The British Invasion

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

00:00:15
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, Welcome to The Philly Show with Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury. I'm todd z a lucky It is Tuesday, June eleventh, twenty twenty four. The Phillies got back from London on Sunday night. Now they are in Boston ready to play the Boston Red Sox the London series. Guys, I got back on Monday. It was a great time. It was a great experience. That Phillies split the series. Obviously they went on Saturday night, they lost on Sunday. But I'm telling you Rob Thompson actually said it best I thought yesterday he says, if I could come back here every year and do this, I would do it. It was I think it was that enjoyable for every but everybody involved. Yeah, I mean, you know, sure, there were some players I think were like, eh, you know, off days and you know this and that. But I think the vast majority of the players really enjoyed the experience. I think the manager did, the coaches did, I think the team officials did, and I know for sure the fans did. I can tell you this. The Phillies fans absolutely outnumbered the Mets fans in the stadium and on the streets of London. It was absolutely you could not go you could not go anywhere in London this weekend without seeing a handful of Phillies fans.

00:01:37
Speaker 1: Walker was it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool.

00:01:40
Speaker 3: Well, I think the Mets home attendance this year is down like twenty five percent, So if they're not going to go go to they're not going to go to Queens Maybe they're not going to go to London. So but yeah, yeah, my takeaway that Phillies fans were amazing. You watched the way, you know, they make these pilgrimages every March to clear Water and then when the Eagles play abroad, they just you know, light up those trips and the Winner Classic with the Flyers when they're in it. Phillies Philadelphia fans are amazing. I know it's cliche. They're very passionate, but I mean they put their money where their mouth is. They go places, they are seen, they are heard, and they have a good time following their teams. And it's just even greater when the team is good, like the Phillies and like the Eagles typically are, and it was quite the spectacle from afar.

00:02:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they had that central meeting location Pasty onc Avenue, that Billy Dive bar really just a short walk from the London Eye. A guy that grew up just outside of Philly, about an hour away from Philly, guy by the name JP Teddy. He he had this big, high paying corporate job with Xerox, quit the job several years ago to open up a Philly food truck and then that turned into the restaurant. Now he's got three pass youk Avenue restaurants. But I actually strolled through that bar a few nights ago and it was slam packed with Phillies fans. So that was kind of the place where I feel like they all congregated. But literally though just walking.

00:03:08
Speaker 1: Through the streets, they were everywhere. It was pretty fun.

00:03:11
Speaker 4: What was the unique tell me about a unique story about your experience there, Todd and your other observations about the stadium, about you know, the whole how I mean, there's obviously a ton of ex Phillies players and ex Mets and stuff like that.

00:03:27
Speaker 5: Tell me about that whole experience.

00:03:29
Speaker 2: So the first thing that actually occurred to me when I got on this walked onto the field, was as like, this field feels really spongy. And that was the first thing the players said too, like I've never played on a turf like this. It was very bouncy, very spongy. You heard the players talk about a lot. I'm sure you guys saw some of the hops that the balls took that jumped out at me. But I think the cool part for a lot of people was just you know, seeing the Phillies in London.

00:03:56
Speaker 1: But for the fans in the ballpark, especially.

00:03:59
Speaker 2: Saturday, you had Chase Utley there, Jimmy Rewnd, Shane Victorino, Carlos Reeves made it from Panama, Ryan Madson, Matt Stairs, Cole Hamil's, you know, the whole gang was there from the eight team, and that was pretty cool.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: I got to talk to some of those guys a little bit.

00:04:14
Speaker 2: Ryan Howard was telling me a story of coaching his daughter's softball team, eight year old softball team, and I was telling him about my son in Little league, and I thought the coolest thing was is I was telling him how my son last year was struggling in te ball and he goes, well, literally, Brian Howard goes, here's a hitting drill. So he actually gave me a hitting drill to use with my son and my daughter going forward.

00:04:38
Speaker 1: I was, you know, it was just.

00:04:39
Speaker 2: Cool to see those guys, and it also kind of, I think, just kind of shows you what kind of guys they they are.

00:04:45
Speaker 1: You know, we had Chase on the show.

