Team USA manager and MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa talks Phillies

00:00:03
Speaker 1: There's Jaji Warris.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:08
Speaker 3: Hi everybody, Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's a lucky It is the Phillies Show. It is Friday, April twenty fifth, twenty twenty five.

00:00:16
Speaker 1: Hope everybody is doing well. That was, of.

00:00:19
Speaker 4: Course, Jason Worth, former Phillies World Series Champion. Jason Worth's horse Flying Mohawk is running in next weekends Kentucky Derby. This weekend, the Phillies are going to try to stop the bleeding. They've lost four in a row. They got swept earlier this week in New York. They open a three game series on Friday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Taiwan Walkers on the mound on Friday night against Colin Ray. Saturday it's Jesus Lozardo against Ben Brown, and then we've got some Sunday night baseball Aaron Nola zero to five, six, four to three Era, we'll face Jamison Tyone. If you missed Thursday's episode, go back and take a listen watch it. Ruben, Jim and I got together after this sweep in New.

00:01:10
Speaker 3: York and we talked about all of the Phillies problems, the problems with the bullpen, the problems with the offense, not slugging, not hitting with runners in scoring position, some cracks maybe in the rotations foundation with Aaron Nola's struggles. Of course, Christopher Sanchez having a sore left forearm a lot of frustration right now among Phillies fans, understandably so. But it is only twenty five games into a one hundred and sixty two game season. So we thought it would make a lot of sense to bring in somebody on Friday with a national perspective, So we have Mark DeRosa as our guest. Mark de Rosa, of course, is one of the co hosts of MLB Central on MLB Network ten am East weekdays.

00:02:01
Speaker 4: Great show. But of course Marked Rosa also played sixteen years in the big leagues. He played football and baseball at Penn and next year will be his second run as the manager of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Mark had a lot of great insight, shared some great stories, talked a lot about talk a little bit about getting some Phillies on Teamosa next year. So here he is after these words, coming up, Mark de Rosa.

00:02:34
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00:03:36
Speaker 4: Mark Thanks for joining the Philly Show.

00:03:39
Speaker 3: How you doing today good.

00:03:40
Speaker 1: I hope I'm doing great, good Man.

00:03:42
Speaker 3: Well, for those that don't know well Mark, I want to say this first. My favorite show on MLB Network is MLB Central. I do watch it every day to Ennam Eastern. For those that don't watch.

00:03:52
Speaker 1: It, Yeah, you launch a hottie, Robert Flores. It's so good.

00:03:56
Speaker 3: You guys have such great chemistry and I literally I love when you break down hitters and pitchers and all that stuff.

00:04:01
Speaker 1: It's such a such a great show.

00:04:03
Speaker 3: You guys seem like a fun hang and so I wanted to give you some kudos on that show.

00:04:08
Speaker 4: Didn't you guys just have an anniversary?

00:04:10
Speaker 1: We did ten ten years Roflow has been with us god seven out of to ten. We had Matty V for the first three. Yeah, we get along great. And the reason the breakdowns, I mean always because I I I get a lot on on social media. I didn't learn how to hit till I was thirty, So I mean I was soaking up from Chipper to Albert to Michael Young that to share all the great players and I just try and like be a facilitator of what they were preaching. It's so good man. I love and of course also, you have a little side gig.

00:04:44
Speaker 4: Going on right now as a manager of team US.

00:04:46
Speaker 3: Say congratulations on that for doing that beginning next year. But we wanted to have you on because we wanted to talk Phillies, of course, and right now, you know you went to penn You know Philly.

00:04:59
Speaker 4: You've played in Philly a bunch over the years.

00:05:01
Speaker 1: Are we panic?

00:05:03
Speaker 3: There's a little panic going on right now in Philly. And I was watching I was watching you this morning. You were telling you showing some Mets Phillies highlights, and I think what you said about the Phillies was they're just lacking a little bit.

00:05:16
Speaker 1: Of juice right now.

00:05:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I'm wondering what what do you see from the Phillies because there is some panic right now in Philadelphia.

