High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Well That Was Disappointing

Episode Date: June 17, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phillies are coming off of a disappointing series down in Atlanta. The guys react to the weekend, Pivetta's start on Friday and look ahead to the Nats here! 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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philadelphia phillies on radio.com and sports radio 94 wip yo it is another edition of the high hopes podcast while jack and i are not quite back together in the same room. We are at least, Jack, in the same city finally as I am back in Philadelphia. So that's something. Welcome back, buddy. How was Florida? It was something, man. No, it was good. I will tell you, traveling with a baby is incredibly tiring on many levels, but Zoe was awesome awesome man she's uh she's a pretty awesome kid man how was great how was your first father's day did you get all emotional you start tearing up or did you start crying did you start crying after the velasquez thing like was that

was that the breaking point well here's the funny thing and and i you know i'll never lie to the listeners i didn't get to watch as much phillyies baseball this weekend as I would have liked to. I was in Florida for my grandmother's memorial service. She was 101. So she lived an awesome life. Not sad. We were celebrating. And obviously we traveled down with Zoe. So that was a lot, her first flight and all that stuff. But she did great. But I didn't get to watch all the games. The one game that I was like, we're doing nothing today. There's no memorial service. My cousin got married on Friday night.

There's no wedding. All I have to do today is be a father. It's my day and I get to watch the Phillies. I figured it out. I set up the whole thing with the MLB package down there so that I could watch the Phillies. Jack, wouldn't you know it? The one game I get to watch was the 15-1 game.

So ruin Father's Day a little bit for me, buddy. Oh, I'm so sorry. While you were watching that game, it was the first... I was on the golf course with my dad for Father's Day, obviously. Well done. Yeah, and I haven't played since my wedding day. I was expecting not to be as back as I was, but then

I get out there, and it's like, oh, I haven't missed a beat. So I was planning on re-watching when I got home. Then I saw the final score, and I was like, you know what? Not today, devil. I am not going to sit there and put myself through this because I had to sit through Friday, and Friday was the first Phillies loss in a while that took me a while to get over like I

went to bed very upset like so I do this thing when the Phillies season or any of my sports teams seasons over where I get super depressed and I play I'll just sit here and drink by Merrill Haggard and I just get I just get bound by myself and just listen that song over and over and over

again it was approaching I'll just sit over and over again. It was approaching. I'll just sit here and drink after Friday. I was so despondent. The corpse of Brian McCann coming alive and torching us in that moment for what was that the 500th time Brian McCann has done that to it. Like that team is full of Phillies killers. I can't believe it happened again. Friday was, should have been the win of the season and just And we'll get into it, but it was dreadful.

Yeah, well, so for me on Friday, I was at, again, my cousin's wedding. And I went back and wanted to highlight all this stuff later, but I'm watching it on my phone as it's happening. We were able to watch the first two innings on the way over. I'm feeling good. Pavetta looks settled in. He gave up that early homer, but otherwise he looked settled in early on. And I'm following on my phone and I'm following on my phone. And then all of a sudden, you know, it looks like Pavetta's cruising through five.

We're growing. And then all of a sudden, you know, some runs start getting scored and I'm feeling good. It's like eight, five. I'm like, oh, it's eight, six. And I literally pull my phone out. It's eight, six runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth. When the wedding begins, Jack. When the wedding begins. And the wedding ended, and I got to find out that it was awful. Wait, wait, wait. It was awful.

It was an awful evening. Why was the wedding starting at 9.30 or 10 o'clock at night? Because it was done in a backyard wedding. So they decided to get married because there was a bunch of family coming down. Long story short, they weren't really planning on having a wedding, and they were like, screw it, we're going to get married because the whole family is here for this memorial service, so we'll do it. So it was a very, very informal backyard type of thing.

I mean, it's a little rude to do that on Pavetta Day, but... I thought so too, Jack. I thought so too. I mean, I got married on Pavetta Day, so... You did. That's a good point. But that was last season. That didn't count as much. Well, I don't know, James. It sure felt like last season. Oh, it did, buddy. This weekend. All right, well, let's dive into all of it because you'll have to kind of walk me through

this as I was lucky enough to see the 15-1 debacle, or at least as much of it as I could handle. But let's start out. Phillies now 39-32. They are two and a half back from the Braves. At least they do win that game on Saturday, which again, it was kind of the opposite effect for me where I was following it. They're winning. They're winning. And then all of a sudden, they're losing it in the ninth.

And they actually pull that one out. But then to get drubbed the way they did yesterday really knocks the air out of you let's let's start with Friday Jack with game one as we like to say 9-8 loss it did look like Pavetta was cruising for a while and then um seemed like it kind of uh uh came apart a little bit still not an awful outing from Pavetta but what'd you see no I thought I thought Pavetta was really, really good. And there were some moments where an old version of Nick Pavetta melts down, like a couple of those home runs.

I feel like he comes apart. There was an error. There was moments in that game where an old Nick Pavetta just usually melts down. And I just think that since he's come back, we've seen a different version, a different level of confidence, a different moxie about Nick Pavetta. And it wasn't as dominant. I love a good moxie. A big moxie guy.

