Schwarbombs, Schwarbombs, Schwarbombs

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Bryce Harper and welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:16
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:19
Speaker 1: Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd Solecki. It's Friday, September sixth, twenty twenty four. Ruben's in Miami. I was in Toronto this week. I flew home.

00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, look at that.

00:00:31
Speaker 1: I got the palm trees in the back, Ruben. It looks like the weather is probably a little warmer than in Toronto. It was gorgeous in Toronto this week.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: It was spectacular in Toronto. Loved it. It is a little obviously a little bit more humid, but not like terrible typically around this time.

00:00:49
Speaker 2: Man, it's like terrible. But there's sweating bullets.

00:00:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not too bad. Nice little breeze to it. Sorry about you know, some of the background noise. But you know they got they got you know, they got nice stuff going on over here.

00:01:02
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:01:03
Speaker 1: Waterfalls, Yeah, yeah, I got the waterfalls going Yeah.

00:01:06
Speaker 2: Absolutely lived a tough life. I live a very tough life.

00:01:11
Speaker 1: You live a charmed life, Reven, There's no doubt, no doubt. I flew back yesterday from Toronto, and I got to sitting you know, you get back home. And my wife was always dealing with the three kids and working full time and stuff like that. So I had some fun with her yesterday. Every time she'd asked me to do something, I said, you know, hey, listen, I got to recalibrate. I man, I was to fly internationally this morning to get home, you know, And she's like, it's an hour flight. What are you talking about. Get it done? So about the eighth time of me dropping down and she had had enough.

00:01:43
Speaker 2: But I try to.

00:01:45
Speaker 1: Try to keep being entertaining for myself as I get back situated with with the real world. Phillies win on Thursday night in Miami five two. You know, they sweep the Blue Jays. You know, Kyle Schwarber has a tremendous weet and rubin. One of my favorite moments of the week was I want to ask you about this. Kyle Schwarber hits that go ahead home run in the ninth inning, and the ball was hit so hard, so fast. If you listen to the replay, I can hear you go oh, but it's almost it almost happens instantaneously as the ball hits the bat, the crack of the bat times up almost perfectly. Like, as soon as he made contact, you knew it was gone right.

00:02:28
Speaker 2: It was majestic.

00:02:30
Speaker 3: You know, when he gets in those modes, when he's locked in and he's got that super great balance, almost every swing becomes must CYTV. And for me, when he took that swing and as I almost sort of anticipated, I said, ib, he throws another pitch in that area and he's gonna collaborate, and oh my goodness, gracious, I mean, it was like a It was literally like an explosion off the bat. And and the way he hits him let me there, they're beautiful home runs. There are some great he hit some bullets. He hit some that was like a majestic one. Man, it was like and it was so timely. Man, it was a beautiful. It was a beautiful thing.

00:03:09
Speaker 2: And I couldn't help I couldn't help my emotion. I was like totally.

00:03:13
Speaker 1: I mean, I think everybody in the ballpark did it. But again, like I thought, I just thought it was so funny because your reaction was like, you knew it as soon as the ball left the bat that that ball was going to be a missile. Is you know, I guess the only question was it was gonna be fair. Now, it was obviously wayfair, but but uh just destroyed it.

00:03:30
Speaker 3: Yeah when when you know, you know, when it comes up of his bad man.

00:03:34
Speaker 4: I think everybody did that. Larry Anderson even did it on the radio. He just when he catches it just a little bit out in front, and he's such an you mentioned balance, He's such a rhythm balance hitter that when he is on and squaring it up and seeing it and feeling good and in a groove, he's incredibly fun to watch it. And when you take the strength and he's just incredible. Was strong man, and add that bat speed.

00:04:04
Speaker 5: And you hit a ball on the button like that.

00:04:06
Speaker 4: You know it's gonna make a loud noise and it's gonna go a long way.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: And you know he he was in such a tough funk going into that game, you know, the like I think he had gone seventeen straight games without a home run or you know, fifteen sixteen, seventeen straight games without a home run. He sat in the cage following Saturday night's game in Atlanta. He was really frustrated how he was hitting. He talked through some things with the hitting coaches, worked on some things. Saturday is the last at bat, he hits this hard line out to center field, and talking to Rob Thompson on Tuesday, he's like, yeah, I think that's a good sign. You know, I really like that at bat.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: To me, that says something and you.

