High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Zack Wheeler Dominates In Phils Shutout Win

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies picking up their league-leading ninth shutout win of the season. Presented by Miller Lite.To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.comTo buy tickets for the High Hopes Night in Reading CLICK HERE.

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. One ball, two strikes, the pitch to Norby. Taken for a called third strike and the ball game is over. Phillies emphatically take out the Marlins in the opening game.

It is three games set. as they get an early home run from the rookie rinkotis. The veteran Wheeler does his thing. The Phillies tack on late runs and win it going away. Seven nothing, the final over the fish. What was that? A nice, easy win for the Phil's? Nice to see.

Welcome on in. It is the final out. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority offering valet park at the Philadelphia airport. Jack Fritz hanging out. with you on this Monday night as we react to a game that didn't get tight for no reason. They tacked on runs. They pitched well, played good defense, had some good moments against a team that isn't as bad as everyone kind of thinks out there. 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 so you can stay in the game. Roto Rooder, your MVP for plumbing solutions. 215-5-9-2-9-4-94 to get in if you're leaving the ballpark. It seemed like it was a good crowd down there tonight, a lively crowd, a crowd that had a relaxed feel to it for most of the game. I would love to get your takeaways from tonight at 215-592-94-94. But the biggest takeaways of the game,

I brought to you by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, and obviously the theme early here on the final out, is that that was just a professional take care of business type effort by the Phillies. This weekend in Milwaukee was really just annoying. I mean, Friday, you excuse away. Saturday should have been a laugh or two, but Brad Keller gives it up.

And then yesterday they didn't even get off the bus for the game. I mean, they, one of the more, I mean, arguably the most disappointing effort in the Don Maddenley era, but, you know, one that was, that really irked me. Like, it didn't sit well with me. I thought they didn't show up ready to play. I would like to see them compete harder against a team that you might be able to face in the playoffs. And I kind of thought they just laid down. And tonight, again, they're facing Ryan Gusto.

It's not like they're facing the best of the best. But they just came in and they did their job, took care of business, and we get to go home. now. Marlins are not some pushover. You know, I mean, they'd been, they've won eight out of our last 10. They climbed back to 500. Are they unbelievable? No, but they are

a solid little ball club. They've got some pests. I mean, out of Lopez is leading a league in hitting. Liam Hicks is a good little offensive player. Xavier Edwards, same thing. And the Phillies just really handled business tonight, and I appreciate that. Obviously, Gabriel

Ranconis Jr. gets the, uh, gets the, the, the, the, uh,

gets the, the mojo and the vibe started early with the home run. And he did drive in the second run as well. Uh, almost got over the, uh, second baseman's head there,

but, you know, they tacked on from that point on, some signs of life from J.T. Real Mutuo at the plate. Bullpen did their thing. Uh, like,

again, we'll get to Wheeler here in a second. But, you know, Maza, bowling, Shugert, not letting the Marlins up for air at all, was really, really big in this game tonight.

So a professional workman-like win, I love when they take the first game of the series. It just makes the rest of it easier to win, obviously. But that's kind of, they've been doing this for a little while now. They don't win in the most sexy ways. They don't win in the most thrilling, late comeback kind of way. they just kind of pitch really well, play good enough defense, and some nights the offense is good enough.

And at the end of the day, it's led to a lot of wins over the last couple of years. And this win tonight certainly felt like a win from last year and early in 2024, where it was just, they got it tonight. And that's a good feeling to have. Now, a second biggest takeaway of the night is, you know, Zach Wheeler overall, really freaking good.

He struck out nine and six innings, only allowed two hits. The only, I guess, thing here is he did walk three again. I mean, he walked three, I guess the Padres, even though he had a no hitter heading into the sixth. But he's like,

it seems like he's battling himself a little bit. He keeps talking after games that he's, he's kind of fighting himself. And I think that does check out. His fastball command was not great early. It just goes to show you how good Zach Wheeler is and how impressive. I mean, he's got a 2.01 ERA coming back from the Thrask Outlet surgery, where we had no idea what he was going to look like.

