High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - They're Not Done?

Episode Date: September 13, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phils are STILL alive in the playoff chase and also talk about a lot of the issues surrounding this team. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Get the yo ready. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack's going to bring the energy. I'm going to bring the sleepiness.

Jack, these September games are way too effing long. Playoff fever. Yeah, buddy. How are you tired right now? Because I am so tired I can't even tell you. How are you not tired? This baseball team puts you to sleep. Granted, they were fun tonight. Let me tell you how I'm so tired I can't even tell you. How are you not tired? This baseball team puts you to sleep. Granted, they were fine.

All right. Let me tell you how I'm not tired. Don't tell me. You're not really in, right? Like, this is just you being, like, faux excited, but you're not actually back in, right? Let me tell you how I'm not tired, okay? Because here's the thing.

When you go to Phillies games and you sit in the press box is that there's free coffee and I was just pounding coffee all night. So I'm ready to go. I got a playoff run in front of me. I got a bullpen that is just lights out dominant. James, what if I told you

that the Phillies are the only team in baseball that has maintained a winning record since game one of the season? I saw that tweet. I would say that it is among the most misleading statements in the history of statement. What if I told you that the Yankees won their 97th game tonight? What if I told you that, Jack? James, what have you said on this podcast a thousand times? I can spin anything into a puzzle.

I know, man. Even this Phillies team, which is pretty impressive. you said on this podcast a thousand times i can spin anything into a positive even this even this philly scene which is pretty impressive if i do say so myself all right well let's dive in because i've got a lot of not positives along the way it's been a little while since we talked here as it's i know we take we take we take one monday off and everyone acts like we're never doing a podcast again come on peeps Come on, peeps. Give us a break. All right, give us a break. There was technical difficulties at the studio.

So, like, yeah. I mean, listen, it wasn't great. But we're back now just in time for a playoff run. Yes. I would say the Phillies killed us. Like, the Phillies killed James and I. Let's put it out there. Like, James and I, we're dead inside.

And for the most part, I'm still dead inside. I'm only fueled by coffee right now. James is actually dead. James is actually dead. I'm so dead. I love it too because we kept being like, we should record. And we're like, I don't have anything to say about this team right now. It's just so frustrating.

Now, there actually is a lot to say of course we're doing it way too late at night and i'm way too tired so um let's let's get into a few of the things i want to talk about the the dallas keitel of it all for sure in a second didn't need him what is your overall take on this i mean all right yeah i think i did you see the cory seidman tweet that he put out before the game day and obviously changed their record in their last 24 games i mean the fact that this team has literally gone 500 one and one in their last two two and two in their last four three and three in their last six so on and so forth until 12 and 12 in their last 24 i mean i'm just at the point where i'm so out like i'm so out i'm believing in this team at all it doesn't matter what they do like i what

did what did i think they were going to do against the braves win two of the four games what did they do they won two of the four games jack make me believe buddy i just think it's safe to say that the phillies own the braves this season i mean the eight and eight they split with the braves do the do the phillies actually own the braves it's a i think it's a fair question to ask so what if they so what if their record against the braves since opening day is what um five and eight five and eight um they own them i think there's no other way to put it besides the fact that the phillies on the braves um listen i like here's the thing they're definitely bad

like they're definitely a bad baseball team yeah they're just bad they're definitely a bad baseball team. Yeah, they're just bad. They're definitely bad. But, listen, would they allow – I think Pavetta was the only guy in the bullpen that allowed runs this week. Of course he was. Which is crazy. Top ten reliever in baseball allowing runs, Jack. I heard that somewhere.

No, honestly, it's shocking to see a top ten reliever in the sport struggle like this. I mean, he's no Nick Vincent, but, you know. Man, people give Nick Vincent too tough a time. Let him live a little bit. I mean, he's got a good spin rate on his four-seam fastball. If we're honestly sitting here being honest to ourselves, he's got a good spin on that fastball. He's got a good rise to it. But, like, it's crazy.

They should not have even split the series, but that's how this team's been this entire year. We watch them every game. It's like, no, they shouldn't have won this game. And then they do. I don't know how to explain it, but they're not... Nah, they're pretty bad. They're not terrible.

They're just not that good. They're mediocre. it's what they are they have a minus 23 run differential man they have a minus 23 run differential like at some point doesn't give Kapler credit or what yeah look I think at least it really does seem that and I don't think it's necessarily going to help Kapler keep his job or anything, but it does seem that at least the narrative, certainly in Philadelphia, for a city that has hated Gabe Kapler, and that's saying it nicely,

it seems like more people hate Klentag now. It seems like the narrative has shifted where, and obviously we'll talk about the Ken Rosenthal piece in a sec, because we haven't been together since that, and that kind of leads right into this. But I think a lot of people, including Ken Rosenthal, believe that the front office is to blame now, and that Kapler is kind of getting a bit of a, you know, people are starting to come around on the Kapler might not be that bad and Klentak is horrible, something we've been talking about here for a while on the High Hopes podcast.

