The Rotation

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

00:00:16
Speaker 2: Welcome to The Phillies Show with Ruben Morrow Junior, Jim Salisbury. I am Todd's Lucky. We are coming to you early Friday morning, April twenty sixth, twenty twenty four. The Phillies have split a series in Cincinnati.

00:00:35
Speaker 3: Wait before we get into that, can we talk about the logo?

00:00:37
Speaker 4: Dude, and we talk.

00:00:39
Speaker 1: Let's do it again.

00:00:39
Speaker 4: Let's do it. The intro is tight.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: So if you if you want to know what we're talking about, we have a new logo. I'm sure you've seen it on social media, but we have a new logo that specially is has been made by our fan.

00:00:56
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00:01:08
Speaker 1: Check it out. Check us out on YouTube. Right yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Phillies Philly split.

00:01:17
Speaker 2: In Cincinnati and Zach Wheeler yesterday keeps doing what Zach Wheeler does. Ranger Suarez opens a series by doing what Ranger Suarez does, which is not allowing a run. And you know, I thought Zach Wheeler said something interesting yesterday. So he has made two consecutive starts six or more innings, one hit in each start. It's only a second pitcher in the modern era Phillies modern era to do that. And what I think you guys can appreciate is after the game, we talked to zach about his performance and he basically says, eh, walk too many guys, walk too many guys.

00:01:56
Speaker 1: Got to clean that up. The results are good, but I.

00:01:59
Speaker 2: Walked many guys, And to me, that just sounded like something that a great pitcher says, you know, and I just thought that was really impressive.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: You know, this is a guy with high standards.

00:02:12
Speaker 2: He came into the season learning a splitter because he says, I want to win the cy Young this year. This is what's something that I want to do, which I also thought was cool because anytime you talk to players, understandably so they don't like to really get into their goals things they want to accomplish this year because then you know, ah, you said you want to hit thirty home runs and now you've only got sixteen coming into August. But zach wa is like, no, I want to win the sy Young this year, so I'm learning another pitch because I think it's going to help me do that. What kind of jumped out to you guys about some of these pitching performances or Zach's performance in the series finale on Thursday.

00:02:48
Speaker 5: Well, the whole season has been jumping out at me. Pitching wise. They're off to a great start. You know, Zach another really good one yesterday. I think you had that one kind of tough inning where he through. You know, they worked him a little bit, he ran his pitch count a little bit. But I mean your point is so good about him coming out and saying he wants to win a sy Young. I remember once talking to call Himmels early in his career and he said he wants to go to the Hall of Fame. Remember that, Todd. That was early in his career, and he wasn't He didn't shy away from those goals. And I liked that as well. I think Zach should have won the cy Young a couple of years ago. I think he's well equipped and off to a great start this year to possibly do it. But you know, you talk about he wasn't real happy. That's a sign of the great ones. They're never satisfied. There's always something they can work on always something they can do, and it's illustrated by his you know, mid career desire to learn a splitter and to go to work on that and try to perfect it and it should make him better. Like I think Shilling and Shilling and Clemens were two power guys who added it, you know, maybe mid career. It made a really big difference for them. So it's gonna be a lot of fun to continue to watch this guy work throughout the season because he's got the skill, he's got the talent, and he's got the drive to do something really special. And I think something that is paramount for him is in that entire clubhouse is winning a championship, and I think they can do that as well.

00:04:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I totally agree with you, Jim about the you know, for me, it's about what this guy brings to the table on the mound every single day and the accountability. I've been around some unbelievably accountable guys. Roy Halliday comes to mind. I mean Roy Halliday was one of those guys that would, you know, if he didn't have a good outing or he didn't have a like a dominant outing, he would basically say, you know, I'm sorry, I didn't perform the way I should perform.

00:04:49
Speaker 4: I mean, who does that?

00:04:50
Speaker 5: Nobody remember remember when he apologized thought in Arizona he came into the dugout and he said, Roy Halliday had not been pitching. Well, I'm sorry to interrupted Rubin. The accountability just flashed right before my eyes. We were in Arizona. He came out with like a handwritten statement and he said, I want to say something to the fans, and gathered the writers and he read this. He apologized for like three bad stars.

