High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - In A Disgusting Turn Of Events, We've Talked Ourselves Into the Wheeler-less Phillies

Episode Date: August 17, 2025

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies splitting a four-game series with the Nationals and discuss how the outlook on the season changes with Zack Wheeler on the IL due to a blood clot in his shoulder. Presented by Miller Lite To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com 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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Oh, I hope, I feel a little less along. Yo, it is another edition of the I was podcast, sponsored by Miller Light, official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Taste like Miller time, Philadelphia,

celebrate responsibly. Man, how you doing? they won today like the most annoying win of all time like I just we don't even not much to say about the series or whatever

I'm sure we'll get into some of it you know but there aren't many times I'm just like really not excited to talk to you here like sometimes I'll be tired we joke about that but like you know we you love joke me like no matter how much a complainer is that

we always have a freaking blast doing it like I don't want to talk to you right now like this sucks dude like this sucks man like um like you know it's like and look who knows blood clots are one of those things where it just feels like everything all the research i'm sure we've all become minor experts and blood cuts and pitchers and athletes over the last you know 24 hours but or you know whatever it is

but um you know it just seems like there's a lot of uh you know variability it you don't really know but the fact that's in his shoulder like you know i think we all sit here today and and you know we get it caveats he's not over they absolutely can so win the world series and all it's up but like i think you have to i think you have to expect that we're probably not going to see zach wheeler again this season and like like i almost curse there i almost said that bleepin sucks but it bleepin sucks man like it bleepin sucks how you do well for a fleeting moment there as i'm watching uh joan deron come in and save the just excruciating tight nationals game awful game awful game

Awful series, awful game, everything about it. And Duran coming at the end is hilarious, too. And hilarious and not, ironic. Because that was the moment we were all, like, sick to our stomachs. We're like, oh, my God, Durant's hurt. And then it turns out he's fine. That was nothing. It was nothing.

Exactly. So it's just like, oh, my goodness. What a, what a just all things considered had the, again, they won today. So that's good. By the way, one of us called a split. No, this team looked back in my hand. You did. You did.

Now you didn't call the Sunday split, but, you know, you were right that we would come into this pod depressed so you know you nailed it one way or the other we always come back to zero so it's great it is i mean yesterday to me one of the darkest days in philly's history um and yeah it's a good thing jack texted me about recording last night and i think it's probably a good thing for jack and the listeners that we didn't because who knows what could have come out of his mouth i mean you know he might have threatened to harm himself on the podcast i don't know i would never threaten that but i it truly was all things considered one of the worst baseball weekends we've we've seen here i mean and just the

range of emotions right i mean duran we thought died and it was a that was the first time this weekend that we thought that uh the season could have been over the fact that we have to watch our All-Star Closer, Super Star Closer, Best Closer in Team History, get taken out on a freaking bullpen cart. Oh, my God. Like, from, like, the 1970s. Like, what was that, you know? Yeah.

That was tough. Saturday, an excruciating effort. Which is one of the most annoying. It was that two hours, they looked like they couldn't get out of their fast enough. They're like, we got an early game tomorrow. We want to get it out of here today. Like, well, well, so I was, I was out. And, you know, selling pushing books, again, rang the bellbook.com.

Of course. And obviously the loss sucks, right? And then, you know, the post game is still on at the bar. And I look at it. And I'm like, what the hell is Dembrowski talking for? You know? And I'm sitting there. And, you know, my buddy texts me.

And they said, Wheeler's going on the IL. And I was like, there it is. So I had the same thing, Jack. I had the same thing. I saw a text that said, Wheeler to the aisle. and I was like, good. And then it came out of that. That was blood clots and my life flashed before my eyes.

And it was one of those moments, much like you've seen me. You've seen me when they have big losses in the postseason where you can't. They're catatonic. You honestly are hard to like talk to. Don't want to be around because I was texting everyone who I possibly know in the medical field asking them, what does this mean? and it really does seem like the general consensus is they would be surprised to be pitches again this year

that is the general consensus from everyone that you talk to the videos you see online like 10 months at worst seems like the diagnosis could be three to six months but dude I'm just going to be completely honest given how close he is to retiring given how much he cares about being a dad ready to become a dad full-time, it's not out of the realm of possibilities

that he just hangs him up. And like that, I would get it. It's blood clots. It's life-reting. It's not just like a, it's not Tommy John. You know,

he's made so much money. He's got four kids. He's got a family. Like, all that's, no question. I wouldn't have to do one bit. But also like, you know. It would be a bummer.

