High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Jack reacts to Phillies first win of the season

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Jack Fritz hosts the Final Out on WIP and reacts to the Phillies dominant 4-1 win over the Yankees behind a good start from Matt Strahm and a home run by Kyle Schwarber. 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

Come on in. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Finally, I mean finally, it's over. We don't have to have nightmares of 0-1-1-62. We can all grow up a little bit. We can all calm down. We can all take a nice, big, deep breath. It's over. It's over.

So I hope that calmed your nerves down a little bit. It calmed your fears that we were trending towards a disaster season for the Phillies. I know it's only one win. I totally understand. But that was a big exhale moment for me, and I think a lot of you out there tonight. That felt right. 215-592-9494 is how you get in and join the show here. Reacted to the first

Phillies win of the season. It is the final out sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good. That felt right. That felt how I felt like a lot of the season was supposed to go. Did I expect Matt Strom to start a game

early in the season like this? No, I did not expect Matt Strom to have to do this. But part of what made last season so special for the Phillies and what made last year's team good was that you had not always the best players stepping up in big moments. It wasn't always just Bryce carrying them or or, or JT or Schwarz, even though, you know,

Juni pretty much did. It was the Derek calls coming up, the Pilates coming up, like these guys, Jose Alvarado morphing into one of the better relievers in baseball. So truly great teams and, and true, true contenders and teams that can make a run towards the world series,

especially in a sport like baseball, like basketball. We know it is, it is the World Series, especially in a sport like baseball. Basketball, we know. It is the star players are pretty much star players, and everyone get out of the way. With football, great rosters are important, but obviously we know how important the quarterback position is. Don't know how you win in hockey. I guess you got to skate better and put the puck in the net.

But with baseball, the star hitter is only up four times a game on a good day if your offense is doing things the right way. So it comes down to the full 26-man roster being able to get a job done on a night-in-night-out

basis. And the Phillies winning a game like that where there's a bit of panic that felt like it was beginning to set in the city. You know, one of us had to be a tone center. And I led off with the pregame show tonight with leading offs talking about calm down and take a deep breath, relax. It's still a good baseball team. We don't need to freak out over every little thing. It's 162. And I thought tonight was one big exhale moment. Speaking of exhale moments, let's recap this game.

Here on the final out, again, 215-592-9494. If you want to get in, Jack Fritz hanging out with you, taking you up to around 11 o'clock. And Jody Mack taking over then. But you want to talk about a tone setter? and Jody Mack taking over then. But you want to talk about a tone setter? You want to talk about something that can kind of have a dugout, take a deep breath and relax and say, okay, this feels right?

I mean, there's no better tone setter in the city right now and one of the best tone setters in baseball than Kyle Schwarber, who second at bat of the game, gave the Phillies an early lead. Here's Kyle Schwarber. Armand delivers. And the pitch swung on, hit deep. Right field, Stanton looking up, and it is gone.

And Kyle Schwarber gets his first home run of the season tonight here at Yankee Stadium. And the Phillies strike first. It's 1-0 on Schwarber's first. Amazing play of the game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. And why do I think that? Because I think that this is what Kyle Schwarber does. Kyle Schwarber is the leader of this team, especially with Reese Hoskins going out and

then needing to fill the void of having a leader. Kyle Schwarber is the voice in that clubhouse. He is the Kelsey for the Phillies. And this is what he did in big moments last year. This is what he did in big moments last year. We talk about, obviously, opening day last year, Schwarber did this. When Harper goes out, I remember the first game after that, hits an absolute tank in the seventh inning to give him a lead against the Padres. And I always have this calming feeling with Kyle Schwarber that when a team needs him, when a team needs him to set the tone, he's there for him. Is it walk-off home runs?

No. It's a lot of first inning, like, let's let this thing go, deep breaths, we're here, we're about to play a good brand of baseball. And, you know, I remember the Houston series at the end of last season, the game where they clinched and Noel was great. Well, Schwarber did hit two home runs that game, and he led the game off of the home run. Like, we remember throughout the postseason, I mean,

the home run off Musgrove, the leadoff game, game three of the NLCS. The home run off of Justin Verlander the night after they got no hits. You know, like, this is what Kyle Schwarber has done. Actually, it wasn't the game after they got no hits. It was after... No, it was the game after they got no hits. But, like, Kyle Schwarber,

all he has done in his early run, in his Phillies tenure, is hit tone- tone setting home runs. And I know it's only game five of the season. And I know it's a long season. But I think Kyle Schwarber kind of saying, we're here. We're arrived. Deep breaths.

