High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Recapping All Star Week & The Phillies' Draft With Brian Barber!

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz give their thoughts on what they experienced during All Star Week. Later, Phillies Assistant GM Brian Barber joins the show to help us react to every player the Phillies took in last weekend's MLB Draft. Presented by Miller Lite.To purchase Ring The Bell by Jack Fritz and Kevin Reavy go to RingTheBellBook.com

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The crowd is singing high hope. I feel a little less alone. Yo. Is another edition of the I hopes podcast, sponsored by Miller Light official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Taste like Miller Time, Philadelphia. Celebrate responsibly. I should have said we got a monster high hopes pod for you.

Brian Barber joins us. Give us a ton of time. We dive through every draft pick, basically more or less, a lot on Tyler Spangler, the processed whole thing. Really, really neat stuff from Brian. Plus a take bag later, all kinds of stuff coming on. I mean, come on, buddy. Yeah.

We did it. We had a home run derby and all-star. We did it. The home run derby was the, the, the, the, the premiere event. Didn't see that. But I will say up until the actual game started, I think All-Star and it was brilliant as well. Yeah. The game stunk, but everything else is amazing.

Yeah. What a time, dude. Philly, Philly showed off, I think. We got to make sure that we get the starting pitchers back on the All-Star game. Like, seriously. Scheen. Enough with these relievers going in for an inning and just burying people and being, like, all right, see you.

I don't need two winnings of Justin Reblensky or whatever. That's the middle of the game. 36 first time all-stars. That's a lot. Well, it's a high number. Yeah, it is. So, yeah, the All-Star game, bit of a dud. The All-Star weekend and first two days was amazing.

Yeah, no, it was great. All-Star Village was cool. Futures game looked sick. The ballpark was beautiful. And the Sandlot thing was sick. It was great. Yeah, it's probably the only cool part after the first inning of the entire game. Yeah, probably.

I mean, like Harper coming to the plate, it didn't get like him getting an ovation. Like, yeah, pretty much. But it was the Sandlot was one of the better moments in All Star Games in recent years, I think. Yeah. So I thought it was a, like overall, a great showcase of Philadelphia. I thought that that was one of those things where it's like we have to remind the national audience every once in a while. You know, I thought 22 was a good reminder for everyone. out there and 23 same kind of thing of like wow the bank's amazing and i thought this is like a

it legitimately could change the game of of how home run therapies are done but you have to make sure that there's a hometown guy in it obviously they're not all of kyle schwarber it's where they end up in the finals but the the format the format was perfect it was perfect yeah it was as good a format as they've had by far like and look you know i i think part of it is the crowd booing the taking pitches. They're not going to sit there and take 15 pitches a row because like the crowd does get on it and all that. Like I thought I, they figured it out. It feels like finally because it did feel like everything they went before there were flaws.

I hated the clock. Like I think they figured this out. Well, and it built the anticipation for every home run. Like growing up, it was so cool. Like balls launched. How far is it going to go back, back, back, back. And, you know, they, the clock thing just sped it up so unnecessarily. to where you couldn't tell the ball landed yet,

and you got a pitch again, too much rules. Like it was a good throwback. That's how the derby is supposed to be. So that was great. Speaking of throwbacks real quick, just let me throw in. I would like to say that I believe that this change and moving forward will be done the right way negates Pete Alonzo's titles.

All of them. Just throwing that out there, you know? Every single one. And I would also like to say that I don't care what I've tweeted in the past. I was very happy for Jordan Walker winning a million dollars when he would make $7.79, less happy for Pete Alonzo and he did it. Of course. Yes, yes, yes.

Like, chill out, Pete Alonzo, all right? There was a lot of times that I was just cackling. One of the times was when Jordan Walker got introduced at the All-Star game. Big old boo. I know. It was great. And he started laughing. He loved it.

His whole interaction with the crowd and talking about it after gave so much respect to Philly. His dad was, I love Philly. Like, it was awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it was a great week of a Philly fan moment and being there for the homer. It felt like I was part of one of those like all-time Philly crowds. And every Schwerber Homer felt like a playoff. It did.

It was nuts. It was wild. They got to figure out the magenta balls because it didn't seem like anyone could see them, which seems like a huge problem. Well, why'd they go away from the gold ball? Was there a reason that used to be the goal ball, right? Team mobile. Oh, so is that.

Brand synergy. I should have known. I should have known there was a reason like that. Correct. Correct. And then, yeah, Allster Game of Dudd. And I will say it was refreshing how quickly this all-star brick went by because the Phil's played a night.

Dude, do you mention that? before. I honestly, it's like the all time greatest. Normally, this feels like the longest three to four days or whatever that you ever have, especially, you know, doing shows and all that talking. What do we talk about? It's horrible. I can't believe the Phillies right now. I'm like, I can even use a night off. I'm happy. They're playing. But like, this is amazing. I went to about 6 p.m. yesterday. I know. You've been buzzing about it since. I know. I'm a lot. I mean, it was, it was. I can tell you're excited about it. 10 hours of sleep. I feel so great. It's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the, this is their third Friday off day, which is crazy.

There should be zero. Should be zero Fridays off. They have one more. The World Cup. Do they have one more? Because of the Field of Dreams game. They play Thursday and then travel to Saturday. I've actually become a big fan of the Friday night off.

There's minor league baseball on. We get to just, you know, chill out. I guess I don't mind when there's other stuff going on. Like when there have been World Cup games on these Fridays, like, sure, I'll watch work. It's fine or whatever. But like, when I got nothing else, like, I'll watch. watch, yes, I will watch the Mariners and the whatever, you know, like, but it is a little

annoying. I'm not a huge fan, especially because for your boy here, he only gets two nights a week, we doesn't have to sit there and be annoying, looking at the clock being like, could this game hurry up, I gotta go to that, I gotta wake up. Like, I get Friday night and Saturday night games to like truly like sit back and enjoy a Phillies game. So I don't know if I'm on the same page with you on this. No, I feel you. Yeah. We're in a little different scenarios, a little different spots. Yeah, you can say that. But yeah, but look, it is, it's not the end of the world. A tough little start to the second half of this ball club. Yeah, yeah, you get that.

I mean, not the Mets part, but yeah, the Yankees, the Dodgers, got some tough. So it goes Yankees, Dodgers, Marlins, Orioles, and then four Nats. Wow. Yeah. And the Marlins are only two games back of the Phillies. We haven't really talked about them much, and I'm not concerned about them winning the division or anything like that.

