Chasing Chase Rate

00:00:14
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome back to The Phillies Show with Ruben Tomorrow Junior Jim Salisbury. I am todd z A lucky It is Thursday, April eleventh, twenty twenty four. Guys, how are you doing well? Double Buenos? This is fantastic Philly. Philly's had a nice little road trip. They go four and two, They win two out of three in d C, they win two out of three in Saint Luis. Some good starting pitching, some timely hitting, not a lot of timely hitting. But what kind of jumped out at you?

00:00:50
Speaker 2: Guys?

00:00:51
Speaker 1: Do you think about this road trip.

00:00:53
Speaker 3: When series win series that jumped out at me win series?

00:00:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, you win two out of three the rest of the way, going to sell some records.

00:01:00
Speaker 2: Very succinct, Jen, very succinct.

00:01:02
Speaker 3: I'm striving to be succinct today.

00:01:04
Speaker 2: You don't want you don't want to be You don't want to elaborate. I'll elaborate.

00:01:09
Speaker 3: You know, Uh, got some good starts, Spencer Turnbull, nice job in that five spot, continues to be uh A nice little story here. Uh, and they're gonna need that. And you know, I think the last two days and you know, the offense is kind of doing just enough to be six and six. It's not you know, caught fire yet. I mean one of the things that jumped out on me in the last few days is, you know, sixteen singles. I think it was no extra base hits the last two days in Saint Louis, which is fine. I mean, it takes all different ways, but this is the lineup that has built the slog. I think the three game series they were twenty six hits, only three extra base extra base hits. Not a arming at all, but interesting, not alarming, because I do think the slug will come, and it's probably reasons why it is not there that some of them that I believe Todd articulated in a story on MLB dot com. But you know, six and six, twelve games in, I'm fine with it. No panic here, boys, no panic.

00:02:27
Speaker 1: So let's let's actually jump into this because I think in Ruben, you know you can jump in right away.

00:02:31
Speaker 2: So I thought.

00:02:32
Speaker 1: There were three very illuminating comments from players and manager this week. Starting Monday night, Joan Rojas had one hit all season. He crushes a double down the left field lines at first step bat one o eight point one off the bat. His hardest hit base hit ever in the big leagues and kind of following up what we were talking about in Monday, guys being tentative on the bases and and Johan Rojas also be tentative. I asked him, I said, do you feel like you've been a little tentative in the box as you've been trying to cut down your chase rate? And he said, I think that I was a little shy at the plate before. Right now, what I can do is be myself now. Tuesday afternoon, we're talking to Nick Castianos, and he said, we asked him how seasons going. He said, it's crappy, but he didn't say crappy. He said, can we say that? Can we say?

00:03:23
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:03:24
Speaker 2: He did say that.

00:03:25
Speaker 1: So he said, what was the worst part about her? What's the you know, the crappiestiest part about it? And he said, I think I that I put too much stress on my chase percentages and wanting so so much to swing at good pitches that I feel like I lost the whippiness and the looseness I had attacking the ball. I feel like I'm not getting my swing off. I'm like, all right, get him in the zone. Get him in the zone. Oh, it's in the zone, and I take a soft swing. And then Rob Thompson basically said the same thing. He says, you know, we players have been hearing a lot about don't chase, don't chase, don't chase. You want to have a balance there. So that to me could be why this team is not slugging.

00:04:04
Speaker 4: No.

00:04:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, So here's here's my take on this thing.

00:04:07
Speaker 5: I see an indecisiveness of some guys, and I think that's the reason, because everybody's focusing on the swing decisions that we talked about a little bit before, like whether they're going to swinging a strike or swinging a.

00:04:17
Speaker 2: Pitch in the zone.

00:04:19
Speaker 5: And I do think that there's you know, you do your work and you get your work done, and I think k Long was talking about this a little bit. You get your work done in the cage, and you know, pregame and do whatever you gotta do. But when it comes time.

