High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Jack and James Take on the Hall of Fame

Episode Date: July 22, 2019

James and Jack recap the weekend series in Pittsburgh (#TwoOfThree), look ahead to the Tigers, discuss their trip to the baseball Hall of Fame, and more. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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$200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Hi, this is Bryson Stott, first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies, and you're listening to the High Hopes Podcast with James Seltzer and Jack Fritz. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes.

It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. The first edition since Jack and I spent a weekend in Cooperstown together. How about it, buddy? And the first edition since the Phillies basically acquired Cliff Lee. Oh, man. And Drew Smiley. All right, Gabe.

All right, Gabe. I mean, I get what he's saying from the standpoint of he's left-handed and kind of looks like him. A little bit looks like him, yeah. And actually, when I was watching yesterday, when he finished his fastball and we went glove side, remember when Cliff did a little hop? Sure. Of course. He has that little hop to him.

Are you starting to buy into the smiley Lee comparison? Are you with Gabe on this? No. No. No, he is. It's ridiculous. By the way, in case anyone's wondering, we were banished from our normal studio again. No baby.

Whatever. It's the weekly tradition. It's what we do. Yeah. We take this show on the road more than every podcast in the world. You're damn right we do. But that's because we're versatile, Jack. We can do it anywhere. Much like Scott Kingery. You're damn right we do. But that's because we're versatile, Jack. We can do it anywhere.

Much like Scott Kingery. You're damn right about that. That's for darn sure. All right, coming up a little later, we'll talk about our Hall of Fame action. Good times up there, but let's talk some Phillies because I think that's what people come for. What do you think?

I would say that or that I was getting ready for the John Mayer concert like myself. How psyched are you for John Mayer tonight? John Mayer's tonight at the Wells Fargo Center, and he's the best. So I can't wait to see what modern-day Eric Clapton, I'm excited to see what he sounds like. Modern-day Eric Clapton.

You know Eric Clapton's alive in the modern day, right? When he comes out and starts singing Gravity, it's going to be a nice tearjerker. And that's when he starts shredding when he comes out and starts singing gravity it's gonna be it's gonna be a nice tearjerker and that's when he has the she starts shredding it's just the best oh man well except for the trio set i i'm a john mayer trio guy real ones no trio is strong real one obviously the best thing that he does is play songs that he didn't write because you know grateful dead and all that but whatever yes all right phillies two or three two or three it didn't feel like it was gonna be two or three it really didn't that uh that ds fly ball was like oh well

that was fun yeah yeah and uh and it was like a it was a weekend where the offense was back to its inconsistencies of course uh efflin feels heavy which like same and that's that's my life thanks zach yes every day i wake up i'm like man feel happy today so like how am i gonna get feels heavy, which, like, same. I know. That's my life. Thanks, Zach. Yes. Every day I wake up, I'm like, man, I feel happy today. How am I going to get through the day today? Listen, I'm happy because they're kind of, the Phillies are just treading water. Like, they're just treading water until the deadline when hopefully they go out and make some trades.

Literally, they're 5-5 since the All-Star break. That's the definition of treading water. They're never going to fall out of it because the second wild card is just going to be there. They're not going to ever fall out of it. They're going to be in the race until the end. So for now, they're just treading water. And it's fine. Until they go to the deadline and bring in a legit starter, maybe they might need a freaking closer now.

Or like another guy. Maybe? What do you mean maybe? Hector's falling off a cliff, man. They definitely need someone there. So I know there's a lot of holes in this team, but the second wild card is going to be there all year. So for now, tread water until you got to go make your deadline acquisitions.

All right. Well, speaking of treading water, two or three, happy with it against the Pirates. We get to watch some baseball together. How about that? Watching the fills up in Cooperstown. It was very cool. It was very cool it was very cool there was a it felt cool um all right friday gene's a girl hustled that's the i mean shout out to gene like yeah the guy's playing on a

bruised heel right now he had to get taken out of the game yesterday yep like you gotta give that guy a ton of credit i mean he play on the bruise heel hustles that out and that's a painful thing to have for a baseball player bruise heel is not Yeah, and plus, I feel like that play always gets converted. Even when Roman Quinn does that. Absolutely. I couldn't believe he was safe. Kyle Crick must have just had a bad reaction out of it. It's the only way that ever happens.

I think he probably took his time a little bit more, thinking he had time, and he didn't have time. Yeah, so, shout out to Gene. I mean, Arrieta and Gene on Friday night. We ripped Arrieta. Okay, here Gene. I mean, Arrieta and Gene on Friday night. Like, Arrieta, we ripped Arrieta. Okay, here's the deal with Jake Arrieta. Keep the bone spurs, buddy. Better with the bone spurs than without, Jack. Maybe.

Talk to me. How is this possible? And it's only been a couple starts, but he looks better. Is he trying to do less? Is it just a fluky thing with the matchups? But he looks better with the bone spurs. Well, maybe since the slider was getting ripped regardless. He's just not throwing it. It's helping.

Right? I just think he's done a really good job of keeping the ball down. When he can get on top of his sinker and drive it down and get that downward tilt to it, but not throw it out of the zone like he was doing, but keeping it in the zone for as long as possible so guys can swing it. It's still a pretty decent pitch. His problem is that as soon as he raises it a little bit, it just gets teed off.

Gets murdered, yeah. Because, I mean, then his fingers are on top of the baseball. He's leaving it up, and there's just not any sink to it. Like, Noel is so good with that kind of run stuff because his hands are on the side of it, and, like, it doesn't matter what location it is. Like, he's always going to get run on it. Arrieta needs to be on top of it.

So, I think he's done a good job of that. Is he staying within himself more? Is that, like, a possibility that the bone spurs? And look, I'm obviously joking somewhat about this. You know, you would never say that someone's better with an elbow injury. But is it possible that he's staying within himself a little more, trying to do less because of the bone spurs and it's helping or something like that? I think it could be.

I think he could be trying to – he just knows that he has to do this. Right, yes. He has to have a set plan. Don't even worry about throwing the slider because it hurts too much. I just think he's keeping the ball down. I just think that's what it comes down to. And maybe it's a focus thing. Maybe now –

That's a good point. Maybe he's a little more focused on every single pitch because he has to be. Well, because a lot of people say you play your best when you're when you're either sick or hung over and i mean seriously that's what they say yeah and uh and maybe now that he has these bone spurts like he has to focus that much more on each pitch um and the pirates like it's a pretty it's pretty incredible they have the fourth highest average in baseball which is crazy yeah and the phillies held them one out two out of three games to one run which i think is like kevin newman's batting like 330 and colin moran's batting 300 or 298 or whatever i mean they got

a bunch of guys who you would not expect to be hitting for a high average or hitting for a team of slap hitters yeah and slap hitters and josh bell yeah and then he gets josh bell and it's like oh well this is kind of nerve-wracking. And then, listen, this is such a weird series, because you have Arrieta. As they all are. We just talked about the Dodgers series. It's like up and down, up and, it doesn't, you never get the same team night to night. Let's talk here on what happened this weekend.

