Ranger Is Rising

00:00:15
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody.

00:00:16
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Phillies Show with Ruben Tomorrow Junior Jim Salisbury. I am Todd's Lucky. It is Thursday, April eighteenth, twenty twenty four, gentlemen. The Phillies sweep the Colorado Rockies this week at Citizens Bank Park. A lot of really good starting pitching. I know the Rockies are not the greatest offensive team or the greatest team, I should say, they do have some hitters in that lineup, but really just tremendous starting pitching, which is what this team has had all season long. And finally we start seeing some signs of life from the offense. They scored five plus runs in consecutive games for the first time this season.

00:00:58
Speaker 3: Kyle Schwarber with a couple of home runs.

00:01:01
Speaker 2: Tray Turner seems to be heating up. Bryce Harper showing some flashes here and there. Rojas, we've talked so much about. Rojas had a couple hits on Wednesday night. He's got eight hits in his last eight games. He's hitting almost three fifteen his last eight games.

00:01:19
Speaker 3: That's interesting.

00:01:21
Speaker 2: How are you guys doing and uh Ranger Suarez maybe you know, let's talk about that performance. I thought a he pitched great, of course, but man, Bryce Harper and j t Rio Mutto had some great things to say about him after that game on Wednesday night, Bryce saying, you know this guy, if he puts it together, he's gonna get paid.

00:01:46
Speaker 3: Jt saying, if he.

00:01:48
Speaker 2: Puts it together, I think we've got a one A, one B and one C. You know, what do you guys think, Ruben.

00:01:57
Speaker 4: Well? I love Ranger. I love everything that he brings to the table. I love the way he goes about his business. I hear people talking the people who played the game and how much they would love to play behind him because he grabs it and he throws it. I mean, he doesn't mess around. He is confident right now. I mean, obviously he had a full spring training to get himself ready for the first time in his whole career that he had actual full spring training to prepare himself, and he prepared himself very very well. And you know, he is one of the better left handers in baseball, at least for me right now. He's got obviously a very big mix of pitches, but the fact that he's breaking ball, in particular his curveball, it's gotten better and better. He worked on it in the offseason. He worked on him with his throwing program. He did a lot of different things to prepare himself in a way that has made him come out of the gate really strong. And I think that it's arguably the best, maybe the best, top three starting pitchers in baseball at this very moment when you start talking about Wheeler, Nola, and Suarez. Nice combination of different looks and different flavors and guys who are pounding the strike zone and eating up innings.

00:03:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, I love that phrase. Pounding the strike zone. Ranger does that. They're working quickly. It's a joy to watch a guy like that pitch, and as you mentioned, the infielders love playing behind it. I've said this before. It reminds you a lot of Cliff Ley. He can bust it in on your hands to set up that change up away. He can spot everything is when his location is on, he is dynamite and his location has been on so far well through four starts. You know, he's shown flashes of brilliance over the year years. It just looks like he's poised, and keyword poised because he's such a poised individual on the mound in terms of when all hell's break breaking loose, he kind of calms things down, but it seems like he's poised to do it for six full months, a full season and beyond. Given the Phillies a really rugged top three. You know, Harper mentions he's going to get paid. He won't be a free agent till after twenty twenty five. Who knows. The Phillies have locked up people in the past. Maybe he's the next guy, probably a little bit down the road until they see a little bit more. But you know, with free agency looming for him after twenty after twenty five.

00:04:39
Speaker 3: Right Todd, right, correct, twenty five, So.

00:04:41
Speaker 5: With free agency looming, and I'm not trying to get way ahead of myself, but I am just more it's just kind of highlights they need to cash in like soon next year or two three, while you know, these guys are still the core, guys are still producing, and you possibly, you know, I could see us top notch picture go to free agency. I'm not saying he's going to, but you know, it all kinds of kind of adds up.

00:05:16
Speaker 4: Hey, this Boris is agent, just like Harper. I do not know that, but it sounds like he's doing a little commercial. Sure, I mean, Harper has been known to do a commercial or two and in his day, you know, he did it for JT. He's done it, you know, maybe a little bit for Trede Turner, you know, uh Huhrez, you know, just a little commercial.

00:05:39
Speaker 2: I want you guys, I want you guys to educate me a little bit. And this is this might be interesting for the listeners if it seems like Ranger Suarez has so many balls hit back to him at the mound and it must have had like three or four on Wednesday just hit right.

