High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - They Got Swept by the Orioles

Episode Date: August 14, 2020

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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the high hopes podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on radio.com and sports radio, 94 W Y P. Yo. yo it is another edition jack of the of the high hopes podcast the name you sure the name ironic in itself jack uh irony itself that uh this is the i am podcast because the hopes are

not i right now jack what a What an abysmal performance. What an embarrassing performance. We came into the season saying, all right, 60 games, that tough schedule, all that BS. But you know what? They got to handle the Orioles. They got to handle the Marlins. One series against the Orioles this year.

This is it. They're done. See ya. One series against the Orioles this year. This is it. They're done. See ya. Good time playing the Orioles. They freaking swept us, Jack. Like, and in an embarrassing fashion. The worst loss in forever in game one. Just a boring, unlucky loss in game two.

And then a shellacking tonight. Like dude i'm super annoyed i'm super annoyed with this team right now i'm beaten down you should i mean you should be beaten down like they're just so bad they're just so bad and it's not like the starting staff's pretty good um and and the thing that's most frustrating i mean there's a lot of things that are most frustrating but like outside of outside of jt and and bryce it's like it's like the offense is just brutal um so so this is credit to johnny heller who i who is fantastic if you're a phillies fan and you're not following johnny heller you're making a mistake he tweets out all kinds of great stat well i guess great is probably not the word because a lot of times they've been telling us how bad our bullpen is or whatever but they're really he's

really good at finding good nuggets and good stats and all that type of stuff so great baseball guy. So outside of JT and Bryce, their total team numbers are 230, 314, 381, and a 695 OPS. Man, Jack. It's just like, honestly, I came away really impressed with the Orioles this series. Like, definitely better than I thought. Yeah, of course. But still. Well, well you gotta factor in who

they're facing right i mean you're factoring i mean like come on man i let's say just the average phillies fan not obviously the high hopes listeners who are smart baseball fans and all that but i mean even some listeners i'm sure and a lot of i mean the orioles have a bunch of guys that no one has ever heard of, man. I mean, it is as nondescript a team to get swept by. I mean, Rio Ruiz is dominating. I mean, Pedro Severino is crushing it for him. Reynaldo Nunez. I mean, it's a bunch of—Austin Hayes.

I mean, at least he had some pedigree. Well, I've never been more terrified of a hitter in my life than Hanser Alberto. All of them. It's crazy. Yeah, they crushed us all series. And I always felt like they were going to just get a hit when they needed to get a hit. Like, honestly, they look like the better team. There's no question.

They were the better team. Which is insane that's like, they just look. And there's no question. They were the better team. Which is insane. How do you, listen, all right. We've talked, all right, listen. We've talked about Matt Klintzak a lot. But you have a $200 million payroll, and you just got blitzed by the Orioles at home. You're pitching a position player in the ninth inning of a game where you're getting blown

out your two best prospects just came up and everything after that's just like whatever like the bullpen the bullpen area is like over 10 now i'm pretty sure after a night it has to be because it was in the not high nines what is that dude still doing here like which one that jack that could be like talking about 15 people right now but it's like what what are we are we are we serious right now like are we serious with this baseball team like you just got trounced at home by the orioles like how about we make how about we shake things up a little bit and you're gonna fire hopefully you're gonna fire klemsek at the end of the year. And I was worried about how 60 games is going to save his job because he can't accurately break down his job this season in 60 games.

Well, that's just completely thrown out the window. It should be thrown out the window because this team's a freaking joke. I mean, there's no way you're going to tell me that Matt Klintek. If Matt Klintek has a job next year, I hope John Middleton sells the team. There is no singular – Honestly, Brian Colangelo is better at his job than freaking Matt Klintak. I mean – I mean, I would rather have Chip Kelly running my football team than Matt Klintak.

He is so objectively stupid, and he's so bad at his job. Give me one – tell me one thing. His best trade might be for Jose Alvarez. No, the Jay Bruce trade. The Jay Bruce trade is his best trade. But regardless, I mean, what are we talking about here? Sweet, sweet, sweet. We traded absolutely nothing.

I mean, the JT Real Muto trade, anyone could have done that. Bryce Harper wasn't even him. Like, every single bullpen addition he's brought in is garbage. There's just, why does he still have a job? Like I swear on my life I could run this baseball team better than Matt Glintzak. There is no doubt in my mind. Like how does someone who sits here and watches this every night continue to get paid a full salary is beyond me. What does Andy McPhail do?

Should Andy McPhail be the objective overseer of this franchise and kind of be the eyes and ears for John Middleton? No, he can't even do that. So they brought in John Middleton to do that basically last year with Charlie Emanuel. Like, he can't even trust the guys that are below him. What is Matt Klzak doing here and and how can you look at everything that he's done and still send him a check every week and say good job you did it again matt nailed it get off off of my franchise like just get away get away from my franchise never come back i just have no interest in him ever stepping he shouldn't he should not be allowed

he should not be allowed inside says his bank park ever again never again he should not even have a parking spot they should make him park at at at the jetro lot and walk every day he is such a disaster i can't every time i try not to think about Matt Klintzak, I end up thinking about Matt Klintzak. And it makes me, like, just want to take a fork and stick it in my eye. Yeah, dude. So I'm obviously on the same page with you. All I've been saying on the radio all week is how it is 100% on Klintzak. And look, Middleton too.

