High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: September Casty?

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to Nick Castellanos's big night that powered the Phillies past the Mets. 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.

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Never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Reacting to an intense, tight September Philz game down in South Philly. And one that, thankfully, I'm just glad they won. So, Cubs lose. Philz win. 4-4. The match number is 4 now for a playoff spot.

And, Tucker, since the Diamondbacks didn't play tonight, they're idle. That means the top spot is still 6 if our math is all here correct, right? That makes sense to me. Yeah. I've got to update my tweet. I got a little excited. I got a little excited. Regardless.

So, Phil's win. Phil's win. At this point, just keep stacking them. My biggest takeaway of the game, and if you're leaving the ballpark tonight, and it does seem like school's back in session and it's hard to get down there and we're kind of in that

waiting out phase for the postseason, but if you're on your way home, we'd love to talk to you. It was a good night down at the ballpark, and it was a close, tight win. But my biggest takeaway of the game, which is brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, is that that's a game that you had to extend leads on. For it to get as tense as it did, for that to be a one run game, for having to like bring in all your big guns to get through that Mets lineup can't happen. And obviously in the postseason, you're going to play more games like that.

But obviously you're going to be playing against better competition. And it's just frustrating when you know that's the case you know close games are are gonna happen and you can't just put them away early especially a team like the Mets like the Mets really have nothing to play for but if they're in the sixth seventh eighth and it's a close game I mean it just gives them that much extra motivation to go out there and try to win a ball game. So I was disappointed from that standpoint. Obviously glad to see them come out of tonight with a win,

but that had to be a game that should have been an 8-4 win. They should have jumped all over David Peterson, and they just let the Mets hang around. And in a four-game series, who knows how it goes. Does this turn into a split? So, you know, again, happy with the win. But that was a game that should have been out of reach a little bit earlier. My second big takeaway from the night is it seems like they're getting hot Cassianos at the right time. I keep looking at the lineup top to bottom,

and Stott's in a bit of a struggle right now. JT is in just... I mean, he's batting 190 at home now, I believe. Boma the home run tonight, which is really good. Good to see. I hope we can keep that going. They've needed an extra bat there because they've been the best

offense in baseball since August 1st, home runs and stuff like that, but it's really been Schwarber, Turner, Harper kind of carrying the load from that standpoint. They need another guy there to pick him up, and Nick Cassiano is batting as low as he is. He's up to six tonight,

so he's working his way back up the lineup, but Rob Thompson talked after the game about how he thinks he's going to six tonight. So he's working his way back up the lineup. But Rob Thompson talked after the game about how he thinks he's going to keep him down there. And he might as well. I mean, it's working right now. And Alec Boehm, you know, I said it before the game. I like him batting in the four spot. I like a guy that I trust to put the bat on the baseball.

And while Castellanos is in a good hot streak right now, we know he can go through his spells where he's swinging the pitches, taking bad approaches, and taking himself out of counts. I think Alec Boehm is more consistent when it comes to working a good count. But that doesn't mean that Nick Cassianos can't be a valuable member towards the bottom of the lineup.

He's the first Philly to 100 RBIs this year. He finished the game with 102. He's on the footsteps or doorsteps of 30 home runs, which is like this Castellanos year has been so fascinating because first half, MVP of the team. Second half, way up and down, real big fluctuations looks really good and then goes on like a month stretch he had 11 for 94 streak mixed in there the power was kind of zapped he was chasing all the time and then he'd get hot for the two-week stretch and his numbers would

would um you know reach like an equilibrium i. And what he's done since being dropped down to 6th, 7th, 8th in the lineup, I mean, his OPS is around 1,200, if not higher. He's hitting a lot more home runs. He seems to be working more consistent at bats. And if you're going to get this version of Nick Cassianos in the playoffs, I mean, that's a total game changer. And that's why he is my player of the game, which is brought to you by South Jersey Gas,

committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com. They're getting hot, Castellanos. And I hope it translates over to the postseason because if they're getting this version of Castellanos, who was their best player in the first half, to go with what Turner's been doing, to go with what Schwarber's been doing, to go with what Harper's mostly been doing outside of the last week, week and a half,

it makes this offense and it makes this lineup that much deeper. So it's good to see him down the bottom of the lineup, not totally chasing, and really, really helping this ball club. And my final take here, before we go to some phones here, 215-592-9494 is on the bullpen. You know, on paper, got the job done tonight. I mean, like they held a 5-4 lead. They did their job. They, you know, took care of business. And it's nice to see them kind of handle a close game like that, because you know that as they get into these bigger games, they're mostly going to be closer.

