.

And like he was in complete and total control of that game, especially last night you see maybe they got different baseballs in today. Who knows? It's majorly baseball. They changed it by the day. But, you know, last night it felt like the ball is flying out of there. We know that ballpark is a notorious. hitters park. The ball wasn't traveling as well tonight. It seemed as like stock got robbed at the

wall. But he was in complete control dominance. We've been monitoring that like he'll dial it down to 93, 94 and then, you know, rack it back up into 9798 when he wants to chase a strikeout. But to be more efficient, he is lowering that velocity to get more into the strike zone. I didn't change us from a total equalizer. Sweeper is one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. I'm not going to lie, I had it written in my notes, had he gotten pulled after like the fifth. I thought he looked a little tight.

I thought his back tightened up a little bit, but thankfully he got through it and ended up just completely and totally shelving. But, you know, after a first half, because now he's not going to pitch for the All-Star game, and hopefully it pitches in the All-Star game, that'd be fun. his ERA is 3.51 and I know you just mentioned what he's on the road which is which is great.

3.51 after the contract that he got after it feels like there's some people saying like can we really trust Lazzardo when it's all said and done even with the blowup starts

that is a damn good first half I know Zach Wheeler is pitching to a low two. I know Chris Sanchez should be pitching to a low too, but we have a shortstop who should be a center fielder. What Lazzardo has done should not be overlooked.

They have a legitimate big three at the top of the rotation. And it's good to see the ERA start to reflect how good this guy's been. Really since May 1, Tucker? I mean, May 1? He's been, he's been Hazers Lazzardo. Yeah, and I think, you know, after watching last night and kind of how the way the team flounders when one of those three guys isn't on the mound. it just adds more pressure to him to go out and pitch like this and for him to answer the bell

and go out and throw seven shut out innings like that. I think it's huge for the team because they're really relying on those three guys to carry their weight in the rotation and put up starts like he did tonight like Wheeler did in the series opener because you kind of know that when Nola is starting or when whoever's filling the fifth role is starting, chances are it might not be a very competitive game. based on what we've seen the last two months. Well, it's crazy with Hazel's Lazzardi. He mentioned kind of the blow-up starts.

You know, he doesn't have a start this year where he's allowed three or four runs? Lazzardo? He's allowed, I think, five or more in four starts, and he's allowed two or less than every other one. Okay, yeah, no, I was confused for a second. But, I mean, that checks out. It's either dominant or he gets blown up.

Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, I'm trying to think, because off the top of my head, since, again, May, it's been really just what? The Rocky start at CBP. The Rocky started, he gave up five. And the White Sox start. And he gave up five against the White Sox. Other than that, it's been 2.20202-1-1-0.

Yeah. It feels like people are maybe using their eyes when it comes to him and why he is on. He's the ultimate eye test pitcher, I think. Because you'll watch games where he gets blown up and it's like, man, I really didn't think he was that bad. Especially that white Sox start. It was like, yeah, I thought he pitched pretty well for a guy who gave up five runs. If he put it on Twitter, it's like, ah, there you go. There is.

Just giving them a pass per usual. That's what you do. Every day, just giving them a pass. But yeah, no, I agree with you. Lazzardo is the best, when he's pitching bad, he's the best bad pitcher I've ever seen in my life. He can still generate swing and miss and all that good stuff. And if you look at his baseball savant, everything under the hood, suggest that it's all going well. So good to see him shove tonight. Now, Ducker, I'm going to be

honest. I did not love getting dominated by Brady Singer just over. I mean, he pitches how I think a lot of people want to see Aaron Nola pitch, where it's just that fastball down and away over and over and over again. I was watching Brady Singer tonight and all I could think about. was Dave Dombrowski watching this and saying, that's our guy. He's not going to... He loves leadership talent. He's not going to cost a ton.

Former first rounder knows how to pitch. He could be a swing guy. You know, he could start a game or come out of relief. Brady Singer has been in his career pretty eh. Is he or even heading to this game tonight? It was like 5.08. But at least for one night and at least for head. into a possible deadline where you don't want to maybe trade all of your assets.

