Is this the Phillies' Opening Day lineup?

00:00:01
Speaker 1: How's it going?

00:00:02
Speaker 2: This is Jason Kelcey and welcome to The Philly Show.

00:00:08
Speaker 3: Hi, everybody, Ruben Morrow Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's a lucky the Phillies Show. It's Friday, March seventh, twenty five. How are we doing? Guys?

00:00:19
Speaker 1: Just finishing up breakfast? Boys, just finishing up breakfast? What are you going?

00:00:23
Speaker 2: What are you featuring? I went with a.

00:00:24
Speaker 1: Little perfe It's all done.

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Speaker 4: It's all gone, gone, parfey, little yogurt, little date, cranberry crazy, excuse me?

00:00:33
Speaker 1: Crazins? And uh what else are I having there? Granola? Wow? Very healthy?

00:00:42
Speaker 2: So did you do you have to switch to yogurt because of the egg prices?

00:00:46
Speaker 1: Great point? But no, great point, But no, I didn't have that problem.

00:00:52
Speaker 2: Tell him why, Todd?

00:00:53
Speaker 3: Jim Jim? No, Jim hates eggs. He's never you don't eat eggs at all? Does he need an omelet? He's anti he's anti egg I mean this, this whole thing has really gone to Jim's favor over the last you know, year or so.

00:01:08
Speaker 1: No, I know you don't have any wavos.

00:01:14
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, so funny. But yeah, so Jim, Yeah, Jim doesn't need eggs Ruben's guys. Perfect. I just had a black coffee this morning for breakfast. That's all I've had. Just get the caffeine going.

00:01:25
Speaker 2: We're already on a tangent.

00:01:26
Speaker 1: The comment was going to kill us.

00:01:30
Speaker 3: I'm back home, I did. This is my first day home in like three weeks. I flew home last night. I by surprise my kids. They were excited to see me, which was nice. You know, you don't want them to be not excited to see you after three weeks. Good point. So they were excited. So that was fun. So I'm back home for the weekend, going back down Sunday. Guys. Uh, we had Jason Kelcey on the show on Wednesday. That was a lot of fun. You guys did a great job with that.

00:01:57
Speaker 4: Sorry you weren't there, but Kim did a bang up job filling in as the host of the Toddpop.

00:02:05
Speaker 2: That was the in the pilot's seat. But honestly, Jason Kelsey made it easy. He's a very thoughtful guy. I mean, he doesn't give you these cliche written answers. He thinks about the question. He gives you a good answer.

00:02:17
Speaker 4: Uh.

00:02:17
Speaker 2: And you know, when you're talking about sports, I just think there's this common theme among all sports baseball, football, hockey, basketball, you know, when you're talking about competitors and locker rooms and team goals and reaching those goals. And so I thought it was very applicable the things he said, uh to baseball into the Phillies season. So very very enjoyable conversation, and we're very grateful to Jason.

00:02:43
Speaker 1: Jim tell me jumping on as well. That was kind of cool, huge Jim Tomy fan. I think there's a mutual respect there and.

00:02:51
Speaker 4: That was really nice of Jim to jump on force and and give him a little baby surprise.

00:02:56
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.

00:02:57
Speaker 3: Jim tell me all time, good guy, man. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. So Phillies today are at home. They played the Rays yesterday. They lost. But a lot of things have been happening down in Clearwater, and I wanted to get your guys.

00:03:14
Speaker 5: Opinions, reactions and over reactions, reactions and overreactions. Max Kepler hit a home run. Yes, he's got two home runs of spring. Max Kepler five for fifteen, one double, two home runs, five RBIs. His swing has looked good.

00:03:32
Speaker 3: He's made some mechanical adjustments. I wrote about that a couple of weeks ago. Teammates have really been impressed with him. And you guys have seen a lot of spring training games, Ruben, you played in spring training games. I wanted to You know, people obviously go crazy when a guy's doing well. They kind of panic when a guy's not doing well. Do you guys have any thoughts on the way Max Kepler's come out of the shoot see any Have you seen any of his at bats? Do you put any stock into anything that he's doing? Max Kepler, He's a big part of this team's lineup this yeary obviously they put it. They kind of rolled the dice a little bit, I guess you could say. And going to the left handed hitting corner outfielder.

