High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Daily, Oct 3: Brewers Beat Mets And Phillies Have Decided Game 2 Starter

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Jack Fritz reacts to the Mets losing Game 2 of the Wild Card Series to the Brewers and previews the Phillies potential rotation for this weekend's NLDS. 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

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Don't just sit on the sidelines cash the ticket with us follow cash the ticket in the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts Welcome on in. It's a little solo edition of the high hopes podcast presented by Miller Lite Thank we're gonna need a good amount of Miller Lite's for this run because hopefully it's it's a little bit extended but reacting You know the the Brewers came back one tonight Jackson tree as a superstar Garrett Mitchell. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you extend this series so that Heading into game one on Saturday. You should be looking at Zach Wheeler on the mound versus whoever ends up winning this series therefore it's best starter so Good outcome tonight extended series. Hopefully the Brewers win tomorrow and that's not the to say that the Brewers are some kind of pushover

We do sell the Phillies go out there what a week and a half ago and not play that well now again There's a little bit more of a desperate Brewers team, but and and I expressed this Earlier today and a lot of people react to it, but it's genuinely how I feel, and I'm worried about the Mets. Now, I think if you listen to this podcast, and if you've listened to, if you follow me on Twitter,

let me work here, let me work here. I mean, we're working on work here. Let me work here. We might be, you know, we're working on something here. So, big start tonight with the Brewers, never a doubt. Our brew crew, shout out to Reese. But, Lena, one went away. But the Mets have that look. Maybe tonight killed them. I hope tonight killed them. I hope tonight killed them. I hope tonight was like a, okay, the steam runs out.

I have no idea. They keep pitching film mates on in huge spots, which is beyond me, but whatever. So still a good outcome. Either way, you're gonna have Wheeler on the mound versus the fourth best starter of whoever wins this series. So good to see that game extended trio is gonna be awesome But everyone else in that lineup, but just man, it's it's tough to get to caught up in the Brewers

They sort of Frankie Montaz in a game to tonight. They had Freddy Peralta. So I'm pulling for the Brewers tomorrow doesn't mean that they're a pushover, but anything to kind of Take the head off the snake here With this Mets with this Mets team So a little high hopes daily. I Can't stop thinking about the Phils. It's 408 why does it have to be eight? Why can't it be 405? Whatever 408 on Saturday can't get here fast enough. I just because at this point

I think you feel the way that I feel where it's, it's, you talk to yourself in almost every scenario and you just have to see it play out. And you know, we've talked a lot on the podcast about, you know, hurry up and get to October, which, you know, I've kind of been at since May, but I feel like our listeners and you have our, I think we're all there now because we just, we want to see how this looks in October. We want to see how this team looks heading into, you know, a postseason where they have real expectations. Last year, there was expectations. I don't think last year was expectationless. We know what 2022 was.

It was awesome, wouldn't trade it for the world, but it came out of nowhere. Last year didn't totally come out of nowhere. They were the number one wild card and they took care of the Marlins and we know what happened after that. But this is a postseason that you're heading into with real expectations of bringing home a world championship.

And to see this team have the time off and that'd be something that they fought against. I mean, they fought what Brian Snicker said in spring training about essentially complaining about having those days off. They heard that they internalized that they took that as a slight and now it's their turn to prove, no, we can do it. We can have the five days off and go and still win ballgames. Like there's so much at stake here from like what's almost like next year.

I don't wanna get too far ahead of ourselves, but how do they handle next year? Do they want to win the analyst? Are they more okay lurking and making sure they're in the wild card? I don't know. I don't know. But there's, again, this is what I'm talking about. When we're talking about just get us to 408. We're now talking about, are they, is the buy gonna be one of the detractors?

So I like how they've handled this week. I obviously, this is the first time they've been in a situation like this. Wasn't following super closely what other teams were doing last year. I know the Braves had a sim game with fake crowd noise, but they did a same game today and a couple takeaways. One is Bryce at a home run and I know it was the ninth inning.

I know it was off Tanner Banks, but I think the most important thing and the most key thing for this team to go on a run is obviously Bryce being healthy. Bryce for the last month, month and a half, whatever he's been dealing with it for, for how long he has been dealing with it, he obviously has not been the same player from a power department standpoint. I give him a ton of credit. Bryce deserves a ton of credit for adjusting and still hitting over 300 during the time that he's been in a bit of a power outage.

