Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / Philadelphia's NIL Initiative & The Phillies At The All-Star Break

Transcript

Philadelphia's NIL Initiative & The Phillies At The All-Star Break · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Hey there, it's Jeff. We recorded this podcast episode on both July eleventh
0:05
and July twelfth from this past week. By the time you hear this,
0:08
things may have changed a little bit, but we hope you enjoy the show.
0:37
All right, everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
0:41
the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, that's right
0:44
over ten years strong. We got a lot of great content for you on
0:48
this week's episode. We have got a couple great guests that we're gonna be
0:53
talking to in just a bit. Had some scheduling issues here and we wanted
1:00
to make sure that we are putting out some great Philly sports content, getting
1:03
into the world of Philly youth sports athletics as well on this particular podcast,
1:10
and that's what we're going to be starting off with a fantastic guest. It's
1:14
his second time on the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, and he has none
1:19
other than Philadelphia Councilman Isaiah Thomas. The councilman was great to come back on
1:25
the podcast here to talk about his nil legislation that he's introduced at Philadelphia City
1:30
Hall in order to help protect in the future Philly sports athletes who are who
1:37
are younger kids and this stuff is trickling down to them. We talked about
1:42
it before with the Councilman in his initiative. We're going to talk about and
1:47
see where it's at right now and some other things that are going on in
1:49
the city with regard to youth sports and athletics. So let's get to that
1:55
discussion right now. And it is great to have back on the podcast coming
2:00
to us from the confines of Philadelphia City Hall. You can find him on
2:05
Twitter at cm Thomas p h L. He has been a great guest in
2:08
the past. Coming back now this week we have council Member Isaiah Thomas,
2:14
councilman, thanks so much for jumping on here, and how's your summer been,
2:17
buddy, Hey, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
2:21
You know, I love to talk sports. I love the Eton shirt.
2:23
And of course in the background, Simon's going great, no complaints at all,
2:29
that's great. That's great. Councilman. I wanted to bring you on
2:31
to do some follow up on some local legislation that you've introduced in city Hall,
2:37
and also we're going to get into some sixers talk as well, some
2:39
Philadelphia Eagles talk. But first and foremost, the last time that you were
2:44
on the podcast, we dove into the NA, the NIL legislation that you
2:46
introduced at City Hall, better known as the Philly NIL Youth Protection Act,
2:52
and at the time, like I really thought it was a great initiative when
2:55
I first read about it. I still do. And for those listeners,
3:00
for new listeners here at the PSD podcast show who may not have been around
3:02
when you were first on the podcast talking about it, I'm hoping you can
3:06
give us an overview about what you're really trying to do for youth athletes in
3:10
the city as it pertains to NIL issues. You know, for youth in
3:15
the city of Philadelphia. I mean, NIL deals are so new, not
3:19
just the Philadelphia but just a concept in general to places all across the country.
3:23
What we're trying to do with Philadelphia is, as we see opportunities coming
3:28
down a pipe, we want to make sure that we're protecting our most vulnerable
3:30
people, which of course of our children. So the NIL Protection Act looks
3:35
to provide support systems for young people who don't have the resources to negotiate contracts
3:40
on their own between them and their families. So what are we talking about.
3:44
We're talking about free access to financial literacy, We're talking about free legal
3:47
services and consultation, and we're also talking about assuring that they put themselves in
3:53
a position where they're not signing predatory deals. So that's the legislation that we
3:58
introduced the while back. And you know, legislation like this takes in time,
4:02
is still as a unique bill, and we're still in a process of
4:08
negotiating with the executive branch of government, which is the Mayor of the City
4:12
of Philadelphia and his team, to figure out exactly what this will apply.
4:15
Yeah, and I wanted to get into that too, because, you know,
4:17
as somebody who has been a quote student of government throughout my professional career,
4:21
I understand how the sausage gets made. I understand how legislation gets passed
4:28
through committee, how various entities have input within certain pieces of legislation. So
4:33
can you give us an update, councilman, about you know, what's happened
4:38
with this particular piece of legislation within Philadelphia City Hall since you've introduced it.
4:42
I mean, any alterations or changes that have happened with it. You know,
4:46
if it's getting through committee if it might be passed into law in the
4:49
foreseeable future. We are optimistic that it will be passed in a law as
4:56
fall, but we're trying to avoid it passing the bill and then not having
5:00
the teeth or the resources to do what is intended to do. And so
5:04
that's the process that we're a part of right now. So it's two things.
5:09
It's number one, figuring out where do you part this right at the
5:13
end of the day, this is not the first time that we've done an
5:15
initiative like this. We did something in the arts and culture space that acquired
5:19
an actual staffing position, and we see a similar and we see similarities here.
5:26
We think that this is going to have to be part somewhere, not
5:29
just be a law, but also be something that requires a staff member to
5:33
monitor it, for it to be under a specific department, and for us
5:38
to assure that we're doing it the right way. The other thing that we
5:42
need, is of course money, right because at the end of the day,
5:44
when we're talking about the things that we're trying to make sure young people
5:46
have access to, these things aren't free. So as it relates to compensation,
5:54
what does that look like as well? Too, So that's what the
5:58
negotiations have consisted of. Right now, we're advocating that this particular law be
6:04
part in the Office of Children and Families. We think that's the department in
6:09
the City of Philadelphia that makes the most sense. Um, we're also still
6:13
in the process of figuring out is this going to be a public private partnership
6:17
through pro bono services, or whether we're going to actually need an entity.