Of course it would be a bummer. But like I, and then today, it's like, okay the 2017 Eagles fells you know we all we got we all we need jumping out to a six nothing lead the the the stars are starring and no no god he's just he's just expersiating man he is he is he is a chore he's just i was moving you know i was like perfect first three innings i'll be I'll be moving stuff, new house, and then I'll be able to lock in.

And before you know it, the freaking third inning, he allows six. And shout out to the rest of the bullpen besides our guy Max Lazar. Oh, God, Max. They totally neutralized the game, and that was huge. But my goodness, he couldn't even feel, you couldn't even feel great about it. You couldn't. so it was a you want to talk about range of emotions for a national series in mid-August not even the perfect game high school showcase in 40 minutes could pull me out of what that

weekend was like a an excruciating weekend and a season that is now up in the air as as to how far they can go yeah it's uh again like the weekend itself you know again Saturday is annoying a baseball game as you watch just absolutely infuriating game to watch uh you know poor taiwan who who'd ever think we'd say this that you know i went out there just battling and giving us everything he has and you know no one's lifted him up out there game two starter taiwan dude i mean seriously though i mean Taiwan honestly i mean i think he's in the discussion for the fourth start right i mean i look i i mean right now would rather see star playoff game today, Nola or Taiwan.

You know, I know we got some time for Nola to get established. But I, like, you know, and look, you know, the bats got going today after just a disastrous series prior. And I don't even care about, though, like the Thursday game flying in. I think that's actually a fine excuse, like, you know, flying in the day of the game, getting there a couple hours before going to the ballpark. Like, yeah, you can look sluggish then. Like, I think that's fair.

It's the next two days looking completely sluggish. And after that series in Cincinnati offensively, it's. And look, that's the thing now, like the Wheeler thing, it's, and again, you know, look, I think baseball really is one of those words. You mentioned in 2017 Eagles, and that's, you know, the most unique of examples with the quarterback and whatnot. But, like, baseball really is a sport where you can lose one of your best players and so win the World Series. We've seen it happen so many times. I mean, Acuna with the Braves in a recent example, you know, so, I mean, that stuff can happen. But it just, to your point, it makes it, it makes it much harder.

and it's it's hard to sit here today and like paint the picture when you watch nola because the picture has to be nola has to step up someone else has to step up sanchez has to be elite ranger has to step up and and the point i was about to make the bats have to step up i mean you're not you can't just go in and saying like well we've got the best starting pitching every series sorry not anymore we don't like sanchise i'll put up against anyone that's awesome but after that like Unless Ranger, maybe Rangers playoff Ranger, and that's greater. Lizarro steps up. I mean, there's potential there.

But I mean, their biggest strength going into every series Wheeler Sanchez, like, obviously just got taken more than half, the better half. Yeah, well, and it could be a good thing from a standpoint of these guys knowing that they're going to be without wheeling. Well, they know they're going to be without Wheeler, probably. Again, things could change, but it seems like they're probably going to be without Wheeler for the rest of. the year to where they know that they have to be that much, but they don't have the, they don't have the, I guess the safety net of having arguably the,

the best pitcher in the national league, if not the second best pitcher in the national league in Zach Wheeler. And a proven playoff star too, where you know in those moments you can trust him, too, if you're those guys. Sure. So maybe when you don't have that, everyone else in the rotation is like,

all right, this is on us. You know, maybe short, Orber and Harper, they say this is, this is on us. Maybe they, maybe they figured out the Wheeler thing before the game yesterday, and that's why they're so morose on the field. I have no idea. Yeah, it's possible, because they were. They looked dead on the field yesterday.