Let's dive into the Rosenthal article because it seems like a good spot to do that. Wait, you mean to tell me that it's not the manager's fault when he's rolling out a bullpen of Nick Vinson, Mike Morin? Like, their number two starter is me? You mean to tell me that the manager is not the problem here? You mean the guy that maybe assembled that team is the problem here? Yeah, I've got thoughts on the Ken Rose article. All right, go dive in, buddy.

Dive in. Like, it was, honestly, I saw it, I read it, and I was like, thank the Lord that someone else is finally seeing it. Like, thank the Lord that the national media is finally turning their ire to the correct problem with the Philadelphia Phillies, and that is Matt Klintzak.. And that is Matt Klintzak. It's 100% Matt Klintzak. And it was like, I just want to know where all the information came from.

Like, who benefited the most from that coming out? Like, who wanted that article to get out there? Is it a Middleton leak? Is it a Boris leak via Bryce Harper? I don't know. It was a super, super interesting piece. And maybe the most, like, I don't remember a scathing piece like that. Me either.

Especially from a reporter. That's the thing. It's like this isn't like an opinion piece. You know what I mean? It's not. No. that's the thing it's like this isn't like an opinion piece you know i mean it's not no it's not some uh writer an opinion writer saying this is this is my view of the situation this is the best most plugged in reporter in the game saying i've heard all these things this is what i know

i know that this happened i know that this happened i know that this happened. I know that this happened. I know that this happened. I know that this situation is going on. And when you put all this together, it looks really bad for the Philadelphia Phillies front office. And that holds a lot of weight with me. I mean, and we all felt this way. This is Rosenthal is speaking to power. The thing that we've talked about in on this podcast for a while now, but I I'm with you in the sense that I totally agree. I don't ever remember a scathing piece about a front office like this coming out in this fashion at this time of the season from a guy like Rosenthal, from a reporter where you know it's –

like I remember opinion pieces, not this type of thing. It's really damningning and it should be. And, you know, all this, the, you know, putting the parallels up of the Braves rebuild and the Phillies rebuild something, you know, we talked about early on in the rebuilds. And, um, I mean, just how far ahead the Braves are is astounding. And we talk about all the time as we watch a C Acuna, you know, hit a homer and steal two bases last night on his way to a 40-40 campaign at the age of 21. And it makes me want to never watch baseball again because I know I have to

watch that guy play against my team for the next decade plus. I mean, just when Freddie Freeman is turning 30, I'm going to deal with Acuna. I know, and Albies is pretty damn good too and all that. But yeah, honestly, like when I think about the Braves rebuild and I think about the Cubs rebuild and I think about the Astros rebuild, it feels like the Phillies half-assed it. Like it almost feels like they half-assed it.

Or they also got unlucky. Like the Moniak draft was unlucky. Like there was no superstar talent right at the top of it. It was like Moniak. Well, it turns out that Gavin Lux is a superstar talent that went later in the draft. Yeah, but it was like, yeah, Groom, right, and Puck and those guys. Right. Fine players.

But, like, you know, when those teams went into rebuilds, they came out of it with Chris Bryant, Rizzo, Javi Baez. They came out of that with that. They came out with Altuve, Springer, Correa, Bregman. They come out of that with the Braves. We just talked about them. Like Acuna, Albies, Riley, all the pitching guys. You come out of it with legit superstar talent and they don't have it. They have a bunch of... My problem is

that, and what honestly scares me, what James I'm legitimately scared about the future of the Phillies, is that they have a bunch of good players, but they don't have difference makers. I think Harper's a difference maker. I think Real Muta's a difference maker. Nola can be, but, man, September Nola two years in a row. It's not great. Nope.

Kingery's a good player. I don't think he's going to be a difference-making type player. Again, a very, very solid player. And then you look at the minor leagues. I think Boehm can be a difference maker. I think Power can be a good pitcher. I i think hazley is not a difference maker he's just a very solid major league player like can they can they realistically compete for a world series with a bunch of pretty good players in 20 in 2019 and going forward when we see these super teams being

formed like super teams are what is driving baseball right now and my my my concern and the thing that keeps me up at night is like how are they going to get to a to a super team level like i don't i don't know how they're going to get there unless they're prepared to just shell out all kinds of money unless they're prepared to go six years 225 for for garrett cole or eight years 275 for anthony rendon they almost have to buy their way because they're not going to be at the top of drafts and unless they unless they start figuring out how to find superstar talent in the later and later part of the first round and second round and on like the dodgers have like the smart teams have like