6:20
Will that be a new entity or a fiscal partner that already works with the
6:27
City of Philadelphia. So these are some important questions right because at the end
6:30
of the day, if we just passed the bill and it's not part anywhere
6:32
and where where, we don't identify where the resources are going to come from,
6:38
well well, well we you know, it's cool that you pass the
6:41
law, but it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't help our children. And at
6:45
the end of the day, that's the purpose. That's what we're trying to
6:47
do, is protect our most vulnerable young people. And so that that's where
6:50
we are as a relates to the process right now. I'm optimistic that we'll
6:55
be able to finish negotiations this fall and have the bill passed in the law
6:59
and hopefully look to have the bill enforced by September of next year. That's
7:03
a little bit behind my goal. Um, I definitely wanted it to be
7:06
implemented by September of this year, but I don't think we're going to be
7:11
able to do that. Well, actually I know we're not going to be
7:14
able to do it. Yeah, yeah, So that's the timeline we're looking
7:16
at now. I think when I hear what you're talking about, councilmen,
7:21
and you know, in the discussions that you and I have had when you
7:25
were on the podcast previously as well, there's a thoughtful nature to this.
7:30
At the end of the day, you and other members of city Council there,
7:34
you're not trying to just simply push something through, as you were saying,
7:39
you want to make sure that it has teeth. You're wanting to do
7:42
this in a thoughtful fashion. And I think it's important to note that just
7:45
based on how various government entities out there, or even elected officials at times,
7:49
you know, folks, you know, even even byself in general,
7:53
as a former public official, I have got you know, we all get
7:56
kind of get a bad name. We just try to rush things through and
7:58
push things through. No. When it comes to this Nil Youth Protection Act,
8:03
it's being done in a thoughtful and rational fashion, and I think it's
8:07
really important for folks to understand that, again, thoughtful legislation, it's taking
8:11
a little bit of time. You want to do it the right way,
8:13
and there's something to be said for that. My friend, Hey, I
8:18
definitely appreciate that. And I'll also say that because it's the first type of
8:22
bill like it on a local level in the entire country that we know of.
8:26
Anyway, we know that other folks are going to look to replicate.
8:31
I'm a part of a number of different coalition of elected officials that you might
8:33
be familiar with, National League of Cities, PA, Municipal League, Local
8:37
Progress. These are all different whole hoards that I'm a part of, different
8:43
organizations who put elected officials in a position to share best practices and ideas with
8:48
each other and also share things to avoid right don't. And so we want
8:54
to get this right because we feel like it would be phenomenal for Philadelphia,
8:58
but we feel like other cities across the country can remix it the way that
9:01
they see fit for whoever governs their interscholastic high school sports and put themselves in
9:07
up to the watch, say middle school sports nowadays some of the stuff I'm
9:09
saying high school and put them in a position to be able to say,
9:15
Okay, well, you know, this is how we're going to protect our
9:18
most vulnerable because at the end of the day, we're already seeing it.
9:20
Right, you're big athletes, you're all Americans, your folks with amazing followers.
9:24
They're going to have the resources to make sure that they have the proper
9:26
people to negotiate for them. And we know that, and we knew that
9:31
at the beginning of NIL that would be the target. But we know for
9:35
a fact that as this thing continues to matriculate through time, that more and
9:39
more local businesses and small businesses are going to partner with young people who might
9:43
not be that All American, all star level student athlete, but may have
9:50
a following an influence over a few thousand people that can create the right partnership.
9:54
We know that's coming, and we want to make sure that those young
9:56
people are protected the same way the young people who are are those big time
10:01
athletes are already protected because the resources are built in with their brand and the
10:05
work that their daughter. This is a stepping stone for the future and so
10:07
many different aspects, not just here in the city of Philadelphia, but even
10:11
beyond throughout the United States. And it's great that great that you're doing some
10:16
good work on this, Councilman, and moving along here, I wanted to
10:18
talk about, like what really is happening with youth sports and just recreation within
10:24
the city too, because throughout your career, Councilman, you've been extremely active
10:28
in the Philly youth sports community. You've been you've run a successful basketball camp,
10:33
You've coached youth sports. So I'm wondering what are some of the ongoing
10:37
youth sports initiatives that folks in Philadelphia really can embark on this summer, and
10:41
beyond that some folks might not actually know about. I mean, the type
10:48
of funding that we've put into prevention based programming is something that I'm so proud
10:52
of that I probably can waste a lot of times across the city. But
10:56
let me let me hear a couple that I'm really proud of initiates budget For
11:01
the first time ever, we're going to put fifty thousand dollars in the peewee
11:03
football and I know that doesn't sound important, but if you know anything about
11:09
Pop Warner Football, you have teams all across the city of Philadelphia that participate.
