High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Phillies Win Another Series and Zach Eflin is a Tunneling God

Episode Date: May 13, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz recap the Phils taking two of three in Kansas City; including Eflin's dominance, Cole Irvin's sterling MLB debut, and more. Plus, the guys look ahead to another "show-me series" with the Brewers coming to town, and take some time to appreciate Andrew McCutchen's smile. All that and more on a brand new edition of the High Hopes podcast. 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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You can afford to hoard because ikea is priced for student life shop everything you need for back to school at ikea today this is the high hopes podcast it's a bunch of the iopes podcast a strange edition in the sense that normally i'm looking right at jack fritz but today my man had to take the day and go to the beach fritzy what's up over the phone, buddy? Well, I was just watching High Heat with Chris Russo, and let me just say that I much prefer the yo it is

to whatever Chris Russo does. I'm a bigger fan of the yo it is. Wow! I mean, that's a heck of a compliment. I mean, the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa And good afternoon, everybody. Out on it. Wow. Wow. That is a potentially slanderous take right there. Well, I'm complimenting you. I know.

That's true. I should be happy about it, but I grew up on Mike and the Mad Dog. Come on, Jack. Well, I know. I'm just saying, I bet a lot of people that listen to this podcast are like, huh, that's kind of Russo-ish. And I would just like to say wow i'm team seltzer i'm really honored to be i don't even know if i can go on with this podcast i might just let you

talk because well let me get you back what am i supposed to say okay because listen can we just before we get into this ruben amaro jr traded a washed up jimmy Rollins for a potential Cy Young Award winner in Zach Efflin? I mean, is it time to re-litigate the Ruben Amaro era? Well, I mean, when you add in the fact that he traded Jonathan Papelbon for a future Cy Young winner as well, I mean, yeah, could be. Could be. Did we judge Ruben too quick, Jack? Well, before we get too much on Ruben, the whole organization from top to bottom was in shambles.

I will say he did make some good trades, and the fact that he got anything worth value for Jimmy Rollins is crazy to me, and Zach Eflin is our Lord and Savior. Yeah, and we'll get into that. But I think still the fact that they, you know, hated analytics. We're not going to give Ruben too much credit. No, no. We can't give him too much credit.

All right, we'll get to Eflin and his complete game, a.k.a. the leader in Major League Baseball and complete games this season, Jack. We'll get to that in a sec. There's two. He's got two. He's the leader, Jack. That's all to that in a sec. There's two. He's got two. He's the leader, Jack. That's all it takes. It's all it takes, my friend.

You might lead the league at the end of the season with two. That's where we're at in baseball. All right, Jack, let's dive in. We had a great suggestion from at Patty's patron on Twitter for our issues with our Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, that whole thing. He said, hey, guys, how about you just refer to the games prior to the series as game one, game two, and game three?

That way you knuckleheads don't need to remember what day of the week it is. Jack, this is a brilliant idea. Thank you, Patty. Let's start out with game one. Jack, a lifeless effort on Friday night in game one as Jack. What's up with the Phillies in first games of series on the road? They hate it. I think they've won once.

It's unbelievable. I think the only one was that Bryce Harper game. The Bryce Harper return to Washington. That's it. Yeah, it's crazy. So if you are into gambling, let me just say you should probably bet against the Phillies in Game 1 on the road because they're allergic to winning. It's crazy.

It really is. And not just allergic to winning. They look like a completely different team, the games that follow, than they do in that first game of the series. What happens on the flight out? What are they doing? Are they just staying up playing cards? Because they just look tired.

They just look tired and unmotivated. They just don't want to be there. Jack, you missed the obvious. They're playing Fortnite joke on the plane there. Actually, the Friday night or the first game of the series on the road to Philly are actually just the September

of 2018. God, that's awful. Don't do that. Don't do that. It is awful. Don't do that. All right, what'd you make of Friday night's performance? Not great. Arietta, worst outing of the season, five innings, four earned. It wasn't horrendous, but not a great outing from the Phillies

against the Royals on Friday night. Yeah, he was leaving the ball up. He just wasn't able to get it down all night. It was a little bit chilly, so maybe that kind of hurt him a little bit. But, yeah, he just let the ball up. And your guy, your favorite player, Alex Gordon, who stinks, by the way. Alex Gordon, I think he has just been one of the most overrated players in baseball for, like, ten years because of his defense and all that.

And the pedigree, Jack, the pedigree. I don't know. He just annoys me. And your Kurt Suzuki Award winner did good. I'm a little worried about picking another Kurt Suzuki Award winner. I know. It's almost like a power that I have. I'm mushing the Phillies.

You're having your Kurt Suzuki award winner go off. The Ohio podcast is on the hot seat. Yeah, I guess if you can bet on a Brewer to hit a home run in the upcoming series, pick whoever I pick, because that's what happens, Jack. Yeah, I think that through two series, that is absolutely

the case. You are destroying me. I don't think my guys have gotten a hit. So we like your Kurt Suzuki picks. Yeah. Hunter Dozier goes back to being Hunter Dozier when I pick him. And Marcelo Zuna forgets how to hit a baseball when I pick him. You're welcome. You're welcome, Philadelphia. You're using your powers for good, Jack. Finally. I know. It really is a remarkable power, but

I'm coming around to it because all the greats, Bill Simmons, great mush, Mike Francesa, a great mush, Jack Fritz. I like this. Look at you, spinning a negative into a positive. I may be the best at that in the entire city. I think it's your brand, man. You're pretty amazing at it.

