WEBVTT - The Fish That Got Away 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.760 Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Phillies Show with Rupa Tomorrow 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.599 Junior Jim Salisbury. I'm todd z Lucky. It is Monday, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.760 May thirteenth, twenty twenty four. The Phillies took two out 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.720 of three this weekend against the Marlins in Miami. Ranger 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.240 Suarez did his thing on Friday night, seven scoreless innings, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.479 Taiwan Walker one run six innings on Saturday, and I 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:41.160 think everybody at Lone Depot Park they're calling it now 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.360 on Sunday, and probably even including the people in the 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.519 Marlins dugout thought that this is going to be a 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.120 Phillies sweep. With Zach Wheeler on the mound on Sunday, 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.240 they give him a three to nothing lead. Nick Castianos 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:54.320 hits a three run home run in the first inning. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.080 Zach Wheeler goes ten pitches in the first inning, game over, 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.160 and then Zach Wheeler just really struggles the rest of 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.120 the way, gives up six runs in four innings. He 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.600 did not look comfortable, he was not throwing strikes. He 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.040 didn't seem to be on the same page with Garrett Stubbs. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.240 It was just a weird kind of start for Zach 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:20.760 Wheeler did not pitch greatly, and afterwards he said, you know, 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.680 the funny part is when I'm not throwing strikes, I 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:27.600 can feel it on the mound and so I can 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.800 kind of correct. He's like, but today I felt great, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:32.560 and I couldn't figure out what to do, and I 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:34.640 couldn't correct it, and so there he goes is his 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.280 game's over at four innings. So you're always happy to 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.800 take two out of three. But man, I feel like 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.720 I feel like this is a series the Phillies. The 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:44.880 Phillies should have swept. 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.680 Yeah, it tells you how good they're going. When you 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:50.840 come out of you know, you win a series, take 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.120 two of three, and you come out of it with 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.360 a you know, not a foul taste in your mouth, 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.320 but certainly a little taste of disappointment that you didn't 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.400 wrap that up and and and get the three games sweep, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.600 especially when you stake one of the best pitchers in 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.960 baseball to a three donthn lead before he even takes 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.840 the mound. To me, that's a game. I think Zach 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:13.839 Wheeler will tell you this that he needs to lock 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.640 that baby down. There were other things I think that 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.640 went wrong in the game. There was. They didn't really 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.639 build on that lead. They had an opportunity with that 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.520 leadoff double by Stott in the middle innings and then 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:27.600 just a poor bunt and the poor base running play 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:29.560 and they kind of run themselves out of an inning and 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.680 it's a it's a quick inning. But I mean, you mentioned, 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.120 you know, you mentioned he may maybe had trouble meshing 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:38.600 a little bit with Garrett Stubbs. I mean that to 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:42.200 me dovetails with another concern. Real Mudro doesn't play. He's 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.560 got a banged up knee. Schwarber's got a sore back, 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.400 he doesn't play. Trey Turner's already out. We've seen this 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.760 team in the last couple of years survive periods without 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:59.160 Bryce Harper, you know, crucial player. We've talked about their 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:03.440 resilience and next man up attitude, but even those things 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.960 have their limits. So you really have to come out 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.320 of this series hoping that Real Mudo Schwarber are just 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.560 you know, minor tweaks, and that we're going to see 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:16.919 them pretty soon, because you know, even the most resilient 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.359 teams I think have their limits when it comes to injuries. 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.920 Yeah, there's no question about that. Here's my here's my 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:24.920 thing I have. 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:28.880 You know, my biggest thing about injuries is I think 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:32.160 about the catching position a lot with the Phillies because 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:34.600 you talk about it like a serious drop off on 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:36.960 the Garrett Stubbs great energy, does a pretty good job 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.720 behind the plate, dedicated. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.920 You know, they love them, the great teammate, all that 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:43.680 stuff that said. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:48.760 You know, without real muto back there, you don't have 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:50.600 a whole lot of light at the end of the tunnel, 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.240 even behind Garrett Stubs, so you're not looking at a 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.800 ton of depth. You know, Marshawn is a kid that 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:01.680 has literally cannot get off the training table set. He's 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.760 had all types of different issues. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.320 I think he's still on the il, not able to 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:08.640 really do much. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.040 He's got back, he's got risks, he's got this, he's 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.200 got that. And when you start thinking about, you know, 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.440 where can the Phillies really get hurt, it would be 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.479 behind the plate. And I know there's not a ton 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.120 of teams that have that kind of depth. I just 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:27.760 don't know that you know that they that'd be a 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.760 tough one for them to survive. That would be the 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.920 one spot where I feel like they don't have enough 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.480 depth that they would have real trouble surviving. But I'm 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:39.280 going to try to stay on the positive side of 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.720 what happened in the last couple of games, last three games. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:48.599 Ranger Suarez is a king. I mean, the man is 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.159 an absolute machine. 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:57.040 Love the way he's going about his business, calm, cool, collected. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.960 I mean everything he does is just spectacular. And you 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.720 know he's setting up everything with his fastball. I mean 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.120 it's really it's a four scene fastball. It's a two 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:11.040 seam fastball. It's really spectacular watching work and his other 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.640 breaking stuff is really good, and he's throwing strikes with 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.000 it and all that other stuff. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.520 But I mean that just the command and his. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.120 Ability to throw the pitch it pitches where he wants 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.839 to is just spectacular. And it is eight again, and 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:26.680 we've talked about it probably a million times. 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:28.719 It's a testament to being able to pitch. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.640 If you can pitch and you can throw your fastball 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.240 and throw your pitches where you want to, you can 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:38.920 keep guys off off target and off timing, you can 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.320 have a ton of success. Also, Taiwan Walker threw the 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.080 ball well again. You know, you start thinking about the 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:51.760 pitching depth and what the Phillies have pretty darn awesome 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.200 that Taiwan Walker again not throwing ninety four ninety five 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.400 ninety six miles an hour. He's cutting the ball, he's 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.640 splitting it, he's thing different things with it. 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.839 And it's it's a really cool thing to see. 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:09.039 You got to give Caleb Coffin some love because whatever, 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.920 you know, pitching plans they have and however they're you know, 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.919 working it over, they're doing a really really. 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:18.239 Good job of it. And they're pitching. 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:22.200 There's not one guy on that staff that is that's 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.800 blown people away with their stuff and the starting rotation. 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.760 So Todd, let me ask you Wheeler's uh, his command 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:31.880 just wasn't there. You know, I was watching him. You 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.320 just miss in with what looked like a sinker. He 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:37.880 missed away with the look look like a four steamer, 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.880 and then you know he throws one right down the 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.919 middle to Josh Bell and he just crushes it. What 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.320 was Wheeler like after the game? What did he talk about? 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.320 Where did he think he got off track a little bit? 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.159 You know, it's maybe because he had a lot of 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.279 time to cool down. Uh, he actually was in pretty 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.760 decent spirits. He kind of just said listen, I did 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.800 not have my good stuff today. He was kind of 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.960 baffled by the way he threw. He didn't really understand it. 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.000 He said, like I said earlier, he felt great, but 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:17.360 he was he just didn't seem comfortable, you know. He 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.360 he just seemed out of sorts. So he throws that 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.400 that cutter down the middle to Josh Bell hits a 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.440 three run home run. He immediately goes to home plate 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.120 to chat with the umpire. There was a two to 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.040 one pitch that he thought should have been a strike. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.640 His borderline was called a ball. He was thrown a 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.520 lot of balls out, like a lot of balls out. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:37.200 He said, you know, they were high scene balls. I 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:38.880 don't like the high scene balls. So every time I 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.200 got a high seamen ball, I was throwing it out. 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.160 You know, we mentioned the Garrett Stubbs. You know, he 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.600 shook off Stubbs. I think in the second inning. It 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.120 was in a bat with Nick Gordon like two or 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.400 three or four times, and finally Stubbs came out and 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.040 they chatted. So it's kind of a lot of different 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.440 things going on. It was very un Zach Wheeler like, 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:03.160 and but he did have some time to cool down 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.040 It was funny because you remember a couple of weeks 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.320 ago in Los Angeles, he was like five innings, but 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.400 he was all over the place. He was not happy, 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.720 he was very He was certainly got surly Zach after 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:21.360 the game. More more more even keeled Zach after this one. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:28.040 But you know, going back to the stubs thing and Rubin, 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.720 I agree, like if something would happen to JT long term, 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:33.240 that would be that would probably be a devastating blow. 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.280 Is just looking at some of the options, like Mark 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:37.920 Shawn is coming back. He's supposed to start playing in games, 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.400 maybe within the next few days, finally starting getting back 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.840 to some health. But Ramas Garcia was a guy they 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:48.360 had in camp in spring training that they thought, you know, 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.920 they liked a little bit, could play some defense. You 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:53.280 receive the ball pretty well behind the plate. He's betting 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.280 one thirty nine and triple A three eighty one ops. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.079 Their other catcher, Jose Goadoi's betting one fourteen with A 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.600 three twenty fours. So they're not getting anti production at 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.120 triple A from any of their catchers. So and Marshawn's 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.440 the only other catcher on the on the forty man roster, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:13.439 so they and the good news is they don't think 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.040 anything with JT is serious. They said his knee was 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.720 banged up. I asked Rob yesterday morning, could he play? 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.600 He said he could play, He could play. We want 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:27.240 to be careful with him because it's JT, and so 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:28.880 they're going to check on him today. He said he 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.920 could have played an emergency situation. So maybe he's back tonight. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.040 Maybe they give him an extra day. Kyle Schwarber, he's 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.000 got a sore back. He felt it on his swing 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.240 in the seventh inning on Saturday. Then he actually said 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.680 he might have aggravated further running from first to third 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:43.520 in the seventh thing, so he came out of the game. 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.280 Talked to Kyle on Saturday. He does not think it's 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.080 an il situation. In fact, he thought on Saturday he 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:51.640 was going to try to take some swings at some 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.679 point to see if he can pinch it if necessary. 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.400 It was not necessary on Saturday. They could have used 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.880 him though. On Sunday, Cody Clements came in late to 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.200 pinch hit instead of Kyle Schwarber. Cody Clements popped up, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.679 so the bad the back is still not good to go, 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.600 but they got to get those guys healthy. I think 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:12.480 this is really the only thing that I think could 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.080 kind of screw the Phillies up right now is if 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.960 they have turned her down, real Muto down, Schwarber down, 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.199 you know, the thank goodness for the starting pitching, it 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:23.840 would give them a puncher's chance. 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.320 But you know, no question these guys healthy. 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.880 It doesn't necessarily scare me these injuries, but it concerns 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:35.360 me because no one knows this better than Ruben. Guys 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:41.640 getting North authority. Injuries happen, and we saw it, you know, 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.360 a little more than a decade ago, with with you know, 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.640 a great team that's continually got banged up, and all 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.480 of a sudden it's not a great team. How does 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.360 a GM approach all this, Ruben, are you out there 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:58.120 looking for not to slight anybody, but you're looking for 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.959 more catching depth, You're looking for more organizational depth? Or 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:01.720 what do you do? 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:03.199 Well? 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.280 I'm looking for more catching depth because I think it's 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:10.560 just too important a position. At the very least, somebody 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:12.760 that I can know, that I know can run a 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:17.400 baseball game for a championship caliber team, because if someone 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.240 were to go down, you know your fellow one foul, 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:21.480 tip away or whatever the case may be, and so 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.679 you have to be prepared for that. 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.600 That's one thing. I think. The other. 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:29.840 You know, you're always sort of out out on the 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.240 prowl and you're always peeking around to see what what 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.720 can help you. You know, they made that trade for 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.160 Ohapi and they moved to Ohapy for Brandon Marsh, which 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:40.959 was a great trade for both teams. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:42.679 You love those kind of. 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:46.320 Trades because you know you're getting equity to both sides 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:50.840 of the of the of the trade, and it was 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.959 an important one for both. But it also hurts you 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:59.800 are catching depth and you know, you know that's that's 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.040 one of the difficulties with moving that. 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.240 Type of player in that position. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.920 That said, I think that you know Dave Dombrowski, he's 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.839 a very shrewd man. He knows the game, he understands 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:19.280 I'm sure that one either there feeling good about Marshawn, 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.360 who I think can actually run won a game pretty well, 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:26.880 but he hasn't played at all, like almost shoot, almost 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.280 two years, he hasn't. He hasn't played, and that's a 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.600 big big thing to get back into it and then 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.880 and then to have the understanding if he has to 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.240 play to have the understanding of how to run, you know, 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.920 run the game with a staff that's had a lot 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:43.000 of success. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.120 And you know, a team that you're expected to have win. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.480 That said, I'm sure that Dave Dombrowski's on top of it, 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.720 and if there's an opportunity to add some of that death, 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.439 I'm sure he'll take that chance and try to make 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.000 that happen because I know he knows that that's a 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.120 you know, really really important position. But that said, let's 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:09.400 hope that doesn't doesn't that doesn't become a factor. J 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:14.079 JT's super, super durable and knock Wood they're gonna be 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:15.400 They're gonna be just fine. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.880 So the last two games with Schwarber out, Rob Thompson 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.520 has had wit Mayfield hit leadoff, and I asked him 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.880 why Wit over anybody else. He said, well, he's hit 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.040 lead off a lot. I mean, he's hit lead off. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:27.920 Most of his career. 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:33.400 But I'm curious for your guys opinion. Say the Schwarber 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.880 thing lingers a few more days, Say the back doesn't 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:37.640 get any better, and he goes on the injured list 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:43.240 for ten I guess it's ten days, fifteen days, fifteen days. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.319 Do you like Witt Mayfield in the leadoff spot or 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.920 would you take a red hot Bryce and Stott out 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:56.040 of the five hole and move him up. There's two 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.520 different schools of thought there, right, you go at the experience, 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:00.840 got the top you don't want to except Bryce and Scott? 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.280 Or do you say screw that. I want Bryson Stott 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:03.880 hitting leadoff? 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:05.880 What do you guys want to do? Yeah? 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.560 I would go with Stott. You know, I always kind 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.320 of read into how people, you know, act and talk, 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.760 and Rob Thompson has con continually said over the years 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.120 that he thinks Bryson Stott has all the tools to 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.120 hit lead off one day and be pretty good at it. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:26.680 So he's done a little bit before. I think we'd 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.880 probably see them see him there, but you know, who knows. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.960 I thought we'd see I didn't think we were going 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:38.960 to see a ton of soda of Edmundo Sosa in 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:40.960 the lineup, But he seems to have found something at 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:42.560 the plate and he's out there all the time now. 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:46.200 So I don't think it would affect going to leadoff, 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:51.080 would affect Bryson Stott's hot hand. I think it, if anything, 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.560 maybe could enhance it because boom, you're in the leadoff hole, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.680 and that would even to me, ramp up your concentration, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.800 you feel good about yourself, You almost like a little 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.600 bit of a promotion, and go and do the job. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:06.680 I love the fact that stops swinging the bat again. 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.280 I mean, I actually made the bold statement, and he's 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:14.440 got a chance to win a batting title, and with 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.200 Louisa rise in the uh in in the same league, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:23.400 it makes it tough. That said, it's nice to see 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.000 him swinging the bat well after a very slow start 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:26.760 for him. 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.400 And I do think depending on that, like the structure 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:30.720 of the. 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.720 As long as as long as I think trade Turner's 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.240 not is out, I think that they'll probably use a 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:43.000 left right combination. Like against the left you probably see 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.440 Meryfield leadoff, and then against the right you may may 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.840 very well see Bryce and Stott leadoff. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.480 I just have that strange feeling if Schoreberd is not. 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.400 Able to not able to go for a while, I 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.440 just think that that might be the formula. That said, 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.800 you know, I'm confident in Bryce and stop because when 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.760 he's swinging the back the way he's swinging the bat 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:09.040 right now and for a lot of the year last 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:14.600 year and watching his growth overall, I got no problem 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:19.480 with him in the one hole. It's great to have options, baby, Yeah, right, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.000 that's great to have options. 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.840 So if if Schwarber is not right, Schwarber can't play tonight, 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:30.080 Nick Castianos is probably gonna dh and which is kind 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:34.680 of maybe I'm a nerd, but I like the idea tonight. Tonight, 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.880 tonight you could have Brandon Marsham left, Johann Rojas and 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:41.640 center and Christian Pace. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:42.080 And right field. 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.160 I mean, what a defensive outfield that could be just 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.840 for fun for one night, see them just track down 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:52.560 literally every fly ball. H Nick Castianos this weekend. I 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:56.040 don't I'm I'm never right on predictions, but I kind 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:57.640 of hinted that he was gonna have a good weekend 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.360 this weekend, just because he's home and he loves home, 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.520 and he's a vibes guy, he's a feelings guy. Hit 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.639 hit two home runs. And I don't know if you 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:08.639 guys saw the comments he made after Friday's game talking 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:14.159 about getting on a roll lately, but he said he 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:18.400 basically his entire career, he's never had a plan. I've 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:22.120 never looked for pitch. Basically, the game's glorified bratting practice. 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:23.959 And I'm going to get back to that. So it's 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.840 very Nick Castianos type quote. And I asked him, I said, 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.359 is this something that you kind of was there a 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:35.080 particular moment where you decided that you're going to start, 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.399 you know, stops thinking so much of the plate, And 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.480 he said, naw, it's just kind of like ice, right, 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:46.719 it just kind of melts away. So poets a poet, 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:47.719 he is a poet. 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.280 But it goes back, doesn't It go back to what 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.840 we talked about in the early stages of this podcast. 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.240 You know that there's so much information these days, so 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:02.399 much analysis, and it's not for everybody. And you know, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.840 hitting you know, they say baseball is a thinking man's game, 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.520 and yes it is, but it's also a reaction game. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.399 And there are thinking players and there are reaction players, 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:17.960 and sometimes thinking can be an enemy of natural, organic performance. 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.879 And Nick Castiano is a reaction guy, and he's a 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:22.760 field I mean, you look at that home run he 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:27.520 hit in the first inning yesterday. He either picked up 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.879 that spin out of the hand or he was sitting 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.040 breaking ball, and he demolished it and and you know 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.159 he's swinging at the first first three at bets. He 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:40.879 saw three pitches. I mean, so aggressive, sitting on something 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.640 gets it. If you're not going to get that pitch, 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.920 you're gonna be in trouble. But we could see him 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.159 warming a little bit before the trip to Miami, and 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.959 he's say, you know, he's a reaction player, you know, 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.760 and he's reacting and reacting to pitches, and he's and 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.439 he's warming up in it. It goes back to everything. 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:01.440 I think all three of us has said. The track 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.080 record is good and he's gonna get going. 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:06.040 I mean, it's nice to see him get it going. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.200 He feels comfortable. Obviously, it's his home in Miami. That's 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.679 his that's his space, that's his his space. 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:12.879 Hopefully he can carry it. 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.080 At some point, he's going to get closer and closer 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:17.760 to the numbers on the baseball card. 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:20.359 I did I agree with you, Jim. 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.280 I saw him starting to swing the bat a little 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.520 bit better before they left, you know, driving some balls 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.520 to the right side, right center field. 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.520 Pop it on over there, drove the ball. He's you know, 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:31.160 he hip you know, ball off the wall. 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.840 I mean he's got some when he's doing that and 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:36.879 taking the types of swings that he took on that 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:39.080 on that home it was like really free and easy. 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:40.960 It was a free, easy swing. 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.320 It was like, you know, tension free, like Charlie Nanuel 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.040 used to say, a tension free swing. And I think 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:50.720 when he's swinging that way and he's not thinking, he's 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.520 just reacting as you said, and just letting his natural 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:54.080 ability to. 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:58.000 Hit come through, then he's going to be He's going 0:19:58.040 --> 0:19:58.600 to be effective. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.159 It's a cool thing to watch, like, uh, each player 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.360 is starting to take his turn getting hot. And that's 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.480 the beauty of this lineup is that there's some streaky 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.399 guys on the team. There's no question about it. I 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:14.080 mean Harper streaky at times and JT streaky at times, 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:18.800 and Schwarber streaky obviously, And but if you get enough 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.120 guys going at the right time, you can get two 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:23.200 or three guys going, and which is what is sort 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.719 of happening. It's like the perfect storm. 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.159 Then that's that's the beauty of this The depth of 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:29.000 this lineup is. 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:33.200 It is that you can have those two or three 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.440 guys carry you for a while. And it's really nice 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.240 to see Johann Rojas starting to play and swing the 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.440 bat well. I mean, no one's talking about Johann Rojas, 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.880 and he's starting to grow as a hitter and as 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.360 a player, and his confidence is growing. And he is 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:50.760 not an out in that nine hole anymore. He's a 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.000 guy that can do some stuff. And to turn that 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:54.720 lineup over for Schwartz. 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:58.320 Todd, you were you were mentioned that, you know, going 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.000 to City Field, you're eager to see that defensive alignment. 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.560 It's a big yard. Yes, Ruben coach the outfielders up there, 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:06.800 tell us a little bit about playing the outfield. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.800 Yeah, we had Conforto and Nemo out. 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:16.359