High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Step Right Up and Beat The Mets

Episode Date: June 24, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies 5-1 win over the Mets on a rain-soaked field Friday night. 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

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Meet the Mets. Step right up and That's right, welcome on in It is the final out, sponsored by Regency Furniture Affordable, never looks so good Jack Fritz hanging out with you on this I guess like an overcast Friday night I mean, all day it seemed like there's no way to get this game in They end up getting the game in and apparently the Mets can't play in the rain.

Or the Mets can't play at all. The Mets this year are an absolute complete... They trade a player during the game tonight. Eduardo Escobar is traded in the middle of the game tonight. What are we doing? I tell you what. It wasn't the prettiest

of wins, obviously. The Mets essentially handed that game to the Phillies. But a win's a win. You take it, and you just have to hope that tomorrow you go out and stamp a win in the win column when it comes to winning a series. 215-592-9494. Jack Fritz hanging out with you, reacting to the Phillies winning tonight 5-1 down at Citizens Bank Park. And, you know, there's a couple takeaways that obviously I want to get

into. I mean, the first big takeaway is that Mets team just looks dead. They look dead. They look despondent. They don't look like they want to be there. Like, they are what I think people largely think this Phillies team team is which i don't like i think the phillies are a good team that is developing into a good base like a really good baseball team um that played the braves earlier this week and the braves are a great team the braves are great now they lost the reds tonight um so i mean god forbid you know they could lose a ball game now it doesn't help because the Reds have won 12 straight now. And Elie De La Cruz hit for the cycle.

But still, you know, the Braves lost, whatever. Maybe the Reds are really good. Either way, that Mets team just looks noncompetitive. And they have the highest payroll in baseball history. No one looks like they like playing with each other. Like Francisco Lindor, who used to be like the happiest player in baseball, he even looks sad being a Met. Like that team is just, it's a sad sack of an organization. I mean, like sure, Nimmo's a hard-o and Pete Alonso's a loser, McNeil's a loser, but it's just like everyone on that team looks like they don't want to be there.

I mean, it's so – given that, what, two and a half weeks ago, the Phillies went out there and got swept, and people were like, oh, my God, are they ever going to be better than the Mets? And here we are. I believe since then the Mets have won four games and the Phillies have won 14. So it's just a tale of two teams just going in completely opposite directions.

But man, if you're a Mets fan and you're driving home, like probably going over I-95, you're welcome. We got that done just in time for you actually I don't often welcome the calls from Mets fans but holy cow I mean they've gone from like alive

to just dead again Eduardo Escobar got traded in the middle of the game tonight he's like their opening day third baseman that's hilarious. So, any despondent Mets fan that wants to chime in, would love to hear from you. 215-592-9494.

Of course, if you're leaving the ballpark, you're a Phils fan, get in. I mean, this is a good night. A win that, again, wasn't the most crisp. I mean, I can't sit up here and lie to you and say, oh, the offense, they clicked tonight. No, they didn't. I mean, I can't sit up here and lie to you and say, oh, the offense, they clicked tonight. No, they didn't. I mean, the Mets dropped the ball. They dropped two balls.

I mean, Schwarber was able to get on. I mean, credit to the Phillies. They played some small ball with Stott. Trey Turner had the big hit late, and that was good. You know, Trey Turner getting that hit. He had been scuffling for a little bit here. He was striking out a good amount. Still a good amount of strikeouts tonight for the Phillies offense. Seven strikeouts. All in all, Kodai Senga has been pretty good against them tonight.

He was thankfully walking some players. But yeah, I mean, offense still leaving me a little bit to be desired. I can't get too ahead of myself because the Mets dropped two fly balls that are routine that would have probably changed the outcome of this game. Now, Phil's bullpen, Phil's pitching did their job, so that was good. But for the most part, I wish I could be more

fired up about the offense, but I viewed that more as the Mets gave a game away more than the Phillies offense kind of went out there and took it. Trey Turner getting the hit in that moment's good. He needed that, get a little bit of positive momentum heading into the series. So that was good to see regardless. My second big takeaway is obviously the pitching of Tywon Walker. And for the first two months of the year, and a lot of it was rightfully so.

He was not pitching well. And there's a lot of cries for, oh, where's Zach Eflin? And I love Zach Eflin. And he's been really good for the Rays this year. Last 10 starts, Tywon Walker's been better. And it was viewed as an overpay for a majority of the season.

