High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Reacting To Phillies All Star Selections, Injury News And A Draft Conversation With Joe Doyle

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies losing 2 of 3 to the Braves over the weekend and discuss the team getting a record seven all star selections. Later, Jack and Joe Doyle discuss the upcoming MLB Draft. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Make your nights unforgettable with American Express. Unmissable show coming up? Good news. We've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show? We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance.

Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names

to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago. It is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! On the Odyssey app and Sports Radio 94 WIP. The crowd was singing High Hopes. Smiling through a broken nose. Oh, High Hopes. High Hopes. I feel a little less alone.

Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes podcast. Fritzy, brought to you by sponsored by Miller Lite, official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Tastes like Miller time. Philadelphia celebrate responsibly, Fritzy. We had some Millers in Wilmington. Did. Great time. We saw Miller.

Shout out to Aiden Miller, Justin Crawford. What a great time that was, buddy. So, shout out to Aiden Miller, but, but, he had a home run the next night. I know. First at bat. I don't love him. Well, he got the bump.

He got the bump. We gave him the bump. It's all right. He knew, you know, because Jack, of course, doesn't even talk to me and puts out a tweet like soldiers going to buy from beers of homers. Aiden knew that would just be like, then I have to deal with you. Give me crap. So he's like, you know, I'm going to take this off my guys back and I'm going to home

me the next day. Nice RBI single for you guys. Right. I'll acknowledge the roll call when you do it. I'll give you a little hat tip. Pretty coolin crawford little hat tip pretty cool i do wonder how everyone else felt you know i feel bad yeah well it's like essentially left fielder guy boyd made like two unbelievable catches like the one diving catch was like a brilliant i know and i am an american boyd guy but you know some people were there for justin crawford

so apologies hey guys be a top 100 prospect next time okay apologies to everyone else but you know we still love you and if you turn into a great player we will root for you yeah but maybe they'll use this against us maybe they'll maybe this is their mcnab 10 years and marion boyd gets like to do his 10th straight All-Star game. He's like, no, I still won't go on your bot. I remember that day. That day was...

They have the origin story. That's his origin story. We didn't do the roll call for Boyd. Fires him up so much. Chip on the shoulder. Becomes the greatest filly of all time. Like, oh, Aiden Miller's the best prospect mind get ready yeah and then they trade him because he requests a trade because like he turns into a great prospect that they trade him at this deadline yeah and then he comes back because he knew how excited jack would be about this like out of

nowhere prospect story it's like your go-to amazing thing and he'd be like i i can't let jack enjoy this because he broke me yeah yeah i guess i guess forged me yes that's probably the better use is is is forging him so yeah it was fun time down in wilmington and it was great dude shout out to everyone who came it was it was a really for us just being like hey we're gonna go watch a minor league baseball game want to come i love all of you like it was a really amazing night thank you yeah and fireworks else and fire uh yes fireworks to the point where zoe you know ups and downs throughout the nine innings uh fireworks enthralled turns to emily and me after the fireworks and goes quote unquote this is the

best day of my life swear to god so it was good it was good so good job she might veer towards hyperbolic satan's wonder who she gets no one like that anyone you know yeah no do not know who she could so i would say the fireworks were worth it played out well literally and our stuff our city we saw the jersey shorts what a game buddy big big win for our big win big win big one yeah so that was awesome how about the baseball team yeah we got a lot there's actually a lot to talk about with the baseball team uh uh guys coming back from injuries retention we got all-star games up we got two or three against the raves the wrong way what do you want to start with so what i want to start with is it's i would like to direct everyone

to the 25 minute draft interview i did let's listen to that now later in the show you will hear 25 minutes jack said hey i'm gonna do a draft interview i was like cool man i'll tack it on the end of the pod i figure like you know five ten minute interview yeah so at the end of the body or 25 minute draft interview for those for something i will say yeah i did have a couple people at the event that's great man because i love to hear about the prospects i was like don't say that yeah yeah keep that from him a bunch many people say that again so it's with it's with joe doyle who i love joe doyle for my money for my money i think he is the best draft prospect or draft analyst out there. Wow.

So there's a shot at friend of the pod Keith Law. You're like way above him. Sure. Like those guys are popular. I just, you know, real ball. You're saying he should be more popular. People should check out Joe Doyle. One day at a time.

One day at a time. So, yeah. And, you know, I tried to get the big college names out of the way but i was like i don't really care like what are we talking about with the prep short stops and the starter pitching all high schoolers so it was good it was i looked at it at the end and i was like well this is gonna make seltzer mad this is definitely gonna make seltzer mad but don't care it's all don't. Don't care. You're happy. I'm happy.

So it's so funny because it's such an interesting position we're at with the baseball team because when they win and it's all the backups, it's like, this team's just so deep and good. And then when they lose with all the backups, it's like, wow, what are you going to do? They don't have Schwarber. They don't to do? They don't have Schwarber. They don't have Harper. They don't have JT. So yesterday was maybe the most predictable game ever. I like Michael Mercado.

He clearly does not have the off-speed or secondary pitches to consistently get out major league hitters. I know we didn't have a podcast after the Cubs game, but that was one thing I wrote down. It's like, he just doesn't, he needs to continue to develop that kind of stuff. So the Braves letting him up like a Christmas tree was about the, the most lockout 28 pitch first inning.

Yeah. It was, it was bad for the job. Yeah. It's like, this is not somehow got out of it with no runs. It was like, all right,

pull them now. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they had a full bullpen. They could have, they really wanted to. And plus maybe if they had known full bullpen they could have they really wanted to and plus maybe

they had known that tyler phillips we go seven strikes dude ty phillips how about it record a philly's record it was he since the the first philly reliever to strike out setter in his mlb debut seven batters broke a record since 1901 now did that guy do it in relief yeah yeah really dougalby his name was something dougalby bill dougalby or bob dougalby that's quite an early 1900s name yeah dougalby it is isn't it yeah bill dougalby dougalby oh here we go here we go okay you ready yeah bill i was right uh so tyler phillips seven strikeouts at the most by any Phillies pitcher in relief in his major league debut. He breaks a hundred and twenty three year old record held by Bill Duggleby and six strikeouts

on April 18th, 1901. Shout out to Paul Kaseya for that. Wow. That's baseball. It's the best. There's nothing better. There's nothing better than the 1901 Bill Duggleby stat. Yeah.

There's nothing better. There's nothing better than the 1901 Bill Duggleby stat. Yeah. So, and it's, and it's also funny that like Michael Mercado had a 1.71 ERA and Lehigh Valley and Tyler Phillips is like in the 4.7. Of course. And then he goes out and does that yesterday and sweeper sweeping. Baseball is a weird sport. Again, it's the idea we talked about this last part,

but just the idea that like you can be zach wheeler and just be consistently awesome every time you have seven innings one run eight innings no run whatever it is and that you can have a day where you give up eight runs you give up four months like the fact that you just can be off like three percent five percent whatever it is and that that's all it takes for for a team to be able to crush you on a day, it is wild how small the margin of error between success and failure is in baseball. It's like podcasting. If you're off by a little bit, if you mess around and you do a 27-minute draft interview.

I like how it's gone from 25 to 27. Well, it really is 27. I told you 25 just to get you off my back a little bit. It's good. Because 27 is borderline 30. You're right. If you had said 27, honestly, you're right. You're rounding up to 30.

I would have. Yeah. So 25 is like, oh, well, it could be 23. No, it's not. No, it's not. You're right about this. This is actually, I fully agree with this. Yeah.

Sometimes you have your good days, you have your bad days. And sometimes you just mess around and bang, 27 minutes later, you're talking about why it's Sanford. And it's like, oops, how did this happen again? So I don't know what you want me to do. You should have said no. You should have said, okay, I'll do it with you. It would have been 10 minutes. I would have written that in big time.

Like, oh, it's the process. All right, Jack, that's a stupid question. That's what happens when you let me go Oh, it's the process. All right. Yeah. That's a stupid question. Oh, this is what happens when you let me go alone. It's my fault. 27 minutes later. Yeah, dude.

No one better. No one better. All right. Uh, let's get some stuff from this. Before we get to the draft stuff. Ranger, are you at all concerned?

