Speaker 1: Hey, this is Bryce Harper and welcome to the Philly Show.
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Philly Show.
Speaker 1: Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd Solecki. It's Friday, September sixth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Ruben's in Miami. I was in Toronto
Speaker 1: this week. I flew home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look at that.
Speaker 1: I got the palm trees in the back, Ruben. It
Speaker 1: looks like the weather is probably a little warmer than
Speaker 1: in Toronto. It was gorgeous in Toronto this week.
Speaker 3: It was spectacular in Toronto. Loved it. It is a
Speaker 3: little obviously a little bit more humid, but not like
Speaker 3: terrible typically around this time.
Speaker 2: Man, it's like terrible. But there's sweating bullets.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not too bad. Nice little breeze to it.
Speaker 3: Sorry about you know, some of the background noise. But
Speaker 3: you know they got they got you know, they got
Speaker 3: nice stuff going on over here.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Waterfalls, Yeah, yeah, I got the waterfalls going Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely lived a tough life. I live a very tough life.
Speaker 1: You live a charmed life, Reven, There's no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 1: I flew back yesterday from Toronto, and I got to
Speaker 1: sitting you know, you get back home. And my wife
Speaker 1: was always dealing with the three kids and working full
Speaker 1: time and stuff like that. So I had some fun
Speaker 1: with her yesterday. Every time she'd asked me to do something,
Speaker 1: I said, you know, hey, listen, I got to recalibrate.
Speaker 1: I man, I was to fly internationally this morning to
Speaker 1: get home, you know, And she's like, it's an hour flight.
Speaker 1: What are you talking about. Get it done? So about
Speaker 1: the eighth time of me dropping down and she had
Speaker 1: had enough.
Speaker 2: But I try to.
Speaker 1: Try to keep being entertaining for myself as I get
Speaker 1: back situated with with the real world. Phillies win on
Speaker 1: Thursday night in Miami five two. You know, they sweep
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays. You know, Kyle Schwarber has a tremendous
Speaker 1: weet and rubin. One of my favorite moments of the
Speaker 1: week was I want to ask you about this. Kyle
Speaker 1: Schwarber hits that go ahead home run in the ninth inning,
Speaker 1: and the ball was hit so hard, so fast. If
Speaker 1: you listen to the replay, I can hear you go oh,
Speaker 1: but it's almost it almost happens instantaneously as the ball
Speaker 1: hits the bat, the crack of the bat times up
Speaker 1: almost perfectly. Like, as soon as he made contact, you
Speaker 1: knew it was gone right.
Speaker 2: It was majestic.
Speaker 3: You know, when he gets in those modes, when he's
Speaker 3: locked in and he's got that super great balance, almost
Speaker 3: every swing becomes must CYTV. And for me, when he
Speaker 3: took that swing and as I almost sort of anticipated,
Speaker 3: I said, ib, he throws another pitch in that area
Speaker 3: and he's gonna collaborate, and oh my goodness, gracious, I mean,
Speaker 3: it was like a It was literally like an explosion
Speaker 3: off the bat. And and the way he hits him
Speaker 3: let me there, they're beautiful home runs. There are some
Speaker 3: great he hit some bullets. He hit some that was
Speaker 3: like a majestic one. Man, it was like and it
Speaker 3: was so timely. Man, it was a beautiful. It was
Speaker 3: a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2: And I couldn't help I couldn't help my emotion. I
Speaker 2: was like totally.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think everybody in the ballpark did it.
Speaker 1: But again, like I thought, I just thought it was
Speaker 1: so funny because your reaction was like, you knew it
Speaker 1: as soon as the ball left the bat that that
Speaker 1: ball was going to be a missile. Is you know,
Speaker 1: I guess the only question was it was gonna be fair. Now,
Speaker 1: it was obviously wayfair, but but uh just destroyed it.
Speaker 3: Yeah when when you know, you know, when it comes
Speaker 3: up of his bad man.
Speaker 4: I think everybody did that. Larry Anderson even did it
Speaker 4: on the radio. He just when he catches it just
Speaker 4: a little bit out in front, and he's such an
Speaker 4: you mentioned balance, He's such a rhythm balance hitter that
Speaker 4: when he is on and squaring it up and seeing
Speaker 4: it and feeling good and in a groove, he's incredibly
Speaker 4: fun to watch it. And when you take the strength
Speaker 4: and he's just incredible. Was strong man, and add that
Speaker 4: bat speed.
