High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: The Return of Chase

Episode Date: July 23, 2018

The Phils take 2 of 3 from the San Diego Padres, Jack's brand takes a major hit and Chase Utley returns this week. James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are here to talk about it all here. 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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So that goal to beat your personal best, keep chasing it. Drive your ambition. Mitsubishi Motors. Yo, it is another edition of the high host podcast it is an oh no aaron altair got sent down to the minors emergency edition and yes the only person saying oh no is with me right now jack fritz what's up fritzy i just just hope people are thinking of me during this tough time.

You know, tough times don't last. Tough people do. And I hope that Aaron Altair is factoring that in. And I just want to say that people forget that Brett Myers got sent down during the 2008 season, and he came back, and he was the key cog in a World Series run.

So, wow, it looks right now like it's a bleak situation on Aaron Altair Island it's actually it's it's going to be okay because I was was hoping that he got sent down because I just felt like he's a timing hitter he has to get his timing down and he just wasn't going to get that up in the major league it just wasn't going to happen he wasn't going to get that up in the major league. It just wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to get playing time. But now go down there, get some ABs, come back, and be this team starting right fielder for a World Series run. That's where I'm at right now.

I bet a lot of people were tuning into this podcast thinking like, oh, wow, Jack's going to be super depressed and his baby just got sent down. I'm not. I'm not. Because guess what this is all about the comeback for aaron alter so i'm good i'm good i'm doing well alter island is is is starting to bear some fruit because he's gonna go down there and bat at least 330 with like four homers come back up and save the season boom started. It must be something to live in your weird, twisted brain, man.

It must be something. Nick Williams wants to know how his ass tastes, first and foremost. Can I say one more thing? Can I say one more thing? I'm actually really enjoying Nick Williams now that I've... I'm trying my best to put my brand aside and just watch and react to what I'm seeing. I'm trying to evolve myself.

It would be a good thing to do. I've enjoyed the Nick Williams experience recently. It's pretty good. Yeah, welcome on board. Oh, you were on my side a month ago, so how would you call him? Longer than, well, once Nick Williams, come on. Once Nick Williams started playing every day, we've been arguing about it, but I certainly came into this season not expecting Nick Williams to be the better.

Okay, anyway, I've seen a lot of people with the take of, Aaron Altair sucks. And I just want to say that Aaron Altair, there was a legitimate reason that people were excited for Aaron Altair heading into this season. The guy batted 270 with 20 homers and had 340 OBP last year. There's a legitimate reason why people were excited for this guy. It wasn't like we're just throwing stuff against the wall and seeing if it sticks. Aaron Altair is, on paper, a legit weapon.

Just a really tough season. And just chill out on your hole. Oh, a legit weapon. Just a really tough season. And, you know, just chill out on your hole. Oh, this guy sucks. Because those people just started watching the Phillies this year and didn't see what he's done the last two seasons. Yeah, well, again, just last season, the season before that he was atrocious because he was injured. The season before that he was good.

He's been on and off again, so maybe next year he'll be good. I don't have my hopes for him coming back and leading the team to victory. Calling Brett Myers the key cog, by the way, to 08 is heresy. It's an outrageous thing to say and a bat that mattered. He out-tooled CeCe. What are you talking about? No, look, he definitely played a role, but saying he was the key cog, I think he's taking it a step too far james he went three for

three in the nlcs oh my goodness um say the key cog you did a key cog is a different thing you said the key cog that's fine though regardless look i think we could safely say nick williams is better in there and i'll tear i think it is for now I think he's better he's better he's better one plays in the major leagues one plays in the minor leagues all right now so now we're using so now we're using hearsay it's not that's a fact what are you talking about here is that one's a minor leaguer one's a major leaguer. One's a major leaguer. I'll let that just stand. All right.

Let's dive into some other stuff we saw this weekend. We'll get back to Altair and your predictions of his storybook movie comeback aside. If Nick Foles can do it, Aaron Altair can do it. Yeah. Here's something for you. Nick Foles, way better at football than Aaron Altair. Oh, that's ridiculous. Way better at football than Aaron Altair is at baseball. What are you talking about?

Nick Foles played one of the great games in quarterback history in the Super Bowl and then also in the NFC Championship game. Come on. He also played the worst quarterback for the last two weeks of the season and most of the Falcons game and all 2014 and with the Rams. Our next high hope poll

is going to be Nick Foles Aaron Altair and we'll just put it out there and we'll see who wins that one. I think I got a shot in that one. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Now that we're properly ridiculous on the whole Aaron Altair thing, as we'll see.

