Phillies add Adolis García and Brad Keller. Is J.T. Realmuto next?

00:00:04
Speaker 1: All right, this is Chase that Lee. This is a Philly show.

00:00:07
Speaker 2: Rubenamar Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's the Lucky. It's a Philly show. It is Thursday, December eighteenth, twenty twenty five. How's everybody doing? Jim, how are you doing?

00:00:19
Speaker 3: Ruben?

00:00:20
Speaker 2: Are you doing.

00:00:24
Speaker 3: Going?

00:00:24
Speaker 2: We're going?

00:00:25
Speaker 4: Seriously, look at all the red we are.

00:00:29
Speaker 2: It's the holiday. We're very festive. We need a little eggnog in our hands. Maybe a little hot chocolate with some Bailey's in it. That's my hot chocolate. Well, the Phillies introduced a Doulas Garcia on Tuesday. I wanted to ask you guys about that. I wanted to talk about that. And also on Wednesday, like less than twenty four hours after, Dave Debrowski said, hey, you know, we don't really have any big needs. We will get a reliever who knows. We want to get JT back two years, twenty two million dollars for Brad Keller, so they kind of bolstered the help bolster the back end of their bullpen.

00:01:14
Speaker 5: Interesting move had a great year with the Cubs, really has found himself as a reliever. He's a former starter, tough on Righty's I mean, Dombrowski hinted that they wanted to get a picture in here who could handle right handed batters a little bit. My immediate takeaway was, Okay, you know, they just spent ten million on Adulas Garcia. They're budgeting for JT Realmudo, They've already signed Kyle Schwarber to a five year deal worth thirty per They're up against the tacks. They're going to be over three hundred million. Again, where are they coming up with this money? I'm wondering if they're going to end up moving another reliever, or they have a plan to move an infielder to free up some money, or if this is a sign that maybe things aren't going well with JT. I don't want to be an alarmist there, because I still believe he's going to end up back here. I guess I would more lean toward maybe they would subtract some salary. I wonder if if they were to move Strom, if Keller is sort of a back end of the bullpen set up type replacement for Strom from the right side. So a lot of things that you know will become clear here as the winter progresses. But an interesting movement guy I think can help them.

00:02:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've always thought that this was a priority for them, regardless of what else was going to happen with regard to Schwarber and JT. I thought the right handed guy, the guy that would hand the baseball to Juan Duran, was a huge one for them. Now Strom has done a decent job, Alvarado's back, and Tanner Banks was outstanding, I thought in his role not necessarily an eighth inning, lockdown guy. But those guys all in their roles did a nice job. But you really didn't really get what you wanted to get out of oryon Kirkering number one, and he had to struggle at the very end. You're not sure how he's going to bounce back from that. But my feeling was that they really did need somebody who was closer to a lockdown eighth inning guy that they felt comfortable enough to get the ball to Joan Duran to close out the games. I think this is a move not just made for the season, but a move also made for the playoffs, because that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to win in the playoffs and trying to win a World Series and This is one of those moves that I believe will help them do that. Since Keller has been as good as he has been in his whole career last year, recency bias here, but this man was pretty darn good.

