High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: It's Good To Be Home

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies dominant performance in a 9-2 win over the Padres on Monday night. 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. The 1-2. Swing and a fly ball. Deep. Center field. Merrill is back to the track. the wall it's gone another one into the Phillies bullpen and another two-run home run for Kyle Schwarber second of the night Phillies now lead at eight to one that's more like it welcome on in it is the final out. Sponsored by

Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you on this Monday night reacting to a Phil's win. Some home cooking. Good to have the boys home. Let's get into it all on the final out. 215-592-

9494 to get in the game. Wrap up. Sponsored by Blazer Swiss Lube and Kravitz the metal working fluid specialists. Providing professional CNC machine cleaning, coolant maintenance programs, and waste coolant disposal. Kravitz.online 215-592-9494

to get in. If you're leaving the ballpark, we'd love to hear from you. 43,000 43,000. 43,000 on a Monday night in June. Kids, you're out of school. Ballpark was jumping. Trey Turner returned. If you're stuck in traffic

or you just watched the game on the couch like I did, get in now. 215-592-9494. Let's get to the biggest takeaways of the game, brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury firm. And that's the first one's a big one. Like, I think this team just needed to get home.

And, you know, I said it on High Hopes this morning. Again, if you don't subscribe, listen to High Hopes. Me and James Seltzer talking fills all the time. And I said it on the afternoon show, and I was mocked and made fun of, per usual. But I think this team was just tired. They have essentially it on the afternoon show and I was mocked and made fun of per usual, but I think this team was just tired. They've essentially been on the road. They've been in a different country since

last Wednesday. I know it's not two Wednesdays ago by this point. Yeah, they've been on the road for a long time. They've been overseas. They had some time off overseas, but it's different when you go to that back straight to Boston, straight down to Baltimore, and you don't really have a chance to

kind of catch your breath at all. And what also screwed them is that last game in Boston was a seven o'clock game at night. So you get a seven o'clock game at night. You don't even get a getaway day game. Like you have to go straight from that down to Baltimore. It's just, listen, James Elter talks about this a lot, and it's true. These guys are human beings. Athletes are human beings. That's a grind. They've been on a little bit of a grind. Yesterday, Baltimore, they get home, they get to sleep in their own beds, they get to be around family, although I'm sure family is on the trip. But regardless, like I think this team was just a little bit worn down from all the travel. And I think they just needed to get home and get comfortable.

I know people will bring, well, they're back to playing bad competition. Listen, the Padres have not been great on the road. They are in a playoff spot if the playoffs started today, even though they're under.500. But they've got good players. Like, Luis Uriah has been a really good addition for them. Jerickson Profort has had a good year. It's a tease.

Machado. They have some players. Randy Vasquez has always had stuff. I don't think that's a pushover team tonight. We've seen them play bad teams. I just think the Phillies had a little bit of pent-up frustration. Maybe Rob Thompson with the meltdown

yesterday down in Baltimore that was amazing. I wonder if that kind of jump-started this whole thing, but I really think this team just needed to get home, get back in front of this crowd, and remember how good they were, or good they are. I think they did that tonight.

It looked much more like the phillies team we had seen you know really this this entire year part of the the reason why i think there's a little bit of extra jolt and i thought the the ovation in the first was was just a a good sense of how locked in this fan base is like i don't know if a player returning from injury gets an ovation like that in most places, but again, this fan base has been so locked in on this team. I mean, you could talk about the ovations. You could talk about the crowds going to London, to Boston, to Baltimore. People are really in on this team, and I think Trey coming back was a much-needed spark. Obviously, I think they needed to get home, but I think they needed their two-hole hitter back.

Listen, Castellanos, maybe bumping him down a lineup where he should be at this point, obviously, I think they needed to get home, but I think they needed their two-hole hitter back. I mean, listen, Castellanos, maybe bumping him down a lineup where he should be at this point, maybe that gets him going here a little bit. He had a good night tonight. He had two doubles. But man, it was so nice having Trey back in the lounge from the standpoint of having a real two-hole hitter.

Castellanos is not a two-hole hitter. He's not a two-hole hitter. You don't want to put Boehm there because Boehm has settled into that four spot. So you put Cassidy there. It's okay. I get it. But my gosh, it was nice seeing Trey Turner back. Made a good defensive play in the ninth. That one earlier, that wasn't great. But still, Trey Turner, I think getting him back gave this team a little bit of extra juice when they've had a really tough go of it on the road. So getting Trey back, getting him in the two spot. Obviously, the June Schwarber thing is just,

