Will The Phillies Cruise To The Postseason? (PST Episode 629)

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the final weeks and days of this 2025 regular season. Will the team be able to cruise to the postseason? There’s good stuff happening with this team. There are challenges as well. This week, Justin Klugh from the Hittin’ Season podcast and Baseball Prospectus joined us for a deep dive into what we’ve been seeing from his Phillies team on offense and from the pitchers mound. It was a fantastic and entertaining discussion!
But first, the guys dove into some Philly sports history and notable moments that happened this week from years ago. (Approx. 4:25)
From there, they discussed Eagles LG Landon Dickerson’s knee and meniscus injury and what that could mean for the team and offense moving forward this season. (Approx. 9:30)
The guys then talked about a recent investigative report that came out over at The Athletic: stalking within the world of sports. (Approx. 17:55)
There’s certainly some good with the Phillies as we look at what Jhoan Duran has brought to the closing role. Yet, there’s uncertainty with Ranger Suarez from the mound. (Approx. 27:10)
What they threw down on the Table this week was a great, in-depth conversation about this Phillies team with Justin Klugh from the Hittin’ Season podcast. How should we be looking at Dave Dombrowski in terms of team building? Are the bats getting too hot at the wrong time? Concern for Zack Wheeler given his shoulder issues as of late? What’s the biggest challenge for this team heading into the postseason? All of this and much more this week on the Table! (Approx. 39:35)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, twelve
years strong. Got a great show coming to you this week.
I'm Jeff Warren. I'm here of my good buddy Eric Leonard,
better known as Jackson Triple X. As you can see
if you're watching you too, about you doing, Buddy.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm good man. It's humid as ship, yes, and I'm
going to tank top inboxers. I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, it is really warm.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
It was like ninety eight and then a rain and
it's just miserable. And I think it's in the third time.
I'm doing the show in my in in underpants.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, yes, Well you're catching up to Len because I
think he does them in his underpants constantly.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
I think he does every show.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yes, he does everything everything in life in underpants gets
mad when he has to leave the house.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
It's like, all right to put on pants? What a
what a weird name? Underpants?

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Underpants? Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Under sure, we didn't really have vocabulary, right, Well, I'm
wearing pants. What about underneath these?

Speaker 1 (01:40):
What about undergarments? What a terrible name?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
And then somehow pantees? Yes, team about Yes, I don't know.
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, that's what I call mine panties. It's the hard
hitting This really is hard hitting content. Yeah, exactly, folks,
mid August here, this is what we got for you. Yeah, an, Yes,
we do have a good show. We do a good show.
We're gonna get into some Philly sports history, and then
from there, I'm gonna dive into Philadelphia Eagles. Boy man,

(02:12):
we had a big scare this week during the Eagles
public practice at Lincoln Financial Field landon Dickerson going down
with that knee injury. We're going to dive into that,
what it means for the offensive line, and then from
there we're gonna dive into a story that has been
previewed on the Athletic The Athletics Investigative Team recently published

(02:32):
a series of reports on stalking in sports. Sports figures
being stalked and what it means to them, their family,
which is what it means to us all being on
the internet, social media, how that has really created this
avenue of connectivity or or perceived connectivity between certain individuals

(02:53):
and celebrities and athletes as well. So from there then
we've got a ton of Phillies talk coming your way
this week We're thrown down on the table is a
great interview and discussion with our good friend Justin Clue
from the Hit and Season podcast and Baseball Perspectives. He's
going to join us for a great discussion about the
Phillies as we're getting ready towards the end of this
season here to start wrapping things up with this team,

(03:16):
various storylines as the Phills are slated to make the postseason.
I should really, you know, knock on wood here with that,
but let's just get started with this show here and
get started with this week in Philly sports history. We've
got a few doozies here, the first one being August thirteenth,
nineteen seventy two. You had an extraordinary spectacle that took

(03:41):
place at Veteran Stadium. Carl Wallenda. Yeah, do you all
know who Carl Wallenda is. He was the renowned tightrope walker.
He performed a very daring walk across the stadium's center,
suspended high above the field, a very unforgettable moment in
Philly sports history. And then from there, we're going to
move on to Augus fifteenth, nineteen ninety That is where

(04:03):
Terry Mulholland, Philly's pitcher Terry Mulholland, threw a dominant no
hitter in a six zero victory over the San Francisco Giants.
It was it was the eighth no hitter of that
Major League base Ball season, which set a modern record
at that point. But it was also the first nine
inning no hitter by a Phillies pitcher in Philadelphia, and

(04:24):
the very first one at Veterans Stadium. Then, moving on
August tenth, Tarrell Owens his famous, infamous, his famous, infamous
Yes driveway interview. August ten, two thousand and five, he
staged one of the most bizarre and emblematic moments in
Philly sports culture. He conducted a shirtless sit up interview

(04:45):
rate in his driveway in the midst of the Eagles
locker room drama that was going on. He was just
doing all those sit ups in his driveway. What an
image and curls and curls questions at one point, Yeah, yes, absolutely,
and then hi. Finally from my standpoint here in terms
of Philly sports history. August thirteenth, two thousand and nine,

(05:05):
the Philadelphia Eagles made a very bold and controversial move
by signing quarterback Michael Vick coming off of his incarceration
amidst a complete national debacle in case where he had
been killing dogs, and stakes were pretty high for the
Eagles in terms of that signing. And yeah, that was

(05:25):
August thirteenth, two thousand and nine. Man, I can't believe, man,
time really flies here. But did you have anything in
sports history here or anything you wanted to reflect on?

Speaker 2 (05:35):
Let me just a couple of comments that Carl will
end a thing, just I really would. I really missed
the days when Major League Baseball would do minor league
what the minor leagues do now?

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, or for entertainment, just bring yeah, bringing out some
bizarre stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, Like I love going to Harrisburg Senator games and
watching the dogs run around with the monkeys on their
backs like their horse's a blast. I love it. Personal
story about the mulhalland nineteen ninety no hitter. The fifteenth
watched that game on TV and then my dad took
me the next day to the game, oh Sunday because

(06:13):
my birthday. It was my fourteenth birthday.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Oh somebody's got a birthday coming up, Yes.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
But watch that no hitter. And then the next day
went to the game and Von Hayes won the game.
In the bottom of the ninth against the Giants, I
met Roger mcdallas signed baseball for me. Nice, very very
memorable birthday. Nice yeah, and t on the driveway. What
a nightmare. I'm gonna I'm going to focus on another
too highlight because that was the end of the Eagles

(06:38):
run there for a while until like eight. But August twelfth,
two thousand and four, he actually premiered, or he debuted
with the Eagles in preseason against the Ravens, who actually
tried to sign him if you remember, trade for him
and it fell through. And first play of the game
on offense, McNab hits him for eighty yards right in

