High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - That Nats Team is Bad,,,They Should Have Swept

Episode Date: April 7, 2024

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies taking two of three in Washington and much 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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Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast, Jack. This is about as we're back as it gets a series in Washington, workmanlike handle the first two and then lose the third so we can't come in and do a sweet pod like this has happened eight trillion times in the history of this podcast it is it's here we are buddy how you doing man how you doing i'm good i'm? I'm good. I'm okay. I'm good. Yeah. Very glad they took two of three. Kind of an uninspiring two of three. Yeah, kind of.

Yeah. I mean. I mean, as always, we take it. I mean, yes. We'll get into all of it. It was definitely like, guys, like for a team that was like hey you know we really care about winning the division we really care about starting better this year like you don't look like it guys like you are certainly not playing tight crisp heady smart baseball are you saying that they're not are you saying they're not running the base as I mean, why do we have to do this every year?

Like, every year. It's like they got to take like a month or two months to figure out how to run the freaking bases again. It's like offseason, and they completely forget how to run the bases. How do you get doubled up there? Like, that was crazy. I mean, who in the world didn't think that ball was getting caught or at least is going to guard against it in that situation? I mean, like, man, how you doing, buddy?

It's good to see you. Yes. Dude, I feel like Sunday pods are strictly Miller Lights. You know, listen, there's been an uptick, I would say, in these summery drinks, you know? But I would say that nothing screams baseball more than a nice, crisp, fine

pilsner like a Miller Lite. Look at you. I couldn't agree more. I don't think there's any question. Honestly, I think it would be heresy to say anything else. Alright, let's get into it because we've got a lot to get through. There's a lot to get into. You ditched me last week.

So we have the whole week to- We did it on Monday. I ditched you. Yes, sir. So we're going to pretend the Red Series didn't happen. Well, outside of Bryce hitting three homers. Bryce hitting three homers. The Ricardo Pinto story.

What a story. A very baseball story. Is there a more baseball story than Ricardo Pinto? No, you know, it's like, you know I love this stuff. Aw, did you weep? Did you cry? I was sports fans. I didn't. Only Luke Williams, yes? I need the family in the stand crying

to get me crying, you know what I mean? I need the player crying with the family in the stand. That's to really set me off, so to speak um but yeah i mean what a story and then you know look i mean we'll get into it but i mean you know the starting pitching certainly hasn't been a problem jack i mean sanchi wasn't great today but i mean yeah i mean a bad and and they gave up three runs like Like, come on, man. Like, let's start freaking swinging some bats here.

Let's start running the bases better. All right, let's dive in. I got a lot I want to get. Let's start with just the overall takeaway from the series. You know, the Red Series, too, but just the coming out of the Red Series, going down. You know, look, they did, again, uninspiring. A 4-0 win that felt like it should have been seven nothing or eight

nothing a uh win yesterday that you know just felt ugly and today obviously just kind of just hang around hang around can't get it done um takeaways and the Nats are bad the Nats are bad but your your thoughts the Nats are bad but they got some guys bad. But your thoughts? The Nats are bad, but – They got some guys. They got some guys. We didn't see C.J. Abrams, though, which, you know, he's probably one of their best guys. Well, it's not even that.

It's just they haven't traded all the old players they signed in the offseason yet. So, like, it's – They'll be worse. Yes, they will be worse post-trade deadline for sure. So, I think the biggest takeaway from the first week and a half of the season is just the offense because starting staff's been really good you know i mean no no outside of the one no start yeah everything's been fine you know i didn't know that was that great on friday i thought it was more like battled his way through it than like

oh my god there's six shutout or whatever. Five and two-thirds. So starting staff's been fine. Bullpens have been really good outside of Connor Brockton. It just doesn't happen anymore. He's not a part of it anymore. We can get to that. Yeah, he's not a part of it anymore. We'll miss you, Connor. The big concern is the offense because

of all the things that sunk them last year, the offense from games four through seven, game five being the aberration that it might have been, was they were chasing a lot and they were striking out a lot. And they weren't putting together good at-bats. I thought against the Nationals they put together pretty good at-bats, frankly. I thought of the first two series of the year,

I was disappointed because we had talked a lot about dustin lind not adam lind it was dustin lind being brought in and his whole thing was control the strike zone get guys in the strike zone and and you'll have you'll bear better results and not chase as much i thought i guess the national they did a better job i think they walked eight times on friday Much better. To be fair though, they could not have done a much worse job than they did in the first two series of the season.

Yeah, it was bad. Obviously, the main culprits were the main culprits with Trey and Cassidy. I agree. It felt like they were headed in a better direction. My big problem with the offense is I just don't know what the upside of the offense is. You know what I mean?

I think the rotation's top five. I think the bullpen's top five. And when I've seen the lineup the first week and a half of the season, Trey is such a key piece to it from the standpoint of like he has to be really good or else they kind of feel a bat short like schwarber's doing his thing in the leadoff spot a little too many singles early you know yeah singles machine kyle schwarber no i mean like that that single that two run single was huge you know so you know i know i don't know i've got he did try to steal a base and get doubled up

today on the base path yeah i you know what though he had a good jump there that took a throw that cut like in a tag on his foot i wasn't upset about that i was furious about getting doubled up on the the price ball but i had no problem with the uh you know this so he i thought he had it like it looked like he had it was a was a great job. Yeah. And then he gets to the four through seven spots. And it's a combination of Boone, Stott, JT, and then Marsh set a great start to the season. And then Rojas. JT's had a great start.

Looks pretty good. It's just I can't rely on JT being my four-hole hitter. JT, for me, is a perfect five through six guy but that four spot like the key parts key parts of a lineup like Bryce is fine at third lead off we know it's gonna be Schwarber he's done a good job so far two is where arguably your best pure hitter hits in in modern baseball and Trades hasn't been that so far now I thought in in in July that ball today is a home run in the ninth yeah and, and he smoked that. He smoked it.