And he just looks like Zach Wheeler. And he'll find his command. He was going to fire off one of those seven, eight innings, no walks, 10K performances. any day now, any start now. But the fact that the baseline is so high for him, just because the stuff is so good that he can, when he doesn't have great command for his fastball, he can use that split a lot like he did tonight.

He can mix in the breaking balls, and then once he finds the field for the fastball, then he can kind of get on a roll. It's, we should not underrate and, just take for granted the kind of pitching that we're getting from Zach Wheeler right now after what happened with the injury and the surgery to just come back and be the exact same guy is pretty dang special so there's little things a couple walks tonight i mean he allowed more walks than hits but on the whole he struck out nine in six innings and yeah i mean

pitch count got up there a little bit but overall I mean he is a he is a ridiculous ridiculous pitcher and we should not take what he's doing for granted at all and you know the last thing that really kind of stuck out again

215-592 94 94 to get in is it was refreshing to see a team effort on offense you know I obviously love when Schwabre goes yard Harper goes yard Schwabber just missed one Harper just missed one.

Harper kind of had the ball hard three times tonight, it seemed like, and just happened to be right at people. But it's nice when other guys contribute that's not the top three in the lineup. And I know right now you can say it's not even Trey, it's Marsh. Marsh had two it tonight, which was good to see. But it being a team effort was a real positive and a good sight. Because it's not usually like that when they win games. It's usually Schwerber and Harper doing their thing,

and hopefully someone else can get another hit in there. It's not, you know, J.D. goes yard, Ranconez goes yard. Crawford has a couple of hits. It was good to see that from the bottom of the lineup doing their job and picking up at the top of the lineup that didn't really do much tonight. Let's go to the phones. Dave is in Maryland. What's happening, Dave? It's nice to see when Zach Wheeler has his B-D-minus game,

just, you know, still dominate and give you six innings of just shut down, shut down baseball when you need it. And I thought underrated area tonight was, I thought stopped at bat where he got, he drew the walk and then the hustle play to get that, to get the force out at second, not to be safe there. I thought those were two big plays for, you know, there, John Boland. I thought it looked good out of the pen tonight after the air. and hopefully, you know, the Trey Turner, we talk about him taking some days off.

I'm glad. I'm obviously happy. Nothing's broken or anything, but maybe this forces him to take three or four days off with the off day, come back Saturday, maybe get a fresh start and, you know, the injury forcing Mattingly's hand to, you know, give him a seat and give him a little mental break as well. Well, it certainly seemed that way after the game. Maddenly was like, yeah, I feel like whenever he says he's sore, that means he's going to miss a couple games.

So it really does seem like, hey, here's a natural, like here's a natural little thing that we can just have you sit for a couple days and we'll see you on Saturday. Yeah, I agree with you, Dave. Yep. Sounds good. Well, have a good run. Thanks.

All right, there he goes, David Marilyn. Yeah, a lot of good parts tonight and a lot of, you know, a lot of people contributing to this win. And that is nice to see. Again, it's not the Marlins in the last couple years. It's a pretty, pretty good team. So on the other side, we'll get to the player of the game and some other things that stuck out tonight

here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIPA. When the stakes rise and the lights get bright, that's when you find out who can really swim. Deep Waters is a new UFC podcast from CBS Sports. Every Monday, myself, Dean Thomas, alongside with legends of the sport, Chris Widman, Jorge Masvedo, and Dustin Porreier,

bring you inside the Octagon like no one else can. Deep Waters, new episodes every Monday, watch on YouTube or listen on Apple, Spotify, and everywhere else you get podcasts. There's a swing and a bouncer to third again. Two big hops fielded by Sosa. Throws to first. He got him.

Six scoreless tonight for Zach Wheeler. puts his team in position to win this series opener tonight. It is six daughters. He'll depart for the five. Nothing leaves. Ah, there's nothing like hearing Rooster at the back. I did have a minor freak out of my drive home because I thought he changed it. And then luckily it picked right back up as he was,

as he was finished his warming pitches. Because he went away from Rooster for like three starts last year. It wasn't great. I think I shot him one of those starts. You can't go away from Rooster. And it's perfect because he's going to have Rooster for this year and next year, as long as there's baseball. And hopefully he doesn't retire.

