Brodes Is 'Nervous As Hell' For Phillies-Braves Series

0:00Should I be talking it? I don't know. This is the midday show. It's Pro, it's Al Morgani in for Joe Gileo and Hugh Douglas. Hello, Al. So, didn't we parenthesize the summer? Didn't we do like late a memorial day too? I think so, yeah. Yeah, we did. Yeah. So, what do you say? We're the party? I don't know. You know, we're the beginning and the end of summer. Okay, well, that's good. Hello, Haley. How are you today behind the glass? Doing good. Good. The daylight. The daylight. I'm the guy who'll see here at WIP that often. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm a 2 a.m. or myself. All right, everybody, 215, 592, 904, 904. Welcome on in to the midday show. Al, we got to discuss something very important. There is a monster-filly series. Huge monster series that starts tonight at Citizens Bank Park and I am nervous as hell. I have anxiety. Atlanta, anxiety, Al. You're going to have to help me through today. I'm well, no, I'm doing that. What do you mean, today, it's not going to happen. Why not? What did you, you are what you are?

1:01I am what I am. You're going to be nervous. What? Atlanta could come in with their JV and you'd be nervous on what's going to happen this weekend. That's a good thing. I'm just excited for it for a huge baseball series like this. A holiday baseball series like this. A chance to show off that stadium again and look at the, look at the Philly's pitching lineup in a big series. It's unbelievable. Let's say Will or get, we just cover himself, so whatever. Look at the foursome. They're going to throw in this series. This is against a team that they're going to have to chase down. This is as good as it gets. You're talking about a match up tonight. The sale has gone. This will be this third game in a row where he's faced the kid in Milwaukee with the hundred. Oh, the maze. He's the him and he faced another top pitcher and previously that's three in a row for him. It's incredible that this is what you've come down to to get pitchers like this. This is just great.

2:02It was Yamamoto. He went Yamamoto. Then the kid in Milwaukee. Now, now this, that's great. Yeah, guess what? Then this is great for baseball. It is, but he kicks everybody's ass and that's why I'm nervous. So here's my question to everybody out there at 2155, 592, 94, 94. Are you feeling more fearless or fidgety for this series against the Atlanta Braves? And I'll tell you why I'm fidgety now. All right. One is, I just got back on board. All right. After the 21 win month in August, the on base percentage commitment going into the house of horrors against Arizona coming out on top. There's a part of me that goes, don't do this to me. I just got back to a comfortable position with this group. Now you're facing a division arrival. I'm feeling good. I can't have that let down. I just, I can't have that. So there's fear that, you know, after I finally got to a good spot, we're in such an emotional charged up series against someone I hate so much. I want to punch him in the face. And I just, I can't have a let down. I can't have a, oh, you went two and two.

3:02I, I won in three series. I'm going to throw up all over the place. So there's a point and you mentioned sale. Like we're going to set the tone here against this team and you got a face Chris sale who is when people down and I like, I want to see it. That's all I want to say. I want to see matchups like this. Here's when you're in Philadelphia, you're going to be, you're going to have highs and lows. Fortunately for whatever genetic sequences happened, okay. God has given Philadelphia's very strong ankles. So when they jump off the bandwagon, nothing breaks. That's true. And you can jump right back on. Yes. That's the beauty of it. Well, yeah, I mean, I've definitely done that. But I had a bunch of cancels running about Philadelphia there. Not, not in breaks. Well, here's my analogy for you in regards to this whole thing. It's like, I'm sitting on the roller coaster after convincing myself that I'm not scared. As you start to go up and up and up and up, you the nerves, the pit of anxiety in your stomach, I, I convince myself, ah, it's just King Decah. I'll be fine. There's nothing that's really going to hurt me.

4:02And then as I'm going up before the big fall, I'm starting to feel that in shame feeling of upset stomach diarrhea, hey, Beth, that's the lettuce. The lettuce, the, I forgot, I got to stick away from it. All right, 215592, 90 for 90 for this series is huge. There's a part of me that's excited just because we got a massive big playoff field type five, but I'm actually very fidgety because dude, I just, I need the success to continue. I need, I need it to continue for my sanity, if you can't tell, over the last seven minutes here. No, this is, it's going, I, I kind of want it to be tense. I love tense baseball. What? I love tense baseball. What? Playoff baseball. Come in. You're going to have a big moment at the bank, the big at bats, the bullpen comes in and proves itself. You want to, you want to, you want to, no, you want to get to that night. It has to get into the knife. It's got, it's, it's been better. Curvering. You get, well, no, I don't know.