Let's not let Middleton off the hook here because he's the guy who's allowed Klintak to stay around like what is he doing we all knew Klintak wasn't good enough we were calling for his head last year and yet he he gave him a contract extension he kept McPhail around after if we don't we don't he fired Gabe Kapler hired Joe Girardi on his own and still said, Matt Klintak, come on back, buddy. Like, it doesn't make any sense. Like, it doesn't make any logical sense for a smart person, you know, and we assume John Middleton is a smart guy. I think he's a smart guy, to keep Matt Klintak around. Like, it is, Jag, jagged absolute insane i was listening to ruben amaro jr doing the

the rain delay with jim jackson for a bit and i was i was reminiscing about ruben i was like man oh no we're not we're not doing it over matt clintac that's how bad matt clintac is clintac is a complete and total disaster he is is, again, like you said, just I can't believe he has a job. And I am praying that this, just because it's a 60-game season, doesn't mean it's going to keep his job. This bullpen is an abomination. I mean, we're talking about, like, look at teams like the Marlins. The Marlins are playing with a team that's half taxi squad,

at least for a period of time. And their bullpen ERA is like seven runs less than the Phillies. Like, what is that? That's crazy, man. Like, how is it? And to your point about the payroll of this team, I think it's seventh highest in baseball this year. Like they are spending that

much money and yes look we want them to go over the tax all that type of stuff that's on middleton but at the same time like matt klintak it's not like he didn't have anything to work with and like talk about teams like the indians the rays all these teams that year after year after year after year churn out prospects, sign smart contracts, are frugal with their money, and spend nowhere close to what Matt Klintak gets to spend. And every single year, they can tend. I mean, there are like six guys in the Indians' bullpen

who are better than anyone the Phillies have. Jack, why is it so much easier for all these other teams to do this? It's because they have smart people running their franchise and the phillies don't like that's what it comes down to well dude i mean my my main takeaway from the orioles this weekend was like every one of their guys barreled up the baseball you know up and down the lineup it was aggressive it was like it was a style of baseball that I want to watch. Like, it is aggressive. It is jumping on first pitch fastballs. And they really seem to have an ability to consistently barrel the baseball.

And when I watch the Phillies, it's like JT and Bryce. That's pretty much it. Like, Kutch looks, I mean, Kutch has had some hits this series against the Orioles and look like he's kind of climbing out of it. I still think Reese is climbing out of it. I know everyone is, like, so ready to move on from Reese. I mean, I get it. He's been brutal.

I'm just not there yet. Like, DeeDee's even gone back. Like, DeeDee's one of those players, and I think we talked about this when they signed him. He's just such a streaky player that he'll be, like, the best player on earth for a week and then be terrible for a week and then be the best. So he's going through one of those down streaks right now. But what I saw from the Orioles, this is going to sound so old man on the cloud,

but it's not all trying to launch everything. It's playing station to station. It's being a line drive gap to gap hitter versus just trying to launch everything when i watch the phillies it's like it's like they're just always playing for the home run and they're and they're instead of getting some guys on moving some runners over and and and and trying to barrel up baseballs go into the gap line drives and and maybe sometimes they they crank one out of the ballpark like they're playing a a better brand brand of baseball than the Phillies are playing offensively. And, yeah, JT and Bryce have been amazing.

Amazing. We'll talk more about them. But, like, it's actually a shame. Like, I feel terrible. Dude, we're wasting two MVP seasons. They're both playing like MVPs legitimately. I mean, Bryce Harper,

Bryce Harper stats right now are way better than they were in his 2015 season. And his 2015 season is one of the seven best offensive seasons since like 1980. Like we're, we're talking about, we're, we're witnessing what we signed Bryce Harper for. And James, the thing that,

that I don't know if you've noticed it, and I'm sure there's, there's a couple of people that have noticed it, but doesn't he look visibly upset? Of course he does. I think it's blatant. I think JT does too. They both look like angry all the time.

They both look like they're playing with an anger to them and like a – yeah, a ferocity almost where it feels like they almost have to do everything themselves and they know that, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, um,

he's talking like Bryce talked after the game the other night about, um, you know, everyone kind of has to step up and do their job. And, and, and that, like just in watching him,

he, he looks, he looks almost exasperated. Like, he's like, are you guys kidding me? Wouldn't you be? I mean.

Oh, my God. Honestly, he'd be a better GM than Klintzak. I would rather have Bryce Harvey be the general manager. Of course, at least he wants to win. I don't even know if Klintzak likes baseball. I don't know if he watches baseball. It feels like he does everything by numbers, and there's no feel to anything he does.

Well, it's not even the right numbers. Well, that's the problem. Yeah, no, I'm not saying he's good at the numbers. We're getting freaking no spin rate and no high velocities in our bullpen in the year 2020. Like, what are we doing here? He's just not equipped. He's not equipped to run a major league baseball team.

Look, some people just are in over their head. Matt Klintak's in over his head. Question for you, though. Let me throw something at you, and we'll get back to Harper and Romito, and obviously I think Klintak's just going to be running three in the theme throughout this podcast. Well, until he's fired. Forever.

