High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Worried About Andrew Painter or No Big Deal?

Episode Date: March 12, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz talk Andrew Painter, the WBC, Jack Fritz at 6, 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

This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Here is another edition of the IOS Podcast. You might be wondering, that was a pretty big yo. I mean, borderline playoff yo. You know, not a World Series yo, but a legit yo. Why? Nothing's really going on.

World Baseball Classic, we'll get to that, because I'm in the minority, just don't care that much. We'll'll get into the whole thing a lot of stuff going on the noah song thing jack predicted all that but let me tell you why the yo is that big because it's a celebration today on the high hopes podcast for our guy mr jack fritz at six, baby. Woo! And more importantly. Oh, buddy, that's so cool, man. For those who don't pay attention to WIP news, if you're just a high hopes person, trust me,

we freaking love you for that. We want you to listen to WIP too, but as long as you're here, you're ours. We love you. But if you don't pay attention, big time. Art, dude, I'm so excited. Jack Fritz will be on the air every day from six to seven it'll be philly's pre-game philly's post by the way which you will love because we're going to be putting that right in this feed every night after the game when jack does it so you have high

hopes related content after every game but jack dude like i'm like getting a little emotional like you're like my you're my little brother you're my little brother. You're my, like, I only have like one, like, it's such a weird term, but like protege or like person in this business who like, is like my guy. I'm so proud of you, man. I'm so excited for you. This is freaking awesome. Like you mazel man. It's well-deserved dude. So I totally forgot. Uh, you're like, what the hell's going on right now i was like i was like i was like wow that isn't a really aggressive yo um and uh worth it worth it worth it so um first off thanks buddy uh second off wouldn't be here without you third off third off is is yeah i am i'm really, really pumped to do – I can kind of do nerdy Phillies talk on WIP. Yeah, buddy.

I know some people are going to be like, oh, that's whatever. But Phillies pregame is going to be awesome. And I've already had visions of – it's like a big game in June or July, and people are traveling down to the ballpark and they're getting ready for it. Oh, God, I love this. And I'm there like, I'm going to be ready for it too.

I'll be living and dying with it as well. And then really, actually, I'm pumped for postgame. You know, being able to react every night to, you know, whatever's happening in the game. You know, trying to give people my thoughts on what happened and and i'm glad that it's gonna go on the feed me too honestly i think that's a really neat part of this you know i guess we'll give ellie credit for that idea yeah hey you know what he doesn't have that many this was that was a really good one from elliot credit elliot you. Why not throw that stuff in the feed?

Big content guy. Also, it's always like you can listen to it if you want. You don't have to. So more content, it's your choice if you want to listen. But I don't know why you wouldn't want to listen to Jack Post's game. I will. So then, yeah, and then Jack Frith at 6. Howard every Tuesday and Thursday.

Going to finally educate the king on baseball. So looking forward to that. Oh, thursday gonna finally educate the king on on baseball um so uh you know looking forward to that and oh my god you and the king that's gonna be i mean you two off the air is something can only imagine once the mics turn on because it's gonna be the exact same thing which would be yeah yeah so uh yeah howard's the king of say something to you off the air that he probably shouldn't say on the air you turn the mics on he says the exact same thing that he just said to you off the air so it'll be't say on the air. You turn the mics on. He says the exact same thing that he just said to you off the air. So it'll be good. And he likes to do this whole thing about how I don't know baseball.

So now we're going to have those conversations on the air. So, yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun. A lot of, I mean, man, a lot of Philly stuff. A lot of Philly stuff. So the brand remains strong. And listen, heading into a year with World Series aspirations and every single time I watch Trey Turner, I'm like, wow, he's a Philly now. I was watching him last night at the game.

And it's like, oh, he's our guy. He's our guy now. Same. So same. I just had this conversation with somebody yesterday. He's not a Philly's fan, but he's a blue Jays fan. And I was like, yeah,

man, I got to tell you, I'm just, I don't remember the last time I was this excited to watch a new player with the Phillies on a, you know, watching 155, 160,

whatever it is, games a year. Like I, I don't remember being this excited for guy. And he's like, oh yeah. He's like, I forgot you guys signed Trey Turner.

I'm like, yeah, we signed Trey fricking Turner. I know. I know. And, and it's like, oh, yeah. He's like, I forgot you guys signed Trey Turner. I'm like, yeah, we signed Trey freaking Turner. I know. I know. And it's like everyone last night was on the broadcast. And by the way, like, I still have a little bit of, you know, I don't like hearing Joe Davis.

I'm just saying. Like, I appreciate the calls. I know. Everyone's, like, freaking out about a Schwarm bomb in a big spot. Oh, my God. It's like, I just. I don't need this, guys. I don't need this.

I don't care about that. It was nice. come on i'm sorry i mean hitting a home run off of one of those great britain pitchers last year it was so funny too because you could tell that they had just left spring training where everyone's throwing 95 to 100 yeah and then they show up in great britain throwing 86 like they're basically facing Jack Fritz out there. And it's like, holy cow. So honestly, last night validated for me that I could get outs in the big leagues. That's what that should have taken away from you. As long as they went from facing 100 to 82,

like that Cooper guy that came in late, it was like, I could do that. Trout was in late it was like i could do that i mean trout was trout was in a corner man we found the the kryptonite to mike trout man 86 miles an hour bad pitching is the good yeah the best pitchers in the world no chance but yeah was it pettibone that struck him out i'm trying to remember like i think it was that sounds super familiar to me it sounds really familiar to me yeah um so yeah it's uh yeah it's it's trey turners phil and kyle schwarber like it's maybe maybe maybe we almost underrated kyle schwarber because like listening to the broadcast and like they were like nl home run king and i was like wow he's batting four that seems like really high for sure where he's batting in front of shrey turner and then i'm like you know what i mean he was the nl home run

king and and and then hit like eight in the playoffs or whatever it was too on top of that like no big deal i think carapace tweeted this out so he has a world i saw it i saw it i mean it's just like how many big home runs does this guy hit i mean it's it's all the time lcs alds this that like world series yeah it was world series World Series, World Baseball Classic, ALDS, ALCS, NLCS, ALDS, NLDS. Both wild cards. He's going to home run everywhere. And he's a Phil. So, yeah, the expectations are high.

