Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Phillies Show with Ruben Amarrow
Speaker 1: Junior Jim Salisbury. I'm todd so lucky. It is Monday,
Speaker 1: May sixth, twenty twenty four. The Phillies are in position
Speaker 1: on Monday night to sweep a four game series from
Speaker 1: the Giants. They are twenty four and eleven. It is
Speaker 1: the best record in Major League Baseball. It is the Phillies'
Speaker 1: best start since nineteen ninety five. They have a two
Speaker 1: and a half game lead over the Braves, who are
Speaker 1: on pace to win one hundred and one games. The
Speaker 1: Phillies are on pace to win one hundred and eleven games.
Speaker 1: It's May six, but it's still worth pointing out they're
Speaker 1: off to a really, really good start. Everything is going
Speaker 1: very well for the Phillies, but they are about to
Speaker 1: face their first adversity. I guess you could say this
Speaker 1: season they lost Trey Turner for at least at least
Speaker 1: six weeks with a hamstring injury. I think this is
Speaker 1: a team that's about as well positioned to handle a
Speaker 1: loss of a superstar, you know, as any team. Rubin,
Speaker 1: do you think this team is well positioned to handle Turner?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, compared compared to most other teams.
Speaker 2: I really do. And the reason why I say that
Speaker 2: is just because of the length and breadth of their
Speaker 2: lineup offensively, and you know, Turner has been playing much
Speaker 2: better defensively this year than he did last year, just
Speaker 2: the eye test for me. But and he worked very
Speaker 2: hard at you know, getting himself back to like more
Speaker 2: of an average infielder. But I think that the fact
Speaker 2: that the you know, guys like Boem have stepped up.
Speaker 2: You're starting to see Stott get a little warmer. You
Speaker 2: haven't really gotten you know, the Bryce Harper yet, and
Speaker 2: Schwarber hasn't hit you know, the June home runs yet.
Speaker 2: So you're you're sort of don't have everybody working on
Speaker 2: all cylinders, but you still have you know, Marsh still
Speaker 2: pretty consistent. You know, you have guys that that are contributing.
Speaker 2: Castianas has done literally nothing offensively, and and and that
Speaker 2: yet you know, they're I think they're pitching has obviously
Speaker 2: held it all together. They're starting pitching has just been
Speaker 2: off the charts. And so when you have that combination,
Speaker 2: I think you're do fine. And let's think about it.
Speaker 2: Last year they lost hard and m Harper for a
Speaker 2: long time. They kind of hung in there for a while.
Speaker 2: They've had a super start. They got a great head
Speaker 2: start on the on the season compared to last year.
Speaker 2: I mean, the run differential is like from this year
Speaker 2: to last year is like seventy five is the difference
Speaker 2: or something like that, some kind of crazy at crazy
Speaker 2: ass number like that. So it's I think more than
Speaker 2: anything else. I mean, you have guys who can fill in. Now,
Speaker 2: shortstops an important position. I do believe that at some
Speaker 2: point you may very well see Bryce and Stott slide
Speaker 2: over to shortstop to take care of that position. I
Speaker 2: think that that may very well happen. I haven't talked
Speaker 2: to Dobrowski and I have not talked to Rob Thompson
Speaker 2: directly about that, but my feeling, just because of the
Speaker 2: length of the length of the stint that it sounds
Speaker 2: like it's like a grade two or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: hamstring issue. You may very well benefit from having stop
Speaker 2: go to short You get Meryfield some at bats at
Speaker 2: second base, and then you have, you know, a little
Speaker 2: bit more stability as far as the offense is concerned.
Speaker 2: Social will probably play some two and he's actually had
Speaker 2: moved as much better at shortstop than he is in
Speaker 2: the other position in the field, so they won't lose
Speaker 2: much there. But I think that there's a possibility you
Speaker 2: might see that little change. But I think as far
Speaker 2: as being position, I mean, they're in a great spot
Speaker 2: and they don't want to lose too many guys.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I agree, I think they're you know, they
Speaker 3: have experience in dealing with adversity, as Reuben alluded to,
Speaker 3: with losing Harper really each of the last two years,
Speaker 3: not having such an important guy, and you know, especially
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty two he was out. I wish I
Speaker 3: had the numbers in front of me, but I think
Speaker 3: he was out like fifty two or three games and
Speaker 3: they went like thirty one and twenty or something. So
Speaker 3: it's a real buzzword these days, resilience. But and they've
Speaker 3: shown it in the past and I think they can
Speaker 3: beat it again. But as a practical matter, I do
Speaker 3: think they they line up well to handle this. And
Speaker 3: it's a tough loss because tray Turner is playing like
Speaker 3: the tray turner you expected. I mean, he's just been
Speaker 3: a hitting machine. But you know, I think JT. You know,
Speaker 3: so far, so good, right, they've played two games without him.
Speaker 3: JT has stepped in at number two and really swung
Speaker 3: it well. They've won both games. Obviously they're on a role.
