High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Knighting Seranthony and Don't Be Sad Odubel's Streak is Over, Be Glad It Happened

Episode Date: May 21, 2018

Jack Fritz is here for a solo pod as, once again, James Seltzer and Jon Marks let him down. Jack talks about Odubel's streak coming to an end, and yes, it's over but what a magical time it was. Seranthony is here but he shouldn't the closer... find out why. And, Jack previews the biggest series at CBP since 2012. 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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Welcome on into a solo edition of the iHost podcast as once again, my co-hosts have been soft. It turns out that John Marks has kids that he has to deal with. He has to go to bed early, can't stay up and talk about the fills. James Seltzer in his brand new house has a washing machine problem. Has kids that he has to deal with. He has to go to bed early. Can't stay up and talk about the Phils. James Seltzer in his brand new house has a washing machine problem where his whole floor is covered in water. And apparently that means that you cannot do a High Hopes podcast. Me? Guess what?

I can always do a High Hopes podcast because I've got a lot of Phil's thoughts that I've got to get out into the public. I have been penting up these Phil's thoughts for the last couple of days. This series in St. Louis was a bunch of fun. Now, I know it was a split, but there's a lot of good. There was some bad. And we are going to touch on both in this episode of High Hopes because the good for the most part does outweigh the bad the good does outweigh the bad I know it's a split but it's an important split the Cardinals are a are a pretty good team now their offense leaves much to be desired but it was a pretty good pitching staff for this offense to go up against but

for the most part I know it's a split, but the good did outweigh the bad. So on this episode of High Hopes, of a solo High Hopes, because my co-hosts are soft, we are going to go over the good and the bad of the trip to St. Louis, and we are going to look forward to a Brave series that is probably the most important slash most exciting series in Citizens Bank Park in the last six years. So it's been forever since we've had such a fun series

at home at Citizens Bank Park. It feels good that it's back. And slowly but surely, it sure does feel like the buzz about this Phillies team is starting to grow around the city. I've seen more and more Phillies gear. This is going to sound bad, but it almost feels like the bandwagon fans are about to come out. Remember when the Phillies were in the heart of their run and it was like, oh, everyone's wearing their Chooch jersey or Utley jersey or Howard jersey or Rollins jersey. It's almost getting to the point where it's Scherzi season.

I can feel the Scherzis being bought, the Hoskins Scherzis, the Nola Scherzis. Heck, maybe even the Adubo Herrera Scherzis. It is almost getting to Scherzi season. All of the bandwagon Phillies fans, I can feel them starting to come out of the woodworks as this team is 26-18. 26-18 at this point in the season, which is by far their best record since 2011 through this many games. And it's the weirdest thing

because I feel like this team hasn't really reached their full potential, especially offensively. Now, the pitching staff has been, has over-exceeded all of my expectations, but this hitting the offense really hasn't come close to the potential that I thought they had heading into the season. I mean, Hoskins has been slow. Santana has picked it up recently, but for the most part of the season, he's been slow.

The point is that this team has another level that they can go to. And really, I think during the summer, once it continues to warm up, this offense is just going to be a night in, night out problem for a lot of teams that come into Citizens Bank Park or the Phils go on the road. So, listen, the bandwagon fans are coming. Whether you want to admit it or not, they're coming. The post-2011, the Phillies fans that kind of forgot about this baseball team,

forgot that there was a baseball team in Philadelphia for the last six years, they're starting to come out of the woodworks. That's when you know the Phillies are back, is when you see the jerseys as you walk around the Philadelphia area, which is great. I'm glad they're back. It's awesome. It shows that there's still interest in the city.

And like I said, tomorrow embarks upon the biggest series in Citizens Bank Park in the last six years. I need at least 30,000 to 35,000 people there. I need that. I want to see the fans out there. The Braves are coming into town. I can't wait. But

before we get to that series, let's look back on the St. Louis series. It was a series of ups and downs, two semi-non-competitive games. I was sort of frustrated. Was it Friday night when it was a 5-3 ball game? The game was kind of still in balance and Gabe put out Drew Hutchinson again for, I think it was his third inning at that point. And it just was like, well, you're just giving up this game. Like, why are you putting out Drew Hutchinson again for another inning? It just felt like he kind of gave up the game. I was a little bit frustrated by that.