00:03:46
Speaker 2: He was really good last season, really tough on righty's. He had one of the best eras of any reliever in baseball. Lost whips, a great strikeout rate. It's amazing going from the rotation of the bullpen. He had thrascic outlets surgery in October of twenty three, struggled in twenty twenty four, comes back this year. He adds like three miles an hour on his fastball and he still got like three or four other pitches that he throws. So just really great repertoire that really generates a lot of swing and miss, generates a lot of chase. And you're right, if they hit on him, which they need to hit on him now next next July, you're not sitting there. We talked about this on Tuesday Show. You know, you don't need to go out and get a They gotta get a closer, and they got to get this guy. Maybe maybe you know, they don't need to worry so much about the bullpen this July. But you know, Jim, you mentioned like JT situation and maybe they move some salary or they they're planning on it. You know. When Dave Dombrowski spoke on Tuesday, I think a lot of people are like, don't tell me, this is it is this it A lot of people upset, upset, upset. And I made this point to somebody earlier and I said, you know, the off season is not finished yet. You don't know what's gonna happen. You know, this is like you know, shortly after Brad Keller signed. I mean, they can still go out and make a trade. Maybe JT re signs, maybe he doesn't. Maybe if JT doesn't re sign, they invest some money elsewhere to help the line up. I mean, there's a lot of different ways they could go yet, so I wouldn't be really surprised by anything, but certainly, you know, I think Brad Keller was an important piece to get as they look to shape his bullpen. So now they basically have six guys in the bullpen. Duran on the right hand side, darn Kirk, Ring, Keller Strom, Alvarado Banks from the left side. That leaves two open spots in the bullpen. Coming up later in the show, we had a conversation with the Phillies Rule five draft pick Zach mccambley, who when the Phillies drafted him, drafted him at the winter meetings. They made a point to mention how they're really looking for somebody who's really tough on right handed hitters, and last season in the Marlins organization, he was really really tough on right handed hitters. So they like some of their other younger options. So a lot of do you guys, Ruben, do you agree that maybe Dave has something up his sleeve, or maybe we shouldn't sit there and go they're done. Well, they're definitely not done.

00:06:12
Speaker 4: The roster will not be cleaned up until shoot, March twenty eighth or whatever it is. I mean, the reality of it is their job is to, you know, GM's job is to continue to try to improve the team.

00:06:25
Speaker 2: One way, shape or another.

00:06:27
Speaker 4: And you don't stop until you're in April, and you don't stop then until you're in October. And so I mean it's a never ending process. I know that the Philly fans tend to jump on every single move thinking it's the last. But listen, Dave Debrowski's been doing it this a long long time. A lot of things good things happening for the Philly fans. One they got an owner who is dying to have a trophy. Two he's willing to pay what is necessary to bring that trophy. Three you have a veteran Hall of Fame type GM who knows what it takes to be a world champion. And four you've got a roster that has been a contender for the last three or four years and you're adding to it. This is going to end up being, I believe, as good a team, if not better than any of the teams that we've just seen. The twenty twenty five team is better than twenty twenty four. The twenty twenty four team was better than twenty twenty three. So you're getting an improved team. They're not they haven't had the success in the playoffs, but as far as the quality and the ability on the team, you're getting a better team every year. And that's what they're trying to do to bring this home.

00:07:46
Speaker 5: So the Philly fans should.

00:07:47
Speaker 4: Be excited about the effort that they're putting forward and the holes that they're trying to.

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Speaker 2: The plug we real quick before we get to Zach mccambley, what did you guys make out of the Adulas Garcia media availability, kind of what he said about his ability to kind of rebound from the past two years, and also maybe what Dave Dembrowski and Rob Thompson had his head. Anything jump out to you guys about Garcia.

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Speaker 5: Nothing really jumped out. I mean, we know his what he's done when he's good. I mean twenty twenty three when he hit thirty nine home runs, one hundred and seven RBIs and I think he drove in twenty two runs in the postseason. Absolutely dynamic offensive player and a very good defensive player that season. He's taking big steps backward the last two years offensively with Ops's and the sixes. They need more than that. They need to just lineup begging for a right handed producer. And you know, I do think the ingredients are good for potential bounce back if he can cut down on the swing and miss and the chase. But you know, we've heard that from guys before, and some are able to do it and some aren't able to do it. Maybe a different voice in the hitting coach department will help him, but you know, they really could. I I'm okay with the signing. It didn't cost him a lot of money, and I think he's a guy that, even without a full bounce back, can hit twenty five home runs in this ballpark.

00:09:30
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:09:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I talked to Dave Dombrowski. I was supposed to ask a question, and my UH and my my computer went on the on the frips, so I ended up not able to ask the question during the course of the UH of the media availability, but I texted him later and we chatted, and basically what I asked him was a two part question. One, did you feel confident that having k Long and their hitting department if he was a guy, a candidate. The reason why they brought him in is that they would be confident that they he'd be able to maybe able to work with him to make some of the adjustments to make more consistent contact because he strikes out a lot.

