High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Chapter 2: Casty, Bohm and other reasons for optimism

Episode Date: March 2, 2023

Don't have time to listen to the entire High Hopes pod? Check out this portion where James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss their reasons for optimism this season with the Philadelphia Phillies. 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

There was a story by Gelb this week just about how Sam Fold, who is eventually going to take over for Dombrowski, we hope everything goes well there, but just his connection was able to get Brian Kaplan here, and Brian Kaplan was not taking any MLB offers, but he trusted Sam Fold. And now we have this guy, a pair with Caleb Cotham, who every pitcher is learning a freaking cutter,

which I've been trying to preach for years. It's an important pitch to get off the barrel. It's a great pitch. Now they're starting to get into the sweeper thing, which is the most revolutionary pitch in baseball because it's a combination of a slider and a curveball that just— I can't believe this is a new pitch. It's exciting. I know.

It is exciting. When's the last time you had a new pitch? That's what I'm saying. It's been a while since we had a new pitch. The gyro ball? Maybe, yeah. The last one? Which wasn't even really, you know— Like, that's a really— Like, it's been a while. Yeah. It's been a while since we had a new pitch. The gyro ball? Maybe, yeah. The last one? And that wasn't even really, you know.

It's been a while. It's been the same pitches. And how about the Phillies being the team that's starting to embrace it? Right? That's crazy. And the other thing that I think is really important, and maybe the most important part of this whole thing, and maybe the most important, you know,

how the team has transitioned into being a smart team, is that the players actually buy in now. And that's the biggest thing, because the Phillies have tried this. They've brought in driveline, they've brought in smart pitching people, they've brought in all this stuff. But now you finally see them buying in. Zach Wheeler's buying into a sweeper. Aaron Nola's buying into changing his routine to keep him more fresh

late into a season. All these things that they would usually push back on, they're starting to finally embrace because the sport has become so science-y oriented, but the Phillies were resistant to it. That's the thing that I think hurt them for a long time.

Who's the pitching coach? Was it Chris? Who's the pitching that i think hurt them for a long time like you know uh who's the the pitching coach was it chris uh it was a pitching coach after after mcclure that was with the astros or whatever that that was like oh i told them that justin verlander needs to throw the fourth team up in the zone oh um regardless yes regardless yeah um like he might have been a pretty smart guy but he didn't know how to implement it like john maylee john maylee disaster right but like he had been a part of a cubs team that was very data oriented and these guys didn't buy into it uh like gabe kapler whatever like all these guys throughout the years where it's they've tried but now they're actually buying in and you're starting to see the development of these guys you You're starting to see them, okay, a cutter here makes sense. Here's why I'm throwing it.

Like, it's just, it's such a, for as excited as I am to watch them, and for as excited as I am, like, the future is making me just that much more excited because they're real. Like, this is all real, tangible, and I just, I think it's only going to get better. And I hate that the Mets are smart now better and I hate that the Mets are smart now and I hate that the Braves are smart because it's going to make everything harder the Braves have been smart for a while they have been

so how smart are they really I hate it I'm with you but like you know it's just this whole thing is going to be a gauntlet and they're only getting better they're only hopefully going to start developing better hitters but that's like the one thing that they figured out pitching. Pitching is going to be great.

Now it's on developing some hitters. So it's really exciting. That's the one thing that sucks about spring training is there's no interesting really hitters until late in the game. Yeah, exactly. You're not taking any big takeaways. I mean, look, it was nice seeing Castellanos moving up the box a little bit. You could see little things.

Oh, a 31-inch bat? Yeah, buddy. Hittin' bombs. Look, I'm with you, dude. And again, I said it before, but it's the thing that we keep coming back to. When Dabrowski got here, we expected him to kind of make moves to win now for this team. What I didn't expect was him to build up the franchise the way he has. For him to, you know, again, make it look like what a winning organization should look like.

And, you know, I, like, Dave Dombrowski is the most important person in the franchise in a really long time. Yep. And I didn't, I obviously didn't see that coming. Well, he's at. He is, like, we could look back and say Dave Dombrowski is the reason the Phillies are, you know what, a 20-year contender or whatever you want to say, like, are in it almost every year, winning World Series. Like, we can look back and point to this change. Like, I believe we'll be able to look back and point to this change and be like, Dombrowski changed everything. I know he won a world championship, but he's more important than Gillick.

