WEBVTT - We've Only Just Begun 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:19.040 Hi, This is Chase Utley and this is the Phillies Show. Hi, everybody, 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.360 Welcome to the Philly Show. Rubenamar Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:26.640 so lucky. Monday, July fifteenth, twenty twenty four, the Phillies 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:32.159 finished the first half with sixty three wins, franchise record 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.680 sixty two wins. At the All Star break, they finished 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.839 the first half with a eighteeny three bludgeoning by the 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.599 Oakland A's. It was like the most bizarre way to end, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.600 like the greatest first half in franchise history. They play 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:52.599 so great all first half, dominant starting pitching, fantastic offense. 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:57.000 And then yesterday at Citizens Bank Park, the A's just 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.560 hit a barrage of home runs. Garrett Stubbs finishes on 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.560 the mound, and I thought Kyle Schwarber summed it up, beast. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.319 He's like, well, this is when you need to kind of, 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.760 you know, look at the big picture. Today's a good 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:09.880 big picture day. As you go in to the second 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.840 half and you spread across the country, you remind yourself that, 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.919 you know, it was a pretty fun, fun first few months, 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.680 and you know, you remind yourself that were in pretty 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.520 good shape going into the second half, and you remind 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.800 yourself that the eyes are on the big prize, which 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.039 is the World Series, and so they I don't think 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:32.960 they were too happy, but I also don't think they 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.120 were too crushed, because this is not the twenty sixteen Phillies. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.800 Twenty seventeen Phillies on their way to ninety wins or 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:43.199 ninety losses. They'll be okay, but good, good first half 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.160 of the Phillies other than yesterday, right. 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.760 Yeah, yesterday was pretty ugly. One question was was that 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.480 game sponsored by little known as or Ralph because there 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:58.400 were a lot of meatballs. 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:02.160 There are a lot, There are a lot of meatballs yesterday. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.960 I mean, you have Larry Butler hitting a couple of bombs, 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.359 and then you know, Brent Ruoker hits a couple of bombs. 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.720 Brent Ruoker, who right handed bat, right corner outfielder, not 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.440 really corner outfielder, more of a DH but hits a 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.560 couple of bombs over the back. That was the first 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:22.600 time ever batter's hit two four hundred fifty foot home 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.200 runs or more since stat Cast started measuring the same game. 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.280 That's how that's how bad. That's how many home runs? 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:33.760 Right yeah? He does. 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.200 He's got some bat speed, and he handles and he 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.359 hits the ball to the all fields. If he wanted 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.480 to audition for the Phillies, he certainly put on a show. 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:44.720 But my dad, as my dad would. 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.760 Say back in the day, if it was a tough 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.680 game like that, he would say, they threw a shoe. 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.000 He threw a shoe. 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.480 He threw his shoe. It was it was ugly. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.359 Yeah, it was a disappointing effort by Michael Mercato, who 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.200 I like as a young man. I might like the kid, 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.760 but he just has, especially over his last couple of outings, 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:15.519 just not able to command anything. I really like his arm. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.000 I really like his breaking ball. He's got an excellent curveball, 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:23.760 but that curveball was shaped differently. It's not breaking in 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.040 the twelve to six fashion. It's more, you know, sort 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:32.200 of ten whatever, ten five or whatever. It's just not 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.200 the same sort of break. And he's not able to 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:39.440 command it. He can't command your fastball, he can't command 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:40.040 your best pitch. 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:40.640 You're in trouble. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.360 And he left a lot of pitches in the middle 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:48.800 of the plate and even got a little tidbit funny story. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:55.960 I was driving up here to Carbondale and lo and behold, 0:03:55.960 --> 0:04:01.160 I run into Topper Rob Thompson at a stopped random 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:07.320 as he's driving up to As he's driving up to Canada. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.040 It was hilarious. I pull up and I'm looking to 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.880 my right. I go, that's I could see his gate, 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.440 you know, guy he sort of walks with sort of 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:18.919 a side to side gate and I'm. 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.480 Like, that's Topper. So I stopped the car, rolled down 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.719 him and I said hey. He looked at me, He's like, 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.440 what are you doing here? It's hilarious. I took a 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:27.280 picture of him there. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.680 I pt the picture a couple of friends of mine 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.560 and I was like, it was so funny. 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:35.080 We were sitting here. 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.640 So anyway, he was he was concerned that maybe it 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:41.960 got to the point where guys were tipping pitches or 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.640 something like that, because they were getting tattooed so badly. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:45.760 But it's weird. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:46.599 I don't know. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.320 I don't know if they were tipping. That's some of 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:49.920 that stuff was right over the plate. 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.039 Oh no, that's why I told him. I said, you know, 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:57.719 I just hadn't my advantage point watching the game partially 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.760 from the ball park and partially from the studio. 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:01.960 It looked like. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.839 There's a lot of pitches that were literally right down 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.719 Broad Street and then the nitro zone. 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.040 Well, the only reason that Mercado even sniffed yesterday was 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:12.039 because Zach Wheeler could not pitch because he's had the 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:17.839 back issue. And you know, talk to Zach yesterday. He's 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.080 going to come back the second series following the All 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.240 Star break in Minnesota, so he's gonna have about twelve 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.279 or thirteen days between starts. So, you know, Zach Wheeler, 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.599 they want to keep him healthy, so they skipped his 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.359 start yesterday. They're going to push him back in the rotation. 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:37.039 That rotation guy's first half phenomenal performance. Nothing I've seen 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.360 close to that since twenty eleven, maybe go back even 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.559 further than that. I can't remember a time of rotate. 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:49.400 Philly's rotation was his dominant in the first half with Wheeler, Sanchez, Suarez, Nola, 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:51.880 three All Stars. Nola could have been an All Star 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:53.840 if he really dig into those numbers. He's really has 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.520 some All Star worthy numbers as well. 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.680 Yeah, the rotation was great, but you know they end 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.920 the first half was concern. You know, Zach Wheeler doesn't 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:09.680 make a start Ranger Suarez has said, really, three poor 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:11.760 ones in a row and the fourth one was only 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.719 so so, so you know, there's two big concerns there. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.960 And until those guys are back on the mound looking 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.719 like themselves, you know, I will continue to have those 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.520 concerns because this team is built on pitching. We saw 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:30.360 this weekend what happens when you don't get good pitching. 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:32.760 One of the worst teams in baseball lights you up. 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.840 And that's what happened. They didn't get that, and in particular, 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.320 you didn't get that good starting pitching. I know yesterday 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:44.839 was a it was a bullpen game, but All Star 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:51.320 Break hitting at the right time. You know, Zach Wheeler 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:56.080 went from his back tightened up in the in the dugout. 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:56.719 Between innings too. 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.800 He's had it for two or three starts, to having 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.320 an MRI, to missing a start to now getting twelve 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:02.480 days off, So. 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:05.600 You know, right, yes, I'm concerned. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:10.120 You know, Ranger Suarez went from from a bad one 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.400 to dead arm to now he's gonna type back. He's 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.320 not gonna pitch on the All Star Game. I'll be 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.840 concerned until I see him back looking like himself. 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:21.679 Yeah, I agree, totally, agree with you, Jim. 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:27.160 My concerns are different from with Zach then with them 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:27.800 with Ranger. 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:29.280 With Zack it's the back. 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.680 I'm hopeful that it's just tightenus and it's just bothering 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.120 them and it's no big deal. Backs are tricky, as 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.320 we know, they can be very tricky. Cole Hamil's has 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.840 to deal with it even at times you see you 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:45.680 see Bryce Harper having to deal with it from time 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.480 to time. They're they're sort of a tricky thing because 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:54.520 they're attached to everything right, and so you hope that's okay. 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.160 And then with Ranger, it's. 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.720 More of a workload thing for me because he works 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.720 soon many innings in the first part of this and 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.720 so many ups and downs in the first part of 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.000 this season that he's it's sort of in a area 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:16.560 where he's never been in his career, and so it's 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.320 important for him to sort of bounce back and get 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:24.080 the rest necessary and be refreshed and start pitching the 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.480 way you know he was pitching in the early part 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.760 of the season, because he was, you know, Cliff Lee 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:30.080 like like a robot man. 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:31.360 It was unbelievable. 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.880 And I made mention to this, I guess I'm pre 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.280 and poster at some point where I felt like he 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.520 was throwing with the ball with a lot more effort 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:41.319 over the last. 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:41.840 Couple of games. 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.000 You can see him just trying to make his pitches 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.280 instead of just letting them happen fluid and easy. He's 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.600 trying to spin that breaking ball, and he's trying to 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.120 get that fastball to its spot, and it just looked 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:57.640 like he had a lot more effort to his delivery. 