High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Phillies are Like Taijuan Walker - Jekyll and Hyde

Episode Date: May 21, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phils taking two of three vs. the Cubs and more. Presented by Miller Lite. 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

This is the High Hopes podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes podcast. Thank God they freaking won this game edition. I don't know if we'd be here talking to you if they blew that in the end.

We would. But, man, after, like, what if this team already having two five-game losing streaks this season, bounce back the last days. Thank God. After, like, you figure on Friday, all right, they're coming home. You know, they're going to show up. They've lost four in a row. Like, no way they lose this game to the Cubs.

And then they get just demolished. Like, their asses beat on, like, just, oh, my bad Cubs team. And then, you know, did a nice job yesterday and today closing it out. Tywon Walker, like, Jack will hide. I don't know how to feel jack how are you buddy i'm doing all right i gotta be honest i was 24 hours away from being just bad frankly like the last you know winning yesterday was like friday night and it's already happened i think three times this year where i'm just in a dark place with this team where it's just like like really um and obviously the high hopes analytics were obvious

that we were never going to record after the giant series um i mean so clear there was zero chance now if they had won that last game where they came back yeah i've been here but they didn't we texted we were like if they come back we're recording they didn't. That's on them, not on us. We texted. We were like, if they come back, we're recording. They didn't. Because I don't know about how you feel versus how I feel, but I really like talking about the Phillies when they're good. Yeah, you think so? Me too.

And the Giants series was just freaking crushing. And it was just like they made, they made six bad baseball plays in three games, if not more. That's off the top of my head. And it was just like, guys, what do we do? To go from that series, right? To having the off day on Thursday. To Friday

night, okay, you're back home. It's going to be good crowds all weekend. Go up and show up and play. And they just... Thankfully, it was Jill's birthday. Shout out to Jill. So we were at dinner. And I swear to you, James, I swear to you. I am always something.

And this is a me problem. This is a look yourself in the mirror kind of moment for me. Where even when I'm out to dinner you know trying to be present in the moment checking scores trying to find any single way to watch the game i don't think you needed to tell us this i think this was this is a breaking news okay it's not like oh my people are not listening right now i'm being like no way oh my for real is he being serious yeah good i think i think the only way that would have been shocked this story had been so you're not gonna believe this they went out for jill's birthday i didn't check the game once i had no idea what was that like that that would have been unbelievable so

but i like i didn't even check in like we were at the dinner it was the first time we've really been out uh we left uh walker with her mom so like buddy parents and it was that's the funny that's the funniest part of that parents night out is that when you go out after you've had a kid for like a month and a half, two months, all you talk about is the kid, you know what I mean? Which is the funniest development of it all.

But side note, he's the greatest. And he's like my favorite thing that's ever happened. So, but yeah, I was out and, you know, I was like, I'm not gonna, I feel you. But yeah, I was out. And I was like, I'm not going to let them ruin my night. And usually what I do is next morning, I'll rewatch it.

And I was like, no, I'm not doing it. Yesterday, I was pretty despondent. I saw them go up 6-0. And then there was a cool little porch festival happening in westchester so like a bunch of bands are playing and stuff so i was like you know what i'm just they're not gonna they're not gonna let me they're not gonna take over and possibly ruin my weekend so uh again there was 24 hours away from being in a dark spot they blew them out yesterday they won today shout out to bryson stott i mean oh what a especially like like as we all agree and it's there's nothing more annoying these days than martian

stott not being in a lineup against a lefty and i know justin seals tough on lefties but it's like all right man like i get it if like they just need an off day because everyone needs an off day but he does it against like every super tough lefty um but yeah dude to be able to come off the bench in that spot and just just rope it like crush it to left like that i mean that was it was awesome especially after so many miscues early in the game or at least missed opportunities you know i mean obviously the the castellanos you know the harper fly out double play sticks out like just so frustrating man well and clearly just trying to do too much i mean that's that's all that was exactly and like people i was like that can't happen people are like why he's going for whatever i'm like are you like it's a zero zero game and

there are no outs like what are you doing like this isn't this is crazy you know like but whatever like i you know thank god they won that game thank god craig campbell didn't blow at the end he looked good those first two batteries like boom boom i'm like yeah dude that's on me though that's on me because like as soon as he was like bang bang bang, I was like, oh, great. No, I said to myself, is he going to throw an immaculate inning here? Oh, no, you didn't. Yes, I did. I sure did.

And then, by the way, is Christian Morel the most underrated Philly killer of all time? I mean, he's been up for what, like half a year? And he's got like – has to have five homers against the Phillies. Like there's, there's no doubt about it. You've been crushing it lately in general. He's been, well,

anytime, anytime you can keep Eric Hosmer on your opening day roster over Christian Morrell, you just have to do it. I mean, like are the Cubs serious? He's so geese. He's awesome,

dude. I love, I mean, I know like this is hindsight being 2020 that took two or three from the Cubs, but like, I love Christian Morrell. Yeah,

no, I'm with you, buddy, I'm with you, buddy. I'm with you. He's really, really good. All right, let's get into the,

the games we saw as we end. Let's start with the good. I was going to start with the bad, but you know what? Cause, cause they do deserve it because we did like, you know, yes,