But it's been a little bit back. And it took a great catch. Even if it wasn't a home run, it took a great catch for it not to be a double or a triple or whatever. Sure, but it's been back to chasing, and it's back to a lot of strikeouts. So it's been a frustrating start to the year for Trey. Two is really important, and four is really important in this lineup and like i guess i guess i just have to accept right that that boom is a 280 20 home run guy and he's not 25 to 30 because that's where i think he should be and you want him to be if he's going to be your four hole hitter there and look to be fair i mean

jt has been one of the better hitters on the team so far at the start of the season. So I can't criticize it yet, but I agree. It's like, can JT do this all season? It's just more like if he was batting fifth, sixth, this is phenomenal. Well, the problem is, honestly, look, and I think that's who Bo Miz, the real bummer is Castellanos in that situation. Like, ideally, for the money they're making and all that, and the prototype of the hitter that you were trying to get, I mean, that should be Nick Castellanos.

Like, he should be the stone-cold cleanup hitter backing up Rice. Like, and that's where that really comes back to bite you, line-up construction-wise, when he is so underperforming, you know, comparative to what you're paying. Now, what could happen as the season goes along is if they feel like they're lacking, like, an impact bat in the middle of the lineup is they could go Stott, Turner, Harper, Blank,

and then Schwarber if they wanted to, like, if that becomes someone in the middle of the lineup that kind of falls out of the ballpark. Well, and they obviously could train for someone to still, and look, that's the other part of this. That's what, like where the, it all connects. It's that, that's why, like, you know, none of the arguments, like the Dombrowski argument that a lot of people have parroted where, and look, it is true where you have the first,

first eight guys aren't hitting and especially the first four or five, six guys, whatever you want to say, aren't hitting. Then, you know, it's like, it doesn't matter what Rojas is doing, but at the same time, those guys aren't going to hit all the time. And we see that we know that a lot of these guys can go really cold. And when Rojas is an absolute zero at the bottom of the lineup, I mean, that's when it's like, you know, maybe you can't play this kid. Maybe it's not just about those eight guys coming through. Cause they're not going to come through always and you need like wouldn't it be nice if like you know what it felt like was going to happen today where it's like oh you know the big guys aren't coming through but you know what ed mundo sos and whit merrifield are going to win you a baseball game

with their bats like because that's going to happen over 162 that's the kind of stuff you need to happen and like it's frustrating that like i mean it is a absolute and i know it wasn't live today but i mean rojas has just been a a absolute zero often like it's so bad so i'm just saying it all ties together i'm saying like i agree everybody right now i think it's one of those things right where it's sort of like how people are talking about the equals defense right now where it's like well they have so much talent on offense it won't matter and the second you watch them get crazy it drives me crazy it's like oh so they're gonna win every game 50 to 48 sure it'll play out that way especially when we're like is the quarterback gonna be good or not like it's not like it's like a lot that it it's it's infuriating anyway go ahead well but

it's it's the same thing with Rojas. It's like, oh, well, he's an eye fitter, so it doesn't really matter until it's like second and third two outs in the fifth inning of a close game. And I just couldn't feel worse with him at the plate. And I think the most – this is one of those things that I promise I will obsess over for the, at least until I see something different. I don't think you ever need to promise when you say I will obsess over because you have proven like you will, you will obsess.

There is, there's a couple of things that I can't get over right now in Philly sports. And I'm sorry that two of these are Eagles, but one is Bradley Roby hip checking Brock birdie in the Niners game, rather than just trying to lay him out. Like I would like a guy to do. And that's, I love what it,

what a deep cut. I've not heard anyone complain about this. Go watch the second quarter. Great, great, great take. Great take. I love it.

I fully support it. I mean, probably ruby stinks. I mean, honestly, they make that take into how, how does Howie Roseman have Bradley Roby on the field in that situation? Well, frankly, they needed it was the reality of the situation.

So that I can't get out of my head. And I've already pretty much written off Nolan Smith because he tried to trip a guy on an end around, which I don't think I've ever seen before. I won't write him off. But look, they are. It's one of those spots where it's like the Rojas thing in a little bit where it's like – and look, it's different for the Phillies because I think they have just a better team around them, like with Nolan Smith and the defense around them.

It's like – but they're like saying, hey, guess what? A lot on your shoulders right here. You're going to be really important to us, and we have no idea if you could do it. But the final thing that is just burned into my brain is what happened yesterday where I thought, I swear to you, I'm not sure if you watched live. Did you watch the game live yesterday? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I watched it. Okay. Johan Rojas hit a ball that I was like, oh, that's in the gap. That ball smoked. And the outfielder had or the outfielder had to come in and get it dude i had the exact same reaction i was like look at that and it's like is it so shocking to see it off his bat and also it just it must have been hit so softly that it slowed down so quickly at once it went on like all we were seeing was the actual

speed of the pitch coming off the bat. And then it slowed down immediately. He, he might swing a pool noodle. He is the, like to your point, I was just thinking this when you said before, where it's like when he comes up with second and third and you know, you're down at Ron or whatever.

Honestly, hold on real quick though. I just want to make sure that didn't happen. No, not in a big game. Nope. It didn't happen. No, not in a big game. Nope. It didn't happen in a game seven? If it did, obviously you would pinch him for him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But I was trying to think. Like right now, specifically in this moment, after what we've seen to start the season, I'm struggling to remember some like a Phillies regular that I would have less confidence in at the point in that situation. Ty Kelly?

