Speaker 1: Hey, this is Bryce Harper and welcome to the Philly Show.
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Philly Show with Ruben Tomorrow, Junior,
Speaker 2: Jim Saulisbury, Todd's a lucky It's Monday, August nineteenth, twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four. Fellas, Uh, hey did you?
Speaker 3: First of all, did you miss me? Because the last.
Speaker 1: Week we missed you.
Speaker 2: We missed you on Friday.
Speaker 3: Curious see, I was doing some kind of charity thing.
Speaker 3: I don't know what else doing hold on assignment.
Speaker 2: You're helping people, helping people, just like Jim.
Speaker 3: Was on a center right now, that's right.
Speaker 2: On disclosed location.
Speaker 1: Super secret, super secret Jim, super secret Jim on. Remember
Speaker 1: bat gass when they used to take the guy to
Speaker 1: the bat cave and have to spray with gas so
Speaker 1: we wouldn't know where he was.
Speaker 4: Remember that, That's what you had to do that with us,
Speaker 4: and we didn't know where you were.
Speaker 3: The angle boy going to work.
Speaker 2: The angle boy. That's yes, you were once known as
Speaker 2: the angle boy. I was coming up with an angle.
Speaker 4: I it was a compliment, man, I I I think,
Speaker 4: I I think, I don't. I don't know if it's
Speaker 4: me or Ed Wade dubbed that on you the angle boy,
Speaker 4: always taking an angle, looking for an angle.
Speaker 3: That was good. I loved it. You should take it
Speaker 3: as a compliment. You were the angle boy, amongst other things.
Speaker 4: You were a different type of a scout at times
Speaker 4: too very good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know this is actually Ruben You mcgra made
Speaker 2: a great segue speaking of angle because uh uh, David
Speaker 2: Montgomery was honored this week. We're going to get into
Speaker 2: all of the weekend stuff in a second, but I
Speaker 2: just I do want to touch on this first. David
Speaker 2: Montgomery was honored placed on the Wall of Fame, and
Speaker 2: they named the angled wall in left centered field, which
Speaker 2: was his idea because he wanted to create action and
Speaker 2: it certainly did. They named it Monty's Angle. So you
Speaker 2: guys have any thoughts on just naming that wall after
Speaker 2: David and just David getting on the Wall of Fame.
Speaker 2: I mean, Jim and I we talked about it a
Speaker 2: lot on Friday.
Speaker 3: It's cool week.
Speaker 4: I mean, first of all, Monty obviously was his nickname,
Speaker 4: and for them to honor him in that way pretty
Speaker 4: darn special. I mean, he was a special man, and
Speaker 4: I think everybody knows what he meant to me as
Speaker 4: a person. And as a mentor and a leader. I
Speaker 4: mean he basically in a lot of ways hired me twice,
Speaker 4: once with Ed Wade when I became the assistant GM,
Speaker 4: but again and I think they sort of collaborated on that,
Speaker 4: and then again when Pat Gaelick was decided to retire
Speaker 4: and I became the GM. And David was just a
Speaker 4: great mentor, a great person. And I can't say enough
Speaker 4: positive things about what he meant to the organization, what
Speaker 4: he meant to Philadelphia, and what he meant to a
Speaker 4: lot of people around baseball. Because MLB is a better
Speaker 4: place because of David Montgomery. It's as simple as that.
Speaker 4: I think Rob Manford would say the same thing that
Speaker 4: in a lot of ways, David's influence permeated throughout the game.
Speaker 2: It was a fun weekend seeing all those guys. Yeah,
Speaker 2: go ahead, Jim No.
Speaker 1: I just thought it was very cool to see them
Speaker 1: name that part of the stadium Monte's Angle, because he
Speaker 1: was so impactful in designing that area of the stadium,
Speaker 1: designing the stadium, spearheading the building of the stadium, which
Speaker 1: you know, was a complete game changer for this franchise,
Speaker 1: and it still is. You look at the impact the
Speaker 1: fans have playoff games Game six and seven last year. Notwithstanding,
Speaker 1: people still love coming to that place, love making a
Speaker 1: lot of noise, and they love when they have a
Speaker 1: winning product on the field. And so yeah, it was
Speaker 1: really Uh, it was great to see David get what
Speaker 1: I thought was a very worthy honor. I think he
Speaker 1: belongs up there with all the franchise icons because I
Speaker 1: believe he was one of them.