So. I just think this is, gonna happen he wasn't gonna have a sub two area like listen we love ranger i never i don't think he's a one eight guy yeah you know what i mean so i think this is gonna happen i think regression was gonna happen i think he's dealing with a little bit of dead arm i think teams are adjusting to i mean there was you know a couple of those i mean the the o Ozuna home run was first pitch. The Albies home run was in an 0-1 count. Which is something you talked about after the first bad start he had.

The first one of this little run that he's been on. The Marlins game, right? You're like, they're jumping on first pitches. Like, they're adjusting to what he's been doing. Yeah. So, and then he did settle down and was like mostly okay. He let the home run late that, you know, whatever. Kind of put it out of reach.

So I think he's dealing with... The outing before was worse. The last night in prior, the one where he only made three innings, no strikeouts. That was the worst we've seen. Yeah. So I think regression was going to happen for him. I did not think he was going to pitch to a 1-8. I think he's

dealing with a little bit of dead arm, and I think teams are kind of adjusting back to him. I think Ranger, first of all, he made the all-star team, which is huge. I mean,'s dealing with a little bit of dead arm, and I think teams are kind of adjusting back to him. I think Ranger, first of all, he made the All-Star team, which is huge. I mean, it's big for the Rangers' development here. But I don't think it's too cause for concern, because the stuff is still

the stuff. It's not like he's an outthrown 88 or whatever, and it's not like he's a power pitcher all of a sudden down to 93. So I think it's more just well and I'll be curious I'll be curious how he looks when JT's back as well I'm not a huge fan of like the catcher

for me it's like just go out and pitch I agree so but maybe there was a comfortability with JT so I think if it continues I hope that they tell Tori Lavello, can we just stay away from Ranger in the All-Star game? I want Ranger

to have him on. Oh, I'm sure he'll listen. And that's my problem. Why does that guy have to be the manager? How shocking is it? And we'll get to the picks, but did he actually brought Hoffman and I thought he was going to do something to screw the Phillies over. So, and this is we are a baseball podcast, so this is going to sound bad.

He picks the pitchers? Who picks the pitchers? The manager. Well, it's the, I mean, I don't know if he, I assume he has like the other, the other managers he brings on board help or whatever. Well, David Bell's there, so. Yeah.

He would find any way to screw it up. Technically, I believe the manager of the squad gets to pick the players. Well, I am. I could be wrong about that. That's the way I've always assumed. I am thrilled. I am thrilled that Matt Schramm and Jeff Hoffman are all-stars. Me too. I was going to get to it. We can just get to it now.

I am both thrilled and absolutely shocked. Shocked. Absolutely shocked. This never happens. Middle relievers so rarely in our lifetimes have ever made an all-star team. Two from the same team making it. It is well-deserved.

Growth. It is. Growth for Major League Baseball. Honestly, they don't care about winning the all-star game, but if you did care about winning the all-star game, it makes a hell of a lot more sense to bring middle relievers into these games than a starter to pitch one inning or whatever. It makes sense from a roster construction standpoint but we're not anything these guys

deserve we're playing to win the ball game i'm hey what is it the ao wins every year you know like at a certain point it starts to get a little last year do we win yeah dude kimbrough shut down oh i forgot we come on man you're right you're right you're right you're right i forgot about the whole ledgeidge. Yeah. Kimbrel, by the way, a snub this year. He's been great. You know what they call him? Kimbrel.

Oh, no, they don't. Well, you know what? No, they don't. I saw a tweet. I saw a tweet and it's like. He is Kimbrel. No, no, no. But it made me want to reach out to Orioles fans because I know. Just let him know.

I know what you're going through. Dude, we got peak Craig Kimbrell this year so I saw a tweet putting Kimbrell and Mason Miller stats like right next to each other and like Kimbrell's ERA is lower and they're like do we even need Mason Miller and it's like come on come come sit on Papa's lap sit on Papa's lap this is not gonna work for you let me tell you how this is gonna play it hasn't worked for any team in the history of baseball that has had greg kimbrough on their postseason roster never gone well so uh just get that line of thinking out of the way you do need basin miller if you even though he's probably not getting moved but like you need a close

is borough yes yes we'll get to the trade deadline because there is some action on that front, buddy. Jim Bowden needs to reign it the bleep in, though. So, you know what's funny? As I've said both, we did that. I host the morning show today. No video. Yeah, no video. Yeah, no video.

And I said it wrong. I would be like, all right, we've got the Jim Bowden audio coming up next, and the next time I'd say, all right, Jim Bowden, here's what he did. I said, I said, I would, I would be like, all right, we've got the Jim Bowden audio coming up next. And the next time I'd say, I'd be like, all right, Jim Bowden. Here's what I think.

I just kept saying it. I thought it was due. And then I got corrected to Bowden. And Spike's a big corrector guy. Yeah. So I thought it was Bowden. I think it's always, I was Jim Bowden.

Yeah. We're going to go back out. Special high hopes. Okay. I like this. All right. So Jim, about to just get to it.

I was going to do it. I have this whole plan of how we're gonna get to things that never works out all right so the bowden thing um said the phillies will get a center fielder he said the names he brought up are louise robert we've obviously talked a lot about jazz chisholm we've not talked on about or cody bellinger we've talked about. Well, we also haven't recorded a podcast in a week. Well, yes. Yeah, fair. He also said they will trade Aiden Miller and more. Yeah.

Like, shut up, Bob. Yeah, Bob. Like, real issues at that part. What do you make of the whole Bowden, Bowden, Bowden? Bowden. Yeah, so this is directed to one person and one person only. Jim Bowden. Relax.

Shut up. We're not trading Aiden. So the whole thing really did feel like a little bit more of, this is Dombrowski's MO more than what he's heard. I agree with that. It's like, this is Dave Dombrowski. This is what this guy does. I think he's heard the names.

I agree with him on the names. I think Robert Chisholm and Belner he's heard that right so let's go through them and I think he's heard that Dave Dombrowski is getting a center something to that effect like Dave will do what it takes to get a center I wonder if they I think there's a chance they can go like real center fielder and then also a platoon bat with Marshall yeah I agree yeah well because I mean like Whit Merrifield's on someone you want to count on right oh two hits yesterday he's been he's been scorching hot yes like we always said to hit with he he's he's someone who i obviously fans have not enjoyed the whit maryfield experience is not... He doesn't look like a ball player out there. Do you know what I mean?

And he is. He's a ball player. There's just something about... Not that it's short. It's just something about him. It just doesn't inspire confidence. That's for damn sure. There's just something about him that I look at him and I'm like, not doing it. What about when he's a royal? He's third most hits in baseball.

I know. He's back most hits in baseball. I know. He's back, though. Anyway. So, you know how I had to go into the High Hope safe space to announce that Sir Anthony and Gregory Soto, by the way, pretty good. He'd not. They had that one bad game.

That wasn't really, you know, it was lost. Sure. I will not do that for Witt. That's good. Just want to get that out there. Don't see it yet. Let's put it that way. Do not see it yet. Do you think Witt Merrifield is on the roster

August 1st? No. I don't either. No, I don't think Tim or Pache are. I look forward to their return for the ring ceremony. And I think it's going to be a good footnote of like, hey, remember Whitmerryfield? They won't get booed. I don't think Whit maybe. Pache won't get booed.

No. Yeah, Whit maybe. They won't get booed. Won't get booed. I mean, Adam Eaton got booed. Adam Eaton did get booed, but there was penta. It's almost like a favoritism. It's Taiwan.

You're right. That's what it would be. You're right. But Taiwan's also like, man, it was so bad yesterday with Merc people were tweeting where's taiwan is he back yeah i was like are you come on guys this is where is that let's be honest i mean it's but just you know we don't like taiwan like he does make more sense than michael mercado every fifth day yes yes michael mercado is a interesting project because his fastball is very very good and it's got life like that we didn't talk about it,

but that was the thing after the Cubs start where it's like, he's got that giddy up at the end. Like, it's like, Oh, like that fastball place. It does. He feels like a reliever.

He did. I, he feels like a clear reliever. So I don't remember it. You might remember it, but I was watching him and I was like, this had to be what early madsen was like oh same number interesting call same number they try to make him a starter super interesting i don't remember the

madsen starter thing i remember i remember it happening i remember like him knowing who he was as a starter but i don't remember specifically it but i could totally see it's a great call so the the bowden thing lou Luis Robert, I, he is, by the way, starting to look closer to Luis Robert. Yeah. He's been, you know,

that one dive and catch the other night was like all that. And, but it's more like just in general, the power and all that. Now he did also have the ball that you can throw home. Yeah. So for those who didn't see it, it got a lot of crap.

