High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Phils Split Against the Yanks (Feels Like a Win)

Episode Date: August 7, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phils split against the Yanks. The guys react to everything and a lot more. 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. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on radio.com and sports radio, 94 WIP. It is another edition of the IOPodcast, Jack. I can't get to talk about what's going to be going on.

I didn't know that was allowed. Is that allowed? I didn't either. I don't know about you. I was completely apod last and for less because I was so angry at the Marlins that I probably would have said something like this. And I just would have bitched about it. And I was angry at Rob Manfred and I was angry at everybody. But now the Phillies just split with the Yankees, Jack.

I know that it shouldn't be the goal to split. And we'll get to every game here. And we all know how frustrating a couple of the, the, the two losses were, but it finally feels like baseball's back after that ridiculous back and then hiatus and all that crap. I mean, it, it definitely is. Uh, and, and taking, taking two or three from the Yankees or splitting with the Yankees is just sweet. Because honestly, I walked into this series and I was like, oh, they're just going to get their doors blown off.

Well, especially when game one was basically an automatic loss. I mean, was there a person on the planet who thought that after being off for over a week and then going into Yankee stadium to face Garrett Cole, the Phillies were going to win that game. Like in reality, I know what you mean when you inadvertently said they took two or three because they kind of did. It felt like the first game was just like,

they have no chance to win that game no matter what. I mean, I like that. I like that. That's how we're spinning it. That game one. It's exactly how I'm spinning it. Yeah. Game one didn't even actually count

towards the rest of the season. I don't even know what happened. I don't know. Yeah, I think that's totally fair. But, you know, because the people have been so down on this team, and for right reasons. I mean, the bullpen has been awful to watch,

and the start of the rotation has been okay. The offense has been definitely up and down. And it kind of feels like the talk around the team is kind of, you know, one foot in, one foot out with this Phillies team. And, you know, and this is what they did all last year. And this is what they did under Kapler in 18. It's like they would play like crap against terrible teams like the marlins and then they show up and be pretty good against against the

teams that are actually good in baseball so uh i'm actually i'm not surprised at all they split like i actually thought they were going to split this whole time um and the the fact that they did it was was crazy the fact that um effluent went five tonight and they were able to get four innings from the bullpen is crazy. I mean, it's a miracle. It's a true miracle, Jack. And let the scorebook show that Nick Pavetta held the lead. You know, there's not a lot of – That inning was so clean, too.

And, look, we'll get into every single one of these games and die. I texted Jack, we're going to try and stay under two hours. I have so many notes, and it's also late at night. But I have so many things I want'll get into every single one of these games and die. I texted Jack. We're going to try and stay under two hours. I have so many notes. And it's also late at night. But I have so many things I want to get into. I mean, I think they made these 6 o'clock starts just for you. I mean, it's only 9.45. It's an amazing thing.

You know me. I'm always bitching about how late it is. So it is what it is. I have to get up earlier than you. Your show's in the afternoon. Mine's in the morning. You know, it is what it is. I mean, why don't you your show's in the afternoon mine's in the morning you know it is what it is i mean why don't you break here come on why don't you bring up that you have a 20 month year old i also have a 20 month old who wakes up every morning at six at

the latest and it is what it is and she's a great sleeper so shout out to zoe but um look i i think the of of it's funny because if we had done this pod yesterday or last night or whatever, like the predominant thing we would have talked about was the bullpen. And now we come into this one where, and again, the bullpen is horrendous and soul crushing. But we come in after this one where they actually found a way to hold down the lead. It's nice. It makes it a little softer for me, Jack. Well, listen, I'll say this i feel really

confident now you are allowed to play this back if this backfires but oh god don't put it in your bio at this exact moment on august 6th 9 45 45 on august 6th i think think Jose Alvarez and Hector Neris are locked down. If you get the ball to Hector Neris and Jose Alvarez in the 8th and 9th inning, you're going to win most games that you're in. That's a great point. And this is coming from a guy who was mere seconds away from maybe taking the Yankees live because I've seen this play his bullpen. But you know what? That little thing in the back of my head was like Alvarez, Tanaris.

Like that's – find me a more locked down 8-9-8. It's like Madsen to Lidge 0-8. I mean, right? More or less. More or less. More or less, or sometimes more. I will say that that Naris judge at bat was, and I know Hector scared us a little bit in the ninth,

but that judge at bat was big time. And I know the judge was coming off the bench and cold and all that, but that was a big time at bat for hector like that was he went right after him the splitter was just working and judge judge had no chance like that was a really impressive moment one of the more impressive moments in the hector narasara is that fair to to say? Oh, I love it. I love it. Anytime we can talk about impressive Hector Neris moments. I mean, yeah. Here's the thing is that he's so far and away their only good right-handed option out of the bullpen

that, like, you're going to – that's why I never agreed with using him in game two yesterday because, you know, sure, it could be a tie game in the seventh, and you would like to go to Hector Neris, but that takes him out of tonight's game where you actually have a

lead. And that's why I just didn't like the idea of using him there. It's a tie game. I understand it's only seven innings. I understand you have to take wins when you can try to get them, and it's a tie game. I understand it's only seven innings. I understand you have to take wins when you can try to get them. And, you know, it's a little surprising that the Phillies were able to be ahead in the game tonight. But that's why you don't use them last night. That's why you save them for tonight.

You had to use Hector Neres at four outs. And if you use him in game two yesterday, the tie ball game, then you don't get the chance to use him. And Hector,ctor you know he is hector naris is good and he's good he's just good you know that's splitter just a good pitcher man he's just a good pitcher a lot of people a lot of people talk about this might seem like a pretty rash comparison but a lot of people talk about mariana rivera dominating with one pitch is it fair to say that hector narris is the new mariana rivera how am i supposed to respond to that uh all right i can't you're all right i'm gonna leave

yeah i'm gonna leave that real quick shout out to emily who just walked me down a beer open and ready to go. So I have some. Yes. Emily, I love you. What were you going to say? I never lie to the IHOPs listeners. I listen to the IHOPs listeners. We all know that.

I've only had White Claw this week. Oh, Jack. I know. It's one of the most. I mean, look, you're not. There will be people who will, especially because of, you know, what you've put out there before, this will come back on you.

But who are you talking to? I mean, what's my last name? I won't get on you for this. I support all seltzer love anywhere all the time. And that's exactly right. I just love seltzer so much that I decided to. Cut that audio, as we would say on radio. No, so I haven't really had much beer this week. I've been mixing in more seltzers, mostly because of my love of the Iowa's podcast and seltzer myself.

But, you know, don't feel too heavy after drinking some hard seltzer. So I have been watching the Phillies this week with a couple hard seltzers. And I think that's fine. I will get back to it. Especially in summertime. Like, it's refreshing. And like you said, it's lighter. I think that's very fair.

I ain't coming for you. The more seltzer, the better. coming for you the more seltzer the better i want everyone to love seltzer as far as i'm concerned well i uh i just admitted it to everyone out there i watched the phillies games this week um with some with some seltzers so um if that is skewing my way of thinking uh blame it on the seltzer and don't blame it on uh my irrational irrational belief and everyone on this philly's roster blame blame seltzer for nothing all right let's uh let's let's go back and we'll do a little chronological stuff we already agreed that that the first game in this series didn't happen wait hold on hold on before we go too far back did you like that

before before we go too far back did did you think that Luke Voigt fall was out? Oh, my God. Of course I did. Dude, I thought it was like four rows deep. Yeah. My heart stopped. Yeah. Especially because it's Luke Voigt.