11:13
We have some of the best teams in the country that often have to
11:16
go down to Florida for national championships, and those teams are forced to raise
11:20
those dollars by themselves. We know fifty thousand dollars won't cover everything, but
11:24
our goal, after talking to some of the folks who run to organizations,
11:28
where if we can at least eliminate the costs for officiating throughout the course of
11:33
the season, it will put them in a position where they can use those
11:35
dollars and fund raised during the season to prepare it for that venture. So
11:39
that's something that I'm really proud of. And I don't have to talk to
11:43
people about Pop Warner Football. Everybody knows their neighborhood football program or organization,
11:48
and we're proud to, you know, for the first time step up and
11:52
put some money into that. We put one hundred thousand dollars into August through
11:58
and then and then another initiative that came from my office, which is Philly
12:03
Hoops Basketball, Philly Hoops, Philly legendary hoops month. And what that is
12:09
is is a vision that started with Mike Morak, who's one of the leaders
12:13
of the Denny Run Foundation, as well as Raheen Thompson, one of the
12:16
leaders, I mean, the founder of the Chosen League and the Team Thompson
12:20
Foundation executive director. We did this last summer on a smaller scale and it
12:26
worked out really well. So I wanted to see if we put city resources
12:30
behind expanding free basketball based initiatives for young people in the summertime, because we
12:35
know that the crime that we're seeing, the best thing that we can do
12:39
is give young people positive outlets. So we've paid for and fronted more free
12:45
basketball summer program for the month of August, and we feel like that's the
12:48
perfect month, right because that's the month where all the au kids are in
12:52
the city, all of your pros are pretty much here, they haven't started
12:56
with their team and organizations, and not just NBA players to talk about overseas,
13:00
these guys and folks like that as well too. And then we have
13:01
our bigger basketball events that happen in August as well too, So we're going
13:05
to have free programming. The calendars already set there'll be free basketball trainings,
13:11
clinics, camps, including my own camp, throughout the course of the month,
13:15
all across the city of Philadelphia. And that's something that I'm extremely proud
13:18
of. When you're talking about one of our leaders in after school program ASAP,
13:24
for the first time in history, we've put money into their budget as
13:28
well too. And that is an organization that provides other extracurricular activities like tests
13:35
and debate and things of that capacity to make sure that young people are using
13:39
their oratorical skills and critical thinking skills in a positive way. Like I said,
13:43
I could keep going. We put a ton of money in the arts
13:46
initiatives coming out of the city this year, including one point five million dollars
13:50
to illuminate the Arts Grants, which often funds young artists and startup arts based
13:56
companies across the city to encourage them to start their business, go to their
13:58
business, and be an artist in general here in Philadelphia. And you know,
14:05
I can go on and on and on. We got a huge initiative
14:07
in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, you basketball, they're looking to build a twenty four
14:11
million dollars facility right off of Hunting and Parking with the hicking right behind the
14:16
Croc Center over there, and they have a capital campaign going and they're close
14:20
to reaching their goal. They should have their facility built within the next year.
14:24
And this is gonna be the best facility in the city of Philadelphia that's
14:28
not owned by a school or university. So you're talking about putting together different
14:35
initiatives when you're talking about advocating for a w NBA team and things of that
14:37
capacity. They put us in a position to be able to offer more programming,
14:43
more resources, and of course more big events. And we're proud to
14:46
have not only put up operating dollars for PIB for the second year in a
14:50
row, but also capital money as well too. Like I said, I
14:54
can go on and on and on that. You know, a few things
14:56
off the top of my head. We put money into the Black Man Educator
15:00
Initiative to help fund more black male teachers to be in the city of Philadelphia
15:05
teaching in Herban schools because we know that that huge shortage is having an impact
15:09
on our children all across the city of Philadelphia. And you know, I'm
15:13
really proud of the variety of ways that we've tried our best to put dollars
15:18
behind things that help youth and young people across the city of Philadelphia. And
15:22
like I said, there are more things. Those are just a few things
15:26
I'm highlighting off the top of my head. Well yeah, councilman, Yeah,
15:28
councilman. Yeah. I view you, and as I have followed your
15:33
career, I view you as a man of ideas. So I guess to
15:35
follow up, do you have anything in the pipeline, you know, in
15:39
terms of youth recreation, things that you may not have actually brought out to
15:43
the forefront of the agenda yet you know, again, you're a man of
15:46
ideas. Is there anything in the pipeline that may be unveiled in the future.
