High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Jack reacts to Phillies falling to 0-4

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies 8-1 loss at the hands of the Yankees on WIP. Sitting at 0-4, is Fritz worried about the Phillies in 2023? 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

What has happened to our baseball team? Welcome in. It's the final out here on Sports Radio 94. WIP, Jack Fritz, hanging out with you. Final out is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. And I tell you what, 0-4 has never looked so bad. It has been just a disaster start for the season for the Phillies. It has been just a disaster start for the season for the Phillies. It was a season that started with so much hope and so much promise. And I said on the pregame show that I genuinely felt like it was the most anticipated season around here since 2011. You go get the four aces, and we start having visions of going down Broad Street. And we have visions of a sold-out Citizens Bank Park all summer long.

And baseball felt like it was truly back in this city. And that could have made me happier. I think if you've ever listened to me, you've listened to me talk about the Phillies. I love them. And I believe I love the Phillies like I love a family. And right now, the family is just massively, massively disappointing me. And there's so much things, so many things. We'll get into it. 215-592-9494. We'd love to react with you because I know you were geeked up. I mean, I see what the reaction has been to these losses. And yeah, I know we can do the whole, oh, well, if this happens in July, no one's going to care.

And to an extent, that is right. If this happened in July, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But at the same time, to come out and just kind of kill the buzz that they had generated and the good vibes and the feeling that baseball is back in Philadelphia, they have done almost everything in their power to crush that. They have done almost everything in their power to crush that. And now there's a very, very real chance that they take the field on Thursday, or if it rains out and they take the field on Friday, that they could be 1-5, 2-4, or even 0-6.

And for a team that gave us such a magical run last year, and it was an amazing month. It was a month that had us reliving the glory days. Everyone, like, dusted off their Phillies gear and brought it back out and said, you know what, we're back. I love baseball again. They are doing everything in their power to crush that feeling

and have us feeling like, well, maybe it was a flash in the pan. Maybe this whole thing was a mirage. Maybe this whole thing was just them getting hot for a month and they were really closer to the 87-win team that even in September played 480 baseball and was lucky that the Marlins went into Milwaukee and took like three of four when they had just gotten swept out in Chicago. It is an atrocity what is happening right now. And I just, I can't believe that we're already here. I can't believe that we're sitting here frustrated after being 0-4. But I don't know how you can sit there night in, night out, watching a lifeless performance and not feel it.

Like, it has felt absolutely lifeless. And I said it on the pregame show, and I feel like it hasn't been talked about enough, but what Reece Hoskins brought to this team was not only the leadership in the clubhouse, but he was a guy that they leaned on. Obviously, he's a streaky player, defense this, defense that. But he was someone that a lot of the players in that clubhouse leaned on,

and they looked deflated because the Monday before the season is supposed to start, they're starting first baseman, a 30 home run guy, tours ACL, and they just have looked out of it ever since. 215-592-9494. It has been brutal. There is no sugarcoating it here. I would love to sit here and try to paint a positive, rosy picture, but I can't stand here and lie to you and try to portray something that I don't feel in my gut.

Like, I had my antenna up before the game. My antenna is certainly peaking. It is going up. You watch them play, and not only do they look a couple players short they look a couple pitchers short and they just don't look into it let's recap this one real quick 2-5-5-9-2, 94-94 to get in

react to what you feel how do you feel right now about this baseball team I had my antennas up in the pregame show my antennas are still raised obviously the hands are hovering over the panic button. We all understand that 0-4 does not mean it's the end of the season.

We understand that they can turn this around. But holy cow, is it ugly right now. To recap this one, first inning, it gets off to an ominous start. Brandon Marsh, who in a negative way kind of turns out to be the player of this game, lets the ball go under his glove.

D.J. Leahy gets the third base. The Yankees end up scoring two that inning. It could have been way worse. They got lucky. They're still in the game. Doesn't get blown totally wide open. Bottom of the third, Gleyber Torres hits the ball to right field. The little Mickey Mouse ballpark that they have up in New York

makes it a 3-0 ballgame. Obviously not a beautiful start here for the Phillies. Top four. One bright spot of this team so far is the play of Alec Baum. He has been hitting the ball really well with authority. He's driving doubles. He's getting singles. He's putting the ball in play. Of a

beginning of the season that has been brutal, Alec Baum has been a positive so far. He continues to rake. He had a double. Sosa brings him in. It's 3-1. 3-1. You feel pretty good about it. Tywin Walker gets into a bit of a rhythm. Thought he had some good stuff tonight. Top 5. It is a 3-1 game. 3-1 you feel pretty good about it Tywin Walker gets into a bit of a rhythm Thought he had some good stuff tonight

Top 5 it is a 3-1 game 3-1 game Marsh hits this Inside out Double down the line He's on second base There's two outs JT Real Amito At the plate and This happened

Two balls Two strikes Cortez kicks Here's the pitch swung on line to right And this happened. Two balls, two strikes. Cortez kicks. Here's the pitch. Swung on. Line to right. That'll be down for a base hit. Marsh coming around third.

