High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Chapter 1: 2023 is Nick Castellanos revenge season

Episode Date: February 23, 2023

Don't have time to listen to the entire High Hopes pod? Check out this segment where James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss Nick Castellanos and their anticipation of a bounce-back season from the Phillies' right fielder. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

this whole offseason i frankly like i've been worried about their ability to get back and i've been worried like because because i know how the city is like when they get in there it's like oh we're gonna be back we're obviously gonna be back like that's what we do now all we do is win we're the new boston like we're city of champions and i i really fought against it like i am very excited for the phillies i i can't i counting down the seconds for it to happen right but there's like there's still that you know i i i'm trying to protect myself from thinking they can do it again but i i i i'm over kind of protecting myself like this is everything we've been asking for and and how they are acting is like they didn't want to spend an off season away from each other and now they're coming back and i'm sure a lot of them have been down there longer than than

just pitchers and catchers showing up they've been down there for a while um and and how they are it it gives you this kind of confidence that they're not gonna slip they're not gonna come out slow that they're not gonna they want that feeling're not going to come out slow. They're not going to. They want that feeling back. Schwarber talked about it yesterday when they retired. Dancing on my own. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. But the right decision.

Correct decision. Correct decision. The correct decision. But he mentioned how it was a second place song. And it's on them to get back. And I had this in the take back. But I might as well get it out now. I love when you throw take back stuff out early. And then let us know that it was in the take back but I might as well get it out now I love when you throw take back stuff out early

and then let us know that it was in the take back big fan of that I'm not one to bury leads but with Schwarber I don't think he's going to let them lose he is such a winner you know what I mean

the best leader we've had in, as a Philly in, you know, since, since, since the, the heyday,

since, you know, Utley and those guys, like he's the best leader we've had here. And now he's in his second year here. So he feels way more comfortable. He's, he's busting chops.

Um, he's, he's, I don't know, like the way that he is talking, the way that he is, uh, embracing being the leader of this team,

the way that he's still like being the leader of this team the way that he's still like hitting homers and doing his thing it's it's it's like dutch and and those kind of guys and the great leaders we've seen here um and the way he talked about there's a second you know a second place song and how the the feeling of playoff baseball was intoxicating and they just want to get back there. That's our guy. And I know Zoe agrees. Given how she's getting more and more passionate.

As this podcast is going on. Yeah. I might have to text her mother to be like, come get your daughter. Please come get Zoe. We're trying to do a pod. Zoe, you're killing me right now. You're being very bad. Go ahead.

It's because she knows opening day is right around the corner. She's got an earring. She's got a whole thing going on. She knows dad's been mopey. She begged to be in the room when I recorded. She begged. She was like, I promise you, I will be good. I promise.

Early returns suggest the opposite. Early returns would say that that did not happen yeah so um but yeah it every bit every day every video um every like i guess uh stubs these uh mic'd up on youtube which i can't wait to go watch the browski talk today and that just eased like i don't really have much attention about the phillies now we're concerned concerned about the Phillies now but every time he talks I'm like oh we're just great now dude just what a what a turn buddy like what a turn from yelling about Andy McPhail and Matt Glintzak and these loser bullpen pitchers to like I'm pretty confident that they're gonna win 95 plus games and and make a little noise next year again. Yeah, it's absolutely insane.

You know, it really is. I mean, again, it's so crazy. If you just think back to how we felt like, I don't know what the exact date was, but like September 27th or something like that, when they were in the midst of that, like mini collapse again. And the Bray and the Brewers losing games

was like the only thing sustaining our hopes. And, and the Bray and the Brewers losing games was like the only thing sustaining our hopes. And we're like, if the Brewers just decided to win some baseball games, we're done. And then this one night in Houston, Aaron Nola, all of a sudden go six and two thirds.

