High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Will This Team Ever Wake Up?

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

Jack Fritz reacts to maybe the most frustrating loss of the year as Zack Wheeler and Jhoan Duran struggled and helped the Marlins snap their record-breaking losing streak. 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. Well, like father-like son, as Griffin Conine, the next generation of Phillies killers, taking it right after his dad. Jeff Conine and what was a

really, really disheartening gut punch type of loss by the Phil's tonight and one, frankly, usually I have a pretty good sense. Pretty good sense of a loss. Can feel them coming a mile away. I didn't feel that one tonight. I didn't think once they took the lead,

I thought obviously with Duran coming in, it was game over. But obviously, That did not happen. Welcome on in it as the final out. Jack Fritz hanging out with you. Here on this Monday night as the Marlins snapped their 12-game losing streak in dramatic fashion. Impressive fight by them. You know, you think you lose 12 straight. You'll blow the lead, a relatively big lead. You go down. You know, kind of fold up and say, hey, we'll go get them tomorrow.

But they did not do that. And you give them credit for fighting back. But, man, that hurts. That hurts. The game wrap up is sponsored by RodoRuter. When plumbing problems hit, wrap them up quick and call Roto Router. Their team tackles, clogs, and leaks so you can stay the game. Roto Router, your MVP for plumbing solutions. 215-592.

94-94 to get in and react to that one. If you were in Miami for some reason, you want to vent about the frustration of this one. I would love to hear from you, but if you watch this one on your couch like I did, get

in as well. 215-5-9 94-94. The biggest takeaways of the game are brought to you by Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm. And that was one of those baseball games that remind you, unless for some reason you are a PGA tour

professional out there, just reminds you of a golf game. Because I don't know about you, but I've never had all three phases of my golf game working at the same time. You know, if my driver's really good that day, one of the short game are putting is terrible.

If the putting's on, I'm all over the place off the tee. And tonight was one of those games where we've been begging for the offense to show a pulse. Last night they showed a pulse. It was great. Offense showed up, fought, scratch and clawed their way back into this one. Zach Wheeler will get to him in a second. The bullpen does their job.

And then just when you're like, they got this one in the bag. The Phillies even got an insurance run. Yes, they got an insurance run with a sack fly. Oh, my goodness. They actually played good situational baseball on offense tonight. What a refreshing sight. Everything lining up for a really solid, beautiful comeback win.

And then splat. And it was one of those Duran outings where it was just, over so fast. Like the first guy hits a ball right at the middle and you're kind of like, well, at least he got a two-run lead. Ball squeaks by from Otto Lopez. I think the batting average on that one was under 100. Price is, he's interesting from the first base perspective.

Obviously, the number suggests he's having a bad year. Defensive metrics don't do much for me in baseball. I use more eye test one. looking at defense. I think the way that the defensive metrics would describe Bryce, you would think that he's tripping over his feet out there. I don't believe that to be the case. I think the strengths of Bryce as a defender is obviously scooping the baseball. He can scoop it very, very well. But when it comes to the natural instincts and being able to read a ball off the bat, you know, natural infielders who have done it for a long time,

like your eyes get trained to see a ball off the bat. And I feel like Bryce is always a tick late because he's never really played the infield. He played a little bit of third base growing up, but he's been a cat. And listen, catcher takes a lot of instincts as well. I'm not saying it doesn't. But when he play the outfield for as long as he did,

maybe you lose some of those instincts? I don't know. But in watching him at first base, and not to make the whole night about Bryce, he's not knocking down the baseball, but it got me thinking about watching him play first base this year and his range and diving plays. I think going to his left towards the first baseline, I think he's fine. It's that backhand, and I think he struggles.

And I think he's a tick slow when the ball is hit. But regardless. So, of course, where they do fight back and they do scratch and claw, and they do the little things well besides some things early. They do the little things well to get back into it. They have clutch hitting. They have two out hitting. They hit with a runner to the scoring position.

They pick their teammates up. That happens. That happens. I mean, he hasn't allowed a run in forever. And maybe it's just a lack of use thing. I mean, they've been pitching him, but he hasn't exactly had many reps in saved situations recently. It shouldn't be a problem because he saved a good amount of games in Major League

Baseball. I don't know. But that really sucked. I mean, that really, really sucked. And they should have got a win down there, and it didn't happen. Didn't happen. 57 and 50. Their warts feel like they show up every single night.