5:04Well, no, you get, but you, yeah, but you never know. Yeah, you come in. Things can turn around. You surrendered on so many players. Look at what you've done with this team. I don't blame people for bouncing off because it was like, it's a bonkers way to get where you're going. Play who's on first with your infield and it turns out better. You found a kid at third base that's like, what the, how did this happen? You got a kid, it's a guy at second base. It's all of a sudden going to earn himself a whole bunch more money and additional everything else because he's playing second base. And now you've got boom at first who people were ready to throw it, run out of town. That footwork like a freaking dancer. You got first base. It's like, how did this happen? I just enjoy this. Somehow these stars have aligned and it made no sense at all that you had to completely change your infield, throw a guy in the outfield who was ready to throw the season away. I look like because he wasn't considered elite. Bring in a, bring in a guy at second base that has no business being a second baseman.

6:04And here you are with that series against the braze that can establish you with the dodges playing 500 ball over a month. You can then establish yourself. You know what, we're going to go toe to toe with the Eagles through the fall. The Eagles? Yeah. You think you're going to go toe to toe with my Jalen Hertz? Well, if they go the playoffs and have a run, you're going to have a city of Philadelphia. Look at what's coming up. We stopped being negative. Look at what you got coming up. Series against the braves coming up. An Eagle season that starts with everybody out to prove that they're going to run another off and we'll get into that. And a sixers team that the whole world is tuning into. Is it in the flyers coming in with the flyers coming in with the expectations way higher than in the past? It's like, my God, we've landed in heaven here. Yeah, I was waiting for you to mention the fly guys. I mean, Jesus, I wanted to do a whole open on Matt Vey Mitch Coppe. We got yelled at during our pre show meeting. 2155929490 for, are you feeling more fearless or fidgety for Atlanta?

7:07All is juiced up. All is ready to go. All is his hand in the dirt, ready to block Lane Johnson and block. I'm not going to go hard for it. Block the big guys up front. Listen, my corner pack dead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I probably, probably. I need to know if this team, and this is what I'm really going to be looking for specifically tonight against Chris sale, right? Because this new on base percentage commitment thing is what help turn things around. For they going to be able to play small ball and string together a single, a walk, a double, a single four hits in an inning against a Chris sale. Because that's what it's going to take to win with this style of offense in the postseason. And with Chris sale on the mound, it's not going to get nastier than that. So can they do that? Not just once again, can they do that twice in his six or seven innings of work? Because that's what it's going to take to rally together three, four runs. I need to see that. That's something that I'm really trying to hone in on to get a sense of is this real and

8:10can this work in October against premier pitching? That's what I want to see. That's why I want to see it. Do you think it can happen? Oh, yeah. I look at the bottom. I look at what's gone on. It hasn't been all the home runs. They've been some, but hasn't been all that even. I mean, you get to have the losses where you come in, but there's still an extra gear to go. You haven't used their speed as much as they could. I think they can manage a little bit more. I agree with you. I thought Trey was going to steal Bax Crawford. I don't see that. Proper should be able to. Well, he should, that'll come. He's had a remarkable year. Really when you look at it, if you look at all the pluses and minuses with this team, he's a huge plus to come in and do what he's done. So I think they can do it. I mean, I'm, you know, the sweeper be asking, you know, the Braves are playing a lot better coming in right now. This is that. And it's a big series for them because everybody's got the dodgers in their sights. You want to, you want to go into the playoffs playing really strong ball. I don't like the fact that this is an early September thing.

9:11I prefer the, I mean, I would love this later in the year. You see him again, though. Yeah, I know. Once when there's a series in between, I think they play Tampa. I don't know. The fillies got somebody in between. And then it's like, it's like, okay, let's see what we got here at the end of the year. We go in hot. This is a team. It's just to go in hot. I don't know how long what the fillies are going through is exactly what I fear as well as I love. It's, this is the kind of ball you have to play for six weeks in October. Correct. So if you, if you can play this and you can win a world series, if this stretch continues and you can't pick when you're going to have the stretch, you just can't, you can't fall off the cliff after it happens. That's what you can't do. Right. If you want to look for a fear, your fear is, oh my God, we're going to go all in or one in three and look at our, or look at our overall record against the braves. Right. Yeah. Well, it's a shame because they played so early on. It was April. April is like another manager. Yeah. Another time. Taiwan Walker was pitching in the whole thing.