I just, it breaks your brain, frankly, as a sports fan. It just, it's crazy. The second the calendar turns to June, the guy is on balance with the swing. He's walking all the time. If he's not walking, he's launching baseballs. And what Schwarber's done this year better than he has in any of the last couple of years with the Phils is he's getting more base hits. He's he I mean, he had a big hit in Boston, they have losing the game, but he made it a 4-3 ball game. He had some big hits down in Baltimore over the last, you know, in the last couple of games. He had the one home run to lead off the

game on Friday night down in Baltimore, but all weekend long it was like Schwarber's getting big hits. It's not just home runs. Tonight it was home runs. Tonight he was launching baseball. So you have that, and then the big one, and probably more importantly, is Alec Baum looking much like the Alec Baum we'd seen for the first month

and a half of the year, which is just so huge. When we talk about the makeup of this team, because five days ago, before he got the off day in Boston, it was like they got to go get a real cleanup hitter. And while I haven't moved too far off that from the standpoint of like, okay, go get someone maybe more comfortable for that spot. I mean, the reality might be there's not that guy out there, so it might be Baum.

And let Baum be more five-hole hitter. But if he can go on a run like he was in the first month and a half of the year, it certainly makes you feel that much better about it. And I'm just glad that he's starting to heat back up because they need that. It can't just be the guy behind Bryce is not getting the job done because then eventually pitchers stop hitting to Bryce. And what you've seen in this last little bit here as Boehm is heating back up is Bryce is getting more pitches to hit and Bryce is starting to do some damage. I thought for sure he was about to hit one 700 feet off of Randy Vasquez.

He hit a double. So, you know, still. But Boehm getting back on track is huge for this baseball team because with him slumping, they just look a bat short. You felt good about Schwarber, Tuhol, when Trey got back, you felt good about that. You always feel good about Bryce. But while JT is out and it goes Boehm, Castellanos, Stoddard, even when Sosa was in there, like they just felt an impact bat short.

And Boehm getting back to where he was just changes the whole complexion of that lineup. So a really, really good night for Alec Boehm. And another important development from tonight, again, 215-592-9494, if you're leaving the ballpark, is Chris Sanchez. And the big part about Chris Sanchez tonight

is it looked like that last start against Boston was just a blip in the radar. The pitch count is sponsored by the Plumbers Union Local 690, protecting the health of the nation. Visit Plumbers690.org. 94 pitches from Chris Sanchez tonight, and that looked like the Chris Sanchez we had seen for about a month and a half.

Again, he had the little slip up for about three starts in the end of April, early May, but outside of that and that last start, he's been pretty locked down. And I'm just happy from the standpoint of, okay, the London thing's behind them. Chris Sanchez got right back into rhythm after one bad start. And now we can get back to the regularly scheduled programming. That's what tonight was because Chris Sanchez was back to himself tonight. Fastball, Velocity was back up. He was commanding.

He got into his little rhythm there. Slider looked good. He's just, again, when he gets in those rhythms, he's really, really tough to stop. So it was good to see Chris Sanchez put that last start behind him. You're allowed a bad start. The London thing is weird. And he looked a lot like the Chris Sanchez we'd seen for a majority of this season night. So a blip in the radar, his last time out.

Let's go to the phones. Let's kick it off with Anthony in California. What's happening, brother? What's up, Fritz? How you doing, man? Just another ball game, just another win. It was, you know, we needed you there tonight. You know, we flew back for Father's Day to see my pop, Dom and I, and

we unfortunately went last minute to the Orioles game yesterday. Oh, wow. Yeah, all good, but we knew they were going to come home and whoop up on San Diego, so it was kind of fun to watch everybody just play such good baseball tonight.

Trey got a standing ovation. I don't know if you saw that or if they showed it on TV or whatever. Yeah, they did. I heard it on the radio on my drive home, so it was a good moment. Yeah, that was pretty cool. He was swinging the bat great for his first day back. And then Sanchez, you know, Dominic and I, we flew up to San

Francisco for that start of his a couple weeks ago where he looked just like this game. So I think Sanchez, man, is really getting back to his groove today. Yeah, I just think they – it's almost like they walked into the ballpark tonight. They walked into CBP. They saw 43,000 people, and they were like, we're good.

You know, like just walk in, take a deep breath. You know, it was a tough road trip. You got hit around a little bit. And I really do think that these guys being able to sleep in their own beds and get back into a semi kind of rhythm allowed them to just go play their game tonight. That's the team that we'd seen for the majority

of the season. Not what that road trip was. Yeah, 100%. What do you think about Stoddy? I was hoping he was going to get going tonight too. Yeah. The Stodd thing is a bit worrisome. He can't be a.234 hitter.

He's too good. He's too talented. Back-to-ball skills. He's a good hitter. He needs to be in the.265, the.280s for me. So the interesting part about Stott is I just haven't felt it. His struggle is really besides this last couple of games where it's like, man, he is really killing them.

