High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Writing James' Tombstone

Episode Date: April 23, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz react to the Phillies taking 3 of 4 from the Rockies, including the Nick Castellanos Game, the dominance of Jose Alvarado, and more. Presented by Miller Lite. 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. Yo! It is another edition of the High Oaks podcast. Jack, if you had told me Friday morning that we would be doing this pod and not be completely despondent about it, I wouldn't have believed you.

Because that game on Thursday was maybe even more embarrassing than the 13-0 loss to the Reds. Like, the lifeless, embarrassing performance against a team that had lost eight straight games in your fricking ballpark, not even showing up for it. And then Nola gives up the three run shot in the first, the next day. And we're like,

well, this is going to fricking suck. Like what the hell? And then they battle. We get a clutch Schwarber Homer. We get a big hit from Edmundo Sosa Nick Castellanos hitting bombs Brandon Marsh the best hitter in baseball Fritzy we're back we're so back and but uh and Thursday night I understood it it was like what a despondent

brutal awful what are you guys doing kind of performance? Well, they just came out lifeless. And I said it after the game, like, they look like a team that had just played two games on Tuesday, played a day game yesterday. They get to return home for the first time in, like, eight days. And they get to face Ryan Feltner, who had, like, an eight ERA and a Rockies team who had lost eight straight. And they kind of just were like, all right, we'll show up and win. And to this team's credit and what they did last year

and what they did at the beginning of portions of this year, which is they bounce back. And it's like every time people are like, wow, there it is. There's the Fugazi baseball team. The one hit wonders that got hot and went to the World Series last year. It feels like they do a really, really good job bouncing back. And when they have an embarrassing loss, like they did 5-0, like they did last Saturday, you know,

it feels like the next game they come out more locked in, more ready to go. And we have to understand that, like, bad games happen. I mean, bad teams beat good teams all the time. I mean, worst teams in baseball still win 60 plus games maybe not the uh not the a's buddy but like it's just it's good to see them kind of starting to right the ship and i know thursday night was bad but i still genuinely felt the the the last week and a half of baseball that we'd seen from them, James, was closer to them starting to break through and be

the team that we believed in in this offseason. Taking three or four, coming back in some of these games, not always being the prettiest brand of baseball, whatever. They had a lot of that last year. They still made the playoffs and went to the World Series. I'm proud of them. Welcome to season one game under 500 uh and i just you know i i hate that there's an off day tomorrow but whatever i'm proud of them i love it look at you

such an easy sell look nice to see houston handled the braves a little bit as we hope for oh it's a big difference between seven back and four and a half or four, whatever it is now pending today's game, like, or no four and a half, I guess it would be like, or five could be four and a half, whatever it is. A big difference than, than the seven before and obviously way too early to worry about it. But yeah, look, I think I, I am very impressed with the way they battled back after the three run

Homer from Nola, because Thursday was just a disgraceful, abysmal, embarrassing showing from that team. But then, you know, after the three-run homer, it looks like, oh, man. And then Nola settled in and gave him six strong after that and really gave him a chance to win. And then, you know, who else but Schwarber? It's the big home run to tie it. You know, Sosa, the big hit to win it, you know who else but Schwarber it's the big home run to tie it uh you know Sosa the big hit to win it you know to the eighth but so and that makes that great play in the ninth and you know and then the next night you know the two Cassie homers the Christian

Pache I mean what a day you get two homers from Castellanos and a Pache homer like you have to win that game like that's a automatic must win in the moment but and it wasn't pretty and look today they handled business and you know they got some hits when they needed it some home runs with runners on base what i thought the stott homer by the way i was listening to franski only the third home run with runners in scoring position all season so good sounds about right it's good to hear um not right but like look you could look at it and say listen they they should have beaten these teams that you know in a higher you know they should be better than 11 and 12 based on the schedule to start the season like that.

And that's fair. You know, they should have, you know, won more against the Reds. They shouldn't have. You know, they should have swept the Rockies. Jack said it going in the weekend or I was probably like, it's a sweep. It's got to be a sweep this weekend. And, you know, the way it happens, you're happy with three or four. But the flip side, they've won six of eight.

You know, as much as it doesn't seem like it, they've won six of eight. And to your point, I think seeing them battle through adversity, and I know it's not serious adversity, but early season adversity. And when they really have to get hits or make plays, we've seen them make it. We've seen guys bear down the bullpen, zero runs allowed all weekend. The three games they won, zero runs when they needed it, especially in those first two games. Today, obviously a bit of an easy one, but the first two games were close. They were losing. The bullpen kept them in it. I'm with you. 11 and 12 is not amazing, and I still think you have to be more disappointed than not with the start of the season i think we're back

now the last pot we did we're like we're back and then they lost that game and and maybe they're back so i feel like more back than not well i and i just think that all the signs are there that they're they're a good team like we've been over this i feel like the last you know what after the first week freak out which i think was kind of justified because it was like every facet of the game they were just dreadful at, where it was just like, how about you guys just be Major League Baseball players? Maybe a crazy concept there. But really, it started that Sunday of the Red Series.

And even though they split, the Saturday game was just the worst. But you've seen them kind of settle into what we think they're going to be going forward. Now, the thing that's going to be the big kind of question mark as to how much can we believe in them is going to be Wheeler and Nola. Because without their number one and number two being like true number ones and number two, it's hard to like start putting them down as, as, as being, you know, I think it could probably still make the playoffs the way they're pitching

right now, but like doing actual damage, like you need your aces, you need your guys to be your guys. And you know, like, like Nola did fine on, on Thursday,

on Friday night, it was good. The first inning home run was annoying, but whatever, like he, he bounced back. It was more, it was more home run was annoying. But whatever. He bounced back. It was more good rather than great. And again, against the Rockies.