Drew Hutchinson, in turn, went out and got rocked in that inning, and the game was blown out of proportion. So they lost that game. Bounce back. Here's the thing. They lost the Arrieta and Nola starts, but they won the Vince Velasquez and Zach Eflin starts, which, you know, some people will be disappointed

that they lost the Arrieta and Nola starts because they're two best pitchers. But Spin Zone winning in spite of those guys, winning behind the back of Vince Velasquez and Zach Eflin is also super, super impressive. But unfortunately, the Adubo Herrera on base streak

ended in St. Louis. And I think this is the ultimate don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened. Because for 45, for 46 games, all of us hashtag pro-duble fans were able to talk that crap. We were able to talk smack on all the people. They were like, oh, you can't win with this guy. He's lazy.

Doesn't work hard. He's lazy, doesn't work hard. All of those dumb narratives for those glorious 46 games were all thrown into the face of the people that made those claims. The Adubel streak came to an end, but those 45 games of pissing off your uncle that probably hates Adubel, it was all well worth it. So thank you, Adubo, for those 45 games of pure bliss, and may your new streak start tomorrow against those Atlanta Braves.

Because I'll tell you what, watching those people have to accept the fact that Adubo Herrera was a good player, or is a good player and is borderline a very, very good player and is going to be an all-star this season was just so validating. The Adubo streak was one of the most validating moments

of being a hashtag pro Adubo guy. And the baseball world started feeling how awesome this guy was. It was fun. He's still locked in. And, yes, he still should have.

This streak should still be going on because of that BS. He was on base. In the ninth inning today, he was on base. But, according to the rules, it doesn't count because he struck out, which is just ridiculous because once again, he's on base. If he's on base, how'd he get on base? It's an on-base streak. It's not that he got out, he didn't get out of streak because he was on base.

Eh, but whatever. All good things must come to an end and unfortunately, that was a duel. Although, man, if he kept that up and he caught up with ted williams it would have been just about the funniest thing uh i can ever remember as a phillies fan but thank god he just passed darren ruff like the the moment he got past darren ruff i was like oh this is all gravy as long as darren ruff's name is completely eviscerated from the

phillies record books we count it as a win here on the High Hopes podcast. The second thing, and honestly, I'm sorry. I'm going to apologize right now to you, the listeners of the High Hopes podcast, because I didn't open up with this. Sir Anthony Dominguez is such a weapon. I haven't stopped thinking about him since his two-inning save yesterday. The Phillies played a game today, but my mind was completely focused on the fact that Sir Anthony Dominguez, he's officially our Josh Hader. He's officially our Chad Green. He is officially our Archie Bradley. He is the guy that is going to be the first out of the pen that is going to come in and stop all the fires. Now, whether that's in the ninth inning, whether that's in the seventh inning, whether that's in the sixth inning, whether it's in the eighth inning, he is

not going to be defined to a role. And I know a lot of people have been talking about how, like, oh, Sir Anthony Dominguez, he's our closer. He's our closer of the future. And while I agree to an extent he could be a closer, I just think that that is a total waste of the resources that you have in Sir Anthony Dominguez. Sir Anthony Dominguez is a former starter. He's been a starter his whole life. The Phillies just converted to a bullpen piece this year. You see this story all the time, especially in modern baseball. You see the story of failed starter turns to a reliever. He's awesome as a reliever, a multi-inning weapon. Penciling in Sir Anthony Dominguez, who, again, I absolutely love,

as the closer is just a total misuse of a weapon of mass destruction that is Sir Anthony Dominguez. Sir Anthony Dominguez is a guy that you can bring in in the seventh inning when you're about to face the heart of the opposing team's order and you have a one-run lead and he can keep it right there. You don't need to wait. You have to stop a fire before it gets out of hand. And before you can even get to the ninth inning, the fire might already be out of hand.

