High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Scott Kingery is Here to Stay

Episode Date: March 26, 2018

Jon Marks, James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies signing Scott Kingery to a 6 year extension on Sunday afternoon, thus jumpstarting this rebuild even more. How are the Phillies going to use Kingery? What happens with Cesar? And could this be like the 2001 Phillies? All that and more on this episode of High Hopes.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. 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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Well, what else other than the fact that the Phillies somehow convinced Scott Kingery and his agent to be incredibly stupid and sign away his career and life to this squad, Jack? I'm blown away. I'm floored. When I got texts yesterday in the middle of the day, just Kingery, Kingery, oh, my God, Kingery. And I'm like, so the Phillies are making a terrible decision, and they're going to bring him up to start the year, and that sucks. And then I find out that he signed away his future to the Phillies.

Jack, what's your take on this? I was so nervous because I was watching the game. I was watching the spring training game, and Klintzak came on, and he's like, we might have a surprise for you people. Like the Philly fans out there about Scott Kingery, like wink, wink. And I was like, no, you are too smart. You are like, it would be such a deviation from the plan and how smart they have been this whole entire run. And like, and then I was panicking.

I was like, if he makes a roster, I'm going to freak out and be so upset. And everyone's like, oh, you idiot. Like, why would you ever be upset about them promoting a good player? And I was like, you don't get it. You're an idiot. You don't like baseball. Whatever. And then as time went on, they brought him up.

They announced it. And then I was like, okay, well, he's on the roster. What's going to happen now? And then I was like, the only reason they're going to do this is if they have a deal in place with him. That's the only way this makes sense. Klintak's not an idiot he knows about a service time thing but the good part is and I think it's a really smart move is that they they clearly take care of their players and they they they make themselves look better for doing this rather than what the Braves did with Ronald Acuna, who was playing unbelievable.

Well, I mean, to be fair, you know, Acuna is like a generational type of guy. We all love Scott Kingery. Acuna is like you'd trade Scott Kingery for Acuna and in a second, I wouldn't think twice about it. Correct. That's how good Acuna could be. Correct. And Chris Bryant was the same way.

Yes. And Scott Kingery, I don't think will be as good as those guys. But Scott Kingery is a really good, he's going to be a really good Major League Baseball player. Dustin Pedroia with more power. Yep. That's a great comp. And a more versatile Pedroia. And also, I mean, I'm giddy.

Matt Klintak is my hero. I love that guy. He was just on the Midday Show today and I told Joe and John, make sure you tell Matt Klintak that I'm his biggest fan and I love him. They didn't do it because they're jerks. But that's how I feel. It's just classic them.

Right? Come on, guys. They keep putting you down. Come on. But I saw the deal and I literally couldn't fathom it. I couldn't look at it and believe that this was real life, that Scott Kingery had given away so much time for so little money. And I know you hear a lot of people, oh, he set up for life, which he is.

Look, this could end up being, what, $64 million total? But if Scott Kingery's the player that we know he's— He's costing himself $40 million, $50 million. Look at Jose Altuve. He just had to sign a massive extension. He's getting paid $6 million for the next two years. And he's at least a $200 million player. Well, that's the thing about this deal that I love so much is that, you know,

when people are like, oh, well, it's a little risk on the Philly side. No, it's not. The only risk is injury. If Scott Kingery is, let's put it this way. If Scott Kingery hits his floor as a player, what we look is the prospect right now entering the major leagues and look, yes, there's always the Dom Browns. There's always guys who just crater for some reason or another. It's not going to happen with Scott King.

You can see what the guy could do. His floor is so high. This deal, if he hits his floor, this is still a good deal. Like, that's how insane this deal is. If he's an average major leaguer for nine years. Zach Cozart gets paid $13 million a year. Zach Cozart. That's the type of guy who makes $13 million a year.

That's the high end of this deal at the back end of it. It's crazy. It is. It is. Like it is. This is about as club friendly a deal as I have ever seen in my time watching baseball. Right. Deals don't get much more friendly to a team that like I can't believe the players.

