High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Concerned About the Offense and Time For Some Late Night Phils

Episode Date: May 28, 2018

Jack Fritz and Jon Marks are here for this episode talking about their concerns with the offense and what Gabe Kapler can do to get them going. They also gush about Aaron Nola and get you set for some late night Phils, which are the best.  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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Uber Reserve. See Uber app for details. Welcome on in to another edition of the IOPES podcast. That wind you hear in the background is Johnny Marks, who is calling live from what beach are you at, John? I'm not breaking wind. This is actual wind. I'm in Ocean City, New Jersey. Oh, a nice dry town. That sounds exciting. Yeah, well, you know, I got kids, and they do have alcohol you can buy outside of Ocean City, which we do. So it's not dry in our house, but yeah, no bars.

I do like the beach during the summer when the Phillies are good, because kind of like when you walk across the beach, everyone has their radios on, tuned into the Phillies, and then it just, I don't know, I love watching the Phillies at the beach for some reason. I do too. Growing up, I can picture this house that we used to rent almost every year, at least a good four or five years in a row. And it had this deck out back, but it had this long porch in the front. And for whatever reason, there's just this image captured in my head of a radio with Harry and Whitey on

and watching with my grandfather. So that's when the Phillies won the World Series. That's kind of one of the things I thought about after Brad Litch gets to strike three and thought of my grandfather and the Shore. You're right, it is. I remember the one year they were really good, and I didn't have a radio. I'd probably go back 10 years or so. I didn't have a radio, so I got the app on my phone, the MLB whatever app,

that app or whatever, and I'm listening to it via iPhone on the beach. It's awesome. Yeah, it's just you feel a connection to the team. You're kind of away from the city, but you're still part of the city in a weird way. I always enjoyed it. Wait, hold on. I thought Whitey and HK were on TV. Were they also on radio at the same time?

Incorrect. They were. So Prism was where you got most of the games back, I guess, going up until Comcast Sportsnet took over. And Harry may be the tail end of Prism. Harry was not TV. I know he was mixed in. The sports channel had some of the broadcast,

and that was Kent DeColvi and Andy Musser. Harry didn't do that. Harry did radio for a lot of those years. Now, you remember, Jack, is Comcast Sports, and Harry did all the TV. Jim Barniak did the play-by-play on Prism. So I don't remember the years, but most of the years with me growing up, unless it was on regular TV, Harry was on the radio with Whitey. Wow. I didn't Prism. So I don't remember the years, but most of the years with me growing up, unless it was on regular TV, Harry was on the radio with Whitey.

Wow. I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. And it's the same kind of thing, like everyone revered Harry, and now it's kind of the same thing, because people like Franski a lot. And then Franski, we'll see if he can get into TV,

but I don't know. He doesn't want to. No, I've had many conversations with Scott. He wants to do radio. He doesn't like TV. Well, he's great at it, so I wouldn't know. He doesn't want to. No, I've had many conversations with Scott. He wants to do radio. He doesn't like TV. Well, he's great at it, so I wouldn't want to leave either. So the Phils, a really kind of frustrating series against the Blue Jays. The offense is starting to become a big concern.

Obviously, you mix in another fantastic Noladay. I mean, it was 6-1, pretty much no hit ball. And then, obviously, his first hit was the only hit, and it also scored the tying run and gave out a pull-up. But Aaron Nola, it's just like, aces are going to ace at this point, and he can just roll out of bed seven innings, less than two runs, and help

you win a ballgame. Well, no doubt. And again, if the starting 15 isn't where it is right now, this means probably 10 games under 500, as opposed to however 10 games under.500, as opposed to how many games over.500. Yeah. But I agree with you.

Nola has shown the consistency. He's the best pitcher, one of the best pitchers on the team, one of the best pitchers in the National League. He's an all-star. As far as I'm concerned, he will make the team. Combine that with Arrieta, and you have a one-two punch that, you know, forget about improving the pitching staff. You're one of the better pitching staffs, top of pitching staff in the National League. But, you know, when Nola has it going, when he has all of his pitches working,

and I had talked to him live in the Novocare broadcast booth this past week, and he's just like, I'm like, well, what do you feel like when all three of your pitchers are going? And he's like, well, that very rarely happens. But, yeah, I've got to give him a little bit more credit than that, because I guess if they're not going, they sure look like they're going. It's special. It's amazing. He's just 25 years old.