But what makes Sir Anthony so dominant is he can come in, let's say it's seventh inning, two outs, but there's a runner on second and third. You bring in Sir Anthony Dominguez, he gets that out, and then he pitches the eighth inning, quiets all your fears, and then Gabe can play matchup game in the ninth inning. It's a really, really, really useful weapon to have a guy like Serenity Dominguez,

especially adding him to a bullpen that is already pretty loaded on paper. Now, Luis Garcia had a rough series. Victor Arano doesn't look the same. But on paper, and Tommy Hunter, man, like, I mean, figure it out. I like Tommy Hunter. I understand this is pretty much his spring training.

But, man, he's got to figure it out. But Sir Anthony Dominguez is a guy that I don't want to just pencil in to being the ninth inning guy. I don't think making him the closer is a good use of the weapon that the phillies have in seranthini dominguez and i think adding seranthini to this bullpen it just makes them that much tougher of a matchup as we get closer to these wild card games uh games down the stretch in in in big tough environments i mean the guy goes out there and he's like a stone cold killer the guy's a stone cold killer i mean they they've talked about how he just wasn't nervous at all. He's never been nervous. He just believes in himself.

He can go out there and finish the ballgame. And even watching him, I mean, you know what makes this guy so special. When you watch Sir Anthony Dominguez, it's 97 to 98 with legitimate cut. I don't know what kind of wizardry that Sir Anthony participated in as a youth, but it worked because I don't think 97 miles an hour should be able to cut like a slider. He threw a 97 mile an hour slider the other day.

Sir Anthony Dominguez is such a freak. He throws strikes. He has a legit, to go along with 97 up on the hands, he also has a wipeout slider. Like, I cannot stop thinking about the weapon that this guy is, the matchups that he's going to create. And it just adds another dimension to this Phillies team that we didn't anticipate when we were projecting out this Phillies team. If you're going to tell me that they were going to add a Josh Hader type, now he's not as good as Josh Hader. Well, listen, that might be premature. He might be just as good as Josh Hader.

He's not. But adding that type of arm, adding an Archie Bradley type, adding a multi-inning weapon that can come in and shut down opposing teams' rallies is just such an underrated thing. I don't know if you could tell, but yes, I did start standing up when I started talking about Sir Anthony Dominguez. But I'm very curious to see the progression of him, if he ever allows a hit. He's only allowed one base runner, and it was a hit by Batsman.

So I'm just so excited. I literally cannot stop thinking about him. I love Sir Anthony, and it just adds another dimension to this Phillies team that I didn't see coming at the forefront of this season. Some other positives from the Cardinals series. Zach Eflin is a thing. Zach Eflin is a thing. He is throwing 96 now, which if you've watched Zach Eflin in the past,

it was, you know, 93. Sometimes he touched 95. But what's really separated him and what I've been super impressed by is his ability to command his slider. And his slider seems like a pitch that's really, really hard to square up. And I know he allowed three runs against the Cardinals on Saturday. But it was an error. A lot of things went wrong.

He was dominating that Cardinals lineup for most of that afternoon. He really was. He was pitching very, very well. The three runs were a bit faulty. They weren't really on him. Sure, in the box score, he may have allowed three earned or two earned or whatever, but he pitched much better than the box score suggests, in my opinion. So the 96, it's 96, it's heavy, it's hard. It seems like he's gotten more spin to it. It's 96, but it's fast. It's up

on you quickly. And really really his ability to spot 96, he's spotting it to both sides of the plate, has really separated him. Back in the past, when Zac Eflin came up the first couple times, his mechanics were more, you know, he's cutting himself off, he was able to locate to the outside part of the plate, but coming inside just wasn't a part of Zac Eflin's game plan. Now that has changed a lot. It has changed a bunch since he's come back as a field starter.

He is pitching to both sides of the plate with that fastball. And like I said, I think his slider is really, really hard to square up. It has a nice 3-9 movement on it. It's just a pitch that I envision is hard to square up. And he's throwing it early in counts. He's mixing it in. He seems like a guy that's hard to get a read on right now. Now, what I was a bit discouraged by in his start yesterday,

or Saturday it was, was it was the crux of the game. You kind of feel the momentum coming towards the Cardinals side. And he was pitching to Jed Jerko. And if you were just an amateur guy watching the game, you're like, he's obviously throwing a fastball here. Just like, of course he's throwing a fastball. If the whole stadium knows you're going to throw a fastball, then the hitter probably knows you're going to throw a fastball.