00:05:24
Speaker 1: I mean, the history and the names on the back of the jersey say you're gonna be fine, and I think when the dust settled, you will be exactly that. They just can't get the big hit. It seems like they're putting traffic on the base pass every inning and they can't catch a gap or no one's hitting that big home run to light them up. So that's the that's the biggest thing for me. I mean, the last time they looked like they had some juice was the Dodgers series, when Dodgers rolled into town and they you know, kind of mono imano and and they stepped up. I think the lineups in flocks. I think it's you know, toppers trying to find a lineup. We talked about the leadoff roll coming throughout spring training. Was it gonna be Turner? Was it gonna be Schwarber? Can you move Nick? And in the middle of those two lefty bats, is he swinging it back good enough? Bowman marsh got off the bad starts. I just think everything's hyper sensitive the first forty games of the season. I always go back to Bobby Cox. That's kind of how I was raised, right. He would give us forty games, give you about one hundred and fifty at bats, give the starters a couple starts, and then he'd usually call that meeting around the forty game mark. We'd be sitting like twenty two and eighteen or something. You'd be like, all right, now we go. Now we don't lose another series the rest of the year. I gave you time to get loose. Now, the names on the back say we need to now, we need to go. So I do think it's still a little a little early before we panic. Yeah, that's great stuff I met.

00:06:59
Speaker 2: And also I will say, Todd, you mentioned it about their show. It is a blast those guys. I've been on here two or three times. I have not had more fun on TV than on that show.

00:07:12
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. I'm serious. They just have fun.

00:07:17
Speaker 7: They enjoy you know, they enjoy what they do, and it's obvious. Yeah, but they're all great, great folks and really enjoy it. Tiro, talk to me a little bit about when how the feeling is.

00:07:31
Speaker 8: When you're not getting that big hit it's almost happening across the board, what it's like in the dugout, in the clubhouse after the game, before the game, what's the feeling like when you're not getting that knock and.

00:07:43
Speaker 1: There's some tension there. Yeah, it's frustrating because you want to pick up your teammates. Right. There's a couple guys that have gotten off the bad starts. I mean, for instance, the bullpen, like Alvarado's throwing the ball good Stram always does his thing, but Romano's really struggled and like puts everybody on blast. From a lineup point point of view. If one guy, you know, Bom and Marsh got off to just bad starts and now Topper's Batt and Bom in the eighth slot, like it starts playing with guys' minds and other guys just want to pick them up and get that big knock and let everyone relax. It just seems like, you know, in the last couple of games, it's not coming. I love I love listening to Rob Thompson his post game. I know he might not give you everything you want, but he's exactly what the players want to hear. No panic in his voice. There's a track record here where eventually you know it'll regress to the mean at some point. As bad as we're going now in clutch spots, that's as hot as we're going to get throughout the season. I do truly believe that, Hey Mark.

00:08:49
Speaker 9: Since the Phillies played the Mets in London early June last year, since June nine, heading into their weekend series at Field, Phillies have played one hundred and twenty seven games, including four in the playoffs, and they are just one game over five hundred in that span. That's a pretty good chunk of time. Yeah, do you read anything into that? Do you kind of go back and say, maybe they're not as good as we think they are?

00:09:22
Speaker 1: No, I think that'd be unfair. I do think they have superstar type talent that can cover up some of the flaws in the roster, so to speak. I mean they're trying to figure out is Max Kepler going to be a dude or is it going to be a platoon thing that we're going with there? Like I said, they ran Stot into the leadoff spot. They've had Trey Turner, we've had Schwarber. What can Castianos be counted on to break up those two lefties every day? I love their starting rotation. Who was to say? I mean, come on, you know it's an aberration Aaron Nola getting all to an zero and five start. You know he's gonna rattle off a ton of wins in a row. It's who he's always been. There'll be no panic in him. I do think they need to figure out and make some decisions on you know, a bullpen and how that, how that's deployed. I mean, like yesterday I saw Alvarado come in the eighth and I was like, that's interesting. He's using that bullet here. There was two righties coming up. I think Alonzo let off the inning. It was like Alonzo, Nemo and Biento. So I'm like, that's an interesting movie. He's running that out right now. So just trying to figure out how he's going about. No, I think there's still one of the better teams in the National League. I do believe that. I think the start, the starter separate him. Right wheelers usually win day. Nolo get going. Lozardo's been a revelation for you guys, and hopefully the Sanchez is not a big deal with the forearm, and he can he can kind of resume because if you put him in Ranger back in there. I mean, I can make the argument that's the best five in the National League.