And literally, we would have won the game yesterday if it weren't for Luke Voigt and the one bad pitch Nola threw. But we'll get back to that real quick we're we're gonna act like i'm i don't know what i'm saying not act like that game didn't happen but i think that i have listeners would like to know what you thought of jake arietta had he pitched in a game in new york on monday night if that had happened what do you think jay garyota would have looked like well again uh this is only if it did happen but as we all know it's called commitment right here folks this is commitment monday night did not happen but i will say had he have thrown the fourth through the fourth through sixth i almost just had beer go through my nose right there the fourth through sixth inning were the best i've theoretically would have ever felt about jk arietta i uh i've pretty much hated every single jk arietta experience of my life as

as a phillies fan outside of like honestly like the Jake Arrieta experience has been the Bob Nightingale tweet of the Phillies are closest the Phillies are closest to Jake Arrieta me being like excited about it and then two years of freaking torture and how much I hate him and throwing my teammates under the bus and that one pirate start in 2018 where I was like. That's what I was going to say. I was so happy you said that because my one counter to this was the pirate start and the Boston game. But particularly that pirate start was the only time in a Phillies uniform

that he looked anything like the guy who they signed, 2015 Jake Arrieta. Yeah, and he's pretty much on my babbing list of guys that I hate that are on my team that play here and unfortunately make a lot of money. He's not likable, Jack. I'll say that. He's not likable. Now, that being said, his theoretical start on Monday night

started off horribly. I mean, the first like like like literally. Yeah, you can't start off worse. Oh, yeah. Well, DJ LeMayhew. And do you want do you want to take right off the bat or should I save it for later? Is it that any of the 30 fan bases in Major League Baseball should pray that their team had DJ LeMayhew on him? bases in Major League Baseball should pray that their team had DJ LeMayhew

on him because he is a very good baseball player who is super annoying to play against every time you play him. Is that the take? It is DJ LeMayhew related, but it's not that take. Okay, give me your take because that's my take. Okay, well DJ LeMayhew is what Yankees fans think

Derek Jeter was. Better take. That was a better take. I hate DJ LeMay. Like, DJ LeMay, you... I mean, look, that at-bat he had against Neres tonight was like... Neres had two splitters in that at-bat

that was like, no one on the planet fouls off. Five guys on the planet. And DJ LeMay found a way to foul it off and then work bingo. Like, I just... Anyway, keep going. Five guys on the planet, and DJ LeMay found a way to foul it off and then work bingo. Like, I just – anyway, keep going. Well, I mean, you know, my guy, Theo Epstein, that fraud,

decided he wasn't good enough for the Cubs. But isn't the worst thing about DJ LeMay, he's like a little slap hitter to the right side? Totally. I feel like 97% of DJ LeMay who hits are to the opposite field. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah.

And he just, he just, he just wears out everyone. He faces DJ LeMay who he's the worst. But, um, with that being said, I'll, I'll take them. Um, but yeah, so, so the first three innings of Arietta's fake start on Monday night, that doesn't count was like awful because he kept missing middle middle like he kept just leaking over the middle of the plate and like he just didn't really know where the ball was going and he would try to start a ball outside corner it would just end up right over the middle of the plate and you know like gio rochella just

was squaring it up um and i mean judge of the ball down the line that siglora should have had um he should have had it well it didn't happen but uh i know i know if if that game would happen he should add it and it would have been two to one in that theoretical game which you know mentality wise is a different thing not that you know it would have mattered if i don't know say deal is gary came to the game later but know, that shouldn't have been a run. That's all I'm saying. Correct. And, yeah, so then – but then after that, I mean, it turned into legit darts at 94. And movement.

And, like, the ball was moving. It was like – that's when – it feels like when Arrieta's on, like, it really, he is one of those guys who you can just see the ball dancing, and it felt like it was dancing there. It was dancing, and he finally looked comfortable. It looked like he was finally just letting loose. And, you know, it makes sense. I mean, that was his first start since August of last year.

Which is crazy. It had been a calendar year since the last time that Jake Arrietaed the rubber and and he's coming off of a bone spur surgery his first time really really back on the mound and the guy the guy that we theoretically saw in the last three innings was a guy that like can can actually help this ball club do i think do i trust him no i don't trust him uh am i am i trying to get people's hopes up about jk arieta no i'm not um i would never want to ever leave any lead anyone down that path ever but you know there's there's positives they take away from and i thought he's really finishing over his front side and i just thought the ball was i mean now james i don't know if you noticed or if maybe the whole baseball world noticed, but he struck out four straight guys.

And he even attempted to miss some bats, which I wasn't sure that Jake Arrieta knew how to do. But he did it. And he missed some bats there late in the game. game and like i just i i'm i'm hoping and i'm praying that it maybe unlocks something and maybe we can get an era in the freaking threes from jake arietta i mean that would be glorious um but you know there's i think there's more signs of hope than than not after his last three innings and hopefully that can kind of jumpstart him and get him moving in the right direction. Yeah, man.

It felt like, you know, coming into the season, we kind of joked we all knew Velasquez was the starter that we felt the least confidence in, or at least most of us. But it definitely was one of those things where we kind of joked, like Arrieta or Velasquez, they both stink. I feel a lot more confident in Jake Arrieta than I do in Vince Velasquez. I mean, there's no question now. Arrieta looked really solid, man.

Like, he settled in, and I agree. I'm not trusting him at all. I'm just not. But I was impressed with what I saw, especially considering, like you said, how long it's been since he's thrown a pitch in a Major League Baseball game. And the fact that it was in New York against a really good lineup. So I'm super, super, super cautiously optimistic.

All right. Now, I think, quickly, you're welcome to the audience. We will actually talk about things that actually happen instead of this weird hypothetical world that we were living in let's move on as a doubleheader jack that actually happened uh can you pretend the second game didn't happen i mean i i wish i wish the first game didn't happen i mean i mean obviously well here's the thing if the first game didn't happen the way it did the second game didn't have to happen the way it did. So let's start with the first one. Let's start at the top with Wheeler.

Started out a little rough, settled in, ended up giving him a quality start for all intents and purposes. What did you think of what you saw from Wheeler? Because I know after that first start, we were positive about it, but you did kind of point out that if it weren't the Marlins, maybe it would not have been quite as impressive a start. And I think we saw some of that against the Yankees early on. What did you think of Wheeler?

Yeah, I mean, I'm way more positive about Wheeler after the Yankees start than I am the Marlins start. Nice. Yeah, because I think that i think that we see the i think that we see the path for wheeler um and i i thought i thought what made him so good is he wasn't he wasn't uh i'm not gonna say he was flying open uh mechanically against against the marlins like obviously his stuff was still really good but i didn't think he was in the zone enough um like i thought it was a pretty good

fastball with decent location and then a curveball that didn't stand a chance uh and then a pretty good sinker um but what i saw against the yankees was just a lot more consistency a lot more time spent in the zone a lot more pitches in the zone and really i think what we're going to learn from wheeler is that if his front side stays closed the longer the better um and i thought during i thought during the the yankee star he kept that front side closed and i think it really helped him um with deception on his fastball on his sinker um you know i i guess i obviously we didn't watch wheeler as close as we are now, but I didn't anticipate us getting a ground ball double play machine guy. Me either, man.

Did you see that? It was a stat like he's one of like three pitchers in the last – three Phillies pitchers in the last 30 years who had back-to-back starts with three double plays, three ground ball double plays in it or something like that. Yeah, I think it was a Spader. Spader tweeted that out. I think it was. three double plays uh three ground ball double plays in it or something like that yes well i think i think it was a spader spader tweeted that out i think it was and i by the way shout out to our boy ryan spader because i have a fun ryan spader stat to bring up later so get ready for

that nice uh yeah because i think i told you i prepared tonight jack i got a lot i got a lot going good uh the last guy i think was padilla um and that was back in like 03 so uh yeah you you think you're getting a big strikeout guy in zach wheeler and listen if he wants to be a ground ball double play guy that they can still throw 97 98 i'll take it um but yeah i just think i think with him it's going to be about keeping that front side closed as long as possible then firing late um and when he when he's opening up earlier he's his front side's firing a little bit early i think that's when you'll see his curveball and his slider not really being competitive pitcher pitches but what i saw against the yankees um was a guy who who whose

pitches were in the zone longer than they were against the marlins and he pitched really really you know if if segura is not at shortstop and Didi's at shortstop he has a better outing than than um what he had and he probably gets to throw a complete game instead of getting pulled um and no I don't think a complete game is really seven innings and I think I think seven innings is a joke I have a i have a take for you later i'm sure where i'm sure where that's going um but yeah for you i uh i i do love uh i really like what i saw from wheeler and i think we'll as long as he keeps that front side closed as long as possible um i think we're gonna see i see a good picture here all right so in a second i want to get into the obvious main thing we need to talk about

from the doubleheader as a whole, Girardi, the bullpen. But let's get Noel out of the way quickly because we're talking about Wheeler. Let's talk Noel, and then we'll get into all the kind of more macro stuff. But I don't know about you, Jack. That's the best Aaron Noel I've seen since 2018. Like, wow. you, Jack. That's the best Aaron Noah I've seen since 2018. Like, wow. Wow, man. Like, he was so impressive, again, against a really good Yankees lineup.

