We answer your Phillies playoff, platoon and rotation questions

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Speaker 1: Hi, this is Howie Roseman.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Philly.

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Speaker 3: Show tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's lucky. It's a Philly Show. It's Friday, September fifth, twenty twenty five. Hope everybody is doing well. Everybody's in a good mood. On Friday in Philly, Phillies beat the Brewers Thursday afternoon series finale. They who took two out of three against the best team in Major League Baseball. And then the Eagles of course when they're season opener Thursday night at the Link. It was an interesting game before it even got going interesting game. I'm watching the game and I'm like, did Jamien Crowdter just spin on Dak Prescott?

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Speaker 2: Yes?

00:00:44
Speaker 3: He did, Yes he did.

00:00:46
Speaker 4: They found it way though, they said this was the season of great expectorations.

00:00:56
Speaker 3: DM.

00:00:56
Speaker 5: I see what you did there. That's pretty funny.

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Speaker 6: I will say this, first of all, there's no place in any sport or any time to do anything like that.

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Speaker 5: It's apparently it's a retaliatory move. Attack.

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Speaker 6: Apparently spin towards it, you know, Jalen Carter, and he retaliated by spinning back at him.

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Speaker 5: Childish. Can we see some growth please? Have a little growth.

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Speaker 3: I've never been spit on. I've never spit on anybody. I was watching the game of my kids. I said, that is like the worst thing you could do to somebody. Please never do that, like we would never. So I'm like, all right, good, don't don't do that.

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Speaker 6: Never an excuse to do that, not a good precedent to sit, especially before the first snap or whatever.

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Speaker 5: The hell.

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Speaker 3: It was exactly right, but hey, you know, the Phillies. Though they did beat the Brewers on Thursday to nothing, they won the three game series. Like I mentioned, they have a six game lead over the Mets in the National League Eest. They have a three game lead over the Dodgers for the number two seed. And if you will really want to get crazy, think that something crazy could happen this month. The only trail the Brewers by four and a half games for the number one seed. Just wanted to throw it out there. It's a little bit of a long shot, but crazier things have happened. Thursday's episode, we asked you, our viewers, our listeners on YouTube, Apple, Spotify for your Phillies questions, and you guys sent us a bunch and let's get going, it's time for the park first pitch. First Pitch is brought to us exclusively by our partners at Parks Casino, Pennsylvania's number one casino. All right, let's just jump right into this. I got a lot of questions based around this central theme, so this this seemed like a good first pitch question. This is from Michael Stark on Blue Sky and then Bennett Brown seventy six on Instagram something very similar as of today, what gives you the most confidence in this team's ability to win the World Series? And on the flip side, what is your biggest concern? Then Bennett Brown said, you know, just do you think the Phillies have a chance at making the World Series?

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Speaker 2: Go ahead? Rupe?

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Speaker 5: So I'm actually it's gonna be a strange answer.

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Speaker 6: I think that bullpen is the thing that makes me the most confident right now. And I say that because they had they got the best bullpen piece they possibly could have gotten.

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Speaker 5: In Joe on draw.

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Speaker 6: I think it's just so huge that he got this that that they got that done, and it sort of sets up everybody all the way down. I don't necessarily think that it's the best bullpen, but I do believe that it puts them in a position more so this year than in any other year as far as that bullpen is concerned, is to shut down a game when it needs to be shut down.

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Speaker 5: They did a really good.

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Speaker 6: Job in the last couple of games against the Brewers, and that's what you can envision happen. Happening when they get like a small lead. It's really hard to hold down like a one or two run lead, and that's what they might have to do. They couldn't do it last couple of years, and I think that they have a much better chance of getting that done this year because they have Joan Duran in their bullpen, a guy who throws strikes you can have a ton of confidence in. And the other thing that I will also mention is that I believe that they've never had this.

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Speaker 5: Kind of defense in the last three or four years.

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Speaker 6: They've never had this kind of quality defense the outfield. If you put together Max Kepler and Wright, Vader and center and Martian left, that's a very very good, one of the best defensive outfields in baseball. And then you start thinking about how well the guys have played, particularly the guy at shortstop, Turner has been outstanding. Harper's been good at first. We know how good start is, even though I had a little yet a little faux pas in that series that rarely will happen, may not ever happen again, and both of them playing better. So the defense and the quality of the defense and the quality of the back end of the bullpen, I think are what gives me confidence that they can, that they can choice the trophy at the end.

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean I have confidence that they can. They can win the World Series. I think there's gonna be twelve teams in the postseason tournament, and any one of them can win it. I think it's really wide open, but I think I think a lot of teams have the talent to do it. It's about who plays well. I know that sounds like crazy and simplistic. Who plays well for three three and a half weeks is gonna win the World Series, and the Phillies are capable of playing very well for three weeks.

