High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Pitchers and Catchers is Here and a Twitter Mailbag!

Episode Date: February 14, 2019

Jon Marks makes his return to High Hopes as he joins Jack Fritz to talk about the latest Harper rumors, an open competition at third base and answer your twitter questions! 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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It's a bunch of baseball nerds. Well, without the computers. Talking about the Philadelphia Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo it. I can't do it. I can't do the yo it is like James Seltzer. I mean, James Seltzer just reaches into another stratosphere to

get the perfect yo it is. But it is Jack Fritz and making his return to the High Host podcast is my buddy John Marks. Marksy, how have you been, man? Surprised you allowed me on. That's not true. Well, I mean, I was, I've been officially the Wentz wagon.

I started, and that was a coup, and I was thrown off, and now I'm one on it. Well, now look at it. I mean, you are so anti-Wentz that you can't even be the Wentz wagon guy anymore. Yeah, so high hopes kind of, I'm not going to say wrestled away from me because, frankly, I'm just not available to record it when you guys record it and yeah it's good to be back and it's exciting

times and I'm scared to death that actually I feel better today I do feel better today I feel like everyone kind of exhaled like yesterday was like oh my god he's definitely going to sign with the Giants and since he didn't sign there everyone's kind of calmed down a little bit as you had said or maybe this was like, oh my God, he's definitely going to sign with the Giants. And then since he didn't sign there, everyone's kind of calmed down a little bit.

As you had said, or maybe this was like that said it, but you probably said it too. Realistically, and this is what Buster Olney had tweeted out a couple days ago. Realistically, what are the Giants really going to offer? When it comes down to it, Boris knows the Phillies are going to give him eight years and 280. I mean, I don't know what the end game is going to be, but the Phillies have the most to offer. And if they're hellbent on getting him now, the trick is, how do you not bid against yourself? Right. I'm sure Matt Klintak is totally freaking out because if you don't get him now, you got pie in your face, good egg in your face. I don't know when I saw him smiling yesterday at the JT Real Amido press conference,

every time I see Klintak, there's something just like he knows more than everyone else. He gives off that vibe that he just knows more than everyone else. And it was the same way yesterday with that press conference. They were all, oh, JT, you're going to recruit Bryce Harper? And Klintak's likeint x like we got it don't he did look confident out there he did look really confident and gabe always looks confident but i think if gabe was looking at matt clintack he'd be saying that he was presenting beautifully yesterday at the press conference yeah you know it's it's it's great to think that with bryce

harper the difference that this team will have and what they'll look like to where you looked at them last year, and somehow through really good starting pitching and some luck, they were able to stay in the playoff race. They were in the playoffs probably a month and a half left to go in the season, but now you actually have talent. Now Andrew McCutcheon isn't your main free agent piece. He's almost an afterthought, and he's going to be very important to this team. I don't think

that you had to build Rome in a day, and I don't necessarily say that this puts them in the World Series, but it certainly puts them in the conversation. Then you can tweak it from here. Aaron Nola gets a new contract today, so you don't have to worry about the whole arbitration process with him. All of a sudden, that's one of the best deals in the sport.

Four years, $45 million for a top five pitcher in baseball. You know what's crazy about that draft is Kyle Freeland was another guy that Ruben was interested in, and he's an all-star pitcher too. Yeah, he's right behind him. I think Nola was seventh. He was like eighth or ninth. Yeah, no doubt about it. So, yeah, what you're seeing is you're seeing a young stud that, listen, if he pitches moderately as well as he did last year, you have one of the top pitchers in baseball.

worse or like that's going to teeter off besides an injury of course but like he's not a velo guy he is he is strictly accuracy hitting a spot moving the ball both sides of the plate like i don't know how you have a plan for aaron nola when he when you watch him on a on a day in day out basis so it's like when you see that contract it's like this is going to be a steal you're hoping that his stuff doesn't have the bite that it does you're right and anytime you have a pitcher that doesn't rely on velocity and knows how to pitch and has great stuff, that's the guy you want to sign for long term. I do worry.

I don't know if he got over the corner of the injury stuff or he got lucky. Let's go to Cole Hamels for a second in 2009. Cole Hamels had to take his job seriously, and it had to do with more going out every fifth day and studying hitters. It had to be with what he was doing in the offseason, how he was preparing his body. He started doing, remember Jimmy Rollins did the same thing, stretching. Just making sure that this is how I'm going to be healthy

for 180 innings every year. Was that after 09 or was that before 09? After 09. Because 09 was bad. Well, that's when he started taking it seriously. So what I'm hoping is Aaron Noah already realizes through his early injuries that, hey, I can't have that happen again. And he seems like a kid that really gets it, especially at such a young age.

I don't know what else he does. I think he pretty much just focuses on pitching and working out because he is so dull. He's interesting, and he's a lot taller than you would expect. He's like 6'4". He's really tall. Now, he's not big as far as muscular or whatever, but who cares about that?

It's baseball. We're hoping to talk to him in spring training this year in less than a month now. And I was thinking today, I'm like, what would I ask him? What would the first question I would ask him? And I would say to him, I'd say, all right, dude, you're arrived. You're a star. How do you treat that?

Are you any different? Because he really is kind of not a shy guy. He's – He just goes about his business. He just sticks to himself. He's got a dry sense of humor. Yeah. He's one of those guys that no matter what sport he plays in,

he's the best at the sport, whether it's ping pong or beer pong or basketball or whatever. And you can see the confidence just kind of beaming from him when you talk to him. Well, it's the same way he is in the mound, too. He doesn't flinch when there's a guy on second and third one out. He just battles his way through it. I tell James this all the time.