But I liked what he did with Ranger pulling him at that point. You need a righty on Alonzo. He had Jeff Hoffman ready to go. Jeff Hoffman comes in, bang, gets Pete Alonzo out. They're out of the inning, rally dead. And what really stuck out to me, and I was damn near giddy sitting on my couch, was he didn't put them out there for the second inning. And Rob Thompson has been prone to putting relievers out there in second innings

after they get a big out in the inning before. And I just don't think that translates well. So he let Hoffman just go out, do a job. That means he'll be available for tomorrow, and just got him out of there. Let him do his job, get out of there, and it's all good. Kimbrell comes in in the eighth, and some things on Kimbrell. I don't hate using him there.

That is a big spot in the lineup for Kimbrell. In a perfect world, obviously he goes 1-2-3 there, and then you give the bottom of the lineup to Jose Alvarado and it works perfectly. Didn't work perfectly, but Kimbrell, I'm already starting to have these just gnarly

visions in October of a runner gets on first base that has any kind of wheels, bang, all of a sudden he's at second, bang, all of a sudden he's at third. And I understand that at this point, Craig Kimbrell wants to throw strikes. And that's, I do get that. Getting the batter to play is more important, but you have to have some semblance of an ability to hold a runner. And he's just not showing that right now. And I just, I don't, again, I don't understand how he's like 13 years into his career and

his pickoff move involves throwing the, you don't have to throw the ball over 110 miles an hour. I mean, you're going to kill Bryce Harper, or you're going to throw up beyond him, and a runner's going to advance anyway. Can you just almost, you don't have to, figure out something between lobbing it over and not being your fastball. There has to be some kind of in-between.

I don't understand how it's gotten to this point, but whatever has to figure out a way to hold runners on, because it's going to be a huge problem in the postseason. As soon as he lifts the leg, he's long to the plate. He's not giving JT any kind of a shot. Now, to his credit, when it got tight, Kimbrell showed up. He did his job. And shout out to Francisco Alvarez for swinging the first pitch

and kind of taking the momentum right out of that situation. But still, I mean, Kimbrough has been doing this, this high wire act for the last little stretch here. He hasn't allowed a run in every single game, but I mean, yesterday in Atlanta, Friday in St. Louis, just high wire acts. And now the big concern is can this guy hold on runners? Because if he can't it's like it just it just changes you're going to use him in mostly saving and closing situations but it just it does put a

little something in the back of your mind of like can i put him out there if he can't hold a guy at first base because all of a sudden that guy's at second at third and it makes getting the first out that much more important so uh i was i was glad kimbrell was able to do a job, get a job done, but still that holding runners thing as these games get bigger and we get into the postseason, I worry about stuff like that. And finally, I thought Alvarado looked really good. I know Nimmo pulled his hands in and hit a ball to the wall and whatever, but Alvarado has been on a good little stretch for i don't know maybe his last

four outings reaching uh triple digits again he has that feel it seems like he has that feel for that cutter again and i i just i like that he's in these pressure pack situations i mean friday and st louis was able to finish that that job Finished the job tonight. He's being put into tight spots. And Jose Alvarado is delivering. So if you can get Jose Alvarado moving in the right direction, that is a massive win for this baseball team. So overall, and obviously the biggest takeaway of the game is brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm.

Game they should have won by more. They let the Mets hang around. I would like the Phillies to step on a throat here against a bad Mets team. They might be getting Cassianos high at the right time. And this bullpen did a job tonight, but some definite question marks with Craig Kimbrell and his ability to hold on to runners. 2-1-5-5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in.

On the other side, some thoughts on Ranger Suarez from tonight and a whole lot more. Get in now. If you're leaving the ballpark, we'd love to talk to you. Reacting to a big Phil's win. Magic number to make the postseason down to four. Still six to get the number one seed in the wild card round. Jack Fritz here on the final out.

Get in now. 2-1-5, 5--592-9494. 1-1 pitch. Castellanos blasted. Deep left and the game is untied as Castellanos hits one off the facing of the second deck. What a bomb for Nick.

Number 28 on the season. It's a 4 RBI night. Phillies lead it 5-4. Yes, that is my Mike's Amazing Play of the Game presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard and vegetable oil of the Phillies. Nick Cassiano's

4 RBI's tonight including that home run that untied the game and ultimately became the deciding score for tonight. And, man, when he gets in those modes where he's just hitting home runs, that's a beautiful swing. It's a beautiful right-handed swing. Is it frustrating when he's chasing first pitches and swinging at pitches outside the strike zone or grounding in a double play?

