Luke & I on the Phillies Ep. 25: Wheeler vs Strider, Shohei's Translator, Blake Snell to SF -- 3/20/24

Luke Arcaini and Sean Brace talk all things Phillies and MLB, including the Phillies outfield decision, Shohei Ohtani's translator, Blake Snell to San Francisco, and more.

Luke & I: On the Phillies is brought to you by IN THE CLUTCH, the only place to get your t-shirts, headbands, hoodies, and more. Use code "ARCAINILUKE" at checkout for 10% off your entire order. Brought to you by FOX Sports The Gambler. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello everybody, another edition of Lukeand I on the Phillies. I am
Sean Brace. He is Luke ArcadieAll Thinks, Phillies Insider and MLB for
us on the Gambler. Luke,how we doing so good? Good?
We are here eight days away now. I think last time we talked,
we were about fourteen fifteen. Yeah, so we are once everyone's listening to

(00:23):
this, we'll be officially one weekaway. So we are. We are
the closest we have been. Weare so close. So yes, we're
right there. And obviously before thelast time that we spoke, I just
was recently down in spring training,so that was a fun little t Yeah,
I was down there. Incredible,what a great trip, and a

(00:44):
lot of excitement behind this s ballclub, a lot of excitement just for
you know, baseball to be back, of course. Number one. You
know today it took place over therein Korea at six am. Not many
people we're up except for you,Sicko. But Dodgers ended up scoring a
couple of runs in the eighth.Anyways, when when that spring training game,

(01:07):
it was just great to be,you know, at a ballpark where
there was you know, legitimate hitters, and great game Yankees and Phills.
Wheeler had awesome stuff. Man,that was my big takeaway. Wheeler was
electric. Yeah, he looks reallyhe looks really good. He's got a
new pittroll Now I'm ready March twentyeighth, him versus Stryder. It's gonna

(01:29):
be you don't like get. I'vestarted to realize now I feel like you
don't get it seems like a tonof like true Ace versus Ace. Like
opening Day, you get a lotof guys that are either like newer to
the team or like that sort ofthing. This is no doubt the best
matchup across the league Opening Day.Zach Wheeler, Spencer Strider, the best

(01:53):
arms in the National League. It'sit's gonna be awesome. I can't wait.
Yeah, And you put out alist of all the day starters on
on your account at our candy Luke, so be sure to check that out
once again. Be sure to followus on all things socials at Luke and
I Phillies. That's just a letterI or Phil excives me Luke and iphils

(02:14):
and we're on everything Instagram and Twitter, so we appreciate that. We got
a lot to get to. Man, let's not waste any more time.
Let's dive into some Phillies conversation.And speaking of Zach Wheeler, he is
getting the official nod for Opening Day, as you brought up, and I
do want to get your take onthat because it ends a streak for Aaron

(02:34):
Nola at six. Do you believethat this was just a performance based move
by Topper or did this have somethingto do with Aaron Nola of course expecting
his second child with his wife.Yeah, I think it was kind of
just like a mix of everything.Arnoul said multiple times to the public that
he thinks Wheeler deserves it. Hethinks even he thinks and I think he

(02:57):
knows that Wheeler is the quotes truenumber one on this team. Nola was
very adamant. He was like,I think Zach deserves it. Zach's earned
it. He deserves to be outthere. And I think it definitely has
a little bit of possibly that theyknow that the child could come early.
I think their due dates April third. It's either April. I believe it's

(03:21):
the third, So granted the babieshere a few days early. They don't
want to make all these big openingday plans, you know, get all
these graphics out things like that,plan to have EU Opening Day starter,
and then he's not there obviously fora great reason not to be there.
But so, yeah, Zach Wheeler, Spencer Stryder. It's pretty hard to
believe that this is the first timeZach Wheeler and Spencer Strider will ever start

(03:44):
the same game. They they've neverthey've never faced off in the same game.
All the Strider games really in Phillyhave been against Nolan a lot.
Noel's went off against him a fewtimes, but they've they've never actually faced
off against each other. So thebest two pitchers in the National League are
gonna get to do it on OpeningDay next Thursday, which is gonna be

