High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Giving Kapler Credit

Episode Date: July 12, 2018

James Seltzer and Jon Marks talk all things Phillies on the latest edition of the High Hopes podcast. The guys begin by giving Gabe Kapler the credit he deserves for steering the team to their first place record. James and Jon then react to the series split with the Mets (some of it in real time), and discuss some of the players who have recently been exceeding their expectations. Plus, the fellas talk Aaron Nola's awesomeness, the latest on the Manny Machado sweepstakes, and much more. 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

DQ presents Picture This. Picture the Reese's Extreme Blizzard. Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces in one Blizzard treat. Wait, are you dreaming? No? Then yeah, this Reese's Extreme Blizzard is real. And for a limited time at DQ, happy tastes good. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. When you drive a Mazda, you'll find out why RSUVs won more 2024 IIHS top safety picks than any other brand as of June 2024. Find out what makes Mazda different at mazda.ca. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. I am James Seltzer and with me, the man, the myth, the legend, the man who can't stop offering up his body for tattoos, Mr. Twitter himself, Johnny Marks. What's up, brother? Oh, did you hear me talking about that today? What is wrong with you, man?

And no one like challenges you. This is not like, oh, well, let's make a bet. And there's something you get out of it. All you get out of it is, like, granted, a championship, which would be awesome, but it's not mutually exclusive. They could still win and you wouldn't have to get an Aaron Nola tattoo. I have a Nick Foles tattoo on my back because I said if the Eagles win the Super Bowl, I'll get Nick Foles' face on my back. So yeah, Nick Foles is on my back. So while I was doing that, John Brazier of the Phillies texted me and said, hey, make a deal with me. If the Phillies win the World Series, you'll get Oduble Herrera's face on your body. Nubo Herrera's face on your body. And I said, well, I'm not going to get his face, but I'll get El Torito from shoulder blade to shoulder blade,

almost like a gang, like a sublime tattoo that Bradley Noel had on his back. I'll get that, El Torito. And, you know, because the Phillies don't have a chance to win the World Series. Now they're on pace to win 92 games, and I'm starting to sweat it a little bit. Oh, my God. Well, I love that you just said, like, sure, I'll do it. They're on pace to win 92 games i'm starting to sweat it oh my god well i love that you just said like sure i'll do it they're not gonna win and the fact that i i guess there is something to the fact that you already have the nick toll nick foals tattoo there so the back's kind of ruined anyway right so you can just keep the backs the backs totally ruined i'm probably already well this, this could be divorced.

Tomorrow's my anniversary. Oh, no. So, yeah, I could end it four years if I got this. But here's the other thing, James. I could just say, no, I lie. I'm out. I'm not doing it. Yes.

But I could do that, but I'm not going to. This one, not... Yeah, no, obviously. You've got a freaking Nick Foles tattoo on your back because you don't back out on these things, which... Could you imagine? It would be well worth it. Well worth an El Torito tattoo.

Oh, my God, yeah. To win the World Series? Let's roll. And who knows? Maybe you got some magic juju going, John. I like that. Hey, man. Worth a shot, right?

I'll take it. Yeah, because then— I'll take it. Because then if they do win and you get that tattoo, tattoo, we can say for sure it was because of that. I think it's just – It was me. It was you. You're the guy.

It's pretty cool. That other talk show host in town, Skippy or whatever his name is, he's not getting championships. That's for sure. I'm the one getting it. I'm putting my body on the line. Just stay off Twitter and everything will be fine, right? All right.

Let's actually talk some Phillies here. Marks and I are doing this. We were like, all right, well, we'll watch the Phillies Mets game last game of series. And then we'll, we'll pod. And now it's in the bottom of the 10th inning. And we were like, we can't stay up all night. So we're going to roll with it. Hopefully it doesn't end in a Mets win runner on second right now, two outs though. Johnny, just in general, kind of a macro look where this team is at right now. Two outs, though. Johnny, just in general,

kind of a macro look where this team is at right now. We are, you know, five games, essentially, if you include this one, four games with the Baltimore game and then three in Miami away from the All-Star break. And this team, right now,

alone and first, the Braves are up on Toronto right now, so we'll see how this plays out. But, you know, in first place in the NL East, where are you at with this team? Amazing. Totally amazing.