i just don't know like where where is where is the next level of the Phillies coming from? Because you look at the Braves, they look like another super team in baseball. You look at the Nationals, they're unbelievable. Yeah, that's what I was about to say with Soto and Turner. They have so much. Soto alone, I mean, Jesus, that kid's 20 and he's a superstar already he's like a 960 lbs or something he does he's insane so intimidating at the play he's terrifying that's that's what i'm saying so so i just i don't want i don't want to think about the

future too much but when i when i think about the future it makes it even more kind of kind of terrifying because because their ceiling may be limited to just being a good baseball team that doesn't have the capabilities or the the ability to find and raid talent and turn them into stars like they may not be able to do that if they can't do that i don't know i don't know what the phillies path to a world series is i i don't know where that path is coming from uh well it's gonna have to be it's gonna have to be luck it's gonna not like luck in a lot of situations you stay healthy all year look a team can can have a year like the the royals had a really good two-year stretch and yeah they developed some talent stuff like that but they weren't an amazing baseball team and granted there weren't but can that can that team can that

team win today with the super teams i don't know it's an interesting discussion point i mean that team was only five years ago that team was four years ago that's it's crazy though like i'm with you but that team was four years ago that royals team won the Royals four years ago. I get it, but is that team even competing with the Dodgers, Astros, or Yankees? Well, I mean, I don't know. They were a weird team that seemed to play way greater than the sum of their parts, right? That was their thing. They were just a team that played far better than you would think that

collection of talent would ever play. So I don't know, but more likely than not, I agree with you. Look, the on paper, they are far inferior to any of these super teams, but, um, I, I, I agree with your overall point. And I think it's why it's so important that, that this front office can't be allowed to continue anymore. I mean, this mean, that's why it's so important. I mean, and credit to my brother for texting me this, but he's so right. It's like while the Phillies are giving Matt Klintak another year to keep doing what he's been doing, even though he's been given four years, like you said, in a rebuilding effort where he came out of it.

And granted, he got handed a raw deal in a lot of ways coming out of the Ruben Amaro era. But, I mean, he's got nothing to show for tanking for a few years. Like you said, all these other teams come out of these rebuilds with massive amounts of talent. Even a team like the Padres comes out and has all this massive amount of talent just by drafting and developing and signing

in the Latin American countries and stuff like that. The Phillies have had so little success in that area under Klintec. Like, it's actually hard to believe. You would almost think that by sheer luck, they would hit on a few more than they have. It's really crazy, actually. So when you think about it, and what'm pointing out my brother my brother texts me he's like you uh you better prepare yourself because the red sox are gonna sign khan bloom and i'm like of course they are the red sox are gonna sign khan bloom and we're gonna be sitting

here holding our you know what's with matt klentak being an arrogant thinks he knows better than us thing and just continuing to do what he do and if they don't they don't jack if we don't we don't and and it's like i got a little fired up there i'm i'm tired but i'll fire awake yeah who knew all it all it took was the the clintac hate to get me going don't let him get hot um yeah it it's like it's like what has matt klintzak done to prove that he should keep his job like that's what i what's where i'm at like i think like what is one more year of matt klintzak really gonna accomplish like what is he gonna do like there there are legit smart gm candidates out there that we're just gonna let go by the wayside in the hopes that

that matt klintak turns into one of those guys like i i don't know what we're i don't know what we're waiting for like we're just we're just like oh yeah okay i mean you're already here and we don't want to mess up the power structure it's like well like why are we just it feels like the and this is so classic phillies like just accepting mediocrity yeah and accepting a small market mentality and and and just just it's the clint tech stuff what is what has he done to keep his job like spend john melton's money like just just just name one pitching decision name Find me one under-the-radar stud that he's found. Well, that's the thing. Real quick, that's the important note.

I think stud is an important term to use because the only thing that Matt Klintag has proven to be good at, and this is certainly a skill. I'm not taking it away from him. But literally, the only thing he's been good at is finding super cheap talent that plays above what you would expect. The Corey Dickerson type moves and stuff like that. He's had some really nice, really on the margins, outside of the margins moves.

But he's done nothing to create the types of players that drive teams to championships. The Acuna type guys, the real stud players you can look at as franchise cornerstone type guys on cheap contracts or have the chance to, like Acuna, lock down a all-time talent for a well below market cost price because, you know, you're buying a lot of years of arbitration out and all that stuff. So it's really frustrating because Klintak has had some good on the margin stuff, but he has built no real infrastructure in terms of stud type players. And here's the other thing too. It seems like he's good at adding major league talent on the margins, but he has done zero in terms. The reason he has to add those guys is because they have no organizational depth in terms of the minor leagues.

