High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Chapter 1: Game Kapler Is Annoying

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss the Phillies taking two of three from Gabe Kapler and the Giants. 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

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball Isn't Boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

Another fact, so jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. I guess, you know, I guess if you look at it, it took a guy on his third team in three weeks to actually beat the Phillies. I mean, it was the most. How long have you talked, we don't curse in this pod,

but we talk crap about Paul DeYoung. You've always been, even that one year where you had like 30 homers or whatever, you're like, this guy sucks. He stinks. He stinks. It was sickening. I mean, he had more hits yesterday than he had his entire Blue Jays career. Yeah.

And then there was the, what was the little outfielder's name that had a couple hits. He had five hits in his career heading into the game. Oh, Meckler, you're talking about? Yeah, Meckler. Yeah, Meckler. Scores the winning run. Yeah.

Or not the winning run, the last run, excuse me. It was a frustrating loss. And what stinks about it is obviously that's like a win at your sales. You come in today, meltdown city, like this team's back, and all that. Dude, the city's melting down. It's like World Series title, it's coming. Well, and you know what made me more mad? Is that, that should have been a walk-off home run by Bryce

because of that stupid blooper that fell in the inning before. I know. To make it 5-2 rather than 4-2. I know, I know. That should have been a walk-off. Totally true. And honestly, the game, we can't get too upset because they won 2-3, but it was a very frustrating game.

Like, there were moments throughout. First of all, many missed opportunities. I'm sorry. Maybe it doesn't get overturned. You have to challenge that, Jack Peterson. You have to. It looked like it hit the ground. If Boehm gets on, they score runs that inning.

It's a different complexion of the game. They've got to hit the next hit. Who knows where that inning goes? That was incredibly frustrating in the moment. Obviously, Bryce Harper, we love you. And very rarely does Bryce Harper say something where I have to, like, stop and be like, Bryce. Normally I'm like, yeah, keep talking forever.

Mostly about my city. Bryce Harper and, I guess, a lot of the fan base not understanding why that run counted. Like, how long have we been playing baseball, folks? Like, did you hear Bryce Harper after the game? He said he didn't know. He's like, I didn't. Why?

Why did that run count? It's a double play. Shouldn't not count. It's like, Bryce, really? Like, do you not understand, like, force outs and the way that baseball works and if the run scores? Like, he didn't know. He said he didn't know after the game.

Is this the new Donovan timeout? It's not that different. I mean, it is. It's very different. But still, like, Bryce didn't know the rule. Yeah, but. Come on. I mean, it is. It's very different. But still, Bryce didn't know the rule. Yeah, but... Come on. I mean, I know.

Who cares? Anyway, for those who don't know. It's not like Johan Rojas didn't try to make the play happen because he's like, oh, we can't. No, no, no. They got the out. That's why it's not like Donovan didn't affect anything or whatever. But, you know, Bryce, you're a baseball guy. Like, you know.

Yeah. He's all right. It's fine. He did have a big home run. That was an amazing catch by Rojas, too. Yeah. A catch and throw. He's alright. He did have a big home run. That was an amazing catch by Rojas, too. A catch and throw. And almost had the other. I mean, Rojas really...

Dude's amazing. Well, I was shocked he didn't come up with the Jock Peterson one the night before. Yeah, the one before, the night before. And that was a big... I mean, they won the game, but that was the difference up until that point. Again, if Angelo wasn't there, Johan Rojas catches that ball. I mean, it was almost Again, if Angelo wasn't there, we all know how to catch that ball. I mean, it was like almost

comical that Angelo gets the good. Everything starts falling apart. It was like on brand. And then Cassianos is the one with the wall and he's like, there it is. Come on. Come on. Yeah, it was yesterday was a game they should have won.

But you could also say the game before is when they could have slash should have won. Yep. But you could also say the game before is when they could have slash and lost. Hey, hey, that's baseball. That's baseball. You're damn right, buddy. That's why you're here.

Just wise. Just wisdom. Wise. Just wisdom. Beyond your years. I'm trying to protect our superstar from the attacks by you.

Again, just attacking our superstar. I'm always going at price. No, it's classic wip by you you know just just trying to run our stars out of town um it's just sickening um you're not whatever it's it's okay um but yeah like yesterday again it was also i would love to know their record the day after a walk off oh it's gotta love to. It might not have won a game.

I've never seen them. I've never seen them carried over. How many times have we talked about this on the pod through the years? Oh, this is the moment. And as they were going down, they were down 4-0, I just kept saying to myself, Jack, remember the next time that they win a thrilling comeback that they never win the day after. But it's impossible in the moment.

It's impossible to do that. Because we're like, I would be ready to run through a wall the next day. We're like, get me to 640. Get me to 405. How could they not go out and dominate and be jacked up after that? Now, no runs through seven. It's like a lot. A little back-to-back.