You had five and two-thirds of Arrieta. Yep. Then you had a smiley six innings out of nowhere. Six brilliant innings. Eight Ks. You have Cole Irvin. The curveball was unhittable. You have Cole Irvin and Ranger Suarez closing out games for you. Do you know that Ranger Suarez, 3-0 since the All-Star break?

All that guy does is win games. He's okay. Yeah, you're a little bit out of your... He's okay. It's no longer the, oh my God, here comes Ranger Suarez. Yeah, and also, look, as a reliever, he's a little bit better than he was as a starter. He has a hub, thick, and velocity too. Totally.

He's up to like 93, 94 now. And look, he can control where the ball's going, which is like, you know, that's nice to see. All right? That shouldn't be as nice to see as it is, but it's nice to see. It's very nice to see. Yeah.

No, look, I've enjoyed Ranger. Ranger's doing his job. Yeah. And I mean, like the Irvin thing, that was, I don't know. I don't know why. I don't know why. I don't know why. Okay.

He changes his arm slot. Leaving him in the ninth. Sure. That makes sense. You're up 6-1 at that point. Like, why is he coming into a 3-1 game there in the eighth inning? Like, he's your high leverage guy in the eighth inning. That's my point, though, when we were talking before about, and again, Neres, at the end,

you can't trust anymore. But, I mean, they just don't have enough arms here, man. Like, they need more arms in the pen. Guys who, when they come in, again, we talked about it. How much are we talking about after the Hall of Fame? And we included Neris on the list. But, like, Neris, who right now, I don't think anyone feels comfortable when he comes in because he's really going through a rough stretch.

And, boy, the body language doctor does not look good. It's not been good. I thought the game was over. I thought we were going to lose. Bases loaded, that fly ball. I mean, that was a hard-hit ball. It just hit right at Nick Williams. But look, Adam Morgan and Jose Alvarez, yes, Jose Alvarez,

are the only two other guys I trust. There is no one you trust coming in, but somehow over a couple of these games, the pen really did hold up well. It's all just bend but don't break. That's just how I feel watching the Phillies right now. It's all nerve-wracking. It's a Jim Schwartz defense. That's all just bend but don't break. That's just how I feel watching the Phillies right now. It's all nerve-wracking. It's a Jim Schwartz defense. That's all it is.

It's a bunch of Corey Grahams on a stick cover. As long as it's not 4th and 15 in Tennessee. That's right, the sticks. A bunch of sticks defense. That's what we're working with here. Yeah, I can get down with that. So, Arietta, nice. The bullpen does a nice job there.

The offense shows up a little bit. Well, Bryce Harper maybe getting things going. Jack, do your Bryce thing. He's been back. Basically, this is literally, I would want to talk about other things in Cooperstown, and Jack just kept coming back to Bryce. Listen, when I have a few- All weekend long, just so excited about Bryce.

When I have a few beers with me, the Bryce love comes out. It comes out strong. It's all I talk about. It's like I was walking around the Hall of Fame. I was like, man, one day Bryce is going to be in here. 13 years from now, guess who's going to make that trip to Cooperstown? Me and you, once again. In year 15 of the podcast.

I'll be 100 years old by then. Yeah, well, that'll be what, your 30th class, I think. Your 30th anniversary. Thanks, buddy. That's good stuff right there. But yeah, so Bryce, two for five Friday night, has the RBI single. And then yesterday has the hustle double. Huge.

I mean, they lose that game without that play. And even Saturday, he smoked the ball like three times. So Bryce is just consistently putting good wood. And honestly, Sunday, some of those balls were ridiculous. And he knew it. Like if Bryce Harper takes the ball, it's a ball. That's pretty much where I'm at with him. And he knew it was balls, and he was very frustrated.

Yeah, Reese had some bad calls against him too on Sunday. And listen, keep throwing Reese's head, okay? It works. At some point, he's going to freak out. Like, he, you can see that it's getting to him. You can see that at this point, he's like, really? You're really throwing at me again? Like, all any team does is throw at me.

Like, enough. No one gets more personally offended by. Do you think, so DeCamera and I were talking about this, and we both think that it's just going to make teams throw to more. Like if you show that kind of frustration and show that kind of agitation when it keeps happening, teams are going to keep doing it. Yeah, well, I mean.

Or at least not trying to hit him, but throwing him up and in, right? Wouldn't you? Yeah, but what about the results? Right, he keeps hitting home runs. So, analytics. Reese Hoskins, I don't have the numbers in front of me. I'd say he's batting at least 600 after he gets thrown out of the head. Oh, I think it might be like 850.

Yeah. But, look. If they want to keep doing it. Yeah, sure. We'll take it. So, with Bryce, though, and we were talking about this, is that, like, he's crushing the ball and whatnot, but he's not lifting the ball. Yeah.

We had this conversation. It's really strange because he is hitting the ball hard, but it's just not getting up there. And he's doing great. Like, I'm very happy. He's been the best player on the team for the last month. Period. If he wants to bat 400 is hitting the ball hard, but it's just not getting up there. And he's doing great. I'm very happy. He's been the best player on the team for the last month. If he wants to bat 400 with the runners in scoring position, great. I feel like I've seen

that everywhere these days. You pointed it out once and now it turns into a firestorm. That's the only Bryce Harper narrative is how clutch he is. They're showing it on the broadcast now. Every time he's up with the runners on, it's like those numbers. Well, being clutch is the only reason that Derek Jeter is going to be in the Hall of Fame, so why not?

Did he win an MVP, Jack? Did not win an MVP. Did I let Yankees fans know that this weekend? I sure did. We'll get to that, but we might have just walked around all weekend going, unanimous? Really, though? Yeah, and then it was back. And then we'll get to the guy we met at the restaurant and did that but anyway go ahead that's a tease jack he's not lifting the ball and he's smoking the ball whatever i just think that so baseball it just it's you can't look at every game day to

day like i know we love to do that we'd love to treat it like football and it's like makes it more fun but ultimately like he just got comfortable in the swing about a month ago like j June 21st is the last time he tinkered with his swing. So before that, he was moving around, changing, and whatever. Since June 21st, Bryce has not changed his swing. But since June 21st, it feels like the power numbers have kind of gone down, but the average and OBP and seeing the ball better and whatnot has gone up. So maybe the next evolution of the swing change is being able to figure out how to lift the ball again because he's not really lifting the ball.