Fire Klintak. That is the official High Hopes podcast. And granted, it hasn't for a while but like emphatic it is now fire Klentak in all capitals is the official position of the IOS podcast but I want to ask you a question because I think the other part of it that's been a thing and I think there are very varying opinions on it and certainly the bullpen itself i mean that's you know that is a matt klintak production from top to bottom but what culpability do you think gerardi has in what we've seen so far this season obviously like he is not at all in the roster i i'm not implying he has anything to do with the roster but in terms of

look this team is we talked about the intensity the lack of that that we've seen not just from Girardi but from the team but they've also played like a little league team at times and it's not just the Segura thing I mean we've seen a bunch of stuff like the Roman Quinn dive to not like was it two out of three games or two nights in a row I mean diving for a ball he just had no chance at and letting extra runs in and you know they just don't play good fundamental baseball they don't it doesn't seem like everyone extra runs in. And, you know, they just don't play good fundamental baseball. They don't – it doesn't seem like everyone's on the same page. You know, it's just – I don't know.

A lot of the things we talked about – and granted, it's a weird summer camp thing. And, you know, I think it's just a weird season. And I don't know how much of an effect a new manager and a new staff can have. But we haven't seen a lot of the stuff we were excited to see from Girardi how do you kind of feel about Girardi right now sitting at five and nine and and what kind of culpability do you think he has in and granted again the bullpen is what it is but in terms of of what we've seen and and their play well I hope he's watching a lot of Jack letter and Kumar rocker tape. And that was going to be the other open.

I was thinking for the pod inside baseball when I was going to do the yo, and then go into and just say, Jack, who do we want with the number one pick? That was going to be my, my other angle on it. So yeah, unfortunately the pirates,

the pirates have us beat there for now. The pirates, I don't think for now, for now. The Pirates were not beating the Pirates, I don't think. For now. For now. We might catch them soon. We're playing some pretty bad baseball right now. Well, at least we're having fun doing it, right? Not at all.

It's delightful. Nope. There's no other team I'd like to stay up late at night to record a podcast about. It's really cool. Thanks, guys. It's awesome. It is unbelievable that they've made me hate them but we're here and that's what we'll do um honestly like so

with gerardi the the in-game moves don't really bother me you know i don't think he has a reliable first guy out of the bullpen you know and i and i i don't really blame him for trying to find guys that can do the job you know people are annoyed that how much he's pitched gara and i get it but you have to figure out if guys can do jobs and that's what sucks about a 60 game season is that you know you don't have 162 162 games to just to figure out who can do the job and who can't do the job you have to almost figure out day to day who can do the job so you know i don't want to kill him too much over that because I don't think it's really his fault.

I mean, he's dealt a pretty crappy hand with the bullpen. But I am disappointed in the ferocity of this team. You know, it doesn't feel like, you know, when I was down in spring training and talking to the guys, it felt like there's a renewed energy and we're going to see this team scratch and claw. And they did scratch and claw in the game. Yeah, the 10-9

game the disastrous game the the one we will never forget when i the game where after i tweeted that if we miss the playoffs by one game that'll be the game we look back at and remember that tweet won't matter because we're going to miss the playoffs by more than one game so it doesn't really matter but that was the one yeah we'll say we'll say you never know no look you know what the funny thing is i mean they're not they're only like three and a half games out of first place in the nl east everyone's playing poorly right now right so yeah and we're not we're not playing taps yet of course they're certainly um um adding a little levity here jack well you know i think everyone needs that at this point because it's not great.

But, yeah, I'm disappointed in the, you know, intensity from this team. You know, and I understand it can be hard without any fans in the stands. But, like, you're at home. You've lost, what, just five of six at home? Like, that can't happen. He does the Gabe thing where it's like, oh, this isn't a big deal. We'll go get him tomorrow. And I thought there was going to be a little more of a sense of urgency from this team,

and there just hasn't been. You know, I thought they were going to come out after the confusing game on Tuesday night. Or was that Wednesday? Whatever. It was Tuesday night. I thought they were going to come out after the game game on Tuesday night, or was that Wednesday? Whatever. It was Tuesday night. I thought they were going to come out after the game Tuesday night and just blow the doors off that Orioles team because it just felt like, okay, we had that loss, but it's time to regroup and go after it. And then last night happened, and that was brutal.

And then, like, honestly, heading into the game tonight, I was like, they're not going to win. And that's disheartening to be at when you're facing an Orioles team who has lost 100 games the last two years. But nevertheless, I just can't kill them. I honestly, and I know this sounds bad, but if I'm on that team and I see that bullpen come in, I almost feel like I would have no chance. So why would I get that fired up? You know what I mean? Dude, that's how I feel as a fan, Jack.

That's how I feel watching these games. Like when the Phillies get off to an early lead, whenever that happens, I can't enjoy it. Legitimately, when I watch these games, I don't enjoy the leads because I know that it's coming. It's coming for us. And I'm sure the players feel that even on a subconscious level. Like, how could you not, man?

How could you not? Every single time these guys come in, they blow it. So, yes, I agree with you. Yeah, I think honestly, I think it's seeped into the players' mindset. And they're like, dude, can we just get it out? It was, I think, the ninth and a ball was hit to the wall. And Bryce ran right into the fence and it ended up being a home run. And I feel like he just wanted to say, what are we doing here?

I do wonder if Bryce is going to kind of flip and go into middleton and be like you promise better than this and i hope he does that's the only hope we have right now i mean well and that and that's why you know i love to kill middleton because i think i just i the whole luxury tax things bothers me as it should you can't it should because of how he fronted himself if middleton never came on wip never talked to the media was wasn't around and was just kind of the owner and and it wouldn't be a thing but he's the one who came out and had to you know you know be like mr big shot and and say all that stuff we didn't ask him to say it. He said it. You can't say that stuff and not back it up.