Having a guy in a walk year that can at least take the ball and maybe do a job, I don't know. I was kind of watching tonight thinking more about August 3rd than I was July 9th as this offense just really bad. Listen, you could run the numbers if you if you can do it in the middle of the podcast. We'll love to know what they are in getaway days. I mean, getaway days. You can't be good. That's why it would say it almost feels. It feels like every series opener is a must win because you know they're not winning the third one.

I know. Well, I mean, even the last two years, Tucker, I feel like on the podcast we talked about all the time, they will dominate the first two games and you're like, all right, here's a sweep. And then nothing. That's why they can't win 10 straight. I mean, they can, they are not allowed to win more than seven straight games because, God forbid that they could take, they could just sweep a series. Won't happen. Do you think it's because they're an older team? They can't just keep that kind of stamina up.

There are days where it's like, ah, it's too hot. They're not really going to have competitive at batts today. It feels like a 3-0 loss. Dude, I think that's true. I think that they are such a veteran-laden team that they all get together before the game. And they say, hey, we're all a little tired, right? We don't need to go out there and grind one out. But thankfully, tonight, Justin Crawford, got one big hit.

Yeah, the only has eight go-ahead. RBI this year? Like late in game. That's interesting. Like he's come up in big clutch situations. And like he has cut down on his strikeouts quite a bit. But I think the one thing this team has been missing is a high contact low strikeout guy, a lot Jean Sigura. Right. Like he he showed up a lot in big moments in the 2022 postseason just because he had bat to ball skills and put the ball in play when there are runners on base. And I think Justin Crawford kind of profiles that way. where if he's in a situation like he was tonight with a guy on second, you know,

like he might roll over on one, but he's at least going to make the defense make a play. And he hit it hard enough to get it through to the right field and score the only run. Yeah. And you look and all of a sudden his, his averages up to 263. Now I know that's not playing every single day. It's not playing against lefties a majority of the time.

But if I told you when he was hitting 238 or 241, that within a month, he's going to be up to 263 and rising and could end the year, just like we said, a lot of podcasts out in the season, you take 270, you take 280, and you run with it. All of a sudden, he is bearing down on that. So, you know, he made the swing adjustment after the, after the Brewer's game, after the Mizoroski start, which feels like, you know, one of those games, Tucker, where I don't know if you need to make drastic changes when you're facing Jacob Mizorowski.

You know, maybe you can just say, hey, let's chalk that one up to the pitcher knowing what he's doing. But I appreciate Crawford wanting to get back in the lab and figuring it out. But since making the swing adjustment and dropping his hands a little bit lower, going to that no stride, you're seeing a little bit harder contact the other way, which is great. Like if he wants to use the entire field and he wants to slap a ball down the third baseline line and get a double out of it or hopefully hit a ball off the wall or maybe even out of the ballpark to left field.

I think that's who we can be. I don't think he's Ben Revere. Ben Revere was a little slap hitter with no raw pop. I think Justin Crawford has raw pop. I think that he just has to tap into it. And maybe by lowering his hands, it allows him to get underneath the baseball more, drive it a little bit more. we've talked on the pod about giving him credit for we've seen these these kids come up whether it's Kemp, Reyes, Rekkonis has had a good little stretch here, not great night tonight, but overall

has had a good stretch. We've seen these kids come up and look overwhelmed. Crawford has never looked overwhelmed, even when he was struggling, and they tasked him with playing center field every night, even though he had not done that in the minor leagues and facing major league pitching for the first time in his career. career. And on July 9th, heading to the All-Star break, I think you could say that Justin Crawford has had a successful first half of a season in his first time through the major leagues. Yeah, I mean, since that that Mizorowski started, he's hitting over 360, which obviously isn't

sustainable, but I mean, that's what, four weeks now? It's July 9th now. So he's been an incredibly productive hitter. And, you know, I don't know kind of where you want the next step for him to be. whether that's unlocking more power at the plate because I don't think he's been revered but he's certainly not a 20 home run guy but can he be a 10 home run guy? And if you are and if he's going to play center field like I think for me,

