High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Countdown To Opening Day Is On!

Episode Date: March 10, 2024

Jack Fritz relays some stories from his time at Phillies spring training and James Seltzer gives his thoughts on the team less than three weeks before Opening Day. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Another fact, so jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Odyssey and Sports Radio 94, WIP. Yo!

It is another edition of the High Ops Podcast, also known as the first and who knows if only, but maybe only, edition of the last week of Fritz's 20s. Oh no! How you doing, buddy? Hello, everyone. I had to. I mean, after all the years of my lead with that.

How are you? It's a disaster. It's a disaster. I mean, think of... No, it's fine. It's okay. It's fine. You're a dad.

You're great. Everything's's good it's just really happier think about how good you are set up going to your 30s yeah i was a mess going into my 30s i i was starting my life over you're you're you're you're freaking crushing life man you should be happy it's more it's more just that it's it's weird to be alive for 30 years. That's the one that I've been thinking a lot about. I mean, I'm sure it's weirder being alive for 47 years. Or I just realized as I was thinking about your birthday coming up, for those listeners who don't know, Jack's birthday on Friday, March 15th.

Also, my little brother's birthday. Appropriate, my two little brothers have the exact same birthday. It was definitely weird thinking that my brother's going to be 38 on Friday. I feel older thinking about that than me being 42. Right. And because the whole thing is like, beware of the eyes of March, right? That's correct. Get stabbed in the back, buddy.

Julius Caesar was a real guy, right? It wasn't a Shakespeare thing. thing no he was real shakespeare did write a play about julius caesar but it was based on the real human who existed yes correct emperor of rome the whole thing yes just wanted to clear that up before we got too far into the yeah it's good having march 15th as a birthday to you know know those things yeah i just want to make sure he's real yeah he was he was this is good these i'm happy uh i'm happy we can let you enter your 30s with that mystery solved you know i feel like you know i feel like once you turn 30 you should know that so i'm happy yeah hey hey arguably younger you should know that but you know at 30 what will go with you hey it's spring training for everyone it's spring training for everyone and as you texted me it all matters that's right of course

matters yeah i watch i watch nicky c go oppo boppo and i was like it doesn't matter but it's fun and you're like did you did you watch did you watch the the dreadfulness that was the game in braden to the day at all or no oh i watch i watch some of it. And then once I kind of got a real feel for who was in the lineup, I was like, I don't need to pay. Yeah, I think once – I'm going to put on college basketball. Once O'Neal Cruz hit a ball, like maybe the hardest thing I've seen in baseball hit in a while,

I was like, might not be the boys' day. It's funny because I think he's the guy who holds the stat gas record, right? Oh, yeah. For the hardest hit ball, ball. Yeah, for sure. He's a showcase player. Six foot seven, throws the ball like 105 across the infield, hits the ball a mile. We have two six foot seven shortstops. What are the freaking odds of that?

I know. Like, it's ridiculous. Like, it doesn't make sense. Anyway. Yeah. Yeah. So, I have reached the point, though. Like, I'm ready.

Like, I just, I don't. Oh, me too. I'm ready. Like, I just, I don't. Oh, me too. I'm over spring training. I like the first week of spring training so much. And then right around this time. I'm bored, buddy. Well, you know, because, and this is not to rip, you know, the Phillies. They have made spring training.

I like where this is going, yeah. They've made spring training so boring because they put in guys that are like organizational types, you know, rather than like any of the interesting, like Aramis Garcia crushing it this spring. Stubbsy on the, on the hot seat.

Is he the best Aramis to ever play baseball? Yeah. Well, I say Aramis. It's, it's, it's Aramis. Aramis.

Come on, buddy. Aramis, It's Aramis. Aramis. Come on, buddy. Aramis Ramirez. We always called him A-dot in my league because it was a long joke. My buddy drafted A-dot Ramirez in an early fantasy draft to draft Aramis Ramirez. So we always called him A-dot. It's a pretty sick nickname. But no, they've made it so like that it's always

organizational types like most of the arms like there's some interesting arms like uh i got a whole five minutes that you need to give me on michael mercado oh trust me i saw your tweet i thought it was the whole pod i'm happy it's only five minutes i will i will gladly take that and like it's so funny they still make like stott and Boehm make the road trips. Oh, I know. So good. But I guess when the lineup's pretty much set, like there's no like real position battles.

The Rojas thing has to be talked about. I mean, he's just not hitting. At this point, if Christian Pache is not the opening, I don't know how he's not the opening dead center fielder. They seem so convinced Johan Rojas is going to be good, and I don't really know why. I think defensively, 100%. Maybe the best, with my own eyes, I've seen play center field for this team.