00:05:12
Speaker 3: Do you remember that, Todd?

00:05:13
Speaker 1: I do remember that.

00:05:14
Speaker 2: In fact, this actually sparks a story that I have about Roy, and Matt Gelb reminded me of this this week. He said, walking in the clubhouse in Cincinnati, he says, two things jump out. He said, one was Cole Hamill's pitching performance after Game three the twenty NLDS. He said, the other one was on Roy Halliday. I thought he was going to murder you, and.

00:05:38
Speaker 1: So Ruben.

00:05:39
Speaker 2: So this was Roy's first year and he had he struggled in this sense that I think it was two or three consecutive starts or ten or more hits now post game, and he lost this game I think he pitched eight innings and he like.

00:05:53
Speaker 1: Gave it up late.

00:05:53
Speaker 2: They lost four to three, and we're talking to Charlie afterwards, and Charlie goes, I'll do my best, charliem pressure goes, yeah, you know, sometimes I wonder if he's around the plate too much.

00:06:05
Speaker 1: You know, he just throws too I so now you know, like Ruben you said, he he is when he loses, he is so mad. Roy was so mad. So he comes out, he's just you know, steam coming out of his nostrils and stuff.

00:06:18
Speaker 3: And I go, excuse me, Roy, Uh, do you ever think you're around the plate too much?

00:06:28
Speaker 1: And he throw too many strikes?

00:06:31
Speaker 2: And he he turned and looked at me like he was going to murder me, And it reminded me of that that line in Rocky four when Drago goes.

00:06:40
Speaker 1: Uh, if he dies, he dies, yeah.

00:06:46
Speaker 2: And he looked he looked at me and he goes no, And I was like, I got it, I got it, I got it.

00:06:53
Speaker 5: But anyway, continue on.

00:06:55
Speaker 3: That's so I think, what the cool thing that I've seen about about Zach Wheeler. He's I don't know, I got a crush on him right now because I've watched him from twenty eighteen as a coach with the Mets. I watched his half second half of the season there. He was the best pitcher in baseball. No disrespect to to Debram who won the Cy Young that year, but if you look at his numbers, I mean, he was just fantastic. And I was thinking to myself, mind, this guy can really really pitch.

00:07:25
Speaker 4: And he learned how to pitch.

00:07:27
Speaker 3: He was a little more of a thrower, and he sort of developed his ability to utilize parts of the zone in a way that has just been brilliant, just brilliant, and I've loved. And it didn't have his good stuff. He did not have a sweeper yesterday, and it was really difficult for him to spin the baseball and to command it, especially early in the game. But he figured out a way. He grabbed a different pitch and said, Okay, I'm going to use my four seam and my splitter. I'm going to use my sinker from time to time move the ball around. And you know, to his credit, man, he just grinded it out and figured out a way to get it done.

00:08:07
Speaker 5: And that's such a great quality to have be able to any in any sport. Be able to adjust your game plan in real time, whether you have a headset down on the sidelines or whether you have a baseball in your hand. You alluded to it, but I wanted to ask you how much where's the biggest area of growth you've seen in Zach Wheeler from the time you're on the Mets coaching staff to what you see the last couple of years and this year in Philadelphia where he's just taking his game to a whole new level.

00:08:36
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:08:36
Speaker 3: So for me, it's and you saw it in the middle of that inning, in the third inning when they were really grinding him out. He could not get his mechanics together. He couldn't get his body in the right position to make his pitches. And I think he talks about that a lot, and he figured it out somewhere in that inning along the way. He figured out how to get his pitch, which is to do what he wants them to do. And I think that that again, being able to it's almost like taking your back swing and then you know, going and stopping like Tiger Woods can I can't. I wish I could, and knowing that my back swing I'm not in the right position and stopping and then regrouping and then making your swing. It's sort of like the same thing to just be able to stop in the middle of the inning, especially when the clock is rolling on you, because you can't you can't stop the flow. And I think that maturity, that ability to handle that, and the ability to like switch to another pitch. I mean, he gave himself an arsenal whereby you know, he's got four or five pitches where he can go to a different pitch, or he can say to himself, you know what, I can't throw this pitch, but I can dot this pitch. You know, I can dot my fastball up and in or down in the way, or sink a pitch a few pitches and move the ball such that I can still be effective.