(06:59):
the numbers, yep, and he does his first he does
the first wave thing. Yes, and it was I was
just like, likey, I was just so happy. I was like,
my god, we finally have a receiver. It would be
so much fun.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
It wasn't Todd Pinkston or James Thrash.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
James Thrash. Yeah, I'm not going to comment on Michael Vick.
I just think it was funny. You're comming, You're like
he came in like with some controversy. He killed dogs, Yes,
yellow a little controversial. Yes, I went to prison for it. Yeah,
oh my gosh, but you did not mention today is
Bobby Clark's seventy sixth birthday.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Oh all right, Oh I missed that one, thank yous.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
I went out in the Google yes, and and it
hit me with hey, non Flyers fan, it's Bobby Clark's birthday.
Just reminded and yeah, I was like, so seventy six
my parents' age.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Wow, I'm glad you're reminded us of that. That's an
important one.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
That's how long it's been since they won the Cup.
I'm sorry to bring it up, but like I saw
the age, I'm like, oh my god, Like, that's my dad.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
So we're never gonna win one. No, No, the rebuild's
going all right, we got we got Flyers talk coming
your way at some point down the road here, so
we uh, we're gonna be getting into them.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Yeah. Was that from twenty fourteen that come in or
twenty eighteen. It's from every year, twenty twenty, it's every
year at this point. Yes, Well, let's dive into some
Eagles talk.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Here. We're in the midst of training camp. Birds and
US fans. We had a big scare at the Eagles
public training camp practice this past week when Pro Bowl
left guard Landed Dickerson went down with a knee injury.
And while it's a meniscus injury, it shouldn't prevent him
from starting Week one from what we know at this point, Eric,
I mean, it's still concerning given how this offensive line

(08:53):
needs to perform. I mean, if the offense is going
to see any sort of success this season, and you
have a backup in Brett Toath who stepped in and
he honestly did he didn't have a great practice, you
know when he was playing, because you know they're working
in conjunction and practicing with the Cleveland Browns before this

(09:14):
upcoming their second preseason game. Brett Toath did not have
a great outing at all. And it's like, oh my gosh,
we've got this weak link and we've got even though
the Eagles have depth, we've got this guy who's now
been on the team for quite some time. And Brett
Toath he's been there now for the past few years
and he's been serviceable. But man, I mean, Landon Dickerson

(09:38):
needs to stay healthier. This offense is not going to
be able to perform the way that it needs to
perform because you look at that left side of the line,
Jordan Malatta, Landon Dickerson, they are a wall. They're like
a wall of death, whether it's in past protection or
whether it's run blocking and Saquan's right behind them, or
whoever will Shipley is right behind them. Losing Landon Dickerson, man,

(10:00):
I genuinely almost had a heart attack when I was
reading Twitter when he went down and he was on
the field, like, it just it can't it can't have
We can't lose these guys during the season or things
could go rough.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah, And I my first thought was like, so we
had pretty good injury health last year. Yes, and you
know it's bound to turn a little bit. And when
I saw it was him, you know, at first, I
was like, oh, you know Dickerson. I thought about him, like,
Dickerson's kind of taken that mantle up of you know,

(10:33):
being that complete asshole on the offensive line and all
the good Eagles team. John Running was that guy back
in the day.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Even Kelsey to a certain extent, you know what I mean,
kind of like taken that from Jason Kelcey and I
always thought it.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Was kind of Kelsey and Kelsey and uh and and
Johnson Lane kind of kind of combo Jordani a lot
is He's he's tough on the field, but he's kind
of kind of a teddy bear, you know.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Feel lander for me was like if you saw his
like pregame speeches to the other offensive lineman, he was
just like, let's go, let's go murder these dudes. Let's
just wash them. Yeah. And when I saw it, I
thought about that. I thought it was him, Like, man,
that's one guy we can't miss that. He's the one
He he kind of gels that team together. I know,
the skilled position players love him because he you know,

(11:21):
he because he has that attitude. And and just watching
the Eagles last year, like I love that we have
that those tiffany skill players. Yeah, like both receivers, Saquon,
but the whole reason they won last year was the
defensive offensive lines. Like that was the whole, the whole
thing behind it. And he was he was he was

(11:43):
the one guy. I was like, man, my first thought
was okay, I was like no, when I heard it
was just a meniscus. I get the emb thing going on.
My head, Dart, like is going to do the six
month thing or is it just a just an injured
minist So I hope it's not an ongoing thing throughout
the year. I hope it's if he has to miss

(12:07):
week one, I'm okay with that, Like, let that thing
heal to the point where it's not going to be
a lingering thing, like like much like Aaron Nola, you know, yeah,
hit it lingering and then eventually wound up missing like
two to three months. So a little scary. I'm hoping
that's like the last thing from preseason isn't anything worse
than preseason three. Like, look at the Chargers. They just

(12:30):
signed that guy they're left tackle to this monster deal.
He's like the highest paid and then he goes down
like a week later. It's like your whole season is
like tanked. Yes, before your first year. It just sucks.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yes, We're I was on the Opposition Territory pod this
week talking about where the Indianapolis Colts are going to go.
That's a team in an organization that they're just looking.
They're just looking to get some sort of momentum. But
what happens They have like three cornerbacks that went down
like their defense is one of the worst in the
leg and then they have this hope that they get

(13:02):
some defensive players in free agency. They've got some draft
picks looking to make their mark, and all of a sudden,
three cornerbacks going down right off the bat, Like, how
do you get out from under that? And like, I
think to myself, with this Landon Dickerson situation, in this
meniscus injury, might he be good for the first ten
weeks of the season. Yeah, And the Eagles athletic or

(13:24):
I should say, their health team is gonna have to
just I mean, they're gonna have to be stellar with
him this year because maybe week fourteen sixteen, maybe things
aren't feeling all that great. And then you got the
expectations of a playoff run as well. Is this team
of dynasty? Those questions are lingering people's minds as well.
It's tough to do with a meniscus injury here.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
That's why I like, let it heal early and have
him down the stretch just in case. I mean like that,
I think that would be the play. And plus you'll
you would see you have a tough going forward, right.
They let him play the first two weeks and if
he sucks, then okay, we understand the timeline of this
injury now throwing throwing him to the Wolves week fifteen

(14:08):
against you know yet against the Combs, and you're like
in the tight race for first place, Like that's not
the place to throw them in. I think this is
it now, because you like the first seasons are what Dallas,
who I'm not scared of whatsoever? Yep. Week two is
the Chiefs, and Chiefs are gonna win that game. Everyone
just be ready for it. They're gonna come out. It's

(14:29):
just gonna happen, and that the refs will be in
the bag for them because it's just a revenge game
and kind of like just win win that Cowboys game
and let let the tooth could play talk whatever his
name is, Toth, Yeah, Toth, but it's t o t
h Right. Yeah, this is America. It's tough. I don't know.

(14:49):
I just think that's the way to go. And I
hope this is the last time we're talking about preseason injuries. Yes,
that's when things get bad.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
Absolutely, yeah, all right, well, folks were getting ready to
take our first break here. But first and foremost, if
you are new to watching the show on YouTube, you
can like and subscribe. We greatly appreciate that. Hit that
like button. We'd very much appreciate it. And also our
social media sites. We are up on the Twitter slash
x at Philadelphia PSD. You can follow Eric at bric

(15:18):
poll at me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren. We're over on
Instagram as well. If you're watching on YouTube, you can
see all these social media sites and our handles here, Facebook, Threads,
Blue Sky, I'm over on TikTok at mister jeff Warren.
You're gonna get a lot more than sports over there.
I can tell you tell you that for sure. I
can assure you that. So we are gonna take a

(15:39):
break here and when we get back, gonna dive into
the threat of stalkers in the world of sports, and
also a ton of Philly's talk. Stick with us, all right,
we are back. Great to be in your ears. It's
great to be on your screens right now if you're
watching on YouTube. Wanted to get into the threat of
stalker in the world of sports because the Athletic recently

(16:04):
came out with a series of reports on stalking in sports.
Their investigative team there did a pretty interesting series, and
we wanted to give our thoughts on how the Internet
and folks feeling like they are close to athletes, close
to celebrities, quite frankly close to even you know, political folks,
people who are well known in their communities or their states,

(16:27):
or they're a member of Congress or whatever the course
or whatever the case is. But in terms of sports here,
a lot of people, because of social media, feel like
they're close to people when they're really not. Social media
has really changed the world in that regard. Interestingly enough, again,
the investigative team at the Athletic talked about a bunch

(16:49):
of different examples over the years eric that have taken place.
One with a woman stalking NFL wide receiver TJ. Hushman
Zada to the point where she changed her last name
to hushman Zada and used it to gain entry into
the gated community where he and his family lived. Last year,

(17:10):
a forty year old man was arrested after professing his
love for Dallas Wing's rookie Paige Bucher's, who was playing
at Yukon. The man said he was going to propose
to her and would choose to die if he could
not be with her. We have also had some folks
have heard about Aaron Donald. In May, the Los Angeles

(17:33):
court granted him and his family a five year restraining
order against a woman named Janelle Anwar, who Donald said
had been harassing him. Had been harassing his family since
twenty twenty. I mean, this woman was sending multiple packages
to his home. There were threats against his son's life.

