High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Why Are They The Way They Are x2

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to a disappointing weekend in Atlanta. The guys discuss ace Nola, Hector's blow up, the perplexing road struggles, and much more. 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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Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the high hopes podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies on radio.com and sports radio, 94 W Y P. Yo, Yo! It is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack Fritz, last I remember, the Phillies won a game 12-2.

They won five straight. We're in first place. And then I blacked out. I don't remember anything that's happened since. I'm just going to assume it's all been good. How are you? Yeah, well, I actually think that yo is a symbolmatic of also what happened to the baseball team over the weekend. I tried. I'm happy you caught that.

That was the intent. The intent of the yo. Started out hot. Ended up being not. Well said, my friend. being not well said i mean it's been a while since we could talk and say that this philly's team that for the last what like three and a half years or whatever has specialized in gut wrenching soul crushing gut punch losses it's rare that we can come on and say jack was that the worst one yet could it have actually been the worst one yet because i and say jack was that the worst one yet could it have actually been the worst one yet because i think it might have been the worst one yet um so i agree it

i don't know i don't know how i felt in the moments of the other ones like the ones that come to mind is like the 2018 nationals game where they blew it dodgers the hector game the hector game um like uh the the pop the game comes to mind like there there are those games but like that marlins game oh dude it is is it worse than 19 to 11 i think so i think it's worse than 19 to 11 too one in the ninth four three in the 11th and-3 in the 11th, and 7-4 in the 12th. Like, yeah, it's worse, man. It's worse. And down to their last strike.

Like, I mean, it's just, it's worse. Dude, and it's like, you know, I don't really, like, I don't get this way with sports anymore where it, like, ruins the next couple days. Like, I still get there. I still get there with the Eagles. Phillies games, like, for the night it ruins me dude i was like legitimately in a funk for for a whole the whole next day like until i said philly's were too jack but yeah i mean i get it but you know they're they're you know major league baseball players

they should be able to uh separate the two um but i was just i was just crushed i was absolutely crushed i couldn't get over it um it felt like a win the whole time um and like and you know they fought back and it's like nice we're seeing some fight on the road like they just scored three in the 12th or whatever and yeah sure it was on a throwing error by the pitcher which was like so phillies by the braves but um like they loaded the bases hard, ball hard, hit it at the pitcher. Like they did things to win that game.

Nicky clutch, Mayton, like they did stuff. But again, look, the Phillies had their own Phillies moment, Didi Gregorius. And then like,

you know, just the bullpen 2020 style. And by the way, I mean, like Hector, bro, making us look bad timing literally the first time he pitches since we do this whole hector's protectors thing like honestly you made us look like assholes hector and i'm i'm a little upset about i still love you and i will defend you. But bad timing, man. Bad timing. It was JT's fault, though. Right, Jack?

I mean, I tried to warn people last time. And to have it manifest like that. It's just, you know, why? Why? Why are you calling a fastball there? Like, how many times do we have to watch Pablo Sandoval hit before you're like, hey, you know what we should do? Not throw him a fastball. And I know he missed it. Every pitch should be a splitter. Every pitch.

I know he missed his spot. I get it. But it's the process. Why in the world are you... First off, you threw a fastball a pitch before and got away with it. Why are you throwing it again? Why are you throwing it again? And there's a lot of people that say, well, that could have been Caleb Gotham making the pitching call. Then why is it so much different when Andrew Knapp is catching? Like, why? And it's just like, you know, to make that call in that scenario where he swung at a splitter out of the zone to make it 0-1 is utterly insane.

Like, I know he reads the scouting reports. I know everyone knows Pablo Sandoval will swing at pitches outside the zone. That's what he does. And it's like, what are you doing? Like, why are you throwing a fastball in that scenario? I was so mad. Like, so mad he called a fastball there. Because then, again, the conversation around Hector drives me crazy.

Because, like, you know, whenever he blows a game, it's like, oh, this guy shouldn't even be on the Major League roster. It's so annoying, dude. We had multiple callers say that today. Multiple callers say he doesn't belong in a bullpen. And I was like, you're an asshole. Sorry. Again, I'm throwing, like, you know, I'm frustrated. But, like, that's so stupid.

Like, if you want to argue he should be the closer, we can have that discussion. Like, that's a discussion we can have. But to say he shouldn't be on the roster is is asinine he's one of your four best relievers like at worst like what are you talking about yeah well and like and it just fuels all the conversation and it just drives me crazy because like objectively he's a good pitcher i mean he's he's a he's a he's a very good pitcher major league baseball should he be the closer i think he should be but i can see the case that you want someone that throws hard harder back there and whatnot and and you know when you haven't any and and to be honest like i never feel fully confident when he comes into a ball game i mean yeah i mean

i feel like i'm like i've had too many of those moments yeah well after he would have to go on like a brad lidge-esque run to not have, because every time it happens, it just magnifies, you know? Yeah, yeah. And again, I mean, it was just a crushing game. It was a crushing game. Not over it. I mean, imagine how much different we feel taking two or three from the Braves,

you know, coming back in that game after the Hector blows it and showing the mental fortitude to do that. And then they lay the stink bomb last night. And it's like, oh, great. So all the good vibes from the 12-2 are gone. And we're back to questioning if this seems... It's not just the 12-2, the five straight. It's the five straight and the 12-2 and all those.

Like with two losses, the five straight is like, eh, whatever. Oh, I know. I know. It's not, and then every time they have games like this, we always have to like, you know, you know, re-litigate if this team's good or not. And it's just like, can't you guys just make it easy every once in a while? You know, go on a nice little sustained run.

