High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Why Does it Have to be Like This?

Episode Date: September 15, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back as the Phillies lose 5 of 7 to the Marlins because of course they did. 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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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 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the IOMS Podcast Jack, I hate this team I'm so angry right now

You can't beat the Marlins? You can't beat the Marlins? Ever? What is it about the Miami freaking Marlins That owns the Philadelphia Phillies soul? Like, fire Matt Klintak I'm so done with this I'm so tired of everything how are you Jack well the good thing is is that they didn't play yesterday so they really if you think about it, they really only lost, what, they went two for four.

Five of seven, Jack. There's no official positions on games not happening with this one. Like, I'm so pissed, man. Like, they gave us 10 of 11, and it's like, oh, they're good. They're a good team. They're not a good team. And I know they're beat up, and we'll get into all the injuries and all that, and all that sucks.

But, like, any, and it was the thing that that i said the whole long is like this bullpen it you can't have a good baseball team like you just can't have a good baseball team if that's your bullpen you just can't it will always come back to bite you this team is just poorly constructed and when you look at and not just poorly constructed now but but for the future and and and it is highlighted when we watch Sixto freaking Sanchez just do his thing against the Phillies and it's like oh awesome awesome yep of course that guy's going to be a generational pitcher. Like sure. Yup. And JT's going to leave after the season. And it's just, it's all bad, Jack. The only good thing we have on the horizon is the day Matt Klintak is walking out those doors with a Wawa bag in his hand. So it sounds like you're handling it well.

I'm so mad, dude. I'm so mad. I'm annoyed. I'm mad. Philly sports in general sucks right now, and the Phillies are just breaking my heart, man, because they were supposed to be good. Well, they are good.

They're a good baseball team with a terrible bullpen they're they're they're an okay baseball team they've got a good lineup they've got solid starting pitching with some high-end uh you know guys right and they have a historically bad bullpen i'm sorry that That brings down the rest of the team. Like, it doesn't matter. You can't say they're a good baseball team. Like, they're a 500 baseball team, Jack. They're 500. They're 23 and 23.

They just lost five of seven to the Marlins. The Marlins are ahead of them. Like, we can't let them off the hook for this. It's not okay. I don't think it's okay. I don't know what else you want me to do. Can you fire Matt Klintock? Do you have that power? Honestly, why do you even let him in the building? Dude, tell me about it, man.

Seriously, what could you possibly be looking for in the next couple weeks that could like i don't know change your change your mind at all like i don't know it's just yeah losing to the marlins sucks and i and i think that the thing that bothers me the most i guess is if it looked like last september and it looked like the september before that and it looked like a team that just kind of gave up and i didn't see any fight from them you know this is what i i don't want to put it all on bryce but you know bryce does set the tone in a way for this team and he's been kind of acting out a little bit uh since he's kind of struggled down here at the stretch and i i just worried that

the rest of the team's kind of taking on that that that mentality and i haven't seen much resiliency you know they it was nice they bounced back and um well smoked them 11 nothing in game one on friday after the just like thursday night i thank god we didn't do a podcast that night because i was in a i was in a really, really dark place. I mean, that was another – I mean, you and I talked about this where Jack came into work the next day on Friday, and we both had, for some reason, both of us watching that game on Thursday up 6-3 were like, you know what? We got this. We're going to win this game.

For some reason, both of us had that reaction instead of being like of course they're gonna blow it of course they're gonna blow it we should know they're gonna blow it i feel like an idiot for not thinking they were gonna blow it no that game that game was a stone win like i even with this bullpen that game was a stone win and it was like i guess i guess it i guess it didn't feel like they lost 5 of 7 because they had the offensive outpourings. And then I guess yesterday because the Eagles were so bad that it didn't really set in that they lost twice.

And then today, just lifeless again. And, like, I'm pretty disappointed in Joe Girardi. And, you know, he can't do much about the injuries. But what I thought the difference between him and Kapler, and I never bought into the mindset of, you know, Kapler was holding back like a 90-plus-win baseball team last year. But the effort from last year's Phill and and even 18 was something that was really really disappointing and for that to be back under joe gerardi is surprising and equally as

disappointing as as last year's september um you know and i i don't maybe it's the guys on the team maybe they don't have the right mix of guys that can kind of you know play with their their back against the wall um maybe jt not being out there hurts them but um i don't know it i thought i thought it would be different in september and the team that i saw these last two days was the exact same team that i saw um uh at the end of september year. Yeah, they scored four runs over the last three games of the series. I mean, they just, like you said, Jack, showed no fight at all. And they win that game 11-0, then come out in the second game. And for some reason, this team is immune to winning two games of a doubleheader.