Speaker 2: It's a cool weekend. It was fun to see, you know,
Speaker 2: had a chance to talk with like Brad Ledge and
Speaker 2: Chew ch and Ran and Aaron Rohan a little bit
Speaker 2: and Rubin. You saw all those guys probably in the
Speaker 2: suite and with all the cool alumni activities that were
Speaker 2: going on. It was a very fun weekend. Could have
Speaker 2: been a perfect weekend. But the Phillies lose on Sunday,
Speaker 2: and the thing everybody's talking about, guys is the ninth
Speaker 2: inning Billies are down two runs. They get the leadoff
Speaker 2: guy on, but bring the tiny man to the plate
Speaker 2: and Cal Stevenson grounds into a double play and Garrett
Speaker 2: Stubbs grounds out to end the game. And afterwards, Rob
Speaker 2: Thompson has asked what about Bryce Harper and J. T.
Speaker 2: Real Muto, They're sitting on the bench, he says, not
Speaker 2: using him there, and it gave him a day off.
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking about the long term here, and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I understand a lot of the moves the
Speaker 2: managers makes, but this one is kind of a head scratch,
Speaker 2: or at least keeping holding Harper in the dugout not
Speaker 2: using him. I you know, I think I would have
Speaker 2: used him in one of those two spots. Am I.
Speaker 2: I don't think I'm out of line? But am I
Speaker 2: missing something? Am I missing the angle here?
Speaker 1: What do you got, Jim I, I don't think you're
Speaker 1: missing the angle. I think it was a major part
Speaker 1: of the story. If the story of that game, also
Speaker 1: with the bullpen giving it up late bullpen is I
Speaker 1: would say concern what we've seen, But I think you
Speaker 1: think there's a lot to it. Yeah, I would have
Speaker 1: loved to have seen Bryce Harper grew up there against
Speaker 1: the right hander and have a hack with a man
Speaker 1: on base. And you know, the old school in me
Speaker 1: believes if you have a uniform on, you should be
Speaker 1: ready to or you should be eligible or ready to
Speaker 1: contribute and compete that day. But I also understand the
Speaker 1: way the game is played now with sports science and
Speaker 1: the emphasis on things like recovery and the emphasis on
Speaker 1: manager player communication, communication being the most important job that
Speaker 1: a manager has. You know, I believe these off days
Speaker 1: were probably planned out previously, several days in advance, with
Speaker 1: a mind toward getting them two days off before a
Speaker 1: thirteen game stretch where Harper's not going to probably sit
Speaker 1: at all and JD might sit once. So they wanted
Speaker 1: to follow through on those off days, especially with JT
Speaker 1: keeping him fresh. If you pinch hit one of them,
Speaker 1: there is a chance they have to go in the field.
Speaker 1: Very It would have been very hard for me not
Speaker 1: to send Hopper up there, though, because I'm trying to
Speaker 1: finish a weekend with a four game sweep, and you know,
Speaker 1: he's obviously a lethal hitter can change things with one swing.
Speaker 1: I just firmly believe Rob Thompson puts a real premium
Speaker 1: on communication and a real premium premium on his wood,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he told these guys in the days
Speaker 1: before that you're getting Sunday. You're getting Sunday off, no
Speaker 1: offense or butts, and that affects their entire day from
Speaker 1: the time they get out of bed and the time
Speaker 1: they show up to the ballpark, how they go through
Speaker 1: their pregame stretch, if they even do that. So if
Speaker 1: they're available and thinking they might pinch hit, they're getting
Speaker 1: a stretch, They're getting time in the batting cage throughout
Speaker 1: that game. And it's not really a day off. It's
Speaker 1: not really what the organization wants. It's not really what Thompson,
Speaker 1: his staff and sports science people have probably prescribed. So
Speaker 1: I just I just think there's an awful lot to
Speaker 1: it beyond just in the moment, grab a bat and
Speaker 1: go up there, and I think they're looking. I think
Speaker 1: maybe their mindset is different if they don't have this cushion.
Speaker 1: But I'm not saying I agree with the decision. I
Speaker 1: would have been very tempted to say, Bryce, go aheit
Speaker 1: a home run. But I understand it. I understand how
Speaker 1: the game operates these days.
Speaker 3: I think you hit the nail right on the head, Jim.
Speaker 4: I don't think there's any question about it, except I
Speaker 4: don't agree with any of it, absolutely zero of it,
Speaker 4: because if you have a chance to win a baseball
Speaker 4: game that day, I understand why they did it. I
Speaker 4: don't agree with it, and I don't have to agree
Speaker 4: with it, because I believe that if you have a
Speaker 4: chance to win a baseball game, especially at this time
Speaker 4: of the year, you've got to use your best players
Speaker 4: in the right situations. And in that case, that was
Speaker 4: one of the cases. Very very rarely do I ever
Speaker 4: disagree with Rob Thompson. I think that there's always a
Speaker 4: plan and there's a reason. As you said, Jim, I
Speaker 4: think that's probably there's a reason. Could Bryce Harper twet
Speaker 4: something because he's not as prepared could JT. JT's not
Speaker 4: really a great pinch hitter. I think Hister hitting numbers
Speaker 4: are not very good at all. I have to go
Speaker 4: back and look at those. Perhaps that's just not his
Speaker 4: ability to do that role.