I go to bed thinking about Joe Buck announcing the first Aaron Nola playoff game and just how amazing that is going to be. Because Aaron Nola, when I watch Aaron Nola and when I watch Nick Foles in big moments, I'm obviously not a big Foles guy, but they remind me a lot of each other. Those guys are just clutch. In big moments. Everything just slows down. And that's what I can't wait for. I think once the Phillies get into the playoffs,

Aaron Noel is going to turn into a postseason legend, and right now, you know how big of a Wentz guy I am. Noel's the second best athlete in the city. Embiid? Does Gritty count? It doesn't matter. He's not an athlete. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. Come on. Athlete or like athletic or you're saying player? You're saying the best athletes in the city right now would be. Player. Embiid one. Embiid. Nola.

Nola two. Wentz? Simmons? Drew? Stop. Is he underrated? I'm just kidding. You would honestly have to throw Drew up in the conversation.

Yeah, I mean, I'm all right with that. You're going to have the anti-baseball people are going to be like, like last year when I was trying to pump up Aaron Nola for Cy Young and MVP because he's that important. I was told, right? So Aaron Nola is, yeah, I would say you're right. Embiid and Nola, he's the second best player in town. Yeah, it's crazy.

And in four years, $45 million bought out as arbitration. It is just, it's the best athlete. It's one of the best deals they've done. Klintzak, to his credit, has got, and listen, Kingery needs to pan out before we get too ahead of ourselves. But for him to get these guys early before they really hit free agency, before they hit arbitration, I think it's the next wave of baseball front officing, and I like where he's at.

They've been doing that for years. No, I know, but this is something that a smart team, they lock out their players early. This is what the Indians do. They locked up Jose Ramirez, and now he's got to be worth over $100 million, and his contract's like $40 something. Even if Kingery turns out to be a super utility player or an average starter they're not paying him anything I mean if you really look at it it's no money in today's game it's worth the

risk I don't even worry about that Scott Kingery thing will take care of itself he'll play a role on this team I don't know if it's as a great player or whatever but he'll play a role now the interesting thing today is that Gabe spoke and and he was down in Clearwater, obviously. And by the way, just seeing everyone down there again, as far as cold as it is up here, it makes you feel warm inside. And today, Gabe spoke, and he was saying that there's a legitimate open competition at third base between Mike Alfranco and Scott Kingery. And it is a pretty good thing.

But I'll tell you what, like, I don't love the idea of Scott Kingery being my third baseman just because I don't think he has the arm. And I would like at least a little bit of pop from my third baseman. Like, he can fill in at third base in a pinch. But, like, if you're not going to sign Moustakis because Harper's going to be in right field and you're not going to sign Machado and make it both of them, make a super team, just let Franco play third. And if he really struggles, then Kingery jumps in there in a pinch.

But I don't love this whole Kingery can play third base thing because I just don't think he's a third baseman. But I think the open competition is to push Franco, right? Franco, he wasn't terrible last year. He had moments where he was, but he also had moments where he was pretty good. That six-week stretch is what people are believing on in the middle of summer.

I don't believe it, but here's what I can do. I can have a couple different guys that get you to the trade deadline, and then if you need a third baseman, you go out and you get somebody at the trade deadline. This farm system, even with trading 6-0 Sanchez, doesn't have a lot at the top. There's not a lot of 5-tool guys like you see on some of the other teams. They need Boehm, but yeah.

They don't have Sizzle. You know what they have? They have a lot of major league players and a lot of attractive both pitching and position players. And you have some guys that they're not going to want to give up. But you have plenty of ammunition to where you're not going to totally shred the system to go out and get somebody. So you let Franco earn his at-bats. And then you get Kingery in there. I agree with you, though.

Kingery's a second baseman. He's not a shortstop. He's not a third baseman. Get rid of Cesar. Out of here. Goodbye. Bye of Cesar. Out of here. Goodbye. Bye, Cesar. See ya.

I mean, are you going to bring him back after when he's a free agent? After next season? No. Yeah. I will say that Cesar did play most of last year at the Broken Foot, so I think he should bounce back a little bit and maybe that rebuilds his trade value just to get him out of here. But I agree with you.

Kingery is the long-term second baseman. I think the Phillies think he's the long-term second baseman. I don't think they signed him to that contract thinking he was going to be a super utility guy for the rest of his career. But Cesar, if Cesar had any trade value ever, he would have been traded by now. Well, I think they could have sold high a couple off-seasons ago. Sold high with what? With Cesar. Yeah, but I'm saying, what is selling high?

Sure, they could have traded him. There would have been teams who said, sure, we'll take Cesar Hernandez. When his value was at its highest, I think it was a couple off-seasons ago, but they held on to him thinking that they can get more. And now the second base market, like, everyone has a second baseman. Everybody has a second baseman. It's not valued unless you have a guy that really is the best second baseman. And he kind of is what he is.

He's average. I mean, he's fine. Don't get me wrong. But kind of is what he is. He's average. I mean, he's fine. Don't get me wrong, but top of the order doesn't do much for me. Doesn't steal bases. Not particularly powerful. I don't think he had a lot of triples last year. I mean, he's a good player. Yeah.

The broken foot did hamper him. But, yeah, no, Kingery is going to be the second baseman. But this year, he's going to be the utility guy. He's going to fill in at short. He's going to fill in at second. He's going to fill in second baseman. But this year, he's going to be the utility guy. He's going to fill in at short. He's going to fill in at second. He's going to fill in at third base. I think he's going to play more outfield than people expect. I think if Odubel struggles, I think they like Roman Quinn.

I don't think they love Roman Quinn. And first off, you can't bank on that guy for anything. He's insurance for Odubel, and Odubel's insurance for Roman Quinn. Yeah. I think if all else being equal, Roman Quinn plays. But he can never stay healthy. And Odubel is insurance for Roman Quinn. Yeah. I think if all else being equal, Roman Quinn plays, but he can never stay healthy. And Odubel is very streaky. I'm telling you, I like the fact that they have that.

