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TABLE TALK: The Phillies Are Making Waves! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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Hey, everybody, it's Jeff here. We wanted to let you know that
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this podcast episode was generated on Monday, August seventh, twenty twenty three.
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By the time you hear this, things may have changed a bit, but
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we hope you enjoyed the show. All right, folks, welcome to Table
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Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly
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sports podcast show in the world. That's right over ten years strong. We
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got a lot of Philadelphia Phillies talk coming your way on this particular episode because
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this team, they are winning series. This is a team that you know,
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had some struggles. They had some challenges of course during the first half
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of the season. This second half of the season, we're gonna be getting
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into a lot more here on this discussion. We have got a great guest,
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one of our great friends of the show. Let's get to it right
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now. It is great to have him back on the podcast. You know,
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he's one of our good friends here at the PST podcast show, coming
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to us from CBS Sports. You can find him on the Twitter dot com
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at Jeff Kerr CBS Our good friend, Jeff Kerr, Jeff Man, thanks
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for jumping on the pod. To get into some Phillies talk here. Man.
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You know what, Jeff, It's funny. Usually when we're in the
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same facility, it is at a Phillies game, but we were. We
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were at an Eagles practice last night for different reasons, of course. But
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I feel bad. I ain't get the cu I ain't get to beat the
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wife, didn't get to beat the fan. Well, at some point down
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the road, someday you are going to meet the family. You know they
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My wife sees on our shared calendar. Okay, you're gonna be talking with
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Jeff Kerr again. She's like, I gotta meet this guy at some point
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on the road. Up. Sorry, we weren't able to meet up last
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night, buddy, But listen, there were over fifty thousand in attendance for
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a practice, for a practice that is incredible, And you know what,
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people were kind of shocked by all that. And I just say, well,
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look, the Eagles are really good. They have a franchise quarterback that
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I don't think any Eagles fan hates anymore. Right, I don't think they
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wanted him to fail. I just didn't think they thought he was gonna be
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as good as he was. Oh, by the way, just turned twenty
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five. Oh, and they're coming off an FFC championship and their team is
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loaded, like this is probably the most hyped Eagle season about twenty years.
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Absolutely, I would absolutely agree with you. And you know what, Jeff,
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we are going to talk more Eagles in the future, for sure.
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I'm gonna have you on. We're gonna talk NFC East Eagles talk. But
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I really wanted to get into this Philadelphia Phillies team with you as well,
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because I mean, when I look at what this team has gone through during
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the course of the twenty twenty three season here, it really has been a
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tale of two halves. You know. You know, we all know the
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second half of the season here the schedule a bit more favorable to the Phillies
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than the first half of the season. We kind of knew that. But
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this Phillies team, man like, they're continuing to win series and I think
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some of the doubters out there, and listen, I will be the first
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to admit back in May, I had some doubts about this team and what
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they were going to be doing. But right now, at this moment,
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they've put themselves in a pretty good position while also using some of this positive
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momentum here in August to win some series, win some games, and come
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through. Certain guys on the team have come through and they needed them.
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So how would you view this second half of the season thus far for this
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Philadelphia Phillies team. So I'll say this, in and around June or July,
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Jeff, I thought the Phillies made the playoffs then and there when they
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went on their hot streak in June. Because the Marlins are red hot,
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the Reds are red hot, the Brewers were red hot. All these teams
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that they that are in the mix now, but the Phillies were too.
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So I'm saying to myself, these teams aren't as good. I know,
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I think I know what the Phillies are. I think the Phillies are going
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to be a playoff team. They held serve when those teams had their runs.
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Now, look at how bad the Marlins are right now. Look how
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bad the Reds are, right yeah, I mean these teams are losing to
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the Nationals. They're losing the bad team like Phillies stands are foot value losing
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games to the Royals. I said, okay, but you took two or
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three and like you said, they're winning series. That's the important thing with
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this baseball team, And all of a sudden you look up at the schedule
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or at the standings and they're three up. They are three up on the
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final wild card spot. There. It's basically them. The Giants are battling
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for that first wildcard spot. And the Giants have a murderous schedule coming up.
