High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Beating Up on Bad Teams

Episode Date: July 5, 2018

Jack Fritz and Jon Marks are here as the Phils enter into the "easy" part of their schedule. The Phils take two from the lowly, Baltimore Orioles but that means the Manny Machado rumors are rapid. What do Jon and Jack think about the Machado talk and the "We want Manny" chants. The guys get into that and the trade deadline as a whole on this edition of High Hopes! 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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And it's an even better thing that you can get six Ikea 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead. You can afford to hoard because Ikea is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at Ikea today. Welcome on in to a brand new High Hopes podcast. I am joined by a guy who would never try running on Jorge Alfaro, John Marks. Welcome back, Johnny. How was the beach? The beach was great. Never, ever, ever would I try to run on Jorge Alfaro unless I had a really slow, plodding, right-handed starter to where I could get a huge

jump off him like Steve Trashel. Trashel was garbage. But other than that, man, you're right. Beach was great. If you hear fireworks in the background, it's because everybody in my neighborhood is blowing off fireworks. So, yeah, hijack. Good evening. While they are blowing up fireworks, we are inside recording iHost because, John, we have a fun baseball team.

How much fun are you having getting back into good, competent, night in in night out philly's baseball yeah man that's not our style to brag here at the high hopes podcast but you know yeah i mean yeah we were kind of in on this early beginning of the season all three of us between me you and james all had them right there as the second wild card um and i don't know if i thought if i thought they were going to be this good with starting pitching. I thought the lineup would carry them, and they're coming on a little bit here as we get into July.

But you said it, man. It's just a fun season. It's a fun atmosphere. It's fun to see the young players growing and succeeding. And everybody hates the manager or hated the manager. You got to rip them. Oh, you got to be honest with people. And I'm glad they're winning right in those people's faces

because he's done a really good job. He has. Yeah, they're 47 and 37. Ten games over 500 for the first time since 2011, which I can't believe that was seven years ago. Wow. Since June 9th the the phillies are 15 and 7 the braves are 12 and 9 and the nationals are 5 and 17 this was supposed to be this team's hardest stretch of the season they came away 15 and 7 in june the nationals are one game under 500

for the season and the braves listen we gotta tip our caps the Braves are a good team but 15 and 7 going through the hardest portion of your schedule and now well now after this series before the series it was 20 of the next 23 against teams with a losing record this thing could get popping really fast yeah they gotta win these games though you know what I mean with bait with this is baseball right here where you you think you just got through the tough stretch and you're feeling great about yourself and you have teams that you should beat and they come in and they beat you. But you're right, man. Didn't it look like for a while, Jack, that it was coming back down to earth,

that it was going to be like, all right, they're not ready this year. They're not as good as we thought. The first couple months was a mirage, and they really did turn it around. Great. Listen, success against the Nationals was really the key. That Yankee series looked a lot uglier than I think it was winning one of those three games. They're right there.

It's the beginning of July. They're not going anywhere, and they're going to add to the team. And, Jack, the team's going to be right there when the playoffs are are coming down the last week of the season they're going to be there it's going to be fun yeah and i don't know like i can't tell you what this team does really well like i think their staff's good i think their bullpen is i mean their bullpen's been unbelievable it's last like four games uh the offense is inconsistent but really they just battle. They grind.

They never think they're out of a game. And they just find ways to win games. Even though they don't have the top-end talent, they don't do one thing particularly elite, they find ways to win ballgames. And I think that's got to give a lot of credit to Gabe Kapler for instilling that mentality in these guys. There's a winning attitude about this team, right?

Because I don't know specifically what you could say that Kapler has done to the team to make them better than they were last. I mean, it's so hard sometimes to put your finger on exact things. They have a winning attitude. They think they're going to win these games. And they had a lot of confidence. Dude, I was down spring training interviewing these guys, Nick Williams, Aaron Altair. Who else did we talk to? Just kind of the young core that was there. And Scott Kingery. And they all definitely had the attitude of, no, we can win this year. No, this isn't a rebuilding year. No, there's a lot of talent on this team. And they're definitely had the attitude of, no, we can win this year. No, this isn't a rebuilding year.

