High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Reaction to the Astros Cheating Scandal and Your Mailbag Questions!

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as they talk about the Astros cheating scandal and also answer your mailbag questions. 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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Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. See app for details. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. A mailbag edition, Jack Fritz.

We're getting the people involved. Yeah, who doesn't love a good mailbag edition of the High Hopes podcast? Has it been a mailbag edition of the High Hopes podcast? I don't know. I think we've done one or two in our entire existence, and there have been some people saying, like, hey, can we get some questions in? And me and James are like, fine, sure.

If we want someone else to be stars of the show, we'll let... Well, no one can ever be the star of the show if you're on it right jack right uh we'll never allow that but um i we are letting obviously there's like so many questions um i posted both on reddit and on twitter and there's a lot and we're not gonna get through them all because james wants to go to bed let's let the record show that I was down to answer every single one of them. So James is the bad guy. You are such a dick. Yes, I have to go to bed at some point. What are you, a daughter or something?

Look, we'll get to a lot of questions. All right? We'll get to a lot of questions all right we'll get to a lot there's some repeats in there anyway shut up frets all right before we get to the mailbag real quick a lot has happened in baseball since we last talked what are your thoughts really has there been yeah man it's like it of course it takes like the most horrible scandal in the sport in a long time to get anyone talking about baseball in January. So that's great. Jack, what do you think?

Yeah. What is your take on all that has transpired? I mean, it's disappointing. I'm not – it's like I, there's cheating going on in baseball. You know, I thought it was kind of more of the, Oh, all the pitchers use pine tar or all the pitchers use sunscreen and they kind of hide it really well. Or, you know, I, I've always been, I think stealing signs is one of them.

One of the most fun underrated parts of playing baseball. Like it makes you feel like you're in the CIA for a little bit. I remember me and my pitching coach in high school, we would sit next to each other on the bench on the days that I wasn't pitching and we would just spend the game just looking into the opposing team's dugout

and just trying to decipher what they were doing, trying to think of where they were going. I would be writing it down. I'd be charting what they were doing. We would start faking're going i would be writing it down i'd be charting what they were doing we would start faking it saying like all right we got it and they would start moving and squirming in the other dugout so um it's a really underrated awesome part of baseball that i just fear uh that is now going to be just taken to the full extreme like now there's talk of okay well we're gonna have to not have signs anymore and just gonna be buzzer or i guess not buzzers oh that's not the word here but

uh like things in guys electronic communication right like things in guys ears so where they will be able to hear you know what the sign is is gonna be but it's it's just it's just really disappointing um i knew there was obviously stuff going on, but that's kind of always been in that way in baseball. And it's just, I love that Astros team and I like so many guys on that team. I like Bregman. I like Altuve. Like those guys are, are, are baseball players that I love watching on a daily basis.

And for them to be at the heart of it is a real shame. And obviously the Astros as an organization, I'm not a huge fan of, jealous of how they pick players and whatnot and their developmental staff. But what was going on down there wasn't exactly the best thing in the world. But the guys in the field were just awesome.

And that team was awesome. The 2017 team was awesome. And it's just a shame that now it's being tied to alex correa and i just i don't want this turning into a whole league wide like game of gotcha it's almost like they i hope they all get together and say all right we made the astros the. Everyone else cut it out because we don't want this turning into a huge black eye on the sport. So they need to have some more damage control. They can't really let more stuff come out because it's only making it look worse and worse by the day. Yeah, well, I think that chip has sailed.

I think there will be more from the 2018 Red Sox, if I had to guess. Maybe not as damning as what we've heard already but uh look it I Alex Bregman like a perfect example of I'm just profoundly disappointed I've said many times he was my favorite non-Phillies player the whole representing the tribe part of it all and And it, look, like you said, trying to steal signs has been a part of baseball for a very long time. Even that story came out a few years ago

that potentially the most famous home run in the history of baseball, the Bobby Thompson home run, the shot around the world, was a signed stolen home run. But there's one thing between you know using binoculars and ways to signal with like trying to like you know whatever you could do like shining light in someone's eyes or whatever they used to do back in the day or whatever to having buzzers on people's

bodies that instantly they can see a sign say a curveball's coming fastball's coming whatever i mean that is um i mean it just i it really you said it's disappointing it really is it's profoundly disappointing because it it and you saw many pitchers come out on social media you know alex wood trevor bauer all these people saying like i would i would much rather go up against someone who's on steroids and go up against someone who knows what's pit what pitch is coming and that's true of course it's true that's the point like the whole point of the sport is what pitch is coming like that's the game like you're playing a game this is a very the highest level of the game that is played but you played the game jack the whole game is i'm gonna throw a pitch and you're going to try and guess what's coming

or you're going to try and adjust or you're going to try and whatever. And having that knowledge just changes the integrity of the game itself. And it's really disappointing. I don't think it's going to be a only type of thing. I do agree with you, though. I do think that potentially people will rein it in as a result of all this i mean the fact that two the two of the last three world series winning managers lost their job within two days of each other and then carlos beltran loses his job a couple days later, which is just, you know,

and all the shrapnel coming through this thing. I'm definitely not going to feel sorry for the New York Mets hiring Carlos Beltran and then having to hire a new manager in January and February. That is just great stuff right there, Jack. Well, ultimately. Only the Mets would fire a guy that's never lost a game. Yeah, yeah, it's a great point, yeah. But, yeah, ultimately, yeah, well done.

I think ultimately it's just really disappointing, and I do think that it is a black eye on the sport right now. And I think it's way worse than steroids or anything like that. So it's disappointing, than steroids or anything like that so um it's disappointing jack i'm disappointed i don't like that my sport our sport is on the public stage for such a nefarious thing and even the trash cans like seems like pedestrian now compared to this buzzer thing um you know it's just like man it really is uh at some high level cheating jack oh then it's highest form and like in the shame of it is it's like it's so easy to do and that's why like it's so it's frustrating because dude anyone could just relay signs like the the catchers put down what the pitcher's throwing.