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So if the Phillies just keep doing what they're doing, they're probably gonna
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win ninety games and be that first wild card. I would think so as
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well, they can't at all get into a losing streak or just a losing
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slump at all. I mean, if there's like an eight game losing streak
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that could be that could be extremely detrimental to the future of this team in
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terms of the postseason. But Jeff, I really wanted to get into one
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particular player with you. We've all been talking about him within Phillies Nation,
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and that is one Trey Turner. And I know so many other podcasts and
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so many other media outlets have talked about what he has been, what he
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has meant or not meant, even to this twenty twenty three team. Of
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course, we know he's never the worst season of his career. The fans
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have been frustrated with him. He is frustrated with himself trying to figure things
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out at the plate. Even from a defensive perspective, he has been certainly
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below average this season. But the fans, they decided to do something a
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bit unconventional. They start cheering for him. They start cheering for him and
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clapping for him when he gets up to the plate. Jeff and this meant
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so much to Trey that he actually he bought some Billboard real estate, thanking
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the fans for what they have been doing. I have never seen anything like
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this before, and it's specifically in the city of Philadelphia as well. I
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think it goes to show the connection that Philly sports fans have with players they
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love and that they want to see it do well and vice versa. I
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just wanted to get your thoughts on this tray turner saga of this season leading
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up to the Billboard. What would have been your thoughts, Jeff So,
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as a guy who is a season taking the ord from the Phillies and is
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a big trade turner fane, I personally loved it. I mean I thought
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it was cool. I thought it was cool. I think it was a
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little bit radio creative, but that's okay. They were doing it for a
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good thing, w ip. They were doing it for a good thing,
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and that problem with that. But I am never one person to tell a
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fan what they did, right, I'm not. If you want a boot
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tray turner, go boot tray turner. If he grounds into a double play,
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you want to boo, go right ahead. I'm not going to get
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upset with you. That's just the way it is. But I thought I
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thought it was really neat, and I think it chose why free agents want
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to come and play for the Philadelphia Phillies. Bryce Harper is a reason.
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Bryce Harper will tell anybody, hey, look when the fans got your back,
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they got your back, and they proved it. I mean straight turner.
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I used to get frustrated because people would boo tray turner. But the
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energy wasn't used for Kyle Schwarber for that energy wasn't used for somebody else.
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And I'm like, I'm more frustrated with Kyles Horbor right now than I am
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a trade. Turner just came off a three hit game. I think I
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think it's unacceptable to hit one seventy nine at this point in the seat.
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It's obviously over that now. But I mean, Trade Turner, I know
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he's gonna get it fixed. Kyle Schorber. I think this is who he
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is. Yeah, unfortunately, Yeah, you know, I always thought that's
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who he was. But beside the point, I did think it was neat.
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I thought it showed class. I thought it showed character. I don't
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think it was made up. I thought it was genuine. But again,
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if Tray Turner gets out, it's okay to boo him. But yet,
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I think this helped him, even though he had over for Friday night.
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I think that helped him in the long run. I think that's why he
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put up the billboard. I think that's why he put up the billboard seriously,
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because he was that appreciative of the fan base given him that little kick
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in the butt that he needed. Right. Yeah, And it's hard,
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right, I mean, you play composed sports, I play comfos sport.
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I'm bold. You know how harder is good album bawling, no matter how
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good you are. Right, Turner knows he's good. It's not a lack
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of confidence. It's just it's this ever gonna end like? Right? And
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he can't do what I do when I'm in a slub. I don't do
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it. I stay away from it. I get the bad stuff out.
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He can't. This is his life, right right, So you gotta go
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out there and play every day. Look happened to Nick Castianos last season,
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and a lot of people are saying that as well. Look what happened to
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Nick Castiano's last season. Maybe it was just the move from Philly. Maybe
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there's stuff going on with Tray Turner we do not know about at this point.
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You know, Nick Castiano's last year, there was some emotional stuff going
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on with him. There was stuff going on in his head from a mental
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health standpoint. He talked about it and one of the reasons why we saw
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the type of play from him in twenty twenty two. Who knows if there's
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something going on with Trey Turner, but I have a feeling that whether it's
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in the foreseeable future or even next season, Tray Turner's Tray Turner. We
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have seen what he has been in terms of being a major League baseball player
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now for quite some time. He hasn't just fallen off a cliff. At
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this point, I said this to fans and a lot of the close friends
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of life. You remember Pat Farrel in two thousand and three, right bad
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he was. He was with the Mendoza line, limited power. This is
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coming off a thirty seven home run season again in the big time track,
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and I'm like, he may never be this again, right he may like
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this, may be it like this. And then in the way it did
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affect him, he never was that two eighty hitter we saw a two thousand
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and two anymore. He became a two fifty hitter with thirty home runs and
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drove in runs and walked a lot, But he was never the guy that
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they paid in two thousand and two. He never hit higher, still a
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high OVP, still drove in runs, still hit thirty, But he was
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never the same guy after that. Though three season he was a good player,
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but he wasn't the player we all thought he was gonna be. I
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think Trey Turner is a great player. I just think it was the slope
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that's the big difference here. But two thousand and three, the slumps,
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the booing, the feeling bad for him at Earl was supposed to be the
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reason why the Phillies won the end, at least in two thousand and three,
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right right, the Phillies didn't even make the playoffs, and if he
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was anything near what he was, the Phillies would have made the playoffs and
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then did that long playoffs drop this year, Trey Turner is fortunate that they
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take six of the playoffs and stuff. Absolutely, absolutely all right, Jeff,
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Let's move along here to a story that you know does have some of
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us concerned within Phillies' nation. I'm not sure if you're concerned with it.