Like a Phillies regular on an average to good team. Like, you know, like not like the 66-win baseball team type teams. But, I mean, think about it. Dude, how about this? Andrew Knapp, not a regular. He's a back-up catcher. Hold on. I got it. I would rather have Andrew Kna Dude, how about this? Andrew Knapp is not a regular. He's a backup catcher. I would rather have Andrew Knapp. I'd rather have Andrew Knapp up! Go ahead. I'm sorry. I got it for you. I got it for you.

Deep breaths. Yes. Michael Martinez. Honestly, yeah. Yeah, it's a good call. I mean, talk about being up in a big spot. Well, it was only... Not with the Phillies. Not with the Phillies, but what a moment. Dude, the funniest tweet i remember about that night was yes is that yeah brian it's so great it's so great when it was like in like i get indians fans at that point guardians

fans uh oh like okay yeah i'm losing my mind the pressure situation it comes fans like oh my god who is this this is gonna going to be a nightmare. Philly's fans. Ah, this game's over. No, no. I think it's Philly's fans.

Is that Michael Martinez? Yeah. Yeah. So it, and listen, I don't want to, cause he seems like a great dude. The defense is there.

We know that the getting picked off second base was quite annoying. Oh my God, dude. Not much else has done. Well, how about this? how about this no i got one one final thing by the way the toppers excuse we're like oh well we hadn't seen an inside move from diaz that doesn't mean you can't recognize an inside move like especially when you can't hit you would figure you would be like focus everything you have on being the best base runner the world could ever see because you know what when you get on base you better freaking take advantage of it i'm sorry so real quick i don't think i've ever seen an inside move

work frankly you know no i mean yeah i used to be a big inside move other than the nola one right yeah in the playoff game i would we would work a lot on inside moves back in the day. And I don't know. I feel like I never tricked anyone with my inside move. Dude, I'm with you. I mean, it's so hard to get picked off second base. Anyway. I mean, it's so hard.

I just don't get it. I don't get it, getting picked off second base. You know, anyway. So I just think with Rojas, I think with Rojas, I think with Rojas, worst case scenario was that I thought he took pretty good at bats this weekend. Oh, buddy.

I really did. This is like the record for Eagles references. But that's like when they said Ryan Kerrigan was doing a great job because he was lining up in the right spot. It's like, great, man. The guy knows where to line up. Which was the worst stopper excuse this week? The inside move one or the new outfield wall is causing Castellanos problems?

Oh, I know. Honestly, though, definitely the inside move. I mean, who cares if you haven't seen him do an inside move? Know what an inside move is. The, the scoreboard one, I thought he explained it poorly, but like,

I can understand it a little bit, not enough where, you know, I'm blaming it the way they were, but like, I understand that if it's brighter, it might seem like you're closer to the wall than you're used to or whatever.

And you know, look, I don't love it. I don't love it, but I certainly certainly i certainly can accept it more than than inside move now what i can't accept it is any more times like you've played now there you know that's like a couple times when that happens all right now we're good you did it now you know what it's light is like and we're good but well i see i don't know if it was even the the the the the light i frankly

thought it might have been the horizontal movement on the pitches that was really throwing him off as he's going for the ball you know what i mean like expected woba's up there and he's like oh i can't concentrate oh that's what it is you're right yeah he's like oh he started thinking he's like oh i wonder what the expected Woba is on that. Hey, should I even get to this ball? The expected batting average. How do they calculate it so quickly? Like, that's amazing.

Like, wait, it says an 800 expected batting average. I'm not even supposed to catch it. All good. What's the big deal? What's the big deal? Yeah. All right. That's great.

It's good. It's not my favorite excuse of all time my favorite excuse of all time is still spencer howard needing to eat closer to the star oh yeah that was the oh my god i mean i i like i can't spencer howard was a freaking excuse we are i'm just letting you know i'm letting you know early i'm letting these everyone listen to this bike we're sick people bring i know i dude sp Spencer Howard was an excuse machine. If you had to ask me, name the top five excuse machines in Philly sports history, I would actually think about Spencer Howard.

Dude, it was that. Do you remember the other one besides eating too close to the start? What was it? It's like throwing his teammates under the bus or something. No, no. The coaching. No, no, no. He was too tired running to first base oh that's what it was yeah you know what's funny is i kept thinking of the heavy body with eflin and i was like but then that's eflin that's i was thinking of it the

tire body all right so look we know they need to start hitting yes like uh let's get to some specific guys because i actually have notes for this pod believe it or not man i'm so proud of you i did work i did work so i have a we're in a bit we're gonna play let's play a game do you have Let's get to some specific guys because I actually have notes for this pod. I'm so proud of you. I did work. I did work. In a bit, we're going to play Let's Play a Game. Do you have Iowa, South Carolina on the second TV right now? I do.

Yeah. I'm so jealous. I'm so jealous. I mean, you got to record with the TV in the background. I mean, come on. Look, I'm not as locked in as I should be because I'm locked in on you. I'm not great at doing two things at once in these situations. I make conversation. Yeah.

I got to lock it on you. Yeah. I don't even like having to like, I just inside baseball. I just texted Tucker to make sure that he could post the pod. And I felt like uncomfortable just being like recording. Now, can you post after?

And I'm like, I'm trying to listen to Jack. He's at WrestleMania. So that's what a loser. You know what that means? Your boy has to post it. This guy. Two thumbs down.

Hey, I got you until seven, pal. I should know. I should be going to bed in like 10 minutes. All right, here we go. I have to stay up and watch basketball tomorrow night, like so late. For the first time ever, I actually have to watch the National Championship.

Yeah, but you have a decent amount of coin in the line. I can't wait for it. But also, I'm just saying. I'm not trying to make this a character assassination on you. Oh, I can't wait for this. Wherever this is headed, I'm sure it's going to be really enjoyable for me. So, yeah, let's do it. What is it?

