High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Jack reacts to Phillies splitting a doubleheader with the White Sox

Episode Date: April 19, 2023

Jack Fritz is feeling positive after the Phillies get just one hit in the second leg of the doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. 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 WIP 215-592-9494 is how you get in and react. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on this Tuesday night. Final out as always is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good. And if that wasn't a scheduled loss, then I don't know what is. And I know the initial reaction is going to be freak out. And it's going to be like, oh, my God, they allowed one hit. And, oh, this offense is a disaster. How can you have that with a $200 million payroll? Let me just say this.

That game didn't matter at all. And I usually come in with my three big takes of the game. And in today's case of the games, and in today's case, of the games. I really have one big take today, and I leave today, and I leave how they've played recently, feeling more encouraged than discouraged. And there's a couple reasons why. One, I feel like the lineup in Game 1

was closer to what we will see for the rest of the season. We've talked so much about their issues with runners in scoring position and how are they ever going to break through. They're getting a ton of hits. Are they ever going to be able to put it all together and eventually bring some runs in? Well, in Game 1, 5-14 with runners in scoring position, a better job at doing that. They did that on Sunday against the Reds.

Eventually, they were going to break through. There's too much talent in that lineup. There's too much traffic on the bases. You look at everything besides runs scored, and the Phillies' offense has been top five. Home runs, they've been lacking in that category, but at the same time, besides Schwarber, I don't know who you're relying on to hit home runs.

Obviously, I would love for it to be Castellanos, but right now, if I can get this version of Castellanos, I will take it over last year's version of Castellanos. I'm not complaining about that. They don't have boppers in this lineup. If Schwarber can get a hold of one, great. I don't think Josh Harrison is going to do this on a night-in, night-out basis.

When you look at everything else, average and hits and all of this stuff, they are in the top five in offenses around baseball, which is a good spot to be in, they were just tied for 14th in runs. They're not just bringing the runs home. And we all know that the 15-run

game and the 13-run game will skew the run scoring thing. We know they've been inconsistent with bringing runners home. But in game one, it was like, this is how they're more designed. And 5-14th runner scoring, I thought was a big improvement, especially coming off of Sunday's game in Cincinnati. And then I look at kind of this lineup being set. And I think that was the frustrating part of the beginning of the season where it was like everyone's jumbling around. Stott's too hot to be batting at the bottom of the beginning of the season where it was like everyone's jumbling around uh you know stats too hot to be batting at the bottom of the lineup but we're being reluctant to put them

towards the top of the lineup um we paid trey turner all this money to supposed to be a leadoff hitter i always argued no you didn't you spent that money to get a very good player in here um so it but it feels like the top of the lineup has kind of settled into what they are it's going to be Stott, Turner, Schwarber Castellanos Marsh at five is a little surprising, it feels

a little bit too obsessed with the righty lefty but whatever, that top four it feels like every day we're going to get that and I think that the more and more that those guys get comfortable the more and more that those guys get comfortable, the more and more that they will get into a rhythm here. And then we'll see them start to really, really produce here. So the lineup in Game 1 just felt more like the real thing than not the real thing.

And the last thing about the lineup and what just continues to having me feel so positive and more encouraged than discouraged after tonight and over the weekend is that the kids just continue to play well. I know the Price and Stott history came to an end tonight, and that was soul-crushing. It was absolutely soul-crushing. So I hope DiMaggio's sleeping well tonight. And he is let off the hook. Joe DiMaggio, let off the hook for now. There's still a lot of baseball to be left, Joe. So you're let off the hook for now. But Bryson Stott, two hits in the first game. A bit unlucky that the streak had to come to an end on a double header but whatever that's baseball um but still like he hit a ball

hard late he looks great he like there's there's a sequence tonight where he got out on it but work like a nine pitch at bat and it's like this is a leadoff hitter this is a leadoff hitter just spitting on pitches you know just uh making life difficult on the pitchers it's great and then he is like we might have our leadoff hitter for the next 10 years in Bryson Stott, and that's what we're seeing right now develop, which is great. Brandon Marsh continues to hit. Had the double late, which is awesome. And then Alec Boehm, like, scorched two balls in game two tonight

and had, you know, the big single in game one to give them the five spot in that game. So when I look at the lineup and you look at the more holistically rather than trying to overreact to every game, I see more good than bad. And that's how I feel overall about this team, is that I see more good with this team that I can project on turning a corner here rather than cratering.

