High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - How Do You Feel About an NL DH?

Episode Date: January 17, 2018

James Seltzer and Jon Marks are back behind the mic to talk some Phillies. How do you feel about a DH in the NL? Also on this episode the guys talk more about Christian Yelich, free agent starting pitchers and Rhys Hoskins and his awful nickname. 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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A master painter carefully applying Benjamin Moore Regal Select eggshell with deftly executed strokes. The roller, lightly cradled in his hands, applying just the right amount of paint. It's like hearing poetry in motion. Benjamin Moore, see the love. Yo, it is another edition of High Hopes. And for me, an exciting one is I've had to talk to Jack Fritz for the last few episodes here. James Seltzer with you as always. And I actually get to talk to my guy, Johnny Marks, today. Johnny, what's up, brother?

Yeah, I thought Jack was the producer of this fine program. Yeah, he worked his way in here a little too quickly. Yeah, like an episode all of a sudden he was doing. I know. It's like now he's the producer at nights at WIP. It's like, you and I have to slog our way through this business and work our way up and Fritz walks

in and he's just like, I'm going to get this job and do that and I'll just talk all the time on this stuff. Jack was our intern in another radio place. Another world. I won't say a year ago because it was more than that, but yesterday he was an intern. And now all of a sudden I tune in WIP Joe Giglio at nights

and I hear Jack saying this and Jack saying that. But yeah, listen, I think we've got a good thing going on here. And I know a lot of people are happy to hear Phillies talk. Which is awesome. Yeah, because what else are you going to talk about right now in Philadelphia but the Eagles? Yeah, I thought you were about to say the Phillies. And I was going to be like, damn right.

We're going to talk about the Phillies. That's what this is for. This is for the Phillies because, James, you and I, we're baseball lifers, man. And just because everything else is going on doesn't mean Gabe Kapler's down there talking to the media and God knows what else is going on. I'm excited for this Phillies season. Yeah, it's one of those things where both for you and I,

baseball, our favorite sport, and we get to talk about it like one one millionth the amount we talk about football so um it's awesome i enjoy the opportunity literally everyone who listens to this uh i love you because you are a baseball fan like we are and we we really appreciate it john a lot to dive into uh last time i spoke to you a lot has happened since i think the first the last time we talked was right after the carlos santana signing the freddie galvis trade that day we did a emergency john where you were basically talking through a tin can more or less and cursing at drivers and all that good stuff the horns was a nice touch uh so real quick just you know we've kind of recapped the off season enough here but you and I haven't talked a ton about how it's shaped up since those moves.

Not necessarily in terms of what they've done, but we've heard a lot of stuff. I think, kind of what's next. I think we should start with the potential trades that could be made. We've heard a lot of talk, obviously. There have been some action in the majors over the last few days. Garrett Cole on the move to the Astros. How about that? And then Andrew McCutcheon traded the Giants.

Obviously, Pittsburgh kind of cleaning house and rebuilding a little bit there. But it seems like the hauls they got back not nearly worth the guys they gave up, at least. Doesn't it seem like the Giants are in desperation mode to keep the winning going? That they're getting guys that are overpaid and have seen – not that Andrew McCutcheon's still not a good player, but he's making his salary based on what he did previously, not what he's going to do going forward. Oh, absolutely. And I don't know how many years he has left on the contract, but I think that the Giants

clearly – you know, look, I mean, they won three titles in five years. And obviously, none of us here in this town are very excited about a couple of them. Boy, you're not kidding. I will hate Cody Ross until the day I die. Never met the guy. I know nothing about him. He might be the best guy in the world. I hate him.

Like, he is the worst person on the planet to me. It does make a lot of sense for them because he's making, and I didn't see if Pittsburgh was adding salary to that, but he's making just under, he's making $14.75 million. So that's not bad. And then he's a free agent. That's what I figured. And honestly, for a regular Major League starter, that's what they make.

And when you look at the bones of their team, they have enough guys on the back end who you want to kind of, can still make a run with. The Bumgarners, the Posies, guys who are still really good MLB players, but maybe, you know, heading towards the back end at least. You know, Bumgarner is still pretty young, but a lot of miles on him.