I mean, I get why they are came with it, but I'm telling you the Players Association not psyched about this. Kingery's agent. I don't know. Should be fired. Should be fired. I was saying before that if Klintak had brought him up without this type of thing, if they just brought Kingery up like we were fearing when we heard the news originally, I called it malpractice.

It would have been baseball malpractice to bring that kid up when you only had to wait two, three weeks. I almost feel like it's malpractice the other way. I feel like this agent, and again, I get it. I know a lot of people are going to be like, you're crazy. This kid's never stepped foot on a major league field. Just have an ounce of foresight.

Just an ounce of foresight. Because guess what? If he comes out and he turns into an all-star player immediately, then guess what? He's going to cost $150 million. It's the best contract in baseball, if that's the case. Immediately. This will be immediately.

Like, if Scott Kingery comes up and plays well immediately, which, look, it looks like he's going to. This kid is for real. He's hit everywhere. He's hit everywhere he's been. He's a terrific fielder. He's versatile. He can play, like, what, five different spots on the diamond.

You know, we know he can play second. We know he can play third. We know he can play. Short a little bit. Theoretically, you know, he's got the we know he could play third we know he could play short a little bit it's short theoretically you know he's got the arm he could play any of those outfield spots if they had to obviously you want him right or left but i mean the versatility he adds i'm sure he could play for his base if they ever needed it though yeah but it's five to eight so yeah you wouldn't want him there never really happened anyway but just the versatility the the hitting at every level

the consistency of the bat, the whole work ethic, and the way this kid approaches the sport. I think they trust him. They wouldn't give this deal to a guy they didn't completely trust who was going to put it in the work. It's like Carson Wentz. Everyone's talked about how his mechanics were flawed and whatever. Buy into the kid. If a guy works as hard

as he does, he's going to figure it out. It's a great point. I feel the exact same way about Scott Kingery. I think he has all the upside in the world. I mean, second base, he could be one. Cesar Hernandez has been a top 10 second baseman for the last three years. He could be a top five second baseman in the next

couple years. That's how good he could be. And comparative second base is a little shallow across Major League Baseball right now compared to other positions. But yeah, I think Kingery could pretty quickly be one of the better be like and comparative like second base is a little shallow across major league baseball right now compared to other positions but yeah i think i think kingery could pretty quickly be one of the better second baseman in baseball i think he could be you know your option at third base if michael franco doesn't work out i know that is heresy to your ears especially after the michael franco love fest i listened to on the last edition i hopeELTS with you and Giglio. Just nonce.

I want to jump through my iPhone and be like, guys. But look, I'm excited, as excited as I can be about Franco. Oh, by the way, Kingery just went yard. Of course he did. In his spring training game. Of course he did. Worth it. He's worth the money. It's already a deal.

It's already a deal. I'm so curious. First off, first off, before I address your Franco slander that continues to come out of your mouth love fest you should have just labeled that podcast

Joe and Jack fawn over Mike Alvarenko he's stepping straight and we'll get there in a second but I'm so curious to see how

they're going to like so Cesar's his days here are numbered absolutely they're numbered and I think Cesar Cesar, his days here are numbered. Absolutely. They're numbered.

And I think Cesar's great. I think he's at a.370 OBP for the last three years, a.280,.270. Well, he's worked it up. I think he was like, you know, that's the point. He's shown, like he learned how to have an approach. He learned how to be a patient hitter. He learned how to take walks, and it's really paid off for him. Eventually, Kingery's going to be your second baseman.

But this first year, at least, or at least until July, he's going to be in a Chris Taylor-esque role. Absolutely. Where it's second base one day, shortstop one day. If Franco struggles, third base. Yeah, it's Marwan Gonzalez, but better. Right. And I'm just so...

We talked about this with me and Giglio. I don't think we know what to expect with this Phillies team. We're going to have to change the way we watch baseball. It's not going to be your conventional, like, there's your first baseman today. Totally not. And there's your left fielder for today. That's Gabe Kepler. Kingery's going to play center field.