At least, at least hitting wise today, they, they really did wake up. So it, it, it, it's, go and yard, nice to see. Oh, dude. Yeah, a giraffe is back. I mean, it is. I mean, he does have Nick Foles like the 6-5, you know, kind of gawk. blonde hair like there are similarities there between those two i'm just saying kind of moves awkwardly a little bit yeah it's what i'm saying vibes and body and whatever wise not not the most fleet of

foot you could yes yeah yeah see yeah listen we're starting to make the case here world series MVP alec that's right that's so and and the reality is is that starting pitchers only affect the game once or a fifth day so listen it's it really sucks i feel awful for Wheeler. Uh, you know, obviously you want everything to be okay. Their family, you know, super, super important. Blood clots goes bigger than baseball. It's not like, oh, he needs Tommy John's which is a big deal, but like, you know, you hear blood clots and it's like, just get okay, dude, you know. Yeah. Well, and that was, that's what every, every quote was after the game from the guys was like, I mean, this is our guy. So it's not the end of the season. It just feels

really hard right now to picture them being able to go on a run without a, a God-level pitching staff. It just does. I mean, the pitching staff was the thing that was making this team be a 90-plus win team. And now they're without one of their guys. There's so much pressure now

on the other stars to be stars. I'm Kristen Press, and I'm Tobin Heath. We're World Cup winners, Olympians, and the hosts of the recap show. Every week, we sit down with the icons, disruptors, and game changers on the field and beyond it to talk victories, heartbreaks, and everything in between.

We've built a space where athletes, change makers, and people creating the future of women's sports can show up and show off as their full, unapologetic selves. Follow and listen to the Recaps show wherever you get your podcast. I think the bullpen's in a pretty healthy spot. You know, with Duran back, it really helps. Alvarado is going to be activated on Tuesday, so we'll see. I think Robertson's look better than I expected right away.

like robertson looks pretty good man dude robertson his stuff looks better now than it did in 22 and without a doubt i've been really impressed him and also like just the spots like coming in when when duran got hit like that's an annoying spot to come in he wasn't warmed up at all like just to get and he came in and got out like i i've been i've been really impressed with david robertson so i expected him to take a little more time to work his way in and he looks good right away he does he really does so that's been a positive development and

Romano getting some big out to two hours strami look good today though strami it seemed like there might be a little more zip on the fastball today but not you know we're still you know needs a little a little rest but you know we're getting there

you know it'd be nice you know it'd be nice if if painter could come up and help out if he can come up and and and it's crazy that we're at this point of the season given everything that we thought having into the year and it really doesn't even seem like he's i guess he's a consideration option yeah yeah he wasn't like too too bad yesterday but he really does feel back burnery at at this point which is it's a bummer i mean it it could have been such a moment you know where zach wheeler goes down the heir parent steps in oh and he and he goes in a run talk about your

book moment. I mean, talk about a yearbook moment. You know, the dramatic tone of Zach Wheeler going down like, Denta. And then the grand rising of the... And then they show the bullpen doors open and Andrew Painter walks out and he's like, you know, getting ready to start the game. And it's like the crowd swells. Oh, come on, man. That's... I don't want to get emotional in here. I don't want to get emotional here. But yes, it could have been a movie. It could have been a movie and it certainly doesn't feel that way right now because you want to know why taiwan's pitching too well paint in the corner that's the name of the movie everyone's just in bob ross uh mul and bob ross uh let's go let's go

it let's go it would have been perfect but he doesn't seem like he's got it yeah i know i know i know what else you got i that's again one of those like i really don't know what else to say again i need to the point i look i really do think you know it is important to say that you know the season's not over they are still in a really good shape to win the division they look we've seen you know the the 2020 two Phillies you know we're a more flawed baseball team even with this ac wheeler injury than this team now you know and they got further they almost won it you know the o8 team it was cole went on a run like could christopher sanchise do what cole did for a month absolutely he could absolutely

Similar changeups. Yeah, and he's not good, you know? Like, he's actually had a better year this year than, than cold in in the 08 regular season. And so, like, you know, and Rangers done it. Like, they can still do this. And to Jackson point, maybe it is a galvanizing thing. Maybe it is something where these guys, you know, say, like,

let's win it for wheels. Like, I don't know. Like, that's certainly possible. We'll see what these guys are made of. But, you know, it's just when we sit here, it's like, oh, like, I can't bring myself to, like, break down, like, oh, Trey had three hits today. Let's talk about that.

Like, it just feels like... Good weekend for Trey. Good week. Oh, Wes Wilson. Like, good job, man. Maybe a playoff roster spot. You're securing yourself here. Good job, man.