(17:53):
And it's it's really incredible where the Internet has taken us.
It's give us some great things over the years, and
it's given some awful things. We've all heard about the
Caitlyn Clark stalking situation. Michael Lewis, fifty five, who was
arrested in January in Indianapolis. He sent Clark more than
eight hundred threatening and sexually explicit messages over the course

(18:16):
of a month. This stuff happens because of social media,
because people feel like they're they're close to athletes, they're
close to celebrities because that's what athletics, professional athletics are.
These folks become celebrities, and it's a it's it's pretty disturbing,
you know, and it's just it's not slowing down anytime soon. Eric,
It's not slowing down at all. But I thought it

(18:38):
was an interesting story and to see where see where
this is going. I hope it raises some awareness for
people to just you know, just kno, get the fuck off?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
How about that?

Speaker 1 (18:47):
But then again, people have mental illnesses, so they're probably
not gonna be able to knock at the fuck off sometimes.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, And I man a couple bunch of thoughts on this. Yes,
the craziest. The craziest part of it, Aaron Donald, One
was the woman wound up a filing from for divorce
from him even though they've never y.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Weren't married.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Throw that one out of court right away. But that
is that is Bonker's behavior. I want a divorce, you have,
you got it. I never met you before, but I
I man said, my first thought was, okay, you talk
about the social media aspect of it, right, And I've
I've heard that a lot of a lot of pro

(19:34):
sport leagues now n b A, NFL, all of them
when when players get drafted or join new teams, they
actually put them through like social media training now on
top of like financial like how to how to get
how to how to manage your finances, that kind of stuff,
and the social media one's big and it's to try

(19:56):
and temper you know, the kind of the behavior that
Kevin Durant does. Right, Like I read the story and
my first thought was, like, how does how does Kevin
Durant not have at least two or three stalkers at
this point that I have tried to enter his house? Yes,
because he is one of the most responsive, agitated, Like
he will go after a guy with twenty followers, yes,
who's like, you know, your field goal percent who suck

(20:18):
last year, and he'll be like, oh yeah, dog, and
he'll just like lay out his entire sactly the past
three years off Basketball Reference And you're like, KD, you
don't have to do this. You're one of the top
fifteen players of all time.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
Like, but.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
You know, someone like someone like him should probably dial
it back a little bit. He isn't He obviously doesn't
give a shit, but right, And I'm not blaming the athletes.
I just think that, like, again, you can't engage in
today's social media age. Everyone's going crazy. Everything's internal, Like
people sit at home and they don't leave their house.
And like, I think this athlete loves me. It's not
just athletes, it's it's actors, it's singers too. But then

(20:55):
you also have to like realize, like there's been nutty,
crazy people have been stalking people for years. Yes, yes,
like the guy who shot John Lennon, the guy who
shot uh. I just had in my head Ronald Reagan,
you know, to impress, to impress Jodie Foster. Like this
has been ongoing well before the Internet even existed and

(21:17):
now but now it just makes it. It makes getting
to those people, like the story of Mark David Chapman
I think is one that shot Lennon the story of
him getting to John Lennon in New York City, Yeah,
like on a bus and all this kind of stuff.
Now you can just like tweet it the person, yeah,
you know, and start kind of a dialogue hope maybe,

(21:37):
and then go from there. I think the social media
aspect makes it easier to stalk people, But I don't
think it. I don't think it. I don't think it
creates the want to stalk more because we're always going
to have people that are mentally ill and they're going
to like focus.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
On You make a good point there, But I do
think when celebrities are athletes, if and when they are
shooting some video in their house or in their backyard,
at their pool, in their front yard wherever, with their family,
their kids, their wife, whoever. There is a certain intimacy
that comes with that where people may feel watching it

(22:14):
that they are a part of it. And I'm not
saying it's right by any stretch, but it's yeah, we
are not celebrities by any stretch on this podcast show
at all, and what I do in my life from
an electoral and political standpoint, there is no celebrity. But

(22:34):
I've had a number of threats over the years with
certain things. My family hasn't been threatened. I've certainly been
threatened for various reasons, whether it's certain votes that I
take or just because I am who I am. And
it's a little disconcerting because those people have seen me
online and that's where they have quote gotten to know me,

(22:56):
you know what I mean. And it's like, yeah, you
start shooting videos in your house on vacation or wherever.
If you're a celebrity, if you're a professional sports individual
and you're like if you're like KD and you are
so good at what you do, you know, and you
start letting people in, it's it's it becomes a real
slippery slope.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Well, some of the threats to you were a warranted
I'm just.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Scared how all of them say they weren't, you know.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
In in Kd's defense, like, you know, he might not
have stalkers because he's so open with people. Yeah, you know,
maybe a guy trash talks him online or a woman
trash I've seen that before. He comes right back at him.
It's like, well, I'm a normal person. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Thing he kind of just goes, yeah, go fuck yourself,
I'm gonna I'm gonna kick your ass pretty much.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Like like I've seen footage of him at concerts, like
just smoking blunt after blunt and it's like, well that
makes him, that normalizes him a little bit, right. Yeah,
there's no good answer. I I would advise I've never
seen a video in Katie's house. Yeah, I would advise
athletes or all celebrities not to film in your home. Yeah,

(24:06):
never ever, whatsoever. But this is never going to go away.
I just think it's been around for a long time.
There's always gonna be lonely people out there that can't
or lonely mentally ill probably, and just it's easier to
focus on a celebrity than your neighbor because your your
neighbor's boring. Yeah, exactly, like that person's life is already boring. Yes,

(24:30):
And it's like, why would I focus on the ould
lady next door with no family? I'd rather focus on
you know, George Clooney, that's old. I am just an
actor's name, right, But like, I don't know, I just
think like it's just never going to go away. But
I do think celebrities or whatever online like just dial
it back. And I'm not blaming them, just saying like

(24:50):
there's right, crazy fucking people.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. We'd like to get your thoughts on this, folks.
Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. Uh, you know,
this is one of those stories that you know, it
takes takes some thought and some depth, and we'd love
to hear from you. Shoot us off an email here
and we'd love to respond to you here on the
show again. Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. So

(25:12):
let's move along and get into some Phillies talk here,
because the Phillies pitching situation, which really has been this
team's bread and butter all season long. We've seen the good,
we've seen the bad, and right here in mid August,
there's definitely good coming out of the bullpen. They finally
have an actual closer with Johan Duran. He has been dominant.

