High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Harper or Machado?

Episode Date: May 16, 2018

The whole crew is together on this Wednesday afternoon during the Phils/Orioles game and it has them thinking about Manny Machado and Bryce Harper this offseason. Who would the guys rather have and would they trade for Machado at the deadline. Also, Marks gives his Minor League Report and Jack breaks down a trendy pick for the Phils in this year's draft. They also answer your mailbag questions and more on this episode 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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Yo, it is another episode of the High Hopes Podcast. I am James Seltzer. That was, of course, Jack Fritz doing his best imitation of me. And we actually have the whole crew together with us as well, even though we're not looking at them. I can look at Jack Fritz. Sadly, I can't look at John Marks. I can feel John Marks, though. What's up, Johnny? Yeah, I'm in a

different studio because there's only two microphones in the one studio, but normally there's windows that you can look through the studios, but there's a wall between us. So it is strange not looking at you, but I'd rather be in here by myself than in there with you sharing a mic with Fritz. Yeah, we're not sharing a mic.

We've got two separate mics. And by the way, Fritz was supposed to try his, to throw the ball 82 miles an hour today at the Redding game, and unfortunately for him, it got rained out because he wasn't even going to come close to 82. It's just, it's a lie. It's a lie.

You know it's a lie. I was going to come close. I don't know if I'm going to hit it. Get your juiced up gun and shove it. You can tell already that he wasn't going to get there because before he was super confident. I was like, no, I was probably going to get there. I asked him yesterday and

I didn't even need to hear the words. The look on his face showed what the answer was. I'm incredibly disappointed as well because I actually believed in jack fritz i was like oh he says he could do it he'll definitely be able to do it you're the one that believed in me that's that's about it yeah but here's the problem never happened again he probably could throw 70 77 78 but he had to go you know the the the the young guys make the mistakes j. So he had to get a little bit too blustery and go 82. So keep working on the arm strength. Is there going to be a reschedule here?

Of course there's going to be a reschedule. I'm going to try to make it on a weekend so you can bring your kids up and watch the show. Yeah, come and watch the show. Nice. And then James can bring his whole family together. It's going to be a family event up in Reading. Come see the show.

Come on, man. I'll see if my family from Michigan can come and do it. Yeah, and me and Ranger Suarez are going to long toss in the outfield. It'll be great. Love Ranger Suarez. There you go. Yeah, speaking of which, let's actually talk some Phillies here, because who the hell cares about Jack Fritz throwing a baseball as far as I'm concerned?

Nobody. Certainly not Bloomsburg. All right, let's dive in. Let's start with the action that is happening. We're talking in the middle of the one game. Is it a one game series? How does that work? The one game series.

The one game series. After the rain out. So is it a sweep if they win today? Right? Yeah. We'll count it. It would be a sweep. Oh, yeah, man.

It's a series win, too. That would be, you know, that'd be nice. Three straight? Well, they kind of tied the Mets with one-one, but we'll take it. Oh yeah, man. It's a series win, too. That would be nice. Three straight? Well, they kind of tied the Mets with one-one, but we'll take it. Alright, so real quick, we're going to get into some minor league stuff coming up. We got some mailbag questions, but with the Orioles

in Baltimore taking on the Phillies, we get the chance to see Manny Machado, and it gets those juices flowing a little bit. John, I want to start with you. We've heard a lot. This is starting to become a thing, and it's only going to be more and more and more of a thing as we lead up to the offseason this year. Harper, Machado.

We've heard the Phillies connected to both guys. Obviously, this front office scouted and signed Manny Machado in Baltimore, and the Harper rumors have been years in the making. How do you look at these two guys, and do you have a preference between the two? I guess all else being equal, I'd want Bryce Harper. So here's the question on Machado. What position are you signing him for?

Is he a shortstop, as it's being talked about? Is he comfortable playing third base? Because frankly, at this point, with what you've seen out of Crawford so far, if Crawford would have had a great start to his career, or even a good start to his career, you'd be like, well, if he needs to play shortstop, I'm not so sure. But there's question marks about right or wrong about Crawford right now.

I would go Harper first, and if Harper decides that a half billion isn't enough and he goes back to the Nats, then I, I'll give a half a billion to Machado. Bing, bang, boom. Can you imagine saying the words, a half a billion is not enough? Can you imagine? But I think, look, I think you're right. I think the minimum each of these guys gets a $400, $450 million contract, and it could go higher than that.

