The Phillies top 5 storylines this spring

00:00:01
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, this is Ryan Howard and welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:08
Speaker 2: We've been tomorrow Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd Solecki. It's the Philly Show. It's Tuesday, February tenth, twenty twenty six, although we are recording on Monday, Monday, So guys, Phillies Pictures and Catchers report this week to clear Water four. The first pitchers and catchers workout is on Wednesday, So we thought we should go over the top five storylines of spring training. Are you guys ready?

00:00:41
Speaker 1: Drum roll, drum.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: Number five. Let's just jump right into it. Number five setting up Juwandron. You got Brad Keller, you got Jose Alvarado, you got a Ryan Kirkering. This is the first time in years, guys, the Phillies have had eight closer that you knew who was going to be. But now it's like, how does all this set up? And there are some question marks with Ryan Kirkering, there's some question marks with Jose Alvarado. What do you guys think about this setup?

00:01:15
Speaker 3: Jimmy, Yeah, I think it's a good topic, good storyline. Obviously, Kirkering is a storyline seems to be in a good headspace as the colloquialism goes. I think we'll find out more about him in the regular season. But you know, I'm very eager to see in that setup category. I'm interested to see what Alvarado looks like condition he's in and I want to see his vilo whereas Pop is because it was really good last spring and obviously he had the ped suspension. I want to see where he comes in and you know, maybe not right away, but probably more to the end of camp when when you know he's starting to feel good, starting to feel the regular season in sight interest see what the arm strength looks like and how he's popping it. So I think the setup category is very interesting how Rob kind of plays with it, slots it in because, as you mentioned, Todd, for the first time in a while, they really they really know where they're going with that closer. You know, they didn't do a lot this winter, but going back to July, they made a heck of an acquisition in that Johann Duran.

00:02:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean this is big for the Phillies because it's really where they made most of their big moves was to sort.

00:02:38
Speaker 1: Of rearrange and you know, move the.

00:02:40
Speaker 5: Pieces around in their bullpen and where I think that they probably potentially have improved the most. I like the fact that they've gotten guys like Bowling and Bacchus and others to give them a little bit more depth. I guess you could say they signed back certain guys. They've got some guys on the ross. The Joe and Doran thingks huge for them having him for a full season instead of just two months, as you guy, as you guys have said. Also very interested to see album Keller pitches because it was the first time he's ever really set up his last year. Can he repeat and then get better in that role? That's the question I have, But I think he can. His stuff is there, the makeup is there really interesting to see and then you know, you got to figure out, you know, what you're going to get out of Orian Kirkering. It was nice to see and Matt Gelb. I think they had a great story about you know, brad Lydge reaching out to him and others reaching out to him, and how he's didn't been dealing with the off season and uh, you know, I think the kid's got a good head on.

00:03:45
Speaker 1: The shoulders, a great kid.

00:03:46
Speaker 5: You pull for him, and you hope that he bounces back, and you know, hey, sometimes you got to go through some serious adversity to really catapult your your career. Hopefully that happens with Oriyan Kirkering through the missapp last year.

00:04:01
Speaker 1: So we'll see.

00:04:02
Speaker 5: I think it's a it can be a point of strength, but you know, those bullpens are really balatile. You just never know what you're going to get out of each one of those guys.

00:04:12
Speaker 2: So six out of the eight jobs are pretty much are secured. You got Doron, Keller, Kirkering, Alvarado, Tanner, Banks Bowlan who's out of options. They got him back in the Matt Strom deal in December. A couple other guys in camp. Zach pop is out of options. They signed him to a major league deal. Zach mccambley is the Rule five pick. And then you have a host of guys on the forty man roster and some guys not on the forty man roster that you know they have it brought in as depth pieces. So the couple a couple of bullpen jobs also up for grabs this spring. So I wanted to mention that. Also wanted to mention guys last week we passed ten thousand subscriptions. Oh yay to us, yay, yay to us.

