High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Joe Girardi Just Double Switched Again

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies finally winning a road series. The guys discuss the good from the first two games in Washington, the (predictable) bad from the last game, the offense's struggles, needing more from Rhys Hoskins, saving La Salle baseball, and much more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the high hopes podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on radio.com and sports radio, 94 W Y P. Is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack Fritz. The Phillies won a road series.

The Phillies won a road series. We're back. Yeah. And like today was the most getaway day baseball game I think I've seen in my life. It was the most predictable performance in the history of baseball. I actually. I mean, if I could have bet my life on what the Phillies were going to do today, they did what I would have bet on.

Really? See, dude, I woke up today and I was like, feels like a sweep. Now I was like a carbon copy of game three in Atlanta. The Oscar and Noah game, like same game,

McCutcheon, the home run the first, this time he steals home in the first, which was, that was it, which was just, and Noah gave up four in the first. This time he steals home in the first. And that was it. And Nola gave up four in the first. Eflin gave up four in the first. It's literally the same game.

Yeah. Honestly, I got to be honest. The Cutch double steal of home, I was like, that's baseball. Let's get back to that. I was so happy. I was so happy. I was saying to myself, look, they're finding different ways to win. They got their ace on the hill today. Like, this is great.

Also, but there's a little difference between, you know, and Patrick Corbin. Like, Patrick Corbin stinks. Obviously, he had a nice little throwback performance today. He didn't stink today, Jack. Yeah. No, he shut the Phillies down. The word I think of with Patrick Corbin today was, it was easy for Patrick Corbin. Oh, yeah.

No, he didn't break a sweat. No, he didn't break a sweat. Yeah, he didn't break a sweat at all. So, yeah, it wasn't a great day today, but I'm so mad at myself because I woke up. I was like, yeah, today feels like a great day to sweep. I even tweeted it, which is a mistake because I knew as soon as they lose, like, oh, see, you jinxed them. Like, first off, you morons. There's no such thing as a jinx, a mush, nothing. There's nothing that's not real.

It doesn't happen. Sometimes I play into it with the feels like a loss thing, whatever. But, like, enough with the whole, oh, this one's on you. Shut up. Just shut up. Get off Twitter, loser. Are you talking to someone else or to yourself there? It's an internal conversation that I brought on this podcast.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It drives me crazy, dude. It's like there's only a couple things that drive me crazy on Twitter. It's being the mush thing. This is on you. The Mr. Rogers gif with the clown being called a clown.

That's the stuff that I respond to. I even laid out a block today. I blocked someone today. What? Really? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I don't really lay out blocks often, but I was like, dude.

I got no blocks. Really? I've muted four people, and it's not even them. It's just they're like those people who retweet every single tweet that comes in their timeline, and it's literally, I can't even get away from it. Right. But that's not even them. It's just they're like those people who retweet every single tweet that comes in their timeline. And it's literally, I can't even get away from it. Right. But that's it. Right.

Well. I'm not a blocker. I'm not a muter. I'm a scroll past. Yeah. Well, you're the one. You're the one. All right.

Let's get into it. Quickly. Quickly. Important thing to start off with. Do you know what monday is jack monday monday monday is another day it's jim nance's oh jesus okay happy birthday jim happy birthday if we do a pot on monday or sunday monday's an off day probably monday i'm gonna wish you happy birthday again i just wanted to get that out there. In case we don't, you never know.

If they get swept by the Blue Jays, you might not hear from us for a couple days. You know how we do. Listen, we ride the Phillies roller coaster better than anyone. When they're hot, we're hot. When they're cold, we're cold. Yeah, it is pretty definitive. You can know how we're going to be based on the Phillies. All right, let's go through the series.

Nice one on Tuesday. We'll obviously get to Wednesday, which was a really exciting win and certainly felt like a loss. But Tuesday, I don't want to say it was a game where you could kick your feet up because, you know, it's the Phillies. We've had like one of those, that 12-2 game in Atlanta feels like the only game all season, literally. But Tuesday's game, it felt like as

close to a kick-your-feet-up kind of game as we're going to get with the Bills. Well, yeah, but then Hector had a... I know, but then Chase Anderson and then Joe Girardi and all that. Girardi almost made the worst decision of the Girardi era, which is saying a lot.

If they lost the game on Tuesday, Girardi is getting smoked on Wednesday. To bat Chase Anderson, who notoriously can't get to the sixth inning or through the sixth inning.

Also, more importantly, is horrendous if you let him face the lineup the third time and what was coming up? Trey Turner in the top of the lineup. That too. If that's what we're considering a kick the feet up game boy we're really we've really been through some tough games yes that was the whole point of my comment yeah well because even I was like even I was like seventh and eighth inning we we got insurance insurance runs Jack yeah insurance runs they got a runs. They got a couple insurance runs this series.

I mean, what a concept. Sure makes me feel a lot better about the team when they're getting insurance runs. But, yeah. Yeah, I mean, Chase was really interesting on Tuesday. And I know we talk a lot about game calling and that kind of stuff. And JT and Chase just had a good game plan on Tuesday. It was a lot of breaking balls, a lot of change-ups. Now, the thing with Chase Anderson, obviously, this is not breaking news,

but, like, he needs to be able to locate those pitches. Like, he was able to locate those pitches on Tuesday night, so he was good. Like, if that's about as simple a pitching analysis as we can get is he was able to – he had a good feel for those pitches that night. He ended up being good. Like, that's pretty much as simple as pitching analysis as we can get is he was able to, he had a good feel for those pitches that night. He ended up being good. Like, that's pretty much as simple as we can get. But honestly, I mean, Chase Anderson has been fine. Like, he's their

number five. He gives them five innings. It's usually like less than three runs. He doesn't blow up. And yeah, he's perfectly fine. Would you say he's exactly what I said he was going to be and that when I told you I had more confidence in Chase Anderson than Matt Moore and you blanched at me, would you like to revise your statements? Hindsight of any of that?

