High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phillies Ride Trea Turner To Third-Straight Win

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to Trea Turner's four-hit day, including a pair of home runs, that lifted the Phillies to a lopsided win over the Detroit Tigers. 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

Good day, sunshine The Phil's win or the Phil's lose. Feels like I have some Beatles songs stuck in my head. So listen, we'll work our way through the current little Beatles phase I'm in. But it's never a bad time to be in a Beatles phase. Either way, I'm Jack Fritz. Welcome into the final out. And man, what a difference a couple days make. And that's baseball. And that's why it's such a roller coaster. And frankly, that's why I love following it day to day because

uh i don't know about you out there but i know for me just like when they win i i just am in such a better mood like generally speaking and i'm sure nick earnshaw totally agrees uh produce behind the the glass there that i'm a generally a pretty happy. You know, just a joy to be around on most occasions. Love being around you when the Phils win. It's great. What about when the Phils lose? Eh, you know, I walk the other way. Yeah, a little different.

A little different. And listen, you know, I am what I am. I love this team, and it makes it really hard when they play the way the last two nights that they've played to not start using the B word. And I'm not using the negative connotation of the B word, but beginning to think that this baseball team is turning it around. But man, the way they've played and the important pieces that are starting to come through and help them win these games, it is hard not to get excited. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. If you want to get in, leave in the ballpark,

just sitting at home watching the game, where are you at? You feeling a little bit of a turnaround here? Or, hey, there's still four games under.500. It's the Tigers and the Nationals. I totally get all that. four games under 500. It's the Tigers and the Nationals. I totally get all that. But the first of my couple takeaways from this game tonight is obviously the big story is the offense. The offense and the pieces on offense, the right ones on the offense. Drew Ellis was a great story. I'm happy that Drew Ellis had his big day. But frankly, seeing the important pieces of the Phillies lineup have

the last couple of days that they've had is a more important development for this team. Let's lead it off with, obviously, the leadoff hitter, which is going to stay. I know it's not traditional. I know it's the hottest topic when it comes to Phillies baseball. It's like, oh my God, who's going to be the leadoff hitter?

It's Kyle Schwarber. It's Kyle Schwarber. He's your leadoff hitter. I'm sorry he's not fast, but what does he do? He works a good count and he hits the ball in the ballpark. He should have had one later. I don't know. What was up with the cameraman tonight.

All of a sudden, it's just like, I thought the Phillies had a couple home runs tonight that ended up staying in the ballpark. But what Schwarber has brought to the leadoff spot is obviously June Schwarber, which is great, but also continuing to work walks. And I think that's really important. Last year, when he was the leadoff hitter,

it was like I was expecting more when it came to getting on base and walking and doing that kind of stuff. So, you know, it's a good sign. So, leadoff Schwarber, I think, is here to stay. And I expect Rob Thompson, with the way that they're kind of hitting right now, to stick

with that. Nick Castellanos in the two-hole. Just been on freaking fire. And thank God. hitting right now to stick with that. Nick Castellanos in the two hole. Just been on freaking fire. And thank God. You know, I want to say about two weeks ago, I kind of had the feeling of, oh, he's starting to chase again. And he only had one home run in May. Well, bang, as soon as June came around, Nick Castellanos was on freaking fire.

With the hit in the first inning. I believe he was 10 for his last 16 at the plate, so batting well over 500 at this point. He's working his way into all-star consideration and should have worked his way into all-star consideration. That's how good he's

been, and especially recently, now you have Schwarber in front of him, Harper right behind him. That's a good recipe for success. Bryce in a three-hole, it was nice. He got his third hit with one of the runners in scoring positions since coming back. He had two hits tonight. But ultimately, Bryce in the three-hole with Trey batting behind him was only really going to work if Trey was able to have nights like he had tonight, which is obviously why he is my 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. Love my home. Trey, if he's going to bat four and before they moved him here obviously it was a bit of a joke it's like, what the hell are you putting Trey Turner at 4-4 well, they're 3-0 in the games he started there

and tonight he had his best game as a Philly bar none, even had the good defensive play late Trey Turner looks to be on his way to being the player, I don't want to say the B word I don't want to say the B word, I don't want to say the B word. I'm going to work my way around it. But it looks like he is turning into the player that we'd hope

we'd seen. In the last week, week and a half, while the hits haven't totally been there, feels like the strikeouts have come down. Feels like he's not chasing. And what I like tonight, and it's a small thing, but I think it means a lot. There was a couple of his at-bats. The first pitch was up and out of the zone. And he took, like, an aggressive hold on it. He didn't go at it, but he was on it. And you saw how that translated.