They put up the stop sign. And Cordero's throw goes over the plate. And now a throw back to third. And Marsh gets picked off by Nestor Cortez, who fielded the throw from Cordero. And Peg Marsh who did not get back to the bag in time.

That's the Mike's Amazing play of the game presented by Mike's Amazing the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies and it's amazing for the exact wrong reasons. That is a crucial point in the game. JT

Romuto hits a ball to right field. Brandon Marsh, they put up the stop sign for him, and he hesitates. Looks like with the overthrow, he's going to start heading home. Nessa Cortez backpicks him. He's out,

thus killing a rally. Could have been runners on second and third with two outs. Castellanos coming up, did not have a great game, but it's twofold. Had they just let it play through? I know Francis Cordero has a hose out in right field, whatever. That's a 3-2 game, and the Phils are right back in it. But the one thing that couldn't happen is what happened there. And it's dumb baseball that we saw a lot of last year.

And, I mean, so far this year there's been a couple instances. I mean, JT got picked off at second base on Saturday. That play tonight, like, that's not smart winning baseball. That's just being aggressive to be aggressive. So that is crushing. That keeps 3-1. And we all know what's going to happen when you don't score in that kind of fashion.

Everything kind of blows up. Bottom five, Tom Walker strikes out Aaron Judge on just a nasty splitter. And Rob Thompson pulls him. 87 pitches. It felt a little bit early. You know, you have a bullpen that worked a lot over the weekend down in Texas. And 87 pitches when he's kind of getting into a rhythm.

I know it's early. I understand all of that. But you're bringing in a guy, 3-1, Junior Marte. And full disclosure, I was impressed with Junior Marte in spring training. But he looks like the lights are a bit too bright for him. He clearly needs to go down to Lehigh Valley and get some kind of confidence back. Because the stuff is still there. I mean, you'd be blind if you couldn't see the stuff is there.

He has to go down to AAA and figure it out. But you're putting a guy into a game that is still winnable and Yankee Stadium is like second, you know, he's been in the big leagues before, but this is a big moment for him. And it leads us to what truly blew up in the game was this by Anthony Rizzo. 2-1. Swung on and belted. I mean, crushed down the line and right, and it's gone. A fair ball into the second deck, right down the right field line.

And that's two more for the Yanks, and their second homer of the night. First of the year for Rizzo, and it's 5-1, the Yankees. And that's going to make Anthony Rizzo our 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 that blew it open. You know, 5-1, and you can kind of feel the wind out of the Philly sails. Two straight walks after that, Franch Cordero doubles to make it 7-1. Trevino singles to make it 8-1. And after that, it was just over. It was just over. No fight, no grit, no want to. And that's kind of been the story so far for the Phillies.

215-592-9494. It is the final out. I am Jack Fritz, hanging out with you here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Get in. It's been a frustrating start to the season. We were all looking forward to it. Where do you stand on this Phillies team right now? Are you pressing the panic button?

Are you hovering over the panic button? Are you still, it's too early? I'm hovering. This is not giving me a ton of confidence about where this team is at. Their play is lackadaisical. They don't look like they have any fire. They're getting crushed by injuries. Some of their players look like they're having a bit of a World Series hangover,

can't get the excitement back. It's a lot, a lot of negative vibes right now. Could really use a turnaround coming up soon. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. On the other side, we'll get to all of your calls, but also a couple signs of positivity from tonight. There was a couple that I want to run by you that I think could lead to positive results. We'll get to all of that coming up next here on The Final Out.

Welcome back. It is The Final Out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. 215-592-9494. Continuing to react to what was a brutal performance yet again by the Phillies up in New York. And what was frustrating is that it felt like a winnable game. You know, it really did. It felt like, okay, you weathered the storm in the first.