Lay it on me. What do you got? You having UConn as your national champ is vintage Seltzer. I mean, look, think about it this way. I have the best UConn as your national champ is is vintage seltzer it's like I mean look think about this way I have the best UConn bracket like what a what a badass move by me I mean now I'm sure they'll lose to Purdue because you know that's the way it goes for me but I mean come on like that's like it's so much more impressive everyone's gonna pick UConn they're like the you know dominant team everyone ever look and I picked the best UConn. They're like the dominant team. And I picked the best UConn bracket. Come on. I think I deserve a lot of credit for that.

The good news for you is that... Honestly, even if I lose, I might claim that I had the best bracket because I picked the best UConn bracket. I think that's a good move. The good news for you is that I can't physically stomach rooting for Zach Eadys. Oh, yeah. I'm with you. And also, Purdue, come on. Do we want Purdue to be national champions

of basketball? I don't think so. Let's have some integrity. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Have some integrity about it. Okay.

All right. Specific guys. Quickly. You mentioned Nola quickly. You can talk Ranger and Sanchi to what you saw from those three guys, but like Nola, I agree with you, you know,

obviously didn't give up any runs, but a lot of walks didn't seem like his stuff at a ton of bite but look after and granted against a much worse offense but after the disastrous start to the season i was happy to see him kind of battle back and and not get crushed and work out of situations you know get out like second third one out type stuff and all that so uh what do you think of Nola? And then Ranger, obviously, who I thought was really good. So real quick, I'll get there. Are we all on the same page with calling Chris Sanchez Sanchi?

Oh, yeah. I thought it was just... You just rolled it right off the tongue, which I give you credit for. Look at my notes. Here you go. I don't want you to see all my notes. I can't see your freaking notes, man.

They're too bright. All right, whatever. The point is I have it written as Sanchi. Sanchi? Yeah. Okay. I'm glad that we're on the same page with that. That's awesome.

So I thought Nola was fine. I thought that by the fifth, fourth, fifth, I thought he started to lock in mechanics-wise and command-wise. Now, at the same time, it was one of those starts, and I talked about this on the final out on friday but where it kind of is like against a better offense how's it play out and i'm still not sure about that like it wasn't a dominant performance and that's kind of how i felt about the whole weekend where if they play a better team are we getting the same result here

um so that's and that's just the reality of where this team is at, where we kind of, unfortunately, in some instances, treat this team like every game is game seven. You know, like, is this good enough to win in the postseason? And on Friday night, it was good. It was fine. There's a lot of walks. I feel like it didn't really lock in until later in the start. But I will say I like the way that Thompson managed that inning

where Joey Gallo is really the only guy in that lineup that I feel confident that can hit the ball in the ballpark, even though I think he stinks. And he went to a lefty on him with a runner on base. And I don't know if that's – I don't think that's losing faith in aaron nola but i think it's when joey manessa smokes the ball to the semi the wall or the dude in the moment going back to i felt in the moment i was absolutely fine with the decision i had no problem with it right so you know i i thought it was fine it was a good step forward it was good it didn't

collapse i thought he threw with more conviction i thought against Braves, he just didn't have enough conviction. And that's where I feel like Nola starts getting into these bad ruts is where he's not convicted in what he's throwing, but he was pretty good. I'm not going to go over the top. I'm not going to say he's back, but he was, he was,

he was fine. And it was a game that again, they should have won seven, nothing. Exactly. I mean, that was totally like so many opportunities. And more base running mistakes.

Was it Cassie that doubled off or Harper did? I mean, it was Harper. What are we doing? Well, I think JT started it because JT was going. No, no, no, no. That was another one. I think there were two spots, weren't there? That was Saturday.

It was one of games at this point. Yeah, that was JT's fault. But Harper also was dumb about it. Just stay at third there. What are you doing? Like, anyway, I also might have perhaps bet on Harper to score a run and was super annoyed in that situation. Anyway.

Look at you. I know. Big betting guy. You're proud of me. I know. Brackets, betting. You know what I do. I haven't bet in a long time, so, you know, you're doing more than I am.

Oh, look at you. You'll go back on a run knowing you. Hey, fantasy football owners, the road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from reception perception. Join me and James co as we take a deep dive into the position. That's going to make or break your fantasy roster wide receivers.

We analyze route running target share and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Ranger or Sanchi? Ranger obviously much better than Sanchi. What were your thoughts?

Getting used to Sanchi. I thought Ranger was great. Me too. I think we're in the... Again, I think I talked about this. Did we talk about this last podcast? But nationally, it seems like Ranger doesn't get much respect.

And it's like, you look at the Phillies rotation and by fan graphs, by these kind of sites out there, you know, it's like the Wheeler, Nola. Oh, my God. What a one, two. And I think we have such a different look at Ranger as Phillies fans because we've seen what he does in the postseason. And we're like, Rangers are guy. By the way, like Rangers, the coolest Philly, right?

I mean, he's the coolest Philly, right? I mean, he made a couple plays from the mound. He's so awesome. At least playing style and the way he goes about his business, yes. I mean, Harper, because he's Bryce Harper and he comes through in the clutch. But, yes, without a doubt, it's absolutely right. So, I think that nationally, he doesn't get the amount of respect that I think Philly's fans put on him. And we talked about, you know, fantasy circles. Chris Sanchez is viewed as a better fantasy pitcher.

I just, I have this feeling we're getting this Ranger. No, I'm actually really good kind of season. Like I'm a, I'm a three, five ERA guy. And, and the simple fact of the matter is too, he's pitching for a contract extension. No doubt. They've obviously handed out. No doubt.

And it's, it's, it's one to monitor at the same time. Obviously, we don't have to start writing the end of Ranger Suarez's career here. But with Andrew Painter coming back, they already paid Wheeler $42 million a year. They're paying Nola a ton. Can they afford it? Yeah. It depends. It's a fascinating thought.

