High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The State Of The Phillies

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies trade deadline moves, the Yankees sweep and Bryce Harper's recent struggles. 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

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Yo, it is another edition of the I Am Spodcast sponsored by Miller Lite, official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies, Tastes Like Miller Time, Celebrate Responsibly Philadelphia. Hey, buddy. Yeah, so when this stuff happens, and I think we're all annoyed. Yeah. It's gotten to the point where it's no deal. Now it's like, I don't think that what is happening now means that they can't get it together in the playoffs

and be the best team in October. We know all that works. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Exactly. 2022, they stunk until the playoffs. But like, enough. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Exactly. 2022. They stunk until the playoffs. And then when I, but like enough, enough.

All right. Well, honestly, can I be honest? I actually worry about you more than anyone in these situations. Cause I know that like, you're not very rational or logical with how you react to what's happening with this baseball team.

So like, are you in a dark place right now? Are you doing okay? Well, so it's a bit of a two-prong question per usual like again like i guess it's all relative right so like yeah you gotta have a lovely family a nice kid everything's good everything's great got a job like life could be much worse so that's all real life's fine you know know what I mean? But like fake life, not great. So,

and it's, and I literally, I have had the same conversation. So obviously I drive a lot because they live far away and I'm in the car and I've legitimately had like four different conversations, more than four of like, what? With myself. Yeah.

I just want to clarify that important kind of, cause you have many people could talk in there. Or you've called me from the car for, cause you're in the car so long. Yeah. But you know what I realized? I stopped calling people cause people stopped picking up. It's like,

you know, sometimes you pick up the GD phone. All right. It's okay to talk on the phone. So the point is, yeah, thanks Boomer. So the point is you've taken to talking to yourself.

Well, I have internal conversations. Yeah have i have internal conversations almost every day i sometimes i a large portion of times i just turn i sit there in silence oh my god yeah and and like i'm like i keep saying to myself why are you you're sad. Like you're so sad right now. And I'm like, I know, I know, but I tell me something I don't know. Thanks Jack. I know. I can't like, I don't know how to not care so much. I don't have, I, I am very mature in a lot of ways, not mature, like absolutely not.

I cannot, I don't, I'm'm not this is not what i like at all so like flummox well because it's like on one hand i say it doesn't really matter how they're playing right now they could easily turn it back on and be fine on the other hand i watch these games now yesterday like i, I'm not too down today because if they rolled over and died yesterday and lost 4-0. Yeah, they fought. Or lost 7-0 or 10-1 or whatever

it could have been after that grand slam start. Yesterday, to me, was more like Rob Thompson stopped bringing Jose Ruiz into a one-run game. What was that? What pisses me off about it is that you lose Monday, you get bludgeoned like a game started by zach wheeler ends with garrett stubbs on the mound i don't think that's how it was drawn yeah it's not gonna happen too often i would guess i would say and then tuesday

happens and i was there and it had a playoff feel to it like it did like i think they wanted to win that obviously they want to win the game but like you had an extra little oomph surrounded by yankees fans like you've had yankees fans come down here you've had the first night you get absolutely torched you have tuesday night where it's a back and forth affair it is like tight late and the yankees find a way just to steal one from you on your home turf more of a coin flip game didn't really play very well it got kind of bailed out by a wild pitch and a good read by johan roas like how about we treat game three like hey let's have a nice road trip to seattle or a nice flight to seattle and not be miserable and at least escape with a freaking win and i don't need the white flag lineup i don't need jose ruiz in a one run game when you have Kirk Green could have come

into that spot. You could have used guys, used Jose Ruiz, and it's not like he was well-rested. He's your worst reliever. There's too many times when they're down by one. It's like, well, if we win, we win. If we don't, we don't. That's a game yesterday where it's like, no, let's push

it a little bit. Go take a game from the Yankees. And had they brought someone else in, they'd probably win yesterday. So, yesterday I was more mad at Rob Thompson than I was at the team. I thought they fought well. And obviously, Harper's in the middle of the worst slump. Yeah, and look, Harper will get to it. But, I mean, you can't swing at the first pitch there and just run into double play. I mean, now, and I know that he's struggling and all that.

But, like, having approached the plate a little bit. They have gone. I don't know. I mean, Bryce, this is the most loss he's ever been as a philly in terms of just for you know 30 a bad stretch but he has never looked this bad for six rankings yeah and a lot of these guys are doing with the first pitch nonsense though that's what i mean like there's no approach from this team and and i go back to the rob thompson point you just mean and i think it's team wide but but particularly we saw saw it yesterday with Topper's decisions and lineup and all that. But this team, it felt like all season long, they came into the season with this goal. All right, we're going to start hot.

We're going to win the division. We're going to win the World Series. This is the year. Let's go. And you used to say this, every pod, and I loved it. It feels like this team takes losing personally. It feels like every game they go out there, they're like, we're not losing today. No matter who we're playing, no matter what point of the season is, we ain't losing. And I have not felt that vibe from this team for weeks. And then I think Topper, like same thing yesterday, was that vibe was like, you know what?

We'll see what happens. Got a road trip coming up. Like, let's go out and play some baseball. It's been a little bit of, it's been a little bit of a feel of a cruise control. Put off the gas. Big time. Because, so, I guess if I wish they were just playing better

when they decided to do it. Like, I'm fine doing some of the cruise control things. Me too. Me too. Get ready for the playoffs. But they're just not winning. They're playing horrible. We talked about, I mean, I brought up a couple times.

I mean, in 2022, again, they had to push for it because they were down by seven. So they were, like, really grinding to get into it. they were down by seven, so they were really grinding to get into it, but they sat Ranger, they sat Wheeler, they sat Alvarado, they sat Sir Anthony, but that's kind of what they're doing now. Ranger, we'll see what's happening with the back. It doesn't seem too

bad. Yeah, but it feels like a give them a rest thing. Yeah, but between that and between, we'll get into the trade deadline, but it was a little bit of like, prices were high yeah so yeah and then the lineup yesterday and then some of the managing decisions and the like again i hope it works but my my one fear my one fear with the the cruise control we're fine we're it's like first off hard to break out of that it's hard to break out of it which i don't want i don't want to be like, oh, bleep.

