High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Spring Training Mailbag!

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Jack Fritz unloads his Spring Training notebook, then takes all your questions on the state of the 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

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Well, if that isn't official, I don't know what is. Welcome on in. It's a solo edition of the High Hopes Podcast because James Seltzer is dealing with a little bit of a sickness. So, I mean, it's physically impossible for me to see the boys, you know, down at spring training. You know, you start to see mitts popping, pitchers and catchers reporting, big signings including David Buchanan and Spencer Turnbull.

I wanted to do a podcast Friday night. I've been ready to do a podcast for about a week now. So excited to do this. If you missed the little tease on Twitter, get your questions in for the YouTube mailbag, and I'll go through, and Tucker producing the program tonight, he will bring up what he thinks are the best ones.

So I appreciate everyone hanging out. Obviously, the Iowa's podcast, as always, presented by Miller Lite. Rate, review, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And let's download this thing because the Phil's are back. The Phil's are back. And it's been sort of a slow, boring-ass winter. But it's just so – and how last year ended.

I was kind of thinking about this year, and I don't know if it comes through as very apparent, but I defend the Phillies a lot, and I get very protective of the Phillies. And I felt like when they lost games six and seven to the Diamondbacks, it was like, great, now they're gonna have the the you gotta get to the world series or this whole thing's uh uh this whole thing's a waste of time like kind of where the fan base is at i remember early 2000s same thing with the eagles it was like get to the world series or get to the super bowl and win the super bowl or bust um you know we're

kind of there with the sixers right now i think we got there uh in 11 with the phillies when they when they compiled that team and it was a lot of just like super super super high expectations and listen expectations are good they'd rather have expectations than than no expectations um but my natural uh instinct i guess is to always protect them. The nice part about this week and talking to people both on the air, on Twitter, is it just seems like there's a general excitement to have the Phillies back. It's not like, eh, who cares? These guys are in camp. They lost game six and and seven which i think is just a really annoying

portion of the fan base like sure there's gonna be that but it feels like people are just genuinely excited to have to have them back and and the nice part about this team is that like obviously the connection between 07 to 11 is something that is it's really hard to replicate it gets you had all-time players you had some Hall of Famers, some close Hall of Famers, guys that we grew up with, and the connection there was special. But I think that this team, given what they've done the last two postseasons, has gotten to the point where it's like they kind of just put a smile on your face.

And you see them back and going through workouts again and they put on the awful Fanatics jerseys which is just like how is this so bad how did it go from something so simple to something so bad like they look like

like replica jerseys they don't look like Major League Baseball jerseys it's atrocious and I know that's a consensus take, but it's just, it's so bad. It's so bad. But it feels like there's a genuine excitement. And I was wondering what the buzz was going to be heading into spring training because they didn't really make any major moves. That's disappointing. I mean, I am in two camps, like one camp, very, very excited they're back and can't wait for their first spring training game. Can't wait for all that stuff.

And we're like less than, what, about like 10 days away? No, we're like 17 days away from the, whatever. Late February is the first spring training game. And I can't wait. On the other hand, I would have liked a bigger move. Now, they do have a chance here to make a bigger move. There's been

some stuff out there that the Phillies will sign one of these guys if they're willing to take a one or two year deal. The Jordan Montgomery's of the world. I think I'm in the camp of Jordan Montgomery over Blake Snell, just an example. I wouldn't have to give up a draft pick.

The Jordan Montgomery-Blake Snell. The Bellinger thing still feels like a bit of a reach. I'm sure there's some mailbag questions about that. But still, I think that there's two moves that they have left. I think they'll make a move for a reliever

and I think they'll make a move for a bench bat or a guy that can possibly start. But either way, it's good to see the boys back. It's good to see a lot of smiles in camp. It's good hearing Rob Thompson talk again. I think a baseball manager is so different than almost any other sport because it's such a long season and i feel like you have to have a certain demeanor and you gotta kind of be quick-witted um and it's not like a football coach where it's a

lot of rah-rah um or basketball coach is kind of rah-rah. It's like, we're here. We're going to do our thing. But he has a quiet confidence about Rob Thompson, which I always appreciate. I feel like Rob Thompson exudes a lot of confidence. So it's a solo high hopes as we wait for Seltzer to get back. I feel like the last one I did of these was the Aiden Miller reaction podcast. But before that that i'm pretty sure the last time i did a solo high hopes was i think it might have been after the nola start against the red socks and i just had to talk about it and i believe the comp that night and if you are like a throwback high hopes listener like we had some pretty crazy comps back in the day.

Some didn't age well. But listen, we were bold, we were happy, and we just loved talking about the Phils. But I believe I compared Aaron Nola to Pedro Martinez. Maybe not, but still a very good pitcher and is going to be a Philly for life. So I'm excited to get into it. Again, get your questions in and Tucker will go through and he will find the best ones.

