High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Ricardo Pinto Saves The Day (Bryce Harper Is Pretty Good, Too)

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

Jack Fritz reacts to Bryce Harper's three home run day and Ricardo Pinto's four-inning outing out of the bullpen in the win over the Reds on Tuesday night. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball Isn't Boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

Another fact, so jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Winging a drive, well hit up the alley, right center field, and it is gone, a grand slam! Three for number three is Bryce Harper with his third home run of the night. Eight to one1 Phillies.

Welcome on in. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looked so good. Deep breaths. Never a doubt. Big night by the Phillies. Good to see.

I guess we've got a one player to carry the offense for a night. But a nice, nice laugher in what looked like a miserable night down the ballpark. One that didn't seem like we were going to get in. But thankfully they did. Thankfully they got a win. And a lot of good stuff to go around. This is the game wrap sponsored by uh blouser swiss lube and krevitz the metal working fluid specialist

providing professional cnc machine cleaning coolant maintenance programs and waste coolant disposal krevitz.online for more information yeah Good night down at the ballpark. One that, again, I didn't think we were going to get in. Like, we obviously doing the afternoon show. And we're kind of like, okay, they'll call the game by three. And then we got around five. I was like, oh, man, looks like we'll be able to sneak one in. So, a big night down at Philly Sports. We get Joel Embiid back.

Harper goes off. Good, good night. Let's get to the biggest takeaways of the game. Brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. If you're leaving the ballpark, get in. 215-592-9494. Or if you're watching at home, stay warm, stay dry, and watch the boys bring home a win.

Call in as well. 215-592-9494. But my biggest takeaways from the night, number one is obviously Bryce Harper. It seems like Bryce is a little sick and tired of all the questions about his health, all the questions about the offense, and

seems like he took it kind of personally. Could have been 4-4 tonight. Will Benson made a pretty crazy catch, but last night we talked about on the show about how he was close and rob thompson talked about how he was close listen bryce is a is a timing player and whenever his rhythm is just a little bit off or his swing's just a little bit off he's kind of one game away

from it locking back in and you have a night like tonight. Now, obviously, he has his first three-home run game as a Philly, first one since 2015. But when he can get locked in like that, you start seeing these Bryce runs. So last night, I thought he had some good swings off of Andrew Abbott. He smoked the ball off him over the weekend against the Braves, smoked the ball on Saturday. It was just a matter of time for Bryce to get going, and it's just massive. 0 for 11 heading into the game, three home runs tonight, could have been four for four. Obviously, the big grand slam late off of a lefty, that's good stuff, especially because so far this season, they haven't really produced with the long ball. Hit four tonight,

which is good. Three of them, obviously, by Bryce Harper. But they have to get going in the long ball department. Another single tonight for Kyle Schwarber. He's falling behind in the quest for more home runs than singles. But either way, what a night for Bryce. And not only was the hitting really good, I thought he looked really good defensively. and not only was the hitting really good, I thought he looked really good defensively.

You know, there was, while it was still a close game, to start off the sixth inning, made a diving play to kind of shut down any momentum. If that ball gets past him, who knows how the rest of the game kind of turns out, but makes a good, strong play defensively. Couldn't scoop the one later on Alec Bone, but still, that's a tough play for a first baseman. Overall, looks really good at first base. Although, like Kroenke pointed out, he did catch a ball to make the second out and started throwing it around the horn.

It's okay. He's fresh over there. Also, this is like a minor thing, but it did immediately jump out to me. There was a ball that was about to land over the dugout. Bryce took about five steps and then didn't even bother. Just let that one go. And Bryce, we all appreciate the effort, but we need you, buddy. So overall, obviously a dominant, dominant Bryce performance tonight. And seems like someone was sick and tired of all the offensive questions early in the season.

Second big takeaway of the game is obviously Ricardo Pinto, who only the true sickos really remember. And I said this pregame and I thought I was taking crazy pills. But just the true Phillies, you were paying attention in the doldrums of this franchise from 2013 through 2018. So Ricardo Pinto, the last game that he pitched in for the Phillies, these were the other bullpen arms that day, or other arms that day. Mark Leiter Jr. started the game. Then Ricardo Pinto came in. Then Hobie Milner came in. He's nasty, brother. Victor Arano and Edebri Ramos.

I mean, if that doesn't send a cold shiver down your spine as to what we've gone through as Phillies fans, I don't know what will. So, Ricardo Pinto, Rob Thompson said they sent a car for him at noon in Rochester and he got stuck in traffic. So, he didn't show up until the fourth inning. He was in the game in the sixth inning. I mean, if that's not just an all-time baseball story and a story that separates baseball from pretty much any other sport, I don't know what is.

And just a really important performance tonight. Obviously, in the ninth, whatever, he allowed some runs, but he pitched well enough to where they didn't have to go to anyone else out of the bullpen. And when they were down Hoffman, they were down Strom, they were down Alvarado, you know, that bullpen needed a rest tonight.

And it's incredibly valuable in a game tomorrow that, yes, if you missed the news, it's pushed back to 405, but could be rained out, whatever, I don't know. But he just, he saved the bullpen tonight. Offense did their job. Bryce did their job. Gave them a big enough lead to where they didn't have to use anyone. But early in the season, being able to take down some innings like that,

pitch well, when he is here, he did not have that splitter. That splitter is definitely an intriguing weapon for him. The fastball is only 91, 92, but when you throw the splitter and the fastball becomes more of a secondary pitch, I know the old adage is fastball, fastball, fastball, establish your fastball. Well, he pitches backwards where the splitter is really his primary pitch, and then he can sneak fastballs by people. I mean, I'm intrigued.

I'm not going to go too far and say, wow, they just found a stud. But came in, threw strikes, did his job, splitter's a weapon. Pat Gillick, shout out to Pat Gillick. He watched him in the Caribbean series and said, hey, maybe we should sign this guy. So when you have Dabrowski, Gillick, they might have an eye for this kind of thing. But either way, just a really cool baseball story.

2017 was the last time he was a Philly. He's bounced around. He's been all over. Even for his first game, he doesn't show up into the fourth because he's in Rochester, New York. Has to drive all the way down. I mean, that's some cool baseball stuff. So Ricardo Pinto, save the bullpen tonight and save some arms, especially down Hoffman, Strom, and Alvarado, and leaves to tomorrow where they'll have a lot more left in the tank

and will be good to go. And my final takeaway from tonight is I thought Spencer Turnbull looked really good. You know, I don't want to get too ahead of myself because I feel like with guys of stuff that I have generally liked in the past, I get a little ahead of myself. But I thought overall he looked really sharp. You know, back in the day, he was more 96 to 97. He had a Tommy John.

The velocity hasn't really bounced back post-Tommy John. I know the theory is, well, you get Tommy John, you come back throwing harder. Hasn't really happened for Spencer Turnbull. But I thought he did a really good job tonight of mixing all of his pitches in. So it wasn't like the guys could sit on his fastball. He would mix in that little sinker. Had better feel for the changeup than I thought I saw on spring training. And he just throws, like when you throw a slider with the amount of conviction that he has,

I felt like he did a pretty decent job spotting his curveball. It's hard to consistently square up. So it was nice that when my fifth starter went out there tonight, I didn't have to worry about, oh, are we going to go down by four runs in the first inning? It was nice to just have him go out there and do a job. He had no earn tonight. Turner made the error early. He didn't walk anyone. He struck out seven. I hope that he can be the fifth starter here. I know they paid Taiwan a lot of money. I know Taiwan is on its way back.

They're also taking it really slow. I think Spencer Turnbull can help them a little bit. I think as he gains more confidence, as he gets back into the swing of things. Again, Tommy John got back last year, was up and down. Spencer Turnbull, in the shortened COVID year, was starting to put this whole thing together. And I thought tonight, not walking anyone, striking out seven, mixing in all those pitches, showing a good feel for seemingly four pitches was a really good sign. And I just hope that, you know, it's nice that when you get to the fifth starter spot, it's just not the Taiwan experience. It was refreshing seeing Spencer Turnbull out there tonight. 21-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in. It's the final out on WIP.

Let's kick it off with my guy Chad in Downingtown. What's happening, Chad? Fred Say, what's up, man? What's up, brother? How you doing? Good, good. I need you to do me a favor tomorrow. As you're walking into your show and Julio's walking out of his,

just please remind him that Bryceryce harper is is able to hit the ball in the air because it is allowed it is allowed yes yeah yeah every year that man decides that he wants to to come at bryce and every year usually early he's proven wrong so love to see that um was he anti bryrice today? Did he say something about Bryce? I don't know if it was today. I just know he was all over that story in spring training where, you know, like 10 at-bats in, everyone's like, well, wait, Harper can't hit the ball in the outfield.

I don't know what's going on. Well, it was nice that the back injury seemed to go away tonight. That was a positive sign. Yeah. Outside of that, you know, I thought we played a pretty good game. One thing I'm starting to notice this year, Bomer, that defense

is starting to come into its own. I know he had a tough throw at the end there, but he's made a couple diving plays start of the year. He has a nice, strong throw from third base. The one in the first inning, it's freezing cold and raining. He got right up and made it across the diamond.

I'm intrigued by what I'm seeing out of him. Yeah, and I appreciate the call as always, Chad. He's definitely developed into at least a serviceable fielder. He's never going to be locked down. He's never going to be probably a gold glo fielder. He's never going to be locked down. He's never going to be probably a gold

glover over there. But at least he's not a sieve. And yeah, the throw late wasn't great, but he was also slick at that point in the night. And he made some really important plays earlier in the game. So Boehm is definitely developing nicely from that standpoint, and it's good to see.

Because a couple years ago, a lot of questions as to whether or not he could even play third base. So he's definitely helped erase all that. And the defense all around. Harper's developing into a pretty good first baseman. Made a good play tonight, like we talked about earlier. Stotts a stud at second. Turner at shortest.

I mean, so I was driving. I wasn't home yet. So I missed the error. But the way it was described on the radio didn't exactly seem the greatest. Hopefully he hits enough to where the defense doesn't come back to bite you. Rojas made some decent plays tonight. Marsh is really good on the left, and Castellanos can catch the ball in right, so that's big.

But overall, a good night, and obviously Bryce Harper, a big, big night for the Phils. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. It's the final out on the other side. Two other lineup guys that kind of stuck out to me tonight. One good, one bad. We'll get to all of that coming up next. And your phone calls here on the final out on Sports Radio 94 WIP.

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As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need follow and listen to reception perception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Pitch on the way to Brandon Marsh. Hit it here to left. Fairly well hit. Steer going back onto the track at the wall, and that is gone. Boy, just kept carrying, and Brandon Marsh with an opposite field solo home run leading off this bottom of the eighth inning.

His second home run of the season. And the Phillies now lead it 9-2. Please stop treating Brandon Marsh like a platoon player. Please just let Brandon Marsh play. Welcome on back. It is the final out. Sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good.

Brandon Marsh goes yard tonight. Three of four. Got a hit off a lefty. Didn't know that was allowed. And, you know, one of my bigger takeaways from the lineup tonight, outside of Bryce, obviously Bryce is ridiculous, was Brandon Marsh just continues to hit. And he's just, he's Purdue.

Like last year, he had, what, the second highest OPS on the team, third highest OPS on the team, whatever. His OPS was over 800. You know, so I know he batted 229 against lefties. But you know what kills a guy's confidence and makes them press is every time there's a lefty up there, they have to go up and think that if they don't get a hit here, they're never going to be able to face a lefty again.

And I don't know why it feels like they have such a huge rope with Rojas and some of these other guys. I mean, it's a pretty established team, but really Rojas. And Brandon Marsh has to, like, scratch and claw and still be kind of treated as not an everyday player. I don't get it. I know some guys need breathers. I know. But Brandon Marsh over the last two years, year and a half has proven that he's the everyday left fielder. And for the next month, just play him against lefties. And if it bears out that he can't hit them, then you'll find something else to do.

Like, you sign Whit Merrifield. I get it. I just don't understand the kind of idea of treating Marsh like he's not an everyday player. And it was good to see him tonight. He provides some punch at the bottom of the lineup. It was cold tonight at the ballpark. and he just smoked that ball to left. So the Marsh thing continues to be befuddling. The Stott thing will, again, if they keep doing this,

it was only one game. They did it a lot last year. But the way they kind of handle both those guys never really makes sense to me. So that was the good from the lineup outside of Bryce. Obviously, Schwarber, another single. Turner, a good hit. But, you know, three for four from Marsh was nice. Cassianos, I mean, it is, when he's going bad, it is a rough watch.

And, like, a lot of just feebleness tonight and last night. There wasn't a bad tonight. I think it was like 0-1, 0-2. And it was just like he just threw the bat at the baseball, didn't really look to get anything behind it, and hit a measly little pop-up to first base. You know,

Castellanos, at the end of last year, listen, before the last three or four games of the Diamondbacks series, was one of their best hitters. But what sunk them last year, lineup-wise, was obviously the chasing stuff. And it looks like it's the same old Castellanos from that standpoint. Now, I am fully aware, and I know he's going to have one of those runs

where it'll even itself out, and he'll get going here. But, man, when he's going bad, it is an excruciating watch. So, the good, Brandon Marsh. The bad, Nick Castellanos. The Pitch Count tonight is sponsored by the Plumbers Union Local 690, protecting the health of the nation. Visit plumbers690.org.

73 pitches tonight for Ricardo Pinto. Ricardo Pinto, again, if you missed it, he got called up today. They DFA'd Connor Brogdon, and he's in Rochester with the Iron Pigs. They sent a car for him. He leaves at noon and gets to the game against Earth's Traffic in the fourth inning. And then in the sixth inning, he is tasked with coming into a tight ball game at that point. And holding it down. Phil's added on some extra runs.

Ricardo Pinto did his thing. And a former Phillies legend is back in the fold. Where's Gene Marr Gomez? Come on. Gene Marr. Bring him back. You want the walk-up music or the entrance music back? I mean, he was the best.

He was the best. He was a good little close-up there for a minute. 2017 Phillies. If you remember the Ricardo Pinto era as a Phillies fan, if you remember him on the team, give yourself a nice little pat on the back, because you deserve it. You watched him in doors in bad baseball. Blake's in Narberth.

What's happening, Blake? Hey, Jack. Thanks for taking my call, and it's good to hear you on the air for another year. I didn't know if you were going to do this with the new show, but it's nice to hear you. Listen, I love the final out, so I'll be here as long as they let me be here. That's good. I know today's all about Bryce Harper.

That's what people are talking about, the three home ones. But I want to talk about the pitching and the two guys that pitched today. Turnbull, five high-quality innings. And then you had Pinto come in. He gave you the four innings and the save. And he saved the depleted bullpen. And you see these guys come in tonight who weren't supposed to fill these roles earlier this year, even just a couple weeks ago,

but they come in and they do their jobs. And I really think it's time that this city talks about the guy behind it, and that's Caleb Cotham and also Brian Kaplan. You see these two pitchers tonight are just part of a bigger solution. You see Marte looking better this spring. You saw Sanchez looking great. And you go back a few years, it's Hoffman, Jose. And I think it's time we start talking about

what we saw tonight, and that's the Phillies have one of the best pitching development staffs in baseball. We're right up there with their divers and Rays. Listen, I think they've done a really good job. And, like, you know me. I love Caleb Gotham. I love what he's done for the city. I mean, the city's a little bit of a stretch.

But for the team, like, he's been an absolute game changer. And you look at what they've kind of done with Hoffman. You look at what they've done with Alvarado. I know you brought up some other names there, but those are two guys that had control issues, had a lot of power stuff, and they've been able to harness those guys. Now, I'd like to see them get Sir Anthony back on track and, you know, kind of go from there. But maybe to see them get Sir Anthony back on track and go from there,

but maybe that's just a Sir Anthony issue. For the most part, he has just done a phenomenal job, and it's been phenomenal to see because those kind of things matter. Winning at the margins and having a difference maker like Caleb Cothman helps you get where they've gotten the last two years. Definitely.

I just have one quick point about Rojas. I think he's working hard he's a good guy but it's really a tough watch at the moment he's not making hard contact he's not getting on base he can't fun when he gets on base he makes mistakes as we saw last night and the question this offseason was can his defense outweighs offense it's a very very limited sample size right now but also a good spring training in the playoffs. Right now, this season, we've seen his defense is not outweighing his offense. But War,

which is the stat you look at for which one's outweighing the other, he's one of the worst players in baseball at the moment. It's early, but it is very, very concerning, and I think we have to have conversations about Pache and bringing Clemens up and platooning them with Marsh starting every day because he's not a pretty walk to grow hot.

Yeah, it's definitely not, Blake. And I appreciate the call. I'm willing to give it a little bit more time. I'm not exactly encouraged. It's hard to be encouraged. I, you know, Sam Fold was on the pregame show talking about the quality of bats. I feel like they've gone up, I guess. You know, it doesn't seem like he's flailing at pitches.

And you hope that as the quality of bats continue to get better and he gets more comfortable within the strike zone, that he can piece together some hits. But it's basically the equivalent of having a pitcher batting ninth right now. And there was a sequence in the bottom of the seventh that was kind of frustrating from a winning baseball perspective. I mean, at this point, it was only 3-1, so it was still a pretty winnable ballgame. Marsh singled to left. Rojas couldn't get a bunt down. And then it hit a ball to Elie de la Cruz, who I don't know what he was doing defensively tonight.

He made a miscue out there. And then Stubbs couldn't get a bunt down. Like, Stubbs popped it up to the pitcher or first baseman or whoever those little things when he went tonight doesn't really matter but when you're starting to evaluate winning baseball and you have Rojas getting picked off last night you have Stock getting picked off last night you have Cassianas thrown out on the base pass over the weekend. You have them playing infield in last night. Didn't come back to bite him, but it was still like a nonsensical decision.

You have a situation where it is close late, before they blew it open with the Bryce Grants land, where you can't get a bunt down. Elie De La Cruz bells you out. And then you have a chance to, again, lay another bunt down. If Stubbs and Rojas can't bunt, what are we doing here? But Stubbs did show a lot of ability with that last year. Rojas, again, if you can't hit, which so far has not been able to hit, the defense is great.

Base running stuff can't happen, and you have to be able to get a bunt down. If I can't trust that you get a bunt down i i can't have you out there so that was a little bit of a frustration point but that's where we're at with this team where we kind of evaluate all the little things because we know what matters and when you don't make big additions in the offseason and you just bank on the internal guys getting better and you preach we're going to clean up all the margin stuff, and you see little marginal stuff that's kind of crept into the last two games, that stuff's got to be cleaned up, and hopefully by, I don't know, May, June,

the early season miscues get ironed out. 215-592-9494. If you're leaving the ballpark, we'd love to hear from you. I know it was a sparse crowd on buy one, get one free dog night. I hope everyone was okay. It was just buy one dog, get two free or whatever, BOGO, rather than dollar dog night. I hope it was okay.

I didn't see any dogs flying around the ballpark. It's a big, big problem with what the Phillies did this offseason. But hope you had a good night down at the ballpark. And Bryce certainly put it on the show. 2-1-5, 5-9-2. 94-94. We'll look ahead to tomorrow again at 4-0-5. Plus, get to the play of the game

and the player of the game. All on the final lap before handing things off to Jody Mack here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. You want to. And a bouncer towards the bag at second. De La Cruz coming in. He's got it. Sidearm sling to first, and they say safe at first base.

I believe the throw down in the dirt. Dropped it, I think, either in the dirt, or he just dropped it when he was reaching for it. I mean, it wasn't a great throw, and Encarnacio Strand having to stretch to the outfield side. It's going to be an error on De La Cruz, and it's 3-1 Phillies. Yes, that is the play of the game, sponsored by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo mustard of the Philadelphia Phillies.

I know I could have gone with one of those three measly Bryce Harper home runs, and obviously they're big. But listen, that was an important play in the game. At that point, it was 2-1. Kind of felt like they were squandering an opportunity. Turner got to third base on the Bryce Harper smoked the ball

and Will Benson made an unbelievable play. You had Boehm up with runner on third less than two outs. And in those situations, I don't know if there's... I mean, Harper you want up, but outside of Harper, Boehm's kind of the guy I want up in that spot more than almost anyone else on the team. Didn't come through

and it was like, here we go again. They score a little earlier. Bryce is putting the team on his back. No one else is going to pick him up. Thankfully for them, I don't know what he was doing defensively tonight. He had that play, which is De La Cruz, I don't know what he was doing defensively tonight. He had that play, which is the bad throw, just the bad focus play.

And then he had a weird glove flip later that kept that inning alive and allowed him to score more runs. So definitely a weird Elie De La Cruz game. But in a game that turned into a laugher, that was one of those ones earlier that ended up mattering and helped extend the Phillies' lead. Welcome on back. It is the final out, sponsored by Regency Furniture.

Affordable, never looks so good. Jack Fritz hanging out with you here for the next couple of minutes before handing things off to Jody Mack, and he takes you through the rest of the night here on WIP. The player of the game tonight, sponsored by South Jersey Gas Conserve, helping customers and the community save energy and money. Visit southjerseygas.com slash conserve. It has to be Bryce Harper, obviously a big night and really just kind of eased a lot of the concerns I feel like I was having about the back. It feels like whenever I get too worried about

Bryce or even we get too worried about Bryce, he kind of has one of those calming performances that are like, no, I'm all right. Maybe I'm dealing with a little bit of something, but when he hit three home runs the way he did tonight, just absolute tanks and rockets off the bat, I feel like the back's going to be okay. So that was great to see tonight. It looks healthy, and it seems like it took a lot of frustration out on some baseballs tonight.

Paul's in D.C. What's happening, Paul? Hey, Jack. Thanks for having me back on. We've got to get you down here with Dallin D.C. for Phil's Nats here soon. The practice home games. That'd be awesome. That'd be awesome.

I went there once. I think it was for Bryce's first game. But I haven't been back since. It's kind of like a morgue. It's a nice ballpark, but it feels like there's no real culture in there. No, no. All 100 fans in their fan base. I'll give it to them.

They show up. But you alluded to my point I'm going to make here earlier. Brandon Marsh, what does he have to do to prove to the coaching staff that he's an everyday player? I mean, dude is just mashing the ball.

And then, you know, that obviously leaves up another question. Should the real platoon be between Rojas and Witt at this point? Yep. No, I think that's totally fair. You know, like, Marsha should get a lion's share of their playing time, and he will. And in days they want to sit Roas down if he continues to struggle at the dish, get Merrifield on left. I mean, Merrifield's going to play.

I don't love the idea of him playing for Stott because I just think Stott should be out there. I think he can hit both sides. It's not a huge concern. I mean, Marsh does have concerns against lefties. But, like, Merrifield's going to play. I just think that the best version of his team on most days is going to be Marsh in center and Merrifield in left.

No, it's a good point. I mean, and I know that it's been reported that they are still interested in another lefty outfield bat just in case they want to platoon whoever that is with merrifield instead of rojas and that's sort of hypothetical rotation and i was wondering have you heard anything about potential trade targets or do you have any guys in mind that you're already thinking about as who you want well it's it's probably too early for a trade like matt carpenter was the one that i threw out on the podcast as like the the lefty veteran kind of bench bat.

But Jay Bruce, I remember the Phillies traded for relatively early. And I think that was like early June. You're not going to see those until later. And free agent-wise, I would have to look at that. But that seems like something that they'll probably address at the deadline if it becomes a bigger issue. No, that sounds reasonable. All right, Paul.

Appreciate the call. Hopefully we'll talk later this week as we get some more wins racking up here. Tomorrow, it's a 4.05 start. So if you were planning on getting down there a little bit early, games push back a little bit. There's obviously some rain in the forecast. Frankie Montas on the mound for the Cincinnati Reds. Almost said the Oakland A's because he was an Oakland A for a while

before a disaster stint with the Yankees. But Frankie Montas a couple years ago, good pitcher. I remember he started opening day against the Phillies in 2022, and Kyle Schwarber took him deep, but he's kind of bouncing back from some injuries here. First start against the Nationals, he went six innings, allowed four hits,

four strikeouts, didn't allow a run. He's always had pretty good stuff. Has never been lived up to ace-ace status, but definitely has a chance to be a pretty good pitcher. Not that the Phillies have a massive work cut out for them tomorrow, but Frankie Montas could spin a gen. And Zach Wheeler just looking to build off of what he did against the Braves.

Again, it kind of feels like he—a lot of the talk for the Phillies this offseason and down in spring training was the goal of winning the division. Zach Wheeler's been pretty open about wanting to go win that Cy Young. It's why I wanted to add that splitter. And I'm excited to kind of see. Zach Wheeler, last year, dominant in the postseason. So far through two postseasons, been really, really dominant. Regular season kind of dropped off a little bit last year.

There were some games where he sort of got shelled, like the Nationals, I remember, had back-to-back games where they hit him around a little bit. It would be nice to get back in the 2-6 to 2-9 range for Zach Wheeler. But yeah, Zach Wheeler versus Frankie Montas, 4-0-5 tomorrow. So that's going to do it for me. Thanks, everyone, for hanging out. Good to get a win tonight.

First win under my belt of the 2024 season. And we'll be back, I guess, maybe tomorrow night reacting to it all. Jody Mack, he'll take you through the rest of the night here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.