00:05:54
Speaker 3: Back to him.

00:05:55
Speaker 2: That's how he finished the shutout. Ball hit back to the mound. It was the most fitting thing ever, most nonchalant, accurate, solid throw to first base.

00:06:02
Speaker 3: Very very ranger.

00:06:05
Speaker 1: I look this up because I was just curious. He has sixty assists.

00:06:10
Speaker 2: As a pitcher over the last three seasons to lead all pitchers in baseball. And I'm wondering, can you guys explain why he get so many balls hit back to him? Is that the pitches he throws is at the locations. Is how he keeps guys off balanced, you know, because you don't see a lot of you know, like I said, leads baseball over the last three years.

00:06:27
Speaker 3: Balls hit back to the mound.

00:06:28
Speaker 5: I don't know. Maybe he's such a good athlete he just gets more of them than other guys. You know, reyal Cormier used to be very good, very good fielder. Clifflee was a very good fielder. Rangers so athletic. He was a hell of a soccer player. Let me, you still see him kicking it around now and then.

00:06:46
Speaker 4: So to me, it's it is a combination of the fact that his mechanics are so good that he actually is facing the batter in a athletic position when the ball is struck. Many pictures and most pictures are so maximum effort that they take them spin off. And you know, years ago he used to be pitching. Coaches used to tell pictures, hey, after you deliver your pitch, you know you're a fielder. Now you're part of the fielding team. Nowadays, they don't want the pitchers to touch the ball because they're one they're not athletic, and two they're not even their bodies aren't even facing home plate when they deliver their pitches. But he is doing both both of those things. He's athletic, he delivers the pitch, he doesn't throw maximum effort. He's ready to field this position, and he feels it flawlessly because frankly, he's got big, gigantic guts. I said it guts instead of the other words. And I think that he's you know, I love the way he goes about it. He believes in himself. He's got a tremendous amount of trust in himself and confidence.

00:08:00
Speaker 3: He's very laid back. You talked about the poise.

00:08:02
Speaker 2: And you know we've talked I feel like we've also talked about you know, max effort.

00:08:07
Speaker 3: Guys.

00:08:08
Speaker 2: Top three guys, Rubiny said at the top here maybe the best top three in baseball. All three are just pitchers. I know Zach throws harder than the other two guys, but guys that change speeds, locate, you know, they're not out there just going one hundred and fifteen percent. And it's you know, Rangers probably epitomizes, epitomizes that success that they're having right now.

00:08:33
Speaker 5: They've got one, two and three, you know, in reputation and performance have been terrific for this team, and they've gotten really nice contributions out of four and five. I mean Christopher Sanchez again last night. You know, he's ninety seven, he's got an outstanding change up, he's getting Chase on it, he's getting swinging misses on it. I get ten strikeouts, just another really two two quality starts in a row from from Christopher Sanchez, who you know they got a few years ago on a trade, and he just keeps getting better and better. I think you could say, you know, the player development folks have done a really good job with him, and the pitching people at the big blue level, they've done a good job with him because he keeps getting better and better and he's become a mainstay on this staff. And then you got Spencer Turnbull, who will pitch on Friday night. You got another week team coming in the Chicago White Sox, and he's opportunity knocks for this team right on the schedule. But Turnbull, I see his name pop up, and I think he's done a very good job. What happens with when Tywan Walker comes back, because now we're hearing he may be back sooner than lay right.

00:09:51
Speaker 1: N Yeah, So Rob Rob mentions this yesterday.

00:09:55
Speaker 2: So last week in Saint Louis, before Walker started his rehab, he says, yeah, we're probably I want to have him get up to one hundred pitches at least before reactivate him. So we're thinking late April, early May. And then yesterday, after his second rehab start, we asked Rob how he's doing. He's like, well, he feels great, and we're gonna see what happens after his bullpen on Friday, and we're like, what do you mean.

00:10:16
Speaker 3: He's like, well, there's a chance. There's a chance he's ready.

00:10:21
Speaker 2: Interesting because you go from three to four rehab starts to maybe only two and.

00:10:29
Speaker 1: Had an opportunity.

00:10:31
Speaker 2: Mac gelp And from the Athletic and I chatted with Taiwan.