I got us. Was a massive, massive tone setting kind of performance by Schwarbs. And that's what he does. Top of the third inning, Brandon Marsh, who last night was the goat of that game, and not in a good way. Bad error in the first inning, gets picked off later in the game when the Phillies could have had runners on second and third with two outs, or it could have been a 3-2 ball game. Brandon Marsh comes back tonight and hits a bomb. I mean, it was over 420 feet, It's a bomb.

I mean, it was over 420 feet. And you're starting to see him just gain more and more confidence at the plate. And you're starting to see him develop into, I think, what the Phillies envisioned when they traded for him, is a guy that was screwed up by the Angels that they're starting to unlock. And I think Kevin Long, this has been his most impressive work. I mean, Brandon Marsh is developing into a guy that you can envision being an everyday center fielder. Matt Strom does a job, keeps it 2-0, gets him through four. We'll take that every single day of the week and twice on Sunday.

What Matt Strom did today was massive. In the fifth inning, Trey Turner singles with Brandon Marsh on second base. Brings them home 3-0. Trey Turner just continues to be everything that the Phillies could have ever hoped for. It's not just a bunch of power. It is a lot of singles. But they are base hits in key moments. And it just seems like back-breaking hit after back-breaking hit

is what Trey Turner is going to deliver for this team. Kyle Schwerber singles right after him, makes it 4-0. A little bit of an insurance, which I think is important for this team right now, especially when you're looking to break the winless streak to begin a season. Bottom seven was an important part of the game. Bit of a jam. Connor Brogdon's in, and Gleyber Torres just absolutely bails him out. He gets – Josh Johnson hits the ball to right field.

It's a rocket. Torres thinks it's going to be down. He's on his way to third base. Bank, back pick, Nick Castellanos. Nick Castellanos, his third outfield assist of the season. I mean, gold glove season? Gold glove season coming for Nick Castellanos in right field. I mean, that's why we signed him.

We signed Nick Castellanos for his defense. Definitely not his bats. And then we had two big Connor Brogdon innings in the middle of the game. They kind of kept the game where it is. At one point, Rob Thompson was warming up McKinley Moore, who I'm high on. But, man, bringing in a rookie to make his Major League debut that has command issues into a 4-0 game on the road in Yankee Stadium certainly would have been a bold decision,

but that's what Rob Thompson has done so far as manager. I mean, when they called up Kyle Schwarber last year, not Kyle Schwarber, when they called up Derek Hall last year, his first game, they put him in the cleanup spot. You know, it didn't work this year with Junior Marte, but they believed in him off of what they saw in spring training, and they're putting him in big spots early. It would have been a big spot.

I'm glad he went with two innings at Brogdon. I think getting Connor Brogdon rolling here is important for this team. In the ninth inning, 4-0. Craig Kimbrell allows a home run to DJ LeMayu. Gotta be honest, I wasn't excited about the Craig Kimbrell allows a home run to DJ LeMayu. Gotta be honest, I wasn't excited about the Craig Kimbrell signing when they

did it. Tonight, he didn't have command of his off-speed, which meant that Yankees hitters could just sit fastball. They got a tying run to the plate. I was nervous, but thankfully Craig Kimbrell was able to get it done. My player of the game, which

is brought to you by South Jersey Gas Conserve, helping customers and the community save energy and money, visit southjerseygas.com slash conserve. I'm giving it to players tonight, and that would be the Phillies bullpen slash starter in Matt Strom. Besides what Kimbrell did in the ninth, I mean, just a dominant performance. Matt Strom was great. You know, gave them four innings.

I liked how he competed. He threw a ton of strikes. I liked that he yelled at himself to keep the ball down. I thought that was good. And it gives you hope. Not that he's going to be a good starter. I don't think that's their plan. I don't think that's what they wanted from him.

