High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Marlins are the Phillies Kryptonite and Phils Minor League Hitting Coordinator Jason Ochart!

Episode Date: July 1, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as they recap the Marlins series, look ahead to the Braves series and the long anticipated Jason Ochart interview happened! (21:00 minute mark)  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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High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. A very special edition. A O-Chart Day edition, Jack. So coming up in a little bit, very easily I think we can say

the most important interview in the history of this podcast. I would say that. No question. Of the second biggest off-season acquisition that Philly has made in some sense. Of Jason O'Chart. Very excited to talk to Jason O'Shaughnessy. That'll be coming up.

Awesome, awesome stuff with Jason. Very kind with his time. I would definitely say that. Way too much time he gave us, so it's really cool.

We'll talk to Jason in a few. First, Jack, we got to react, sadly. We were so excited last pod. Yeah. It was so good.

We swept the Mets. Yeah. At least they won yesterday. The Marlins are better than the Mets. So here's the thing. The Mar good. It swept the Mets. Yeah. At least they won yesterday. The Marlins are better than the Mets. So here's the thing. The Marlins are better than the Mets plus I'm a big believer in all sports, but especially baseball like sometimes you just have bad matchups.

Sometimes there are teams that just get up for you or whatever. I think the Marlins just are a bad matchup for the Phillies for some reason. Listen, I try to tell people the Phillies struggle with the Marlins just are a bad matchup for the Phillies for some reason. Listen, I try to tell people. The Phillies struggle with the Marlins, and the 2014 Huskies couldn't beat Lock Haven. It's the same thing. It's exactly the same. But in all seriousness, last year, the Orioles had a pretty decent record against the Yankees.

Remember that whole thing where it was like the Yankees struggle against this Orioles team? And they won 100 games, and the Orioles were one of the worst teams ever. So it sucks that it happens right after the Mets series and there's so much momentum and then to come out and just lay a stinker on Friday.

It was such a stinker too. It was like the biggest stinker. It felt like it. So I, you know, we never lie to the IOP listeners.

This was not my best weekend of watching baseball. I went to three fish shows. Yeah. It was awesome. But I caught up on

everything and I watched the important parts. I saw the Sunday game all the way through, but otherwise, bits and pieces. The Phillies were getting fish fried down in Miami, and you were getting fried at fish. Hey-oh! It was awesome, Jack. Never miss a Sunday show. That's what I'll say. I didn't even know they had Sunday concerts.

Never miss a Sunday show, because it was straight fire. I thought fish was trot fishing in America, honestly. I didn't know they were even a thing. I've never heard one Fish song. That's your last one. I tried to listen to some songs this weekend because James seems to like these guys. And it's just like, eh, whatever. It's not for you.

You like country music. What can I say? Well, because I'm an actual baseball fan. All right. Let's dive into it. Friday, 6-2. Like you said, it just seemed like a stinker of an outing. Four hits.

The only two runs They score on Are Vincent Velasquez Homer Doesn't get much worse Than that Well Vincent Velasquez Is a better pitcher Better than

Of course Very clearly Everyone knows that Vincent Velasquez Man Put that guy on a pitch clock You can change Please

He is so brutal To watch play baseball It's the worst It is not fun Baseball is supposed to be fun. The whole reason we care about this, watch it, is because it's fun. He's not fun. No, he's not fun at all.

It sucks to watch. Dude, this rotation, man. It's brutal. It's so, so, two big question marks and Eflin starting to show some leaks. Some cracks, yeah. I mean, the Eflin armor isn't looking great. No, no. So Velasquez, like, he was just Velasquez.

Like, it took forever. Four innings, four runs, or four and a third, four runs. It's like, yup, that's Vinny. Like, he could throw six innings of no-hit ball, and I would still be miserable. Because he takes forever to throw. We were. That Mets game, he had, like, five innings of no-hit balls.

I know. It was terrible. So bad. So, I just, it was a stinker Friday. They came out with no emotion. And I just, it's just, they had this whole thing, like the bamboo and how they're bringing it down with them. Now, I will say, according to the Phillies radio broadcast, they didn't bring the bamboo

that Brad Miller bought. What? They brought a fraudulent bamboo. Well, that's outrageous. That's what I'm saying. Well, no wonder it didn't work. Exactly. So we're not out on the bamboo?

How serious are we about this or not? You can't go on a nine-game road trip and not bring the correct bamboo, Brad Miller. If you can't do the bamboo thing and not bring the correct bamboo, it's a travesty. It's to see a lot of holes in their story. Especially because, I mean, we're talking about a sport where superstition clearly matters. Right. So bring the right bamboo. Especially when you're going to a team that you can't beat.

A nine game road trip. You got the Braves coming up. Did they send someone back for the right bamboo? I would hope so. They better. Should have sent Vince back. Yeah, please man.

Put him on a plane. Get him out of there. But yeah, the fact that their only runs came off of Vince Velasquez. It's a kick in the junk, Jack. Hernandez is just like, he's fine.

He's nothing special. Elysisir it was a very like friday night i was so jacked for the game i was like four straight i feel a run coming like let's let's compound on this and they come out and the offense is just like i don't really feel like participating today so four hits four freaking one of them from Vincent Velasquez. Yeah, and it was just like the same thing, though. It was non-competitive at bats. Innings were over very quickly, and it was just brutal. It was a very not fun game.

At 6-2, it was just boring. Now, I will say, very happy Tommy Hunter's back. I have it on my list. Tommy Hunter's looked good. He's already came back. I mean, I forgot list. Tommy Hunter's looked good. He's already came back. Yeah. I mean, I forgot how,

honestly, I forgot how big Tommy Hunter is. He's a big boy. Dude, that guy can eat, man. He is a big dude. He was talking about how like he was,

he would buy dinner for the minor leaguers he was with. Dude, he bought them like five guys and like, like everything you could ever want, like unhealthily. Like that's what Tommy Hunter was buying the team. Thanks Tommy. Come on, man.

Do better. I mean, if it helps you throw a 95, it helps you throw a 95. But, I mean, what can you say? I'm very glad he's back. He looked pretty good. He looked good. For this bullpen, I'd much rather have him out there than anyone else except Naras, Edgar Garcia, all these guys. JD Hammer.

He's a big step up, and that's it for Friday, because I don't feel like talking about Friday anymore. I agree. Well, it's not like Saturday's much better, Jack. All these guys. J.D. Hammer. So he's a big step up, and that's it for Friday because I don't feel like talking about Friday anymore. I agree. Well, it's not like Saturday's much better, Jack. They had a 6-1 lead. Yeah, Saturday was brutal, and a lot of people are blaming Kapler for taking out Eflin. I just think if you actually watch that game, Eflin was getting crushed. Eflin did not pitch well.

