Uh oh: Aaron Nola suffers the worst start of his career

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Everyone is in Jordan Romano and welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:08
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's Will Lucky. It's the Philly Show. It's Thursday, Thursday. I was gonna say February, May fifteen. It's May fifteenth, twenty twenty five, as far as I know. How are you, guys? This morning dandy?

00:00:29
Speaker 3: Like February, February. We don't see the sun anymore?

00:00:33
Speaker 2: Like that? Oh my god, yesterday it was brutal. Well, the last couple of days were brutal.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: I was.

00:00:39
Speaker 2: I was appreciative though on Tuesday of the early postponements, so I didn't have to drive down to the ballpark, sit there for four hours and then and then have the game get postponed. But the Phillies played a doubleheader on Wednesday. They split win game one two one game two not so good. That's so good. They lose fourteen, that's so good. That's so good. They lose fourteen to seven to the Cardinals. And and guys, I think everything. What's on everybody's mind is is Aaron Nola's latest performance? You know he starts zho and five six four five eras first five starts his last four three point three three era. He had those two really good starts against the Cubs on the road, at home against the Diamondbacks. You're sitting there going, okay, maybe he's kind of through this, and then boom. Last night. It was the worst start of his career, the worst start of Aaron Nola's eleven year career. Gives up a career high twelve hits, a career high nine runs ties, a career high three home runs allowed. Uh, you know in three and two thirds innings, are we right back to square one? Are you guys worried that Nola's is right back to square one?

00:01:58
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's a square.

00:02:00
Speaker 4: He pitched pretty well against two good offensive clubs the previous two times, but it just, you know, hammers home.

00:02:06
Speaker 3: The point we've known for years that.

00:02:09
Speaker 4: He doesn't have that top of the scale stuff that he has marching for error. He doesn't have the top scale stuff we can just blow guys away. He's got to be pinpoint and when he when he makes a mistake over the play, he's gonna get hurt. And he got hurt in the third and fourth innings. Yes, say, there were times in the third inning, it looked like, I mean, they were taking some swings like they knew what was coming. He's got to be he's got to be precise at the bottom of the zone on the edges. And you know, if he just if he doesn't have it that day, he doesn't have his finesse game that day, he doesn't have the stuff to get away with it. You know, he he leads the majors in innings pitched and starts since the start of the twenty seventeen season, leads you know.

00:02:57
Speaker 3: In innings like well of a four innings.

00:03:01
Speaker 4: Leads to majors by like eighty five innings, which is a significant bit. It's a testament to his durability, testament to his toughness and how good he is.

00:03:09
Speaker 3: He takes the ball, has success, stays in games.

00:03:12
Speaker 4: That is a heavy, heavy workload since the start of twenty seventeen. And you know, when I look at Andrew Painter percolating down there in Triple A, and you know, we think about, Okay, how they're going to fit Andrew Painter in there.

00:03:26
Speaker 3: Well, they're going to go to.

00:03:27
Speaker 4: A six man, a modified six man maybe to make Zach Wheeler stay close to his day. I think Aaron Nola is going to benefit from that a lot, because they're going to look to prioritize extra rest for him because he's pitched well on extra rest before, and because you know, he's thirty two years old now with a you know, high workload. It's right there, bears it out right in the stats. And if they're going to try to optimize him for October, you know they're going to have to get him more rest so he pitches, getting pitching back or else it's not going to be in October for him or even this team, because if he's not off to this terrible start, where are they in the standings?

00:04:09
Speaker 3: I think the metsa looking up up at him right.

00:04:13
Speaker 5: Probably, that's probably true me have obviously Nola. I think in the early part of the season the stuff wasn't there. He didn't have velocity and have the zip, didn't have the finish on his pitches. Yesterday's concerned me because there were times when he has been tipping pitches as well, and it almost felt like it was a combination of this stuff being in the middle of the plate and them knowing what pitches were being thrown. Uh, that's that's that's how much damage that the Cardinals did against them. Not usually an excuse for the guy, but but.

00:04:50
Speaker 1: It seemed like.

00:04:53
Speaker 5: They just weren't going to miss, didn't matter what he was flipping up there, and it you know, I know that Rob Thompson gets a little quote unquote paranoid about guys tipping pitches, and it just felt like one of those games where it didn't matter what he was to throw in the kitchen sinc up, there was gonna get whacked.