00:04:46
Speaker 1: Kind of file that away, right, you know, Jim, when you're writing a story, you're thinking about stories.

00:04:49
Speaker 2: Of that night.

00:04:50
Speaker 1: You go, okay, let me remember that. You know that that line out to center field to end, you know, in the ninth inning on on Sunday night, and then boom, lead off home run, Like okay.

00:05:02
Speaker 4: And I also think that brings in the mental aspect of the game and the mental aspect of hitting. When you hit a ball on the button like that square one up, it feels good and it brings you back to a good place in your mind. And so often in this game, you know, the mind can lead the body, and I think that that has a big part of it.

00:05:23
Speaker 5: You know.

00:05:23
Speaker 4: It's like you finish with a good swing, you can't wait to get to the ballpark the next day. It's like when you're a hack golfer and you have a good hole on eighteen, you come back.

00:05:34
Speaker 5: It's all kind of the same.

00:05:37
Speaker 4: It's all kind of the same phenomena in your between the years.

00:05:42
Speaker 3: And there's another piece of that too, because for me as a player and as a coach and an ex coach, when you try to implement something and you tweak something and you have almost immediate success, that's important because like say he was working on X on the balancer, making a good choice with his swing, whatever the case may be for him, to like have that sort of immediately work for him and to have it, you know, have some positivity out of that, that's huge because then you can then your mind, you say, you say to yourself, oh, all that works sort of paying off, and it's paying off immediately, I'm getting immediate dividends, and then it kind of then it kind of carries you through.

00:06:27
Speaker 1: Jimmy mentioned golf. Schwarbro also said in terms of like state of mind, he played golf on Monday on the off day with some of his teammates. He said, I did not shoot well, but I had fun. And then later he got Tyreek Hill with the fourth overall pick in his fantasy football league, so he seemed pretty excited about that.

00:06:43
Speaker 2: So so she had.

00:06:45
Speaker 1: Some good off the field stuff due to carry into Tuesday before he hit those those three home runs and that that dramatic win against against Toronto.

00:06:54
Speaker 3: So you talk about again, I'll go back to what French he said, you know, when he saw that these guys were coming in and playing off and being relaxed, and how how much he felt like that that was going to be a team that they felt that he felt like was confident and comfortable. And I think that's one of the reasons why Topper allows these guys to play golf. And you know, there's some there're some managers who just basically say, you know what, shut it down.

00:07:17
Speaker 2: You're not doing it, it's taking too much energy, whatever. I think.

00:07:21
Speaker 3: I think that these guys manage it well enough, and Topper gives them the leeway to manage it well enough so that you know, they they're still having joy and being able to do some fun things while they're grinding through the season.

00:07:34
Speaker 5: It's a good it's a good outlet.

00:07:36
Speaker 4: And you know, it's timely because we just talked a lot about that with John Smoltz on our last episode, which if you haven't listened to it, I would urge you too, because I just think the guy is brilliant, really insightful, and he tells good stories and he very uh he knows the Phillies very well because he watches them, so, uh, don't be afraid to cue that one up right, Todd.

00:07:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, we had We had some fun with him. He told some great stories. I still like the story about how Philly has tried to lure him to Philadelphia as a free agent by giving him some Marion in Pine Valley time.

00:08:09
Speaker 2: Why not? Yeah, exactly. You know one more thing about Schwarber.

00:08:16
Speaker 1: Do you think Phillies fans have finally warmed up to Kyle Schwarber being the leadoff hitter? Because I mentioned this to Rob Thompson on Wednesday after the game. I said, you know, we haven't really heard any griping about the leadoff hitter in a while. It's been months and months really, maybe since opening before Opening Day, I haven't heard anybody bring up, you know, should he put turner up there? You know, Schwarber's got to hit lower in the lineup. Maybe people have finally accepted the fact that he's not half bad in that leadoff spot. Tied a major league record on Tuesday Wednesday with thirteen leadoff home runs in a season, tied Alfonso Story on with the Yankees in two thousand and three.

00:08:57
Speaker 5: It'll be a topic of conversation.