00:11:03
Speaker 10: Can you tell me a little bit about the makeup of these guys you had a couple of them, Yeah, UBC tell me about the feeling that you got with all those guys and what they meant to you as a manager during that time.

00:11:18
Speaker 1: I loved them all. I did. I love them all, but the Phillies guys I can make make the statement that they were my fave the three I had. The three I had, and I'll never forget it because, like I still view myself, I didn't I've never managed going into that, so I still like, who's trying to find my footing? And Trey and Kyle and JT were having breakfast one morning and I walked in to get my food and They're like, come on, skip, sit down, and I was like, all right, Like I was waiting for that to kind of be one of the boys again. I'll go to battle with all three. I mean, Trey was a monster for us. So he hit five homers and me one of the highlights of my life. The Grand Slam against Venezuela is one of the highlights of my professional life because before that game, I had played in Venezuela in ninety nine. I knew the passion that they were going to play with. I knew they were going to be out of the dug out loud, and I called a meeting and I said, listen, we're matching their energy tonight. I want you to act like twelve year olds. First guy who goes deep, we're all at home plate and Trey went deep. If you watch it back, man, every guy is out of that dugout at home plate, and you don't see that very often. So he gave me that like kind of blackout moment that you don't get too often. JT's rider Die. I know he's gotten off to a slow start, but I'll go to war with him any day of the week. And Schwarves's Schwarves is the glue man, Like he was the glue on that team. He would he would come up behind me and, you know, whisper some funny things in my ear in the middle of of you know, a pressureized situation that you need to kind of break it up. So all three of them were beyond fantastic. Schwarbert.

00:13:14
Speaker 3: We all three of us have said he's one of the best leaders that we have seen it in the Phillies clubhouse for years and years and years. And I'm sure at some point on MLB Central you've broken down Schwarber's swing. Can you explain to Phillies fans, like, like, what do you love about his swing? Like what makes his swing? What makes him fun to watch for you?

00:13:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think for me, it's obviously the light tower power, but it's the ability to be so short and quick and explosive to the baseball. When he's right, he's got one of the shortest swings in the game, and it's so violent and sets the tone. I kind of like him in the leadoff spot. I know he profiles down in the order and I get it. But talking to a lot of catchers and former catchers and current catchers, they say, when you give us that prototypical leadoff guy, now that lets us kind of get game and get a rhythm going instead of the Kyle Schwarber stepping in. It's like, uh oh, first pitch could be one nothing. It changes the way we attack the first inning. So yeah, I almost like Schwarve setting a tone.

00:14:29
Speaker 9: He does set some tones. Last year, fifteen leadoff home runs and they won. They won thirteen of those games, and that was that's a great stat. So I remember watching that WBC and I remember watching Trey Turner just crush the ball, and I'm thinking it's over Phillies who winning the World Series. And then you know he's been inconsistent. There's been these pockets of greatness when he's like putting up MVP numbers like short spur, you know, a few weeks here and there, and then there's been other pockets of just head scratching inconsistency. What are you seeing in Trey Turner's game, you know, since he joined the Phillies.

00:15:12
Speaker 1: I think the inconsistency is well. First off, I always go to the mindset like they're not robots, right, Like, uh, I remember when I signed my free agent deal on a on a crazy smaller scale than than these guys are signing. It's like, you want to endear yourself to every usher, every every fan that walks in. You want because they don't see you you struggle. Like when I got to play with Derek Jeter and O nine Team USA and he grounded out to short or struck out, I'm like, what I don't I don't get to see that. I only see the high highlights of him hitting homers and hitting balls the other way. So, the pressure of carrying a three hundred million dollar contract, regardless of whether you're gonna play a little bit in the shadow of Bryce Harper, is still you want to endear yourself to the fans. What the Phillies fans did on the flip side to kind of give him the standing ovation and get him rolling can't be understated. My biggest thing when I watch when I watched Trey, when he does struggle is he's susceptible is swinging its spin and it doesn't seem like he picks it up really good. There's a lot of guys in the league like that. That's the biggest thing, controlling the strike zone, getting on base. But when he's going right, he's a you know, he's a five tool talent. But that's the thing. Occasionally, like the swing decisions that he'll make kind of cost him some batan average.