00:04:07
Speaker 2: Jim, I like what I see. I mean, you know, he turns on the ball a little bit, gets it in the air, and back spins it out of the ballpark. I mean that's kind of that classic left handed home run swing. I wouldn't call him a you know, home run guy per se, but I think he can give you twenty maybe twenty plus, and that's gonna look nice at the bottom of that order. I am impressed with what I see early in camp because he made some swing adjustments. He's working with a new hitting coach. And when you work with a new hitting coach and you make a couple of adjustments and you see some results, I think, I think it's great because you've built some confidence in that hitting coach, you build some confidence in the approach, and build just personal confidence. We know how important that is in this game, and you can maybe carry that into the season. So I think if he had come into camp, worked on some adjustments, work with a new hitting coach, and started off over twenty now you're wondering, right, So I think he's in a good state of mind. And I'll take that any day of the week when you're coming to a new ball club.

00:05:09
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you make a great point, Jim. You know, when his introductory press conference, it seemed like he was a little leery about coming.

00:05:17
Speaker 1: Now he's coming from he was a long time Minnesota twin.

00:05:20
Speaker 4: I mean, when you make an adjustment to come to a new family, so to speak, it.

00:05:25
Speaker 1: Is a real adjustment.

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Speaker 4: These are human beings who you know, who have their routines, they have their comfort zones, and now he's sort of out of his comfort zone coming from the Midwest and playing in a very highly contested and you know, obviously the expectations super high.

00:05:43
Speaker 1: Not so much in Minnesota almost ever.

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Speaker 4: And you know, it's almost a bonus when they get into the playoffs and are competing.

00:05:51
Speaker 1: Even though they they've had some.

00:05:52
Speaker 4: Success over the years, I don't think that there's the same intensity that exists.

00:05:57
Speaker 1: Here in Philadelphia.

00:05:59
Speaker 4: And you know, I think you make a great point, Jim, as far as him being able to feel comfortable immediately having some success. For others like Trey Turner, for instance, we'll talk about him, it's not that big of a deal because the back of the baseball card means something. But for a guy who's coming over into a new situation, it is a big deal for him personally and for also the fans not to start panicking like why did they get this guy? You know, you know what's you know, what does this guy bring to the table. The reality of it is, I've seen this kid since he was a rookie. I've liked what I've seen when I was coaching in Boston. He's an athlete, he can really do some things. He runs well, He's not going to clog the bases up, not going to steal a ton of bases. But he runs well, he plays very good defense, he's adjusted to left field. It seems doesn't seem like he's having a whole lot of problem and he feeling confident about it. And hey, anything that he can give them at the bottom of the lineup really helps them lengthen out that lineup and makes them even more prominent.

00:06:59
Speaker 1: And they do need some production from the outfield.

00:07:01
Speaker 4: They really have not other than Castillanos and some at times from Marsh You're not getting the consistent type of offense that you really want out of your outfield.

00:07:11
Speaker 1: And I think you can bring some of that to move.

00:07:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's made some mechanical justice and he said his bat last year was like more upright now he's kind of cocked it a little bit to this. He made it a little bit flatter so he can get through the zone quicker. That's the idea.

00:07:25
Speaker 2: Anyway, I will point out if I can start interrupt, we still need to see it during the season.

00:07:32
Speaker 3: Sure, you need to see it during the season.

00:07:35
Speaker 2: It was just a few springs ago, when you know, Todd, you and I were writing a lot about Mickey moniac in an adjustment. He had made under under Kevin Long and he had early results. It's still spring training. I'll take the results regardless. I'll take him any time of the year over not having results. But you still need to build on it and take it into the season. So though in card Jing, you know what matters is April, May, June, July, August, September, October.

00:08:05
Speaker 3: Right. So conversely, Max Kepler, after great start, Ruben, you mentioned Tray Turner. Trade Turner to spring Over, oh for thirteen, two walks, seven strikeouts. His last that bat yesterday he did fly out to a ball at the top of the wall and right field, opposite field, oh for thirteen guys. Overreaction, any concerned there with Trey Turner? You dismiss it? What do you think?