No, there's a lot of talent on this team. And they're right. And Nick Williams, he looked like he wasn't even going to be playing much this year. He's starting to almost carry them offensively. It's amazing. It really is. It's amazing we're sitting here. July 4th, fireworks are going off,

and the Phillies are one of the best teams in the National League. And the longer they stay in this race, the longer they keep playing this kind of baseball, the more this young team is going to believe that they can go into any ballpark and win, whereas if you team like the Nationals, you know, they're older. They've been here before,

but it's also hard to, you know, get it going for such an old team, whereas if you're a young team, a young, energetic team, you can just be almost naive in a sense and think you can win any ball game, and that's kind of where I think this team is at at the moment. 30-16 at home. They play 11 straight now coming up on the road. They're 17-21 on the road. So obviously, and playing well at home is great.

You go 500 on the road, you go around 500 on the road, and you're good at home. You're going to be a playoff team. Aaron Nola is probably their only all-star. He has been sensational. So he's got to continue for the second half. But right now, they're doing everything. And listen, Baltimore's a bad team.

It's a bad team. You know why they're a bad team? They pay guys like Chris Davis, who stink and shouldn't be out there a ton of money and the phillies haven't done that yet and they have you know they've they've aaron noel out there today and cesar played played well defensively jorge is out there it's just it's a fun team man yeah yeah i mean obviously don't have the monstrosity of the the chris davis contract which at the time was even like what are you yeah they're a team that's been the third team that hasn't embraced modern baseball and it clearly shows because they held on to manny machado

and now aren't going to get nearly as much as they should have uh in a in a future manny machado trade but uh back to the series for a second uh Tuesday night, you have to take care of business in games against teams that are bad, especially coming off the stretch that we're in. Obviously, it was a tough stretch of the season, but you have to take care of business against bad teams. And for them to come out, win these two games against a bad team, I think was important for the growth of this team. They weren't starting to sniff themselves.

Now, the Orioles are terrible, but Zac Eflin was masterful again. Really, he's learning how to pitch. He's not coming up here and just throwing hard and not knowing where the ball is going and whatnot. He has a legitimate changeup now. His slider is getting more depth to it since he came back up. And it's 96 to both sides of the plate. He's a guy that's going to throw strikes, and he's hard to square up for seven innings.

And I trust Zach Eflin, John. Yeah, and, man, I remember earlier this season he had, did he have a good start to start the season or his first couple? And then he kind of came back down to earth. And he did that last year, too. He really flashed some brilliance. And then you're like, see, here's the problem. And I'm so guilty of this, and I think a lot of fans are today. It's the same in the NFL.

If you're a rookie quarterback, you're supposed to be successful right away. There's no time for learning and, oh, he stinks. It's the same thing with pitchers. It really is. Same thing for Major League Baseball players in general. But here's the reality. Nick Pavetta had some growing pains last year. Not everybody comes up like Aaron Nolan as an all-star in a year or two,

or Cole Hamels. And I think what you're seeing with Eflin right now is really an emergence of a player. He's got great stuff, but you said it. A lot of people have 96-mile- mile an hour fastballs and can throw it. It's throwing it with command. It's throwing it, like you said, to both sides of the plate. It's having a changeup, which makes the fastball so much better. And you're right, that slider, LA was talking about it on the broadcast today, or his last start. That slider has really become his go-to pitch in a lot of cases. Eflin, Noah, Arietta has been disappointing.

He's been terrible, but he has been great recently. You keep getting these other guys pitching like they're pitching. This is a team that's going to win 90 games. The way they're pitching right now, that's for sure. Yeah, and obviously he had to get pulled after pitches um because of a blister uh at the moment i was really mad i was mad at gabe because i was like just leave him in there he's at 82 pitches your bullpen it was taxed from the from the back-to-back games a seven seven innings shut out ball um i would have liked to see zach efflin stay out there but he did not uh because of the

blister hopefully everything is fine there and then brought in tommy hunter which he is just he is really just gonna he's gonna make sure tommy hunter's bad before he doesn't go to him and in a tight ball game um and then uh and then sir anthony so sir anthony i know you were big on the sir anthony closer thing um yeah he's because and he's become the closer if you haven't noticed well he's sort of had like yeah he's the closer he if you haven't noticed. Well, he sort of has. Nah, he's the closer. He's had to out of necessity. Because really, here's where I am at on the Sir Anthony closer thing. I think his best role going forward is in the fireman role that can pitch multiple innings. But for this team right now, they need a guy at the back of the bullpen that can just end the ballgame.

And if they go out and get a Brad Hand, they go out and get a a guy at the back of the bullpen that can just end the ballgame. And if they go out and get a Brad Hand, they go out and get a legitimate closer at the deadline and let Sir Anthony float, I think that is a better usage of Sir Anthony. But at the current moment of this team, he probably has to be at the back of the bullpen just shutting the door. Yeah. No, I was waiting all season for roles to actually happen and to naturally organically happen, and it just wasn't happening. But you're right.

