High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: It Could Be A Long Summer

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Trea Turner and Bryce Harper homered for the Phils, but nothing else went right in yet another blowout loss. Jack Fritz reacts. Presented by Miller Lite. To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com 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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Level up your business with FedEx, the new power move. I don't know if it could. I don't know if it could, Lori. Certainly going wrong right now for the fells. Welcome on in. It is the final out. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on this wank. Wednesday night, April 15th, and this sucks.

This sucks. The final out is sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Brutal night of the ballpark, 11th, two, the second game that Dylan Moore has pitched so far this season. Again, it's April 15th. They've lost their third home series. They lost three of last year. They have the second worst run differential,

I believe in baseball behind the White Sox. They're definitely second worst in the National League. Second worst, I believe, overall, behind the White Sox. That sucks. 26 whiffs to Shoday and Managa tonight. That sucks. Hazis Lozardo has an ERA over seven and allowed eight earned tonight. That sucks.

Whole thing sucks. Game wrap-up sponsored by Roderer when plumbing problems hit. Wrap them up quick. and call Rhodo Rooter. Their team tackles, clogs, and leaks so you can stay in the game. Roto Rooter, your MVP for Plumbing Solutions. 215-5-92-94. It's a venting session on this Wednesday night edition of the final out

as they've lost another home series and just bludgeoned. I mean, last two nights not even competitive. First night was great, although Seth Johnson made it unnecessarily close. And we sit here and you evaluate the team on April 15th, and I tell you what, it really feels like a mess. It feels like a mess. And there's a couple things that hit me while watching the game tonight and while driving around also furious having to listen to this game. And the one thing that kept hitting me was last year the best shot. Was last year their best shot at it. You had unbelievable seasons from the pitching staff

you had the unbelievable year from Kyle Schwabert. You had a great year from Trey. You had this juice that happened with Harrison Bader when he joined the team. You had Gerond and Ron. Last year it might have been the year. It might have been the year where they won a ton of games and had they won a couple more. Maybe they would have avoided the Dodgers and it wouldn't have been the first round.

And then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they come back this year and this is the danger of running it back is staleness, staleness, because that's what they look like. They look stale. They don't look into it. They make sloppy mistakes every single night.

Every night. They have five errors in this series. Five. Five in a series. That's atrocious. That is atrocious. This is a mess. This is a mess.

and the starting staff, I mean, Lazzardo, I don't know. Maybe he's tipping. He said after the game, he's not tipping. I have confidence he's going to work his way through it. I'm not seeing stuff to climb from Hazus Lazzardo. But my goodness, man. Runners on, six of eight. That's what their average was.

They had six hits and eight at passes of the walk. They, nine of his last 11 at bat. were hits. Nine. Nine of the last batters. Nine of the last 11 batters got hits against Hayes-Lazardo. I am watching teams single. And I mean, it's not all singles, but a lot of hits and a lot of traffic against this team.

I mean, you look under the hood, which I feel like has become my favorite saying so far this season, with the starting staff or the pitching staff in general. and K2 walk, they're good, home run percentage is good. Like some of the overall numbers are fine. Like their top three in baseball as a staff. And some of it is you could chalk up to be unlucky. But their team average against is the worst in baseball. So I don't know what's going on.

I don't know what's going on. Lazzardo, like he's had these three. out of four starts where it looks like last year with that, with that random run he had in the middle of summer where things just weren't going well. He obviously had the back-to-back addicts were allowed 20-earned runs. Well, that feels like it's happening right now. Now, the stuff is still there. He does have his moments where he gets on a roll and he's disgusting.

But, man, it's just unraveling for Hazers-Lazardo. But, man, this April 15th, I get it. I understand. There's a lot of baseball to be played, but I also don't know where this magic elixir is coming for this team. Because,

offensively, they felt a bad way heading into the year. Well, guess what? They knew they were a bad way. That's why they went out and tried to get Boba Chet. And they came back, and they stuck out Bohm in the four spot again. and he is awful right now.

