High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Talking 20 Run Games, The Resurgence of Maikel Franco, Jake Arrieta's Debut, and More

Episode Date: April 9, 2018

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss the Phillies 20-run game over the weekend, the resurgence of Maikel Franco, Jake Arrieta's debut, and much more. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Yo! It is another edition of High Hopes as we get you set for another week of Phillies baseball. I'm James Seltzer with me as always. At least it feels that way. But this time not in studio with me. I can't look into his eyes and see what he's thinking over the phone, but with us nonetheless, Mr. Jack Fritz. Fritzy, what's up, buddy? Well, I think you know what I'm thinking.

Mike Alfranco's back. You can't even wait. You can't even wait to get into it. Mike Alfranco's back, man. He's back to being the guy we all knew he could be. By we all, we mean you, Jack Fritz. We'll get into Franco in just a sec. Don't forget,

leave reviews on iTunes. We appreciate any review. We can get ratings, reviews, all that. Obviously, we want the five-star ratings, but we appreciate honesty. Tell us what you really think. Either way, just tell us what you think they really help with iTunes and all that type of stuff, the search feature, all that good stuff.

And basically, you're doing it for Jack because he might not admit it. No, he will admit it. He's obsessed with these reviews. He needs them. I do need them. I like waking up every day checking iTunes reviews and see if people like the show. iTunes reviews and see if people like the show. And it helps build so that other Phillies fans,

if they search Phillies on iTunes, it shows up as our podcast because we are the best. Do it for Jack. All right, Jack, let's jump into this. I'm just going to give you the platform here. A fun weekend of Phillies baseball. Granted, unable to sweep the Marlins, but do take two of three, of course. On Saturday, they put up a 20 spot for the first time since 2009, or the most runs they've scored since 2009.

We'll get into the 20 of it all in just a minute, but Mike Calfranco, 10 RBIs over those two games. He's looked great so far. Close stance Franco. I didn't want to give up on him until I made sure he sucked close stance wise. And since he's gone close stance, he is

hitting more balls in the air. He's seeing the inside pitch. And once he sees the balls in the air, like his problem last year was always that when he was smoking balls, they were all on the ground. Now that's translating to fly balls and the ball is jumping off of his bat. Even when he's popping up, it just is a different level of velocity off of Mike

DelFranco's bat. And even in the game when he had the home run on Friday, Thursday, he had a home run in that game. He had that before he smoked another ball as well. So he's seen the ball really well. Now, granted, it is the Marlins, and it was a lefty. A.K.A. the worst team in baseball. Horrible baseball team.

Like, borderline unwatchable. Yeah. Well, actually, very unwatchable. Very unwatchable, yes. Borderline, I don't even, illegal almost, that line. Borderline baseball. That's the way to putable, yes. Borderline, I don't even, illegal almost that line. Borderline baseball. That's the way to put it, yes. Borderline major leagues, yes.

Perfect. Yeah. But Franco, and he's seeing four and a half pitches per plate appearance up from, I think, 3.58 last year, which is a major jump. And the OBP is up way higher. If he's seeing pitches now, waiting for his pitches, and attacking the pitches in his strike zone and his counts, I mean, he is going to be so valuable for this team.

Yeah, look, the last point you made for me has been the biggest, and I have obviously not been on my Kel Franco Island with you and Joe Giglio. But look, I think that what you said there is the most important thing to me. The closed stance obviously is the beginning and end of it all. But the pitches per plate appearance, the approach at the plate, that has always been my biggest issue with Mikel Franco is just going up and hacking. And look, if this is something that translates, and I still will say it, and I still will stand by it, I need to see this over a longer period of time,

obviously other than eight games of baseball, which he hasn't even played in a couple of. But what we're seeing is certainly positive. You have to look at it. Look, you can't look at what Franco is doing so far and say it's not real because we've seen him do it in the major leagues before. So you have to give it at least a little bit of credence. Again, Jack, I need to see it for a longer period of time.

So as someone who believed in Franco before the season, the closed stance was all in, as all in as anyone could possibly be on a guy who has stunk for the last two seasons. Tell me why it's going to last. Because, listen, I think it's going to last, but I also can't say for sure it's like he's going to be an all-star. But just the fact that he's not jumping on first pitches or jumping on 0-1, 0-2 pitches,

he's not really swinging at things outside the zone. I think all of this is encouraging signs, and the fact that it's reaping early benefits is going to make Mike Kell believe in it more. Like if he was closing his stance and trying to see pitches and still struggling with making hard contact, I think he'd go back and revert to his old ways but the fact that he's already off such a hot start with it uh... i think they're really really really important time uh...

it's a great right now the perfect trend now p if he starts to dip any swing early in count the not seeing as many pitches but it's all it's all about the pitch selection for me but i think if he is still working counts, waiting for his pitch and ripping it, or not even ripping it, but waiting for his pitch, I think the results are going to come with that. I mean, baseball, even when you hit the ball hard,

you fail three out of ten times, you're considered a Hall of Famer. You fail seven out of ten times. Huh? I knew what you were saying. You fail seven out of ten times. Yeah, you fail seven out of ten times. You succeed three out of ten times. Yeah, exactly fail seven out of ten times. You succeed three out of ten. Yeah, exactly.