But I think that he's someone that you can see and envision being a piece in the bullpen once this rotation gets healthy and once people get back and are more ready to go. Belotti has just continued to be a great find for them. Jose Alvarado, I mean, 12 pitches are just pure filth. And he has developed into, you know, you talk about the most dominant relievers we've seen as Phillies fans, and at least for a majority of my life. I mean, obviously, we know 08 Lidge, we know Madsen, and I think Alvarado's right there. I mean, what he has done is just insane. And since he's come back with the cutter, he's got like, I mean, it's like a 95 mile an hour

cutter. It's just stupid with 100 in his back pocket. I mean, Jose Alvarado has morphed into one of the best bullpen pitchers in the sport. And it is such a godsend for this team. And finally, Connor Brogdon, two massive innings tonight. And that's a big spot. You know, Brogdon's someone that they relied on. And you want to talk about putting faith in a guy. You know, in the Brave series in the NLDS last

year. Brogdon got hit around. And Rob Thompson could have given up on him. A young pitcher in a big spot in a playoff series. Like, we're not going to risk our season with a guy who's inexperienced and kind of looked in over his head. Well, they trusted him there. They trusted him tonight. And then

they headed into the season trusting him to be one of their back-end options. And to trust him for two innings there in a game that you sort of needed, that is big stuff. So shout-out to the bullpen, and I think that eased a lot of fears. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. It's Jack Fritz here in the final lap. On the other side, two positives I have from tonight's game

that I think can only lend itself to more positive results as we go along here. Get in and out. 215-592-9494. I'll give you my positives. I'll take your phone calls. I'll come up next on the Final Out. Welcome back.

It is the Final Out sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you reacting to the Phil's first win of the year uh didn't expect to have to wait till the fifth game of the season to get it but whatever we take it it's a long year and uh that was a big exhale it was a it was that's that's how this whole thing was was drawn up you know with with reese out and with that with with harper out it was gonna have to be turner it's gonna have to be Turner. It was going to have to be Schwarber. Boehm didn't get a hit tonight, but he's been good so far. He would like for Castellanos to get going,

but if it's not going to be your studs, hopefully the Marshes of the world, the Stotts of the world, whoever you have to fill in, whether it's Sosa or Hall, they can contribute. But that felt like an old last year Phillies win. It eased a lot of my tension. Getting the first one out of the way, hopefully now they can be relaxed and

let's get the season going. Season starts now. I'll get to some positive things that I saw from tonight in one second. Let's go to the phones and talk to Blake in Narberth. What's happening, Blake? Hey, Jack. Thanks for taking my call.

Big win. Didn't expect to take this long, but it's a big win for you as well. Your son's first win and your first win on the pre- and post-game show. Yeah, it's a big one. Walker avoids the adoption line for one day. We take this one day at a time. But, yes, he is off the hot seat. So I'm proud of him.

Yeah. Well, I wanted to talk about two things. First off, I think with Schwarber, I agree with what you said. That home run set the tone. And I think he's just the guy under the piece in athletics that said he's the glue to this team. And he showed it tonight. Struggled a bit, but came out that home run and set the tone. And that was really big.

Well, he's never far away from a hot streak. And even with how cold he can be, and even when he looks like a disaster at the plate, like he has for a majority of the season, you know, I still trust him in big moments. And I still trust him in when a team needs a lift, when a team needs a spark. It's Schwarber.

I mean, that's what he is. That is what Kyle Schwarber is, is he is their guy, the guy they turn to. He's been in big games. He's hit a bunch of big home runs. And to do that tonight, it's just another sign of, like, he's that guy. Yeah, and I think with Trey Turner, we haven't seen it yet, but I can tell opening day, opening week, sometime he's going to get on base and then pitcher on the reds is going to be throwing over, looking over,

fear that speed, and then clock's running down. You know, Citizens Bank Park, the crowd, you've heard it, Yankov Stadium's going to be chanting five, four, three, and Schwerber. I think he's going to hit a home run or something like that, and you're going to see that a lot this summer. Yeah, and, you know, I think that's something that hit a home run or something like that. And you're going to see that a lot this summer. Yeah. And, you know, I think that's something that as we go along here,

I think Turner is going to cause more havoc on the base pass. And I think that, you know, as a pitcher, you know, obviously locked in on what he's going to do and worried about Turner at first base, you know, you kind of forget about the hitter or the plate. And you have to hope with Schwarber batting too too, that he's getting a lot of fastballs because they don't want to give Turner a free base at second with a stolen base. So it should lend itself to a lot of positive results there, Blake. Yeah, and then I just want to touch on the bullpen.