And I held a draft pick by Ruben Amaro to get him there. And what was he, top 10, Jack? Number 17. Oh, yeah, so he's top 10. He was a college pitcher. He was the most major league-ready pitcher, and that's why Ruben drafted him, because he wanted him up. And, hey, it's paid off.

Great draft pick. Yeah, and just the change-up continues to be a revelation for him. Multiple times in that start, he'd be down on the count 2-1. He'd drop that change-up in there. And as a hitter that just messes with your mind because if you can throw a 2-1 change up then what's he gonna throw me at 2-2 he's gonna come back with a change up his curveball is devastating and his fastball has been up to 94-95 i mean he he's gonna get legit cy young consideration and i don't want to

get ahead of myself too fast but nola nola versus kershaw on Thursday is one that you might have to get the kids to bed early and make sure you stay up and watch that game. Or I will just go to sleep and then wake up and watch the last couple innings like I probably will. Jack, that's tough, man. 10 o'clock, 10 o'clock start. Well, actually, it's a 7.35 start. No. Oh, that's right.

It's a 4 o'clock West Coast game. Yes. I'll be good, man. I'll be good. You're right, though, with's right. It's the 4 o'clock West Coast game. Yes. I'll be good, man. I'll be good. You're right, though, with Nola. Excuse me. It seems like I gave the comparison to Maddox, Greg Maddox, and he definitely was like, that's one of the guys I, you know,

growing up that I like to watch pitch and emulate, but when he pitches backwards, when he has control of the changeup, you're right. You're totally messing with the hitter's head. Because then if half of your brain is thinking he could drop the changeup, he's throwing a 93-94 mile-an-hour fastball, 92, whatever it is, and bang. All it takes is that split second to not pick it up out of the hand,

and you're going down. It makes everything that he does so much better so you can tell the the thinking part of the game with with Aaron Noah is right there and when you can command three pitches like that you can throw for strikes at any point in the at-bat that makes you dangerous and that's what we're seeing from right now yeah and in this day and age it's really nice to see a starter that can do all those things like just from a pitching standpoint it's just frustrating seeing so many guys who pretty much just throw 95 96 and that's about it like like with Zach Eflin and start on on Friday night I guess it was he was still sitting 94 95 it just wasn't his location wasn't there but then he just like he mixes in a crappy curveball and it's just like

he doesn't really know how to pitch it's always been the knock on Velasquez uh I think Pavetta is taking a nice step forward and actually learning how to pitch. But that's the nice part about Aaron Nola, just from a pure pitching standpoint. It's like it's watching a genius out there almost. Yeah, you're right. The guys that throw 100 miles an hour, they never really have to learn how to pitch some of them because of just that reason they can throw 100 miles an hour. They feel like they can get people out just by blowing it back.

They never learn how to pitch. Aaron Nola is right there in the middle of almost mastering that skill. Cole Hamels knew how to pitch. He was tapping off at 94, 95 with a changeup. He really only had two pitches. He developed that third kind of crap curveball that he just threw up there just to show that he had something else to throw. But he was able to command and locate his fastball

and then drop the changeup, which was his best pitch. He did it with two pitches. So if he could do it with two pitches, I said this on the air, and I kind of raised an eyebrow. I mean, Arnold's got better stuff than Cole Hamels. He's got better pure stuff. That doesn't mean he's the better pitcher right now, but he's doing something this year.

Cole Hamels never had a year like this. If he continues it for the whole year, so I'm not trying to take anything away from a guy that won a World Series and an NLCS MVP, but Aaron Nola's stuff is great right now, and he really knows how to use it. Yeah. I mean, Aaron Nola, to me,

looks like a poor man's Pedro almost. Just from the two-seam fastball movement, it's 94-96, it's not 98 like Pedro's was. The curveball is just like Pedro's, not as sharp as Pedro's. And the changeup, I mean, people don't talk about Pedro had the best changeup in the league, too. And I feel like Nola's, all three of those pitches are like a tier below Pedro. But even being put in that category is absurd. No, you're right. Same kind of stuff, all three of those pitches are like a tier below Pedro, but even being put in that category is absurd. No, you're right.

