High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phils Win Seventh In A Row!

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

Jack Fritz reacts to another masterful pitching performance from Ranger Suarez. 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

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball Isn't Boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

Another fact, so jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Seven straight wins by the Phils. Welcome on in. It is the final out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good.

Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on this, well, stress-free Phillies night here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. I know Sixers game currently going on. So a lot to get into, a lot to react to. 215-592-9494. To get in the wrap-up sponsored by Blaser, Swiss Lube, and Krevitz, the metalworking fluid specialist providing professional cnc machine cleaning coolant maintenance programs and waste coolant disposal krevitz.online seven straight wins for the phil's which means that me and spike have to run well i'm running seven miles he is walking

seven miles but regardless whatever it takes to help this uh you know to celebrate this run that his team is currently on and And my biggest takeaway of the game, and a couple of my biggest takeaways from the game, as always, are brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. This team just, we've talked a lot post-game, they've just settled in. They've settled in, they've calmed down,

and they just look like a good ball club right now it's almost as simple as that like we don't need to get too crazy here and talk about how good they are whatever you know good world series back on sure but like they're just a good team and they've just completely settled into this and a lot the things that were ailing them early in the year, whether it was not moving runners along, not getting guys in from third base with less than two outs. I mean, they had two sack flies tonight. I know that doesn't mean much.

But when you are talking about winning baseball and when you get into the time period where it's like, okay, let's go win a ball game it's not all just going to be home run or bust you got to find other ways to score little things like getting runners in from third base with less than two outs like that stuff matters so they've settled in from the standpoint of of it seems like offensively it's it's slowed down a little bit it feels like they've totally cleaned up the base running i mean it was so infuriating the first week and a half two weeks of the season where there's making inexcusable errors on the base pass that has been pretty much cleaned up

now like i mean they executed a first and third play yesterday i haven't seen a well executed first and third play since like high school so that's been really good to see you know schwarber scoring from first base i was told he clogs the bases up guess that's been really good to see, you know, Schwarber scoring from first base. I was told he clogs the bases up. Guess that's not the case anymore since he's so spry and he's flying around the bases. But regardless, little things like that is winning baseball and the defense has settled in. You know, Marsh is a stud in left field. Rojas is, you know, it's so hard not to gush about his defense because while Marsh is a really good center fielder and Pache is a really good center fielder, there's just something

different about Johan Rojas. He is a different kind of defensive player. So you have those two. Turner's defense, it seems like as soon as he started hitting, the defense really picked up. He's moving quicker out there boom just continues to be a revelation at third base and you know there's a couple points early in the season especially with with trey where i was like man he you like to see more from that you know he wasn't doing much of the plate well now the defense picked up the offense picked up and you just look at this team as a whole right now and when it comes down to winning baseball they're doing a lot of the things right that was frustrating to begin the season

it's all coming around now it they're just kind of showing up and winning ball games they're not gonna you know win every game the rest of the way out but you know it kind of feels like they've settled into their their sweet spot here and the first week of the season is is hopefully in the in the past and you know shout out to my guy luke arcani who has a stat that this is the first time they've won seven games in a row in april since 1953 so i guess every team in philly's history has started slow, essentially. But 1953, the last time, they had a seven-game winning streak in April. So really impressive stuff, taking care of business. Bed Red's team, well, not great.

Certainly better than the Rockies and White Sox. And they went up there and took care of business. So impressive stuff from that. That was my biggest takeaway. The other big takeaway, and he's my player of the game, sponsored by South Jersey Gas, committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com slash lovemyhome. And that's Ranger Suarez.

I mean, Ranger Suarez tonight just continuing his run of excellence. I mean, it's as simple as that. I mean, he has been absolutely ridiculous. And he's not one of these guys that's going to blow you away with all kinds of stuff. But you know what he is? He is an absolute bulldog. He is a bulldog on the mound. He mixes in five pitches.

And the nice part about the groove that Rangers is in right now is the hitters have no idea what's coming I mean even in the 7th tonight he threw a 2-2 curveball to close it out that was like a 59 footer maybe and because he's been so good

at throwing that cutter up and in and getting the 4 seamer in and at throwing that cutter up and in and getting the four seamer in and swing like that even third time through a lineup and it's so funny because you know I've talked a lot about Ranger and how when I watch him he just reminds me so much of Cliff Lee. And it's like, he's like a mix of Cliff Lee and Moyer when they would get on these runs, they would just be really, really tough to slow down. And he's in one of those runs right now.