Anything else from game one? Not much to say. Homer Bailey has made about a million dollars a win in the Major League, which is embarrassing. Homer Bailey,

the fact that that guy got a $100 million contract is unbelievable. The fact that the Phill got a $100 million contract is unbelievable. And the fact that the Phillies couldn't hit him. Now, it was first game of the series on the road still, so we'll give him a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. But, like, Homer Bailey, just thinking about the –

like, he's almost stolen more money than Sam Bradford. Oh, buddy. Terrisy right there. I mean, it's – I mean, Homer – at least Bradford's, like, shown something. Homer Bailey's never shown anything. But he's thrown two no-hitters.

What? That's the craziest part. He's like Mike Fiers. Who deserves... Who deserves two no-hitters more? Homer Bailey or Mike Fiers? Neither. Neither one, Jack.

It's horrendous. It's unbelievable. I know. It's so bad. But whatever. Whatever. What can we do. I know. It's so bad. But whatever. What can we do? I mean, he has some talent. Yeah.

Well, he looked really good against the Phillies. Luckily, the best pitcher in baseball was pitching on Saturday in Game 2, Jack. Yeah. So let me give you a comp here. I was watching him on the Game watching Eflin on the game too I almost said Saturday which it ended up being Saturday but I didn't Now we're going to get confused with the game

ones and game twos is going to throw us off too we can't get it right and I was watching him and I was like who does he remind me of and eventually I came around to it but I don't want to just give it to you right away. I want to make you earn it, okay?

Ooh, I like that. So which would you rather have? Player A, this is both their age 25 seasons. Player A, 247 ERA, 1.02 whip, 6.7 strikeouts per nine, 1.2 walks per nine, a 179 ERA plus. 1.2 walks per nine, a 179 ERA plus, or player B, 293 ERA, 1.19 whip, 6.3 strikeouts per nine, 2.3 walks per nine, and a 157 ERA plus. Who would you rather have, James? I'd rather have player A.

Player A, Zach Eflin. Player B is Roy Halladay. No! No! I don't believe you. I am not saying that I think Zach Eflin is Roy Halladay, but he is the closest. I think he could be a middleman's Roy Halladay. Wow. Watching him pitch reminds me a lot of how Doc used to pitch because Zach Eflin is a tunneling god. He is a sequencing god.

And the way he pitches just makes me so warm inside. The fact that guys in Major League Baseball know how to pitch makes me so happy. And the way Zach Eflin can set up, he'll throw an 88-mile-an-hour slider on the outside corner, spot it up, come back with 94 on the outside corner. The hitter has no idea what's coming, and he'll buzz them up and in with 95. It's pitching expertise from Zach Eflin,

and I thoroughly look forward to every single Zach Eflin start. How about this? Jackie Fritz all in on F. Dude, he's like, all right. So tunneling, for people who don't know, tunneling is basically like you'll throw a fastball 95 up or whatever. You'll try to throw your fastball or throw your slider or throw your changeup off from the same arm slot and start them at the same spot, but let them fall off the table wherever, which way that pitch happens to fall off the table.

And Eflin right now is just doing that to a T. Like, the way he'll go fastball outside 94, and then he'll throw a slider from the same arm spot to the same spot, but a guy's way out in front of it, and he's inducing a ton of weak contact. Like, Eflin's just so solid right now. And, James, I think the people need to know, what is the official James Delter position on Matthew?

Oh, man. All right, so you're jumping the gun here. You're not here, so you can't see my sheet. I have the wonderful Kristen's tweet. This is from at B13Kristen on Twitter. And Kristen tweets in, so question, is James willing to keep Knapp if it's the only way we get this Eflin?

And damn it, Kristen, it's a really good question so uh jack this is really i've thought way too much about this i've thought about it's really hurting you yes yes because damn it kristen has a point jack she's got a point and it's really cutting to the core of my Andrew Knapp hate. Because, man, look, and then after the game, Eflin comes out and he's like, I could have done it without my buddy Andrew. He's my guy. So what am I supposed to say to that, Jack? What am I supposed to say?