But I just don't think he's gonna hit enough and it's like there's not that that much of a downgrade from rojas the pache defensively if there is one and he just brings so much he brings so much more offensively like he's even hit home runs against righties this this year he's not he's hit a ball 105 miles an hour off for righty um the rojas thing is is is probably the most interesting thing left in camp he's bunting all the time which is fine like he has to know how to do that stuff um but i like what are we gonna do essentially put a pitcher batting knife again because that's what it seems like so the the rojas thing is probably the most interesting thing left yeah i think without a

doubt i think it's the only really like, you know, question that we have. And to your point, look, you know, spring training doesn't matter guy over here. But there are certain things where, you know, when a guy is coming in fighting to grab a job and it's like all you have to do is hit to grab a job and he can't hit, you know, I'm not going to say that doesn't matter. You know, I'm certainly not going to condemn his career because of but i'm certainly i'm certainly not gonna hand him the center field job if he can't prove in spring that he can at least hit off off especially have some of the guys he's facing uh so i'm right there especially when pache is hitting especially when pache is

out of options so yes there is a extra reason to have him on the roster and look if we're just talking about pedigree i mean christian pache has way more pedigree too. I mean, he is just a, he was always a higher end prospect with a higher ceiling than Johan Rojas, obviously not defensively, even though he is so funny. Cause you know, Pache, one of the great defensive outfielders we've seen in a Phillies uniform in our lifetime, but you know, Rojas I think is the greatest. So it overshadows it, but you know rojas i think is the greatest so it overshadows it but you know pache just uh like if he can get closer to his his you know uh natural gifts he's a better talent too so i i think there's a lot of reasons and to your point it makes a ton of sense i just think that you know i think that they wanted to come in showing belief in rojas you know showing and look i think the marsh injury kind of made it more of a necessity as well not knowing it how and if how ready marshall be to really roll from the start so

um i think they wanted to show confidence and and i i don't think that's done yet look it's only march 10th there's still you know three weeks or two and a half weeks uh till till the season starts and and still a you know a few weeks of spring training left. But yeah, look, I think if Rojas doesn't start hitting immediately, and even then, I think Pache will be on the opening day roster, and I think it'll be some sort of timeshare, especially dependent on Marsh and how much he can play. But yeah, I'm with you.

I think that if it's just the way it's been playing it's been playing out and if Marsh is ready and even maybe Merrifield and left, depending on it. But I think it's clear. Pache is way outplayed Ross. Well, just also, it's not,

it's pretty harmless to start Johan Rojas at triple A and see if he can handle triple A first, or if he can, if he's working on swing adjustments and it doesn't exactly click in spring training, I think the way to, I don't know, kill confidence more than anything is just putting him out there on opening day. And, you know, at least if he goes down to AAA and hits there and can continue to work through the swing changes, it could all work out.

But when you are where you are right now as a team that has preached all year, we need to come out hot. We don't want to go into the toilet. Now, the schedule in April... By the way, and also putting on the expectations of the owner coming out and starting everything off by being like, let's go win championships, guys, enough. The expectations are high coming right out the gate.

Like, I think, um, it's not giving up on Johan Rojas. Like I, I, there's something there. I just, at this point,

it looks pretty close to last year. And I know people bring up, well, he batted three or two. Do we remember some of the, some of the Johan Rojas hits? We talked about it. I remember his first homer was against a position player.

I know. The hardest hit ball we saw from him all year by a mile or deepest whatever was off a position player. It was like the only time he roped one. He had to apologize. Well, there's a couple that he hit right into the ground that bounced over the third baseman's head. There's a good player there.

But I just, with the way Pache looks, with the way he also tracks the ball well in center field, there's no downgrade there. And at least there's a threat of a home run there. I think at this point, they keep believing in him. I mean, some of the quotes from Middleton. All spring. And Dabrowski the whole spring, going into spring. Dabrowski on the morning show with us. What was it, like a month ago?

They've just been consistently, Rojas is our guy. That has been the messaging. And it's so crazy to me. It's so crazy to me. Because maybe I didn't know. I liked it early. But when he's struggling at a certain point you have to be willing to to look at what you're seeing right it's okay like it's it's okay and this is an organization that they value spring training results i mean they've given contracts out because of spring training results um so it

does matter you know a little bit and maybe in the next couple weeks he he heats up and all of a sudden he starts seeing it but it does look a little bit like last year um you know he he has had you know one for four games so but it's never like bang there's a three for four burger yeah yeah the like it's only what 20 something at bats 22 23 it's not like a crazy amount of it bats 27 something like that but yeah to your point you want to see him kind of get going i want to see him have like multi-hit games back to back whatever especially because it's one thing to you know struggle against kevin gaussman starting a game it's another thing against the bullpen guys and the fringe roster guys and all that that's another thing with the 302 last year that's a lot of september and you're facing guys who are getting

called up or teams that are out of it there's so many factors that but yeah i think it's clearly the most interesting thing uh eddie a season um all right let's get into some stuff because i think like you know the big thing you just freaking got to hang out with bryce harper and trey turner and and be down there and scout with your own eyes what you were seeing. So much scouting. Take us to Clearwater, buddy. What are the highlights? I know we have a, honestly, really, you tweeted the Michael Mercado pod,

and I was like, it's actually the Middleton jack pod, which no one else knows about, but we're going to get to a story that I'm waiting to hear too. But let's start with the players, Harper, Turner, what you saw. Give us the scoop. So, full disclosure, we were sitting in left field for the game on Friday. Couldn't see a thing. It's more of a party than a game. The Tiki Bar is great.

The Tiki Bar area is awesome. And let's just get this all out of the way. Clearwater is amazing. There's like 10,000 people there each game. It's unbelievable how people just flocked back to Phillies baseball. And the part that makes me the most happy is that for years, it was like, oh, baseball's dead in Philadelphia. Baseball's dead in Philadelphia.