I mean, this is a bad lineup. It's a bad team. It's going to be different when you're facing that Braves lineup or whatever you want to say. Well, thankfully, they don't play them as much as they do. Hey, now. But my concerning thing with Aaron Nla right now is that he has 21 strikeouts in 28 innings.

His, his strikeout per nine is seven. His career is like nine and a half, 10. So he had three strikeouts on, on Friday night, which is just like, I mean,

if he wants to be a contact pitcher, whatever, but like the Aaron Ola that was fourth in Cy Young last year and, like, has been a very valuable pitcher in the last couple years. And what made him valuable was taking down a ton of innings, not walking anyone, and striking out a ton of batters. Well, he's not striking out a ton of guys right now. So, you know, maybe he's changing up repertoire

and being more context-oriented. But still, you know, that's something to monitor going forward. Maybe he's changing up repertoire and being more context oriented. But still, you know, that's something to monitor going forward. And Zach Wheeler today, like he was like pretty good. And then he's unbelievable. And then the first three innings, he was he was unhittable. I mean, it was right now. He's awesome. Stupid.

And then he was just like that fourth inning for him. You know, it was the third inning last time it was the fourth thing this time and it's like he gets there it it kind of snowballs and then he's like fine everywhere else besides that it's it's actually very aranola ish yeah it is it is you're right yeah they've actually really been carving copies of each other this year it's it's a great point and you know it was nice to see wheelers velocity up early but then you know again as he's gotten deeper still 12 strikeouts in five innings you know again not a good rockies team but i think i'm hopeful i think we we need to keep remembering at least for the early portion of the season that they did pitch it till november

and that these are guys who literally had never pitched past like october 2nd or october 3rd whenever their season had ended in the past so like that is something that maybe it does take them a little bit longer to ramp up and get to where they need to be. Certainly a possibility, but to your point, you know, so far this season, neither of those guys has looked like Zach Wheeler or Nola, or at least the guys we expect them to be. So the interesting part about Wheeler start today is that I agree with you.

The velocity is down, but you know, what's so weird about him is that he did throw like a couple of 93 mile an hour sliders yep so it's like maybe so maybe this is them easing their way into the season because in this when he went back out there for the sixth his fastball was back up to 96 97 um and maybe like this is part of their um part of their management is like, Hey, we're not going to just don't go out and try to throw a hundred miles an hour. Like work your way up to it. I mean, that's how Verlander before he became, before he came and met, uh, Verlander, uh,

pitches on an innings, like first inning, 92, 93. And then by the seventh, eighth, it was like, Oh, there's a hundred. Yeah. Um, so maybe maybe hey maybe that's what they're doing but i think it's encouraging that at least like a 93 mile an hour slider doesn't happen by accident so so i think that means something uh i thought it generated bad life today like especially early on i mean it just looked it looked wheeler-esque and also i mean to your point you're making about about about the way he's kind of easing himself

into games and all that, I think that's absolutely something that could be happening with this team. And I think it makes a ton of sense. And I also thought it was a good sign that he came out and pitched the six. You know, it was what, like 93 or 94 pitches. I wouldn't have been shocked at all if Topper was like, early in the season, let's just sit you down. Came back out, you know, cleaned it up in that six with an easy six, went into 100 pitches. Just the fact that they were like, we're confident at this point in the season, let's just sit you down, came back out, you know, cleaned it up in that six with an easy six,

went into 100 pitches, just the fact that they were like, we're confident at this point in the season to let you go over 100 and pitch in a spot where you don't necessarily have to. I like that too. Well, and I thought that one thing that was interesting with Wheeler today is that it seemed like he quickened up his tempo. So what I noticed early in the game, usually he's at a set position and then he drops down

and it's methodical up and then at you. But what happened in the first couple innings was just down, up, bang, at you. And maybe that's a way maybe what he's trying to do from that aspect is okay, I'll be quicker getting into my mechanics

from the windup and then when I get into the stretch and I have to be faster with the pitch clock, my body's already going to be adjusted to it. So that might take time to get used to, right? I mean, it wouldn't be, especially because it seems like, as we talked about, it is for him has been something where most innings he's been good. He just keeps running into these spots where he walks some guys, runners get on base and he's pitching from the stretch and he's been struggling. So I know we've talked about that with Nolan in the past,

but maybe that the pitch clock combination of that with Wheeler is something he's still getting used to. Yeah. And it does seem like the, today seemed like a classic case of I'm on such a roll out of the windup. And then it's like, oh, well, here we go to the stretch. And it's not going to be as pretty.

And I agree with you completely. I was actually of the mindset of, why are you putting Wheeler out there again? It's early in the season. We don't need to have him over 100 pitches. But I've said this a lot. And he did the same thing with Noel on Friday night is that no easily could it be done after what six we went seventh yep and what I've been like kind of harping on on on the final outs that I'm sure that you are downloading listening to on

your oh yeah I'm doing one of those things thank you um always appreciate the support but um no i'm just kidding but what i but what i'm saying is that like i want when people freak out about pulling nola or pulling wheeler like should have pulled them earlier like what are you doing rob thompson you're an idiot my pushback to that is these guys have to learn to pitch through that and i know it's early in the season and i get that but like these guys have to be able to overcome this stuff so that as it gets later in the season, you can have them going seven, eight innings because as the games get bigger,

you want your best pitchers in there. And hopefully that's Wheeler and Nola. So I want to see them work through adversity and push through adversity rather than the second, anything goes wrong, bang, they're out of the game. Yeah.

I think it's a great point. It's a mentality thing. And it's, I think it's a great point. It's a mentality thing, and I think it's a great point. By the way, I like the Miller Lite you're drinking. Shout out to Miller Lite, presented by Miller Lite, of course. It was nice to see. I felt like almost every time I saw a shot of someone drinking a beer this weekend, and by the way, sold out crowds. Awesome to see that.