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But in terms of Brandon Marsh being out now with his injury, this is
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a team that is going to be relying on Johann Rojas and some spare pieces
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such as you know, Weston Wilson from Lehigh Valley and even Jake Cave.
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Now more into the future, they're gonna be relying on these guys. They're
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gonna they're going, I look at this though, they're going to be chasing
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power even more now and hindsight, it's always twenty twenty. As we know,
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they didn't get a proven righty bat at the trade dead line, not
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that Dave Dombrowski didn't try to do it, but it just didn't happen for
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this team. An organization. And because of that, it seems like having
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Brandon Marsh out it could really be a challenge for this Philadelphia Phillies team.
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What are your thoughts here? Should we be concerned or or should we kind
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of just you know, pump the brakes and say, okay, listen,
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it's gonna be okay. What are you thinking, Well, they're gonna miss
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Brandon Marsh's ability to hit drive runs in Yeah. I think Brandon Marsh has
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been a cut traitor for the I mean he did have the I s ops
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on this team absolutely in the going into the weekend. So they are going
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to miss that. And it's a shame because when Marsh got injured, I
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didn't tweet it, but I thought it. I don't I don't tweet everything.
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I picked right, I said, boy, is this team good at
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being consistently inconsistent? And I hated that route Marsh took to that ball.
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Yeah, he missed running and he's like, well no, It's like I'm
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like, no, it's not like Aaron Rowan. Because a row It took
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a run to the ball, right you you had to turn your glove,
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so in a way you kind of created that. And I know that's a
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tough play. I'm not going out Brandon Marshall act. I love how he
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put his body on the line, but it just kind of sucked up Phillies
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all season, like like they look great one day, they look terrible the
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next. But you know they're a good team, right, That's how Brandon
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marshan You know he's a good player. But now you can't pocas Ward back
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in the field. You kind of have to go with Weston Wilson, Joa
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ROAs Kristen Paces apparently coming back soon within the next week or so, So
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I think that helps up. By the way, Jeff, what does it
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tell you what they think of Scott Kingery? Exactly? Exactly. That's a
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really great point. I mean, look, I think I think there are
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certain elements in this team that have been looking for excuses to get him potentially
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back up. It's not happening. It's not happening, man. I've tried
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to tell people this. I know enough people in the other organization what they
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think of Scott Kingery. They don't think anything of them. I think they
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can't wait to get rid of him, honestly, Like, and you know
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what, it's always frustrating me with Scott Kingery and Jeff, you've seen him
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Plague, you know you're you're in the Altown area. I've seen him playing
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more than enough. I love Scott Kingery coming up. I thought he was
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gonna be a great player. I thought. First gave Kapler ruined him with
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the whole upper cup thing. Yeah, then he had the eye excuse,
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then he had the injury. He always seemed to have excuses for why it
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was bad. Like, dude, you gotta look in the mirror. You
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don't have it. Like I know, people screwed you up, but you
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don't have it. You didn't fix it. That's why I always gave Reese
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Hoskins credit. I thought Reese Hoskins fixed what they screwed up. Scott Kingery
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never did right. It never never had the I don't want to call it
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intestinal fortitude to do it, but whether it's the sports strength from a mental
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or physical standpoint to get it done, You're absolutely right. He never He
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never was able to do it. But moving along here, Jeff, I
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wanted to get into some of this Philly starting pitching rotation and staff with you
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here because it certainly has been my gosh, you talked about the inconsistencies recently
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with regard to you know, Brandon Marsh and how that Cup was kind of
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a reflection of the team in general this season in various facets. This Philly
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starting pitching staff has just been up and down this entire season. I mean,
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as we know, Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler having rather unremarkable seasons to
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say the least. And yet the rest of the pitching staff has been rather
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steady I think from an overall standpoint. But again, so much inconsistency from
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time to time with the starting pitching staff. How do you characterize this Philly
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starting pitching staff overall? As we're you know, getting into August here.