We're two and a half games up on the Braves or Mets, and we got to kick it back in high gear, and then they just can't do it. Totally. And they're only six and a half games up. I know. And seven on the Mets. Like, they're like six and a half and seven on the Braves and Mets.

It's like right there, dude. And here's what I don't. And by the way, for the first time in whatever it is months we start a podcast without the best record in baseball like people can't say it which was getting annoying oh yeah like enough already yeah but like they don't anymore today the Cleveland Guardians we wake up with them having the best record so like you know I mean that's where we're at and on one hand it's like I'm actually happy happy. Like, I'm happy that we can't use that anymore. I hope the team can't use that anymore.

That was getting so annoying. The best record in baseball. Yeah. All right. Enough. How they play does matter. They also are 21 and 20, whatever, four or something. They've been the second worst team in baseball since the All-Star break.

The only team that's worse is the White Sox, who haven't won a game. It's awesome. I know. I know. So, yeah. Now, but I hope that that's something that kind of wakes them up. And yesterday, again, had they lost 4-0, had they just rolled over, I think I would be slamming the panic button.

Just slamming it. I probably would have canceled the pod, frankly, if they rolled over. Us not recording after a sweep like that? I feel like we're always there. I will say, good job by us. We've been great a sweep like that, I feel like we're always there. I will say good job by us. We've been great this year. Honestly, this is like we brought it now. They've been great for most of the year.

But like this was a spot where pretty much every year of the podcast like this pot is not happening today. It's just not. Yeah. So listen, we're not big pat ourselves on the back guys. We're recording this podcast. Because listen, we showed up to talk to each other. right we did we did the state of the phillies man it's the state of the phillies so had they rolled over and died yesterday i would be absolutely

furious but like they fought like i thought we saw the team closer closer to the team the team we've seen a majority of the season i think that's that was annoying about the yankee series there's a lot of things annoying about it, but I felt like they, they got bullied and pushed around, around. I think the fan base a little bit. I mean, it's not like we had much to cheer about,

but the Yankees fans were here and they were, they were present. Like some of the pitching, I thought they were scared of, of the Yankees. Like the Strom situation, like Strom has been aggressive. I thought he was a little hesitant.

Obviously Wheeler. Like I thought they were like, oh man, these's been aggressive. I thought he was a little hesitant. Obviously, Wheeler. I thought they were like, oh man, these guys are huge. You know what I mean? These guys are really big. The Phillies need to get the confidence and the swag back that they had the first two and a half months, three months of the season where it's like, we're the best team in baseball and we're going to go prove that.

I feel like against the Yankees, there's a little bit of, a little bit of, those guys are really good. And I don't like that. Which is crazy, considering coming into the series, the Yankees were like 10-23 or whatever it was in their last 33, or whatever that number was coming in. The Yankees heading into Friday night against the Red Sox were 20-27. Yeah.

I mean, they've been really bad. So, you know, the Yankees got right coming in to play the phillies that's not the way it's supposed to work and look it is what it is but i mean when when jazz chisholm has the series he has and and that's a guy they could have moved and whether it moved for and whether or not you know we'll get to the trade down line in a sec but like it like it's impossible not to think about it when he's bitten bombs it's like well that guy could have been on our team so he's playing third base he hasn't played where it's impossible not to think about it when he's pitting bombs. It's like, well, that guy could have been on our team. Especially when he's playing third base. He hasn't played where it's like,

yeah, sure, I'll play third base. Like, not a team guy. Like, okay, look at this, you know? So, like, you can't help think about it. It's frustrating. It's not like Austin A's had a bad series. You know, he was actually one of the better Phillies in the series, offensively, at least.

Well, you could add both. That's my point. You could have both. You could have Jazz in center. You could have Martian, Ways, and Latunian left. And let's roll point you could have both you could have jazz in center you get martian ways and latunian left and let's roll you know yeah and and he does i mean granted it was one series

bit of a bright lights player i think so too that's why i kept saying if you get him here like he's been stuck with the marlins like this dude like he's got something and and it seems like he's fitting pretty well already with the yankees that's yeah well yeah again one home run should not count there's garrett stubbs He's got something. And it seems like he's fitting pretty well already with the Yankees. Yeah. Well, yeah. Again, one home run should not count.

It was Garrett Stubbs. Yeah, I agree. I agree. But that, I mean, to your point, the game that you were at, I mean, that was a massive homer. That was a big boy home run. For July 30th, it really did feel like the end of the season. When he hit that, it was like.

What's more frustrating is I know they battled yesterday and they came back in that one and then, you know, lost the lead and then they were still fighting but like i haven't had that feel that i used to have for the first three months of the season or whatever where it's like two and a half months where it's like when they're down i i just believe they're gonna come back i believe they're gonna be in this game win this game and i know they fought back in these games but at no point in either of the last two games did I actually, in my gut, believe they were going to win. Yesterday was the first time where I was like, I think they could do this. Every other game, I agree with you.

The moment where it really hit me was against the Guardians, where Alvarado gave up the home run to make it 4-3. And I was like, no. I had that then. I had it with the Chisholm one on Saturday. I'm sorry, in game two. They did tie it up. I know, but I still didn't think they were going to win even when they tied it. Again, what a brutal way to lose.

I was texting Jack. I'm like, I can't believe I'm awake right now. I'm watching this. He didn't get home until 12. I didn't think about that. It's all good. It was a fun night at the ballpark. It is so funny.

So I was there with my Yankees fan friend. And he's not from here. He's from Williamsport. Okay. So it's like, you know, I'm not hanging around with frauds. Okay. So, but he, the first thing he said was, where's the count? Where's the velocity?