15:50
I mean, there are things in a pipeline that I'm brainstorming. I
15:54
don't know if we'll be able to actualize them. I'll give you an example,
15:56
Okay, you know, I would like to create Adelphi the Youth Sports
16:00
Fund. In the dream world. I would like it to be a public
16:03
private partnership where a lot of our big athletes and organizations can donate. The
16:10
city and the state also puts dollars, and we allow sports based organizations across
16:15
the city to apply for funding. To be able to provide free programs,
16:18
trainings, and services for children in the city in Philadelphia, no matter what
16:22
sport it is. You know, baseball is a sport that I'm concerned about,
16:26
like most people, like most sports fans across the country, because it's
16:30
losing his juice a little bit. We just had a big softball fundraiser on
16:33
Saturday, and you know, I grew up playing baseball myself, all my
16:37
brothers, my dad. And at the end of the day, I tried
16:40
to get my son to play a little bit, and I had to push
16:44
them to like it. And once he actually started to play, he liked
16:48
it right, but it was hard for him to watch. It was hard
16:52
for him to get started because of the hand eye coordination, and you know,
16:55
he's a little older, so you know, some kids are already pitching
16:57
pretty fast, and you know, it's tough to turn the corner to being
17:02
uncomfortable to actually like in the sport, and then it's a whole other thing
17:04
to actually be good at it. But but but my bias around baseball is
17:10
something that I would like to see push in more areas and communities across the
17:15
city of Philadelphia. And that's just an example of why I would like to
17:18
see a Philadelphia sports fund. Now, I'm not promising you and a listener
17:22
the audience that this is going to happen, you know, thinking about what
17:26
it looks like, the amount of work that it would take on top of
17:30
some of the other bills that I have pending, which include then Nil Protection
17:34
Act. You know, I don't want to start a new project until I
17:37
get old projects done and some of the things that we funded. We want
17:40
to make sure that these things are as effective in efficient as possible, and
17:44
I think at a certain point I will actually try to launch it. It's
17:48
something that we've never seen in the city of Philadelphia. We've seen it in
17:51
other capacities like arts and culture and other spaces like that, but never for
17:55
sports, and so I would love to see that. That would be a
17:57
dream come true for me. And that's the idea that I have. That
18:02
it's just kind of pending, so we'll see what happens with it. No
18:04
promises, Jeff, sounds good. Sounds good again. Folks are talking to
18:07
Council Member Isaiah Thomas coming to us from Philadelphia City Hall at cm Thomas PHL
18:15
on the Twitter dot com and moving along here, Councilman, the last time
18:19
you were on the podcast, we didn't really get a chance to really dive
18:22
into some of our beloved Philly sports teams. So kind of wanted to get
18:26
into some Philly, some actual professional Philly sports talk with you here. Let's
18:32
start off with the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. I'd love to get your take
18:34
on this seventy six Ers team. What's been happening this offseason? Do you
18:37
think the offseason is going the way that you wanted it to go so far?
18:42
Like, what what does this team in front office need to do from
18:47
a roster standpoint here to get past that second round of the postseason. My
18:51
gosh, we've been talking about it on this podcast for years and years.
18:53
Here, I don't know what are your thoughts, what are your takes on
18:56
where the Sixers team and organization are at. So I think when you have
19:00
the reigning MVP and you come off of a season that MB has you always
19:07
you're always in the MidiX, you know you're going to be a playoff team,
19:11
And when you have the opportunity to be a playoff team, you have
19:14
an all time great when you're roster, which I don't think people appreciate I
19:17
can hear people saying trade and Beat and it's like, I don't It's crazy.
19:22
I'm thirty nine years old and I know and and while Alan Iverson is
19:26
definitely my favorite sixer of all times considering my age, right like, I
19:30
never truly seen Barkley, only seen him a little bit. Definitely never seen
19:34
Doc just going by what I've seen. You know, Iverson is my favorite,
19:40
but in Beat is the best. And at the end of the day,
19:42
I just don't understand why we're so hard on MBUM just because we haven't
19:49
gotten out of the second round of playoffs. I remember the tanking DS and
19:52
I think for me, the number one priority is to keep him be happy.
19:56
And I think the group of people who's not doing it is the fans.
20:00
You know, I can't I listen to sports talk radio podcast, you
20:04
know, I just I can't stand the mb slander. It's like people forgot
20:10
the pandemic. Must have made people, you know, forget about the process,
20:12
I guess, but you know, I know the pandemic was, like,
20:17
you know, the worst time that a lot of people seen um as
20:21
it relates to being alive. But it's been latest to being the sixest fan.
20:23
The process was the worst thing I've ever seen, So I don't want
20:26
to even entertaining idea of trading and beating going back through that because the likelihood,
20:33
like we've seen of drafting young talent that pans out, it's slim to
20:37
none. Look at all the lottery picks we had, Yeah, you know,
20:41
we literally got every lottery pick wrong except the accidental one, which was
20:45
INBI. Because I remember mb here we wanted Wiggins or Jabari Parker, we
20:49
didn't even want INBI. It took a couple of years to get on the
20:52
court exactly. So we're lucky to be in the position that we're in.
21:00
I hate the roster moves, but I do like our GM, Daryl Morley,
21:03
so I'm gonna just wait to see how it pans out, because I'll
21:07
bet that he doesn't think that this is a winning roster. As far as
21:12
James Harden, I mean, I don't think a lot of fans understand that
21:15
we're really not in a position to lose him, right, We're kind of
21:19
lucky he opted in. I don't know what contract negotiations look like. I
21:25
definitely wouldn't just trade him because he asks to be traded or just try to
21:29
get rid of him because the MB window is slow. I mean it's it's
21:33
gonna close soon. Yeah, I knew we weren't gonna get Dame. That
21:36
definitely wasn't gonna happen. I'm sure of that, and I'm still sure we're
21:40
not going to get Dams. So people kind of need to throw that one
21:41
out the window, which is why I'm glad we came out and publicly said
21:45
we won't trade tires, Maxie because we know we're not getting dams. So
21:48
if you're not getting damed, what out there we're going to make you trade
21:52
Maxie? What I will say as I close out, if I am going
21:55
to trade Harden, I would love to trade him to the Clippers. I
21:59
mean, they have some wings over there that I can imagine at this point
22:03
are getting disgruntled. Paul George specifically got at some point in his career want
22:07
to win a championship, and I think he would be a better piece for
22:11
us as the release to plan with Maxi and Embed if he could stay healthy
22:15
and get on the floor. And I think Harrier would be a better piece
22:18
for them, even though they we signed, you know, Westbrook. I
22:22
think if I'm them, I think Harden's a better facilitator to play with a
22:25
lot of the catch and shoot length and defensive guys that they have out there
22:30
compared to west You heard it, folks, you heard it here. What
22:33
a great, fantastic take. It's what we've been talking about here on this
22:37
podcast as well. Unfortunately, that discussion with the Councilman had to be cut
22:42
short because we had some audio difficulties here. Very frustrated by it, I
22:48
believe me, because it was a fantastic discussion and we still had some things
22:52
that we wanted to talk about. But I know the Councilman is going to
22:55
be willing and able to come back at some point in the future. We're
22:57
gonna talk about the nil bill that he has introduced at Philadelphia City Hall and
23:02
to see where that's going to be going in the future. So with that
23:06
being said, folks, we are going to take a quick break and when
23:08
we come back, we're gonna be getting into some Philadelphia Phillies talk. It's
23:12
the all Star break here as we're recording this and this team there's a lot
23:17
of high hopes in terms of what they're gonna be able to produce the second
23:19
half of the season. We've got a great discussion coming your way. Stick
23:22
around, we'll be right back. Okay, we are back here and we're
23:27
gonna get into some Philadelphia Phillies talk with a brand new guest. She is
23:33
coming on the Philadephia Sports Table podcast show for the very first time and can't
23:37
wait to get to this discussion right now. She is a wealth of knowledge
23:42
when it comes to the Philadelphia Phillies. She absolutely loves the game of baseball.