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Will give it to Wheeler. He's really turned to the round. He's starting
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to look like the pitcher we thought we were gonna see. And again,
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you know, you talk about that metal four to two thing. I think
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Zach Wheeler has it right. Aaron Nolah, I still say his problems the
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pitch clark and he just doesn't like it. I'm like, well, I
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don't care if you don't like it, ain't going anywhere like and you can
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tell he likes to take his time man, especially runners on base. That's
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why I think he's given up the hits. That's why he's giving up a
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lot of home runs. And I said, when he didn't sign that deal
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when they offered him an extension, you know, when he banked on himself,
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I'm like, I don't think he should bank on himself. I don't
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think he's the type of guy that can that will have his best season season.
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Do you think do you think it's that he's being stubborn within himself,
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because like we're talking about that intestinal fortitude, the will, the will and
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the wherewithal to be able to change and alter your game and play based on
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different variables around you. The variable of the pitch clock has now been here
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for quite some time. Is he just being stubborn within himself when he's on
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the mound, Yeah, he is, and he can't seem to find an
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adjustment. And what offsets me with a lot of these pictures, like when
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Harper complained about when he was in dur I'm like, dude, you have
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the whole off season, You've known about this for two years, Like,
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did you think they weren't going to do it? Like, you know,
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do you think because you're Bryce Harper, you were gonna go wait with him.
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I think that resident to a couple of people in that clubhouse, and
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I think Aaron Nola was one of them. And he's just said, I
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think Zach Wheeler is adjusted. Ranger Suarezan never worried about. I think it's
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helped Michael Lorenzen tremendously as a pitcher. I think it's helped guys like Jeff
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Hoffman, who was never good until this year. And I think guys that
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like the work fast, it's helping like Ranger Suarez, Jeff Hoffman, Michael
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Lorenzen. You know, I watched him in Detroit. I'm like, but
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this is a completely different picture. I hear Michael Therenzin's name to the Phillies
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like three weeks before he was actually traded there, so I figured I'd start
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watching the guy. I'm like, oh, he's an all star. Let's
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see how good he is. Well end up being pretty good, and you
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know, to what a revelation he's been. It's he's the guy that you
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think, oh, wow, he's gonna get rocked today, and what's he
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do? He gives you seven strong innings. Absolutely absolutely, And I think
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the inconsistencies of course, with Aaron Nola. I hope they begin to start
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working themselves out here. I'm not gonna hold my breath because any given day
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we were going to see any given Aaron Nola for sure. And again,
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folks were talking to Jeff Kerr from CBS Sports at Jeff Kerr CBS on the
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Twitter dot com. Give him a follow if you're not already, He's a
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fantastic follow. So I kind of want to you know, we're gonna close
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things out here with some concerns and uh, you know, you know,
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some good stuff that we're going to be seeing from this team as well,
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Jeff, So first and foremost, let's talk about what we're concerned about when
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it comes to the Phillies. So, for you, what is your biggest
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long term issue for the remainder of the season for this team. Is it
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inconsistency with pitching like we were just talking about, or is it as as
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somebody specific getting injured? Of course, if Bryce Harper gets injured again,
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that would that would hurt a bit, of course, but long term issue
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for this team, what is that for you? When you're looking at the
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Philadelphia Phillies. Here, I'm a very patient man when it comes to this
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team, more patient than I normally yet, and I think it's because they've
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earned the benefit the doubt for me based on what they did the second half
17:56
of last year. Now, are they making such a big jump as they
18:02
did last year. No, But I also feel like they made their move
18:07
in June. Like I said earlier, they stuck with those teams that were
18:11
hot, and I kept saying to myself, you know what, ESPN is
18:15
overhyping the Reds. Yeah, they are not a good team. They're a
18:18
young team. They're going to be a very good team, but stop crowning
18:22
them. They're not good. That division is not good. That's why they're
18:25
winning. The Marlins. I knew with fade. At some point, I
18:29
just said, just beat them, and the Phillies did that. They're three
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and three against them, you know, and the Marlins are five and fifteen
18:34
since the All Star break. So they've been fading. The Brewers have been
18:38
fading. It's really and everybody thinks the Giants are gonna fade. I thought
18:44
they had their bail week when I was actually a reno because I got to
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watch a lot of Giants games and I'm like you know what, I don't
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think the Giants are terrible. I don't think they're good, but I don't
18:52
think they're terrible. But they got a tough schedule coming up. It's I
18:56
just think people have kind of written this team off because the Brays let game
19:00
lead them, and I don't think people understand the Braves are always the best
19:03
team in Junior July. I want to see good they are in October,
19:06
and I don't want to hear this Mickey Mouse tournament BS. No, go
19:11
out there and beat the humbred with team you are, go, go beat
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a team to beat all the time. That's why I keep trying to tell
19:17
people, there you go. I mean, we saw what happened to them
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last year in the postseason, didn't we. Yeah, And you know what,
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I honestly think if you put the Braids in the Phillies in the five
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game series, I think the Braids will win, but I think you'd be
19:27
a lot closer. And people think, absolutely the Braves are really good.