Like we talk about this all the time, Jack, but I mean, the Dodgers are an extreme example, bringing up like Dustin May and Gavin Lux, like top 20 prospects to pitch out of their bullpen or whatever. and Gavin Lux, like top 20 prospects to pitch out of their bullpen or whatever. But, you know, every other team brings up minor league players who contribute, guys who they can have as organizational depth, whether it's a bullpen arm and a guy who can throw 90-something or whatever, 95. Wouldn't that be crazy? Even 95 with regularity out of the bullpen? That's what's frustrating to me is that, you know,

they've hit on some top picks and had some solid picks at the top, maybe not the home runs you want, but they've really missed with the later rounds and the ability to develop just major league depth talent. They always have to go sign a Brad Miller from someone A's AAA squad, sign a Logan Morrison from another AAA squad, trade for Corey Dickerson, a meaningless, you know, giving up nothing. And granted, you get a lot out of Dickerson, but you know what I mean? Like, they really struggled to build that organizational depth that in today's game has proven.

I mean, again, the Astros are a perfect example. Of course, they bring up Jordan Alvarez, and he's going to win the Rookie of the Year, like, going away. He's one of the best hitters, if not best hitter in baseball since he's come up but they just bring up kyle tucker because why the hell not i mean they just have so much talent to to infuse into a team that is trying to make a run that cheap talent that the phillies don't have yeah i mean that's the like like and you hear them talk about oh we've been so injury ravished this year oh i hate the excuses so are other teams yeah the yankees like geo urshela is like a major contributor that mike talkman like had you ever heard of mike talkman before

mike ford yes i mean he was he was one of the guys I want. He was one of the triple A guys I want to trade. Yeah, there you go. That's the thing is like the Yankees. I mean, how can you have a team? Again, as I said before, Jack, the Yankees won their 97th game of the day. Ninety seven. The Phillies have 77 wins. Is that where they're at right now?

Seventy six, seventy seven. I mean, come on. Yeah, but they're the only team in baseball that hasn't dropped below 500. The only team in baseball to maintain a winning record the entire season. The Yankees haven't done that. The Astros haven't done that. Jack, you know what that stat is? That stat is the equivalent of if the Phillies made the playoffs this year

and touted that it was the quickest turnaround. It's the same type of thing. Are you calling me McPhail? That is the meanest thing you've ever said to me in the history. I called your stat McPhail, not you. You comparing me to a 1991 World Series winning team president who is now the president of my baseball team is the meanest thing you've ever said to me.

I'm so sorry, buddy. He's the worst. I mean, sorry, buddy. He's the worst. I mean, he is awful. He is useless. I just, like, he may not have. If we don't, we don't is going to, should, and is going to go down as one of the dumbest things any executive has ever said in the history of Philadelphia sports.

I truly mean that. Yeah, I mean, we're not sure how much power Andy McPhail has, but just him being the team president and him being one of the decision makers is an absolute embarrassment for a modern baseball team. Like, the guy is in the absolute stone ages and is a horrible talker and is a waste of my time. I just, yeah. stone ages and is a horrible talker and is a waste of my time um i just yeah for a team that's two games back and like it's unbelievable how we talk about this team like we're basically writing their funeral for like the next couple years unless they figure it out and and and start like my my main

this has been my main problem for forever it's's like they talk like they're a smart team, but they're actually dumb. Like, they're an actually dumb baseball team that tries to talk like they are, that they are one of the forefronts of the analytics movement. And they're just not. Like, every one of their analytical whatever is, like, two years too late. They can't find any underrated talent like Corey Dickerson always raked but the only reason he was available is because he's injured all the

time. It's the same thing as Wilson Ramos. Wilson Ramos obviously was a good player and obviously helped the team but he could barely play because he was hurt all the time. Same thing with Corey Dickerson. Corey Dickerson he's always hurt with something and that's why he's never gotten a big contract. So it's like, yeah.

They're just so, you know, I just want a smart baseball team. Like, you're in a top five market. You're in a top five market, and they just don't act like it. They don't make shrewd moves. They don't act. Like, I just, they drive make shrewd moves they don't act like i just they drive me crazy i love them too much that's the problem well well that's actually a good point i forgot that we didn't actually get into the keiko thing there as well because i think that that was a moment where it put on display and obviously the rosenthal article at the same time kind of really hammering

home but um to have keitel come in here and first of all dallas keitel a 335 era then everyone saw the stat i'm sure but in his last six starts five at all with a 0.97 era he has been a legitimate difference maker and would be the philly's second best starter go in a landslide like going away you know as as easily the second starter as nola is the first now like he is way better than everyone else in this rotation would have made a difference like potentially in terms of momentum and all these types of things that could be the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. Very likely probably would have been.