00:08:29
Speaker 2: I can't overreact because, as Ruben likes to say, you know, he does have a back of the baseball card. Now, the back of the baseball card in Philadelphia over two years hasn't been what it was in the past. Times dynamic at times these pockets of production and uh, but other times just inconsistent in lack of production. I just think he's still looking for six months of consistency and if they get that they're gonna get a great player. But you know, I'm not overly concerned because he is a veteran guy, and sometimes you know, you got Kepler coming in. It's a new environment for him. It's a new clubous, new set of teammates, a new market. You're out there trying to impress this. It's only human nature. Veteran guy who's been here. I think you need the bright lights and opening day and the third deck to really turn it on. So I'm not terribly concerned about trade Turner.

00:09:27
Speaker 1: No, I'm not all that concerned either. You clearly he's a veteran.

00:09:31
Speaker 4: He's got to get himself, get his you know what we call sea legs underneath him. To me, the most important at bats that he has, or like to maybe last seven to eight games something like that, ten games where he's getting more consistent at bats and consistent reps. I go back, and I know I'm extrapolating like some really really good numbers, but the end of the twenty twenty three season and the beginning of the twenty four season, I mean you start thinking about those numbers about one hundred and forty one.

00:09:59
Speaker 1: Hundre fifty games.

00:10:01
Speaker 4: His numbers were ridiculous, you know, MVP type numbers, so thirty, you know, close to thirty home runs, a bunch of doubles, some stolen bases obviously, and then I think his ops was like in the mid nines, I mean it was MVP type numbers. Now it hasn't been consistent over a space in a period of time during the course of the season. I think the hamstring really sort of locked him up a little bit last year. He's never really been hurt, never had a tissue injury.

00:10:28
Speaker 3: He was very.

00:10:29
Speaker 4: Tentative when he came back. I'm not making excuses for the guy, but that said, when you're hurt for the first time, really, and he's never really been in that situation, it is a bit of an adjustment. And you know, there is some talk about the fact that he may have to force himself if in fact he is leading off, he may be forced to maybe see some more pitches, be a little bit more selective, think about getting on base a little bit more rather than driving the ball out of the ballpark. I would like to see him become the trade turner of a few years back when he used the whole field.

00:11:04
Speaker 1: He you know, two.

00:11:05
Speaker 4: Strikes, two strikes situations. Can drive the ball right, it can hit the ball.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: Out the right, especially the citizens bank, so that's not an issue.

00:11:12
Speaker 4: So I mean I like to see him utilize the opposite field now.

00:11:16
Speaker 1: His last at FAT you talked about a top that he can build on. That I think and that's something he can start to build on. Those amazing, it's amazing.

00:11:24
Speaker 4: A little does mean a lot, not just with like Kebler's hands, but also with your mentality. That you start doing things, you know, small things that seem to work, and you start getting the feel. It can really change things around and start get heading you in the right direction, which I hope will happen with Trey.

00:11:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, spring training numbers are always interesting. Jim has heard me talk about this one before, and Rubin, you remember this. I remember Aaron Rowan the year he made the All Star team. He had one of the worst springs ever. As I recall, he was depressed about it. I remember talking to him late in camp. He's like, I just don't understand what's going on. You know, It's like I can't believe this. I just want to hit so bad. He was so upset about it, and then he ended up hitting over three hundred over the course of the season, and it had a great year and got himself a big contract with the Stuff Giants.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: Twenty seven home runs, ninety RBIs.

00:12:16
Speaker 3: Yet it, Yeah, he had it hit a great year. So like last spring, I was just looking at some numbers from some guys last spring. Bryce Harper last spring finished spring training batting one seventy nine. Kyle Schwarber finished last spring batting one thirty two. Nick Castianos batted one nineteen. Bryce and Stop atted two hundred. Uh you know, so you know Brandon marsh and twenty twenty three batted two twenty Boem batted two thirty two and twenty twenty three. So yeah, you know you have a bad spring. It obviously does not mean that much over the course of season. And you always bet on the guys the back of the guy's baseball card, and Trey Turners got a pretty good back of the baseball card.

00:12:52
Speaker 2: Todd that that is such an interesting point about Aaron Rowand I remember that spring like it was yesterday.

00:12:58
Speaker 1: Was it O seven?

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Speaker 3: It was O seven?