Yep. He's like, I know I can't find it meanwhile again like horizontal breaks right there vertical right there mbrs baby and mbrs expected woba it's again simplify it yeah but they're probably not going to listen to it no i don't even though again even though we i feel like i've not heard one person like every single person i've heard talk about this not that i've heard everyone talk about Every single person I've heard talk about this, not that I've heard everyone talk about it, but every person who has brought this up

is 100% in agreement with us. I've not heard one person say, I like it. Not one. I've not talked to one person about this. And I've probably, I don't know, 50 people I've talked to this about. Final point before we get back to the state of the Phillies. You can't tell when you're in the stadium

how much the ball's moving. It's so pointless. It's just so pointless. The vertical and horizontal break. you can't tell when you're in the stadium, how much the ball's moving. Like, like the, the, it's so pointless. It's just so pointless. The vertical and horizontal break on TV. I kind of get sure. Sure. You want to do a little pitching ninja stuff?

Sure. Just put like, if you're at the ballpark, it's like literally. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I can't tell if it's a strike or ball,

any of it. Like, especially if you're in certain seats, like you have a 0% chance. 0% chance. Well, that's one of my, you're into the seats. You have a 0% chance. 0% chance. Imagine you're in the 421. It's like, well, thank God. It's one of my favorite things at a baseball game.

You're in 421, and people are going like, oh, it was a strike! Yeah, I know. It's like, oh, we probably have no idea. Yeah, no, it's the best. The baseball fans at the game are hilarious.

Yeah. They was just, how do you, why do you think that's right? Okay. How do you know? You're looking at it from the side. Yeah.

So, um, I, we had good seats. So it's, it's, it's always crazy being like close to a baseball game. Like it's right out.

Guys are huge balls. Like I'm moving a million. Also, I can't believe like there was a net debate about like oh my god it's like what were we doing here like people would die like especially how fast the balls are coming off the bats these days without faster coming into the bats like someone would have died by without a doubt like like especially everyone's on their phone so many few people are looking like i've had foul balls that go like kind of near me and i'll look around there be half the people

like don't even notice the ball came over their head. I'm like, what are you doing right now? Full disclosure, there is a foul ball that was close to me. Probably the closest I've ever been to a foul ball. Wasn't real. Oh, no. That's not even close. I didn't even stand up.

I portray myself as a baseball player. I should be protected you know I was like disappointed I was like I should probably stand I was saying to myself like I should probably stand up but I look at this point I'm just gonna let it yeah

so was not was not ready you know they say fight or flight there was no fight sadly there's no flight probably a good day if family's ever in trouble you're just gonna sit there and take it yeah There is no fight. Sadly, there's no flight either. Probably a good day. If the family's ever in trouble. You're just going to sit there and take it.

Shut down. Everything just shut down at one moment. It's not good. Where's Jack? He's in a ball in the corner. He's just sitting there. Do you want to move? No.

Don't know what to do. Not just do what I want to. I can't. I can't move. Yeah, exactly. Don't know what you want me to do. The fight or's not doing that what's happening right now guys can't feel a thing again maybe maybe the baseball team is playing better fight or flight would be back in but fight or flight's dead you're so dead inside yeah dude again i just i literally i've just i've just found depressing music and the new Zach Bryan album's perfect.

It's like the office when, are you an office guy? Yeah, like I never watched it. When he gets dumped by Carol and then he just sits in his office and he's playing the clip of the song over and over again. He's like, why don't you play the full song? He's like, I just want to tape it. No, she'll send me an office clip the other day because she's pregnant and she's not feeling well. She's almost

in the first trimester. Hopefully this whole thing turns, but it's Michael coming home and Jan is laying there. It looks like she's dead. He's like, this is what I do it for. She's like, this is... I was like, man. This is why I do it.

This is why I do it. Yeah. Jill is not very sympathetic i would say to what i'm going through yeah like every day i'm like phil's lost and she's like yeah well she's like i threw up five times all right could not care less buddy i basically felt like i've had a flu for two months so that's horrible thanks for well thank you ladies for what you do yeah thank you thank you big wife guys yes big wife guys that's horrible oh thanks for well thank you ladies for what you do yeah thank you thank you big wife guys yes big wife guys that's right big wife guys right yeah she's got a smile that's good we didn't yeah that was nice we got off the the team for a second it's good

so back to the team um that was the team let's do the harvard thing and then we'll get in the deadline and yes brycey where you at because like i obviously you know it's kind of um builded and built and built to the point where it's like he is not you know obviously he's come back from the injury and has been nowhere close to the player he was prior to the best player in baseball for a couple months um but now it's really showing i mean the frustration the the long you know you would not have let us play the audio of that about on this podcast that was a damn long f-bomb good strong like i always think about like just the like dropping an f-bomb like that in a stadium of like like you're watching like that must be like a must be a unique thing to see someone just drop a hard f-b bomb like that long in the middle of a stadium. Yeah.

I mean, there's, yeah. So where are you? There's, there's field mics, but yeah. Where are you at with Bryce in terms of like the, the body language,

the struggles, the, again, the, the, the, my biggest issue is, is not as much,

you know, the, the, the struggles like that's going to happen. It's the, it's the way he's acting through them. The, the,

the no approach, the, the, again, that at bat last night to go up and just ground into a double play and just head back to the dugout like that it pissed me off it bothered me well the reality where i'm at with bryce is that kind of stuff does bother me he's the leader of the team and the the one thing that the most important thing for bryce is and I think that when they struggle and he's struggling, Bryce is such a superstar that he has extra, the kids are using the term aura about him. Oh, is that a term? It does.

