High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Never A Doubt, Phillies Take 2 of 3 From The Mets

Episode Date: June 25, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to an uneven weekend of Phillies baseball that culminated into Sunday's wacky comeback win. Presented by Miller Lite. 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

So what's it like to buy your first cryptocurrency on Kraken? Well, let's say I'm at a food truck I've never tried before. Am I going to go all in on the loaded taco? No, sir. I'm keeping it simple. Starting small. That's trading on Kraken. Pick from over 190 assets and start with the 10 bucks in your pocket. Easy. Go to Kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Non-investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss.

See Kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause i

started more than two years ago and it's now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is another fact so jump aboard the bib express follow and listen to baseball isn't boring presented by wasabi hot cloud storage on the free odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts this is the high hopeses Podcast. I hope. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Odyssey and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo. It is another edition of the High Hopes podcast presented by Miller Lite.

We love Miller Lite and I definitely needed some Miller Lites to get through this game. Shout out to Jack Fritz. You know, the never a doubt, nicely done there with Miller Lite. Never a doubt thing is a bit, bit obviously but i texted jack i'm like oh looks like it's gonna be another classic bummer of a high hope sunday pod and jack said they're gonna win the game and they were down six three and did you think it was gonna happen that way jack how about it thank you matt who to thunk it with first i guess to win the first series against the Mets in 2021, it probably had to look like that.

Oh, my bad. My mic wasn't on. I was like, I couldn't hear you. You had a panicked look in your face, and I said, oh, no. There's something clearly off here. We're all good. But if you had texted me after the Alonzo home run, I would not have had the same response.

The Alonzo home run, I was like, oh, great. Here we go. And that's when all my notes turned into meltdown jack notes, which I don't know if you can tell. Probably not the best idea. And if I do lose power, I just want to let everyone know, it is pouring rain here. It's a good thing they finished the game when they did.

If they had let the Mets tie it it was like it got really dark here and I live you know like you know a mile and a half two miles whatever from the stadium it got dark dude so yeah it was it was pouring it was pouring in the eighth so um but yeah like they won. And I would, believe me, I would love nothing more than to come on and be like, oh my God, what a win. Like great stuff. It's just, it wasn't, it just wasn't an inspiring weekend of baseball. You know, like even Friday night, I didn't think the offense was very good. I thought the Mets kind of gave them that game. Saturday, I felt like they should have won,

and they just played bad. And today, they were mostly bad until... Like, I just can't understand how... Again, for the life of me. Like, you and I, believe it or not, we are not baseball GMs. No. But I think if I had steve cohen's money

i could 100 build a bit better baseball team than billy epler oh without a doubt yeah like anyone good i mean they have the highest payroll in the history of sports by a fair amount and and it's like how do you have like like, that guy bring him or whatever? How do you have Vinny Natoli? I've never heard of these guys. Well, hold on. Hold on. No, stop. Stop.

Vinny Natoli. I've heard of Vinny Natoli. He has a National League Championships ring. I've heard of Vinny Natoli before. He appeared in two games last year. He has a ring. I had never heard of Jeff Brigham. So I figured I'd just, you know, I'd go for the hyperbole a little bit.

But, like, you're right. Like, what are they doing here? Who are these guys coming into an important – Like, as much as, you know, for our sanity, we needed the Phillies to win this game and to at least, you know, come out of this weekend putting the Mets further away as bad as the Mets are. And as the Mets gave them the game today, you know, come out of this weekend, putting the Mets further away as bad as the Mets are. And as the Mets gave them the game today, you know, imploded, the Mets lost this game more than the Phillies won it today.

I think that's what you're trying to say there. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. As desperately as we needed that win for our mental sanity, like the Mets needed this win way more. You know, this was a massive, you know, they have to win this game today. Buck could get fired tomorrow. That was such a must-win game

for the Mets. And they have a three run lead in the eighth inning and they're bringing in these guys. What is this team? I'm so with you, dude. I'm so with you. They are atrocious. I mean, the Mets are legitimately atrocious. And we talked about this and thank God it wasn't like a total jinx because there was definitely a part of me that after final out on Friday, I started off with meet the Mets are legitimately atrocious. And we talked about this, and thank God it wasn't like a total jinx

because there was definitely a part of me that after a final out on Friday, I started off with meet the Mets. Yesterday we talked about how they just looked like a dead baseball team. Like, thank God they didn't lose both after, you know, that. They lost one, and the one was frustrating. But it's just like they look like such, such a dead baseball team. Just even like, like even,

uh, Kanye or whatever, getting thrown out in the ninth. It was just like, you know, Buck had to get thrown out in that situation. Oh, I know.

I know. And Verlander just kind of like has like a blank stare looking at the field. Like what did I get into? Francisco Lindor, who for years is one of the most fun players watching baseball, he looks miserable. His nickname was like Smiles or whatever. He's always smiling. He looks like he has to take a dump or something. He looks so miserable the entire game.

It's horrible. That team, man. They are just... And there is... Shout out to NBC Sports Philadelphia because there is nothing... Is the Mets fan leaving there at the end? No one's better at locking in on Mets futility

quite like the Kimmerer. Because it reminded me of... It was an Emmy for that one cut right there. It was so perfect in that moment. Cause it was still, it was still tied. It was before the winning run scored. And that dude's just like,

I am out. And that's, you know, on one hand, like it's funny. Cause then that's on the other hand, it's like, I respect that guy.