And winning games in doubleheaders, to begin with, they have been horrendous in seven and in games are they three at three and nine yeah we thought that was going to be uh such a bonus for this team um and granted i to be fair i mean the moment we heard it was a bullpen game i don't think there's anyone on the planet who's a phillies fan i didn't think they were gonna lose that game i was shocked they only gave up five runs in a bullpen game. And obviously, you know, it was what it was. But come back the next day, win 12-6. You know, the bats get going again. Granted, it was a little closer, and they pull away in the 7th or 8th

or whatever it was. But then to show up on Sunday, you're tied 2-2 in the series. You have a chance to win the series that day. If nothing else, you have a chance to continue to string it out to the end and get a chance to win the series that day if nothing else you have a chance to to continue to string it out to the end and get a chance to win the series again and they lose both and they don't show any fight neither again two runs the whole day um you know it's just it's it's they're disappointing man it was a really and i don't know what it is i mean the marlins are not that good i mean look the marlins are clearly better than a lot of people thought. And it's still a small sample size comparative to a large season, obviously.

But, you know, the Marte trade was a good trade. That guy's a great player. But, I mean, they're not as talented as the Phillies. They're just not. And it's just, you know, it's like you said. It's just incredibly disappointing to see this team go down there and just show no fight. And again today, I mean, today especially, you've already lost the series. You're down a half game on the Marlins and you just show up and show nothing.

I mean, they had no life today. None. I know they didn't have Hoskins. I know they didn't have Romito. It's a beat up lineup. But man, they showed no fight at all today. None. I know they didn't have Hoskins. I know they didn't have Romito. It's a beat-up lineup, but man, they showed no fight at all today. Yeah, and I wonder if they looked at the injuries. They'd heard about the injuries, and it kind of just dampened their spirits a little bit. They just look sad. Yeah, flat, flat, uninterested, like you said before.

They just, yeah. I mean, and i know the marlins aren't as good on paper as the phillies but i don't know like that's that's good they definitely have some they'd actually have a bullpen i mean they've turned brad boxberger into a guy that's under has a guy era under two but how sad is that how sad is that the marlins a team that's i mean i haven't looked but i'm sure their payroll is like an eighth of what the Phillies is, if that, something like that, you know. And they're rolling out a bullpen they can get out. I mean, that's embarrassing.

This is embarrassing when we see it across baseball, all these teams that have no money to spend and yet somehow find a way to build a competent and in many cases really good major league bullpen. It's embarrassing it is embarrassing well just another indictment of good old uh good old mack lintzak but um yeah like like i was just looking it up um you know they signed they signed brandon kintzler who hasn't been great for the last couple years um he's been on some good bullpens,

but he hasn't been the main piece of them since the Twins, I don't know, a couple, like three years ago. He's turned into a really good pitcher for them. Broxberger, who was terrible for the last two or three years. I think I owned him in fantasy two years ago, and once you're bad for me in fantasy, you're kind of just always bad. I still haven't forgiven Ian Desmond. I took him way too high like five years

ago but um uh but the the one that comes back and just drives me nuts is is a guy like yemi garcia who they signed for 1 million dollars like 1.1 million dollars and he's nasty and if you looked at his baseball savant page and he looked at all the stuff with the advanced numbers on it, if I can look up on my freaking laptop, if I can look up on Baseball Savant, see where your advanced stats are, your peripherals, watch some video of you, and say, this guy could probably get out to the Major League bullpen. But, again, what is Matt Klintak doing?

I mean, it's $1 million. That's a good return on investment meanwhile he's down in miami and he just allowed his first run of the season like again this is this is you don't have to spend big money on bullpen pieces to have a competent bullpen david phelps who has been shockingly terrible for this team. Like, horrendous. I mean, it's unbelievable. I mean, he's been good for, like, close to two years or something. And he can't get outs, Jack. He gives up a home run every time he pitches, it feels like. I want to know who in that department keeps calling for cutters away to righties?

That just plays right into a right-hander swing path. Freaking Workman does it. He does it. Tommy Hunter was doing it, and he's since stopped, and he's been pretty good. Who the hell is telling these guys? Well, Hunter's had a couple horrendous outings. I know, but, dude, I mean, for this bullpen, it's Mariano. They're all so bad, Jack.

How is it they're all so bad? And we traded minor leaguers and gave away better prospects to stay under the luxury tax. And it's just as bad. I mean, this pen isn't better. It's crazy, man. It's crazy. They're sorry i'm so i'm so i i'm so angry about this stupid bullpen that that again again if it had just been even slightly below major league average like i'm not even asking for a good bullpen slightly below major league average and not historically awful and

you're you're five wins better right now like it's crazy it's definitely crazy and like it's it's again it shouldn't be that hard to fix it's literally the only real major hole on the team outside of finding one more starter. Yeah, it's awful. And I think the thing that hurts them, not hurts, but at least bring up some of the young kids and see if they can help you out. I mean, these guys can't get out at a major league level. They legitimately can't.

