High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Jack reacts to an annnoying Phillies loss

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

Jack Fritz goes through the Phillies frustrating loss to the Mariners on Tuesday 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

Welcome on in. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94. WYP 215-592-9494 is how you get in. Jack Fritz hanging out with you reacting to a 5-3 Phillies loss down at Citizens Bank Park tonight. And final out as always is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. And it was an annoying game. And it was one of those games where, you know all the first five innings I think were the fastest in the history of major league baseball I mean all of a sudden it was like a

getaway day um you know poor approaches um you know one of the frustrating parts for me with for the beginning of the season um at least on the offensive side of the ball is it just feels like so many at bats just giving away by coming up and just swinging first pitch for no reason. I know the Phillies have aggressive hitters. You know, Trey Turner's an aggressive hitter. Kyle Schwarber's weird. It's like either it's a walk or it's a lazy pop-up off the first pitch.

Cassianos is an aggressive hitter. Boehm can be patient, but for the most part, he's also aggressive. He'll look to jump on a first pitch. Bryce, when he gets back, is aggressive. The guys that... Edmundo Sosa, he's playing every day. He's aggressive. Marsh, I feel like is a good solid mixture of both, but

for the most part, six out of their nine regulars for the most part are aggressive hitters. It just leads to quick innings and, you know, just like, you know, just feel like they're not working or grinding any at-bats. And that's kind of what the beginning of this game felt like tonight. And ultimately, they came up a bit short. And it kind of stinks about losing that game is that when you're facing

Logan Gilbert and you're facing George Kirby in these next two nights, losing that game hurts. Because Marco Gonzalez, he was fine tonight. He was professional. He's a quality major league starter. But that's the one you've got to take when you're facing Gilbert and Kirby over these next two after this. So they've got to grind it. They've got to bear it down and hopefully take two or three.

They've kind of done this thing recently where they lose the first game of series at home coming off like an off day. And it kind of kills the momentum a little bit. But hopefully, you know, tomorrow they bounce back and get this thing back on track. It is a final out. Jack Fritz, hanging out with you. If you're driving home from the ballpark, would love

to hear from you. I know it's another great crowd. It has been a really, really good, welcome sight for the beginning of the season. Crowds of 40-plus thousand. It's a Tuesday night tonight. I know it was Dollar Dog night. We might have to ban

Dollar Dog night, but still, another great, great crowd on hand down to the bank park. So if you're on your way home, you're stuck in traffic. How are you feeling after a tough loss for the Phillies tonight? I got three takes for you off of that game tonight. My first take is I thought Topper lost in the game.

You know, to put Bailey Falter back out there in the sixth inning after he just threw 33 pitches, I thought was a massive mistake. And I know he doesn't have a ton of guys out in the bullpen right now that he feels like can keep a game close. You know, he has pretty much set down who he can trust in a game where they're up. We know he can turn to Sir Anthony, Alvarado, Soto, and Kimbrell when they have a lead or it's a tie game. And more often than not, the Phillies are going to win that game, which is good.

Being able to protect leads is important. And we watched a lot of baseball the last couple of years where they could not do that. So they do have four options for when they have leads that he can turn to. And more often than not, they will get the job done. But what I've said over and over again on this postgame show is that who are the guys that he can lean on when they are down that can keep them in games, that can keep them close enough to where the offense can come through, stay in it, and come back and help you win a game. Well, I think he got a bit

spooked by that and said, I don't know how I can get through the rest of this game if I don't let Bailey Falter go back out there. And instead of bringing in Connor Brogdon in the sixth And instead of bringing in Connor Brogdon in the sixth to try to keep it at a one-run game, he lets Bailey Falter go back out there after throwing 33 pitches. And I know I didn't play Major League Baseball. I know that I didn't play the same level or manage the same level or coach the same level. But in pitching at a high level in high school and failing miserably at the college level, I do know that when you throw a ton of pitches in an inning and you throw like 30 plus, it's hard to go back out there. You're just a little bit extra tired. And I think that's one

of those emotional connection kind of moves for Rob Thompson, where in that moment, putting Bailey Falter out there, his legs are going to be more tired, and he's more likely to make a mistake. And he ended up doing that. Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run home run. All of a sudden, it's 4-1. And it makes it a little bit harder to come back from, obviously. So for me, tonight's loss is on Rob Thompson. I thought putting Bailey Falter back out there was a mistake. My second take from the night is like, I understand they lost. And losses are never fun to talk to, never fun to react to.