Eflin got a lot of balls that were ripped that were just right at people. I think if he played that game at Citizens this bank park it's a way different story like he just does not look crisp in his last two starts or three starts like the the the the overall stat line on saturday was fine it was good and it's six inning three runs listen it was a six one game it was a six three game obviously because then the deal with the home run or whatever but i just think that he didn't pitch that well i understand he's only throwing 89 pitches but you should be able to hold that lead like that's that's a major league play pitches but you should be able to hold that lead like that's that's a major league playoff team and should be able to hold that lead against that marlins offense the marlins offense is so i mean

garrett cooper where did he come from well he's actually all right he's like the one guy in the line but pittman brian anderson like the only two guys who could maybe play for another team you know how good the yankees are at scouting the yankees gave away garrett cooper and kayla smith for international slot money. Because they have too much guys in their 40-man roster. Those guys are good. Caleb Smith is great. I would love Garrett Cooper. I would take both those

guys right now. Caleb Smith would be our two-starter. And the Marlins are going to flip him. Our two-starter. And the Marlins are going to flip him for something really decent, pretty good in return. Although, if they get rid of him him they'll probably turn into a Cy Young given their recent track record and whoever they get for him will be Louis Brinson

just a disaster whenever I think the Yankees, you see that story today about the Yankees they just signed a 16 year old switch hitter that's a combination of Mike Trout and Mickey Mantle apparently, it's crazy come on, and that's what pisses me off about the Phillies or National Scouting.

It's like, stop casting a wide net and spend the money on big-time guys. Get the guys who are... Because those guys, obviously, it's really young and all that,

but more often than not, those guys end up being superstars. They end up being superstars. If you read that story, it was like, the scouts were like... The Eloy Jimenez's of the world always end up being good.

The scouts were like, well, except for like, who's the guy, Rusty Castillo? Rusty Castillo, yes. Not always. He has Manny Tomas. Yeah, those guys are older than him. Jorge Soler. Jorge Soler.

I remember I was so mad. Well, Soler's good now. He's fine. He's got like 25 homers or something, or 22 homers or something like that. I was very mad at the Phillies. He'd be leading the Phillies in homers. Saturday, so a lot of people are ripping Kapler for pulling in there. I don't agree.

I think it was the correct decision. I didn't think Eflin was pitching that well at all. I understand it was only 89 pitches, but you should be able to hold that lead if you're playing against Marlins offense. It's usually anemic. Instead, they're playing the Phillies. And also, you should believe that Adam Morgan can come in and get outs for you. Like, you know, it sucks.

Well, it was first Juan Acasio. Of course. He's pitching better of recent. He'd been good a couple times out. The eighth inning high leverage against the Mets looked good. I cannot believe we're at the point where Juan Acasio is holding down leads for us. High leverage! Juan Acasio is a high leverage reliever

for this team. That is awful. He should be the long man or something. He should be the long man. An actually good bullpen, he would be the long man. And he'd be fine as a long man. And what we talked about last episode was how you were saying, you were like, listen, this bullpen is going to fall apart. Yeah.

And I was like, well, stats-wise, they're doing okay. But I also said, on paper, they're not a good bullpen. No. We're just waiting for it to crumble. And this weekend, it finally started to absolutely crumble. I mean, you have Juan Acasio, which I don't like him having a lead, and I don't feel comfortable with it. Adam Morgan, since coming back,

I still think he's hurt. He's down to 91. He definitely hasn't looked the same. No, it's like 91, 92. And my problem with them is that they keep using him against righties. And I like Adam Morgan. I think Adam Morgan's a really good reliever them is that they keep using him against righties. And I like Adam Morgan. I think Adam Morgan's a really good reliever. I still think he should be facing lefties.

More often than not. And if you have to have him face a righty, you can. But he is a lefty specialist. And I just think they're getting away from that. I don't really understand why. Because they got no one else to pitch. I know. Because it's like, oh, should I use Adam Morgan against a righty or use Edgar Garcia?

Well, I guess I'll use Adam Morgan. Right. You know, you're completely right. And there's a lot of people that are like, well, I guess the first two months of the season were Mirage. I don't think that's true. The guy was 94 to 97. No, he looked great. With a wipeout slider.

I actually think he's still hurt. That's the most sensical thing I've heard. He doesn't look the same right now. Well, I mean, let's look at it this way. The slider's not moving the same way, like as much of a drop on it. Velo's down. Slider doesn't look as sharp. There you go. He's still let's look at it this way. The slider's not moving the same way, like as much of a drop on it. V-low's down. Slider doesn't look as sharp. There you go.

He's still hurt. There's no doubt in my mind he's still hurt. Occam's razor. That is the most obvious likely answer. What is Occam's razor? Oh, come on. You know that. That's such a popular thing.

Occam's razor is essentially that the simplest answer to a problem is generally the correct answer. It's more complicated than that like the phrasing of it but the idea being that like in a situation whatever is the most simple like obvious clear answer is probably the right answer okay that's like that one that's like lawson's theory or something like i don't know there's some there's some other saying that i didn't totally get like two weeks ago and now it's like my thing um occam's Razor. Occam's Razor? Yeah, it's a thing. I promise you.

I'll bet you, I would bet you 80% of the listeners right now know what I'm talking about. That's like the first time I heard woe. Maybe more. That's like the first time

I heard woe is me and I was like, what does that even mean? Like woe is me. I don't know. I just thought it was weird. Now I get it. You figured it out?

Yeah. Listen, we take a little while to adjust here. You do. Okay. You know, if you've seen, if you listen to me talk, I'm not the biggest vocab guy.

But you know why? You know why I'm not the biggest vocab guy? Because I'm a baseball guy. Yeah. You just get baseball names. That's all you got to worry about. This is all I'm here for. Yeah.

You don't pay me for vocab. No. I don't pay you for anything. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes. Do I care if it's grammatically incorrect? No, I don't. No.

Until people make fun of you for it. Oh, dude, it makes me so mad. I know. Dude, like the then, then thing. Can we just freaking have one? Or you're not great at the me, I thing. Oh, I can't do it. It's really simple.

All you got to do is say it out loud and whatever sounds right is right. So it's like if you were like, Jack and me are going to do this podcast. Jack and I are going to do this podcast. Like, you know what i mean like if you say it without so say without this say is me is going to do this podcast or i am going to do this podcast right i am going to do this podcast jack and i are going to do this podcast you know what i mean like say it without the first part just say the me or the i and nothing else and see what sounds right. So Zach Eflin on Saturday. And that's our vocab lesson for the day.