You were able to keep it close. It didn't totally blow up in your face. The Yankees do have some sluggers at the top of the lineup that it can snowball on you. They survived. Really, the second that Brandon Marsh got picked off at third base, you could just tell. That's how baseball works. When you make that kind of crucial mistake, the team always scores the next inning, at least against the Phillies.

Watching the Phillies for the last, like, hardcore for the last five years, every single time they make that kind of mistake, it absolutely, there is a, obviously, I'm a betting man. There needs to be minus 1,000 odds on a team scoring against them next inning. It's how it works. It's simply how it works with this Phillies team. And it's just been a slog.

It has just been a slog. And, you know, all offseason I tried to fight the hangover thing, the World Series hangover thing, and saying, nah, Kyle Schwarber's here. He's not going to let that happen. But just in watching them, it looks like a combination of a hangover, and I think the

loss of Reese definitely affected them more than I thought it was going to. When they lost Reese, I was like, you know what? The Braves lost to Acuna. They went back to the World Series. And when they won the World Series. They also started that season 0-4. So, hey, maybe the same thing will happen for the Phillies here.

But they look like the wind has been taken out of their sails a little bit. And, you know, the fact that it happened the Monday before the start of the season. The fact that they're dealing with the Ranger thing. They're dealing with the Andrew Painter thing. You know, I could see the clubhouse being like, is this one of those seasons where it just isn't our year and it's not going to go our way? Bryce is obviously still out. Seems like he is progressing in a positive way.

But, I mean, holy cow, what a disappointing start to the season. I'll get to some positives that I have, you know, even with what has been a negative start to the season here. Coming up in some positives that I have, you know, even with what has been a negative start of the season here. Coming up in one second, let's talk to Eric in the Lehigh Valley. What's happening, A? Hey, how are you guys? I'm not doing well. I gotta be honest

with you. I'm not doing well at all. Same. I hear you, brother. I'm just disappointed. Well, I guess you could say disappointed is kind of lack of a better term. But yeah, I mean, for the start of this game, the one thing that I noticed was, you know, the march, the base hit out to center. What could have been a routine single turned out into a triple because he tried to one-hop it, you know. And he tried to one-hop it, like, instead of getting in front of the ball, he let it go by and turned it into a triple. And so that was in the bottom of the first.

So that was the start of the game. So that set my gut into a place that I didn't want it to be. And then later we brought in Marte, which I was like, okay, I'm not familiar with this guy, but I'll watch. And then threw some fast pitches, 99-mile-an-hour stickers. But his command was really off. It was just really off.

And it allowed a lot of walks, allowed a two-run homer. And then so that, you know, I was like, you know, I like this guy, but he just has to get his command down. Yeah, he looks like he doesn't look ready for the moment. And, I mean, we've seen guys with million-dollar stuff I like this guy, but he just has to get his command down. Yeah, he doesn't look ready for the moment. And, I mean, we've seen guys with million-dollar stuff that haven't looked ready for the moment a lot. I mean, that's the old adage is million-dollar arm, two-cent head. I'm not saying Uri Marte has that, but we see this all the time.

I mean, this happens all the time with guys with great stuff. I mean, we've seen him in Pavetta, like Vince Velasquez. So he might just not have it. I think to try to trust a guy that young, that inexperienced, on the road, in Yankee Stadium in a 3-1 game,

Rob Thompson, I think, has been a good feel guy. That's a terrible feel. That is a terrible feel situation. Exactly. That probably wasn't a good place to put him in. I agree with that decision. Yeah, yeah. Well, I agree with your opinion of that.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That and coming off of basically coming down to it, like as far as the decisions made, you like put that Remilso hit that I think Marsh should have just, he was hauling it. He was on the jets. He could have scored on that play. that I think Marsh should have just, he was hauling it. He was on the jets, you know, he was, he,

he could have scored on that play, you know, and I think they should have just sent him at that point. But, but that, and my, my, one of my, one of my second to last points is, you know, I think Schwarber, I know he's in, I guess you could say, he's starting the season in a slump it looks like, but it's almost looks like he he's overswinging, in my opinion. He's trying to send it out of the park every single time, you know, and that's just not how batting works sometimes.