That's the problem. Right. But my main point is that like he, this is a $200 million payroll. And for this team, right. But for this team to be as, as bad as it is with the $200 million payroll,

it's like, you know, it's not, it's not this hard. It's bad, man. They could give you and i 200 million dollars i think we could we could figure it out like like look at what the rays the rays do like

50 million i mean the indians like these teams don't spend money like the phillies do and yet they have no problem putting together not just competitive teams but competitive teams year after year after year. And again, like awesome bullpens, like look at the Rays bullpen, look at the Indians bullpen. I mean, these, these, it's just so frustrating, Jack, especially because you think like a bullpen shouldn't be the hardest thing to put together. It's just, how do they have no talent in their system? How do they have no guys who can come in and just get some outs like you had a good tweet the other night where it's like at least rosso has stuff and and it's a great point because yeah rosso has stuff you can throw hard and like there's so many guys on this team

who are just i don't understand how they made it to the major leagues i don't understand how they're going to make your rosters seriously like like, how does Austin Davis get through the minors and, like, crack the majors and, like, pitching games? How does that happen? How is he still here? Why is he still here? What has he done? Why is he still here?

Austin Davis shouldn't sniff a major league bullpen. Like, maybe when he goes to a game and he's getting a hot dog in an Ashburn alley, he can sniff a major league bullpen. Maybe when he goes to a game and he's getting a hot dog in an Ashburn alley, he can still make a lead bullpen. But not real life. This isn't real. Austin Davis is so... He's just the epitome of this baseball team. I hate him. And it's not like I hate

him the man. I just hate him. I hate what he embodies. It's always sportate. We don't hate them as people. Every time he comes in, he sucks. I know. Every single time. He's, like, why is he still here? Why is David Jones not on this roster?

Like, bring him up. What are we wasting our time for? Austin Davis is the human embodiment of a waste of time. He's just a total waste of space. Also, JT, after the game, said about the signed JT stuff, he said, keep it up, guys. Nice. That's awesome. Like, can we just stop with – and talk about screwing this up.

I mean – It's unbelievable. It's going to end up costing them, like, $40-plus million than they had to. Yeah, yeah. They blew it. Because Cigar Man wanted to stay under the luxury tax. It's unbelievable like like no one really brings it up like a couple people like no one really brings it up but like

this is the only reason this is freaking happening is because he wanted to stay on the freaking luxury tax that is the number that is the exact reason that's it and now he's and now he's what 40 games for free agency and and it's just like we're just we're just fine with this because cigar man says he wants to come out and get his effing trophy back we won't play won't be the best player catching baseball to come back and stay and and never leave and the best catcher in baseball is responding with having an mvp season like like is this oh god it's just like how how is this happening? How is it even happening? How do you let this happen?

Well, that's what, again, it's the thing that we know, and it's the age-old thing. Like, it all starts at the top and goes down. If you have bad ownership, if you have a bad front office, and especially if you, and I'm not saying Middleton will always be a bad owner, but right now he's a bad owner. He's allowing Matt Klintak to continue to do damage to this team. He has, again, like you just said, put them in a situation where they did not sign JT Romito for a ridiculous reason, especially when it's also the reason they didn't add a Blake Trinan or a Dylan Batantis or any of these relievers or even didn't keep

Francisco Liriano. I mean, that's crazy to me that that was not a bigger story. Like, what are we talking about here? This bullpen, what we're looking at, and that they were just like, eh, we don't want to pay you. I mean, what is that? What is that? Does this team care at all? I mean, this is a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2011.

2011, Jack. And their owner came out and swung it around and was like, I'm the man. You're going to love me. And sorry, buddy, we don't so far. You know, do better. Hey, Branch Rickey never had this kind of off season. Just shut up, man. Just shut up. Just shut up just stop talking you know

just just shut up and no one will care just go away spend your money use your cigar money and and just build a better baseball team and get a freaking real general manager i mean just literally you know i honestly back i think i was thinking back to the Klintzak hiring this week. Because I got sad thinking about if Haim was here. I mean, Haim could have been here in 2015. I know, he's one of the finalists. And if we had a podcast back then, and you're telling me that we signed a guy from the Angels who, at that point, had Mike Trout. They just signed Albert Pujols to, like, a $200 million contract or whatever, $300 million contract, and we're just absolutely headed nowhere.

Like, why did they even hire him? Like, look, was there something inspiring about what the Angels built? Like, the angels have been wasting the best players one of the best players in the history of baseball's career and we just decided you know what he's gonna come run our franchise now like what was that thought process why did he even get the job that like like literally how about this for a comparison? He's building the Angels. That's pretty much what he's doing here. Why is he? Oh, man.

Oh, no. What was that thought process? It's actually a really good point. I mean, the Phillies right now aren't any better than the Angels. And then it's not Tony Rendon and they have Trout and, you know, Dylan Bundy's had nice resurgence out there. But I'm talking about look at the freaking Angels from five years ago. I know.

This is very depressing, Jack. I'm really depressed right now. This sucks. This sucks. They just got swept at home by the Orioles. What are we doing here? Like you said, the Orioles were the better baseball team. We were talking about the lack of ferocity, which, by the way, I agree with you.