(04:04):
really awesome, excellent stuff. Andstay with the pitching staff, Ranger Suarez,
did he have the best spring outof any of the starters with the
Phils. Yeah, I mean,Ranger has been unbelievable. He hasn't allowed
one singular earned run. I believehe's thrown like sixteen innings total. He

(04:28):
looks really good. He looks justlike typical Ranger. He's just out there,
he's just throwing all of his pitches. He's mixing everything in right now,
and he just a lot of groundball outs like usual for Ranger,
but he's looked very comfortable and it'sand it's really the first time that Rangers
had a full healthy spring training.Last year he had the elbow injury from

(04:54):
after the World Baseball Classic or andthen the year before he had the issue
with the visa getting over to theStates for spring training. There there's been
a few years now where he's beendealing with some injuries and some some things
out of his control. But nowhe's fully healthy and he has his ALS

(05:14):
zero points here zero. So that'suh, that's really all you can ask
for right now from Ranger. Youcan't do much better than that. You
really can excellent, and I guessstaying let's go with the starting rotation.
Blake Snell latest news he signs twoyear deal with the neat with the high
it's called New York Judge with theSan Francisco Giants. And the question I

(05:38):
asked Jansen on the show the otherday when when it when it went down
actually went down on Sunday, ifI'm not mistaken, right, Yeah,
yeah, no, it was Mondaybecause it was during our fantasy draft.
Yes, you're right. It wasMonday. It was incredible. We talked
about him, uh during the draftand I was like, yo, am

(06:00):
I going to do this? No? And then because it's just like,
yeah, well you never know.Boris is his agent all that. But
two years and what was the totalamount of money was this sixty five?
Yeah, so he got a seventeenmillion dollars signing bonus technically, and then
he got for twenty twenty four,he got fifteen million, so that's about
like thirty two million for twenty twentyfour. The technical overall deal is two

(06:27):
years, sixty two million. Ifhe opts in, he'll make thirty million
and twenty twenty five. But itseems like he's probably not going to that.
Kind of seems like where that's headedright now. It seems like he
just kind of wanted to pitch thisseason, and really he he turned down

(06:48):
some big deals. He was seeking, like an eight to nine year deal
at the beginning of the offseason aroundthree hundred million dollars. There's been a
lot of rumors floating around that heturned down one hundred and fifty million dollar
deal from the Yankees and now hehe basically has a one year contract which
will turn into basically just another oneyear contract next year if he does opt

(07:12):
in. But I think all thesigns are pointing to him just playing at
least one year in San Francisco onthis contract, and then and then once
again. If he has a season, maybe even like last year again,
another team will maybe be ready togive him that that big deal. But
if you're not going to give itto him this summer, I don't really

(07:32):
know, or this winner, Idon't, I don't. I don't really
know why you're gonna give it tohim next winner when he's or when he's
only older than he was. Yeah, it looks like he might have to
change his approach or his his expectationat the very least, you know.
Yeah, And he needs to.He needs to realize that he's not a
type of pitcher that's going to landan eight year contract. He's he's no,
yeah, and he's he's and he'snot old. But for a pitcher,

(07:57):
he's he's not young. He's beenin the league a while, he's
he's thirty one years old. Idon't want to pay a thirty one year
old that walks a lot of peoplein eight year contract because by the time
you get to that, maybe thirtysix, thirty seven, thirty eight,
that could be a disaster. Sogranted he could age really well, but

(08:18):
it seems like no team was reallywilling to Nobody really wanted to take that
chance. It seems like no,yeah, and understood everything that you just
brought up there, all right,So smelted at the Giants. We keep
it moving on that one. Andlet's talk a little bit about the bullpen
for the Phillies right now. Oh, Ryan Kirkering dealing with one hell of

(08:43):
an issue with the flu the wholeright. Major League Baseball is like dealing
with the flu. Like there islike multiple teams down in Florida. I
don't know if there's a flu goingaround in Florida or something, but like
it's hit like over half of thePhillies. It's been going through other teams
clubhouses like yeah, but it seemslike Kirkering did kind of get the best
of it. Uh, He's he'snow been out for three weeks. He

(09:05):
hasn't pitched in three weeks. Itseems like they said if they can ramp
him up, they can, theycan try and get him ready for next
Thursday. But doesn't seem like theyreally want to rush him, which really
they have no no reason to rushhim right now. They have a ton
of arms that they can bring upfor the first week. They don't.

