High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phillies Blow It in Los Angeles

Episode Date: May 4, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies blowing a 5-1 lead and getting swept by the Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon. 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

Well, that absolutely sucked. Welcome on in. It is Jack Fritz here on the Final Out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good, and in a way, that felt normal. You know, that felt like a very old-school, last-five-years-ish, pre-Rob Thompson last year, Joe Girardi led. Phillies lost. That's what it felt like. I felt like I had experienced that loss a million times over the last couple years. Back through the years of Mike Morin, Blake Parker, these scrubs that they

have brought out of the bullpen, Corey Knable last year. I mean, that felt exactly like the Corey Knable game when they went for the four-game sweep out on L.A., not when they get swept by the Dodgers. And what just sucks and just crushes me, and frankly, I feel like an idiot, is because I was honestly just good. I had finally gotten to a place after they had won four straight series. I watch them every night, and you see the makings of a very good baseball team here.

I felt like the bullpen had rounded into shape. I had felt like the rotation had kind of righted itself. I felt like the lineup, while not great with runners in scoring position and not great with the home run ball, was getting a lot of runners on base that I felt like they would break through. I felt like the defense was like, fine. We haven't bitched about the defense at all this year. So I let my guard down. And what this series made me do and something that I didn't want to do

is that I didn't want to have to have my guard up for 162 games. The first week scarred me. The first week brought me back to most of last year under Joe Girardi, or the first, whatever, 50 games of Joe Girardi. And it was like, wow, it's going to be back. But I really felt like they turned the corner. And for the most part, I still feel like they turned the corner. But what this series did is that it made me have my guard up and say, not yet. Not yet. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 if you want to get in and react to what was a kick down below, basically, this weekend. It was a kick in the stomach.

It was terrible. I mean, we had to freaking watch two straight nights of Cody Clemons closing out a game, which I think is the biggest embarrassment to baseball, is having these position players coming in pitch and raising the white flag and just signaling to everyone, go home, you're wasting

your time. They get boat raced. They get absolutely boat raced the first two games of the series. And then today, Aaron Nola's giving a 5-0 lead. And I'm not blaming this hole on Aaron Nola, but you got a 5-0 lead. You're facing a AAA pitcher

that they brought up, who I understand is one of their top prospects. Whatever. You were spotted a 5-0 lead. How about you just go and give a 7-shutty? Or 7 innings, one run ball, and then it's a 5-1 lead, and you feel like there's no way Sir Anthony, Kimbrel, Alvarado, and Soto can blow that game.

But when you make it 5-3, you make it just close enough. You make it just close enough to where you have that feeling in the back of your head of like, they could definitely blow this. And it's been a while since we've had the Phillies blow a game like that. And frankly, under Rob Thompson, I can't really remember it. I don't remember the brutal, brutal losses. They've gotten blown out. They've gotten boat raced.

I don't remember the brutal, brutal losses. They've gotten blown out. They've gotten boat raced. But blowing a 5-0 lead with one of your aces on the mound in a game that you needed to have. I mean, I understand it's May now. But at the same time, you have won four straight series. You got torched the first two games. And your ace is on the mound against a guy making his Major League debut

and you have a 5-0 lead. It's a game you've got to win. It's a game you gotta win. That's a game that you gotta win. And not only was Nola not good enough, he was fine today. He went six innings, he allowed three runs. Whatever. That's fine. But that's now the base

level for Aaron Nola. Fine starts now. That's what I kind of expect now from Aaron Nola. I no longer expect the seven innings, two runs or less. Now it's like, I get through six and allow three, and I'm happy with that. Which is not a good spot to be

in. Then I get to the bullpen, and what hurts about this weekend, or hurts about this week, is that all the guys didn't look great. The guys that you entrust when you have a lead were not great this week. Sir Anthony didn't allow a run, but he still looked, his command was a bit all over the place. Alvarado, not totally

his fault, but, I mean, again, he had traffic on the base pass, and if a guy puts the ball in play, something bad can happen, which is what happened with Edmundo Sosa. Let's just get to that now. This is the Mike's Amazing play of the game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. Late in the game, they have a chance to stop a rally, keep momentum on their side.