He had two home runs, two moonshots. Should have had a hit later. I mean, he should have had his fifth hit that was I guess over 600 expected batting average. So, man, when they scored early, and you saw Castellanos, what he was doing, and you saw

all the kind of pieces of this lineup start to figure it out. I wrote in my notes like, imagine if they get Trey Turner going, and then bang, Trey Turner had two home runs. So this stuff is starting to get exciting. JT, I guess all Saturday, I remember Ben

Davis on the TV broadcast on Saturday was saying that Kevin Long and him were having a marathon session trying to figure it out. Well, ever since then, he's been unbelievable. And what doesn't get talked about a lot about last year was after the Toronto series, JT carried them. I mean, JT, I thought, was their best player after that series in helping them get to the postseason, both defensively and offensively.

He was dominant. And these last three games have been close to what we'd seen toward the second half of last year. Bryson Stott had two walks. Never too worried about him. He's almost like the second leadoff hitter for the bottom of this lineup. Drew Ellis, listen, he did have a great night tonight. Struck out the bases loaded, but

still works a good at bat. He works a good at bat. Brandon Marshall will be back in there tomorrow. He's been good recently. You're starting to see this offense begin to click. And that's a really, really important development. Really important development. Because those guys have to get going. With the way the pitching staff is doing right now,

this offense was built to slug. That's what they have to do. And tonight and yesterday, the National Series, they're starting to do it. And that's exciting. And my second big takeaway is obviously Noah's night, he had the no-hitter going. He threw

a ton of pitches, so he probably wasn't going to be able to finish it, and it would have been a combined or a shot at a combined no-hitter, which I don't count. But either way, he was hitting 94 in the seventh, which is good. I thought his fastball command was really good. He hung one to Nick Maton, and Nick Maton didn't miss it. And PSA, if you have a problem with Nick Maton getting a revenge home run

and being excited about it, I don't know what to tell you. That's baseball. That's competitiveness. He's a competitive guy. He's a fiery guy. And he got one on Aaron Nola off a team that traded him away. I got no problem with it. I don't know what to tell you. That's baseball. That's competitiveness. He's a competitive guy. He's a fiery guy. And he got one on Aaron Nola off a team that traded him away. I got no problem with it. So, you know, that is what it is. But Nola was really good.

Fastball command is really good. Still doesn't feel like he's throwing that change up as much as he was at the beginning of the year, but still. You still don't really know what you're getting out of him on a night-in, night-out basis. But tied a career high in strikeouts tonight, which is obviously great. Tigers, man, what a feeble lineup. I mean, just a feeble lineup. The Phillies with Walker on the mound tomorrow and Wheeler after that,

they should be okay on the pitching side of things. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. Let's kick things off on the phones with Owen in New Jersey. What's happening, Owen? Hey, I'm doing a lot better than I was probably around Friday, so that's good. Yeah, me too, buddy, me too. But, yeah, it was good to see the offense have two good back-to-back games. I am still concerned about Noah, even though he had a good night i just it's the

inconsistencies and all that but i'm hoping that this even though it was the tigers does help him going forward and i'm hoping that taiwan walker looks a lot better than he did in the met series let's just say that yeah i mean the thing with Tywon Walker, and I appreciate the call, Owen, it's like three really good starts, blow-up start. Three good starts, blow-up start. So, hopefully we can get back in a good trajectory here,

but yeah. Again, that's kind of the ailment of the rotation right now is even with Wheeler. Don't really know what you're going to get, and that's not a great spot to be in. But if the offense can do what they do and they can carry this thing for a little bit,

it makes it all that much easier. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. If you want to get in, you're leaving the game reacting to a big Phil's win. It's so funny how it works in this, in this city. And it's like Friday night, they're done Thursday. They're done. I proclaim the season over. And then they just, they just start figuring it out and they start sucking you back in. And they're like, don't give up on us yet. Um, and, and they did that tonight and I'm just, I'm happy. I'm really really happy. I was not ready for the season to be over. I don't want to be the season's over guy,

but, man, what a step in the right direction, the offense. Thank God. Welcome to the season, and hopefully they can get on a little bit of a roll here. On the other side, two things that stuck out to me tonight. One, it was positive. One, a potential negative. What is it?

We'll get to both of that coming up next. Swung on, crushed, way back to left field. Oh, wow, where will this land? Second deck in left for Trey Turner. His second homer of the night. His seventh of the season. And it's 5-0 Phillies. 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. Welcome on back. It is the final out sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable, never looked so good. And it's pretty amazing. Trey Turner, like, you know, that was Royal Baseball Classic Trey Turner. I mean, that's a guy that we've been waiting for. That's a guy that we paid that contract for.

Obviously not me and, you know, the Phillies. But still, you know, that's what we had been expecting after what he did in the Royal Baseball Classic. And he hits two tonight. And that second one, it's so funny for how skinny he is. I mean, there's not many Phillies right-handed hitters that have hit the ball into the second deck in left field. And I just, it reminded me so much of like an old school Worth home run where it would just be a hanger and he wouldn't miss it. And when Worth connected, I mean, just moonshots.

I remember one off Jeff Samarja that was a tank. Obviously, I remember the Drew Storm one, the walk-off. But he's had a couple of those that just go on the second deck. for Trey Turner to be as skinny as he is to go second deck and left field. That's some impressive pop for a guy that is not like a 30 home run guy. He's a 25 home run guy. So, um, and his swings have just looked better the last couple of weeks or, you know, last week, week and a half. I kept waiting for one of these kind of games. But to have him finally really break through like that.

And have like a difference making game. I mean, if you get him going. You have what Schwarber's doing right now. You have Castellanos who is the best hitter on the team right now. Bryce who's still working his way back from injury that I assume a month, maybe even a couple weeks from now, the power truly starts coming. JT is in a streak right now. Brandon Marsh has been really good the last two weeks

since he got his back fixed by the chiropractor. Stott, you never really worry about. is back fixed by the chiropractor. Stott, you never really worry about. You know, it's just, this is the lineup that we envisioned all offseason of like, okay, they can carry us a little bit here. So, man, just a really, really big positive step

in the right direction from that standpoint. Another positive. I have one positive and one negative I want to hit on before going back to the phones one positive and and i don't think this is not meaningful but reese was back in the dugout tonight and you know he hasn't been on road trips i this is the first time i feel like they've really shown him around citizens bank park after like the first weekend um and i know it's because they definitely got the crutches.

He has off crutches, and he got his knee thing removed so he can walk around, which is a good sign. And I just think that he brings a calmness and a let's-go factor to his team. They talked a lot last year about him being the emotional leader of them. He'd been through the most. He knows the city the best. And I just think having him in the dugout was a nice little emotional lift for this team of like, there's our guy. Let's go play.

He can't be out here, so let's go do it. And do it for Reese a little bit here. So I thought that was a positive. And hopefully with him getting off crutches and not having, I guess, the brace around his knee, hopefully Reese can be back and be around the team more often and kind of give them a spark as they try to pull themselves out of the hole that they dug themselves into. So I thought that was positive.

The one negative, and I didn't hear him ask about it postgame, is Bryce Harper. And it was like in the seventh inning tonight. All of a sudden, he started shaking out his elbow a little bit. And I was like, oh, man, here we go. So he was shaking it out a little bit. He ended up getting a hit, but he had no power behind it. So that put up a red flag for me. But then he's able to stay in the game, stay on first base,

got first to third, eventually scored, and he's able to bat again. So I think that's a good sign. They said on the broadcast that he was throwing earlier today. So maybe he was a little bit sore from that. But still, definitely my antennas perked up when I saw Bryce kind of shaking that thing out and looking like it affected him at the plate. So hopefully it's nothing. He did bat again in the ninth, and hopefully he's in the lineup again tomorrow.

But still, that was something that I definitely think is worth monitoring. Dave is in Maryland. What's happening, Dave? Hey, what's up? Just heading back to Maryland for the great game. Great atmosphere for a Monday night, actually. I thought it was a very

good crowd tonight. Just the offense can take pressure off of Noah. Putting up a run in the first, second, and third inning kind of settled him in a little bit. The hard contact tonight, especially by Turner, but Castellanos hit the ball hard.

The offense is starting to wake up a little bit. You can see that. Did you notice how many balls Aaron Nola threw to the dugout tonight? It was interesting. He threw like 20 balls to the dugout tonight. Yeah, I don't know what that is. I don't know what that is because it was a cool night. It wasn't really a super hot night.

Maybe he just wasn't comfortable with the baseballs. They mentioned that on the broadcast, and I don't know. Nola's kind of a finicky guy. And maybe part of that, Dave, is I know back in the pre-pitch clock days, he's always slowed down a lot when runners got on base. Maybe throwing the balls away is a new kind of tactic to slow himself down. Yeah, I mean, the home plate umpire, he had the last game of the Arizona series, and he was calling pitch-caught violations.

And it seems like with that guy, Valentine, he calls at least three or four a game. And, I mean, to help the Phillies, he got two strikeouts on it. And, well, Castellanos got a strike. But they say it's about one per game, and this guy has about four or five per game. Yeah, and he was the home plate umpire for the Kimbrel thing, right? For the walk-off, yep. The three-turner walk-off game, yeah. Yeah, it seems like he loves calling a good pitch clock violation.

Now, my big question was like, so if Aaron Nola does end up throwing an O-hitter, is there any asterisk because he got two strikeouts on pitch clock violations? No, not a strikeout. I think you're more on the right page with the combined no-hitter than that. Oh, the combined no-hitter, it just doesn't count at all. I'm sorry. It is bogus. And safe travels home, Dave, and I appreciate the call. Yeah, now, I was worried about it because part of my brand and part of what I believe in baseball

is that combined no-hitters don't count. I'm sorry. Combined no-hitters, no way that counts as a real no-hitter. I feel nothing when it happens against the Phillies. Even in the World Series last year, it's essentially a shutout. If it's not one pitcher, I don't care. If it's not one pitcher, it's not something that I think needs to be rewarded. It's like, oh, congratulations.

You threw a combined shutout. You didn't throw a no-hitter. There's nothing special about that. So I was battling that emotion while Aaron Nola was doing his thing out there tonight. But regardless, unfortunately, Nick Maton got one hanging curveball and did not miss it. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. We will run through all of your calls on the other side, but also look ahead to tomorrow before handing things off to Jody Mack

here on the final out. The pitch swung on, driven to left center. That's going to be up the alley. A base hit. One run is home. Turner off to the races. He's coming around third. He's going to be waved in, and he will score without a throw.

It's a double for JT. Two runs score. And the Phillies now lead it 7-3. Yes. Welcome on back. It is the final out sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. And, you know, part of the appeal of, obviously, Tri-Turner is his speed.

Being able to, like, easily score from first on that was a joy. It was a joy to watch. And JT, just ever since Saturday, has really just kind of turned a corner here. And I know that Dan Wilson, obviously producer here on WIP, asked Topper postgame and just got dominated by Rob Thompson. I mean, you know, poor Dan,

you know, he's out there. He's a young, impressionable kid just trying to make a name for himself. And he asked just a layup question to get swatted down about the Tigers putting that pitcher back out there for a second inning facing the heart of the lineup. Like obviously it's a disaster decision.

Rob Thompson's not going to say, yeah, A.J. Hinch is a buffoon. So, listen, Dan, you know, he's going to put his head down, and he's going to go back to work, and he's not going to get bodied by Rob Thompson after the game. But still, it was an atrocious decision. So, Dan, I think, was fair for asking that. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. Phil's win, Phil's win, Phil's win.

And just slowly, slowly raising the spirits of everyone around the city after just what has been a brutal start to the season. And I think that if they were winning these games, if they won tonight, 3-2. If they won yesterday these games, if they won tonight, 3-2. If they won yesterday in Washington, whatever, by a few runs or a run. I don't think there would be this kind of happiness about the team. It'd be like, all right, cool. You barely beat the Nationals and Tigers.

But the way the offense has showed up the last two nights, I think is really important. Tomorrow, it is Tywon Walker on the mound for the Phillies. The Tigers have not announced a starter yet, so it seems like a good sign for us. I mean, the Tigers, again, I know their record heading into the game was the same as the Phillies, but man. Or I think they had one less win than the Phillies.