Like, Gillick took a— That's a really fascinating point. He's certainly important than Gillick. Like, Gillick took a— That's a really fascinating point. He's certainly done more for the organization already than Gillick did. But Gillick was, you know, Gillick was— He made the perfect moves to get them over the top. Gillick might be the best general manager in this sport. He's one of them. But, but, he also took over a team that already had Howard,

Ali, Rollins, Hamels. You're right. He did not have nearly as hard a job as what Dombrowski's done here. Dombrowski's changing everything. Dombrowski's changing everything. Yeah. It's an interesting thought. It's a really interesting thought. Like, you might be right about that, which is kind of crazy.

It's kind of crazy. And when they get the World Series this year, it'll be cemented. All right. Let's get – yeah. All right. Let's get some other stuff from spring training. What's stood out to you? Obviously, I mean, the Trey Turner, just, just dude.

Let's just, let's, let's do it. You know what? Cause it's one of those things where it's like, oh yeah, we got Trey Turner, but we, we should make a gigantic deal about watching Trey Turner play in a Phillies uniform. So I, um, I have fought the idea of Trey Turner being the leadoff hitter just because like, I think it makes more sense to go Schwarber, Turner, Harper when Harper is back.

But, man, watching him at the top of the lineup and just, first off, just putting immediate pressure on the pitcher's head. If he gets a base hit, then he's on first base. And the pitcher's already – So what the hope there is, is that if Schwarber's batting too, which Thompson seems to indicate is going to be the thing... Which I think is smart. Yeah, I guess... Get up.

You were like, oh, let's get up 1-0. Get up 2-0. Boom. 2-0. Boom. 2-0. I agree. I just...

Maybe the World Series just scarred me, but my 1-2 hitters being strikeout machines was not something I enjoyed last year. Yeah, I agree. But for what it's worth, I mean, what Schwerber's talking about, he is talking about trying to make contact more this year and take advantage of the shift, which is a really smart thing to do. Maybe it's a few less homers, but he's a good enough, smart enough hitter

where I could see him adding 30, 40 points to the average or something like that. It wouldn't be the craziest thing that ever happened with the shift. Maybe not 40 points, but you know what I mean? Like 20, 30 points. He could have 250 and hit 35 homers. It just changes the math equation. Yeah.

But with Turner at first base, now you have the pitcher already thinking like, oh, bleep, I've got to make sure I keep him close. So it takes a little bit of their focus off the batter at the plate. Plus, if he gets on first base, and they don't want to make sure he gets to second base, it's going to be a lot of fastballs. So Schwarber should be able to sit there and sit dead red. Especially with the pitch clock, with the pickoff stuff.

There's a whole new layer to all this. These pitchers are just going in and trying to get used to this whole thing. Then you've got Trey Turner on first base being like, yeah, try to pick me off again. I'll take it. I'm good. Dude, he is one of those people that are so fast they glide. He glides. No, he glides.

That's it, dude. It looks like his feet come off the ground and he's just gliding. It's like you're on the airport escalators. Which I think are the dumbest thing in the world, by the way. Just walk, dude. Well, the dumbest is they get on there and then start walking. Yeah, I know.

And it's like, either stand on it or don't. Yeah, make a decision. You don't get to go in between. I need to start running airports. I think it's a good point, by the way. Thank you. Not just a good point, an important point. Thank you.

It's important. This needs to be talked about. Just stop walking. Yeah. Or walk. Take it easy. No, but it's so fast. It is so fast.