(09:26):
There's no diar need to have himout there next Thursday. But yeah,
it seems like he kind of gotthe the bad end of that flu there
compared to everybody else. Albarado hesaid, he's a f or a fat
you know what. Yeah, he'sfat. He likes to eat and he's

(09:46):
just like me, you know whatI mean. But yeah, he's just
a he's just a Watching his interviewsis just like comedy television. It's like
some of the things that just likehe says is just like dude, like
what are you like what? Idon't question anything he says because he's funny,
is anything, but it's like,dude, what are you talking?

(10:07):
But like, I don't even knowhow they got I was still trying to
figure out how he even got tothat like conclusion there. It was just
just so random. He's the onethat came up with those necklaces, right,
wasn't necklaces he makes like the chickentowels. It's a character, man,
He's and he's a really good pictureon top of all of it.

(10:30):
So he looked great this spring.Uh, he's got an era under to
this spring, so he's been backto his his normal Jose Alvarado, Ways,
and Luke All you tweeted out alittle earlier today if I'm not mistaken
that the Phillies bullpen is going tosurprise a lot of people how dominant they're

(10:52):
going to be. Uh. Infact, your tweet was, I don't
know if people realize how nasty thePhillies bullpen is going to be in twenty
twenty four. Explain yourself. Yeah, I don't really think people are are
realizing, and I don't I don'treally think what people are realizing what they
did last season. I know weour minds are still glued to the last

(11:13):
four games of the NLCS, Butbefore that, they had like a top
five bullpen in the entire league,which is something that I couldn't tell you
the last time that's happened for thePhillies probably like twenty ten, like one
of those years. Like it's theythey just have a bunch of guys,

(11:33):
Jose Alvarado, Sir, Anthony Deminguez, Gregor Ysoto, Jeff Hoffman, Matt
strom O, Ryan Kirkering, thatand that that's a really nasty top six.
Any of those guys could be yourthird fourth best reliever. And there's
right Your bona fide number one isJose Alvarado. But after that you can

(11:56):
put a lot of these guys inkind of like whatever order you want.
Hoffman just came out of nowhere lastyear and now I think he should be
the closer eventually. Uh. RyanKirkering. Just the Phillies brought someone to
the majors the year that they draftedhim, Like they've never done that.
That that that doesn't happen in baseball. They have they just they just have

(12:20):
guys that I think if you takeaway I think probably the last four games
of the Phillies season as a reallynasty bullpen this year or last year.
And and you're only getting a Ryanback, who is probably only gonna get
better at the older he gets rightnow, as he's aging throughout the league

(12:41):
and he's going through his through hisearly years of his career, Hoffman I
only see getting better right now.Haffman looked unbelievable last year. He and
the thing about Haffman was he wasso just like nonchalant about everything, like
he didn't seem like like the momentever really got to him. And that's
where I think the closer thing isreal for Hoffman. I think he has

(13:07):
Everyone knows your closer needs to havestones like that. That's just like,
that's just how it works. Likeyour closer needs to go out there and
be able to go up against theheart of any order in baseball. And
I think we saw last year withwith Hoffman that he went up against the
Kunya multiple times in the Brave Seriesand and he just pitched to him like
there was any other player. AndI think there's not a lot of guys

(13:31):
in this bullpen that will will dothat for any player in the league,
but I think Hoffman's really one ofthem. Yeah, look, I do
believe in this bullpen a little bitmore than I did last year. And
like you said, they weren't.We have that bad taste in our mouth
of course how things ended, butfor the most part, they were solid,
and I do think that they're gonnaYeah, I think they're gonna take

(13:54):
a step even further up this year. So again I got Scott as the
limit for the squad. As youand I are both on the same page.
I think they definitely could win thedivision. I think Rob Thompson said
it last week, if I'm notmistaken, he said that, Yeah,
their expectations is to win the division, as they should, and it has
to be. Yeah, obviously yourend goal is to win a World Series,

