High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Is Nola an Ace?

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies taking two of three from the Cardinals over the weekend. The guys discuss Ace Nola, Harper heating up, Mick's debut, and much more. 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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phillies on radio.com and sports radio 94 wyp It is another edition of the High Ops Podcast, a Aaron Nola complete game. Jack Fritz, is he an ace edition of the High Ops Podcast? What up, pal? So tonight he's an ace, right? I mean, you know. Yeah. He wasn't yesterday, though. I just want to be pretty clear that yesterday he was not an ace.

Today, without question, an ace. So just what we clarify. Today, no one's mentioning, hey, you know, September's. Or like, is he really an ace? Or what constitutes an ace? You know, today he's just our ace. Yeah, well, you you are to be fair uh you are the one who said you wanted people to react to philly's games like eagles games so yes yes yeah you can't get both ways right

two or three pal first first series we didn't talk about this. I saw Tim Kelly tweet this on Friday, and I hadn't even thought of it. But first series or first game Friday and obviously first series regular season games against a non-AL East or NL East opponent in 573 days. That's pretty wild. And thank God because I was getting sick and tired of it. Me too. It was a beautiful thing. A beautiful thing.

It was like, wow, there's baseball outside the East Coast. They play in the Midwest and they play on the West Coast. I mean, how beautiful is that? And, you know, I mean, hey, maybe that was kind of the reason why NOLA was so good. That it was like, oh, I don't have to face the same guys all over again. That's actually a really good point, man. Like, you know, I don't doubt that that could have played at least certainly part of a role. And like, look, I know that the last time we spoke, it was a little less exciting for this team.

But they did bounce back. They won two or three this weekend. We'll like dive into the NOLA stuff and everything. But like just where you at? Where's the Fritz meter at on Sunday evening after a 2 of 3 from the Cardinals, sitting at 8 and 7 a game back in the division? My main thought is that if Major League Baseball doesn't let the Phillies play every single game at home for the rest of the season,

they're a bunch of cowards. I mean, seriously. I need them to be at home all the time they are they are so much more enjoyable when they're playing at home than when they're playing on the road um but overall i mean you know i'm not one to get too high or too low i pretty much no it's a good point man yeah you're definitely not that guy you're that you're the one even kill jack that's what i call you my main take my main takeaway my main takeaway is this is a good team that had a bad week and i like i just think they're gonna be you know battling a little bit over 500 the whole year they played like the cardinals aren't a bad team i wasn't like overly impressed with the cardinals this weekend

but um they're not like a bad team. And they took two or three. So, yeah. Yeah, I'm with you. And look, you know, I think they're a good team. I'm with you. And I don't think people should react. It is going to be really interesting to watch this home road thing, though,

because, you know, we talked about the numbers that you had tweeted out last time. And then just this season is a very small sample size of evidence has been unbelievably stark from from home to to road so that'll be something to watch but um all right let's dive into the weekend because there was a lot of fun obviously saturday less fun but but let's start with nola because uh what i mean you know we did that whole thing on opening day or uh second game of the season but but wheeler's opening start about oh you know best start we've seen the phillies pitcher having a while and aaron was even better today so what what did you think of noah well it was nice of uh nice

of jt to uh that's i was so i was gonna be my follow-up i didn't know if you were just gonna dive in i was gonna say do you have anything to say about JT? So let's, yeah, I should have just gone there from the beginning. I don't know why I actually asked you about Nola when I should have asked you about JT, and then you could talk about Nola. Yeah, I actually thought JT did a good job today, and I think he did a good job with Eflin on Friday.

We'll get to that, obviously, later. But, yeah, I mean, listen. Nola's plan should be this every start every start should be he should spend the first three innings getting the fastball command down and getting real feel for his his fastball and being able to get to it to both sides because if you throw it enough especially a guy like aaron nola he's a pro he does this all the time he's gonna find he's gonna find his his release point on it and stuff. Like he's going to get comfortable with his fastball. You just have to stick with it. And what I thought of JT in the past is that he tries to get too cute all the time. He tries to get, you know, he tries to get the

curve ball over and start that earlier, the change up and really just commit to it. But in reality for Nola to be Nola and the Nola that we saw today, he comes down to fastball command. And you saw the first five innings, they weren't squaring up his fastball at all. I think the only guy to really square him up was Yachty. So it comes down to fastball command. And for JT, he just has to stick with it, just stick with it. I know he has this curveball that is enticing and the changeup moves well with the fastball.

You've got to stick with the fastball. It is so important for him. If he can get command at both sides of the plate, it makes everything off of his fastball that much better. So he was just awesome. And his foresamer was dancing. I mean, there was a couple times where he missed his spot by, like, you know, he was trying to hit the outside corner and ended up up and in. But like it had such a nice rise to it that it didn't matter.

So it was just a brilliant pitching performance. But really for me, and that needs to be the plan the whole year, is get the fastball over early and then work everything else in. Because those pitches are only as good as they are off of the fastball. You can't just go out there and throw a bunch of curveballs and expect to have good success. You have to get the fastball coupled with it. So it was just a masterpiece,

and I think we finally can put the 2018 Red Sox start to bed, even though it was a magical night in Fenway that night. I think this is finally Aaron Nola's best start since. Yeah, signature start start so to speak and and like you could tell the way he's talked about the complete game over the last couple years and how important it was to him with the seven inning thing and he's like yeah that's it's not a real complete game and and we heard after the game tonight that he told uh uh jordy fight him if he took him out and all that stuff. Like, he really wanted to notch this off the belt.