they won two or three. Nice job. You know, squeezing it out against the fricking Cubs. You're, you're, you're too hard on the Cubs. I'm just you're you're too hard on the cubs i'm just like you're too hard but you're right the cubs are like a 78 to 82 win type baseball team

they're not horrible like they're they're like fine you're right that is fair um but uh like we'll start with the good because we haven't talked since the giant series too so no but did it happen let's start with i honestly the biggest reason they won today you know stott obviously that the the big hit but but taiwan walker was awesome finally again and it's like this guy's so jekyll and i mean the last one doesn't get out the first inning he gives up four whatever he had the eight you know in three the other time but then like sandwiched between like six innings one run today five and two thirds, no runs. It's, you know, it's frustrating, Jack. It's from, I mean, it was great today, but it's,

it's frustrating, you know, and look, maybe he puts together and get some consistency going and he did pitch in the WBC and I don't love the WBC as an excuse for everything, but, you know, who knows, you know, maybe it is different to have like a different spring training for certain guys or less starts than you would or less work than you would. Who knows? But like, do you look at Walker more the guy who it just is completely inconsistent start to start? Or do you think that that the stuff he did today can build on and be more consistent? Well, first off, the world baseball classic stuff is so funny because like Ronald Acuna is.

Oh, yeah. He's having one. He's like leading the league and everything yeah that's exactly right play the role but i think he's plus 150 the last of my jack for mvp which is insane it's way too early in the season for that but that's insane yeah it is um so my thing with tyler wan is that um like i think he's been pretty good like the last four starts i know like it was a disaster against the Giants. I think what happens a lot with baseball talk and baseball conversation

is that whatever happens the first two weeks of the season define the next couple of months. You know what I mean? I think Stott's bouncing back. But Bowman Marsh hasn't been very good for a long time now. And people are like, well, they're having great years. It's like, well, that's because they're hitting 400 for the first. And Stott, too, before recently.

He's had good at bats the whole time. But as recently as a week ago, his OBP was hovering around 300. It might still be that. I think it's like 320 now. He's about seven game hitting streak. No, he's been much better, but that's the point. You're right. All three of those guys predictably fell off a little bit

from their blazing hot starts. Right. So I think with Walker, beginning of the year, he wasn't great. And he had a bad start against the Giants, and everyone's like, well, there it is. It's like, well, I think he's, is he going to be great? No. Is he going to be pretty good most of the time?

Yeah. Like, I think, I think he's going to throw in some stinkers, you know, it's going to happen when you're, you're dealing with someone that's not as consistent as you would like to say. Cause he had that eight run outing semi recently too. Like it wasn't, you know, I know the start of the season was rough. Then he settled in, but then he had that eight run outing like a week and a half ago or whatever

it was that was tough that yeah well the two bad ones in the last four or whatever yeah well that's a funny part about that's like the bullpen too like if you look at if you look at kimbrough soto sir anthony like all three of those guys i think we have a pretty good amount of faith in but all their earrings are like four or five and above. No, it's hilarious. And it's not like really indicative to how those guys are throwing. It's just like they've had blow up, blow up outing. So, you know, I think it,

and I know this is going to sound simplistic or whatever, but I think it comes down to fastball command form. You know, like if he can locate that fastball then the splitter makes more sense off of it rather than just going to like a ton of splitters or whatever like he has to at least have the the show of i can still spot my fastball when i need to um and today i felt like he threw more cutters which i think is needed um you know i don't think he could just be fastball, splitter, and expect to get a ton of outs.

I think it works for a little bit, but eventually these hitters adjust to it. So maybe it feels like they've kind of ditched that slider. I remember the slider was really good against the Yankees, but they've kind of gotten away from that, and now it's more cutter heavy. So of his repertoire, it seems like they can't figure out what they want to do with them you know i think the splitter thing is there but then it's like okay what's the secondary

pitch do you want to be the cutter do you want to be the slider he threw like one curveball today and i was like i didn't know he had that in his arsenal now it was like a get me over 71 mile an hour curveball wasn't anything that was like gonna rewrite the the history book on pitching but you know i i just it feels like they have a different plan for him every game you know three starts ago was like all right you're gonna be an 80 splitter guy it's like well like for a reliever i understand it for a starter i don't think that works yeah it's not sustainable right so i i just think that maybe they need to get a better feel for who he is as a pitcher um but it feels like to me right now they're very not sure of what they

want out of him which is like a tad annoying from the standpoint of the contract yeah you could add anyone out there and you targeted him well at, at least it wasn't Jason Tyone. Well, that's true. Yes. And look, hey, at least it wasn't Carlos Rodon, at least first year of the contract returns. And, hey, you know, Eflin's been good. But, you know, we know Zach Eflin.