(14:18):
but but the first goal that youset out in the beginning of the
season is to win your division.Once you get to the playoffs and then
you worry about winning a World Series. But your only goal in for these
next one hundred and sixty two gamesis you won an NL East back in
Philly. Like you don't you don'twant the Braves celebrating on your field again
like they did last year, Likeyou want to win this thing. And

(14:41):
there has been I will say,there have been people that are like,
why should they want it? Thethe Braves and multiple teams have complained over
the last three years about this format, how baseball is now that if you
are maybe the top seed and youwin your division, you have I have
this sort of time off now wherethe Braves lost like three or four days

(15:03):
of just no baseball last year,and they've said that they think it affects
them. So do you want thePhillies to just roll right right in and
run through the wildcard team? MaybeI'm not gonna really hate on that opinion,
because frankly, it's worked for themthe last two years. Do I
think maybe playing those extra few gamesfatigue them a little bit? Yes?

(15:26):
At the same time, so Imean, realistically, right, if I'm
gonna sit here and say, I'mnever gonna sit here and say I don't
want the Phillies to win the divisionbecause that should be your goal every year.
But I'm not gonna be mad ifthey go win ninety five until like
ninety seven games and the Braves goout and win one hundred and four,
because you can only control what's inour clubhouse, right, So if if

(15:50):
the Braves go out and they winone hundred and four hundred and five games,
then they can and then that's awesome. But they're gonna so I'll have
to come play in Philly again andit's probably just gonna be Round three again
for them, just another beat down. Yeah, there's no doubt in my
mind that I just want to That'sa good problem to have. I'd love

(16:12):
to figure out that that deal whenit gets to that time if this team
is either with the first or thesecond best record in the National League,
and that's how you get a bye. So I'll take that all day and
worry about the rest. But wegot one sixty two to play, and
of course you want to win,but you also want to stay healthy.

(16:33):
Take us through the latest with BryceHarper. How concerned were you and where
are you at right now? Yeah? So the issue with Harper is is
this lingering back injury. Dealt withit like a bit last year. It
really wasn't that serious last year.But he's now been out for a week

(16:56):
getting hit. He hasn't played firstout. Boone played first base yesterday,
which doesn't seem like a big deal. But that kind of scared me a
little bit. And I'm not gonnasit here and say Harper is not gonna
be ready for opening day, becauseHarper said it himself. He said,

(17:18):
I'll be out there opening day.We don't have to worry about that.
He said the back is fine.But I think this is a little more
serious than Harper wants to make itout. I'm not saying it's gonna linger
for the next ten years. I'mnot saying it's gonna linger for the next
two months. But I don't thinkthis is just something we can just brush
off. The Phillies have other optionsthat they could have played at first base

(17:45):
yesterday. I'm thinking, in myhead, why is Boem playing there?
Why are we getting boone more familiarwith first base again like he played last
year before Harper was back from surgery. Maybe deep down they don't know if
Harper's gonna be ready for opening day. Granted he said it himself, he
said I will be out there,but I think to me, having Boem

(18:11):
play first base yesterday was a littleodd to me. They did option haul
uh this more or yesterday, Soif they really needed a first baseman,
they could have kept dark Hall upand they could have optioned him today.
Instead. They have Cody Clemens upthere. They have David Doll up there.
He has he has some innings.At first it was it was just

(18:36):
definitely a little weird to me.I didn't love seeing Boem there because to
me, I read that as let'sget Boem a little more familiar with first
base again because he hasn't played itin six months, just in case something's
wrong, and I hope not right. I don't, And I'm not gonna

(18:56):
sit here and be like he's done. The back's done. He said it
once again. He said it himself, he said I will be ready for
opening Day. Gotta take his wordfor it, and you have to.
But you have to also understand whatBryce Harper says. You have to realize
the person that Bryce Harper is.Hey, I'm just I'm not trying to
put, you know, a logon this fire. But ESPN dot Com

(19:17):
as Alec Bohm listed as a firstbaseman, just saying just saying, yeah,
yeah, first, it's usually thirdbase slash first base. So is
he really listed? Did he everplay first? Coming up? So now
he? I mean he was alwaysreally a third baseman. Uh. Once
they lost recent last year and theydidn't have Harper, they knew that the

