High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Rough Series in Arizona

Episode Date: August 9, 2018

Jack Fritz and Jon Marks kick off the pod before the finale of the Diamondbacks series and we have an impromtu Marks Minor League report. Then Joe Giglio and Jack Fritz hop on following the 6-0 loss.�� 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

Summer's here, and you can now get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? You can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parmesan delivered. Sunshine? No. Some wine? Yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. See app for details.

Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead. You can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Welcome on into a brand new edition of the iHopes podcast. We were recording this right before the Phils and D-backs wrap up their series

out in Arizona before heading out to San Diego. Just a little programming note. At the end of this podcast, I will hop on at the end and recap this game because John has to go home to his family. You have a family that you've got to go home and take care of. I have a 5 o'clock dinner with somebody in the city

so I have to go. You can take care of it. I'm not interested in recapping the game. Yeah, yeah. But I feel like I'll be doing the High Hopes listeners a disservice if I didn't come on and talk about it. A Game 3 win. We'll call it a win.

I hope so. Vince Velasquez has – he surprised me this year. He has. You know the narrative last year was he's never going to be a starter. And I didn't necessarily disagree with it, but it was worth taking your time to make sure that that was the case because the starter is obviously so much more important than a bullpen guy. And Vince has shown some promise this year. So excited to see him pitch today.

I think he's got a.95 ERA in the last month, month or two. He's been on a run since I think it was June 25th, and his whips below one. Yeah. Not Aaron Nola, but it's pretty good. He has looked good. He's never going to be a guy that gets deep in the games. I think we all recognize that. But if he can get you six and sometimes seven innings on occasion as your fourth starter,

third starter, bang. Yeah, but he has done a better job, it feels like, of going a little bit deeper in games. He has. Because he's implemented that little two-seamer that he's starting at a guy's hip. And I think that's changed the way— Strong, weak contact. Right. And the difference between him and Pavetta in the last little bit is that once Pavetta gets a guy 0-2,

they just foul him off and foul him off and foul him off and get his pitch count up and whatever. Whereas Velasquez is actually putting guys away. And last night, Pavetta, I thought, actually did a better job of that. I mean, Pavetta pitched really well last night. Looked good last night. Worked out of some jams. Velasquez has done – you know, the one thing that he's done really well is he's not getting – it's just not the walks, but it's certain situations before

where he would put a guy on base or two guys on base, and they would always come back to haunt him. There was that Vince Velasquez moment where it's like it just happened and where it falls apart, and he's not doing that. And listen, man, this pitching staff looks really, really good right now. Yeah. At what time are we going to think about, like, raising the ceiling on this pitching staff?

Like what if we're watching the developings of a really top-of-the-line rotation? Not just these are young guys. These guys coming up didn't have the highest pedigrees. Pavetta wasn't highly touted. Velasquez was highly touted, but a lot of people thought he was going to be a bullpen piece. Eflin wasn't highly touted.

Obviously, Aaron Nola is Aaron Nola. At what point are we going to maybe say this staff could be special? Well, I'm ready to say right now they're good enough to take them as far as they're going to go in the playoffs. If they lose, it's not going to be because their starting pitching is inferior. You might go up against somebody that has a better staff. I don't know what Washington is going to do down the stretch, but obviously a guy like Max Scherzer who has experience and has been around the block, you're going to look at him

and you're going to look at a staff like that as being better. But I'll take Nola and Arrieta, and if Eflin's the third guy or it's Velasquez, I'll at least take the top two with some of the other teams out there. Yeah, and if Pavetta or Velasquez or Eflin is your 4-5, that makes your rotation really, really good. Yeah, there's not much of a drop-off 3-5. And here's the other thing. A lot of times when you have a 4th and a 5th starter, they're 4th or 5th starter because they lack stuff.

They're throwing 89-90 from a righty. You're hoping they give you 6 innings, and they're just very proficient pitchers. These guys actually have stuff. They have swing and miss stuff, which is great to have guys on the back end of your rotation that can actually get the strikeouts. So sky's the limit with these guys, Jack. And doesn't it feel like this team's kind of just rounding into form? Like the first three months of the season, it was, are we sure they're good? They're making all these errors.

They're not having good offensive approaches. The pitching staff's over its head. It's starting to feel special and real. It is. It is. And I know you came on the air the other day and you said you think they could win the World Series. Right.

And you came and you're like, really? They're winning the World Series? I was just like, I think they can make the World Series. Here's where I'm coming from. When the whole thing went down with Nick Foles, and for people that don't know, I have a Nick Foles tattoo on my back because I said that they can win the Super Bowl with Nick Foles. And if they do, I'll get his face tattooed on my back.

And I have a big Nick, kind of looks like Nick Foles, the Lombardi trophy on my back. People think it looks like me. It looks like Jack Fritz, James Spader, Lenny Dykstra I've heard. Oh, that's a bad one. Is it the Lenny Dykstra now or is it like 93 Dykstra?