Speaker 3: But I do agree with Ruben. I mean, stott natural shortstop,
Speaker 3: came up as a shortstop but hasn't played there since
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, No big deal. I think he can
Speaker 3: slide over there. And I think your best everyday lineup
Speaker 3: would include a lot of wit Merryfield at second base.
Speaker 3: He it looks like a pretty shrewd signing, and it
Speaker 3: also looks like that is heating up some so and
Speaker 3: it doesn't help that they've they've added, you know, they've
Speaker 3: padded wins, They've banked some wins here and and that's
Speaker 3: gonna help. And that's the way you do it. So
Speaker 3: I think they can handle this and come out on
Speaker 3: the other side standing tall. And I don't think you
Speaker 3: rushed Trade Turner. He's a legs guy, and you be careful,
Speaker 3: you know, like a pitcher with a grond pull on
Speaker 3: his push side. Trade Turner is a legs player, so
Speaker 3: he's got an I think that's why they've probably set
Speaker 3: that conservative six week estimate. So I think they can
Speaker 3: come out the other side, still smiling here.
Speaker 1: It is funny when you think back to spring training
Speaker 1: and they signed whitt Mirfield to that one year, eight
Speaker 1: million dollar deal, and you know, I know there. I
Speaker 1: think most people liked the move at the time, but
Speaker 1: a lot of people like, wow, eight million dollars. This
Speaker 1: guy's he's never gonna play. He's gonna maybe play what
Speaker 1: two three times a week? And now he ends up
Speaker 1: becoming potentially very important piece, maybe an everyday player while
Speaker 1: while Turner's out. How often do you play Scott at short?
Speaker 1: You know, do you do you run him out there?
Speaker 1: Because it sounds like he is gonna, yeah, he is
Speaker 1: going to go out there at some point. I mean,
Speaker 1: do you run him out there most days?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: Maybe not this week, but once he kind of gets
Speaker 1: in there, do you run him out there every day
Speaker 1: it's shorter, or do you.
Speaker 3: I was playing pretty close. You know, he's been taking
Speaker 3: a few balls over there. You even take a third
Speaker 3: now and then, just to keep you know, you keep
Speaker 3: that versatility, you keep it in your toolbox. A little
Speaker 3: about the ability to play those positions. But I think
Speaker 3: if you're winning and he's making plays and it's your
Speaker 3: best lineup, I think you go with it probably more
Speaker 3: often than not if you if you maybe a lefty,
Speaker 3: that's when you play ed Woudno and and Maryfield at
Speaker 3: second stays a second if you wanted to give Scott
Speaker 3: a day off his feet. But I just have a
Speaker 3: feeling that's gonna end up being their best every day
Speaker 3: lineup while they endure the Turner absence.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree with that, and I just think
Speaker 2: I think, out of respect for Sosa, I think they're
Speaker 2: going to give him a couple of more games just
Speaker 2: to play shortstop and just to give him some love,
Speaker 2: just just knowing sort of you know, the DNA of
Speaker 2: how Rob Thompson works. I think he'll probably give him
Speaker 2: a little bit of time and then let maybe stop
Speaker 2: take some ground balls over there, have Bobby Dickerson work
Speaker 2: with him a few days at shortstop, and then stop,
Speaker 2: sort of make that gradual transition. I do believe if
Speaker 2: it goes for a month, and it sounds like it's
Speaker 2: going to be at least a month, I mean, thirty
Speaker 2: days is thirty days. That's one sixth of the season.
Speaker 2: So you you're talking about you know, I'm a significant
Speaker 2: amount of time, And I got no problem let's let's
Speaker 2: not forget. You know, the Philadelphia Phillies went to the
Speaker 2: World Series, almost won the World Series, but stop at shortstop.
Speaker 2: I mean he was a rookie, much like we saw
Speaker 2: years ago with Kevin Stoker going over there and playing
Speaker 2: you know, shortstop for the Phillies in ninety three. So
Speaker 2: you know, for me, I would slide him over there
Speaker 2: and then give. As James said, I think with Maryfield
Speaker 2: is going to be a really good player and an
Speaker 2: important piece of this and you're not. I mean, I
Speaker 2: know Trey Turner's trade Turner, but you start thinking about
Speaker 2: how this lineup set up. Get another right handed bat
Speaker 2: in there. That's a quality. You get a guy who
Speaker 2: knows how to play. You get a guy who has
Speaker 2: been and everyday player, was an All Star last year.
Speaker 2: I mean the signing is, as you said, Todd, very
Speaker 2: very shrewd, pretty smart and h and helpful, and that's
Speaker 2: what you sort of need. You need to have certain
Speaker 2: guys step up. I mean, what was it, Tadd and
Speaker 2: Gucci we ended up signing when when when? Or we
Speaker 2: ended up trading for it when you know when Utley
Speaker 2: went down. I mean, those things need to happen. You
Speaker 2: have to create some depth for your team.
Speaker 3: That was that was That was to Pat Killick felt
Speaker 3: bad for Freddy. Freddy Garcia, right, I think it.
Speaker 2: I think it was. I really honestly think I honestly
Speaker 2: think it was because.
Speaker 3: It was like two baseball men doing each other a
Speaker 3: solid like I think Kenny Williams felt bad that Freddy
Speaker 3: broke down so quick.