Speaker 3: That's not his thing.
Speaker 4: That said, I would still have thrown both of those
Speaker 4: guys up there instead of Stevenson and Stubbs because you
Speaker 4: got a much better chance of winning the baseball game
Speaker 4: with those two guys. In my opinion, I don't have
Speaker 4: to agree with everything that Rob Thompson does. I love
Speaker 4: everything about the guy, and I think he's a phenomenal manager.
Speaker 4: I just think in this case, I would utilize every
Speaker 4: one of my resources to try to win the baseball game,
Speaker 4: especially when knowing that I have a day off today
Speaker 4: being Monday, and you know we've got a big series
Speaker 4: coming up. I understand, but it's been great to be
Speaker 4: able to have some momentum going into that series, and
Speaker 4: bigger momentum than you have already after winning three out
Speaker 4: of four from the Washington Nationals. I understand it. I
Speaker 4: don't agree with it. I just I just I know
Speaker 4: that they have to go through their routines and do
Speaker 4: all that kind of stuff, but they're paid in an
Speaker 4: or exorbitant amount of money to be prepared for a game,
Speaker 4: to play that game. And I understand that it's a
Speaker 4: day off and that is important to them. They don't
Speaker 4: get a lot of days off, especially these guys, and
Speaker 4: they probably won't down the stretch because the games could
Speaker 4: become more and more important. But this is every bit
Speaker 4: is an important game, and I just feel like those
Speaker 4: those both those guys should have been utilized.
Speaker 1: I I agree with you. I said, I would have
Speaker 1: been extremely tempted to throw Bryce Harper up there, and
Speaker 1: I think if you're in uniform, you need to be
Speaker 1: thinking that I can help my team today. I just
Speaker 1: think there's just so much more to this, even behind it,
Speaker 1: beyond the manager. I think I agree organization and they're
Speaker 1: gonna be Rob Thompson. One thing we've learned about Rob Thompson,
Speaker 1: he is so committed to his word. When he gives
Speaker 1: a player his word, he tells him on Friday night,
Speaker 1: on their way out the door, you're gonna get Sunday off.
Speaker 1: He's sticking to that because he believes in communication, and
Speaker 1: he believes in his word, and he believes that trust
Speaker 1: with the player and his word is his currency in
Speaker 1: that clubhouse. And I go back to last October when
Speaker 1: Johann Rojas was struggling and everybody was clamoring for him
Speaker 1: to be removed from the lineup in the playoffs. What
Speaker 1: happened early in that offseason. Rob Thompson went to Johann
Speaker 1: Rojas and patted mun on the back and said, relax,
Speaker 1: you're my guy. You're out there all the time. And
Speaker 1: I think Rob was beholden to his word at that point,
Speaker 1: and that's why he's stuck with the guy, maybe to
Speaker 1: the team's detriment. So Rob puts a lot of stock
Speaker 1: in his word and the trust in the bond that
Speaker 1: he builds with players through communication. Maybe it came back
Speaker 1: to bite them yesterday. Maybe they're going to regret this
Speaker 1: if they lose the home field advantage by one game.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but this guy is committed to his
Speaker 1: word and he's committed to keeping his big guns healthy
Speaker 1: for the long haul, and that's how he chose to
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's the thing. For me. It was like,
Speaker 2: they're they have a half game lead over the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: So man, if they would lose that home field advantage
Speaker 2: and it's game seven in the NLCS a Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 2: and you're going, you're looking back at games they could
Speaker 2: have won, and there's gonna be a lot of them,
Speaker 2: a lot of games that they could have won, but
Speaker 2: this probably would be one game on that list of
Speaker 2: ten games that they could have won. You know, Bryce
Speaker 2: Harper is a tremendous pitch hitter. He's a tremendous hitter. JT,
Speaker 2: like you said, Rubin is not a great pitcher, betted
Speaker 2: one fifty three in his career as a pinch hitter.
Speaker 2: Bryce is like betting three seventy seven as a pinch hitter.
Speaker 2: He probably probably enjoys those moments. But JT had played
Speaker 2: five straight games, So Robside told him, I wanted to
Speaker 2: give him two straight days. Bryce has been playing a lot.
Speaker 2: I wanted to give him two straight days. As one
Speaker 2: of you guys said, the thirteen game stretch coming up.
Speaker 1: But still so Charlie, Charlie wouldn't would not have given
Speaker 1: definitely wouldn't given Bryce Harper the day off. This would
Speaker 1: have been a mood point, would Charlie. He was known
Speaker 1: for for, you know, riding his big boys.
Speaker 3: No doubt, no doubt, and he's he'd be saying. It'd
Speaker 3: be different for Charlie. Charlie be saying, Hey, he's got
Speaker 3: a day off tomorrow, so.