And yeah, look, it's something I thought about. And the Rays will pay him $41 million like F1. Of course, of course, yeah, I know. And he'll go win a Cy Young. Yeah, win a World Series there as their ace in the playoffs. All right, what did you think of Sanchi? Because obviously I thought Sanchi was really good in his first outing, but less so today, really struggled with the strike zone.

It was a tight strike zone, but still, you know, it, you just didn't seem to have it as, as much today. No. And maybe I'm scarred from the, I don't,

I don't want to sound alarms. I promise I'm not doing that, but I, I'm telling you how I, how I was watching. I was like, eh, it's kind of off and maybe I'm scarred because of all the pitching injuries happening right now.

But I feel like I saw him more. Which I have on my notes to get to. Thank you very much. I feel like I saw more of him stretching himself out a good amount. I saw him kind of flexing his back shoulder muscles. And I just hope he's not hurt. I really do. Well, he came in.

He was one of those guys in the dreaded flu that Kirkering, the whole thing that was bad. He was one of the guys who apparently had hit the hardest. He lost 10 pounds. When we were down there, yeah, Dombrowski said he's not going to go deep into games to start this season. He didn't want like six innings in his first start, right? And then, you know, today, I think it's something where maybe even if he's not injured,

I think maybe after that first start, he didn't have as much gas for this one, and he just kind of needs to build it up is my guess. Yeah, I thought he fought himself a lot today. I thought against the Reds, he had unbelievable location in his fastball. Changeup worked pretty well off that. Slider was fine. And today, I just don't think he had a feel for anything. Now, I don't think it was like the warmest game down in Washington.

So maybe that had a part to do with it. But yeah, I just, again, he didn't get shelled. He kept the team in the ballgame. He gave them five, four and a third, whatever. He did his job. He's the fourth, fifth starter at this point. So I'm not going to go over the top. I thought he was fine.

I thought he was fighting himself. I hope he's not injured. And I look forward to his next start because I still trust him to not really get shelled. And there was some questionable defensive stuff when he was out there as well that wasn't totally his fault. I agree. He was fine. He was all right. Yeah, I was fine with it.

Look, and again, I thought Junior came know, Junior came into a tough spot, but, you know, he gave up his hat, but I thought he looked great. I mean, his stuff is nasty, and the bullpen was great all series, really. All right. Before I want to get to those pitcher injuries you mentioned, but we're going to start first by playing a game. Let's test your pitching knowledge, or at least your guesses. You obviously might not know this, but coming into today.

So, you know, prior to today, so the numbers might've changed slightly today, but do you know what team has the lowest ERA in baseball as a team? Like not just bullpen, but. So no, this is... Excuse me. Great question. This is starting ERA. Excuse me.

Starting pitching ERA, not bullpen. Lowest starting ERA. If it's not the Phillies. It's not the Phillies. I just figured I'd test your knowledge, and then I'll tell you where the Phillies are at. I would guess Seattle. No.

Okay. It's shocking. It's the Kansas City Royals. They've been great. Seth Lugo, big contract. Michael Waka crushing it yesterday. The Phillies, though, are sixth. The Phillies coming in today at a 2-9-3 area.

Obviously, they'll go up a little bit with what Sanchez did today, but ultimately, starting pitching's been really good. The Atlanta Braves starting pitching, Jack. 27th in ERA. 5-8-1. Now, granted, they keep winning games. Did again that yesterday. Doesn't matter, K.

You can't win every game 9-8 games. Yesterday was so annoying. And look, it was one of those where, you know, at least they were beating the Diamondbacks. So, you know, at least there was some wins for us. I know. It's weird, though. I was rooting for the Diamondbacks, flat out, honestly.

Like, let's take this freaking division, all right? Like, it's right there because that's the point. I'm going to have one more fun let's text Jack's knowledge in a second. But the Strider injury, which sucks. Honestly, as a baseball fan, and especially, look, we've talked about how of everyone on the Braves, I thought he handled the playoff thing last year. The best,

he was the most like, this is on us. This isn't on the layoff. We have to be better. You know, the fans are great. You know, Philly,

I thought it was great and he pitched well and, and that, you know, they didn't support him, his games. But I, uh, like,

I think it sucks. It really does. But it's also something that, you know, if you just being realistic is a massive thing for the Phillies. I mean, he's their best pitcher. But it's also something that, you know, if you're just being realistic is a massive thing for the Phillies. I mean, he's their best pitcher. He's the Cy Young favorite, you know, as we know one of the best pitchers in baseball.

That injury itself. And then obviously Bieber gets her and this whole like blaming it on the pitch clock thing. And not on the fact that Spencer throws a hundred miles an hour all the time, but like, whatever your thoughts on the Strider injury and its impact on the division, obviously. And then also the injury thing with the pitchers. Yeah. I mean, obviously Spencer Strider is really good, you know, and as a pitching nerd, I like watching Spencer Strider pitch.

So, and it's a baseball fan, you you know we want him to be around it definitely helps obviously the phillies if he ends up being done for a little bit here and and but at the same time i'm sure the braves can call someone up someone else up and and they'll come in and do a job so yeah it it stinks from that standpoint because he is damn good. And watching him pitch is truly a joy. I just, I don't buy the pitch clock thing. Same. I think it has a lot to do with these guys are spinning the baseball harder than they've ever spun the baseball before. And Spencer Strider is a guy who learned to curveball this offseason or found to curveball this offseason.