Zach Eflin's a freaking Cy Young candidate through a month plus of the season. And he's giving the credit to Andrew Knapp. Man, I'm really torn, Jack. Like, I'm legit torn. candidate through a month plus of the season and he's giving the credit to andrew knapp man i'm really torn jack like i'm legit torn i want to hate andrew knapp but if he's gonna go out and he's part of the reason why efflin feels so comfortable and is doing what he does how am i supposed to hate that jack i'm i'm like really conflicted right now let me just say something great great job by kristen pointing this out hating andrew knapp right now. Let me just say something. Great job by Kristen pointing this out. Hating Andrew Knapp right now

by you would be the equivalent of hating puppies. That's what it is. The exact same thing. You cannot hate Andrew Knapp. We are a personal catcher society. The funniest part about the personal catcher thing is like Gabe is

I think it is killing Gabe to his core. Gabe came out before the game Saturday, and he was like, we are not doing the personal catcher thing. And I just think it's so funny how... I think Eflin's allowed, what, one earned run in the last three starts? They're all nappy starts? Yeah, I know. And then this Thursday, he's supposed to start

against the Brewers. The perfect time for an Andrew Knapp start. Well, it's a day game, too. It works out perfectly. It's a day game after a night game, maybe. I'm incredibly conflicted. A short answer is whatever

it takes to get this athlete I'm okay with. But I don't feel good about it, Jack. I don't like watching Andrew Knapp at all. I'm really torn. It's a really great point. It's a great point. Come on, man. He walked twice on Saturday.

I did. The mammal. That's my problem, is when he's coming up to the plate, in my head I'm thinking, okay, the best case scenario here is he walks. That's what I'm hoping for, Jack. Yeah, and I think, Listen, if you're a pitcher and you see that come to the plate and you know that,

why are you... What are we doing here? What are we doing? It's unbelievable. You don't have to nibble. You don't have to do it. Man, I can't believe anything has gotten me to turn on that. I'm really I'm going through a real crisis

of conscience here. I don't know what to do here. Does this count as a midlife crisis? I mean, you are what, 40? Oh, man. Seven. It could count as a midlife crisis. Listen, I don't

want to make you feel old, but the fact that your midlife crisis is having to turn on Andrew Knapp, that's not too bad, buddy. What am I supposed to say? I don't want to. Okay. Moving on, Jack. But good point from Kristen.

And my Knapp hate is waning, and I hate it. All right. Anything else from Saturday? I got one question for you, James. Another? You want to fire another at me? Is the big inning back? Yeah, clearly it's back.

It's definitely back. It was a big inning on Saturday, broke the game wide open, Reese again. I mean, the guy is a freaking RBI machine. I feel like every game in the last, I don't know, week, he's picking up two or three RBIs. Like, he's going to pass, he's going to catch up to Bellinger soon. Like, I don't know.

Reece Hoskins is just, we said last week, we'll say it again, he is the prototypical four-hole hitter. Like, he just sits there and mashes. I, the big inning's back, and the big inning now with actual talent, you can actually see the big inning continuing as the season goes along. I'm still reeling over this nap thing, but

Jack, here's a stat for you. Scott and Larry said, or excuse me, Scott and Kevin said this on Sunday's game after, and we'll get to Sunday's game, but the Phillies put up the sixth spot in the fifth inning. It is the eighth time this year that the Phillies put up the sixth spot in the fifth inning. It is the eighth time this year that the Phillies have scored five or more runs in an inning.

Jack, guess how many times they did it all of last season? So you said eight so far this season? Eight so far this year. Last year was what, eight? Twelve. But still, the entire season they did it twelve times last year,

and they've done it eight in 39 games this year. Another question for you going off of that, is hashtag the big inning a new T-shirt idea? Ooh. It could be, Jack. They need to keep it up a little bit. I don't want to jump the gun, but let the Phillies know that the High Hopes podcast

is monitoring the big inning situation, and we will act accordingly if we need to make sure. I like that. I think that we don't want to jump the gun. Like you said, we're going to play this out here. But if the big inning is indeed back, we're making shirts. Yeah, we're making shirts. I like it.

All right, Jack, moving on. Game three. Cole Irvin. The best Cole in the history of the Phillies. Just kidding. The best left-handed Cole in the history of the Phillies. How about the fact that they made their debut on the same day? That is a crazy factoid.

They're the only Coles in Phillies history. They're both lefties, and they both made their first start and their history on the same day. That's absolutely crazy. So in two years, Cole Irvin will be the World Series MVP. That's our big prediction. Listen, if Cole Irvin can be our Jimmy Moyer on that team, I'll be happy. What do you think, Irvin?

Seven innings, 93 pitches to get through seven, gives up the one run, five strikeouts, which is better than you would have expected, a 5.8K per nine in the minors. What do you think, Irvin? So the first thing I noticed was that the NBC Philly scouting report was a bit off because they opened it up, and they're like, yeah, Cole Irvin's 88 to 95. What?

Hold on. up and they're like yeah Cole Irvin's 88 to 95 and I was like what hold on and then his first his first like floor pitch like 83 to 85 88 to 95 okay like maybe maybe in the spring training gun maybe 83 to 88 maybe yeah so um listen I I I I I liked what Cole Irvin did yesterday. I think, listen, I love that pitchers that know how to pitch are becoming a thing for the Phillies. It's just so frustrating when you see guys like Velasquez, you see guys like Pavetta, who just don't know how to pitch, and they go out and just throw. And it's just been so refreshing watching a guy like Eflin,

watching Eikhoff, Nolik bouncing back, Arrieta for most of this year, now Cole Irvin. These guys just know how to pitch and they mix in pitches whenever they want. And listen, I like Cole Irvin. Do I think that 83-85

with a mix-in of 89-90 is going to work long-term? I'm not sure. That's just such an outlier. You have to be so precise with your stuff to get away with that today's league. Kyle Hendrick did a couple years ago. Obviously, Dallas Keuchel, but Keuchel was running harder back then. So, listen, I'm rooting for Cole Irvin.