That's definitely my biggest complaint with Girardi. I think he's a little too obsessed with DeLuise Guerra, who is 31 years old and hasn't pitched much in the majors over that time, the many years he's been in professional baseball for a reason. But whatever. I don't blame Girardi. He's got crap out there to work with. You know, he's just going out and saying, all right, let's spin the bottle and see who's next. But talk about ferocity. I mean, how can you talk about no fans, whatever, like how can an Orioles team come in here? A team that had zero expectations, is a bunch of cast-offs,

and they play with such ferocity. They played so much more. Nice one. They played with so much more intensity than the Phillies did. It wasn't even close, other than JT and Harper. I mean, man, I hate this team right now. I tweeted during, I think, the second game, I hate the Orioles. I hate the Phillies right now. I tweeted during the, I think the second game, I hate the Orioles.

I hate the Phillies right now, Jack. That's how I feel. I'm so mad at this team. Like, it just, it sucks, man. Because like you said, the starting pitching's actually been good. I mean, for the most part. I know Arrieta wasn't great tonight,

but he had a couple of nice starts. Efl i got really unlucky i thought he looked awesome at times the other night like you know it's been good enough this bullpen is historically bad in the history of baseball it is one of the worst bullpens we've ever seen certainly up to this point and i don't expect it to get much better jack it's an embarrassment it's an embarrassment yeah and what i think what sucks the most is that the city's already starting to turn on them um and like it's just it's hard to build up it's hard to put all the guys the equity equity in a fan base when, you know,

the first 10 games or 13 games of the season, you're just seeing the worst bullpen you've ever seen in your entire life. And it's a shame. It's a shame. Like, and I'm starting to feel it too. You know, I'm just starting to feel apathetic.

I'm starting to turn on TV and be like, all right, you know, let's, let's slog through another one um especially when there's a team in this city that is the the polar opposite of the i mean the flyers team is is joyful to watch and they're young young talent through the roof they're coached so well and they're i mean like how could anyone want to watch the phillies if the flyers were

on at the same time like i mean i wouldn't i have two tvs but like i would never choose the phillies over the flyers right now yeah i gotta never lied to the high hopes listeners and never will especially not in these dark times because i think that would build bad trust but the flyers were on tv1 the other night i mean they were they were on TV1. You should have been. And the Phillies were on my laptop. Me too. I know. They should have been.

I'm so – I couldn't be more jealous of Flyers fans. Like, people have really gone through it. You know, because, like, this is how the Phillies are supposed to be built. You know, like, the Flyers just have young dudes everywhere. Like, Nolan Patrick's not even playing for this team. He's number two pick in the draft. That's a great point. He's not even going to play. Three years ago. Yeah, and there's, like, a thousand young dudes everywhere like like no one patrick's not even playing for the scene he's number two picking the draft point three years ago yeah and there's like a thousand young dudes like including including like the youngest best of all of them at the most important position in

the sport it's like crazy yeah so are we a flyer are we officially a flyers podcast now? Fly hopes? Can we call it fly hopes? Well, at least Bryce is having an MVP season. Yeah. JT is going to be on the Mets next year. All right. Let's talk about a couple more specific things. You sure? Yeah.

You sure? I mean, I didn't say fun things. Just things, not fun things. uh recent kingery uh where you at obviously tonight uh was the the um first night they both sat uh which was welcome even though obviously it didn't end up working out or mattering but where you at with these guys um do you have any hope this season at least for these guys to to turn it around uh there we go i still feel good about reese and i know that sounds crazy to say and hair it sounds not heresy it just sounds silly but he's he's been smoking the ball you know i understand i understand he grounded some double plays the other night but at least he's he's swinging early and counts and i think he's starting to square up the baseball more and more slowly i think he's slowly climbing his way out of it i i really do i'm not i'm not at the

point where a lot of people are saying bench race and play bone there you know i i i want to see give give him two weeks i just want to say i want to give him two weeks. I just want to say, I want to give him two weeks. I like the swings I've seen recently. I just want to give him a chance. Kingery, I am just praying that he's still, like, maybe feeling some side effects from COVID. Because he just looks awful, awful. He's not even putting together, like,

at least I think Reese is hitting the ball hard. I mean, Kingery's not even hitting the ball hard. I mean, he had one decently looking good hit against the Orioles that got into the gap that was fine. But the defense isn't even special. It's just he just looks truly, truly awful. And I'm very worried about Kingery um i don't know they're both they're both just not fun at all so i think that leads into a poll that when i put it up it would

thought i would be in a much more fun playful mood to discuss but we got to discuss it anyway uh reese i put up a poll who would you want up in a big spot most right now? Reese Hoskins, Scott Kingery, or Andrew Knapp? What do you think the correct answer is? And also, what do you think won the poll? Ah, it's Knapp-y. It has to be Knapp-y. Knapp won in a landslide.

67% of people, 22% for Hoskins, 11% for Kingery. Jack washed my mouth out with soap. This pain on so many levels. Andrew Knapp's the correct answer. I'd rather have Andrew Knapp up right now than reese hoskins or scott kangary jack yep yep never a doubt i can't like this i'm like actually feeling this physically in my body right now saying like the words coming out there are physically harming me that's that's because you doubted andrew that oh my god how's it how's it how's it feel that's that's that's a real shame naf's been good naf's been good naffy but

it's it's much more an indictment of reese hoskins yeah kingery i mean like when reese came up in those big spots the other night and certainly to start off the ninth like i just feel like like i can't think of anyone when he comes up with rounds on base i'm always like he's the last person on the team i want up i mean kingery obviously is the only other person wow it's just wow it just sucks it's super annoying and depressing no but it shows growth from you because you're finally starting to realize that andrewnapp puts together a good A-B, and he's always going to put together a good A-B. He's going to call a good game.