Like, like he's seen it. He exactly. He's like, there is no way we're winning this game. He's like, I don't care what happens. He, we know that feeling. Like we know that feeling. And it's seen this. He knew. Exactly. He's like, there is no way we're winning this game. He's like, I don't care what happens. We know that feeling. We know that feeling. And it's so funny because when he walked out, I'm like,

I knew we were going to win in that moment. I was like, even when Kimbrell, and I want to get to that because I have a question for you, but even when Kimbrell puts the leadoff runner on, I'm like, we're fine. The Mets are not winning this game. They got nothing, dude. Yeah, well, the funniest part about Mets and Phillies fans is that we're pretty like the Mets are not winning this game like they got nothing dude yeah well the funniest part about Mets and Phillies fans is that we're pretty much the same if we would we both

expect the worst thing to happen all the time and today reminded me a ton of now obviously the the stakes were not as big the Mets were not leading the division whatever but with all the Mets fans like watching a meltdown it reminded me of the Utley game. The walk-off in what, 07? Yeah, sure. 07, sure. Where they're the same thing. Mets fans are like, oh, they can't stand to watch it. And it's like, oh, we're doing

this again. So yeah, it was... I'm glad they took 2-3. It was important that they did that. I'm just saying that ever since last Saturday, I haven't liked the brand of baseball they've played. Yeah. Well,

we haven't talked on the pod since the Braves series. Cause you know, it was the rain out and the two games and obviously they've lost both. So, you know, you knew we weren't going to be here, but you know, this was a bad week of baseball on the whole,

you know, ultimately they, I think they're lucky to come out of it winning 2 of 5. But on the whole, like, this is a disappointing week of baseball. It was a week we're looking forward to where we're like, all right, we got the Braves and then the Mets. And obviously, they didn't play one of the games they're expecting. But, you know, if you rain out that game, you expect to – you want to win the week. You want to win the week. You want to split with the Braves and beat the Mets.

And they couldn't do that. And I know they were in it with the Braves and you know, I'm not concerned long-term or anything like that, but it was frustrating. And especially, I think the thing that concerns you right now, and you got to hope that these guys, you know, to use the phrase we have maybe overused and maybe should never use, you know, get to their bag of the baseball card numbers. But I mean, the lack of, of power, obviously,

and just, just consistent offense period. I mean, Trey Turner today, it's a home run. Like it was like shocking to see it go out. They had a couple yesterday to cast. He won, but you know, Schwarber after a hot June start is kind of turtle up a bit. Harper is, you know, we talked about it on the, the radio yesterday, but he's you're concerned about the power thing. When we talked about it on the, the radio yesterday, but he's, you're

concerned about the power thing. When you look at some of the numbers of past guys, you know, I think, I think if you're looking at one thing right now that you could say, all right, this is a real concern for this team and they need to figure it out. It's the, the lack of power, which leads to lack of, of consistent run production. And I hear you, and I agree with you. I just don't know where it's coming from. Like, frankly, like outside of a Harper hot streak, and it stinks because I thought Bryce, he just missed two today. Like, just missed two.

And so I'm definitely concerned about the power with him. I laid out yesterday on the radio, like, Otani, 18 home runs after he came back from time, Tommy John, Corey Seager, 15 home runs. I believe when he came back from Tommy John, uh,

DD, we all know power totally zap. So like, it wouldn't be surprising. Doesn't mean he's a bum. Doesn't mean he's not a good player. It's just the reality of the situation that it takes a long time for these guys to have power coming back from,

from Tommy John. I will say very positive that he did hit two balls. If he just squares up, they're gone. So that's a good sign. But that's not something I can totally... Well, I can bank on it because he's Bryce Harper. And I keep trying to reverse jinx this thing into him going on a power streak. But whatever.

Outside of him, I just don't know where the power's coming from. Schwarber, again, big hit by pitch today. Massive. Biggest play of the series for him. For sure. Good catch at the wall.

It was. Yes, it was. Never doubted my guy. Never doubted. Baby hop of a jump and kind of lightly tapping into the wall it was very impressive it was it was a good tap it was maybe his best catches in philly but like you know outside of that i don't think i think the power thing for jt's never it's not he's not a power guy he's a hitter castellanos um you'd like it but i'll take i'll just take what I'm getting from Castellanos.

Yeah, you can't complain about him. And especially with, look, he's never, other than that 34-homer year, he's never been like a, he's not like a big-time home run guy. He's had 29 and mid-20s and stuff. But after last year, you know, if you get 20 out of him, you're happy. And, you know, he's on pace for what? I haven't looked, but like but like 16 17 something like that so no he's on base for over 20 like over 20 all right so either way then you know what like i the point is if he's gonna hit 310 and do that like that's

i get zero complaints about that now part of that obviously is that he's playing in the tiger stadium which is like you know like a cavernous. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, with him, I'll take the home runs. If you can get the 20, great. Trey Turner, I thought he like in the seventh, I want to say, maybe the most hung pitch I've seen all season. He missed, which was annoying, annoying, but he did have a great day today. Like today, he was probably the biggest reason they won the game

in terms of the homer, obviously, getting it going, the stolen base, the error cause, like cause and disruption. Like you got to see kind of some of the stuff that we haven't seen enough. I mean, that was like Trey Turner scoring from first on a walk on his own merits without anything else happening is like that's the kind of stuff that he should that he could do and can rattle players and matters if we haven't seen it a lot

so that was good well you know what has to happen in order for him to be able to do that he has to get on base yeah he has to not swing at 58 foot pitches seems like a big thing. But Turner, like, it's so...

That was like our first, oh my God, Trey Turner. I mean, the walk-off was great, but part of the value of Trey Turner is everything. Everything. And him being able to do that, that's Trey Turner.

And you just have to hope that he gets on base more because if he can get on base more, then we should be able to do that, that's Trey Turner. And you just have to hope that he gets on base more because if he can get on base more, then we should be able to see more of that. And if we see more of that, that's exciting baseball. The interesting thing about Trey is that he's definitely cooled down in June, but it feels like with... I mean, I think Castellanos is the guy that I want up most

with runners in scoring position. Without a doubt. I know Boehm leads the team in, in RBI, but I'm. So this is a great question. Like,

so if you are, let's do a top three. Cause I think you were going towards Turner second. Is that where you're going? Cause he's been good. Like I would probably, it's funny. Cause I would probably have

him third i mean harper if you need one run harper getting a single is a decent shot but honestly my i would go casty one and and probably stop too i just feel like if stott at least he's gonna get a good at bad he's gonna put the ball in play he's got as much chance to to get a hit as anybody on the team it feels like other than casty so i would probably go sad too but it is frustrating i was thinking today like and they came back because of the you know the hit batsman and this and i can give them credit they hung in they work at bats they got on base prior to that and all that but um and trey got the hit and all that but it's like how nice it would be if we could just hit like a two-run homer every you know once in a while like a three-run bomb boom look we're winning you know it's in a while, like a three run bomb,

boom, look, we're winning. You know, it's just like, it's, it's, everything's like pulling teeth,

you know? No, it feels like all I do is, is, is hit solo shots. It's like, Oh, there's a solo shot. Awesome.

You know, but like, and again, we, I think we talked about this yesterday on, on, uh, go bird slash.

I hopes radio. Um, it's just like they're... Look at the best teams in baseball. What the Phillies are coupled with right now are like, now the Reds are hot, but they're coupled with the Reds and the Marlins and the Pirates

and all these offenses that are just anemic. But meanwhile, at the top of the home run... Oh, where their offensive stats are. I thought you were talking about teams that are kind of within the standings and fighting. No, I'm strictly talking about home runs.

Yep. Like the home run number. Like, for example, so the Phillies are, they are actually, they're one behind Boston, but then right behind them is Cincinnati, Kansas City, Oakland, Miami, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Washington, Cleveland. That is some yikes city right there. That is not who you want to be around, believe it

or not. And you look at the best teams in baseball, or the leaders in home runs. Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Dodgers, Angels. Angels? Yeah, they're winning games, buddy. They are. They are. Yankees, now this is games, buddy. They are. They are. Yankees.

Now, this obviously hurts my point, but St. Louis is six. But every other team in the top 10 is over 500. I mean, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, LA, LA, Yankees, not St. Louis, Minnesota, Texas, San Fran, Baltimore. I mean, they're all winning teams. Meanwhile, the teams around the Phillies. A few of those are like, I mean, you know, Rays, Braves, Orioles, those are like three of the best records in baseball.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'm not breaking news here, but like it just goes to show how important hitting home runs is. Rangers, I'm sure, are up there, and they've just been hitting, period. Rangers were their eighth in baseball and home runs. exactly they're they're one of the best teams too and the problem the problem when it comes to relying on on on string together singles or whatever the score runs is that these pitchers are just too nasty these days like that's the biggest problem with it is these pitchers today that everyone comes out of the bullpen throwing 96 97 it seems like you know except for the mets bullpen which is like vinnie

natoli it's dude they are wasn't even like wild because they threw hard it was like you know like they're like junk stuff is wild it was so weird they are built so much like some of the bad phillies teams in the last couple years oh yeah like they really are um but like you know it's it's in in today's baseball there's just it's really hard to string together hits like it really is it's it's hard to rely on singles to to score runs like it's just not that sustainable i know people love the the bat on ball thing and yeah it's important but you have to hit the ball in the ballpark like there's just there's there's no doubt about it it is it is modern baseball and they just they don't have the horses right now maybe derrick all comes up you know especially

after the the cody clemens at bat in the ninth or the in the eighth i mean, would like to see Derek all up here ASAP. But it's just until the trade that line, until they have a bigger plan when it comes to this stuff, it's kind of what they're going to be. Unless Harper gets hot, Turner mixes in a home run, Schwarber gets back to it, Castellanos will see, JT, eh, Stott, eh, Baum, eh, Marsh, eh. It's up and down the lineup after you get past four four yeah and that's harbor harvard's really once you pass you know three and

you know and look at yeah it's it's a great plan but what you really have to hope for is a that they you know all the people who want to pitcher for the trade deadline, like maybe if it's a best starter, I'm fine. But like, they got to go get a bat, man. Which is, I can't believe we're here. I can't believe it. I cannot believe we're here. But like, ultimately, what you hope for is, look,

there are still three games above 500 right now. They're winning baseball games. They're playing much better baseball than they were before. This is not a sustainable thing to win the World Series, I think, in terms of this power but you know harper is still early in his comeback from this thing came back you know superhuman early like we saw him last year when he came back from that injury the broken wrist and that's historically the handmaid bone injury or whatever that is historically that's a sap your power when

you come back that year injury. And it looked like that in the regular season. And then the playoffs come and bang, he's Bryce Harper. So I think you're hoping that over the course of the season, Harper kind of develops more strength. And the more he uses it, the more he kind of builds that power back up and gets there as he's getting closer, it does seem like. So I think there's legitimate hope there. I don't think that's foolish to think that you'll win it i think the overall numbers will look like those numbers you

talked about well he's only at three so far like to get to the numbers the comparatives that you talked about those other guys he'd still have to have a stretch where it's a fair amount of home runs you know and if he's gonna match otani's rate or whatever you know um and i mean like there's what uh five days left in june six yeah so there's three months of baseball left so well but what i mean by it is he hasn't hit a home run in june yeah exactly none no and he only had three i hit him early like so that's the point so you hope it comes back and and i think there's a real at least reason for hope there might not but i think there's reason but like the ones that are killers, it's like, you know, JT is what he is. Cassie is hitting, but like, boom,

not developing that power. I mean, you know, if you look at one dude where you could say other than the Reese injury, which we keep, you know, bring it up at that. Yep. Big frigging deal in this exact reason for this exact thing. But I do think other than that, I think the bone one is the one you look at and say that that's the missed opportunity that's the spot where that guy has the uh frame skill level whatever to develop that power at least more of that power and he just doesn't do it yeah um and he was good today you know like yeah and he

hit the one to the really deep, deep part, and obviously getting thrown on the double, whatever. But yeah, he hit the ball well. He hit the ball well. And I think what's happening with Boehm right now, if I had to guess, is he tried to do the pull thing and hit the ball at the ballpark. And I just don't think it's him. I just think that it's't think it's him. I just think that

it's annoying. It's frustrating. But at this point, give me what you did today. Yeah, well, you can't complain. Give me two for four with a few RBI and whatever. Now, I can complain if it's a lot of ground balls and

not impactful swings and whatnot. But if I had to like guess and go through like Alec Bones, mental psyche last week, it's just been, it's been rough. He's not driving the ball at all. A lot of soft contact.

And it felt like today he was just like, I'm going to do what I do. And if he does it, whatever, but it just, again, it also makes his margin for error so much, so much smaller as

well where it's like to be a valuable player because i mean right now he's kind of i don't know he's just fine but like to be a truly valuable player then you got to hit closer to 300 you know what i mean like you have to like he's back you can't be a slap hitter if you you can't hit uh between 13 and 15 or uh 12 and 16 home runs and not hit 300 or close to 300 and walk more too i mean you really need to you need to be productive in that area if you're not gonna have the power especially at a corner position whichever one he's at you know exactly it's it's the corner position thing like like that's what makes it so crushing in a way and the defense has been good like defense is like so i don't even good i don't get worried

anymore i'm so with you dude i said that to my brother i was saying yesterday i was like so we were lamenting the the lack of power from moment i was like you know it's so funny it's ironic it's like defensively it's like i don't worry at all it's like it gets hit to him i'm like he's got it like i never worry it's vacuum he's a vacuum at third base and he's been good at first without much you know history there he's like done a nice job yeah it just it's just the power and i it's the last couple games with him has been like really frustrating because it should be there but if he can just be like dude be like, dude, if you want to be a right center field guy, that's fine.

But at least if you're a right center field guy, you need to ball out of the ballpark to right center field. The home run in Texas, that's what I want. That is perfect out of the ball to me. Whatever. But what I can't have is trying to pull the ball guy that ends up just jamming the ball into the ground to the shortstop or like the third basement that's that's not a good version of alec bump hopefully today was like a a bit of a breakout point where

it's like okay i'm just gonna get back to doing what i know how to do and if the ball goes out the ball goes out i've tried pulling the ball power, but it just doesn't work for me. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe as we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers.

We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. I have one more question about today's game, but quickly, and we'll get to the take back after that, but quickly your thoughts

just on the three starting performances we saw this weekend. Obviously, I think Christopher Sanchez I'm most interested in. But anything from Wheeler today that worried you, or is it just one of those starts? And Taiwan just continuing to look really, really good. At what point? I mean, his last 10 starts, he's been better than Zach Gafflin. He's been great.

He's been great. He's been great. He's been really good. He's been great. He's throwing harder. He's throwing with more conviction. His velocity is up. He's getting strikeouts. He's getting strikeouts.

The splitter is splitting. Even the cutter, I thought, was interesting the other night. So it's tough. I don't want to say it, but you how i feel you know how i feel i trust him and i no longer worry about taiwan walker starts which is like a pretty high compliment if you want to talk about how about this for a compliment i picked him up for the spot star i picked him fantasy in that met star and it was a great pickup. I didn't drop him yet. Like, you know, that's a compliment.

I'm like, I trust you to go out and pitch well with my fantasy team. Yeah, and the way we treat our fantasy teams is like family members. Like Jack said at the beginning of this pod, we're never going to be or we're not real Major League Baseball GMs. This is as close as we get. Yet. Yet. Yet. Yeah, so like Tyler Walker's good.

Chris Sanchez, been better than I thought, frankly. You know, he looks like just a perfectly competent five. And the interesting part with him is when people are talking about like go trade for a fifth starter, trade for whatever starter, like what they have to decide is what provides more value and if christopher sanchez can just go be that yeah just go be that then you can't tell me that going and and using your assets on a hitter is not the the better resource here and like what what christopher sanchez has been is better than what cinder guy was for them last year that they traded for as a fist.

Traded who they trade for him. Yeah. Uh, Oh God. Yeah, dude, he's been on fire. Why not Meg?

Because Mick's killing it in, in California. Five for five last night, by the way. Five for five. You know what else he's doing? Hitting home runs. That'd be nice to have here.

Well, he does have four more home runs than Bryce this year. So, um, but who's counting and less games too way less game anyway so what they have to decide and and the other thing that like i feel like no one talks about for as much as people talk about like oh well well bryce will be at first base it's like well i don't know that like i can't it's hard for me to be like he's gonna play first base when he's coming back for Tommy John. And like, I just like, I am more operating right there with you, dude.

I'm so like, we'll see, man. I like I would not be at all surprised if he doesn't play the field at all this year. Like, that would not shock me in the least, you know? So like, I'm operating. I don't know if I want him to like worry about hitting home runs before you worry about playing the field, you know? So I'm operating under the assumption of, yeah, if he plays there, great. But I don't know if I can bank on that. What I feel like absolutely no one is talking about is Andrew Painter. I mean, what if Andrew Painter just comes back and is your five starter?

And then you have. Well, did you hear Topper was on with us in the morning show and said he's throwing a bullpen, which was news. But also Joe had a good follow up and asked, would you be at all hesitant to insert Andrew Painter into like, you know, playoff push starts? Like if you're fighting for a playoff spot in August, September, whenever he's ready. And, and Thompson was like,

nah, he's like, I wouldn't really worry about it. He's like, this kid's really good. Like that was basically his answer. So it's like, you know,

it's a really interesting point. Yeah. Um, and I, I, I jokingly ripped the camera a lot. Uh, I think the,

I think the Rob Thompson interviews you guys do twice a week are the best thing you guys do. Nice. I think I would credit Thompson too. do twice a week are the best thing you guys do. Nice. I think... I would credit Thompson, too. He's phenomenal. He's very honest, man. He says what's on his mind.

Mm-hmm. So, like, if you have Chris... Like, Sanchez pitching like this, I just don't know... I don't think the fifth starter thing becomes that huge of a problem if he's the guy, and then Painter comes back,

and if you want to go six man you can or painter is just your five starter and sanchez can be a bulk guy especially like strom is better today but there's a part of me that wonders if they like phantom il strom here in a little bit because of the ending i mean they essentially have to they may like it's it's been a lot of of fetching but a lot of innings, man. Regardless, if you have Wheeler, Nola, Ranger, Taiwan, Painter, slash Chris Sanchez, it's mostly fine. Yeah. It's good.

It's mostly fine. It's fine. Then you need a bat. And that was, again, that's been my takeaway all week. It's like they just feel like they're a bat short. Which I can't believe we're there because they should not be. It's ridiculous, but that is flat out where they are. But it shouldn't be, regardless.

Obviously. You know, like we can make fun of the Mets for their payroll. It's not like we have a cheap team. Yeah, it's not like we're the Marlins. It comes to the offensive department, you know? So, so yeah yeah so so i thought santras was fine and and i think he's going to be fine most more often than not regardless he's not dealing kobe um that's for sure and wheeler anything was it just a weird day or but it's been too it's been two weird starts in a row like i i know people look at oakland a bit oh he was good nah like he wasn't um

and he just today felt all mechanical it felt all mechanical because he was just a bit off on so many pitches uh fastball command was not where it's been the last couple starts um and the nice but the nice part about this wheeler run right now is that even when he's not great, he's not bad. You know what I mean? And, and I know that's like,

doesn't sound like a compliment, but that's what's made Zach Wheeler. So great. The last couple of years is during his stretches where he wasn't great. He wasn't terrible. The problem with like Nola is that it feels like he has those terrible starts mixed in whereas zach wheeler his bad starts are like four innings and six or four runs in six innings um so that's like for me i think he's just working through some stuff the

fact that he's still hitting 97 in the sixth was was important um and i it's it's so it's it's just not a concern for me at this point i think it's just two weird starts with bad mechanics in a row i agree with that all right uh last thing before the take bag and it's a pitcher question for you jack i want to get inside the head because um look obviously i i feel pretty confident that those mets pitchers did not purposefully hit the Phillies to give the game away. It would be a really, really dumb strategy. And I don't think that Craig Kimbrell wanted to put the leadoff runner on base. But, but, is there any chance, because obviously there's been some friction between these teams already this year,

that with those players getting hit, even if it wasn't on purpose that when kimbrough falls down in the count 20 behind in the count saying all right i'm up against this a-hole like i'm not i'm not gonna i don't want to challenge him like i'm not gonna challenge this guy i'm gonna walk him anyway i'm gonna pitch around him he's probably gonna take the pitches anyway why not throw it in his back thoughts uh i mean i'd be lying if i said there wasn't a part of me that was like i hope so like i hope there was a part of him that was like because made it so funny it's all i can think about in the moment is that after it i mean just started dotting 97 on the outside corner i know and it looked like when at first i was like oh no way and then i watched the replay and it it didn't look like the pitch got away from him on the replay like it looked like it was kind of like oh like i think he's kind of

going for it i don't know well and and especially obviously you don't want to walk the lead off it i think if it was like oh two he's not hitting not hitting him. I think if it was 1-1. That's what I said because he was down 2-0. I think if it was not 2-0, I would not even ask the question. And at that point, just thinking through it pitcher-wise, the worst thing that can happen is him tie the game up. Well, and especially with the Mets lineup to the point where you made it with the Phillies lineup, the Mets lineup really falls off after that.