You know, they leave you feeling a little bit down. But I generally feel like they got more unlucky in this game than, oh my God, disaster, you know, season's over, our pet's heads are falling off. For example, bottom of the sixth inning, and this is actually Mike's amazing play of the game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. Bottom of the sixth inning, bases loaded, feels like the Phillies are getting some momentum back in this game. Alec Baum is up and he smokes a ball, but unfortunately, Ty France makes a great play. Again, Mariners try for two on the infield, the pitch, ground ball, right side, picked by France, goes to second. There's one. That's all they're going to get.

J.P. Crawford taking the throw at second base. Just wasn't quite ready to throw it to Matt Brash covering it first. They'll get a run home. It's 4-2, and Sosa coming up. And that could have easily made it a 4-3 game, and you have more pressure on Matt Brash who had a 5-plus ERA heading into that game. But instead, Ty France makes a great play,

and that's one of those things where it's an exhale moment for the pitcher. shoot a five plus ERA heading into that game. But instead, Ty France makes a great play. And that's one of those things where it's an exhale moment for the pitcher. Like, okay, I can get out of this rather than kind of a foot on a throat. So that was unlucky. Bottom of the seventh, Marsh gets a hit. And by the way, almost got picked off first. And then I guess the ball doesn't lie, Christian Pache hits a line drive at the second baseman,

and Marsh is picked off at first base, thus killing a rally there. And then, in the bottom of the eighth, I know they went down 1-2-3, but I thought they hit three balls hard. That little bounce here or there could have fallen and ultimately had a couple of base runners. So for me tonight, annoying loss. The first five innings I thought were really frustrating from an offensive approach standpoint, but also a bit unlucky late where they didn't get the bounces.

The Mariners made some plays, and you hope that over the series these things can kind of right a ship. And my final take here is deep breaths on Trey Turner. I feel it. And I can sense it that people are starting to be like, what the bleep? You know, we pay this guy $300 million. He's got to produce all the time. Like, that's what he's supposed to do.

And I'm frustrated by the strikeouts too. Like, the strikeouts are so annoying. The swinging at first pitches is incredibly annoying. The Castellanos-like approach to sliders from last year is really annoying. But I'm here to try to calm you down because I can feel it coming. Here's what Trey Turner has going on right now. He has a career high strikeout rate. If you look at all of his advanced stats,

whether you're into WOBA or Weighted Runs Creative Plus, which I'm sure Tucker's a big fan of, they are the lowest of his career, and it's his highest chase percentage, again, of his career. So three things that aren't exactly leading to super results for Trey Turner that I think that as we go further and further along here, he is going to figure out and get back to being more the player that we've seen over the last couple years. And I want you to keep this in mind when you're worried about Trey Turner, is that April has been his worst month the last two seasons.

I don't want to do the whole full career thing because he's closer to the player he is now, like the players he is now as he was the last two years. So last year, he batted.276 with a.329 on base percentage and a.395 on base slugging percentage in April. And in April of 21, when I believe he won the batting title, it was his worst month of the year. So last couple years, he's gotten up to slow starts. And as we've said a lot on this show, he is a guy that is brought into a new city, coming off a World Series.

The fans are ravenous and backing on baseball for the first time in a decade. He gets tasked with having a huge contract and his best friend on the team, Bryce Harper, not really being there. So I know he played with Schwarber before. I know Kevin Long's a guy he has worked with. I know JT, they were all at the World Baseball Classic. But it's going to take him a little bit to settle in. You know, it's okay. You know, these guys are human beings.