This last week, this last two weeks, I guess, who else were you going to put in there? Tommy Hunter's pitching the eighth. He can't even get out of the eighth inning. You've got to bring Sir Anthony in for an inning in the third. Rama's going down, hurt him. You have Neshek back. Who knows what you're going to get out of him.

Last year he was so good. He's had a great career, but who knows coming back this year. Maybe they add another arm. I know Zach Britton, even if he's not your closer, he'd be a great lefty to have out of the pen to be an 8th or a 9th inning guy. So, hey, listen. Klontek has something to work with here. He's got a good minor

league system where he has a lot of depth. He can trade some guys and just get a bullpen arm. I want one, maybe two more, but definitely one. I want Britton. I do. I need somebody that that has his stuff obviously isn't his uh the velocity is not once what it was but he knows how to pitch

he knows how to close so um i still try to target somebody that's closed games and you can just kind of work it out from there yeah he's been bad since he's been back i think he has an era and like the the mid sixes yep um but he was still today when he pitched, he was still 94, 95. He saw the sink, and he still has a wipeout slider. So this is pretty much his spring training. I'm not completely out on Zach Britton. And really, listen, you can get him for a way cheaper price now than you would have if he was healthy and pitching to his full capabilities.

So maybe get him on a buy low and let him kind of figure out his stuff here give you another reliable member of the bullpen um but yeah do you we me and james talked about this in the last podcast but do you kind of think that gabe is starting to to to figure out what he's doing you think he's starting getting into a bit of a rhythm managing wise because it feels like the bullpen has all settled down a little bit you kind of know when guys are coming in where it feels like the lineup he knows what he's doing now do you think gabe is uh is settling into a bit of a rhythm here well they um i know that james played it on the on the midday show uh it was a cut from capler on the on the wip morning show and they asked him if he's learned stuff and paraphrasing you know he said yes but

also talking about making moves that even if it's something that he doesn't necessarily believe in or it's what the book or the numbers say he has he has been making calls and making decisions based on what his players think and maybe what the city of Philadelphia thinks. So, I mean, we're just over half the season as far as games. I know it's not the All-Star break, but what are they, 94 games in or something? How many games are they in? 84? I know it's just the 84.

They're just over the 81. Yeah, I'm not a math guy. Well, they're 37 and 27, so they'd be... What's their record? I don't even know. 47 and 37. Yeah, so they're 84. We'll figure this out. They're 84 games. 81 would be the halfway point.

81 and 81. So they're a couple games over. Thank you. This is his first time managing, really, ever. So he's in a completely new organization, a completely new team. He's got the, Gabe Kapler's got these ideas of,

oh, I'm going to do this and do that. And you know what happens? You end up doing some of the things that you wanted to do and you end up compromising, doing some things that your team feels more comfortable and more confident doing. And that's what Gabe Kapler's been doing. And that's what good managers

and good managers in baseball or just in general in regular business, that's what they do. They adapt. And he's already shown that he can adapt. So yes, I agree with you, Jack. You can see that roles are really starting to be defined naturally. And I think by the time we reach middle August here, you're going to know who your seventh inning guy is. You're going to know who your eighth inning guy is. And if your ninth inning guy is Sir Anthony, it's Sir Anthony. If it's a guy that's acquired at the trade deadline, it's going to be that guy.

But we'll see. Everything is working itself out. I agree. And you know what's so funny is, you know, everyone's all worried about, oh, maybe he's Chip Kelly. Chip Kelly never adjusted. Chip Kelly never changed.

Chip Kelly didn't like his players. Like, that was always such a lazy narrative, and now you're seeing it playing out on the field. Chip Kelly had communication problems. Chip Kelly is, I've heard people say, somewhere on the spectrum as far as he just lacks those communication and interpersonal skills to where that's Gabe's bread and butter. That's all he wants to do is communicate with the guys.