00:04:37
Speaker 6: To hit against a guy who's throwing a ninety four mile an hour cutter and a ninety nine mile an hour fastball and an eighty six mile an hour hook, you better just be concentrated on hitting the baseball and let your work sort of happen naturally and be athletic in the box.

00:04:54
Speaker 5: And I think if I see some guys not doing that just because, and I think it's casting and Johann Rojas in the early part of the season, but.

00:05:04
Speaker 4: I think there's more than just those guys who are sort of in between right now, a lot of in between.

00:05:10
Speaker 2: Even Harper's a little in between.

00:05:12
Speaker 7: I mean, Harper is not really other than a three home run day. Harper's not you know, he's not himself yet now. I think the reasons why he's not himself for a little different. I think the reason why he's not himself and we can go off on a Tangentlell go off on Tangentiera is because he's.

00:05:28
Speaker 2: Playing first base and it's a whole different deal being at first.

00:05:31
Speaker 5: Baseman every day, not dhing got another DH and Kyle Schwarber that I think that's a totally different deal and adjusting to that. But I think the guys just it's like a golfer, right if you start thinking about your swing and you're in competition, you better not be You better be athletic in the box, man, You better be athletic and just let your you got to let the work that you did, you know, happen and I don't see that happen name very consistently with a lot of guys in the lineup, not just Casti and Johann.

00:06:07
Speaker 2: But it'll get better.

00:06:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, when we talked about this a couple episodes ago, the difference between a swing decision and a pure natural reaction. You want a pure natural reaction because if you're thinking too much, think long, think wrong, and it happens in all sports. Those comments Todd in your story, Matt Gelb's story, they really jumped out at me. Rob Thompson, Castianos Rojas, I just suggested that, you know, guys were thinking too much about the chase and it almost becomes paralysis by analysis, very defensive swing and you know, not yourself, and I don't know how. It's kind of only human though, when you consider this. They would bounce from the postseason because they chased a lot of pitches last season. It was talked about all off season. It was almost like the way the Eagles collapse is being talked about now and dissect it and it won't go away. Well, the Phillies collapse and the reasons for it didn't go away all winter and everybody talked about you. They stop chase and pitches. They gotta be more selective. It can't be so much free swinging. They heard it was on their mind. They got to spring training, and oh what happened. We've added two hitting coaches. Now we're up to three. So you've got three hitting coaches. Everybody's in each other's ear. How can you not think about it? How can you not think about it? You know? I just think it's another example, And I'm all for all the coaching and instruction and information you can get, but you can't over engineer the athlete. You got to let him be natural. And I mean, some guys want all that information and can process it and still be natural. But I think a few years ago on the mound, Aaron Nola there was a lot of information floating around his head and he was having trouble executing. He was more, you know, kind of just let natural take over. Stanos appears to be that guy, so I do, and Robi Thompson alluded to it. Just it's so much talk about it is bombarding them and and paralyzing them a little bit, and just you know, in terms of paralysis by analysis and just not not firing at the ball, not swinging at the ball like and I honestly think it's all going to mitigate and come together at some point and they'll get that balance between. Okay, since since synthesized the information, Sorry, I first streed with the new tongue, and you know, and then the natural.

00:08:34
Speaker 2: Well, you're a writer, you're not a speaker. I mean I'm not speaking. We know that. Yeah, now I think I think I think you make great, great points. Uh, no question about it.

00:08:46
Speaker 5: There is probably in in this day and age, a little too much information.

00:08:50
Speaker 2: Uh. There's a balance between being John Kruck and what rolling out of bed and take getting a.

00:08:55
Speaker 5: Knock and not knowing the picture but not really caring because you can adjust.

00:09:01
Speaker 2: And then there's a JD. Martinez who wants all.

00:09:04
Speaker 5: The information and he processes it all and he understands it.

00:09:08
Speaker 2: And you know, even a guy like the left fielder Albert Bell.