00:05:13
Speaker 1: So that turns me a little bit.

00:05:16
Speaker 5: Maybe it is also something that they can remedy, which would be a good thing, but his.

00:05:23
Speaker 1: Overall stuff just not quite as crisp as it has been in the past.

00:05:30
Speaker 5: And again, you're right, Jim, he's gonna have to be perfect and he's gonna have to be a little bit more pinpoint with his stuff. He always had to be that way, but I think he's gonna have to be like that a little bit more so now with some of the stuff being down generally overall, well.

00:05:48
Speaker 2: I think like the first home running allowed was a fastball. It was just over ninety It was up and out of the zone, but you know, a ninety mile an hour fastball. I mean, big league kids are like salad at that. And then I think the second one, maybe it was the Burlison was a fastball just again, just over ninety miles an hour on the outer half of the plate and pulls it, pulls it to right field for a home run.

00:06:12
Speaker 5: Uh.

00:06:12
Speaker 2: You know, he gave up six six two strike hits that right on Wednesday night, six two strike hits. He has given up twenty seven two strike hits this season. That's the second most in baseball, believe it or not. Chris Sale leads baseball with twenty nine to two strike hits. But he yeah, and Nolah kind of knows that. You know, he says, my putaway pitches just were not there last on Wednesday night. And you know that's a concern as well. He's just not getting the swing missed him. You talked about it. He's just not being it. He's not able to finish anybody, put anybody away, and those two strike hits are killers. I mean that was a big Remember that was a big thing a few years ago. A lot of two strike two one two home runs that he allowed. But last night it was just you know, single double. None of the home runs were two strike home runs. It was all the singles and doubles that he allowed.

00:07:07
Speaker 3: You mentioned tipping.

00:07:08
Speaker 4: If he's tipping pitches, Vermano was tipping pitches, they need to make an adjustment because this is the big leagues, and you know you can go to work on the opposing pitcher and find little tendencies. Well you better be going to work on your own pictures and finding tendency. So find it a little hard to believe he was tipping pitches. Find it more hard to believe his stuff is just not that good. And this is stuff that big league can't Big league hitters just demolished because they trained for stuff these days in the cages, the high v low, the high spin.

00:07:36
Speaker 3: They trained for this. They're geared for this, and that's that's what I see.

00:07:41
Speaker 4: And I just think I feel for the guy because there's no more honest, earnest person in that club house who cares more about the Phillies, cares more about doing a good job for the fans, cares more about the city, caires more about the organization, works harder, and it just seems like he's human being and at some point the workload does catch up with you. And I just wonder. It feels like we're seeing that right in front of our eyes, and it makes me worried for the remainder of the contract, frankly, because it's a long way to go. But in the short term, they need this guy to turn it around because the stakes are so high.

00:08:16
Speaker 3: They need him to figure out what he can do with what he has. And I have confidence he can do.

00:08:21
Speaker 4: That because we saw at the previous two starts. He's a smart pitcher. He can be crafty, he can he can get by. He's just he's got to figure it out.

00:08:31
Speaker 5: He's gonna have to figure out when he had when his stuff is down, he's throwing a ninety min hour fastball. How might how am I gonna work my way through at least five innings of this?

00:08:40
Speaker 1: What? You know?

00:08:41
Speaker 5: What formula is going to work for me when I don't have that stuff that he had, you know, the three prior starts, three or fourth prior starts where his stuff was sharper.

00:08:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it may not again, it may not be.

00:08:54
Speaker 5: Tipping pitches, and it may just be the overall stuff and leaving stuff in the middle of the plate.

00:08:59
Speaker 1: Who know, But yeah, I agree with you.

00:09:02
Speaker 5: As far as accountability is concerned, I mean, he's super accountable and you feel for him, but they're gonna have to get better production out of him because they just put too much pressure on their bullpen, especially when you're pitching in the second game of a double headers.

00:09:19
Speaker 1: As it was it turned out yesterday.

00:09:23
Speaker 3: And it was clear.

