High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Sweeps are Bad Anyway

Episode Date: April 10, 2022

James and Jack react to the Phillies being back. From opening the season with a Schwarbomb to a predictable Sunday letdown, the guys cover the full gamut of opening weekend and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Look, I know they lost today and we were all ready to roll in today. You know, sweeping it up, being out of control and whatever. But like, like, whatever. It's a baseball game. It was cold out. They didn't show up. That, that stuff happens. This, this team's fun, man.

This is going to be special. Fritz and I got to hang out to start the season to watch the war bomb together. We got lots of stories. Uh, um, uh, I know they lost today, but it couldn't damper my high. I'm really excited for it. Oh, and by the way, I said hello to everyone with the new season. I should say to the longtime listeners, a happy and hearty hello, friends, to all the new listeners, especially this weekend of all weekends.

So I'm happy to have everyone back for a new season and hopefully more. How are you doing, pal? How are you feeling? You know, I don't appreciate that. Because, no, it's like. It's Masters weekend. Come on, pal. I know.

But it's like you knew I had money on Cam Smith heading into today. And I needed him to close it out. And he choked. Why did you bet against Scotty Schauffler? Because he looks like he's 45 and he's 25. You know how old Sky Schauffler is and he's 25. You know how old Sky Scheffler is? He's 25. I know.

He's the oldest looking 25-year-old I've ever seen in my entire life, James. It is absolutely brutal. Now, I'm not that mad because Scheffler won me money earlier this golf season. So, it's okay. He's okay. But, James, I'm good. And new motto of the High Hopes podcast. Should I run this one by you?

To start it off and everyone out there, you can pick it up as you go along. Okay. Sweeps are bad. Sweeps are always bad, especially to start the season. They're not good vibes and they're not good starts to seasons for this Phillies baseball team in their history. So the official position of the High Hopes podcast and everyone out there listening is sweeps are bad. James, I'm doing great. Phil's are back.

Today was excruciating. You know what today was like? You ever meet a new friend and you're like, oh, we're going to be best friends for the rest of time. He's clearly like they are the best person ever. Like the best friends, you can hit it off immediately. That's what the first two games were. And then the third game was like, oh, it's like you kind of see that little bit of like,

well, maybe not, but you can get past it. That's how I felt about today's game. It was like high, high, high, high, high. And then three and a half hours in the rain wondering why the heck i just wasted three hours of my sunday watching philly's baseball but still overall positive heading out of the weekend yeah well done you nailed that analogy you cry it's like yeah you're hanging out with someone it's like three three times and you're like wow they're really into halo that's kind of weird. Like really into it. But yeah. Or like he kind of sounds a lot.

He sounds a lot like Charlie Day. Like he sounds a lot like Charlie Day. Look at you. Look at you. Yo, I, we were in the building for the opener together, standing next to each other for the Shwerbomb that, you know, I hate to, you know, feed the ego. But Fritz did call on the hios podcast but i mean you did it's okay i hate to you know give you any credit for anything i

mean you were completely dead wrong about kyle gibson so we'll get to that but um like you'll back me up man like the enter every single person was in their seat for the start of the game the i mean there was a freaking curtain call on for the start of the game the i mean there was a freaking curtain call on the first hit of the season like a homer started the season a curtain call and like it it really i i know we had that met series and you know yay that met series it was at least for me the most it felt like the bank was back in a long time like it felt like there was a real energy in that ballpark and people were really locked in on the Philadelphia Phillies.

And you know, it's the openers. There's always going to be that kind of added energy and juice, but I don't know. I felt, it felt pretty awesome on opening day there. The fact that you keep poo pooing the Met series, just like you,

you can just put it down. It didn't happen. It wasn't a big deal. I mean, it was. It was incredible. The end result was a bummer. It's hopeful. I didn't think they were going to lose four to the D-backs or whatever

or lose five of their next seven, but it happened. It doesn't take away from what the Mets start was it was a remarkable day down at the bank um and opening day was up there with that game for me in terms of electricity um it was like I don't know about you but I was like walking around the ballpark and I was just I was just so I was just so locked in on getting to a spot where we could see because james and i were not uh we didn't have tickets and we were wearing all kinds of phillies gear so you know not allowed in the press box um nor would i want to be in the

press right i would rather i would rather you know me i'm not the best at like containing my emotions oh really you know uh yeah i'm like a fist bump uh a yell out loud kind of guy you're a clap in the press box guy yeah frowned upon in the press box so i just avoid that's my general philosophy but like i was just pacing around so nervous like i was i was so like geared up and geeked out just just waiting for the game to start waiting for the season to start i needed this and a perfect day by the way like unbelievable perfect like you can't it was like a movie script opening day in terms of weather and sunshine and atmosphere yeah and and yeah

nola goes out and of course it's like awesome for the first inning and i can just sense everyone like all right there he is 2018 nola and then six innings later the real aaron nola showed up but um yeah and then the schwarber homer good all right well the schwarber homer happened and i mean three two count like he does everything we said all all spring training along was like yeah short seems to always be in three two counts first at bat of the season short gets another three two count and then takes out a nine iron and golfs one off a scoreboard like it was it was such a triumphant beautiful nirvana ish feeling uh like the ball's sailing out uh i turn around seltzer's like mouth open like started sprinting around like started sprinting around the concourse like did that happen uh i almost broke my hand slamming the little little steel guardrail thing um and it was just

an absolute party i think i blacked out straight for like two minutes. I really did. Like, Schwarber made the curtain call. I was... A curtain call! Yeah. A curtain call on the first play of the season. Like, when does that happen? I don't ever remember that.

Like, McCutcheon, there was no curtain call when that happened. Like, at least as far as I remember. Maybe there was. But, like, that was pretty wild, man. Yeah, it was i mean it just it just it was it's impossible not to think about the video yearbook look looking back on opening day and how it was that moment everyone kind of realized we might have something here i mean doesn't it just sound like a video yearbook james well i love I love, you know, Major League, my favorite sports movie ever,

my favorite baseball movie. Like, I just love Major League. And granted, this is kind of like the McCutcheon thing flies in the face of this. But the line, you know, Lou Brown that says, I think it's Lou Brown that's like talking about when Willie Mays goes to bat or everybody's like, you know, or someone says it to the round where they're like,

you know, the first at bat of the season tells you what your team's going to be, you know, and he hits the little dribbler and beats it out to first. But, you know, if the first about a season tells you what this team's going to be, I think it's pretty appropriate.