00:09:14
Speaker 5: That I play, I mean he used to write down every very meticulous. There's a balance, and each guy processes information differently, right.

00:09:22
Speaker 4: Everybody's just like you know, a teacher. Teacher has to sometimes you know, the kid's visual.

00:09:29
Speaker 5: Or the kids you know, oral or you know, whatever the case may be, but the people process stuff differently.

00:09:36
Speaker 2: I have a theory that I'm going to talk this.

00:09:39
Speaker 8: Is a.

00:09:40
Speaker 5: This is one of those takes that that may sound a little funky, but I think I think about the segmental psyche a lot. Nick Casianos has hit in the middle of a lineup his entire life, and he made a little bit of a comment about, you know, the protection and where he is in the lineup and getting pitches and thinking about he's sort of like, you know, a little bit of a deep thinker and a little emotional, and which is fine, it's cool. I think that there is something going on in his psyche. I don't know what it is, but the fact that he's hitting in a seventh hole as opposed to.

00:10:22
Speaker 2: Hitting in the four, five, six, three.

00:10:27
Speaker 5: Like for most of his career, I think that that I think that that sort of messes with him a little bit, and I think he is a I mean, you know, one of the things I did notice about him like when he when he's feeling really good and comfortable about himself, he plays much better right when his son's around and his families are near him, and stuff like that I think he plays better. I think I think when he is at peace with himself outside of baseball, I think he plays much much better baseball and has a lot more success. And I'm not sure that I'm not necessarily suggesting he should be moved up. I just think it's just another adjustment that he has he has to make, like, hey, I'm still an important part of this lineup. It's not I'm not in the seventh hole because Rob Thompson doesn't think I'm an important part of the lineup. I'm in the seventh hole because I haven't been as productive as I have been in the past, and there's other guys in this lineup who are productive and can be more productive.

00:11:34
Speaker 2: And that's maybe one of the reasons why.

00:11:36
Speaker 7: Plus Rob Thompson might be wanting to drop him back there to give that back into the lineup a little more punch.

00:11:43
Speaker 2: So that said, that's a little bit of a take that I have. I think it's an adjustment that he's going to have to make.

00:11:49
Speaker 5: Mentally and emotionally, and when he does, hopefully does soon, and he's starting to do it now. I lost I've seen some things over the last couple days where I've seen him start to become a little bit more of himself.

00:12:04
Speaker 2: I think that it's going to really length it out that line.

00:12:08
Speaker 1: It was interesting that he said that, and I can tell you that he was not happy when he did get dropped down. I think it was early early September last season. I think he dropped as far down as eighth in the lineup. Then he hit seventh. He's been in seventh open since opening day. I remember I asked him in spring training about that. I said, you were not happy when he dropped down. He's like, I was not happy. I did not like being dropped down, And he did make that comment. So it is an adjustment. The problem is is, boy, he's really gonna have to start hitting and making better contact to move up in the lineup because Rob talks a lot about how he likes Bom and Real Muto up higher, especially Boom because he makes a lot of contact with runners on base. So I it seems like it's a difficult path now that he's down there. How does he get back up? So you know, he's got to He's got to figure it out.

00:12:57
Speaker 2: Do you either either gets backed up or he just he learns to live bit and love it. Yeah right, Yeah, that's exactly right.

00:13:05
Speaker 3: I mean you talk about lineup balance and having a little bit of thunder down low and bottom third. There are RBIs to pick up in that seven hole. It doesn't have to be an unglamorous spot in the order. But so do you would you consider if you were a skipper, would you consider moving him up into the middle as a way to kickstart him and you know, make him, you know, feel good and ignite some confidence and maybe kickstart him by putting him in in that really meaningful hole in the in the middle of the lineup where he has been comfortable in the past, or do you make him kind of earn it? What's what's the take there.

00:13:38
Speaker 2: It's a great question, and for me it's a it's a super question.