Speaker 2: You get most of it, and he got most of
Speaker 2: the game off today, so throw your cleats on, get
Speaker 2: ready to get out there.
Speaker 1: You were in uniform and even at the end of
Speaker 1: your GM tenure, but I think you were really more
Speaker 1: in uniform with the Red Sox and Mets when sports
Speaker 1: science really really came to the forefront.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think that I think it got to the point.
Speaker 4: I think, just like anything else in baseball, I think
Speaker 4: that there's some ideas that are great. I think that
Speaker 4: there's some information that they have out there that will
Speaker 4: help prevent injury. I think that's really the most important
Speaker 4: part of it. But I also think that there's some
Speaker 4: things that have happened in the game that are sort
Speaker 4: of detrimental. I think we've I mean, you're looking at
Speaker 4: some of these new rules that they're thinking about. I mean,
Speaker 4: we can go into this long discussion about the six
Speaker 4: inning rule and starting pitchers. Well, players are not conditioned
Speaker 4: to play anymore. Players are now conditioned to play. Even
Speaker 4: in the minor leagues. They have a day off on Monday.
Speaker 4: Every day now, I mean every Monday is a day off.
Speaker 4: They players are not necessarily conditioned to play one hundred
Speaker 4: and sixty two games mentally or physically. Pitchers, bullpen guys
Speaker 4: are never almost never pitched back to back games in
Speaker 4: the minor leagues. Starting pitchers almost never get to seven
Speaker 4: or eight or nine innings in a minor league game.
Speaker 4: I think it's creating, it's creating a situation in baseball
Speaker 4: where the expectation has dropped significantly. You no longer expect
Speaker 4: players to do X, Y and Z. But when and
Speaker 4: yet when they get to the major leagues, they are.
Speaker 3: Expected to pitch back to back days.
Speaker 4: They are expected to just throw seven innings and they're
Speaker 4: not conditioned to do that. So I'm not sure. I
Speaker 4: know that there's a lot of important science out there.
Speaker 4: I'm just not sure whether it's some of it is
Speaker 4: positive and some of it is detrimental. And I think
Speaker 4: some of it has become detrimental in some ways because
Speaker 4: the load management thing. I don't know that there's any
Speaker 4: science that actually tells me that, Okay, if I take
Speaker 4: ten less swings or ten less ground balls, or I
Speaker 4: have to get off the field, does that really help
Speaker 4: me not get injured? Does that really help me prepare
Speaker 4: for a major league season for one hundred and sixty
Speaker 4: two games. I don't know. I just know that there's
Speaker 4: a lot more science. I just don't know if that
Speaker 4: there's any studies that actually say, hey, if we do X,
Speaker 4: Y or Z and we back them off in this way,
Speaker 4: does it make them a better player? Does it make
Speaker 4: them more healthy player? I just don't think that's the case.
Speaker 4: I'd like to see the evidence because I had never seen.
Speaker 2: It, and we will be right back.
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Speaker 2: So I want to wrap this up real quick. This
Speaker 2: this conversation, I think we're all in agreement. We would
Speaker 2: have loved to have seen Bryce Harper, should have seen
Speaker 2: Bryce Harper pinchhit. The one thing I think you guys
Speaker 2: can lend some expertise on is I think the average
Speaker 2: fan might think that what Bryce Harper sent on the
Speaker 2: bench for eight innings, just go grab a bat and
Speaker 2: get in the batter's box, can you, guys, Rubin, I
Speaker 2: mean you coached recently, that's not the process for pinch hitting.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: So say you're Ruben Lamar Junior, you were a pinchhit
Speaker 2: or you were a bench player. Okay, when do you
Speaker 2: start getting ready for a potential pinch hitting situation in
Speaker 2: the ninth inning? How how does that work? Exactly?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: For me, and this is you know, this is way
Speaker 4: back when you know it is twenty some years ago.
Speaker 4: I would start, you know, really honing in probably around
Speaker 4: the fifth inning. The fifth inning is when I started
Speaker 4: my stretch. I'd stretch out, I'd get loose. I'd start
Speaker 4: you know, mentally picturing, like you know, figuring out which
Speaker 4: pictures are probably available, which picture I'm going to be facing.
Speaker 4: I had I have the added dilemma, or not so
Speaker 4: much a dilemma of being a switch hitter. So I had,
Speaker 4: you know, two things going on in my head. Okay,
Speaker 4: it's gonna be a right he's gonna be a lefty.
Speaker 4: So I had to go and and and then get
Speaker 4: in the cage and start taking swings. Whether it was
Speaker 4: you know, Kevin Jordan flipping mes, you know, little flips
Speaker 4: or whoever it was. We didn't have back then. We
Speaker 4: didn't have like an extra hitting coach to do it.