So as long as the process remains the same, to how he's getting to his results, then I'll be fine. That's the only way I'm going to keep up, because right now he's kind of in that perfect zone. Yeah, no, I'm with you. And look, again, what we've seen so far has been extremely heartening. I love how when you were talking about it before, you found ways around launch angle and exit velocity

while still saying those things in a different way. I thought that was pretty impressive as well. He's really hitting the ball hard. But I think you're hitting on a key point here, and it's the approach like we mentioned. And also, it's really team-wide. And I think John Maley deserves a lot of credit for this team's offensive approach so far

through eight games leading the major leagues in pitches per plate appearance I think that is such a crucial stat for this team moving forward grinding through pitching staffs and and you know we saw that's the type of stuff that happens and that's what leads to a 20 run game and obviously you can't take too much away from one game, but I know Jack Fritz did, as he was texting me non-stop that Saturday, and almost euphoric text, just like, Jack just texting me stuff like, I'm just happy. I'm so happy right now. Talk to me about your emotions and what you went through on Saturday, Jack. The thing about seeing pitches and working counts and whatever even though they they're what three and

five now eventually that stuff yields positive results at the best of the happy get over with all analytics fantastic they don't work every single time water always find its level in my opinion and

eventually more often than not they're going to work unfortunately every single thing gabe cappler has done uh with the shifts and everything uh they've all not really worked to his to his liking in the first week it was the worst possible start to the gabe cappler era and i thought on saturday they kind of released all that frustration. Everything they had preached started to work, to come around. Really, I was just so happy about Mikel. Like, everyone who was directly affected by my brand had a really big game. I love the way you phrase that. Like, as in, not that affects your brand, but that they are affected by your brand.

I love that. I love that. I love that phrasing. Aaron Altair had a grand slam. Mike Cal had a big night. Jorge Alfaro hit an opposite field home run, 460-some feet. 440, I think. Yeah, well, I think one of the two of us was a lot more excited about Alfaro than the other.

I won't say who. No, I know. Admittedly, I was down. But now I think he's been criminally underrated as a member of this core going forward. I mean, the guy smokes the ball and has an absolute cannon behind the plate. Cannon. That play he made in the ninth inning of the 20-run game. First of all, just that he's making a hustle play like that in the ninth inning of a 20-1

game was awesome to see. But that play he made with the little dribbler and firing the ball, he has an absolute cannon of an arm. There is no catcher in the league that can make that play besides him. I think you're right about that. No one has that arm. He has the best arm of any catcher in baseball. And he's super athletic for being a kind of chubby guy. Yeah, he is.

I was so impressed by that play. And he smokes the athletic for being a kind of chubby guy. Yeah, he is. I was so impressed by that play. And he smoked the ball, too. I mean, the ball he hit in the first three innings that it was, I think that was like 114 miles an hour off the bat, which is just ridiculous. The guy smoked the ball off the bat. And I think everyone just overrates the whole defense thing. Like, sure, he may not be perfect at calling a game yet, but that takes years of experience.

It does. I'm super impressed by his receiving skills so far. And eventually teams are going to realize that they can't run on him. So I was super impressed by Alfaro. Adubo had a big night. Do you think, in your eyes, does Adubo look like he's been more locked in this past week than ever before?

Because we've seen Oduble streaks. No, yeah, it's a great point. He just looks different. Yeah, we've seen the streaks. He looks like he's in those streaks, but it looks different. I totally agree with you. And I think that a lot of people rip Kapler for the opening day thing. I think that might have lit a bit of a fire underneath Oduble.

I mean, he really has been locked in at the plate. We're not seeing the boneheaded stuff at all so far. He's batting, what, like 360 right now? He's hitting the ball really well. Obviously a criminally small sample size, but I'm with you. I've been really impressed with the approach that Oduble has had at the plate. Working his way back from 0-2 counts. He's looked really good so far. Fouling off 1,000 pitches, which is my favorite version that Oduble has had to play, working his way back from 0-2 counts. He's looked really good so far.

