High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: 4 Straight Series Wins, Measuring Stick Series This Week

Episode Date: June 25, 2018

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phils have won 4 straight series, even after the frustrating end to the series. The guys talk about the bullpen, trade possibilities and how close this team is. The Yanks are coming into town and it's a big series to say the least. BIG WEEK. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. 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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Jack Fritz screwed up the first one. I'm annoyed right now and I'm not going to lie, but the Phillies did win this series. They've won four straight series. They're losing eight six right now. They're probably going to lose because Sean Doolittle is really good, but at least things are good right now other than the annoyance of it being late and jack fritz messing up a far better open the first time around fritzy what's going on buddy it was like 30 seconds i think you'll be okay but it was brilliant it was 30 seconds of gold jack um i was doing really well i was very excited uh i was tweeting bring on the yankees yeah you blew it for everybody yeah i think that's so stupid and i got idiots in my mentions like oh shut up man just shut up like

let me live my life i was excited like just shut up and and then like i don't understand why gabe used used eddie bryce so early tonight like eddiebrei's been your second best reliever for a month now. And the fact that you're using him in a 6-2 game in the sixth inning just seemed pretty stupid. I didn't like that one bit. And then he uses Austin Davis in, like, the biggest moment of the game. It's like, what are you doing, Gabe? Like, Austin Davis just got brought up last week, and he stinks. Like, what are we doing?

And then, obviously, Sir Anthony comes in. He walks Juan Soto to get to Daniel Murphy, and Daniel Murphy makes them pay. Everyone's freaking out about the Juan Soto thing, but it's like a pick-your-poison. Either you're pitching to their best hitter or you're facing a guy that's batting 175 on the year. It's a pick-your-poison kind of thing.

I didn't hate the decision. Obviously, it didn't work out. But, yeah, I don't know. What do you think? I was fine with the decision. Juan Soto has been a way better hitter than Daniel Murphy so far. And I know Murphy just got back from injury, but Juan Soto is awesome. That dude is so good.

He really is. He's so impressive. I would have done the exact same thing. Murphy hasn't looked great since coming back from the DL. I think tonight was actually his first multi-hit night since returning. So, yeah, i was fine with that decision i i agree with you i think the much much more criminal decision was sticking austin davis in the game at that spot i don't know why you um why you would think to go to austin davis like

you said he doesn't remember good and also has not been a part of the bullpen long gabe seems to do that where he'll throw some guys and just because he has them. We've seen him throw Jake Thompson into some weird big spots, even though Thompson now no longer on the squad. It's just he sometimes has some really strange decisions and maybe it's based on rest and this and that and certain guys. But look, ultimately, while that was frustrating, you know, you hope that you got to a spot where Sir Anthony could lock it down. He couldn't tonight. And it's just a frustrating loss, especially because it's so late. They have the rain delay. Everyone's staying up to watch you.

You feel good. You're winning the whole game. But I do think, look, I am negative because I'm tired and I have to wake up early for work tomorrow. But on the whole, I think you have to take a real positive away from the weekend. Obviously, the 12-2 win on Friday was just awesome. Early 2-0 lead for Washington, and then the Phillies just pound away with 12 straight runs. The Saturday win, a nice one as well. Nola wasn't his best, but was certainly good enough, and the bullpen actually holds there.

Some big hits. Mike Calfranco comes through with a few big hits for the first time in a while and uh the pen certainly better but then tonight a frustrating kind of bittersweet end note to this series when you look at the series as a whole and kind of the way they've been playing the four straight wins and the loss from tonight i'm assuming doesn't damper your overall enthusiasm about the team right now no i'm i'm really excited about the team i'm really uh it just felt like they've been turning a corner and they're starting to feel like a young team that actually believes that they're good for the first time in a while

like you doble out in the first step cheering guys as they're running into the dugout they they the coskins they showed a lot more uh him the dugout which i thought was really cool after his homer it feels like a young team that's starting to think, hey, we're pretty good. And I think that's important for a young team. Because A-Rod or someone mentioned it tonight, the longer they stay in this race, the more that a young team begins to believe that they're actually this good.