So the second thing that has me feeling more encouraged and discouraged after game one, again, get in 215-592-9494, is the bullpen. They have been maligned, and they should have been. It's been a frustrating start for the bullpen. They have been maligned, and they should have been. It's been a frustrating start for the bullpen, and it seems like when we talk about the lineup settling into a role, it seems like the bullpen is starting to settle down as well. I mean, Gregory Soto has been fantastic after his first outing of the season against the Rangers, and I know we don't like to make excuses for athletes in this town, but the guy barely pitched.

I mean, he got spring training with two weeks left in it, I believe, because he had a visa issue. So he's just kind of ramping up now, and he looked unhittable in game one today. So Soto looked great. I will never trust Craig Kimbrell, but I thought this was two straight positive outings for him. Seems like he is getting back to at least being able to locate some of his stuff rather than being all over the place.

Sir Anthony just looked. Like, that's what they need from Sir Anthony. When you talk about what this bullpen needs, you need to find guys you can rely on. I mean, Sir Anthony has to be that guy. Sir Anthony has to be a guy that you can give a ball to and is going to get the job done more often than not, like 8 out of 10 times. And what we saw tonight, I thought he stayed back on his back leg more.

I feel like when he is off, it's always like having that front leg open wide up rather than keeping it back, staying back, and really getting some late heavy life on his pitches. So I thought Sri Anthony was great. And Jose Alvarado just continues to be one of the best relievers in the sport. And frankly, turning into one of the most dominant relief pitchers we've ever seen wear a Phillies uniform. So when you talk about stuff that matters, Soto, Kimbrell, Sir Anthony, Alvarado having the days that they had today and had like the two straight outings they've had recently, like that's important stuff. Now, those are my positives.

I thought Billy Falter was a positive tonight. And, you know, he is so funny because it feels like every first inning, it's the same reaction. It's like, wow, this guy stinks. How is this guy in the major leagues? Like, this guy, he's throwing 91 right down the middle. You know? It feels like every first inning, Billy Falter is like, oh, my God,

this guy's terrible. And then you wake up in a blink of an eye, and you're in thefirst inning, Bailey Falter's like, oh my God, this guy's terrible. And then you wake up in a blink of an eye and you're in the sixth inning and he pitched a quality game and gave you a chance to win it. He was good tonight. He's a five starter. It's what he is. And more often than not, I know his last game he got shelled, but more often than not, I believe he is going to give you a chance

to win a ball game, and he did that tonight. The offense just didn't show up. But I have two discouragements. While I leave today feeling more encouraged and discouraged about this baseball team, the two discouragements I have are this. One, I know he said he had back tightness, but that Wheeler, whatever's going on with Wheeler,

I'm officially worried about. The velocity's down to like 93, 94, which can play, like he still has really good stuff, but it's not elite stuff. Like what I see from Zach Wheeler right now is a good pitcher, not a great pitcher. And in order for this team to compete and get back to what we saw last year and you know competing for a division even though they're already seven games back because the Braves are ridiculous but um they're gonna need Zach Wheeler to get back to ace level form and I just I don't know hopefully he pitches his way through it I just have this feeling in the back of my head that we're gonna get a Zach

Wheeler like shut down for like a month just to hopefully you know get him moving in the right direction so uh I know he was great after the long third inning but still like the stuff just doesn't look like it's popping the way we have seen it pop as you know during his Philly's tenure and uh my other discouragement is I know he's batting over 300. I know he's batting 350 plus heading into the games today. But Trey Turner, like four strikeouts today. It's been a lot of singles. You know, he still doesn't have a home run as a Philly yet. I think he's kind of still obviously adjusting to being on a new team. And we see this with high-paid athletes that have moved to new teams. You know, they generally start pretty slow just because, like, there's a lot of expectations.