00:09:57
Speaker 5: So you look at this rotation and there's like, you know, ones and twos in terms of eras, I mean, Ranger and Spencer Turnbull and Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola, they've all been terrific. And I'm starting I'm actually starting to see like little comparisons and I'm even being asked about it, little comparisons to two thousand and eleven. I mean, I think we all have perspective on that rotation. Todd and I covered that team Rubenue with the GM of that team. Todd and I wrote a book about that rotation. You know, for me, that's a rotation that and I know all what was hurt. They got some real good contributions from Vance Worley, Joe Blanton. But they did it over six months and this has been you know, three or four weeks. Now you've got to do it over six months. And I certainly think they're capable of doing it. I mean, hats off to what they've done so far. They haven't exactly faced iron lineups. I mean they've taken advantage of some weak lineups and you know, hey, you got to do that. But there will be tougher tests. But for me, the twenty eleven thing fun to talk about, fun to crystal ball a little bit, but you got to do it over six months. What about you, Todd? I mean, you have a lot of perspective on that rotation from twenty eleven and this one. What is your feeling all that?

00:11:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been starting to hear the same or get the same questions on email, like, yeah, do you think this rotation can compare and I think we put this in the book and it's still and I double checked this just the other day because I was just out of curiosity. Now, war is not the end all be all, but I think it is one way to measure generational players and rotations. The twenty eleven Phillies rotation still has the single season highest war of any rotation in baseball history. And anytime I do mention that, people go, that's a bunch of crap. The Braves rotations were way better. Yeah, Braves rotations as a whole were better. In fact, some of those Braves rotations are in the top ten in that conversation. But that twenty eleven Phillies rotation was so good.

00:12:09
Speaker 1: I mean, you think of Roy Halliday should have won the Cy Young that year.

00:12:13
Speaker 2: In my opinion, I think he outpitched Clayton Kershaw, but Clayton won twenty games, and so Clayton.

00:12:19
Speaker 1: Kershaw got it.

00:12:20
Speaker 2: Cliff Lee had two scoreless inning streaks of thirty plus innings that year.

00:12:25
Speaker 1: I mean he was sick.

00:12:28
Speaker 2: Cole Hamill's was great, and you mentioned Ozwalt was up and down, Vance Whorley stepped up and pitched really well. But there are some really impressive performances so far this season with Wheeler, with Ranger Suarez, who was he could run down one of the Cliff Lee's scoreless inning streaks in his next start Saturday night in San Diego. He's twenty five innings scoreless innings right now, so he could run him down. Aaron Nola's pitched a lot better. I feel like since that first start, and then you got Spencer Turnbull, you know, and Christopher Sanchez.

00:13:01
Speaker 1: Spencer Trimble has been really good.

00:13:03
Speaker 2: Talk about lowie ras. The other night he had the fourth lowest ERA in baseball. So but it is it is a lot of fun to talk about. I do love those comparisons, and just the fact that we are having this conversation, I think tells you how well this group is performing and the expectations for this group going forward. You know, I think particularly for those top three guys, Wheeler, Nola, and Suarez, there's very high expectations that they can keep this up. Each of them can make thirty plus starts, each of them can knock down two hundred innings potentially, and then you just need those other two guys to whoever those other two guys are.

00:13:43
Speaker 1: We know, it's Christopher Sanchez.

00:13:44
Speaker 4: Is gonna be one of them.

00:13:46
Speaker 2: But whoever those other two guys are that they can kind of do what Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton did.

00:13:51
Speaker 3: So when I start thinking about, you know, the comparisons, I don't like to compare all that much. But the coole part for me personally, on a personal level, is that my my personal involvement in both of these rotations because you know, I obviously part of the one in twenty eleven trying to put that thing together and others put it together for me as well, but to do that number one and also to sort of be involved in the you know, two fifths of the one that's that's here, I mean with Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola, you know, tooting my own horn a little bit of here, But it doesn't it's not about tooting my horn. It's what it is is about, you know, having some pride about the Phillies, right, because the Phillies are my team. They've been my team my whole life. I mean, I know I went to other organizations, but for me to watch this develop and to have these things happen, I got to give lots of love to Dave Dombrowski because he's sort of got that old school mentality too.