Speaker 4: So we I would, you know, get out there and
Speaker 4: get on a machine or get on a tee and
Speaker 4: you know, start doing my work and taking my swings
Speaker 4: and doing the things that are necessary for me to
Speaker 4: prepare you know, physically and mentally for my bat. So
Speaker 4: so the whole off day thing kind of goes away
Speaker 4: because you're basically, you know, whatever your prep is, whatever
Speaker 4: you do, whether it's a massage or whether nowadays it's
Speaker 4: a massage, it's this.
Speaker 3: It's that there's all types of stuff that goes on.
Speaker 4: There's a there's a stretch, there's a there's all types
Speaker 4: of things that are going on to prepare you to
Speaker 4: play a game.
Speaker 3: And that's part of the process.
Speaker 4: It's even and it's even more extensive nowadays than it
Speaker 4: was when I played, because there's so many more facilities
Speaker 4: and things for.
Speaker 3: You to be able to do to prepare for that.
Speaker 4: And so yes, I understand the whole process a bit,
Speaker 4: you know, and you just don't.
Speaker 3: You don't grab a bat and go up there, right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's not how it works in this day and age.
Speaker 4: There's a whole you know, people have their routines and
Speaker 4: they have you know, for him to be totally for
Speaker 4: that player to be totally.
Speaker 3: Prepared for that one A B against you know, whichever player.
Speaker 1: If your manager tells you you're off today, but be
Speaker 1: ready to pinch it, you're not off. And I think
Speaker 1: that shaped Rob Thompson's thinking, mm hm, So that might be.
Speaker 3: Again, I totally agree with you. I just don't agree
Speaker 3: with that process.
Speaker 4: I I agree with those play at the very least
Speaker 4: getting themselves ready. I understand why they do it, because
Speaker 4: they do want to give them the day off. I
Speaker 4: just I just as a as a baseball person, I
Speaker 4: just don't agree with the process. I do believe that
Speaker 4: those players should be mentally and physically prepared in case
Speaker 4: that Think about this, what if the player got injured
Speaker 4: and they had to go into play. What if there's
Speaker 4: a player that you know, what if Garrett Stubbs takes
Speaker 4: a foul tip JT's got to.
Speaker 3: Come into the game.
Speaker 4: Okay, So there's other I mean there's other things that
Speaker 4: have to that may happen in the game. So I actually, okay,
Speaker 4: I can communication and I don't disagree.
Speaker 3: I mean, I understand why Rob.
Speaker 4: Does this because those off days are important, but there
Speaker 4: are also different factors. I mean, if Alec Bohm takes
Speaker 4: one off his elbow, Bryce Harper's coming into that game, right, Okay,
Speaker 4: he's playing first base. So so there's other and I
Speaker 4: know those are you know, extreme cases, but those are cases,
Speaker 4: and those things do happen.
Speaker 1: I was a fan, I'd be disappointed that I didn't
Speaker 1: get take a hack with the game on the line.
Speaker 1: It's like one of my kids wanted to go see
Speaker 1: the Sixers game a Sixers game last winter, but her
Speaker 1: bread concern was can I see him be because they
Speaker 1: rest and beat a lot. So I understand this stuff
Speaker 1: ways on on fans.
Speaker 2: Guys. It is time for the Philly of the Week.
Speaker 2: Philly of the Week, presented by Shy Vintage Sports, get
Speaker 2: unique throwback Phillies, teas, hats, and sweatshirts from local artists
Speaker 2: at their shops in Center City, Wayne and Westchester and
Speaker 2: at shib sports dot com. I've got on a blue
Speaker 2: that which is very I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2: Jimmy's got his Connie Mac supports the old Connie Mack.
Speaker 4: And I and I packed mine in Atlanta, so I'll
Speaker 4: have it on this Rubens, sir, My mine went to Atlanta.
Speaker 2: So every Monday, we're gonna kind of go around and
Speaker 2: figure out who the Philly of the Week is, or
Speaker 2: you know, we're each gonna pick a Philly of the week.
Speaker 2: And should I start? Should I start? I mean, for me,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go. I'm gonna I'm gonna take the easy
Speaker 2: route here. I'm an easy angle guy, So I'm gonna
Speaker 2: say Trey Turner. Trey Turner had been red hot since
Speaker 2: getting benched. I guess you could say. On Wednesday ten
Speaker 2: for seventeen, three doubles, one home run for RBI, six
Speaker 2: runs scored one point five five to two ops spatting
Speaker 2: five eighty eight, and he's been running really, really well.
Speaker 2: Jim On Friday, we talked about how on Thursday he
Speaker 2: had his fastest home to first time eighth fastest of
Speaker 2: the season, fastest sprint speed home to first since like
Speaker 2: July twentieth. On Friday night, he hits a double to
Speaker 2: left field left center field, it's his It was his
Speaker 2: fastest home the second on the double since like May
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty three. So Tray Turner's found that extra
Speaker 2: gear and and hey, they've the offense kind of took
Speaker 2: off those games.