That's fine. I'm just saying that he's got to be really, really precise if that's going to last a long time. It seems like he's got three different fastballs at least. He's got a cutter, he's got a two-seam, he's got a four-seam. One that looks like it sinks away. He might even have four fastballs. Then you couple that with a slider

that I thought had a nice bite to it and a nice looking changeup. I mean, listen, I'll take it. It was much nicer watching that than it was watching a Velas take it. It was much nicer watching that than it was watching a Velasquez start. Well, yes. It's much nicer watching anything than I'd rather watch Knapp catch than watch Vinny Velasquez pitch.

I thought it was good. I thought he reminded me of, now, Salisbury threw up Tom Glavin comp, and I guess that's what, like, 40-year-old Tom Glavin? I hope so, because he is nothing like 40-year-old Tom Glavin? I hope so, because he is nothing like 25-year-old Tom Glavin. I know.

That's just asinine. Cole Irvin is a 40-year-old Tom Glavin. Glavin threw as hard as Cole Irvin when he was 40. What are we talking about? I know, but he really reminds me a little bit of what Jay Happ looked like when he came up. That's an interesting name. Yeah, Happ threw a little bit harder and struck out a like when he came up. That's an interesting name. Yeah,

Happ threw a little bit harder and struck out a bit more guys, but listen, if these guys can keep generating soft contracts, I'm in. I think the Phillies defense is fine, and just having the ability to watch a guy that knows how to pitch, it makes me so happy. It's right up your alley, buddy. I know. I know. I was nerding out yesterday. I went back and re-watched it today because I was driving down to the beach while listening to it in the car. And it just backed up all of my thoughts. You didn't watch while driving, correct?

No, I didn't watch while driving. Okay, good. I'm not that crazy. Just making sure the way you said it. I thought about it. I thought about it. Look, I'm with you. I think Irvin was really impressive yesterday,

but we have to remember, first of all, a Royals lineup that is among the worst in the sport, if not potentially the worst in the sport. Well, they're a little frisky. Little frisky. Not a lineup to be scared of, and also a good lineup for a guy who's inducing soft contact, a guy who's not looking to strike guys out.

That's a good lineup to face. They're going to strike out a few times just from being terrible. So, look, I was impressed with Irvin. I think he certainly earned another start. We didn't mention Velasquez sent to the 10-day ILAK, the phantom IL with forearm tightness. Any belief that Velasquez is actually hurt, Jack? No.

No. No. No. I think they're done with Velasquez. As well they should be, Jack. hurt Jack yeah like hey we said it I mean we thought he get more start he didn't well they and they want to win now and they're not gonna mess around it they think Cole Irvin could come up and they could do a better job than Vince Velasquez what they're gonna make that decision they sent down Nick Pavetta, who their whole organization thought was going to have a breakout

season, and they were whispering to people, he's going to have a big year. Larry Bowe was going on the afternoon show or the midday show saying, watch out for Pavetta. They sent him down after four starts. They sent him down after four starts. If that doesn't show that they mean business, then I don't know

what will. Listen, I hope it's the last time we see Velasquez. I think we can all understand why he's so frustrating, especially now that you see guys that are coming up and know how to pitch, and then you think back to Velasquez, and it's like, oh, my God, it's a different world. And that's all on top of the fact that, and this is, you'll get through it if he's successful,

but he is the worst to watch. I mean, just the worst. Just a brutally unfun watch when Vincent Velasquez is pitching. So from an aesthetic point of view, I'll take anybody, but ultimately all that really matters is production. Irvin, I think, earning himself another shot.

Do you have a belief that Irvin can keep this up? It sounded kind of hedgy one way or the other. If you had to bet, is Cole Irvin still in the rotation a month from now? I'll say yes. I would have said no. I like this. No, I like Cole Irvin. I think he can be a solid pitcher.

And I don't know how you consistently square him up. To me, it looked like he had six different pitches yesterday. And he threw them all for strikes. Now, obviously, he had multiple versions of his fastball. That's what I mean by different pitches. He had the two-seam, four-seam, cutter, sinker, and then a slider and changeup. So if he has all that, I just don't know how you consistently square him up. And you saw in the minor leagues, I mean, no one really did.

He didn't strike many people out, but he only had a 2.25 ERA. So maybe he's unlocked a little bit of a key here. So, yeah, I think he's going on a nice little run here. I'll be interested to see maybe three starts from now if teams start to get a better book on him. That was another thing about yesterday. They didn't have a book on him. They didn't know he was going to start until Saturday. So I'm sure that helped a little bit. So give him three starts. And if in three starts he's doing the same kind of thing, it doesn't have to be one run over seven innings, but six innings, three runs

or less, I'm in. I think we could see that, but I do want to see a team that watched the Royals start and has an actual plan again. It'll be interesting, especially considering his next two starts if they stay in the normal rotation, which you would assume they will considering there are no off days coming up.

