Best of Phillies on 94WIP: Reacting to Phillies First Week of 2026 Season, How Worried Should We Be?

You're listening to the best of sports radio 94 WIP.

Yes, it is that time of the week, a Fransky Friday on the WIP midday show.

Of course, Scott Fransky sponsored by Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm.

As the Phillies get set for their first road trip of the season, starting today this weekend

in Colorado and then a trip out to San Francisco early next week.

Scott, Fransky with us now as the Phillies get ready for an afternoon game for the Rockies

homeowner.

Scott, how are you?

I'm great.

How are you guys?

Pretty good.

Pretty good.

Scott, my first question out right out of the gate is, do you think Andrew Panticoot

will win a little bit longer in that game?

Just curious.

I think he was probably out of gas.

I think he was.

That was good.

No, it was really good.

I was just kind of curious.

You know, because...

You have the alternate number on his strikeouts.

Did you have 10 plus?

I didn't have 10 plus, but no.

The reason I was asked, because I was thinking like four and two-thirds innings, did a little

bit longer than that.

And I was just wondering, was there a thought that, you know, maybe he could have win a

little bit longer?

That's all.

Well, you went five and a third.

Yeah.

Got into the sixth.

Fifth starter, rookie, first time out.

Give up one run.

Yeah.

I'm not complaining.

Definitely not complaining.

Definitely not complaining.

Yeah, one of the things I think they look at is, you know, Velo, and I think it was

coming down in that inning.

It started, you know, the inning before, it was a little bit longer innings.

So, yeah, I think, you know, I think it was not a bad time to get him out of there.

I actually wasn't so sure he was going back out, even to start the inning, you know.

But, you know, topper, I think he can be somewhat conservative sometimes in that regard and

say, hey, look, we got five out of the kid, I'm going to let him in on a high note, not

going to put him in a spot where, you know, maybe he's out of gas and so I think they

just kind of went with the idea that if they get a base run or on, we'll take him out.

I tell you what, those guys, when he, when he hit 99, oh, yeah, I was like, good, googly.

Yeah.

He looked effortless, like, for real, he looked like he's somebody, he's special, he

looks real special.

You know, the 99 is great.

I think he'll probably, we'll see better fastball command.

You know, night in, night out for him.

I think he'll need to have that, but his command of his secondary is what's, to me, really

impressive at his age, to have a kid to come to the major leagues for the first time and

to be able to, you know, fall behind 2 and 0 and not be forced to throw another fastball,

right?

He's got confidence he can flip a curveball up there for strike or backdoor slider, you

know, the left hand batter, something like that.

And those are the kinds of things that separate the good from the great and for him to be

able to have that kind of command at his age, I think is, there's, there's a ton to work

with here in terms of ability.

He's going to have his nights where he struggles.

Every starter does, certainly every rookie starter does, but there's a ton to work with.

You know what, another thing he's got, he threw a lot of different pitches, do you see that

a lot when you have young, young pitches come out like that the first time out?

Because I don't think he shook JT off like not, not, I didn't see him shaking off at

all.

Yeah, and I didn't, I don't know specifically how many times if at all that happened,

but yes, he's got a bigger arsenal than the average bear that gets to the big leagues

for the first time.

I mean, nowadays, you know, some of these kids are barely getting there with three pitches,

three big league caliber pitches.

And you know, he's got what, five or six almost, when you really, when you really add

him up.

So, I mean, this guy, like I said, there's ton to work with there, he'll, he'll get better,

his command will improve, his, his stamina will improve as he gets later into the season

and they build him up and his strength is there.

So I see nothing to, to really shake your head out.

I think it's, there's, the, the fillies have something that they feel like can be really,

really good for a really long time.

Scott Fransky with us here on a fransky Friday.

Scott, I feel like the, the story and, and the good story of the Phillies versus games are

the two rookies in their country.

So we just talked about painter and then there's Justin Crawford, the walkoff hit a couple

days ago.

And just in general, he just looks very comfortable.

He looks to me like he's ready to be here.

And the, the profile we, we saw a little bit in spring training and heard about Justin

Crawford.

I'm seeing it.

He's not on the ball.

He doesn't swing in much much.

He will swing early in counts.

The ball is more on the ground than the air, but it's got, it's only six games, but the

success he's had, it feels like this is the way he's played, basically his whole minor

lead career.

It's work then.

So far it's working here.

And he looks comfortable to play to me.

He does look comfortable.

The way he carries himself, the way he approaches it at that, I, I, again, I've been impressed.

It's a really small sample size.

But he's not doing anything different than he didn't do last year at Triple L. I mean,

it's the same formula for success for him.

He's hitting the ball on the ground.

He's beating out hits.

He's, you know, he's definitely beat out a few that are big high choppers that, you know,

a guy with less speed is not going to get, going to be safe on.

But that's his profile.

That's who he is.

And that's how he got here.

And there's no reason to ask him to be anything different.

You know, that we'll see that the time will come two weeks, three weeks as the book

starts to build on him.

They'll find different ways to get him out.

They'll find different ways to attack him.

And, you know, it will be a constant process of adjustment for him because he'll start to

see different pitches and different counts and different, you know, attack styles and things

like that.

And he'll have to make the adjustments, but so far so good.

Scott, with the caveat that it's early, I don't expect any, I don't think it's anything

drastic changed with the lineup now, you know, early in April.

