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TABLE TALK: The Phillies Start September Strong! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:25
Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:28
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:31
Speaker 1: in the world.
0:33
Speaker 2: You're hearing that it's a bit echoe in here right now.
0:36
Speaker 3: I am not in my studio, but we wanted to
0:39
Speaker 3: get this table Talk interview show out to you all
0:42
Speaker 3: because of what is happening with this Philadelphia Philly's team
0:45
Speaker 3: and where they are going as we are entering September,
0:48
Speaker 3: the last bit of this regular season.
0:51
Speaker 2: There's a lot of interesting storylines to dive into it.
0:54
Speaker 3: Again, Please forgive the PSD podcast show here for the
0:59
Speaker 3: audio and.
1:00
Speaker 2: Even the video. I'm not in my studio area. We
1:02
Speaker 2: had to be flexible here in terms of our recording,
1:07
Speaker 2: but we.
1:07
Speaker 1: Have a fantastic guest and that's all that matters at
1:10
Speaker 1: this particular point. We've got our good friend from Phillies
1:13
Speaker 1: Nation dot com, Destiny Legardo.
1:17
Speaker 2: It's awesome having you on Destiny. Thanks for taking the.
1:19
Speaker 4: Time, appreciate it. Jeff, thank you.
1:21
Speaker 1: Yes, it's always great talking to you because you have
1:24
Speaker 1: an inside track of what's going on with this team.
1:27
Speaker 1: You're in the clubhouse, you're in the locker room area,
1:29
Speaker 1: you're talking to these players on our Phillies team that
1:33
Speaker 1: you know, we just want to see do so well
1:35
Speaker 1: gaming and game out. And I think, you know, as
1:39
Speaker 1: after this past weekend, the Labor Day weekend, I think
1:42
Speaker 1: we're getting to the point in the season here Destiny
1:45
Speaker 1: where vibes are so critically important to where this Phillies
1:49
Speaker 1: team is going to be going.
1:50
Speaker 2: In the future.
1:51
Speaker 1: We're seeing Schwarber hitting home runs like it's nothing left
1:54
Speaker 1: and right. It's fantastic to watch Christopher Sanchez, He's doing
1:58
Speaker 1: his thing from the mound, just shut down batters. We
2:01
Speaker 1: now have Garrett Stubbs, one of the biggest vibe guys
2:04
Speaker 1: to wear a Phillies uniform, back in the club again.
2:06
Speaker 1: And yes, I know from a h I know from
2:09
Speaker 1: a batting standpoint, Garrett Stubbs not the greatest batter in
2:12
Speaker 1: the world, but the vibes are important that he brings.
2:15
Speaker 2: How would you describe these vibes as we're heading into
2:18
Speaker 2: September here, and what do you think it means as
2:21
Speaker 2: someone who's you know, they're in the locker room like
2:23
Speaker 2: covering this team. What are your thoughts?
2:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's always an interesting question. I think as always,
2:29
Speaker 4: the vibes are kind of what you make of them
2:32
Speaker 4: to be if that makes sense, I would say especially
2:36
Speaker 4: after the trade deadline. And I think this has more
2:41
Speaker 4: to do with you know, Duran coming in and having
2:44
Speaker 4: a set closer and just like in general, the Phillies
2:47
Speaker 4: having a really impactful trade deadline, things just felt a
2:50
Speaker 4: little bit different, like things were falling into place. It
2:53
Speaker 4: definitely helps to to go on a big winning streak
2:56
Speaker 4: after the deadline. But I think like the theme of
3:00
Speaker 4: this year is, you know, it's a lot of the
3:04
Speaker 4: same guys, Like they know who they are, they know
3:07
Speaker 4: how they work together, they have fun together, they know
3:11
Speaker 4: what the goal is and they want to win the
3:13
Speaker 4: World Series. They know what heartbreak feels like. So it's
3:17
Speaker 4: a lot about like getting to business and kind of
3:19
Speaker 4: accomplishing that goal and having fun at the same time.
3:22
Speaker 4: But I think it's like on the outside, you're definitely
3:26
Speaker 4: like seeing a team that's coming together. They I think
3:30
Speaker 4: it helps a lot too that they have a lot
3:31
Speaker 4: to play for at this time of year. That's something
3:33
Speaker 4: that we couldn't really say this time last year. They
3:36
Speaker 4: got off to such a great start and then they
3:38
Speaker 4: kind of fizzled closer to the end. They have to
3:42
Speaker 4: play for that second by in the National League. I
3:46
Speaker 4: think the Division, I know, like it was a little
3:48
Speaker 4: bit in doubt last week. I think the Division is
3:51
Speaker 4: pretty much close to being wrapped up, but they have
3:54
Speaker 4: to get that buy and kind of play out September
3:57
Speaker 4: and kind of see where they are at the end.
3:59
Speaker 4: I think that's kind of a big part of what
4:01
Speaker 4: vibes are too, Like they have to play for something
4:04
Speaker 4: and not just wait for October. I think that was
4:06
Speaker 4: part of the problem too. But yeah, it's just like
4:09
Speaker 4: it's it's hard to interpret vibes. Like it's easy to say,
4:12
Speaker 4: like the vibes are high when they're winning, Like it's
4:14
Speaker 4: a lot of fun to win and then a lot
4:16
Speaker 4: of fun to lose. So like, especially after a game
4:19
Speaker 4: like we saw yesterday, the vibes are pretty high.
4:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, they absolutely are.
4:24
Speaker 1: And I think one of the reasons why too is
4:26
Speaker 1: like I'm trying to be reflective. And this past week
4:28
Speaker 1: we talked about it on the show about just how
4:31
Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski as the guy who's running the ship in
4:34
Speaker 1: the front office. You know these guys throughout the league.
4:38
Speaker 1: Sometimes they hit on trades, sometimes they hit on off
4:41
Speaker 1: season acquisitions.
4:43
Speaker 2: Sometimes they don't hit on these acquisitions.
4:46
Speaker 1: I mean, we've certainly seen that this year in terms
4:49
Speaker 1: of the relief pitching. You know, it's just, oh my gosh,
4:52
Speaker 1: that Romano just of course they didn't hit on it.
4:55
Speaker 1: But we look at somebody like Harrison Bader and what
4:59
Speaker 1: he has done since coming to Philly. As we know,
5:02
Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski made this trade with the Twins to help
5:05
Speaker 1: what was an inconsistent lineup throughout this season at that time,
5:10
Speaker 1: and Harrison Vader has made that push for an everyday
5:14
Speaker 1: role in this lineup, and an argument could be made
5:16
Speaker 1: that he's brought some of that consistency that Dave Dombrowski
5:20
Speaker 1: was hoping for. He's brought it to the team to
5:23
Speaker 1: an extent for sure. How do you see Harrison Vader's
5:26
Speaker 1: role moving forward here in September, Destiny and as we're
5:31
Speaker 1: engine closer to the postseason, do you think that can
5:35
Speaker 1: he helps with that consistency in general?
5:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think if you look at the last couple
5:41
Speaker 4: of weeks, it's pretty clear that Bater is an everyday
5:44
Speaker 4: player in Rob Thompson's eyes. I believe he started in
5:47
Speaker 4: fourteen of the last seventeen games, and I know, like
5:50
Speaker 4: when they first acquired him, they went for that you know,
5:54
Speaker 4: six day left field center field platoon. But I think
5:57
Speaker 4: it's pretty clear now, even if he's not hitting the
6:00
Speaker 4: way he is now, he's an everyday player just based
6:03
Speaker 4: off of the defense that he provides in center field.
6:08
Speaker 4: He has like a certain energy to him that nobody
6:11
Speaker 4: else really has. Like it's a confidence, it's like a yeah,
6:15
Speaker 4: it's it's vibes too, there's a swagger. It doesn't come
6:19
Speaker 4: off as as cocky, but there's like an attitude to him.
6:22
Speaker 4: And I see a lot of like nineteen ninety three
6:24
Speaker 4: Phillies comparisons, and I think it makes a lot of sense.
6:28
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think the bat has been a lot
6:31
Speaker 4: better than what people expected at the beginning. I know
6:34
Speaker 4: he's having like one of the best offensive seasons of
6:36
Speaker 4: his career, but it feels like he's giving them that
6:39
Speaker 4: you know, three hit four hit night like every other
6:42
Speaker 4: day basically. Yeah, and for a team that really needed
6:46
Speaker 4: some right handed pop and more just consistent consistency in
6:49
Speaker 4: general from the right handed hitters, I think he's been
6:52
Speaker 4: a massive addition. So moving forward, like he's he's the
6:56
Speaker 4: everyday center fielder until even if he starts struggling a
7:00
Speaker 4: little bit here, I think you got to kind of
7:02
Speaker 4: roll with him and kind of optimize for defense in
7:05
Speaker 4: that spot. So he's honestly been their best position player
7:11
Speaker 4: trade deadline acquisition since you know they got So Said
7:15
Speaker 4: and Brandon marsh three years ago. I think that's something
7:18
Speaker 4: that they were definitely missed in the last couple of years,
7:20
Speaker 4: like an infusion of energy into their lineup, just because
7:23
Speaker 4: they haven't really hit on those guys mid season. So yeah,
7:28
Speaker 4: it feels.
7:28
Speaker 1: Like was that part of the strategy with Dave Dombrowski,
7:31
Speaker 1: do you think I mean, do you think that was
7:32
Speaker 1: part of it? Again, that that energy and that I
7:35
Speaker 1: don't want to keep calling it vibes, but that energy
7:37
Speaker 1: that was needed. It was that part of the strategy
7:39
Speaker 1: aside from the stats.
7:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think like Dombrowski, he's been around a long time.
7:44
Speaker 4: Like I don't need to repeat that cliche for the
7:47
Speaker 4: up team time, but yeah, I mean I don't. I
7:53
Speaker 4: don't really know. I think they've like tried to get
7:56
Speaker 4: that in prior years, Like if you even go back
7:58
Speaker 4: to two years ago and they traded Bailey Falter for
8:01
Speaker 4: Rodolpho cash Ro, Like if that was a disastrous signing,
8:05
Speaker 4: but I think like in their eyes, like they thought
8:06
Speaker 4: he would bring in some sort of energy. But I think,
8:09
Speaker 4: like you know, they they definitely needed better defense in
8:13
Speaker 4: the they definitely need a better offense in the outfield,
8:16
Speaker 4: and I think that's what they were going for. And
8:19
Speaker 4: then you know, if Bader provided that kind of you know,
8:23
Speaker 4: that attitude that the team needed, that those like things,
8:26
Speaker 4: the intangibles that you can't really explain with stats, Like,
8:31
Speaker 4: I think that's kind of an added bonus and that's
8:33
Speaker 4: definitely something that he provided.
8:36
Speaker 2: And it also.
8:36
Speaker 1: Seems that Bader coming into because he said, you know,
8:39
Speaker 1: coming over from the trade, you know, it's like like
8:43
Speaker 1: having that relationship with the guys in the clubhouse. It
8:45
Speaker 1: seems like that's really come together too. Yeah, oh yeah,
8:49
Speaker 1: that behind the scenes.
8:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, like he's there's I like to to think a
8:54
Speaker 4: lot about the outfield just being like a wide array
8:59
Speaker 4: of cares and every student is very different from the
9:02
Speaker 4: other guy. But like you could definitely see like you
9:05
Speaker 4: don't even have to be in the clubhouse, like the
9:08
Speaker 4: way he interacts with some of the guys like you know,
9:10
Speaker 4: Bryce and Trey and you know, just the handshakes and
9:15
Speaker 4: the jokes and and all that stuff, Like it's definitely
9:20
Speaker 4: like something that they've kind of I'm sure they're all
9:23
Speaker 4: like extremely impressed with his play in the in the
9:26
Speaker 4: outfield and what he's provided to the lineup. But I
9:28
Speaker 4: think like he's he's definitely, like I said before, like
9:32
Speaker 4: one of these veterans that knows who they are and
9:34
Speaker 4: knows what they can provide. And it's kind of, I
9:36
Speaker 4: don't want to say, like a missing piece because it's
9:38
Speaker 4: just it's been a month. You know, we don't really
9:41
Speaker 4: know how this is going to end, but like he's
9:43
Speaker 4: definitely his presence is definitely welcome in that clubhouse.
9:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad we're talking about positive stuff on this podcast,
9:52
Speaker 1: because man, last week it was coming off the nets
9:54
Speaker 1: being up at City Field and of just not being
9:57
Speaker 1: able to beat the Mets up there, and it was
9:59
Speaker 1: just a last week talking about this team was just
10:02
Speaker 1: kind of rough.
10:02
Speaker 2: But I'm glad we're on a positive note here because.
10:05
Speaker 1: I want to talk about now a great piece that
10:08
Speaker 1: you wrote on Philliesnation dot com about how trade turners
10:12
Speaker 1: all around excellence this season should lead to some.
10:15
Speaker 2: MVP consideration around the league.
10:17
Speaker 1: I mean, something we've talked about on this podcast platform
10:21
Speaker 1: and you've mentioned it in your article was how many
10:23
Speaker 1: of us were thinking about what his future at shortstop
10:27
Speaker 1: would be because of his defense just not being the best.
10:30
Speaker 1: I mean, we've kind of known this for a while now,
10:33
Speaker 1: but this year, I mean, he's grown exponentially as a defender,
10:37
Speaker 1: even at this stage of his career. Do you really
10:41
Speaker 1: think that he's going to be within that MVP consideration
10:44
Speaker 1: at the end of this season, Destiny, Why are I not?
10:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like, I don't think he'll ultimately win MVP. It's
10:51
Speaker 4: probably Otani's award to lose, and maybe Schorber has an
10:55
Speaker 4: outside chance of grabbing that from him. But I mean
11:00
Speaker 4: a lot of these voters, and you know, I'm not
11:03
Speaker 4: a voter this year, but I'm like part of the
11:06
Speaker 4: voting the Writers Association really one day. But that you know,
11:11
Speaker 4: that's for uh, that's another topic. But a lot of
11:14
Speaker 4: these voters, like they have ten spots to fill a
11:18
Speaker 4: lot of it starts with war and if you look
11:20
Speaker 4: at like fangrafts war like Trey. I think after Saturday's game,
11:26
Speaker 4: he was the most valuable position player in the National League,
11:29
Speaker 4: and that even that includes like Otani just as a
11:32
Speaker 4: position player, like he was above him. And I'm personally
11:38
Speaker 4: someone that doesn't believe in the defensive statistics, like I
11:41
Speaker 4: think they're kind of nonsense. But the eye test tells
11:44
Speaker 4: you that he is making every play a shortstop. And
11:48
Speaker 4: it's especially important for a team like this that has
11:52
Speaker 4: a lot of pitchers that give up ground balls, rely
11:55
Speaker 4: on getting those double plays to get out of some
11:57
Speaker 4: innings where there's some traffic. You know, he did have
12:00
Speaker 4: a bad play in Monday's game, but for the most part,
12:05
Speaker 4: like this pitching staff can rely on, you know, try
12:07
Speaker 4: a shortstop, Boma third, you know, start at second price
12:11
Speaker 4: at first base. So I mean, overall, like this is
12:16
Speaker 4: the best Trey Turner season that we've seen in the
12:19
Speaker 4: last three years. And it's not like he's been a
12:21
Speaker 4: bad player the last two years. There's even that first
12:25
Speaker 4: season like when he was a terrible hitter for the
12:27
Speaker 4: first four months, like he went on an incredible hot streak,
12:31
Speaker 4: something that like we we've never really seen before. But
12:35
Speaker 4: there's always yeah, sure, but it feels like with with Trey,
12:41
Speaker 4: like there was something missing, Like they signed him to
12:44
Speaker 4: a three hundred million dollar contract, but he hasn't been
12:47
Speaker 4: that superstar player that people expected him to be, and
12:50
Speaker 4: he is exactly that this year. I know, at the
12:53
Speaker 4: beginning of the year there was not a lot of power.
12:55
Speaker 4: There was a lot of you know, bass hits, but
12:58
Speaker 4: some of that power starting to show up. He might
13:00
Speaker 4: win the National League batting title, which I think should
13:02
Speaker 4: excite a lot of Phillies fans. The defense, like he's
13:07
Speaker 4: stealing bases, like he is the entire package, and it's
13:11
Speaker 4: extremely encouraging for Phillies fans to not only like watch
13:15
Speaker 4: what Schber is doing, but what also Trey is doing
13:18
Speaker 4: as well. What that means for the future at shortstop,
13:20
Speaker 4: Like he's definitely going to play shortstop next year. I
13:24
Speaker 4: don't really know beyond this year. Depends on just how
13:27
Speaker 4: good he is at the position in twenty six, but
13:29
Speaker 4: he's made an argument this stay at shortstop, and it's
13:34
Speaker 4: a it's a really it's a pleasant surprise because I
13:36
Speaker 4: think a lot of people going into this year it's like, oh,
13:40
Speaker 4: he is what he is at shortstop, Like he can
13:42
Speaker 4: make some really nice plays because he's athletic, but he's
13:45
Speaker 4: going to mess up some of those like you know
13:48
Speaker 4: hops that that are a little bit funny, and he's
13:50
Speaker 4: going to make some costly errors, but he's really eliminated
13:53
Speaker 4: most of that stuff and it's reflected in like the
13:57
Speaker 4: war numbers, and I think like he's going to at
14:00
Speaker 4: some top five votes, like he's going to finish high.
14:02
Speaker 4: He's not going to win the award, but he's going
14:05
Speaker 4: to get the recognition he deserves.
14:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great to see the consistency from him this year.
14:09
Speaker 1: I mean, that's inevitably at the end of the day,
14:11
Speaker 1: that's what you want.
14:11
Speaker 2: I mean, MVP or not. The consistency of Trey Turner
14:14
Speaker 2: has been so welcoming for sure.
14:16
Speaker 1: And if folks, if you're watching us on YouTube, perhaps
14:20
Speaker 1: for the first time, we would greatly appreciate if you
14:22
Speaker 1: would like and subscribe. You can also follow us on
14:25
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14:28
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14:32
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14:35
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14:37
Speaker 1: like our Facebook page. We're on threads. Eric and I
14:40
Speaker 1: are over on Blue Sky at Jeff Warren at brick
14:43
Speaker 1: Polt as well. And our good friend Destiny Logardo again
14:46
Speaker 1: from Philliesnation dot com. Destiny, can you tell everybody where
14:50
Speaker 1: they can find you on the interwebs out there if
14:51
Speaker 1: they want to connect with you?
14:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, on Twitter, Destiny Underscore, Legardo, Blue Sky. I think
14:57
Speaker 4: it's just Destney Legardo and then you can read my
14:59
Speaker 4: work on Philliesnation dot com.
15:02
Speaker 2: Very good. We're gonna take a break, folks. We are
15:04
Speaker 2: going to be back in a bit. We got more
15:05
Speaker 2: Phillies talk coming your way.
15:08
Speaker 1: All right, we are back with our good friend Destiny
15:10
Speaker 1: Destiny Legardo from Phillies Nation dot com and look you
15:15
Speaker 1: all over at Phillies Nation reported on Walker Bueller being
15:18
Speaker 1: signed by the Phillies. Wanted to get into what this
15:21
Speaker 1: means for the pitching, what this means for the rotation,
15:24
Speaker 1: because it essentially does set up possibly that six man
15:28
Speaker 1: starting rotation in the future. And I have to say,
15:32
Speaker 1: I'm a bit I always trying to remain optimistic, but
15:34
Speaker 1: I'm a bit concerned about this after he was just
15:36
Speaker 1: released by the Red Sox.
15:38
Speaker 2: He put up a five.
15:39
Speaker 1: Point four or five er in twenty three outings this season,
15:42
Speaker 1: and while he's had eighteen postseason starts, in his career destiny. Again,
15:47
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm concerned about where he is given that,
15:52
Speaker 1: you know it means at thirty one, entering that latter
15:54
Speaker 1: stage of his career, having.
15:57
Speaker 2: A rough twenty twenty five season.
15:59
Speaker 1: Dave Browski obviously is seeing something in him as well
16:02
Speaker 1: as the scout.
16:03
Speaker 2: So what are your thoughts here on what he may
16:05
Speaker 2: bring to the team.
16:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would just keep expectations low. I know Walker
16:10
Speaker 4: Wheeler is a big name. He closed out the World Series.
16:12
Speaker 4: He's had some very very good seasons with the Dodgers,
16:16
Speaker 4: but he's coming off a really down year in Boston.
16:18
Speaker 4: The swing and myths stuff is just not there. They
16:22
Speaker 4: are going to insert him into a six man rotation,
16:26
Speaker 4: I think, Dave den Browsi said the data is September
16:28
Speaker 4: twelfth against the Kansas City Royals. I think they're really
16:31
Speaker 4: concerned about some of the workload with some of the
16:34
Speaker 4: other starters, and as a Phillies, you know, get down
16:37
Speaker 4: in the stretch front like they just want to give
16:39
Speaker 4: some of their guys an extra day. I know Rob
16:41
Speaker 4: Thompson said yesterday Tomin Walker is one of those guys
16:43
Speaker 4: that could use another day of rest. So I kind
16:48
Speaker 4: of look at this acquisition as something similar to what
16:50
Speaker 4: they did with Noah Skindergard in twenty two. He didn't
16:54
Speaker 4: cost a lot in terms of prospect capital, but the
16:56
Speaker 4: Phillies saw some things in him, and he was starting
17:00
Speaker 4: games in the postseason for the Phillies and he did
17:03
Speaker 4: pretty well. So I think that's like the upside that
17:07
Speaker 4: you're working with. I would assume his role closer to
17:11
Speaker 4: the postseason is something and this is another like twenty
17:15
Speaker 4: twenty two analogy, but you know, Kyle Gibson was that
17:19
Speaker 4: the bulk guy that if for any reason, the Phillies
17:22
Speaker 4: are playing an extra inning game in the playoffs, like
17:26
Speaker 4: he could give you like four or five innings. I
17:29
Speaker 4: you know, unless he pitches really well, maybe you see
17:32
Speaker 4: him in some some high leverage situations. You just never know.
17:34
Speaker 4: In the postseason, a lot of things can happen. But
17:38
Speaker 4: it's a low cost move. Like I guess, like what
17:41
Speaker 4: they're losing is maybe they could try out another believer
17:44
Speaker 4: in that spot. But I believe Bueller signed like a
17:48
Speaker 4: twenty one million dollar contract at the beginning of the year,
17:51
Speaker 4: so essentially, like the Phillies are paying him league minimum
17:55
Speaker 4: to be like their six starter, and I think that's
17:57
Speaker 4: a totally fine flyer take on a guy that has
18:01
Speaker 4: had postseason success, that has had some really nice success
18:06
Speaker 4: earlier in his career. He might not be the same guy,
18:09
Speaker 4: but he is going to be useful in the role
18:11
Speaker 4: that they're imagining for him. And then you just never
18:15
Speaker 4: know with you know, Caleb and the pitching staff that
18:19
Speaker 4: they have, like maybe there are some tweaks that are
18:22
Speaker 4: made and he looks a lot better than what you expected.
18:25
Speaker 4: You never know, there could be a couple injuries in
18:27
Speaker 4: the rotation and maybe Walker Buehler is starting a postseason
18:30
Speaker 4: game for the Phillies. It's just like you can't really
18:33
Speaker 4: predict what's going to happen. But I think it's really
18:37
Speaker 4: smart move to add some depth. Like there was a
18:39
Speaker 4: lot of interest around the league, and this wasn't a
18:42
Speaker 4: situation where the Phillies could kind of like, you know,
18:45
Speaker 4: it wasn't like David Robertson where they could just you know,
18:50
Speaker 4: give him the most amount of money. Like pretty much
18:52
Speaker 4: everyone was in the same boat. So they convinced him
18:56
Speaker 4: that this was the best place for him. And I
18:58
Speaker 4: think he's going to fill an important role down the stretch,
19:01
Speaker 4: not like a matter of like being you know, pitching
19:04
Speaker 4: high leverage innings, but just being that six starter that
19:06
Speaker 4: gives everybody a little bit of a blow.
19:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see where he
19:10
Speaker 1: fits into the equation here.
19:12
Speaker 2: And moving along.
19:14
Speaker 1: I mean, the game of baseball as we know it
19:16
Speaker 1: has so many ebbs and flows to it, and we
19:19
Speaker 1: have seen that with one Nick Castianos this season. I mean,
19:23
Speaker 1: he was having such a great season. We talked about
19:25
Speaker 1: consistency before with Harrison Bader, and we've we've really seen
19:30
Speaker 1: some great consistency with Nick Castianos with the majority of
19:33
Speaker 1: this twenty twenty five season. But my gosh, just hitting
19:38
Speaker 1: a wall, which has been so frustrating as a fan
19:41
Speaker 1: to watch. What are your thoughts on really what has
19:43
Speaker 1: happened to Nick Castianos here?
19:46
Speaker 4: Such a great question, And I like how you mentioned
19:50
Speaker 4: consistency because I think that's what Nick has brought. Yes,
19:54
Speaker 4: seeing back to May twenty twenty four, after his really
19:58
Speaker 4: bad slump to begin the year, he was just a
20:01
Speaker 4: guy that didn't fall into a slump, and he got
20:04
Speaker 4: off to a very good start this year. I remember
20:06
Speaker 4: in April like he was talking and like he was
20:10
Speaker 4: hitting for power, working good at bats and were like,
20:13
Speaker 4: who is this guy? Like this is uh, this is incredible,
20:16
Speaker 4: and then it just seems like he's really struggled since
20:20
Speaker 4: the beginning of July. His last extra base hit was
20:25
Speaker 4: like August twenty second, Like the power is just not
20:28
Speaker 4: there anymore. And I think the Phillies are starting to
20:32
Speaker 4: lose a little bit of patience when it comes to Costianos.
20:35
Speaker 4: I remember, and we were talking about, you know, acquiring
20:39
Speaker 4: Bader close to the trade deadline, they weren't touching right field,
20:41
Speaker 4: Like they were pretty and insistent that Nick is an
20:45
Speaker 4: everyday guy and that they're going to wait for him
20:47
Speaker 4: to get hot, and then they're not. They're definitely not
20:50
Speaker 4: doing that anymore. So I think it it has to
20:54
Speaker 4: do with like, if he's going to be the defender
20:57
Speaker 4: that he is in right field, then you need to
20:58
Speaker 4: be like one of the best hitters in the lineup,
21:01
Speaker 4: and he's just not that guy anymore. I don't I
21:06
Speaker 4: don't know what they are going to do, Like I
21:09
Speaker 4: think it it would be smart to give him a
21:12
Speaker 4: chance to heat up a little bit. And I know
21:13
Speaker 4: it's like I'm saying that for yeah, there has to
21:17
Speaker 4: be like more in there than what he's shown the
21:20
Speaker 4: last couple of months. But like if you don't really
21:23
Speaker 4: see anything in September, then I don't. I don't think
21:25
Speaker 4: he has like a major role in the postseason. So yeah,
21:31
Speaker 4: like I think like in centerfield, Baiers the everyday guy,
21:34
Speaker 4: they're doing a straight platoon with marsh and Weston Wilson
21:38
Speaker 4: and left field and then right field is not. I
21:41
Speaker 4: wouldn't call it a platoon because Nick is still facing
21:43
Speaker 4: some right handed starters, but it's more of a time
21:46
Speaker 4: share with Kepler and Costianos. So I think like they
21:52
Speaker 4: should continue doing that and then hope Nick like kind
21:56
Speaker 4: of figures it out. I do think his last few games, like, yeah,
22:00
Speaker 4: bats have been a lot better, Like you noticed a
22:03
Speaker 4: couple I think yesterday might have had a couple walks
22:06
Speaker 4: or two days ago against the Braves, so like he's
22:09
Speaker 4: swinging at the first pitch a little bit less. The
22:13
Speaker 4: results just aren't there. So yeah, it's a pretty it's
22:18
Speaker 4: a it's a tough situation because you do need like
22:22
Speaker 4: a a hot Nick Costianos, but if it's not there,
22:27
Speaker 4: then they probably need to pivot to a different plan,
22:29
Speaker 4: which is probably or Kepler and right field.
22:33
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
22:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, well Destiny before I let you go, my friend,
22:38
Speaker 1: I mean, this team, they certainly have some challenges for sure.
22:41
Speaker 1: Then again, so does every other Major League Baseball team
22:44
Speaker 1: at this point in the season. What do you see
22:47
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Phillies' biggest challenge being over this month of
22:51
Speaker 1: September as they're really looking towards the postseason here to
22:54
Speaker 1: close us out.
22:55
Speaker 4: Yeah. Rob Thompson would definitely say health. I would agree
23:00
Speaker 4: with him too. Just make sure your starters for one
23:03
Speaker 4: or healthy, especially with Zach Wheeler out. You know, I
23:08
Speaker 4: think the only guy is on the injured list or
23:10
Speaker 4: Zach Wheeler and Jordan Romano. Not sure Jordan Romano will
23:14
Speaker 4: even pitch again this year.
23:17
Speaker 2: But.
23:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's that's probably where he's going to
23:20
Speaker 4: stay on that injured list. But yeah, they got to
23:24
Speaker 4: wrap up that that buy. And I know, like this
23:26
Speaker 4: could be a debate that we have down the line,
23:28
Speaker 4: like whether it's it's better to get the buy and
23:31
Speaker 4: go straight to the Division Series or to play in
23:33
Speaker 4: the wildcard round. I think like if you were if
23:37
Speaker 4: you knew that you won in the wildcard round, then
23:40
Speaker 4: you would you wouldn't take the buy. But I do
23:42
Speaker 4: think the buye is is very useful for them this
23:45
Speaker 4: year because they could set up the pitching the way
23:47
Speaker 4: they want. But yeah, it's just I think it's simple.
23:51
Speaker 4: Just keep everybody healthy and then wrap up the bye
23:54
Speaker 4: and then I think a problem last year too was
23:58
Speaker 4: that and this kind of goes back to them like
24:00
Speaker 4: getting off to this very hot start and then also
24:03
Speaker 4: struggling at the end, like it feels like the playoffs
24:05
Speaker 4: kind of crept up on them. Yeah, I would like
24:07
Speaker 4: to see a team and I don't know if it's
24:11
Speaker 4: like winning more games the last week of the year,
24:13
Speaker 4: Like I would like to see a team that looks
24:15
Speaker 4: prepared to play in October, because it really it didn't
24:19
Speaker 4: seem that way last year.
24:20
Speaker 2: It's a great way to put it. Yeah, that's a
24:22
Speaker 2: great way to put it. Man.
24:24
Speaker 1: Let's talk about that more on the show, folks, and
24:27
Speaker 1: let us know what you are thinking as well about
24:30
Speaker 1: where this team is going to be headed here in September,
24:33
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd love to
24:35
Speaker 1: read your email here on the show and respond to it.
24:38
Speaker 1: And always great having you on Destiny. Thank you so
24:41
Speaker 1: much for taking the time again, folks, Philliesnation dot com.
24:45
Speaker 1: That's where Destiny and our colleagues put a fantastic content
24:48
Speaker 1: about this Philadelphia Phillies team. My friend, thank you so
24:51
Speaker 1: much and come back join us. I'd love to have
24:53
Speaker 1: you back on the show again.
24:55
Speaker 4: Thank you, Jeff, I appreciate it.