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.200 And I have a feeling that it might be have 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:05.040 to do with some fatigue uh in his overall body 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:09.520 and arm. And hopefully this break will get them, get 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:10.920 them going again and get them. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.439 Refreshed to uh to roll through the second half. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.240 Because you're right, Jim, if they're not pitching, uh, it 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.880 makes life really difficult. Look at look at some of 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.880 the teams out there. I mean, you can talk, you 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.400 can talk about all the teams that are that are struggling. 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.560 If it's not starting pitching, man, you're in trouble. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.640 Well you know you say, Jim, you used the word concern. 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.800 And Rob Thompson before the game he started, was asked 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.000 if he is concerned about his rotation. He said, I 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.960 don't want to say I'm concerned, concerned, but it's always 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.160 on my mind. Like you said, this team is built 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.480 on starting pitching, and he he basically said late August. 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.200 There's a stretch of games in like late August, early September. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.640 He's like, we're probably going to go to a six rotation. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.200 Now they've done that each of the last week. But 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.920 he you know, sometimes the managers and I understand why 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:58.560 you don't want to commit too early. Then you don't 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.440 do it and you're not getting all these questions asked. 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.400 The next few is why you're not doing it? But 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.680 he said, we're probably going to go to a six 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.440 man at some point, and it's probably here's the pocket 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.199 of games it was like late August, early September where 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.720 we're going to go to a six man because they 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.000 have to have Wheelers who as healthy. They have to 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.480 have Nola and Sanchez healthy, because you don't want to 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.200 be going in there with one of those guys down. 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.840 And now you're going to is it Spencer Turnbull, he's 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.600 not really back yet, is it Taiwan Walker still doesn't 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.640 have to split or whatever's happening at that time. So 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.240 something to keep an eye on going forward. 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:34.680 And I think that makes sense that, like you said, 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.360 they've done it before. Look, I think this break both 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.320 of these guys are getting makes sense right now. My 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.319 point is I just want to see them come out 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:50.920 of it fixed and looking like themselves. And Ranger, it's funny, 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.760 you all we talked about it, and we all have 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:54.720 been asked about it. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:56.640 In other places. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.000 There was so much euphoria about the way Ranger was 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.880 pitching April May June. You know, he looks like Cliff Lee. 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:08.760 He's been terrific. He's a favorite for the cy young 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.440 and I would always caution to the point of maybe 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.800 being a wet blanket. You've got to do it for 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.760 six months, and this is why you know, you've got 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.640 to do it for six months. So hopefully this is 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:27.680 just him encountering a speed bump and a challenging speed 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.920 bump on the road to learning how to do it 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:34.760 for six months and having his body being able to 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:40.760 deliver for six months. You know, hopefully he'll he'll you know, 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.480 pole vault over this speed bump and come out on 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.960 the other side better. Because he's crucial. You know, we've 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.839 seen the bats can disappear for a night for two 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.360 nights for three nights, baseball happens. We saw it here 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.280 last October at a really inopportune time. But the pitching 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.040 and the starting pitching especially has to remain consistent. That's 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.680 kind of what this team is built on. Hat tip 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.640 to the bullpen as well. It's really built on it. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:10.120 It's pitching staff and you need your best guys to 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:11.040 be your best guys. 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.880 Yeah, I totally agree with that. And for me, it's 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:19.640 not really an emotional thing. For uh. For for Ranger, 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:24.439 it's more of a physical thing because I think emotionally, 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.400 there's no question in my mind he's not scared. 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.720 He's not going to back down. That's that's not the issue. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.720 It's really having his body do what he what it 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.680 needs to do to perform. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.360 So you look back at the first half, first half, 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.520 Cy Young Philly Cy Young Award winner. Who do you pick? 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.880 There's a lot of options, There are a lot of options. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:46.959 Who do you if you had to pick the Phillies 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:51.760 best pitcher? Give him a fifty dollars gift card to Starbucks, 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.679 to Starbucks, you know, let him go out and get. 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:55.520 A give a sponsor. 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.440 We're going to sponsorship, get a cold brew, go get 0:12:58.440 --> 0:12:59.920 a cold brew or whatever you want them to get. 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:01.680 Who are you giving the fifty dollars gift card to 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:03.080 go ahead? 