Second team gets good, bang. Everyone's like, we've got to get to Clearwater. So that makes me happy. That's the sign of a city that can't wait for a baseball team. So that was exciting, seeing the amount of people. A lot of High Hopes listeners came up and said hi. Yeah, buddy. Well, I'll be there Sunday, or I guess Monday, Tuesday.

I think Monday there's a game, so I'll be there Tuesday. And Tuesday they have the night game. We'll be back by then. So I think we're there Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, come back. good we'll be back by then so i think we're there sunday sunday night monday tuesday come back but we'll be there um so yeah so just an unbelievable atmosphere per usual um and yeah so just hanging out and clear water is the greatest so if you haven't gone yet it's about time it's about time oh yeah yeah it's if you're a big time i mean what am i saying if you listen to this pod you should go to clear water you won't regret it. Yeah, it's an experience.

All right. So, yeah, like before we get your highlights from what you saw, because you didn't see much of the games, like take us through. You guys had Harper and Turner on the show. Got to hang out, take some pictures, squinting in the sun. No big deal. Give us some highlights. I was also in the advantageous or disadvantageous

if that's a word yes it is disadvantageous a word a spot of being on the end cruising into your 30s here I was on the end it was squinty you know so it made me look like I was ready to replace Kelsey on the O line

but but yeah so I so we get down there we fly in place Kelsey on the O-line. We get down there. We fly in and go straight to the ballpark to talk to those guys. We're sitting there for a little bit as they're finishing up infield work. Bobby Dickerson

and the boys. Magic. I love that little area. It's like a cool little spot where the little field is only an infield, and it's just a good little spot. Infield practice was my favorite thing to do. I mean, I was a catcher most of the time, but I would play third base when I didn't catch.

And when I was younger in Little League, I would play shortstop, and infield practice was my favorite. I just love field and ground balls, making plays. Like, it's just fun. And running double play drills. Like, it's great that's right quick and sell it not quick feet quick hands quick hand seltzer um so that's why i end up becoming a catcher and right right uh so yeah so we sit down and you know price comes over the first guy he says to his what's up jack and then no no way no way did he really shook his hand yeah oh no wow yeah whoa oh my god that was your heart of water i my heart's

of clark is hearing it yeah well so i think the only thing that could have made it better he's like hey jack love the pod i was i didn't know if that was coming but i it didn't come it didn't come yeah no complaints no good but uh yeah like i think i did a pretty good job of like all good you know don't need to my body was not or my i was not leaving my body at that time. I'm proud of you for that. So then we sit down on maybe the smallest picnic table ever assembled. Somehow they fit me, Spike, Ike, and Harper on this small picnic table. So I felt crammed in. So he's sitting facing us in a normal position into the mic.

I'm straddling the, the other side of the picnic, looking to my left with them, which is a bit of a tough scene, you know, like, but I feel like if I was turned around looking at him, I'd be really close.

Hearing you say straddle was tough. I can only imagine it actually happening. So, yeah, so I'm sitting on the picnic table, looking to my left, it's Bryce. You know,

in the beginning, I just kind of kept looking down at my notes and up because like if we were so close i didn't want to like you know yeah like get like super close eye contact by mistake yeah awkward moment like oh god i didn't mean to do that i just looked into his soul yeah right so i remember all i remember i'd be like bryce looking at my soul man i'm right here buddy so there was a couple times there was a couple of times where we did link eyes. And you could just see the intensity. It's magic. Yeah.

Yeah. Because I don't know if you know me. I don't know if you know me. I do, yeah. Not much intensity in these eyes. No, yeah. So when you see intense eyes. You get busted out when you have to.

That's the thing. You know, it's like, you know, game seven. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, yeah. So I don't know. Like, we're just sitting there. And I remember before every question, my heart was like pounding out of my chest.

Not even. It was bad. It was bad. But, you know, we made him laugh a couple of times. You know, talked about the season. He gave a really good answer. He was like, he,

he, well, you want him like a minute and a half answer about like chase Utley in the Oh nine world series. And I was like, God, you just get it. Yeah.

It's all I needed to hear. He just gets it. Yeah. He just got, and now that, now that Kelsey's gone, he's like the number one, get it.

Current athlete in Philly. I think, I know, I know, you know, like you couldn't pass Kelsey, but like, you know, it's Harper. Now I think i think the uh the audio was horrible so that was annoying yeah the the the key down there it's it's tough to do the outside interviews you know yeah well there is

that with the player if the players want it that makes it tougher too well also it's kind of like away from the mic a little bit so that was annoying annoying. But yeah, no, it was cool. He was very normal. He smiled, laughed a lot. He said, hey, Jack. I was the first one he said hi to. Oh my God, that's amazing. He's so charismatic and so likable.

I know, and he just gets it. He tries. He knew Spike came down from New York. Yeah, like even that he knew, like to know that just takes the time. Like, I mean, mean you know it's just so few people athletes take the time to care about that kind of stuff and it goes such a long way especially to say kelsey is another example like i mean just to take the time to write a

45 minute retirement speech thanking you know 10 million people like it's just like, there aren't that many people who care. And Harper, like, cares. Like, he wants to be, you know, what he is portraying himself to be here. And I appreciate that. Oh, and he went all, I mean, he said- Went all in. He said, when I got here, I was like, I'm going to be here for 13 years.