And it makes a team like the Nationals, who are established and everyone thought they were going to run away with the division, it makes them start to worry a little bit. And when teams start to press a little bit, it's not a great situation. Watching this Nationals team this weekend, it looks like they're having no fun. They look like one of the least fun teams playing baseball right now. They just look like a miserable team.

They're old. And sometimes you just see the beginning of the end of a team that's brand and that could be ran the division for a long time and it kind of feels that way with this nationals team it's a bunch of like overpaid old guys it's weird but then they have juan soto so it kind of takes away the whole argument yeah no i i definitely go i get what you're going for and and it's also hard to judge a nationals team that is throwing out Eric Fed and Jeffrey Rodriguez with one F. Who the hell spells Jeffrey with one F? But, yeah, I think this is certainly the beginning of the end, as it were,

for this iteration of the Nationals team. I don't think Bryce Harper is going to be there next year, first and foremost. But like you said, I mean, look, Juan Soto, Trey Turner, they've got some guys in the minors still. They're still there. But I think you're seeing the Braves and the Phillies kind of start to make their runs. And with all the talent each of those teams has already on the major league rosters and on the minor league rosters, I think that's where the division is headed. But I also think you make a great point about this young team believing in themselves.

I've been talking about that really all season with the hot start and how I didn't really care that they were beating up on bad teams. That was the whole excuse people had because they were winning games and they were building confidence and they had comeback wins and they were coming through in big spots. And I'm a big believer in reps in anything in life. Whatever you do, I think you're better at it if you get reps and if you get the opportunity to practice it in high leverage situations, as it were, whatever your job is. So I think for this team to get these opportunities, to get these reps in these types of games and these types of spots has been really big for them.

And I think we're seeing them grow as the season goes on. And also we've talked about this kind of resiliency we've seen from them all season. And now a stretch of baseball where we're coming to the month of June, Jack, that was supposed to be the gauntlet for this team. And they've won, you know, they've won four straight series against legitimate playoff contending teams. The Rockies, clearly the worst of those teams, but the Cardinals, the Brewers, the Nationals,

all those teams fighting for a playoff spot, you know, probably still in September. So what do you make of where the Phillies stand in the National League right now? Obviously after this game, they will be a half game up on the Nationals, assuming Sean Doolittle closes out here. They'll be a half game up on the Nationals in the wild card race.

And then still about two and a half back at the Braves in the division. What do you think about the rest of the National League? Is it shaping up heading into the month of July? Well, I mean, the Nationals just turned two ridiculous plays to stop the Phillies here in the ninth, which is very frustrating. So I'm walking into this with a very frustrated angle. I think they've cleaned up a lot of their mistakes recently. The errors, they weren't a huge problem this week. I don't remember any big-time error that really came back and cost them in any game. They've been pitching pretty well.

And the hitting, it's finally starting to bear fruits. They've been working a lot of pitchers. They're starting at big hits. They're scoring more runs finally. It feels like more of a complete baseball team. I know the last couple podcasts have been like, I don't know why they're winning games, but now it's starting to look more like a more competent baseball team.

They're starting to look better and better and better. And if they get some actual bullpen pieces that they can rely on in big spots, then they're not a force to be reckoned with, but they're a much tougher opponent as it, as it comes down the homestretch here, because right now, I mean, Sir Anthony is great, but they're using him a lot and he got hit around tonight and he's never going to be perfect. Like that's just not realistic other than him.

It's still like, you know, you cringe every time Tommy Hunter comes in, you cringe every time Adam Morgan comes in. I feel pretty good about it at a'Brien, but I don't know. Until they get a really locked down, not locked down, it doesn't have to be locked down, but guys they can confidently go to in a bullpen. It's tough to say they're one of the best teams in the NL,

but I think they're a good team that's improving. Yeah, I think that's a fair way to say it. I think, look, from an offensive perspective, they've shown that, you know, we talked a lot about that stretch of baseball where Jay Gary had to call the team out and, you know, can they hit and missing Reese and how important that was. Since Reese has been back, the offense has pretty much gotten going from that moment of doobles locked in again. Reese is clearly locked in. So I think they've shown that with those three guys,

Santana being the third and then Cesar leading off the line, that they can score runs. They can be a competitive team from an offensive perspective. And the pitching has held up for the most part, you know, not quite as hot as the start was. But, you know, look again, a nice outing from Nick Pavetta tonight, only five innings due to the rain delay there. But really, you know, got in a little trouble.

Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. Pavetta's been great. And Nola has been really good to great all the time. And Velasquez has been better more often than not. Arrieta is the guy that we worry about right now. And look, who would think Zac Eflin would be the king of June? All that guy does is win games in the month of June. But quickly on the hitting before we look over the pitching side, because I do think that, and the defense has been more sound lately. Scott Kingery

has played a pretty decent shortstop lately as well. The more reps he's getting there, he's starting to look more comfortable and confident there. There was the play tonight that bugged me and you as well with Hoskins where he dove for the Trey Turner ball. And first of all, probably should have been able to get closer to catching it, but then just lays there. And it took Herrera, it seemed like forever to get over there. But neither here nor there.

From an offensive perspective with those three guys as the crux of it, and we'll get into coming up in a minute some of the names, a couple names floated this weekend in trade rumors. As you mentioned, trading for a bullpen piece, a couple third basemen mentioned this week. We'll get to that in a second. But without the addition of a trade, how confident do you feel about the offense

with Hoskins, Oduble, and Santana fronting it? Yeah, I think the first four is one of the toughest in the whole league. I mean, it just is. I mean, it's guys who grind and work at bats and will grind you down. I mean, the Phillies this weekend, what was it? I saw something like 200-some pitches in the first two games or something. They're grinding down guys, and that starts at the top with Cesar, who's amazing.

Reese is just locked in on everything. He's finally getting that launch angle back to where it was, and he's just back to being fully Reese. Obviously, Aduble's hot as anything. Just those guys being, obviously, the swoon that killed this team and had everyone feeling so bad about this team directly coincided with Reese and Oduble being as bad as they were. So now that they're back, it's just a way more confident offense.

Carlos Santana's been one of the best hitters in baseball since May 4th. It's a really, really good one through four, and it's a catalyst for the whole entire lineup. Yeah. After that, it's just like, the whole the entire lineup yeah that it's just like ah yeah well that's the issue right look nick williams has uh another monster home run tonight has been better certainly better than aaron altair i think right now we both even you the biggest aaron altair fan out there can agree on that but but all right let's talk about the name then because there were a couple interesting names brought up this week at third base as potential trade options John Morosi brought

up the one that I found most interesting uh Adrian Beltre the name mentioned I know that Josh Donaldson's been mentioned Manny Machado Mike Moustakis but I think Adrian Beltre the name that stands out to me is the one that would cost the least but could have a profound effect as a rental on what this team could be this season. What do you think about the potential for the Phillies to go out and bring in a guy like Adrian Beltre? I think Beltre changes everything. I really do. And I think it just makes them a more complete offense.

And I think it kind of raises their ceiling a little bit. If you go out and you get Beltre and you get a legit back-of-the-bullpen guy that can help you, it doesn't even have to be a big name like Brad Hand or Zach Britton, who's been pretty bad since he's gotten back. He's been really bad. Which maybe you can get him on the cheap. That'd be interesting.

I think Beltre is a really intriguing option, especially for a young team heading into its first playoff run in six years. So bringing in a Beltre just changes the whole dynamic, I think, just from the experience. These guys are like, wow, that's Adrian freaking Beltre. It kind of just raises your level of awareness, in my opinion. And why not have Adrian Beltre and his hall of fame and very, very underrated career here in Philly. I have on the, on the contrary,

I have no interest in Josh Donaldson. I think I don't either. Yeah. Josh Donaldson. The funny thing is is he's significantly younger than Adrian Beltre and I've far more worry about Josh Donaldson getting hurt than I do Adrian Beltre. And Beltre, you know, he held up some nicks and stuff, but has played great since coming back from the DL. And I'm with you. I think he brings a veteran cachet in leadership that Josh Donaldson doesn't. He is an absolute Hall of Famer, a first ballot Hall of Famer. Like you said, probably the most underrated player of the last

20 years just a a one of the best defensive third baseman in the history of the game a uh what 3 500 guy he is an awesome awesome awesome baseball player and like you said i think someone who once he steps in that locker room kind of has that effect that we talked about jake arietta having him someone who's just got a gravitas and that, and at a much higher level, even than Arrieta, a guy who can kind of walk in and just command respect, but also a guy who's going to give you, you know, brilliant defense and a legit bat. He's batting 322 right now.

