High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Chapter 2: Brandon Marsh's Injury and The Tiring Bullpen

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss what the Phillies can do in centerfield with Brandon Marsh sidelined for a few weeks and who can come up and save the bullpen as they rack up big innings. 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. We already talked, Nola, the Marsh injury. Yeah. Look, honestly, knee contusion was great news considering when it first happened.

Even though it didn't look like it was one of those non-contact type injuries type things, it still had that feel of like, oh, God, like he can't put weight on it. What, you know, did he just tear his ACL? How concerned are you about them being without Marsh for potentially three weeks, a month, who knows how long it lingers? Yeah, not great. Definitely not great because I like having Brandon Marsh out there

and the defense of Rojas Center and Marsh and left. We'll see if, I mean, he's probably going to be back before Pache, but who knows. But, listen, I'm still not sold on the hit tool. We'll see. But being able to watch Johan Rojas every day, it's been a fun experience. Yeah.

And just, like, the way he just, like, glides back and there's like, I have no anxiety that he's just going to like do his thing. And the reads he gets on fly balls are insane. Between him and Pache, it's like these guys are out of control with how good they are defensively. We talked all last year about how great it was to see Marsh here and the reads he would get on balls compared to what we had been watching. And both Pache and

Rojas are better. And there's a reason that Marsh moves to left or right field when those guys are healthy and playing center field, you know? Totally. So, and it seems like it just seems like Rojas, something good happens every time he's out there. I agree with you. It feels like he's had a lot of big RBI hits and stuff like that

for the time he's been here. It wasn't even a good bunt on Saturday. The guy fell down. But do you know what? Rojas fell down and still beat it out. That was pretty impressive too. So the March injury is obviously not great, but I just want to see what Johan Rojas can do.

I feel like good things happen when he's on the field. Well, and look, hopefully to the point you made earlier in the pod, now is the time where this weekend not just got Trey going, but Bryce's power, Castellanos, seven-game hitting streak,

had that tank shot, Schwarber with the big homer. Thank God the July Castellanos is not like the rest of the season. Right, buddy. Right. Well, he's been very,

it's weird. If you look, he's been great in even months and bad in odd months this year. I saw someone tweet that. So, yeah, weird. He had a bad May, but a great very, it's weird. If you look, he's been great in even months and bad in odd months this year. I saw someone tweet that. So, yeah, weird. He had a bad May, but a great June, bad July, good April. Anyway, file that away.

So, you know, for what it's worth, October and even month, just saying. But, yeah, like if these guys get going, it can help. Because, I mean, Marsh, like we just said, and it hurts when you have both Marsh and Rojas out there defensively to not have Marsh. But in terms of center field defense, they are not losing anything with Rojas out there every day. It's more the fact that, like, you know, Marsh has been OPS-wise their best hitter all year

and certainly one of their more productive guys consistently. So it's those other guys. If those other guys step up while Marsh is out, then it's like, okay, no problem. It's been, like, pretty good in RBI situations. I feel like there's been a couple times last week where it's two outs. They have a chance to, of course, blow it by not scoring a run with Ron's scoring position,

which is what they're known for at this point. And it feels like Marsh gets a hit. I agree with you. Yeah, I think other than Boehm, who clearly gets the most hits in those situations, I would say Marsh might be like the second one that comes to my mind in terms of those specific type of situations.

Yeah, so, yeah, I think that they can almost mask it as long as, I mean, pretty much, it's funny, all we were asking for Marsh at the beginning of the year was like, just go play good defense.

Great defense. And anything from the back we'll take. Also, Rojas has to lead like the league in fly balls that look like home runs off the bat. Oh, I know.

That end up like not being home runs. Not even close usually. It's like a short left field. It's like, what? The one over the weekend was smoked, and I thought that was going to go out. I was surprised it didn't go out.

But I feel like there's been three where it's like, oh, there it is, first homer. It's like, ah, and he... It's like they all just die. They all just run out of steam. Yeah, it does seem like... He's perpetually hitting into a wind gust. Well, yeah, but you're right.