00:04:47
Speaker 2: A couple of weeks ago, and Ryan Howard's the same type of quality guy. Shane Victorino, it's the same type of quality guy. Carlos Rees, you know, I think we talked about him a couple of weeks ago and how he's one of the funniest guys maybe on THATA team, just a just a great sense of humors.

00:05:02
Speaker 1: So but any.

00:05:04
Speaker 3: Of the lads from the eight team, you know, come up to you and start clamoring to be on the Philly Show.

00:05:12
Speaker 1: No, but I know no that they did not.

00:05:16
Speaker 2: But I did say I did talk to Chase and he said he did listen and he did enjoy it. And I said, well, you should come back sometimes he said I will.

00:05:24
Speaker 4: So I guarantee, I guarantee those guys will come on if we ask him. And at some point we'll last a few of those guys and see if they can join us.

00:05:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be fun.

00:05:37
Speaker 5: They really are you You hit the nail on the head. There's some good guys there.

00:05:41
Speaker 4: And I think years from now we're going to say the same thing about this team. I'm not sure if they would win the World Series, and I think that they have the talent to do it. Whether they get lucky enough to do it at the right time, that's another thing entirely. But I will you know, I'll be the first to admit that I think that this team has had the same sort of personality as that team and totally and they're pretty good quality guys generally.

00:06:05
Speaker 3: Yeah you Todd, you mentioned the spongy turf.

00:06:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, and.

00:06:13
Speaker 3: It did look spongy on TV. Yeah, that's what makes it When Harper did that Nie slide, Oh yeahcause just like stick like a like a like a sand wedge on a wet green.

00:06:27
Speaker 2: Well, if you looked at the replay, and I'm sure you guys have seen the replay, the funniest part of that, besides the reaction from his teammates, was Rob Thompson was like literally standing in front of him and he was it was totally stonefaced. He did not even it was like he was a statue. He was like, you know what, you know, totally expressionless. And afterwards, of course he said, my my first thought in my mind was don't get hurt, and wit Mierfield after the game said the same thing.

00:06:55
Speaker 1: I was just hoping he didn't hurt himself.

00:06:57
Speaker 5: But I mean, he's quite the know.

00:07:00
Speaker 3: He is a showman.

00:07:01
Speaker 4: He had that you know bandana, and he is a showman. There's no question about it. And I was talking on I was talking on, uh, you know, we had this big sort of block party type situation on Friday at NBC Sports Philadelphia at Xfinity Live, and they asked.

00:07:21
Speaker 5: Me, you know who's gonna step up?

00:07:23
Speaker 4: You know during this, you know, during the the London series, is that it's gonna.

00:07:28
Speaker 5: Be one guy who steps up.

00:07:29
Speaker 4: And sure enough, double Homer, I mean and single and almost hits for the cycle and then he does the slide. I'm like, exactly, this is exactly he is a He is as much a red.

00:07:43
Speaker 5: Light player as there is. I think about red light players.

00:07:47
Speaker 4: I think about Lenny Dykstram, I think about Jimmy Rollins, and I think about Chase Utley also obviously, but but Bryce.

00:07:55
Speaker 5: Harper is right at the top of that list as well. It's amazing.

00:08:00
Speaker 3: I think he's the Freddie Mercury of baseball, I really do. The Diamond is his stage. He's an electric performer. He's immensely talented, you know, with all the garb and the headband and the decorated bat and the shoes. You know, he's got the look and he's got the star power, and he's the showman. And him and Freddy Mercury they got it all, you know, and they're both really good at what they do and everybody wants to watch them.

00:08:26
Speaker 2: Freddy Mercury won the mascot race on Saturday night.

00:08:29
Speaker 5: Did you see that?

00:08:32
Speaker 2: Well, what's funny about that is so before the game, uh, they were all sitting there and they were kind of putting their helmets and I was like, oh, I was like, I was, I love you know, Queen. Who doesn't love Queen and Freddy Mercury, So I was. I tried to take a picture and.

00:08:44
Speaker 6: I got yelled at by Freddy mrcury. What Freddy Mercury yelled at me? He goes, no, no, no, Phne. It was I'm like, okay, all right, we're sorry.

00:08:55
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I guess they wanted it to be a surprise for later in the game or something, so I, you know, I I was like, that's that's fine, But did you lay down.