Same kind of stuff, same kind of movement. You know, Pedro used to get those fingers where he could literally take his fingers and bend them all the way back to his hand. The back of his hand is weird, but he was able to get such good movement from his pitches because he was able to snap it. I know one of the grips he had on his changeup, he would almost put his one finger all the way back.

It was creepy. But, I mean, you're right. You're saying that he's got the same kind of size as Pedro. Pedro wasn't a big dude. And you're looking at the same movement. Now can he really kind of take that next step? Leak's going to adjust to him. Leak's going to adjust to what he's doing right now a little bit. And we'll see what happens the next time around the league's going to adjust to him. The league's going to adjust to what he's doing right now a little bit,

and we'll see what happens the next time around the league, which we're already seeing the NL East. But it's going to be an interesting road trip to see what these guys do, but Nola so far, thank God, because he's really helping save the season. Yeah, and the part of the team that's not helping save the season is the offense. I mean, they have a double Herrera who's batting 340 great. But other than that, their next highest hitter is like 260 in Cesar Hernandez.

I mean, Santana just got above 200. Reese Hoskins is in a horrible slump. Scott Kingery looks like he's starting to break out just a little bit. He's hit some balls hard recently. But other than that, and Franco's having a nice little bounce back year, but still you can't trust him yet. The lineup is just... I did not expect the lineup

struggling as much as it is. Yeah, and I would think that means it's going to be a big July, because the bats will wake up at some point. And I've touched on this a couple times. I hate what he does with Hoskins putting him at two. Gabe Kapler, I hate it. I want him down in the lineup.

I bat him fifth or sixth. He's not showing great flexibility in what he's doing with the lineup. He's just not. I don't like it. He's moved Kingery down a little bit. I don't know if Kingery has earned at bats so far. Altair has shown pretty good power. He can hit consistently. down a little bit. I don't know if Kingery has earned at-bats so far. Altair's shown pretty good power. He can't hit consistently.

Nick Williams is a good hitter. He's not getting a lot of at-bats. He's great at hitting home runs. Santana, even though he's just hitting over 200, the on-base percentage and the fact that he has been hitting for power, I almost don't even pay attention. He's been productive enough for me.

They're all doing it at the same time. And Hoskins, who, following his minor league career, he'll be really hot. You'll see the average go up to 320, and then you blink, and two weeks he'll be back at 280. Well, the problem is that he hasn't gone from 280 back up to 300. He's went all the way down into the 230s. So it's time to start picking it up. And he's pressing.

He's trying to do too much. He's taking too many pitches. At this point, I would move him back in the lineup, and I would try to get him on some fastballs. First pitch swinging, he's taking too many pitches. He is. He's taking too many first-ball strikes. Swing earlier in the count.

Try to get some hits. Try to get some hits. I don't know what's going on with him. Yeah, and they're all about the analytics and all that and all the numbers, and it's just mind-blowing because he's a career 140 hitter out of the two-hole. There's not even good analytics backing him up playing in the two-hole. So I'm with you. Move him down the lineup.

You can put someone else in the two-hole. Put Santana back there. He's heated up a little bit. I think it's important to have a guy that can drive and runs at the two-hole. It's just that when Hoskins is struggling as much as he is, it doesn't make sense to keep throwing him out there and hoping that he figures it out, especially given his whole entire career.

He's in the 140s. Yeah, no, you're right. And if you're not swinging at the – I remember 19 – oh, man, I don't know if it was 91 or 89. Darren Dalton started off really, really cold, and Jim Fregosi put him, if I had to be 91, Jim Fregosi put him in the two hole because Lenny was leading off, Lenny was getting on base.

When Lenny would get on base like he was, you would have that big hole in the right side, Dutch being a left-handed hitter, plus you saw a lot of fastballs because pitchers were worried about Lenny stealing. So what did it do? He went on a monster tear, and it really just turned around the season. He didn't bat second the entire season.

They kind of, when the newness of that ran, wore off, they moved him back a little bit in the lineup. Do something with Hoskins. Have him swing it earlier in the count. Move him back to fifth or sixth. I don't really care what you do. Put Kingery at second. And tell him, listen, just swing at first pitches.

You're seeing a lot of fastballs early in the count. Swing. You're not a high walk guy anyway. Well, you followed Kingery's minor leagues pretty closely. He never seemed like a guy that was trying to work pitchers. He seemed like a guy that would just jump on first pitches early in counts and be aggressive.