But, you know, I think you take a shot with those guys. You've got money invested in them. You can build around them. Plus, you know, they've got a great manager. They've got a great organization. As much as we hate them, they found a way to win with teams I never thought would win. When the Phillies were done, the Phillies were done. This still has a chance based

on how they win, but the Lincecums are gone, and the guys that really got there. Like you said, Madison Bumgarner is Madison Bumgarner. He's thrown a lot of innings for how old he is. He's had a lot of postseason success. Yeah, and he's one of those guys who i think has already through in the whatever he does the rest of his career doesn't even matter he's already in that you know kurt schilling and john smoltz and uh

you know the guys you talk about it were just the playoff dominant josh beckett the guys who just had another year that they would reach i mean what bum what Bumgarner did to win Game 7, the 5-2 or whatever after pitching two days earlier, was one of the most amazing things I've seen. But off topic, let's get back to the concept of, I think there could be a Phillies trade on the horizon. I mean, we've heard a lot about the name Christian Yelch. I think you and I disagree on this. I know we've discussed this somewhat slightly when

you ran into the studio one time. I was recording a pod recently with Jack and said, I don't want Christian Yelich. Do you still feel that way? Well, and here's the thing. It's not that when people hear me talk about Christian Yelich and I maybe go a little bit over the top saying that he's just an ordinary player. He's not an ordinary player. He's a good player. I'm just not, I'm not in the mode just of yet to go out and to give, name of the game is all about how much you're giving up for him.

So depending on what the package is would be depending on what I want him. He's a good player that has an undervalued contract. I mean, he has a very team-friendly contract. I mean, The numbers are... I would venture to say for his age and his production so far,

you look at the numbers, 3.66 OBP, 3.76, 3.69 in the last three seasons. He's never hit below 2.82 in four and a half seasons in the majors. 21 and 18 homers the last couple years shows a little pop. Just turned 26 in December,

so kind of entering that physical prime, 27, 28. He's going to have four or five prime years right now. Yes, and the contract next year, $7 million, 9.75 the year after. So in his potentially 26, 27, 28 season, then the year after, 12.5. In those three seasons, you could have a guy who is worth worth significantly more than that only goes up to 14 than a club option for 15 i mean which is still a bargain venture to say one of the better contracts in baseball right now knowing that proven value at the major league level and years ahead knowing that what's it taking to get him well that's the point and and here's the thing i think it's a

situation where no one really knows because of the ownership situation and the way this Marlins team just seems to be willing to just kind of chop off assets. And granted, the thing with Yellich that makes it harder to believe that you're going to get him for a steal is this contract. You know, it's not killing them to keep him there. contract. It's not killing them to keep him there. But it does seem, I mean, that Stanton trade was a disaster for the Marlins.

It is impossible to believe that that's all they got back from the Yankees, regardless of what Stanton's contract was. But part of the problem was that he had them by the balls because he had a no trade. It's why you don't give guys $300 million and no trade clauses. It's like, hey,

we'll give you $300 million, we're not giving you a no trade clause. Or you know what you can do? You can go somewhere else because I know at some point during that contract I'm going to want to trade you. Absolutely. Or get rid of you one way or another. For whatever reason. Your team goes in the crap hole

and now you're like, alright, well it doesn't make sense to have a guy that's making $30 million a year. It just doesn't make sense. So they didn't get anything because Stanton essentially was like, yeah, I'm not going anywhere else. So if you want to trade me, it was more important to them to get the contract off the book than anything else. I agree.

And Yelich is different. Yelich is not like that. Not like that. Exactly. But having said that, it doesn't seem like there is a real strong baseball mind in play in terms of managing their organization right now from a roster perspective. Derek Jeter has kind of come in, and I know he's the face of this, even though he's kind of a very small percentage of the ownership group.

But it does look like they're looking to reshape the roster. Jelich has been in far too many rumors, both this offseason and during the season, to believe that he's not available at a price. And look, I think it's going to come down to what Klintak can kind of piece together. But, I mean, the Phillies do have the surplus to trade for him in terms of especially outfield guys. I mean, if you're trading for Yelich, you've got Hoskins out there, Yelich out there. Then essentially you've got Williams, Altair, and Oduble Herrera, who all could start for major league teams, and some would be good starters.

So you do have assets to kind of flip for it where it might be something that Miami might be willing to be a little intrigued about. I'll just leave it like this. What wouldn't you trade for Yelich? Well, I think you're obviously not trading 6-0. You're not trading Kingery. I think those two immediately— And JP, he's a major leaguer now.

I'm not trading any major leaguers who aren't those two outfielders I just mentioned, or those three. And even then, I'd prefer not to trade Odeble just because of the contracting because I think he's the best player of that group. I know Altair, LAC. If I can get a team who really likes Nick Williams, I think he's the best player of that group. I know Altair, LAC. If I can get a team who really likes Nick Williams, I think that's the direction I'm trying to go. I like Nick Williams.

I don't think he's as good as he is. I like Nick Williams. He's a good player. I'd like to get something in return to trade him elsewhere. Absolutely. He's not a high on-base percentage guy. He actually showed more pop than I thought he would last year. Me too.

He's still a young player, but I think what you see is what you're going to get with him where he's going to get a lot of doubles and he's going to hit his fair share of home runs and he's going to strike out and he's not going to have a high on-base percentage. He can be a valuable piece on a team, but he's certainly not an untouchable.