Yeah, I think they appreciate it. That was a two minutes of vocab talk. Listen, I'm sure there's some younger listeners that are in high school classes really struggling. Yeah. Maybe not as much as I used to. Maybe you're not the first person who's heard of Occam's Razor. Maybe they'll, you know, by the time they're 25, they understand the difference between then and then. Maybe.

Not everyone can. So Efllin struggled again he just right now his his fastball like he's not getting the fastball up again with the same kind of zip zip and then the late life to it yeah before now it looks like it's he's he's lowering the level of it and uh when you have a rising fastball like he has when you throw it lower and at the bottom of the zone and it rises it's going right into the middle of guys bats so what made him so great the first you know for the all this season up until these last three starts was fastballs up that would get above guys hands and he's just not able to do that right now um i think i think he'll get it back i'm not too worried about it and listen even with zach eflin struggling quote unquote six innings three runs i'll take that better than

everyone else in the rotation so i still feel really good about Zac Eflin's starts, even if there are some leaks happening. Some leaks along the way. All right, let's talk Sunday, and then we'll get to the real reason that everyone's here today. Jason O'Chart, O'Chart Day. But the Phillies actually won on Sunday, which was nice to see. The Bats came to play, 13 runs.

How about it? Was I worried up 10-4? You're damn right I was. Everybody was. It was 10-6, right I was. I think everybody was. It was 10-6 too, right? I think everybody was. Yeah. Arrieta is just, well, he was better.

Look, just that one inning. But he's just not, he's also not fun. I don't enjoy watching Jake Arrieta. I do enjoy Jake Arrieta when he can spot his fastball. Sure. It's a way more fun Jake Arrieta to watch. Yeah, I guess so. I just, just like, Jake, just be okay.

Yeah. Like, just give me six innings, three runs. That's all we're asking for, man. It's not much, man. We're not asking for much. You're making 25 mil. Yeah. 25 million.

You're making as much as Bryce, well, granted, you know, Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper's been better than you, Jake Arrieta. Don't let him get hot. Homer in this game, four RBI. Could be getting hot. Could be getting hot. I think his last four games, he has an OPS over 1,100. Slowly breaking out. Big sample size.

I know. We're doing what we can. So what if he went over the game before that? He's going to have a monster second half. Well, I really... So Bryce Harper this month, I think he ended up batting 250 with a.375 OVP and six homers. So he's on pace for like a third. If you average it out over 162, he's on pace for like 30 homers and over 100 driven in and an OPS.

It's still like the 850 range, but not great. But with Bryce Harper this month, he cut his strikeout rate down 10%. So he was 31% last month in May. It's a big deal. And now he's down to 21%. And I think the biggest thing behind that is that he finally has a stance that he feels comfortable with. Remember the first two

months of the season? Yeah, he kept moving the bat around, up on the shoulder, doing the whole thing. Now I feel like he's getting more comfortable with this certain stance. And he's more upright. And I think that's maybe helping him start to drive it. And listen, these last couple games, we've seen him really, really make a big impact on the ball. And I think he's starting to catch up the fastballs

more and more just i don't have the numbers in front of me but i test wise it looks like it looks like he's not getting destroyed by fastballs anymore like it's still not great there's too many balls to still get over like the fastball so the fastball up and away and this was before the marlin series or maybe saturday the numbers out, on fastballs up and away with two strikes, he's a.222 slugging percentage. Wow. Three extra base hits. Horrendous, man. It's bad.

I'm hoping the break will kind of give him a chance to adjust here and recalibrate himself. I'm actually happy he's not going to, and granted, obviously it was not, unless he was voted in, not going to be an all-star, but I'm actually happy he gets some time off here. I think Bryce Harper not making the all-star team is the best thing that's ever happened to Bryce Harper.

100%. I really do. And it's going to fuel him, too. I mean, he's always an all-star, you know? And he's a guy that I think is definitely a fueled guy. Totally a fueled guy. He is a chip-on-the-shoulder guy. Yeah, yeah.

And Bryce Harper, the prideful Bryce Harper that I believe we know, not making the all-star team after he's been, what, a six-time all-star? And being 26 years old, getting a huge contract, playing in a new city. And being the face of baseball, yeah. Listen, are we going to get a 08 Ryan Howard where he almost wins the MVP after not making the all-star game? Maybe. I would definitely take it.

I'm great with that, V. But, yeah, no, I'm really with you. And, look, I think there's a whole different philosophical discussion about what the all-star game should be. I would argue that Bryce Harper should be an All-Star every year because he is a star and baseball doesn't have a ton of stars. And you should market your stars. You should market your stars.

But that's a whole different discussion. It's difficult because on one hand, I think it's really cool that sometimes... That their guys have great years and get to go to the All-Star game. Even if their team's not great? Totally. Kirby Yates making it cool. I like the one player per team thing. I'm still okay with that.

I don't think that's a stupid rule. I think every kid should be able to turn on the All-Star Game and see a player of their favorite team playing in the All-Star Game. Yeah. I'm totally cool with that. They gotta tune in and see JT Real Muto. Thank God. Go JT.

Super. Shut up. Poor Hector Naras. He deserved it. So does Kingery. Kingery does too. The games played killed him. But yeah, I just just I don't know

I think it's called the all-star game like have like the biggest of biggest stars there personally but I agree again I'm happy he's not there all right coming up

we will dive into pretty big series coming up starting tomorrow pretty big series we'll dive please not feeling great

please don't get swept no yeah just don't get swept don't get swept Soroka Soroka oh god oh no Soroka, Velasquez. Velasquez, oh God.

Well, no, they've moved Velasquez to the weekend, so it's that one. Oh, thank God. Yeah. I saw Soroka Velasquez and I was like. How much could I? Did you think about taking out Zoe's college fund? Oh my God, I would have. I mean, the Phillies are not going to hit Mike Soroka, I feel pretty confident. 21-year-old all-star?

Yeah, 21-year-old Cy Young in Denver, so yeah. Cyroka? Cyroka. That's pretty good. It's frustrating. All right. Before we dive into a series that I'm sure is going to make us sad, let's talk to someone who's going to make us very, very happy.

Before that, though, let's do some headlines. We got some housekeeping. Oh, yes. Housekeeping. Yes. Good point. Good point. All right.

First and foremost. We always forget. We're so bad. We're like, we're going to say, this is the first thing we're going to, every time, every time, the first thing we're going to say is, hey, High Hopes Night at the Ballpark, come hang out with us. Rate and review the podcast. We've actually got like an addition to that, and we never do it.

So good job remembering now. Rate and review the podcast. We had said that if we get to a thousand reviews, we would release the Lost Price Harbor podcast. And I was listening to parts of it the other day. It is hilarious. Oh, I can't wait. It's so bad. I can't wait. We sound the other day. It is hilarious. Oh, I can't wait. It's so bad. I can't wait.