I know some people don't love Dave Dombrowski's ability to find bullpen pieces. Craig Kimbrell, perhaps a guy who some people said reminds them of Familia from last year and Norwood. And I thought his stuff on the fastball in 95, I was impressed with that because I heard it was not as good in spring training. They just looked off, and it seems like he's a guy who has pass ability, obviously, but he's struggling. And do you think that he's going to just be a guy

who's going to end up like familiar DFA in June, or do you think he can turn it around? Well, and I appreciate the call, Blake. I would hate to start talking DFAs after two addings from Craig Krimble. I wasn't a fan when they signed him. He's been trending down for a couple years now. He's never been great at anything besides the closer role. So, you know, banking on him bouncing back

because he helped Dave Dombrowski win a World Series in 2018, I didn't love. And even on the 2018 team, I mean, Chris Sale had to come in and close those games out. Like Nathan Evaldi was pitching out of the bullpen. It wasn't even like Craig Kimball was great. So, listen, he's the all-time active leader in saves,

so, like, that means something. But, like, what you saw tonight was a guy who couldn't command his off-speed, couldn't command his slider, and when a pitcher can't command his slider to Major League hitters, then you know that Major League hitters can just sit on fastballs. And LeMahieu didn't miss it.

They're lucky that it didn't come back to bite them. They're lucky Josh Donaldson is just as cooked as Craig Kimbrell. So, you know, I think that one thing with Thompson and definitely with Dave Dombrowski is that they're going to give guys with track records and who have been in big spots before, they're going to give guys with track records and who have been in big spots before, they're going to give them opportunities on the backend to, to shut down ball games. And they're going to trust the back of the baseball card.

You know, I think that, you know, that part of the unwritten rule of baseball in a way is that you trust a veteran players until it's apparent that they can't be trusted. So I think, I think Kimbrell's going to be given a lot of opportunities, and you just have to hope that he can right the ship here because the first two outings have not been great.

Two positives that I have from tonight's game. One is the bullpen, you know, and it's been something that heading into the year I was really excited about because I genuinely felt like they had seven dudes out there that I felt confident were going to be able to throw strikes and get outs, and they actually had stuff that I believed in. And hopefully you're starting to see the semblance of guys they can trust, whether it's Belotti, Alvarado, Brogdon, seemed like a pretty good three. Sir Anthony pitched last night, Rob Thompson said after the game that he was a little bit sore

but didn't make it out to be a big deal. Hopefully that's the case. I think Gregory Soto is going to be fine. His first outing was a disaster, but his second outing on Sunday night was gross. So, you know, Strom, when he gets back into the bullpen, I think is going to be a piece. So, you know, I know the first four games with the bullpen,

people were freaking out. And it was like, oh, my gosh, this is what we do. We have bad bullpens in Philadelphia. I continue to believe that they have talent back there. And I think you'll start to see them kind of round into form a little bit. They're not going to be blitzed like they were the first week of the year. And I think they'll kind of round into shape here. And the other positive I had was, again, I mentioned this last night.

I mentioned this on the pregame show. Part of the reason why I wanted people to calm down was their hit totals. So far in five games, 12, 9, 9, 11, and 10. That's their hit totals. And that is a lot of hits. They have the second highest batting average in baseball right now. I mean, the Cardinals are somehow batting like 350, but the Phillies as a team have an average of 280 as of right now. So, you know, as the hits hopefully continue to pile up here,

eventually the floodgates begin to open up and, you know, they can start scoring more runs. You finally saw the ball go out of the ballpark tonight. That was good to see. They had only had one home run heading into the game tonight. So, you know, hopefully this whole kind of dam is starting to break, and they can start breaking through and having some big scoring outings. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. I'll roll your calls on the other side, and we'll look ahead to tomorrow. Big matchup in the Bronx, day game, 1-0-94. I'll roll your calls on the other side, and we'll look ahead to tomorrow. Big matchup in the Bronx.

Day game 105. We'll preview that coming up next here on the Final Out. That's right. Welcome back. Final Out. Phillies win, finally. It's finally over. Everyone calm down.

Deep breaths. They showed they still have good baseball in there. We don't have to have the fear of, like, oh, my gosh, they're going to make 30 games out. Like, relax. Deep breaths. They did it. have good baseball in there. We don't have to have the fear of like, oh, my gosh, they're going to make 30 games out. Like, relax. Deep breaths. They did it. So, Phil's win.