I don't think there's any reason why they shouldn't be high. And I just, it's going to be and i just it's it's gonna be it's gonna be awesome and it's so i said this on the air the other day um because it kind of and i feel like i feel like i've linked a lot of things back to the eagles and i and i i'm sorry very strange very strange headspace you're in right now i know but i find it interesting that like the eagles it feels like they're setting everyone up for a step back here and like they're not going to sign some people they might trade slay and meanwhile it's like how it's like the traffic traffic traffic the phillies are like we're going we're going we're going so uh i i can't i

can't wait honestly to see what the ballpark's like in in in may june july as this thing kind of ramps up and and hopefully they come out hot hopefully the harper thing doesn't crush them um and they just get on a roll and that ballpark is back to like 08 to 11 where it's just like a party every night well it's the most important start to a season i can remember like it's obviously the most hyped start to a season since 2012 that's you know clear we all know that but you know i think most hyped start to a season since 2012. That's clear. We all know that. But, you know, I think I don't remember a season as important for a hot start from a from a fan perspective, from a people showing up perspective.

I mean, they have such a chance right now coming off that experience we all had last year where if they can start hot, like they could sell out the majority games this year. You know what I mean? It could be like back to old school Citizens Bank Park. If they just start hot, like people will be in on this team. And then Harper comes back and then they roll. Like they have such a chance in front of them quickly just to put a bow on it one more time.

Jack Fritz at six. The post game, it's going to be in here. It's awesome. I would also like to give you credit because like, you know, for those who don't know, I did Phillies today for a while. I will not be doing it anymore. I, you know, my Phillies gig is talking to myself for 24 minutes every day where literally you have to, like, there are, like,

10 people who found the pod. You're doing it on WIP. So really awesome, man. Thank you. I'm, like, so freaking psyched for you. And I'm psyched for the pod because we're going to have awesome content in here, more content for you guys and all that. All right, back to the Phillies um now we'll talk facebook um i really it is it is a really exciting season from that perspective because we all know that it's the

the hype for the team and like you talked about the most exciting part for me has been feeling the hype from the guys you know to your point everyone i mean you just did it the guys the interview you guys did with Harper, amazing interview. P1 WIP listener, Bryce Harper, interviewed by the afternoon show down in Florida. And like, you can hear it in his voice, the way he talks about the team, the way he talks when he's like talking about, he's like, I'm so happy we got Trey Turner and the bullpen. He's like, I'll be honest. He's like, I'm happy we got Dombrowski.

Like that dude comes in and makes moves. And, you know, I think there's just a feeling. And I think Dombrowski and what they did last season has instilled something in this team that we haven't felt here in a long time like a confidence a belief like this team even without Bryce Harper even knowing they're not gonna have Harper for half the season or or less or whatever hopefully we'll see what that that plays out we'll talk about his comments about it but you know it really does feel like yes there is hype around the team but this team is hype like they believe they feel like they're going into

this season going to win the world series like we talked about before but the two more wins thing like you know me that's like like catnip to me i hear that i'm like oh my god we got a rallying cry we got a motivation thing happening here like i i've seen jack exactly exactly what i've wanted to see from this group from a vibes comments attitude perspective coming off last season yeah and being down there just continue to to reaffirm my belief and by the way i'm excited listen you can be excited for me all you want but you finally get into clear water in your mid-50s coming up like is i mean you're you're almost you're getting closer to ironman so i know i had to get there before i died thankfully i'm making it just in time probably yeah yeah so uh you finally going to clear water is going to be big um yeah so uh

yeah that's going to be that's like so early in the morning but regardless um that's just my life now jack you're gonna say that about any situation i'm in yeah i mean this this is what like really noon for you like yes this is nothing i woke up i woke up at like four o'clock this morning without alarm went back to bed got up at like seven was originally planning to sleep till eight because we were recording night there I'm gonna sleep till eight I woke up at seven I couldn't get back to bed like it's just my life now yep yeah yeah I'm sure um but yeah so you're doing that you're going down there it's hilarious but um so the the everyone talking down there and then every we did, we had like Marsh.

We had Scott. We had Bryce, obviously. Boa was on with you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thompson. Like it was cool. But they all – it's so funny because it's a perfect mix to me of last year's freaking cool. I love these guys.

And we got work to do. Like it's all three of that mix into one um and i just think it's i think it's a really good spot to be in and you know we talk about dobrowski and we talk about the moves he's made and what makes him a hall of fame caliber gm the most important and and you know, differating thing, obviously him and Klintzak are like the exact opposite, but the fact that he cared about how the locker room dynamics work. And that's why we've talked about Schwarber being so important and bringing guys that are going to talk to each other.

Like Josh Harrison. Well, Dombrowski said it when he brought Schwarber in and he said it right after he's like, he's the best clubhouse guy I've ever been around. Like that's Dave Dombrowski said that that dude's been around a lot of dudes, you know? Oh yeah.

Dalton. Let me trade for Dutch. And it's honestly just like when he traded for Dutch in 97. Yeah. So like, it's, it's, it's how they have built this team.

And, and I think another important point is remember when Bryce, you know, he was established in the league and even here a little bit. And he would say, like, I want these young kids to come up and feel like one of us, not like the rookie hazing stuff. Like, sure, you can do a little joke and things about Halloween costumes. not like the rookie hazing stuff. Like, sure, you can do little joking things about Halloween costumes, but, you know, making them feel like a part of the team was something that was very important to Bryce because he came up at a young age and he had Papelbon

and he had like these older school guys that didn't like his flair or didn't like him trying to have fun. And you just listen to Stott and you listen to Marsh and you listen to the other young kids and they were like yeah well and like they talk about mayton last year and like him allowing you just like how like a wolf you know like just being nick mayton there's like just be nick mayton like whatever that is be that and i do think rob thompson also um gets a lot of credit for for that totally of course he's old school like it we saw from the

jump right the moment he got here the philly state care thing was like a thing like that well like that dude well that and like yeah i'm gonna talk to the players was a crazy revelation yeah oh and i'm gonna give these kids chances you can't grow at the major league level unless you're out there playing like all that stuff man yeah. And again, being like five feet from him, I was like, I can see why people love to play for this guy. Like the perfect mix of joking and like having, you know, being light hearted, but also just like locked in.