It should be against the Rockies later this week and then next week likely against the Cubs. So those are two much better offenses than the Royals. So I think we should get a better idea of who Irvin is and what he could be over the next couple weeks and more of a book on him, as you say. Anything else from the weekend? Odubel, something to shout out. Had a nice

couple games, two hits, two days in a row. Hustling out there, Odubel Hustle. Anything else stick out to you from the Royal Series? It was nice to see him bounce back from the bases loaded debacle. Yes. It was Friday.

It was such a bad at bat. It was such a bad at-bat. It was such a bad at-bat, but he bounced back the next two games. Yeah, and Sunday he had the clutch hit to really break that game wide open. And had a triple, too, for those who don't think that he hustles. Right, right, right. Very

fun criticism. Diving catch in the outfield, but he can't play center field. What's even the point? But a doable... yeah, a lot of people are kind of freaking out after a semi-decent Cardinals series about his overall stats. It's been a small sample size. He had a big weekend. He's up to like 260 in three minutes. He was hurt for a while.

He missed whatever it was, 10 games or something. Well, I know. It's just like people were overreacting to a small sample size of stats. No. Jack, people never do that. Crazy, crazy, crazy. So, last thing from Sunday, other than another big inning,

Sir Anthony's slider. So, Sir Anthony came in. I rewatched it today, and I looked on Brooks Baseball. The vertical depth on his slider, it was more than it was last appearance. And I thought last appearance was the most he'd ever had, which it was. So now he's finding more depth to his slider.

And I just think that is huge for the rest of his season because his cutter and his slider kind of look the same. And if he can get more depth to his slider to go along with the 97 with cut, that's a good plan for him. Also, Flash did a really good changeup that just darted away to left-handed hitters. I feel like Sir Anthony is kind of turning a corner a little bit here.

Man, if you can get Sir Anthony back, they haven't even put Sir Anthony in high-leverage moments this year. It's been weird their use of him, but maybe he's starting to get their face back a little bit. I thought, I thought Sunday was a good, a good start for that.

And Edgar, Edgar Garcia's beautiful slider made an appearance this weekend, which is always beautiful. It's a nasty slider, man. It's a legit slider. All right, hold on.

I have a comp for Edgar. You feel like I love this. Does he remind you at all of a young Tom Gordon? Ooh, I love that comp. I mean, Tom Gordon's slider was devastating. And obviously Tom Gordon was hitting like 97 back in the day.

I don't think he's as devastating as Tom Gordon, but a young Tom Gordon went over the top a lot like him and had a wicked slider. I love this. Yeah, he didn't have the heat that Gordon had, but I think the slider is a comparable. That's a good comp there. Thank you.

I like that. All right. Coming up, we'll look into this Brewers series. I will begrudgingly pick a Kurt Suzuki winner and brace myself for more home runs. But real quick, Jack, we already kind of said goodbye, but it is official. Your boy, Aaron Altair, is a giant. All right. The official statement from me is that Farhan Zahidi knows what he's doing.

Farhan knows the talent is in there. He's going to be hitting doubles for days in that ballpark. Aaron Altair, buy stock now in the Altair breakout. He's going to get 400-plus plate appearances. He's going to play a monster right field. And listen, he's going to hit in the triple valley out there in San Francisco. Hopefully my man can figure out some kind of timing issue because it's just so bad.

It's off. But happy for Aaron. Great guy. Average Philly. Great guy. Average Philly. Some might say below average. I wouldn't, but some.

May he hit many a double out there in San Francisco. I think he's going to look great when they convert him into a reliever. Just get ready. Alright, whatever. Bring him back. Alright, Jack. Big series coming up. We've got the Brewers coming to town. Brewers are a very good baseball team. Four game

series here. And then the Rockies later in the week. Aaron Nola against Freddie Peralta tonight. Jared Eickhoff against Brandon Woodruff tomorrow. Jake Arrieta against Gio, our buddy Gio Gonzalez in Game 3 on Wednesday and then the day game we mentioned before. Zach Eflin against Zach Davies.

A battle of the Zachs on Thursday, Jack. We'll get to the Kurt Suzuki winner in a sec, but what's your general take on the matchups in this series? Listen, obviously their offense is really well put together. It's just like they don't really have a super hole in their lineup, although I will say.

Now let me read off some numbers to you and tell me if this is someone I should be afraid of. Okay? You ready? I'm ready. 273 batting average, a.368 OBP, a.364 slugging percentage, an OPS of.732, and one home run. Is that a player I should be afraid of, Jim? I mean, I don't think so.

I'm assuming there's a name attached to it that would make me more afraid than the 732 OPS. Well, that is Christian Jelic on the road this season. Ooh! Wow, really? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. That's actually pretty hard

to believe considering he's got like a 1,200 plus OPS on this season. Wow. So he's been that unbelievable at home? Dude, his home OPS is 1,600. Oh, buddy!

Wow, Jack, that's actually really fascinating. I had no idea you had such aggressive road home splits this season. Yeah, he has one road home run. Is he a fraud? Are we sure Christian Yelich is good? Yes. Are we sure?