00:09:02
Speaker 3: The law with Mercury and tell him I'm todds to lock him doing to hell? I wanted to. I did not.

00:09:08
Speaker 1: I very sheepishly walked away.

00:09:09
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, that it's not a great feeling when you get yelled at by a by a mascot.

00:09:16
Speaker 4: Hey, speaking of mascots, how about all the stuff that the Philly Fanatic was doing, man, and all the Instagram.

00:09:23
Speaker 5: Stuff and all the stuff that came out on social media. It was so cool. It was the Philly Fanatic. Is there any argument that the Philly.

00:09:31
Speaker 4: Fanatic is the greatest mascot of all time in any sport? And it was fun to even listen to some of the national broadcasters talk about how much they enjoy them, even from the opposing teens.

00:09:47
Speaker 5: It's it's it's just.

00:09:48
Speaker 4: So cool and uh and the fact that he was there and doing his thing and he was the guard he was.

00:09:54
Speaker 5: I mean, he was doing so much different stuff. It was just really cool to watch.

00:09:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, br since that was saying that he was being a tour guide for Kyle Schwarbur and he said they were. It was kind of cool because they were kind of incognito, you know, walking through Letting, he said, until we showed up at Buckingham Palace and the Fanatic happened to be there at the same time, and then our cover got blown.

00:10:16
Speaker 3: Did mister Mett get any airtime at all? Did he get any play?

00:10:20
Speaker 4: I mean, mister and Missus Mett were there, Yeah, but I mean he talked about getting overshadowed.

00:10:26
Speaker 5: Please, yeah, come on.

00:10:28
Speaker 1: They had they had them.

00:10:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had a seventh inning stretch, uh, Sunday. I think it was like Rob McIlhenny and a bunch of the O eight Phillies, the Fanatic and then they had to kind of mister Missus met off to the side.

00:10:41
Speaker 1: It was you could kind of tell they fell out of place.

00:10:46
Speaker 5: A little one sided, a little one side.

00:10:49
Speaker 3: The Fanatic is Jeopardy and mister Mett is real fortune.

00:10:57
Speaker 1: Repress your luck.

00:11:00
Speaker 5: Press of your life.

00:11:01
Speaker 2: Whammy whammy, you know, whammy, no wammyammy, anything else, anything else. When you was watching those two games, jump out at you, guys, it was.

00:11:11
Speaker 3: Good to see Nick and Nick Castianos and Maryfield swinging a little bit. Yeah, I thought that was encouraging and much needed and maybe important in the big picture, as you know, with the next couple of months, as they look to see what they might do in the outfield if they need something in the outfields the trade deadline approaches.

00:11:35
Speaker 4: One of the things that stuck out to me is that, you know, the guys in the bullpen really do need to work pretty consistently, Like guys like Hoffman and Alvarado actually have to pitch a lot to stay in rhythm, and you can.

00:11:48
Speaker 5: Tell that, you know, Alvarado was a little out of whack.

00:11:50
Speaker 4: It happens, Yeah, but I do think that those guys have to have you know, constant work because they have their deliveries a little different, and so they have to continue to get out there to make sure that they stay sharp and that you know, that was that was evident.

00:12:04
Speaker 5: They're not gonna win every single game.

00:12:06
Speaker 4: It was an amazing that they even got back into that game and had a real.

00:12:10
Speaker 5: Good chance of winning.

00:12:11
Speaker 4: Obviously they didn't come up with a big hit at the end with Castiano's hitting that really freakish double playball. But but again, you know, they even when they're supposed to lose games, they still stay in the games. I mean, I don't remember the last time, but they were like completely out of a baseball game. And that's an amazing you know, that's amazing thing. They always have a chance. I mean over the last I don't know, over the last two months, month and a half, have they really ever been out, like truly out of the game where they didn't have a chance to come back and win it or win it in some way, shape or form or be close.

00:12:52
Speaker 5: I mean, it's not not that many times, and that's and that's a very good sign for a baseball club.

00:12:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, Ruby, you mentioned that double That was like the first time since at least nineteen twelve the game ended on a two three round out double play. It's never happened in over.

00:13:11
Speaker 1: One hundred years. Nick said.