His answer, I thought, I don't know if you heard it, but his answer on the game six decision i thought was fascinating me too um and definitely relevant question to still be asked i must be asked honestly if you're like it is what it is it's the most important decision in since 1993 in philly's history yeah i would say it's maybe still still relevant to ask the manager oh yeah yeah i would say that um some. Some people would disagree with that. Maybe someone that would cover the Eagles, maybe would disagree with that.

I literally felt, I was like taking crazy pills in a text thread. I'm like, I was jackal. I was like apoplectic. I'm like, what are you talking about? I'm like, how do you not, what is happening right now? Obviously no one knows this besides us,

but Elliot didn't think it was a relevant question. It's like he's already been asked about it. I'm like, are you crazy right now? This is the biggest thing that's happened to the team in forever. They lost the World Series, man. But yeah, his answer was just like, you know, it was honest. It was like, yeah, I thought about it a lot. Of course I thought about it.

But he also was like, i thought about it a lot of course i thought but it was but he also was like i would do it again and i whether you agree with it or disagree with it i disagree with it um but i i would rather my manager have the conviction of i went through everything i usually do that was my process um was first third one out it was a lefty on lefty matchup um we needed to strike out in that spot because i felt like if we tied it up or if they tied it up then we were going to lose i thought it was really like it was really inside the head of rob thompson that i thought was interesting but um i guess my counter would be like i'm pretty sure you're done had better splits against lefties not pretty sure he absolutely did definitively regardless other counter would be but yeah you saw alvarado pitch in the world series right like you had eyes right pal by the way uh i'm ashamed and and sad to admit that i i have

seen a highlight of the yord on home run since last oh you have yes oh so i'm not the only time i saw it and we talked around here the only time i saw it and i'm still as great as the video yearbook was, and I really appreciate them. Like, having the homer in there was, I think, a bad call. Like, you can mention that it happened. I don't need to see it. I don't need to hear the call of it.

Like, it's the only time I've seen it since. It's the only time I will see it. It's the only time I've seen it. Like, unless, like, unavoidable, right? Like a montage package, and you, like, turn away quickly. But, yeah. In my defense, in my defense, it snuck up on me. I was watching the Phillies highlights of the run last year, like a hype video.

And all of a sudden, at the end, it was like, bang. I was like, oh, come on, man. What are you doing? I got one quick take on the Jordan home run. Oh, great. That's exactly what we want right now, a Jordan take. Yes. And it's a big one. Hey, here's, you want my take on it? home run. Oh, great. That's exactly what we want right now. Jordan take. Yes. And it's a big one.

Hey, here's – you want my take on it? He hit it really far. There's my take. That was a mammoth home run. That's my take. Yeah. So my take is that ball of smoke, man. I know.

That ball was absolutely – like, it was one of the most destroyed home runs. It was such a bomb. It was, there are some where you're like, Oh, that's probably a home run. There are some where you're like, Oh,

that's home run. And there are some off the bat where you're like, I would bet my life, my daughter's life, my wife's life, everything I own that's home run. It was one of those ones. Well,

I think, and I think if I remember in the moment in my sick and twisted brain, I was like, I think it's off the end of the bat. Like it could be off the end like maybe it's a bad camera angle it's so funny because i that was when you so we've talked about this on the pod before but for maybe if you weren't here for that or didn't hear it like when when the chas mccormick catch happened in that moment and then right after the game i was with jack when they happened in both times chas made the catch and jack turned to me and said we just lost the world, and then right after the game, I was with Jack when they happened, and both times, Chaz made the catch, and Jack turned to me and said,

we just lost the World Series. And then when the game ended, he turned to me and said, the World Series is over. We've lost. And I wasn't there yet. He was right, and I wasn't. But I went into game six with a lot of work. You kind of got there by the time the game started,

but you knew in your heart. You knew it was over, and you kept saying that to me. In that moment, you knew. The Jordan moment, when he hit that ball, I was like, oh, that moment you knew like the jordan moment when he hit that ball i was like okay i was like jack is right i was like now now it's over this this we're not coming back i don't believe we're coming back like it's over it ended right now i'm done you know well i think it was also that i didn't know what wheeler they were getting and i think i started believing way more when yeah when wheeler looked great yep yep yep you

did so like 97. Yeah. We were texting, but, but you knew after game five, you were like, yeah, I think that's it.

Well, the magic ran out on that catch in the Mancini, but we don't need to, we don't need to, we, it's a new year. Yeah. This is way too much.

Just like in the video yearbook, when they made the mistake of Homer, the showing them where they very quickly cut to, but Trey Turner's here now. Like the, whatever you get down, like whatever you get down, just remember. showing them where they very quickly cut to, but Trey Turner's here now. Trey Turner's a fill. Whenever you get down, like whatever you get down, just remember,

Trey Turner's a fill. I did think, I usually like want them to open at home just because, you know, it's fun to have the opener at home. I'm actually happy they're opening on the road so we get to start the season with a Trey Turner bat. Like that's how ready I am. I'd rather start on the road

so Trey Turner can start off the season for us. Are we going gonna get the best opener in baseball on the season opener i don't know the best opener in baseball might be too hard to open for them right now i mean you probably give them a good four innings right i don't know man maybe yeah uh uh quick world baseball classic thought then we'll get back to the uh yes back to. Yeah, because there is Philly stuff to talk about. No, I know. I know. But you made me think of the Mets. I freaking love that Pete Alonso didn't start last night.

Oh, it's great. You know he was spewing in the dugout, like how he's not starting. He's like, oh, 50 homers on the polar bear, blah, blah, blah. See you. Love it. Yeah. Sit down.

Sit down, loser. I did have to see McNeil, though. Why don't you put your headphones on and dance around yeah home run competition no one cares about anymore loser uh yeah um it's real bit real quick and then we'll get to painter and all that stuff because we as as enjoyable as this has been we do have to talk about it um the like so here's my thing with the World Baseball Classic. It's cool seeing awesome players play baseball. Like, I'm always down with that. Like, I always am.