(19:41):
option was with Boone, So Booneplayed first up until May last year.
A lot. Yeah, he playeda lot first last year. Still strange
that ESPN dot Com has listed asa first I don't like us. It
just goes out of the last gameyou play. I don't know that they
playing right now as we're recording hereon Wednesday night. Yeah. Yeah,
ugly, Look, I don't I'mnot concerned because you got to take his

(20:03):
where for it's Bryce Happer. He'sbeen around the block. But I do
agree with you where look, man, back injuries are nagging and and this
is not what you want to heara b. It's not what you want
to see from your MVP candidate.Who if we're you know, look,
he it's not he's got to playone fifty. I don't think that's the
case by no means, but backinjuries are definitely something you don't want to

(20:26):
mess with, So not from theguy who has nine more years on his
contract and wants more. So andI will work for it, obviously,
because that's that that's what you needto do. But I also know who
Bryce Harper is and I know thatit's either zero or one hundred with him.
Yep. So if this back injuryis any bit there, Bryce Harper

(20:51):
is gonna go out on Opening Dayand if a ball's three rows into the
stands, he's gonna die for it. Like he's not gonna be like,
oh my my back's hurt, I'mgonna I'm gonna take it easy. He's
going to lay his body out there. So that's where I think the team
just needs to be careful. Realistically, I wouldn't play Harper till opening Day.
I'd sit them right. There's nothere's no reason for him to go

(21:12):
out over the next four days.I think they leave March twenty fifth.
It's a good day on my birthdaythis coming on. I believe they leave
Monday night to go back to Philly. So they have about four more games
left down there. I don't seea reason for him to play in any
of those games. Keep them downthere, keep them healthy, get them

(21:33):
ready for Thursday, and get readyfor an opening day home run. Because
Harper likes to hit off a strider. He does like to hit strider a
lot, also does Nick Cassian.So I we'll get into that before maybe
Wednesday night, before opening Day.But we're gonna definitely have some opening day
betts props. I already have somesome league wide props lined up for opening

(21:57):
Day. Some pitching we are soback man were So let me tell you
did my did my bet this morning? Absolutely full fade Dodgers Padres. Yes,
did it feel really good to fullfade a baseball? Get bet again?
Absolutely? Well? Would you playthis morning? I played Darvish Glass

(22:18):
now them, they both hit theirk's, and I had a Tatis hit.
None of the three happened. Itfelt really good to watch a baseball
game that actually matters. Welcome BackBaby had alarm is set for six A
m. Turned it on. Otaniwas running out speaking of Otani, My

(22:40):
god, dude, oh man,it's you know, it's a big deal
because there's a lot of question marks, right, but at the end of
it, it just seems like it'spretty as is. I know it's a
big deal. Show you O'tani injust in case people don't know. His
translator ended up making bets with thensure account that was under investigation. I

(23:03):
guess a local California bookie, andapparently he was stealing money off of show
A and they're talking about large amountsif filling the blanks, luke if I'm
missing anything, but that was whatI took. But if people don't know
who's placing a big wager and stufflike that, but exactly, that's that's
the big thing. And granted that'sjust a lot of people on Twitter being
like blah blah blah, but youhave to look at the other side of

(23:26):
the story as well and be likeObviously we can't speculate and and and talk
really on that until everything comes out. But one, will everything ever come
out? Probably not. And twoyou have to think in your head,
were all of these bets his interpreter, because that, I mean, that's
the big thing right now. Peopleare like, is it Otani? And

(23:48):
and and there's and there's no reasonto really speculate there and stuff like that.
But it was definitely a definitely aweird situation his his interpreter betting off
of a Los Angeles bookie that he'shis interpreter and Showhy have been like the

(24:10):
closest of friends. Granted, Iwonder why he's been the closest of friends
with show Hey. Now that kindof all makes sense. And for the
interpreter to address the team last nightafter the game, So the interpreter after
the game in South Korea this morningaddressed the team and said, hey,