But at some point, Scott watching a Dolas Garcia here this past series, extra base hits,

a home run, obviously his defense is good in the right field.

So that's going to be good the whole year, but his spot in the lineup, if a Dolas continues

to play well, maybe showing he's going to bounce back to closer what he was a few years

ago.

And if Alec Bohm doesn't have a big April here, do you think at some point there would

be a consideration to a Dolas Garcia as that, as the righty moving up in the lineup to

protect those top three rather than where he is now?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think Rob Thompson, his mind is open.

He started with something, he wants to give it a full go and a full try to see what it

looks like.

And obviously, those top four guys in the order didn't have the greatest opening homestand.

They're not necessarily guys you worry a whole lot about.

But I do think his mind is open to making adjustments along the way.

He just isn't going to do it after five games or six games.

He's going to take three weeks, see what it looks like and make changes in criminality

that way.

But yeah, I mean, this is still very much a situation where if one guy proves his value

over another, that guy's going to get different opportunities going forward and those changes

will get made.

He's just not in a position where he's going to do it right away after six games.

Got it.

It's an interesting first road trip, you know, the Phillies bats primarily didn't have

a huge homestand.

Now they got going at the end and had the big comeback a couple days ago, but they didn't

score a ton of runs over the course of the six games.

And now it's got typically, you always look at, I always look at the part of the schedule

like, when do they go to course fields?

And I wonder, okay, that could be a spot for the lineup to wake up.

It also is a challenging spot always for starting pitchers and all the pitchers, the relief

pitchers too.

But it is an interesting first road trip because this could be a weekend for the Phillies

bats.

Got to wake up here, you know, in the thin air of course field.

Well, it could be, you know, of course field, you never know, it's, you know, obviously

a lot of home runs could happen in this ballpark, but a lot of bass hits can happen in this

ballpark too because the outfield is so enormous.

It's, I took a walk for coffee this morning.

It's cold here today.

It's 72 yesterday.

It's not going to be anywhere near that today.

It's really windy.

Today could be a real adventure.

Hopefully the sun stays shining and it's a little warmer for the players on the field,

but I know it's a cold start to the day.

So that could also play into the offense once they get out there and, you know, first

pitch is, you know, I don't know what the temps are going to be, but I don't think it's

supposed to get over 54 or 55 somewhere in there today and with a pretty good breeze

that could be a chilly afternoon.

Scott, let's talk about Bryce Harper.

So home run, it's helped that come back a couple days ago, which was great to see beyond

that.

It's been a slow start for him.

What are you noticing?

The one thing that stood out to me is it doesn't feel to me that he's hitting the ball

extremely hard.

He's not striking out a whole bunch.

I think it's maybe five strikeouts in his first 25 or 27 played appearance.

It's not crazy.

But it's just when the, some of those hits the left feel feel like they're just, there's

not much up to them.

What are you noticing so far with Bryce?

I think that comes from me and in between a little bit.

He just looks like he's a little late on fastballs.

He's a bit early on everything else.

When he hits it hard on a breaking ball and he's early, we saw him hit a few balls really

hard, but foul down the right field line.

You see him get out front, it's off the end of the bat, it's off the left, that kind

of thing.

I think that's timing in a lot of respects and it can be a fickle thing for a hitter.

We've seen Bryce do this, Bryce will go through these stretches, but when his timing is

on, again, I think like you pointed out, it's not a ton of strikeouts.

He's generally swinging at strikes, I think.

I haven't really dug deep into the numbers because again, it's such a small sample.

I'm not sure how much value there is in that, but I think for the most part, he's swinging

at strikes and that's something he's vowed to do more of this year.

I think over the long haul, that will benefit him more over the course of the year because

again, it's about getting a good pitch to hit.

I think if he keeps that mindset and there's no panic from him, of course, he's frustrated.

He wants to be hitting better, but it's not a situation where he's panicking or he feels

like he's way out of whack.

I just think his timing is a little off right now.

Scott, let's end with Aaron Nola who will take the ball today.

Not a great first outing, but it's one outing and we saw him throw pretty well in spring

training.

What did you notice, Nola has passed Saturday and your expectation tonight and moving

forward here?

Again, I think it's, stuff was okay.

The Velo wasn't really back to where we saw in the World Baseball Classic.

Again, he can pitch at 92.93 pretty successfully.

If his command is there, with every notch you go down on the Velo ladder, the command has

to go up a notch and I just don't think he was there the other day.

I'm not sure really the reason why, but he will death.

I think he's one of the more intriguing storylines of the rotation because I think we tend

to think that maybe Luzardo, that was a bit of a blip or an aberration.

Sanchez, obviously, was really good the first time.

He struggled a little bit, whatever that was two days ago, with the walks and his command.

I do think Nola is a big storyline because, again, if the Velo isn't much like last year,

if the Velo isn't at 92 plus, 93, maybe touch 94 here and there, then his command has

got to be a lot, lot better and it just wasn't there that first start.

Trust me, Coursfield is not a great place to rely on curveballs and you can get hurt

with that because it's hard sometimes to throw breaking balls in this environment.

So today could be a challenge for him, we'll see.

No question, Scott.

We appreciate you hopping on.

We'll be listening.

Enjoy Colorado, San Francisco.

We'll catch up when you guys get home next week for a homestand.

Thank you, Scott.