I mean, you got Tommy Pham coming up in there. You know, all the players. Yeah, Kanye, it's like a really ugly, it's a big drop from Alonzo. Like, if you're down 2-0 to Alonzo and you have to challenge him, like, eh, maybe just put him on and face the other guys.

Take a shot. Yeah, I like the theory. There's a part of me that's like, yeah, I hope so. Like, because, like, listen, there's nothing more that I would love than bad blood between the Mets and Phils. Totally.

And especially with that guy. You know, they could hit him every time. Well, it's just like, just get up, Pete. Just get up. Who whines about being hit more than him, too? Like, really. Like, I get it. I know it hurts.

I'm not, you know, an idiot. Like, I'm sure i would crumble to the ground in tears if i get hit by that pitch but like you're you're big dude you're like one of those and i'll like home run leaders and baseball guy like you know like stop whining all right yeah well i mean the most elliot shore parks take i think i could have is like elliot with elliot would say right now if i had to guess he would say i would have just walked to first base oh of course he would elliot of course he would zero 100 he would i would have taken it yeah and i wouldn't have i would have felt nothing i

would have walked to first base he would have been carried off on a freaking stretcher of course he would have been of course he would have been. So I like the theory. I hope you're right. And that's, Hey, that's why Craig's here to be, to be an enforcer. That's right.

Yeah. Veteran leadership, buddy showing you how it's done. All right. What do you got in the tape back? Jeff Hoffman's look good into two appearances in a row, which means that in a tie game upcoming in a big spot, he will be in.

There's no doubt in my mind. As much as I hated that move and still hate it i'd much rather have jeff hoffman than what's his name who came in today brigham or whatever in a hundred and it's and natalie dude i think i'd rather have coffee i think i think i'd rather have coffee um i'm not gonna talk i i'm not gonna talk covey um i'm not gonna talk i i'm not gonna talk about two straight scores appearances by dylan covey but no don't talk about it move on move okay move on speaking of moving on yes andrew pilati in lehigh valley has not allowed a run yet why isn't he up here like it doesn't make any sense to me it makes no i was to get the other so like here's here's like all these guys like and hoffman's been good and marty's been good

and stuff but like it's just like where's blotty like that guy's pitched in big spots for you here is my my explanation of it covey has a place on this roster because... It has to do with options, right? No, no, no. I think it has to do with mop-up duty. I think that's what it is. It's that he needs to be... If one of these start... I agree with that. You do. They do need a long man

until Nick Nelson's healthy. And it stinks, but they sort of do. Now, the starters have been great. Again, their best stretch since 1964, which was a year that nothing bad happened to the Phillies. Perfect game, Jim Bonney on Father's Day. That was the only thing that happened that year. Only highlight of the whole season.

Exactly right. But, like, God forbid, when these guys go three innings and they're down, like, 5-0 or whatever, that's Covey's game where you don't want to to blow you don't want to use some of these other guys yeah so that's that's my explanation for it no one that i think you're right the one that i disagree with is marty and you know that i love at this point it bloody is better marty of course he is i mean he was pitching playoff games last year well he's better than hoffman probably course he is. He was pitching playoff games last year. Belay's better than Hoffman probably. I like Hoffman, but I would probably rather

Belay on the roster than Hoffman too. Probably. I'm a sucker for 97 with this. You're asking the wrong guy. I'm sorry. No, buddy. Trust me. I'm a sucker for all these guys with stuff. Except when he can't... Marte, I don't have confidence in.

I love the stuff. I love the army i don't have confidence in like i love the stuff i love the arm i just i i'll never have confidence in them um so that's that's that um i do want to uh i like it's it's not like serious serious um but i just like want to because you know you and i like you don't lie to the high hopes listeners never um and i just like you know i all i care about is like transparency so like there's gonna be more ads on the podcast um so and i'm it's it's a good opportunity for us um i i know that it might be a little bit overwhelming listening to it but like it was it's a chance for us to to hopefully make more money and and all this stuff so um i'm sorry in advance if like you're not an ad person but it's really not that much like it's

just not like it's you can it's just it's not it's not a crazy amount of ads compared to like there are buttons that have been created that service certain things and look at the end of the day like and jack and i you know if we've met you you know how much we care about the hopes community and what we built here and how much listeners matter but the pod's free you don't have to pay for it so you know uh so you know let us you know maybe hopefully um you know help out zoe and walker a little bit you know what i'm saying yeah so uh kids man they're not cheap just uh not a cheap school next year i'll tell you that much yeah i know so uh just don't be surprised just don't be surprised if if there's a couple more ads whatever um i just wanted to uh talk about that um the

losses you're such a you know stand-up guy well you know i just try to try to be honest i'm not trying i'm not trying to i don't want to like act like we're sneaking anything by people you know what i mean no i'm a big fan of that i so fully fully fully agree um obviously the loss of sir anthony is already like paying dividends i mean like the hoffman game should have been sir anthony spot uh dividends is the wrong thing dividends is it is good things dividends is when you get good things i guess it could be bad dividends maybe there's such a thing as that yeah why don't you go to business school yeah well it Well, it's already hurting us is the point.

Yes, it is already hurting us. I thought Brandon Marsh looked good, which is important because he needs to look good because he's the center fielder. I will say this about Brandon Marsh. I just I have never in my entire life

seen a player foul the ball off their feet, their shin. Oh my God, I know. Like more than Brandon freaking Marsh, dude. Unbelievable. It happens. At least it feels like once a game. You know, at some point it's got to be like...

It's like he's got like clown feet or something like that and he can't get out of the way. It's like, it's strictly because of his swing swing like his swing is the reason why he he hits the ball again like i've watched utley i've watched howard i watched rollins i've watched harper i've watched like a ton schwarber marsh fouls a ball off his leg once a game once a game like there's no doubt about it once again b, Brandon Marsh is hitting the ball off of himself. And you know, every time it happens,

he's like, well, how'd that happen again? I just, I can't, I can't, I can't deal with it. Like stop hitting the ball off your leg.

He was like hurt for five innings today. That's a weird thing that I've noticed. It's a super weird one. That's a good point. You're absolutely right. I thought another weird thing that I've noticed. It's a super weird one. That's a good point. You're absolutely right. I thought another weird thing I noticed a couple of podcasts ago that is continuing to rear its ugly head. Dude, they just can't turn double plays.

Yeah, I know. It's so annoying. I was watching, I texted you, I was watching the Dodgers and the Astros last night. And I saw Mookie bets turning a double play. I'm like, they got a fricking, their center fielder is at second base turning a double play. And it's like,

we can't like, we never turned like what the hell is this? Like why, what was going on right now? Yeah. And one of those, they just like, Turner's got a slow transfer and his arm's not great.

But man, it's just, it's so annoying it is like there are a few things i can't wait like that i that i want to see again as a phillies fan uh one is obviously corner outfielders that can both catch and throw the ball yes and hit for power an impossibility i don't think that's something and hit for power. That seems like an impossibility. I don't think that's something that's ever going to happen. It seems like something that should be prerequisite for playing outfield. I don't feel good about that happening, if we're being honest. And the other thing... If I had to bet on what was going to happen, I wouldn't count on it.

The other thing that I just cannot wait to eventually watch as a Phillies fan is just the simple ability to turn a double play. I cannot, I can't sit here every night and not be confident that a routine double play ball is not turned. It is just the worst. It was the worst. Speaking of the worst. Ooh. worst it was the worst um speaking of the worst who francisco alvarez trying to get a strike call

on every single pitch no matter if it's low like his framing was out of control i'm a i'm a very big framing guy i am like you know i i appreciate the art of framing but don't hold the glove there like it's a strike when it's a ball and you know it's a ball and you're trying to trick the umpire it was there was points like it was just egregious today like i think it was a short where the ball's like four inches under the under the strike zone he's like holding it there like you're not gonna call that no no yeah it's good take i like it so that was annoying um one more thing and then obviously like we're we're two weeks in the draft buddy so i'm sorry but give me two minutes okay we could do that um is that

now or one more thing and then that one more thing thing, because this is, this is between you and I, and now our listeners, the immaculate grid is controlling my life. Oh, buddy. It's everything. Like it's Jack. It's all Jack.

And I've really talked about last few days. I got my brother and his buddies hooked on it. Like I spend so much of my, my mental energy on a daily basis now and a couple days I've done this thinking about it I walk around thinking about it all the time so if you don't know what the Immaculate Grid is

essentially it's Wordle I guess I never played Wordle but it's for strictly like baseball trivia so if you just go to Immaculate Grid Wordle Sudoku combo kind of thing almost yeah it's basically like so today's for example um it was like the teams on the top were reds

giants and then an mvp and then on the left side astros giants on the top and then reds pirates on the side sounds like you looked at that for far too long because it took you four hours ever to come up with a freaking astro red it's great and then and then it was uh like 30 stolen bays in the bottom you have to like match the boxes you know somebody fits both things so it's it's a thrill ride let me tell you it is a thrill ride buddy so if you were a if you were a true baseball sicko yeah like a you gotta be like it because i just i spent an hour today literally going through my head of just thinking of every single red and that like i believe i uttered the phrase in my head today was octavio dotel i did too i'm not even kidding i i was octavio dotel

a red was a phrase that came out of my mouth i swear to god all my life that is hilarious dude i need to look it up now yeah he was not he was not i looked at he was not a red i looked it up afterwards yep he was not a red i looked at afterwards yeah because it was that was one of the ones afterwards i looked up like the five or six closest ones i ended up getting wade miley thank god i don't know how i pulled it out and i i was only like 85 sure he was a astro i remembered for sure it was red anyway this is what we've been doing it's the best game ever if you love baseball at first i was annoyed that there's only one a day and then i was actually like thank god there's only one a day because i would never do anything else it consumes you completely so yeah good call this is great dude october by the way a quick tangent

these are the teams that dotel played for mets houston oakland yankees royals braves white socks pittsburgh dodgers rockies toronto st louis detroit that is like edwin jackson ask i did not remember him pitching for all those teams the guy i didn't either i could have gotten houston and chicago maybe and like i would have gotten st louis i would have gotten st louis and st louis yeah for sure that's so funny um all right before you take your minute um and you know i'm sure at least someone's going to tune out. Two minutes, whatever. Shout out to Miller Lite and shout out to the Miller Lite Bar of the Week.

This week's bar is Monaghan's Pub. This week's Miller Lite Bar of the Week is Monaghan's Pub in Essington where you can watch all Philly's games with $3.50 Miller Lite bottle special. Go to monaghanspub.com for more info.

Shout out to Miller light. Celebrate responsibly. Miller light for Phil's wins. Do your thing, buddy. Do your thing. So obviously I'm consumed with the immaculate grid and, and the Phillies, but man,

I got like, I am just, I am just, I am just jonesing and again every year i have this rant and every year it it does not come to fruition i thought maybe during the cba they would figure it out um there's two things that the draft they need to change immediately to make it more interesting one they need to allow the trades of draft picks because it it makes me so angry that i don't think chase davis is going to be there but i think he's going to go like between 20 and 24 and it's just like i've now like my

life now is around chase davis being a philly you know i've already had visions of him replacing shortburn left and having a hose and hitting like cargo-esque bombs and like just being the coolest player in baseball and it i'm getting out in front of him not being a Philly, which is not where I want to be as a, as a fan. So that's one of them. And the other thing is obviously you don't need to penalize teams for draft picks for signing and paying for players.

Like just stop. It's, it's, it's the worst. Like the Phillies, the Phillies don't have a second round pick this year. I don't think they have a fifth round pick this year i couldn't agree more man it's so dumb it's i just hate it absolutely hate it um but the two guys that i want so like chase davis

is not being removed as my number one guy herson waldrop who i i sent you a video of myself uh holding up you did buddy holding holding a split change up like i would die to have him be a philly um like there's a couple other guys that like all of my guys essentially james like you want to know how i mean you want to talk about the eye like all the guys that that that a month ago were going to be there at 27 are now going like 12 through 20 and it's just it's just truly sickening classic fritz right here well it's just the worst because then i get so excited i'm happy and whatever um anyway uh johnny farmello and uh sammy stefora so sammy stefora is a new york shortstop who has been linked to the Yankees. Could be the next Volpe. We'll see.

But if the Yankees pass him, Volpe's going to be fine. I am very confident in Volpe. But he's like the classic, late-rising Northeast high school player that doesn't get scouted. That one of these smart teams

just steal in the late 20s. That's who Sammy Stiforo is to me. And then the only reason I want Johnny Farmello, I've watched him, like the swing obviously needs some help. He clearly hits the ball really hard. But it seems like the Dodgers are already working out a thing with him. And it's just like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm taking him at 27.

I'm taking him at 27. You can't have him in the second round. You can't do your little dodgers thing this is good so i'm getting out in front of that either way um i'm all over the draft like i just can't wait it's like i think about you look there you're so giddy right now you're way happier right now than you've been about any point talking about the phillies winning the series you know because i agree i agree i'm, it's not a criticism, just a fact. Why would I think about the 2023 Phillies when I can easily think about the 2026 Phillies?

And I just like Chase Davis is such a, he is a, he is perfect. Everything I want. He has like, I've never, I've all I want is players that look cool hitting home runs. I feel like I haven't really gotten that.

You know what I mean? I don't know. These guys just kind of hit home runs and they go. A little bit of cockiness goes a long way for me. He also doesn't whiff and also makes sure that the pitch is in the strike zone, so that's a good sign. Either way, he's going ahead of 27, so I'm just going to have to think about something else.

I have moved on to Sammy Stmy sephora and uh johnny farmella well done buddy oh by the way um uh shout out to you hate to do it uh i met a young man named ryan came into the studio uh for the morning show and was a big high hopes guy super excited to meet him um and i gotta give you a shout out i felt better about not cursing on the pub when i met ryan i was like you know i'll bet you ryan's mother i believe her name was mara i'm sure she's happy that we don't curse in front of ryan so you know credit where due buddy it was one of those real in your life things or in your face things or it's like okay well or it's like, okay, well done Jack. And,

uh, you know, we don't lie. So well done. Thank you. I appreciate it. That took a lot out of me. I just want you to know that.

You, I think you more than any human being on planet earth does not like to say I was wrong. I hate it. That's not true there. We know a few people, uh, someone who,. That's not true. We know a few people. Someone who we know. We definitely know a few people.

I know one person of mine. Do they have a hyphenated last name? Oh, there's another one. I was actually another person. But regardless, yes, I don't like to be wrong. Neither do you. It's one of our things. Yeah, but I adjust.

You know what my problem is here's here's the real problem here's the real problem i'm always wrong dude like i like i can't i can't like i can't i can't like fight the good fight because like ah you know what i'll probably end up being wrong yeah i like this oh man all right uh so drafts coming up we'll have something cooked up for that because obviously we have to. Yeah, obviously you care a lot. Obviously it's one of your passion projects. Yeah, I will make sure something happens.

And we'll be back. This is an important week because they got the Cubs and the Nationals. And then after that, there's some, I know August is good. We've talked about that. There's some tough games after that. Like the Marlins who've obviously been playing great. They got the Brewers coming up in there. Not the Reds. Someone else in there. Oh, the Padres in there. So've got the Brewers coming up in there. Not the Reds.

Someone else in there. The Padres in there. So they've got some big games coming up. So this stretch of the Cubs-Nats is one you hope they can take advantage of. Yeah. Now, the problem is that, I mean, they just do not win games against the Cubs. You know?

Now, the good part is that they're coming back from london so hopefully that's a really good point yeah good stuff i like that i mean like that's huge you're right i mean usually usually in the nfl they get a bye week after that right it's a great point i like this i like where your head's at kid well done well done all right the philly's not coming from london but we'll be there next year yeah you're damn right buddy all right um you got anything else sir dinner and bed and all the good stuff my final thought yeah is that final thoughts six hours until the next immaculate grid comes out love that yes all right uh we'll be back this week. Play the Immaculate Grit. You're welcome.

That's all we're going to say. He's for himself. We'll see you next time.