You say he's going to come back and be the team's MVP down the stretch. I say, who cares, as far as Aaron Altair goes. A couple things I do care about. Two out of three against the Padres in first place right now big series coming up with the Dodgers we'll look ahead to that a lot of storylines all that stuff obviously with that but first over the weekend coming out of the break nice to see him take two out of three but a few things potentially to worry about let's start with Jay Garrietta because he sucks Jack what's going on yeah I'm not ready to go but he sucks, Jack. What's going on?

Yeah, I'm not ready to go, but he sucks. I know. It was a weird first inning. Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing. He came off the start prior, his last start prior to the break, and you felt pretty good because it was his first good start in a while, and then he regresses and the first one out. And the first inning alone just gets murdered.

So what did you see yeah it was it was the first inning was just a complete nightmare um it didn't seem like he had the same kind of location it seems like he got away from that cutter away that i thought was working um in the marlin start um but yeah no he's just he can't locate the way that he he needs to locate he hasn't been able to locate all season and like just watching him is not a fun watch at this point like it's just it's just not it's it's a bunch of balls it's hoping that he's in the strike zone but he's usually not in the strike zone it's a bunch of nibbling he doesn't attack guys anymore it's it's more like hoping guys hit into a they ground out than going after guys and trying to strike guys out but i thought he made some nice strides in the start before the all-star break and

then i thought he regressed to sort of the mean but i also understand the first inning was ridiculous and when you have to go out in the first inning and throw 30 pitches it kind of just messes up your whole start so i kind of i don't want to kill him for that. But it's definitely not great. He's the fourth best pitcher on this roster right now, I think. Starting pitcher on this roster. On the roster that right now has the best throwing rotation in the National League right now. So you're putting Pavetta fifth? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wow. We'll get to that in a second yeah the brands the brands wow are you getting anything right these days or is it just all wrong i told you i'm on such a cold streak with my takes like i don't i don't know where to go like now i'm starting to maybe i'll just go really hard at defending nick williams and vince velasquez and we'll see if we can get it turned around. Maybe that was reverse jinx. I'll just start reverse jinxing everything. That's probably the plan. I could turn into George Costanza. Every

idea that I have is always the wrong idea. This is good. It's definitely not great because I try to brand myself as like I know baseball but everything I think I know about baseball is just, it's just turning out to be bad. It's been a bad, bad, bad streak here. Yeah. Luckily the Phillies are winning.

I hope the 48% or whatever it was that people agreed with you on our last argument or feeling worse about their position as well. But Fritzy, all right. So we talked to Arietta. Let's jump to your guy. Let's just uh let's throw you on the cross and let you kind of lay there for a little bit here as we got uh aaron altair in the minors nick pavetta wild card nick pavetta what happened i read a tweet folks a jack fritz tweet almost just it should have just said i was wrong so he's like okay well maybe you could stick nick pervett in the bullpen you give you a firearm guy you get a starter jack what's going on man well i did not appreciate that little jab you you know that's

you know that's not how i sound so the fact that you would even put that out there is just it's just sad at this point um but you you said i'm gonna throw myself on the cross and and much like jesus i'm going to um listen man like i like nick pavetta i think he's i think no matter what he's going to end up being a really valuable pitcher but he seems to go back to he's going back to pavetta of last year where it was like as soon as things start going wrong it all starts unraveling i thought at the beginning of this season i thought he kind of put that behind him because listen the first two months this is what I'm saying. Like, everything looks bad now, and everyone's overreacting to everything now.

Like, with Altair, he was great last year, bad this year. Now he just sucks. Nick Pavetta, really, he was the second best pitcher on the roster for the first two months of the season. Now he should be option to AAA. Like, the take started off hot. It's just that everything else has just cooled off. But Pavetta was really good. He was battling.

It seemed like he was pitching with intent on every pitch he threw. And he just hasn't gotten to that point since the Washington start in Washington where it rained. And that kind of killed all his momentum because before the rain delay, he was really good. And the only time he started struggling was when it was raining and he couldn't grip his knuckle curve the same way. Now, it doesn't seem like he's pitching with the same ferocity that we saw early in the season. And maybe it's because this is the furthest he's gone into a season. Maybe it's because the most innings he's pitched yet, and he's not mentally strong enough to do it once every fifth day.