00:08:59
Speaker 4: The next time was fourth straight. It's a convenient rainy day conversation. But you know he's he's very good in the lead off. Well, it's unconventional. I will acknowledge that. But before Kyle Schwartz, Kyle Schwarber arrived, they hadn't been to the postseason in ten straight years. They targeted him. Kevin Long, you know, loved him from Washington and they.

00:09:30
Speaker 5: Believed he could lead off.

00:09:31
Speaker 4: Even when they were targeting him, this just didn't manifest itself in Philadelphia. And you know, he's been here and this is his third year and they're headed to the postseason for a third straight year after missing it ten straight. So I think it's been a one of the best signings for franchise history.

00:09:49
Speaker 1: And we will be right back.

00:09:51
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00:10:43
Speaker 1: And we are back and Jim, that's perfect time because we just lost Ruben on the Wi Fi. We just lost Ruben on the Wi Fi.

00:10:51
Speaker 5: Maybe he got arrested in Miami.

00:10:55
Speaker 2: They just yanked them off.

00:10:56
Speaker 5: They yanked them off.

00:10:57
Speaker 1: The computered slam shut. He's claiming wife by issues, but we we will keep soldiering on.

00:11:03
Speaker 5: You probably had he probably had a tea time ye.

00:11:07
Speaker 2: The old my Wifi's bed.

00:11:10
Speaker 1: Jim and Todd, I can't finish this episode.

00:11:13
Speaker 5: Because he plays more golf than anyone we know.

00:11:17
Speaker 1: And maybe more than John Smoltz, definitely more than May anyway, you know what this this is also a perfect time to bring up word them's fighting words. Presented by Shibe Vintage Sports, get unique throwback Hillies teas, hats, and sweatshirts from local artists at their shops in Center City, Wayne and Westchester, and of course you can buy all their stuff online at Shibe sports dot com. Jim your sport and some shy What do you got a Philadelphia Stars tea?

00:11:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, Philadelphia Stars nineteen thirty eight logo. I love it. It's awesome.

00:11:55
Speaker 2: Sure that is That is a cool show.

00:11:56
Speaker 1: I got it. I got it like a retro vet blue nice blue, red, white and blue vet T shirt.

00:12:03
Speaker 2: This week's Quote of the Week.

00:12:04
Speaker 1: I thought this was interesting because I know people have been talking about it a lot, really the last week. This quote comes from Bryce Harper following Wednesday Night's game. He gets hit on the left elbow with a pitch. He's got the bad right elbow, he's got a bad wrist, sore wrist. He's been bad. He's absolutely banged up. Asked him, is there any argument to be made Jim sitting for sitting him for a few days. Hey, we got Ruben back and that's all right. So we're getting into Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper had this quote said, I just don't know how good I'll feel if I take one or two days. You know what I'm saying. I feel like I'll feel the same if I do take two days off or anything like that. That's a conversation we've had before. But I just feel like I'm going to feel the exact same if I do take two or three days off and I come back. In other words, you know, I'm gonna keep playing right now, and I don't think I can hurt myself anymore. That was another thing he said in terms of his right elbow. On Tuesday night, in the ninth inning, he takes a swing and miss, he grabs. You know, he winces in pain. Everybody goes, oh my gosh, the elbow.

00:13:11
Speaker 2: The elbow.

00:13:12
Speaker 1: His understanding is that he cannot hurt the elbow anymore than it already is, So he says, don't worry about it. You're going to see me wins in pain again in the future when I swing and miss, when I follow off a pitch.

00:13:24
Speaker 2: It's just the way it is.

00:13:26
Speaker 1: So what do you think about Bryce Harper kind of playing through this. Would you just say I don't care what you say and rest him or do you keep throwing them out there.

00:13:37
Speaker 5: You mentioned they've had a lot of conversations about it.

00:13:39
Speaker 4: I bet they talk about it every day, and if they thought it was the right thing to do, I think they do it. I don't know why they're backing off it. Maybe they just feel like, you know, sitting in for ten days and then having to start him back up again because there is sort of that break in period and you know, he usually comes off the aisle with him great game and then sometimes he cools a little bit. Maybe they just don't want to go through that that period so close to the finish line here. But I'm sure he's in on these conversations. I'm sure they've done a lot of diagnostics on them, and they don't feel like it can get worse and play through it. You know, we we only hear the tip of the iceberg. I don't think rest is the answer, but I'm sure they've just done a ton of homework on it, and and there's there's more to it than that leads them to believe he can play through this.