00:16:37
Speaker 11: We talked this about this a little bit earlier, talk about the bullpen and what it does when it doesn't shut it down, what it feels like.

00:16:48
Speaker 8: What the when you're standing out there at shortstop or second base and you see somebody you see that pen door open up and.

00:16:56
Speaker 7: They've been struggling. What does that do to the team.

00:17:00
Speaker 1: Well, first, you want him to do well, because you want all your teammates to do well. But it's a you know, rude you losing games in the eighth and ninth inning, that is a that is a no no, that that sets everybody back. Right, those have to be lockdown innings for you. I mean, you can have a couple of hiccups throughout the year, and I always think it's unfair that these guys got to be asked to be perfect, right, But it's a demoralizer when you're constantly losing games late. It's like, like, yet you know perfect examples Yesterday, I mean, you scored a run, you go up three to two. You bring in Romano, he's gotten off to a tough start. You want him to have a moment. They kind of eased him the other day, put him in a spot to succeed, and then Pete kind of push out double rocket in the right center gap and Marte broken bat and the game's over. So yeah, it's it's frustrating. I always go back. I listened to Harper's comments after the game, and he's like taking it upon himself, And that's what that's what kind of can happen, right. You can't just like I have to be the one to get us out of this. I think it has to be more of a past of but bita mentality and kind of not feel like you have to be the hero to kind of cover up everybody you had mentioned.

00:18:26
Speaker 3: I want to kind of go back to what you said about Rob Thompson that he says and kind of talks the way that players want their manager to talk. Can you explain that a little bit more, because I know sometimes fans want the manager to maybe get on a guy a little bit publicly, and you know Rob does not get super agitated in his postgame press conferences.

00:18:46
Speaker 1: You say it's pretty even keel.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I'm sure Bobby Cox was that way and some of your other managers that you appreciated.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's a long, arduous marathon throughout the regular season. If you have a manager that's riding the highs and lows with you, we're going to have problems throughout the course of the season. You have to be able as a player, whether you're going good bed indifferent. You want the brutal truth said to you if you walk in the office. But I always wanted to look down at the end of the dugout and know that the guy standing with one arm on the rail is locked in and trusts that we're going to figure this out and he never waivers. So yeah, it's big for me. I'm sure he's having different conversations with players behind closed doors, but the respect factor that that stuff doesn't get put on blast out in the media is huge to building a clubhouse chemistry and a relationship with the guys.

00:19:45
Speaker 9: It just is.

00:19:46
Speaker 1: I think there's moments where guys got to be called to the carpet, no question about it. I don't think you go through an entire season and he's just got to cover your tushty entire time. But twenty four to twenty five games into the seat and he starts showing the frustration and panic that the fans are showing. That's not the move for the guys in there that have given these fans so much and have done so much. I could see if it was a different situation, different roster, but these guys are These guys are deserving of a little time to break out of this funk, so to speak. Yeah, curious as to what that was.

00:20:27
Speaker 8: How you felt about the Bryan snicker Acuna stuff that popped out, because I know you, Yes, I have tremendous respect for the man. I you know, I feel his steadiness as well, and I think he learned from the great Ones and Bobby Cox and others.

00:20:43
Speaker 1: But what was your thought about that? Yeah? My thought about it is we're all grown men, and if you got something to say you can walk into the manager's office and voice your displeasure and talk to him as a grown man, to sit back and to use social media knowing it was going to incite a riot. When your team just took three in a row from the Twins, you got off to a tough start, you finally got some positive momentum, and our superstar player tweets something out that that's my hang up with it. I'm not saying Ronald's wrong. I think kellen Nick should have been pulled. That's how I was raised in the game. I got sent to I got benched by I said this on the air. I got bench by every manager I ever played for for doing something stupid. Lack of hustle, selfish play. That's how you learn, and that's how you grow, and that's how it never happens again. So it was the way he went about it. I just come on, man, you're a superstar in this game. You got a big following. You knew what it was going to do and how it was going to move on social and it's just it's not the move.

00:21:59
Speaker 9: I actually hurt.