00:04:53
Speaker 3: Let's get to fifteen.

00:04:55
Speaker 2: Let's get to fifteen. So if you're watching this on YouTube, hit the subscribe button. We really you appreciate everybody's support, especially as the twenty twenty six season gets rolling along. And of course you can show your support by going to the Phillies show shop dot com. All right, so let's go to number four here, And this is kind of a deep thinker. I hope you guys are ready for this. This is the thing, this might hurt.

00:05:20
Speaker 1: This is a hurt a little bit.

00:05:21
Speaker 2: There's a little chin stroker jim, right, you like those chin stroking questions. Yes, number four is the mindset, just the overall vibe and mindset all spring, because hey, let's be honest, a lot of people think this team is running it back. You know, jo jt real Muto is back, but he also is back knowing that they were like, we're gonna move on for you if we get Boba Schett. You know, Alec Boem is back, but he also knows he was gone almost certainly if they signed Boba Schett. So, uh, I think the vibes. The mindset of this team in camp is going to be interesting to kind of watch and see how everybody's getting along and just you know, kind of their outlook towards the twenty twenty sixth season.

00:06:06
Speaker 3: And you know too, the whole unfinished business. I'm sorry to throw that out there for the third year in a row, but there is unfinished business and the clock is ticking and that's something that has to be in the back of their minds from day one of camp. That is going to be different this year.

00:06:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question.

00:06:30
Speaker 5: There's a lot of stuff going on and you know, you never know how a player will react to you know, they're jumping off year. Like Alec Bohm, he's going to become a free agent, Alice has susse Loizardo going to deal with it? Are they going to start having negotiations with him about that? Is Bryce Harper? Is he really elite?

00:06:50
Speaker 1: You know?

00:06:50
Speaker 5: Will he bounce back and be the elite player that they want him to be? You know, there's a whole host of things that are going on, and it is again I thought it was going to be a fascinating offseason, not so fascinating as far as their moves are. We're concerned this is going to be a fascinating season because it could blow up, and it can be very very good because they're very talented, but it could blow up at the end of the year if they don't get to that unfinished.

00:07:22
Speaker 1: Business, as Jim has alluded to. So really interesting season.

00:07:29
Speaker 5: And you know, I think the fans feeling that they're running it back, which is not all that untrue. You know, they may take a little time to get on board with this team if they have a slow start.

00:07:42
Speaker 4: We never know what might happen. So interesting goings here in April and May.

00:07:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, it absolutely is. So Hey, we got three more to go, three storylines of spring training, and number three will be right up right after these words.

00:07:58
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00:08:02
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00:09:00
Speaker 1: Hey we are back.

00:09:01
Speaker 2: Okay, guys. Number three storyline this spring, Clearwater, Florida. You know it. It's the outfield production and leading the way is the presumed center fielder soon to be rookie Justin Crawford. So much going into this season. I mean a lot of concern I guess about the outfield group as a whole. You know, is it gonna be? You know, last year was a bottom ten offense offensive outfield in terms of production, could be arguably worse this year. They're betting big on Adolis Garcia to bounce back after two down years with the Rangers. They're gonna eat all of Nick casts or most of all Nick Castis's money to make that happen. You have Crawford is unproven, and then left field they're gonna go with the platoon of Brandon Marsh and likely Auto Camp. So some real concerns there. I don't know where you want to start, but for me, it starts with Justin Crawford and center field that goes if he could do anything, that would go such a long way.

00:10:05
Speaker 3: No doubt, though I'm not making any rash judgments in spring training, like if Garcia doesn't have a good spring, that doesn't mean he can't have a decent season. I remember, like oh seven, Aaron Rowan had.

00:10:21
Speaker 1: A horrible spring, horrible. He couldn't hit the ball in a barrel. Everything was hit right on his hands. Horrible.