But he's not. The curveball is flat a lot today it sharpened up in like the fourth inning when he when he sat down seven straight um the fastball velocity is fine it's just that he doesn't know how to pitch yet like he doesn't really know how to pitch and whereas a guy like vince velasquez i think is taking a major step forward from the from the learning how to pitch category whereas nick pivetta is kind of just the same guy so my main thought process behind pivetta is that listen maybe you can kill two birds with one stone go get a j hat go get a reliable four or five option uh and then put pivetta in the bullpen and i think it makes your bullpen deeper and better on paper right off the bat because then you have you have pivetta can come

into any situation if you put him in the bullpen i mean james he's going to be up to what 97 98 with it with the curveball slash slider that's just going to fall off the table like i think that's a legitimate weapon that put put in the sixth seventh or eighth inning and kind of develop into the fireman guy if you're going to leave Sir Anthony as your 9th inning guy and then let Neshek be Neshek. I mean, it's unbelievable. Like, Neshek is the worst,

but he's also the best in that, like, no one squares him up at all. Like, the hardest ball I've ever seen hit off of Pat Neshek was, I think, by Freddie somehow, and it went right over Adubo's head. And I think Adubo was even shocked. He's never seen a ball actually hit to the warning track off of Pat Neshek, who Pat Neshek still has not allowed a run at Citizens Bank Park in his entire Phillies career. I just want to know how Nick Bavetta is going to start the wildcard game if he's pitching out of the bullpen.

Well, he could be. I don't see how that's going to work. Can we reference last year's wild card game between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, James? Who started that game? I don't remember. Luis Severino started that game. How many innings did Luis Severino go?

None, right? He went one inning. And guess who saved the Yankees' ass that day? Was it Chad Green? It was Chad Green. Guess who's going to do that this season? Nick Pavetta? Nick Pavetta.

So there we go. Wow. That was a terrible take. No one's going to be dominant. It's just that I... Listen, you are going to learn, James, that I have a spin zone for everything. Theair thing oh i've learned oh i've learned yeah well also another guy you hated who now you're in love with is vince velasquez you mentioned that he was awesome today velasquez looked really really really i i thought for me one of his best

starts of the season, just in terms of the way he worked at, you know, we kind of talked before about Arrieta and how brutal he is to watch and, and you're totally right. And he can't go back and, and get any swing and miss stuff when he needs it. He just doesn't, he's not fun to watch. Velasquez was fun to watch today. And he's someone who usually it works slow and can be frustrating we've talked about the nibbling uh really the last few starts he's worked quicker he's throwing strikes he's trusting his stuff it's swing and miss stuff I was really impressed with Velasquez today yeah and maybe they just have to tell Vince Velasquez every single time he pitches that he's facing the Padres maybe then he'll be unhittable and develop into the guy that we all thought we had when he came over here from the Astros.

But I just think Velasquez has taken a mental leap more than a whole physical leap. And I still think he's throwing this pitch that's like between 89 and 92 miles an hour that when he throws it 92, moves like a nice two-seam fastball that he can start at the hip or start at the shoulder, and it comes back over the plate. And then he also pitches, or he also throws like an 89 miles an hour pitch that just falls off the table, kind of like a changeup. I wonder if he has the same grip, and he's just widening his grip on either one of those pitches and then trying to throw them the same grip and he's just widening his widening his grip on either one of those pitches and then trying to throw them the same you know sometimes when you have a a two-seam fastball and you want

to throw a bp fastball over for a strike but you don't want it to be the same exact miles per hour as your regular two-seam fastball you'll widen the grip on the ball if you're on the outside of the seams and it kind of comes in and dips a little bit at the end but it's like three miles an hour softer so theoretically the batter is making that that's softer in and dips a little bit at the end, but it's like three miles an hour softer. So theoretically, the batter is making that that's softer, and he gets a little bit out in front of it and doesn't make as hard of contact. That's the idea behind a BP fastball.