All right.

See you, guys.

There you go.

Scott, Fransky, there's Nola on the mound today.

I believe it is Nola and Michael Lorenzen, so a pair of team Italy pitchers and obviously

a fill in a former fill.

It applies on today against each other.

I'm expecting some runs.

Now listen, love talking to Scott.

One thing though, I just wish he didn't give you the built in excuse that it's cold in

Colorado today.

I can feel it.

I've read it.

No, when I heard it, you heard me gas.

I know.

Because that's.

Oh no, it's in the 50s.

What are they going to do?

They start talking about command and auto.

Come on.

Yeah.

They're playing the Rockies.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I already, can you already feel what's going to happen on Monday?

If the Phillies don't have a great weekend.

I won't say it.

I won't say it.

You will.

So it was cold.

No, I'm not going to say it.

I'm not going to try your best.

Yeah.

I'm trying my best.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do your best.

Just go ahead and do your best.

Stay warm.

He's going to get the next thing.

Yeah, just don't get sick.

Don't get sick.

Call back Ovelty.

Yep.

Joining us today, we hunted him down because he couldn't join us yesterday because of the

game.

Aren't isn't he lucky?

Larry Anderson joins us.

Thanks for joining us today, L.A.

We're lucky.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How are you guys doing?

Oh, dude.

We're doing good.

How are you?

I'm good.

I'm good.

What a confounding first six games for the Phillies.

There were definitely some, you know, some good signs.

There were some, you know, things that I think made us remember fill these failures of past.

Was there anything, let's do the worry stuff first.

Is there anything that you saw in the first six games that goes above, hey, it's only

the first six games, nothing to worry about?

Was there anything that popped into your mind that, oh, I don't like that?

Well, first of all, confounding is probably the nicest thing I've heard in the last week.

Yeah.

I mean, it's, I wouldn't say worries them, but it's frustrating when you're top four guys

in your lineup, which generally are your probably top four hitters or roughly when they're

not hitting.

You know, I mean, it's one thing to have, you know, one or two guys come out of the gate

struggle.

But four, the top, your top four, I mean, what they were going into yesterday's game, I think

eight for 64, that just, that's not good.

Yeah.

It's just, it's just surprising.

I don't think it's a concern, honestly, it's not, I think I was, I was talking with

Merp between innings the other day, I said, all we got to do is look, look at the back

of the baseball cards for these guys.

And I know they're, they're everybody's a year older, but it's not like they just all

of a sudden all got old and, and, and unable to play.

It's, I don't know, coincidence is the word, but it's just, it's more, just weird that

they're all going through this at the same time.

Yeah.

And it's not, it's not like, it's not like they're hitting balls on a barrel and they're

having bad luck.

They're just, they're swinging the pitches and missing or fouling them off.

They're laid on fastballs, which that's the thing to me that, that if there was a concern

that's like, why, why are these guys in, in, in hitters, counts late when they get a fastball

and, but it's, it's, it's, it's what it is.

I just, I think there's something, if you, you think about what they've done in the past

or other times where they've gotten off the slow starts and ended up, you know, going

deep in a playoffs, I mean, that's, it's April, you know, the thing that, that, you know,

I always say, and I think everybody else said the cliche is, you can, you can't win a

penitent in April, but you can lose it.

But I think six games in your three and three, I don't think, I don't, I don't think

it's the reason for major concern right now.

I really don't.

So one of the guys that certainly had a good first six games was Justin Crawford.

And it, it's amazing that, you know, he, he had all this production in the minor leagues

and there was a lot of, well, but yes, that really going to work in the major leagues,

all the ground balls.

But then he comes up here and it's just, the guy seems like he just finds a way to put

the ball where the, the defense, where the, the fielders aren't and he gets on base.

And, and then with capping it off with yesterday.

So just, I don't, I don't think you could have hoped for a better first, you know, you

only played five of the games, first five games from Justin Crawford.

Yeah, I was, I was, I, well, I put it this, I wasn't surprised.

Just when, when you look at his numbers in the minor leagues at every level, every, every

time he went up a step, nothing changed.

He still hit 330, had a, you know, 380 on base percentage, if not higher or somewhere

in there.

I mean, he's, the numbers were just crazy.

And it was like, why, who are all these people talking about, well, he had too many balls

on the ground.

I just, that drives me nuts when you, when you think about it, like, what do you want

him hit and fly balls to the warning track, because he's not a home run guy.

So, so his fly balls without the winner are going to end up at the warning track at

the best.

It's like, what?

Not that he can't hit the ball out, but that's, does everybody supposed to be a home run

or strikeout guy?

I mean, that's, it's like what everybody was, was saying, and I still go back to it, and

I, I was saying it back then, like, to not have him up here last year, here in the playoffs,

I think was, I think it hurt us.

It definitely in the last game, I think, you know, having some speed and just, um, but

I don't, I don't know if the, the people that watched him every day were the detractors

or, or if, if there was other people saying these things, but I, I always go back to, like,

I'm pretty sure Larry Boa didn't hit a ton of home runs, but he was an all-star at

a number of times.

Um, I'm pretty sure Rod Carrue was a hall of fame, or he, uh, he didn't hit a lot of fly

balls, a lot of home runs.

So, it's like, well, what, what is, I don't know where all this stuff was coming from.

And so, I'm not surprised he's doing what he's doing.