He's going to play center field, and Herrera's going to have a day off. They are so obsessed with load management. They are so obsessed with not tiring these guys out. And Kingery being on this roster, having the versatility that he does, it's just adding another dimension to a weird era of Phillies baseball we're walking into. Well, I mean, it's really the next era of baseball. If you really look at the signs and look at the way Major League teams are going about it, I just mentioned Marwan Gonzalez, the Houston Astros.

Yeah. They did pretty good, right? They're building it the right way, you might say. Did the process work with the Houston Astros? I don't know. It's hard to say, you know? World, one World Series, have like the best the Houston Astros? I don't know. It's hard to say. One World Series have the best young team in baseball. I don't know.

Was it worth those three years of losing? Oh, my God. But, yeah, that stupidity beside the point. I think it's a great point. And I think that Kapler, we've already seen, obviously, a lot of people have talked about the outfield shifts a lot. But I think we're seeing that Kapler, Klentak, the new kind of way of looking at the game, looking for market inefficiencies,

using analytics in different ways, all that type of stuff, I think that's another example of it. I think the low management thing makes all the sense in the world. Why are these guys playing 162 games over 180 days or whatever? Ripken did it.

Of course he did, sure. But you know what I mean? It's a grind. Baseball is a grind. Of course he did, sure. But you know what I mean. It's a grind. Baseball is a grind. And for guys to, maybe it is smart to have guys play 145 games instead of 162. I'd be interested to see how that data shakes out. It might not be the best for their numbers or whatever, but in terms of having everybody fresh for what's the most important part of the season,

if you can make it to October, I don't hate it. I don't. And I love the lineup stuff. I love the versatility that they're looking for. I love that we don't know if Reese Hoskins will be the two-hitter, the four-hitter, the whatever. Like, I love it. Well, either way, it's going to be Santana.

Santana leading off. I love it. Like, I'm just – I'm very in on the organizational philosophy and approach. Once again, once again, I've said it before. I'll say it again. Every day we wake up with a modern baseball team and i think that is so exciting i think we're on i think for years we have underrated how awesome it is to have a fun baseball team like people forget how much that those phillies teams in the late 2000s

owned this city own the city and the people that say baseball is dead are just morons and they've been morons for years because it's not dead. It's just a regional sport to where if your team is bad, you're not going to pay attention to the rest of the sport. Jack, it is the most regional sport. It is the regional sport. People care so much. Exactly. Well, look, a perfect example.

WFAN in New York, the biggest first sports station ever. They will talk baseball over any other sport. Always. It's not like here in Philly, you know, if you listen to sports radio, you know, it's Eagles, Eagles, Eagles. And then we mix other stuff in when they're good, whatever. But like you go to WFAN, they're talking Yankees, Mets in December. Like it doesn't matter because people care so much about those teams in New York.

It is local. When the Phillies are good, people give a crap about this Phillies team and it'll be exciting. And I think there's an excitement around the team now. I mean, Kingery to me is an absolute culture changer. The way he plays. The way he goes about his business. Everything he does, I think him and Hoskins are the future leaders of this team.

Crawford to an extent, but he seems quieter and will go about his business and do his thing. But Hoskins and Kingery are culture changers. They're coming in here. They are the core. And teams know that when you're coming into Philadelphia, you've got to face Kingery and Hoskins and everyone else get behind them. And I know Kingery's never stepped foot on a major league field,

but watch the way he goes about his business at spring training, how dominant he is there, how much his teammates respect him already. It's insane. It is the start of something new with these two guys, and I can't get more excited about it. I feel exactly the same way, especially when you consider these two guys have been friends for a long time, played together in the minors together.

It doesn't matter, but I think I can't hurt that these guys kind of have this relationship and at the forefront of this. But even more so, I think you make a great point with that, with the way these guys go about their business. I mean, Hoskins is a baseball nerd. Like, we just had him on the Midday Show today, too, and it was an interview all about how much film he watches and how, like, he approaches pitchers and all this, like, nerdy stuff that I couldn't get enough of.

I could listen to him talk for two hours. Were you pacing around the... I was losing my mind. I was like, ah, I want to get enough of. I could listen to him talk for two hours. Were you pacing around? I was losing my mind. I was like, ah, I want to hug this guy. But that's what you see. You see this dedication to the craft, this work ethic, all that type of stuff. And then I think an interesting parallel to that was the decision for the specific veterans that the Phillies have brought in here.