Yeah. A little Schwartz, a little Trey. Oh, who's that? Trey Tur... I mean, like, the Trey thing. I mean, it's, like, at no point in your wildest dreams did you think that the ovations would happen and the guy would bat 360.

With a walk-off. You hoped it would happen with a walk-off with home runs all over the place. Dude, I just wanted him to be okay at baseball again. Yeah, I just wanted him to not suck at baseball. This guy doesn't suck, I promise. And he said it. I mean, they've talked a lot about it. He literally said after that walk-off in the post-game interview,

quote-unquote, the the ovations turn my season around for me personally we had rob thompson the morning show yesterday he said it turned the season around for the whole team like it's shocking i mean it's what is going on right it's shocking it's very shocking but like i again i'm not like totally surprised because that's how i felt heading into it. Like, I felt like he needed it. And I felt like the – I said – like, I thought the players would have responded well to it as well.

Which they clearly did. They loved it. Dude, Brandon Marsh said the other day, and it was like – I was like, why have they never done this before? Brandon Marsh said the other day before the game, he's like, we got a 10-game homestand. It's time to protect citizens of Bank Park. Yeah., he's like, we got a 10-game homestand. It's time to protect Citizens Bank Park.

Yeah. And it's like, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, we say that about football. Teams always say that about football. Even after the Kenny Gamewell, after the fight at the practice or whatever,

he's like, yeah, you ain't gonna come in here. We're gonna protect our home team, our home field, whatever. Oh, the NovaCare, our home turf. I know, it's so funny. But you're having football all the time.

Great point. That should be used for Citizens Bank Park. Like, that protects CBP because we dominate. And that's a rallying cry for the team. And did you hear what Rob Thompson also said in that answer talking about how to turn the season around? He also said that he spoke to a coach on one of the teams that came in last year. Well, he said that like eight times before. But still, like, again, it's just like four hours of hell coming in.

Like, it's not just that we can energize the team. There's an impact on the game, Jack. No. Yes. So here's my thing. Don't you dare. Here's my thing. Don't you dare, Jack.

Well, I agree with Rob. The four hours of hell and how much we can impact it, and Deval clearly just – I would love to see Deval here in a playoff game. It would just be comical, and obviously Gabe here during a playoff game. It would just be comical. And, obviously, Gabe here during a playoff game would just be the greatest thing of all time. Dude, Joe Giglio texted me that during the game last night. He was like, he's like, the first round series has to be the Giants here.

He's like, it's the only series that has juice. He's like, imagine Gabe walking for a pitching change in the playoffs. Like, yes, yeah, I need it. I need it. Yeah, he would be crushed. I need it. Everyone gets so worked up about Gabe. Everything he does, people get mad about. He's a good manager, guys. Like, he would be crushed. I need it. Everyone gets so worked up about Gabe. Everything he does, people get mad about.

He's a good manager, guys. Like, he's good. So. He's got a, like, you look at those two rosters, like, the Phillies should be 15 games in front of that Giants team. Like, that is a mediocre roster. Yeah. So, there's two things I think about Gabe now.

One, definitely a good manager. Like, you have to give him credit for what he gets out of that team. Yeah. But at the same time, just excruciating. It's the worst to watch. He's the most annoying. Dude, every game's going to be an hour longer than it's supposed to be. Like, he is the most annoying manager to watch,

but he has to do that to get this team to where they are. Yeah, although, I mean, their bullpen and starter ERA in August has just been exploding. And I think that's because he's had to use all those guys and uses them a lot and is aggressive with it. But it did make me think about, and I know our listeners were around for it, and I know that you watched it,

and I know that I watched it because I had to produce those games back when I was producing Philly's games. September Gabe with the 40-man roster, it was the worst. Like, I love baseball. It should have been illegal. They changed the rules.

They changed it because of Gabe. They went from 40-man rosters in September, which is always an insane thing anyway. It's like, why all of a sudden for one month can you just be like, hey, let's bring the whole minor league team up. Let's change the way we do this sport all season long for the stretch mode, the month when the teams decide who makes the playoffs. Let's make that one to change the game.

Insanity. It is. It's insanity. It really is. But Gabe during that time was just so annoying. I mean, there's a game I remember he pulled Kingery after his first at bat for a platoon advantage. I remember that.

You remember the meltdown the next day? he was just the wrong i mean i'll tell you that i it is rare that you see an opener who gets pulled in the first inning usually you put an opener in you're like all right this guy's got an inning or two right like that's what they do and then we bring in like a a piggyback to face the back of the lineup or whoever is like he went let him go three batters like he's like, all right, Bryce up. Time to move it. And I get it. I get it.

But he literally put that guy in to pitch to three. You never see that. It's wild. I know they work, sort of. I just hate. I hate the others. Oh, it's horrible. Oh, I hate it.