He's got some aura. Bryce has some aura around him. Oh, totally. But it can also lead to tightness. So if Bryce is tight, I think you feel that in the clubhouse more than almost any other player I agree so I think when he's tight then everyone gets tight a little bit and that's why like people ask me well what's gonna what's gonna take for them to kind of break out right it's breaking up legitimately Bryce getting healthy and and get

getting back out of his little slump here he's getting bullied with fastballs which is the first time in a while I mean I remember since year one since year one where where and he's getting bullied with fastballs which is the first time in a while i mean i remember since year one since year one where where and he's got to adjust back i don't think it's the i don't think it's the hamstring like i just and he's he's batting like 170s he came back i actually think i think more about the hand like he got hit in the hand that night yeah and he keeps kind of messing with it i've noticed that here and there i'm actually more worried about the hand than i am the hamstring so yeah i just i mean i don't know what to say other than like i trust that he's gonna come out of it like i don't think yeah i don't think this is gonna be the rest of the season i think he's frustrated i thought

i thought after the game last night he seemed pretty calm which was like very kind he's like you know keep going keep on keep on he actually said the raise keep on keeping on man he was like very kind it's like you know keep going keep on keep on he actually said the phrase keep on keeping on man he was like what yeah all right bryce like it wasn't his because he was salty after he normally gets salty in those spots where he's like yeah you know the i boo me too i suck like that like that's normally the vibe from bryce in those spots i didn't hate that i i thought it was like okay he's he's probably gonna be okay got a good mentality on it and the real like he's he did hit ball i think he hit like i don't have the numbers but i think he hit like seven balls 100 miles an hour this series there's just like at people starting to turn hopefully i think he had a couple balls 100 miles an hour more seven would

be feels like maybe whatever maybe this stretch he's hit seven regardless um the homestand the homestand which he one hit. One hit on the homestand. The homer against the Guardians in the 8-0 win. That was it. That was it. That's tough. And that's why when we talk about –

Just get Tyler Phillips back on the hill. I mean, can he pitch every day? It's Friday. I know. So that's why I'm having a hard time getting two ahead of myself because we're going through Trey horrible stretch Bryce worst stretch that we've ever seen JT

slowly coming out of it three hits on most like JT was out for over a month with the actual surgery like I don't expect JT like I'm fine it's going to take JT a little time I don't expect to come back hit the ground run like I think that's showing some signs I think Mars Marsh is showing some signs.

Stott's been one of the few things this home stand has started to be like, okay, some spots there. Has Marsh gotten a hit as a pinch hitter? It seems like in pinch hitting spots especially, he struggles. The team. This is honestly, I don't know the numbers. This, in my memory, is about as bad pinch hitting a Phillies team as I ever remember in my lifetime.

First Dobbsy. I'm right about this, right? Can you think about David Dahl in London? That's the only time this season I can think of a pinch hitter coming through and doing anything. I'm not kidding. It's crazy. It's not great.

But yeah, so a lot of these guys this is about as we're as bad as we've seen like wheeler's not pitching great right now uh ranger we know what he's kind of going through no one's pitching great bullpen starters i mean you know no one we're going colby allard again which is phenomenal great it's great just what you want again don't take your time, Taiwan. Reading, don't take your time. And then, a lot of the big guys, we can do the whole stars or stars thing, they're all kind of going through it right now.

And Strom's going through it. Castellanos was the best hitter on the team in July. Think about that. I'm serious. I'm talking just pure numbers. I know. And again, he's had a good year, but heehm had four RBIs in July. Four? Yeah.

Four? He was leading the league. He was one of the league leaders, and now there's eight or nine guys in front of him. Dude. Way in front of him. So I know that Judge's had a good year. I obviously didn't look at his numbers. I almost cursed.

I almost said bat bleep. He essentially has 40 home runs and 100 RBI's on July 31st. Well, what the craziest thing is that here's the thing, though, which is crazy. I mean, Aaron Judge, clear MVP runner. Bobby Witt is having one of the great seasons a player has had in a long time. Bobby Witt's buying like 350 almost. He's the best defensive shortstop in baseball.

He's going to be a 30-50 guy again. Bobby Witt, he's an MVP in so many seasons, and he's going up against Judge. I actually feel bad for the guy. Bobby Witt is having an all-time great season. He just had the best month of July that any hitter's had in forever. It's crazy. I drafted Bobby Witt a couple years ago.

In a go-for-it year, it was a go-for-it. I traded. I drafted Bobby Witt a couple of years ago. And in a go for it year, it was a go for us. The one seed. I traded him for Wheeler. And then I didn't keep Wheeler. Did you win? No. Oh,

I lost my championship. Yeah. So I, yeah, I got Bobby Witt. So good. He's so fun. Known in fantasy too.

Let me tell you, he does everything every night. Well, we're nuts. I got you. Yep. Can't wait. He's going to be a great Philly.

I love him. I will say though, if you going to be a great Philly. I love him. I will say, though, if you want to, if everyone wants to not get, you can feel for me, Jordan Westbrook going down. That is a big hit. I was just going to say, it feels so bad. Big hit to my fantasy team. That's all right. Not psyched about my guy Westy going down.

But Bryce, like, again, all these guys, so they're at, I would call this rock bottom. I mean, I guess technically it could get worse. Yeah. I mean, they're still six and a would call this rock bottom i mean i guess technically it could get worse yeah i mean they're they're what still six and a half up and we're like the season's over if they have a tough road trip obviously it could get worse but by the way the fact they're going out west right now is like oh super yeah the worst possible like oh contraire mon frere oh yeah now they're good less people are gonna be watching oh i like that that's a good day good day we can all talk about the Eagles for, for a little,

for a week and a half. That's good. Awesome. Yeah. But yeah, so like they're all, and like Strom's regressed, Kirkhans regressed,

like, you know, a lot of the guys, they're all just kind of coming back to the means a little bit. Like, like that's what of, of all my hopefulness is that they'll start playing. Like all those guys start playing well again,

and they have, rather than doing this in September, they're doing it now. they inverted. Yeah. All those guys start playing well again. And they have, rather than doing this in September, they're doing it now. Well, they inverted. Yeah, so far. Yeah, of course. Like, rather than doing it then, they're doing it now. And hopefully that there's enough runway for them to heat back up.

Again, you know, Stocker talked about this the other day. Like, the September Phillies in 1993 went 13-12. Oh, they were, yeah. Like, you know, so. And again, 2022 is not that long ago. We thought they were going to collapse and they were collapsing. And then they did collapse. And then three days in the season, they get in.

And then we all thought they were going to win the World Series. So, you know, it can change like that with the baseball team. Same thing with like Harper. We know Harper, like Harper can make one little thing, you know, adjustment or whatever. And he's Bryce Harper again. So, you know, it's it's it's so like such a fine line there. And the final thing on Bryce is that I just, people are so obsessed with the hustling thing.