Yeah, not a great... I won't say he had a great approach to the plate, because he didn't. He's not a high walk guy, pretty high strikeout guy, but he was following through with some power. But I think you're taking away with what he does. He's not the guy that has the approach to come up and see six or seven pitches

at the at-bat. He wants to see ball, hit ball. It's okay to have guys like that in the lineup. If you have other guys that are patient and have high on-base percentage, that's not going to be his game. I feel like if they're trying to make him make that a bigger part of his game, let him get up there and swing the bat.

He's thinking too much right now, Kingery. He's got the skill. He's got the bat. We know what he can do. He's just got to do it. I think this is where the analytics maybe are coming in and some of these young players hurting them. Well, yeah, because you have to treat players differently.

Like, if you know Scott Kingery thrives early in counts, being aggressive and just trying to hit, you have to let him do that and not just completely change what makes him comfortable and get him out of his comfort zone. Because then you see this month's stretch where you can't even play Scott Kingery. And with Hoskins, I mean, recently he has been swinging more and more in first pitches, and he did hit some balls hard in the beginning of the Jays series. I didn't see much of the game yesterday, but he's hit some balls to the wall.

It seems like he's starting to break out of it just a little bit, and I think that is directly coincided with beginning to swing earlier in count. I agree with you. Not everyone has the same approaches as Carlos Santana, that he can get down to 1-2, 0-2, and fight back and make the 3-2 counter. Cesar Hernandez, you kind of got to let players be in their comfort zone. And it's one of my concerns with Kapler and the approach from John Maley so far. Yeah, and what you see with Santana and being a veteran player, you're right.

He's perfectly fine with being 0-2, 1-2 in a count. Bobby Abreu was the same way. He would literally come up. He would just loy. He knew they were going to be right down the middle. He didn't care because his approach to the plate was foul a couple back, take a ball, foul one back, take another ball. Not toying with the pitcher,

but really he knew what the pitcher was trying to do. And Santana, while he doesn't have the average, perfectly comfortable, sees a lot of pitches. It works for him. Something's going on with Hoskins right now. I think he is close to breaking out of it. But, man, it's tough to watch right now. And we'll need him.

If this offense was doing anything right now, it'd be 15 games over 500. Well, and he's another leg-kick guy. So leg-kick guys naturally have more ebbs and flows to their season. You see the same kind of thing with Aaron Altair. Once their leg kick is kind of out of rhythm, then they get out of rhythm as well. Once they

start feeling it better with the leg kick, it's weird. It's just something that happens with leg kick hitters, and that's why you see Hoskins while the power obviously jumped up in the minor leagues, it's also why you saw the swoons during his season. You're seeing it now. And the other thing is

I think a lot of people last year were expecting a 40 home run guy, and if you followed him he's going to be a fine baseball player and a fine hitter, but he's not a plus power guy. He might go 25 before the season, maybe he goes over 30 if he's really having fine hitter, but he's not a plus-plus power guy. He might go 25 before the season.

Maybe he goes over 30 if he's really, really having a good season. But for the most part, he's just a complete hitter that helps your overall lineup. And he should be getting a lot of RBIs. Just remember, it's not even the end of May right now. You still have a good four months left in the season. I think as the weather gets warmer and it gets hotter and these guys work out the issues in their head, seaball, hitball, I think that they're going to break it down. And Charlie's called that hit and season, which hopefully they can. Yeah, hit-in-season.

When you were following Kingery's minor leagues, was there ever any reports about him not seeing curveballs well out of the hand? Well, being that he only played at AAA, I'm going to say a minimal amount of games, but he didn't play more than one season at AAA. What you're dealing with is you're dealing with a lot of guys that have been major leaguers that don't have fastballs, that throw a lot of junk. When he's in AA playing in Redding, and that's notoriously a hitter's park,

you're getting the prospects that are throwing 95-96, but don't have the experience, and Kingery's a good fastball hitter. Right now, you're right. People are getting him out. They're saying, like, we're not going to give you a fastball. We're going to give you a swap, and he's struggling with it right now. I think a lot of it just is the recognition of what's going on. He's swimming in his head right now.

Here's what I would say, and Larry Anderson said this to us this past week. He said, go up there with a plan at the plate. Go up there with your first pitch of the at-bat and go up and say, okay, if it's going to be in this zone and it's a fastball, I'm going to swing, but I'm not swinging outside. I'm not swinging inside just in the zone. Or go up there and say, they've been throwing me a lot of first pitch curveballs. I'm going to wait for a hanger, and if I see a hanger, I'm going to look for it.