the biggest jump he can make in his game is probably defensively, right? Yeah, I mean, like you can't be a, I don't want him to be a two home run guy with the defense that he plays out there. I think defensively you want to see that going. I mean, the next step for him, is doing it for more than a month, you know, like for him to be a, like a high level quality

major league starter. Again, I'm fine if he bat seven through nine for, for a good part of his career. If he gets super hot and is putting together one of those all-star years and you want to bat him lead off once, I mean, trade us have seven years left. So, you know, that might not happen. By the time he's 30, maybe he can hit lean off. That might not happen. But I think just being that, like you mentioned Segorah,

and I think we actually talked about that early in the, early in the year, about having that pest at the bottom of the lineup that can just turn it over and be a tough out. And, you know, can almost be a bad ball hitter. There's nothing more demoralizing to a pitcher than a bad ball hitter that can just go down and, and flip a ball that's off the ground into the left field. Not that I want Cropper to expand the zone anymore. Um, but yeah, I mean, defensively, I think that he has been, it's not the, it's not like he's a gold glover out there, but I think there was much more lapses in May and June that we, then, then we've seen in the last, in the last month. Um, I think it's really, it's been less noticeable out there and in a good way. Like, you kind of forget he's out there because he's not making making the same mistakes. I think offensively him at the bottom of the lineup, he, you mentioned, you know, he's had a lot of go ahead RBI's. He's had a lot of situations where he gets on base. He's not. He's on. He's on a lot of situations where he gets on. He's on. He's on. He's on. He's on early in an inning and the top of the lineup kind of moves him around and he he kickstarts a

rally from from that position he's been really good at that too yeah totally i mean he i think he's a winning baseball player you know that's one of the things that they would say about joston crawford in in the organization is that every level he's been at he is a he is a winner and given the amount of clutches he's had this year it not to bring it back to sagora all the time but i mean sagora is the walk-off king in like 21 and 22 they kept walking the hitters to get to him and then castianos became the walk-off king so he did he did he did it was perfect it was perfect so uh you know so lizarro shoves duron's great crawford big hit much needed some of the stars struggling you know shore hit the home run last night but overall has as quieted down he does rake out in

Cincinnati, but it hasn't been great. Trey back in the lounge tonight, like we said last night, Harper, of course, back to three. Harper over his last 19, I believe. He got one hit, the first at bat of the road trip, and he has gone quiet since. I wonder if the heavy bat is starting to wear on him a little bit, just having to swing that thing over and over again. There was a note in the broadcast today.

They asked him, would you use the heavy bat for the home run derby? and he said no chance I would get too tired. Well, maybe that's something that we can, again, not an excuse, sometimes an explanation. So that's what we do in this spot. But Marsh could see him again, get two hits tonight. He had been going through it a little bit. They gave him an off day yesterday or two days ago against the lefty,

Andrew Abbott. And maybe that kind of reset him a little bit and got him going, The last big kind of game thing that I want to talk about, and I know Kirkring has thrown a lot of pitches the last couple of games, pretty noticeable that Jonathan Bolin was getting a one-nothing spot in the age, especially because Keller's now back from the IEL. Maybe they don't want to do him in back-to-back spots because he pitched the last night in the big 11-4 spot in the-high leverage situation.

Hardway probably still pumping from that one. high leverage Brad as we're calling him on this pod but I think that they have been hesitant to give him high leverage spots and maybe that strike out the other night in the first game of the series

gave them some confidence with Bolin and maybe Bolin now can kind of take it and run with it but a noticeable one-nothing a thing spot for Jonathan Bolin and he He passed with flying color sucker.