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Speaker 2: They have a lot of good pieces.

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Speaker 4: I love your point about the outfield defense, Rubin Zach Wheeler is a big loss. Obviously, I'm concerned about the right handed bat behind Harper, But.

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Speaker 2: That said, they still have a lot of talent. I've seen this team.

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Speaker 4: Get hot for stretches and play really well in all phases of the game, and they are capable of doing that for three three and a half weeks and raising the trophy. In twenty twenty two, they got hot for three weeks and got to the World Series. There's no reason they can't. They have flaws, they have concerns. The offense can disappear and you know, not hit with running, scoring position, rack up the strikeouts.

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Speaker 2: It's in their DNA. We know it's there.

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Speaker 4: If it rears its head at the wrong time, they're going home. But they have the full capability to put something together here and do it. I love the fact that they have Kyle Schwarber. I think he's he's a winner. He's in a little lull right now and that might be the calm before the storm.

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Speaker 2: So we'll see.

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Speaker 4: So, you know, I don't like I said, no slam dunk World Series winner in this year's tournament, and they're fully capable of Todd.

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Speaker 2: What do you think?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So my base concern is same thing, the hot and cold offense. We've seen it. They score ten runs one game, nineteen hits, and then they score four runs over the next three games. We've seen it happen in the postseason. We see it happen in the regular season. So that's number one. That's that's a big concern, losing Zach Wheeler. We spent Thursday, most of Thursday talking about who's do they have a right handed starter that's gonna pitch in this postseason? If not, do they, how are they going to handle that? That to me is a concern. But here's why I think that they can make the World Series. Here's why I think they can win the World Series. And Jim you mentioned this, it's a wide open race. The Dodgers. They just got swept by the Pirates. They just got swept by the Pirates. You know what the Dodgers record is since July third, They're twenty two and thirty. That's the third worst record in the National League since July third. The Mets, after they swept the Phillies, lost.

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Speaker 2: Three of four to the Marlins.

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Speaker 3: Now the Phillies are playing the Marlins this weekend. The Mets are thirteen and twenty one since July twenty seventh. That's the third worst record in the NL natspan. The Cubs are a five hundred team since July nineteenth. The Padres just got swept by the Orioles. They're seven and twelve since August thirteenth, and since the Brewers won thirteen in a row. They just lost two to three to the Phillies at home. Since the Brewers won thirteen in a row, they're eight and eleven. So that's my way of saying, every team has flaws. So yes, the Phillies hot and cold offense big considering going to the playoffs, you don't know what you're gonna get. They could gay it could get knocked out in the wild card series that they finished with the third seed. That I mean, I could very easily see that happen. I could see them getting swept in the division series. But I could also see the Dodgers getting swept in the division series. The Brewers, you know, crapping to bed and getting knocked out in the division series, the met the Cubs, the Padres. Every single one of these teams has serious flaws. We don't see them every day, so we don't notice them. We don't talk about it. But I can tell you that Dodgers fans are worried about their team. Padres Cubs Brewers. Every team has concerns. Look at those records that I just mentioned, and that's why I think the Phillies can go on a deep run because they're talented, they got a good they got a good offense, they got a good rotation, even with that Wheeler, They've got a good bullpend, they've got a good defense. But like Jim said, they just have to play well. So there you go.

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Speaker 6: There's no and lest we forget, you know, history does repeat itself. Last year Jim talked about very adroitly talked about the fact that the Phillies from like I don't know, June fifteenth on were just a five hundred team, and it reared its head in the playoffs.

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Speaker 5: They played like a five hundred team.

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Speaker 6: They just did not play well enough to advance and they got beat up by the Mets.

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Speaker 5: So you just never know.

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Speaker 6: Now the tea a couple of years before that they had gotten hot, and so they got an opportunity to get a little longer into the the playoffs.

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Speaker 5: Because they were playing hot baseball.

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Speaker 6: It's about who's hot and who's playing the best baseball at the time, and there's no super teams.

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00:11:28
Speaker 3: Fo u L. All right, we're back. Kevin Demico on X asked a question kind of a postseason related and it is this, do you think the Phillies offense has made meaningful changes to their approach from last year? They're on base, percentage of slugging, percentage of strike out right are almost identical to twenty twenty four. Watching them swing and miss against Jose Kintana, I guess that was what Wednesday in Milwaukee. Has me has been feeling a certain way, or has me feeling a certain way? That's from Kevin to Meek basically. I think he's kind of talking about that in there. It's in their DNA. Jim the hot and cold aspect of this team. Do you see do you guys see any improvements? You see a different offense going heading toward October than last year.