Speaker 3: So did the meeting. So did the meeting? Is it
Speaker 3: focused to Trey Turner?
Speaker 2: I don't, and I don't know the message, but he
Speaker 2: it seems like he got whatever message he needed to get.
Speaker 2: He was, he was, he heard it well and and
Speaker 2: he's he's. But that's to get Trey Turner going, guys
Speaker 2: two hits every night, get on base a couple of
Speaker 2: times a night, you can do so much damage. That's
Speaker 2: why he's my Philly weak. Reuben who you got?
Speaker 4: So I got Weston Wilson, And I think I think
Speaker 4: you're you're, you're You're not wrong by saying Trey Turner
Speaker 4: because he's played so well, but west and Wilson to me,
Speaker 4: I know he hasn't played a ton of games, but
Speaker 4: the games that he has played, the team has won.
Speaker 4: I mean, you think about what he's done is his impact.
Speaker 4: And I happened to be in this with the rest
Speaker 4: of the boys doing the game when he ended up
Speaker 4: hitting for the cycle.
Speaker 3: We happened to be. It was a great night.
Speaker 4: We had John Cruck, myself, Ben Davis, and Tom McCarthy
Speaker 4: in the stands and we were at the just above
Speaker 4: the CP Ranking Club and we were reporting on the game.
Speaker 4: We had the fans around us. The fanatic was floating
Speaker 4: around doing crazy stuff. But it was a really electric
Speaker 4: ball game, and it was one of those games that
Speaker 4: it was so fun to watch this young man. You
Speaker 4: think about, like the journey that this young man has
Speaker 4: taken and the perseverance it took for him to stay
Speaker 4: with it and keep grinding. He had a great spring,
Speaker 4: could have made the team out of spring training. Really
Speaker 4: in a lot of ways, I actually thought he was
Speaker 4: going to make the team out of spring training. Doesn't
Speaker 4: make the team out of spring training, goes Back has
Speaker 4: struggles for a little while, bounce us back and has
Speaker 4: like a ridiculous season in Lehigh Valley and they almost
Speaker 4: he almost forces him.
Speaker 3: To bring him to the big leagues.
Speaker 4: Finally gets an opportunity and uh and for him to
Speaker 4: hit the tenth cycle in this in the franchise's history,
Speaker 4: I mean, think about that. That is just incredible. On
Speaker 4: the last at bat line drive the right center field.
Speaker 2: When your reaction was great on the broadcast, you were
Speaker 2: you were like every Phillies fan out there.
Speaker 3: Yes, I was the dive. I was.
Speaker 4: I was literally like a fan watching this happen, man,
Speaker 4: And I was excited, and you know, all of us
Speaker 4: gave you know, got up and gave him like the standing.
Speaker 6: Oh.
Speaker 3: I mean it was.
Speaker 4: And the cool thing about it was, and I think
Speaker 4: I said this in the broadcast, is that every person
Speaker 4: in that ballpark knew exactly what was going on.
Speaker 3: That's the beauty of our of the Philadelphia Philly.
Speaker 4: Fan is that they're so aware of things like that
Speaker 4: that that they all knew that this was an amazing,
Speaker 4: like an incredible moment. And uh, I just think that
Speaker 4: the fact that he played in like the three games
Speaker 4: prior and he didn't play yesterday, didn't lost the ball
Speaker 4: game the three games prior, I think he played in
Speaker 4: all three of those games. He had some sort of
Speaker 4: impact on each one of those games. To me, he's
Speaker 4: the Philly of the week.
Speaker 1: Those are very worthy Phillies of the Week. I was
Speaker 1: leaning towards Trey Turner as well, because when he gets
Speaker 1: hot at the plate, it just seems like wins followed,
Speaker 1: but Todd's the boss, and he took Trey Turner. So
Speaker 1: I was was, I'm.
Speaker 3: Gonna take the layup.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take the lay up every week. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go first, take the obvious guy. We can agree on guys.
Speaker 2: We can all three agree on the guys.
Speaker 1: If we will. Now I can, I can, I can shift.
Speaker 1: I was gonna shift to Wheeler, Nola, and Sanchez because
Speaker 1: you know, they just got back to having some great
Speaker 1: starting pitching, and by the way, they won all those games.
Speaker 1: But Todd being the boss that I couldn't pick three guys.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to move on. I'm gonna move on.