And that's, I was going to say before, and I almost jumped in on you is like to your point about the Nola thing where it was like, it's very funny because the first game of the season really from the first at bat of the season you know the homer lead off plus like the way the game played out the you know winning nine to five in the first place pouring on the runs but you know having the the nola kind of meltdown at the time he always melts down the the errors that lead to runs in that spot

the defense coming back dog you're like it was like it felt like that first game was such a microcosm of of what everyone expected this team to be this season it was it was everything we all thought it was gonna be yeah they they mashed they had good vibes they let a game get close late there was a brutal defensive inning that that uh you know probably would have sunk like i guess my take is that the last year's team loses probably two or three this weekend you know they they they blow that game um i did have to break out. Feels like a loss in the first game. By the way, a lot of people did not know what that was because people got very upset. Oh, wow.

Oh, very. New crew. Imagine all the stuff you're going to get them on this year. Well, it's a whole new crew, and it's like I got to teach a whole new group of people how I do things, which is kind of annoying you know like they're winning i tweet something saturday about how like they're gonna be unbelievable whatever vibes are great and there was a lot of a lot of you said this felt like a loss yesterday well it's like come on people i tweet that 150 i literally respond to a guy i said i tweet that 150 times a year like welcome pal this is what

this is what we do here um so yeah we have to we have to uh integrate a whole new group of of followers which i guess is good for the brand but also like i feel bad for the others that have been here all along that don't have to you know you know get it all learn it all again so it is what it is you know we're working through it but if anyone could do it it's you buddy if anyone can can you know herd a group and you know get them to to follow what you want them to do it's you yeah well it's like it's like uh it's like preseason football james where where you're starting to start teams starting to get the kinks out. Yeah. Yeah. And then by midseason, we're rolling, and no one's getting upset about it.

It feels like a loss anymore. So, yeah. So Friday was everything that people, like it had what people were positive about, the home runs, and then what people, the detractors of this team had, which was, wow, the defense can be brutal, and Nola's not an ace,

and who knows about the bullpen. So it was hilarious. I was glad that we got both sides of the takes out in one game and really just set up for what should be a fun season. I mean, there's no doubt in my mind they're going to match. Like, even today, even losing today, it's like, yeah, but they hit, I don't know, five balls right on the screws that just happened to be oh i know like maybe maybe don't hit the ball to center field you know the cassianos

hoskins was like the the second inning or whatever the cassianos hoskins back-to-backers were just like bullets like bullets i feel like matt veerling all weekend by the way was just hitting bullets to people as well like the phillies did not have a ton of you know babbit block or whatever you want to call it this weekend no and you just know that um as the season goes along as it gets warmer like those balls are are flying out of the stadium i mean bryce hit a ball in the ninth that was uh the same exit velo as gene's home run so you know it's just today was just one of those bad games where, of course, you want to sweep, you want good vibes all weekend long.

But I don't know if, like, they hit the ball well all day. It just happened to be a really windy day with the wind blowing in them. That's going to happen sometimes. And, like, the A's had some cheap hits. Like, I don't know. I don't know what people, like, that happens at baseball games all the time so um really friday was perfect and today was like a good welcome back to reality little sunday there's still the phillies they'll be there's always gonna be phillies moments yeah no and i'll take i'll take all the blame for all the seth brown productivity over

the weekend as jack and i were watching the start of the season together and I'm looking through the A's lineup I'm like listen like I play fantasy baseball I know most people in this league I'm like I know everyone else in the A's lineup the Chad Pinders the you know uh uh Billy McKinney's whatever you want to say I had heard of all these guys I'm like like who the hell brown like i don't know who this guy is seth brown then he goes on to like be their best hitter for the weekend but uh of course uh but i'm with you look i think today maybe especially because look big series coming up you know i'd rather they they not go into the met series you know smelling themselves or feeling like they can be a little lax or whatever. We've definitely had issues with this team with that type of stuff in the past.

I think that's going to change with Cassianos and Schwarber and the change in the clubhouse. But look, like we always say two or three, if you win two or three all season long, you're going to be like 105 win baseball team or whatever. So, you know, we're good man that's good now to be fair as i just point out the a's lineup is an abomination we can say that but um yeah they got some good pitchers that that bullpen isn't devoid of guys who could throw um but yeah i i think like it's one of those things where we've kind of – we talk about so much going on where you kind of delude yourself each season,

especially maybe one person on this podcast. I'm believing, but there's no reason to believe right now. It seems good. We haven't even started talking about Jack Fritz's worst call of the season, ripping on Kyle Gibson, who's clearly the best pitcher on the team. And, you know, you think swing and miss, you think Gibby. I mean, dude. Yep.

Come on. It's fair to expect 10Ks a game from Kyle Gibson now. Yeah. For sure. Well, let's dive into some of this stuff. Like, you know, we have got. Did I? Hold on.

Did I even rip Kyle Gibson that bad? I don't even think I ripped him that bad. You did. A little bad. You know, you were a little down rip Kyle Gibson that bad? I don't even think I ripped him that bad. A little bad. You were a little down on Kyle Gibson. The people weren't super happy about it. We love Gibby here in Philly. Since when?

I'm just saying. The guy didn't even know where Broad Street was. He's been here for at least six months now. That was insane. That was absolutely insane. Listen, castellanos i get it but come on gibby what are we doing okay give me need that that that need to be better with that give me but one of the beautiful things about baseball being back you know obviously like it

it's super cool we're doing a podcast talking about philly's baseball just like again we said it before but i really i really didn't feel like we were going to have April baseball the way it was all playing out. And this is super fun. But with baseball back, we get Jack Fritz pitching breakdowns and not just some off of like clips of years past or whatever. Like, what did Gibby do so well? Why was Gibby so unhittable? Is it just the A's are terrible or, or is it like, you know, give me do something. Is there something maybe like that,

you know, we're not expecting, you know, seven shutout with 10 strikeouts every week or anything, but like, you know, is there something there that, that is like something people can get kind of excited about?