So he's adding more torque to that elbow and trying to spin as much as possible. And sure, like, the Rapsodo cameras can tell you how hard you need to do it, and they can pretty much biomechanic this whole thing and create perfect pitches in the lab. But I do, it's the one thing that really makes sense as to why we are getting the uptick in the amount of injuries that we are and shane bieber shane bieber's guy seemed like the stuff

was trending down the last couple years bang opens up the season has some new pitches all of a sudden has more spin has more velocity bang there's a there's an arm injury so you look at the race you look at the dodgers you you look at the Dodgers, you look at these teams that have emphasized throwing harder, spinning the ball more, and they've had a ton of injuries. Meanwhile, you have a team like the Phillies, who it seems like are more pitchers, and they're more command guys,

and they're not unbelievable stuff guys. And it hasn't come back to bite them yet and knock on wood because it seems like pitcher injuries are cropping up all the time. And look, Painter, I mean, so it did bite the Phillies in a certain way. I mean, that was someone they were hoping could contribute this year before that injury, you know? So I just think a lot of it has to do with spin. A lot of it has to do with these guys. Yeah, and just the pressure on these guys arms i mean i mean like just throw it that hard i mean

arms aren't meant to take that sort of you know beating in terms of a velocity and the repeated motion a repeated nature of it and all that i mean like it's crazy it's just, you know, it's not – I think the pitch clock is a crazy excuse. Right. So, by the way, back in the day, people – they moved much quicker. So, whatever. Totally. The thing about the Braves – Exactly.

Exactly. And they had rubber arms, these guys, and were fine. You know, Nolan Ryan, you know, pitched until he was 46. You know, 200 pitches and insane stuff. Anyway, go ahead. Sorry. The thing about the Braves, though, is that that rotation all of a sudden gets very old.

So Freed got shelled, by the way, against the Ducks. Bad start to the season for Max, yeah. In a contract year, right? He's a free agent at the end of the year. I don't know, but it sounds right. I believe he's a free agent at the end of the year. Then you're relying on Sale Morton, who are like

100 years old. And Sale has not had a recent track record of success. Obviously, he could get back there. Who knows? Yeah, and not to make this a nervous about the Braves kind of podcast, but the big X factor here is Hurston Waldrop who

I believe I texted you on Friday to pick up as soon as possible I wonder if they bring him up like they'll probably bring up Smith Shauver first because he had a good spring and he's someone that they believe has experience as well he was number one prospect last year and whatever but I think Hurston Waldrop is the like x factor and all this like it's strider's number of the year we'll see if he comes up but yeah i mean it's it changes a lot you know if strider's done i mean first off the balance of power and then at least and then the national league it's it's massive yeah i mean they can recover look we saw them lose to kunya and win the world series but you know it's it's a massive loss it's massive it'd be like the fleas losing wheeler i mean yeah it's exactly what it's

like essentially yeah yeah yeah so um yeah it's just yeah it is it's it's things for the braves could potentially be good for the phillies all i know is that i have wheeler plus 900 for the cy young so all right uh i have one more let's play a test your pitching knowledge it's really just taking a guess but i'm gonna save that for the end uh uh let's get to the the mailbag because i'm gonna assume in there there is a or excuse me the take bag uh i'm gonna assume in there there is a goodbye to our guy, Connor B. Crazy to think, just in 2022, pitching big, big moments and outs in the World Series and where it's gotten to. Your thoughts on that?

Benoni, Robles, all that. Let's get to the take back. Yeah, so obviously Brock not figuring it out here is annoying. You know, back when he was 97, 98 with the changeup, it was like, wow, there's something there. And I would not be surprised at all. Oh, dude, the Dodgers traded for him. It's like, yeah, of course they did.

Well, and they gave up someone that's, like, relatively interesting. Yeah, yeah. He's 23 in high A, which is, like, weird. But, you know. There's 100. Yeah, hey, who doesn't these days jack i know i know so uh yeah brogdon just didn't work out here and he he just looked defeated on the mound he said it did you hear that last quote after that i mean like that's one of those he he

like you rarely hear athletes that open about like i've like basically saying i have no idea what i'm doing out there like my i think about every step of my mechanics as i'm doing them like i'm lost i mean that was you could tell he's really in his head i felt bad i mean baseball is an unbelievable mental grind on people just is what it is like it is you have to repeat the same mechanics over and over again if you feel like you're not confident like it just completely screws with you so and one little thing like your your your foot placement like being a half inch off or whatever it is these little things that the level you left your leg to being a half inch or whatever it is

or the speed with which you do it being slightly too quick or whatever it's all these things it's so it is wild. Like when you, when you said, and you know this better than, you know, but that like to, to have to think, obviously, you know, you, you, it becomes sense memory and you do it, you repeat it and all that. But when you're, if you are in your head and thinking about it each time, I mean, it must be so hard to do it when you're thinking about it as you do it.

You know what I mean? Well, that's why you quit and become a radio person and a phillies podcaster that's that's why you do it i remember my sophomore year my sophomore year when things weren't going well i was like you know what maybe i'll try dropping down so i'm gonna be like a little guy nice yeah i always wanted i always wanted to be happy i'm happy you didn't do that. Well, here's the thing. I never really wanted to be the ace of a staff. If I could be the random...

Yeah, you just wanted to be a guy who came in and got some big outs and a big spot guy. I know it. Big spot guy. Exactly right. Yeah. Exactly right. So, yeah, it's a shame about Brockton. But I guess I'm curious what Roelis has.

Sure. I got some general bullpen thoughts here first. I have very scattered take back today as I write things down while the games are going on. Yes. So it's kind of all over the place, so I'll try to trim this on down. Gregory Soto has had a fantastic start to the season. You know, last year he was all over the place, you know, moving to a new team. But hopefully, hopefully, he is on the Alvarado track here.

Second year, Caleb Gotham, this pitching staff or this, you know, this pitching coaching staff is getting the most out of Gregory Soto because obviously the stuff's there. He throws a ton. The slider looks pretty good, but he's got a couple, one batter, one out kind of situation so far, and he hasn't really added to that. Gregory Soto is better.