I mean, awful. He did smoke a ball 107 miles an hour. Tonight that happened to being out, so he can't buy one right now. But stop not doing anything. Adoles is looking mostly like the Adolese that he's been. Trey not hitting for not being the batting champion. Schwabers striking out a lot.

Bryce, fine, huge home run tonight, needed that one. but you look at the rest of the line. You're having a good start of the year from JT. My goodness, they struck out a ton of the night. 26 whips against I guess Imanaga. And then you see a lineup like the Cubs, and the Cubs headed into the series. Not exactly fire on all cylinders.

But man, for this series, and watching the Cubs, pretty freaking jealous of the Cubs, man. They may get a lot of singles, and it's not always just launching the baseball, but man, it looks like they have a bunch of professional hitters. And then I watch the Phillies, and it's just limp. The whole offense is just limp.

And I know Lazzardo got shell tonight, and I get that. But my goodness, this offense just does nothing. They do nothing well. They strike out all the time. They don't hit for pop. They don't get a ton of base hits. They do nothing well. So, like, when you're trying to keep faith and, like, believe there's some run coming,

I would like to believe the offense could be a part of it, but they're going to need to pitch out of their mind. lines and the bullpen doesn't pitch as well as they should. And the starting staff hasn't been as good as they should. So who knows? I don't know. It sucks. Absolutely sucks.

Steve's in Cape Curl. It's up to Steve. Hey, how are you doing? Nola's doing pretty good this year. Nola? Yeah. Your boy from last year. It was 0 in 8 starting the season.

And now you got Rob Thompson. I told you that two years ago, he should have been after the Mets series. And Harper is running the team. He should be gone. Brilliant stuff, Steve. Thanks for wasting our time, as always. Coming up next, we will get to the player of the game and kind of talk about what their options are here. Because it's pretty dire right now.

888-729-94 is how you get in. It's the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIPA. Hey, Ontario, come on down to bedmgium casino. and see what our newest exclusive the Price's Right Fortune Pick has to offer. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show only at BetmGM. Check out how we've reimagined three of the show's iconic games, like Plinko, Clifhanger, and the Big Wheel into fun casino game features.

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2,600, to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetmGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Welcome back. It is the final out. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on this Wednesday night as the Phillies get

just absolutely smoked. Absolutely smoked at home. Last two nights, not competitive. Dylan Moore had to pitch again, which is just dreadful. Again, they've lost their third home series of the year. lost three all of last year. And a lot of things are just going wrong for this team. A lot of teams, I don't know, I don't know if it's a conscious approach against them.

You know, I don't think that teams study other teams like it's football and figure out what they do well and try to do and try to combat it, you know, over a 162 you face the team. Cubs case, it's two series a year. you know but Sanchez has allowed more base hits this year Nola got single to death the other night Lazzardo got single to death tonight, not single to death tonight, but a lot

of base hits. It's just, I feel like a lot of teams against the Phillies are like almost hunting base hits in a way and it's been I mean it's been, it's not like it's all been super hard gone, there's been some little slapies and bleeders that have gotten in and that's been annoying as well but man it just it like the thing that really hit me tonight is did dave miscalculate

both how the fan base feels i mean the fan base is is annoyed i know that you know the the crowd's been good the last couple of nights but it just there's a different tone to how they are talked about and And man, to keep, and it's really, you know, boom, it's thought. You know, you want to bring JT back, okay? I wouldn't resign Schwerber, yeah. But it's those two. And I'm fine, bringing Crawford up, Adolese, okay. But to just kind of do it again and not change the next up,

and not change the chemistry up, and give some new life. like Harrison Bader was such a breath of fresh air. I know he's been horrible with the Giants, but like he was such a breath of fresh air and some juice that this team just desperately needed last year. And now it's like they just settled back in to this malaise. And they just look stale. They don't look into it.