I'll get to who I like in a minute. To your point point I think Machado the the beautiful thing about him is he could play third or shortstop right I'm in the camp of it is way way way way way too early to give up on JP Crawford obviously he's incredibly young and just getting started but I look if you get a guy like Manny Machado in there you take him wherever the hell he wants to play and you put it right I guess my point is that it you could you wouldn't say no no to Machado and JP Crawford now it's like all right well he can play third he can play second he can really be a super utility player if Franco the promise that he's showing this year isn't consistent it doesn't stay there but anyway

you're talking about two franchise players and the Phillies are going to be real real real players for him yeah I've said multiple times, both here and in other forums, that I think they're going to get one of the two. I genuinely believe they will end up with one of these two guys. Jack, when you look at these two guys, I've heard you wax poetic about both. You are the beneficiary of the Bryce Harper contract here in the Fantasy League we're in together. Where do you come down on these two?

It's just so hard to pick one. Cause really it just like, I'll take either. Yeah. But I think I would take Harper. I think I would take Harper, but I will say that if it came down to it and it was JP Crawford, it was Michael Franco.

I would trade JP Crawford and leave Franco at third base. Oh, that's shocking. And then keep Machado at shortstop. You're loving Mike Alfranco. Oh, the upside, baby. That's shocking. The upside of that is way higher than Crawford. J.P. Crawford used to be a top five prospect in the sport like two years ago.

No, I know. Yeah, but I was really disappointed. Not disappointed because he had that nice little stretch, but I wanted him to come out hotter. I know he's a slow starter. It's fine. But I'm thinking the upside-wise. Machado and Franco is an exciting left side of the infield.

Obviously, Harper would be insane, too, because then you have Harper, Hoskins, and Herrera, which is awesome. Contractor Harper is a thing. He's only getting better, too. This has been the best start to his career ever, and it's also the best start for Machado ever. They're both going to get over $400 million.

We'll see if they hit $500 million. Yeah, I don't see them hitting $500. But I will say, and this is one of my biggest concerns heading into the season, was if they came out slow, if they struggled and they won 75 games, it's going to be a really tough time selling either of those guys to come here. Now it's a little bit easier.

It seems like the culture is really positive. Bryce Harper wants to play here. Let's face it. He loves the fan base. He likes playing here. He should like playing here. He's batting about 350. I think he homers every single time he's come here. It may be just shy

of half a billion, but Jason Stark put this out. He told, maybe two years ago now. He said, remember this number, $480 million. Because if you do 12 years, it's 40 per. And are the Yankees going to be in play for him? Are they going to help drive the price up? You know the Nats want to keep him. But you're looking at, if you want to come off the top rope

to make sure that he comes here, you come in with a $500 million offer. Yeah, why not? Well, at that point, right? Because otherwise he's probably making $460 million or something like that. Is he going 10 years? Now, 10 years isn't enough to get one of these guys. You're talking about a Hall of Famer. You're buying a Hall of Famer unless something crazy happens.

That's what you're doing. You're buying one of the 5 to 10 best players in the sport for the next decade, very likely, like you said, provided they don't get hurt. I look at Harper more than Machado just because Machado may be the safer player because he's third base and the hot corner and he's good defensively. But Harper's the better player, the better batter. But you really, I mean, you're looking at him.

Machado's batting.350 this year..360. I would take Harper offensively over Machado year after year. I think he's going to be more consistent. Yeah, I come down in the exact same spot as you guys. I think Machado might make more sense from a roster construction standpoint, a fit like you

said, play third, short. There potentially could be more of a need there than outfield with the you know adam hazley's of the world still in the pipeline but for me when i look at these two guys and and and again we're splitting hairs somewhat as they are again two of the top 10 players in the sport but for me it's harper and it's harper because harper's ceiling is just higher than Machado's. It's just higher. We've seen it. The guy had 1,100 OPS in a season.

I mean, that is ridiculous. At the age of like 23 or whatever, I am with you guys. And let's not – I know he doesn't play as important a defensive position, but let's not demean how good an outfielder Bryce Harper is defensively as well. Sure. Plus the fire that guy plays with the energy. He's the type of guy. Well, he's not Philly.

That's what we always talk about, though. He is Philly. He is so Philly. He is. And I think that's somewhat of a cliche thing. But if you're going to talk about it, Bryce Harper is as Philly as it gets. If he were here, we would love that guy. He's like Utley on steroids.

Yeah. Utley would. Player-wise and also, obviously H obviously hustle is different but like he's utterly but like a way better version of yes oh my god like a wave and like you said john like we're talking about a guy who has the chance to be not just a hall of famer but a high level like a first level hall of famer you know he's not quite mike trout but he's that next step of like greatness now let me let me ask you something. Who ages better, though?

Machado. I think Machado ages better just because I think his swing is easier. Yeah. When I watch Harper, there's a lot going on in that swing, which once he loses a tick of that bat speed, I worry about how great he's really going to be. Well, and he plays more aggressively, more likely. Plays the outfield, hit the wall.