00:13:14
Speaker 2: I don't know if you guys saw the comments. Nick said after the game, he thought about kicking the ball to try to like get him out for runner for runners interference. But if the umpire knows that you're doing it to what a double play? You could have called the runner and the base runner and the batter out. But he was thinking about it.

00:13:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, if his bat doesn't ball up there, they might win that game. Who knows where that ball ends up.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Jim, you mentioned so you brought up Nick and looking at his numbers and maybe heating up a little bit. Last ten games, Nick is batting three hundred, four doubles, three home runs, nine to fifty eight ops. Now you go back even further, that's sixteen, last sixteen, how about last thirty right, So he's hitting two forty eight it's not great. Seven doubles, seven home runs, nineteen RBIs seven ninety seven OPS. That's seven ninety seven OPS since May six that thirty game stretch fifty first.

00:14:11
Speaker 1: Out of one hundred and sixty four batters in baseball.

00:14:14
Speaker 2: So he's in the top third in terms of production of all qualified hitters since May sixth.

00:14:20
Speaker 3: He's moving in the right direction. He's gaining some confidence. He's kind of doing what all along we've talked about. As we get together here. That track record is good and just needs to get his timing. Gune needs to get some confidence and eventually he's gonna resemble all his track record. I think that's what he's seeing. Last sixteen game, sixteen games, he has five home runs and four doubles on ops. So it's definitely moving in the right direction. And you know, I'm sure that you know, it thrills the front office. They need his production because they talk about it. The outfield production is down, and you don't know if they're gonna have to address something at the trade deadline. I think there's other areas they need to look at as well, but I don't think they're there yet with a plan or a course of action. I just think right now they're still in evaluation mode and they have to be happy with the way he is starting to come around. They really need his production. They Doll's production has.

00:15:15
Speaker 5: Been good, been great.

00:15:17
Speaker 3: They need it. With Meryfield swung it well. And I don't think he forgot to hit. I forgot how to hit overnight, so it was good to see him get going. So maybe this this London series will be you know, good for those two guys.

00:15:31
Speaker 4: So we'll say, hey, the other thing is and you start thinking about a Schwarber really hasn't caught on fire and they don't have trade Turner, and they don't have trade Turner, and trade Turner's not you know, he's not been part of their club and at some point he's going to be rolling in. Maybe in the next couple of weeks they'll get back, get him back.

00:15:48
Speaker 5: I mean, think about that.

00:15:49
Speaker 4: That's like gaining an MVP in the middle of the year for a team that's already twenty five games above five hundred and what nine games up on on the Braves who have not played well at all lately. I mean, I think some of the you know, some of the numbers that you see with the Phillies. I mean, the Phillies are a really good ball club. You can't take anything away from that. But when you start looking at the rest of the league, it's a little embarrassing that there's, you know, only like four teams that are above five hundred, and there's only like nine teams at or above five hundred in all of baseball. Yeah, not even a third or so or a third right around a third. And it's been a day or so since I've taken a deeper look in the standings. But that's a little bit of an indictment on like the quality of baseball across the globe here in baseball. But that said, it's fun to watch this baseball club. The Phillies are just as complete eighteen as there is. You saw the Dodgers beat up on the Yankees a little bit the weekend.

00:16:55
Speaker 5: Yankees are not invincible. Dodgers are still a really good club.

00:17:01
Speaker 4: And so it's going to be interesting as we move forward what other teams are good at like those mediocre teams, who the heck is gonna step forward? I mean, what other teams out there other than the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies at the LA Dodgers besides those teams and Brewers are pretty good club too. But but beyond that, who's gonna step forward and like be a real team?

00:17:29
Speaker 5: Like he's going to be a real, true contender, Ruben.

00:17:34
Speaker 2: So it's it's June eleventh. So in twenty eleven, when you guys are clearly the best team in baseball, what are the trade talks like right now?

00:17:45
Speaker 3: Five?

00:17:46
Speaker 2: What are we five weeks away from the trade deadline? Is it just kind of like you're kicking the tires with guys? Are you exchanging names at this point saying Hey, at some point you want to do it? Like what because I'm trying to think the Phillies, you're already seeing stuff like they're talking outfield or you know, here are some names they could be looking for, and you know, you get you check on everybody and you talk about everybody, I assume, But what are the negotiations like right now?