00:14:51
Speaker 4: Man.

00:14:51
Speaker 3: It's all about the starting pitching, always has been, always will be, and for every It doesn't matter what year it is. If you have solid starting pitching, you have a chance to win a World championship every single year. You have a chance to win a baseball game every single You know what it's like to be in a dugout when those guys take the mound. As a player, it's spectacular.

00:15:16
Speaker 4: I mean, I think that.

00:15:19
Speaker 3: Harper talked about it in the postgame interview that you know, every time Zach Wheeler takes the mound, he has a chance to be something, to do something special, and they when you have that feeling with five guys, four or five, maybe even six guys at some point this year, that's pretty special.

00:15:37
Speaker 4: Man.

00:15:37
Speaker 3: There's nothing like nothing like that.

00:15:39
Speaker 2: Zach Wheeler pitched so well even without his best stuff last night that I got to get on the six to twenty flight out of Cincinnati instead of taking the eight ten flight through Charlotte Homes. So Zach Wheeler got me home about four hours earlier last night.

00:15:52
Speaker 3: That I thought you and me both.

00:15:54
Speaker 1: So kudos to Zach Wheeler.

00:15:56
Speaker 5: Did you get me stop in the airport for any of that Goal Star Chili? Got a nice goal Star Chili right in their food court there.

00:16:02
Speaker 1: I got there.

00:16:04
Speaker 2: I got there just enough time to walk straight to the gate and get on the planet.

00:16:10
Speaker 5: So we're gonna see, you know, finally gonna see Taiwan Walker Sunday in San Diego, San Diego, the land of fish tacos there. I am of the opinion that the best thing that possibly could happen to Taiwan Walker is actually Spencer Turnbull. Because if you are a competitor worth your salt, and somebody is nipping at your at your toes, at your backside, pushing you for your job, trying to take it, that should be a awesome motivator for a competitor. So we'll see, it might bring out the best of them. When you're afraid for your job. Now, when you're on a guaranteed contract, that adds a whole different element to it. Maybe there isn't that fear for your job. But I do believe in the pride of a competitor.

00:17:09
Speaker 2: Gentlemen, your takes well, you know, Ruben, you said this I think on one of the previous shows he said, I know Dave Dembrowski, and I know that he's going to demand performance.

00:17:19
Speaker 1: So I talked with Dave the other day.

00:17:20
Speaker 2: Out in the dugout, and I thought he gave a really interesting quote at the end of this conversation about Turnbull and why why you're going to move him the bullpen potentially They said they haven't made an announcement yet or in a decision yet, but he said, now it's up to him to go out and pitch. Well, nothing comes in perpetuity, right, He's earned the ability to do that, but now he has to go out and perform. We think he will. Now here's the thing that jumped out at me. If he doesn't, then we'll tackle it at that time. Sounds like somebody you know who also is trying to maybe you know who's who understands the situation and respects what ten Spencer Turnbull has done. And I'm not going to read Dave dembrowsk his mind, but maybe he hopes that he sees that quote and goes, oh, okay, so it's not just going to be given to me for the entire season.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: If I don't go out and perform. Do you think that's I.

00:18:10
Speaker 2: Mean, Ruben, have you ever thrown a message out there publicly as a GM, or as a coach or as a player stupidly?

00:18:16
Speaker 1: Yes, I have.

00:18:17
Speaker 3: I've actually did that one time with Chase Suttley when Cessa Hernandez playing really well.

00:18:22
Speaker 4: And that was the stupidest thing I've ever did.

00:18:23
Speaker 5: But or one of them I got that.

00:18:28
Speaker 3: That was.

00:18:30
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:18:30
Speaker 4: I had a hair at my rear end.

00:18:31
Speaker 3: I had a serious hair my ass that day for some reason. I don't know why.

00:18:35
Speaker 4: But cessar was playing really well.

00:18:36
Speaker 3: I was just whatever.

00:18:38
Speaker 4: Sometimes I.

00:18:40
Speaker 5: Blew out a hamstring, run into the press box to get to my keyboard to write down.

00:18:45
Speaker 4: Of course you did, of course you did.