23:47
Let's get to it right now and now on the Table. And it
23:52
is great to have on the podcast for the very first time, coming to
23:56
us from Take Me Into the Ball Game, that great podcast. And she
24:02
has also an actor as well, has won a ton of awards and has
24:07
starred in a number of television shows, movies, and it is great to
24:11
have her on this podcast and you can follow her on Twitter at Ellen Underscore
24:15
Adair. We have this Ellen Adair. How you doing. Hey, I'm
24:19
so good, Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad you're good.
24:22
Yea all Star break special here, It absolutely is. And I wanted
24:26
to bring you on Ellen because it is that time to reflect on what the
24:32
Philadelphia Phillies in particular have been giving us so far this season, and of
24:36
course we know the ultimate theme is a lot of ups and downs. We
24:41
have seen streaks of amazingness. We have seen streaks of pure nonsense and crap
24:47
and lack of offense. So let's get into our reflections here during this twenty
24:52
twenty three season and kind of two questions just to start us off here.
24:56
There's a lot of talent on this team, talent that has been impressive and
25:02
also talent that really has been disappointing as well. So in your opinion,
25:06
let's start off with the biggest disappointments in terms of you know, perhaps a
25:10
player on this Phillies team so far this season. Who would that be?
25:14
And why? Oh gosh, well, not to start out with negativity,
25:18
but I hate this question, I guess just because I love my Phillies no
25:23
matter what. I just I get sad for them when they don't do well,
25:26
Like all I really want is for them to feel at the end of
25:30
the day like, hey, I'm a good baseball player, Like I care
25:33
about that more than I actually care about them winning, although I know that
25:37
winning is largely what makes them feel like they're good baseball players. But also
25:42
it's sort of exactly as you just said. I feel like there are a
25:45
lot of players that I think have been fairly disappointing versus our expectations of them.
25:52
But all of those players have also had moments of brilliance where they won
25:56
a game where they look just like themselves. But I hate that there are
26:00
legitimately at least five players that I could pick for this guys that we expected
26:06
to be superstars who have not been consistent. I feel like consistency is kind
26:11
of the key word here, and I think that saying that they haven't been
26:15
consistent is maybe more accurate than saying that they haven't been good. Very fair,
26:18
very fair. Yeah. Yeah, And like it's hard because I just
26:22
I want to try to pick someone who is not my favorite player in all
26:26
of baseball, and so, you know, I was thinking about this and
26:30
I was like, well, I could say Kyle Schwarber because he's got literally
26:33
the worst defense in Major League Baseball and you know, he's having a second
26:37
worst season in terms of OBP. But this would be because I am trying
26:42
not to pick Aaron Nola, and that that feels mean, right, Like
26:48
that feels like I'm I'm picking on Kyle Scharber just right as I don't Listen.
26:51
I was gonna say, if somebody was asking me this question, Ellen,
26:52
I would have actually picked Kyle Schwarber because I believe he's got it.
26:56
I would have because he's got that batting average of one eighty three at this
27:00
point, like you said, the worst defensive player in Major League Baseball,
27:03
and the fact that yes he's got he doesn't matter how many home runs he
27:07
has, in my opinion, because there have been a number of times in
27:10
a number of games and I've seen it down up close and personal at Citizens
27:12
Bank Park where he has not come through when the team has actually needed him,
27:17
when they needed that rallying point. And that's what has been frustrating with
27:19
him. Like you said, from a consistency standpoint, maybe it should be
27:23
we should be talking about maybe consistency instead, but it's still at the end
27:26
of the day, a disappointment. I think for me that Kyle Schwarber hasn't
27:30
necessarily had the type of season that he had last year or even previous seasons
27:33
when he wasn't on the Philadelphia Phillies, So him that that's in terms of
27:38
disappointment and lack of consistency as well. It's certainly Kyle Schwarber for me.