And this is a spot where it's almost unforgivable how they handled this situation, especially because like we talked about, like they made it very clear. They didn't believe in this team and we've already covered that and how much we think that was a mistake. If nothing else from the message they convey to that locker room what they're saying to the clubhouse of of how much we believe in you guys um but when you look at this situation with with the the dallas keitel thing where again all it would have taken was money and again the phillies ending the season as the 11th highest payroll in baseball

and nowhere near the top. Like you said, they should be top five in money spent and sold us a bill of goods about we're going to go out and spend money, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. And here's the thing, and Joe DiCamera made this point in the Midday Show today, and he's the thing. And Jody Cameron made this point in the Midday Show today, and he's absolutely right. The idea that it wasn't like the Phillies signed Dallas Keuchel at the end of April or something where they still were like,

all right, we're going to get Pavetta time, or Eflin started out really good and stuff. It was June. Like, they knew the holes and flaws that they had in their pitching staff, and they not only didn't sign this guy, they didn't even go to look at him. I mean, it's just such an indictment to me of this front office, how this Dallas Keuchel thing paid out, and it played out with an exclamation point with him

not only throwing a gem against the Phillies, but then literally calling the front office out after the game. Yeah. a gem against the phillies but then literally calling the front office out after the game yeah i mean listen i didn't want to sign the oscar to a three-year deal or whatever like a long term but once it got to a point where it was like oh he's only signing a one-year deal like they should they should be embarrassed they should be absolutely embarrassed. There was no... Once it got to the point where it was one freaking year... It's so ridiculous. Like, what?

I just... What is that even... What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Are you just throwing in the towel? and the and the thing is is that is that if you sign dallas keitel when he was signed and like first off it keeps you in it realistically until a trade deadline and you can actually have an honest assessment about your

team like they they were they were a fraud playoff team heading into the deadline with a bad pitching staff with a bad bullpen if you sign dallas keitel at least you can say all right we have nola keitel let's add in you know what we saw the the freaking what the reds were asking for for row arc so maybe it wouldn't have cost or maybe it would have would have cost more than i thought but but like you could have stolen a Roark type or gotten a back end of the guy, like a Mike Leak or whatever. Just cheap guys that can help fill out a rotation, actually give you a chance.

And the reason why no one is going to the ballpark, why no one believes, is because obviously the pitching staff is just dog poop. The starting staff cannot go more than four innings now. And thenabe is forced to mix and match the entire game with with guys who aren't very good and just adding dallas kugel another guy that can that should be able to give you at least six innings less than three runs it was it's still it's still unbelievable it's still unbelievable i i don't get it and i just i i just want to know

like i just want to know what their their thought process is like that should be grounds for firing right there which regards for coming back right there i i it's malpractice it especially here's the thing it's malpractice that they didn't even give it a thought. They were like, we don't need to go watch this guy pitch. We don't need to engage in this. We don't need to monitor this. We don't need to really put our toe in the waters because we don't need him. We don't need him. Oh, he doesn't miss baths, but we'll go sign Drew Spargel.

And here's the thing. Like we were just talking about with the trade deadline, the message they sent. This is the kind of thing where you could have, with one fell swoop, told your clubhouse, we are all in on you guys. Like we just went out and got a side. You know, that's the way baseball players think. They might not look at, you know,

they're going to look at Dallas Keuchel as a guy who won a Cy Young. Like that will matter to that. Well, we looked at Arrieta the same way. Sure, but Dallas Keuchel's been better lately than Arrieta has and either way he's coming in from a team that won the World Series with him from you know he's a World Series winner and a Cy Young winner that doesn't hurt to bring into a clubhouse to say we believe in you to pay him 13 million dollars to say hey clubhouse here's this guy let's go like Don't you think that makes a little bit of a difference with the whole mentality like you talked about

with the trade deadline of them showing that they don't believe in that clubhouse? That's a reverse type of message. You don't think the Braves were like, hell yeah, thanks for going out and getting this guy who can help us. I think that matters. Well, and you look at a lot of people on that Braves team. They brought in Francisco Cervelli. They brought in Billy Hamilton.

They made a bunch of trades for relievers, Chris Martin, Melanson. Right. Like, I don't think Cervelli is a game changer. I don't think Billy Hamilton is a game changer. But they're adding major league caliber players to a roster that is trying to make a little move here. Meanwhile, we're, like, still committed to Andrew Knapp as our backup catcher. And so many more things. And, again, even on a more, like, we're committed to freaking Drew Smiley

and Jason Vargas. Dude, Smiley is just brutal. He's bad. Like, he is just, and he, he like is always mopey on the man i know as is coming from me as the pivetta guy but like like drew smiley's body language just pisses me off like just come on man like i don't know like this team you know they're oh and can we can we can we real talk and he's actually probably even better than most for the most part he's definitely had his moments like everyone else but can we, can we real talk? And he's actually probably even better than most for the most part.