If it's a fastball, I'm going to take it. But look for something. He doesn't seem like he's recognizing the pitches very well right now. And that's the problem. He's a rookie. He's not a young rookie, but he's a rookie. And it's tough to tell at AAA because you're dealing with guys that aren't major league pitchers.

There's a big difference between major league pitching and minor league pitching. I think you're seeing it. Yeah. I think he struggles seeing curveball out of the hands because more – I've just been surprised by the amount of swings and misses he's taken at balls that are clearly out of the zone, out of hand. Now, fastballs, he's right on. He hits nice, hard contact, line drives, home runs.

It's just that the curveball, I just don't think he recognizes out of the hand. It's weird. I want to monitor that one closely. What he has been doing recently, and something that I think is one of the best parts about baseball, and what I wish we could kind of come back to, he's been bunting a lot to get on base. And I think it's interesting. Maybe that helps him get out of the slump. But, I mean, he's such a weapon on the base paths. And bunting could be a way for him to get out of this little slump. Anything he can do. And that's why maybe putting him up at two. I had no problem with him hitting second.

Just here's what you need to do. He needs to get on base because he has, even though he'll never be a high, high-skill guy because, A, guys don't do it anymore, but, B, you really have to have him make an effort to steal bases. Cesar Hernandez, if he wanted to steal 25 bases a year, he could. He just doesn't do

it. So, Kingery just being on base can create havoc on the base path, and one of the ways he's trying to do it is by bunting, so I'm all for it, and you're right. He's an excellent bunter, and I say keep it up. But if he's hitting six or seven tall, it's tougher. Because then you're just kind of getting wasted on the back end. Yep.

So the Phils are heading out to L.A. They're going to face the Dodgers, which it's always fun watching the Phils in L.A. Just because, you know, Dodger Stadium is beautiful. Especially under the lights. And it just brings you back to the 08-09 series. Where it's just dogfights every single year. And the pouncing on some kid named Clayton Kershaw. Who probably doesn't even figure out to be a good pitcher down the road. But the Phils are heading out to L.A.

Big series. They're starting to get hot a little bit. They're turning it around with Justin Turner back in their lineup. We have tonight Vince Velasquez versus Brock Stewart. An important Velasquez start. He had a shaky last start

but he didn't really implode like we've seen Vince Velasquez in recent starts. Big Velasquez start. What have you seen from Velasquez recently? Are you on the boat towards Velasquez Island, or are you still on a holding pattern? Oh, wow. He, again, being down at the stadium for a lot of the home games,

he stopped by to promote an auction item that he has. He's a big golfer in Velasquez. That's one of his passions is golf. Pretty cool. He's got the stuff, but when does he strike guys out? Let's go back to the last start. Again, he didn't put up a lot

of things. He put up big strikeout numbers. He's blown the bottom of the order away with fastballs. He's getting strikeouts on the pitcher, on the eight-hole hitter, or whatever. I'm not going to tell you that put him in the bullpen, and he's getting strikeouts on the pitcher, on the eight-hole hitter, or whatever. I'm not going to tell you that put him in the bullpen, and he's a bullpen guy,

but it's great. Go five innings and get nine strikeouts and give up four runs. Well, okay, great. Now you've got to get four innings out of the bullpen. It's better than having three innings and giving up seven runs, but the mental part of the game is coming along slower for Vince

than it is for, I think, some of the other guys. He really gets himself worked up on the mound. You can almost sense the moment every game where it's kind of like, uh-oh. He's figuring a way out of it. He's figuring out how to get out of it. He's figuring out how not to get in those positions. But you're right. Now, going out west, facing a good Dodgers team and a good Dodgers lineup.

Do I expect him to come out and seven innings and three hits in one run? Not really, but I'm curious to see what he can do. Uh, Velasquez, this is a, this is a big road trip for the whole team. This could be one of these things where it's bonding time,

get away from the family, get away from, from everybody. You go, San Fran, Los Angeles, and then Chicago, three great cities. Maybe you go out a little bit, a couple extra dinners

with all the guys. So this could really be a huge part of the season for everybody, just kind of bonding and getting away. Yeah, and tonight would be a really good statement start for Vince Velasquez and get things rolling back with him and kind of set the statement for this entire road trip.