I want to go through some of the biggest spring training stuff that has happened so far. Yesterday, Wheeler talked contract extension and made it very clear he wants to be here and talked about he doesn't need to break the bank but you know wants to be paid market value and that that's perfectly fine been some stuff floating around about 40 million a year he's asking for kind of feels like kind of feels like we are um like that the two sides are are clear we know how the phillies operate the phillies are will spread it out so i wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to go like five six years frankly i know it might be like sticker shock because he's a 34 year old pitcher he's going to be 34 in the season but i wouldn't be

surprised if they're thinking more five six years down the line maybe 30 million a year trying to i think i think 30 million is the the absolute lowest they would go um but we know how they'd like to operate so you spread that out or what wheeler's probably looking for maybe three years at 40 million dollar aav and try to you know have the most amount of money possible for the next three years. So I assume that they're probably going to just meet in the middle. And maybe it's like a four-year deal where it's like $35 million per year and both kind of get what they want. But it's weird because I feel like I got this way with Nola and it was a mistake on my part where I was like ah they'll get it done they're not gonna let Aaron Nola hit free agency like

not worried at all that they seem like they're on very good terms it's not like it's getting nasty stuff's being leaked to the public and the Phillies ended up not signing him before the season he actually hit free agency so I'm trying not to get get trapped in that way again but i just i it's been too positive for me to to think anything else then they're gonna get it done they they said they're working they representatives from both teams i guess both sides are i've started dialogue on a extension so i just i don't i don't really have my antenna super super high on it the aaron nola thing last year is definitely um you know make me worry not worry about it but it's making me think about it a little bit so um but very good stuff from zach wheeler and i know

when we talk about paying pitchers and we talk about, oh my God, well, they're going to pay a guy until he's 37, 38 years old. And that could be kind of jarring. We have talked a good amount on this podcast throughout the off season where, yeah, I get it. But like Wheeler seems like he has one of those arms that does age well, you know, for every grom that to where it doesn't seem like he can stay healthy or you see these guys like felix hernandez or whoever go from like 98 to 93 in a in the blink of an eye all of a sudden they're just they're they're basically out of the league and they're only just pitching like i remember uh jared weaver dude there was no one easier to bet against in the world than jared weaver towards the end like like, it just, it just completely fell off, but Wheeler, I think he just reminds me more of the, I'm not saying he's as good as these guys, but he's up there, of the Verlander Scherzer arms, where, sure, the velocity might be down to 95, but still has the giddy up.

Can still get it past guys. It's still a – so, like, it grayed out last year as one of the best fastballs in the sport. And he was losing velocity on it. So, sure, we had those weird – remember that stretch where he pitched against the Nationals, like, two times in a month? And for some reason, they just ripped them like there was there was more of that last year than you know i think in years prior but when it came down to it i mean he was unbelievable in the postseason he was he's ridiculous in the postseason and for as much as i think we rightfully so romanticize obviously ham 08. We won't talk about 09.

10, 11, and Halliday, unbelievable. We know that. Cliff Lee, of course, in 09. But, you know, 11 kind of taints it a little bit. But what Wheeler's done the last two postseasons is right up there with those guys. And I feel like those guys generate so much more buzz. Either way, yeah, Zach Wheeler's done the last two post seasons is right up with up there with those guys and I feel like those guys generate so much more buzz either way um yeah Zach Wheeler extension not too worried about it um but definitely something to monitor uh Marsh out of nowhere all of a sudden it's like well he needs knee surgery it's like well I don't know why we had to wait until now he said he he

said he might have heard it against the reds last year could we have gotten that done i don't know like after the season but he hopes to make opening day he's gonna make opening day that's fine my only concern there is is that the amount of bats at bats that he has leading up to that is he in uh like minor league camps is does he make the end of spring training of course the the part of my brain the little negadelfian, is like, oh, great. So he's going to get off to a slow start because he's not going to see any live pitching. This makes me feel like they need to go get, and I think they will, but another bat. And I know I'm sure there's mailbag questions about it, but Whitmerryfeld is someone who does make a ton of sense.

It looks like he's going to make a decision this weekend. I wonder how much he's concerned about playing time versus trying to get a ring. Apparently there's like five teams involved, I believe was the Marosi report. So we'll see what happens with Whitmerryfield. I think he would be a really solid addition. You're not getting the Whitmerryfield of a couple years ago. He was still an all-star last year, which I was surprised when I looked at his baseball reference. I was like, hold on.