Oh, dude, you want to talk about it? Rockies, buddy. Yeah, with the Rockies and Downs, it's not like that's a draw at all. There's not one guy on the team you're excited to go watch play baseball in person. Well, unless you wanted to make sure CJ Cron's a Phil. Well, CJ did audition, man.

He brought a little bit. Yeah. But I felt like every time they showed a shot of someone drinking a beer in the ballpark, it was Miller Lite. It warmed my heart. It's a beautiful thing. I mean, you know. Yeah, you're welcome.

Yes, that's right. I mean, I wasn't going to do that, but that's, I was doing it a little more subtly. But sure. Yeah, you're welcome, Miller Lite. That's what we're here for. Yeah, it's popular beer. And I mean, I don't know if that's fair. Like, you're not there to see Ryan McMahon.

You're not there to see. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Charlie Blackman. Yes. Charlie Blackman. This is the first time he didn't kill us. Ever. to see uh ryan mcmahon you're not there to see oh yeah yeah it was a party blackman yes charlie this is the first time you didn't kill us ever first time ever heading into the series i believe he's it was a career 333 hitter yeah if my numbers are it's either 333 or 309 but either way uh the guy just crushed us for it feels like anecdotally he always crushed. I think even Fransky said that when after the last infield hit,

he was like, well, he's like, you know, we'll take it. He's like, I feel like this is the first time Charlie Bachman hasn't crushed us. So, yeah, we said it going into the series. But, yeah, that Roggie scene is pretty bad. It's pretty bad baseball, too. It was amazing how many, like just absolutely like you want to talk about like 2017,

2018, you and I just nerding out the fancy baseball guys that they've had. I mean, between obviously some of the studs like black McMahon, you mentioned is definitely one of those guys who forever you're like, Ooh, right. Man.

But then it's like Denelson, Lamette, who I will always love Jose Urania. I i never really liked but like always had good stuff uh and then it was brad hand you know coming out of the bullpen daniel bard you know back to like the 09 red sox i feel like so um they had so many guys it's like oh he was good like six years ago yeah you couldn't see him back it's like oh i'm definitely on that guy bar yeah exactly a day before by the way does anyone hate citizens bank park more than jerks and profile it's like every time he comes here something goes horribly wrong for him mustakis mustakis oh yeah it was august yeah it's like

there's so many just harold castros and rocky brent suiter who i hate uh ty blotch like they have so many of these guys that have been around forever that they decided to put on a team. But I was happy for Jerks and Profar because there was, like, a check swing in the eighth or seventh or whatever. And they said, no, it was not a check swing. I was like, oh, you got one, buddy. You finally got one.

He trapped two balls in left field. I know. It finally got one. He trapped two balls in left field. I know it was, it was so weird at like, it was like, he just loses his mind when he gets here. Um, all right, let's talk, let's talk before we get to the bats. Let's talk about the bullpen because I mentioned it before, but I mean, really a, we talked about on the last spot about how you're starting to see what it can look like at the end of games. Um, unsurprisingly in case you missed it, Andrew Bilotti put on the IL

with an arm falling off of his body because of overuse. But, you know, the bullpen looked flat-out awesome this weekend. I mean, Jose Alvarado is actually, everyone's saying it, but, you know, we're Phillies fans, we'll say it, but he actually is the best reliever in baseball right now, legitimately. Soto has been unhittable for his last few outings uh you mentioned last time even kimbrough's getting big outs got big outs last night um sir anthony looks back um i think of all the things we saw this weekend the bullpen was the thing where

you could be like yo buddy that looked that looked impressive yeah and And we said it last podcast. And, you know, James, part of what... So I love everything about doing this podcast. It's, again, my favorite thing in the world. Me too. But the part of this podcast that makes me the most nervous, because, again, I watch the Phillies for multiple reasons. One, it's my favorite thing on earth. Two, I need my...

Two is that I need my takes to be right like i just need what i say to be because it's just like a crush dude like when people start getting all worked up in my i know it's just it's just like relax anyway um don't say how many times i can tell you for years not to read them and you'll never not read them but god yeah but like most of the time they're good it's just like everyone's like you said anyway um it's a good impression i feel like that is perfect a person every mean twitter person yeah you said anyway um but but but but but what made me nervous is that last podcast we went so hard oh yeah good morning good afternoon good night good luck coming to get back against soto alvarado saran Maybe nervous is that last podcast we went so hard. Oh, yeah. Good morning. Good afternoon.

Good night. Good luck coming back against Soto, Alvarado, Sir Anthony Kimbrell, and even the Kimbrell's a little bit shaky, but whatever. Not anymore, baby. He's a Phil. Craig Kimbrell's a Billy Ray. What's that about a bullpen pitcher, you know? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Bullpen pitchers come here to be great. That's what happens. I just want to know the last. Like, dude, they were up 7-3 in the 7th or 8th today. And I was just like – I wasn't even stressing. Like, there was so little – I missed the batter.

I don't miss batters. I went to go and, like, hang out. I had to grab something for Jill. And I was like, I'm not even worried. I know when I get back, there's going to be an out. I know it's not going to be a disaster. Again,

good luck coming back against those guys. Just good luck. Between Soto having 98 in his back pocket with that wipeout slider, yes, we're going to completely ignore the two balls to the wall today. Yeah, you know what happens.