I know they're robots. So I'm trying to calm you down on Trey Turner because I can feel people starting to get a little bit worked up. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. It's Jack Fritz here on the final out. If you're on your way home from the game, would love to talk to you. Get in now.

Stuck in traffic. What are your takeaways from tonight and the early start to the season for the Phillies? I'll get to your calls on the other side. But also, I believe that the Phillies may have found their new starter for one position. Who is it? I'll get to that and why this is a big, big stretch for this team.

All of that is coming up next here on The Final Out. Welcome back. It is The Final Out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. The Final Out is always sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here tonight.

Let's get to the player of the game. Brought to you by South Jersey Gas. Committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com slash lovemyhome. And got to give it to Jared Kelnick. A triple short of the cycle tonight. Hit a big home run early. He made a couple good plays in left field late in the game that kept it close

and didn't allow the Phillies to come back. So, Jared Kelnick is finally breaking out. Welcome to the big leagues, Jared Kalanick. And thank God he's not a Met because that guy seems like he's pretty good. So, you know, I like seeing talented players break out. And luckily for us, the Mariners never really faced the Phillies. So, you know, it was surprising. They played them last year, played them this year, whatever.

And it stinks when they lose. But Jared Kelnick off to a hot start. And yet again, thankfully, he's not a Mets. And look at the box score. Like, another one of those games where they score 10 runs, or they have 10 hits and only score a couple runs. And it's been one of those starts of the seasons where runners' scoring position hasn't been great. But at the same time, like, I talked about this, I think, on Friday,

just about how, like, the home run problem is only a problem if you can't drive in runs, you know, when runners are on base. Now, they had a lot of home runs on Sunday. They had four. And I was like, okay, maybe they're kind of breaking out of their slump from that perspective. But at the same time, I mean, they are like the home run thump just isn't totally there. So you have to have more guys being out of there, the norm to do that kind of stuff. So, uh, they got to figure out some way with runners and scoring position to bring them home.

If they are not going to have the, the, the long ball that, you know, a lot of teams around baseball seem to have, uh, in this day and age. So I think what we saw tonight,

and I know it was a lefty on the mound, but I think going forward, like Jake cave to me is just a guy, you know, the spring training was, it was like, okay, maybe they lucked in something and they found something here and he can kind of play a good left field and hit some home runs and whatever. home runs and whatever. But at the beginning of the season, it's just been dreadful. He does not look like a major leaguer. He has never really looked like a major leaguer in his entire career. So you look at a guy like Christian Pache, and I know he doesn't have a hit off of a righty yet.

I know it's been a lot of doing damage against lefties, but he had a couple more hits tonight. He smoked the ball late. Rob Thompson said after the game he's learning how to lift the ball, which he said was his problem in Oakland and Atlanta. So if he can get the ball off the ground and hopefully some of those exit velocities turn into more doubles and gaps and maybe home runs rather than ground balls to shortstop or third base, the Phillies might have lucked into something here.

And I know the first week of the season and every time he played, it was like, oh, my gosh, this is worse than having a something here. And I know the first week of the season and everything he played, it was like, Oh my gosh, this is like worse than having a pitcher hit. And I was with them. But to not notice the improvements that the kid has made in such a short amount of time with working with Kevin long would be just putting blinders on.

So they haven't given him any opportunities against righties. But I think going forward, just play him. I mean, if you bat him ninth, it's not the end of the world. And you can see if he can hit righties. You can kind of give him a shot here and see if maybe you lucked into someone that can play a high-quality left field until Bryce is back and the rest of the lineup kind of is reconfigured in that way. Playing first base, maybe they can DH Schwarber and put Pache in left.