And I really, I trust him and believe that he'll continue to this throughout the year.

Is he going to hit some, some, some skids at times?

Yeah, I think everybody does at some point in time at this level.

But I, I just, I don't see anything that, that take away from, from what he did this

first week or first five games, I don't see anything taken away or anything that's

going to take away from, from what he did in those games that throughout the rest of

the year.

We thought the defense was good.

Sorry.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Boy, he got screwed with that play-out series because I think he had the concussion then,

L.A.

Like, he, that's when he ran into the guy and he missed the last two weeks of the season.

So.

But he got concussions in baseball.

Yeah, he, he smoked, uh, he smoked, I think, camp going for a ball.

Oh, in the alley.

Oh, okay.

And he, like, missed the last three weeks, I think, I think camp was down there, yeah.

God.

Always in way.

He's fine.

That's fine.

I'm joking.

I'm messing with, uh, with Fritz and all auto camp.

I'm a camp head.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, the youth movement we thought would be a big, would be big for his team, especially

early, providing some different energy.

And Crawford has certainly done that.

What did you think of Andrew Painter making his debut, uh, the other day and what he was

able to do?

I was, I was so impressed with him and not, not so much his final line, but just how

we carried himself through the game because, you know, your first game in a big league,

I'm, I'm, my knees were shaking.

I'm like, they were bruised after the game.

My first time in a big league man in a game, and I was like, he went out there and just

like cool, common collected, um, uh, and, and just, I mean, it was like, oh, hum, here,

here we go.

Let's go.

Let's have some fun.

Let me, let me just do my pitching thing and I just, I thought his poise was as good

as anything.

It was just the fact that, and he said it in the post.

I think I mentioned it in our keys to the game was, was him being able to, to maintain

his poise on the mound and make sure the game doesn't speed up on him.

And in the post game, when we talk, when I talked to him, he, that's one of, he mentioned

that before I even asked him a question, he said, uh, you know, he said, I just, I felt

like I was able to, to slow the game down and not let it get ahead of me.

And I was like, that, that's exactly what I saw.

And I was just really impressed with that because, you know,

you're first time not all the hype.

It's been, you know, it's been a few years for him, uh, you know, since all the hype

started and to come out there in his first game and, and, and, and, and I hear

Boa say it all the time, that third deck, that, that'll, that'll take care of a lot of

players.

That'll, that'll get some, a lot of players keep a lot of players out of the big leagues.

That third deck, because you, you know, you're, you got 44,000 people screaming

her heads off for 40,000, whatever it was.

And, and it's, it's tough not to get caught up in it and let the game get away from

me, but he did not at all.

I was just really impressed with that.

Well, and you've seen a ton of, you know, pitching props buck back.

Prospects come up, make their debut.

And like, one thing that kind of stuck out to me, I mean, he legitimately

commanded five pitches.

Like that's, that's incredibly rare.

I mean, for a kid to be able to do that at such a young age, feels, feels different.

All right.

Then one of the things I saw in Spring training, I noticed there was one game

in particular where he didn't have good command of his fastball.

It was maybe, I think he started off with decent command, but then kind of lost

command of the fastball, but he went to his breaking ball and had great success

with that, getting that the slider over back door slider and curve ball.

And I was like, that's pretty impressive, you know, and so I think that the,

you know, he's being able to do that.

If you don't have your fastball command, which I think is certainly a big

part of anybody's game, but to be able to go to your secondary pitches,

not just one pitch, but a couple of different pitches and, and have that until

you get your fastball back or till you get that confidence or the command back

of the fastball, that's just a great attribute to have.

And I think he's got a lot of confidence.

He, he backdoored a slider yesterday to a left hand or I don't know if it was

live or who, but as a backdoor slider, he missed, but it came back with it

again and painted the black outside corner with it.

And I was just like, man, that's impressive.

And because a lot of guys be like, okay, I got a little fastball here.

I got to get it over, you know, that type of thing.

And he just, he's very confident in his, in his self and in his stuff, I think,

and, and to be able to do that to pitch the, when you're behind an account and

be able to use your breaking ball, it's huge.

And you have to be able to do that at this level.

Now, LA, if I know what excites you, the ability for a team to show in front

of 44,000 fans that the umpire was wrong must be something that makes you smile

inside. What did you think of the, uh, the debut of the ABS?

And, uh, the moments where the, uh, the calls are proven wrong on the big screen.

Well, I like when, when the umpire comes out and says, uh, the pitch was a strike,

but there's batter challenging.

Yes, don't stop saying it's a strike.

You called it a strike.

Doesn't mean it's a strike.

And the fact that if it kind of gets, that gets challenged three or four times,

doesn't mean he got all the other, you know, 200 pitches right, you know,

it's like because he got challenged three times, doesn't mean he should have been,

you know, he shouldn't have been challenged 10 or 12 times.

Um, but I will, to be honest, is what, when, when you look at it and then they get,

they miss, you know, if it misses by three or four inches, you go one thing,

but somebody's missing by like a half an inch or, yeah, point one.

I've seen point, I saw point one and point two.

Yeah. It's like, you know, what, who, who is there that can, that, that's going to be perfect.

Right.

It's just, it's just not possible.

But, um, it doesn't change the fact that I just don't like the arrogant to the umpires.

And there's no accountability for him.

That doesn't change.