The man can hit still. So yeah, I'm with you. I think, I think Beltre really changes the culture of the team and changes the, uh, you know, they're kind of where they stand in the pecking order, but as it is now, we'll see how that kind of plays out. I also agree with you. I think looking for a bullpen piece is, is paramount as they, no matter what they do, this bullpen is just not good enough. You know what? It's not good enough for us just to watch every day. I can't handle it. I can't do this. I need some people I can count on. And like you mentioned, Dominguez is a kid. They're already working him way too hard. They, they need to find someone else who can handle some of these high leverage spots. There is just too much on him. And i like a dubrai as well but um they are just really lacking guys you can count on this pen

yeah i'm just wondering you know i'm trying to i'm trying to i'm trying to balance the short term versus the long term right so obviously short term go get del trey go get a bullpen piece but even if you get those guys i'm not sure it's a it's a real world series caliber no it's not obviously not but like is it really smart to give up things for an expiry well that's what it is it's it's it's what those things are obviously i i think that for a guy like beltre i don't think he's gonna cost that much i think look this this farm system has a ton of quantity, you know, they, they have guys that they can move B level C level type guys

who would be worth it, I think in certain situations, but I agree with you. And I think that, and look, Klintak has said that, right. He said, you know, we, we have to, we're not opposed to renting someone, but we're not going to mortgage our future to do it. And I think that's absolutely what they should do. You know, it's not about this season. It's about 2019 and beyond. Yeah, so that's what I'm trying to balance right now. Like, Beltre would be great, but I don't know.

Like, is making the division round, it's worth it. It's worth it. It's all worth it. Oh, it's worth it. This team hasn't been in the playoffs since 2011. Think about those reps, the excitement, the potential to lure free agents this next offseason. There's a lot of soft values to it as well.

And maybe if you strike out on Machado, you throw a little deal at Beltre, and it keeps you afloat for next year, and you're not walking into next year with Crawford and Kingery again playing shortstop and third base. Yeah. I'm with you a hundred percent. All right.

We got a big, big, big, big week of baseball coming up here as again, this Phillies team now sitting at what? 41 and 34, seven games above 500 heading into a seven game week, three against the Yankees,

four against this Nationals team that they took two of three from, and again, should have swept. Still pissed off about the non-sweep, but... It throws a whole damper on the whole week. It does. It was just a bummer, especially because I think if it had happened at 4 o'clock this afternoon,

we all would have been like, all right, well, and we would have gotten over it, but I think it's the fact that we all stayed up till 12-whatever at night and are staying up and recording podcasts after. And I could have been asleep. I wanted to be asleep like three hours ago. And now I'm talking about this loss when it would have felt so much better to talk about a win, but we're putting it behind us, Jack. They've won four straight series. We can't be upset right now, but two huge series coming up, especially this first one here

is as you've got a Yankees team coming to town, sitting at 50 and 25, the best record percentage wise in the sport right now. Um, you, you kind of luck out in the sense that you only get Luis Severino and you don't get any other starters are too worried about. But having said that you also have to face Luis Severino so what's your take on uh the three starters they're facing uh you know Jonathan Loaja and uh and of course Luis Severino the stud and then Luis Sessa kind of an also ran as well yeah uh I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to watch Luis Severino obviously the Phillies are playing the Yankees, but I'm still insanely excited to watch Luis Severino. I'm a pitching nerd, so when I see Luis Severino,

I get very excited, no matter who he's pitching against. And again, Arrieta gets all these great matchups. He's facing Severino. He's already faced, what, Granke? Scherzer. Scherzer. All these other former NL Cy Young winners. It's just crazy.