Speaker 2: Maybe I got to believe that there had to be
Speaker 2: something to that, because you know, there was some question
Speaker 2: about the medicals on on Freddy that we checked out.
Speaker 2: But you know, a little little, maybe a little shady.
Speaker 1: Right, I mean, that's they got. They got their Tad
Speaker 1: Agucci and Mirrorfield before the season started, so they don't
Speaker 1: need to run out and get somebody. So again that
Speaker 1: that move looks pretty solid. And it also helps, of
Speaker 1: course that you lose a player like Trey Turner. You
Speaker 1: have a rotation that is one of the best in baseball.
Speaker 1: It's the best in the National League. You know, last night,
Speaker 1: Taiwan Walker goes out and allows one run through six
Speaker 1: innings and he gives up the two run home run
Speaker 1: in the seventh. You know, he both games really through
Speaker 1: six innings, he pitched pretty well and a lot of
Speaker 1: hand ringing, a lot of angst amongst the fan base
Speaker 1: about you know, what do you do with Spencer Turnbowl?
Speaker 1: Now it sounds like he's in the bullpen, but it
Speaker 1: sounds like he maybe could pitch and start some games
Speaker 1: since Chris Sanchez spot, but maybe not. Maybe he'll piggyback them,
Speaker 1: but then maybe he'll be a high leverage guy at
Speaker 1: some point. But they got to keep them stretched out,
Speaker 1: you know, you got to keep them going three innings.
Speaker 1: I asked throughout last night, you know, it was if
Speaker 1: Taiwan had gotten through the seventh, would you have finished
Speaker 1: the game with Spencer Turnbull? He said, Now, we really
Speaker 1: want him to go three innings. I don't know what's
Speaker 1: going on or how it's going to work. It's it's
Speaker 1: all very confusing to me kind of how it's set up.
Speaker 1: But I guess somebody has to take, you know, has
Speaker 1: to take the hit, and it's going to be Spencer Turmble.
Speaker 1: Do you, guys, Rubin, how do you feel if Phillies
Speaker 1: are handling the Walker Turnbull situation right now?
Speaker 2: I just think it's a fluid situation, I really do.
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, you can't have six guys it's clear
Speaker 2: that guys like you know, Wheeler don't do not want
Speaker 2: to pitch on six days, you know, five days rest.
Speaker 2: Oh no, that's oh no, you know that was very clear.
Speaker 2: And I don't blame them. I mean, these guys have
Speaker 2: their routines, and you know people talk about well, you
Speaker 2: know that can't be an excuse. Well, it is an excuse.
Speaker 2: You imagine sitting on your rear end for five days
Speaker 2: or six days and you're not pitching. That's different for
Speaker 2: a pitcher, and especially when you're talking about elite athletes. Okay,
Speaker 2: So the Aaron Nola's in, the the Suarez is and
Speaker 2: the Wheelers of the world are going to stay in
Speaker 2: their routines. Now, they may benefit from this in August
Speaker 2: if they clinch early or something like that, where you
Speaker 2: want to give them a couple of days, that may
Speaker 2: be different, but you never have enough pitching. I love
Speaker 2: the fact that they have this problem because it's never
Speaker 2: a problem. Never happens. Okay, I will tell you, knowing
Speaker 2: this business, that this problem never happens. And the fact
Speaker 2: that they have this is great and I think honestly
Speaker 2: it keeps kind of Christopher Sanchez on his toes because
Speaker 2: if he doesn't pitch well, he'll slide back into the
Speaker 2: long spot. I mean, it's I mean, that's what's going
Speaker 2: to happen. And I hope Chris Sanchez continues to pitch
Speaker 2: well or gets better, because I think his stuff is there,
Speaker 2: just he hasn't been super super sharp with his command,
Speaker 2: which he was doing very well last year at the
Speaker 2: end of the year. I think he needs to get
Speaker 2: back to that. But if he falters, then they can
Speaker 2: flip flop the guys. I mean, it's as simple as that,
Speaker 2: or they can piggyback them or whatever it is that
Speaker 2: they need to do. So I love this problem. I
Speaker 2: wish I had this problem for years and years and
Speaker 2: years as a GM, and I think it's just a
Speaker 2: fluid situation where they'll try to manage it as best
Speaker 2: they can. You know, at some point someone's got to
Speaker 2: blow up game where they give up five runs in
Speaker 2: the first two winnings, They're going to have to bring
Speaker 2: somebody in. Well, I'd like to have that guy. I
Speaker 2: like to have that guy, and I have that guy
Speaker 2: be sharp so they can stay in the game and
Speaker 2: perhaps come back and win it. So it's a great
Speaker 2: situation to be in. I'm envious, and I think it's
Speaker 2: a it's a really really great two signings. You start
Speaker 2: thinking about some of the things that they did in
Speaker 2: the offseason that are the smaller ones that become big
Speaker 2: are merror Field and Turnbull knows that's that's that's good stuff, man,
Speaker 2: and that's why Daved Nebowski is a Hall of Famer, right.