I like Roman Quinn more for the fourth outfielder, steal you a bag late in the game guy. I am making sure Odubel Herrera is not. I'm making sure Odubel Herrera is not my guy in center field first before I hand over anything to Roman Quinn. The upside of Odubel Herrera is not my guy in center field first before I hand over anything to Roman. The upside of Odubel, who was down 20 pounds, was working out with Miguel Cabrera all offseason, was there every day at 730, and the Phillies gave him a wake-up call.

That screams to me a guy that's ready to take the next level because last year was just bad. He was just bad for all of last year, it felt like. No, he had a streak where he was hot as hell, but then when it got cold, it got cold. He never got back. He never got back. He usually up and down, but he never got back up after he went down.

He didn't, and with this offense, because they lack talent, they lack production, when he went down, they never recovered. The Phillies offense never recovered. And we got Twitter questions to get to and everything else. Yeah, we will. Jack, I just want to know where you stand with Bryce Harper. Where are you right now if he's coming here? What percentage are we?

You dipped. No, I'm back up. I know you're back up, but you dipped. I had you down last week. Yeah, I mean, every day you come in and you beat me down with he's not coming here. It's like every time I walk into this place, I get depressed. beat me down with he's not coming here. It's like every time I walk into this place, I get depressed.

And with Harper, I'm back up to 90%. I think it's going to happen. But that's because you were so chesty on that day that everybody was saying it's going to happen, it's going to happen. I was excited. Now, tomorrow could be the day it happens, though. Yeah, tomorrow could be the day. And if it does happen, there will be an emergency podcast where it's just going to be heavy breathing and screaming

for getting Bryce Harper here. But I'm really, really confident. I mean, everyone pretty much came out and disputed the whole, oh, he'll take a short-term deal with the Giants. Listen, man, I'm just saying, if he wants to go to San Fran and lose for the next five years because they're going to pose he's getting old and coming off hip surgery.

Mad Bum has one year left on his deal, and he's been trending down. They have nothing in the tank besides Joey Bart, who's amazing. But if he wants to go there and lose, let him go there and lose. Yeah, but here's the thing. If the Padres offered him 10 for $350, he'd be a Padre right now. Well, the Padres can't. No, but you know what I mean. It's not about necessarily just winning with Bryce Harper.

He wants to have the biggest contract. He wants to be the guy that gets that. That's also a part of it. Otherwise, Scott Forrest isn't your client and you're not signed right now. But I think the Phillies offer both of those things. Best of both worlds. I agree with you. I think everyone is starting to kind of realize that. I agree.

I talked to Ike yesterday. It feels like you guys needed me there, honestly, to kind of guide you and teach you the ways of this MLB offseason. I can just tell the baseball conversation has just been upticked the last two days. And I just need to remind you that no matter what, Boras is coming back to us, baby, because he's not letting the big fish not make a final offer. He's not letting John Middleton, who could be called Jack Middleton if he gets this done,

he's not letting that slip through his fingers and have the team that said they're spending stupid money not make their final offer. He's not letting John Middleton, who could be called Jack Middleton if he gets this done, he's not letting that slip through his fingers and have the team that said they're spending stupid money not make their final offer. I'm confident it's happening. So Jack, here's all I'll say. Don't get cocky. Don't be running around here like you were last week where you and your minions or Andrew Porter and Elliot's writing

about it on the website. You guys are extra cocky. Well, I'm always cocky. It's just a matter of time. No, but I like that about you. It's a level. But when you get chesty like you did last week, that's why people like to come after you when things start to look like.

Here's the thing. I think the people that are in the know, even though maybe they've been swayed a little bit here or there, they realize that there's one team out there that has the wherewithal and they have the want and the need to do what it takes to sign Bryce Harper. And now they have Bryce Harper's best friend. And the Giants, right. The Giants probably tried to sneak in and say, hey, like, listen, if I was the Giants,

I would offer them $200 million over five years and see if that got it done. Because it's five years, not eight years. There's going to be opt-out clauses anyway. years and see if that got it done. It's five years, not eight years. There's going to be opt-out clauses anyway. But I think more importantly, it's been interesting and it's been nice to see for everybody out there listening right now to High Hopes,

Jack Fritz has become an instant celebrity and superstar across the country. Now, I have to take some of the satisfaction in this because Jack was just a lowly intern when he worked for me over at the other station. James Seltzer got him over here, got him a job, and now Jack has done the rest. But Jack is being interviewed by the biggest news outlets regarding Harper Lent.

Listen, man, we got to do what we got to do. Hashtag Harper Lent started on the High Hopes podcast. Jack, earlier you were late to start the show because you had an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. And what were they asking you about, Jack? Just like they were asking how it started, like, well, the thought process behind it, how I'm doing without my beer, which hasn't been great. I really miss beer. But, I mean, we've got to put the pressure on them. And it was funny.

She's like a content person for NBC Sports Bay Area. She was asking about it and whatnot, and I told her. I did come out and made sure. I said, you have to tell Giants fans that they cannot use this because this is our thing. Can't use it against us. And we don't want you guys stealing our idea, and then he goes there. So I did make that clear, and Harper Lent is officially ours,

so watch out for that. But, yeah, Harper Lent's been a lot of fun. Hashtag Harper Lent. Yes, I love the people that are like, I'm not petting my dog anymore. So Harper Lent, for people that maybe haven't heard it and are tuning into this one, is where you give something up in order to land Bryce Harper. Yes, until Bryce Harper signs, you're giving this up to put the pressure on him to sign with the Phillies. Because kids aren't being fed.

Dogs aren't being walked. They're just pooping in the house. Yeah, just think about the kids, Bryce. I haven't had a Monster Energy drink in nearly a week, which is a record. The show has been suffering. Dude, I was at Wegmans today, and I was walking right past it. And I looked at it, and I liked the grape monster. And I'm looking at it, and I'm like,, oh my God, I could so use that right now.

And I went right by it, man. Listen, it's tough. It's tough. It's not great. So if you want, there's still time. If you're listening to this, by the end of the Marks and Reese show tomorrow at 6 o'clock, you can get in a Harper Lentz video and win a Phillies jersey from the Majestic Clubhouse store. So what do you have to do to do it?

