High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - What is Going to be the Achilles Heel in 2019?

Episode Date: March 14, 2019

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back for their second podcast in the week asking what is going to be this team's Achilles heel in 2019. They also give a player comp for Bryce Harper and ask for the High Hopes listeners help once again.  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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Wait, are you dreaming? No? Then yeah, this Reese's Extreme Blizzard is real. And for a limited time at DQ, happy tastes good. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes. It's a bunch of baseball nerds. Well, without the computers. Talking about

the Philadelphia Phillies on Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. I am James Seltzer. With me, clad in shorts. Yeah. The one and only Jack Fritz.

Jack, let's start off with the game that's sweeping the nation. Is this weird? Jack Fritz wearing shorts today coming in bouncing to country music. Is this weird, Jack? It's not weird. This is what we call baseball season, buddy. It is officially baseball season. Two weeks.

It is baseball weather out. It is a cool 60 degrees. And like the great thing about this weather. He's wearing shorts, guys. I'm wearing shorts. I'm wearing the high hopes. I'm wearing the high hopes t-shirt. I can respect the high hopes shirt.

That's strong work. I was wearing shorts i'm wearing the high hopes i'm wearing the high hopes t-shirt i can respect the high hopes shirt i literally i was wearing shorts i have the high hopes shirt on blaring country music on my way in just like listen i this is one of those days where if you were in college and in a cold school like bloomsburg was where it was cold all the time and it was like anything above 50 day drinking like like, big day drinking day to day. When it's weather like this, all I want to do is day drink. And unfortunately, the second best thing would be to record this podcast. So this is an adult me. This is adult Jack coming out saying, hey, buddy, can't drink, have to go to work. But Lord have mercy, do I wish I was having beer right now.

Well, that's pretty standard. Yeah, no, I just wish I had beer. But not even craft beer. It's not a craft beer day. It's just a Bud Light. It's a Bud Light PBR day. I'm having beer right now. That's pretty standard. Yeah, no, I just wish I had beer. Not even craft beer. It's not a craft beer day. It's just a Bud Light. It's a Bud Light PBR day. I'm with you on that. It's a Bud Light PBR day.

Nice refreshing Bud Light in the hand. Yeah. A little baseball game on the tube. Listen, if they want to sponsor the podcast, we're open. We are here to be bought for a beer sponsor. Yes, we are for sale, as they say. Come on in. Very available. Yeah couldn't be more available

have your guy talk to my guy that's me talk to me or john genteel we're john genteel we love john genteel sales guy john so can i make an announcement yeah sure did that just i wasn't even ready i know it's caught me off guard i know okay james uh-oh i'm back I'm pitching this summer. I'm pitching in an adult league. Oh, buddy! And if anyone in this league, I think it's a PAB or something. Oh, this is great. This is going to be good. There's only downside for me. I was just about to say.

That's why I said this is going to be good. Because in my opinion, the only way this plays is you're not nearly as good as you hoped you would be. That's the only way this plays. That's the only outcome here. Yeah, there's only downside for me. Yeah. And if I ever face a listener, I might jack it up to a 79 miles an hour. Oh, look out.

Yeah. So watch out. So I am back. I am. Listen, I couldn't. He's back, guys. I couldn't. I couldn't.

We're breaking news on this podcast. Usually we break news on Thursdays. We brought some news today. You thought the Bryce Harper announcement podcast was big. Wait till the Jackie first complete game shutout podcast is. Because I swear to God I'm going to dominate. Sadly, that podcast is never going to happen again. Lying.

You're such a liar. No, but I couldn't come on this podcast anymore. And I feel like I was deceiving the people with my pitching prowess. So I feel like I had to. You have to represent. Yeah, to prove to the people I still got it. We'll find out if you do or don't. We will.

Everything hurts when I move. Keep drinking that beer, Jack. It should be good. Listen. Last year up in Redding, I rolled out of bed and threw 79. If you don't think I'm getting up to 82 by the end of the season with my hammer crowder being back, and I was watching some change-up grips today by Trevor Richards,

who is a Marlins pitcher that I like a lot. Former pirate Trevor Richards? Trevor Williams? Trevor Williams, yes. Listen, the only reason... That's who Trevor Richards is. I don't even know who he is. You should.

Okay, I'm on it. You should. Him and Pablo Lopez. I'm interested in the Marlins this year. I'm a big Pablo guy. Just the name. I like the name Pablo a lot. We're recording this podcast during...

You're in on the Marlins this year? Excited to watch that 115 losses live? It's going to be great? The poor Marlins. They're going to get... You know how much, Jack. There is no one you know who watches more random baseball games than me. I will watch Marlins baseball this year, sadly.

They're going to get their crap pushed in by the rest of this division. It's going to be so bad for them. All year long. They might not win 60 games. No, they legit could lose 115 games. They're not going to lose 120 games. That would be the record and all that. But they could lose 110, 115 games.

They could. Think about how bad that is. the record and all that. But they could lose 110, 115 games. They could. Think about how bad that is. Hall of Fame level bad. Yeah, one of the worst teams in the history of baseball is in play just because of how good this division is. We'll have our division preview for you next week. Yes. A lot of good and early stuff.

All right, let's dive in. Later on, we got something we want to get the people doing. Yeah. We need the iHeart listeners. Like we like to do. Once again. Like we like to do. You've always come Hope listeners once again. Like we like to do. You've always come through for us,

so why not ask for more? For as much as we have needed you in the past, this is even more. Okay. This is the most important thing we've ever asked of the I Hope people. Wow. I like that.

Until the next one. Until the next one. Yes. Okay. We'll get the ESPN. We're not a cult. We're just here to talk. We just want to talk baseball and have fun with it.

Yes. We are not a cult. We have to say that so that's good all right let me preface everything yes well we'll get to the espn top 100 the outrage of the espn top 100 a little bit later jack i want to start off you and i were having a conversation last week and we actually said oh let's do the monday podcast about this started the monday pod never talked about it, like we like to do. But we were talking a little bit about this team and obviously the optimism that we have. But trying to look at it and say, all right, what's our Achilles heel? Yeah, because everything's not going to go perfect.

Of course not. It's baseball. But this is around that time of the year when everyone's like, listen, Pavetta breakout, everything's going to go perfect. Everyone, a.k.a. Jack Fritz. Baseball is an imperfect game. It's the hardest sport in the world. Not everything is going to go perfectly great for the Phillies. There's going to be something that everyone's going to know.

Last year, it was Tommy Hunter coming into a game for the first half. There's going to be that moment where everyone— Hector and Harris closing. Yeah. That was a thing. Two things that can't close. Scott Kingery trying to hit. Sorry.