Plays that have to be made, pitches that need to be made, runners in scoring positions that have to be brought in, all of that stuff let the Phillies down today and let the Phillies down this series. Corners were brutal. Edmundo Sosa, who is a surefire good defensive player, who

has oddly had a down year defensively, it seems like, has to make that play. Someone has to step up and make a play. And what sucked about today is that they didn't feel like the aggressor, and they felt like they were playing a game back on their heels. They were playing on their heels, and you could just feel that loss coming. You could feel that loss coming a mile away. A mile away. I do a bit of live betting against the Phillies, whatever. I actually felt it today. I could feel that coming a mile away,

and it's been a while since I have had to have that feeling, and that's what sucks, because now my guard is back up. I thought I could just kick my feet up. When they lose, it's okay. They're still a good team. They'll bounce back. But now we're back to two games under.500, and we've got to go through this nonsense again of like, this guy's going to blow it. This guy's going to blow it. They're not good enough.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I didn't want to have to deal with that again. And they're too good to deal with that again. There's too much talent here. But everything that I felt like I was beginning to trust again let us down and that's that's what that's what hurts 215-592-9494 it's jack fritz here on the final out if you want to get in and react john is in hazleton what's happening johnny you know i want to start off by talking about kimbrough uh here's the thing he had got it together a little bit, but I'll say this.

You put him up against a good lineup, you know, good hitters in high leverage situations. You keep doing that, you're going to get what you got tonight. I don't like him. I don't think I didn't like when they signed him. Not good. You know, I'm starting to see a lot. There's a lot of flaws with this baseball team.

Yeah, we all know they're going to hit. That's obvious with that lineup. But there's a lot of flaws. And people keep talking Yeah, we all know they're going to hit, obvious with that lineup. But there's a lot of flaws. And people keep talking about, well, look what they did last year. The National League is a lot better this year than it was last year. 87 wins might not get you in this year. I think they need 90, John. I've kind of been that way the entire year.

So do I. And what stinks, John, is that they did dig themselves out of it. They started 1-5, and they headed into the series a game over.500, and it's like, okay, you're a game over.500. Bryce is on his way back. Like, it's go time. And what they did was just fall flat on their face two straight nights with Bryce in there.

Bryce was great. But, like, the jolt that we kind of thought that he was going to bring, it didn't happen. And Boston and Toronto coming up. And we know Boston's still Boston. And Toronto, for whatever reason, rakes against no matter who we throw out. Well, their lineup's a machine. Yeah.

I know. I know. I know. Brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal. And that's, you know, Kimbrell, you know, just, again, talk about all the things that I kind of had a preconceived notion about Craig Kimbrell. You know, when they signed him, I was like,

well, that's disheartening. We're giving $10 million to a guy that was left off of the postseason last year. I understand that in 2018 he helped you win a World Series, Dave, but it's 2023. And the funniest part about that is that Chris Sale closed out that World Series. And Nathan Evaldi was pitching

multiple bullpen innings because Craig Kimbrell was unreliable. And I understand he's pitching a ton of big games. I understand that he has 400-plus saves or whatever. He's the all-time active leader in saves. But the guy just doesn't have it the way that he used to have it. He was on a good roll, but it feels like it just could go haywire just like that. And for a guy who has pitched in as many big spots as he has to,

to have those left down spots, it's just absolutely brutal. So it's just what, what has me so frustrated is that I felt like I could finally let my guard down and all this series did was put it right back up. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. It's Jack Fritz here on the Final Out. We'll get to all of your phone calls on the other side, but also the one effect of the Bryce return that could hurt one aspect of the team

that has not been talked about a lot and one good injury update. All that's coming up next here on the Final Out. Welcome back. It is the Final Out sponsored by regency furniture affordable never looks so good and that is our player of the game even in a loss our player of the game brought to you by south jersey gas committed to providing safe reliable affordable natural gas make the switch at south jersey gas slash south jersey gas.com slash love my home and it's Bryce Harper.