He'll have a heavy body at some point. All right. One more good and then we'll get to some of the bad. a heavy body at some point. All right. One more good. And then, and then we'll get some of the bad, but you know,

look as Saturday game against the Cubs. Now granted a game, they needed to win to stop a losing streak, but you know, maybe not the highest of profile spots, but you know, gets a big lead, holds it 10 strikeouts for Noah,

like actual swing and miss stuff a bit where, you know, we've talked about him pitching to contact seemingly more. What do you think of Nola on Saturday? Very good. Rewatched it this morning. And what I found so interesting is they threw two change-ups. In an entire –

Oh, okay, got you. Only two change-ups in the whole start? In the whole start. So just to show how weird that is – And they were seeing a bat too. an entire era oh okay i got you only two changes in the whole start the whole start like so just to show how weird that is and they were and they're the same at bat too they're the same hold up i thought when you said two change-ups i was about to say like two different kinds of change-ups really explain like he has a new change-up that's what i thought you meant that's how weird like two change-ups at the start doesn't even seem like it's crazy now no that's wild

now they're very right-handed heavy so you know it makes a little bit of sense but still that was surprising to me um now i think if you look at the numbers it's the lowest whiff rate he's ever had on the change-up but also like the numbers are are like the the raw data are pretty good but the i guess maybe behind the scenes, they don't think they're that good. I don't know. But either way, either way. Yeah. The peripherals. Anyway.

Massive sample size so far, too. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so he only threw two change-ups, and they were to the same hitter and the same at bat. So yeah, which is insane my general thought was um i want and this again i i can't prove this but what what what kind of went off in my head was is the change up causing him to have less command on his fastball? Because he threw two of them, but it was also his best fastball command we've seen in forever from Aaron Nola.

Like it was wherever he wanted it. Up, down. I thought it was really fascinating. You know, to righties, it seemed like, okay, we'll try to hit down and away fastball. We'll go up a little bit with a four seamer. And then bang. down and away fastball will go up a little bit with a four seamer and then bang just when it's like you know just when you have a right-handed hitter that's like all right they're they're setting me up outside they're going curveball outside they're going fastball outside like i

can just sit on that pitch i thought he did a great job of just being able to rush guys in on on 92 on the hands and he had a lot of broken bats a lot of ugly swings um so i thought that was an interesting kind of plan and that was something that in watching and knowing the only three two change-ups like is that the kind of plan going forward because his he was able to just dot both sides of the plate which we haven't seen from him i feel like in a while um so i don't think it's going to be the plan going forward you know because i think that chain has been a pretty good pitch for him and against lefties like i don't think it's going to be the plan going forward because I think that chain up has been a pretty good pitch for him and against lefties, I don't know what the out pitch becomes

unless you just want to rely on that two seamer that starts at the hip or starts at the shoulder but other than that, I don't like his curveball at all to lefties so it's going to have to be there the cutter up and in could work but I never trust the cutter. But either way, just something to kind of file away as like,

what if that's something that kind of gets... And he was sitting 94 in the sixth, which I thought was also an important development. So it was one of those... That's a little interesting Aaron Nola start for sure. Look at that. That was some like old school fritzy pitching breakdown analysis right there

good stuff pal I think we'll have a better feel you know Nola big start coming up his first team first time facing the Braves this season which is wild we faced our division like so little this season it is really insane like you know

but regardless what you wanted this is what you and you other fake baseball fans wanted is a balanced schedule i'm not loving it so far that's all i'll say i i might be willing to there is in that opinion um but you know we'll see that's a big one on thursday against race um all right normally i would just stick with you know locked in'll see That's a big one on Thursday against the Braves Alright, normally I would just stick with, you know Locked in Fritz pitching guru guy But if we're going to pivot to the bad As much as I want to talk about Rangers for us And we're going to, like

It would be disingenuous Honestly, the only reason I didn't start the podcast with it Was because I was like, you know what? They won today We're going to talk about some good But, like, cany turner get it together please please man you got an off day yesterday i texted fritz i'm like cycle it's happening today like let's go and she's like comes out strikes out in that first bat like

people again it was a long at bat i know we got the hit late like i just man like i am frustrated and normally i you know we you know me we've done this even last year i wonder how long i went with the castellanos thing i guarantee you is much much farther than i should have with like no no he'll turn it around and if it weren't for that last year i would be saying the same thing about turning like relax he's gonna be fine he's straightiling turner but like now i'm like scarred by that jack that that last year it's like now i feel like you can have it anyone and now cassie house you know again doing great raking again today just like you know like awesome playing with confidence like what's going on jack like how how concerned are you like and and you know compared to last season with Cassianos,

like, is that something that is in the back of your mind? You know, how could it not be? So I think how I generally feel is, like, I have officially reached the point of it's not happening. Like, it's just, just... Until I see any modicum of he's coming out of this... Listen, he smoked the ball on the ninth. I thought that was important.

Yeah, it was. I was such a sucker for... He goes... He spends all yesterday in the cage with Kevin Long and it's like, oh, he's going to come out as a new hitter. Until it happens,

he's just 2022 Nick Cassianos. He's like the Sixers in the second round. Yeah. I'm not giving up on him long term here. No, me neither. He's clearly kind of he gets so down when he gets down

oh one or oh two that i think it's in his head uh he's starting to hear a little bit of the boo birds well yeah that's what's gonna be my next thing to you is that like you know and i saw someone say this on twitter and it's like, you know, there are certain people who respond to that and there are certain people who don't. And we'll see, cause they're coming, man. Like they're coming no matter what anyone says, if, if this continues, there'll be more of them. And I don't know if he's the kind of guy who's going to respond to that or