It was the end of a game. Was it extras or something? It was either way. It was a walk-off spy and a runner on third fly ball, shallow ish center. Um, you know, games over.

If the run scores runs, probably score no matter what, probably should throw a home. He just hung on to the ball. It wasn't great. Now to be fair, I don't think he would have gotten the guy. I don't think so either.

So, you know, I still like, just throw the ball, the ball, what are you doing, dude? fair, I don't think he would have gotten the guy. I don't think so either. So, you know, I still like just throw the ball. What are you doing, dude? Like and again, we're playing for the worst franchise in the sport. You know, both clearly, you know, from Wynn's perspective, the worst team in baseball this year, but also everything we've heard really since the La Russa time. So the last three, four years of the way the white socks are run, it seems like it is about as much of a bleep show of an organization as you could possibly like just a absolute disaster to, to be there for.

And players have, who's the guy who went to the Yankees and just shouted out all the, the stuff that was happening. And we've seen a few guys talk about it. Um, so it's like, and look, you don't,

you want someone to like do their best in any situation and all that like try like i get it when you're a part of a losing culture of losing team that maybe it's sometimes you have some losing moments you know what i mean yeah i just at the same like i see all that stuff i hear it but he's like he's so good like and he's and he's like the perfect fit i mean he's the perfect like he's a right-handed power bat who can play center field. His OPS the last 17 games is in the 900s. And he plays gold glove center field most times. Yeah.

Like, he's the guy that you go, like, is there, and we've talked about it a lot on this podcast. There's real red flags with Luis Rodgers. Like massive, in-your-face, dark red flag. Injuries, there's some swing and miss, there's not a huge OVP, whatever. But when you're looking for a four-hitter, five-hitter, middle-of-the-order bat that could hit 35-plus home runs

and is a good hitter. I don't think he's a 220 hitter. He's hit 38 in a season. He has had real success in Major League Baseball. He's hit 38 in a season. He has had real success in Major League Baseball. He's 26. That's a... Get him with a real coaching staff, a real development team. And a real ballpark

with fans and excitement. I just think he'd be giddy. Luis Robert, I feel like, has turned into the most polarizing guy at this deadline. But I am pro him. I would not trade Aiden for him. I would consider painter. I would consider painters.

I said that today. I think I would, I think I would consider paint. And I got to win, like win the fricking world series. yeah. And I have that written down like really after Friday night. And obviously they had seven all-stars like they got to get it.

Like they have to, like they, these kinds of years don't come around off. It's the most all-stars they've ever had. Seven all, they've seven all-stars like they gotta get it like they have to like they these kind of years don't come around often it's the most all-stars they've ever had seven all they've seven all-stars and if jt doesn't get hurt they probably have more probably like i mean will smith's better it's been great but yeah i don't know i'm not saying starter like he probably would still be there yeah you know like chris sanchez could have been an all-star as well like you know it might be because wheeler's pitching on sunday wheeler might not go

they might replace him with sanchez there's a chance sanchez sure so like but he's earned it when you have all of this coming together like you just they gotta get it done because like you don't know how often this is going to come around totally and again to the point we keep making like there it is a weird year where there's some real top heavy teams like those teams are going to make moves too the dodgers are going to add somebody the braves probably gonna add somebody the orioles are gonna add somebody the yankees are gonna add somebody like mariners you can't just sit on the side you know they will they will so i have no worries about that so louis roberts a big all-in kind of we'll say too with that all those teams we mentioned of all those teams

the phillies have the clear biggest need in center field you know luis robert makes the most more sense for the phillies than any of those other yeah i mean it was interesting because the because hayman said that his most likely landing spots are the mariners and the dodgers so you know i think the dodgers could use them obviously the mariners like their offense is brutal. Yeah. The Mariners. Yeah. Julio's Julio's a center fielder.

So yeah, it's just, it's going to be interesting. I think that that report screen more to me. You got to put more on the table if you want to get Louis Robert. But that's my point is that I think that look at the end of the day, there's media reports and then there's reality. And I think that because of the red flags and all that stuff with

robert all the phillies have to do is beat the next best offer and i don't think that because of need and all that that i i don't think that they're gonna have to give up andrew painter to get louis brock is my point maybe they might though they might if he if he continues to heat up and is batting closer to 260 at the deadline. Well, for sure. It could be different. So, Jadjism, I am interested in. Me too. He has a reverse split, which is good. So, he's batting 270-something against lefties.

Love a good reverse split. Oh, man. Big reverse splits guy. Huge. Yes. Huge. And again, coming from a losing culture to a winning culture. Yeah.

There's a chance for real upside there. I'm intrigued by Jazz. I got no interest in Bellinger. I'm so low on Bellinger. He's so far a third of that group for me. He's a fine center fielder. It's not like he's a great, great center fielder. He's a good center fielder.

You're just bringing in another streaky left-handed bat, it feels like. He's been good against lefties this year. No, I'm just saying a streaky bat who is a left-handed hitter. Not specifically. And on top of that, it's $25 million each of the next two years. Oh, he's two years. I thought it was just one year. No, he's got two years left of $25 million. So he's got a player option for $25 million after next year,

which he's obviously going to opt in to, unless he goes bonkers. So I just, yeah, I'm not a huge Bellinger guy. If there's one guy on the Cubs I'm trading for, it's Ian Happ. I would much rather have Ian Happ. Yeah, Ian Happ makes way more sense. He would cost less, too.

Theoretically, it would cost less. I think he's got three years of control left. Does he have three years left? Wow. I think so. Ian Happ. He's been around forever. Ian Happ he's got three years of control left. Does he have three years left? Wow. I think so. He's been around forever. Ian Hab's been around for a while, but at the same time, the reason why I like him so much is

the switch hitting thing is great. He's a fantastic left fielder. They would have to do the Marsh and center field thing more, maybe Marsh Rojas, whatever happens there. What I like the most is since June 1st, 280-400 OBP.

He's been very good. He's a patient bat, which they need. A nice, patient looks to do damage on fastballs. If there's one guy of the Cubs, I'm interested in Sia too, but he's not a good defensive player at all.

I love the bat with Sia, but like half's a good mix of great defensive left fielder and, you know, coming around at the ditch. Yeah. I love Ian app. That makes a ton of sense to me. I'm just really intrigued to see whether this goes the Ian app, Taylor ward type of route,

or if they go big and go for Louise Roberts. Well, in no way they could have, they could have done CeCe, and they ended up with Joe Blanton. Yeah. In 09. Well, a lot of times that happens. A lot of times the big splash move isn't the best move at the deadline.

But at the same time, the Dodgers got Manny, and Manny was insane. They didn't win the World Series. No, but Manny was – Well, and also CeCe was insane for the Brewers there, too. That was the right move for them. He was great for them. Sure.

It's fascinating. Dude, I can't. I can't. I'm both excited and very nervous. I'm more nervous than excited. Definitively more nervous. It's so important. It's huge.

It's so important. And you have to get that move right. Exactly. That's the move. The bench bat or the platoon bat, if you add another reliever, all whatever. You got to hit on that big bat. It's. Exactly. That's the move. Like the bench bat or the platoon bat. Like if you add another reliever, like all whatever. Like you got to hit on that big bat. It's so important. It's the reason they didn't win last year.

It's the reason the last two years. Well, and move on. We'll get all the rumors out of the way. Like I like Brent Rooker. But like. I really like Brent Rooker. But yeah, he's a nice right-handed bat. Like, all right.

Brent Rooker would have to be in addition to another move for me, which he wouldn't be. Which he wouldn't be because you're going to have to pay a pretty good price. Because he's under control for a long time. Yeah, so the problem with Brent Rooker is not a really good defensive player at all. Bad. But he's been raking. Yeah, the issue with him from the offensive side.

Big chase rate and a lot of strikeouts. Which, I don't know if you heard before. We've got enough of that. We've got enough of that going on. I like Brent Rooker though. In general. I'm a Brent Rooker man. Yeah, Brent Rooker's a good player.