Yeah, he's made it clear. Yeah, he's trying to stay longer. He is trying to stay longer. All right. Before we get on the interview question on harper because we're on it because this kind of happened after you guys talked it was kind of like the that next day or whatever but the whole quote in the todd zalacki article about you know where he's like you know we got aaron and and zag locked in we got ranger

and then he's like then there's you know go free agents out there pretty good let's go get them um you know bryce has not been shy about uh you know asking the front office to make moves and obviously i think he's really helped the team from that perspective uh you know i don't think john middleton needs to be prodded much anymore i mean john's been freaking amazing and the dude has literally answered the bell in every pay someone a situation i just we're talking about the contracts that middleton's given out um the phillies have think about this phillies have eight contracts right now right now eight free agent contracts they have given out that are bigger than the biggest contract the white socks have ever given out the andrew ben attendee 5 for 75 was the biggest contract the White Sox have ever given out.

Andrew Benatendi, 5 for 75, was the biggest free agent contract in White Sox history. The White Sox have been around forever. Phillies have eight guys right now. So I don't think you need to push Middleton to spend more. But the big issue with this one that people had, and I've caught him in the middle. I'm not as angry as others, but it's also like you're in the clubhouse with the guys, but he mentions these guys and kind of doesn't mention Taiwan,

doesn't mention Christopher Sanchez. How'd you take that whole thing? I don't know. It's not that big of a deal to me. I don't think those I like it's, it's, it's not that big of a deal to me. I don't think those guys really saw it. And I don't, I actually don't think it's really about Sanchez. Like I think,

I think it's a message to Taiwan. That's my favorite read on it is that he was like, yo bro, you're going to complain like that. You're going to publicly go at our guy, Rob, like, like come back and earn it,

man. Like that's the way I read it. And I'm fine with that. And I get that he can't include Sanchez and not include, and then not include Taiwan. Cause then it man like that's the way i read it and i'm fine with that and i get that he can't include sanchez and not include and then not include taiwan because then it's like so pointed i just you know if i'm christopher sanchez i'm sitting there i'm like hey bryce i'm here buddy it's all good yeah i mean listen he's he is very influential in the organization that is obvious i also don't understand like he's done

things like this in the past I don't know why this one caused such a such a ruckus um like he's he's been vocal about wanting and by the way like it's never been a problem um and if you go and out of Jordan Montgomery to this team, it makes them that much better. So maybe it's a message to Taiwan. And I don't think it's really about Chris Sanchez. I think he knows that Chris Sanchez is perfectly fine as a five. I agree. I think he's a little bit worried.

I think he's worried about Tyler Walker. And I don't know why he really wouldn't be. He pitched yesterday fine. It was like 90 miles an hour. Again, he's an innings eater, which is funny because he's always injured growing up or coming through the majors. But Bryce wants to do what it takes to win. And if he views that as going and getting a Jordan Montgomery or a Blake Snell,

again, I don't really think they're on Blake Snell. You have to give up a lot on top of it for such a short-term deal. What I think about these pitchers now is, you know, it's traditionally said that, you know, these guys that miss a bit of spring training and aren't ready to go from day one, they have a bit of a slow start to the season. Like, at what point do you just pull the plug and be like,

eh, like Jordan Montgomery would be nice, but maybe he's not going to be ready to go, or maybe he's going to start the season slow. And if it's a one-year deal or whatever, is it really worth all this? As opposed to just what they talked about, like the way they phrase it, which is a weird phrase, but saving the powder for the trade deadline and getting someone who looks awesome and is locked in and be like,

Oh, we can go get our equivalent of going to get Max Scherzer or whoever for a stretch run. Like maybe that's a smarter idea if we're talking about a one year deal anyway. Right. And, and like the Red Sox apparently are balking.

I think he's still in the mindset that he's going to get, like, a seven-year deal. And it's like, well, the Phillies aren't giving out a seven-year deal. They'll sign you to one with opt-outs for probably three years if you want that, or two years if you want that. I think they'd take him for a year. But I wonder at what point do they just say, eh, we're good. Because he probably starts the season slow if he gets into camp today. You know, it's March 10th.

The season starts in 17 days. I agree. Not probably. He won't be ready to start. Like, whenever these guys sign, they will not be pitching the first week of the season. Like, they just won't. Like, that's not the way it works.

Big move at the deadline. I would like the first ever uh real dobrowski all-in kind of move yeah um so yeah i i was i was surprised i guess at the reaction and yeah sure like if you want to say this could cause problems in the locker room sure but like this is a phillies team that has never had problems in the locker room you know like the they collapsed in game six and seven and they didn't immediately go to local reporters or leak out that there was finger-pointing involved, unlike the football team in town. So it's like two different, I think, things.

And I think people kind of understand the Bryce situation. I mean, it's sort of like LeBron. I mean, LeBron's gone everywhere, and he's traded everyone. Oh, my God. LeBron is way worse about it. LeBron is like, I mean, if I were LeBron's teammate, I'd be like, what the bleep, man, all the time. I'd be like, really? Like, we're here.

I'm with you, dude. Like, on its face in a vacuum, I don't love it from your team leader. But I also understand the Taiwan situation. I also understand. I give Bryce credit to understand the dynamics in that locker room better than we do and him doing something like this who will who won't whatever be bothered understand whatever um all right let's let's get to uh the trey uh interview and and you know did he walk up and say jack thank you i he did not we'll appreciate you for the

rest of my life no no no um I've put you on my will. No, nothing like that. It was probably the most comfortable I had seen Trey in any setting. And it doesn't matter, but he's looked comfortable this spring, too, in limited bets. He's been good. Looks great this spring. So, yeah, I think he just seemed very relaxed heading into year two.