Speaker 5: And you hit a ball on the button like that.
Speaker 4: You know it's gonna make a loud noise and it's
Speaker 4: gonna go a long way.
Speaker 1: And you know he he was in such a tough
Speaker 1: funk going into that game, you know, the like I
Speaker 1: think he had gone seventeen straight games without a home
Speaker 1: run or you know, fifteen sixteen, seventeen straight games without
Speaker 1: a home run. He sat in the cage following Saturday
Speaker 1: night's game in Atlanta. He was really frustrated how he
Speaker 1: was hitting. He talked through some things with the hitting coaches,
Speaker 1: worked on some things. Saturday is the last at bat,
Speaker 1: he hits this hard line out to center field, and
Speaker 1: talking to Rob Thompson on Tuesday, he's like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's a good sign. You know, I really like
Speaker 1: that at bat.
Speaker 2: To me, that says something and you.
Speaker 1: Kind of file that away, right, you know, Jim, when
Speaker 1: you're writing a story, you're thinking about stories.
Speaker 2: Of that night.
Speaker 1: You go, okay, let me remember that. You know that
Speaker 1: that line out to center field to end, you know,
Speaker 1: in the ninth inning on on Sunday night, and then boom,
Speaker 1: lead off home run, Like okay.
Speaker 4: And I also think that brings in the mental aspect
Speaker 4: of the game and the mental aspect of hitting. When
Speaker 4: you hit a ball on the button like that square
Speaker 4: one up, it feels good and it brings you back
Speaker 4: to a good place in your mind. And so often
Speaker 4: in this game, you know, the mind can lead the body,
Speaker 4: and I think that that has a big part of it.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: It's like you finish with a good swing, you can't
Speaker 4: wait to get to the ballpark the next day. It's
Speaker 4: like when you're a hack golfer and you have a
Speaker 4: good hole on eighteen, you come back.
Speaker 5: It's all kind of the same.
Speaker 4: It's all kind of the same phenomena in your between
Speaker 4: the years.
Speaker 3: And there's another piece of that too, because for me
Speaker 3: as a player and as a coach and an ex coach,
Speaker 3: when you try to implement something and you tweak something
Speaker 3: and you have almost immediate success, that's important because like
Speaker 3: say he was working on X on the balancer, making
Speaker 3: a good choice with his swing, whatever the case may
Speaker 3: be for him, to like have that sort of immediately
Speaker 3: work for him and to have it, you know, have
Speaker 3: some positivity out of that, that's huge because then you
Speaker 3: can then your mind, you say, you say to yourself, oh,
Speaker 3: all that works sort of paying off, and it's paying
Speaker 3: off immediately, I'm getting immediate dividends, and then it kind
Speaker 3: of then it kind of carries you through.
Speaker 1: Jimmy mentioned golf. Schwarbro also said in terms of like
Speaker 1: state of mind, he played golf on Monday on the
Speaker 1: off day with some of his teammates. He said, I
Speaker 1: did not shoot well, but I had fun. And then
Speaker 1: later he got Tyreek Hill with the fourth overall pick
Speaker 1: in his fantasy football league, so he seemed pretty excited
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: So so she had.
Speaker 1: Some good off the field stuff due to carry into
Speaker 1: Tuesday before he hit those those three home runs and
Speaker 1: that that dramatic win against against Toronto.
Speaker 3: So you talk about again, I'll go back to what
Speaker 3: French he said, you know, when he saw that these
Speaker 3: guys were coming in and playing off and being relaxed,
Speaker 3: and how how much he felt like that that was
Speaker 3: going to be a team that they felt that he
Speaker 3: felt like was confident and comfortable. And I think that's
Speaker 3: one of the reasons why Topper allows these guys to
Speaker 3: play golf. And you know, there's some there're some managers
Speaker 3: who just basically say, you know what, shut it down.
Speaker 2: You're not doing it, it's taking too much energy, whatever.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 3: I think that these guys manage it well enough, and
Speaker 3: Topper gives them the leeway to manage it well enough
Speaker 3: so that you know, they they're still having joy and
Speaker 3: being able to do some fun things while they're grinding
Speaker 3: through the season.
Speaker 5: It's a good it's a good outlet.
Speaker 4: And you know, it's timely because we just talked a
Speaker 4: lot about that with John Smoltz on our last episode,
Speaker 4: which if you haven't listened to it, I would urge
Speaker 4: you too, because I just think the guy is brilliant,
Speaker 4: really insightful, and he tells good stories and he very
Speaker 4: uh he knows the Phillies very well because he watches them, so, uh,
Speaker 4: don't be afraid to cue that one up right, Todd.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, we had We had some fun with him.