You know, Harrison Bader, another great catch today. Like, I thought he was going to get a grand Sam. It was really close on that. Oh, he's right there. He's right there. Fun stuff. Fun stuff. Sat Cassiano's yesterday.

You love to see it. Good. Cassiano's a home run day. I know he could do that. Like, none of this means anything to me right now. It will. It will. It will tomorrow. and it will the next day it will because it's not over and that's the point and I do feel that

I do believe it like get to the playoffs anything that happens baseball's chaos like I'm there it's just like I don't know what to say on this podcast I know other than I am sad about Zach Wheeler and it just seems like nothing else really matters right now I know you know give me the ball take the ball I'll clear out Carmelo go ahead give me the ball yeah give me the ball So this is, let me put it to you this way, Salter. Let me put it to you this way. Yesterday, I drove around in silence after the, after it. I had about a 40-minute drive to.

It's so believable. Yeah. To, to, uh, my, my sister-in-law's birthday party. I walked in. I said, birthday's canceled. I said, I said, no one is a lot of celebrate today. Everyone, everyone put the can't, blow out all the candles. kids go to bed yeah get out of here we gotta go home jill you know so that work that was the

the message that was being sent a really tough night of sleep you know woke up this morning still a little on edge still a little on edge because not only do we have to move our entire house today oh is that fun but with two two children two young children and the Zygote, yes. You want to talk about putting a lot on someone's plate? Jill's had a long couple days, but on top of that. Jill's probably psyched you're doing this pod right now, huh?

Oh, listen, that took some convincing. It took some convincing. And I said, Jack, the people need me. Zach went down. Do you get it? Okay? I'm not saying he's as important as Walker or Sutton, but he's like close, okay?

and in the postseason much more important so so it was one of those like Jill this is tough you know but the people need the pod

because that's what we're here for so throughout the day throughout the day you know they get out of a 6-0-0 lead nothing happened after that and they won in convincing fashion there was a moment in the middle

of the game where I said this is it and this is a message to two players this is a message to Kyle Schwerber and a message to Bryce Harper because I know

Swarbs you might be a free agent at the end of the year but you know what you have two and a half months to go on a run here Bryce Harper your legacy

don't let this what does that sound behind you is that you or is that it's almost like do you do you hear the extra noise here well there I have there's like a air like a dent above I feel like your air vent right I think it just got cranked up by a million maybe maybe okay I don't control these things Jack I'm doing the best I can here buddy we're all trying to do the best we can here but I think the motto of this podcast is doing the best we can yes that's right that's right we're we're finding our way through this together

And I want every single member of the offense to come together and put it on their shoulders. Stranger knows it. Sanchey knows it. Those guys know it. But it is, it is on those guys in that lineup one through nine. Even the new additions, Bader, Weston Wilson, doesn't matter. It's on all of them. It's on all of them.

And most importantly, it's funny, I've never felt like I have to put Trey in this. Because Trey feels like he is there. you know and it is on him too it really is the three you should say the three we should say Bryce Kyle Trey it's on you guys because we should like honestly we should be able to save Nick too but like

you know whatever Trey has to put it in there and maybe today was something for Nick and he broke out of it now he's going to be fun in defensive casting he is a streaky guy he's a streaky guys that was a tank

shot at least it was a good day It was a big home run. Yeah, he had a, he had a good day. So, but I just, I guess I, there is a sick part of me that thinks that this could be the wake-up call. You know what I mean? Like, this could be the one where they're kind of going through the motions a little bit and they needed something. And, and this is what got them going. Well, I mean, if you want to make a 2017 Eagles comparison, that's the comparison.