Final out is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never looked so good. Big game tomorrow. Aaron Nola versus Garrett Cole. You know, for all the people that are starting pitching nerds like myself where we long for the days of one great starter, one pretty good starter, matching up and getting to see two of the game's best go head-to-head.

A bit of a nerdy little afternoon matinee tomorrow, Yankee Stadium 105. First pitch, you can hear it all, obviously, here on WIP, we know how Aaron Nola's first start went. Cruising and then hit a wall. It's just like the most frustrating part about Nola is that he's cruising right along, and then it just feels like he can't get out of the adversity when it starts to hit the fan. And it's just like he can't, like he just has to be able to overcome that. It's kind of been the story of his career,

like when he's rolling and when he's on, when he's in rhythm and he's just grabbing the ball and then going, he's great. And then, you know, the second a runner gets on, it feels like, oh crap, here we go. So, you know, last start, he was complaining about the pitch clock. Hopefully they can figure that out. I mean, it's obviously not going anywhere.

Baseball fans have liked it. You know, like the time down, the length of games is down. The stolen base activity is up. Average is up. There's more balls in play. It's what they want. So they're going to have to adjust. And they had all spring training to adjust.

And it's on Knowles to figure it out now. Garrett Cole, his first start, he went six innings allowed, three hits, struck out 11. So dominant stuff from Garrett Cole last year. He had a 3-2 ERA at home. So a pretty good home pitcher. But still I think is a total loser. But we'll see. We'll see if they can get to Garrett Cole tomorrow.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see the Phils matchup against them. Let's sneak in Gary in Whitehall. What's happening, Gary? How you doing, Jack? I'm doing well, man. You on the road tonight or what? I'm on the road. Hey, congratulations on Walker.

Thank you. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun so far. Yep. Yep. So, hey, I was telling Tucker, I'm quite impressed. I mean, two of the non-confident starters that we had go out in the first five games are the ones that showed up to play.

Yeah, that's baseball. I mean, that's kind of the MO of the team where it's like, oh, my God, everyone's freaking out. Bang, here's Matt Strom four innings tonight and playing hero in a way and playing stopper. And, you know, there's a lot of points last year, Gary. I mean, Bailey Falter at one point in the season, I mean, he had like five wins in like maybe.

In August. Yeah, like July, August, where it was like he was our one kind of reliable starter while Wheeler was coming back from an injury and all that stuff. So, yeah, that's kind of the beauty of the sport. Yeah. I mean, and you're talking about Schwarber, okay, not so much the home run, but how about the base hit, two outs, guys on base, and last year, that's a ground out. Totally.

Because he did it right where the shift would have been. Totally, and I think that's part of the reason why you've seen more, you've seen higher averages around the league is a base hit that we've seen for 130 years in baseball is still a base hit. So for me, it's been aesthetically pleasing. I like that they've gotten the game back to being the game that I grew up watching. Exactly. Exactly. And no matter what Harper says, that's the way it's supposed to be played.

So I'm sorry. I'm loving the under three-hour games and, you know, hey, just get in the batter box, get ready to go. The pitcher gets the ball, let's go. We don't need to walk around the mound 20 times. We don't need to adjust the gloves three times and the braces and everything else. We don't need that.

Just play ball. Just play ball, Gary. It's not that hard. I appreciate the call, and thanks for the well wishes with Walker. Walker gets his first win tonight, so everything is safe. He's all good. He gets the first win under his belt. The Sixers get a big win.

Everything is fine in Philadelphia. That's going to do it for me. Thanks for hanging out with me. Phillies get their first win. Jody Mack's coming up next tomorrow. Live from Jiggies and Pete's in South Philly, we're hosting a Phillies roundtable. Me and Rob Ellis from 6-8 and then him and TK after that.

So come on out, listen in, and hopefully they are 2-4 before coming back to the home opener on Thursday with Nick Sirianni throwing out the first pitch. The old ball coach throwing out the first pitch. I've got to be honest. I'm pretty confident he's going to throw a hard strike. He's going to go up there. He's not going to lob it.

He's going to try to put some mustard on it and see if he can impress and do whatever because he's a competitive guy. He's competitive in everything he does. And you're telling me that guy's not going to go out and try to throw a strike? I doubt it. So I'm putting the over-under at 72.5 miles an hour, and I'm guaranteeing he's throwing a strike.

So either way, Phil's win, great win, needed it. Exhale, deep breaths. I'm sure Jody's going to be talking about it and reacting to that. That's all coming up next here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.