Ton of credit. But I don't need a watered down version of how good Bryce is heading into a crucial, crucial postseason run. And it's just so, and it's, it's hard to ever fully doubt the power coming back because again, in 22 he he is he played the whole postseason on a torn rotator cuff Last year it was coming back from torn rotator cuff. So he's played injured or he's played hurt in the postseason before This time felt a little bit different because he had dealt with that one for a little bit last year was just Recovering from the injury. This one was like is he different player? And the fact that he did hit a home run today and this time off, which he talked about last week as something that he was looking forward to

because he thought maybe some rest would get him back and feeling more comfortable in that elbow. So I think that's huge. That's a big takeaway. Cassianos hitting a home run today as well. That's important. That's a big takeaway. Castellanos hitting a home run today as well. That's important. That's great. But Bryce going yard, off a lefty, whatever,

but showing signs of power is really important. Now he did have the home run, you know, a late last week to get the 30, which was good. You know, important, but I want to see that continue. I need to see that continue. So he goes yard, other takeaway, and it's important for later in the series, but it is notable, is apparently Ranger Suarez looked good today. And Rob Thomas said he's up to 92, 93. He had good command. And I made the quip on the air when this was brought up earlier.

It's like, okay, Rangers Swarrs look good, but how does that make you feel about the Philly's offense? Because I think a lot of us are in the same boat of what offense are we getting? Because if there's one thing that has worried me, and I think we talked about in the podcast, if you listen to the final out, I feel like I've said it and repeated it a million times,

and it's not like a brand new take, but I think we all have a similar feeling of the thing that could cause this to not go the way that we planned, which by the way, now that everyone's on the same page of we're worried about the offense, I mean, doesn't have the feel of the offense is great. And for some reason, the pitching falls apart. I'm not here to speak things into existence, but you know, I just, that's the way I keep

thinking about when I keep saying worried about the offense, worried about the offense, worried about the offense. But if you ask me, what is, what is the thing that keeps Yoppen night heading into this post-season run? It would be the offense chasing the offense swinging and missing and the offense striking out. So Well, what has me concerned from that standpoint is that the last you know week week and a half of the season The case started piling up. They started out in Milwaukee. They struck out like what 44 times or 41 times

I think it's 44 times in three games. I mean, that's, it's egregious. They struggled against the Mets from a strikeout standpoint. It scored some runs, but from a strikeout standpoint, it wasn't exactly flawless. And then the national series, I know, it wasn't exactly the most watched Philly series of the season, but the strikeout concerns were there So like Ranger pitching well today and being up to 92 93 on one hand. You're like awesome on the other hand You're like, hold on. Is there it's there something to worry about with with with the Phillies offense and it just brings me right back to

You know, not everyone here is an Eagles fan, but it reminds me of Elliot our guy Not everyone here is an Eagles fan, but it reminds me of Elliot our guy ESP tweeting out the training camp stats and it's like, oh great. So he has these peas throwing 360 some million passes in a row without throwing interception and then we've seen the Eagles defense and it's like oh well that makes a lot more sense so that's my only cause for for pause with Ranger and what he did today Spencer Turnbull also threw and Rob Thomas said he was a bit erratic Spencer Turnbull is an interesting case and we talked about this last podcast But I you know the more and more you think about it And just another prime example of why we needed before oh wait on Saturday is we're starting talking about Smith Turnbull

Yeah, good is he gonna be a part of this thing if Ranger falters I think I think it's something to be brought up because you know turnbull is not gonna be someone that Is gonna be trusted to go deep into a game? But if he's gonna be someone they think he'd pitch out of the bullpen, you know, they're looking for a long reliever Taiwan obviously not Colby Allard, no Max Lazar maybe I like Max Lazar a little bit Tyler Gilbert maybe but in a perfect world that should be

Spencer Turnbull so Turnbull threw today he was a bit erratic but again this first time I mean he's like he's coming back off this lat injury I think it's the second time he's thrown and and the other time was maybe a week and a half ago so I expect him to be a little bit rusty, I think it's the second time he's thrown and the other time was maybe a week and a half ago. So I expect him to be a little bit rusty. But I think what's interesting about him is they're going to give Ranger game four of the DS 100%.