It feels that way because it feels like he's perpetually hitting into a wind gust well yeah but yeah you're right it feels that way because it feels like he hits the ball hard but then the ball doesn't seem to go as hard as it felt like he hit it I know unless it's on the on the ground but like when he tries to lift it no yeah like it's almost like there's a 40 mile an hour winds blowing in I will say too I do think he's one of those guys it seems like he brings an energy yeah to the you know all the guys talk about funny is to be around and all that stuff. I think that helps.

Stott just keeps freaking. Dude, like, seriously, where would this team be without Bryson Stott? I mean, I guess probably the MVP of the team right on August 7th if we had to choose one, if you had to pick an MVP of the team this year. Yeah, I guess Cassianos in July. Yeah, I mean, Cassianos was one of the names you would think. I mean, Harper even without the time is, but I think it's probably Bryson Stoddard. I mean, think about the defense.

That play, was it yesterday or two years ago? I think it was yesterday with the diving. Oh, the dive, yeah. Oh, I mean, he is, I mean, this guy, dude, he's batting.303. He's a 25-year-old kid in his second year in the major leagues. And the opposite field home run. Dude, the first of his career, which was surprising because of how well he hits the ball over the field.

Joe Giglio put out a tweet with through their age 25 seasons. Now, Utley was a part-time player at the time. So it's like not apples to apples, but still like, you know, you put out the numbers and Bryson Stott right now has been a better player at the age of 25 than Utley was

and I'm not you know there and I don't think he'll ever have the power Utley did and stuff but I mean like Bryson Stott's going to be a really good player for a really long time man I mean I I have full faith in this guy oh and he keeps raising his ceiling I mean like like totally I thought it's like 303 yeah yeah And who knows as the power continues to develop. And he's like, you know, the big thing that ailed him last year was like 95 plus up. He's got no problem with that. No problem. Now he's ripping into the corner and whatnot.

So he is, he'll never be like, you know, a super superstar. But like, he's turned into a star on this town. But he could win a batting title. Yeah. Like, I mean, assuming Luis Urias gets traded out of the National League at some point. For sure. He's going to win the next eight. He could, though.

He has that ability with the bat and the hit tool. He is, again, I just love him. I love, again, he's been, I think, the highest mark you could label on a baseball player. He's a baseball player. He's a ball player. I love it. He's just a ball player. I love that that's the best thing you could label him a baseball player. He's a baseball player. He's a ball player. I know, I love it. He's just a ball player. I love that that's the best thing you could say about a player.

I will say, too, I think that he is the person this season who has, in a positive way, changed Phillies fans' opinion of him the most. People liked him, and people were like, oh, he's a nice young player. I think this season, basically all Phillies fans are like, oh, wow, this guy is a massive part of our future. Of course. Of course, yeah. And then plays a gold glove caliber second base.

Phenomenal. Phenomenal. They might have a 4-8-25 in the next seven years. Seven years? A 300-ish hitter that plays gold glove caliber second base. Think about that, dude. Think about that. That the Phillies drafted.

So shout out to them. They didn't have to sign him. Yeah, like we actually drafted him. And the 14th pick, like Bo was about that. But the Phillies drafted. So shout out to them. They didn't have to sign him. Yeah, like we actually drafted. And the 14th pick, like Boehm was the third pick in the draft. And granted, you know, in baseball, it doesn't mean you're going to hit. We all know. That class ended up being nuts, by the way. Do you know?

The Boehm class? Yeah. No, no. It's Rutschman. It's Bobby Witt. It's Corbin Carroll. Oh, my God. Rutschman and Witt were the first two picks?

Yeah, yeah. Wow. And Corbin Carroll, too? He was after Stott. Wow. I know he was after Boehm, obviously. No, there's more, too, I think. Wow.

Wait, the Stott class or the Boehm class? The Stott class. Wow. Yeah, Corbin Carroll's good. Hold on. The Stott class, real quick. Rushman, Witt, Andrew Vaughn, J.J. Blede, Riley Green, C.J. Abrams, Lodolo, Josh Jung. This is nuts.

Like, all these guys are having great, or at least a lot of them are having really good seasons. Langoliers, Manoa. Especially for all these guys to be up and contributing like this already. Stott, Carroll, George Kirby. Wow, dude. That's on the first round. This is an insane first round.

This is an insane first round. Wow, dude. That is like, wow, that's pretty awesome. I mean, Rushman and Carroll, you could argue like... Well, Witts. Well, dude. That is like, wow. That's pretty awesome. I mean, Rushman and Carroll, you could argue like. Well, Witts. I mean. Well, Witts too. All three, you could argue.