Whitmerryfield was an all-star? You're not getting the same player that was out in Kansas City, but you're getting a good player. You're getting the maxed out kind of kingery. And the nice part, he can play infield if needed. He can play centerfield if needed. So let's say Marsh comes back, he's fine. You can play him in centerfield if Rojas struggles. I'm all fine with Rojas going out there,

starting game one, opening day, and giving him runway. We don't need to pull the plug two weeks in. But we've talked about, they tried this a couple years ago with the hazley moniac muziati like that that level of center field now rojas will always provide value with the glove because the glove is special but but but can he hit enough and that's always going to be the question with johan rojas we can survive at 220 230 can't survive at 150 like that's just it's

a lot it's a lot it's essentially a pitcher batting knife which bring it back but um um but i think the marsh the marsh injury the possibility of maybe missing opening day or at least starting slow not needing to like run him into the ground fresh off a knee surgery go get a bat go get a bat merrifield makes sense can play left can play center can be a platoon back and play infield good kike hernandez also comes to mind there this guy still is out there i don't know how good he is anymore it's probably a minor league deal but like marwin gonzalez can technically play like every single position in the field can't hit anymore but. But Marwin Gonzalez, Kike, Merrifield, if they go straight outfielder, I mean, do I really need to mention who I think they should sign?

Yes, I think they should sign Adam Duvall. But we don't need to go back in and relitigate the Adam Duvall conversation. But, yeah, that's something to monitor with the Marsh situation. And hopefully everything goes good. He's good for opening day. He can go out there and be Brandon Marsh because, you know, I guess the jump that he took last year hitting was really exciting, and I want to see if he can hit lefties.

I was watching him in the cage, I guess, two weeks ago facing a lefty guy, so clearly something he worked on, and they have a chance to have a really really solid outfielder with him and uh him and johan rojas um great to see charlie at camp you know i it's i'm so happy like like i remember when i got the or i saw the tweets about him having the stroke it was like we can't lose we can't lose charlie um so like and of course i think alex coffee tweeted him like right behind the batting cage it's like that's my guy it's good to see he's fine

he's doing better and he's right back behind a batting cage I wouldn't expect him anywhere else and then two quick things here before we get to the mailbag how about David Buchanan like the funny it's just

like I remember David Buchanan? Like the funny, it's just like, I remember David Buchanan. Like, I feel like I, one of the few people that like remember vividly the David Buchanan run where it was like, ah, this guy is like semi decent.

Hey, knows how to pitch. Like, well, it pitches backwards. Who cares if it's 90 to 91. Now he's the oldest player in Philly's camp. Like,

this is just, it's sickening. It's absolutely sickening how fast time flies david buchanan is the oldest player in philly's camp the the notification that they had re-signed him i swore it was a bit i really did um obviously he's pitching over in korea for the last couple years pitched like a three era um which is obviously pretty good i think last year was down the two fives um you know he was like really fired up i watched like a quick clip of him he's like ellison i'm here to win i'm here to win i was like all right i appreciate it i don't know if we're relying on on david buchanan to help put us over the top but um listen i we'll see i'm

excited to see what he looks like i hope there's a bit of a velo uptick i'm sure there is um you know things have changed a lot since 2015 and it's just hilarious looking at the like the last lineup that he was a part of i think like altair was in it and kratz was in it and Mike Cal and Roth and just some names, man. Like we, we've been through the doldrums here. We've been through the doldrums of like the 20,

like 2012, 2013. Like I always sort of forget Michael Young was a Philly, you know, where they were hanging on. Even like, I, I remember,

and I, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was so excited that they signed A.J. Burnett in 2014. It's like, oh, sweet. A.J. Burnett. Loved him like a decade ago. And yes, he ate the Phillies lunch in the 09 World Series. But David Buchanan's back in camp.

He's the oldest player in Phillies camp at 34 years old. I mean, at least bring back some kind of grizzled veteran. 34 can't be the oldest player in camp. It's as simple as that. Cannot be the oldest player in camp. And the second one, yes. I could have done at least 45 minutes on Spencer Turnbull, but we will keep it semi-short and sweet. I'm very excited about Spencer Turnbull, but we will keep it semi-short and sweet. I'm very excited about Spencer Turnbull, and yes, you don't have to tell me. You don't have to show me his baseball reference from last year.

I'm aware. I got it. I understand. He was not good last year, but I think it takes a little while for guys off of Tommy John. I think everyone reacts to Tommy John differently. Some pitchers come back, like Verlander, who come back and win the Cy Young. Tommy John comes back and they're throwing harder than ever because that's all the kind of work that you put in on your arm. That's what happens sometimes with Tommy John. Some guys react differently. And could Spencer Turnbull be not good at all?

Of course he could not be good at all. But I'm just, it's the right kind of upside signing to where he can help you out of the back end. He can obviously make some spot starts. He has an option. So he's going to start the year at AAA. And the upside is

like legit upside. There's not no upside here. Now, last year, the biggest thing he's going to have to get back is like legit upside. There's not no upside here. Now, last year, the biggest thing he's going to have to get back is obviously his velocity. I mean, his velocity was like 93 last year. You know, a couple of the clips that I was watching. Prime Spencer Turnbull, which is kind of a funny sentence to say. But Prime Spencer Turnbull was like 97 with two seam run. And he was just kind of figuring it out the last two years.