Four years, $72 million. Dave Dombrowski made a mistake here, signed Tom Walker. He's been anything but that recently. He was great tonight. Whatever mechanical change they made in the bullpen after the last start in New York, it has just paid massive dividends. The last start in New York, it has just paid massive dividends. Every little thing with him, you see an uptick, velocity uptick.

He's throwing harder. He is, I feel like, locating better. And that splitter is just a way more devastating weapon when it's off of 94-95 rather than 91-92. It's a completely different pitch. So that's been encouraging. I feel like he got more sliders, cutters over tonight. So last four starts for Tywon Walker. 26 innings pitched, two earned.

Two earned runs. That is some damn good pitching by Tywon Walker. Two straight dominant performances on Friday nights. And that is why he is obviously our 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. Slash love my home.

215-592-9494 is how you get in. And my final thing and my final takeaway from the game tonight is about Bryce Harper. And I know he's frustrated because he's not hitting for power. But that can't happen. You can't get thrown out of a game because of a missed call and at bat earlier in the game. You can't let it translate over. You can't let it carry over. You're too great and you're too important to this team

to let that kind of stuff happen. And when you make that moment about you, it feels like when the team's winning, you don't feel a part of it. And I can't have that because I need this team to be a cohesive unit. And that's what truly leads to championships. What Bryce Harper was doing last postseason was obviously great at the plate. But I thought what was really important for him was whatever, obviously I was not in the dugout, but everything we hear was he was walking up and down the dugout saying, we ain't losing. Something of that effect. And when your star player is that locked in, that intense, like setting the tone,

you saw what the Phillies played like last year. You saw the level of play that they reached. year. You saw the level of play that they reached. And I don't think it was all Bryce Harper, but I think Bryce being the whole we ain't losing, and that's his mentality, and those guys feeding off of that. You saw

this team reach heights that we haven't seen them reach since really 2009. And it's really started with a Tigers game in the smog where he hit the ball on the wall, came in the dugout and threw his stuff you know

it was two days ago that was yesterday hit a ball right at Michael Harris it was smoked, he got there came in, threw all of his stuff and then tonight it was a bad call. It was 100% a bad call.

But a hole at bat, and like, I don't know, 45 minutes to an hour later, you have a non-competitive at bat, and you're still complaining about a strike call from an at-bat ago that was 45 minutes to an hour before? Like, Bryce has to calm down, and has to let the game come to him. Because it feels like right now, he's just trying to make up for all the missed time with the home runs and making it about that. Like, your team was winning 5-1 tonight. If that's a 2-1 ballgame,

if they're tied, if they're only up by a little bit, and he gets thrown out of the game and they come back and lose, I mean, the city's in meltdown mode because that can't happen. Now you're up 5-1. Bullpen seems like they have it under wraps. Like, it gets excused away, but that's only because you won the game. So I understand Bryce is frustrated and he's the best player. He's a former MVP and he wants to do more. And I like that. But I think the message

that it sends is like, I'm not doing well. So like the rest of the team, you know, should be down as well when they're winning a game 5-1 over the New York Mets. So I hope the power comes because I don't like having to do this. I mean, what was it, Tuesday night? He goes up in the eighth inning and three straight sliders, the last one being a 58-footer, just swings right over top of it. And it's like, what the hell was that? Because you're not hitting home runs? We're putting together non-competitive at-bats?

Now, he got the hit in the first inning to drive home a run. That's good. If I could have one message to Bryce, it's just like, the power's going to come. Calm down. And don't make the power struggle about you.

Help the team win. For the most part, he has. But that was disappointing tonight. That was disappointing tonight. 2-1-5-5-9-2. 94-94 is how you get in. Let's go to Matt in Wilmington. What's happening, Matt?

Hey, Jack. Just came back from the game with my good buddy Aaron, who I went to college with. Awesome. He is a Mets fan. Oh, I'm sorry, Aaron. Extra sweet. Got to enjoy that great win,

especially coming from Tyjuan Walker on Friday night. That was a good one. Pitching against this former team. And I didn't catch all of what you said about the splitter before, but it seems like he's tunneling it better off the fastball um and if he can do that I think like you can see it now his efficacy just skyrockets um and like between him Ranger Wheeler and although we lost Nola the last start I think like if this rotation can stay steady we're putting ourselves in a great position by the deadline. Yeah, totally. And time on has been great.