Fouling off 1,000 pitches, which is my favorite version of Oduble. But I think a lot of it does come down to the support system around him, and I think Middleton getting more involved has helped out Oduble as well because I remember a quote in spring training. He was like, yeah, I talked to talked to a bill and i say to him with the man we think you're going to be an all-star and we want you to be an all-star i think a doable finally trying to set in now we haven't been a ridiculousness in the outfield we have none evenly even on the long haul not

on the top of the wall but should have been a home run at the wind was in blowing in didn't backflip it seems like he's just really settled in late again come to him, and it's reaping the benefits. I think he's batting.375 with like a.450-some OBP. He's stolen a couple bags.

I mean, Abdul last year pretty much put up the same numbers as the year before batting-wise, and the year before he was a top 80 fantasy option. And last year he dropped down to a 210 ish fantasy option but what made the difference was him not stealing any bases last year and i think this year they've been weirdly aggressive on the base path as a team it's been great i've really enjoyed i mean hoskins has a couple steals already carlos santana stole home i'm with you jack and not just that you're seeing aggressiveness going first to third, all that stuff Kapler talked about, which I think is kind of what you were talking about at the beginning, Jack,

in the sense that the first week couldn't have gone worse for Kapler and the hating analytics crowd and all that. But I'm 100% with you. People who've listened to this show or any show know that I'm a fan of analytics for the most part. But I do think that ultimately it will level out. And more times than not, you're doing things like that, like being aggressive on the base pass. More times than not, that is going to yield positive results as opposed to the few times it's negative results.

And look, I think it's been a hallmark of this team so far. It's kind of the way they play. They're grinding out at bats, aggressive on the base pass. It's the exact type of stuff you want to see from a baseball team. So I'm really, really impressed with how the – especially after game two through whatever, five, people were questioning the offense. What's going on here?

And like you said, I think they let a lot of that frustration out on Saturday. We'll get to Sunday in just a second. But one guy, the offense getting going, one guy has continued to struggle to the point where he actually finally got sat down despite being by far the best option at the most important defensive position in the sport. J.P. Crawford has looked lost at the plate, Jack. Look, he's still young. I'm not freaking out or anything like that.

But are you at all worried about what we've seen or lack of what we've seen from Crawford? Yeah, I mean, it's hard not to be worried. I just don't like how slow his bat is. Like, I think he could really benefit from going to a lighter-weighted bat. I was thinking about that the other day. The swing mechanics look off he looks lower

is his really good pitch recognition on inside pictures of the market as good as it had in any years past uh... and every time they've contacted either pop-up or a or a week round ball uh... he desperately needs a big game ish kind of uh... breakout to get confident, because right now when I watch him at the plate, he looks like a guy that has absolutely no confidence, doesn't know what he's doing, isn't attacking pitches in the right scenario.

I feel like he's become so concerned with getting on base and walking that it's taking away from his aggressiveness at the plate. I've been super concerned about J.B. Crawford. aggressiveness at the plate. I've been super concerned about J.B. Crawford. He needed a really big year, and just in trading Freddie Galvis, him coming out and struggling this much is really hurting my anti-Freddie Galvis. Yeah, I was going to say, the brand was having such a good weekend, the J.P. part of it not helping.

No, I know. So, yeah, I'm definitely a little bit worried, but he's also 23, first time being considered the full-time shortstop of this team. I'm sure that has a lot of pressure on him. He's just got to get back into a little bit of a comfort zone right now. He's like, it's the weirdest thing because he's clearly pressing, but he's also not pressing at all because he's not swinging. And when he does swing, it's resulting in negative results. He's been a complete zero at the plate. Yeah, literally. And, you know, I saw one, I can't remember who tweeted it out, but exit velocity on one of his, like, pop-out type, or nibbler type balls was like 88 miles per hour or something like that, and it's just like, yikes. He is not making hard, strong contact.

He needs to get stronger stronger he's so skinny it's true he needs to bulk up a little bit but at the same time i will also say again he is incredibly young to be in the spot that he's in and also we've seen him have struggles and turn it around just last season in the minors a 12 homer month after struggling incredibly prior to that so you know i'm not far from out on J.P. Crawford. I feel like he just needs that exhale moment where it's just like everything's all pent up, pent up, and then finally a big exhale and then let him go from there.

He just hasn't got there yet. It's still all pent up inside. Yeah, I agree with you. One guy who finally got to exhale a little bit, finally making his first appearance as a Philly. Very excited to have Jake Arrieta in the house Sunday. The first start for Arrieta didn't start out so well. A rough first inning, but then settled down, worked three more innings after that.

