High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - One Week to Baseball and Scott Franzke Joins the Pod!

Episode Date: July 17, 2020

The guys react to the week of intrasquad games with Pivetta throwing a no-hitter, Vinny breaking out and more but also bring on the voice of the Phillies, Mr. Scott Franzke (11:50 mark). Enjoy!  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. All right, let me just jump right in here.

Before we go back and forth and do our banner, we have Scott Franski coming up, and it's going to be awesome. I can promise you that. He's going to give us a lot of time, and it's super cool. But we have to address two things off the top before we get to something else that is incredibly important to address. Okay. Jack, let's address the two most important things off the top before we get to something else that is incredibly important to address. Okay. Jack, let's address the two most important things off the top.

Yes. You and I have both committed a heinous crime, a heinous act, and we both have to atone. I will start. I used the yo on another podcast, Goldberg's Pod. I'm hosting it for the first time. I used the yo. It was top five biggest mistakes i've ever made in my life good it will never happen again it felt awful in the moment it popped out elliot goaded me into it

i'll blame him for it it'll never happen again i'm here to apologize i'm here to off off the top here to get to the most important thing i am owning my mistake it will never happen again i i i i uh don't accept yet uh you have a lot you have a lot yeah i mean now now i did just write it down because i wanted to make sure that we did bring it up i wanted i wrote it down i got out it's called getting out in front of it yeah it's pr 101 it's a good it's a good spin zone by you that uh i didn that I didn't grill you later on it. Very disappointing from you. Mistake. We all make mistakes. I got you.

I'm just saying that the yo, listen, this is – It's holy. And that's – as it – you can even – and the funny thing, if you go listen to it, not that I'm recommending anyone should listen to anything but this podcast, even any podcast I'm on. But if you listen, you can even hear it as i do it the hesitancy in my voice and i know immediately you know what i mean good good that's what i like to hear that's what the never lie to the high hopes listeners never lie to the high hopes listeners uh and i i appreciate you you coming out then knocking this out head on uh i think i think all the people out there appreciate it because you know frankly we're all hurt um uh yeah i'm

hurt i'm hurt i i feel it too that's where we're at now what did i do what did i do well you i mean come on you showed the world that you like i i i struggle to even verbalize the concept of putting mustard on a cheesesteak. What are we doing here, Jack? What is happening? Here's what I don't get. You can put freaking mustard on a burger, but it's the same combination on cheesesteak, and all of a sudden it's a heinous crime?

It's pretty bad. It's not bad, dude. I think Twitter told you how bad it was. was dude i got 500 replies and 230 quote tweets do you know how many quote tweets that is it's a lot of quote tweets that's a ratio right there dude it was 500 replies it was like it was i mean listen listen that actually is like a really an unbelievable amount of for those who remember my most replies ever was over a thousand on that pete alonzo tweet that everyone got super mad about yeah 500 replies on a cheese like my my tweet got a thousand replies because it made it to like that's what barstool and all those people you know like pft commenter and stuff like 500 on

its own without that type of thing is actually unbelievable yeah and let me go inside baseball here it means i won i mean thanks i mean i appreciate it it's all you ever wanted yeah i mean i just thought your pin tweet i did listen you don't think i knew what i was doing i mean i saw the mustard i saw the cheesesteak and i said it's time to it's time to let the world know that i like mustard on my cheesesteaks and it was delicious like it always was oh god i struggle to look at you the same way jack whatever wait till we get my get to my pivetta takes let's get yeah speaking of it just to put a bow on this mustard is never okay on a cheesesteak there's some things that are holy

sure cheesesteak is holy all right let's talk about now that we've got the the less important stuff out of the way let's talk about the important subject so we were actually let's go inside baseball again we were supposed to record yesterday afternoon and something came up and we couldn't. And I get a text at like 730 at night or eight o'clock at night. All caps. You're so lucky we didn't record. Yes. Fired up.

Yes. Now, let me start off this this with a little bit of uh um coming forth because we never lie to the high hopes listeners um it's it's it's you know put that on my tombstone we never lie to the high hopes listeners yeah I was fully prepared uh heading into yesterday's podcast to give up on Nick Pavetta no and fully no and fully embrace cutter vinnie breakout vinnie i was i saw the tweets heading that direction i saw a little like vinnie am i in on vinnie action going on i know and i was fully prepared to say i am i what did it see anyone who ever thinks that you listen you would lie to the ios listeners this now is proof that you would never lie because this is a horrible thing for you to admit i know i was sitting there on uh tuesday

night and i said i said in my head i think i love vince velasquez and like imagine ever uttering that sentence in the history you're broken someone broke jack i mean besides the padre start in 2016 like imagine ever uttering that sentence about vince velasquez start so listen i was fully prepared to go all in and i guess i guess nick got the message and he fired four no hit innings yesterday i mean you know we'll get to the walks the walks did happen but edwin jackson threw a no hitter with like a thousand walks so if he can do it then why can't nick the great point so i mean i mean also to your point right there though i mean if you're nick pavetta and your one and only

fan is starting to turn on you i mean that should be a message yeah well i was just i was just i was just disappointed i wasn't mad i was just disappointed you know i saw vinny like debuting a change up that he could throw for strikes. I saw him throwing a cutter. Cutter. And I saw him locating a breaking ball that actually has a bite to it to go along with the fastball. And I was like, like, come on, Nick. Like, are you kidding me?

You know, Vince can do this. Why can't you? So, yeah, no, honestly, like, listen, if they're both going to break out in the same season, I'll take it. Now, like, listen, I don't think it was an unbelievable, like, Pavetta performance. Like, the red start was unbelievable. Yesterday was nice. It was good. I think it helped that he had JT behind the dish.

You know, I think it gave him a little bit of extra confidence. And honestly, like, the fastball control still not there um you know the the shortened arm thing i think is going to eventually help him with obviously it's already helped the change up like the change up actually looks like a pitch that he can use um and he got i think six swings and misses on it um from a nick pavetta change up which i didn't didn't know that was possible yeah i didn't know it was possible at all. So that was massive. The fastball location, I just think that, I think with the shortened arm slot, he's not used to finishing over his front leg and fully getting glove side.

And I think it's a little bit of a timing issue. You could see him kind of working through it on the mound. But if he can work to get glove side with that fastball coupled with the change up and and the already nasty curveball and i actually saw a pretty good slider last night from which was which was surprising like again this is why i was screaming for him to learn a change up forever is because if you're gonna have dog bleep fastball location like at least if you have a change up or something else to go off of that they don't know what's coming right they can't just tee up on your fastball like his fastball location. At least if you have a change-up or something else to go off of that. They don't know it's coming. Right. They can't just tee up on your fastball.

His fastball gets lit up. He throws 96 with rise and it still gets teed up because they know it's coming because he has nothing else to throw. So, it was a good start. It was a positive direction. Moving in the right direction. The change-up was really good. The fact that

he has that now. He threw it in 2-0 counts. He threw it behind hitters. He was pitching a little bit backwards. Like, that's massive. And, you know, it's not the worst thing in the world, especially in a shortened season with, you know, there could be guys going out with COVID and whatnot, to have six guys that can start a ballgame for you.

So, you know, one week from opening day. And especially with guys likely not being able to go deep into games for the first couple weeks of the season. I mean, starters are just not going to be able to go. We will see more four or five-inning starts than eight, nine-inning starts, seven, eight-inning starts, I think, you know. Real quick, and we're going to get to Scott Franski in just a second. I want to get more a little bit later after Scott.

We'll get into some more intra-squad stuff we've seen. Bryce Harper talking again. We'll get into other stuff to get into more specifically what you saw with Velasquez too. But just quickly, before we get to Scott, it hasn't been a long time, but how much of what we're – and again, this is intra-squad games. That old caveat we always give and all that. But do you think Brian Price is making a difference already? Well, I think the one thing Brian Price wanted these guys to all learn was a changeup.

So the fact that both Vinny and Pavetta have both learned a changeup I think is big. So I think that was part of his emphasis. Arrieta last night, again, you know, I don't know why. It seems like they were kind of trying to get him to work up on the zone. And having Jake Arrieta work up on the zone with his— Makes zero sense. It just doesn't make any sense. But last night he was down.

You know, his changeup's down. Two seems down. Everything was down, down, down. So it seems like they're getting back to that. But, yeah, you know, I don't know if he's changed so he's changed so much mechanically wise, but definitely getting these guys in the right mindset. Like, I mean, you would think that they would have learned by now that you need a good semblance of a change up to make it in the major leagues. And I guess it took a veteran pitching coach like a real pitching coach. Wow. Yeah. Who'd have thunk? Who'd have thunk? Who'd have thunk a

major league pitching coach could make a difference with thunk who'd have thunk a major league pitching coach could make a difference with a pitcher it's not just with a young pitcher what i don't it's crazy thought you're saying it's not just fastballs up and curveballs down that can that can work so yeah i think i think from that standpoint you know having a guy and plus these guys if you just talk to them uh or hear them talk about Brian Price, they just trust them. You know, I don't know if there was ever a level of trust with Chris Young. There wasn't. I mean, I think we have we have heard enough, whether it's Aaron Nola or Arietta or whoever. We've heard enough guys come out and bash Young publicly to the point where I think it was very clear that there was no level of trust between him and his pitchers.

No, no. So I think I think I think Brian Price going to those guys and saying, hey, you need a changeup, just carries a little bit more weight than when Chris Young does it. This is good. This is exciting, Jack. I'm excited. Are we going to get more? But for as excited as we are about Girardi,

it's not even just Girardi. It's the staff. The staff is great. It's It's the staff. Yeah, the staff is great. Like, it's a legitimate baseball staff. Yeah. No, I agree. Price, Dillon, I mean, Thompson with Girardi, I think those two work really well together.

We've seen that in the past. So I'm so with you. All right, we're going to get to Jack Stoltz and Velasquez. I want to talk about what we saw from Spencer Howard, what Bryce Howard had to say about Spencer Howard. Bryce Howard. And a whole lot more of me. Yeah. A whole lot more from the intro crowd and stuff. But now let me welcome in, it is our distinct pleasure to talk to the one and only Mr. Scott Franski. And it is our pleasure to welcome in the one, the only, the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies.

And a voice I know that I'm speaking for everyone when I say we cannot wait to have him back in our lives. The one, the only, Mr. Scott Franzi. Scott, thanks for joining us, man. Hey, thanks. Good to be here. Scott, I think the main question that everyone around the city is asking, you know, you've had 100 games off. Has Scott Franzi lost his fastball? Probably. I think the main question that everyone around the city is asking, you know, you've had 100 games off. Has Scott Franski lost his fastball? Probably.

My timing will likely be way off. I didn't get a summer camp. You know, we don't have any exhibition games to work into it. Yeah, I mean, you got a nice two games of exhibition baseball. I think you should be good to go for next Friday. a nice two games of exhibition baseball. I think you should be good to go for next Friday. We thought we would do some broadcaster inter-squad broadcasting this week, but it didn't materialize. I guess L.A. really wasn't into the idea of broadcasting inter-squads.

He refused to play for the blue squad, so there was no way we could reconcile things. Well, that's actually an interesting concept. You know, you think about players getting ready for the season. You know, you think about spring training and getting your reps in and all that. But you don't really think about broadcasters having to kind of build up to it. Is that a unique thing you're having to deal with this year without, like, a spring training to kind of get yourself ready for the season? You know, it is in just a small part.

I mean, honestly, we did a lot of research on the players that were on the roster, obviously, in, you know, January, February, March, before things got shut down. So I think the biggest thing for us is going to be an adjustment of, you know, just how we do our jobs. Not only, I know a lot of has been made about the, you know, the technical part of it and not being on site for road games and things like that. But I think beyond that, it's the time you spend, you know,

face to face with players, coaches, managers, that sort of thing, we won't have that access this year. So I think when you think about, oh, day-to-day, I wanted to clarify something that happened in the game last night, for instance. We could just find somebody at the cage or find somebody at their locker next day and maybe get a clarification on a play or scenario, whatever we won't, that won't be as easy to pull off for us this year. So I think that is going to be the biggest adjustment for us.

Yeah. That's a fascinating thought. I hadn't thought about that, how much that adds to the context of the broadcast. Obviously I think another clearly unique thing with this season and one of the things that from a fan perspective, I think is going to be so unique. And obviously for you, what are you anticipating with the challenges, the differences and all that with calling a game in an empty stadium? It's unique.

I have no idea what to expect. I can be honest with you. Good answer. Right. I mean, I don't know. I haven't done, I mean, I, you know, I think back to when I did minor league baseball and there were days when certainly, um, we were in, you know, you'd have very small, small crowds, um, and literally in, you know, low a ball, you know, some of the smaller towns. I mean, when I say small crowds, I mean, you can definitely have places where there were 100 people, you know, or less at a game, you know, on a random Tuesday night in the middle of July or whatever the case might have been. So I think back to those days, and I remember having to try to get up for that and make it sound important and everything else. So I hope we can all pull that off.

Again, I think we talk so much about it because it's unknown, and how will this be, what we don't really know. We won't know until we get into it. And I can imagine it's going to be weird. I can imagine it's going to be tough to sort of, I don't know, ride. I mean, you're riding your own emotions, plain and simple, and you're not riding the emotion of the crowd because there is none. plain and simple and and you're not writing the emotion of the crowd because there is none so um you know and then the the canned crowd noise and all all the things that the different parks

are playing i i don't know i guess we'll just have to find out it's a terrible answer for the purposes of this podcast but it's all i've got look i also think it just shows the the uniqueness of all this how how unique it is for everybody even the guys calling the game even the people around the team all the time like this is going to be different for every single person from the people playing it to the people calling it to the people watching it right yeah i mean there's no doubt it's it's different for everybody it's different um up and down the list. So, you know, come July 24th, we'll get started. And, you know, hopefully, knock on wood, we'll get through the 60 games uninterrupted

and see what happens for the playoffs. So, you know, hopefully everything goes okay. I know there's going to be challenges. There's going to be hiccups. There's going to be, you know, you going to be um you know you're already hearing you know different things about what stadiums you can and can't play in and people are coming up with all these backup plans so i think it's going to require everybody to be a little bit flexible what are you kind of uh what are you kind of expecting from a 60 game season do you think

it's going to feel like every game like kind of matters more than it's just game 30 of 162 game season i yeah i mean again i think we're in that gray area of we haven't done it before but um but i i have to believe that it's um when you when you really think about the numbers and you know we're baseball people and we're conditioned for the long marathon and 162 games. And we're conditioned to the fact that, you know, 60 games barely gets you into June and you know, what's that, you know, that's barely starting the season in a lot of respects. So I think as we get into it now, again, you're going to go the first.

Let's say you go the first week and it's all the whole feeling out process of travels. Different stadiums are different. No crowds. You know, how do you find emotion? How do you find energy to get going? Is everybody testing negative every day? Are there cases? What's happening around as far as the virus goes? And then all of a sudden you look up and you, I don't know, let's say 10 days, two weeks into the season. Well, that's close to 15 games.

Well, that's close to a quarter of your season. You know what I mean? So it goes by. You could be essentially in some ways out of it two weeks into the season for all intents and purposes if you have a really bad start. You know, I mean, I just think for so many of us, again, that's the way our brains look at it. That's the way our cliches have spoken about it for years and years.

We don't even look at this schedule until, like, June 1st, like until 60 games in. I mean, the standings. You don't really pay attention until then. Right. And now you're going to be, I think, more sort of hyper-focused on it. And maybe that's, you know, in part, that's going to be a media thing. Maybe players will take it kind of the same way.

But I definitely think that if teams don't get off to good starts, again, I guess it's kind of like the old adage. You're not going to win it in April. You could lose it in April, though. Same thing applies. You're not going to win it in the first two weeks, but maybe you could very well lose it. So I think for the team that comes out and for the teams that come out

and don't, you know, sort of step on the gas pedal right away, you know, it doesn't take long to look up three weeks in and find yourself a little bit buried. So, you know, again, I think that's – I hope that means, you know again I think that's I hope that means you know everything would be more exciting and and the like like you said Jack the sort of emphasis on every game would be more important I think that's what you know baseball itself is hoping for I mean could you imagine that 60game sprint with fans in the stands? I mean.

Yeah, it would be amazing. I mean, we might break out the rally town 30 games in. Especially our town. I mean, our town would be crazy if you're 30 games in, you're in a 10-a-race, you're halfway through the season. Yeah, I mean, but we'll see. You know, that whole piece without the fans, it's just going to be weird to see how it feels and how it looks.

Yeah, I almost feel like it can't have the same level of intensity unless there's fans in the building. The fake crowd noise, they're playing around with it and they're getting a little bit better with it, but it's still weird. It's like a weird kind of rise of the crowd, and then it's quiet at some points. At some points, it's just like, I don't know. It's just going to be weird.

Yeah, and think about a player's reaction. Think about all the playing to the crowd that Bryce does during a game and hitting a big home run. And now to think he can't even go so far as high-fiving his teammates, right? It's like how does – I mean, you know players feed off that emotion of the crowd and that moment. And whether they say they do or they say they don't, I know that most of them do. It's human nature.

And then the other part of that is that, okay, they play for their teammates. That's great. They can't even sort of share the same kind of emotion with their teammates that they could in the past. So, you know, that's a different thing, too. You know, I don't know. I think the teams, the players themselves that are able to get fired up, get emotionally invested in it from the beginning

may be staying the best chance of being successful. Yeah, now, obviously, you were around the team, like, every day last year under Gabe. It's pretty much the same team. Obviously, DeeDee's here, Wheeler's here, some bullpen additions, but it's pretty much the same team. You were around the team in spring training. What was kind of the feel around the team,

and what kind of impact do you think an addition like Joe Girardi can have on this team? I think it's important. Again, I think the players, you know, anytime you get a new manager, the players don't want to – they're not going to come out and, you know, say negative things. I mean, everything's always rosy and good and whatnot at the start. But I think the way you learn sometimes about how players feel about a manager

is when things are going bad and how a manager reacts. And, you know, Joe Girardi has a certain track record and it's a good one. And, you know, again, I think you find out most about the character of the guys in your clubhouse in bad times. And, and, you know, that same goes for, for, for the manager and the same goes for the manager, and the same goes for the coaches, too. I mean, coaches that are flexible, coaches that are willing to try different things,

and coaches that have solutions, and different kinds of solutions for different kinds of players. I think the Phillies feel like they've invested in just those kind of coaches and say Joe Dillon and Brian Price and guys that can be creative and help players make adjustments along the way. I know people have been excited about some of the things they've seen here with some of these inter-squad games when it comes to the pitchers. So, um, I think the mood was, I mean, the mood was good, um,

from what I could tell, uh, certainly in, in February and March. And, um, you know, I see no reason why, uh, you know, at this point, everybody's, uh, in pretty good spirits, just trying to get this thing going. Yeah, I think you made a great point in there, Scott. The idea of the players and teams that are able to kind of compartmentalize and take the external, unbelievable, unique external factors that none of us have ever dealt with in a season and be able to compartmentalize that and go out and play baseball and focus on that, I think, you know, could maybe change, like where maybe the most talented team doesn't win

because this talented team is able to focus in more or whatever. But with that in mind and kind of knowing this group of guys and all that, what's your optimism level for this Phillies team on this, you know, strange, unique 60-game sprint? Well, I mean, do I feel like they have the most talent on paper? No, I don't. In this division and obviously with the cross with the AL East, that's a really tough schedule.

Yeah, that'll be fun. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. We can be real here. It's tough. But, and again i i don't think the phillies have the most talent on paper does that mean they can't win or make the playoffs no they can um they are talented enough i think um with any season um injuries play a huge role and i think they're going to be really magnified this year because again as we talked about you know a guy goes on the DL for two weeks because of a hamstring uh that's that's a

quarter of the season just about you know that's a fourth of the season so it makes a huge difference if you lose you know Bryce Harper goes down with a groin pull or something like that I mean knock on wood you're not talking about injuries like that very often because I think if you are, you just don't have time to recover from it. And I know there's going to be extra hands on deck and a chance to have some extra players at the start and things like that that might help you help overcome some of that. But if you lose a significant player along the way,

I mean, whatever, Jacob DeGrom goes in for an MRI, something's up with his back. They say he's going to start opening day. Well, you don't think that – I mean, you don't think – how many starts is he going to get in a season? Yeah. It's a great point. If he gets like 12 or 13 starts, if he misses two or three, I mean, that's a quarter of his starts potentially that he's missing.

It's a great point. That's huge. And the same goes for any other starter. You know, Cole Hamels in Atlanta. Sounds like he won't be ready for the start of the season. So I just think, you know, the injuries may play a bigger part

this year than they ever have. Yeah. You know, I mean – Well, especially with the weird ramp up and ramp down, and we don't know if guys are in full shape. There's a lot of that. Yeah, you know, and I'm talking about the relatively minor injuries that are going to be magnified this year unlike ever before.

I mean, Tommy John is one. ACL tear like McCutcheon or whatever, that's one thing. Season enders, that's, you know – but a season ender here could be, you know. Could be an oblique injury. Oblique injury, you're done for the season practically. Like, that's crazy. Absolutely. So, you know, do I think they have the most talent?

No. Not on paper, I don't. Does that mean they can't surprise a lot of people? Certainly doesn't mean that. They're capable of it. They've got a lot of talent in that room, that's for sure. Now, I can't let you out of here without talking about the run from 07 to 11. And obviously, you were on the call for pretty much all the big moments.

In your opinion, what was the loudest moment at citizens bank park during that run that you were on the call for oh gosh um you didn't tell me that'd be hard questions i know that is a loaded question i know it's very there was a lot of moments a lot of big moments it's such a jack question too scott can we be serious this is like the jackiest jack question ever hey i've listened to those calls a thousand times you know that's why I just needed to ask yeah well my my loudest moment was obviously J Rolls walk oh buddy we know amazing yeah I still get LA just both of you guys I still get chills every time I hear it doesn't matter how many times I hear it. It's one of my Pantheon calls. It is one of my favorite baseball calls of my lifetime.

I still, one of my favorite memories, I'll just give you a couple of my favorite memories. And as far as it relates to the crowd and the park and the atmosphere, one of them, the last day of 07 before the game even started yeah i'm glad and is getting it handed to him oh yeah that's that was by the marlin and the phillies played 30 minutes later you know they there's like six runs in the first he gave up or something right he just got pummeled like six or seven yeah and the crowd uh and you know again it's not full at this point but they're filing in and they're watching it on

the out-of-town school board. And they're not watching the video. They're watching it on the out-of-town school board. And then we're watching it in the booth, and people are gathered up along the walkway underneath our booths, and they're looking back up in and seeing it on TV. And, you know, it was sort of that it's going to happen today kind of thing. Especially after the run, after the 7-17 back, like the culmination of it all, you know?

Yeah, yeah. And then for me, I mean, the night they won the World Series and I was not on the call, obviously. Harry was in the booth and I went down on the field to do interviews and just standing on the field, um, after that and seeing, um, the reaction of the crowd, seeing the players faces reacting to the crowd and reacting to the moment and, um, you know, realizing, um,

what it meant to the city, what it meant to those guys personally, individually, how much, I mean, the sense of relief after something like that, it was the first time I'd really seen that kind of thing up close and on a personal level. I mean, you just think about the number of hours that these guys put into this pursuit right um and to see it come to fruition and fulfilled uh it was it was just a really cool moment to stand out there and you know see the crowd um see the jubilation in

the stadium and to feel it and all that from the players. It was pretty cool. And not many people get to have that experience of being field level for a team winning a World Series in their hometown. I mean, that's an unbelievably unique thing, you know? Literally, I'm standing on the pitcher's mound. It's unbelievable. Because, you know, just the melee happened or whatever,

and I had to grab somebody, and I grabbed Victor Reno at one point. I remember we were waiting. You know, I've got the earpiece in or headset on or whatever. And I'm waiting to hear Harry and Wheels send it down to the field to start the interview. And again, I'm just looking at Shane and he's staring up into the crowd and you know with this half disbelief half relief half you know jubilation I mean like all these emotions are wrapped up in his eyes in that moment it was just a really cool thing to be let in on you know because it's really mean, it's a communal event.

There's no doubt. And the crowd and everything that the city wants and, you know, has wanted for so long and they got to experience it. But it's also very personal for those players, the amount of time they put into it. And I don't know, just seeing it from that angle was really, really cool. That's just awesome. And I'm sure our listeners love hearing that because that was a special moment for all of us too.

Like you talk about the players put everything in. The fans, you know, wait a long time for that too. And to hear that perspective is really cool. Scott, we cannot thank you enough for the amount of time you've given us today. Quickly on the way out here before we let you go, we like to sometimes have a little and do a a quick rapid fire few questions at dm with you if you don't mind a couple uh some on topic some off but just have a little fun at the end if you don't mind i'll start it off with an easy one what was your favorite thing that you watched during this quarantine period we were all in favorite thing I watched.

I got to be honest, I didn't watch very much. Right at the beginning, I watched Tiger King. Oh, man. As did we all. What a disaster that show was. Yeah, complete. But really interesting. Entertaining.

Come on, let's be real. It was super entertaining. I'm going to be totally honest with you. I think I watched, other than that, I think I watched one other TV show. Wow. And I watched one episode of Ozark. I did a lot of reading, but I watched one episode. Good. Oh, you got any great book recommendations?

I'm a reader. Book club? Let's see. I read some new. I read some old. I did read Zaleki's Doc Halliday book. That was the only book I read. So good. Yeah, it was good. I don't know. I'd have to go back through the list.

I mean, I read a ton of stuff. I don't know that anything flew off the page at me, to be perfectly honest. But, you know, I got through most of them. The kids wear me out, though. The kids' TV shows are on all the time, and that's what wears me out. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. What is the worst thing about having to work with Kevin Franzen?

Too many to name? Is this just too hard to pick one? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to make it sound like there's a big list or anything. So, again, Jack with the leading questions. You know Jack. I mean, come on. He's a friend of the podcast. He's literally doing this just so he can clip the audio and send it to his buddy, Kevin, and say, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Scott, I read you. the worst thing is um trying to um keep up with his energy level yeah i can see that that's what a good what a diplomatic answer from scott franski it's sometimes i can't uh like i just have to i'm gonna need to like tie him down to the chair and just, it's like my kids sometimes it's like, Hey, I got work to do. Just be quiet. Okay. This is what Jack has to do with me. I don't know when you guys are floating this podcast up, but I'm going to get a text about how long have we been talking? Uh, 25 minutes. Okay.