00:10:34
Speaker 3: Before the game yesterday.

00:10:36
Speaker 2: Now, Taiwan's velocity has been talked about a lot since last season. You know how it fluctuated so wildly from start to start. That's a big reason why he didn't pitch in the postseason because he didn't really know what you were going to get from him. He talked all spring about I want to get my velocity up because that's so important to be because man, I'm throwing ninety three to ninety four, My splitter plays that much better. Now he threw ninety one into first rehab start forcing fastball ninety one point one in a second.

00:11:04
Speaker 1: So I asked him, Yester, I said, well.

00:11:05
Speaker 2: How do you kind of come to terms with the fact that you've talked a lot about velocity and now you're only throwing ninety one point one? And he said, well, it's the way it's coming out of the hand. Now there's more movement and the more late life. You know, my other pitches are crisper and sharper, And it's just it's just interesting to me because there's been so much empass on the velocity and now it sounds like they've almost don't expect it to come back. Maybe I don't know what to think of it, but it is interesting because he sounds like he's going to come back next week, and can he pitch successfully at ninety one? Maybe ninety two? Maybe he gets a bump right when he comes back in the big leagues. But it's going to be interesting, And I don't know, Ken, do you guys think he can pitch successfully at a lower velocity with the stuff that he has.

00:11:55
Speaker 4: Well, Todd, you've mentioned it before. The first three guys in this rotation they pitched right. They pitch and it's not necessarily about velocity, but their ability to change speeds and hit their locations. And I think that that is a worry and very important element of all pitching. I mean in the bullpen, maybe not as much because you're looking for strikeouts and there it's going to be a much briefer stint, but particularly with starting pitching, man, it's about pitching and trying to get through innings and being efficient. I think there is a way and there is a pathway for Taiwan Walker to do that. But he's going to have to utilize his fastball and sinker and be able to dot it. So when I say dot it, that's one of the things. You know. He's always been sort of durable. I mean even you even last year, what do you eat at one hundred and seventy innings? Undred and eighty innings? So the durability is there and the physicality is there, but it's a matter of him being able to stay on the mound and pitch without utilizing up too many pitches overall. And that's command. And there were times during the course of the season last here where his command just wasn't there. Man, he can't go and walk four guys and average of four walks the game. He just can't do it. He's going to have to keep the walks down, hopefully, keep the ball out of the middle of the plate, and let some of his stuff work. Now, the split he relies on that sometimes when he's not commanding his fastball, he sometimes relies on that for a strike pitch, and I don't think he can survive doing that. He's going to have to be able to throw his four seemer and a sinker for strikes and be able to like utilize that in different quadrants of his own. That will make his fastball or a split finger much more effective, because then you just can't sit on you know, you just can't sit on one pitch. And I really, Kenneth, is there a pathway from the do it? Is there a roadmap for him? Yes? But he can't. He can't do it if he is not throwing his his you know, four seemers sinker to the right spots. Then it's going to be an uphill battle for him.

00:13:59
Speaker 5: I find it a little fascinating that, you know, Turnbull's given him a couple of good starts one so so, and he's gonna pitch again on Friday night when they you know, after Thursday's off day against the White Sox lineup he could do very well against with all the injuries and whatnot. I mean, they got the three and fifteen. Suppose he pitches really, really well again. And my question is in you know, look, Taiwan certainly go out there in Cincinnati next week, if he's back in the rotation pitch well. He could reel off three good, good ones in a row, and then the point is kind of moot. But what happens if Taiwan struggles or maybe needs time to get his legs it just doesn't pitch really well out of the gate, or if these sort of unspoken concerns manifest and he's not as good as people need him to be all of a sudden, Now, how fast do they go back to turnball. It's kind of fascinating.

00:14:58
Speaker 2: Especially because Taiwan has is in the second year of a seventy two million dollar contract.

00:15:02
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that's that's right.

00:15:05
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, Ruben, you can speak to that better than anybody. I mean if you're a front office guy, because you've already heard it, Like, how.

00:15:12
Speaker 3: Can they what are they gonna do with Turnber.