I wish Bledé was not. I know, left-handed. And I'm just saying, I'm just letting you know, I'm letting everyone know. Left-handed. I know. I'm just saying. I'm just letting you know. I'm letting everyone know. Monitoring the Miguel Andujar comeback trail. Is he back, Miguel Andujar?

Dude went 3-4 the other day. Oh, buddy. He's not third baseman anymore, is he? No, he's a lefty. That's what I said. That was the original issue. Andujar. He had one great say. Yeah. Well, that was the original issue. That's like, yeah. And do hard. Again,

he had one great year. He was a stud that year. I'm a sucker for old Yankees. I know. Luis Severino. All your guys. I know. Oh my God.

Do you want Harrison Bader over here? So I heard, I heard the call. That's why I brought it up. Well, he, he called me the other day. Did he? The same thing.

Like they got to go get Harrison Bader. It was such a weird, they have to get Harrison Bader. I was like, are you related to him? Might have been. Harrison Bader is from the Bronx. It's just a weird guy. You know me. It's offseason. I was Bader'd up.

You were Bader'd up. You were Bader'd up. I'm a Bader guy. Would take him, but cannot be the move like yeah if you want if you wanted to replace pache yeah exactly absolutely he's a better hitter than pache let's do that yeah exactly great defense all right um anything else where do you want to go i mean come on point guard where should we go next okay all right which we go next? Okay. All right.

Which we go to. I tell you what we have 27 minute draft conversation. I will say we've been all over the place. This podcast. We've been all over the place. We've been a lot to talk about. A lot to say. Yeah. Yeah.

So it's okay. Yeah. Thanks buddy. Yeah. I was, I had a whole plan. I want to let you know that I'm just keep bringing things up and we just roll with it. I'll let you know.

I'm picking you up. Thanks buddy. Yeah. I'll go. I'll, I'll follow wherever you lead me. I'm picking you up. I'll follow wherever you lead me. I saw the pause there.

I saw the brain working. I was wondering, do you have anything else? I was actually waiting for you to be like, 215-592. I was going to get to the take back soon because I didn't know how long that takes. Not to mention the 27-minute draft thing at the end of this. I'm excited about that.

Anything else from the weekend before we get to think back. Sorry for asking you anything else in your mind. We got some random thought. I'm sure I do have a bunch of rent. All right, we'll get to the tape bag. Shout out to the square bar. Today's show is sponsored by Miller Lite in the square bar in Westchester. I believe it. Check out the square bar for Philly's game and enjoy $3.50. sponsored by Miller Lite and the Square Bar in Westchester. Great cheese sticks.

I believe it. Check out the Square Bar for every Phillies game and enjoy a $3.50 Miller Lite drop. That's a good deal. Along with their loaded tater tots or fried pickles with ranch. Miller Lite. The Phillies win. Celebrate responsibly. Hey, fantasy football owners.

The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe as we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need.

Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Fredzie, do the take back. So one thing I'm definitely monitoring and I just wanted this out there. I'm still... I forgot it. I knew I had one more thing

before I got to the end. So put Harper and Schwarber in your take back too. The injury recovery. I like that we led with the Aiden Miller. I know, I know. I was like, there's one more big thing I meant to bring up. Yeah, I got it in there. Don't you worry.

But one thing I'm definitely monitoring, and I'm very pro this guy. I think he's a really good pitcher. But I think they need to find a way to manage Jose Alvarado's workload. Clearly. It's a really good point. Because this happened in 22. They shut him down for a little bit, you know, after he came back up from AAA.

It was like a month, I think, or something. They shut him in strength. It might have been longer, even. So, and with the emergence of Gregory Soto. So, I just, he's a really talented guy at the back end, but it looks like the stuff's down a little bit more. It's been more 96-97 from him rather than the 101. So I think to make sure he is right heading into the postseason,

I think they've got to just kind of manage him a little bit. And like Strom, I feel like when he had the back-to-back bad games, they sat him for most of last week. So I hope they do something similar with Jose Alvarado. I know that it's a huge week. I mean, it ultimately doesn't matter, but playing the Dodgers is the ballpark. Feels like it matters.

And Schwarber is probably going to be back. Schwarber will be back. It looks like Harper might be back too. I mean, he's just the best. Here's the thing. I'm just never going to, with Bryce Harperper specifically how he acts in the moment will never influence me again like he could be on the ground holding his leg like yelling at the top of his lungs and i'll be like bryce is pretty dramatic i don't know he's not

gonna make yeah i don't know the boys i'm not gonna make any large he's out six to eight weeks will not come out of my mouth because who the hell knows that this guy he acts like he's got shot in the leg it's like i would be fine yeah well and he and he has recovered incredibly fast i mean well i know yeah in the effort literally yes so and while it's there's two there's two camps obviously of well you need a russian back for the dodgers and the and the all-star game at the same time like yeah like i want bryce harper out there versus the dodgers not only because it makes it more fun i also want him to see those pictures because they're probably gonna face them in the nlcs certainly bobby miller i don't know about the other two but stone and then some nobody stone's got some, but I don't think he's starting.

I mean, I guess he could. That thing with the Dodgers, they're pitching not great. No, it's not. And Buehler just has not bounced back from the. Yeah, he's hurt again. I know. Is the issue. Here, let me see.

I think it's. So Bobby Miller's is Tuesday. It is Gavin Stone Wednesday. And then it is. Oh, Knack. Yes. I knew it is... Oh, Knack. Yes. I knew it was someone I didn't know. But bullpen. Yeah, exactly.

They have bullpen guys, obviously. Like Daniel Hudson and Trinan. The Dodgers are interesting. They should really go get a pitcher more than a bat. Don't even look at Luis Roberts. Seriously, though, right? Don't even take... Don't even gander at Luis Roberts.bert so it's gonna be uh it's gonna be a fun week i i harper coming back

would be amazing and it'd be fun but um yeah you know good stuff but i don't for the whole like that yeah i don't want harper rushed back like i soft tissue the whole thing for the but as far as the like yes i would prefer he's back to the dodger series because it would help and i to your point see them but i'm not rushing him back the whole all-star game thing like i have no problem with him playing the all-star game there's a lot of like oh it's like of all the all-star games the baseball one is the the you have to do the least like you like you're gonna play three in it he doesn't he could play one inning he doesn't have to run just get one at bat like either you hit a homer and you jog or you don't and you don't run hard like all good buddy go out and and say hi yeah i want to i want him introduced i want him to tip the cap

i want him to see him in a philly's uniform in the also it it's odd it matters a lot so much more than i ever thought it me too i totally would be would be, you know, I'm like, Mr. Like it's a dumb, meaningless exhibition game. Like, what are we doing here? I really care about me. I, I just do.

The fact that it hasn't happened. It's like, I like, I feel like I'm, there's something missing in my life. Well, and plus having three of your four infielders started an awesome, pretty cool,

awesome, pretty cool. So pretty cool. Now here's my question. Cause you, me, our listeners are baseball purists but i think so i'm pro paul skeen starting i dude i love it i'm all for it i think him starting the all-star game and he gets like he gets a big matchup in the first i i dude i think he should absolutely be there you all started there yeah would. Would you let him start? I would start him.

Absolutely. Sure. Why not? Again, if it's not going to be Wheeler, I think Zach Wheeler should start the all-star game, and he's not going to because he's going to pitch on Sunday. I think Zach Wheeler, of all the candidates, in terms of combining this year with the...

I am a big believer that the all-star game is the all-star game. Stars should be there. It should be an exhibition showing off what is cool about your sport, what people should want to watch, why people should watch your sport. And guess what? Paul Skeen's at the top of that list right now. He is one of the coolest things we got right now in baseball. Dude goes out and pumps 101 on the average. You'll get it up to 102. He's nasty. He just looks cool with a mustache, the whole thing. He just looks like a baseball guy.

I fully support him. He absolutely should be in it. He's earned it just from up. I know he missed a month and a half, or didn't start for a month and a half, but he's been awesome since he came up. Yeah, this is about promoting the game of baseball. Paul Skeens should absolutely stop.

You're telling me Skeens would face, dude, he'd face Judge in the first. Exactly. Who would that be? He'd face Soto in the first. He'd face Gunner in the first. Yeah, dude. Like, give me that. Give me Skeens or those dudes.