Yeah, only 12 pitches went one, two, three. I mean, it was as routine in eighth inning as you could have in a one-run game. And it just did the contrast between that and what we saw yesterday with Tanner Banks and Jose Avarado, Tanner Banks, who's got option today. So you no longer have two pictures on the team carrying ERAs north of seven. But yeah, it felt like really a tryout for Boland to be in a high-leverage situation. My brother even texted me when he came in and said, well, why is he pitching? Why isn't Kirkring pitching? And, you know, I think that was probably a common sentiment, but this is a guy who has pitched really well. ZRA's around 3.1, 3.2 right now.

And he has the stuff to get people out. Like, they put him in a big situation earlier in the week with two on and two out. And he got a strikeout to get out of that jam and preserve a lead. And this kind of felt like the next step towards him being maybe one of those guys that you trust. in high leverage situations, you know, in the playoffs. Maybe he is just an adrenaline junkie, Jonathan Bolin. The higher the spot, the higher leverage the spot, the more likely... You know, like when they say, like, closers can't pitch with the four-run lead because they don't have their heart rate going the same amount.

Same thing with Jonathan Bolin. Yeah. Yeah. That's what everyone says. People are walking down the streets of Philadelphia saying, hey, we've got to get bowling on a high leverage spot and everything will be okay. So, Phil's do take two or three, even with an absolute stinker in the middle. Tonight was mostly a stinker.

But, you know, thankfully Justin Crawford got one bigot and was able to give them the lead. But overall, I wouldn't say it. You had five hits or five at bats with the runners in scoring position. Yeah. It was not the most encouraging. Not the most encouraging series win, that's for sure. I did mention Brady Singer, and we have talked about Dave Browski seemingly loving the package deals with organizations, even though he'll make two separate trades with the same team, sometimes same team, sometimes separate. Well, who could forget the Mone Act for Noah Cindergarde at the deadline, at the legitimate deadline in 2022, after already making the O'Hoppe for Marsh trade, you know, last year you had the beta trade on top of,

the Duran trade. So he seemingly does love linking up with the same team to try to bring home all their pieces. Of course, as we mentioned last night, the Red Sox have every single need that we could possibly have right there in front of us. The Reds, while not as perfect as the Red Sox, Brady Singer, who pitched tonight, could be an option. And then Spencer Steer, Spencer Steer, who had two hits last night, did not. do anything tonight against lefty. But if they believe enough in Rinconas to be the right-handed option against, or left-hand option against right-handed pitching.

And, like, I think Stier's probably a better player than Rincolus. But if you look at the splits and he's on an expiring deal, he's got an OPS over 1,000 against left-handed pitching. I think he's hitting 313. It feels like you were looking at this up-ducker. I do have this paper for all reference page. Yeah. So I know he's hitting over 300 against lefties with an OPS over a thousand.

So could the new version of Rob Reff Snyder be dropping with Spencer Steer? Possibly. We're monitoring that situation. But, you know, I don't know if you can start planning your parade down Broad Street. But a singer steer package deal at the deadline with maybe one of those relievers mixed in there could be an option for this team. And obviously we're kind of watching these teams heading into the trade deadline, trying to assess who could be someone that we could take from them. And Spencer Steer certainly is a guy that over the last couple of years and this series has definitely caught my eye. Yeah, I mean, against lefties this year coming into tonight, 333 with a 1078 OPS, which is exactly what you need.

I mean, when Derek Hill is kind of your best option against left-handed pitching, especially off the bench. And he offers a lot of defensive versatility, too. He's played both corner outfield positions. This year he's played both corner infield positions. He's played second base as well. So he gives you that kind of versatility where, you know, he might not be a guy who you stick out in right field every day and say you're playing, you know, six games a week.

But if he can fill in for stop and maybe have a bit of a platoon there, if he can take a bats away from Alec Bowman when he's cold and give him a rest. He could fill in at first base. He can fill in both corner outfield spots. I mean, that's kind of the guy. I think the Phillies would be more interested in because outside of right field,

and obviously you're not acquiring a right fielder because you have Rinconis and Hill. That seems like a pretty small speed bump or small obstacle to prevent you from getting a huge upgrade there. But you think that's a bad idea? You think that's a bad idea? But if you're just looking to add bats And you're trusting Don Mattingly to piece this puzzle together.