Obviously, we're not rooting for that. But then a perfect transition into Gage Wood, who also uses Rooster. Now, if we want to get crazy, he could also use Wood, obviously, by Allison Chains and his last name. Now, that could also work. But I feel like Rooster has staying power here, as long as the Phillies don't trade, Gage Wood at the trade deadline. But yes, Zach Wheeler is my player of the game. Boughty by South Jersey Gas.

Make the smart play Save Energy and Money with South Jersey Gas at SJG Saveenergy.com. Zach Wheeler tonight, nine strikeouts, two hits, three walks in six shutout innings as he continues to, you know, look the part coming back from Thrascoll syndrome. I mean, I guess a surgery. I guess, you know, he hasn't, he's been more in like the six-inning range. how to use a lot more pitches it feels like hasn't been, I guess, like the most efficient in the

world, but it's all just, it's all just nitpicking. And I do like how, I think he seems pretty irked at his pitching right now, which shows you the kind of competitor he is and really overall just how good he is. We'll get to some other things here in just a second, but Jordan is in Princeton. What's happening, Jordan. What a lovely night at the ballpark. That might have been the most perfect weather I've had in a baseball game since last season. And the Phillies really showed up tonight. And Zach Wheeler, let's talk about this guy for a second because I was not sure that he was going to come back from that surgery.

He's got a family. He's got a life. It was a life-threatening diagnosis. And I thought he might just hung up his glove. and he comes back pitching at an absolute all-star, all-pro level, the best of his career. And my son and I watched him warm up in the bullpen, and he could tell he was off tonight.

He didn't look happy with himself, didn't look happy with his placement, a lot of chat with JT, and he comes out there. He gives up a hit in the first inning, but he just, he didn't have his basketball. So what does he do? He comes back with all the off-speed stuff and just puts together a 97-98 pitch masterful, six-inning quality start, despite not being at his best.

I just couldn't be more impressed by Zach Wheeler. Yeah, I mean, he's just a machine. I mean, he is just a machine. And what you said about him possibly not coming back when he got the surgery? 100%. And the fact is he's come back and he's been the exact same guy. I wish, again, I wish I never watched the minor league starts

because he did not look like this at all. So it's like the second he got back on the big lead mound. He remembered he was Zach Wheeler. But yeah, he's a remarkable, remarkable athlete. And I hope it's not just this year and next year because I think this guy could pitch pretty well into his 40s. He's a machine. Now, Jordan, what do you go? Like once a week?

It feels like you're always in a Phillies game. I like to make a lot of last-minute decisions to go. And it's 3 or 4 p.m. And one of the kids had no homework tonight. So you pick up a pair of tickets and you go and you head down to the ballpark. It's the best place on earth to be. It's not a bad gig if you can get it, Jordan. Appreciate the phone call.

Anthony's in Westchester. Or Garrett's in Westchester. What's happening? Garrett. Hey, Jack. How's it going? What's up, man? Also, just coming home from the ballpark.

I was going to talk about Zach Wheeler, but everyone else seems to have that covered already. Guy doesn't need any more compliment than his. I want to talk about Bryce. I know he didn't get a hit, but I thought he looked pretty good tonight, really not facing too overpowering stuff. But that second guy, you know, not overpowering him, though he still throwing 96 from a weird arm angle. It felt like it was good to see him go the other way and hit a couple balls hard.

Yeah, and he didn't have a hit in Milwaukee, and obviously did not get a hit tonight, but he did get a sack fly and a walk. I know his average is like in the 250s now, But it just, in watching him this year, it doesn't feel like that. I feel like he's been hitting a lot of balls hard just right at people. And I kind of expect those to kind of turn in a way. I like that his walk rates up. I think that's really, really important.

I mean, he's been good to really good this year. I think he's just below the great elite tier. But, yeah, I just, I think we would be able to tell more if he was struggling. I don't think he's struggling. I think he's kind of just hitting ball. balls right at guys. Yeah, and I need a couple of those balls to start dropping because I have agendas to push. Yes.