Brandon Workman, I hate him. Straight up, I hate him. I can't brandon workman like brandon workman it i i hate him i straight up i hate him i i can't i can't watch him i his mechanics are terrible i can't take any more bleep 89 mile an hour spinning cutters i hate them all i mean every time whether it's workman whether it's heath emory oh i hate him you know know what's funny is David Hale's the one getting the most outs, and he's not pitching that often. And he stinks. Every time one of those guys walked out to the – I don't know what they look like because every time they walk out from the – you know, onto the mound,

I just see Matt Klintak's face on their bodies. So I don't even know what their faces look like. I just see Klintak. Well, don't keep the kids up tonight. I mean, everyone listening to this podcast is probably going to start listening around 10, and now you're going to have the vision of Matt Klintak. Like, literally, Hector Neris is the best. Well, if you're not seeing Matt Klintak in your nightmares already,

I don't know what to tell you. Hector Neris is still the best for leaving the team, and for some reason Joe just went away from him for like 10 days. I understand he was struggling. My guess is he's the new closer. Well, he is. I mean, Girardi said that. And then Workman came in in that game,

and they didn't even have a save situation. And they still obviously have not had one. And we haven't seen Neres. So my guess is he moved Neres back to the closer role. That's the way I kind of read that. But look, dude, anyone can get you some outs at this point in these spots. You just need to get freaking outs. I mean, roles don't even matter.

Just like you said, I mean, I would bring up anybody. It can't be worse. Like, it can't be worse. Well, look at JoJo. I mean, look at JoJo. I mean, JoJo came up, and he's turned into a good bullpen piece. JoJo and Blake Parker are the two guys I feel most confident when they come in. And, I mean, Hector, I'm starting to get back there.

How ridiculous is that? Well, Blake Parker, to his credit, was a member of the fourth lowest second at bullpen ERA. It's true. He did baseball last year. Yeah, meanwhile, another favorite. Where's Mike Morin when you need him? Where's that 64- per hour curveball can i

can i get that um and apparently drew smiley was hitting 96 the other night i saw that yeah sure sure oh i can't wait you know what i can't wait for i can't wait giants beat the phillies out for the playoffs yeah well that's that that too. That's going to happen. I mean, that's the lock of the century. I can't wait for the overcorrection this offseason when they just start throwing money at everyone. I mean, just to try to fix this bullpen. I mean, I love Liam Hendricks, but I could totally— Do you think he will?

Middleton's a fraud right now to me. I don't know. I don't trust him to do anything. Throw around money. They might be cheap. He might just try and rebuild. Who the hell knows what he's going to do? I don't know i don't i don't trust them to do anything i'm throwing around money like they're they might be cheap he might just try and rebuild who the hell knows what he's gonna do i don't know this is such a disaster like it's such a just going through organizational disaster like this is an organizational failure like you've talked about so many times you've talked about this is the window right like jt price this is the window

because look we all know they have absolutely nothing on the horizon like nothing they've brought up bone they brought up Howard like they've got little to nothing on the horizon to look forward to so at this point it's like all right well well lean into this group of guys and I mean at this point like who the hell knows if JT's gonna be back who the like I'm just I don't know I I I feel like the Phillies have put themselves in a really bad position like I'm not optimistic about them as an organization right now and moving forward like can they figure this out this offseason by firing Matt Klintak and trying to build around Harper and resigning Romito absolutely that can of course happen but like as long as Matt Klintak and John Middleton are the two people and you know i'm not

even going to mention any mcphail because you know who the hell knows if we haven't seen or heard from him who the hell knows what his deal is like when when john middleton and matt klintak are the two guys steering your franchise i think you're screwed like just on a holistic level i think you're screwed so until one of those two things changes and one of them ain't changing, I'm not going to feel good. Boy. I'm pretty consistent on this. Until Klintac's gone, I think this team is – they will never be a true successful mid-season baseball team until Klintac's gone.

They just won't. Yeah, I mean, you know, I can't wait to do the GM search podcast. I mean, there's only so many things getting me through the day. I'm more excited for the Klintac got fired pod than I was to do the Bryce. We got Bryce pod. Are you going to give a bigger yo for that one? Oh, way better. It might be the biggest.

It will be the biggest yo, actually. I mean, because think about it. It's the most important thing. No offense to Bryce, who I love. Getting rid of Klintac is way more important. Yeah, well, because that's building a whole team. It's not just shelling out all kinds of – and first off, that wasn't even Klintak, whatever.