I mean, look, the numbers speak for themselves, the six innings, the 12 strikeouts. But it was even better, it felt like, than the stats showed. And literally, I honestly feel in really watching every single pitch of Nola's start, he made one bad pitch. One bad pitch the entire time he was out there. And Luke Voigt took advantage of it. And I think we all hate Luke Voigt, period.

But am I overreacting to what we saw from Nola, or is that kind of how you felt too? Well, I don't know. But you and I have both seen a lot of right-handed home runs at Spank Park history. Was that the furthest home run you've seen? It was up there. So Mike Stanton, back when he was Mike Stanton, that's how I say it with the Marlins.

Like there was that, maybe it was Giancarlo time, but he hit a Homer that went up into Ashburn alley that I'll never forget. And he had another one that hit the upper, like the, the facade of the upper deck and felt like if the, the, the deck had not been there, it would have kept going forever. And it got out in like a half a second. deck and felt like if the the the deck had not been there it would have kept going forever and it got out in like a half a second so i feel like other than mike stanton or gene carlos stanton yes i think that luke voigt home run is maybe the longest most majestic right hand at home run we've seen there it's up there because i'm pretty sure he hit it

off the scoreboard like it hit off the scoreboard and bounced down and i don't know like i just i think worth hit a homer off of samarja that i thought was the furthest i had seen um and the void homer i think was was right there with it. It was such a tank. It was one of those where, like, you just, the moment the bat touched the ball, you knew it was going forever. Like, it was such a no-doubter. But, no, I am, yeah, I'm with you. It's my new Boston start. You know, I'm going to talk about the Nola start versus the Yankees.

It's a great point start. I'm going to talk about the Nola star versus the Yankees. It's a great point. I don't – Hold up. Can we just say that Aaron Nola owns the AL East? Is that just – I mean, right? Yeah. I think that's the most fair thing you've said on this podcast, Aaron Nola. Death taxes and Aaron Nola versus the AL East.

Is it more fair than Hector Neris' Mariano Rivera? Or, excuse me, better than Mariano Rivera? What's more fair than hector neris is mariana rivera or excuse me better than mariana rivera what's more fair i don't know i mean both are one pitch guys that dominate uh other teams of the alice so who's to say um but uh yeah nola yeah like because because i didn't want to get too excited about him until he got through the sixth you know because he he's been even in petering out he's been petering out right even even in 19 he would have a really really good four or five innings and everyone would be like oh aaron noah's back and then he would you know crap the bed and uh probably blow a game against the braves and be furious and whatever that

happened the sixth inning but he he just powered right through it um and again i mean i think i saw the stat today uh first start against the marlins he threw 53 fastballs um and against the yankees last 90 through 67 and as i said in the last podcast like everything that comes come every everything with aaron nola comes back to the fastball if he's locating the fastball everything's fine you know if he if he can put that fastball where he needs to put it and he can work his curveball and change it off of that like everything just works better for nola and he had his fastball location last night he was feeling it uh and he saw how that worked off his off speed i actually almost i feel like he was almost

tunneling his his curveball and his change up which is kind of like next level stuff but um yeah and you know i i just think that i think brian price has just made a really really big difference um in in in these guys and It's early. I know the bullpen looks like crap, but the starting rotation looks pretty good. They haven't really blown up. I thought F1 was really good tonight. Velasquez is the only one.

Yeah, and even Velasquez... The only bad start. I know, and even Velasquez, and I get that it wasn't great. He had the one bad inning. I can't wait to hear this. But he had the one bad inning, and then he calmed down.

He had the one good inning. The first inning was good, and then he had the bad inning, and then he pseudo calmed down. He did, but I still think it was a mistake. Felt like the old Vinny. Felt like the old Vinny. I understand. I understand. I understand. I got it it was a mistake. Felt like the old Vinny. I understand. I understand.

I understand. I get it. I get it. But I'm just saying I would have put him back out there and not gone to the pen that early. But whatever. That's the Marlins game a decade ago. It was at least 10 years ago, right? But I think that Price has kind of got them back to where they need to go.

Price has kind of got them back to where they need to go. And actually, in watching Wheeler yesterday, I thought Price had a pretty big influence on him as well. So I've been really, really impressed with what he's gotten out of this starting rotation so far. You saw it with Arrieta in his theoretical start on Monday night, and you saw it with Nola yesterday. You know, just just just really really dominant stuff and I guess we'll get into it but I just I didn't hate I didn't hate the idea

of pulling there I didn't either honestly they didn't play for a week man like they didn't play for a week and like you mentioned before he got through the six but like Nola has been kind of petering out fifth six around that range where he's gotten into that sort of pitch range and getting through the lineup another time like and look let's be real like we're all just looking at gerardi in a microscope in philly and we have a tendency to really only focus on the phillies and not everything else but like if you look around major league baseball there's been a lot of injuries, like a lot, especially to pitchers. And it's the type of thing where I agree with the idea that Aaron Nola's health is more important than one extra

inning. Now, if you want to complain about it, here's what I would say. And let's just get into the whole decision-making process. Cause I think that's important with the whole thing. If you want to say that you should have let Nola come out, face Stanton, and see what he's got for that extra inning, I'm fine with that. And if you don't, I was fine with the idea to bring in Tommy Hunter. My only complaint with Girardi with the Tommy Hunter thing was I would have taken him out after three batters. I thought it was very clear he had nothing like sometimes you just know sometimes you can just see it and somehow he faced five batters and it cost them runs and if they had brought in Adam Morgan sooner who knows I know lefty righty thing or whatever but we're bringing Alvarez but bringing a better pitcher I I didn't hate I think that Girardi is right to almost have to trust a guy like Tommy Hunter in that spot,

especially as we know, and we'll get to the Neres thing in a sec, but I have no problem with if Hector Neres warmed up, and even if he only threw one pitch, I get not using him in that second game like we talked about. He wouldn't be there today, but my issue with Girardi with that Hunter thing was that it was clear Tommy Hunter didn't have it. He has to face three batters, but I would not have let those act. Like maybe they, so they probably sort of given up at least around like, who knows, but I just felt like Hunter had nothing there. And that's what bothered me about that decision-making process, not putting Tommy Hunter in the first place.

Yeah. And I think that's fair. But at the same time, if I remember correctly, there was a righty up. And Adam Morgan traditionally hasn't been great. I would have gone Alvarez. I would have gone. I feel like I just trust Alvarez to get out. And righties, lefties, whatever. Like, I think you and I agree.

We said it before. I don't think there's any question, at least in the minds the high hopes podcast that Hector Neris and Jose Alvarez are and then it's like a a gap like it's Hector Neris it's Jose Alvarez and then there is a gap between those guys and the next best pitcher which is probably Adam Morgan like I would have just gone with my best guy there if I can't use Neris, like, I don't know. And regardless, I'm not going to kill him for the Hunter move, but didn't you feel, was it, am I crazy to say that after those first three batters, really after two, but after those first three batters,

you knew Tommy Hunter wasn't getting outs? I mean, I could have said after his jog in from the bullpen. I mean, isn't he like the modern day Todd Coffey? I mean, he's just. I know, I could have said after his jog in from the bullpen. I mean, isn't he like the modern-day Todd Coffey? I know, dude. He's so uncompelling as a quote-unquote athlete. Yeah. I mean, I try to make the argument that pitchers are athletes. He's like a sad version of David Wells.

