High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: That's More Like It!

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies' 8-0 win over the Pirates and comments on Cristopher Sanchez's strong 7 innings as well as Justin Crawford's big offensive performance. Presented by Miller Lite.To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com

Miller Light, the official beer partner of your Philadelphia Phillies, is proud to serve as presenting sponsor of WIP's High Hopes Pod. So whether you're listening to the game, catching off on the latest High Hopes Pod or at the ballpark. Remember, it tastes like Miller time, Phillies fans. Celebrate responsibly. Welcome on in. It is the final out, sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority, offering valet park at Philadelphia Airport. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here on this Tuesday night, reacting to a. Phillies win. That is much more like it. Should be up to O in this series.

Regardless, they bounce back tonight with a true team effort. The game wrap up is sponsored by Roto Router when plumbing problems hit. Wrap them up quick and call Roto Router. Their team tackles, clogs, and leaks to stay in the game. Roto Router, your MVP for plumbing solutions. 215, 592, 94, to get in. and react to this one tonight. I know it was a big fireworks night down at the ballpark,

so I'm sure that many stuck around to see them. But if you're in your car stuck in traffic, we'd love to get your takeaways from the game tonight. Or if you watch this one on your couch like I did slash drove the boys around to get them to sleep, I would love to hear your takes from the game tonight. The biggest takeaways of the game, though, are brought to you by Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm. And like I mentioned, an all-around good team win.

And obviously Sanchez sets the tone with the way that he throws tonight, didn't let the pirates up for air, 16 innings of scoreless baseball against that Pirates team this year. And that's a Pirates team that not like the biggest names in baseball, They can hit. They're a lot like the Nationals, where the Nationals don't have a bunch of household names, but they have the third most runs scored in baseball, if not higher. And the Pirates, you know, they're top five in a lot of offensive categories.

Would beg the question, what are they doing with the talent they have versus what are we doing with the talent that we have? But regardless, that's a discussion for another day, especially the night when they put up an eight spot. But Sanchez sets the tone. We'll get more into that in a second. I thought it was their best defensive game in a while. One of the things that helped them write the ship so far, or after Rob Thompson got fired,

was they went on like a 15-game streak of not recording an error. And there's been a little bit of a slippage here in the last week, some sloppy play. Last night I thought was particularly sloppy. both JT and T. and T. May bad plays in that inning where Aaron Nola blows up. So, Noah

wasn't great, but it also wasn't like the defense was great behind him either. And tonight, I thought the defense really stepped up and did their job. Baum was phenomenal. Stott made a good play. Harper made a couple good plays over at first base. Need that kind of stuff if you're going to win in October.

And you don't want to see them go back into old bad habits and start to relax, I guess, in a way. So I thought defensively they needed a game like that. They needed to be locked in. I'm sure that there was some stern conversations after yesterday's game. Losing a game like that, we're at 5-0. Wasn't all Aaron Nola.

He didn't help. Wasn't all Chase Sugar. He didn't help. There was also some defense that aided that Pirates come back yesterday. So defensively great, pitching great, and timely hitting. I mean, there's Justin Crawford's best game of the season, if not at least the best game in a little while. He's on a good little streak.

Trey, happy 33rd birthday, Trey, starting to find his stroke, I think, as well. And then just tacking on some runs late and really putting that thing away and not letting the Pirates believe they can come back and win that game. And all around, great, great win. by the boys tonight. 215, 592, 94-94. Sanchez, you know,

kind of opens talking about, but just a massive effort from the standpoint of we know where this bullpen is at. This bullpen is fighting for their life. They probably cannot wait for that off day on Friday. And with his ability to go seven tonight,

if that was a closer game, I wonder if Mademly puts him back out there for the eighth. I believe he was at 91 pitches. 91 or 92 pitches. And he kind of cruised through that seventh. So I thought maybe Maddenly would give him the eighth. Maybe if it was a closer game, he would have. But with the extended lead, he handed the ball over to Jonathan Boland, who did his job.

Wasn't the easiest of innings to have runners on first and second. But it wasn't like he walked the guy and then a pretty weak base hit. So good as he bowling get back out there back on track. Sanchez ERA is back down to 2.0. which is great. And that is now 24 straight starts at CBP without allowing more than two earned runs in a start. That's remarkable.

And L.A. said early in the broadcast tonight that his ERA at home this year is 0.75, I believe. So that will obviously go down tonight. But Chris Sanchez bounced back performance after his last performance. there was never a big fear, I don't think, of a Sanchez huge regression. It was good to see him get back on the horse, write the ship, and look like the Chris Sanchez that we had seen, obviously, for a majority of this season,

and re-solidify himself as hopefully the guy that can start the All-Star game at CBP. The Otani thing from Day Roberts bothered me about how he's going to start the game if he's, I've got to find the exact quote, but basically he would start the game. if he's going to pitch, he's going to start the game because of the DH thing, which is annoying. One of those guys, Wheeler or Sanchez, deserve to start the game. We don't need Otani barging in and making it about the Dodgers. 215-592-94-to-get-in.