Yes. That's your MVP? The guy you can't hit on the road? You can only rely on him half the time? Yeah, I'll take it. Alright. But that's You're going to rely on half the time? Yeah, I'll take it. All right. But that's really interesting. I've not heard anyone else mention that yet. I mean, like, Christian Yelich, for those who don't know,

I mean, he's got 16 homers on the season. He has a.449 OBP, a.746 slugging percentage, a.338 batting average. My man is bringing it. I had no idea, Jack, that it was all in Milwaukee. That's pretty crazy. He's only hitting it home. How about that?

He's a fraud. All right, so this series, though, I think that if I was a betting man, I would bet on the Phil's tonight. The Brewers are coming off a road trip. They were in Chicago. Now they're coming here. They're in the midst of a longish road trip. Played Sunday night baseball last night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Freddie Peralta is booty. I think he's just bad. I'm not a Freddie Peralta guy. And his 675 ERA would go to show that. Well, 675, and he threw eight shutout innings in his first start of the season. So that's how bad that 675 is. Good.

And, again, like Nola tonight, I mean, you go from the Cardinals lineup, which is loaded, to the Brewers lineup, which is also loaded. This would be a massive sign to tell if Aaron Nola is indeed back. And I think he is back. But it does look a little wet. I mean, it's wet down here in Ocean City, and it seems like it's cold. Maybe he won't have the grip on the ball. Another big Nola start

to get him back on track. If you can get him back on track to where he is with Esalen and Lykoff, maybe the Bills have something here. Yeah, dude. I feel the exact same way. My biggest thing I'm looking for is Nola in this series. Coming off his best start of the season against a really good Cardinals lineup this Brewers lineup just as good as that Cardinals lineup so

I'm really with you I'm really excited to see how Aaron does tonight and also good and it just kind of hit me that I'm gonna be able to watch the Phillies at the beach and not have to work it look at you the Phillies at the beach is, there's no better place to watch baseball, especially Phillies baseball, than at the beach. It's just, there's something special about it. Look, I'm with you. And nice of you to remind everyone that you're at the beach and we're not. So very kind of you.

Oh, don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow. Short beach trip. Yeah. Very excited about that. Yeah. Yeah. We can hear your voice, Jack. But also in addition to Nola, I'm interested to see Eikhoff against his Brewers lineup and Eflin against his Brewers lineup as those are two guys who obviously we've talked a lot about

as guys who we can count on, it seems, a lot more than we expected to. It's a nice opportunity for them to go up against a legit, legit lineup and kind of show us something as well. It's a big show me series. We just went out to the show me state, Jack. We're coming home and it's still show me time. I know. It is. The thing that's been great about the Royals weekend is that all the relievers are fresh. Everyone is fresh and ready to go. Great point. If anyone goes short in a ball game,

listen, this bullpen, I guess it's feared. I don't know. But this bullpen should be ready to go. Meanwhile, the Brewers bullpen, I mean, haters have been pitching a lot. They have a great bullpen on paper, but obviously Corey Knievel goes down. And it's been fine, but it's not nearly as dominant as it was last year. No, I mean, last year was as big a reason as anything other than maybe Christian Jelic

and why that team got so close to the World Series and definitely not as good this year. They do have Jeffress back. He's pitched better, so that's a help. Corbin Burns pitching out of the pen, that helps, but I'm with you. Not as dominant a pen as it was last year and the Phillies pen being

fresh matters. Again, this is a lineup that can grind pitchers out. I think that's going to be important. It's a big series. It's a fun series. Then they've got the Rockies coming to town after that. The other part of it with the pen being fresh that's so important is they've played three games. They still have 14 more

straight days of baseball provided for rainouts and whatnot until another day off. You need a fresh pen. Yeah, no, for sure. And let me just say that I'm going to call my shot. I've always liked his talent. I think Brandon Woodruff is going to pitch well against that. I think he's hard to square up.

We're just going to have a night. Gio Gonzalez we're going to destroy because I still think he's a fraud. And how the hell does Zach Davies have a night. Gio Gonzalez we're going to destroy because I still think he's a fraud. And how the hell does Zach Davies have a 154 ERA? I texted Ben Harris who now works for the Brewers obviously, earlier this season. I said, Zach Davies, I can't believe you guys are

honestly starting this guy. And since that point, he has a 154 ERA. Tell me about it. He's on my fantasy team just because of how good he's been pitching. Zach Davies is a crappier version of Aaron Nova. Like, it's just, it's annoying. I can tell. You're not happy with the Zach Davies thing.

I just, I can't believe it. You've thought about this a lot more than you should. You've thought about this a lot more than you should. I know. I know. All right, it's time. Kurt Suzuki winner, who are we going with? All right. I am going Okay. All right. It's time. Kurt Suzuki winner. Who are we going with?

All right. I am going with Yasmany Grandal. I just, I will never forget. I feel like whenever the Dodgers came down the last two years, he took some one yard. So going off of that, Yasmany Grandal is going to have a horrible series because he is my Kurt Suzuki award winner. Who are you? Who are you ruining my weekend, week four? Well, Jack, I'm shocked you didn't take him.