You would, you must have loved CB Buckner.

So you had a rough week.

Miss call it first case.

What he said, the guy didn't touch first.

I hope you saw it.

I did.

Okay.

I'm not sure if he was talking about one of the, what eight, ten to nine spikes on the bottom

of the spike.

One of them didn't touch the back.

I wasn't sure which, but the fact that apparently he wasn't even looking at the place.

No, he wasn't even looking at the place.

Yeah.

Well, I don't know.

I mean, I, I can go back to, there's, there's some umpires that did, you know, I've gotten

to know in the past that were just super nice guys.

And I don't know CB, but, but I'm proud that I knew it was just really nice guys.

But man, they were bad.

And it's, you just, you feel bad because you want to get on them.

But it's such a nice guy.

It's like, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to trash him.

But well, maybe I will anyway.

But it's just, it's hard, but, but I don't know, CB's had his, his issues.

I don't think that's the secret to anybody.

Um, no, I'm similar to Angel Hernandez.

Um, yeah, this still comes back to it.

Like, does anybody care?

Does anybody like show me, show me somebody in any business or any sport, whatever,

anywhere that is, that has so little success or there's so many mistakes that still keeps

their job.

There's just, that's what drives me with umpires.

There's zero, I mean, zero accountability.

And it's like, why, why, like, when I stunk, I got sent down.

I got released.

I got, you know, I got loaned out.

They didn't want me to triple it at one point.

And then like, but you know, nothing happens.

L, L, A, someone asked the same question about me is, how could that guy be wrong so often

and still keep his job?

So I didn't want to say anything.

Well, L, A, uh, we got out of there with three and three, which feels like a gift

after the way it looked like it was going to go.

So, uh, onto the, uh, 156 more of them.

So we appreciate you and we'll talk to you again next week.

All right, guys, enjoy it.

Take care.

All right.

Come with us.

Hit it, Luke.

All right.

Yeah.

Well, why would you?

Hey, hit it, Luke.

Well, I was a little quick.

Well, do you have it in the thing or is it in the thing?

No, you got to like search it.

Oh, okay.

And hit it, Luke.

No, I don't know.

He's have quite pants there.

Nailed it.

I like, I like, I think of him scrambling.

I know it's a bold voice.

I don't have Luke's, uh, like,

mannerisms and in the producer booth down yet.

So you don't, you can't see it.

No, but buzz.

I know it would be, yeah, yeah, the little buzz panic face.

Yeah, nothing like it.

So like after the first six games, I would say the starting staff, you know,

painter was really helped.

I think ease some tension.

Maybe about the starting staff was harder than do his job.

Like we all believe the starting staff is going to be fine and hopefully better than fine.

Hopefully, uh, the unit that can carry the team.

Yes, bullpen wise, I still feel really good about Keller.

I know that home run happened yesterday, but bullpen has not looked great, man.

They haven't, but I still think like bowling was, was a bunch of soft contact that happened to fall in yesterday.

It wasn't his day.

I think it's going to be pretty good.

Uh, DeRan, we just got to accept these.

They don't allow some contact, but more often than not, he's going to get the job done.

I think.

So I think the bullpen, while they have not had the best start of the season,

I trust that they're going around in the form.

At least be a, uh,

Alvarado had a messy inning.

Yeah, but that was, so you're going to hate this.

I know you're going to hate it.

Well, it's a low leverage.

The low leverage is the way she's not always not, yeah, it happens.

It happens.

So hit her miss with the bullpen, but I think they're going to be a pretty good unit.

The biggest question is obviously the offense.

Now with the offense, I do think the top three, whether you believe they're elite or not elite,

are still going to be good major league baseball players.

The rest is a question.

And it's why, it's why I think Adoles is the biggest, biggest swing guy.

For how, like the ceiling of this team, if Adoles does what he's done so far,

obviously you want more power, but at least he's hitting the ball hard.

I know you'll like this.

He's 14th and baseball in balls hit over 95, 95 plus miles an hour,

which would suggest that he's at least hitting the ball hard,

even though they have an all end up being hits.

Well, I test tells you he's hitting the ball hard too.

I test tells you hitting the ball hard.

If he can be a real middle of the order bet,

I would move up to four May 1st, give, give boom the month of April,

see if he can do it.

If Adoles continues to look the part a month from now, get him to four and have someone else in the lineup,

because we talked about the other day, about the lack of power on this team.

And how last year was Kepler and Cassianos.

Cassianos is 18 Kepler at 17 and they were both pretty brutal.

Like if you can add another 25 home run threat, 25 to 30, hopefully,

even like 30s of a big, big ask and I understand that.

But if you can get 25, like it just helps the lineup so much.

And I think he might be that we know the stars have to be the stars.

The rotation has to be the rotation and the ball plan, whatever.

But lineup wise, like if he can be a real thumper in the middle of lineup,

it's the biggest thing that can swing them from, from good to possibly a world series content.

Well, it's the one other thing they've been missing that they've swung and missed on a couple of times now.

We've been talking about the need to right hand power hitter for two or three straight deadlines.

Yes, there's a reason that he could be like he could be it was got hit home runs.

He does because the one he hits snuck over the wall.

It's not. Yeah, it's not.

I don't, I don't need him hitting the hard, the hard line drives are great.

I need to admit some bombs.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sometimes the hard line drives and of his doubles, which is also good.