not, you know? Well, and I think he's someone that just in watching him, seems like someone that puts a ton of pressure on himself, you know, which is a good thing and a bad thing in some instances where you know if we don't put if you put the pressure on yourself then you have then like you let yourself down more you know what i mean where it's so he just kind of looks like that kind of guy which is frustrating i just i don't i don't know my thing with the terror conversation is that like i don't know what you're supposed to do like this is frustrating it's been an annoying start to the

year he's been a great player for a long time you have to bank on getting out of it i don't want to trade him like i don't want to do it it's almost just like you have to wake up and hope that today's the day where it all clicks the the bigger question for me is how long do you stick with him at the number two spot? Yeah. And it would be, it would be annoying having to drop down, stop down to,

or dropping Turner down because, you know, in a perfect world, he's, he's a good number two hitter or even a leadoff hitter. And he's a great, and a perfect world. He's great in those roles. You know, he those roles you know he's a 300 he's a 300

million dollar player so you know like having to drop him down in the lineup would just be would just be brutal um but at the same time he's just killing him right now like he's just absolutely killing him up there so um maybe that that hit in the ninth was something that gets him going a little bit, but man, I don't know what you're supposed to do. I don't. I don't envy Rob Thompson and the Phillies because obviously you want to just keep trotting him out there until he gets it right.

You have to play him. You can give him off days, but he's got to play. It is what it is. I know. I refuse to believe his whiff rate is going to continue to be this bad. I just refuse to believe that 93 is going to continue to be able to beat him. It's unfathomable. But Nick Castellanos couldn't have fastballs when he got here.

Bryce Harper couldn't have fastballs when he got here. I have no idea why. But this is kind of just the the rite of passage uh when it comes to being the big creators on this spot i almost said i i almost said what a bleepy rite of passage i think you figure out it's awful um and it like the it's it's frustrating and i i totally understand the like the the annoyance uh from fans at the ballpark or on social media or on the phone lines because it's like dude you're so much better than this and like it's almost like you just want to shake them and be like be better but that's not

how that's not how sports work um and it's just analysis right there we'll just wake up every day just wake up every day and think hey maybe today's the day well i did i woke up today that's what i did today i woke up today and i texted you and i was like we're gonna be podded about a freaking cycle finally which is also just wishful thinking because i know it's gonna be like some random wednesday night when i want to go to bed the second the game's done i I'm going to have to do it. It's a road game, so it'll be a road game. Yeah, someone in a cycle. Look, I am actually a little more optimistic than you are about it. I do think that he's such a great player and has been such a consistently great player.

Like Harper. Look, Harper struggled when he first got here, too, like you said, against fastballs and just in general offensively. Harper, look, Harper struggled when he first got here too, like you said, against fastballs and just in general offensively. He was a solid defensive player to start and didn't have issues. He was aggressive on the path and all that, but he struggled hitting when he first got here.

And then over the second half of the season, he really did pick it up. It was not like a Cassianos thing. It was Harper was much better in the second half. He wasn't the Bryce we know, MVP Bryce that we saw the next season for the 2021 season, but he was much saw the next season for the 2021 season. But he was he was much better in the second half of that season. So I am hopeful that Turner is going to figure it out because he is a great hitter. And, you know, I think I think they need to start winning some games and kind of take a little bit of the pressure off of everyone in general, and particularly on him. You know, the more frustrating thing for me the, the defensive miscues and all that type of stuff. And, you know, clearly it does feel like this

offensive slump is getting to him across the board and it's kind of getting in his head a little bit. And that, that's the stuff that I get concerned about because then it is much harder to pull yourself out of it, you know, and then it's not just so fix a mechanical tweak and figure it out. It's like, Oh my, my, my my my mental you know i'm not right with what i need to where i need to be to succeed at this really hard game i need to like get it together and figure out like get some some of that mental toughness back so you know it's going to be you know it's frustrating but i also do i do believe in the hitter and you know i i think i think he'll be better. I'll say this.

I'll say this. May and April are his worst months. He's a career 275 hitter in May. There you go. He heats up. And then it goes 303, 299, 324, and 300 in September. Yeah, so look, there are guys who always like that. Mark Teixeira used to be like that.

He always just got him to heat up, and he stunk the first half of the season, was great the second. I mean, Ryan Howard had a lot of seasons like that where he was like uber hot in the second half. But look, I think also it's particularly frustrating because of the WBC thing, and not this case of like that that's what screwed him up more. Just that, you know, we saw him on the national stage hitting all these clutch home runs and

everyone's like, that guy's coming here. And he just hasn't been that guy. And I think that, you know, kind of adds to the frustration of it, you know? Well, he still has more home runs for team USA and more RBI. Like how absurd is that? I mean, that's, that's? I mean, it's just crazy. So what we have to hope for, last thing on Trey Turner, what we have to hope for is that this year is a lot like his 2017 year.

So in 2017, in May of 2017, he batted 239 with a 368 slugging percentage and a 630 OPS. Okay? Then the final three months of the year, he went 298, 774. We'll take that right now. August, he batted 364 with an 1100 OPS. And in September and October, he batted 290 with an 866 OPS. That'd be huge.