Exactly, John. He's not going to have regard for his his body he's trying to make the play he's almost like a if i'm an american league team i know that in 10 years that he can be a dh i know in in six years seven years that he can be a part-time dh you know what i mean now he's in the national league does that mean in his 30s he becomes a first baseman? What exactly is it, Bryce Harper, is he athletic enough and healthy enough to where he can play the outfield for 600 at-bats a year? I don't know that. So, yeah, I mean, if you're signing,

and we're talking about needing to sign these guys to 10-, 12-year contracts, and they're going to have outs if they want them. 100%. Yeah, they'll have an out after two years, four years, six years if they want to review the contract. It's good business, too. Why wouldn't you? Especially when you're – that's the crazy thing about these two

coming into this season. It's so rare that you see someone at the age of 25, and Machado's going to be 26 in July, Harper's going to be 26 in October, guys who are about to enter their physical peak, who are this established, this great already, and heading out on the market. It's why we're talking about record-level contracts, and we're not blanching at it,

because it is so rare to get a guy like this for a decade. How many years is he top of his position, both of these guys, top 10 players? Six seasons, seven seasons, right? Once you start hitting mid-30s, depending on the player, you start at least tailing off a little bit. Yeah, and I think it's a good point there by Jack in the sense that I do think Machado will age better. His skill set will age better. Right. If he does end up playing shortstop, he can play third base later in his career because

he can still have that range. Harper's either going to be DH, he's going to play one outfield position, or he's going to be playing first base. He's not an ideal first baseman. Yeah, he's athletic enough to play the outfield longer in his career. I think it's the injuries, the aggressiveness that ultimately will hamper him. And look, it's the kind of thing where if you're investing that type of money in the guy, you're just not going to take it no matter how good. And he's not a gold glove, best outfielder in the guy, you're just not going to take it, no matter how good, and he's not a gold glove,

best outfielder in the league type guy. So no matter how solid he is as an outfielder, you're not going to take that risk. You're going to do the safest thing to keep that back, keep that consistency in the line for as long as possible health-wise. Look, I think it's a really interesting situation. We're talking about on May 16th, which is ridiculous as well. But all right, let me throw a thought at you guys and let's take harper out of the equation let's focus on machado obviously playing in baltimore now uh the phillies down there as we

speak playing a baseball game but john i'll start with you again with machado would you be willing to move pieces at the deadline to bring him in now? And obviously, I think we all assume they're not going to sign the contract then, but I think they probably don't give up anything of real value unless they believe he's going to be here long term. But is that something you'd be looking to do? Or are you just waiting it out and taking your shot? Well, you're not getting them unless you're giving up real value.

So unless you're prepared to give up one of your top prospect, or who's even their top prospect right now? Sixto Sanchez? Yes. Their hitters really aren't doing jack so far this year. So you're talking about guys that, you know, former first-round picks that really aren't impressing once they became professionals.

If you want to give up Sixto, if you want to give up their, let's say, of their top five prospects, you want to give up two of those top five prospects yeah, you can have them, but I don't want them for that. I'd rather take my stab at them. This year and it almost like I look at the Sixers and the Sixers took us by

a little bit of a surprise this year and the Phillies are taking a lot of people, not the High Hopes crew, by the way. We knew this was coming this year, but I almost just kind of want to do some tinkering at the trade deadline. You want to try to get coal. You want to add to a bullpen. You want to bring in a closer. I'm down with

that, but as far as mortgaging your top prospects for a rental that isn't even guaranteed because now you have to pay them. Now he's got you by the balls that you almost have to keep them. He already has all the leverage in there, so you might end up paying $600 million. Yeah, I mean, if you're guaranteed an extension,

you consider it. You wouldn't be. Well, yeah, legally you wouldn't be. It would have to be a wink-wink type thing. A wink-wink, which is fine. But, for example, like Brook over today wrote that he would put $600 million in a deal. And I think that is...

I think it's crazy. Are you talking about a wink-wink? He's guaranteed to come back? Even then, if you think that you have that... I know you're getting him in, so the offers, whatever. You can't give up a guy like Sixto no matter what. In my mind. Let me ask you this.

Who would you rather have, Machado or Sixto? Well, I mean, obviously I'd take Machado, and it's not close for me. All right, well, you're guaranteeing that. Yeah, but again, if I think that I can sign him by trading for him at the deadline, why can't I sign him this offseason if he wants to be here? Because now everybody else is in play. Right, so you maybe pay a little more money for it. It's a question of money versus prospect.

I'll buy a prospect anytime, anywhere, and I will. But I know what you're saying, and look, I think, and I said this at the beginning of the year, to get Machado in here, I'll do whatever it takes for the most part if I know he's going to be here for a long time. But I just feel like, especially with a guy like Sixto, the way this, you know, kind of the pitching in this system, that is the guy, that is the crown jewel. Right.