And that relies on Bryce getting the average up a little bit. It was a good night for Mars too. Smoke that ball off the wall. I saw he's third in an All-Star voting right now. Yeah. So that's good. We'll love to see him starting at the bank in July. For sure.

I mean, and it does seem like he is on his way to being an All-Star and thank you for the phone call. It's safe travels home. And yeah, just missed a home run tonight. Some other things that kind of stuck out. I mentioned it a little bit earlier, but good to see Crawford get a couple hits there. He's been going through it a little bit and swinging a little bit long and strikeouts kind of up up.

But three hits tonight. Now they were Crawford hits, which means just perfectly placed over the second base or shortstop's head and in front of the center fielder. So you had two of those tonight. but I don't care. I don't care how unethical the base hits are. I need Crawford to be a useful player out there.

So him getting three hits is good. J.T., hopefully some signs of life and really smoking those balls. I mean, they're not just wall scrapers out there. He's really starting to launch. So JT with the home run tonight, I know he's one for four, but you take that. I did look up the numbers earlier and it'll update tomorrow. But part of the value of JT, I'm also at the point with him where whatever happens to the dish happens to the dish. JT. is not going to make or break your lineup.

Obviously, you don't want to be like a black hole up there. You don't want him to be a contributor in a way. But what he provides behind the plate is just so valuable. And you look at the ERA with him behind the blade and it's a three point, heading into tonight is 3.72 with like a, a six-something OPS. And then with Marshawn back there, it's almost five. So I know it's like 24 and more games. It's not like Marshawn's capturing all the time as well. But, you know, what J.T. and the confidence these guys have and throwing to him, I mean, I think he's a big, for as much as, for as much credit as we give Caleb Cothman, obviously the guys, I do think that J.T. deserves credit as well

for getting this pitching staff to being one of the best in baseball. And I mean, yesterday, I thought Sanchez threw a lot more sliders with Raphael Marshan out there. Maybe he just didn't have good feel for his change-up. I didn't think he had great feel for his change-up, but I felt like he was throwing that slider more and more. And if he throws that more and more, I think that gets hit because it's more of a, it's more of a show-me-slash-tenancy breaker than a pitch that he can kind of hunt with. the value of JT is more than at the plate behind the dish is where the value lies. It's good to see him contributing a little bit more at the plate and not looking totally done.

And like I mentioned earlier, the pen, the pen looked really good. Maze was good. Bolin was up to 100, which was awesome. He had the bad error by Sosa and Harper at first base. But, I mean, not letting that ending unravel. fastball riding high in the zone. When we talk about elite ride on fastballs and you see the difference between Painter and Bolin

is that Bolin can maintain that velocity up in the zone and blow up past hitters. I mean, Painter can't. You can see the two difference. They're similar speed. One is a really, really good pitch and one gets blasted. And they're both the same miles per hour. It's pretty interesting to watch.

pretty interesting to watch. And I think Garrett brought up the Valenzhener. It's like Kempner? Oh, my gal. I mean, I haven't seen a big reliever like that since Todd Coffey. I mean, he was he was a house out there. I mean, holy gal. I saw him pop up on the screen. I think I was going up to help with bedtime. And I was almost taking it back. You know, I was really thinking, man, this is what they mean when they say pitchers aren't athletes. This guy coming out of the bullpen.

I couldn't even tell if he's wearing a belt. It looks like he just had no undershirt. He's almost like one button off. It was, I mean, what a specimen. What a specimen. Let's check him with Anthony in California. Oh, my guys. I'm going to see you tomorrow, right?

Yeah, what's up, Jack? How you guys doing? Another win for Dom. Another win for Dom. Hey, man. He's like $17 and $3, I think. between you guys and watch these guys play. Yeah.

Yeah, man, it was a great day at the ballpark. Really, really cool. We actually got out there early. Krupp was signing autographs, so that was kind of cool to meet Kruk. Nice. He was out there in his normal form, hilarious. But, yeah, it was cool.