He loves communicating. He loves it. One of the things I've really noticed with playing more to feel than using the numbers and analytics is with Aaron Nola. And today was another scenario where he could have pulled him, could have brought in a guy to try to finish out the inning, but he trusted Aaron Nola in a big spot, the only high-pressure moment of the game, really,

and Aaron Nola came through in the toughest part of the game. And I think early in the season, Gabe would have pulled him there and put in someone else. But in his maturation and in his watching Aaron Nola blossom into this ace, he knows that Aaron Nola knows how to get out of the situation and really is probably his best bet to get out of that situation uh Aaron Nola once again today seven innings uh nine k's two walks seven hits just dominance once again he will be in Washington uh for the all-star game what a what a season for for number 27 yeah and on pace to win 20 games if he

keeps doing what he's doing and he just you're really a model of consistency where he can give up seven hits he can scatter seven hits over seven uh because he's getting swing and miss strikeouts he's getting when he needs the out and he's able to wiggle out of a runner or two on base. So he has been amazing. He really has. The question marks I had about Aaron Nola was, can he do it for a whole season? Can he stay healthy? We know he's got great stuff. This is something that I said at the, probably, I think I said it in spring training and my

co-host, Ike Reese, looked at me and was like, that's a pretty bold statement. And it wasn't that he's he's more accomplished than cole hamels it's not that he's a better pitcher than cole hammers hamels i just said yeah his stuff is better than cole hamels he's got better stuff cole hamels is a fastball change-up pitcher he he had he's a good pitcher. He's a great Philadelphia Philly. But Aaron Nola has elite stuff. And Aaron Nola is amazing. Aaron Nola is closer to Greg Maddox than he is Cole Hamels. Well, that was my point, is that he commands usually. And even though he kind of poo-pooed it one of the times I interviewed him, where he's like, well, it's not often that you have great command and control over all three of your pitches. Well, I'll be damned. It looks like

most starts, he's got pretty good command of all his pitches. And if you can throw three pitches at any point in any count for strikes, you're going to win a lot of games. And that's what we're seeing with Nola right now, just like you saw with Greg Maddox. Yeah. And I think Eflin's developing the same kind of way. Multiple times the other night, Eflin was dropping in 2-1 curveballs, 2-1 changeups, getting back into account that way. And when you have the confidence in those pitches,

the hitter doesn't know what's coming. And then when you face a guy like Aaron Nola, it's 94, it's starting at your shoulder and ending up right in the middle of the plate to go along with a changeup that falls right off the table but moves just like his fastball, so you have two plain pitches right in the middle of the plate to go along with a changeup that falls right off the table but moves just like his fastball so you have you have two plain pitches right in the same thing it's just it's almost impossible and then he has a curveball which i don't know how you square up his curveball yeah let's look down and into a lefty but for a righty it's it's it's

just unhittable like his three pitches that he commands that he knows where it's going it's it's such a weapon and la has mentioned this many times but now in today's game having command is just like having like another pitch basically yeah when you when you can when you can throw the ball wherever you want you know guys just aren't ready for a pitcher like that in this in in today's game and watching a guy like arinola go out there every once every five days. It's a treat. It's just a treat to watch a throwback actual pitcher and Aaron Nola.

It's, it's, it's like watch it's, it's watching a magician out there. I can't, I can't watch enough Aaron Nola. He's fun. And,

and the, the one thing now I were, I wonder about Eflin is because the league is going to adjust to him. You know that. What he's doing, it's great because you're right. He's down in the count. You'll have a pitcher up there or a batter up there looking fastball, and he's not getting it.

So now how does the league adjust to Eflin and what he's able to do? The league's going to maybe adjust to Aaron Nola, but it seems like that he's now made the adjustment. So I'll be interested to see what, especially facing the Nationals for a second time, because now you're going to see a lot of Mets. You're going to see a lot of some of these other teams. What do these teams do the second time around on Eflin? Because he has looked really, really good. He doesn't look like a number three or a number four starter in an average rotation.

He looks like he has a lot of upside, which means the Phillies have a lot of upside too. I know we're going to answer some Twitter questions here coming up in a little bit, Jack. I want to remind people to give us good ratings. Just don't give us ratings when you rate the podcast but give us good ratings great ratings only if we deserve it yeah five star ratings if you think we suck just don't rate it because i don't want you know i don't want the oh it's so you know but i'm

just kidding nice to say don't say nothing at all if that's what my mom told me if you think we suck you can give us a bad rating but give us a rating, however you watch it. I don't really understand the podcast stuff. I had people asking me, well, why aren't you on Spotify? And that's what I listen to. And I have friends that would listen if you're on Spotify. I'm like, I don't know, man. I just go to iTunes or whatever.

But give us a rating. We're going to be doing this. We're having two or three podcasts a week as we – hey, man, All-Star break's coming up, and then we have a stretch run of Philly's playoff baseball, hopefully. A summer of Philly's playoff baseball. It's been too long. I'm so glad it's back.