And if you can get a guy that clearly is better and he's part of the package, you do it. A hundred percent. And that's what it comes down to. I mean, I think you'd have to give up one of the arms, whether it's a Colombe or a JoJo or something like that. You know, you're not trading Sixto. Look, they were talking about not trading Sixto for Machado.

You're certainly not trading him for Yelich. If you're not going to include one of those top guys, you're going to have to give up six players, five or six players to get them. You're going to have to give up a surplus. I agree. And it's going to be more quantity over quality, which is what the Marlins have received in the packages they've traded guys for, for the most part. You're going to have to give them your quality things, too.

And don't think that you're going to say, like, hey- I don't mean it. Yeah. I don't mean this. I'm saying, like, over high, high-end quality. That's the beauty of this Philly system right now, is that there is a lot of depth. So I do think that they are well-positioned to make a move.

Having said that, I think maybe the better argument, and again, to state my stance, all four trading for Yelich. He's an elite center fielder, a terrific young hitter. Again, he's just turned 26. I'm big on the age 27 breakout. I think that guys really hit their physical peak around then. But I think personally, and maybe this is where you're

coming from with your somewhat pessimism towards the yellows trade, I'd much rather see them go out and get a legit starter. Not Garrett Cole, but that type of trade where you're going to get a Chris Archer or a Marcus Stroman or someone who another team doesn't want to have to pay in a few years, but right now is under a really good gun. I just don't know where you are as a team right now.

I don't know what young players you have and what they're going to do. So that's part of it. I'm almost not ready to make a major trade yet. I'd like to wait another year, kind of see what else you have in the system, and then pull the trigger. By the way, Sixto Sanchez, who nobody wants to trade, Don Brown was the one guy that the Phillies didn't

trade. He was their top prospect, and they got away with not trading him. He didn't pan out to be anything. In fact, all those guys that they traded between Cliff Lee and Rory Howdy in those trades, only Carlos Carrasco. And it took him a couple years to develop.

Yeah, it took him like three or four years almost, really. And even then he's had injury issues, but he's a really, really good pitcher. He knows how to pitch. He's a terrific pitcher, and he's got stuff. But what I'm saying is, and I don't know what's going on down in Marlins as far as who's running the front office, like you said. It just seems like it's chaos. Exactly, and take advantage. That's on the front office, like you said, it just seems like it's chaos. Exactly. And take advantage. That's kind of my point.

But go ahead. If anybody with half of a brain down there and knowing the contractual situation with Yellich, if you're not saying, if you're not adding one of these four guys in the trade, I ain't doing it. And it's Hoskins, Kingery, Crawford, or Sixto. I'm not doing it. Right. In which case-

If I'm the Marlins. Right. And I wouldn't either- And I don't think they're going to. And that's fair, but— They can hold them. They can hold them, because I'm not making that trade either. I think those are four guys. And obviously, I mean, Hoskins, we'll get to that in a minute,

because I do want to talk about the concept that the Phillies are making a very real concerted effort to say, Hey, guys, Reeves Hoskins is the face of this team. They're selling him. Dude, there was an article on the Phillies website called like the face of the Phillies or something. We'll get to that though. But back to this concept. So, all right.

So if you're not trading for a starter, if you're waiting, you're letting the market shake out, you're letting your players in the minors kind of figure it out and figure out really where they kind of stack up another year of development, all that type of stuff, you're going to need some free agent pitchers. I mean, you have to. What's your starting rotation right now? Is Aaron Nola? It can't be what it was last year.

I don't know. I mean, you assume Eikhoff could be back. You assume maybe one of those guys, whether it's an Eflin or Pavetta. I mean, I think I like Pavetta the most. And you're right. That's my point. A couple of the guys have mean, I think I like Pavetta the most. That's my point. A couple of the guys have to be the pitchers because there's nobody else. That's the point. You've got nobody else.

So you're going to need free agents. There are at least one, I would say probably minimum of two guys right now who are not on the Phillies who will be in the starting rotation come opening day. There have to be. So especially with a lineup that can contend. You know, I mean, at least we're talking for fringes and wild card. The lineup itself. Pretty interesting because

the free agent pitching market has really taken time to develop. No one signed. Once the first guy signs, then the other ones will fall into place. I think Darvish and Arrieta are really the two guys at the top of the market where everyone's waiting for to kind of sign and set the market.

And it's good. The longer it takes, the more— we saw this with the power hitter market last offseason. Edwin Encarnacion wants to go back to Toronto. He gives them their demands. They're like, nope, and they go sign Kendris Morales for nothing. Edwin waits, gets three for 60, which was way under market value from the Indians.