But yeah, they missed out on some guns um I like I've been intrigued by Jonathan Louise whatever his name is Luisa or Robert Loja Esteban Luisa that's yes sure do I don't know if we want to talk about it didn't he get like caught for some drug trafficking ring or something? Well, speaking of drug trafficking, I mean, Hanley Ramirez is now... Not true. It's not true. Stop spreading false rumors and all that, Fritz. You're better than that. I didn't read anything about it.

I just thought it was funny. I'm a headline reader. You know I don't read. I know. Well, it has come out that they were lying and it's not true. Hanley was not a part of anything. Man, that's so disappointing.

My version of Hanley Ramirez hasn't been signed because he was a kingpin. Oh, gosh. All right. As you were saying, Jonathan Lasagna. Yeah, yeah. I actually like him. He's got a really good curveball. Yeah, he's got stuff.

I watched him pitch. He didn't have a great outing against the Rays the other day. He went three and two-thirds. But he had like six strikeouts in that time. And you could tell he has stuff. He just seems to have trouble with his control at least from what i saw james like james this is the big leagues like this this this first three games of this series it's like how far away this is like when the sixers played against like the the clippers in the whole process era where it was like oh so that's how far away we are and i'm very interested

to see how close this phillies team plays as yankees team because i think it's i think it's a really really big series from that perspective like if they come out and they are they are neck and neck with this yankees team like how do you not go get a legit bullpen piece or adrian belch like i think it's that much of a season-defining series. Wow. Dude, if you go toe-to-toe with the Yankees, this offense... Now, I'm already sweating bullets

about Vince Velasquez facing Aaron Judge and Giancarlo San. Yeah, they caught a break. No Gary Sanchez, so that's good news. Yeah, I guess... Bad news for my fantasy team good news for the phillies they're just not gonna catch him no no he's hurt he's gonna go on the dl apparently a hip groin injury they're saying likely to the dl according to aaron boone so they will miss gary

sanchez so again bad for my fantasy team bad for gary sanchez bad for the yankees good for the phillies these next three days. Oh, for sure. For sure. So I think it's a really important like... Measuring stick kind of series? Yeah. Yeah, the Yankees are a measuring stick.

They're the best team in baseball. They have a dynamite bullpen, a dynamite mostly starting staff at Severino, and the offense is just insane. And the atmosphere should be great. I mean, there should be 35,000 to 40,000 every single night. It's going to be Yankees fans, but I still think the atmosphere is going to be important.

Show me you're a good team. Show me you're a good team. Yeah, I'm with you. Look, and I think you could argue that taking, you know, two of three from the Brewers, the Cardinals, and the Nationals shows that they're a pretty good team. But I'm with you. This is a step up.

When you look at the Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Astros, I think unequivocally the three best teams in baseball right now. And the Yankees probably tops. I think them and the Astros. The Astros still hold the belt, obviously. But the Yankees have been playing better than anybody. Like you mentioned it, too. You know, Severino, people will see on Tuesday night,

Luis Severino and how nasty this dude is. If you haven't seen him pitched, wow. I mean, he's just awesome. But I think the big strengths for this team, obviously that bullpen, R all just at the back end. Delon Batantes is back to being Delon Batantes. Check out his numbers for the last month and a half, two months. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not the best.

The numbers have been pretty sick over the last couple months, month and a half. And then Chad Grugin, a nice arm in the pen. Dave Robertson really stacked out there in the bullpen. And then obviously offensively, you know, you think about Judge and Stanton, but that, I mean, they've got like a infield of guys who no one expects to hit. And then, you know, all of them have a thousand or like Gleybar Torres, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar has been a fantasy gold pickup for anyone who picked him up. Cause all that guy does is hit home runs. It's unbelievable.