Two things from today's game, a little bit of a side topic. One, did you see that fraud Marlins man in the stands today? I did. I can't stand him. He looks at his phone the whole time. I know he does. He's showing the guy next to him. He has to be placed front and center right behind home plate in that stupid Marlins outfit.

I hate Marlins man. Yeah, Marlins man. He is such a phony and a fake. You know what I mean? I saw it. I saw it. Also, obviously the elephant in the room this whole weekend, it felt like, was Manny Machado.

He was dapping up with Carlos Santana before the game today. Also, we want Manny Chance raining down from the from the bowels of of citizens bank park any problems with the we want manny chance um well i i thought it was uh i thought it was unnecessary i wouldn't have been doing that if the team is if the team was 10 games under 500 or where they were last year yeah you could do that you know what i i let's worry about manny machado at the end of the season or at the trade deadline if they make a trade um he wants to come here if you give him a half a billion dollars mikhail franco made a hell of a play to to help seal a win the other night so you know jack it's interesting because you're gonna have everybody

in the world that wants Cole Hamels back here. And I don't think it's going to happen. And you're going to have maybe a new third baseman depending on what happens with Franco. If they can get a Beltre or a Moustakas, Machado wants to play shortstop anyway. But I wouldn't have been down there chanting his name. I'll just say that. That's for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And there was obviously the report today from Jim Salisbury came out, and I guess Machado said that he would be open to signing an extension during the season, which I thought was really interesting. And listen, man, if that's the case, that changes all the packages. Like, I mean, because it's not like the Phillies are going to trade for him and not offer him $400 million. If they'll offer him 400 million or whatever it takes even if he even if they trade for him and he signs an extension mid-season like i don't think that's that's the problem but the fact that he even said he was open to it it seemed he mentioned joe jordan all

the old orioles guys it just feels like it feels like he's going to be a Philly. And there's just been so much buzz about how they're the only team that's making a legit offer for him. And the only way they're making a legit offer, in my opinion, like they're too smart, is if he's going to sign an extension. And it just feels like the dots are aligning. Well, yeah, he'll sign an extension with the team if they give them 400 million dollars yeah of course and they will and they will well hey listen if if they want to if they want to give up a package to get them and get them signed sealed delivered right now i'm in

100 i'm in they do it do it right now i don't know if it's now. I don't know if it's going to happen. I don't know if they're going to. You said it earlier in the podcast. The Orioles butchered this because they had to know whether or not they were going to sign him. And everybody knew that he wasn't going to resign there. Bryce Harper's going back to the Nationals. Or they're going to do their damnedest to keep him. Machado is as good as gone in Baltimore. So why not trade him last year?

Why not trade him in the offseason? Why not get another year so you know a team can at least say, well, we have him under club control for two years or even for one season? I don't know what they're going to get, but they haven't handled the trading situation to him very well down there. I'll take him. I'll take him right now. That's a bold take.

That's a bold take. We'll take him right now. All right, so let's get into some Twitter It's a bold take. We take them right now. All right. So let's get into some Twitter questions real quick from our friend B. Wanks at Over at Crossing Broad. Do you guys think popular media will pretend they've been watching the Phillies now? I do and have already seen it.

Oh, yeah. People are jumping on the bandwagon already. Yeah. I mean, they're starting to talk about it a little bit like, oh, how about Aaron Nola? Listen, you can spot the fakes. You can spot the fakes when they start talking about the Phillies for sure. Well, come August, you know what's going to happen? If this team is still 10 games over.500,

you're going to get a lot of people that are jumping on the bandwagon. You know what? That's fine because just like when the Eagles won the Super Bowl and all the people out there that were, I think you were in this camp, Jack, that was like, Nick Foles sucks. He's not winning anything. They can't win the Super Bowl with Nick Foles. They have no chance.