Now, if you're telling me that it's not a wink-wink, but you're going to get him in here, he'll be in your system, like he knows Joe Jordan. He knows McPhail, Klintzak, all these guys. Get him comfortable, and you take a shot on – I'd give something up for that. I would give something – like Medina. It just wouldn't be 6-0. Exactly.

Medina, Moniak. Not the top package. Moniak's worth next to nothing. I know. He's not even a top 100 prospect anymore. We'll get into that. We got a Johnny Marks mini minor league report coming up in a second. Maybe Haseley.

I probably wouldn't put Haseley in it. Haseley doesn't look great either, by the way. He'll be fine. If you're telling me that I'll get a shot at Machado coming here and then in the offseason, get him around this team, get him comfortable, get him Kapler. If I'm guaranteed Machado's six-toes is going to Baltimore, I'll drive him down there.

Yeah, look, if it's... I don't want to. Right. And I understand what you're saying. And look, the package would be a lot less around that. I would struggle to do it. But if you're guaranteeing me 10 years of Manny Machado, I'm with you, John. I would do it.

I would do it for sure. But the one thing I'll say, and we've got a minor league report coming up in just a sec. But the one thing I'll say to this philosophically... It's a good tease for a podcast. What can I say? I'm too radio here. He's a teaser.

What I will say is that philosophically speaking, I think it is incredibly important no matter how much this team is competing this year, no matter where they're at come the trade deadline, and I believe that Klintak and the organization will do this, but they need to have an eye on 2019, 2020, 2021,

and not mortgage any of that to compete this year. I want them to compete this year. It'll be fun. If you can add, like you said, Cole Hamels won't cost anything. If you want to add a bullpen arm, it's not going to cost anything. A bottom-of-the-bench bat, sure, that's fine. But in my mind, you can – and adding Machado to a long-term deal is obviously a different scenario. But I am not paying a lot for a rental if I'm the Philadelphia Phillies.

Would you guys agree with that, Jack? Yeah. Well, I wonder what a Britain deal would look like, though. Because you've seen some insane deals for closers or Andrew Miller. Well, he's a free agent, what, either after this season or next season. I'm pretty sure it's this season. This season. So for a closer, a rental closer.

But Chapman was a rental, too. Well, that was absurd. You gave up a top five prospect. Like, that was stupid. And Chapman also said he's automatically going back to the Yankees once he got traded. It was so ridiculous. I mean, that's the thing. Like, yeah, hopefully there aren't stupid trades being made.

But for me, at least, I don't know. John, where do you come down on that? Depends. Of course, it always depends on the price. And I'm trying to look up his contract right now. But let's just talk about with Britton in particular. It depends because you know what's going to happen. If the guy is pitching really, really well.

Remember Neshek last year, he's not a closer. But if he's pitching like that, right? And the other thing is, how many other teams need a closer? If all of a sudden the Yankees have an injury, the Red Sox need a guy. You know what I mean? It just depends what's out there. You don't want to get into a bidding war. I'm not giving up a ton to get a closer.

I feel the same way. And again, I'm not giving up a ton for any right. A I feel the same way. And again, I'm not giving up a ton for any. A B-level prospect? Yeah. They have plenty of B. That's the great thing about the system right now. They have plenty. They have depth.

Yes. It's a great point. They do. It's a great point. And to the point where they actually should be looking to trade some of that depth. The guys who, you know, you can't have more than 25 guys on your roster at one time, right? Like, all these kids can't come up and be here. Some of these kids should be used as pieces

to get better players for the major league roster. They have a lot of 4-5, 3-4-5 starting pitcher prospects. They have outfielders down in there. I mean, listen, Dylan Cousins, I don't know how much value he has. Darren Ruff, 2.0. I don't ever want to see him in a Phillies. I don't know how much value he has. Darren Ruff 2.0.

I don't ever want to see him in a Phillies game. I don't care if he hits 1,000 home runs. I do want to see him. This is a good spot. Johnny, give us a little quick mini minor league report. Well, Dylan Cousins actually has... Don't care. He's worthless.

Hold on. I'm sorry. My wife is texting me. She needs dental insurance information. Does she not understand that we're recording the High Hopes podcast? Let me see. This is outrageous. Yeah.

This is like honey. Let's see. Dylan Cousins. So Dylan Cousins was in double A with Reese Hoskins. They call them the Bash Brothers. And they went toe to toe. Yeah, really. They went toe to toe hitting, I guess, Hoskins was hitting three, Cousins was hitting four, or it was flipped, whatever.

And they were 1-2 in the Eastern League in home runs, and they were killing it. Now, Hoskins went to AAA. Cousins went to AAA. Hoskins always gives you a professional at bat. His approach to play is great. To where Cousins, I thought he would struggle at AAA because he's pretty much hitting meatballs and mistakes in a hitter-friendly park. So he went to AAA last year and he really struggled. And Hoskins, meanwhile, is now in the pros and doing fantastic. So Cousins this year started

off slow, and I'm trying to pull up his stats. He's come on a little bit. He has some good numbers. Strikes out a ton. He struck out 49 times in 116 at-bats. Seven home runs. Has great raw power. Is 24 years old.