Well, because listen, Charlie Blackman also got a little, you know, bleeder that. Yeah. That was BS. That was BS. So you should take his head off. Yeah, that's a very fair way to go about it. And then, and then, like, dude I mean, sir, Anthony's back. I just like, I was worried at the beginning of the season,

but I think they fixed his mechanics. Uh, you know, I know that you live for mechanical pitching talk. It's literally all I want. I mean, we could just do an hour of mechanics talk and leave and I would be happy with every episode. But as I said, when he gets out of whack, it's when he, he's opening up way early and he's you know his stuff just is all over the place and what he's done his last three outings keep that back leg or keep the front leg closed and it is allowing his 98 to be just a freaking

bowling ball yeah it's so heavy like it looks so heavy when he's on you know it's like you just feel like how does anyone lift that baseball? It feels impossible. Correct. And then, I think Kimbrel is... At least he's pitching with confidence now. He's looked... The last three or four outings, he's looked... Two or three, whatever it's been. Eye test-wise, he's

looked better. There's no question. Yeah. He's actually generating whiffs. He's not walking the ballpark. His fastball is up to 96 i believe the last time so that's good sign uh the slider staying in the zone long enough to be uh you know tunneled okay off of a fastball so whatever like kimbrough is going to call some games i i'm just i feel that way but i think at this point i believe you can trust him he's gonna be good more often than not and then you get to jose alvarado who i legitimately believe is gonna get cy young consideration this year like i wow

because dude he can come in seventh eighth he can come in the ninth if edwin diaz is getting cy young consideration last year i will raise you a guy that can pitch any inning and multiple innings and that is striking out 55 percent of his batters right now um yeah he's got he's pitched like over 19 innings i think he's got uh i'm sorry he's pitched nine innings he's got 19 strikeouts and zero walks he's like nine and a third or something 19 strikeouts zero walks like that's, that's, we don't curse on this pod. I don't know how to describe it without cursing. Like, that's how ridiculous it is. Well, now, they flashed something on the screen in the ninth

that he has, like, he's throwing 100% strikes on 90% mile an hour pitches, but that can't be true. Yeah, that can't be true. Because he's definitely throwing balls. Not many, though. That's the point. Like, very few. I think he's walked one guy.

Zero walks. He's walked zero guys. He's's walked zero walks zero walks unless one today i went like i was in the car so but i don't know i was listening i didn't think about i don't i think he has zero walks he's just the best he's just the he is he is morphed into the best reliever in philly's history like just when it comes to stuff and and in this moment this guy right now he's got to do it all season and stuff but like right now like just today i would take this dude today against anyone we've ever seen in the philly like billy wagner in his heyday like i'm trying to think of like you know man yeah but but even then we talked about last time like it goes like it's like last year lidge madsen uh romero for that little bit there i thought was like alvarado wish um billy wagner wasn't quite the same like billy wagner is the only one where you could look at and be like oh like obviously like the only one who throws this hard but i mean like i mean alvarado

stuff is insane dude it's insane just think about it this way right like billy wagner threw pretty much just 100 like i know he like had a slider but like alvarado is a hundred but it's like it cuts and like it moves yeah all over the place in out yeah his class through 100 when like most guys didn't like now everyone throws 100 wagner through wagner a hundred was faster than everyone else. But I'm with you. Like you didn't have the arsenal that Alvarado has. You just didn't. I would put 2014 students in there. I don't think many people would.

Of course. I can't believe we didn't mention him off the top. It's a bad job. It's a bad job. Bad job. But the thing with the bullpen is right now, at least is. So these guys are obviously like those four you feel good

about right you feel good about soto alvarado uh kimbrough and and sir anthony and i i feel like we're a mere what two weeks away from that being put on a t-shirt i mean like i feel like i feel like it should be um but you feel good about those guys and then I think Brogdon's continuing to like, he is such a confidence pitcher that like he needs some good outings. He needs fastball. He needs like, he can't just be cutter changeup guy. Like he needs that 95 mile an hour fastball,

I believe to continue to develop into one of the guys that they can fully trust back there. But I think with Brogdon right now, and you talk about important aspects to a team like i think they have their guys for when they have leads but just as important is guys when they're either tied or down or yeah like down three two three two three one those kinds of games and what they have to find now james in order to get this team back to being like top of the nl is they have to find guys that won't extend

leads you know what I mean where it's like you're down to and keep up in games just keep you in games I think Brogdon's one of those guys like Bilotti getting hurt like isn't the worst thing from the standpoint of like I think he needed a break and I think that he I agree he was clearly not what we saw last year he's you know through. He threw a slider like a million feet out of the strike zone the other day. And then the one wild card that we haven't totally factored in yet, which we talked about a little bit, but Matt Stroud when he gets put back there. Well, that's what we talked about last time.

Yeah, it's such a difference maker. They don't have anyone like him there. So, again, we talk about why is it okay, I think, to think that this team is more back than not back. The bullpen's rounded into form. I think the lineup's coming. I mean, they had four home runs today. There's a couple more balls hit at the ballpark.

Their average is still really, really good. Starting staff's like probably the one thing right now that's a bit up in the air. But also, like, Wheeler and Nola were good enough to win them ballgames at this point. And it's almost like you have to hope that a month from now, it's like, okay, bang, there's Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola. And you got Ranger coming back. We are both big Ranger Suarez fans.

And we think that assuming he can get healthy and stay healthy, I think that's a real bonus for this team and for the rotation. All right. I want to get to the take back in a sec, but let's do it, buddy. Let's do it. The Nick Castellanos game. Two freaking home runs in a game, both to left field, no less. Like, golf that one out of there.

I just, what a thrill, man man what a thrill and and big home runs the second one like i'm i'm really in that second one a really important home run to give him the four three lead which was what they freaking won by like you know that was that we talked last pot about how you know even without the power just the confidence and him going up there and and getting up there and getting walks and having some command of the strike zone and not flailing itself and just looking confident up there was such a massive upgrade over what we saw last season. Man, if he could add a little bit of power, Jack, and if we could be talking about 20

or something like that, I mean, we talked a bunch and we got some homers today, but, you know, the Schwarber one, the Pache Homer, obviously along, we got some homers this weekend, but this team has not hit a ton of home runs comparatively this season. You know, if Cassie can give you more than you're expecting, that was huge. I love him. I'm sorry. I know. I know. I know. It's like, Oh, you're such a sucker you're so easy like whatever i love him dude i i i'm so it cassianos being back to being the cassianos that we thought we

were getting is like it's bringing me the most well that's not true well it's close there's a lot of things that are bringing me a ton of joy in this team he is in my top four of things that are bringing me the most joy uh and the home run yesterday and two home runs you know the second one getting out a little windblown but whatever we take it a little bit we'll take it though you know look if it was last year it would have got blown in on gastiano so you know just evens out it evens out water always finds its level but i think we said this last podcast where it's like right i'll take the doubles i'll take the average right now and then as he gets more comfortable,

we think that the home runs are going to come. And that's how I felt all the time. And it's good to see that that's already starting to kind of come to fruition, which like he started the ball of authority. Like not only was it two home runs last night, that freaking double in the novel. Yeah, dude.