It's supposed to be an honor code. Teams could have been doing this for years, and the Astros or whatever, I'm sure there was probably more, just to take it to that next level. It's just like there's no honor code. There's no honor there. Well, did you see Mike Clevenger? Did you see that video?

Yeah, he was very mad. Oh, man. And I think you're going to see more of that. I think you're going to see a lot of pitchers come out and be like these MFers, like, you know, F those guys and that type of stuff. Well, especially because the Astros were so arrogant about it. Totally. And they were so cocky.

Totally, Jack, totally. And it's like, well, cool, but, I mean, how good are you guys really when you know what pitch is coming? Like, imagine always being able to hit with a 2-1 count. Like, that's pretty much what they were always facing. They always knew what pitch was coming. It's just, it's insane. And they should have, honestly, they probably should have been better.

I know. That was my thought. I saw the home road splits, and, like, they're super damning, obviously. It's like Altuve was, like, 160-something on the road and, like, 4 was my thought. I saw the home road splits, and they're super damning, obviously. It's like Altuve was like 160-something on the road and like 460 at home. And I'm like, only 460 when he knows what pitches is coming? Like, I don't know. Well, I guess that shows you that hitting a baseball is still pretty hard to do. It's a great point, Jack.

But it is. When you look at those home road splits, I mean, it's pretty damning. Yeah, well, I think the most damning thing here and the most obvious thing of this all is that there's absolutely no way that the Phillies were cheating. Because I watched this team for the last, you know, what's 162 times two? 300 and whatever games? 424.

Yeah, they were not using buzzers and definitely oh buddy yeah honestly they were uh they were maybe helping the teams they were facing cheat if anything so like i mean it just feels good rooting for one of the teams that are standing for the integrity of the sport um and they're look and look our our manager got it right in the tookus with this. Our manager was, you know, one of the people who got screwed by this. So, you know. Yeah, I guess you could say that. When he was with the Yankees, of course, you know.

I mean, unless, of course. Oh, are you talking about Gabe? I didn't know where you were going. No, no, our manager now, our guy, Joey G. But, of course, you have to say, like you said earlier, with the caveat that the Yankees weren't doing it or the Dodgers weren't doing it or all that. And it doesn't, you know, from the way a lot of these people have responded,

certainly the Dodgers, like, it would be something else from a holier-than-thou perspective if they were coming out like Bellinger and Alex Wood and all these guys saying the things they're saying if they, too, were cheating, at least to the level that Houston was cheating. Listen, man, I just hope nothing comes out about that 2017 Yankees team because I don't want to lose to them. Me, too. Me, too. I didn't even think about that.

I didn't think about that until you brought that up, and now I'm terrified. No, no, it's all right. They're going to shovel it under the rug. Joe G's a good guy. He would never do that. He would never. Joe G wouldn't A.J. Hinch it and just say, like, oh, I'll break a machine,

and I really don't think you guys should do it, but I'm not going to stop you. Joe G would stop them. Joe G would not let that go down. I believe that. I would like to think so jack that's the official position of the high ups podcast okay and joe g a man of integrity jack my official position from the high ups podcast is that aj hinch was actually fired for not pitching garrett cole in game seven. Ooh, I really like that position.

That is strong right there. That is good work. Oh, well done. My other position. Yeah, I mean, he deserved to be. I think I tweeted he should be fired for it. I mean, that was embarrassing. One of the worst moves in the history of managing that I've ever seen.

My other position is that I cannot confirm or deny that other teams were cheating and Pavetta only starts last year. All right. Jack, you know what that makes me think? That makes me think it's time to go to the mailbag. What do you think? I can't say it was a league-wide conspiracy to stop the breakout

because everyone in the league was fearful of his spin rates. All right, Jack. All right. So let's dive in here. We got a lot of very Jack Fritz type questions here. That's because I posted it. Yeah, it makes sense. A lot of prospect deep cuts type stuff.

And we'll get to as many as we can, as Jack said. We're going to get to a lot. So let's dive in. Jack, let's start with at Philly's dad 17. That could be me. I am a Philly's fan and a dad, Jack. How about that? Assuming Bryant loses his case and is under control for two more years,

what are the odds he has traded at all? Odds he has traded here and what is a fair deal? He says for him bone that's me that's me that's me that's me oh i put my own notes below it everything and everything in the uh whatever those are some real inside baseball here jack yes we let people know that you actually took notes and made notes. Wow. Try to act like I didn't know what I was talking about. I feel terrible about this.

This is a disaster. So, yeah. So the Bryant thing, it seems like it's going to go down this week. It seems like this is the week that they're going to figure out whether or not he's going to be a free agent after this year or after next year. And it'll be after next year i think most people think that at least yeah it seems like he's gonna lose the grievance which it does kind of stink that's taking you know so long for it to come through like i don't understand what it's taking so long it's kind of it's kind of put the phillies in a bit of a stalemate like they have

the they they are clearly i feel like waiting for the the chris bryant griev to come down to kind of finish or top off their offseason. And they're letting other things happen while waiting for it, which is, you know, unfortunate. But it's fine. And now with Donaldson leaving the division, which is like, in the moment, I was like, oh, that's awesome. But then there was the cold shiver down my spine of like, oh, my God. Well, guess what? Now there's at least one more suitor for Arenado or Bryant. So I'm definitely worried about those teams jumping in now.