I remember the first time I saw Spencer Turnbull was in a Philly spring training game. And I was like, oh, I've never heard of this guy. They should do pretty well against him. And then he's like throwing 96 mile an hour two seamers with like a hammer slider curveball combo. And I was like, okay, well, this guy obviously could be something. I think that was the year he pitched to the 3-9, and then he had two ADRA

before he got hurt in 11 starts in 21 before needing Tommy John. I just, it's the kind of signing that I think has a chance to really, really pay off. You're not spending any money. He has a minor league option, so you're not, like,

kicking Christopher Sanchez out of the rotation. You have him in AAA. If his stuff is back and he's healthy, and I also like that the Phillies did bring in the former Tigers, like, head scout or someone in the Tigers organization, I believe last offseason, to where I feel like he has a pretty good gauge on who from the Tigers matter versus who doesn't. And the Tigers are not exactly the smartest organization when it comes to knowing how to develop pitchers or knowing how to get the most out of pitchers.

So the Spencer Turnbull thing, you go from the Tigers, who I think are deficient when it comes to developing pitchers to the phillies which have kind of turned into a bit of a lab here the last couple of years and getting the most out of guys and there's there's legitimate upside there there's legitimate upside so i can't wait for spring training to start to to watch from spencer turnbull um and i'm excited to see if that velocity is back up. Because if it's 96, it's 97, we might have something. We might have something. And that's exciting.

So I'm sure we'll get more into all of this with Seltzer when he gets back. I'm sure he's going to have to hear me drone on and on about Spencer Turnbull. spence a turn bull uh i think last year his his slider uh like with percentage jumped from 13 and 21 to 18 19 in in last year so there's some things he has to iron out but i also think that you have a good amount of rust coming off of tommy john traditionally command is like the last thing to come back and like last year he I think he walked a career hiring guys. There will be more Spencer Turnbull breakdowns. I can't wait to see him out there and see if he has some juice left. If he does, I really, really think they've got to steal.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Tucker, it's time. Let's go through some of the YouTube comments or mailbag questions, and let's get into this thing. All right, Harry Walker, talk about the cleanup spot. Everybody wants to talk about leadoff, but Boom killed them in that spot. So the cleanup spot everybody wants to talk about lead off but boom killed them in that spot so the cleanup spot is very interesting um because the so rob thompson said that he hasn't decided on his lineup yet um and i wonder if there's an internal conversation about Schwarber and where he feels most comfortable

versus maybe a more traditional guy like Stott up there. And I think no matter what, no matter what, it should be a lefty batting one. So whether it's schwarber whether it's stott i want one of those guys batting one and and turner to bat two i think he's a really good two-oiler and enough of the harper batting cleanup thing like i want harper batting third i would like him batting in the first inning i think that'd be beneficial um and i and i know that people soured on bone through the Dimeback series. It's just I don't know who else you put there. You could put Castellanos there if he's hot, but there's a lot of swing and miss that we've discussed at nauseam.

You could put JT there, but is JT a cleanup hitter? I think in the playoffs, he was really good. I think you can make the argument it was their third best offensive player throughout the entire postseason. Just turned his game completely up once the postseason started.

But I would be fine keeping Boehm there from the standpoint of I wish he could hit more home runs, and I get it. But I think what Boehm does well in that spot where if you have guys in front of him, I still trust him in RBI spots. And I don't think he's going to strike out that much. So Castellanos, like power-wise and RBI, sure. But there is strikeout there.

I think Boehm, runner on third, runner on second, less than two outs. I just trust him to get that guy home. And I'm interested to see what this year of Alec Baum is going to be like because last year the whole thing was I always put on like 25 pounds or 20 pounds, whatever whatever here comes the power surge and there was a power surge it was 20 home runs can we get to 25 is he still ironing out his swing was he focused so much on defense that maybe the the power will come this year i don't know um but he's a good professional hitter and and i'm keeping i'm keeping him at the four spot.

And if that's the lineup on opening day, you go Schwarber, Turner, Harper, Boehm, or Stott, Turner, Harper, Boehm, Schwarber, not bad. So I'm keeping Boehm at the four spot. What's next? Jack, some rumors floating around about McKinley Moore being a trade candidate. What's his value? And who's the most realistic person to bring in a platoon left bench?

And yeah, by the way, just nailed reading that. Could not have nailed that anymore. That's from Jamie Haar. The McKinley Moore trade candidacy is pure high hopes. You know, that's why I love this podcast. So McKinley Moore is interesting. I mean, there's probably love this podcast. McKinley Moore is interesting. There's probably no value for McKinley Moore. It's such a shame, too, because in spring training last year, I was like, wow, this guy

kind of popped. They brought him up for one outing, and it was just not good at all. All the kind of pop that you saw from his stuff in spring training, like the fastball, 97, 98. It was time to 94. They gave it a shot. Didn't work. pop that you saw from his stuff in in spring training like the fastball like 97 98 like it's time like 94 um so they gave it a shot didn't work um if they lose them they lose them it's not going