(25:34):
We actually have a closer. This team has a closer
with a special role, a specific role. I mean, we've
been waiting for it for years. I'm sure I'm going
to be getting into it with Justin Klue coming up
in our interview. But on the flip side of that,
we've got the quote bad. The challenge here at this point,
which really is Ranger Suarez continuing to struggle here, and

(25:58):
I'm I'm getting very concerned with him because there was
such such high hopes for what he was going to be.
And let's get into him last. Let's talk about the
good stuff first, because you know, the real question is
will you know Johann Duran? Will he actually be the
answer to what the Phillies have been needing in this bullpen?

(26:19):
So far, so good here. I mean the immense pressure
that he is going to be under when the Major
League Baseball postseason begins, I think is going to be
pretty significant. But since the trade deadline, I mean, the
Phillies have been eric one of the best teams in baseball,
and they are starting to look like a complete group.
And yes there are hiccups, some ups and downs tonight

(26:40):
losing a real terrible game to the Reds, but you
know they are a top of the NL East at
this point. For a good part of the season, this
team has been at the top of the NL East here.
Now they finally have a closer on this team who
is dominant. I it's such good news.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
I love it. There's no downside. And what they gave
up for him is like peanuts. Just the way he's
performed if he watches stuff, it's like we kind of
ripped the Twins off. I'm not sure what's going on
with their leadership, and like they're trying to they were
trying to sell the team one point. Something's going on there,
but I was glad to take advantage of them.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
I think they were smoking a blunt with KD at
a concert or something when they made the deal.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
But man, I haven't felt this good about a closer
since Lydge. Yes, in eight I know papal Bond made
that run and you know, in like what twenty ten
or whatever it was, but I never felt like super
confidently came in when lydgit o eight, when he just
we just ran the table. It was like, this guy's

(27:49):
never going to miss this, is it? Yeah, Duran has
that feel. He really does. And it's not like Lydge
had his two pitches, he had the sinker and the fastball. Duran.
Duran has this knuckle curve that hits the back foot
of a left hand or batter twice against he did

(28:09):
against the Redsie did in the game before that, Like,
I'm like, this guy is insane. Yes, against the Rangers,
did twice and I haven't I haven't seen that on
a Phillies team since probably Lydge. So and then and
then you also have you have Alvarado coming back, So
you have two legit closers now for the rest of
the regular season once he comes back. If I was

(28:31):
you know, if he worked out and stuff. But that
is that is the good. The other good schwore. We're
still n L m VP candidate. Like just Mark is
getting going again, right is.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Just so ridiculously consistent right now with Trey Turner's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
You're starting pitching your top two guys Wheeler and Sanchez,
I mean Sanchez a little shaky tonight, but he was awesome.
That I his last start. That that's the good like
you have you sometimes in the playoffs. So you just
have a great one two. Yeah, you're in good shape.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Now that bad Yes, let's get into that year man, dude,
Rangers swore as holy freaking craps er since the All
Star Break has jumped to six point five to nine
after last year five point six five second second half
of the season. The year prior to that, twenty twenty three,
four point five seven. So the second half of these

(29:27):
seasons for Rangers Swarrez have absolutely been crap. He has
been crap in the bed and it's getting worse year
after year. This is the third year in a row. Here,
there's there's some I don't know if there's something specific
going on, because look, we know that he's been battling
injury the past couple seasons. Here, Who the hell knows
if something is going on now, but this is the

(29:48):
quote bad here.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah. I looked at his stats post All Star Game
the past three years and not good, very eye opening,
very scary. Yeah, And it did make me think, like,
is he is he a first half guy? Like we've
seen that where guys just you know, but that's usually
younger players that that. That's kind of bothersome thing to know.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
With Aaronola over the years too.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yeah, but for I'll ask you, I thought about this.
It is sore as an issue of just not being
in shape. That does you wear it down?

Speaker 1 (30:23):
That's a good point.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, like I I've heard, like, Okay, he has a
hard time staying healthy the past two years. Well if
he was in better shape like Sanchez or Wheeler, would
he stay healthier and would he have more endurance going
you know forward in the season, because one year is
like okay, we'll see two years, three years is a pattern.
It's like okay, yea ranger, what's going on, dude? You

(30:47):
can't wear down wear down in the beginning of the year,
not the end. So obviously we have some kind of
I think he has some kind of like physical.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
Just physical limitations here at this point.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, or maybe just get in shape. Yes, he's kind
of doey. Let's just say it right out loud.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
This looks a little like Ryll.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
I would love to see you trying to throw a
ball like full blast.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Oh, it'd be horrendous, it really would. It'd be like
the time Len tried to do it at his last
time he was ever playing fantasy football with us. He's
over at the old house and he just threw it
right into the ground.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
I threw a I threw a rocket into the chair,
hit the target, knocked it over, and then Len stepped
up and he wound up and it went twenty feet
bam in the grass. Killed a groundhoger, I swear to
guess a worm burner.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
Yes, yes, Oh my god. Well, buddy, before I let
you go, do you have anything else for this Phillies
team here? I mean, look, I'm I'm confident overall. I'm
confident where they're at. You know, there's gonna be some
ups and downs, but the one of the best teams
in baseball. And I'm gonna talk to Justin klue in
a little bit here about what Dave Dombrowski has met

(32:08):
meant to this organization, getting it to a point of
whether this team is relevant year after year. It'll be
interesting to hear what Justin says. But you know, I
think there's there's something to be said for where this
team was about a decade ago and where they are
right now. It's I feel good this season about their

(32:29):
chances in the postseason of not getting knocked out in
the first or second round. Well, I just have to.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
Compare myself ourselves to other teams right now, right like
that are at top of the NL. Yeah, forget about
the Brewers. They're hot as hell. They one twelve straight.
They're starting pitching as bonkers. They've average eight and a
half runs per game the past twelve wins. I'm not
even we're not competing with that. It's fine. The Mets
are in second place. They're starting pitching is in shambles. Okay,

(32:56):
like we at least have two aces, and we're talking
about Rangers Suarez and and Nola coming back. Maybe Painter
comes up. The Mets starting pitching is disastrous. So is
the Dodgers. They're starting pitching is is horrendous. The Cubs
isn't that great. So like it, you know, we talked
about before the show, like do we get hot too

(33:17):
soon because you know we're we're now we're paranoid, and
it's just like, yeah, yeah, today, tonight's loss was not great,
but you're going into Washington now for like what four
straight games? Yea, the team should pounce and like you
go right back up, and like you come out. You
should come out, come out of this weekend being up

(33:38):
like six games on the Mets. That's if you're not,
then we'll have to talk next week. Well, no, I
won't be in the show next week, right right?

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Look I I oh, I know somebody's going to be
taking her daughter to college. My goodness. Really quick though
about the Mets, because like before the season started, I'm
thinking of my elf. They got the biggest free agent
signing before the season started and Wan Soto, and I'm like, man,

(34:06):
it's I'm like, man, this team is gonna It's what
the team needed in order to get over that hump.
And guess what, No, I was wrong, Like in my brain,
I was wrong. The Mets are where they're at right now.
Juan Soto hasn't been that guy. He's a great baseball player,
but he hasn't been that guy to say, you know what,
I'm going to carry the team on my shoulders right
now while the pitching is struggling. I don't know. There

(34:30):
are certain storylines and certain aspects of baseball where you
can reflect on things hindsight's twenty twenty. But you know,
the best baseball player in the world may not actually
get you to the Promised Land. No.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
The good things with the Phillies is they have longtime
veterans that have been on this team for a long time. Yeah,
and the Mets don't quite have that. Pete Alonzo's hot
as hell right now. Yeah, he's the one deal. I
haven't really scared within that team. But like Lindor sucks
right now, and Soto's his first year and like you know,
like who knows what's gonna happen with him in the playoffs.