And I was watching last night and, you know, I just, I can't feel it. You know what I mean? Like, I can enjoy watching, you know, great pitcher versus great hitter, or wow, look at that Dominican lineup or the US lineup. Wow, it's amazing watching all these great, but like, I or wow look at that dominican lineup or the u.s lineup wow it's amazing watching all these great like i can't like i'm rooting for the usa because you know i i care about it our country but like i just can't feel it like there's no

and team is real my guy garrett stubbs shout out damn right um yeah i love the guy that's my dude um i i just can't care like i think it's because there's no history with it. There's nothing to latch on to with classic memories or anything. But I just like watching the baseball, but I can't get emotionally invested in it. Do you know what I mean? So, okay. Let me ask you this, though. Do you remember the Adam Jones catch in 17? Yes.

When I said there are no moments, I remembered that catch. But even that, it was a nice catch. But again, I wasn't emotionally invested. I wasn't like, yeah, jumping out of my seat. But I guess at the same time, if there was six World Cups in 19-whatever, I don't know if it would have the same feel as the modern-day World Cup. No, that's my point. I agree.

I think in 30 years, there could be history with this, and we care and whatever. I just am not there yet. Like, I can't feel it. So I don't disagree. You know what's funny is, like, I wish no good pitcher pitched in it. Me too, dude. Me too.

I feel so – I'm so scared. I, like, cringe every time, like, it's, like like a kind of a wonky throw or like you know it looks like they really exerted effort on a pitch every time i'm like oh my god don't come up lame don't come up lame like it's like like one of these guys is gonna and we're gonna like not see show hey ohtani pitch this season because he hurts himself in the wbc or whatever like it's gonna suck i know so i wish no good pitcher pitched and i wish every offensive player was there except for mattets good pitchers. I'm all right if those guys want to go out and shove.

Do your thing, boys. And I'm trying to think if there's a better time to do it. I was like, well, would it make more sense to do it after the World Series? But at that point, teams have been shut down for a month. And the teams that were in the playoffs aren't going to play because they just went through that run. So you're already kind of clipping those people. And then it's like, well, we put in the middle

of the season, but then it's like, but then you're stopping a season for like two weeks of a thing. Like an intramural type thing, essentially. So I understand every pitcher pitching in is terrifying. I want no Phillies pitchers pitching in it.

But I do think and they can play because hitters... Fine, but ideally, I want my Phillies players playing in games for the Phillies. That's just how I feel. The Dominican versus Venezuela thing was awesome last night. And that was awesome.

That's one of the few things each time where it's like, this is a cool rivalry. These teams are always freaking stacked. It's awesome yeah and they're really into it like they they care a lot so um i think it's i think as we go along here to your point across the board like that credit to to all these guys who go and play for these teams because like it does feel like they all really care for something that again like i don't know if fans care yet to what they might but the players really do give it their all credit to them for that again like i don't know if fans care yet to what they might but the players really do give it their all credit to them for that you know you don't always see that in in

not in exhibition or what i mean it's not exhibition technically but non you know meaningful mlb game games you know yeah so i think as we go along here you know i think i think people get more into it uh last on the world baseball classic then you know back to the phils uh shout out to my guy nick ward he was the first baseman for uh great bitten last night and uh yeah another guy i grew up don't you mean ger eight bri tain or i really like the i like the jerseys uniforms like the gr yeah they just put like a generic word art literally yeah it literally looked like they look like adult league rosters yes Yes, adult league. That's exactly it.

I was trying to get the perfect analogy for it. I was like, no, it doesn't look like minors. Oh, yeah. It looks like an adult league jersey. Yep. So Nick Ward started last night. It was cool seeing him out there. Another guy I grew up playing against, and that is doing way better.

Well, in baseball, how many of these guys are on from six to seven on WIP every day? None of them. I'll tell you that much, right? Yeah, it's funny. I saw him at our local beer store a month and a half ago, and I was like, dude, aren't you playing in the WPC? It's funny, because for those who don't know, I guess Nick Ward, because

could have been him, same level, not famous enough for you to be completely starstruck and not say a word to them like you are around any normal famous person you are around well yeah you're not mr hey yeah well i because i i know i know i'm noah you know what i mean like i you know it's just you know yeah buddies he's also really peers right you know yes yes yes equally talented peers yeah so yeah shout out to wardy good job buddy shout out to wardy shout out to just on fire westchester baseball scene right that's what we should really say i mean

just just studs upon studs upon studs these days and they're gonna be adding another one in like a couple it could be any day now you know with with you know the kiddo being born here oh yes that's true the future biggest of them all they're gonna have statues in westchester for for our guy yeah yeah yeah so uh as i always say. No pressure. But there's a lot of people who expect you to be drafted by the Phillies one day. No big deal. No big deal. What is funny, and you'll get used to this, and then Painter. But it is very funny. And again, obviously, I'm not expecting Zoe to be a professional baseball player. But it is very funny that because of this stuff right now and the radio and stuff.

So someone, I was at a brewery, and this guy came up and said, Hey, you're James Seltzer. And I was like, Yeah. And this does not happen all the time and stuff like when i like so someone uh i was at a brewery and this guy came up and said hey you team seltzer and i was like yeah and this does not happen all the time or anything like that but you'll understand why i'm saying this part he's like oh man love the show and all that and we were there as a family and he's like is this zoe and i'm like yes it is like it makes you think about how weird it is that like a bunch of people like know zoe and zoe has no idea she's a four-year-old kid who has no concept whatsoever that like like she could be with me someday and somebody like are you zoe because he has heard you know on the pod or whatever you know i mean he was a huge i hopes guy name was travis if you're listening travis you're awesome dude it's super cool to meet you

but like i it's such a unique thing and like you're gonna have this where it's like people be like oh how's how's the kid or oh this is that where it's like and your kid is just a kid who has no idea that any of this is happening it's a very unique thing so yeah uh i'm already envisioning like uh you know pitching in high school whatever like yeah i got a hit off of uh jack fritz's kid oh buddy yes extra pressure in the wip to be like, ha ha. Yeah, still hosting for it at six. All right. Let's get to it. Of course, 28 minutes feels like the maximum amount of time that we can go ignoring the Andrew Painter

thing. The Andrew Painter thing. The biggest news, like really not that much news to talk about, as we've shown by talking 28 minutes of just like what we do. But the Painter thing, we finally get some news on it. Uh, a partially torn UCL, not bad enough where, you know, it'd be immediate Tommy John. They're going to take a month.