to keep me up at night they've got enough guys coming through now with some legitimate power stuff i'm excited to see what ryan burr has you know of all the like random free agent bullpen options they've signed that could be the next jeffman. By the way, change his number to 23, which is a big development because obviously that's Michael Jordan's number. I will say though, I will say Jeff Hoffman going to 23, that was the number when he wasn't very good. Should he have just stuck with the number that had him as one of the most dominant right-handed relievers of the sport, maybe we should have kept that. As for the right-handed bench bat, I mean, there's Duvall. If you just want an outfielder that'll play good defense,

can fill him in center field and hit the home run. Merrifield, if, again, with Merrifield, it's just going to be interesting. Is he going to be guaranteed more playing time elsewhere? Is he going to want a starting spot? Like I like i still in an ideal world want an opening day where rojas is in center and marsh is in left now the nice part about merrifield is you know if you want to go lefty you don't want to face marsh against lefties you can put merrifield in there it's fine or rojas struggling for a little bit there's merrifield so i think he would still play a good amount i don't think Whit Merrifield is coming here to play 40 games. But I just wonder if he's looking for a more defined role.

But, man, I think it would be a really solid signing at this point. What's next? AJ Klein. With the Wheeler extension appearing imminent, how do you expect this fastball to age? Do you think Wheeler is the type of pitcher who can still be effective even if he tops that 93-94? Yeah, I mean, obviously I would like it to be more 95-96, but I think he learned how to pitch there at this point. And it's such a heavy fastball that even at 93-94, it's getting in on your hands.

94 it's getting in on your hands and it's like a bowling ball to where it's just so rare we see his fastball get squared up and hit for hard contact like it's still like the there was times last year where he'd be 94 95 and was it as dominant in the regular season, but when it got to the biggest games, he was fine. So, like, the biggest thing, one of the biggest things I learned last year, because, you know, a little life advice, it's always important to keep learning, you know, just keep learning and growing and evolving. But, you know, one of the things I learned last year was don't freak out too much about the velocity. It's still heavy. It's still pretty good. It's like 85%, 80% of full Zach Wheeler.

But when it gets to the postseason, he turns it up a notch. And I think we're done with the days of 98, 99, 100 mile an hour Zach Wheeler. But it's so easy. It's free. There's not a lot of exertion to get it to 96, 97, to where I think it's going to age fine because it sounds weird, but he's not putting a ton of stress on his arm like he he his off-speed

stuff i don't think are killing his arm you know like it's more that fastball he rides that thing and if guys square it up they square it up but he trusts that pitch um you know some guys they have to just like over um you know try to hammer down a curveball and it kills their arms but everything wheeler does in the mound is free and easy and it's easy and it's relatively stress-free and he's just blessed with one of those arms so i said it earlier but i think he has a scherzer, a Verlander, that kind of arm more than the arm is going to die and we can't extend them. I think it's going to be one of those fastballs that ages pretty well. And sure, Scherzer's breaking down right now and it's not the same pitcher, but even at 39, 40, but even at 39, 40, still pretty good.

So I'm not that worried about Zach Wheeler's stuff. And until he shows me in the postseason that it's really that big of a hindrance, I'm going to keep trusting him. What's next? From William Carroll, will Johan Rojas have a better offensive career than Roman Quinn? They sport an identical ex-Woba, and historically, both have trouble staying healthy. Quinn actually

has better minor league numbers. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's a shame about Roman Quinn, because there was something there, and I legitimately just think he was too fast. I think he was too fast for his body and and he just he could not stay healthy i mean rojas hasn't really shown that you know rojas is fast but i feel like he's built for it whereas like roman was so fast that like he was again i think he was too fast for his body johan ross and and apparently all the stuff he's he's just he's bulked up down there, which is exciting to see. Can't wait. I mean, like, I have questions. I think my biggest question about Johan Rojas is pitch recognition. And I think he got really exposed from that standpoint in the postseason where teams, I feel like, just started slidering him to death.

And he was starting to get a little jumpy. But we also have to remember i mean the guy was the minor league hitter of the year last year he was in double a he made the jump from double a to starting on a team that was one win away from the world series and yeah it wasn't great in the postseason when it came to the to the bat um but if you bulk up you you find a way to make the swing a little bit more powerful i thought thought it was a little bit flat at times last year. Apparently, Kevin Long has just been working almost day and night with him. Seems prone or seems willing to be all in on putting in the work to figure it out at the plate.

Like we talked about earlier, the defense is generational. Again, we've been plagued here like ever since shane and you don't really have very good defensive center fielders and yeah we went through like five years of oduble and christian pache was was really a revelation when he first came up um but he couldn't really stay healthy which is a shame i'm curious to see what he looks like this year. Maybe they just think he could be the right-handed bench bat or outfield bat. But, like, we just haven't seen the Johan Rojas of the world here very often. You know, I mean, the older heads will be like, well, obviously, Schmidt. We get it.