Like, it has a potential to be Pedro 99. Yeah, exactly. It's special. And yeah, he is a ace's ace. He's legit, legit. First person in the history of the sport to be drafted number one overall and then make the all-star team that first year.

It's crazy. It's unbelievable. Well, yeah, Strasburg, I guess, got a little slow start. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And to make the all-star team in his first year. Pretty nuts. Not to turn this into pirates talk, but if they if they like i would not want to face the pirates in a in a short series yeah i mean he's jared jones they're nasty dude yeah i'm with you and yeah i'm with you and uh

all the chandler's coming soon either way not to turn this into pirates too late and brian randall yeah i love schemes i'm all in on so there's been two two schwarber things that have jumped out in the last week to me the mercado thing like that for those who didn't see it i'm sure you heard about it but if you didn't after the game they get their win mercado the win mercado gets his first win his first article thing schwarber obviously wasn't playing, but Schwarber, you know, they're doing the handshake line at the end. And Mercado's at the back of the thing, just hanging out. Schwarber took him and brought him to the front of the handshake line.

I was like, that's where you go. And it was, that was like, that was awesome. Like that was it. That was, oh, we always talk about like, oh, Schwarber's the best leader they ever had. Dombrowski, best he's ever been around, all this stuff. You don't get to see that as much. Like we see him stand up and talk. We don't get to see the

inside the clubhouse stuff. I thought that was such a perfect example of why. Yeah, and I know this sounds like I'm jumping ahead. I'm not writing off the end of the Rob Thompson tenure. I'm just accepted that. Yeah, let's reign that in that Kyle Schwarber is going to be the manager. Oh, I love what I take. I love

this. He's going to be the manager. What a great take. Retire straight into it. Maybe. Listen, Stephen Vogt's doing it. Yes. Most guys. There are a lot of young managers. A lot of guys.

Mark Kotze. Yeah. Gabe Campbell. But Schwarber's going to be the manager. At some point, he's going to be the manager. Because they're going to give him an exemption, obviously, because he's the GOAT. And at some point, he's going to be the manager. I love this take.

That's my take. It's a great take. Or the Tennessee head coach. One of it's going to be the manager. I love this. That's my take. It's a great, or the Tennessee head coach. Yeah. And then the other shorter thing, uh, I guess he was helping out Marsh against lefties, like with Kevin long.

Cause obviously he's like, sure. We're sitting 700 against left this year. And then the Trey home run on Friday, he points the dugout. And I guess that was about Schwarber. Cause Schwarber told him something. Of course.

Help tap into it. I love it. And I just love Schwarber.ber because Schwarber told him something of course helped tap into his power and I just love Schwarber I love Schwarber I love he is the best he is one of my favorite one of my favorite fillies we've had just the whole thing you know plus like even kids like I was actually talking to at Zoe's

school so Zoe loves Schwarber she just loves the sound she loves seeing them hit she loves Schwarber like she loves it another kid at her school i was talking to her dad i was wearing a kind of shoreboard shirt and the dad was like my daughter loves loves when the shore bombs and i was like mine too and it became like a thing like a shoreboard it's he is like universally loved is what i'm trying to say the kid even the kids love wow unless you bring up the lead off the date and then then he's not always universally loved over him you would think you would think and by the way how about how about trey oh yeah i'd love to see it you know like you know both those guys out it's

like all right time for you to step up and bag you know two two multi-homer games a week is nice yeah i'm good uh rojas does not look great at the plate, but I think he's looking more locked in defensively. I agree. And he has landed some months down, you know. He's not getting picked off. If Matt Olsen didn't make like a really great play on that. It was a great play Matt Olsen made. That was a really great. Matt Olsen's

a great first baseman. He made that stupid play behind the back. I know. Matt Olsen's like a really good first baseman. Yeah. So listen, we are big tip your cap guys. Yes. Sometimes you gotta tip your cap to the defense. But at least defensively, I think he's not really. Sometimes you do. Sometimes you just get paid to.

That's right. But I think he has looked pretty locked in and it does feel like there's training towards Pache being out of here and like a again, Luis Robert, probably a pipe dream.

Jazz Chisholm. Maybe no real interest in Bellinger. It feels like after the trade deadline, it's going to be another left field bat. And then, you know, with Marsh and then Martian, it's hopefully Rojas and then a Marshall Haas center field,

like platoon thing when they need to go for the offense and blah, blah, blah. What else? And then doll is your other left hand. Sure. Sure.'s over over 10 with nice come on doll making us look bad making us look bad but uh i guess final thing in the thick bag before the big 27 minute interview is i was expecting you until the 29 minute interview yeah yeah yeah not 27 30 but but and i know we brought up at the beginning but i just feel so happy for jeff hoffman me too

like dude the guy was a 2014 he was drafted ninth overall yep and never was able to put it together he like signs the phillies in a minor league deal is like only here because he's throwing a rehab to bryce harper who does not want to do does not want to go to lehigh so they bring down jeff offman he's so nasty that bryce is like hey why is this guy not in our bullpen a year and a half later the guy's a freaking all-star yeah it's really cool and he's i think he's gonna be the closer i don't think oh i think so too i think so too and we're seeing it more he's going to be the closer. I don't think so. Oh, I think so, too. I think so, too. And we're seeing it more. He's closing more. Yeah. It makes more sense. Well, he's got three pitches. He's nasty. So I don't think they'll go and get

a real closer. It just doesn't feel like the biggest need for them. And it doesn't feel like, especially with the way the National League is with so many teams in it, it doesn't feel like there are going to be that many closers available. It doesn't feel like a closer market. You know what I mean? No. If they're closer, for Paul Seawald,

I will quit the podcast. I would rather have Jeff Hoffman as my closer than Paul Seawald. Of course. I don't think everyone would say that. I would not be able to handle Paul Seawald on this team. Just say no. That's what I wanted to say.

He's going to be available again. Do you bring him back for round three? David Roberts. He's been really good. One more run. I just feel like he's good with everyone but us. How has he been pitching since 1999?

It's unbelievable. He's been pitching since the 90s. I think he debuted in 08. I think he debuted in 08. I'm still older than him. That's right. That's right. Rich Hill needs to sign with the team.

Please, Rich. Come on, buddy. Nelson Cruz, you out there, pal? If they trade for David Robertson one more time, it'd be the best bet going. It would be a pretty good bet. Until we had to have until we had to have

him close out a possible playoff game. All right. It is draft week. It is draft week. And I realize our flight to Canada is like 6 a.m. So I'm going to 100 percent

miss the whole thing. Oh, no. Oh, no. I don't know what we're going to do. I'm going to bring my laptop, obviously. I don't think I'll bring my mic. I gonna bring my laptop obviously i don't think i'll bring

my mic i'll bring my little headphones and we'll try to we'll figure something out something yeah well we're both off you're off all next week right because i'm off all next week so we'll get you something i know but i know i know it's a big week for you it's a big for me but yeah yeah i'll watch it thanks for everyone after this 27th right yeah thank you all right uh so you're ready here we're gonna do this 27 and we will come back at the. All right. So, you ready? We're going to do the 27th interview. We'll come back at the end here and take a bow. Yeah.

Luckily, I don't have to wait 27 minutes to do that. No, we're actually going to play the whole thing. You're going to have to listen. As Elliot sits outside staring at us waiting to clap your hands. All right.

Joe Doyle. Joe Doyle. Jack Fritz. Talk and draft. Well, it's draft season. Obviously, the draft is one week away. And joining us now on the iOS podcast is my guy. And like, of all the draft analysts out there, my favorite bar none is Joe Doyle from future star series.com all the way out in Seattle. So like joins us joins us on this Sunday night.

Joe, how's it going, man? What's going on, dude? I got to introduce you to some more draft analysts because your Rolodex is kind of thin. It is. Well, you know, I'm an eye test guy. I feel like you're a good mix of an eye test guy and also have the data behind it. So, you know, whenever they draft a guy in like the

sixth round i think last year you had the george clausen thing you know how he had the best slider in the in the midwest and i was like you know if you're breaking down george clausen who's like a sixth seventh round guy you know you definitely did put in some work hey man it's uh it's a labor of love and it's a bit of an illness, but we're going to get through it together. We sure are. We sure are. Now, obviously, we're a week out. What's this final week for you like?