00:12:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was your seven. And I will never forget that. There was a national report that and it said almost verbatim. Scouts in the Grapefruit League are talking about how poor Adam Aaron Rowland looks at the play and that his bat looks slow. And I remember it like it was yesterday reading that, you know, passage in a in a national story, and Aaron Rowland was such a key to that seventeen he hit over three hundred, parlayed it into a sixty million dollars deal. Again, it's spring training, it's practiced, Guys are working on things. It's baseball. It's a game of up and ups and down. Sometimes you have a little down period in in spring training. But as Reuben said, sometimes a little can mean a lot. I do think that final week of spring training forgot like Trey Turner, if he goes out there and has a great, great week, that can be a real springboard. Little means a lot, have a good final week, and that's where I'll really hone in on a guy like that.

00:14:04
Speaker 3: And here's another example. Aaron Nola in his first start Graaper League start, did not throw a single curveball because he's like, I just wanted to work on my fastball command, my sinker, my four seamer, and my changeup is always a work in progress. He wasn't happy with it last year, so he basically said, do not call for a single curveball. I wanted to work on everything else. And then yesterday it was kind of a funny interaction. After the game, he comes out. I think he threw like fifteen curveballs. He got all six strikeouts on his curveball, and I said, wow, you didn't throw one last time, and now you threw a bunch and you got six strikeouts on it. He's like, yeah, he's like JT actually threw or I was calling for more curveballs then I wanted to throw. He's like, I probably shook off JT more today than I ever have in my entire life. And it was a springs training start because he's like, I just wanted to really focus in again on the fastball command and on the change up. And so these guys are working on things. You know, they're working on things. You know, maybe Trey's working on something at the plate these first few games where you know he's not really focused on the results. I don't know, but that's always something to keep in the back of mind.

00:15:09
Speaker 2: He's not out to impress. I think I can maybe boil it down.

00:15:13
Speaker 3: He's out.

00:15:15
Speaker 2: He's not out to impress because of the time of the year, where I think Max Kepler probably is because it's a new environment.

00:15:20
Speaker 1: No question about it. At two points on that I will talk to you, I will say this.

00:15:25
Speaker 4: I think it's a great idea that Noela is working on his fastball command because that's such an important piece of him setting up his breaking ball. But it also doesn't know there's something else, especially when he's still in his change up well, and he's staying over the over the baseball when his breaking ball, when he's he has better fastball command and he can move that fastball, sink it, throw a back door to right east and front door to lefties, and he's staying on top of the ball, his fingers are on top of the ball and he's not armies and dropping down. That creates a rotation in his curve ball that is more twelve six than eleven to five, and he has better break.

00:16:00
Speaker 1: If you saw the breaking.

00:16:00
Speaker 4: Balls he threw the yesterday's last outing, they were outstanding. They were doing that and they were you know, that was the twelve six type of rotation.

00:16:09
Speaker 1: I mean twelve to six on the clock.

00:16:12
Speaker 4: And when you have that kind of break that makes it so difficult for.

00:16:16
Speaker 1: The hitter when you have two planes you're dealing with.

00:16:19
Speaker 4: It's especially with a curveball, it's not nearly as difficult as when you're going with that one plane straight down. The timing and the difficulty of making solid contact is greater, is really tough. So I love the fact that he's working on that fastball command because that'll make his.

00:16:34
Speaker 1: Breaking ball and his mechanics of his breaking ball way way better.

00:16:39
Speaker 3: Jose Alvarado pitched yesterday five pitches one hundred or harder. His sinkers yesterday averaged ninety nine and a half. It's up a one point seven from his twenty twenty four season average. Struck out three through another curveball. He's trying to mix that in. What do we think of Jose Alvarado so far? We're buying it.

00:17:00
Speaker 2: Start the season.

00:17:01
Speaker 3: He's ready, Yeah, he looks ready. He definitely looks ready now.

00:17:07
Speaker 4: For him, he's such a confidence player that when he's got his confidence, he's really very dominant. And when I say confident, he's he's able to repeat his mechanics such that he can make his pitches and throw consistent strikes when he's not confident. I'm not sure whether it's chicken or the egg, you know what comes first, Whether his confidence backs off and he can't get himself in the right position body wise to throw consistent strikes or vice versa, that he's he just can't get his mechanics together and then he's sort of lost. I'm not sure which one it is, but I do know this. He came in better shape. He has a desire to be excellent. I love the makeup. It's not because he doesn't want to, because he does. And you know the fact that he came in, you know, really thinking about trying to be a better pitcher overall and better player.