But it's pretty wild. The Marlins have really hung around. They are frisky. I know the Nats only four bag of that, but like they've faded a little bit. The Marlins are like in the playoff contention spot right now. Now it's pretty wild. Hired a raise guy.

Worked out so far. What a thought. Yeah, we'll say. We'll say. I think they will fade, but they are at least they have to be mentioned now. Yeah.

I mean, they're frisky. Yeah. They're frisky. Yeah. And then July. Multiple all stars at the all star game with mayor and I don't know. I know.

And then August, they got two Cardinal series. By the way, that's a win for you. We don't give you that. I mean, that was years like a couple years ago. You're in a mayor.

So last year I was really in on them. Yep. And then I didn't go back to him because he had injuries last year. And it felt like that this year he's really that has me a lot. Yeah. And I didn't have any shares in. You're the all time. Be in on the guy the year before he breaks out.

It's like your go-to move. Never wrong just early. Casey Mize, I don't have any shares this year. Honestly, I do think I, especially last year got a lot of crap from people with the first list. I was it two years ago, whatever. You had one year. Two years ago. Two years.

You had one bad year. I honestly think if you went back and look like they all event, like not all. obviously, but even like Louis Varland was on multiple fritz list. Now he's one of the best closers in the sport. Like I somehow or some way, I really honestly feel like the vast majority come back around. I think you have a much higher hit rate than people realize. I never lies. Painter better to figure it out.

Even though the eye is not telling you great things right now, but yeah, we got to figure it out. So yeah. So they're back tonight. They did change their little, the rotation around. So they're giving wheels and Sanchez the series off, which is pretty smart. Big fan. I would also give Bryce tonight off.

I mean, Monday, Tuesday. Didn't get the time off, went the home run derby. Yeah. I think particularly Sanji. You know, I would have almost advocated for a fan time I else. And if they didn't do something like this moving forward. Like,

we've talked about it. He's been in a bit of a lull. I think after that 50 and two thirds scoreless, like I don't think it's surprising that he's, you know, a little beaten down. But I think I think it's a tiredness thing. And I think rest will really help him. Yeah.

I mean, I tired or he might be tip. I don't know. But it's, he did dominate the tiger. So it's not like there's a huge. He gave up 10 hits, though, is the thing. It was like he, seven innings seven, you know, seven innings, two runs, seven strike. It's like that's a good outing. Ten hits is just a lot for me.

I know they weren't like, it's not like people are crushing them all over the field like they did the game prior. But it is still 10 hits. A couple of those double digits hit games this year, which is surprising because I do think he's, I think he's like impossible to square up when it's the fastball changeup combo is just, uh, it's cooking. So, um, yeah, looking forward to it. Should we talk to Barb's? Let's talk to Barbes.

All right. The one, the only friend of the pod, Mr. Brian Barber. And it is our distinct pleasure to welcome in friend of the podcast. In fact, the longest tenured friend of the podcast, our go-to guest. Um, and don't tell Preston. Yeah. We love our guy, Preston, too.

But like, it is what it is. Brian Barber came on the pod first, the assistant general manager, director of amateur scouting for our Philadelphia Phillies, the one, the only, the goat. I hope's podcast, cast our guy, Brian. Brian, how are you, my friend? Yeah, I mean, I do report to Preston, but I do always have it over him that I was on the podcast before he was.

That's right. See? That's right. It's a beautiful thing. No, we love Avon Bowie. Honestly, it's a real thrill. We are humbled to have. both of you on. And what I was, I was, I was showing to Jack before you came on. It's, um,

time flies. You know, like, wow, you've been, this is your sixth year here. I mean, since 20, I mean, 2019, you actually technically signed a 2020, your first draft here. Um, what's, what's it been like kind of since year one to now that, the, you know, how have you grow in the process? Like, what, what's it been like, you know, because we had you on in 2020 or whatever it was. Um, how different is it now six years later? Yeah. I mean, obviously comparing anything to that year with the COVID year and the shortened season and the five rounds wrapped is always like tough to do. But so I almost start in 2021, you know, trying to make the comparisons and the improvements that we've tried to make and some of the processes that we've tried to change

and get better at. Like there's just more to it now. As baseball operations groups are growing, you know, adding people to that group and that are part of the process throughout the spring, part of the draft room. I think we've tried to get much better at that the last couple of years and like adding the, you know, whether it's analysts from different groups, adding mental performance, adding medical a little bit more. I think there's always more and more things that you can add and things that you can get better at.

We just continue to try to improve each year. Well, I'm sure we're going to dive into a lot of that. You're going to hear my voice far less than my co-host voice during this interview. And that's because I love my co-host. And I know how much of me and soon. I just want to ask one over the top, you know, general question at the top. And then, you know, I'll chime in from here, there.

But I will let him have his moment. We love you. Thank you for doing this, Brian. But just what was like to have the draft in Philly? I mean, you've been a part of so many of these over the years. And, you know, you've ran, you know, since 2021, been running it here. What was it like to have the whole thing happening in our city to have Philly's fans in the crowd doing it? Like, that must have been a pretty neat experience for you.

Yeah. Being to completely honest. I was worried about it months ago. I just was. I mean, the reality is you need your dedicated space inside the stadium to work. And we use different rooms at times to try to talk about whether they're guys up at the top of the board or as you go down, like break up into different meetings and areas. And, you know, down the board pitchers over here, down the board position players in this suite. And like, we didn't have use of those this year.

So we did change a little bit of things this year. and we did a lot more of those meetings prior to actually getting together in Philadelphia. But once we were there, it was awesome. I mean, really, Major League Baseball takes over a lot of the meetings, size, space availability, but luckily they did not take over our draft room, and really ran without a hitch. I'm sure there was a lot of work behind the scenes from a lot of our people that made that work. But it was just an exciting, you know, to be able to, what was that on, on, I'm blank,

on days. Now on Sunday, you got gauge pitching at noon on the stadium while you're getting ready to make a pick. I mean, there was just a lot of stuff going on, but it really worked out well, and it was just a cool thing to be a part of. Yeah, it was awesome, and the whole city, I think, just crushed

the last week and obviously all the work leading up to it. I mean, just an unbelievable event. You mentioned during a couple of your press availability that I am too much of a coward to participate in. that that's actually true I don't thrive in those situations

but it's more of a my scene than it is seen anyway so one of the guys you mentioned a couple times and I'm curious because I haven't heard his name mentioned before is David Slusser who I guess is a quantitative analysis for you like is that something that there's been an uptick recently like what kind of is his job and like does he help I guess some of these guys numbers-wise that stick out and then you guys go and watch