Uh, yeah, I think so. I mean, yeah, it's like, I don't want to go like overboard for shutting down the right which is why you know i i i set it up that way i'm not one to really ever go overboard on guys um i'm usually i'm usually the fair and balanced one on this podcast so well

said man it's true so um no but all right so with Gibson, the thing that I liked a lot, first off, I don't know where that sinker depth came from out of nowhere. It was legitimately dancing, and I just had never seen his sinker really do that, and I wonder

if that's a grip change or something with Caleb Coffin. That was my one thought, was like, oh, I wonder if they made that pitch more efficient because it just never had that much movement to it. It always was a sinker and would do some things and would get ground balls, but it was legitimately dancing in a way that I hadn't seen before. So that was my first thought. My second thought is that the split change is disgusting.

It's a perfect pitch off of the sinker Because the sinker is like 91 And it rides with down and in action Down and away to lefties It's 91 And then if you have that split change up It's the same exact It looks the same out of the hand to the hitters

Except it dives at the end and there's more depth to it and it's like 82 miles an hour or whatever um so it's a it's a good mix up of you know depth and velocity taken off of his two seam slash sinker which i just think is a really tough look for opposing hitters. I think the cutter, like he had two plans of attack against righties and lefties that I thought was fascinating, and I think it's something that he can use a lot going forward. So against lefties, what he did a lot was he would get up and in on their hands with that cutter. And I just think that that's something that, like the only way that a lefty really does damage with that cutter. And I just think that that's something that, like, the only way that a lefty really does damage with that pitch is if he leaves it down over the plate.

Like, if he can't get it in, then you can get some home runs. But if you can get up there and start it at the middle and get it up on these guys' hands, like, it's not a pitch that these guys want to swing it because they're just going to end up taking it off the handle. So that was interesting. But as soon as he felt like guys were starting to get on the cutter, what he did really well was either throwing that split change, starting it right down the middle,

and letting it fall off to the outside portion of the plate, or throw a sinker and just getting these guys flailing at it. So pound cutters in to lefties, and then bang, sinker slash play changeup away. It's just, I'm telling you, as a hitter, you start gearing up for that and then bang, he drops that on you. And it's just, that's a good plan of attack by Kyle Gibson if I was on his, you know, if I was his pitching coach. And then to righties, i thought was actually really interesting um was it was a lot of a lot of sinkers in so he's trying to get in

on righties which is a good you know plan of attack stay in stay and stay in and you know how i hated that curveball i actually it made sense how he was using it it was like as soon as he felt like guys were were starting to square up the fastball slash cutter in um no fastball slash sinker in he would drop that curveball and it would be darting away from hitters rather than moving into hitters so you know I'm not going to sit here and say wow Kyle Gibson's going to be back to what he did in Texas in the first half of last year but I think his plan of attack, the way he sequenced, I think there was something on the broadcast yesterday,

I think TMAC brought up that he spent all offseason thinking about sequencing, thinking about how to go after hitters. And in his first start, it was exactly what you want to see. It was a really good plan of attack. And it's something that I think can be sustainable going forward. Now, I thought he got tired in the seventh. I thought he kind of got bailed out. Just like, you know, he kept having cutters up that, you know,

as the season goes along, probably get hit 450 feet. But for the first six innings, it was like, this is something that could be sustainable. So, Gibby, I'm sorry for the comments of not totally being a Kyle Gibson guy. But first start, given what he talked about with sequencing, it really, really was a positive start. And if they can get Kyle Gibson to be a good 5-4, the upside of this team is just way higher than before.

Yeah, he's a great five. And if he can be even mentioned like a four, to your point, then it's like, wow. And obviously he was outstanding in this game, but a bad A's lineup. And like we saw today, sometimes teams just don't have it and all that. But you got to be able to carry forward.

But I think as a five, he's really good as a five. We'll get to efflin in a sec but a few other quick things we got to see canable back-to-back jose alvarado experience like of course you know gets us scared a little bit got out of it but whatever but canable uh first of all nice to see him in back-to-back nights and i didn't know joe gerardi allowed that especially early in the season. But it's really nice. I just want this guy to stay healthy so bad because I think, you know, we have a chance to see the best closer season in Philly in a long time. You know what I mean? Since Lidge.

Best closer season in Philly's history. You heard it here first. Best ever in the history of the Phillies. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Corey, or as we call him on this podcast, 49 for 49. Wow. Wow, that's a bold take earlier from Seltzer. I got to be honest.

He's going to go 49 for 49, close out the World Series, and he's not going to blow the All-Star game. How about that? Yes, that's the major key to this whole thing. Will he strike out Eric Henske to finish the season like Ledger did in OU? Because I think Hinsky is a hitting coach somewhere. So maybe they can bring him up. So then it's possible.

I like that. Yeah. In the realm of possibility, not out of the game. No. But what did you see from Gnable? Obviously, I think a lot of people, we've been saying how good he is and it just seems healthy, but a lot of Phillies fans got their first look at Gnable this weekend. Well, I mean, how could you not be, like, excited?