00:13:43
Speaker 5: And I think if he starts hitting the ball a little bit better, I feel like that kind of a move to move him up and to move say JT back out to five or six or something like that would have less of an impact on JT emotionally, because I don't think JT gives a.

00:14:05
Speaker 2: Crap where he hits. And maybe it makes him a little bit better, maybe it makes him feel like he's more, you know, I don't know, more important in the line whatever, Maybe it makes him.

00:14:17
Speaker 5: I don't know the answer because I can't get into people's I don't have a crystal ball one and two.

00:14:22
Speaker 2: I can't get into people's psyche.

00:14:23
Speaker 5: But I do know that if JT got moved back and Nick Guck moved back, I don't think it would affect j T as far as the emotion of it comparatively. Now, you have to have a productive player in there, but you know that productive.

00:14:42
Speaker 2: That player is not.

00:14:42
Speaker 5: Productive, then what's the point we're not about. We're not making we're not making people happy. I wouldn't because he's such a much better hitter. He drives in runs with the he drives and runs. He's the best driving runs with two you know, two outs.

00:15:00
Speaker 2: He's he's he's he drove in ninety seven runs last year or whatever it was. Right, there's a lot of runs.

00:15:08
Speaker 3: Man, he didn't you know Nick drove in one hundred plus?

00:15:11
Speaker 2: Right?

00:15:11
Speaker 1: He did, and and and in that seventh spot, I mean he did basically help carry the phillies past the braves in the NLDS. So it's not like you can't do damage in the seven hole. But I know he does not. Oh yeah yeah, So I mean, I don't know if there's an acceptance that's ever gonna come with him, or if he's gonna if he's gonna hate that spot forever. But it seems like he has gotten past the obsessing over the chaser part.

00:15:36
Speaker 2: He's just he.

00:15:36
Speaker 1: Seemed like he was over it. You know, he's he's the other day he was. His chas rate last season was forty one percent. The entering Tuesday was thirty four point four.

00:15:47
Speaker 2: Is that good?

00:15:47
Speaker 1: I don't, you know, Like, what's the what's the number that they want him to get to? If they want him to get to that number, that's the thing. And I think he's kind of like kind of over it. He's kind of over it.

00:15:55
Speaker 2: The numbers are overblown. Man to see it and hit it. Seeing hit it if it's.

00:15:59
Speaker 5: A ball, try to take it. If it's not a ball, whack it. I mean, I don't know. Sounds ridiculously simple.

00:16:06
Speaker 3: He's a streaky feel guy. And honestly, one of these days we're gonna be sitting here and we're gonna be talking about him hitting a bunch of two hoppers off the wall. For about a week he's gonna get a no doubt, he's gonna go knots. He's gonna be standing on second base all the time because he's hitting doubles. And you know, it's when he flashes that bath heead you can tell he's really confident. You know, like when he flashes that bath heead, it's out there and the balls boom. He'll get going.

00:16:33
Speaker 2: And he's been killing a hitter for a long time. Dude, he can hit, and he can hit the ball out of the ballpark.

00:16:42
Speaker 1: You can hit two three hit games, he says. It's you know, and everybody's gonna forget about this. Or he had a two hit game that night after we after we talked to him pregame, and he looked over as he goes, should have talked to you guys about my hitting earlier, almost like we jinxed him out of it or something.

00:16:58
Speaker 2: He's a little eighth emotional.

00:17:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's.

00:17:02
Speaker 2: Thinker, Yeah, no doubt, which is okay, Which is okay. I mean that's just who he is. Ruben.

00:17:10
Speaker 3: You're emotional. You cry at a sunset.

00:17:12
Speaker 5: I am very emotional, James, I am a woos no question.

00:17:17
Speaker 2: I cried at finding Nemo dude, with my kids, I am not I am not bashful about it. My friend, that's great.

00:17:27
Speaker 1: That's a good movie.