Speaker 1: And my Philly of the Week is Kyle Schwarber because
Speaker 1: they emerged from that team meeting a pivotal moment I
Speaker 1: would think you would agree in the season, and they
Speaker 1: quickly fall behind to the Miami Marlins and it's like
Speaker 1: doom and gloom, and he erases it all with one
Speaker 1: swing and kind of sets the tone for the remainder
Speaker 1: of the week with that grand slam. So Kyle Schwarber,
Speaker 1: come on down and give him, give him a gift
Speaker 1: card for being the Philly of the Week.
Speaker 3: That's a good call man, and it wasn't.
Speaker 4: There was a turnaround, there's no question this week, and
Speaker 4: they needed it because they had been not playing the
Speaker 4: type of baseball that was championship worthy and worthy. And
Speaker 4: there's a lot of people who who contributed to them
Speaker 4: turning things some things around.
Speaker 2: Do you guys think the best the worst is behind them?
Speaker 2: Is it too early to say? I mean, they go
Speaker 2: four in one since that meeting.
Speaker 3: No, they didn't play that. They didn't play the toughest
Speaker 3: teams in baseball. They did not. They did not And
Speaker 3: this is another great test test. Now that's what it is.
Speaker 4: There's seven games up on I believe on Atlanta, and
Speaker 4: this is a critical one. If they take two out
Speaker 4: of three from Atlanta, I think they're sort of dead.
Speaker 4: Atlanta's probably going to end up being sort of dead
Speaker 4: in the water. Sure, although I mean crazier things have happened,
Speaker 4: But this is the series with Atlanta is a big
Speaker 4: one because I guess they're going to probably face Lopez
Speaker 4: Freed and probably sail Eric.
Speaker 2: I think it's I don't think sales pitching this week.
Speaker 2: It's at least on Braves dot Com it was Lopez
Speaker 2: Freed and Schwellenbach.
Speaker 4: Probably, Yeah, Well, I would be said, I wouldn't be
Speaker 4: surprised if Sale pitched on five days because it is
Speaker 4: is day.
Speaker 3: I mean, maybe they may want to give him an
Speaker 3: extra day. Who knows, But I don't know. Man, It's
Speaker 3: it's it's not gonna be an easy one.
Speaker 4: It's tough to win in Atlanta, but it's and then that,
Speaker 4: and Atlanta's playing a little bit better. They've won a
Speaker 4: couple of games in a row. It'll be interesting to
Speaker 4: see how they how they handled being down there in
Speaker 4: the South.
Speaker 1: Very very tough thirteen day stretch, and you know Rob
Speaker 1: Thompson's acknowledging that with his action yesterday and resting two
Speaker 1: big studs. But tough thirteen game stretch against teams all
Speaker 1: over five hundred seven of them. Against Atlanta, they haven't
Speaker 1: given up trying to run down the Phillies. And I
Speaker 1: think it's a long shot, but they're going to give
Speaker 1: it their best. I mean, they're right in the playoff picture.
Speaker 1: Then you go to Houston, then you go to Kansas City.
Speaker 1: They're right in their playoff picture. They need victories. They're
Speaker 1: going to play their butts off. And then you got
Speaker 1: Houston do you have Houston or and then Atlanta? Right? No,
Speaker 1: Atlanta again, they.
Speaker 4: Do have I think they have Atlanta twice in these
Speaker 4: next thirteen.
Speaker 3: I do believe, but I'm not. Don't quote me on it.
Speaker 3: I can pull it.
Speaker 1: So seven against Atlanta and three against Kansas City.
Speaker 4: Right, Casey and Casey is a very scrappy team. Remember
Speaker 4: they came I think Kansas City came into our place.
Speaker 4: And did they take two out of three of the
Speaker 4: Phillies last year?
Speaker 2: I know last year?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know they played very, very good base all
Speaker 4: against the Phillies the last time they face him, and
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, It's it's three Atlanta three, case Astros for three,
Speaker 2: then the Braves for four.
Speaker 1: Okay, so it is Houston as well, yep, Okay, road
Speaker 1: the road trips Atlanta, Kansas City, and then you have Houston.
Speaker 3: In Houston, Atlanta at home.
Speaker 1: Okay. That's what I see the schedule in my mind's eye.
Speaker 1: It's a tough stretch. It's a really it's another tough stretch,
Speaker 1: almost like that West Coast.
Speaker 3: And that's important.
Speaker 4: It's important for them to get Suarez back. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure exactly what is the next thing. Next step for
Speaker 4: Suarez is concerned, but they need to get him back
Speaker 4: into this rotation for them to be at full strength.
Speaker 4: And if he is back and pitching the way he
Speaker 4: can pitch, doesn't have to be lights out for seven innings,
Speaker 4: but he he needs to bounce back because they need
Speaker 4: that that pitching depth.
Speaker 2: So it sounds so it sounds like what's going to happen.
Speaker 2: The plant is Wheeler Tuesday, Nola Wednesday, Sanchez is Thursday.
Speaker 2: But coming off the complete game, we know that that
Speaker 2: gives Rob Thompson heart palpitations, you know, pushing guys that far.