00:18:12
Speaker 1: You know from what you.

00:18:12
Speaker 4: Remember, you know, it's it's so different now than it was then, just because the whole dynamic of what's going on with the wild card, there's opportunities and there's so much parody right now that I don't think teams really know whether they're in or out. And I think it was somebody wrote an article Rosenthal just recently was on either a podcast or or something else, just talking about how many teams like don't want to really go for are like afraid to go. Well, now would be the time for any team that's close to like make a move. And if I'm a team that really feels like I really want to win, then I then I try.

00:18:56
Speaker 5: To poke around and push because you just never know. I mean, look at what happened with the Diamondbacks last year. The Diamondocks almost won the World Series.

00:19:06
Speaker 7: I know, they got beat up by Texas, but they went to the World Series and they had a chance to win it. And I think if you're if you're a team that is close and you have ingredients, why not get that one or two other ingredients to give yourself a push to get over the top when there's such.

00:19:23
Speaker 4: Mediocrity out there. I mean, that's sort of my feeling. Again, you don't want to necessarily mortgage the future, but the future is just that is. You know, the a lot of question marks and guys that are that are in the minor leagues man and prospects for prospects, and I know, I know they're highly coveted nowadays, but they don't always make it to the big leagues and they don't always make an impact.

00:19:48
Speaker 5: You know, I know that as well as anybody.

00:19:51
Speaker 3: Your point about the wild card is so right on that there's so many teams right in it. I was looking at the standings today, it is like you can like eliminate three teams in each league saying, you know, they don't have a shot at the everybody's talking about what a bad start Houston had, and you know it's not a Houston like start, but they're well within striking distance of with with more than a half season ago, well within striking distance of a wildcard it's amazing how many teams are. I mean, the match is as bad as they've played, and there you can't rule them out of the wildcard. I think they're only like three games out of the last spots. It's just and that's probably going to impact what, like you said, what teams hold on to, what teams shop, what teams sala It's it's gonna be uh, very interesting because you know, I remember what my the Marlins won two World Series as a wildcard team. I think there's another one in there. You mentioned the Diamondbacks almost doing it. The Phillies went to the World Series as a wildcard team. So it's wide open.

00:20:51
Speaker 5: And Reds is a perfect example. Everybody thought the Reds after a decent start, they were kind of hanging in there, and.

00:20:58
Speaker 4: They had had some injuries and lost some play and yeah, and they were they started off okay, and then they went in the tank for a while, and then they reeled off like seven or eight and wins in a row, and all of a sudden they're in second place, boomed and back in it.

00:21:11
Speaker 5: I mean, so it's I mean, it's wide open. I guess for fans, the fact that all these teams are in it. I think that's a good thing.

00:21:21
Speaker 4: I don't think it's a great thing that there aren't that many great teams. And that's that is a little bit of a concern because you have so few teams that are actually winning teams. When you have only less than the third of the teams being winning teams, that doesn't bode well in you know, the whole scheme of thing of things.

00:21:42
Speaker 2: So like if if you're Dave Dombrowski right now, you're just kind of you're just gathering as much information on all these guys, covering as much basis as you can. I assume, right he's he's calling around. Sam Fuld is calling around trying to figure out what you if you trade, what you might trade, what you're thinking in terms of value. You know, I'm sure everybody wants Aiden Miller and Andrew Paynter. I mean, right, the asks now are insane generally speaking, right.

00:22:08
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, very very high.

00:22:10
Speaker 4: Usually they're very high. They're all you know, they're all locked in on the top ten prospects.

00:22:16
Speaker 5: For each organization. If you're gonna, you know, be a buyer. I think.

00:22:22
Speaker 4: I think it's an assessment period still, because I'm not sure if the Phillies know exactly and how many moves they can make, how many moves can they make?

00:22:32
Speaker 5: And what is I think it's they have the.

00:22:37
Speaker 4: You know, they can be sort of patient because one they've got players coming back too.

00:22:46
Speaker 5: You know, Marsh's coming back. We didn't even mention him.

00:22:48
Speaker 4: He's coming back sometime soon. I think he's going to start a rehab here shortly. Yeah, you got trade, You're probably gonna start something soon.

00:22:57
Speaker 5: You know, you're starting to.