They look sloppy. It's brutal. The player of the game is brought to you by South Jersey Gas. Make the smart play, save energy and money with, South Jersey Gas at SJG SaveEnergy.com. And listen, a lot of the offensive guys for the Gubs tonight did their thing. You know, Horner had a big night. I love Nico Horner.

I think he's a stud. I mean, what he does defensively is obviously great, but he's hit number 300. 324 now after three home runs tonight with, or after three hits tonight and a home run. with five ribbies. Dansby a big night. He did not realize he is like second and short stops and home runs at CBP.

Like opposing players, Matt Shaw had three doubles. So, yeah, just a big offensive night. But Imanaga is my player in the game. 11 strikeouts. After the Trey Homer, I think he should, I mean, Adoles was his only other hit, I believe. And yeah, just just mowed the Phillies down. 26 whiffs. They're most in the game since 2021.

That's what we watched tonight. 26 whiffs. Just dreadful. Just dreadful. So what's next? You know, I mean, I don't think they're going to do anything too crazy. You know, maybe they'll send down Auto Camp and bring up Felix Reyes. Maybe that's something they'll do.

You know, Reyes hit a home run tonight. I don't mean, Brian Dale Cruz also hit a home run. hit a home run tonight, but maybe Felix Reyes, who, well, Brian De La Cruz is actually a guy that has played the outfield at the big league level. Maybe they go with him first, but he's not really producing besides home run tonight. I mean, Felix Reyes is hitting him or 300 and is doing some things, but he's not really a left-fielder. You kind of can stand there, which is what you say about players who can't really play the outfield. But, you know, going forward, I mean, there's a couple things that can happen here. Someone gets to be a lot. Someone gets to.

fired, you know, whether that's Kevin Long or Rob Thompson. And I do, I do feel hitting wise that they're just behind the times. They feel like they're in the Stone Age when it comes to both evaluating hitters and, and developing hitters and coming into games with game plans and things like that. There's just so many nights where it's a ton of strikeouts, looking for the home run, not stringing together base hits, not even really putting together that competitive of a bats. The Kevin Long experience, they extended him after last year. I understand that some guys had good years last year.

I've just not been a big fan for three years. And I know that the hitting coach, it's easy to say, hey, he has to go up there and swing the bat. I get it. But I watched a team like the Jays last year who transitioned to a more analytical approach. They go for a, you know, drive line and really invest in that. And all of a sudden, with mostly the same lineup that they had, they went to the World Series and Dan Nere almost knocked off the Dodgers

by going to a more modern way of hitting, increasing bat speed and things like that. It just feels that the Phillies are doing drills from 2010, you know, rather than where the sport is kind of trending. So I'm not a huge Kevin Longfant. If the fire tomorrow, I'd be thrilled. I just, he does nothing for me. Rob Thompson, I get it. And by the way, I mean, how they play, the staleness, the sloppiness,

him talking last night about how, you know, we got work on like run downs and throwing the right bases. And on one hand, I say to myself, these guys are freaking major leaguers. I mean, let's stop pretending we're going to be out there, taken in field outfield before a game. The mad Phillies fan in me is saying, you were just in Florida for six weeks, maybe work on it there.

You know, maybe let's knock out, you know, which base to throw to and do some PFPs, get some bunt work in, work on relays, throwing to bases. Let's do all that, that thing that you feel like is dumb and we don't have to do in spring training so it doesn't factor in and doesn't translate to the regular season and you guys look horrendous. I mean they're the worst defensive team in the sport right now, I believe, and didn't get much better tonight. They had five errors

in this series. I just, that stuff that falls in the manager, is it important to you? And is that kind of stuff important to you? That is the big question you have to ask. You can say over and over again, ah, these guys, no. It's back of the baseball card. Well, how about you make it a point of emphasis? How about you do that? How about you make it miserable for them for a little bit?

How about you make them feel it? How about you embarrass them a little bit? How about you do that? Have you seen the same crap for three years? Same nonsense. I get it. They're high-paid big leaguers. How about you do something with it?