They had a tough series against the Blue Jays coming off of the Braves series, which I wonder if there's a little bit of a hangover there. You're right. Get away from the city. Go out and make a statement against this Dodgers team who is starting to figure it out a little bit but still aren't up to their usual Dodgers standards. Then we have Jake Arrieta versus Kenta Maeda.

Maeda is having a really, really strong bounce-back season for the Dodgers. This is going to be a really fun matchup. John, he's a.338 ERA, but a 2.6 FIP. I tell you what, that's pretty good. Yeah, this whole FIP thing. John, you got it. You were texting me about the FIP on somebody. Jay Happ. Yes. Tell everybody what the FIP thing. John, you got it. You were texting me about the FIP on somebody. Jay Happ.

Yes. Tell everybody what the FIP is. Basically, the best way that I can say what FIP is, is it's a good way to measure regression. So it's basically the best way to tell whether a guy is – like when a guy is pitching to a 3 ERA, but you know it's not actually that good, and it's usually like his ERA should be like four,

his FIP is usually four. It's a true indicator of an ERA, what it should be. Right, so Arrieta has like a three-something ERA, but you're worried because his FIP is in the fours, so you're worried about regression. It's a good way. Well, Arrieta gave up some hits, wiggled out of some jams, so you're worried about regression. It's a good way. Yeah, well, Arrieta gave up some hits, wiggled out of some jams, so you're right.

I bet Nola's skip is lower than his ERA. Well, maybe it's right out of the ERA. I'll look it up for a second. But, yeah, important Arrieta start. He had a really nice bounce-back start last week against the Braves. It was a big statement. It was a Wednesday game to take a series against the Braves

and Jake Arrieta went out there and that's what you're paying him $75 million to do is to win a game like that. And you can tell that he's a guy that's been around, that's been in a lot of good games. We were just talking about it this past week. With the Eagles winning

everything and the Sixers being in an exciting season, the Phillies signed a former Cy Young Award winner that also was a World Series winner. And it wasn't really talked about. And, you know, High Hopes talked about it and, you know, there's some chatter on the radio airwaves or whatever. But there wasn't a, when they signed him, oh, here's the phone number at WIP, and there's every line lit.

Oh, Arietta, Arietta, under the radar. You're talking about a guy that he's not Doc. He's not Roy Halladay. I'm not expecting people to act like that. But I feel like he really, really blew under the radar a lot like this team. He is a professional number one starter. And I'm glad the Phillies were able to get him on a three-year contract. He's going to be a huge help to this team, to this young staff,

and I think you're seeing the direct results right now. Jack, I talked to him down in Clearwater, and he wanted to talk more about the pitchers on the staff. He was just getting to know them, even himself. He knows what he is, but he's telling them, he's a man, Mola's stuff is great, and Velasquez might have the best stuff of any of us. So he's a veteran presence on top of being a guy, like you said.

Big series against a team that's a couple games, a game and a half up on you or whatever it is, and he went out there and he showed, like you said, showed why you got him. Yeah, and these guys, they definitely look up to him i mean all these guys talk about how great arietta has been his presence in the locker room might even be more important than his presence on the field it was just nice that in a in the biggest start in phillies in for the phillies in like six years i would say uh he went out there, and he showed that he could still get it done in big moments. Arrieta, whether he has a struggling start, whatever,

I trust him in a big game more than I trust most pitchers. He's shown, he's proven that he's a big game pitcher for his time in the Cubs, in the World Series. I mean, in 2016, he didn't have a great year at all. I mean, it wasn't like his 2015 year where he had a.77 ERA in the second half. In 2016, he had a fine year. It wasn't a great year. But guess what?

In the World Series, he went out there and shoved and was one of the main reasons why they won. He's a big game guy. I trust him. And another important statement started against the Dodgers Tuesday night at 10-10. And then we have Eflin versus Ross Stripling. I mean, whatever.