Maybe mixing the slider. You have been locating it well all day. Jerko had a big hit to bring in an RBI. Of course, the Phillies ended up coming back to win. But if they lost that game, it would have come back to that pitch selection that I just, I wasn't on board for. But listen, Zac Eflin has been remarkable

since coming back up. He is looking like a legit, I mean, honestly, if he's their fifth starter, and even fifth starter, they can locate to both sides of the plate at 96 with that slider, with a changeup that's shown a little bit. I mean, what more are you asking for out of your fifth starter? So he, I am legitimately in on Zach Eflin. I'm riding the Eflin train. I can't believe we're finally here, but I am very, very much here. Another guy that had a really strong series in St. Louis and another guy that I admittedly was down on was Vince Velasquez. And Vince Velasquez, since that San

Francisco Giants start, has looked like a different guy. And what I liked about Velasquez, since that San Francisco Giants start, has looked like a different guy. And what I liked about Velasquez when he first came to the Phillies in his first couple starts, he obviously had the Padres start. But the most impressive start that I remember of Velasquez outside of the Padres start was that start up in New York against the Mets, where he just had this swagger, this confidence, this almost arrogance about him. And he felt like a guy that could win you big games. He just had a big game feel to him. I remember thinking that watching a young Vince Velasquez.

And two years, it's been mostly horrible watching Vince Velasquez. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I don't enjoy the Vince Velasquez experience. However, his last couple of starts, it seems like he's turned a corner. And I remember after the Giants start, everyone was like, hey, buddy, what happened? And he kind of was just like, I just said F it. And sometimes when you get in a rhythm pitching and you get into that mode of, you know what, F it, man. Like, I don't care.

I'm going to go out there and just flaunt my stuff. It becomes the best version of yourself. Now, you can't always get there. It's the weird thing about pitching. Sometimes it's just like you don't got it. You don't feel it. But Velasquez for the last two starts has looked like he's been feeling it, and he looks like he is just a menace to deal with on the mound

because it's 97, and the most impressive thing about his start against St. Louis was he was still hitting 97 in the sixth inning of that game. Now Velasquez showing that kind of velocity that late into the games makes me believe that there may be something here as a starter, and I know I've been down on them and i i know all that but he's spotting that curveball it looks like a more legit weapon he's spiking it now which i think he had to have learned from from jake arietta it's 97 but it gets on you quick it looks like a hard 97 to square up. He's just mixing in more and more pitches. It looks like he's developing as a pitcher.

I'm very, very encouraged by Vince Velasquez, where I'm a little bit timid on going in on Velasquez. The Velasquez meter is starting to move towards this guy might be something. I'm not going to say Velasquez is great. He's awesome. But right now, if I had to look at the meter, it's him becoming something. It's leaning towards there might be something here. And I'm really, really excited to see how he pitches against the Braves.

It's got to be his third time against the Braves. See what he's learned in those first two starts. But, man, he was awesome in St. Louis. He really was. And then I was even more impressed after the game. He was just like, yeah, it was my time to come out of the game. Sir Anthony came in. He shut the door.

We won a ball game. And, like, when I hear that, I'm just like, man, I'm really rooting for Vince Velasquez. I really hope he turns it around. And finally, this is the final good thing I felt while watching the Cardinals series, and it's kind of a holistic look on this Phillies team, and I want to know if you guys agree with me on this.

For the first time since probably 2011, it never really feels like the Phillies are out of a ballgame. I never wanted to turn off a game when they're down by two or three runs because I'm like, they can come back and win this ball game. Why not? They got the horses on offense to do this. And it just feels so awesome being able to tune in night in and night out that even when they get down a few runs, it's like, man, I trust this team. They can come back from this. And it's just been a while since I felt this way. And I tell you what, it's a great feeling to finally, finally have back.