I don't know. It's a relentless attack of fastballs up in the zone, which are hard to work with anyway, and then a legitimate, you hammer curveball it's it feels like i'm watching like ian kennedy on steroids i guess you know like it's it's pretty much the same stuff as ian kennedy except everything's better um so you know i don't think it's me i just i don't know how even when even when he allowed the run yesterday or whatever or and i felt i felt people like oh you should probably tweet feels like a loss right now um i was saying in my head like i i think he's

just i think he's really hard to square up for an entire nine thing i've said that a couple times but i just don't know how you put uh like unless he's walking guys and and putting guys on base that you know giving them free passes i don't know how you consistently put up a tough uh front against them because it's it's relentless it's it's power stuff up in the zone with a white back curveball i don't think i saw the the mystery pitch that he was teasing before the season um but it's just it's just tough to hit he's tough to square up he's tough to consistently get set it's a heavy 96 it's not you know it's not like it's just it's something that's hard to get on top of so um if he's healthy the closer position is not going to be a problem for this team it's he is he is really good uh he when he's healthy and in 2017 he was an all-star he was i mean if the dodgers

want you you're probably pretty good um that's like our rule of thumb and i just think that the back of the bullpen is not going to be an issue and you couple that with what sir anthony did well that was gonna be my next question before we moved on to sunday's game like what we got to see from sir anthony on friday encouraging. Oh my God. It's like, like, dude, like electric at times. Just easy. It was just like, wasn't, wasn't walking people as came in through strikes and came in through strikes and was hard to square up, which is all you can ask for the back of the bullpen. And it had that like natural lift, the fastball, that natural lift that you used to have at

the end, the late life, you know, that used to make him so like, so special when he first came up was so impressive. You know, you saw that. Well, so what I'm, what I'm, what I'm thinking is, does that mean that he's going to be the setup guy or are they going to use him in a, in a, like a rover thing? Fireman. Yeah. It's a great question. I think I would guess right now, up man and and keep him in a spot

for now because you know he's just getting back and hasn't thrown a lot of innings and all that maybe you put him in a more defined role but you know he's obviously the best option on the team to be that rover guy you know yeah he is um but it, like, I guess I would have used him how he used Familia in that seventh. But, yeah, I don't know. I thought it was interesting. And I wonder if that's going to be his kind of, because I feel like Girardi is one of those guys where it's like, oh, well, these guys have to have roles and they have to know what they're going to do. And even though that's kind of been debunked in a lot of ways it kind of feels that way but i don't know i just don't think it's the best use of his of his

value in a sense is just having him for the eighth inning you know up one or two you know i think his best value is still being able to come in any situation and get out of it so um that's one for me to monitor you know i'm glad he pitched well. It was a very, very fast inning. I went back and rewatched it, I think, Saturday morning. And the eighth inning on LBTV was so small, I couldn't even pause it. It flew by.

Yeah, it just flew by. I couldn't pause it. I was like, wow, he's out of it already? That was quick. Well, first of all, it's not supposed to be that easy, James. I mean, we've watched a lot of Phillies baseball. You know, at least they make it a little bit interesting. Sir Anthony didn't even give us the chance.

I mean, it was shocking. Yeah, I loved it. All right, on to today, and then we'll get into some other stuff. But Eflin, let's go with the pitching, and then we'll talk about like the lineup and some of the other stuff going on. But, but just Eflin, uh, your boy, Damon Jones getting a shot today, Bailey falter. Like I still think he's good. It wasn't the best day for falter, but you know, the blue pit sucked. But what was your impression of, of the pitching today on a cold day out there dude uh so eflin was fine

you know it wasn't it definitely wasn't what we saw on his last start down spring training um but he still he still battled through it and and gave them good quality innings which is how is what you need um sometimes i was a little surprised the strikeout numbers were down uh he threw actually he threw one sinker that was probably the nastiest pitch i've seen zach eflin ever throw um also had a lot of like it felt like at least anecdotally but i'm watching it felt like there were a lot of like potential third strikes just fouled off like tipped off like almost you know like i feel like there were two or three strikeouts there that they could happen if it were not you know barely tipped a ball type

of stuff well ben may had a disaster day i mean ben may was was just brutal um so yeah of course it was but like the the the command wasn't how it usually is for efflin like efflin's usually guy that can hit a spot when he needs to hit a spot and i didn't feel like his his command was as good as it had been um in spring training so uh that's definitely one to monitor against a better lineup i'm not leaving the a start uh thinking okay here comes breakout effling season it's kind of like agree it's kind of like eh fine but yeah i definitely need to see more from him uh damon jones should have not been out there for the ninth inning it's one of those things where it's one of those things where it's two nothing it's april it's the first series of the weekend you don't have an off day for 13 days yeah april 21st so like third a week from this

upcoming thursday it's their first off day so yeah it's a while do you really want to use another picture here or do you want to just hope it's a while do you really want to use another picture here or do you want to just it's absolutely what it was but you also had the opportunity where a kid who you know hasn't had major league experience had like a really nice inning and you could have kind of gave him that confidence boost and let him out on high that's uh the way I would have looked at it potentially but yeah no and I think that's totally fair especially because you see Segura lead off the next thing with the home run and it's one of those things where my thing with gerardi sometimes is does this too much it feels like he like almost concedes games in some ways too quickly he thinks

about he thinks about 162 a lot and he thinks about the full season a lot he thinks that's why that's why he has his pitcher rules of back-to-backs and stuff like that, which is fine, I guess. I want to see it work out. It hasn't worked out the last couple years, where it feels like whenever he tries to stretch a guy that gets out of a big spot, it always backfires. And it backfired today.

And I think he got lucky on Friday. always backfires and it backfired today. And I think he got lucky on Friday. Um, listen, if they plan on freaking Brad hand taking down like big middle relief innings for this team, it's, it's just not going to work. Like it's not going to work. I want it to work. I want Brad hand to be the old Brad hand, but I just, I have no confidence in that. So, but today it's like Damon Jones has a really good inning. His sliders look wiped out and it's a confidence builder. And instead of like, all right, we'll go bring someone else in because they actually do have some arms down there now.

He puts them back out there and of course they score two runs. Like, I just don't think that that's that's just not smart managing and he's not he needs to be better about thinking of the game now and not always worried about tomorrow because that's how you know you you look up and and especially with this lineup well and especially you should never be conceding games with this lineup like this is a lineup that can come back in any situation. They really can. And especially with how this season is going to play out. And it's going to come down to a game here and a game there.

And you're going to need every game that you can when it comes down to winning times. Especially games against the A's. Right. You don't get that option very often. I think that's a dumb decision i understand why he did it but i just didn't think it was the right time for it bailey falter's gonna be fine you know i mean his stuff was down a little bit today like it was 91 uh versus the usual like 93 94 so you definitely want to see the velocity up to take it but again it was cold um and i still thought a slider had good bite bite to it fastball still jumping on guys.