Not the Twizzler strolling on your shirt, Lenny Dykstra. No. But anyway, I never said at that moment that Nick Foles was going to go out and win the Super Bowl. What I said was that you've got to take it step by step. And they had a big enough lead in the conference to where if Nick Foles was a game manager and it was a good all-around team around them, they can still get home field.

And if they get home field, they can make it to the Super Bowl. And then when you get to the Super Bowl, you worry about the Super Bowl. And then when you get to the Super Bowl, you worry about the Super Bowl. If I sit here today with the Phillies and say, well, yeah, they can beat Boston or Houston or whoever, it's going to be a tough sell to anybody that's listening. But you can't do that yet. You just have to worry about getting to the playoffs. Worry about home field.

Worry about keeping the East to where you're not playing in a wild card game. And then worry about winning that series. Worry about the World Series at the World Series. I can't make a case for them beating Boston right now in a seven-game series. No. No one can. I mean, well. But it's now. Series. I can't make a case for them beating Boston right now in a seven-game series. No. No one can. I mean, well. Right, but it's now. It's only August 8th.

No, no. And I think this team has raised its level or has raised its ceiling in the last couple weeks, especially with the addition of Dez Drupal, your boy Aaron Loop. My boy. He's had a rough couple of starts. Arrieta has really done what the pro-Arrieta people, the positive people were saying. Remember what he did last year in the second half? He's a second-half pitcher.

Yes. He doesn't have the 95-mile-an-hour fastball anymore when he needs it every time. But you know what? He knows how to pitch. Yes. And he competes. So even if he's giving you six or seven, you know that he's at least going to keep you in the game most nights. Yeah, but even now he looks more comfortable.

He looks better. He looks like he's not as stiff as he was. He's actually finishing now. The other night, it was the first time I really noticed it was an easy 94. And for the most part, he would throw a 94, he'd throw a 95 earlier in the season, but it'd be like a lot of effort behind it. He'd have to dial it up. Right, and right now it just looks like he's flowing.

He's finally getting some real dip to his slider. It's good, and he pitched really, really well in game one, eight innings, shutout ball. Should not have gone out for the ninth inning. Not at all. It was the right call by Gabe Kapler to bring in Sir Anthony. It was a perfectly fine decision. It was process over results, which you can't judge him for.

Yeah, but who even that... I know that maybe there was a name out there that had said it, and I don't even really believe. I think it's a disingenuous take. It's 110 pitches, and you have Sir Anthony out. Maybe you can make the case of maybe he should be going to somebody else at this point,

and I don't think you could make that case the other night, but I never thought for a second he was coming back out for that ninth inning. Not for a second. You throw 110 pitches, you're done. Yeah. You're done. And you have a guy that comes in, and you know what?

It's going to happen. That's baseball. You're going to have games that you blow saves, and unfortunately it was the other night, but they bounced back. They were resilient. They got the win last night. I can't believe how resilient this team is. It's amazing.

I left Monday's game, and I said to myself, now usually this would be a team that would fold. A young team would fold after a loss like that. And I was really curious to see how they would come back Tuesday. And they came back Tuesday, and they had the big inning in the eighth inning with the Little League home run by Cesar Hernandez, which was awesome. It was like, that's baseball. That's baseball at its core, is that little bunt turned into a home run.

It was great. It took me back. It did. It did. And Mike Angelina actually tweeted this out, that it was arbitrary numbers off the big losses they had this season. But they're 7-1 coming off of the losses that you would think would debilitate a young team. The fact that they have rebounded from those losses and come back with big wins for such a young team, the youngest team in baseball,

that is a complete testament to the culture that Gabe Kapler has built. And I don't think he's getting enough credit for it. He's not. No, he's not. The city frustrates me a lot with certain takes, and the dumb Phillies take right now is – Jack, it's a combination of a couple of different things. I don't feel like enough people are paying attention right now, and I'm not going to get mad at people. It's the Phillies' job to get people to pay attention, and if they're not paying attention, I can't be mad at people for not paying attention. I think they should be, but for whatever reason, I don't think enough people not paying attention, I can't be mad at people for not paying attention. I think they should be, right?

But for whatever reason, I don't think enough people are paying attention yet. And Charlie Emanuel was despised in this town. People were beyond mean to him when he first came in here. And Gabe Kapler, people haven't been as mean to Gabe Kapler, but people don't like him. A lot of people don't like him. Do you think people were meaner to Charlie than Gabe? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Because I don't really remember because I wasn't working in the media then. People used to say about Charlie that he was a country bumpkin, some idiot from Virginia, didn't know how to talk, stumbling, bumbling Charlie, didn't know what a double switch was, American League manager. And at the time, they selected him over Jim Leland. And Leland left town pissed because he felt like it was just a total BS interview, that the job was already going somewhere else, and he wanted more control.

So from a Phillies fan perspective that was already negative in the organization, it was, well, you just picked Charlie Manuel over a guy that's won a World Series. What are you doing? And Charlie had to win the town over. And Gabe's well on his way to doing the same thing here. There's just people that are dead set on the analytics. The analytics, right? It's like, do you even know what you're talking about when you bring up the analytics?