He's going to put together a competitive at-bat. And I don't know. I think he has the fourth highest WOBA in, like, baseball right now. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. All right, let's move on. I mean, honestly, honestly, would it be the worst thing in the world if they let JT walk in his hand handed the keys over to Andrew Knapp?

Thank you. All right. Oh, my God. All right. So you're saying you don't endorse that idea. There are a few things I endorse less. Alec Baum. Thank God, right?

I mean, what a sham of a season this has been so far from the phillies thank you for giving us something here well wasn't it beautiful to see uh a number 28 flying around the bases after a double into the left center uh into the left left field corner left field line right down the line good piece of hit like he looks like worth you know i mean it's honestly though i in in on in a little real talk here for a second, they've clearly been working with his hands, you know, Ochard and the guys down there at the taxi squad camp up in Lehigh Valley. And I think I fully believe they've been telling him to watch J.D. Martinez

because what I watched tonight was J.D. Martinez. Wow. And the fact that we're getting, hopefully you're getting a J.D. Martinez kind of guy at 24 years old and not like, what, 28 when J.D. Martinez broke out is great, but, I mean, it was what we all expected. I mean, a guy that is going to rake here for a long time. Now, I don't think it's going to be the 40-plus homer stuff or 35 to 40-plus homers, which is fine.

I just think he's going to be a 25-homer, close to a 300-hitter for 10 years. That's what he looks like to me because he has a really good feel to strike zone. He can go the opposite way. I mean, he almost hit two homers his first his first game in the big leagues i mean i thought i thought the one in the seventh i didn't think was gonna get out um the one in the ninth i thought was legitimately either out or off the wall so i just love him um and if he looks like a guy you know there was a little birdie that had told me up at lehigh Valley before he got his contract was selected to come down. Jack Resources.

I mean, apparently his last, like, five at-bats, four of them, had an exit velocity of over 100 miles an hour. So, you know, what was annoying me with Boehm in summer camp was it was singles up the middle that were barely squeaking through. I didn't want to have another Derek Jeter career. I didn't want to have a boring slap hitter that never won an MVP and wasn't even unanimous for the Hall of Fame. I wanted a guy that was going to just hit tanks. Honestly, the first swing that Bo bohm took tonight i was like wow he's taking some hacks and he was starting to swing hard um so yeah and and third base looks

fine you know it wasn't like the the smoothest over there and uh can we just just spare me with the whole you know the first inning with the defensive highlights like dude he caught the ball and threw it to first base you know i, I think that wasn't exactly like a referendum on his ability to play third base. I mean, I think it was probably the greatest defensive play I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, yeah. He's the next Schmitty.

I got you. Yeah, I mean, yeah. I mean, if Schmitty were better than he was, probably, yeah. Correct. But, no, very, very encouraging stuff from him. And, you know, for as much as this season is not trending in the right direction um just the fact that we'll see spencer howard one three five days you know he's gonna start tomorrow night thank god yeah it was how great

i've never been more and even he didn't pitch well but i've never been more excited to see velasquez come in in relief because I was like, yes, sweet. Yeah. We're going to have Spencer Howard and we're going to have Alec Boehm tomorrow night. And quick thing on Vinny, like if you're going to be nicknamed Vinny Velo, can we throw harder than 93? Like seriously. At least come in.

Didn't in the first inning of the first start it felt like he did and then he's just, yeah. He doesn't throw very hard i mean i mean i get i get for clint sack he throws 100 but for people that watch baseball he throws like 92 yeah well um look i think that's a great point especially if and look to what we said before i mean a lot of teams make the playoffs this year i think it's 25000 teams in each league are making the playoffs. So it's not over. But having Boehm and Spencer Howard up definitely is something that we can look at

and feel excited about past this weird sham of a season. My favorite Boehm take so far that I have seen, shout out to my buddy Matt who texted, Boehm actually so far that I have seen. Shout out to my buddy Matt who texted, Boehm actually looks a little like Fritz if Fritz stopped drinking and started going to the gym. I think that's fair. I know, not too bad, right? Yeah, I mean, I think it's fair.

I mean, it may have grew a couple inches. Yeah, he's definitely taller than you two. Jill would probably agree, you know. But here I am having a beer and doing a podcast about Alec Boehm. We didn't really talk about the pitching. Is there anything you wanted to say about Wheeler, Eflin, or Jake? My only takeaway from Wheeler was that he's rushing to the plate, and that's what I was kind of talking about.

takeaway from Wheeler was that he's like rushing to the plate and that's what I was kind of talking about um maybe the Marlins uh Marlins series was that um like we'll we'll know when he's off and you can kind of tell in the sixth inning he was off he was just leaving balls over the middle of the plate uh Jake lost a sinker you know when he loses a sinker he's gonna get crushed um you know you kind of see it coming because what he's doing early in the game was not what was happening in the fourth and fifth. But Eflin's great. I love Eflin. I think he's – like the fact that he's probably going to be our five in a couple years is awesome.