Speaker 1: He told some great stories. I still like the story
Speaker 1: about how Philly has tried to lure him to Philadelphia
Speaker 1: as a free agent by giving him some Marion in
Speaker 1: Pine Valley time.
Speaker 2: Why not? Yeah, exactly. You know one more thing about Schwarber.
Speaker 1: Do you think Phillies fans have finally warmed up to
Speaker 1: Kyle Schwarber being the leadoff hitter? Because I mentioned this
Speaker 1: to Rob Thompson on Wednesday after the game. I said,
Speaker 1: you know, we haven't really heard any griping about the
Speaker 1: leadoff hitter in a while. It's been months and months really,
Speaker 1: maybe since opening before Opening Day, I haven't heard anybody
Speaker 1: bring up, you know, should he put turner up there?
Speaker 1: You know, Schwarber's got to hit lower in the lineup.
Speaker 1: Maybe people have finally accepted the fact that he's not
Speaker 1: half bad in that leadoff spot. Tied a major league
Speaker 1: record on Tuesday Wednesday with thirteen leadoff home runs in
Speaker 1: a season, tied Alfonso Story on with the Yankees in
Speaker 1: two thousand and three.
Speaker 5: It'll be a topic of conversation.
Speaker 4: The next time was fourth straight. It's a convenient rainy
Speaker 4: day conversation. But you know he's he's very good in
Speaker 4: the lead off. Well, it's unconventional. I will acknowledge that.
Speaker 4: But before Kyle Schwartz, Kyle Schwarber arrived, they hadn't been
Speaker 4: to the postseason in ten straight years. They targeted him.
Speaker 4: Kevin Long, you know, loved him from Washington and they.
Speaker 5: Believed he could lead off.
Speaker 4: Even when they were targeting him, this just didn't manifest
Speaker 4: itself in Philadelphia. And you know, he's been here and
Speaker 4: this is his third year and they're headed to the
Speaker 4: postseason for a third straight year after missing it ten straight.
Speaker 4: So I think it's been a one of the best
Speaker 4: signings for franchise history.
Speaker 1: And we will be right back.
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Speaker 1: And we are back and Jim, that's perfect time because
Speaker 1: we just lost Ruben on the Wi Fi. We just
Speaker 1: lost Ruben on the Wi Fi.
Speaker 5: Maybe he got arrested in Miami.
Speaker 2: They just yanked them off.
Speaker 5: They yanked them off.
Speaker 1: The computered slam shut. He's claiming wife by issues, but
Speaker 1: we we will keep soldiering on.
Speaker 5: You probably had he probably had a tea time ye.
Speaker 2: The old my Wifi's bed.
Speaker 1: Jim and Todd, I can't finish this episode.
Speaker 5: Because he plays more golf than anyone we know.
Speaker 1: And maybe more than John Smoltz, definitely more than May anyway,
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Speaker 5: Yeah, Philadelphia Stars nineteen thirty eight logo. I love it.
Speaker 5: It's awesome.
Speaker 2: Sure that is That is a cool show.
Speaker 1: I got it. I got it like a retro vet
Speaker 1: blue nice blue, red, white and blue vet T shirt.
Speaker 2: This week's Quote of the Week.
Speaker 1: I thought this was interesting because I know people have
Speaker 1: been talking about it a lot, really the last week.
Speaker 1: This quote comes from Bryce Harper following Wednesday Night's game.
Speaker 1: He gets hit on the left elbow with a pitch.
Speaker 1: He's got the bad right elbow, he's got a bad wrist,
Speaker 1: sore wrist. He's been bad. He's absolutely banged up. Asked him,
Speaker 1: is there any argument to be made Jim sitting for
Speaker 1: sitting him for a few days. Hey, we got Ruben
Speaker 1: back and that's all right. So we're getting into Bryce Harper.
Speaker 1: Bryce Harper had this quote said, I just don't know
Speaker 1: how good I'll feel if I take one or two days.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I feel like I'll feel
Speaker 1: the same if I do take two days off or
Speaker 1: anything like that. That's a conversation we've had before. But
Speaker 1: I just feel like I'm going to feel the exact
Speaker 1: same if I do take two or three days off
Speaker 1: and I come back. In other words, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep playing right now, and I don't think I
Speaker 1: can hurt myself anymore. That was another thing he said
Speaker 1: in terms of his right elbow. On Tuesday night, in
Speaker 1: the ninth inning, he takes a swing and miss, he grabs.