Jack, what are the rules? Well, it's a 20-second video of yourself saying... And only yourself. Nobody else in the video. You cannot have another person in it. You have to tweet it at MarkStreetsWIP. You have to use the hashtag HarperLent. And I think that's pretty much it.

It has to be just of yourself, 20 seconds. Best one. Best one. Best one. We'll pick the best one at the end of the show. Announce the winner on Friday. And again, this is any jersey you want at the Majestic Clubhouse store. It is a... You pick it.

Whether it's a real Muto jersey, whether you think Harper's coming, you will wait it out and get your first Harper jersey. Just wait. I mean, it's a fantastic prize for a thing that I think is pretty funny. I mean, HarperLen is a funny idea and uh i like how serious some people are taking it um one thing before we get to the twitter questions the whole third base is an open competition thing was that an admission of harper's their guy from gabe capital like a minor a minor slip up, that's a great point. I have just – they're either not in on Machado or Machado.

Is Manny Machado still a free agent? He is. They don't want him. Literally no one's talked about Manny Machado. They don't want him. Yeah. I mean, it's – for some reason, I feel like Salisbury and Zaleki keep saying, yeah, Machado's their guy.

Come on, guys. It's been long enough. He is not their guy. There would be some smoke, right? And if Harper was assigned somewhere else, I doubt highly that they would just all of a sudden be like, hey, man, we love you. Yeah, come on.

Love you, man. That's the one tough part. If they do, for some reason, strike out on Harper, it's like how do they come back to Machado and be like, hey, I know we wanted this guy, but come on down. You know you don't want to play in Chicago. Nope. I don't know where he wants to play, but I honestly, and I don't like to make too much of the Philly-style player,

and you got to get uniformed dirty. He's a Philly guy. Right, and all that stuff. But there's some red flags with me with Manny Machado, and I know that he played in Baltimore, and he's an excellent player. There's no doubt about it. But when you're giving a contract the size you're giving to it, you're essentially saying this is the most important player that we have on our team,

and if he's not leading by example to where he's comfortable just kind of jogging down the first base, I'll give you an example. Bobby Abreu was an all-star player here for a long time. I'm actually a Bobby Abreu fan. But when he left is when the Phillies really became the team that became the best franchise, the best team in franchise history. And you kind of say, meh, meh, meh. But it happened immediately.

Pat Gillick came out, and after he traded, Bobby Abreu, he went a salary dump. They got pretty much nothing in return. And here's what happened. And I remember talking to Larry Bowe about this, asked him about Bobby Abreu a few years after that. And he said, you know what? He's like, Bobby wasn't late, but Bobby would be the guy that showed up.

If he had to be there at 4 o'clock, he'd be there at 3.59 or right at 4 o'clock. He wasn't late. He wasn't setting a bad example. But what example was he setting if he was the last guy in the clubhouse and all the other guys were showing up at 3.15, 3 o'clock? Especially as your best player. As your best player. You can't have that.

And the minute that he was traded to the Yankees, the younger guys, Chase, Pat Burrell, the younger guys said, all right, now this is our team. And they expected people to behave and act a certain way. And I worry about Machado that if he has those periods where he can just kind of glide and he's not worried about all that stuff, that's not good. Yeah, my thing with Machado, and I mostly agree with you. I don't want to sound like I'm a big-time hustle guy, but to me it does matter a little bit. For me with Machado, it's that he is so naturally talented. I feel like watching him play baseball is almost too easy.

You know what I mean? And as he hits his 30s, it's like, well, eventually your skills are going to slip. How are you going to adjust to that? Whereas Harper is just grinding and working his ass off. I'm just so excited. I cannot wait to see Bryce Harper in right field. I mean, just thinking about a lineup of McCutcheon leading off, Segura two-hole, three-hole Hoskins, four-hole Harper, five-real Muto,

and then if you want to get Moose, make him instead of Franco, and you have Herrera eight-hole, and then Hernandez the nine. That is just a balanced lineup up and down. It has everything. It has power. It has left-handed, right-handed. It's on base. It has average.

It's just ridiculous. Well, here's the other thing I think it does, and I've heard some people say this in recent days. This puts Reese Hoskins. Not that he had a bad season last year, but people were like... He's up and down. Yeah, people, I think, expected a little bit more. He could be the biggest beneficiary of the improved lineup.

Because now there's not a hole in the lineup, and you can't. You can't pitch around Reese. Yeah, he tried to do too much last year. And you're right, he's streaky. He's been streaky back to his days at A-Ball. I feel like no one talks about it because he's been our only good player for the last year, year and a half. But he – I mean, in September, he was horrible, just like Odula was. Yep.

And he's the face of the franchise, so he has all the added pressure and all that stuff. It's fine. It's a growing curve. But, yeah, what do you add in Hoskins? It still happens. You add in Real Amudo. You know, the funniest thing is I still can't believe that Harper

and Hoskins are the same age. It's crazy, isn't it. And Harper's been around forever. It's crazy. And Hoskins is 26. Like, it's just crazy to me. Should I not be worried that he batted 249 with, how many homers did he have last year? 30. I think 30.

He didn't have 40. Did he have 40? No, he had 33 or 35 in that area. But, yeah, I mean, the average was mildly concerning. But I just think – On-base percentage is still, I think, the highest in baseball. Well, not in all of baseball. No?

It was up there. Or is it walks that he led the league in? Yeah, well, walks and pitches per plate appearance. I know you love that stat, pitches per plate appearance. No, it matters. He's an excellent player, and I'm not saying otherwise. He'll be fine, and I do want him. But I just want everybody to realize that you're not getting Mike Trout here.