You're not kidding. And then everyone else, all those power hitters got nothing compared to what they expected. Some guys not even sign in. They'll spring training. Very odd. So I think we're starting to see a shift in the way the free agent markets are playing out. This pitching market, very interesting as a result. And again, we've discussed, I don't think there's any chance Phillies are in Darvish.

No. Arrieta is a name that we've heard linked to the Phillies here and there. I think we both kind of agree conceptually that not only won't they, but we don't want them to invest a lot of dollars and years in a pitcher. What number

slash number of years are you okay with them making an Arrieta? If they did a three-year, I could look at it and be like, eh. Because even if he gets hurt and misses a year, let's say year one is four ERA and he's 15 and 11

and has his moments and then he gets hurt in the second year and he gets screwed. Then your final year of a contract after that, it's all about years. Cliff Lee being five years and him having the injury stuff,

killed him. If that's a four-year contract, it's not even that big of a deal. I'd go three with Arrieta. You probably would have to give more money. I think there's more teams out there that are willing to go four or five. I totally agree with you. And even then, I think there's probably teams, and I think that the Phillies would have to like him enough.

Look, money really isn't an object in the sense of this team obviously has so much of it, especially for the next few years. Oh, yeah. So I don't think the APV is going to be the issue with an Arrieta deal. I just think there will be a team that will pay more, whether it's in years or dollars. Right.

But I'm with you. I think a three-year deal, I'd give them three for 60. That's fine. I really, really liked Arrieta two years ago, and last year I was certainly, I think you start to see the wear and tear, especially for a guy who really rose up and kind of came up late.

He did. That was a former top prospect, bulked up. He's huge. Couple-year run. Yeah. And maybe the shoulder's feeling the effects of that. Yeah, so I just worry about that, but he's a really talented pitcher, so I think the year is the key there.

Let me fire some other names of guys out there. We'll start with the one name that I think is probably cut above the rest in terms of Alex Cobb, also a name we've heard linked to the Phillies. Tommy John surgery a couple years ago, came back this past season, pitched pretty well, but, you know, like a Tommy John guy, velocity there, not the control which is expected. I think there's a lot of upside with Cobb, but also

a history of injuries. What are you seeing on Alex Cobb? I like him. I do. It's not the splash that... I can't even say right now that Phillies fans are looking for a splash because they're not ready for a splash splash just yet. Bryce Harper would be a splash. Manny Machado would be a splash.

Any of the other big names that could go out there, that could be a splash. They're not ready to do it, but it would help. Because you said you can't have the pitching staff you had last year. You can't go with the Eikhoffs and the Pavetas and the Aaron Nolas. They need to take the next step. And I'm not saying they go out there and go all in and try to win 70 or 80 or 85 games, but you need to have innings. And you don't have guys that are ready to step up and do it.

So Cobb makes a lot of sense because, let's face it, the price is going to be big for average players for $15 million players this day and age. The price, people are going to see the sticker price, whatever it is, and be like, whoa, no way, he's not worth that. But yeah, it's just the way it is. It whatever it is, and be like, whoa, no way. He's not worth that. But, yeah, it's just the way it is. It's what they're worth. It's what they're worth.

It's what they cost. I 100% agree with you. And, look, I think you made a really good point there. I think that this team is very likely looking for guys in this free agent pitcher market that they feel can come in and contribute for a couple years. Get them through to when Sixto, Colombe, Romero, all these kids come up. And then obviously you're always implementing. Free agent pitching class, not that great next offseason. No.

Unless Kershaw somehow doesn't re-sign, which obviously would be a shock. He's going to make $40 a year. Dude, he's worth every penny. It's insane. All right, some other names out there. Because I think Kaba cut above a few names that are intriguing, but no one you're super excited about. Lance Lynn, a name that's been around a bit.

You know, another guy coming off, you know, last season, first back from Tommy John the year before, kind of. Number three starters are never going to be sexy. Lance Lynn's never going to be a sexy name. He's a good pitcher. Again, it all depends on the money and the years. Some of these guys aren't going to have the market. Free agency, you mentioned it

a little earlier. Free agency has changed. Major League Baseball free agency has changed quite a bit. Lance Lynn might not see the market that him and his agent originally thought. Are the Phillies willing to give above and beyond on a shorter term contract with more money? Maybe. Is he willing to do a J.J. Redick-Colanzolo deal? John, and I think that we're going to start to see some of that type of stuff with the way these

markets... I mean, Edwin Encarnacion, that was similar to that. I mean, an extra year, but he was looking for a five-year, $120 million deal, and he got three for $60 million. I think you're starting to see, all right, well, we'll give you a little bit over the APV you're looking for or whatever, but we're only giving you two years, and that's that. And go back out. You pitch well, and then you're a free agent again. And go back out and sign again. So I think that could be really interesting, especially looking at that 2019 free agent pitching class where there are so many great hitters on the market.