00:10:28
Speaker 3: Even like Ken Rosenthal did a note on him that, according to scouts in the Grapefruit League, Aaron Rowan's that is extremely slow. I remember reading that. Then the guy had a career year, helped him win a division. He made sixty million dollars with the Giants. So I just want to see, look, I want to see Crawford look like he is on the road to belonging. You know, I want to see him fumble the job away in spring training, but the real read for me on that outfield is going to come during the season. They do need to pick it up production wise, but you know, I kind of just want to see Justin Crawford go out there, make the plays, don't look overmatched at the plate, and I don't think he will in spring training and everybody kind of stay healthy and then taking chances with what you have because they need more production out of that outfield. But I ain't going to start the uh to start the deep dive analysis until you know, opening day and beyond.

00:11:30
Speaker 5: It's been a long time since the Phillies have had a center fielder, a bona fide everyday center fielder that they can.

00:11:35
Speaker 1: Hang their hat on.

00:11:37
Speaker 5: And you know, it would be it would be huge for them to be able to count on Justin Crawford for the next you know, four, five, six, seven, eight, ten years, and I'm not sure if that's going to happen, not sure if he can grow into that space. My my scouting folks out there believe that he's better in left field than he is in center. Uh and that's probably you know, where he's best, But that does not mean that he can't become a better and better player in center field with more ability and instinct. Now you know, he's not going to be relied on, probably gonna hit in a nine hole at the outset of the season.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: He's gonna have some leash, There's no question about that.

00:12:18
Speaker 5: But I think about the team and having you know, solid teams have strength up the middle.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: Excellent catcher and JT.

00:12:26
Speaker 5: Excellent shortstop in in Turner. They have a very good, uh you know, second basement in Bryson Stott. Now, defensively those three guys are solid. You gotta have that fourth piece, that diamond in the middle where where you have quality defense there that you can count on and uh, you know, well now with some offensive production.

00:12:48
Speaker 1: So I'd love to be able to count on him to do that.

00:12:51
Speaker 5: And it will be a big question mark because they were one of the worst outfield productive production wise in all of baseball. Think not only are they counting on a dollars Garcia, but also counting on what that second half was for.

00:13:06
Speaker 1: Mister Brandon Marsh. Hopefully he can continue to progress. Not sure if he will.

00:13:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, there would be low average offensively. I'm wondering how they'll handle Crawford and spring training like I would play him a lot. I mean, he's twenty two, He's not going to get run down. I would play him a lot. Get him out there feeling good. And I would like to see now and then a veteran make a road trip and sit right next to him on the bus and bond with him and talk to him and school them and mentor him and make him feel like he belongs. I think this is making Justin Crawford believe that he can do it and helping him, propping him up on and off the field, to me is a real would be a big mission in spring training for me.

00:13:53
Speaker 1: That's a good point, I will tell you. I will say this.

00:13:54
Speaker 4: When I was coaching in Boston, we had a guy named Chris Young who's now doing a lot MLB network stuff.

00:14:01
Speaker 5: Chris Young, I relied on a lot as an outfield coach. It was my first year doing an out in being an outfield coach.

00:14:07
Speaker 4: And he helped mentor help me to help mentor the Ben attendees, the Jackie Bradley juniors, and even the Mookie Betts's of the world and having a guy like that is huge just to bounce some things off of, just to have him be around and pump him up and continue to guide him.

00:14:26
Speaker 1: I know Paco Figure is a really good outfield.

00:14:29
Speaker 5: Coach and he will work with him. He's a wonderful part of that coaching staff.

00:14:37
Speaker 1: But it means so much more.

00:14:38
Speaker 5: When you have a veteran type guy around to help move him forward and make him feel more and more comfortable. Not sure who that guy is, but hopefully someone can can help.

00:14:49
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Dylan Moore. I don't know.

00:14:51
Speaker 5: He's a new guy. He's played the outfield, he's been around a while. We don't know that much about him. I understand that he's a very good makeup guys. He's probab be finding this way himself with a new team.

00:15:02
Speaker 1: But who knows.

00:15:03
Speaker 3: He doesn't have to be an outfielder. He gets sit next to Bryce.

00:15:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, he doesn't have to be an outfit. It could be an infielder just putting his arm around him. Could be Bryce and Stott, could be.

00:15:12
Speaker 3: Could be Trey Turner. He could get pick up something from Trey Turner. Bryce Harper just you know, make him feel like he belongs to give him good advice, let him be a sounding board or you be a sounding board, had to let him be a sponge. I just think his spring training is gonna be uh, you know, not just relegated to the field he's been.

00:15:32
Speaker 4: I'll also say the fine and and I know I'm talking a lot about this, but that's sort of an old school mentality that doesn't happen that much anymore. You don't have guys putting their arm around him and and and uh, putting them under their wings, so to speak.

00:15:46
Speaker 1: But when it does happen, it has huge impact.

00:15:50
Speaker 5: I'd love to see some of the veteran guys on the Phillies do just what you talked about, Jim A great point.

00:15:57
Speaker 2: Schwarber is great at that. You know, he did it last spring with Gabrin Conis Junior. I worked in the cage with him and he's like, holy crap, Kyle Schwarber is working on me, you know, hitting left handed pitching. This is amazing, you know. And I obviously in the past and that guy's like Matt Feerling that coming up, They're like, oh my gosh, Kyle Schwarber are so great for me to get confidence and get comfortable and just feel good about myself. So Crawford has been working hard on his defensive spring. Charlotte Barns from The Athletic wrote a pretty cool story. I think it was last week. He's working in Arizona with Eric Davis e.

00:16:30
Speaker 5: The Oh.

00:16:30
Speaker 2: That guy was such a stud back in the day.

00:16:33
Speaker 1: I loved him great then.

00:16:36
Speaker 2: And then one last thing, Jim, you mentioned the Aaron Rowan two thousand and seven spring. He was like suicidal in camp. I remember late in the spring you finally got a couple of hits. He's like, thank god, I was. I was in a bad spot and he finally had a couple of bloops come in like at the end of spring. But he was hitting like like one fifty all spring long.

00:16:56
Speaker 1: It matters.

00:16:57
Speaker 3: Spring training matters, but it doesn't matter. There used to be a picture named Sammy Stewart. He was with the Baltimore Orioles and I think he finished with the Red Sox, And I remember he had a quote once spring training don't mean dog.

00:17:15
Speaker 1: It really doesn't. It touching for the veteran guys.

00:17:18
Speaker 5: It's about preparation and getting them getting their timing and getting their feel and getting their legs underneath them. My man Charlie Kirkfeld us to say, getting your sea legs back.

00:17:31
Speaker 1: That's right.

00:17:31
Speaker 3: He's always got his He's always ready to go.

00:17:34
Speaker 2: He's always ready, all right. So number two, number two storyline this spring, the rotation, And for me, it starts with Zach Wheeler's health. Where is he at? Who I don't even know if he's going to get into games of spring or not. Who knows what the plan is going to be. But how Zach Wheeler coming along? And I'm also very curious to see how Aaron Nola is doing this spring, coming off by far the worst year of his careerveral years to go on that contract. They need much better from him. He's interestingly, he's gonna be pitching for Team Italy and the World Baseball Class like I'll be leading that rotation, So I'm very curious on them. And then lastly, you know what's thereon Andrew Painter looking like this spring he could be opening the season in the rotation if Wheeler's not ready to go. So I strength to the team, but with some questions that you kind of want to have a little bit of a clearer picture, maybe feel a little bit better about as Opening Day rolls.

00:18:31
Speaker 3: Around, no doubt, and I want these guys that are going to the World Baseball Classic to be very careful. I mean, you can't look over your shoulder. You've got to go out there and throw the ball, but you stay healthy. I understand why they want to be part of it, but if I was an executive, I'd be nervous as all get out about my pitchers. Though it might give you a little read on Nola because his stuff was clearly down last year. I mean he's carried that huge workload seventeen eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, eight seasons, number one in innings by far in the major leagues, number one innings. So he, to me, showed some some wear last year and you know, spent three months on the il. So spring training is important for him, I think in the team, just to kind of get a read on where he is. Maybe that's why he's going to the World Baseball Classic. Maybe he feels like it'll get him off on the on the right foot. But Wheeler, like he's mentioned, timetable and painter, maybe for a lot of the same reasons I talked about with Crawford. We want to see him looking good and feeling like he is in a good place. Interested to see his control. I know spring training don't mean dog, but we want to see some control out of him because he struggled with it in Triple A.

00:19:49
Speaker 5: Rubin, Yeah, I mean, I think he hit the nail on the head here with the three pat You know, real big question marks Wheeler's help.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: When will he be back.

00:19:58
Speaker 5: I like the fact that things are really quiet and they're being super conservative when they talk about him.

00:20:04
Speaker 1: It sounds like he's progressing okay.

00:20:07
Speaker 5: But the less I know about it and last public knows about it, I think that's a better thing.

00:20:13
Speaker 1: Believe it or not. Yeah, Nolan's a big question mark.

00:20:17
Speaker 5: I mean, listen, I have a lot of love for Nole's what he's done for this organization.

00:20:22
Speaker 1: But it's time for him to bounce back.

00:20:24
Speaker 5: And I'm hopeful that the fact that these were not real arm issues for him, that there were other issues and he has great arm care, that maybe that.

00:20:36
Speaker 1: Last season helps rejuvenate him.

00:20:38
Speaker 5: As you said, that workload been awfully big for about eight ten years. Maybe he gets a little reprieved from last year. Didn't have a lot of fire a lot of bullets. Maybe that helps him in twenty twenty six. I don't know that, but we'll see how Crispy is once we see him on the mound after the second or third time he's out there and getting his legs underneath him.

00:21:02
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean, listen, it's about Andrew Paynter.

00:21:05
Speaker 5: We've been talking about him a lot over the course of this offseason. What he went through, the fact that he got that he got through the twenty twenty five season in a healthy way. He got some you know, he got some reps, got some innings, which was really important, and he was healthy.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: It's time for him to It's time for him to go. It's time for him to be Andrew Paynter.

00:21:30
Speaker 5: Not necessarily a finished product, but certainly you want to see that stuff start to play.

00:21:36
Speaker 1: We'll see how it goes on the spring training.

00:21:41
Speaker 2: And then the last the number one storyline for everybody. Ooh Rice Harper, Oh, Bryce Harper, and a lot of reasons for Bryce Harper. I mean, you know, he is the face of the franchise. He had the Dave Dombrowski stuff in October. You know, el not elite. I guess we're gonna find out. You know, you have him saying it kind of hurt is he was hurt by those comments, and he wore a T shirt that said not elite. So out taking VP this offseason? Uh, you know they went in. I'm sure he went in the offseason hoping that they would get a big bat or somebody to hit cleanup to provide him some protection. They were so close to getting Bobachett. They did not do it. So now who's gonna is somebody gonna hit behind him? Is it gonna be Alec Boehme? Is it gonna be Kyle Schwarber? How does he feel about that? You know, how does he feel about everything right now? Going into the season, coming off an arguably down year with so much writing on this season, we talked about unfinished business, a lot of unfinished business, and a good year from Bryce Harper would help a lot in terms of that.

00:22:52
Speaker 3: I think he's huge, huge to this season. He always is. When Bryce Harper's or you're a much much better team. You know, the way he leads is with his performance and guy's feet off him, and spring training is where he's gonna lay the groundwork. But you're right, we're gonna see how he's mindset wise after Newsworthy winter. I want to see him feeling good and looking good and coming into the season ready to go. I want to see him healthy kind of mind and spirit. But among the many storylines within Bryce Harper is where does he hit? What does Rob do with those first four spots? I mean, we talked about a couple of podcasts ago some of the options he might have, But you know, it would be nice to see him have somebody behind him. Maybe it ends up being Schwarber, you know, I don't know. Shrober certainly benefited from Harper behind him last year. So the way Rob constructs that lineup is almost like you know who's going to emerge as the setup guys. So I'm sure to play with the lineup a little bit spring training. A lot of little elements that surround Bryce Harper.

00:24:04
Speaker 5: And does he lead off? I mean, where's he Is that a possibility? I know he doesn't care for it, but can they convince him to get a feel for that? You know, he's a great player, He's a great offensive player, and he's really made himself a very solid first baseman. There's no question about that. Pretty impressive, but they need him to be great. He has to be great, and the Phillies need him to be great for them to have a great season. And I'm hopeful that he bounces back to be great and to be elite, because one he has the ability to do it. There's no question he can carry a team for long periods of time. He's an MVP type player, but they sign.

00:24:43
Speaker 1: Them to be great. I'm hopeful that he's great.

00:24:46
Speaker 5: Because that will make this season much more enjoyable and will definitely make them a World Series contender if he plays as great as he is.

00:24:58
Speaker 3: I wonder if we might see a swing adjustment in spring training, if he just would cut down a little bit. I think it would limit some of the head movement, and he's still so strong he could cut it down a little bit. Still hit a ton of home runs, a ton of extra base hits, squared up a lot. I wonder if we might see that because now he's going to be thirty three, and guys adapt and they changed as time goes on.

00:25:27
Speaker 5: You know, it's interesting Mike Schmidt made an adjustment in his swing later in his career. Was a prodigious home run hitter, wanted to make more contact use the entire field.

00:25:39
Speaker 1: I go back to when Bryce was sort of struggling.

00:25:42
Speaker 5: He goes to San Francisco and he hits four absolute ropes, four or five absolute ropes to the left side of the diamond. When he can do that, Bobby A Bray when he got into a slump, would flip one in the left field. If he can really bury himself into the thought process of using left center field consistently, there's.

00:26:05
Speaker 1: No way you can beat him.

00:26:07
Speaker 5: He recognizes pitches, he sees pitches well, He's got great eyesight and I hand coordination. But if he you know, I'm not his hitting coach, but just having watched him over the years, if he is dead set on driving the ball to the left center field the opposite way and make the adjustment on other stuff, he is tough to beat.

00:26:32
Speaker 1: Man. He's one of the best.

00:26:34
Speaker 5: Hitters in the game, and hopefully, hopefully he gets into those stretches where he can do that consistently.

00:26:39
Speaker 2: Bryce might even argue that that's more important than whoever hits behind him. In fact, he said I know he said that a few times. He's like it doesn't matter who hits behind me. I'm never going to get a pitch to hit. They're always going to throw pitches out of the zone and try to get me to chase. So maybe that swing adjustment is gonna you know, maybe he hits third and if he makes a swing adjustment, he can put up MVP numbers. With Alec Bohum hitting behind him, he never no, So that's definitely something to keep an eye on this spring. But he will be playing for a few weeks anyway. He hopes for Team USA and the World Baseball Classic with Kyle Schwarb Brad Kellers on that squad as well, so we'll see. I don't know how much we're going to see Bryce this spring other than maybe on TV. There we go. So anyway, Pictures and Catchers Phillies. Pictures and Catchers have their first workout in clear Water on Wednesday. The first full squad workout is the sixteenth, which I think is what is that Sunday whatever, It's February sixteenth. That's the first full squad workout. So The Philly Show, guys, we'll be back later this week.

00:27:40
Speaker 3: It Smillly Little Boys, Jimmy.

00:27:43
Speaker 2: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.