So I just want to know if anyone else is feeling the same way because I tell you what, it's back in a big way. Now, there were, of course, some downsides to the series in St. Louis, but not too much. You know, I mean, sometimes just baseball games happen. You lose a ball game. It's close. And then suddenly the doors break open, like keeping in Drew Hutchinson for too long or Nola not having his best stuff. I know I was super excited for Nola Day, as I'm sure a lot of you were today. Wasn't great today. Wasn't great. But I mean, we're not going to freak out about Aaron Nola on this podcast. But one guy I'm starting to get super, super frustrated with is one Scott Kingery. And I think Scott Kingery is going to be good. I think he's going to be a major leader for a long

time. But right now, he is a really, really tough watch. I mean, his strikeout percentage has to be in the 40%. And I know he's a rookie, and I know he's going to figure it out. He's going to be fine. But there are some mild concerns that I have of Scott Kingery. And it's been going on most of the season, but it really feels like he struggles seeing off speed out of the hands. like he struggles seeing off speed out of the hands. And I wonder if that has to do with his leg kick. There's a lot of moving pieces to his batting stance. It feels like his head movement is kind of all around. It's constantly moving when he's swinging. And sure, it's going to work in the lower levels when guys don't have really great breaking balls. And you're going to be able to sit back and just rake fastballs. Which, I mean, Kingery is a good fastball hitter.

And I think he's going to be fine against fastballs. Now, right now, he's kind of in that stretch where he's missing everything. But it does seem like he's struggling a little bit to see curveball or slider out of the hands. It just seems like it comes out of the hands and he's already out on his front foot. And when he does make contact, it's really, really weak contact. And it's just something to monitor because if he can't learn how to hit curveballs or sliders, I mean, you're not going to be a really, really effective major league player. And jumping into that contract so early is going to look like a major mistake. So while I'm not down on Kingery, I think he's going to be fine, and I think he just looks like a rookie in the major leagues,

and it's not like a Hoskins thing where he comes up and just sets the world on fire for two weeks. But it is something to monitor. I'm wondering if he can see curveball or slider out of the hands because this series in St. Louis, it really felt like he couldn't. And it was my first time really feeling that, and I just want to keep watching it as the season moves along. Another thing, and I know it's revenge season Arrieta.

I'll tell you what. I am not enjoying watching Jake Arrieta recently. It's just frustrating watching a guy that can't locate his stuff. Like, I understand his stuff moves a crap ton. And it moves all over the place. And it's hard to locate that stuff. But, man, is it tough watching a guy who can't locate his fastball and then tries to throw in a curveball and usually ends up in the dirt and then once

you know he can't locate all the stuff then it's just like he's just it just felt like these last two starts he's just been been been struggling to get through games rather than just going out there and and mowing down guys i know he can't go down and mow down guys all the time, but watching Jake Arrieta right now has just not been as fun as I want revenge season Jake to be. It's really not. It seems like he's laboring out there. It seems like he's always fighting his mechanics. And to his credit, he's done a really, really good job of battling and keeping his team in ballgames. and he's had some really good starts against the Nationals, and it's great. Most of it's been great.

But when he's off, Jake Arrieta is just a super, super frustrating watch because it's just like I find myself yelling at the TV, like, just throw strikes, man. Just throw strikes. I understand that your fastball moves all over the place. Just throw strikes. Figure it out.

And for the most part of the season, he has figured it out. But his start against st louis was just so laboring that it was just i was just getting super frustrated watching jake ariana so uh revenge season jake is probably on hold right now uh now he he has two straight good starts uh and then the cardinal start was just infuriating so he's been fine he's been fine and i think he's teaching a lot of lessons to the young guys on the staff. But listen, 75 million, you can't be not like he's not striking anyone out. He is not striking out guys when he's pitching.

And eventually that's going to come up and it's going to bite him in the ass. Like I am terrified of the regression that Jake Arrieta is going to show on the ERA side of the game because of his K numbers. And it just feels like his ERA, I think it's 2.8. But he's not really pitching to a 2.8 ERA. So I'm very much worried about regression, Jake. But for now, he's battling. He's got a major ground ball rate. And hopefully he can figure out how to strike out more guys.

When you need a big out, it can't always be relying on your defense because these guys are major league hitters, and they're going to figure you out. Sometimes you've got to just go strike a guy out. It's pretty much as simple as that. Now, the Braves. The Phillies are playing the Braves for what feels like the 400th time this season. And the Braves are coming into town, coming off of this BS.