00:22:58
Speaker 4: Get some people back, and I thin you can sort of figure out, Okay, do I need an outfielder, do I need a picture?

00:23:06
Speaker 5: Do I need some more bullpen help? What is it that I need?

00:23:09
Speaker 4: And I can sort of sit back and wait until and you know, obviously work and be prepared for especially especially targeting the teams that are definitely going to be out of it, the White Sox and the A's and you know those teams are definitely done.

00:23:25
Speaker 5: They're terrible, A's not quite so terrible.

00:23:28
Speaker 4: But you know there's other teams you know, in that that are definitely out of it. Uh, the Rockies, I don't know if they have what you would want from that organization, but there's teams that are definitely out of it, and you start targeting them and say, okay, that piece work does that piece work? And then you start sort of assessing and narrowing things down as.

00:23:51
Speaker 5: The picture, uh start and starts to broaden a little bit.

00:23:55
Speaker 3: Would you would you be looking for some organizams high end, upper end organizational catching depth. I mean, I know you have some a triple A. You got a couple of guys have caught in the big leagues, Garcia and Goodoy. You got Marshawan who everybody likes Marshawan, but he's had his injury woes.

00:24:13
Speaker 5: He's healthy, wow.

00:24:15
Speaker 3: And and you have stubs here in the big leagues. And I only mentioned it because JT is so important, He's indispensable. Yet he's been banged up a lot this year. I mean, they pinch ran for him yesterday, which was.

00:24:28
Speaker 5: That was interesting that. I thought that that was a very interesting thing.

00:24:31
Speaker 4: Now, j T one of the best base runners they have, and for them to pinch run for him in that situation, he's obviously something's going on there that is not quite right.

00:24:41
Speaker 5: I don't know what body part or what's ailing.

00:24:44
Speaker 4: It's got to be a lower body part that's probably ailing him some way, shape or form. But that was sort of telling to me that you know, this guy's not one hundred percent and it will be curious. You're right about Jim.

00:24:57
Speaker 3: It looked like they were protecting him a little bit.

00:24:59
Speaker 2: No, well, that's one of the Rob said, that's why they've made put marsh On on the made him the twenty seventh man for the for the London series because he has been banged up and they I think they've kind of wanted to protect me. But he did not mention anything specifically about uh, you know, leg or anything like that.

00:25:17
Speaker 1: But yeah, it jumps out.

00:25:20
Speaker 2: So but Jim, are you saying, like, talk about catching depth?

00:25:24
Speaker 3: Are you saying I mean, look, you got Stubbs and you've got Marshawan, right, Marshawan has had trouble staying healthy. I think one of the guys is on the on the il at Triple A. I believe I'm just one and I know it's probably hard to get you know, a guy who can you know, you've got a guy who can step in and Stubs and Marshan. I'm just wondering, yeah, just about the overall state of it, just because JT is so important and your your third stringer, Marshawn has had trouble staying healthy.

00:25:58
Speaker 2: That would make a lot of sense.

00:25:59
Speaker 5: Yeah, sure does, there's no question about it.

00:26:02
Speaker 4: I mean you want to have I mean, you can't cover every base pun intended.

00:26:07
Speaker 1: But that said, that.

00:26:08
Speaker 4: Is one of the biggest That's a big one because if they were to lose JT for a long, longer period of time, that's a significant, significant drop off.

00:26:16
Speaker 5: I like Marshaan. I like the way he calls the game.

00:26:18
Speaker 4: I like that, But you're right, he's never been to be able to stay on the field long enough to really get a good assessment of the guy.

00:26:25
Speaker 3: I mean, they had that guy, Cam Gallagher for a while. I think it's spring training. He's got big league time, but I think he retired. And you hope it's nothing. I mean, you hope it never It's never an issue that you even have to discuss because you know, in terms of personality, seem to have enough guys. But if you lose something, it's a big you know, even if it's in your depth, I think it's a it's a it's an issue for because of where this team wants to go and the stakes and where it.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: Can be sure that would be a bad one.

00:26:59
Speaker 2: You mentioned guys coming back, Trey Turner and Rob Thompson think that he could be back within the week. He's going to step up his sprinting beginning tomorrow in Boston. He does not sound like he's going to go on a rehab assignment. It sounds like it's he's just going.