You don't even know what you're talking about. Everybody's using quote-unquote analytics, some more than others. And the Phillies have been on the forefront. It's helped them this year. There's no case to be made that it hasn't helped them this year. So let me give you an example. And I'm assuming the high hopes crowd's probably a little bit more modern in baseball than some dude calling from Delco or yelling at me from Northeast Philadelphia, Gabe Kapler. But I heard Matt Klintak actually said this with me and Ike that Cabrera playing shortstop, I remember the first text you sent to me was he hasn't played one game at shortstop.

He didn't. That wasn't a lie. But it was like, yeah, but they don't care about defense. So they'll be going to put him out there, and they did, but it's only with certain guys. Klintak said heavier ground ball pitchers. Cabrera's probably not going to be playing as much or every game. So if it's Nola or Arrieta, fly ball pitcher, they'll put him in there because he's not going to get as many chances.

That's the kind of analytics the Phillies are using. Yeah, but they already lied. But they already lied with that. I know. Because back-to-back days, it was Nola and it was Arrieta on Monday, and guess who's playing shortstop? You know why? Dude can hit.

Yes. Yes. I think he was the most underrated addition at the deadline. He has changed his team. He's made them deeper from an offensive perspective. And I know I said that he can't play shortstop. I still don't think he can play shortstop if the ball is hit right at him. And he physically can play the position.

But he has absolutely no range, which is fine if he can be serviceable. But I think his dribble, the addition of his dribble and the addition of eventually Wilsonson ramos has just it's just made this lineup deeper there's not a tough out in the lineup yeah no doubt about it and i think it'll help alfaro too just because he does he's not naps andrew naps whole key to being in the majors is his bat he's had times this year where he's been okay but i'm not a nappy guy like like Gabe Kapler. I'm glad they got a veteran. They needed a veteran in here for sure, and the bat is so much better than what nap can offer. Yeah, it's an all-star level bat.

Let's talk about Sir Anthony. One more thing about the shortstop. I'm sorry, before we get off of it. What happens when JP comes back? So he's going to be back this weekend, according to the people around the team. And he has not hit. He's been doing rehab down in high A ball in Clearwater

and he's not hit. Walked. He's walked the ball. Yeah, great. He's going up against guys that pretty much have no chance to make the majors and he can't get a hit. When he comes back, I think he's going to he's not going to really play as much as he probably thinks he's going to play. I think he'll be a defensive

replacement late in games. Whose roster spots does he take? You've got a numbers crunch there. He's going to be up before September 1st. They need September to come. They need September to come and extend these rosters a little bit. They do. Because there's not really –

Kingery. But if you're going to play Kingery over JP at shortstop – see, the fact that they put Kingery, they put Crawford at third base, that told me they didn't like Kingery at all at third base. But we'll really find out now what they think about J.P. against Kingery playing shortstop. Well, I think it more told me that they didn't believe in Franco. And they obviously have to believe in Franco now because he's been good for over a month and a half. But J.P. at shortstop is obviously the better defensive shortstop than Scott Kingery.

They're playing the numbers game in that Kingery would be such a downgrade at defense at third base. Right, no, I agree. So now that Franco's actually playing well, who gets the shortstop starts when Cabrera doesn't? I think they're going to send Kingery down. And I don't think it's the worst thing in the world.

I might have done it last week. I think Kingery's going to be a good player in this league. he's actively killing the team when he's up here. He is. Because he can't hit. And even when JP's not hitting, at least he's getting on base. At least there's some semblance of a positive offensive player. Kingery's is the second lowest

OEP amongst qualifiers. He's never been a high walk guy when you look at what he did in the minors. And this power surge that he had probably was the worst thing for him because he became even more of a fly ball hitter. Differences in Redding, those balls go out. In the majors, they don't. And if you watch a lot of his at-bats, he hits fly balls to about five feet in front of the warning track.

He gets good wood on the ball. It's just not enough. He's not big enough. You really need to, and I think this happens during spring training, you need to get him back into being a line drive hitter. The power will come because he'll get bigger and fill out, and he's a good player, but they need him to get into the

line drive, hit the ball the other way, be aggressive at the plate, Scott Kingery, which we have not seen. He's swimming in his head right now. You can tell. He has no idea what he's doing. Yeah, and every time he gets up there, he's down 0-2, or he's at least down 0-1 to start in the bat. Whereas I saw some interviews with him.

He's like, I'm used to being leadoff and seeing a bunch of pitches, and it's just that now guys are just being so aggressive with him that he can't see pitches because he's already down 0-1-0-2. So I think it would be good for him, it would be good for the team, send him to AAA, and I don I think it'd be good for him, it'd be good for the team. Send him to AAA, and I don't think he would be angry about it. I don't think he would care that he's getting... Well, he'd get everyday bats. Right.

And he knows that he needs to be better, and I anticipate that he'd be receptive to getting to that. It's also for three weeks. Right. He's back up. He'll be back up, and this team is in too big of a race to keep playing, to keep justifying playing Scott Kingery. Well, he is a better base runner.

Crawford's not a great base runner. No, he's not. As you've seen. So he is a better base runner than Crawford. But he's got to get on base. That's the problem. But they've used him as a pinch runner. And when you start getting down, well, that's really September.