Yeah, well, it was. You're right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, listen, there's going to be a – we might have a socially distant parade down Broad Street the day that Klintak's fired. Because, like, you know, you see these things, these little moves that teams are doing,

and it's just infuriating. And he has no idea what to look for. You mentioned this, whatever, a couple of podcasts ago that you don't think he watches baseball. Like, there's no way he watches baseball. There's just no way. Like, he has no foresight, of that like there's just there's just nothing and he's brought in some smart people he's brought in no chart he's been incorporated

with driveline they've done some things uh well barber looks you know i think was a good hire yeah yeah all this is good stuff uh it's just and i think the foundation is there for a good team but i can't wait to get someone in there that knows what the hell they're doing. And he's just so, he's just so not it. He's just, he couldn't be more. Not it.

Well, again, like just look, if you just want to take this season as a microcosm, he thought they could get by with that bullpen counted on Sir Anthony, all the mistakes he made along the way. And then upon realizing that not only could they not get by with that bullpen, but, oh, that bullpen is historically bad,

he made moves to try and fix that bullpen, and every single one of those moves has been an out-and-out failure so far. So, like, I mean, just this season alone, like, he has done a horrendous job alone in this small sample of what has been a horrendous job as a general manager on the whole yeah i mean he traded pivetta away i mean that's that's grounds for a firing right there they failed nick pivetta and he's gone so you think six style will thank him in his hall of fame speech say i'd like to thank matt klintak for trading me and giving me that fuel to, you know, to outdo Pedro Martinez and to finally, you know,

take my place alongside him as the greater of the two, a two-time Marlins World Series winning, six-time Cy Young Award winner, Sixto Sanchez. Would you redo the trade? Yeah, oh, in a second. Is that like in a heartbeat in a in a millisecond i couldn't drive jt to florida quick enough no no offense jt it in a second he can i will give him a ride i will take jt in my mini cooper he can hop on in it might be a bit of a cramp ride but

we'll drive all the way down to florida if i could 6-0 back with me. Do you know what you'd talk about? With JT, I don't think we're... I don't think we'd have a lot to talk about. You don't think so? I don't think JT and I have too much in common. You think he's quiet? Just talk baseball. I'll just ask baseball questions. Yeah, well, it seems we could talk about that. But, yeah. I mean,

I wonder if Klintzak... Well, we're not sure he watched the game yesterday, but I wonder if, I wonder if, uh, Klintzak, well, we're not sure he watched the game yesterday, but I wonder if he was watching the game, if he like had a, uh, bed sheet over his eyes, like scared, just seeing what Sixto, seeing what Sixto was doing. I mean, Sixto, Sixto is, is just another, another level. He's like, he's not what most rookie pitchers i would say no it's like it's like immediate it's one of those things where like you know when you could just just immediately tell

someone has it or not like it is immediate with six so you're like oh oh he's different i get it and i didn't even think he had his A stuff. No, it might have been his worst start since coming up. Super. Super. It's great. I mean, honestly, so we entered into the series, obviously hopeful. They wouldn't completely bleed the bed but um it ended up being so much

worse and because not only did they what a classic phillies thing right there not only not only did they lose they look lifeless and half of teams hurt and it's just like wow nine to ten to ten and eleven ten of eleven and now it's they've lost seven of eleven since then i think uh i think that's correct yeah yeah yeah yeah and now hoskins is on the the io yeah let's get into those real quick so hoskin the jt it looks like his day-to-day with the hip thing um hopefully he'll be back soon. That's obviously huge. Now, did he get the hip injury driving in your Mini Cooper down to Florida? It certainly wouldn't help the hip injury.

I'll tell you that much, Jack. He's a big guy. He's a big guy. Yeah, I don't think it would be a great ride for him. But I'm great company, so I think he'd enjoy himself. He would come out of that ride and be like think you know he'd enjoy himself he he would he would come out of that rhyme really you know what i like that guy um but uh um i got so excited with that i lost my point no uh reese hoskins um forearm injury uh obviously you're slightly less worried when you

see a forearm injury for a first baseman than if it were, I don't know, your starting pitcher or something. But not ideal. On the 10-day injured list, Girardi wouldn't rule him out for the season or anything like that. But, I mean, sure, just take the guy who's been the best hitter on the team for the last month and sit him down. That's great. Awesome. Well, at least we can stop with the whole

do you still believe in reese conversation do you remember like like the conversation around reese is like he's oh it got dark i mean it was like there's don brown there's tommy joseph well look he was really bad and i it was way too far but he was really bad for a while but yes it got it got dark yeah it was definitely not good but hey you know um i'm i i am glad reese is back you know because like there's just a special guy we always talked about that i know and it's just a special connection when it's a home homegrown guy like you just it just feels cool um yeah we haven't gotten many of those yeah and yeah i mean that's's why I like BOM. I mean, just BOM. Yeah.