00:09:24
Speaker 4: It was clear Ruben Todd that Rob was banking on Aaronola to have a good one because he used all his leverage guys in the first leverage bullpen guys is top guys in the first game to nail that baby down, and you know what, you gotta win the game at hand. He uses leverage guys and he wasn't gonna use them in game two. He was banking on Nola taking him deep, and after those previous two starts, you know why not and it didn't happen.

00:09:48
Speaker 2: Okay, So hold that thought. We're gonna come back. I want to finish that thought right after these words.

00:09:52
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00:10:54
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00:12:01
Speaker 3: A couple.

00:12:01
Speaker 1: Yes, yes you do, Yes you do.

00:12:04
Speaker 3: But let's okay.

00:12:05
Speaker 2: So let's finish the thought on timon Walker because that was the thing I think that a lot of frustrated a lot of Phillies fans on Wednesday night, and I get it. So in the third inning, when Aaron Nola is getting hit around, I said to myself, this is I mean time, we're not long before we see Tywan Walker. Game we are not long. Well, Aaron Nola goes out, starts the fourth inning and gives up a home run I think it was to Mason Win to start the fourth, give up a home run to start the fourth, and then two more runs score tit Tanner Banks finally comes in, finishes the inning, pitches the fifth, and then Taiwan Walker comes in. Didn't totally like blow me away that Aaron Nola started the fourth, Jim, because, like you said, they use their high leverage guys in game one, and I'm sitting there going, all right, they really need to push Nola because now if they get into a a one run situation, they have a two run lead, they really have to kind of manage how they're going to work this. But were you guys surprised that Aaron Nola started the fourth I'm guessing Jim, you're not, Ruben. Were you surprised? Do you think he should have been out of that game after that third inning when he got knocked around pretty.

00:13:18
Speaker 5: Hard under normal circumstances, Yes, under these circumstances back end of the doubleheader. No, just because of what you said Todd. I mean, I think they're just trying to get him to get through as many innings as possible. Maybe you have a quick inning and grab another inning, because he knew at some point he was going to get Taiwan Walker in there, didn't want to get in there early so early it was sort of like the same situation.

00:13:42
Speaker 1: I think they wanted to try to get.

00:13:43
Speaker 5: Him that three inning save or get him three innings, get him seven eight nine or at least six seven eight. And I think that's the reason why Rob Thompson held on that long. He's really kind of saved the rest of his bullpen and to not put guys in, you know, in danger number one and guys in the situations where they weren't prepared.

00:14:06
Speaker 1: To do physically.

00:14:07
Speaker 5: So I think he was just trying to let Nola eat some more innings and unfortunately he just couldn't get through it.

00:14:14
Speaker 1: I mean, he just got bashed around.

00:14:17
Speaker 3: I thought it was all about the double Hunter.

00:14:18
Speaker 4: You gotta gotta try to get some innings because you played two games one day. I know you had an off day coming and Nola someone at his troubles are that one inning and maybe in the back of Rob's mind.

00:14:30
Speaker 3: He's like, Okay, we got that out of the way.

00:14:31
Speaker 4: I'm gonna see if I can get him having eleven pitch inning. And it didn't happen. They were they were sniffing out everything he was throwing.

00:14:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Rob Rob said before Game one, he said, I as he was talking looking ahead at the double header throughout the day, he says, I will not use a guy in back to back games and a double headers. So if you take him at his word, that means he didn't have Romano available. He didn't have Kirkering available. You know, Alvarado didn't didn't pitch a full inning, but maybe maybe he wasn't available as well. So now you're looking at the rest of the bullpen. You're going, if there's a if there's a lead, a tight game, maybe Taiwan Walker, Matt Strom, and then you're you know, you're looking at you know, Carlos Hernandez, and so makes it makes sense.

00:15:17
Speaker 4: Just Todd just to shift gears Ron Kirkering. Is he getting it together here a little bit? But I mean that was a big I mean, hey, they did they split, they didn't win the series, but they got a nice win in Game one.

00:15:30
Speaker 3: Lozardo another good one. They win when he takes the hill, but Kirkering another good job.

00:15:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I felt I feel like that was a big one for Kirkering because you know, coming into the season, there were so many high expectations on him and he I just felt he's been so inconsistent and so uneven. Uh the first maybe month month of the season, you know, five weeks of the season. I think he was had like a four and a half VRA. I think he entered Wednesday with the four and a half EVRA. But he was kind of scuffling in his last now six appearances. Actually he's get allowed one run in five and a third inning. So man, if that's if he is kind of figuring some stuff out, that is so so big.

00:16:15
Speaker 1: So a couple of things going back about Kirkering.

00:16:18
Speaker 5: What was the most excited exciting part about what Kirkring brought? What do you guys think I was the most fired up about when he was finished with his job yesterday.

00:16:30
Speaker 3: They padded him on the fanny. He did his job. That's what it's all about. For really, forget it.

00:16:35
Speaker 1: That's why I came out of my seat.

00:16:37
Speaker 5: I came out of my seat on the last pitch of the sequence when he threw a ninety seven mile an hour fastball to freeze somebody. And he's got to be able to throw that fastball command it. Because he throws ninety seven. He throws ninety eight at times, he can sink the ball, he can.

00:16:56
Speaker 1: Run the ball. That's gigantic for him. He has to set up.

00:16:59
Speaker 5: That slide or sweep or whatever it is with a commanded fastball.

00:17:04
Speaker 1: And it's it was in a lot of ways.

00:17:06
Speaker 5: I think it was ingenious by Rob Thompson to drop him down and for a while after he struggled, put him in the sixth inning, put him in the fifth inning, put him early in the game.

00:17:17
Speaker 1: To get his act together, to get.

00:17:18
Speaker 5: His confidence back, to get that fastball to be commanded better. And when he started pitching better, then he drifted and started to drift back into more leverage situations. And yesterday was a huge leverage situation that he brought him in because he was at the height of his confidence and ability to throw that fastball. And I think that's the beauty of what Rob Thompson could bring to the table.

00:17:43
Speaker 1: That's a subtle thing, but it's a big one.

00:17:45
Speaker 5: Is that he put the kid in a position to be ready to handle that spot, and he came through for him, And hopefully that elevates him as far as his overall confidence number One into his role in that sity situation, because it's a big one and he's important, and he's got.

00:18:04
Speaker 1: The stuff to do it, and I think he's got the gumption to do it. The the issue is he's got to command that fastball.

00:18:11
Speaker 5: He doesn't do that consistently, then he's not going to be able to do it.

00:18:15
Speaker 4: I think he's gonna When you say fast you're talking to four steamer, because I think that sinker.

00:18:19
Speaker 5: Is I'm talking about both these both man, he's got to be able to throw that. He threw some sinkers and through some four steamers. The sinker is a huge one point because.

00:18:28
Speaker 3: You've got to get something going the other way. Yeah, he's got that.

00:18:31
Speaker 1: Ye're right on it, Jim, He's got to he's got to be able to split it.

00:18:35
Speaker 4: Two nights earlier, his last the last batter he faced opening game against the Cardinals, he threw a sinker in on the right hander and it was like ninety five change and then he went with the slider sweeper away ninety five and change. It was like two different ways, and you're like and they were both down and You're like, okay, so yeah, and I agree with you.

00:19:00
Speaker 3: He's got I think he's got the.

00:19:02
Speaker 4: Gumption, he's got some as they say, some gravel in his gut. He's got a lot of good ingredients to pitch at the end of games if he can ascend there, build on this little run he's on. You really got something that said. I still want him to go out and strengthen the back of that bullpen and create a powerhouse bullpen.

00:19:20
Speaker 1: Oh, of course, absolutely, I love to have it.

00:19:22
Speaker 5: The fact that what I see from Matt Strom, who was just incredible last year, doesn't have the same finish on his pitches, doesn't you know. You can see that his I think is the losses maybe half a mile or two or a mile down just a tick and he's got great finish usually not, but doesn't have the same sort of dominant.

00:19:45
Speaker 1: Fastball excuse me that he's had in the past.

00:19:48
Speaker 5: And and I'm wondering whether he's gonna end up getting it back.

00:19:52
Speaker 1: So you're gonna need man, I'd.

00:19:55
Speaker 5: Love to have another arm back there, especially especially since Romano's Romanos and you know throw the ball real well, we can talk about him too.

00:20:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's actually, let's let's talk about Romano right after these words.