I hate watching it. It is not a good product. We've seen the explosion of people being interested in baseball again. The attendance of Phillies alone are up 10% or 9.5% or whatever it is. It's like 10,000 people. Game more or something crazy. There's all these numbers around baseball. It's because the game's moving faster.

It's the anti-Gabe. It's bad for the sport, but he does a good job getting the most out of his roster. Gabe Kapler, bad for the sport. I kind of like that. 2-1-5. I will say one of the funniest things, I know people have talked about this before, but when you're playing the Giants, you really see it.

The fact that all their coaches kind of look like him, that it's all these muscle guys. When the pitching coach and the translator guy come out and they're both these big jack dudes, I'm like, what are you guys doing over here? What is happening with this team? See, my problem is that I see Andrew Bailey and and i say that could have been me oh because like yes we wore the hat the same way when i was well when i was then yes he had a very successful major

league career you know compared to your average person former philly former philly might be a good grid guy actually yeah he's got some teams in there no but i remember i was growing up i was at a camp and a guy was like you look just like andrew bailey and now i watch oh and so it's always been like i could be him i could have i could have been him i your your ability to get yourself into the i could have been him yeah mentality yeah it's pretty special yeah well it's elite yeah well i think i i have thought about it if i was on the modern stuff with like driveline and all that like could I have thrown 90? Like, I topped out at 86.

And that was without really working that hard. So, had I gone back and gone through driveline. 90 might be selling yourself short, buddy. Could I have touched 90? You could have gone 95. You could be a major league pitcher, Jack. Thank you. But I'm here. Very glad to be here.

Are you? It doesn't sound like it after that. Could have been me. Is there a tear rolling down my eye? Is there a lone? Just a single tear just slowly making its way down your cheek. Yep. Freaking, yeah.

Found beer in college, lost the cutter, and here I am today. The rest is history. Most people go to college and they gain velocity because they're working out all the time. I went to college and lost three miles an hour. Yes. Yes. Still have no idea. You gain that other thing that people usually gain when they go to college.

Weight. Yes. Experience. Sure, that's it too. Wisdom. Let's bring it back around there. Yep. There's some college credits.

That's good. Yep. Yeah. It's good. I like it. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception.

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All right, let's get into some of the stuff from this series. Let's start with Nola because I think going in, you know, I think you're probably the most surprising thing that's happened in this series, Aaron Nola pitching seven two-run innings. Our guy. All right, look, I think we all, the Aaron Nola we were expecting came in the first inning. And we're like, here we go.

You know, the homer, bases loaded, they get out of it. Second inning, you know, or was it third inning, another homer, a ball off the wall. Like, you're like, oh, oh, God. And then the dude settled in and gave him seven strong. Like, was that just a night? Or does it give you any hope that there could be a corner turned? A Trey turnaround?

A Trey corner turnaround, yeah. A Trey turnaround? Where are we at? Where are we at? Oh. Like, I don't know. There you go. It was like a yell right there.

Oh. Well, I just, because I did genuinely feel like they found maybe something new with him. It seemed like just from watching him, and the percentages were not what I thought they were going to be. Because I thought he threw more curveballs on Monday night. And then I went back to his Blue Jay start and he threw the same amount of curveballs. I was like, oh, man, darn. Thought I had something there. Thought I had something there.

But just in watching it, it did feel like he used his curveball to set up his fastball more rather than his fastball set up his curveball. So maybe they're just pitching a little bit more backwards with him. But when it comes down to that, then he does have the ability to obviously hang one, and then it's into the stands. It seems like every pitch he's hanged this year has been hit into the stands. Yeah, so the one thing that it did feel differently is that it felt like he threw a lot more curveballs

instead of fastballs, more than fastballs instead of curveballs. So I thought that maybe they found a new little plan there for him, and that can kind of get him going. I was just glad that it was nice and refreshing that when he did allow runs early, he didn't avalanche. Yeah. Because that's been one of the problems with him this year. We all expected it. We're, he didn't avalanche. Yeah. Because that's been one of the problems in this year.

We all expected it. We're watching and expecting the avalanche. Yeah, and if he can just – listen, he's going to allow home runs. Yeah. If he can be solo shots. Just give me three solo shots, whatever. What's been killing him is just these innings where runners get on base, then he slows down, and then he's thinking about the pitch block.

Then he gets up a three-run homer or something, and then it's like, yeah. So if he can just be solo shot guy. No, you're right, honestly. You're leading major league baseball, and homer's allowed, whatever. The other interesting part about Nola now is obviously the Shohei injury stinks. But, like, now if he can't pitch next year, now I know Snell's in the market, but, like, Nola's going to, his price is just, even with the annoying bad year that he's had, his price is still going to be really freaking high

because he takes down innings and mostly does a good job. He strikes out guys and doesn't walk people. So, like, he continues to kind of win. I agree with you.