I mean, I'm saying like, I mean, Corbin Carroll has freaking 20 homers and 35 stolen bases as a rookie. Yeah. And it's worth two thirds of the way through the season. Well, and Witts the first player in baseball history to have 20 and 30. Yeah. First two years. And Rushman, they haven't been swept since he's. And Rushman's just a winner.

Like that guy's. By the way, Bobby Witt, I've never seen a play. So when I was watching Aiden Miller, all the draft stuff and whatever, I never could put a finger on his finish, like how he finishes his swing. Oh, it's Bobby Witt.

Looks like Bobby Witt. Well, I'll take it. Yeah, believe me. I think we'd all take it. I would be pretty all right with that. 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, our buddy John Wheeler. Shout out to John Wheeler. We love you, buddy. Our boy. He DMed me and asked me a question. He said, would you try and sign Stott right now? Long-term deal. Well, I mentioned that after opening day.

You mentioned it early in the season. Now we've got even more evidence. I mentioned that after opening day. You mentioned it early in the season. Now we've got even more evidence. So I just don't know if they want to add another $20 million thing to their payroll. You know what I mean? If they don't have to. So it's like the value of it isn't worth, the few million you save by doing it now isn't

worth the flexibility that you have if you keep them cheap for a little while. It makes sense. Yeah. And they need the flexibility. They definitely do. And look, they have a while with him. He's got like five years of team control. That's the difference between this and the braves

like the braves don't have big contracts on again the braves the braves put guns to the guy's head and force them to sign it's a different we don't do that here yeah so you know unbelievable um all right uh what else did i have um i think that's all i got until we get to to final thoughts and all that good stuff all All right. Take back. All right. Rob Thompson has an addiction, James. Do you want to know what it is? Is it righty lefty?

No. Okay. No. It is putting Matt Strom out there for two innings. I know. It's like every time. The second inning is never as good. It feels like it never works out. You're trying to save his innings.

I was like, let's go to it. Yeah. I need Jose Alvarado back. 100%. I still think not getting a reliever at the deadline is going to end up being a bigger deal than not getting a bat. I just think they need one more. The Kimbrel tip. Oh, yeah.

I mean, you feel. Look, and I like Jeff Hoffman and Marte. But, like, do we want those guys in the eighth inning of a tie playoff game? Because that's the way this team has been playing these things. Hoffman, I trust definitely more than Marte. I do too. I like both. But again, this is like, and again, both these guys,

Hoffman, you're, like the innings are a thing with this team. I mean, Kimbrell's going to set a career high if he stays on his pace. Strom is like way, wait, Strom! Kimbrell's setting a career high this year? He was on his way. I don't know if he still is, but like maybe not quite anymore, but he was on a high pace. He was at like 45

or 46 innings, 47 innings, something like that. Strom obviously has already pitched more than he had the last two years combined. Lorenzen? Lorenzen, yeah. Another good point. Going from reliever to starter. It's something they're going to have to manage. Yeah, and they do

have some depth in Belotti and Brockton that could come up. The problem is that they're still throwing a triple A, so it's not like they're just sitting there with ice on their arms. But, I just, yeah, getting another arm back there would have eased a lot of my tensions. Now, the one thing, I just want to know

if you're ready for it. Griff's coming. Oh, you think it's happening? Because this was last year, like, at similar timing, actually. You talked about this. You said, like, looking at guys for a playoff run, who do we have in the system who can come up and give us two innings at a time or whatever, and you were, like, just saying, like,

Griff's not the craziest idea. Well, especially because Griff, the last month, has heated up. Yeah, he's been awesome. He's not walking people. I think so when they were dying for a fifth starter, I think he felt the pressure because Andrew Abbott came up and turned into this nasty rookie for the Reds and he's like, well,

now I gotta go up and make the big leagues right now. And it felt like every time watching him, he was trying to make the big league. And then he calmed down and got back to being the Griff McGarry we've seen. I just think that if you're going six-man and you don't have as many guys in the bullpen, like you're down an arm in the bullpen having a

guy that can go multiple innings like Griff can would be a lot would provide a lot of value so he's in triple A now I just think that that's the next logical progression for him makes sense