(35:05):
Have we seen him do anything in the play he
did for the Nationals? Yeah, right, But the Philly has
been there before and that that's the one thing I'm
gonna hold on too, Like they they have done this
now how many years in a row. I don't want
them to just get in like in the past it's
like always get in, We'll figure it out. Yeah, I
want them to get in like like maybe have a
buye like don't have to like we don't have to

(35:26):
like sneak in and play game after game after game,
like give our guys a rest because we are getting older.
I think they're definitely capable of that.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
Absolutely all right, folks. For we take a break here. Again.
If you're liking what you are hearing here and uh
on YouTube, watch and like and subscribe to us, we'd
appreciate that for sure. And if you're listening on any
other audio platform, feel free to follow and subscribe as well.
Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. That's where our website is,

(35:55):
and we that's what our website is. We got all
of our shows over there. Any final words, buddy, before
we had to break here and before I let you go.
It's eleven thirty at night, all right, hopefully talk to
you in a couple of weeks. Man, So all right,
I know you won't be on the show next week.
My best to you, your family, your daughter as you're
sending her off to college. It's a bittersweet moment. I

(36:16):
remember when she was a little baby at my wedding.
My goodness, gosh, like like that big yes, that's it.
That's it, all right, buddy, We're gonna take a quick
break everybody when we get back, justin clue from the
Hitting Season podcast and Baseball perspectus, it's gonna be joining us.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
And now on the table.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
And joining us this week. As he has taking a
swig of his what I assume is a delicious beer.
We have from Baseball Prospectus and also the Hitting Season
podcast to get into this Philadelphia Phillies team where they're
at in this season, as we were gonna be looking
towards this postseason. We've got our good friend justin clue, buddy,
how are you my friend?

Speaker 3 (36:58):
Always down for a drink at a very responsible time
of day? Yes, which this is? This is uh, this
is where, of course recording it that in the early
evening post work hours. Yes, completely completely normal times.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
The sun is shining through the window here, the late morning.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
Sun just to the window. But hey, Billy's got you
at a lunch beer kind of mood. Absolutely, it's it's appropriate.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
As we are recording this here on Tuesday, August twelfth,
the Philadelphia Phillies are six games up on the New
York Mets. They've won four straight. This will be uploaded
on Thursday, as many of our listeners know, whether it's
on YouTube and whether it's through different audio platforms as well. Justin,
but I wanted to first address something that you know,

(37:46):
it's really as a fan, I am discombobulated, I'm baffled,
I'm it's mind boggling about this particular theme and where
certain sectors and frustrations of parts of this fan base,
this Phillies fan base, have been over this season. I'm
just absolutely astonished that there are Phillies fans who believe

(38:10):
this team doesn't have what it takes to win throughout
the postseason and possibly get to the World Series because
of how one Dave Dombrowski has handled this passed offseason
with acquisitions and made the decision to quote run it
back with much of the same roster as last year.
I again, it's like it bothers me. It really does
certain sectors of this fan base, I know, bothers you,

(38:32):
and you know a lot of other folks out there
who try to be logical Philadelphia Phillies fans. I mean, sure,
the Max Kepler signing wasn't great. You know, we see
where Jeff Hoffman is at right now, a four point
five zero er. A lot of folks mid season here
are saying, hey, we should have kept Jeff Hoffman. Hindsight's
always twenty twenty. Of course, Phillies outfield has certainly struggled

(38:54):
in various ways, Yet Dave Dombrowski he trades for Johan
Duran and I think at some point this fan base
we have to give Dave Dombrowski credit for when he
makes a move that works out, just like we criticize
the moves that don't pan out. So that's a long
Dia trib buddy, because I'm wondering, like, how would you
grade how do you look at how would you grade

(39:16):
Dave Dombrowski and how he's really constructed this roster, given
where this team is at right now, and why would
you give him that grade?

Speaker 3 (39:26):
First of all, I'd like to address the previous statement
you made because you have to give him credit or
you have to You don't have to do any of that.
That is true for anybody, Yes, with any manager, with
any GM owner, executive, whatever, you don't have to do that.
And I'm not saying that to argue with you or
refute your point. It's just the general idea that you

(39:47):
don't have to take the full scope of someone's output,
especially like a GM, in order to if you hated
something they did, even though like there's a bunch of
other cool stuff they did, if that was their defining
trade to you, I mean, you know, you might get up,
get in some arguments with some people. But you can
just feel that way. I mean, I know Matt Clintech
has undergone a bit of a uh what's it called,

(40:09):
like a people have rehabilitated his image, Like he oversaw
some Phillies teams that didn't go to the playoffs. So
he gets this bad reputation, but you know, you give
him credit for Zach Wheeler, you give him credit for
some other signings and picking up He was good at
picking up Bat's mid season, something that Dave Debraski hasn't
been as fortunate as that. Does that mean Matt Clintech
is a better GM than Dave Debrowski.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
No, it does not.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
It does not mean that. So you know, you can
you can look at the good and the bad if
you want to, but you don't have to give people credit.
If for for the good stuff, if you feel like
the worst things they did were more definitive of their
time here and in general, if they made you feel
the strongest way. And that's kind of to bring it
back to Dobrowski. The argument here that Dobrawski is, as
we all know, going to go into the Hall of

(40:52):
Fame someday as an executive. So he's already reached that
tier of a guy who knows how to put together
a championship baseball team, and he came here with that
reputation that he was gonna blow up a farm system
and get you a bunch of talent. There's good parts
to that and there's bad parts to that, and they're
pretty obvious what they are. But the Phillies put him
in an interesting spot because they didn't really have the
farm system to blow up and.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
They still don't.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
Yeah, and we saw that at this at this trade deadline,
Dombrawski said, you know, there's there's multiple guys. I believe
he said that that we've told Yeah, I mean, don't
expect to go anywhere. And you got to assume that
that was like Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford, Aiden Millie, like
that level of guy at the very least. And that's
from a farm system that's like mid at best and
has been mid at best for it for a long time.

(41:33):
So what does that leave you to trade? And that's
kind of the hand he had at the at the
trade deadline, where it was like, all right, we have
some prospects teams are gonna want. It's probably enough to
get one of the guys we need, and we need
more than one guy, so it's gonna take some creativity.
So my point is, you trust a guy like Dave Dobrawski,
with the pedigree he's got and the reputation he's got,
to get creative. You trust him to do that, and

(41:54):
you should. That's what he's here to do.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
However big.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
That creativity is, you know, it can always be a
roll of the dice. It's a gamble, and gambles don't
always pay off. It's what makes them gambles. So that's
what you saw in this last offseason. So it's it's
not so much like I disagree with the with the
acquisitions of guys like Jordan Romano and Max Kepler or
even Hayesu's Lozardo if if you choose to be against that, though,

(42:22):
I guess you really don't have an argument for that
at this point the struggles he has had. The point
is more that you disagree with the approach that the
Phillies took, that they weren't going to do something like
blow up their farm system or sign a bunch of
a big name guys that you know. Dave Dobrawski classic
Dave Dombrowski style. So I guess I my grading of

(42:42):
Dombrowski comes down to that approach, which which I you know,
I want to trust him to do that. But clearly,
if a guy like Dave Dombrowski, with the everything he
has in his past, can come up with, well, Max
Kepler or well and Romano come up with let's let's
let's get guys cheaper who are coming off injuries or

(43:05):
or or are bounce back candidates and see what When
that pays off, you look like a genius. Right, But
if it doesn't, you can you can look any variety
of negative things lazy, cheap, disinterested, uninspired. I mean I
felt that way about the Harrison Bader deal, but that
has really started to feel better as the days have
gone by. That one guy can really impact a whole