But it wasn't as dominant as the red start and a Dodgers start before it. But that was just a good, solid Nick Pavetta start. And I feel like that start, listen, it was a big moment against that Braves team down in Atlanta where you're down one game in the division. That was a big mental start for Nick Pavetta. I thought he handled it

really, really well. I thought the fastball was electric. The off-speed stuff kind of went off as the game wore on. He did flash a little 90-mile-per-hour changeup, but the difference is the the pace i mean the pace is phenomenal he's getting the ball and he's going and and that's really really important for him uh he's he is having he's having quick innings for the first time in a while now the

the one problem is still lefties i mean max freed worked like a 13 pitch it batted him and bat against him in the second inning um it was crazy. And Max Fried's a pitcher. He's a lefty hitting pitcher, and Pavetta still struggled against that kind of guy. But overall, really, really solid stuff. And then the seventh inning happened. I rewatched it today because I had to make sure this actually happened. It was in the seventh inning.

He gets the first two outs very quickly. He goes ahead. This is a common theme right now. He goes ahead 0-2 against Ronald Acuna Jr., and then he just starts nibbling. He starts nibbling, and eventually Acuna put a curveball that was up into the corner, into the left field corner, and got on second with a double. No big deal. It's still 7-3 at that point. And then the Dansby Swanson at bat happens.

And Gabe comes out, leaves Pavetta in. It's a little bit of a vote of confidence for where they think Pavetta is and also where this bullpen is. I mean, this bullpen is not exactly firing on all cylinders or healthy, or healthy, just to say. So he goes out and he tells Pavetta, like, listen, this is your batter. You got this. Gets ahead 1-2 on Dansby Swanson and threw six straight curveballs to walk them like it was

it was absolutely crazy like you have dansy swanson who again if you hit the if he hits a home run there right hits a home run it's still a 7-5 ball game you have two outs in the seventh inning dansy swanson with freddie freeman on deck and they decided to pitch around dansy swanson to like not pitch around them but like nibble with Freddie Freeman on deck. At that point, you can go to Alvarez, you can go to Velasquez, whatever. But even if you allow a home run, the one thing you can't do in that situation is walk the guy. They get a 3-2, and they throw another curveball way out of the zone

that's not even competitive. It was just such bad pitch calling, pitch sequencing, everything. It was so many curveballs, and he was still pumping 96 at that point. He just was throwing 96 at the beginning of that inning. So I was sitting there in the moment like, are you freaking kidding me? Throw your fastball. Real quick, real quick. You rewatched it.

Was Pavetta calling him off, or was that what he was getting told to throw? No, it was JT. It was JT or Chris Young, one of those two guys. Because Pavetta, since he's come back, he's just taking the ball and going. And I just thought it was such bad sequencing, all of that. It was just a terrible, terrible idea to do that to Danzy Swanson. Again, a home run hurts, but it doesn't kill you. And then you can kind of start fresh with Freddie Freeman on deck.

And then, of course, because the bullpen is so depleted, you have to bring in Vince Velasquez to face Freddie Freeman because, first off, you don't want to burn Jose Alvarez there just to get one out. So you try to get Velasquez in there to get through that inning because even if you let Freeman get a hit, which he does, you still have Donaldson on deck, and you don't want to have Jose Alvarez face Josh Donaldson.

That's a disaster waiting to happen. So you have to use Velasquez there. If Adam Morgan's healthy, you can use Adam Morgan there. Or you can use Jose Alvarez there and save Adam Morgan. That's the trickle-down effect of where this bullpen is right now, is that Gabe has to put in guys in situations where they're not supposed to be in there. Enterprise Ramos took down the eighth inning and he hadn't pitched in a major league game since he got injured. He just came back from AAA and was thrown right into the eighth inning of a of a big game against the braves of the biggest

game of the season to that point you could say that's where we're at with this bullpen like that's where we're at that's not great jack that is not great at all but it is nice to hear at least from what i saw it did look like pavetta looked really really good and to your point about the mental toughness i mean that's always been our issue with pavetta that's it that's the only issue we got with the guy obviously we want to see him perfect the third pitch work on him or all that type of stuff but i mean if he gets the between the ears stuff going and rolling and trust his stuff and trust himself and all that stuff i mean that's massive for him moving forward and i think that, look, in two of his starts since he's come back, the Dodgers start and that Braves start, I mean,

those are two of the five biggest games of the season for this team so far in the moment at the time. So I think that's really, really great to hear and to think about with Pavetta moving forward. Offense also got going a little bit in this game, which was nice to see some home runs flying out of the ballpark scott kingery the greatest philadelphia philly of all time used to be jay bruce now it's scott kingery is that a fair thing to say jack i think it's almost underrating how good scott kingery is um no i mean just again another another he just keeps he keeps

straight he just keeps hitting. He just keeps hitting. It's awesome. Thank God. Because last year, the way he watched Scott Kingery, I was like, oh, my God, this guy can't catch up to anything. And now he's just seeing pitches, diagnosing it quick, and jumping on them. He's absolutely crushing the baseball. He's absolutely a rock.

So he's not ruined. Is that what you're saying? He's not ruined. I'm trying to get to the heart of this. He's not ruined. The Phillies did not ruin Scott Kingery, and he will always suck. Is that what you're saying? He's not ruined. I'm trying to get to the heart of this. He's not ruined. The Phillies did not ruin Scott Kingery, and he will always suck. Is that what you're saying? Right. Even though they played him all over the field,

that Gabe Kapler playing him all over the field and having him hit wherever. No, Scott Kingery is definitely not ruined, and he is flourishing, and he's their best offensive player right now. What is going on, Jack? I mean, he is. What is going on? He has an OPS of like 950 right now what is going on i mean he is he's he's an ops of like 950 right now is he has he already earned that contract with just his first half of this season i mean they're

paying him what like six million this year like it's it's it's an absolute and and he is now officially at a zero in career war because of last year was so brutal for you buddy only heading up from here sc Scotty. Yeah. That actually is pretty impressive with how much worries accumulated already this season then. Well, yeah. He was pretty bad last year.