00:17:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, great movie. That was crying like a baby, I think a baby. Yeah, And they did a sighting on I P on I P because of it. Someone said, oh, yeah, we saw ruben of borrowings.

00:17:42
Speaker 3: That's what that's that's when they used to not like you, w I P.

00:17:46
Speaker 2: Now they like you. That's also, well, they never not like me. They ripped me, but they always sort of like me because I always used to go on there and say, go ahead and rip me.

00:17:57
Speaker 5: You know, how come you're not ripping me when you do.

00:18:01
Speaker 3: Have in addition to being emotional, you do have very very thick skin.

00:18:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, it comes with the territory, dude.

00:18:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're on a tangent.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: Let's go back to baseball.

00:18:18
Speaker 1: So I was really impressed.

00:18:19
Speaker 3: I thought.

00:18:20
Speaker 1: What I thought was really fun about yesterday's game was Aaron Nola's performance and just how he pitching in just awful, rainy conditions, just totally dialed gear back everything just to try to be competitive and got got them six innings. Is his Vela was so down early in the game because of the conditions. I was getting text from people not at the game going because of all the UCL stuff saying, oh my gosh, is this and is he about the something badgeting about happened? What were you guys impressed? As impressed as I was with why we kind of geared everything down the shortness stride and just tried to get the ball over the play yesterday. I thought that was pretty cool.

00:18:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was very impressive because I think that's what a good athlete does. He adjusts in the moment, depending on maybe what's working that day. Like let's say it was perfect pitching conditions seventy eight degrees and dry, but maybe something wasn't working something, so you adjust your game plan. He adjusted to the weather and the feel on the mound. He was very smart about it. You don't want to, you know, blow out your push leg or your land leg because the conditions are bad. So it was a smart athlete adjusting to what was in front of him on that given day. I once upon a time I covered David Cohn when I covered the Yankees, and you know, he would talk about I can distinctly remember him after games talking about almost like inventing pitches during the game based on finger positioning and finger pressure and where he was holding the ball and what was feeling good and how it was coming out. And he's like mutating pitches like in a laboratory in real time on the pitcher's mound because he's just so smart. And he was, you know, reading real time feedback that he was getting from hitters and hitters swing and how the ball felt out of his hand and making real time adjustments. And I think, honestly, that's what Aaron Nola did yesterday in the mud. Didn't worry about lighting up any radar guns. He worried about protecting his body, executing strikes, you know, getting some contact, getting some outs. I thought it was a really smart performance by him.

00:20:30
Speaker 2: I can't say enough about it.

00:20:31
Speaker 5: And it also it speaks to so many different things about the game that have changed for the worst.

00:20:39
Speaker 2: And when I see what I saw out.

00:20:42
Speaker 5: Of both of those two guys, both Wheeler and Nola, and I think Nola sort of didn't learn from him, but all he had to do is watch what Wheeler did.

00:20:52
Speaker 4: I mean, he wasn't down a ninety six mile an hour fastball. Wheeler was moving the ball, he was spinning the ball, he's putting where he wanted to. He wasn't dominating with like nasty, nasty, filthy stuff. Still have great movement, got guys off the barrel. He figured out ways to get through. You know however, seven innings, I mean, dude.

00:21:15
Speaker 5: And then Nola comes back and throws you know what, did what he did fantastic and very very very few, if any, young pitchers can do any of this because they have to rely on their stuff. They don't pitch, they have to rely on their stuff. And if they have to rely on their stuff and they don't have it, guess what, they try to throw harder, and then they try to spin it harder. And these guys went the other way, which is brilliant and pitched and got people out. And so for me, that is as good a performance from both those guys when they didn't have their stuff to be able to keep the team in the game and.

00:21:59
Speaker 2: Give them a chance to win a baseball game.

00:22:01
Speaker 3: That was was Nola's approach yesterday, all dictated by the wet grounds, right.