No, because I don't know if you've seen Matt Moore out of the bullpen. Yeah, he's a weapon. I don't think he's allowed to run yet. I mean, I know he blew the game out. No, he did. He blew the game, yeah. Yeah, but that was runners on second base. It's hard to run yet i mean i mean no he blew the game no he did he blew the game yeah yeah but that wasn't that runners on second base so it's hard it's hard to say if that was his fault and yell for that one right and which is i think very fair um all right back

to tuesday um let's get to that decision because i i'm with you man in the moment and it's one of those words like oh you can second guess in hindsight it's like no no no no no everyone in the moment was saying what the bleep is joe gerardi doing like it's one of those where it's like oh you can second guess in hindsight it's like no no no no no everyone in the moment was saying what the bleep is Joe Girardi doing like it's Chase Anderson first and foremost but it's a three nothing game with the team that has routinely blown leads that size and you got bases loaded no outs and Alec Boehm on the bench with a left-handed pitcher on the hill Jack like what are we doing man yeah and I know I know Boehm is struggling a little bit he's going through it. But, I mean, he's still been dynamic with running the scoring position.

And I feel like he does get the job done more often than not. So, yeah, it was just one of those decisions. Like, Joe, come on, man. Like, I know you're trying to get him through the inning, but you're also coming off a weekend and a day off where your bullpen is rested. The bullpen is rested heading into that game because Matt Moore and I forget who pitched on it, Sunday night in Atlanta. Ranger Suarez.

Right, right. Like those guys took down a ton of innings. So like your good guys were good. Like that's an example. You know when Gabe used to talk about like, what was the term he used to use? It was something like go time, right? Like to kind of try to blow the game open. I forget what it was.

But that was one of those where it's like, oh, Gabe would be looking for a scenario here to blow this game open. That's what he should have done. I mean, just if you look at Chase Anderson, third time through a lineup. Also, coming up the next inning was Turner, whoever the two. Yeah, it was top of the lineup. Yeah, Turner and Soto. I don't want Chase Anderson facing those guys again.

No! No! So, yeah, I mean, it was definitely a bad decision, but he did make up for it with a double switch an inning or two later because he knew he needed two innings out of Jose Alvarado because he only came in and faced one batter, but he needed to get through it. So I thought everything he did post the Chase Anderson at bat was good managing. We do want to give Joe some credit on this podcast, but the Chase Anderson not pinch hitting Bomer there was ridiculous.

Yeah, I mean, breaking news, I don't know if you saw this, Joe Girardi just became the first manager to ever double switch after a game was over. Yeah, did he? Yeah, it's pretty amazing. How do you run out of players every game? Like, it's not Little League, Joe. Like, everyone doesn't have to play. Like, again, the doubles, and he got lucky.

He got lucky in a couple spots. We've seen him get lucky. The lineup card game, like, the fact that they went on to win that game when it almost fell apart because of that moment. Like, he got lucky there. Like, he's getting, he got crushed rightfully so for it. He's getting crushed that much more if they lose that game. Like you said, I mean, he got lucky with that game. Like if, if, if things go the other way, if, if it's three, two, and then the national score some more runs and you can't get back in it and you didn't pinch it, Chase Anderson, that spot, and and you only scored three runs and lose, like, Joe Girardi's going to be answering for that. And I think he's been kind of bailed out a few times with some – I mean, like the Saturday night game, which we'll get to, but the fact that you empty your bench, you got Scott Kingery in the game at that point,

and that game could go deep into extra innings. It didn't. You got lucky they won in the 10th, but, like, man, it just – he just doesn't feel like he has a great feel for to your thing, Jack, nationally baseball, honestly, like, and I know it's been a long time, but man, uh, it's like as much as the bullpen decisions and the starting pitching decisions and stuff we've had questions about along the way, his management of the double switches, the bench batters and stuff has been worse.

I, he loves it. He has been worse. He loves it. He loves double switching. Absolutely loves double switching. More than anyone in the world. Yeah, I mean. More than anyone on the planet. Well, it's so funny. Like, we went from Charlie,

who, like, didn't know how to double switch, to a guy who's, like, damn near addicted to it. Like, I don't remember. I don't remember Gabe double switching that often. No. No. No. No no we're close to this that's for sure it feels like you can't take a pitcher out of a game

without making a double switch I know it's just like Joe just take the pitcher out relax man take it easy a little bit he did do a good job on Monday with Alvarado because I knew he needed two innings Tuesday

so he did a good job on monday with alvarado because i knew he needed two innings out of him or tuesday yes so he did he did a good job there um but yeah it's it doesn't give them that like i would love to know the the outcomes of of how they've worked out so far i mean like it worked on tuesday uh worked earlier in the season with roman Quinn. But I feel like other than that, it's like, oh, this is going to come back to haunt him somewhere. Yeah, more often than not, I feel like it does. Because like you just did, you pulled out the couple good examples you could think of. And look, I'm sure there are a lot of times where it doesn't affect one way or the other that much. But there are definitely examples where, you know, it's hurt the team and he's run out of players. And I know you like that specific one,

but not even Jean Segura and extras in that Braves game, like multiple things, but all right. The only other thing from Friday night or Tuesday night, excuse me, relevant the JT knee thing. It looks like that's fine. Obviously put on the COVID list with some summit gig and all that. Like, it seems like JT is fine. Didi's elbow. Yeah. He gets pulled for the game that like, I like jt's fine dd's elbow yeah it's pulled

for the game that like i think jt's fine i'm not too worried uh you know that that hurts sundry milebrower ball fouled off your knee no matter what you're wearing to block it it's gonna hurt like whatever the dd thing's a little nerve-wracking man i mean it's an elbow it's a guy who had tommy john it's a guy who's already missed games for elbow soreness this season where you at with dd yeah i, I mean, I'm worried. Because I actually thought he was starting to play better defensively the last couple weeks. I thought it was kind of shoring him up.

Obviously, Saturdays. Yeah, that's why I wouldn't have one game. The Braves game was horrendous and stuff. We don't talk about that game. Already talked about it far too much. Yeah. But, yeah, this is the second. It's the kind of game that if we were really on our game, we would have pretended didn't happen. But we didn't do that. I could not pretend that game happened. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, this is the second, it's the kind of game that if we were really on our game,

we would have pretended didn't happen, but we didn't do that. I could, I could not pretend that game happened. Yeah. Yeah. There was, there was no,

no, uh, scenario where I was forgetting that game happened, but, um, yeah, the, the,

the elbow thing, it's just, this is, this is not a good sign. Um, there were 30 some games into the season, uh, the first of a two-year deal.

Now they're lucky because Maton's come up, and his defense is awesome. Another play today. He's starting to find his stroke a little bit more at the plate. He was cold there for a little bit. Big, big hit in that extra inning game. That was a massive hit. He doesn't feel over.

Look, Maton's become what we hoped Kingery would be, And that, you know, X-Running game, that was a massive hit. And he doesn't feel over, like, look, Maiton's become what we hoped Kingery would be. Yes. And he doesn't feel afraid at the plate. It doesn't feel like the moment's too big for him. And I think that alone, you know, is really impressive. Yeah, I mean, the most clutch Nick to ever play in Philadelphia. But he's like, you know what? Maiton's like, and a couple people have tweeted about this, but, like, he's like a Cardinals player where it's like you know what mayton's like and a couple people tweet about this but like

he he's like a cardinals player where it's like he just he just seems like he's a good solid ball player that'll be around forever we'll get big hits and um it just can play everywhere can play every position they're they're they're trying to work him out as an outfielder that's probably smart given where they are and given that they want position versatility and he can eventually play left field and all that but um yeah yeah but they they're lucky because if dd goes down may time will play a really good short stop he hit his is is picking up his his pace here a little bit the plate after a couple down games um but overall no it's it's not good and dd's been very meh at the plate recently. Defense is getting a little bit better.

But this is the second time he's had to miss games this year because of elbow discomfort. That's not good. That's not good. It's year one of a two-year contract. Is it going to get better? Is he going to get more healthy? I mean, he had Tommy John.

I'm very worried about D.D. Yeah, me too. And like you said, offensively, he's got a 630 OPS right now. I mean, he's been bad. He's got like a 266 on base or something. He's been bad. He's had a couple big hits and some hits with runners on base. But, yeah, it's a concern.

The injury is a massive concern. And then him just getting back to the level we need him at too is is another concern i feel better about that if he's healthy obviously i think he you know i don't see any reason he would decrease his value as a hitter as much he had no defensively it's a different question especially if the elbow is playing into it and all that but um yeah it's it's nerve-wracking mayton is is obviously a huge help but at the same time it's it goes back to that issue of roster depth, which we've talked about a lot, which we all know about,

but especially organizationally where it's like, okay, Nick Maton, that's a huge help that you had that guy. But if Didi is out for an extended period of time, or if he has to miss a significant portion of games, then like, okay, then all of a sudden your depth gets that much shorter, that much shorter, that much shorter. So it is a concern, obviously, like then all of a sudden your depth gets that much shorter, that much shorter, that much shorter. So it is a concern, obviously, on multiple levels. And the thing I'm worried about with Didi was, if you remember, I think his first year back post-Tommy John with the Yankees,

like his power was just completely zapped. And he wasn't driving the ball. And you've kind of seen that recently where it's a lot of like weak fly balls to left field, which he never hits balls to left field, but they're weak pop-ups. I feel like he hasn't driven a ball in a while. I think he had one hit against the Braves that was smoked. But other than that, I haven't seen...

Really since the Grand Slam. It feels like the Grand Slam was the last time he really drove a ball. No, he smoked the ball into the gap against the Braves this weekend. But other than that, yeah. It's been a while since he's really gotten into one. And I think that does have to do with the elbow discomfort. And, you know, if he's having elbow discomfort and it's hurting him both on the field and the plate,

then just shut him down. Just shut him down. And it's a long season. It's 162. Just try to get him right for, you know, the games that you need him and ride Mayta on here for a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, no. But, look, they are a top a top heavy team as we've talked about many times and

you need those guys. That's why boom Reese and we'll get to them. I want to, I want to ask you about them, but like, so you need those guys to be better. Like this team, the offense needs to be able to carry this team, especially at times. And, and we haven't seen that enough in a, you know, game like today, a perfect example. All right. On a Wednesday, which was a thrilling game uh one of the most there's no way they win this game oh my god they actually won at games of the season um just it just felt like a loss it just felt like

a loss even when they were up one nothing like it felt like something was going to happen of course it happened with the keystone cops philadelphia philly's defense one of the all-time worst philly's defense we've ever seen. But they find a way to pull that game out. They get some big hits in the 10th. What was your kind of overall takeaway from that game? Obviously, their concerns, but that's a game that not only do they usually lose, but on the road, I feel like they always lose that.

Yeah, honestly, it reminded me a lot of Saturday night in Atlanta. Now they didn't blow it. But they won the game. But they won the game. They got the lead late, and it was one of those games where they battled back. I mean, listen, you saw the nappy calling games late. I mean, maybe if he was in on Saturday. Not just that.

Not just that. First RBI, last RBI. Two big hits. One from inside the plate. Did they pay the wrong catcher? Just kidding. I'm just kidding. But.

I just hope JT's healthy this weekend because, you know, with the DH, that would be a nice spot to kind of get him back in line. Anyway, go ahead. Yeah, well, I don't. So I don't think he can travel down with the team. So I don't know. Not with the team, but he can meet them down there, right? Yeah. I think there's no chance he plays tomorrow,

but for Saturday and Sunday, I mean, if he feels better, I mean, he tested negative, so you would hope, right? Right. No, you're right. I know he can't travel with them, so I don't know. But, yeah, but he can meet them down there. So moot point by me. But, yeah, it just felt a lot like Saturday.

It felt a lot like the game in Atlanta. They had some big moments, some big hits. Obviously, Reese got the big hit. You know, it's weird. Like, Reese is not hitting well. But he has had some clutch hits this year. He had a double in the Thursday, two Thursdays ago. Or last, no, last Thursday. He had the homer, Thursday, two Thursdays ago? No, last Thursday.

He had the homer, non-homer, and he obviously had the big in extras. But, Jack, let's talk Reeds because I wanted to ask you about this. He's had some big hits. The power, for the most part, obviously he's cooled off a bit, has been there, and we know he's a streaky guy. We know he's going to go through these streaks. But in the past, even when he was at his worst, he's always getting on base right he's got a 284 on base percentage like what or 288 or something like that like something like a hundred points below where he should be

minimum like what's going on well maybe that maybe twitter shouldn't have bullied him into being more aggressive seriously like people are so mad that he was seeing a lot of pitches it's like what what are you so mad about um i don't know what's up with reese like he like when we used to get reese hoskins hot streaks it was at least two weeks or three weeks where i'd be like oh wow reese is dope but this time it was like i don't know five games and and he's kind of been up and down ever since and and whatnot i i don't know what's up, and he's kind of been up and down ever since. And whatnot. I don't know what's up with Reese. He's not totally pulling the ball all the time. I mean, he did last night, but he did have a hit earlier,

which was to the right side. He had the opposite field single the other night. There was a big hit, you know. Yeah, I guess I just don't know how good Reese Hoskins is. I mean, I need my first baseman to have at least 30-plus homers. And I don't know. It never feels like big impact stuff. The big hit last night, I get it.

But he's just got to be better. I mean, he's a first baseman. He's been in the league a long time at this point. I mean, he's been up here enough to kind of know the lay of the land of Major League Baseball. Boehm's obviously going through it. Boehm is in a tailspin. You saw how mad he was today, but he's in his second year. You kind of expect this. It's going to happen. It happens to everybody. Reese is in year four now.

It's going to happen now or he might not be on the team this offseason. Like, he's got to pick it up. Like, he just has to be better. And I love Reese Hoskins. And I think he's good, and I think he's a good team leader. And I like his presence on the team. His defense is brutal. But it's like, dude, just hit the ball.

Like, you've got to be able to hit the ball. You've got to be able to hit the ball. You've got to drive the ball. You're the first baseman of the Phillies. You have to be able to bring in runs. You're betting cleanup today. This lineup's struggling right now. They have to be carried by Harper, Hoskins, Baum, and JT. That's the lineup.

Those are the four guys that have to step up. And Reese is just going up and down and up and down. And a lot of strikeouts. Not as many walks. It's not great. It's not great for Reese right now. And I just need him to pick it up. Like, you have to be better than a 240, 280, 4-whatever slugging.

Like, that's not Reese Hoskins. Reese Hoskins needs to be 250, 380, 5 whatever. That has to be Reese Hoskins' numbers. We're not getting it. He just has to be better. He has to be better. Especially considering

first of all, your first baseman has to be better, period. On any team, in any situation. Since he's a god-awful defense, he's a liability defensively. Your bat needs to bring it, man. That's the only—you're slow. You don't do anything else well. You do one thing well, and that's hit the baseball. And guess what?

That's incredibly valuable. You got to do it. I'm with you, man. And look, I actually think it's kind of endemic of this lineup. I think a lineup that is in the 18-19 range and runs scored, they're in the 21st in OBP in baseball. They are second in strikeout reject. They're striking out 27.5% of the time. 27% of the time they step to the plate, they strike out.

This is a lineup that's hallmarked. These guys, this crew, and obviously it's changed a little bit over the last few years, but it's a group that grinds. We always say, like, if nothing else, they're going to walk, they're going to grind, they're going to have tough at-bats. Like, we're not seeing any of that. Nope. No, it's a lot of just kind of weak at-bats and not totally locked in and all that stuff.

I guess I just don't know why. Like, I can't tell if it's Joe Dillon. I can't tell if it's Dombrowski wanting them to put the ball in play more, even though it's not working. I mean, they're like Dombrowski talks a lot about like, I want my guys to hit the ball the opposite way and, you know, hit behind runners and fundamental baseball. It's like that 2018 Red Sox team.

We talked, remember, you and I talked about it on this podcast in the moment, how fun that team was because they did all that stuff, but guess what? They had a bunch of good hitters who could do that stuff. They also had the lowest strikeout rate in baseball. And the Astros are always sort of the top in that stuff. If you look at the

best teams in baseball consistently year in, year out, they are the teams that don't strike out. They don't strike out. Like, they don't strike out. The Phillies have already struck out double digits more times this year than the entire 2011 season. Like, that's ridiculous.

We're 36 games into the year. Dude, I had not seen that stat. That's unbelievable. Yeah, Paul Boyer put that out. Wow. That is a stunning statistic. Right. So, you know, it's weird because I look at the team right now,

and my general feel is I think this is a good team. Like, I think the Phillies are good. I think the first three starters are good. I think the bullpen is good. Once Archie Bradley's back, had a scoreless outing last night. I need the offense to be better, but overall, I look at the team as a whole right now, and I think they're pretty good.

Do I think they're world beaters? No. Do I think they're a lock to win the division? No. Playoffs? No. But, I think there's definitely a better chance. The more the season goes on, you see the flaws, you see the holes. Center field, I mean 37's a better chance. The more the season goes on, you see the flaws. You see the holes. Center field, I mean, 37 is hitting better now.

It's annoying. 37? Yeah. That's good. It's annoying. I'm using that now. That's my new thing. Yeah.

Yeah. It's like it's so the conversation just drives me crazy. It's like I'm not happy that he's doing well, but my eyes tell me what the eyes tell me he's hitting better right now he's hitting better there's absolutely no question i mean he's not going anywhere so whatever um like it's so funny at the game tying home run last night i was like ah great same dude i had the exact same reaction i was like uh here comes all twitter okay um but yeah so so i mean but you see center field like kind of is coming around

and that's not a totally dreadful position right now. At least offensively. Right. Defensively still not great. The bullpen I think is good. Chase Anderson has been good. Vinny's been good. It's just like the offense has to get going.

And I do trust the track records. And it's the back of the baseball card and all that stuff and JT's been out these last couple games but I just trust that that's the thing that I could bank on for the rest of the year and hopefully these guys get going a little bit but the strikeout stuff is just,

it's not good and it does kind of make you feel worse about the team because you can't have the third highest strikeout stuff is just, it's not good. And it does kind of make you feel worse about the team because like you can't be, you can't have the third highest strikeout rate in baseball right now and expect to expect to win games and have good, sustainable long-term success for this season. So, um, yeah, they just, they got to figure it out. They got to have tougher at bats. They got to grind it out. And, um, I don't know who it is. I don't know if it's Joe Dillon.

I don't know if it's Dombrowski with the new thing he's changing the approaches and all that stuff but um they got they kind of stopped striking out it's it's it's the easiest way to get a team out in the playoffs if we're if we're talking no question and also it's the it's the single thing with this team that could really take them to the next level i mean i look at them and it's funny because you say i I look at them, I think they're a good team. I look at them and say, I think they're a mediocre team because that's what we've seen. But for a mediocre team that has played not like the bad defense, like is, is to a certain point on fixable, but it played bad sloppy defense. Hey, the sloppy part that's fixable. Like they have played sloppy defense. They have had three of the most, three of their five most important hitters in Reese,

Didi and Boehm and especially Didi and Boehm all season long. And Reese for most of the season really struggled. They have had, you know, bullpen issues. They've had a manager who's been way worse than he could possibly be moving forward. I would hope and think like,

I look at this team and say they're mediocre, but they're still 2018 and they've been like horrible in this they don't score guys on base like they can't get hits with runners on base all these things they can change that are like realistic things that could get better and that gives me hope like that's where my hope comes from is they're 2018 they've had a pretty tough schedule to start and they haven't even really played good baseball exactly exactly and the and the defensive stuff is crazy i mean the the oduble bryce thing last night it's like come on guys like you embarrassed like come on it's like we say we say that's embarrassing way too often when talking about the philly's defense and the way too often uh i know it

it didn't end up you know killing them today but the bone play it's like dude you got to keep that ball in front of you like you that's that's you've got to keep that ball in front of you. That's simple baseball 101. Keep the ball in front of you. Don't let it get down the line and let runs come home. All right. Boehm, we talked about him last time. I think it's just he's a sophomore.

It's a slump. Look, he hasn't even played a full major league season yet. So this is expected. It's how he handles it it look he hasn't played a full major league season yet so like this is expected it's good it's how he handles it how he turns it around um kingery i mean i had it on my notes to talk about but what's there to talk about i mean just he legitimately might be the worst player i've ever seen yeah it's certainly the worst hitter i think he's right there with the worst hitters i've ever like let's put this way i always use it for pitching where i always like the way i always talked about pedro in 99 being the best pitcher i ever saw was was when my team or a team i was

you know a team facing him and from their perspective like i've never felt so helpless going up against the guy when he's on you know what i mean like we're like there's no chance right i've never felt as helpless with a philly's batter as i do with scott kingery like i just he comes out to play and i think there's no chance i hope he gets hit i. I hope it's like, oh, it's like the kid in Little League. It's like walks as good as a hit kid. It's like, hey, walk. Can you walk? Please.

I know. And he, like, Mayton's making up for it with how good he's been. But he is, like, shockingly bad. Like, shockingly bad. So, yeah, I don't. He is shockingly bad. Shockingly bad. Yeah. But with Boehm, he is...

I know Didi's hurt and whatnot, so it's tougher to play him. But they could put Brad Miller at third if they wanted. Miller made some sweet... Miller looked good the other night. Yeah, he made some nice plays. Way smoother than I expected. Yeah. Yeah. It's a nice place. Way smoother than I expected. I was like, that bear,

that bear him play. I was like, yo, all right, Brad, never makes that play. I gotta be, I gotta be honest,

man. I love Brad Miller. And I do think that I think Brad Miller being here and, and being that kind of energy guy off the bench. And I know Matt Joyce was, was terrible before he got hurt, but I do think he's also a good veteran to have around. I think Miller and Joyce are going to be

key for some of these guys going down the stretch right here. They've got to get Miller in the lineup. That's what I said every day. He has to play, man. I know it won't be every day, but he deserves it. Let him face the righties and let Bowman face the lefties. And I know that's a tough position to put, you know,

Alec Bowman and given how good he was last year. And it's not long term, but he has to just sit down and take a breather. I mean, you saw it today. He struck out and he threw his helmet, threw his bat. And he's clearly pressing. He's talked multiple times about how he feels like he needs to grow up and stuff. It feels like this is really grinding on him. And Girardi said Tuesday that, or maybe it was, yeah, maybe, no, Sunday pregame, I think,

that he's going to give out a couple days. And, you know, I just. He gave him one day, right? He gave him one day, but Monday was an off day. And he's still pinching. Yeah. Like, he needs a breather. He needs a reset. He gave him one day, right? He gave him one day, but Monday was an off day. And he still pinched it and all that. He needs a breather.

He needs a reset. He's got to take a little bit of a step away from baseball at the moment because it's getting into one of those things right now, James, where professionals talk about baseball is a grind. And it's a grind, and it'll wear on you, and there's a lot of failure, and the mentally tough survive in baseball. And he is going through one of those stretches right now where he's sometimes hitting the ball hard.

But, I mean, today he got a fastball that was 94 in and he damn near hit it into the first base dugout on a line. It's like, come on, man. Pull the ball. But he's going through it. He's clearly pressing. It's clearly draining him and i just he needs to take a little bit of a little bit of a breather i don't know when they get it

in but um for the time being i would like to see brad miller against righties and boom against lefties and then gerardi will double switch so it doesn't even matter but he clearly needs a little bit of time off here to kind of regroup. Yeah, I'm with that. And I think he needs the veteran presence to help him, like, you know, like channel his frustration and understand this is something that a lot of players go through. I'm not worried about him long term. And I think he can get it together this season. But, you know, he's clearly, clearly struggling right now.

So hopefully they can get him a chance to kind of get away and get his head straight and all that. All right, coming up in a minute, I want you to take back, but there's a really important thing going on. And if you love baseball like we love baseball and you love any level of baseball, we need to save LaSalle baseball. Yes. And Jack Fritz had a chance to talk to James Santor, who's the head of the Save LaSalle baseball. Yes. And Jack Fritz had a chance to talk to James Santor,

who's the head of the Save LaSalle Baseball movement, and take a listen and try and help out if you can because this is an important thing. We all love baseball, and it's not just Major League Baseball. It's every level of baseball that contributes to this whole baseball ecosystem that we love, and something like this is important. So Jack had a chance to talk to James Santor about it. We're back here on High Hopes and I'm excited to bring on James Santor from Save LaSalle Baseball because I mean, obviously, if you know me and you know, we brought on Joe Ravert a little

bit ago from LaSalle. We would love to save local baseball. And you hate to see this happen to, you know, it happened to Temple when I was growing up. And, you know, you just don't want to see these local college programs lost. So we're welcoming on James Santor because we are right close to possibly being able to save LaSalle baseball. James, so where do we stand right now? Thanks for having me on, man.

It really means a lot, and using your platform to help us out really is appreciated by the whole LaSalle community. And, yeah, we are at a very unique spot. I mean, this entire situation has been unique. But right now we're at a point where if we raise around a million dollars, we get a chance to present in front of the entire board of LaSalle. And, of course, we get $2 million. At that point, really, we have an amazing chance to save this team,

and we have the backing of the top people on the board and really who we need to get to bring this program back. And I think it really comes down to financials at this point. I think that's the most frustrating thing about the whole situation is that we told them in the beginning, if you give us a real number, we can bring this back. We have the support of the people, we had we told them the beginning if you give us a real number we could bring this back we had the support of the people which i think really at the beginning of this was to make people care about what's out baseball it's how we make people care about a small school in philly why is it so important that we bring this team back and i think they've done that on the field to show us why they need to do that by winning 29 games being

in first place and really just having this fairytale season. But now we do have that $1-2 million number, and it's pretty realistic. So we have $500,000 of those right now, and we're just trying to be creative and get our word out to as many people as we can. Yeah, and that's why you're on this podcast, and hopefully, and again, if you're out there and you want to get

involved, James, what's the best way that someone can get involved with this? Sure. Social media is definitely the best way that someone can get involved with this? Sure. Social media is definitely the best way. You can follow me on Twitter at James Santor. Then on Instagram at SaveLosalBaseball. A DM, a tweet, whatever it may be. Shoot us a message.

Honestly, the easiest and the best way to share also is just to reshare, retweet, repost. I don't think tag as many people as possible because it takes one person, takes one tag, takes one tag and this entire situation changes. Other ways to reach out are santor43yaya.com. That's my email.

Really, anybody that's associated with LaSalle Baseball, if you know anybody, please reach out to them and they can easily get you in contact with me. I guess I just want to know, you're very passionate about LaSalle Baseball. It's admirable and, you're very passionate about LaSalle baseball. It's admirable, and it's awesome.

Why does LaSalle baseball mean so much to you, and why are you fighting so hard to really bring this program back or keep it going, obviously? Yeah, I mean, LaSalle really gave me my chance for everything. I mean, I think it's like, obviously, it's easy to say baseball is a big thing here, but LaSalle baseball really does give you that full experience that a lot of kids need, especially in this high state area.

I'm from Jersey. I didn't have many options for college and my dream was to play divisional baseball and I had a chance to go be a recruited walk-on there and I went to LaSalle and I became a completely different person in the best way possible and that's because of what I experienced as a baseball player.

The people I met, the things I learned along the way, the ups and downs, it really has changed my entire life. And honestly, I said in this blog I wrote the other day, it saved me. I was a really lost kid and had no idea what I wanted to do in life until I got to LaSalle, until I met the people that are all my best friends. There's a lot of kids out there that need that same opportunity. So for me, I'm lucky to still play with a lot of them in the Delta League now. So to be playing with a lot of these kids, to know a lot of these kids,

and to see this happen, you know, I think for myself and Joe and Kev and everybody else involved with this entire campaign, it's like we need to make sure that these kids have an option, make sure they have an option to become true men with the dual style, and to do so in this area because there's just not enough teams to go around for all the talent in the area. So for us, we just want to have to be a voice for them and support them and especially

right now highlight their success in the field. And along the way if we can bring them back to the program, we're going to do it. Yeah, I mean and I echo those same thoughts. I mean, being a part of a baseball program is a part of being a family. And, you know, it's important for growth as human beings. And you experienced that at LaSalle. I experienced that at Bloom. And hopefully people can get involved because, again, there's not many local D1 schools that are still playing baseball. LaSalle is one of them. You guys have 29 wins this year. That is crazy.

It's a really worthwhile cause. The way that you talk about it, it's so great. James, I just can't thank you enough. Hopefully, our listeners and we can all get involved and help save LaSalle baseball. Thank you so much, man. Again, we can get as creative as we need to. So whether it be a donation, whether it's sharing things out, whether it's getting corporations involved,

we're trying to utilize the field and monetize the field as well. So let's get creative. If you have any ideas to help us out, please reach out. And, again, anything that you can do to help really means a lot to myself and everybody associated with this. So thank you again for having me on. It means a lot. Save us out of baseball. James, thanks so much, man.

Thank you very much. Awesome stuff, Jack. We love baseball. Let's save some baseball. I'll eventually get over that they didn't recruit me in high school. It's probably a good decision given that I was out after two years.

Yeah. recruit me in high school and it's probably a good decision given that i was out after two years um but yeah yeah it's it it would be it'd be that those guys are really passionate about it and ultimately like if lasalle's gone then the only d1 programs in philly because temple's out because temple long story about that recruiting process for me still not even over it but um like not even close to being over it but um yeah temple's gone lasalle could be gone drexel doesn't have a program they're they're a club baseball team it's really only penn um i forget what uh nova uh even though they're not really philly school everyone knows that um but yeah it's really only two, two or three left in the city. So division one baseball is a lot of fun. The, the explorers are hot.

I think they have 29 wins this year. So yeah, just help out if you can. Obviously we know it's been a pandemic and we know that, you know, money's tight, but it would, if you can help out,

help out. All right. Take back. Oh, righty. Let right. Take back. All righty. Let's get to the take back. I know he pitched well today, but I'm so glad they didn't sign Patrick Corbin. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I mean, $140 million. Now, look, to be fair, I mean, we're not them. They won a World Series in part because of him. So, like, should they have signed him, should're not them and they want a world series in part because of him. So like the, should they have signed him? Should they not is a different discussion, but as far as we go,

I'm really happy. They didn't sign Patrick. Yeah. Yeah. I mean the world, the first off, if he signed here, they're not closer to winning world series.

I mean, he would, I know that's my point. I'm saying it's like a different equation for us and them. It's a lot of money. They're still paying him For a lot more years. But that was a funny day, though, remember? The photo leak.

I do. Yeah, yeah. The scoreboard, the whole thing. Yeah. It was nice having Nappy behind there for a couple straight games. So I texted Jack that I blame him for Romero getting hurt. Oh, right. You put that out there.

It's on you. Yeah. Well, listen. If Eflin didn't miss two spots today, it would have been another dominant nappy performance. Yeah. I almost welled up thinking about a full Citizens Bank park again. I mean, it's almost here. The city announced today, or the Phillies announced today, June 12th, 100% capacity.

We're so close to rally towels. I need this team to stay in it for the rally towels. For whatever, we all want playoff baseball. I need rally towels. It's the thing that I think about most wistfully from the run is a full sold-out Citizens bank park with the rally towels. I need it back in my life. Let's figure it out.

Yeah. It's the best news of the day. By far the best news of the week. Like we, obviously we've talked about a lot on this podcast, but, um, I,

I said to you and I, I honestly didn't think empty stadiums would be that big a deal to me watching a baseball game, watching a Phillies game, because there are a lot of stadiums that don't have a ton of people in them across the course of a summer. And I hated it. Like, I hated it more than anything else. I expected to hate the runner on second rule more.

I expected to hate seven-inning doubleheaders. Loved both of those. Absolutely hated empty stadiums. It's awesome. It's awesome to have people back. I mean, the fact that you said you like seven-inning doubleheaders is embarrassing. I'm fine with them. The point is I'm fine with them.

Like, I wouldn't say, like, they're my favorite thing ever. But, like, dude, they are nice. I got a kid. Dude, I know. Time is valuable. I know. Zoe's into the Mickey Mouse stuff. But if you could keep your Mickey Mouse love of things away from our baseball program,

that'd be great. Because it's out of hand. Which begs the question, James, if we're getting full capacity back to Spank Park, I mean... Oh, I think I know where you're going with this! I mean, are we going to have to organize a high hopes night? Oh, buddy.

Oh, buddy. Beers in Jetro? Yeah, let us know if you're in. Well, listen, people are going to be in on a high hopes night? Oh, buddy. Oh, buddy. Beers and Jetro? Yeah, let us know if you're in. Well, listen, people are going to be in on a high hopes night. I mean, let's be serious. All right, so should we do a high hopes night?

I mean, in August, it'll be even more open, you would think, as more people get vaccinated. I'm in. You don't have to convince me. Let's pick a day and make it happen.