We're using guys as pinch runners. But anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if Kingery ended up going down, and I'd be okay with it. But even if you're going to use him for a pinch runner, I would put Roman Quinn out there before I put out Scott Kingery. Well, I mean, is it going to come down to who are your outfielders? If you're not going to send Kingery down, it's going to have to be an outfielder that goes down, or Knapp.

But this is going to be before Ramos comes back. And they just sent down Cousins again. I don't think they'll send down an outfielder that goes down, or Knapp, but this is going to be before Ramos comes back. And they just sent down Cousins again. I don't think they'll send down an outfielder. I think it's going to be Kingery. Well, if it's not Kingery, who is it? I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, because Quinn's too valuable with defense and speed.

You'd much rather keep him over Kingery. There's really no justification to send down anyone else but him. I agree. So, that'll be interesting to see. Interesting to see if they even, maybe they keep Crawford down there. I don't think they will. I think they'd rather have him up here,

but that's certainly something to watch this weekend. Sir Anthony, so blows the game on Monday. He has lost notable dip on his slider in the last couple of weeks. He has an ERA over nine in back-to-back days, but at the same time, you ERA over nine in back-to-back days. But at the same time, you have to pitch him in back-to-back days to get him used to it because he's going to be your closer or high leverage reliever for the next, hopefully, 10 years. So it's a pull and tug of a pennant race when you're a young team,

which has been the struggle this entire season. That's why Kingery has been here until August. Where are you at with Sir Anthony? Do you want a little Phantom DL stint? Do you want to sit him down for a couple days? Maybe have Neshek or even Tommy Hunter? Tommy Hunters look good. Tommy Hunter close out some games?

Yep, I do. It doesn't mean that you're going to do it come September, but right now, you're looking at a guy, Jack, that had 11 appearances above high A ball. 11 appearances. He ate at Redding 3 at Lehigh Valley, AA and AAA.

So this is a guy, A, that he was a starting pitcher before they turned him into a reliever, and he fast-tracked right to the majors. But, listen, we're in August. This is a long season. You're going to go through periods where you have dead arm or whatever and that's okay better now than this time in a month

right yes so if there's ever if there's a time where he's going to struggle it's okay to be right now these checks look good uh tony hunters look really good his last couple times out. Rely on the vets. Get Sir Anthony in in some non-high leverage relieving situations. In a couple days. In a couple days. A couple days. They go to San Diego this weekend. I wouldn't hate if they didn't use him all weekend. I mean, San Diego, they have the worst team in the National League pretty much.

Be careful. You know what happens when you go into a series against a bad team thinking it's going to be that easy? Well, especially when the other team has Freddy Galvez. Well, hopefully it is going to be that easy. Well, I don't think it's going to be that easy. I'm just thinking... Cincinnati won 3 of 4? Yeah, but Cincinnati was a good team.

Well, they do have Joey Votto and some other... Well, I mean, heading into that game, they had been 45 and 43 since they fired their manager. So they weren't playing terrible, but obviously their overall record wasn't great. I'm just saying that hopefully they take care of business and don't really have to use them this weekend. And I agree with you. Tommy Hunter's been good for almost a month now. He didn't have spring training.

His spring training was taking place on the mound. He's been good against lefties all year. Really beginning to trust him. Neshek allowed his first run in his entire career at Citizens Bank Park over the weekend. That's amazing. Actually, I have faith in him. I do. He's been really good. It's just that you can't trust him on back-to-back days.

He was a guest on the pregame show yesterday. Jim Jackson asked him, hey, what do you think about pitching back-to-back days? He's like, me and Gabe talked about that. That's not going to happen. It's like, thank God, man. Thanks for taking one for the team. Yeah, he's too busy trying to get autographs from other players and stuff.

Yeah, he's a bit of a douche, I guess you could say. But when he does pitch, he's pretty. So I'll take it. But, yeah, believe me, I don't like any of that. Another thing with Sir Anthony, 36 appearances this year. He was a starter before, so he's logged more innings. That's a lot of appearances for a young dude that has never done this before. It's a different routine.

He's pitched 17 games in a year before that was last year 2017 so this is this is a grind man i mean for a guy that's never even come close to to being a reliever and doing this before um you know give him a couple days let him get his feet back on the room and uh and see where you are the rest of the bullpen where you like him except for Ben? Liking him. Except for loop. I'd like to send him on a loop out of here. The Rial Cormier reincarnated? Frenchie? Frenchie was good, man. We'll see.

He looks to me like I wouldn't want him against any right-handed batter. Oh, no. Unless it's a guy that's a switch hitter and his better side is a lefty and he's just switching to be a right. I mean, I would hope he can't even remotely hit right-handed because I think he gets lit up against righties. What did they trade for him again? Oh, it was that Wagus Pak guy who sucks.

He was just a depth arm in AAA. Yeah, he sucks. So Loopy, he's faced, I think, five batters. He hit one, struck out one, and allowed two runs, I think. So, yeah, hasn't been a great start for Luke. But other than him, I mean... He could turn it around. Yeah, I mean, he's fine.