them perform. Yeah, David started working with us. I think it was leading up to the 20-24 draft and a little bit more of a heavy responsibility. And then last year in 25, it was almost like a daily phone call, daily messages back

and forth to him about guys that were popping up. He's recently switched roles in more of a baseball operations department now that he does he's basically solely dedicated to us up until the draft and then he does a lot of minor league prospect rankings as well throughout the year but yeah he's been an integral part of our process now and not just you know and not just finding guys that are out there and it's like hey this guy

looks interesting but also helping us weed out the top guys as well of you know does the stuff that we as scouts see are as that lining up with some of what the day is saying as well. So it's been, yeah, he's been a super valuable part of our department in the past two years for sure. Yeah, that's awesome. And then before we start getting into the nitty-gritty, just overall, like how do you feel, like where do you feel like the organization is at from a hitting development standpoint and, you know, bringing in some of the guys that you did bring in this draft? Yeah, I mean, we brought in different types of guys throughout. I mean, obviously, whether it's somebody like Spinger that you think is all around,

Bougainpool who has some positives and some negatives throughout his career, all the way through the bakes in the 13th round and Hayworth in, I believe, the 18th round. I mean, different types of guys, and I really feel comfortable handing them over all types to both Luke Merton, who runs our player development system and also is our director of hitting. And there's plenty of other guys within our player development system. But yeah, I feel I feel really good at being able to hand over really just about any type of profile as a player and think that they're going to get the best out of their ability. So let me take you back to this time last year, you know, that draft that just concluded.

And you start looking ahead to the 2026 draft. And you're sitting there. And you're like, where did you think that Tyler Spangler was going to go at this time last year? year? Higher than he went, for sure. So, you know, you're always, it's always an ever, a work in progress throughout the spring, but at the end of summer, end of fall, I, well, I didn't even know where we were going to be picking quite then yet, but I assumed it was going to be ahead of us.

Yeah. Yeah. And like, overall, what, what excites you about him? Obviously, you know, we're excited. He was someone who, you know, mentioned on a couple of podcasts. leading up to it is like if he's there on the radio we were on w i p when the pick was made bright and let me tell you jack went through and i was like i want one of these two guys and one of those two guys was tyler spangler so we have we have actually reaction shots of him like celebrating on wip

yeah this was a fritz guy oh yeah oh yeah this was the one him i don't even say the other player's name should i it doesn't matter that's fine him and him and another player of the same position were the top two guys Jack wanted. He said, these are my top two guys at 36. This is who I want. And Spangler was the one, at least on the broadcast, that you talked about the most. Yeah, you nailed it for Jack.

Yeah, I mean, just going back to that, Jack, I mean, I believe at the end of the summer fall, like on, you know, some of the public rankings that are out there, Tyler was the fourth ranked high school player in the country at the end of summer fall. And we might have had him even higher than that. But just talking about the high school players. But we think it's a total package that it sticks at shortstop.

He moves well out there. He has a strong arm. There's excellent instincts in the field. He's a barrel finder at the bat. More walks than K's over the summer, which is crazy on a summer showcase world. You know, with Max Exit Velo last summer of 111, 91% zone contact percentage last summer. I mean, he can hit. We think the power is going to be there and he stays at shortstop.

It's a big athletic body. Like, there's a lot to like. You mentioned the big athletic body. I think that's part of it. But I've asked you this philosophically in the past, but not in a while. And I think we have a lot of new listeners. I think there's an interesting thing when I watch scouting. I think I said this a million times.

I think what you guys do is by far, by far the hardest scouting there is. Because you're looking at kids who are 17 years old and sometimes 16. and Latin America, all this stuff, and taking them and trying to decide what they're going to be seven years down the road or whatever, like people grow at weird times, gross, which all the stuff. So, like, specifically with Spangler, an 18-year-old kid, and you say he's got a, you know, a big body, how do you look at that and say, this is what I think this guy is going to be in six years or eight years or something? Like, it's such a bold prediction to make. How do you guys, like, do that confidently, you know?

Well, I mean, and the one thing you didn't mention, you mentioned a lot of what we deal with, but it's like the reality of what pitching is in the big leagues right now is crazy. It's just so good. I mean, I sat there during the All-Star game, and obviously those are all-star pitchers, but it's like, how does anybody ever hit these guys? It's just you're in a world where the stuff is so good, and you don't see that on a daily basis trying to evaluate these guys. And even in a college world and the SEC, like, yeah, it's good amateur arms,

but it's nothing even close to what these guys are going to face in the United States. big league. So like those you go back to you get some of the underlying factors like what I just talked about and zone contact and and at back quality and exit velocities. But you also is this swing going to work against better pitching? So, you know, as far as like bodies are concerned, you kind of just you go with what what they are now, what the frame looks like, what their, what their makeup is as far as getting in the work in the, you know, in the gym and work. out and trying to, you know, make your best educated guess, is this guy going to put on 10 pounds, 20 pounds, 30 pounds? So, I mean, yeah, there's a lot that goes involved into it.

And yeah, we don't nail everyone. We just, the reality is we're no, nobody is that good in evaluating what this guy is going to be six years from now. But I do think we're a whole lot better than we used to be. Yeah. It feels like wizardry to me a lot of times. I'm so impressed. And sometimes you've got to Sometimes you've got to scout the parents too Yeah, I'm sure Well, and the people, the person There's so many you mentioned with work out of it

But just period like the culture matters And sports, we know that Like there's so much to it It's a really like it's a tough task That you guys have in front of him So I've been bigger than my dad since I was 12 So you know, that's probably Probably heard the projection

You know But I don't think there's much more room to go grow Obviously though the main reason he was there at 36 Is you know the back injury That happened last year where do things stand with that and like do you view it as a long-term concern here? Yeah, I mean, obviously it was a concern throughout this spring, but we just, you know, until we get hands on him and get them into Philadelphia and go through our own physical,

you know, there's, we need to get to that point, but we feel good right now. And I can't guarantee he's going to be playing in games next week. Obviously there's, you know, our own assessment period that needs to happen and get him into playing shape. But as far as long-term concerns right now, they're really just not there. Great. Caden Boganpool.