Go ahead. Two things that can't close. John Middleton and Hector Nair. Only one of those things is true. Was once uttered on a podcast that will never see the light of day. So it's all good. But yeah, something's going to go wrong. For as excited as we are about the Phillies and they might win 90-plus games and whatnot,

something always goes wrong. It's baseball. Even the 2011 Phillies had an Achilles heel. The offense wasn't that great. But listen. It was an Achilles heel. So the High Hopes podcast is a trust-tree podcast. Listen, we're not ripping the Phillies, but there's going to be an Achilles heel.

It's time we let it out today. For as excited as we are about the Phillies, for as high hopes that we do not ripping the Phillies, but there's going to be an Achilles heel. It's time we let it out today. For as excited as we are for the Phillies, for as high hopes that we do have for this Phillies team, let's start looking at what's going to be the Achilles heel. Can I start? Vince Velasquez. I was hoping you would start, and I don't know where else you could go. Vince Velasquez. Can we start there? Can we start with Vinny?

Please. No. No, I just... Yes! No, yes! Definitely! Start with Vinny! The back end of the rotation is probably going to be an Achilles heel. Vinny is very, very frustrating. And I would really – like, Eflin last night. Eflin retired his final 10 in a row. He looked all right. Against the Yankees.

Obviously, we couldn't see anything. But in listening on the radio, they were saying that it was mostly bleeders. Nothing was really super a hard hit. Eflin, listen, I trust Zach Eflin to be my five starter. I trust Zach Eflin to get me six innings, less than three runs. Or five innings. I was going to say, six innings, three runs. Let's go with a quality start.

Yeah. More often than not. Right, and that's fine out of a five starter. It's exactly what you want. That's what you want out of five. There are not many five starters in in baseball nowadays the way starting pitching is. Who can do that for you? Not that Zach Eflin is that good, but you know what I'm saying.

Yeah, well, he's just a very, very solid pitcher. I think he's just a solid number five guy that can come in and do a job. And then there's Vinny, which you don't know what you're going to get on a start-to-start basis. He'll have one start where he strikes out eight, and he goes six innings and what you're going to get on a start-to-start basis. He'll have one start where he strikes out eight,

and he goes six innings and still takes four hours to get to six innings. Unbelievable. I know. He's so aesthetically not pleasing to watch. No, he's not. Listen, the numbers may bear out differently and whatnot. It's just Vinny is a frustrating guy to watch. He just is.

And you don't know what you're getting from a start-to-start basis. He's a very volatile pitcher, and in the same way that Pavetta kind of is too. And Gabe Kapler pretty much came out on yesterday or two days ago, and he was talking about Vinny, and he basically echoed the same things that we were saying, where he was like, I just need him to go out and be aggressive from the jump. That's literally exactly what we talked about on the last pod. Yeah, because that's what he – Throw your pitches.

He possesses such a – Pitch, not throw. Right. He's got – yeah, well, that's a big step. He has a good fastball. Like, he has a legitimately good fastball. It has life on it, too. It's hard to time.

Like, it's one of the best fastballs in the sport. Just pound the strike zone with it. Hit the outside corner. Throw strikes. To righties. Like, you don't corner to righties. You don't have to nibble. So I think the back end of the rotation is going to be a question mark.

And listen, if they don't go Velasquez, then you're going Jared Eikhoff, who I would like to believe in, but he hit 93 the other day, which was good. His rhythm seemed good. It seemed like he was starting to get back into it. He's not hurt. But still, it's, he's kind of an easy guy to, to, to hit off of at this point.

It's a very straight fastball and his curveball doesn't have the depth that it needs. And you're not getting much out of Jared Eikhoff. And then after that, a lot of people are talking to themselves into Drew Anderson. I've never been a Drew Anderson guy. I am with you. But he,

if he's going to learn a cutter, his cutter is at 89 now. So that's something to definitely monitor. I wish you all could have seen the face Jack, when you're like if he's going to learn a cutter, his cutter is at 89 now. So that's something to definitely monitor. I wish you all could have seen the face, Jack. He's got a cutter. Did I teach him it? No. So he probably won't reach his potential, but it's fine.

But the one thing about Drew Anderson, and no, he has no command. He's one of those guys that maybe he throws strikes, but talking about command within the strike zone, doesn't have it. But his stuff is heavy. So if he has a heavy fastball with the cutter, maybe there's something there. But if they don't go out and get a Dallas Keuchel or a Gio, who I don't want Gio Gonzalez. I'm okay with Gio.

He wouldn't be my top choice, but I think that I'd rather have Gio than Velasquez. Did you see the craziest nugget about geo gonzalez i didn't know 33 years old geo gonzalez in his entire career has never had an arm injury yeah it's pretty crazy that i mean that's unbelievable he's 33 years old he's been pitching in the majors for a long time he's never once had an arm injury so from that perspective you like someone who's going to be durable he He's pitched, I think, more than 175 innings each of the last three years. He'll give you innings. He'll get you some outs. I think you look at the numbers

from last year, ERA under three. That's not real. He got a lot of luck last year. He's not that good a pitcher, but look, I fundamentally He did well when he went to the Brewers last year. I'm not a huge Geo fan, but he's certainly better than Vincent Velasquez. I just don't think he's been good for the last couple of years.

I don't know. Last year he was. Last year at the Brewers he was. Two years. No, he was good with Washington too. He was. Look at the numbers. No, he had a 2.96 ERA on the year.

No, he didn't. Yes, he did. No, he didn't. Look it up. I will. Gio was pretty good last year. Surprisingly good. I'm with you.

I'm not a huge Gio Gonzalez fan, but... He had a 4-2-1 ERA last year. I thought he had a 2-9-6 ERA. Are you sure about that? Yeah, no. He had a 2-1-3 ERA with the Brewers. A 2-3-3. So he was really good with the Brewers, Jack. That's what I'm trying to tell you. He had a 4-5-7 ERA with the Nationals. Was it the year before he

was good? Yeah, in 2017 he had a 2-9-6. There we go. See, 2-9-6. I didn't pull it out of nowhere, so it was a 2.96 in 2017. My bad on that. But still, a couple years ago, had a really nice year for Washington. Pitched well in Milwaukee last year. He's better than Vince Velasquez. That's all I'm saying.

And he's a one-year contract type guy. 7.8 strikeouts per nine and 3.6 walks per nine. Look, he's not great, but he's better than Vince Velasquez. He'll go out and eat innings for you. Your face. I'm not a G.O. guy. I can tell, but is he better than Vincent Velasquez?

