High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Is This Team the '07 Phils or the '08 Phils?

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz get excited about a 5-1 Phillies team. The guys discuss whether this team gives them '07 or '08 vibes, what they saw in the Mets series, 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

Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Summer's here, and you can now get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? You can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parmesan delivered. Sunshine? No.

Some wine? Yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. See app for details. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94.

W-I-P. dot com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Oaks Podcast. A. The Philadelphia Phillies are 5-1, the best team in baseball edition. Jack Fritz. The Phillies are back! Here. So, I want to try a new intro. Let me know what you think. Let me start over.

Here's what I'm going to go with. Okay. Hello, friends. It's so nice to have you here on this podcast. Hello, friends. I know. I was so shocked. I was so shocked at who was calling the game on Monday,

the national championship. It was good to see Jim land on his feet. I know. I know was calling the game on Monday, the national championship. It was good to see Jim land on his feet. I know. I know. He's calling the Masters right now. Can you believe it? It worked out. Yeah, what a turnaround.

What a turnaround. Many are talking about the turnaround, and I'm glad that you continue to bring it up. Don't worry. I won't stop. All right, let's get into it because we got a 5-1 baseball team, Jack. And I want to dive into everything from the last three games since we last talked and all that. But on a basic level, I mean, you were already more in than I was, obviously, coming into the season. That's right. How does it feel to be a loser?

How's it feel for me to be right there with you, Jack Fritz? Look, I am, I think more than anything even with the five one star like we talked a lot heading into the season about this team and this group of guys and it you know just being time like it being time for this group of guys to make a push and for those guys to know it like the guys in the clubhouse reese hoskins said on on WIP, Bryce Harper said all the time. I really think, and again, it's only six games and I know all the caveats and all the stuff that we always say, but look, here's how I'll say it. All right. It feels like something special is going on with this group.

And yes, it can feel like something special through six games and then it not work out. But if it is going to be special, it's going to feel special right away. And it feels like there's something going on in that clubhouse, Jack. I agree. I agree. And you just brought the Reese thing. And I'm ashamed to admit, James, that I got chills from something that Joe the camera said today.

Oh, no. I know. I know. I know. What happened? It's damn near shocking. But, yeah, so he set up the Reese cut this morning, and he was setting it up, and he set up Reese talking about how it's time. And I got to be honest, Joe DeCamera gave me some chills.

I had some chills with Joe saying that because it's just like, this is what we've been waiting for. just like this is what we've been waiting for. This is what we've been waiting for. Bryce happened. It was great. JT happened. It was great. They had the opening weekend in 2019. It was great. But this team is

actually good. This team is actually good. We weren't banking on Arrieta. We're not banking on Arrieta this year. Like, Eflin's arrived. Wheeler looks great. Mike Calfranco is not your third baseman. Right.

He's not the best eight-holder in baseball. Like, this team is actually good. They're actually good. And, like, it's gotten to the point now where even if they lose, I'm still upset, but I but i'm not like downtrodden because i know there's a very good chance there to come back and win the next day because they they are they are good they're resilient they believe in each other they believe in the in the bullpen finally like last year we talked this a lot but it was deflating with that bullpen last year and

it had to be deflating for those guys so it's just it's so beautiful to watch off they suck um but it's killing my soul honestly like especially because it's gorgeous out and they've just been playing here i know they're going to atlanta now but they've been here and it's gorgeous out it's like play baseball today like give me a game but i look jack uh you might not know this but one of the things that I believe in is that athletes are human beings. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that. Really? I hadn't heard that before. I know.

I do think that stuff like confidence and believing in each other and all that hokey stuff that, you know, is like super cliche and all that. I think it's a cliche for a reason. Like, it matters, especially in this sport that is all about confidence. It's all about trusting yourself, trusting your stuff, trusting your eyes, trusting your reads, and believing in yourself. And it feels like there's something going on with these group of guys that I think is something that has the chance to turn into something special. Again, it is super early and all that. But I am a huge believer in chemistry, in clubhouse mattering. Look, say what you want to say about it.

I know there are a lot of people who are like, especially a lot of people, let's be real, a lot of baseball people, a lot of analytics people, whatever. They're like, well, that doesn't matter. It's, you know, the numbers and the production and all that. But like, no, no, no, it does matter. And you know what? We saw a team win a Super Bowl in this city because of it, or at least in a big part because of it.

Like we all know, anyone who's in this city for that Super Bowl knows that that group of guys and what they had was special. And that played a major role in them being able to withstand the injuries and make that run. Like it mattered. And again, we are six games in, but early returns tell me that, like i'm not saying it's

2017 eagles stuff going on but i definitely feel like this is a group of guys who care about each other who believe in each other and honestly i think have a big chip on their shoulder i mean harper's talked about he talked about again last night he's like you know but people are overlooking us like we kind of like it we kind of like this underdog thing like i think there's something powerful in that you know i've ever damn it if i bring up two of my own cliches in the same same monologue but i know bill simmons nobody believes in us like that stuff matters like teams finding motivation from things like that can really matter and it feels like this team has that chip that nobody believes in us type of mentality right now and i'm so here for it man i'm so here for it well

i just hope that uh at some point this year uh when bryce is getting on his mvp track that he does not uh tear his acl and some scrub right some scrub right fielder uh ends up winning world series mvp and the half choice matt yeah matt joyce wins world series mvp and half the city thinks that he's actually better than bryce harper that's that's the only thing in that whole scenario that you laid out that i would dread um so yes actually i mean the phillies are in the world series are definitely not good but good. But it would drive me up a wall. Give me big stick Matt any day, all right? Yep, yep, yep.

There's some stuff about Matt Joyce coming out. But yeah, so you bring that up. You bring the Super Bowl and all that stuff. And I was actually thinking about this today. I was thinking about, like, are they more 07 fills or are they more oh seven fills are they more oh eight fills and what i mean by that is is this the is this the first year of the rebuild not the rebuild but the first year of like making it and like they taste that success and then next year's go time or are they ready to go right now um because i after oh seven we all kind of got together as a fan base and we all decided like

this is a great learning process and it's it's now go time it's now go time and in 08 obviously it happened so i agree there's something special here i just wonder if if we're already past the uh the learning process stage of it like was was the bullpen tanking last year and being the worst thing i've ever seen in my life um you know was that part of their growing process we're gonna look back on this run and be like uh 2020 actually you know taught us a lot and helped us grow or is this really going to be the first year of what could be a special little five-year run here it's's a great question, and I could see it going either way. And again, we're not saying they're winning the World Series.

Well, uh-uh. You know, look, you get to the dance. Anything can happen. They're a good team. You can win the division. They're a good team. But they are a good team. They are a good team.

And that is the point. And thus, I think anything can really happen. But it's a great question. And I hope, look, I want it to be 2008. I want to win the World Series. But I also like the idea of it building either of those scenarios I am happy with. The idea that we're heading into something fun and something that can be sustainable. But I do think, to the initial point, I do think it's a different group of guys than it was in 07.

There are similar things in the sense that a few of these guys have been together for a few years now. Like, I think, you know, this core of guys, the Reese, JT, Bryce, Nola, like, they're on year three now. McCutcheon, like, these guys have all been together for enough time now where it feels like, right like that's part of the the it's time that's part of the feeling in the clubhouse that all right it's time to roll now because these this group has been together but i think with 07 it was different in the sense that well obviously was different in the sense that it'd been since 1993 since phillies made the playoffs there was like a real wow a real hunger in this city unlike you now look, we're not that far off. You're right.

You're right, Jack. I say it as I'm saying it. I'm like, holy bleep. Holy bleep, man. Holy bleep. We don't curse on this pod, but I'm dying to curse. All right. So I do think that different in the sense of the way these two teams were built.

But look, it's a great hypothetical. Either one, Jack. Either one. And I'm happy. What do you think? Do you think this is more 07 or more 08? I think it's more 07. I think it's more 07.

It feels like that. For me, this Phillies team feels like the team that we fall back in love with. Winning a World Series is tough. We all know that. Especially with how loaded teams are these days. The only Phillies... The Dodgers are way better. Things can happen. The Phillies can win a series, but the Dodgers are way more talented.

It's absurd how talented the Dodgers are. You get excited about Nola, Wheeler, Eflin, and we should compared to most of baseball, and they roll out Kershaw, Bauer, and Buehler, and it'seler, Eflin, and we should compared to most of baseball. And they roll out Kershaw, Bauer, and Bueller. And it's like, all right, well, cool. Yeah, it's fun. Great.

Thanks. But yeah, no, I have this feel from this team. And I don't base a lot of things off of Twitter. But it just seems like people are just starting to live and die with this team again, and they're starting to really buy into it. I think everyone is collectively coming together and understanding that they're a good baseball team. People aren't complaining all the time anymore.

It's not just like, oh, well, the bullpen, what are we going to do? Before the season, people were still using the bullpen thing as a real deterrent on this baseball team. Like if you just pay attention and spring training, you know, that they're, they're much improved. Um, but yeah, it's just like, for me, it feels like the year that everyone kind of falls back in love with this, with this team again, it reminds them how fun baseball is. I mean, we've had some fun baseball games through, through six games, just genuinely

good, normal baseball games, which is saying a lot given the baseball that we've seen in the last 10 years. But, like, it's just, it feels like we're on the precipice of a good Phillies run. I don't know how good it's going to be. I mean, like, the fact that Eflin took a step forward is big. Hopefully he'll take a step forward. Wheeler's taking a step forward. Obviously Nola.

You know, it's going to depend upon the guys below them. But the foundation is here of a really solid run for the Phillies. And it's just so nice to see. And it's so nice to see a normal baseball team. It's so nice to not have a fatal freaking flaw that we have to dread every single night, even though it might be Roman Quinn and Adam Haisley. Why not Mick? Yes, the official statement.

I mean, it has never been more true. We'll get to it. I got a lot to get to. Yes, yes, yes. But, yeah, good start for the Phils. I think we're at the precipice of a special run, and I can't wait for the series against the Braves. Oh, buddy, for the Phils. I think we're at the precipice of a special run. I can't wait for the series against the Braves.

Oh, buddy, I'm so ready. Wheeler-Morton round two. Let's hope it goes like round one. All right, let's have a bunch of stuff. First and foremost, by the way, I know you did on Twitter, and in general, the podcast got some crap for saying, bring me to Grom. And all I want to say is they won the game. Yes. They won.

End of story. That's it. Nothing else happened. Nothing else happened. No, they won the game. They won the game. That was a nice win, by the way. Do you still want from Jacob to Grom like that?

I mean, thank you, Luis Rojas. Thank you. Thank you, sir. But it was a good win. putting them five and eight like that. But I want to start with the pitching, and then we'll get to the bats waking up finally and all that. But in some specific things, and yes, I do have some Joe Girardi questions for you, too. But I want to start with the pitching. That's what we do.

That's how we do it. Let's start with the two guys who have pitched since we last spoke. We had not seen neither amazing, but I don't think we expected much one worse than the other. Let's start with the, the, the four and then we'll get to the five. That more wasn't great.

Jack, what do you think of that? Oh, it's funny. Cause the, the first, the first time through the lineup, I was like,

Oh my gosh, we got to steal. I know. I know. Now we're like, Hey, real quick. I think Jack Fritz put it out there at the beginning.

Dynamite lefty reliever out of the pen. Yeah. Give him an inning or two. Doesn't have to face anyone twice. We're looking good. Yeah. But you know what? You know what? Jack Fritz is also saying in the first inning of Monday night.

Lay it on me. We found our fourth ace. Monday night? Late on me. We found our fourth ace. I know. By the way, I tweeted, is Matt Moore the greatest Phillies pitcher ever?

Yeah. It could not be more of a joke. Obviously, very clearly. And people are getting on me for mushing him. I'm like, you can't mush Matt Moore. He sucks. Matt Moore is not good. There's no such thing. He was going to be bad either way.

I'm just having a little fun while he's not. Matt Moore is not good. There's no such thing. He was going to be bad either way. I'm just having a little fun while he's not. Matt Moore is... Here's the official statement on Matt Moore. He's going to be fine. He's going to be fine. I honestly believe, and I love the guy. I'm glad Avery signed him. I think JT sunk Matt Moore on Monday.

What? What kind of take is that? Dude, he called it a terrible game. Like, alright, here's all I'm saying, is that Matt Moore in spring training had a great plan against righties. It was fastballs in, fastballs in, changeups away,

get him off the fastball, all that stuff. He threw two changeups on Monday night. Like, didn't even flash it, which is the only reason he had a good spring training was because he had the change-up and fastball working. And I know it sounds super nerdy inside baseball stuff, but, like, perfect example was the Francisco Lindor at bat, which went, like, eight or nine pitches long,

and he just kept throwing cutters on the inside corner rather than he had the whole outside part of the inside corner rather than, he had the whole outside part of the plate set up for Francisco Lindor to roll over on a change up, and he didn't do it. He didn't do it. Like, I think the cutter's a good weapon, I think the fastball's a good weapon, I think the curve's a good weapon against lefties, but the change up is the equalizer, and what he was doing in spring training was using that pitch effectively against righties. So I'm not

writing off Matt Moore just yet. I think he's going to be fine. I think JT called a brutal game on Monday. I think his plan of attack was wrong, and I did not like it. I was sitting on my couch, steaming that he wasn't throwing a changeup away, because that

was what he did in spring training to consistently get outs. So I am not writing him off to the one start. I am not saying he's going to be some kind of world beater and unbelievable starter. But I thought JT called a brutal game on Monday. OK, as the former catcher on this podcast, Mr. Always pitch your guy. We always talk pitching. I will not stand for this JT's landing in this spot. Here's the deal, Jack. Guess what? Matt Moore, not good. Like it is what it is. There's

a reason this guy was pitching in Japan last year. There's a reason he hasn't had a good season in the major league since 2016. And even then it was like an okay season, a not-worst-pictured-baseball-level season like he did in 2017 and 2018. Like, he's just not that good, man. Like, this is what I expected. We came into this. I told you. I was like, I have more faith in Chase Anderson than Matt Moore, and I don't like Chase Anderson either. But at least Chase Anderson will go out and give me 6 and three, six and four, five and two, whatever.

And I think that's what we saw from Chase. And we'll get to him in a second. But are you really still in on Matt Moore? Because that was just exactly what I expected. Like Matt Moore is what he is. Three to third innings. Yeah, I told you. I thought he stunk.

I didn't like the signing when they did it. I didn't expect much from him. Again, I told you I like Chase Anderson better. You know who Chase Anderson is. That should be a pretty strong statement about how bad I think Matt Moore is. All I'm saying is I'm not writing him off after one start. That's all I'm saying. I'm not writing him off after one start.

Which is fair. You shouldn't write anyone off after. I didn't expect him to be good, so it's confirmation bias. That is fair. Listen, I know Matt Moore stinks. You might. Listen, you very well. Listen, I know Matt Morris thinks. I know. I know he has stunk.

I know he has stunk before, but like. Let's not forget. You did have to talk yourself into it. I know. When the signing happened, we were aligned. We were like, why? And you've gradually ended up defending Matt Morris on this podcast, which, to be fair,

is probably the most predictable thing that could have ever happened. Yeah, well, how about we get a catcher? How about we get a catcher that knows how to call a game? I mean, seriously. Let's get him baseball. That doesn't mean he knows how to call a great game. The BCIB, as everyone likes to tell me. Why does Zach Eflin only pitch to one guy?

Well, because Andrew Knapp's the best backup in the history of baseball. What do you expect? Zach Eflin pitches to Andrew Knapp because Zach Eflin, as we have learned from our good friend, Mickey Moniak, hashtag why not Mick, is the best guy on the team. So obviously he's going to throw in a Knapp. Who's the second best guy on the team? It's just a good guy's connection.

It's positivity. It's happiness. It's love. I get it, Jack. Speaking of which, happy birthday, Zach Eflin. I appreciate that we're doing this podcast on Zef's birthday.

I didn't even know we were, but I want to bring my game that much more. I'm going to try and ratchet it up. Also, I'm going to start calling him Led Zeflin. Okay. Why? I don't know,

because it sounds like Led Zeflin. I think it's i think it's cool i i figured it out thank you for telling me that led zeppelin sounds like led zeppelin thank you for that ever heard of him because i couldn't put that together ever heard of him ever heard of led zeppelin once or twice well all i know is that is that john mayer put the grateful dead on the map but um that's my final music take of this podcast. Please. Can it please be?

No, it's just I think Matt Moore showed some flashes. It wasn't great after that, but I don't think JT helped him out. And here's my final disclaimer. If the change up away to righties is not working, I will give up the Matt Moore thing. Is that fair? Okay. Thank you.

I'll take it. I'll take it. All right, Chase Anderson, my guy. Yeah, your guy, yeah. I didn't know you were such a big Chase Anderson fan. No, I'm not. That, again, this is much more me saying I like Chase Anderson more than Matt Moore is much more an indictment of Matt Moore than it is a positive of Chase anderson chase anderson is exactly who i thought he was yeah he was two

runs yeah yep that's my guy right there yeah it was it was a vintage chase anderson start now i will say this it was it was so on brand no i will say this i would appreciate if chase anderson uh ran out the cashmere i just think it'd be cool um you know it'd be a nice a little throwback yeah multiple zeppelin references here it is a lot of zeppelin references i mean more more than we should say yes led zeppelin uh more than you've ever worked to a podcast i just want to do you know who led zeppelin is have you ever heard of him um but get how old i am jack i know you like to bring it up sometimes i know you're probably there when they played the vet in, like, 1970. But, no, Chase Anderson, I was actually surprised.

And he talked about it after the game. His location was really off. Like, he didn't have great command on Tuesday. So that's something, actually, I expect to get a lot better as the season goes on. So I actually came away pretty encouraged by chase anderson i know people he like he looks like a number five starter but also i think there's room for a little bit of improvement there um and uh i might i might tweet this next time or whatever but the day he gets a curveball over for a strike will be the first time

like that dude in his whole career every every every curveball i've ever seen from chase anderson is like spiked in the dirt like it's it's damn near shocking so um yeah so we're monitoring that one closely i was surprised this command wasn't wasn't better that will get better also i thought it was interesting um part of the reason he signed here was because of caleb cotham um because there yeah because derrick uh no no derrick johnson was the old brewers pitching coach who caleb cotham was with um where chase anderson had his best season as a pro back in 2017 milwaukee yeah he had a couple nice years there yeah so and and i it was really only bad last year in toronto like otherwise and it wasn't even toronto whatever buffalo whatever right bad last year in Toronto. Like, otherwise, and it wasn't even Toronto, whatever, Buffalo, whatever.

But last year was only his, like, his only horrendous year. Like, he hasn't been great, but he's like a four-ish ERA most years. And he had one great year with Brewers, where he was, like, under three or whatever. Right, yeah. So that's interesting. And, again, now, I don't have the numbers to back this up. I don't know if there is a stat for it, but I would just like to point out that Philly's pitchers are just disgusting after Caleb Coffin comes out for a mouth visit.

I know. It's like the quickest influence a pitching coach has ever had. Yeah, and they're standing like it. But, yeah, Chase Anderson, I thought was fine. I think he's going to be fine. He's going to continue to be just a decent pitcher. That's what he is. If you build a fifth starter in a lab, not your best, not your, you know, what's the bet?

If you build your average quintessential, like from, you know, what we know is a fifth starter, because there is a lack of starting pitching in Major League Baseball. Now, most fifth starters are not any type of starter. But like a quintessential fifth starter guy, that's Chase Anderson. Yeah, I mean, that's your definition of it. My definition is Aaron Horang. Sure. Aaron Horang was better than so aaron harang aaron harang's ceiling was higher than chase anderson wow i would say i can't believe we got to this point of the podcast i know we're talking

aaron harang yeah and you were like you're like dead serious too you were like i know i was i know you got you got really passionate about aaron. Her ring. I've owned her ring in fantasy. Jack, this is wheelhouse stuff right here. All right. I'm weird. Nerds like such nerds. All right.

Quickly before the pen, nothing. You have no concerns about Nola after the, the four innings against the Mets, right? Just to just an outing that struggled, but, but not too much concern.

No, I'll say this though. So there's, there's, it's, against the Mets, right? Just an outing that struggled, but not too much concern? No. I'll say this, though. So it's kind of twofold, just some things I'm just watching or whatever. But so he threw the cutter a couple times up and into Dom Smith, who, like, took offense to it, which I thought was weird. Like, relax, Dom. I mean, like it's, it's,

it's a fastball up. He's not trying to hit you. He's just trying to make a pitch. Um, and he like stared down Nola's relax, relax. But, um,

yeah, it was, the cutter was interesting and I could see why he throws it because it does get left-handed hitters from leaning out over the plate and looking for, um, like a change of a way that kind of like flick into left field. So it's interesting. But what I wonder about with the cutter is if I wonder if it,

the way he holds it changes the way that he throws his other pitches. Like when he's on top of his fastball and getting that good downward action, like that's when Noah's at his best. And he just wasn't getting that yesterday. He was up in the zone with it a lot, which I thought weird i didn't know if that was a game plan thing um and same thing same thing to change up in curveball like he needs to be he needs to get on top of those pitches and the cutter he's on the side of so i wonder if being on the side of that pitch is affecting his other pitches like sure the cutter was pretty decent yesterday i thought i

see why they added it to the mix. But I wonder if it's taking away from his other pitches. And also, he was like cutting himself off, which is weird. He wasn't finishing how he usually was. He wasn't finishing at the plate. He was kind of finishing to the right side of the plate, and he wasn't fully following through with his leg. But yeah, it was a weird Nola start.

And it's something that I'm not worried about because he's Aaron Nola and he always has one of those. And he's like a field pitcher. And if he's not feeling it, he's not going to be at his best. And the fact that he got through five and only allowed a run, I felt like was a win given how he was going yesterday.

But I do wonder if the cutter is affecting his other pitches. And I just wonder how long he can keep that going for but overall no i'm not worried okay me too um but but that is interesting that's interesting here all right uh the bullpen and then we'll get some bats and stuff yeah yeah uh we'll get to the bad in a second no there's no bad there's no bad actually there's definitely bad there's definitely there's one i mean to only have one bad i mean that's that's pretty good i mean again i think it can't be understated and i had forgotten i think it was i can't remember when i looked

it might have been glenn mack now tweeting out an open day or whatever but like i'd forgotten like obviously we all know how bad the bullpen was, but when you see the names, I had just forgotten the names on the opening day roster with Daley's Guerra. He just got called up by the A's, by the way. Wow. A's. Yikes.

They got Cole Irvin and Daley's. Yeah. Yikes. Whoops. I liked the A's over before the season. My bad. Wrong on that one. But Cole Irvin. It's just like, oh, who's who of guys you never want to see come into your game for your team?

Like, really? I mean, first of all, I would like to apologize more than anything. more than anything forever giving any guff any you know sort of like um i don't know like crap your way when you said conor brogdon was an ex-mrm madison like he's better he's better than ryan he's the best pitcher you've ever seen here i know i'm joking but dude, Conor Brogdon is so nasty. Like, I might want Conor Brogdon in the game in a high-leverage spot more than anyone else on this team, Jack. Well, I think we're trending towards him. I could see him closing games. I mean, I could see him at some point closing games for this team. So, yeah, well, he's on pace for what, 81 wins?

He's on pace. 3-0. Yeah, I think he is. 3-0. Was it Johnny Heller that tweeted he has, like, more wins than nine teams in baseball? That's unbelievable. Listen, some are saying he's not the next Ryan Madsen. He's the next Jim Constante.

Yes! MVP! Put him on the wall of fame! Can't you see it now, James? 45,000 people in September chanting MVP as Conor Brogdon comes jogging out of the bullpen. Can you imagine? I know that that's a thing that happened. Can you imagine?

Can you imagine living in a world where a reliever is an mvp it's it's the wildest bleeping thing you could possibly think i mean think about how excited your dogs are in the background they're going nuts they're going nuts for connor brogdon and i'm sure i'm sure emily watching zoe right now is super psyched with whatever is happening outside that yeah yeah it's. It's great. Well, I can't make out what they're totally barking, but it sounds like MVP. So, yeah. It was.

He held it. It's a good year. Brogdon is just nasty, man. I love him. I love him so much. I'm so all in on him. It's 97 with cut yesterday to get through it. Yeah, he walked some guys, but listen, that's the second inning.

Not a big deal. Like, he's some guys, but listen, that's the second inning. Not a big deal. He's just got it, and he's so calm. I don't know what excites Conor Brogdon, but it seems like it's not much. This seems very low-key at all times, which I like out of relievers, that they don't get – Love out of – you know me. I'm a big heartbeat guy. Dude, listen, no one loves humans more than you, apparently.

Look, sometimes in the biggest moments guys hearts beat a little slower and they're a little more calm cool and collected and thus they become derrick jeter all right that's a bad comp anyway why do you think i did now i now james i'm turning that around i'm turning that back around on you because I have a very important question for you. And it might be the most important question I've ever asked you. And I know. And that's saying a lot. And I myself have no answer because it physically doesn't pain me because it's a good thing.

But thinking about it makes my brain hurt. Are you ready for it? So ready. who do you trust more in a big spot alec bohm or connor brogdon seriously you don't have an answer because i don't have an answer i have no idea honestly like uh um so okay here's my answer i have an answer okay but it's not an answer based on what you think i would say brogdon because hitters get hits a less percentage of the time so i'm strictly going math i'm knowing that hitters succeed 30% of the time, pitchers succeed like 80% of the time. I'm going with Brogdon. Wow.

Shots at Alec Boehm. I can't pick either. They're both perfect. You do realize that Alec Boehm hit.452 with run on his scoring position as a rookie, right? Oh, buddy. He's got the only game-winning hit of the season that we've got already. I know.

I, too, will say Brogdon only because Boehm. Oh, I guess Segarra. My fault. I forgot about Segarra. Right, right. Only because Boehm grounded into, like, one too many, you know, ground ball outs this week. But then he hits one 436 feet to freaking left center.

I know. I mean, come on. I know. And I'm sorry. It's so tantalizing. I'm sorry. This might take tantalizing. I'm sorry. This might take away from your notes a little bit later. But, like, Boehm's ability to adjust.

Hold on real quick. Just so the people know in the notes, I have it in my notes under Big Hit Boehm. So it's right online. Okay. So real quick, it is shocking how fast he can adjust. Like, I think it was, yeah, it was Tuesday night. Tuesday night against the Mets. His first two at-bats, two weekly hit ground balls to third base.

And I texted someone and I said, hey, can you tell Bomer to maybe drive a ball? Oh, look at you. You texted someone who couldn't tell him. Tell Bomer to drive a ball every once in a while. Clearly being facetious. I love Alec Bomer. I'm just having fun. Relax.

But also, I was being kind of serious because it was like four straight at-bats with a weekly hit ground ball at third base. Get it out there. Jack's texting Bryce Harper during the games. It's not a big deal. Yes. Say, hey, Bryce. Figure it out with Bomer. Anyway, and then like the third or fourth at bat of the game

just drives a ball through the first and second base gap there. And it was like, oh, okay, he figured it out. And then, boom, the next day against the Mets goes tank shot, like 430 to center field. It's like this guy is a hitting freak he makes adjustments so fast and it's it's it reminds me a lot of a quote by jay wright talking about joelle and bead when he said this guy's not learning game to game he's learning minute to minute how to play basketball and get better. And that's how I feel about Alec Boehm hitting. Remember last year?

We'd be like, there'd be five straight at-bats, and Boehm would look bad. And I think we'd be texting or whatever and be like, oh, okay, here comes the rookie Boehm. He's going to start slumping here and all of that. And then boom, it was just a done. He just figured it out, and he was back to being Alec Boehm. The way that guy adjusts as quickly as he does is just insane. And it's like, I don't want to say he's slump-proof,

but he might be slump-proof. Well, and we've talked about it, and it's not just us. It's everybody. Every guest we've had on the station or whoever talks about Boehm talking about adjusting. Even Girardi talked about him adjusting pitch to pitch instead of at bat to at bat. And look, I'll actually say the name of the person I was talking to today,

but we had Carl Ravitch on the show today, and he's a national baseball guy, right? And granted, Ravitch talks a lot of baseball. Yeah, he's plugged in. He knows what he's talking about, but he literally brought up Boehm unabated when talking about the Phillies lineup. The first person he brought up was Alec Boehm and talking about in a game today

where everyone strikes out and there are all these issues with the strikeouts and power and this type of stuff. He's like, to have a guy like that in your lineup who is going to put the bat on the ball every single time in a big spot. He's not going to strike out. When it matters, Alec Boehm's not going to strike out. He's like, that's huge. This kid's ceiling is so high talking about Boehm with the idea of just what a hitter he is, what a pure hitter, and the idea of going up and saying, you know what? This pitch is outside. I'm not going to try and drive it out of the ballpark.

I'm going to smack it in the right field. And that's a little single. And that's going to keep it going. This guy's such a good hitter. And he hits the way, like, you know, look, we love analytics. We love all that type of stuff. We're not anti that. But, like, if you've listened to this pod, you know, like,

we have some issues with the way the game has, what the game has become with the three-two outcomes and all that type. Alec Boehm is like our guy. Like he is exactly the type of hitter I want on my team. He's a guy who's just going to go out and take what's given to him and turn it into hits. He's going to bat 300. He's going to have a ton of big hits and a ton of big RBI.

And I'm so freaking excited he's a Philly Jack. Was there anything else Carl Ravish said? Maybe about... Did he mention anything else? All right, so let me throw it out there. I gave you crap for this and you brought it up. And Carl Ravish, talking about the Braves, said, I really think they're going to miss Nick Mark Aiken.

Yeah, that's him. I texted you. I said, you and Carl Ravish, baseball minds. I see Carl Ravish likes pure hitters that are tough strikeout guys. Yeah, clearly. If he's talking Marquegas and Boehm like that. Yeah, seriously. Seriously.

But, yeah, I mean, listen, Boehm, it's almost like the comps are, like, they're so unfair that they're fair. But, like, again, he reminds me of Freddiereddie freeman jd martinez and anthony rendon like those are my guys yeah it's unfair and i love it it's so unfair it's so unfair we're like saying oh you're gonna be one of the 10 best pure hitters in the sport no big yeah no pressure there kid no all right i want to get back to the offensive tech one more thing on the bullpen before we move on because there's not look a lot we talked about before. I think we were all kind of the same thing. And obviously, I want to get to the bad thing.

One more good thing, and then we'll get to he who should not be named because I never want to see him pitch again. But quickly, because we didn't talk a lot about him when the trade happened. We haven't talked a lot about him, period. But so far, so good. Samrod real is this real uh yeah i mean his his his uh numbers last year were weird i mean like a 90 over 90 array yeah but it's it's a 926 or something did he even did he even pitch 10 innings i don't know it's i don't know i didn't look deeply into them i so just as a caveat so

everyone knows i when i look at 2020 numbers i throw them right out the window like i don't care at all what anyone did last year so i saw it i was like whatever it's 20 i know everything like that all right well you know what you know what i do is when i see 2020 numbers i just for some reason in my brain i'm so used to looking at the season i'm thinking it's 162 so like you're like what happened yeah i know i know i know so i i have a lot of trouble separating uh 2020 and and regular seasons um yeah sam coonrod uh like his stuff his stuff is just nasty and it he was good in in 2019 um had good stuff i still like i feel like they pray they still paid a pretty hefty price for him you know i still i do like carson ragsdale a lot i think he's gonna be a good pitcher but i stuff. I still feel like they still paid a pretty hefty price for him. I do like Carson Ragsdale a lot. I think he's going to be a good

pitcher. But I understand. Now that he's here, I understand why they made the trade. And it's actually interesting. Dombrowski was talking about the trade, and he said that was actually a strict analytics poll. It was the analytics department that told him to go after

him in a trade. So, I mean, could be a win for the Phil's analytics department that told him to go after him to go after him in a trade. I mean, could be a win for the Phil's analytics department. Yeah, I think this stuff's legit. The one thing I didn't appreciate was that the, I think it was yesterday when he was jogging out for the eighth, the camera panned to him and it was

54 slowly jogging out of the bullpen. I was like, listen, that's Brad Lidge. That's not, I don't need the 54 slowly jogging out of the bullpen. I was like, listen, that's Brad Lidge. Okay. Like that's not, I don't need the 54 slow jog out of the bullpen because I've seen that a thousand times. And that belongs to Brad Lidge. That belongs to Sam Coonrod. Yeah. There are a few things you could ever say that I could agree with more. It's honestly borderline outrageous.

Yeah. We're not setting this up for him. Come on. Come on. No. No. I couldn't agree with you more. outrageous yeah yeah we're not we're not setting this up for him like come on come on no no i couldn't agree with you but not but 98 98 with the the split that he can throw down is just it's just

tough yeah and look again i know you've brought this up a million times and you've joked about it all spring training and we've made jokes about it but the fact that every guy on the bullpen throws 97 it's just like what are we doing like did this happen? How did we go so long? And screw you, Matt. That's what we'll say. How did we go so long without guys who throw hard? Like, in today's baseball, it really is. If you want to, and there are so many things you can rip Matt Klintak for, but his aversion to power arms in the late 20 teens and into 2020 is one of the dumbest,

most bewildering general manager decisions, philosophies, whatever you want to call it that I've ever seen. Jack. Yeah. I got two things on that. Um, one,

I think it was Salisbury this morning had a stat that, um, last year, the Phillies had the least amount of pitches thrown over 96 miles per hour in Major League Baseball. And this year they're top five. So it's certainly, yeah, it's nice to see. And second, it's like you know the rebuild failed when the guy who throws 93 to 94 is we, we, we tapped him.

Vinny Velo. I dude. So someone tweeted at the show yet the other day. And it was so funny where he's like only in Philadelphia would someone's nickname be Velo. And he throws 93. And I was like, what a, what a great point.

You're so we've got like, not even just relievers. Like we have a reliever on our team. We throws one on one-on-two routinely. Jacob deGrom goes out and throws 100 for, like, seven innings. Yeah. And we have a reliever who hits 93. I know.

I know. Well, deGrom threw 24 straight fastballs the other day, didn't he? Unbelievable. Yeah, he is. He's all-vamor. I hate the Mets, whatever. Everyone knows that. I love Jacob deGrom. he's one of the best pitchers

like okay right now like pure talent pure what you can do on the mound he's one of the best pitchers of our lifetime Jack and he has a chance if he continues and stays healthy to end up like being in that group where we talk about like who are the best pitchers you've ever seen oh Pedro

and Randy Johnson and you know that list like he's good enough to make that list like that's how good he is yeah yeah this is this the run he's on is like 99 to 2001 Pedro he's gonna win three Cy Young's in a run and no one's gonna even argue with all right well real quick could you why would you real quick real quick you had to pick right now who's who is he is he better than the kershaw run like kershaw won an mvp it had multiple years we had an era under two yep uh i don't think it is yet it's really close like you could close you could put DeGrom's three year run up against any three years of Kershaw he needs a few more

years for it to be that run is that fair? it's fair it's close though just the fact that we're talking about it it's uncertainty I will say if I need one game I'm choosing modern DeGrom over that Kershaw

maybe I like I was tongue-tied there like that's how hard this decision is I didn't know what to say like that yeah I think you're right I think you're right I really do I think Jacob to Grom right now is again like almost

as good as any picture I've ever seen in my lifetime. That's just what it is. He's not 99-pager, but he's not that far off. Did you see that stat the other day where it's his last whatever starts it was? He's got a 207 ERA, and he's like 16 and 21 or whatever it was. Unbelievable. It's hilarious. He's going to be a Hall of Famer without more than 70 wins.

Unbelievable. All right. We just mentioned him. Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly. Vinny. Bad. Is that quick? Is that quick?

It's very quick. Why is he on this team, Jack? We're paying him $4 million. I know. What a waste of money. Dombrowski has had a great offseason. Like, what a waste of money. Well, that wasn't Dombrowski's fault.

I mean. I know, but they brought him back. But Dombrowski wasn't here when they signed him. Oh, really? It was before Dombrowski when they brought him back? Yeah. Yeah. Mea culpa.

I'm sorry, Dave. I never should have questioned you. Never doubted him. Never. Never once. I've always said great things. Anyone can go back and check the tape. That's right. He was not the only executive we didn't want to be the fillies. No!

He was essentially our top choice up there. Always wanted him over Neander. Who wants Neander? I mean, Tampa? Who cares? They got swept by the Red Sox this weekend. Three Red Sox

team, no less. How about that? Vinny, it was just classic. It was the most Vinny outing you could possibly have. The one inning, lights out, perfect strikes at the side, and then come out and just lose the game was the most Vinny Vinny of all time. Yeah, yeah.

And it's like he's talking about how he doesn't like going out of the stretch. It's like, dude, you're a reliever. You're a reliever, man. Like, that's what you do. There are a lot of relievers who don't ever go out of the windup. They just pitch from the stretch all the time. Like, what are we doing? I know.

I know. It's crazy. But here's the time. Like, what are we doing? I know. I know. It's crazy. But here's the thing. It's like, Girardi clearly doesn't want to use him. I mean, he literally didn't have any other options on Tuesday. I mean, Neres was down. Navarato was down. Brogdon was down.

He used Kinsler, but I didn't want to use him. So, yeah, he had to use him. But I just think that judging by the usage of of vinny i don't think gerardi is going to want to use him very often so um i don't know it's you know they lost the baseball game it is what it is but yeah it's not great from vinny and i just i can't wait till he's not here anymore yeah me too and look i i'm with you i think gerardi it was the the the game the the game script where he was like, all right, this is the type of game I'm going to use Vinny in.

And he tried it. I will blame Girardi for not pulling him sooner. I want to talk about some of the weird Girardi decisions we've seen, and we'll get to that in a minute. But I think just more than anything, like with this whole Vinny thing, the scariest part is not that he's in the bullpen like it's like you know like like that adding showed like it's he's gonna pitch once in the first six games you know it's like so we'll pitch you know on a limited basis my much much

much bigger fear is looking at this roster and saying oh he's a sick starter you know like if Matt Moore continues to stink if if anyone gets hurt which hey someone's gonna get hurt somewhere like like vince is the guy that steps in like that's what scares me jack it's not like an inning here an inning there it's that that depth in 162 games especially coming off that weird short year last year and shorter innings for everybody and then jumps and like who knows how everyone's gonna handle this like we could absolutely see a scenario where there are a lot of pitcher entries as this season goes on. And the idea that Vinny is the guy who's next in line,

that's what scares me about it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen, I don't want to see him start for this team. Ever. Ever. Ever again. Never.

I can't believe he's still here. I mean. I can't either. I can't either. It's like we talk about it's time. It's a new regime. can't believe he's still here. I can't either. I can't either. We talk about it's time. It's a new regime. It's ready to roll and stuff. He's like the one just dead weight

from the former era that is just sitting there weighing it down. It's still here. Still here. It's like Jason Peters. Until he's not here anymore, I'm just going to assume that he's going to be here. Well said. Well said.

All right. So we're aligned on that. All right. Let's talk some offense. The bats finally woke up. Really nice to see. We'll get into some specifics, but just seeing the bats kind of wake up a little bit in that last game against the Mets.

I know neither of us were concerned after five games of the bats not showing up. They were good at bats. They were grinding. They were making it difficult for a staff. But it was still nice to see some home runs and some runs, Jack. I mean, all this just to catch and hopefully one day pass Andrew Knapp and the leader in home runs on this baseball team. But, yes, it was great seeing the bats come alive yesterday.

I mean, Reese is just off to an unbelievable start. And it's good to see, you know, because he's been through a lot here, you know, and he went really into the tank, you know, at the end of 2019 into the beginning of the 2020 season. And, you know, at the end of 2019, into the beginning of the 2020 season. And, you know, people were pretty much writing him off and, you know, calling him a lost cause and all that stuff. And, I mean, I don't know. He's always been an inconsistent player.

But what we're seeing right now is just him hitting the way that he's supposed to hit. I mean, he's thinking right field. I mean, the home run is obviously to right field. And when he's thinking that way, you're seeing the balls pulled down the line with power and driving balls. And, you know,

he hit the home run and it was great. But the value that Reese brings is just that kind of a bat in the two hole. Because what he did was he worked EJ Peterson into like a nine-pitch at bat and then hit a home what he did was he he worked dj peterson into like a nine pitch at bat and then hit a home run off of him like that's great i mean that's that's stuff that we saw when he came on came up in 2017 was an elite eye fell foul some balls off and all that

stuff and now he's doing in the two hole where you know he can he still has the ability to drive balls but it's really just tiring the pitcher out and letting him kind of be tired going up against the Bryce Harpers of the world, the Alec Baum, the JT Romito, and really get into the meat of that lineup. But Hoskins is putting these guys through a ton of work to get there. He saw 64 pitches in the Braves series. That's insane. I mean, that's literally...

That's absurd. You told me that. So Jack came in, whatever it was, I guess the Braves series over the weekend, like Monday. Zoe yelling outside the door. Just fired up about the Bills. Yeah. She's so excited. So excited.

I think she wanted to come in and hang out. And Emily said no. And it didn't go well. You told me that on monday i can't remember what it was i think like a caller was ripping reese or something and of course jack in classic jack fashion took something that you know joe in south philly said way too personally and came he's like do they even know that he saw 64 pitches over this weekend series and i was like wait really he really saw that's a lot of

pitches over the weekend it's because i i don't i don't get why reese is now like the the the guy that everyone targets their ire towards dude he's so back like people should be all in and to your point before and and just talking about what he can be like i would argue look you need harper to be harper you need jt to be jt all these things you need boom to be what we think he is and stuff but like i feel like hoskins was that x factor guy in this lineup where if it's the reese we knew before before the the cold streak and it felt like last year was getting back there you know but like before that disastrous thing where we questioned him as a player and wondered if he was ever going to be anything

because he was so awful for that streak and all that. If Reeves can get back, which right now, to your point, hitting the ball to all parts of the field, he looks confident, he looks comfortable, he's been the best hitter on the team flat out so far this season. If he can get back to being that guy, that's the kind of thing that takes us from a good lineup to a great lineup. Like that's the kind of difference maker.

He can be in this lineup if he's locked in and on. I agree. I agree. Is he ever going to be the, you know, 40 homer, you know, big offensive seasons? I don't know. But he's a very valuable offensive piece. And even when he was struggling, he was working good at bats. Yeah, he was like a 400-0 base guy when he was struggling.

I know. It was unbelievable. I know. So it's good to see. And I'm just happy for him. Me too. Him losing rookie before the season must have sucked. I mean, given all the accounts about that dog,

he seemed like a great dog. Yeah. And also it was like, wait, like, look, he's like three. Yeah. I'm a dog owner. I have two dogs. Everyone knows Millie and Ruben. Millie's 13 and Ruben is 10. And whenever they go, it is going to be the hardest thing. It's going to be so hard to deal with that. Yeah. Like three years old, like at least, at least whenever my guys go, like I'll be like,

you know what? They had an awesome life. I mean, he's 13. Like most dogs don't get to 13. You know what I mean? Like, and whatever else she's got,

like I'll feel great. It will, I will be gut wrenching and sad and all that. But like I, a large part of me will be like, you know what? She got such an awesome life. She lived so long,

like, like losing rookie like that. Like that's, that's Losing rookie like that, that's soul-crushing. That's soul-crushing. Yeah, so I'm just happy for the guy. And the nice part is, is that it seems like, for him at least, all the hard work that he put in with Joe Dillon and working on getting back to being Reese Hoskins,

the fact that it's paying off is going to be huge dividends as the season wears on. All right, I want to get to Girardi in a second, but I want to fire a couple more batting stuff with you. We already mentioned the center field thing, but just to quickly circle back to it, I mean, can you keep Roman Quinn on this roster, Jack?

That's how bad I think Roman Quinn is as helpless as I have felt with a non-pitcher hitting in a big spot as I can ever remember. I am so sure that he is not going to come through. You know what it is? It's Michael Martinez all over again. I mean, Michael Martinez was awful. So you're saying he's going to make the last out in Game 7 of World

Series someday? Honestly, I wish Roman bunted every time. I wish he bunted every time. Me too. Every single bat. Literally every single bat. I'm so with you. Yeah, I don't... Yeah, he is... He's just an automatic out. And it's so unfortunate because he should be figuring out how to use his speed

because he could be a legitimate weapon. But you can't be a weapon if you don't put the ball in play. And I don't get how he doesn't understand that. Like, you have to put the ball in play. You have to. Use your speed. Well, it's like the major league thing. Like, people have made the joke and stuff, but, like, it's actually real.

It's the Willie Mays Hayes thing. It's when Lou Brown made him do push-ups every time he hit the ball in the air. It's like that's what it is. Like, they should, like, force Roman Quinn to hit the ball on the ground every single time, like, just so he learns it, so it's a learned whatever like it's crazy Jack it is it is um and I don't I don't know I don't know what else they're gonna do you know I'm fearful that as they keep struggling they're gonna keep having the itch to possibly bring up 37 and and I just don't want that to happen. I don't want that to happen. Especially because he's not good.

I know. He's, like, as mediocre and inconsistent. People forget. All the people, and look, there is a segment. We are on one side. There is a segment of Phillies fans who are like, just bring him up. He's the best player.

He's so much better. I don't care what he did. Like, this baseball, I want to win. Whatever. There are those guys out there, those fans out there. But like what those fans seem to forget is how much this guy drove us crazy. Like how infuriating he was to watch as a baseball player.

How many dumb things this guy did. Like we seem to have this because what we have is so bad. They look at this with rose colored glasses of, oh, how great, he's an all-star, he's so good. like no honestly since that all-star season he sucked and you know what he really sucked the last two seasons he played so you know just saying uh it is crazy the way that like people have just forgotten about how frustrating he was gone it's gone. It's gone. He's like, oh, the All-Stars. He's a good hitter. He batted 230 before his season was over in 2019. I know. It was 255 the year before that.

Like, what are we doing here with 1,000 boneheaded plays, both offensively and defensively? And that's why we have started the hashtag, WhyNotMick. Please, though. Seriously. Like, this is not a joke. Like, why not Mick? Like, I'm Seriously. This is not a joke.

Why not Mick? I'm sorry. Adam Haseley, I want him to be good. I'm all for it. He hasn't shown it yet. It is what it is. Roman Quinn is unplayable. If nothing else, Mick, I know you don't have a true platoon.

It sucks that both Mick and Zozo Duble, he's a lefty, too. They're all lefties. It's unbelievable. We can't get a right-handed bat in here somewhere. It's wild. I know, but you know, that's the problem. I think if Mick were right-handed, he'd be up already. I really do. Cause then you've got a natural platoon there, but he's not. So it's, it's frustrating. Well, there's Scotty. How funny is it that we talk about that? And we like,

I don't even mention him like that's, that's how far Scott Kingery is has jettisoned himself out of my consciousness yeah you're right though yeah you're right at any how's he been doing in the alternate side i've seen that he's hit a couple doubles i mean don't let him don't let him get hot don't let don't let him get hot look he's working with o-charts so at least if nothing else like i don't feel like it's a lost cause you know like i feel like there's at least something there all right moving on go ahead what you say i said he'll be back yes i believe that well and like and real quick i'm running quinn real quick like i think the fact that he's like the best and we saw it in the the mets game on

tuesday um but like the the they have no other right-handed options off the bench outside of like him him or tereas so you have to play roman quinn in that situation which situation i know like it would just be nice if they had that is pretty crazy that is pretty crazy your two right-handed bats off the bench are roman quinn and ron tereas i mean that's is that Is that bad? Yeah Is that bad? Not good, Jack Alright I have one last thing Two last things One, offensively

Look, I know it worked out And it was a beautifully executed thing And he's a baseball guy, he's gonna do it But runner on second, no outs, don't bump Bryce I'm sorry, I know it worked out I like it, but enough with the Bryce Bunting I think we've. I like it. But, like, enough with the Bryce bump. Like, I think we've talked about this before, but it's like hit the ball at the ballpark, Bryce.

I appreciate that he takes opportunities to get on base. I'm not going to kill him for it. I'm not, like, actually upset about it. But, like, every time he squares around the bottom, I'm like, dude, what are we doing? Well, he does that when he can't see. Like, when he can't pick up a pitcher, then that's when he does it. Is that what it is? Yeah. Oh, that's actually interesting. Okay, well, that actually makes when he can't see. When he can't pick up a picture, then that's when he does it. Is that what it is?

Yeah. Oh, that's actually interesting. Okay, well, actually, that makes me feel better about it. If that's the philosophy and he just doesn't feel like he's seeing it well and that's his best chance, then basically, meh, cope him. All right, last thing before we get to the take bag. Early in the season, they're 5-1. I'm certainly, and I think the stuff we talked about with the culture

and the confidence and all that, like Girardi certainly has to get credit for that or at least some credit for that. I think it's the guys too, but he's part of that. But from a in-game moves perspective, even though they're five and one, like he's made some weird moves, man. I mean, I think bringing out Hector at Nectar is good.

Wow. Bringing out Nectar, we stumbled upon a nickname. He's the Nectar of the gods, Hector. weird moves man i mean i think bringing out nectar uh hector it nectar is good wow i'm bringing out nectar we just stumbled upon a nickname he's the nectar of the gods hector um nectar uh in the in the eight to two game like it just felt like there was no need to get him work there not pinch hitting andrew mccutchen for roman quinn down six two with two runners on in the eighth inning was like i mean i was flummoxed. I was like, what are we doing here? Like, why? What is that?

Like, this is the highest leverage by the game. Like, what? It could be a two run game right now. Well, especially when you use them in the ninth anyway. Crazy. Well, because yet I think he didn't because he had the pitcher coming up next. He knew he was going to use McCutcheon. That's what it's like.

Quinn is a pitcher. It's the same difference. Like, you can't mess around with this you have two runners on why would I want him leading off an inning when I could have him bit with hit with runners on second and third and then not pulling Vinny sooner like I'm sorry he walked four guys like we all saw it we're like oh he's cooked this is bad like get him out of the game and I think he let him in too long at least one one, probably two hitters too long. I know we didn't have Kintzler warming up, but guess what? That's on you too, Joe.

You need to be ready. I am not, again, don't want to rip, but I do think there have been some questionable decisions so far from Girardi. Well, I thought the game on Tuesday was just brutal. It starts with benchching Reese in the first place was dumb. McCutcheon, fine. Totally fine. Coming off ACL,

all that still. He's 30, whatever. Fine. Reese not as good in the lineup. What are you doing? Right. First off, because then you can have Miller in left, which makes your lineup... It's good. It's good to have Miller in left, which makes your lineup, you know, it's good. It's good to have Miller in the lineup.

He's been hitting the ball pretty hard and all that. But especially, like, it keeps Matt Joyce on the bench for late in games when you need a big hit. You know, and you had to use Roman Quinn in that scenario. So, like, yeah, I thought Tuesday night was brutal. Vinny didn't have Kinsler warmed up, ready to go. Didn't see how that was going, obviously the catch decision.

And then, yeah, you know, I understand pitchers need work. I get it. But you're playing 30 games in 31 days? You know, do I really need Hector Neris pitching in a six-run game? It's not the end of the world. I get it.

But I don't know. It was just like, we were playing seven straight days after this one. I would like him to be fully rested heading into that. So I think that was it. I really had, I mean, other than that,

he's been pretty good. It helps, helps when your bullpen has been disgusting. Everyone talks about his bullpen management and all that. And it's, it's, it's, it's been decent, but if you give him real talent, obviously it's going to be way better.

Yeah. Well, that was the thing when people were like, oh, he's a genius with the bullpen. It's like, yeah, well, when you can bring in like Zach Britton and Chad Green and, you know, like Conley and then all this. It's like, yeah, I bet you I could manage that bullpen pretty good. Right. Just saying. Right.

So, yes, it's it's it's refreshing that it it is uh giving him real talent he's doing a good job with it i thought tuesday night was brutal um i thought pitching hector was dumb but overall he's been good yeah look they're five and one and again i do think on the flip side forgetting the in-game stuff i do think he deserves credit for the attitude and what this team is believing in. The way these guys are, and again, I think the players do too. They've clearly heard it.

Bryce brought it up almost out of nowhere. Reece brought it up. All this stuff. I think the players feel too, but I definitely think you have to give Girardi credit for fostering a group of guys who have that kind of chip on their shoulder. I think he deserves some credit for that too. Yes, I agree. I agree.

What managers do in-game doesn't ultimately matter, but setting the culture and setting the clubhouse tone is definitely something that Girardi does. Alright, what you got in the take bag? So I want to talk about Zach Wheeler because I have an answer on why his fastball looks disgusting yes yes some some super nerdy like only i would expect nothing else here so you ready for this all right so uh so i was looking up on his baseball savant. So his fastball base, his four-seam fastball,

last year was 15 inches of vertical drop on his fastball. This year it's 11 inches of vertical drop. And it's 5.8 inches of break horizontally and 10.2 inches of break horizontally this year. So basically, how is explained to me by someone who would know such a thing? Because I know pitching, I guess, decently well. But I'm not. Like that stuff, I was just like, what does that even mean?

So basically, what's going on is that he's added a little bit of rise to his fastball so instead of it falling 15 inches on its way to the plate it's only falling 11 inches uh which means that it's staying up longer and all that stuff and then in in horizontal movement uh it's added a little bit of arm side movement but it's misclass whatever like i don't know here's the bottom line and i don't know how's misclassified. Whatever. I don't know. Here's the bottom line. And I don't know how to fully say it analytically because I don't know. But basically, last year he was getting a little bit of cut action on it. This year they fixed the spin efficiency.

And it is a four-seamer that has a little bit of rise to it. It has tighter spin, which is good. You know, tighter spin is better. But basically, yeah. So it has tighter spin, which is good. You know, tighter spin is better. But basically, yeah, so it has tighter spin, all that stuff. It doesn't have that cutting action to it. Seems like they fixed the spin efficiency on it, which feels like a Caleb Cotham thing.

I was just about to say, credit to Caleb Cotham. Yeah, so all in all, there is some stuff going on with this fastball. It is good. It is a more powerful fastball. It is a quicker fastball. I'm excited to see how it translates and keeps going here against the Braves, especially this weekend.

But, yeah, so that's what's going on with this fastball. Love it. Love it. What else you got? I hated how many Mets fans were at Citizens Bank Park this week. Oh, it crushes my soul. Every time, it's like hearing them cheer. It's like, get out

of our stadium. Get out. Yep. Also, also, also, also, also, there is a rule now for all Phillies pitchers. You are not allowed to walk Brandon Nimmo. I'd rather you give up a home run to Brandon Nimmo than walk

that guy. I hate him. I hate him so much. I want to never see him sprint to first base on a walk again for the rest of my life. That's all I ask. Dude, he is the worst. He's not that good and it's just such a try

hard move to run down to first base after you walk. This is not Little League. This is the big leagues. Act like you've been there before. Between him, McNeil, and Alonzo, they are all losers. They are all losers, and they're all dorks, and I can't stand them. Pete Alonzo is such a loser.

Brandon Nimmo is such a loser. And McNeil rakes. And also, McNeil's like you know, scratch golfer. He seems like he's like, alright. Yeah, it's just, you know. Conforto I can live with. He seems like a pretty cool guy. I will not.

Minus what happened to him. Yeah, today was egregious. I mean, just embarrassing. And really, honestly, it's not his fault. Like, good for him. It's the umpire's fault. really honestly it's not his fault like good for him for trying to he's just trying to he's trying to win a ball game umpire's fault yeah it's ridiculous so um yeah dude I can't Nemo's the worst I think it's pretty

and I Alonzo sucks too with you Nemo's the worst Alonzo just gives off big dork vibes he's just a dork he's also very good yeah he's alright he's all right. He's all right. And I think the last thing I just had written down, because we pretty much covered everything else,

is, man, Luis Rojas is bad. Like, just a bad manager. I mean... Shockingly bad, actually, is the phrase I would use. Shockingly bad. Like, no feel at all. Pulled him out for 77 pitches. Shockingly bad.

Like, no feel at all. Pulled him out for 77 pitches. He brings in Aaron Loop with Bryce Harper with one out. Unbelievable. So that no matter what happens, probably, he's going to have to face JT Real Muto, who... And boom! And boom! And boom.

It was like, not just that. It's like, you've got two righties coming up next, pal. And Bryce, at least the last couple couple years has been solid against lefties it's not like bringing in a lefty against him is like this like crushing thing where he's like not going to be able to get a hit it was it was such a poor decision it was nice though it was nice though to see that uh the rays did not totally fix aaron loop like he's still the Aaron loop that I remember. Well, he's not there anymore.

So I can't blame them. I can't blame them. He was good with that. I know, but it's just like, yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. He looked a lot like the Aaron loop that,

that was a Philadelphia. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But yeah, Roas is, uh, is not it.

No, he's not good. I'm very with you. I was actually like, and I, I try not to, to overreact to manager decisions as we talked about with Girardi this season, and certainly this short into a view of a guy.

But I was wholly unimpressed. There were multiple decisions he made where I was like, this makes no sense. This is flat out the wrong decision here. Yeah. But we're on to Atlanta, James. We are on to Atlanta. We got Wheeler Morton part two.

We got Eflin Anderson part two. Let's just hope they go the same as they did the first time. And then we get Matt Moore versus Drew Smiley. Two lefties. No one wanted here. Yes, but Drew Smiley is actually kind of decent now. Yeah, Drew Smiley is good. Gabe Kaplan was right about Cliff Lee 2.0.

Oh, man. I wouldn't have given him $ him 13 million dollars jack i'll tell you that much yes i agree i agree um but yeah actually i'm excited obviously we have to record a podcast after but i like when the phil's around sunday night baseball it makes it feel big although yeah i i do too again until i'm up till one in the morning and then then I'm like, man, that sucks. Yeah, I'll probably listen on the radio because I can't stand listening to A-Rod. He's so bad. So, so, so bad. So bad.

A-Rod is terrible in the booth. Yeah, he's gotten actually to the point where you're right, it's hard to let you. He's so annoying. I actually actively disagree. When he was a studio analyst. I thought he was good when he started. I thought he was very good when he started.

When he was a studio analyst, I liked him a lot. I thought he brought interesting insights, but it's just like he does nothing now. I am with you. What else? Anything else in the take back? I got nothing else. We're on to Atlanta.

On to Atlanta. Any final thoughts? My final thought is that they're going on the road. I'm nervous about them going on the road. But I think we have a special baseball team. And this is going to be a big, big, big show me series these next two. I mean, you go Braves at Mets. It's show me time.

What are we looking for this weekend? Two or three? Two or three. Always. or is these next two? I mean, you go Braves at Mets. It's show me time. What are we looking for this weekend? Two or three. Two or three. Always exactly right. Two or three. My final thought, bleep you, New York Mets,

for that win you got if this division somehow comes down to one game and it's because you beat the Marlins on the most BS call of all. The umpire was calling it a strike. He was calling it a strike. He was calling it a strike. Like, what are we doing here? I am so livid about the Mets getting a BS win that they don't deserve. It drives me crazy.

But more importantly, before we get out of here, just know that Sunday night when we come back after that Brave series, and we're talking to you Sunday night because that's what we do, Jim Nance will finish calling another Masters. And I am hoping that he is calling a nice Jordan Spieth championship. I need Jordan Spieth. Not a great day for Jordan today. Did he play bad?

I don't know. I saw that he had a triple bogey at one point. He can't shake what happened in 2016. He just can't get over it. I know. I thought he was the next great golfer. I really did. Speaking of Jeff McNeil, right?

Wasn't he with roommates or something? I think him and Spieth grew up playing together. Yes. It was something like that. I knew there was a connection. Yes. So, yes. Jim Nance will be calling it, uh one of these days we'll get over

it all right one of these days not anytime soon he spreads himself 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 Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago, and it's now the most prolific

national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact, so jump aboard the B.I.B. 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.