Dude, he was so brutal last year. And just Kingery being this level of good is so important for the future of this Phillies team. It takes away so many fears about the future of this team. You can see him being a legit core member of this Phillies team and just another monster weekend. Listen, they won that game on Saturday. I know the Cesar hit was huge, but they won that game

because he set the tone early in that ninth inning that, hey, we're not dead yet. I love that version of Scott Kingery when he's a table setter getting things going. They're moving him up in the lineup. Unfortunately, it's because of the injuries or whatnot. But I'm glad that they're moving him up in the lineup. I was worried that they're kind of wasting him down that six hole.

But it's really, really good to see. Thank God Scott Kingery is on this Phillies team. Well, yeah, thank God for the future, as you said. But also, I mean, like, this team has not been hitting, man. I mean, they need guys who are going to step up, and Kingery's been the guy. Without him, they are lost right now. So, obviously, it's really bullish.

You know, it should make you bullish about the future with Scott Kingery, but also, like, helping to keep this team in it. Before we move on to Saturday fully, for the first time this season, Jack, Hector couldn't get it done in a safe situation in the ninth he's no longer perfect obviously in los angeles tie game gave up the over to will smith but uh and i know he came back on saturday and kind of you know got back into it but uh rip the perfect safe season for hector nurse yes he will not be our version of Brad Lidge, which is okay. Yeah, Friday was brutal for Hector. He just didn't

have it. The splitter was not splitting like we had seen in the past. It just kind of stayed up in the zone a little bit too long and guys were getting on top of it. I was watching the postgame show for the first time really ever. I don't really watch the postgame show. They're begging him to throw his fastball more. When are they going to understand

that Hector Neris, his fastball is his secondary pitch. His primary pitch is a splitter and then he mixes in a fastball. You want to throw your best pitch as often as possible and then keep him honest with the fastball. He should not be throwing his fastball more because his fastball is not very good. It's a pretty flat fastball that mixed in with a bunch of splitters looks pretty good because it looks like 97-98 versus the 94-95-96 that it is. But the plead for him to throw more fastballs, I think he's just misguided.

Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, as we've talked about many times on this show, that when that splitter is splitting, it's one of the best pitches in baseball this season. So certainly the best pitch on this Phillies team that we've seen consistently from someone who stayed healthy. And look, Hector's allowed to screw up, all right? He's the one guy who's held this bullpen together all season long.

He's allowed to have a bad outing here and there, right? I mean, we can give him a break. Yeah, well, and it was really impressive how on Saturday he goes back out there and— Yeah, it's a great point. And shuts it down because I think old Hector does— Against the middle of the order, too. Right, and I think old Hector kind of goes into the tank there a great point. And shuts it down because I think old Hector does go— Against the middle of the order, too. Right, and I think old Hector kind of goes into the tank there a little bit.

I mean, he has come a long way mentally as well, a lot like Nick Pavetta. Because I think last year, if what happened on Friday night happened, and even what happened in Los Angeles happened, I think Hector goes into a little bit of a slump. Good to see him get back on the hill on Saturday night, and really, it was an easy, breezy ninth inning for Hector Neris on Saturday. But Friday, a couple other things I want to get to real quick. Sure.

Real quick, though, just the idea that the mental giants on this team are Nick Pavetta and Hector Neris is really, I feel like we're in some weird timeline that I was not expecting, Jack. Hey, we've seen some pretty impressive mental fortitude from this team, from some of the players that we haven't trusted in the past, like Adam Morgan's another guy where you'd see old meltdowns from him. Now, the big question is Vinny. I don't think we're going to get it from him, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Certainly didn't look great on Sunday. We'll get to that, though. We'll see you on Friday because that Harper-Homer was great. Hoskins went yard, which was nice to see. Yeah, I mean, Hoskins hit an absolute missile. Like, just an absolute missile. Now, Harper, the really, really encouraging part about Harper. So, the stat I laid out on last High Hopes, I was a little bit off on it.

So, he has pulled four fly balls in the air against fastballs 93 miles an hour or faster. So, it wasn't four. That sounds more believable. The stat last time, like time was almost hard to believe. I don't know, man. He didn't really pull many, whatever. But only four was a shock. Okay, but four fly balls against fastballs

that are 93 miles an hour or harder. Not great, exactly. So the really impressive part about Friday was that it was 95 down and in, and he just absolutely launched on it. So that's a positive sign. He hasn't turned around 95 miles an hour plus much this season. So hopefully that little thing kind of gets him going a little bit. He was fine in Atlanta. Had the meaningless single yesterday. Saturday didn't really do much, but the home run hopefully gets him going. And he did

smoke a ball. he did smoke a couple balls that just happened to be right at people and caught so that's just unfortunate and on the brian mccann walk off which again like there's there are some people saying oh they should pitch around brian mccann in that situation listen i don't think brian mccann's caught to a fastball in four years so he stinks man he's their backup catcher he's having it yeah he's having a good year like his ops is fine uh it's a bit of a career resurgence but like that that guy is just not i can't believe first off first off before we get too wrapped up in the in the mccann thing like he hit a ball that andrew mccutcheon catches in his sleep like andrew mccutcheon on a torn acl

probably gets to that ball um and and jay bruce unfortunately could not get there and i think i think jay i think mccutcheon probably gets both of those balls in the ninth inning that ended up sinking the phillies but he definitely gets the mccutcheon one there's no doubt or the the mccann one like there's no doubt in my mind that andrew mccutcheon gets to that ball so like i, I understand. I just, I don't get the philosophy of, oh, we got to pitch around McCann then. Well, he's not, Ozzie Albies, I would rather have Ozzie Albies up with the game on the line than Brian McCann. That's just me. I don't think Brian McCann's going to hurt you anymore. But of course, in this sense, he did. Yeah. Hey, look, it happens. I'm with you.