But I don't know. I just think that Bryce is probably pushing for this pretty hard. I would think that he would want his best friend to come play with him in Philadelphia. So I feel pretty good about Chris Bryant getting moved. I think the Cubs, they've been hitting at this for a while. And I think they want to try to get, I think they want to try to rebuild or retool at the same time as staying competitive. And I don't believe the rumor from, I think it was Marossi,

where he was talking about, or I don't know who it was, talking about how maybe they'll trade for Arenado and put Chris Bryan in center field. Like a team that's trying so hard to shed salary. Yeah, that's not happening for sure. There's just no way that's happening. A 0% chance of that happening. So I think the Phillies are going to be in there until the end.

And until he is traded elsewhere, I think the Phillies are going to be in there until the end. And until he is traded elsewhere, I will firmly believe the Phillies are deep in the Chris Bryant sweepstakes. Yeah, I agree that they are in on Chris Bryant, certainly more than I think they're in on Arenado. I don't think that Arenado is likely to come here. I ultimately don't think Chris Bryant is going to get traded before the season starts. I don't think Arenado is going to get traded before the season starts I don't think Arenado is going to get traded before the season starts

But I do think it's possible And I do think that as far as Bryant goes I agree with you I think Bryant more likely to land here than maybe just about anywhere else Because of the connections and the fit And the fact that even though Because he's going to be a free agent in a years and, you know, even though Arenado's a better player, you can probably get, especially because Arenado's a better player, obviously, you can get Bryant for a little bit cheaper,

I think, probably than Arenado, even though Arenado does have the opt-out in a couple years as well. I still think Bryant goes for cheaper than what Arenado will go for. What do you think is a fair deal, Jack? Why don't you I alluded to it before. Obviously, Boehm and Seabold are part of your fair deal.

I think I agree with you that Arenado costs a lot more. I don't know if a lot more. I just think that there would be a way higher chance of having to put both Boehm and Howard in the Aren a deal i mean i don't think they would have to ultimately um but i think i don't think they'd have to trade boom

and howard for for chris bryan i don't think they should i don't either yeah i don't either i just don't think i don't know if a boom sebo baggage with some filler is quite enough i hope it is but i don't know if it is yeah well i mean i mean pivetta is not a filler buddy you could take back that statement no so my my my package for for brian was bone seabold pivetta or velasquez and luis garcia um that keeps dot out of the deal i would i would put stott in the deal if i have to um but i just think that Luis Garcia is being a little bit underrated by a lot of the prospect community. I mean, he was, like, super young playing in the league he was playing in last year.

And it's hard to hit where he was hitting. So he had a terrible season, but I think people were kind of writing him off a bit too quickly. But I think that Boehm, I think Boehm, Stott, Seabold, hopefully not, obviously not Howard. I think Seabold would be the best of their pitching prospects coming up. And then Pavetta of Velasquez is kind of, oh, we're the team that's going to be able to figure them out.

It's intriguing enough for the Cubs if they know Chris Bryant's going to walk. All right. Let the record show that the reason we did not get to as many questions was not me. It was that you took so long to answer some of these questions. I would say. Only one in here. Only one in here, Jack.

I figured that was going to happen. I don't know. All right. Let's roll. Andrew, you're the name pronunciation guy. You think you can nail this one? Andrew Shipotowskiowski i would have said shipatowski too so uh we'll see and let us know i always see i always see him interact i always

see him interact with me and then i say his last name me too but um seems like a good guy i see him interact as well so all right here's a question jack uh what are some of the next group of prospects to get excited for so for me uh obviously we'd have the main guys i mean at the top but i think the next i think this is the year these guys kind of break out uh kendall simmons he we talked about him a lot last season up in williams sport um like just started ripping the cover off the ball him and him and bryson stott were amazing um stott is on my list of next prospects. Eric Miller was a draft pick from this past draft, went to Stanford.

He's up to like 96, 97 from the left side. I think he could be up really quickly. Johan Rojas is an international signing, but he's someone who in the scouting community are all starting to rave about. Kyle Gagoski is like this young australian pitcher that they have that uh had like a 168 era last year down and i think he was in i think he was in lakewood um but people really like him then time is yadi they stole from the red sox uh because they lost some of their international scouting stuff a couple years ago and they simon mizziotti was one of the guys but if he can add some lift to his game um it would be very nice all right um we'll get back to some more uh prospect questions i really like this question uh from dave stoneback

who i actually know that's my buddy dave shout out to dave um uh his uh his question and i think this is an interesting one because um we kind of talked about it before with the bullpen and the lack of signings there and guys they might need there and all that but also the you know dearth of starting pitching they have as well he asks um will the phillies try and stretch out both vinnie and pavetta or commit to one of them in the bullpen so they can get acclimated to that role from the get-go? I think that's a fascinating question, and I do think that there could be some value to it, whether it's Vinny personally. I never need to see Vinny pitch ever again as a starter.

But I would say to Vinny immediately and be like, hey, man, you're going to be in the bullpen because I think you could be good there. Let's just roll there. But how do you think they're gonna handle it because they don't really know assuming they don't add another starting pitcher and assuming they're gonna keep howard down to start the season which we both think they'll do how do you see this playing out well it's interesting because i i i would like in an ideal world to tell one of those guys that hey this is to be your role. Get used to it.