Go down, go, don't completely crap down your legs on the road. You know, just be a normal baseball team. And also like, I mean, I'm sure we'll get to it, but it's like, how many times do we have to just lose painfully on the road? Like, it's the road. I get it's different.

I get it's not home, but like, you can't be considered a real contender if you can't win on the road. You only play 81 home games and sure they're a great home team they're the best home team in baseball right now but you can't sustain that you can't win consistently if you're just good at home and that's what sunk this team and we have six more road games and i'm not looking forward to them yeah it's not just six more they also have another nine game road trip after that it's 15 of the next it was it was 18 of the

next 24 with the starting of the Braves trip and now it's still 15 of the next 24 on the road jag and it's like I I don't ever remember this in baseball like you'll see this in basketball you'll see this in football right you'll see these teams that just for whatever reason struggle on the road or are just unbelievable at home or whatever but like it's not a baseball thing like baseball's not that kind of sport like it's so rare that you see you know teams are either good or bad it's so rare that you see a team that has this kind of stark home road splits like i don't ever remember jack like i can't think of another phillies team i've ever watched that was like this drastically bad on the road compared to how they are at home like we've talked about it before and

i like your like you know they have to create some energy on the road compared to how they are at home. Like we've talked about it before and I like your, like, you know, they have to create some energy on the road thing, but like, what is it? Like you play baseball your whole life. Like what is it? And also like, what can they do? Like, what can they, cause, cause I'm at the point where if I'm Joe Girardi, if I'm Sam Fulton, Dave Dombrowski, like I'm saying, okay, like this is clearly a thing. Like there is something here. This is not something we can fluff off as, as small sample size or whatever. Like this is years

in a row of this group of guys, this team not being able to, to muster it up on the road. And like, I would look at everything we're doing. I would look at every single process that we have in terms of our road trips what like what could it be jack i'm i'm i'm honestly perplexed by this yeah i mean what are they 80 and 123 now i think i mean what is that since 2018 yeah yeah it's it's it's it's insane um and the more and more i watch this team and it always feels, and again, it always feels like they come up small when I need them. Like I needed, I needed that game Sunday, like after Saturday, like I needed that. I know. And, and Nola.

We texted about it. You and I texted each other. Like I need, I almost, I almost tweeted muster in game tonight. And I was like, all right, that it May. And too many people will be like annoying. And it's like mostly a joke. But like in a way, it felt like you got to freaking win this game tonight for me. Like you have to. Yeah, turns out they didn't.

But I do wonder, I've mentioned this a couple of times, but I do genuinely feel that, you know, it's hard to build team chemistry when everyone comes in from the outside. And you don't grow up winning together. And, like, I think that consistently over the years, the best teams in baseball have homegrown talent that they add a guy from the outside. But he's coming into that culture. Like, you saw with Mookie last year. Obviously, Mookie's already a phenomenal player. No matter where he goes, he's going to be great.

The Dodgers already had a set culture there, and he just fit into that, and they took off. When they brought in Bryce, Hoskins was really the only guy that had been here, and he wasn't even here that long. It was like a season and a half at that point. Nola, he's not really like the rah-rah guy, obviously. We've talked to Aaron Nola. We've heard Aaron Nola talk.

He's a guy that goes about his business and he's good. Eflin is just starting to come into his own now. They don't have the guys in there that created the culture and they developed it and won in the minor leagues and came up and developed the culture to the major league level.

Like, they brought in Bryce. They brought in JT. They brought in Wheeler. You know, and they brought in Gene Segura. They brought in McCutcheon. Like, they brought in all these guys. Didi. They brought in all these guys, and they're trying to put it all together.

And I just don't think that – I think they're, I think they're almost like running out of time to do it. You know, like I think realistically they kept this together. I think next year is really when we're going to see a difference in the road, but like these guys, they don't know how to win the road because I don't think they know how to win together. Like they're all just kind of different pieces brought together and hope that they can fit into a puzzle. And you just can't win that way. Like you just can't win big by doing that. It doesn't like the 09 Yankees are the, are the example,

but Jeter, Posada and Rivera were there, you know, a rod was there. Sure. They brought into share. They brought in Burnett. They brought in,

um, CC, but there's already established culture there. So it's not the same thing. Bryce, JT, and those guys are tasked with building a culture but coming from an outside place to build a culture. And they can't do it. Like, they can't do it because that's not how you win. No one really knows each other.

So I just think it's going to take longer than we thought it was. Yeah. No, I think there's a lot of truth in that look you've seen teams in the history of baseball it's so rare i mean like the 97 marlins are one that jump out to me that were able to bring in a bunch of pieces and win a world series with it and even that team like they had an an all-time great manager in Jim Leland, at least for his era. Leaders, guys like Darren Dalton, who were a massive influence on how that team played on a day-to-day basis and stuff like that. And this team, look, I think JT's a great baseball player and a great leader-ish type. I think Bryce has leader tendencies and all that but like none of these guys have ever done it like they've never been the leader of a team they don't

have that infrastructure that experience even mccutcheon like mccutcheon was never on any like he made the playoffs a couple times in pittsburgh but wasn't like on any real teams wasn't any real situations and even then like his personality um isn't that that kind of personality we've seen that like he's awesome i love his personality but it's not like get behind me boys i'm gonna ride you to glory personality like and to your point too like on the staff they don't have those guys i mean like that's not nola that's on efflin wheeler like it certainly doesn't seem like that's who he is so far like yeah i don't think he really needed on the staff as much as he needed. No, he needed less.

I agree. But regardless, just on this team, like to your point, like it doesn't – like they might be able to like bond and like each other and stuff, but I don't know. Like we don't know if this is a – like again, to your point, like they're not – and that's why I get on Girardi because it's like this group of guys clearly is not able to find it within themselves to muster up the energy, the this, the that, whatever it takes to win these games consistently. Like, what are you doing, Joe?