It's just control with him. If he's throwing strikes, he's really hard to hit. Junior Marte, even just control with him. If he's throwing strikes, he's really hard to hit. Yep. Junior Maratai, even today. Love him. Love him. I don't blame today on him at all.

It was a tough spot he came into. He gave up a line drive fly ball that, unfortunately, had a super fast guy on third base. You know? Yep. So he might be on that Jeff Hoffman last year track where he comes out of nowhere and develops into one of their most trustworthy righties. Because right now, you look at the bullpen, it's Hoffman, who I think we all trust a ton.

And by the way, extend Jeff Hoffman. It's an official position. We'd like to make sure he's a Philly for life. I'm ready. I'm ready to do it. Sure. Let's go with that he can't go anywhere else yeah you have anthony a serenity i thought looked really good today i thought he was

good all the last couple outings yeah last couple outings he's been better velocity's there i think he's getting some bite back to that slider really really important great really since since the opening series the pen's been awesome yeah and then the third right-handed option, you know, I just don't know. It's probably Marte. So, and so Kirkering comes back. His stuff, yeah, and Kirkering will be at that. Marte's stuff has popped off the screen almost as much as any reliever this season, in my opinion.

Like, his stuff is not... Hitters look silly against him sometimes. Yeah. I was kind of concerned that the slider... When I watch Marte, I believe that they have taught him a splitter,

which is just phenomenal. Again, very, very pro splitter on this podcast. Best pitcher in baseball. Or the Phillies, it seems. But you look at his arm slot, and he has like 95 to 98 with that two-seam sink to it. And then to try to get around it, because it comes down to getting around the baseball

and being able to drive it the opposite way with the slider, I think it just leads to flattening out more than not. And it's not a pitch that I think has consistency. But if you can go 95 to 98 with a two-seamer, and then, I don't know, 88 with the splitter, there's enough difference there to where it should get guys off the barrel. So I think that's the best path going forward with junior marty but i i think that that there's at least something there now kirkering had

a really good he's on the way back thank god um looked dominant last night for the threshers four strikeouts the sweeper was sweeping it's just he'll be here and he'll be good yeah i can't wait i have so much faith in him i really do what it allows these starters to really go five innings which is yeah huge i mean it's early you know i know people get mad at topper and i have at times in certain situations with certain decisions because i don't think he's had a great start to the year oh interesting what what what are you currently talking about no yeah again, like I haven't had that many. I'm not like angry like most people are. I didn't like, you know, we've talked about it.

We talked about it last time, like the Strom over Hoffman against Duvall decision, the first series. There have been a couple of things. They're not popping out right this segment. You know, nothing crazy. I just feel like he hasn't done an awesome job managing the pen, but I'm not going to blame him for not pushing starters early in the season is the point.

Honestly, I'm not going to blame him for not pushing any pitcher early in the season. You know what I mean? I think, at least early for Thompson, I didn't hate sitting Stott today. Stott, I think, had two hits in the last couple games. And look, Mackenzie Gore was

tough. Dude, Mackenzie Gore was tough. Dude, Mackenzie Gore might finally be finding it. Yeah, that was the most impressive. We've probably seen him, what, like three, four times now since he came over to the Nats against the Phils, either in relief or in starts. That was easily the nastiest he's looked. For sure. So, yeah, I just think the bullpen's inappropriate.

It's about Junior Marte, Kirk around the way back. I mean, they might in, I don't know, a week and a half, two weeks, they might have Hoffman, Sir Anthony, Marte, Kirkering as their right-handed options. It's pretty damn good. And then left-handed options,

Alvarado, Soto, Strong. It's good. It's a really good bullpen. It's a really, really, really good bullpen. Yeah, it really is. I can't wait. Tonight, obviously, and only they lost.

But I'm counting down the days and really the minutes now because we are a little over 24 hours away. Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull, second start, man. I just, I can't wait like you're going with that one yep i can't wait i know i can't wait he's the greatest yeah they can't wait at least he gives him at least he like you watch him he was really good in that side and the reds are a good team you know that

was the only thing they want to get right now yeah dude i mean they're good i i i'm with you dude i always like turnbull but uh you you know, we'll see. Look, similar to Sanchez looked great in his first start and then didn't in the second. We'll see if Turnbull can kind of keep it rolling. But, yeah, I'm excited. Not as excited as you, obviously. Cannot wait.

He flashed five pitches in the first game. So, I know that made you very excited. Oh, dude. That's all I was talking about. I mean, I probably said it. I mean, I had multiple conversations about it. Yeah, so the Spencer Turnbull is incredibly important. And then, yeah, I mean, everything else is, like,

kind of offense-related. You know, Cassiano's Trey. Mary feels like popping the ball up a little bit too much for me. Like, you should be – Yeah. You should speed a little bit too much for me like you should be yeah yeah just beat a little bit yeah and I I don't know the runners scoring position thing they were pretty good at it last year it just feels like they haven't gotten that yeah look the other night but they don't have I want them to get better and start better and all that but like after the last two years especially last year when it's like the exact same things the base

running to this like it's just like I'm annoyed about it and I'm disappointed about it but I can't sit here and like rant and rave about it I can rant and rave about Rojas not being able to hit and that probably almost definitely being a bigger issue than it seems

they think it is at the moment but you know I can't like do at the moment but you know i i can't like that do i think that that that you know bryce harper is not gonna you know hit all and bryce has been fine actually i mean trey turner i think he's not gonna no i don't do i do i think they're gonna be this dumb on the bases all year no i don't but i'm annoyed by it so it's like you know i'm with you i just don't have much else to say about it i do have one more one more question i think my biggest hope from the weekend offensively is that I thought that they took better at-bats, and I thought they were controlling the strike zone better.