Jack, what was your main takeaway from Arrieta's first start? I thought his off-speed was really good. I thought it showed good movement. And It was really good. I thought it showed good movement, and it was such a difference from his spring training, which he was pretty much just

throwing fastballs. I was excited to see him use his curveball on different counts as change-up. He threw an 88-mile-an-hour pitch that moved a lot, and people are calling

it a change-up. I'm pretty sure that was a fastball, which I'm not super happy about, but he also got started in spring training super late, and his fastball velocity

dipped every single inning, which is not the greatest trend, but it's also he's kind of working back from not really having a spring training, so I'm fine with it, but it is something to monitor. But overall, I was happy with how he performed. I mean, in the first inning, he had a ground ball double play that Crawford was a little bit out of position because of the shift

that would have helped that. But he retired his last 11, so I'm fine with Arrieta. Yeah, I feel the same way. I think it was actually 10 of his last 11 regardless. Really turned it around after that first inning. Look, you could see it after that first inning you look you could see it in the first inning you could see the rust he was erratic he had no control over his breaking pitch uh and then all of a sudden he was fine after that like really it was it was a pretty

drastic difference from inning one to inning two and like you said i think that the real key here is this guy didn't really have a spring training you know at least not a full spring training it takes time for pitchers to build their arm up. You know that, Jack, as well as anybody. So I think there's very little you could take away too much from that first start. Again, like Jack said before, also facing a borderline major league offense as well, so you don't get too excited or too upset.

I do think, though, it was good to see after that first inning the struggles to have him come back out and really flash that stuff, flash the control. So I'm with you. I think you have to feel good about the first outing. Yeah, I'm good with Arrieta. Now he only pitched, what, like 60 pitches, 65 pitches? 74 pitches.

74 pitches, okay. Which, just to ward off any of the Kapler hate, him and Gabe were on the same page with that. He said he knew exactly how many pitches he was at. Even going into the fourth inning, he knew he only had 10 pitches to work with, and he said, don't worry, Gabe, I'll get through this inning in less, and he was able to do that. So just for all the, how could you only pull him after 74 pitches, people?

He didn't have a spring training. 74 pitches is more than enough for his first start. Well, that's not enough to calm the fire game crowd. Of course not. Nothing is. They want blood, as they saw by the booing again on Sunday, which is just, if it continues tonight, I'm going to lose my mind. Honestly, I feel embarrassed.

I feel embarrassed. It's embarrassing. It shows how stupid of a city we are. Whoa! From a baseball perspective, it shows how stupid of a city we are. I think it's a vocal minority. It's just infuriating, dude. They scored 20 runs the night before.

They won the game before that on Thursday. Just give it a rest, man. Like, just get over the fact that he pulled Nolo. You booed him the first time. You booed him on the first pitching change. He gets it. Like, you're not doing anything by booing him. It is so Neanderthalistic.

I cannot take it anymore. It is downright embarrassing that they continue to boo a guy for trying something different. And it's the first week of a 162-game season. It is not football. It is not football. You cannot treat a football like this. Well, if it were football, we would be through the first half of the first game of the season, all right? So chill out.

I'm with you 100%. We're not even 116 through the season yet, which is, you know, what football is. So they haven't even played a full football game. Not one game. And people are already yelling to fire the guy. I'm with you 100%. The first boo was fine. I agree with you.

Because we knew it was coming. And it was like, you know what? You have that right. If you want to boo them when they're announced, fine. But then you don't poo and you're winning 3-0. It was so outrageous. You're winning the game. Nick Pavetta is coming out after pitching the best game that kids ever

pitch. And I know they changed the cheers and we're not booing Pavetta, but you're booing the manager as you go out. Just shut that up and cheer Pavetta as he walks off the field. I mean, I'm with you, Jack. I was really, really annoyed by it. And then don't boo after you win 20-1 the night before. It's a thought.

Yeah, I'm with you. The whole thing's outrageous to me, and I get it. I get people are upset and stuff, but it just makes us all look bad. It really does. Especially because every team in the MLB does this, besides the Phillies for the last couple years. And I just feel like no one's really watching other baseball besides the Phillies. And they're used to them just like, hey, yeah, keep throwing.

What are you at, 115 pitches? Who cares? Keep going. It doesn't matter. Baseball has changed so much since the Phillies were relevant in 2011. And I just think people haven't caught up to that yet. I think there's probably some of that in the sense that the Phillies were behind the curve to begin with. And not just that.

The Phillies have gone from 0 to 60 in like three seconds, too. It kind of went from the least analytically inclined organization in all of sports to potentially the most in their sport. In a sport that has, obviously we just saw the Astros and the Dodgers play in the World Series. Two of the most, if not the most, analytically inclined teams in the sport, in a sport that has, you know, obviously we just saw the Astros and the Dodgers play in the World Series, two of the most, if not the most, analytically inclined teams in the sport. So, yeah, I'm with you, man. I just think it was a bad look. Like, after, so the next day, I went and, for, you know,

we do High Hopes, I do Phillies Today, I just type in Phillies into the Google bar and just see what the stories are. And literally every freaking story is, Phillies fans boo manager at home opener. Phillies fans boo Kapler. It's like that's all I see. It's like they won the game.

They won the home opener. And it's all about how Philly fans boo this guy the first time he steps on the field in their city. Yep. It's okay, though. Eventually they'll get over it once they start winning. I don't know, man. I think Kapler's going to be standing on the podium in a couple years holding the World Series trophy, and the booze will be raining down on the poor guy.

Yeah, the poor guy. But I will say this. The first couple games, the lineup is just noticeably more fun to watch on a night-in, night-out basis. When it used to get down to the 8, nine range of the last couple of years, I just flipped the channel because I knew there was going to be nothing exciting. Now you have Jorge Alfaro down there.

You have, you can monitor the progress of JP Crawford. It's just a, it's just a way more entertaining product on the field. We like, no one's talking about Reese Hoskins. Thank you. That's where I was about to go.

I, I, I like, I can't even, I'm speechless when I think about – no one was talking about him before the season. When we did the Phillies roundtable on the evening show, a Jack Fritz idea that worked out pretty well,

Joe Giglio and I were talking about that. He said, why is no one talking about Reese Hoskins? And I'm like, I don't get it. This guy's the best player on the team, and no one is saying a word about him. It's all Kingery and Arrieta and everything else. What pisses me off is the fantasy community just thought he was going to be bad because of his small sample size without actually watching. Or looking at his minor league numbers, maybe, or anything like that.

It's like, what? How could you possibly think he's going to suck? He's batting.440 with a.559 OBP. Both tops in Major League Baseball, for what it's worth. He's got a hit in every game besides one, I'm pretty sure. James, what if we have Joey Votto with power? Jack, yeah, I'm with you, man. I think Reece Hoskins is a perennial all-star for a long time to come.

I think he's going to be one of the better hitters in the sport for a long time to come. I think he's going to be one of the better hitters in the sport for a long time to come. It's not even a – like, this is another thing with Franco and him and Cesar and Santana is that it's the process to getting to the results. Like, their process of hitting is just – it's going to be hard for them to really struggle. They have a very high floor. Yeah, because of how they approach hitting.

Having to face Cesar, Santana, and Hoskins in the first inning, it has to be a nightmare for pitchers. Of course it is. They just go up and they force pitchers to throw good pitches. You're not going to get away with, you're not going to trick those guys in those spots. And it's huge. I mean, Reese Hoskins is such a good hitter.

And then you hear him talk about hitting, and he talks about all the film he watches, and how analytical he is about going about his business. And it's just music to my ears. It really is. Every game, he's doing something different. He's walking he's doing something different.

He's walking. He's just seeing, like, the first innings for pitchers have to be a nightmare. And then you couple in Abdubel, who is now in that weird Abdubel phase where he's just fouling off everything. And then you have Franco right behind him. It's a really, really fun lineup. I hope JP can get it going a little bit. What are your early thoughts on Scott Kingery? It's a great question.

I mean, I don't have... Look, he looks like a rookie. And I think he's played pretty well so far. But I don't think that people expect... I think a lot of people expected Scott Kingery to come up and be the best player on the team. I mean, that's kind of the impression. And that was always foolish.

That was a foolish thing to think. And again, we just talked about it. The best player on the team is a guy named Reece Hoskins, and there's no question about it. But look, I think Kingery's been fine. I think he's been pretty good for a guy his age coming up and getting his first taste in the major leagues. But he hasn't been a world beater so far.

Yeah, he's kind of having one of those years that you're going to look back on his rookie year, and he'll take a big jump next year. It's just that first year, he's batting your classic 250 with a 308 OBP. His full offensive potential hasn't been reached yet, obviously, but it just seems like he's going to be one of those guys that you look back on and be like, oh, he looked like a classic rookie. To me, he just looks like a rookie. He's swinging at pitches outside the zone.

He's striking out a little bit too much. And I think they're asking him to do too much. And I know he's got the ability to play all over the field, and I think that ultimately that is something that is a real benefit. But I think it's tough to ask this kid to come up, step into the lineup for the first time, and then go play right field, go play third base, go play shortstop. I mean, that's tough.

Yeah, and he's going to eventually be fine. It's just that right now, like, he just looks a little bit behind. I think he'll eventually get there. He's too talented not to. But he just kind of looks like a rookie. He doesn't look like the world-beater we saw in spring training, which he was never going to be. Of course.

He's going to be great. I'm not saying he's not going to be great, but right now he looks like a rookie, and it's going to be tough getting him in the lineup unless it's at shortstop. Yep. This is our annual reminder. We'll do the same thing next year on April the 9th,

and then the following year on April the 9th in perpetuity. Don't overrate spring training stats. This happens every year. Last year, Greg Bird had the best spring training in the history of spring trainings. Yeah, Shoei Ohtani is a perfect example. He got destroyed in spring training. Couldn't throw strikes.

Could barely hit. And now he's the talk of baseball. And he is. He's nasty. He's nasty. I mean, as a hitter, whatever, like he's got some pop, he'll hit some homers, but he's a legitimate pitcher. Like that dude can be one of the better pitchers in the sport if he puts it together and can stay healthy.

Yeah, I mean, he's 99 on the corners with a split finger that just falls off the table. He's a ridiculous pitcher. I think hitting's going to come way down to earth. I totally agree with you. You just don't have enough time to... I'm not as high on the header. Yeah, you don't have as much time to focus on both of your crafts. There's a reason,

and while I love the concept of it, and it certainly adds flexibility to a roster if you have someone who's good enough to do both, but I think ultimately in the long run, the hitting will drop off. He's always going to be able to have a little power and stuff, but I think in the long run, hitting will drop off he's always going to be able to have a little power and stuff but i think in the in the long run he's like a 230 with 25 homer type hitter if i had to put a put a number on it yeah uh what do you make of uh nick williams

comments do you think good question do you believe he was uh saying that no yes no i know he came out and said oh bad time for a joke yeah thanks nick No, I don't think it was a joke. I think he was frustrated. And I think he needs to shut the hell up. That's my take on it. My take is, hey, Nick, you want to play more? Be better. You know, sorry that they have three outfielders who are better than you.

You know, that's really my take. And I understand. And look, I think that they're, I understand the concept. I'm a big believer in getting people reps in anything in life. Whatever you do, I think reps are crucial. But I do think that if you're a young Major League Baseball player who's in the major leagues, I think it is more beneficial for your career to get actual reps and develop that way. So I understand the frustration.

And I understand how, you know, it might not be the best to have guys, younger guys sitting on the bench more often than not. But I think in this case, first and foremost, Nick, be better. You're not one of the three best outfielders on the team, so you shouldn't be playing all the time. And second, I also think that Nick needs to shut that up in that situation and keep it to himself. He gains absolutely nothing by going public with that and ripping the lineups and whatever. That does nothing for you, especially a guy who, for right or wrong, has a reputation already for being a bit of a problem guy. We saw it in the minors.

We saw it in Texas. It's part of the reason Texas traded him here. We saw it when he was in the Phillies minor league system, the issues with his manager, all that type of stuff. So for me, it bothered me probably more than it should. I don't think he was joking. I understand where he's coming from, but he needs to shut up. Yeah, it bothered me more because it was the first week of the season. And just saying that, especially with the climate of Philadelphia

around Kapler now, makes Kapler look even worse because then it's going to be the, well, is he losing the locker room stories and all that. Well, especially when you couple it with the Heyman thing, with the anonymous player thing. Yes, I'm with you 100% on that front. Well, anonymous is a weird way to spell Pat Neshek. I agree with you. If I had to bet my life, I would bet it on it being Pat Neshek who said that. Pat Neshek is a rat.

It was just a really annoying timing. It's a very selfish, this is about me thing. It was very Okafor of him. It was very Jaleel Okafor. I was annoyed by it because you handle that in clubhouse. Listen, if you don't know why you're not playing, go talk to the manager. Don't go complain to the media. It just

shows it's all about you. You don't care about the team. And it's the first week of a new manager who's already been getting crushed in the town and you add that to it. It was just a very, very selfish move that I frankly, I didn't appreciate it and I would cut him. But that's just me.

Whoa! When you say cut, would you send him to the minor? I didn't appreciate it, and I would cut him. But that's just me. Whoa! Look, look. When you say cut, would you send him to the minor? I would be fine with demoting him. I don't know if I'd just cut him. I'm mostly kidding. I would be all right. If they wanted to demote him to send a message, I would have been okay with that.

No, I mean, it's fine to keep him up. It was just so annoying. It's like, why are you doing that right now? I think selfish is the right word. It's incredibly selfish. It's not just selfish about Gabe Kapler and what he has to go through in this city. It's like you said, it's selfish to your teammates. It's selfish

to the rest of the guys in that locker room who, by you saying that, then you're saying, Aaron Altair, I'll bleep that. You're saying, screw this guy through that guy. I'm better. I mean, you're just calling out your teammates. You're calling out your manager. You're calling, you know, screw this guy through that guy. I'm better. I mean, you're just calling out your teammates. You're calling out your manager. You're calling out the whole situation. And I thought it was really,

really a mistake in my mind. It was. It was. I didn't like it. It just wasn't... The old baseball player sense in me was just like, that's not something you do to the other 25 men on your roster. You keep it in-house.