Because I do think that Hoskins and Kingery and Nola, those are the guys that are the future. But to bring in, and we already talked about it with Arrieta and what that guy does for the pitching staff and for those youngsters and to set an example and the workout and all that type of stuff. But I think Carlos Santana too,

we've already seen with the Mikel Franco stuff and Matt Klintak said on the show that when they first met with Santana after they signed him, it was his idea to go to Franco. He brought up Mikel Franco to them. That's the kind of stuff where you have a young team with a ton of talent.

When you have a few guys like that, it can kind of just show them the way a little bit. I think veterans, I think all that's somewhat overrated. I don't think you have to have that to succeed. But I don't think it hurts in this specific situation. I think it's a nice group that they have going. And I think it's a group that really could move into the the future both quickly and very uh smoothly and they were all at Kingery's press conference today I know that was cool which made me so happy that was really cool well especially because like you said I think that's

the what Kingery brings outside of just and again we you mentioned raking in spring training raked across double a raked across triple a like hits everywhere he goes right last year in spring that's what I'm saying like just everywhere he goes, but also it's like you said, it's that work ethic, it's that love of the game this kid has. When he's out there playing baseball, you really believe that he's having a great time playing a sport, which is what you want out of all of them, right?

It doesn't always seem that way, but Scott Kingery, I think he changes the mentality. He changes the way guys feel about the game on an everyday basis. Again, 162 games is such a grind. When you have guys who are always excited to go out and play, who always bring that passion, that fire, I think it makes a difference. And this year, starting on Thursday, it's going to be a breakout year.

All signs are pointing towards a breakout year. You have the Arrieta being brought in. You have Kingery being up here. I think the Kingery being around a major league club from the beginning is just going to add a level of juice to these guys and let them know that they're they're here they're serious about winning immediately uh santana every time i watch santana i'm like surprised when he gets out because he just looks like he absolutely breaks and he's such a smart hitter man like he is so professional about his at bats you know every at bat he goes up there he's such a smart hitter man like he is so professional about his at bats you know

every at bat he goes up there he's like Hoskins he studies every pitcher he looks at their tendencies he's like all right if it's oh two what are they gonna throw me if it's one two what's he gonna throw me if it's two two what's he gonna throw me all that type of stuff that you know the Phillies of four years ago you would have been like well that's not happening just let's what what is that they've got a lineup of tough Exactly. And they've got a lineup of guys who understand hitting. They've got John Mele. I think he's making a big difference already. And I know Franco.

He's stepping straight, yes. Yeah. But look, I think if there's one guy you want me to, and I'm never going to be as excited as you and Julia were about Franco. I get it. I want to be excited. I used to be excited. Listen, I got him for a dollar in our auction draft.

You did? Was it a steal? Can we call it a win? Not yet win no i don't know but that's the thing is that i'm i'm look i don't i still i need to see it from franco to believe it but i do really like john mainly and i like what i've seen from him i i think he's going to bring something i don't know if he can fix franco or not but well i think he's already fixed alfaro and like alfaro's hitting approach i've been just blown away yeah because last year he was chasing pitches out of the zone this year he's just like a three walk to 90 strikeout type guy you know theoretically like that type of guy by the way

they keep showing his stats from last year he has the most deceiving 318 average i've ever seen yeah like you did not bet 318 that's the most fake news of fake news. Yes, yes. But Franco, listen, man, all I'm saying is that I was looking, thanks, shout out to Ben Harris, who is phenomenal. Does a great job. Actually, it wasn't Ben Harris, but it was on the good fight. And they're breaking, they did a deep dive into Michael Franco.

Do you remember the Michael Franco game in New York in 2015 when he had two homers off of Sabathia and I forget the other pitcher's name. Vaguely, yes. So he went off and it was like, okay, Michael Franco's arrived. Yeah, I remember that. He's starting to get back to that stance. Like,

he wasn't open. He was closed. He didn't have a big leg kick. He was just turning his inside foot and letting it rip. The guy is back. He had three homers in two games the leg kick. He was just turning his inside foot and letting it rip. The guy is back. He had three homers in two games the other day. He is just like he's arrived. And it's not like other years. It's not like other years.