How about you turn up the heat a little bit, rather than always taking the heat off. Just a thought. So someone gets fired. I wouldn't fire Caleb Gotham. I think he's great. I don't care what the pitching staff is doing right now. He's built up enough of a track record for me.

It's where I'll give him three weeks into a season. before I'm freaking out. Someone could get demoted. Marsh got demoted last year. Now, you know, could stock get sent down as like a wake-up call to the rest of the team, let us play for a little bit? I don't know. Someone could get traded.

Maybe the bone thing gets so, like, he looks so lost, and he is so in his own head that they feel like they just got to trade him and move on and give him a fresh start elsewhere. I don't know. But like maybe that, Stott, he gets traded, but just something to kind of shake something up. Or, you know, you hope that there's someone interesting that can get promoted. And it sucks that Aden's dealing with the back injury because they need some kind of spark.

And maybe it could have been Aiden, but he currently cannot get on the field. So, yeah, those are the options. Those are the options. and it really sucks for here. But, you know, they could all be on the table. Kevin is in Chalfont. What's happening, Kev.

What's up, Jack? How are you? Ah, annoyed, pal. How are you? It's just, Jack, it's just disgusting. And I'm just, I'm just worried. This is just horrible. And Dombrowski has absolutely no pulse on this fan base. The vibe at the ballpark, I was there tonight. and I'm telling you, like, it's just, I'm not saying we're heading for dark times, but this is, I mean,

this early in, and I know there's still plenty of games left in the season, but you can kind of get a feel, man, it's just, it's just disgusting and boneheaded plays and, you know, bones in a contract year, and just running it back, running it back, and just, oh. I know. No, I know. And I think you speak for a lot of the fan base, and I'm there with you. I mean, this, this sucks, man. And, like, my, fear is this 2012. I mean, 2012, where it was just, like, extended one year too far. I mean, the 2012 team, they went 11 and 12 in June, I mean, or sorry, in April. So it kind of feels similar to this. I mean, yeah, they, they started 8 and 10 that year. Well, we were, we're

currently sitting at 8 and 10. I guess my thing, Kevin, is like, I don't know where, it's getting so much better. Like, I don't know where, where this, a ton of optimism comes from. I think starting staff, you expect to get better. Bullpen has not been where you wanted to be.

Alvarado's shaky. Now they're getting some, some injuries out there. And the lineup-wise, I mean, if Trey and Schwerber and Harper aren't going, everything after that's a question mark.

It's, it's dire, Kev. Right. And that's the thing. I mean, and Topper's big move is shaking up, moving Brandon Marsh.

It's just, I just don't understand. Maybe when Wheeler comes back, you get a shot in the dart. But I'm telling you, it's just Lazzardo. Is it too early, Jack, to say that Lazzardo had one good season, and now we might regret that contract because now him and Nolo, we got $300 million tied up in these guys. And Lazzardo is not the same pitcher as last year. Well, as of right now, that's when I'll say it's too early.

If I felt like his stuff was declining and, and, and things like that, I would agree with you, but I think he's going to be fine. I think he's going to get on a roll. He did, you know, dominate the Rockies out. I know it's the Rockies, but he generated a ton of swing and miss. I'm still pretty bullish on him.

I think he's got to, you know, figure out the thing with the runners on base. Again, runners in base were six for eight against him tonight. You know, heading into the game, the numbers were insane. Nine of the last 11 hitters got base hits against them, you know, got hits against him. So, yeah, it's certainly not good right now.

I just, I think he will, of all the guys, of all the issues, I think he will be fine. On the other side, we will look ahead to Friday and get to the wow moment of the game before getting out of here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIV. Great news. The federal EV rebate is back. Eligible customers get up to $5,000 with the federal EVAP rebate on select 2027 Volt and 2026 Equinox EV models. Visit your local Chevrolet dealer today for more details.