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00:21:08
Speaker 2: Welcome back. So yeah, Ryan and Kirkering gets out of the eighth inning, and it sets up Jordan Romano to come in and pitch the ninth with a two to one lad and he blows away the Cardinals. He strikes out of Von Herrera swinging on a two to two slider, Nolan Gorman's swinging on a one to two fastball, and he finishes the game striking out Alec Burleson swinging on an O two slider. Jordan Romano last six appearances. Remember what we were talking about Jordan Romano about a month ago. His last six appearances three innings, all right, I'm sorry. Six innings, three hits allowed, no runs, no walks, eight strikeouts, three saves. If Kokering and Romano are getting going, man, that's that kind of changes a lot. How you're looking about this, how you feel about this.

00:22:02
Speaker 4: You're seeing confidence build. Sometimes it takes a little time. I was thinking about this, and I've thought about this a lot.

00:22:07
Speaker 3: Over the years.

00:22:08
Speaker 4: You ask guys like O'Ryan Kirkering and Jordan Romando to get really big outs and games, important outs in the final six eight outs of the game in that pocket, and they report to spring training with the rest of the team, and sometimes they get to like they're getting huge important outs. They're getting in like the fewest innings in spring training. I know they're getting their bullpen work. I know they can do live VP backfield. I don't think it's the same. Oh yeah, it ain't close to the same. And I just wonder, and it's a fine line. You don't want to get them too much in spring training because you want to keep them strong for the long haul. But I just wonder if a lot of times some of these leverage guys, not all of them, because we see guys coming out firing and doing really well alvar but sometimes it takes relievers a little longer, certain relievers a little longer to get ready coming out of spring training because the intensity of the workload is just not there.

00:23:12
Speaker 1: And let's just talk about it.

00:23:13
Speaker 5: It's baseball, and it's not just baseball, but it's baseball. Go through different pockets of confidence and talent and success, and so sometimes you're just not on.

00:23:27
Speaker 1: Your game where you don't feel comfortable.

00:23:29
Speaker 5: I mean, when you're at the plate and you're feeling good and you're seeing the ball, it doesn't matter. The guy can throw the nastiest split and the filthiest cutters.

00:23:36
Speaker 1: In the world, and I can get my barrel to it.

00:23:39
Speaker 5: But when I'm not and I'm thinking about things and I'm not feeling comfortable and confident, I just can't. It's just like the same way you feel fluid and relaxed when you're on the mound and you're fired.

00:23:50
Speaker 1: If you're not confident about your stuff, it ain't going to happen.

00:23:54
Speaker 5: And sometimes it takes a little time for In Romano's case, I think he's mechanics. I think that he was tipping some pitches. There was a bunch of things going on. He wasn't quite ready for the season, hitting on all cylinders. He was in a new environment, all different types of stuff going on. For Kirkering, it's a new role now. All of a sudden, they're counting on him. Okay, he was in the sixth and seventh. He was important, but not that important. Now he becomes more important now, the responsibility is different. I watch and I think Kirkering and I think of Ryan Matson and I think of how Ryan Matson sort of developed and got He started off as a starter at Kirkering was always a reliever, but you know, Matson becomes goes from starter to the bullpen and then two or three years later is when Matson really came forward. I mean, Ryan Madson was doing like a ninety four to ninety five mile an hour.

00:24:46
Speaker 1: Fastball when he first started in a bullpen.

00:24:49
Speaker 5: Well, by the time he became Ryan Matson for the Phillies and we won the World Series, the man was throwing ninety six, ninety seven, ninety eight because he was confident.

00:24:58
Speaker 1: He was fluid, he leading his stuff.

00:25:01
Speaker 5: There's a whole different demeanor once you start having confidence in that role. And I feel like kirkeram can get there and be that guy, but it just takes some time.

00:25:12
Speaker 4: Look at when the eight team took off, I think there was it was mid mid mid August, and it coincided with Ryan Madison taking off, and all of a sudden they had an incredible two headed monster in that bullpen.

00:25:26
Speaker 3: It was game over.

00:25:28
Speaker 5: So jac Romero was dealing and uh, you know he was he was feeling confident, he had lost his confidence when he was pitching in with the Angels in Boston and whatever, and then he started gaining confidence and so did Madson and was you know, and.

00:25:43
Speaker 1: Just like off off the hook.