Well, then the team starts winning, and they win a Super Bowl, and everybody enjoys it. So I'm going to enjoy the Phillies' success just like we were enjoying it at the beginning of the season. Because we were on board before all these other losers would be. All right. enjoying it at the beginning of the season because we were on board before all these other losers would be. From Andrew Rickmeyer, Machado Trade Rumor Thoughts,

and what's with the offense? The offense is just the offense at this point. They always play for the beginning, and when they don't get the beginning, it's going to look like a disheveled mess out there. They strike out a lot they play for the home run it's kind of how their offense is built it's not it's not built for consistency that's for sure um you're

gonna have some offensive output but it's not as bad as it was when both adubo and hoskins were going through their major slumps? Well, I'll say this about the offense. I think they have enough as long as they're getting, let's face it, they're winning and dying on their starting pitching, and their bullpen's been fantastic. So, hey, listen, we'll see. We'll see what they're able to do as far as the machado rumor i guess the real trade is what would you be willing to give up now that's the real question what would you give up right now would you be willing to uh well supposedly they covet jp

crawford um which i guess if you move him yeah when you move J.P. Crawford, you're giving up five years of team control for a two-month rental, which I think is just a stupid idea. But I guess if you don't believe him in the long term, Kingery, at least he looks semi-competent defensively at shortstop. Yeah, but here's the other thing with J.P. Crawford. If you're trading for Machado, he's playing shortstop. He's made that very clear. You want J.P. Crawford playing third base?

You need to have a better bat at third base. Maybe if he's your super utility guy, I don't want to get rid of J.P. Crawford, but you have a glut of middle infielders. And Kingery has looked all right at shortstop. He's not a 150-game player at shortstop. But what about second base i know i know i know well what i'm saying is that the the the orioles covet jb crawford and trade rumors that was the right latest from from this week so i just don't i don't like giving the guy

that has five more years left for a two-month rental that i'm not sure they're going to resign um you know if it comes down to it and you can't lock in an extension you can't get a wink wink on an extension but you want to bring him here and give it give him a chance on buying into the culture i mean like i don't know medina medina ervin adonis a lower level yeah adonis medina ervin and like a i don know, one of the lower level hitters. I can't give up a lot for a guy that's going to be a two-month rental that I can't bank on. Now, if you're telling me, if he's going to give me a wink-wink, and hey, it's going to happen, give me $400 million, I'll re-sign now, whatever, which supposedly he might be open to, that changes the whole equation. It changes it, yeah.

My package goes through the roof because you're getting a Hall of fame caliber player that i know he wants to play shortstop he stinks at shortstop he's going to be at third base and soon enough i'm not worried about him long term wanting to be a shortstop the only reason he said he wanted to play shortstop was so he can get as much money as possible he sucks at shortstop so he'll he'll get his ass back over to third base yeah after a couple years, you're right. He will. All right. So I guess we'll move on. From at Babesell Champ.

I don't know what that means. Castellanos, a fit here. Your guys' opinion. So Nick Castellanos, the guy that was always rumored in the Jonathan Papelbon trade discussions, is 26 years old, having actually a good year, 309 batting average 354 OPP 13 homers obviously would help the offense a ton but from from what I've read and heard he is an abomination in the outfield so having him in Hoskins would pretty much just get rid of any kind of semblance of a good defense in the outfield. But it would be a major upgrade over Nick Williams and Aaron Altair in right field. Well, I haven't seen, are they looking to move him?

I haven't seen, why would the Tigers be looking to move him? But you're right. Well, I guess they're technically, they're a fire sale. Yeah, but he's not making it. I don't know his contractual Yeah, but he's not making it. I don't know his contractual status, but he's not making any money. He's still a relatively young player. And he can play third base too. His position is third base slash right field,

so I guess they're thinking he could play third base or right field, whichever one. You don't want your two corner outfielders, Reese Hoskins and Castellanos, because your defense already sucks as it is. You don't need that. And, hey, listen, Altair has not hit this year. Nick Williams might be hitting 230, but he's had some big hits.

So, yeah. So has Altair. Altair has had some big hits, and he's had some great plays defensively too. I'm okay with their outfield right now, Jack. I'm not looking for a starter at the trade deadline, unless someone kind of falls in your lap. Yeah, I mean, they're going to have a monstrous asking price for Castellanos just because he's still young and doesn't make any money.

So it's a tough proclamation to make. But in right field, I mean, our next question from Joe Kornick actually relates to that. You guys going to war with Williams, Altair, Cousins in right field, or are you looking for an upgrade at that position at the deadline? I don't think there's a guy to be out there, or the guy that's out there that can really help them at the moment. I don't think they really have a choice but to go with Williams or Altair.

