The Phillies have the best rotation in baseball again

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hi, This is Jimmy Rollins and welcome.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: To the Philly Show.

00:00:07
Speaker 1: Rubin Tomorrow Junior, Jim.

00:00:09
Speaker 3: Salisbury, Todd's lucky. It's Wednesday, May sixth, twenty twenty six.

00:00:13
Speaker 1: Guys.

00:00:14
Speaker 3: We love starting pitching. We talk all the time how we believe in starting pitching, and it is amazing how the Phillies have turned things around and the starting pitching has been at the forefront of it. Philly starting pitching. The Phillies are six and one since Don Manningley took over, and no coincidence that the pitching has been great. It was terrible before we get going. I want to show you, guys. I dug this up this morning. I got a exter early this morning and I put together this little graphic for you. This is going to blow your minds. Ruben, hold on your Tuckiso, guys.

00:00:48
Speaker 1: The Tuckers. Look at this Phillis rotation.

00:00:51
Speaker 3: Through April twenty six, that was Rob Thompson's last game as manager, they were nine to nineteen worst ERA in Major League Baseball, worst bad average against, worst ops against, highest batting average on balls in play, highest WHIP since the change, best era in Baseball, lowest batting average against lowest ops against eleventh and batting average on balls and play lowest whip.

00:01:24
Speaker 1: Huh wha, wha, wha what eliev.

00:01:30
Speaker 4: Hu also also in that span number one in strikeouts for the starting rotation and just two home runs. So they have turned it on, going from basically you know when Rob was fired the starting rotation five point eight o e RA the worst in baseball in the last seven games.

00:01:51
Speaker 1: One three the best, the best.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: It's very simple, guys, you pitch, you win. We've talked about it from the beginning. If anybody was listening to our podcast, they would know the reason why they were so terrible, even though the offense was awful, was because they're pitching, and the fact that the pitching was their anchor and has been their anchor was terrible. Well, they figured it out and guess what it comes. You know, right around the time that lo and behold, Zach Wheeler is back in the rotation, much like Joan Duran lines up that bullpen from back to front, same way with you know, with the rotation you have Zach Wheeler at the top of it. You don't. It's like the comfort zone. Man. These guys feel like okay, Zach's back. They can exhale, heath the guy, and now everybody falls in line. And now there's a nice healthy competition between the starters because they're all dealing, and I bet they one up each other. And that's exactly what's happening right now.

00:03:00
Speaker 3: It's pretty impressive. I mean, what about Christopher Sanchez last night, eight scoreless innings, ten punch outs. Mark Kotse from the A's after the game said, he's definitely one of the top pitchers in the game right now. The stuff looked electric from the dugout, and obviously the performance kind of backs that up as well. He was absolutely tremendous.

00:03:24
Speaker 4: You know, it's a swing and miss on that change up was just it just it looks like a strike the whole way and then it goes. It's a great pitch, and said it with the fastball at ninety six seven, tremendous package.

00:03:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think it was sixteen out of twenty three swings and misses on his change up. Imagine that number. That's incredible. So I did a little work on it yesterday and did a quick video of it in post game, and the beauty of the pitch was that he was down either at the line at the bottom of the strike zone or just below it on almost every single one of those strikeouts on the change up. Nine of the ten strikeouts came on the change up. The one set the tone with the fastball inside against Rooker in the very first inning, and then after that that change up was electric. Also ninety six ninety seven miles an hour on his fastball, one and a half miles hour an hour faster than he had been previously. That makes the hitter a little jittery now, and they got to catch up to the fastball. Guess what, pull the string makes it even more effective pitch.

00:04:37
Speaker 3: He saw the reaction on the two, so he gets in that jam in the seventh inning, couple back to back singles to start the ending. I know the first strikeout in the seventh was Tyler Soderstrom. I think it was a three to two change up and he swings over the.

00:04:50
Speaker 1: Top of it. He's just kind of starts jumping up and down the.

00:04:52
Speaker 3: Batter's box like, ah, I knew that pitch was coming, man, I knew that pitch was coming, and I had no shot. And then he's struck out the last batter. Yeah, I can't remember, and he just kind of swung at it and just let the bat like flip out of his hands, just an ultimate her yeah, yeah, her eyes and just lets the bat fly out.