Figure out what you're doing down there and just be the best pitcher you can be. But I also I think the correct way to go about this is get them both to spring training. Let them both battle it out for that fifth spot and let the best man win. And then the other guy can go to the bullpen. I think there's more upside. I know because it's Pavetta and Velasquez that people are just like oh well they both stink so who cares but one of those guys have to has to win the fifth job and i don't think in gross you know i don't think in january or february like to just say nope you're a bullpen guy would be the

best way to go like i would if i was one of those guys i would i would want the best way to go. Like I would, if I was one of those guys, I would want the chance to at least compete for that fifth starter job. And maybe it gets the best out of each of those guys. So I would rather them try to battle out for the fifth spot than just go, hey, you're a bullpen guy. But I understand why. It's a good thought. I just don't think it's the right time to do it yet. Yeah, I think that's what you suggest is what the phillies probably will do

and look i think ultimately if if all plays out the right way that person is just holding their spot for spencer howard when he's ready to come up but whenever super two thing ends or whatever um but you know i could also also see if, if maybe, you know, the, the thing is, is I, I, Pavetta has had less chances than Vinny to prove to me that he's not a starting pitcher in major league baseball. Um, you know, so for me, I, I, I've already decided I don't need to give Vinny a shot for that job, but, um, I get it. And regardless, I do think one of those two guys helping out of the bullpen could be really important for this team like shaping out the way their bullpen is not

looking very stacked right now jack it's all looking stacked all right um let's keep going i think there's a relevant one because we kind of just allude to i think it's a quick answer for both of us but at m underscore donahue asks do you see bomber howard or even both players breaking camp with the phillies no and no i think is our answers right jack i think maybe bomb has a chance i guess but i don't think howard has a chance to break camp yeah i agree with you i think i think there's a decent i don't know if there's a decent chance bomb good because i think he could very realistically be going to Cubs camp or, you know, whatever. But, I mean, Boehm's been in Clearwater for the last, like, month.

And, like, his plan is to make the big league squad out of spring training. And ultimately, you know, the Super 2 thing be damned. Like, this team is supposed to win this year and if he comes down to spring training and rakes that whole spring training looks semi-competent third base like you need the best guys you need the best 26 heading up to to cbp on opening day well actually going to miami but you get the point like you need your best guys out there for a team that needs to compete from day one and if alec bone looks like he's ready to go and looks the part, like I don't look at what happened to Pete Alonzo last year. Like he showed up and hit 51 home runs

as a rookie. Like don't do the stupid cheap, you know, keep them down until May 2nd or whatever. If he's your clear cut best third baseman, I think there's a chance he could come out from spring training. Yeah, I agree with you. And to your point, I mean, this team's supposed to compete. They need all the help they can get. We saw what Pete Alonzo did last year. What teams have done last year, it seemed, a few teams did that with young stars, and it helped.

And the role could be changing. I mean, the role could be changing i mean the role could be changed yeah yeah i could i mean i would say the same for spencer howard you can't tell me that vin vinny velasquez or nick pavetta is a better option than spencer howard i know you need to manage his innings and all that type of stuff but right now today spencer howard is better than those guys and a better chance to help you in games but um you know that's either here nor there i don't think he's gonna start this season up all right let's uh let's uh do a couple quick ones here and we'll get back to some of the longer form answers um as a couple fun ones real quick there's

an easy answer for at michael g silver worst moment in philly's history joe carter or ryan howard crumpled on the baseline i know that jack wasn wasn't alive for it, but it's Joe Carter by a mile. I mean, they lost the World Series on a home run. That's only happened twice ever. It just is worse. And Ryan Howard, that was kind of the end anyway. You knew that you were never going to see the same Ryan Howard again at that point pretty much anyway, at least that's what it felt like to me.

Jack, would you agree with that even though you weren't around for it? at least that's what it felt like to me jack would you agree with that even though you weren't around for it yeah i mean i would i think one of my one of the things i wish i could have done it was just watch that 93 team from start to finish uh just because that team was just seemed like a fun team to root for and i was super jealous of everyone was able to do that um but like the howard thing the 93 was a magical run magical season done the ryan howard crumpled to the ground was the end of an era like an end of right but but but you already knew that ryan howard was cooked at that point when he crumpled to the ground like it wasn't like you know it wasn't like it was shocking that it was that it was all coming to an end at that point yeah but i mean to try explaining that to the junior year high school it was a very it was a very delicate time for me i know i know the joe carter home run was your freshman year of

college so you've already oh man you've already started to you know you go through some stuff but the howard thing you know that was a that was a big moment for me uh no and look that was the last time that was the last time i cried at the sporting event neither was good i was at that game when aaron went down i was in the the bleachers in in the outfield and saw howard come to the ground be like why isn't he running what's going on not cool so i'm with you but But Joe Carter was, you know. All right. I'll take your word for it.

World Series. All right. At Cath Hall asks, who do you not want to see on the roster opening day? I mean, this is easy for me. It's Cole Irvin. I don't want to see. Oh, Jack. Jack, it's a good answer.

It's not the correct answer. The correct answer is Andrewrew freaking nap one year no no that calls a great game yeah no cole irvin though i'm i can get behind that as well though listen maybe either of them clint might force him to be on the team because he uh he uh drafted him, and he's like, hey, guys, you got to make sure my draft picks are out there. I don't know, man. That's my guy.

Clint Tech's 2017 class has started to actually bear some fruit. That's a Howie move right there. All right, good question from Dan Bernstein. What is more likely before spring training, signing another starter or adding a bullpen piece? I would say bullpen piece just because they have added no one there. And if you look at the list of remaining free agents, there's actually some guys who could help them in the bullpen. Some lower tier names that won't cost much money. They clearly don't want to go over the tax for anything other than hopefully a chris bryant or something like that

but certainly not for some reliever or starter so if i had to bet i'd bet on some uh some middle relief help jack yeah i i think that they from everything that i've read or whatnot it seems like they are they they're approaching free agency right now in the chance of like getting a guy on a minor league deal and giving him a chance to come in here and take down some major innings um both out of the bullpen as a starter so i would say bullpen but i kind of like the idea of of signing a swing guy like colin mckew and see if he can be a starter and you you know, see how he does as a starter, but also has the experience of being a pretty locked down reliever. I mean, he had like a 1-9-9 ERA two years ago. Last year at the pen he had like a 2-3-1 ERA out of the bullpen.