What, with Harper? Yeah, he had 34. He led the league in walks last year. He had 34 homers and 100 RBIs. No, I'm sorry. I was talking about Harper. No, he batted 249 last year. Yeah, but listen, I've heard that concern a lot, and I fed this stat to I'm sorry. I was talking about Harper. No, he batted 249 last year. Yeah, but listen, I've heard that concern a lot,

and I fed this stat to Ike yesterday. Three of the last four halves, he's been unbelievable. I mean, the first half of last year, he was bad, yes. But I think if you're looking at a human element, I mean, this guy was heading into a season where he was projected to be the highest-paid player in baseball history, and he's going out there and trying to prove that every day. And I think that gets in your head.

Also, his hitting coach, Kevin Long, was on SiriusXM. And he was saying how basically they tried to buy into the launch angle stuff. And that just didn't work for him. And in the second half, they went back to the basics and just started hitting line drives and focusing on that. The rest takes care of itself. And then he went back to, he batted 300 in the second half. line drives and focusing on that. The rest takes care of itself.

And then he went back to, he batted 300 in the second half. Okay. The year before that, he batted 330 in the first half and was on pace to win the MVP until he hyperextended his knee on the first base bag. He's 26. He's going to enter into his prime playing in Philadelphia, and that is just, I can't get past that. Park factors, if he played here last year, he would have hit,

he would have added five more home runs to his home run total last year. The OBP is still there. I just think people are a little bit too worked up with the stats, and they're way too worked up about the war. If people get so worried about his war, like he was playing center field last year for a lot, and he did not want to slide and dive in right field because he knew if he got hurt he wasn't going to get paid as much.

I will give him a pass on that. I'm so worried about the war. Yeah. I'm with everybody else. Big war guy. Oh, God, sleepless nights. All right, do you want to talk about, before we get to the Twitter questions,

do you want to talk about the charity event we have coming up on Friday, March 1st? Yes, Friday, March 1st. So a couple years ago, if you remember, there was a young lady who had been diagnosed with cancer. And somehow through a friend was a producer on The Ellen Show. And they brought her on The Ellen Show. And Chase Utley came out and surprised her.

And the Phillies gave her season tickets. And it was like the biggest thing. And I got to know Julie. Her name is Julie Kramer. I got to know her a little bit. And she is, her, her family, amazing. So on the night of the event, which is March 1st, is Julie's five year anniversary of being cancer free. So it was Julie, really, that I said, you know what, we should try to do a cancer benefit and send Julie to spring training because she was just

such a great girl. And, and that was the first time we did what's called Striking Out Cancer. And we did it a couple times when I was on at the other station. And a coworker from over there that now owns her own company had been contacting me saying, let's do it again, let's do it again, because she was such a big part of organizing it and everything before. So we're going to do it again on the Marks & Reese Show and with the High Hopes podcast. It's March 1st, 5 to 8 at Chickas and Pete's in South Philly in the Play 2.

It's a $40 open bar. That gets you $40 worth of open bar and appetizers. Crab fries? I'm sure crab fries are included in it. Listen, I'm not paying $40 not getting crab fries. You get an apps buffet and you get an open bar for $40. And the money goes to the sydney kimmel cancer center directors fund that goes directly to cancer research everybody jack i

don't know if it's been if you have but well of course i think everyone everybody has been touched by cancer somewhere in their family or friends or whatever so this is a great way for us to meet our listeners the high hopes podcast nwip come out. We encourage you to come out. We're going to be celebrity bartenders and silent auction items and a lot of other great stuff. And it goes to a great cause. And we can meet all of our listeners,

which is the most important thing other than the money for the cancer research. Yes. So come hang out at the High Hopes Pod and the Marks and Reese show. It'll be a lot of fun. Friday, March 1st. Friday, March 1st.

Okay. And you can find more info at Marks and Reese on Twitter, at Marks and Reese WIP on Twitter be a lot of fun. Friday, March 1st. Friday, March 1st. Okay, and you can find more info at MarksReese on Twitter, at MarksReeseWIP on Twitter if you want more information on that. Let's get us some Twitter questions. By the way, a lot of Harper Lent videos have been coming in in the last hour or so. Go team. So get them coming in.

Remember, end of show, which is 6 o'clock tomorrow night, that is the cutoff for all Harper Lant videos. All right, first one here from Caroline. You're stuck on an island with one current Phillies player. Who are you picking and why? Stuck on an island with one? Can I pick Bryce Harper? Why don't you answer first because you know who's coming.

Yeah, well, no, no, no, no. Don't jinx it, Fritz. Don't jinx it, Fritz. I'll choke you. For me, who do you think would be a legend on- Can I pick the manager? Gabe? Would he be that funny?

I feel like he'd make you do workouts, though. No, you'd want to kill him after 36 hours. Reese is chill. He's a California kid, right? He'd be cool to hang out with. He'd be cool to hang out with. On the shore? Doable, probably not.

There's a little bit of a language barrier there too. McCutcheon? McCutcheon would be a cool dude. McCutcheon would be a lot of fun. I don't think Philly's ready for how fun Andrew McCutcheon is. He's awesome. He's an awesome Instagram follow. He is

awesome. So yeah, McCutcheon. Pat Neshek? Nah. I'm good. I got it. Tommy it i got it tommy hunter no tommy hunter i would hang out with he seems like a bloomsburg guy so heavy would he be cool to hang out with yeah i think so i think he i think he's a baseball bro you know my bloomsburg story i was taking a leak behind this uh with some other people behind some house and police sauce and everybody started running. Next thing I know, I'm at gunpoint

after trying to jump over a fence. Nice. They're like screaming at me, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm trying to run away from you guys. What do you think I'm doing? That's Bloom. That sounds just very Bloom. Alright, from Dave Glantz. He's done a great job so far this offseason, but

if Klintac doesn't sign Harper or Machado and they don't make the playoffs this year, is Klintak's job in jeopardy? No. I don't think so. I don't think so either because I think if they don't get Harper or Machado, it's more of a Middleton problem. Well, it's a Middleton problem, and if they don't make the playoffs,

Gabe's the first scapegoat. Gabe's not keeping his job and Klintak's leaving because if you look what he's done this offseason, he's actually done a pretty good job. I'm surprised how little they gave up. I know Sixto's a good prospect. And Alfaro has value. I'm surprised how little they gave up to get the best player in his position.