Bryce was really locked in, you know, with his at-bats, and he was really spraying the ball over the field too. Yeah, so I think that they did a good job in trying to get pitchers into the strike zone. At the same time, it's the Nationals pitching staff, which is not exactly the best in the world. But I was definitely happy with that. And then, final thing in the take back.

It was a good weekend. They took 2-3. Uh-oh, this phase. Aiden Miller do something or something? Is this where we're going? No, it's George Clawson. Okay, same. I knew you too well at this point.

It's unbelievable. Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the end of this year, I believe he's going to be in the top 100 prospects. He's just sick. So you have Clawson, who's a stud. Miller's a stud. Starling Cabo's starting to finally get some buzz which is 80 grade shortstop i saw potentially what are you telling me we're gonna have the

best defensive shortstop in baseball okay sure well given the the shortstop from the defensive position right now hey tell me tell me not great not great Future left fielder, Trey Turner. Future center fielder. Center fielder. Future second baseman, if anyone happens. Who knows? But that's all I got. George Clawson.

All right. As last year, I believe I mentioned Kirkering very early on in this podcast. Dude, that was – honestly, you've had some great calls. That was probably your best ever in the sense that just the idea that you would mention this guy who's in high a in like our preseason or like very beginning of the season episodes and that he would actually pitch in the playoffs for the team is like that, that like you'll never do that again. Don't plan on it.

That was unbelievable. It won't happen again, but George Glosson is a, is a, is a stud is a stud. All right. uh one more uh uh let's play a game of testing jack's baseball knowledge before we get out of here just because i was surprised at the number first of all do you know what pitcher threw the most pitches in a game so far this

season obviously not a long season so far but i assumed you didn't but it was it was not surprisingly uh uh no hitter guy uh blanco all right so it makes sense but but take a guess uh i just want to know if you how many pitches do you think he threw and thus is the most pitches that has been thrown in a baseball game entering today it might have been passed today and i didn't see it but take a guess 106 wow 105 unbelievable guess first of all nice job 105 pitch no hitters pretty good these days I feel like yeah it's efficient it is crazy that we're at that point and I know it's early in the season but like 105 pitches that we are almost two weeks into a baseball season and no one's thrown 106 pitches yet is pretty crazy and i know that that's the way it's trended and all that but i don't know

i like that there is one 110 111 here they're like i just i know it's early and i know there will get there at certain points of the season but it is it is wild when you see these numbers pop up and it's like wow that, that's not that many pitches. Sure isn't, pal. It sure isn't. But yeah, pitching is just changing a lot. And obviously the injuries is going to make these teams even more scared. But the nice part about the Phillies rotation is that they've never been the most, at least in the rotation,

they're not the most power-driven team. They're more pitchers than guys with a ton of stuff outside of Wheeler. Outside of Wheeler. Wheeler is the funniest of all of it, whereas Wheeler had all these injury issues early in his career, and that's part of the reason the Mets decided not to match or try and beat what the Phillies gave him, that he had yet to really put it together and stay healthy. He'd stayed healthy for a full season,

but hadn't stayed healthy for many full seasons and put together. So it's wild that he's, you know, and his own range has just turned into this bash now, but also it comes back to what you're talking about before. Like, you know, if your mechanics are good, if you can repeat the same thing over and over again, it's going to be better for your arm because you're not stressing it. You're not constantly putting more pressure on it in different spots and all

that type of stuff, you know? So anyway, it's good stuff. Good pitching talk out of here. I got to help you out sometimes. Yeah. I've often said that.

Us pitching guys. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very important. All right. Are we done? I think we're done. I think There we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very, very important. All right. We done? I think we're done.

I think we're done. Cardinals. Cardinals on. Cardinals. God, I hate the Cardinals. Hold on. Should we? People got mad at the Spencer Steer thing, but it also, like, I mean, it's a pretty good

call by us. Oh, it was a, yeah, phenomenal call by us. I mean, I have a name if you want one. Yeah, give me your name. Nolan Gorman is going to be super annoying. Interesting. Interesting. I'm going to go Brendan Donovan.

He's always annoying. That's just an evergreen call. I enjoyed that. That's well done by you. Yeah. The annoying players are the ones that I, again. You are like an ace at spotting them. It's like the people who can, you know, see a jelly bean thing and be there.

There's 1,800 jelly beans in there, and it's 1,800. You're like that with spotting these guys. You're like, oh, that's one right there. Well, it's part of the only reason why I've wanted Luis Guillorme on the Phillies for, I don't know. Oh, my God, forever. It's a permanent trade deadline thing. Just go get Luis Guillorme and everything's fine. That's great.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. I have to post this podcast, so that's fun. Edit post. No, it'll be great. It'll be great. All right, go, Phils.

Can we, like, I have one request. And two of three would do that this this next series but uh like can we just get above 500 and stay there like enough of this i get you don't have to be the hottest start in baseball i don't need you to you know i that seems clear that's probably not gonna happen i don't need you to reel off 10 of 11 and then we're rolling like that'd be cool don't get me wrong we not expecting it, but like can we just like get above 500 and build our way consistently from

there instead of being like 7 under and then 4 under. Oh, we're back and then we're under again and up we talk out to 500 and we're under. That's all I'm asking. Okay, not asking for much right now. Jack, I'm not asking for the moon here. They will in due time. Are you excited for the uh the the debut of the city connects on friday night or oh you know jackie you know me so well it's all i've been talking about uh yeah

can't wait uh on that note no they're they're fine i actually don't here's what i'll say i don't hate them you know they're fine. They're fine. We'll be back later in the week. Please, Phil, just two or three and God forbid a sweep. What a thought. All right. Until then, he's for it himself. We'll see you next time.