I think maybe getting Sosa in there, letting him play some second base, get Stott off his feet a little bit, let him maybe reset could go a long way. Now, Stott, it has not translated over to the field. He's still doing his job over there. But, you know, it's kind of a waiting game. Like, I expect him to heat up here. I'd be shocked if he, you know, ends the season anywhere near 234. Like, he's just too good of a waiting game. I expect him to heat up here. I'd be shocked if he ends the season anywhere near 234. He's just too good of a hitter to me.

Yeah, agreed. Agreed. Well, Dom will kill me if he can't say hi real quick. All right. All right. Come on, Dom. You continue to be undefeated for this team, Dom. You're doing a great job.

What's up? What's up, Dom? How you doing, buddy? Yeah, great. That was a great game. Yeah. That was a great game. Yeah, it was a great game. I was so happy that I got to meet him today. He's supposed to come back.

Yeah. Yeah, you were part of a nice ovation tonight. That was awesome. Now, did you wish Pops a happy Father's Day? Yeah, I did. Good, good, good. I mean, you guys are halfway back on the East Coast here a little bit, so that's a big old Father's Day trip, Dom.

I mean, this is special stuff. Yeah, I was hoping today we'd get a bomb on his first game back, but we've got a couple of days, so that's fine. Yeah, I mean, we're getting a little greedy, Dom. You know, let him settle back in. Let him settle back in, and then we'll get to the bombs in, like, three games. He said, I think he said to Schwarber, like, hey, you got to pick me up tonight. It's my first game back.

And Schwarber did the thing. He gave you two tonight. All right. Yeah, great talking to you. Yeah, great talking to you as always, Dom. There he goes, Anthony and Dom from California. So if you don't know, they live out in San Diego, big WIP slash high hopes people. And Dom, Anthony's 10-year-old son, he's 10-0.

10-0 lifetime in Philly's game. So, again, get him on the payroll. We've got a World Series to win. We want to pull out all the stops. You can trade for whoever you want at the trade deadline. But ultimately, if you want to win a championship, you need to dom the building. So it's really cool. They flew from San Diego to Philly for the weekend for Father's Day.

Able to check out a ball game tonight. And ultimately, good to see the real Phils back. 215-592-9494 to get in. On the other side, we'll get to the play of the game, plus a couple thoughts on the Phil's lineup. Do we have a changing of the guard at one spot? Don't miss that. Coming up next on the Final Out on Sports Radio 94 WIP.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. That is our Play the Game, sponsored by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo and mustard of the Phillies. Yes, Alec Boehm home run tonight to make it 6-1. And when this team goes up 6-1, I feel pretty confident the game's over. They've had games, like the Orioles series got blown out, the Red Sox series, there's a couple, you know, not great games in there. But I feel like when, have they blown a lead of four runs or more this year? I mean, it seems like when they go up by four or more, it's pretty much game over.

When it was 6-1, it was like, all right, they got it tonight. And again, it's just so great to see Alec Baum heating right back up. Because listen, trading for a cleanup hitter or someone in the middle of the lineup is not exactly cheap. If you want to do the Luis Robert thing, you're giving up a lot to go get that kind of bat. So if he can just be that guy it's awesome they need another bat they'll they'll get someone um you know it just depends on how much they really want to shell out prospect wise i mean that's what it's going to come down to you know do you make certain players untouchable what what level of player do you want to go for and but if alec

bohm can get back to being – he doesn't have to be what he was the first month and a half of the year. He's batting like 360. But he can also be a 220 hitter for about a month and a half. There can be a happy medium there for sure. Welcome on back. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture.

Affordable. Never looked so good. We'll get some line-up thoughts here in a second, but Eli is leaving the ballgame. What's happening, Eli? Hey, Jack. How you doing? Doing great, buddy. Doing great. Good to have the Phil's back. Of course. Hey, listen. I'm in the car. I'm

stuck in traffic on 76. I'm with my buddy, John. He's a brave fan. Oh, man. Well, listen. Brian Snicker said they're going to win the division today, so I guess all hope's not lost. I mean, I guess. He's up from South Carolina to visit for the weekend. It's his first ever Phillies game.

Did he enjoy being in a real ballpark tonight? Like, not a minor league stadium? Like, Truist Park? What do you say? Yeah, it was fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's good. That's good. A real atmosphere, a lot of fans, you know.

So, listen, I'm glad, first off, you were able to, you know, put the pride aside and go enjoy a ballgame. You know, you don't have to be so proud. Like, I'm not even going to go to SIDS Bank Park. And I'm glad they put on a little bit of a show for you, Eli. Yeah, I mean, he's sitting right here wearing my old Reece Hopkins jersey. Oh, come on. He put on the jersey, too?