Is it excitement, nerves? Is it like, man, finally a year's work, or actually three years' work, it feels like for every draft, putting that behind you? What's this last week like for you? like for every draft, like putting that behind you. What's this last kind of week like for you? Yeah, dude, this is definitely one of the most fulfilling times of the year because I get to take all of those reports that I write. I get to put them in a manila envelope, lick it, seal it, done. Like I'm done with this year, which feels good.

You know, this year I'm up to 949 reports, which is crazy because, you know, I think I'm the high watermark in the industry. I publish 615 of them because that's how many draft picks there are. But you guys have to understand there's like 300 of them that never see the light of day because they're not, you know, top draft prospects. So it's nice to turn the page, go to the draft, talk to directors, you know, see where this thing goes and then kind of palate cleanse and go into 25. Yeah, no, it's awesome. And obviously all your work at future stars series.com, a proud subscriber of the website. Thank you. Of course, of course. So you recently moved over there. So you know, it's, it's really good stuff. And before we get, you know, into 27, I'm kind of curious how the Phillies specifically are viewed throughout the industry

because really, Brian Barber took over a couple years ago, and before him, they went very safe with players. It turned out to be pretty good. Stott, Boehm, both more of the safer college picks. And ever since Brian Barber's gotten there, they've really gone for more high

upside guys, like at the high school ranks. What is kind of the industry feel on where the Phillies are at as a drafting organization? Yeah, I don't know if there's necessarily an industry feel on the Phillies. I think they could go in any number of directions. But I think the thing that really stands out with what Philadelphia has done, and you kind of alluded to this, is they just draft stuff man like they're not afraid of guys that can't throw strikes they're not afraid of guys that only have two pitches they're not afraid of you know they're just going for for stuff like painter 100 miles an hour in high school stuff like griff mcgary 100 miles an hour at virginia stuff guy christian mcgowan i know hasn't been like as good as some of these

other ones that have come on but you know like orion kirkering last year i'm i'm sure we're gonna see him sooner rather than later george class and like the phillies have just continued to draft guys that throw really hard they throw really hard breaking balls and they're not afraid of moving them to the bullpen and helping out this competitive window right now so um i still think that they're going to go arms. It's kind of what Dave Dombrowski and Brian Barber have continued to do, and it'll be interesting to see who's on the board at 27, that's for sure. Yeah, and one of the guys I actually wanted to ask you about

because he feels like a Philly, and it feels like it fits their mold, is Brody Brett. Obviously, the Iowa kid throws like 101. I saw one video that had 104. That had to be a lie, right? They can't really throw 104, can they? Yeah, that was a hot wind gun. It was 101.5.

Trackman has it at 101.5, but don't tell the internet that because they will not let the 104 die. No, they won't. No, they won't. No, they won't. So what do you kind of feel about him? Is he going to be able to throw enough strikes? Maybe he has to go to the right organization to get the most out of him.

Do you think he's on the board at 27? Yeah, I have 50-50 that I think he's on the board. It's kind of hard to find a landing spot right now for Brody, and it's not that people don't want him. It's that he's just not the first guy that people talk about. spot right now for for brody and it's not that people don't want him it's that he's just not the first guy that people talk about and i think you know i i mocked brody to the phillies maybe a month ago because all the guys that i just named like he just fits into that bucket like it's 101 it's a 91 mile an hour slider it's an 87 mile an hour curveball just obscene obscene stuff

and it's the type of move that you know brian barber and dave from brousey would make right now and just say who cares if this guy starts let's put him in the big league bullpen tomorrow and see what he can do for us in october you know the garrett crochet 2020 i think that was 2020 uh tact so yeah i think he makes a lot of sense in that respect um i haven't specifically heard him connected to them but i i just have a hard time seeing how they wouldn't be interested in that kind of that kind of arsenal yeah i mean it's it's power stuff and he could move pretty quickly and like it's like griff looking like probably a miss but got a triple a and you know maybe

there's still something there kirkering i mean you mentioned him he's now in the in the pen now and being pretty locked down um clauston we mentioned like getting brody brecht in the first round with with the kind of stuff he has i mean it's it's they obviously like the high school players because i think they have the value the upside but correct me if i'm wrong like he was playing football until last year and then and then made the full-time transition essentially this year i mean he played football in 2023 and then this past fall was the first fall that he never that he didn't play football he didn't do false uh practice he actually did fall ball with the baseball team and he actually got some chances there to develop and understand pitch design and understand his delivery and like really hone in on baseball so from that

respect you could say well Brody Brecht is still pretty green I mean this kid is still kind of figuring out how his body is going to work he's obviously an elite level athlete if he was playing wide receiver at 6'4 for the Iowa Hawkeyes I would be interested in seeing what the Phillies thought they could do with him and you know I don't think you necessarily move him into the bullpen this October and it's it's permanent I think you could move him uh back into a rotation type of a thing for 2025 and see what you can't develop into the only thing that I have a little bit of hesitation to with connecting Brecht to the Phillies is those guys that we mentioned, McGarry and Klassen and Kirkering,

they were all third, fourth, fifth round types. The Phillies haven't yet shown a willingness to take a likely reliever in the first round to this point. So that would be my hesitation. But in terms of fit and guys that they've taken in the past, boy, it's hard to find a better one. Yeah, it would be something for sure uh some of the college hitters you know that they i don't know what the the like the industry feels about some of these college bats but there could be some some names that i know that general baseball fans have heard about like tommy

white who's been around for years tommy tanks uh Ryan Waldschmidt, who obviously, I don't know if people are breaking down much Kentucky tape, but people seem to like him. Dakota Jordan on Mississippi State, and then Malcolm Moore, I guess, would be more if they think that JT has only and he's under contract through next year, but they need his kind of replacement.

I'm just curious what you think about Tommy White. What do you think his fit would be here? He's kind of a third baseman, but is the bat so good that you don't even worry about position at this point? Hard to say. I mean, the only times that this Dombrowski era has veered away from pitching was for Justin Crawford. And Justin Crawford was an elite-level athlete with a terrific frame up the middle.

So they haven't really shown a willingness to take a guy that is already a corner guy uh right away at least in the first round that being said like you know they did take aiden miller last year though they took yeah they did but aiden miller's been playing shortstop i mean they still haven't moved him off a shortstop so they clearly believed hey this this kid has a shot uh to stick at the six i don't think they would take tommy white and one of the biggest reasons i don't see it happening is because they've already got you know they moved bryce harper to first base you know if you're going to move bryce harper to first base now tommy white is not going to be a third baseman at the

pro level at least not from my eye so i don't know if he's the best fit if they think he's the fastest mover if they think he can be an immediate impact in this in this uh in this lineup in 2026 maybe it makes sense but uh with what they've done in the past i would be more surprised if they didn't go for a high school athlete over a guy like tommy white yeah and we'll definitely get to the high school athletes because i i agree with you like that's just what they do like like but i'm just trying to cover the old bases here you gotta talk about the famous guys yeah exactly you know we're trying to get clicks just so much clicks on this on this stuff uh ryan walshman second baseman at the next level probably? Or do you think he can play stick and shortstop?

Ryan Walshman? Yeah. Oh, Ryan Walshman I have as a left fielder. I think he's going to play left field. He played a little bit of center field, played a little bit of left field for Kentucky. He can really, really run. And I do think he fits a little bit more along the mold of what the Phillies would do.

But honestly, I kind of think Ryan Waldschmidt is going to end up at one of these more model-driven teams ahead of the Phillies. So the Orioles, the Brewers, the Braves, I think he's not going to really be an option for Philadelphia. But an interesting name nonetheless, a guy that really continues to shoot up boards. All right, enough of the college nonsense let's get to the the important stuff let's get to the the high school up the middle guys so uh i'm just gonna go one by one here of

guy he he might not be there you know you've got you guys have had him pretty consistently in the in the early 20s curious your thoughts on on wyatt sanford i'm a huge wyatt sanford bull i i really am man i saw that kid play in san diego i saw him play in seattle last year uh he got remarkably stronger i mean he put on 15 pounds this spring he's sitting for power he's arguably the best defensive shortstop on the high school ranks uh this year better chance to play shortstop long term as you would probably know, than Aiden Miller. He's an exceptional athlete. Left-handed hitter, which I think goes a long ways

in terms of projecting out some value. I think he's a terrific fit. I think he would be a terrific fit for Philly. I don't know if he's going to be there at 27. I think there's some teams above that that would target him in the 10 spots earlier than that but enormous fan i mean i've got him where do i have wyatt i've got i've got wyatt at number 21 in this class wouldn't surprise me if he goes uh anywhere between 20 and 30 and i think philly would be

really lucky to have him and speaking of that i'm curious how how close do you think like wyatt will get some other names like Theo Gillen, Tyson Lewis? What is the separation between them and Bryce Rainier and and Connor Griffins? Is there is there that big of a gap? It's just straight up size, man. Like at the end of the day, Rainier, you're talking about six foot three and a half. Connor Griffin, you're talking about six foot four. You're talking about broad squared off shoulders.