(43:27):
section of your team, as we saw with deron the bullpen.
I think Bata is gonna have similar, if not as
to high a level, but similar impact on the outfield
that's been a problem for the Phillies. So all that
to say, in general, I'm given Dave Dombraski a bee because.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
I was going to say, yeah, I was gonna say
B plus Yep.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
His decisions have not like always paid off, and I
haven't really appreciated the approach that has led to those decisions,
because when you're when you're trying to be creative, you're
playing in a in a pool where the likelihood that's
something like signing Austin Hayes to to boost your offense
is going to pay off. And it could have. It
super could have. But then you know, somebody gets a
kidney infection and they're out for a bunch of times

(44:10):
and I just don't pay off with Meryfield that could
have paid off. There's no reason that that definitely wasn't
going to pay off. Right, It definitely didn't pay off, but.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
It definitely could have and it uh.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
And that's that's the risk you take versus like signing
Trey Turner, which is like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
This is like probably gonna pay off, so.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
You don't have to worry as much. And so yeah,
I I give I give them a bee because you know,
the approach hasn't always been something I agreed with, but
the results have generally been positive. And I trust him
to continue making those decisions because in some cases, the
Phillies don't have any other choice.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Right, I go to the plus the B plus area
because from a more macro standpoint of this Phillies team now,
and it may it's it's not always going to be
like this, but they are extremely relevant within the National
League and they are going to remain relevant in the
National League. My god, I keep going back to where
this team was ten years ago, for God's sake, and
it was just an abomination. And now this team is relevant. Yes,

(45:09):
they are spending money. They should be spending money on
players like Trey Turner, like Bryce Harper. You know, they're
probably gonna end up paying Kyle Schwarber, and rightfully so,
given this season that he has had. So that's why
I'm bumping it up to the B plus, just because
of the relevance of what this Phillies team is.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
If that makes sense.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
Yeah, absolutely, I think a lot of Dombrowski's tenure is
gonna I've been saying it this whole time. It's not
just about winning the World Series, and with this team
and this group and this window, it's about elevating the
franchise as a whole. So the next time they don't
make the playoffs, it's not part of a twelve year
drought where they don't make the playoffs. It's part of
a maybe two three season hiccup where like, Okay, we're retooling,

(45:51):
we're figuring out what we have, we're making deals, building
around the core that we're trying to develop, and oh
look it's here and we're ready to go back and
we're gonna snag a wild card spot again. So that's
that's also a big part of this Nebraska era that
you know, the future will let us know if that
was successful. But I do think that's a goal of
the Phillies to not be that team anymore that misses
the playoffs for twenty years.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
Yes, absolutely, all right, Well, well, as we're moving along
with the conversation here. Last week on the show, Justin
my co host and I we talked about whether or
not the Phillies bats were heating up a little too
early before the postseason and how that could potentially be
a concern for US fans. You know, then again, this team,
they need to win games. They need to win games,

(46:31):
they need to produce offensively, and there again, like I
mentioned at the top of I mean, they're currently six
games up on the Mets of the NL East at
this point, wins are definitely important here. Do you think
this team and their bats, the offense, do you buy
into that that they're getting hot too early? That the
bats are way too hot right now, and you have

(46:52):
any concern about what we may see in the postseason.
What are your thoughts here? Oh, you're stressed.

Speaker 3 (47:00):
Look, I get what you're saying. This team. The biggest
thing you could say about this team, especially the offense,
that it is inconsistent. Yes, and that implies that, yeah,
they look great sometimes and they look terrible sometimes truly
top top of the gay and bottom of the game,
like they will just bottom out and it is just
it is rough. I totally understand what you're saying. It

(47:22):
can feel like a wheel of fortune literally getting just
spun like crazy, and you're just hoping that, like the offense,
it lands on, you know, something positive, and the timing
of that, as we've seen, you know, last year in
the playoffs, year before in the playoffs, that like that,
that positivity can go away at any time, and so
it can become understandable to look at this as though

(47:45):
it's a it's a timing issue, and then certainly that's
a factor. Absolutely, So I'm giving you. I'm giving you
that totally. But I was thinking about this earlier today,
and the truth is, the Phillies haven't playing some really
good good ball lately. They have been playing their most
fun baseball this season. You're getting more from areas that

(48:06):
were weaknesses not very long ago.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
In three seventy five.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
Since he's been back, gosh, yep, You're getting performances that
you were waiting to get from guys who were able
to do that. You're getting performances from guys that you
were just hoping you would maybe get it from, like
your Weston Wilson's and at Mundo Sosa has been playing
lights out did the defense has been exquisite lately, Bryce
and Scott and at Mundo Sosa I've been making great place. JT.

(48:32):
Realmuto has been gunning down right, and that Texas series,
he gunned down two runners in that three to two
win that would have changed the game if they had
been on base. So that that's my point is that
they're finally playing like the team we wanted them to
play as all season long. As this kind of like
has been up and down, and with this specific Phillies team,

(48:53):
it just feels like every time they're playing, well, someone
steps forward says, well, you know they've been playing five
drew ball for the last three months, Like but how
but how is that possible? They're so good and then
they like start they start sucking again, and you're like ugh,
and they're like, well, did you know that they have
the highest ops since the start of July?

Speaker 1 (49:14):
And you're like, but how right, yes, oh you're muted
to the darn mike. You are muted. Let me see
if I can help.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
Here we go, all right, slammed my hand down and
my mic fell off and the court came out.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
I love the emotion. The emotion is fantastic, sweet love
here the PSD podcast show.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
But you're just like, how how is that possible?

Speaker 1 (49:42):
That that it's just up and down?

Speaker 3 (49:43):
So you're never gonna, I feel like, you're never gonna
have a level of consistency that this, Like stray Turner
said the other day, like, oh, we just got to
get consistent. It was like, all right, Trey, when you
find consistency, you just you just let us know, because
we've been looking forward for like three and a half
years now and it just not there. So my guess
my point is they're finally playing like the team we

(50:05):
wanted them to play as why zero in and say yes,
but is it the right time for that?

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Right? It has to be.

Speaker 3 (50:14):
It has to be because they're playing that way now.
And yes, I totally understand that, like, oh, early August,
what if they're petering out again right when the playoffs
start up. You just have to hope that either a
they peter out like at the end of August and
then come roaring back in September and hope that the
cycle works like that, or you have to hope. And
I think this is kind of what's been happening, that

(50:34):
this team has been playing the kind of games and
winning the kind of games that make them look more
like a playoff team than they have all the time.
There have been games where they have looked incompetent, silly, tired, disengaged,
ready to just get on a plane and go to
the next series. Plenty of times where they've done that,
and you've just had to be like, all right, like
I get there in first place or contending for first place,

(50:58):
or like some guys are hitting really well and other
guys aren't, or you know, I get it, but like
end of the day, you got it. You got us
just when they're when they're playing, when things are going
as well as they're going. You got to just accept
that and and and know that, yes, finally they are
looking like a team that can win in the playoffs.
To me, I feel like the last three weeks, yes,
pretty much since the trade deadline, since Darron got here,

(51:21):
that you're seeing a team that has done examples of
what the playoffs could look like. That Tigers series, potential
World Series previews. Rangers, they're they're kind of dying out,
but they were really hot going into the All Star break,
and that was a team that you were gonna have
to work to beat too. Clearly, the Phillies had to
work to beat. They didn't blow out the Rangers or
anything or dominate them, and in two of those three wins.