He has the longest scoreless inning streak since Cliff Lee in, in August 17th to September 10th, 2011. Cliff Lee had 30 and two-thirds scoreless. Rangers at 25 consecutive scoreless innings. His Cy Young odds are now, I believe, plus 1,500. He is on an absolute heater right now. He's so competitive in the strike zone. He's mixing in all five pitches.

He's keeping hitters off balance. He's keeping hitters off balance. He's making quick work of them. And he's fielding his position at a ridiculously high level. I mean, a great play earlier tonight. Like, man, it's so – if you were just a fan of the sport and you are a pitching nerd, I don't know how you don't watch what Ranger Suarez is doing and just be almost marvel at it. Because he's a nice throwback to what a lot of, I mean, I know what I grew up with. Obviously, if you're older than me, and it seems like everyone listens to the stations older than me,

like, this is what it used to look like. Just competitive, in the strike zone, quick outs, letting your defenders make plays. He's not striking out the world right now. He's letting his defense make plays, and they're stepping up behind him. It's just been a really impressive run by Ranger, and it's so fun to watch when he gets into these grooves. I'm just happy that a lot of the postseason stuff is now translating over to the regular season.

It might be in for a fun ride the starting staff is is on quite the heater it could be ruined this weekend when taiwan's back in but regardless everyone else is doing their job and ranger was just just brilliant tonight and my final takeaway from the game is just two hitters i want to highlight johan roas is continuing to develop to develop in front of our eyes, just having much better at bats. Smoked a triple tonight off the wall, which, again, I... It looks like he hits the ball hard, and then it, like, dies at the wall.

Or it dies, like, into the left fielder's glove, like, shallow, but it looks like it's ripped. He's actually starting to do some legitimate damage. And it's for a guy that looked as lost as he did, I don't know, a week ago, two weeks ago. I mean, those last like 13 games, he's batting over 400. Johan Rojas. So it's, I'm happy because, because because frankly watching him play defense is special but i always had this fear of like okay well how long can they realistically keep him up here

to where he's not completely cratering and and he's killing his confidence well his confidence is pretty sky high right now so johan rojas is doing a job and and continuing to just cement himself as this team's center fielder. And the other is Alec Baum. You know, two more hits tonight. He was two for two, and then he got out in the last two plate appearances. But before his third plate appearance, he had an over 300 average, an over 400 OEP, and over 500 slugging percentage. I mean, that's a high high high

level baseball player so he's starting to hit the baseball really hard starting to do a little bit more damage you know he's he's he's lifting the baseball just a little bit more um but I thought those two you know there's other good things from the lineup but just the continued development of Rojas and Baum right now is really exciting to see. 2-1-5-5-9-2. 94-94. If you want to get in and react to the game while we are coming down to the wire in the Sixers game, I'll get your calls on the other side.

Plus, we also have some thoughts on pulling Ranger a little bit early tonight and some thoughts out of the bullpen. It's the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe as we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster.

Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. I mean enough with the laughing, Franski and Stock. That's a big K.

That's a big strikeout for Ranger tonight. Welcome back. It is the final hour. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you, reacting to the Phils winning 7-0 out in Cincinnati tonight in Game 1 of their series. Here's the pitch count tonight.

Sponsored by the Plumbers Union Local 690, protecting the health of the nation. Visit plumbers690.org. 88 pitches for Ranger tonight and I know I can just sense the fury at pulling him from the game as he's on a little bit of a roll like listen it's April

he just pitched a complete game shutout against the Rockies he was I mean a 4-0 lead at that point the bullpen should be able to hold and it was nice of Cody Clemens to add a little cherry on top. But, again, I don't need to run Ranger into the ground. He did his job.

He was brilliant. He was in total control. And let him just kind of ride that momentum. And we don't need to keep pushing him, pushing him, pushing him. It's not the 1970s. So I'm fine with pulling him there. In that situation, you had some guys in the bullpen that needed to get some work.

And Stocker mentioned there in the postgame about how Ranger was pretty much at a 20% usage rate on all of his pitches tonight. And that's just, it's so hard to square a pitcher when you have no idea what's coming, or you have no trends, or you have nothing that you can kind of lean on.

Like, okay, he's going to go to this pitch here. But Ranger has such good command of all his pitches right now. And that cutter's a real game changer for him too. I mean, this organization has turned into a big cutter. You know, they've got some splitters there. You know, their cutter split and sweeper, I guess, right now. But the cutter is something that's been an equalizer for Ranger specifically. I mean, just giving him a weapon for these right-handed pitchers

or right-handed hitters is so, so massive, and it gets him off the changeup away. It gets him off fastballs. It's a really important pitch, so I think it's been a really big equalizer for him. And the fact that he can throw five of them for strikes is really impressive as well. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. But some other thoughts.