On base five times today. He had that double. He slid into second base. A little bit concerning. A little bit concerning. Every time he does anything, you know, until we kind of get past this fear that everything he does is going to cause his, you know, the Tommy John ligament to be damaged,

it's going to be like that for a little bit. Same way it was with Joel Embiid. Same way it was, I know people don't like him anymore, but when Carson came back, it was like you were just on your pins and needles watching everything he did. And he was great today. What usually happens when Bryce comes back

is that you got to wait two weeks. You got to give him the two-week buffer. I mean, that's how he was when he came back from the broken face. And it's how he was when he came back last year from the broken hand. And he's brutal. That last month of the season, really before the Cardinals game in game two, when he took Miles Michaelis deep, Bryce wasn't great. So the fact that in game two, he's already on base five times and smoked the ball a couple times, started the rally in the ninth, that's a really good sign.

And what sucks even more about that loss, of all the things that sucked about that loss and all the things that sucks about getting swept and losing four straight and killing the momentum that was starting to build again in the city for this team, which is frustrating, is that they rallied in the ninth. And that was a good fight.

If you want to look at some positives from today, obviously the 5-0 lead was good, whatever. But being able to blow a lead like that and then still put up the fight in the ninth, Bryce gets the hit, Castellanos with a graded bat. Stott is clutch again. Like, that's good stuff, and that matters. Like, I don't think it's not nothing that they came back in the ninth today

and ultimately Craig Kimbrell blew it and whatever, you know, but I don't think it was nothing that they came back, and hopefully that kind of carries over into the Red Sox series. But I mentioned Bryce, and everything about him coming back is great, except for one thing. And the one thing is that until he is comfortable enough playing first base, he's DHing every day, which means that you can't, well, the option Jake Cave anyway, but you can't have Cave play left or Cave play right and at least have a good defensive player in left or right on any given night.

And now Schwarber and now Castellanos have to play every day. And I know that Chavez Ravine and Dodger Stadium, that's a big outfield that you get to cover a lot of ground. So, you know, whatever. That's not their strong suit. But, man, did their defense show up today. I mean, Castellanos boots a ball that lets Taylor get to third base, which was atrocious.

And then Schwarber in the Alvarado inning, you know, letting that get in. And then, obviously, everything kind of collapses after that. So, you know, the one negative of the Bryce return is that the outfield defense is now back to being Schwarber and Castellanos on your two corners. And, yeah, Marsh is great in center, but he can only do so much because those two are out there in the corners. And, you know, Christian Pache was starting to play pretty well, so you can't even have a defensive replacement there.

And it's going to be a lot of Schwarber and Castellanos out there. They're pretty good when the ball is, like, in the radius to where they can get to it. But their arms are just freaking lollipops, man. Like, they are just – I've never seen two outfielders with that bad of arm starting for teams like it's almost insane like I swear I have a stronger arm like I just I I I there's no way there's no way they have a stronger arm than than most of us but holy cow just brutal just brutal I'll get to an injury update here in one second but first let's go to Steve in Egg Arbor Township. What's happening, Steve?

Yeah, how you doing? Yeah, first of all, I don't think we should be leaning on Alvarado and Sir Anthony as our eighth and ninth inning pitcher. Kimbrell, what a terrible signing. And the guy's never been clutch. Yeah, he's got a lot of saves in regular season, but even when he was with Atlanta and those dominating teams, do you know what his career ERA is in the playoffs? 4-6-7.