00:18:00
Speaker 1: I think that's a positive and much.

00:18:01
Speaker 4: Like Kepler, although it's a different sort of situation because he's been here, I think confidence for him and being able to and be able to apply what he was working on in the off season and apply it and have success with it right now, I think that also could carry into the season.

00:18:19
Speaker 3: Ranger Suarez made his debut the other day Tuesday. He followed Zach Wheeler a piggyback situation, so nothing he's really accustomed to. I mean, as a starting pitcher, anybody that won't be happening. So he pitched well. He threw two scoreless. I think he got four outs on his change up, got a swing and miss on his change up. Now here's what I want to get your opinion on. Guys. His villa was way down, like across the board. And now I talked to a ranger about a couple other people about there. They said they were absolutely unconcerned. Said his sinker fur Seemer touched ninety one, almost ninety two, but it was down so early in camp do we pay much attention to that? Went back and looked at his villa last spring and it was actually up compared to where was yesterday. So it's not as thing necessarily a thing of like, well, you know, he usually comes out slow and he gradually builds up. What do we make of the villo being down to Is that something you would watch closely the rest of the spring. Do you do you care? Rangers? Rangers said to me. He said in perfect English, you know, because ranger does his interviews in Spanish. I said, yeah, your villa was way down. He goes, it was? I said, yeah, it was, it was way down. He goes, Just remember I've never thrown hard. So what do we make of Rangers Villo being down? Do we care too early?

00:19:32
Speaker 2: What do we think, you know, given that he's coming off such a head scratching season last year where he was electric early, maybe the best pitcher in baseball for a couple of months, and then kind of fell off a cliff, had some health issues, didn't pitch well when he finally got back. I wouldn't just brush off. I understand why the team is, but we don't know what they're saying behind closed doors. Privately. I'd be interested to hear what Ruben tomorrow, general manager, would be thinking. I'm sure Ruben when he was a gym would say it's nothing he's building, but privately, behind closed doors, they might be saying something different. Now, yeah, I'd be a little concerned because he's, you know, gotten better shaped this offseason, and I think velocity can and it's not to be all and end all, but it can be a little.

00:20:35
Speaker 1: Tell tale of of of a lot of things.

00:20:39
Speaker 2: He wouldn't be out there if he's not healthy, but they are slow playing him a little bit, So I would be a tad concern given what we saw last year.

00:20:49
Speaker 4: Rubin Yeah, there's a lot of messaging going on in the in the off season. I've heard Rob Thompson talk a little bit about like monitoring Ranger Suarez.

00:20:59
Speaker 1: He went out very hard.

00:21:01
Speaker 4: He was the first time he was ever healthy out of spring training and on time basically as a starting pitcher, so that was the.

00:21:08
Speaker 1: First time he'd ever done.

00:21:09
Speaker 4: It came out like Gangbusters was the best picture in baseball really for the first two months of the season. Now, I'm wondering if some of that messaging was heard and they discussed it. Hey, let's ramp it up, Let's not go too crazy, let's ease into it, don't worry about your velocity, get your work in, and when we get closer and closer opening day, then then you should be closer and closer to one hundred percent. And I'm wondering if that's part of the messaging that said. I will also say Jim that, yeah, I got to keep an.

00:21:40
Speaker 1: Eye on it.

00:21:40
Speaker 4: I would keep an eye on it just because listen, he's had hip and back and side and issues. I think that they're trying to be cautious with him, and I think he's trying to be intelligent and knowing Scott Boris and his you know, his new group. I'm sure they're saying to him, hey, don't go crazy, ease into it, get ready to go.

00:21:59
Speaker 1: And that same messa, which may be coming from the Phillies directly. I don't know that.

00:22:03
Speaker 4: I'm not privy to that, and that's that is a question that I'll ask when I go down there. After watching him pitch again a few times, by the time I get back down there, he should be closer and closer to that ninety two to ninety four range ish because.

00:22:18
Speaker 1: He's not really a power guy.