We sound like such a-holes, man. Oh, good. So this is your deal. So what we're doing is we're cutting it. We said a thousand, but because we're both going to be away on July 4th, so there is not another podcast coming this week, sadly. I really apologize.

We'll be back next week. We'll talk about the Brave series, all that. But all you got to do is get 40 more reviews. We're at 460. We're lowering it. We're in half. If it gets to 500 reviews, we'll release the Bryce Harper podcast this weekend. It can be July 4th. You can laugh at us, all that stuff.

We just need 40 more reviews. You can be out at a barbecue, having some beers, listening to us say that Bryce Harper's never coming here and the Phillies are blowing this. That could be you. If you get 40, all we need is 40 more reviews. Get us to 500. That's it. We'll be counting down on Twitter, obviously. I'll be you. If you get 40, all we need is 40 more reviews. Get us to 500. That's it. We'll be counting down on Twitter.

Obviously, I'll count down. Yes. So 40 more, 500. We will release the Bryce Harper is not coming here episode. And we will email it to ourselves so we can update it remotely. We will make sure this happens.

We've talked to us a lot. We don't lie to the High Hopes listeners. So 500 reviews, that's it. And High Hopes Night, our pinned tweets. That's it. And High Hopes Night. Our pinned tweets, August 17th. Tickets are available. $33 in the outfield. We're all going to be hanging.

It's going to be awesome. Cindy Webster's got a lot of cool stuff planned. We're going to put together a tailgate beforehand. So it's going to be an awesome night. And I just met a listener at the Fish Show, by the way. Shout out to Gary. Gary came up to me. Gary.

Gary. Gary. Super nice dude. Very big fan of the show. All that. So shout out to Gary. Nice. Very cool. Saw me on the way. Shout out to Gary. Gary came up to me. Gary. Super nice dude. Very big fan of the show, all that, so shout out to Gary. Nice. Saw me on the lawn,

came up, said hi. Is he coming to High Hopes Night? I hope so. Gary, come to High Hopes Night. Neighbor Dan, come to High Hopes Night.

Listen, I will bring cornhole, I'm pretty sure. I'm the best cornhole player this side of Mississippi. Wow. That is a serious statement. I will show people how great I am at chugging beer because I am probably the best who's

ever lived. But again, no blueberry ales. We don't want them. No, no, no. Please don't bring them. Don't bring 15% alcohol beers because we've shown that we can't handle it. No. Turns out we can't handle it.

No, we can't at all. Like the days after can't handle it. All right. So get your tickets at IHOP's night. We're going to have a blast August 17th and 40 more reviews. It's there. It's done. Boom. after Cannibal. All right. So get your tickets. I hope tonight we're going to have a blast. August 17th and 40 more reviews. It's there. It's done. Price our bucket.

All right. Let's get to the most important thing that we've ever done in the history of this podcast. The guy we've been talking about romantically almost gushing for a few months here has finally taken the time to join the pod. It is our pleasure to welcome in the one the only jason ochart all right and it is our distinct pleasure to welcome in the biggest guest in the history of this podcast without question in fact if we could bring babe ruth back from the dead and say babe can you come on the pod today?

He would have gotten canceled for this guest. That's the big deal. The single most important guest we've had. And I have just... Jack's out of his mind. Let's welcome him in. The Phillies minor league hitting coordinator, of course, from Driveline, Mr. Jason

Ochart. What up, Jason? Wow, what an intro, fellas. Happy to be here, and the pleasure is mine. Well, if you've ever listened to this podcast, your name comes up pretty much every episode. It's a good thing we actually finally got you on. It's a beautiful thing.

No, I appreciate it, and I'll tell you what, that initial podcast where you said I was the second best addition to the Phillies this offseason was hilarious and I actually sniffed it and put it on the Instagram. So that was big content for me. I do follow along. I'm a big fan

and I appreciate all the support, guys. Now, Jason, did you only agree to this podcast because I threatened to put Alec Baum in the bio? That's exactly why. That's a good bet by you. Well, that's smart. Please, just stop talking right now.

Yeah, well, I mean, listen, we're talking about analytics, we're talking about science, and the absolute science is that if you go on my bio, you are absolutely cursed, and there was flirtations with Alec Boehm getting in, and O-Chart said, no, please, we want him to be a good major leaguer. So, smart decision by you. Yeah, yeah, that had to be said. Yeah, it seems like you're talking out loud.

I had to say it over to you. Yeah. Well, Jace, let's start at the beginning for you. You know, you're a college baseball player, but unlike most, you know, hitting instructors across the major leagues forever, there's been that, like, stigma of it has to be someone who played pro ball. You're someone who didn't play pro ball but found a way to work your way into this can you kind of tell everyone where you came from essentially yeah yeah i mean the preface i'll tell you that if you told me you know five years ago that i'd be here and working for the phillies in this role especially

i would have called you a liar so it's pretty crazy that it's happened. But, you know, it started, like you said, I graduated college. I played college baseball, and I studied sports science, so I was going to go into physical therapy. But my younger brother was still playing, and he was playing at Menlo College, a small business school in Northern California, and they lost a coach. So he asked me, like, Hey, you've always loved coaching.

Do you want to maybe, you know, apply for this job? And I was like, okay, you know, like, I don't want to take out another loan for school. And, and, uh, you know, I was like, you know what? I'm like, what's the job pay? He's like, it's a volunteer job. Nice. I know what that's'm like, what's the job pay? He's like, it's a volunteer job to start. Nice. I know what that's like. I've been there. Yeah, exactly.

And you know what? It was about my younger brother, really. Him and I are really close. And I was his coach basically his whole life. So for me, the opportunity to coach him for a couple years until he graduated was worth it. So I started actually as an infield and strength and conditioning coach because we had a hitting coach our first year. And then long story short, he moved on. So I got promoted to the hitting coach job and we had a really good year. We set a bunch of school records

and then the next year we broke a lot of those records and it caught note of where it caught the attention of kyle and i think because in my head i was only going to do it for a couple years when my brother was playing i kind of had like a i guess like a d gas mentality it was like whatever i i'm going to do some stuff that's crazy because whatever like i'm doing it for a couple years and and i'm just going to go for it and we're talking about training at game speed and talking about launch angles not hitting ground balls and our team slogan was feed the trees because there were trees way beyond the outfield fence and we did a lot of those things that people were calling me crazy at the time but i figured you know why not and and ended up

getting you know some some pretty good results and then it Kyle's attention, like I said. He interviewed me for the job. I was making $5,000 a year living in my office at Menlo College. It was a no-brainer for me to make the switch to drive-on. Wow. That's awesome, man. Now, this offseason, obviously the Phillies bring you in to be the minor

league hitting coordinator. What was that process like? Can you explain to people what your job is? Obviously, us here, we love this kind of stuff. We're baseball nerds. When the Phillies hired you, we were ecstatic. But for everyone out there, what is your job with the Phillies? What do you pretty much do on a daily basis?