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Speaker 4: Quintana does that to the Phillies. Man, he can get you out off the plate. He knows the Phillies inside out from sign with the Mets and and in the National League for years. He's really really good at getting guys to expand their zone.

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Speaker 2: And Chase.

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Speaker 4: Uh so I feel I feel you, I get scared every time I see them facing him because I know he can exploit their their weekends. It's still there, the chase is still there, but I do think it's been reeled in a little bit, at least with with as I look at it, kind of with the naked eye. I think Tray Turner has made great improvements. We talked about this last week how he's proven to be very coachable offensively and defensively. But offensively, I mean they sat him down, they said, hey, we want you to make significant changes.

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Speaker 2: And I feel like he has made those changes.

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Speaker 4: So then maybe the numbers aren't aren't showing it. But with the naked eye, I feel like they are have gotten a little more selective and and and and maybe have eliminated some of the droughts.

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Speaker 2: And I think if they get on uh you know, a.

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Speaker 4: Stretch where they're where they're bringing the ball over the plate and having good at bats, they can be a formidable team. But if they start stretching that strike zone, they're not going to. I mean, I think the fact that we're seeing that platoon now on the outfield and Castanas is getting fewer at bats. I mean that's probably gonna impact it a little bit and and lead to some improvements. So, you know, I look at the job Kevin Long's done with JT had a great run and with with Trey and and Stots made a good adjustment.

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Speaker 2: I see improvement on the offense. I really do. Rubin.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, So I think this team has gone through some phases, and here's the phase. So in the early part of the season, one of the things they were making a considered effort to stay on the plate right and make better swing decisions. As a result, we had a little bit of a suffering of the power. Remember there was no slug in the early part of the season. Well I started I think they started to say, make that adjustment to the point where, okay, now we feel comfortable with that with that phase of things, let's start opening up and let's start swinging the bats.

00:14:17
Speaker 5: Let's be a little bit more athletic in the box. And they have done that.

00:14:21
Speaker 6: Now the numbers as far as their selectivity have gone down a little bit, but their power numbers and their slug numbers uh Marsh Stott, uh JT all types of guys have has increased dramatically, and so I think that there's a phase of that's happening. And I honestly, in a lot of ways, if you're an optimist, you think by the time they get to September and October, they're gonna have it all together. Right, They'll pull it. We'll pull it all together. Now, they're gonna be streaky. They're go continue to be a little bit streaky. That's the type of team they are. But I think that the streaks themselves have have have lessened a little bit.

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Speaker 5: And I do believe that I see a lot of them.

00:15:00
Speaker 6: I mean I see improvement on Kepler, I see improvement on Marsh obviously, I see improvement on Stott. Now the guy that the two guys that I feel need to step forward are Harper, who has not really been all that great this year. He's been sort of okay. He hasn't had like the protection. I think that's part of it that he's had in the past. I think that's a big part of it. Now Schober has that protection from Harper, and it was a foot flop last year a little bit. But and and Boehm has to sort of come around. You see him getting dropped down in the lineup a little bit. He has not been himself and so I think you need some improvements with those two guys. But I do see these phases happening in a way that's positive, and that that that gives me some hope that at the end of the day, some of the adjustments they made early and some of the adjustments they made late as far as the slug is concerned, are putting in a really good position as they get closer and close through the playoffs.

00:15:59
Speaker 3: They are trending in the right direction. So, Jim, I think you mentioned how they started out hot last year and then they kind of played like a five hundred club down the start.

00:16:09
Speaker 4: Over the final I'm sorry interrupted over the final one hundred and two games last year, including the Mets series in October, the final one hundred and two games, there were exactly a five hundred team, like fifty one to fifty one.

00:16:21
Speaker 3: Right, So, the the numbers right now match up in terms of on base percentage slimmer similar. Slugging percentage is slimmer similar unless you look at what their numbers are since the All Star breaks. So right now, the Phillies since the All Star break averaging five point two three runs per game last year after the All Star break four point six to five. They're on base percentage this season after the All Star break is ten points higher than it was last year after the All Star Break. Their slugging percentage is man, I gotta do math forty four points higher than it was after the All Star break last year. So it is a team again.

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:16:59
Speaker 3: Maybe they can knocked out in three games and nlds. I don't know, but they are trending in the right direction and they are playing better in the second half this year offensively than they were in the second half last year. Offensively, when you.

00:17:13
Speaker 4: When your slug goes up, you're it's connected to your pitch selection because you're pounding the pitches that you should be, the pitches that are over the plate. So I I do see signs of hope, you know, signs of improvement.