Cousins is a non-factor for me. um i don't think they have a choice this year but i'm definitely not opposed to upgrading that position as soon as possible i i don't like nick williams long term at all i've made that clear i wish aaron altair would play more but he's been mostly unplayable because he's just been so out of sync at the plate and actually i would send him down for a little bit and just get him some consistent at bats and hopefully he can salvage some of his season um but right now like you're not you just said right there you're not looking for an upgrade in right field at the moment no not not for guys that that like you said become available because now now if you have somebody that's going to be in right field so that was that mean nick williams in and altair

aren't playing at all no man i put nick williams in a deal and trick someone into thinking he's good yeah yeah i think i like nick williams a little bit better than you do um a little bit more than you do but right now right now i i am i am fine going uh down the stretch with these guys let's's do it. Okay. Sounds good. Another one from Joe Cornick. Also, Knapp scares me a lot defensively, and let's face it, he doesn't provide a lot offensively. I'd be up for an experienced backup for the stretch run.

I think Andrew Knapp's actually made some nice improvements offensively. Defensively, he's still really bad. I don't want him catching a ninth inning with Sir Anthony. We saw the other night two pass balls in one inning um no i was sliders i was done with him after the um what was the game that was the irano where he there was he had a pass ball in irano um and it'll cost him the game no i i andrew naps in the majors because of his bat he's not he's not up here because of his uh his glove or his arm or whatever um i drove joe cornyk i agree with you 100 i i've i've said this for the last couple weeks i need a defensive veteran catching or catcher in here even if it's just to catch once

or twice a week you can bring nap up off the off the bench but yeah, now, it's two young, inexperienced catchers, and I would have thought they would have brought a veteran in, and I think they will at the trade deadline. Yeah, I mean, you're not going to really carry three catchers. That doesn't seem like a great idea. When the rosters expand, you might. Yeah, you might. You might.

It's interesting. I don't hate the idea of a backup catcher or an experienced backup catcher Monsters expand, you might. Yeah, you might. You might. It's interesting. I don't hate the idea of a backup catcher or an experienced backup catcher to help with pitch calling and helping out Alfaro. I just don't know if there's a good one out there at the moment. Eric Kratz is on the trade market? No, because he's in Milwaukee, and he's throwing knuckleballs in an actual MLB game. And for some reason, it's like raking, too.

He's hitting home runs. He's hitting home runs. His steroid package got in. That's exactly what happened. Listen, if this happens to him, he's got big power because he's getting thrown fastballs. And then the league kind of says, all right, just don't throw him a fastball. And Eric with a k i'm an eric kratz fan but you know once once they're like all right we'll just throw them off speed stuff that's probably that's when the average goes from 230 to 170

and then he goes to the orioles because he just seems like an oriole and he goes to triple a that whole orioles team is just like a bunch of guys that just try to hit home runs or strike out. It's one of the worst built teams I think I've seen in like five years. They're so bad. Buck's all over is a good manager. There's nothing he can do with this slap. No, there's not. Like Trey Mancini looks like a pitcher trying to play left field. It's embarrassing.

are trying to play left field. It's embarrassing. Last one from SixersNewGM at PoorlyThawedOut. That's an interesting Twitter at. With the Nationals falling out of contention more and more, if by the trade deadline they're 8 to 10 games out, would you inquire about Bryce Harper or try to get Machado with him saying he's open to an extension but only wants to play shortstop? Bryce Harper, I don't think he's going anywhere.

I think the Nationals are going to ride this into the ground. And if they miss the playoffs, they miss the playoffs. And he walks if he walks. I don't think Harper's going anywhere. I think Machado will get traded. And I do not believe that Machado's going to sign an extension or be offered an extension prior to coming to the new team. Who knows?

But I don't think Harper's going anywhere. If I was the Nationals, I wouldn't trade Harper, and I would try to keep him. And I actually think that's how it shakes out. They will shell out the half a billion dollars to keep him, and he'll be a National until he opts out and goes to the yankees in his mid 4 30s i don't know but yeah i i think jack i think you're you're gonna see a couple of trade deadline moves and then after the after the trade deadline when you can still make trades uh you'll probably see a couple of other moves pat gillick did a great job in strengthening the team uh before the trade

deadline and then after the trade deadline so we'll'll see what Klontak's able to do. Yeah, the one thought I kind of was rattling around my brain was get Machado here. If he's open to sign the extension, then it lets you just recruit Harper all offseason. So you're not having a two-fledged, you know, you're not trying to kill two. You're basically just getting Machado and then going after Harper with full force in the offseason, selling him on Machado being here, playing with two of the top ten players in the game. I don't know.