(51:42):
So yeah, I think you're seeing a team that that's
proving we can win close games. We could dance on
that Razor's edge and it's not automatically a disaster because
when he points to the bullpen, it's not some like
noodle armed Jordan Romano coming in or something. It's people.
It's people who have been uh, it's drawn with his job.
It's the guys behind him, who even the ones who
have been struggling, kind of having a better idea of

(52:04):
what their role is. And I think that's having a
positive effect on everybody. So I'm thinking less about the
timing of this success and more about what it says
about this team's capability.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
That's fair, that's absolutely fair, And as you, I mean,
it's a good way to dovetail into this next topic
because as we I don't think should have concern necessarily
about Zach Wheeler and the type of picture that he is,
type of picture he has been, the resiliency that he
has shown. We have certainly seen some diminished velocity as

(52:37):
of late this past Sunday, he was able to get
his four seamer to ninety five zero point five miles
per hour, but he's averaged this season ninety six point
two miles an hour, and he recently had an MRI
after some shoulder soreness. Rob Thompson said the MRI came
back clean. But I do wonder, and again, this may
just be the Phillies fan in me constantly questioning things,

(53:02):
constantly overanalyzing things with this team. Again, this is Zach Wheeler,
This is Zach Wheeler and what this guy has been
able to do from the mound for so many years.
I do wonder how much concern you have for Wheeler
as we're in this final stretch of the regular season
looking towards the postseason, in terms of his velocity and
just where he is as he is nursing. Obviously, something here.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
I'd like to talk for a minute about North Korea's
nuclear capabilities.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
All right, we're going in a different direction real quick here, folks. Okay,
but I know he's gonna dovetail into something.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
A couple of years ago, John Oliver was like talking
about that, and the point he was making was like,
if you lived on one hundred and thirty first Street
in New York and you found out that North Korea's
nuclear missiles could reach one hundred and thirtieth Street, you'd
put it completely out of your head because you're like,
all right, well, it's not my problem. And obviously he

(54:00):
was talking about it as not necessarily a good thing
in that realm where you're able to detach yourself from
an issue because it's not impacting you. But in sports,
it's almost a healthier mindset to take where it's like,
all right, does Zack Wheeler look like he's heard? Not
like really, but diminished velocity always sets off a lot
of alarm bells. Did they get him an MRI? Yes,

(54:21):
but it didn't show anything. Is Rob Thompson concerned? Not really,
because they asked him like, how are you going to
do anything else to kind of cushion Zach Wheeler moving forward?
And he said no because he's fine. So my point is,
we're living on one hundred and thirty first Street here,
but in this case, it's a.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
Totally healthy thing. Nothing is wrong.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Things are maybe a little different, but as far as
we know, we are out of the blast zone for
a like Zach Wheeler issue, So I'm taking comfort in that.
Will we find out in the option, Yeah, it turns
out his elbow was just like bone dust by the
time like August rolled around, but he was just willing
to pitch through it, right, Yeah, I mean, obviously that's

(55:01):
an ideal. You don't want to hear that. But as
of now, I'm chalking this up and have been to.
These guys have been pitching deeper into games than any
starting rotation in baseball. They've been pitching better than any
starting pitcher. It any starting rotation in baseball, you're gonna
get tired arms, like exactly now, this is this is

(55:21):
when that happens, post all Star Breck mid August. Guys
who've been pitching seven, eight, nine innings all year long
are gonna start to just have some deader arms. And
you know, there's there's ways you can address that. And
I think the Phillies, you know, they know they're pitching.
You know, Caleb Cottam has has everything under control.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
There.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
I'm not I'm not worried about it. There's a reason
they're starting rotation became this team's clear most immense strength.
And so I I want to see Zach Wheeler pitching
with the dominance that he was pitching earlier in the year.
I want him hitting the velocity that we know he's
capable of hitting. But if he's not doing that, and
but like medical science is telling us, hey, no, it's

(56:00):
nothing wrong, nothing wrong here, then I think you got
to just address that. Like, Zach Wheeler has a human arm,
and it might be you know, a little less capable
right now than it was earlier in the year. And
hopefully they can they can get it back up to
where it was before. But the Phillies can also win
a game where Zach Wheeler allows two or three runs
instead of zero or one they should be and they

(56:22):
can win that game. So he can still give you
a great start even with lessened velocity. It's just going
to be something that freaks people out because when you
get used to like near perfection, anything any flaw looks
like a total red flag. And I don't think it's
necessarily a reason to panic. I won't even qualify it
with necessarily. I don't think it's a reason to panic.

(56:42):
I think the starting pitching is going to remain a
strength of this team, and Zacq Wheeler's going to remain
a part of that strength. It's not something you need
to worry about until the MRI comes back and says, yeah,
just got a bunch of just a bunch of worms,
and there we found out in the garments. It's gross.

Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yeah, exactly, folks. He's just in clue from Baseball Perspectives,
the Hit and Season podcast, and also an expert on
international ballistic missiles, obviously with regard to North Korea. You know,
I think I got just yes, I love it. I
know you're out there on Patreon.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
Too, right, Oh yeah, patreon dot com slash Hitting season,
you can listen to The Dirty Inning twice a month,
our show about the dumbest, funniest, and most most obscure
innings in Phillies history, as well as Absolutely Hammered, which
is a weekly Philly's Happy hour with myself, Chris Jones,
and Mike robertson.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
Awesome content, folks. And as we're moving along here, want
to get into the bullpen because we've talked about Johan
Duran and what he has meant to the bullpen being
that definitive closer for this team. It's something I absolutely
love to see and many of many of us fans
have just waited such a long time to see this
kind of dominance in the ninth inning. I mean, just

(57:55):
overall thoughts here, justin like, how are you viewing Duran? Hear,
his role, what it means for the postseason here, because
the postseason implications I think are huge with this talent
coming out of the bullpen. What are your thoughts here
with Duran? Yeah, I mean this is a this is a.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
Character that a lot of Phillies fans probably potentially have
never seen. Yeah, certainly not in meaningful games. I mean
the mean, you were talking about ten years ago. The
whole rebuilt era obviously had Papal Bond like at the
beginning of that, and I think we all know he
holds most of the top closer stats in Phillies' franchise history,
which by the end of Duran's deal could ideally now

(58:36):
no longer be Papal Bonds in the top spot. But
the role of elite, intense, top of the game closer
has not been filled with the Phillies for quite some time.
You know, obviously your mind goes to Brad Lidge in
two thousand and eight. Not a lot of imperfect seasons
following that, but that was, like one of the main

(58:59):
reasons that team was able to win a World Series
was because they had a closer who couldn't not close
the game out for you, like he he just he
just didn't do that. The only the only safe he
blew all year was in the All Star Game, which
is some level of irony that but I'd give I'd
give that up every time. And then you have Papa
Bond who comes in and just you know, there's no
bigger waste of time than an elite level closer on

(59:21):
a team with no games to close, but you know,
he found a way to accumulate those stats, and you
generally knew that if any of those five hundred or
below five hundred teams were going into the ninth in
a save situation that okay, well they'll probably win this
one because we.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Have done on the bond.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
So that is a level of comfort that I had
to relearn how to have that. I didn't have to
become anxious just because the bullpen gate was moving. And
like I said earlier, acquiring a guy like Duran Man
at the time, they're getting him with more years left
on his deal and he's twenty seven years old. I mean,
it's not even like you're the sucker getting a closer

(59:58):
as he like turns thirty two in his arm about
to explode because he's been throwing one hundred and ten
miles an hour for the last three years. Like they're
getting him, right when you want to get a closer
like that, so much value and the way that that
relaxes or takes the pressure off at least other members
of the bullpen who are more suited for other roles,
that's such a benefit that makes it so. I was