00:15:13
Speaker 2: What are they gonna do with turn But well, I think the argument you can make with Turnbull is or what they could say potentially, is if they move him into the long man role and say, well, this is the job that we probably had ticketed for him before the season started. You know, he was and he was going to be the long man before Tye went down. They could say, listen, Spencer's only thrown. He hasn't thrown more than sixty innings since twenty nineteen. You know, he's been hurt a lot, pandemic. We have to manage his workload. We heard a lot about that last season with Matt Strom. You know, when Stroum was in the rotation to start this season, They're like, we got to pump the bricks in this guy. We want to keep him healthy down the stretch so they.

00:15:45
Speaker 3: Can put him in the long man role.

00:15:47
Speaker 2: But you're right, Jim, It's like if he goes out and pitches what he should do against a really bad White Sox team and Ty struggles. But Ty's going to get his opportunities right because he's He's make a lot of money the.

00:16:00
Speaker 3: Next few years.

00:16:00
Speaker 1: He's going to get a shot.

00:16:02
Speaker 4: I mean, we talk about the back of the baseball card a lot. And here's the reality. Spencer Turnbull wise turned into a couple of good starts. Let's not necessarily annoyed him to be like the next Cy Young Award winner. His last outing, he did he did not command a strike zone all that. Well, He's got good stuff, and I think that he can be a decent starting pitcher, but he hasn't proven himself to be a you know, a someone that you can count on to take the baseball every fifth day. Now, can he be better than he has been in the past? Can he Can he get to that point? He's always had great stuff. He's had a lot of injury issues, but he was assigned to be a sort of a stopgap in case and you know, someone who was a depth pitcher to you know, in case they have a breakdown or in case exactly what happened to Taiwan Walker. He wasn't ready to go. So here's what I think is going to happen. I mean, Spencer Turnbo can throw a one hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox, a terrible, terrible hitting team, and I still think at some point that Taiwan is going to be sliding into that rotation and the spencer turnbo is going to slide into that long man role. Now, I do know Dave Dave Dombrowski well enough that if Taiwan Walker does not in his first four, three, four, five out of I don't know how long the lease is going to be. If he does not throw well that he that may be they may be flip flopped. David, David, you know, he's not afraid to like put the best people in their positions to succeed, and that Taiwan Walker is not getting the job done, then he's not getting a job done. And uh but but again, I mean, like I said, Taiwan Walker's been there, he's done it. He's had some success. He did not have a tremendous year last year, but the man ate up some innings now and he won a lot of baseball games, and this.

00:18:07
Speaker 5: Is and he's earned the right to get back in there with those innings. It just seems like it just seems like the timetable was just inch along a little quicker, and then maybe first you thought it would be and it almost seems like, Okay, he's ready. Let's find out because if the situation is going to come to pass where they have to flip flop them. You know, why not find out sooner rather than later. If Taiwan's going to be the guy. And I'm not saying it's going to hinge on one start in Cincinnati or one start by Turnbull on Friday Night, but you know, he's healthy, he's ready, got the arm strength game on. Let's figure this stuff out.

00:18:47
Speaker 4: I think it's a and I think it's a combination of things because it's different in this day and age. Like as an executive, I used to have the ability to, like if he was on a thirty day rehab or a twenty day rehab, to stretch him out to twenty days and make a decision. Nowadays, the player can basically say to you. I mean, he can say to the front office, listen, I'm ready to go. I'm a five year player or whatever the case may be. And I'm not positive on all the rules, but there could be grievances. I mean, if this guy says he's ready to go and he doesn't come to the big leagues, then he can you know, file a grievance against the team. You know, I don't think any team wants to have that happen, and so I think it's a combination of things. I think you're right, Jim. On one hand, I think they want to find out whether the guy can pitch and then make a decision after that. But but I do think that the player has a lot more He has a lot more of the hammer as far as how long he's supposed to stay on the on the d L or the other.

00:19:46
Speaker 2: That sounds like the conversation that happened on Wednesday and Rob's office, and you know, Taiwan went and they said I'm ready to go, and then he told us after He's like, I'm built up enough.

00:19:55
Speaker 3: I'm built up enough.

00:19:56
Speaker 2: So I mean, he's gonna throw a bullpen in session on Friday. I don't know what could possibly come out of that bullpen session on Friday where they go.

00:20:03
Speaker 3: You know what, I think, we're gonna give you another rehab start.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: I mean, would you not be floored if that was the risk that was the answer, Like, you know, we decided after this bullpen session that we're going to have him give him one more rehab start.