00:17:30
Speaker 3: Donald C fifty eight on X says, can the Phillies get away with a three man rotation? Phillies fans seventy five on Blue Sky says Aaron Nola or Taiwan Walker on the postseason roster. Hayfield Baseball on Instagram says who's the fourth starter come October, uh coach Waco on X, is there any way we can allow Aaron Nola to start a postseason game at this point, lots of rotation question so I thought i'd throw them all out there and whatever you guys want to jump in and address the lots of concerns about the rotation.

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Speaker 5: So let me get into this a little bit.

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Speaker 6: So I do believe, in my heart of hearts that Aaron Nola will figure it out. I do believe this, and I do believe this because he's a veteran. I know he struggled with that early part of the game where he's getting beat up, and that's that can be really detrimental. But I do believe that he is going to figure it out to the point where he's going to be able to be part of this rotation. And I know that the fans probably are really nervous about that and should be, because he's had his worst season he's ever had in the big leagues right now, and there's a lot of talk about, you know, him not being the same picture from now until the end of his contract, and that may be true, but I do believe that he's going to figure it out.

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Speaker 5: I like the way that he pitched.

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Speaker 6: After the first couple of innings of his last couple of starts, his stuff was very Aaron Nola esque. You focus on the crappy innings obviously, because it knocked him out of those angel could have in the one case they scored nineteen runs and bailed them out. But the other case, you know, obviously with the Brewers who bet a better ball club they got, they ended up, you know, getting beat up six to three. But after those tough that tough inning, he actually ended up pitching pretty darn well. He has to get command of his basketball. His command of his fastball is sort of the bread and butter. If you don't have it, if you're Aaron Nola, you're screwed. And you know, if he can get that back, and I do think he can figure it out to the point where he is going to be ready to take the baseball when it's time to take the baseball. Now, is he gonna be the.

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Speaker 5: First or second starter.

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Speaker 6: No, is he gonna be the third or fourth probably, And that's where I think he's gonna land.

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Speaker 5: And I do think he's gonna figure it out.

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Speaker 6: I just I have the optimism based on the person he is, based on the pride that he has, and based on the fact that his stuff has upticked a little bit as far as his velocities and stuff are concerned.

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Speaker 5: I think he's gonna figure it out. Uh.

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Speaker 6: Maybe I'm being way too optimistic or clueless, but the reality of it is that that I believe in the man, and I believe in the fact that he's gonna somehow figure it out.

00:20:12
Speaker 3: That'd be huge, that would be absolutely huge. So red Ja eight eight eight on Instagram. With the uncertainty of Aaron Nola it's got five years left in that deal, with the uncertainty of Zach Wheeler, with Andrew Painter not making that julyish promotion, does signing Ranger become a possibility? Ranger swore has become a possibility. In the offseason. At the very beginning of the season, we ranked the three guys and we all agreed, no shot Ranger comes back. They're gonna let him walk. They can't afford all these guys. They've got all these guys locked up for long term deals. There's no way a Ranger comes back. Qualifying offer I think is a no brainer. That's gonna happen. You're gonna give him a qualifying offer, so at least you get a draft pick or two back. But what do you think, guys, you got some you got I mean, you don't know if what Nola is going to be like. You don't know if Zach Wheeler is going to bounce back. You let Ranger walk, and now you're sitting there going, all right, you've got Lozardo Sanchez, it'll be.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure the conversation on the executive level of the ballpark has changed a little bit in light of Wheeler's injury and light of Nola's struggles, the fact that Painter's a young guy. He'll probably have you know, he'll be here, but he's gonna have a growing Painter too.

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Speaker 2: They all do on the way up.

00:21:32
Speaker 4: But even with the conversation changing, I just feel like he's probably going to be a budget cut because you have Schwar to deal with and you don't have you need to address behind the plate. Maybe real Mudo's back. I think this is pretty good chance he is back. So and you couple that all that with as good as Ranger has pitched lately, and he's a joy.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: To watch, he's when he's on you know there are those questions about.

00:22:04
Speaker 4: The track record and the and the durability that I think you have to weigh over a long term deal.

00:22:10
Speaker 2: In a perfect way, he take that.

00:22:13
Speaker 4: That qualifying offer, but I think there's going to be a nice payday for him out there. So I think it has changed the conversation. But at the end, I would think he'd probably be in a different uniform next year.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: But we'll see.

00:22:28
Speaker 5: I think so, I don't so. So here's where I'm at on Ranger Suarez.

00:22:32
Speaker 6: There's like two left handed starters who are going to be free agents next year. One was Franbur Valdez, who's now screwed himself by what he did in Houston to his catcher, so he's put himself in a tough position.