But worst case scenario is a fly ball is not going to really land between Marsh and Pache. I mean, you would have essentially a gold glove caliber left fielder, a gold glove caliber center fielder, and those two would allow them to kind of shade over, or allow Marsh to shade over more towards Castellanos and just make the whole outfield defense pretty good. I mean, Pache made it to call plays tonight where it's like,

they should be playing him every day. And I can't believe that we're here given how slow he was at the beginning of the season, hitting wise, and how like inept he looked. But I'm intrigued by Christian Pache, and I want to see him play more. And I think worst-case scenario is you get unbelievable defense in center field and in left field, and you hope the bat comes along, and you hope he keeps lifting the ball,

and you see how he does against righties. Because against lefties, he's pretty damn good. So give Christian Pache some starts in left field over Jake Cave against righties. And see if maybe you found another diamond in the rough like you did with the Brandon Marsh trade last year. I mean, Christian Pache, we've been over this a thousand times. He was a former top 25 prospect in all of baseball. People down in Atlanta compared him to Andrew Jones. Obviously, a massive comp.

Not a fair comp, in a way. But I want them to give him starts against righties and see what they have. And again, worst case scenario is that their defense in the outfield becomes tops in the league. That's how good those two are in center and left. Let's go to the phones. 215-592-9494. Ben's in Millville. What's happening, Ben? Jack Fritz. How's it going, buddy?

Tough loss tonight, but not the end of the world. How are you? Not the end of the world. I'm 1- been in the ballpark this year 0 and 2 with my season ticket but it's you know hey home run right over

my head my section section 145 though there's a guy a couple rows in front of me he turned around with a sign that said dog me and my god we might have to ban the dollar dog night. Yeah, and it's such a shame, Ben. The winner started flying.

Yeah, and it's such a shame, Ben. Obviously, I wasn't in the ballpark for it. But on the outside looking in, it just looks like people can't handle it. You know, like in the ninth inning, they have to stop the game because, you know, hot dogs are on the field. Yeah, a guy came shirtless. You could tell he was having way too good of a time himself, but he just went and launched a couple of hot dogs. Dude, let the game play.

Everybody booed him, but he scurried away like a coward he is. Yeah, it's just frustrating. Why can't we just enjoy hot dogs in peace, man? We don't have to throw them on the field. Like, everyone's calmed down. Have some dogs. How many dollar dogs are you down tonight, Ben? I'm only down two because when I got up in the top of the third

to go back in line, holy cow, I was not the only person to think that idea. I mean, you missed like three innings going to get hot dogs with the new pitch clock. Yeah, no, I did. Yeah, I wasn't about to miss the game that I have these tickets for. So I stuck with two. My goal was five, but we'll stick with two.

All right, Ben, appreciate the call. And, yeah, the dollar dog thing, it's going to turn into a problem. It's too straight that they've had at the beginning of the season. And I get it. We haven't had a lot of people in the ballpark the last couple years. We forget how to act. It's been 10 years. We've had to act like professional baseball fans.

And to see, again, like the first game, there was basically a giant food fight. And then tonight, yeah, with the dogs in the field. And again, they're being thrown in stands. Like, can we all just calm down? Like, why do people have to ruin a good thing? It's just dollar dog night. Whatever. 2-1-5.

5-9-2. 94-94. It's a real tough stretch for this team for the next about two weeks. They go these next two against the Mariners, who have gotten off to a disappointing start to the season, but they're kind of like the Phillies

where they have this top-end talent, and they've got to right the ship here a little bit. So it's not a pushover. Then they go to the Astros. Obviously, we know here pretty well they won the a pushover. Then they go to the Astros. Obviously, we know here pretty well they won the World Series last year. Then they go to the Dodgers. They are back at home versus the Red Sox

who have been disappointed, but they've won I think seven straight or seven of eight. So they've kind of maybe righted the ship a little bit. Versus the Blue Jays who have just been scorching hot after that. So it's an early season test for this team over the next week and a half, two weeks, they go out west for their first West Coast trip.