They could also get another... I'm sure they still have one more move left before the end of the month, whether for a bat or maybe another reliever or somebody. But they could grab somebody. Maybe there's a veteran closer or a veteran late inning guy that could prize free. It gets under. Like Fernando Rodney in Minnesota. Maybe he'd prize free, but I think he'd be a frustrating watch on almost night.

But yeah, the bullpen, it's like everything we worried about this team a month ago is almost all calmed down. The bullpen was terrible. Everyone felt terrible when the bullpen was getting involved in the game. The offense, I think we just have to learn that they're going to be frustrating for seven innings, or six innings, and then they're going to play for the big inning in the seventh

or eighth inning and blow a game open. I think we just have to learn that about this team. And the starting staff's been good all year. It just feels like this team is getting really good. There's a special feel to the games that they're winning, how they're winning some of these games. And you see wins like

this when a team is really kind of, like you said, really, really coming together. And it seems like it's a different guy almost every night. A lot of people are contributing. All the starters are contributing. The bullpen guys have... Listen, I hear people complain about the bullpen all the time.

That's every bullpen in Major League Baseball. People complain about the Yankees bullpen. I'm so sick of hearing it. The bullpen's been just fine. The bullpen is fine. I would love to have a legitimate closer that you know you can send out there night after night, but you don't have that. So that's the one. But it is – this team, I couldn't be happier with this team right now.

Literally, I couldn't be happier where they are, where they're going, and they have a chance with the rest of August and then September. They have a chance to set the best record in the National League. What are people smoking that have a negative, even half a vibe about this team? I do think people are starting to come around the team. I'm seeing more social media traction on Phillies related things. I've seen in listens on the I Hopes podcast.

It feels like people are starting to The High Hopes people are definitely coming in strong. Of course. There's starting to be a buzz about this team and it's fun. So you feel it? You feel the buzz? I do. I don't. This weekend was great. Obviously it was aided because the 0 it. You feel the buzz. I do. I don't. Well, this weekend was great. Obviously, it was aided because the 08 team was in town and Shane and all that stuff.

But the ballpark, there was juice at CPP again. And I think there's been bigger crowds in the road this year. Everywhere. So when do they come home against Boston? Yes. That'll be $45,000. Well, yeah, because of the Boston influence there, certainly. Just like the Yankees. But there'll be a45,000. Well, yeah, because of the Boston influence there, certainly. Just like the Yankees here.

But there'll be a lot of buzz down there. That's a tough spot coming off a West Coast trip to where then you come home, and that's a really good baseball team. Now, I wonder if they're almost so far ahead. Since the division's over, the Yankees have pretty much no chance to where maybe you get them where they're feeling pretty good about themselves and you get the win. Yeah, but I feel like if they come in that ballpark with 45,000, I feel like they'd be— The juice will be back on Monday.

It's just whether they can sustain it. I know. And they've been aided this year in the attendance by the 08 reunion, the Yankees series, Chase coming back. That has really helped, I think, juice some of their attendance numbers. It's been mostly disappointing but i i just feel like i think i think the people that were gabe detractors for most of the season it feels like that has mostly calmed down so here's how i can describe it when i um when i when we do our shows down there and a lot of times i'm leaving right after the show i'm getting home to the family or whatever but i i stick around you know a couple games this year and so i'm leaving the park at

like 10 after six quarter after six yeah 6 30 sometimes and some days you walk out and you really don't see anybody i walk out to my car in the parking lot and you see some people and whatever the dodger series a lot of people were coming in a lot of people yelling at me oh it's just let's see you guys i need to see these games not the red sox series that's going to be there i need that's how i know that that there's buzz about this team is when i'm seeing a lot more people coming into the ballpark when we're getting off the air at six o'clock yeah yeah but teetering on the verge of of everyone coming around so uh any final thoughts for johnny marks yeah my final thought is there's a an outfielder this year that's now playing for

redding jose pool holes who has emerged and went from a a guy with a high ceiling and a chance to a guy that looks like you wait you what you remember remember this name he's going to be the guy that that um he's going to be the guy that everybody's talking about this this offseason if he continues what he's doing but he's got great power he's hitting for average he strikes out quite a bit but jose pool holes was crushing it in clearwater he's been in reading for uh maybe a week or so and he's hitting hitting.500 in Redding. So I am closely monitoring the minor leaguers. Well, I mean, if you're doing that, where's the Mickey Moniak confidence meter at? Mickey Moniak has been extremely impressive the last two months or so down in Clearwater.

I'd say more like a month. All right. Well, I— As he's come back from his... He had wisdom to. Right. He has... If he continues to do what he was doing for the...