00:22:06
Speaker 4: I think so, because listen, he could not drive, he could not step, he.

00:22:10
Speaker 2: Couldn't do there's so many different things.

00:22:12
Speaker 5: I mean, you can put yourself in danger, not just with your legs, but with your arm if you're trying to you know, you never know what's gonna happen.

00:22:20
Speaker 2: When you're that slipper. Year. Base is so important in in sports. You know, whether you're hitting, whether you're pitching, whether you're you know, shooting a bow and arrow. I mean, your base means everything.

00:22:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, j T was JT was saying that. JT said he saw him slip a couple of times during warm ups while he was throwing it.

00:22:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you a picture blows out his pusch side groin three months more, I don't know, maybe more.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: I mean, look what happened at dock in the playoffs. Yeah, great point San Francisco. I mean we didn't have a stuff.

00:22:59
Speaker 5: He had to try to free out, made a couple of mistakes in the costas. It wasn't because he wasn't trying to. I mean, Doc was being Doc trying to pitch.

00:23:07
Speaker 3: It's so important to your to your push off the rubber you're it grabs you every every pitch. And Clemens had a couple that he had to shut down when he had a growing problem Boom, he was sidelined. It's so important your core and everything. You look at Hoskins, he had a core injury and he just couldn't get through it. He had to have surgery a few years ago. It's boy, thank goodness everything they came out of that game in the mud okay, with a win. That a lot of health.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: That had to be Rob Thomas's biggest concern. I mean every pitch and I was watching from the booth. I got a good angle of it.

00:23:44
Speaker 6: I'm going, you.

00:23:44
Speaker 5: Know, these are bad, bad, bad conditions bad, like.

00:23:49
Speaker 1: It was really puddling up. It reminded me of Game five a little bit, a game World terrible, terrible. Yeah, and you know JT's behind there catching every you take one in the neck the night.

00:24:01
Speaker 3: Before about it.

00:24:03
Speaker 1: What a tough dude.

00:24:05
Speaker 2: He's a stud. I don't care what dude.

00:24:08
Speaker 4: I can get canceled, but the man's a study.

00:24:12
Speaker 1: Well you know what was great about that is you know he is so tough that while he was on the ground grabbing his neck, Garrett Stubbs just sat there and watched because his he had every expectation that JT was going to get up and continue to play.

00:24:25
Speaker 2: Do you remember that?

00:24:27
Speaker 1: And at one point all the infielders are yelling at Stubbs he's coming out, and Stubs is like almost in disbelief that no, no, no, no, he's he's going to keep playing, and they're like, no, no, no, he's actually is going to come out of this game, because he never comes out of a game, never.

00:24:41
Speaker 5: Never, ever, and doesn't want to. And that's what you love about JT.

00:24:46
Speaker 4: Man.

00:24:47
Speaker 2: I mean, I could not believe he was in a lineup.

00:24:51
Speaker 4: I will tell you that ninety every single other player in baseball, none of them would have gone and played the next day.

00:24:58
Speaker 2: That next morning. They would I have done it. They played it basically a morning Think about that for a minute. Twelve fifteen game basically a morning game for these guys. Yeah, back and play the next day.

00:25:10
Speaker 1: I asked he was walking by U yesterday morning. I said, you're gonna wear one of those danglee uh catcher things. He says, Now, Paul Bookeye, the trainer, always tries to get me wear them, and he's like, I would just get too much crap in the clubhous, So I'm not gonna.

00:25:24
Speaker 2: I'm not wearing it. He's a tough son of a bitch man.

00:25:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is that he really is. So the Phillies are opening up a ten game home stand beginning tonight against the Pirates. Got Jared Jones versus Ranger Suarez tonight, old friend, Bailey Falter versus Christopher Sanchez on Friday Night, Marco Gonzalez versus Spencer Turnbull on Saturday, and then Keller versus Wheeler on Sunday Friday.