And yes, I want Bryce Harper to hustle. I understand the hustling thing, but like he smoked a ball at a guy and his first reaction was not to like that's every not how baseball every baseball player on the planet if you had a line drive and it looks like the guy caught it you automatically stop and then it's hard to get running again you're not just spring straight out the box like look did it did that suck because if he had been springing straight out the box could he have gotten it? He probably would have been sprinting straight. No one ever does that. It's not human nature.

The guy caught it. He thought the guy caught it. It was a mistake. He's wrong for not running. But let's give a little grace here. That's just not the way it works. It's just insane to me. We're so obsessed with this.

Can we just breathe a little bit. And if I think of the people that have played, like, unless you're a little slap hitter, that's trying to hit the ball on the ground. Exactly. Unless that's your game. Unless your game is, is, is you're running out of the box every time. Cause that's all you got. He's trying to lift the baseball and, and, did not he ripped it there's a little bit of a

recoil and he can't like it's just that's not how it works like and you see the clips and it's like oh my god there he goes especially in slow motion they show these clips in slow motion and it looks like that much worse and i think it's so unfair so yes, yes. Like, in a perfect world, do you want him to rip the ball and not react at all, be a robot, and sprint? Like, but I just, in that situation,

he has the game on the line. He smokes the ball over 100 miles an hour right at a guy. I'm sure his first instinct was, damn it, man. Of course it was. So, like...

And also, just to the point where if you start running and you think they caught you, kind of slow down a bit naturally, it's hard to like, and also just to the point where if you start running, you think they caught you kind of slow down a bit. Naturally. It's hard to get the ratchet it back up just physically to get back to speed. By the time you get there, it looks like you're going slow.

Like I, and again, didn't we see him miss time with a hamstring injury? Like just forgetting the specific play. Like, do we really want like, yes, in October?

Yeah. You know what? Run hard. Every play. Do we want Bryce Harper? Like, do we really want like yes in october yeah you know what run hard every play do we want bryce harper like do we want that to happen again do we want to even take that risk like it's just i know it's anti like hustle every single second you guys are letting him off the hook it's just not human nature it's not like i just think i i am i couldn't agree more there's just there's just this obsession with like oh oh, like Chase ruined it for everyone. It's all Chase's fault.

And listen, I love Chase, but his career was shortened without a doubt. And it could have been because of how long, how hard he went. And like, I think chasing that in that situation pauses. Everyone does. It's like anyone who's hit a baseball like that knows like you like it's just what it is. hit the like it's anyone who's hit a baseball like that knows like you like it's just what it is again it's just it's become an obsession i think at this point with the whole bryce ussell thing yeah it's not it's not a it's not a thing i fully 100 agree with you hey fantasy football owners the road to winning your fantasy football championship starts

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All right, let's get to the deadline, and then we'll get to the take back and all that. But emphasis on dead. Yeah. I mean, like, look, I think like Carlos Estevez is a good app and we've seen it last month. It's like the Duke and pitch like he's going to help this team. Yeah. Throw strikes. He's good to have.

Also, just another monster out there. Like he is huge. Yeah. Do we just bring in these here like him and Hoffman and like the eighth and ninth? Like that's like, like not just good pitching, but like intimidating dudes to throw out on the mountain.

Those spots. I like the move. We talked about the Hayes trade. We'll get into it a little more. Listen, so you're a good weekend. Yeah. Well,

we it's Thursday. Yeah, but I'm saying you had a good, he had a good series. I meant, I was thinking that I was starting is like his start with the Phillies Thursday. Yeah, but I'm saying he had a good series. I was thinking that I was starting his start with the Phillies as the beginning of the week. You are absolutely correct. It's the week.

I am a mess right now. Almost Friday. You're almost there. Austin Hayes is actually been interesting. He's done better against the Rays than I thought. He had a bad Monday night when he was chasing all those pitches. Yeah, that was could not have looked. That was the night

where Jazz Chesman meeting two homers, now one on the main count, and him looking like that was a tough one. Yeah. My only problem with Austin Hayes, and from this point on until things change, his official name is Warring Track Bauer. Unbelievable. I mean, there's three of them, I think, right? Yeah.

Oh, that's gone. Yeah, totally. And the last one was such a fun spot. It was just like, well, I was already like, welcome to Philadelphia, Austin. Let's go. I know. I know. You're getting ready to well up at the moment. I was.

I want a moment. I want a moment. I want a moment. So, yeah, that kid. So he's he's having a look at I again. So on one hand, the idea that we're gonna give him a lot of runway and he can be our left fielder i would have liked that more in in may than then down the stretch run but so far i think he's looked pretty good the fact they put in the two

hole that fast i know that trey was out but like well i don't think it was just trey i think it was a specific and you're right and he looked good in the two nester nester i think it's the fact that he of everyone on the team he's seen Nestor so many more times than everyone else. And he had decent numbers. And he, like, you can already see eye test-wise, it's not a hit every time. That dude is going to rip left-handed pitching. Oh, yeah.

He can hit left-handed pitching. It's, like, legit. Yeah. And for what it's worth, he's been horrible against righties this year, like, really bad. But career-wise, he's, like, fine against right-handed pitching. Like, he's not bad career-wise against righties this year, like really bad, but career wise, he's like fine against right. And if it's like, he's not,

he's not bad career wise against right. And it's, it's almost like the March situation here, but it could be what happened there as well, where it's, if I don't get a hit against a righty here, they're never going to let me play. So now that he's here and he is giving the runway,

maybe this is like, okay, they're not going to just bench me if I don't get a hit against a righty here for a Colton cows or whoever, who's probably going to AL rookie of the year, like good player. But like, maybe,

maybe he gets back to what he's traditionally done against righties because he knows that, Hey, you're our guy. Like just go do it. Um, but at a bare minimum, he rips left-handed pitch,

which is, which is really good. Um, and I think defensively he looks fine like he's not gonna want to go glove out there but but he's like average I would call him at least from what we see looks like an average outfielder you know is better than a lot of the

guys that they have stuck in left field so far I've been happy with that I've been happy with Estevez and actually I mean Tanner Banks look pretty pretty good it was so i like it was the inning was over so fast for one of our lefties i was like that's not what just happened there and going from like soto to just a guy doing that yeah it was shocking so okay so let like

your give me your macro feel on it overall and then we'll get to the specifics and how you think they're gonna impact and then we'll get to the oh and how you think they're going to impact. Then we'll get to the most important trade. That was the Dave trade, if we're being honest. That was the Ani trade. Yeah, that was the Ani trade. That was a market and if that was a I can't believe how much relievers are going for in this market. Wow, we can

get a real prospect for Soto, a guy we don't trust at all. Two real prospects. Is the other guy real too? The second guy actually is more exciting. You like him more than Seth? I do. Okay, so we'll get into those guys in a minute. Macro, your thought overall, because I think we both agree. We both came in, leave no stone unturned.