I wonder if he's doing the same kind of thing with his fastball because he'll throw the 95-97 fastball straight, and then he'll mix in that little two-seamer, and he's really been good at locating that curveball and there was a sequence today i forget who he's facing but he started him off oh one oh he's facing travis janikowski oh one dropped the curveball and it get me over curveball and janikowski wasn't even looking for it was way out in front didn't swing was caught completely off balance and i'm sure janikowski was thinking guess what fastball's coming here i'll sit on it

uh vince dropped another curveball in there and janikowski took a little emergency hack at it and then i think velasquez went um i think he went like fastball away and i think went fastball up and it was game over like he's he's taking a mental leap in his pitching ability. I think it's really been fun to watch. I wasn't a Vince Velasquez guy, but it was more because I seemed to work all the starts and the starts took like four hours. But when I don't have to work his starts,

I really am enjoying him. And I just think he's taking a nice little leap forward here and I think he's learning how to pitch and I'm excited for him. Yeah, he's learning how to pitch and uh i'm excited for him yeah he's been he's been great he really and a start by start basis has been really consistent especially as of late and again today i thought he was awesome i thought his stuff just kind of jumped off the screen and um again not a good padres team but fun to watch and uh again certainly a lot better than sai pav, who could have seen that coming. Well, and also what he's doing is that, you know,

his fastball, it measures out as an elite fastball. And the eye test backs it up. It's really hard to square up. But when you're able to locate the curveball and you're able to get that over and get that into the back of a hitter's mind, then they can't. Like, major league hitters will hit 95, 97, no matter how elite it is. But the fact that he can get that over and get that into the back of a hitter's mind, then they can't. Major League hitters will hit 95, 97, no matter how elite it is.

But the fact that he can get that over now and then couple that with a 95-mile-an-hour fastball, it makes the fastball look like it's 100 miles an hour. And it's just, he's becoming harder to square up over 90 things. And I'm really interested to see how the rest of the season goes. You mentioned Neshek before. Obviously, it's been huge having him back. He had to give up a run this season, obviously,

for the Phillies, I think, in six or seven innings of work so far. So, again, you can see it. It's fun to watch him pitch. He is such a, obviously, the submarine-type guy. We don't get to see a lot of those guys. But another guy is kind of someone who's stood out to me in the pen lately and is offering something that, that they really haven't gotten a ton of this season, which is effective left-handed relief. I've been digging Austin Davis and we talked a little bit about this last pot as well,

but I just think he's good. And I, he did look, he had a nice weekend, got the win on Friday. I think an inning and two-thirds, three strikeouts, another inning and a third with three strikeouts today in game one. What do you think of Austin Davis? Because he's not someone who came up with any fanfare or anything like that, but at least certainly over the last few weeks has been really consistent for this team.

Well, I think he throws strikes. And I think he'll come in, and at worst, he'll throw strikes. I still think his fastball is pretty flat. Well, I think he throws strikes, and I think he'll come in, and at worst, he'll throw strikes. I still think his fastball is pretty flat, and it's not like any of his breaking stuff is that unbelievable. I think he's good. I'm not going to get super excited about him, but I will say that coming in and being able to throw strikes, I'll take that out of the pen. So, sure, he does that. Yeah, it's interesting. It seems like Gabe likes to use him first out of the pen a lot.

I don't know if you've noticed that it seems like he's usually the first guy to the pen when he does work. I also wonder if there's anything to the like concept of bringing in a lefty as your first reliever out of the pen, if a righty is starting or vice versa if there's something to and again you know they're playing the matchups more often than not specifically the the hitters coming up but i wonder if there's something to seeing a different you know look coming at you uh in that spot after five six seven innings or whatever it is of that first look that could be uh potentially something that I think is an interesting theoretical discussion. From an offensive perspective, Odubel had a nice weekend, had the big home run today in game two to put them up 1-0.

Reese Hoskins getting it going with a homer in each of the games today. He could have had. Reese got screwed. He was smoking the ball. The liner to third base that was a great play he had the uh janikowski stole the home run from him another like hit was caught in the i'm with you hoskins hoskins about to bust out i think here yeah we're about to see another classic hoskins like homer surge will he'll hit like five and seven games. He could have had four homers today.

He had two. He could have had at least four. Oh, yeah. And I said, I think he's going to have one of those like 10 to 12 homer months, and he's going to kind of help carry this offense. He had a great weekend. Santana, too, getting it going. Hit the home run on Friday.

Starting to get it going. We had talked in the last podcast about Santana slumping a little bit as of late. It was nice to see him come out and get that home run. Nice to see him leading off in game two as well today. We've talked about that a fair amount, the idea that not really your prototypical four-hitter, so seeing him at the top of the line was something I'd like to see as well. Anything else that kind of stood out to you from this weekend before we look ahead to what's coming up, Jack? Tommy Hunter had an easy inning, which was crazy to me.