Yeah. The coordinator, we do a lot. We're basically running the entire development of the hitters throughout our entire system triple in down so i get tweets all the time about major league players and why i can't fix them just so people know i don't work with the major league dns that's males and then he's a man i just work with the minor league guys and basically you develop the whole system so you

develop the philosophy and and the messaging that the philosophy and the messaging that you want and the way that we're going to train our guys. We develop plans for players. And then throughout the season, what I do is I rove. So I'll spend three, four days basically at each affiliate, check in, check in with the players and the coaches, maybe work with some guys that I feel like I need to work with or the coach needs to work with or maybe the player

and just kind of bounce around. So, like, last week I was in Redding on the road with them, actually, in Trenton, and then I went to Lakewood, and now I've got a couple days off, but then I'm going to the GCL. I'm going to see those guys. I'm going to go to Clearwater, and then I go to DR, and then back up north, go to Lehigh, Reading, and just do the whole circuit.

I mean, it's like three or four days at a time, like I said, and on to the next place. So it's a ton of travel and a ton of communicating and working with all the staff. Jason, you talk about the philosophy that you guys are trying to implement. Can you expand a little bit on what that philosophy is? And also, I know at Driveline, one of the big things you guys try and do is implement technology to teach hitting. Can you talk about that as well? Totally, totally. I mean, technology integration was a really big initiative this year. And even

before I got there, I think that's a large reason why I was hired, because I have a lot of experience with this stuff. But to start with just the philosophy, one, like I'll tell you, our slogan this year is punish strikes. And it's kind of simple, which is the point. I mean, it's kind of twofold. One is punish, like we want our hitters up there with the intent to do damage.

So especially in good counts, we're telling our guys that we want you to take your A swing. We want you to do damage, and that's what's going to take the pitch to the highest level. So we really encourage exit velocity, trying to swing at good pitches and to impact the baseball at a high level. And then the strikes part I think is probably the most important, And the strikes part I think is probably the most important and what I'd say the vast majority of our instruction is, is very focused on pitch selection and approach.

So we tell our hitters all the time, you're really only as good as the pitches you swing at. So as much as I am a fan of swing and mechanics and all that, if you're not going to swing on good pitches and if your pitch recognition skills aren't good, then it's kind of useless. So we really focus a lot on pitch selection and swing decisions, and we train it a lot as well.

And I think that's probably the most important part of the whole thing. Are you using the VR technology for that kind of stuff? Is that how you kind of break down guys' pitch recognition? We don't use VR at the moment. We're exploring that technology. Personally, I don't think it's quite there yet. And that's what I could talk for a long time about.

We train accordingly. We train at game speed a lot. So we'll have coaches that mix pitches, that throwing balls and strikes on purpose, throwing high velocity, a lot of machine work. We have programmable machines that can throw balls and strikes

and we can tunnel fastballs with sliders. And we really challenge the guys to, you know, train that. Because I think a lot of players don't ever work on that. You know, they wonder why they chase pitches all the time and they don't ever see balls in practice. Like, all they ever do is get balls thrown at them

60 miles an hour down the middle, and it doesn't really make sense. And then I think a big part of it, too, is kind of related to technology, is we're getting this feedback from track men on the quality of the swing decisions guys are making. So we're able to track it throughout time. Like, are you taking the right pitches?

Are you swinging at the right pitches? Are you understanding the count? And we can give guys targets and then track it over time. You know, I mean, I think Moniak's a good example of a guy who really, all of his emphasis this offseason or this spring training throughout the year has really been on that, late discipline and you know swing decisions and for him like we're seeing him progress in that area he's he's taking better swings on good pitches he's taking borderline strikes but he's forcing the play and he's drawing more walks and and we're able to track it and and

report that back to him and say look you're doing a much better job. Here's exactly how and why, and this is why the program and the training is working, and we can kind of continue that cycle. He's just one example, but the technology takes the guesswork out of it, and we don't have to tell a guy something, and it's not just my opinion. We have objective facts that show him

that what he's doing is working and getting better, and that's a really good way to generate buy-in for players. Do you feel like top to bottom, from Lehigh all the way down to GCL, do you feel like we're about two months, three months into the minor league season, are you guys starting to notice the results of that? Are you starting to see guys starting to really buy into the philosophy you guys are teaching? And how long does it take fully, do you, do you believe, like, for an organization to fully change over their hitting philosophy like that?

You know, it's something I'm learning on the fly, for sure. I think there's definitely going to be an adjustment period. You know, April, for instance, like, we didn't hit very well as an org, and it was something that i guess was kind of expected not because uh even just the hitting like there's just a lot of new people in our in our player development new farm director um you know like a lot of new hitting coaches and there's just always going to be an adjustment period as people learn the new philosophy. And for me, like learning the system, how it works, how professional baseball works.

And it's almost like a collection phase too. Like in April, I really hammered with our, you know, I hammered the point with the coaches like here's a lot of our guys aren't doing as well as we'd like, but this is a good opportunity to turn this into a teachable moment and to start really pushing our initiatives forward because what we're doing isn't working. And I really was kind of slow into integrating, but for me, like some of the failures early on were actually beneficial because for me, it was like, okay, now we got them. Like some of these guys aren't playing as well as they'd like.

Now we're going to start using machines more and we're going to start using this technology. We're really going to go all in. I'm starting to see the buy-in happening a lot earlier than I thought because I thought it was going to be a two or three year process but month to month it's been awesome seeing the buy-in from the players and the coaches and I think we're trending in the right direction. So far it's been awesome. That's really cool. That's great to hear. All right, let's get into a couple specific players.

Jack's eyes and ears perked up when you mentioned the name Mickey Moniak. Would you say that your coaching is doing more for the Moniak breakout or him coming out of the bio? That's the main question here. Yeah, it's definitely the bio. He's batting like 297 since coming out of the bio. It's a direct link. So I don't know if you want to say your thank you to me,

but you don't have to. But I'm just saying. You really don't have to say thank you to Jack. I feel very confident about that. Okay. Well, thanks. I'll say it anyway. Thank you.