00:27:15
Speaker 1: To get activated.

00:27:16
Speaker 2: He he says he knows enough about his swing, has enough drills, does enough drills. He hits off the Jek machine, which he says is harder than even facing live pitching because the way the ball comes out and you know all that stuff. And then marsh is either going to continue his rehab work in reading or maybe join the team in Boston. So both of those guys are getting close.

00:27:39
Speaker 1: Sounds like again.

00:27:41
Speaker 4: They're they're being really cautious with them and they and they have the ability to do that. I mean, it gives other guys opportunities to play, like a with Merrifield, to try to get swing together, which is getting better.

00:27:53
Speaker 5: It gives other people, you know, dolls playing well.

00:27:56
Speaker 4: Maybe it gets other people opportunities to play a little bit and and move from there.

00:28:00
Speaker 5: How do we know what we have an update on Cody any chance.

00:28:05
Speaker 1: No, I did not get it.

00:28:06
Speaker 2: I did not get an update on Cody's back.

00:28:10
Speaker 3: What would either one of you experiment with Sosa in the in left field because he's swung such a such.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: A good bat, that would be interesting. And now I think it was not. It wasn't this spring, but it was the spring before. Yeah, he was getting some looks in center field and spring training, Yeah, and then it never happened during the season. Rob said again this weekend that that's something that he will consider to keep his bat in the lineup, to keep his bat going, and of course Sosa naturally said, yes, I will.

00:28:43
Speaker 1: Be more than happy to play left field. I just want to.

00:28:46
Speaker 2: I just I just want to be in the lineup. But yeah, I mean that's a no brainer for sure. But that's it that that would be very interesting. He could, I would got I gotta think he could play out there at least.

00:28:56
Speaker 4: Well, let me just say this, I always felt like left field was the most difficult position in the outfield. Center field you have a much better picture, the ball doesn't do as many things. You obviously have to have, you know, more speed in center field to be able to cover more ground, But as far as reading the ball off the bat, I think left field is one of the tougher ones.

00:29:20
Speaker 5: That said, our left field in Citizens Bank.

00:29:24
Speaker 4: Park is is not a big one and it's not a whole ton of ground to cover.

00:29:31
Speaker 5: And I do think that he's athletic enough.

00:29:34
Speaker 4: As I watch him also field pop ups and fly balls, he's outstanding at tracking them. He's very good at it, and that means something because there are guys who do not handle pop ups very well, don't like the ball in the air. I know a lot of infielders who don't have the depth perception to be able to handle that. But it's pretty clear that Edmundo has a has a pretty good read on balls in the air, and that mean something.

00:30:02
Speaker 2: What would you do, Jim move, You'd throw.

00:30:04
Speaker 3: It up there righty five games over five hundred. Yeah, he's he's light on his feet, he's athletic, he's got hands, he's got baseball. Since he I'm sure wants to give it a look, I'm telling him the entire next home stand be here at two o'clock and be on the field at two o'clock. From two to three, and you're gonna have out field one on one, and we're gonna make a decision to maybe trot you out there somenight twenty five games over five hundred. I'm experimenting. It's not like he's it's not like he's a tank. You're gonna stick a left field who can't move. I think he could, he could. I think he with a couple of days work, he could go out there and be passable.

00:30:45
Speaker 7: And listen, think about the work that that Paco's done with with Castillanos.

00:30:50
Speaker 5: I mean, he's made Castianos a.

00:30:52
Speaker 4: Very adequate right field or any and two Castianos's credit. He goes out there and works at it all the time. I've watched it on the road and washed it at home. He works at it, and Paco works with him, and he is an excellent way about him. And certain drills to to uh to prepare, And.

00:31:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree with you, Jimmy, why not? Why'd I Heck not.

00:31:14
Speaker 3: Let's take a homestand and put him out there every afternoon and see what he looks like at two o'clock, and before you make any decisions about it, you know, put him on the lineup card in that position. But I think it's worth being open, open, minded about just because uh, he brings a lot of energy in a lot he brings some you know. He said, look, they haven't missed a beat with with an MVP count.

00:31:36
Speaker 1: You're right, actually built their lead.