And just immediately puts that pressure on, like all right, Jay turns on first base, bang, he's going to get to second because he's like, because the base, I think, have already made a big difference. Yeah. Like Stoddy stole a base the other day that was easy. Like it's all been easy. So it's just like, he is, he is just so good. he's just so good and I love

the thing that I love the most is just the bat control and saying like alright well I'm going to shoot this to right field well again also taking advantage of the shift again too like if you know he can put the ball wherever you know the infield was in the other day

the infield was in the other day he's up the bat just like I'm going to poke this over the shortstop you know it's no big deal so it The infield was in the other day. He's up to bat. Just like, I'm going to poke this over the shortstop. It's no big deal. So I knew Trey Turner was great. But watching him every day, it's like we get to watch this hopefully 160 times and in the playoffs. I'm so excited about that. He's actually the most – like Harper's better,

and I was more excited when they signed Harper because it was the first time and we got the guy and we got the biggest star in the sport but in terms of just like my as someone who watches you know whatever we watch 158 160 whatever we watch with missing a game or two here there when we have to with a wedding or whatever like i think this is the most excited i've been for a player they brought in to just watch him every to just watch this dude play baseball. Well, I mean, you can make the case Turner's the better all-around player than Bryce. You could. Absolutely.

Harper has the box office appeal and he's the guy. He plays a more important position. He's a way better defender. He does more on the field. It's an absolute argument. An absolute argument. But we have them both, so it doesn't matter. We don't have to. How?

I just have one of those moments. It's an absolute argument. An absolute argument. But we have them both, so it doesn't matter. We don't have to. How cool? Like, how? I just have one of those moments. Deep breaths. Like, yeah, I was ventilating for a second there. Like, it's, whew. The Phillies. Well, the fact. Our Phillies.

The Phillies. So the fact that they have them both. You have Schwarber, who can hit 40-some home runs whenever. Literally led the league last year. Led the league in home runs. You have. I'm continuing to buy into Castellanos. I think we all are.

Honestly, it's one of the weirder things that's going right now. I thought you and I would be, like, having to convince people or fighting people or whatever. Seems like the vast majority of people are like, oh, yeah, he's going to be good. It's really strange, actually, to me. I really expected a lot more like, ah, Gath, what a boss. It hasn't been that. We did a poll on the mid-

There it is. Wow. We did a poll on the morning show. Do you expect a Canciano's bounce back season? It was like 80%. Yes. I couldn't believe it. Well, and it's because they finally look at track records.

Oh, yeah. Look at a career instead of a season. Oh, yeah, he had a down year. And I would be more concerned if he was chasing again. But everything in spring training has been, I'm laying off that, I'm laying off that, I'm laying off that. So Kevin Long's telling him to move up more in the box. I think the 31-inch bat, at least training with it, is smart. So I think cassiano's

bounce back hopefully happens i i would be surprised if we had like he's not doing 309 34 exactly yeah but i think i think like 280 28 280 25 280 30 even like something like that is like 270 and and 28 or something like that like i think that's a realistic season when you think about what he did last year compared to that, it's like having a whole new player. I know. Yeah. So you have those two, Cassidy,

whatever. But the guy who I can, I think I talked about this last podcast, but the guy that I've been the highest on. Yeah, I know. Bomer. He's already looking great so far. It just looks like a different player.

He does. First off. That homer was like, that was eye-opening. It was like, oh, you don't do that type of stuff. Well, unless it's Josh Hader.

Unless it's Josh Hader. Or Lance McCullers in the World Series. That's about it. No, so with Boehm, you want to talk about a guy who just looks more confident and looks the part this year? Ever since, I bleeping hate this place, and the city giving him that standing ovation when he came back the next night. It's the best thing that could

happen for him. It really is. It's the best thing that could happen for him. I'm not going to let the negativity of someone like Joe Giglio bring me down. Which is a weird thing. These are the changes we talk about. The new scheduling and stuff. It's like Joe Giglio's here during the day every day now. It's strange. Which is great. You know what else too

with Boone that I don't think we talk about enough as a philly's fan base just in general doesn't get talked about enough like you know you don't think about him as like a super hard worker or whatever but like to make the improvement he made last year defensively to go from what he was to the more than passable player he was by the end of the season as a defender, like that takes work, man. Bobby Dickerson, man. That's what I mean, though. But that takes dedication. That takes effort.

That takes work. That takes want to. Like, it doesn't just happen, you know? And I don't think we give Alec enough credit for the work he put in to get there. Do you know what I'm saying? Alec Hurts? Alec Hurts. Exactly.

Look at that. Same guy, essentially. Winners. They don't even look the same. Winners. Winners.