Baseball, speaking of we talk a lot about analytics and the new way of playing baseball and all that type of stuff. There are still certain things about sports, about baseball, whatever that are the way they are and should stay the way they are. One of those things is keeping things in-house like that.

It services nobody other than yourself, other than your need to complain to put that out in the public. It literally does nothing positive for the team. Nothing. It's not going to make, it's not going to make Gabe want to put him right in the lineup. The opposite.

If I were Gabe, I'd be like, screw you, man. Really? All right, fine. You're never playing again.

And obviously Gabe didn't do that. He played him on Sunday and all that stuff. But I'm with you, man. If I were Gabe, I would have been furious with Nick Williams. I agree. I agree. All right, Fritzie, let's look ahead here. We've got six games coming up this week, Monday through Wednesday.

The Cincinnati Reds in town off day on Thursday. Then they head to Tampa to take on the Rays. Jack, this should be a week of baseball where we have some winning games. You look at the Reds and the Rays combined, they have three wins right now. How are you feeling about this week of baseball?

I think this weekend was positive. Even with the loss yesterday, I still feel pretty good. I'll trust Adam Morgan in those situations again. I'll continue to trust Luis Garcia. A guy that I'm developing a lot of trust for and a guy that I am quickly developing a man crush for. Shout out to Mike Angelina.

You going Victor Arano here? Victor Arano. Dude, I'm with you, man. I've been so impressed. And what was it, an inning and a 30 pitched last week in the loss. I was just like, all right, this guy can pitch. This guy's legit. I've been impressed.

He's kind of just got something. He's got a mid-90s-ish fastball. But it's really the curveball that he can throw whenever he wants that separates him. He looks like a guy that's going to stick around for a while. I've been super impressed by Victor Arano. I've been impressed by most of the bullpen. I mean, Edderby Ramos looked okay. Everyone except Pat Neshek. Shut up,

Jake. Well, and Luis Garcia has struggled a little bit, but the bullpen as a whole, I'm looking pretty positive at. So are you on the Ramos over Garcia bandwagon finally with the rest of us? No, not yet.

I still think Luis Garcia is good, man. I don't know. I would still trust him. But Arano, him, and Ramos is a pretty good one, two, three punch for if you need it out. If you need it out in a big spot in the middle of a game, I'll take those guys. Adam Morgan, I still trust. Hoey Milner, I mean, finally the FIP is coming back to the ERA. Oh, he is nasty, man.

And Kapler, I know people were ripping Kapler for all that stuff, but I'm totally with him, man. Standing in the box as a left-handed hitter against that guy must be really, really hard. Well, he's nasty against lefties. He's one of the worst pitchers in baseball against a righty. Well, yeah, he's a submarine left-hander. That's the gig right there.

I mean, like, I know when I used to face sub left-handers in high school, like, I could see the ball perfectly. I'm right-handed hitter. I saw the ball perfectly. It was the easiest pitcher I could possibly face. But if I faced a righty who was throwing a little submarine action, it was really hard to pick up. Of course.

But, no, I feel pretty good. The Reds, I mean, Billy Hamilton... And real quick on the bullpen, you know, doing all this without, whether jerk or not, Pat Neshek, a good arm, and Tommy Hunter as well, obviously the biggest acquisition there this offseason. Yeah, I know. I know, and hopefully when they come back, it's going to

make them even more dangerous. I mean, because on paper, it's... Everyone ripped Philly's analysts, I guess, for saying that the Eagles had a good bullpen for the first week. They do have a good bullpen. I fully believe they have a good bullpen. I'm not ready to give up on it.

And just adding those two back to go along with Milner and Morgan from the left side and then all those righties, it's going to be a good pen. I'm not worried about it at all. Yeah, I feel the same way as far as that goes. All right, back to the Reds. What are your thoughts on this upcoming series here? Listen, the Reds have players that I hate, like Jose Peraza, I can't stand. Billy Hamilton, I can't stand.

Adam Duvall, I can't stand. I hope they roll this team. They got out of Tyler Mailey, which I wanted to see a little bit. I don't know. They don't really do anything for me. Luis Castillo is super fun. Who will be catching on Wednesday. They're going to get their manager fired here soon.

They feel they should have another easy start to the season. Hopefully they can get some wins going in their direction. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, it's a big week. It's early in the season. You don't get some wins going in their direction. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, it's a big week. It's early in the season. You don't get carried away. Small sample size, but they have a chance to pick up some games this week. The Reds, like you said, are a bad baseball team. Just lost one of their best players, too, and

it's sad to say that Eugenio Suarez is the best player on any team, but certainly one of their better players. Obviously, Joey Votto is a Red, but Suarez, one of their better players just fractured his hand, I believe. So he is out as well. So this is a team that they should be able to handle, man. Like you said, guys like Jose Peraza and Billy Hamilton, they might be fast, but they can't hit.