I didn't think that was possible. Came in Friday and pitched really well, and they were getting a little second half Tommy Hunter. I just, I'm not saying I believe in Tommy Hunter, but I just, I will say that the guy was good last year. He has too good of stuff to be as horrible as he's been, and I don't like Tommy Hunter. But I just wonder if maybe we can get a nice little second-half surge here from Tommy Hunter. And James, I don't know if you're with me, but I'm starting to not feel terrible every single time the bullpen has turned to with this team.

Yep, 5-2 third shutout on Friday when they needed it. Look, they've been one of the better bullpens in baseball over the month of July, which is kind of hard to believe. But they had that really rough stretch, June, end of June, all that. But I'm with you, Jack. I think we're at a point where you start to trust them a lot more, obviously. I mean, Sir Anthony, if he's rested, he's one of the more unhittable guys in the league right now. And Neshek, as you mentioned, I just feel so confident with that guy coming in in any spot and getting outs.

I'm with you. I still think they're going to fortify it. Obviously, the rumor we heard the most this weekend, it seems like Zach Britton, the next kind of hottest name to go in the bullpen market. You and I have both talked probably far too seems like Zach Britton, the next kind of hottest name to go in the bullpen market. You and I have both talked probably far too much about Zach Britton, but I don't love the concept that it seems that every team that needs a reliever is in on it. But ultimately, do you think they end up doing something to still, you know, we've kind of talked about it, but I feel like whether it's Britton or something else, a Michael Givens in Baltimore, we've kind of talked about it, but I feel like whether it's Britain or something else, a Michael Givens in Baltimore, we've heard that name,

Fernando Rodney, Soria, you still feel confident they're going to upgrade this pen, even though it's been pitching so well? Yeah, I think they're going to do something. And I don't think it's going to be a big move. I don't think they're going to risk anything in the future. I think they saw Manny Machado, and they were thinking maybe we'll go

all in, see how well we can do it. We'll get Machado and Britton and just see if we can maybe make a run here. They struck out on Manny Machado. I don't think they're going to go after Britton. And I think they're just going to, I don't think they're going to give up anything significant at the deadline and just maybe bring in some guys to help fortify the pen a little bit like Craig Stammen. He'd be an interesting name. I would love to get Kirby Yates from that team. I think he's a good pitcher. But I think they need to add a bench bat. I would be really intrigued on bringing in Drew Cabrera here. I wonder how much it would cost, but the guy's been a consummate professional forever now. He's having a a really good season i know it's a bit of an

outlier but i think worst comes to worst he can play all three positions on the infield um and he can give you a legitimate veteran bat off the bench i think he'd be a a nice addition to this team from a veteran standpoint uh and they're linked to him today. So I would be in on a triple Cabrera. I don't want – I'm so out on Whit Merrifield. Did you see the package they're asking for? No. I figured with him having three more years of control, it wouldn't be cheap. So I'm with you on that.

I'm not giving him anything expensive. It's two top 15 prospects and a major league player, basically. Yeah, that's crazy. That's ridiculous. That's crazy talk. Yeah, I'm with you. So, yeah, I think you kind of summed it up nicely. I think they're looking for a platoon bat, a bench bat,

someone who they can fill in a lot of spots. And to fortify that PEM weather, I think Yates probably will. Look, I would love to get Kirby Yates as well. I don't think that's going to end up happening. But there are a lot of names out there like you mentioned you know stamens an interesting name michael gibbons is an interesting name gibbons is really good he's had a terrible year though yeah he's a good pitcher though and he's cost controlled anthony swarczak is a name you could see getting dealt you know maybe they could get cabrera and swarczak in a deal tyler do you

like cabrera or no yeah look i look, I think Estribal's fine. I think he is what he is. He's not a huge upgrade really at any spot, but I certainly feel more confident with him coming to the plate in a big spot than Kingery or someone like that. But regardless, it's not a monster upgrade, and I don't think it would cost too much to get him. I think Estribal's fine.

I think, like you said, his, a bit of an outlier, especially at his age and what he's done recently. But I look, he's fine. I think it's dribbles a nice, a nice guy to get. They need, they need a bat that you can count on. Just small. Valentine is, uh, is not, you know, moving the needle at all for me as dribble switch hitter as well.

Would you like, yeah, I'm with you. I think it's true. It was a nice, a nice target. It's going to be interesting as these next, uh, what are at the 23rd. So we've got eight days, you know, starting tomorrow, eight days till the deadline jacks. We're obviously going to be all over that. If the Phillies make any moves, we'll, uh, have an emergency pod as a, of course, if we're going to have an emergency Aaron Altair pod. We'll have an emergency pod for any trade.