They were down five runs in the night today and came back and won. And I just can feel the hatred of the Atlanta Braves coming back. It started with Ryan Flaherty and his beady-ass eyes, but my hatred of the Atlanta Braves is starting to come back because their young guys are so good. Ozzy Alves is amazing. Ronald Acuna Jr., he's a once-in-a-generation talent, and Freddie Freeman is like the Chase Utley of first basemen.

It's like peak Chase Utley. That's him, but at first base with more power. I mean, they just rake. Now, the staff is not nearly as good as they are pitching, especially with the way they have pitched against the Phillies this year. They're just not that good. I refuse to believe that they're that good. pitched against the Phillies this year.

They're just not that good. I refuse to believe that they're that good. But this really is the biggest series in Citizens Bank Park in the last six years. It's awesome. It is awesome. You can feel the buzz continuing to grow around the city for this Phillies team. And I think a lot of people are starting to realize, like,

Braves, Phils, two young teams, two teams are probably battling out this division for the next five to seven years. I want to say, and now these two teams have had, they haven't played each other in like a month, but they've gone away from each other and they've both played pretty good baseball.

And, and now it's colliding at its head at Citizens Bank Park for the last time until August. So the last time the Braves and the Phils really just have a chance to go mano-a-mano against this Braves team and steal some wins and pick up some numbers in the loss column and the win column and get some traction in the NL East, they're going to get that in this series against the Braves. And it's weird. It's weird to be scoreboard watching

already. But I tell you what, I missed it. I really, really missed it. So biggest game in Citizens Bank Park or biggest series in Citizens Bank Park in the last six years, Braves are coming into town. And it's the third or fourth time. I'm pretty sure it's the third time. It's Pavetta versus Fulton-Evitts. Just go hit Mike Fulton-Evitts. I'm sick and tired of getting shut down by such average pitchers on the Atlanta Braves,

but Pavetta-Fulton-Evitts has been a fun matchup to begin the season. Both of these guys have had good starts to the season. Fulton-Evans, it feels like he just shuts us down. Pavetta coming off the game in Baltimore, 11 Ks. His curveball was all the way back, and he was pitching up in the zone. I love when they talk about their north-south plan. I think Pavetta, It's truly remarkable.

And then we got Vince Velasquez versus Brandon McCarthy. Listen, if Velasquez goes out there and he shoves against this Braves team again, I might be hopping on the Vince Velasquez bandwagon. And for the love of God, can we please just hit Brandon McCarthy? The guy looks like a, like a middle school history teacher. And he is absolutely shut us down for the last

three times he's faced us. So can we please beat that middle school history teacher? Because I'm going to lose my mind. Uh, and then in the finale of the series on Wednesday night, Luis Gojara versus Jake Arrieta. Jake, listen, buddy, it's time for you to get back on my good side. I did not enjoy your start in St. Louis. I just, oh, I was so mad. Gojara is an interesting prospect the Braves have. Another one of their young arms, kind of like in that Sean Newcomb range.

He was pretty well-respected in the fantasy community. I remember a lot of people wanting to buy stock in Luis Garcia or Luis Gojara. So yeah, it'll be an interesting matchup. I'm interested to see what he looks like. McCarthy, please God.

And then Fulton Nevis. And then the Blue Jays come into town, which is always fun when we see future Phillies third baseman Josh Donaldson across the way. Just kidding. I hope he's like there's maybe the option. I don't want Josh Donaldson, really,

because I don't think he's going to age well. But that's going to do it for this episode of High Hopes. Wednesday, obviously, is the last game of the Brave series, hopefully. Either me or John Marks, me or James Seltzer or James Seltzer and John Marks. We will have a podcast for you on Thursday because the Phil's have an off day previewing

that Blue Jays series and looking back on the Brave Series. The biggest series in Citizens Bank Park since 2000 well, I would say six years. There was definitely The biggest series in Citizens Bank Park since 2000. Well, I would say six years. Six years. There was definitely some big series in 2012.

But either way, you can feel the excitement of the Phillies teetering. I am so glad that that feeling is back. And if they come out and take two or three against the Braves, the city's going to be in mayhem. So that's going to do it for the episode of High Hopes, and we will talk to you on Thursday. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time?

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