Probably. Yes, yes, he is. Or would you rather see a growth from Vince? Well, I'd much rather, obviously, they— Just see what you can get out of Vince. I would rather ride with the rotation in the first half and address it at the deadline. I'd rather address it at the deadline, too, in theory.

But if they give Gio one year $6 million or one year $7 million or something. Yeah, it's not too bad. It's fine. It's fine. It's an innings eater. It's all right. But I agree with you fundamentally. I'm not a huge Gio Gonzalez fan.

Keichel, as we've talked about, really makes the most sense if they're going to do something like that. And if they're not, I agree with you. I think it's smarter to, whether it's Bumgarner, whether it's some other pitcher becomes available. Robbie Ray, your new favorite. He is not one of my favorites. You love this guy. I do not love this guy.

Well, you're always hyping him up. You're always like, oh, go get Robbie Ray. I'm like, I don't know if I want Robbie Ray. Just get him. You're confusing me with Joe Jelich. I figure he's kind of an influence influence on you, it seems like. But he does strike out a lot of guys. He strikes out a lot of guys.

Talk about having a bad season last year. Yeah, no, he's very frustrated. But he can bounce back. I mean, two years ago, he was amazing. He was amazing two years ago. And he does have stuff. But to your point, look, I agree with what you're saying. I think that it's a shame that Vincent Velasquez and Jared Eikhoff

couldn't combine into one pitcher. Because if Velasquez Vincent Velasquez and Jared Eikhoff couldn't combine into one pitcher. Because if Velasquez could just throw strikes the way Eikhoff could throw strikes, he'd be a different guy. I know. All right, so here's the thing. What could make the – and let's put yourself in the Phillies' mindset for now. Because you and I have both made it pretty clear how we feel about Velasquez, that we don't expect him to turn that corner and become something.

If you're the Phillies, and I know it's an asset, he's more valuable to you as a starter, why do you think they still believe in Vincent Velasquez, that he still might be able to make these changes that we just haven't seen him make? Well, I don't think they have really another option, honestly. So by necessity. His counting stats last year were pretty good. And he did, like we talked about, he had a 10-12 start stretch that was really good.

Yeah, and he can put it together for bits and pieces, but he's looked exactly the same since the Padres' 16 strikeout game. I mean, his counting stats last year were good. I mean, he had a, well, it was okay. He had a 4.85 ERA, so let's not get too crazy. But his FIP was 3.7. And they love FIP. They do love FIP.'s not get too crazy. But his FIP was 3.7. So, obviously. And they love FIP.

They do love FIP. Phillies love FIP. Gabe has talked about FIP. So, that's probably why. Honestly, he's in the rotation still because they don't have another option. Right. And if he's your five starter, putting up those stats with a better defense behind him. Being able to skip him with some off days.

You know, you probably won't even need him for the first couple weeks of the season. That type of thing. They should theoretically be fine with him with some off days. You probably won't even need him for the first couple weeks of the season. That type of thing. They should theoretically be fine with him being your five starter. It's just that I would rather go get a guy who can be your three starter and everyone fall back in line. I agree with you. Pavetta becomes a four. Or even get a two.

I mean, you get Bumgarner, he's your two, and Arrieta's your three. Whatever is the point. Right. Everyone just, rather than Vince Velasquez is a fine five starter. You know what I mean? I agree with you completely. And that's why you would rather them not sign Gio. You'd rather just wait and go get somebody who's actually a viable guy you could start in the playoffs.

Yeah, and let's say he does come out and, nah, he's not going to do it. I'm not even going to talk myself into it. I'm not talking myself into Vince Velasquez. No, don't. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. But let's say they go into the season and Pavetta doesn't take the leap we expected. Or Eflin isn't great.

Or whatever. I mean, these are all really. Or Arrieta doesn't bounce back the way Jack Fritz believes he will. He's back. So, no, look. There are a lot of unanswered questions there. I agree with you. I think personally the biggest Achilles heel is going to be the back end of that starting rotation.

But I think it's Achilles heel that they can fix on the fly, as we've discussed. And they have so many assets to get it done. They have so many extra pieces now. Like Nick Williams has become available. I think he could provide value for some team. He only hasn't walked once in spring training, which I think is not great. Not great. Not great. take a walk.

Not great. Take a walk. Just don't swing. They have a bunch of extra arms. They've got minor league talent that has value, for sure. And they have major league talent. Yeah, and they have major league talent. So I do think they can supplement.

Let me throw one more at you because I think we're both, and you could say Mike Alfranco, but I think it's silly to say that there's anything in this lineup that is going to be this team's Achilles heel, at least the way the season starts. I don't believe in Mike Alfranco long-term, and he's kind of like the Vince Velasquez of the lineup, but if he's your eight-hitter, it's fine.

Exactly. But I do think if you're looking for somewhere else, because we agree it's the back end of the starting rotation, but if you're looking for another spot, they don't have a defined closer. I know it's probably going end of the starting rotation, but if you're looking for another spot, they don't have a defined closer. I know it's probably going to be David Robertson, right? And Robertson has closed in the past, but it's not like David Robertson is a no doubt about it, throw him in the ninth inning, the game is over,

and you're set, your bullpen is set. And I know that the Phillies might not necessarily believe in just having a guy who shuts every game down and all that, but that was a real point of contention for us last year like we were incredibly frustrated watching this team and not having at least some sort of defined roles especially at the end of the bullpen jack depending on if it's just robertson or if they're trying to do some sort of mix and match type thing do you have any worries about that as a potential achilles heel well i think robertson can get the job done i really do um i think people are actually underrating how good david robertson

he's really talented i'm not trying to take away from david robertson it's more about the makeup of the pen and the fact that robertson in a in a perfect world robertson's in there with sir anthony as your seven day thinning guy depending on. Well, that's in a super pen, though. That's in a Yankees kind of bullpen. I mean, David Robertson was like a sixth-inning guy in the Yankees pen. Yeah, yeah. Let's not carry it away here. But I mean, in three straight years, he went 39, 34, 37 saves.

Sure, with the White Sox. He was a good closer with the White Sox. He wasn't great. If you look at the blown saves, he had a fair amount of those, too. He had a lot of saves, but he was not among the best closers in baseball while he was in chicago yeah but i think i think right now he's starting to pitch his best which is kind of crazy to say and he's been so freaking consistent for so long um so so and he looked he looked really good the other day like he's nasty man like he's one of

those guys where if you're not if you're a phillies fan who just watches the phillies play and you don't get to see a lot of american league baseball and you haven't seen a lot of david robertson great you're gonna yeah big time some of the best guys you're gonna love watching this guy because his stuff is nasty the coolest nasty the coolest thing about david robertson is is that like when you when you're looking at the gun there's two great things about david robertson one his calves i mean his calves are absolutely gorgeous like they like are we playing is this weird again or no is it is it weird johnny drama johnny drama would be all about david robertson's calves i'm just telling you i'm just telling you they would

but reference that was good work by you and the other thing is is that great calves break up but he throws like 91 92 but it's gonna look like 96 to us because of how long his stride length is. And I've tried to imitate his stride length, and it's freaking impossible. I don't understand how he does it. His stride length is the longest in baseball, and that's from a guy who's like 6'2". And the longer your stride length is, the faster the ball jumps on you because you're shortening the distance to the mound from 60 feet, 60 inches to whatever.

And it's just crazy how fast the ball jumps on people. And I just love seeing hitters not be able to catch up to 91, even though it looks like 96, because of how long his stride length is. And I agree. I think Robertson's going to be really good. It's just a question of how those roles shake out in the bullpen and whether we see any issues with that but again that was really stretching it i think for both of us we both agree right now if you had to

pick an achilles heel on this team it's going to be the back end of the starting rotation yeah and i but i i really do think that for as much as people are in on the Phillies' infield defense, it's still going to be pretty horrible. That's a good point. We have talked a lot about it. I mean, outfield, McCutcheon should make a big difference out there helping out defensively. I'm talking about infield defense. I know.

I'm talking about I think the outfield will be very improved is what I'm saying. And I'm going back to the infield. I got you. I just want to make sure. Keeping you in sure. Yes. Keeping you in check. Yes. And look, I think that like, look,

Carlos Santana is a better defensive first baseman than Reese Hoskins. Not even close. It's not even close. Like it's a significantly better, the guy played third base at times. Like he's a much better fielder than Reese Hoskins. Franco is the same. Cesar is the same. You're really talking about Segura being a better short something. Kingery, which he is, but Kingery did improve as the season went on.

I agree with you. I think that, and Real Mudo is so much better than Alfaro. That's light years better. But I do think that's a fair point that we have talked a lot about how much better the infield defense is going to be or the defense in general, and it might not be light years better in the infield. It might just be better because Segura is a little more sound. Well, here's the thing.

Is that they're going from one of the five worst defenses of all time. Like, legitimately one of the five. Hard not to be better. Like, yeah. So they're going from the worst defense of all time to just the worst defense in baseball. Like, they're going to obviously be better. But, like, Pocota had to. It is funny to think about that.

Because we've talked about it. And they will be much better defensively than they were last year. They'll be a major league defensive team. Yes, and that is so massive. I think you're right, Jack. I think when we talk about it, it does kind of make it seem like they're going to be this defensive whiz type team. Nope, they're just going to be able to make this as a routine play. Right, which is good.

I'm happy. That's all I need, Jack. I need my team to make the routine plays that I would make if I were out there. That's all I want. Dakota still had them as the 30th ranked defense, and everyone's like, this is an improvement. We're good now. We really are. We're good.

We're fine. All right, Jack. We've been slandered as a city. ESPN Top 100. Bryce Harper is 15th? 15th on the ESPN Top 100. Bryce Harper is 15th? 15th on the ESPN Top 100? Jack. Honestly, it feels like it's too...

No! Don't do it, Jack! Dude, J.D. Martinez is two spots behind. Bryce Harper's better than J.D. Martinez. Come at me. Come at me. J.D. Martinez is probably the best hitter in the sport. Best pure offensive talent.

Mike Trout's a better hitter than J.D. Martinez is. Okay. Look at the numbers. The numbers say he is. J.D. Martinez is ridiculous. J.D. Martinez is a really good hitter. He's also a DH. So?

He's a designated hitter. Harper's the worst defensive player in the sport last year. Well, yeah, that four reasons we've discussed. I know, but I'm just making the argument. Jack, you're supposed to be a Bryce Harper fan harper fan here i love bryce harper doesn't sound like it jack it doesn't sound like it i actually do think and we've talked about this a bit though i think i think harper's gonna big year and we're gonna get into it later next week we'll get into actual predictions for the season and all that but oh i think he's gonna yeah i

think bryce harper is going to have a i think he's gonna have a hey i'm bryce harper year yeah no it does it does feel like that's coming. And I don't care that he hasn't had a spring or hasn't had a hit in spring yet. His OBP is still like 600. He's getting on base. He's getting on base. Sorry, so who are the 14 people ahead of Bryce Harper? Hold on, one second. Alright, so.

Mike Trout, number one. Mike Trout was one. Mookie was two. Both fair. Alright, Scherzer, three. Fair. DeGrom, four. Sure. Arenado, five. Both. Here we go. Fair. Alright. Scherzer three. Fair. DeGrom four. Sure. Arenado five. Sure. Bregman six. I love Alex Bregman. That seems really high for Alex Bregman. I love it. Alex Bregman is Jewish.

He's my guy. And he's delightful. That's high for Alex Bregman. Yelich was seven. Sure. Lindor eight. Yeah. I'm a big Frankie Lindor guy. Dude. Francisco Lindor had 38 home runs last year. I love that guy. Oh, I love him too.

I'm big Francisco Lindor. And he's definitely leaving Cleveland, by the way, in like two years. You think so? Yeah. He seems like one of the play his career in Cleveland type guys. No, baseball night, it was Olney and Kirchen, I think. And Olney was like, he's determined to hit free agency. Wow.

All right. I'll get paid. He already turned down a hundred and- He'll get paid. I think he's already turned down like $140 million contract. He's a hell of a player. He's amazing. Maybe the best defensive fielder outside of Simmons in the game.

He's a gold glover, and he hits 38 on ones last year. No, he's amazing. Which is insane. Nine, Chris Sale. Sure. 10, Altuve. A little high. Yeah, a little high.

He's hurt. Judge 11. See, I get it. I'd rather have Bryce Harper than Aaron Judge. I know there are a lot of people see i get it i'd rather have bryce harper than aaron judge i i know there are a lot of people who wouldn't i'd rather have bryce i think bryce harper i don't know aaron judge is really good uh he's a really good hitter but i'd rather have bryce harper i think they're factoring in war too much with this i agree i think i think it's overrated with the war go ahead uh blake snell 12 12. That is outrageous. I love Blake Snell.

I have him as a 19th round keeper in one of my fantasy leagues. I'm very excited about Blake Snell. That is outrageous. Goldschmidt, 13. Bryce Harper is better than Paul Goldschmidt. I agree. Jose Ramirez, 14. He should be higher.

Jose Ramirez should absolutely be higher on that list. And then Harper, 15. And then Harper, 15. So Harper should be like 12. 16 Kluber? I think a little high for Kluber. Yeah, I agree. JD Martinez, 17. So Martinez should be higher 12. 16 Kluber? I think a little high for Kluber. Yeah, I agree. JD Martinez, 17.

So Martinez should be higher too, I agree. Freddie Freeman, 18? Probably higher. He is so underrated. Freddie Freeman is such a good baseball player, man. Machado's 19. That sounds about right. I think that's fair for Machado.

By the way, Acuna is 20. He's going to be top 10 next year. He's going to be like three next year. Ronald Acuna is Miguel Cabrera in be top 10 he's going to be he's going to be like three next year Ronald Acuna is Miguel Cabrera in the outfield like he is unbelievable he's so good in the same league

I have Blake Snell in the 19th round I have Acuna in like the 8th round yeah so so I would say

I would say Harper being 15 is a little bit too low I would put him right around the 10 range yeah he's he's right around 10-12 somewhere in that range yeah and but

I think Bryce Harper is going to have one of those seasons that's like after this season he's going to be top 5 again on all those lists yeah because, but I think Bryce Harper is going to have one of those seasons that's like... After this season, he's going to be top five again on all those lists. Yeah, because the only reason... I think he's going to be one of those seasons. The only reason he's not considered a top 10 player in baseball right now is because he had a slow first half. So if he doesn't have a slow first half and just bats between...

I think he's going to bat 285, 38 home runs, 110 RPIs. Something like that. That type of range. And that's going to put him in the MVP running. Hey, he's the favorite to win the MVP. Yeah, usually if you're the favorite to win the MVP, you should... I don't know, be one of the top 10 players in the sport. I don't know.

Oh, no, Arrieta didn't pitch well today. So Arrieta, this is from our friend Corey Seidman. Out after 64 pitches over three and a half innings. Struggled with command today against the Pirates. 31 balls and 33 strikes. Ugh. Okay, so. Not good.

Hopefully he was working on a pitch. Yeah, let's hope that's what that was. Fingers crossed on that one. Because that, to your point about how much you believe in Jake coming back, your take last week, it is incredibly important that Jake Arrieta is good for this team. Yeah. I mean, it just makes everything else fall into line.

It really does. It takes pressure off of Pavetta. Yep. And – It takes pressure off Nola, too. Yeah. And last year, Nola was the only thing keeping this thing afloat for a while. So, yeah, Arrieta, it's one bad start in spring training, whatever.

I still think the last couple of starts he looked healthy and fine. Not great that he fell off, but, yeah, something to monitor. So, listen, the Phillies, we talked about the Achilles heel, and I don't want to rip the starting rotation. It's just that the Phillies went out, and they were trying to sign Patrick Corbin. They tried to sign Jay Happ. Like, those things happen because they know the starting rotation probably is not good enough.

Here's my only concern with this whole thing is that this division is so good that the race might only end up being one or two games separating first and third place. Going into the season not having a more sure thing in the rotation could

cost you the division. 100%. That's one of the reasons, the arguments against waiting till the trade deadline to trade for someone. You're getting two extra months, three extra months of a certain pitcher of those starts. And like you said, if it comes down to one game, it matters.

Guess what? You can get both. You could do both. You could sign Gio or Dallas Keuchel, and you could have a more short thing in the rotation. And you can, at the deadline, if you need to, you can make a move. But I don't like the idea of waiting until the deadline. I understand the idea of waiting until the deadline.

It's a fine, functional thought process. That a lot of teams use. That is a strategy that is utilized. But there are two pitchers out there right now. Dallas Keuchel would be at a major discount. At a discount, too. And a giant upgrade. And Geo is

a cheap, very good starting pitcher, I guess. He's a cheap guy you can get for a one-year contract who's better than someone you have in your rotation. That's it. It's that simple. And they walk a lot, guys. But whatever. Alright, yeah. Well, that happened. It's not like Vincent Velas a lot guys but whatever alright yeah well that happened so not like

Vincent Velasquez isn't going alright we'll get to our thing in a minute but I want to touch on these rule changes real quick

it's already 28 minutes it happens so fast I know I know I was just thinking about that I was like oh we got more to talk about

we got a wrestling podcast trying to take this room from us soon Jack what's it called smarks and stripes check out the smarks and stripes if you're a if you're a wrestling person if you are into if you are older than 12 and enjoy watching a fake thing and acting like it's real then why then listen to the podcast i apologize to any of our listeners who are wrestling fans. Jack. All right.

You're not 12. Rule changes. Looks like they're going to implement some stuff for this year, which is pretty crazy. And then next year. So what are they implementing this year? Okay, so this year it's all cosmetic stuff. It looks like this year they're going to do the election day. Which I think is actually interesting. It's just that it's going to, the big market teams are going to win.

They're going to have their guys starting. Yeah, of course. But it could create some interesting stuff with online campaigns. I think the whole idea of it, right, of this election day to elect these all-stars is that you're putting the players of the game on the center stage and trying to say, look at our stars, we have stars, and allowing them opportunities to campaign for themselves and all that type of stuff. And I think there's nothing wrong with that.

I think that's something that is probably a good thing for baseball. No, I think it's good. And like the NBA, they were televising their all-star game selection with LeBron and the Greek freak. It was fun, man. It was a fun thing to watch. Listen, just try it. It doesn't matter.

Just have fun with it because you tried making the game count. That failed disastrously. So try something else. Right. Make it entertaining again. And they have an opportunity now with Harper in the fourth biggest market in the country to really market him as the face of baseball. Even though he already is.

But Reggie Jackson was talking to him yesterday. And he was like, he basically said, this is on you now. You can be the face of baseball. Yeah, Reggie. Because Reggie was basically that in the 70s. Was Reggie 70s and 80s? Reggie from here. Right.

My dad went to high school with Reggie Jackson. Really? At Cheltenham High, yeah. Interesting. Reggie was never, like, the, I wouldn't say he was the best player in the sport, but obviously he's a top five player in the game. Yep. And he was the face of baseball.

No doubt Hall of Famer and was the face of baseball. I mean, when you have a nickname like Mr. October, when you were Mr. October, that's a pretty big deal. Right. And he had the burden of being the face of baseball. And when you have a nickname like mr october when you were mr october that's a pretty big deal right and and he had the burden of being the face of baseball and he relished in that and he was kind of talking to bryce about how hey you should you should relish in being the face of baseball be humble be great whatever but this is you have an opportunity to be an absolute superstar here yeah buddy and uh i hope that resonate with bryce and it's weird so only he was talking to jason stark today on podcast, and he was like, and Stark was saying how he's talked to people around Clearwater, and they're like, Bryce is totally different.

Like, he's starting to really embrace being, like, the face of the team. Oh, buddy. That's what I'm talking about right there. It's good. I mean, it's great. And look, we saw those signs with his press conference and all that stuff. Like, he has the capability to be that guy. Because he wasn't that in Washington.

At all. It feels like Washington was never his team, even though he was the best player. That's what I said to you. It's like one of those things where you come there as a 19-year-old kid. No matter who stays, who goes, they're always going to look at you as that kid. Right. And basically, the way Stark put it was like, this is like a nerd in high school going to college. And being like, I can be cool now.

Yeah. I can be cool now. Even though Bryce Harper was never a nerd. We're not calling you a nerd, Bryce. We love you, Bryce. Right. But, yeah, so I think that's interesting. That is interesting.

And it could be a good way to market the game even more. Now Bryce is in a major, major market. Even though Washington's, you know, it's adorable. Nah, is it? Let's relax. It's kind of sad. All right. Two more that are happening this year.

One cosmetic, one not. Also with the All-Star game, I think we're both going to agree, just a no-brainer, why not do this idea, but the million-dollar purse for the winner of the Home Run Derby. Yeah, absolutely. It's the most marketable event they have in their big All-Star weekend. Why wouldn't you want to add more intrigue and attention to it? And you need the stars to play in it.

Well, that's the key, is you get the people to play in it. No one cares about the dunk contest anymore because no one big is in it. Yep. This is their chance to be like, hey, let's watch baseball for the night. And look, I know, like, oh, they're millionaires and all that, but, like, it's a million dollars. This is not some BS prize where they're like, oh, it's only, like, a couple grand. Why do they care? It's a million

dollars. They're going to care about a million dollars. Hey, guess who threw four shot out of things today? Let me guess. Let me guess. Let me guess. Drew Anderson. I should have known that. guess. Let me guess. Let me guess. Drew Anderson. Ah! I should have known that. Obviously. Future fifth starter, Drew Anderson. Future fifth starter, Drew.

Future ground baller extraordinaire. Future Arizona Diamondback, Drew Anderson. The last change for this year, a single trade deadline, which we mentioned, which is actually really interesting with this discussion about trading for a pitcher at the deadline. That will spur action. There has been a lot of teams that have added to their team in August. You can't do that anymore. Good.

I have no problem with that. Make the deadline more aggressive, more fun. I'm great. Yeah, it's creating an ultimate deadline for teams to be aggressive and make their moves rather than like, hey, we'll wait a month. Hey, we'll see what we can get for cheaper. We'll see who clears waivers. I always thought that was stupid.

And I'll never forget high school Jack freaking out when Cliff Lee hit waivers and was acclaimed. I was like, oh my God, we're losing Cliff Lee. Then he learned how waivers work. And I was like, this is stupid. So the confusion that the waivers put on 18-year-old Jack, be gone. I don't want that confusion hitting the next generation. So it's me helping people. I think it's a really good thing.

All right. And then it's really magnanimous of you, Jack. All right. Last two happening next year. And these are the ones that are really impacting the game. Roster expansion. It will be 26 from 25, 28 in September. Do you think?

Oh, it's only 20 in September? Only 20 in September which is we both have railed against it's so silly and the last one the the one that certainly has caused the most stir three batter minimum jack you were a pitcher how do you feel about that um i i like it i do too i wish it was two batters i think three is just a little a little far it's a little bit much um was two batters i think three is just a little a little far it's a little bit much um but and listen i just think i really i really do think it's going to add way more intrigue to the game and i know it sounds a little crazy because obviously the strategy is lefty on lefty guy and that stuff and that's strategy but if we go if we go to the next level here i i really thought

it was awesome how the red Sox employed their bullpen or deployed their bullpen in the postseason. Having Nate Evaldi turn into it, I just love. Listen, you know me. You know me. Well, first of all, you love Nate Evaldi, which helps. It's not even Nate Evaldi. You always have.

It's not even just Nate Evaldi who I absolutely love. Always have. I love multi-inning relievers. I know you do. Like Hader, Archie Bradley, Chad Green. It's your thing. It's kind of your thing. Dude, I drafted six of them in my fantasy league.

I have Jordan Hicks, Jose LeClerc, Josh Hader, Adam Modavino, and Ryan Presley. Like, I... It's disgusting, isn't it? It's pretty good. It's disgusting. In a holds league, in a whip, in an ERA league. Oh, that really helps. Yeah, feed me. Yeah. Just feed me. You just did the Z thing. I It's pretty good. It's disgusting. In a holds league, in a whip in an ERA league. Oh, that really helps. Yeah, feed me.

Just feed me. You just did the Z thing. I did. I did. I hated it. I hated every second of what I just did. I'm glad no one can see what I just did. Yeah, I'm sad I saw it, but go on.

I love the idea of multi-in relievers. And now we have Sir Anthony. Yeah. I think the Phillies knew about this because they went after Robertson, who has great lefty splits. Yep. He's a reverse splits guy. He is.

Tommy Hunter, same kind of thing. Same kind of thing. Sir Anthony's fine against lefties. I think they had a plan here. Look, I— I don't know if they actually did, but in my mind, Klintak's like, I know this is coming. I'm getting David Robertson. Yeah, obviously, King Klintak.

I am with you. And I know a lot of people talk about it changing the fabric of the game and all. I think that's crazy. Listen, sports have to evolve. Of course. You need to speed it up. It is what it is. I don't.

I am as pure of a baseball guy as there is. We both are. I live, like, baseball is the best. And I've long been against changing baseball. But I do. Our general philosophy on a lot of these things is either you like baseball or you don't. And we're fine if you don't. Just go away.

But listen, I produced a lot of games last year. Yeah. And I was angry at baseball for the amount of moves that they were able to make. There's no reason you have to have three pitchers pitching in it. There's no reason you have to go pitcher, hitter, pitcher change, pitcher hitter, pitcher change. That should never have to happen. That shouldn't have to happen.

It's going to add more offense. It's going to speed the games up. And it's going to make multi-inning relievers more valuable. Yes. And I'm with you. Joe Maddon had a quote today when asked about it. He said, rule changes shouldn't affect strategy. And he's dead right.

Because the whole point is you just have a different strategy for the new rule change. It's still strategy. But let's think about the lefty relievers who aren't going to be around. The lefties. The lefties. The lefties. The lefties. The lefties. The lefties.

Ah, poor Real Cormier. What's he going to do? Think about Scott Ayer. Scott Ayer. Think about J.C. Romero. I did. I thought about Real Cormier. I'm with you here.

Think about Pedro Feliciano. It's true. I love Pedro Feliciano. J.C. Romero could get out righties. He was out against righties. Well, J.C. Romero was super roided up, allegedly. He was jacked up. Allegedly.