And that's the problem with those guys. And, you know, it's a really good matchup. Luis Castillo is obviously a very interesting arm. Had a great year last year in limited time. Struggled so far this year, but I think he's a really good pitcher. That'll be the matchup on Wednesday. Tonight, Cody Reed taking on Ben Lively. Hopefully we'll see if Lively...

Real quick, what are your thoughts on Lively? I know you've been more of a Pavetta than Lively guy, but I thought Lively looked pretty good in his opening start. Yeah, I like Lively guy, but I thought Lively looked pretty good in his opening start. Yeah, no, I like Lively for this team because they're built so dependent on a really, really strong bullpen, and I think Lively has a really good chance to get this team five innings every time he starts. Now, it may not be the flashiest five innings, but I believe pretty confidently that he can get them five innings every time he starts and then just hand the ball over to the bullpen. I think Lively, I mean, he competes.

The first two times through the lineup, he's really good. It's just that third time where the wheels kind of fall off because people pick up on his deception. So the first two times through the lineup, I'm confident that usually gets you around the fifth inning before the bullpen can come in. I like Lively as a fifth starter, yep. Yeah, I feel the same way. I've been more impressed with Lively than I expected to. I wasn't a huge Lively guy coming into the season,

but I thought he looked really good against the Mets, so I'll be interested to see if he can continue that. Aaron Noliver's Homer Bailey. Homer Bailey's still getting paid, which is crazy to think about. That's tomorrow. Unbelievable. He sucks so much. That's tomorrow. Unbelievable. That guy's making $20 million this year or whatever.

It is so great. And then Wednesday, the Jackford special is Nick Pavetta taking on Luis Castillo. That's going to be a fun matchup there. And then again, the Rays. The Rays, I believe the worst team in baseball, certainly one of the only teams with one win, if not the only team. So this is a real chance. There are six games this week that the Phillies could win. And look, if they win four of them, they're back at 500.

If they can win five or six of them, all of a sudden we're over 500 heading into the rest of April, which is still a pretty easy schedule as well. Fritz, any final thoughts before we get out of here? I'm going to be inconsolable on Wednesday evening. Nick Pavetta versus Luis Castillo is like it's my Super Bowl. I know! That's why I said it. It's like so you. This is the Jack Fritz

game. Oh my god. Luis Castillo, a.k.a. I don't know. I was going to say Pedro, but that's too much. He's a better-year Dono Ventura. That's what I'll say about Luis Castillo. I think that's fair. I think that's a good way to put it. Look, Luis Castillo is nasty, and he is not set up to season great,

but he's going to be good, and that's a tough matchup. And look, Cody Reid was a high-ranked prospect. I'm not a huge Cody Reid guy, but he's okay. Homer Bailey sucks. So I'm with you. I think there's a big series here. You want to see the Phillies have to win two of this series. Preferably they can sweep the Reds at home before heading to Tampa.

Either way. A sweep is in store. They're going to sweep the Reds. Pavetta, if he puts together two straight good starts, I mean, I'm already pretty insufferable, but the Nick Pavetta brand will be so hot if he has two straight good starts against bad teams. So now I'm hoping the Phillies win that one 10-9.

I don't know if I can handle insufferable hits. Man, Pavetta was so good against the Marlins. He was against the Marlins, but he was so good. I'm with you. Here's the thing. Velasquez, his numbers look good, but he didn't pitch that well. He pitched like crap. If they didn't score five runs in the bottom of the first,

he would have given up five in the next inning. He felt comfortable because he had a big lead. That was it. Right. The difference between Pavetta's start and Velasquez's start, even though they had similar numbers, it was drastically different. Like polar opposites, in my mind. Pavetta looked great, man.

And the Marlins stink, but real swing and miss stuff. Nine strikeouts and five and two-thirds. Very, very impressed with Pavetta. Excited to see what can happen there. My final thought is Phillies baseball. That's all I got. There's nothing else in this head. That's how much I care about this.

All I care about is Phillies baseball. My final thought is Jack Fritz is right. The Phillies are going to sweep the Reds. We're going to be back to talk to you about it. We'll be back Thursday, I believe, Thursday or Friday with another show. We'll get John Marks involved. And again, big week here for Phillies baseball. It's exciting. I really do think they sweep the Reds here, at least at the worst, take two of three and then head down to Tampa. But we'll be back to talk about all of it. For Jack Fritz, I am

James Seltzer. Coming back later this week with another episode. John Marks, maybe will be in your ears as well. So again, thank you for listening to High Hopes. 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.

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 and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

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