That guy's never been money. And why do we have this guy setting up in the ninth inning? I don't know what Thompson's doing. Alvarado should be our main guy. I don't want to know what you think of that. I think he is the main guy, Steve. And I think the reason why Alvarado pitched the eighth is because he wanted him against that portion of the lineup, which is the more scarier portion of the lineup, so that Kimbrell had an easier ninth. So, you know,

maybe if, in a perfect world, Nola goes seven, and then he can use Sir Anthony in there, and then Alvarado the ninth, but Nola only went six, so he had to use Sir Anthony to keep the lead where it was there. Thus, that's how you end up with Kimbrell closing out a game today. Well, I'd rather see Brogdon. Wouldn't you rather see Brogdon and Kimbrell? What's Kimbrell's ERA? Like 10-something now? I am beginning to have faith in Brogdon, but I will give Kimbrell a little bit of a doubt

that the last week and a half, I feel like he has pitched better. So, yeah, I mean, he is brutal today, but yeah, I get it. The last two days, he's given up seven runs or six runs, hasn't he? Yeah, the one game they were losing already, though. Yeah, but still, I mean, he was brutal today, but, yeah, I get it. The last two days he's given up seven runs or six runs, hasn't he? Yeah, the one game they were losing already, though. Yeah, but still, I mean, come on. Come in and do your job.

Shut the door. You've watched baseball for a long time, Steve. Yeah, I have. I know. Oh, he came in in a situation where it didn't suit him, blah, blah, blah. To me, that's a weak excuse. Come in and do your job. And he obviously needed to do his job today, and he got lit up.

Totally, Steve. And I understand the to do his job today, and he got lit up. Totally, Steve. And I understand the frustration. I'm frustrated too. But at the same time, he had been pretty good for about a week and a half, and he was pitching well, he was getting strikeouts, and he was bad today and he was bad the other night, which obviously sucks to happen. And, again, I guess part of the general feeling of this series is that the guard

still has to be up, even with a guy like Alvarado. Alvarado's great, and I don't think today is going to deter him and send him back into a tailspin of being bad. But he's obviously human. These guys are human. I was of the belief in the last week, two weeks, where if you get a lead and you have Sir Anthony, Alvarado,

Kimbrel, and Soto, good luck coming back against those guys. But pretty much all of them pitch bad this series. And you just have to hope it's one series and then they can bounce back. One thing that will help and should help is the return of Ranger Suarez, who is pitching 70 to 75 pitches on Sunday. And Rob Thompson said before the game that the hope is that this is his last start at AAA. And then next week, end of next week, they can put him back into the rotation.

The fact that he's already at 70-75 pitches is great. It probably takes out the option of having to piggyback and expect him to only have to go three or four, and then bullpen kind of takes you the rest of the way. If he's already at 70-75, that probably means that he is good for 90. And if he's good for 90 in his first start, he'll be cleared within two starts. That's generally how it works. So they should

be getting a fully ready-to-go Ranger Suarez back at the end of next week, which was just a godsend for this team right now, with a bullpen where for the last, again, two weeks, feels like it turned a corner, took a major step

back in this Dodgers series, but they've also been worked a lot by Matt Strom going three and a third last night. Tywon Walker not going deep on Monday. Bailey Falter not going deep on Sunday. They have talent, but we know that they have been worked a lot. And at the beginning of the season, when you have Strom and you have Falter and you have Walker not necessarily giving them a bunch of length,

Wheeler and Nola not being at their best while hopefully riding the ship now, the bullpen has been taxed. And the good part about Ranger is that traditionally he gives you solid length out of the starting spot. And that is something that they need right now. They need someone that can give them six innings.

And if you get Nola, you get Wheeler, and you get Ranger back in rotation and back rolling, you hope that on most nights they can give this bullpen a bit of a rest so they can cover the Walker and cover the Falter slash Strom start to where they don't feel so overworked. So Ranger coming back is going to be a godsend for this team. And when you get him back with those other three, and Walker hopefully turns a corner, the lineup pretty good today,

whatever, bullpen, that's something that they need to get right. And hopefully the return of Ranger helps kind of calm everything down from that aspect. A matter of Mike in Sewells on WIP. What's on wip what's that matter mike hey brother how are you uh i'm not doing well at all actually yeah i'm just being completely honest with you i'm just i am disgusted man i'm just disgusted i like you i was starting to think okay maybe we're turning the corner but today uh losing that game the way we lost that game, Nola not being able to go seven innings, which I'm getting tired of. I think he's cooked, man.

