High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phillies Bullpen, Bats Key Comeback Win

Episode Date: April 27, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies comeback 6-5 win over the Mariners. 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

Like we always do with this time, I go for mine, I get to shine, now throw your hands up in the sky. Well, would you look at that. Welcome on in. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94. WIP, Jack Fritz hanging out with you, reacting to what was a massive comeback win tonight by the Phils at Citizens Bank Park. We'll react to it all. Get in now if you're stuck in traffic on the drive home. Then it was a little bit rainy. Seemed like people were heading to the concourse a little bit early. We'd love to hear from you what the ballpark was like. All of that good stuff.

It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never looked so good. And that was a gutsy comeback win by this team. And frankly, a win that I've kind of just been waiting for. I've been waiting for them to

really show some grit and show some tenacity. There's been too often this year where it just felt like they were just giving away at bats. And they were giving away innings. And they weren't competing. Sure, there were some games where they showed some sparks and

showed some glimpses. But tonight was great. And tonight was a great, great comeback win. First off, the weather was terrible. It was cold. J.P. freaking Crawford hit a grand slam off of Tywon Walker. Next batter, Julio Rodriguez, hits a home run. And all of a sudden, you're down 5-2.

But the lucky part about where they were at at that point of the ballgame was that it was the second inning. And they had seven innings to make up for going down 5-2 in the second. And all they did was chip, chip, chip, chip, chip their way back into this game. They had 12 hits, one home run by Nick Castellanos in the first inning, and 11 singles. They had 11 singles tonight. But whatever.

Like, that is a chippy, gritty, tough comeback win by this team that we needed and that we've been asking for. We have been waiting to see them put together that kind of effort. You know, that kind of looking like the offense is together, that kind of grinding out at bats, that kind of stringing along hits. And that was great to see. That was a great comeback win. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94.

Gutsy comeback win, and there was a couple things that really stood out to me. One was the offense. They battled tonight. Like I mentioned, 12 hits, and outside of Cassiano's home run, in the first, it was 11 singles. It's not often that you win baseball games with 11 singles especially when you're down early um but they did and they they got a couple hits as long as the scoring position they had four uh tonight which obviously helps uh hopefully lift those

numbers up they looked connected uh you know when you talk about an offense looking connected it's not like oh one guy on the line is kind of going off and then everyone else is just kind of flailing at pitches and not doing what it takes to string together some at-bats and put some pressure on the Mariners. What they did consistently throughout the night tonight was put good pressure on the Mariners' pitchers. Like, Logan Gilbert is one of the better pitchers in the AL.

Has really good stuff. on the Mariners' pitchers. Like, Logan Gilbert is one of the better pitchers in the AL. Has really good stuff. Was 95-97, still in the fifth, sixth inning. You saw some of the split. You saw the curveball. And the Phillies hung in there. The Mariners' bullpen was sixth in baseball in the ERA, heading into the game.

So they've been pretty good. The guy that they came back on in the eighth, he hadn't allowed a run yet this year. So it was one of those games where they easily could have just folded and say, hey, not our night. Another one of these kind of early season swoon kind of games.

And I'm proud of this team tonight. It was good to see. Tywin Walker goes out of the game early. Rob Thompson said after the game that it's precautionary. We'll see. But he goes out of the game early. Rob Thompson said after the game that it's precautionary. We'll see. But he goes out of the game early. It's cold. You're down 5-2.

And to just chip and chip and chip your way back into that game and finally take advantage of some of these spots with runners in scoring position that they didn't do last night is a good sign for them. That is a good sign for them. That is a good sign for them. Last night, you know, I know that when they lose games, people don't like to hear, well, they got unlucky. But, you know, I felt like last night's offense, at least late in the game, in the 7th, 8th, and 9th,

was more unlucky than, oh my gosh, they're a disaster. And it was good to see that translated over to tonight. And it was good to see them come back against one of the better pitching staffs in baseball. Because when you're going up against who they have to go up against in these next couple of series, the Dodgers, Astros, Red Sox. Red Sox don't really count for a great staff, but regardless. Blue Jays. Those are some good pitching staffs.

And you're going to need to see performances like you saw tonight if they're going to stay afloat and hopefully play 500-ish baseball for this next couple, week-and-a-half stretch against some tough opponents. I'm not sugarcoating it. This is a team that is now one game under.500. Hopefully they can get over.500 tomorrow against George Kirby. But the upcoming stretch they have here, the next four series, they have their work cut out for them.