00:25:55
Speaker 3: I hope Bailey Falter gets a nice ovation, because when I think of Bailey fall I think of the second half of twenty twenty two, after Zach Yefflin I believe, went down. He he filled in a bunch of starts and the team won a bunch of those starts. I think at one point he made like six in a row and the team won all six of him. He got him to the middle innings, did his job. So he did a nice job for a very good team that year.

00:26:24
Speaker 2: Totally agree with you.

00:26:25
Speaker 5: He was like Christopher Sanchez's version of twenty two. I mean, Christopher Chance did the same sort of thing in twenty three, coming in and filling in and doing it.

00:26:35
Speaker 2: I mean he was one of the most consistent guys for a while.

00:26:38
Speaker 4: So was Bailey Falter for maybe a couple of months, and so you got to give him, you gotta give him a little love. Now, at some point the team started to adjust on him and he was struggled to throw strikes.

00:26:47
Speaker 5: But but I mean he contributed, and it takes you know, takes a village.

00:26:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was like remember Vance Worley in twenty eleven, he really stepped up. A fuss went on, right, Kyle Kendrick.

00:27:04
Speaker 2: And Blant and those kind of guys, I mean, you know, contributors. Yeah.

00:27:09
Speaker 3: Important.

00:27:11
Speaker 2: That Pittsburgh team is a good Team's surprising.

00:27:14
Speaker 4: Yeahburgh, they're playing baseball if they stay healthy, they are.

00:27:19
Speaker 3: And then the schedule, my gosh, there's some you know, some red meat on that schedule that coming into Philly after the Pirates. That I mean, you don't want to look ahead, and you never want a short sight or underestimate a major league ball club. They're major league players. But you know, the White Sox a lot of injuries. Rockies aren't really there yet. Kind of a chance to make a little hay no.

00:27:44
Speaker 2: Oh yes, and should listen. Let's let's call what it is.

00:27:49
Speaker 5: The Phildelpia Billies talent wise, maybe not as much with the Pittsburgh Pirates because the Pittsburgh parents have some.

00:27:56
Speaker 2: Talented young players, but they don't have the experience on.

00:28:01
Speaker 5: They're a better club than all these clubs, and they should do some damage against these clubs.

00:28:06
Speaker 2: But this is baseball. They got to play good baseball. One of the concerns I've had about all.

00:28:11
Speaker 5: These expectations is that sometimes, you know, mentally, you start thinking, oh, we're going to They're going to the playoffs.

00:28:17
Speaker 2: They're definitely going to the playoffs. Even before the season started, Oh this is a playoff team. Well, you have to play to be a playoff team. You got to play well enough to be a playoff team.

00:28:27
Speaker 5: And even though they have great veterans, it's a good group. There's something in that psyche. I think that sometimes people go, man, we're.

00:28:37
Speaker 2: Gonna be okay.

00:28:38
Speaker 8: Well, you gotta be okay. Before you're okay, right, you gotta play, and so that that, you know, that's you know, something that people have to be a little lerier.

00:28:51
Speaker 1: Friday n at the debut The City Connects. What do you guys think of those?

00:28:57
Speaker 2: You know what?

00:28:57
Speaker 5: I think the color scheme is actually not bad. I mean, listen, it's not I I didn't really understand the concept until I started to the now understand the concept. The concept is it's a connection to the city, not the team. And so there's no red, there's no maroon, there's no So the color scheme and all that stuff that's based on the city, the love patch, the writing about you know, constitution, you know, the font on it and stuff like that, and the flag, the Philadelphia flag and all that stuff.

00:29:37
Speaker 2: That's the color scheme. I mean, if you look at it in that context context, that's okay. You know, they have the hats are kind of cool. I like the love that.

00:29:45
Speaker 1: I think the hats are very.

00:29:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, and you know, it's just an adjustment in your eyes and your thought process, you know.