The comparison is that Foles came in and obviously played great in the championship game and the Super Bowl. And prior to that, not as good. But the real thing that it did was when they lost Carson, everyone rallied together. You know, the we all we got, we all we need. Like, that's the biggest reason they won, you know, because they banded together and it was them against the world. You know, you've heard me. Like, I'm such a believer in us against the world. I'm such a believer in that is a motivational thing for athletes.

for teams where it's like, no one believes in us. All right, we'll freaking show you. You know, like, I think that's so, like, powerful as a, a motivator. And yeah, just look at the camera. This, shit, for real, though, you know, like, he's a freaking psycho. Yeah, I think that, I think that to your point, Jack, there is the chance that this is that moment for this team where they use this as a galvanizing thing and they band together and they say people outside this room aren't going to believe in us, but we're. going to be we're doing this we could do it and whatever uh and they're a bunch of veterans and they could but like like we need this is where we see what this group's made of like i know we've had

those kind of moments throughout the last few years over and over like what are they made of what are they made of like this is it like this is the most what are they made of moment yeah like because the whole thing's on the line like short was a free agent rangers a free agent jj's a free agent like they might blow it up if they don't win it all like wheeler might retire like you talk about who knows what's going to happen this is like this is free you said this is it before in another contact like this is it this is the moment for this group one way or another and it if you're not going to have zach beeler which it looks like you're not going to then you know what you better band the hell together and overcome it you know well yeah so

real quick just to uh address the elephant in the room i think you accidentally turned on tucker's microphone and that is how there was like a bunch of background noise but it's fixed now because tuckers down and hey shout to tucker being a total pro didn't curse one time That's really good. Tucker, see, this is why I don't do these, like, running the stream things. Tucker, could you just get on your game and be here for these things? He's so, it's all good now. It is all good. It's all good. I apologize to everyone. Well, nothing happened. It was just like, I couldn't figure out where all this. No, but I mean, I hope it doesn't sound bad. I hope it's not like annoying for people to listen to.

No, but yeah, so like I, again, I'm starting to, I'm starting to get galvanized myself. yeah i'm sorry to do a little galvanizing and i'm just imagine imagine if they really do go on a run and it would be magical it would be magical well can you imagine me because the 2017 eagles thing is magical like we have nothing we can be like desensized it it is a magical story like the backup quarterback who was here before came back comes in for the guy who's playing like an MVP and leads him the super one out tools tom brady and belichette like it's like a magical, magical story, like, but forgetting us as fans just to anyone, if they win it without Wheeler, if these guys step up and they band together and this group that's been trying

gets it done, it would be, like, it really, it's a great parallel in the sense that if they do win it, it, it will be like that in that sense. And I think this team needed a magic moment. I think they needed them. They did. They have to grab it, though. They have to grab it. Yes.

Because they 100% have to grab it. Like, we can talk ourselves into it. a truly disgusting work by us, 20 minutes. Yeah, well, your whole point here is the Wheeler injury might be good. Could be a good thing. They needed a galvanizing moment. They certainly could lose one of their pieces on offense. There was like.

Yeah, right. Harper is more important than Wheeler shockingly, but he is, you know. Like, it's the one part they could almost afford to lose. I, yeah, yeah. They, I'm just, they might have needed it. They might have needed something to get going. I love this. I really love this.

Didn't take long. Didn't take long. Now, on the other end, could totally sink them. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We can look back at this and be like, well, guess really, Wheeler really was that important to this team, huh? Yep.

So one of two ways, either they win the world's or they flame out in dramatic fashion. I actually don't disagree with that. Like, if I had to bet on two outcomes, those would be my most likely outcomes. Oh man, imagine they just limped down the finish line and no wheeler and like how dead that ballpark would be for a for a playoff series. Don't, don't ruin the Duran intro in the playoffs. Don't do that guys. Give us a Duran intro in the playoffs for whatever. All right.

Take bag. What else you got? I don't really have much. Yeah, I don't either. Yeah, I just. But real quick, real quick, real quick, real quick, real quick, because we said it before and I just want to make sure. Can people buy Jack's book? Ring the bell book.

please seriously like you know this guy's moving he's got two young kids he's just trying to survive here you know help about you listen this we have many free pods how many free hours of podcasting we've given you over the years i mean thousands and thousands and thousands of free you never have to pay anything to listen to us not our not our style jack's writing which you know he's probably better at talking than writing but you got to buy it to find out but the good part is you talk how you're right you know it's a good point you write how you talk is what you mean right you that that's exactly what i mean i know you're a word smith right there funny i got you so i pay me the big bucks um all things considered i thought it was a just some other weekend stuff

besides you know wheeler all things considered i thought it was a pretty positive harper weekend he obviously at the home run on i mean shorber hit another big big time run dead dead center for harper too like literally dead center and i know it was annoying on saturday they got a ton of base runners could not bring one home i thought he was at least aggressive and into it it just didn't work out and it and it was almost like if if kate cavali threw one more fastball it was going to be deposited into the seats so i thought overall a positive weekend from bryce i thought he was good today flipped a couple balls in for for base hits that brought home runs turner had a really big weekend i know he had the three infield hits and after the game said he wasn't

like happy with it, which I appreciate. But I thought he was back to hitting some lasers all over the field. Yeah, which was, which was huge. He had 10 hits this weekend. And also, again, we'd said it before, but like still, you know, the defense is like noticeably better. Dude. Like nine defensive.

Credit word due, man. Like, it's noticeably better. Like it is, I, you know, we're, we're, we test men. Like, you give me defensive run saves. We're I test men. I test wise, watching him play, he is noticeably better. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, Bome had a big hit today, or a big home run, and then a hit later, so. Got hit, too. How about that? Come on, Bomer. I thought Bome, I actually might actually throw some fists. Come on, Bomer. I know that at the plate it hasn't been the best start for him. I just, there's something about Bader that I do like.

I love him. I love him. I feel like he's gotten unlucky. I mean, dude, he was three feet away from a Grand Slam. Like, he put that ball right on the track and got the, you know, and I feel like he's hit the ball hard. and it hasn't gone his way. But like,

I feel like he's competitive up there, you know? I also like the cockiness in which he plays center field, you know, where he like, oh yeah, he gabbbs backwards to go catch, to go catch baseball. And he's casual with those balls.

Like the one like the over the fence one, a few games, yeah, whatever, like it was as casual as you could be just kind of snatching it over the fence. It was just like, no big deal,

whatever. Like, all right, like, all right. Nice. Nice. Kepler's hitting the ball hard i'm just letting everyone know i would play him over and dude they should

be a full-on platoon right now i don't know man castie a big day today big day for castie big day the kepler to his credit i mean his his hard i think his hard hit rate so his hard hit rate on friday afternoon in august was 45% cool then he laced a couple balls on saturday this is i might take back our free podcasting stuff. I apologize for this. This is not worth anything free. I wouldn't even pay for this, but go ahead. Yeah.

We might be tracking towards 50% of our business. For old Geppler in August. Yeah! The important things. Wheelers find and Geppler's in the ball all over the place. We're going to be okay.

And then I don't know, Aiden went two for four. Aiden, buddy. Aiden, I love it. White hot. Let's go. Beautiful. It's beautiful. Yeah, the future. Hey, you know, I think they didn't trade painter. I know he's not Ray Alp now, but like, I'm pretty happy he's still a Philly. That's good. I don't know if a lot of people agree with that.

Well, that's wrong. Oh, by the way, last thing. And I, you know, there was some like back. Like, I'm sorry. Like, and I, it can get annoying when everyone's like, well, you're an idiot if you think this. You're an idiot if you think that. But like, you were an idiot. if you had a problem with Rob Thompson, Bernie Graham. Oh, yeah. Like,

I'm sorry. Like, I'm sorry. I don't know how to say it any less offensively. Like, you're a moron. Like, that's my official statement on it.

Like, it was a four run game. You had a pitch of five days. Like, this is, you know, stuff happens. Like,

a ball got hit at him. I just, like, that was Jack, one of the more annoying, like, hour or twos on Twitter. Like,

it was like, I hated everyone. Even people were saying that, other people that what I'm saying I hated it because it was so annoying but like it's there's no other way to say it like it's it's such a horrendous thing so yeah and uh I didn't wasn't handling that well either I just sure yeah I'm sure you were doing great there well it's the ironic thing like again we we had to go through it twice like and I like it would have been better neither were her but like we actually lose one of them but like couldn't you just like just had the wheeler thing or like you know well thank God they won today because when they came back from six nothing down and and A loss on top of the Wheeler thing, on top of the Duran thing. So I was honestly not going to record. I was going to say, Jack, you know what?

I'm not doing it. I'm sorry. Like, if they had blown that game there and then then I'm, like, even if they've gone to extras, I might have been like, just worry about moving. Like, I'm not doing it. Yeah. Like, nope, I don't want to. I don't want to.