Brian McCann is not someone to fear. It's not the old Brian McCann. He's not someone you pitch around. I'm with you. All right, let's move on to Saturday, and we'll get to the good, but what the hell is going on with Aaron Nolajak? Another huge spot and another just dud of a performance that the offense gets him a lead. He's out in front. He looks like he's cruising, and it's just, again,

the third time through the lineup again, really seems like he's just falling apart. I can't. I don't know. He's just. Oh, no. That was not a good response. Well, I don't know.

Like, he's just. Flummoxed Fritz. He's just so not the guy this year. Like, last year, it was so routine, and, like, he'd go out there methodically, put together seven innings, less than two runs. Now, he puts together nice little stretches

and then for one inning, his fastball command falls apart. He's laboring through. His pace isn't there. Everything's just slowed down for Aaron Nolan. Everything's just slowed to almost a grinding halt because I don't think he knows where his fastball's going and we don't know where your fastball's going.

Everything else just looks like crap. The fastball command is brutal. We said this before, but when the fastball command's off and he can't locate that pitch, it makes all of his other secondary pitches just look okay and not as overwhelming as they were last year. I don't know. He just

looks, he just looks not scared, but he just looks like he's not ready for this. It's weird. He looked like in that Saturday start that the moment was almost too big for him. And he looked exasperated when the home run went out. The home run was an absolute missile. And I was so infuriated at this version of Aaron Nola. I don't have much else to say. I think he's a good

pitcher that's having a down year. I don't think it has to do with the innings last year. I just think that's such a, I don't know, an excuse. A cliche? Yeah, maybe he did have a big workload last year, but he's going to have the same workload this year, and you're going to need him to be able to handle that workload going forward. So hopefully he figures it out. But I have no idea what to say about Aaron Nola anymore. His curveball doesn't have the same depth. It looked like it was moving like a 10-4 movement the other day rather than the 11-5, 12-6 movement that we've seen in the years past. It's been a just disappointing Aaron Nolaola season and they're not gonna they're

not gonna win the division or make the wild card unless aaron nola figures it out like if you have aaron nola figuring it out a little bit you have efflin who's sixth in the sixth in the nl and the ra and you have pivetta looking like he's definitely turned a corner that's a pretty solid starting three but you need you need that nolaola to figure it out or else you're not going anywhere. Yeah, I think you could make a very – in fact, I would make an easy argument, I think, that the most important person on this team to their chances to succeed this year is Aaron Nola. He's the most important guy.

He was the most important guy coming into this season. He was the ace, the guy you can count on. And where this team is at right now, look, Harper needs to play better you know and look i mean even gene zagura slumping right now there are a lot of areas and obviously the pen as we've talked about like there are a lot of areas this team can be better but last year's aaron nola plopped onto this team right now changes everything it changes everything and we have not standing close to that guy and it is frustrating when you talk about that way because like the not ready for the moment part is is really just not what you know it's only expected jack i mean you talked about playoff nolan non-stop the best reason

about the harper signing with playoff nola he's looked like anything but that guy it's um it's frustrating well remember remember opening day when we came on the podcast and i was like i'm like i was already worried about the future i was not prepared for that yes i did and then this whole season's just been like that this whole season's been like there's nola there's not nola like it's it's been inning by inning with aaron nola like one inning is there's there's the aaron nola that we saw last year and the next inning the fastball is all over the place and when the fastball is all over the place everything else just does not look as good and he becomes super hittable and I think this is right now this is a guy that has dominated his whole life he's always been good even when he was even when he came up he was still always good he wasn't as

good as last season picking the draft or eighth pick in the draft or whatever like he was he was seventh pick I think like he was always good like he was a great college pitcher he was great in the minors like he's always been good and i think this is the first time he's really really struggled like this and i don't think he totally i don't think he knows how to how to fix it at the moment because because it's been the same story this entire season and if he did know how to fix it he would have fixed it by now like he's too smart of a pitcher not to be able to fix it by now. So I'm very, very concerned about where we're at with Aaron Nola. And if they don't get a guy in here, I don't expect them to go after a big, big name. But they need help.

They need starting pitching, not only because of Nola, but because the fifth starter is me. I don't know. The fifth starter is now we're trying to use the open. There is way too much. Hey, Phillies, Jack Fritz is your answer on Twitter, folks. Can we chill out with this? I don't know. I think it's a pretty decent idea.

Jack, I feel like it's unhealthy. I feel like it feeds into this delusion that you have. And I'm doing it for you because I love you, buddy. Me with a delusion? Be disappointed, okay? I don't think i've ever said anything outlandish on this podcast about any player ever so i don't know where this version of delusion you're talking about is coming from all right back to saturday we'll get to and

obviously look i think just on a basic level and granted 15 to 1 the next day sucked but this team has done a really nice job of gut punch losses and bouncing back the next day, which I think is a credit to Kabler. They did it again in this game, especially when they were down. Kingery, you mentioned the catalyst, three for three. Cesar, the big hit, had the homer earlier. But also two things, you mentioned concerns. It doesn't seem like either is serious, but both Jay Bruce and JT Romulo leave this game with injuries.