I left it feeling unsatisfied, even though I like the individual moves. Does that make sense? Yeah, me too. I gave it about a C plus, B minus. Again, they're moves they need to make and that's and that's good makes them better like they are a better team after the deadline than they were right i guess and and how i felt about this for a little bit it and you know i had it in the take bag is what i think the decision that they're making

right now is window versus world series and i think that they are concerned about keeping their window open with a lot of these guys getting a little bit older. And it's tough because it's like, alright, well, they're getting older, so the emphasis to win a World Series should be as soon as possible. But I think that Middleton, I think maybe Dombrowski, but

Middleton saw what it was like. Yeah, the 11 to, or 12 to 21 or whatever, yeah. And I don't think he wants to go through that again. You know, he doesn't want to go through a 10 year decline where you trade all the prospects. And all of a sudden it's like,

you're left with nothing and you're left with old players that, that you can't facilitate players around them. So I think there's a little bit of window versus world series here. I guess my pushback on that is like, we think Barber, we think Preston, we think Preston, we think that they are. And even internationally,

I know they, they traded Bergola for, for banks, which was like a little surprising. I was like, man, that's, it just showed how the relief,

the relief report was insane. I know. But like, you look at Cabo, you look at the 17 year old catcher who is just breaking down clear. While it might be the, one of the three best catching prospects in the, in the dude is

crushing. He's young. Was he like 17? Like even even solace. Yeah, dude, he's legit. Right. It's it's not how do you pronounce it? It looks like it's T.A.I.T. or something. Either way that for those who don't know, that's the guy. Yeah. And Kaba. I mean, I mean,

they didn't Rossi mentioned Kaba yesterday, which I thought was really interesting questions about Miller and Painter and Crawford. And he's like, let me bring Kaba in there, too, because. Like. Love Trey, but like Kaba is a 80 grade short 80. So I'm assuming most of our listeners know, for those who don't know, 80 is the best you can be in terms of scout grades. He is an 80 grade defensive shortstop yeah so he's

pretty special from from a shortstop perspective so i do wonder like he might be i think he's more untouchable than than people like people always said miller crawford painter yeah i feel like god was actually in there as well i think dave going out of his way to mention him there was that was interesting like that that was Dave Coyne's in that he considers Kaba in that group, if nothing. Yeah, and we'll see if he can hit. But he might be my buddy.

That's better than that. He might be Andres Jimenez from the Guardians. He's a nice player. He's a second baseman. Yeah, like shortstop version of Andres. But less power, I'm assuming. A little less power. Andres can hit some bombs. Yeah, hopefully he can develop into his power. nice player he's a second baseman though yeah like shortstop version of andres okay but yeah so less power i'm assuming because a little less power he's gonna hit some bombs yeah hopefully he can develop into his power like worst case scenario he's a good bat to ball guy uh i'll be surprised

he's a 20 home run guy but again like that's what people thought about lindor and then he turned into 30 homer guy yeah so yeah i just so on one hand it's like i appreciate keeping the window open but it's like there's also an opportunity here. Now, at the same time, while we're saying all this, like, I don't know who that guy was. Like, obviously, the all-in move would have been Crochet and Robert. Obviously, there's questions about Robert. So I get it. Like, if there was.

And the fact that they didn't trade those guys at all, especially Crochet, says something about what they were asking for. Yes. Yeah. And I do wonder, like, if Soto was available this deadline, and i do wonder like if soda was available this deadline not gregory if if juan soda was available the other one yeah i've heard of him i'm sure that they probably i would be i would have been surprised they weren't in on that like yeah because they would have been a perfect fit right so like maybe the right guy wasn't available like there was no cc this year there wasn't well i mean not just that like none of those guys got

traded period that's like flarity but I don't know how real they are. Maybe if Jack, Jack Flair, the best player to go to deadline, that means is no superstars stars really got traded. I thought this is really interesting and it's other prospect sites have some guys in the top 100, but baseball America,

take it for what it's worth, you know, probably the longest, you know, most established of the prospect ranking and they update things and they update things, MLB pipeline, which is insane. did you see this

zero top 100 baseball america prospects were traded at the trade deadline and zero that's pretty fascinating right you would think like of all the trades somewhere so like i didn't see i did see that clausen and and out of gary were both top 10 prospects that were true i'm sure they were but that's how fascinating is that like you you would think like, so it just shows just how depressed the market was from a talent star perspective that like it wasn't just in the major leagues. I'd not even won top 100 prospect. Yeah, no, it's really

interesting. It's really interesting. So, but I think the, I think they are interested in keeping the window open. And I think that's something that definitely is is down there. So I don't think there's any quiet. I like, again, I think those two things are the tandem. And I don't know how much is which. To your point, if there's a guy on the market who was awesome, who cost Painter, and they liked the guy enough and whatever, I don't know.

There just wasn't that guy. So it's hard to know. But I do think that played a role. For sure. I will say. But I do think that played a role, for sure. I will say. In the moment, I was mad.