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:08.280 M I got, I got Zach Wheeler. He's still consistent. 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:16.160 He's just so so consistent. I just love the way 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:19.040 he goes about it. And even when he doesn't have 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.120 his best stuff, he's still you know, he's still firing 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.599 off six innings for you, and you know, throwing a 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:27.240 mixing an a quality start. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.320 So it's Zach for me. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.280 Yeah, he's ten and four two seven zero e Ra 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.000 Nola leads the staff with wins with eleven. But but 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.480 Wheeler's got the lowest dra for for whatever that's worth. 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.800 Leads the team in strikeouts only thirty five walks in 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.600 one hundred and sixteen innings. He's my guy as well. 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.200 Yeah, I would agree with you, but I would you know, 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:52.880 the speed bumps put a lot of attention on Ranger. 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.200 He had a great first half, still he did. 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:59.360 Chris had a great first half and underappreciated. Aaron Nola 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:03.640 had his you know, had a terrific, terrific, consistent, workman 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:08.120 like professional, successful first half as well. 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.360 So Wheeler is the winner. But you know they go 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:13.480 four d pretty good. 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:15.840 They do. There's a lot of one. There's a lot 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:16.840 of one. A's there too. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.040 Yeah, yeah, they're really I mean three love. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.200 I love the consistency of Aaron Nola. I mean he 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:22.840 really is. 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.040 I mean he gives up home runs because he leaves 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:26.640 pitches in the middle of the place, because he throws 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:31.880 so many strikes, and that's going to happen. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.920 But you know, Cole Hamill's used to give up home 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:36.160 runs left and right. 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.040 I mean you start looking at the length and breadth 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.040 of what Nola's done. I mean it's pretty outstanding as well. 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:43.680 Yeah. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.680 Noa's numbers are I mean just strikeouts. He's only walked 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.800 twenty seven guys in one hundred and nineteen innings. You're right, Reuben, 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:53.400 He's around the plate a lot. He gives up some 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.320 home runs but doesn't give up a lot of base runners. 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.640 First half MVP no brainer, right, Bryce Harper gets that 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.120 hands down. You can't really make it. I mean, I 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.680 guess you could make if he wanted to be contrarying. 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.920 You could say Alec Bohm is the first half MVP, 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:14.240 and you could say trade. You could say Trade Turner 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.800 is the first half m VP. But it's got to 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.720 be Bryce Harper. The numbers were just off the charts. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.200 Good it's Harper, but you know, terrific supporting cast. You 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.440 mentioned Turner. I mean, gosh, he's been other worldly since 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.120 coming back. Schwarber's having a great year, and Alec Bowman 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:34.560 has got seventy RBI's and he's really you know, Bryce 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:36.680 Harper's player of the month twice. 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.000 Right, yes, yes and June Yeah. 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.680 And you know, BAM has done a pretty good job 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:46.320 behind Bryce Harper, given guys pictures something to think about. 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.400 I think BOM's had a tremendous year as well, so 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.760 really good supporting cast behind Bryce Harper. But you know 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:55.760 he's right there with all he's doing. 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.600 I saw, yeah, I was gonna say real quick, but 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.520 I think both got thirty three doubles. I saw this 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:03.480 in the notes post game notes. I'm kind of probably 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.600 butchering this, but it's like the second player with like 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.360 thirty plus doubles Phillys player at the breaks other than 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.560 Chase Sally's. So these guys turned into a doubles machine 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:13.760 and an RBI machine. 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.000 It's spectacular what he's done. And really, when you think 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.200 about why Bryce Harper's had such a great first half. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.600 You got to give some love to Alec Boom from 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.640 the time that he slid into that four hoole. 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:29.440 Who was going to be that guy? It was JT. 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.360 In the early part of the season, Alex Boom started 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.040 swinging the bat. I remember mentioning in a post game 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.880 one time at some point that guy's going to have 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.680 to slide into that forehole to protect Bryce Harper so 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.040 that Bryce Harper can get some pitches to hit Boom. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:50.560 It happened, And I mean those two guys were killing 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:51.280 it for a while. 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.640 They were killing it for a while, killing it. You 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.640 look at just keep looking back at the first half. 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:01.960 Biggest disappointment has got to be wit Maryfield. Wit Maryfield, 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.040 they released him the other day. Now they're going to 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.480 give Wes Wilson a looking left field. Clearly they're going 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:09.320 to be looking for a right handed bat with some 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.520 pop to play some left field. But you know, wit 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.440 Maryfield at the time looked like a great little signing. 