00:25:45
Speaker 2: Well, Ruby, last night yesterday on X you mentioned that the you thought Romano slider had some fellow a little legit.

00:25:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was the shape of it, or what it was, the shape of it, I mean the swing and the miss.

00:26:00
Speaker 1: I mean they were missing that slider by like this much. Yeah, I mean they were missing it by a lot.

00:26:05
Speaker 5: And so that means to me that it's got the kind of depth and it has the kind of deception because he was throwing that rising fastball, which he does and which he did when he was closing for Toronto and having success, and then backing it up with the spin on that slider, that slider, And I don't know the numbers, and I don't have the numbers. I don't even know if they have the numbers back then when LYDG was throwing it. But that was a very similar shape to the slider. It was literally a twelve sixer. So sliders typically go what eleven five or ten four or whatever you want to and that kind of an angle. This was going what you means straight down, man, and you cannot as a hitter.

00:26:46
Speaker 1: I mean, I always felt like the curveball was the toughest pish.

00:26:48
Speaker 5: For me because because of the plane that it goes through, like the twelve sixth plane, you know, Greg Olson's curveball, I couldn't hit, no chance. And I couldn't hit Drebeck's breaking ball, the older dre back because their breaking ball was a spin down.

00:27:03
Speaker 1: That's the toughest one to hit because it's it's cutting straight down the plane.

00:27:08
Speaker 5: And uh and I really felt like that's what I saw in Romano slider. Don't know if he's gonna do it every time out, but if he does, holy smokes.

00:27:15
Speaker 4: I mean everybody used to think Lynch's slider was a hard splitter because it was that late boom, but it was it was a slider. It was a tight, you know, downward break, and it was really one of the most unique sliders in the game, right there with c C. Sabathia and Java Chamberlain had a slider like that too.

00:27:32
Speaker 3: It didn't it.

00:27:33
Speaker 4: Didn't go lateral, it went down. You're looking at it, but he's a slide. Brad Lynch incredibly strong forearms. You could torqu that ball man, and if if, if, if Romano wants to start doing that regularly.

00:27:46
Speaker 1: That's the that's the shape I saw.

00:27:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's something that's.

00:27:51
Speaker 1: Love.

00:27:52
Speaker 3: That pitch one of the most really honestly.

00:27:54
Speaker 5: One of the most dominant pitches in the game, one of the most fas you could tell people who was coming and you could not hit it.

00:28:01
Speaker 4: One of the most honestly, when you think about the history of this ball club, one of the most famous pitches in the history and important pitches in the history of this ball club, right right there with Carlton's back foot slider. I'm telling you because they won a World Series. You know, he was one of the pillars of the team that won the World Series, you know, and it was you know, that pitch was so important to his forty eight for forty eight season, no doubt.

00:28:25
Speaker 2: Kind of a behind the scenes thing. So after Game one, we're down in the postgame press conference and I asked Rob Thompson and I say, do you see Romano's confidence growing, you know, kind of connauing to kind of grow over the last few And he says, I'm going to tell you something. People say this front office didn't make any moves. Well, that was a huge move for this ball club. You know, he's getting better and better his his his fastball, his slider, his change up, and he said a couple of other things. And I'm sitting there going on, oh crap, is this guy throwing it? Romano doesn't throw it throw a change up. He misheard me, he thought he he thought I said, Lizardo. So you're gonna see some quotes out there.

00:29:10
Speaker 9: I'm going, Wow, this is a bold comment from Rob. He must be really fired up about Jordan Romano. And then I realized that he misheard me, Lizardo Romano. So if you see any quotes today of Rob saying saying this really bold comment in regards to Jordan Romano, he misheard me.

00:29:29
Speaker 4: I think I think he knows that the opposing team, they read your stories, Todd, and he's trying to put.

00:29:35
Speaker 3: That in the back of their mind, that this guy's now throwing a change up.

00:29:38
Speaker 2: Change But I was sitting there, I didn't really hear anything after that, sing going what Romano change up? Anyway?

00:29:49
Speaker 1: Goes?

00:29:50
Speaker 10: I think he misheard you because he doesn't throw a change up like Okay, Oh, thank God, I thought I was an idiot along those lines.