Don't tell anyone we were already going to record tonight anyway. All right, Fritzy, let's look ahead here. As a seven-game week of baseball, we will not have to go a day without baseball this week, which I am a huge fan of. Thank God is right. We need more seven days a week. I know it's tough for the players, but I need it. I think the ballpark was so full on Friday night because I think people legitimately missed baseball.

I hope you're right about that, Jack. And look, speaking of full, it's going to be full the next three nights. We're going to see a full Citizens Bank Park. So many reasons for people to go down there. Obviously, the one that stands out the most, potentially, assuming there is not a playoff matchup in philadelphia between these two teams the last time chase utley will set foot on citizens bank park as a major league baseball player jack fritz sum up what that means to you what's the emotion going

into that as as utley returns and and it'll be interesting too to see what uh what you know kind of how Dave Roberts handles it we talked a little bit about that last time I think um I think you know you get him in there uh you try and get him in every game if you can at least as a pinch hitter or something but um how do you feel about Chase potentially returning for the last time man it's uh it's the end of an era not the end of an era like it's kind of been done um but chase is listen man i grew up right when chase was at the height of his powers playing baseball and every single time you know we'd go to practice my coach would say hey do you see what chase did last night because he was the the ultimate that's how i want my guys to play guy

and he was the perfect guy for young kids to look up to went about his business wasn't showboaty um was a really good player it was a heads-up player you know when you're when you're standing in the infield your coaches are always telling you um think about the play coming ahead like what is what is your job and you know i've listened to so many things about the the the yumi yura or what the the fake toss the first throw to home to get jason bartlett um and just how he was thinking about the scenario in his head the whole time and i think that's just crazy so if you're if you're a young ball player growing up watching chase utley i don't think there's a better guy to watch in the entire game than chase utley because runs the bases amazingly

well um goes about his business the right way chase utley was perfect he's a perfect baseball player and the fact that we got to see him for a decade plus was was a treat and um and i was there two years ago when he hit the two homers and yes i stood for both of them very proudly i don't care because to me chase utley meant more than camera sorry camera but chase utley chase only having a moment at citizens bank park was more important than that team that year so um yeah it's gonna suck uh i i chase all these good for baseball i know mets fans don't like to hear that because he broke a crappy shortstop's leg but um he's he's a good model for how baseball should be played and there's not many guys like him anymore yeah you should get

off my lawn there with that fritz um look no i think the way he played baseball is is a great point and the way he went about his business and and really that that work ethic that he had and it's kind of funny when you look at it because that team had so much success and and obviously for you for me for a lot of people, the only Philadelphia Phillies title of our lifetime. And we will forever love all those guys. You know, the whole team from the Burles to the worst, to the, you know, Jeff Jenkins, to Eric Bruntlett,

all those guys. But, you know, obviously those big four, the ones that matter the most with Hamels and then of course Utley, Howard, and Rollins. And it's just wild that of that group, you've got a charismatic personality like Jimmy. You've got the most awesome home run hitter of a generation or one of them of a generation. The guy who ultimately really was the biggest reason for that playoff run and then winning the World Series in Hamels in terms of just that specific run. And then the guy who never says a word, but just because of the way he went about his business, the way he played was by far the most popular.

And I think that really speaks volumes because, you know, in a lot of cases, I don't think he's the most popular guy, but in this city, the way we are with the work ethic and the blue collar and the, and all that stuff, I just think he was a perfect fit for this city. And, um, I'm with you, man. It's going to be, it's going to be a bummer to see him leave the game, but I hope Dave Roberts finds a way to get him in and get him a chance for each of those three crowds to honor Utley in whatever way they want to. I'm sure he will definitely start one of the three games. And I think Roberts gets him the chance to pinch hit or pinch field or whatever it is. Big series, though, in general, Jack. I think the other, obviously another storyline, Manny Machado.