00:22:19
Speaker 4: He's ad finesca and and it'll be interesting to see where he is as he progresses through the spring.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: Ye yesterday against the Rays in Clearwater, the Phillies ran out of lineup and a lot of people said, ah, this this might be the lineup, This might be the one. We talk a lot about the lineup, but it is fun to talk about. So yesterday's lineup guys, Trey Turner lead off, followed by Harper, then Boem Schwarber, Castianos in the five hole, Max Kepler in the sixth hole, JT hitting seventh, Stott and Marsh Do we think this might be the opening day lineup pretty close, pretty close, right, I mean it looks it looks pretty good. I mean Rob said the first day of camp and even earlier that he was thinking about hitting Harper second and sh Warbur no lower than fourth.

00:23:05
Speaker 2: And he said that, he said that as far back as the winter meetings. Right, it feels like people are surprised. I mean, it's been leaning this way for weeks upon weeks, and it seems like that's the way. They seems like they want to give that a look. Turner one, Harper two, Get Harper more at bats, Get Turner maybe thinking like an on base guy, and maybe that promotes more selectivity or more using the whole diamond. So it just feels like they want to give that a look. I don't know that they're going to be committed to it all year. I mean, they've had good results with Schwarber, but Schwarber's improvement batting average, you put them down a little bit, maybe driving more runs. You know, just it's just, you know, I wonder if Scott's going to.

00:23:46
Speaker 1: Be that low all the time.

00:23:48
Speaker 2: But it feels like they want to give that a look. So yeah, I feel like that could be close to the opening deadlineup.

00:23:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, certainly a possibility, no question about it.

00:23:58
Speaker 1: It does create a lot in that lineup. There's no question. You've got Stotton and marsh down there that deep. That's pretty it's pretty exciting to think about.

00:24:07
Speaker 4: I still and I know this is probably not all that popular because it may push Schwarber deeper into the lineup.

00:24:15
Speaker 1: I like the idea of having Stott laid off.

00:24:18
Speaker 4: Then Turner and then Harper, and then you can sort of kind of do what you want with you know, then go with Schwarber perhaps or Castiatles and then Schwarber. Now you're you're talking about pushing Schwarber so far back in the lineup, but I think that that's the left right combination that would be ideal. I don't know that putting Schwarber that deep in the lineup makes the most sense, but that gives it the most diversity. But I mean, I'm okay with, you know, having Turner at the top. I thought when he first signed him, he's going to be at the top of the lineup. My firstand why you would push Harper into that two hole right behind him. But I want to make sure that if he is in that one hole and Harper's in that too, hold that he's not going to be afraid to run because that's something that he needs to do and be able to feel comfortable running in funnel Harper.

00:25:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe they can just start turning you again. I always just give him a run, give him some run in the beginning of the season. It doesn't work out, can move Swarbur back up or and if Scott really was hindered by the elbow last year and he does start hitting the ball, well, then maybe that gives you an opportunity to move him up, like you said, Rubin, And you know, crazier things have happened, Harper. Schwarber hitting back to back. I know a lot of people wouldn't do it. Rob's not big on hitting lefties back to back, but they both hit lefties last year. You know, Bryce Ain's scared to face lefties, so that'd be kind of cool to say. I mean, Utley and Howard did it for years and years, so maybe it happens again. Speaking of Howard and Utley with Jamie Rowns is in camp guys this week, and and Ryan Howard is in camp this week, and Jimmy Rollins I talked to him the other day, he's doing well. Still looks like he could play, So it looks like he could pick a ball out in the deep in the hole at shortstop. And he also likes the idea of Trey Turner hitting the lead off. You know, obviously Jimmy was a speed guy at the top, you know he so he says, I'm a I'm a traditionalist, and I you know, I like the idea of a fast guy at the top with the big boppers right behind. Gives the speed guys more of an opportunity to run. And so Jimmy, Jimmy's on board with with Trey Turner leading off. He likes the idea of him being an igniter at the top of the lineup, and you know, he thinks that that that Trey can definitely provide that spark. It's good to see, good to see Jimmy there though.

00:26:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's an entertaining guy.

00:26:39
Speaker 1: Man.