So he's not Darren Ruff 26 years old. But, you know, hey, he does have—he does still have some potential. If you could try to spin him to another club is where I was trying to go with it. Jack, I'm kind of with you. I don't think he's ever going to be a real everyday. Lefties can neutralize him. He's guessing up there half the time. The approach to the plate isn't great.

He does steal bases. He's a monster. 6'6", 260 pounds. But if you can use him as value, you do it. For sure. Oh, for sure. I'm not saying not, but I just can't see him ever working. I feel the same way. It's the same way I felt about Darren Ruff when everyone was like, Oh, Darren Ruff.'m not saying not, but I just can't see him ever working. I feel the same way.

It's the same way I felt about Darren Ruff when everyone was like, oh, Darren Ruff, bring Darren Ruff up. He's the guy. I'm like, no, he's not. Hold on. Can we just talk about something for a second? Yeah. When did Darren Ruff get on base 30-some times in a row?

A double just passed him a couple days ago. Did he really? Yeah. I don't remember that one bit. Yeah, Ruff was on that list. He had a good half season, right? Yeah, sure. The Don Brown of it all. And that's what the Korean league saw.

And they were like, all right, bring him over here. Bring him over. Good for him. That's good for him. That's where Cousins will be in a year. Yeah, hey, I'm with you, both of you. Cousins is one of those guys I've never believed in the underlying skill set. I know he's got a lot of pop, but I've never. He's one of those guys, a quad A type guy to me,

a guy who will have success at triple A and double A, and then you come up to the majors, and it's that difference in pitching is enough that they fall off a map. And I've never seen a quad A guy continue, continue, continue, and then actually have success in the majors except for Nelson Cruz. He's the only example I can ever think of. Still only 24. Remember that just turned – Which is crazy.

We've been hearing about him for so long. Well, he's not even 24 yet. Yeah, you would think he's older. Former second-round draft pick. He's 24 at the end of this month, so just coming up in two weeks or so. And listen, Ryan Howard didn't come up to the majors until he was a little bit older. So you do also have to realize that if you trade this guy,

you can't just give him, you can't say, yeah, we'll take Dylan Cousins because if at some point he figures it out or he gets a hitting coach that gets through to him, I would say the odds are he's more of a, he'll spend time in the majors. Sure. He'll spend time in the majors, but then there'll be the next season where he can't win a roster spot anywhere and he starts the year in AAA with an out in his contract

if he's not in the majors. Cousins seems like an Oriole already. Yeah, right. But we were just talking about that before the show. I mean, it is unbelievable the decisions the Orioles have made. John, turn your mic off. Come on. You can't be setting out directions.

It is off. Well, it's still coming through. I've got to pot it down. Hold on. There it is. It is off. Well, it's still coming through. I got to pot it down. Hold on. There it is. There we are figuring it out. Yeah. Now I forgot what I was going to say.

So it's just a disaster. It's filled up here, 19106. Still going. So let's just listen to him give the address here. We might as well just cut this out. All right. Hang on, guys. All right.

So we're back. But you won't hear it. Jack Fritz, the magic of editing, will take out what happened. We just had a little fun thing that happened with our microphones and John Mark just talking to a dentist, his wife, about the dentist. My wife's at the dentist with my two and a half year old and she's like,

what dental insurance do you have? And I'm like, I don't know. So then she's like, what's your work address? So I'm having to give her all the details. Some technical error means they can't stop me from hearing me. But anyway. Ad, adulthood sounds fun. It worked out. It worked out.

Adulthood is fun, Jack. All right? You youngster. All right. Dylan Cousins. They did it. Yeah, he stinks. John, any other minor league thoughts before we move on and answer a couple

mailbag questions? Well, I did. I wanted to talk about the Clearwater Threshers because they're the team, every year kind of depending on where guys are moving through the system, like last year Redding was because of Scott Kingery. The year before that because of Reese Hoskins in AAA

and then you had the Bash Brothers in Redding two years ago. So depending on the years, depending on what, at least for me, where I'm paying attention to what's going on the closest. And this year down in Clearwater, depending on the years, depending on what, at least for me, where I'm paying attention to what's going on, the closest. And this year down in Clearwater is the it's the Reese Hoskins or the Reese Hoskins, the Adam Haisley, Mickey Moniak and Sixto Sanchez team. And what I can say is about Sixto so far, I know you guys have kind of been following it, but Sixto Sanchez, the Phillies' top prospect overall, and obviously their top pitching prospect.

Now, he's only 19, and he kind of started slow down there. He wasn't getting crushed, but he hardly had numbers to where... Let me give you an example. Cole Hamels through his entire minor league career dominated as a young player.

It was a first-round draft pick, obviously, but dominated each level he was at, including AAA before the Phillies called him up. And 6th, though, he's been dominating at times, but he struggled when he was sent to Clearwater, and that's the highest level of A-ball last year. And then, you know, his ERA's down to 3.58, not striking out a lot of guys. The fastball hasn't been up at 100. It's been 95, 96, 97. And I'm going to have somebody on that covers the Florida State League

to talk more about them coming up in a few weeks. So I know we're talking about 6-0. People cover the Florida State League? Yeah, he actually – what's his name? Jason at the – No, that's awesome. But, yeah, so their top prospect you know he i wouldn't be worried about a bust but guys you know this when you're talking about a guy that's 5 foot 10 160 pounds that throws 100 miles an hour and is 18

years old a lot can happen totally between now and when he arrives in the majors, and if he ever does. And he hasn't been dominating people down there. He's young for the league, but he hasn't been dominating people. Yeah, and his problem, based off what I've watched, is that his fastball is, well, it's 100 miles an hour or 97. It's pretty flat, and he needs to work on a two-seam fastball, I think, just to get a little bit more run, a little bit of arm side run.

He should be able to generate a lot with his arm speed from 5'10". And also, he seems to suffer a bit from the Michael Panetta syndrome, where he doesn't walk people, but he's also in the zone a little bit too much. And he hasn't learned how to hit the outside corners yet. Throws too many strikes, right? Throws too many strikes. So it's the next evolution of 6'0". And again, he is young.

But John, I'm always with you on that statement in the sense that you're that age and that size. I don't know. I love the upside. I can see what the upside is, but I won't believe it's going to work until he's actually here doing it. But there is obviously a lot of talent to be tantalized by.

Speaking of that, real quickly, for the few out there who do care, I literally, I do not know anybody until they are drafted. Maybe I'll see a couple names in the running for the top picks, but we actually have someone here who loves the Major League Baseball draft, Jack Fritz. Give us a two-minute take on what's going on in the draft. The Phillies have the third pick, I believe.

Hey, that's pretty good knowledge. How about that? That's fine. There's been a bunch of stuff coming out recently. The draft is less than a month away. I think it's like 15, 20 days away. It's usually right at the beginning of June. Right, right.

And they've been linked by multiple mock drafts by Keith Law, all these guys, insiders, to this third baseman from Wichita State, Alec Baum. He is probably the most advanced college hitter in the draft, major upside. He's like a big 6'5", lumbering 6'5", but he's pretty athletic. Don't know if he's going to stick at third base. At 6'5", I would highly doubt it. Yeah, I don't know if he's going to stick at third base. I don't know if he's great defensively enough.

He's not sticking at third base. Right, but the bat seems really, really legit. And, like, I don't know why, when I watch him, and this might not be the greatest comp, but he looks like Richie Sexton. Really? I used to love Richie Sexton. I loved the greatest comp, but he looks like Richie Sexton. Really? I used to love Richie Sexton. I loved Richie Sexton. I was a Richie Sexton guy.

But he seems like a guy that will move through the system quickly, a pretty high upside. Hopefully he sticks longer than Richie Sexton. I mean, he had an all right career. And the fact that they had to give up their second and third round pick this year to sign Santana, to sign Arrieta, it seems like they're going to go over their second and third round pick this year to sign Santana to sign Arrieta. It seems like they're going to go over slot with a third pick. However, if they do go under slot,

it seems like they've been linked to Matthew Libertore, this left-handed high school pitcher who, like, just draft him. Please draft him. He is gorgeous. He's so good. It's an old adage, and I subscribe to it, draft hitting, sign pitching. I know, but, like, he's so advanced for a left-handed high school pitcher.

His changeup's really good. His purple hammels. If they had taken Jason Groom a couple years ago, we all would have been ecstatic now. So I get that. Well, I mean, he has Tommy John, so I don't know how ecstatic we would be. Oh, I didn't even see that. He was doing great until the time.

Right. But this guy looks really, really awesome. Certainly. We'd still be ecstatic over Moniak. I think I'll take anyone over Moniak at the top pick of the draft as it is uh nick stencil hey he's gonna come up soon he's gonna be great yeah yeah it's a it's a bummer because a few of those guys around the one pick did turn out to be pretty good okay um okay aj puck still has some upside hasn't been great in the minors go to go to some upside go to wichita state

athletics and take a look at Alex Baum. He's a big boy? The picture is, no, it looks like a little kid. Really? In a suit that's too big for him. Wichita State always somehow had good baseball teams. So from what I read about Alex before, he had a really good Cape Cod League. And the Cape Cod League is where a lot of guys kind of separate themselves because they use the wood bats.

It's a summer league before uh before they play and he went up there and he he was i know he was he was tops and batting and home runs and stuff like that so all right uh let's uh let's dive in we'll talk more about the draft as it comes up i'm sure jack will find someone else who loves the draft as much to have on the show debatable um couple questions that we got in let's rifle through these real quick as john marks has to go on the air pretty soon. We got a Zach Britton question from Margus Hunt on Twitter, at sports underscore talk underscore gym. Thank you for the question. Obviously talked about that already.

Let's attack this one. John Barber on Twitter, at Joba underscore dog ass. Which of the Phillies players do you think would be the most fit to play a different professional sport? And what would that sport be? I love these types of questions. He feels like audible herrera has a little jaylen mills in him with the finger wag what do you guys think oduble's 510 too so he

hit it it would be a slot corner it would be a good over slot corner he's definitely got enough size um you know i don't know if he's disciplined enough to play defense in the uh national football league reese would he would he play anything else? I got... Like a linebacker. Here's what I envision for Reese. Reese is the guy that Michael Jordan crossed up in the 98 finals. Like, I think Reese Hoskins played on the Utah Jazz. That's what he looks like to me.

He looks like Craig Hilo type of guy. Yeah, Craig Hilo. Reese Hoskins looks like a 90s power forward. I could see that. I could see that. Just this big lumbering guy. I feel like he could Stretch the floor a little bit If they weren't 6'4

Power forwards Back in the day What a slow white guard You're saying How about Jake Arrieta As a power lifter Boom Olympic lifting

I could see Jake Arrieta Jake Arrieta UFC Yes That is a great answer Or some site You know those like Lumberjack competitions He could do that

He could do it Yeah No doubt I like that answer. All right. Scott Muir also at Scott Muir on Twitter asks, Hi, Jack. So, John, we can shut up for this.

Hi, Jack. Why is Pedro Flormont on the team? He's a utility guy who I believe is 0 for 12 with 10 strikeouts as a pinch hitter. Don't you usually want your pinch hitters to at least make contact sometimes? Jack. This one's for you, buddy. Well, Scott, the thing is that Pedro Flormont is 2 for 4 today. So, here, the thing is that Pedro Flormond is two for four today. So here's the thing.

Pedro Flormond might not be a good pinch hitter, but he's been more than serviceable when he actually plays. No, he's been solid. And you need a guy like that. He's the Eduardo Nunez. Not Eduardo. Abraham Nunez. Tomas Perez.

Eduardo Nunez is a starter-worthy guy, but he's that type of guy who can play multiple positions for you. Flormond can play multiple positions. Well, you just need a utility guy, and he's that type of guy who can play multiple positions for you. Floremon can play multiple positions. Well, you just need a utility guy. Yeah. And he's a fine utility guy. I think he's fine for that role. I think if we're ripping the 25th guy on the roster.

Get him out. Yeah. Who cares? With a shortened bench, I think you need a guy who has versatility. Floremon can play most positions. He pitched, obviously. He's not the worst utility guy they've had. He's better than Bruntlett or Michael Martinez.

Yeah, he's better than Michael Martinez. Oh my God. It doesn't get any worse. And he was in years. He was here for years. It does not get worse than Michael. That is as bad a baseball player with a consistent job as you will ever find. Why do teams keep signing him? He's literally never been good. He made the last time in the World Series.

I mean, come on. It's crazy. That was a good buddy, Brian Coulter, one of my favorite tweets of the year. He's awesome. He's like, yeah. He goes, Cubs Twitter. Oh, my God. What's going to happen? Indians Twitter.

Oh, my God. What's going to happen? Phillies Twitter. Is that Michael Martinez? That was just perfect because it's like exactly what we were thinking in the moment. And we're also thinking this game's over. Yeah. Well, that too.

That too. All right. Any final thoughts before we get out of here? Let Marks get on the air. And we're also thinking this game's over. Yeah, well, that too. That too. All right. Any final thoughts before we get out of here? Let Marks get on the air. Fritz, we'll start with you. I thought we still had more mailbag questions, so I was not prepared for final thoughts. I didn't get any more. Did you get any more?

I got some. Throw them at me. We can do another mailbag question or two. Hold on. It was just someone was asking if- It's the top of the ninth inning and- We still have a final- Not final.

I gotta go meet with... You guys can finish up. I'm leaving. Here's what I'm saying. I gotta go too. It's all good. I'll just leave it like this and you guys can yap as long as you want to. We're gonna be doing a live High Hopes pod coming up and I can't release details just yet, but

we do have dates that we're trying to figure out. So you'll be able to come out and we expect you to come out. It'll be on a Sunday at a casino racetrack near you. So that's coming up. Secondly, Jack, I'm going to steal your thunder. Review us. If you listen to this, and I met a lot of people yesterday at the Ricky Sanchez draft lottery party. And actually today down at Starbucks, I'm like, oh, I'm a High Hopes listener.