And this is going to be on you and everyone involved if we do this again gotta watch the beer intake for me it was a little too don't let you drink those 15% a little too bombed last time it was a great time I was very fired up

so I remember how bombed you were I was just excited to be there it was the best honestly it is my favorite I was not too bombed, so I remember how bombed you were. It worked out. I was just excited to be there. It was the best. Honestly, it is my favorite. This podcast is my favorite. You know it. I love it.

It's just in my heart. I love this podcast. I love the listener stuff. It's my favorite thing we've ever done. It was my favorite just to meet so many awesome people who listened to this podcast and took the time to go and buy a ticket to a Phillies game to come hang out and watch a Phillies game with us. It was like, like one of my great nights. So that was,

let's definitely do it again. Yeah. And eventually I personally want to do a, like a minor league road trip where we go from Reading to Lehigh Valley to the, you're not really a minor league guy. That's surprising. Speaking of the minor leagues,

speaking of the minor leagues, we've got some players going off. It makes me giddy. And I want to talk about Baron Radcliffe because I am smitten when I think about Baron Radcliffe. This dude hits absolute tanks. His first two games, two homers.

I mean, and they're like no doubters too like i'm talking we're talking about like throwing it back to the big piece i mean like legitimate like we talked we talked last podcast about how no one on this team mashes like no one on this team will just hit 1450 and be like bang baron radcliffe i already can't like i talk about i can't wait for players debuts all the time i can't wait for baron raduts all the time. I can't wait for Bram Ragliff's debut. Oh, you've got me sold, I'm in. Dude, he's amazing. I'm telling you, I'm in. He had the highest exit VLO at driveline in their history, I think,

over the summer. The guy hits the ball freaking hard, and he was a steal of a draft pick. And we're not going to mention Carson Ragsdale and how good he looks. But, yeah, he's incredible, Baron Radcliffe. I can't wait. I love it. I'm fully in. You sold me.

I already can't wait for the power numbers at Reading. It's a great game. It sounds like you should be in an Emily Dickinson novel or something like that. like a Emily Dickinson novel or something like that. I already can't wait for the 40 homers at writing thing, which happens like every five years. Howard was the first one, and then it was rough, and then it was Cousins and Hoskins.

And I already can't wait for the Baron Radcliffe 40 homer show in Reading. Luke Williams, who like raked in spring training, is like batting 500 for the Iron Pigsiffe 40 Homer show in Reading. Luke Williams, who raked in spring training, is batting 500 for the Iron Pigs, which is amazing. Maytown and Luke Williams are already my bench for the next decade. Luke Williams is a righty. Maytown's obviously a lefty.

It's all working out perfectly for my future bench. Christopher Sanchez is nasty. I don't know when he's going to get up here, but he's 94-96 with a white bus slider. He looks good for a AAA. I thought Adonis Medina actually looked pretty good, but he always frustrates me because he should be better, but whatever. Johan Rojas hit a dinger.

Every Johan Rojas thing he does well just makes me well up almost inside. Because he's just, I already said he's a raccoonian, Soto. He is so electric, he plays elite center field, he tries to swing too hard and does too much. But, but, but, when he gets it together, I'm telling you that guy's going to be an absolute superstar, and I can't wait for him. And finally, Bryson Stott has an OPS over 1,000. That's huge. We might need him sooner than we thought. Yeah, I mean, I'm so sick of him playing in high A.

Get him off the double A. Yeah, it's so dumb. What are we doing here? He's older than Mickey. Oh, happy birthday, Mickey Moniak. 23rd birthday today. Hashtag why not, Mick. Oh oh happy birthday mickey moniak 23rd birthday today hashtag why not oh happy birthday mick our favorite our guy and who knew a birthday so close to jim nance what a treat for mick yeah that's pretty cool still our center fielder oh yeah forever our only center fielder yep that's it yep yeah that's all I got that was good stuff Jack has the MILB subscription

come in handy? it's been great I've been listening to our good friend Pat McCarthy so that's been good and every night I get an email recap from Steve Potter who follows minor league baseball so well for the Phillies

it's crazy but he sends like a he sends like an email recap at like 11 every night and i just sit there and i just like i'm just thinking wistfully about like the least surprising thing dude i i because i dm'd i'm like dude i get giddy reading your like kevin gowdy's even showing signs mark kevin gowdy of course i remember yeah yeah might might be the steal of the draft, many are saying. So, it's good to be back, man. I miss my baseball. That feels

like the note to get out of here on. Shout out to Pat McCarthy. But the Kevin Gowdy might be the steal of the 2016 draft. I think that's it. You think it's a little too far? This episode has jumped the shark. We've reached the point. Yes. There's always a moment, James. There's always a moment. And I appreciate that you know when

to end this podcast. And I just like I like to know that Kevin Gowdy, the Kevin Gowdy comment was the one that in this podcast was the one. We'll be back on Monday, off day Monday. Well, Sunday is a one o'clock game. It might be. It might be doing a Sunday night. Oh, we might be Sunday night. Great point.

Sunday night or Monday, unless the Blue Jays sweep yes then no promises no we don't we don't do podcasts when they play bad only when they play well or or or or if baron radcliffe hits another home run we might do a podcast yes all right you got any final thoughts um go buy some high hops. Enjoy some Phil's baseball. Big series down in Dunedin. Yeah, Toronto. And it's so stupid. It's a 737 start because they... Because that's what they do in Toronto.

It's so stupid. It's like, come on. Acknowledge where you are. No, I think it's because of the sun down there. Is that what it is? Yeah, the sun would be right in the third base and left field eyes. Oh my God.

Well, that's even better. Nice to have the DH this weekend. We get back to real baseball. I'm looking forward to that. I hope they get swept. Looking forward to the DH. Save LaSalle baseball. He's for himself.

We'll see you later.