00:14:29
Speaker 5: So if they're good with it, I'm good with it.

00:14:33
Speaker 2: You know.

00:14:33
Speaker 5: It's the same thing with Bohm.

00:14:35
Speaker 4: I don't know why they haven't dled Boom or iled Boom because you're at a competitive disadvantage.

00:14:40
Speaker 5: You're playing with a short bench every night.

00:14:42
Speaker 4: Now, I know rosters has expanded, so it's a little easier to swallow. But you know, they they spend a lot of time on this stuff, this this medical stuff and the sports science, and I think this close to the finish line, you got to kind of trust him a little bit.

00:15:01
Speaker 3: So Paul Bukhit is there basically runs their their medical side of things, and he's super thorough. He's got a great background. I've known him since I was in Boston as a coach. They know what they're doing and just having seen Bryce around, his spirits are great. I don't think it's bringing him down at all. I think that it's one of those situations where he just feels and they feel like it's not going to go getting worse as he continues to play. So if that's the case and he's going to continue to play, now there may be a point if they clean s, if they you know, if they put themselves in a position to be, you know, to have the best record, that maybe they can back off for a couple of days.

00:15:48
Speaker 2: But until then, man, he's too competitive. He's gonna want to play.

00:15:52
Speaker 3: It's these games are too important and he's and he's too important to them, and he knows it.

00:15:57
Speaker 4: And and they're tied again. They're tied again for the best record, right because you know, we know what Citizens Bank Park can be like as a home field advantage Game six and seven notwithstanding.

00:16:10
Speaker 5: So you know, yeah, I don't.

00:16:12
Speaker 4: Doubt that once they're all signed, sealed and delivered, he gets a couple of days. But as far as shutting him down for ten days, it's just if it hasn't happened already, it ain't happening.

00:16:22
Speaker 5: And I'm sure they have a good reason for it.

00:16:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned the Dodgers. They have the tiebreaker two against the Dodgers, So if the season end of today, the Phillies would have home fields. So keep that in mind. As he kind of followed the standings down the stretch. But you know, I'll also say this about Bryce. I feel like in the past he is somebody who if he feels like he cannot play or is or feels like he can really mess himself up. He will, you know, kind of pull himself out or wasn't. Was it late last season where he he DHD quite a few games late in the season rather than play first base because his back was bothering him, or maybe it was the season before there was something going on where he was it might have been, you know, he he just was not one hundred percent, so he did not either played in the field, or he did not play a few games because he was kind of worried about really messing himself up. So again, the fact that he says, I don't need to take a few days off to me says it says it all. I don't think. I don't think Bryce is not the type of person that's going to throw away the entire season by trying to be mister Macho's.

00:17:23
Speaker 4: He's probably just gearing up to do like a Superman act in the postseason, like have a two home run game.

00:17:30
Speaker 5: Everybody's like, wow, we hadn't hit a home run.

00:17:31
Speaker 4: In weeks because he was at a you know, sore elbow and a sore wrist, and you know he's Superman tonight.

00:17:38
Speaker 2: So who knows one thing one thing.

00:17:41
Speaker 6: One thing I've.

00:17:41
Speaker 3: Learned about Bryce Harper is he's pretty much thoughtful about everything, and he thinks through a lot of things, much more than any other player I think I've ever seen.

00:17:51
Speaker 2: Maybe Chase Utley he did that too, but.

00:17:53
Speaker 3: He did it, I guess more quietly, and so you know, I trust his decisions. He's been around too long. He's been around the game too long. He thinks about this stuff way too much for him to put the team in jeopardy or himself.

00:18:10
Speaker 1: One hundred percent there, Zach Wheeler starts to Night against Edward Cabrera, Aaron Nola, Saturday night against Darren McConn and then an interesting little decision the Phillies made yesterday is that Seth Johnson, who they just got in the Gregory Soto trade, is going to start on Sunday in place of Tyler Phillips. Tyler Phillips goes out and gives up six runs and two thirds of an inning. I mean, you know, his last four I think he's got an the array of over seventeen. So they pull him out, They option him out, and Seth Johnson gets a start, which again is fascinating because they they traded Gregory Soto to get this guy and Moysey's Chasse, who's also throwing the ball incredibly well in the minor leagues. What do we think about Seth Johnson making his debut? That's right, I mean it depends how he pitches on but man, talk about a trade that could pay immediate evidence who at the time. At the time, you're thinking it's more of an addition by subtraction trade, right, You're just saying that get Sodo out of there. He's not happy, he's not throwing, well, get him out boom. Seth Johnson could come up and really be a nice little, nice little bonus prize.

00:19:18
Speaker 4: I'm not going to judge the trade on Sunday. You'd like to see the pitch well. But you know, more importantly, they added a couple of good young arms to their system and Seth Johnson former first round pick, first round arm he's had. You know, he was slowed by the COVID season, he was slowed by Tommy john but all indications are you know, he's starting to put it together and sometimes it takes guy's time. I mean there are many, many examples of that, so you know Soto has gotten it together. A little bit down in Baltimore. He's running up a bunch of zeros lately. But he didn't want to be here, and you can't have a guy who didn't want to be here, wasn't accepting of his role. And to add two good young arms, I think it has the potential to be a hell of a trade.

00:20:00
Speaker 5: You know how important pitching is.

00:20:01
Speaker 4: Anytime you can add to your stocks with good stock of pitching with good arms, it's a good move. But you'd love to see the kid pitch well, establish himself, and pitching depth is so important and so needed in this franchise. It would be great if you pitch well. It'd be even better if he comes to camp next year with a chance to earn a spot on the big league roster or go to Triple A and be that sixth guy that you know you're going to rely on at some point. So really eager to see what he can do Sunday, and really eager to see what Zach Wheeler can do tonight because he is in a he's in a sprint to the cy Young with Chris Saale, who dialed up another really good one against Colorado the other night.

00:20:47
Speaker 3: So I typically do not like moving players on your major league roster to just shift things around. But in this case, I think it's going to work out very, very well. It was a little bit of a buy subtraction for Soto, and again I don't typically when you're in a hunt, you don't typically want to do that, But you're right about that, Jim. I don't think he wanted to be hear didn't fit and it was clear that that was the case. And if they can get something out of him that becomes productive, that's pretty awesome. It obviously interested to see how he handles things on Sunday.

00:21:23
Speaker 2: But you know, just like any other player, some of.

00:21:25
Speaker 3: These guys just need a new place to play. They need a fresh start. They need somebody who might get in there in their head a little bit and give him a little bit different information that might help them click, whatever the case may be.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: Hopefully that's what's happening with this young man.

00:21:41
Speaker 3: And you know, roll the dice because their fifth spot right now is kind of ugly.

00:21:46
Speaker 2: No one's really stepped forward.

00:21:47
Speaker 3: Alard has pitched well in that in that role, but I think they want to give this guy a shot because he's pitched so damn.

00:21:53
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, Alan is eligible to be recalled on September tenth. So I guess if Seth Johnson's struggles and they feel like there's you know, they they have the option to bring an alert back. But I guess if Seth takes it and shows well, maybe they just keep him, keep him in that spot. There's I think the fourth starter only has like four more starts to go this season, and then you know, so you can suck it up.

00:22:16
Speaker 5: Well, they're a good really good shape.

00:22:18
Speaker 4: You know, you win the first you win two in Toronto, you won five in a row. Excuse me, you win the first one in Miami. Now you got Wheeler and Nola leading into Johnson. Really good shape going into the rest of this series in Miami, especially with Wheeler and Nola. I want to ask you, guys, any concern about Ranger Suarez is significant and noticeable dip in velocity on Thursday night in Miami.

00:22:46
Speaker 1: That's a great question. I noticed that as well. It was down about what a mile and a half two miles an hour? Two miles an hour, right, I mean so across the board, yeah, across up. So a guy coming off a back injury, when you know they say it was a lower back injury, non serious back injury, and three starts in he's you know, he struggled in his last start. The Velos down. You know, Rob Thompson didn't indicate it. He was frustrated or concerned about it last night. But that's something you're absolutely gonna watch down the stretch. Is you need him healthier. I mean, we're ruben, What did you think? I mean, I know he was throwing the ball well five scoreless innings, so you can obviously make that that that's an easy argument to make. Yeah, the Velo's down. He didn't have his sinker going, but man, he located the off speed pitches were working, and he's not really velo guy. No rangers said that in the past anytime his Villos, and I was like, listen, I never have a good fastball. I haven't had a good fastball a day in my life. But I don't really need it. But down two from what his usual fastball is makes makes me wonder.