We're just very happy about Moniak. I mean, is there anything, obviously you touched on it a little bit, but what are you seeing from Mickey? It seems like he's hitting the ball. It seems like he's making loud contact no matter what. You mentioned the walks. I mean, that was one of the things that was, like he was hitting well

and he's hitting like 300, but still his OEP was like 340. Like he just wasn't walking. What have you guys seen recently from Mickey? Yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, the focus for him has always been on his swing decisions. And I think with Mickey, he's such a good athlete that he's been able to hit like everything his whole life hard. And for him, like he'll be able to hit a

1-0 changeup low and away off the plate for a double, but as he progresses levels, the importance of his selection is key. I think for him, it's understanding that you need to zone in a little bit and look to do some more damage and control

your at-bat that way because we're preparing you to perform in the big leagues, and there's stuff that's too good. You can't hit everything. You have to have an approach, and that's something that the best in the world do. And we come at guys with a lot of information about what Reese Hoskins is doing as far as how he's making swing decisions based on count, and he's not just up there auto-swinging.

So for him in particular, he's not just up there auto swinging so for him in particular he's just such a good athlete that we really wanted to emphasize the idea of until you get two strikes you're in the driver's seat and you're looking for something that you can hit hard and in there and he's really bought into it and i think physically too like he's just getting stronger he's becoming a man you can see his his shoulders more broad. He's also just growing as a person as well. I think he's a really exciting player. He's so much fun to watch.

Everything he does from base running to defense and obviously hitting is just really exciting. To see him develop day in and day out is pretty awesome. He's leading the Eastern League in triples. It seems like his base running is one to watch and have fun with. Speaking of loud contact, I can't believe it's been this long. I know, what have we been doing this whole time?

I feel we've buried the lead here. Listen, just talk to us about Alec Boehm. I mean, the guy seems like he's an absolute machine. Yeah, the kid is a stud. He's an absolute stud. He's a guy that I just, I really, really look forward to talking to every time I'm in town. Um, I look forward to seeing him play.

And he, he's very smart. I'll say that about him. He's very, very smart. He uses the information really well. You know, as far as how he designs his plan at the plate,

how he goes about it, the bats, how he goes about his at-bats. He's extremely gifted, obviously very powerful, ridiculous fast speed, and great basketball skills, good play discipline, like really just checks all the boxes. And for me, the thing that I appreciate most about him is his work ethic. I mean, this guy is really driven and for someone that is that successful, even early in his life, he works really, really hard.

And I'll tell you, this offseason, he bought a place in Clearwater and stuck around and trained all year, all offseason, which is very uncommon, especially for a first-rounder. He was there every day, working on his defense with our coaches there, working on his hitting.

Charlie Manuel was there working with him on his swing and just putting in a ton of work. He deserves so much credit for that because he's reaping the benefits. I think that is so outstanding to see for a player like that. Now last year he didn't have any home runs. Obviously the injury contributed to that. Was there anything you guys did specifically to try to get more pop out of his bat? Obviously the natural bat's great, like bat to balls because he talked about,

but for him to realize his potential and be a number three overall pick and be a cornerstone, that power had to come and it's slowly starting to come now. Was that something you guys did or was that alec just putting in all the work and then figuring out a little bit well he definitely put in all the work and and for me when i first got the job you know we we basically like i do a deep dive and i work with uh the pi team led by uh ben worth and we look at all the information and there was a huge a huge thing that stood out when we looked at his information and that was that he didn't pull a single ball in the air last year wow in in short

season and he's a right center approach guy like like absolutely and i think that a lot and i would suffice to say most good right-handed run producers are right-center oriented, especially on fastballs, but they're able to pull the ball in the air. And that's something we talk a lot about in our organization is air pull percentage. Like, can you keep the ball off the ground when you pull it? So for him, that was the emphasis almost all spring training was like, hey, let's work on your bad path and let's work on just being able to pull the ball in the air. And a lot of it is timing-based as well.

And there are a lot of things that we went into, but for him that was kind of the focus throughout his development. And he's done an incredible job, and he does it all the time now, as you have observed. And he can hit the ball very, very far to any field, but to see him pull the ball in the air a very long way and consistently has been awesome. And when you look more at the data,

at his air pull percentage, the improvements have been drastic, and he really deserves all the credit because he put in a ton of work, and he bought into it, and that's not something a lot of coaches would say. You know, like I think if you told most hitters to pull the ball in the air, they'd probably

kind of flinch. Like what? Like my coach always tells me to take ground balls off. It's kind of opposite to what most guys have ever heard, but that's the type of player he is. He's a guy that has power and we want to see him develop into that player and he's done

an outstanding job in as far as buying in and working at it. Talent and coachable. That's what I'm talking about right there. That's a beautiful thing. All right, Jason, we've talked a lot about Moniak and Boehm and obviously in the past on this pod about Haseley and a lot of guys. Is there someone who in your time,

you know, traveling throughout the minor leagues with the team so far, who is, you know, someone we might not talk about a ton, but who's really impressed you so far with is you know someone we might not talk about a ton but who's really impressed you so far with what you've seen from them man i could i could talk about a lot of guys that way yeah i'm sure so many exciting young players in our system and you know i don't know if i want to choose one i think that we have a lot of strength especially in the lower levels like when i look at our short season team or GPL teams,

even the Dominican, like there's so many exciting players, the tools, our scouts are awesome. And, um, and the future is bright, man.

I love, I love working with these guys and seeing what they're capable of and envisioning how good they're going to be when they're 20, 21, 22. This is awesome. This is really exciting. This is,

I asked for one. You give me a bunch. It was a beautiful thing, Jason. Thank you. You got it. All right, 21, 22. This is awesome. This is really exciting. I asked for one. You gave me a bunch. This is a beautiful thing, Jason. Thank you. You got it. All right, Jason, final one for you here. If you could have the perfect five-year vision for the minor league development plan,

what would it be? You know, I think just continually to move and keep developing the players and the coaches. I think that the technology integration has been really successful. I think that the players are bought in, especially for year one. Next year we're going to continue to move forward and I'm learning a lot as well. I think developing myself as a coordinator because it's my first time doing it. I'm learning how to work with professional players

throughout the season, how to develop coaches and continually to improve. So I think just getting a little better every year is key. And that's what I tell the players, that these changes aren't going to happen overnight. It's incremental progress over time. That's always the goal. So I think that's also true of just our player development system as well. So continually learn

and just get better so we can make the Phillies better. We're all about that. We're all about that. By the way, Jack Live, one last one because I have one fun question on the way out.

You're someone who are a really good college player. You obviously love hitting, love baseball. Who's your favorite hitter of all time? Manny Ramirez. Boom! That's a good answer.

That's a great answer. I say Manny's become almost underrated at this point. He's one of the five greatest right-handed hitters of all time. Oh, absolutely. I got a story about Manny, too. When I was in Redding a few weeks ago, and I get a text from one of my buddies that works at Driveline. And he goes, hey, you're not going to believe we just walked in.