But I would agree. I would agree.

I think he's just going through the swing change and then he's getting more used to it.

And hopefully as the summer goes on, he feels more comfortable with it.

And then the power starts to really come.

So it's only, I think it's the biggest swing guy on this thing.

He's got a gun in right field. He's got a hose.

That one that I think he hit the guy and he threw it to third.

He did. That was a seed. He did. He did.

Yeah. And then like that, a hose and a seed.

Yeah. Oh, we're talking about, you know, Jack and one and a Yanke and one.

Jack and one and a Yanke and one. Yeah, we needed that.

Yeah, you need that late innings. I decided that's going to be my bid for a year.

I could tell. Yeah, Yanke and a lot. Yeah, I like it.

You mentioned it a lot. And then happy Merry Christmas to everyone out there.

Minor league baseball really gets underway tonight.

Triple A has been started for, you know, since last Friday.

But, you know, tonight, clear water, thrashers in action,

redding in action. No, clear waters tomorrow.

Journey shores tomorrow. Speaking of minor leagues, when's your boy going to start playing?

Yeah, I'm out here. What are you looking at the minor leagues for?

Well, Dr. Nore is it redding? Yeah.

Okay.

Dr. Nore is a rune ask a bar. Is that redding?

And what's the only one that can come up though, right?

You won't, I mean, it'd be a surprise to get up this year.

Gabe Watts is face two. He's hurt, too, right?

No, he's not hurt. No, Gabe. Gabe, who? What's his name?

Oh, Gabriel and Conus. Yeah. He's hurt. He's hurt.

Triple A. Yeah. Yeah, Aiden is not swung about yet.

So that's great. Yeah, that's awesome. That's fun.

Yeah, it's not a big deal. Jack keeps telling us.

He's not. He has a big outplay or not swinging about.

We're out there.

Let's start with the Phillies. What?

James, what a comeback yesterday.

Yeah, they desperately. We all need it.

Yes.

Sitting there staring at two and four, losing two or three of the Nats, man.

It was awesome. Now it is, it does feel like it's pulling teeth to score runs with this team,

which is a concern. Which was the concern.

Yes, it is the concern.

I was shocked that came back. It was awesome. We desk like they had to win that game.

For sure. Game six is not a must-win game, but it felt like it in the moment.

It was, it was big. So look, the Phillies, of course,

who scored the first run in the game and then give up five straight,

five one hole. We want to take your reaction,

particularly if you were down there. I mean, if you were there,

the field of citizens back as the Phillies made that rally.

Talked to us at two one five five nine two ninety four ninety four.

Let's get to three. The key pieces of audio, big sequences in the game.

Fills were down five one, then they make it five two,

then they make it five three, but there's two outs in the ninth.

Sosa being, you know, Sosa. Last chance for the Fills here,

down five three, the O2 pitch. Swing and a line drive left,

field base hit. One run is home.

Ford coming around third. The throw by word is not in time.

The throw goes to the backstop. Runners move up ninety feet,

bombs at third. Sosa's at second. He's tied the game.

It's five five in the bottom of the night.

So massive hit. I mean, necessary to win the game.

Also, one of the, we talked about we love about baseball.

The redemption thing where the guy has the worst game is a Philly the other day

and then get to chance next day and comes through like that's a fun thing about

baseball. Love it. And Sosa, like, I think,

I don't know any Philly's fan that don't love Sosa.

I mean, the guy is, he is of, there's role players that are like your

Arama keys and your Bobby Jones and like, I'm going basketball there.

Guys that are like your, your great role players that are like great players.

Then there's the lower level where you're, you're like a decent player in your sport,

but you're not great. He is as great a decent role player as there's been.

Boston Scott was one of these guys. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, it's funny too. You think about last year's playoffs.

It feels like the role, the role players at the bottom of the lineup hit better than the

starters did. Then yesterday they came through again.

Yeah. So Sosa with a hit to was to say the least necessary.

Then in the top of the 10th is the game goes into extra innings.

Look, maybe they would have won if he hadn't made this play,

but who knows because it was a big spot.

Dude on second one out 10th inning and Sosa flashing the leather.

Doran with a pitch swung online and leaping Sosa Scott.

It fires back to second and Lyle is doubled off.

And the nationals do not score about that. Wow.

Rhea, I am such a big fan of in Mundo Sosa.

It's what he does. It's dependable.

It is. You just kind of feel something's going to happen,

especially as L.A. Did you point out top of the order?

Not so much. Yeah, they needed the bottom.

Dependables are good way to put it. You know what I'd also say

does more than most Philadelphia athletes. He brings joy.

He's a he's a far club. He is when he caught that ball.

Did you notice the little shimmy he made?

It was very cool. All right. So Sosa and by the way,

a two-batter inning. Yeah, that's right.

Which is fun. So yeah, fun and rare, very rare.

All right, unless it's a walkoff, obviously,

to get three outs and two batters is really rare.

So Sosa doing his thing and as James pointed out,

you know, a short time after struggles earlier this week.

And then it's now you get in the bottom of the 10th.

You try to wrap it up. Will they? Will they?

You betcha. Swinging in a crowd ball.

Two, it's a base hit.

And Justin Crawford walks him off as the Phillies win it in 10.

A rocket by Crawford passed a diving Nunez into right field.

And the Phillies out of the dugout to celebrate a come from behind extra inning.