I thought it was the most obvious Kurt Suzuki award winner we've had yet. Such a clear storyline of the man should have been on this team but is not. Mike Moustakas is going to kill us, Jack. Yeah, we're going to see what we could have had. Moose is going to kill us, Mike Moustakas is going to kill us, Jack. Yeah, we're going to see what we could have had. Moose is going to kill us. Mike Moustakas. Well, now, see, I hate this because now he's going to have a bad series.

No, he's going to have a great series. You'll be fine. This is good for you. If you had chosen, it would have been an issue, but I got you. You're good. Yeah, thank you. It's going to help all my Twitter arguments.

Oh, God. Mike Moustakas is about to have five home runs over the next thank you. It's going to help all my Twitter arguments. Oh, God. Mike Misaka is about to have five home runs over the next four days. It's going to be killer. Yes. Oh, man. All right, Fritzy. Final thoughts. Well, let's do one thing before final thoughts. The Madison Bumgarner no-trade list.

Oh, yeah, yeah. We should have brought this up. Good point. So, he labeled out six teams. I think it was eight teams, wasn't it? I thought it was eight. Yeah, eight teams. I have the list. Give me one second.

I'll pull up the list. Basically, the list was his no trades slash I'm only going to this team. Okay, so we were both. Oh, no, I was right. It's eight teams. The teams are the Braves, the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Astros, the Brewers, the Yankees, the Phillies, the Cardinals. A.K.A. the only teams that have a chance of winning this year.

Yep. So it's his no-trade slash I'm-only-going-here no-trade list. It's his way of controlling the market is what it is. Yep, that's exactly what it is. And I saw everyone was minorly freaking out yesterday. Like, what does this mean? Like like does he not want to come here or no this is this is madison bumgarner trying to either get money out of the giants or he's trying to get a an extension sign with whoever it's exactly right jack yeah and he has the power control where he wants to go

he could all he could the the giant's angle on this like, hey, I'll waive it if you pay me this amount of money. That could be his angle there. It's a perfect angle. He either gets more money out of the Giants, he gets an extension in... If you're watching Dallas Keuchel not get signed, you're Madison Bumgarner, you're now over 30

with a bunch of miles on your arm. If you have a Dallas Keuchel, this is exactly what you have to do. If you have a chance to get an extension right, if you have a Dallas pickle, this is exactly what you have to do. If you have a chance to get an extension right now, you have to take it. He'll get signed this off, I'm not worried about that, but if you can get a guy at a deadline and he can wait with no trade clause and come there,

it's going to be more money than it would be in free agency. Oh, no question. It's the only leverage that he has. That's the point. It is giving himself as much leverage because teams that want him at the trade deadline and are willing to give up prospects for him or whatever are clearly more motivated to get him and to give him what he wants than in the free agent market we've seen that the last few years it's just clear i would i so i'm kind of torn james because if i had to give up prospects and also sign

through extension i might rather have mike minor oh no jack i don't think i do great question jack quick question has mike minor ever won a world series mvp just wondering just checking no has World Series MVP? Just wondering. Just checking. Has Mike Miner given one of the great performances in the history of baseball in the World Series? He did strike out 13 Mariners two weeks ago. So that's a no. I'm going to go Baumgartner. I'm going to pay him. I'll be good about it.

Okay. So you would trade prospects and pay for him at the deadline? Yeah, I would. I mean, obviously, it's all dependent. I'm not giving him seven years, $140 million. But yeah, if he market costs, whatever, you know, you're four for 80 or whatever it is, I think I'd have to do it. Oh, four for 80, no doubt.

I would give him four for 80. If it's higher than that. Though it could be four for 100, something like that. Regardless, personally, I think that Baumgartner makes such a difference for this team. You're bringing in a guy, again, who top three greatest performances I've ever

seen in my lifetime in the World Series. I'm down. I'll take that guy. Do we even need him now that we have Cole Irvin? It's a good point, man. It's a good point. He's basically Baumgartner I mean, he's basically Bumgarner. Yeah, but listen, if they get Bumgarner and you pair him with Nola,

I am going to be ecstatic. I mean, all of a sudden, that's going from a team that is a playoff team that you never know what happens in the playoff to, oh, that team can win the World Series. That'll be the feeling around them if they make that type of move.

Totally agree. I mean, if you pair Madison Baumgartner with a superstar like Zach Eflin, I think the sky's the limit for this team. All right, final thoughts, Richie. All right, my final thought, I got two. My first final thought, or a way deeper one. My first final thought is that I really appreciate Bryce's two-strike approach recently. Obviously, he struck

out twice yesterday, but I like the idea of spreading out your stance and not being okay with striking out. That's the one thing that's been a little bit frustrating about modern baseball. There's too much guys that are just okay with

striking out. They'd rather try to hit a home run than put the ball in play or whatever. Like I appreciate that Bryce has acknowledged the strikeouts are a problem and it feels like he's adjusting a little bit. I thought he had a decent series in KC. Obviously not great power numbers or hit numbers, but he's on base four times in game one. He's walking a lot, which provides value.