You know, I mean, one was a little bleeder off the end of the bat. Like, whatever. So, you know, I think Bailey Fowlter will only get better as the season goes on, and I still trust him in middle relief roles. All right. Girardi, the other stuff today. You know, look, I get it. We talked about all the off days, but JT off day made sense. You know, pinching him like Garrett Stubbs.

Nice bunter. Dude. Yeah, dude. You got it. Hey, winning ball clubs do that stuff. I'm just telling you. It was a great bond. It really was.

It was a great bond. And look, I, you know, I didn't know a ton about Garrett Stubbs until he was affiliate. Look, you know, he was in the Astros organization, know that similar to our uh dodgers one you know generally in a lot of cases that's smart um and you know he's he's better than andrew knapp i think so i think that's pretty much like the baseline for that um uh carmago uh camargo pick it dude can pick it a little bit yeah he can and he is uh and i tweeted this earlier earlier today like he is going to help this team win games like it's such an upgrade going from ron teres to camargo because there's actual like upside offensively with him um and i think we i don't

know we i don't even know if we talked about it on the podcast, but it's the kind of guy where you take a shot on him because of what he did at AAA. You know, I mean, they flashed a AAA stat today. And it was like 320 average, 400 OBP, like 19 home runs. And couldn't crack a Braves lineup that was obviously loaded enough to win the World Series. So, you know, I think he he's gonna play a good amount here like i think that there's a real shot that he works his way into the platoon there that they have with stott and boom and i think maybe today i don't know dd didn't look great over the weekend just just hitting wise so maybe they're kind of more defensive defensively either. I mean, he was fine, but definitely had a couple spots where,

you know, didn't feel super fluid. It just feels like... It feels like they're going to kind of go with a Stott, Didi, Camargo, Boehm, like, rotating, and whoever, like, takes a job and runs with it kind of takes a job and runs with it. But I don't think Camargo is, like,

just some afterthought. I think, legitimately legitimately he could be in the mix here for more playing times the season goes along especially because he is a really good defensive player and clearly yeah i mean it's clearly obvious oh it's like he made that he made the over the shoulder catch and i was like oh we're allowed to do that yeah well and and i do think that it says something and i know we know gerardi right you know gerardi's not out there to to play guys for developmental purposes or anything but it says something that you know on a day where he was going to arrest dd that he didn't

put stotted short and boom at third you know that you would think that from an organizational perspective alec boom would be you know if stott's gonna play short like because i think stott showed the most obviously with his at bats the you know the the two-hit day the the walk like he's shown that you know five it was the stat today where they were like through like four innings or whatever and they had only seen like 25 pitches and like five of them were for stott or whatever the whole team um but um you know, I think he proved, like, right now at least, he certainly has the best eye, the best feel at the plate without a doubt. But you would think that, you know, if he's at short, Boehm would be playing third.

I think it certainly says something about how Girardi views it and how the team views it, that they gave Carmago a day on the first three days there, especially like we talked about with so many days coming up, you know. You know, I think it says something to your point that it's a real battle between those guys. He's playing the third game of the season.

That's my point. It's very early to be rolling out. Especially because Boehm had the day that he had on Saturday where I was like, okay, maybe there is some signs of life here. But it makes sense with the effluent amount to have a good defensive third baseman over there. But also, it made sense to have a good defensive third baseman when Kyle Gibson was pitching as well.

So I don't really know the rhyme or reason. I guess they just wanted to, they liked the matchup for Boehm better against the lefty, which, you know, makes sense. But yeah, I just think that, think that there's a good player there. And I think as the season goes along, I think he's going to be very valuable. And hopefully they don't get to a point where they need him to play all the time. But every time he gets in there, especially late. Winning teams have those guys, right? Those guys who don't play every day, but when they play,

they give you good innings. And they can come in late and make a big defensive play for you. Or they can, if you need it, come up make a big defensive play for you. Or they can, if you need it, come up with a pinch hit single when you need it. Like those players matter. Like we don't talk about them because it's not how you talk about like, you know, whether teams are really going to win or lose,

but when the season's happening and you're in the grind of it, all those guys end up being super valuable. They do. They do. Um, and he seems like a guy that can, you know, be a late inninginning defensive guy

that they can bring in. Or when he plays, he's just going to be solid. I mean, I feel like the Phillies had a bunch of those guys in the middle 2000s, late 2000s teams, even 2011. So very solid start, I guess, for Johan Camargo. Could definitely play third base. The new Eric brown is what you're saying yes yes yes yes so um yeah he's he's gonna help his team win ball games all right um i

got a couple um like baseball notes uh anything else on the weekend's action before we get to the take bag no i don't think so let's go all right let me fire let me fire you my three like notes which are take baggage things and then we'll get to your take bag then i actually have three final No, I don't think so. Let's go to the... All right, let me fire you my three notes, which are take bag-ish things, and then we'll get to your take bag. Then I actually have three final thoughts. Oh, look at this. Dude, I'm locked and loaded.

Firing on all cylinders. The Phillies are back. They're fun. We're going to have an awesome season. They're going to win the NL East. I feel... I know they lost today. I still feel more confident because the Mets lost to the Nationals,

and the Nationals are even worse than the A's, just so you know. Just throwing that out there. Yeah, and the Mets lost to the Nationals. The Nationals are even worse than the A's, just so you know, just throwing that out there. Yeah. Well, and the Braves lost to the Reds, who are who are just as bad as the A's. Yeah. Dude, that was one of my three notes that I was going to say around the Nationals are like the Nationals have Mike Alfranco starting for them. Do people realize that?

Cesar is there like Alcides Escobar, who I can't believe is still in major league baseball. Like they're bad. All right. Two things one and one of these might be in your take bag might not, but the first one and I love it and it makes me super happy that it's happening and I still support it. But I will say it was weird this weekend watching national league baseball without the pitch hitting. Like there were so many spots where i was like oh i wonder like are they gonna pinch it here or let them go

deeper into the game and i was like oh don't have to worry about that and i'm happy no but it was weird no you're not no it happened like four different times where i was like oh yeah dh yeah i thought about it today as i was watching it was the first time all weekend it got to today where i was like wow wow that's impressive because it hit me multiple times no it was it was like i all of a sudden schwerber was batting after like beer langer i was like oh this is so not how it's supposed there's supposed to be an automatic out here um you know i'm gonna, I'm gonna turn back into my whole, I miss NL baseball thing. Eventually. I just, I promise you, I, I, I don't know if I could do this for an entire season.

I really don't. It is so much more boring. Oh, it's so much more boring watching a AL style baseball. Like, why did we have to get rid of, why did we have to get rid of the pitcher hitting? It is a stop. Oh, I just don't know why. I just don't know why we had to get rid of it. I really don't.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's all I have to say. That's all I have to say. I don't know why we had to get rid of it. You sound silly. I don't care. I don't care.

I don't care. All right. My last note, and this might be a newer take back as well, potentially. We were definitely texting about it, um i'm so happy they traded smiths or howard like i know like you know gibson's 34 years old and whatever we get from this year is great and all that but like that dude is a stone cold loser and seeing vladdy hit one 467 feet the hardest hit baseball in the history of blue jays records of hard hit baseball that they have. And obviously, like, you know, everyone teeing off on him.

He's a loser. He's not good. No. They were right to trade him. Just like and it was it was classic to where it's 92 and like third inning. And yeah, I I was why I usually never do the whole like not i'm not rooting for him to fail but i never do the thing where it's like ha ha you suck elsewhere yeah like totally but i was i was watching today i was like yeah that's all good man you're like you were just

more than i'm happy they traded him like i don't want him to fail but i look at it and i'm like nice i'm happy we got rid of this guy yeah he's there he's not gonna turn it around he is i mean just doesn't have it sometimes dude we saw it like all the like you know tiring out and like all the excuses and all that like we knew like he just doesn't have it oh well i mean like i i texted someone today like oh maybe if he was eating closer to his start he would have been able to get Vladdy Jr. out. Like, the things last year were out of control. He didn't have to run in from the bullpen.

Oh, yeah. If he had run down to first base, he would have been able to get through the third inning. Yeah, that's the worst run. Yeah, Jesus. It's just the worst. Just the absolute worst. All right.

I'm done with my notes. What do you got? All right. So a couple things to take back for the top five. I love that. I will start just promoting the top five the whole time. Just do me. I always forget.

I love how when I get to the day, you're like, don't forget. I have a take. That's all right. That's all right. It's good. I think the single most impressive thing of this entire weekend was Bryson Stott having a really tough bottom of the seventh, no top of the seventh with,

with the errors and just not looking crisp over a third base. And then bang bottom of the inning has the double and bounces right back. And I, and then made the two defensive plays right after it was like the first two balls hit right to him. It was like, boom, boom, like got right back on the horse, which is great to see, too.

And we've just seen James. You've been around. We've documented this a lot longer than I have. But we've seen a subtle shot there. Not even subtle. Yeah. We've seen young athletes who have a tough time in the field or on the basketball court or at quarterback. And they just can't bounce back from it.

And I thought Bryson Stott having that inning where it was just like, oh, no, please don't let this crumble. And bang, gets a double next inning and gets back on track. I think that is so massive when we're talking about the future of him and what he can be here. Because in baseball, there's going to be highs and lows. And I'm sure being with Bryce and being best friends with Bryce has helped him from that standpoint. But he just seems like a really confident kid that even if he makes mistakes, he's going to be able to overcome it. I thought that was the single most important thing that happened this weekend.

Dude, I love that you brought that up because I just have the same takeaway from him. And I've kind of always had it, especially you're right when you see the Bryce stuff and the way he is with Bryce and all that. Like, it just seems like this dude, like. Believes in himself and is confident and is cool and kind of, you know, collected. And I've just been I'm really with you. And it kind of carries through in the way he has his approach to the've just been, I'm really with you. And it, and it kind of carries through in the way he has his approach to the plate, right? I mean, he is so for someone his age has such a mature approach at the plate. So, um, I'm with you. And again, like it was both

offensively and he got those two balls rocketed right at him. And again, like we, we know we can play third base. He's a, you know, talented a talented and good defensive player and he's a shortstop. So he has the range and all that type of stuff. But it is one thing to, you know, play third base. It's another thing to be a shortstop your whole life and play third base for like a week and then be like, hey, major leagues, you're playing third base. You know, it's not always going to go perfectly. So I'm with you. I thought that whole sequencing was important, especially

because it didn't end up costing him a game. Yeah, he chased a 1-2 splitter in the dirt in the third inning. I was like, I've never seen him ever chase a pitch like that. He's always swinging at pitches that he knows he can do damage on. It's just so funny.

You can just see Enola meltdown coming from a mile away. Like he came, I thought it was fine that Girardi sent him out there first for the seven. Like he was so good in the sixth that putting him back out there was not the end of the world, but like. I was fine with it too. Just the decision to put him back out there, but get him out quicker. Well, yeah, I agree.

The first pitch. As always. The first pitch like missed his spot by seven inches. And it's like, oh, here we go. So hopefully Girardi can be quicker with that kind of stuff. Overall, I mean, he takes seven innings, four runs from him. I can't believe that's the where we're at with Aaron Nolo, but he has to be better.

I mean, he has to be able to get over that hump of just shutting it down. And if things start to— Finishing. He has to be able to get over that hump of like just shutting it down and if some if things start finishing he has to be able to finish well and if things start to unravel you have to be able to get back on track so i just need him to just figure it out but i just i can't i can't fully trust him to do it james no one can like anyone who says they can is lying because i don't know how you possibly could obviously he he's talented. Obviously he can do it. It's just been such a long stretch of time where he hasn't consistently. And there have been too many moments where this keeps happening. And it's the same thing. It's like, we joked about

the beginning of the pod about how the, the first game played out exactly like as a microcosm for what we expected the season to be with all the runs and then the bullpen you know and the defense and nola like because that's nola being exactly what he's been so yeah like he needs to he needs to to figure it out before and and and do it for a you know month two month period of time before people are going to actually start to think oh yeah like we were getting because no one like you said on the last pod like don't expect 2018 arinola that is never ever ever happening again it was it was the anomaly but like three two three five arinola that's something you you can expect i just don't know if it's going to happen and i need to see it happen i agree uh file this one one under things to monitor going forward.