Speaker 2: So he said, if Sanchez they feel like he's bounced back,
Speaker 2: he'll pitch Thursday. Now, if they feel that he needs
Speaker 2: an extra day, they're gonna give him the extra day
Speaker 2: and they're gonna make Thursday a bullpen game in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: So let's let's assume that Sanchez through ninety nine pitches.
Speaker 2: Let's say he feels great, he pitches Thursday. It's probably
Speaker 2: gonna be Taiwan Walker on Friday, and that would line
Speaker 2: up Suarez on Saturday. Now, all that, of course is
Speaker 2: subject subject, subject subject to change, Yeah, subject to change,
Speaker 2: So it could be Walker and Suarez Friday Saturday in
Speaker 2: Kansas City. So you know, Jim, you mentioned it, Sanchez
Speaker 2: potential Philly of the week the rotation. That was huge
Speaker 2: to see finally get a good one on Christopher Sanchez.
Speaker 2: I mean since the since the shutout at the end
Speaker 2: of June, he has not been very good and so
Speaker 2: they I guess they found some sort of mechanical issue
Speaker 2: with his arm slot. You know too, he had dropped
Speaker 2: his arm slot down too low and that had really
Speaker 2: messed up his sinker and he wasn't being been able
Speaker 2: to command the pitch, control the pitch. Uh So to
Speaker 2: get him going, that's to me, that's a huge development
Speaker 2: for the Phillies because he had he had kind of
Speaker 2: flown under the radar. I think as being a really
Speaker 2: sore spot for what the Phillies why they had been
Speaker 2: struggling so much over the past month. He had not
Speaker 2: been very good, and he was.
Speaker 1: So efficient against the Nationals the other day. So efficient
Speaker 1: reminded me a lot of you remember like Zach Zach
Speaker 1: Efflin's second big league start.
Speaker 6: I think it was against It's like one pitcher, eighty
Speaker 6: nine pitches, sinker, sink or sinker. It was a very
Speaker 6: efficient ball. Game, and they need him to build on
Speaker 6: that because he's vital and and lengthen the rot is vital.
Speaker 6: And I'm really really curious to see how Ranger looks
Speaker 6: because I just think this thing is taking a long time.
Speaker 6: I think they're not letting on everything. And it's not
Speaker 6: their job to let on everything. I mean, I know
Speaker 6: people ask all the time.
Speaker 1: And but it just seems like it's taking a long time.
Speaker 4: Do you guys agree, Yes, they've they've they've stretched it
Speaker 4: out on Suarez. Hopefully it's something that uh that's not
Speaker 4: lingering and something that they've nipped in the bud, so
Speaker 4: to speak. But think about it, those are two really
Speaker 4: really good left handers in your rotation that you need.
Speaker 4: I mean, that was that was the reason why this
Speaker 4: team was playing almost seven hundred ball for the first
Speaker 4: couple of months of the season, is because the starting
Speaker 4: pitching was just outrageous.
Speaker 3: And uh, and they need those guys back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the and the time they've given Suarez and
Speaker 1: the rest yesterday for those two big guns, it just
Speaker 1: tells you how much they're budgeting for October.
Speaker 2: They are, that is everything in their mind. They want
Speaker 2: these guys as fresh as humanly possible as daisies. Yes,
Speaker 2: who didn't love that October?
Speaker 1: October is all that matters for this team. And I'm
Speaker 1: I'm in agreement. It's all that matters because you remember
Speaker 1: when we were talking about them winning one hundred and
Speaker 1: ten games or whatever and having this it wasn't going
Speaker 1: to mean anything if they didn't do have a great
Speaker 1: October and have a parade. I hate to be that,
Speaker 1: you know, drastic, because I do believe you can have
Speaker 1: a special season, a great season without winning the World Series.
Speaker 1: But they've had good seasons the last two years. They've
Speaker 1: gone into the postseason, they've made memories for people, they've
Speaker 1: had experienced disappointment. It's all about the big prize for
Speaker 1: this team.
Speaker 3: Guys.
Speaker 2: We will be back Wednesday, probably Wednesday. Let's take some
Speaker 2: more listener viewer questions. So if you're listening to this, uh,
Speaker 2: we'll send out the Philly Show Twitter account. We'll put
Speaker 2: something on Instagram and on YouTube. You know, fire off
Speaker 2: some questions. We'll answer your questions the middle of the week.
Speaker 2: That seems to be fun. We enjoy the nice change
Speaker 2: of pace. You can keep it clean, you know, try
Speaker 2: to keep it clean. If not, you know well, we
Speaker 2: can edit it out, you know, so, guys, We'll see you.
Speaker 2: We'll see you guys on on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Smell you, lady boys, it's my Jim.
Speaker 3: Get some.
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