He's kind of just smoking the ball right at the second or third base or second and shortstop hole and helping the team. And sometimes he'll gap it, but he's really not getting that lift on the ball. Yeah, I mean, his launch angle is the lowest of his career. It's still there.

So I'm happy that he's smoking the ball. I'm just wondering where the power kind of is yeah and look he's doing everything else again we've talked about all year but he hustles he's playing great defense he's you know involved he's you know emotionally there all that stuff but uh i'm with you i think i'm really excited what we're seeing from harper and um i think it's a big reason this team is still alive at all all right i. I mean, the 5-RBI game against the Dodgers, I mean. Massive. Yeah, they lose that game.

They lose that game. Without Bryce. And, of course, the walk-off and all that part of it. Yeah, no question. So, I mean, it's good because, you know, you pay a guy $330 million, even though it's $25 million a year. Bryce Harper's underpaid, if we're being honest. On a yearly basis, there's no question.

He's definitely underpaid. Think about how many guys make $30, $32, $35. I mean, Miguel Cabrera's making $35 a year. And I know that, you know, end of career. I mean, Albert Pujols is making $35. Is he better than Joey Votto, though? I'll get into that, too. But this is what you're paying for.

You're paying to carry your team in stretches, and I think he's doing a good job of doing that. I agree with you. And playing the game the right way. And he's setting the tone with the hustle doubles like he did yesterday. I agree. We talked a lot about that. I think he sets a tone. And when you're a $330 million guy who's doing that stuff, it makes it a lot harder for other players not to do that stuff.

Totally agree. Yeah. All right. Saturday, obviously, Eflin, I think, is the main storyline to come out. Look, we joked about feeling heavy. I certainly do when I wake up in the morning and all that. But I've never heard a pitcher say what he said. I've heard a thousand times a dead arm.

Like, that's a thing. We all know what a dead arm means. You know, a few weeks, I'll get it back, whatever. But, like, I've never heard a pitcher say, I just feel heavy. Like, what was your take on the whole thing? It's obviously, I mean, last five starts, he's got an ERA for nine. He's been awful. It's almost like you can't get loose, and you just feel tight all around,

and you just don't feel right. You just feel like your muscles are just kind of there. Like, you're just picking up your leg, and there's no power behind it. You just kind of just feel lethargic, and you can't get everything behind the ball. But the weird part is, is usually you think that would coincide with a velocity dip. Yeah. But he's still throwing.

He's throwing 95, 96. Yeah. 94, 95. Yeah. And I think his pace is fine. So I'm not totally sure what exactly feeling heavy is. I've experienced not being able to get loose or whatnot. Sure.

And maybe that's what he kind of meant. But feeling heavy. Because it's not a dead arm. The velocity's there. Honestly, I was like, does he have Lyme disease? Has he been around ticks The velocity's there. Honestly, I was like, does he have Lyme disease? Does he have been around ticks? That was my first thought. I'm like, does he have Lyme disease?

I mean, or mono or something like that. Poor Eflin. I mean, if he goes from the knees, like finally being healthy, and then he gets mono or something. I hope not. Fingers crossed. Or Lyme disease. Stop kissing people, Zach.

I don't think he is. But the feeling heavy thing is weird, and they just need Eflin, man. He's been so bad. I know. He's barely even pitchable right now. Well, that's the thing. It's one of those things where, and we'll get to Smiley in a little more detail in a second.

But the fact that Smiley comes in and they send Pavetta to the bullpen, which we'll talk about as well, when it could have been three guys and they were never going to send Eflin to the bullpen, but you would have been fine with them saying, we're taking Velasquez. Obviously, we all thought he'd go to the pen. Pavetta or Eflin out of the rotation, you'd be like, sure.

They're just not getting it done right now. Yeah, and Eflin now, he's basically a two-pitch pitcher. I mean, I just think his slider is so eh. Like, it's just such a mm. There's no's no bite to it no it's not a good pitch and he his fastball is just not the same as to where it was with pinpoint accuracy uh guys seem like they kind of figure out a game plan where they're just like if i was a hitter going against zach gefflin i legit think i would just say okay he's gonna get his fastball over i'm just gonna sit all over that slider yeah because he's gonna throw a slider like that's what he does and he like i think guy it's not a

it doesn't move enough to where major league hitters aren't going to be able to recognize it like let him get let him get his fastball let him get his fastball over because he'll do that but he's going to throw the slider at some point all you got to do is wait for it i would just cancel out his fastball at this point it seems like that's what teams are doing and it's working um so where do you go from here with that one i mean i don't maybe maybe you give him like a I would just cancel out his fastball at this point. And it seems like that's what teams are doing, and it's working. So where do you go from here with that, Flynn? I mean, I don't— Is he so— Maybe you give him, like, a rest, like, put him on a 10-0.

Like an I.L. Sten or something. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. Even a phantom I.L. Sten or something. Whatever you got to do. And then I guess you just bring Pavetta back, and then it's— Then you're like, Nola— Pavetta back again! Nola, Arrieta.

It just seems like he's handled this bullpen thing so well. You really want to mess with that? He sure is a rock. God. You can't. All right. Let's talk about it. We'll see what happens with Afflin.

I think an IL stint would be nice. And look, if they trade for someone, maybe that's a spot where they can kind of just slide them in and give Afflin a break. Yeah. I mean, the trade deadline's less than two weeks away. Like our next pot will be our last pot we do before the trade deadline. I love the trade deadline. How about that?

I'm excited. I love scouts. I guess we might have one more. No, I think we do one the day deadline. I love the trade deadline. How about that? I love scouts. I guess we might have one more. No, I think we do one the day of, right? The 31st of Monday, I believe. Either way, what's today? Today's the 23rd. No, it's going to be a Wednesday.

So we'll have two more pods before the trade deadline. So Monday the 29th will be our last one before, and then we'll be our react that Thursday. That'll be our trade deadline preview pod. Assuming they don't make a move before then, which I don't think they will. But I love scouts are in attendance season. Oh, it's great. We got Boyd, we got Stroman, we got Cranky, we got Robbie Ray. It's good stuff.

All right, Pavetta. Pavetta. Did not handle this well. I mean, look, not even Jack Fritz would argue that Pavetta deserves to stay in the rotation. I mean, look, if you want to fight against Velasquez, that's fine. I'm actually shocked it wasn't Velasquez just because they've already moved him to the pen and whatnot. I understand their reasoning though. If Pavetta

goes to the bullpen... And could be great at it. If he looks like a multi-inning... Velasquez is just a okay pitcher who's never... Period. But if you get Pavetta and he came out Saturday night and it was 97-98 with the bite on that curveball, that could be a weapon, weapon, weapon.