Yesterday's homer was off of Brad Brock. I think Brad Brock is one of the best relievers in the game. Wow. I think he's good. I think he's fine. He's a good reliever. He's a really good reliever. He's a good reliever. It's not like he's hitting off some scrubs's a really good... I think he's fine. He's a good reliever. He's a really good reliever. He's a good reliever.

It's not like he's hitting off some scrub. He's not Zach Britton, all right? He's not Zach Britton. I think he's one of the best middle to late inning relievers. I mean, he technically is the closer until Britton comes back, for what it's worth.

But I know what you're saying. Look, here's the thing. I... Is it... Can I believe that Mike Alfranco could be good? Yes. The skills are there.

The talent is there. We've seen it before. And he's only 25 years old, 26 years old, whatever. So I'm not saying it can't happen. I just need to see it. What I will say is that if it does, because I'm looking at this Phillies team, and I've already said playoff contender, all that stuff.

I'm looking at it without Michael Franco. I'm looking at him as a zero because I can't give him anything until I see it happen outside of spring training in real Major League Baseball games. But man, man, if they get a legitimate contributor...

If you get 30 and 100 on Franco... They're making the playoffs. If Michael Franco comes through, they're making the playoffs. It's that big a deal. So Hoskins, I'm between 30 and 35 and 100. 35. Okay. 25 and 30 and 85 for Franco?

Well, I mean, if you... Well, look, he had 24 homers last year and he sucked ass. Yeah, 25 and 30. Sure. I'm saying yes, but it's more the key is, does he have a 287 on base percentage or a 387 on base percentage or even a 350? I need the 340, 350 on base percentage for Mikel on base or even a 350 i need i need i need the 340 350 on base

percentage for michael franco 360 somewhere in that range i don't think that's physically probably not gonna happen all right fine give me a 330 on base percentage something above a 300 on base percentage and i'll feel significantly better about michael franco it's my boy and then we got aaron altair in right field it's gonna be what are you gonna do with the altair williams i just can't is it a straight platoon? Look, with load management and all that stuff, they're going to get guys in there like we talked about. But Altair has to get the greater share of the bat,

even though it's the other side of the platoon. In my mind, I think we agree. Altair is better than Nick Williams. I think the Phillies view it the same way. They should. He's a better player. If you've read Gelb, any of these guys, they're pretty much saying that Altair is going to get the lion's share

of the playing time. Which he should. And then whenever the odds are in Nick Williams' favor, he'll play. Hunger game style there? Kind of. Good work. But whenever the analytics suggest that Nick Williams. Can we just call him Nick Katniss Williams now?

No, because he's not good. And I will go down in my group. It's so bad, and i do this every spring training i've talked myself into like all the except adubo herrera winning the batting title i love adubo well of course he's not going to bang title but he's good i think you bet 300 listen this thing about adubo is like he could just mess around and win the batting title if he wanted to he's like he could be so good and the fact that we can't get it out of him is kind of annoying you know like those three month stretches where he's the best hitter in baseball are fun.

It's great. It's just coupled with a 180 month. Yeah. Well, same thing fielding, too. He sometimes looks like the best center fielder in baseball, legitimately. And then other times, he'll literally just run in on a ball, just have the worst read on a fly ball you've ever seen. It just goes over his head.

It's so crazy to me. I don't get why he's so... I don't get why't get why so and then remember that one month where he just walked every single at bat and i was like oh so he can walk too and he can hit just like hey why not i'm gonna throw this into the repertoire i was like what are you doing um i don't know like i i'm just so in on these guys taking huge leaps if cesar can be cesar again uh i think carla santana like carla santana is probably the most reliable hitter in the entire game. One of them. For a middle-level player.

I think he's the most reliable on-base guy in baseball, potentially. I mean, other than Trout or someone like that. The middle-level guys. The middle-level guys I'm talking about. He's between 360 and 366 every year of his career. Every year. It's unbelievable. The model of consistency.