Might see some of these guys be like, you know, screw it. I'll sign a one-year $17 million deal and then I'll go back out on the market and sign with someone. Yeah, because these agents know who has money to spend and who's going to have money to spend and what they're thinking about doing on the trade market. And the Yankees somehow pick up a $30 million contract. And I know that the Marlins gave them a little bit of money, but they're still out there trying to sign Darvish,

and they're doing everything else. So the teams have money, but some years they don't have money. Yep. I mean, it's keeping up with the Joneses thing and all that. You're never going to be able to do that with the Yankees. That's the thing with the Yankees, is the Yankees might make a decision to not spend as much money, but the money's always there. Every time they do that, they end up doing it anyway.

Yeah, the scary thing now is that they also have prospects. They didn't trade them all away. They still got guys. Yes, they do. They got Torres. Yes, they do. So, yeah, whatever. Screw the Yankees.

We're better. Exactly. We're the real pinstripes team. All right, before we move on, any names just of this kind of jumble of potential guys who are, I think, kind of all around the same ilk? Do any of these guys stand out as someone you'd be maybe not willing to give more years to, but someone you're like, I'll give that guy extra money for a two-year deal because I like him more than the other slob available?

All right, ready? Andrew Kashner, Derek Holland, Jaime Garcia, who probably even doesn't belong in this list. What happened to him? This is the type of guys that we're talking about. Injuries are an issue with him. Ricky Nolasco, talk about an innings eater. Yikes. No thank you.

Yeah, no thank you. But again, these are the type of names you're thinking about. Chris Tillman is another name. I mean, Jason Vargas. That's the free agent class right now. That's why you think a trade maybe potentially is something they're looking to do. But of those names, at least for me, I think Andrew Kashner. And again, I'm...

He's going to get overpaid too. Yeah, and I hate pitchers who can't strike guys out. And Kashner has remade himself into a ground ball pitcher, a guy who does it. He used to be a big-time strikeout guy, remade himself and isn't, you know, it's working for him, but it scares me. If that makes any sense. In the history of baseball, that

way of success doesn't have the same type of sample size of proven success as being able to strike guys out, make hitters swing and miss. Well, let me mention a name.

I don't know if we talked about him before on High Hopes, James, but Charlie Morton. I thought he re-signed. He's not. Wow. He was on a two-year contract, but the Phillies signed him for $8 million in 2016 and a million-dollar buyout last season.

Clint Tagg was a little out of the curve with that one. He was a year too early. If he didn't get hurt, who knows? He might not have been pitching in the World Series. Because the Astros signed him. You think about this. The Astros not only signed him coming off a year where he didn't pitch at all, really, really at all,

they also gave him a two-year contract for $14 million. Now, I remember when they signed him, I laughed. And I said, like, you're giving $14 million to Charlie Morton? Are you kidding me? Yeah. Pretty nice contract. He ended up earning almost another $2 million in incentives. He signed for 2018 at $7 million.

It's a bargain for what he is. Even if he's a fourier pitcher, which he's going to be around that. But you saw what you saw in the playoffs. I mean, that contract just paid itself off 10 times over. You pay situational lefties $7 million these days. Relievers! Yeah, and someone with that upside, especially what Morton showed. I mean, it's why Klintak signed him in the first place.

What he showed, he's one of those guys where, and like when you see real changes in pitchers is when you see guys completely change what they do and like have a completely different approach. Charlie Morton completely changed what he did as a pitcher and became a dominant ground ball pitcher and swing and miss stuff there, too, as you saw. Yeah, I'm really bullish on that. That's a great call.

I think we could see that type of contract, at least. I mean, at this point, it's almost worth the $14 million if he never ends up producing. It's $14 million. That's pocket money these days in baseball. Exactly. And again, one, two-year deals. Take a couple shots. There is no such thing as a bad one-year deal. I believe that to my core.

I don't care if you pay a guy, he never gets on the field. Whatever. See ya. He's gone. There is so much baseball waste, as it were. There's never a bad one-year deal and a two-year deal. It's hard to give someone a bad two-year deal, too. I'm with you.

Especially, again, for a team that at least for the next few years, while these guys are not the young guys who are going to be the faces coming up of the franchise, to have those guys on their rookie deals for a while before arbitration. This team has money to spend. They do.

They can miss a few times if you hit sometimes. I'm not going to say anywhere near close to win, but you're not ready to win right now. So take a couple shots. Maybe they're just here for the interim. Maybe it develops into a longer-term situation. Who knows? But at this point, Matt Klintak has a bunch of darts and he's got a

dart board with a lot of room on it. Fire those darts, brother. And that's the point. And that's what baseball is. You don't hit on everybody. You don't hit on most guys. It's a game where the players themselves, the best ones, succeed 30% of the time, the best hitters. It's the same thing for GMs.