Ripped it. It was an absolute rope. So he's, he's barreling the baseball. He's not striking out all the time.. Yeah, dude. Ripped it. It was an absolute rope. He's barreling the baseball. He's not striking out all the time. He's not chasing. He's doing the classic Castellanos things where if he is full, he's still able to flick the bat on it and poke it over the third base or shortstop or second baseman's head.

Or even foul it off. You know, like where he was never doing that last year. So, you know, like if you're asking how much do i trust him i i'm pretty much at like an eight out of ten like i just i think he's i think he's just i think he's just confident and there's been so many articles written i think alex i think alex coffee wrote another article about him today about how like basically he's talking about how last year there's a lot of human stuff and i know you don't have to't have to say it. Can I say it for you so I don't have to do the disclaimer of,

Jack, you know I always say this, so let me just get out in front of this. Yeah, go for it. I think I might – and again, I don't want to put you in the grave prematurely. Yeah, you never do that. But when you eventually do go down, I think I am going to put on your gravestone athletes are human beings thank you i think you should i think you should it's probably the number one thing yeah that's what i want on there yeah that's what i want on there you know beloved beloved father husband period quotes

athletes are humans too well athletes are human beings or whatever we'll figure out the phrasing again i would hate to to write your tombstone right now um april 23rd 2023 but uh if i was doing a chase ulcer tombstone it's great this is good content right here beloved father yes loving husband yep yep definitely producer of wip morning show yeah you gotta put that on the tube son that's right uh loves high hopes more than go birds yes yeah and and athletes are human beings yep there you go i think it's pretty we nailed it we nailed it that's it and i can die and what elliot and i will write in quotes is I'm tired. Hey, I'm tired. Oh, no way.

Really? Didn't see that one coming. So, yes, this is going on James' tombstone. But, you know, athletes are human beings. And like you talked about last year, like he's got a lot of stuff going on James's tombstone, but athletes are human beings. You talked about last year, he's got a lot of stuff going on. He seems like a guy that needs a big

family. I want to be a part of this whole thing, not feel like an outsider. I'm not saying they made him feel like an outsider last year, but when you're paid that contract, you're the new guy. He didn't reach expectations. And he's a perfectionist.

I think that kind of stuff kind of got all in his head. So what we're seeing now is a guy that has just – he's just comfortable. And as he gets more comfortable, I think we're going to continue to see the Nick Castellanos that, again, had you and I feel like we're taking crazy pills because he's been like the best – like one of the top 10 bidders in the freaking league for a decade. So I feel pretty good about where we're at with Castellanos. And, you know, that was good to see yesterday. Good to see him get another hit today.

Good to see Trey Turner leave the ballpark again. All he does is hit home runs. I think last year he had won his third, first 34 games. So maybe this is something we have to kind of learn with him is that he's a bit of a slow starter when it comes to hitting for power. But yeah, the,

the Castellanos bounce back season is, is having me very, very excited. It's thrilling, honestly, especially cause we were so pro it happening in the spring training and prior to the season. So to your point,

you made the very top of the show. It's nice when your predictions don't go wrong, which happens quite a bit. By the way, I mean, Marshy, I mean, I should have mentioned, too, just I mean, the dude's leading the league in OPS. I mean, batting at the home run off lefty today. I can't believe how quick this is happening. And obviously, there'll be a lull. Don't expect this guy to lead league in OPS.

Don't expect him to bat 360 or whatever. You never know. But are you surprised? I mean, look, I think we all thought he was going to get better. Are you surprised how quickly this is happening? And how confident are you? You just gave us an eight on casty like not that he's going to be 360 1100 guy whatever but like how confident are you that

marsh is just a good hitter now pretty high i'm probably more confident in castellanos just because there's a much longer track record yeah because i've seen it before but like dude like the marsh thing it's not even just hitting lefties, hitting righties. It's like with authority. I mean, he could have home run easily yesterday as well. You know, like it was a ball that went off the top of the fence today when it went out. And what I keep going back to is, was it the Marlin series, I believe,

where it was late in the game, he's facing Devin Smeltzer, and he hit a 440-foot bomb to left center field. It's like, holy cow. And they talked about it a lot on the broadcast today about how it's one of those trades that really worked out well for both sides. And it stinks, the Ohapi thing, because now he's out for like four to six months or whatever with the injury.

But, I mean, the Angels have a future all-star-ish level catcher. It looks like a good trade for both sides. Yeah, you're right. Exactly. But the Phillies might have found a freaking, like, all-star caliber center fielder in Brandon Marshall. Like, oh. For a guy who's blocked.

For a guy who's blocked. Like, it is what it is. Like, he could have been your DH, I guess. But come on, you know? I know. And the thing about Marsh is that, like, the defense is already above replacement level player, you know, at baseline. Like, if you're looking at the baseline. And now the batting is coming along.

And it's Kevin Long. And it's them getting him on a path and getting him with someone that he could like fully invest in and fully trust and like not have not pulling him in a bunch of different directions and having him being taught a bunch of different kind of philosophies and i think the most important thing for brandon marsh is that like he is such a a vibes guy in a way, you know, like he's always happy.