Eflin, I was pretty disappointed in his start against the Blue Jays. He was not spotting that fastball on both sides of the plate. I mean, the one reason why I was more into Eflin than I have been in years past was because it looked like he was spotting it to both sides of the plate, which just unleashes so much more from a pitching standpoint. But he didn't do that at all. And when he got up behind and things started to unravel he just kept throwing fastball after fastball after fastball

and they're getting he said they're hitting piss rods off of them so um it was a really really disappointing uh uh start against the blue jays but obviously hopefully you can get him back against the dodgers but we'll say is is efflin pivetta last year where pivetta showed you he flashed you, and it was going into June, I think, where I remember he had a couple starts in a row where you're like, damn, look at his stuff, and he was really producing, and then it kind of went downhill from there and it snowballed. Maybe Eflin is Pavetta of last year. He shows you the flash of the talent and the stuff that he has,

but it's going to take some time to get it all together. Remember, we look at these pitchers and we think that they should be finished products when they're 24, 25 years old to where it does take some time to develop. So I think we're seeing the development of Eflin right now. I would say the one difference between him and Pavetta is that Pavetta's off-speed was always disgusting. It was just whether or not he could locate it and whatnot. Eflin's slider, I think, is tough to square up

because it moves on a 3-9 kind of basis. So I just think it's naturally hard to square up from a hitter standpoint. But Pavetta probably had better stuff. But yeah, there could be something there. It's 95-96, and what he showed his previous three starts was he was able to locate it on both sides of the plate. So I'm not completely out, but it was just a disappointing game against the Blue Jays.

And then, boy, the rubber match. Thursday at 7.35, Nola versus Kershaw. You don't get these kind of matchups very often where it's two aces, two guys that have proven they can go deep in games. It's a legit starting pitching matchup that you can get excited for, and Thursday can't come soon enough. Yeah, not that it's a measuring stick game for Aaron Nola,

but let's face it, it is. It's a measuring stick to see what he can do on a stage like that against Clayton Kershaw, against the Dodgers. The Dodgers at some point are going to break out, and you just hope the offense, you just hope that it's not going to, because there's going to be a series that happens, and you just hope that it's not this series against Velasquez

or against Eflin, but I think the matchup's good for Nolan in the final game of the series. Depending on what happens before that, he should be pumped up. We'll see. We'll see, but it's going to be a – it's definitely circled on my calendar where I'll be up for this one.

This will be the one night that I stay up extra late. And it was the Dodgers series last year that kind of sunk the Phillies, so you hope it doesn't happen again this year. I mean, last year it was the nearest game where he was back-to-back-to-back to completely crush any momentum. And then after that series when they went into that May where they won like five games. So you just hope that that doesn't happen again.

But the one perk of this is it's late-night fills. I know you can't do it, but for us young, strapping young men out there, we can stay up late for these Phillies West Coast trips. I always look forward to it. I love watching late night fills because it's at that point when you're staying up with all the real fans because you know the frauds are already in bed.

Yeah, my first bathroom trip, I'll be checking in. It'll probably be the fifth inning of my first bathroom trip. I'll be watching. I'll flip it on. I'll just be honest. I won't lie. Like a lot of people out there, a lot of talk show hosts,

a lot of podcast people are like, oh, yeah, I stayed up for it. No, you're not. I will be asleep by the time the game starts, most likely, or right when it starts. And I'll be up watching it later. But, yeah, man, the West Coast games are tough these days. Yeah, they are. Tough, tough, tough.

Before we get out of here, we have to talk about Sixto Sanchez getting back on track this week. I don't know. Did you see it? Did you see the stat line? I did. I did. I did, yeah.

He finally reached double-digit strikeouts. The velocity is coming back on the fastball. And the reports that I read on the game were that his off-speed stuff's really coming around, too. So he's got the ERA getting down towards three. And not that you're worried about him being a good prospect, but when you're talking about a 19-year-old that throws 100 miles an hour, there's a lot of things that can happen between high eight ball and major leagues. But he's right back on track.

And he's looking good on track and, uh, it's looking good. Okay. Looking good. We'll see. We'll see what he does from here. He struck out. He struck out 10 on 78 pitches. Like that is,

that is, that is efficient. So, uh, six though, I mean, basically Matt Gelb came out of the athletic and wrote an article on six though last week.

And he was just like, everyone, the Phillies are basically saying that he was just messing around this first couple starts, just getting back into the swing of things. He missed all spring training with an illness, and now he's kind of rounding back into form. I mean, the guy is just insane. I can't wait until he gets up here. And the Phillies wisely, by the way, took the foot off the gas and said,

no, you're going to wait, and held him back. So this is really right now, it's almost like he's starting the regular season. The first however many starts of the season were his spring training. He was doing extending spring training, and he was throwing a little bit, but no worries with Sixto Sanchez. He's looking great.