They're going to figure it out, but it is look concerning. We won't know until he takes a month, see how the arm responds. It might be nothing or not nothing, but it might not be a big deal or it might need Tommy John surgery. Um, how you, you have been pretty consistent. Um, not that big big deal or it might need tommy john surgery um how you you have been pretty consistent um not that big a deal i'm not freaking out with me on this but then you are also very much not that big a deal not freaking out guy until you have to so where you at on this not freaking out not that big a deal no um uh so here's my thing is that I actually think it's a blessing in disguise.

Because... You've gotten yourself there. This is the most Jack Fritz responsible. Everything's fine. It's obviously... This is like a perfect world kind of thing. But he gets shut down for a month and gets through the start of the season.

In my perfect world, he's not throwing a pitch for the Phillies until mid-June. He can just... They can go five-man. Bailey Falter can be in there. Then he ramps himself back up.

He's ready to go. It's like the dog days of summer or maybe they do what they did last year with ranger and maybe they they with wheeler like skip a couple nola wheeler starts hopefully wheelers you know doesn't have to get you know on the il again um but that's when painter can kind of come up and and hopefully pitch like june to the end of the season. And that way they're not using innings early in the year to where he's at 115 in September. Now he can be at 80 or whatever heading into September,

and he's much more healthy for the stretch run. He seems in good spirits when he talked down there. He didn't make it seem like it's a big deal and i think the thing that is making me as like positive in a way is that scott boris is not letting the phillies or not letting andrew painter agree like he's not going to do that to a to a guy well that's what number one upside at the age of 19 but that's why it took so long we're like what takes it's just because boris wanted to have his guy ellatrash or whatever look at at and he's on vacation or whatever you know yeah it was i think it was on vacation first then at a work thing or whatever but it's like like we're all freaking out and i get it uh you

know i was too just like why why do we know anything gave me that hard to read an mri like boris because boris wanted his guy to see it and that's the kind of stuff to Jack's point like this is this is a 19 year old stick of solid gold to Scott Boris all right like like Andrew Painter is just as important to Scott Boris as he is to us in Philadelphia's Philadelphia fans monetarily speaking more important so to Jack's point like this is a prize prospect he is the best pitching prospect in the sport 19 years old and he's major league ready like as we've said many times in this pod this guy the 19 year old major league ready elite stuff at double a at this age guy like they don't come along that often and scott boris is going to treat him as such so so jack's exactly

right they're they were always going to be very careful with this you know boris was not gonna let them push it or anything right um and speaking of his polish real quick it's it's so fascinating like his first outing against the twins it was like the biggest takeaway was like he belongs here sure there's some hard hit balls but he belongs here and like mick abel who i think it could be really good like mick abel is one of the 30 best prospects in all baseball too and you can just see the difference in like in how unbelievable painter is and like mick abel can still get there yeah he's even a little younger too yeah top of that um mick abel he has to you know the fastball command thing is going to be the thing like if he can figure that out he could be an awesome prospect until he

figures that out we'll see um but yeah with painter it's just like i i think that the boris thing is making me feel better about it i don't think he would let the phillies um you know kind of screw around and i don't think the phillies would screw around i'm just saying i agree i i think it's yeah yeah, I agree. He wouldn't afford, he wouldn't let them just be like, you're getting back out there, buddy.

Or like you're getting surgery. I think that this was a, a collaboration. And I know that sounds weird with the agent and the team. And that's a collaboration. It has to be, I mean, that's modern sports today.

And, and, and you're right. Like he is envisioning that Andrew Pan is going to get like a 200 plus million dollar contract one day. Potential. Like he's looking at this. I mean,

Andrew Painter can make him $400 million playing baseball. You know, he could, or, you know, he could, or salaries will get to eight years down the road, like 500 million.

I don't know. Like that, that's his ceiling from a financial perspective as a player. And that's not even taking account all the other money they make off stuff. So yeah, like Scott, Andrew Painter is very important to Scott Morris.

So rather than heading into the year and being like, all right, we're going to limit his innings here. We're going to go here. We're going to kind of jump around, maybe skip a start here. In this way, he's kind of just, we'll see you in June. Or we'll see you maybe in July. And they can be very smart about this. And you hope that he comes up around that time and he's

obviously andrew painter level good uh and then heading into the postseason he's more fresh and he's more ready to go um and he's still getting those reps that he would need to be ready for those type of moments too and it's not like you have to waste a ton of minor league games on like they know i think they will uh they'll ramp him up there and stuff like that but yeah so i hope that you know i hope that obviously a month from now this could all change if it's like well yeah setback or whatnot but i think i feel pretty confident he's gonna be okay um and and same thing with ranger you know ranger came back from the world baseball classic the forum thing's a little bit concerning because that's usually always always yeah but i thought it was interesting they didn't even give him an mri oh he's so look i again to the point we made

before like if a player is fine and you just want to get him out of the world baseball classic cool support cosine yeah so on that one i guess in the media scrum or whatever they're like like how confident are you that that Ranger's fine or something? And Rob was like, well, we didn't even give him an MRI. So like, Hey guys, I got a cut on my left forearm. Get out of there. Forearm issue. Get out. It's a cut. Yeah. Get out. Go home. Yeah. Yeah. So fully support feel pretty good about it.

Now, you know, just hopefully everything goes right. But that, that honestly, that, that's one of the big takeaways of these little injuries you know i i feel really good about the bullpen i keep watching like you and your mark i was gonna say take back but whatever i keep watching your marta and it's like this guy's like our seventh guy like our sixth guy he's true baker watching drew baker you're like what like yeah well he's gonna figure out a little bit now yeah a little bit but just in general, like the stuff. Yeah, Eric Uelman, like I still think is going to be good. And like, he's probably not going to make the team, but I can guarantee you.