(01:00:20):
somebody who was disappointed at first when they announced, Okay,
we're addressing the outfield with Harrison Vader, and my exact
thoughts were, if that's all you were going to do
for the outfield, I'd rather you just acquired the Harrison
Vader equivalent for the bullpen as in addition to drum,
just to give yourself more options, more weapons out there.
Because forty year old David Robertson, whatever, Jose Alvarado, what

(01:00:41):
are his motivations going to be coming back? But now
some of those questions are kind of answered, and the
Phillies Rob Thompson, we're a little more open about what
people's jobs were going to be moving forward because guess what,
there's a closer, and there's no question that he's a closer.
He is the closer I'd like to in the bullpen.
I just do. He can throw a hundred three miles
an hour. You can get three hitters out. That's all

(01:01:02):
you're asking him to do, and that's it great that
he has a job. That means everybody else kind of
gets a job too. And Thompson was like, yeah, for
those late innings, those setup roles, we're gonna be looking
at Alvarado we're gonna be looking at Strom, We're gonna
be looking at Kirkhaan. Then he described David Robertson as
like a middle relief guy, and I was like, you
know what, that's great, that's great. I mean, you know,
it's David Robertson whatever, but like that you're sitting here

(01:01:24):
saying that and not that, like, yeah, we're gonna give
Robertson some chances and he's gonna like get some high leverages.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
I don't want that, you know, I don't want that.

Speaker 3 (01:01:31):
And I'm glad he was able to say, like, yeah,
and so he's gonna be doing middle relief if we
need a righty. Tanner Banks will be doing middle relief
if we need a lefty. And he was just laying
it out like this is this is the plan moving forward.
And I think those guys really benefit from that as well.
So you have a much better idea of moving forward
to what the bullpen's gonna look like, and that that
makes them all the better. So they didn't have to

(01:01:52):
go get some other mid range reliever just to spice
things up, because they got the guy that kind of
shuffled the bullpen back into him more productive space.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Absolutely absolutely, Well, buddy, before I let you go, one
final topic as we're closing out this podcast episode this week,
I'm wondering what you think the biggest challenge is going
to be for this Phillies team as we're starting to
wrap up the regular season, as this team is possibly
going to be hopefully I should say, getting to the NLCS,

(01:02:22):
maybe the World Series. There's a lot of high hopes
out there for that. What do you think the biggest
challenge is going to be for this team towards the
end of the season heading into the postseason Here.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
The biggest challenge for the Phillies in twenty twenty five
is going to be me. I will be hiding in
closets and high shelves and jumping down and startling them
to keep them on their toes in the home stretch.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
Fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
I have a large, lanky body. It's going to be
difficult to fit myself into some of these crevices, but
I will be making sure they are always ready for
an ambush at all times.

Speaker 1 (01:02:55):
Are all are you going to be dressed up as anything?
Or are we just are they just going to know
it's just and clue right in front of.

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
Them sometimes I'm just wearing the fanatic heads. Sometimes I'm
just wearing the fanatic body with the head You're never
gonna know what's what's about to come around the corner.
I think, I think the answer to your question. Now,
you know, here we are in year four of this
core group of what is presumed and in all likelihood
going to be the fourth straight Playoff appearance. And you know,

(01:03:24):
I don't need to lay this out for everybody year one,
but I will Year one. You know, they go to
the World Series and lose, and you're just like, okay,
well this was not maybe not a surprise, but like
their success that going that far was kind of like
this abrupt thrill. So you get a lot of goodwill
from that, and the assumption is, okay, well you got
all the way there last year, you can do it again.

Speaker 1 (01:03:46):
Obviously they failed to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:48):
That doesn't mean that those teams were worse or they
got worse. It just means you still have something to prove.
And as the years have gone by, there's just one
thing left for this team to prove, which is of course,
to win the World Series, and they are looking like
a team more recently that can do that. And so
I'm kind of not looking at specific aspects of the

(01:04:08):
team like offense, starting pitching, bullpen anymore, because, like I said,
I think the bullpen's in the best spot it's been
all year long and twenty twenty five. Starting rotation has
never been a huge concern. Even though they've had some
bumps and bruises and hiccups and issues along the way,
they've still remained the best set of pitchers that you're
gonna put out there. And I honestly, I am willing
to say that a fully rested and full healthy Araon

(01:04:29):
Nola could be a really big benefit to this team
moving forward.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
So I'm not worried about that.

Speaker 3 (01:04:34):
And the offense has shown that also. They know how
to hit, they know how to score more than one
inning per game. They've got a couple of really hot hitters,
they have other hitters who have been hot at other
points during the season and can get hot again. They've
got productive hitters from productive performances from guys like Weston Wilson,
so they know how to they can get the offense
they need. That's not a super concern either, not like

(01:04:56):
the Rangers who are so defensively and pitching strong, but
just are not getting any offense from anyone in particular,
and it's really costing them everything. The Phillies don't have
like a big issue like that anymore, I think since
the trade deadline and what they were able to acquire.
So what Philly's biggest challenge is going into September and
October is going to be the past? Like that's the

(01:05:19):
recent past. They need to get over the fact that, Yeah,
I mean they didn't do it in twenty two. They
shot themselves in the leg in twenty three, and then
they went in with absolutely no juice in twenty four.
They got to find whatever it is that makes them
a playoff team going into the playoffs and be that team.
I know that that sounds like broad and kind of crazy,

(01:05:42):
but I feel like they would probably tell you the
same thing, Like, at this point, you know, Dombrowski's done
what he's gonna do. The guys who are gonna do
what's going to happen are here. Yes, you're a bunch
of really good players, in some cases some of the
best in the league. I say this every time time
they play a completely beatable team like the Rockies or

(01:06:02):
the Orioles. There's no reason for this team to lose
any of these games like there will. There will and
could be reasons for sure, because baseball is crazy and
just a giant mess sometimes and you can't plan for everything,
and you certainly can't control everything. But the Phillies are
set up to do the one thing they haven't done
for the last three years and have been totally capable
of doing in each three attempts. It's just getting over

(01:06:26):
that reputation that, you know, mental hurdle of Okay, here
we go again, the fact that ever since opening Day
twenty twenty three, people have just been wanting to speed
run through the regular season and get back to the
part where we're like, Okay, this is the level we're
stuck off. I get the video game. Let's just start
getting back to the save point that we were at
and move forward there. That's all people are waiting to see.

(01:06:49):
So getting over like that and and the bigness of
that is is this team's biggest challenge, because I don't
I don't. I don't think any particular facet of this
team is guaranteed to be its undoing in the weeks ahead.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
Again, folks, he is justin clue from Baseball prospectus the
Hit and Season Podcast. Head on over to Patreon and
search out the Hit and Season Podcast. You'll get the
Absolutely Hammered pod as well as the Dirty Inning Pod.
Great great content over there. My friend was great talking
to you. Always appreciate and love your insights as it
pertains to this Phillies team. Come back and join us

(01:07:24):
down the road. I'd love to have you back on.
Happy to be here.

Speaker 3 (01:07:27):
I'll come back for the playoffs. We'll have a nice
rational playoff discussion come October, and.

Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
That's going to do it for us this week. Make
sure to share the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show with
your friends and family members who may be Philly sports fans.
You can always head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table
dot com to access all of our podcasts or any
major podcast platform on your device. We appreciate our guests
taking the time to join us every week to help
make this podcast happen and to give us great content,

(01:07:56):
and ultimately we appreciate you. Take care and have a
great week. We'll catch you next time.