The whole kind of rotation has rounded the form here a little bit. The fifth starter spot is obviously an issue. But if they keep beating up on bad teams like they do with the Mets, they can really go on a nice little bit of a run here. I'm just shocked at how dead that Mets team looks. I mean, I'm sure you can feel it in the ballpark, but it seemed like no one wanted to be there. The Francisco Lindor play with Marsh, it's like, what are you doing?

Like, that's your ball. I am shocked at how quickly things have turned for that Mets team. It honestly reminds me a little bit of the 2021 Mets where they just kind of fumbled. And there's that great series. things have turned for that Mets team it honestly reminds me a little bit of the 2021 Mets where they they just kind of fumbled by and there's that great series I think we took the lead in the NL East in like July obviously it didn't pan out well that season never but yeah we it was like the three games at home against the Mets and and Wheeler pitched like a gem on the holiday retirement day it was the whole thing I think I was at a couple of those games. But, yeah, I remember, like, it was that bias year

where the Mets just seemed out of whack. And it kind of echoes of that right now with this current roster they have. But we'll see. We'll see. Just keep plugging along. That's right. Make sure you rub it in the hallway home. You know, make fun of your little Mets fan the hallway home

because it might be a long summer up in New York. 215-592-9494 is how you get in. If you're leaving the ballpark, we'd love to hear your reaction to the Phil's win tonight. If you're a Mets fan that just needs like a nice therapy couch, we'll be that couch because Mets fans' tears, they frankly fuel me. 215-592-9494. Something stood out to me tonight Along with the Mets futility

And what not And it really stood out to me when it comes to This team's plan Coming up about a month and ten days From now what is it we'll get to that And more of your phone calls coming up next here on The Final Out Hey fantasy football owners the road to winning your

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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 Perception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Walker looks at first.

He kicks the pitch. Swung on, popped up. Out of the shadow left. Lindor going out. He's settling under it, and he lets it fall. Miscommunication. It falls in. They throw to second second but Boehm

hustles in safely. Stott is in to score as the Mets miscommunicate and the Phillies cash in 3-1. That was 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 Final Out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable, never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you, reacting to the Phillies' win tonight. And, yes, that play, you know, obviously a miscommunication, but, like, Lindor just basically being like, ah, I'm going to go down to a knee and we'll see what happens.

Maybe lost it in the rain. I thought we were about to get into a nice little rain delay there. Thank God that didn't happen. You know, Phil's game gets over all good into final out. But, man, just some peak Mets futility tonight down at Citizens Bank Park. So, good to see Phil's win. And it was nice. I was watching the game on Apple TV,

and I was actually able to hear Franski's call of that because they have that nice feature where it syncs up the game with Franski and L.A. So, like, I know maybe no one was able to watch the game tonight because it was on Apple TV. But if you can figure out Apple TV, it does have the feature where you can just listen to Franski in LA. It syncs it up perfectly. It's not like you have to

pause it and try to wait for the radio to catch up. They do that for you. I think that's all Tom Kelly, right, Tucker? Putting that together because he's an engineering genius, right? I think a lot of things Tom Kelly does is underappreciated here. For sure. He's definitely

the most underappreciated person at WIP sure for sure he's he's definitely the most underappreciated uh person at wip um one thing that that stood out to me tonight and we'll go back to the phone calls in one second but the one thing that really stood out to me tonight is how good this starting staff is and i i know the whole big conversation around the phillies It feels like it's a couple things. But two of the main things are the fifth starter spot and Aaron Nola. That's what a lot of people think are going to hold the Phillies back this year. Well, I thought Aaron Nola was great against the Diamondbacks, even though he had that one bad inning. There's also bad defense that inning.

There's some plays he should have got out of it. Of course, you don't want to see him let up a home run to Ketel Marte to make it a 4-3 game. I totally get that. But he struck out nine. If the Phillies defenders do their job, who knows how that game goes. I felt like that was more of a positive start than a negative start. Was it perfect? No. Was there some vintage NOLA moments? Yes. But for the most part, it was a good start. And then the last start against the Braves yesterday was really good. It wasn't perfect, but it was a really, really good start. So I just, if I'm Dave Dombrowski and I'm putting myself in his shoes

and I'm watching Aaron Nola, I almost just have to put a hope and a prayer out there that he's going to turn this around rather than planning around Aaron Nola. And then I get to the fifth starter spot, which yeah, it's obviously not great having a bullpen game. And when you have a bullpen game, like you had Saturday against the A's, where Chris Sanchez gives you four innings, looks pretty good. Hopefully tomorrow he does his job and it goes well. But when you have to use all of those pitchers, it hurts you in a game like Tuesday where you have to bring Jeff Hoffman into the game rather than winning your studs.