You know, I haven't really stopped thinking about a future rotation of Howard, Wheeler, Nola, McAble, and then him. And then, I mean, maybe factor in Kumar Rocker, Jake, or Jack Leiter Jr. But, like, honestly, the stats are going to be... By the way, Jack, both of those names, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, are both A++ names. Oh, yeah.

This is honestly... It reminds me a lot of the Garrett Cole-Bauer draft. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Kumar Rockers. Who's the third guy? Was it Danny Holtzen? Was that the other guy?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. From Virginia. Look at that. You like that pull right there? I'm actually surprised. Well, because Danny Holtzen, I'm shocked the Phillies weren't picking around that area. He's like a perfect Phillies guy. Softball's like a lefty, right?

Yep. 89-92. But boy, does he know how to pitch. And then Bauer and cole sandwiching yep yep yep but he knows how to pitch so that's all that matters um uh other than that no like brogdon brogdon's a guy that you can bring like i don't know if you can bring him in with runners on base because he doesn't unless it's like that here's what i don't get is why is everyone throwing so soft in this team like even spencer howard was 94 when he's usually 97 vinny was 92 brogdon's

usually 96 97 um wheeler's the only one that's kind of maintained his velocity no the same way but a lot of the guys coming out of the bullpen that usually throw harder their velocity is down now maybe that has something to do with um you know, being off for the week. But it shouldn't really matter. I'm surprised it's having this much of an effect. Like, I'm watching these guys come in, and I'm like, okay, cool. Here comes Vinny Velo. This should be at least 95, 96, especially coming out of the bullpen.

And it's like 92. You know, Spencer Howard, I've watched him pitch a lot. It's usually 96, 97. He's 93 94 so i i wonder if it has to do with the layoff and if they could start throwing harder that'd be great yeah we'll take it um i think we can say for both of us uh quickly uh roman quinn not a fan uh adam hazley get better and they need to let adam hazley face left-handed pitching we've got to figure out if you could do it at some point. Why not in this

shame of a season? And also it can't be much worse than Quinn. Alright, Jack. Obviously we got your take bag coming up and all that stuff, but I've reached the end of my rundown, which

ends, and I saved it for last, with one name and i you know i think some people are wondering why we went 43 minutes into this podcast without mentioning this name no it it's over buddy uh what's the uh what's the official word man where. Where are you at? How are you feeling? Brand new Pavetta is now old Nick Pavetta. Very sad. Very sad. You know, I forgot when I was talking about guys's stuff being down heading to the bullpen you know i i haven't seen his stuff ever look that bad as it did in his last appearance

where he got shelled and subsequently i sat down the day after um we're dealing with it honestly i like the royal we there that was good i had uh i had forgotten about it until you brought it up and that was thanks that's what i was kind of hoping for sweet sweet appreciate it just when i was feeling and just when i was having some fun and smiling getting outside you know he gets sent down you're happy you're good you're fine no it's good it's good i'm like i had i had to take the one final you know everyone piling on i mean literally everyone piling on was it the biggest one like of all like like the dimensions because they're always flooded was this the the like just set them on fire type of thing yeah yeah and and and then it was aided by the we he held the

lead which which to be fair i don't care what anyone says i thought that was an all-time tweet that was such a perfect thing to say in that moment i i i actually like literally like loudly guffawed i laughed very hard out loud when i read that tweet that's well you know you you appropriately reacted to it there was many there was many who uh did not react in the same way that's amazing i love that that happened it was it was a truly truly awful night um but whatever you know he's gonna go down triple a and come back and save the season hey man it can't get much worse uh they just got swept by the orioles and they got the mets coming to town and i'm sure uh i'm sure they'll find a way to lose two of three at least them you know you know what I can't wait for is Pete Alonzo waking up this series.

Pete Alonzo has been garbage this year. Yeah, just like Acuna was until he got here. Yeah, yeah. So I fully expect him to just completely go off. And, like, the Mets have actually been playing better. Now it's Setspita who has decided to leave. So, you know, I don't have a good feeling heading into this series. It's not really a take. I don't have a good feeling heading into the series it's not really a take i don't think anyone feels good it's like we talked about before like honestly i unless

something changes and they make some trades or something which isn't going to happen i mean i don't where they completely bring up you know damon jones and other young guys and just see what happens or ever but even then like i just don't foresee any point this season where we can watch a game and feel good about any lead and that's it's like a recipe for a not very fun season well we're feeling it buddy i know we're sure we sure are going through it. You got anything in the tank bag? Yes, I do. Oh, Dick Allen. Oh, good point. So well-deserved.

I mean, not a Hall of Famer, which is the criteria. Usually well-deserved. He should be in the Hall of Fame. I think this is a good move by the Phillies. Yeah, yeah. And, I mean, I think the whole got to make the Hall of Fame to have your number retired is kind of stupid when you've lost 10,000 or, what, 11,000 games now. How about we just honor the great players in the organization

before we get all high and mighty with the whole you have to make the Hall of Fame to have your number retired here. And it should open up the door. Well, first off, I think Dick Allen's probably going to get in, in what this year or next year to the hall of fame yeah it seems like he's trending in that direction with like a veteran whatever the veterans committee is called now it's like a modern day committee or whatever they call it if if harold baines can make it i mean i'm sure dick allen is is 10 times the player harold baines was and harold baines and it's a great point um so yes i think he'll get in this year anyway but anyway this should open up the door for 10 times the player Harold Baines was and Harold Baines is in. It's a great point.