I said, who? He goes, Manny Ramirez is here with his son, and he's training at Driveline. Get out of here. I missed Manny Ramirez at Driveline because of the Philly shop. So that was painful. I still have a little stab in my heart from that. But yeah, for me it was a really proud moment.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's got to be pretty cool that he... My boys. Exactly. Like your favorite hitter of all time came to train at your place. Like, that's surreal.

Yeah. So I hope to meet him one day. But no, he was my favorite guy and i tell you what like when i first started learning this stuff a lot of it happened because i found video of his swing on youtube like this is like 2009 when when i'm you know you started to be able to find swing video sure and i remember watching slow-mo of him hit and thinking he's not doing anything that i teach or that i do as a hitter wow he's not swinging down he's not doing anything that I teach or that I do as a hitter. He's not swinging down.

He's not squishing the bug. He's not staying closed. Like all these things. So just being obsessed with Manny is kind of where it all started. That is super cool. Yeah, and he also torched the Phillies and hit a ball off the ground off of Cole Hamels in the NLCS. Can you believe that?

Yeah, that curveball would have hit. I mean, how about the fact that he was batting seventh in those Indians lineups back in the NLCS. You believe that? Yeah, that curveball would have hit. I mean, how about the fact that he was batting seventh in those Indians lineups back in the day? Those lineups were amazing. He was still great. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Jason, seriously, man, thank you so much for spending so much time with us.

Thank you for all that you're doing with the Phillies. Mostly that. Yeah, we're obviously big fans of it. And thank you for making Jack's year, literally. We really appreciate you coming on, man. Hey, the pleasure is mine, guys. I really enjoyed it. And I appreciate the support. It's been really

fun. And we're going to keep going strong in the second half. It's going to be awesome. So thank you guys. And keep the names out the bio, Jack. And if you need a 6'1", former Division II right handander to throw some BP, you have my number. Okay.

Okay. I'll text you. You don't text me. Yes. Good answer. Sounds good. Follow him on Twitter at JasonOzart. Check out Driveline.

All the great stuff. Jason, again, thank you so much, man. Thank you, guys. Take it easy. O-Chart Day happened! I love i love him we did it how cool is he uh the best i'm i'm i'm now i'm in love with him the way you're in love thank you he was so great i'm sure everyone listening to this is also me like he's such an awesome dude and i feel like i feel like just taken away from the interview it was like man am i so glad this guy's here yes

oh he's smart and no it seems to know what he's doing this is so exciting that he's here and people were like questioning his hitting philosophies like nine years ago ten years ago and now it's the trend in baseball that guy's on our side now it's awesome it's really it's really cool to be out in front of that i'm thinking about this from the top down like if he's going to be the minor league hitting coordinator and he's going to start input like he's saying that already these guys are buying in like how good is this going to be it's huge. When he said two, three, that's what I would have thought.

If you had said to me, you're coming in and revamping an entire organization's minor league hitting structure, there's no way I would have thought guys would be buying in a few months in. Never. Now, Phillies, this is what you have to do. You have to get him really, stop casting the wide net thing and going underslot in drafts. Bring us some talent. Yeah, bring in the guys that he can work with. Like Bryson Stott, great work.

Get guys like that. And still a little underslot, which was amazing. That was surprising. Yeah, shocking, because he was the right pick there. So, again, thank you, Jason. That was super cool. We talked about, I saw Bryson Stott in the elevator. Did we talk about it on the pod?

I know you and I talked about it. I can't remember if we talked about it on the pod or not. I think we did. We definitely did. Let's get into the weekend, Jack. I have the pitching matchups on my phone in a second here. I know that the most important starter is starting tomorrow. How about Pavetta vs. Keichel? Talk about a game

that has the potential for lots of takes, my friend. The takes are going to be flowing. Listen, Dallas Keuchel is still getting hits. People are hitting him without scoring runs. Five innings, three

runs. It's not like he was amazing in his last time. He led the majors in hits last year. Players getting hits off him or whatever. You're saying he didn't lead in actual getting hits? Good to know. Believe it or not, I'm not a big sabermetrics guy. You didn't bat 330 or anything? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But Dallas Keuchel, listen, I need the... Listen, Phillies, for the takes. Please, for everything. Would you just destroy Dallas Keuchel? Just rip him apart. And Nick Pavetta, would you freaking man up? We talked about it last week. Don't be a little baby, dude. Oh my gosh. Some composure.

And remember your last start in Atlanta. That was until... He allowed the solo home runs, which is fine. Until the Swansby at bat. Swansby? Swanson. I don't know. Dansby Swanson? Swansby? I kind of like that, actually. Are you giving the Braves material? I kind of like that, actually.

Oh, that's really good. Swansby. Until the Swansby at bat. We need Pavetta to step up. Swansby. No, of like that. Are you giving the Braves material? I kind of like that, actually. Oh, that's really good. Swansby. You called the Swansby at bat. No, we need Pavetta to step up. Swansby. No, no, it's bad. But it's pretty good. I kind of like it.

See, that's the fish fry right there. But you're giving fuel to the Braves Twitter ability. Just go with Danson instead. It's much worse. Danson sounds like a prick, honestly. Unless it's Ted. He's great. Yeah. So, yeah. So, Pavetta versus Keichel. uh dancing sounds like a prick honestly yeah unless it's ted he's great yeah um um so yeah

so pavetta versus versus keitel yes destroy keitel and please nick just just get back on track that's all we're asking for just get listen just just show us you you show us the guy that we saw the first three starts yes please the dodgers guy the reds guy give us that guy even the bravest guy last guy i'll take it i'll take it uh nola verse bryce wilson so you feel pretty good you hope it's hot i'm sure it will be wednesday please um yeah i mean no hot no no one's last two starts he struck out 10 in each star 20 yeah 20 guys so um and listen last time he was in in atlanta it was a disaster uh i was so mad at aaron nola his last start in Atlanta.

So hopefully he can kind of bounce back from that and can continue looking like the guy the Phillies need if they want to compete for a wild card or a division. That's the game they won, which is funny too. But yeah, he was a disaster. They did not win because of him. No, they didn't. And then I don't even want to, Velasquez, Soroka. Or Eflin.

Oh, thank God. Yes. Eflin, Soroka. They're pushing Velasquez back to New York. Yeah, push him back to never. All right're pushing Velasquez back to New York. Yeah. Push him back to never. All right. Can we push him back to never?

Never. Yeah. Yes. They do get, sadly, they got DeGrom and Syndergaard in that three-game series, too. Syndergaard's the biggest waste of talent in Major League Baseball. Yeah, but he's still better than whoever else they were going to throw at us, like Seth Lugo. I guess Zach Wheeler. I know he is. I know he is. I know he is. I know he is.