Like, what are you doing? Like, what is Joe Girardi's job other than to make double switches every five seconds and make bad bullpen decisions? switches every five seconds and and make bad bullpen decisions like other than to get these guys ready to play on a day-to-day basis on a grind of a baseball season like i don't know like am i wrong to bring that back to gerardi at a certain point yeah i mean i don't think you're wrong i just don't know i don't know you know what what it is i just i think it's in the dna of the team and i do think that i do think that that Bryce and JT, as the longer that they're here, it'll get better. I agree.

It'll get better. I just think it takes a long time for leaders to emerge themselves. And I think Bryce, we've talked about this a lot, but it feels like he's kind of just figuring out how to do it now. And I do think he is a good leader. He's growing into it. Right, and I do think he's a good leader. He was always the young guy on the Nationals. He was the kid who came in at 19 the phenom but

he was never like the leader guy he was never the leader guy so i think he's i think he'll get better but even he's like he's like bryce harper you know like he's he's he's like a superstar in the sport like he kind of and you have all the publicity around him like it's almost tougher for him to be a leader because you know he's such a big star and all that stuff so i don't know i the sport like he kind of and you have all the publicity around him like it's almost tougher for him to be a leader because you know he's such a big star and all that stuff so i don't know i just i was thinking that over the weekend and i've thought it for a long time and i just i just think it's gonna take a little while for this team to eventually get good on the road because i don't think any of them a like they don't know they don't i don't think any of them, A, I don't think they know how to

win together. And I don't think they know how to compete. And it just takes a while for that camaraderie to build. And they're bringing in a bunch of outside parts and hoping it can fix. And that's why the farm system, that's why Brian Barber and all the minor league guys that we talk about a lot on this podcast. Like they need to build this from within. And Bryce is very committed to the farm system. But it's on those guys to come up and play the Phillies way.

And, I mean, playing the Phillies way may not be a great thing given what we've seen on the road. But, like, it's just I can't take it anymore. Like you can't win long term by bringing in outside pieces. You have to you have to win from within so i think that's the key problem with the road stuff yeah and again you're like you've talked about the key problem with the organization the number one thing that we've all said from the beginning forever that is the thing that needs to be fixed um so i'm i'm 100 with you there all right let's uh let's get into some specific guys from the weekend.

Look, we've already done the jokes and the Nola Ace thing and all that. And whatever, we're not going to do that whole thing. But in reality, to the people, and look, I think there's some of them in every Phillies fan. And I think we all are to varying a sense where it's like, look, Aaron Nola is one of the 10 to 12 best pitchers in Major League Baseball. He's certainly the best pitcher on the Phillies fan. And I think we all are to varying a sense where it's like, look, Aaron Noel is one of the 10 to 12 best pitchers in major league baseball. He's certainly the best pitcher on the Phillies, but like, um, there is a frustration at times.

And certainly, you know, like I think more, you know, like not like last night was this monumental start, but like you and I both text each other and said like, we need Noel at night. We need it.

Like after that loss last night, you need your ace to come out and bring it. you know i think you know more potently you can point to those two september starts the end of last year with a chance to get the playoffs where he just whiffed um and we've seen it you know in the past as well like to those people like how do you kind of talk to the people who because obviously there are just some people who are just going to underrate nolan be like he's not an ace whatever whatever. And then there are some people who are going to go the other way and be like, his numbers are amazing. What about those people in the middle?

Like, where are you kind of at with that? You know what I mean? He's got to do it. It just feels like he's not going to step up when we need him. And it's annoying because I want it to step up when we need him. Like, and it's just annoying because, like, I want it to happen because I love Aaron Nola and I love watching him pitch. But it just happens too often where it's like, oh, we got our ace in the hill. Like, we need to stop.

And it's like five runs. It's like, what are we? Come on, man. Like, please. Like, just please. Come on. So, you know, he's a very good pitcher. He, just please. Come on. So, you know, he's a very good pitcher.

He's the ace of this team. But he's got to overcome this, you know? And I'm not writing it off. It's just that's the next step in his progression. You know, that's why I thought Eflin's start on Friday was so awesome. Because Eflin also has problems against the Braves.

He's had problems. He had the heavy body thing or heavy legs thing a couple years ago on July 4th. He almost needed to overcome the Braves too. And what he did was seven innings. Sorry, not seven innings. Six and two-thirds. You need to use Brogdon. That's fine.

Yeah, so we can get right to get christian whatever eight run lead at that point yeah yeah sorry so six and two thirds um before he had to face the ever you know scary christian pache um but whatever it's just like that was a big start for him to say hey i can do this and i just feel like n almost like the Braves, it's almost like the old Pedro thing with the Yankees. You know, like the Yankees are my daddy or whatever. That's how I feel with Aaron Nola heading into these starts against the Braves.

Aaron Nola's great against everyone else, but on the road against the Braves, I just don't trust them to get the job done because it doesn't happen. 2018, he was great. He went on to Boston and he shut them down. He went to Washington and he struck out Harper in the eighth

and it's like awesome. But since 2018, it's just these big moments on the road. I just, you know, I used to think that, I used to think when Aaron Nola got to the playoffs, we're going to see like a Cole Hamels-like run where it's going to be like, this guy is cool, calm, collected,

doesn't get flustered by anything. And I just don't, I don't feel that way anymore. I don't know if he gets flustered, but it's just, it's that he needs to overcome this, this hurdle. And the brave seemed to be like his hurdle.