And again, it seems like that's a pretty consistent thing. Just like we know, look, it's May 21st, you know, 10 days Kyle Schwarber takes over baseball. Like we know. No, look, I don't want to put pressure on you and Schwarber. But look, Schwarber's been like, he's been exactly the type of player he's always been in April and May too. Like if you want to use that as a reference point,

like Kyle Schwarber in his career, it's very similar. If you look at his, his reference splits or whatever, he's like his batting average in April. May is always in the ones. Like it just is career wise. And then he takes off and he's actually had a lot more power early as season.

He did last year. I mean, the 11 homers is legit. And that one yesterday, such a clutch one. Plus they showed the stat today. I couldn't believe he's like seventh in the NL and walk percentage this season so like he is you know especially with the start he had where it felt like he even walked for the first like you know 10 games of the season practically so you know i

think that's pretty impressive i think there's signs for for some positivity i think the before we get back to ranger and then we'll get to the take bag and stuff um i do think the thing though that you know offensively to talk about because i do think there's signs of positivity with Schwarber and potentially being able to go on some of those streaks where he carries the team. And JT's been much better since we were really worried about him earlier. And they're getting some contribution. Like, Emundo's still solid.

Castellano's still hitting. I think, like Stott did i think foam's gonna kind of get back to to water finds its level marsh where they're not as good as they were starting the season but they're gonna not be as bad as they've been the last month or whatever you know well especially when nicky's doing what he's doing out in la oh buddy come on man go on but but what do you make like is there anything to and obviously we haven't talked since that giant series and that was a big part of it but like this you know continuous runs uh where this team this season is like put up you know mind-bendingly horrible stats with runners

in scoring position or just runners on base in general and was the number like one for 45 or something over a stretch there during that losing streak like like what is that because i always say like all right they'll figure out they're too good at hitters but like but it's like one for 45 i'm like what do i do with that like how do what do i do with that you know well the thing with the runners scoring vision thing is that um obviously when the numbers start getting that bad and they start hearing about it whether it's post game whether it's on social media then just like hopefully we got like when jt got out yesterday with the bases loaded and it was like schwarmer's coming up there was a grand slam was the the last thing that i thought was going to happen there you know we all did we all did so well that's like today

when cassianos got thrown in third someone I tweeted you cam and someone responded like, eh, they would have straightened them on second. Anybody who cares. And it's like, yeah, you're right. That's fair.

Like I can't argue that, you know? Yeah. So I think eventually starts getting into their heads, which is annoying. But it's almost like you just have to wait for it to break. You know, I know that's simple, but you have to just wait for it to find its level

and then hopefully they get on a run with it and they start to get comfortable doing it. Well, guys will get hot. Guys will start to... Harper will carry this team for a stretch, or at least is the idea, right? Harper will carry this team for a stretch. Schwerber will carry this team for a stretch.

Turner, hopefully in the second half, can do some of the stuff we were just talking about and carry the team at times. So, like, you know, I do that. Yeah, well, he's already doing it. He gets no rips. Like, I think it's somewhat fluky, and to your point, can somewhat snowball on teams.

And I don't think that just because it's been that way up until this point in the season means that it's going to be that way the rest of the season but it is to the point made before just when you see those numbers you're like all right well well it's just it's like when they it's like when the bullpen used to come in when they had a lead a couple years ago where it's like well how are they gonna mess this one up this isn't gonna work out yeah yeah yeah which is not even the players we talked about you could see like bryce harper they would go to the bullpen you'd see him like slump his shoulders

slumping right because he's like all right here we go yeah yeah it was not a fun place to be in as a uh as a fan so you know i don't know like there's nothing you can do about it like what do we do that like situational baseball practice like we're back in we're gonna play 27 outs you know like we're back in little league or whatever they they just gotta figure it out What are we going to do? Situational baseball practice? We're going to play 27 outs? We're back in Little League or whatever? They just got to figure it out. I don't know. The strikeout numbers have been annoying.

It feels like they're striking out a ton. Especially Turner, as you pointed out. He's been up 27% or something. Other than his rookie year, he's never been above 20. He's at 27%. He's nuts, man. Awesome. That's great., others rookie year. He's like never been above 20. Like he's at 27% nuts, man. Awesome. That's great.

Love, love to be here. Awesome. Love to be here. So yeah. Yeah. Um, so like,

I don't know. I, I just think that eventually they'll break through. They won't be that bad. They're pretty good with, with in that situation last year. So, um,

and they had a trade turner which is supposed to bleed you know yeah it's not worked out yet so i don't know uh it's it's the worst like not being able to score runs when you have it's the most frustrating thing in the world it's that and a bad bull but it's such a great comp by you because those are like the two most frustrating things to have a team that either can't protect a lead or teams that can't score runs with their runners on base. Like it's like the two most annoying things. Well,

especially when a team's is talented offensively, like there's no way that should be happening because they have enough guys and they're also not hitting enough home runs in general to kind of make up for not getting those hits. Of course not. Of course not. Of course not. Like before,

uh, no, I was, it before the cup series or Saturday morning, I forget. getting those hits? Of course not. Of course not. Before the Cup Series or Saturday morning, I forget. I looked it up. They're batting 239 in May. They have a 23% strikeout rate which was 7th in baseball. They had 12 home runs which was 6th worst in baseball.