He's definitely had his moments like everyone else. But can we talk about how annoying Blake Parker's whole wind up like jerky thing that he does is he's like jerking around and it's so annoying. It's like, dude, just come on, man. Throw a pitch, throw a pitch. And then you factor in the Jared. He's sprinting from the ball. I do.

I do. It's like that. We have the most annoying that, that JT Rom from the bullpen. Oh, dude, I do. It's like we have the most annoying. That JT Romito clip that went viral is just every Phillies fan with this bullpen this season. Mike, every time I see the Mike Morin 69-mile-per-hour changeup, I'm just like that JT Romito face. I just can't. I wish I liked this team more from that perspective like i hate all these

pictures i hate watching them i hate watching them pitch they're not fun like i watch the astros and i watch garrett cole or i watch justin verlander and i'm like look at what these guys can do that's crazy that is so much fun to watch Garrett Cole make the ball just do crazy things we don't ever see that man like obviously Nola's awesome and I don't want to take away from that obviously September Nola has not been awesome and the whole five days versus four days rest type of thing is is really kind of wild with him but um you you know, it's just, we don't have guys like that. We don't have, you know, you watch a team like 80% of the closers in baseball and these guys come in.

Granted, Hector Neris has been really good for a while now, like a little while. But, like, you watch these guys come in and they're pumping in 101 and 99 with, like, a hook. And it's just, it's very, it's disappointing, Jack. It's depressing. It frustrates me. I feel like we're not watching what everyone else gets to watch.

Exactly. Like, most teams, if they're two games out, like, you see the Cubs And you see the Brewers And you see even the Mets And you see these teams Oh yeah Pete Alonzo on his way to 50 home runs We forgot to mention him In our little you know rant About young stars on all these other teams Right and it's like

It's like oh That's available You're allowed to do that stuff? For a team that is two games out and knowing how bad they actually are, it's pretty wild. It's pretty wild. There's so little talent on this baseball team. It's actually – it drives me crazy.

Well, it's funny because when you think about it, like you really think about it we would say right that that you know nola and then there's like the the four guys on offense right you know bryce romuto harper kingery and i guess you know you throw a cigar in there but that's it like of guys who are like matter and even then sagura, that is, you know, he has not been great and is, is a defensive issue. But like, think about a team like the Red Sox. We're going to miss the playoffs handily and their core four compared to the Phillies core four.

When you can look at Mookie bets and Devers and Xander Bogarts and JD Martinez I mean think about that I mean think about that and of course and it can keep going but like think about that and and like you said and that's not even thinking about the Astros who go like 10 deep of guys who would would be you know in the middle of a Phillies lineup practically. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's a shame because this was supposed to be a season that made us feel like the Phillies were back. And instead, even though this is the closest they have, the best and most they've competed in eight years, nine years,

for the playoffs, and yet, at least for eight years, nine years for the playoffs. And yet, at least for me, and I'm sure for you, it's made us feel less optimistic about the team in the future. Yep. That's crazy, Jack. Yep. It's antithetical. That's what they've done.

I mean, it's antithetical. That's all Klintac. Like, there's no other explanation for that. Man. Well, let's talk about something positive. JT Romito is first in the NL in wars since June 1st. Yeah, he's awesome. Here's the thing.

There are players in this team that I absolutely love. I love Real Amudo, and I love Bryce Harper. I love Kingery. I love Reece Hoskins, but I'm also very, very frustrated with Reese Hoskins. I really love Reese the guy and I

think the best version of Reese is a guy that I want to be around. I just think this is a bad spell for Reese. I'm not going to write Reese's whole career off. I'm not either. I like Reese. I think Reese is a good hitter. And he's still young. He's, you know, 26,

27, right? So, I mean, he still has a chance to put it all together as an offensive player. And he's always going to be streaky. But I think you're too down on Reese. Granted, defensively, he's just never going to be good anywhere. But I feel like he's been better at first than I expected. He's improved. Yeah. So good anywhere. But I feel like he's been better at first than I expected.

He's improved. Yeah, so there's guys that really like him. And Kingery's really fun. I like watching Scott Kingery play every night. That's a do-do. I'm really happy to have him on my team for a while. I love his brand of baseball. You know what I mean?