So he can still get it done. I wouldn't mind seeing them take a swing on a guy that can do both. But, yeah, if my money was on a guy, they're going to sign – or they could sign like a bullpen guy to like, you know, maybe a $2 million contract. Listen, I would like for it to be Taewon Walker, but I think it's going to be a bullpen guy. Yeah, I'm with you.

I do like the McHugh idea though. He can sort guys out. All right. At Zachary Gibbon11 asks, you can sort guys out um all right uh at zachary gibson gibbon 11 asked 2020 to 2030 how many championships for the phillies also if they broke up the astros and gave each team a player who would you want jack first question how many championships over the next decade for the Phillies? Man, if Bryce Harper doesn't hoist the trophy in Philadelphia, I'd be very sad because that's going to be his whole career, basically, all through the 20th.

I'll say one, hopefully. I was going to say one just because I felt bad saying none. Well, ask us in 2030. I'm not going to say I totally believe it'll be one. Yeah. I'm going to say one. I'm going to say one. All right, if they broke up the Astros and you could have any player on that team,

granted now we don't really know what they're like without buzzers, who would you take? I'm still taking Bregman. Me too. Me too. I mean, I'm still taking Bregman. Me too. Me too. I mean, I'm still taking Bregman. Although, I do wonder how he's going to be this year. I mean, his numbers were insane last year.

I never thought he was a 40 home run guy. And obviously the juice balls helped a lot. But we'll see. From a fantasy perspective, I'm interested to see. I feel like people are going to overdraft Bregman, and he might come back down to earth a little bit. Yeah, I'm interested to see. I feel like people are going to overdraft Bregman, and he might come back down to earth a little bit. Yeah, I'm nervous. As someone who could keep him in a keeper league, I'm really unsure.

I think it's going to be a fascinating storyline. Plus, they're going to have a ton of pressure on them. There's going to be a lot of eyes watching them. It's going to be really fascinating. Who do you want them to hire for manager? The Astros? I would love to see them hire Dusty or Buck. Well,

I think they have to, I think it has to be one of those old school baseball guys. Who's been around forever. Who there can't be a whisper of, of, you know, any sort of nefarious dealings with, you know what I mean?

I think it's someone where people are like, all right, well, Dusty's there. Dusty wouldn't let any shenanigans go on, you know, or whatever. You know what I mean i think it's someone where people are like all right well dusty's there dusty wouldn't let any shenanigans go on you know or whatever you know what i mean yeah i i i would love to see one of those guys get a shot with a loaded team and and see if they can win one all right um uh quick answer here at matt davis 2102 are you guys doing high hopes night again this year yes uh we don't know what the dates are, though.

He asked what the dates are. We're not sure yet, but 100% we're doing High Hopes Night. Maybe nights. We'll see. We're certainly doing at least one High Hopes Night this year, and we will have details and all that as soon as we figure it out ourselves. Jack, let's figure it out ourselves. You were saying that you would like to do an early season one and a later season one.

That was my hope. Like, I think it would be fun. We had the best time last time. It was awesome. I had a great night. So we do it early in the season. We'll do it early in the season, maybe like May. Yeah.

And then maybe we'll do another one in, like, August for the pennant run or September for the pennant run. I love it. I mean, I'm always down for a Phillies game. Yeah, I know that about you. I do think two high hopes nights because there's so much baseball. Or maybe we could swing something up to, like, Lehigh Valley too. Ooh. Go see some of the young studs. we could swing something up to like Lehigh Valley too. You know, make a little...

Go see some of the young studs. Maybe see when they send Pavetta down. We could cheer them on. Oh, man. Alright, we'll talk about it. We're definitely going to be doing stuff. And this stuff will be fun. And then when I move into the city, then we could have

high hopes, you know, happy hours. Yeah! Yeah. Yeah. If I get a rooftop, you know, then we could have rooftop. You can have people over to your house. It'll be great. So much potential for the summer of 2020. Pretty excited, Jack.

Make it happen. Listen, I've already, like, it was snowing yesterday, and I was like, man, can't wait for baseball season. This is horrible. I love the snow, but I just... I don't. I'm good with it never snowing ever again. I'm straight. I'm good.

Come on, dude. Snow's fun. Brutal. It's just like dirty. It gets dirty, and it's in my way when i have to drive places or walk places no out on snow all right jack let's get back to the the mailbag mister we're not gonna get through enough questions and it's all your fault um all right at bishop p van buren no excuse me bishop van buren i added a. I do have to P.

All right, if you could have any one player from the 2008 Phillies roster now on this team, who would it be, Jack? I mean, my answer is always Utley. But if we're talking about, like, importance to the team. It's got to be Cole Hamels, right? Like, that's the correct answer. It's Hamels. Or Lidge, I guess. You could argue.

I mean, getting, you know, the save streak would. I know. I know. It's Hamels or Lidge, I guess you could argue getting, getting, you know, the safe streak would, I know, I know. That's what I'm saying. Or Lidge movie. I feel like it's hard not to pick Hamels.

So I feel like it's hard. Like this team needs a guy like Hamels, like just another horse like that. So bad. And he was a horse in 08. He was, um, I mean,

Victorino would be very valuable for this team, playing goal, glove, center field, but I'm not taking him over Hamels or Lidge. Worth didn't really start taking off until 2009. Yeah, it's definitely Hamels. It's Hamels. It's a great question, though. I really enjoyed it, and I did have to think for a second or two about it. All right, our good friend Otter Hooligan. We got to meet Otter at the game.

She came out. It was very cool to meet her. All right. Please rank, Jack. Yes. Great meet. She's very good. Check it out.

Reddit. Phillies. Okay. Please rank. Home pinstripes. Away grays. Powder blues. Sunday creams.