You go up and down the lineup and it's like, that can't happen. That can't happen. Especially with the way the pitching staff is going right now, you can't have your offense. I'm with you.

It's how 08 was. You got to pick up your teammates. That's like in any sport. If it's an NFL team and your defense is sucking on that Sunday, guess what? Offense got to pick up your teammates like that's like, you know, like in any sport, if it's an NFL team and your defense is sucking on that Sunday, guess what? Offense got to pick up the slack like that. That's how it works. Or, you know, John, again, it's your coordinator. Offense always has to pick up the slack.

All right. You know, just why don't you throw Ranger into the take bag? Let's get to the take bag. But but I want to hear your thoughts on Ranger and his outing on Friday because it was frustrating, but also he's working his way back. But I think the thing that really stood out there is

the lack of command from Ranger where that's obviously his hallmark, and I don't know if that's just working his way back in, but what did you think of Ranger's outing on Friday that obviously turned into a disaster game once? Shout out Slider guy. Tough outing on friday that obviously turned into a disaster game once you know shout out slider guy tough outing for our guy slider guy didn't watch it don't know what happened so uh it was not well it's funny he's still great he had a he had a strikeout where

it was like you know a couple like six sliders and i was like oh slider guy and then it was like off a cliff from there. He's nervous. He's nervous. So in watching Ranger, it's almost like I know the command thing is there. Clearly not like where it should be. But I wonder if the new plan for teams against Ranger is make them get into the strike zone like if it if it's a ball out of hand don't even don't even swing at it um because then watching the cubs uh you know at bats and watching how they were attacking them it was like anything that was close or around the corners didn't even swing at like didn't even look like they're attempting to swing it and it looked to me like they're waiting force him to get in the zone and if he gets in the zone then

you were able to hit him whereas what makes ranger good is obviously he has good command both sides of the plate whatever but he also gets guys to chase on the change up he gets guys to chase uh outside the zone on his on his sinker the curve ball's not there yet but what they're doing this year to him is either trying to get him up you know because he's a guy that tries to live with the knees and saying okay if it's down we're not even taking a swing at it because it's not worth it for us um and and now they're trying to force him to get in the zone. And then when he's in the zone and he's up, obviously his sinker is not going to be as good because it's going to flatten out.

His changeup is not going to be as good because it flattens out. So I don't really know how you combat it other than you make quick worker guys and they have to expand the zone or he has to get corners. But that looks to me like the new plan of attack against Rangers Suarez. make quick worker guys and they have to expand the zone or he has to get corners. Um, but that looks to me like the new, the new plan of attack against Rangers words. And frankly, I think it's pretty smart,

you know, force them in the zone. Don't chase, you know, if it's down, let it go. Um, and,

and bring him up into the strike zone because when it's tough as up, everything flattens out and they take advantage of it. Yeah. All right. Well, hopefully I can, you know, well,

I mean, look, that can be combated by pinpoint control and that can be combated by throwing pitches that they think is going to be out of the strike zone and is on the edges of the strike zone or whatever you know so you know we'll see but um you know hopefully it's not a uh a cheat code against yeah i picked him up in like every fantasy league and used a waiver claim on him so hopefully not either yeah all right uh that's the reason you're right. By the way, your boy, not your boy bet. The Phil's minus one and a half today.

Like, so, you know, sweet. Thanks for that. Homer Craig Kimball. All right. Um,

what else you got to take back? Um, so, so they claimed Dylan Covey off waivers. How's that make you feel? Ever. How's that? Start the game on Tuesday. take the over whatever it is take

the over but hold it down it's not great because then we got zach gallen on wednesday so you know aware well aware so the rotation current concerns are are a real thing um you know especially with the fifth spot essentially being up in the air. The funny part about the rotation problems right now is that I think Wheeler and Nola are on their way back to being good. Potentially very good. So that's obviously very important. But when you don't know what you're getting out of Tylan Walker, when you don't know what you're getting out of Ranger Suarez, and Dylan Covey is currently your fifth starter uh certainly not a good spot to be in and believe

me i i know how hard it is to make a trade right now um but like and and i like that the other day said that they're exploring it and teams seem like they're open to doing it they gotta like what like dylan covey can't be the answer like there needs to be something so um you know i've been a proponent of trading for lance lynn even though he's currently ruining my fantasy team uh just like you know i have to just like with the chance that you can figure him out he's he's on an expiring contract they're already 14 games under under 500 i don't know what his value is going to even be in the deadline. You give

up whatever to go get him now and just see if you can work on his arsenal and whatnot. He gets back to being one of the best pitchers in baseball. Whatever. Outside of that, I know that the bigger name guys, you're just going to wait until the deadline because there's no point to trade him now. Whatever. To me, the best path going

forward is Griff McGarry. He's in AA right now. He pitched two and two thirds the other day and struck out five which was enticing um but like i want griff just from the standpoint of i think he can open a game and i think he can give you a solid three four and then you can hand over the bullpen rather than whatever the plan is now with giving you know dylan covey a shot or chris sanchez or bringing bailey back up like at least with griff you bring him up and there's the upside that as he gets rolling he can turn into something and i think that... He just has the best stuff of those guys, without a doubt, is the point, you know?