We should just talk about it. We really should have just spent this whole podcast talking about Alec BOM, and it would be a much happier, positive podcast. Should we rename the podcast, like, BOM Hopes or something like that? I mean, it's all on his shoulders. He literally, he's been unjinxable. You know, I thought I could jinx anyone, but he's so good that he's even outlasted that. It's just you don't see that kind of resolve for most athletes.

Oh, few can withstand Fritz jinx. I mean, Nick Pavetta is going to flourish in Boston as a result of getting away from it. I know. I hate that. I mean, it really did. You're right. See, that's the important thing.

When I think about Alec Boehm, I think about for a 24-year-old to be doing what he's doing with his first taste in the majors and to do it so confidently and um and and passing the eye test so clearly and and just to so clearly be such a savant as a hitter and to do it in the clutches of situation and to be on flat ball but but i should have really thought the biggest point of it all is he has withstood you which is far more impressive than anything else he has done as a 24-year-old in Major League Baseball. That's how you know a player's special.

I mean, that's how you know. So I've been squatting on this for a couple. Oh, buddy, it's always a good leader when you do that. I mean, he's the best offensive player on the team, and I don't care if Harper's hot. I don't care if Real Amito's hot. I don't care if Hoskins is hot. I would care if real amito's hot i don't care if oscar's hot i would take alec boom over every single one of them i i would for for this year

next year next 10 years give me boom give me boom he is he is my kind of hitter doesn't well i i think he's definitely the best pure hitter of the group i don't think there's any question already he's just it's just uh it's it's legitimate pop to right field doesn't strike out like just consistently barrels of the baseball and again some guys just have it in the clutch and some guys don't he has it jc doesn't like like it's just i always think he's going to come through and i think pitchers hate pitching to him because he doesn't really have a weakness besides like really hard in like he has like a little hole in the top right of his swing um but that's just a hard spot to consistently hit um he is so good and actually i know i put high hopes on a lot of players and they never live up to it i feel like i downplayed how good alec bohm was and i know i threw out rindone comparisons and and i said 280 to 325 30 home run guy I might have downplayed it like I

like I don't I don't think I gave Alec Bone the proper level so you're saying hall of fame Jack is what you're trying I don't I don't know just say it I actually don't think he'll be a hall of fame no I'm kidding he seems like he seems like a guy that's just gonna be good for like 15 years yeah look I think he's gonna I mean he's the type of player legitimately it feels like you could No, I'm kidding. He seems like a guy that's just going to be good for like 15 years. Yeah. Look, I think he's going to – I mean, he's the type of player legitimately it feels like he could threaten for a batting title. Like he feels like that type of player. Or, you know, who can be a top 10 MVP type guy, you know,

just on his battle alone. The defense is so bad. That's why I'm not saying an MVP winning type guy. But here's the thing with his defense is that it's gotten slowly better. And with how hard he works, I think he could become at least serviceable there. I don't know if it's ever going to – it's never going to be – you're never going to feel great, right? He's just too big.

It just is – it just looks awkward. It does. It looks like it's awkward for him. It does. looks awkward you know it looks like it's awkward for him you know it does but i'll just again i'll i'll bet on the work ethic to kind of kind of at least make him serviceable it has i don't know physically he'll be able to really do it but it's possible and maybe not and maybe not for like you know 10 years like maybe it's like a two or three year thing but you know one of the things that we kind of built this podcast on and always dreamed on was like playoff nola and how it's it's

all we thought about was like getting play uh aaron nolan a playoff start and believe it or not still want that to happen because i i still think he's gonna be a monster in the playoffs i mean it's a shame that we're not really gonna be able to talk about his almost no hitter on what is it saturday i know i i what i will say is shout out to aaron nola who when asked about his first career quote-unquote complete game said that he was not counting it because it was seven innings correct answer aaron well done sir appreciate you for that now i don't disagree i don't disagree but how can it be called how can it be in the book as a complete game but doesn't count as like a no hitter well no wait it does count as no hitter no no no it doesn't no way really no it does not it does not they talked about in the broadcast they were like oh i thought

it did i didn't realize and no it should it should count i mean it should everyone should know it was a seven eight no hitter and like we understand that but like it should count as no if it's a full game what the hell is that like literally would not have counted even if you threw a no hitter it technically would not have counted as a no hitter but we've talked about playoff nola and how we think that when he gets there he just seems like a guy that is so calm all the time like we just see him shoving in in a playoff scenario rally towels going citizens bank park going crazy and there's aaron nola on his like seventh inning and he's into the seventh and he's facing like the eight hole hitter and throws a two seamer on the outside corner freezes

and goes to the dugout big rally by the phils they go on a run right like we both have that vision when waking up in the middle of the night right sure that's like i can't wait for playoff alec bone like he he's so in like, he just, he just seems like he's gonna get that back breaking hit every single time, you know? And by the end, the,

the, the opposing team fans are going to be like tweeting all salty and calling sports radio stations. Like, Oh, we can't get Alec Boehm out. Like figure it out. He's a Philly.