Now, some of their other top prospects, or high draft picks at least, not so much. Well, listen, don't say that. Adam Haseley is getting hot. I think he's batting like.338 in his last week, last two weeks. Yeah, he's been hitting. Moniac

stole a singles machine, batting around.240. Cornelius Randolph is not a major league player. He can't even hit.200 in AA. Maybe make some majors at some point. With prospects, when they make jumps from different leagues, and you're seeing Haseley, he was supposed to be more of a major league player coming out of college, playing in the same level as Moniak.

At least Moniak's 19, 20 years old. Haseley, he played three years in college. So you're right. He's playing better. He's better. He's playing better. He's better. He's getting better. He's heating up a little bit, but time's ticking. I think Sixto's going to be on the team next year

for a playoff. A pay rod? No, for a pennant run. A nice little September call-up, August call-up, and just put him in the bullpen, and then the year just put him in the bullpen, and then the year after put him in the rotation. I think he's going to be here next year.

I really do. Well, with them moving Sir Anthony to the bullpen, you would think that they're going to want to stick with Sixto in the rotation, but you're right. They could conceivably bring him up and say, hey, give me two, three innings at a time, and throw that fastball. So we'll see. We'll see what he does this year.

Hopefully next year he's starting the year at AA Redding. Sir Anthony was at Redding for eight games. He went to Lehigh Valley for three games. Just this year, he never pits above A ball. I know. Sir Anthony Dominguez before this year. He's 11 appearances above high A ball. And he is dominating in the major leagues right now.

Gabe Kapler is using him very well. I like how he's using him. Well, he's using him in the correct role. He's not putting him in the closer role. He's coming in. He's being the fireman, and he's getting the most important outs of a ballgame. Honestly, sometimes it's great just to tune in and just to see him. My two main reasons to tune in to watch the Phillies right now is the chance of seeing Sir Anthony

and the chance of seeing Alfaro throw out a guy. Oh, my God. Alfaro's amazing. I love him. He's amazing. He's like a big pudge, a monster pudge. And you know what? You can tell at the plate, he's got a pretty good approach.

He really has bounced back. Early in the season, there were a lot of people being like, uh-oh, he looks close to the plate. Calm down, and you see the raw power. But he has a chance to be really good defensively calling a game, and we can see what he does when he throws. He's throwing 92 miles an hour, 91 miles an hour back there getting base runners. You're right, it's fun. The young players on this team right now are really fun.

Yeah, I wish his K rate wasn't at like 45%. And I don't think he can make contact on fastballs above 95 miles an hour. It's like the opposite of Carlos Ruiz. But yeah, it's all there. His approach has been better. He's been trying to go the other way a lot more recently, which I found pretty interesting. We'll see.

We'll see. I'm in a holding pattern on his offensive game, but his defense is just a reason to tune in on a night-in, night-out basis. If he hits 250 and can have 15 home runs and drive in RBIs, you're fine with it because the defense

is going to be good. I've always felt that with catchers. If a guy can call a game as good defensively, he can bet 220. If he gives you 10 home runs, he can drive in 60 RBIs. I'll take that guy every day of the week. Hopefully, Alfaro can be that guy. Alright, well, enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day weekend.

My man. And tonight, Vince Velasquez versus Brock Stewart at an 8 o'clock start, so you may be able to stay up for most of it. We'll see. Well, I'm driving home tonight, Monday. So, we're leaving here probably at 7 o'clock, so I'll be listening on the way home, and I'll catch. Well, I'm driving home tonight, Monday. So we're leaving here probably at 7 o'clock. So I'll be listening on the way home and I'll catch the rest when I get home.

Well, sounds good, Johnny. And we'll talk to you tomorrow. And review us. That's the big thing. Of course. We had a good positive night of reviews. We're up to, I think, 50 five-star reviews and 20 actual reviews, five-star ratings, 20 reviews.

So keep getting them in. Help us grow this thing. It's a bunch of fun to do these episodes. And as this team goes on and as they inch toward a possible playoff berth, our podcasts are only going to become more fun. So, yeah, definitely rate us, review us, and we'll talk to you soon. All right, Fritz. 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

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