He walked into a team that had World Series aspirations. Bryce isn't playing yet. I feel like when Bryce gets back, Turner will feel a bit more comfortable being here, even though I don't think he's not feeling comfortable. But I think that having Bryce as almost like a big brother will only help Trey Turner. So it's a little annoying right now. I want to see more balls in gap and balls over the wall

rather than a little single. But hopefully Trey Turner can turn it around because 4Ks today, that's not great from your two-hitter. 2-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. Overall, Game 2 is not a big deal. In the worst of Doc Rivers, it was a bit of a scheduled loss. They pretty much

poured everything they could into Game 1. They used all four of their top relievers. They pulled out all the stops to ensure that they got one win. And in Game 2, the back of the lineup was Cody Clemens, who is not a major league player, Christian Pache, who is a developmental player, and Garrett Stubbs at the bottom of the lineup.

You're not going to win that game. You'd have to have a great performance from Billy Falter. You'd have to do a lot of right in order to win that game. I actually think it's more important that Billy Falter took down seven innings and the only reliever I had to use was Luis Ortiz today in game two was more important than getting a win at that point. So not the end of the world. I thought game one showed me more things to be encouraged about than discouraged.

Where do you come down on that? 215-592-9494. It is the final out. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on WIP. On the other side, in addition to your phone calls, two massive positive injury updates from earlier today that should have us all very excited.

But, and one it's not negative yet, but my antenna is up on the injury front in regards to this player. Who is it? We'll get to all of that coming up next and more. It's Jack Fr is up on the injury front in regards to this player. Who is it? We'll get to all of that coming up next and more. It's Jack Fritz here in the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIP. 3-0 White Sox and the lefties pitch swung on line to left. That'll be a base hit and it's going to go all the way to the corner as Marsh is around first. He's on his way into second with a double

and maybe that's the start of something. It's the first hit of the night for the Phillies here in the eighth inning as Brandon Marsh with a double ends the no-hit bid for the White Sox. Well, it didn't lead to anything, but it is our Mike's Amazing Play of the Game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. Welcome on back. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture.

Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. And, yes, that is our Mike's Amazing Play of the Game because we didn't have to sit here and watch the Phillies get no hit again, which would have been the second time Tucker in 20 games they would have gotten no hit, even if you go back to last season. And they got no hit by the Mets in April of last year. I know.

Let me just say something. Three times in the calendar year. Yeah. Official statement. Official statement. Combined no hitters don't count. I don't know who needs to hear that, but, like, it's a shutout. It's a shutout.

It's not a no hitter. I feel nothing if a team, like, obviously getting shutout also stinks, but, like, there's not this added devastation if my team gets, quote-unquote, no-hit. Do you remember the Cole Hamels combined no-hitter? Yeah, it was nothing. That doesn't count. Like, when you think about Cole Hamels and you mention no-hitter, you remember exactly where you were when Odubo Herrera

may not have caught that ball, but whatever. You remember where you were. That's a special moment. His last start as a Philly, Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter. I bet if you asked 8 out of 10 Phillies fans, they don't even

know who he threw the combined no-hitter against, Tucker. Wasn't it the Bra no-hitter against, Tucker. Wasn't it the Braves? It was the Braves, yeah. Do you remember the other three pitchers who pitched? Papelbon? Yes. Was one of them. Was Stutzzi involved? I believe it was Papelbon,

Diekmann, and Ken Giles. Wow, and Jake Diekmann pitched tonight, so he's doing well. Actually, he's not. He's been terrible. He's employed. He is employed.

That's a good point by you. And Cole Hamels obviously making his return with the Padres, and I'm sure he's going to go well. So that's my amazing play. We didn't have to sit here and deal with a freakout about the Phillies getting no hit. Like, first off, they wouldn't have really been no hit. I'm just letting you know. I feel nothing.

Again, and I tweeted this when they were getting no hit. I watched them get no hit in the World Series. This is absolutely nothing to me, and thank God they got game one. Official position, thank God they got game one. So the two massive positive injury updates from earlier today, and honestly, you talk about important things from today, Falter going seven, the bullpen giving you, the top guys in your bullpen giving you good work today,

and runners in scoring position in the first game finally breaking through a little bit. Those are all really important. But the most important thing that happened today is what happened on the field. Bryce Harper, Ranger Suarez both playing in drills today and pitching to each other, all of that stuff. So Bryce Harper has officially been cleared to slide, which is one of the last hurdles he has to face here. He is practicing sliding feet first,

and the only time he will dive headfirst is back to the bag on pickoff attempts. Obviously, I don't know what this means for defense because instincts will probably take over, and he's going to want to dive and try to stop a ball. I think that's part of playing first base. So, you know, that's one to monitor. But still, the fact that he's already being cleared to slide is big. And then Ranger threw 25 pitches,

and Harper said after that he looked just like Ranger. Rob Thompson spoke about this earlier today. Here is what he said about Ranger and Bryce earlier this afternoon. The entire day was encouraging. I mean, Harp got four bats, which he's probably now at eight or nine at-bats in simulated games, which is good. But it was good for him to see a lefty hit one ball hard, almost hit the ball out of the ballpark. And I thought Ranger was really good.