00:31:38
Speaker 3: So I would, I would at the very least think about it, an experiment with it in practice situations and then make make the call and see what happens.

00:31:48
Speaker 2: And you're right there, twenty five games over five hundred or whatever, and all this talk the past few weeks of you know, they're gonna they need to go out and get an outfield.

00:31:55
Speaker 1: They need to go out and get an outfield.

00:31:58
Speaker 2: You might Nick Casting as we talked about his performance for the last month top third in baseball and ops, you know, maybe they figure out something the left field, Marsh comes back, maybe Sosa does his job, Maybe Maryfield he's up now, maybe Dall maybe you know, and now maybe.

00:32:15
Speaker 1: Marsh plays a little bit more in center field.

00:32:17
Speaker 2: If Rojas doesn't get going, maybe they figure this whole outfield thing out, and now they can go out and use those resources they have in the minor leagues to go out and get a big bullpen arm or whatever else might pop up between thirtieth.

00:32:33
Speaker 3: Fertle competition, and it's it's wonderful when guys are pushing each other.

00:32:37
Speaker 1: Yeah a lot, Yeah a lot.

00:32:39
Speaker 4: And I honestly, and I can honestly tell you that if people they're not going to be any jealousy, Like with Maryfield is not going to be mad if they thought Mundo Sosa out there, I think, you know, hey, if this is better for the team, if it gets our team an opportunity to be better, I'm sure he would want to play more.

00:32:54
Speaker 5: But still, I mean.

00:32:55
Speaker 4: These guys have the right mentality because they all believe in what they're trying to do, which is win a World Series and whatever it takes to do that.

00:33:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, Witch said that the other day after he homert he said, I've been off to a bad start, but the real season starts in October. That's what we're playing for, So you know, you got to finish the job in the regular season, of course, but they have the eye and the prize. So Phillies Boston Tuesday night, it's Zach Wheeler versus Cutter Crawford. Wednesday, Christopher Sanchez versus old pal Nick Pivetta and uh a Big piv And then Thursday, Thursday Thursday, Aaron Nola versus tan or Hawke. So and then they go out and they have to play the Worlds this week. This is a good test. This is a good this is a good road drip.

00:33:50
Speaker 3: Now.

00:33:50
Speaker 2: I will say this, and talking to a couple of players in spring training about the London.

00:33:55
Speaker 1: Series, they were they were they were genuinely excited about it. But they did say this, so keep.

00:34:00
Speaker 5: An eye on this.

00:34:01
Speaker 2: If they said they talked to some players that were in the Cubs in the and the and the Cardinals last year. They said, the players that were in the London Series last year said, you know what, going out wasn't so bad because we had the two days before and we got used to the time change. But you know what really kicked our butts. We didn't thinket it coming back like. It took us a few days to really kind of adjust.

00:34:23
Speaker 1: So you know that.

00:34:25
Speaker 3: Raises a question. You know, Tuesday night, Zach Wheeler, he hates layoffs. He wants to be on that fifth day. He's had a week off.

00:34:34
Speaker 1: Now right, Yeah it's about a week.

00:34:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna be worth you know, watching how he responds. I really believe though, this is like money in the bank. This little bit of a rest is going to help him September October. But we're going to see how it affects him Tuesday night in the Fens.

00:34:53
Speaker 1: In the Fens, that's right.

00:34:55
Speaker 2: So we will be back later this week. We'll talk about the Phillies Orioles series.

00:34:59
Speaker 1: And so much more. I'll talk to you guys, See you guys later.

00:35:05
Speaker 3: Smell your latter room.

00:35:07
Speaker 5: It sma Jim.

00:35:14
Speaker 1: This is the Philly Show.

00:35:15
Speaker 2: If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Phillies Show wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch us on our YouTube channel. If you like what we do, give us a review, tell a friend. Catch Rubenjim and Me on Phillies Nation TV, presented by Valley Forge Tourism. New episodes air an.

00:35:32
Speaker 1: Hour before every Saturday.

00:35:33
Speaker 2: Phillies game on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Replays air throughout the week and on Philliesnation dot com. Get more of Ruben's analysis during before and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four, WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network. Read Jim at the Allcity Network at allphly dot com. Find more of me at MLB dot com, the PHILLIESB newsletter, and occasionally on MLB Network