27:42
But and I get where you're coming with Aaronola too, because like, look,
27:45
he I think he is what he is this season and regardless of what
27:49
happens and we've been talking on this podcast a lot about what happens in the
27:52
future with him that contract. He arguably he is one of the top three
27:56
free agents that's going to be on the market this coming season, so or
28:03
the off season. I mean, Phillies are going to have to probably sign
28:04
him. So I'll let you, I'll let you go off. Stop pontificating
28:10
here, but yeah, I mean, if it is Aaron Nola for you,
28:11
I completely get it. No, I mean, look, it's your
28:15
job to pontificate. You do it so well, so so never stop pontificating.
28:22
Yeah, I thank thank you for your validation, by the way,
28:26
But yeah, I think a lot of people would say Nola, And again,
28:29
I think this is disappointing versus expectations, right, And I think that
28:33
honestly, he will still go into the off season as one of the sort
28:37
of prime free agent acquisitions. And I'm I'm very concerned that another team will
28:42
be like, hmm, we think we can like fix what ails Aaron Nolan
28:47
in a way that the Phillies couldn't, And so the Phillies will let him
28:48
go. And he's my favorite player, and that's going to make me really
28:52
sad. But you know, he allowed nineteen home runs during the regular season
28:56
last year and this year he's already given up twenty one. Yeah, and
29:00
we're slightly more than halfway through the season. And I was a little nervous
29:04
about this year because including the postseason, he pitched almost as many innings as
29:10
anyone in baseball last year, I think north of two hundred and thirty and
29:14
this year he's still second in terms of innings pitched for any starting pitchers.
29:19
So he's still being a workhorse. He's still out there. But another reason
29:26
that I was concerned about him is that he's often led the league in throwing
29:30
over to first. Interestingly, he and my favorite non Phillies pitchers, Zat
29:34
Gallen, were at the top of the National League for throws over per batter.
29:40
Obviously, Gallen has adjusted just fine, but you know, I was
29:44
concerned about that because I feel like it speaks to and I say this with
29:48
nothing but love for Erinola, because I think i'd be the same. A
29:52
real need for him to slow down the mental game with runners on and he's
29:56
just really struggling to do that anymore. And he's always struggled with runners on
29:59
base, but it feels like that plus the pitch clock, plus who knows,
30:03
maybe impending free agency are just hammering him. So here are some interesting
30:07
stats. Aaron Nola's expected batting average against this year is two twenty four and
30:15
his expected weighted on base against is two ninety six. So those are twenty
30:18
six and thirty four points of batting average better than the major league average this
30:23
year, so far above average in terms of how often he's letting runners on
30:30
base and the quality of contact that he's giving up there. But his left
30:36
on base rate is terrible. It is sixty seven percent. A league average
30:41
there is seventy one percent. So my very smart friend Nick Pollock of pitcher
30:47
List was talking about Nola on his On the Corner podcast last week and he
30:52
said something sort of pointing out that left on base rate, like, oh,
30:55
well, he's been unlucky with his left on base rate, and I
30:57
expect that to normalize. And though I never wanted to disagree with Nick Pollock
31:02
because he's much smarter than I am, I was like, hmm, honestly,
31:04
I don't know, dude. I mean, I texted him this because
31:07
it's not flukey. It's like, you're gonna have a high homewarn a fly
31:11
ball rate if you give up a lot of hard hit balls. You're gonna
31:15
have a low left on base rate if your mental game suffers when you have
31:18
guys on base. And so I say this with so much love because there's
31:22
nothing and this is I mean, this is I guess the positive, Like,
31:25
there's nothing mechanically wrong, as we've seen, we can come out.
31:27
He can. He can absolutely dominate really good teams. He can absolutely dominate
31:32
the Rays, the Astros and have all of his pitches working and look like
31:36
vintage Nola. But then you know, also, you know, then he
31:42
can come out and have the start that he had last time and versus the
31:45
Marlins. Absolutely, so yeah, yeah, it's it's it's just, um.
31:52
The lack of consistency is frustrating. Yes, lack of consistency makes me
31:56
sad. I don't want to say I'm disappointed. Okay, I'm really sad
32:00
for Aaron Nola, all right, I just want him to be good all
32:01
the time. Well, let's flip this coin here and let's talk about not
32:06
disappointments, but let's talk about the most impressive player thus far on this Phillies
32:10
team halfway through the season here at the All Star break, who's that player
32:15
for you? And why? Ah? Excellent? Now we get to be
32:17
positive, so I mean, slightly versus expectations. I think it has to
32:22
be Nick Castianos. And again kind of going back to the idea of consistency
32:28
here, he's just been consistently good all season. And it's not only is
32:31
he sporting a one hundred and twenty four WRC plus, which means that he's
32:37
been twenty four percent better than league average for folks who are not nerds like
32:39
me and don't know w RC plus, but his defense has really improved.
32:45
So the effort that he was putting in for the postseason, it seems like
32:49
has carried over this year. I mean, he's still not great, but
32:52
he's at minus two outs above average, so like that could end up being
32:58
minus three or minus four for the season and versus minus ten last year.