Adding a guy who could conceivably play five different positions for you on any given night would be huge. I mean, you see what they do with Sosa, right, where he's out there in left field. He's playing shortstop. He's playing both second and third. I mean, having another guy who can do that and who also has a bit of pop too, he's got 14 home runs this year, which is something that, you know, outside of Shorburnt Harper, he don't have a lot of pop in your lineup. You don't have a lot of guys who can leave the yard. that's another thing that this team is really missing.

And when we talk about guys who kind of profile what they're looking for, whether it's someone like Elliot Ramos, they're usually high OBP guys and not necessarily high power guys, and Spencer Steer is kind of that profile. Seems like I talked to you in the Spencer Steer real quick. You did. Thank you. You did talk to me.

I also like the name Spencer Steer. That's a good name. Dude, I know. Sounds like a guy. All right. Harper's in the home run, every mentioned a little bit earlier. Never a doubt there.

The showman was never not going to participate in the home run derby. It seems like, and not to get, again, super nerdy. But, and I wish I remembered his first name. He was the guy that pitched a Schwerver last year. But I think he's the, I think he's a Dodgers infield coach or Dodgers position coach, Ebel. And what's funny about him,

is much like the Lombard brothers. So George Lombard is a Tigers bench coach, and George Lombard Jr. got drafted two years ago. And then Jacob Lombard is going to draft it this year. Ebel, his two sons, are going to be drafted in back-to-back years. So he could, the Phillies conceivably could draft Trey Eble this year while his dad is throwing batting or throwing home run derby to, to Bryce Harper. Now he's more like a third round,

second round type kid. Like, good player. He's not like, I think he's like a, he's probably overslaught by that point. But it's just funny, the little, the symmetry there. It's fascinating. You were able to work the draft

and the home run derby talk. Well, the first. That's why you're the best. I saw one tweet about how Eble is probably going to be the, the guy who's throwing BP to Bryce for the home run derby. I was like, Bryce moved pretty quickly off of, I'll only do it if my dad pitches to me.

I already have the guy. That was pretty quick. Seems like we had it all planned out from Jumpstreet. And then I do have some draft stuff as I'm sure people are waiting with bated breath. But I do have one last point that I want to make sure that we bring up in the pod and just try to get out in front of. He's going to pitch in the futures game on Sunday. That's great. And we'll see if he's trade at the trade deadline.

This is more like post-trade deadline. And I know the inning's limit. Gage Wood should be a factor in the bullpen discussion when discussing this team moving forward this year. If you can go out and get a lefty, a real lefty with Alvarado's struggles, a lot of people bringing up Alvarado's baseball savats to me today. Don't care. Doesn't pass the eye test. on like Lazzardo where Lazzardo's baseball slobant page made a lot of sense.

So if you can go, instead of having to go and get two bullpen pieces, you go get a lefty, whether it's mentor, Brooks Rally, obviously Chapman's the big name. Like, Gagewood should be a part of that. I mean, we've seen enough times. It's not going to ruin his development. He'll be fine. He has said that I will pitch out of the bullpenet. They need me to pitch it up.

of a bullpen. I just want to be in the big leagues. He is an adrenaline junkie. Like, watching him pitch, he is a psycho on the mount in the most positive way that I can say it. Like, he is, I think he is so geared to being a late inning reliever type. I think he would do so well at the CBP crowd. He needs to be an option out of the bullpen for this team, down the stretch run because first off he i think he could get big league outs today with that fastball especially if it's one inning and they just don't have them any great options they don't you know i mean bowling developing into a good late inning option kirkering you still have questions about geron great keller we'll see you add gauge wood to that mix to go along with a lefty that you trade for

the deadline and then you you slot avarado down or whatever that's how you piecemeal this thing together and and get the bullpen turning into hopefully a strength or at least something that you feel good about heading into october yeah and you know like if you do that obviously it's not a sure thing but then you can you can kind of squint and see you have three four or five guys you could you could trust in high leverage situations to get big outs and you know gage wood like they kind of did it with Kirkering. Obviously, it was a different profile because he was a fifth round pick, and they pretty much only used him as a reliever in the minors. But, I mean, he started 23 at Jersey Shore, right, and worked his way up and was in the big leagues by September and then was, you know,

taking down big outs in the NLC. It's not successfully because he struggled against the time the facts. But he was there. They put him in those situations. So it would be interesting because let's say they go out of the deadline and maybe they do try to get a, another right-handed reliever and they strike out, what's their plan B? Because you can't just go back to the team and go back to the fans and say, yeah, well, we tried and we struck out. So unfortunately, you have Kirkering and you have these guys moving forward.

Like I think at that point, maybe the gauge would development for this season changes to where, let's get him to AAA, let's put him in the bullpen. Let's see what he can do when he's only trying to throw 15, 20 pitches. Yeah, I mean, it's also dependent upon if Alex Farland is traded. If he's not traded, maybe then they, they fast track that and get him up as quick as possible.

Who knows? But I do think the gauge thing, outside of being traded in a package for like a real player, I'm not looking to trade Gage Wood. I don't want to do that at all. But if you have a chance to get some difference-making talent in here, that could really help this team win a world series, I'd explore it. But at least to put them in the bullpen, they can't be so afraid of hurting his development as a starter to hurt the big league club

from the standpoint of going and getting a reliever or being a part of the reliever mix if you can't go out and get another shutdown type guy at the trade deadline. So that's where I think Gage could come in. One year too late on the CEO of the bullpen in September Gage tweet, the second that he was drafted. Yeah, you know, never wrong. Just early, Tucker. Just early.

Never wrong. All right. Some quick draft stuff before we wrap this podcast on up. We are getting closer and closer. The draft time, Saturday. Me and Seltzer will be on the air, live from the All-Star Village. The All-Star Village down there.

So I saw Buzz down there taking some house. Is he buzz and Uram going through all of the little exhibit? there? Yeah, no, I mean, that's, if that's not dynamite content, I don't know what is. If that's not, you've been the password to our, our Twitter account, so I want to know. I don't know. I don't know. That seems like a you, uh, you thing more than anyone else. Uh, on vacation, so. Well, so am I. So am I, so am I technically. All right. Uh, so I got two things here. Um, one, I didn't mention this in the guys that I'd love. And this is just doing more, more research the last two days.

So the guys I love, guys I talk myself into and guys I'm out on. A guy that I would love, and I hope that they would consider him at 36, I can't tell if he's going to be an underslot guy or right on or maybe a little overslot is it's not the same guy, but his name's Luke Williams. Oh. No, I know. But he's a, he's a PA kid, not local, like out towards Pittsburgh. area, so whatever, they produce kind of better athletes anyway.

And sort of reminds me of Trey, where he's super twitchy, super fast, but I think he's probably going to end up in center field. I know that Trey is technically playing shortstop, but no, Luke Williams, you look at the swing. It's a very easy lift. I think that if he wanted to add pop, I think that he has pop in that. bat. So he has been added to the guys I would love for them to take. But I really do think two nights out, I feel I feel better about the chances of them adding a Rocco Manascalco, Archer Horn, or Tyler

Spangler. I think they're going to get one of those guys if I had to, if I had to handicap it right now, which would mean that they're going to overslot of that pick because they have $2.8 million on that pick. I think Spangler being the $4 million range. I think that Manascoco will be in the $3 million range, and I think that Archer Horn will be in the $3.5 million range. So that's the super nerdy, quick breakdown of the 36 pick. Which leads to me to, and this would cause a million yawns out of Jan Salter, and maybe I can keep Tucker Bagley awake.

And I promise. I'm locked in. I'll make this as quick as I can. But I have my favorites at 64. after the well that's where the draft class for me really turns it does it does

so so uh rugger rio rojas uh he is a senior at texas and being a senior he's not going to cost as much this is

you would draft him in the second round if you draft a spangler menascalco uh one of those guys in the first Archer Horn in the first round. It's where you have to save money on your second round pick. He's 23 already, which is you don't love the draft. But you want to talk about stuff popping and being just a college performer and pitching on the biggest stage.