I got to blend in. I got to blend in. Man, what a total sellout. I mean, what a sellout. It sounds like you're a Phils fan. I mean, come on over. Come on over. He had a couple beverages, too.

Yeah, I'm sure that helped. I'm sure that helped. What was the atmosphere tonight? What was your biggest takeaway, Eli? I mean, dude, it was electric. When Trey came up for the first time, it felt like the Jack Fritz game of last year. Yeah, I mean, I knew he'd get a nice little ovation, like, you know, welcome back. It seemed like a pretty loud ovation.

It went on for a little bit there, Eli. Oh yeah, it was loud. And I mean, the whole team really showed up, especially Raphael Marchand. I know. Is someone on the hot seat? Ah, he might be. Might be Wally Peth. Appreciate the phone

call, Eli. It was going to happen. And to his credit, Marchhawn was 4-4 tonight. I mean, he did have a check swing line drive, I guess. Hey, it's a line drive in the book. You don't write down

exit velocities when you're filling out the book. And he also had just a hose, a little strike him out, throw him out, inning, inning, double play. Three double plays tonight by Chris Sanchez. So, Rafi Marchand, yeah, I mean, his calling card is always his defense. The funniest part about him is if you remember in 2020 when he came up,

he had never hit a home run in his entire minor league career and hit a home run in the big leagues. Hit one, I think, in 2021, and then obviously had his first one a couple days ago you know against the uh against the orioles so i guess all i can do is hit home runs in the big leagues because he's never totally shown it down the minor leagues like he's always been a pretty good bat to ball guy i guess you know i think we go sometimes we go a little overboard with like the, the first couple of games of a minor league guy coming up to the big leagues

before there's any kind of adjustment to them. And the funniest part about people already like writing the end of the Garrett Stubbs thing is Stubbs. He was actually doing a pretty good job hitting wise. You know, the last, his last couple of starts, I mean,

I think he had a seven game hit streak like as a starter and before he got snapped on on sunday i believe so like he was actually doing okay at the plate but i understand you know new guy comes up and and people don't totally believe in stubs from the the the offensive standpoint and i don't totally either but I just still think that Garrett Stubbs is really really important to this clubhouse and the makeup of this clubhouse and part of the the fun of this clubhouse so Marchant again great while while while JT is down yeah I hope he can come in and do a job and I think those guys should be splitting this about 50 50 and I think he's doing a really good job with with catching these guys as well.

We'll see. As of right now, no, I'm not ready to get Garrett Stubbs out of here. But it's going to be a conversation. If he's doing really well at the plate, he's catching these guys, the ERAs are down, when JT gets back, do they value what Stubbs brings so much to the clubhouse that they're not going to screw that up? That's what I think will happen. But yeah, it's definitely going to be a conversation

if Marshawn keeps it up at the plate and Stubbs might not. 215-592-9494. Another kind of thought here, speaking of overreacting to a couple of first games up after being in the minor leagues and kind of going off of AAA. The David Dahl thing, listen, I like David Dahl. You know, I think a smart signing, minor league deal, was an all-star a couple years ago, has some talent. And to his credit, he did almost hit a home run tonight, you know, to center field. So it wasn't like a disaster night to play.

Like, he doesn't look like a mess up there. But they essentially sent down Johan Rojas, who, you know, they said all offseason this is his job to have. Like, he's got to go get it. And I don't think in spring training he totally earned it, but whatever. Like, they wanted Johan Rojas to be the opening day center fielder because of what he brought defensively. I mean, I think they sent him down for a couple reasons. I think they sent him down obviously because the bat has not progressed

to where maybe they thought. And I think they want him to focus on the little things. He leads the team in getting picked off. On Friday night, Friday night, he had a bad read and didn't score. He got thrown out of the plate on, you know, he's on second base

and got thrown out of the plate on a ball to the outfield. That should never happen for a guy that's as fast as him, and he did not get a good read on it. And, you know, if you listen to Scott in L.A. in the broadcast earlier, you know, they want him to work on bunting, and apparently he just didn't do that. So I think they want to have him work on a lot of things that maybe he was not doing at the big league level.

Because again, if you're not going to be a great hitter, you have to do everything else really, really well. There have been some lapses in the field. I think his defense had not been transcendent like it kind of looked last year when he came up. So maybe it's just a send down regroup and come back up and he can kind of take off and be the guy that they thought or you know whatever but they did not want to lose christian pache to to waivers because he probably would have gotten

claimed and they didn't i guess they don't want to lose David Dahl. And, you know, against righties, it's going to be, at least it looks like, it's going to be Dahl and Marsh in center and left, and then, you know, mix and match with Witt and Pache. But they're giving David Dahl a shot here to kind of do something. Again, we're a month and 13 days or 14 days away from the trade deadline it's i don't i'd be surprised if he hits well enough in the next month and 14 days to where they're not worried about a corner outfield spot but it's also like they also have to tread water from that standpoint before the trade deadline so like doll can't be a black hole in the lineup

he's got to go out there and do a job. He looked really good his first couple games. He had the big home run in London. And ever since then, I think he's like two for 25 in his last little stretch. So not a great start to the David Dahl lion's share of the left field spots against righties. But, yeah, it's someone they really, really need to get going because, again, they sent down a guy I think they believed in a lot to make

way for him off of not much sample size. We'll see how that one plays out. If they need to make any kind of move there, I don't know if they have anyone down there in AAA that can do what they thought David Dahl could do, but I guess we'll see. Colin's in West Defer. What's happening,