Obviously, the batting average isn't there, but I do appreciate the two-strike approach. I think it's a good change in his philosophy. And my real final thought is that I was thinking about this yesterday on the drive to the beach, and I was thinking, have the Phillies found the next market inefficiency? In a day and age when pitchers are all, you're cloned to throw 95-plus and have high spin rates and all this stuff, the Phillies' best pitchers right now are, well, Eflin can get up to 95,

but he is still looking to generate soft contact. In a day and age where launch angle is the new thing, the Phillies going soft contact to go away, to counteract the launch angle movement, may be the next market in efficiency. Ooh. You know how I feel about market inefficiencies, Jack. I live for them.

Isn't that interesting? It's fascinating. And you've talked a lot about this this year, Jack. I live for them. Isn't that interesting? It's fascinating. And you've talked a lot about this this year, the idea of them going for soft contact, the spin rate type stuff and all that. I think it's fascinating. If you're trying to launch all the time and you're trying to lift, if you throw a breaking ball down a way, you can't do that.

If you throw a fastball down a way, you can't do that. So these guys, they come in and listen, I think the best way to pitch now i feel like is is you have to be either 96 to 100 or 89 to 92 i think i feel like 90 93 to 96 is is where the the where it's moved up from like Like when Pat Gillick was the GM, you'd always look for guys that were between either 95 plus or 91 and below. And it was 92 to 94, I guess, that was like the launch position, I guess, for hitters. So I wonder if it's kind of bumped up a little bit. And the Phillies have 89 to 90 from Jared Eikhoff.

They have 91 to 90 from Nola obviously sometimes sometimes he can jack it up Cole Irvin uh and then and then F1 is in the 96 range but like we said he's not looking for strikeouts he's looking to generate soft contact I'm in on these guys generating soft contact in a day and age when everyone's trying to launch me too I think that's a really interesting observation. And as I said before, I live for market inefficiencies. So I think it's really fascinating. It's going to be interesting. It's something to track all season long.

Is the new market inefficiency knowing how to pitch? Wouldn't that be just too much for you, Jack? What do you do with yourself? What a crazy concept. All right. I only have one final thought. Really two if you want one of them to just be that my identity is still shook from Kristen and her tweet. So, Kristen, congratulations.

I'm still, I'm just reeling over this. But a positive final thought. I think there is something in Philadelphia Phillies baseball, Jack, that we have not talked about at all. We have not given it nearly the credence it deserves. People have not focused on enough. People have not brought it up enough. So I'm going to shed some light on something I think with the Philadelphia Phillies we have not talked about remotely enough. Okay. Andrew McCutcheon

has the best smile, man. What a smile. I mean, infectious. I see that guy smile and I smile. I mean, infectious. I see that guy smile, and I smile. I can't help it. It's just the best smile. We don't talk about that enough. I don't care that he hasn't got a hit in two weeks, it feels like. Because he just smiles. It's like, oh, I love that guy.

That's my guy right there. If Carlos Santana just smiled a little bit more, maybe he could still be here. Instead of taking baseball bats to televisions, right? Andrew McCutcheon is basically just doing what Carlos Santana did last year. I love this. It's a great take right there. I mean, he's

batting like.237, I think. Carlos Santana's been way better this year, but that's a whole other thing. I know. I know. So, I like it. He really does make me happy. It is funny when he messes around with the umpires. Yes, and with Oduble out there, he's always messing around. He's having fun out there, and then he smiles, and I melt, and I love it.

Yeah, honestly, the way you talk about that, Gene Segura and Michael Franco, they also make me smile because they have fun together. That's a good point. The other day, I think Gene Segura made a routine play to first base, got the ball back to the pitcher's mouth, and he crow-hopped and threw it as hard as possible to Mike Alfranco to make sure he was paying attention from five feet away.

I love it. It was hilarious. So I like that Philly players are making fans smile. I mean, we're back. We are back, man. What a beautiful thing. And now, listen, with the Sixers out, we're back. We are back, man. What a beautiful thing. And now, listen, with the Sixers out, I hope the

Phillies are ready because this whole town is now turning towards the Phillies. Bryce Harper cannot go into the tank or else it's going to start getting the whispers are going to start getting louder and louder. The Sixers playoff run is over. All of Philadelphia's eyes are on the Phillies

right now, and let's see how they respond. As they should be. Yeah, who cares about basketball anyway? Yeah, go Phillies. All right, we will be back on Thursday. Fritz and I will be together in person. I thought it was okay, Jack. Not our best.

It's tough when we're not in the same studio. I thought it was pretty good. You liked it? Okay. I'm intrigued. What did everyone else think? Was it good or was it terrible? Should we be for...

Should I have driven down to the beach just to do the pod with Jack? That's the real question. I will be debating that really for the rest of my life, Jack. Questioning your dedication. All right.

We'll be back on Thursday. He's Fritz. I'm Seltzer. We'll talk to you later. All-Star Closer. Kenley Jansen. We have a question. What's the best podcast of all time?

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