Look at this Astros team. Look at the trade they made with the Phillies for the John Singleton trade. Everyone's like, oh, John Singleton and this guy and that guy. Those are going to be the stars of that generation. Was a single one of those guys on the World Series team? He's been a triple-A for like three years in a row now. So many prospects and so many hits, which is very similar to what the Phillies are doing here, that enough of those guys hit. I mean, you get a guy like Altuve, you pay $15,000 in

Dominican, and all of a sudden he's the best player in baseball. That's how you win. You take those shots, and enough of those darts hit. Alright, before we get out of here, two more things I want to get into really quickly, and I mentioned it before. One Phillies-related, one Major League Baseball related. The Phillies thing.

First and foremost, how do you feel about being told that Reece Hoskins is the face of your franchise? Wow, I'll say this, and I don't want to... I almost got the Marlon Bird feeling. Remember when the Phillies had no prospects? I remember the Marlon Bird hype. Like, I remember it. Marlon Bird was their best minor league player who came up,

and they marketed him in a similar fashion. Maybe not because Hoskins actually has done it on the field for a short period of time. But they were acting like Marlon Byrd was going to be their next franchise player. Now, Marlon actually ended up having a good career. A really good career, yes. But it took leaving Philadelphia before he could do it because he wasn't that player. He mentally wasn't that player. He wasn't ready to even

be close to that player. And the way that they're kind of parading around Reese Hoskins, and he's mature, he can handle the media stuff. As impressed as I was with him last year, and his patience at the plate and the on-base percentage that he's going to have,

he's probably a 30 home run guy when it's all said and done. 30, 35, he's going to be a good player. But I noticed the same thing, James. I did. And I was kind of like, all right, I like Reese Hoskins. Yeah, but chill for a second here, Phillies. I love Reese Hoskins, and what he, but like, you know, chill for a second here, Phillies. Like, I love Reese Hoskins, and what he did last year

was a blast. I mean, we haven't had that kind of electricity about baseball in this city in a while, man. Like, people wanted to go to games. People wanted to be down there and be a part of it because this guy was going to hit another home run tonight! You know? It was amazing. And I think he is a really

good hitter, and I think he's going to be a really good hitter. But I think, and I'm not, look, I worry about the potential pressure it puts on him, but it does seem like he is the type of kid who has a really good head on his shoulders and a really good approach to both baseball and life. So I don't worry too much about that, but it just seems so forced.

And it seems like, you know, trying to, to grab onto something and force something when you don't need to. Like the point is that Reese Hoskins is a, it could be a special player, but like there are also a lot of really other good potential special players on this team,

in this organization. And it's an awesome thing that's going to happen here, we believe. But it just felt really forced to me. Believe me, they'll trot those guys out, too, when given an opportunity. Yeah, of course they will. You know what it feels like? You haven't— Bruce Hoskins, by the way, just got the notification already on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

Congratulations. No doubt, no doubt. Just put him on. What year is it? 2018. All right. It's like when you haven't had a girlfriend for a while, and you have a couple girlfriends, but you really haven't had that girlfriend in a while.

And then you meet the girl, and she's like super out of your league hot. This is such a good analogy. She's hot. And you're like, wow, she's like, this is the hottest girlfriend I've had. And normally with a girlfriend, you take your time before you introduce them to the family and take them to see mom and dad. You know what I mean? Because it's been dated. And this girl, two weeks into it, is at your parents' house. Oh, and you happen to stop by your uncle's and your grandparents' house, too.

Yeah, and you happen to stop by work. And, oh, why don't you meet me at work? We'll go out from work. That is such a perfect you're exactly right. That's what it feels like. It's a little too soon. Yeah, a little too soon. It's like, wow, he had the best month and a half we've had a rookie have forever. Let's go. Let's go. He was great. Problem is,

they don't have anybody else to market on this team. Exactly. Because, I mean, Herrera is a good player. A really good player, but he's a, yeah. There's a language barrier. And he's a knucklehead where the stuff he does, it doesn't bother me one bit. Like, flip your bat, do whatever you want. Like, as long as you're respectful to, like, you know, as long as you're not an a-hole to other players or whatever.