There are no outs in this Yankees lineup, Jack. No easy outs. Yeah, and listen, I'm very afraid. I have been thinking about this Yankees series for like two weeks, and I haven't been able to sleep that well. But I'm excited because I think this is like one of those series where it's like how far away is this team? Because if they come out and compete,

like maybe you do put in a lot of chips and go get Brad hand. Like I don't hate trading for guys that can help now and help in the future. Like Brad hand can be your closer for the next three years and then let Sir Anthony be the floater and whatnot. And if you show you can compete against the Yankees with the staff overachieving and the offense coming back into form, I don't know, man. I'm pretty excited. Now, I don't know. I'm really excited. I'm also nervous at the same time. Yeah, no, I feel the same way. Look, it's a big series. It's a big week of baseballs, then four hosting the Nationals here as well. And I just said in the month of

June, I said Treadwater. And don't come out of June around 500 and I'll be in the month of June, I said Treadwater and you know, don't come out of June around 500 and I'll be happy. And this team has found a way to do much more than that. And I have to be really, I'm really impressed and I can't be anything but happy with how they've played as of late, but I certainly agree with you in the sense that this Yankees team is, is another level and it's a big spot for this Phillies team, especially playing good baseball, coming off four straight series wins. It's a big spot to take on this team, to face a guy like Severino at home, to, like you said, have that atmosphere be palpable

and there be some excitement there. And I'm with you. I'm excited to see how the Phillies respond to this challenge, especially, again, at home with some potential for some big crowds. And, you know, look, like you said, it's going to be – it's just fun to see the Yankees and the Phillies play. It's always a fun thing, even though maybe not the biggest interleague play fan, but this is certainly fun.

Jack, any final thoughts before we kind of get on our way here? A shorter pod today is because everyone knows I'm incredibly tired and I need to get ready. Yeah, a little bit. I got a final thought. Yeah, you always have a final thought. As Jack likes to say, a takesman's got to take. Takesman's got to take.

And I tell you what, I respect the takes, but what I don't like is treating the Phillies like the Eagles. And the bullpen blew it tonight. I get it. But, like, holy crap, guys. They've won four straight series against teams that are vying for the playoffs. Like, can we just take a step back and, like, for five seconds, I understand they just blew the game.

I understand it was just the bullpen that just did it. But, like, can we just give this team, like, a little bit of the benefit of the doubt they're still young they had a horrible night when it came to the bullpen late in the game but like man and i just seeing like the freak out on twitter now on on one hand i'm happy because i'm happy that people care we can talk phillies again like we can talk phillies again and it's actually exciting. And there's actual, you can break down, why did Kapler do that? Why did he not do that? But holy crap.

This team is fun. They are good. They had a bad night. I'm sorry, but they've taken four straight series. Calm down. Yeah, I don't think I could say it any better myself. They're a team that is resilient as well. A first-year manager who seems to be

learning on the fly and making smart decisions more often than not. James, every time that we have said that they would get blown out and be like, here comes the huge swoon, they've responded to that. I know. It's been my

rallying cry. I can't believe how resilient they are that's why i feel like you have to give capler a lot of credit for building that kind of culture there and uh it's just i i'm with you man i've been really impressed i love the idea of brad hand not only because he's just a really good pitcher who uh has the the confidence and and the the kind of what what it takes to close out games but he also would give this team a left-handed reliever who can get outs, and that's something that they really don't have much of. Sure can use one of those.

Austin freaking Davis against Bryce Harper in the sixth inning. I'm with you, man. And Harper did what he does. And Harper was fun to watch, man. He gets fired up. He's exciting. I really would have no problem if he's a Philly at the end of the season um all right he's also back yeah fritzy he's back he's back and uh and hopefully a big week this week we'll be back on we'll be back after the yankee series to lead you into

the national series for sure this week we'll make it work somehow some way as we always do and i apologize for the shorter episode tonight, but I got to go to bed. And I didn't even want to record at all, but I did it because I love all you listeners because you're all the best. And because, you know, I like Jack too. So, all right.

Can I say one thing? I know you have to go to bed, but the High Hopes listeners are like so much smarter than your average baseball fans. I very much appreciate it. I like interacting with you folks. Yeah, I agree with that. I very much appreciate it. I like interacting with you folks. Yeah, I agree with that.

Jack is a hundred percent correct. And, and as a result, uh, rate and reviewed the podcast cause it will make Jack really happy and he'll give everyone else really nice compliments as well. All right. So for Fritz,

for the, uh, on vacation, John Marks, I'm James Seltzer. Thank you for listening to another edition of I Hope Scobie the Yankees. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby.

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