Spring training reds, and those throwback maroons that they wore for that one game last year that zip up at McCutcheon. Looks so damn good in Jack. What do you think? I wish they would get rid of the zip up and just make it a button up. That would probably vault them up to number two on my list. Agree.

It would be number two on my list if it were a button up as well. The zip up's just an atrocious look it's not great it's so bad i'm not a big fan uh so number one for me is powder blues uh it's it's anyone who doesn't put powder blues number one i don't know what we can't be be friends. I feel so strongly about this. And then I'll put... I'll go home pinstripes. Then I'll go... Agree as well. We are the same so far. I will go maroon throwbacks.

Yeah, that was where I had it too. We are logged in right now. Sunday creams. Sunday creams, then away grays and spring training red. I like the spring training red more than most people. I hate the away grays. Yeah, I don't like the away grays and spring training red i like the spring i like the spring training red more than most people i hate i hate the away grays yeah i don't like the way grays it's just more that spring training just automatically goes last for me but that is fair um very good question though and the powder blues are just magnificent all right jack i'm actually really interested for your answer on this question because i don't know i think it's a i don't

know if it's going to play out the way he thinks or she thinks uh climb to poland philly asks how long in your opinion will it take for casual philly's fans to turn on dd gregorius for having a 265 average instead of hitting 300 i've never been so certain of anything in my life that this will happen just a matter of when. Jack, what do you think? It's definitely fair. He's not a 300 hitter at all. But I think what could cause people to not be in love with Didi is that he doesn't take any pitches and kind of just is a hacker

and just goes up there and just swings at whatever. And I think what we're going to have to realize in watching Didi next year is, and this is from Yankees fans all over, is that when he's hot, he is unbelievably hot and there's no one better to watch. And when he's cold, he is unbelievably cold. So he seems like he's a huge slumping guy, goes through slumps, comes out of slumps, then gets super hot, then goes back down a little bit. So I just think for Phillies fans, it's not going to be a consistent 265.

It's going to be like he's batting 230, then jumps up in a week to 280, and then it's just going to be a roller coaster this season with Didi. But, I mean, listen, me and James have talked about this a lot, and it's just something I believe that all of our Yankees fans talk about how much the Yankees fans friends, uh, talk about how much they love DD Gregorius and me and James are not the only baseball people in the entire universe. And Yankees fans, like real Yankees fans are good baseball fans and they all just say that

DD is the best. So we won't fully know that until we kind of start watching them um but i can definitely see philly's fans being frustrated like oh we spent 14 million dollars on a guy that hit 260 i mean that was the way they were last year with harper which it was like oh he played 330 million dollars for a guy to bet 250 so i'm sure that uh there's going to be a faction of the fan base that is that way yeah there will definitely be a faction of the fan base like that but i honestly think this won't happen for the most part i think like you said i mean every single yankees fan i've

talked to says that they absolutely adore dd and that they miss him already. And they're so sad that he's gone. Um, I just, he's a fun player to watch and he's a good player. He's great defensively. He'll make the sure ended stuff. He plays with a smile. He's fun. He comes through in the clutch. He gets a lot of big hits. It feels like anecdotally watching him. I just think people will gravitate towards him. I think he's likable enough where I get why, I get how you could see this happening. And your point about him being streaky could certainly unnerve certain people. But I think on the whole, he's going to win this city over

just with his style of play and his attitude towards playing the game. I think ultimately that that will kind of work itself out. But I think it'll be interesting to watch. But again, if he's hitting 265, 270, but with 25 home runs or whatever at shortstop, I think people will take that. All right, this is an interesting question from Ckeller29. We kind of talked a little bit about this recently,

but with the exit of Donaldson and Rendon, and granted still moves potentially to be made, how do you see the NLEs shaking out as of today? Well, so it's interesting because the Braves just lose their cleanup hitter, and right now their projected cleanup hitter is like Markekis, unless they move Acuna down in the lineup, which they probably should do. You know, they don't wait. Well, I guess Acuna, the leadoff spot is not a waste.

He was almost a 40 40 guy last year so um but they need to move him down the lineup and you know get some production for freddie freeman or you know whatever vice versa so like the braves i just think that they are still like regardless of what happens there the lineup's definitely weakened but i just think that uh the starting staff should be better i mean their kids are there, and then they have Hamels and whatnot. They should progress, and then the bullpen, they added so many legit bullpen pieces. Like, they just look like a team that fell back last year. They got smoked in the playoffs,

and that they want to go back and prove some people wrong. So I think the Braves win the division, and then I think two through four is a crapshoot. I could see the Phillies finishing fourth. I could see the Mets finishing fourth. I could see the Nationals finishing fourth. I just think that there's going to be so much fatigue from what they put in to win that World Series last year.

It was smart that they kind of invested in their bullpen, given how much stress they put on their starters last year. I think that was smart. But losing Rendon and Harper in back-to-back off seasons is not the easiest thing to replace. So I think they could take a step back. The Mets are still the Mets, but I like that roster. Now they don't have a manager, so we don't know.

And I like this Phillies team. I know they're not perfect. I know they're going to be flawed. I know there's going to be frustration points. But I just think that they were playing pretty good baseball up until about August last year, and then everything hit the fan. This year, with Girardi in there, Wheeler, Deedee, McCutcheon coming back, I just think that there's a good baseball team in there.