No, his teammates like him. They're frustrated with him. Exactly. But they like him. Like, I don't get too worked up over that stuff. But I do think that, you know, if you're talking about a face of the franchise and stuff, in addition to the language thing, I think it's more that,

because, I mean, baseball is such a, I mean, there are more players who speak Spanish than English these days. I think it's as much that that type of stuff does turn off a lot of fans. However I feel about it, I think there are a lot of fans and a lot of people who are like, play the game the right way. Don't do that kind of fans. However I feel about it, I think there are a lot of fans and a lot of people who are like,

play the game the right way. Don't do that kind of stuff. So I do think from that perspective it kind of prevents him from being that type of figure. The way I look at it with Philly's fans are, the people that are paying attention right now to the media

caravans they're doing and they're going to the ballpark and there's media availability. The people that are caring about that, the people that are going to events, they're going to go to your games and pay attention anyway. So whether or not you're marketing Reese Hoskins to everybody, more or less, you already have a built-in audience. They already love Reese Hoskins. They already love him.

You need to win on the field and you need to actually have actual excitement on the field to get the other fans, the Tier 2 fans coming in. And I think that they have a roster this year and going forward that will afford them that opportunity. They're going to be fine. They just got to get there. Yeah, I totally agree. It also is one of those things, too, though, where it's like next offseason they go sign Bryce Harper, and it's like, oh, wait, he's the face of the franchise now.

Right, right, right. Whatever. Real quick, before we move off Hoskins, and this is something that Jack Fritz texted me we had to talk about and I actually agree with him. Normally I would just say, shut up, Jack. He is the producer of the show, so I respect him. Alien? Where do you come down on Alien being Reese Hoskins' nickname?

I have a very strong, strong take on this. How about No? I hate it. It's an awful, awful nickname. Jack likes it? No, he hates it. Oh, okay, good. It's such a terrible nickname.

Like, Alien. It's so unoriginal. It's like, oh, he's an alien? Like, really? Like, that's the best? Not really. Especially, I think that when they're the greats, when they're the best, they don't need a nickname.

His name is Rees, dude. Like, call him Rees. That is such a badass name to begin with. Like, why do I need something like- R-H-Y-S. Yeah, like Carson Wentz. Are we ever going to need a nickname for Carson Wentz? No, he's Carson Wentz.

Well, that stupid Wentz wagon that I came up with. Well, that's it. However long ago. We can have like Hoskins, whatever. No. The Hoskins Hayride? Hoskins, nope. No, but the thing with a nickname is it has to be organic and it has to be natural. And you can't just force a nickname calling him the alien. At some point, something's going to develop and we'll call him that, the alien.

Yeah. It's so forced. Again, speaking of forced. All right, before we get out of here, we've got to touch on this. Two things that Major League Baseball, potentially some rule changes coming down the way. One looks imminent. We'll get to that first. The other one, I think, obviously will take a little bit longer time, but there is apparently

momentum and is a much bigger deal. But first, let's touch on the one that seems like it's absolutely going to happen, in that Rob Manfred is apparently on the verge of instituting a mandatory play clock that will actually be enforced for the pitchers. Excuse me, a pitch clock. Mandatorily enforced. It's mandatorily enforced. Apparently Ken Rosenthal on The Athletic broke the story saying it will also limit mound visits as well for the 2018 season. And apparently he does believe that the union will agree to it.

Yeah. Here's what I say. Whoop-dee-damn-do. It'll help a little bit. What they need to do is they need to widen the strike zone. Because the problem with games right now is that there's so many damn pitches and there's so many walks and there's so many strikeouts that you have long counts. And if you just... Back when they had the National League and the American League umpires, however many years ago before they combined them,

because it was so stupid to have two separate... The American League strike zone was big. It was a big strike zone. And the National League strike zone was a much smaller strike zone. Go to a bigger strike zone, have less walks, more strikeouts, maybe even guys pick up the bat, because people are trying to walk. Everybody's got to go on

base percentage now. That's an interesting one, and I don't hate it. I mean, there are a lot of other things you could do. I mean, we've talked before about limiting the number of pitching changes you could do, especially in one inning, I think is something that would really help. I do like the concept of limiting mound visits. Enough with that.

You don't need to go talk to your pitcher every freaking time. I agree. That takes a lot of time away. And to keep the batters from stepping out. Oh, they can't step out of the box. That's a rule now. I've never once seen a batter be forced to stay in the batter's box. If you're really going to do it, do it.

Stuff like that. Some forced rules on the batter's box. If you're really going to do it, do it. Stuff like that. The problem is that baseball players are so habit, habitual, and superstitious and all that type of stuff where it's like Nomar, what would that dude have done if he could have? Glove, glove, glove, glove. Sorry, pitch whizzes right by you.

He's unfastening his glove. Make things more interesting. Yes, I missed that one. Again, you know what? I'm fine with forcing them to do it either way i'm with you i do think this is a bit of a um a cosmetic change and james there's only so much you can do the game has changed and the game has changed to where 30 years ago starting pitchers were throwing seven or eight innings or you had they they had closers, but they didn't. So now you have a six inning guy, a seven inning guy, another seven inning guy.