He said a couple of times, like I'm not using the world baseball classes, classic as an excuse and not doing this, not doing that all excuses, which, you know, I appreciate, but like it was a lot of, of moving parts.

Plus going to a new team, plus huge contracts, plus Bryce Harper missing the beginning of the year. Like there was a lot on Trey last year, coming to his team that was in the world series the year before, you know, there's expectations to get right back to that point. And Trey at that, you know, was considered a top 10 player in the sport when he signed that contract.

So he just seems much more, I got it, like even he's messing around with Stott. He's messing around with Boa. You know, Boa was talking also about how Trey seems just so much more comfortable, like they're messing around the golf course together. Like the camaraderie of this team, I think, is one of the bigger takeaways from being down there is like, you know, when we were- Right back to where they left off kind of thing.

Well, and where I think people were annoyed this offseason where it felt like they weren't going all in and they weren't pushing all the chips in. That's not fair. They were pushing the chips in, but there wasn't that big other move to respond to the loss of the Diamondbacks. What I think is discounted in that is a group of guys who all went through it together, now being brought back, being put in the same spot. It reminds me a lot of those early 2000s Eagles games, where it was the same guys pretty much every year you know i mean

oh four was when they started moving on you know that's when they got they had lito and sheldon for for troy and bobby um but it was it was a similar core that had gotten close had gotten close and was just waiting to break through totally um after not after not having success for a really long time as a franchise like that level of success yeah right and like and and then obviously we know about the run from osada 11 like a lot of guys who've been there for a little bit but they went out and added in 10 11 and even 12 when they're trying to keep that window open but they just all seem like they all get and know each other so well and and when you know these guys better, and you get more comfortable around them, like it just makes the bond stronger and makes you want to push it more and more. So I

think that's been really cool to see. I think Trey that kind of came across in the interview, again, poor quality, but but he was he was joking around. He was having fun. Spike showed him the video of us in the locker room. Locker room, that's great. And he was like, how would you rate this? Was it a little too handsy? And Trey was like, listen, when you're celebrating in the locker room, sometimes the emotions take over. It's all good.

So he did not think it was a bad interaction. He gets it. It was a perfectly fine interaction. I agree. It was perfectly fine. I agree. I agree. I thought it was perfect.

Totally. It was a couple of baseball guys interacting in a locker room. That's all it was. Just talking shop. Just talking shop. He also was like, yeah, hopefully we don't have to do the standing ovation thing again you know like let me tell you something uh probably wouldn't happen that

way again if uh if we had done that yeah i don't i don't think so so um he was he was just great and he seems so uh content seems happy uh you know has been pretty open about his his defense you know and and needing to get better there. I think the him and Stott relationship is starting to get really strong. Good. Stott's been busting his stones about him beating him in stolen bases last year. Nice. I love friendly competitions.

It's beautiful. Let's go. Trey's like, look at my baseball card. Look at the best baseball card. It's good. Well, you can learn from Trey it's great and over your skis a little bit that's phenomenal so yeah I think Trey looks

phenomenal too just at the plate everything just looks great I mean of the regulars of the regulars I think Trey sticks out right now and then again like JT is just squaring up yeah he's been awesome every time I see it he's squaring it up and hitting it hard.

I'm so with him. I'm really excited about that. And that could really solve their, you know, if they do go with the lineup we've expected with a Schwarber, Turner, Harper start, like, you know, because we know how much Topper loves those righty righties and the late inning lefty lefty thing. Like JT, like I think kind of being like,

I'm the guy you should put in the four-hole right now, and I think that could carry over. All right, before we move on from your trip down there, I mean, let's do it, buddy. I can't believe I've made it 33 minutes without getting to what you referred to me in a text as the botched John Middleton interaction that you had, that you were waiting for the middle of the day,leton interaction that you had that, uh, that you were waiting for the middle of the day. You were excited to have one.

And, and, uh, I was like, what happened? And he's like, you'll hear on the pod. So we're here.

All right. So, uh, Friday, we, this is two times. Um, so Friday we're in the lunchroom and,

uh, you know, he's sitting at the table over sitting by himself. I said, I said a spike, like, should I go say hi you know and i didn't of course not like i was like of course not i would have walked you over there myself and like hey john yeah nope nope nope nope because it's again you and me are very different very different i know trust me. Emily would be doing what you were doing. She'd go the other way. She'd be like, you know what?

I'm going to leave the room and let John have the room. I don't. Meeting people that I care about a lot or that I think are famous or whatever, I highly dislike those interactions. Highly dislike. Now, have i told the doobie story on this podcast uh-huh yeah but i mean we got new listeners you could i mean your your fear of meeting rich doobie at the hall of fame is is legendary you're like that's rich doobie and i'm like so see you don't get it man you don't get it like i was so we were at cooperstown he's walking

around the hall of fame and then by the, this is not when I was a kid. This was five years ago. No, we were adults together. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that's Rich Doobie. Are you going to go say hi? And I was like, absolutely not.