I don't know how you feel about that, but I feel like it's not his fault he got traded the Dodgers everyone be nice to him so he wants to come here but uh more than that for it's a big series here the Dodgers in first place in the NOS at 55 and 44 half game worse than the Phillies at 55 and 50 and uh 43 it's just a big series here Eflin versus Stripling tonight Rossoss stripling one of the the big surprise stories in the national league how good that guy's been nola versus maeda tomorrow and then jay garrietta versus rich hill on wednesday the day game that one you're a little worried about arietta but you have efflin and nola going in two of the three you feel good about that what is um your kind of overall feel on this series here a big one yeah well uh the milwaukee crowd who had

a banner weekend they they they booed machado so uh listen if you even have the we don't want to do anything like the milwaukee crowd how about that let's just uh not do what the milwaukee crowd did if you if you have the inkling to boo manny machado just get up and walk out of the stadium like like you are an imbecile that is a you are making this fan base look terrible so if you even have the inkling of maybe booing manny machado. Just go to the bathroom. Or do almost anything else. Because you are a stupid person. But. Very excited for this series.

Because you know. The Phillies. Like. They're pitching really well. They're. I don't know. How they keep winning games. But they keep doing it.

And. You know. I just think that this is a that this is a series that is going to be covered nationally. It's a very important – it's a measuring stick series because the Dodgers got off to a slow start. The Phillies went out there, and they played well. But now you have to return home, and you're doing it in your home ballpark in front of what i hope is 35 to 40 000 um and and you have to go out and show some semblance that you are a legit competitive team in the national league and i know they had that record during their tough stretch of the

season i know it was a good record but i i just and this isn't for me and you and the p and the listener of this podcast but i think for the casual fan out there you know it was a good record, but I just, and this isn't for me and you and the listeners of this podcast, but I think for the casual fan out there, you know, it's great that they're beating up on the Padres. They're playing all these bad teams and boosting up their record. But I think for people to really buy into this team, I think they need to come out and have a big series against the Dodgers. Because then it's like, well, if they can beat the Dodgers, maybe they are good. Dodgers because then it's like well if they can beat the Dodgers maybe they are good maybe they are legitimately good because I still feel like that people think the rug is going to be pulled out from underneath them because how inconsistent the offense is because of their running so the

runners in scoring position numbers um because of the bullpen even though it's been better recently I still think people are a little bit wary to go all in on this Phillies team not obviously I'm preface this prefacing this by saying not the high hopes listeners or me and you but for the casual fan out there you know i feel like when they tune in it's like wow frustrating offense big inning game over you know what i mean so this is a a big series from a perception standpoint for me jack here's what i say i only care about high hopes listeners all right jack who cares what anyone else no no no i'm with you i i think you make a really good point like i i do agree with your you're the heart of what you're saying i think that from a national perspective i absolutely

do not think this team has gotten the credit a it or B, it is earned. And I think this series will be viewed as one that those types of people will be taking a look at to see how the Phillies handle it. Yeah, and I think hopefully they can come out. And, you know, in big moments this season, in big games, it's felt like they've crapped down their leg. And I just want to see that they're not going to do that you can do that against the padres and get away with it you can go down four nothing in the first inning after some of the like it's just like you're a major league

baseball team like what are you doing um you can do that against the padres and come back and win just don't do that against the dodgers because it's not going to work and i think people would feel so much better if they come out and play solid baseball for three nights yeah and i agree but again like it's not fair to say they've they've crumbled in every big series i mean they've played well in some big spots no but i'm not talking about that i'm talking about big game moments like like the out in chicago they they craft yankees i don't know i know what you're saying but i look i think it's big moments i got you i got you i don't know. I know what you're saying, but I look, I think it's big moments. I gotcha. I got, I don't know. I, I think, look, I don't think we'll really know until we get to September and,

and there are real games that really matter with real implications that you can see the end in sight, but look, I'm with you. I get your premise. I think your point makes a lot of sense in the sense that this team is not getting a, a lot of national pub as a team that I think people believe in. And this Dodgers team is. They went to the World Series last year. They went to Game 7. They just went out and got Manny Machado.

It's a big series. And to that point, even more importantly, cheer for Manny Machado, people. You don't have to cheer hard. Just give him a golf clap. But don't be idiots like those brewers fans in so many ways and uh of course a weekend from the what what yeah not great not a great look for the whole milwaukee uh milwaukee nation fritzy any uh any final thoughts for you got a big week again uh three against the dodgers and four against the reds a reds team that over their last like 80 games

has actually been better than 500, been a really good baseball team, even though the record doesn't show it after an awful start. So not the cupcake we thought, but any final thoughts heading into this seven game week? So I have two final thoughts. On this glorious Sunday, Tiger Woods is back and so are the Philadelphia Phillies.