Welcome back. It is the final out sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority. That is my wow moment of the game. Brought to you by the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, from Waterfalls to Fairways, Mountain Resorts to Lighthouse Tours. Find your wow. Visit nj.com. Yes. Really bad play by bone there.

but who cares? I mean, also if Trey knocks that ball down and keeps it there, maybe the runner doesn't come home, I don't know. All I know is that that is their fifth error of the series. Now, three of the errors happen in game one where they won 13 to 7, so it didn't feel that way. But the maze of play last night, the throw there, who knows how the game changes, if that's just put on a spot and they're getting out there. The Diamondbacks game on Sunday was atrocious. The bone play on Friday against the Diamondbacks, where, you know, it's a bunt play,

Lazardo charges, he charges, he doesn't take command of that, and the inning kind of blows up in their face. You know, it seems like every night they make some horrible defensive play. And I said it last night, they should not be a dreadful defensive team. I mean, they have enough good defenders. JT. is a good defender. Boehm's turned himself into a good defender. Trey took a step forward last year. Stott's a great defender. Harper's a good defender.

Adolese is a gold glover. They had Marsh and Kemp. It's usually Crawford and Marsh, where Crawford is, you know, he's had his moments of not great defense. But I think overall he's been servicable out there. But Marsh is a plus. Adelis is a plus. They should not be the worst defensive team in baseball. And that's where it keeps going back to, you know, the manager.

And maybe they need a different voice in there that can be a little more stern or even just a different message. Because right now it just looks stale. It just looks stale. And we can do the its early thing until the cow comes home. Whatever you want to do. However you want to get through the season is fine with me. I just, I'm sitting here frustrated, annoyed. and I don't really care how early in the season it is because I look at them and I don't really see it.

I don't really see it. They need a spark. They need something to get them going, have them believing again. And I don't know where it's coming from. I don't know where it's coming from. That was my biggest takeaway of the game brought to you by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Stale.

Stale. not into it. Look like a mess. Sloppy defense. Don't know where the offense is coming from. Pitching staff not as good as last year. Someone tweeted me, it kind of reminds them of the Eagles' offensive line last year where they're so good during the Super Bowl year and you were like,

is who they are. And then they just were living off mate. And they weren't great last year. Maybe we're heading into that kind of year for their starting staff. But they haven't been as good. bullpen hasn't been as good. Looks like a mess. And it looks like, as of right now,

they extended this thing one year too long. One year too long. And they locked up for five more years, JT, three more years, six more years of Bryce, five more years of Trey. They're going to need to change some things around here.

They're going to need to change some things. Friday night, Braves coming down. Braves first in the National League East, playing good baseball. You know, Matt Olson's having a good start to the year. The pitching staff, I think, the last time I check was the best in the National League. They've gotten, they've had a really, really good start to the year. Dom Smith off the scrap heap is hitting over 300 with an OPS over 1,000. So Austin Riley finally hit a home run tonight.

So, you know, maybe this is one of those good Braves years. And it's not like last year where the Phillies could kind of beat up on them. The Braves seem much more formidable this year. So they come down on Friday as they close out a nine-game homestand where they've already lost the first two series of it. That sucks. Well, that's going to do it for me. Don't you worry.

A ray of positivity is coming up next in Hanser Brody as, hey, at least the Sixers one. Oh, thank God. Sixers won tonight. He's probably going to have all the flyer stuff, and hopefully he won't even mention the baseball team. All that's coming up next. Fran Roas produced the final out tonight. Talk to you tomorrow on the afternoon show here on Sports Radio 94, WIPA. Instacart makes grocery shopping easier. And just because you're not doing the shopping yourself doesn't mean you don't care how it's done. With Instacart shopper notes, you can get particular about what you want right in the app, like rotissory chicken that's extra crispy. cheddar that's sharp as your skates and lettuce you to actually pick yourself. Just leave a note for your shopper so they can get it right for you without having to ask.

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