00:10:08
Speaker 2: That's not sugarcoat it.

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Speaker 4: The man punches out a ton and they don't need punch outs on this team, but they do need power. And Dave said he felt confident that k Long and his group could help him out that's number one and number two. I think he also sort of alluded to the fact that Crawford was going to play center field, and the reason why he felt probably a little bit more comfortable giving him the job in center field right now for him to lose was because now he had quality on the corners.

00:10:35
Speaker 2: And I'm talking about defensive quality in Marsh and adlas.

00:10:38
Speaker 4: Garcia, which is an outstanding two thirds of an outfield. Now you're hoping that Crawford you can play well enough to make it even a better outfield and defensively, especially from last year.

00:10:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, good pointes. That means Harrison Bader very very unlikely to return and less again his market craters for some reason, and he's dangling out there.

00:11:03
Speaker 5: In like February. If he's out there, the said I think Jim made a.

00:11:08
Speaker 4: Really good point about the possibility since they have the three left handers and some of them are making some money.

00:11:13
Speaker 2: Both Alvarado and and Strong are.

00:11:16
Speaker 4: Making some money into possibility that probably feel like if they have to and they have to move some salary, and maybe you have to create some salary for a guy like JT for instance, if in fact they have not planned on that kind of upside. You know, they probably feel like they can move somebody now because they have Keller in the fold.

00:11:38
Speaker 2: All right, guys, well, let go ahead, Jim No.

00:11:42
Speaker 5: And I was gonna say, like you said earlier, it's a must that they have some quality right handed insurance for Oriyan Kirker. And we all like the guy and hope he bounces back. But I'm even referring to beyond that, he had a real tough season with inherited runners and they need to be better than that from the right side. And then you you know, compound it with the what happened in October and it just becomes a question mark that you needed to add some insurance behind. So I definitely like the move of Brad Keller.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And so here we go right now. Zach mccambleygue and the Phillies drafted him in the Rule five draft, selected him in the Rule five draft last week, and he will be competing for a bullpen job this spring. Zach mccambley, thanks for joining the Philly Show. Congratulations on I guess his congratulations and being selected in the Rule five draft is that how do you look at it?

00:12:51
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:12:51
Speaker 3: Thank you, guys, man. Super excited. Didn't really know what to expect out of the Rule five draft. Obviously, I've been with Miami a twenty so, you know, wasn't really expecting anything anything from it.

00:13:09
Speaker 1: I got a text leading up to the week.

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Speaker 3: Of that draft from my agent just saying, you know, there's a chance that you can go.

00:13:16
Speaker 1: So it ended up happening. So I'm I'm hype about it.

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Speaker 2: And I imagine you come into every spring, like I'm sure like everybody super excited about camp and getting baseball going. But now knowing that the Phillies have every incentive to give you a really long look this spring, and and and you know they really want you to make this team, does that get you even more excited? U? Does? Do you look at the spring any differently than any other with the Marlins? Yeah?

00:13:43
Speaker 3: So, uh, I finally get a chance to you know, compete for a spot. I think that's the biggest thing for me. You know, the last five years I've been a non roster invite. I've been a backup guy for Miami. So I've come in and I've been familiar with the big league games in the big league setting.

00:14:00
Speaker 1: But to be able to finally get.

00:14:03
Speaker 3: A chance at a legit shot to you know, earn a spot for myself.

00:14:07
Speaker 1: I couldn't be happier about.

00:14:09
Speaker 2: It, Zach.

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Speaker 5: Do you know much about the history of the Rule five draft? Here in Philadelphia we had Shane Victor Reno and Dave Hollins, and then you know, in a bigger scope, Johann Santana was a Rule five pick, great pitcher. Do you draw any inspiration from their stories the opportunities they received and ultimately cashed in on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so, honestly, not really familiar with much of the history of the Rule five Obviously me growing up being from Pennsylvania. You know, when I was younger, I remember going to some of the Lehigh Valley games and getting a chance to meet, you know, some of the guys there when I was able to, you know, go on the.

00:14:54
Speaker 1: Field with them and see them.