Way too nervous. I was like, what's wrong with you? Way too nervous, man. Just way too nervous. So I didn't say hi to him in the lunchroom. And that night, we went to the uh like philly's party thing um and of course you know you get some liquid courage um that definitely helped so you know talking but i didn't i didn't go up to him yet so like i saw him i was kind of like all right

feeling it out is this a time where i could do it? Like, am I really going to say hi? No big deal if not, because if I don't, it's just another. Nothing gained, nothing earned. You know, it's just one of those. Like, you're in the exact same spot you were in before. Right? Yeah. So I have to go to the bathroom.

And I'm navigating in between tables to get to the bathroom. And he hits the hole like a linebacker. I hit it like a running back. And it was like, and I was like, I was, I was forced to say hi to John Middleton. There was no other way of getting out of it. I had to say hi to John. And the first part was he didn't have any hands because he was holding stuff.

So I went out to shake his hand. Oh, no. I was like, hey, John, my name's Jack Fritz. Like, really great to meet you. Put out my hand. Didn't have any hands. So he gave me, like, the elbow. And I was like, I want to die inside.

Oh, no. It's tough. It's not going well. And then I was like, yeah yeah huge fan like love what you've done like thank you for everything all that stuff and then i was like i don't know somehow i was like i was like oh yeah i work at wip oh nothing really great to meet you oh man yeah he didn't break it at once like there's no... There's nothing. There's nothing.

I'm sure it sounds tougher than it was. It sounds tough, though. I was expecting it to be less tough, but it's pretty tough. Thank you. When he put out the elbow... I'm sure it was fine. When he went elbow out instead of hand, he's like, ah, so I don't really have it.

You were doomed from that moment. You knew it. Because once, if those interactions don't go perfectly. Yeah, you're in your head for the next month about it. Then I start just thinking about it. Then I start thinking about it. I'm sure it was fine. I'm just joking around with you.

I'm sure it was fine. Well, I'm sure, here's the thing. Middleton will not remember it or care. Exactly. I will remember it or care exactly i will you will yeah um so i did my best it was not great you know of all the things i've botched in the last month you know the kellen moore question that was yeah that was bad audio yeah there are a few that's low on the list, comparatively. Because, again, Bryce is like, yo, Jack, what's up, man? Exactly. I had smoothed all that over. Yeah.

Yeah. I almost, I did not say hi to Topper. I really wanted to say hi to Topper. Yeah, I've not gotten, I can't wait to say hi to Topper. I'm looking forward to that if I get the opportunity. Yeah. But it was awesome. It was awesome.

And then I went and met up with my buddies my my one of my best friends tommy oh shout out to tommy so he had a bachelor party in clearwater so i had to go leave the uh the highly important phillies party to go hang out with look at you what a good friend you are yeah top tier top tier um but yeah so um it was a it was a bad inter it wasn't a bad interaction it just wasn't great look it's just high hopes for it it's just oh i see what you did there it's like saying the name of the movie title in the movie i love that yeah yeah like i i guess i got a little lofty expectation that i was waiting for him to be like dude love the pod you know what i mean yeah or even just hey jack yeah i know you like that would have been fine as soon as he didn't say love the pod i was like this is

going this is not going oh jack wip sure like that would have been fine yeah that would have been even like a flicker of acknowledgement in his eye without saying they would have been great but i got it here's the thing myself one yeah well that's the point is honestly the way you look at this is it's just giving you an opportunity to make that second one that much more magical and meaningful. Where to go from up? As my quarterback says,

either win or you learn. There you go. That's your quarter. Good. I like that. Welcome aboard. I'm happy to have you aboard on that one. I owe you dinner, by the way. All right. Let's get to the take bag, aka the Michael Mercado bag today.

All you, buddy, let's go. So I have been burned by this in the past, full disclosure. Let's get this one right out of the way. I can't remember a single time. The key to, I guess, calming down any negative reaction to things sometimes, James, is getting out in front of them. So that's what I'm currently doing. Yes, I know about McKinley Moore.

I know about Andrew Baker. I know about some of these failed bullpen guys in the past. Well aware. Junior Marte. Ramon Rosso. Remember when you were in a ramon rosso i believe i i believe i was the one that convinced them that he should be like and then i remember the first game against the marlins in the coven year he completely blew a game in like a lead dude they're the ones that put him in the in an in the eighth inning of a game it's a disaster that was a total just i mean we're spoken of all time buddy and ramon ross for a reason i forgot about ramon raso

that's what i'm here for pal well well editor by rama believe bry ramos uh who's the guy they traded to the Rays that had that gyro slider, I believe, then? Not Garrett Clevenger, right? The one they traded. No, no, no. It's not. Oh, I know who you're talking about.

But anyway, yeah, let's get to Mercado because, you know, geez Louise, 40 minutes in, I haven't got it. What am I doing? Go ahead. Might be the next Madsen, honestly. No, no. A real quick, real quick diatribe. Diatribe might not be the right word.

Probably not, yeah. Real quick aside. Real quick aside. Tangent, aside, whatever. Yeah, real quick aside. I love, so I love Ryan Madsen. What a bold statement from a Phillies fan, yes. But I think Ruben Amaro Jr. loves Ryan Madsen more than me

because on the broadcast the last two days, he's compared different players to Ryan Madsen. I love it. That's great. And me and him were both kindred spirits on the Connor Brogdon is the next Ryan Madsen. He was. He was not. You never know. Still young. Key member of the 22 Ryan Madsen. He was. He was not. You never know.