To continue doing... Because he's hitting.256, I think, now. If he continues to do what he's been doing the last month and he finishes the season strong, he's not going to be a guy where you're like, yep, that's why you drafted him as the No number one pick because the power's still not there. The overall game, I don't know if it's there. But he regains

his status as a legit prospect. I thought he lost that heading into this year, for me at least. I think he was like 17th in some midseason prospect rankings. Yeah, and even that, if he wasn't the first overall pick, he wouldn't even be listed. Probably not. That's the kind of year he was having he's been hitting

a lot in the two hole and i think he's seen a lot of fastballs but he's starting to figure it out i talked to to charlie manual off the air when he was in studio about him and he said some guys are come or just later to develop and he brought up jim tommy jim tommy was a man from the minute he met him as a younger dude. Mickey Monaghan looked like a high school kid playing. He kind of still does. Legitimately. He was 18 and looked like a baby face. No facial hair. Acne still. Skinny acne. Looked like he was

in high school. So I think as he gets more mature and he adds more muscle and hopefully he's doing the work to do it, he's got a chance. He does. He's got a chance. So he's had a good last month. And here's the good thing. I saw this today from your boy Matt Winkleman. His fly ball rate in May is 43%, which has significantly increased his doubles and home

run production. It has. It has. He's, yeah, he's, it's been good to see. It's been good to see because I would have hated to see the Phillies waste a number one pick on a guy that doesn't even come close. At least at this point, you could see the case being made like, hey, he's starting to develop. He's developing. He is.

So it's good to see. Yeah, and we've got to plug this. Adam Haisley is still raking at AA. So I can't wait. I can't wait till he has a big spring next year and people get calls saying, you've got to get him up here right now and trade a double for whatever he can get. Well, they're signing out with Roman Quinn for Haseley. They've been batting him some leadoff and two-hole, which you wonder if that's what they're going to try to do with him.

I don't think he's a big – he's not going to be a power guy. He's more like a 15 to 20. Like a Victorino. Yeah, he's a Victorino. Nice, I like the stroke. Really good stroke. Yeah, he's exactly what you would expect out of a corner outfield left-handed bat. Yeah, he's got to work on his load a little bit.

He's a really small load, so it hurts or straps some of his power. You ought to have a big load. I'm serious. It's a rubber band effect. What's his FIP? It's not even an analytic. It's actually watching the guy. It's not even analytic.

One for four yesterday, batting.333. Yes. Yeah, and obviously the power helps because he's in double A. He's at Redding. I could hit some home runs at Redding. But he's had a good year. He started off in Clearwater. He's hit over 300 in all his stops.

We're talking about over 400 at-bats so far. So, listen, he's already 22. He'll be playing next year at 23. He's not an 18-year-old. Yeah, he's got it. He was a college player. Yeah, and he's obviously a pitcher in college. So, that's why it's taken a little bit longer to get going offensively. He looks good. He's not an 18-year-old. Yeah, he's got it. He was a college player. Yeah, and he's obviously a pitcher in college, so that's why it's taken a little bit longer

to get going offensively. He looks good. He looks good. So an impromptu Johnny Marks minor league report here on the Iowa's podcast, which is great. That's every morning for me.

That's every morning. I love checking all the minor league stuff. I was reading up on stuff today. Yeah, the Gulf Coast League has two teams, and they're just down there raking.

They have the East and the West teams because they have so many freaking prospects. I know. They are raking down there. Well, it's just like – Exciting to see. This organization is just so deep, and they're so well run now to where they have – They are. They have so many ways that they can make a big trade for a star.

I saw, I'm sure you know, Luis Garcia, their shortstop. Yeah, yeah, sure. He's raking down in the Gulf Coast League as well. They have a bunch of shortstops. They may have four shortstops in their organization that are major league players. And they may be better. Not here. Gamboa, he's another one that everyone raves about.

Guzman's another one. There's a second baseman down in single A. Brito's bat has not come around like it really should have at this point. But he's probably a major leaguer. No, there's a kid in Armis. Is it Armis? I've been watching him in the Gulf Coast leagues. He's always getting hits.

See, not a lot of teams invest in Venezuela anymore because it's so dangerous. There's only a handful of teams that still have academies there. The Phillies are one of them, and it's paying off. Their best prospects, their best Latin prospects, are coming from Venezuela. They have a ton of Venezuelan guys. And the Dominican, too. They do great in those two places.

Well, they have Johnny Almaraz, who signed Acuna and who signed Albies, so I'd hope that they're scouring the international market. And they have been. I mean, they've put in big money in Jalen Ortiz and Luis Garcia, and it seems like it's starting to pay off. Nicholas Torres is the second baseman, and he's from Venezuela, an 18-year-old. Every box square you see, he's getting hits. It's good.

All right. Well, that's going to do it for this episode of High Hopes. Rate us, review us. Yes, they've been coming in. They've been flying in. We love it. We truly love recording this episode of High Hopes. Rate us. Review us. Yes. They've been coming in. They've been flying in. We love it. We truly love recording every episode of High Hopes. It's the reason we wake up in the morning sometimes.

But thanks for always listening. And actually, I'll be back just to recap this game. Here comes the recap of the game. Yeah, sure. We'll do that. Phil's fall 6-0 to the D-backs. And I was going to do a solo, but then I saw Joe Giglio was here. Joe Giglio hasn't been on

the High O's podcast in a while, making his triumphant return. He's a little nervous. I'm very nervous over the Phillies. Never done this. He is a certified Phillies apologist, as everyone around here... Not today. They stink, Jack. They stink. It was not a fun series clinching

game. Lose 6-0. Offense looks anemic. The big inning, trademark, did not happen today. I didn't get to tweet out the big inning, which I'm sure the High Hopes listeners were very disappointed in. They're waiting for it. And it didn't come. No inning happened.