And it was just another example last night. And it fuels the whole Nola discussion. We all know he's one of the top 10 to 12 pitchers in baseball but for him to get up into the upper echelon top eight you know he's got it he's got to figure this stuff out and it's it's annoying and i hope it's not in his head too much but um it's it's just the reality of the situation both things can be true he can be the ace but he also needs to get better than the situation. So that's where I met with Nola. Yeah, we're like exactly the same place. I feel exactly the same way.

And I think it's a kind of a good, just like, you know, very visceral way to judge it. And I think you nailed on it. And you mentioned it before with Hector. It's like the same idea of like, when Hector Neres comes in a game, like I don't feel fully confident. Like I believe in Hector.

I think he's a really good pitcher, but if it's a one run game or, you know, if it's a, you know, a, a, the heart of the Braves lineup coming up or whatever,

I'm not like sure Hector Naras is going to get the job done. And it's the same thing with Nola. Whereas like if it's Jacob to Grom and it's that spot where his team just, you know, we don't curse on this podcast, but bleeped the bed the night before in the dramatic fashion they did against division rival in Atlanta, where you need the game to stay in first place like jacob degram's giving you seven innings one run at worst like that's a bad outing in that spot for jacob degram you know what

i mean like it just is what it is like he's not that he's not jacob degram he's not shane bieber like he's not quite that level he's not garrett Cole. Like, he's the next cut down. And, like, if he wants to even be mentioned in those groups, those, like, you know, capital A ace, if you want to put it that way, he has to be better in these spots. Because anecdotally, whether it's true or not, like, I feel like if it's, like, September last year, again, like, and those weren't even against great teams at times. Like, he needs, we need to feel like what you talked about before that

feeling that you had like inherently that when aaron playoff nola like that's been a thing we've talked about in this pod you know like like that was based on a belief in who aaron nola is and his demeanor and all that stuff that when it when it mattered most like that guy was just gonna be be nails and and evidence since then to the contrary makes you have to say like all right i need to see him do it more like i need to see it happen more before i'm going to say like in this mass like massive spot i completely trust that aaron noah's going to go out and give me you know eight run eight innings two runs or whatever you know you need you know yeah yeah i mean and i don't think like i don't think this is us saying he's

not an ace it's just there's there's different check marks that these guys have to hit and he's not i mean he's not jay degrom i mean i was actually thinking the other day like like where would you real quick sidebar where would you rank degrom amongst so i was thinking best pitcher since like 2000 so i was thinking randy johnson pedro actually i was gonna do best pitcher since like 2000. So I was thinking Randy Johnson, Pedro. Actually, I was going to do best pitcher since like 96. Second, I told you this. Like in terms of like, and again, like this is one of those like really hard things to do because like what Randy Johnson accomplished and Randy Johnson would be like my top, those would be my top three pitchers I've seen in terms of like utter dominance.

And then you got like Maddox and then, you know, there's the whole Clemens thing and there's all these other guys. Well, there's also Kershaw there's there's Kershaw Scherzer yeah they're like dominant dominant people but I think in I think in terms of like in the moment Halliday watching the guy be Halliday yes I think in terms of in the moment watching the guy pitch I feel like Pedro is the only one I feel like super confident and not even then i let's say i feel confident is better than what i'm watching with de grom right now like that's the only one i feel like all right 99 pedro like yeah that's the best picture i've ever seen in my lifetime like i thought it in the moment i've thought it ever since it's never changed like de grom right now

like you know the last this this you know, what if he stays healthy, he'll probably be three straight Cy Young run of DeGrom. That's the best. And Randy Johnson in his prime is the only other one that's like, it's those three. But I think DeGrom is probably second. I do wonder, I wonder if you flipped eras. What would it look like? Obviously, the strikeout is more prevalent now.

I want to talk about that later. We'll get to that. Like the strikeout's more prevalent now um i want to talk about that later we'll get to that like the strikeout's more prevalent now so but also the hitters are better now than they were in the in the pedro and and randy johnson era i would say uh well there's no arguing just pure numbers that right now is the i mean it's the year of the pitcher it's the day of the pitcher there's no doubt about that. Yeah, no, I know. I just think the hitters are more talented. I'm not saying you're wrong about that, but I mean, just pure numbers. I mean, again, the league average is like 234 right now.

I mean, like strikeouts are, you know, I mean, we'll get to it because I do want to get to it after we get towards the end. But, like, I mean, like the league-wide strike average is 25%, Jack. I mean, 25% for the average. I mean, that's bad. Last thing on NOLA before we move on is, and I don't want to keep harping

on JT, but you know, the first... You should. This is your thing now. Joe DiCamera's quoting Jack Fritz on WIP today. This is now your thing. Your new thing. JT calling a game.

The floor is yours. Well, now I'm going to be labeled as, like, I didn't want them to sign JT. It's like. JT hater. Yeah, yeah. It's like Marx is trying to, like, make me out to, like, the nappy. How could you tweet sign JT all year and now you turn on the guy? Yeah, he's like, what do you want, nappy?

I'm like, dude, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that he needs to call a better game. But like yesterday, it was another example of him getting curveball happy and him getting changeup happy. And it's like, how many Aaron Nola starts do we have to watch where we have to understand that those pitches are only good when he gets fastball command? I don't care how long it takes for him to find it.

He is a field pitcher. He will find fastball command. And he got there in the fourth inning. He was 95 painting the outside corner. Maybe we wouldn't have a blowup like we had if we were sticking to the fastball and not using the changeup and curveball to try to fool hitters. Those pitches with Aaron are only great when the fastball is being commanded to both sides of the plate. That is how they play off each other.