Speaker 1: You know, he winces in pain. Everybody goes, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: the elbow.
Speaker 2: The elbow.
Speaker 1: His understanding is that he cannot hurt the elbow anymore
Speaker 1: than it already is, So he says, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: You're going to see me wins in pain again in
Speaker 1: the future when I swing and miss, when I follow
Speaker 1: off a pitch.
Speaker 2: It's just the way it is.
Speaker 1: So what do you think about Bryce Harper kind of
Speaker 1: playing through this. Would you just say I don't care
Speaker 1: what you say and rest him or do you keep
Speaker 1: throwing them out there.
Speaker 5: You mentioned they've had a lot of conversations about it.
Speaker 4: I bet they talk about it every day, and if
Speaker 4: they thought it was the right thing to do, I
Speaker 4: think they do it. I don't know why they're backing
Speaker 4: off it. Maybe they just feel like, you know, sitting
Speaker 4: in for ten days and then having to start him
Speaker 4: back up again because there is sort of that break
Speaker 4: in period and you know, he usually comes off the
Speaker 4: aisle with him great game and then sometimes he cools
Speaker 4: a little bit. Maybe they just don't want to go
Speaker 4: through that that period so close to the finish line here.
Speaker 4: But I'm sure he's in on these conversations. I'm sure
Speaker 4: they've done a lot of diagnostics on them, and they
Speaker 4: don't feel like it can get worse and play through it.
Speaker 4: You know, we we only hear the tip of the iceberg.
Speaker 4: I don't think rest is the answer, but I'm sure
Speaker 4: they've just done a ton of homework on it, and
Speaker 4: and there's there's more to it than that leads them
Speaker 4: to believe he can play through this.
Speaker 5: So if they're good with it, I'm good with it.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: It's the same thing with Bohm.
Speaker 4: I don't know why they haven't dled Boom or iled
Speaker 4: Boom because you're at a competitive disadvantage.
Speaker 5: You're playing with a short bench every night.
Speaker 4: Now, I know rosters has expanded, so it's a little
Speaker 4: easier to swallow. But you know, they they spend a
Speaker 4: lot of time on this stuff, this this medical stuff
Speaker 4: and the sports science, and I think this close to
Speaker 4: the finish line, you got to kind of trust him
Speaker 4: a little bit.
Speaker 3: So Paul Bukhit is there basically runs their their medical
Speaker 3: side of things, and he's super thorough. He's got a
Speaker 3: great background. I've known him since I was in Boston
Speaker 3: as a coach. They know what they're doing and just
Speaker 3: having seen Bryce around, his spirits are great. I don't
Speaker 3: think it's bringing him down at all. I think that
Speaker 3: it's one of those situations where he just feels and
Speaker 3: they feel like it's not going to go getting worse
Speaker 3: as he continues to play. So if that's the case
Speaker 3: and he's going to continue to play, now there may
Speaker 3: be a point if they clean s, if they you know,
Speaker 3: if they put themselves in a position to be, you know,
Speaker 3: to have the best record, that maybe they can back
Speaker 3: off for a couple of days.
Speaker 2: But until then, man, he's too competitive. He's gonna want
Speaker 2: to play.
Speaker 3: It's these games are too important and he's and he's
Speaker 3: too important to them, and he knows it.
Speaker 4: And and they're tied again. They're tied again for the
Speaker 4: best record, right because you know, we know what Citizens
Speaker 4: Bank Park can be like as a home field advantage
Speaker 4: Game six and seven notwithstanding.
Speaker 5: So you know, yeah, I don't.
Speaker 4: Doubt that once they're all signed, sealed and delivered, he
Speaker 4: gets a couple of days. But as far as shutting
Speaker 4: him down for ten days, it's just if it hasn't
Speaker 4: happened already, it ain't happening.
Speaker 5: And I'm sure they have a good reason for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned the Dodgers. They have the tiebreaker two
Speaker 1: against the Dodgers, So if the season end of today,
Speaker 1: the Phillies would have home fields. So keep that in mind.