They didn't score a run. No, it was brutal. It was brutal. Velasquez wasn't his best outing. And I think the, like, I don't want to try to pinpoint what went wrong but I think there is something to be concerned about in the fact that he was only hitting 93 most of the day and he didn't touch

his 95 to 96 and this is a guy with arm trouble this is a guy that has had arm trouble every year of his career this is the most he's ever pitched and now we're heading to a stretch run here where you need this team to make a pennant run or make a run to win the division and velasquez has been their best starter for the last month and a half and either a tiring out or if you get a dip in

velocity that's usually the first sign that there's some arm trouble going on so he threw only like 78 innings last year before he got hurt now he's's at, I would guess... 130, I think? Close to that, if not there yet. And I always think the number is about 30 or 40 extra innings per year than the year before, and that's when people start worrying he's going to get hurt. He's already, if not there, close to it. So we're teetering on a lot of extra innings for him, and we still have a month and a half to go.

I don't know what they're going to do here, Jack. 113 innings pitched this year. Before today or with today? Before today. So we're at least 30 over what he was last year already and they've got a lot of season left. I don't know how he's going to hold up. He didn't look great today.

This was bound to happen. He's going to have a bad start. It's not the start. It's like you said, the velocity. That's the concern. The fact that he gave up some runs, you know, he was bound to. Right, because what made Velasquez so good in the last couple starts is that he would have 96 in his back pocket, but he'd have that 93-mile-an-hour fastball

to get guys off of his 97-mile-an-hour fastball. Listen, with how well this pitching staff has been throwing, it's fine to have a little clunker in there. And like, listen, they lost to the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are a good team with a good bullpen, great defense. We love their number, too.

It feels like they beat them here two out of three. Not many teams have come here because the Phillies are 20 over at home. Not many teams have won here, so they beat them now twice this year. Two out of three twice. Yeah, so, listen, it happens. They went on the road. Tough series. I think just the fact that they didn't get swept after Monday night's game

and they came back and won last night, I thought that was a big growing moment for this team. They've had a lot of growing moments. But, yeah, Velasquez obviously wasn't great today, but that kind of stuff happens. Scott Kingery. Not good. Not great.

He's – what was the OPS stat that you were showing me? He's at 588 after the game, which is, it's bad. And you and I, and I'm sure people on your podcast know that you're not the biggest fan of Freddie Galvis. Nope. Freddie's OPS always is higher than 588. He's in the 600s. We're talking about 588. And only two hitters are qualified for the leaderboards, which means basically guys that play every day.

Only two hitters that play every day in baseball are worse than Scott Kingery. Jack, it's time to send him down. And I haven't said this all year, even when he struggled, because one, I never thought the Phillies would do it, and I'm still not sure they will. But two, there wasn't really a better option. They were trying to develop him. But with J.P. Crawford ready to come back,

three weeks of Scott and AAA might be the best for him and the Phillies. Bring him back in September and, I mean, he's just not even an offensive player right now. I never think he's going to get a hit when he gets to the plate. For a month now. He hasn't had a hit since July 28th. Not one hit since they traded for a triple cabrera. That's the way to keep your job.

Right. Yeah, because me and Mark talked about this as well, and we were trying to figure out what they were going to do when Crawford came back, and this was before the figure out what they were going to do when Crawford came back. And this was before the game. What they're going to do when Crawford comes back. And I was like, well, what about Kingery? And then we're like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Because, listen, the guy right now, he's actively hurting the team.

I know the defense has been much better, much improved, and that's good. And he's better than Cabrera there. So I understand why he would play in late in games. But you have JP coming back. Right. And JP's a better defender than them both. I know JP probably still leads in late in games. But you have J.P. coming back. Right. And J.P.'s a better defender than them both. I know J.P. probably still leads the team in errors, but at least three of them were directly related to the arm injury.

Yeah, the throwing errors. Yeah, I think he'll be fine defensively getting to the ball. And he looks like a shortstop when he plays shortstop. Well, he is a shortstop. Right, Kingery's not. And neither is Cabrera anymore. I'm sure they don't want to do it to Kingery, but I think the timing works out.

There's only three weeks until the rosters expand. So it's not, you know, if you do it in June, it looks bad on the Phillies because they gave him a bunch of money and it looks bad for Kingery. Like he can't hack it here. It's like, all right, three weeks, you come right back. And if they were out of a playoff run, it would be fine. Just let him play. If they weren't in a pennant chase, it's like this team, this team has a legit chance

to make a run, to win the division. Yeah. And having Kingery out there on a night in, night out basis is not doing the rest of the team its justice. And I don't think it's the worst. I think Kingery would actually like to get sent down and try to get it going. Like your boy Altair. Right.