And David Wells got pretty sad at times. I mean, the fact that Tommy Hunter's, like, are, I mean, I'm putting. One of the four best, one of the four guys, like, again, like, Jack, are there any other guys on this team other than Hector Neris, Adam Morgan, Jose Alvarez, and Tommy Hunter have got a single big out for this team? Like, no. Like, even those guys' big outs is in quotes because the Phillies have not had a true big out in a while.

But you know what I mean. I mean, I'd bite your tongue. Pavetta held the lead tonight, and you know that. And I would just like you to please take back that last sentence and put Nick Pavetta ahead of Tommy Hunter on your – I was just going to wait and spring it on you, but I just want to let the listeners know that I have a, and we're not getting to it now. This is like a tease type of thing.

Not that anyone's leaving anyway, but I have a very, very important Nick Pavetta question to ask Jack. We'll get to that later, which is one of the two most important things that we'll get to in this podcast. Because I put a poll out and we have to settle something for our guy. But we'll get to that. Let's get back to what we were talking about. So as you were saying. Actually, I'm just so excited for the other stuff that I forgot. I know, I know, I know.

No, I just. Tommy Hunter, the decision there. You know. So I'm cool with Nola. Honestly, I actually would have considered pulling him after the fifth. I thought he kind of started leaking some oil there a little bit. And I thought the V-low was coming down a little bit. And honestly, I was getting terrified of sixth-inning Nola.

So if I'm using the percentages there, I'll take my shots and just try to hope to to get some outs from the bullpen hunter is fine that in in that regard um but then once you kind of see he's 91 uh versus 94 he was in his last outing and especially since gerardi knows that they've been off for a week and they hadn't really been able to get off a mound and um they even even Pavetta tonight was like 93 a couple times and it just seems like a lot of their velocities are down it was nice to see Nolo's up to 95 last night um but it does seem like their velocities are down a little bit but yeah you know bringing in Tommy Hunter isn't the worst thing in the world it's just that know, the weird part about him

is that he's actually better against lefties than righties. And it seemed like Girardi kind of threw that all out the window and just said, no, you're a righty. You should be able to get righties out even though a cutter. That's not what he does as well. Right. Well, even a cutter to righties, like if it keeps falling away, they can just poke it into right field for a single and just kind of uh it's death by a thousand paper cuts but i mean that didn't happen they just squared them up for

five straight batters um but yeah i was fine with it and and honestly like and this goes back to my thing about gabe i didn't really hate a lot of the decisions that Gabe made. You know, I think on paper a lot of them made sense. And that's how I feel about Girardi, you know. And Hector Neris. You know, Ike brought up an interesting point today. Because I was like, it was the right decision to not pitch Neris in game two. And obviously it worked out tonight that they were able to use him.

But like if he, if he warmed up and then they, and he doesn't have to go in the game, would he have used him in game two? You know, like I think he, I think he would. It's a fascinating question,

actually. It's a good question. Cause he only did, obviously we know he only threw one pitch and the argument is, well, he didn't really throw one pitch because he was in the bullpen pitching before that. But if he doesn't get in, he still threw those pitches in the bullpen are you still using it totally and one especially with naris we've had like this was it remember that the naris warming up thing like this is not the first time that that naris warming

up vigorously or whatever has meant that he couldn't pitch when we hoped he would remember so maybe like the i don't know maybe there's something to actor narrows maybe he like all guys are different all these arms their their habits their routines maybe narrows is one of those guys where if he warms up you know it's kind of like he's he's shot after that well and and the one thing is is that a lot of people had been saying that they want um defined roles and they want to be told what's going to happen and they want to have a plan heading into the game and you know uh gerardi in the in the pregame show on the manager show on on wip he said you know i'm i'm only going to use these guys once i'm not pitching them in both ends

of the double header i'm only using them in one of the games so maybe he told hector for the game i'm only using you here and it kind of uh gets into his mindset and says like i only he only needs me here and you know we we talked a lot about that kind of mindset with gabe where it was like you know um he would get a big out or a reliever come in and get a big out and then he put him right back out there and it wouldn't go as well um maybe it was just kind of a mindset thing you know getting into his head that we're only using you for one game and uh you know kind of take the rest of the day off so you know maybe he just wanted to stay consistent with his guy and not kind of surprise him so i you know the thing that sucks is that it's 60 games. And if it's 162, this is not a big deal at all.

You know, you don't want to burn pitchers. But the one I wouldn't say it's a criticism because I think it's smart. But the one criticism you could have of Girardi is that he's treating this 60-game season as it's a 162. And it's not. It's 60 games. You're trying to you're trying to fight for a playoff spot you know you pulled arietta on monday when he was finally starting to find his groove and i understand he hadn't pitched in a year and i understand that you're trying to keep these guys healthy you know last night he could have gone back out there for the

seventh wheeler the same thing that um in game one um you know, maybe he's being too protective of his guys in a 60-game season and he's treating it too much like a 162. That's definitely a pretty valid concern. But, again, you know, I want the Phillies to make the playoffs and do some things here, but it's not the end of the world. I already think of the seasons as sham anyway oh dude jack you just hit on it like it is it is so true and look if gerardi like we you know there have been so many like discussions and and arguments about like player safety especially in the the covid world we're living in and something like

about, like, player safety, especially in the COVID world we're living in. And it's something like, Joe Girardi's actually, like, putting these guys' health first and getting criticized for it. Like, that's, you know, when you just step back and look at it from that view, you know, kind of that thousand-foot view and say, like, he's saying, all right, I'm not risking injury. I'm not risking long-term stuff with these guys. Like, and kind of getting killed for it

it's a great point especially in a season that is a sham of a season it is what it is like I want the Phillies to win it just because it's baseball and I want it but like come on man they're making the schedule up as they go along you know there's been teams that have had to sit out for a week we had 20 of the teams just postponed last, not even counting the rain delays. Like it's, it's what it is. It's 50 something games for a fair amount of teams. Like it's a joke, but like I'm with you, Jack. I think that's a really good point.

And I don't, but at the same time, like you also in the moment want to compete, want to win and, and you want to see a sense of urgency from the team that feels like we understand that each of these games is amplified and means much more and we need to treat them as such. So it's a really weird balance, especially as a fan to, to kind of way, you know, it's really, I've struggled with it myself. And I think that the, uh, you know, you've seen examples where it's like, like whether it's Ramon Rosso in the first game,

three, one, whether it's Jules Guerra, three, one of those games where it's like spots where in a normal one 62, you'd say, all right, like, I understand that this is a game we're still in, but like my guy needs work or this guy, I need to know what I have in this guy or this or that. And I'm going to work. And you have that leeway of saying, all right, I'm going to learn what I have here. And maybe I take the hit for it, or maybe I'm going to give this game away a little bit because this guy,

I'm going to save and I can use him in a more important game or whatever. That's tough. That's like classic baseball managing. But with this few games that it is, it's a real paradox, it really is now does that still count for austin davis or are we good there like we don't have to learn anything else about austin davis we know he stinks we know that he's a waste of time we know it's a joke that he should not be on a roster i mean how the freak not be on a roster how do they let that guy wear number 54

like how do they let that guy wear that brad lidge's number they get let that guy put a uniform how do they how do they give him a key card how does he even get in the building i mean the stats and bob wankle at crossing broad uh tweeted them out and i'll pull them up as we're talking but like austin davis's stats over the you know 2019 to 2020 is abominable like this guy should not be pitching here we go austin davis 2019 to 2020 22 innings 28 hits 19 earned runs a 7 7 70 ra and allowing a 988 ops against like i mean guys are hitting like jack fritz might be able to do better than that i don't i'm probably but like guys no guys are guys are legitimately they're like they're almost putting up trout level numbers off every hitter is mike trout against him yeah like why is he here why like what what garrett clevenger conor brogdon

like oh like our like seabold like what are we doing like what what are these guys here for like why do you even have them on the roster like why and i understand that you don't want to trust young guys or whatever like austin davis sucks like he's not a major league pitcher there is zero reason to have him on a roster he shouldn't be on any roster much less the phillies well then there's there's no if if if connor brogdon and damon jones and uh maybe not seabold maybe not cleven Jones and maybe not Seabold, maybe not Clevenger. Yeah, not Seabold, probably. Why not Clevenger, though?

He's better than Austin Davis, right? He is. He's better than Austin Davis. I understand if they maybe want to work on some control stuff with him. I don't know if you can trust putting him in the game just yet. But if Damon Jones and Connor Brogdon, especially conor brogdon aren't up here by by monday or whatever at the latest like it's it's a it's a disaster like he should be coming up here with spencer howard on sunday to make his first start or not make his first start but be in

that bullpen because like and and and what bothers me is like ramon rosso obviously didn't do well in his first game but like can we can we get him back out there? I mean, why is he – I haven't seen him again. Why can't he get in an 11-3 ball game? Like why are we wasting our time with Austin Davis? That's a great point. Ramon Rosso should theoretically be one of your first guys out of the bullpen.

Well, that's the spot. Ramon Rosso's major league debut should not have been in a tight 3-1 game in the opener of the season. It should have been in an 11-3 game where you ask him to come in and get a few outs for you. If you're going to have an issue with Girardi, and I agree with you, one issue is the way he's coaching, managing longevity versus short season. But in terms of the bullpen decisions, it's those type of decisions. And I get it it he doesn't know

the the guys as well he's still figuring out what he has but i feel like we've seen already a couple times austin we just saw austin davis diolos gara in new york and and that one rosso where it's just like it's the wrong guy in the wrong spot well and i i certainly know that trevor kelly has no idea where the ball is going like why is he even warming up tonight okay like i think we i think we know enough about about trevor kelly i don't know i feel like i feel like us as phillies fans know what we're getting out of these bullpen pieces better than maybe the manager which is kind of scary but um yeah you know you trusted ramon rosso so much in game one i think it's ridiculous that you can't get him back out there again just to see what you have

because he did look so good in in summer camp all right um quickly thoughts on efflin and then we got to talk about the lineup the offense a lot to get to quickly your thoughts on on efflin just to kind of get done with the starting pitch yeah man i love eflin i really do i really like zach eflin a lot um i he threw a pitch tonight to stanton he threw a two-seamer to strike him out and i i swear i've never seen a zach eflin two-seamer move that much you know it literally it broke all the way across the plate you you know, and I always thought that Zach Eflin two-seamer was a nice pitch,

but it didn't really, you know, break enough for me. But, yeah, I just really like watching Zach Eflin pitch. And, you know, for that performance after he had been hurt, well, not hurt, I guess he had a little back problem and hadn't really pitched in a little bit. But for him to come out and do that against that Yankees team, I thought it was really impressive. And, you know, it just seems like he has such a good feel

for at least three of his pitches. Like, I think he has a good feel. I still think his curveball is kind of not great. You know, it kind of spins sometimes. It doesn't exactly have depth to it but it's a pretty good get me over pitch i think the two seamer works two seam sinker pitch works um and then i really like the change up um so the slider uh the slider is a good pick the slider and curve ball are both fine i think they're fine pitches but he has a really really good ability to get

to the outside corner against against right-handed hitters that you don't see a lot um you know i think he's just a good four or five option you know i think he's a he could be better than a four or five but i think as a four or five i feel really good about zach eflin i feel like i'm gonna get a consistent performance the one thing you have to worry about is you know it seems like he gets hurt a good amount or it seems like he gets tired you know it always seems like there's a little something off with him to where you can't fully trust him but when he's out there you know what i saw tonight was was just really consistent good stuff i feel like zach affleck can go out there and give me six innings less than three runs two out of three starts. And I'll take that from Zach Eflin.

So I think he tunnels really well. I've always thought he tunneled really well. And I thought tonight was just another example of that, just dotting the outside corner with three pitches that he can go to whenever he wants. So really, really impressed Zach Eflin. And I just hope he can stay healthy because I think he can really help this team. All right.

Let's segue to the lineup. Do you want to start with the bad or the good it's your choice uh always start with the bad yeah i agree all right uh so i'm gonna give you a threesome and i want you to rank for me how concerned you are about them offensively obviously speaking reese oskins, Andrew McCutcheon, Scott Kingery. Oh, you didn't even add Gene Segura in there. Oh, man, shows how sad I am. Is Alec Boehm ready yet, or what's happening there? Yeah, so Kutch, not worried.

I know a lot of people are worried. I'm not. I think he's such a professional. I think he'll figure it out. it out i thought we saw some it's a timing thing and all that just kind of get yeah i thought it was all signs of life tonight um and i think he just has to trust his knee you know people are saying he he doesn't look exactly fluid out there but i thought the the double he looked like he was moving pretty well so maybe that kind of much like arietta kind of gets him going a little bit and i just think that i think i think things will come around for andrew mccutcheon i think in 162 we'd feel fine about him um so not worried yet on andrew mccutcheon

actually thought he smoked a couple balls the other night which is good to see just right at guys so um i'm not worried about andrew mccutcheon i think he'll be fine. Hoskins just looks like he's just caught in between everything. You know, in fastball counts, he's not catching up. You know, he hasn't really squared up a fastball. And it looks like when he's getting his foot down, a fastball's already by him pretty much because he's almost like sitting on off-speed pitches. Now, it's nice that he's walking a sitting on off speed pitches um now it's it's nice that

he's walking a lot and that helps and whatnot but like i don't know how much longer i can take the the fastball down the middle that he's just late on or can't make consistent hard contact on um so yeah i i'm worried about reese just because i i just think it's all timing with him and i just think he's in between right now he doesn't't really know if he wants to unload on a ball or maybe that's not right where he needs it and he can try to work a walk. I think he's gotten a little bit too obsessed with trying to work a walk. So I'm frustrated. I'm at like a panic meter of like seven on Reese.

And the walks are great, but he he's just gotta start driving the baseball um you know hopefully they can get him back to the four spot if he can do that and the lineup just makes more sense but for the time being like I'm just leaving him in the two and hopefully he gets on base for for Bryce and JT like at work tonight um and Kingery again he just looks lost you know he's gotta get he's gotta get back to just trying to get some hits rather than trying to launch everything he looks lost and and it sucks because i i want kingery to be great i really do i want i want scott kingery to be awesome but he's just brutal at the plate like straight up brutal just i don't have i have zilch confidence in in him right now i still think

cut will come through i still think reese can work working good at bat i i just i think kingery is gonna get to a one-two count and strike out or make weak contact so um yeah i i am at like an eight or nine on scott it's it's not a great place to be at i hope he can figure it out but uh you know this whole idea that he's going to be this unbelievable hitter because he's locked in at second base clearly isn't the case. And it's very, very worrisome. And I don't know how much longer you can keep playing him in a 60-game season. Yeah, and I think that can be the case for for a few people especially when we'll get to it

um there are some guys who are not playing as much who are absolutely producing more um but i agree with you i i'm i'm just as worried look reese is clearly a much better uh at bat right now than than kingery is But at least with Kingery, like you can potentially say, all right, he's still working his way back from, from the COVID thing. And,

you know, kind of got a late start with things and maybe he's just not back to where he needs to be physically yet. I mean, at least I can paint that world. Hoskins just looks broken, man. And,

and it's not just these games, obviously it's the entire half of second half of last season where he was among the worst everyday players in the entire sport and I agree that the ability to work a walk that the ability to you know he does clearly have great awareness of the strike zone and the ability to recognize pitches and thus layoff and stuff. But, man, it feels like he should be the ninth hitter right now. Like, turn the lineup over. He'll get on base for you.

Like, I just, I have zero faith in him to do anything. I want him to walk. He's the kid in Little League where you're like, walks as good as a hit. Don't swing the bat. Because I have no faith in him to do anything with the bat and that's almost scarier than Kingery in a way at least considering what we saw the second half of last season Joe Giglio had a great tweet that I have I've thought the exact same things multiple times

a season it almost feels like he doesn't even want to swing the bat like it almost feels like he goes up there hoping for a walk and I don't know man i'm i'm i'm legitimate i came into the season concerned and and i've seen nothing to assuage those concerns you know i mean oh yeah i mean listen i'm i'm with you uh it's just i just i just don't i can't believe it's hard to understand it's like how is it how He hit his entire minor league career. He hit for the first year plus he's in the majors. Like, I don't get it. It makes no sense.

It's crazy. I mean, we did see it happen with Markel Fultz. I mean, maybe you just lose it. Look, I think a better example is Don Brown, and Don Brown didn't have as much major league success. But Don Brown, someone who was't have as much major league success, but Don Brown, someone who was one of the top prospects in baseball hit it in the minor leagues came up, you know, had that, that magical month plus, you know,

that season and then just lost it. And whether it was a hole in his swing or whatever they were able to key in on, or he couldn't hit a certain pitcher wherever, I don't know the specifics of Don Brown, but like, I think that's a better type of example but man yeah well at least but here's the thing though it's nerve-wracking but here's the thing is that don brown but don brown didn't have the eye that reese has and i agree what i what i come back to is he's not making hard contact on pitches in the zone but at least he still is seeing the ball well out of, out of the hand.

And it really just comes back to getting his timing back. And, and maybe he gets back to thinking of right center field versus pull, pull, pull. I actually thought, I actually thought, uh,

in game two yesterday, he hit a ball to right field. It was actually semi squared up. And I was like, that's what you need, man. Cause he just has to sing. It was like a single to right field. And it was like, Oh, that was actually semi-squared up and i was like that's what you need man because he just has to sing it was like a single to right field and it was like oh that was cool he needs to he needs to get back to thinking that way so the the thing with reese for me

is that he can still be uh he's still working a good a good at bat he is still walking and he still knows what a good pitch is he just has to start capitalizing on it um i'm actually i'm more worried about kingery because he he has never shown the same level of eye that um he doesn't have the same level of eye so yeah it's it sucks and i think you know the the phillies right now are batting like the two stats that i think are killing them offensively and they're not updated right now um after the game but you know 208 runners in scoring position i'm assuming yeah and 208 with runners in scoring position and and and reese and mccutchen like their ops combined is like 400 something like 450 so um you know just getting no production production from one and two in their lineup.

It sucks. But, yeah, it's not great. And then Segura, I know you didn't bring him up. No, I was going to ask you any quick thoughts on him before we get to the game. Well, like, dude, just beat Gene Segura, man. You know, hit 300, go the other way, try to get singles, at least try to help this team. I just feel like i feel like instead of thinking right center field gap he's strictly thinking left field bleachers and he's

kind of doing the kingery thing where it's let me just try to launch everything and believe me i understand the i understand launch angle and i understand wanting to launch but some guys that is not them and that is not james segura and i don't think it's kingery yet i think he could possibly get there but until he gets back to knowing how to bear off of baseball again i don't think it should be him either so um yeah if segura could just get back to being a right center field and thinking opposite way and hey maybe take a freaking page out of dj lemahue and see what he did and be that for us. Yeah, seriously, seriously.

That's the kind of guy he used to be. Segura's that kind of hitter. I mean, track record shows. So do that. Just be DJ LeMayhew. Do that. Seriously. No, I...

Yes. I couldn't agree more. All right, let's get to the good. And you mentioned a couple guys before, but that's not where we're starting because we need to start with the hottest hitter on the planet. It's not Aaron Judge. Screw that.

It's friend of the podcast. I think the only two-time guest maybe we've ever had. Well, besides Franzen. True, true yes and i think franski might have been on twice but regardless shout out to phil gosling seriously though like real quick and before we get to to the most important question i will ask you in this entire podcast why is he not playing every day why is gerardi pinch hitting for him for a righty-lefty matchup? Phil Gosselin needs to play every day. Ride this out, man. Baseball's a game of if guys are seeing the ball like it's a beach ball

every time they step up, put him in the freaking lineup. If you want to criticize Girardi, we've been in a lot of bullpen stuff. Criticize him for not putting Gosselin in there more. Yeah, I criticize him for not putting Gosselin in more. I can definitely criticize him for not just gosling in more and i can definitely criticize it for not just playing hazley uh which is too drives me crazy quinn had a good night tonight but i mean hazley's batting 600 for christ's sake yeah can we just maybe ride it out yeah um i i just the the one thing i'll say about phil gosling is that he might be a bigger baseball legend from Westchester than me.

I think I might be ready to relinquish that title. That's good of you. That is very big of you. Yes. Shout out to me. I'm going to pat myself on the back. Somehow it came back to that. But, yeah.

No, it's just like it's not even like not even like it's it's bad luck it's like sometimes when a guy's is hot it's bad luck but like phil gosselin's squaring up everything he's hitting and i i just i i want to know when comes the conversation about building the team around him you know is the is the future of the phies Bryce JT and Phil Gosselin? And I think we're approaching that level. And I think it's ridiculous when he's not in the lineup. And I understand that he has traditionally not hit right-handed hitting, but can we figure that out first?

You know, just like Adam Haseley. Absolutely. Give him a chance to do it. Yeah, I mean, just figure it out. And, like, with Adam Haseley, it's like, yeah, maybe he hasn't traditionally been good against lefties, but, like, what are we doing here? I mean, he's 24 years old. I feel a hell of a lot more confident with those two guys

every time they step to the plate than a lot of the people who are in the lineup every day. Like, frankly, you know? Phil Gosselin is straight up turning into a folk hero. I mean, guys from here, Philly's fan, is on the correct side of the Wentz-Foles debate. And he straight up rakes. And he's the perfect combination of from here, rakes,

and doesn't play that often. And great story. And great story. And from Westchester. It's the first time in six years he's been on the same team two years in a row. Like, this dude has bounced around and he's playing for the team he rooted for growing up

and he's, like, finally crushing it. Like, it's an awesome story. Like, everyone should love this dude's story, but, like, all jokes aside, like, I'm dead serious. He needs to be in line every day. He is, this is crazy.

This is not an offense that has been a juggernaut so far. Like, they had that, you know, 11-run explosion, which was nice, but, like, they have not been consistent. They've had big innings. They have not been able to consistently get hits when they need it, and all Phil Gosselin has done is get hits when they need it. It's crazy to me. But, Jack, this is secondary.

need it. It's crazy to me, but Jack, this is secondary. I put up a poll on Twitter because it seems like he's so great that he already has two nicknames. I hear a lot of goose. I hear a lot of barrels. So I put out a poll. It says, what is the better nickname for Phil Gosselin? Barrels or Goose? 65% of respondents say Goose. Jack, before I reveal what the definitive answer is, let's find out if you agree with what I'm about to reveal. What is the best nickname for Phil Gosselin? So my,

my, my heart says goose. My head says barrels. And the reason why I say that it should be barrels is because like I grew up with two gooses who were also friends of phil goslins and phil goslin from westchester again i know phil goslin has never been nicknamed goose my friends are nicknamed goose he is not goose so i already have friends nicknamed Goose. So I don't think Phil Gosselin is personally my Goose. So I will call him Barrels.

Jack, thank you. This is the happiest, most proudest moment that I get to do the IELTS podcast with you because it is Barrels. To your point, it's so funny you said that because one of the things I was going to say is I have three friends whose nickname is Goose. One of them's a super close friend. Shout out to Pat. Pat's not listening.

But I know Goose is like barrels is badass. Barrels is special and the fact that his teammates gave him that name is that much more badass like barrels is 10 000 times a better nickname than goose for phil gosselin i've never felt more confident in a philly's opinion that i have had in my lifetime, Jack, than the fact that Barrels has to be his nickname. And you could say it was his teammates, but I'm giving full credit to Gabe Kapler because I'm pretty sure Gabe Kapler really came up with that nickname. I believe it.

I mean, that's something Gabe would say. Well, he's already calling Donovan Solano Barrels, so it seems like he throws it around very easily. But once again, I think this is more of a... That's amazing. Yeah, well, I think it's more evidence of trying to erase the Gabe Kapler era from our minds, and I'm not going to let barrels be the next victim of this.

Well, hold up. The funniest thing is, no joke joke it will not be erased because every single thing you tweet i'm talking about the royal you me you whatever that is i didn't like that bullpen decision or that didn't work out is gabe capler would have been killed for it can you believe if that was gabe capler Imagine if that was Gabe. So no one is forgetting. Like, people are reminding everybody about it. I hope everyone remembers that it's not the manager. I mean, I don't have to do the rant again, but have we all realized that after the last week?

Oh, man. All right. I'm really happy we decided this. Shout out to a friend of the show, barrels, Gosselin, who we will have to get back on again soon. Listen to crushing it.

Uh, selfish, selfishly. Yeah. I hope he does keep crushing it. Cause I would love to keep talking to Phil. Cause I think it's, I think it's the coolest thing in the world.

And so, so honestly, like though you bring up starting them, but it's tough because... It's tough because... No, I get it. Because Kingery, you kind of just hope figures it out. And what do you do? Dude, I need to win games.

I would put Zagura at second. I would start Gosselin at third. Or, you know what? I would DH Gosselin. I mean, look, J. Bruce is good against right-handed pitching. I get it. But man, like I just don't know how we know baseball's a game of, of, of streaks and, and being locked in. And Phil Gosselin's just locked in, man.

It just feels silly to not have him in the lineup. So I don't know. I understand that it's not an easy fix, especially with, you know, young guys you want to believe in and all that. But man, I don't know how much more, again, to the point of these games matter, like there's no intensity being shown. Like, I don't know. I don't know. So let so let's uh let's talk about some more good um jt romito a little contract push i mentioned before a uh a ryan spader stat is this error uh he tweeted out tonight jt romito is betting uh 303 with a 358 obp and a 630 slugging percentage with 39 runs 16 doubles two triples 16 homers and 45 obi rbi over his last 54 games played that's pretty damn impressive jack like

that's and again it's only 54 games it's a third of a normal season but that's high level catcher type stuff right there uh and obviously the the throw a Brett Gardner I can't believe you threw a Brett Gardner Brett Gardner had such a gigantic jump it was unbelievable um JT and look Bryce has been really good too like the average obviously it's been like you know hit or miss a little bit but i mean he's got like a 998 ops or something like that um just shout out to to really i mean it just shows sign jt i mean these two guys are the future there's no question yeah and and jt is the kind of guy that you keep around forever um and yeah bryce uh highest x of elo in baseball which is good to

see you know i tweeted i tweeted that out the other day and of course people like well why isn't it translating into hits man it's like well that's the hope that if you keep it the ball hard it will so let's learn a little bit you know this is not a pointless stat whatever um but yeah and really not no it is really not and uh and you know obviously what you just said about jt is all right you know the stats are there you know for a catcher his his offensive numbers are ridiculous and honestly like why that why are you ever running on jt romito like i just first off steals are already going away from baseball like what is making teams be like you know what let's try it I I don't understand how is how is rate is a throwout

rate it's only like 54 percent it has I'm pretty sure like I can't yeah it feels like he gets everybody it's 80 percent in my opinion and I think that the stats are wrong um but you know Wheeler Wheeler after the game yesterday said that part of the reason he signed here was JT Real Muto. And if you have Zach Wheeler signing here, and I know they still paid him the money and whatnot, you have Bryce Harper who has openly said he's his favorite player in baseball. And I think part of the reason he signed here was because of JT.

And he just let that guy walk. It's just – It's great. It's just, it's, it's great. It's asinine. I mean, it's asinine. Yeah. And I just don't think they're going to let it happen.

Like JT Romito is significantly more valuable to the Philadelphia Phillies for a multitude of reasons than he is to any other team in baseball period. End of story. That's it. And I do, I just, I love the people that are outside the stadium. Shout out to the Fandemic crew. It's amazing.

The fact that Aaron Boone can play, like, all itself is just amazing. Boone is such a softie. He is. I mean, I like him. He just seems like such a phony. Like, just manage, man. Like, get in there and manage. It just seems like a lot of extra phoniness to Aaron Boone complaining about the air horns.

Guys are savages, Jack. They're savages. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, just play baseball. They're just fans outside the stadium. You'll be okay. There's no fans in the stadium anyway. You go to Oakland, they do that all game long.

It's not that close to where it's really affecting the game. Why don't you make your guys play better rather than worrying about the fans outside the stadium? Let's not be such a baby Aaron Boone. Don't act like a little Mickey Mouse manager. This is the big leagues. You've been around the big leagues for a long time. You've been around Philadelphia for a long time.

Your dad's baboon. You know how great the fans are here. You know that they're going to show up and they're going to try to annoy you. First off, if that was at Yankee Stadium, you would be saying how great they were. And just the fact that it happened in our ballpark shows how much of a baby you are. And the fact that you come out and you have to complain to the umpires about it. What are the umpires going to do? Walk out of the stadium and go up there and tell them to be quiet?

How about no? Like, there's not 45,000 people at a ballpark. There is 10 people outside of a stadium with an air horn. If you guys can't focus out of that, then they shouldn't be in the big leagues. Like, if you can't focus enough to play baseball because of a freaking air horn outside the stadium then you should not have your guys just are not major league caliber players and you know for aaron boone to cry about that is is one of the most single embarrassing moments a manager could ever have it is phony it is ridiculous and he like no man like that's

something that i would expect from like a nationals manager or or like a a raise manager but not someone who is the manager of the new york yankees to complain about because if that was yankees fans outside the stadium he is not complaining about it he's opening his press conference being like oh good golly gosh i just love the yankees fans and their passion but the fact that it happened here in in this in a place that he used to call home and uh you know that it was the fans of his favorite football team that were outside the stadium trying to mess with his team's mojo and for him to come out there and and complain to the freaking umpires about that is bush league it is bush league it is something that an amateur hour manager would do

strictly freaking amateur hour grow up there's no savages in the box there's only savages outside the stadium Wow That was strong work Jack I don't I don't have anything else to say That was awesome I do have a couple Last things I wanted to get Did you have anything in your

Take bag at the end here I do I just Am I ending it or are you ending it No no no you know, uh, take bag at the end here. Um, I do. I just, I, I, uh, am I ending it or are you ending it?

No, no, no. Well, all right. So I have a, I have a few final things here. Let me, let me throw something at you and then you do your,

you know, take bag and then I'll give one final take. Um, I mentioned before, I had a really important question to ask you about Nick Pavetta and I've thought a lot about

your relationship with and to Nick Pavetta and the way you tweet what you say and I think I've come to the conclusion, and I will remind you

that you've never lied to the High Hopes listeners, so you cannot lie now. Jack, would you prefer that Nick Pavetta just never comes into any game so you don't have to deal with it yes i knew it i get to like every time he comes in it's like this is my nightmare i'm tired like it

feels like the the anxiety level that nick pavetta caused you and the reaction that you have to take for it it's just not worth it I just want to move on you know I I hope he's great I hope I hope he I hope he is great here I really do I just I I can't take it it just ruins it ruins like I have to watch every Pavetta pitch with like how can I spin this since everything's fine and and yeah it's hot committed as they say is the problem here yeah i was talking to ike you know and like he's hitched his wagon to carson wentz and i was like yeah it must be nice man i hitched mine to nick yeah yeah well but here's the thing like i love him like i just can't quit him i just love him I know. Oh, my God. I would so much rather be edge to once. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, but here's the thing.

Like, I love him. Like, I just can't quit him. I just love him. He's throwing his breaking ball hard tonight. Well, that first inning, he cruised. Like, he was great that first inning. All I saw on the second inning was holding the lead. And he did his job but yes no you're

you're 100 right it's just it's just like it's just like oh my god like I gotta deal with it tonight and it's like it's like it's like automatic too it's like the second he comes in it's like here's a thousand tweets about hey you watching the game Nick Nick's coming in. Like, thanks, man. I'm well aware that Nicky Poo's coming in. So, yeah, I mean, I love him. I'll never quit him. But if he never pitched again for the Phillies, it would just do a lot for me. You know, and I just get...

It would make your life a lot easier. I mean, I just get roasted by everyone, from Twitter to, like, everyone at the Phillies radio booth. They're always just crushing. It's just like, you know, I feel like no one's ever believed in a talented player in their lives before me. And then I come along and everyone just decides to pile on. Whatever. It's okay.

Tough times don't last. Tough people do. And Pavetta, you know again again held the lead tonight I'm very happy I asked that question all right what do you got in your take back um not much you know I think I think it's ridiculous that Haseley's not playing um I mean like roman quinn's uh fine but i think that when you have a guy who's as hot as hazley has been and you know you would hope that hazley can develop into your everyday center fielder you know you have to find out if you can hit lefty sometime i'd rather find out now than when you're trying to legitimately win a world series but

yeah again you know his hands are lower which is great um it seems like it's kind of he's looked he's just looked comfortable too hasn't he like he's had some really good at bats like able to foul balls off when you know some tough pitches off i've just been impressed with his approach i agree um mick able has been added to the the top 100 prospects so phil is officially at four of them um spencer howard apparently went down which is ridiculous i don't know why mlb pipeline would drop spencer howard he's fine you think they just know that he's coming up on sunday and they're just like all right well we'll take him we'll just throw him down the line seems dumb but i cannot

wait to watch spencer howard on sunday he is coming up on Sunday, right? Like that. Yeah. It feels, I don't think, I don't think they can officially say because if they, then the, then he can like sue them. Service time. Yep. Yep. Yep. Cause yep, yep, yep.

But that'll be fun. Our next podcast that we're going to record is going to be on Sunday. So I cannot wait for that. Anyway, go on. I would just like to say that a little birdies told me that Bryson Scott looks unbelievable up at Lehigh Valley. So I hope that that continues. I saw a lot of the cardboard cutouts tonight, and I would like to know how many High Hopes listeners have a cardboard cutout.

If you have a cardboard cutout. Oh, great question. Yeah, let us know. Yeah, just let us know. Seriously, at High Hopes Spot on Twitter. Me too. I want to know too. It's a great point. Or send us an email at the i hope spot at gmail.com yes um i actually i actually have a

cardboard cutout so uh look out for mine look at you buddy my mom bought it for me oh that's adorable you know what's funny is i never thought of actually getting one for myself but i half thought about getting zoe's face there so i get it yeah well it's a little different than my mom buying a 26 year old me yeah you're right cardboard cutout versus you buying your infant daughter you'd appreciate it a lot more than zoe would that is true um i am doing a reddit ama next thursday with our friends over at philly's reddit shout out to otter hooligan yes as always and met suck um and seahawks joe so uh doing a doing a reddit ama if you have any questions i'll promise to answer them. Well, not every question. But then some guy was already mad that I'm going to bring up my high school career. And I said, well, only if you ask about it.

And, yeah, there's high hops. If you're not drinking high hops during a Phillies game, I think there's something wrong. So get out to Four Fingers Brewing Company, pick up a growler of high hops, and enjoy some Phillies game, I think there's something wrong. So get out to Four Fingers Brewing Company, pick up a growler of high hops, and enjoy some Phillies baseball. Maybe pick it up for Spencer Howard's first start. That's something I would probably do. But that's just me. So there's fresh batches of high hops at Four Fingers Brewing Company,

the official brewery of the High Hopes podcast. Go out and attempt to talk phillies with my dad it won't go well but it's always fun to try please i can vouch the high hops is a outstanding beer it's a session beer it's easy to drink it's's smooth. And it works. So get on out and get that. I hate to do this to you, Jack. I think you saw this coming. Why are you bringing so many negative things into my life? My final thought of the night.

I didn't hate the seven inning double headers. I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it. And I went in expecting to hate it. I went in wanting to hate it. Get out. I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it. I didn't hate it. And I went in. I went in expecting to hate it. I went in wanting to hate it.

And you know what? At the end of the night, I was like, that was all right. No. See, this is just another example of people with kids that just want to go to bed and just want to ruin a tradition. Yeah, I'm not going to lie. Yeah, of course. I know.

Everyone's the same BS. It's all you just want to go to bed and just want to ruin a tradition. Yeah, of course, I know. Everyone's the same BS. It's all you just want to go to bed. Whatever happened to toughening it out and sticking up or something? James, when was the last time you stood for something? How about you stand for no more seven-inning doubleheaders? I mean, it's so Mickey Mouse. Yeah, let's just change. Let's just have every game be nine innings,

and then every once in a while we'll just change it to seven. Are you freaking kidding me? I knew this was going to happen. If someone pitched a no-hitter during a seven-inning game, what would you say that pitcher did that day? I would hate it. Right, correct, correct. I know you would.

So I think that I'm particularly a fan of it for this unique, weird season because, like, especially as a Phillies fan, like, it is super beneficial for the Phillies, A, not having to dip into the bullpen as much, potentially, in those types of games, and B, just the fact they're going to have to play a lot of these games and saving innings does matter. So I think maybe I have a slight bias towards it

for this season in particular as a Phillies fan. But I just didn't hate it the way I thought I would. That's kind of where I'm at. Well, I mean, I get it. I mean, I was a part of a lot of seven inning doubleheaders, so I guess I just knew how it was going to go. You know, I just anticipated people being like, wow, that was better. It was faster. It's like, yeah, I know, because it's two innings shorter.

It's like, wow, yeah, four innings shorter. Yeah, yeah, it's correct. So, yeah, no, I get it. I understand. Like, it just, the game is just, but it's just fast. Like, it's just there and it's gone, you know. I kept the book for a lot of seven-inning games. I get it.

I just don't think you can, I just hate the idea of, A, every game is nine innings, and then we're just going to change it to seven innings sometimes. Look, I agree. Just on the whole, it feels Mickey Mouse. I expected to hate it because I hated the idea of it, and I didn't hate it. Well, I don't expect you not to hate it.

We're going to have a lot of Phillies games coming up, Jack. The, your boy, Giglio tweeting on the Phillies now scheduled to play 33 games in 30 days from August 25th, September 23rd, only one off day in that stretch. So they've got a seven game series against the Marlins in September. This is going to be weird, man. It's going to be weird. Early, early prediction on the Marlins

series. The Phillies go 2-5. Dude, I mean, the Marlins will probably be running away with the NL East by then. Hey, they're playing over 800 ball heading into August. Break up the Marlins, man. Come on. It's unreal. Oh, man.

Alright, we'll be back on Sunday. Big series, Jack. I mean, they're playing Atlanta. Atlanta coming to town, especially here. You want to try and get those games. Two or three? Two or three. Perpetually two or three. Tomorrow night is Colorado versus Velasquez.

Take the over. Saturday, Arrieta versus Soroka. Well, not Soroka. No, they haven't announced this. Honestly. Sunday, it's Freed versus, we think, Howard. Yeah. Well, poor Soroka.

I mean, just a brutal injury. Oh, it's a bummer. And, you know, it's obviously like you don't want to say good for the Phillies, but you also like it's just like it sucks. I'm not happy about it. Like, he's so great it sucks yeah correct so uh yeah just a fun weekend uh i'm looking forward forward to freddie freeman torching us and uh marcella zuna hitting one to the upper deck in left field so

um if they can not let that happen that would would be great. At least, you know, spins out on that. No more Brian McCann. So no more Brian McCann and no more Chipper Jones. So the two Phillies killers are gone. Let's just say I hope that we don't have to talk about any of these games in hypothetical terms as if they didn't happen. And, yes, happy Spencer Howard has finally arrived weekend. And we'll be there to talk to you after it happens. All right.

Thanks, John. Thanks, Brent. I'll talk to you later.