00:05:14
Speaker 1: Of his hand.

00:05:14
Speaker 3: Hands and frustration there. You could just sense they were like, I knew that pitch was coming and I had no shot to hit it.

00:05:24
Speaker 4: Especially with the way he can bury that fastball in on a writing Now he can kind of dead fish you away because you've got to be aware of that, of that power inside. And then when he can just you know, throw that chain, it opens up that whole, you know, outer half to that change up and it becomes devastating.

00:05:42
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:05:42
Speaker 2: So the cool thing about it is just to wash the man's transformation from from where he started to where he is now. He obviously knew that there was a flaw in his mechanics. He talked about it afterwards. There was something going on where he could not get that fastball to his glove side consistently. And once he was doing that more consistently, you see, just he was firing it. He was letting it go, no longer trying to place it. He was not at ninety four ninety five. It was now ninety seven with life and he was firing it and I mean that just created all types of havoc for the for the athletics.

00:06:21
Speaker 3: I loved his quote post game about that rubin the work because he had been and this is tells you how good he is.

00:06:28
Speaker 1: He'd like, what like two ninety arra coming into the game, and he was obviously, that's very good, that's.

00:06:33
Speaker 3: Excellent, but he was kind of like, Eh, he hasn't really been on yet, you know. And then he was on last night and he talked about the work he's been doing the.

00:06:42
Speaker 1: Past few weeks.

00:06:43
Speaker 3: He's been walking a lot of guys on characteristically, and he said I liked I like chasing perfection and seems like he got a little bit closer last night. Don Mattingly said, I think it was at ninety seven pitches through eight innings, and somebody asked it was there any thought about letting him go out there for nine? They said, if he had a no hitter going, I would have sent him out out there for the ninth innings. So maybe another day for Christopher Sanchez, maybe another day for.

00:07:09
Speaker 4: He Mike get one. This is a guy that might get one someday. Maybe this year.

00:07:13
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean he's I mean when he's on, he is, he is absolutely.

00:07:17
Speaker 4: On when he and he has to have that economy of pitch. You have to have an economy of pitches to pitch a no hitter. Yes, they'll yankee out of there. And last night with all those single digit innings in terms of pitches, I mean just boom boom boom, quick innings, I mean just really great for your defense, keeps them on their toes and nobody's yawning and it's great to watch.

00:07:38
Speaker 3: You know who else is on his game right now? Bryce Harper's on his game. He had two home runs last night, three home runs in the last two games. He's been in an absolute role. Bryce Harper has a nine to forty eight OPS this season. That's sixth best in the National League, thirteenth in Major League Baseball. Exceptional, excellent, elite.

00:08:05
Speaker 4: Who leads the National League?

00:08:06
Speaker 1: And who does lead the OPIA? Who does?

00:08:11
Speaker 2: I don't think it's in Colorado? Is it?

00:08:15
Speaker 4: He's got a name, we know it.

00:08:18
Speaker 1: I don't know.

00:08:20
Speaker 2: The Mooniac?

00:08:21
Speaker 1: Is it Mickey Moniac?

00:08:22
Speaker 3: He's killing it for I'm down to Harper Moniac for MVP, and.

00:08:29
Speaker 4: He's gonna be at the He's gonna be back in Citizens Bank Park in July at that big game that hosting.

00:08:35
Speaker 1: Wouldn't that be funny, That would be amazing, good for him, be absolutely amazing. But Bryce has been an an absolute tear.

00:08:43
Speaker 3: He's talked about how I mean, he's been talking for weeks how great he feels at the plate, and you certainly see it showing up. But he said something. You know, this has been a real talking point. What what Bryce said the other day kind of about the managerial change. I want to get your guys opinion on it. So, Jimmy, we were there in Miami post game when he said it, talking about I think we were all waiting for that ball to drop, waiting for something to happen, if Topper was going to.

00:09:08
Speaker 1: Get fired or he wasn't. It was just kind of, we need to get over this hump and get through this whatever. That looked like.

00:09:16
Speaker 3: There's been a lot of like speculation about what he meant by that.

00:09:21
Speaker 1: Was he he who's he talking to? I kind of talked at it.