Hamstring tightness for Bruce, and it looks like Romulo took a ball off the leg and was nauseous um well he was down for like five minutes I don't blame it it didn't look good but uh it looks like neither of these long-term injuries but this is a team jag that right now just I mean we talked a lot last year about and granted you know things didn't go their way over the last two months of of season period but a team that really did stay remarkably healthy for the most part last year and that has not been the case so far this year jack oh you could say that i think that's i think that's fair to say i mean they're like roman quinn i know he's back in the lineup tonight and by the way we

need to get to the lineup which is uh just unbelievable where we're at with this Phillies team. But Roman Quinn's down and rehabbing, and he has a setback or whatever. They can't even get anything right in the minor leagues with these guys coming back. I thought Roman Quinn, we expect him to be hurt. But now it's everyone. Everyone's hurt. Real Muto. Crazy.

I just looked up the lineup, by the way. Yeah. Wow. It's depressing, isn't it? Wow. Yeah. Sean Rodriguez batting fifth. Yeah. Wow. It's depressing, isn't it? Wow. Yeah. Sean Rodriguez batting fifth. Yeah.

That's kind of depressing, Jack. And now. Look, I know Cesar sucks from the right side of the plate, but is he worse than Roman Quinn? What is going on here? I know. It's so bad. At least Andrew Knapp's still in the eight hole. I mean, Arrieta should be in the eight hole.

Knapp should be nine. But whatever. And with a Bruce injury, now we might be subjected to Nick Williams who just he had one of the most, like I'm not the biggest hustle guy, but it was an egregious non-hustle moment on Saturday. And I was thinking about this today, like Clint Frazier got sent down

by the Yankees, and the Yankees are sending down Clint Frazier and they're using him as trade bait. He's the odd man out. They're sending down Clint Frazier, right? And they're using him as trade bait. Like, he's the odd man out. They're sending down Clint Frazier. They're going to flip him for an ace. Meanwhile, we have Nick Williams. Like, that's the difference between these two teams

when it comes to, like, depth circumstances. Are you saying trade Aaron Nola for Clint Frazier, Jack? Is that what you're saying? No, no. Well, no, just kidding. I do like Clint Frazier a lot, though. Yeah, he's a butcher in the field, but... Yeah, but a way better hitter than any of the guys batting five through nine for the Phillies tonight.

No, I know. I just think that's... When you're looking at where this Phillies team needs to get to, that's where they need to get to. Nick Williams, if he was good... Nick Williams should theoretically have trade value, but he's just not good at all and the yankees are sitting down clint frazier and then he's like he's the odd man out but they're gonna flip him for an ace so like it doesn't even matter and and also like where i'm with you like we're both not like we're not the guys who are going to be yelling from the rooftops like others when people don't

always hustle or whatever but but if you're nick williams and you're getting a start a week or two starts a week or pinch hit spots, like that's the guy who has to be running every freaking play. Like that guy should be like doing everything he can to get himself on the field. It's just it seems with him that it's a consistent attitude thing where I think he thinks he's better than he is. He thinks he deserves more than he does. And it just, you know, doesn't seem to translate to something we want to watch, Jack. Yeah, not my favorite player, that Nick Williams.

Kind of hate him, Jack. Kind of hate him. What can you do? And Pat Neshek comes back, so the like them quotient on the team. I like Pat Neshek more than I like Nick Williams. How about that, Jack? How about that? What about Nappy?

As a person, I like Andrew Knapp better. As a baseball player, I can't go there. And shout out to the bullpen on Saturday. I mean, two hits after Nola went four and a third. They don't win that game without the contributions of those guys. I mean, Nola allows five and four and a third, and the Braves didn't score from the rest of the game on. And I tell you what, that was the first real,

like walking into the ninth inning, like the Phillies hadn't scored a run since the sixth. I was like, man, are they going to go down again like this? And it would have been so sad. And I thought they showed fight. It was a good moment for this team, a good fight moment. And then Sunday happened, but it's okay. They lose games like that.

We've talked about this. Like this is a team that will just like it was quick and at least this is the one game i got to watch and they were just it was three nothing then it was five nothing then it was like seven now then you're like all right this is just done like you could just feel it like this team was folding so whatever and there's you have anything really like to say about the the 15 to one i think it just you know velasquez sucked everyone else sucked it just wasn't a good game well i didn't like the idea of moving velasquez from anywhere but like the seventh or eighth inning me either jack me either i didn't like it at all and i know he's an opener like they used him as an opener you know not letting him get through the lineup multiple times and all that but like i didn't like it at all and you know vinny's gonna think he's like back right in the starting rotation so i just i didn't like that

that philosophy but i didn't blame him like there's a lot of people saying today well they should have started arietta on normal rest well then what are you doing tonight against corbin like like it's a trickle-down effect so you almost have to bite the bullet for one of those days in the hopes of getting everyone back and being good for for today's game against against the nationals but yeah and they have seven straight games and seven straight games i mean they got 14 more days of baseball straight like man this bullpen thing you've talked about this a lot we've talked about the trickle down effect of it and it's really hitting home right now like it is hitting home they they don't have arms to get through these games and when you are on these runs with a lot of games and a lot of days, man,