00:22:45
Speaker 5: And Ranger Suarez and.

00:22:47
Speaker 6: Those two guys are probably the two best left handers that are available for a free agency. And if someone wants to go get either one of these guys, they're gonna probably have to pay handsomely. You're talking about a five or six deal. I would not do that for Ranger. If you can get him on a deal that's like a three year deal or something like that, that's a quality deal. In the thirties, three years, thirty million dollars a year, something like that, which is a ton of money. But that's what these guys are getting these days. I mean I would consider doing that. Anything longer than that, I would not because of the because of the track record, Jim and I think that, you know, they're gonna have to think about other ways just to uh to figure it out, figure out that rotation and hope that guys like Painter will step up and maybe somebody else that they might target later on.

00:23:36
Speaker 5: So that's where I'm at on that.

00:23:38
Speaker 6: I think the priority is still as Schwarber and JT ahead of Ranger Suarez right now unless they can get record Ranger in a shorter deal, and I don't think that's gonna happen with us.

00:23:50
Speaker 2: Todd.

00:23:50
Speaker 4: Let just to kind of backtrack a teeny bit, uh, these rotation questions are really good.

00:23:56
Speaker 2: They would only need a three man rota in the NLDS. They would only need the DS, which would which would be their first round they would get the buy.

00:24:07
Speaker 4: Their first round is the DS and they only need three correct So as we sit here today, I got to think it's.

00:24:14
Speaker 2: The three left handers.

00:24:15
Speaker 4: But if Nola, as Reuben said, you know, continues to shows something down the stretch, maybe they alter. They would not need that fourth until the nl c S if they get there, and that's when you really have to make the I would think that Nola or the Lozardo decision. I think you're gonna go Sanchez Ranger one two.

00:24:36
Speaker 2: Would you guys agree with that?

00:24:38
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:24:38
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:24:39
Speaker 3: And also I mean you would need a force if the Phillies, of course, they finish as a three seed and they have to play the Wildcard series and it goes three games, then you might need then you might need that fourth starter, you know. So you could technically need that fourth starter in nl d S if they don't get the first round by. But why the by is huge, right, That's why the buye is huge. You advance or round and you get to keep her three minute, huge, huge, three three man rotation in the n l d S.

00:25:08
Speaker 2: If I could, I want to ask Rubin something really quick.

00:25:10
Speaker 4: You think the fromer Valdez incident the other night, which was awful, a terrible teammate behavior, but you think that's going to impact his free agency? I just think I just think somebody's gonna say it. Was a you know, it happened once. It was an isolated incident. He'll deal with it in the press conference. Here's your big here's your big contract.

00:25:30
Speaker 6: Well, I'm not there in spread rumors, but anytime a person does something like that tip of the iceberg, I think it's a tip of the iceberg. Okay, ways, my understanding is that, uh, he may not be the best actor in that clubhouse.

00:25:44
Speaker 5: So h you know, I don't know now listen.

00:25:48
Speaker 6: I mean, ultimately it's about performance, right, but you do need to have quality teammates.

00:25:52
Speaker 5: And if you don't have respect to your teammates.

00:25:56
Speaker 3: It'll be interesting.

00:25:56
Speaker 5: Let's just put it this way. It's made it very interesting to see how it's gonna all play out.

00:26:01
Speaker 3: Rubin the Eagles. They beat the Cowboys in the series open on Thursday at twenty four to twenty we I asked you for your hot Hot Eagles take on Thursday's show, and wouldn't you know it?

00:26:14
Speaker 5: You hit.

00:26:15
Speaker 3: You said the Cowboys would the Eagles would win, but the Cowboys would cover. They would cover.

00:26:20
Speaker 2: Nailed it.

00:26:21
Speaker 5: Great time to talk about that's right. If you want to do some betting, I mean I should probably start my own show. But you know, I'm not that expert, but you know I was nailed it.

00:26:31
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00:27:24
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00:27:27
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00:27:37
Speaker 3: So this next question is from Gardner's Z forty five on Instagram. And I'll answer this one really quickly because I got the answer. Look, I had the benefit of seeing these questions in advance, So I'll just answer this and we'll move on to the next one. You think the ten million dollar mutual option for Harrison Bader will be picked up? I look this up. There were thirty There were thirty four mutual options Jim in the last off seasons. Not a single one was exercised. So either the team or the player reject of the mutual option. So unless Harrison Bader and the Phillies want to break that trend, that three year trend, I would say that Harrison Bader will be a free agent after this season. And that leads us into several questions about what Rob Thompson is doing with the lineup. Would you still run the left field and second base platoon in the playoffs or ot for the best defensive lineman every game? That's from c tswe on Blue Sky. You can throw it in the right hand right field platoon as well, Todd.