Only pitcher who won two games in the World Series for us. Let's go. And listen, I love a lefty specialist. I said when I have a son, I want to make him

a lefty specialist because they're around forever and they barely have to play. It's a good gig. It used to be, anyway. It's the best gig in sports. Used to be. Well, now, I think a snapper. I guess you have to hit by... What? good gig. It used to be, anyway. It's the best gig in sports. Used to be. Well, now, I think

a snapper. I guess you have to hit by... You gotta get crushed. Pretty bad. A backup quarterback, yeah. But then you might have to play at some point. 12th guy on an NBA bench? It's okay. Yeah, I guess so. A bullpen catcher!

That's the dream right there. Yeah, you gotta squat and stuff, but still. So I don't understand. I really don't. I don't understand the outrage. People are really mad about it, and I don't get it. I just don't get it. I fundamentally think it's going to be good for the game,

and I think it's going to add another layer, and I think it's going to speed it up. And there's no reason in September when you have 40-man rosters that you have to go freaking match-up by match-up. It's infuriating. It's not fun to watch. It's just not speed it up. And there's no reason in September when you have 40-man rosters that you have to go freaking match-up by match-up. It's infuriating. It's not fun to watch. It's just not fun to watch. It's one of those things where I'm just like, let's just play baseball.

Yes. I have those moments every once in a while where I like modern baseball, but every once in a while I have those lapses of time when I'm like, just play baseball. How I felt with the four-man outfield, I was like, just play baseball. Like how I felt with the four man outfield. I was like, just play baseball. What do you, I feel the same way with the four man outfield. And it's fine.

It's the game and all that, but it's just like, come on. And listen, a third baseman should play third base. A shortstop should play shortstop. A second baseman should play second base. A first baseman should play first baseman.

Like I, just play baseball. I would, it's, you could, you could actually argue that the worst thing to happen to baseball is it got too smart like it's it's it's you could argue it's too smart now like i just there's part of me that i'm just like just play baseball you don't need a four-man outfield it's a nostalgic game to begin with i

know so that makes sense i'm in love with the sport i i will always love baseball no matter how it's played but there's a part of me that I'm just like, can we just play baseball? Can we just do it? I think that's a fair take. But I do like the three batter minimum. Me too. I really think it's going to, because I'm a reliever guy. Yeah.

Even though I couldn't do it as a, I literally, I could not be a reliever. I was only a starter. You just didn't have the mentality. No. I couldn't come into a game. It's not surprising at all. Yeah. That's very you. I mean.

You needed it to be, you needed to be the starter, the whole routine. Yeah. R a game. It's not surprising at all. Yeah. That's very you. I mean, I. You needed it to be. You need to be the starter, the whole routine, the gov. Routine guy. It's my day. Hey, hey, hey, my day. That was Jack. You're not wrong. I know I'm not.

You're not wrong. I know you well enough. It's all about me. But I also, let me just say this. When I was in the Carpenter Cup team and we went to Lehigh Valley, came into a bases loaded jam and got out of it. I was pumping 86 on the gun. It was a good day.

Oh, this guy. It was a good day. And guess what? That arm is back, baby. Oh, God. That arm is back. Well, believe it when I say it. All right, Fritzy, before these wrestling people come in and kick us out of here.

Move out of your mom's basement. So we need some help. Move out of your mom's basement. You hear that, Turtle? All right, we need some help. Move out of your mom's basement. You hear that, Turtle? All right. We need some help. Jack, we need help. Yes.

Listen. We want to have Bryce Harper on the podcast. We want to have Bryce on. And- I think Bryce would be happy to come on. Yeah. And we are the Harper Lent Podcast. Many people credited us with bringing in Bryce Harper.

Pretty much everybody I spoke to. To pay it forward and thank us for bringing Bryce Harper to the Phillies. Is this the right way to approach this? Yeah, thank us. Thank us for bringing Bryce Harper to the Phillies. We need you to tweet at Bryce and tell him to come on the High Hopes podcast. We need to have Bryce on. We need to ask him his reaction when we first saw the first Harperland video

and what that whole reaction was and how many MVPs he's going to win here. Because if I had to set the over-under, I'm setting it at two and a half. I'd set it at four. No. No, it's two and a half. If he wins three MVPs here, that's Mike Schmidt. He would be a four-time MVP winner? He would be a four-time MVP, which is one better than Schmidt.

Interesting. Two and a Schmidt interesting two and a half two and a half by the way by the way so please help us yeah we want to have

Bryce Harper on the podcast yes who else would you rather have interview Bryce Harper than us I don't think anybody that's what I'm saying

your favorite Phillies podcast interviewing your favorite Phillies player can I throw a Bryce Harper player comp at you? Yes, of course you can. You ready? I am now after watching you sit back, cross your legs, and look at me. You ready?

Yes. Mel Ott. You're going old school. Mel Ott. I've actually watched Mel Ott. I've watched video of Mel Ott. You're not that old, buddy. No.

Come on. You know I mess around with your age You're not that old Was that your senior year of high school? Mel Ott, not quite as big as Bryce Harper But the swing, I could see it a little bit The polo grounds helped him a lot So Mel Ott 510 homers, 511 career homers

So Mel Ott, yeah 5 homers, 511 career homers, something like that? So Mel Ott, yeah, he had 511. See? How about that? Wow. You like that? What a pull by you. Anyway, let me just say, Mel Ott, so I'm looking at his age 23 season. All right?

I can't believe we're comparing Bryce Harper to Mel Ott. Age 23 season. He had 38 homers, 123 RBIs, 100 walks, batted 318, and a 424 OBP. Bryce Harper can do that. Bryce Harper can legitimately do that. He can lead the league in walks. He can lead the league in home runs. And he's going to have a 400-plus OBP.

That is the level of play we're talking about here. And Mel Ott feasted on the polo grounds. And Bryce Harper is going to feast on that ballpark. Mel Ott. That's the player con for Bryce Harper. I love that. Of all the players I expected you to say today, I didn't see Mel Ott coming. Yeah.

Great name, too. Yeah. Well, ESPN 100 helped me out with that one. Oh, did he have it on there? They said Pakoda's closest comp for Bryce Harper was Mel Ott. Wow. I mean, that's pretty crazy that they have to go back to Mel Ott to get the closest comp to Bryce Harper.