When has the rookie wins it for the Phillies?

So a great job of the Phillies with a comeback.

And obviously Crawford with the winning hit and a good game by Crawford.

He had a couple hits in there.

So look, we'll take your reaction 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94.

I'll give you this one thought and then we'll move to the Hertz topic.

Obviously the Phillies essentially ran it back.

We've talked a lot about that over the last five, six months.

But they did inject two really important pieces in Painter and Crawford,

who out of the gate are showing signs of not only future long term potential excellence,

but immediate impact that makes it a somewhat different team and perhaps more of a different team.

Did you feel different when Crawford came up to the plate?

I felt confident.

So do I. I didn't feel like, oh, disaster here.

Well, there's no baggage with him.

No, the hitters go up and you're like remembering all the other patents in the playoffs

where they didn't come through.

And he also seems to bring joy.

You know, I mean, the guy's got a great smile.

She just seems like a good dude.

It's a freshness too.

He really does.

Great smile. So anyway, he's so composed.

Totally. So you can react on the Phillies front.

What was really, I mean, the most exciting win so far this year.

You want to swing in a miss on a high fastball.

And Andrew Painter delivers just what the crowd wanted to see.

Five scoreless innings from Painter tonight.

Eight strikeouts along the way.

Yeah, deliver he did.

What a night for Andrew Painter here at Citizen's Bank Park.

We are live today.

Midday show Hugh Douglas, Joe Gilley broadcasting

from the DeBora Heart and Lung Center broadcast booth.

Will get you ready for the series finale.

He's supposed to try to win their first series of the year.

Phillies nats at 105 today.

Christopher Sanchez, but he last night.

Boy, Andrew Painter was good.

And he was, he just was better than I thought.

He would be based on AAA last year,

based on Springtrain this year.

The stuff has been there.

The stuff has always been there.

He can throw super hard.

He's got great break and stuff.

It was a matter of could he mix the pitches the right way?

Could he get got, could he stay ahead of hitters?

Which is he had 11 to 21 first pitch strikes?

And could he land his secondary stuff?

The curve, the slider for strikes.

He did all that.

And he, what caught me was just the poise he had.

Because there were a couple of moments,

especially when the ball, it seemed like Tray and Stott

and Crawford all lost the ball in the,

whether it be the dusk or just the lights.

They did, they just dropped the ball in center for it.

No one saw it.

That was kind of one of those moments where like,

this is his first moment, he has an O moment.

Is he going to unravel a little bit?

Nope, settle down, got out of the inning.

I just thought he was, he looked ahead of his years last night.

I'll tell you what, man, he did a lot better

than I anticipated.

It was one of those things where you put in a lot on the rookie.

But you talk about the poise that he showed,

the heat that he was throwing.

Good, googly.

I mean, he was throwing some heat, man.

And he was throwing a plethora of different pitches.

I think the fourth seamer was his main pitch.

He was throwing.

But man, he threw a bunch of different pitches.

That curve he has, it's beautiful.

And it just drives.

You know what I like, I like the when they showed

the selection of pitches that he had,

that that was a great breakdown for me.

And it was one of those things, man,

where you could tell that it was hard for them,

the nationals to get a feel for what he was trying to do

because he had, he had a lot,

he had a nice little menu of pitches

that he was throwing last night.

Look, his career is just beginning,

but you can see just watching him last night

while that hype was there, right?

Like you could see it with the fastball,

with the curveball, with the slider.

He has the stuff to be a tremendous major league pitcher.

We saw it last night.

Let's hear it from Topper last night on Painter

and a moment they had on the mount.

Where your hand was chast, he looks like he said something.

I just asked him if he enjoyed it.

Well, he shook his head, no, and then he said,

and then he figured out what I said.

And he shook his head, yes.

And I said, just make sure you tip the fan base

to be cap when you walk off.

I did enjoy, look, if he gets to run in and clean,

that's cool, but I kind of like when a pitcher is removed

from the game in the middle of the inning

because that lets the crowd give him his hand.

Yeah, give him his flowers a little bit.

If he went through the full inning

and then they just bring in someone in the next inning,

you don't get to give him that standing ovation.

That was cool that he got to have that, like everyone,

because you know, it had been tense in this ballpark

for a few days where they played Saturday and Sunday

and Monday, booze, right?

It just wasn't, they hadn't played well for a few days.

So last night was a night that people wanted to cheer.

They wanted to, you know, say they were here

the night that he had his first start.

It was excellent.

He got that cheer.

So a great night for him.

Swung on and high in the air to right, but it's playable.

And Wood over to his right is waiting.

He's got it and the ball game is over.

The Phillies get run over by the nationals here.

The first game of this three games set.

They score four in the first and never look back

as the Nats route the Phillies 13 to two, the final.

Welcome on in.

It is the midday show.

You Douglas, Joe Gileo, you guys with us.

215, 592, 94, 94.

Lots to get to today.

Kyle Quinn, of course, is behind the glass.

Elliot will join us once again from the NFL owners,

but he's dead in one hour from now, Adelaide Mock.

We might even brighten your day with a huge clues,

but we start with the Phillies.

Good morning, Hugh Douglas.

Good morning, Joe.

Good morning, Philadelphia.

You know, thunder only happens when it's raining.

Players only love you when they're playing.

You know, women, they're coming, they'll go.