Review us. Get us out there because we're right now the number three Phillies podcast. Overall. We're three. All right. So there's no reason we should be three. Anybody should be beating us. So review us so more Phillies fans can see that we're there,

and then that way we just overtake the whole world, and we're pro-Double, and we know what's going on. That's right, pro-Double. You are damn right. I'm out. All right, Mark, pick your favorite of the questions. Okay, I have one more. One more.

From Sean Murray, who has been very vocal about why we still continue to rip the people who hate of Double. But listen, we got to rep for our boy. It's fine. And also because they're wrong. So that's fine. He said, do you think there's any particular reason why the Phillies are struggling within their division, yet having success elsewhere? That's actually a really interesting question. For what I would say, I think it's just too small a sample size at this moment to really give you an answer.

But I think probably the best reason is it's going to be a pretty decent division. I think all four of the teams. Every team's better than we thought. Better than we thought. The Braves are much better than we thought. The Nationals are going to end up probably being as good as we thought or close to it. And the Mets, while I think the Mets are the fourth of those four teams competing,

are still competitive and better. And if they throw Syndergaard and DeGrom out, obviously not the DeGrom we saw the other day, but if they throw Syndergaard and DeGrom out every five days, you've got a chance to win two games every five days. And Mets has been better this year than in years past. And I don't think there's a book out on the Braves hitters yet. There's not.

So I don't think – I think the Phillies are so based on numbers and reading the charts that I don't think they're fully prepared for this Braves onslaught just yet. And for what it's worth, look, I know they're 3-6. They should be 4-5 against the Braves. They should have won that opening day game. It's a lot different record if you look at it that way. Plus, you know, six of the games were in Atlanta.

The Braves coming here. The Phillies 16-6 at home. A much better home team. And the Phillies blew the Scherzer start. Yeah, and look again. They've played none of them at home except that three-game series with the Braves and then 1-1 with the Mets. The rest of those games were all on the road,

so I think that probably has something to do with it as well. Right, agreed. Any final thoughts, Jack, or anything? Yeah, sure. I mean, I can't believe I saved it for this late in the podcast, but Nick Pavetta is the second best starter on this roster. No, he's not! Nick Pavetta is the second best starter on this roster.

I love you for that. Spot the lie. Spot the lie. You can't do it. Nick Pavetta. We traded Jonathan Papelbon, that scrub, for Nick Pavetta, who is the second best starter on this roster, who had what? Hold on.

11 Ks today against that team down there in Baltimore, who, like, they still rake. Now they also strike out a lot. They strike out a lot. They strike out a lot. Not a great offense. They had a good game. We're back on track with Pavetta.

He had a couple shaky starts. Look, he's the third best starter on this roster. Second best starter on the roster. All right, let's put it this way. He is the third best, but, but. On his best day. And not just that, but I would trade Jake Arrieta before I would trade him.

You know what I mean? He's a better asset now than Jake Arrieta is. The changeup is emerging. If he gets a consistent changeup. Now his last start. And again, I still need to see more, but I'm very, very excited about what happens. Just why are you always like, I gotta see more?

Just go all in. Because it's the history of the sport. It's a good thing baseball isn't a season-long game of runs, basically. Like Michael Franco. I know. He took three of the worst at bats today, and I wanted to jump off a bridge. And then he had an RBI hit.

Yeah, yeah. It's just very Michael. But I am very in on Pavetta. I wish we could have seen Eflin against the Mets. I want to see more from Eflin. Me too. I want to see if he's good. That's where I'm at.

I don't know if he's good or not because he did this last year too and he wasn't throwing as hard. But his first three starts were awesome last year and then he fell off the table. Yeah, I'm very intrigued. I'm very intrigued by Eflin. I mean, I think that's probably the biggest question mark right now on this team moving forward is what is Eflin,

and when Eikhoff comes back, what happens and all that stuff. And I think it's going to be fascinating. And Velasquez had an off-season surgery to get a rib removed that no one talked about. No one talked about, so that's good. All right, looks like the Phillies are probably going to pull this one out here today, which is good news as well, obviously. I wonder who pitches the ninth.

Well, it could be Ramos again. We'll see. Just give me Sir Anthony, Gabe. I wonder who pitches the ninth. It could be Ramos again. Just give me Sir Anthony, Gabe. I know, me too. You know Gabe listens to the pod. We love Gabe. Gabe, if you're listening, we love you. You're the best. We were talking to John Brazier about how much we were both in on Gabe. From the jump, yeah. We did podcast. You go back in the

archives and say, we want Gabe Kepler as manager before he was the manager. Can't get much better than that. Go us. Again, rate, review, all itself, it matters a lot for the show and mostly to Jack Fritz, so please do it. For John Marks, for Jack Fritz, I'm James Seltzer. We'll talk to you

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