It's crazy. On pace to win 92 games, Mikel Franco kind of almost out of nowhere is hitting 272, is 12 home runs, 45 RBIs, at least before tonight's game. I know they haven't scored the team yet, but it's amazing. And I give a lot of credit to the starting pitching.

The bullpen's been tremendous. The lineup is now coming around, which is, if you're looking for a reason why the Phillies aren't going to level off here, I think because the lineup actually is coming around. And of course, you have to give a lot of credit to Gabe Kapler, who, regardless of what you think of the analytics and think about his tanning or the way he talks, if he doesn't criticize his players, the guys like playing for him. And it shows in their results and the way they're on the field. So I'm happy. I'm proud.

And it's going to be a fun ride here the last couple months. Yeah, they're making my 88 and your 87 win calls not look nearly as silly as people seem to make us feel when we made those predictions. And look, a lot of baseball still to be played. But I think you hit on something there with Kapler. And just the fact that, you know, we've heard multiple players say it, that his positivity, I believe Reese Hoskins said on your show, on Marks and Reese, that his positivity like really helps over the grind of a baseball season, over 162 games. And I totally buy into that. It is a grind. And you don't want some a-hole manager always up your butt and all that.

I think someone who promotes with positive reinforcement is something where I could see how that, especially, look, especially if you're winning, right? We always get into this. If you're losing, it's going to be a whole different ball game. And by the way, not getting the call there. It looked like he got the call. All right. So first and second, two out. But you know, it's one of those things where I think that when you look at the situation, I think so far and again with winning, but Kapler's positivity is working. And I think that it's also the kind of way this team is played. I know a lot of people are looking at their run differential and looking at the 18-7 record in one-run games and screaming,

they're lucky, they're not that good, all that stuff. But I feel like as someone who watches every single game, literally, I feel like it's not just luck luck i feel like there's a resiliency to this team uh especially for such a young group with a first year manager they are they're tough man and and it feels like they're never out of a ball game have you gotten that kind of impression or do you lean more towards the and obviously look there's always going to be some luck involved but but do you get that same kind of feel man that's the ball game that's yeah it's a bummer right there series split but you kind of i kind of felt like that with lighter coming in the

game in the 10th and then that walk right there um yeah but but but i last year last year was it two years ago the phillies won a lot of one run games and that was that was hocus pocus that was getting lucky there's a little bit of luck in in the one run games but i i think more than anything the reason why they're so successful in the one run games is their bullpen outside of the ninth inning problems they've had without a without a set dominant closer uh they're winning a lot of one run games because they're not scoring a lot of runs but they're able to shut the door so So, no, I don't think that it's lucky. This is a good team.

And there is something to be said for Gabe Kaplan. I always go back to Larry Bowe. Larry Bowe is one of the great baseball men in the Phillies organization ever. Great player, great baseball guy. And Larry Bowe, the manager, you're coming in 162 games and he is just wired like crazy and it's tough guys shut him down he made them better when he took over for Terry Francona but it got old and it got old pretty quick Charlie Manuel was the perfect antidote for for Larry Boa he made it enjoyable to come in to work every day.

I feel like there's a little bit of that with Gabe Kappler because, like you said, it's a grind. It's a long season. If you don't enjoy, if it's not a positive environment, if it's not a positive atmosphere, Pete McKinnon last year, Pete's a good baseball guy. I think Pete's a nice guy.

They weren't in sync. The guys weren't in sync with him. I think Pete's a nice guy. They weren't in sync. The guys weren't in sync with him, and I think it showed in the results, especially early and middle of the way through the season. So this isn't bogus, and they need to keep rolling. They need to keep winning games, and that's

easier said than done. This isn't luck as far as I'm concerned. I 100% agree with you. And, look, I think McKinnon last year, it seemed there's a reason that Pete McKinnon has been in baseball for 50 years and is always an interim manager, always a bench coach, always a whatever. He doesn't relate to players that well.

And I think we saw that last year. And I think maybe one of the things that a lot of people underrated with Kapler coming in here is how close he was to his playing career and how he's played with some of the guys they face and and guys like that you know who's been on teams with them and to have that kind of connection to the way players are right now the way clubhouses are right now I think we might have underrated that and I think that so far we're seeing that proved to be pretty beneficial. And like you said, I just think it's kind of the mentality of this team.

It seems like, and I think tonight a perfect example, you know, bottom of the 10th walk-off home run. How many games have we had like that this year? I mean, I can think of three that Hector Neris alone, you know, and then the Jason Hayward walk-off grand slam and all that stuff. And, and yet this team's still tied for first place or sitting in first place. And depending on if the Braves can hold this lead here, still tied for first place with, you know, I think that's really impressive. And, and it seems like every time they, they kind of get knocked down, they find a way to come back and win the the next day and yeah it's it's

like you said they're resilient this team has a winning attitude and it starts with the manager and when when things are going wrong in the beginning of the season you remember Gabe Kapler set the expectation at at playoffs in spring training and early on when they were having problems when Nick Williams Williams was openly questioning him, when it looked like that he may not last very long as a manager with some early mistakes, he doubled down on making the playoffs. He came out and he said, no, this team is still going to make the playoffs. He didn't waver.

He didn't hedge. He didn't bring expectations back down. He stood up in front of the media and he said, no, this team's still going to the playoffs. And at the time i liked that because he had confidence in him and he showed these guys he had confidence in him and when when guys were maybe scratching their head and saying what is he doing he pulled aaron nola what is he doing he went to the bullpen and nobody was warming up like what is this guy doing does he know what he's doing he stepped stepped up and he's rallied this team.

And it's pretty fun to watch and I'm happy for him. Yeah, and it's clear he's learning on the job. He's not making the same mistakes over and over again. He's learning from these things, whether it is trusting Nola in those types of situations, the game against the Orioles, leaving him in against Manny Machado, a recent example of that. Yes. And it just seems like he makes a mistake and he learns from it and

moves forward. And that's really all you can ask for out of someone in that position. I also think, you know, kind of diving into this week and look, they won eight out of their last nine series prior to this Mets series. New York teams, the only one's giving them trouble, the Yankees and then this series here at the Mets. But looking at this series here, a few interesting takeaways from an on-the-field perspective is it seems like we're pretty much on the same page

with the job that Gabe has done through his first half of the season. But looking at a couple of things from this series, let's start on the offensive side. You mentioned him before, but Mike Calfranco, since settling into the eight hole in the lineup, has been on an absolute tear. And you and I have both been pretty vocal in our criticism of Franco, and with good reason, because he has never done it consistently,

and I still need to see him do it consistently over a longer period than a month or whatever. But what you're seeing out of Franco right now is this giving you hope it is um especially defensively and he's made a couple of really really good plays in the last week to 10 days where it's like all right he's fielding his position and he's helping them defensively that's great what he's been able to do and I was talking to LA.A. about this today, and I said, you know, it kind of reminds me of the way that Charlie Emanuel

handled Pat Burrell or handled some other players, where he knew the time to sit them down and make them watch and then when to get them back in the lineup. And I guess out of desperation, because they don't really have anybody else to play, Franco ended up back in there, but the 8-hole seems to be working for him really, really well. And Gabe talked about it, I think, after yesterday's game. They're saying, well, when do you move him out of the 8-hole?

And he said, you know, that's a good question. I don't think he really knows. It's kind of a feel. So for all the analytic talk that everybody says, oh, he doesn't care about analytics, he still has a very good feel for his team and his players. And do I think Mikel Franco is going to

bat 300 the rest of the season and end up with 25-30 home runs? Not necessarily, but so far, so good. And I'm not sold on him doing this the entire year, but hey, I'll be happy if he doesn't. Totally. I'll take what I can get from Franco. And look, mentioned it defensively he's been excellent an excellent defense and

obviously he makes those uh you know he's made a couple of those highlight reel type wow how did he make that type of plays but i'm just so impressed by how shorthanded he is and how you know if it's at their base he's gonna make the play i feel like every single time and he's got a cannon of an arm and can make every single throw that that position needs to make he um he's more agile than he looks you know he's kind of bulked up a little bit a bit of a bigger guy and he and he's certainly not a fast runner but i think defensively that athleticism does still kind of come out and i'm with you look i i I need to see Franco do it for a longer period of time. And again, I'm still open to hoping that other teams see this hot streak and want to trade for him like the Padres remember a little bit ago.

But look, right now he's given them some offense that they've needed, and it's been helpful. Another guy who got the start again tonight and has, look, kind of just been taking starts from Jorge Alfaro seemingly almost every night now, it seems like, at least certainly the majority of the reps at catcher have gone to Andrew Knapp, who has been really hot. Another nice hit tonight, a double that didn't turn into anything.

This very terrible base running mistake in the 10th inning that certainly hurt them. And obviously they're losing the bottom of the 10th. But for the most part, he's nowhere near the defensive catcher that Alfaro is, especially obviously the arm is, you know, it's like, you know, having a howitzer and a potato gun. A pea shooter. Yeah, exactly.

But, you know, Knapp's been hitting the ball well. Yeah, and the reason that he's in the majors, and when he was a prospect, it was always his bad. He was never a great defensive catcher. Adequate, I guess. But if you looked at Jorge Alfaro, he had power, potential, raw power, and he's got the tools to be, if not one of the best, the best catcher in baseball defensively.

And that's never been that guy, and he's never going to be that guy. If he hits, he'll be getting more starts. I wonder if Kapler's kind of looking at the fact that he's been hot, and this is kind of a motivational tool for Alfaro to kind of sit and watch a little bit and to also kind of catch his breath. Now, this is a guy that's had some injury issues in the past. They've played 90 games. I don't know how many games he's played, but this is going to be the most he's played in

his career. And it's a grind. So it goes to show you, is he using analytics or is he going with a feel? I feel like right now he's going with a feel for Knapp. And listen, he's looked good. feel for Nat with nap and you know, and listen, he's looked good. He's looked good. So, um, we'll see how it continues. I never liked when Alphard is not in the lineup. So I love watching him play. I love the kid. Me too. He's so much fun. And speaking of athletic plays, I mean, uh, obviously that one play at that, uh, finish out the game on the little nibbler that he, I mean, that's a play I've never seen

any catcher make. It was unreal. And obviously a cannon. He's fun to watch back there. And I think he's improving defensively every time he gets out there, but I think you make some really great points there, especially the point about the fact that Oriole Faro has never played more than a hundred, 110 games or whatever it is in a season. Like we say, it's a grind and especially at that position, it's a real grind. So think you know I think like you said Kapler is feeling the spot and saying all right nap's hot right now I can get some games out of nap I can save some of Jorge I can get by doing this and while also riding a hot bat and and again it's like everyone was so afraid of that John remember was like oh my god he sets

his line up a week in advance what the hell is this guy doing and it's like no like chill you know give him a chance to figure this out. And it certainly has looked that way. And look, another example of that has been, uh, and, and, uh, Jack Fritz, if you're listening, the absolutely correct choice to play Nick Williams almost every day, if not every day and not play Aaron Altair. Cause I'm sorry, Jack, Aaron Altair has been a major disappointment. Jack the only person still dying on this Hill, John, we're not even going to talk about that because again, no one but Jack thinks that Aaron Altair should play over Nick Williams.

I want to talk about how good Nick Williams has been over the last month or so. The plate coverage. He always seems to get a big hit for you. He's been grinding on the base pass. I've been really impressed with Nick. And so after he was traded here in the Hamels deal, right away you see athleticism. And he went to Redding, and he was on fire, right? And then his first year in AAA, he was a younger guy in AAA.

I mean, he's only 24, 25 years old now, right? I mean, he's still a young player. And you saw the struggles with him because he wasn't a disciplined hitter. He's not a walk guy. He's not a see a lot of pitch guy. He's a swing. And if he makes contact, he's got good natural power. He's an extra base hitter. He's got good speed. And in AAA, you're facing guys that most likely have been in the majors. They're not throwing 96, 97 like a lot of prospects are in AA. They're throwing you junk. So he learned a lot in AAA as far as off-speed pitches, recognizing it,

really understanding what to do, what a pitcher is trying to do to him. Because you know what? He's got better plate discipline in the majors than he's ever had in the minors. He has learned a lot. He walks a lot more than he did. He's not a guy that's just coming up there to hack. He's not.

He's not coming up there and just swing, swing, swing. It's an 0-2 count, and he's swinging fastball, and he's getting an off-speed pitch because no pitcher's going to throw him a fastball on that count. He's actually understanding what's going on. and you can see the light going on i know he doesn't have a high average but the hits that he's had whether the pinch hits or they're when he's starting he's had big hits big home runs big extra base hits and jack and i were actually just arguing in the in the office the. He's like, hey, Nick Williams, blah, blah, blah. Nick Williams is your starter for years to come. And I'm glad you brought him up, James, because he really does deserve some credit.

He has looked really good this year. And it's exciting to know that he's versatile. He can play all three spots out there. And if I'm looking towards the future and you're talking about a Bryce Harper coming in, Nick Williams is my starter. You've got Oduble, you've got Nick Williams, and you have Bryce Harper or whatever other outfielder you want to sign. Not Otero. He's a backup.

Yeah, no, look, I couldn't agree more, and I'm sure Fritz is going to listen to this and be throwing his iPhone out the window, but it just is what it is. Aaron Otero has not been good this year, and I know he has had shown the ability to be very good at the major league double, but Nick Williams is showing that right now too. And I have a lot of respect for the way Williams handled everything after the whole computer lineup thing and all that he's been good. And he's been, you know, he's taken, uh, the, the benchings, the, the benchings, the early part of the season,

Altair getting the lion's share of the work. He came in and was the best pinch hitter in the history of baseball, it seemed, and then took advantage of the opportunity to play more and more and more, especially as Altair struggled. And right now he's one of those guys that, he was one of the four or five guys

you want up in a big spot right now for this team, which is crazy. And let's give Gabe Kapler another big spot right now for this team which is crazy and let's um let's give gabe capler another little dose of credit for this because you remember nick williams came out early in the season because he wasn't getting his at bats i mean christ they were giving scott kingery starts in and that's really when he went off kingery got to start over nick williams it wasn't all terror that got to start it was kingery that got to start over him and that's where where he spoke out about it. And he said, well, at least I can play more video games if I'm not playing or whatever. And it kind of took a shot at the manager and it sounded bad.

And you know what Kapler did? Kapler didn't come out and rip him or not have a comment and say, I'll talk to the player. He actually kind of backed them up and had a conversation with them and handled it the way that Gabe Kapler has shown that he's handling his guys. I think it was a learning moment for everybody. And at that moment where it seemed like the clubhouse could crumble, guys had question marks about him. And you know what it ended up being? It ended up being one of those moments where maybe you can point to it and say, that was a moment where maybe things changed for Nick.

Maybe things, it was one of the, one of those moments where it could have been like, all right, well, the season's going to be lost because they're going to send them down the triple A. I think I had the knee jerk reaction of like,

screw him. Send them down the triple A. You can't say things like that. Teach him a lesson. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah.

You could have done that or you could have done what Gabe did, which seems like it's paid off. Yeah. I think it's a terrific point, especially it sounds like, you know, it's like just a Gabe credit fest. But I think you have to give credit where it's due, and I think people are starting to come around to see the type of job he's doing and not to pile on poor Pete McKinnon.

But when you look back at last season this is the exact type of stuff that he struggled with you know every time he tried to deal with o'double it was a disaster pat neshek and him going out where where basically he said oh i asked neshek to go back out and he said he wouldn't go back out and he was like no it didn't happen i mean stuff like that and granted pat neshek not the best dude. Or at least he's a fine guy, but not my favorite player. Seems like a bit of a prima donna for a guy who's not necessarily the best player on the team. He's not very flexible, we'll say that. He likes to kind of come in at the beginning of one inning and then that's it.

He doesn't want to come in in the middle. Sorry for it. He doesn't want to come in in the middle of Sorry for it. He doesn't want to come in in the middle of the inning or, you know, two innings or anything like that. Yeah, and also, listen, bro. If Zach Greinke doesn't want to sign your baseball cards, get over it. You are an adult playing in Major League Baseball. And what is wrong with you?

You're not a 7-year-old kid who Zach Greinke's like, no, kid, go home. I mean, pull it together, Pat. Pull it together, Pat. That was embarrassing. Very odd. All right. Very pat that was embarrassing very odd all right very very odd all right let's flip it around to the pitching side we'll get to uh the debut of eniel de los santos in a sec but i wanted to start with the guy who very deservedly the only all-star on this team and and just went out just again

and uh in a game they needed to have really when you look the way the series is breaking out with losing game one, Eflin was fine, you know, not as good as he's been, but was fine. Tough loss there in extras on the floor as Homer. And then they needed Aaron Nola to come out, especially not knowing what you get from De Los Santos, having Jacob deGrom going today. You needed Aaron Nola to come out and be Aaron Nola and be your stopper.

And he was all that more. And not only that, he actually drove in the only three runs of the game for the Phillies. So he did it all seven innings, 10 Ks, just a dominant performance. You know, where are you at with Aaron Nola? I think, I think we all kind of have continually been like, wow, he's this good. Wow. Look how good, Oh my God, he's an ace. How did this happen? But I think we're starting to get to the point where he's like a borderline elite ace uh this dude should start the all-star game he

won't because it's in washington and churros will start but i mean aaron muller right now should be the young winner and that's that's nuts john yeah can he can you know the only question i have is can he continue and stay healthy for the rest of the season that's really the only question marks he's he's got great pure stuff the kid's a stud uh he I love his mentality you'll you'll love him out on the mound he he's uh he's not a real uh real loud and vocal guy stoic I like that he just goes about his business does, but there's a lot going on inside his head. It's not that he – I haven't interviewed him a couple times in person now. He's a good guy. He's a funny guy too, but he's not the loud guy.

Yeah, he's not the loud guy, but he – believe me, he is a stud. And it's not, you get some half seasons where you get guys that have good seasons and good stuff, and then they lose some velocity or the rest of the league catches up with them because it's their second time around or whatever. That's not going to happen with him. If he stays healthy, which damn you better, he's going to win 20 games. He's going to win 20. Go win the Cy Young. You don't win 20 games anymore a lot in Major League Baseball. Kid is a stud, and it's fun to watch.

Yeah, it really is. And he's so – I love his approach to pitching, the way he attacks hitters. It's thoughtful. He isn't just going up and just relying on his stuff. He's actually a thinking man's pitcher. And then he has this. Pitches backwards sometimes. Yeah, and he has this stuff to boot.

And then real just. I know a lot of people like to compare him to Maddox. And I totally get it. But we need to slow the roll a little bit. I mean, Maddox had as much control as any pitcher I've ever seen in my life. He could put the ball wherever he wanted and make it move however he wanted. Nola has that upside, I think. I mean, when you really look at the way

he pitches, he's a similar type of pitcher, a little more velocity, not quite the same ability to manipulate the ball the way Maddox could. Just the fact that people are even dropping that name and it's not the most outrageous thing you've ever heard is, is ridiculous enough in and of itself.

But look, I'm with you on Nolan in terms of the way he is out on the mound. I love it. The kind of stoic he works quick. He goes about his business. He's just going to get out. And I just think also the other thing too is, is we all thought he was a two.

We thought maybe a three at first. Oh, he's going to get to the majors fast, but he's got a lower ceiling. And he's already defied that ceiling by leaps and bounds. So who knows what he could do from here, especially when you consider the fact he's only 25 years old. It's unbelievable. He just turned 25. So there's a lot of really great baseball in Aaron Nola left,

and it's exciting to have him here. All right, mentioned it before, the other kind of big pitching story out of New York was the debut of not Freddy Galvis, and yelled De Los Santos. Look, man, that was fun to watch, thinking we got that guy for Freddy. Look at that weird delivery.

People were calling it deceptive. Very cross-body type stuff. How does he throw it in the mid-90s like that? It doesn't look like it should work. It's odd. It is. I'll be really curious because he had really good success down at AAA. I'll be really curious what his second half looks like because he's not going to be up here pitching unless there's an injury

or unless Pavetta continues the tailspin. I guess you could conceivably do that. I'll be really curious to see what his second half looks like because I'm not going to tell you that I wasn't impressed because it was a good outing but i'm not totally sold that this kid is is as good as he looks so we will we'll see we'll see yeah had a nice had a nice start but we'll see it was immense so you know we can't get too carried away it's about as bad a lineup as you could face so uh look i think it was encouraging and i think when you think about the fact that anything that he could possibly be for Freddie Galvis is pretty amazing.

But I'm with you. I think that, you know, obviously, look, it's always hard to project these guys, but it was nice to see him come up even against a bad team step in a spot start situation and really pitch well and get the job done and look at his first major league win. All right. Kind of the other thing out there, outside again, Orioles, then the three games with the Marlins, then we're at the all-star break, John. But it's all about the trade deadline coming up. And for the first time in a really long time, we get to scour rumors and look at tweets and this and that

and be excited about the potential for trades here for adding for adding exactly yes exactly so um look uh machado it said uh they said that they're out of machado now jim bowden comes out and says that they're they're still in but don't have the best offer we'll get to some of the other names but but where do you stand on the whole machado thing right now i i don't think it's gonna happen i i i mean i i don't it's impossible to know what other teams are offering my feel is that phillies have inquired and and they're interested but the see i don't know if if the more success they have the more they're fueled to go after them or you know what i mean like like the fact that they're continuing to roll

does that make Matt Klintak feel like you know what we have a real chance here let's go get him or is it him saying hey we can win without him and we can go sign him for free if the asking price is a couple of your top 10 prospects

yeah but if it's two of your top five guys, maybe Klintec says, you know what, I'll roll with what we have. And that's that. Because Machado's only going to play shortstop. And it's not like he was playing third base before and Franco was really struggling to where you can say, all right, now your third base problem's solved

and you have him in there. No, he wants to play shortstop. Listen, I'm not sure how I feel about that. He's not a great shortstop defensively. That's frustrating because he's a really good third baseman too. He's too big for shortstop. He is. No, he shouldn't be playing shortstop.

Whoever signs him to a 10-year contract, he's not going to play shortstop for more than a year or two before they have to move him back. But you know what, James? The bat, he's the best hitter on the team. He would be the best hitter on the team. Immediately, yeah, immediately. Immediately, and he makes your lineup that much better.

I mean, you're upgrading from Kingery, essentially. If you did bring him in and put him in shortstop, you're upgrading from Kingery to Machado. I mean, think about how much better you are immediately. bring him in and put him in church stop you're upgrading from kingery to machado i mean think about how much better immediately immediately immediately and you can now move kingery around a little bit and get him some starts because i have liked the way that he's been he's been swinging the bat a little bit better recently but i don't think it's going to happen i don't have the feel that's going to happen but if they keep winning games post all-star break contact

might say you know what let's go for it. Let's do it. And that would be extremely exciting. Here's the other thing it does. We know they're not drawing great right now and that'll change in August if they're still doing what they're doing right now.

But if they acquire a Manny Machado, instantly, that becomes an electric atmosphere down there and it's must-watch baseball. So that also is something that could play into it

big picture from from from an organizational standpoint it's worth it to do it yeah i'm with you i think ultimately like you said at the the top i don't think it's going to happen i think he's going to get traded to a team that is closer in their mind to being a definitive world series title contender. You know, I think that the Phillies should look, anything can happen. You get to the playoffs, especially when you got some legit pitching. But I don't think the Phillies believe their real deal, make one move and win the World Series type of team this year.

And I think the team that trades for Machado will believe that and will be willing to give up more as a result. And look, especially because there are a lot of names out there that would be nice additions for this team and wouldn't be Machado and wouldn't give it that kind of immediate jolt like you kind of talked about, both from a fan perspective and an on-the-field perspective. But if they bring in a Mike Masakis or Whit Merrifield or a Josh Donaldson or a, you know, who are the other names? Adrian Beltre.

Like, any of those types of guys coming in here would absolutely make this team better. And you would be able to get them for an incredibly less amount. Yeah, you're right. I think that they will make a couple moves, significant moves. I don't know about a significant move. They have a couple of needs, including a bat. I think a veteran bat would really help out. But I don't need them to get Machado.

It's not, for me, it's not something where you have to do it. And like you said, Yankees, maybe. Red Sox,x maybe makes more sense for those guys that are saying like hey we're the best teams in baseball and we got to get them so the other team doesn't get them and he's our missing piece like just i just it doesn't have a good feel the phillies are doing it i i'm with you 100 there and again i'm okay with it as well look i think i think no matter where he goes whether it's here or somewhere else he's going to test free agency in the offseason.

It's just what happens. This never happens. Look, he's going to get $400 million offers or whatever. He's going to test it. So, look, I think that, sure, there certainly could be some benefit to having him here and having him meet the guys and the infrastructure and the city and all that. But I don't know. It could.

Look, it certainly could help, especially if they do a playoff run. Exactly. And again, even with that, he's still going to go out there and if someone else wants to pay him $100 million more, what the hell are you going to do? So, and again, I don't think that'll happen, but just as a hypothetical.

All right, that's going to do it. We will be back later this weekend on Sunday with another edition of the High Hopes podcast for Mr. Twitter John Marks. I am James Seltzer. Rate and review the podcast, please. Please, please, please. It really helps us out.

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