Jilio brought up Tome. No. Tome was a bigger, closest comp to Bryce Harper. Jilio brought up Tome. No. Tome was a bigger, burlier dude than Harper. Okay. The swing wasn't as violent for Tome. I mean, I get it from a production perspective. I think Harper's a—I mean, Jim Tome's a Hall of Famer. I think Bryce Harper can have a better all-around season than Tome could, whereas Tome was a consistent just masher year. We'll throw this at Bryce Harper when he a better all-around season than Tomey could, whereas Tomey was a consistent just masher year.

We'll throw this at Bryce Harper when he comes on the podcast. Bryce, you're a big Mel Ott fan. He might be. He probably knows who Mel Ott is. He does. 100% knows who Mel Ott is. He's a huge fan of sports and baseball. This is the kind of content you could get if you help us get Bryce Harper.

If you help us get Bryce Harper on the podcast. So, Bryce, we think you're the next Mel Ott. What do you think? I think he might hang up. But who knows? Just saying. You got to find out. If he doesn't come on, we'll never find out.

So help us get Bryce Hart from the podcast. I love it. All right, Fritz, any final thoughts? All right. I have two final thoughts. I'm waiting. One's a question. Is this weird?

You get to only choose one bounce back candidate. Which is the most important to the 2019? I love these hypotheticals by the

way. I could do them all day. To the 2019 Philadelphia Phillies. Which of these bounce back candidates is the most important?

Cesar Hernandez, Mike Alfranco, or Adubo Herrera? Most important. It's a great question. It's not Mike Alfranco no although if you can get 30 home runs from him um man I'm gonna say Odubel for this reason and I almost said Cesar the reason I'm saying Odubel is because I think that his floor is so much lower than Cesar's and whatever I get from C if I get much lower than Cesar's and whatever I get

from Cesar, if I get last year's Cesar with the rest of this offense, like fine, it could be worse. If I get last year's Odubel with this offense, that really hurts me. So I need Odubel to be better, more than I need Cesar to be better. And last year, I mean, Cesar, he's naturally going to bounce back because he's playing with a broken foot. I have no doubts in my mind he's going to bat 280 with a 360-some OB. He's going to get on base 36% of the time. That's what he does.

That's what's going to happen. It's what he's done his entire career. Even last year when he was hurt, he still put up those average numbers. So, yeah, I too am choosing Oduble because if you get Oduble back to, like, 2017 Oduble, like, like, 2017 Oduble, like, you're getting a guy who can – I said it last podcast. You're getting a guy that can win the batting title as your 700. It's ridiculous.

It's absurdity. Yeah, it's awesome. It's absurdity. It's awesome. So, Oduble bounce back. All right. Here's my other thing. Adam Morgan is going to be the – Oh, I saw you tweeting about this.

He's going to be this team's best left-hander this season. And, listen, this is coming from a guy who does not love Adam Morgan is going to be the— Oh, I saw you tweeting about this. He's going to be this team's best left-hander this season. And listen, this is coming from a guy who does not love Adam Morgan. Wow. But I am now officially an Adam Morgan guy. You can put it on my gravestone, Jack Fritz. Jack, I was the last to believe in Adam Morgan, Fritz, if you want to. If you want to put it on my gravestone, I was the last guy to believe in Adam Morgan. You can because Because listen.

I read one article about the Phillies saying, hey, you need to throw your slider more. And let me just tell you something, James. When I read sentences like that, it moves. If a team is telling a guy to throw more sliders, that automatically means breakout in my opinion. So he's going to be a slider machine this season and his slider

is freaking nasty. If you couple that with his two-seam fastball and get under the hands of lefties, game over. His fastball last year, very bad.

People bet at 444 on his four-seam fastball last year. Jason Hayward, who hasn't caught up to a fastball since 2012. Thanks for reminding me. Since his first home run with the Braves, it's the last time he caught up to a fastball since 2012. Thanks for reminding me. Since his first home run with the Braves.

It's the last time he caught up to it. The monster Grand Slam. The last time he caught up to 95 plus was that. God, that was so brutal. He turned around. That was a brutal loss. He turned around 97 from Adam Morgan last year. Thank you for reminding me of the many brutal losses we suffered last year.

Now that my mind is racing. It was horrible. That stretch of baseball right there. Just that stretch when that loss happened was inferior. The Hector Neris and Washington debacle. Oh, God.

That was the... Oh, my God. They beat Max Scherzer. They should have beat Max Scherzer in that game. They beat Max Scherzer. I know. And then Hector came in.

Was it Wilmer Defoe? Yeah, I don't know. Why do I remember these things? But I'm just all in. Jose Alvarez, his whole career has been— That's who I would, if I had to bet on who would be the lefty. He probably will.

I would bet on Jose Alvarez. He relies a lot on soft contact, and you never know when that's going to turn around and be the opposite. Doesn't strike many guys out. So I like Jose Alvarez. I do too. I really think I like the lefties. This is not like I'm down on these guys,

and Pazos hasn't looked great this spring. Yeah, we're worried about James. He needs to regrow his stash. It's clearly what it is. I don't really have any other explanation for it. Who told him to shave it? I don't know. Some jerk.

I mean, clearly. Someone doesn't care about the Philly success. Right, he needs to bring it back. But I literally am very in on Adam Morgan. I think his slider is disgusting. And I think he's going to be good this year. He was good at the end of 2017. Now he's a real be good this year. He was good at the end of 2017. Now he's a real catcher back there.

I liked him at the end of 2017, for what it's worth. Right. Rate and review the podcast. This team's most durable left-handed. I'm relieved. Rate and review the podcast. Adam Morgan.

It does a lot. It means a lot to Jack. Check it out. April 6th, we're going to be down at Citizens Bank Park. Yes. Fighting for Frankie, and that should be fun,

so check that out on our Twitters. Still pinned on my Twitter account. Still pinned on his Twitter. Yes. Fighting for Frankie and that should be fun. So check that out on our Twitters. Still pinned on my Twitter account. Still pinned on his Twitter. Yes. And more importantly, Twitter, tweet at Bryce Harper. Tell him that there's nowhere else he needs to be. Put on the High Hopes podcast. Yes.

And I'll see Bryce April 2nd for the Fans of Philly trip. Look at you. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be amazing. We'll actually see him March 28th at home. Right. For the opening. Right.

We're only two weeks away from Philly's baseball day. We're two weeks away from Reese Hoskins having 130 RBIs this year. Let's go. RBI, not RBIs. Whatever. I'm old school. RBI does not flow off the tongue. RBI.

It's runs batted in. It's not runs batted ins. So why don't you call it R's BI? Sure. That's better than RBI's. Oh, stop. Just get over it. But you don't need to because runs is already plural. Like, if you were

talking about something else... Anyway. James, I don't care. R.B.I.'s flows off the tongue. R.B.I. Alright. Talk to you guys next week. 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