And I think that there's a realistic path to them finishing second in the division. Yeah, I feel the same way. I think the Braves win the division. I think the Phillies, Nats, and Mets battle it out. I can make a case for any of them to finish second through fourth. I think the key things I hit on them while I'm optimistic about the Phillies potentially getting the second or third spot and getting a wild card is that the Nationals, like you said, really fought hard and deep

to win that World Series. That's tough to come back from the next year and bounce back. A lot of guys, like you said, their pitchers got spent. It's going to be tough to bounce back. Then the Mets, obviously, going through a lot of turmoil right now. I do think Girardi

makes a big difference. I think him and the culture he'll instill here, I think that'll make a big difference for this team. I do like their chances in the division but it really is a crap i think the brave is the best team but after that um i do think i could see it going a lot of different ways all right jack um i'm starting to get tired so i have many more in me but i want to make sure you get a chance to answer this one because man you really had a lot of notes on this one so uh at cheese steak nick asks can you give a scouting report on all or most of the phillies minor league non-roster invitees jack i'm gonna sit back and play um when they came out, James, I was giddy.

I said when I came out, I tweeted, get me to spring training. I need to see these guys in action. I cannot wait. I can't wait to see what these guys do. So I kind of listed here the first ones we're going to go through are the pitchers that were on that list. And the first name that was on there was Connor Brogdon. So Brogdon was up in AAA last year, put up pretty good stats. Easy 95 to 97, which is apparently allowed now in the Phillies organization, which is good to see.

But he couples that with a really good changeup that I think he can throw whenever he wants. Seems like a two-pitch guy. Doesn't really, you know, the third pitch isn't really there, which obviously lends itself to the bullpen. When I watch him, though, he doesn't, like, he looks like a starter that's in the bullpen. Like, he doesn't look like a typical bullpen guy that can get it up to 97.

You know how typical bullpen guys are like it's an effort like you put a lot into the 97 and then work off of that his is easy that's why he kind of looks like a starter but stuff just plays up out of the pen so i i think i think brogdon has a really good chance of of breaking camp um with the phils and working out of that bullpen kyle delby huge huge strikeout potential doesn't know where the ball is going until he figures that out. He probably won't factor into anything. They put a guy named Tyler Gilbert on there who reminds me of Cole Irvin,

which, just please, no more. I just don't want any more of that. We know about Spencer Howard. We don't have to get more into that. Damon Jones, we talked about a lot last year, but I did want to point this out. Damon Jones has been working at driveline this offseason. Already had huge strikeout numbers last year but i did want to point this out damon jones has been working at driveline this offseason already had huge strikeout numbers last year but i mean if we're if we're putting him at driveline

with the raw stuff that he has um i think we could see another level of of damon jones this year i mean last year kind of went to triple a change the balls in triple a and his his numbers just kind of hurt but down the stretch he did start to pitch better so um if he is not in the rotation man would he be nasty out of the bullpen like they might have three legit good lefty options with him um Morgan and Alvarez so you know when guys go down this year when guys get hurt in the bullpen there are the nice part about this team is there are guys behind them that should be able to come up and at least pitch decently and don't have crap stuff. They have some guys that actually have stuff. Ramon Rosso is probably a starter, but some people think he's a bullpen piece, whatever.

I think he could be good, but again, he's kind of like a 93-mile-an-hour guy, and I don't get too excited about bullpen pieces unless they're like 95-plus. Addison Russ is a guy who I love, the he's a non-roster invitee he's a guy who i'm really really intrigued to watch i think he he just he just looks like a closer he's got the glasses of a closer um he throws out he gets up there to 96 and also has a nasty splitter off of that so um i think there's a chance he could break camp with the guys and he struck out like 36 of his guys last year which i which, I mean, is nasty. So that is very fun stuff. Yeah, he struck out.

They struck out 34% of his batters last year, which is just nasty. So I hope he breaks camp with the guys. Let's see on here. Zach Warren, huge strikeout potential, but I watched a video of him today, and he doesn't repeat a delivery to save his life. He'll throw one way, one pitch, next pitch, he'll change it all up until he figures it out. He won't

be as good as he could be. Christian Bethencourt could be the Andrew Knapp replacement. He was a former big prospect, but he was pretty bad. I don't know. The weird part with the Phillies is they're starting to poach out of the Winter Leagues. They signed TJ Rivera out of the Winter Leagues.

They signed Christian Bethencourt out of the Winter winter league so maybe they're kind of seeing something down there that's just my optimistic view of this um josh harrison is a non-roster invitee could be this year sean rodriguez um i mean james like if he if he's healthy he he's only, what, three or four years removed from being an all-star? Like, I don't know. It's true. He could either be cooked or he still has something in the tank and was just hurt last year. And, you know, maybe you're getting a really good player on a discount. So I'm excited to see what Josh Harrison can do.

I'm really just excited for him versus Ronald Torres. I mean, that's pretty much what the 26 man's going to come down to. Both guys should be pretty solid pieces off the bench. Let's see here. Austin Listie, he rakes, but no one knows where he's going to play. Nick Mattin is a guy to look forward to the future. I think he could be like a Brock Holt type

kind of guy. Moniak, I will have more notes on Moniak in my final thought. I am sure you will. And Matt Caesar is a Nova guy that raked in AAA the last couple years but didn't translate to the big league field. But obviously you're rooting for a hometown guy. But I'm just excited for the bullpen pieces because I think there's legit stuff there from guys.

So that's all I've got to say about that. Jack, you know what I'll say to that? There better be. Cause they're counting on those bullpen guys. It looks like having some legit stuff. All right. Uh,

did you have any other questions we need to get to, or you want to get to your final note bag at thought? Whatever. I thought this was fun from, uh, at Jimmy mock. What's your favorite lunch at the ballpark for a day game oh yeah i meant to get to that one i missed that one um i mean is it lame to say a hot dog like i love having a hot dog and a beer at the ballpark like that just i don't know

it feels good to me um get some of those little onions on the dog some mustard i put a little ketchup on my hot dog i know that's controversial but a little mustard ketchup combo come at me i don't care um but yeah that's what i would say jack don't get too controversial over there hot dog on a or a ketchup on a hot dog i mean i'm a i'm a i'm a tony lukes guy i love tony lukes the ballpark sure grab that grab a Tony Luke's guy. I love Tony Luke's at the ballpark. Grab that. Grab a beer. There's just, you know, there's truly nothing better than that.