Yeah. Well, they gave up Will Stewart, who the Marlins apparently think is like Chris Sale and was their number two prospect, which is crazy. Will Stewart, I think he could be a good situational lefty, but if you think he's like Chris Sale and the Phillies' second best prospect ahead of Adonis Medina and Spencer Howard, you just don't know what you're talking about. Well, I mean, honestly, Medina may have the highest ceiling. Stewart may have a higher floor.

I don't know, man. He pitched in single A Lakewood. He's 21 years old. A lot can happen between now and then. I like him, though. I do. I like some of the lower-level Phillies pitchers. I like.

I do. From there, how many guys that have pitched in single A and double A that look like they're going to be studs and they never do anything i know i know so you for instance you were primed to a great career and then then i found keystone light my gutter is all over from there could have been me man um but no clint sack i think he's fine uh and i think i really do think clintak is really good at his job. Like, trades, he's been good. Signings, he had to overpay for Carlos Santana.

He probably had to overpay for McCutcheon. But just keeping his guys in-house, I'm a big Klintak fan. I think he's the best GM in the city. So he'll finish Harper and ride his parade down Broad Street in a couple years. From DidBenSimmonsMakeAThree, if you had to pick one, Pavetta breakout and Machado or Harper and no Pavetta breakout. So, these acting, would I rather have a Pavetta breakout or no Pavetta breakout and Machado or Harper?

Are you insane? I will take Bryce Harper. It's a tough question. I need a Nick Pavetta breakout like I need oxygen. I'll bring you a tank. For as much as you think that I have gotten chesty about Harper on this podcast, it's been all about Nick Pavetta and his impending breakout season, which are you on board with breakout Pavetta?

Nick Pavetta has great stuff and is a total, total mental idiot. Well. Here's what people around the team say, and I'm not a reporter. Two seasons ago, I was around the team more, I'm not going to say quite a bit, but enough. Last year, not as much. He thinks very highly of himself.

Yes. And his stuff and everything else. That's why I like him so much. We have that in common. And no one seems to think that, but I think you have it in the mental area, no one seems to think that he has it in the mind. He needs to definitely grow mentally.

I mean, even I acknowledge that, and I love Nick Pavetta. But you see it. When guys get on base, his numbers just plummet. Everything plummets. It's not stuff. It's definitely not stuff. Here's the thing with Pivetta. If he can't become

a third starter, fourth starter, whatever you're talking about, if he can't do that, he'll be dangerous in the bullpen. And that may be where he ends up. That's what I'm saying because you don't have to worry about that stuff. Pitch out of the stretch all the time. Just go up there and mow people down.

Three batters, bang. He gets into problems, like you said, when he gets rattled. It's like Vince Velasquez. What is Vince Velasquez? We can keep putting him out there as a starting pitcher, and I know you have to because it's important. He's never going to be a good starting pitcher in this league. If they do sign Harper, if they sign Harper, would you sign

Keuchel just to make sure you have at least another reliable starter? What are we talking about? Like three years, 75, kind of the area of the contract. Absolutely. They need him. The way I think about it, you make all these improvements to the lineup. That is a World Series-ready lineup. It is.

This staff is not World Series-ready. No, it's not, and I like their bullpen. I think they could probably make a trade at the deadline. I mean, Howard's been talking about that, that they want to go into next season, see what they have in the young guys, see if they take a step forward. And if not, share it up.

And make a trade. But you can do that with Keuchel. You can still sign Keuchel and do that at the deadline. They made a huge mistake. The Phillies made a huge mistake not getting Cole Hamels at least for this season. You would have had the $20 million option that the Cubs picked up,

that the Phillies would have picked up, and he's back. And at least you have a guy, a bona fide guy that's been there before. I like Keuchel. If I was picking a pitcher of the young guys that's going to step forward this season and become that number three or maybe that number two. Choose wisely. It ain't Pavetta. It's Eflin.

Oh, come on. He's got nothing. Dude, there was a point last year where Eflin was talked about being untradeable in trades. For Manny Machado. Untradeable. For Manny Machado that the Phillies wouldn't do it. And this wasn't John Heyman throw against the wall type reports. Yeah, it was guys that actually had legitimate information.

So did they overvalue what he is? Yeah, probably. You normally do that with your own guys. Listen, 5-0 in June last year. He ran out of gas, Jack. I don't know if he ran out of gas. you what he is yeah probably you normally do that with your own guys but listen five and oh in june last year he ran out of gas jack well he i don't know if he ran out of gas i he probably did but also last year he just for for two months there he stopped throwing his fastball as much and what made him any kind of good was he was throwing his fastball a lot like in june when he was five and oh and was the stopper and kind of kept him alive but i mean were guys sitting on the fastball and

he tried to make an adjustment instead of trusting his stuff or whatever? Well, no, but what I'm talking about is that in his 5-0 June, he was throwing 60% fastballs, and it declined every month to like 40% by the time when he was getting rocked. And then his last couple of starts, he went back to his fastball, and he started pitching a lot better. No, I know. What I was saying was did he go away from the fastball

because teams were adjusting and they were swimming fastball more i mean here's the thing it's not every pitcher is like aaron nulla where he comes in and he's pretty much good right off the bat and he's at a cy young level while he's he's in his mid-20s so nick pavetta i'm fine with nick pavetta still developing there's enough of an upside there to where you keep putting him out there every five days it It's going to get to a point where you can't do it anymore. I'm at that point with Vince Velasquez after this year, and he didn't even have that bad of a year last year, Velasquez. Yeah, he just drives me crazy. Drives me nuts. And he's a

great dude, too. He's still finicky on the mound. He's the ultimate look-good, feel-good guy. And he just is always fidgeting. I can't... He's fast. He needs to just throw fastballs, and that's tough to do start after start. Yeah, I know it is. And eventually, hopefully, they move him to the pen or whatever.