Speaker 3: I actually think guys, it keeps four and five Sanchez
Speaker 3: and Taiwan Walker on their toes a little bit because
Speaker 3: you know, that's if Turnbull can slot in either place.
Speaker 3: And very interesting to hear Rob very clearly say last night,
Speaker 3: when we use Turnbull, we want it to be three innings.
Speaker 3: They want to keep them stretched, so you know, he
Speaker 3: can slide into the rotation somewhere and you might see
Speaker 3: him next week, depending on the matchups. Start a game
Speaker 3: with Sanchez coming in behind him, so they're they're getting
Speaker 3: creative and and I think it has a chance of
Speaker 3: really really working. So they obviously want to keep him
Speaker 3: sharp because he has shown to be uh, shown great
Speaker 3: value early and they don't want to ice him, have him,
Speaker 3: you know, on ice, so the next time they go
Speaker 3: to him, he's not sharp.
Speaker 1: Right, right, you know, it's funny. Taiwan I thought said
Speaker 1: it best last night. I kind of fumbled the question.
Speaker 1: I said, have you talked to Spencer? You know, if
Speaker 1: you guys had a kind of hash it out. He
Speaker 1: goes hash it out? What do we need to hash out?
Speaker 1: But then he made a great point. He goes, Spencer's
Speaker 1: pitched phenomenally in that spot, stepping at the last minute.
Speaker 1: He has pitched outstanding, And Taiwan said it himself. He
Speaker 1: will be back in the rotation at some point. It
Speaker 1: is a long season. You don't go an entire season
Speaker 1: with only five starters. You don't go an entire season
Speaker 1: with only six starters. I think the Phillies have not
Speaker 1: had fewer than ten starters in a season since twenty fourteen.
Speaker 1: I think they had nine. They haven't had fewer than
Speaker 1: nine since twenty eleven, when they had seven. So the
Speaker 1: odds tell you, unless there's a miracle of health and production,
Speaker 1: that Spencer Turnbull will be starting again at some point
Speaker 1: for the Phillies this season.
Speaker 2: I sure hope in August they have the same problem.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine, I mean in July and August, if
Speaker 2: you have the same problem, then you'll be going you're
Speaker 2: literally happy as hell. I mean, if you're in the
Speaker 2: front office and you're Rob Thompson and you're Caleb Coffin,
Speaker 2: you're going, Thank the sweet Lord, you're letting me have
Speaker 2: all these pitchers right now.
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the reasons why this situation
Speaker 1: seems so convoluted and messy is because it never happens.
Speaker 1: You don't have a guy that throws one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy two innings one year, starts a season and the
Speaker 1: injured list, and people are going, how are you going
Speaker 1: to fit him in? Because the guy he assigned to
Speaker 1: a one year, two million dollar deal, who's been injured
Speaker 1: the last four years, has a one six seventy rac
Speaker 1: and six starts. It's pretty wild.
Speaker 3: I think Taiwan deserves a little respect for those sure
Speaker 3: both one two, and for the way he's come out
Speaker 3: of the gate here with two solid starts. But you know,
Speaker 3: obviously the seventh innings haven't gone his way, and you
Speaker 3: can make the argument that he should have been out
Speaker 3: of there earlier in both games. I think it's fair
Speaker 3: to make that point. I think it's fair to ask
Speaker 3: Rob Thompson that question. I mean, he was asked about
Speaker 3: that last night, whether you know he was it you
Speaker 3: that asked him or Scott.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I asked him if if he'll he'll have more pause.
Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, that's right, Like get.
Speaker 3: Him out of there after six, and I think it's
Speaker 3: it's fair. And I bet you he will. I bet
Speaker 3: you all of a sudden, like his little ding ding
Speaker 3: ding meter is going off, you know, at six, after
Speaker 3: six innings the next time. But Rob's not gonna come
Speaker 3: out there, come out there last night and say, you know,
Speaker 3: and say that, and it shows a lack of trust
Speaker 3: and faith in his picture. But I bet deep down
Speaker 3: inside he's gonna view things a little differently after six innings.
Speaker 3: I think last night he framed it around. Depends where
Speaker 3: we are, depends where his pitch count is, and those
Speaker 3: are all, you know, you know, fair points. But I
Speaker 3: think it's also fair to say, you know, six innings, boom,
Speaker 3: we gotta we gotta do something here. You kind of
Speaker 3: learned from that empirical evidence. And but you know, if
Speaker 3: you stack up Taiwan his two starts over his first
Speaker 3: six innings in each, I'll take that day, even though
Speaker 3: the stuff is not like dynamic and lighting up the
Speaker 3: radar gun and making everybody go oohing ah. The location
Speaker 3: has been good, the results have been good. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So here's the thing. I think, out of respect to
Speaker 2: Taiwan and the fact that the team had some cushion
Speaker 2: and Rob Thompson's got a lot of confidence in the offense,
Speaker 2: I think you can let him go to that seventh
Speaker 2: inning and try to get through to it. And I
Speaker 2: think that's the beauty of this offense that they've gave him,
Speaker 2: given him a couple of cushions to be able to
Speaker 2: work with that, and to give Rob Thompson and also,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, it gives Rob Thompson an opportunity
Speaker 2: to like find out, Let me find out if this
Speaker 2: guy can go through seven, if he can get up
Speaker 2: and down six times? I mean, and I think that
Speaker 2: that's I don't think I have a problem with that.