But I hope they come up and they're awesome. It's fun having homegrown guys on the team. And next year, I do wonder if next year, we'll see what happens with center field. No, with center field. Might have a little Crawford versus Rojas. That could be interesting. Who should the opening day center field. No, with center field, my little Crawford versus Rojas or interesting. Who should the opening day? I think Crawford, like,

I mean, he could probably hit better than Ross today, you know, if I'm being honest, you know, no power, but you know, he can hit and he's faster.

I mean, obviously I don't, I don't think he's quite as good defensively, but I mean, he's got a drop off. He's got the physical abilities to be great defensively. So yeah, it's exciting. It's interesting.

Let the kids cook. Let the kids. But I do think that matters too, in terms of if you do, if you do want to bridge the gap between, you know, generations, so to speak, like having a guy like Andrew Painter or an A Miller, Justin Crawford come up and have six years of control at a really good team price.

If you're worried about the luxury tax on the road, if you are going to have Turner and Harper and these guys in their late thirties making 25, 30, whatever it is a season, like you do need cheap guys to balance that out. If you don't want to go into the, you know, the Steve Cohen territory. So I get that. And they have decisions to make on Staten bone. Another good point and Ranger. But I think that the the big thing you said that makes me where again i'm fine with it but where i'm still disappointed is the barber and preston mattingly and that whole group now and that i believe they drafted three fast center fielders what i mean i believe that but a b i just believe that they're gonna restock like i have a have a greater belief in, in the Philadelphia Phillies ability to draft and develop players

than I ever have in my lifetime. And that, that plays a role in whether I'm willing to give guys up or not, because I feel like we can replace them at least to some modicum of level. So, um, overall I think C plus like that's exactly where I was. I guess C plus like they passed. It's fine. They made the team better. And,

and I, and the market is what it is, but I can't help but feel. And, and I know we'll look back in October. If that same thing happens again, we're going to be like, well,

you could add jazz Chisholm or you could have done this or whatever. So. I mean, by MLB pipeline, it seems like he was a way cheaper ad than he should have been 19th and 20th. Like it seems like the only day we don't know who should have been 19th and 20th like it seems like the only thing we don't know who was available

who they didn't whatever but like we could say they could add jism they could have you know and they chose not to so I mean that but they they put that target on their back you know no doubt and and I think Dave's gonna be the biggest one in question well we'll see how players play but all of I think all of it's on the table now

like obviously hopefully they write the ship here if they don't make the playoffs i think everything's on the table that's also everything but if they get in the playoffs don't win the world series don't even make the world series we'll see at the end like whatever like all like you want to do the thompson thing you want to do the yeah it's all fair like the browser's not going anywhere if that happens but i but yeah we can say hey you should have done this Dave. You screw up topper. I mean, that's if he screws up at the playoffs again, who knows, you know? So I'm with you. Uh, all right, let's get to the take bag first. Shout out to moonshine today. So sponsored by Miller light and moonshine and Penn sport. Check out moonshine for every Phillies game to drive $4 Miller lights, uh, Miller like drafts along with braised wings,

love a good braised wing withonshine barbecue sauce. Miller Lights fills wins. I'll be responsible. Fritzy. Yeah, I mean, not a ton that we haven't already gone over. I just want to put this out as like a PSA because I've been getting DMs, been getting tweets. Just letting you know I'm out of the standing O game.

If you need to find someone to give you a stance to do the standing O, I'm not doing it. Okay, so you're retiring you a stance to do the standing oh i'm not doing okay so you're retiring you're retiring from this anyway i will say it does uh i'm doing it again i mean it is something that it i think it will live forever like today we're doing the show about harper obviously and wector walks in at one point just goes yeah you know what they need they just need to give them a standing ovation i'm like that joke's never gonna die never gonna go away like you've it's created monster yeah great so so have you been getting requests yes i haven't been

getting requests hey jack show up help out i have i have a new way to help out i have a new way to oh really yeah i told i told you i have a new bit and i will be i tweeted about yesterday we'll be starting it tomorrow night and walker's going to go to college, but like, again, whatever it takes, that's for times called for desperate. That's right. And like,

there's going to be more gambling tweets coming. Oh yeah. Because guess when things get dire, then we, we got to find our way out of it. And I think I found this year's bit. Okay. Okay.

So that's like a, a strong tease, like an idea of what it is. You have to pay attention and see what's happening. I like this. I would just like to announce that I will not be partaking in this.

You will not, yeah. I support you in the bit and we can talk about it a lot, but I will not actually be using any of Zoe's college money. And I will be starting a GoFundMe if it starts going too well. If it starts going too well.

Yeah, if it works, we might need to help Jack out. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, dude dude i can't believe bryce is down 274 he's a 274 70 he's a 300 like a couple weeks ago felt like yes i know it's it's it's we just uh hand show that mvp trophy is that dream dad disappointing yeah i really wanted it i wanted it so bad again that's why and look that look, that's why I was so bummed after that hamstring thing because we know Bryce.

And it's like, you look at that, other than when he first started with the team, if you look at the main times he has, because he has not struggled much as a Philly. He's been awesome. But like the prolonged stretches of when he struggled, it was when he got hit in the face and came back. It was after the Blake Snell thing when he came back

until the playoffs started and then got it going. It's right now. Like it was last year when he first came back from the Tommy John like it he is a field guy we've talked about this so many times and when he gets out of whack like he gets so far out of whack and he just he loses that thing that he had he was the best in baseball for May and June I mean player the back to back yeah player of the month back to back it's just that's why it's so frustrating because it felt like whatever happened it felt like that dude right there like we weren't gonna get him back for a minute and and that's what's happened yeah it is so obviously i mean a really

big road trip you know i mean seattle big games dodgers dodgers and you know there's more after oh freaking air four games in arizona ari Bell has now I done. I know. I know. Well, how about not just that? I mean, this is going to be a long weekend. Can we also talk? I mean,