I will say that I'm more bullish on Eflin than I am Velasquez. I am not a Velasquez believer. Okay. I actually don't know who this Twitter question is from, so that's on me. There's no way to know, of course, but in your estimation, are the Phillies a better team going forward with Bryson right field or with Manny at third base? What do you think? Say it again.

Sorry, I was just looking at your article that Jessica Kleinschmidt who, by the way, she's a nice looking baseball reporter. Anyway, yeah, so the article's out. It is out. And everyone's ripping me because I didn't say Seltzer in it because they said I talked to my's ripping me because i didn't say seltzer in it because they said they said your podcast i said i talked to my podcast partner but i didn't say

seltzer oh look at that you have your own video the people the people in san francisco don't know who seltzer is i i linked the podcast they can go listen to the podcast i'm not trying to jackie big time anyone no but you just don't realize that maybe you should mention somebody else. Well, I didn't. That's just kind of what it comes down to. I did in the other ones. I don't know. It's my first time being famous, okay?

It's my first time being famous. I've never had a deal with this before. Okay. We're all learning. You know, it's just tough. Fritz wanted to make this a way to put a, quote, kind of fake pressure on Harper to make a decision. Yeah. It's not fake. It's very real. kind of fake pressure on Harper to make a decision. Yeah. That's not fake. It's very real. Your video up there

of five days without a beer. Quote, I always thought that giving up something to lure a star player was funny. It was just kind of my spin on it. Jack Fritz is an evening producer for Sports Radio 94 WIP in Philadelphia and hosts the High Hopes podcast, a podcast dedicated to the things Phillies.

Yeah. Sounds fair to me. Naturally, being from that area, Fritz is a big advocate on wanting the Bryce Harper sweepstakes ending in the city of brotherly love. I don't know why you're reading this. Are you going to do this tomorrow on the air? Yes. Just like my Philadelphia Inquirer article? And what he's going

to do to make sure this comes to fruition? Introducing hashtag HarperLent. fruition, introducing hashtag HarperLent. That's right, HarperLent. Phillies fans are giving up something they love in order to convince Harper to sign with the team. Fritz has been without beer for five days. So brave. I texted the guy I do a podcast with and I said,

you know what would be funny? Is if we had to give up something until Harper signs. The guy he does a podcast. Sorry, James. Sorry, James. Love you, buddy. The guy had to do a podcast. So all you people out there that are blaming me and thinking I'm lazy for not doing this podcast.

Snake. Yeah, exactly. It's all about me. It's all about me. It's all about me. At least Shelter asked me a couple times. Listen, man, what do I need to do? I'm just kidding. Sorry.

Do we have another question? We've got many questions. All right, hurry up. A better team going forward, is it with Bryson right field or with Manny at third base? Bryson right field. From Angelo Masso, this is from me personally, how much practice did it take you to perfect your NOLA form?

Did you see my Aaron NOLA video? I saw the video yesterday How did it look? Do you think it was good? It was reminiscent of the guy that used to do all the Phillies Whiffle ball batting stances It was good It was

Now, if you can do the other ones Who's next? You should see my Hamels It's identical Do you do it left-handed? No, I don't do it right-handed I'm not impressed Can you do Al Holland? I don't do it right-handed. I'm not impressed. Can you do Al Holland?

I don't even know who that is. Okay. I can do that. From Otter Hooligan, of all the moves our front office has made so far this winter outside of Harper Machado Circus, which do you think will have the biggest impact this season? I mean, that's got to be JT Real Muto, right? Yeah. Well, I mean, the great thing is you have a couple ways you could go there.

But, yeah, it would be a disappointment if Riemuto wasn't that guy. He's not the best catcher in baseball. From Johnny Chatter, how many Phillies are in the best shape of their lives outside of Franco or Oduble? Did you see that? Yeah. Michael Franco. Best shape of my life, man.

Best shape of my life. Everybody's in the best shape of their life. Oh, that's great. Well, I saw today Kingery. Oh, yeah. People were just oohing and eyeing at the muscle he put on in the off season i would say cesar probably is like 188 pounds 180 pounds like he was last year uh you know reese isn't a muscle pound guy bryce gabe's in the best shape

of his life gabe's always in the best shape of his life he never gets out of shape and listen if if if if bryce and gabe are not running the rocky steps shirtless together this whole signing is is pointless in my opinion like that's something that i need uh in my life for sure from uh johnny heller with the arietta eickhoff news today pick one of the following to make some starts in april if they if they needed to happen cole irvin and yell de los santos drew anderson or ranger suarez I'm going to be drinking a lot in April. I don't like... I mean, I like Daniel De Los Santos

the most out of those guys. I think Ranger Suarez has nothing. Drew Anderson's a bullpen guy, and I don't like Cole Irvin. I don't think any of them are great options. How about that? Yeah, it's not great. As much as I talk about the pitching, it'd be nice if they had a guy that was more or less going to push somebody out

because you needed to get him in the rotation. Cole Irvin. Cole Irvin's just a big lefty that doesn't have great velocity. Ranger Suarez is little. JoJo Romero's your next best pitcher that's in the minors that'll be ready to go. What about Medina? Dude, listen, he's going to have success at some of these stops. You just can't have great stuff and flash it.

Medina's a couple years away, man. JoJo Romero with a good year this year could be up in September. Yeah, no, I agree. I'm excited for JoJo's season. For Matt Wilcox, what can we expect from Jared Eikhoff this season? I mean, Eikhoff again had another setback today. I feel bad for the guy. He's a great dude.