00:21:59
Speaker 1: I heard you.

00:22:03
Speaker 9: I heard you the other day. You jacked up Kellenick pretty good on TV the other day about you know, having no home runs and trotting it like that's he's right, you.

00:22:13
Speaker 1: Know what, Jim, I'm right, Jim, Because how do you add value?

00:22:18
Speaker 3: Right?

00:22:18
Speaker 1: If you're a bench guy, My value is to pick up guys on on on a day off. My job is to pinch hit and you know, try and find ways to help the team that day. And if I get the spots start, I get the spots start. But at no point or my five to seven homers throughout the course of the season as a bench guy or a platoon guy going to change the narrative of who we are. So I just feel like you got to earn the right to slow trot some homers. I just I mean, I just feel I just feel that way. I just don't think you're one or two. You should be acting like he carried the team. He had a bad moment. It hasn't ever happened. I didn't run a ball out in Miami because I was frustrated. I had a great ab. I hit a one hot liner. I hit a one hot liner to the shortstop and there was a guy on first, so I just thought he was gonna take the force out at second. I'm, you know, cursing myself out running down the first base, but I'm running half ass. Well. He flipped it to second. He flipped it bad, and they were still able to get me at first. I got sent to Richmond that night. Wow, Like that's I don't know, that's the way I was raised in the game. And I don't think you know one size fits all, but that that's what I know. If you're not doing your job and you're not hustling, and like you should be taking the task for it.

00:23:53
Speaker 8: So it's funny you should say that because I had this saying, and actually was Pat Gillick saying, I'm gonna play again.

00:24:01
Speaker 1: We like to treat all of our players fairly.

00:24:04
Speaker 8: We treat some of them more fairly than others.

00:24:07
Speaker 1: Now, no doubt. Jimmy Johnson, I'm a huge Cowboy fan, which the Eagles fans are gonna hate me for saying that. Don't worry, We're not gonna be good for a while, so I won't be I won't be bothering you. But I read Jimmy Johnson's book and he talked about releasing a special teams player who was sleeping in a meeting and the special Teams player asked him, what if it was Troy Aikman, if that was sleeping, He said, I would have got him a blanket and a pillow. I tell I was raised right. So my thing with Ronald gets a lot more leeway than a Jared kell Nick. I just can't have you tweeting about it and throwing your manager and your teammate on blast. He could have walked into Snit's office and said, you benched me for that. I don't want a double standard. I want kell Nick's ass on the bench today, and you might have. Snip might have said, you know why, you're right, and he might have won won over Ronald for the rest of his career. Who's to say, But you know, sometimes these guys we live in a different world now where they want to do it a little bit different.

00:25:15
Speaker 9: Yeah, everything can be everything can be handled properly. But I enjoyed your commentary on the MLB Network about the situation the other day, and I liked how you went into that story about how Bobby came up chance to get your stuff together. You're going to.

00:25:30
Speaker 1: Richmond, I think you have to like Yeah, I know, I mean, I was a utility guy for sixteen seasons, but at moments I kind of did everything, So.

00:25:43
Speaker 7: He gets frustrating.

00:25:44
Speaker 2: It's a frustrating.

00:25:45
Speaker 1: Game, and you make mistakes. I mean, I hit a ball in Wrigley Field down the right field line that I was foul off the bat, completely foul off the bat, and you know, classic Wriggly win blows it back fair and I end up with a single loop. And Ella said, you know, sit your ass next to me for the next five innings. All right, you're right, yes, again, I can't argue with it.

00:26:15
Speaker 9: How again, how do you see the NLY East Like the Braves got off to a slow start, Like we talked earlier in the podcast, there's panic in Philadelphia. How is their start being viewed in Atlanta? And how do you see the NL East stacking up? The Mets are awfully good, that's been good. They've been good since last June. Who's the team to be here? And and how is the Braves slow start being you know, dealt with in the fan base in Atlanta?