00:26:39
Speaker 2: He uh, you know he was. You know, they were talking him on a fall territory about you know, coming out of the vet and he used to kid Bola the stories he's told us in the past. I remember him saying this. But he used to tell Baa, that was your place this new place is my place, and they put their stamp on it. And he was talking about how this current group needs to put their stamp on this era. They've gotten to the postseason three times and you know, time to cash in. But Jimmy's always an entertaining guy. It's great to see him in uniform.

00:27:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been a while since he's been in uniform with the Phillies in this sort of capacity. It's been great. I'm sure it's been great for guys that haven't been down there.

00:27:23
Speaker 1: And hey, he's always got something to say. Man, he's not afraid to open that mouth and say what he wants to say. And I think that's one of the beauties of what he brought to the table and one of the things he as you said, jim.

00:27:33
Speaker 4: I mean, it's time for this group to put to you know, make their move to help people. Forget about two thousand and eight, or at least not think about it as much and think about this to twenty twenty five, this twenty twenty two to twenty twenty five era, where you know, this was.

00:27:50
Speaker 1: A team that is the team to beat. I'm not sure if that's everybody's good actually say that but Jimmy would.

00:28:00
Speaker 4: Jimmy might, but certainly even with what the Dodgers did this offseason and what they've been doing, and that's okay, you know, And that's okay as long as you can.

00:28:10
Speaker 1: Back it up and do what you can to be the best, the best you can be.

00:28:14
Speaker 4: So fun to be having me around, And hey, man, I hope he spends more time then.

00:28:22
Speaker 2: You talk about backing it up. I know this is feels like ancient history, but he says where the team to be, and then he goes out and backs it up and wins the m v P every day he backed it up that year.

00:28:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was so much fun. I mean, I remember the day, the outcry that that caused up in New York when he said that at a it was basically like a winter caravan type. It was at a Citizens Bank Park. I kind of remember being in the Hall of Fame player a Diamond clubs it was.

00:28:50
Speaker 2: It was the club behind home plate and yeah, and I'm like, uh boy, this guy's got some uh hoots box saying that because they have been to the postseason in fourteen years and now he's like where the team to be?

00:29:03
Speaker 3: You know, obviously Hindsight's twenty twenty. But the reason why he said that is because the Phillies got who did they get in the offseason to really bolster the pitching staff was Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton, and he was like, man, we got a great pitching staff. These guys are going to be studs for us. And obviously didn't work out with Freddy he was hurt and Adam Eaton was just he just was not very good with the Phillies. But you think back to what kind of spurred that comment, that famous iconic Jimmy Rollins moment, Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton.

00:29:34
Speaker 1: That's why they didn't really contribute.

00:29:36
Speaker 4: It's kind of funny, Yeah, but I think it was one of those chip on the shoulder type things that they were knocked out in oh seven so quickly by that hot Colorado team that they were like, oh my goodness, we gotta be a little bit better prepared this time than they certainly were.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, he saw that comment was the igniter switch on the greatest era of Phillies baseball.

00:29:58
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:29:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, And in Jimmy he said the other day when I was talking to him, I said, do you think the twenty twenty five. He's like, you know, he noticed the slide is kind of like they've taken steps back into postseason like those teams did. But he's like, there's no reason why they can't go out and win a World series, a series like it's he mentioned, I don't know if this is a famous quote, you guys can tell me, but he said, he's like, I remember something Reggie Jackson said to me. He said, as long as I have the bat in my hands, I control the pens in terms of like what people write about you. And he's like, as long as those guys have the bat in their hands, they can control what people say about them. And I thought that was kind of a brilliant way to look at it, you know, just because people are saying, people are writing and on talk radio saying this team is not that exciting, or they've taken steps back, or they can't win a World Series and the offense has too many holes and there's too much swing and miss, and there's Chase and blah blah blah. He's like, as long as these guys have the bat in their hands, they can change that narrative. And so I thought that was a great way, great way of looking at it. I also asked him about his Hall of Fame run. He was up to eighteen percent, and I said, what do you think he's like? Not fast enough? Not fast enough? And I tend to agree, I think, you know, and he pointed out that a lot of people obviously look at the quote unquote numbers, but he says, I think to really kind of appreciate what I brought to the game, he kind of had to watch me play every day, and I just think his defense was so underrated. He won gold gloves, but he was underrated. So maybe he.

00:31:27
Speaker 4: Won several goal gloves and unfortunately that's not how it works.