They're going to give Ranger game four. And I it's so funny, I think I saw a quote or maybe it was just a it was basically what the Phillies are thinking with Ranger and it sure seems like they are in the hope category with with Ranger like yeah hopefully when the playoffs are here let's flip a switch and it's just it's funny to see this idea of like oh man I don't know what we're gonna get out of our number four starter. So Rangers gonna pitch game four. They're gonna give him the opportunity it We know what he's done in the postseason the last couple years

Fantastic besides most of game seven of last year notwithstanding So he he's earned that But if it goes anything like it's gone the last couple couple trips out there, it's hard to say, okay, well, you get game four in the NLCS or whatever game he's lined up to pitch in the NLCS, God forbid, hopefully they get there. I wonder if there's an opportunity there for Turnbull to at least start the game. Again, not going to go deep but Can I give them one time through the lineup can you give them three four innings can maybe one and a half times I don't know but Turnbull I think has a chance here to

to Possibly help this team. I don't think it's just some kind of throwaway. So Harper goes deep. Ranger looks pretty good. Cassianus goes deep and Spencer Turnbull also threw. So I think all that stuff is interesting, but maybe the most interesting thing and the thing that has been so hotly debated in Philly circles, whether you're on Twitter, whether you're on Philly's Reddit or or on the radio is who's starting game two and In what rob Thompson said earlier today on zoom saying how obviously The the home road splits are in favor of chris sanchez and in reading

Tim kelly today. He said that you know nola Seems non-committal, doesn't care. You know, it doesn't matter if I pitch game two or I pitch game three, which is exactly what I expect from Mara Nola. And he's been around the block for a little bit here. This is part of the strength of Rob Thompson, him saying, this is not an indictment of you, Nols. It's game three is a swing game in this series and and we're gonna need you and again, I think I've said on the pod and and on the air or whatever, but Part of the reason why I think Sanchez and game tonight

They've kind of been Telegraphing that it does depend on how the opponent does against lefties and versus varieties. So, you know, maybe the actual last night, the Phillies were anticipating that the Mets were going to win. So like, all right, we'll just get we'll get Sanchez ready for game two. I mean, it seems like with this pitching schedule, Noel is preparing to pitch game three, who knows, but it seems like it's turning towards Chris Sanchez pitching game two, which I do think is smart. But Sanchez pitching game two, you know, it's his first marquee start.

I know he started a game last year against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, but that's when the expectations were low for Chris Sanchez. They were like, good story, but who is he? And in his first marquee real postseason start where you have real expectations of being the number two or to be To Aronola I would much rather have it be at a place that he's comfortable So that he can get off and rolling and he can he can he can feel you know and eat not ease his way into playoff baseball. It's probably not the best way to put it, but rather than it being on the road in city

field, which that Phillies met series, you know, two weekends ago felt like a playoff series that Sunday night game. Again, I don't know what came over me, but I felt when they lost, I was devastated, you know, I think because I wanted them to clinch up and up in New York, but you know, it was, it was one of those games where I need this and we needed it. So it had a playoff feel. Do I really want to put Chris Sanchez in that spot? Not that I don't think he could do it, but am I, if I was placing bets, if I was, if

I was, you know, if I was making a bet what I'd rather have Sanchez at home or in that environment You're up there. It's either you're down. Oh, two one one or up to oh I would like someone that is a little bit more veteran in that spot Being able to take down game three, which is a huge swing series, or swing game in this series. So again, they could be down, they could be down, it's a massive, massive spot. So if they do go Sanchez game two, I think it's the right move.