He was locating his fastball. I don't know what the velocities were, but it looked like normal Rangers. Curveball was good. He threw it with confidence. He threw it with confidence. He threw it with intent. The cutter was good, and he threw a couple good changeups. So all in all, very encouraging day. Now I will say the NBC Sports Philadelphia put out some video of Ranger throwing,

and I thought the stuff looked pretty good. The price, he did almost hit one out, and that was like, oh, good. That's normal. I did see Christian Pache almost hit one out uh and that was like oh good that's normal i did see christian pache almost hit one out as well so listen we take the positives we don't take the negatives here um and uh either way obviously we talked about a lot here on the final out but um you know ranger coming back and getting into that rotation and And if we get the Ranger that we've seen for the last two years, it gives them really quality length as a starter, which I think they need more than anything right now.

What's killed them at the beginning of the season, I believe, is that their starters aren't going deep in the game, so the bullpen becomes overworked and taxed. Bailey Falter is their first starter that has pitched through the seventh inning, which is wild. He's the first starter to pitch into the seventh this year.

That's not a great start to the season, so you hope that again, Ranger comes back, gives you some good length. Falter continues to be a pretty good five. Tywon Walker, who goes tomorrow, continues to settle into his role. And then it comes down to Wheeler and Nola. Like, can we get those guys back on track?

Matt Strom goes back to the bullpen, I think, continues to fortify the back end there. I mean, Soto, Kimbrel, Sir Anthony, Alvarado, Strom. You know, I think Belotti's more good than bad. Brogdon, I believe, is more good than bad. So you start to see the makings of what is a good bullpen. And how I feel about the team right now is, yes, I understand they're under.500. But there's just more makings of a good team here that I believe than is, this is a disaster, they don't know how to play the World Series hangover,

all that stuff. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. The one negative injury update from, for me at least, from earlier today, Rob Thompson just said after the game that Edmundo Sosa's back keeps bothering him. And the one thing that gave me some red flags about his back being a bigger issue

than we made it out to be is that he made a lot of weird errors towards the end of that Cincinnati Reds series where it was like, Mundo, you are a great defensive player. Mundo Sosa is a great defensive player. And just made some uncharacteristic mistakes that he doesn't make. And now that we know that he had a back issue, all of that stuff makes a lot more sense.

So this has been, I believe, three straight games that he couldn't go. And Rob Thompson said that back is continuing to bother him. So, if he can't go, it means, hopefully, it might mean more Cody Clemens at first base against righties, which no one wants to see. Or Josh Harrison at third base against righties. And I know Josh Harrison

had a great game one. And hopefully he can build off that. But I'm not exactly banking on Josh Harrison putting up every day at their basement production. You know, Edmundo Sosa, I was excited to see if he could develop into an everyday-ish player for this team. And that injury, you know, backs are weird. We know backs are weird.

So I hope that everything works out well for him there and he can get back in the lineup. Rob Thompson did say that if they needed him in an emergency late in the game, they could have used him. But still, three straight games, he's had to be down with a back injury. So that is one to monitor going forward. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in. Henry is in Glassboro.

What's happening, Henry? Yo, what's going on, Jack? What's going on, brother? How are you? Good. I think people just need to relax about losing that second game. I mean, every time there's a doubleheader, the teams tend to split. And I don't know how you expect to get a win with Cody Clemens in the lineup.

Like you just said, I mean, nobody wants to see him play the field. I mean, you know, you shouldn't panic. No, and like, it's more important to get game one anyway. And it's more important to at least not lose both of them. If you win both, that's a luxury. But you're playing on the road. You use pretty much all your bullpen to try to get through game one and make sure you nail down that.