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Speaker 3: So I know, it's a it's a it's an honor to be able to be selected. I know not every team you know took a guy this year during the draft, but for the Phillies to consider me and be really happy when my name got picked, I couldn't be happier to get a chance here.

00:15:14
Speaker 4: Hey, Zach, congratulations Ruben tomorrow here, And I just was curious whether or not you knew much about the Phillies organization, how they handle pitching, what they're pitching, you know, instruction, their philosophy. Have you talked to anybody about that? And do you know much about how they go about things on the mound.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I haven't been able to get too much in depth with them. We haven't talked too much. I'm actually gonna get on a call with some of the guys today. But you know, as soon as I'm able to get more information from them, I know, you know, just on a brief conversation with them, you know, they understand that my splits, I'm really hard on right hand batters. So for them, it was they were super excited about my strike throwing ability this past year.

00:16:07
Speaker 1: I know in the past I you know, my walk rate's been up a little bit.

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Speaker 3: But you know, for them, they basically just told me, come in and do your thing, be exactly who you are, and continue to be hard on right hand bats.

00:16:23
Speaker 4: Zach.

00:16:24
Speaker 2: The Phillies mentioned that when they drafted you that you are really tough on right handed batters. And one thing that they mentioned, the Phillies pro scouting director Mike Gondo said that you have a very and looking at the numbers, you have a very heavy cutter slider mix. And that's something I feel like, Is that something new once you started pitching out of the bullpen and can you talk about, you know, how you how those pitches are different and how they work for you.

00:16:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.

00:16:52
Speaker 3: So earlier in my career, I was just a four team slider guy. I've always had the same slider grip and this year, finally we needed something.

00:17:04
Speaker 1: To bridge the two.

00:17:06
Speaker 3: So I have the big sweeper that moves fifteen up to twenty two inches horizontal and then this little bullet gyro that I threw. I've always had a really good ability to spin the baseball. I'm a huge souperinator. So for me, it was finding something to bridge the two. And I was able to keep this gyro pitch as a cutter. I don't think cutter when I I kind of just, you know, think get on the side of the ball and it creates that bullet spin. It usually stays between the fives, it's like four and three, and it kind of just bridges that gap between my four team and then my big my big slider, which I also tweaked this offseason to get more horizontal break on it.

00:17:50
Speaker 2: Can you show us, I know you have a baseball there in your hands, can you show us how you throw the gyro slash cutter. Let's start with that and kind of ye watch through.

00:18:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, so gyro right here, I'm covering this this blue here.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: It's pretty simple.

00:18:08
Speaker 3: I'm getting on the side of the ball here, mini spike, mini spike.

00:18:16
Speaker 1: And I'm just on the side of the ball right here.

00:18:21
Speaker 2: Very cool, that's awesome. And then what about so and you call the other the other breaking ball. You called it, call it a sweeper or a slider.

00:18:32
Speaker 3: So the sweeper, the sweeper is I'm right on these two seams right here. I put my middle finger right there, make sure my thumb's locked in, and I just lay this this pointer finger right next to it. Cut that off completely. And I'm down here to get the more sweep. I used to be up here a little bit more, and now I'm down here and I'm not thinking curveball, I'm not thinking slider. I'm just thinking throw it as hard as I can at the hitter's face. And that's my thoughts with the sweeper As for the gyro, the gyro is just a smaller, give me over pitch. You know, I've I've realized that I've been able to jam a lot of guys in especially right he's getting under the hands of lefties. So yeah, pretty simple pitches.

00:19:21
Speaker 1: Gyro right here.

00:19:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've really really been a big help for me. The gyro was a massive upgrade for me, especially with my four team not having the same kind of numbers that I used to get on it. I'm actually currently working on that right now to see if i can get my ride back.

00:19:41
Speaker 1: So but yeah, those two pitches my bread and butter.

00:19:44
Speaker 3: I'm able to throw them in the zone induced weak contact, So it's been good for me.

00:19:49
Speaker 1: Man, that's awesome, Zach.

00:19:51
Speaker 5: I'm interested in your in your background, you grew up near the Pocono was correct?