Colin? Hey, what's going on, Fritz? How you doing, Colin's in West Defer. What's happening, Colin? Hey, what's going on, Fritz? How you doing, man? Good, man. How was the ballpark tonight? Great, great. I actually was sending you the Twitter DMs from Bob. Oh, man. I called it to the pregame show, and he

was giving Kyle Schwarber some lip, and let's just say he heard the noise. I don't know if we'll ever be able to explain to anyone when Kyle Schwarber retires the June Schwarber thing. It breaks your sports brain. He's so

good in this month. He was pretty good the first couple months of the year, but power-wise wasn't totally there. Then, bang, it did take 11 days into June. But he's making up for it. He's got five home runs in June. Yeah, I mean, it's awesome. And I wanted to get your opinion.

Obviously, the Luis Robert, that's kind of like the big fish that the Phillies have been linked to so far at the trade deadline. Do you think that there's anybody else out there for us to go ahead and go snag? Or do you think, you know, reliever? I heard Mason Miller. I just wanted to get your opinion on that. Yeah, I appreciate the phone call, Collin.

This next month, again, 14 days, is going to be a lot of fun. You know, it's been a while since we've had like a true all-in, push your chips in kind of trade deadline, you know? Like 2011, when they got Pence, was the last real one. I know they've made trades

at the last couple of deadlines, but again, three years ago, it was Ian Kennedy and Kyle Gibson. 2022, it was David Robertson and Brandon Marsh. It wasn't like there's the all-in move. The Marsh trade, I think, was more about the future than that year, and then they went to the World Series.

Last year, it was Lorenzen and Rodolfo Castro. That's not exactly an all-in kind of deadline. This year feels like the first year, again, since Pence at 11, where it's like, okay, it's an arms race in baseball right now you know there's there's the dodgers now without mookie there's the yankees who don't have soto under contract for next year so this is obviously a world series or bus kind of year for them now that they won't re-sign soto but there's an extra little urgency behind it the orioles are obviously all in and they have all the prospects in the world. If they want to make a big trade, want to make a big kind of swing here to go get a guy like Mason Miller, they can do it.

And then there's the Phillies, who have the best record in the NL. They have obvious needs. And Jim Bowden said today they're looking for a starting outfielder and a fourth outfielder. So there are outfielders there to be had. I mean, if you don't want to go Luis Robert, which would cost a ton, obviously Kyle Tucker is the other big name. If they can get Kyle Tucker, I mean, you're pretty much trading the farm, and I think it's rightfully so.

The guy's a stud. I mean, if he's actually available, I mean, it puts the Phillies as, I think, World Series favorites. He's that good. And then the more minor moves is Red Sox. You know, they have Tyler O'Neal and Rob Refsnyder. Two kind of options there. The Angels.

If Mike Trout. Come on, Mike. Come on, Mike. Come on. We got a clear spot for you. We got a clear spot if you want to come here and play. I know you got to get healthy, but come home. Always. Always

on Ask Out Trout. Joe Adele is a guy who's had a good year. He had been a huge prospect. Never really put it together in the big leagues. Batting average is low, but has serious pop. Taylor Ward is someone I love,

but again, we're not lighting up the phone lines talking about Taylor Ward. So listen, there's a good amount of names out there if you don't want to go Luis Robert. I mean, even on his own team, Tommy Pham has been on a million teams. But he's a pretty competent big leaguer. But there's going to be a lot of names floated around. It seems like all the veteran reporters, like hayman and buster only today seem to think that dembrowski is going to be really in on mason miller and i just listen i would love mason miller but am i really i mean he's got six years of control left am I really putting all my prospect capital on getting a closer?