Baker might not make the team right now, though. I mean, like, yeah, they've got, but they got all these dudes who they can bring up at like some point in the season. And normally we're like, who the hell is that guy? Like, where did Michael Kelly come from? Like, why is he pitching in a game right now? And great story, all that stuff. But like like now they can bring up dudes we're like oh yeah i remember

seeing that dude freaking deal like okay let's see what you got you know so um but but uh obviously the lineup's gonna be awesome once turner harper that's gonna be great. The one thing is starter depth. If these guys go down and it's Wheeler, Nola, hopefully Rangers are okay. Tom Walker is good. A high-end four, low-end three. And then it's Falter, Chris Sanchez,

Michael Plassmeyer. I actually like Plassmeyer. He struggled a bit yesterday, but I still think there's a good pitcher in there. But Falter, he saved the season in the middle of the year. But other than that, like, we'll see. And I'm curious because he's finally realized that he needs to change up. It's like, oh, well, you know, some podcasts have been saying that for years.

So he worked on that all offseason. But it actually got me thinking, we might see Griff sooner rather than later. I know he got shelled in his first game. But when we start talking about starter depth and this, that guy's a 23, 24. It's pretty much time. It's pretty much time.

When we talk about the starter depth, see where they're going, I think Griff could be factored into the mix of these guys start missing time. So that is the one thing. Start, like that even you know it's pretty nice having him as a that's what i mean like way better you know so and and to your point look i i agree with you on the the overall thing with painter in that you know i was i was always fine with him you know pitching uh like you know at points this season and not and i liked your six-man rotation idea especially to get the guys blows and especially now ranger all these guys pitch

longer and deeper than they ever have before so you know i do like the idea of finding ways to get them rest and i think that's where that depth comes in especially because painter now it's like all right he has to rest for a while it's not like we can use him then go back to five and then go back to six or whatever now it's like all right we right, we're five now. So I do, you know, want them to find ways to find a little more depth throughout the season and give some guys some more blows. But with the painter thing, I think specifically to him, I'm right there with you again. I've said the whole time, I never expected this guy to pitch more than 120, 130 innings this year, you know, no matter what. So like, yeah, wait till those innings matter more. I've always felt that way. So as long as he can get enough of, of enough reps to know that we can trust him in those spots and

that he's not going to feel too overwhelmed by those spots. Like, yeah, dude, like good getting pitch when it matters the most. Cause I think this team's going to be really good. All right. Uh, another pitcher injury, or maybe I should put quotes on it. Pitcher injury. How about our boy? Noah song? You called this on the pod. Heard all of a sudden. Okay. Smart baseball, dude. Just a smart.

We have a smart baseball team, Jack. They're going to steal Noah's song. This guy would have been a first round pick. They're going to steal him. He's going to be like stolen. Unbelievable. It is. It was one of the funniest tweets I've ever seen in my life.

Like it was, it's like, you've ever seen in my life like it was it's like you didn't throw a bullpen today guys back back back was acting up you know it is something doctor said he needs a backy out of me well and and it's like he like wrote today he's like he's not gonna be ready for the opener it's like i'm shocked shocked and then and then and then he has to go down and he's forced to face triple a and and and that kind of stuff while he's rehabbing great um so good so it was and it's and in reading the quote uh replies on like alex's tweet uh like all these red sox fans i they're like i freaking oh they're livid they're livid dude they're livid and they and they you know the fun here's the funniest thing is red sox fans

hate dave dombrowski and high and bloom that's the hilarious part like yeah high and bloom is like loathed in boston like they and and honestly it's ownership's fault like blame ownership i mean all of a sudden john henry was like oh let's be cheap now like whatever let's be the rays of boston like you asshat i'm sorry um like you know jack my number one i was actually having a conversation with someone uh the guy was talking about the blue jays fan yesterday his wife is is from pittsburgh and she's a huge pirates fan and i was like yeah you're screwed until nutty sells the team. Like, sorry. Some of those guys are just never going to spend, ever, no matter what. Like, it doesn't matter.

They're at $60 million. The Pirates are at $60 million. The A's are at a $40 million payroll. Like, it's an embarrassment. They should all be freaking embarrassed. Anyway, the Red Sox owners should be embarrassed. But as a result, like, Haim is despised in Boston by Boston fans.

Yeah. Exactly what we thought. You know, we were always like, Dombrowski's great. Haim is, is despised in Boston by Boston fans. Yeah. Exactly what we thought. You know, we were always like, Dombrowski's great. Haim's not great. And that's just our official take on the pod, you know? One of our, well, mine, I guess. I don't need to lump you into this. It's all right.

One of my bigger swings and misses. I'll take the bullets with you, buddy. We were together. One of the bigger swings and misses. Yep. Was Haim. It's okay. Red Sox are a hot spring training i think the owners are like honestly i really do he hasn't done a good job or anything but i think this is a way more of the an owner issue than a

than a change yeah they i'm sure he would they wouldn't pay mookie bets you think you think i was like oh let's not play mookie bets, we don't want that guy for the next decade. That seems silly. Of course, they were like, no, we're not paying you. Go find a deal. Bring me Alex Verdugo and Jeter Downs. Did you hear the offer? They offered Zander a $90 million contract last year or whatever. Dude got almost $300

million. Are you kidding me? Imagine this is happening here. I think they want to buy like a they get another team it's like oh sweet so we're going to be using more of our resources this is great yeah oh god it's like it's like it will hopefully that josh harrison's not spending money with the sixers but like now he's gonna buy a nfl franchise i know so we'll see um but yeah heim was big swing in the mist so uh yeah, the Noah Song thing is just, it was vintage.

It was hilarious. And see you in like July. I think it's fair we can start printing Noah Song charts. He's like, he's going to be a Philly. For a song. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

So yeah, he shut down. And I'm very curious. Like, obviously now he's not going to pitch in a great league game. But I wonder what he's like when he gets back. I'm intrigued. Now that he gets off the back injury. We'll see if he can bounce back and show some stuff. It'll be really interesting to see.