That's how he's great. When Aaron Noah's on, he's on because it's fastballs to both sides of the plate that he can command and has those pitches off of. So, like, stop with the curveballs and changeups early in a game. Just stick to the game plan of fastballs. So, yeah, it just drives me crazy. It drives me insane. Now, he did it well with Velasquez. Like, to his credit, he called a good game with Velasquez on Saturday

because Velasquez has to remind himself that he has other pitches, you know, because he has to figure out how to pitch rather than throw. So, like, reminding him, hey, curveball here, changeup here, just so he can continue pitching and get guys off his fastball. Good game plan. Aaron Nola, bad game plan. So that's my JT thing. Well, and you would hope, look, Caleb Cotham,

you hope that he's, if you're here saying, hey, guys, it's pretty wild, the ERA numbers. And obviously, look, there are a lot of factors. First of all, it's a 35-game sample size, so even less for each catcher. And Matt Moore starts. There's a lot of variables to this. But if it is really a thing, you would hope that,

I think you and I, of all the complaints we have about this right now or whatever, I think we both agree we are 100 all in fully in on caleb koth and what he's done so far and what he can do so i feel like that's the kind of thing that if it that that that could be corrected internally i don't i'm not super concerned about it long term long term but i do think it's a really fair thing to bring up it's pretty crazy i mean koth i'm still i mean still like whenever he goes out. Well, it's pretty crazy. I mean, Cotham still. I mean, still, like, whenever he goes out to the mound, it's like the guy gets out of it the next.

It's immediate. This guy's like a whisperer. Man, I've been so impressed with this guy so far. I mean, like, look, just what Vinny's doing alone, I think that alone, you're like, wow, this guy. All right, anything else on the starters before I get to the lineup stuff? I thought Eflin was great.

I mean, I like watching Eflin a lot. Vinny was fine. He still won't get a curveball over for a strike or anything, but he's definitely better than Matt Moore, so take that for what it is. Hey! And we get to see Jay Zanderserson tomorrow so that'll be fun um all right uh anything on the boat like bullpen we talked mostly about nurse would you we talked last time about coonrod like how close are you to wanting coonrod to be the closer not yet not yet i do i do think i do think he would be good at it. But also, I do want to see a little bit more out of him.

You know, he was pretty bad for the Giants last year. No, no, no, no, no, no. He was horrific for the Giants. Pretty bad is an understatement for what he was for the Giants. Yeah. Also, on the Coonrod thing, dude, Carson Ragsdale is disgusting. I know. All right.

As soon as I said that last pot, i'm looking at friggin these videos this guy friggin like oh all right well yeah well listen way to go like i said way to go whoever i was actually right no donovan chest bet donovan chest bet that was on me dombrowski was here although Although, he did credit the analytics staff to getting him. But yeah, no, he's... But, like, you know, he does seem to have the closer-ish mindset where it's like a... And I do like... Throws hard.

I like guys that just throw hard late in games. Hector is great with the splitter and that stuff, and it looks way softer this year, but it's still 93. I would like my closer to be upwards or closer to 100. It's just, and this is going to sound very simplistic, but 100 miles an hour is hard to square up. It's hard to consistently square up, and I think his off-speed. Especially in the ninth inning when you're tired,

when you've played a full baseball game. It's like, whatever, 2%, 3%, 4% harder to square up. Yeah, exactly. So I think he could do it. I like the idea of him doing it more than I like. I don't want Alvarado doing it just because I need a lefty that's good. And I think you can't do that. He's like your only lefty weapon.

I mean, you need a lefty in a big spot. It absolutely has to be him. So, yes. Archie obviously could do it. He's done it before, but I like Coonrod's stuff a little bit better. I just like the idea of being able to use Archie 6, 7, 8 and not locking him into one spot.

I feel like Coonrod, you could lock him into one spot, and he'd be pretty good. So not pressing the panic button on Hector just yet. He's been really good this year. But it just feels like, again, I don't know. I'm always worried about him, and we'll see. And there could be a lot of pressure to make the move there. If I had to remove Hector from closing, which I'm not doing yet,

I would put Coonrod back there. Yeah, 100% with you on all fronts. Not doing it yet, but Coonrod would be my next choice. I think Archie is too valuable as a Swiss Army knife, high leverage guy for you who can literally come in in any spot in the game and pitch well to rights and lefties for you. Also, he's just a guy you trust in those spots. All right, to the lineup.

Let's start with Kutch. Look, I mean, we all know he's been a shockingly bad defensive player this year. Like, really, almost shocking. Like, it's shocking. Like, they're stunning how bad he is. But he's getting hot. The bat's picking up a little bit jack where you have a catch i'm good uh i'm good the the key pretty much costing the game on

on saturday as you get pretty much yeah i mean i mean the ball in the corner it's like oh come on it's a disaster come on andrew come on what are you doing but to his credit i mean he's he's definitely picked it up at the plate and i i really like what Joe did with the lineup last night of McCutcheon, Segura, 1-2. 3-2. Like, Segura is just scorching hot. Oh, good thing Joe took him out of the game on Saturday. Yeah. Dude, he's got us.

What is up with the double switches? Like, it's like, do you agree we need the DH here just to stop Joe from double switching for Christ's sake? Honestly, I'm wondering if we need an intervention with Joe. Like, Joe, come sit down. We need to talk about this. It was for two spots in the lineup. He gained two spots in the lineup to take your best freaking hitter out of the game in a freaking extra innings game. I gave it was at a real chance to go to extra innings. I know it wasn't yet. They were winning,

but still it's like do a chance. Like what are you doing? If Segura is up in the 10th in that spot first and second, maybe you don't even go to the 11th. Like anyway. Well, yeah, he had to double switch to go out of the game. That's not the problem. It's the first double switch. No, he did not have to switch to go out of the the first double switch. No, he did not have to switch Cigar out of the game. He did. No, he did not. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. I'm double switching anyone

else out of the lineup before I'm double switching Gene Cigar out of the lineup at that spot. Why are you taking your best player out? And he's a good defensive second baseman. What are you doing? You don't need to do that. But you needed two innings out of Alvarado. I'll let a pitcher bat. I don't care. I would let a pitcher bat before I'm getting Gene out of the game in that spot.