Perfect. They win the game. Schwarber does Schwarber things. And then there's a magical ride. And all of a sudden in the span of three weeks of baseball and then an off season now like we are fully and totally in on the team on the players on their ability on dobrowski like the whole thing it's so crazy we were we were this close this close to the the worst of all the collapses in of all the september ones we've been through

and then they righted the ship and now they've they've become like the city's darling it's it's a it's a real wild turn man well they're winners we never we never said always losers yeah always never said once that they didn't know how to win they couldn't win the big one they couldn't uh pull through when we needed them. So, yeah, it's a good place to be at, and it really does remind me of all the heyday, you know, and I know they didn't get the job done. I know they didn't win the World Series, but

it feels like the heyday where it's like Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels all showing up to camp, and now it's like Schwarber and Reese and Nola and even Castellanos is getting his way in there, buddy. Like, again, I think I talked about this last podcast. Haven't even given the thought.

I might be more in on Castellanos this year than you, frankly. Which is unbelievable. Well, it's because. I'm all in, too. I'm right there with you. There's no way he's not going to be significantly better. I want to talk about the Castellos thing because it drives me nuts it's like everyone just expects because he was bad for a year like that's what he is now exactly every single thing he did last year at the plate

was bad we we all can why is it so i don't get why it's so hard to say yes he was awful last year but i also think he's going to be good this year, given that for the last nine years, he's been one of the 20 best hitters in baseball. You know, I just I don't get why it has come to the point where it's like, oh, he has no shot. He's cooked. He's this. I understood. He said he swung at every single slider away last year. I get it. I know it. I watched it. We all watched it. That doesn't mean he can't work on it all off season and fix it is he's gonna sit there and not do anything this off season i don't get i don't get the castellanos like he's obviously done he's done like why would you have any faith in him i

don't know because he's 30 and had one awful year and i know a couple years ago the the the in a covet year he was terrible as well but like can we look at a track record can we can we just can we kind of you know look at this and be like hey maybe he's not going to be a disaster this year and it's okay to believe that until he proves us wrong like he could prove us wrong he could 100 do that and maybe he's done i just don't understand it's a philosophy if he's 100 done it over there's no point even believing in him i think it's crazy dude again like the track record says that he's going to be better and over. There's no point in even believing it. I think it's crazy, dude. Again, like the track record says that he's going to be better.

And we've seen this a lot of times. There are guys who have these weird outlier years and then go back to being the player they were their whole career. And Oh, like, you know, I, I always pound on it.

It's like my thing. Athletes are humans. They're not robots sent out to go and play baseball. And like, it was a big life change. He moved here. He got a new house. It happened late in spring.

Like it wasn't early. Like this is something where he kind of had to hustle to get in. He ends up in fricking Ben Simmons's house. That's the issue. Disaster. But like, you know, he had a lot of change a lot and I'm not, I'm not making excuses. Like he was horrible comparative to what he got paid and all that stuff.

But, but it is certainly believable to think that with a full offseason here in the situation where he is, you know, fine or comfortable, that he's going to be better. It just, in my mind, it's obvious, to be honest, Jack. And, you know, the big contract, that's something that has always been talked about where it's like, oh, you know, it's a lot of pressure. And, yeah, there was a lot of pressure in year one. Some guys are, oh, you know, it's a lot of pressure. And yeah, there was a lot of pressure at year one.

Some guys are like Harper in his first year. Wasn't that great. You know, exactly. You know, the second half, like the first half, he was like pretty mediocre.

And, um, so he wasn't that great. You know, not everyone, not everyone is, is Schwarber who can come in and be adaptable to, to kind of any locker room that

they are being brought into you know sometimes it is an adjustment for people so um obviously selfishly if you add in like imagine can you imagine like oh I know I know dude he's in a lot of ways you know it's it's a you know kind of a cliche term or whatever you want to call it but like an x-factor like he is such an x an x factor guy for this team this year because i think when you look at the lineup we have you know so much faith in so many guys but he's you know almost written off by a lot of fans i think you know almost like oh you know that that sucks we have him but the team's really good i mean he could he could be one of the three best hitters in this lineup you know like he's that good like it should go harper turner cast like career-wise harper turner castellanos he's the third best hitter on this team career-wise like if he's anything close to

that it is such a massive upgrade to this team that went to the freaking world series