00:20:13
Speaker 5: Everybody pitches a no hitter in the bullpen exactly right.

00:20:19
Speaker 4: Let's think are that and he has and he has every right to do that because how many I mean, who maxed out in spring training over eighty pitches in their rotation? Not one pitcher, I think the most somebody threw with seventy eight or seventy eight nine pitches or something like that. Was it Nola or or Wheeler. I don't think they got much more than that.

00:20:38
Speaker 2: And that's what Taiwan threw on Tuesday in Leehigh Valley. I think it was seventy eight eightmen there, there you go, there, you go see in Cincinnati, Taiwan there or whether it might be you.

00:20:52
Speaker 5: You mentioned earlier in the show Todd that the offense turners for where you know, started to show some life in that Colorado series even a little bit before that, Johann Rojas. You know, just just you're seeing an uptick and it's good to see. I thought one of the coolest things in last night's came. So there's a hanging slider. He boom off the center field wall, really used the bat head, went out, got it, weighted down it, and went out drove it. But I thought the coolest thing of the night, and there were a lot of cool things. She Schwober hit two home runs back to back with Turner in the first inning. Sanchez pitch great. I thought the coolest thing of the night was Johann Rojas standing on second after smacking that double, and you know, the crowd, which was thirty five thousand, you know, they gave him a really polite, appreciative, supportive cheer, round of applots whatever you want to call. It wasn't an eruption, but it was noticeable and it was appreciative, and it sort of felt like it was from the heart. It was like they were they're so cute in that this is a kid, young, struggling and working on stuff and he just did something good and they like they had his back. I thought it was a really cool moment. Did you did that jump out to you at all?

00:22:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, it totally did.

00:22:06
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, as tough as Philly fans can be, I think they also have a lot of self aware self awareness. And yeah, I think exactly what you said. They they seen a guy who's been struggling, and they see a guy who's been maybe swinging the battle attle bit better lately, and man, if he could get going at that bottom, you know that nine hole now now now all that talk can go away, and you know, now you can.

00:22:32
Speaker 5: Call it struggling. I think they see a guy who's working hard, that's not a finished product, and that it's true as a young player, that is working hard to fix some flaws. And I think they identify and appreciate that as opposed to maybe a veteran who's just in a big offer and they get on them, you know.

00:22:48
Speaker 2: You know, and Jim, you and the well yeah, Ruben, Jim was back in the at the ballpark yesterday.

00:22:52
Speaker 4: First, I need to talk about that.

00:22:55
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, so you finally got back to the booth.

00:22:59
Speaker 4: I was not there. You were at the ballpark with all your boys and uh so many of your friends. What was the reaction, Like I heard, it was pretty spectacular.

00:23:10
Speaker 5: Well, the uh, I don't cry like you you cry all the time.

00:23:20
Speaker 4: I mean, are you not? I mean, do you not have a heart? Are you? You know what?

00:23:24
Speaker 5: It was nice to see Todd and the Koala and Alex and Lobby and all the good people and the Paul Breen, all the nice folks.

00:23:34
Speaker 4: But it was let me ask you a question, who is who who gave me the nicest hug, the nicest hug. I gave you the best hug.

00:23:43
Speaker 5: I gotta think about that, t Mac.

00:23:45
Speaker 4: Maybe you know you better say that, because if you didn't say that, he was gonna be awfully pissed off of you. He gave you a nice, long, thick Was it a nice long thick hug? Early?

00:23:59
Speaker 5: It was a good hug, a little little, a little sweaty, but it was good. People.

00:24:05
Speaker 2: I can tell you that people were very excited to see Jim. And what what I was thinking about this in the drive home last night. I swear to god, Jim, you had not been in the clubhouse for a while and not been in the ballpark for a while, but as soon as you walked in, it felt very normal.

00:24:19
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:24:19
Speaker 2: I wasn't like, this is really weird and out of bias, was Jim. Jim is back in the clubhouse. That's where he should be.

00:24:25
Speaker 1: But it was great.

00:24:27
Speaker 4: There's there's a lot of people that love the man and I'll embarrassed the hell out of him. He's a great person. He loves baseball, he loves covering baseball, and he's been doing it for a long time and in a lot of ways, and it's great to have him back.