This is crazy, Jack. I'm just saying, you need two innings out of Alvarado. What if he comes up with the blade and it's a big situation? I agree. I agree. Double switching Gene Segura out of the game is not... I wouldn't do it. All I'm saying is that the bigger problem is the first double switch

to where you get into that scenario. Which leads to that scenario. I agree. Either way, enough. Well, the bigger problem, Segura out of the game, whatever, the biggest problem is that it takes Conor Brogdon out of using him later in the game they are getting two innings out of conor brogdon like you can't get you can't get two innings out of him that point because yeah

another great point well another great and and it worked out because nappy bunted and they scored runs on it but the downside was that he had to go to nl de los santos in a 7-4 ball game and not be able to use conor brogdon because of the previous double switches. Stop double switching. Like, just make a normal pitching change. It's like, honestly, it's hurt them more than it's helped them, like, times a thousand. Like, the one that worked was Roman Quinn. Especially when you have such a bad bench, too.

Like, you shouldn't be looking for ways to get Scott Kingery in a baseball game. Like, I'm sorry. Like you should be looking for ways to not put Scott Kingery. Listen, listen, Joe,

everyone doesn't have to play. Joe, if you end up at a point where Scott Kingery is your third baseman and nappy is your first baseman, you've done something wrong. You blew it. Like there's, you've done something wrong. So blew it, man. You've done something wrong.

So, yeah. But, like, it's tough. It's tough. But it's tough. Like, the Segura thing is bad, I know. But it's like, I don't know. It's putting Mayton in the left field versus whatever. It's just, if you just stop double switching, it would be better.

All right. field versus whatever it gets just if you just stop double switching it would be better all right um reese you just we just talked about dropping him in the lamp we both agree with that move 100 but what's going on like the power of it look he's hot and cold we know that the power has been there for the most part he's cooled down a bit but but he's hit home runs but like 284 on base percentage like of all things the only thing we've been able to count on with reese hoskins consistently even when he was having his like you know worst player in baseball slump was that he would walk that he would get on base like what's going on man well he's back to trying to hook everything um you know when reese is going well he's trying to you know hit the ball to right center field gap and that that's good re that's where we want Reese to be at but even like I really noticed it I think the first game of the series where again he's just he's

just trying to yank everything and um and I think that's honestly why he dropped him so far in the lineup is because I think I think Joe saw what a lot of us were starting to see where he was trying to you know a ball in the outside corner he's trying to hook down a third baseline. And it's like that's not where we need him to be at. I mean, it's not great right now. Like, he just needs to stick with the approach of right center field gap and staying in line, staying in rhythm. And it's just he gets out of whack. And this is why he goes through the streaks that he goes through.

Like when Reese Hoskins is hot, he's the best. I remember the reese hoskins hot streak from like two weeks ago it was amazing it was it was exhilarating i'm old enough to remember yeah you are old enough to remember but when he gets in in these slumps like he just can't get himself out of it and it turns into like a month of bad straight games and then it's like oh well now he's gonna climb his way out of it and he's batting 300 for like a for like a two-week stretch and then it's like okay but the walking thing is crazy i i like that he's you know being more aggressive and whatnot but like the walk rate is is way down and the strikeout rate is up by 10 so it's not exactly uh not exactly great because that shows that he's still working deep counts, but he's not producing with it.

Yeah, he needs to get going. Didi has been slow, needs to get going. Harper, I'm not... I think Harper, it's a timing thing. He's got it in the face. What else? Anything else in the lineup that kind of sticks out to you before we get to the take bag and a new... It's not really a game, more of a segment

that I'm going to drop on you. Uh-oh, you're dropping a segment on me. Yeah. I mean, it might be a one time only. It might be a thing. I don't know, but I'm going to drop a segment on you that you don't know about.

It's going to begin. Um, no, I mean like, like man, boom is really like, I keep waiting for it to come out of it. Um,

but he just got to do it at this point. Like he's still hitting the ball hard. He's still doing the right things. It's just, it's not, it's not translating at all. I mean, he, he's just got to do it at this point. Like, he's still hitting the ball hard. He's still doing the right things. It's just, it's not translating at all. I mean, he's got to get the ball in the air and into the gaps and whatnot. Because every time he hits it hard, it's like right out of first base, second base, and shortstop.

Like, it's just. It's unbelievable. Yeah. He has hit more balls right to fielders hard than anyone else this season. Yeah. I mean, like, almost more than i've ever seen so it's unbelievable and and and let's be fair too he has hit some hard balls that people have made great plays on too like he has been unlucky on top of that he has been but man does he line out hard to every position on the field consistently yeah it's like it's where i'm at with

with boom is almost like i need him to get I'm at with Boehm is almost like, I need him to get to the offseason so we can kind of, like, fix and correct those mistakes. Like, the league is clearly adjusted to him. Now it's on him to adjust back. And I really think it might not be this year. Like, we might be getting a 2-30 season out of Alec Boehm or whatever. But I think it's going to be that thing that he corrects this offseason and next year he's going to come back and we're going to be like,

whoa, there's the Alec Boehm. But realistically, I think it's one of those years where he's like a two. That's a very pessimistic take, Jack. Well, because I just think that he – here's the thing. I trust Alec Boehm a lot. And I think he's a really hard worker. And I think he worked a lot in his, his defense this off season.