Sometimes you just have to get it in play. And, again, I'm uneducated, but, I mean, it seems like he's just trying to swing at, you know, just to get it out of the park every time. And it's just not how how it's not a healthy way of batting in terms of baseball and um but that and basically anyhow coming into the season you know being that that we're oh and four now at this point and uh it's not so much of the mistakes that we're making it looks like there's a pattern that is not settling well with us philly's you

know and that's what i think is basically my conclusion here and the morale of the whole team is a complete 180 versus the playoffs last year yeah and i appreciate the call eric um it is but also we also have to understand that it's hard to recreate that i mean we're talking about trying to recreate playoff like atmosphere in in april and march where you know we're coming from October and November where it was just like it was bedlam. It took over the city. So it's hard to recreate that.

But you also have to have the mental fortitude to be able to create it on your own and lock in. And there hasn't been enough of that. And it also comes down to they're putting players who haven't been in this position to – they're asking a lot out of players that haven't been there before. I mean, that's another reality of the situation. They're asking a lot out of the Derek Halls, who, you know, had a nice hit tonight. But it's like Derek Hall and Muno Sosa um even like Brandon Marsh just got here the deadline last year Bryson Stott is a

second year player um like they're they're asking a lot out of a lot of players who just haven't been there um and like their studs have been pretty good you know I mean like Turner's been good um Schwimmer's obviously getting off to a slow start. But, like, it's frustrating. But there are some positives that I do think that we have to mention when talking about where the team is at right now. Obviously, 0-4 does not mean that the whole season is doomed. But there's one thing that has happened in the last four games this season that I think is only going to lend itself to more runs as this year goes on,

and that is the fact that they are getting a lot of hits. So far, 12 hits, 9 hits, 9 hits, and 11 hits. Now, the runs haven't been there. I mean, the runs haven't even been close to being where they need to be, but if you are having that many hits and, you know, having runners on base that often, eventually you're going to break through. Like, it has to happen. So I know I'm down.

I know a lot of us are down. But when you're looking at the offense still putting balls in play, getting on base, doing what they need to do, eventually the floodgates are going to open. Water finds its level, and you don't have those kind of hitting numbers, and they just don't score for long periods of time. So when you're trying to hold on for hope, which is kind of a depressing thing to think of, four games into a 162-game season.

The fact that they have gone 12-9, 9-11 in terms of hits I think is a good sign. A couple other good signs, I mean, Alec Bone, we mentioned him in the first segment, has just been really good. Three more hits tonight, three hits in Game 1.

He's been on fire, and he's kind of translating over from what we saw in spring training into the regular season. I think he just looks great, and you feel this kind of big Alec Boehm breakout. You're coming. But Trey Turner, who mentioned him as the player to count on, I'm continually amazed at putting the bat on the baseball, finding a way to get on base.

And I think he's only going to continue to wreak havoc as we get going here. And the caller brought up Kyle Schwarber. And they're not going to do it yet. They're not going to do it this early. You trust Kyle Schwarber's back of the baseball card and that kind of stuff. But if Boehm keeps hitting like this, a Turner-Boehm 1-2, I know it's not righty-lefty, but a Boehm-Turner or a Turner-Boehm 1-2 with the bat-to-ball skills that those two possess,

I just think that scares pitchers. And I think it kind of jumps on pitchers. And what I'm actually seeing from Kyle Schwarber right now is I see a guy that's actually taking a lot of defense facts. You know, he seems unsure of himself. He has faced lefties in back-to-back nights, so I'm sure that's not great. But still, like,

a lot of defensive swings, not kind of letting the bat fly through the zone. And I do wonder if a Turner-Bohm kind of one-two combo kind of works. And the last positive is I thought Tom Walker was pretty good tonight. I know he allowed four earned and four and two-thirds or whatever, but off the first inning could have been a disaster.

He got out of that. His slider looked like it had better bite than I had seen up in New York. His splitter is going to be a weapon. And the fact that he's hitting 96 I thought was really important. In his last start in spring training, he was down a couple of velocity. He was down like 92, 93. So to see him back up to 96 eased a lot of my tension about a possible injury because I can't handle another injury right now.

So it's been a bad start, but I think the amount of hits they've had, eventually they're going to start scoring. Boehm and Turner I think have been great, and I do wonder about Boehm in the two-hole. And Tywon Walker I thought gave them good quality innings today, so I hope that is something that as Nola hopefully gets back into shape here, Wheeler, Tywon Walker, if those three need to carry them until Ranger gets back

and hopefully Andrew Painter joins the rotation. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. Rolling into the final segment of the final out. We'll get to all of your calls. Also, we'll look ahead to tomorrow night before handing things off to Jody Mack here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Welcome back. It is the final out.

Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Unfortunately, the Phillies have not looked so good. But, you know, 0-4 right now. Been a bad start to the season. And they've done their best to create some doubt within the fan base. some doubt within the fan base. And I don't think it's totally – it's not – it's okay to have a little bit of panic about where this baseball team is at.

You know, I know we can do the whole, oh, well, it's only been four games, so, like, who really cares? If this is July, this doesn't really matter. I can't think that way. I have to only see what I see in front of me and see what I have projected going forward. When I see how they are

constructed right now and I see how the injuries they've had and how that has affected everything that has gone on with the lineup, with the rotation, with having to put guys into positions they're not ready for, relying on unproven players. You know, again, I mentioned this in the pregame show and I mentioned this with Marks and Reese earlier today. But what made this team so enticing and so interesting to believe in was that they had legitimate depth at a whole bunch of positions.

Like, Billy Falter was the sixth man. And had everyone stayed healthy, Painter doesn't get hurt, Ranger doesn't get hurt, then they could have gone Wheeler, Nola, Walker, Ranger, Painter, Falter. Go sixth man. Ranger, Painter, Falter, go six-man, not have to overwork Wheeler and Nola early in the season so that they can kind of ramp back up to being where they were at the end of last season and not wear them down. But now with the injuries that they've sustained there,

they have to be relied on even more, and there's just such a less margin for error. And that's what's scary about the current situation with the Phillies. And the Ranger injury, I know he's throwing a bullpen on Wednesday, so that's hopefully a good sign, but I see the report over the weekend that they're interested in Dallas Keuchel to sign a possible minor league deal. Like, what are we doing? That's how worried we are about the rotation that we got to go sign a guy

who's absolutely positively cooked. I mean, Dallas Keuchel had a 980 RA last year. There was no easier fade in the history of baseball than what Dallas Keuchel produced last year. It was atrocious. So the fact that that's even a thought in their head is terrifying. Hopefully Ranger gets back soon. Hopefully Painter pitches this year. But like when you're evaluating this team and how good they were going to be

and why it was so easy to believe in them on paper, part of that was that they had a good amount of decent rotation options that now feel like they are just being overworked and being put into big positions. Bailey Faulkner is the number four right now. That's not how this whole thing was designed.

Then you look at the lineup. I love Amudo Sosa. And I think he is working his way into possibly getting a lot of everyday at-bats here. Jake Caves in the opening day lineup had Josh Harrison not somehow sprained his ankle. he is playing 50% of the game so far. I mean, again, he's starting over Bryson Stott tonight before this ankle injury happens. He's batting sixth?

That's not how this thing was designed. It's not how it was designed. The bullpen stayed healthy, but the bullpen also hasn't pitched well. I mean, the Phillies matched the 1893 and 1895 Phillies for the worst start pitching-wise in franchise history. So, I mean, you want to talk about creating a shadow of a doubt in a fan base. The Phillies have found a way to do it.

I mean, they're the first team to start 0-4 after winning the pennants is the 1985 Cardinals. Like, we're talking about that's damn near, what, 34 years? I don't know. I'm not a math guy. But, like, that's historic. It's damn near, what, 34 years? I don't know. I'm not a math guy. But, like, that's historic. It's terrible. 1,800?

1,800. That's the last time the Phillies pitching staff got off to this bad of a start. Like, are you serious? You just were in the World Series. Have a backbone. I mean, holy cow. Michaels in Washington Township. What's happening, Mike?

Yo, what's going on? Ah, just dreading the start of this Philly season, buddy. Yeah, it's pretty terrible. But the one thing I want to talk about that I don't think a lot of people are is how new this team is. I know it doesn't look like it, but, you know, you got Trey at shortstop and the injury of Reese Hoskins at first where we don't have a set first baseman right now. They're moving everything around, you know, you got Trey at shortstop and the injury of Reese Hoskins at first where we don't have a set first baseman right now. They're moving everything around, you know.

You got Boehm taking balls over there one inning. I hear they got Cassianos taking balls over there just to try stuff out. Like, they don't have anything set, and there's a whole new bullpen, and I think that could be playing an effect into this. Well, you would hope that, you know, they can't. I thought that was a bigger concern before the run last year i think it's more guys being thrust in positions that they're not totally ready for more than like this is a brand new team that came together i mean a lot of the core

from the world series team is is is still here i mean a couple of them are hurt but i think it's more we're putting putting guys into the bright spots that they're not totally ready for. Derek Hall's going to be the first baseman on most days, especially against righties. And the fact that he got a hit against a lefty tonight and didn't look completely overmatched, I thought was a good sign for his progression. Hopefully

they can just lock in one of these things. It's just a bunch of unproven people, players, that are trying to keep a possible division title team afloat here. Yeah, everybody seems to be cold right now besides Trey and Alec Boehm looks phenomenal, more than I could even wish for. Yeah, you're totally right, Michael. And, you know, I appreciate the call.