If you can get a jump from Franco. I mean, they're going to score runs. They're going to score runs, and that's why we talked about how important it was to get Arrieta because they're going to score runs, but they might not be able to stop runs coming in. Well, that's going to be the issue, right? But the bullpen's really good. I don't know.

I'm excited about the pen, and I think that's the one aspect of the team we've talked so little about. I know you and I have gone back and forth, and RIP Fernando Abad on this team. I'm very sorry that he didn't make the squad. It was an exciting time. It was fun. Fun while it lasted, but I really like what they've done with this bullpen. I think Tommy Hunter, one of the better contracts

signed this offseason, considering what other middle relievers went for and how as good or better he is than a lot of those guys. You know, bring in Neshek back. I love that. Why not? Bring him back, trade him, whatever. But I think with Neris, I think some of the young guys, I mean, who saw Adam Morgan becoming one of the most devastating

lefty relievers in baseball? Because he is. Like, Adam Morgan is a top 10 lefty reliever in baseball right now. Throwing 95. What is that? Like, how does that happen? So, you know, Garcia, Ramos, I mean, they got arms. They got arms.

Edibre Ramos. I love Ramos. I mean, that kid can throw. If he can harness it, he can throw, man. I think he has 16 strikeouts on 36 batters faced this summer or this spring. That's not bad. I think I was reading Gelb. He said that Ramos is going to be the long guy if needed,

like the first guy out of the pen to shut down a run if a team's on it and one of the starters is in trouble. It's probably going to be Ramos guy if needed, like the first guy out of the pen to shut down a run if a team's on it and one of the starters is in trouble. It's probably going to be Ramos first out of the pen in the Chad Green. Though I do think – yeah, oh, God, Chad Green. Give me Chad Green. I do think that Kapler is not going to be conventional with his bullpen usage. I think it's going to be very, all right, who's my best guy in this specific situation.

Well, it brought nine relievers. That's what I mean. But I think that makes sense for Ramos, but I could also see it being something where it's really dependent upon the specific matchups. Almost there. We're almost there.

Thursday. I can't wait. Can this season start already? I mean, geez Louise. Jack and I are going to come with a over-unders pod for all you baseball lovers

and gambling lovers, but mostly baseball lovers. Yeah. Because it's just a way to talk about the league. It's going to be fun. We're going to bust it out. Jack is the king of baseball over-unders.

Yeah, well, I was really good two years ago, and then last year I took a major step back. But it's okay. We'll get back. I think we can start by saying over 77.5 by a mile. Yeah, I mean, I'm right now. The Phillies are going to be over 500. Right now I'm at about 83.

Yeah, 84 is where I'm at. And I was at 84 a couple days ago. So, Kingery. And now we've got Kingery, who's a culture changer. 85, 86 maybe. He's got to be a two-win player at least as a rookie, depending on how much he plays. Maybe even more.

Don't you think? I mean, the type of guy he is, I don't know. We'll see. I'm excited. I'm talking specific war, not like actual. I'm talking analytics. Yeah, and I think we're going to have to really adjust the way we watch baseball this summer. But it's going to be fun.

So emergency Kingery pod is through. We also talked about just everyone's taking a huge step forward this year. No worries about Arrieta at all. It's going to be great. He hit 95. I couldn't believe that. I was producing. Bartschard came running into the studio. He was's going to be great. He hit 95. I couldn't believe that. When he hit 95. I was producing. Bartscher came running into the studio.

He was like, he hit 95. He hit 95. And I'm like, wait, what? What are you talking about? He's like, Jake Arrieta. I'm like, oh, man, really? He hit 95? And he said after the game.

I was like, was it a legit reading? Or like, really? He said after the game, if I hit 95, watch out. Because if I'm getting back to 95 miles it is it is over so i mean this is the this is the official talking yourself into the phillies making the playoff podcast oh yeah this will be this will be one of many i think of those i don't think that we're gonna at old takes exposed and when i post this because so they can just listen to it and then they'll retweet it i love that that. That's a great, come at us. Phillies are making the playoffs.