I had a theory that when you saw Kate and Boganpole, you were like, this might be lefty judge. You know, I mean, like, he's huge. He can play center field. He has massive exit velocity numbers. Last year, I guess, he

hit six home runs. There was a little bit of a power decline. Some talk about how he hits the ball on the ground a little bit. What's kind of your vision for Caden Bogan Bowl? Yeah, I mean, Caden was a guy that really our scouts brought up first going back last fall and just identifying the size, the athleticism, and the tools. And, you know, you question some of the underlying stuff with him, whether that was contact rates, ground ball rates, different things like that.

So the contact continued to improve throughout the year, but we also thought it detracted from his ability to get the ball into the air. So that was one of the guys. I got to see Caden twice throughout the year, and I got to match him up probably against the best pitcher that he saw this year. It's a kid that went in the second round from Liberty named Ben Blair and had quality at bats against him. And then we also brought him down.

We wanted to get our hands on him a little bit. So we did bring him down to Clearwater. I got Luke Martin involved there. and really they were just like let's see if he can do this and within 30 minutes he went from the first two rounds of hitting screaming line drives but low line drives to just launching balls and it was like okay it doesn't doesn't like override everything that we saw in the spring but has the aptitude to make changes the ability to make the changes that we would see that he would need to make and he just took to it right away so i mean the launch angle this spring ring was like 5.1 degrees. Like I would imagine that gets higher in the future, continues, just the mashballs. I mean, we talk about, you know, the max exit below is at the combine of 119, but this was a top eight throughout the year of 11.8.

It wasn't like, you know, when he makes contact, he murders balls. So we want to, and the one thing that he does do that gives us hope, he swings at the right pitches. He doesn't chase. He takes balls. He swings at strikes. So when you start with plate discipline and power and we think we can help the launch angle and the contact, we just thought it was a really attractive guy to try to get into the system. Yeah, I watched, so obviously watched the combine.

So I remember the number is 119. And then he drafted him and I went and watched the regional against Arkansas where he just, he hit a baseball off of Gabe Geichel that I thought the center field was fearing for his life a little bit. I mean, it was just, it was just launched. So looking forward to him, along with the same lines as, as Boganpole, is Will Gasparino, who, I mean, we've known him for years. I mean, he was in the perfect game, Aubrey Classic, what, like three years ago? Big, long lever, can play center field. What do you think about him?

Yeah, a lot of similarities between the two, but the one thing that I would say about, and not that I'm, Kane played center field all year, but like, Casparino is an elite defensive center fielder as well. Like you're starting there to where we know it's tremendous, tall, athletic body, and he has Major League Baseball makeup, and his dad's been in the game forever. He's played for a long time, and now it's an executive with the Dodgers, but it's elite centerfield defense along with massive power. So it's like I had the opportunity.

I saw UCLA, I think five games throughout the spring, and I saw them in a three-game series at Global. life early in the year. He had four home runs there. It was like an average exit velocity of 108.5, an average distance of 425 plus, just murdering balls. But this is the contact rate has steadily improved with him. It's always been a little bit chase and the contact was low. Well, it got up to 87.4% in conference this year, like very manageable level when you're talking about those types of tools. So that was one that, especially down at the level where we got him, I was super excited to be able to bring him in. Just show him video of Jason Worth. And it's like,

this is, this is what the vision is. This is what the vision is. I've actually had a few guys to talk about that comp and guys that have been with the Phillies for a long time that made that comp as well. So yeah, I mean, you're not out there on a limb with that one. I hope it comes to fruition. Oh, I love it. Oh, my God. Just the most underrated player of that whole run. I love Jason Worth. All right, let's get to your specialty. Let's talk some pitching. Let's talk about Ruger. I mean, you want to talk about a fist pump on the drive home. Of course, it was at a stoplight. He wanted him in the second round. That's what he was talking on the pod. Well, listen, if I had a, you know, if I felt like what you were going to do, I thought you were going to go overslot and then we're going to go a little,

their little Ruger right there in the second. I don't know. Talk about Ruger and the excitement level behind it. Yeah, I'm super excited. Ruger was actually a guy that we liked a lot last year. We saw the things that happened this spring. We were predicting those last year. And Ruger, he took himself out of the draft. He wanted to continue getting better at Texas. And really the reality is University

of Texas has a very, very good pitching coach named Max Wiener that's there that I think is one of the top college pitching coaches in the country. And he's he's really helped Ruger throughout the year. I think you start with with Ruger. It kind of tells a story. It's a 35 and a half percent K rate and a 6.2 percent walk rate. I mean, that the 29.3 ratio ranks first in the entire SEC. Every single guy in the SEC that has had those numbers had been a first round pick prior to Ruger. Wow. And this isn't a, you know, a thumb or he average 95.2 on the year topped out at 97.7. It's a deep mix. He throws five different pitches from up here. He throws three different pitches from up here. He's a magician

on the mound just creates things like super excited to be able to bring in stuff, stuff, swing and miss stuff and strikes. It was it was really good. And, you know, it was as much as we wanted Ruger last year, like I think he did good for himself. going back and excited to bring him in now. Yeah, because some of the stuff I saw, he's more like a two-pitch guy last year. And like he really, they expanded his repertoire, I guess, in that one year, which is pretty crazy. Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably one of the things Max does better than anything is just

both maximizing and optimizing the pitches. I mean, it's, so it's a fastball slider, sweeper, curveball, split. And then he throws all five of those from up here. and it's the fastball small slider sweeper from like the low three-quarter angle as well. That's impressive, the arm slot thing. And being able to throw the strikes doing that. That's what I was about to ask. So he's just as like more or less just as good from both arm angles.

And so he just will switch it up just a mess. I mean, that's really neat to hear, especially at this age. That's really cool. And he can, I mean, I guess the one knock on him was a little bit like he slowed down as the season went on. But he kind of, he shoved in the college world series. you know, any concern with that? Not really. I mean, it was nice to be able to see the college world series, him go back and throw. He had the one outing. I think it was senior night that they really, they weren't planning on throwing him.

I mean, I can't remember right now if it was it was either one hitter or one inning. And they just took him out just to just to prepare him for the stretch run. But, you know, we had the opportunity to meet with him at the combine, go through all that stuff. He did the medical there at the combine. So, yeah, we feel really good about all that. All right. Some of your, the big picture names in the middle of the draft, Devin Sheeran, a kind of local kit, you know, he grew up.

Yeah, I mean, obviously grew up and from Reading, Pennsylvania. This was one that kind of jumped on in the scene to us a little bit more this year, where it's like, all right, it's stuff. It's always been big stuff from him. The strike started to get better. And then I saw him twice this year. It was once at Ole Miss and then once in the SEC tournament where it was like, this might be the most uncomfortable at bat for a hitter that I've seen from anybody in the country where he's up to 100 miles an hour.