I mean, they went to Soto and Hoffman, and Soto needed that kind of performance. He's a guy who has really good stuff, but I think his fastball's pretty hittable. guy who has really good stuff but i think his fastball is pretty hittable you know and it looked tonight like his main idea i guess heading into that inning was i'm gonna throw more sliders and i think getting people off that fastball is gonna be so much more important for him like his sliders are really good pitch so so it'll look like a look good in a bounce back spot the thing that sucks for for bullpen pitchers, man, is that he didn't allow a run, I don't believe, until his last outing. He got charged with five, even though Hoffman didn't come in and do a job.

And it jacked his ear up to nine. That stinks, man, because he had a pretty good start to the year. And then I thought Hoffman just looked dominant in the ninth. I know it was 7-0, but I think he needed that. The last couple outings, at least, he had spiked some pitches, and I needed him to get back into a rhythm, because he's the most, I mean, outside of Alvarado,

I think he's the most important guy in that bullpen, because he's their best right-handed option. Sir Anthony's a question mark right now. Kirk Kering's coming back from an injury. Marte's developing, but I don't think he's totally trustworthy yet. Hoffman is a huge, huge piece

of that bullpen. It was good to see him come out throwing 97 and looking mad. I like when Hoffman looks mad. A dominant effort tonight by the Phils with Bryce Harper on the paternity list and not exactly their A lineup out there. Let's go to the phones. Jim's in the northeast.

What's happening, Jim? Jack, thanks for taking my call again, pal. How are you? I appreciate you, man. How's it going? Good, good. Jack, just for clarification, last year about Ranger, I know he had a good start off.

Was he injured for a little bit and then came back and kind of returned back to form? Last year? Yeah. Last year? Yes. Yeah, last year. So he went to the World Baseball Classic, and then he left with a forearm strain. And I believe he missed a couple starts to begin the year. That's when I think they had to put Strom in the rotation.

And then it kind of felt like he was really good or kind of shaky for a good two-month stretch there. And then, of course, when the playoffs rolled around, it was like, oh, there's our guy, Ranger. So, yeah, it had been of an up and down last year, and I'm sure a lot of that was attributed to missing most of spring training. Got it. Got it. And my last question before you check it out, I'll hang up,

is Tywon Walker's return. I'm looking at his numbers, and it's tough to ignore Turnbull's numbers. Do you think Walker is on kind of a short leash with how well Turnbull's been pitching? Yeah, I appreciate the call, Jim. I do. I mean, I'm okay. Like, I'm not thrilled, obviously.

I love what Turnbull's doing, and I just believe in what he's doing more. I understand the innings thing with Turnbull. I do. But I would like to see him falter before I just rush him out of the rotation. But if they want to give Taiwan, like, three starts, and if it just looks wrong or looks bad, I don't think he has, like, I don't think he has that much time. I would be surprised if five starts of just looking bad, maybe. It's just what he's done so far in all of his rehab appearances,

it's like what am I supposed to be super geared? They keep saying, oh, well, the adrenaline of a big league game that'll get his velocity up the the i mean i get it but yesterday at triple a again he generated one whiff he struck out one guy he touched 93 times he walked three he allowed four earned like that's against triple a how's it gonna look against the Padres this weekend? So we'll see. Again, I'm not rooting against Taiwan. I just love what Turnbull's done.

I think there's something there. I like that. At least I feel like I have hope when he's on the mound versus Taiwan, where it feels like, okay, well, we're going to go down four, and then hopefully the offense can kind of scratch back but i am not and he and the reality is that taiwan just might be done i mean he might just not have any bullets left in the arm i mean that's how it goes with some of these pitchers where you just lose it and he very might have just been very much well it just has a cooked arm And that would be incredibly frustrating with

three years, $54 million left. But that's the reality of the situation. So, we'll see. I'm hoping for the best. And I just, I don't know what else to do. I don't know what else to do. Until we see him, I guess we're kind of just going to talk about it. But, man,

I have liked Spencer Turnbull. I'm excited to see what he can do this week against the Reds. 2-1-5-5-9-2, 94-94. We will look ahead to tomorrow. Get the rest of your phone calls and check out the play of the game before handing things off to Jody Mack here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Welcome back.