But when the rain washes you clean, you'll know.

Stevie Douglas.

I'm just saying.

I didn't know what else to say.

I just felt like it was pro-finals.

You just poured in Fleetwood Mac.

That's where the daily Douglas is.

That's what you got.

That's it.

That's all I got.

No, listen.

I thought about not coming to work today.

I know you threatened again.

I did.

Whenever things go bad around here,

someone says, I'm not coming to work on this tale.

No, man, because let me just tell you how my night went.

So last night, I'm getting my 3D printing ready

for what it evening, so I'm on the computer.

So the game starts to say, oh, you know, first inning.

Taiwan's gonna give me six and six and two thousand.

Sure, yeah.

I'm like, I got a little bit of time.

So I'm setting my printing schedule up

for what I want to print, all the little fidget toys

and stuff that I like to make.

You get a text from Rhea Hughes.

She says, I don't think Taiwan's gonna make it to six in each.

She said, I'll think you're gonna make 62 thirds.

And I was like, oh, no.

So I turned the television right.

Yeah, he had a rough one.

Yeah, yeah, that's it.

No, you can't spin that one

because somebody reached out to Carson.

I wonder how he was gonna spin.

He can't spin that one.

Yeah, he got hit around.

He got hit around.

Everything was bad last night.

Everything, 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-9.

So let's react together as the Phillies get smacked around

here in Philadelphia by the Washington Nationals.

And you know, watch the beginning of the game here.

The broadcast brings you an NBC Sports Philadelphia.

And they talked about how that last year,

the Phillies were able to beat up on the Nationals, right?

That was, whenever the Phillies had a tough moment

or maybe they were coming off a tough series,

well, here come the Nats.

You know, the punching bag for the Phillies last year.

And they show the stats, they had a turner

and where were they crushed the Nationals last year.

And New Year, but the Nationals still look like

one of the worst teams at baseball.

Maybe the worst in the National League or second worst.

Whatever.

And you thought, all right, you know what?

This is a get right series.

Even though it's Taiwan, it's a get right series.

Tonight, they'll be fine.

They'll hit around a pitch that was in Japan last year.

And if you had told me before the night started

that someone would win that game 13 to two,

you would think it was the Phillies.

Well, it should have been the Phillies.

It said it was the Nationals 13.

It was the Phillies to everything stunk last night.

Everything stunk.

Obviously, Taiwan did not pitch well.

You know, I'll give him this.

It wasn't like they're hitting home runs.

It was more it just hits, but whatever.

But would you say blooped it down?

But so it's, it's, when you give up, I mean,

the guy gave up a lot of hits.

He gave up 10 hits and four and two thirds.

You give 10 hits and four to third.

You're asking for trouble.

So he wasn't good last night.

The defense behind him was abyss.

Maharpert first, not good.

Turner dropping the ball on the flip there.

I mean, come and try.

Can we please wake up and start the season?

That was like a few years ago, Trey Turner.

We look like it was half asleep at shortstop.

So that was a good and the offense continues to stumble.

If you take away the pop up that was dropped

in the ninth inning,

they've basically not hit anything for three games here.

Hugh, it's a, it's, I don't know,

we're going to hear a lot today.

It's early, it's early, it's early, it's early.

That's fine.

It has been an abysmal start to the season

for the Philadelphia boys since, since Alec Bone hit the home run

on opening day, right, to kind of put that game away.

Yeah.

It's three and a half games where they haven't hit.

Three and a half games where the at bats look like garbage.

Last night, Turner won for five.

He's hit 167 so far.

Schwerber 0 for three, 125 so far on the season.

And Bryce Harper and 0 for five yesterday,

he is hitting 063 to start the season.

And I know it is early.

I know there's a lot of baseball that's replayed,

but we're reacting to what we've seen so far

and it has not been good.

And I'm telling you, I'm looking at the team.

And although we all realize that they've been in this spot

a couple times, right, they've been in the spot in 22.

When they came out of it, they've been in the spot in 23.

It's embarrassing when it's the fourth game of the season,

the fourth game and a position player

is pitching for the Phillies.

And not because they're blowing out the opponent,

it's a laffer.

They're getting blown out.

I mean, come on, Dylan Moore in the ninth inning,

I know teams do this now, but it's embarrassing

that we have to use a position player

because we can't get through the nationals game

in game four of the season.

Hugh, it's just, it's a bad look for topper.

It's a bad look for them last night.

They got to wake up here because the season,

you know, it's underway, these games all count.

And this is supposed to be a weaker part of the schedule.

Texas, Washington, they go to Colorado this week

and this is supposed to be an area where they should rack up wins.

Yeah, you gotta, you're trying to gain some ground.

You know, you're trying to gain some ground right now

and then you're looking at the standings in the East right now

and everybody has, you know, two games on you, you know,

one, three, three and one basically crossed the board.

So it's not a good look right now,

but I know nobody wants to hear this.

Here we go.

But today is a day where you probably just need to,

you know, do a heart reset.

Probably get you some broccoli, relax a little bit

and just chill out.

Today is a chill out day.

No, today is the opposite of a chill out day.

Today isn't yell about the Phillies.

They chill out.

No, I'm saying, I'm talking about after we do this.

Oh, okay.

When this shows up, I can go home and, you know, relax.

Get you, get you some stress relief.

All right, I might need that.