And it may have been seven years in between, but we're just going to forget that those years even happened. Because all is right in the sports world now that Tiger is back and the Phillies are back at the same time. It fills my heart with so much joy and really just makes my summers way more interesting. Tiger Woods is one of my favorite athletes of all time. I will always love him. I will always believe he's back. And much like Aaron Altair, he's going to be back in a big way. So I was very happy to see that two of my favorite sports entities are both nationally relevant again and actually good.

So it was a big day for me. I was very happy. Even though Aaron Altair got sent down and Nick Pavetta got shit on, got crapped on, seeing Tiger back and the Phillies being back in the same, makes me happy. And here's the other thing. And last night, I was having a couple beers. And for some reason whenever i have beers and i'm just like you know just relaxing yeah yeah i wake up to a impassioned

text about this so i i always go down a youtube rabbit hole and i always it always just turns into watching the old phillies highlights and I stumbled I stumbled across Ryan Howard's last game as a Philly and you know him getting taken out and going into the dugout and Ryan Howard who is one of the best first baseman in team history the the the the catalyst the guy would put the team on his back for August and September, and they would ride him to playoff runs. And the guy who was the most feared left-handed hitter in baseball for four years there before a devastating Achilles injury that ruined his entire career, that guy, an absolute team legend that is going, James, he is going to be underrated at some point. Like, it's already happened. I feel like people have forgotten about Ryan Howard.

Yeah, I think it's already happened. It's already happened. It's ridiculous. And Ryan Howard, in his last game as a Philadelphia Philly, as a team icon, as a legend, and as just an absolute beast, MVP, Rookie of the Year, you all know it, has to go out and go into the Phillies dugout and get zapped up by Darren Ruff, Tyler Goodell, Jake Thompson, Jeremy Hellickson, all these bums for an absolute cornerstone of the greatest run in team history. I was embarrassed watching it again.

of the greatest run in team history i was embarrassed watching it again i i felt bad for ryan howard because he's people are going to forget about how freaking good that guy was for seven years before an injury ruined an entire career what what do you want him to do though i don't know just some make it better somehow just okay all right calling all uh youtube computer whiz type people is there any way we can scrub those people out of the video so it could just be ryan howard high-fiving like a white space or something or like air or something what do you think about that would that be better just the fact that he has to go out and like trying to act like darren ruff tyler goodell and these guys were like important in the history of the phillies while this guy what if darren ruff is his best friend jack did you think about that did you

think about the human element of it no you didn't did you buddy did you did you you're right i'm the selfish one in this scenario yeah that's right darren ruff ryan howard often said that his career would have been nothing without darren's support and guidance without babe rough all right uh rate and review the podcast it makes jack happy oh and i have a final thought. Noah Syndergaard, hand, foot, mouth disease. Really? That's something that babies get and little children. That's like, what is going on in New York with the Mets? You are such a joke of a franchise. What is happening up there? Mickey Galloway can't he like open a door uh Jacob deGrom's like fighting with ownership Yohannes Suspedes has a heel injury that needs 10 months

surgery to require or he can just say yeah I can't play tonight I might be able to go tonight oh I probably can't go tonight I can go tonight like what is going on up there and now hand foot and mouth disease is that a real thing that's happening in new york oh i love it shout out to the mets you're awesome they are the absolute best there's awesome nothing better than the new york bet mets uh also another final thought because i always have multiple final thoughts adam Adam freaking Haseley. It kind of kills the whole spirit of final thought. Yeah, but you don't, there's so much stuff I have to talk about. You don't understand how much I, you don't get me. And the 40 plus minutes of the podcast before them wasn't a time to get that out.

Anyway, anyway, Adam Haseley is now walking more at AA. And while I'm excited about the home run numbers Which are coming, but it's also Reading So I'm not that excited He is walking more, striking out less Getting on base, and driving in runs He has been unbelievable at AA And I am getting very, very excited

Jack, have you learned nothing from this podcast? You just signed Adam Haisley's death warrant. He's going to flounder. He's going to be terrible. The Jack Fritz curse has been placed upon Adam Haisley. It's bad. It's bad. Not cool, man.

Andrew Benintendi 2.0. All right. Again, rate and review the podcast. It Benintendi 2.0 Alright. Again, rate and review the podcast it makes Fritz happy. He needs it desperately and we will be back later this week. We'll talk some Dodgers series, see how it all played out and look into the Reds and all that good stuff.

So for Fritz, I am James Seltzer. We'll talk to you guys later. 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. Another fact. So jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, years ago and 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