So I think we'll learn a lot about this team. And Bryce goes out on May 1st to L.A. I guess he'll fly with the team and see if he can get cleared to resume baseball activities. And you have to hope for our sake, given the little bit of a stretch there that they're in, Friday, May 5th versus the Red Sox, coming off of an off day off of the West Coast trip, that Bryce Harper can make his season debut. And Matt Gelb outlined this last week, that it would be the second fastest return

from Tommy John surgery in the history of baseball. So the guy's superhuman. And again, I can't wait to see his return. The fact that we're getting him May 5th, possibly, as long as everything's cleared May 1st, given that we thought he was in the first half of the season, is absolutely absurd. So this is a really, really good, tough test for this team. It's Nola Wheeler. Got to step up. Obviously, they're your two aces. And in facing these teams that they have coming forward,

I don't think it's fair to expect Bailey Falter to be a good shutdown guy. Matt Strom, we'll see. Hopefully, he'll continue to pitch well. Tywon Walker, you hope, gives you a couple of quality starts. The bullpen seems to have righted the ship here a little bit. And obviously the offense, you know, a ton of hits, but not a ton of runs. So it's a good stretch for this team, but it's also an important stretch. We get that it's tough, but you're already under.500.

You can't dig yourself a hole like you dug last year. I know they got out of it last year. I know they made the playoffs. But to do that again and expect yourself to be able to come out of that, I think would be a big, big uphill battle. 2-1-5-5-9-2, 94-94. I'll run through all of your phone calls on the other side, but also looking ahead to the pitching matchup tomorrow

in a big game against the Mariners at Citizens Bank Park. It's Jack Fritz here on The Final Out. Welcome back. It is The Final Out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable, never looks so good. We'll get to some thoughts on the pitching matchup tomorrow in this game. But first, Miggy in South Philly is leaving the game. What's going on, Miggy?

Hey, what's going on, Jack? You have a fun dollar dog night tonight? You doing all right? You didn't get hit with one, or are you all good? No, I'm all good, man. It was my daughter and my wife's first time going to a Phillies game, so I had to get them down there. Oh, beautiful, man.

I hope they had a good time. Oh, man, you were spot on about Pache, though, man. The kid looks like a natural. They need to give him more playing time. Well, at this point, I think it's only really upside. I mean, Jake Cave's not anyone that can't be replaced, and while you're waiting for Bryce to get back, and

even when he gets back, he'll probably be DH-ing or whatever, maybe first base. Then Pache can play left, but really, it's just pure upside at this point. Marsh has shown that he can hit lefties well enough, and in the meantime, let's see if he kind of stumbled onto a possible gem here,

Christian Pache. Oh, you're spot on, man. And I'll tell you, man, when Tay Oscar stepped into the box, I saw how they were going through the lineup. Them guys were hacking at him, man. They were getting off some pretty good foul balls. That second time he stepped into the box, I said, yeah, he's going to go deep on this one.

And sure enough, man, you're right. Yeah, well, and the frustrating part for me there is a couple things. Seranthony was warming up in the bullpen, so you had a righty there. It's the heart of the lineup for the Mariners. And Billy Falter just got done pitching a 33-pitch inning. So why did you feel the need to put him back out there? Like five innings from Billy Falter allowing two runs is a win. Like you take that every single day of the week.

And it just felt like Rob tried to push it for a reason. He didn't really need to. Absolutely, man. Thanks for accepting my call, man. First time calling, man.

I appreciate it. Thanks. Awesome. Thanks. And hope everyone had a great night at the ballpark. You know, and hopefully, hopefully the dollar dog night did not deter people from going back

because, you know, I don't think I would like to be hit with a stray dog. Let's sneak in Henry in Glassboro. What's happening, Henry? Yo, Jack. What's up, brother? How are you? Good. I'm on my way home from the game right now.

That was just sad. Yeah, it was a frustrating game. It was frustrating from a couple aspects. Obviously, the first five innings, their offense approach was kind of dumb. You know, Marco Gonzalez, who's just a guy, was carving them up. And then it got frustrating because they got a bit unlucky late in the game as well. Some hard contact. They just happened to find gloves.

So, frustrating night all around, but hopefully they can bounce back tomorrow. Yeah, I mean, and I agree with you. Rob Thompson can't put Bailey Falter in for that last inning. You're getting good innings out of him. You got to take what you can get. You got to just give it over to the bullpen. Yeah, it's so funny because in a day and age where managers can't wait to get starters out of games, we're pushing Bailey Falter another inning, your number five starter, for what reason?

Especially in that spot. Like, you're facing a good part of the Mariners' order. It's a lot of righties. Bailey Falter's traditionally better against left. Righties, actually, he's had good numbers against this year. But regardless, you know, you have Sir Anthony up. Just kind of make the switch there and keep your team in the game, and maybe it's a

different result tonight. Exactly. And on the offense a little bit, I mean, you can't leave this many runners in scoring position. I'm at the game, and I'm watching, and they get these runners on base, and I guess I'm just a little cynical because they've

trained me over the last 10 years to not get my hopes up but every time they get runners on base i just assume that they're not going to score that will screw it up somehow yeah well and also i think that's also baseball too where it's such a game of failure that just it feels like you never get a hit in those positions but that's what this team has done to us man like uh And again, this year, heading into last, I think Thursday of last week, they've let the third most amount of runners on base this year was this Phillies team. And it's not like it got much better over the weekend. They hit some home runs.

You know, Castellanos hit two. Pache hit one. And then Sunday they hit four. But it's not like their honors and scoring position numbers have been insane. It's incredibly frustrating. And for me, it's like it seems like a lot of strikeouts in big spots. And, you know, when there's runners on base, defenses kind of tighten up. Put the ball in play and see what happens.

But, yeah, it's something they've got to break through because when you have ten hits in a game, you should be scoring more than three runs. Exactly. And I don't want to judge Trey Turner too quick because you can't be a top five player in baseball for 162 games. It just doesn't work that way. But it's not just the strikeouts that bother me. It's the situations that those strikeouts are coming. And even with runners in scoring position or nobody on base, they're still just – his strikeout rate's just a little too high. Yeah, and it's been a frustrating part for the beginning of the season for me is I agree with Henry.

It's been a lot of big spots. It feels like Trey Turner's coming up in a lot of strikeouts in those spots. Obviously, I don't have the numbers right in front of me of what his numbers are with running scoring position or late in games or semi-big spots, but it feels like a lot of strikeouts. As someone that's watched pretty much every inning this year, it feels like a lot of strikeouts in big spots. Tomorrow, again, the Phillies have done a good job this year in It feels like a lot of strikeouts and big spots. Tomorrow, they've done, again,

the Phillies have done a good job this year in bounce back spots. When people are down, it feels like the next night they come out and usually bounce back with a good effort. The problem is, is that it's Logan Gilbert, who is probably their number two. I mean, Kirby and him are sort of interchangeable twos and threes for them, even though I think they're both more low-end one, high-end twos. I think George Kirby's developing into one of the better young pitchers in baseball, but whatever. Logan Gilbert tomorrow, ERA in the threes. He allowed four earned in his last start, but consistently has pretty big strikeout numbers.

So the Phillies have their work cut out for them tomorrow. Tymon Walker in a revenge start against the Mariners. We'll see what he's got. He's been good. Tymon Walker has been a good, solid signing for this team. Last couple of starts have been really good, giving them a good chance to win a lot of baseball games. So I expect a good outing from Tywon Walker tomorrow, but tomorrow's

on the offense. He can only do so much if the offense can't score, so hopefully they break through with some runners in scoring position. That's going to do it for me here on the final out. I'll be back tomorrow. Marks and Reese will be leading you into Phillies Mariners. Tywon Walker versus Logan Gilbert, and then I got you after the game for the final outies Mariners, Tywin Walker versus Logan Gilbert.

And then I got you after the game for the final out. As always, Bill Matz has you next. Tucker Bagley produced the program. I'll talk to you tomorrow night here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIP.