High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Phillies Bullpen Is Unsung Hero of First Half | WIP Daily

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Tucker Bagley discusses the red-hot Phillies and the bullpen's success ahead of their three-game series against the Marlins. 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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See Kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Whether the action is at the link or the bank, there's never an off day on Broad Street. It's the biggest news of the day every day with takes from someone who's never short on them. It's WIP Daily with Joe Giglio. Welcome on in to WIP Daily. I am Tucker Bagley filling in for Joe Giglio today. It's Friday, July 7th, and just as hot as it is outside, the Phillies might be even hotter as they travel across the state of Florida.

They swept the Tampa Bay Rays last night in extra innings, a fantastic nail-biter of a game. They won 3-1 in 11 innings. They've now won 12 in a row on the road, their second-longest road-winning streak in the history of the franchise. They swept A.A. Tampa Bay's Rays teams. That's only been swept now four times in the last five seasons at home, which is simply

unbelievable. And just think about where this team is now compared to where they were about a month ago. I mean, you go back to June 2nd. This was a team that was on a five-game losing streak. They had fallen to a season-low seven games under.500. And since then, I mean, outside of the Braves, I don't think there's a team that's played better baseball. The Phillies are now seven games over.500, and since then, I mean, outside of the Braves, I don't think there's a team that's played better baseball. The Phillies are now seven games over.500. They're firmly in a wild-card spot. They still trail the Marlins by a couple games, and we'll certainly get to that series coming up this weekend.

They're the only three games separating us from next week's All-Star break, but right now, with the way the Phillies are playing, I mean, this is the best baseball we've seen them play since last October, since they won the NLCS, really since Game 3 of the World Series. And then obviously things came crumbling down after that. But you look at the way they were able to win and the way they were able to put together good at-bats against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Their pitching was phenomenal for most of the series. And for me, the most impressive thing about the way this team has been winning games is they've been doing it in a variety of ways. And you look at these three games that they took in Tampa Bay, the first one you win behind a dominant performance from Aaron Oil, which was much needed after his implosion in Chicago last week where he couldn't get out of the fifth inning. He goes toe-to-toe with his friend, his old teammate Zach Ethlin, and comes out on top

in a 4-1 victory. Then you go to Wednesday night where Tyrone Walker didn't really have his best stuff. He kind of labored through seven innings. He allowed four runs, but the way the offense really went toe-to-toe with maybe the best offense in baseball, certainly the best offense in the American League. I think they're averaging over five and a half runs per game at home, and their ability to just outslug them.

They kept piling on runs. They fell down to nothing immediately came back Trey Turner hit a home run to tie it at three at one point and then you kept adding on in the later innings and end up coming on top eight to four and then look at how they won behind Christopher Sanchez on Thursday night I mean Sanchez goes out, throws six innings. His only run allowed was a home run to Paredes in the fifth inning. And then the bullpen stepped up. And the way this Phillies bullpen is played really gets me excited for their ability to possibly go deep into October. Because even though they don't have Sir Anthony Dominguez right now, and he was kind of up and down, especially towards the end of his run before he

got placed on the injured list. I mean, they have a lot of guys who have been pitching really well in high leverage situations. Craig Kimbrell looks like the guy who suited up for Atlanta for a decade, who was probably the best reliever in baseball for about a five-year run. I mean, he won reliever of the month. I don't think anybody expected him to pitch this well when the Phillies signed him in the offseason it felt kind of like a an end of career flyer that Dave Dombrowski likes to take he did the same thing with Corey Knievel last year he traded for David Robertson he likes bringing in older veteran relievers who have pitched

in big games. And fortunately for the Phillies, Craig Kimbrell not only brings in a lot of experience, he's pitched really well. He's really been the closer for the team. He's got 13 saves this year. Jose Alvarado is second on the team right now with six. So when you look at this team moving forward, I think the biggest thing that we can count on

and probably the most consistent part of this team is the bullpen, which is crazy to say because the big names on this team are in the lineup and in the rotation, right? Just look at the payroll and who's cashing the biggest checks. It's Bryce Harper. It's Trey Turner.

It's Kyle Schwarber. It's Nick Castellanos. It's Trey Turner. It's Kyle Schwarber. It's Nick Castellanos. It's Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler at the top of the line. You could even throw Tywon Walker in there who signed a big deal in the offseason. But you look at the bullpenning, look at the way they were able to win on Thursday night by keeping Tampa Bay down, by shutting them down. I think they only allowed one hit after the sixth inning on Thursday night, which is just incredible. And that ballpark against that offense with guys like

Wander Franco and Randy Rosarania in the middle of the lineup, it's crazy because there aren't a lot of big names in this bullpen. Obviously, we mentioned Kimbrel Alvarado, Sir Anthony Dominguez, who's still on the IL, and we're not sure when he's going to be back. He still hasn't started to throw, but Andrew Vasquez has been somewhat of a revelation. He's pitching to a 1.7 ERA right now.

Jeff Hoffman came in on Wednesday night and closed out a game, albeit with a four-run lead, but he's got an ERA at 2.7 in his 18 appearances this season. Christopher Sanchez in his four starts, or five starts now, his ERA is hovering right around three, and someone like Matt Strom, I mean, where would this team be without Matt Strom, who really took over the fifth starter role to start the season,

moved back to the bullpen, and he pitched the spotless 10th and 11th inning and got the win against Tampa Bay on Thursday night. Listen, they aren't playing flawless baseball. At times, Bryce Harper's now gone about 40 days without hitting a home run, which is pretty wild. Trey Turner, his OPS hasn't been over 700, I think, since May 17th. He's really struggled offensively. He had a nice game on Wednesday night. He had a decent day in the field, and he's been a quality baser.

He's got 18 stolen bases this year, which is what you expect from a guy with that kind of speed. But this team right now is really built and winning because of how great the bullpen has been. And when you consider kind of how disappointing Trey Turner's been, the lack of power they've gotten from Bryce Harper, who still has an OPS right around 800. He's been an above average hitter, but right now we have a cleanup hitter who doesn't have a home run in over a month. You know, you factor that in with Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler still carrying ERAs north of four. This bullpen has been the best unit on the team by far. I mean, what they've done to kind of carry this team

and drag them along over the last month or so and really the first half of the season, when this team makes it to October, if they make it to October, they're obviously in a playoff spot right now. They have a lot of work to do this weekend where they could really solidify their standing in the wildcard rankings right now with a series win over Miami, who's currently three games ahead of them. And

we'll get to that in a little bit. But from what we've seen from this team, they're winning because of their bullpen. And their bullpen. I mean, for a franchise that really went about, I don't know, 15 years where every time a reliever would come in, you would roll your eyes and you think about some of the guys that they've had in recent years, guys like Neftali Feliz, Corey Kniebel, who did have, you know, his ups and downs, Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree. I mean, the list goes on and on of guys that you know maybe you lie awake at night and think about the days where they were tasked with coming in and protecting a lead and just don't have that right now I mean they have a lot of guys in the back end of their

bullpen who are really automatic have really been locked down clutch relievers for this team. And the fact that they're getting it from everybody, and the fact that Sir Anthony Dominguez hasn't been on the team in almost a month now, it's been about three weeks since Sir Anthony Dominguez last pitched for the Phillies, and they haven't really missed him. I mean, this was a team go back to October last year. This bullpen and this pitching staff was built around Sir Anthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado closing out games.

Obviously, they had Zach Eflin and David Robertson took down some big moments, but the bullpen and this team really hinged on those guys getting out, getting big outs late in games. And the fact that you didn't have Alvarado for a little bit, he's recently come back from the IL and you don't have Dominguez and you're still having this kind of success. I mean, hats off to Rob Thompson, who I think has managed this thing pretty brilliantly over the last month or so.

And hats off to Dave Dombrowski, who has found these guys and who has put together a bullpen of maybe a lot of names that we weren't familiar with before the season. But man, they're having quite a run of success and really helping a team that on a day-to-day basis, you might not know what you're going to get from the rotation or from the big names at the top of the

lineup and you add in with Derek Hall and he had a big home run against a lefty and hopefully that adds some power into an offense that desperately desperately needs it I mean they're currently eighth in the National League in home runs this three three-game series with the Miami Marlins coming up, I think it's going to tell us a lot about where this Phillies team is. I mean, it might be the biggest series of the season so far, and the Phillies and the Marlins have kind of run parallel throughout the season. The Marlins got off to a little bit of a better start, but they were just as good as the Phillies in the month of June.

I mean, Miami rolled out a record of 19-8 last month. of a better start, but they were just as good as the Phillies in the month of June. I mean, Miami rolled out a record of 19-8 last month. They're 3-3 right now through their first six games in July. Jess Chisholm is still on the IL. Obviously, they have Lalisa Rice, whose batting average has slumped a little bit. He's now just hitting a pedestrian 380 after flirting with 400 for the first couple months of the season. This is a team that I think could give the Phillies a lot of trouble. They don't have a lot of power either. They didn't really build a team

with a lot of power really looking at that ballpark. They have a lot of guys who make contact. They don't swing and miss a whole lot offensively. They've struck out just 700 times, which is the fifth least in the National League. And when you kind of look up and down their lineup, outside of maybe Jorge Soler, who has 22 home runs and is slugging 526 this season, they have a lot of guys who are just strictly contact guys. I mean, you mentioned Arise is hitting 384. The Marlins are just really a pesky team, and they're a team the Phillies have struggled with

historically. They're a team, except for maybe last year, the Marlins are a team that if you go back to 2021, the pandemic season in 2020, and 2019 you could say the philly struggles against the marlins are one of the big reasons why they didn't make the postseason they couldn't get over the hump during those stretches and right now a team who by the way sandy alcantara who's pitching tonight against zach wheeler in miami sandy alcantnor's pitching to a 4.9 ERA right now. The reigning Cy Young, a guy who the Phillies have faced now in nine consecutive series against the Marlins, all of a sudden isn't that fearsome?

He's 3-7 this year. He's allowed 102 hits in 107 innings. He's allowed 59 earned runs. His fielding independent pitching is a little bit better, which maybe kind of points to pitching is a little bit better, which maybe kind of points to him being a little bit unlucky, but they've been carried by the rest of their

starting rotation. You look at their bullpen, as much as we talk about the Phillies' bullpen being great, they have A.J. Puck at the back end of that, a former top draft pick who has really figured things out in the back end of their bullpen. He's got 14 saves for them. He's got 14 saves for them. He's only blown three. He's got an ERA of 3.3. They have someone like Tanner Scott

who's been pretty great with a 3.07 ERA. The rest of the rotation with guys like Jesus Lizardo, who might be their best starting pitcher this season with an ERA of 3.3 as well. This is a Marlins team that's just solid. They've put together a really good team. They play fundamental baseball. They don't make mistakes. They don't beat themselves. Right now, I think on paper, the Phillies are more talented than the Marlins. I think certainly. You look at the Marlins' run differential, it's still negative negative even though they have a better record than the Phillies even though they have a you know playoff odds right now around 70 percent which is pretty

incredible considering where it was to start the season for this team I think outside of maybe the Reds they're probably the most surprising team in the National League in the first half of the season. The Phillies going into Miami and potentially winning this series, I don't know if you can ask for a fourth straight sweep on the road. They obviously took three of four against Arizona to start this 12-game road winning streak. If you can take this series, if you can win another series before the All-Star break, and then something that's been talked about a lot is that August schedule where you have a ton of games at home, it would mean a lot for a Phillies team that doesn't necessarily have

great success against a lot of other teams in wildcard contention. And in a season where it might come down to tiebreakers, remember there is no game 163. You don't get to play against teams you're tied with. It mostly becomes head-to-head records. Phillies don't have a lot of those tiebreakers. They struggled against the Dodgers. Even though they took 3 out of 4 against Arizona, they struggled against them earlier in the season. If they can get a leg up on Miami, if they can win this series, if they can take at least two out of three and somehow go five and one

on this road trip, on this trip across Florida, which really looks daunting at the beginning of the week when they set off on it after losing a series to Washington at home, I think it would be the ultimate exclamation point on a roller coaster of the first half of the season. But it starts tonight. It starts with Zach Wheeler going against Sandy Alcantara, probably a great pitching matchup, at least by name.

Hopefully it lives up to the billing. And that'll do it for me. I'm Tucker Bagley. Joe Giglio will be back next week on Monday as we kind of look forward and look toward the rest of the summer and enjoy the All-Star break. Hopefully, the Phillies still firmly entrenched into a wildcard spot. Once again, I'm Tucker Bagley.

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