00:24:43
Speaker 5: Thank you. Yeah, nice you to say, even though I got you fired.

00:24:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know, I don't hold grudges.

00:24:51
Speaker 5: That's the beautiful thing about it.

00:24:53
Speaker 4: Let's go back to.

00:24:56
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, so so so Jim.

00:24:57
Speaker 2: I was saying that Jim was Jim was in the club last night and speaking of guys working hard Jim, Trey Turner mentions, and then Kyle Schwarber talked about it as well. How yesterday in the cage, Trey and Johann got together and they just really talked hitting. They had a really good conversation. Trey didn't really elaborate in terms of what they were talking about. If it's mechanics, if it's approach. But Joan Rojas is in that cage, and I think it was he's either Trey or Schwarber says. He's not doing bulkwork in the cage. He's not going out there and just hitting five hundred balls and just it's very concentrated, very purposeful work, very specific work.

00:25:39
Speaker 1: On what he can do to get better.

00:25:40
Speaker 2: But I did think that was interesting that Trey basically said, we had a great chat before the game today on hitting, whatever that might be, And to me, that kind of illustrates what you said, Jim, with the fans recognizing the hard work, they seem to be really you know, that is real. That's not just a guy saying the hitting coach saying, oh man, he's working really hard in the cage every day. Example of a guy really working hard and really caring about his craft on a day to day basis.

00:26:05
Speaker 5: And it was it was Schwarmer who said he noticed him talking and then all three of them will go out and have a great game. I mean, that's one of the great things about baseball, the accomplished veteran imparting advice, wisdom, help to a younger player who who really wants that help and really wants to succeed. I think it's a it's it's happened forever in the game. I mean, Rubens had dozens of mentors when he was playing, from Charlie Manuel to you know, Dave Hollins. I mean, I could I probably know a whole bunch of them. But uh, when a young when when a veteran who's got a you know, a batting title and a World Series ring and takes the time to you know, help a young kid, it's it's going to mean a lot to the young kid.

00:26:54
Speaker 4: Right it is. I will tell you I've been in clubhouses since I was a tyke, and I will tell you that there's nothing more impactful than not necessarily doesn't have to necessarily be your coach or your manager. There's nothing more impactful than some advice and some help from your teaming It is invaluable. And the fact that these guys are working with each other and talking with each other, that's the beauty of this ball club that I really really like, because when you have that sort of communication and you have that, then then you know everybody cares about each other. They're trying, they're literally working on the goal together to be the best versions of themselves. And when you have that sort of I don't know that that spree de corps, whatever you want to call it, that is so impactful to the team as a group. And that's one of the beauties. And one of the reasons why I think they've connected so well with the rest of the fan base is because I think that people know that they're trying to do everything they can to win, and it's they talk about it, but they also practice it, it seems. And I will tell you that I didn't I didn't know that story until just now. But but I'm not surprised by it because of the makeup of the of the players. But I'm also not surprised that it had immediate impact. I mean, it had immediate impact. And that's that's the most important part, because now the player says to himself, holy smokes. The things that we did to talk about, I implemented and and look I went two for three or you know, got a big base hit, or every bat was you know, way different.

00:28:39
Speaker 6: They're getting better and better and better. And those results. You know, we're a result oriented you know, we're in the result oriented industry. Those results are huge.

00:28:51
Speaker 2: Johann Rojas last eight games betting three forty eight eight for twenty three, two doubles. And here's the numbers that I think are important to walks only one strikeout and not a lot of walks, but only one strikeout for guy that was swinging and missing a lot in the postseason, so putting the ball in play, yeah.

00:29:10
Speaker 5: Let me just say one more.

00:29:11
Speaker 4: Let me just say one more thing about that.

00:29:13
Speaker 5: I think the other part that.

00:29:14
Speaker 4: Makes it a little easier for him is that people aren't focusing on him as much when the other guys are doing damage. And you know, when you got Schreber and Harper and Turner, Turner's really swinging the bat. Well, when you have those guys doing what they're sort of supposed to be doing and what you expect them to do, and then the onus and the and the pressure is taken off the guy, which was sort of like the plan anyway. The guy's not supposed to carry this team, right.

00:29:42
Speaker 5: So it's a perfect lineup for to carry a guy in the ninth spot and let him learn and blend in and and be dynamic defensively.