Let's kick it off with my lead-off hitter. Dave and Maryland. What's happening, Dave? It was nice to see a nice, clean, just a clean baseball game for a while. even like last week, they're all kind of comeback wins and, you know, great. But like tonight, it was start to finish. Really impressed with Crawford tonight is at bat, first at bat, you know, just fouling pitches off. And he's starting to come into his own a little bit the last week or two where he's, you know, getting some, you know,

he's never going to be a power hitter. He's never going to walk a lot. But, you know, the things that you saw in the minor leagues, you know, a lot of just just a lot of some goofy hits. but getting on base and really helping getting the lineup turned over. I was really impressed with that. And obviously, Sanchez, I think after that inning streak, you're bound to have a game like the last one where you're kind of just not right. And it was just nice to see him bounce back.

And tomorrow night should be a great pitching matchup with Giller and Skeens and looking forward to watching that. Yeah, I can't wait, David. I appreciate the phone call. And in Sanchez's case, you know, he, at least early, was really relying upon that slider. I don't think he's had a great feel for his change-up, the last couple of starts. Later in this start, I think he did find it again. But that slider, I think he got five strikeouts on his slider tonight,

which was tied for a career high, which he did last start with five strikeouts on that slider. So I do think he has lost a bit of the feel for the change-up. I do think he found it late, which is good to see. And it is nice that at least he has that third pitch to where he feels like he can go to it. So, you know, it's not the same thing as Wheeler. You know, Wheeler has seven pitches or whatever. If two aren't working, then he feels like he has enough to still get through an outing. Sanchey only has three pitches.

But at least that slider has gotten to a point where he feels comfortable enough to use it aggressively and chase strikeouts. So good to see that and good to see the change of come back late and hopefully that translates over into his next start. On the other side, we'll get to the player of the game and some of our other thoughts from tonight. All of that's coming up next here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIP. Good night for Justin Crawford.

Big hit there with the base is loaded. A double later that seemed like the... Brian Reynolds didn't make the best play on. A nice sack bunt that put Derek Hill into scoring position before Trey Turner drove him home, and then a nice little cherry on top, single up the middle late in the game to make it a 3-for-3 night for Justin Crawford,

which is why he is my player of the game, brought to you by South Jersey Gas. Make the smart play, save energy, and money with South Jersey Gas at SJG SaveEnergy.com. and I don't know if everyone has noticed us at home, but he has made some significant swing adjustments. I guess not significant, but little swing adjustments recently.

Lower his hands a little bit. I think that's helping him be quicker to the baseball. Is not going more of the no-stride approach. If you remember a couple years ago with Stott, that's what they did with him as well. I went to more of a no-stride, like a two-strike approach all the time. And that helped him kind of get out of his early season slump. And maybe they're trying something similar with Justin Crawford,

but you definitely notice the lowering of the hands to try to get to baseballs. And it's been, it's been good. You know, he had the, I think it happened after the Mizoroski game, which seems like a crazy game to decide to change your batting stance or whatever. But it's worked. His last 47 at bat, I know it's a very specific time period, but last 15 games, he is hitting 362. And that hit down the third baseline.

It's a lot of what we saw when he was in the minor leagues, hit up the middle. Same kind of thing. He has power. I don't think he's Ben Revere. Ben Revere had nothing. No thump whatsoever. I do think there is raw power in Justin Crawford. I'm not talking about raw power from the standpoint of he's going to hit 20 to 25 home runs.

but I think that there is a I think there's more doubles I think there's some wiry strength to Justin Crawford and all of a sudden his average is up to 256 it was in the 230s for a little bit there low 240s I don't it's going to happen this year

I mean hopefully he can end the year hitting like 270-ish but in watching Justin Crawford he looks like a 280 type of hitter with 320 to 330 OVP and a 700 plus OPS, Pops 7 to 10 home runs a year. It's a quality major league player. Is he a star?

I don't think he's a star, but I think he's a quality major league player. And not for nothing, I do think his defense has gotten better out there in center field. We haven't had a blunder like we had early in the season in a little while. Knock on wood. But I think the game maybe is slowing down for him a little bit out there. The Phillies did ask this kid to play center field full time after kind of juggling back and forth between left field and center field in the minor leagues and hit the big league level when he didn't get any big league experience. Justin Crawford had no big league experience heading into this year. And the Phillies handed him that job and said, learn how to play center field.

and you're going to play every day, you're not going to get your feet wet at the major league level. We're putting you out there sink or swim time in essence. So I think he deserves a lot of credit for where he is at. And certainly starting to show signs of life at the plate, maybe as the stuff in the field has slowed down. Next step would be playing against left-handed pitching. If they can get him going against lefties,

and you can go him in center and Marsh and left against lefties as well. You know, just makes things a little bit easier. But Justin Crawford, I think, is starting to turn the corner. Another guy, you know, well, I'll get to the trade coming up next segment. But some other things that kind of stuck out tonight, good hustle by Marsh on, he hit a ball back to the pitcher and he was able to beat it out to make it 5-0. They ended up winning 8-0, but still it's only a 4.

four-nothing game. The Pirates have a good offense. I don't think something like that should go unnoticed. So I thought that was a good hustle play by him. I thought Lutrovino, who is up now for Chase Shugert, who I think just needs a little bit of a reset. He has pitched a lot recently. I still think there's a good arm in Chase Shugart. I just think that he needs a little bit of a breather. And it's not a leverage arm at all. I think he's like a sixth inning guy, fifth inning guy, and in a pinch late, but he was pitching some relatively big spots for this team recently. Trevino looked like he had some interesting stuff.