00:28:40
Speaker 4: Would you would you if you were the Phillies, you guys, would you pick up the the the Phillies and to the Harrison Bader ten million.

00:28:49
Speaker 3: I would I would do. I would too, I would because ten and a half million is I don't want to say a steal or a bargain, but for the defense, and he gives you. You know, you don't know. If you don't know, who's gonna be playing right field next year. Max Kepler's a free agent. Nick Castianis might not be back. I think that's fair to say. They've they've looked to move him the past two off seasons, So you might.

00:29:16
Speaker 2: Would I would.

00:29:17
Speaker 4: If I was the Phillies, I'd be I'd be open to my half of it. But maybe he wouldn't be right, right, he want a multi year, right, Yeah, I would think he would want a multi year that's usually right.

00:29:26
Speaker 6: I mean you would think that he depends on how a lot of depends on how he finishes and how he plays in the playoffs. If he plays well in the playoffs and he's good, obviously he's gone that.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:29:36
Speaker 5: If he has a bit, yeah, yeah, I would certainly consider it.

00:29:39
Speaker 6: I mean, there's nothing to lose ten million dollars in the stand age in this day and age's pocket change, right.

00:29:46
Speaker 3: Right, Exactly would you guys do you guys like and this is a eighteen eighty three Philly on X. What does a legitimate reason Justin Crawford never get called up. I get the platoon of Marsh Wilson has been good, but the Castiano's keplip of two is seriously lacking. For a team that is so inconsistent on offense, why not give the kid a shot? But I do want to say before you guys jump in the right field platoon, at least on the Max Kepler side, has been very good recently. I mean Max Kepler in his last fifteen starts is batting two ninety one, four doubles, three homers, nine RBIs a five to twenty seven slug. You know, he's been very very good.

00:30:27
Speaker 2: Don't forget the the defense he brings us big has.

00:30:30
Speaker 3: Been very very good, you know, the Marsh platoon and Weston Wilson in left field. Marsh is hitting three hundred since the start of June. Weston Wilson is a seven to fifty three OPS in the twenty games twenty six games he started, a nine to forty nine OPS in the last eleven games he started. Harrison Bader has been great since the trade deadline. You know, you talk about the platoon at second base at Mundo Sosa has been hitting lefties all season long. Scott has been better, especially against righty. His ops is almost a thousand against righty since August fifth run. I ride these platoons second base, left field, right field, I run them all the way through.

00:31:15
Speaker 5: Agree, Well, so here's the deal.

00:31:19
Speaker 6: This Does this remind you a little in nineteen ninety three, my friends, this is exactly the same platoon left field, right field and second base, Mariotto, Duncan and Mickey Morendini at second base.

00:31:32
Speaker 5: In left field it was Inky and Milky and Milt Thompson.

00:31:38
Speaker 6: In right field is eisen Reich in West Chamberlain And I was sprinkled in a little bit, you know, in a couple of different situations when some boys were hurt. But I will tell you that that works, and it is working, and it's working and it's not broke. Don't fix it, and so I would be really happy with that. I think it depends on some of the matchups left these righties like that. But I got to believe that at the end of the day, if this just continues to work through September, and I think that that's this is going to be employed.

00:32:08
Speaker 5: I do believe that you should just stay right with it. Why not.

00:32:12
Speaker 6: It's not about hurting people's feelings, baby, it's about winning baseball games.

00:32:17
Speaker 3: And Casti has not been good, uh for for a while now, but you need him to get going, so he's going to continue to play. You know, you hope that he gets hot. He is insanely streaky. He goes to these he goes through these stretches where he is like one of the worst offensive producers in baseball. He's been like that before, and then he'll get crazy, crazy hot. So you hope right now he's going through this dreadful streak and then maybe in a couple of weeks he gets hot and he can carry that through and you have the kepler castianis thing going on right, and also in your offense looks a.

00:32:50
Speaker 2: Lot better, So no doubt that's what you can see coming.

00:32:55
Speaker 6: The other thing is that Brandon marsh does a good job off the bench. I mean, he's been chip numbers are stupid. I mean, that's a hard thing to do. So if you start Wilson and left and you have a tough right end right and come in, you throw marsh in there, let him whack away and then take.

00:33:10
Speaker 5: Put them out there to the left field. Simple sounds simple.

00:33:15
Speaker 3: So Tom Tom Robson on Blue Sky says, question for Ruben from a GM perspective, what would you be doing this time of the year. There's not really any more moves to be made before the postseason, but there's still a month to play. Where would your focus be right now? So obviously there's no waiver trade deadline anymore, so, but it is September fifth. What are you doing, Ruben? Are you just uh he kicked up on the desk back, you know.