10:11You're right, though. They played this way and this is what they are for a wild card series, a division around the CS world series. It can win. Did it happen at the wrong time? These are the things that were monitoring. All right. Before we get to your phone calls here, I want you to listen to this of NBC Sports, Philadelphia. It's Cole Wine Trabbe who broke down the importance of this series, just everything involved from these two teams going into the action. Take a listen. Hmm. How about that Kyle Schwarber? It's funny. Mad Olsen Kyle Schwarber, not necessarily hot. You got Bryce in Acunia. I don't know what to expect from Trey Turner. I mean, as much as I am fidgety for this series and there's a lot of anxiety, there are some really interesting storylines just from a sports fan perspective and who's going to come out on top. Like, do you have confidence in Trey Turner right now with the way he's what you move him out of the two spot? Is there even any option to really go to because there's so many lefties in this lineup to move into the two spot? I'm trying to myself notch. But I don't understand why you would focus on Turner at this point because I'm a nittyy.

11:15Yep. Well, I mean, you can't. No comment. No comment. No comment. That's why you're working. That's true. That's true. That's job security. So, but it's pointless to focus on Turner. I do the same thing. It's like, it's like why try to just find this thing that's going to drive you crazy. If a team's winning, everybody says, why doesn't the manager do this with Turner or that with Turner? Why don't they bat him 12th? Well, he can't. But why do they do this? It's because they're winning. And somehow you have to manage an entire team. You just have to manage the whole team. If you don't have a locker room that's like people banging on the manager's throat, get where my shorts stop. I can't win with my shorts. Then you can't because you're winning. You're winning and he's kind of a citizen of the game. I hate to say it, but a lot of it is where your status is, where you pay checks says, to come in and do that.

12:16So why, why focus on that? Because we think that's going to be the, what goes you. But why wouldn't it be, oh my God, painter and Noah. So if I have this, if I go down and say, doesn't that kind of balance things? I mean, painter and Noah, a three weeks ago, and was like trash, right? Give her a look at this now with painter and Noah. You say, you can't make up for that. And maybe he's had streaks. He has had streaks. And he is still capable of making a big play. God forbid it has to be a routine play. But a big, but a big play. It's like, okay, I have an imperfect baseball team. But on balance, let me ask you a question. I will make you, you run the Dodgers. Okay. I'm going to say, you can pick your opponent between the fillies and the braves. Which team scares you more? Look at your look.

13:17Look at your question. Yeah. I honestly, I'm just an 18. Objectively speaking. Yeah. I think they're different, but they're almost in the same tier. I don't, I don't, I think they're in the same tier. Okay, this is the same thing. What the fillies are throwing at you this series. Well, that's scary. Well, yeah. Well, yeah. And I'm going to tell you that painter is a good pitcher now. Well, I want him in the pen, because I don't trust the pain. Well, I might be, but think of that. If you're a nut, if you're the Dodgers looking and saying, which team do you, do you think would could give you the biggest problems? Well, they'd probably say the fillies, but I think they're wrong to do that only because I make this mistake on the time now. The fillies are the team when you look on paper, you go, ooh, but then you actually play them and you realize, I don't know what they're doing. They almost lost them. No, but they got caught when they got trained. They got brides. And every time you do that, it's like, if that's the case, we'd have seven world series

14:18right now with this group. Because on paper, they look scary and then you play them and you go, ah, they're bellows to throw an outside slider, travel fling at it. We got it down. We got it down. We'll figure it out. On paper, they look scary. Good and outfield. At the beginning of the year, people say, there's no outfield. Nobody can do that. Everybody's out of position. I'm a miserable human. Why? I'm a miserable human being. Let's go to the phones. Let's talk to the people. 21559294904. It's going to John and Alan Town. What's up, John? How am I the first caller with such a dynamic duo? A legend? And the angriest guy I love on the radio. Oh, Alan's angry? No, I'm not that angry. No, Alan's a legend. You're the angry one. It's good to be angry. Guys, listen, here's my problem with the fillies. This is my problem with the fillies. They can be the same team that won seven to one and dominated. And then the same team that got shut out and got three hit.

15:18The next game. That's the problem with the fillies. That team, either one of those teams can show up. And when that team that got no hit, I mean, got shut out with three hits the other night, shows up. You're done. And that's the fillies. That's the biggest problem. There's no consistency at all in the way they play the game. And that's the biggest problem. Yeah, I don't disagree. It's hard to get up and get excited. It's hard to get up and get excited and go, oh, we can't wait. I mean, you're going to get there and all of a sudden, you're facing a good pitcher, and you're eight and he's in and you got one hit. Well, that's the question for me, John, is when they do face good pitching. Because I do admire the turnaround of approach because they knew what they were doing, wasn't working. And they had to come together, have a meeting and say, let's change what we do because what we were doing isn't efficient enough. So I do admire that. But the question is, can you survive in today's era of baseball asking your offense to string together four or five hits in an inning against pitchers at the caliber of Chris sale?