Veerling is. Hold on. Hold on. Let me pull up my things to monitor going forward tab so I can file it. All right. I'm ready. Everyone's out there doing the same thing as they listen to this podcast. Veerling is slowly but surely starting to mirror what Kyle Schwarber does at the plate.

They're starting to have the same little setup, starting to get crouched again. They're hitting today because they're pretty much back-to-back now, and I was like, wow, it looks like he's kind of doing because, I mean, Vierling's whole thing is having to lift the ball in the air. That's the one thing that's been holding them back, so who better to learn from than

Kyle Schwarber? So, file that one away as the season goes on as it looks like Verling is starting to kind of mimic what kyle schwarber does and if you remember when kyle schwarber got to boston last year he was instrumental in bobby dalbeck having like a really good second half of the season so young guys seem to like being around him and that was my one takeaway from watching matt veerling today yeah and i think veer, as we kind of mentioned before, but of every single player on the team, if you said, you know,

the difference between just looking at the stat sheet after the weekend and watching all three games, like that dude hit the ball hard a ton. You know, it just seemed like most of the times he hit it hard, it was to somebody or it was a great fielding player or whatever. But I definitely came away from the first weekend of Matt Veerling's opportunity to kind of grab this job and run with it more impressed than not with Veerling. Well, and I think him and Mickey can be a good platoon. Sure.

I think they can be. Of course. I thought their reaction to turning the double play on Saturday was hilarious. It was actually like they had never turned a double play in their entire life. They were so, so happy they did it. It's like, I don't know. You are major leaguers. You're supposed to be able to make that play.

But hey, whatever. Whatever keeps the good vibes going. And my final one, no cream uniforms today because fanatics wasn't ready for the season hey what are we doing it's not their fault it's fanatics fault no it's just very funny like it's like you know of course that would happen to us

it's like so you know on brand for the history of the Philadelphia Phillies yeah alright also how about Gene Segura by the way being the Phillies home run leader after the weekend? We all saw that coming, right? Never a doubt.

Like we always said. Like we always said. All right, top five it up for me, buddy. Top five things that made me smile over this weekend. James? Love it. Love it. Number five is the Lions back at Citizens Bank Park, because boy, were they back.

It was funny. because boy were they back um it was funny they like panned to the crowd uh on opening day and it was like ashburn alley was was it looked like it was back like back to this back it was like a sea of people yeah and it just hasn't been like that in a while and sure in the moment was it frustrating getting around seeing all these frauds who had not been there during the last decade? Was it annoying? And was I, you know, saying, ah, fraud, fraud, fraud, like fraud. But it was good to see the Lions back because, you know, that means that the Phils are back.

Number four is clubhouse interviews being back. Like, it was so cool. Oh, yeah, buddy. Like, we don't have to do the Zoom thing anymore. I saw Castellanos playing ping pong with his son, which was cool. It felt like baseball being back. And you can just see more of the guy's personalities, which I think is important. So with you.

So with you. You feel closer to the players. You feel like you know them better. It's so important. And that's how the Broad Street thing happened, where no one knows where it is, which is like, you know know it seems like it's a bit of a problem here with the phil's we don't know how to get to the stadium i need to do a uh you know a little like tour around philly type thing with you guys take him to the liberty bill get him a cheesesteak run the rock you know the the the standards yes uh number three was obviously stoddy's first hit i mean every first hit always

just makes me smile obviously obviously obviously stoddy's first hit. I mean, every first hit always just makes me smile. Obviously. Obviously. Obviously, Stotty's first hit. I mean, it puts a smile on your face. And, you know, he's going to be really good here for a really long time. He's a ball player. He feels like a ball player.

Yeah, I don't know what his upside is. I don't know. I don't know. I think he's just going to be a really, really good player here for a a long time it's going to help this team win ball games which i will take uh number two is how fast the seranthony inning was it was like it was just like oh it's over that's crazy i didn't think that was possible late inning uh situation i didn't know it was possible for it just to be free and easy and and done so the seranthony inning made me really happy because i'm also thinking about the future if again if they get seranthony inning made me really happy because i'm also thinking about

the future if again if they get seranthony can able in the back of that bullpen dude dude like he's one of the like players who changes the to your point when you said before like about like where if you get you know a certain thing from kyle gibson you know if he's a four it changes the whole perspective of the season you know seran anthony's one of those guys too who you know if he could be you know even some variation of what we he was when he first came up in terms of effectiveness and and uh utility in terms of where he could be used and all that stuff like i mean that's like it's such a massively important player for for a team like this you know yep and number one obviously the schwarby home run if it wasn't number one i was gonna be so and i knew by the time we had to when it had to be there i've been

so disappointed because we were together like we were you called it you know you said on the pod in for posterity he's gonna lead the season off for the home run it was magical the energy was insane uh it was so great i know it was great and and i know you like i did immediately thought of the video yearbook and and how we're gonna look back on that moment as the moment this team had something special and just the the dugout reactions were awesome um and the dugout reactions all weekend long except for today which didn't happen um was great yeah the cassie the harper reaction to cassiano's homer was awesome they seem they or it's early but they seem really close which i didn't totally feel the last couple years and we had the back-to-backers with hoskins on saguro on saturday which was fun too i love every i love every time reese does anything yeah, well, Reese had a good up until today,

and he had that one ball that was smoked to center that got caught. But Hoskins looks really good. You know, it was, what, like four for six the first two games or whatever it was, four for seven. But, like, hitting the ball the opposite way, hitting the ball hard, good at bats, seemed like he felt comfortable up there, was taking pitches, but still aggressive.