it just really comes back to bite you. Yeah, and especially when you have to throw out a Cole Irvin or a Jared Eikhoff. Man, I'm just so sick and tired of the quad A pitchers, the guys that— Cole Irvin stinks. Yeah, well, he really grinds out there. stinks. Yeah, well, he really grinds out there, so you know, the days of knowing

how to pitch kind of are by the wayside a little bit. And Jared Eikhoff, I think the stat, I think Seidman had the stat today, like, in his last 28 innings, he's allowed 18 home runs, which is just crazy. Wow. That's like hard to do, Jack. That is, that should... Even, like, even just batting

practice, that's hard to do. Jeez Louise, man. Well like even just batting practice that's hard to do geez louise well it is batting practice i mean that's what it is essentially yes that's basically what it is so i i would like for the phillies to enter into the 2010s um maybe even maybe even the 2016s where we're we're throwing hard throwing guys out of the bullpen that would be what a crazy thought man crazy thought that would be before Now, before we bury him too much, I think that they did a good job in this draft addressing that problem. They brought in a hard throw.

Yeah, well, you've talked about that a lot on Twitter. The Schultz kid. There are a few others who seem like they're just guys who throw hard and who could be effective relievers for this team in the future. Give me those guys. Give me those guys.

All right, a few other notes, and I'm sure you've got a mailbag note thing we'll look at to Washington too. Sir Anthony, quick note, Sir Anthony, it looks like he's going to rehab. Jack, I feel like this has never worked for anyone ever. I know Masahiro Tanaka, I think, is the only guy I ever remember

not getting the Tommy John surgery when he had UCL damage, and the only one it worked for. It feels like every other time it's just kicking the can down the road, whether it's Garrett Richards or whoever. It never works, Jack. It never works.

I know. I know. So I saw the news, and my initial reaction was like, I'm happy, but I feel like it's just going to be adding six weeks to the eventual injury. Yes, exactly. And now he's definitely going to miss all of next season. Listen, i'm praying

like hell that that seranthony can this can work and he can come back and be great and and he don't have to worry about it anymore but like the success rate and the hit rate and especially the way he throws i it's hard not to be concerned about this decision uh by the phillies i i would have rather just bitten the bullet and try to get him back as fast as possible. But hey, I mean, it was Andrew's recommendation, so if it's Andrew's recommendation, I guess it's a good thing. Yeah, that's fair. And that is a good

point, Jack. James Andrews is basically like God when it comes to this stuff, so if he says it, I'm willing to give it a shot, but I just feel like very rarely it works out well. It does quell some of my conspiracy theories about James Andrews. I thought he was just a guy that was like, hey, you need Tommy John.

Pay me all the money. I'll do it. But now he seems like he's a pretty stand-up guy. Yeah, or he's just got so much money it doesn't matter anymore, Jack. Yeah, maybe he just didn't feel like doing another one. He's like, you know what? I don't feel like it. Yeah good i'm supposed to go golfing the day you want to do it why don't you rehab for a few weeks we'll see what happens i'll give you a look because that's the point jack he's

still going to be doing it anyway so eventually um uh uh oh doobles uh leave extended in july who cares screw that guy. We got to say goodbye, Jack. Hello and goodbye. A move that you were pretty excited about. I mean, for a bench player type of move. Brad Miller brought in, but the sad side of it, Jack. A sad goodbye. Yeah.

In front of the podcast, Phil Gosselin. Well, he did clear waivers today, so he's in AAA. So he's not totally gone. Not totally gone, but you know, not here. in AAA. So he's not totally gone. Okay. Not totally gone, but, you know, not here. No, Barrels is not here anymore. Barrels Gosling. It's okay. I mean, Phil's a good dude, and I think he's going to be fine.

He's a solid major leaguer. Well, solid major league bench bat. However, however, I mean, I'm very excited for Brad Miller. You are far too excited for Brad Miller. If I didn't know any better, it would be like they got a young Babe Ruth. This is the move that's going to put them over the edge. No, but seriously, I'm excited. Listen, I'll take a shot on a guy with a 994 OPS in AAA.

I'll take a shot on a guy that's been given shots by the Dodgers, Yankees, Brewers, Rays, Indians. That's an impressive group of teams. It's all the smart teams. I know. I know they let him go, but also those teams are pretty loaded. The Dodgers had no room for him, which is fine, but if those teams are taking shots on him, there has to be something

there. He's only three years removed from hitting 30 home runs. He was raking in AAA. He can play all over the field. I think it was a really shrewd, underrated move by Matt Klensack. And yes, I'm going to be excited about Brad Miller. I don't care. I'm all in. I think it's going to be a really, really solid

bench bat once this team gets healthy and gets rolling a little bit. Yeah, Brad Miller, when the Indians let him go, read the stories of Brad Miller. He was not psyched about being dropped by the Indians, called out the team for not wanting to win and all this stuff. Love it. Guy knows how to win.

He's feisty. Brad Miller's feisty. He also had 30 homers in a year once, which is hard to believe. Only three years ago. True. True. Look, let's put it this way. If you put Brad Miller and Phil Gosselin in front of me,

I'm going to take a shot on Brad Miller over Phil Gosselin. No offense, Phil. Sorryelin in front of me, I'm going to take a shot on Brad Miller over Phil Gosselin. No offense, Phil. Sorry. 100% of the time. The guy at least has shown in the major leagues that he could be a regular player. He's someone who could theoretically contribute at that level. Phil Gosselin isn't that guy, as much as I love Barrett. And at least he has some home run potential.