00:09:24
Speaker 3: I took it as just kind of they were just waiting for something to happen. There's a lot of uncertainty around the team. What'd you guys think, Well.

00:09:32
Speaker 4: Todd, we were there and when he first started on this thought, he's like, we're waiting for the ball to drop. I thought he was talking about the offense, Yeah, into tough luck. And then it's clear that he meant the other shoot a drop. And there was this uncertainty hovered around the manager, and and they were waiting for that to be resolved before they really took off.

00:09:54
Speaker 2: I didn't think.

00:09:55
Speaker 4: I didn't think the uncertainty surrounding the manager was that lengthy. I thought it was maybe four or five days, five days maybe, and you know, once the air cleared, they I do think the managerial change was a shock to their system. And they are a much sharper ball club. And I know they're playing weaker teams and not playing the Cubs anymore, and the Cubs just never lose. They're on another seven game eater. But so the schedule softened up. But you can tell with your eyes that regardless of who they're playing, they're playing a sharper brand of baseball. So I do think it was a shock to their system. Were they running in place because of uncertainty surrounding the manager? Maybe, you know, but I didn't really sense that in Wrigley Field that week. I mean, you were in Atlanta. I don't know if Todd did you sense that. I just sensed that the losing had engulfed that clubhouse and they didn't know how to get the hell out of it. And I've seen that happen before. It becomes a wildfire and you can't put it out, and it left the front office. You know that one choice but to try to put it out with the managerial change, and I just think they're playing better. I put it on the players. They got Rob Thompson fired. I put it on the players. They've turned this thing around with better performance.

00:11:10
Speaker 2: I agree with that, and I go back to what Rob Thompson said and had been saying for a while. They will turn it around. It will get better. This team's too good, and you saw that sort of starting to happen just before he got fired. I do think that the fact that Alex Cora got let go sort of sped things up a little bit, and it probably made Dave Embrowski, since he's got a great affinity to Alex Cora and believes that he's a great manager. And he said it himself. I mean he reached out to him even before Rob Thompson was let go. I mean that sort of sped up the process a little bit, and I think that's what made the move. Now. I agree with you, Jim. I think there's players they played was the reason why they you know, why why Rob Thompson got to let go. I have a great affinity to the guy. I think he's a great manager or was a great manager, did a great job with that club. And I also understand, you know, from from Dave Dombrowski's point point of view, the team's underachieving, the team is underperforming. We have to do something. That's something was Rob Thompson, and you know, be as it may. I mean, it's it's I don't know that that's the reason why. I think the reason why they're better is because they're pitching so much better. We talked about it earlier. But for whatever reason, they're playing better baseball and they're going to move forward and and uh hopefully the bats come around again. It was another game for a long time to the seventh inning that the bats were terrible and the situation hitting was terrible until Adulus Garcia finally hit a sack fly to center field, and and that it's sort of opened up the gates for J. T. Real Muto to come up with a big two out hits. So I still have some concerns about that offense, although there looks like some guys are starting to turn the corner.

00:13:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, the thing I'll say about Rob is and I've had a lot of people ask me, it's like, you know, did they the players want Rob out? Are they were they waiting for him to get fired or did he need to be fired? Was he affecting their play at all? I don't believe that for a second. I've been in clubhouses, Phillies clubhouses where you hear a lot of griping about the manager and his style, and he's, go, guy, he's killing us, or you know this, this and that. You guys were in there gym, you know, in Chicago when it was bad. I was in Atlanta, it was ugly. There was nothing like Rob Rob. You know, are there moves that are questioned, of course, of course, but this was not a situation where you know, Rob does not have that much of an impact on how Christopher Sanchez is throwing the ball, or Hayes use Lozardo is throwing the bare out. Aaron Nola is throwing the ball. He could not help that. Taimewon Walker was in the rotation the first twenty six games of the season, and we talked about getting Zach Wheeler back. There was a big there was a huge subtraction in there in that rotation as well. You know, guy with a nine era, he did not he did not build that roster. You know, he did not put him in the rotation. So you know, you got all those all those considerations as well.

00:14:26
Speaker 1: I think this is just a team that they're.

00:14:28
Speaker 3: Starting to pick it up, and it starts with the starting rotation like that Graphics said at the beginning of the show, from literally for worst, literally the best in the in the last week.