Speaker 2: And the fact that he also trusts the guys in
Speaker 2: the back end to be able to clamp it down
Speaker 2: if they have some issues. I think that that's what
Speaker 2: you saw on his first two outings. The other thing
Speaker 2: that I noticed about Taiwan Walker and correct me if
Speaker 2: I'm wrong, guys, but his split is even working. It's
Speaker 2: his best pitch and his split is not even working yet, right.
Speaker 2: I think once he gets the field for that split
Speaker 2: a little bit more. I know his velocities are in
Speaker 2: the nineteen ninety two range. He's probably that's where he's
Speaker 2: gonna be. He may ramp up a little bit. I
Speaker 2: know Rob Thompson talked about it that he may get
Speaker 2: gained some more velocity as he goes, as he gets
Speaker 2: stronger through the season. That said, his best pitch is
Speaker 2: not even working yet and he's still sort of managing through. Now,
Speaker 2: these are not great lineups, but there.
Speaker 3: Aren't great lineups in the whole, in.
Speaker 2: All of baseball. I mean, there's not that many great
Speaker 2: teams offensively that you have to really quote unquote worry about. Now.
Speaker 2: It will be different in the playoffs. It'll be different
Speaker 2: in September when games get tighter and tighter. But the
Speaker 2: man doesn't even have his best pitch and he's still
Speaker 2: sort of managing through. So you got to give him
Speaker 2: a little love for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he said is he had a blister in San
Speaker 1: Diego and that's why he I mean, he didn't throw
Speaker 1: a split almost at all. I feel like in the
Speaker 1: debuty said he got a better feel for it later
Speaker 1: in the game Sunday night. So it was the pitch
Speaker 1: he was throwing him, what thirty or thirty Yeah, third
Speaker 1: of the time. Last year he was going it was
Speaker 1: all split split split. So it was interesting though, like
Speaker 1: he gave up home runs, that big home run that
Speaker 1: kind of spoiled both of his lines. It was the
Speaker 1: ninetieth pitch and both starts the inning before he finished.
Speaker 1: This is what the kind of the gray area is.
Speaker 1: I guess, like I think in his first start he
Speaker 1: finished the sixth inning at like seventy three pitches, and
Speaker 1: last night he finished at seventy seven pitches. So you
Speaker 1: can see why Rob sent him out into the seventh
Speaker 1: inning both of those. But again, now his next starts,
Speaker 1: say he's at seventy six going into the seventh inning,
Speaker 1: do you send them back down?
Speaker 3: Ruben said, you know, Rob wants to find out. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so you know you send him out there twice to
Speaker 3: find out. And now when you make the move that
Speaker 3: you know at the seventy the ninetieth pitch, when you
Speaker 3: make a move, when you make a move at eighty
Speaker 3: eight pitches, and he comes in after the game or
Speaker 3: the next day and says, hey, why didn't you show him?
Speaker 3: Why don't you stick with me? Boom? You point to
Speaker 3: you point to where the where the numbers are and
Speaker 3: the results are, and you say, this is, this is
Speaker 3: this is this is why going with the going with
Speaker 3: the numbers. And I think that's a very legitimate use
Speaker 3: of the numbers there, Todd. I wanted to ask you,
Speaker 3: remember all those years. I was actually thinking about this
Speaker 3: driving home last night, Like when the Flyers are over
Speaker 3: and the Sixers are over, the Sixers getting knocked out
Speaker 3: earlier this week, the n the NFL Draft is over.
Speaker 3: It always seemed like early in the season there were
Speaker 3: those other matters, sporting matters in town taking away the
Speaker 3: attention to the Phillies, and we'd sit down and we write,
Speaker 3: you know, all right, the Phillies have six eight weeks
Speaker 3: now to really grab the town here, right because training
Speaker 3: camps not open yet with the Eagles, and they have
Speaker 3: six or eight weeks to grab everybody's attention. And that
Speaker 3: probably written that, You've probably written that at times, but
Speaker 3: no need for that. This team has totally grabbed everybody's attention,
Speaker 3: you know, dating back to dating back to bedlam at
Speaker 3: the bank, but really you've seen some of these cold,
Speaker 3: misty nights and this huge crowds there and the attendance
Speaker 3: and the way this team has captured the town with
Speaker 3: its star power, with its good looking young players, with
Speaker 3: the starting pitching rotation, and ultimately with the w's. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's what matters most. It's really becoming a lot of
Speaker 3: fun to watch.