00:18:46
Speaker 3: And then and then I've really pissed off Chase, which is the last thing I wanted to do, but I did it.

00:18:51
Speaker 4: Anyway, Oh my god.

00:18:52
Speaker 3: But but the reality of it is that I agree with both of what you guys said.

00:18:59
Speaker 4: I think the time Walker is a competitor. I think he's going to push him.

00:19:03
Speaker 3: I don't think there's any.

00:19:04
Speaker 4: Question about it.

00:19:05
Speaker 3: I think he's gonna, you know, do his best to perform. I'm not sure if he has it in him because I'm not seeing it yet. But that said, especially lately in his rehabs ninety ninety one and stuff was there, but not great. Maybe the adrenaline of being in the major leagues and pitching and all that stuff that there's a real that's a real element, so hopefully it pitches well. I think he's a great competitor. I think he's a great teammate. I think he does all the right things. I think he's going to do his best to try to earn his job back.

00:19:35
Speaker 4: So to speak.

00:19:37
Speaker 3: That said, I don't think that Dave Dombrowski is going to have a real long leash on him. My feeling is in three starts, if he doesn't show real quality compared to where Turnbull was, I think he may take him out of the rotation.

00:19:53
Speaker 4: You know.

00:19:53
Speaker 3: That's that's something Dave Dombrowski's into winning championships. Man, it's about winning. It's not it's about performance, and it's about win. And it doesn't matter whether you have an eight million dollar contract or uh, you know, four hundred thousand dollars contract.

00:20:06
Speaker 4: The reality of it is David.

00:20:08
Speaker 3: Wants to win, John Midleton wants to win. Rob Thompson wants to win and they're going to do everything they can to do that. Now, when you start thinking about that, you think, well, what about Castillanos, How does that? How does he fit into that equation? Because I don't know how long his leash is going to be. I mean, he continues to struggle. I think he's one of the Jimini I think we agree on this, one of the better producing right handed hitters in the game over the last several years, which he has been. But at some point he's going to have to start performing. I mean, he's moved him in the lineup, he gave him a chance at four hole. He let him, you know, obviously hope, hopefully, hopefully he got things going in Cincinnati. He's still not there yet. It's still not he's he's not there's not in the flow. So it will be interesting to see how long he gets to be able to play every day in right field, because who knows. I mean, if you don't forming, I know, he's going to continue to get chances. He could continue to play him, and Rob wants to get him to swing him his way out of it. But it will be interesting. Just to go back to the pitching thing, did have one situation, and it was one of the reasons why I took Jimmy.

00:21:15
Speaker 4: Moyer out of the rotation.

00:21:17
Speaker 3: Jamie wasn't performing that one year in two thousand and nine and we ended up getting Pedro Martinez and when he came on, you know, and I was very honest with Jamie. I told him straight up, you know this is you know, and then you know, then he held his own little press conference and I was there and threw me under the bus like he was surprised.

00:21:34
Speaker 4: But the reality of it is, I mean, he wasn't pitching.

00:21:36
Speaker 3: We had to do his pitching to like a five seven e RA or something like that, and I don't have many of the performances. And I said, well, next guy, you go to the pen hang with him.

00:21:45
Speaker 5: And and that's I mean, we're kind of down down a little tangent here with the with the Mori thing, but it's the same thing you mentioned Dobrowski. I mean, I think with Casianos helps the patience factor that they're winning. But what you say about Dobraski, he didn't come out of retirement in his mid sixties to preside over a rebuilding effort. He came out of retirement because you know, he's got an owner who wants to win and backs it up and he sees the opportunity to put another ring on his finger. Here he's all about winning.

00:22:18
Speaker 4: So he's and he's a Hall of Fame candidate. I mean that is I think he's I think he's probably in too.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: Saying you know, he's got a reputation too, and it's not necessarily about the reputation, but it's about, you know, doing his job, and he wants to win.

00:22:34
Speaker 5: But isn't it you know you're not going to be if you give say you give Timeline Walker three it's a three starts. It's a really valid question. How much longer is the is the Lesion Castillanos? I mean, Todd and I covered Charlie, Manuel Rubin, you were probably the GM. Then remember when he sat Jimmy for three days up in Toronto?