33:01
So that's a real improvement. And I also think that the Nick Castiano's deek
33:07
of the Alex Bergman home run might be my single favorite moment of the whole
33:09
great moment. Yeah, so delightful. Yes, yeah, it's a great
33:14
moment for me. Really quick. It's Bryson Stott. I mean, I
33:16
think in terms of what US fans wanted, we go back to that expectation
33:22
before the season started. We wanted to see what type of growth he would
33:24
have, what type of second basement he would become, and what type of
33:29
overall teammate too, that Bryson Stott would become here in twenty twenty three,
33:32
and right now at the All Star breaks, we're going to talk about him
33:36
and just a bit here, but he's got a three oh one batting average,
33:39
an OBP of three thirty eight, and he's he's he's getting on base,
33:44
he's hitting, I mean in terms of his in terms of his runs,
33:47
he's got thirty nine on the season, thirty three RBIs. He's a
33:52
darn good baseball player, and I think that's what we wanted from him this
33:54
year. So in terms of impressive for me, it's Bryson Stott. So
33:58
go ahead, I love it. I love it so much. Yeah,
34:01
no, no, Bryson stats season has been really so exciting to see,
34:07
and I could talk a lot more about him. I do want to give
34:09
just my quick runners up as also versus expectations. All Right, Craig Kimbrell.
34:19
When when the Phillies signed him, I was like, all right,
34:22
another fine, another option, as long as we're not relying on him as
34:24
the closer. But it's obviously been very productive, like especially with Alvarado dealing
34:29
with an injury, and like a walk rate of nine point seven percent is
34:32
good for Kimbrell. We're getting the good kimber love. And also Matt Strom,
34:39
Like I was kind of surprised by the signing. I like, it
34:43
just wasn't a move that was on my radar as a possibility for the Phillies
34:46
to make. I like Matt Strom, so I was like, oh,
34:50
okay, all right, fine, a two year deal whatever, huh.
34:52
But like, I mean, bumpy as the start to the season was without
34:55
Strom, it would have been so much worse without the starts that he gave
35:00
the Phillies, and I'm sure that they would have loved to continue to sort
35:05
of put him in the rotation but just he's already pitched about ten more innings
35:08
this year at slightly more than the halfway point than he did last year,
35:13
So I know they were just trying to protect his innings. But yeah,
35:15
shout out to those guys as well. Great runners up. I love it
35:17
absolutely, Ellen, And let's move on to a guy that I was just
35:22
specifically talking about, Bryson Stott. I want to get your thoughts a little
35:24
bit more in detail about his season thus far here and again, I think
35:30
he was he's on the trajectory of what we were hoping for this season.
35:35
Again, I'll mention the three oh one batting average. He's just he's getting
35:38
on base, he's giving his teammates some opportunities here and now, he's not
35:43
necessarily batting for power. It only has seven home runs on the season thus
35:46
far. Not too too awful, but not great either. How would you
35:51
describe what Bryson's Stott is really meant to this Phillies team here in twenty twenty
35:54
three thus far, what he's meant to them? Well, I mean he
36:00
leads the team in war both be ref and Fangraff, So I'm one hundred
36:06
percent certain that they're all making signs for his locker. That's like team war
36:08
leader, because I know they're checking those leaderboards every single day. I'm kidding
36:13
obviously. I mean. The thing that we already knew about Bryson stock coming
36:20
into this season that I feel like we've really been able to see flourish is
36:24
his fantastic two strike approach. So he has the most two strike hits in
36:30
the majors this year. And I just I always think back to he had
36:35
some incredible at bats in the postseason last year, and specifically maybe because I
36:38
was at that game, his at bat versus Spencer Strider in the NLDS the
36:43
Rsaskins Bats Bike game, and oh my god, just just brilliant. And
36:47
knowing that he has that it sort of enables him to be aggressive because he
36:53
knows that he's not in a corner. If he gets to two strikes,
36:55
he can still see a lot of pitches. So he's actually ninth in the
37:00
National League in pitches per plate appearance and in terms of the way that he's
37:06
changed from last year. Early in the season, even as he was,
37:10
you know, breaking the Puddinghead Jones record, I was nerd that I am
37:15
looking at his underlying numbers like you know on his pitcher List player page or
37:20
a savant page, and thinking this doesn't look sustainable. And that's because I
37:23
was looking at the expected batting average being so much lower than the actual batting
37:29
average, and that like his hard hit rate wasn't great. Although I do
37:31
want to point out that pitcher lists hard contact rate is better and Preston Stott
37:37
is better by hard contact percentage because he doesn't strike out as much. But
37:43
I don't necessarily think that anymore that it's not sustainable after I learned that it's
37:49
really about a change in his approach. So there was a there was a
37:52
great article by Matt Gelb on The Athletic last week about how Stott and Long
37:58
decided to close hole in his swing that was sort of in evidence last year,
38:02
especially against elevated fastballs. So last year Stott had more of an uppercut
38:07
swing right for a little bit more power, And to close that hole and
38:12
simplify your swing, you're going to sacrifice some potential power, but you're going
38:16
to get more batting average. So it's not the choice that you might want
38:20
to make for anyone, But I mean, a baseball team really needs to
38:24
be a diverse ecosystem, right, and for long and stot to think about,
38:30
Okay, well, who am I going to be on this team,
38:34
and think about him being more of an all fields hitter, even if it
38:38
sacrifices some power, it's obviously been so productive as we've seen. So it
38:45
said in Gelb's article, I have that here that he raised his batting average
38:49
on fastballs one hundred and twenty points since last year, and he's also fifth
38:53
in the majors in overall batting average improvement from last year. It's not a
38:59
huge surprised that some of those are also lefty, since, like there was
39:02
a lot of prognostication, speaking of prognostication, that the limitations on the shift
39:08
were going to be really beneficial to lefties in particular, like Corey Seeker,
39:13
who is at the top of the list, for example. So anyway,
39:16
obviously, hitting three hundred for a season is hard, but I'm no longer
39:21
worried about the whole notion of what he's doing is unsustainable, Like an expected
39:25
batting average is based in quality of contact, and so it doesn't take into
39:29
consideration a hitter who's trying to go with each pitch and hit to all fields
39:34
and is not necessarily going for power. So it's going to look like,
39:37
oh, this isn't real, but it is because it's it's about the approach.