Speaker 1: It is, and I think that this is really setting
Speaker 1: up to be one of those summers where people are
Speaker 1: just going bananas over everything that Phillies are doing. And
Speaker 1: you're right, I was thinking about, you know, for the
Speaker 1: last few years, they've gotten such a slow starts, and
Speaker 1: so the Phillies fans are kind of grumpy and there's
Speaker 1: some angst about you know, are they going to be
Speaker 1: good enough? Well, now they have the best record in baseball,
Speaker 1: not saying it's gonna last, but they're on this remarkable
Speaker 1: pace and the fact that they're winning and they're such
Speaker 1: a fun team, I think is going to only add
Speaker 1: to that fan interest. You know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you guys saw it on social media. I went back
Speaker 1: and I listened to the broadcast last night. They had
Speaker 1: Brandon marsh miked up yes, and it was unbelievable. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was so great, and that's I know there's some
Speaker 1: people that don't like guys miked up and it's in
Speaker 1: the middle of a game, and you know, you know,
Speaker 1: Mike Schmid wouldn't have done that, or you know, Greg
Speaker 1: Lozinski wouldn't have done that. I get it, But man,
Speaker 1: it was so much fun to listen to him talk
Speaker 1: and just show his personality. And I think that stuff
Speaker 1: feeds into it. And it was funny after the game
Speaker 1: marsh said he had He says, that's a lot harder
Speaker 1: than it looks talking and playing at the same time.
Speaker 1: But he was great. He showed a lot of personality.
Speaker 1: That's why I think this thing team has. You have
Speaker 1: the hot start, you have the personality, and now they
Speaker 1: are the only show in town and it's really building
Speaker 1: up to be. You know, you can see everybody's radio
Speaker 1: at the Shore is going to be tuned into the
Speaker 1: Phillies game at night, every back porch in southeastern Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: Soulterer is in Delaware, everybody's going to be you know,
Speaker 1: it's got that vibe going to it right now.
Speaker 2: I think the cool thing about it is that you
Speaker 2: talked about the personality that you know they have their
Speaker 2: veteran guys, I mean, the Harper's, the JT. Real Muto's
Speaker 2: and the shore Beers are sort of the stabilizers and
Speaker 2: Turner obviously the stabilizers of the club. But then beyond
Speaker 2: that you have guys like Marsh and Stott and those
Speaker 2: you know, Ranger Suarez who are are now starting to
Speaker 2: become real stars in the game, like really really good players.
Speaker 2: And not only that, but they're you know, they're good
Speaker 2: team players. Marsh did two things yesterday, pulled a couple
Speaker 2: of balls on the ground with man on second base,
Speaker 2: with with nobody out quality at bats. Now that you know,
Speaker 2: one results in a run, I think, and the other
Speaker 2: time it did not because Casianos has been struggling. But
Speaker 2: but they're doing the things that are necessary to win
Speaker 2: baseball games. They talk about being dogs, right, well they are,
Speaker 2: I mean, and they're they're backing it up because they're
Speaker 2: playing winning baseball. And then you know, in the postgame interview,
Speaker 2: I listened to uh to Harpard's about the consistency of
Speaker 2: their level of play, and that's they've been doing those things.
Speaker 2: You know, Stott didn't panic, you know, coming out of
Speaker 2: the shoot, was struggling. He's starting to swing it again.
Speaker 2: I mean the other guy was Alec Bohm was the
Speaker 2: third one I was going to talk about. I mean,
Speaker 2: these are guys that are becoming stars and have a
Speaker 2: chance to be really really high level players. And you
Speaker 2: start stacking up all those guys in that lineup with
Speaker 2: the veteran with the veterans, and you combine that with
Speaker 2: the with the quality of the young players coming through
Speaker 2: and the confidence that you see them have now, and boy,
Speaker 2: it's a great combination. It's a great combination to have,
Speaker 2: especially with this kind of pitching staff that we talked to.
Speaker 3: No, no question, a great, great mix of a veteran
Speaker 3: track record, a veteran All Star caliber track record, and
Speaker 3: ascending I almost saying ascending young player, but I think
Speaker 3: they've a lot of these guys have actually crossed the
Speaker 3: thresholds where you're a young player. Now you're a young
Speaker 3: established player, a young player, a pro. You know they're young,
Speaker 3: but they're not so young. They're they're really right there
Speaker 3: and they're entering their prime. So a real nice mix.
Speaker 3: And I mean, you know, we're taping here on Monday morning,
Speaker 3: and what have they won? Sixteen out of nineteen and
Speaker 3: six in a row. Todd, Yeah, I mean they have
Speaker 3: a chance to get a you know, later on Monday,
Speaker 3: they have a chance for a four game Sweet. That's
Speaker 3: really tough.
Speaker 2: That's crazy, crazy, really.
Speaker 3: Tough to do. But I mean, gosh, you got you
Speaker 3: got the surgeon on the mound, Zach Wheeler.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's not happy either if you.
Speaker 3: Had a chance to do it, get the forced four games, sweep.
Speaker 2: The you know what, and how about all the talk
Speaker 2: about the center field of Johann Rojas. No one's even
Speaker 2: talking about Johann anymore. Just as we talked about before.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not that big of a deal that
Speaker 2: the kids hitting too Tan or whatever he's hitting or
Speaker 2: two twenty, because he's doing what he needs to do.
Speaker 2: He's gotten on base a few times. He's got a
Speaker 2: couple of big bass hits and drove in a run,
Speaker 2: you know, a couple of backbreaker hits. He's stolen a
Speaker 2: base here there, he makes the plays in center field.
Speaker 2: You know, you don't need him to be an offensive
Speaker 2: juggernaut because you got the whole rest of the lineup
Speaker 2: doing that damage.
Speaker 3: It's just what, just the way they thought it could
Speaker 3: happen that we should be good enough one through eight
Speaker 3: that he can be a good functional piece in the
Speaker 3: lineup while continuing to improve and not hurt them. That's
Speaker 3: exactly what's happening. He was kind of in the center
Speaker 3: of it all last night. Michael CONFORDO hit a couple
Speaker 3: of bombs out there, and you know, one he I
Speaker 3: think he actually was a little too aggressive. On the
Speaker 3: second one, he kind of overran it a little bit.
Speaker 3: But the fact that he got to those balls was
Speaker 3: something he'll he'll catch. He'll catch those in the very
Speaker 3: not too distant future because he'll learn from from both
Speaker 3: of those plays.
Speaker 1: I thought Rob Thompson had had an interesting common asked
Speaker 1: about those plays. Someone asked him about you know he
Speaker 1: did he overrun those balls and should he have caught
Speaker 1: those balls? He's like, you know what, I think people
Speaker 1: need to remember that he is so good defensively. He's
Speaker 1: getting the balls that most human beings would never get to,
Speaker 1: and it's almost unfair to expect him to catch every
Speaker 1: rocket that is hit into the gap or over his head.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: That tells you how And I agree, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: he he probably should catch it. He would tell you
Speaker 1: he should have caught those balls. Maybe in some of
Speaker 1: those cases, but he's gonna run. He's going to get
Speaker 1: close to lot of balls that most guys.
Speaker 2: And I guarantee, and I guarantee who's pissed off ned
Speaker 2: to make those plays? Yeah, oh yeah, I guarantee you
Speaker 2: because he wants to be elite. You know, that's his
Speaker 2: calling card.
Speaker 3: That's the sign of a player who's going to be good.
Speaker 3: If you're ticked off that you don't make that play,
Speaker 3: and he'll go out and work on making This is
Speaker 3: to be a fascinating week. Like I mentioned, you get
Speaker 3: a chance to get a four game sweep. You don't
Speaker 3: play a lot of four game series, and to sweep
Speaker 3: on very very very difficult. Then you got a Toronto
Speaker 3: Blue Jays team coming in that it's just not playing
Speaker 3: a while, spending its wheels, having a real tough time.
Speaker 3: And then you you go to see Miami which seems
Speaker 3: like they've entered full tank mode and a chance to
Speaker 3: clean up down there. You know, again, again we've said
Speaker 3: it a million times, but a chance for this team
Speaker 3: to even get some more padding, make make some more. Hey,
Speaker 3: don't you think it's a big week?
Speaker 1: I think it's right, Yeah, they're all big, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it's right for the taking for sure. Or the Blue
Speaker 1: Jays are struggling, and that Marlins team, i mean they
Speaker 1: just got rid of a rise. They sent him packing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's that Marlin team and that's an embarrassment.
Speaker 2: What's happened ever since they let go of Kim Ang.
Speaker 2: That that was a that's a bad that was a
Speaker 2: you know, we can talk about that at some other point.
Speaker 2: But I mean, they really I think it's that You're right,
Speaker 2: they're there for the taking, and hopefully they go down there,
Speaker 2: it's not a letdown for them because they literally want
Speaker 2: nobody in the ballpark. They will not have anybody in
Speaker 2: the ballpark, and that sometimes mentally is a tough thing
Speaker 2: to adjust to. It's not or it's something, but it's
Speaker 2: something they're going to have to deal with, and it's
Speaker 2: gonna be something, you know, probably if they have some
Speaker 2: family down there. I'm sure there's gonna be lots of
Speaker 2: family going down there. My kids graduating from Miami down there.
Speaker 2: I'll be happen to be down there. It'll be kind
Speaker 2: of cool. But but there's not gonna be a whole
Speaker 2: lot of energy in that ballpark. It's gonna be like
Speaker 2: a morgue out there, and so they're gonna have to.
Speaker 3: And it's good that they're so good at scoring early.
Speaker 3: First and second thing, they put a lot of runs
Speaker 3: on the board. You go out, I agree with you.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's why I think some of the reason
Speaker 3: they had trouble down in Miami over the years, because
Speaker 3: that place is like a mausoleum. It's so quiet. It's
Speaker 3: you know, there's no energy in the ballpark, but offense
Speaker 3: equals energy. Go out there early and put a couple
Speaker 3: on the board early every night. I think that energy
Speaker 3: can carry you through because you need to make a
Speaker 3: good showing in that series. I think Atlanta. I think
Speaker 3: Atlanta is five and one against Miami, so in the division,
Speaker 3: you need to clean up against Miami. AIB they're going
Speaker 3: to be this willing, compliant opponent that just you know,
Speaker 3: is giving away their best player or traded away their
Speaker 3: best player and seemingly, you know, decided they're not going
Speaker 3: to build on a playoff appearance last year. But it
Speaker 3: all starts with Monday afternoon. I'm intrigued by this pitching matchup.