And efforts like tonight hopefully are going to go a long way towards beating some of these high-caliber opponents. We know that in modern baseball, a lot of these teams don't want to do the whole, you got to strain together a bunch of base hits and score that way. They want to hit the ball out of the fence. Well, that's not how this team is built. This team is built to single you to death, hopefully get some balls in the gap, and then a couple solo shots mixed in here or there. But either way, I thought the offense really battled tonight. And it gave me hope that when they face these upper tier staffs for the next four series,

that they're going to go out and they're going to do what they did tonight. It was a gutsy, gutsy performance by this offense. And my second big takeaway from tonight is this bullpen is finally settled down. My player of the game tonight, I know it's not – I know people are thinking, oh, you're going to go Castie. Castie was great, and Castiano was well on his way back, consistently hitting the ball hard throughout the night. JT, big hit late. Boehm, big hit late.

But my player of the game, which is sponsored by South Jersey Gas, committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas, make the switch at southjerseygas.com, is Luis Ortiz. Luis Ortiz, in the middle of this game, where the Phillies were down, he kept them in this game. And I've talked about it a lot at final outs so far in the early portion of the season, but they needed to find guys that can keep them close when they're down. They found the guys that they can go to when they are leading. They can go to the Alvarados,

they can go to Saranthi, they can go to Kimball. They can go to Gregory Soto, but they also need to find guys that can keep them close so the offense can have a shot to come back against teams. Luis Ortiz keeping them there tonight is a big step forward. I think Brogdon's developing into that, so a good sign there. He kept them in this game and kept them within scoring reach to where they can come back and win. Saranthbrell Alvarado, great. Sir Anthony, I don't think we have to keep worrying about the beginning of the season. It wasn't great. The first week was like, oh my God, he pitched deep into the year.

Is he going to be able to bounce back? He's back. Craig Kimbrell, I've been a doubter. I have said many times that I'm nervous every time he comes into a game. I no longer feel that way. I don't feel nervous when Craig Kimball comes into games. And that is a big step forward for a guy that I didn't think had it anymore. And then we know about Alvarado.

We know what he is. He is this team's closer. He's nasty. He's hard to build a rally against. If it wasn't for Jorge Soler, he hasn't allowed a run yet. He still hasn't walked anyone. Jose Alvarado is developing into the nastiest reliever in Phillies history. I've been saying that so much on the final out, and it just continues to bear itself true. And the one thing

that gave me a massive smile tonight, a massive smile, was hearing Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose rain down from a Citizens Bank Park crowd. Listen, they're tamed by the rain. They were tamed by the rain. But to hear that and start thinking about, okay, is this going to be our version of Timmy Trumpets? Or when we get bigger crowds in the middle of the summer or in the postseason, having an entire crowd start chanting Jose, it brought a tear to my eye. So last night I was tough on Rob Thompson for putting Bailey Falter back out in that situation.

Sixth inning, he just pitched 33 pitches the inning before. A lot of righties coming up. Didn't need to force falter one more inning, but I give him a ton of credit tonight. He was very aggressive in going and trying to win that game tonight. And I know that sounds, you know, oh, how can you not be aggressive to try to win you a ball game? Well, when you start thinking about things, you have Matt Strom tomorrow, who is a four or five inning pitcher at this point. You're going against George Kirby, who's a good starter for the Mariners. So, you know, to be aggressive tonight and sniff a win

and trust your offense to come back, I think was a really smart strategy, especially tomorrow with Matt Strom versus George Kirby. So a shot at the topper. I thought it was a good job by him tonight. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. It's Jack Fritz here on the final out. Gutsy, gutsy, gutsy win by the Phils tonight. One of those games that they easily could have folded.

It was cold. It was wet. They were facing a good pitcher. And they just grinded one out. And we've been waiting to see that kind of effort tonight. A great comeback. Down 5-2. Win at 6-5.

Start creeping their way back into the game. And they're back to one game under.500. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 if you're leaving the game or just watch the game. Would love to hear from you. On the other side, in addition to your phone calls, it wasn't all great at Citizens Bank Park tonight.

We'll address the elephant in the room coming up next here on the final out. Got one here in the eight. And the pitch swung on. Ground ball through the left side. That's a base hit. Marsh coming around third. He's being waved home. Kelnick's throw to the plate is late.