I'll tell you a couple things that stood out to me. One was Crawford. Like, I feel like he's been trying to lift the ball too much, and tonight he kind of just got back in so, like you said, there's Crawford hits, where he just put him in play, found a way to put him in play. And I think that's all we really need from him. That was pretty cool.

And, you know, with me, that was my first time seeing Bolin in person there. That song, his Big John Boland song, comes out kind of hard when he comes. That was pretty neat. Nice, nice. Yeah. Boland, man, if he can be a real peace, I know Keller's kind of struggling right now, but with Kirkering and him, maybe they can make that whole thing. work where Keller goes down for a bit to regain some confidence and those guys kind of step into

his shoes. I mean, he's been really, really impressive. It's coming back from the IEL. I think his ERA is like 0.5. So, yeah, he is, he seems like he's really taking some good strides forward. But I will say, Anthony, I mean, you guys, you guys certainly brought, I mean, San Diego weather with you. I mean, 75 and sunny without any humidity. This is not what we do here. 100%. Yeah, we were saying the same thing. I'll tell you what, too. If it wasn't for the High Hopes Minor League Minute, I wouldn't have had such a good point of view on Rinconi's when he came up.

But I was telling my dad it was with us, I'm like, hey, I know this guy from the minors, he's going to hit a jack today. He's first day at the ballpark watch. And, of course, he stepped up and hit it right away. It made me look like I knew what I was talking about. So thank you for the Minor League Minute. Nice. We'll see you tomorrow, man, down in Chesapeed in.

Cool. That'll be fun. All right, man. Appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow. Yes, afternoon show is at the Chesapeake in tomorrow, having a good time. And it's a cool spot. Boats just flying by all day long right there on the water.

So looking forward to it. If you're in the area, I mean, it's only kind of like an hour away from everything, like Philly area. So if you're in the area, come on down. It'll be a good time. On their side, we'll get to the wild mode of the game. I think you might have a hint, as Anthony just said there. Another storyline from tonight and a look ahead. to tomorrow.

All that's coming up next here on the final app on Sports Radio 94 WIPA. Swung on, hit high in the air. Deep right field, and that ball is gone. It's fair down the line. It's a home run, a towering home run for Gabriel Rekona's Jr. It's his first big league hit and his first big league homer. Yes, that is our 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, visit nj.com. Now, deep voice Luke back there. Is that Rinconis' walk-up song? Yes, it is. Wow, that's an interesting walk-up song. I would love to know the backstory as to why he chose that. I guess we'll never know.

Well, I will probably know at some point, hopefully he can stay up here and help keep the right field position afloat for this team until a trade deadline or just kind of takes it and runs with it. So we will see. The final out is sponsored by the Philadelphia Parking Authority offering Valet Park at the Philadelphia Airport. So Rincolus goes yard.

That's exactly what you, like, now there has been some bad juju with this recently. Felix Ray is at a home runoff of Chris Sale in his first at bat. He got sent down. And Weston Wilson, Weston Wilson was fine, but he did hit a home run. His first at bat is a Phillyer. I think it was his first home run in the big leagues,

but St. like Michael Lorenzen threw is no hitter. But regardless, you know, that's kind of the rinkone the rinkones is like the blueprint up here. You know, he's not going to hit for a high average. It was good to see him put the ball in play

and get that run home early in the game. But, you know, this might be one of these, it kind of reminds me of Gavin Sheets. I mean, that's what he could turn into. a guy who, I don't think they're going to let him face lefties unless he really shows out, but he's here to mash right-handed pitching. And in the minor leagues, the last year, he really did that at a high clip. I would have liked to have seen him hitting better at AAA before getting called up,

but hey, when your time is called, you got to be ready. And he's one of their real prospects. You know, like Kemp's a good story, but he's an undrafted kid that overachieved. And I think there's still like a winning ball player in Otto Kemp, but obviously had not shown that at the big league level might be a quad A guy. And Felix Reyes was just so off the radar, but then he kept hitting. It's not like he was one of their guys. I mean, Ranconis is one of their guys. Kylie McDaniel had him as their third best prospect.