It's a tough one to battle through. Who knows? Might be on all season. We'll see how it goes. All right. see it's a tough one to battle through you know who knows might be on at all season we'll see how it goes um all right um let's get to take back because we are running late um sunday morning i told my wife i wouldn't go too long but you know we always do uh but i'm assuming you have jk the only other thing i was going to bring up was jk but i'm assuming he's in the take bag so um is jk just the lock to make the roster now it feels like he's like the guy now, right? Well, so my thought on Jake Cave, and I did have it on take back.

That's good. It's good synergy out of you. I'm watching him, and my general feel is like, I wonder if they truly believe, and they signed him to be a DH, if they could put Jake Cave in right and Castellanos at dh um on opening day wow it's a a wild turn for for jake gave um but first off for as good as he's done offensively which is not what i what i was expecting even though like all the advanced metrics that he made him and sosa being the best two hitters in camp? Yeah, no one saw that coming. I love Edmundo.

I love him. I don't think there's a single Phillies fan who doesn't love Edmundo Sosa. And if there is, I don't know what's wrong with you. But JK, in the field, I think is really, really good. He's got an absolute hose. Cannon of an arm. Yeah.

So I do wonder that. And Castellanos, I am trying my hardest not to freak out. I am really trying. But again, what is worrying me is that I think he's starting to get annoyed and frustrated already that he's not back to being Nick Castellanos. So again, I'm trying to do the whole spring training doesn't matter thing, but I'm worried about him. And if they believe, okay, just be the DH, Again, I'm trying to do the whole spring training doesn't matter thing, but I'm worried about him.

And if they believe, okay, just be the DH, then you start Jake Cave in right field. You have a plus plus defender in right. You have a plus plus defender in center. And that allows you to shade Marsh more over towards Schwarber side. So it makes the defense better. If he is, he's not going to be a God level hitter. Like he's going to be Jake Cave. But if he can play solid defense, hit a home run every once in a while,

you know, it's not the worst thing in the world. So it's been eyeopening. And it's, it's, it's a good problem to have. And real quick on a Mundo, if he keeps playing like this and we talked about recent and what the future could be for him, you know, and move into it third. And then a boom hall first base next year,

especially with the bulked up boom. Like that was what we always say. Oh, just gonna move in first. Like you need, you have to have some power to first base. You just have to get some from there. And if boom can hit 25 homers and become that guy,

like, Oh, now you can play first base. Like now you can be a first baseman, you profile but but if you also have you could put hall there too sure and it's like the so hall against righties or whatever and and but like in mundo he looks just like so much stronger and it looks like a it looks like a kevin long you know master class yet again where it's like he's just hitting the ball really freaking hard. And they changed his setup a little bit more.

A lot of what these guys do now is it's a lot of rhythm hitting. So it's a lot of getting a little bit of movement with your hands. And it creates more fluidity and and whatnot and they've done that with him and i think they've done that with with with boom and i think it's led to really really positive results um you know so he just could like he he's gonna keep fighting for spots and um you know i i i think bryson's thought is starting to come out of it. He started the spring really slow. Because I think he had a lot of swing adjustment stuff. Like, he talked about how he wants fastballs up.

That's his kryptonite, and that was his kryptonite last year. And he changed his setup a little bit more so he can go get those high fastballs. And he hit a home run the other day with it, so that was a good sign. But whether it's second base, third base, center field, like if Sosa keeps playing like this, he's going to keep forcing their hands. So, you know, good problem to have. Yeah, he's again, honestly, I think arguably without going through every single team, arguably one of the best first guy off the benches in baseball.

I'm being dead serious. When you think about the amount of precision versatility, he gives you elitely in the infield. And then the fact that he's putting on a glove and, and learn how to play center field. And with this guy, absolutely trust that he will at least be a passable center fielder when he's put out there.

And then what he's doing with the bat, like he is legitimately like, you know, of a non everyday lineup guy. Like he's on the high end of the type of player you could have coming off your bench. Literally. And then you factor in Scottie jet packs.

All right, get to it. Do it. Do it. I keep telling people being like Scottie jet packs. And I keep just going like, Nope, Nope,

Nope. And it's happening a lot. People keep taxing me. I know. I know. Everyone's everyone's ready to buy back in. All it shows me that is that people never totally gave up on the Dustin Pedroia with more talent. Scott Kingery.

I'll say this. I think the swing looks much more clean. Early in spring training, it was a lot of weak contact that was kind of falling in. Sort of hit the ball a little bit harder. The home run the other day, i'm just saying i was there the wind was like 30 miles an hour straight out like the hoskins home run was hilarious it was basically a pop-up that somehow went out um and i kind of feel the same way about the kingery home run i mean it's definitely hit hard but had the wind not been like blowing straight out i don't think that's a home run right um but at worst case scenario i mean he's playing for a 13 million dollar team option next year buddy like he's he's got 13 million

dollars in the line um but i do think that something looks better uh obviously i'm gonna need to see it in like you know real games for me to buy in but worst case scenario he does have the positional versatility of you, short, third, center field. If you're looking for a righty to combat Marsh against a lefty, Scotty Jitbex. Official statements, we'll see.

But monitoring. Currently monitoring the situation. I'll allow you to monitor. I'm not there yet, but I will allow you to monitor for us. Monitor the situation. What else you got in the bag? I can't believe Scotty Jetpacks, man.

Mr. Spring Training. Mr. Spring Training. How many Phillies fans do you think realized the Darnell Sweeney connection last night? Did they? There's many? No. You don't think so? Infamously, we traded the greatest second baseman

in franchise history for Darnell Sweeney? Yes, I would say no. Okay, good. I would say none. Did you miss watching the Vanimal last night? You mean, was I reminiscing and being like, ah! Missed you, buddy.

I do like the Vanimal. I'm a Vanimal fan. But no, I was not waxing poetic last night. Struck out drought, man. Zoe about watching Vance Worley pitch back in the day. Well, it did bring me back to the two-seam run to lefties. Then he struck guys out. Oh, man.