Yeah, and you told him, hey, Griff, give us three innings of your maxed up, and then we'll figure it out from there, and then we'll work it out. Or whatever, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean, he's coming back from an injury right now, which obviously stinks. But, like, he shouldn't be in AA that long.

He could get big lead hitters a that long. Um, his, he, he could get Billy hitters out right now. He's 24, 25 at this point. Like I, I, I like Mick Abel.

I understand not bringing up. He's 21. He's still walking. A lot of people, um, you know, fastball command isn't there yet with Griffin McGarry. Like just bring them up and see how it goes.

Like it might be that spark. You're starting Dylan Covey. Yeah, and this team needs a spark somewhere. You can't fire the manager this year. You can't fire him. Nor should you, despite he's been frustrating at times, but nor should you. So they need something to kind of jumpstart him.

We're not going to talk about that series anymore, but how do you not punch Josh but Josh Harrison in that game, he came back and then ended up loot. Like, how do you not like, what are you doing? What are you doing in that spot? All right.

All right. Anyway. Well, and then to make matters worse, Gabe Kapler had a Joey Bart who no way he should be able to bunt, get a bunt down. And then there's three and 12 against Kapler since he's left.

Like there's three and 12 against Kapler. I mean, whatever. Alright, back to the point you were making. I'm right there with you. I actually think, I'm happy they're looking, and we've said for a while, we've both said, like, make the trade now. You know, like, kind of no matter what happens, you hope

Painter is, you know, able to contribute at some point, but you got, you don't have a fifth starter that you can count on in any way, shape, or form. If you're saying, let's hope the 19-year-old who has had some elbow issues this early season comes back in July and saves the season, that's a horrible strategy.

That's like an icing on the cake hope. They're going to have to go get someone. And we got to hope Ranger is better. We got to hope Taiwan's better like all that stuff and obviously nolan wheeler are back to where we hope they are you have to for all that stuff it's all hope in a lot of ways there but but you can't uh you know leave this fifth starter thing the way it is that much longer you know you just can't and the trade deadline is still two months away over two months away like can't do that you can't do that you can can't do that. You could fall too far.

And look, I know that, you know, they are lucking out because the NL is pretty kind of clumped up there outside of, you know, of course, the freaking Braves and the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, actually, and the Diamondbacks, you know, not that many games above. But, you know, everyone's kind of the same, everyone other than some bad teams. So, you know, a lot of the teams in front of the Phillies

aren't teams you worry about long-term, like the Pir pirates, the Marlins, whatever, but you never know. Um, but the point is you can't just keep losing games. You can't keep giving away games when if you're ultimately in for this season and you're going to trade for a pitcher at the deadline anyway, like, you know what, I'm okay overpaying a little bit to get that extra two months of starts from that picture, you know? So there's, you know, I think this team really has to consider being aggressive here with this spot. Cause I'm right there with you.

Cause I think, you know, we think the offense will get better and, and you know, like, yes, it's not ideal that, that your Reese Hoskins isn't coming back,

but you know, Derek Hall come back, who knows there's other opportunities potentially there where some guys can step up and they have enough talent offensively. And, and I think, you know, even though there've been hiccups, I think both of us, as we've talked about many times, feel good, especially with Strom back there. About the bullpen over the span of the season and moving forward, it really comes down to that spot. Like that's the spot.

That's the biggest Achilles heel on this team is the three, four, five starters on this team. And two of them, you just got to hope they get better. And once you'll come back from injury and we'll see, but like that fist spot, ain't going to get better, not in the, anytime in the near future. And you can't afford to ride with Dylan Covey or Christopher Sanchez, or even like, look, give, give Griff a shot, but like you can't Griff probably can't be the long-term solution there either. So I'm right there with you. I think they really need to make a trade.

And the struggle of this all is that maybe teams don't want to do it right now. And that's like a very fair... There's a problem, yeah. Yeah. So you'd have to meet what they want or give up a little bit more and i'd be curious to see if they want to do that um the teams that are willing to trade now have more leverage because of that because you know exactly so go ahead so in the meantime i give griff a shot to see how i appreciate that yeah no problem at all um nice if you to give him a shot all right i'm just like i'm so sick and tired of having to

hear like older baseball people continue to complain about the pitch clock and like every little thing that goes wrong it's like oh well i thought there wasn't a clock on baseball thing it's like can we not understand that it's been a big win for the sport? It is save the game. It is save the sport. I think it's the most important thing that baseball has done maybe in my lifetime, like certainly in the last 20 years. Like, shut up. That is my official take to anyone who is bitching about it.

Like when we get to the playoffs we can discuss it again and see how that goes that's a different beast but stop i just want people to get over it like listen so obviously in a perfect world you would love for pitchers to get up on the mound and go throw and whatever and and move the game along but they weren't doing it. They weren't doing it. They were slowing it down, and it's all being slowed down for no reason. It's like, I'm sorry it hasn't been perfect from day one, but every little thing that goes wrong, it's like, oh, well, you'd think they had this ironed out. Can you just look at what it's done from a positive standpoint?

Attendance is up. Ratings are up like people are talking about the game i feel like i see national like sports people talking about the game way more than they did before like all of it it wasn't going to correct itself and i know that's been the the long you know gripe against these kinds of things. Like, well, the game police is itself. Well, it didn't from this aspect. So like, oh my gosh, every single little thing.