I don't believe that's true. I think he's like the eighth to 12th best prospect. but I think he's a real dude. I think he has a chance to be a dude. But I think it is a platoon guy. Full season is like a 15 to 20 home run guy. I don't know if he's ever going to be the highest average guy because he's semi-three-true outcome

where it's walk strikeout or a home run. But I do believe he's had a good feel for the strike zone. He's always had great walk rates in the minor leagues. So if he can just be someone who can play a good right field, a home run every once in a while and take his walks, keep the line moving? Perfect. You know, Dolies Garcia was not providing that much offensively. We know that. It's a shame. He started to heat up and then he tore his lat. But really the most important thing that Rincolans can do for the next month and a half is keep that position to float. And hey, if he looks the part,

okay, makes the trade deadline a little bit easier. Maybe you don't have to trade all these prospects to go get a right-handed bat. I would be surprised if that's the case. I think that they're going to have to go trade real assets and get the, like a Seia Suzuki in here, a Joe Adele in here, a Taylor Ward in here to really, you know, change things up a little bit. But I also, I would love if Ronas can do the job. And they're going to face a couple of writings this week.

He's going to have his opportunities for sure. But at least he got his first hit out of the way, his first time. out of the way all in in one swing. So good for Rincones, and I hope that he can provide some much-needed thump to a lineup that mostly lacks it. That mostly lacks it. Now, the other thing that happened to night is Trey left the game with a right wrist contusion after getting hit.

It was, the x-rays were negative after the game. So that's a good sign. But like Dave mentioned earlier, this feels like a perfect way to just give them the next two days off. You have the off day. well you have the update on Friday sorry so maybe the next three days off you have the off day on Friday at least two days whatever and then he can come back on Saturday and it's a little reset make sure the wrist is all good take his mind off of hitting for a couple of days because it's not

like he was super inspiring tonight at the dish even when he was in there so yeah I think this could provide a nice little reprieve for tray and hopefully it's something they can get him going and no, there will not be a standing ovation. So this is the best we can do. Tomorrow night, Tyler Phillips, our former and local hero from a couple of years ago, 2024, who could ever forget the complete game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians.

So he's on the mound for the Marlins. The last like year and a half, he's gone down there. He's been great. Now, it's been more reliever roles. He's kind of transitioning now back into B. being a starter, but the numbers look pretty good. I think his fastballs jumped a little bit. You know, when it was here that in 2024, it was more like 93 to 95.

He's kind of jumped it up into the 97s, and he obviously competes. He always competed even as a Philly. So, you know, Tyler Phillips is a good local story. Always will root for him. Obviously tomorrow, I hope we smoke him around the ballpark, but Tyler Phillips on the mound versus Jesus Lizardo, looking to. to build off what was a really solid start his last time out against his former team. We're still looking for the Lazardo consistency that has been eluding him this year,

where he has a couple really good starts, and then boom, blows up at his face. So still searching for that consistency, but overall, I feel good about Lazzardo and where he is at. So that's going to do it for me. I will have you for the final out again tomorrow, and if you are in the area, the afternoon show will be hanging out at the jesseby again. So come on down there. And if you want, the highest podcast is coming to Redding on Saturday, June 20th. If you need to find tickets, you can go to my Twitter page.

It is pinned to my profile. We'll love to hang out with everyone in Redding. Baseball town, an awesome, awesome place this weekend. So that's going to do it for me. Coming up next is Hunter Brody. And the big question I have is whether or not, He is still just thinking about the cup and his Carolina Hurricanes. I mean, you've got to feel good for a lifelong, lifelong Carolina Hurricanes fan

who certainly is not supposed to be the leader of the Flyers fans as he's just, he was making out with the cup all weekend. It was unbelievable. This guy, this guy, unbelievable. That team swept the Flyers, and he's out there. just gallivancing around Vegas. It's real interesting. We're going to grill him on Thursday on the afternoon show.

But you can grill him next. Broads is coming up next here on Sports Radio 94W.