00:14:39
Speaker 4: And also since the change, they are a top ten offense in Major League Baseball. Yeah, top ten. You know, there's a small sample, but there's been more production.

00:14:50
Speaker 1: Correct, Hey Rubin.

00:14:52
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00:16:24
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00:16:27
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00:16:28
Speaker 3: A favorite band of all Manual Charlie Mayuelah, I like that.

00:16:36
Speaker 4: He he loved that song bad to the Bone, Charlee.

00:16:41
Speaker 2: Walk Up song, George throw Good.

00:16:44
Speaker 4: He went to high school right down the street from me, Brandywine High School. And is that right North Wilmington.

00:16:50
Speaker 2: Did you know him as a child.

00:16:52
Speaker 4: No, he's old in me, believe it or not. Somebody's hold me.

00:16:56
Speaker 2: So, guys.

00:16:57
Speaker 3: Don Manningly on the this weekend in Miami was talking about We were asking him a bunch of questions. As we do, Jim, we grill, We grill the manager pre game.

00:17:08
Speaker 4: We grilled them like the Toronto Maple Leaves New GM.

00:17:12
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right.

00:17:14
Speaker 3: That guy got crushed. If you don't know where, If you don't know where, we're talking about Google Toronto general manager Maple Leafs General manager press conference. Don mannigally said this weekend in Miami that once a month.

00:17:28
Speaker 1: This is something that he picked up in Toronto.

00:17:31
Speaker 3: He wants to get everybody together and just kind of go over the state of the team. You know, is something that's going right or wrong?

00:17:38
Speaker 1: Is it?

00:17:38
Speaker 3: Is it just a small sample size, it is a trend that we need to address. Is this a problem we need to address or should we Just like you know, Bryce Harper goes cold for a couple of weeks, like, we don't even mean to talk about that.

00:17:50
Speaker 1: So my question to you guys is if.

00:17:53
Speaker 3: Dave Dombrowski give you a little call today and said, hey, would you guys want to swing by this meeting and ask a few questions or if you could sneak in maybe and listen to this meeting. What is something that you would like to know or get answers on, or get some clarity on about this team as it moves forward.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: I could start You want to go ahead, go Rubin, No, I'd like to. I want to.

00:18:19
Speaker 4: You are the former gm US, so I.

00:18:23
Speaker 2: Like these meetings. He's just some of the things that we talked about a little bit. We didn't have formal ones, but we used to get together. I used to sit in there with the coaching staff and just kick things around. But I think it's good that the coaching staff talks about this stuff. I think it's also good to have some of the Preston Manning Lys and the George Valandias and also the Dave Dombrowski's of the world in on those meetings, just to hear what the coaches are thinking. I think that's a I think that's a good and healthy thing. The state of the state of the team addresses in my opinion, I think they need to figure out out whether Brandon marsh needs to play every day in left field, and what people's opinion are about that let him play against the lefties, whether or not that you should do the same with Brightson Stott. And how in the world can you get at Mundo Sosa in games if that's the case, If both those guys are playing every day, where does Edmundo Sosa play? Does he play third base more? Because they're having a struggle with Alec Bohm, does Alec Boham? Should Alec Boham sit down for a couple of days and relax and kick it and let Mundo Sosa play? Should end Mundo Sosa play instead of Alec Boum. I don't know that that's the case, but these are certainly the questions that I should that I would address and talk about, at least on the offensive side. And because I think the offensive part of the game right now is a question mark. And should we go with you know, should we back off on the platooning and let these guys go and see how they handle it. That would be the big questions for me.

00:20:07
Speaker 4: What about you, Jim Well, I'd want to hear a little bit about the defense. Since day one, it seems like a lot of balls are sneaking through, and I'd want to have a little bit of a review on that. And I want to talk about bomb. You know, I remember and Todd you were covering the team. Ruben you were the GM, I believe, or the assistant GM when Jimmy Rollins was locked in a hillacious slump and Charlie sat him for three games in Toronto. You remember that, yep. And you know Jimmy didn't even come off for VP, just sat in the you know, worked in the cage, cleared his head, hit a reset button and came back and got it call. And I just wonder if it's time for something like that with Alec Bohm. Not punitive, but certainly you know, time to reflect and it's time to pick it up and get a break and play at Mundo, get him some at bats at third base. He's better. It seems to be better for me at third base than he is a second base. So that those would be a couple of things. The Boem situation is something that I think they need to put their heads on together, put their heads together on because there's too much season and he's too valuable and has too much potential not to try to fix this thing. Get this thing fixed and get some production out of this guy.