I don't think he's the ace anymore. I don't think he's what he was. And the plays not being made, that play at third base that Sosa missed, I just can't take it. I'm disgusted. I mean, for a guy that his hallmark is defense to not make that play, that's killer. That's killer. Yes.

And when I heard him say the ball got by and it's out in left field, I'm like, oh, my God, we lost this game. Dude, I thought he caught it. I swore I thought he caught it. I swore I thought he caught it. I let out a nice little fist pump. And then it's like, oh, it's in the left field. I was like, are you kidding me? Like that Sosa, who is traditionally a great defensive player,

there's been about four times this year where it's just like, come on, man. That's a play that has to be made. And in that spot to let that happen and let it get caught in between, that's just brutal. I mean, you've got to make that play. You know, you actually called it. You mentioned something earlier this week that I think is starting to ring true for me.

We have a West Coast curse. No. It's never a good thing when they go West. I mean, taking three out of four in L.A. last year was an admiration, and they still blew the last game of that series as well. Yeah. I'm like you. I can't get behind this team right now.

I mean, they're not where they need to be. They keep letting us down. I'm praying the Sixers pull it out tonight. I think Joel is playing. He's playing. I'm hoping he's riding high on the MVP recognition. I think

if we pull it out tonight, I think we got this. I'm not going to say it. I'm going to jinx myself. We don't need to start jinxing ourselves around here. Appreciate the call, Matter Mike. But, yeah, hopefully the Sixers can lift the spirits of the city with a win tonight. Two things there.

On Aaron Nola, before we hit a little break here, Aaron Nola, you know, he's pitching like 89 miles an hour now, 90 miles an hour, a lesser velocity. I think he is – I think it's part of a strategy to kind of keep him stronger late in the games and later into series or late into the seasons to where, you know, instead of wearing down in September, he is hopefully, you know,

pitching through September and pitching well, but I kind of just have this feeling that this is what we're getting from Aaron Nola at this point. Like he, he will have his great starts, but he will also have starts like today where it always makes it so hard to trust him. We know what the numbers say. We know what his F-war is.

We understand all the underlying stats and the strikeouts and the strikeout-to-walk ratio, but you don't trust him, and you'll never trust him. And that stinks because he just passed Grover Cleveland Alexander today for strikeouts, and he's moving his way up that list, and he's a Phillies Wall of Famer. But you never can trust him. And one thing on Alvarado, I thought it was really a good thing that he went over

and talked to Mundo after the error. And I know it was labeled a hit by the Dodgers, but that's an error. I thought it was a good sign, and I thought that was labeled a hit by the Dodgers, but that's an error. I thought it was a good sign, and I thought that was something that you could tell Mundo has worked up about it, and I was glad to see Jose Averado do that. 2-1-5-5-9-2, 94-94. It is the final out here on

Sports Radio 94 WIP. On the other side, we'll look ahead to the Red Sox series before handing things off to Robbie. Jack Fritz, hanging out with you here on the final out. Welcome back. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Reacting to a loss that felt, oh, so normal.

It really did. And I think I've gotten to the grieving process of the loss where I start to laugh my way through it because it's like, yeah, that's what they've done. That's what they've done for the last five years. And I've seen that loss a thousand times. I've seen Nola come up small. I've seen them stop scoring after the first inning.

I've seen a bullpen choke it away. I've seen them come back and tie it up and make us feel like, okay, we salvaged this one. And then bang. And it's not even like, it's not even like Max Muncy hit actually a floater probably would have hurt worse. The fact that it was like 91 right down the middle that he just absolutely like just drop the bat head on. And you could tell it within a millisecond. It's like, well, obviously the game's over. Like it wasn't the bat head on, and you could tell within a millisecond,

it's like, well, obviously the game's over. Like, it wasn't – it was – I don't even know what's going on with Dodger State today because Freddie Freeman hit a ball in, what, the seventh that should have been a home run. Like, it was like the cameraman in game five in 2011 all over again. Because that Max Muncy ball, I feel like it barely got out, but I was like, that's obviously a home run. So just brutal, just brutal.