And I'm not saying he didn't work hard on his hitting, but he's, he's one of those guys that improves things like incrementally. And I just don't know if it's going to happen this year. Like realistically, I don't know if it's going to happen this year. I don't know if he's going to go on that streak where he's, where he's getting back up to being a two 70,

two 80 hitter. You know, it's, I think it's going to be one of those things that he has to correct and, and work on this off season. on that streak where he's getting back up to being a 270, 280 hitter. I think it's going to be one of those things that he has to correct and work on this offseason. And it's more just I trust the guy. I think he's a great player. I think he's going to be a great player. I just think it's going to take a little while for him to learn how to adjust back. And by continuing to hit balls hard right at people,

it's just going to create more problems with his mind of like, am I doing something wrong? Am I doing something wrong? And then natural instincts don't take over. So it's a frustrating place to be at with Bomer. But I just, I don't know if I see it happening this year where he's going to go on one of those really long streaks and we're going to see the real Alec Bome show up.

I think it might be something he has to correct this offseason. Alright, what do you got in the take bag? And then I got a game and I want to ask you a question about strikeouts. Great. I don't have much in the take bag. Matt Moore has been brutal.

Matt Moore? Yeah, per usual out of the bullpen. So Brogdon, he was getting like rips for for saturday or whatever and it's like it's like hold on he comes into a game with a runner on second base the first he do freaking like wasn't his fault yeah the first ball's like you know we yeah um so i feel like there's this this perception that he hasn't been pitching well recently. Because I tweeted on Friday, like, why are you wasting Brogdon right now?

And people are like, well, you've got to get him right. It's like, all right, first off, the Giants game was horrible, right? Obviously, we know it was horrible. But the only time he allowed another run was when it was a freaking hurricane on the field. Like, Brogdon's fine. He's going to be good. I trust Connor Brogdon a lot. And I he's gonna be good i trust i trust connor brogdon a lot and i think i think it's gotten a little bit too out of control and honestly that's

what's so annoying about baseball it's like a guy has one bad outing outing and people oh why is he even here it's like come on that guy stinks yeah like it's a the the baseball takes sometimes drive me crazy um uh and my only real thing in the take bag is like, I'm never one that's, you know, uh, you know, I don't like off days. I needed this off day. Like I, dude, I said the same thing earlier today. I I'm so with you. I hate off days, but I was like, man, it's a lot.

I mean, this weekend was draining watching this baseball team. So, uh, needed one, needed it. And, uh, you know,

down in Washington, uh, will be another big test. I think the nationals think, Oh, hold on one more thing from the take back. The Braves lineup is not good. Like I was like watching them all weekend.

Like I get it. Acuna is amazing. Freeman's amazing. Uh, Albies is fine. But like, man, that's what was so frustrating is that that lineup sucks.

And like the way we talk about them, it's like, Oh, they're going to go on a run. It's like, man, they have the, after the first four,

I've Austin Riley's going to fall off a cliff. Like, like, like Dansby Swanson sucks against everyone, but the Phillies, Austin Riley is going to fall off a cliff. Like, Dansby Swanson sucks against everyone but the Phillies. They're not that good. The Contreras kid isn't that great. The Phillies lineup is way better than the Braves lineup, top to bottom. Just figure it out and figure out how to beat this team because they're not that great. They're not that great.

I swear they're not that great. Also, the Tyler Matzik double play last night was the coolest thing I've seen in the baseball field. Unbelievable. That was crazy. That play was nuts. It was like the Cliff Lee's play. It was. Times a million.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Segment in a second, but quickly on the strikeout thing because obviously, look, we get through April. People are talking. I mean, like so the league averages to 34 lower than 1968. Of course, the famed year of the pitching. There were over a thousand, well over a thousand strikeouts in April. Never happened before in any month in the history of baseball.

You're a pitcher. You're, you know, always going to be on the history of baseball. You're a pitcher. You're always going to be on the side of pitchers. And I'm sure we always talk about what can make the game better, and you and I are both, we love the game. We love baseball. But there is definitely a best version of baseball. And what do you say about the strikeouts i guess as someone comes to that pitching background like i i am starting to come around to the idea that strikeouts are the single biggest problem in the sport right now um and i think they might need to do something

about it you know what's weird is that i generally don't notice them. Maybe it's just a blind spot or maybe I just respect how good these guys are today. I honestly watch games and I don't notice the strikeouts. Maybe that's because I grew up in this era to where back in the day people would be like, hit the ball the other way. It's like, well, it's hard to do

when DeGrom's hitting 100 and pounding the inside. There's some games where I'm like, all right, just, you know, put the ball in play. Like, it is important and all that. But honestly, I don't notice it as much as people tell me the strikeouts are where they are because I guess I've watched the last couple years.

And yeah, I mean, listen, it's, the sport needs more balls in play. Yeah, flat out. It's just what it is. The best version of baseball is one where pitchers work a little bit quicker and where the balls in play more. That's it. And they're not nibbling.

Strikeouts are great. I mean, we all know the Kerry Wood 20K game and the Sugar Shaker 20K game. That's cool. That's awesome. It's fun to be there and be a part of that. But it's like when these scrub pitchers, you know, are having a lot of strikeouts and stuff.

And, you know, I mean, they're fun every once in a while, those big starts. But ultimately, you know, they need to figure this out to, to, to figure this out a little bit. And, and cause the ball has to be pitchers. Pitchers are just too good now. Like, and also there's so much science on the pitching side. Like the science for pitching is so much better than, you know, we talk about all the time. Like it's so much better. It's so much more advanced in the science for hitting all that stuff. like again jack i mean you will agree with this when wade miley is throwing no hitters pitching's probably got a little bit too much of an advantage

is that fair well and i guess i guess i guess we're doing an impromptu tag bag like there's too many no hitters like okay hold up no you're stepping on my segment you're stepping on my second all right let's get to the segment here is this segment i figure you know we're big like you know why not mick we've had a few why nots so i want to introduce the segment and we'll see if it ever happens again but for today we're doing it and it's called why not us jack and the no hitter was the thought of it because like you said too many no hitters this is getting ridiculous when when wade by is throwing a no hitter and shelman i has a perfect game in the seventh inning the same night and it's's like, so too many owners.