Sure. But when he's in one of these modes where the ball is flying out of the yard, it is a pretty, pretty swing. And they seem like they're getting the right kind of version of Cassianos heading into the playoffs. And that is exciting to see. 215-592-9494 is how you get in. This is the final out.

Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable. Never look so good. Jack Fritz, hanging out with you, reacting to Phil's Mets down at Citizens Bank Park tonight, and a one-run win for the Phil's. Now, before we go back to the phones and all that stuff, Ranger Suarez tonight. I think if you look at the final box score,

you just looked at the numbers, you would say, eh, not his best. And you'd be right. I mean, it was not the best Ranger Suarez tonight, but at the same time, he limited the damage all around the game. You know, and I give him some credit for that. I give him some credit for being able to dodge and weave his way in and out of jams

and only allowing a certain amount of runs, not letting things avalanche, not let things get out of control. And ultimately, when it boils down to it, he pitched into the seventh inning. Had Brandon Nimmo not been his dorky self, that's a double play there. And he pitches seven, allowing four earned. And, you know, mostly did a job. I mean, that's doing a job.

Pitching into the seventh had, again, Brandon Nimmo not been an absolute dork. Pitches through the seventh, allowing four. The offense, with the way Nimmo not been an absolute dork, pitches through the seventh, allowing for the offense with the way that that's been going for a little while here, that should be enough on most nights to win a ballgame. Is it a tad frustrating because it's the Mets and that lineup is not great, even though they obviously have some big hitters in it for sure?

But I thought he, like when Ranger was struggling in the middle of the season before they put him on the IR, it was a mixture of a couple things to me. It was bad command, could not locate the fastball both sides of the plate, and just wasn't generating any swings and misses. There was like no deception to any of his stuff. But tonight, I felt like there was a good amount of deception. I thought he generated enough swing and miss. I thought his fastball command on both sides was pretty good. Didn't love his

change of command. Didn't feel like he really had it tonight. Curveball was okay. Overall, I still trust Ranger. If you get that kind of performance in a postseason game, I think you're fine with it. Obviously, when the stakes get bigger, he probably gets pulled a little bit earlier.

But still, I thought it was still a pretty good Rangers-Suarez start tonight. It was not this red flag, hand over the panic button, oh my gosh, here comes Ranger kind of crumbling. I thought he did a good job of limiting the damage throughout. And some simple facts of the matter of Bryson Stott, I think, should have knocked down that ball early in the game. That would have limited that inning to only being one run instead of two. Little things like that that do add up over a baseball game, they matter.

But for the most part, I thought Ranger Suarez was good. And I said this before the game, and I said it. Seltzer's brought this up a couple times in the Iowa podcast, by the way. Come out on Saturday. I mean, as long as it's not rained out. Seltzer and I will be hanging out High Hopes Night at the ballpark. They might have a chance to clinch at least a playoff spot on Saturday if things kind of all work out here. They won't be able to clinch the one seed of the wild card,

which is disappointing. But still, Seltzer and I hanging out. Liberty Landing deck. We'll be there at 2.30 hanging out and going over everything. But, you know, Seltzer had the idea of Ranger Suarez pitching in game two if you're down 0-1, like you lose game one with Zach Wheeler on the mound, because he has the best chance, in my opinion, to get him back to 1-1. Or if it's 1-1, you pitch an 0-1 game two when you're up 1-0,

and you have Ranger waiting in your back pocket. If you lose that game, he can start game three. Plus, if you get to the NLDS, it sets up like last year where he can start game one in Atlanta, and then you hand the ball to Zach Wheeler, and that should give you a good chance to steal a game in Atlanta, which you have to do. You have to steal a game in Atlanta in a five-game series.

Ranger and Wheeler in one of those games give the Phillies a pretty good chance. So, again, not overly concerned about Ranger's night. I thought he was pretty good. Not overwhelming, but did his job and let the Phillies offense hang around before Cassianos gave them a nice 5-4 lead. So, good on Rangers Juarez. 2-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in. We will look ahead to tomorrow and the rest of the weekend

before handing things off to, I believe, Jody Mack coming up next, Tucker. Is it a Monday or Tuesday? It is a Thursday, so it is not Jody Mack. No. Do you want to guess who it is? Oh, this is fun. I always love doing this. Rob Cherry?