I mean, they look they look like the blue chip blue chip right they look like the five star guy wyatt sanford or six one 185 uh twitchier shorter strides it's just you know it's it's harder for a kid that's six foot one to get it into his power than it is for a kid that's six foot four to get to it at the next level and uh you know i i talked to a scout last year and what he said really stuck with me he said the guys that are in the big leagues don't look like the small guys in high school like you can't fake being big and physical you have to be big and physical at the next level and that's one of the biggest things that these guys like wyatt sanford it's like caldwell and tyson lewis they're fighting an uphill battle because tyson lewis is a little bit different he's a six foot two two hundred but he's physically maxed at this point.

Guys like Sanford, guys like Lindsey, guys like some of the guys that we've mentioned, they're just smaller, and so it's going to be harder for them to become impact players at the next level. What about Theo Gillen? You guys have him 23. He has been mocked at being right around where the Phillies could pick. Seems like a Phillies going to pick a sweet left-handed swing with some upside. I think he's getting stronger as well.

Him and Wyatt have put on a little bit more weight. What can you tell us about Theo Gillen? Yeah, so I think Theo is probably comfortably the third best bat in this class. Behind Griffin, behind Rainer, I think Theo Gillen is clearly the bat that is going to have the most impact at the next level. The biggest thing with him is he had shoulder surgery as a sophomore in high school. His arm strength never came back. I don't think there's any chance at this point. I think that's being fair to him that he's going to play shortstop at the next level.

He's probably a second baseman or he's going to end up in center field or left field. But what I just talked about with that physicality, like Gillen, 6'3", 200, sweet left-handed swing that can hit. The biggest hurdle for Gillen will be how early is a team willing to draft that profile? And he's also a plus runner. How early is a team willing to draft that profile knowing full well he's probably going to be at very best just an average glove wherever he ends up. That's interesting. That's interesting. But it could be an opportunity to get a player that maybe would have gone higher had he been fully healthy.

Again, that feels... It's kind of like Aiden last year with the broken handmaid bone. Now, he was always going to come back from that, but the way you're describing it, that's probably not going to happen. But when we talk about trying to get value at 27, that definitely, you know, piques my interest. Kellen Lindsey, you brought him up. He seems like a late riser.

There's been some Trey Turner comps on him. Do you think he's a shortstop? Do you think he's more of a center fielder? You know, how far off? Now, Trey Turner obviously is turning to trey turner but trace turner nc state maybe a different animal what what do you think about kellen lindsey so this is the guy that i i haven't been able to get him to philly in any of my mocks but he's the guy that i think if he's there really speaks the language of what these guys are looking to add he's definitely up

the middle he's definitely shortstop or his center field period end of story and with that you then add on the fact that okay he's the fastest runner in the class the kid moves and it's not just he's high school fast i mean it's it's lean it's twitch it's i mean the kid is always going to be fast and i think when you stack that up against some of the traits that justin crawford had and some of the up the middle emphasis that they've had in the past i think this kid is a really good fit and especially because they're so familiar with trey turner and how trey turner got to who he is today i know that obviously that didn't happen in the phillies organization but you know that type you know how to get the most out of that type now where does he play i think he's got a pretty good shot to play shortstop he's still really green on the dirt it's just an average arm but we've seen average arms at shortstop

survive because they've got great range and so I think he's got a shot to play shortstop and I don't think he's going to move off shortstop until shoot let's say it's 2026 and Trey Turner needs to come off shortstop or they have a reason to put a better player at shortstop ahead of him otherwise I think he'll stay at the position he is a guy that i would circle i think it could be difficult for him to get by teams like the orioles teams like the padres but if he's there at 27 i think he'd be he'd be a fun i mean he'd be an exceptional fit for what the phillies like to do no it's awesome that's good stuff and then last one here uh probably won't go where the Phillies go, but he's been around

for a good amount of time and he's a left-handed hitter from Alabama. So obviously the Gunnar Henderson comps are being thrown around. What do you think about Carter Johnson? See, Carter Johnson, I have a tough one. There are people in the draft,

there are scouts in the draft who think it's the best, one of the best hit tools in the class. The thing is is he didn't really put on very much weight at all this spring i mean he's pretty much the same size um it's still almost exclusively hit over power and with that you start asking the questions of how much power is this kid going to get into and when you couple that with there's enough in the industry that believe Carter Johnson could be a second baseman. Well, if it's if it's hit over power and it's second base, suddenly it's like, OK, does this guy belong in the second round in the first round? Where does he really fit?

I do think if it's if Brian and Dave do think that he can play shortstop, like end of story, he might fit at 27. But he's a little bit tougher there aren't a whole lot of front office folks out there that are really just googly-eyed over carter johnson at least from my lens the people that i talk to right now interesting uh all right some prep arms i want to get into um there are some talented guys that should be there at 27 which is pretty exciting like william schmidt so like i watch him obviously the stuff does pop you don't see much 12 true 12 sixes anymore like that's that's exciting but like you watch him and it's very max effort to get there whereas it seems like braylon doughty is

is very easy with it ryan Sloan, even Joey Oki. I guess we'll start with Schmidt. What do you kind of feel about him? Yeah, he's a tough one. There's some orgs that are in love with William Schmidt. And frankly, with what the Phillies have done in the past with Painter and with Abel, he kind of fits that. It's a lean frame. There's more coming, which is crazy to say from a kid throwing 99 already, right?

Can you imagine if he was up to 102? I don't know. Where does the ceiling end with this kid? My thing with Schmidt is it's definitely a good fastball. I don't know if it's an elite fastball because there's not a lot of deception, but it is a really good fastball, and it's a hammer breaker. I mean, it's a big 12-6 breaking ball. There is something of a Walker Bueller projection type in him.

But the thing is like, does he have a third pitch? Like, does he have a splitter? Does he have a, does he have a cutter to get people off the barrel? Does he have a change up? Not a lot of people have seen it. And when he throws it, he throws it once or twice. And maybe that's just him dominating a high school league that don't need to throw three pitches.

I think there's going to be some teams like Atlanta that'll fall in love with it, Philly that I think would fall in love with it if they have a plan for how they want to maximize what he can do. But you're right, man. It's a weird double-edged sword. Like on one end, it's highly projectable and lean, and he's going to add weight but on the

other end it's like okay but it is kind of an effortful delivery so where does he fall in the risk reward demographic he's a tricky one for me i think he could go anywhere as high as you know 15 or i think you could i you know i podcasted about this last week i think if there was a kid in this class who i believe could end up at school, like, you know, that's the always, that's always the conversation. Who's the highest ranked kid that's going to end up at school. I kind of think his LSU commit,

he could be the guy that ends up at school, but we'll just have to wait and see. Certainly a Phillies type. If you go off the able and painter mold, it seems like, and it seems like PJ Morlando that that's been, I know I was texting you about PJ Morlando. Cause you know,

I, they play these, the, the circuits a the circuits a year ago, so it's 2023. And in those things, he looks like Juan Soto with the stretched out thing and whatever. But it seems like he has some signability issues. He might be able to get to USC. I know you guys had him 39th, I believe. So, yeah, well, 41, your last, you know, rankings thing. But he could be one of those guys that you're talking about might end up going to school and see if his stock rises in a couple years.