They have no one off the bench. Obviously, Jay Bruce. Good point. It was supposed to be Jay Bruce. Yes. It was supposed to be. That guy was supposed to be Jay Bruce. Yes. It was supposed to be. That guy was supposed to be Jay Bruce. Yeah, so it's nice.

It's nice to have a guy that can actually pop one out of the ball yard when they need it a little bit. A little bit. And I think that's all I got for notes. You got any other notes before we look ahead? All right. I'll do this now before final thoughts. We got to rehash this for a minute. I can't believe Charlie Morton's not here.

I was going to use that as my final thought. How is Charlie Morton not a Philly? Man, what is he, 9-0 now and just dominating down in Tampa Bay? He's awesome. I thought Klintak listened to high hopes. I believed he listened to high hopes. But if he did, he would have gotten Charlie Morton because all we did was talk about going to get Charlie Morton. We talked about it so much.

It should have been the easiest move in the world. The guy was on a short-term deal. He obviously had the injury problems, whatever, but he's on a short-term deal. Two-year deal. Two-year deal. And his wife. And by the way, you know him. You had him here you signed

him because you liked what he was there and then he broke out after as a world series hero i know sorry sorry i'm so mad i'm so sad honestly every time he pitches i'm sad you know his wife was pregnant and she wanted him to stay near home they're near their parents home or her parents home their homes in delaware like it all it all lined up to a perfect marriage. And, oh, my God, maybe they were burned by Arrieta. I don't know. But, like, if you watch the stuff of Charlie Morton and then watch the stuff of Jake Arrieta,

how you could come to any conclusion other than this guy would make us better. Like, it is the move that is absolutely killing this team right now. And I don't care that they made all these moves this offseason. They made moves to counteract the moves they made last offseason, so that doesn't really count. I know Clemson did a lot this offseason. I know Segura, McCutcheon, Harper. You have David Robertson.

Those moves are great, but you had a chance to add another starting pitcher to this team when you know you needed a starter. I understand that they went all in, but they kind of went almost all in. Is two years $35 million? I mean, the raise are two years $32 million, I think, for Charlie Morton. Yeah, I was about to say, I think it might be two years $30 million, to be honest. That's off the top of my head, but I remember it being two years $30 million.

It might be $232 million, whatever. But it's eminently affordable is the point it blows my mind that charlie morton is not here right now like there it's it's almost inexcusable i i cannot believe it i truly i can't believe it and if the razor if the razor i thought too if the razor and you should be in that's that's what we're learning if the razor just do what the rays do it's like everyone is in a fantasy baseball auction with that one guy who's just better than everyone else. Me in fantasy baseball, yes.

If he's bidding on people, bid on him because he knows what he's doing. And that's what you should do with the Rays for an office job. Especially if the Rays are willing to pay $15 million a year for a guy. Like, they never do that. It's a great point. Like, for them to go to $15 million a year for a guy, that means that that guy is, extra super special and go get him. Yes.

Frustrated. All right, Jack. All right. Um, so all of a sudden, look, and the Nats have not been great.

They played better baseball than earlier, but there's still like six and a half bag of the fills and, and, or six bag of the fills and, and two and a, and the fills, of course, two and a half bag from the Braves,

but it's a pretty big series. I would say coming off the, the, you know, two of a half back from the Braves. But it's a pretty big series, I would say. Coming off the two of three the other way, sadly, in Atlanta, you've got a four-game set in Washington before coming home for seven against the Marlins and the Mets. It feels like a pretty big series in Washington. Yeah, and the Nats are starting to play good baseball. Not amazing baseball, but they're not a bad team anymore. I think their record in the last 15 games is pretty decent. They're starting to put together some runs.

Scherzer's just been back. Scherzer was kind of quiet at the beginning of the season, just looking okay. Now he's back. Corbin hasn't been great, but I'm sure tonight against this Phil's lineup, he won't have a problem. Oh, he'll be dominant.

Yeah, he's coming off, I think he gave up seven in his last starting six, a couple before that. He has not been great since a really good start. He'll be dominant. He's coming off like I think he gave up seven in his last starting six, a couple before that. He has not been great since a really good start. He'll be awesome tonight. Especially with Sean Rodriguez batting fifth and Roman Quinn batting sixth and what the hell. It's better than Roman Quinn batting

cleanup like he did in September of last year. Let's get the lineup. The lineup for tonight is Segura, Harper, Kingery, Hoskins, Rodriguez, Quinn, Hernandez, Knapp. That's where this team is at. That's insane. What the hell, man? I know.

I know. So the Nats, obviously their bullpen is still a tire fire, but they're starting to figure stuff out a little bit. Ever since Rendon's come back almost, they've been way, way better. He's such a good player. And also this time, sadly, the last time we played the Nats, we missed the Scherzer-Strasburg duo. This time we do not. We get both of them. It'll be Arrieta versus Corbin, Eflin versus Eric Fed, your guy.

Is it Fed or Feddy? Feddy. Feddy. See, I deferred to you there. There you go. Pavetta-Scherzer on Wednesday, Jack. That's the deadline. And then Nola Strasburg on Thursday.

So they need their ace to pitch well, which we know Pavetta will. Yes. They could really use Nola pitching well on Thursday too. They could use their number three to step up. Was Pete McKinnon right? Oh, man. Don't go there. All right.

On that note. It's depressing. Hopefully they can look. Three of four. I'm going for it. I mean, worst case, you split this series. You have to. But take three of four, Jack.