He always brings the energy. And I think pairing him with, with a Kevin long, like, I just think that we're going to look up even like a year from now, two years from now. And, and like Marsh is going to be one of the even more vocal leaders of this team because of what he brings from a,

from a locker room, clubhouse standpoint, coupled in with the fact that he's an all-star caliber center fielder. They've legitimately traded. It's been so long, James,

in an old regime, since they have traded for a guy that had talent elsewhere and was a former prospect and have turned him into an all-star. This is not what the Phillies do. It's not what they do. No, it's probably the, I mean like worth comes to mind,

like, like worth comes to mind of Victorino was a rule five pick, but same idea with him. And, and he just, he, he, he is consistently reminded me of Johnny Damon and, and Shane Victorino. And I didn't think he was going to be as good of a hitter as those guys.

I don't think the average will be there, but the power is certainly going to be probably higher than the, both of those guys. And I just, he is developing into an absolute stud. And you talk about breakout seasons and comeback seasons and whatever. You have a Cassianos bounce back. You have Marsh breakout, Bone breakout, Stop breakout. And then you're adding Bryce.

It's just so exciting. It is so exciting. They have five guys batting over 400 right now? Yeah. 300? 300 right now? Like, I just, it's insane. It's insane.

It really is. And they're going to come back. They're going to break through this. Like, the 11 and 12 thing, it's just, it's a minor speed bump in what is going to be a great season for this team. Well, and Marsh, super young, too. Is he 25? I mean, it's a really exciting move by the Phillies.

And we were talking last time about D'Alfa Stott, a contract. Now, I mean, that's another guy you start to think about. Like, lock that dude up. Take away some RBers, all that kind of stuff, if this continues. So, all right. Let's get to the take back. Marsh, Scott, Bomer. Are we doing a contract extension? All right, let's get to the take bag. Marsh Scott, Bomer. All right. Um, let's get to the take bag. I will actually queue up the first,

uh, uh, entry of the take bag. I don't know what order you were going to go in, but I knew you tweeted it and I wanted to say it too. So I'll just start off the take bag and I apologize to the cavemen and the Plato, but Jake cave is horrible. he is a horrible horrible hitter he cannot be in your lineup every day i saw your tweet pache should play over him maybe he should i mean pache is what five for 18 with a home run i mean at least he's doing something like jake cave is a is a hole in your lineup that's been the biggest like when harper comes back just harper for cave one for one in the lineup switch i mean like what a massive upgrade

it's gonna make this team so much better alone like a nice story nice spring jack but you know then the regular season started uh j cave can't play every day you can't well and and i i'm just gonna because if you don't give yourself credit then i don't know who who will you know so i want to give myself credit here oh good um because i did i did tweet at the end of spring training i said i need this the season to start so that i know if jake cave is just spring training good or actually good good good so yes you were all over that yes you're welcome thanks yes because me yes i overreact to spring training yes that's even though i have said on a couple occasions that if you squint you see freddie freeman so i don't think i don't think we're getting a

freeman season from jk but um with pache like if if we're doing this whole thing about how brandon marsh went from failed top 50 prospect into a possible all-star caliber center fielder. Why can't we do the same with Pache? Pache wasn't even much higher rank. I mean, Pache was like a top 10 prospect at one point. Top 15, maybe he's like 54. Are you sure? I'm not sure.

I could have certainly gotten to the 50. And look, it depends what list you look at, right? I mean, he might have been like whatever, but he was a top 20-ish prospect, and Marsh was a what lists you look at. Right. I mean, he might've been like whatever, but he was a top 20 ish prospect and Marsh was a top 50 ish prospect. Right. And, and once again, I never ever said that Christian Pache was massively overrated in prospects. No, no, no. But, um, but the thing is, is that, you know, he's actually hitting well, I know he's like,

it was a disaster early in the season. I think the big thing to that point would be that, you know, he'd been here for a day. Maybe let's give Kevin Long more than a couple of days to figure him out. And with with him now is that you see confidence beginning to grow. You know, he's making, I think, more contact. He struck out like on three straight pretty good sliders yesterday. So whatever it happens, but he also it's a pretty big home run. I mean, that was like deep in the center field yeah and he had the uh the other hit too yeah

and and i think with pache worst case scenario dude is that like what fly ball is getting in oh i know you could probably just play two outfielders i mean honestly they could probably cut i mean especially with like cassianos and schwerber out there like what are they really doing like just let martian pache cover the outfield am i being a little too phillies uh blinded to say that like castellanos has been pretty good defensively he's actually been decent no you're he hasn't been like he's always taking a step forward right yeah i can't say pretty good but he has been better than last year and to your point the arm is pretty good um he's been solid like not not you know not unplayable which is what he felt like

at times last year well the funniest part about castellanos is that he came up as a third baseman and i feel like the one thing he struggles the most with as an outfielder i know it's like it's like and today they could have gotten uh I can't remember who ran over. I think it's pro far. I think it was pro far. Like they probably could have gotten him. If he filled that clean, like they probably had that out and it didn't end up mattering,

but yeah, it is. When he comes out, like tracking a fly ball and, and getting there, he's gotten like way better at it. Like, I didn't think that this was going to come from, from Cassiano.

So add that to the breakout season for him, but like Pache, like just at this point you traded for him. But Pache, at this point, you traded for him. Jake Cave has always been just meh. Worst case scenario is you get gold glove, center field, left field, if you play him every day. Best case is like, hey, what if he continues to develop? I don't think he's a real asset.

You know who he keeps reminding me of at the plate? Is BJ Upton. The swings reminding me of at the plate is, uh, is BJ Upton. I got the swings remind me, remind me of each other. You know, uh, I think he's a pretty good defensive player. Yeah.

And BJ had multiple positions throughout his career. And he's never going to be a big home run guy, but like anytime he hits that kind of home run in that spot, the deep center field, like there's something there. JK's not good. He's never been good. He's bad. He's actively bad. So just

freaking play punch today. I don't hate it. We're like two weeks away from it not mattering. Just get me to Bryce. I don't think he has a hit off a righty left or a righty yet, but he is batting 400 against lefties.