Scrappy, fun, flies around the bases, can play a bunch of different positions. He's a fun – and he's a really good baseball player. Yeah. Yeah, I think it all boils down to, like, I just wish there was more talent to watch in this bullpen. Just in the pitching staff. Can we just say that? Like, it's what it comes down to.

The fact is, is this offense is, look, clearly it's not good enough to carry them to the playoffs and beyond, but it's good enough to compete. It's good enough to get to the playoffs. It's good enough to compete in the playoffs. This pitching staff is so far away. I think that's the real takeaway. Obviously it's not groundbreaking, but it's just what it is.

Next year, I mean, I think Howard's going to have a legit chance to compete for a spot. What do you mean a legit chance? He better be in the rotation. Yeah, well, you don't know how it's going to work out. Jack, I know all things. I would agree that I would like to see him from the start. I mean, I hated that they didn't bring him up here. Again, that's just another example of them being like eh whatever if we don't we don't jack if we don't we don't okay um don't pressure us we'll do what we want we're

smarter than you didn't you know that no they're so smart such a smart baseball team um they definitely think they're smart. I know that. They think they are. They freaking analytics kings. Damon Jones is going to have a chance to compete for a spot at a spring training. Those guys are going to be key. They have to

hit on guys in free agency. If it's not Cole, there's just not really many other guys like zach wheeler's intriguing but he seems like a tease he seems like pivetta um he's way better than pivetta i get he's better but like same kind of thing like always gonna break your heart oh he's pretty good he's okay he's not as good as he should be look if he comes here he'll get worse anyway so oh yeah oh you think chris young has any chances of arriving this season no chance i look i don't know what's gonna happen with game um as we kind of pivot here towards the end but uh rosenthal

you know said on the broadcast mentioned him in the article said on Rosenthal, you know, said on the broadcast, mentioned him in the article, said on the broadcast that, you know, if they miss the playoffs, he doesn't know what will happen, but, you know, Joe Maddon could be available. Buck Showalter could be available. Oh, yeah. Let's bring in Buck Showalter. I know. I know.

Perfect. Awesome. Just repeating what he said. Just repeating what he said. And Joe Girardi. Oh, let's bring in Mike freaking Socia as a bench coach, too. Sounds great. Who else can we bring back?

Who else? La Russa? La Russa, A. La Russa was an all-time great manager. One of the best, if not the best, of our lifetime. So let's not freak out on that. The other... Yeah, let's bring in a guy that doesn't know how to bring Zach Britton into a playoff game.

I actually think Buck was an underrated manager, but I agree. He's not the manager of the Phillies. But look, Girardi and Madden, especially if he leaves the Cubs, are both interesting names. And I think if nothing else,

I think, would you agree that Klintak, despite the fact that the narrative has changed and he will certainly be under the microscope, would you agree that it is not likely that Klintak is gone

after the season? I do not think one back is gone yeah and i would pray to i would pray to the heavens that he's gone but i don't think he's gone yeah i agree with you now gabe what do you think's gonna happen if let's say they miss the playoffs obviously it depends how it happens but let's say it just stays like this. They stay about two back, they flirt with it, and they just finish two or three back. I think he's back. Really? I think he's gone.

I think he's back and the whole coaching staff is cleaned out. Which is possible, too. I think Chris Young is 100% gone. Even if they make the playoffs, I think Chris Young is gone. No, he was almost gone before this. He was% gone. Even if they make the playoffs, I think Chris Young is gone. No, he was almost gone before this. Yeah. He's almost gone. They almost fired him with the hitting coach.

Yeah. He is gone. And I don't know. Everyone's gotten worse. Yeah. I mean, look, that part of the Rosenthal article was his damning. Is there anything where he's like, basically the pitchers just don't like him. And I mean, I don't think if we haven't I can't believe we've got it.

But like just the idea that Zach Afflin said, no, what you're telling me to do is bad. I'm going to do what I think is right. And it's worked at least better is as big an indictment of any pitching coach as i could ever possibly imagine um yeah i i get it here's the problem with the phillies is they keep trying to they keep trying to to change guys to fit their system in a way um that those guys should not be changing what they should be doing like like the idea of fastball, of a rising fastball and getting it up and out of the zone so guys can't launch it is a good idea. But when you're trying to make it with a guy who's been a single baller pitcher

his entire career, like it's hard to do. Like why would they do that? It's like Chip Kelly. I mean, that's what it is. It's very Chip Kelly-like. It is very Chip kelly like and uh if only we could get rid of you know matt clintak and bring our howie rossman in here wouldn't that be some all right all they got all they gotta do is just put them in a in a back room, and then he'll come out and be a star. He'll go study Liverpool soccer.