We are counting down days until the trade deadline. What was encouraging about tonight and last night, at least offensively, is I felt like heading into Sunday night, you know, last night and the series that they were just playing out the strength of the trade deadline and waiting on reinforcements. And they were playing a lot like how they played before they got Rob Thompson fired. And tonight was not that. Tonight was the good Phillies, the Phillies, the good team that drugged themselves out of the 9-19 starts. So that's what makes that one hurt a lot because you felt like they deserved it. 215-592, 94-94 to get in. Good update from there with Don Maddenly about Zach Wheeler, said that he felt a little,

sick after the game. Wheeler said it was just a bad day. I don't think he would make an excuse that he was sick, but it would make a lot of sense. And I tell you what, I had a lot of fears that they're ready to lose Zach Wheeler for an extended period of time in seeing what he was doing out there on that mound tonight. It was a lot of 93, no feel for spin, no zip on any of his pitches. His best pitch was probably his split tonight. That was not Zach Wheeler. that we are ever really accustomed to seeing. He'll have one game a year where he'll allow four home runs, but you never see him get squared up like that,

and that's when you knew something was off. And good at the Phillies for getting him out of there. You know, there's sometimes where you let a guy wear it for a little bit to save the bullpen, but I guess there was like a huddle-up session, and they got him out of there. Thankfully so. I don't need to jack that ERA up. Chalk it up to a bad day.

hopefully there's no injury. If he's feeling sick, he's feeling sick. Orion Kirkering is coming off of the flu, so maybe there's a little bug running through the Phillies clubhouse right now, and it just happened to catch Zach Wheeler. But the fact that they don't seem concerned that this was some kind of injury or something like that, that makes me feel much, much better. I was damn near ready to leave the show with, you know, this thing's over.

Zach Wheeler's done. And they put that to bed. So that was very, very good. to hear. 215-5-992, 94-94 to get in. Charlie isn't willing to what's happening, Charlie. This is a Phillies point, but stick with me. Everybody's talking about Christmas in July,

because LeBron signed here. But these Phillies have me feel like Harry or Marv from Home Alone, which I watch every year because I love that movie, but how many traps did they fall for over those two movies? Every time I think there's going to be progress by

these Phillies, another one of these traps hits us, and we get knocked back backwards, and, you know, and it's just a kick in the nuts every time we lose. And it sucks. And I hate it. Oh, yeah, I mean. You know, hopefully you're right that it may be something that has to do with a trade deadline. And once it comes and goes and their heads will be clear and they can, you know,

their heads will be on their head instead of up their butts. I don't know, but they need to, they didn't knock it off. You know what I mean? Because they're a better team in this and are not playing like it. And I'm not okay with it. Yeah, I mean, I got Charlie. I do think that there are ebbs and flows to a baseball season

and when you get off to the bad start and then you really do a great job of digging yourself out of it, there's probably a bit of a natural letdown spot but it's time to pick it back up. You said a three and six homestand.

You were facing a team that had lost 12 straight. I guess my thing on like Charlie there is that I mean, they had the lead heading to the ninth and they handed the ball to one of the three best closers in baseball and he couldn't get the job done. I mean some nights that happens.

I don't know what to tell you. It stinks. It's a gut punch. But I don't leave tonight thinking they didn't fight. They were boneheads. Just think the closer didn't have it. 215-5-92. 94 to get in. On the other

side, we'll give more your phone calls. Plus the player of the game and some other thoughts from this one. Here on Sports Radio 94 WIPA. Welcome back. It is the final out. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking. I already checked. Fritz, hanging out with you here on this Monday night

reacting to a real gut punch. Again, it was one of those ones where usually you feel a loss. You get a little nervous. The ball at the middle to start off. Didn't exactly leave me feeling great, but it was two run leave to Iran, whatever.

And man, we learned Iran. The two that didn't have it tonight. They lose the game to the Marlins. They lost 12 straight. You hope that this doesn't kind of get them back on track a little bit, but maybe they can carry that over tomorrow. But as we know with baseball, momentum is only as good as the next day started.

The player of the game is brought you by South Jersey Gas. Make the smart play Save Energy and Money with South Jersey Gas at SJG Saveenergy.com. I'm going to have to Herberto Hernandez, who, tied the game up in the ninth and hit a home run earlier in the game. He was good. He's got a little pop. He's got a little pop. For an offense, it's a little weird down

there. They've got a bunch of, when it makes sense, it's a huge ballpark. So having a bunch of bat to ball guys trying to use your speed, to your advantage, hit the ball in gaps, that does make sense. But having some real thunder in the lineup is good too, and it seems like

this kid has a good little bat for sure. Some other things that kind of stuck out tonight that, you know, should be pointed out. Another solid offensive night from JT. He's been arguably their most clutch hitter of late. He had his 10-game hitting streak snapped yesterday, but, you know, you're starting to see, I mean, drove the ball pretty far in the opposite way. If that's CBP, I wonder if that goes out.

Price and Stott had a triple and a single tonight, and, you know, I kind of looked at the numbers this morning since June 1st, and it'll go up after tonight. but since June 1st he was hitting 290 with a 775 OPS and showing a little bit more slug recently. So, you know, Stott had a really, really bad start of the season and has done a great, great job climbing himself out of it. His OPS over 700 now hitting over 250. So to be where he was and now be where he is, really impressive. Good to see Harper hit that home run and walk twice.

They got to get him going. He's been in the worst stretch as a Philly. he smoked that ball yesterday. Maybe that was a sign of kind of get himself out of this funk that he's been in. That ball off of Phillips was scorched, and the two walks are nice to see as well. I think he said to reporters before the game that he needed to get back to not chasing as much. So good to see that from Bryce Harper, need to get him going. Alec Baum had a hit, drove in a run.

So, you know, he's on a war path now after saying last night that he doesn't want to to be thought of as an easy out. So maybe they get a little bit. Of course, he's going to have a really dynamite week heading into the trade deadline. And then we're going to be heading into October. And it's going to be the same thing in the middle of the lineup. And Justin Crawford, I was really impressed with that bat, down-out-2 in it. He looked a little bit more closed off in it.

You know, I thought Trey and Justin Crawford specifically do look a little bit more closed off of late. maybe that's just the camera angle in Miami but it was a big hit in a big spot and the kid came through and you give him credit for that so that was good Bolin continues to look like a steal of a trade five years by the way

we don't need to talk about service time too much on the post game show but he has no options left but he is five years of of team control left which is awesome and given what we've seen this year. Now, relievers are volatile. We know that. So no matter how good he is this year, it could always go back the opposite way next year. But I tell you what, I mean, it's a really dynamic fastball that he has ride with up in the zone. And you look, I know, I don't want to, you know,

that don't need to drive off the road because I'm going to mention baseball savants. But if you look at his baseball savant page, it's really all red. It's crazy. He's, he is, he is, has been really, really good, and that is a very, very solid trade by Dave Dombrowski. Given him a guy who, I think he's, his war is, I think he's been minus one war, and Boland's over one war, and they might have stolen an eighth inning guy, or if they go get another piece of the trade deadline, like a Josh Hader or someone that could be a really dynamic set up guy, they might have gotten a, I mean, a stud for the seven. thinning and it just lengthens this bullpen out.

I don't know, but he is really pitching his way into more high. I mean, he's very thinning guy, and he's really stepped up since Brad Geller's gone down. John the Boland continues to look the part. And then a negative on top of frustrating losses, man, just some sloppy defense again. And they are, they're just a bad defensive team. You know, you kind of have to accept it in a way. but it is frustrating. I mean, throwing the ball all over the field the first inning

was Benny Hill like nonsense. Throwing the ball and Trey short-hopping it to third base and Bome trying to pick it rather than trying to knock it down. And then that play to center field where Crawford is, I don't know, it looked like he was diving into a pool and he wasn't even close to it, let's get past him, and that allows a run to score. man, that was some sloppy, sloppy defense early in this one.

But they got a little crisp, more crisp as the night went on. But that was definitely, definitely frustrating. 2.5.5.992, 94. On the other side, we'll get to the wow moment of the game. And a look ahead to tomorrow night down in Miami. All that's coming up next here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIPA. Ready to level up, Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

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men's national team takes center stage at a home world cup. Make sure you're listening to Call It What You Want, part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network, where you can join me. I'm Jimmy Conrad alongside Charlie Davies, Tony Miola, Marcella Balboa, and Benny Fieldhover throughout this tournament for previews, instant reactions, and analysis of every U.S. match. Then all summer, we're back every Tuesday and Thursday covering all things U.S. men's national team.

Download and follow, call it what you want, on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Well, that certainly was, and would constitute as a wow moment of the game, which is 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. Crawford Clutch hit right there, and of course, a little throwaway. And because, you know, pitchers just struggle to cover the backup bases now. I don't need to go full, you know, old man yelling at the clouds when it comes to baseball because I generally, generally, you know, I like today's game a lot. The one thing that does irk me, and he backed it up, but barely.