Speaker 1: As he kind of followed the standings down the stretch.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'll also say this about Bryce. I
Speaker 1: feel like in the past he is somebody who if
Speaker 1: he feels like he cannot play or is or feels
Speaker 1: like he can really mess himself up. He will, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of pull himself out or wasn't. Was it late
Speaker 1: last season where he he DHD quite a few games
Speaker 1: late in the season rather than play first base because
Speaker 1: his back was bothering him, or maybe it was the
Speaker 1: season before there was something going on where he was
Speaker 1: it might have been, you know, he he just was
Speaker 1: not one hundred percent, so he did not either played
Speaker 1: in the field, or he did not play a few
Speaker 1: games because he was kind of worried about really messing
Speaker 1: himself up. So again, the fact that he says, I
Speaker 1: don't need to take a few days off to me
Speaker 1: says it says it all. I don't think. I don't
Speaker 1: think Bryce is not the type of person that's going
Speaker 1: to throw away the entire season by trying to be
Speaker 1: mister Macho's.
Speaker 4: He's probably just gearing up to do like a Superman
Speaker 4: act in the postseason, like have a two home run game.
Speaker 5: Everybody's like, wow, we hadn't hit a home run.
Speaker 4: In weeks because he was at a you know, sore
Speaker 4: elbow and a sore wrist, and you know he's Superman tonight.
Speaker 2: So who knows one thing one thing.
Speaker 6: One thing I've.
Speaker 3: Learned about Bryce Harper is he's pretty much thoughtful about everything,
Speaker 3: and he thinks through a lot of things, much more
Speaker 3: than any other player I think I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: Maybe Chase Utley he did that too, but.
Speaker 3: He did it, I guess more quietly, and so you know,
Speaker 3: I trust his decisions. He's been around too long. He's
Speaker 3: been around the game too long. He thinks about this
Speaker 3: stuff way too much for him to put the team
Speaker 3: in jeopardy or himself.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent there, Zach Wheeler starts to Night against
Speaker 1: Edward Cabrera, Aaron Nola, Saturday night against Darren McConn and
Speaker 1: then an interesting little decision the Phillies made yesterday is
Speaker 1: that Seth Johnson, who they just got in the Gregory
Speaker 1: Soto trade, is going to start on Sunday in place
Speaker 1: of Tyler Phillips. Tyler Phillips goes out and gives up
Speaker 1: six runs and two thirds of an inning. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, his last four I think he's got an
Speaker 1: the array of over seventeen. So they pull him out,
Speaker 1: They option him out, and Seth Johnson gets a start,
Speaker 1: which again is fascinating because they they traded Gregory Soto
Speaker 1: to get this guy and Moysey's Chasse, who's also throwing
Speaker 1: the ball incredibly well in the minor leagues. What do
Speaker 1: we think about Seth Johnson making his debut? That's right,
Speaker 1: I mean it depends how he pitches on but man,
Speaker 1: talk about a trade that could pay immediate evidence who
Speaker 1: at the time. At the time, you're thinking it's more
Speaker 1: of an addition by subtraction trade, right, You're just saying
Speaker 1: that get Sodo out of there. He's not happy, he's
Speaker 1: not throwing, well, get him out boom. Seth Johnson could
Speaker 1: come up and really be a nice little, nice little
Speaker 1: bonus prize.
Speaker 4: I'm not going to judge the trade on Sunday. You'd
Speaker 4: like to see the pitch well. But you know, more importantly,
Speaker 4: they added a couple of good young arms to their
Speaker 4: system and Seth Johnson former first round pick, first round
Speaker 4: arm he's had. You know, he was slowed by the
Speaker 4: COVID season, he was slowed by Tommy john but all
Speaker 4: indications are you know, he's starting to put it together
Speaker 4: and sometimes it takes guy's time. I mean there are many,
Speaker 4: many examples of that, so you know Soto has gotten
Speaker 4: it together. A little bit down in Baltimore. He's running
Speaker 4: up a bunch of zeros lately. But he didn't want
Speaker 4: to be here, and you can't have a guy who
Speaker 4: didn't want to be here, wasn't accepting of his role.
Speaker 4: And to add two good young arms, I think it
Speaker 4: has the potential to be a hell of a trade.
Speaker 5: You know how important pitching is.
Speaker 4: Anytime you can add to your stocks with good stock
Speaker 4: of pitching with good arms, it's a good move. But
Speaker 4: you'd love to see the kid pitch well, establish himself,
Speaker 4: and pitching depth is so important and so needed in
Speaker 4: this franchise. It would be great if you pitch well.