He'll be a superstar, man. I would, honestly, I would rather have Howard Roseman as the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies than Matt Klintock. Literally Howard Roseman. I'm serious. All right. I got to go to bed for this. Notepag, final thoughts.

What you got? Well, I guess I'll just do a final thought. I got to go to bed for it. It's notepad. Final thoughts. What you got? Well, I guess I'll just do a final thought. Because I – so the thing about this, like keeping Corey Dickerson would be great. But it just doesn't feel like it's going to happen. Agreed. Like he has the injury concerns. Like, his injuries are just weird.

And with the way that Adam Haseley is playing, I don't know if I – I don't know what they do. Because Dickerson's obviously a professional hitter, obviously really good, and if you put him in this ballpark, there's 25 to 30 home run potential from Corey Dickerson. But they also have Andrew McCutcheon coming back from a torn ACL. What do you do with him? They also have Adam Haseley. Adam Haseley in September is batting, well, this is heading into tonight

with the home run, obviously. But he's batting.346 with a.413 OEP and a 692 slugging percentage. And also has been really, really good in the outfield. And I think he's better than just being a fourth outfielder. I think he can play center field every day. But also, Corey Dickerson's a good

player. It's a weird predicament this team is in, and I'm not sure what they're going to do. I also don't really want to give Haseley away, because I think Haseley is just a good, solid, all-around baseball player. And could he be better than Corey Dickerson by the time he's Corey Dickerson's age? Of course he could be. So there's no way they can flip McCutcheon this offseason, right?

No, not coming off the ACL. I don't think so. I think that's the most logical move. If they could do it. Get someone to take him. I know McCutcheon's a great guy. I just don't think they're going to sign Dickerson. I don't think so. Yeah, I agree with you.

I don't think they're going to sign Dickerson at all. But the guy rakes. I know. I'm with you. I really like Corey Dickerson. He's also got a bunch of soft tissue stuff. Yeah. Look, and he's older.

He's getting older on the other side of 30, I think. Look, I love Corey Dickerson. I've enjoyed having him around. I would love to have him here as a part-time player. I don't think it's going to happen. We'll see. Look, maybe he doesn't have offers and he comes back for a part-time role. I just, I don't think it's going to happen. We'll see. Look, maybe he doesn't have offers and he comes back for a part-time role. It's possible.

You know, look, he hasn't ever been valued the way that he probably should. Yeah, so, alright. And my other thought is that, you know, Bryce Harper's defensive liability in right field. Yeah, that throw a couple nights ago

was pretty awesome. Come on, James. Two games back, baby. Yes. Two games back. We've got the Red Sox coming into town this weekend. It's going to be great. The tiredness is back, Jack.

No, you can't sleep because you're thinking about a playoff run. Rate and review the podcast. Quick, my final thought, just very quickly. Cause you're thinking about a playoff run rate and review the podcast. Uh, quick, uh, my final thought just very quickly. Uh, we haven't, I,

I, it hasn't been talked about a bunch, so I will just put everyone on the radar. Cause I know the high ups listeners are baseball fans above all. Um, Justin Verlander, Justin Verlander is going to get to 3000 strikeouts this year. Uh,

he's only 20 strikeouts shy. It's a pretty good year. Yeah. Oh, good job, buddy. Good jobouts shy. It's a pretty good year. Yeah. Good job, buddy. Good job. How about this for a pretty good year, though? He's struck out at least 10 batters in nine of his last 11 starts. Isn't that something?

Doesn't that mean I see a Phillies pitcher do something like that? The Phillies would say no to that. But 20 strikeouts away from 3,000 career, that's pretty cool. It's the kind of thing that we're not going to see very often anymore with the way baseball is and the types of, um, innings limits pitchers have, and the,

you know, five man rotations and the, the general lack. I mean, Verlander's had this whole second career with the Astros, which is just so unexpected and crazy, but, um,

it's just wild what that guy's done, and it would be fun to be able to root for a pitcher like that, wouldn't it, Jack? Well, you know who else had a second career at the Astros, surprisingly? Who? Roger Clemens. Hey, Dave. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. I see what you're doing there. I have one more final thought. Oh, brother. You don't want me to go to bed, huh? Hey, Hector Neris, freaking warm up, dude. Like, I'm sick and tired of being embarrassed by having the umpire have to go out to the freaking bullpen to get you to come into a game. Get ready faster and come into a baseball game because you're making Gabe look dumb,

and Gabe's not dumb, okay? Just warm up. Get in a ball game. I don't want to hear it anymore. What is taking you so long to warm up? I was at the game tonight. He took like 30 pitches, and he was like, I'm not ready yet.

Come on, Hector. Get in a ball game. Peace, friends. I'm Sal. See you later. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby.

I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago. It is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring,

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