I agree. But Jack, why not us? Why can't we get one of these no hitters? Why is it Aaron Nola throwing a no hitter? Why is it Zach Wheeler? Wouldn't it be fun for all the freaking Phillies who watch all the Hector Neris games like the other night or the blow, whatever that we have? Like, can we get a night where we get to watch no hitter? Wouldn't that be

cool yeah i know we got it with roy but that was a long time ago we got a no hitter at the age of the no hitter well what about cole yeah 2013 you're right 2015 2015 excuse me 2015 you were correct but it is uh because i was thinking about every time i see a no hitter i think about the the hamels one because like I just remember sitting there and, uh, I think about, I think about docs, both of them.

Yeah, I know. But I, like, I was still relatively young for those. Like I was an adult for the, for the Hamels one. So it was like,

I was at, I remember the Terry Mahal in one, Jack. Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, we don't want,

don't want to age. Perfect game. That Mahal one. People forget. It's almost perfect game that mahalan when people forget it's almost perfect game anyway go ahead who could ever forget the terry mahalan one but but yeah i always just i always remember like you know jill had to go do something so i was like in her parents house it was just me and i just watched nine innings of a hamels no hitter and it's like wow this is like the greatest thing on earth um uh if i had to place bets the next

no hitter is coming from efflin i'm i if I could bet on an Eflin no-hitter I'm betting on an Eflin no-hitter Okay Two more why not us Second why not us The Braves signed Shane Green for a million and a half Jack, why not us Yeah, they're signing all these guys

They signed Tanner Roark today Yeah, another guy I'd take Tanner Roark over freaking Matt Moore, Vinny Velasquez right now. Yeah, I'd rather. I'd rather. Slot him in. No, no. I'd rather have Vinny than Tanner Roark.

Really? Tanner Roark is terrible. He is beyond. I know clearly the fact that he's not on a team right now would symbolize that. But Tanner Roark from two, three years ago. Yeah, well, he's not Tanner Roark from two or three years ago. But Shane Green, why not us? Yeah, like seriously, it's a million and a half.

It's a million and a half. I mean, he probably wanted to go back to Atlanta, but still. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. Oh, let's lengthen the bullpen with more talented arms, even though the peripherals say he's probably going to get lit up one of these years. Whatever. I mean, he's lengthen the bullpen with more talented arms, even though the peripherals say he's probably going to get lit up one of these years. Whatever.

I mean, he's closed games before. I mean, technically. So has Brandon Kinsler, and he's not amazing. Kinsler had a good night the other night. I know. That was a big pitching. Oh, listen. One of the few guys who didn't let us down that night.

Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I'm with you. Why not us? All right, last one. And this one isn't necessarily talking to you as much as talking to this you. Why not us? All right, last one. And this one isn't necessarily talking to you as much as talking to this person. Why not us? Jim Nance, since you're out of a job right now,

you can come on the iOS podcast once a week. We'll take Jim Nance. Why not a segment with Jim Nance once a week? What do you think? I mean, Jim Nance doesn't know baseball. That's good. You're right. If he knew baseball, he'd be out once a week. What do you think? I mean, Jim Nance doesn't know baseball. That's good. You're right. If he knew baseball,

he'd be out of a job. What do you think of Why Not Us? Is that good? I like it. I like it. I was actually, I'm going to throw one at you. Oh, an impromptu one.

I like it. Dude, can I just get like, I mean, I know Bryce does it sometimes, but like, can I just get a freaking like no doubter home run oh jack like i watched like german mercedes and it's like this guy hits tanks and you know all i feel like all of our home runs just sneak over the wall like harper ones don't but like i want a guy with like dumb power, you know, that could like really hit some balls like far out of CBP.

Just give me a guy that can mash. I love this. Why not us? I am. Yes. Like someone who's just going to hit the ball in the moment. I'll get you. JT have one like that.

Whatever the one of the Brewers game. Like that was one of those. I want more of those. I want ones where even when you're, cause TV is so deceiving. We all know we watch most of the games on TV. You don't go down to the game every night. Like,

like there are those ones where off the bat, you're like, Oh, we got it. And then it's like a warning track shot. It's like not even close or like not even warning track. Like that JT one was one where I was like a hundred percent sure. No matter what,

like it was gone on TV. And I'm sure in person it was even more, I want more of those. I love that Jack. Yeah. I just, I need, I need some,

like, I need some like Homer homers. Like I need some, some ones I'm going to tell my kids about. I feel like those home runs only happen. Like those home runs only happen against us. Um, but I just,

you know, I could on soda. Yeah. Yeah. I can't,'t we gotta face soda this week so not looking forward to it i know we lucked out no no scherzer so that's something at least they've lucked out on missing out on aces i mean they've missed they've missed the grom they've missed flarity um so yeah they miss they miss another ace more of that. You got any final thoughts, Fritzy? No, I'm going to get out of here and

enjoy a night, which is saying a lot, considering this weekend of Phillies baseball. Phillies baseball. We'll be back later in the week. Can you please Philadelphia Phillies? Two or three. On the week. Just, can you please, Philadelphia Phillies,

like, two or three, all right, on the road. Like, can you freaking win a series on the road? Not asking for the world here. Please. He spreads himself. We'll see you later.