I feel like there is a lack of pitchers backing up bases in today's game, and they're too busy salking on the mound that they might give up a run or allow a base hit. Like, back of the bases. Back of the bases. Play the game the right way. play the game the right way. One guy who appreciates the game play the right way is Richie and Philly. What's happening, Richie? You're correct, Jack. I know you're my baseball guy.

I want to have a two-parter for you, Jackson. Make sure you let you follow the second part. The second part may be a baseball player like David Davis would answer, you know, more than it. But I know you're a baseball player. The first part, like with those things happen, you know, Duran, I've seen that same game pitched 50 times. or the ground ball instead of being a ground that it goes through the hole, you're following. You know, ground ball could have just as well with the start the thing.

Things happened by the nine-hitter. I think Marcy, you know what I mean? The second thing is, do you remember? I figure who the runner was. He was the tying run. I don't know. I guess there was a little thing. It was a tying run the second.

And he was on third. And I remember the announcement, well, he's probably going to go. And I feel he's going to go. Do you notice, Jack, you rarely see pitchouts today? I know. Think about it. You know? I mean, you know the guy's going to be going on.

You just don't see the pitch like you used to see years ago. Pitch out he's got him. And I just catch his, you have any possible reasons for that? You know, you know, you have any possible explanations, you know, because I know you're a baseball guy. Well, if I had to guess, I guess teams probably just don't like the idea of giving away a,

like they don't want to give away a ball. Wasting a pitch. Yeah, wasting a ball, yeah. Yeah. The thing is, like, the risk. Yeah. It's the risk. Yeah.

It's the risk. I mean, because, yeah, the risk of it was. So I knew he was going to go. So if you have a good pitch out, like a nice hard throw, and remember who's going to stand up. He's probably going to get him, you know? But everybody knew he was going. Had you ever noticed that or did I think when I bring it up?

Is it something that's a new thought of? You noticed that? No, yeah. I mean, it does feel like you just never really see it anymore. I guess they, I'm sure they have some metric that determines that it doesn't actually make it quicker at all. They just thought forever that it would. but yeah, I mean, you never see it.

So it's an interesting thing to point out. Again, like I said, the other thing, I'll go and let you go. The hitters are going after to Durant early. You ever notice that you the first pitch out? I guess they don't want to get behind them. You know, they go after early. But it's one of those things is going to happen.

There's no reason for people to get carried away. You know, it's one game out of 162. You know, you come back and there's things you want to happen. You're not going to be 60 and O and save opportunities. You know that 50 you know, not going to happen, right, Jack. Yeah, unless you name... He was a picture like you. He was a...

Oh, yeah, yeah, Richie. You know me. You know me. Unless your name's, you know, oh, wait, Brad Lidge, then, yeah, you're probably not going perfect. So, yeah, no, it stinks. And, you know, teams usually are pretty aggressive with the round because he throw strikes,

and you certainly don't want to get the two strikes because he would usually find a way to put you away. Tomorrow is Aaron Nulliver, Sandy Alconstra, as we are... we will be monitoring if Don Mattingly correctly knows when to get Aaron Nola out of a game or leave him in a game. Feels like it's been four straight starts where he just can't get a read on it or can't get a feel for it of do I get him out? Do I leave him in?

And the decision is backfired almost immediately every single time. Now, it's tricky bullpen situation tomorrow. You know, Duran goes tonight, Bowling goes tonight, Alvarado goes tonight, Kirkering goes tonight. Last night, it was just Mason Sugar, so, you know, that's not terrible. I mean, Duran and Bolin pitched on Saturday,

and Alvarado pitched on Saturday. So, you know, been a little bit of a good amount of, or been a good amount of usage for those guys recently. But, yeah, it's going to be a real big conundrum for Maddenly tomorrow, so looking forward to that. And Sandy Alconcha has been pretty hit or miss. He seems to take the ball and go deep into a game, but sometimes it's coupled with five runs.

Or, you know, he pitches like old Sandy Alcantra. So it doesn't seem like you know what you're going to get when he takes the mound. So they face him a lot. I'm sure they know what to expect with him on the mound. But Aaron Nola versus Sandy Alconcha, we will have you with leading off on the afternoon show, and then I will have you for the final out. yet again, hopefully, reacting to a Phillies win.

Coming up next is Jody Mack. Francisco Rojas produced the final out tonight. Talk to you tomorrow here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.