I, there was no sadder, not for me, for you, like me being sad for you. Then seeing Flora traded to the diamond bag. I was like, are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me? Of all people? They know the guy Jack brought up the most times on the pod. He's a diamondback. Would have been an A deadline if they got me dealing with him. I felt bad. Alright. Final annoying point. I appreciate

getting Tanner Banks. I think he's going to be useful. I think he needs to replace him. Yeah, we didn't talk about that. You like that move. It was interesting. The first thing that Nebraska said in his media availability was like, our guys have been pushing me to get this guy for a couple years because they believe i thought that was really interesting he said the same thing about austin hayes too about him he's like he's like we've liked austin hayes for a while tried to get him but i thought that was interesting about banks too and look i think you know obviously i think just an upgrade over soto

but someone they potentially could try even if he just gets you the playoffs but theoretically this could be a guy that comes in and gets you a big lefty out in the playoffs. He is that good against lefties. Yeah. I just, I wanted someone to replace the Ruiz and Marte or one of those guys in the roster. Yeah, I would have wished they added someone instead of just, you know, Sir Anthony for him,

Soto for him. Right. So, again, and it hurts because I saw Kopech struck out of the side on 17 pitches last night. It's another guy we want. I mean, there was, and again, I know the market was high. Again, the Soto trade, we'll get it. None of those guys were going to cost any of your untapped.

That's my point. Like, just go get one of these guys. Just make them better. Like, it felt like, I mean, I can't believe those are the only trades. Like, I'm shocked. I'm really shocked by it yeah so like yeah that was disappointing like i would have liked if you're gonna do nothing essentially one extra kind of bullpen piece i thought would have helped and just to replace like the ruiz and and and martez of the of the world i know they probably want pitching the postseason but still just just give me one more arm now uh

so seth johnson. Yeah, talk to me about the prospects they got for Soto. He, on Pipeline, Pipeline's top eight. The thing that I find interesting about that, and why Top eight for the Phillies or for the Orioles? For the Orioles. Oh, wow. He's starting Saturday. He was top eight for the Orioles? Yeah.

Really? Yeah. It's good. It's good. And the reason why I know this had to be an Ani trade is because I think, I don't think the, the prosecutor's breaking down the Soto for, for prospecting. And yeah, so like Ani,

he's, it was drafted by the race when Ani was there. So there you go. The Orioles, the Orioles pitching develops. It's like not great. Yeah. So he's,

I guess he like had late Tommy John. So he ended up having to miss 26 months instead of how long they usually have to miss. It was only a year. So he's really interesting from that standpoint. But Moises Chassé, at worst, I think he's Debbie Garcia, who was really good as a prospect for a little bit there.

And you watch him, fastball really, really jumps. If you look at extension numbers, it's really really really drums their jumps like if you look at like extension numbers it's really high and there's so clear tweaks they can make like that I'm sure that Herg and those guys are going to work on with them like they might have just they might legitimately just stolen

two guys for Gregory Soto who no one wanted here anyway so like I felt like a smart trade to me like you see a trade like that's that's a bit we talk about market efficiencies that felt like a market inefficiency oh wow You see a trade, you're like, that's a bit... We talk about market inefficiencies. That felt like a market inefficiency. Oh, wow, look at this market for bullpen pitchers. A team that really desperately needed it

as by the fact they have Craig Kimbrell, Sir Anthony, and Soto will be pitching potentially in the playoffs for them. I mean, they needed it. I think it was a really smart trade. Yeah, so they lost some pitching depth with Fawson and Aldegary, and they got some of it back.

Are both guys starters, relievers? Both are starters. Long term, my point. I know they're both starters now. I'm saying you expect both of them to stay starters. Yeah, I think Seth Johns is the starter. We'll see what shots say. I mean, his stuff kind of pops a little bit more.

But yeah, it was smart. It was exciting. And it was a down deadline. When you make a little prospect trade, it sort of made me want to sell one day. But I'll take a World Series first. Yeah, let's not sell quite yet. I guess I'll take that.

But it's nice. Come on. Come on, one big sell. Look at all the prospects coming back. That's exciting. That's baseball. It is. Yeah.

Everything's fine. That's called being It is. Yeah. Everything's fine. That's called being a Marlins fan. Yeah. Well, every year. They had a pretty good deadline. They got a lot. They moved a lot of dudes. It won't work.

No. If it does, it'll work for a year. Yes. Then that'll be it. Yep. All right. You got anything else? I got nothing else.

It's going to be some late nights. It's like, don't suck in Seattle. Yeah, exactly. I will say, and the Dod in Seattle. Yeah, exactly. Like, I will say, and the Dodgers series less so, but I will say there is nothing better than West Coast weekend baseball for your boy. When I can actually stay awake and watch the games and not have to wake up super early in the morning,

like, I really do love it. The only time I stay up is weekend nights anyway. Game on. On this West Coast trip, why don't you wake up at midnight and then watch the rest of the game? I'm going to have to. I'm hosting next week, so I'm going to have to stay up and watch the games the night before.

I'm in for the camera next week on our show. I know. So these Dodgers games, we're going to talk about them on the radio, so I'm going to have to actually watch them and think about it early. You're going to get like I don't know what I'm going to do. I know. Well, I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to have to actually watch them and go to bed early. You're going to get like... I don't know what I'm going to do. I know. Well, I think what I'm going to do

is I'm going to try and sleep from like four to six or four to like 10 or something and just get up and stay straight through the show. That's my plan as of now. We'll see how it goes. It's going to be tough.

I promise you, just watch the condensed game in the morning. You can. Hopefully nothing that serious happens. Hopefully they win a game before that. We'll see if we get a podcast. game in the morning. Hopefully nothing that series happens. Hopefully they win a game before that series. We'll see if we get a podcast next week. We don't even care about the Phillies at that point.

We'll be back next week. Maybe. If they get swept in Seattle, I'm just telling you we're not doing a podcast. Right now, there's no trade-down. We're taking a pot off. Either way, Jack doesn't know this. It's going to have to be Monday because I can't do Sunday. So it'll be Monday. But either way, likely on Monday.

You see, Jack, if you tweet at Jack, give him a little smiley face or something. Pick him up. He's a big guy. We're here for you. Open practice tonight. There you go. Listen, 94 WIP, Jack Fritz, Elliot Short Parks,

aka Marilyn Mike on the call let's go no Philly's talk I can't wait alright we'll be back next week until then peace We'll see you next time.