But man, they don't have, just they don't have it. They don't have it. So hopefully Tom Walker can kind of keep this train rolling and bounce back after his last outing. I mean, that seems to be the trend for him. Like he has a bad outing, everyone's like terrible signing, and then he has a great start, and everyone's like, all right, calm down. So we'll see.

And obviously obviously you know at this point a sweep should happen jay is in maple glen what's happening jay hey just came back from the game uh i have to give a big uh shout out to the phillies fans i mean the atmosphere i mean you would have thought that it was a brand new season tonight um it was like uh it was a it was just It was just a good synergy between the players and the fans. One moment that really stood out was when Aaron Noah had the chance when he was facing Nick Maytime and he just needed that strike. Even though Maytime got his hit, the energy just felt incredible.

So just a big shout out to the fans. Yeah, Jay, that's been the good part so far of the season is that they've gotten off to a slow start. People seem to be down about the team. But the fans are still showing up. No matter what we say on sports radio, no matter what is tweeted about them on social media or wherever, people are going out of the ballpark.

That was a great crowd for a Monday against a Tigers team that stinks. People are going out of the ballpark. That was a great crowd for a Monday against a Tigers team that stinks. And hopefully they can continue to play good baseball here. There's hope remaining from the fan base, and they can still keep showing up because it's been one of the more fun storylines of the beginning of this season. Yep, and I think we're in a good spot. Actually, even though we're seven games out of the wild card,

there's still so much season left. Yeah. And it's going to come down to those, like, not when... Jay's phone's going in and out there, and I appreciate the call, Jay. But, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of games left. I appreciate the call, Jay. But, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of games left. I will say I don't think it was totally unfair to be questioning if this team could go on a run.

I mean, they were playing very inconsistent baseball. Offense was taking bad approaches to the plate. Starting staff not very good. Defense, meh. Base running mistakes. Bullpen's been pretty good most of the year. So, you know, I don't think it was unfair to be like, what are we doing? You know, can we just right the ship here and get on a good run?

But still, you know, the way that these last couple games have gone with the way the offense is showing up, it certainly has, I think, me and a lot of people starting to believe again. Not ready to use the B word yet, coming all the way out of this thing. But still, we're getting closer. Natalie is in Vineland. What's happening, Nat? Hey.

So I am like, I'm so excited after last night and tonight. I have not lost hope, even with all of the negativity and the slow start and the cause for concern. There's been a lot of, you know, critiquing and whatnot, but I have not lost hope. I still believe. And going forward out of 22, it's a new season. We had some injuries. But I'm seeing the cohesiveness come together.

And I liked what you said about Reese in particular being present because, you know, there is such a brotherhood in our team. These guys are a unit. And when they're playing as a unit, we get the job done like no other and i love the fact that he was present and i just i really think that that has a lot to do with it beyond the stats beyond all of the the legit um beyond all of that stuff and looking at each player's stats and whatnot. Our guys together, it's electric. And I think, you know, that's part of the reason why the fans have just shown up.

And we've had so many sellouts despite such a rocky beginning. I'm just so excited. And I don't doubt them at all. Love to hear it, Natalie. And I think people are starting to get back to that mindset and it's a good spot to be in. And just like the way that they've kind of played tonight, the way they played yesterday, even Saturday, even though it was a bullpen game, the way they came back on Friday night,

they do finally look like they're starting to have some fun. And the, because how they're playing a week ago, at least up in New York, it was just, they all just look so tight and they look like they needed an exhale. They need to just calm down and go play. Maybe it's Kyle Schwerber going back to the leadoff spot and him kind of setting a tone. Him finally starting to get some hits, starting to hit some home runs,

and now it's like, okay, now we go. But tonight looked like a lot of games in the middle of last summer where it was like, just go out, take care of business, beat up a bad team, and have some fun doing it. And that's where they need to get to. You know, I don't think it's not nothing like Alec Baum was messing around with Alvarado, the postgame stuff with Trey Turner, you know, Nolan striking out 12, the energy in the ballpark.

Like, just ride this. Ride this right now. And get this city back moving in the right direction, which is believing in the baseball team again. That's going to do it for me. Nick Earnshaw produced the final out tonight. I'll be back tomorrow night. Marks and Reese will be leading you into the game.

And then I will have you for final out. Jody Mack, he has you next coming up here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.