00:23:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was concerned when it was coming out of his hand in the first inning. There's no question about it. Man to Tom and I were looking at each other in the booth, going, well, what's going on here. It made me think of the Sentae Padia when he used to start games.

00:23:59
Speaker 2: He was on like, you know, eighty nine.

00:24:01
Speaker 3: Miles an hour, and I had it called down, like what the hell is going on?

00:24:06
Speaker 2: Like cut it loose, pal, you hurt? What's going on anyway?

00:24:10
Speaker 3: And then he started throwing ninety five And it's a weird cat anyway. But that said, what it did concern me early. It does still concern me some. But the fact that I saw some elevation in that velocity as the game went on, that's a positive sign. So it went sort of like from an eighty eight or eighty nine mile on hour fastball to somewhere around ninety ninety one on the average later on in the game, and he sort of maintained that at least through what eighty some pitches. Yeah, is it a concern, Yeah, of course, because he's had some issues. He I don't think he's hurt. But again, I think part of it is a product of the guy just not having been on the mound. I mean, the guy wasn't didn't throw any rehab games.

00:24:57
Speaker 2: It's different. He's his You still have to get your sea legs under that. And I know it's a third time he's throwing.

00:25:04
Speaker 3: But when you have that that long of a break and you don't have an actual rehab start. I know they did simulated games and all that stuff, it's not really the same. And I still I still think he's working on getting his legs underneath him and his body back together to the point where.

00:25:19
Speaker 2: He's one hundred percent on the nose.

00:25:22
Speaker 3: Now you know he can pitch it ninety five percent obviously, especially against a team like the Miami Marlins because.

00:25:29
Speaker 2: It's not a great team. But he did carve up his own it was that was that was a positive.

00:25:34
Speaker 3: He threw strikes, didn't look like he was laboring, and uh, and that that's.

00:25:40
Speaker 2: All a good sign. But you know, you got to think about it.

00:25:43
Speaker 4: So you know what I loved is I did love the breaking ball was down, down, down.

00:25:48
Speaker 5: I loved that it had really good shape.

00:25:51
Speaker 4: I mean it wasn't you know, it didn't have the velocity we've seen it, but it was down.

00:25:56
Speaker 5: It had good shape and it was in a good spot. So I like that.

00:26:02
Speaker 4: Excuse me, I want to Rubin put your GM hat on for me, and you face these decisions throughout your whole career. And Todd and I covered them. Rangers got one more year of arbitration be a free agent after twenty five. Typically with a pitcher like that, a front office would spend the off season and I'm sure they've already done it thinking about do they want to engage for a long term.

00:26:26
Speaker 5: Deal and they may have already who knows, But.

00:26:31
Speaker 4: Is that something you know you would do this winter or do you do you want to see more from him, especially after the bump in the road mid season this year with the injury or whatnot.

00:26:43
Speaker 3: So I think you know, as a GM, you have to go back to experience, right and you have to think about what things, what has happened in the past, certain scenarios, and certain things about the game that are sort of absolute. I get really concerned about backs.

00:26:59
Speaker 2: They're very tricky. It's a really tricky endeavor.

00:27:03
Speaker 3: I mean, Cole Hamil's happened to manage his back issues.

00:27:06
Speaker 2: And did a really good job of it.

00:27:08
Speaker 3: It was one of the reasons why we were okay with him going long term because he worked very hard at putting himself into a position and to be fine with his back.

00:27:16
Speaker 2: He did a lot of core work, He did a lot of.

00:27:18
Speaker 3: Work, you know, whatever is necessary for him to have success now, Ranger, because he's had multiple back issues.

00:27:27
Speaker 2: I got to be careful with that. And I think I'm gonna probably let this play out through the end of the through the end.

00:27:33
Speaker 3: Of his tenure here with the Phillies, to make sure that this guy is.

00:27:39
Speaker 2: Is okay with his back. And I love the guy.

00:27:42
Speaker 3: I would, you know, mind that I that I would that I would uh, you know, go ahead in and and do the long term with him just because of who he is.

00:27:59
Speaker 2: But my issue you with you know.