There you go. There you go. Yeah. All right. Face more lefties. Yeah. Give us more lefties. Please, managers, put lefties in the face, Pache.

It's good managing, I promise. All right. What do you got in the take back? I thought Sanchez looked better than he had in years past. Solid. It was fine. Into the fifth in that spot. It was fine. Him and Falter are pretty interchangeable,

but I think Falter gives you a better chance to give you six, seven innings, whereas I feel like Sanchez will strike out more, but it's more four and two-thirds, five innings. I agree with you. Than Falter. So worst-case scenario is hopefully they found someone they can come up and give them a couple of innings. Um,

but, but, but, but, but, but Cody Clemens at a home run today. I know. How about it?

Something I never thought I would say, uh, which is more surprising. The Cody Clemens home run or the Christian Pache home run on Saturday. The Christian Pache. Yeah, for sure. It just is.

Yeah. Just is. Uh, there was nothing worse than, than i i don't know if you you experience this more than i do so when i watch games i have tweet deck up and i have all the notifications on um from mlb and stuff so like i get and i and i literally i pay for cable because i can't deal with the lays i know you we've talked about this before yes the freaking peacock feed is so slow dude it's awful it's awful i'm getting notifications as the balls like as the pitch is about to come i'm seeing tweets about like they're two you get way too many notifications i would lose my mind i don't have any notifications for anything it is the worst it is the worst so like i hate i will never buy a

streaming service until they figure out how to have things quicker like yeah no well i think that's a fair argument i just don't look at my twitter during plays and stuff yeah i know but it's hard for you i know we're different people well it's just you know we're different people it's okay you are who you are. You got to think about the brand, all that good stuff. You're you're way bigger Twitter influencer than I am. But it's funny because obviously I have no sympathy for you in this specific case, because this is my life, but it is funny.

Cause I, I, I was out in the burbs day. We went to see Emily's dad. And I was listening to the game on the way back. And it's so funny because I will, like when I'm in the car or like, especially not as much when I'm in the car, but when I'm listening and I'm not driving and I'll be like looking at my phone or whatever, I'll always be like,

Oh no, don't look at Twitter. I'm behind. And they'll be like, Oh no, wait, I'm listening to it on the radio. Like I'm not behind.

I'm actually as live as it could be. So like, it does scar you where like, even when you're watching it live somewhere i'm always worried that i can't open twitter because i'm gonna find something out so you know it's my life it's very uh old school of you i will say i know i know yeah exactly cord cutting is is very new school with me though so it goes both ways it is yeah it is see um i'm a paradox i know well listen whatever

i just hate the i hate the peacock thing it just drives me insane like just please can we one of these streaming services figure out how to make it as close to live as possible i get it i get it anyway i get it it's a fair gripe uh i thought zach wheeler's kind of rushing in the fourth but we kind of went over that i had that written down um but you know you can you know you can skip it if we already talked about it right you didn't have to just because you wrote i want to make sure that it was okay good good good um i need broadcasters to stop calling jose alvarado jose alvarez um that that's urgent thought of jose alv today. And it's just like, Jose Alvarez got like, Jose Alvarez got smoked in the nether regions.

Uh, it is last game is a Philly. And, uh, this is Jose Alvarez developed into one of the better relievers in all of baseball. So, um, if we could stop doing that,

that'd be great. Uh, please stop disrespecting Jose Alvarez. And, uh, I believe that Jose Alvado was playing in the NBA, he'd be the, the,

the hitter would be suspended for at least a couple of games. That's for sure. The NBA has got a problem with guys. No, no. Yeah. It's an epidemic, Jack.

It's an epidemic. It's the biggest issue facing basketball right now. I just can't stop. I know. I know. I, and look, I totally agree with what you're saying.

It was Alvarado, you know, the respect the man, I just can't stop. I know. I know. And look, I totally agree with what you're saying. Jose Alvarado, you know, respect the man. But shout out to Jose Alvarado. Alvarez. I did like that guy. And I enjoyed, like, in an era of Phillies relievers where I pretty much hated every single guy who ever came out of the bullpen, I didn't hate him as much. So, you know.

Well, and every time the 2020 Phillies played in a AAA ballpark, I felt like something went wrong. You know, like they went to Denny. Toronto had the, yeah. And then against Toronto, not in Toronto. Yep. Well, they couldn't play in Toronto. Girardi was in Dunedin.

The Vince Velasquez meltdown was in Buffalo. Jose Alvarez, you know, getting smoked and never again was in Buffalo. The Blue Jays AAA ballpark. Yeah, that was what it was. Yeah. Yeah. Did not work out well for us. And you know how I am big, James, on on finding like my my lucky thing, you know?

Oh, yes. Do I? Yes. People spot or you're sure or this or whatever yes yes yes so famously in 2008 i sat in the same spot for every game and hence why they won the world series same with the super bowl run at wip you had that spot in the studio where you had to be for yeah i know yeah i lean on uh the spot in the studio at WIP at 400 Market, and that's when the Eagles won the Super Bowl.

Yep. Last year was tough because we were at a lot of the games, so it was tough to find the thing that was going to lead to bounce backs. I don't have the numbers in front of me, just full disclosure. But last three games, I've worn the High Hope shirt, the new High Hope shirt, and they're 3-0. And when they went down today when they went down today i went upstairs and i put it on no way yeah oh no so whether it's is that what you're saying that's like the thing i pulled out yes yeah all the stops

today all the stops i i put on the high Hope shirt. I battled in the Rockies. I cracked open a middle of the light when they were down. So all three led to a Phil's victory today. In fact, you know what? Hold on. Hold on. People who are watching can see this. I'm standing up.

Thank you. Beautiful. I can't sit down and do it. I have to give you what you deserve for that. Thank you. It does take a brave soul. It does. To change shirts, to bet.