Like, they have guys that can close out ballgames. Do you feel totally confident? It seems like a lot of people don't feel totally confident in Jose Alvarado innings. Maybe because they perceive him as wild. And, like, I get it from a certain standpoint. But, like, you know, I think we're using the London series game a little bit, you know, overreactionary. He's a really good reliever. I don't know what to tell people. using the London series game a little bit, you know, overreactionary. Um, he's a really good,

he's a really good reliever. I don't know what to tell people. Jeff Hoffman, I think is, has all star consideration. I think Kirk ring's developing into a backend guy and Matt strong, if they need it, you know,

I feel, I think I trust Matt strong with my life right now. So I just don't know if mortgaging a lot of prospect capital for a closer or something this team has to do. Like, sure, if you can get them for not Aiden Miller and Andrew Painter, okay. But I think it's going to cost a lot to get a guy like Mason Miller, who, again, is locked down. I totally am on board with that. It just seems like a miscalculation of of of resources

or misallocation of resources blake's in narberth what's happening blake hey jack thanks for taking my call you know coming into tonight's game it was some concern out there about how they play and it was really nice just to have that easy win where you can sit back relax watch them win and you know it was kyle schwerber that set the tone once again that lead-off walk made the opposing pitcher show his full repertoire hitters do that and that's why he's just so valuable he can start off with a home run as we've seen in the last couple games but he can also do that work a long walk make the pitcher throw pitches and that's why he's a really great lead-off hitter and that debate other than on

saturday mornings on the station is over kyle schwerber a really great leadoff hitter, and that debate, other than on Saturday mornings on the station, is over. Kyle Schwab is this leadoff hitter, and really, you could say this guy could be an all-star if he wasn't dealing with Otani and Ozuna. He's a really, really good hitter. Not just one of the best in the Phillies, but in baseball. Yeah, I think we're starting to see the value of Schwab's more and more every single night, and I

agree with you. It was like a 9-pitch, 10-pitch at-bat to start off the game. That's huge. It lets everyone see what the pitcher has. And like, again, when he gets on balance and he's using the whole field, the nice part about Schwarber this year is he's doing everything well. Now he did get caught stealing tonight, which I don't think is going to be in the repertoire as the season goes along, but he's getting more base hits. And, yeah, he is a super, super valuable offensive player. And just the threat of him in the first inning gets in guys' heads. I really do believe that.

I mean, the Phillies are second, I believe, right now in all of baseball, last time I checked, which was like two days ago, in first-inning runs. And I think a lot of that has to do with guys behind Schwarber, if he's not leading off the game of the home run, generally. Now, sometimes he swings first pitch and he misses it. It's whatever. But generally, he works a pretty good count and lets guys see pitches. So, yeah, I hope people will eventually appreciate Schwarber,

but there's some people who just can't get past him batting leadoff, and it's a shame, Blake. Yeah, and then I love Kyle Schwarber, but there's some people who just can't get past him batting leadoff, and it's a shame, Blake. Yeah, and I love Kyle Schwarber, but on the deadline, a couple quick thoughts. People talking about Luis Robert, and I think that the Phillies, if they want to go after a guy, it's going to be tougher because if you look

at the National League, every team with the exception of the Rockies and the Marlins could be in the playoffs. So I think it's going to be harder to acquire some guys. I think maybe a guy like Mark Hanna or Matt Vierling is the type of guy they might get unless Robert is the guy they acquire. On the topic of the bullpen, I'm not sure they need a guy like Mason Miller from the right side because you have Sir Anthony Dominguez looking really, really good. I trust Jose Ruiz. I like him a lot. And I think what they really could look for, though, is a way to upgrade from Gregory Soto and get a guy

to less be a reliever. Soto, I know he looked good in his last start, but he's just been so inconsistent, whether it was the playoffs last year or this year. And you see, they don't even trust him as much anymore. He used to be that 10th inning guy for the Phillies, ghost runner. They're not using him there. So I think if you want to get a different reliever,

I think maybe someone like Tanner Scott would be very nice. And if not, maybe just a guy like Tanner, excuse me, Jalen Beeks, or even a Jake Deakman, bring him home. No, we're not doing Deakman. We're not doing Deakman. I can't do it. He walks the ballpark, Blake. Well, he walks, guys.

I still trust him more than Gregory Soto. I think there's some lefty relievers out there. Tanner Scott would be my preference. But anyone over Soto, just get a lefty on lefty. I would trust someone like that a lot more than Greg Soto, and they can really put this team above where they currently

are. Yeah, I would definitely be in on Tanner Scott. Appreciate the phone call. Yeah, Tanner Scott, again, was linked to the Phillies last week, and if you can go... I mean, the bullpen goes from really, really, really good to souped up if you can go, I mean, the bullpen goes from really, really, really good to, like, souped up. If you can get, now listen, Mason Miller turns it into a super pen. But even Tanner Scott, like Blake mentioned, you know, you go Scott, Strom, Alvarado from the left side.

And Tanner Scott's closed a lot of games. So you can, like, you know, that can be taken care of as well. And then the right side, I mean, me, Kirk Ringhoff and Sir Anthony. And then if you want to do Marte or Jose Ruiz, whatever. But those guys probably won't pitch in a playoff series. Regardless, the bullpen just continues to look stacked if you make that kind of move. So we'll see what they do. But I still am in the mindset of an outfielder.