00:33:39
Speaker 5: Having a cigar, having a cigar, having a bourbon and just watching baseball? That's it? No, I mean, obviously you're assessing every single minute, like what you were going to do in the playoffs.

00:33:52
Speaker 6: You are preparing, you know, you get your scouts out there to see all the teams that are potential playoff teams.

00:34:00
Speaker 5: You're coordinating some of that and making sure that's happening.

00:34:04
Speaker 6: You're keeping an eye on potential free agents for next year, potential trade targets.

00:34:10
Speaker 5: The job never ends, I will assure you.

00:34:13
Speaker 6: I think that when you at the end of the day, the game is like sort of the relaxing time where you just sit there and relax. I didn't relax during the games, but that's sort of the entertainment of your job because you can't do anything about the games. You can't impact the games right now, You can't impact the roster a whole lot unless there's unless there's guys hurt or what have you. But you're just observing the games, and you know, preparing for next year and the following year, and you're putting yourself in a position to prepare for the playoffs as well.

00:34:40
Speaker 4: So real quick, once the trade deadline comes, you got your army of pro scouts. They're out there preparing for the trade deadline. Trade deadline comes and goes. Now are they They're focused on next year for this winter's free Asian class, right, and then some of.

00:34:57
Speaker 6: Them are some of them are are are are locking into that, but others are actually starting to be deployed for the playoffs.

00:35:07
Speaker 5: We have two or three advanced guys.

00:35:09
Speaker 6: Two or three of those guys are maybe three on a team if it's if it's a real important team and you don't feel good about maybe it's usually just two a pitch guy who's focuses on pitching a guy who focuses on on the offense.

00:35:22
Speaker 5: You might have three in certain situations.

00:35:24
Speaker 6: But yeah, you're getting out there and getting as much information as you possibly can on the on the clubs that you will possibly face, and you're getting your best scouts on the teams that you know you're going to be facing or you have much better chance of facing. And uh, I mean you're trying to find out what size underwear these guys were. You want to find basically everything there needs to be found out about something a guy at tips, or a guy does something in the batter's box, or.

00:35:51
Speaker 5: There's something that they do that you can take advantage of. And it's not just by video.

00:35:56
Speaker 6: It's also by watching the games and noticing what the manager does and the tendencies and all those sorts of things. There's so many intricate, intricate pieces that are associated with doing this because the one play, the one play and the one piece of information that you can get may when you eat world series. It could be the slightest of things, but it may win you a World Series. And that's why these guys are super.

00:36:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, the classic advanced scouting for the postseason story is the Kirk Gibson home run off of Eckersley, the uh, the Dodger scout, I think it was that was it, Bob Diddier? He said, when Accersley gets I think it was a certain count. I think it was three to one. He tries to back me. Yeah, big famous scout. And when Accursy gets to that count, I think it was three to one.

00:36:53
Speaker 2: I'd have to go back and look.

00:36:54
Speaker 4: But he tries to backdoor that slider, and Gibson talks about he could hear Diddyer's voice in his head, and here it comes the backward slider and boom. And there was another great story about the ninety three World Series against the Phillies and the Jays. When Ricky was on second base, driving Mitch crazy. Mitch would slidestep and and throw a certain pitch and that helped Carter a little bit. I think Gordon Laky was the Jay's advanced guy then, so interesting stuff.

00:37:28
Speaker 3: Oh that's interesting.

00:37:31
Speaker 2: Well, then he came over.

00:37:33
Speaker 4: I remember talking to Wade forever. Yeah, I remember talking to Gordon about that. I'd have to go back and refresh my memory, but that stuff is really interesting. I'd hate to see that stuff go away because everybody relies on video now.

00:37:48
Speaker 5: It's uh, it's great stuff, really good and important.

00:37:52
Speaker 3: We'll wrap up with a couple off the beaten path. Questions are Red Mustang on YouTube wants to know if you guys were able to have a walk up song, what would you pick?

00:38:06
Speaker 2: I had one? Yeah, what was it?

00:38:08
Speaker 5: I was you two one?

00:38:10
Speaker 2: There?

00:38:11
Speaker 5: You two one?

00:38:13
Speaker 2: Interesting?

00:38:14
Speaker 5: I don't know what.

00:38:15
Speaker 6: I had a great rift, had a great rift in the beginning, and as I walked up only briefly, only briefly, because that was just when they were starting doing some of that stuff.

00:38:25
Speaker 5: It was like what ninety seven, ninety six, ninety eight, something like that.