Like, he wanted to have a complete game on his resume. And I'm happy for him. I'm happy that he was able to go out. And I'm happy the St. Louis Cardinals gave him two outs and two pitches in the top of the ninth. That was nice as well. But it was awesome to see. And also to see the velocity back up after the last start

where people were a little nervous about that and stuff. So, yeah. And look, the Cardinals, like you said, they're not the best team in baseball, but they're a good baseball team, and it's a solid lineup. I mean, they've got Arenado. They've got Goldschmidt. Yadier's hot right now, as we saw all game on Saturday.

You know, they got some guys. DeJong's a hitter. Edmund's a solid player. So it's not like he did against the Pirates. So I think it's really encouraging, especially for, like you said, look, I know I'm with you. Like, I like the reacting to it like it's the Eagles games too because it does matter to me like that.

Like, every game I live and die, we talk about that. You do too. That's what High Hopes is all about. We live and die we talk about that you do too that's what high hopes is all about we live and die with every game like it is an Eagles game so we are prone to overreact sometimes and prone to live in the moment sometimes but but to the narrative that that had been thrown around with the like you know especially I think the the game two of that double header where you know you had lost the night before, you lose the first game, and you're really expecting Nola to go out and, like, you know,

give you the game that Marcus Stroman gave the Mets, essentially. And today, coming off that ugly loss yesterday with a chance to win the series, Nola did exactly that and went out and won the game for you. I mean, like, look, Bryce Harper played a role, but, like, for the most part, Aaron Nola won this game for you i mean like look bryce harper played a role but like for the most part aaron nola won this game today and you know it was good to see because i mean again like ultimately this team we need as we're seeing and we'll get to the one of them in a minute but this team absolutely desperately needs nola wheeler and afflin to be good more often than not if they're going to make the playoffs so seeing nola like, knowing the kind of roles he can get on,

especially as it gets warmer too, I think it was really encouraging, Jack. Yeah, and it's one of those starts that you needed your ace to have. If they lost two or three at home this weekend coming off the game Saturday and Nola looked bad again, I think things would have looked pretty bleak just on fan morale, morale wise. Yeah, it would have been the first time under 500, too. They avoided that, which is nice. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's nice. Congrats to Aaron Nola for finally catching up to Nick Pavetta on Complete Games. I was gonna get there. I think that's the last one, right? The last

Complete Game was Nick Pavetta. No, well, I feel like Eflin had to have mixed one get there. I think that's the last one, right? The last complete game was Nick Pavetta. Well, I feel like Eflin had to have picked one in there. I thought so, but I think I might have seen Johnny Heller tweet it. I could be wrong, though. Wow. I mean, Nick Pavetta just making records all over for the Phils. Yeah, at least nine in an incomplete game. I think they might have had a seven one last year.

Well, they're the only ones that really count. I mean, Nola's technically throwing them. We all agree. That is the official high-ups position position it does not need to be debated a seven inning complete game in quotes is not a complete game no and there's no hitter shouldn't count either if someone happens to throw a no hitter quick quick hypothetical for you what if it goes nine and extra innings and the pitcher pitches those extra innings can we call that a complete game i think so right i guess but i mean i mean you're pitching with a ghost runner on second too i mean that's you know oh right right added added uh exactly it's like a harder complete game anyway

sorry for the tangent yes yes um but yeah i mean listen it was just you know debating the nola ace things like whatever um he's gonna have to do it in september and he's gonna have to beat the braves um but uh yeah it was it was great it was a start that you needed your ace to have and yeah i agree with you it was one of those moments that it felt like nola was kind of like just wanting to have. And there's been so many of those where it's like, oh, here's eight. And there's here's eight innings of Aaron Nola or here's seven and two thirds of Aaron Nola. But he just can't get over the hump.

And honestly, mentally for him, it could be a huge hurdle to say, hey, I did this. I can do this. Another thing real quick before we move off of Nola is I do wonder how much dumping the cutter and getting rid of it at the start helped him. Just from the standpoint of like him throwing his cutter, he has to get kind of on the side of it. And or, you know, it's just a different feel in his hand, I think, than the fastball curveball changeup. And he talked a lot about needing to get back on top of his fastball to kind of create that downward tilt. And he definitely

had that back today. Like, his fastball had a little bit of extra giddy-up on it today. So I do wonder if ditching the cutter and kind of the weird feeling that it had in his hand was able to get those other pitches back to where we've seen them. So just something to monitor going forward, I would say.

All right, let's go back to Friday, and we'll go through the pitchers, and then we'll get to all the other stuff. So I guess the real question is, after seeing what Aaron Nola did today, Jack, do you stand by your tweet from Friday night about Zach Eflin? For those who missed it, Jack tweeted, Zach Eflin is the Phillies' best pitcher. So, go, sir. Beers were had.

I figured. I figured. Yeah. The only time I really have beers while watching the phils is on like friday and saturday and listen beers were had i was extremely fired up about that fun it like james i gotta be honest with you and we never lie to the high hopes listeners but um i feel like i don't know it's not that i get a lot of stuff wrong it's just like I go all in and then it almost always blows up in my face. Yeah, and you've had some spectacular ones, I think is a good way to put it.

Yeah, yeah. And I went pretty in on Eflin this year. And this is going to sound bad, but it felt nice to be rewarded. um it just this is gonna sound bad but it felt nice to be rewarded um and and like i just i just need i need my luck on my bill jack needs to get one in the in the win column you know i think you've earned it i think you deserve it buddy yeah i mean you've taken some heat some heat for opinions which is hilarious yeah yeah well it's because the thing that's so annoying about about like philly's opinions or whatever is like i lean towards positive so like and like whenever it goes bad it's like ah see he does suck it's like great why can't it be like other

sports where you predict everyone to be bad and they're good. I always predict them to be great and they're never great. I know, I know. But, yeah, I was just in a really good mood just watching Eflin. And he had two straight innings where I felt like he threw five pitches. And I was just like, this is Roy Halladay light. I mean, this is what he is. He's our version of Roy Halladay. And not that I – he's not – his he's our version of roy holiday so um and not

that i like he's not his stuff isn't the same as roy how yeah don't worry we we know we know if you just if you just put them like coming out of their little twist you know in their in their in their wind up or whatever if you if you if you from their leg kick on, like the stuff is so similar. It's just, it's crazy. It's crazy. And it's, I don't know, but I, uh, yeah, it was a really fun night Friday. Um, again, I thought, I thought JT called a good game, but I feel like Eflin's a, uh, an easy-ish guy to call a game for, cause he can pretty much spot all his pitches.

You know, you should have, you should be able to keep hitters guessing all night long. So he looked great, and he wasn't great the last start. So for him to kind of go out there and have that kind of outing was massive. And obviously he couldn't get over a little bit of a hump at the end. But, yeah, he was awesome. And the two-seamer sinker thing was back to dancing the way that it was not his last start. So that was good to see as well.

Yeah. He's really good, man. He's lit. And look, you know, it's not Kershaw, Bueller,

Bauer, but you know, if these guys are all on Nola Wheeler, Eflin's a legit top three. Like it's one of the, certainly one of the 10 best top threes in baseball. I'm probably better than that. You know,

it's up there. So it's a legitimate, a legitimate punch you know if you can get efflin i mean he's the the real i think that wild card's the wrong word because i think we all certainly here in this this part of philly's world we're we're very bullish on him this year and expected him to be really good but he is the one who can kind of really um increase the ceiling of the team with his performance and also like no better got a root for i mean we've talked about for when when mickey moniak who will get to when mickey moniak was on the pod he said you know efflin basically the best guy on the team the one who he would have babysit my kid when i asked him that question and and when efflin came on the midday show, I talked to him for like 30 seconds

before he came on. He like could not have been a nicer human being. He was awesome. I congratulate him on the kid coming. And he was like, just like genuinely appreciative and super nice. So, um, easy to root for. Uh, all right, before we get to, to all the other stuff um we gotta do it jack um i know he's been your guy i know he's been your guy i know you were everything we're in you found a way to be in on him in fact if people want to go back and you know do the little scroll up through the podcast thing you can probably see a uh a little title about uh about this man um how you coping jack where are you at with matt moore because i just i'm gonna just say it very succinctly for for where i'm at with matt moore and it's this jack matt moore blows he blows your response

uh i no longer care about that i'm i'm all good yeah we're good he's so bad dude oh yeah it was like it was like so bad so bad not even not even a little glimpse i mean listen if you're gonna throw 91 92 or whatever at least at least be able to spot up um and you know this is one of those moments james where should have just trusted the gut um you know the gut said this guy is bad he's been like the worst pitcher in baseball since 2016 who else could you have trusted besides the gut is there anyone that you talked to about the Phillies in a public forum? I know. Well, I mean, you're notoriously a Debbie Downer. Okay, yes, yes.

My argument that he hadn't been good at Major League Baseball since 2016 wasn't good enough. I get it. And even then, he was not great. I guess I just don't get, like, why? You know? Why did they spend $3 million on that more? Well, I mean, think about it this way. When you put

it like this and chase anderson again i think is is what you're you're buying i think he's fine he's not good but you know he'll he'll be fine for a first starter but like you think about the fact they gave vinny v4 they gave three to more and then four to Anderson. I mean, that's Tywin Walker. That's whoever. I mean, that's like, you do that and then sign whoever to be the other. I mean, it's just that, again, I think Dombrowski had a really, really good first offseason here.

I've been really impressed with a lot of what he's done. But I think if you're looking for an area to rip him, I think he did a bad job with the back end of the rotation and the velasquez to be fair i guess that happened before he got here so i can't we can't bring in velasquez back yeah it did um and plus you have a doable who's another 10 million yeah no and i agree no i'm look i'm not blaming nebrowski for the uh for the general like the fact that phillies have the fifth highest payroll is a joke. And it's not John Middleton's fault. Like, thank you, John Middleton, for having the fifth highest payroll.

But like Matt Klintag just pissed away money. Like unbelievable the situation this team is in, considering that you look at teams that are not that far ahead or way below the Phillies in terms of, of, of, you know, money, salary cap spend or not salary cap, soft cap spend.

And, and there's so much more talent on these rosters, like the Braves, for example, it is, it is frustrating, Jack. Yeah.

I mean, those teams also have way better, you know, development and stuff. So sure. Of course. Like, I don't know.

I kind of, you know, I'm almost willing to, I'm almost willing at this point to kind of hit the reset button on all that stuff because, like, Barber's here now. All the minor league guys, like, you know, Ochard and Robles and Herg and all those guys, like, we actually have an infrastructure now

to where we can develop talent, which is exciting would have liked that would have liked that in uh 2015 or you know 2016 um so it's nice to have those guys here so it's like almost it's frustrating i get it you know that they don't have like the young talent to come through the minor league system but i also think that we're kind of just at the precipice of this whole thing turning around. So I look back and I say that sucks, but also I'm excited for what we have in store. Yeah. And please, Dave, David, Mr. Dombrowski. Yes.

No more with Vinny. All right. Like, and Matt Moore is going to be gone. Matt Moore, this was a failed experiment. Everyone knows it. At some point I'll be gone. Maybe Moore, this was a failed experiment, and everyone knows it. At some point, he'll be gone. Maybe he'll be a reliever. Who knows?

But Vinny has been years here with us, sir. No more. He's going to be starting games soon, though. It's just what it is. Honestly, he's not worse than Matt Moore. He's not better, but he's not worse. It's pretty hard to be worse than Matt Moore like he's not better but he's not worse like it's pretty hard to be worse Matt Moore I mean I it's possible Matt Matt Moore is among the two or three worst starters in Major

League Baseball he's high on the list I mean this with all seriousness I watch every Phillies game if I miss any bit I go back and I re-watch it the next time I have to watch Matt Moore and Vince Velasquez in the same game, it's off. I'm out. I'm out. It's just – it's not fair to us is what I would say. Dude, it's like, oh, my God. I have this written down for my take back, but I'll just get it out now.

Like, I love everything about baseball. Like, baseball is my favorite. But I found something over the weekend that I hate about baseball. And, I mean, I've thought this in the past, but it really just hit me. Dude, pitchers that can't throw strikes, I can't watch. Like, Vinny Nibbling at 93. Again, can't believe they call him Vinny Velo. 93. Again, can't believe they call him Vinny Velo.

Well, especially now when they're like 10 guys on the staff who throw harder. Dude, I cannot watch pitchers that can't throw strikes. It makes me want to rip my hair out. It's a six-run ball game. We're down. Why are you nibbling? Why are you throwing curveballs 2-0 like can we just get a move on i hate it i hate watching pitchers that can't throw strikes and it's the first time i sat there and was like oh so this is what people are talking about i i co-sign everything you said jack um all right um hold on hold on real quick before we get uh

move off of matt moore Vince Velasquez. Yes. James, I've never wanted to do this. I've never been a proponent of it. But, I mean, when he's ready and able, they got to give Cole Hamels a call. Wow, buddy. Wow. Why not? Look, I'm not fighting you on it, but this is very – this is a big 180 for you, pal.

Well, it's just there's no way. There's no way. Nothing could be worse. I'm not – dude, I would sign him the second he's ready. I would have someone there just watching his rehab until he's like, all right, you good? You ready now? Okay now okay good let's go like yeah i'm i'm with you man it can't be worse yeah i mean i and i don't care if it's a pedro

like thing or whatever but there i got to watch matt more on sat on saturday and i was like there's no freaking way that cole hamels is is not as like is is worse than this i mean at least i know what a shock command a changeup. If I could have expected anything to be said during this podcast, you saying you want Cole Hamels back, after all the slander you have thrown that man's way, I'm like speechless, Jack. Well, here's the thing.

I know it. I do not like Cole Hamels. Cole Hamels brought me a first championship. I love Cole. He's a hero is what you're trying to say. I know it. I don't not like Cole Hamels. Cole Hamels brought me my first championship. I love Cole. He's a hero is what you're trying to say. I know. I know. I know.

I just don't forget 2009, but that's me. But, yeah, it would be fun. Philly's really going for it for the first time since 11. Obviously, they're going for it in their last and for the first time since 11. Obviously, they're going for it and in 2019 and 2020. But, you know, we both feel like this is the best team they've had. Right. Having Cole pitching down the stretch would be freaking awesome. Can you imagine?

It would be like like jumping in a time machine. It would be so awesome. I wholeheartedly endorse this. Obviously, I would have. Yeah. It's not surprising. Honestly, if we can, if you bring back Cole, and obviously you worry about the health stuff,

he's been hurt the last couple years. But if you can have Cole back and Chase Anderson, like Matt Moore, whatever, Vinny, whatever, and then hopefully Spencer Howard is stretched out enough to give them some healthy innings on the stretch. Like that'll help mitigate, I think, the four or five concerns. So I don't know. It just makes too much sense not to happen.

And look, there's always the trade deadline too, like depending on what they want to do and where they are, if they're willing to spend and all that. So, you know, there are options. It's just, it's, it's one of those things, certainly with more, it's one of those things where you really have to start asking yourself, how much longer can we roll them out?

Like how much longer can we allow ourselves to be at this big a disadvantage every five games? Yeah. I had that. I had that written down. Like, I don't know. I don't know how much longer you can, you can give them. I mean, like one, two. Yeah. I was going to say one, two, somewhere had that written down. I don't know how much longer you can give on him. I know. Like one, two? Yeah, I was going to say one, two, somewhere in that range. Like two more starts? And then I guess it's Vinny.

Vinny, Ranger Suarez, Spencer maybe. I doubt it though. I mean, if they're not going to sign someone, those are the internal options. That's what you're looking at. Yeah, well, and Adonis Medina started today at the alternate site, but that does nothing really for me. No, but whatever.

Like, at this point, you know, try it out. See what you get. I mean, Cole Irvin's out in Oakland tossing gems. Oh, he had one start. I was just messing around. Stop. All right, all right. I got a bunch of specific things i want to get to specifically obviously i want to talk about harper but the most importantly uh first and foremost

shout out to mickey moniac coming to the major leagues getting a chance to play it wasn't the best weekend for making the plate he's still still getting settled in. But what do you think of seeing him making the in the bigs, brother? Oh, it was great. It was great. And, you know, maybe if he wants to turn his mojo around, it puts on the high hope shirt. I think so. Some are saying that's good luck.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, like, this is a, like is semi-serious, but this is where I feel bad about riling people up and getting them excited for players or whatever because then it just puts an extra added pressure on guys like Mickey,

who I think is going to be a good player, but he's super young. He's playing center field and he's being tasked with saving the center field position from being the worst position in Philly's history. I don't know. I think he's going to be fine. I think he's going to be fine. I thought he actually had good at-bats this weekend. I know today wasn't great.

I mean, a lot of strikeouts and whatever. He's walked a couple times. Today wasn't great. I mean, a lot of strikeouts and whatever. He's walked a couple times. On Friday, that ball in the ninth inning was a home run on any other night. That's a fact. He should have one home run in the year.

Any other ball that was hit up the middle that's been a home run or that's been a single for 100 years. He's faced a lot of lefties, which isn't great. But I think he's played good center field. He's walked a couple times. I think he's been on a couple of fastballs and, you know, just give him a chance. I mean, you know, Hoskins, Hoskins was out the first 12 times he came up to the big leagues and people were freaking out then. So, um, you know, it's, it's the added pressure that, that comes with being a Fritz guy. And, um, I just hope that, I hope that he can handle it. But it was awesome seeing him. And, yeah, I thought he played well defensively.

And hopefully the bat comes around as he kind of settles in and gets more comfortable. And if these teams can stop throwing lefties against him at the time being, that would be great. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing we don't talk about enough. It's like it's hard enough to be a 22-year-old in Major League Baseball. Again, you usually don't make the majors when you're 22. It's usually the top, top guys who make it when they're that young or younger.

You usually make it when you're in your mid-20s, 24, 25, that general range. Even later for a lot of guys. Nelson Cruz didn't really make it in the majors because he was 28 or whatever. for a lot of guys. I mean, like Nelson Cruz didn't really make it in the majors. He was like 28 or whatever. So, you know, I think that, like you said, it's unfair to give, you know, to judge Mick so harshly. But on top of that, with the added pressure being 22 in the major leagues, you also have that insane, unfair pressure of the Fritz K curse. And that's something that you really have to like weigh on you. So it's like, Mickey has to do so much more. So give him a chance. He's, he's good enough. He'll get there. And I thought he looked like a major leaguer, you know, like last year when he

came up, he looked a little less comfortable, like a little, you know, more fish out of water type of thing. And I thought, I think this year, like stepping in the plate, the plate like i know he didn't have great a bad day but i thought he did the other night on friday and like you said did hit that ball that was was a tank shot you know the wind was crazy i mean harper um should add two home runs as you tweeted out i think you're you're running with that um so uh yeah you're running with that and you're going to like i mean i think they people were tweeting out a weekend, but with no hits again today, I'm assuming the center fielder hasn't got a hit in, what, like 28 games or something like that?

The center fielder's not really. Since April 6th. Yeah, what the hell is that? I mean, not 28 games, obviously. I haven't played that game. I mean, 28 whatever days. Like, that's crazy, dude. Like, April 6th?

Like, 16 days? Like, 15 days? I'm bad at math. 12 days? That's insane. Regardless um i'm with you give me some time you know and look yeah he's not roman gwynn so that's that's a good yeah and and honestly i feel like even with the at bats like i still feel like i hate he has a chance you know unlike unlike with hazley and and Quinn I felt like they just weren't

gonna put like even when Haseley made contact it was like the balls just slammed out into the ground um like he looks his swing looks good so um yeah I just there's a lot of pressure on him coming up I mean it seemed like I was actually surprised that the like the overwhelming like almost like support in a way or like excitedness for mickey coming up yeah and and like listen that's great like i mean it's great that he changed the narrative and and stuff like that and people were excited for him to come up i just hope that you know i just hope that people don't like just sour on or put pressure on like every little thing he does. He's 22.

Again. He's 22. Right. He'll be fine. He'll be fine. He looked good this weekend. He hit a couple balls hard that were just foul. I'm not too worried about it.

And again, honestly, hit whatever. As long as you play good defense on center field and can run the bases, it'll be all good. As long as you're not colliding into Bryce Harper for fly balls and all that. All right. Speaking of which, and I want to get to the rest of the offense in a sec, but Harper, tumultuous weekend for Harper, so to say. Played on Friday.

Then Saturday we get the news right before the game, before the line comes out, that he's got this back thing and doesn't play. And then obviously looked awesome today. The just absolute tank shot in the first inning, like second deck monster shot. Then that, I can't remember if it was the first double or second double, the one where he just kind of went with the pitch, like we were talking about last time,

and just batted it in the left field. Like that was just such a good piece of hitting. And where are you at on the scale because like to to not ignore the back thing that was something that you talked about earlier in spring training you've been talking about something that is a legitimate concern in your eyes now and moving forward where are you at with the weekend from harper and you know heating up but also the back thing yeah I mean how long it's like it's like come on it's like we can't right we can't just get a hot Harper we have to get a

hot Harper us to we have to have these back issues with too it's like come on I mean there's only 10 more years left in the contract you know at least at least he's in his prime hey Jack can I ask you a quick question do you still miss the DH? You might want the DH, pal. We might want the DH coming our way. I did think that in the seventh today. Yeah, when Nola was up with two on, I was like, man, I really miss the DH. I know, I know. But then he factored in the bunts, and's just all my all my worries yeah all right

with harper um yeah don't love don't love the back injury stuff that's for sure um especially given how early it is and given how much work you put in now they did say it was um you know precautionary and stuff which they always say um i got a couple thoughts so there is nothing that excites old baseball fans quite like going with the pitch oh yeah buddy because it's like good hit oh my god hitting jack oh my god it's like harper hits one like harper hits one 450 first at bat then and everyone's golf clapping. He slaps the ball down the left field line, and everyone's weeping and kissing babies and cheering and falling to their knees and praying to the sky saying, oh, thank God he went with the pitch and hit a double down the line.

Oh, it's so annoying. Anyway, yeah, listen, the home run today was stairs-esque, I want to say. I mean, I think it was more purely hit than the walk-off grand slam, personally. It might have been. I mean, it was a tank shot. Dude, it was like he was a golfer. And you just squared it up off the tee. Just an absolute mess hole. And listen, he should have had two home runs on Friday night.

I am not letting the baseball gods and Major League Baseball, they're not going to tell me that he did not have two home runs on Friday. Bryce Harper is up to six home runs in the season. There's no doubt in my mind. Harper is up to six home runs in the season. Like there's, there's no doubt in my mind. Um, he's up to six. There were those balls were home runs in every other night. And whoever's working cameraman that night was also working cameraman in game five in 2011. Cause they were the same kind of thing. Um, and he's, I mean, he's up to what, like two 89 with a nine. I mean, he's up to what, like 289 with a 980-some OPS? Yeah, his OPS is awesome.

It's like he's there. Yeah. I would like for him to kind of consistently do it and not have the one game where he goes three for three and does it to keep it consistent throughout the year. But honestly, the swing in his third hit I actually liked the most because it was kind of just right at the middle, easy, not trying to do too much, and sent it. And it was honestly, given how he was talking after the Mets series,

for him to come out and have the series he had against the Cardinals. Totally, totally, totally. Yeah, that was massive because it's kind of backing up his word. I had the exact same thought I had it written down. He came out after the Mets series and was like, this isn't good enough. We can't be like this. Too many strikeouts. It's on me.

It's on us. And then came out and backed it up. Friday, like you said, I really do agree with you. I thought certainly the opposite field one I thought was a 100% a home run. And the other one I think probably would have been too like but he no matter how you look at it Friday and Sunday the two games he played was just ripping the ball like he's just hitting the ball really really hard right now he's seeing the ball and we know what he's like when he gets hot and you know he's seeing the ball like a beach

ball and he's just smacking it around the field and and usually he starts the year hot like this was the longest uh in his career that's taken him to hit home run i think it was like five games as opposed to his first three or whatever and usually he starts off hot it wouldn't be shocking if the back is okay to kind of see harper get going a little bit here and get a little run and and hopefully sustain that um speaking of runs uh the other guy i really wanted to hide and then i'll ask your questions like just general thoughts on the offense overall, is I think it was kind of a scattered weekend.

Obviously, they had that six-run rally, you know, the bloop and the error and the this, but it worked out and kind of got them going. And then, you know, certain guys are hitting. You know, DeeDee's quietly hitting over 300. But outside, you know, I think there's kind of some up and down boom keeps getting robbed i mean we remember that kunya catch the edmund catch um but i think the one guy we can all agree on is by far the most locked in this lineup right now is is is mean gene i mean sagura has been awesome what do you what is he doing right now that's so impressive to you and and

do they need to move him up in the lineup? Because we've talked about the McCutcheon thing. Reese walked today but still not walking at the same clip as before. If McCutcheon keeps struggling, and even if he doesn't with the way Segura's hitting, do they have to start messing around with that a little bit, Jack? Well, if McCutcheon kept struggling, I like the idea of Hoskins lead off Segura two hole um Harper three bone four DD five JT six and then Cutch and the center fielder down down there but um yeah it's well I actually thought I thought McCutcheon had a good weekend I thought his

bat was looking quicker and he walked a couple times. So it kind of seems like we're kind of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel there with Andrew McCutcheon's struggles. So hopefully he continues down that path. But, yeah, I mean, ever since we made fun of him for being a hit machine, he's actually been a hit machine. So that's great to see. But, yeah, his batch looks quicker. Looks like he's finally starting to square up balls.

He's thinking right center field, which is where he should be thinking. I think he had like four hits the opposite way. So, yeah, getting him back to being the 315 homer hit, that he's been consistently throughout his career would be massive for this team. So, um, you know, the two holes changed so much when it comes to, um, how it's thought about in major league baseball, it's been changed to, you want a productive hitter there that's going to work counts and whatnot. But like Segura, he always reminded me of Polanco, and I thought Polanco was a great two-hole hitter.

So I don't think the numbers bear out him being a good fit in a two-hole, but in a traditional baseball sense, I think he'd be a great two-hole hitter. So I don't know. We'll see. But at least he is showing stuff again, and at least there's some hope that um they were gonna you know get some value out of this contract all right couple other things i want to run by you but is there anything else outside of your take bag on the offensive side

of things you want to mention before i throw a couple other things at you no i mean just boom stuff but we're we'll get to that all right quickly uh jojo velocity down uh obviously did not look good on saturday didn't look great against the mets and obviously the we also saw you know the kind of not running down to first base on the oscars sliding play but um are you worried at all about jojo um well i'm worried if he's going to continue to throw 93 to 95 i mean there's a big difference in that and 95 to 97. Um, and you can make mistakes when you're 95 to 97, you can't make mistakes when you're

93 to 95. And what we've seen so far is that he's, you know, throwing the same pitchers he thought he could hit at 97, but they're at 93. So, um, and they are, you know, mostly leaving the ballpark, which is not great. Uh, slider doesn't look like it has the same um sharpness to it um but overall not really because he was still hitting 95 97 in spring training so maybe it's kind of one of those light dead arm periods that that he's kind of going through but um you know i think i'm not ready to pull the plug or send it back down because i think he has the upside of

being one of the three best relievers on this team. So I want to see that ability. Um, I just think, I think the VLO thing is concerning and I need to get him back up to where he should be, which is 97.

So, um, that's the, that's the main, main worry for me with Jojo. All right. Uh, that is actually,

I think, uh, also, you know, happy birthday fanatic. Thank God they didn't lose in the Fanatic's birthday, Jack. I don't know if I could have handled that emotionally. That's all I got.

I got a couple things at the end, but take back. All right. Take back time. I'm out on the term hitting season, and it has nothing to do with Charlie. Cool. I love Charlie. I think he's great. It has nothing to do with Charlie. Cool. I love Charlie. I think he's great. It has nothing to do with anything else.

It's just, you know, you're allowed to hit in April, okay? World Series are played in October. That's not considered hitting season. I just hate that any time the offense struggles, the crutch term is, well, it's not hitting season yet. Well, I don't care if it's not hitting season yet. Like, you can still put, like, the Reds are unbelievable offensively. Like, they don't care that it's cold, you know.

So, cool it with the term hitting season. You know, you're allowed to hit well in April. I don't care that That's not warm. Just put the, put the, put the term to rest. Okay. I'm over it.

I don't want to hear it anymore. Out on the term hitting season. I 100% agree with you. Wow. Really? Yeah. Good take. I agree.

It's super annoying whenever it's like, Oh, they'll hit when it gets warm out or whatever. It's going to be hitting the season. No, hit now. Yeah, start hitting. I'm with you, Jack. Very with you.

Everyone's playing in the same thing. So if it's hitting season for you guys, doesn't that mean that every other team that's hitting season two, like then aren't they going to be hitting more too and they're hitting more now? Thank you. Agree.

Great take, Jack. It can't be the thing that we rely on. When you started it, I definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely thought I was going to disagree with you, and I 100% agree with you. Thank you. I hope that's how everyone else reacted to it when I said it. Again, it's nothing against Charlie anything. I love Charlie, all that stuff. It's annoying that you can't even have a conversation about offenses in April

when they're slow without being like, well, it's not warm yet. It's not how it works, okay? Thank you. I had to get that one off my chest. Yeah, I liked it. Again, I agree. Boehm is just getting eaten alive on fastballs in. And, like, for as much as people applaud hitting the ball the other way and using all

fields and again i think that's great but for bone to to truly reach the next level he needs to learn how to pull the ball in the air because like even the ball that he hit the wall today in right field it's like oh no that's a good piece of hitting well it was 91 right down the middle of the plate like can we hit that you know 4 30 to left um so it's just something he's going to have to adjust with and I'm sure they will. I mean, he's such a crazy hard worker. That'll be fine. But he, that like lefties are just, you know, pounding him in, pounding him in. And, um, he's getting kind of slider to death, um, uh, versus the righties. So, you know, it's all an adjustment. But, yeah, until he really shows that he can pull the ball well,

he's just going to continue to get pounded in. So hopefully he can make an adjustment because it could be a tough little stretch here for Boehm. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I hadn't thought about it in those terms, but as you said, anecdotally thinking back it's like yeah you're right like he does always go the other way with that isn't really um you know you don't really see him yank too many shots he had that one um one that i'm remembering that he yanked to left maybe it was the home run in atlanta did he get a homer in atlanta that i think

he yanked but um regard no no it was i, it was last year against the Nationals. He hit one to left, and then his first homer this year was like 430 to left center. Left center. That's the one I'm thinking about, but he didn't yank it. So I'm with you. I think that's a good – I'm agreeing with you a lot right now. All right, what else you got? I know.

I know. Yeah, but eventually he's got to learn to bowl the ball. So we'll see. We'll see. Nola did two things today. I don't know if he realized this, um he he got ahead of the a stuff but also um i tweeted before the game that i need seven innings of one run ball yeah i did that yeah yeah he he did not do it so um once again mushes do not exist they are not a real thing i tweet a lot about the phillies mostly positively okay so today is a win for the anti-march crowd okay it's good just want everyone how about this

one speaking of days no i forgot to mention this you see the corey's i've been tweet that with this complete game today aaron nola leads all of major league baseball and innings pitch since 2018 one out ahead of garrett cole it's pretty wild, man. Like, in this day and age, especially with this being his first complete game, that's impressive. Oh, he also has the third lowest ERA in baseball since 18. Yeah, I saw that too. DeGrom and Garrett Cole. Yeah, so he's, you know, the numbers are there, right?

All right, what else you got? Who's to say? Is he really an ace? I'm not sure um um yeah i think and his er right now is down to like 228 i think or 225 yeah something like that yeah yeah that's great oh god this this city man i love it um um oh you know what argument i hate and that watching him this weekend kind of put it to bed? Like, dude, Yadier Molina is a Hall of Famer.

Like, why is there even a debate about this? I mean, at the dish is whatever, but, like, what he does behind the plate is, like, ridiculous. I mean, he controls the whole game as a quarterback. Why is there any debate about Yadier Molina being a Hall of Famer? I mean because it's baseball and you know that and the numbers offensively are not there so I get it but I agree with you I think he's all famer I feel like he's all famer what he's done and look I mean 18 years he's played catcher in major league baseball for 18 years like just think about what that is for

your body and the dedication he has held up defensively the entire time. And offensively, look, I mean, whether he's batting like 3-something right now, 350 or something, and he'd certainly torch the Phillies on Saturday night. Yeah, I think a clear Hall of Famer. And, I mean, like think about all like the beating that guy's taken through the years, 18 years. We all remember the ruptured you-know-what Jack. So, yeah, I'm with you i think yada

is all a favorite well and you gotta factor in what he does with that pitching staff i know that might sound overrated people i agree but like they've never had like one multiple world series like i'm very with you i think this is a good take what is going on tonight are we done how are we doing this i know well it's just like i see it's way too congenial here i know i know well noel thoreau could play game i know you're right you're right we're in a good mood it's a good thing um david bell lives on james i saw bryce harper was a a triple away from it's tough jack finally ah dude i just i just need it i absolutely need it i need i need that memory of my life gone it's it's such i mean and and sadly in a in a concurrent thing nick pivetta wiped from the

you know record books i guess to say with the last complete game today so double whammy for you from that perspective like i even i even remember sitting there the night that david bell hit for the cycle, and I was fuming. I was super young, but still, I was like, this is my least favorite Philly hitting for the cycle. It's a continual bit the Phillies keep playing on. No one's going to hit for the cycle just so he can keep living on.

Even the pictures of him on Twitter or on Google in a Phillies uniform, he just looks miserable to be there. I love this. This is one of your great irrational takes. It's a great one. It's an outstanding, just absurd take and I love it. I do.

And finally, finally, our our forum manager is returning. Oh, that's where I was going to go, my friend. So let me ask you, in honor of his return very quickly, in what inning would Gabe have pulled Nola in today's game? Seventh? Does he let him go eight?

Seventh, yeah. Yeah, probably seventh, right? Seventh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, whenever he got in a little bit of trouble, he's probably going to pull him. I just want to ask you, though, what was your favorite memory of the Gabe era?

Probably the drops that you put together. I like that idea. I love it. I still say that in random conversations with people. I'll be like, I like that idea. I love it. And they'll look at me and have no idea what i'm talking about but i know so i would say the drops all right well i think for me it's easily well him versus angelo was always amazing yeah that one in particular where they where he was like i don't think you've handled this interview well

like that whole thing was that was a classic i agree that was incredible, I don't think you've handled this interview well. Like, that whole thing, that was a classic. I agree. That was awesome. Incredible. I don't know. There's so many. Hobie Milner's Nasty Brother is probably my favorite. Oh, and also Honorary Mention for Justin Board Emotional Warrior. That's a strong one.

I just, it's going to be. Nine and six. The nine and six Giants coming to town, Jack. Well, yeah, he's going to be nine and six, the nine and six giants coming to town, Jack. Well, yeah, he's a good manager. They beat the Padres twice,

but it hasn't been a lot of stiff competition. Otherwise I know it's going to be an amazing, I'm so excited. I'm so excited for it. Do you think, do you think Jillio sleeps tonight? No, no, he's way too excited. Way too No. No, he's way too excited.

Way too excited. Yeah, he's way too excited. I'm going to have to have him pop on the show tomorrow at 525. It's a must. That's a must. This is a Super Bowl. I mean, let's be real. Yeah.

But, yeah, Gabe's coming back. He's talking about how he wants to go to the coffee shops in Northern Liberties. Oh, he's so back he's so excited to be back so good it must be nice that it must be nice that he has like a amazing general manager there so oh yeah we're far yeah i'm sure i'm sure he's like yeah this is this is cool i like it it's gonna be so funny the first time he like goes out of the mound i mean i can't wait it's i this might be the most set i've been for a philly series it's not opening day you know well that's why like that was one of the few uh benefits of last season being only in the ales and anales is

that we didn't waste gabe's return without fans in the stand because that it's it's too good yes and like there's like legs to stand on that he's pretty good given his record with the Giants so you can have like kind of opinions on both sides it's great it's fun it's great it's great um I can't wait to see him and uh I can't wait for like I don't know I it's gonna It's going to be a fun week of hard jobs. I love it. All right. Quickly, before we get out of here, a hearty farewell to Jay Bruce, former Philly.

I retire. For those who didn't see, just said like Mike Schmidt style. He's like, I don't have it anymore. I'm done retiring after tonight's Yankees game or today's yankees game uh i enjoyed the jay bruce era jack here in philly jay bruce yeah um he was he was fun i think you i think he gave us more fun than not fun i think you've tweeted i don't know 12 times or something yeah i mean i'll never jay bruce never forget. I'll never forget his first freaking game

in San Diego where he went yard a couple of times and everyone's like, oh, we're back. So good. It was fun. The Jay Bruce era was fun. All right. Uh, final thoughts before we get out of here, Fritzy. My final thought is that, um, so I watched the game alone today because Jill went out with a friend in the afternoon. And she comes in after being out. And I said, hey, Nola threw a complete game shutout. And she said, oh, cool. Sorry, I missed it. I was like, I mean, could you be a little bit more excited?

Could you recognize how important this is to me? I just felt like i felt like the reaction was just very subdued and i would have liked a little bit like wow really he did that it was like a oh cool why would i possibly care about that so listen everything's fine in the fritz household um for now this is actually this is actually my last podcast in this house wow buddy before before we move so i'm gonna be exhausted next sunday because we're removing oh yeah so maybe uh we'll see what happens yeah we might not do it but my mom is actually visiting uh she's coming on tuesday so first time i'll be seeing her for a year and a half since she's been in miami and she's staying

for a couple weeks so definitely gonna be a we'll it out. We'll make it work when we can make it work. It might not be the normalest high hope schedule, but we will definitely have pods out. Um, all right, Jack, uh, my final thought, uh, it's actually a question I was thinking about it. Cause like, it's one of those things where, you know, what he's doing for so much of the year. If it's March, you know what he's doing. If it's April, you know what he's doing. If it's football season, you know what he's doing. What do you think Jim Nance is up to now?

What does he do during this time when he doesn't have these big events to call? Is he just chilling? What do you think? Given that a lot of his schedule is probably freed up since he resigned uh i would i would anticipate old jimmy boy is uh probably on the golf yeah well that's that's honestly i'm not really as concerned about what what he's doing or or how he is i'm more concerned about how i'm going to be able to mix him into the podcast with him not doing things and thus not giving me opportunities.

So it's going to be a trial, Jack. It's going to be something. Listen, I mean, there's one thing that I know about you is that you're already very committed to it. But if you don't want me to have my me to it's like the only thing i have right now it's like my it's it's my my life vest that i can grab onto that keeps me floating above water i'm just saying that if you don't want me to have like my my spidey senses alerted you know maybe mix it in earlier than the last thing on the podcast. That's a decent point.

That's a decent point. Caught less off guard. That's true. We'll see. I'm on to you. I'm on to you. I know. Two or three.

Let's beat Gabe in his return. Be nice to Gabe if you're down there. I would cheer for him. I know that a lot of people won't but i would wow you would cheer i would give gabe a a golf clap and then i would boom the next time he came out um see what i would do is i would give like i would be obnoxious in my support just yelling just like i love you gabe yeah you're the best we missed you man i might have to go down to a game i if you do i i i would like to see this so yes yes all right yes um we'll be back soon at some point um

and uh yeah two or three dk some sounds. We'll see you later. 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. It is 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.