00:29:52
Speaker 2: So before we wrap this up real quick, one guy in the lineup that's not hit, Nick Castianos. I thought there might have been a chance that he would not play yesterday. To give him two days you know a lot of managers like to do that, give them the two days off to clear their head. Sixty nine at bats the season does not have an extra base hit, longest streak by Phillies player to start the season since Mickey Morindini nineteen ninety seven, seventy three at bats to start a season without an extra base hit. Do you give him a day off?

00:30:20
Speaker 5: You know?

00:30:20
Speaker 3: Soon? I mean, do you think it's overdue, do you let it?

00:30:24
Speaker 2: He loves to play and he wants to hit his way out of it, but it's you know, at some point when does the manager need to step in?

00:30:31
Speaker 5: Well, I think they face a lefty Friday night. I'm looking forward to seeing their kid, Garrett Crochet throw. I watched him a little bit when he was in college on TV at Tennessee. Had an injury, but he strikes out a lot of guys as a big, big lefty. We probably would play against a lefty, right.

00:30:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would think, so.

00:30:47
Speaker 5: Maybe you get him a day on the weekend. But you know, Rob, Rob has enough, you know. I think Rob is one of those guys who believes you don't start hitting by not hitting, So by not you know your way out of it. And what might be kind of a maybe a potential saving grace of Cincinnati, a place he's always been very comfortable. It's good ballpark to hit. I mean, Citizens Back Park's good ball. Cincinnatis are real good. He seems to getting a good vibe there. And I just think Nick is like a couple of hard hit doubles away from feeling confident. When he's confident, he's a totally different hitter.

00:31:24
Speaker 4: So I don't know if I agree with that. I was looking at I was watching Nick.

00:31:32
Speaker 7: On TV yesterday because I did not go to the game, and I was watching him on TV, and it was an interesting thing that I saw, like his sort of setup right now, and mechanically he does not is set up.

00:31:50
Speaker 8: He's so turned his right almost you know, his right buttocks buttock is almost facing the he's so turned before he's so he has to rotate all.

00:32:05
Speaker 4: The way around, you know, his lower half to get to the space. And I just don't know, I don't see him being nearly as direct with his path. It's very rotational as opposed to linear. So the difficulties so then like when he has to make contact. I've studied hitting for years and years and years, and I really took a pride in studying hitting, and I just think that you have to be a little bit more linear in that your bad head has to go out, not around or across, because then you will not Your margin for error is way way greater when you're more direct with your swing than when you're around, because then you have to hit the baseball right on point, at the exact point every single time instead of being more linear with your path. And I just think it just seems like he's got a long way to go in his rotation. And it's hard for me to show that to be able to make consistent hard contact. And I would have to go back and study all of this a lot of the film and stuff like that, But I don't ever remember him setting up with his literally whole lower half turned to the start.

00:33:29
Speaker 5: Is that because he's trying to hit the ball the other way?

00:33:32
Speaker 4: It may be because he's trying to he's trying to he may be trying to force himself to go you know that way right center, And I think, but I think it might be counterintuitive for him because or counterproductive because he's still he has to rotate a long his body has to rotate a long way to get to that, So you have to cheat to get there. If it's throwing, throwing really hard, so you have to start rotating really early, as opposed to being more He's it seems just like a pitcher is going east west. You'd like to see him go more north south. I don't know.

00:34:13
Speaker 2: Well, you're right, you're right, you're right, Chim.

00:34:16
Speaker 3: He probably will play tomorrow night against the lefty.

00:34:19
Speaker 5: I'm guessing, right, yeah right, I mean.

00:34:23
Speaker 3: Yeah he is. He's good. He's been pretty good.

00:34:25
Speaker 2: He's been like maybe the only only bright spot on the White Sox this year. This is a really bad team, guys, I mean they I gotta so I looked this up because I was like, how bad is this team offensive? They have scored thirty eight runs? Are thirty eight runs in eighteen games. There's only been twelve other teams in baseball history have scored fewer than thirty eight, thirty eight or fewer runs in their first eighteen games. That's I mean, that's just this is a historically bad start by a team.

00:34:52
Speaker 3: So you know, I everybody is.