00:22:54
Speaker 1: Do you remember that?

00:22:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, he was just kind of lost at the plate and he sat him for three He said, Jimmy, you're just gonna go in the cage. I don't care if you eat Hamburgers all weekend, just get away from it. And it did Jimmy some good. I just wonder if that time might be coming with Nick, and I want to stress it's not. It wouldn't be punitive, it would be remedial to try to get him out of this. Maybe a little break would help him.

00:23:18
Speaker 1: No, yeah, yeah, I think so. No, I was gonna say, I think so.

00:23:23
Speaker 2: I think the big difference between the Walker Turnbull situation the castiana situation, though, of course, is who plays right field. If Nick Castianos does not, you know, if he continues to struggle, the Phillies really don't have, in my opinion, a natural option out there. You know, I guess for in the short term they can make anything work. But you know, Turnbull can step in. He's proven it. Who plays right field for the Phillies.

00:23:49
Speaker 3: So I think that you can put Martian right field. I think you can piece it together with guys like Cody Clemens who swung the bat.

00:23:58
Speaker 4: Well, that's why.

00:23:59
Speaker 3: They're going to put him in the outfield. You've got Merrorfield out there. You can stick out in left field. Pashe maybe not quite so much. But for me, Merrorfield is probably a little bit better everyday player than he is a bench player because he's sort of getting used to that. I think he's this guy who needs to get reps. It's a difficult he's in a difficult space right now because it's hard for being an everyday player now to be a bench guy and not be playing a lot. I think he's got more to offer in his bat. I think he's you know, like a professional at back, and so it's interesting.

00:24:30
Speaker 4: I don't see this happening.

00:24:32
Speaker 3: But Jimmy, you make a great point about like taking him off the field and letting him breathe and letting him.

00:24:37
Speaker 4: Get out of his head.

00:24:38
Speaker 3: And Rob Thompson, actually Tompson thinks about this stuff a lot. He is very astute. I mean, he's been in player development, He understands players.

00:24:46
Speaker 4: He gets it.

00:24:47
Speaker 3: I think he feels like Nick Cassiano is one of those guys that needs to play to work himself out of it. Now, you may be right that at some point if you take him off the field for two days and just let him vegetate and relax, then maybe he'll bounce back and just breathe a little bit. Maybe he'll bounce back. And because he's never really gone through one of these stretches, I don't think in his entire career he's just been too good of a hitter over his career.

00:25:15
Speaker 5: Do you agree, Ruben that there would be more urgency and even more glare on the situation if if they if they're not winning like they are.

00:25:25
Speaker 3: Absolutely, if they were not winning, I think it would be it would be different for Nick.

00:25:30
Speaker 4: But also the fact that, I mean, the back.

00:25:32
Speaker 3: Of the baseball card does not lie man.

00:25:34
Speaker 4: I mean, you know this guy, this guy can hit.

00:25:36
Speaker 3: I mean, I've always admired the way he goes about it, and he's just not in the right space right now as far as being in the box getting close. He's had some decent at bats, but he's not like barreling the ball up consistently enough to be Nick Castillanos. I think at some point it's going to happen, but it's just and you hope it does. But but you're right, Jim, this team was struggling, and really it was under five hundred right now for instance, and then they might be it might be a little bit more of a weather bay. People be eyeballing a little bit. You see that they're not doing it on Johan Rojas anymore. They're not bugging him. Of course, he's getting east swinging the battle little bit better. But but you know, this offense isn't based around Johann Rojas, right, It's based around guys like Cassianos and Harper and and and the home et cetera, et cetera.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: So the Phillies opened a three game series this weekend in San Diego. Petco Park one of my top five ballparks. I always tell people too, if you're going to do a baseball road trip, hit up Dodger Stadium, hit up Petco.

00:26:46
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys agree with that, but Petco is.