It's not a big deal. It's just not a big deal. Lucas Gilito is great tonight. It happens. It's fine. Yeah, I mean, and's not a big deal. It's just not a big deal. Lucas Gilito's great tonight. It happens. It's fine. Yeah, I mean, he's a decent pitcher. Of course, these decent pitchers tend to have their best games

against us. They sure do. That's just what it is. I love the show. I love the podcast, the High Hopes podcast. I don't think our heads are falling off still. Early in the season, Henry, it felt like they were, but I think everything settled down, buddy.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. All right, brother. Thanks for the call. Thank you. All right. Yeah, early in the season, it was very stressful, but the more that we've kind of seen this team, the more you start seeing where this is heading. I just continue to feel more optimistic about this thing turning around and turning into a

good season rather than more doom and gloom. 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 it's got to be Lucas Giolito 6 no-hit innings tonight threw a lot of pitches he's been 6 plus ERA heading into the game

tonight, last year he was pretty up and down, mostly bad year before that, and the last 2 years before that he was great, and I think he 2018 he was brutal ERA was think he, you know, 2018, he was brutal. ERA was over six, made some big adjustments to his mechanics and had two really good years. And then now he's back to kind of being meh.

But I thought he was tough to hit tonight, you know. And he had his changeup working off of his fastball. So sometimes you got to just tip your cap. And Lucas Giolito did a good job tonight. He didn't exactly face murder as well. But Lucas Giolito is our player of the game. So it is what it is. 215-592-9494.

Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on the final out. On the other side, we will look ahead to tomorrow. The big matchup. the rubber match of this game before handing things off to Jody Mack. All that is next here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Welcome back to the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. 215-592-9494 is how you get in. A couple minutes here before handing things off to Jody Mack.

He'll take you through the rest of the night. And, of course, the final out is sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good. Tomorrow, we can say all we want about tonight not mattering and game two getting one hit and having to deal with that not being a big deal. Well, it's not a big deal if you go out tomorrow and you take care of business. You go out of the rubber match and you just say, hey, you know,

let's go out and take care of business against Mike Clevenger, who the last time they faced Mike Clevenger, he didn't record an out. So he doesn't have to face Bryce Harper, which, you know, he's let off the hook a little bit there. But either way, he's been pretty good this year. Like, Clevenger has always had pretty good stuff. He's had two shutouts, and, you know, he went five and a third and allowed four runs against the Pirates.

So, listen, he's a guy who a couple years ago was great and now who has fallen off. So he's a guy that the Phillies should absolutely take advantage of. Mike Clevenger on the mound tomorrow, and he's going against Tywin Walker. And I thought Tywin Walker was really good his last outing. I know it was the Reds. I know they don't have the best offense in the world, but I liked the plan that they had going up against them.

And I liked that he was more fastballs up and splitters and sliders away. It just made more sense, I believe, with his kind of repertoire because that way you got three pitches that look like they're on the same plane that go in three different directions. Fastball rises a little bit, slider obviously goes away from righties, and the splitter goes down and into righties. So if he can do that and tunnel those three pitches, I think Tywon Walker can develop into a pretty good pitcher here. So obviously, we don't need to use the massive must-win, but we talk about the Phillies kind of digging a hole

here and not getting off to the best start of the season and needing to turn this thing around winning a rubber match against a White Sox team that is just they have some talent but they just feel like they never put it together they're playing in front of an empty ballpark I mean what a disappointing scene out in uh out in out in Chicago. There was like 5,000 people on this thing. I mean, game one was atrocious. I felt like I was watching a game back in Miami. So, you know, you have to create your own energy in those kind of scenarios.

So, yeah. I mean, it's one of those games where start stacking series wins. You shouldn't have split against the Reds. You should not have lost two at three at home to the Marlins. And, you know, go out and really get back into this thing. And, you know, I opened tonight talking about how I leave more encouraged than discouraged after today. Well, if you want to feel incredibly discouraged,

you go out tomorrow and you lose to Mike Clevenger. I don't think it will happen. I think Tom Walker is turning the corner here. Mike Clevenger has not been that good. That's going to do it for me here on the final out. Jody Max got you coming up next. Tomorrow it will be Joe and Hugh leading you into the game. 2-10 start out in Chicago.

Greg Murphy takes over at 135. And I got you for postgame with Ike Reese and all that stuff. And then, obviously, Fritz at six and the rest of the night on WIP. Jody Maxx got you next here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.