He was on the biggest stage this year and absolutely shoved. And I think that he is a he is an underslot candidate. I have a lot of overslot candidates. He's an underslot candidate. Same thing with Brett Renfro, a right-hand pitcher from Virginia Tech, big power stuff, and someone that I think that they would be able to save money on it. They take one of those high-level high school prep guys at 36. And then my last underslot guy would be Carson Tinney, who is the catcher at Texas.

Kind of reminds me of Mike Zanino for a couple years ago, where it's like a 230 average, but has the upside of hitting 30 plus home runs and can stick behind the plate. Now, some quick overslot guys at 64 is Caden McCarthy is a Vermont kid that throws 99. That's a baseball hotbed. You never see Vermont. That's why I want him so bad. Like, you never see Vermont, you know, factored in here. But up to 99, it reminds me of Sunny Gray's six-foot kid.

And like maybe if they go. Underslot, underslot, and he could be available in the third overslop that could float him down. But I would love Katie McCarthy. He is awesome. Gavin Geis, same thing. You know, similar to Matthew Fisher last year, very polished. You know, has four to five pitches of the high school. I think that he is an overslot candidate at 64.

Martin Scheller, same thing. These are, I don't know what I'm saying. Same thing. They're all overslot guys at this point. Martin Scheller would be if you take like a, like, uh, Will Brick. with a 36 pick you take one of these guys where how the baseball draft works sorry is like if you want to take a guy they have 2.8 million dollars allotted for that spot the Phillies have like the least amount of the class them the Dodge least amount of class so you have 2.8 million in that

slot sometimes you take under it and you can sign a guy for like 2 million or 1.5 million then you can spread that money out so the thought process would be that's what they did in 2024 when took nory in the first round and griffinbergholt in the second round they did with moniac and they did with mickey moniac and man what was that guy's name they gave him the kevin gowdy yeah kevin gowdy yeah well listen he didn't work out he kind of had showed signs of life in clear water in 2021 but it was not not for it didn't last very long so yes they did with moniac and kevin gowdy they did it with norie and griffam berkholder and, you know, no way has been hurt, which is unfortunate because, you know, it kind of robs you of what do you think he's been this year. And burkholder's been pretty good.

So the thought process is you take two for the price of one, basically. You have, you like one of the high school kids, but you sign him under slot because he gets to be a first round pick. It's $2.8 million. You sign him for a pretty good bonus, but you can spread that money out. I think they're going to do that, but we will, we will see when the draft rolls around. So these guys in the second round are guys that you're paying probably over slot for because the the slot in 64 is like 1.1 million or 1.2 million. And you'd probably have to go over that to sign one of these guys. Quick synopsis of the over slot under slot process.

So Martin Schellers is really tooled up outfielder that because he is going to be a corner outfielder, teams don't want to draft them super high because. the everyone's up the middle guy the shores upper center fielder he is not that but he's a real power weapon power upside from the right side same thing with blake bowen i don't think he'll be there at 64 i think he'll go

before that so it's not worth talking about uh james tronstein is a uh infielder from harvard west lake which is a great baseball program in california he is committed to vanderbilt he's got a funky little swing but uh put up really really big exit velocity numbers out in the combine. I think he could be a very, very solid pick at 64. Alex Weingarten is a Penn State commit.

So get excited at Penn State fans. I don't know if he's going to be there. But he is really, really, he's tooled up and like that you've seen real swing adjustments from him in the last half, last six months. Andrew Giles is a Nevada kid, Las Vegas kid. He is a candidate, I think, at 64. It's awesome because he spells his name just like Andrew. Andrew Jones.