But nevertheless, nevertheless. Now we got the big dump. We got the big dumper versus Schwabs for the, you know, the next couple days here. There we go. And we get to watch the big dumper against the Mets tonight on Sunday night baseball, too. In Williamsport. Yeah. Oh, it's Williamsport game.

Oh, that's fun. Big Dumpers. I always like, I'm going. Well, I got it. I love the Williamsport game. It's great. I would like to order Sutton. They're making baby clothes with the big dumpper on.

Of course, there. I can't believe they haven't done that already. It's such a good idea. He's awesome. He's awesome. And again, I mean, if people aren't bringing attention, I mean, he is, he's going to shatter the record for home runs by catcher. season and uh it's unbelievable he just keeps hitting him he's like 45 46 right now something

dude the biggest upset is that he's he's probably going to win an al MVP of a judge where judge for the first two months hitting 400 it's like 400 yeah exactly yeah and and rally like i think judge is minus 2 000 in june ah god these two ones are you like why didn't i bet on it i know i know well because you would never think now i know that raleigh's not yes he just keeps doing it though i can't believe it at like it's it's like oh Two more homers for Raleigh tonight. I'm just like, what? Like, how?

How? I know. I know. Now, if all of you can get Shoah to stop pitching so Shorebro can win the I know. It's national league MVP. It's over though. Unless Showe has a disastrous September.

I think we could just name the award after him for a while, you know. The National League MVP award. Seriously. I mean, dude, I mean, Bond is the only person who has more than four. Show he's about to his fourth.

Like, it's just like, no problem. And he deserves it. Like, again, like, I want Shoreber to win. Like,

it would be so cool. And I think in many years, he would deserve it like he just doesn't deserve it more to show you like I just can't rationalize it it sucks uh yeah I know um and as I continue to one one one final thing you mm-hmm uh-huh mm-hmm like I want to see like I want to overall see Cropford as much as the next guy I I don't know where you want at some point they're also like the reason why he's not the big leagues is because it roster dynamics and like they're not going to DFA Cassiano's they're not going to

DFA Kepler at this point March is playing well and they traded for Bader like it kind of is what it is I think I think opening day of next year probably Crawford is in the outfield but right now it's there's like I think there's probably there might be a better chance we see Painter in the big leagues this year than then then Justin Crawford unless something I agree I don't disagree with that like and look there's a chance when the rosters expand and they have the du extra spots they just bring Crawford it up to you know as the minor league season peters out like part way up they bring him up and give them a shot to you know quiet people wherever it's possible but like I do

think to like if you ask me who is more likely to have a playoff moment for the Phillies this year I would say Andrew Painter now than then just your car I wouldn't bet on either but I'm saying if I had to bet on one of my better man it feels like the second time I'm gonna get super serious on this podcast and and set its own it's good dear Andrew I'm not calling you Andy because Andy's mostly a child's name it's a child's name yeah come on

besides Andy Reid I guess like put it together man put it together pull it together and and let's go on a run together don't make me start saying what about Griff

McGarry because I'm ready Griff! Don't think I'm not ready but Andrew it's right in front of you bow work on the sinker work on the two seamer stop having such a flat four seamers

stop walking people and stop allowing home runs right now maybe this is the coaching and the tough conversation that Andrew Painter needs enough enough with the nonsense let's lock in

and let's go win a world series that's the message to Andrew Painter I want you in September I want you to be on this team in September We need you in September. I want you on that wall. I need you on that wall. That's right.

That's right. Come on, Andrew. Just lock in for two more stars up in Lehigh Valley and then get up to the big leagues. Team need you. City needs you. Just do it. No pressure, kid. But if not, no big deal, you're next year.

It's fine. You're fine. You're fine. Yeah, you're the guy. I'm glad they didn't trade you. All right. Two or three from the Mariners, one of three. How we feel right now?

No. we'll see i i don't know just just don't make it embarrassing that's my two or three got to lift us up lift us up coming home home cooking jack do you want to break down the eagle's trading for john mitchie real quick or no yep oh i didn't even know what happened i can't wait to see how they trade for a receiver when they had dari's cooper and john dotson such a good point it doesn't mean sense don't they need a cornerback what are we doing here all right is it is he a good blocker Nope, nope, no, all right. We'll be back after the Mariners series.

Until that, he's written some salsa.