16:25And can you do that multiple times again? I don't know the answer. I hope the answer is yes. But that fear is what strikes me when I think about this group. When they're at their most dangerous roads is when they're being patient, right? And they're working the count and getting the pitch count up like other teams do our guys. Like, and then they do it sometimes and then they do really well. And then all of a sudden, it's like they forgot and they go back to all right, we got a guy on everybody. Next person, try ahead of home run. Next person, try ahead of home run. Next, instead of, you know, they remember, hey, let's be selective and let's move the guy over. Rises on base at a ridiculous clip right now. I mean, but nobody's really moving him around very much. I mean, they're not over him around. Yeah, well, they move the add they made the trade deadline. But you're asking them to change a basic part of their DNA, which they have done.

17:29They don't chase as much anymore. Yes. Yeah, man, but but you're still going to win playoff series with them. I mean, those home runs are, I mean, let's face it. I'll do. You're going to have to hear home runs. They're going to have to hit home runs. But my point is this like you have done it. Like you just said, Alec, they they have done it. Yeah, they were doing it. So you can do both. If you're patient at the plate and believe me, when a rise actually gets hot, he's not. He hasn't even been hot yet. When a rise gets hot and they start pitching to Harper. Instead of walking him, then the showman's going to explode. Well, a rise hasn't even been hot for the village yet. So if they could just hold on and play. Yeah, he started hot. Yes, first couple. Yeah, he was hot. Now you're right, John. And thank you. We appreciate the call. You're right. I do think we've seen more O for four games from a rise. And I ever anticipated to see. And maybe I don't know. I'm just kind of spit on here, though.

18:30Do you think it's possible that him being in the cleanup spot labeled the protector of Bryce Harper is a lot different mentally than, Hey, you're the lead off guy and what he was doing previously. It's, yo, you're the middle of the order. You're the meat and potatoes guy. Is there a stress level for that compared to batting first or am I over complicating the situation? Which I can't. Is the stress level. You don't think so? No, he's, I mean, you're, you, you've asked to be protecting a player. And it's certainly, but when you're asked to protect the player, it's, it's actually not what you're doing. It's what your presence. Well, yeah, it's like just his value was in the context. Yeah, kind of right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the weird way. Yeah, really, I mean, then you get up, you're gonna swing. I mean, you're gonna, it can't hurt to get a single. Yeah, I feel you. I really, I don't see it. I guess I'm just trying to put the piece together on why. I'm a terrible person. You're trying to find what you're going to next next thing. And then go, let's play around with the batting order again. Well, things aren't going well enough.

19:30No, I'm not that guy. I'm not that guy. Trust me. Let's go. I'm not that guy. I'm okay with living where we're at. You don't do things until you have to. I mean, you get, I like the fact I actually gave a couple of days off. They had a day off. They gave what boom and somebody else got a dead. Was it Harper? Somebody was off. No, Harper doesn't take days off. Somebody was off and boom, got off. Maybe JT to get off his feet a little bit. Yeah, it was a DH situation. So I mean, you got, you got those things going on. I like where they are. I really, but I mean, there's no doubt in my mind no matter what you're saying. If you go back to the two pictures, if you found two starting, you found in August two starting pictures, Nola and painter and painter. I'm telling you, I knew the moment that this guy was going to be a good picture. Wow. It was in Baltimore and he gave up a home run after an awful start. Uh-huh. And I'm telling you everybody listening or watching that game said,

20:33this guy sucks. We're done. He had just been bombed. I believe it was Baltimore. It gives up like a first or second inning home run. It's like, get him out. Get him out of town. Run him out. And he gutted through that. Came back in that game. And that to me showed me that stuff, that that's just stuff that he had. And I'm like, you know, this kid's going to be okay. Well, why did you waste your journalistic talent on hockey, Al? If you had this seeing eye for a beautiful baseball. What would it be? Why did you get ready to get shot? It's impossible. Not main baseball guys are hockey guys for the most part. All right. 21559290 for 90 for we're just getting started here on this Labor Day weekend and Friday, if you will. I'm nervous as hell for Atlanta. I have Atlanta anxiety. Are you feeling more fearless like Al Morgani or Fijit like Brods? 21559290 for 90 for it's Brods and Al in for the midday show. Coming up next, speaking of Andrew painter, we got to talk about how Don Mattingley should handle

21:39Andrew painter as we gear up for a postseason run. It's 94 WIP.