00:19:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I was born in Neckan, New Jersey, but I grew up in the Pocono Mountains and actually I was able to uh, I was able to play. My high school played in the Lehigh Valley Stadium all the time, so I'm super familiar with that area over there. And yeah, man, like I said, I grew up going to Phillies games, going up to all kinds of games up there. I'm from the Northeast, so when I when I heard that the Phillies took me, I was super shocked. And I know a lot of my family my friends back home were super excited for it.

00:20:30
Speaker 5: So who was your favorite Phillies picture as you were growing up? Who did you enjoy watching.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: All my favorite Philly pictures?

00:20:40
Speaker 2: Man?

00:20:41
Speaker 3: I remember, I'm not a lefty now, but I just I'm not a lefty, but I loved Cliff Lee. I thought Cliff Lee was awesome back in the day. I thought he was a stud.

00:20:51
Speaker 1: Obviously, Roy Holliday nasty rest in peace. But yeah, man, that too.

00:20:57
Speaker 3: I remember that two thousand and eight or two thousand nine, nineteen, just with Jimmy Rollins, all those guys, Chase Udy. I it's like surreal that they wanted to you know, they want me to be a part of that. So it's it's super exciting.

00:21:09
Speaker 5: And I wanted to point out Ruben was general manager and the assistant general manager on a lot of those teams you grew up rooting for, and you and him both played for Cotuit in the Cape League.

00:21:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I pitched with k Who did you say also pitched there?

00:21:32
Speaker 2: I did.

00:21:32
Speaker 4: I played there, played there for two years. We won the championship there.

00:21:36
Speaker 1: One year, kettle Hoe, we wanted to That's awesome. That's right, money, that's right.

00:21:44
Speaker 3: We won that thing, man, Yes, one of my favorite summers, by the way.

00:21:50
Speaker 5: And you went to Coastal Carolina. You just missed the national championship, didn't you?

00:21:56
Speaker 2: Just?

00:21:57
Speaker 1: I mean shit, man.

00:21:58
Speaker 3: I I committed to Coastal Carolina when I was super young.

00:22:02
Speaker 1: I was probably fourteen or.

00:22:04
Speaker 3: Fifteen, So I was with them before they won the national championship.

00:22:08
Speaker 1: I was.

00:22:09
Speaker 3: I was committed to them, So I like to I like to claim that. I like to claim that I was with them before they won the national championship. But I owe a lot to them, man, Coastal You know, to be a man, I wasn't ready to come into PROBA out of high school. So to be able to go there learn by myself, develop my skills, it's kind of just brought me to like where I am today.

00:22:35
Speaker 4: Hey, Zach, are you very familiar with the team that you're going to be joining. I mean, I know that they've had a lot of playoffs and they've had you know, obviously a lot of press and stuff. Been a playoff contending team. Do you know much about the team and what observe observations do you have about the current Phillies.

00:22:52
Speaker 3: Yes, so obviously, you know, I'm always I've always kept up, you know, obviously with what's going on in the same division.

00:23:02
Speaker 1: I know the talent is through the roof.

00:23:03
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be awesome to be in the same locker room as some of the best players to play the game, you know, Bright Harp or Tray Turner.

00:23:13
Speaker 1: You know, you can go, you can go on.

00:23:15
Speaker 3: Being able to you know, just being from Pennsylvania is surreal. And you know, I think the team's in a good spot.

00:23:25
Speaker 4: Man.

00:23:25
Speaker 3: I think I know they want to win. I know the Philly fans are super you know, super passionate, and yeah, man, I'm super excited. I can't wait to get to work with the guys.

00:23:40
Speaker 1: Introduce myself.

00:23:41
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go over there, actually, because I'm in Tampa right now. I'm gonna go over to the facility at the end of January and I'm gonna start getting in there and getting acclimated and getting used to delay the land.

00:23:52
Speaker 1: A little bit. So I'm excited.

00:23:54
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Well, Zach, Zach, Yeah, Zach, good luck man. We appreciate you spending some time with this. Look forward to seeing you in spring training, and good luck with everything.

00:24:05
Speaker 1: I appreciate it.

00:24:07
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