He's a, he's a blank team killer. You know, you know, it's about freaking time. We get one of Baum out. Like, figure it out. He's a blank team killer, you know? You know, it's about freaking time we get one of those guys. He's gonna be our Freddie Freeman. You know, let me have a Freddie Freeman. I love that thing. Let me have a Freddie freaking Freeman for once. Freddie Freeman's so good,

man. Freddie Freeman's so good. Oh, and he's, like, such a good dude, too. It makes it even worse. He just seems like a good guy. It's just, ah, what a monster that guy is. Just such a good dude, too. It makes it even worse. He just seems like a good guy. What a monster that guy is. Just such a good hitter. I feel like we never get him out, ever. I know we do, but I feel like we never get him out.

Even when they get him out, it's like he just missed a 450-foot home run. He's the worst. He's the best, but he's the worst. He's like a 6'4 Utley, man. What is this? What is Freddie Freeman? I like this. Can we have our own Freddie Freeman, please?

I mean, we had to go through Rendon and Freeman. I mean, Freeman's been here since, what, 06? I mean, Freeman's been on the brace. Yeah, and we're going to have Soto here for a long time. We're going to have a few here for a long time. Can we have our guy? Can we just have one? Could we? Please. Yeah. a long time we're gonna be here for a long time can we have our guy can we just have one please

yeah yeah um the reese thing though like in terms of just like the i mean hopefully we get jt back we can't speculate too much and also we'll get to howard in a sec but the reese thing like i don't know it just feels like that's a a pretty damn big loss for me right now for this team. Oh, I mean, he's been there. He's been their guy. Like, he's been like, it's, I just, we've been so excited about this offense, and that's a killer. What do you think of a dispenser Howard injury? There is absolutely no reason I think we're going to see him again this season.

I would think you would agree. Are you like me where you're far more worried about next season at this point than just the rest of this season? Give me one more loss like today, and I'll be begging for Spencer to get back out there. I'll be saying. No, I mean with the shoulder sickness. I know.

This is a scary one, man. I'm not. I'm not. Take what I say with a grain of salt. It's just that i really hate watching vince velasquez i know man like if my if if you're telling me it's it's vince or like maybe a left-handed spencer howard i'll take left-handed spence like seriously like can we have a new can we have a new high hopes rule uh that i'm just springing on you now well please not taking this

team seriously till vince alaska is no longer is given a key card or like in a building dude i think that's a fair fair rule i get like like if you could all right if you could choose like all right no longer allowed to physically walk through the building clint i don't need to hear anyone else it's clintac it's clintac it's clintac it's clintac it's clintac. It's Klentac. It's Klentac. It's Klentac. It's Klentac. It's Klentac. How about this? I would sign Vinny to a five-year extension if it meant Klentac was gone.

No. No. No. Nope. Nope. No. Whatever. Yep.

Whatever it takes. No. No, no, no, no. Get out the door, Matt. No. Get out the door, Matt. I honestly, I thought about not. not i might just maybe i'll just know i won't watch velasquez starts anymore i just i i will literally i'll i'll tune in when

they're down for nothing like i'll i'd rather watch the bullpen i swear i'd rather watch the bullpen i don't know if i mean that i don't know if i mean that i don't think a sentence that has never meaningfully been said by any phillies fan ever i'd rather watch the bullpen than anyone jack uh i'd rather watch the eagles offensive well it's funny because you and i tweeted very similar things at the same time but it did feel like at watching that eagles game fall apart yesterday it was like anyone who's been watching the phillies all season is like yep i know this this feels super familiar like it's just like yep dude that's why i like wasn't that mad about the eagles me too jack honestly like i should have been so much more mad but i literally

was like i know this i know this i watch this every night like i honestly i felt bad for the people that like only watch the eagles because like i experienced that on three times a week i mean the game on thursday was basically what that what the the eagles the washington game was and that was like and we've had like six of those this season dude whatever i just um all right i don't have too much more i'm sure you got some note back so but i don't really have too much more to say they got the mets coming to town then toronto after that i mean look it's they're they're like we talk last time we talked we're like oh they're definitely a playoff team they're definitely because it really felt like they were definitely a playoff team well guess what right now they're like, we talked last time we talked, we're like, Oh, they're definitely a playoff team. They're definitely a playoff team. Cause it really felt like they were definitely a playoff team.