That thought did cross my mind. But obviously the idea of Machado signing an extension during the season is just such a long shot that it's probably not going to happen. But I'd be interested to see if they go that route i think i think my only goal for the deadline more than machado more than anything is i want them to go get a controllable reliever and i think i think brad hand's a guy that i is my main target of the deadline he can be your closer for the next three years as you're trying to actually compete for a world champion it lets sir anthony settle into a role i just think it's the most important thing going forward i think in this offseason they'll go get machado and pay him whatever but getting a controllable reliever

not letting brad hand go to another contender and letting him stay there for three more years on a really cheap contract i would shell out legit prospects to go to brad hand and i think that's my main move from the deadline we will see we will see sir anthony's going to be the the closer going forward just to you know i know you you you you hear everybody talk about these high leverage situations that's the new buzzword high leverage situation um yeah well you know they can they can find one of these other relievers to do the high leverage situations. No, they can't. And put Sir Anthony in the ninth. That's not true.

That's not true. That's not true? No, it's not true. One interesting way they might be able to fill this bullpen, and I didn't really see this coming. This is like a bit of a, I don't know, it's weird. So Gabe, on their off day on Monday, was watching Drew Anderson, a starter. He's with Lehigh Valley, I think. Yep.

I'm wondering if they're trying to see if they can do the same thing with him that they did with Sir Anthony. Absolutely. Do you think that's possible? Yeah, of course it is. Absolutely. It really depends. If Neshek comes back and he looks like he did last year,

then maybe you don't have to worry about it. Maybe they're just looking at it and saying, like, it's smart. It really is. It's smart. You're getting guys that maybe aren't having as much success as starters and saying, worry about being a reliever. It gives you a couple ticks on your fastball. Get in that mentality right now.

And you're seeing them do that through the organization. They're taking these young guys and they're really saying you're getting to the majors and you're getting the majors quickly or quicker as a reliever and we'll see we'll see how it ends up working out for him but i think it's a great idea i i think so as well uh all right the pirates are coming into town this weekend the the crowd it feels like the crowds are getting a little bit bigger. It feels like the momentum around the Phillies is getting a little bit bigger. I know, obviously, the fireworks last week helped, and Fourth of July today helped.

But the talk around the team is getting more exciting. It feels like there's really some positive momentum occurring with this Phillies team. And then the Pirates come to town this weekend. We got Nick Pavetta versus Trevor Williams on Friday night. Arrieta versus Jamison Tyon on Saturday, which will be a lot of fun. And then they haven't announced the pitcher for Sunday yet against Nick Kingham. It is actually in Pittsburgh, by the way, Jack.

Yeah, it is. Oh, it is in Pittsburgh. That's on me. They're on the road. Sorry, it is. Oh, it is in Pittsburgh. That's on me. They're on the road. Sorry, bad job by you, but it happens. They're on the road until the All-Star break, and then I think coming out of the All-Star break, too, they play a bunch of road games against bad teams, too.

Yeah, but 17-21 on the road. I know this last stretch was important just from playing good teams and matching up against them, but you've got to beat bad teams on the road um i know this last stretch was important just from playing good teams and matching up against them but you gotta beat bad teams in the road and they haven't been a great road team i'm interested to see how they come out of this and then the the padres come to town they're bad um no freddie galvis get a standing ovation oh absolutely howard eskin himself will be down there saying listen it'll be interesting to see if the trade deadline, if they try to get a veteran shorts up, not saying Galvis, but like Galvis,

to solidify the middle infield. But what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, no, bad teams. This team, if they don't watch themselves, could lose seven of 10 games against the Miamis and the Mamis and the mets and the pirates gotta look out can't can't be worried you can't be feeling yourself too much can't be smelling yourself too much so we'll see what happens yeah so listen it's an important stretch every especially for

a team this young um it's a bad stretch against bad teams we'll see we'll see i i try i think i'm beginning to trust this team their starting staff is uh is giving them a chance every single night out going out there so it's fun man it's fun this team is fun it's good to have baseball back in philadelphia and now everyone's be watching and we're gonna see even more bad takes the bad takes around a good team uh they're they're gonna start filing into our mentions john so uh just start preparing yourself for that, okay? Yeah, they're fun. They're fun.

I especially love it when members of the media have terrible takes, as they normally do, but they have bad takes because it gives us something to talk about. It's almost like free. It's free stimulus for us. So, yeah, bring the bad takes. Bring the bad takes. We're here for it.

And then we'll expose them on the High Hopes podcast. So that's going to do it. For John Marks, for Jack Fritz, for James Seltzer who is not here enjoying his 4th of July, we'll be back with a new episode on Sunday. Talk to you soon.

Talk to you soon. 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.