00:29:57
Speaker 5: I mean, I actually posted that and sarcastically, well, but they ran it back and I posted I got trolled for it. But the reality of it is this, when you add a player like Lizardo and potentially a closer in a guy like Romano who can do some things that are pretty special, think about that what that does for your team.

00:30:19
Speaker 1: I'm just talking overall.

00:30:20
Speaker 5: You talk about twenty percent of your rotation, okay, twenty percent of your games, and in the quality of a guy like Lozardo Okay, I don't know how many quality starts you're gonna end up with. He's probably gonna have like eighteen to twenty two. But you have that, and then you you know, you couple that with a guy like Romano who could end up you know, getting twenty to five to you know, thirty saves, however it works out, but whatever, an effective guy that helps you win baseball games.

00:30:47
Speaker 1: Then you're not running it back. That's not running it back.

00:30:50
Speaker 11: And people say, well, you run well, the lineup is very similar, yes, and you have a different left fielder, but you're not necessarily running it back. And that's what sort of frustrates me as an x G that Yes, I mean, did they want to make some moves.

00:31:04
Speaker 1: At third base? Did then we do some X, Y and Z. Well it didn't, It didn't pan out and didn't happen. But they didn't bring back the same exact team. That's all I'm saying.

00:31:14
Speaker 2: I think just a lot of people just had no idea how good Lozardo was because they hadn't they've maybe seen him pitch what three times against the Phillies. I don't know how many times he faced the Phillies in his career, but probably wasn't a lot. I know he pitched for the Marlins. I know he pitched against them, opened up the Wildcard Series a couple of years ago. But you don't see guy pitch a lot. You see the numbers. Yeah, but he didn't have a great record with the Marlins. He had a you know, he had was like eleven and eleven that year when he pitched. Well, I mean you go, like, eah, is this kindny good? Well, he's been really really good.

00:31:52
Speaker 1: Really good. And he when he's healthy, he's really good.

00:31:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, really good.

00:31:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, like top fifteen starters good.

00:32:00
Speaker 2: And this yeah, and that sweeper has really he's skyrocketed. I mean, what a great what a great addition to his repertoire. I mean, that's really he's been justum and.

00:32:09
Speaker 5: A credit to their staff for helping him through it, you know, give Gothip and others.

00:32:14
Speaker 2: I mean, I like the guy fantastic. So a couple things were on wrap up. Kyle Schwarber's on base streak ended in game two forty seven game on base streak did not get on or I'm sorry after game one and it did not get on base in game one. I just wanted to mention this. I looked this up the last so then he Homer's in game two.

00:32:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so he's going again.

00:32:40
Speaker 2: He has maybe started in a new street. The last time Kyle Schwarber has not gotten on base in two or more consecutive games July twenty second, July twenty third of last season. That's crazy, that is crazy. That's crazy.

00:32:57
Speaker 1: I mean, he's also the reason why he was leading off.

00:33:02
Speaker 2: I mean, that's just wild to me. So I wanted to mention that the the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town on Friday, you might run I'll run through the pitching matchups real quick. Uh, Friday night six forty five, Rangers, Suarez, Andrew Haney, Saturday six so five, Zach Wheeler, Carmen Midzinski. I should know this. That sounds like Midzinsky's m Yeah. Yeah. And then Sunday is Christopher Sanchez versus Paul Schiens here the Skiener. The Skiiner will be out there on on on Sunday afternoons.

00:33:44
Speaker 1: So there.

00:33:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question. That's a great question. It's not too far from the fill.

00:33:51
Speaker 1: Check out the restaurants here.

00:33:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:33:53
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Hey, maybe a little better scene than Pittsburgh. No offense, no offense, no event. But guys, we'll be back. We got another show coming on Friday. If you want to ask us a question, throw it in the comments section on YouTube, throw it in the comments section on x, Instagram, anywhere, and we will try to get some questions on Friday. And that's I guess. I'll see you guys tomorrow then on Friday.

00:34:23
Speaker 3: Right looking forward to it, and for now, I will smell you later, your Jim.

00:34:29
Speaker 10: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

00:34:36
Speaker 2: If you like us, give us a review.

00:34:39
Speaker 10: 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 phly dot com. Find me at MLB dot com, the Phillies Beat newsletter, and MLB Network