Schmidt's unbelievable. But, like, you know, Rico Abronia was an unbelievable defensive player. Freddy Galvez was unbelievable. J. Roll, Roland. And it's just like Johan Rojas is, for my lifetime, the best. Now, I know people will say Gary Maddox, and I appreciate that. I never saw Gary Maddox. But this guy is special, special defensively.

So I don't really see the injury concerns. Pache seems more injury prone than Johan Rojas, but I don't know. I'm excited to see what he can do this year and if he can just stabilize that spot to where they don't have to go rush and get a center fielder in the trade market and they can just play him and let him go.

And he can hit just enough because the defense is that special. They have something there. And hopefully the bat can come. What's next? Mick Abel could be up this year, Ducky. You know, we had Preston Mattingly on a couple months ago. And he acknowledged some of the struggles that Mick Abel had last year. And the reality is he's still kind of growing into his body.

He's 21. He's still in the development stage. And for every Andrew Painter prospect, and it sucks that he's hurt, for every Andrew Painter prospect, which is like not once in a lifetime, but you know what I mean? Like that's kind of special. There are times where players take a little bit longer to develop.

I think maybe the new balls in AAA weren't exactly the best for him, but he's super talented. The stuff is still there. I think he was working through transitioning from you know being slider heavy um to to finding more of a curveball maybe that kind of threw him off still working on a change up um definitely not as much as like uh his prospect status has probably fallen from a couple years ago definitely has fallen from a couple years ago. Definitely has fallen from a couple years ago.

But in a perfect world, in a perfect world, him, Griff, if he can get Griff back on track, him, Griff, Turnbull, and I guess David Buchanan, they're all kind of in the mix. Hopefully they're all at, I don't know, AAA up at Lehigh. I would like to see both Griff and Nick start there. Maybe they can be in the mix if one of these guys go down. But he could be ready this year. They've been prone to fast track some of these guys. It's so funny because whenever you talk prospects on Twitter or anywhere else, you get the classic person that's like,

ah, Phillies will wait until he's 25 to bring him up. It's what they always do. No, it's not. It's not really true anymore to what the Phillies do. So I could be in the mix this year, completely dependent upon how he's pitching. Obviously injuries would have to happen, but I think there's a chance he could be up this year what's next oh anthony s benson what's happening brother um are we really sure

montgomery makes him a lot better sanchez was good last year and seems pretty sustainable i think it's important for sanchez to start game this year yeah so uh if they get jordan montgomery i'm still i'm moving off of taiwan um i appreciate the the comments about him working on getting his velocity up. And I appreciate the 170 innings that he threw last year. And I don't think he's going to be as bad as he was last year or average as he was last year. He did pitch a World Baseball Classic. If we're going to give that excuse to the, to the other guys, I think it does count for Taiwan.

Fair is fair. Um, but I, I'm signing Joe Montgomery and then I'd be finding a home for, for Tom Walker. Um, you know, it's interesting.

Seems like from, you know, kind of what I've, I've heard. It's not, it's not as bad of a contract. I think as it's kind of viewed here around the league um you know innings are valuable so the question then is like okay jordan montgomery

that's three straight lefties at the back end i mean obviously you want to get super if you're super worried about that you know i guess you could have ranger start games or you have montgomery start game two, Nola game three, and Ranger game four. I guess it comes down to also in the postseason. Jordan Montgomery, even at South Carolina

and when he started coming up with the Yankees, he always just reminded me of Pettit, and maybe it was the Yankee pinstripe, maybe because I'm more 47, but just always had that kind of big game feel to him where never got too high, never got too low. It's kind of how Ranger is, you know?

And Ranger's been really good the last two postseasons. I would love to have a Ranger, you know, start to finish kind of solid year. Because I think it's interesting in fantasy baseball, and I know it's not like the end-all be-all, but I play in pretty competitive leagues, he's always available. And I feel like he's always pretty good.

Now maybe because strikeout-wise he doesn't exactly pop, but he's also been super reliable and super good in the postseason. And you're adding another arm in there where maybe they could view it as, okay, well, now we can use Ranger out of the bullpen. But, you know, I think going from Taiwan to Jordan Montgomery, and it gives you a five of Wheeler, Montgomery, Nola, Ranger, Chris Sanchez. I mean, that's a pretty nasty five. I mean, that's a pretty nasty five. And I would prefer Jordan Montgomery to Snell just from the standpoint of the

qualifying offer stuff and not having to give up a draft pick. Obviously, if they sign Snell,nell you know the upside is pretty stupid you know it's it's it's probably a higher upside whereas um jordan montgomery raises their floor um but yeah i i in a perfect world i am signing jordan montgomery i'm getting off of off of taiwan um and we'll see if it's it would be for a one or or a two-year deal the nice part about that is if they even go two years, you know, I mean, we could be talking about a rotation heading into next year with Wheeler, Montgomery, Nola, Ranger, Painter.