It's like, well, does we, as shut up, just shut up. Like, this is why people hated baseball for like 10 years, because these old broadcasters would be like,

well, this is awful. Like this is why I even pay attention. Just, well, this is awful. Why even pay attention? Just enjoy it. Okay? Oh my god. It's awful. Anyway. Outstanding take. I couldn't agree more. It's just like

every second you get, you're going to complain about it. Buddy, I'm with you. It's been an overall win. I'm sorry it hasn't been perfect. I'm sorry it's not the 80s. Anyway. We agree. Bryce and Stott has made a clear adjustment to pull the ball in the air more,

which has been a positive kind of move here. And there's been – he's had a couple home runs in the last week. Yeah, the one in Colorado out there, and then that one was Colorado, right? No, it was the Giants. It was the Giants in San Francisco. Either way, I'm with you. It was noticeable. noticeable yeah he's trying to pull the ball in the air which is a which is an important development for him you know because he does that's probably the only real home runs he's gonna hit yeah he's both side with power he's not i'd be surprised let's put it

that way if he hits an opposite field home run where it's like a tank shot. So him developing into early in counts, okay, I'm going to take this and drive it, pull side, and then late in counts, I'm just going to flick it the other way, is a good plan, in my opinion, for him. And then, obviously, the final thing here, which I know, given your current state and how much you would like to go to bed,

and I'm sorry in advance, but it's almost that time, buddy. My first big board for the Phil's is the first round pick in July. Yep. Yep. All right. Go ahead. Just don't stretch it out. Emily has a big work project tomorrow, due tomorrow.

So the quicker I can get her to work, the better for me. This is important. This is important. This is important. Go ahead. I will not comment. Just do your thing and do it for me. It's only a couple names, Dave. Shockingly, only

one pitcher. That is shocking. They need hitters. Yeah. First off, I'm just getting into it now like it's been it was late to draft talk this year but walker happened and i'm just i i've now obviously it also enhances when the phillies are playing bad i started thinking about the draft so i've been in a bad spot the last couple of days and and that's why i had to start digging deep into this.

So obviously the first name that I want is Kevin McGonigal. I understand he's a second baseman. I don't really care. He's from here, and his favorite player is Jay Sutley. So, like, I need him so bad. And, like, he's being projected to be picked, like, five picks before the Phillies, which is just soul crushing right now. Yeah.

Okay. Good. Kevin McGonigal is, is he's from Bonner. So in the pride of Rob Ellis and, and, and whatever. Actually,

I'm not going to talk. Good. 28. Okay. So it's not 30 is the point. No, 29. I mean,

29. Okay. Good. Sorry. The second guy I want is Yohani Morales, who is a third baseman from Miami who hits absolute tanks. There's a bit of swing and miss there, but hit over 400 last year

in the ACC. I need him to also be a Philly. Colt Emerson is a shortstop slash third baseman that has good bat-to-ball skills. Him and McGonigal are very, very close. So if they don't end up with McGonigal,

Cole Anderson's a good, solid value pick. Hurston Waldrop is just, like, obviously the most raised guy of all time. Like, he's disgusting. But, like, he has no idea where it's going most of the time. Either way, Shrek's had a ton of people from Florida. If you believe in your pitching development,

he is someone they should be all over. Dylan Head, I believe, could be the next Michael Harris. A center field prospect that has much better batting. Although, Justin Crawford is batting 317 right now. So watch out. Dylan had a lot of the draft line analysts like him. So I'm all in.

Colin Houck is a shortstop. It's a shortstop that I think projects to be a third baseman. Just a beautiful swing. Just a beautiful, beautiful swing. Colin Houck is a name that I am all over and would love for the Bills to bring home on July 9th. And could that be the best shortstop in the class, Alter, if you don't believe me.

And then my final name on my current big board, maybe I'll think of some more. My final name on my big board for 1.0, as we say it, and I don't think he's going to be there, but if he's there, obviously Matt Shaw, which I know you're a huge fan of. Maryland Terp. Maryland Terp shortstop.

Also, the university record holder for home runs. Hits tanks. That is the big board number one, but I cannot wait to get into Draft Talk. I was watching the perfect game, All-American Classic, with Walk yesterday.

There were two Walkers in it. And I said, listen, buddy, study. Study up right now. So it's going to be – now, it does suck having the 28th pick. If the Phillies could win the World Series and also pick top 10, it would be a good time to be me. We've talked about this a million times. Yeah, God forbid.

Yeah, all right. That was fun, buddy. All right, that was your final thought. It counted. Big week this week is the real final thought. Well, it's a big three series for this team. That's what I mean. They got three against the Diamondbacks, which is huge.

And then four against the Braves in Atlanta is serious. You know? Gotta be honest, not looking forward to it. I just don't want to do it again. I don't want to be back in Atlanta. I have very little hope. But you know, let's get

through the Diamond bags first. We'll talk on Thursday after that series and we'll see where we're at from a, uh, uh, unless they lose three straight to dime bags, then we will not talk on Thursday. So, okay.

Okay. All right. Uh, until then, he's bred himself.