Speaker 4: It'd be even better if he comes to camp next
Speaker 4: year with a chance to earn a spot on the
Speaker 4: big league roster or go to Triple A and be
Speaker 4: that sixth guy that you know you're going to rely
Speaker 4: on at some point. So really eager to see what
Speaker 4: he can do Sunday, and really eager to see what
Speaker 4: Zach Wheeler can do tonight because he is in a
Speaker 4: he's in a sprint to the cy Young with Chris Saale,
Speaker 4: who dialed up another really good one against Colorado the
Speaker 4: other night.
Speaker 3: So I typically do not like moving players on your
Speaker 3: major league roster to just shift things around. But in
Speaker 3: this case, I think it's going to work out very,
Speaker 3: very well. It was a little bit of a buy
Speaker 3: subtraction for Soto, and again I don't typically when you're
Speaker 3: in a hunt, you don't typically want to do that,
Speaker 3: But you're right about that, Jim. I don't think he
Speaker 3: wanted to be hear didn't fit and it was clear
Speaker 3: that that was the case. And if they can get
Speaker 3: something out of him that becomes productive, that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 3: It obviously interested to see how he handles things on Sunday.
Speaker 2: But you know, just like any other player, some of.
Speaker 3: These guys just need a new place to play. They
Speaker 3: need a fresh start. They need somebody who might get
Speaker 3: in there in their head a little bit and give
Speaker 3: him a little bit different information that might help them click,
Speaker 3: whatever the case may be.
Speaker 2: Hopefully that's what's happening with this young man.
Speaker 3: And you know, roll the dice because their fifth spot
Speaker 3: right now is kind of ugly.
Speaker 2: No one's really stepped forward.
Speaker 3: Alard has pitched well in that in that role, but
Speaker 3: I think they want to give this guy a shot
Speaker 3: because he's pitched so damn.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, Alan is eligible to be recalled on September tenth.
Speaker 1: So I guess if Seth Johnson's struggles and they feel
Speaker 1: like there's you know, they they have the option to
Speaker 1: bring an alert back. But I guess if Seth takes
Speaker 1: it and shows well, maybe they just keep him, keep
Speaker 1: him in that spot. There's I think the fourth starter
Speaker 1: only has like four more starts to go this season,
Speaker 1: and then you know, so you can suck it up.
Speaker 5: Well, they're a good really good shape.
Speaker 4: You know, you win the first you win two in Toronto,
Speaker 4: you won five in a row. Excuse me, you win
Speaker 4: the first one in Miami. Now you got Wheeler and
Speaker 4: Nola leading into Johnson. Really good shape going into the
Speaker 4: rest of this series in Miami, especially with Wheeler and Nola.
Speaker 4: I want to ask you, guys, any concern about Ranger
Speaker 4: Suarez is significant and noticeable dip in velocity on Thursday
Speaker 4: night in Miami.
Speaker 1: That's a great question. I noticed that as well. It
Speaker 1: was down about what a mile and a half two
Speaker 1: miles an hour? Two miles an hour, right, I mean
Speaker 1: so across the board, yeah, across up. So a guy
Speaker 1: coming off a back injury, when you know they say
Speaker 1: it was a lower back injury, non serious back injury,
Speaker 1: and three starts in he's you know, he struggled in
Speaker 1: his last start. The Velos down. You know, Rob Thompson
Speaker 1: didn't indicate it. He was frustrated or concerned about it
Speaker 1: last night. But that's something you're absolutely gonna watch down
Speaker 1: the stretch. Is you need him healthier. I mean, we're ruben,
Speaker 1: What did you think? I mean, I know he was
Speaker 1: throwing the ball well five scoreless innings, so you can
Speaker 1: obviously make that that that's an easy argument to make. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Velo's down. He didn't have his sinker going, but man,
Speaker 1: he located the off speed pitches were working, and he's
Speaker 1: not really velo guy. No rangers said that in the
Speaker 1: past anytime his Villos, and I was like, listen, I
Speaker 1: never have a good fastball. I haven't had a good
Speaker 1: fastball a day in my life. But I don't really
Speaker 1: need it. But down two from what his usual fastball
Speaker 1: is makes makes me wonder.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was concerned when it was coming out of
Speaker 3: his hand in the first inning. There's no question about it.
Speaker 3: Man to Tom and I were looking at each other
Speaker 3: in the booth, going, well, what's going on here. It
Speaker 3: made me think of the Sentae Padia when he used
Speaker 3: to start games.
Speaker 2: He was on like, you know, eighty nine.
Speaker 3: Miles an hour, and I had it called down, like
Speaker 3: what the hell is going on?