Listen, Aaron was like, Jack believes in me. I'll get sent down. Kingery will do the same thing. Yes. Jack believes. Right. That's all that matters. Thatery will do the same thing. Yes. Jack believes. That's all that matters. That's all that matters. And I do think Kingery's going to be a really good player in this league.

It's just that sometimes guys come up and struggle. A lot of the great players, this is what happens. And this is just part of the growing pain. It's not the worst idea. Send him down. Let him get comfortable. If he goes down there, rakes for three weeks, then he could be a legit help down the stretch run here.

And when we're talking about the rosters expand September 1st, that's why we keep saying three weeks. So he can come right back. And right now, if they bring Crawford up, which it seems like they're going to do on Friday, what's Kingery's role if they don't send him down? Let's say they send De Los Santos back, and they bring Crawford up, which might be what they do.

That might be actually what they do. When is Kingery going to play? Because Crawford should play over him the way he's playing. Right, and the only time he'd play is to be a they do. That might be actually what they do. When is Kingery going to play? Because Crawford should play over him the way he's playing. Right, and the only time he'd play is to be a pinch runner, but Roman Quinn's a better pinch runner. So what's the point? Why not send him down and just keep an extra arm up here? I don't see how their team is at its best right now,

keeping the extra arm over Kingery. I'd rather have De Los Santos still up here. You could bring Ramos back. You could send King down. I can't believe he's still in triple. Like, what is Ramos still doing in triple A?

Well, I guess they don't want to send any of the relievers out that they like them all. Even, he has this, before he got sent down, he had the second lowest ERA?

I know. So who do you want down? Austin Davis? They can't send him down. Morgan? Can't send Morgan down. They like Morgan. Well, they have three lefties now. So who do you want down? Austin Davis? They can't send him down. Morgan? Can't send Morgan down. They like Morgan. Well, they have three lefties now.

So you want Morgan down? You're out on Adam Morgan? I don't know, man. All right. No, I think Adam Morgan's going to eventually be good. Kingery down. So Kingery down. Crawford up.

De Los Santos down. Ramos up. Okay. I think that's a good play. You make your bullpen better, and Kingery gets himself fixed. Right. So now the Phils go to San Diego. It's going to see Freddie.

Oh, no. Maybe they really have to send Kingery down, because you're going to see Freddie's stats versus Kingery, and you're going to have all the Freddie truthers out there tweeting us. I can't do it. I know. They'll be okay. But yeah, San Diego.

This is a series. We'll give you a pass for losing a Diamondbacks series. Yeah. Perfectly fine. They had won five in a row heading into the series. Right, right. Take care of business against the Padres. I'm sure they will. I'm sure they know that. There's no reason to not trust this team at this point because they've come back from a lot of

debilitating losses. It'd be nice to get a Sir Anthony rest weekend. If they can not pitch Sir Anthony this weekend, give him until the Red Sox series. So they're going to have to score runs, you mean? They're going to have to be winning 4-0 instead of 1-0? Well, the Padres have not announced a starter for any game yet. That seems bad.

And they got worse because anyone they had that was pretty good, they traded away. I know. I know. So you would hope that they'd be able to muster up some kind of offense. And plus they married a Nola. That's right. Nola finishes it. When they went to Cincinnati,

and people got all upset because they lost 3-4, and that was deflating. But Cincinnati hasn't been bad since the end of April. That wasn't shocking. Entering into that series, they were 45-43 after they fired Brian Price. It wasn't shocking that they had a tough weekend maybe i thought a split would have been better but okay they lost

if they lose two out of three of the padres it's a big deal it is you can't lose that series no i don't expect to sweep it'd be nice like you said but two out of three yeah all right well uh i thought it would have been a disservice not to put up a put up a little recap of a six nothing loss fun game it was a really really fun game so much action um but that's gonna do it for the i hope this podcast i think me and james we back on sunday night and i'm pretty sure he is down enjoying a fish concert which i've never seen fish in my life i've never had either but i know i've never even heard a song by fish i think you have i don't think i have They seem like this cult band that a lot of people like.

No, you've heard something. They seem underground. They seem like an underground, really popular band that no one actually is. But I've heard of them, and I don't know much about music. So you have to have heard a song. I don't think I have. Maybe James could tell you about it. But here's the thing with James, is that James has seen them like a hundred times.

That doesn't surprise me. See, but I just don't get why you would see a band more than three times because you really like them yeah but like it's why do we watch the Phillies every night

there's always something different well I guess there could be something different in a concert yeah but like the people that go see Bruce Springsteen a thousand times

it's mostly the same and he goes back to the stuff from the 70s I get your point on that I don't even know what Phish does though maybe they do different songs every time seen a thousand times it's mostly the same and he goes back to the stuff from the 70s i get i get your point on that more i don't even know what fish does maybe they do different songs every time i don't know whatever if he does listen if he enjoys it i'll let him enjoy it just never see but i'm being a hypocrite because i would say john mayer every single time because he shreds let's fish maybe they do the same I don't know. I don't know what fish is.

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago. It is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is another fact so jump aboard the BIB express follow and listen to baseball isn't

boring presented by wasabi hot cloud storage on the free odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts