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Transcript

October Bound? The Phillies Final Push (PST Episode 685) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: over 13 and a half years strong. We got a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: great show coming to you this week as we always do.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Warren. I'm here with my buddy Len Hunsicker. Buddy,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: it's great to see you. I appreciated our therapy session
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: right before we hit the record button, by the way.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Thanks for that.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: I appreciate it.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Plenty of good ideas are thrown about.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Look, I usually have the therapy sessions with Eric
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and stuff.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: You know, you being on the show this week, I
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: appreciated your ears during a time of need.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: And don't forget my ideas, especially that big one. Exactly.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: You have some really good ideas.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Sometimes you have to reach across the aisle, if you
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: know what I mean.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. Oh, I love it.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: That's for you folks out there who are listening to
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: this and trying to get me on something, by the way.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: So if only they knew, right? If only they knew.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I'm constantly being monitored.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Hello, everyone.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: How are you?
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: So anyway, we got a great show, like I mentioned,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: of course.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Got to get into some Eagles talk because Landon Dickerson
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: has been placed on IR. Len and I talked about
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: how he looked like complete doo-doo butter, and he got
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the doo-doo butter award after our Eagles postgame podcast show.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Towards the end of it, we gave out our MVP
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: and our least valuable player doo-doo butter award. That was
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Guy's hurt.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Guy's been hurt. throughout camp. We just learned about it.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: He was honest about it. I'm glad he was. We'll
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: get into it. And then we're going to get into
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: some Flyers talk. They had some rookie games over the weekend.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Going to give our thoughts on who stood out from
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: those games as we're getting ready for the upcoming season.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: And then we're going to have a quick discussion on
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Union. Yes, we have not talked about the
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Union. Len and I have not in some time
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: because Boy, was it a stinky season, but boy, have
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: they turned things around.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Go back in the podcast feed.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: On our table talk show this week, we talked to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: our buddy Josh Schuster from PhiladelphiaSoccerNow.com about this team, but
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Len and I wanted to dive into it a little
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: bit more as well.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: And then a ton of Phillies talk.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Tons of Phillies talk as this team is looking toward October.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: We've got Joe Ettinger from TheGoodFight.com. He's going to be
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: joining us for a discussion about where this Phillies team
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: is going to be heading here in mid-September.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: That's what we're throwing down on the table.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: But Len, let's get started with the Philadelphia Eagles. Again,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson on IR. What does the future of the
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: left guard position look like as this team is moving
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: forward to week two against the Tennessee Titans here? I'm
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: glad Landon Dickerson was honest at the end of the day.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Glad he was honest about the fact that he got
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: rolled up on during camp, as he mentioned to us,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: or I should say, as he mentioned to the press.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: got rolled up during camp, has been having some issues
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: since then, and it's the reason why he looked like
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: crap week one. And I'm just glad he's not doing
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: what he did last season. And from what he said,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: he's glad he's not going to do what he tried
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: to do last season, was just to get through it,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: get through the pain on a weekly basis. He had
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: a horrible season last year, not good, and I'm glad
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: he learned from the experience at the end.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Of the day.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, in the end, it makes what we
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: saw in that first game make sense. You know, clearly,
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: you know, he didn't forget how to play football. Right.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: So there obviously had to be something that, you know,
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: was causing him to look as as bad as he did, because,
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like on a football field like that. well,
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: offensive line, you don't really get noticed if you're doing
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: something great. Um, you only really get noticed if you're
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: doing something bad. And so the fact that he was
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: kind of standing out generally isn't a good thing and
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: he certainly did stand out. So, um, so yeah, now
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: they have a chance to, you know, get somebody in
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: there who, you know, um, maybe 65% or a hundred
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: percent of, um, you know, whoever they, they bring in
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: is going to be better than, you know, 65% of
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: Landon Dickerson or, or whatever he's currently operating at, uh,
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: in terms of, uh, you know, his, his capacity with injury. Uh,
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: so we'll see, I believe it's going to be what
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: drew Kendall. Yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Drew Kendall.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to get the nod, uh, to
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: start at left guard against the Titans again. And look
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: from all indications during camp and, and, you know, just
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: during the preseason, uh, he got a lot of praise,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: you know, as really growing, really developing now here in
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: his second year. And the thought process, when you read
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: everything online, at least stuff that I've read, there's a
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: comfort level with Drew Kendall coming in.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Is it going to be perfect?
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: No.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Is he going to be like what Landon Dickerson was
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: when Dickerson was healthy? Probably not, but still a very,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: very serviceable talent coming in to replace Dickerson.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. So we'll, we'll see what he can do,
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: you know, until you can, see him actually play and
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: get a certain, I guess, comfort level with them. Yeah.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: It's going to be hard to, you know, really trust
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: what's going on there. Um, question I have, um, Mackay Beckton,
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: is he still out there? Like he, he is still
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: out there, right?
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I think he might still be out there, but I
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, I don't know if he can
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: play the left side. I don't know if he can
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: do it.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: Okay. So he was, he was on the right side before. Okay. Yeah.
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: It was just because I had, I had read something like,
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: I think literally earlier today that he was still out
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: there and it was like, well, He's a guy that's
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: had success here. Why wouldn't you look at bringing him back? Yeah.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: You know, obviously probably on a, you know, low money
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: deal or whatever, but I mean, he's probably wherever he is,
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: it beats being on the couch, which is what he's
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: currently doing. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why you
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: wouldn't maybe at least look at that as an option,
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: but I didn't know if he burned bridges or took
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: a dump in somebody's hamper on the way out the
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: door or whatever he did, but yeah. So I don't know.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: It just, Something to think about if Kendall doesn't work out.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: Who knows?
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Let us know your thoughts below if you're watching on YouTube.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: What do you think about Mekhi Becton possibly coming in?
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Can he play on the left side? We'd love to
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: hear from you. But really quick, too, Len, before we
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: move on to some Flyers talk here, I wonder where
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson is going after this.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: What is the next chapter for him?
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Because we kind of knew before he was drafted, he
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: ended up with a torn ACL during his final year
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: at Alabama. which affected his draft stock, of course. He
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: made a full recovery as a rookie in 2021. And
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: at the end of the 2024 season, I mean, he
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: had a serious knee injury during that postseason run. And
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: if you recall, several of his teammates said after that
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl that they had no idea how Dickerson was
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: actually able to play through that injury. The guy's body
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: is absolutely breaking down, it seems, at this point. So
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: from a long-term perspective, I do wonder, because he agreed
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: to a restructured contract that removed the final year of
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the four-year $ 84 million deal that he signed in 2024.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: I just wonder if there's going to be a next
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: chapter for him, what the future really holds for him.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: We don't have a crystal ball, of course, but that's
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: what's on my mind right now. And I'm sure it's
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: on Howie Roseman's mind as well, what to do about
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: the interior design. left side of this line that has
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: been struggling because of injuries.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah. And that's something that was, I think, known about him.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: I think I remember when he was drafted, like hearing
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: stuff along the lines of, if it wasn't for the injuries,
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: this is a first round guy. Yeah. When they took
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: him in the second round. So, I mean, the injuries
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: were something that were known, a known entity with him,
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: you know, before he even walked in the door. Yeah. So,
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: you know, so it was always, and I've heard stuff
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: over the years of, It's really a matter of when
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: he retires early rather than if because of the compounding
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: injuries over the years. So, I mean, I hope not.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: I like him. I mean, I think he's, you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: when healthy, I think he's a hell of a player.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: So obviously, you know, I would like to see him
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: be able to come back and do what he does. But,
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: you know, the body's going to do what the body's
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: going to do. So, yeah, they have to. I mean,
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: at this point, you have to look at a long
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: term plan. You look at Drew Kendall and see what
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: he can give you. And is this guy the answer?
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: And if not, then all of a sudden the left
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: guard position maybe becomes a priority in next year's draft
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: or free agency or whatever. Yeah.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you if you're watching on YouTube. Again,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: leave a comment below about the left guard position, Landon Dickerson,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: what is going to happen perhaps with him and with
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: this position down the road.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: So with that being said, we are going to take
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: a break.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: When we get back, we're going to get dive into
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: some flyers talk and also some union talk as well.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Stick with us.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: All right, we are back, and let's get into some
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Flyers talk. because the Flyers had their rookie games over
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the weekend. We got hockey going on, Len. We got
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: hockey going on, man.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's back.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. It's great to see.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Really, I feel like the end of the season was
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: just like a few weeks ago or something like that.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: At least the draft was like a few weeks ago
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: or something.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Already hockey is here.
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, hockey has like maybe a month, month and a
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: half where literally nothing happens like in August and stuff
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: like that. But the downtime really between what happens on
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: the ice and then the business off the ice between
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: the draft and free agency, it really– it's an 11
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: out of 12-month news cycle thing with hockey. So yeah,
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: it never really goes away.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: It doesn't go away and I am excited to see
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: where certain– I don't even want to call them prospects anymore.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: That young core that we're waiting for to break out,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: what they're going to end up really looking like this
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: coming season. And when we look to these games here, look,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Porter Martone, love this guy. He really looked like from
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: a skill standpoint, like that blue chip NHL prospect that
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: he actually is.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: He finished with a goal and an assist this past weekend.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: And was obviously the most creative playmaker on the ice.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: And he brought his chippy self, you know, and personality
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: to every single game. He was not perfect by any
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: stretch of the imagination. So, I mean, there was a
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: second period in the game, I believe, with the Rangers,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: my gosh, where he was just trying to do too
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: much and things backfiring on him. But I can't wait
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: to see where Porter Martone is. It's going to take things.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, were there any guys, you know, even from highlights, Len,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: because like I wasn't able to watch all the games,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: but able to watch like certain aspects and certain periods
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: and things like that. But any any players specifically sticking
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: out to you here during these these rookie games?
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, first off with the thing with Martone, I mean,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: I think that is symptomatic of pretty much any young player,
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: especially one that's trying to make a name for himself
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: and stand out is the the tendency to do too much.
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: You know, it's it's a very easy trap to fall into.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: And I mean, unless you're, you know, elite level IQ
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: and have that. sense of maturity at age 18 19
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: what have you right to be able to play within
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: yourself and not many people do it that's just going
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: to happen that's that's a fact of life um yeah
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: i mean in terms of standing out it's not like
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: oh man this guy blew my doors off with with
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: regard to anybody but you know you saw i think
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: um you know the guys that were part of the
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: the run last year that that are in this rookie, um,
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: in these rookie games, Martone, um, Denver Barky, Alex bump,
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: guys like that, where really you just want to, you know,
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: see them kind of maintain, um, you know, obviously if
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: they can make some strides in their game, that's cool. But,
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: but I, the thing I was happy about with him was, um,
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: goes back to something that Danny Breer said recently when
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: he was asked like anything you're worried about. And he's like,
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: I just don't want these guys because they did make
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: the playoffs last year. My biggest fear is complacency. And
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: I didn't see any sense of complacency with anybody that
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: was part of that run last year. It's not like
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: Denver Barkey, just using him as an example. It's not
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: like he's going out there going, oh, I got a job.
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: I'm good. Right. You know, he's. They're coming in with
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: the right attitude of, you know, I still have something
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: to prove. I still need to, you know, improve my
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: game and just, you know, be on it the whole time.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: So that to me was something that I wanted to
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: see and something that I did see. Um, so yeah, uh, that,
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: that's really kind of was the biggest takeaway for me
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: in all of this.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned Denver Barkie because, you know, and I,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and I believe our friend of the pod, Charlie O'Connor
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: from PHL wise, uh, actually mentioned something like this as well.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if I read it in article or
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: if it was on.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Twitter, but Barkie last year, he was the best player
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: in that rookie series last year.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: I remember that, you know?
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Um, but yeah, If he wasn't the best player this year,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: it was because of the increased competition, not because he
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: played any worse this time around. So, I mean, I
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: think we do expect him to make that roster spot
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: at the main camp.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: You know, like we expect that.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: But that just goes to show he was such a
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: standout last year. But with the way a lot of
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: these guys are developing now. He wasn't necessarily that standout
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: this year, and that's okay.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's fine. It just means other guys.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: You want to see everybody leveling up.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Exactly, and that's what we saw, and I think that
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: bodes well for the hunger that these guys are going
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to have where they're not going to be complacent like
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: you were just talking about. They're going to be hungry
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: to get back to the playoffs. They're going to be
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: hungry to tell the hockey world that, yes, this Flyers
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: team is coming for you. That's my gut and what
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I'm feeling here.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's something that on a bigger picture, outside
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: of just these rookie games, is something that I'm looking
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: forward to this year. I mean, yes, they made the playoffs,
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: and I think there's a tendency to think, oh, all right,
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: we made the playoffs. We're a playoff team now. This
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: is going to be our foreseeable future. It's very possible
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: that– because it's not like they went out there. They
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: didn't land Leo Carlson even though they made a hell
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: of an effort. They didn't land any blue-chip people. So,
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: I mean, there's the very real possibility– that a couple
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: pucks go the wrong way here and there, that they
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: don't make the playoffs this year. They are the very
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: definition of a bubble team. Florida, who did not make
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: the playoffs this year after winning the previous two Stanley
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: Cups– is going to be back and they're going to
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: be better. So that's one team that I think will
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: be bumping the flyers down a spot in the pecking
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: order because they're going to be better this year. So,
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I don't expect there to be complacency
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: with this team, whether it's the kids or the older
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: guys in general, because I think they know that the
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: playoffs are not a guaranteed deal. It's not, you know, OK,
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: we just have to, you know, play well enough and
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: we'll get in. I mean, they're they're going to be
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: in a dogfight for it the whole season. And I
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: hope they realize that. I think they do. All right.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Let us know what you're thinking about the Flyers. Shoot
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: us off an email. Philadelphia Sports Table at Gmail dot com.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: We have got some emails and I apologize to those
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: folks out there who have written us.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: I have to get to them. Life has been busy.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: So we're going to definitely get to those emails in
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: the future. Again, PhiladelphiaSportsTable at gmail.com. And if you're watching
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: on YouTube, leave us a comment about the upcoming Flyers season.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. Anything we talked about,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: if you have a response, leave it in the comments below.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: We are now going to just have a quick discussion here, Len,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: about the Philadelphia Union actually dominating at the moment. They
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: have certainly turned this season around.
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: And.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Holy cow.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, we're talking hat tricks during the course of
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: these matches, shutouts during the course of these matches, the
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: head space that these guys are in right now is
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: something completely different than where they were back in April.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: You know, it's absolutely incredible.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: What are we in now? September. Yeah. Back in July.
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: I mean, really since, since they, I mean, I guess
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: it's by default because the other team we're going to
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: be talking about shortly hasn't been playing well lately, but
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: they are hands down the hottest team in Philadelphia right now.
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: I mean, ever since they came back from that World
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Cup break, they are undefeated.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Unstoppable.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: 10-0.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: Eight wins, no losses, two draws. And they have been
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: absolutely on fire recently. I watched the other night when
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: they beat San Diego in San Diego 5-0. That's coming
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: off of another 5-0 victory earlier in the week against Cincinnati,
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: I believe, who's ahead of them in the East.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: They're No. 7, by the way. They were in the basement.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: They were 15th.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Yes, they were. Dead ass last in the East during
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: when the World Cup was going on. So, I mean, yeah,
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: you look at what's happened. A lot of people came back.
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: Kai Wagner came back from England. Quinn Sullivan came back
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: from his ACL injury. They've really just taken the, I
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: don't know if shackles is the right word. But with
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: Kevin Sullivan, they're no more really babying him and like, okay,
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: we're going to give you a couple minutes here and
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: a couple minutes there.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: His development is incredible.
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: He's appointment television at this point. Over the past couple
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: games watching him, it's been like, oh, that's why he's
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: going to Manchester City when he turns 18.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: Because he's that frigging good.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: And Andre Blake, it's just being incredible in front of
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: that net as a goaltender.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: My God.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, another young guy like Neil Pierre on the back
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: line there. I mean, their defense, getting Wagner back and
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: the emergence of Neil Pierre has really helped that back line,
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: and it's really made them a stronger unit altogether. It's just... Um,
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe some of it was needing that break
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: to kind of come together. It's not like they had
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: a lot of people, uh, play in the world cup.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: I think, uh, Dan Lee, John jock played for, uh, Haiti.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: I think he's the only member of the union that
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: played in the world cup. So those guys, if maybe
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: they took a little bit of break to go home
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: for a little bit, but there's a good chance that
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: maybe they stuck around and kind of just gelled a
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: little bit more. That's part of it. Getting a guy
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: like Quinn Sullivan back is part of it. Getting a
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: guy like Wagner back is part of it. They had
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: all these elements come together and they're just, they're firing
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: on all cylinders right now. They're not a team. And
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: I know Nashville's on fire. I know Miami's Miami, but there, if,
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: if you're a team in the playoff hunt, I think
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: that right now the union are probably a team where
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: if you can avoid them in the first round, that would.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Be the move to make.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: Cause they're, they're just hot as shit right now. Yeah.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Our, our, our buddy Josh Huster from Philadelphia soccer now.com. Again,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: folks go back in the podcast feed and check out
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the table talk interview show from this past week. He
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: was saying because of this momentum that, And if they
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: are able to really keep this, they really could contend
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: for the MLS Cup.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: That is the vibe. That's the vibes right now.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: The leaps and bounds that they've made. It was even
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: mentioned during the broadcast in the last game against San Diego.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Confidence.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: Confidence is so big to know that you can compete
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: and you can just keep this thing rolling. And, I mean,
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: they've been just– I never expected– I mean, to me,
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: a hot streak would have been, oh, maybe they can
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: get to, like, 12th place in the division rather than, like,
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: a playoff team in seventh place. I never expected anything
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: like this. This is beyond anything, and that's a tribute
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: to Ryan Richter, the manager. I mean, they just– Yeah,
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: it's a perfect confluence of events and gelling and all
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: that stuff. And it's been amazing to watch.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Really has been. That being said, folks, we are going
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: to go to break. When we get back, we got
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Philly's talk. Len and I are going to dive into
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: this team. And then it's also what we're throwing down
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: on the table. We got a great interview coming up.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: So let's take that break now. When we get back,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: we're going to have Philly's talk coming your way. All right,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: we are back, and the Philadelphia Phillies, man, things have
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: been a little up and down, not as dominant as
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: certainly as they were maybe two weeks ago here, but
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: they've prevented a recent sweep from the Braves, which was
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: great in that three-game series.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: They ended up winning one of those games, but we.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Just want to give our thoughts on how this last
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: leg of the season is looking, and I'm certainly going
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to be getting into it.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: With our guest Joe Ettinger from thegoodfight.com.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: But the fact that Jesus Lizardo is now on the IR,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, the IL, um, there's a lot of questions
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: about where this team goes during this final stretch.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: If he's able to get back for the post season.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: It's the biggest storyline for this team right now because
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: of what he's meant to the starting rotation and being
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: so dominant over the past couple.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Months, Len, um, I don't know. I just feel like
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: the shoe's always dropping, man. There's always a shoe dropping.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: You know, the rug's getting pulled out from under us
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: or our Philly sports teams every now and again.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: And this is rough. I mean, there's no other two
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: ways about it.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: This is rough to not have Jesus Lizardo out there
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: for this final stretch.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's... Uh, it's really bad just because,
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: you know, okay. Shoulder, um, inflammation is eligible to return
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: on the final day of the regular season. Um, but
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: does that stuff linger? I mean, pitcher injuries, if it's your,
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: if it's your shoulder or your arm that you throw
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: with are always just the scariest thing in the world because, okay, rest,
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: maybe it'll help. Maybe it won't, maybe it'll linger, you know,
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: so you don't know. And you're already, I feel like
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: you need him at this point in time, um, just to,
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: just to, you know, maintain pace.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, um, just, just to, you know.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: Be where you need to be, uh, in the wildcard race, uh, um,
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: you need all hands on deck at this point. So
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: to lose him to me is just a gigantic loss, uh,
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: at this point in time, especially when you, when you consider, uh,
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: the reason why the Phillies are considered, you know, somebody
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: that you might not want to see in a short series.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: The reason is that starting pitching. So it's, it's Sanchez, Wheeler,
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: Lizardo having to go up against those three in a
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: short series. So if one of them is gone, that
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: makes things a lot harder. Yeah. Especially with a lineup
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: that let's face it, you know, You never know what
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: you're going to get from one week to the next,
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: it seems like. I mean, you look at what they
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: had going on on the schedule. They had a golden
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: opportunity with Atlanta here. Seven games against them in the
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: month of September. I thought, okay, if you're going to
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: overtake them for the division– you need to go at
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: least four and three. I think you need to go
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: five and two in those games and then hope that
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: they won some games and then Atlanta lost some games
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: outside of those series. They ended up going three and
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: four in those games. So, okay, right there, you can
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: kiss the division goodbye. You had a chance to knock
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: these guys out head to head and you didn't do that.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: You dropped two out of three against the Astros. Okay,
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: can't really have that either. Now, okay, you got Two,
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: three game series against Washington and then against the Mets.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: Tonight's game against Washington. You lose that one. So, I mean,
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: it's just the wheel. It feels like the wheels are
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: starting to come off a little bit. Looking at the
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: wild card standings right now, they're half a game up
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: in the second spot.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: So which means, you know, and then the Padres are
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: like half a game behind them. And then for the
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: last spot and then two and a half back from
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: that is Arizona. So if those two teams remain hot,
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: then all of a sudden you've got to worry about
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: even making the playoffs. So, I mean, to me, nothing
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: is guaranteed here. The Nats are going to try to
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: play spoiler. The Mets are going to try to play spoiler.
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: And then you have to hope that those last two
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: series you have against Milwaukee and Tampa Bay, that those
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: two teams have clinched whatever they can clinch, whether it's
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: the division or whether it's whatever playoff seating, they have
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: it locked up. You have to hope that they have
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: that at that point. And they're like, well, we're not
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: going to play our guy, our stars, because we don't
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: want them to get hurt. You know, these games mean
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: nothing to us. And that's what you have to hope for.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: And that is to me, not the position that you
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: want to be in. Um, really you're, you're getting to
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: the point where every single game is important. And these,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: these what should be gimme games against teams that are
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: below you in the standings in Washington and New York,
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: you have to take as many of them as possible.
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: And losing, losing this first one to Washington after what
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: you've done in the previous three series is just not
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: a good sign at all. It really kind of shakes
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: my faith in this team.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: That's a great way to put it.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Shaking your faith in this team, because I think we're
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: also seeing this team as well. And we can go
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: back to that final game against the Braves where, thanks
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: to Alec Baum, they end up winning that game.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: They were one for nine.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: With runners in scoring position, entering Alec Baum's at bat
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: against Lee. And I say that because we're starting to
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: now see again, them getting back into that rut land
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: of the runners in scoring position theme. And that is
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: just continue to persist and plague this team that when
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the power's not there at certain points during the game,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: They're just leaving guys on base. And we're kind of
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: starting to see that creeping back up, especially with these
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: past few series here.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: And it concerns me.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Like I said, my I don't know how much faith
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I'm having in this team here down the stretch as
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: a result of that, because, man, we were hopeful three
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, like really hoping.
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: And that's why this Lizardo news is so disheartening, because,
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: you know, We've seen this movie with the Phillies offense
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: in the past few off seasons now where, you know,
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: the clock is going to strike midnight and Cinderella's carriage
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: is going to turn back into a pumpkin. And this
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: offense is at, because he feels like they do it
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: every year. And so at a certain point is going
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: to go cold, cold, cold. So you, the, the, the
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: best way to get around that is to just have
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: lights out pitching throughout this whole thing. Your bullpen still
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: scares you. So, What you need is those three frontline
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: stars to pitch lights out, and now one of them's hurt.
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: So it doesn't bode well for an extended playoff run.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: I hate to say it, but.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Maybe he's back in two weeks. Maybe Lizardo's back in
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: two weeks. Who knows?
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: And yeah, maybe the rest is just what he needs,
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: and maybe that's what it is. And God, I hope so.
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: But I mean, I don't know. I mean, you just...
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: I just don't have the faith in this offense to
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: get hot in the playoffs and stay hot in the playoffs.
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: Maybe they'll do it for a series. But do you
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: really expect them to stay hot through three or four,
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: you know, three series of playoff baseball? I don't.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: And can the bullpen do that even?
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: No.
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, you've got you've got. a very
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: slim picking of guys that you feel comfortable with in
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: this bullpen. So, I mean, I hate to be all
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: gloom and doom and, oh, the season's over, but, you know,
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: this is what you've shown us the past few years
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: in the playoffs. So this is what I have to
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: go off of.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, it's not a feel-good proposition right now, for sure.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: Certainly not a feel-good time of the show here.
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Bring it all down.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: Exactly. All right.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Well, buddy, do you have any final thoughts here? I'm
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: going to let you go. We'll get to our interview here.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: This week. Any final thoughts?
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: No, I got nothing.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: All right. Sounds good. He's got nothing. That's right.
• 29:50
  Speaker 4: Just like the Phillies offense in October. There you go.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: All right, folks, we're going to take a break. When
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: we get back, we got more Phillies talk coming your way.
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: And now, on the table.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: All right, to continue our discussion about this Philadelphia Phillies
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: team and what's going to happen with them here as
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: we are in this final stretch of this 2026 regular season,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: we've got from thegoodfight.com, good friend and I would love
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: talking to him, Joe Ettinger, my friend.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for taking the time to jump on here.
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: Thanks so much for having me again.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: It's great to see you. Great to talk to you.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: What's not great is the fact that, of course, in
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: September here, we got some challenges with this team and
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: some big time challenges. Look, Len and I were just
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: talking about Jesus Lizardo. What a punch in the gut
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: that his IL designation is right now. Shoulder issue that
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: he's having. Of course, we want him better. And if
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: he can get back. by the playoffs, postseason, that would
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: be fantastic. But my goodness, man, the amount of pitches
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that he was throwing leading up to this, I mean,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: it kind of didn't surprise me in a way when
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: you actually look at it and what has happened over
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: these past few weeks. Like, just the sheer amount of pitches, again,
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily surprise me. And as Phillies fans, we had
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: to figure that some shoe was going to drop.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Here, right? You know, we had to figure that. So,
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: end of the day.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Kyle Backus coming up to take Lizardo's spot. So I
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: guess to start the discussion off here, Joe, how long
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: do you think he may be on this IL designation?
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: How long do you think it may last? And of course,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: we don't have a crystal ball, but still like the
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: hope as well. What do you think we're also then
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: going to see from Kyle Backus as well? So kind
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: of a two-part question here to get us started. What
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: are your thoughts here?
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: So I would think your best case scenario is is
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: Lizardo can pitch game three of the wild card slash
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: game one of the division series.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: I would be utterly shocked.
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't even think he's eligible to come off
• 31:59
  Speaker 5: until I think maybe the final day of the season.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: I would be utterly shocked if he pitches again in
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: the regular season.
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: Again, I'm not totally sure about when he was back,
• 32:09
  Speaker 5: if they backdated it or when exactly 10 days will
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: be up, but Even if it was, it just doesn't sound,
• 32:15
  Speaker 5: reading all the comments from Lizardo himself or Mattingly, it
• 32:18
  Speaker 5: just does not sound like that's a guy that's going
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: to pitch again in a regular season. And as far
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: as Backus, I think he's just the first attempt at
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks for the.
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: Next couple starts.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: I hate that.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: I hate it.
• 32:31
  Speaker 5: I know. I think it's going to be him. It's
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: going to be Grant Holman. It might even be Alan Rangel.
• 32:37
  Speaker 5: Nestor Cortez is still around here somewhere oh my gosh
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: yeah I forgot about that too myself yes he I
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: don't know if he's healthy or what but I think
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: you're going to see some combination of all those guys
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: in that Lizardo spot the next two or so turns
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: through the rotation And they're just going to hope that somebody,
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: some combination of that can give them five decent innings.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, five decent innings. And the bats actually have to
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: do something with runners in scoring position for the love
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: of all that's good and holy here, Joe. Seriously, because
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Len and I were talking about it during the Brave Series.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: It's pretty frustrating. Runners in scoring position and they're not able...
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I feel like they're.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Just falling back into certain old bad habits here and there.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: When we have these guys.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: that are going to be thrown into this situation, quote,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: filling in for Jesus Lizardo, the bats are going to
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: need to do some work here.
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: It's, it's only fair because Lizardo and the pitching staff
• 33:31
  Speaker 5: have been carrying them all season. It would be only
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: fair if the offense could do something over the next
• 33:37
  Speaker 5: couple of weeks to bail them out.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: And look, this Phillies team is currently, I think they
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: still have the second wild. They're still at the second
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: wild card spot. Um, And I wonder which players are
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: going to end up being key or need to be
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: key down the stretch if the Phils want to have
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: some momentum heading into this postseason. That is if they
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: end up actually getting there. So which players, in your opinion,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: do we really need to keep our eyes on? And
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: which players really need to be key, in your opinion here,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: as we're going down the stretch?
• 34:13
  Speaker 5: Well, we'll start with offense because we were just talking
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: about offense. And everything with the Phillies offense starts with
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. And Harper's been– he was
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: on fire in August. He's hit a bit of a
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: rut in September.
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: Schwarber's been okay of late.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: Looks like he might be finally getting the power stroke back.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 34:30
  Speaker 5: But those are your two guys in this lineup that
• 34:34
  Speaker 5: more or less have to carry it because the bottom
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: third is either giving you all or nothing at any
• 34:39
  Speaker 5: given time.
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 34:41
  Speaker 5: It's it's going it's again it's not totally fair but
• 34:44
  Speaker 5: it's going to be on those two guys to really
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: carry you to take you where you want to go
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: it's and then on the flip side down this down
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: the stretch here it the rotation is critical and and
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: honestly right now it's probably Aaron Nola because all of
• 34:58
  Speaker 5: a sudden he's your game three starter now yeah and
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: he's been great for the last few months and I
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: think he's made tangible changes it's not just luck you
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: can point to he's made adjustments he's throwing his change
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: up more it's helping play off the sinker more you
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: can see there's real reasons for his success but i
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: wrote about this a while ago it's still aaron nola
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: it doesn't matter what he does yeah that doubt is
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: still going to creep in the back of your head
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: absolutely but if he can keep this going for another
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: month it would be a godsend for this team yeah
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: without lazardo it really would be.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: The fact that he has a 4.69 era at this
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: point is amazing.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: It's a miracle. It truly is a miracle at this point.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, it absolutely is.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: And the fact that we are betting on and wanting to,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: needing to see Aaron Nola stepping into that type of
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: position just tells you that... And it goes to what
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Len and I were just talking about, you know? The
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: fact that there is so much uncertainty, and that just
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: makes us uncomfortable.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: You know, we... And it makes us at times feel,
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: and I don't know if you feel this as.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Well, and I hate to, I'm the optimistic one on
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: this podcast all the time, but that faith isn't necessarily
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: there that I want to have in this team as
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: we are heading down this final stretch here, Joe.
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: I still think it is much more likely than not
• 36:21
  Speaker 5: that they will be in the postseason.
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: But I will say when the Lizardo news hit, that
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: was the first time probably all season.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: Where I legitimately doubted that they would make the postseason.
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying I completely changed my mind. It was
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: the first time I was like, I can see a
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: path now where they missed the playoffs.
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: I still don't think it's possible. It would take a
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: historic collapse at this point.
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: I was just like that fan graphs and baseball reference
• 36:47
  Speaker 5: has them at over 95% chance of still making the postseason.
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: So you're talking invoking 1964 here if they don't get
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: in the postseason. But it's the first time that doubt
• 36:58
  Speaker 5: crept into my mind.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I do not want to witness that. I
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: can't handle that. I can't hand where I'm at in
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: my life right now. I cannot handle that at all, Joe.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: But as we're moving along with the conversation here, I mean,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: and this may seem like the most obvious and dumb question,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: but how concerned should we be.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: When it comes to the bullpen here?
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: Because I'm asking this question because of this team overall, overall,
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: if they actually want to have any success in October,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: the bullpen needs to step up their performance in some way, shape,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: or form. But the bullpen has just been abysmal during
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: and against contending teams. In 106.1 innings, their relievers, the
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Phillies' relievers, have surrendered 84 runs.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: That is horrendous.
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: That is horrible.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: So what should the level.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Of concern be for this Phillies' bullpen at this point
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: here during the latter part of this regular season as
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: we're looking at possibly the postseason?
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: I think it should be the highest level of concern
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: right now. I mean, because we know what the offense is,
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: but the bullpen is gassed. The rotation is gassed. So
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: it's not, you can't really point and see, well, maybe
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: they'll fix it. They're all running on fumes right now.
• 38:16
  Speaker 5: And the Lizardo injury is compounding this because if you're
• 38:18
  Speaker 5: looking ahead to the postseason, I was in favor of
• 38:22
  Speaker 5: having him pitch out of the bullpen in the game
• 38:24
  Speaker 5: one because I think their only chance here would be
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: to go full 2019 Nationals and only use your starting
• 38:33
  Speaker 5: pitchers as much as you possibly can in the postseason.
• 38:36
  Speaker 5: Avoid everybody in that bullpen not named Joanne Duran and
• 38:39
  Speaker 5: just ride your starting pitchers. But now that Lizardo... is
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: a question mark. Even if he comes back for the postseason,
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: he's still a question mark. You don't know what he's
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: going to be. It'll be three weeks since he's pitched.
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: You have no idea what to expect of him.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: And you know what's going to happen with him, too.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Once he gets back on the mound, he's going to
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: push himself. That's the type of person he is. He's
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: going to say, F it. I am going to give
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: every freaking thing that I have, and that scares me, too.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, we want him to do that, but it
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: still scares me, given the shoulder injury.
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: Really, my biggest concern to looking at the bullpen is
• 39:12
  Speaker 5: just the eighth inning. It's been a problem all year.
• 39:15
  Speaker 4: All year.
• 39:15
  Speaker 5: They signed Brad Keller thinking he'd be the guy that
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: didn't go well. You can't totally blame them for that.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: You can't predict an injury like that.
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: But it's been months and months and months of the
• 39:25
  Speaker 5: jonathan boland was great in that spot yep i think
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: you can tell he is absolutely gassed i mean the
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: velocity is down he is just not the same pitcher
• 39:34
  Speaker 5: he was earlier in the year he's uh topped his
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: career innings as a reliever not as a spot back
• 39:41
  Speaker 5: when he was like bouncing back and forth between the
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: rotation so yeah I think it's just he's just at
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: his limit for this year, which is bad because he
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: was your second most trusted reliever. And now it's just
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: you're relying on rookie Alex McFarlane to be your second
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: best reliever.
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: I swear to God, Joe, I feel like we're closing
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: a coffin talking about this.
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: I don't want to sound like that.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: I know, neither do I.
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: It's reality to where it does not look good right now.
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: But again, I'll go back to it.
• 40:10
  Speaker 5: 95 chance that they are going to make the postseason
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: right that is a win now whether you know where
• 40:17
  Speaker 5: they go who knows it if you want to look
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: at this in a positive light 2022 september sounded a
• 40:25
  Speaker 5: lot like this one does right now that doesn't past
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: isn't prologue that isn't predicting that they're going to magically
• 40:30
  Speaker 5: catch fire and go to the world series but you
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: know things can change.
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: On a dime baseball is baseball You know what I mean?
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: It just weird stuff happens all the time.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: All right, folks, we're going to take a break and
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: we get back. We're going to dive into a couple
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: more subject matters here. Um, basically if there was a
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: lineup change, uh, what Joe would, what, what that might
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: look like, you know, in terms of the lineup change.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: And also, uh, just to talk about as well, excuse me,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: having a little bit of a throat issue here. Um,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: If Major League Baseball does expand, what cities may be
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: in contention? So we're going to dive into those subject
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: matters right when we get back from break.
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: Stick with us.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: All right, we're back with our buddy Joe Ettinger from thegoodfight.com.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: My friend, tell everybody where they can find you out
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: there on the interwebs if they want to connect with you.
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm on Blue Sky at Joe Ettinger. You'll see me.
• 41:24
  Speaker 5: So I post most of my stuff, mostly baseball. You'll
• 41:27
  Speaker 5: see me freak out about the Eagles, too, as the
• 41:29
  Speaker 5: season gets underway.
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: We all do, don't we?
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: Well, as we are moving along here, your colleague and
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: one of our friends of the pod, Ethan Witte, put
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: up a post on The Good Fight this week asking
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: the question, which lineup change would you make right now?
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: to this Phillies team and in the Phillies lineup in general?
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: I thought it was an interesting question. I'm going to
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: pose it to you right here. What are your thoughts
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: here in mid September? What, which, which lineup change would
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: you make right now? If you, uh, if say, if you,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: if you were the manager of this team in.
• 42:07
  Speaker 5: A perfect world, I would drop Trey Turner because he's
• 42:11
  Speaker 5: just killing them.
• 42:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: But the problem is I don't know who you put
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: there instead.
• 42:16
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 42:16
  Speaker 5: Because I think you need a right-handed hitter in between
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: Schwarber and Harper, either in between them or after them,
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: you need a right-handed hitter somewhere. And I don't know
• 42:24
  Speaker 5: who Alec Boehm, I guess, but like probably a double
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: play machine. Do you really want him hitting second? And
• 42:30
  Speaker 5: he's also extremely slow. Yeah. I, I, I don't kid
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: myself into thinking I could be any professional athlete in
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: a foot race, but I say all the time, I
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: think I could come closest to Alec Boehm.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: So I don't really know if you want him hitting–
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: I mean he's been better. He's actually– he passed Trey
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: Turner in OPS. Who could have believed that a few
• 42:47
  Speaker 5: months ago when Alec Boehm was the whipping boy? But
• 42:50
  Speaker 5: I don't– you're not putting JT Bermudez up there. Like
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: I don't know what other right-handed hitter you could put
• 42:57
  Speaker 5: up there. So I mean Luisa Rice is who he is.
• 43:01
  Speaker 5: I read about him recently. This has always been him.
• 43:04
  Speaker 5: I've seen some things that I want to dispel the
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: notion of people like, oh, the Phillies changed his approach. No, no,
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: this is who he's always been. He has the highest
• 43:11
  Speaker 5: chase rate in baseball since he entered the league and
• 43:13
  Speaker 5: highest rate of contact on those pitches outside the zone
• 43:16
  Speaker 5: since he entered the league. He's a guy that categorically
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: refuses to take walks even when it will benefit him.
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: Sometimes that helps with base hits.
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: Sometimes that hurts you with a pop-up to second base
• 43:25
  Speaker 5: when he swung at five straight pitches out of the zone.
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: That just is who he is.
• 43:29
  Speaker 5: I like him in the four hole just because that
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: spot tends to come up with two outs and you
• 43:33
  Speaker 5: just need a base hit somewhere.
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: So I think that's good. But you could theoretically maybe
• 43:38
  Speaker 5: put him second. But again, I think he's miscast in
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: the top of the lineup. And then you're going to
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: have a lot of left-handers in a row. I think
• 43:44
  Speaker 5: you really want to avoid that, especially because Bryce Harper
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: struggled against left-handed hitters this year.
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: You want to try and protect him the best you can.
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: Very good.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Well, before we let you go here and to close
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: us out, you wrote a recent piece on The Good
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: Fight about where the possible– Major League Baseball expansion teams
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: might actually be in terms of cities. Like what cities
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: we may be looking at where new teams may be
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: cropping up in the future. People are talking about Nashville,
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, Portland, Orlando, just to name a few.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on where Major League Baseball might
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: take their expansion.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: To at some point?
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: I really.
• 44:24
  Speaker 3: Really want the Expos to come back.
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be fun, wouldn't it?
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: I don't think that's where it's going to go.
• 44:29
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: But I would love to see the Expos come back.
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: I think that city deserves to have a team again.
• 44:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:34
  Speaker 5: The way that it ended was just sad. They deserve
• 44:38
  Speaker 5: a team again. I think Nashville is your leader.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: That's what I'm thinking, too.
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:42
  Speaker 5: And that's... That brings up the interesting question is what
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: does Dave Dombrowski do if Nashville gets a team? Because
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: if you remember, before he came to the Phillies, he
• 44:51
  Speaker 5: was involved in that. I don't remember exactly what his
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: title was, but he was kind of like the face
• 44:57
  Speaker 5: of trying to get baseball in Nashville. So if they
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: finally win a team, does he leave to go there?
• 45:03
  Speaker 5: It's a question that I think not a lot of
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: people are thinking about that could become a real big problem.
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: Well, depending on your.
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: Thoughts on his tenure as president, but it could be
• 45:17
  Speaker 5: out of nowhere.
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: And then you realize, Oh wait, he's gone. You know,
• 45:21
  Speaker 3: he could just up and leave and go there.
• 45:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: Um, I, I get the idea of Orlando, but Florida
• 45:27
  Speaker 3: already has two teams. They struggle to support. I don't
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: think Florida is a third team.
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 45:31
  Speaker 5: As far as the West coast, uh, take your pick.
• 45:35
  Speaker 5: Like I said, I really think Nashville is the leader
• 45:37
  Speaker 5: just in general. And Manfred's been saying that they want to.
• 45:40
  Speaker 5: So I could see, I, my hope is Montreal and Nashville,
• 45:44
  Speaker 5: but I don't think the expo is going to happen.
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: I want it to, but I don't think it's.
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: I agree with you too.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: In terms of markets, when you're looking at growing markets,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, Nashville, I think of the ones that are
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: mentioned is probably right at the top. I mean, it
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: has to be Nashville. Nashville is such a growing community and,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: and city. in so many different ways. Aside from music,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: it's definitely becoming more and more of a sports city,
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: especially with the Titans. So it's going to be very
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: interesting for sure. And I'll say this too, if you
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: don't mind, I didn't have it, I didn't send you
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: this topic, but you mentioned Dave Dombrowski. And we've talked
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: a lot on this podcast platform about him. I've specifically
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: talked about Dombrowski in detail with one of your colleagues
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: over at thegoodfight.com, John Stallness. He's been on the show
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: a number of times. He's not the biggest fan of
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski, and I think that a lot of folks
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: would like to see him shipped out. If that were
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: to happen, and again, hypothesizing here, what does it actually
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: do for this team? What does it do for the
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: organization if Dave Dombrowski is not making these moves? is
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: it going to be a welcomed thing or is it
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: going to be, Oh wow, we actually lost somebody that
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: really has had this team in a good place in general,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: a relevant place in major league baseball for several years now.
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Have you, have you given that any thought?
• 47:07
  Speaker 5: See that that's the rub right there is I totally
• 47:10
  Speaker 5: understand why a lot of fans would be happy if
• 47:13
  Speaker 5: he's gone, but I just can't help but think of
• 47:15
  Speaker 5: the state this team was in when he inherited it.
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 47:18
  Speaker 5: That, You had so many different people, so much infighting,
• 47:22
  Speaker 5: so many different fiefdoms, all this stuff. He seems to
• 47:25
  Speaker 5: have gotten mostly everything under one house, under one voice. Now,
• 47:30
  Speaker 5: you can argue whether that voice is correct or not.
• 47:32
  Speaker 5: That's totally up to you, especially in the development side.
• 47:35
  Speaker 5: I think the pitching development is really good. The hitting
• 47:39
  Speaker 5: development is still a mess, but at least they're all
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: pulling in the same direction.
• 47:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 47:43
  Speaker 3: That's an improvement from when he inherited the team.
• 47:46
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 47:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah. They've made the postseason a bunch of years in
• 47:50
  Speaker 5: a row.
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: That's better than not.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 47:51
  Speaker 5: They haven't gotten over the hump. That's really all it
• 47:53
  Speaker 5: is is they just haven't won a championship. We would
• 47:55
  Speaker 5: look at all this so much differently if they won
• 47:57
  Speaker 5: a title in 2022.
• 47:58
  Speaker 3: This would all be gravy after that.
• 48:00
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 48:01
  Speaker 5: So it's like how much can you fault him for
• 48:03
  Speaker 5: building a successful contender but not getting the title?
• 48:08
  Speaker 3: And we always know that he.
• 48:09
  Speaker 5: Doesn't necessarily leave teams well that you tend to. They
• 48:14
  Speaker 5: tend to go downhill after he leaves. But he's also
• 48:16
  Speaker 5: not really burned the farm since he's been. Now, granted,
• 48:18
  Speaker 5: there's not much of a farm to burn.
• 48:20
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 48:20
  Speaker 5: But if you look at the prospects he shipped out,
• 48:22
  Speaker 5: it's like Ben Brown, Logan Ohapi. They really haven't given
• 48:28
  Speaker 5: up a whole lot.
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 48:30
  Speaker 5: So it feels like he never really truly got unleashed
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: in the burn the farm down, acquire best players. It
• 48:38
  Speaker 5: also felt like he never had the opportunity to because
• 48:41
  Speaker 5: the farm that he's now overseeing hasn't developed talent that's
• 48:44
  Speaker 5: worth trading for.
• 48:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 48:46
  Speaker 3: So it's really a conundrum.
• 48:49
  Speaker 5: It truly is because you could do better, but I've
• 48:53
  Speaker 5: also seen them do a whole lot worse. And within
• 48:56
  Speaker 5: the last few years, you could just remember back to
• 48:59
  Speaker 5: the Klintec years or McPhail.
• 49:01
  Speaker 3: If we don't, we don't. Yeah.
• 49:04
  Speaker 5: At least you have one vision. And if he were
• 49:06
  Speaker 5: to up and leave... I would be afraid that it
• 49:10
  Speaker 5: would delve into chaos again.
• 49:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: I think that's the best thing I can describe it
• 49:13
  Speaker 3: right now.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: I think it's fair because I think at the end
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: of the day, what all of us Phillies fans want,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: all of us Phillies sports fans, we want these teams
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: to be relevant. You know, yes, we want championships. We
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: want playoffs. We want postseasons. We want those trophies to
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: be earned by these teams. We want the parades, of course.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, having relevant teams
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: is much better than having garbage teams.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 49:39
  Speaker 5: I would much rather sit here and suffer through them
• 49:44
  Speaker 5: grinding out and doing the most difficult way possible of
• 49:46
  Speaker 5: getting into the wild card, but still getting into the
• 49:48
  Speaker 5: wild card. instead of being 30 games out and trying
• 49:51
  Speaker 5: to convince myself that, hey, maybe Nick Williams is something.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: Right, exactly.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: What a great way to end it, folks. He is
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Joe Ettinger from thegoodfight.com. And my friend, I appreciate you
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: so much. Thanks for jumping on here. Great discussion. And
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: come back and join us down the road.
• 50:07
  Speaker 3: I'd love to have you. Oh, anytime. Thanks for having me.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: And that's going to do it for us this week.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: Make sure to share the Philadelphia sports table podcast show
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: with your friends and family members who may be Philly
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: sports fans. You can always head on over to Philadelphia
• 50:21
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• 50:25
  Speaker 1: major podcast platform on your device. We appreciate our guests
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: taking the time to join us every week to help
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: make this podcast happen and to give us great content.
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: And ultimately we appreciate you take care and have a
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: great week and we'll catch you next time. Thank you.