Like, I mean, fast forward to 2025 for all I care. But I don't know. I would sign Montgomery and then get off Tywin Walker. What's next? Drew Ballas, Drew in Westchester. Do you think Nola's opening day starter over Wheeler based on contract and precedent? And he does comment that J-Lo and A-R rod was real on the afternoon show today we did um celebrity run-ins run-ins and apparently drew is in a uh 20 team fantasy baseball league and

they're drafting for 10 hours in the hamptons and at the end of it a rod and j-lo walked in which i'm starting to believe more and more was You guys were just delusional by that point because you were looking at draft boards for 10 hours. And it's like, oh, my God, there's A-Rod and J-Lo. You're going crazy looking at picking, I don't know, at that point, the bottom of the barrel. So, no, I still don't believe the J-Lo and A-Rod story. No opening day starter. I think they view that as a cool thing to set the record for the most amount of opening day starts.

I would still do it. I think last year, though, I think Wheeler was a little bit slowed up at the end of spring training, so it kind of worked its way out, but ultimately it's not a huge deal, it's kind of cool seeing Nola start every opening day, and it certainly beats the Jeremy Hallickson run, that was like 20, what was that, 2014 to 2016 2016 or 2015 and 2016. I don't know. Either way, the Jeremy Hallickson run was not, again, the dark period of Phillies baseball.

But I'd give it to Knowles. I'd give it to Knowles. What's next? Matt Albertson, who will be the utility infielder once camp breaks? Scott Kingery is my answer. No. Although I did have a dream about Scott Kingery is my answer. No. Although I did have a dream about Scott Kingery saving the season.

I think someone was ready for pitchers and catchers. It'll be Edmundo. That's good. I love Edmundo. Really good defensive player. Made some weird errors at third base last year, I remember. It's like, nah, that can't happen.

Started to find some pop late. I thought at the beginning of the year he was a little bit slow at the plate, but I think he kind of heated up as we went along. I think it'll be at Mundo. If you sign with Merrifield, the nice part is that he can play all over the Diamond 2 and the outfield.

Again, last year, one of the things that I would have loved to have had heading into the postseason, it just didn't happen. And by the way, like, I can't do the Jake Cave thing again, but he's probably going to be there. But one of the things that in the postseason I felt like they needed was just an experienced bench bat that knows that spot and knows how to perform in those instances. And that's where a guy like Whit Merrifield, I think, would come and really help out. Plus, he would become the oldest player in camp so not to deal with it they've the david buchanan thing and even whitmerryfield being 35 when did everyone get so old when did everyone

just decide hey we're gonna speed this whole thing up again because i don't think 20 like 2021 to now i feel like it's the exact same like nothing's really changed it's all it's all the exact same like there hasn't been anything that's happened in the last three years. We're all just in the same spot, except technically getting older. What's next? Luke, my guy, Luke Orcani. Do you think Kirk Green needs to throw the sinker more? Sweeper sinker was around an 85-15.

I'm surprised it was even 15. I thought it was 95-5 maybe. Yeah, I think, you know, I feel like with Kirkering, I wonder if his fastball just graded out poorly and they're worried about it getting exposed. They tried to throw the slider a ton. Like, because traditionally, you know, growing up, it up it's like oh i have 98 in my back pocket like i'm not even gonna throw anything else and as you get older you get major league baseball these guys study velocity 98 is not it doesn't really matter like frankly it just doesn't matter if you throw 98 it has to move you have to dot it like you can't have flat

98 because flat 98 is getting put into the seats. So my hope there with Kirkering is they figured out something, whether they want to use the Rep Soto cameras, slow motion cameras, and maybe figured out, okay, you have 98, but let's try 96 with some dive to it and get guys off the barrel because he was so so predictable last year by throwing the slider over and over again and if you throw that pitch over and over and over again major league hitters are going to hit it i also wonder like he has the mechanics to where i think he could learn a pretty good change upup to just have something off those pitches. Now, we're talking about adding a lot of pitches to a reliever.

Let's say his fastball is something they're afraid of and it's something that he can't find more movement on and it just doesn't work. I feel like the changeup at least is some kind of equalizer to where we're not just throwing the slider over and over and over and over again um because if he just had something to hide the slider he's ridiculous like because the slider is really really good if he has a change up to hide the fastball at 98 then he got the fastball surprise people and um i don't know a slider not slider a change up or a splitter or something of that of that elk i think his mechanics lend itself to be able to throw that pitch um the it's he has pretty smooth mechanics it looks like it would come out of his arm pretty well if he could learn a third pitch which i know that we traditionally don't ask our relievers to do but if he could it'd be it'd be an absolute game

changer so sinker i hope they figure out something there if it's still not grading out very well and guys are able to square it up even if it's 98 i would like to see um either a changeup or a splitter. What's next? Ross Shoemate does start that 300 this year. I hope so. I mean, he ended last year in the 280s. He was