And the Phillies lead it on Alec Boehm's go-ahead RBI single. 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth. And that's our Mike's Amazing Play of the Game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. Alec Boehm giving the Phillies the lead there. And, you know, it's kind of what he's done for a majority of his career is, like, games close late, the Phillies have a chance, runners in scoring position.

I think this year he's batting over 330 with runners in scoring position. So it just feels like he – even when he first came up, it felt like Alec Boehm was going to be the guy that opposing teams of the Braves fans, Mets fans, I guess Nationals fans, and whatever, if there is a Marlins fan out there. But he always felt like that guy that was going to deliver a back-breaking hit against your team. And for years, we've obviously seen this against us, whether it was McCann or Freddie Freeman or Daniel Murphy with the Mets or Jeff McNeil with the Mets or Nimmo with the Mets or Alonzo with the Mets.

But it felt like, you know, we finally had our guy in Alec Boehm that was going to be our guy when it came to having those back-breaking hits. And he has proven that throughout his career and again tonight, you know, where they've been struggling with runners in scoring position. But, you know, they loaded the bases up.

Or, no, they had runners in first and third, whatever. JT smokes a ball at the middle, which was a good sight to see. I know he's the best catcher in baseball, but I've seen so many double plays from JT that I was glad to see him hit the ball hard there and tie the game up. And then obviously, Boehm does what he does next batter. So again, a gritty, gutsy comeback performance by the Phillies tonight down at CBP. It is the final. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never looked so good. We'll talk about the elephant in the room here

in one second, but Owen is in New Jersey. What's happening, Owen? Hey, I'm really excited. I was actually at the game, so it was really cool to see them come back and show a lot of grit. And especially considering when I thought they were up three runs, it was a lot to overcome

with the way they've been playing. It was great to see Castellanos, Marsh, even JT come through. You're going to need those guys now, obviously more than ever with this little tough stretch they've got coming up here. For as great as the Marsh, the Stott, the

Boehm have been, and I don't anticipate them not continuing that kind of level of play. But now it's time for – the Castellanos have been there all year, but it's time for the Turners, JTs, and Schwarber to join the season here. And it was good to see JT have that moment there, and hopefully it kind of jump-starts him here. Yeah, and I was a little concerned. I heard after the game that

taiwan walker got um some forearm issues yep so i've actually been a proponent of because i saw actually the diamondbacks just let him go completely mad bum i really would like the phillies to try try him and see what happens um i'm a younger fan so i really don't remember him in his prime so i kind of think of him as like a legend and I honestly think that if the Phillies the way that they've done the past few years like Alvarado and a bunch of other guys I think they could probably help him

and also I think just seeing his fire in the city of Philadelphia would be a great thing for the fan base yeah Owen I appreciate the call I really don't have any interest. I'm not trying to be mean in a way. I just think that guy is completely done.

Do you feel bad talking to people who don't remember him? Well, it makes me feel a little bit old because, man, 2014 Mad Bomb in that postseason is still one of the best postseason performances of all time. It's one of the best postseason performances of all time. It's one of the best World Series of our lifetime. It was ridiculous.

I mean, Madbomb is one of the best big game pitchers I've certainly seen in my lifetime. He's just done. Sometimes guys are just done. We experienced Arrieta here. Dallas Keiko was a guy that people were begging

for a couple years ago. He was completely cooked. The difference between Mad Bum and, like, a Jose Amarato is that Jose Amarato throws 100 with a ball that moves all over the place and is a 95-mile-an-hour cutter. Madison Bumgarner can't do that. So, like, I just – I know that – I bet that Dave Dombrowski is thinking about it because he seems to like older established vets that he can shun his analytics department on for one time. But I would be pretty disappointed if they signed Madison Baumgartner.

He had a pretty good first half last year for his modern standards, but I just think he is completely cooked. So the Tywin Walker thing is obviously the big elephant in the room because he left tonight with right forearm issues. I'm just saying that's usually – it can be a precursor to bigger arm issues. It seems like they dodged a bullet with Ranger Suarez because he left the World Baseball Classic

with forearm issues as well. And you just hope that it's more take at least, I don't know, a couple starts off, don't pick up baseball for a little while, and then come back in a month. Or it's completely precautionary.