Speaker 2: Like cut it loose, pal, you hurt? What's going on anyway?
Speaker 3: And then he started throwing ninety five And it's a
Speaker 3: weird cat anyway. But that said, what it did concern
Speaker 3: me early. It does still concern me some. But the
Speaker 3: fact that I saw some elevation in that velocity as
Speaker 3: the game went on, that's a positive sign. So it
Speaker 3: went sort of like from an eighty eight or eighty
Speaker 3: nine mile on hour fastball to somewhere around ninety ninety
Speaker 3: one on the average later on in the game, and
Speaker 3: he sort of maintained that at least through what eighty
Speaker 3: some pitches. Yeah, is it a concern, Yeah, of course,
Speaker 3: because he's had some issues. He I don't think he's hurt.
Speaker 3: But again, I think part of it is a product
Speaker 3: of the guy just not having been on the mound.
Speaker 3: I mean, the guy wasn't didn't throw any rehab games.
Speaker 2: It's different. He's his You still have to get your
Speaker 2: sea legs under that. And I know it's a third
Speaker 2: time he's throwing.
Speaker 3: But when you have that that long of a break
Speaker 3: and you don't have an actual rehab start. I know
Speaker 3: they did simulated games and all that stuff, it's not
Speaker 3: really the same. And I still I still think he's
Speaker 3: working on getting his legs underneath him and his body
Speaker 3: back together to the point where.
Speaker 2: He's one hundred percent on the nose.
Speaker 3: Now you know he can pitch it ninety five percent obviously,
Speaker 3: especially against a team like the Miami Marlins because.
Speaker 2: It's not a great team. But he did carve up
Speaker 2: his own it was that was that was a positive.
Speaker 3: He threw strikes, didn't look like he was laboring, and uh,
Speaker 3: and that that's.
Speaker 2: All a good sign. But you know, you got to
Speaker 2: think about it.
Speaker 4: So you know what I loved is I did love
Speaker 4: the breaking ball was down, down, down.
Speaker 5: I loved that it had really good shape.
Speaker 4: I mean it wasn't you know, it didn't have the
Speaker 4: velocity we've seen it, but it was down.
Speaker 5: It had good shape and it was in a good spot.
Speaker 5: So I like that.
Speaker 4: Excuse me, I want to Rubin put your GM hat
Speaker 4: on for me, and you face these decisions throughout your
Speaker 4: whole career. And Todd and I covered them. Rangers got
Speaker 4: one more year of arbitration be a free agent after
Speaker 4: twenty five. Typically with a pitcher like that, a front
Speaker 4: office would spend the off season and I'm sure they've
Speaker 4: already done it thinking about do they want to engage
Speaker 4: for a long term.
Speaker 5: Deal and they may have already who knows, But.
Speaker 4: Is that something you know you would do this winter
Speaker 4: or do you do you want to see more from him,
Speaker 4: especially after the bump in the road mid season this
Speaker 4: year with the injury or whatnot.
Speaker 3: So I think you know, as a GM, you have
Speaker 3: to go back to experience, right and you have to
Speaker 3: think about what things, what has happened in the past,
Speaker 3: certain scenarios, and certain things about the game that are
Speaker 3: sort of absolute. I get really concerned about backs.
Speaker 2: They're very tricky. It's a really tricky endeavor.
Speaker 3: I mean, Cole Hamil's happened to manage his back issues.
Speaker 2: And did a really good job of it.
Speaker 3: It was one of the reasons why we were okay
Speaker 3: with him going long term because he worked very hard
Speaker 3: at putting himself into a position and to be fine
Speaker 3: with his back.
Speaker 2: He did a lot of core work, He did a
Speaker 2: lot of.
Speaker 3: Work, you know, whatever is necessary for him to have
Speaker 3: success now, Ranger, because he's had multiple back issues.
Speaker 2: I got to be careful with that. And I think
Speaker 2: I'm gonna probably let this play out through the end
Speaker 2: of the through the end.
Speaker 3: Of his tenure here with the Phillies, to make sure
Speaker 3: that this guy is.
Speaker 2: Is okay with his back. And I love the guy.
Speaker 3: I would, you know, mind that I that I would
Speaker 3: that I would uh, you know, go ahead in and
Speaker 3: and do the long term with him just because of
Speaker 3: who he is.
Speaker 2: But my issue you with you know.
Speaker 3: When you got a BA back issue with a picture
Speaker 3: or with any player, I think you got to be cautious.