It's elite fastball traits. His swinging strike rate on his fastball ranked fourth in the entire country. It's a three breaking ball mix. we just see it as a quick moving relief pitcher with a dominant four seam and like unique release point. So it's, it's, we really like it. We've gone back and forth of like use and how we're going to use him in the future. So there's no decisions made right there, but he was a dominant relief pitcher this year at LSU. Yeah, because I was going to ask you if there was any plans to maybe consider starting him because like a fourth round pick. But I mean, you never know. We have the same

conversations other people do. Do you keep him as a release? and it's a quick moving to the big leagues, hopefully. And is it a Kirkering comp or is it, you know, trying to maximize ability? So we're having the same conversations that you guys do about these players and trying to figure out their best path. You say quick moving and I know it's different for each guy and all that. But what is like realistic best case scenario?

Just best best case. I know best. It all work out. But like what's the quickest you could see them in the majors if it all goes perfectly? Yeah. It's a weird question to answer, Jane. Just because of the timing of the draft now. And like the ability for these guys to go out and pitch this year is just it's not really

believable in those aspects because they've been done for a month and a half. And one of the things you do realize is you don't want, you don't want the guy to ramp down, ramp back up. I mean, that's when guys start getting into the situation where they could potentially be hurting themselves. So I wouldn't need to find out all that information. You know, what what 100% we plan on doing this year. but if he continues throwing like he did down the stretch,

I'll say this, it would be sooner rather than later. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. No, he's really interesting. And then Bo Rudy, I've never seen, rarely have seen a fastball that could spin at 2,800 RPM. I mean, that is special. And one of the things you mentioned in one of your press availability was about how he was like 90 to 91 to start the year.

And then he went to the SEC tournament. and he was up to 94-95. So, of course, I went and watched it. And I don't know if you felt the same. I was cackling. It was ridiculous. It's such a heavy ball. Tell us about Bo Rudy's fastball.

Yeah, I mean, it's just an elite four seamer that has, I'm going to look at a 21.9% swinging strike, which would rank first nationally in the entire country as far as it's 34.4% whiff rate. Like it is it plays elite it has elite qualities to it. You're right. The spin to it like I'm sitting there and you're watching the track man come through and they're like you're getting close to 3,000 on a fastball, which I've never ever seen before. And I don't really like like how much does that translate?

Well, it's translating to him. It's low slot, high spend, carry, all of them allow the pitch, you know, to play at an elite level. So we obviously we're more excited at the end of the year velocity than we were at the beginning of the year. But even the beginning of the year, all the traits were elite and how it played was elite. We just need to keep it at the velocity that we saw late. Yeah, and he looks like someone that, you know, the development of a breaking pitch. Like his mechanics are normal. So it doesn't look like they should get to make too big of a leap for him to add a plus or a good.

Oh, yeah, yeah. We definitely see the ability to work on those as well. He just, he threw the fastball so much because nobody could hit it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a pretty good plan. Pretty good plan. The three pitchers that, you know, the raw numbers, obviously, you know, they don't jump

off the page are Jelkin, Wyatt, and Cooper there in the middle. What can you kind of tell us about those guys? Yeah, I think there's a lot of things to do here with Jackson Jelken. I was super excited to be able to bring this one in. And yet I understand that the raw numbers don't, don't jump out in certain ways. but he is a workhorse through 97 innings and just an elite strike thrower, 5.2% walk rate while also averaging 95 and topping out at almost 98 miles an hour. Now, the thing that we see interesting there is he's predominantly a two-seem sinker ball guy in college,

throws it four out of every five fastballs. When you start looking at the four-seam, and I'm not saying we're going to make him a complete four-seem guy, but it becomes a real pitch with like close to a, it's a 12. 26.6% left rate on the four seam. So the two scenes plays a lot different. Dominates righties. We want to add the four seam a little bit more to the left-handed hitters.

And I think all of a sudden, you deepen the arsenal and potentially add a little cutter and more change there. And we think he's going to take off quick. Perfect. And then the two lefties. Why, I'm not doing the last name.

Danelowitz. Dan Loitz and Consiglio. Yes, yes. Yeah, I mean, these are both guys, both different guys, obviously, but they both have four pitch mixes, and the shapes are really good of all those pitches. We are going to try to push the envelope a little bit on some velocity gains with those guys

because we know they already have the movement and shapes of the pitches and just try to see if we can push those velo gains a little bit there. And then the two catchers he drafted, Mack and Wilson or Winslow, and the Quintanthar kid, he's got a little bat. I was surprised he's there in the 14th round. What do you think about those guys? Yeah, Macon's a catcher with good tools.

Obviously, we started at Duke, when do UNC? The one thing that I would, he can throw and has power. We can start there. He has those things. One thing not a lot of people realize is he had a small fracture and like his hand wrist at the end of the year and took them out of it. It couldn't catch because of it and zap some of the hitting for him throughout the year. But obviously it's something that gets better.

And like I said, this is a guy you're talking about we think can catch, can throw, max exit bellows in the 115 world and controls the zone. So we're excited about that one. And then Quintar, yeah, I mean, when it comes down to there, I think they were, I think they were expecting to go a little bit higher. and then when some of the signability came down, that was like a no-brainer for us to jump on. Just tough, hard nose with elite contact skills and swing decisions.

So more walks and strikeouts, 91% zone contact rating. Like, I was excited at that one in the 16th round. Yeah, it was, well, it was interesting because you went a lot of raw pop early. And then as it went on, you started really transitioning into the bat to ball and the more walks and strikeout guys. And the two that I'm ready to put the Fred stamp approval on, which you could take this to the bank if you like. But he is, I really like, I really like Reese Moroni and Braden Bakes.

I mean, the Maroni kid, you watch him at the, at Arkansas. It's a pretty elite, you know, elite staff. And he more than held his own. What wiggie tells about this. Real quick, real quick before you go, but I just love the idea that Jack was like, you can put the Fritz stamp of approval on the guy you'd The stamp of approval, I think, is inherently there. But yes, go ahead, Brian.

Thank you. Well, I'm always happy to receive a stamp of approval right afterwards. But obviously, we want these guys to be good in two, three, five, ten years. Yes. Not just be liked right after the draft. But he is a ball. Moro, talking about Reese, he's just a ball player with a solid tool package. We see the ability to play both shortstop and second base in the future,

probably third base down the road. But it is like he graded out as one of those like we do an OAA stuff with amateur players and he graded out as like an 80 defender according to OAA and short-season. That's that's legit right now. Hell yeah. That's good. He's got bat the ball.

He's got defensive versatility. Power really is in his game. But he's also, he also was maxing out in the 110 world. So it's not like it's a total weak bat. That was one that our area scout Matt Tully put on the radar and we stayed on and we're super excited there. Get into your banks guy like this dude just hits, man. Like 393, close to a 1,200 OPS, more K's and walks. It's not the biggest guy in the world, but he is strong and his top eights are in the like average major league baseball world.

He's just a pure hitter with elite swing decisions. It's like excited at the bath there. Yeah, yeah. A little small, but like they play majorly baseball. You can be short but strong. So he's got the strength there. I mean, there are plenty of guys in the 5-9, 5-10 world in baseball. They're just, you know, they're not normally 150.

They're more, they're closer to 190 like he is. Correct. Yeah, awesome. And then, you know, last one for me is Patrick Clemmy. You know, the only high school pitcher you took. What do you think about him? Yeah, really excited on that one. In the end, I think Patrick just, he wants to sign.

He wants to start his professional baseball career. He obviously has his brother, Alex, signed out of high school. And that has gone well for him and has heard about the professional baseball world and just wants to sign. So hopefully we get that one across the finish line. But it's six, five, it's left-handed. There's projection remaining. He pitched against a group of Futures League like All-Stars at the end of June and 92 to 94 with a good curveball. And it's like if we're starting there in the 14th round with size and left-handed and 94 in a curveball, it's like sign me up.

Yeah. Well, I don't know about you, Brian, but I can't wait for the spring break. Look at how excited this guy. He made his day, his week, as month. Yeah. I got games going to, it's going to be a movie next year. Cannot wait. A lot of our guys. I've actually missed that just because of our spring the last two years. So hopefully I find an opportunity to go to it. And I think some of the arms that we added with last year's draft,

along with some of them that we complimented with this year's draft could make for an exciting group. Yeah. What have you thought about obviously last year's class? You know, a lot of the guys starting to. Did say it was your last question. Well, yeah, but they brought up last year's class. And we got to, anyway, I need to see how you feel about it, feel about the seven. It would keep you on forever. Just, you know, just keep going. Thinking about the audience.

I can, you know, what are you watching right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you feel about last year's class? Yeah, I mean, really good at this point. I could go on with, with each one. I don't have, like, when you start to, when you start to look at some of the top guys that, that we brought in, the stuff has either stayed or got better. So nobody has gone down there.

And when you start to first evaluate, you know, what are some of the more important things? They're getting guys a swing and miss. They're keeping the ball in the zone. The strikeout to walk the percentages with those guys are through the roof, like they're on the right path starting their professional baseball career. So, you know, specifically talking about Gage. I know people were like, we had this idea all along about starting him

in warm weather, clear water, getting him acclimated to pro ball and the right routine. Obviously, you know, with a pitcher, you have the ability to jump up. He's in AA now. He's a starting pitcher for the futures game. If you want, like, sign me up with that one as well. That's how it's working out a year later. Obviously, that's just on the short-term things. But, yeah, things are looking in the right direction for almost all of them.

Yeah, listen, we're getting excited. We're getting. I'm not going to grill you about Matthew Fisher. Who is the baby boy? He's heading in the right direction. Obviously, heading over to Clearwater and the outings have been good. Strike zone's been good. We're still trying to get him to believe in. He has such a good quality sweeper and breaking ball.

He wants to rely on that. We're trying to get him to use the fastball a little bit more. But for a first year high school guy, like pretty good so far. Again, to the point of trying to like, you know, build up 19 year olds 18 year olds in this kid like it's it's hard man like I didn't get it up like I was a knucklehead when I was an 18 19 20 you know I mean like you also have like specifically he's got a really good sweeper and why wouldn't you want to throw a pitch that's really good really works yeah now it's fascinating this is Brian thank you so much we we can't tell you how much we appreciate the

time you give us the access the information you give us and you know I mean look at this guy's face right here is like I got that every next year beaming I just want some of the people in Philadelphia to realize how much work goes involved in doing these. And it is like, it's nerve-wracking leading up to it. Not to quote Tom Petty. The waiting is the hardest part. When you're picking at 36, it's like so hard. Like, yeah, out of those 35 guys that went ahead of us, we liked a lot of them.

But, but, you know, hopefully you continue having a good big league team and you pick up the latter part of the draft. and it's our job to find the good players there. I mean, there's no excuses about, yeah, we pick later. It's like, well, you always want to pick later because that means the team is good. Yeah. We'll get you one of those big bonus pulls one of these years. One of these years. This was awesome, Brian.

Thank you so much for taking the time. We can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Obviously, we'll have you on again. You are longest tenure go to. Yeah, Preston, you know, you got some work to do to catch up to Brian. We love you. too pressing, obviously. But seriously, thank you so much for coming on, Brian. We really appreciate it.

James, Jack, thank you very much, guys. Appreciate it. I mean, it's unbelievable that he comes on and gives us so much time and information. We are incredibly, incredibly lucky. Shout out to Brian Barber. And shout out to Gleesons. Today's show is sponsored by Miller Light and Gleesons in Levittown.

Check out Gleesons for every Phillies game and enjoy $3.50 Miller-Light drafts. That's a great deal. And $5 shandy drafts. enjoy their legendary jumbo wings and signature hand-pressed burgers, Miller-Arts Fills, win, celebrate responsibly. Fritzy, let's bag it. All right. So there are a couple situations to monitor in the second half that could determine how good it goes.

The first one is obviously, we talked about it, nauseam, but is the developments in the bullpen. So. I think that's the first one. It's a big one to monitor. is bowling now the A thing guy. Keller, I kind of, my theory on Keller and why didn't pitch against Tigers is,

I think they rushed him back from the IL because they were so depleted in the bullpen and they felt like he's going to be better than whatever AAA guy that we can bring up. But if we don't have to use him, don't use him kind of thing. Break a last case of an emergency. Yeah, I could see that.

Like, I could totally see that. Give him the rest. Get us to the deadline. And give it. Well, without a roster move type, a separate roster move with it or whatever.

Well, give him the all-star break to get even healthier. So we'll see where he's at. I think they're going to give him every opportunity. to be the eighth inning guy again because they paid him. And, but, you know, bowling is pitching his way into that kind of spot. Kirkering, I think we all feel comfortable with him in like the six,

seventh, not super high leverage spot. And maybe in a game where you're down by one, he's that guy rather than one of the guys that are putting out there, like Seth Johnson, which is a good development for the bullpen. I think that is a potentially great development. Yeah.

Yeah. And then the big one they got to figure out is what they're going to do with the left-handed, you know, situation. The number suggests that Alvarado is going to be fine, but the eye test doesn't back that up at this point. He was good in that Tiger series or, you know, on Sunday of the Tiger series. But Alvarado's question mark,

Banks is not it. Mesa is just a guy. Backus came back with the IEL and looked like early, early as he's in Kyle Backus. So, you know, that's going to be the biggest pressure point for them for the next to 19 days in the trade deadline. Just holding the fort.

from the left-ended, you know, left-ended reliever standpoint. And it's going to be, as we've talked about, it's really going to be fascinating, seeing what this seller's market is like, like root against the Red Sox, we're against the Diamondbacks, we're against a few of these teams that have pieces that could be moved,

that could help other teams. You want those teams selling. You want more teams selling because right now they're a lack of sellers and over, you know, overabundance of buyers. So that's where you're rooting for in addition in those 19 things. The, the outfields, mixed second thing to monitor is i think if i'm if i'm buying on one player heading into the second

half i'm buying on justin crawford uh i like that his last like 23 games at number 350 he's just he's the game looks like it started to slow down for him he looks more confident up there he does i'm curious what they do with derrick hill i i i rincolus being up here is fine if he's not going to bad against righties there's not really a point to being up here i think there's a week where they face four righty starters i think derrick hill should start two of those yeah so then So Ring Conno's you're saying is more of a bench player. Like you're almost saying Darry Gill should be the start. I know he's probably on the-

I'm not fighting you on this brother. I'm not fighting you. He's probably on a insanity run right now, Derek Hill. But run it. Like use the run. Like we always talking like fantasy sports. Like it's always like especially baseball.

Baseball is a game of streaks. Baseball is a game of like the guys seeing it like a beach ball up there. Like ride those things. Let those guys play when they're hot. And I know you can get overexposed after a certain amount of time and stuff. but I think that's going to happen at a certain point with Derek Hill anyway, just like use him, in my opinion. And at least the defense will be elite when he's out there.

Exactly. So that'll be a high floor because of that. 19 days and then, you know, maybe it goes back to get a real right fielder and. Some selling in center and stuff like that. Crawford and him play in center and late in situation. We get Taylor Ward. He can play right field at the end of the game.

Taylor, I mean, we've talked about it so many years. It feels like this is the best fit year or the most necessary. Oh, yeah. Like Taylor Ward is so right there for the taking. I'm already ready to get my Taylor Ward jersey. He's going to be a fill. He's going to be a fill. Third situation to monitor is where are we at with Knowles?

You know, I mean, last two starts really good. The first three innings of the pirates start. Really good. And then fell apart. Fastball. And he seems like he's getting on top of the baseball more. He's keeping it down, keeping it one home round of game, which is she lived with a little bit.

Yeah, absolutely. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Come on. signs of life potentially, which we've said a thousand times in this podcast, but signs of life from Aaron NOLA last two and a half starts, can they get competent,

four and a half ERA, four ERA Noles for the rest of the year is a big thing because obviously you don't want it to go into, your fourth starter is giving you three or four innings, and then your fifth starter, they won a game since May 18th. Alan Ruh, is fine as a fifth start. I think it's been more circumstantial with him,

but in general, I'm with you. It's, That'll deplete a bolt bend real quick. You're asking, can you get that ERA? I don't know. I don't know. Four and a half. Maybe.

I'm not asking for that much. I think you could like six out of seven starts with one of those seven starts being really bad, which would raise it up ultimately. That's Lizarre. Yeah, I think you're kind of okay with it. Los Arta. Four out of five, I should say, anyway. Yeah.

The four situation is the Trey situation, which is. I don't need to get any. What do you say? The Trey discussion is so funny because it is easier $300 million shortstop. There's never like outrage towards Trey. it's just it is what it is it is a big acceptance phase yeah it is surprising because you're right historically that kind i mean even bryce has gotten kind of more hate for his contract when he's been light years but that is interesting why don't we he don't trade more for the contract

i don't know what's a point where i was just like well this is what it is what it is listen i'm a big guy accept things and and move on it's like growth mindset of yours listen there's just like you can't go back and change things you got to accept it this is i so i what the serenity prayer right the grant me the courage to accept the things I cannot change, whatever the whole thing is. That's so true. That's votable. It is true.

Well, it's actually, it is a, like I have long, it's been a lifelong process of coming to grips with these type of things. But Emily is very, very, she has helped me so much with it. Our whole relationship together,

she has been very big on like, why do you stress out of her things? You literally have no control of her. There is nothing that you can do. Like, what? And it's like, and it's still like hard to tell you how to feel or feel,

you know, control how you feel. but I've gotten much better at being like, you know what? There is nothing I can do about this. I can't let myself get worked at all. And that's what we say every time Trey goes to the plate. The Serenity Prayer. It is what it is.

Is that new nickname for Trey, the Serenity Prayer? That's actually hilarious. It is what it is. You got to accept it. Seven and a half years left. Seven and a half years left. Oh my God, I love that. Like Trey Turner, aka the Serenity prayer.

That's going to be this version of the standing ovation. Everyone's going to say the serenity prayer at the stadium when he walks to the plate. Oh, it's so good. It's where we're at. But is he going to hit 236 with the 286 OVP for the rest of the year?

Or we're going to grow up a little bit and maybe get to 265. He has been a better second half player in his career, 300 average 870 something OPS. So he has been better as the season goes on. He's been these spurts where it's like, there it is, the three straight games of the Homer or the Padre series.

but just has not gotten it going at all. And it seems like he's just going to bat lead off forever. So I would like my lead off hitter not to be, not to have those numbers. It's what you said before. Like just get back to like, and obviously he's not going to hit through a five to that. But be the guy you were last year and don't do anything else.

Don't do anything else. That's it. Hit the ball the opposite way. Then take a man. Put your bat on the baseball and run. The four three. The three four hole. That's what I need him to focus on.

All right. And then the last thing is the deadline and what they're going to do. And we've talked. Which we will have lots more pots about to worry going out. But it's just it's we thought about the importance of it. We know the importance of it. We get it at the same time. Who's really available?