And when you're down Sir Anthony, that's not a great spot to be in. But the takeaway for me tonight is, and the Phillies starting staff since June 3rd, they're 14-4 as a team. But the starting staff is a 1.61 ERA in that time. 19 earned runs in 106 innings. It's the lowest ERA by Phillies starting pitchers over an 18-game span since 1964.

So, I mean, that was the year that they blew the pennant. So either way, either way. The Phillies starting staff's on a good roll. Ranger's been great. Tyler Walker's been great. Zach Wheeler's been great. Nola, hit or miss, but positive signs. Fifth starter spot, yeah.

Could it be Andrew Painter, who is, I think, going to start a Clearwater rehab assignment next week? Could it be him? Sure. They could go out and get a nice fourth, fifth starter, whatever. This team needs bats. And I can't believe we're here, but this team needs more bats. They're not hitting home runs. The runners in scoring position thing is a problem.

They are not, for the life of me, I can't figure out why they go back into these stretches where just terrible approaches at the plate. Where it's like, was there a plan? These last three games, I feel like the approaches have just gone down the drain.

Even Oakland on Saturday was bad. Sunday was eh. It feels like they go into these funks where the whole offense just decides, eh, we'll see what happens. Let's go up there swinging. No, like, let's have a plan. So when you're playing Cody Clemens, who has won for his last 23, I believe,

and it was batting 185 in June with no home runs, and Emundo Sosa, who I love defensively, offensively just not doing it. And that's a shame because I thought that he was going to take a step forward this year at the plate. Alec Boehm, like the power just has not developed enough. They're going to need to go out and get a bat. And the day Bryce plays first, I'll believe it, frankly. Like I can't operate out of the belief he's going to play first.

I think they probably need to go get a first baseman, and I think Schwarber is going to be your everyday left fielder. But the Phillies right now have one guy in double digits in home runs, and that's Kyle Schwarber. That's just something that has been really sticking out to me the last couple days. They need to go get a bat.

If you don't want to give up what it takes to get Paul Goldschmidt, there's obviously going to be other bats available. I feel like most teams are going to be looking for a starter type, like a Shane Bieber. But the Phillies really, really... I mean, a month and 10 days-ish

from the trade deadline, a bat is now priority number one for me. 215-592- 9494. Blake in Narborough. What's happening, Blake? Hey, Jack. Really great win tonight from the perspective

that that is 14 wins out of our last 18 games. It sends those Mets fans homes upset. And with the Marlins and Braves both finally losing, we make up some ground.

And with the starting pitching, Taiwan walkers start today really encapsulate this stretch. And that's been the starting pitching, Taiwan Walker's start today really encapsulated this stretch. And that's been the starting pitching from the start of June to today. Our starting pitching is first in FIP, WIP, WAR, and ERA. And that has been what has turned around this season.

Totally. Totally. I mean, like, he got off to a really poor start. Totally. I mean, like, he got off to a really poor start. And whatever the – I guess they wanted him to be more athletic after the Mets start up in Queens a couple weeks ago. And ever since then, I mean, his ERA's – I think it's down to, like, 1.5 in those starts.

He's been really, really good. Fastball, VLOs, everything's ticked up. And it's really just – what I like about where the staff is right now is that it finally feels like they're starting to try to one-up each other. And that's what the great staffs do. It's like, all right, you went on and did that. I'm going to go do that tomorrow. And it feeds and it breeds competitiveness.

And I think that's what you're seeing out of a lot of these guys. Definitely. And I do want to touch on the point you made regarding um getting a bat at the deadline um the sosa clemens platoon isn't working at the moment and i heard the point you made i was trading for paul goldschmidt but from a statistical point of view and obviously this all depends on the parker can play first base yep you have to get rid of schber defensively his defensive worth at the moment is negative 1.9 and out above average is the worst in baseball by far his sprint speed is significantly lower than it was last year the difference offensively between Harper and Goldschmidt would be negligible but the off but the defensive production would be able to improve on the team

would be significant and you could add a good bat in someone like Wayne Thomas, Gritchick, Will Myers, Adam Duvall. You could get someone like that and improve the defense. It wouldn't be the flashiest move like Paul Goldsmith, but I think it could improve the offense and the defense. And that's the best move to improve this team at the moment. Yeah, well, and Blake, I appreciate the call. And it's good stuff.