I know he is. I know he is. But still. We got Steven Matz. That's good. Yeah. Well, we destroyed Steven Matz. Actually, yeah, it's probably good that they're not getting Vargas.

No, no, no. He owns our soul. We don't do well against Jason Vargas. No, no. So, listen, if they... And by the way, can we just real quickly say how happy we are that June is over? 11 and 16 in June. It's July.

Let's move forward. Yes. No more June June's been this team's Achilles heel since like 09 it's unbelievable even the 08 June was back

the June swoon Jack they can't do it it's crazy that's cause July's hitting season yes so it's all good now July's our month

now it's good let's go July's our month alright anything else before final thoughts any unloading Yeah I'll unload real quick

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day Is it Bobby Bonilla Day Yeah July 1st How many more years are left I don't know Something like 15 years It's crazy

I think it's 2035 Or something like that That's amazing Shout out to Bobby Bonilla Can you imagine Just getting a million dollar check Every July 1st Can you imagine that

Can you imagine that It'd be amazing Open up your mailbox up there's my million again do you think that every freaking year do you think when the mets signed i'm like baseball's not gonna be around in 2035 like we don't have to worry about this uh speaking of the mets they prematurely killed two members of the 1969 mets this weekend i don't know if you saw this story what happened i knew they were honoring the mets the 69 so they entered that team they said two happened? I knew they were honoring the Mets, the 69 team. Yeah, so they entered that team.

They said two guys are dead, and they were like, no, we're not. No! Yeah, dude. No way! Oh, like seriously? That is like the most Mets thing that's ever happened. That is amazing. It's amazing.

That really is amazing. Wow, shout out to the Mets. That is awesome. And my final unloading the mailbag. The offense the last seven days, if you average it out over the first half of the season right now, they'd be functioning as a top 10 offense. Their offensive numbers,

offensive output the last seven days is that of a top 10 offense. And they hit their most home runs since 2009 this month um with 40 they hit 43 in some month in 2009 at 40 this month so the looks like the power's coming around um and they look they just look better like it looks like they're they're starting to be more competitive in the box um and it's good to see i think the offense has started to turn a corner a little bit unfortunately as the offense is turning a corner the pitching staff is falling apart. But nothing's perfect in the baseball season, just like a golf round. So it's the same kind of thing. Just need to

get it all together at the right time. Have everything firing at the right time. Right. Yeah, so I just... It looks like the offense is starting to play well. The weather is heating up. And this team was never built to win games 2-1, so it's nice to see the offense starting to figure some things out.

It's imperative. The only way this team is doing anything this year is if the offense is taking them there. And you need Nola to keep pitching like he's pitched the last few outings and stuff like that, but the offense is what can and has to carry this team if they're going to get anywhere. All right, Fritzie, final thoughts.

My final thought is that Klintzak did a really— I think he's almost been underrated in the moves he made getting Jay Bruce and Brad Miller here. Speaking of Brad Miller. Another homer. Bamboo Brad. Bamboo Brad. He's like 5 for 16 as a Philly or something like that.

Right. 5 for 14, I think. I think he's 6 for 16. Is it 6 for 16? Either way, he's been really good. Really good. I mean, he's just an actually good bench bat that can play multiple positions.

What a crazy thought that is. Right. I read a story by Matt Breen today, a really good piece from Matt, and he was talking about how Brad, he had off-season surgery the last two off-seasons, so he hasn't had a fully healthy off-season until now. Didn't really get a shot coming out of the winter. He only got one.

He had the third highest OPS on the Indians team for letting him go. You saw that when he was let go by the Indians, he actually talked out about it and was like, so clearly they don't want the best players here. I'm one of the best players. It was like a thing. Right. So my final thought is this,

is that they did well finding those underrated assets in Bruce and Brad Miller. Now they've got to find one in the pitching staff. They've got to find a guy that is not mostly wanted by a lot of teams. Well, not mostly wanted, but a guy that has some... The point is they don't have to give up a top-tier prospect for us. Correct. And I have identified one that I think would be interesting. Now, alright. You might not know who he is. You might.

I'll test you. His name is Austin Adams. He's on the Mariners. Austin Adams. It sounds familiar, but I don't know him. Yeah, so he is a 28-year-old journeyman. He was just released from the Nationals earlier this year. Goes to Seattle, and he's a.253 ERA, a.9 whip, and a 15.2 K per nine. What? I know.

I don't think he costs a lot. They've been using him a lot. 15.2? Yeah. He's got a wicked slider. That is serious. Struck out Bregman on a wicked slider. I think he's a guy that should not cost that much.

Yeah, well, you would think. I mean, out of nowhere, this guy. Right, and the Mariners are obviously selling, and whatever, they'll take value. I just think that's a guy that, even if Robertson comes back, I wouldn't hate bringing in a guy like that to help stabilize the bullpen even more. Yeah, they definitely have to add, obviously,

bullpen starting, all that stuff, if they want to do anything. All right, my final thought. We mentioned before Harper maybe getting on a little run and also about Harper being a chip on the shoulder guy. A guy who cares about this type of stuff. Bryce Harper, I'm sure a lot of people saw, it is 199th career home run, 999

career hits. And I just really like the quote he had about it. He said, hopefully I'll hit a ball into the bullpen in the next couple days and my guys can grab it. I've got a ball into the bullpen in the next couple of days and my guys can grab it. I've got a long ways to go to where I want to be, but they're pretty cool milestones. I just dug that. I like that he thinks that way, that he thinks like, yeah, that's a cool milestone, but I want 500 homers.

I want 3,000 hits. I want whatever it is, whatever those numbers are. And obviously 3,000 hits, not happening. But, you know, it seems like, like we said before, it's just an example of Harper is someone who does care about the legacy, cares about this stuff, and I think that's a really good thing for the Phillies, Jack. Agreed. Agreed. So hopefully Bryce has a monster second half and get us to that wild card game.

You're damn right. That's all we need right now. Just get to the playoffs. I'm cool with that. I'm okay. It's been since 2011. Yeah, just give me a playoff game. Just give me a playoff game.

Give me a shot at playoff, Nola. You're damn right. All right, again, one more time, thank you to Jason Ocher. What an awesome guy, awesome interview, and we are very happy to have him with the Philadelphia Phillies. All right, so 40 more reviews, and we'll release it. Otherwise, you're not hearing from us until Monday of next week. So, everyone have a wonderful July 4th. Have a great holiday.

Enjoy it with the family. We'll be back on Monday, and hopefully you'll be hearing the Bryce Harper podcast in between now and then, or hopefully not. Cause I'm fine with it. Never seen the light of day either. So until then, have a wonderful July 4th.

He's Fritz. I'm 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 it's 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