Yeah, I mean, he's a perfect example. Like, we talked about Tommy White. We talked about a kid that is pretty much already a first baseman. Boy, the damage that he did at the combine the batting practice that he had at the combine was absolutely unbelievable i mean it was unbelievable uh it really speaks to what he's capable of doing with a baseball bat he didn't really show it this spring but man you get that kid blocked in and you get him playing organized uh you know affiliated ball where he isn't pitched around maybe that's a that's a kid we're taking

a shot on I think it might be the best bat in the class he just never gets to show it so I'll be interested to see where PJ goes I kind of get the feeling one of these teams with giant bonus pools you know the the the Diamondbacks or the Guardians or the Royals or you know one of these teams that have a comp a pick and have a little bit of money to spend, they might drag him down and take him with their second pick. So we'll see. Yeah, interesting. So back to the prep arms.

I'm curious, who of them do you think has the best fastball, you know, like projectability-wise? Like heading into the draft, who of the prep arms do you think has the best fastball? For me, it's Braylon Doty by a pretty comfortable margin. I mean, I've seen that kid throw probably 11 innings at this point. I mean, he just bullies guys. We're talking about a 6'1", 205-pound righty, pretty unassuming.

You know, doesn't look like William Schmidt, for example. Then he steps on the mound, and it's just this low-slot, riding fastball with extremely high spin rates, and he just lives at the top of the zone he has excellent command and control um the the popular comparison is lance mccullers and i know mccullers has been hurt for the last two years which uh certainly doesn't do the comp any justice but you get you know some of the early years of lance mccullers out of out of braaylon Doty you're talking about a kid that could go to all-star games so um and he's been up to 97 so I'm a huge Braylon Doty fan for me he would be shoot I think I have him as the second ranked high school pitcher in this class I've got him third behind cash behind Cash Mayfield and uh and Cam Caminiti but yeah exceptional fastball

every bit plus and I think he could end up throwing pretty dang hard yeah he kind of reminded me of of musgrove from from watching just the great guys seems pretty easy um so yeah i i'm surprised i feel like i feel like he's actually being slept on by a lot of like a lot of the public things i think he's a stud man i think you're right i i personally like a one thing man yeah it's the six for one thing like a short kings bro like we we get as a six foot one guy as a six foot one guy could have been me jack i think you're slept on i think you're slept on dude like if you were six foot three who knows where your career would be right now you know what i mean exactly right i was six foot three who knows where i would be so uh we wouldn't be doing this we would not be doing. There's a lot of six foot four frauds out there,

but the six foot one kids throwing potatoes, man, that's who you got to look for. Yeah. Know how to pitch, know how to pitch. And then Ryan Sloan looks like kind of has feel for, for multiple pitches, maybe the most pitch ability, I guess, of the high school arms. What do you think about him?

I'm a big fan of Ryan Sloan. He, I don't think he necessarily has the, you know, top of the scale upside ceiling that some of the other guys do. I think he's more of a Lance Lynn type, which is a good arm. I mean, that's a really good arm for a long time with the Cardinals,

with the White Sox, with a number of teams, with Dodgers. So yeah, you know, I think it's, it's fastball, cutter,

slider, curve ball. Everything kind of moves in the same direction he does have a change up that he'll kind of sink but not as much feel for that pitch if you're looking for the prototype though i mean what is he like 6-3-2-25 like dude really really fills out a uniform looks like you could throw 220 innings uh a year and just do it for a decade so um if you're looking for that you know if you're looking for that, you know, if you're looking for a real steady number three, who might not have a whole lot of upward projection in terms

of pitch design stuff. Ryan Sloan might be the first pitcher from this class to debut. Yeah, that's that's kind of the feel that I got as well. Just kind of he looks like a pitcher, you know, sometimes it's almost as simple as that um but yeah i mean that's pretty much the the high school arms i mean joey oaky probably not going to be there at 27 more in the in the 40s to the 60s range it seems like you know i think the most interesting thing about oaky was he wasn't at the combine and i i think whenever you get a kid who doesn't go to the combine at least for me and he doesn't do the medical at the combine my first thought is does he have a deal with someone under the 75 percent slot like could he go let's say seattle's number is five at pick 15 and i don't have any info on this i'm just

throwing it out there let's say their number is five five million bucks for for pick 15 and they wanted to give him three million bucks to go under slot um and that would only be 60 yeah 60 percent of slot i that that's the first thing that came to mind for me so for me joey oki is either going really high or 27 would be a little rich yeah yeah it's interesting and of course when you start talking about the over slot under slot i can feel people just being so confused about the mlb draft is a very very muddy event if you don't know what if you don't know the way that the numbers work yeah well either way uh thanks so much for your time follow him on twitter uh and follow future star series joe doyle at joe doyle m-i-l-b last thing before we before we get out of here we

mentioned aiden a couple times you know we we're high hopes podcast we are huge aiden miller people went down to wilmington last week to to cheer him on so um are you surprised at how fast that the he's kind of risen i mean there's some places that have him as a top 25 prospect already he was drafted last year was not like the top 10 max clark type but it was 27 i mean have you been kind of surprised at aiden miller's rise here i've been surprised by a couple of things so so he was always him and colt temerson were always the two best hitters like on the usa trials showcases like the guys just hit everywhere they hit absolutely everything everywhere um aiden miller when i saw him was always the first thing i always thought was well that's a big body. That's a big kid.

And he was right-handed. So I was like, okay, is this Brady House? I'm not sure if this is Brady House. What's this going to turn out to be? And so I'm a little bit surprised by him being ranked as high as he is, still in A ball as a right-handed hitter. But the second half of that is I'm stunned by how – this is always kind of a weird thing to say.

I'm stunned how good he looks. I mean, that kid is lean. He's strong. He hasn't outgrown his frame at this point. You know, he's still playing. He's still playing a good shortstop. I'm just I'm stunned that he hasn't turned into the Austin Riley type of player yet. And he still looks pretty trim.

So for me, he's not in the top 25 he's more in the 35 to 40 range but i i can't fault anybody that has him that high i mean the kid has he's checked every box at everywhere he's gone yeah it's been uh it's been exciting all right joe doyle enjoy your last week before the draft you know file the manila folder away and when it's over and have yourself a beer man like yeah you deserve a beer at the end of this whole thing all right i think that the least you can do, you're in the great beer city of Seattle. So,

uh, appreciate the time. And, we'll talk to you soon. All right, Jack, be good. See it.

Well, that was 27 minutes. What'd you think of it? I thought it was great. Are you more in on Theo Gillen and, and Kellen Lindsay that like I am now? Oh, after listening to that, how could I not be?

You know, what's funny is it would have been really funny if Jack had made up big names there. I'd be like, yeah, sure. And then I was like, ah. When you're talking about something as serious as the draft,

I can't joke around. You're right. You're dead serious right now. Actually, a little too serious right now. It's got a little weird. It's Brody Brecht week. Brody Brecht week. Is that our guy? I don't have a guy.

I really don't. Oh, that's tough. I know. So I have a bunch of guys. So really, I have like eight guys. Good, good. Don't you worry. Don't you worry.

I am very worried. We will get... And I don't know if there's anyone that I'm like super out. Well, here's what you have to do, because our pod after the Dodgers series will probably be the last one before the draft. You're going away. We won't have the series and all that.

So you're going to have to give us your guys. I know we have to do your whole thing where it's the would be upset with wouldn't be. I'll put myself into it. We need that. That's a tradition. A tradition. Unlike any, even though I just said more draft talk, please. anything else you got a week got it all out there big week i'm excited yeah don't get

swept yeah don't get swept all right big week against the dodgers we'll be back to react to it uh that all right no more like draft interviews you want to throw in oh you should have made a play at wilmington i meant to bring that up. That ball's coming right at you. I'm not seven feet tall. I have no chance. First off, you've got to have a read. It went way over my head. I was ready.

I will break my hand to catch a foul ball. I will land it like five feet from you. Wait, I'm not seven feet tall. There was no trajectory where I could have got it. It bounced back up over my head. I never had a chance. Shout out to Eli, who did get the ball. Yeah.

He's very athletic. Very athletic move by Eli. Right next to you. He caught it barehanded. And you know, it bounced off the ground and then he caught it as it bounced back. And also, Eli was also like a foot taller than me, just like you are. So enough. Enough.

Make a play. Outrageous. I will not be besmirched like this. Make a play. Outrageous. I will not be besmirched like this. Make a play. He spreads himself. We'll see you next time.