I'm going to get a text about 27 minutes after this podcast airs from him. You can guarantee it. I think that was the whole point of Jack asking the question. I mean, I would have said his hands. I mean, the effort in Arizona last year was just very sad from a former major league player. Yeah. It killed him. It did. I player. Yeah. It killed him.

I mean, it just absolutely killed him. Oh, one more fun one from me, Scott, who's the nicest player you've ever interacted with? Nicest player. Um,

uh, it might be, you know, just one of the nicest. Yeah. It doesn't have to be. Yeah. One of the,

it might be on a guy on the club right now, Zach Eflin. He might be one of the people. I mean, don't get me wrong. We've had a lot of really good people. And there's a lot of them right now. I don't want to, you know, whatever. But we've all talked about Zach Eflin and just how polite and courteous and he's been since day one that he got to the big leagues

and he hasn't changed at all. That's good to hear. Are we going to get breakout Pavetta in 2020 or what? I'm leaving that to you, pal. I think it's a mistake. I don't think Jack should be anywhere near this. The big Pavetta fan club uh it's just jack it's only it's a one-person club it's a one-man crew scott we are uh hey man i at this point you're the you're the flag bearer man you you are

you just keep riding it you know thanks maybe they may as well they're pot committed as they say yeah exactly thanks for the encouragement i appreciate it um do you think that la is going to make it here for the start of the season or are we looking uh maybe game 10 uh good question i'm not sure um i know he you know he's been in Florida the whole time. Yeah. He is a Florida man. Yeah. I know he had some stuff he had to do up here regardless,

if the season was going to start or not. So I do believe he's, if not en route, maybe already in Philly. Good to hear. I haven't talked to him in a few days. But, yes, my prediction is that Larry will make it to the season. The jury's out on whether he will make it through the season. Sounds about right. Jack, do you have any more trouble you want to cause before we let Scott go?

No, no, no. I'll let him go. I'll let him go. Scott, seriously, thank you so much for the time you've given us, and I'm sure we'll talk to you down the road as the season goes on, but good luck with the unique circumstances this year, and

again, I said at the top, but I promise you, all of us in Phillies Nation literally cannot wait to hear your voice calling games again, so we're psyched, man. Well, we're looking forward to getting the chance to call some. It's been a long time coming. But, you know, hopefully we can all do this the right way and keep everybody safe and healthy while we do it

and maybe entertain some folks along the way. Because I know we're all in need of a little entertainment, a little distraction from the way things have been. That's for sure. So thanks for having me, guys. All right. Thanks, Scott. Sure words were never spoke. Thanks, Scott.

Just the best, Jack. Scott's the best. Ah, I love Scott. Yeah. I mean, he gave us like 30 minutes almost. It's like he definitely has more important things to do than to talk to you and me so that was cool he does and like honestly like so i produced a lot of the games here you know yeah a lot like you've talked to

him down the line as they say every night a lot yeah yeah so it's like a it's always a pinch myself moment when it's like totally when it's like i pinch myself moment when it's like, totally when it's like, I'm talking to Scott France. And I'm not even kidding. What I said to him is true. Like that Jimmy Rollins call is like one of my favorite baseball calls of all time. And obviously I'm a Phillies fan. So there's a slight bias there and stuff, but like Scott's that good, you know, Scott is that talented that he is like an elite baseball play by play guy.

Like he's that good. Oh, I mean the, the i mean the the rollins call is unbelievable i mean i've heard i've heard obviously la's emotion and all that well that's make it that's what makes them great is that they're like what makes those two so good is that they're real like they just feel like real dudes they're funny they're entertaining and they're having a beer and talk of baseball that's what it feels like yeah they legitimately care about about the team and whatnot and hopefully that's what it feels like. Yeah, they legitimately care about the team and whatnot. That's what sucks about the no fans thing.

Like, I just, you know, for as excited... Well, we got into it a bit with him, but you could tell, like, especially with... We didn't talk about... We talked about it for the players more so, but for the announcers, I mean, that's a... Like, he kind of alluded to it, like having to, like, his own emotions going to have to carry him.

Like, it's clear that that's going to be in effect for announcers. Yeah, well, I mean, because think about it. It's basically a call- It's a crowd. Of course you do. It's a human thing. It's emotion.

You're in a building with all these people and this emotion there. It's a shared experience. Well, especially at CBP. I've been to a couple other ballparks. I think Wrigley has it. But there's that different level of electricity. Totally. When the ballpark's going, you can kind of just feel it.

Like you felt it last year at opening day. And that was really the first time you felt it, you know, since 2011, you know, it felt like. So like CBP has that different level of electricity that you can just feel kind of walking throughout the ballpark. You can just feel kind of walking throughout the ballpark. And, you know, we always talk about the CBP roar, you know, where it like slowly and then it explodes like the Victorino double, the leadoff, or in the first inning of Game 5 in 2008, like there was a different level of crowd going with it.

And you can just always tell that Scott's voice rises with the crowd. And like this year, if they hit a walk-off home run, it's going to be hard to make up the same energy. You can't be like, go on. You can try, but it's always going to fall a little bit flat because of the no fans in the stands. A hundred percent, man. A hundred percent. Literally, I was just watching. Very Fritzian of me.

Wow. Yeah. Well, you know in the intra-squad games, and it kind of just puts you other baseball highlights. And I was like, screw it. I'm just going to put on Phillies highlights. And I watched the Harper Grand Slam again. And it's like that's a perfect example of that,

where the emotion is all in the crowd, the moment, the rising with it, how it goes up and up and up and up and as it and the intensity builds as you know the cubs keep flubbing balls at second base and runners and the bases are loading and they're scoring runs like you can it builds there's an intensity there's an energy there that i agree jack is literally going to be impossible to recreate without fans in the stands yeah and like watching um watching guys crumble you know under the pressure is always fun and you know the crowd has has a part in that totally totally and i do think and i mentioned this with scott too but i do think that this year is a different kind of pressure or unique pressure

where it's this constant kind of overarching thing over the whole season that these players have to deal with and compartmentalize where i do do think that, I think teams that are able to deal with the circumstances of this season, the fear, the this, the that, there's so much stuff that I think teams that can compartmentalize and focus on what their task is maybe could exceed their talent, so to speak, in this particular individual unique year. But let's talk about a team that we hope is going to exceed what we expect from them. Let's get back to Phil's and kind of get into some more of the intra-squad stuff before we get out of here. We heard a little bit about your Pavetta thoughts, but the two other kind of big pitching

performances we've been talking about, Velasquez, I want more of your thoughts on why it seems like you're starting to buy in on on vinny which is a scary thought and then obviously i want to talk about what you saw from spencer howard before we get to the whole other spencer howard thing but start with vinny where are you at on vinny what's making you like because again look we've all done this right we've all done the uh i'm in on vinny again i'm in on vinny again i'm never gonna be in on vinny again like I'm in on Vinny again. I'm never going to be in on Vinny again. Like, why is it what's happening now that's kind of making you be like, okay? I mean, it's the cutter. It's literally the cutter. Like, I understand.

You know, I understand why people are going to balk at possibly being in on Vince Velasquez. And I'm not even like. You're not like, look, you're not like all in. You're not like, this guy's going to be great. Right, right, right. Like, I'm just saying that that there's i think there's a path to a useful pitcher right here like like a like a 375 vra guy and you'll take that from vince velasquez this year oh my god are you kidding me jack yeah definitely we would we would kill for that with vince velasquez but what we saw from him on on on what was it tuesday night monday night i think it was uh it

was no it was tuesday night it was tuesday night um was think it was Monday. No, it was Tuesday night. It was Tuesday night. It was just a different... No, it was Monday night. Was it? Yeah, Monday and then Tuesday I was there. And last time was Wednesday. No, last time was Thursday.

No, I'm right. It was Tuesday. Wednesday you were there. Thank you. It was Tuesday. I thought it was Thursday. Listen, we're doing a morning podcast. So what can you expect from me?

I know. We don't get to do these because I'm never off work at this time so it's beautiful exactly throwing off my whole rhythm um but velasquez like the cutter the cutter being there is just massive because again the same exact thing with pivetta it's it's it's that guys can't sit there and tee off on his other stuff minus his fastball. Like Vinny's fastball is an elite fastball. Like just looking at the numbers behind it, like hitters have a hard time consistently squaring up his fastball. His other stuff sucks.

Like it always gets hit. Like slider, curveball, never really threw a changeup, but this year it seems like he's starting to throw that more. But having the cutter to pair with a fastball and just being able to overpower guys and you know just when they think they can they're starting a timing down the fastball the fact that he can drop in that cutter and give them a different look he's just making him harder to to consistently square up and getting getting the ball off the barrel is the most important thing with pitching. Getting the ball to where, hey, I'm going to square this up,

and then last second ducks and a guy can't consistently square it up. And you saw him full hitters, which I didn't know was possible from Benny. He fooled JT Real and Muto. He did. Yeah, he did. And the part that was so impressive in the Real and Muto at bat

is he drops to a curveball in there. It was like sequencing and stuff. It was a 2-0 curveball. Started high, ended low, like most curveballs. And then just how important this growth is, he started a curveball. He definitely wanted it more outside. Whatever. He missed a spot, which is fine.

But he started in the same spot he started his curveball but it rose and and real muto couldn't consistently catch up to it and and then he dropped a cutter in there which he wasn't expecting and then he finally got him to ground into a weak double play on it on a change up like he he kept j3 real muto off balance he struck out bryce harper like these guys are are what bryce isn't he strikes out a good amount but yeah but still i mean they're still major league he kept JT Romito off balance. He struck out Bryce Harper. Like, these guys are, well, Bryce isn't, he strikes out a good amount. Yeah, but still, I mean, they're still major league, elite major league hitters.

Yeah, and he made Kingery look foolish on a changeup, which, again, didn't know was possible. So, like, I think there's reason to believe in Vince Velasquez. I understand there's reservations about him, but there is reasons to believe because of that cutter. He didn't have that in spring training. He learned that in the last three months. He's already throwing it for strikes and it has pretty good spin. It's not

super tight, but it's tight enough. I just think that's massive. It could get better if this is something he's working on, theoretically. He's athletic enough. He had a good pace to him. He didn't let things – like, usually if he walks a guy – like, the Real Muto bat I keep going back to, but whatever.

He walked Bryce on four pitches, I think. He fell behind JT Real Muto 2-0, then came back with a curveball. Like, when has Vince Velasquez ever shown that? So it seems like he's taking a big mental step forward. I thought Pavetta took a nice mental step forward. And listen, if you can get those guys rolling, I mean, those guys have talent to be decent, pretty good major league pitchers. I mean, we've seen it. Yeah.

I mean, two years ago, Nick Pavetta had some stretches and certainly individual starts where he was dominant. Like, actually. And we've seen Velasquez go on, you know, eight to 10 start stretches where he is a capable major league pitcher. And look to be, if we, you know, if you want to look at a glass half full, Brian Price is far and away without question, the best, most accomplished major league pitching coach that these guys have ever worked with period. And a story, I mean, I like Rick Kranitz. I think he's fine. But like Brian Price is a very accomplished major league pitching coach. So, and if there is, as we are discussing some sort of talent in these guys that

they have shown at a major league level, like it, would it be the craziest thing ever if Brian Price were to be able to pull more out of these guys than other guys were. No, I don't think it's the craziest thing ever. I'm not expecting it, but, like, it's not crazy. No, it's not at all. And that's the thing that kind of sucks about, you know, where baseball is kind of trending is it's getting away from real teachers, you know, teachers of the sport. Getting more towards numbers and launch and this and that. It's less so about teaching the fundamentals of baseball.

Exactly, exactly. And I think that what I like about where the Phillies are at right now is that they have Girardi, they have Price, they have Dillon. Dillon's a little bit in the— Yeah, he's less accomplished than Girardi and Price, just on resume-wise. Right, but he's also more into the advanced analytics stuff and all that. But he's also a good teacher of hitting from everyone we've read. From what we understand, yeah.

The Washington guys raved about him. Exactly. So what I like where the Phillies are at is that they have the major league guys who are good teachers, good teachers of the sport, and then they also have all the driveline guys. I mean, you know how we feel about O-Chart, but it's not even just O-Chart. Like they're, they have a ton of driveline pitching guys, which I think is only going to help, um, help get the most out of the guys coming up through the minor league system.

So they're, they're doing it. They're doing it both ways in the development side. They have the driveline guys. They're doing it both ways. In the development side, they have the driveline guys. They have the advanced technology and that kind of stuff, where the game is progressing. They have the right guys in their minor leagues to do that.

But on the major league level, they have a teacher in Brian Price, gets where it's coming from, has been seasoned, change-ups, mechanics, still working on the important stuff, but with what the minor leaguers have in the development staff that the Phillies have, I just think it's massive. I think it's the perfect mix of what you're looking for for a major league baseball team. All right, let's talk about the pitcher who, you know, I think he has the widest variance for us this year

in terms of we don't know if and when he's going to play and theoretically just how great it can be. But it was pretty awesome to actually get to watch Spencer Howard step on the mound at Citizens Bank Park and throw some pitches, even if it was to the Phillies. What did you take away from what you saw from him? He's got to get rid of the number 83. I think that's pretty clear.

Him in 83 and Boehm in 80, it's like, no, that's pretty clear i mean for like him in 83 and boom in 80 it's like no no no no no no no no no let's stop let's stop joking around here let's give let's give spencer howard like 33 30 i think you look i think you look good in the 30s um uh so yeah so so howard obviously comes out and it was disgusting uh just overpowering guys you know just just blew a fastball right by i test it's like i test stuff you just see some of this stuff and you're like oh that guy has it and i love i love the way he finishes you know he gets a lot out of his stuff um like he like he he explodes towards the plate how i want pivetta to get to like pivetta just kind of cuts himself off and

still has good stuff, but Howard is another level of stuff. Howard is power, power, power, and then he can throw the change up whenever he wants. The change up is such a difference maker, and the fact that he already has a feel for it, and Pavetta and Velasquez

are just kind of learning the change up, and they don't really have, he doesn't move, it's just kind of a change, a change of pace pitch for them at this point. But Spencer Howard is, like, legitimately a good pitch, and he has good feel for it. The slider, I think, is okay. Curveball, like, eventually he's going to get, eventually Howard's going to get to a point where he's going to throw,

like, a 75-mile-an-hour curveball forball for like an 0-1 strike or a 2-0 strike and then just get guys out with a slider. And then the fastball. I mean, the fastball is power, power, power. And honestly, he reminds me a lot of a taller Walker Bueller. Wow. That's a strong comp, my friend. He looks like a taller Walker Bueller.

They have similar stuff. I don't know about you. I was already envisioning a playoff start last night. I was just thinking about what it would look like. If he wants to be playoff Bueller, let's freaking go. Yeah. He's just such a difference maker, man. They're a year away from, I think nola could be the two i i think nola could be the two and spencer howard could

could exactly he's the ceiling is that i mean i mean how quickly howard wheeler and nola is a good three to go into any i mean if i agree with you i mean you look at the best three like take out the nationals because obviously that's unique and and just clearly the best three but after that i mean like if if howard is who we think he is like i'd put nola wheeler and howard up against like maybe that you know look look uh none of those guys is jack flaherty but you know i think if you take the totality of the top three with miles michaelis whoever's in there like i think you can put that phillies three up against any three in the national league really i mean bueller kershaw whoever you want to choose the third there's probably slightly better now but like the point is it's like comparable if spencer howard is what

we think is that's a legitimate three yeah i mean it's a little different than helix and o'sullivan uh just just barely ever man jared eickhoff it's like a carried away it's basically yeah um but well i mean it's just it's just crazy that it's just crazy that he's here um it it's basically the same thing yeah um but well i mean it's just crazy that it's just crazy that he's here um it it's crazy that the phillies feels like we've been waiting forever the phillies actually drafted him which was crazy you know i'm not talking yeah it's so anti like now that barber's here it's a different story but pre-brian barber spencer art is like a diamond in the rough in terms of phillies draft yeah now i Now, I will say service time is whatever. I don't think he's ready.

And why I say that is because it was even in the third inning of last night or the fourth inning that you could see his location started to get off a little bit, and it looked like he was starting to get tired. I don't think he's ready. I don't think he's ramped up enough to be ready to to to go i almost think he needs another he needs like another extra week or two to get up to being ready to pitch six or seven innings like you kind of saw the stuff start to to fall off a little bit in the end of the third inning um and i know service time is whatever they'll probably keep him down anyway

but i actually don't think he's ready to start the season yet i know i know i know last night was disgusting but i just i don't know if he's ready just yet and it's actual baseball reasons not service time reasons well it's a good a good segue here because uh we mentioned it before but bryce harper certainly thinks he's ready apparently on on a Twitch, Bryce Harper, yet again, spouting off. Bryce said, if Spencer Howard isn't starting in our rotation by game six in New York against the Yankees, there's a problem. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. GM Bryce.

Yeah. I mean, obviously it's a good thing that Bryce wants to win as much as he does. Yes, I appreciate it. You know, I mean, we could start with signing the best catcher in baseball, but whatever. I just think it's dumb. Like, it's one week. I understand it's a sprint to the finish line. But if it is seven days, which it seems like it is seven days.

It's one start. We're talking about one start here. which it seems like it is seven days. It's one star. We're talking about one star here. Right. It's like, again, like Jack and I, you know, like we want them to win as much as anyone alive.

Like we're diseased. Like we understand that every game matters in this short season. If all you have to do is keep them down seven days to get a year of service time, like it would be malpractice to not keep them down for seven days. Like that's just asinine to not get them next game. Malpractice. Mal-mal practice. Absolutely mal-mal. Organizational malpractice, it would be. And they won't do it.

They're not going to do it. They will get the reserves. So, sorry, Bryce. He's just putting, again, the team in a bad spot. Like, he is just yet again just, like, going against what the team is going to do in that situation, in that moment, and speaking out. And look, again, I'm with you. I appreciate cheer bryce i appreciate how bad this guy wants to win how he's willing to say like we need this guy we need that we need i appreciate it but in certain

specific situations he is just making it harder on his team uh yeah so so listen again love it i like love it yeah i love my heart loves it but like we got to be a little bit smarter here you know like i'm sure i'm sure the fellas are waking up to this like dude are you kidding me like like uh he's i mean bryce just calm down you know spencer will be up week two um and if you watch him last night i don't know if he's 100 ready yet i think he needs another week of week of ramping up to do. Well, and it goes back to what you were talking about before, though, wouldn't it be nice if you think that Howard is right now ready to give you three dominant innings

and then you can bring Velasquez, Pavetta, whoever, in to pitch the next four or something? That's an interesting option to have in a unique season like this, that type of thing. So, you know, I think they can play around with it too.

Yeah. Um, all right. Um, any other thoughts, uh, from the interquad stuff? And I do not want to hear the names, Andrew freaking nap out of your mouth.

Keep to yourself. What else is on your mind? Swing looks good. Swing looks fluid. I can't take it. It's funny, too, because in this weird year, this unique year, like, it's, you know, back catcher's going to matter. It's going to be important.

It's just like, oh, man. I mean, I will say I definitely like him more than Devin Grouillon. I do, too. I just, I mean, let's be real. Like, he looks like a major league player, and Devin Grouillon does not. And Devin Grouillon, and we're noteon, the dude is not a good catcher. He's just not a good defensive catcher. Not that Knapp's amazing defensively, but at least Knapp,

the Phillies believe he can handle a staff, which is the most important thing. I don't know if De'Veon. Knock Knapp all you want. Guy works good at bat, and he's a good clubhouse guy. He's a great clubhouse guy. People love him. You know? Yeah.

And listen. This is the nicest I want to get about Andrew. From what I've seen, I like Logan O'Hopp a lot, but that's just me. Yeah, that's a ways away. Yeah, a couple other just quick notes from what I saw. Kingery looks great. I mean, Kingery's squaring out the baseball, obviously.

Which is great considering, obviously. I mean, of all the guys the biggest like at least the most open about covid and and how sick he got and all that and to just see him back and and really seeming like he didn't miss much that play last night that play at second base dude that play yeah he's when was last time a philadelphia philly second baseman made that play like chase you know i don't even know if chase can make that play i don't even know i agree with you that was. I don't even know. I agree with you.

That was like a super athletic play, man. That's like a Manny trio. I agree with you. I agree with you. That was a super athletic play. RIP Tony Taylor. Like maybe his play. Yeah.

No, great point. Yeah. RIP Tony Taylor. Great Philly. Yeah. Kingery, honestly, like first time really being able to watch him play second base. Yep. Like he's special.

Like you can just tell he's a special defensive player at second base. I mean, again, that watch him play second base yep like he's special like you can just tell he's special defensive player at second base i mean again that play was elite second base play like that was elite yeah and i'm like he made some throw last night uh on a double play and i was like oh they're not getting this and it was just a dime like right to reese i was like look he could play third and short he's got an arm to play short like at second that's a he's got a he's has an elite second baseman arm. Well above average. Listen, I think he's going to lead the team in war this year. I can't wait for Kingery.

I'm really excited. Other things I saw, man, I hope it's just inter-squads, but I think Reese looks terrible, and he's starting to go back to his swing from last year his stance is going back to exactly what it was before and it's it is not i've not been impressed weak contact he's still again yeah he's still hooking balls you know i i don't pulling them he squared up uh damon jones last night but still didn't. It kind of died. Just I'm worried about Reese. I really am.

I hope it's just inner squads. But I mean, I can't either with my eyes are telling me it's like there's just no hard contact. Like, all I want to see right now is hit the ball hard wherever you hit it. Like, even if you're still pulling the ball, like, I want to see some hard contact. And I'm just it feels like every time even that like that fly ball that was like a little short of the warning track or whatever, like even off the bat and on TV,

sometimes you can get fooled by those even off the bat. You're like, Oh, that's not enough. You know what I mean? You just, you could, it doesn't feel like he's striking the ball hard.

Nope. Nope. Uh, and the other thing, like I'm happy is hitting singles. I'm happy. He's getting hits, but can I look Baum freaking launch one?

I know. Can we just hit a tank shot? You know, Jared Kalenic has – Another double over the shortstop – or single over the shortstop's head. It's like, okay. Thanks, Alec. Cool. I mean, I'm happy you're getting hits.

You clearly can square up a baseball and make good contact. But, like, let's launch a ball. You know, we don't always have to be thinking right center field gap. You know, let's get the ball in the air. So with you. Yandy Diaz, you know, let's launch a ball you know we don't always have to be thinking right center field gap you know let's get the ball in the air so with you yandi diaz you know let's let's hit some balls on day let's hit some balls out of the ballpark um and then final thing listen i love i'm all in on ramon raso being like the the setup guy for this team the guy's nasty and well they need a i know we've joked about it, and I'm not expecting anyone to come up and be as good as Sir Anthony was in 18

or whatever, but that idea of the way this bullpen is comprised, they are going to need one of these guys, whether it's Rosso, whether it's Damon Jones, whether it's McClain, whether it's whoever, and I think Rosso makes a lot of sense. One of these guys is going to have to come up and be someone they can trust in the sixth

or eighth innings. Like they're going to need one of these guys to be someone like that. Yeah. And I think Girardi actually said it the other day. I like that he's reading my Twitter timeline, but they they have they might have more talented lefties and righties, which is so weird. I don't think there's any question. Right.

I mean, like Liriano, Morgan, Alv james jones garrett clevenger yes jojo romero if we're talking about the the five relievers we trust most on this team and you know very loose definition of trust but it's hector narrows and tommy hunter are the only righties then it's liriano morgan alvarez in the next three yeah yeah i mean the the name another bullpen that has better lefties than righties. That doesn't make any sense. So Ramon Rosso, I think, is going to be the best right-handed reliever on this team, not named. Naris, and I hope he's on the team from opening day.

You know, I feel like they're going to kind of work him in and whatnot, and they're not going to put him in that role ASAP, which is whatever. But I think he could do the role as soon as possible. He seems confident. Stuff's legitimately good. I'm excited to see what Ramon Rosso can do. We are one week from Philly's opening day. I should have opened

with that. That's my bad. Literally, one week from today, it's going to be 1048, which is what time it is now for Jack and I recording right now. 1048 in the morning, one week from today, and you and I are going to be texting each other nonstop about tonight the Phillies play baseball. And it's going to be on Charlie Emanuel Appreciation Day here on WIP. I'm so ready. All the anger, all the frustration, it's all gone for me.

It's not forgotten. It's just all gone right now it's just pure excitement that's where i'm at and uh i guess one like the pictures that matter i mean wheeler looked disgusting which is great and uh arietta actually looked pretty good i'm not gonna be you know until i see it but uh it seems like the stuff's down is cut he honestly he took alec bone to school like just just he threw a cut out of the outside corner that Boehm was into the third base dugout with, which was a big welcome to the show kind of moment. Well, it'll be fun to see, too, this weekend.

I don't know if the Washington one's going to happen, but the Yankees, Orioles, we'll get to see some different play. Philly's actually pitching to opposing teams, which will be pretty neat. I can't wait. I need to see Clark Schmidt for myself. i hope the yankees pitch clark schmidt oh clark schmidt it's a good name yeah clark schmidt will work that'll play that name um yeah man and we're there it's exciting well obviously uh we'll have a pod next week but then we will definitely make time to record probably friday night after the game or saturday morning or

whatever you will hear from us maybe every day maybe every yeah once the phillies are playing baseball we'll be here as usual so my sleep schedule is already messed up i woke up at like six the other day because i was so giddy and i just re-watched the the inner squad like i just i i can't i can't tell you how how unbelievably happy i have been to just see Phillies players doing things on my TV screen every night. Like it's really, it's like made me a happier person. It has changed my outlook on the world.

Jack. Oh, one more week. Oh, let's go. Uh, you got any final thoughts, Jack?

I do not. Let's, uh, let's get to get the opening day. Uh, one last time. Thank you. Thank you,

Scott Franski for giving us so much time that was really awesome and um we'll be back next week talking about the phillies coming our way in in mere days and i can't wait he's fared some salsa with ceiling