Speaker 5: I'm right on board with you. Yeah, I want to
Speaker 5: see more.
Speaker 4: I want to exercise some caution here. I want to
Speaker 4: see him getting great physical shape. I just want to
Speaker 4: see what twenty twenty five looks like. And I would
Speaker 4: love to extend the relationship and have him be a
Speaker 4: Philly for a long time. I think he's a great
Speaker 4: picture and a great guy and a great teammate.
Speaker 5: I just want to see a little bit more. And
Speaker 5: I think that's.
Speaker 4: Quite uh you know, level headed, and probably something they're
Speaker 4: discussing up on the executive level, how do you kind
Speaker 4: of frame it up?
Speaker 1: Todd, Well, yeah, I think for me, like it's a
Speaker 1: it's a challenge for Ranger next season. You know, can
Speaker 1: you actually go from point A to point B healthy
Speaker 1: an entire entire year. It's not just the back. He's
Speaker 1: had some other health issues over time. I know that
Speaker 1: one spring he had COVID and that knocked him out,
Speaker 1: but but he had He's had elbow and and so
Speaker 1: I think like, if you would sign him now or
Speaker 1: in the off season, and you know, something happens down
Speaker 1: the road, he say, Man, this guy has been hurt
Speaker 1: all the time for whatever reason, and man, you sign
Speaker 1: him to a long term extension. This guy has never
Speaker 1: been able to stay healthy. So yeah, I would absolutely
Speaker 1: want to see him get through an entire season healthy,
Speaker 1: be productive, and then do it. I don't think there's
Speaker 1: any rush. And they have Wheeler locked up, they have
Speaker 1: Nola locked up, they have Christopher Sanchez locked up, They
Speaker 1: have Andrew Painter coming down the pike, so they have
Speaker 1: they have some depth there, they have some options coming.
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's anything urgent. Where like, man,
Speaker 1: if you lose Ranger Suarez, you guys are totally screwed
Speaker 1: going forward. So I think they can afford some patience.
Speaker 1: They can afford some patience with him. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully he dials it in and he gets his money
Speaker 1: and he stays because he's fun and watch like he said.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so he comes to camp next year totally motivated
Speaker 4: and goes out and has a sig On type season.
Speaker 5: But that's that's win, win, win win forever. Yeah, who cares?
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: John Middleton's shown that if you know, he'll reward guys
Speaker 1: with good seasons. So you know, I think you would
Speaker 1: take that that that that that universe where Ranger goes
Speaker 1: out and he goes all right, guys, you didn't want
Speaker 1: to lock me up the last off season. I'm going
Speaker 1: to go out and win twenty Yeah in the area
Speaker 1: you're right above two.
Speaker 5: Fascinating little off season issue, I think.
Speaker 3: And I used to think of that whole arbitration process,
Speaker 3: which is sort of a necessary evil, like if a
Speaker 3: guy got awarded, you know whatever, whether we lost or
Speaker 3: won or whatever the case may be. I mean, I
Speaker 3: believe in performance and to be paid for performance, and
Speaker 3: if you perform, then you get paid. And that's the
Speaker 3: way it should be, and so if the man does perform,
Speaker 3: then he should be paid handsomely.
Speaker 2: It's as simple as that.
Speaker 4: Well, Ruben, with your crappy internet today, you're not getting
Speaker 4: paid because your performance has been shaky.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it. I sucked, my bad. This is
Speaker 2: a billion dollar hotel and I can't get Wi Fi.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that could be a problem for us.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, Well we will be back on Monday
Speaker 1: to talk more phillies. So, uh, we had good time,
Speaker 1: even though Ruben crapped out on us a couple of times.
Speaker 2: It happens.
Speaker 1: This is this is an internet based show, so there's
Speaker 1: I mean, if I could behind the scenes, right, We've
Speaker 1: had some we've had some scary moments on here when
Speaker 1: we've had some guests. I'm literally dripping bullets. Cole Hamil's
Speaker 1: when he was on, he was cutting in and out,
Speaker 1: and I mean the sweat coming out of my body
Speaker 1: was just I was like, oh my god, we're gonna
Speaker 1: lose this whole thing.
Speaker 2: So, uh, you know, you don't have to sweat for me, Todd,
Speaker 2: don't worry about.
Speaker 1: That, all right, guys, Uh, I will say, because we
Speaker 1: don't know if Ruben can say, smell you later, Smell
Speaker 1: you lator boys.
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