All of that is dependent on if Bryce Harper can play first base, which the Phillies know better than I do. Like, the Phillies know if he can play first base. They are planning for that, and I get that. I'm more of the assumption, like, until he does, I don't know if he will. Now, if he does, Blake brings up Adam duvall like perfect you know the gold glove caliber center fielder playing left that was just he's now back from injury but was just mashing uh gritchick i have no real interest in lane thomas is really good i feel like he cost a lot like not

a lot but more than they probably willing to spend and will myers was df8 so they could just sign him if they wanted to but that's the problem problem with, like, you can't just make Schwab with a DH because then obviously it takes Bryce out. So it's all contingent on if Bryce Harper can play first base, and I just don't know if that's true, if that can happen. All right. I was told to stop talking because Jim in South Jersey had to get on WIP. What's happening, Jim?

Hey, what's up, Jackie? What's up, brother? How are you? The Phillies were all the way back, baby. I'm telling you. This is a series where we turn it around. They were already turning it around, Jim. They were turning it around.

They had a minor blip in the radar against the Braves, and now they're back. I mean, it's only two games. It is what it is. But we need another arm. Go out and go get Strowman. I'm telling mean, it's only two games. It is what it is. But we need another arm. Go out and go get Strowman. I'm telling you, that's the missing piece. The offense is going to come around.

We're going to score runs. And we're going to catch up to their base. We're going to win the division. I'm telling you right now. This is it right here. You were close to dropping that bomb there. I'm calling it, Jack. I'm calling it right now.

So, June 23rd, 11.08 p.m., Jim in South Jersey. Phil's win the division. That's the official prediction? Hell yeah, brother. Yeah. That's why I love you, Jim. That's why I love you. Love you too, Jack.

Let's go, Phil, baby! Appreciate the call, brother. Stroman will be fun. I mean, Stroman has been brilliant this year. Bulldog kind of pitcher. Fun on the mound. I think the city connects really well with him. Be fun.

I just, I look at the offense. I look at the staff and how they've been. I feel like I feel pretty good about four starters. I definitely feel good about three starters. We'll see with Nola. And we'll see with Painter. I mean, Painter's another wild card. There's two real wild cards to

the trade deadline thing. It is Andrew Painter, and it's Bryce playing first base. And they've got to determine what they can bank on. Because that's what it's going to come down to. 215-592-9494. We'll get to your calls on the other side, but we'll also look ahead to tomorrow before handing

things off to Tom Kelly. All of that is coming up next here on The Final Out. Welcome back. It is The Final Out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you for the next couple minutes until Tom Kelly takes over until 2 o'clock here on WIP. Let's go back to the phones and talk to Brandon and Scranton.

What's happening, Brandon? Hey, man. The guys look good today. Taiwan, Taiwan out there did its thing. Bullpen did their job. We had a few miscues, but the difference is the old Phillies, we don't capitalize

on the miscues. We capitalize today. You guys kind of talked about it a little bit. We have some options. This year, we have options. Do we go after a pitcher? Do we go after an outfielder? Do we go after a first baseman? We

have that option this year to figure things out. Other than that, the guys look good. Happy to be there. We've got to get on the Braves. Thankfully, the Braves lost tonight. I think this is going to be the first year. The Ohapi trade was pretty big last year because he was the number one hitting prospect.

I feel like this is going to be the year that they trade away some names to really try to put this team over the top. I don't even know if it's going to be for rentals. Goldschmidt has a year and a half left. They have players like Dylan Cease that has two years left after this year. I just think that this is going to be the year that they kind of push

some of their chips in because they know this is their window. Yeah. In my opinion, I don't think I'd trade Mick Abel, Gary, Painter. I wouldn't trade Painter, but I think they're going to trade one of McGarry or Abel. You think they're going to leave one of them on the table? Yeah, well, I think Painter's untouchable,

and then I think they'll choose between Abel or McGarry to try to go out and get a guy. I mean, we finally have the depth to do something you know in the past couple years we we haven't had it now we do um i think we go and get it you know we're fighting for the wild card spot yeah we're 10 games back nine games back uh if they lost tonight um you know we're right there we're right we're right in the the distance we just got to figure it out unfortunately the braves got hot just as we got hot. And, you know, we're still a couple games back, but I think we'll figure it out.