The Vance Worley run of 2011 was just... I'll tell my tell my grandkids about it no you won't i for sure well uh yeah i mean everything else i had in here was just junior marty like it's just all just i can't i love him like i i absolutely absolutely love him man like i just it's it's a bowling ball 98 mile an hour sinker and it's just it's so easy um do you think he's gonna make the team at camp i well it's interesting because they have i can't first i can't wait to see soto bitch i mean he's gotta be coming in soon finally thank god he's finally here um he had visa issues getting into the country it wasn't an injury or anything like that they have like five locks right now um and brogdon continues to look good although jason dominguez took them i mean i think brogdon's lock you don't think brogdon's lock no

brogdon's 100% a lock i'm saying like so so so right yeah so sir anthony yeah alvarado. I mean, Soto, Sir Anthony, Alvarado, Strom, Connor, Kimbrel. Six locks. That's six, right? Yeah. So then do you want a six-man bullpen, seven-man bullpen? I would rather have one. They will have seven. So then it comes down to, like, again, this is a good spot to be in.

Unbelievable. We're actually like, Pilate, I thought he was he was a lock like how could baladi not make the team but i so it's baladi so baladi nelson sorry yeah what are you doing there well you need a long man what do you do you need a long man no you do you do so you have that do they still do that you get the extra two spots in april or whatever like the 28 or whatever remember they were doing that anyway yeah um but yeah so pilate nelson um union marty chris sanchez uh like there's eric yeoman so it's it's tough because you obviously would want a long man and nelson does provide that but like if you're looking for the highest upside, yeah, I would put, I would put Marte there. But again, good problem to have.

Yeah. Again. And I see Scott there chiming in and talking about Weston Wilson, who won't make the roster, but has had a great camp. And like, it's a great story. Alex coffee did a great story, but, but that's the point. Weston Wilson will not make the major league roster, but to Jack's point, like it is weird watching like guys and being like,

Oh wow. Any, any of those dudes could, could make the bullpen and I wouldn't be devastated about it. It's really, really strange feeling. Yeah. Um,

but other than that, Clearwater was awesome. And, uh, I'm excited for you to be down there in a couple of weeks and, and the, the, the vibes are really strong.

One week from today. I'm going one week from today, buddy. Oh, wow. That's cool. Yeah. And, uh, the Atlanta'm going one week from today, buddy. Oh, wow. That's cool. And the Atlanta airport,

I became very comfortable. Yeah, Jack, I just spent the night there. I felt like Tom Hanks was in Terminal. Yes, Terminal. Yes. I was just wandering around. I just live here now. I live here now. This is my home. So that was an experience.

The flight was delayed out of Tampa. The flight was delayed out of Tampa. We got to Atlanta. We missed our connecting flight. Slept on the floor, which is awful. And then I go to sit down for our flight in the morning, and that's delayed. And they got on, and they're like, yeah, the pilot was late. It's like, oh, awesome.

Sweet. Love to hear it. Thanks. Love to hear it. And then and then we got on the plane he was like yeah you know apologies for being late and we're also like fixing a part of the plane and i was like well i had a good run this is none of the things i want to hear so you guys had a medical emergency on the way down too it's a tough flying trip for you it's a tough dude it's a tough flying trip and i took the i volunteered for the i volunteered i was like i i'll take six hours uh because they wanted people if the flight was over a buck or whatever it's like there's any volunteers and i was like listen i'm playing delta like yes sir right now i'll take 600 bucks that's called negotiating um and then they're like

yeah we don't need you i was like well damn it i couldn't even get 600 bucks out of called negotiating um and then they're like yeah we don't need you i was like well damn it i couldn't even get 600 bucks out of this this is a joke um yeah so that's all good made it home made it home made it home so and then you get to start uh at six o'clock tomorrow fritz at six tomorrow right six tomorrow barring barring the kid not being born oh yeah so we're close to that right what is the actual due date the 23rd is it 23rd yeah okay so wow we're really close damn wow this is next two weeks are gonna be a little busy it's intense yeah so we will get pods to you obviously based around on that but we'll be here and all that um and this is exciting we got a addition to the high hopes family coming soon.

Um, are you getting final thoughts, buddy? Cause I told him, yeah, I told Emily we would be done in 45 or less, which was a ridiculous thing to say. If you,

if you turn around the five and the four, exactly. It really was 45. I nailed it. Nailed it. So, uh, final thought is,

Hmm. Trey Turner's a fill i love it and we get uh usa versus mexico at 10 tonight which is gonna be exciting i will absolutely be asleep actually no tonight i'm not the oscars are on tonight i gotta watch out tonight's gonna be out so i'm taking a nap in the afternoon watching the oscars then going to bed and getting like three hours of sleep. You're that excited to watch the Oscars? Well, it's a morning show, Jack. These are the kind of things, you know, if we had to watch last year and didn't see Will Smith slap Chris Rock,

like the whole morning show is about that. You could have seen Twitter the next day. You know me, I'm an Oscar guy. I saw all 10 best picture movies. All 10. I can't watch any modern movie. Top Gun Maverick, the best one. They're all bad. Every movie in the last... They're all bad.

They're not all bad, but movies used to be way better. They've gone too... Well... I'm with you. There's no charm. I don't disagree. I think that's actually a pretty good take by you i only watch 90s movies i know trust me you're the i'm the one you come to and and say

hey give me some nice movies i haven't seen i have a whole list in my i have like this movies list to watch obviously because i'm weird but i have like tons of movies in there and i actually have a four jack section in there to when you come to me when i think of something that i haven't right like when you'll be like hey what's the movie i like go to my four jack sections i'm strictly give me give me 88 to 2004 boom that's me i got off i love it that's great stuff by you uh all right um my final thought is that i don't have a final thought it's go philly it's it's that i have to go um but uh we'll be back at some point, I'm sure, this week,

depending on the baby, depending on... Before I go to Clearwater, we'll figure it all out. But we will definitely be back, I would assume. You know? It's not like we've said

we're going to do a pod and then not done it ever. So we'll be there. We're not going away. All right. I got to go. Peace, friends, and so on. All right. I got to go. Peace for heads and thumbs.