I don't think it's overthinking. And part of the reason why I don't think it's overthinking is I think it also comes back around to game four because Rangers gonna start that game unless they're down one two unless they're down one two and and they need Wheeler on short rest they're going to go Wheeler. That's not. I would be surprised if they didn't go Wheeler. But game four is going to be so interesting because. You're probably going to getting Ranger to go one time through the lineup, which means you're going to have to pitch a good amount of your bullpen that

game. It's going to be one of those Rob Thompson games where, you know, game one in Houston in twenty twenty two game one last year in Atlanta, where he's pulling a starter after three innings or whatever super early into a game and he Manages his way through it

That's what game four is setting up to be because I don't think they trust Ranger going two times through now It could be a thing of the eye test and off of what he did today. Maybe they're like, okay We trust Ranger a little bit more here They'll have to get into the game and see how it's going before they make any kind of determination on that But as it feels right now to me, he's gonna he's gonna be a one-time through the lineup kind of guy You know, you're gonna need your bullpen you go null a game three Because he probably if again if you were betting not everything's 100% not everything set in stone But if you were betting heading into the series,

who has a better chance to go deeper into the game? Sanchez or Nola? I would bet on Nola going deeper into the game. Not that Sanchez can't, but I would bet on Nola. So I would think that I need more of my bullpen guys in the game too, plus, plus in that game too, it's a chance to be super aggressive if you're already up 1-0 to take a two games to nothing lead to where you can be more aggressive with your

bullpen so i think i would prefer to have a lot of bullpen guys ready to go for game two so i have the off day and then nola trust him a little bit maybe let him go an extra inning or maybe let him work out of jams so that i'm not running my bullpen into the ground and and then knowing that I need a lot of probably gonna need a lot of arms in game four. So game four is a is is massive. Obviously take care of this in three games and we don't have to worry about it but that's likely not gonna happen whoever they play. So again I think starting Sanchez is the right move but I thought it was that was really interesting that it was the first time it kind of got put out there the home road splits were factoring in no one doesn't care about pitching at game two or game three he's not going to be it's like I'm gonna be a shot to the ego if he's not pitching in game two at home and it's really

for me it would be a vote of confidence saying hey I trust you on the road too. So really interesting stuff, but tomorrow we got a nice deciding game. Mets versus Brewer. So Mets Brewer's tomorrow night. I don't know who is, uh, is, is going to be on the mound. I guess I gotta, I gotta look that up real quick for, for whoever. So Kentana versus Tobias Myers. I think Tobias Myers is good. So I would be leaning Milwaukee,

but Kintana obviously has the postseason experience and just has kind of a big game feel to him. So either way, we will all be locked in on that one. If you're in the area, we're having a huge pep rally tomorrow at Chickies and Pete's in South Philly. The whole station, WIP, will all be there. James will be there in the morning, 6 to 10. Midday show obviously will be there with Jilio and Hugh.

And then me and Spike and Ike will all be there working on some big guests. So hopefully we get, no, it'll be on the phone, so I don't think they won't be in person. And then me and Broads,ads from uh from six to seven 30 so we're gonna try to do high hopes daily, you know when we don't have a podcast or we don't have a post game show I'm gonna be here. You know making sure that there's something in your feed Every single day so that we can we can go through this playoff journey together. and hopefully it's long. Hopefully it's a long playoff journey because Man, we are all dreaming of a parade down Broad Street. So it all starts Saturday

but if you're in the area come out the chickies tomorrow probably do another one of these tomorrow nights as Again, we'll be reacting to game three between the Brewers and Mets. So I think while we locked in, trying to see who we're gonna play on Saturday. As always, go Brewers. But man, I hope they can get the job done tomorrow night. I don't need the, you gotta believe Mets. I can just feel it, I can feel it.

So I think a lot of us can feel it. I know there's a lot of portrayed confidence out there and I'm confident too. Like I, it's not the, it's not super doom and gloom. Like I'm confident about the Mets, but I would like to just knock that whole little, little, like let the Tigers be the team of dust this year. Let the Tigers be the team that goes to the world series or, or it goes on that magical run. It doesn't need to be the Mets. We don't need to see the Mets do that.

But either way, that's going to do it for me. Thanks to everyone who tuned in. I'll be back tomorrow night. And as always, listen, if you are looking for a Phillies podcast to, to, to check out, to react to games, well, you know, send us the old subscribe button and let your friends know as well. Always appreciate it.

We love the podcast. It's our favorite thing that we do. And it's this time of the year. It's time of the year for the Philz. So go Philz, go Brewers, and I'll talk to you tomorrow night.