Well, guess what? Right now they're not definitely a playoff team anymore. Like they have to, they have to secure it. Like they have to, like they're a playoff team as of this exact moment, but it's not as comfortable as it was before. Like they need to win games and they had the Mets. They got Toronto. Toronto is a good baseball team.

They're going to be a playoff team this year. Like, the Mets are still the Mets who still give the Phillies trouble. I don't know. Where are you at? Where are you at? Well, it's hard, you know. It's hard to fully buy in on a playoff talk because you're so banged up. I mean, if no more Howard, you're banking on, I mean,

the whole Wheeler thing is just insane. Oh, my God, dude. Can we hire someone to put his pants on for him? Can we add that to make it $120 million instead of $118 million and give someone $2 million to be his pant-putter on her? What are we doing, Jack? Well, all I got to say is is this you can take the player out of the mets but he can't take the mets out of the player well the mets just got sold to steve cohen

so i'm nervous that might change right i am so i i try not to think about steven cohen like no no i know like billionaires, they've been billionaires for a reason. They don't lose money. I think this whole idea that he's going to come in and just buy the whole league and luxury tax be damned is not really going to happen. But I've also watched four seasons

of Billions, and he's based off a guy from Billions, so that terrifies me a lot. And also, look, he's a Mets he's gonna be competitive he's gonna want to win and oh by the way he immediately becomes the richest owner in major league baseball like he does have more disposable income than anybody else in the league literally literally anybody else in the league so oh you know and it's the new york mets like look if nothing else they're not gonna be worse than the wpons who've run them like a budget store for the last 20 years.

Like, this is empirically any way you want to slice it, not a good thing for Philly Smith. Did he also wrestle at the Haverford School and, you know, want to get his bleeping trophy back or die trying? I mean, it literally sounds like you just described. I actually believe he is a potted plant in the corner. Yes. Oh, no, he's not. No. Okay my bad no no but he's a that's the same bs we were told about cigar man you know like oh he bleeds philly he's just like us he's just like us this guy has uh like uh eight billion or nine billion more than than Cigar Man. So $10 billion more.

I mean, come on. Well, Cigar Man. He could buy and sell Cigar Man three times over. Well, Cigar Man better pay JT. Or else this whole thing is going to... Ah, Jack! Jack, if JT walks and they traded Sixto and JT walks like, man, buddy, buddy, buddy.

This is not meant to be taken with a grain of salt. This is the God's honest truth. It would be the equivalent or worse than letting Reggie White leave. Like, it would be. How about not even offering him a contract because that's what they did with Reggie White? Well, let's not do that again. But, I mean, not only, you don't have to lose a future Hall of Famer just to move on from Reggie White. Like, to lose JT, the best catcher in baseball, who is finally starting to hit the ball again,

coupled with Sixto Sanchez, who, again, is a generational talent. It could realistically be the best pitcher in baseball for the next 10 years. Yeah. Again, his ceiling is

high-level Hall of Famer. Inner Circle Hall of Famer like again like his ceiling is high level hall of famer like inner circle hall of famer that's his ceiling like i mean just reality imagine how much fun we'd be having a six that was still here oh dude i i can't do it i've already thought about it especially like when you and and look again i'm not the shoulder worries me but like i'm not worried about spencer not looking as good as we hoped he would this year because you know he's young and it takes you know see it we've talked about on this pod like many many many many many guys come up and struggle and then figure it out but like when you look at what's happening with six dough and then compare it to howard it really does just add like another little twist at the knife at the end

there that, um, yeah, it's not fun. And I was thinking about this week, like I was going back and thinking about the trade, like how did they get so strong armed into having to put six though in the deal?

Like who was trading for JT Romito in March? That was like, that was going to beat an offer of Spencer Howard and Horry Alfaro. Yeah. Matt Klintak. Yeah, he's so, whatever, he's so dumb. He's just so bad. The only thing he's good at is knowing if players have a market

in free agency or not, and then being able to sign them to pretty good deals. That's pretty much all he's good at. able to sign them to pretty good deals like that's pretty much all he's good at but like i don't understand how like six though had to be in the deal i don't i don't like no one was making the trade no one no one was trading for jt last year those talks were pretty much dead and then the phillies swooped in and if you were bidding you're bidding against yourself you could have just said okay spencer howard and alfaro go out there and beat it and when you can't come back to the table oh buddy it's just uh things are great that's great man what do you got in your note bag

uh i'm tired i'm tired of talking about the phillies jack that's where i don't know if i don't know if anyone wants to hear this stuff but i have a lot of it um right i hate on me buddy i hate garrett cooper i think i have an irrational hatred for garrett cooper it's not that he killed them this weekend it's like he's such a goober and he complains about every single pitch it's like a ball will be goober, and he complains about every single pitch. It's like a ball will be down the middle, and he'll, like, look back at the umpire and be like, oh, where was that blue? You know, Garrett Cooper, like, first off, you suck.