And I said I'm kind of going through my emotions while talking to you, and my general feel is that my guard is now back up on this team, and that's not something I wanted to be at because genuinely, I felt like I was going to be able to sit here on summer nights and just kind of be like, yeah, even when they lose. It's not the end of the world. But now we're back to two games under.500, and I've got to stress again, and I didn't want to stress.

Mark's in Malibu. What's happening, Marky? Hey, good to talk to you. Well, good to talk to you too. I wish it was under better circumstances. I'm disgusted with the pitching staff. I really am. Oh, terrible.

It's like, you know, and backtracking the Phillies through the 100-plus year history, here's the situation real quickly. Except for two periods from 1976 to 1983, when they won their first World Series in 1980, and from 2007 to 2011, when they won their second World Series in 2008, the pitching staff has been really bad.

Let's break it down. It's like against a good-hitting team, it's like they can't pitch. Well, and what sucks about that, Mark, is that, you know, this is probably their best bullpen since 08. And they do have enough – like, there is enough talent out there to where they should be able to get the job done on most nights. And, listen, it was a tough series, and I get that. But I still believe on most nights through Anthony Alvarado and Soto. Kimbrel's on my outs right now, but those three are pretty good options back there. They should be able to get the job done.

It's just the series was an absolute choke job from that standpoint. I believe that Alvarado couldn't strike anybody out. What was wrong with his pitches today? What did you see that caused him to give up the hard hit? Yeah, it was weird today, Mark. What do you think it was? Well, and I appreciate the call. I thought his stuff just looked flatter.

And usually that's mechanical. You know, a guy like Sir Anthony has this problem a lot where he's opening up too early and firing his front hip a little bit too early. And then that flattens out all his stuff. And what he's done the last week and a half, two weeks, is really worked on making sure that front half is staying closed and staying back on the baseball before firing. And his sinker has had real depth to it. I just thought Alvarado was quick to the plate today,

and it kind of flattened all his stuff out, didn't have feel for the cutter. But at the same time, he's been so great, I fully expect him to bounce back and be alright. Well, they do have an off day tomorrow. And it is a much, much, much needed off day. Give them a little bit of a mental break coming back from the West Coast. A little bit of

a reset. Give the bullpen pitchers who have pitched a lot a day off. But like I said and have been saying before the last two series is that, you know, this is a show me kind of stretch here. Astros, great. You went down there and took two or three. Sunday night was a coin flip. You feel good about that. This series was a disaster. Now you have Red Sox, Blue Jays and back-to-back series. So, you know, they continue on this tough stretch before the Rockies. And, you know, the Red Sox had gotten off to a brutal start,

but they're 17-14 on the year. Pitching staff's a bit brutal. I think they're going to take the overs this week. You know, Alex Verdugo's turned into a pretty good player. Obviously, Devers, all that. So the Sox are 17-14, and they're over.500. And hopefully, the Phillies return home. And now Bryce gets back in front of the home crowd, and they right the ship. And hopefully, that Dodgers series that

we just experienced and went through is a footprint or a footnote on what was a good year. And hopefully it's just more of an aberration than the norm. But, man, it was a frustrating series. On Friday, Wheeler versus Sale. Saturday, Falter versus Kluber. Sunday, Tanner Houck versus Tywon Walker. So Sale ERA over six, but he also has had 2 out of his last 3 outings. He's pitched to 1 earned ball.

Kluber's just kind of done, and Tanner Hawk is the right-handed Chris Sale. Not exactly a dominant pitching staff, but whatever. They are over 500, so at this point in the season, they are playing better baseball than the Phillies. So, frustrating series out in L.A. Frustrating. Two brutal losses today. Just atrocious.

And you have to hope that it's more of a footnote than what becomes the norm here. And I still, for the most part, feel like it's going to be more of a footnote than how this team's going to play all year. That's going to do it for me here on the final out. Dan Wilson produced. Robbie E's got you coming up next here on WIP. He'll be reacting, obviously, to the Sixers game. Go Sixers.

Just lift us up after what was a terrible, terrible loss out in Los Angeles. That's going to do it for me. Robbie E's got you next here on WIP.