That cutter at 92, he threw over and over again, threw a pretty hard sweeper that danced. And I guess up at Lehigh Valley, they tinkered with his pitch mix a little bit, and he didn't have a lot of run with the Iron Pigs. So maybe he's someone who could help this bullpen. I don't think he's going to be a lever. type arm, but I think he's someone that can be a decent backend type.

A lot like what Mays is. I mean, that's just what the PSAC develops. Just reliable, tough, gritty arms. That's what we do. Joel's in Norristown. What's happening, Joel? Jackie Baseball. This team is 9 and 19, man.

What is happening here? What a run. They sure were. They sure were. It's crazy. The first team in baseball to be 10 games under 500 and crawl to 10 games over 500. before July in baseball history. First team in baseball history.

That's pretty cool. Pretty good. Yeah. Man, last time we spoke, I was really fired up about Marsh batting leadoff. I called you that night after the one game he patted leadoff. I think I heard Turner sitting 345 in his last 13 games. So nice to see a little bit of spark there. Let's keep it rolling.

Yeah, let's keep it rolling, Joel. And yes, the, sorry, sorry, they caught you off there. But yes, the one-game Marshall lead-off experiment was a good night. It was a good night. But it does seem like Trey is settling into the season. And we'll get to some more thoughts on that. Coming up next as the final out rolls on here on Sports Radio 94 Wight Bay. Welcome back.

It is the final out. Jack Fritz hanging out with you on this Tuesday tonight. Reacting to a Phil's 8-0 win over the Buccos tonight. segment of the final out before we hand things off to TK. Tom Kelly, the final out is sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority offering valet park at the Philadelphia

airport. Trey Turner, that is my wow moment of the game, brought to you by the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, from Waterfalls to Fairways, Mountain Resorts to Lighthouse Tours. Find your wow at visit nj.com. For a majority of this season, I felt like every big moment that found Trey, he would

come up small in. And he has not exactly had a plethora of big hits since the Phillies have signed him. He's been a good player. He's been probably the best shortstop of that class, but it hasn't been littered with a lot of big hits. Last, what, the Sunday, he had a big hit up in New York to extend the lead. Good to see that hit tonight.

I'd be as double-digit hits in five out of his last seven games. He hit the big home run, or not the big home run, but he did hit a home run later in the game on his 33rd birthday, which is nice. He is looking more and more like he is coming out of the early season slump that he is, or really season-long slump that he has been in. I am a smidge cautious because I thought he was coming out of it after the series in San Diego when he hit two balls 450 feet each in two straight games and then kind of went back into the toilet after that.

But you're starting to see more spraying the ball all over the field and some pop, which is the trade turn that we have seen here. And like I've maintained, I didn't think he was going to be a 227 hitter this year. You don't see, you don't watch him and say that guy's cooked. It looks more like a timing issue than anything else. He has been a streaky player since he's been here. Last year, less so. But 2023, after the ovations, he was the hottest hitter in baseball.

And in 2024, he was hitting 349 before the All-Star break and then finish the year hitting 299. So he has had his streaks that make his end-of-season averages look pretty good. And hopefully we're going through one of those kind of tri-turner streaks now. It does look like he is going with more of a toe tap instead of that high leg kick. Maybe he feels like the leg kick throws off his timing a bit, but with the little toe tap, maybe able to stay on pitches a little bit better. And, you know, it's one that kind of monitor as he is climbing out of this thing is minor little swing adjustments,

much like what has happened with Justin Crawford. Tomorrow's going to be a fun one. Zach Wheeler versus Paul Skeens. They did match up earlier in the year where the Phillies actually got to Paul Skeens. He had like two bad starts in a row. One was the Phill's taking it to him a little bit, which was shocking to see. It really was. But it's one of those, you kind of go to the ballpark and you see these two dual.

Paul Skeins, obviously is Paul Skeens and Zach Wheeler has been just a, every definition of a horse as you could be. So it should be a good, good cinema tomorrow for pure pitching nerds out there. Skeens versus Wheeler. And if the Phillies can put up runs against Skeens like they did in Pittsburgh, I think we will obviously take it, but feel even better about where this offense has been. for a good little stretch now. The offense has been serviceable, certainly,

for a good little while. And if they can go out and do their job against Paul Skeen's, that would be pretty remarkable. So very, very much looking forward to that. I will be back reacting to it tomorrow night. We will have you with leading off, leading into the game, and it should be a good old-fashioned pitchers duel at CBP tomorrow.

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