Speaker 3: I mean, Zach Wheeler and young man from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3: Mason Black making his major league debut so for the
Speaker 3: Giant's on Monday afternoons, So, you know, I'm sure it's
Speaker 3: a thrilling moment for him and his family, But the
Speaker 3: Phillies are going to be out to get themselves a
Speaker 3: four game sweep. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The concern always when we when we face a guy
Speaker 2: for the first time, especially the veteran guys, not so
Speaker 2: much the younger guys, these ascending players, but when they
Speaker 2: haven't seen somebody, you know, it's it tends to be
Speaker 2: like a foreign object to him. But they've actually dealt
Speaker 2: with that pretty well this year. And if they can
Speaker 2: get an early lead for Zach, I think Zach's he's
Speaker 2: got a little vengeance in this game right now because
Speaker 2: he wants to be Zach Wheeler for the next next several.
Speaker 1: He was about as ornery as I've seen him after
Speaker 1: a start the other night in Anaheim, pitching on extra rest.
Speaker 1: He was so unhappy about his performance. We asked him,
Speaker 1: you know, he limited the damage, and we asked him,
Speaker 1: you know, you take any positives out of doing that,
Speaker 1: and he he basically that I got nothing out of that.
Speaker 1: He was so mad about the way you pitched. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he's, uh, he's gonna have a little bit
Speaker 1: extra edge edged him night. So it's Mason Black versus
Speaker 1: Zach Wheeler tonight, and then the Blue Jays come into
Speaker 1: town for two Jose Barrios versus Christopher Sanchez on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Maybe you'll see some Spencer Turnbull, maybe you won't, nobody knows.
Speaker 1: And then Wednesday it's Aaron Nola versus Chris Bassett. Who's
Speaker 1: who's struggle a little bit this season? So rubin you
Speaker 1: you said you had something you wanted to show us,
Speaker 1: Oh before we sign off.
Speaker 2: So my man Tony Demico, he's from Tojoe Mushroom Farms
Speaker 2: Mushrooms Incorporated. He is a card collector, and I told
Speaker 2: him I went to UH I went to a golf
Speaker 2: tournament with the Joe Watson UH up in BC. Yeah,
Speaker 2: years ago. He a couple of years ago, and we
Speaker 2: kind of hung out together. This guy's a car collector,
Speaker 2: he said. I told him that my grandfather other played
Speaker 2: in the major leagues, so or it's played in the
Speaker 2: UH in Cuba and the Mexico, not the major leagues.
Speaker 2: And he got this card he founded on a website
Speaker 2: in Cuba. It's an actual baseball card of Santo Tomorrow.
Speaker 2: It's insane. It's a legitimate baseball card of Santos El Congudo,
Speaker 2: El Gonzo Amato. Now Gonzo Gonzo is goose, so that
Speaker 2: was one of his nicknames. And Congoudo is a kangaroo.
Speaker 2: So he had a couple of nicknames because he sort
Speaker 2: of looked like Dave Winfield. Who's that type of like
Speaker 2: long six five, you know, great, pretty cool. So Tony's
Speaker 2: the man.
Speaker 3: If we could go back in time and have the
Speaker 3: Koala interview the Congurro, it would be like all these
Speaker 3: marsupials from Australia.
Speaker 1: Ruben, do you have do you have any other like
Speaker 1: Memorabiley of your every granddad like that watch?
Speaker 2: You know remember when they did the had the cardboard
Speaker 2: cutouts in the ballpark. Well, they actually have one of
Speaker 2: El Cangudo when we see we can get it there
Speaker 2: there is Yeah, they had one. They had one of
Speaker 2: him and they actually put it out there. How cool
Speaker 2: is that?
Speaker 1: That is awesome?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was one of them. But I have a
Speaker 2: bunch of pictures and stuff. But I and I have
Speaker 2: a couple of a couple of pictures that people have
Speaker 2: mounted of my grandfather, who was a Hall of Famer
Speaker 2: in Cuba and New Mexico. Pretty pretty cool. But for
Speaker 2: him to come up with this card, man, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a legitimate card, you got it looks like.
Speaker 1: It looks like it's professionally graded and everything. It's in
Speaker 1: the actual CA Yeah, yeah, they.
Speaker 2: Actually it's a grade one, I guess. I don't know
Speaker 2: what that means. It's quale as far as quality is concerned,
Speaker 2: I don't know. But it doesn't matter. It's an actual
Speaker 2: playing card of my grandfather from like nineteen thirty two
Speaker 2: or something like that. That's insane.
Speaker 1: That's rad man.
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that.
Speaker 1: Well, guys, thanks for the time. As always, thank you
Speaker 1: for listening. If you are new to The Philly Show,
Speaker 1: please subscribe. We come out twice a week and we
Speaker 1: will be back later this week after the Blue Jays series.
Speaker 1: Thanks guys.
Speaker 2: Smell Lena, Smell you Jim.