Like, Trey Turner has been everything that you could have hoped he would be. He hasn't had the home runs that he was hitting for Team USA. But he was, you know, he had a couple balls last night in Texas that could have gone out. You know, maybe if they were at Citizens Bank Park, they would have gone out. But either way, he has been hitting the ball hard. He's been hitting the ball soft and getting singles. You see why he is

a guy that hovers around 300 every single year and will sometimes hit higher than 300. And I think that as the year goes on, you'll see more and more of Trey Turner stealing bases and trying to wreak havoc on that side of the diamond. And Alec Boehm, I mean, I mentioned it last segment, I mentioned those two, but those two possibly batting one-two if Schwarber continues to struggle here, you know, having two very good bat-to-ball skill guys that can kind of jump on you a little bit, I think it's something

they need to consider. Alec Boehm continuing to bat seven, I think is just blasphemous. He moved up tonight. That was a good adjustment, and I just think that they're going to continue to he's going to continue to hit and hopefully

continues to rise up that lineup. Let's look ahead to tomorrow night and obviously you don't want to throw out the must win kind of thing this early into a baseball season but man just get us one. Let's just kind of give everyone a big

old chill pill. A big old deep breath. A big old relaxer, and get one out of the way. Tomorrow night, it's Matt Strom versus Domingo German. Domingo German got absolutely torched in spring training. I know you can't say everything about spring training. It doesn't matter, yada, yada, yada. But an 8-7-1 ERA with 10 earned and 10 innings is not the start I think you're looking for when you're talking about trying to get the season off on a good note. So he's hittable, obviously, with Domingo Hermann going tomorrow night.

We have Garrett Cole on Wednesday versus Aaron Nola. And if you don't win tomorrow night, I don't know how confident you are heading into possibly facing 0-6 before the home opener to start the season. I am just, I am begging them to get home. 2-4, obviously we take that at this point. 1-5 still stinks.

0-6 and the possibility of a team that gave us those kind of memories last year and that kind of electricity, that would be crushing. That would be crushing. Because they wouldn't get the kind of recognition that I believe they deserve. I know they lost.

I understand they lost. But they still deserve a really, really big applause, a standing O, for reinvigorating the city with baseball again and kind of saving baseball in this town. And to head back 1-5, 0- six would just be crushing. On the other hand, I think they need to get home. Like the Reds are awaiting them. The Reds are obviously one of the worst teams in baseball. They got to get home and hopefully just kind of to right this ship a little bit. But either way, tomorrow night, Domingoann versus Matt Strom. Strom apparently has about 65 pitches.

So in a perfect world, he gives them four innings. Like we're doing essentially a bullpen game in the fourth game of the season. So, or the fifth game of the season. So that's not great. He has been a failed starter. You know, he started with the Royals, got traded to the Padres. He was an analytics darling for years. He's like, oh, he's going to figure it out.

He's going to be good. And he's never put together as a starter. Went to the bullpen last year with the Red Sox. Was pretty good. And they gave him a decent chunk of change this year to come in and be a late-inning option for this team. The spot that Junior Marte came in today in is probably where Matt Strom should have been.

Had there not been injuries in the rotation, they started stretching them out like two weeks ago. So we'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. Maybe he puts it together, helps them out, but him taking down four innings tomorrow would just be a godsend for this team.

Heading into Nola versus Cole. And, again, you hate to throw the term must win, but when you're staring down the possibility of 0-6 before the home opener on Thursday, doesn't make me feel good. 2-1-5, 5-9-2-9494 is how you get in. We're going to keep rolling here. The final out is going to conclude now, but don't worry. Phil's calls all throughout. We will get to Jody Mack, but I'm hanging out with you

for as long as we need to here on 94 WIP. 215-592-9494. I'm Jack Fritz. That concludes the final out, but don't worry. I got you on the other side. We'll continue talking Phils, mixing some Eagles, everything else on the table. Get in now. 215-592-9494 here on SportsCenter.