2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 to get in. On the other side, we'll get to the player of the game and a race that I believe is now on in the National League. Don't miss that. Coming up next, plus a look ahead to tomorrow here on the Final Out. That's right.

Kyle Schwarber is our player of the game, sponsored by South Jersey Gas. Committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com slash lovemyhome. Schwarbs up to 253 on the air tonight. Two home runs, two walks. It's about as Kyle Schwarber as it gets.

Yes, that is our player of the game. Get to some thoughts here on a race that I believe is heating up now in the National League in one second. But Wayne's in Ocean City. What's happening, Wayne? Hey, Jack. Hey, I thought it was a great game today. I can't believe they pitched to Boehm, honestly, in that situation.

The way Stock said, and I would have walked him. Yeah, I wonder if we'll start to get that. I know Boehm, we realize he's starting to heat back up, but I wonder if that's starting to translate to other teams. And then it's on Stott to kind of make him pay here a little bit. And I'm not happy about Johan going down. Yeah? I think it basically is going to destroy his career.

And I can just – no one agrees with me on this, but what I got to say is Pache is the worst hitter in the history of Major League. He's a lifetime 180 hitter, and he makes Dylan Kozen look like a contact hitter as much as he strikes out. Well, I don't think he's been inspiring at the plate, but I guess what makes you feel so much better about him than Rojas? Or make Rojas feel so much better about Rojas than Pache?

Pache's a 180 lifetime hitter. Three times in the last two weeks. Right, but you agree. No, let me just say this. Three times in the last two weeks. He's come up with a guy at third and one out and struck out all three times. Okay. Yeah, he's not an unbelievable offensive player. I get it. He's the worst in the history of the Major League, statistically a 180 lifetime average. Sure, but with the Phillies, he hasn't been that.

He was horrible with Atlanta and horrible with Oakland. With the Phillies, it's not like he's lighting the world on fire, but he's not been a 180 hitter with the Phillies. I bet. I really think if they play him the rest of the year, he will be. Well, they're not, though. 200 by the end of the year. But they're not.

It's going to be Marsh and whoever they trade for. And it's my other point. If Johan was in center field, then that would have been a shutout. Because of the ball that Marsh didn't get too late. Yeah, I mean. Yes, and the double for the second run, that should have been a can of corn. I mean, he took an awful angle and he was a foot away from it.

He's definitely not as good as he is in left. Yeah. And I think the only one that can play center now is Pache who can't hit. He's going to hit worse than. But Rojas couldn't hit either. Yeah. But I mean, his average when he went down was 20 points higher than...

And I just think it's going to be a... They got to trade for someone. You can put Johan in there because some people think he has talent, but you might as well trade him right now because, like you said, if you send him down to the minor leagues, you said that like three weeks ago, he's not going to learn how to hit down there because there's not good pitchers he's going against. Sure.

Yeah. I mean, listen. I might as well just trade him tomorrow. Well, I don't think you have to go that far. I mean, they might. They might trade him. Listen, I hope it doesn't ruin his career because, again, I think he seems like a good kid,

and I loved some of his reactions in the postseason last year. Again, I do think there is some talent there. I think they were just frustrated with some of the development. I think that they view Pache and him as washes defensively. I personally think Pache offers more at the plate. They want to have him go down and maybe work on some things and come back up. I hope all is not lost.

I hope he can come in and do it. But, yeah, I don't think it's career. We don't have to write the obituary on Johan Rojas' Philly's career yet. Maybe he doesn't come back up. I don't know. Maybe they trade for someone. Maybe he's in a trade package. But we will certainly see.

Dave's in Maryland. What's happening, Dave? Hey, what's up up i just uh dovetailing off that last call i think a lot i mean what could be a part of the thought process on rojas as well is that if you send if you send out pache or doll the uh the braves are in a very outfield uh they're in they're in some trouble in the outfield, and that would be a team that could pick those guys up and possibly hurt you. But, you know, I think they made the right decision with Ross. I think that, you know, he was doing some things that he wasn't necessarily –

I mean, the base running error the other night. He's made some plays in the field that, you know made some plays in the field that he's there for. So, I mean, I think that he's got some stuff to learn, obviously, still. And this team is not a team where you can learn stuff on at this point. You have to start producing. They gave him a good shot. Yeah, absolutely. Two months.

Yeah, it's pretty good. I think there's two ways he can react to the demotion. He can sulk. I mean, we know this. This is what happens with players all the time. He can go down, he can sulk, he can feel like the team screwed him, or he can use it as motivation and he'd get the better version. Obviously, we know about Brett Myers.