Still young. Key member of the 22 World Series run. No, but Mercado, like, fastball pops. Fastball's really heavy. Has obvious big league stuff. Sliders coming along. So he's probably going to start the year in AAA. But he seems like that first guy goes down, bang,

there's Michael Mercado. And there's legitimate stuff there. I mean, of all the uninteresting stuff we've seen so far in spring training, he's something. There's something there. I think his command's gotten better the last couple days as he's settled down. Just completely owned O'Neal Cruz today. I mean, it was, I believe, a three-pitch strikeout. If not a three-pitch, at least a four-pitch.

Just bang, right after him. So there's big league stuff there. I think they're having him tinker with a splitter. So if you have his fastball that is heavy and hard to get on top of, and then he had that slider with a splitter, there's something there with Michael Mercado. Very excited about it. But that's all. I'm really psyched for you buddy it's great um cool so yeah

i have nothing else to say also 63 is a good uh reliever number but i don't it's it's actually a weird spot to be in james because if this was like i don't know three years ago it's like oh i don't have to make the big oh yeah i know but now it's there they got dudes man they have so many guys there's so many guys i was thinking about that i was thinking about that earlier in the pot even when we were talking about the roas thing where it's just like yeah it's like even like the bullpen stuff it's not like oh i wonder which of these young guys are actually going to make it which aren't like marty making it a couple years ago ever like that kind of stuff where it's like, was that last year, whatever it was last year.

Yeah. Like it's just, the roster is so firm right now. Like it's just, it's really tight. It's great. And speaking of that, I was going to save it for the take bag,

but it's a Michael Mercado theme take bag. Well, it's Michael Mercado, but it's like the fact that I can just lay my head down at night and sleep through it without waking up in a cold sweat wondering if this Jeff Hoffman run is going to end. Like, he's just good, man. He comes in, he throws strikes, he throws hard. Pedigree, buddy. Pedigree. And he's like...

Giant, too. He's giant, but I think he's starting to develop the cockiness that you need out of... I mean, there is a world where Hoffman could be a closer here. I mean, he could be. He's got the stuff for it. And other than a couple moments, he's had some big playoff moments, too. Big spot moments. And it seems like they never want to put...

They never want to just put Sir Anthony or Alvarado just in that spot. Like they did it with Alvarado at the beginning of last year because it was bad. And then he got hurt and Kimbrell kind of took over and went on his all-star run.

Our guy, Craig Kimbrell. So I just wonder if, I mean, there's some closer upside with Hoffman if they don't want to put one of those guys there. And if a Kirkering doesn't jump out and take it, he's just really good. And it seems so. It's like the Alvarado jump where you don't worry about Alvarado.

I think that's where I'm at with Jeff Hoffman. Love it. Yeah, look, I mean, if he does it, it's all about coming back and doing it again. So, you know, we'll see. And again, you know, we always talk about, like, what a story with a lot of these guys. For it to be pitching to Harper or some BP

and stuff and then to end up doing what he's doing, it's really cool, especially as a former... Was he a top 10 pick, not just first-round pick or something? It's like seven or nine or whatever. I think he was nine after Nola. First-round pick by the Rockies as a pitcher just must be like,

you know, well, that couldn't have gone worse. Yeah, that couldn't have gone worse. All right, what else you got in the bag? So, by the way, of all the things, right, you know, the Harper Tommy John caused, you know, you have Harper at first base, and it unearthed a gem in Jeff Hoffman. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, it's a great point.

Once again, Tommy John. Making the team better everywhere. Yeah, fortuitous Tommy John who knew it. Maybe Andrew Painter is going to come back and throw you that much harder and then his would be fortuitous too. Dude, I think I've talked about it on this podcast. I'm sure I have. For as excited as I am for the Phillies to be back,

I'm just as excited for the whole, the minor league, like watching Aiden Miller games down in Clearwater, seeing Justin Kropp, like all that stuff. Like everything that surrounds baseball, I just, I love. Spring training, I love. Fancy baseball, I love. Following the minor league system, I love. And then every night at 7.05.

Dude, everyone, 6.40 these days, everyone listening is just like, yeah, Jack, we know, buddy. 6.40 has ruined the magic of 7.05. 6.40 is great. Someone who wakes up at 3 in the morning earlier, the better, buddy. Sure, and I'm not disagreeing. Selfishly. I'm just saying that which is a more romantic time?

Oh, 7.05, it's not even close. 7.05 is romantic. By miles, what are we doing here? It's not even a question, I agree. Yeah, so yeah, I can't wait for everything involved with the theme. I know he only threw it maybe twice. I think he threw it three times,

but it was only registered twice the wheeler splitter's there man like it's there's something there with the wheeler splitter and he's saying how this is the pitch it's gonna take him to winning a cy young i mean you're telling me you're telling me by the way for people who may gamble or may not gamble, plus $850 for the side. Plus $850. Just saying. Just saying. Just saying.