00:26:50
Speaker 5: I love Petco Park. I love that area of the gas Lamp. You know, it's funny. When Ruben was playing, they used to play, you know, out about five miles inland in what they call Mission Valley. It was a desert. They had a big stadium there and there was nothing around it. There was a hotel where everybody stayed. And now it's grown up, but it's it's almost like an expansion city. When they built that new ballpark, it's almost like a whole new world because I never even went downtown until they built a ballpark. You were out in the desert and you come in the game and you went back to the hotel. And it's really I agree with you. If you're going to make a Phillies road trip, San Diego is a great place to go. That that gas light, gas lamp with the stadium, it's a picturesque stadium. It's beautiful with the warehouse and it's fun with the walk around and see some of the pictures, and then the skyline and the Coronado Bridge. It's really a beautiful stadium. And then the gas lamp really hops and on weekends it's just you've never seen so many drunk young people in your life Saturday night in the gas lamp.

00:27:56
Speaker 4: It's a good spot. It's a good spot.

00:27:58
Speaker 2: Last year, last year, I walked out to where Schwarber hit that home run in Game one of the twenty twenty two NLCS, and it is so far away from home plate. You know, you when you see when you see when you're sitting behind home plate or you're sitting in the stands, I guess, and you see him.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: Hit that ball you know goes far.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: But when you actually go then sit in the seats, you're like, how does a human being hit a baseball this far?

00:28:21
Speaker 4: You know, was that off you, Darvish? That was off you?

00:28:24
Speaker 1: Darvish.

00:28:24
Speaker 4: Yes.

00:28:25
Speaker 1: Yes.

00:28:25
Speaker 5: And the reason it's a good poke, that's a big ballpark is because they were so tired of seeing Barry Bonds beat him up for all those years that they they tried to build a Bonds proof and then they ended up moving the right field wall in a little bit. But that's why I had big dimensions.

00:28:41
Speaker 3: So nice, nice ballpark. At first, I didn't like it all that much, and then it sort of grew on me a lot.

00:28:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, And and what.

00:28:47
Speaker 5: Didn't you like about it?

00:28:48
Speaker 4: I don't know something about it. It seemed like sort of everything with sand colored.

00:28:54
Speaker 3: Now there's more like blue in there and different colors. And I think they did a couple of things after the fact that made it nicer and nicer. And it's obviously it's in a great area. I mean it's right down the right, right down in the middle of the city.

00:29:06
Speaker 1: It's amazing.

00:29:07
Speaker 2: So Friday night we got Aaron Nola versus Joe Muskgrove Saturday as Ranger Suarez with that twenty five inning scoreless streak, rolling against Dylan Cees, who's off to a really nice start with the Padres. He's three and one with a one eight three e ra and then Sunday, the one that every Phillies fan will be watching very very closely as they're having their cool of the evening beer on Sunday is Taiwan Walker versus Michael King.

00:29:31
Speaker 1: So after that they go it.

00:29:33
Speaker 2: They go to Anaheim early next week to cap this ten game road trip.

00:29:37
Speaker 5: Probably you know, probably since the Braves that opening series the best offense, Yes, but the Phillies have encountered. They got some studs, they got some studs, and like you mentioned, cess, pitching really really well. I think this is, you know, a good test for the Phillies, but you know, pitching can can help you pass those tests. And some timely hitting. I mean like Turner and Balm, the white balls, the white bom hits with runners on runners on base, and he's been doing it. It's like even the rookie year of the pandemic year. He's just very he's just so good with runners on base.

00:30:12
Speaker 4: He's tremendous. He's a really really good hitter.

00:30:14
Speaker 3: He's starting to really understand how to drive the ball to and to pull the ball more to get the ball out front in certain situations. I love the way he swings the bat. He's getting better and better. And I'm not surprised that that topp Or flipped he and real mute two. I knew at some point it was going to have to happen, and I'm glad it's happening now. You know, people get on top of about, you know, not not changing the lineup and being too consistent, and how come he hasn't more reactionary.

00:30:40
Speaker 4: Well, he reacted.

00:30:42
Speaker 3: He's got the he's got Boehmer in the forehole because boemers swinging the hell out of it, and and he's and he can protect Harper that way.

00:30:50
Speaker 1: Guys. That was fun. R'll be back on Monday.

00:30:54
Speaker 2: I think Philly's in Anaheim, So everybody enjoy the weekend and we will talk to you next week.

00:31:01
Speaker 5: Spell at a room.

00:31:02
Speaker 3: Smell yah m hm