When they sent him down to the bull or to the minor leagues and then came back and closed games with the phillies in 07 like i just i i to write off his career because he got sent down and i could screw with his head like he's a young player it wasn't always going to be perfect and he can only react really one of those two ways and one other quick point on uh the catching situation um i was watching the game yesterday and there was a pitch to gunner henderson in the first inning that uh the ump just missed yeah and uh there's a couple other calls that the ump just missed when i watched tonighthawn is just so much cleaner behind the plate than Stubbs is. Yeah, he's got soft hands. Stubbs seems very herky-jerky back there.

And I think a lot of it because he's so small that he has the high pitch that he can't steal because he is reaching up for it a little bit. And I think it provides the umpire with kind of a different view. Marchand is a lot cleaner back there. I think that this is a decision for next year. I think when JT comes back, Stubbs is going to be the backup this year. I think that's the – and then when you can bring up an extra guy in September, they'll probably bring up Marchand just to get JT off his knee a little bit more.

Sure. But I just noticed that maybe match Wheeler and Marchand because I think there is something with Wheeler and Stubbs and the way he handles them. Yeah, it's weird, man, because heading into the last start, his ERA pitching to Stubbs was over six in 34 innings. And then he dominated the Red Sox start. He was great.

And then yesterday was obviously a huge step back. It's so interesting because I agree with you. Marshawn just looks – maybe it's more compact because Marshawn is 5'9", and Stubbs is technically 5'10", but he just feels so much smaller than that. Correct. I think the biggest difference is that some catchers catch it like an egg. You know what I mean? And Stubbs kind of jabs at it.

Yeah, Stubbs jabs at it. Well, if you watch Stubbs catch when Sir Anthony was having some control issues, Stubbs looks like he was getting tased back there. Yeah, it's something. Appreciate the phone call, Dave. Yeah, again, I'm more pro stuff. Just think what he does clubhouse-wise does matter.

But it was a good night for Marshawn. And we'll see how he kind of plays here as teams adjust to him and stuff like that. Now, the one thing that I think is definitely going to start happening is you're going to see a lot of Bryce versus Shohei for the National League MVP. Bryce is plus 300 now. A couple weeks ago, he's plus 1200. Mookie Betts, obviously going to miss a couple months here with the fractured hand. Shohei is Shohei. But I mean, Bryce has a chance to take home his third overall MVP and his second with the Phillies. I think Shohei is plus 180. So, you know, Bryce has been on a really good stretch

here. He hasn't really got that big kind of power surge, but at least average wise, he's over 280. OBP is towards 400. Slugging is over 5. So, man, it would be a fun little story for baseball to the faces of the National League

going at it for the National League MVP to the best teams the National League, going at it for the National League MVP, to the best teams in the league. And maybe Bryce's positional value gives him the edge over Shohei, but obviously Shohei's DH is pretty crazy. And it was good to see Bryce leading the National League in voting at first base. So it seems like we might be getting our first chance to actually watch Bryce Harper in the All-Star game. It's crazy.

He's been here for five years. He's been hurt around the All-Star games. We've had to miss him. In 2021, when he won the MVP, he didn't make the All-Star team. Blake Snell broke his hand before one of the All-Star games. And, yeah, it should be the first time that we're able to actually watch. We've watched Craig Kimbrell close out an All-Star game as a Philly before we've seen Bryce Harper in the game.

So it's going to be nice, you know, knock on wood that Bryce Harper will play in the All-Star game and we might get a nice little Bryce versus Shohei showdown for National League MVP tomorrow. On the mound for the Phils, Aaron Nola. Hopefully he can go the route that Chris Sanchez did, which is have one bad start up in Boston, coming off of London with a lot of days rest,

and can bounce right back and have order restored and get back to where he was before Boston. Because before Boston, he was pitching his way into the All-Star game. So Aaron Olin Mount versus Michael King. Six earned against the Phillies lineup the last time that he faced the Phillies a couple months ago out in San Diego. We'll see what he has in store for them tomorrow. Since that start, he's had a 2.5 ERA.

So Michael King has some good stuff. But either way, this team at home is just a different animal. 24-3 in our last 27 home games. Ben Davis texted me that one. So they are a wagon at Citizens Bank Park. That's going to do it for me. TK, Tom Kelly, he'll take you through the rest of the night. Francisco Rojas produced the program.

I'll be back tomorrow with the afternoon show, leading you into the game, and then reacting to it postgame here on WIP. Enjoy the program. I'll be back tomorrow with the afternoon show, leading you into the game and then reacting to it post-game here on WIP. Enjoy the night. Phil's got a laugher. We needed it. Enjoy the rest of your night. Safe travels home if you were at the ballpark. And I'll talk to you tomorrow on Sports Radio 94 WIP.