00:34:55
Speaker 2: A big leader that puts on a big lead uniform, but you know, come on, this is uh this a team that they should be. So you got get Crochet versus Turnbull on Friday, Michael Soroka versus Zach Wheeler on Saturday, and Nick Nestrini versus Aaron Nola on Sunday.

00:35:12
Speaker 3: So there's three and fifteen.

00:35:14
Speaker 5: The Phillies go in three games over five hundred. I mean, just point this out because there was so much talk about oh, slow start, slow start, slow start again, three over five hundred. Last year, they didn't get to three over three over five hundred until June seventeenth, so they're there two months beforehand. Now you got to maintain, you got to stay there, you got to build on it. But it sort of puts that slow start in perspective. It's not as bad as it might have looked.

00:35:40
Speaker 4: Absolutely, they got they got a chance to make them. Hey man, make that pay. Yeah. Very rarely do you actually like sweep a team. It's hard to sweep and you're you know, it's hard to sweep a team. This sounds weird. It's hard to sweep a team you're supposed to sweep. But they did it, and that's big. And not every game was smooth, but it was pretty darn good.

00:36:02
Speaker 2: Right Well, Jim, you missed Ruben the other day. Gave a nice chat to the Pioneers and Pinstripes event on Monday at Jackie Robinson Day. Ruben, it was you spoke very well of your dad, obviously, and it was a great speech. But it did crack me up because before that, Jim, you weren't there. But so they had a bunch of people talk and the daughter of John Irvin Kennedy, the first black player to play for the Phillies. Phillies last team in the National League to integrate.

00:36:32
Speaker 3: He was the first player.

00:36:33
Speaker 2: His daughter comes up and she goes, I wrote a poem about my dad. This is what I want to say about my dad. She gives this great poem.

00:36:42
Speaker 1: My, mister baseball, my dad.

00:36:45
Speaker 2: She's bawling by the end of it. Her family's in the crowd. They're crying the poem. Men's people stand up, They're giving her a round of applause, and Tom's going to Tom McCarthy's m seeing it, He's like, unbelievable speech. Just I'm I mean, this is unbelievable. And now Ruben Tomorrow Junior is gonna stay. I mean, and you were like, I gotta follow this lady.

00:37:08
Speaker 5: This is insane.

00:37:09
Speaker 1: But you did a great job. You did a great job.

00:37:11
Speaker 4: So even even John Middleton turns over to me because I was sitting right next to him. John Millons, well, well, poor the poor guy who's got to go next.

00:37:23
Speaker 5: I said, yeah, John, that's me.

00:37:25
Speaker 4: And so, uh, it was a great day. The Pioneers and Pinstripes display that the Phillies put together on Jackie Robinson Day was tremendous. It was spectacular. It was a great honor for the players of color who have sort of been pioneered, you know, their their folks here in Philadelphia, and the way they've honored him was a beautiful mural. They're gonna do more. I talked to John Middleton about it. They're going to add to the display it's up in the Hall Hall of Fame, and John Middleton spoke really well about how fitting it was to have all of these folks honored in the Hall of Fame because it's part of the real fabric and history of the Philadelphia Phillies. So really cool, great day.

00:38:18
Speaker 5: After the game last night, I went outside behind the press box and I looked at it. It was great. I just I was mesmerized by I really pored over every name and face and all the copy and Senior Dad's picture and yeah, it was really neat, really great. Serge Sergier's up there.

00:38:38
Speaker 4: Yeah. So there's basically there's like four people that I mean, obviously there's other people involved, but it was Kenny Ayres, Scott Brandreth, it was Rob Holiday, and the Christine Negli were the four people in the front office. With the Phillies who really made this happen, and they deserve they deserve a lot of love for that.

00:39:04
Speaker 5: Hats off to them. Congratulations. It's really spectacular.

00:39:08
Speaker 3: It's very cool.

00:39:09
Speaker 2: Well, guys, thanks for thanks for listening to The Philly Show. We will be back next week after this White Sox series. Ruben and I will both be in Cincinnati, so I'll see you there. And then we got to get together, guys at the ballpark and get a team photo, The Philly Show team photo.

00:39:25
Speaker 3: We gotta get yes yes.

00:39:28
Speaker 1: So all right, guys, thanks and we'll chat next week.

00:39:32
Speaker 5: Alrighty, Smell you later.

00:39:33
Speaker 4: Good smiling Jim,