(24:36):
guys, like I'm not going tobe with the team anymore or something like
that. Before this story came out, he was like, there's a story
that's gonna come out, like blahblah blah. I don't know. Something's
not adding up to me. Itdoesn't something is not sitting right right now
with me like there's one hundred Allof the details are not out yet about

(25:00):
this story. No, yeah,we'll see what happens. But it is
a crazy story involving one of themost amazing athletes we've ever seen in our
lifetime and a man who truly beton himself. Hello. Yeah, we'll
see how this one plays out.All right, Look, we are going
to be recorded next week as well. Getting ready for all things Opening Day

(25:23):
quickly on this one, Luke,tell me the opening day lineup in your
opinion right now as we sit herea week out. Yeah, my opening
day lineup lead off is Schwarber.No if fans or bots for me,
that's my leadoff hit or that's that'sthe person who should hit lead off for
this team. Number two Trey Turner, Number three Bryce Harper first. Number

(25:45):
four for me is JT. RealMuto. I think this whole biomechanic swing
change thing is is like a realthing. I have completely bought into this.
I think JT and he's at hisbest. I think he hits best
in the four hole. Uh SoI have j T there, I have
Bryson Stott hitting five. I Ijust think that's the perfect stop for Bryson.

(26:11):
I think he's gonna hit three tenthis year. We talked about this
on our last episode with John.I I think it's a massive year for
Stott. And I will say this, if Kyle Schuber ever finds his way
out of the leadoff spot this season, I think the person that goes there
is Bryson and not Trey. Ipersonally would have Castiano six, but it

(26:33):
seems like the team right now isgonna have Boom six, so we'll say
out Boom six, h Nick Castianoseven, Brandon marsh eight in in left
field, and the biggest debate onthe team right now, I would have
Joan Roehouse out there next Thursday.I know, you look at the batting

(26:56):
average this spring, it it's it'snot great. Granted, the chase rates
are down. What they've asked himto do mostly so far this spring is
better than what we saw in theplayoffs. I think Rojas is getting a
bad rap strictly because of what happenedlast playoffs. And granted, you don't

(27:17):
want a guy to have like fourhits the entire playoffs. He faced really
good pitchers, and he's really young, and his defense makes up for it.
He's an unbelievable defender. And I'llsay this, if your offense is
relying on and needs Johann Rojas tobe extremely productive, there's an issue with
your offense. So as long asRojas, If Rojas can give me two

(27:42):
twenty five out of the nine tohole with thirty stolen bases and the defense
that he plays, that is morethan enough for me. I don't need
him to hit two eighty. Idon't need him to hit two ninety.
If you give me a strict liketwo twenty five thirty with that defense,
that's game for me. So Schwarber, Turner, Harper, JT. Stott,

(28:03):
Boom, Castianos, Marsh rows andaway we go, and away we
go Opening Day. Hopefully it's alittle bit better than what just took place
tonight, thirteen to four finals scoredown there in spring training, but nobody
cares. There's Orioles, my AmericanLeague Winner ticket. Baby. All I
know is for the people that arepanicking about spring training, Yeah, you'd

(28:26):
like to have a good spring,I understand, but please take me.
Yeah, it's just getting through andgetting healthy. There was one year that
I remember Ryan Howard struggled, andI go, I am extremely concerned.
It was probably like twenty ten andI'm just like, I'm a little worried.
Uh, he looks bad and hejust was awesome in regular season.

(28:49):
So I was at that It wasat that point in time that I just
said, spring training really doesn't matter. So you would like, yeah,
you would like to again, itjust matters getting all hell, you would
like to see one, you know, play great, but it's not required.
So I'm all right healthy next Thursday. That works for me. I'm
good, I'm with I'm with youthere. Well, we are going to

(29:11):
get after it every Thursday, liveinside the studio up in the Dunk the
Duncan Lounge. We're gonna be recordinga lot more throughout the course of the
season, Daily hits on the DailyTicket, talking all things MLB. Fantastic
job here, Luke, can't waitfor the season, and of course we're
already there in Korea baby with showHey and the Dodgers versus the Padres Game

(29:33):
two tomorrow versus Well, it'll bethis morning at six am, so everybody
enjoy the games and look forward tonext week. We're talking more about the
Phillies opening day, right here,on Luke and I on the phillies