It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Final segment here of the final out before we hand things off to Jody Mack as he takes you through the rest of the night. A lot of Sixers reaction, I'm sure, as this one

is coming down to the wire. But that was my play of the game, sponsored by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo and mustard of the Phillies. Cody Clemens is going to have to play a little bit here. You know, he might not be up here for long, but every time he – I know he got cold last year, but he was hot at the beginning of the year when they kind of needed him with Bryce out with the –

recovering from the Tommy John surgery. He stepped up, and he's Mr. Spring Training. Like, no one's more dominant in spring training than Cody Clemens. So you have that. He's going to have to play these next couple days. They expect Bryce to be out until Thursday.

So it's going to be a couple games here with Cody Clemens and it already reminds me of the many people will forget but the real ones won't. drew ellis run of last year and his contributions to the 2023 phillies well maybe we're getting that from cody clemens on this little four-day stretch it is interesting they picked him over derrick hall but i guess they they like the versatility that clemens does provide and i mean he's he can hit i mean he

launched that ball tonight at had a couple hits early. Like, solid. He's probably a quad A player, but still. At least maybe he could play his way into a bench role on this team. You know, they could definitely use another bench role. So, either way, good to see for Cody Clemens. Got to feel good for him. And regardless, good stuff from Cody Clemens tonight.

Dave's in Maryland. What's happening, Dave? Hey, Jack. Just a total complete victory. It was a great baseball game to watch. I mean, obviously not as a Reds fan, but as a Phillies fan. Just the defense, you know, just getting, you know, Brayson Stout with the sack fly and a ground out,

getting runs home that way, not having to deal, and then Cody Clough is coming with kind of like the difference maker at the end. Well, isn't it so bad, Dave, like when they execute a sack fly where they're able to kind of just do their job? I get so happy. It's like, finally, do the little things. Yeah, just do their job. I get so happy. It's like, finally! Do the little things! Yeah, just like you wish. I mean, obviously the game's not

played that way anymore. It's more of a hit the home run and hopefully that's kind of been taken out, the hit and run, all that kind of stuff. It is nice when you can execute sack flies and those types of things and get runs in early. They kind of put Hunter Green on the defensive.

I thought they did a good job kind of attacking his fastball and putting some good swings on a bone. Hit the ball very hard the first time up. If that got in the air, that would have went a long way. But he's starting to swing the bat really well. Just the one piece that kind of goes missing, I thought Soto's pace that he worked with tonight was, he got the

ball and threw it. There wasn't a lot of walking around there, like, you know, fooling with the ball. Like, he just got it and threw it, and you know, I thought that at bat where he just knocked down Adela Cruz on three swings was a good confidence builder for him, because we're going to need him

and Hoffman and everybody out there eventually. You know, I know the starting pitching can't last forever with the way they're going. I know, but, man, the starting pitching is so fun to watch right now. It's ridiculous. I mean, you do the whole thing, and you didn't even mention Ranger going seven shutout. I mean, there's a lot. No, I mean, it's the most satisfying just pitching performance. And I thought he was like, when he first started,

he was throwing like 88, 86 cutter. And I thought his velocity, I thought he was going to be a rough night for him. But then he picked it up to 92 and just hit spots. And he's just so fun to watch because it's just playing catch with JT the whole night. Yeah, it's old school, man. And it's a lot of fun. And I appreciate the call, Dave.

You know, it is so funny because obviously home runs are great. But a well-executed Zach Fly and just doing a job, it matters more to me. I don't know why. Maybe it's as I get, you know, I'm over 30 now. You're also a nerd. I'm just, I am, man. Like, I'm over 30, starting to appreciate little things, and little things like that. You know,

when people talk about them being so home run or bust and that kind of dependent, like, I don't totally disagree because when it comes down to playoff baseball, being able to execute that stuff matters. And I like that they're clean. They've cleaned a lot of that up. So tomorrow on the mound for the Reds is Andrew Abbott. Andrew Abbott, young pitcher, but he kind of reminds

me a little bit of Ranger from the standpoint of like, I think he's just a bulldog and he pitched pretty well early in the season against the Phils. And I just, it's not going to be a super easy one tomorrow. I didn't think it'd be easy tonight against Hunter Green, but they did a really good job against them. So Chris Sanchez on the mound for the Phils, who is obviously looking to maintain his little hot streak as well. Just kind of keeping the train rolling here with this Phils starting staff that is just continuing

to put out sheer dominance. But none better than Rangers Juarez, who has the longest consecutive scoreless inning streak since Cliff Lee in 2011. Ridiculous. Either way, that's going to do it for me.

Let's hope the Sixers can close out a victory here. Francisco Rojas produced the program tonight. Jody Mack, he'll take you through the rest of the night here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.