00:28:02
Speaker 3: When you got a BA back issue with a picture or with any player, I think you got to be cautious.

00:28:07
Speaker 5: I'm right on board with you. Yeah, I want to see more.

00:28:10
Speaker 4: I want to exercise some caution here. I want to see him getting great physical shape. I just want to see what twenty twenty five looks like. And I would love to extend the relationship and have him be a Philly for a long time. I think he's a great picture and a great guy and a great teammate.

00:28:25
Speaker 5: I just want to see a little bit more. And I think that's.

00:28:30
Speaker 4: Quite uh you know, level headed, and probably something they're discussing up on the executive level, how do you kind of frame it up?

00:28:38
Speaker 1: Todd, Well, yeah, I think for me, like it's a it's a challenge for Ranger next season. You know, can you actually go from point A to point B healthy an entire entire year. It's not just the back. He's had some other health issues over time. I know that one spring he had COVID and that knocked him out, but but he had He's had elbow and and so I think like, if you would sign him now or in the off season, and you know, something happens down the road, he say, Man, this guy has been hurt all the time for whatever reason, and man, you sign him to a long term extension. This guy has never been able to stay healthy. So yeah, I would absolutely want to see him get through an entire season healthy, be productive, and then do it. I don't think there's any rush. And they have Wheeler locked up, they have Nola locked up, they have Christopher Sanchez locked up, They have Andrew Painter coming down the pike, so they have they have some depth there, they have some options coming. So I don't think it's anything urgent. Where like, man, if you lose Ranger Suarez, you guys are totally screwed going forward. So I think they can afford some patience. They can afford some patience with him. I mean, you know, hopefully he dials it in and he gets his money and he stays because he's fun and watch like he said.

00:29:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, so he comes to camp next year totally motivated and goes out and has a sig On type season.

00:30:00
Speaker 5: But that's that's win, win, win win forever. Yeah, who cares?

00:30:03
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.

00:30:04
Speaker 1: John Middleton's shown that if you know, he'll reward guys with good seasons. So you know, I think you would take that that that that that universe where Ranger goes out and he goes all right, guys, you didn't want to lock me up the last off season. I'm going to go out and win twenty Yeah in the area you're right above two.

00:30:23
Speaker 5: Fascinating little off season issue, I think.

00:30:27
Speaker 3: And I used to think of that whole arbitration process, which is sort of a necessary evil, like if a guy got awarded, you know whatever, whether we lost or won or whatever the case may be. I mean, I believe in performance and to be paid for performance, and if you perform, then you get paid. And that's the way it should be, and so if the man does perform, then he should be paid handsomely.

00:30:47
Speaker 2: It's as simple as that.

00:30:48
Speaker 4: Well, Ruben, with your crappy internet today, you're not getting paid because your performance has been shaky.

00:30:54
Speaker 2: No doubt about it. I sucked, my bad. This is a billion dollar hotel and I can't get Wi Fi. I don't know.

00:31:03
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that could be a problem for us. All right, guys, Well we will be back on Monday to talk more phillies. So, uh, we had good time, even though Ruben crapped out on us a couple of times.

00:31:15
Speaker 2: It happens.

00:31:16
Speaker 1: This is this is an internet based show, so there's I mean, if I could behind the scenes, right, We've had some we've had some scary moments on here when we've had some guests. I'm literally dripping bullets. Cole Hamil's when he was on, he was cutting in and out, and I mean the sweat coming out of my body was just I was like, oh my god, we're gonna lose this whole thing.

00:31:38
Speaker 2: So, uh, you know, you don't have to sweat for me, Todd, don't worry about.

00:31:43
Speaker 1: That, all right, guys, Uh, I will say, because we don't know if Ruben can say, smell you later, Smell you lator boys.

00:32:00
Speaker 9: This is the Phillies Show. If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Phillies Show wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch us on our YouTube channel. If you like what we do, give us a review, Tell a friend. Catch Ubenjim and Me on Phillies Nation TV, presented by Vallyforge Tourism. New episodes air and hour before every Saturday Phillies game on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Replays air throughout the week and on Philliesnation dot com. Get more of Ruben's analysis during before and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network. Rejim at the Allcity Network at allphly dot com. Find more of me at MLB dot com, the Philliesbnewsletter, and occasionally on MLB Network