He's just never been able to get back to that 2015 form. Listen, if he could be Ross Stripling, I would be so happy. But, listen, he throws 89. Like, I don't know what you want him to do with 89. He obviously has a great curveball, but he needs to be able to tunnel it right. Like, he needs to be able to throw 89 up in the zone and then mix that with his curveball. And he lost velocity with his injury. She's done.

Yeah, I just don't see Eikhoff really being much of anything this season. I would love to be wrong, but I just can't see it. From Russell Trow, what beer do you miss the most since starting? Hashtag HarperLent. Easily Tired Hands. I live right across the street from Tired Hands. It's my favorite place on earth. I have sunk a lot of money into there just thinking about Tired Hands.

What is it? It's a brewery. It's a brewery. It's a brewery. In Westchester? No, it's in Ardmore. I live in Ardmore now. Oh, you live in Ardmore? Yeah, yeah.

It's one of the best breweries in the country. It's phenomenal. So I haven't been able to drink that for a while. Well, for five days, which feels like a while. I've seen a lot of people giving up Wawa. Yeah. Antonio tweets in a little while ago that this is getting really hard. Yeah.

Does that mean no gas at Wawa? No, you've got to feel your car. I mean, that's not really Wawa. You know what I mean? We're talking the convenience of Wawa. I'm asking for the people out there that are going to give up Wawa and be like, oh, does that mean gas? What are you getting so offended for?

I think it means gas. Okay. From Ben Hoffman, what is the best part about working with Franski and L.A.? Like, well, I give up Wawa. I'd be like, oh, does that mean gas? What are you getting so offended for? I think it means gas. Okay. From Ben Hoffman, what is the best part about working with Franski and L.A.? I would say it's the commercial breaks. Working with Franski and L.A., right? Yeah, it's the commercial breaks. I mean, they're hilarious in the middle of commercial breaks. Would you say that they're exactly how you think they would be during the commercial breaks to a person that listens to the...

Except with curse words. No, they're exactly how I think that they would be. L.A., let me tell you something. L.A. last year, he was doing a weekly hit on Marks and Reese. And even when he was away, because he's not doing the full schedule, he's still paying attention to every game. He's still calling in, doing his weekly spot. He's still as fun as he was with everything else.

I mean, and listen, here's why I love Scott Franski. He's not trying to do basketball games and do this. He's only doing Phillies. He's doing Phillies radio, and he's enjoying life, and I love that, man. Yeah, I mean, Franski is, he's just, he's the best. And he's going to concerts, and he's got kids. He was randomly at a Temple game that Joe was at like two weeks ago weeks ago three weeks ago this is franski has walked by it's like what are you doing man what are you doing uh and last one here uh from fresh to goals

how do you think kingery would do if he were to win the full-time gig at third base so let's say franco goes down and and or kingery just clearly beats him out out of spring training what do you think his his numbers would look like, what do you think his numbers will look like? Basically, what are you expecting from Kingery this year? If you were to predict his stash line. I mean, 400 at-bats, 260.

Some, I don't know, a little bit of pop, some steals. The problem was when he was in AA that year, and he put up the big homer numbers, people thought that he was he's not going to be even a 25 home run guy every year. He's not that guy. No, but 15 to 20.

15 to 20, sure. Doubles, triples. A 20-20 season mixed in. The problem as I see any time I mention any other positions mentioned than second base, he can be a gold glove type player at second base. And I don't even think he's a good defensive third baseman.

People play second base for a reason. I was a second baseman growing up. I didn't have the arm to play third base. I certainly didn't have the range or the arm to play shortstop. I played second base, and I was good at playing second base. Well, Kingery is Dustin Pedroia with more talent. Yes. No, but you're right.

Remember that? Pedroia's done, by the way. Oh, he's tough. Dunn's good. He is tough. I could see a 270, 315 OBP. What a big walk guy. 15 to 20 homers, 20 stolen bases. Kingery is a huge weapon on the base pass if he can get on base.

He was in the minors. He's always been that. Just last year, he couldn't get on base. So that hindered pretty much his entire season. You know what I saw last year, and L.A. talked about this a lot, was the approach of the plate. He was up there a lot of times taking pitches. He's trying to say, like, hey, Gabe, I'm taking pitches,

and he's looking at meatballs right down the middle of the plate. Yeah, he got too engulfed in the team approach of batting. He was swimming last year in his head. Yeah, and if I'm the Phillies, sometimes you've got to let hitters figure it out themselves and not force this way onto people because the hitting approach doesn't work for every player. Kingery's not really a launch angle guy.

I know that did lead to some of his breakouts, but you just have to let players use their talent in a way and not force this kind of approach on everyone. I'm expecting a nice year from Kingery. I'm not looking forward to talking myself into him after he has a huge spring training again. Every single year, it's like, oh, Kingery's insane in spring training.

They've got to get him up here and play now. I hope he's good in spring training, but I don't want to suck myself back into the Kingery hype. We will see. We will see. We will see. All right, well, that's going to do it for High Hopes. Again, the charity event, March 1st.

Come join the High Hopes podcast. Come join Marks and Reeds. It's a great charity, $40 open bar at Chickie's and Pete's. Marksy, are you on board with Life, Liberty, and Mickey Moniac second half splits absolutely are we making shirts

no yes yes and we'll sell them for a lot yes they're undervaluing Mickey Moniac

just like they overvalued him last year I'm excited to see what he's going to do this year I really I really can't wait I think Moniac's

going to have a really good year Marksy we will talk to you soon, and hopefully we do an emergency podcast for Bryce Harper. Again, we've been teasing this emergency podcast for two months now, so eventually we will do an emergency podcast. Also, by tomorrow at the end of the show of the Marks and Reese show,

your Harper Lent videos, get them in. Chance to win a Phillies jersey from the Majestic Clubhouse store. 20 seconds, your face only. Use hashtag HarperLent at MarksReeseWIP for a chance to win a Phillies jersey. And we'll talk to you soon. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby.

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