Man, when I see that lineup, it's hard to have a vote. And again, as much as we love Nick, you'd have to say Scherzer, the advantage there. In three of these four pitching matchups, because as bad as Corbin's been lately, he's way better than Arrieta, at least in terms of confidence. Eflin versus Fetty is really the only matchup you feel like, and this isn't how it plays out. We know that many times the worst starter gets the win

or his team gets the win, but it's certainly not a you're going into these games feeling like, well, we got the edge of pitching tonight. Yeah, and it's a shame that it's not Pavetta versus Strasburg, so that Strasburg could write it down in a few notes about how to pitch. That is a shame. It's a good point, Jack. Really fun pitching matchups, I would say.

It is. It actually really is. And, again, this is a big series. This is one worth paying attention to. Hopefully the Phillies won't suck, Jack. What are your final thoughts, my friend? Oh, and by the way, rate and review the podcast. Do it for Jack. Please do it

for me. Do it for the Lost podcast. Do it for the High Hopes Night at the Ballpark, which we're going to do. Do it for all that stuff. Well, speaking of High Hopes Night at the Ballpark, we can announce the date. Buddy ballpark, we can announce the date. Buddy! Yes, we can officially announce the date of High Hopes Night at the ballpark.

It is going to be Saturday, August 17th against the San Diego Padres. We don't have the link yet, but we will have the link soon. So keep an eye out for that where you can buy tickets. Then we're going to be in the outfield, and I think it's going to be between like $28 and $33. So not totally sure on the price yet, but August 17th. We'll all be together. It'll be a bunch of tickets together.

We can hang out. We have already lined up. We've talked to the Phillies. No matter how the rotation breaks out until then, Nick Pavetta will be pitching on August 17th. So even if he's pitching back-to-back nights, it doesn't matter. He's going to make it work for us. So we're good there.

Yes, we appreciate Nick helping us out. If it turns out that it's Pavetta, it's going to be an even more magical night down at the ballpark. Obviously, the reviews, when we get to 1,000, we will release the Bryce Harper podcast. We're at like 420 right now, which is really cool. Good job, guys. I was at 405 stars, which is fun.

We're at 398 five stars, which is insane. And my other final thought is that I would like to welcome Logan Simmons and Jamari Baylor to my tweet deck. My tweet deck is a very sacred place. Adam Haisley has been graduated from my tweet deck. He tweet deck is a very sacred place. Adam Haisley has been graduated from my tweet deck. He is now in the big leagues. I don't have to monitor his every movement.

I would like to welcome Logan Simmons, the Williamsport cross cutter who was an over slot guy that the Phillies drafted last year. Jamari Baylor, I just think is going to be a superstar. I can't wait for Jamari Baylor to just think is going to be a superstar i can't wait for jamari baylor to get going because i think his hand like i saw a video of his hands

again this weekend and it's just it's just magical like they are magically quick hands it's yeah and and let me just magical hands and let me just say damon jones is making a very very nice run at the tweet deck um damon jones the 18th round pitcher from washington state last year who who who just is striking everyone out and i think he's going to be really really good for this team whether it's a starter your tweet deck sounds like such a sad lonely place it's literally it's it's just it's minor it's philly's minor league that's what my tweet deck is oh man all right congratulations to those fellows for uh welcome to the deck that is very good news i will take my final thought which was going to be charlie morton

and segue into uh uh giving some some congratulations out as well. Congratulations to my daughter Zoe for being awesome on her first two plane rides, the flight down to Florida, the flight back. She was so good that our neighbor in both cases actually turned to us at the end of the flight and said, wow, what a great child. She was awesome. So shout out to Zoe for making traveling with her, which again, incredibly tiring, incredibly stressful, slightly less stressful and for not making everyone on that plane hate us. Thank you, Zoe.

Well, it's a good thing she can listen to this podcast and appreciate that. So when she's like six, you can have her listen to this version of this podcast on June 17th. When you were so sentimental, Jack. Yes. So that was weird. June 17th. What does June 17th make you think of, Jack?

Zoe being a great baby on two plane rides. Well, that and the OJ chase. I don't remember the OJ chase. Oh, God, you're so young. Anyway, I was there for it. I remember it happening. Well, I mean, mean what are you a freshman in college at that point oh man oh man were you were you partying to the the the oj chase

yeah not quite were you doing the oj chase drinking game with your friends in your no no it's good stuff jack thank you for that thank you anything i can make you feel old i will you're you're the best at it jack you're the best at granted i just went to my 101 year old grandmother's memorial so yeah i feel pretty young right now jack judging off of that and your voice i think we have a good chance you're gonna see a lot of philly's baseball in your life there it is buddy i love it all right um We will be back on Thursday. Ready for this? In studio together, thank God. Although it might be a little later

because I'm doing the afternoon show on Thursday. Oh, excuse me, big dog. What was that? I'm doing the afternoon show Thursday. Not on it. I'm producing it. Yeah, you're damn right you're not on it. We will make it work easier to there we will make it work uh we gotta get it out for that marlins preview i guess it's uh it's one game with the gnats so maybe even maybe we do friday we'll figure it out yeah we'll probably do thursday

maybe friday either way all right sounds good maybe right either way we will have another pod we'll be in studio for it it'll be awesome and uh i missed you high hopes listeners when i was in florida i'm very happy to be back and i can't wait to be in studio jack it it'll be awesome and uh i missed you high hopes listeners when i was in florida i'm very happy to be back and i can't wait to be in studio jack go phillies for fritz i'm seltzer we'll talk to 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 a cause I started more than two years ago and 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, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.