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.720 You know, one of your eight million dollars veteran bat 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.040 off the bench. He can play some left field short stuff, 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.280 let you know, the whole deal, and just just did 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.440 not produce. Uh so they let him go on Friday, 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.480 so you. 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.320 Right, right, well, I have I have another guy that 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.800 and that's Bryce to stop for me. I mean, it 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.240 was very disappointing that wit Marryfield didn't because you know, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.800 he came in with the resume that was pretty strong. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.920 And making that adjustment We've talked about this a million times, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.760 but making that adjustment to be in a one one 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.520 a week or two a week player from being a 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.840 you know, six, six times a week player so difficult 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.439 for some players. And he just didn't really uh he 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:00.880 didn't really packed the team. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.560 A whole lot, but Bryson stopped. 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:08.280 I mean it warrants some discussion because I see things 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.840 in his swing right now, especially at the end, that 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.480 are concerning. He's not having the quality of the bat 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.399 that he had pretty much for the first two years 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.760 of his career. You see him sort of flailing it pit, 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.800 just trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.200 He's dropping down, he's not using his top hand, there's 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:33.720 not that length through the zone in his swing to 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:38.320 make consistent contact, and it just looks like he's trying 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:39.720 to drive the ball out of the ballpark. 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:44.720 I'm not sure why he's trying to do that. Is 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.040 it arbitration? Is it? You know? 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.840 Is he just pressing? And I just thought that he 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:55.560 would move in leaps and bounds this year. He was 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:57.800 going to be like the guy that I thought would 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:02.480 take the very next step to becoming like a tremendous 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:07.520 everyday player and perhaps a possible All Star type player. 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:11.800 And while his defense has been excellent, there's no question 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.320 about that, he hasn't let him affect him there. I 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.040 just don't see him having the quality of the bats 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.280 that he should be having. 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:20.560 And I don't know. 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.320 If it's he's pressing for some reason or trying to 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.480 do too much, but I just don't it's a little 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:28.639 surprising that he hasn't taken that next step forward. 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.720 Yeah, so Stot's hitting. Let's these numbers, they are eye 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:35.359 popping there. He's betting two thirty eight six from runs 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.840 forty two RBIs a six seventy six ops. And then 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.000 he get into the stackcast numbers, the exit velo numbers, 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:44.320 the hard hit rate, those are all I mean, way down, 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.560 way way way down, towards the bottom of all hitters 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.920 in baseball. Rob said yesterday that he thinks he keeps 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:54.679 kind of he's in between. He when some days he 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.639 comes out there and he's hyper aggressive, some days he 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.679 gets out there and he's hyper passive. They want him 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.119 to find try to strike a happy medium. I know, 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:05.520 Stock going into the season said he needs to try 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.160 to stick with his approach more, or his game plan 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:12.080 more getting into the batter's box. And he says quite often, 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:15.119 you know, he'll be looking for, say something away, and 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.160 the first pitch is in, and then he'll just abandon 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:19.320 that game plan and he'll start looking for something in 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:21.840 and then the pitch is away and meet you know, 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:23.840 fastball in the outer half, and then he just doesn't 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:25.600 swing at it. So now he's now he's in a 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:27.160 hole and I was in an old two hole. Now 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:29.000 he doesn't know what he's doing. So I don't know. 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:30.879 Maybe he's getting into that where he's given up on 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:34.000 his game plan again. But yeah, those are not great numbers. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.560 He has not handled fastball like he has in the past. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.720 Yeah, and I think your point about lately he looks 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.240 like he's trying too hard. Uh, what's you know, what's 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:48.440 the reason for that. I think when guys get off 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:51.280 the slow starts, and you know, they know more as expected, 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:52.920 and they try to get it all back at once. 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:56.159 So hopefully this and you can't do that, so hopefully 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:58.159 this All Star break will be a cleansing breath for 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.199 him and he can kind of hit the rece that 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:04.600 button Friday night in Pittsburgh. Because we mentioned how much 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.920 they need Suarez, they need this guy too. He's a 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:15.920 vital cog and they need more from him. 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:14.680