Let's see if there's any other interesting ones. I thought this one was kind of cool from AssassinPanda97 from the Reddit, from Philly's Reddit. There are obvious holes in this rotation in the bench. If you were a clan tag, what moves would you make to help address those holes without going over the, the luxury tax threshold or whatever? I just think that they're going to go after guys that they can sign on like a one or two year deal for like three or 4 million and,

and see if they can kind of piece mail the back of that thing together. So I don't know. There's, there's some interesting names like Taiwan Walker McHugh, but yeah, I don't, I don't know there's there's some interesting names like taiwan walker mckugh but um yeah i don't know like i just until they they move on chris bryan i don't know really what else there is to do but um that's pretty much all i got we can we can move on all right what do you got? I guess we can move on. I guess. Well, listen, the brand new Nick Pavetta mechanics have just, they've just caused a stir in my brain. Oh, buddy.

And I have been so excited to talk about this. Like, this has been the most excited I've been to talk about anything on this podcast for a while. Well, that's not really true. I like recording every single podcast but when we could talk about nick pivetta changing his mechanics there are a few things in the world james that bring me more joy oh we know buddy we know a mechanical change to a guy with insane stuff i mean talk about exciting um so one of the things that i noticed in his mechanics there's two things that

really stuck out to me was that he looked like he had a little bit of a hip turn rather than being just straight up and down um and i guess one of the one of the main things in the analytic movement is like getting down the mound is no it's more about uh more about like momentum down the mound rather than getting to a stop at the top of your mechanics and then going from there so it's more about you know getting momentum down the mound rather than than having all your momentum stopped so i think that's what he's trying to do there and hopefully that can um lend itself to even more velocity and and whatnot so that i thought was interesting if he can add that into his arsenal but the real interesting thing that i thought was interesting if he can add that into his arsenal. But the real interesting thing that I thought was he really shortened his arm angle, I guess is how to say it.

He was a little bit long in where he dropped his arm down. Remember with G Alito from a couple years ago, James? Do you remember how long he was? And then last year he kind of changed it all up and and he was way shorter and way quicker to the plate so I texted my my college pitching coach and I just asked him like why the emphasis on shortening tutting on mechanics on guys in recent years and he texted me back saying biome biomechanical analysis shows that short arm path is more efficient for

transferring energy and saving for your arm so if so facto pivetta is going to have a healthier arm and it's just more efficient to uh to really being able to repeat your delivery over and over and over again if you're too long going back then it kind of throws you all off when your landing foot hit when your landing foot lands so it's all good i'm excited i don't know how to really explain that to people through a through a podcast i think that now well i know like i'm trying to explain it and trying to explain it in layman's terms but it's hard to do that when i'm sitting here in my apartment um explaining the mechanics but basically like he's just tightening up uh where he's bringing the ball back to and if he brings it back too far then he kind of is late to the plate and it causes uh inaccuracy and and all that stuff so by tightening that up he should theoretically

be more accurate within the zone so that's exciting he's working out with flarity he's working out with um noah cinder guard michael lorenzen so pretty loaded group he's been working out with this whole offseason so i'm excited i i i may be more excited for this version of Nick Pavetta than I was for last year's version. Oh God. Oh no. Everyone's cringing right now. I know. I know. I'm so sorry.

And, and Brian price and Brian price came out and said the other day that the only thing we wanted him working on this off season was a change up, which is like, I mean, thank God. I don't know where this, this,

this direction was last season. Um, but I don't know. I don't know where this direction was last season, but I don't know. I don't know. I'm excited. I'm excited. This is officially time for me to go to bed now, Jack, after this. All right. Hold on.

Hold on. Hold on. Player A or player B? Oh, God. Don't do this. No. No. Player A. No. No. 6 don't do this. No. No.

Player A. No. No. 613 ERA. No. 613 ERA. Just tell me who it is. Just tell me who the other one is. I don't need to hear it.

Player B of 538 ERA. Who is it? All right. Well, Player A was Lucas Giolito in 2018. Player B was Nick Pavetta last season. Very creative to use the guy you just referenced a few minutes ago. It's okay. So I'm putting my reputation back on the line,

and I'm back in on Nick Pavetta. Oh, my God. Nicky Moniak. Nicky Moniak has a new swing as well. And I can't wait to see what that looks like in spring training. I'm dead serious. It's a new swing. I'm excited for Nicky.

That's our guy. That is officially our guy. And, James, I would like to say to you that I think it's official that the Phillies have guys that throw hard. There's a whole profile story on Christopher Sanchez. Yeah, I saw that. From Jim Salisbury. He can get it up to 100. Robert Stock can get it up to around 100.

They have a bunch of guys down in the bullpen that throw to 95 to 97. So there seems like there's an influx of guys down in the bullpen that uh throw to 95 to 97 so there seems like there's an influx of uh guys with big arms but i'm chris for sanchez is another guy that i can't wait to see down in in spring training so um he seems like a guy that can be a i think he's gonna be a bullpen guy but some people think he can be a starter but um yeah i think i think it's official the phillies are starting to get guys that throw hard, and that, James, is just a great start to the week. Happy Chris Bryant Grievance Week. It feels like it's all coming to a head this week,

and we can finally figure it out and just be on alert for the Chris Bryant Emergency Podcast because it could be a fun one. Yeah, it could be. All right, rate in review of the podcast i'm going to bed thank you for contributing the mailbag episode we'll definitely do this again soon so uh more time for questions to be answered for everybody so until then he's for it's himself we'll talk to you later.

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