You're like seven pitchers pitching in a game. An eight inning guy, your lefty that comes in, and then you have your closer. That takes time. That's adding a half hour to the game just with that stuff right there. It's a great point. There's so much you can do. Exactly. And that's ultimately the point is it comes back to either like baseball or you don't.

You can do as much as you want to try to modernize the game. The game is the game. Exactly. And you can't force it. Exactly. Be smart about it, but you can't force it. You can't turn it into Rock and Jock softball with a train going through the field. I totally agree.

All right. Bigger issue that is apparently gaining momentum. John Mozaliak, the GM of the Cardinals, came out and said he thinks there's a real chance that they might institute the designated hitter in the National League. I'm guessing we're going to disagree about this. Where do you come down on it? Fundamentally, I'm against it. And it's best for baseball going forward. But it also, in my opinion, would take away any kind of strategy.

Not in my opinion, just a fact. It would take away strategy and it would really take away fun for the people that actually love the game of baseball. So I'm against it. See, I'm totally for it for a couple reasons. One, I get the strategy argument, but how many times do you see double switches that matter? How many times do you see real decisions to...

It's a great point. You see it in the playoffs for sure, but it's not something that impacts the game as much as people think it does or say it does. And if I love baseball, why do I like watching a pitcher hit? It is a guaranteed

one time, every nine times through the line-up, one of those guys is not worth watching. It's like free throws in basketball. It's good to where you could have had... It's even worse than free throws. And this may be a poor example, because the Phillies never do well

against the American League teams because they don't have a paid DH. The American League teams have the advantage because they're paying the DH $15 million. And the Phillies have a bench player playing. Right. I think, obviously, from a competitive standpoint, it is absurd, especially now that interleague play

is such a massive part of the game. Like before when they didn't play each other until the World Series, like, all right, I get it at least somewhat. You play each other all year now. Like you can't, there's an interleague series every day. Like how can you not like have the same rules for both these teams? It's a competitive disadvantage.

I agree. Every single time they play. I agree. And I'd take away the DH and the AL if I could. Look, here's my thing. I think it's far more important to have both the same. To be either none or both. I would argue for the DH just because I want to see a better hitter than I want to see pitchers hit.

But it's not something I'll die on a hill for like a lot of people, but I'm definitely more pro-DH than anti-DH. If they have the backhoe that's coming in to rip the pitcher out of there, I'm going to chain myself to the pitcher and say, I'm going with you right there. And then when Aaron Nola tears his ACL running out a stupid, meaningless double in August or something, I'll be like, hey, John, how do you feel about that? And here's something else that you want to shorten games up. Well, if you have your pitcher that's due up second in the sixth inning and he has two outs and you're thinking about making a pitching change, but you know that you have the pitcher coming in

forget about a double move. Are you keeping him in the game to try to pitch to one more batter and get out of the inning so you can pinch hit him or are you leaving him in there? Or are you making a double switch? And that's the type of stuff where it comes in. With the American League, you think there's pitching change now? Pitching changes now? You don't worry about that. You just yank him out of the game because

you don't need to worry about the pinch hitter. It's going to lengthen the games. That's fair. Again, I would go back to the limiting pitching changes as a rule to begin with, especially in a one inning and all that, regardless. But that's a story for another day. I'm a baseball nerd. I've always resisted

the DH. I hate it, and I always will. That's because we're nationally guys. I used to hate it, and then I got to a point where I was just like, you know what? I don't know why I hate it. and I always will. That's because we're nationally guys. I used to hate it, and then I got to a point where I was just like, you know what, I don't know why I hate it. It was because it was ingrained in me. Because my dad was a Phillies guy, and he said we hate the CH. Because we're dinosaurs.

Because I'm trying to guess what pitch they're throwing on a 1-0 with an open base. You're damn right you are. Or a 3-1. That's what I do. I bet you a lot of the people listening do because they love baseball just like me. That's what I'm doing. You wonder what my wife's being like, what are you talking about?

I'm like, nothing. Is he throwing a curveball here or what? It's 3-1. Oh, he threw a fastball. God damn it. I love it. I love it. My wife just tunes it out.

Yeah, she's just not paying attention. Yeah, she's just like, mm-hmm, sure. All right, that's going to do it for this episode of High Hopes. We will be back. I Hopes Pod on Twitter. Yes. Follow us. Follow us.

If you care about us at all, and you know what? Even if you don't, just follow us at I Hopes Pod. It's like made in Philly. That's right. All right, so for John Marks, for our producer, Jack Fritz, the best Jack Fritz performance I would say so far, right? Today, as far as producing goes and you know kind of doing what he's supposed to he's been great and he can add that he can

actually right now he can go ahead and he can post it for us we're going home yeah buddy all right we will see you all later we'll be back soon uh see you have a good one 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, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.