Totally, but all he's doing is sulking and complaining. I know, he's a baby. So they're like, well, I guess I'm going to the bullpen. Their call, or whatever. Perlaskas did the same thing. Fine. I'm tired of both of these guys. I mean it fine Nick I'm tired of both of these guys but if but if the last Pavetta goes out there and turns into like a dominant reliever that's huge it works I don't hate the idea of

switching and just seeing what you got I agree with no reason not to see what you got so I just don't love I don't love the way he freaking handle all this news like you shouldn't man the f up dude we're all bringing signs a High Hopes Night saying man up. Yes. That is what we're doing. By the way, High Hopes Night, August 17th. We are getting close here. We are.

Less than a month. I see a lot of people tweeting that they're coming. It's been really cool. Get your tickets. Man up chants? Man up. Man up. Man up.

What are they chanting? It's going to be great. He's actually on the mound flipping us off. You can do it. I can see it. Well, see, the cool thing is that now it doesn't just have to be a Pavetta start. He can come in any game. So there's a chance we can see Pavetta no matter what.

Multi-inning weapon Pavetta. Multi. All right. All right. So one other thing from Saturday before we move on to Sunday, and it's more of a macro thing, but you kind of talked about it coming in. One other thing from Saturday before we move on to Sunday, and it's more of a macro thing, but you kind of talked about it coming in.

Do you think at any point this season we will see this offense have real night-to-night consistency for a long stretch of time? Will we get a month where we have just a couple games like that where it's not like every other night they just don't show up? Well, they sure seem to think they're going to start clicking. I hate when they do that. They're like, well, we're too talented in here not to figure it out. It's like, dude, you guys haven't hit consistently since the first week of the season. Period.

Since the first week of the season. And what's so frustrating is you can see it. Friday Night NFL is a really good example of this. Kingery works a 3-2 count and then eventually walks. And Segura works a 13-pitch at bat. It was a great at bat. And that's what you should be getting. Those guys should be sons of bitches in the box.

Every night, to quote, or loosely quote Aaron Boone, they should be effing savages in the box because Yankees hitters are effing savages. Whatever that means, they are. Kingery's got a high K rate, but he's done a decent job of working counts and whatnot. Segura should be a guy that should be able to get it to 2-2 and 3-2 by fouling up 1,000 pitches almost every single at bat.

You have Bryce who— Has the best eye on the team. Reese has a great eye too, yeah. Harber should be able to work some D counts, and he does work D counts. And Hoskins has worked counts. Consistently great at it. Yes. And Real Muto should be able to work counts better.

Yeah, he's not a great OBP guy, but he does foul often. Still, he's good at making content. So those four, I will say, should set the tone for the entire game. Pitchers should leave the first inning or whatever inning they are, facing that top four, and just be exhausted. Just be exhausted. Because you saw him in Kyle Crick. Kyle Crick was just like, are you freaking kidding me?

And he's a great pitcher, Kyle Crick. And there's nothing more frustrating when a guy just starts going and going and going. It just gets in your head and and i just think that those four guys need to set the entire tone for the entire entire lineup and they need to get back to just grinding and grinding out at bats if you want to play that style of baseball and these guys have these guys have to step up and play that solid baseball with you by the way remiss how did i mention friday's game we didn't talk about Adam Haseley. Just, that's on me. Sorry. You're on a yard. Sorry.

What a beast. I am thoroughly enjoying, just watching the development of Adam Haseley. It's been fun. And he's one of those guys where it's just consistent bat to ball. He'll get the bats to the ball. He may not drive it every single time. But he gets the bat on the ball.

He's just gonna drive. He's got good contact rates. He's just a good, solid hitter. And if that power comes. He's got a really concise swing hitter. Tight, concise swing. Gets to the ball quickly. Really fast hands. Really, really.

Like his wrist. He turns them over really fast. The double off the wall looked like, it did look like Utley. It did. That's exactly what it looked like. That super tight, compact swing. The quick wrist. It looked like Utley.

It looked like Utley. It really did. It really did. I want to see him play as much as possible. Yeah, me too. No one Nick Williams. Can we just not do it? Can we just not?

Can we not? Do you remember how passionate the Williams and Altair debates were? Yes. Turns out that was a gigantic waste of time. They're both bad. All the time spent on that was a waste of time. Altair might still be better. That's how much I dislike Nick Williams.

Yeah, well, they're both bad. We'll just say this. They're both bad. They're just both bad. They're both bad. They're just both bad. They're both bad. But Haseley, even when he just is consistently making good contact, and you can just see the game starting to slow down for him. It's starting to slow down for him.

He stays average and whatnot. Not great, but I don't expect him to be that great. He looks fine. I agree. And listen, we talked to Coach Cooper this weekend. Coach Cooper! So one of the guys that James and I were with was the head coach of Penn State Baseball

and he coached Haseley on one of the teams of the USA National team and he was just like dude that guy is a gamer that just wants to play every single day and if he's not in the lineup

he'll be upset about it but he's such a respectful kid that he won't be mean about it the guy just wants to compete and just wants to win and I think we're seeing that so far with Hazley. Shout out to Coach Coop.

Coach Coop. We had a lot of fun with Coach Coop. If you're thinking about going to Penn State, go to Penn State and play for Coach Coop. Yes. Oh, my God. Go play for Coach Coop. Jack was trying to petition to get his two years eligibility. Yeah, I kept reminding myself, two years left.

Yes. You didn't seem to bite. Well, he saw the frame and he said, at one point, I'm sure you were a good son, but you've definitely put on some pounds since then. Yeah, no, Coach Kidd was great. All right, on to Sunday. Can I have two more thoughts on Saturday? Yeah, of course. Mike Morin.

Yeah, Mike Morin. I forgot. We should have brought Morin up earlier. Mike Morin. He's just a guy. Yeah, they traded cash considerations for him. From the Twins. His changeup is disgusting.

You like his changeup. Well, it's the second... So his fastball can still get the 92-93, and then he'll drop a 73-mile-an-hour changeup. Yeah, I love... I'm a big fan of the massive change of speed guys like that. Yeah, it's just sometimes it might be too much. But if he can consistently get that four-seam fastball up

and above guys' hands, because it's a flat fastball, but if he can get the four-seam fastball above guys' hands and then mix in a change-up, well, there's a lot more change-ups than fastballs, I'm pretty sure. But if he can go fastballs up, change-ups down, it works for him. I'm excited to see what he has. Yeah, it can't be worse than Austin Davis or Edgar Garcia. You're darn right about that. Yeah, I know.

I do not like Austin Davis. No, nor Edgar Garcia although we didn't like Ranger Suarez it's a good point now we love him he figured it out we don't like Cole Irvin but who knows not yet not so gonna like him but he did change his arm slot yeah which is fine we'll see uh my other thought was just about Pavetta and just I think I said earlier anyway so we're all good pumping it up there all right on to smiley full take on smiley obviously other than the asinine cliff comparison from cape capler we love you cap but come on bro uh i was i was really impressed with smiley and i went back and watched we were listening on the way home and we actually got home uh we did good got home for like

the second half of the game got the resomer yeahomer. Yeah, caught the resomer, all that, but I went back and watched a lot of Smiley stuff, and he looked really good, man. Like, that's a funky curveball, but it worked, and it might be something where the more people see it, the more they'll get a beat on it and all that, but I mean, I'm not expecting Drew Smiley to save the season, but I

was certainly impressed. He is a, my main takeaway is that he is a chris young kind of pitcher and spin rate and no no not that like what i mean by that is when i watch the phillies consistently and the part that kind of frustrates me and um i know frustrates a lot of like old-timey guys is that as soon as the 2-1 it's a 2-1 count he'll throw he'll force his guys to instead of throw a fastball he'll make them throw a curveball or change up or slider or whatever because 2-1 count it's a 2-1 count he'll throw he'll force his guys to instead of throw a fast ball he'll make them throw a curveball or change up or slider or whatever because 2-1 a 2-1 count is traditionally what guys just sit dead red and try to do damage so the thought process is is that

you throw off speed or whatever and then it catches them off guard but the problem is is that the whole league's kind of training that way so i don't think it really catches people off guard anymore and i would i would rather take a good a well-placed fastball over a curveball slide or whatever to make it a 3-1 count and i don't think the guys on this team have good enough control of their off-speed pitches to really um to really throw them in any count yeah they're not like noel's the one noel's the one that can do that and even he's been disappointing in this year but like eflin no arietta no um uh pivetta no obviously not but pivetta is what like pivetta was the brain like should have been the brain

job it's the idea it's the right idea yeah for sure so but with smiley yesterday like he did such a good job of of controlling the all over like the just this count wise like didn't matter what the count was he could throw whatever he wanted for a strike and that's what made true smiley a intriguing prospect was the control and the the strikeout capabilities pitcher for the raisin tigers like he had some really nice major league seasons he was the main piece in the david price trade yes so i don't want to i don't think his stuff is is too wipe outy like like the guy had an adra with the rangers and was not pitching that well in triple a right but like what i saw yesterday was a guy that control all three of his pitches at his best.

He can control all three of those pitches and throw them whenever, whatever county wants and just keep guys off balance all the time. Yeah. No, I was really happy, really impressed to see him go out and pitch well. I've always loved Drew Smiley. I've owned him on far too many. I owned him when he was in the minors on fantasy teams. Like, I've long been a Drew Smiley guy.

So it was cool to see. But, again, you can't expect that every outing. He's going to have some hiccups, and who knows if that might be the best start we get from him all season. It might be. But I'm hopeful. The book's going to come out, and they're going to get Skyrim reports and whatnot. But even if a Skyrim report comes out,

if you can still throw a pitch whenever you want and spot your pitches, a book can only do so much. So he's not going to blow you away with with stuff but i just think that if he can if you can get control all pitches in any count he could be a solid pitcher for the yeah and look we there are tons of times where guys just need to change the scenery need a new spot need a new league whatever so we said three change sceneries in two seasons yeah well he also had tommy john two years ago and i think he's still coming back from first season it was in the summer it was exactly two years ago he had tommy john summer of 2017 so like look it's usually 18 months to really get back and maybe it's just taking him a little longer like there is that hopeful thought with

it that maybe he's back and now he can kind of really start to pitch well and i thought his fastball velocity was more than i thought it was going to be he's up to 93 a couple times yeah which if he can throw 93 and spot that curve he's gonna be all right yeah i actually like the cutter more than the curve i thought the coverage was good really no i like that because the curve looked good i thought it was okay it was funky yeah it didn't move much though yeah it worked though people were off balance with it for some reason yeah well when you come out and you're going from 87 cutter with the same kind of delivery, action out of the hand, and then you come with a curveball that's like 77.

We talked a lot about that with Eikhoff and why he was so good. So when you're gearing up for 87 and then 77, you're out in front of it. Yeah. In on Smiley. I'm intrigued by Smiley not getting on Smiley. Hopeful is a really good word. Need him. Yeah.

Need Drew Smiley. Well, that's the sad part about it. We're all coming out of the game and being like, Smiley could save the season. It's like, slow your roll a little bit. Should they extend him now? Relax. Listen, Gabe saw six innings from a starter and was like, that's Cliff Lee. That's him.

That just shows how beaten down Gabe has been by this staff all season. Like, oh, it's Cliff Lee. Cliff Lee, guys. Cliff Lee. Shout out to Reeves again. Just to come back to that, it's a narrative for some reason. People think he doesn't get clutch hits. Who?

Seems like all he does is get clutch hits. All his hits are clutch hits. He was not that clutch. In his career he had been, I'm just saying. Well, yeah, no, no. For the last two months. In the time he's been in the major leagues, Reece Hoskins has the most go-ahead RBI of anyone in baseball.

Yes. But the last two months has not been great at that. Agreed. Until the Dodgers game and that. But a couple big hits. Yeah. I mean, they need them. They need Reece to be a four-hole hitter. All right.

Any other thoughts from yesterday's game? Any more thoughts from yesterday's game? Again, bullpen did a great job. Neris was terrifying. Hit two guys, so that's fun. Heart attack. Heart attack. He's back, man.

He's got to stop hitting guys, man. Yeah, he's going to get killed. He's going to get someone else killed. People are going to start charging him. He's never going to step to the plate. He's got to stop hitting guys, man. Yeah, he's going to get killed. He's going to get someone else killed. He's never going to step to the plate. He's going to get Hoskins killed or he's going to get Harper killed or whatever. Adam Morgan continues to be back. Thank God. I was worried coming off the injury. Yeah, we talked about it. Is he

really back? Is he healthy? And it looks like he's good to go. Yeah, for sure. And Ranger again. And Jose Alvarez. He's good. Jose Alvarez is good. He's good. Trust that guy. I feel confident in saying. He comes into the game. I'm Alvarez. He's good. Jose Alvarez is good. He's good. Trust that guy. I feel confident in saying. He comes into the game, I'm like, okay. This is going to be okay. Better than Luis Garcia. Yeah. Trade worked

out. Alright. We'll talk about the Hall of Famer sack. Any thoughts coming up? Weird week in that, you know, I feel like it's rare in July that you have a five game week, but they only have five game week. Yeah, and it's good timing too. They need it. Get everyone rested before the Brave Series weekend.

Totally. Give pitchers a chance to set the rotation a little bit more and all that. Yeah, the Tigers are just bad, so you should be able to... Yeah, they're awful. You should be able to take two. Tigers, most people might not realize, but the Tigers actually have a chance to steal the worst team in baseball from the Orioles. We were like, the Orioles are a lock to be the worst team in baseball this year. Tigers might be. They're right there. They can't hit Orioles are a lock to be the worst team in baseball this year. Tigers might be.

They're right there. They can't hit. Tigers are bad. They're a bad team. And we're getting Matt Boyd, so we'll get a first-hand look at one of the potential trade targets. Shane Green, another guy who's been... Boyd's been bad, though. No, he hasn't been bad. He's striking out a lot of guys. Last five starts. Not been great. Well, the strikeouts have been amazing. He's got like three straight with double-digit

strikeouts, or two out of three or something like that. He had like 14 strikeouts a couple starts ago. So does Robbie Ray. Okay, give me either one. I know, but he hasn't been great. You're just crapping on Matt Boyd, huh? I'm worried about Matt Boyd. Are you really?

Yeah. Why? Talk to me. Because he doesn't have the... If I'm trading big prospects... He doesn't have a great track record. I know the control guys, but I want a little bit of track record rather than trading for a half-a-season breakout guy. Sure. I mean, he was a big-time prospect, someone who was expected to be good, had some issues, and hasn't really put it together until 28.

But yeah, I think it's fair. Yeah, I'm a little worried. But I would take him. I just don't know cost of the prospect-wise. It feels like it's going to be a high cost for someone who has three years of team control. Plus, it seems like they're trying to toss Shane Green in. You realize Shane Green has a 1.03 ERA? Yeah.

A.7 whip? A.7 whip? Yes, he's been really good. He's been awesome. But he's still like, I don't know. I don't think he's good. I watch him pitch and I'm like, I don't know. You're whatever.

He's been awesome. I know. But it's like that one Jen Marr year. Yes. Jen Marr. Wow. Remember that one? Except Jen Marr was just getting saved.

He wasn't, like, even the numbers weren't that good. It was like, I don't know how this is working. Like, Shane Green's got a.7 whip. Like, how do you argue with that? Yeah, I know. It's ridiculous. I watched him. I'm just like, I don't know.

So, yeah. So, it's going to be really interesting. Keep your eyes on who they're scouting and all that stuff. It seems like the four biggest names have been Boyd, Ray, Stroman, and Granke, and obviously different types of deals for different guys. But have you heard any other names in there? As obviously we'll talk about this a little bit more as we get closer. But anyone else to watch?

Today Nightingale said that they are keeping tabs and scouting both Granke and Ray, which is interesting. I mean, so it's Granke, Miner, Ray, Stroman, Boyd. So it seems like they should pretty much cross over. I forgot to say Ray there. They want to cross up on Garner probably because he's a rental. And they just want to look towards next year as well. Which I'm fine with.

Yeah. So if I had to rank the starters right now, the guys I would trade for. You would trade for, forgetting package, forgetting whatever. No, no, no. This is going to, I'm factoring in. Oh, so you're factoring it all in. Package. What you think it would cost to get them, what type of pitch are they,

our rest of contract, you're factoring everything in yeah I'm factoring in what it's going to cost prospect wise contract status and pitcher one Granke absolutely two Miner three Ray four Stroman

five Boyd I would put Boyd out of Stroman you're just thinking I'm saying because of the package it's going to be that much more because Boyd has a couple more years than Stroman. That's fair. I think I'd still rather have Boyd. I agree on the top three though. I think that

because we both would like to get Greinke pay money. I agree and I think Miner is probably the best right now in this moment of that next four, just as a pure pitcher right now. And I think their cost is probably similar.

I think Miner probably costs more than Stroman, but I think he also is a better pitcher. I feel like Miner's going to cost a fair value. And then Stroman, I'm not sure. I feel like you're going to pay a lot more than you're... I think so, too. And the question is, are you trying to add in a Kenton Giles? Are you trying to get a closer and a deal, too, and then it gets a little more different?

But I would agree with those rankings. What no one's talked about, though, with Granke is that the guy has no trade clause and the Phillies are on it. Well, he hates big cities. And he hates big cities. He's actually has anxiety and stuff. So I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't want to come here. So they better do their homework. That's all I'm saying.

Because this happened last year with Adam Jones. The Adam Jones deal was pretty much done. And I was like, he doesn't want to come here. So they better do their homework. That's all I'm saying. Because this happened last year with Adam Jones. The Adam Jones deal was pretty much done. And I was like, I don't want to go there. Yep. I got 10 and 5, sorry. Yep, and that kind of hurt the Phillies in other trades because they thought they were getting Adam Jones. It's a great point.

So make sure Adam Jones... Before you go deep down the path, make sure he's actually going to come here if you come to a deal at all. Correct. Is that too much to ask for? I think it's a very fair amount to ask for. Thank you.

And I just want the idea of Zach Kranke playing GM and his first move would be to get rid of Andrew Knapp. My favorite Zach Kranke story

is that he was on the Dodgers and AJ Ellis said hey I heard you want to be a GM like what would your moves be for the Dodgers?

And his first move was his first idea was I would get rid of you. To AJ Ellis' face. Strong line. Also, my favorite Greinke story is when he sniped Neshek for his stupid autograph cards and was like,

I'm not giving you an autograph. Get away from me. Well, guess what? Shout out to Zach Greinke. They're going to be teammates. Yeah, right. Well, Pat Neshek's not playing again this year. He's probably not. He's gone at the end of the year. Pat Neshek is done in here and so we can rip him all we want. We're never going to see Pat Neshek in a Phillies uniform again. Thank God, Jack. Enough with the Pat Neshek is done in here. We can rip him all we want. We're never going to see Pat Neshek in a Phillies uniform again. Thank God, Jack.

Enough of the Pat Neshek experience. All right, Hall of Fame. That was really cool, man. Like, as baseball nerds, I went when I was like nine years old with my dad and my brother. As a baseball nerd, it was a really cool experience to be there at the museum and all that, but really also just to be there at Hall of Fame. We get to have all these players. Like, we're walking down the street and then we're like oh that's ozzy smith like ozzy smith is just right there oh and next to him is tommy freaking lasorda like that's cool tommy didn't know where he was but we saw tommy lasorda he actually looked

all right he looked good for tommy Looks the same since 1988. Same guy. It was really fun. The whole weekend, the whole experience. What was your take on going up to the hall as such a big baseball nerd? That baseball fans that sit down and watch their favorite players golf are weird.

Oh, yes. Okay. So that is a really weird thing that people at the hall of fame weekend do is they set up like chairs and, and have their bath and their balls to watch baseball players play golf. Yeah. At one hole. It's like coming around and seeing like tee off and then it's over and you're done.

You wait, they're like so weird, man. Yeah. And they, but they, but they're also there to get autographs as they're coming by, which is autograph seekers, which I'm not a big fan of.

It's not my thing. It was also super hot. It was really hot. The idea of just sitting there all day waiting for people to walk by on a golf course sounds like the worst time. It was just cool that we're not the only baseball nerds in the world. You find out there are tons of nerds. Like freaking Orioles nerds and Mariners nerds and way too many Yankees nerds. A lot of Yanke baseball nerds in the world. Yeah, you find out there. Felt like I was a family. Tons of nerds. Yeah. Like freaking Orioles nerds and Mariners nerds

and way too many Yankees nerds. A lot of Yankees fans. Also very easy to piss off. Yeah, so we kept going around all weekend just going like, unanimous? We'd walk up and look for groups of Yankees fans and be like, but unanimous? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, like a closer? Because Mariano Rivera, obviously being the first unanimous player of all time to get into the Hall of Fame, which is insane. And Yankees fans did not take kindly to us for making fun of Mariano Rivera. When they heard us. Other times they just ignored us. But the best one was when we went to get dinner and we're just doing it and we see Yankees fans and they were like, but unanimous?

And he turns and goes, yeah, unanimous. Look at my arm, man. And he turns and goes, yeah, unanimous. Look at my arm, man. And he had a tattoo of unanimous with the 42 on it on his arm. We were done. That was it. Unanimous. It was over.

Unanimous. Yes. It was so sad. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen in my life. At that point, I was like, you know what? All right, buddy. You got it. You win.

You're closer. You're closer. It was unanimous. Enjoyed the tattoo. Ken Griffey Jr. You got it. You win. You're closer. You're closer. He was unanimous. Enjoyed the tattoo. Ken Griffey Jr. not. No, or Dave Ruth not. Or freaking Willie Mays not. Hank Aaron not.

Mariano Rivera. I think Mariano Rivera is a stone cold, no doubt about it, Hall of Famer. No question. But come on. First ever unanimous. Like, come on. I know. I know. I know.

I mean, I think they should all, I think it should be in or out. Like, they should all be unanimous. You're their Hall of Famer or not. I saw Rich Doobie. I didn't want to go up and nerd about it. I know. You should have. Yeah, I didn't want to.

I'm not big into that. Hey, Rich. You think they need a BP printer down there? You know anyone that can get me in the door? All I need is a foot in the door. I'll make the rest happen. And obviously, it really sucked that Halliday wasn't there. And obviously, it could just...

It was really sad. It was like, oh. It just felt wrong. It felt weird, especially with, obviously, Edgar's there, and Moe's there, and they're all there, and he wasn't. And Brandy was amazing. Of course. We talked about it before, but getting to hear the speech was like perfect timing with the rain delay and all that but i mean the the strength and toughness that that woman had and has had through this whole

process oh she's been up unbelievable i could never do it i could never do it i would crumble into a little ball and die like i i just i couldn't do it she's been so amazingly impressive and to get up on that stage knowing that it should be roy doing it and to give that speech and talk about and hitting the notes like you know the that all that people are not perfect we are flawed we're all flawed everyone's got their flaws like no one's perfect but that line about that that sometimes imperfect people can have perfect moments like i welled up like i was just hit to you. It's just like, wow. And he did. Roy Holiday had perfect moments as

a baseball player. Literally, a perfect moment that most ball players never get to have. And for the record, the no-hitter was a better pitch game than the perfect game. Oh, no question. The no-hitter was untouchable. It's the best. That and one time I remember Pedro

in a playoff game coming in to pitch five and two-thirds. That's the best. That and one time I remember Pedro in a playoff game coming in to pitch five and two-thirds. That's the Indians. Indians. And he pitched five and two-thirds no-hit innings of relief. Those are the two best pitching performances I've ever seen in my lifetime. That's it. Yeah. And granted, it's very rare.

I've seen parts of no-hitters and all that. It's rare that because it was a playoff game, you're sitting down watching the entire game start to finish. You see the entire, every pitch of a no-h hitter and that was what was so cool about it but and especially coming from you who you left your high school prom to go watch jack morris versus jack morris versus smaltz so that's that's you mean it i mean it seriously i mean we said it before but just the idea that this guy waited his whole career after pitching the al east against the red sox and the yankees and even those orioles teams that made the playoffs and all that stuff and just had never had the chance to pitch in the postseason, in the biggest of moments.

And for him to take the ball that very first time he gets it and do what he did, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Yeah, and I'm glad he's the first battle. I'm glad he is. When you think of Hall of Famers, you think of guys like Halliday. Absolutely. Moe and Edgar.

And a ball player. You always like to say that, but Roy Allard was a ball player. Just a ball player. Just a guy that you could look up to every single day for young pitchers. So it was tough with Halliday not there, but there's so many Phillies fans. It was really cool seeing them come out and go to honor Roy and seeing the hallways and the plaques was just crazy.

Plaques was super cool. And one day, well, Bryce Harper's going to look so great on that plaque. That's going to be great. Even though the vast majority of the plaques don't really look like the people they're supposed to be debating. Yeah, but he's going to have slick back hair. It's going to be great. It's going to be good.

It's going to be great. So, yeah, Hall of fame week one's the funniest part of the plaques is that you you find out all these people's names that you know like i told you like willie stargill's name is actually wilbur wilbur wilbur i never i didn't know that like i mean you know yeah roy halliday's name was harry yeah i mean like you know you harry out yeah you see all this stuff and you don't you don't realize all that stuff. Leroy, Harry Leroy. I still think they're funny.

I know he's Dutch, but Burt Blyleven's real name is obviously Albert with two A's. With two A's. It was R-I-K, Rick, Albert, two A's. Burt, yep. Blyleven. It was really neat to see, like, all the different, you know, because... You don't think about those things, but a lot of people's names that you know them by aren't necessarily the names they have. Chuck Klein. You wouldn't know that Chuck wasn't...

What was it? It wasn't even Charles. It was something... Anyway. We're going too deep, but the point is it was a lot of fun to see all that stuff. Obviously, there's a lot of crowds for Hall of Fame weekend, but if you can just do it once and just go walk down the road and see yes all the hall of famers you seeing daryl strawberry and channing in his face daryl jack jack jack gave me some crap so we see daryl like daryl yeah so daryl so here's let's give me some crap play this out a 37 year

old grown man is five feet from daryl strawberry yelling in daryl strawberry's face daryl and i was i was the a-hole yep for saying relax buddy well he loved it well i think i might have made daryl's day with that well you know me david justice loved it too he's like my man i'm a big act like you've been there before. Yeah, you sure are, buddy. You sure are. Also, a lot of Freddie Galvis types there. Ozzie Smith. A lot of Freddie Galvis types there. Freddie Galvis types. That was good work by you there, buddy.

Bringing it back around. It was really cool. Yeah, for sure. And if you want to nerd out about baseball, I mean, there's no better place to do it. Literally. It really is like baseball heaven. That's what it feels like. And I said on the last pod, if you listen, you know, I've got my issues

with the Hall of Fame. We made fun of the unanimous thing, but I have a huge issue with that. Charles Herbert Klein. Chuck. Charles makes sense. Yeah, it wasn't as good. I think I was thinking of Aloysius Simmons. Al Simmons. I didn't realize he was Aloysius. He was right next to each other, so that's why. I think most Al's are Albert.

You would think. Not that one. Anyway, if you've never gone, it is, and it doesn't even have to be, Hall of Fame weekend was cool because the players were there, like Jack was saying, but just any weekend, just going up and spending time at the museum in the little town and everything, it's a really awesome place. And just to be there when Harold Baines finally got in the Hall of Fame. We were there to see the worst player in the Hall of Fame get inducted. I mean, that's pretty special, man.

For sure. All right, what do you got in the note bag? Let's see. Wilbur Dornell Stargell. How about that? Anyway. Interesting. I'm just going to save mine for a final thought.

Whoa! All right. I put everything else out. Final thought. Final thought is... I love this. It's a miracle. I put the other stuff out earlier. Good work. save mine for a final thought whoa all right i'll put everything else out final thought final thought is i love this is a miracle i put the other stuff out earlier good work um so i noticed this this weekend with bryce is that um is that he is swinging at a lot of first pitches and pitchers have adjusted to him doing that i think i'm pretty sure that every single first pitch or

the last weekend well except for the one the one from some other pirates reliever but it feels like for the majority it's been first pitch sliders to bryce harper because he's been he what what got him i think out of his funk was hunting that first pitch and looking to do damage on i mean he hit the walk off on the first pitch he's been great at going after first pitches and then if it's a strike it's a strike and he'll battle his way back and get back to the count um but i think he's gotta adjust back and see spin out of the hand better not be so over aggressive um so because pitchers pitchers are always gonna figure it out so if you have a trend and a tendency to do a certain thing they're gonna expose it i think they're kind of exposing bryce's uh aggressiveness is on first pitch so i'd like to

see him adjust back i I like that. Yeah. That's good work right there. Yeah, always. Look at you noticing things. Yeah. Also, we have a new intro to the podcast. Thanks to Chase Senior. Hey, shout out to Chase Senior.

That was really cool. And I think on Thursday's podcast, we're going to have the Bryson Stott interview. Which will be really cool. Shout out to Bryson Stott. Dude. It's our guy. I love him. It's our guy.

We're in on Bryson Stott. Bryson Stott. I'm already in love with him and him and Boehmiak and hazley like i just love those guys yeah we know and stott just like i just envision him for for at least a decade just smooth hands shortstop just every ball right to the mitt like rollins and then just being a consistently like 280 to 310 hitter with like 20 home runs and then boom just being a chris to 310 hitter with 20 home runs. And then, boom, just being a Chris Bryant in the middle of the lineup. And then Moniak being a 300 hitter.

His power is coming. You know what? I've got to say something for a second. You know, freaking, I respect Keith Law. I think Keith Law is a really good. He does a good job. I think he's really smart. Yeah.

I think he's really smart. I think he's smart. And I think Base america is great but like these in the last week there's been scouts who have said that moniac swing is like not good or something and i would just like to disagree he's got a he's got a gorgeous swing i would i would i would disagree with this i like that about moniac swing and yesterday two for two with a double and a home run. His fifth of the year. So just let Moniak live. He has figured out how to hit and doubles and whatnot.

At the minor league level, he's finally slowing down for him. And next is going to be the power. And if Keith Law wants to come on and talk to us, we'd be happy to do that. Yeah, I'm just saying. Keith, come on. We'll talk about Moniak's swing. I think he's great. I'm a big fan.

I would disagree with his swing not being good. All right, my final thought. Two final thoughts. First one, confirmed at the Hall of Fame. Kirby pocket. And that was confirmed? It was confirmed. Second, we got into an argument.

With Ryan Spader who invited us up. Ryan Spader, great dude. Thank you for the weekend. We had a great time. Ryan thinks that Joey Votto is more of a Hall of Famer than Miguel Cabrera. Yeah. I just hate to see that. Just hate to see it.

Man, hate to see it. And not only thinks it, like thinks it with authority. Like got really mad at us when we flippantly as we should have said that Miguel Cabrera is definitely better than Joey Votto. He lost his mind. Joey Votto is going to be his next passion project. At one point Joey Votto is going to be his passion project. And I think Joey Votto is a really nice player. I mean

Miguel Cabrera is a no doubt about it lock Hall of Famer. Joey Votto is not. He will be. I think he might be. Look he doesn't have 2,000 hits. We talked about that. Uh oh. He's got time. He's got time. He will be. I think he might be. Look, he doesn't have 2,000 hits. We talked about that. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

He's got time. He's got time. He's 35 or whatever. Not that much time. I never understand. I never forget how... I always forget how old Joey Votto is. Well, my favorite part about the argument, and again, shout out to Spader. We had a great time.

But my favorite part of the argument was when I said, give me a reason why. And his go-to answer was because he hasn't popped out to the first... Because he popped out to the first baseman once in his career. It's not a very good argument. We'll get there. We'll get there. Spader can come on and fight with us. Got it.

All right. Fritz, we had a lot of fun. Hall of Fame. This two or three, I mean, I was about to say two or three. Two of none. They have to win both. Yeah, sweep. You have to sweep.

No doubt about it. Okay. No doubt about it. And it's Nola versus Boyd and then Velasquez. We'll see. I feel fine about Velasquez. Okay. No doubt about it. And it's Nola versus Boyd and then Velasquez. We'll see. I feel fine about Velasquez. Okay. Really?

Yeah. Got to win tomorrow night. Okay. Big win tomorrow night. All right. We'll be back Thursday. Until then, everyone, have a great week. Wow.

How about that? Have a great week because we love you guys. We'll talk to you later. He's for Semsalter. 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 B.I.B. Express.

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