Yeah. To drink. Really putting yourself out there, man. Thank you. Brave. Brave's the word. I appreciate you going brave because that's the word. Would you say that it's probably too much for April 23rd?

No. Getting out of here. Yeah. You know, I think no. No, it's not. No, it's just because you know what? If the players are going to go out there and play 162 and slog through the dog days and bring it every day. You know what?

You need to, too, because you're basically on the team in your mind. Well, I don't know if it's in my mind. Very, very important to the success of the Phillies is what I do on a daily basis. So I feel good that I found my shirt. Cause I was in a rough period there.

I was like, well, this one Philly shirt doesn't work. This other Philly shirt doesn't work. Let me try an Eagle shirt that got me a win. And then they lost the last, the next two games Philly shirt doesn't work. This other Philly shirt doesn't work. Let me try an Eagle shirt. That got me a win. And then they lost the next two games. I put on the Eagle shirt.

Bang. High Hope shirt. Phil's get hot. So it's good. Season can officially start now. I honestly is my favorite thing that's been said the whole pod. And I really enjoyed the pod. What about your tombstone?

Yeah, I love that part, too. You're right. That was very fun. Yes. Great point. Thank you. your tombstone? Yeah, I love that part too. You're right. That was very fun. Yes. Great point. Thank you. The tombstone and the High Hope shirt, my two favorite parts of the pod.

So I'm happy they happened. I'm happy for you too. I just like that you think of what's going to be on my tombstone. So it's good. Someone say it's counting down the days, pal. Counting down the days.'s counting down the days pal counting down the days this final outs you're you really loving the final outs you're like do i really need the other guy does it like let me ask you let me ask you hypothetically okay yes does it kill you that when you eventually do pass on that i'm going to be that I'm going to be sitting there at your funeral thinking

about putting something on your tombstone and probably and probably given a little smirk like a like obviously heartbroken but also like a little yeah honestly I fully support it I fully support it I'm fully

supportive of it I appreciate it I want you to think about this conversation. I hope Emily or Zoe never listen to this portion. Well, don't worry, bud. Emily's never listened to a single pod I've ever done. Ever, ever, ever. So I think we'll be good there. Good.

Yeah. Do you think that Miller Lite for Phil's lens is going to be on my iTunes? I think so. That Harper Lent. Yeah. That kind. Yeah. it's gonna be on my hat on my my tombstone i think so that uh uh harper lent uh yeah that kind of yeah you've got you're filling it up pretty quickly here though does not six does not handle phil's loss as well no yeah yeah had a kid for content that would be a good one yeah yeah i haven't used it for content recently well i know i was at a wedding i was at a wedding last night shot to amaya and allison um and so many questions about walker i'm sure it's a celebrity

you getting any sleep no do i look like i'm getting any sleep i'm dead inside no my answer is i don't even know how to answer because it's like on one hand it's like it's the greatest thing that's ever happened and like yes i i thought i'd be like really happy about being a dad but it's been way better oh it's the best it's way better it's way the same time like just very very tired all the time and like oh hello welcome yeah but like my life but i'm pat but hold on first off so he's like four now she She's sleeping. Well, now it's because of the morning show. It's not because of Zoe anymore. Zoe stays up later than I do, dude. So, yeah.

I'm not even kidding. I go to bed before my four-year-old daughter. So, it's great. It's a good thing. Yeah. At least on nights when the Phillies don't play. And then when the Phillies don't play, I'm extra tired. Or Phillies play, I stay up and watch.

And then I'm extra tired. So, it's great. But, dude. Heaven. the greatest thing that has happened in the history of my life is the pitch clock in 2023 like about it angelo had to do it for 30 years that except when he first started they used to play games that were this long somehow over the time we added the extra 40 minutes or whatever you know like when he first started the show it was like oh yeah games are two and a half hours what happened and it was the 90s phillies yeah that cares i saw 93 it's

like yeah oh yeah it's very much like yeah it's not good not good it was not a great time to be a young fledging phillies fan let me tell you i actually was thinking about that today i was like man walker gets to grow up with like Turner and Harper and all these guys. And I was thinking, and I know you're different, but like, I was like, wow, I was like Omar Dahl and Randy Wolf and Doug Glanville and Abreu and young J-Roll, you know, like this kid. Steve Jelts and Ricky Jordan. And yeah, I feel you, dude.

If we both, yeah. Spoiled. That's good. I know, I know. Well, you know what? I'll take it i didn't get a world i did get a world series 14 years in my life yeah so it took me 27 to get a world series so you win on that one that's for damn sure all right yeah well we won it it's all good let's get another that would be pretty cool you know because you know now it's been 13, you know, 14.

So for the whole time he took you to get one, I've waited for the next one already. So, all right. You got any final thoughts, buddy? It's pretty much bedtime for me. My final thought is a shout out to the angels for trading away your best center fielder in team history to the Phillies.

And thank you once again. So trade, trade an actual winner, traded an actual, actual winner to the Phillies. And thank you once again. So traded an actual winner. Traded an actual winner to the Phillies in Brandon Marsh. I love it. Appreciate you. And I can't believe it's a freaking off day tomorrow because the Devils just found their footing.

So once again, Major League Baseball ruining my life. Yeah, I will take it because that means I can go to bed at like 6 o'clock and get some good sleep, gear up for the week. So it'll be great. All right. We get it. We'll be back later in the week. Oh, final draft this week.

So we'll be genre bust. Obviously. Oh, that's your final thought. Yeah. And people get, you know, look at this. Look at this guy. Look at this guy over here. Are you going to do an Eagles chant or something too?

Or no, never. But no, it's just like i have a good break me be sean that's fair if you ask garonski i'm more worried about the phillies but you know no big deal no big deal yeah yeah i would never be worried about the phillies all right we'll talk to you guys soon he He's Fred Sampson.