Yeah, man. And I appreciate the call, Brandon. And the actually unfortunate part about it is that the Braves got hot, the Reds got hot, the Giants got hot, and the Marlins got hot. Like, they all got hot at the same time as the Phils. And it's like, well, hold on. I needed us to make up some ground here. And they didn't really make up much ground.

So regardless, as long as you continue to win series, you should be able to get back in this thing. Now, the one name that does intrigue me from the standpoint of, do you want a left fielder? Do you want a first baseman? Do you want whatever? Is if they do a deal with the Cubs, if the Cubs fall out of it, I mean, Cody Bellinger fits both of those cards.

He can play left field, he can play center field if you want to put Martian left regardless. He can also play first base. And he's on a one-year deal. He has a mutual option for next year. It's $5.5 million buyout, whatever. Been pretty good this year. But if you're looking for almost like a

best of both worlds kind of scenario, I mean, Bellinger could do it. He is another left-handed bat. But, again, I mean, he's a guy that could fit kind of both things. He hasn't banged up. He's coming back from injury, but it's been a pretty good

bounce back here for him. He's batting.252,.773 OPS. Obviously not the player he was out in L.A. for the beginning of his career. But you'd be getting a guy that plays gold glove caliber outfield and good first base. So that's one to kind of monitor. Tom is in North Wales. What's happening, Tom? That's one of the kind of monsters. Tom is in North Wales.

What's happening, Tom? Yeah. We're all talking about what we're going to do here. Right. So what do we have to give up for Goldschmidt? I would think we'd start with Mick Abel, and then the center field prospect, Johan Rojas, and then another piece probably. Yeah.

So what's that do to our lineup? Well, you add Paul Goldschmidt to it. I know. What happens to Schwarber on that? Schwarber stays in the left field. Yep. Stays in the left field. So as long as we don't have to give up Painter,

then we go with it, don't we? Or no? I think so. Am I wrong? No, I mean, I'm with you. And you could probably add a Jack Flaherty to that deal, who is expiring at the end of this year, or Jordan Montgomery, same kind of thing.

You can add those guys if you do want starter depth just to have. They'll probably ask for Painter, but the Phillies are going to say no. You better say no, right? Yes, they will. The Cardinals would not get Goldschmidt for a painter. But you say it like

it's so... Well, because I know they'll say no to it. There's no way they would do that. So, I really feel'll say no to it. Like, there's no way they would do that. So, I really feel like we have to. In deference to Clemens, you know, Roger's son playing first base. I mean, we do it.

I'm totally with you, Tom mean like yeah I've been kind of beating that drum for a little bit here it would stink because Schwarber would be left for the rest of the year probably in an ideal world again like if you wanted to go get Bellinger and he can do both and whatever doesn't totally fix the first base

thing but regardless and obviously doesn't help the DH thing like a lot of this just comes down to Bryce if Bryce can do it doesn't help the DH thing. Like a lot of this just comes down to Bryce. If Bryce can do it. But yeah, the trade deadline. Last year they were kind of in on it, but I feel like people didn't know the players.

The nice part about this trade deadline is that people are going to really know the players. And the Goldschmidt thing I think is going to heat up. Jim Bowden wrote a whole piece in The Athletic today about how the Phillies and Cardinals, they feel like a match for each other with the Goldschmidt thing. So it's going to be one to monitor. And this next month is going to be fun from that standpoint.

Tomorrow, Chris Sanchez versus Max Scherzer. Definitely feels like a bit of a pitching mismatch. But Max Scherzer, I respect him because he's a Hall of Famer and first ballot and all that. He hasn't been the same guy. He was really good last outing against the Astros, went eight innings. He went eight, one run, all that.

But the two starts before that, he allowed 11 combined earned runs. So he's been just kind of up, down, up, down. Now, because he's back sure, so you're getting some respect. Chris Sanchez was good out in Oakland. Now it's the A's lineup versus the Mets lineup, so should be a step up in competition there. But again, with Chris Sanchez, if he can just, like, I'm not asking for the world here.

If he can just give me five innings, I'll take that every single day of the week. Five innings, less than three runs, or three runs or less, I'll take that every single day of the week and give this team a chance to win a ballgame. But regardless, Chris Sanchez versus Max Scherzer tomorrow at 4 o'clock. Obviously, you can hear that on WIP.

And actually, Seltzer and I will be leading into the game, Go Birds Radio into leading off. So that'll be a lot of fun. Tucker Bagley produced the program tonight. And Tom Kelly's got you next. He'll take you through the rest of the night here on WIP.