19:30
Everybody in that lineup is good. I'll rave about them. I think they're
19:36
the best team in the National League. But yeah, from from two to
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seven, it's pretty even. I think I think it's gonna be fascinating if
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we get to see that in the postseason and to close us out here at
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the end of the day. You know, when we look at this Phillies
19:48
team here in August, Jeff, what makes you think that this team is
19:53
really gonna make that postseason run? What is that? What's that one thing
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that says, yep, I know they're gonna do it. The big guns
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gotta hit. I'm I think I think you're starting to see that. Bryce
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Harper a bit. I think JT real Mudo he needs some time off,
20:08
but again, I think he's starting to come around just a little bit.
20:12
Kyle Schorber, I mean, look, he's gotta hit. Tray Turner's gotta
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hit. You know that. It's it's the highly paid guys that got to
20:19
do their jobs. Right now. With that, I think Bryce Harper will
20:22
hold his end of the bar because I still think he's kind of coming back
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from you know, his injury. I do his power is gonna be diminished,
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but he's still hitting the ball. But Tray Turner, maybe he could
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turn it around. It seems we gotta keep in mind here they just played
20:36
the Royals, you know, But Kyle Scharber's got Kyle Scharber's gotta be better.
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J T. Real Mudo has gotta be better. Nick Cashelis is starting
20:45
to get out of as funk, which I like. I think Nick's gonna
20:48
be fine. But if they're guys hit. Look, they've made it clear
20:52
they are a pitching team this year. They are a pitching team, and
20:56
that's good because I think that's what wins in the playoffs. And I don't
21:00
know how their playoff rotation's gonna stack up yet. It's gonna be Wheel or
21:03
Noola. I don't know who the third's gonna be. I've a feeling Suarzan
21:06
Lorenzo will go to the bullpen, will go. But Walker that third game,
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yeah, if if Push comes to shop. But they're deep, and
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they're getting a lot from Christopher Sanchez, they're getting a lot from Jeff Hoffman,
21:18
which which again, if someone would have said to me and may Jeff
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Hopp major League pittri ide A grouped them one hundred percent. Yep. But
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you know they're got Freig Camberroll. He's been pitching well. Gregor Richo has
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been fine. Ny Dominguez is coming back. This is a good team.
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Jeff, I mean, I don't think we should sugarcoat it. I think
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it's a good team. I think the fans are showing that by showing up
21:36
to the ballpark. And to be honest, I've said all year, I
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think this is an I du win baseball team and they're playing at that pace.
21:41
It's a fun time in the world of Philly sports and specifically if you're
21:45
a Philadelphia Phillies fan. Again, Jeff Man, my friend, I thank
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you so very much for jumping on our table talk interview showed this week to
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get into this team. Let's talk some Eagles in the future. Man,
21:56
Let's talk some Eagles, because this is a team I think all so it's
22:00
gonna be heading to the postseason, even though there hasn't been a snap of
22:02
football yet. I think this Eagles team is gonna be doing some great things
22:06
this year. So come back and let's talk about the Birds. That was
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someone who's been through the majority of training camp practs is you're so question marks
22:12
on defense, but that offense is going to be very very good. Jeff,
22:17
Yeah, let's talk about those question marks in the future. My friend,
22:18
would love to have you back on it sounds great as long as you
22:22
don't sign Zach Cunningham at Miles Jack on me when I got a starring job
22:26
locked up. This Phillies team is certainly making waves in the NL, and
22:32
they're gonna continue it, I think in the foreseeable future. A great conversation
22:34
with Jeff Kerr from CBS Sports and that is gonna do it for us here
22:38
on table Talk this week. If you are on the Twitter dot com,
22:42
follow us at Philadelphia PST. You can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren,
22:47
and we are on Instagram as well. Search out the Philadelphia Sports table there
22:51
give us a follow. If you are on Apple podcast listening to this,
22:55
give us a five star rating. We would greatly appreciate that as well as
22:59
a review that helps with our standings within Apple Podcasts. Share the podcast with
23:03
your friends, your family who are Philly sports fans, and that's gonna do
23:07
it for us. Folks. Take care, we'll catch you next time.