over 300 for a good little stretch there. I mean, he went from 230s, his rookie year, up to the 280s. And if he didn't like basically not get a hit the last two weeks of the season, he would have been close. So I'll say 294 is the floor for Stott. But I more wonder, like, are we going to get a, but i more wonder like are we gonna get a i don't know 320 year from start one of these years where it's just hitting everything um i would be i mean i think so someone actually messaged me this the other day because i've been looking for my new david bell bit because obviously JT Real Muto ended the David Bell bit. But I think Oduble holds their

longest hitting streak, their current longest hitting streak. And I think it's like 21 games. So that's the next thing that I would like to come down. So hopefully Stott can take that down. I mean, listen, I mean, Rollins had a long streak. Utley had a long streak. Rollins was through two seasons, so this doesn't even really count. But I would like to see one of those. Imagine May, June, season starts kind of slowing down, but there's like a Stott hit streak going. He can do it. He, he can do it. He can 100% do it.

So, yeah, I think Stott flirts with 300, and I just wonder if we're going to get one of those 315, 320 years. Like if we can get Turner to, I don't know, if we can have a 295 to 300 Turner, 295 to 300 stop that's pretty damn good you know um i know the sport's treading towards lower batting averages i'm still the mindset that that batting average does matter all right sucker what do you think like two more two more of these uh of these questions um colin hess do we get a vintage bryce season with him fully healthy i would man just i know he won the mvp in 21 and not take it away from him but it's like what's like the memorable

bryce moment from that run i mean like the the comeback against the cubs where he had a hit late and that kind of sealed it for him. The team didn't make the playoffs. It's great. I'm glad he won an MVP. When he's in the Hall of Fame, it's going to be great. But like a peak Harper. Can we get a 40-burger from Bryce this year?

You know, a 40-burger, 285, 120. But a nice 40-burger home run season from Bryce. Listen, we need to get on pace for 500. He's kind of on pace for 500. He should get to 500. I mean, he'll get to 500.

He's going to get to 500. If he doesn't get to 500, something probably went wrong. But, but, it'd be easier if we could knock out like 40 of them this year. So, yeah, I think

he has it in him. I just would love to see what a fully healthy Bryce season does. Because the last time he did it, he won MVP. So, I'm excited for first base. I can't wait to see his evolution there. The fact that, again, he pretty much learned it on the fly and was really solid over there for a guy who never played the position.

Imagine what he can do with an offseason over there. And it's going to be so refreshing. You've got a plus defender behind the plate. You've got a plus defender at first base. You a plus plus defender at second base turner 26 errors last year not great uh but uh you know hopefully he can just bounce back and not be you know a bad defensive shortstop you have him there uh stott our bomb is still average at best, but Marsh, super in left, plus, plus. Rojas, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus in center. And Cassianos, fine, serviceable.

Like all of a sudden, a couple years ago, where I was like, wow, it's the worst defense I've ever seen, turns into a pretty good defense. So I can't wait to see a full season of Bryce. Hopefully he can just stay healthy. No more freaking inside fastballs that he's turning into and breaking a hand or, God forbid, a face bone in his whatever. Just give me a fully healthy Bryce season

on our trek to 500 home runs. All right, Tucker, last one. Joseph Cimet. Does Trout at deadline put us over the top? What a perfect ender. What a perfect ender.

Mike, you got one more shot. Simple as that. You got one more shot. And if you want to stay in Anaheim, Los Angeles, whatever you want to call it, and waste the rest of your career, it's fine. But when the fills are 10 games over 500, the deadline, they're competing with the Braves, and you got a chance, right? You got a chance to come home and help put this team over the top.

Hopefully you're healthy. Hopefully you're going off. Maybe the Angels are like, oh, we can get so much for them now, whatever. It's right there. It's him now whatever it's right there it's right there it's right there so um it's a shame we couldn't even get like a little bit out of the trout stuff this this offseason would have been fun the angels had to be complete losers and and shut it down from like day one no fun i mean we'll see he probably never asks out and it'd be a shame um he might just end his career in Anaheim.

But, hey, I saw he was down at Trout National, so maybe he wants to get closer to his golf course. I don't know. But, man, it would be a lot of fun ramping up to the trade deadline, and the answer's like, listen, we'll listen on Mike Trout, and the Phillies have a chance to go get him. No idea, but it was certainly fun. Either way, can't believe this was 52 minutes.

Tucker, I'm sorry in advance that it was so long. But thanks for everyone for chiming in. Thanks for all the questions. I'm sorry if we did not get to you. But either way, appreciate you hanging out. I know it's a solo pod. I know it was just my voice for 52 minutes. So I'm sorry in advance for that,

but man, I'm just excited to talk Phil's baseball. Hopefully James gets better soon, and we'll be back next week, or God forbid, an emergency pod. I'll be right on here doing this solo again, because I don't care. It's Phil's season. They're back, and all

the Phillies content throughout the day just couldn't make me happier. For Tucker Bagley producing behind the scenes here and Jack Fretz myself this has been another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. We'll see you next time.