Yeah, it is Rob Cherry. Oh, big shot, Bob. He'll take you through the rest of the night. We'll look at it tomorrow and some of the weekend coming up next here on the Final Out. 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. 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. Welcome on back. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Reacting to a Phil's win down at Citizens Bank Park tonight. In front of, what was it, 30-something thousand?

It was, it tends to last little bits, you know. It's calmed down since obviously schools have gotten back in session. It's kind of that awkward waiting for the playoffs to start and, you know, that kind of holdover. But still, no, it's all good. I'm sure this weekend's going to be good. Tomorrow night Scott Rowland gets inducted into the Phillies' Wall of Fame. And, you know, I've been kind of laying the groundwork here. I'm not expecting a standing ovation, not trying to work that into existence.

I just don't want tomorrow night to turn into a big boo-fest. You know, we are in a good spot as a fan base. We have a lot of positive momentum for us. We have, you know, the, the Turner ovation thing, national media kind of being like,

well, maybe Philly's not that bad. You know, San Francisco Niners, 49ers fans are fighting each other in the, in the parking lot tonight or in the, in the, in the stadium tonight.

If that happened here, it's, it's national headlines. So, you know, we're in a pretty good spot. And I think if a national showing where Rowling gets crushed, I just, I think the national media is kind of waiting to pounce. So,

uh, bury the hatchet. And if you're going down tomorrow, I just, I'm not just maybe just a nice round of applause. Doesn't need to be a boo fest. We're in a good spot as a fan base. No need to take a step back tomorrow. So that's tomorrow. And then, again, High Hopes Night on Saturday if you want to come hang with Salter and I out at Liberty Landing Deck. But on the mound tomorrow for

Scott Rollin' Night, Tywon Walker versus Tyler McGill. Tywon, I mean, I guess he's still pitching for a playoff spot. I guess he's pitching for a rotation spot. I just, I don't know how you watch Taiwan Walker. And I mean, of course, you get excused away.

He's got a ton of wins. The offense scores for him. I think that is incredibly faulty logic, trying to play up the whole idea that the offense scores for him. It's like, yeah, of course they score for him because they know that when they show up to the ballpark that day, they're going to need at least five in order to win that game. So it's like, you know, sort of when Wentz went down and it was Foles in there, everyone else was like, oh, bleep. I guess we've got to step our games up and become the best players in football.

Tywin Walker has a 585 VRA in his last seven starts. 8-10 OPS against him. Feels like his command stuff is all over the place. Doesn't have a feel for any of his pitches right now and kind of wearing down. And that's been the story, and that was the story of Tywin Walker as a Met, is he comes out first half really good and then completely tires out in the second half. And it's just, I'm sure they could find a better use of $72 million than having Tywin Walker be essentially just an innings eater.

Like, I could sign an innings eater, but that's all he is right now at this point. And I would not be surprised, and he should be, in the Kyle Gibson role in the postseason. The unfortunate part is that Dave Dombrowski's two big offseason and trade deadline acquisitions for the rotation, both should be not pitching in the postseason. That's not how this whole thing is really designed. pitching in the postseason. That's not how this whole thing is really designed.

I guess in the Phillies' mind, he has a chance to go out tomorrow and maybe pitch his way into the playoff rotation, but at this point, after they hopefully make it through the wildcard round, for me, it goes, and this is not

because I know Wheeler probably wouldn't start game one of the NLDS. But my four starters in the NLDS are Wheeler, Nola, Ranger, Chris Sanchez. And it's as simple as that. And Chris Sanchez, you can make the case, has been their second best starter. So I can't take that out of the lineup for Tywin Walker. Like, I just can't do that. And it's showing Chris Sanchez that no matter how well you pitch, you're never getting it.

And that's not something that I think is totally fair. So, Tyler Walker on the mound tomorrow. Maybe he can surprise us. I don't know. But either way, he's going up against Tyler McGill, who has really good stuff. You know, when he's on, he's kind of like a lot of these Mets pitchers. Like, good stuff, but massively inconsistent.

A 4-5 ERA in his last eight starts, but has some power stuff. A lot like David Peterson got in a rhythm tonight. Maybe Tyler McGill does the same tomorrow. Either way, I will be leading you into the game with leading off and reacting to it after the

game here on the final out on a Friday night down at Citizens Bank Park. That's going to do it for me. Tucker Bagley produced the final out tonight. Rob Cherry's got you coming on next. He'll take you through the rest of the night here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.