With the you. And his last name's Jiles. So I just think it's a Brian Giles, Andrew Giles, you know, like the same guy. But a sweet swing,

a sweet swinging lefty that plays in the outfield and is certainly interesting. And then last name I do want to talk about because I think he's going to be a Phil, whether it's in the second round or a third round, is a guy named Ryan Peterson who has a, a, like Brian Woo-type fastball.

And it's really starting. to fly up draft boards. If I had to bet on one guy being a Philly on Saturday, I think it's Ryan Peterson. I think that guy is a I think that guy is a stud and it's exactly what the Phillies look for in pitching.

And he'll cost like $500,000 in slots that are over a million or in the $800,000 range. So they can save money. He's got a curb ball that's in the 3,000 RPMs with a really, really good fastball.

Ryan Peterson is a name, whether it's second or third round, that I do want to make sure is on the record because I can just feel it in my bones. Not that anyone cares, but people in this podcast sometimes care. All right, Tucker. Well, it's been a fun week, you know.

It has been a fun week. We've done 35 plus minute. We are at 47 minutes on this podcast. We're at 47 minutes today. Which is pretty surprising. I mean, now the first two minutes of this podcast, we were talking about Jim Grochie. Who I...

Yeah, that probably won't make it on the final cut. Who I do force all of my people that I think have good music taste to go through one Jim Crocey phase, as he is a phenomenal voice of Philadelphia that is going to be... He's going to be forgotten at some point because he died in like 1973. Plain Crash. Yes, he did die in a plane crash. Most famous musician of dying a plane crash? Jim Croche.

Everyone says that. Everyone says that. But he is a goat. and I do hope people check them out. And I don't know if we're doing a, I don't think this is going to be on video tonight. Probably not. I did move my setup to right in front of the boys' jungle gym down here.

And Tucker, very... I think how the slide goes right into a support pole. That seems dangerous. Yeah, so I thought the same thing. And it could be. But there's been no injuries yet. And we're breeding toughness in this house. so, you know, like, they'll be okay.

It's not like that drastic of a slide. They will make it. And Tucker was very kind to point out that, yes, my ceiling down here does look horrible. Just need some new drop ceiling tiles. He'll be all right. Yeah, but again, it's the base. Who's going to see it? Who's going to see it?

Who cares? Who cares? This isn't the man cave yet. But Tucker, do you have any final thoughts before getting out of here? Don Manningly may not have a leak that Kyle Schorber is going to be in the home run derby. Yes, I saw the one tweet about that, but I couldn't listen to it, obviously,

because we're... He was asked what he thought about Bryce doing it, and he said it's really cool that Bryce and Kyle get to do it in the home stadium. Yeah. Don Maddenly does not care. Don Maddenly... He was offered a chance to take it back.

They said, well, Kyle hasn't said he's doing it yet. And he's like, oh, I was told him and Bryce are definitely doing it. Nice. Nice. Dude, his Since he has taken over his manager, his level of,

you know, giving a bleep has really gone down. And I, I, we're monitoring on this podcast and I appreciate it. Like,

just come out and tell the truth. We know, what you get when you hire a Hall of Famer as a manager. You know, Schwerber's going to be in the home run derby. We don't need to beat

around the bush. We all understand. And he should be. He should be. It's at the, it's at CBP. And he's going against Harper, who beat him in 2018. So it would be funny if they, if they squared off again.

Well, that's going to do it for the pod. Appreciate everyone checking it out this week. Again, Seltzer and I back on the air on Saturday and Sunday. So that'll be fun. I'm sure we'll have some draft reaction on Monday. Who knows? But Tucker, thanks so much for stepping in. Thank you.

I appreciate it. And we will talk to you soon here on the high hoax podcast. As the U.S.S. men's national team takes center stage at a home world cup. Make sure you're listening to Call It What You Want, part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network, where you can join me. I'm Jimmy Conrad, alongside Charlie Davies, Tony Miola, Marcella, Balboa, and Benny Fieldhover, throughout this tournament for previews, instant reactions, and analysis of every U.S. match. Then all summer, we're back every Tuesday and Thursday covering all things U.S. men's national team. Download and follow, call it what you want, on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.