00:26:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's panic in Atlanta. Okay, there's panic in Atlanta. They want they want to see what it looks like when a couna gets back in there, but they got some some question marks as well. But what they're doing, But again, you let Strider get assimilated into the rotation to expect Sale to be a unanimous Cy Young Award winner. You you're not showing up to Northport thinking that he's going to be a number one starter. But he's not going to bail us out of every game. I love the Schwellenbach kid. I think he's tough as nails on the mound. Riley's starting to swing the bat. Yeah, the Mets, look, I mean, that's what I'm saying right now. You you'd kind of say the Mets are the team to be in the NL East. I think they're deep. I think they're Juan Soto is only going to get better. Ye, their rotation is only going to get stronger. But I still say this my my dad taught me a long time ago. The game begins and ends on the mauld mark. It always will chase chase the pitcheon. Whenever you get a chance, chase the pitcheon. It's what I always did. If I was ever a free agent, I tried to chase some of the pitcheon. Right. So, when you guys are healthy and Ranger comes back and hopefully Sanchez is fine. The way Lozardo's throwing a ball and Wheeler and Nola, I find it hard that you just don't get on some type of run.

00:28:10
Speaker 3: Here, Mark, I got a couple of questions speaking of pitching, h I don't want to presume who you would like to have on your team USA pitching staff next year. Well, wh come if you want, Well, this is what I was gonna ask you. What's your sales pitch to get Zach Wheeler on that squad? He's gonna be a tough nut to crack if you I'm sure you've thought about how you can know about it.

00:28:33
Speaker 1: Who's gonna be the opportunity to for the United States for the first time, with no disrespect to every team that's come before him, for the first time to put their best team on the field against the Dominican against Japan, against Puerto Rico, whoever that may be. I don't think that's happened yet. That would be my sales pitch. Do you want to be? I mean, because I mean my sales pitches. Hey, in my dreams, when when we head to Miami and we got three games to win, Zach, you're one of the three best pitchers in the game in my opinion, I want you to take the ball with USA across your chest and the greatest stars behind you, and I want you to go out there and have fun.

00:29:21
Speaker 9: When do you make that pitch.

00:29:24
Speaker 1: Sooner rather than later? And maybe more than more right now and maybe more than once? And one other thing I wanted to ask you.

00:29:35
Speaker 3: We've we've had a lot of former Phillies on the show from the kind of the era that you played in. And you played I think fifty four times against the Phillies from two thousand and three to twenty thirteen, and I use those dates for a reason. Chase Utley was on that team, on those teams from three to twenty thirteen, did he have any fun interactions or good Chase Utley's stories. I mean when you were on second base, did he ever even look get you in smile?

00:30:01
Speaker 1: Yeah? He gave me very little. There was there was a respect like hey, d Row, like I know you're a good dude, and I want to say hello to you, but I want to rip your face off for nine innes. And you know what, I left him alone. I left him alone. I was there when he came up. He he got called up at the vet and went deep yep, like real quick against the braves. If I'm not mistaken, So.

00:30:28
Speaker 7: We line drive home run.

00:30:30
Speaker 9: It might have been a Grand Slam or a three rund.

00:30:32
Speaker 1: I don't know what it was.

00:30:34
Speaker 8: He ran around the basis about one second.

00:30:37
Speaker 1: Hey, he was the best. He was the best second basement of my generation. Right, So you went into those games wanting to see where you stood. Like I always played that competition. I'm going to outplay whatever position I was playing that night. If I was playing second, all right, I want to outplay him tonight. That was tough to do. You up on the Hall of Fame, he might get there. Yeah, he's a stud. He was a stud for a long time.

00:31:04
Speaker 9: So Mark, you you played in Veterans Stadium. Yeah, I'm sure you played in Fenway Park. I know you played in Wrigley. You also played in Franklin Field, and I bet you probably shot hoops at the Palaestra. What's what's the biggest tell me about playing football on Franklin Field?

00:31:24
Speaker 1: Well, they got new turf in there now, Jim. I mean, I think you said the only thing I was worried about was the iodine scrub from the trainer after it took like half your shin off when you tried to make a third down. Yeah. I loved my time at penn I loved my time in Philly. Yeah, went to went to University of Pennsylvania as as as a football player and and basically had to beg my way onto the baseball team. That's the only way I was gonna go there. So yeah, I have a lot of great memories for my time as a Quaker.

00:32:00
Speaker 10: So you had a huge fan and David Montgomery my boss.

00:32:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, try to acquire you a few times.