By the way, like, Elie Deville-Cruz is plus $5,000, which is, he was plus $15,000 two weeks ago. Yeah, crazy. Although I'm surprised I looked at the stats, did not realize the end of the year, betting $234. I thought he was way higher than that because i thought he's a unicorn either way um so the yeah so he's like talking about how this pitch is going to take him to the side young he had a splitter back with the mets but there was such a dumb organization and obviously the

phillies have taken massive advancements and caleb kauf i'm like this version of the splitter seems so much different and he did need something to get it off of You know get lefties off of his basketball because his lefties had decent numbers against him last year I feel the only time he ever got hit hard was mostly by a lefty besides I guess what the Riley home run against the Braves but But like it had the right the right movement to it My only concern with it is just is, is the arm able to handle it? Because it does loosen up the tendons in the elbows. But his arm also seems remarkably strong at this point.

So it looks good. It looked like a pitch that can be a weapon, and I hope that we can see more of it as the spring goes on. Or they don't, and he just saved that baby for the regular season there you go or for the playoffs let's go what else yeah just whatever they have no uh no book out on you yeah um i'm semi annoyed with the strikeouts it seems like there's a lot of strikeouts so far well especially if you're coming in and working we're gonna you know we're working on swing and miss and you know putting the ball in play it's like yeah yeah i feel like the chase has looked better.

I feel like they're not chasing as much. It's early. I'm sure the spring goes along. They'll be all right. You want to talk about pedigree? You want to talk about things that matter? Can I just have David Dahl on the team and then Jake Gaines? Oh, big time. I couldn't

agree with this more. How do you guys agree with you? I know he could get hurt 100%. They might not need David Dahl. The end of the bench is going to be interesting from the point of how much do they value Weston Wilson? Do they want a right-handed bat that has

some pop and is pretty patient? Or do they want a lefty that that might have some pop off the bench it's just i just i want david doll out there i'm with you i don't need the jk thing totally agree he said a couple home runs this spring yeah it's just preach buddy no one's dying about jk jk not being on the team um uh there's i know people are are starting to get excited about Aramis Garcia. A. Garcia. I'm going to. Maybe a better hitter than Stubbs.

But I think people just don't get the value that Stubbs brings from a vibes perspective, from the locker room stuff. He just matters. He just matters he just matters he can and it's back up catcher he played yeah if that you know jt plays more than most catchers too yeah dude um what are we doing here like what are we doing here if you get a minor upgrade people are still mad about the pool thing so i'm actually i've i'm not mad at me more i hate we it was wrong like we came to you know the dumb idiot whatever but like let's you know i'm not gonna be staying mad at garrett stubbs they still went out and didn't play well you know like you know i i know but i am surprised at how

i feel like i've gotten over it faster than myself thought that i would yeah you know what i mean yeah i'm totally all right. It's all good. Love you, buddy. We're good. I almost forget it happened. Let's move forward, buddy. Play some tunes.

We're good. Find the song. Find the song. And then I thought it was notable that they pitched Griff on Back to Back Days because I'm under the belief he's still in their plans to be a starter. So pitching on Back to Back days does not suggest that. Very notable. Also, they went from he's not going to pitch in the Grapefruit League

to a week later pitching back-to-back days. It's hilarious. I thought that was weird. Also, I know there's the flu bug that's going around the team. Like, let me see McAble again. Let me see Griff again. I feel like I've seen almost everyone else a million times, you know, by that point, by this point in the spring.

Like, I want to see some of the dudes. People you don't need to see. Yes, exactly. To quote Major League, Lou Brown, guys will be bagging groceries in a month. Yeah. Oh, Griff pitched today. Nice. There's, there's, Oh, Griff pitch today.

Nice. Oh, there you go. Look at that. Ask and you shall receive. He walked to, you spoke it into existence, even though it already happened. Yeah.

He walked to, yeah, we were, we were grocery shopping by that point. um, but yeah, it's been, uh,

I'm definitely, definitely ready for spring training to be over and the boys are almost here. The boys are almost there. Love it love it uh final thing for me getting requests some from me fritz guys list just throwing that out there drafts are you know coming around the corner they are just saying i was sending some out last night to people good well. Well, I forgot to include me on the list. Thank you, friend. It's great. Well,

when's your draft? March 22nd. Oh, you got some time. So my draft, my draft that I care the most about is next Sunday. So I will. Okay,

good. All right. So you'll be ready. Look at you. Birthday weekend draft. Look at that. Whatever it takes. Uh,

if you want, if you want to, if you want my, one of my friends guys, and this is going to, this is going to hurt you. And i'm sure a lot of our listeners yeah it's great deep down yeah i'm just saying he's throwing 95 miles an hour now and the command hasn't really suffered i'm intrigued by it but cole irvin oh no oh no i had him for a spot starter too last year he's so annoying because like he would i picked him up he would give me like seven one runnings and the next start give like eight runs and two

innings i'm like this great i know uh nick lodolo is going was disgusting a couple years ago i like nick lodolo do you already throw a complete game against of course i do freaking bb's he's throwing bb's up there nasty man. So he could definitely be one of those turnbullish guys that I always buy into the guys that are hurt coming back and I can't believe he's so low and then they get blown up, but

I will be buying shares of Nick Lodolo as this goes on. I am not surprised. In on that one. We'll be back later in the week, everyone. I was going to say wish Jack happy birthday on Friday, but make fun of him for being 30 on Friday. Please make fun of him for being 30. Please, please, please.

I will. You should too. We'll be back later in the week. Until then, he's Fred Simselter. We'll see you next time.