Who's not? If the great, great players aren't available, you got to make the smart on the margins type moves. It's a really, really important and fascinating deadline for this day. So with 19 days or whatever it is to the deadline. And I will ask,

you this question probably three more times before then. But as of today, if you had to make a prediction, which way it goes, kind of the more like big deal to get something real or it's more of an on the margins type moves. Because if I had to predict right now today, and I've changed, I've gone by and forth, but if I had to bet more because of the market than anything, I think it's more on the margins type deals than the big ones. But again, I could see it going either.

Yeah, I don't know. I think that there's a real high potential for a Duran like deal if they wanted to. They want to go get there. Like, not Toronto. You're talking about last year's example of going to get a guy who has a couple years of control at a certain position need or whatever, that kind of truth. Yeah, I think that's on the table. And I'm with you.

I think that if from the way DeMrasi talked about the Durant trade last year, but just the way he's talked about these situations constantly. And he is a very, as we know, maybe sometimes too, you know, honest, open guy. It does seem like they really value the multiple years of control. Oh, yeah. If they're going to give away something real, I think it'll be for someone who is not just a run. Yeah. So I feel good that they'll, they have one big move.

them and then it's about the other moves as well because they need three yeah they need three and we'll see if they can get it done uh so that's the the situation we're monitoring obviously you know can bryce keep up with with you know the first half uh and you didn't get hurt which is great which is huge real quick just like that is something we probably have not given enough credit to like he is yet to not get hurt in a season really play every game yeah so so a good star he's going to have the season left a much of but like that was a a real positive from him totally Can Schorberchase down Ryan Howard? It's gonna be fun.

Can Zach Wheeler steal the Sal Young after he's so angry about not making the All-Star team? So gearing up for the second half. And you mentioned him before he knows of him. But can Brad Keller be like a part of the Brad Keller who saw that? Can we get a little of the Raggler who saw that year? Is that that that much to ask? I'm sorry. After the All-Star break, he allowed one total earned run last year.

See, I'll take three runs. I'll take four. That's it. Give me that, buddy. We don't care. And then the final thing that we have to get into and texted you this the other day. is me and Tucker's escape from Citizens Bank. Oh, so not only this. Just a well executed.

Like to the point where you underrate, you texting me at it, you texted me some paraphrasing, something the effect of, is it crazy that we just had this unbelievable home run derby? And the main thing on my mind is how great it was that Tucker and I got out in 50 minutes. So please lay it on me.

Because I responded with like, that's way cooler than any game that could be played there. Yeah. knowing where we were and the amount of people there and the way that I don't know how you could have possibly magically made this happen to the foresters. Yeah. So me and Tucker were at the home run derby and like we both went to bed still buzzing about about. I stayed up until 2 a.m. I was so excited.

It was so much fun. I mean, even I left before the end and I still was buzzing. And now to be fair, you did leave before the end of the All-Star game. Tucker are the only one. Tucker and I hung for the rest of the All-Stra game. So I made it through the Wallster game. but yes. In hindsight, if I could flip, I probably would.

But I'm very happy I got to both. That was the important thing. If I think I might have reached the point in my life where it's more exciting to get home quicker than watch the whole sporting event. The biggest thrill that there is in life is sneaking out and beating traffic. So we're standing there.

And I want to say the second, the Jordan Walker ball hit the... Once you know it's the last one. You're saying once you know Scherber's losing. Yeah. The ball reaches the stands. B-line. Yeah.

Well, you knew it off the bat. Like that ball off the bat. bat was like, well, he won it. Cool, good for you, pal. We know. Got right at the stairs. Now, there was a herd. You went up those stairs right there at the Diamond Club.

Yeah, that's right. Snuck right out. But there's a herd getting out of there for sure. And then I heard, you know, one guy behind me saying, hey, if we're 10 minutes, 10 minutes later, we're sitting here for an hour and a half. And it was like, you're probably right. Because no one left, Tucker. There was, no, everyone was still in their seats.

So you got really lucky that people didn't hustle out. I think there was a hustle. But they were so high up. It was harder to get out. We snuck from. You literally beat the traffic. We beat the first two people out. You're kind of like the like it when you see in like a movie like

like there's like a tornado in the background and the truck is driving away from that and you're like the truck driving away from the traffic tour like I was trying to drive through the parking lot like there were dads dragging their children and like sprinting through the parking lot. Save the women and children. Let's go. Let's go. Save the women and children. There's the worst possible thing that could happen to us. Let's go.

Because the reality was. If we missed that window by an extra 10 minutes, we're sitting there for two hours. I was going to see your home an hour and a half later. Tucker was home in 19 minutes. Jack called me on the bridge. Unbelievable. I was cackling.

I was so excited. We saw each other five minutes early. He called me to recap how great was. I know you guys texted me very quickly about how thrilling it was. I was passing the Wells Fargo Center on 95. Just thrilled. See, it was funny. We didn't miss one thing.

It was funny because there was a similar thing with the All-Star game where different, where everyone kept leaving the last few innings that by the time the game ended, walked right out no issues. It was half empty. I'm sure it was. It was dreadful. It was dreadful.

I'm really happy for you guys. That was an impressive accomplishment. The great CBP escape. You know, I responded to the text being like, this is cooler than the game. I'm with you. The home run derby.

The home run derby is great. Tucker getting home in 19 minutes, me home in 35 minutes and not missing a single pitch. Just as thrilling. It's amazing. It's amazing. What a beautiful thing. This is me.

They can't see it, but I'm cheering for you, Thank you. All right. Well, people can see it. Oh, yeah, you're right. Hey, we do that now. Not everyone sees it. Some people see it. All right. We will be back. I'm off next week, by the way. Nice. How about that? But, you know, I'm sure we can figure something. I can record something. If needed, certainly if things happen. But we'll get, we'll be around. And obviously so much coming up. The trade deadline 19 days away, that's going to be a big, big, big topic here.

So we obviously, we're ready with emergency pods, with preview pods, all that stuff. And maybe, I don't know, perfect deadline coming up soon. We're going to start working on that too. So until that, he's read some salt. As the U.S.S. men's national team takes center stage at a Home World Cup. Make sure you're listening to Call It What You Want, part of the CBS

Sports Podcast Network, where you can join me. I'm Jimmy Conrad, alongside Charlie Davies, Tony Miola, Marcelo, and Benny Fieldhover throughout this tournament for previews, instant reactions, and analysis of every U.S. match. Then all summer, we're back every Tuesday and Thursday covering all things U.S.

Men's National Team. Download and follow. Call Call it What You Want on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.