They said it was precautionary tonight. I don't want to call the Phillies liars, but I never really believe that stuff when it comes to arm injuries. I kind of anticipate him having to miss a couple starts here and hopefully not more than that. But it's just awful timing. It is just awful timing. With the series that they have coming up,

with the lack of length that Wheeler and Nola have given them, now you have to rely on Falter. I believe it's going to be Chris Sanchez, Matt Strom. It's just not a great position to be in. With how inconsistent Wheeler and Nola have been, Falter, I think, is good. But I think he is good two times through a lineup, as you saw yesterday. Third time through a lineup.

Traditionally doesn't go well. Chris Sanchez has been a guy I've never really believed in. But, you know, Dave always thought he's done a pretty good job. I thought he was fine in his first start. And Matt Strom's a four or five inning pitcher. So this is probably going to be the rotation here until Ranger gets back. And even when Ranger gets back, it's probably again four or five innings until he continues to ramp himself back up.

Now he's doing minor league starts. So, hey, maybe you can expect him to go seven if it's possible. hey, maybe you can expect them to go seven if it's possible. But still, that is going to be taxing on this bullpen with Tywon Walker going out. He was signed to be a pretty good innings eater in a way. So you have three starts out of the week started by Falter, Sanchez, and Strom. That puts the stress

on a bullpen that has been, has kind of rounded into form here, but is still not, you know, unbelievable. And then you have Wheeler and Nola, which you just don't know what you're getting from them right now. So in order for them to kind of survive and stay afloat and stay over 500, obviously getting Bryce back and getting Ranger back will help, but that's not going to be before this next little stretch they have here. So, like, Wheeler and Nolik got to figure their stuff out, and the offense has to do more of what they did tonight, but also hit the ball in the ballpark.

You know, I mean, 11 singles and one home run traditionally is not going to, like, lead to a ton of wins, but they're going to have to keep grinding and keep battling and put together tough A-Bs because they're going against some good starters and some pretty good bullpens here for the next week and a half. So the Tywin Walker injury is not happening at a good time. The bullpen has been worked a lot early in the season. It's kind of calmed down recently.

But, man, just another one of those where it's like, how many more injuries are they going to have to deal with? So not great. Hopefully it's precautionary. Hopefully they're right. Hopefully he doesn't miss a start. it's precautionary. Hopefully they're right. Hopefully he doesn't miss a start.

But man, was not excited with a Tywon Walker injury came down around the middle of this game. 2-1-5-5-9-2 94-94. On the other side, I'll run through your phone calls, but also we'll look ahead to tomorrow before handing things off to Rob Cherry. It is the final out here on Sports Radio 94

WIP. Welcome back. It is the final out. Spons Radio 94 WIP. Welcome back. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never looks so good. Phil's win. A gutsy, gutsy comeback performance from this baseball team that, frankly, I needed to see.

Like, when they went down 5-2, I didn't think the game was over. But it was like, I haven't seen them battle back yet. Like, I haven't seen them string together a couple of runs and just, you know, go down fighting at least. And when they were losing 5-4, I was like, well, what do I come on and say in the final out? Like, the season's not over. They lost an annoying game. They made one awful pitch to J.B. Crawford. Probably more positives than negatives. But they came back and won.

And they put together a good eighth inning off of a guy that hadn't allowed a run yet. And they showed a good level of toughness and will to come back and win that game. I know it sounds like big adjectives for an April game. But for an April game where it was already cold, where you're already down,

where you're facing one of the better pitchers in the AL, it's kind of easy to just pack things up and say, yeah, we'll get them tomorrow. But it was nice to see them have a sense of urgency. And sometimes that's all we can ask for as fans. Have a little bit a sense of urgency. And sometimes that's all we can ask for as fans. It's like, have a little bit of sense of urgency because the season, obviously we know the season's not over in April, but if they keep digging themselves into these holes,

it's tough to come out of. And I would like to think that they saw Tyrone Walker go out. They saw what they were dealing with. They saw that George Kirby's in the mound tomorrow, who's not like you know an ace ace but i believe is trending towards a year or two from now being one of the six best pitchers in the al um and and just just kind of grinding one out you're on your home turf like no reason to lose two at home. And to show that level of toughness for an April game, I think says some good stuff about this team.

Henry is in Glassboro leaving the game for the second straight night. What's happening, Henry? Jack, we won. Thank God, man. Thank God. It was a good performance by the team tonight, and hopefully they ride that momentum tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping.

Being down at the game for the second night, and especially when we were down 5-2 the night before, I believe it was, it just felt different this time. And I don't know if it was because Castellanos got our first run with a home run or, you know, I mean, fans actually stayed around. And, I mean, hand up, I did go up to the concourse, but I watched the rest of the game, and I couldn't move from my spot as soon as they started scoring runs.

But it was just an all-around really good performance. Yeah, and it was good to see. You know, it was good to see them finally like, okay, there's a team that we saw last year. There was some toughness from them. They didn't just roll over and say, hey, you know, it's not our night, which it felt like at the beginning of the season it was like, yeah, it's a long season, la-di-da-di-da.

It's like, no, it's okay. Show you can come back. And it was just a good kind of stress-relieving game being able to come back and win that game. Season wouldn't have been over. We know that. But still, it's good to see them show the ability to come back and win that game season wouldn't have been over and we know that but still it's good to see them show the ability to come back and take that game exactly and i've been a huge nick costellanos guy since we got him last year and last year it was tough to face to face uh people saying how bad he was and everything but this year i'm just so glad

that he's doing basically everything. He's got a decent glove, at least decent enough to keep in the lineup. He's hitting for the long ball. He's just – seeing him come around has been just really, really refreshing. Yeah, totally, Henry, and I appreciate the call. Castellanos being this level of back, I was kind of expecting 280, 15 home runs, and I'll take it. But what Nick Castellanos is doing right now

is hitting his way back into being an all-star consideration. And I tell you what, when you lose Reese Hoskins, and you really need it, heading into the year, it was always, well, if they get a Nick Castellanos balance back, that's a bit of a luxury. Well, when Reese went down, it was no longer a luxury. And man, him having this beginning of the season

and finally hitting balls with authority, like when he was slowly showing signs of coming back, it was still a lot of like, eh, let me kind of throw my bat at the baseball and flick it over the third baseman's head or down the first baseline. It wasn't like hitting anything with authority. Well, that has completely changed since Saturday

when he hit two home runs. It is starting to drive the baseball, like drive the baseball with authority. And you see the Castellanos that we had seen for the last decade pretty much. Like 2020 was a disaster year for Castellanos, much like last year was. But outside of those two years, for the most part, he has been towards the top of the league in doubles, extra base hits, played in Detroit for a while, so home runs were never the easiest. But this is the guy that we saw in Cincinnati in 2021.

This is the guy that we saw at the end of the 2019 season with the Cubs where we've added over 300. This is a difference maker. This is a difference making kind of talent. And man, I'm just so happy. I'm just happy he's back to being the guy. I feel like I was taking crazy pills. I legitimately felt like I was taking crazy pills. So it is good to see him back and better than ever the pitching matchup for tomorrow it is George Kirby versus Matt Strom and the Phillies do not have

the pitching advantage in this one Matt Strom has been very good this year had a career high in strikeouts his last outing which is good still allowed three earned but whatever so Matt Strom goes tomorrow hopefully he can give them four or five innings That's his last outing, which is good. Still allowed three earned, but whatever.

So Matt Strom goes tomorrow. Hopefully he can give them four or five innings. Rob Thompson said after the game that his bullpen is good to go for tomorrow. So I guess Sir Anthony pitched in a couple nights, and he is good to go for tomorrow. So they have a full contingent out there. If they do get the lead, George Kirby at the beginning of the year got shelled his first start of the year. They kind of screwed up his ERA numbers,

but he is well back on his way to being a guy that is going to pitch to a low three ERA in the AL this year. So George Kirby, they have to work it out for him. He's not fully established. He has not fully arrived yet, but he is a guy that throws hard, throws a ton of strikes. Doesn't strike out as many batters as I thought

he would, but he is a guy that is going to be a tough task for this team. But I thought Logan Gilbert was also going to be a tough task tonight, and I thought they did a really, really good job in getting to him. That's going to do it for me. Tucker Bagley produced the program

tonight. I will be on for final out tomorrow before leading into the draft coverage from Lincoln Financial Field. So I will be down there, or I will be reacting to the game tomorrow. Hopefully it's another Phil's win, and hopefully they can

win a series at home before a tough little road stretch coming up in the next week and a half. That's going to do it for me. Rob Cherry's got you next here on WIP. I'll talk to you tomorrow after the game.