Come at us, old Tazix. Making the playoffs. Matt Klintak is our baby. We are all witnesses. God, and my hero. He's really my hero when I think about it. That's the best way I could say it. You know, Aaron Nola's our baby.

Reese Hoskins is our baby. Scott Kingery's our baby. Matt Klintak's our father. That's the way I look at it. He's a very young father. He clearly made some bad decisions as a young man. He's like a year older than me, so you know. Could have been you.

I get excited when people are older than me because that never happens anymore. Could have been you. Yeah, sure. Could have been me. So hopefully we get Marks here in a second. Yeah, so we already did the first part of the podcast, but now we've got to bring on the other member of the High Hopes podcast, Johnny Marks.

How excited are you about Scott Kingery? I am. I was reading something on Saturday about how this is becoming the new trend in baseball to sign the young guys and buy out their arbitration years or their pre-arbitration years and get them hooked long term little that I know the following day that Kingery would sign would essentially he's a nine-year 65 million dollar contract yeah it actually a lot of people are overreacting and saying that oh what's he doing he's actually gonna probably make about the same amount of money through his arbitration years million contract. Yeah. It actually, a lot of people are overreacting and saying that, oh, what's he doing?

He's actually going to probably make about the same amount of money through his arbitration years if he would have just held out. Maybe he'll make a little bit less. But he gets that security. The great thing that I see from the Phillies perspective is the three option years. Yeah. This guy's under contract until 2026 if they want him to. It's amazing. And it goes right through his prime.

Goes through his prime. And this isn't a guy that you worry about being a knucklehead or anything like that. He's never shown a history of injuries. He's going to get one contract, I guess, at 32 where he'll still be viable. But you get him locked up right now. Most importantly, he starts the season with them this year. He's going to get 120, 130 games.

I don't care. Well, they're going to move him around. Right, and the minute Franco stinks, he's going to be gone, and Kingery's never going to give that job back. So it could happen in the first week. So I saw you tweet last night, and I thought it was really interesting. You compared this team to the 0-1 Phillies. Correct.

Because I don't really remember because I was like eight. But what caused the jump from 66 wins? 65 to 86. Yeah. And you see this similar thing going on here with Kingery and Rollins compared. Terry Francona was a players manager that wouldn't rip anybody that, I don't want to compare him to Pete McKinnon, but along the same lines. And the team, while they quote-unquote played hard for him,

they had no sense of urgency. They had no energy on the team. They actually didn't have any starting pitching. The lineup was pretty good if you look at the lineup. Jimmy Rollins in 2001 came in with Larry Boa, and the dual new manager, new player, young rookie energy player just ignited the offense. Jimmy had double-digit triples, 46 steals.

He was just amazing, and he really became the fabric for that team starting that year. It was just a different team with Jimmy Rollins in the lineup. I see the same thing with Kingery, and I see the same thing with, not like Boa, because Boa rubbed a lot of guys the wrong way, but having a new guy in there that's not McKinnon, after talking to all the players down there last week, they love him, and they really do.

They think that moving around the outfield is a little bit weird, but it's going to be a great season. I predicted it's not official yet, Jack. I'm in at least the mid 80s right now. Yeah, we talked about that too, because this is now the time where we all talk ourselves into the team. It's three days before the start of the season. This is

now when Altair's an all-star, Abduble's back, Franco's back. This lineup's excellent. I was looking at the 0-1 lineup. I would take this lineup. It's similar, because This lineup's excellent. This lineup, I was looking at the 0-1 lineup. I would take this lineup. It's similar, because you have Abreu, you have Rowan,

you have some guys, but this has more upside. Kingery is a culture changer. He is. No, he can change this lineup. He can insert energy similar to what Hoskins did last year when he came up,

but even more. That's going to do it for this episode of the High Hopes Podcast. Look for the Over-Unders Podcast a little later this week. But be excited. Stay excited. Scott Kingery is a Philly.

This thing is starting to feel real. 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 it's now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is another fact so jump aboard the bib express follow and listen to baseball isn't boring

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