00:38:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. I used to love one, uh.

00:38:32
Speaker 3: Good one.

00:38:33
Speaker 4: Scott Rowland was where the streets have no name by you two. I used to love watching al Lighter when he was with the Mets. He'd warm up to Rosalita. I thought that was great because he was from the Jersey Shore area. I don't know what I would use.

00:38:49
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe a little maybe a little zeazy top rough boy you got.

00:38:56
Speaker 3: I don't know, you know, I don't know what I would pick. It's funny. My my my son is playing fall baseball. Just it's like Savannah Banana style baseball, and it's very you know, it's just like just to kind of keep the kids out there and active and having fun. It's really grilled towards fun and not just like you know. And they asked him to pick out his song, and he picked out He goes, oh, Ain't No Love in Oklahoma by Luke Combs right away, wow, because we saw the movie Twisters and he loved that song. And then there was a stretch where he would just play that in the song that played that song in the car all the time. He's like, I want eight and no Love by in Oklahoma.

00:39:35
Speaker 2: Like okay, So.

00:39:36
Speaker 3: There you go. The Anthony Zorzi on X the broadcasters through the years have referenced friendly wagers on the sausage race during the annual Milwaukee trip. Any interesting wagers or traditions amongst the beat writers in different cities.

00:39:52
Speaker 2: Boy, yeah, we used to do that, the prop bets to open the season.

00:40:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, we would do like prop bets in the past, like you know, over under home runs for Bryce Harper. You know, how many when does so and so make his major league debut?

00:40:10
Speaker 5: But so and so go on the I L.

00:40:13
Speaker 2: And so and so called up things like that.

00:40:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, how many wins, how many you know, how many how many strikeouts does so and so have you know, So we would have some fun with that. And then back in the day there was the no hit pool. Jimmy, remember that. Somebody would have a backup card.

00:40:30
Speaker 2: There are certain cities.

00:40:31
Speaker 4: You go to Cincinnati, there was a guy in Cincinnati who would always be in charge with the no hit pool, and I swear he would do it in the bottom of the first inning if the guy had a one, two, three.

00:40:40
Speaker 2: I mean a little too.

00:40:40
Speaker 4: Early, but yeah, everybody throws five bucks and you pick a number and a lot. I haven't seen the no hit pool in a long time.

00:40:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, that kind of died They kind of died off. So, yeah, you would have a deck of cards or you know, ten cards or whatever, and if you pulled out the jack or the joker, you had the pitcher. So you would win up the picture through the no hitter. If you grab the eight card, the eight hole hitter was your guy. And back in the day, if you grab the ninth, the nine card, you were screwed because you were you had drafted the pit the Phillies pitcher or the up opposing pitcher to break up the no hitter, and that you know, that almost never happened, so that those were a couple for sure.

00:41:16
Speaker 6: There was a.

00:41:18
Speaker 4: There was a year I won't expound, but there was a year when a writer actually ran in the sausage range and the Phillies dugout found out that certain writer was in the costume and they when he ran by the dugout, they doused him.

00:41:33
Speaker 2: They go, it was not me, that was yeah, that was not you, Jim.

00:41:41
Speaker 3: You didn't want to pull a Hammy. Kevin McConville on Instagram says what kind of tomatoes is Jim growing? And he wants to know any fall crops planned for the year.

00:41:52
Speaker 4: Uh, you know, Mike, peppers go right up into Halloween, so and like my pole beans right up to Halloween. But yeah, I don't really do like it's like sometimes the cool weather stuff. I do most of that early, like lettuce and stuff. But you know, some of my butternut squash will go right into the fall. They're really starting to pop now. And my tomatoes are very basic. I do some San Marzano's and I do.

00:42:21
Speaker 2: I do big boys, I do better boys.

00:42:23
Speaker 4: I do beef steak, and I do a lot of cherries, some red, some yellow, all all the basics basically.

00:42:34
Speaker 5: And then, uh, Jim, I thinking, I love on your butternuts. I love on butternuts pop.

00:42:39
Speaker 2: Nothing like a good, good butternut pop. You know what.

00:42:45
Speaker 3: We'll end there, We'll end there. That's a great that's a great way to end the show. Uh, Phillies play the Marlins this weekend. As you can see, Ruben's got a nice little trapical background going.

00:42:57
Speaker 5: I like it.

00:42:57
Speaker 2: No golf, Reuben today.

00:43:00
Speaker 5: Nah, I shut it down, shut it down, I shut it down.

00:43:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're shutting. We're gonna shut it down now and we will be back next week.

00:43:11
Speaker 2: Smell your lated, boys, Jim.

00:43:15
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.