And I just have an irrational hatred for him. He's a stone-cold goober. Pedro Martinez, I have no more. like you wait no i thought we were gonna no i no longer recognize him as a member of the 2009 phillies after his tweet yesterday hideki matsui still loans him um but whatever um but who would you rather who would you rather make a start blake parker or vince velasquez oh blake parker i mean it's a it's not a question not it's not a question he's locked he's straight up locked down he's not blake parker just gets out started started the year on uh sunday sure

um oh there's two cycle chances over the weekend and i just i know i thought about you during both especially kutch would have been such a fun one yeah to have in the record books forever but i know so for those who don't know uh is it fair to say like your number one irrational thing that you hate in phillydom is that david bell is the last philly with the psycho like because there's no reason to really hate it as much as you do but like it actually bothers you i hated david i hated hated david bell david bell was so bad he looked angry that he had to put on a uniform every single night. The guy was a stone cold loser. And the fact that he is the last filly to hit for the cycle, which happened in 2004,

it's like they want to keep it alive just to drive me nuts. I want David Bell's name eradicated from the record books. I don't even want to remember the David Bell era. He was the worst. And the fact that like his little footprint, he was here for like two years is still attached to this organization is so annoying. Just can someone hit for the freaking cycle?

Like, the only thing that would have been worse than David freaking Bell leading the last Philly to hit for the cycle is if, like, Wes Helms was the last Philly to hit for the cycle. My two least favorite Phillies, by far, they both sucked, and can just someone hit for the cycle. I can't take it anymore. Yeah, okay. Irrational.

I like it. Yeah, it's the worst. Siri agreed with it. It's like, I'm mad about this too. Should be. Ronald Torres is the first philly to wear number 74 since oh man no idea ugier pina did he wear 74 wow yeah all right sure cool i like that that's good stuff um is there any chance that this hip injury...

You're really fulfilling the prophecy where you said no one wants to hear these. You're really bringing that home. Is there any chance of this little hip injury and maybe the injury at the end of last year getting JT for cheaper? No. No? No. Okay. I hate using Hctor narris today you know you what you have 11 games in eight days and we're using yeah i mean you're already like seriously like

i feel like i've seen i don't know if this is true or not but i feel like i've seen a combination of Workman, Hunter, Maris, Embry. I feel like I only see the same guys. Yeah, every single night. Every single night. And I hate all of them. It's like it is a form of torture. Every night. He's frigging Embry on my TV every night.

And I'm like, this effing guy. And I know exactly what the hell he's gonna do every time i see him yeah yeah jack same guy every night oh man every night it's one of those guys and my final thing connor brockton now is it 97 with it with the change up i i envision our next Madsen. I'm shocked Klintak didn't trade him away, too. Seaball could be upstarting for this team if they didn't trade him. In all seriousness. I'd love to see Addison Russ in this bullpen, too.

In all seriousness. Klintak sucks, man. That guy sucks. He sucks at his job. He sucks so hard. And we're the ones that have to freaking pay the... Damn it, man. Anyway.

You got anything else? As always, there's some high hops. High hops sounds like a very ridiculous name right now, doesn't it? High Hopes sounds like a very ridiculous name right now, doesn't it? High Hopes is available to watch the remainder of these games of the seven-seed Philadelphia Phillies. You're going to need it. You're going to need it. That's the official slogan of it, actually.

High Hopes. High Hopes, the official beer of the High Hopes podcast. You're going to need it. I thought you were saying the official High hi hobs the official beer of the seventh place philadelphia million oh dude you know what i can't wait for the the post-season press conference where mcphail says this is the quickest turnaround in major league baseball history oh god i hate those guys, Jack. I hate them. Oh, man.

I think this is my favorite podcast episode by you. I think this is your best performance. Yeah, you think so? It's my best work? Yeah. I'm happy I could make it. At least I made someone happy tonight, Jack. You just laughed to stop yourself from crying. That's exactly where I'm at, man.

You got anything else no sorry the the the take mail bag is is done on connor brogdon i think it was uh a good decision to end it uh all right in all seriousness um i i will say that i love the Hops listeners. Yeah, let's get serious. And I appreciate them. And I appreciate them being here with us through this when Matt Klintak and the people in charge don't make it easy. So thank you for that. You know, I feel like, you know, i don't often make fun of your age but um

i just can envision yet is this done yet i can't you just envision james like sitting on a porch in a rocking chair like doing glen tack glen tack again damn it oh fun times he's Fritz I'm Seltzer we'll see you later