So, yes, I think he'll get in this year anyway. But anyway, this should open up the door for Utley, Howard, and Rollins. And Hamels. And not Hamels. There's no freaking way. What are you talking about? How could you put the other three in and not Hamels? Because, dude, because those guys were truly great. Cole hamels is not a true great here he was a good

pitcher but he was a footnote in this organization world series mvp i don't care he was the world series mvp you can't like how one every start he had in that playoff run but why everyone we we can't just look at 2008 we have to look at the body of the work. We have to look at how they had to bring in aces every single year after that to help with Cole Hamels because he wasn't a real ace. Anyone can wear 35 again. For all – seriously. I agree that he is fourth of the four. There's no question about that, but no way.

You have to put them all in. Dude, his number should not be retired by the Coles. It's got to be all four. There's no way. It's got to be all four. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. There but no way you have to put them all dude his number his number should not be retired by the there's no way it's gotta be all for it no it doesn't no it doesn't there's no way there's absolutely no way cole hamels should have his number retired by this team there's there's that is that is a joke those three those three were actual greats like on a hall of fame track of entries don't happen and they were the key cogs to 2008 they were they also carried on but not to 2008 in 2008 hamels was just as important as anyone but utley all right so we'll put so why is alec bone wearing worth number i mean worth better 444 hamels was here a lot longer i mean hamels was here longer than any of them

But Hamels was here a lot longer. I mean, Hamels was here longer than any of them. Hamels is not. Hamels, they had to bring in Lee and Halliday. They didn't have to. They chose to. And it didn't work. Because Hamels was never an ace.

He certainly was an ace in 2008. He was an ace. I get it. I get it. They won the World Series. Like Nick Foles was Super Bowl MVP. I got it. I got it. They won the World Series. Like Nick Foles was Super Bowl MVP. I got it. I got it. I just don't think we have to.

Except Campbell's had a much longer and more storied career. Yeah. Again, I think we overrate this whole championship thing. I'm a body of work guy. And those three guys were actual greats. Campbell's is not an actual great. All right. What else?

There's no way his number should be retired. And if there is, I'm going to be a one-man riot down. Good. I'll take it on the other way. It'll be a podcast divided. I just don't. Whatever. All right.

Another thing. I appreciate what NBC Sports Philly is doing with the whole take me out to the ball game thing they're doing. Have you seen this commercial, James? Really? Really. Okay. Well, they're doing this thing where they have, I don't know,

team employees or fans or whatever saying take me out to the ball game. I don't pay attention to commercials. Also, I watch on on streaming so maybe it's different commercials potentially maybe but i would just like i hate when people mess up like i hate when people mess up the fight song you know i think people mess up the eagles fight song all the time but but people are also messing they they put this commercial on where they mess up take me out to the ball game and and correct me if i'm wrong but it goes but it goes uh and i don't care if i ever get back for it's true right correct it's i don't i don't care if i ever get back right that's that's the lyrics well in this commercial they have i don't care if i never get back and that's just wrong

it's wrong and if we're going to be a serious baseball team can we get take me out take me out to the ball game to be right sure i think this is a uh a righteous gripe i suppose maybe a little um nitpicky but i like it i think it's fair i don't think i I think the bigger question is you have a commercial, so why wouldn't you just edit it and tell them to say it right? Take Me After the Ballgame has been around for, I don't know, 1,000 years at this point. Oh, it actually is Never Get Back.

I just looked it up. It's Never Get Back. Oh, wow, Jack. No, it's not. Yeah, I just looked it up. No, it's not. I don't care if I ever get back to Little Redsburg. It's not I don't care if I never get back wow jack no it's not yeah it's not no it's not it i don't care if i ever get back it's not i don't care if i never get back i don't care if i never get back

yeah no you've never said that in your life you've never you've never said that you know that sounds right now i i think i i went with you because you were so, so forceful. No, no, I think, I think you're still mad about the Hamels. Here, let me check out other stories. That was Wikipedia. I don't care if I,

well, Wikipedia always lies, even though it got me through my high school. No, it's never get back. This is a, have you ever sang? Never get back.

I had to think about it. I don't care if I never get back yeah it's definitely never it's jag you blew this this is embarrassing are you embarrassed all right what else you got uh man my mic was muted for that that was a that was a good burn by me um so do people not hear it and i get to hear my reaction to it because that's funny too yes yes dang just when i was getting the hang of this anyway what i said was that real baseball fans saying ever get back not never get back yes in your in your way. I think they're wasting a Bryce Harper season, but whatever.

And we're five ratings and reviews away from 700. I have no special prize for 700, but I just would be very excited when I see 700. Yes, please. It really does mean a lot to him so please do it for jack and and even if it requires you know um using your parents computer to fill out a review and do it in their name even if it requires you getting your girlfriend or boyfriend to do it in their name um we don't care we'll take it you know five star reviews we're happy right jack correct yeah we'll take whatever we can get however we can get it that's that's basically what we're saying high hops is in the process of uh i would say within a month from now

it'll be in cans in pounders so actually big news right there so we can uh drink our sorrows away while we watch this baseball team oh buddy um all right well we'll talk sunday uh let's hope that uh maybe they'll sweep the mets and we'll be all back in and it'll be super exciting do you think that's gonna happen jack no all right me neither all right uh enjoy the rest of your vacation buddy well i got spencer howard tomorrow night well never mind then all right yeah we'll be fine we'll talk to you guys on sunday he's first himself so see you later