00:31:32
Speaker 1: I started to enter it up to your jim but I mean, he's the.

00:31:35
Speaker 4: Best, most consistent than Bomart for scale, from my standpoint, during a certain era.

00:31:41
Speaker 1: I don't think there was a better shortstop around.

00:31:43
Speaker 4: Omar, the best I've ever seen, and Jimmy's right there as far as consistency, not as acrobatic, but certainly no disrespect to Larry Boo or Ozzie Smith or those kind of guys, but my goodness, Jimmy Rollins had every single tool arm, arm strength, arm accuracy, athleticism, consistency. The man the ball was hit to the left side of the field, you were out.

00:32:12
Speaker 2: He had his arm strength and his release point was so consistent every time right here, boom, right across the diamond. And he used to close games in high school. I talked to his high school coach. He used to close games and he was ninety three ninety four and the gun close. He used to come in from shortstop and get the last three outs. This is a guy five six, you know, five and a half feet tall, throw in ninety three to ninety four, and you know he would go through a season to make fire six errors, right, Todd, Yeah, made three errors? Is trade turnam made the last two years, I think forty. This guy would make six seven errors a year. And I always love that. I mean, it gets passed down through the UH, through the ages and I use it now. But Dallas Green used to call it a two out shortstop, and then Ruben used to call it a two out shortstop. And no, occasionally I steal that, but it's a great description.

00:33:03
Speaker 3: No, absolutely, I think they think about Jimmy was that he was just you know, like when you watch a highlight UH and the guy makes a diving catching the outfield or whatever, and and uh and sometimes it's like, well that guy had to die for it because he took a bad route or he got a bad jump, or you know. I think just Jimmy, like he just got to everything so easily and made everything look so simple to him. It was like he didn't really misnecessarily maybe jump out to people because he wasn't dying. I mean he has, he had made a lot of diving plays over hers, but I just think he just got to everything and made it look so freaking simple that it kind of underrated him a little bit. And like, let you know, maybe uh confused, not not to confused, but uh, you know, just you know, he take this.

00:33:48
Speaker 1: Granted what he did, you really take for granted what he did. There's nobody could.

00:33:52
Speaker 4: Go to the glove side behind second base spin and throw a perfect, accurate throw and make that look easy, and he that's exactly what he did.

00:34:00
Speaker 1: I think about my dad and what kind of defender he was.

00:34:04
Speaker 4: Didn't have quite the range, but did have the same sort of instinct and same sort of player because he didn't do anything flashy.

00:34:11
Speaker 1: He just pretty, really pretty steady.

00:34:14
Speaker 4: And I remember my dad talking Jimmy up like this is as good as it gets, young man, This is as good as it gets.

00:34:21
Speaker 2: That's been play.

00:34:23
Speaker 1: I love that play lights out.

00:34:25
Speaker 3: He did it all the time. It was automatic, like it was like it was nothing.

00:34:30
Speaker 2: And tell everybody again, Ruben, what the definition of a two oz shortstop is?

00:34:35
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously, if the you know, whatever the situation is, whether the game's on the line, the game's not online, you want the ball hit to one person on that field, and you know that the time when it comes that you were out one hundred percent of the time, ninety nine point nine one hundred percent of the time, the game is over.

00:34:53
Speaker 3: That was Jimmy Rollinds. Yeah, it was great to see him. We'll be back next week. If you haven't checked out the Jason Kels the episode, make sure go and watch that on YouTube or you know, listen to it on Apple, Spotify, amazigon way to get podcasts, hit subscribe. We appreciate your support. We do have T shirts coming.

00:35:14
Speaker 1: We talked about it.

00:35:16
Speaker 3: I got enough day. I'll talk to you guys off camera about it.

00:35:18
Speaker 1: But they are coming.

00:35:19
Speaker 3: I swear to god they're coming. So we've got more T shirts coming. But anyway, guys, we'll talk to you later.

00:35:24
Speaker 1: It's very related. Boys Nights Jim.

00:35:27
Speaker 3: 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. If you like us, give us a review, Follow us on Instagram, TikTok x, Facebook, and threads. Find Ruben's analysis before, during, and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four, WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network. Find Jim at all phl y dot com. Find me at MLB dot com, the Phillies Beat Newsletter, and MLB Network