00:32:06
Speaker 6: He would have been in hog Heaven.

00:32:07
Speaker 2: Had to be done it.

00:32:08
Speaker 1: I remember that. Yeah, you guys kept going, you kept going pedro Phi, Lease don't lie Rubin.

00:32:16
Speaker 8: I tried to get you twice in the three way, and that I couldn't get Kevin Towers, but God rest his soul.

00:32:23
Speaker 1: The flip let's go, Hey, funny, funny story. O nine. I'm in Cleveland. I know I'm getting traded at the deadline, and Mark Shapiro comes out and goes, hey, uh, don't get dressed. We're gonna move you here in the next hour. It's either gonna be Saint Louis or Philly. Wow. And I was just sitting in my locker going because my family's down the shore in Jersey. So I was like, all right, this'd be perfect, get back to go to Philly play with those monsters they were rolling. I said, my parents are gonna be able to come to every game. He came walking out, He's like, we traded to the Saint Louis. I was like, I wasn't devastated, but I was like, that's haw. I should have gotten you then, I should have gotten you.

00:33:05
Speaker 9: Come on, Ruben, how about I just wanted to ask you, like, you were a teammate at Bryce Harper's when he was nineteen years old? What was he like then? And compared to did you kind of see what he was going to be coming? I guess it was hard not to.

00:33:23
Speaker 1: He was a star then, right, Yeah, Jim, you knew instantly Davey Johnson signed me for a reason. Right. I was like, kind of that glorified coach at the end, and he's like, you know, get to know Bryce. Take a liking to him. I remember first spring training, first day of workouts twenty twelve, we hit togethergether in BP and then we were shagging balls in the outfield, and I was just like, walk me through your story, really, and he has lived a different baseball journey than ninety nine point nine percent of us whoever made the big leagues, you know, to have to leave high school because they weren't pitching to him to win the Golden Spikes as an eighteen year old when he should be a senior in college, to have the pressure to be the number one pick. Overall, I loved every second, honestly of playing with him because I loved being around somebody because I didn't think this way. The greats think a little different. I was trying to add value and survive and stay in the league and make enough money where it was worth it all the effort, time and energy and create This guy was from nineteen. I'm going to the Hall of Fame. You're kind of all in my way. It's happening. And I just I ate that confidence up that a kid that young could feel. He showed up the Dodger Stadium his first game, he was ready to rock. There was no nerve. I mean, if there was nerves, he wasn't showing him. It was like, I've I was born to do this. Let me go do my thing. So I've had an amazing relationship with Bryce since since twenty twelve.

00:35:11
Speaker 9: Would you like him on your roster team on for the WBC.

00:35:19
Speaker 1: I can't, I can't give.

00:35:20
Speaker 9: I can't.

00:35:21
Speaker 1: Yes, we've talked. We have talked.

00:35:24
Speaker 9: Take us inside the conversation.

00:35:26
Speaker 1: It was pretty it was pretty easy. He picked up in one ring and he goes, I kind of know why you're calling. I said, well, let's talk. Let's talk this out, dude, because the last time I wanted him the last time and he had the elbow right. I actually asked him to just come to Miami and sit on the bench and be a part of it with us, and he felt that was a little hokey. He didn't want to be there if he couldn't, you know, perform. So yeah, there will be a massive push by me for him to be on this roster.

00:35:57
Speaker 9: Well, if he says yes, you have to come back on the Phillies Show and break the news.

00:36:02
Speaker 1: We'll get you out as a duel. That's all. There's a lot of Phillies to be to be discussed. Hey, awesome to have you on.

00:36:12
Speaker 8: Thanks so much for joining us.

00:36:13
Speaker 2: Man, You're the king.

00:36:14
Speaker 3: Thanks again to Mark de Rossa for the time MLB Central ten am Eastern weekdays on MLB Network, The Philly Show.

00:36:21
Speaker 4: We'll be back next week.

00:36:24
Speaker 3: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Phillies Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. If you like us, give us a review, Follow us on Instagram, TikTok x, Facebook, and threads. Find Rubens analysis before, during, and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four, WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network. Find Jim at all pH l y dot com. Find me at MLB dot com, the Phillies Bet Newsletter, and MLB Network