You know know he's a player i was you know i was really impressed with his at bats this weekend yeah and my thing with reese is like he's been here for so long i just want to see him get to the postseason and i just i like seeing him do things because he's like a homegrown guy yeah even just like it's funny you mentioned that because i was you know when we had uh we were there for opening day in a certain brand to go pick up zoe and i was listening to scott and la and they were talking about it was like right when the like big rally happened they scored you know it was like five nothing or whatever it was and and they were talking about how intense it was in the ballpark and how there was real electricity there

and he was like in la was like yeah he's like it was after hoskins hit and he was like yeah he's like you know reese hoskins still like always talks about how he wants to see what the ballpark's like when there's like when they're good and when there's real energy and they're like yeah like you need to win to see that but if you do this place is amazing you know and and how this fan base can be so electric and so amazing to play for night after night. And it was just crazy to think about the fact that Reece Hoskins has never really seen it. He had like a series or two or whatever. And obviously he's like the face of those type of guys with this team who have been here for a really long time. It just would be good to see him and obviously the group get to see this city when it know, when it's really on fire with the Phillies,

cause it really can be and will be if they're good. Yeah. And, uh, just, you know, when Harper first stepped to the plate, the reaction he got,

it's just like, I couldn't imagine not wanting to play here. I really couldn't. Um, and he gets us. Oh, it was the reaction was incredible. So,

um, I think the players felt how awesome the city was this weekend. And I know we felt it being in the ballpark. So good for this team. Love it. All right. Big series of the Mets coming up. Obviously, you know, it was a three-game series.

We'll probably record Wednesday or Thursday. We'll figure it out. Obviously, there's not going to be off days, so we'll figure out the recording. But we'll obviously be back after the Mets series in some form or another. And also, Wednesday, check us out on WIP, a little High Hopes Midday Show. So, day game, 105 starts. I think Fritz and I will be on from like 10 to 1230, I guess, between the midday show and leading off. So, it'll basically just be High Hopes.

We'll obviously be talking Phillies. So, check that out um and uh this is good any final thoughts fritzy oh and check for if you're like if you're a real one you listen to this like super quick jack's probably got like another two hours left on the radio tonight he's on 8 to 11 on wibs okay yeah call on call on and talk phil's um no it's just good it's good to have them back it was good to get that first little heartbreak out of the way today um you know it's always depressing the first loss but you know it's what it is positive weekend positive and at least to to not steal your

phrase today really did feel like a loss like the whole time it just felt like they were gonna lose even like efflin you know you know didn't give up any runs but you know had needed the the slick double play uh to get out of the bases loaded no outs jam and it felt like they were jam after jam and just they didn't have it today and sweeps are bad sweeps are bad all right as uh as advertised from before three final thoughts three completely separate final thoughts one um i have decided you know the the cleveland ind Cleveland Indians formerly used to be like my AL team. If I had to pick an AL team to refer to be the Indians. Now they're the Guardians.

Super weird to see at the Guardians. I've decided I'm going to call them the Cleveland Eons to combine the two. Oh, wow. Are you good with this? And it doesn't really matter much because I talk about them that much, but when I text about it or something, I'm probably going to go Cleveland-Ians. What do you think?

I need your opinion on this. I wish it made more sense if they had Ian Anderson. Or Guardians. Well, I can't call them Guardians. No, but it's the two parts of the name that are the same. The I-A-N-S at the end of the name. It's the same thing, so that's the two parts of the name that are the same. The I-A-N-S at the end of the name. Like, it's the same thing. So that's my point.

I think, honestly, like I did with Washington, is I just started calling the Washington football team Washington. I can't do the Ian's thing because it's not even close. You know? I mean, it's like semi-close. Indians, Guardians, Ian's. I can't tell you. So this has been shot down. It's a terrible, terrible idea.

It's a really, really bad idea. It's incredibly disappointing. Just say Cleveland. I'm very hurt by this. All right. Next thing. I'm sorry. It's okay.

I might forgive you someday. I definitely have not yet. PSA. I mentioned this before, I think on the air and other spots, whatever. But like it keeps coming up. I just had a text conversation with someone about it today for the parents out there. So, Jack, you know, you know, this won't affect you yet, but someday you're going to have kids and you can think of it down the road. Bluey, the show Bluey on Disney Plus is the best. Yeah. on Disney Plus is the best the best

kids show by by light years like nothing Zoe watches is even in the hemisphere of how good this thing is like there's seven minute episodes it's about a family of dogs the highest of recommendations if you have kids watch Bluey

yeah no I'm with you on that because oh my goodness I did not expect this. No, when we were in Hawaii, I mean, Bluey was their show that would calm them down whenever they were starting to melt down. So, you know, just put the... Now, I don't know, you put an episode on

and you just kind of get a little time to take a breath. So, yeah, Bluey is all-timer. I'm surprised he had above Paw Patrol. Well, we watch Paw Patrol too, but Bluey's so much better. Bluey's the best. All right. And my last thing, and this is, like, such a cheat of a final thought,

but, like, I really felt it all weekend. I'm so happy baseball's back, man. There it is. Like, I'm so happy, like, obviously just having the Phillies game on, and then, you know, when the Phillies game ends, I'm putting on, you know, I'm watching the Blue Jays, and I'm watching the Reds beat the Braves and I'm watching the Mets and Nationals. And it's just it's like my happy place. And I know it's your happy place.

And I know it's the people who listen to this podcast. Happy place. So just, you know, a group, you know, acknowledging of just how happy I i am how grateful i am that it's back but well yeah and i was watching uh i was watching mets nationals last night and while having something else on the regular tv so i'm not you know just hogging the tv yeah yeah and it's the beauty of it is that like again whether it's with a kid it works too like bluey on one tv mets nationals on the other with emily shall we watch the other mets nationals on the other it's with a kid, it works too. Like Bluey on one TV, Mets Nationals on the other. With Emily, show we watch together, Mets Nationals on the other. It's beautiful.

Yes. And it's so easy to watch. You know, it's just like you look down and there's a ball in play. You look down, there's a strikeout. Helps having money on the games. But even when you don't, it's not that bad. All right. Check, check out tonight.

Check us out on Wednesday. We'll be back with a pod soon too. And, don't worry about the loss today. This team's good. They're winning the NL East. They're going to be good. This season is going to be awesome.

He's pretty themselves. 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.

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