00:29:53
Speaker 3: And the color goes back to the blue and gold when the Swedish colonized Philadelphia I think in the sixteen hundreds. Really, yeah, the Swedish folks were here. So in honor of that, I believe Matt Sundan is gonna throw out the first pick.

00:30:13
Speaker 1: This is the second week you mentioned a hockey player on the pod.

00:30:16
Speaker 2: He's a big hockey guy.

00:30:18
Speaker 1: Oh my lord, you.

00:30:19
Speaker 2: Can't take it out of the out of the hockey guy.

00:30:21
Speaker 1: I think people know.

00:30:22
Speaker 5: You can take him out of New England, but you can't take the New England out of jem people.

00:30:26
Speaker 1: I think people know this, Jim. Maybe not. But when there's Raindolay's at the ballpark, you'll look over and see what Jimmy's watching it. And he's a swear to guy. He's watching clips in like nineteen fifty hockey highlights on YouTube. He's just going through goalis with no masks or goalies with like a little like paper, you know, like a cardboard mask over their face. Guys just pularizing. When that's how Jim Salisbury spends his time.

00:30:50
Speaker 2: Jim, do you like fights in the NHL or do you not like that?

00:30:54
Speaker 3: I like him in terms of I don't like him, but I understand him in terms of account of you know, you know, almost like a pitcher taking.

00:31:05
Speaker 2: Control of the good.

00:31:08
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:31:08
Speaker 3: I think if you've got a guy running around taking shots at people, it helps. I mean, I'm not gonna lie to you. I growing up watching hockey in the seventies and eighties, and I used to I mean, I listened to Chris Nyland's podcast, I love it, and he was an enforcer for the Canadians and play with the Bruins, and uh, I think it was part of the game, and I think it can still serve a purpose as a way of policing the game. I'd hate to see it taken out, but fighting for the sake of fighting is I'm not in favor of that. And I'm also in favor of some of the new rules because it allows the smaller, speedier guy not to be uh, to have a place in the game and show off skill because you know, the skill level is incredible, and that's to me, where where the bread is buttered showing off the skill. So uh, you know, uh, everything in balance, Rube and everything in balance.

00:32:05
Speaker 1: I had a good fight every once in a while, A good fight every once.

00:32:08
Speaker 2: In a while.

00:32:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, like like when Stan Jonathan took out Pierre Bouchard. One of the highlights of my life.

00:32:16
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go at the Google these guys. I have to see if I can find this fight.

00:32:20
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, yeah, Stan Jonathan took out Pierre Bouchard. Uh, I mean, and it sent a message. It was you know, I mean, Ruben's good friend, Paul Holmgren, you know, you know how to take care.

00:32:35
Speaker 5: Of business, Dicky Knowles, you know Buzz George Brett.

00:32:41
Speaker 3: George Brett, I did a story on that when I worked at the Inquirer, really dove deep at Todd likes to like.

00:32:49
Speaker 2: To say and talked to Bratt.

00:32:52
Speaker 3: I talked to Knowles, Bratt and uh boy, and everybody flat out said it changed the series. It changed it, took that series and turned it around.

00:33:04
Speaker 1: Speaking of writing, as we wrap this up, Jim Salisbury is going to be making a return to the press box next week, right, yeah, PHL Why I'm going to be a contributor to a PHL y. This is very very exciting to see you back.

00:33:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, doing a little writing, Hell yeah, with the cause just a little bit, just a little bit, you know, all right, all right, just to weep it. And but I still, you know, enjoy watching Ruben on NBC Sports Philly and hearing him on WP and reading all your stuff on MLB dot com. So it's a beautiful world.

00:33:38
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful world. It's a beautiful game. Guys. We'll do this next week. Appreciate it. Thank you so much for listening and watching The Philly Show. We are also on YouTube watching The Philly Show until next week. Thanks everybody.

00:33:54
Speaker 3: Smell your Lad Ruben smell yeah.