00:21:18
Speaker 3: That's Those are all great, Jim, you'd mentioned the defense. That's something I would love to figure out. Are they positioning themselves differently? Like what exactly is going on with this defense? You look at the metrics and I don't know, we all have different feelings about the defensive metrics because sometimes they're all over the board, but they do eye test metrics. They ranked towards the bottom in Major League Baseball. And you know, you can take a look now on statcast where guys are positioned defensively and whatnot. And I was talking with Poco Figueroa about it the other day, because the Phillies' outfielders actually move less than almost any other outfield in baseball as a team, just kind of like they usually stay in their same spots righty, lefty versus those guys, And Paco kind of said what he's like, Listen, I don't want guys going to these extreme shifts, you know, and then putting themselves in a spot where they're not gonna be able to catch a baseball just because some guy hits it happens they hit it over here one time, you know, or you know, fifty percent of the time, or whatever the case may be. So I would like to know, is this is this a problem? Is this bad luck? Do we need to examine how we're positioning guys because they need to figure this out? There's so many balls that seem to get through, you know, is it?

00:22:37
Speaker 2: So?

00:22:37
Speaker 1: What's going on? What's going on with those types of things?

00:22:40
Speaker 2: So let me also say this one thing that I think you know, the manager, the coaches, all those people get scrutinized. What about the analytics department? Do they get scrutinized for their efforts and what they're bringing to the table offensively? Are they looking for the right pitches? Are they giving them so much information that they that they've gotten paralyzed, that they're not hitting pitches in the middle of the zone, that the situational hitting stuff. Are they guessing wrong? Are they positioning them incorrectly or correctly? What role does the analytics department play in all this and do they get scrutinized, have they changed what this team has done for the positive or the negative? And is that part of the evaluation process For me as a GM, I'd certainly be doing that. I would certainly be analyzing that. Let's analyze the analysts and see whether they're doing their job properly. So, I mean it's become a very very big part of the game. So someone should also. I mean that's part of the you know, the overall evaluation of the of the organization. I think that their medical team is spectacular. The fact that you know, Paul Bukit and his group, they've amazing at keeping these guys on the field or a aging group, and I mean performance wise these guys have been on the field. Not would but everything needs to be evaluated all the time, and it's not just the coaches and not just the players. The biggest part of their organization and the most money that they put in over you know, other than the players. Then in any part of their department, is their analytics program that should be scrutinized as well.

00:24:33
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah, I think you know, I remember what once years ago I asked Matt clintec who's checking the math? You know? Yeah, it's a legitimate question, who's checking the math?

00:24:43
Speaker 4: You know that.

00:24:43
Speaker 3: I think they have ways that they kind of I think he said they kind of reverse engineer some things and whatnot. But yeah, you got to ask who's checking the math? Just like just like, you know, are you teaching the right things in the cage? Are you are you're fixing the you know, guys pitching mechanics, you know, properly all those things. Everything, Everything should be on the tape if you want to be better as an organization. Nobody should be insulted by it. You're trying to win games. A guy just lost his job.

00:25:06
Speaker 1: Because they weren't winning games.

00:25:07
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00:26:13
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00:26:41
Speaker 1: There we go. I love it, and.

00:26:43
Speaker 4: Let on the subject of defense before we get off defense. Okay, hot tip to Garrett Stubbs Monday night. Oh yeah, one nothing game where defense is magnified. I mean Trey Turner makes an ERA in the seventh inning and Tarner Banks pitches over it. Great job, Tanner Banks. I mean, one run game that's scary. But earlier, Garrett Stubbs throws out two runners in a one run game trying to steal second base. That is a goal star right there. So good job by him. And we're sitting here trashing the defense.

00:27:20
Speaker 2: Jim.

00:27:21
Speaker 3: So after the game, Ruben on Monday, we talked with who's at Nola and Harper and we're waiting for Stubs and Stubs in the back getting launch or he's getting our dinner or getting treatment or whatever he's doing.

00:27:34
Speaker 1: And then we're like, we gotta go upstairs. We got it, right, And so we.

00:27:39
Speaker 3: Said, tell tell Garrett we were asking for him because you know, and so I told Jim. I told Garrett on Tuesday after and I said, by the way, we did ask to talk to you, because he did throw off those two runners, and he did call a great game with Aaron aar Nola behind the plate.

00:27:54
Speaker 4: So he said, that's that's nicer. That's nicer than I would have been to him. I would have said, thanks for blowing us off.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: That's big. He big leagued you personally, Jim.

00:28:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, he said, he said, I could sense that Jim was out in the clubhouse, just.

00:28:10
Speaker 2: Just like I used to do the gym. I just used the big leg him all the time when he requested me.

00:28:16
Speaker 3: Hard.

00:28:17
Speaker 2: I have to say this another that was one hat tip but also a hat tip to Aaron Nola that we I have not gotten a chance to talk about. That just a phenomenal effort. I mean, this guy who had been trashed and people said, this guy you know for dead, leave him for dead. But Aaron Nola has just been was just really good. He's gonna have to change the way he goes about it. He's gonna have to drive the ball down in the zone, which he did. Love covering that game. I was happy for him. I'm happy for the team because he's such a good dude, And I know he wants to do well, and I know it's been frustrating for him to not be able to do the things that he, uh tipic he has done for this ball club. But that was a good sign yesterday as last out.

00:29:04
Speaker 4: Absolutely, he doesn't have to change anything since pretty much since day one, he's been a guy who has to operate down on the zone to have success. He needs to stick with the thing that he's always had success with, down on his own two way movement, thank you.

00:29:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and he got away from that after the eighteen season when Chris Young became their pitching coach, and it was a clown show because he tried to try to have people elevate the fastball because everybody was having to throw well, I mean, he's not the type of pitcher who can do that because he doesn't throw ninety seven. He can only throw ninety two, ninety three, And so I don't really understand why that was happening. I was scouting at the time watching these guys, going, why is everybody elevating every single pitch? Well, certain guys can do that, others cannot. If he watched a guy like Soriano who's over there, ridiculous and with the Angels, and he's got a lead pike sinker. Same thing with Zach Eflin back in the day. I mean, if the guy's got to let pipe sinker, then let him use the lead pipe sinker hit ground balls. Why not. I don't care what the swing pass looks like.

00:30:09
Speaker 1: The best was back then. At one point they were trying to get.

00:30:13
Speaker 3: E Flin to elevate with his sinker, and at one point Zach after the game goes, yeah, I'm not doing that anymore.

00:30:22
Speaker 4: And Ari had to trash that style of pitching in spring training and Zach said, I'm done with that.

00:30:30
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:30:30
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm done.

00:30:33
Speaker 3: Hey, Jim, did you see this? This is big news. We might uh you know, Ruben might be leaving the Philly Show because, oh, yeah, Rubin. Somebody voted for Rubin. I don't know if the votes come out, we've done the vote Ruben. Somebody wrote in Ruben for Pennsylvania governor. He could be living in the governor's mansion soon.

00:30:58
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't. I don't need that type of scrutiny. I already get plenty of scrutiny now as it as it stands. People hate the way I broadcast. People hate well, you know, the way I GM. They don't need to hate me on the political side too.

00:31:13
Speaker 3: We love you, Ruben, We absolutely love you. But I saw that and that made me laugh. That is absolutely amazing. You're forever Ruben. You will have received a vote for the governorship of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

00:31:29
Speaker 4: I love you. We love you. Even though you never invite us to play golf anymore.

00:31:35
Speaker 2: That's not that's a great point. I haven't been able to golf myself. Been busy.

00:31:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's been busy.

00:31:41
Speaker 2: Everyone's a blow moon on the road. But you guys can't play on the road. You're out.

00:31:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, let's close with this. You guys touched on this already in the State of the Phillies meeting. You wanted to ask about Alec Bowman, Bryce and Scott.

00:31:54
Speaker 1: What would you do.

00:31:55
Speaker 3: Let's let's let's let's talk about Wednesday night. The A's are pitching a lefty Bryson Stott, now Bryson Stott. He had a stretch. There was a mid April, there was seven games. Bryson Stott was on the bench for five of those seven games because they were facing just a run of lefties. Now, Bryson Stott has started eleven of the last twelve games. The game he did not start was against the lefty Mundo Sosa played.

00:32:25
Speaker 1: What would you do tonight?

00:32:27
Speaker 3: In relation to that situation and also the third base situation, Don Manning was asked yesterday, is there going to come a point where you might have to think about doing something else at third base? And this is what he said here he said, whenever that is, it's not now. I've seen Alec. He's another He's always hit smaller sample, he's not hitting right now. Basically, he's sure going to show faith in him for right now. But I'm just curious, what would you guys tonight? Would you say, listen, man we got to play at Mundo Sosa. We gotta get we gotta play the guy. So we're gonna put him at second base, Bryce and you're gonna be back in there tomorrow. Or you give Bryson Stott some run at second base and maybe have Sosa play third for the struggling Alec Boone.

00:33:24
Speaker 2: Tell you what I would do.

00:33:25
Speaker 1: That's what I would do.

00:33:26
Speaker 2: I'll tell you I would do let at Mundo Sosa play for the shortstop at short, give him a blow. Every once in a while. He talked about giving those guys a blow and listen, make it a tester. Let's see. Let's see. I mean, I would let Marsh play left field. That's that's that's where I'm at. Go ahead and let him play left field and move forward. If you do want to get Felix rays and at bat, you know, put Martian center and Rays and left and if you want to give Crawford a blow or what have you. But I would have and Mundo Sosa go in and play short and see whether Stott can play second base and hit against the lefty. Give him a couple of chances and see what happens. And that way you get and Mundo Sosa in there. You give your shortstop a blow. And I know he had one recently, but he talked about the guys who are aging a little bit. Why not put Sosa short, let Felix play left, put Martian center field, give the kid a blow against the lefty and see where it goes, if that's what you want to do. But I think Alec Bolme's got to play against the left hander and uh, and then after that when you got more righties, sit him down, relax, chill, and go from there.

00:34:49
Speaker 1: Interesting. What would you do, Jim, Well.

00:34:51
Speaker 4: I'm playing Stott tonight. I'm riding the hot hand. I'm trying to win ball games. I'm riding the hot hand. He's finally breaking through. He's swinging at Great, you're out there. I believe in you. You're out there since spring training. You've been talking about you want to be an everyday guy. Uh, play against lefties.

00:35:07
Speaker 2: You know.

00:35:08
Speaker 4: Harper talked about it last night, called him an everyday guy. That was classic Harper message, sending that the guy's hot riding because we Harper knows everything. He knew that a lefty coming up, you know on Wednesday night. He wants him in there. Okay, both you guys, put your money where you're out in mouth is go out there and keep and keep swinging it and and and try to win another ballgame. So I would play Stott, put your money where your mouth is. This is your chance, and you know you're too good for what we saw early in the season. And as far as Marsh, I'm ready to see him more against lefties too, And I'm I am ready to start, you know, sitting Bom a little bit and mixing in then Mundo. But I also know Bone can get going at some point, and you know, I maybe it's a left hander that he gets going against on Wednesday night, so I might I might back off on that right now. But I'm playing Stuf. I'm playing Stott. I think it's you know, you want to talk about messages. I believe in you keep swinging it. You believe in yourself. Go, I'll put your money where your mouth is against the lefty.

00:36:10
Speaker 1: I love it. I agree.

00:36:13
Speaker 3: I play Scott. I absolutely play Scott. I think you got to give him an opportunity here.

00:36:19
Speaker 2: I'm Marsh. Let's see how it goes. I mean, I haven't looked at the breakdowns on the picture here this evening about how good he is against left handers. But the reality of it is, I don't think he's necessarily dominant against him. But you know, we'll see.

00:36:39
Speaker 1: Give it a shot. Go go with Stott, go with Marsh.

00:36:43
Speaker 3: Give him an opportunity. All right, guys, I enjoyed it. We'll be back at the end of the week.

00:36:52
Speaker 4: Smell your lady boys, Smell you James.

00:36:56
Speaker 3: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Phillies Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.