39:43
I was actually I was looking at something last week when I was about
39:46
to go on MLB Network on Friday, and I noticed that Stot is second
39:52
to Luis Arias in oh contact percentage, So that is the number of pitches
39:59
that he makes con tact with when he swings outside of the zone. And
40:04
with Oria's it's like ninety four percent. It's insane, and with Start it's
40:07
about eighty percent. But that's still really high plastic number, like for balls
40:14
that are outside of the zone, right, it's crazy. So he barrels
40:17
the ball more than Aria's does. And I'm not saying he's got the sort
40:22
of extreme hit tool of Arias, but if you think about his approach this
40:24
year as Ariah's light, I feel like that's what we're seeing and that's fantastic.
40:30
It is. It is great. I mean, he is developing into
40:34
quite a baseball player for this team, somebody who I hope is going to
40:37
be here long term. And you know, I'm going to keep it at
40:42
that before now and folks. Again, we're talking to Ellen Adair from the
40:45
Take Me Into the Ballgame podcast and also an actor who has starred in many
40:52
various movies and television shows as well. In fact, Ellen, you have
40:58
a movie that's going to be coming out this coming fall. I believe it's
41:00
called Heard. Um, I don't want to do you want to talk about
41:05
it real quick or anything you're doing within the acting world here? Yeah,
41:08
I would love to. Um, yes, you you heard correctly. It
41:13
is called Heard, although it is spelled h E R d uh. And
41:16
yeah, I think this is going to be a really fantastic movie. Uh.
41:21
It is a zombie movie. It's a sort of virus based zombies,
41:27
so a little bit more like the twenty eight Days Later series of films,
41:32
or like the Last of Us If if people are familiar with that HBO show
41:38
that came out earlier this year that was wonderful. Yea um so yeah,
41:43
I'm the lead in this one. Uh. And Corbin Burnson plays my father,
41:47
who people might be familiar with from Major League movies. Yeah, uh
41:52
yeah, And a lot of really other excellent folks, Timothy V. Murphy,
41:57
Jeremy Holme, mitzi Ak and Amanda Fuller are in it. Yeah,
42:04
so I think it's uh, yeah, it is. It is. It's
42:07
a horror movie, but it has a lot on its mind. It's it's
42:10
like the best horror movies or like the best zombie movies. It's kind of
42:15
about how do how does society respond to an event like that? Right?
42:20
And what does it do to humankind? And I think it's going to be
42:22
really good. Can't wait to watch it when it comes out for sure.
42:27
And again, folks, you can follow Ellen on Twitter at Ellen Underscore a
42:31
day or she is a great, great follow. And let's let's move along
42:35
to another gentleman on this team in mister Trey Turner, free agent of course
42:39
that came over to the Phillies during this past off season. His slash lines
42:45
are well beyond what we're used to seeing from him on the field. He's
42:50
currently at two forty seven, two ninety nine and three eighty nine. Not
42:54
all that great necessarily considering you know, what he was supposed to really give
42:58
this team in terms of offense. Ellen, and he's had such I think
43:02
for me looking at what a season has been thus far, such minimal impact
43:07
during his first half of the season. Again from what we were used to
43:12
seeing from Trey Turner in the past. What do you make of, really
43:15
what has happened with Trey Turner here and what does he need to do with
43:17
the plate to really give his own season here that spark that he really kind
43:22
of desperately needs and this team needs as well. Yeah, it's it's puzzling
43:28
from a player that we've seen lead the entire league in batting average, you
43:31
know, or that we've seen lead the entire league in offensive war it to
43:37
me, it looks like a selectivity issue, but it's also a bit puzzling.
43:44
Like so, there was this moment early mid June when it looked like
43:47
he was figuring things out because he'd cut his strikeout rate to more like eighteen
43:52
percent for a couple of weeks, which was closer to his career average,
43:55
and his chase rate was down to about thirty three percent, still not excellent.
44:01
But now, even if I just select for the small sample since June
44:06
first, we're back at a career high chase rate of forty percent and a
44:09
career high strikeout rate of twenty four percent, which are about what he's doing
44:14
for the season on the whole. So it seems like the adjustments that I
44:17
thought I saw him making aren't continuing to work or stick for him. Yeah,
44:22
And what it looked like to me is that he's just really struggling on
44:27
elevated fastballs. But since I'm not a scout, I always go to the
44:31
information that we have to verify what I think I'm seeing, and it's pretty
44:36
crazy. So first of all, he has a negative eleven run value on
44:40
fastballs. This is a pitch that he's normally performed very well against. And
44:45
if you take a look at his heat maps, it's, frankly, it's
44:51
shocking to see the difference that you'll see between twenty twenty one and this year.
44:55
He's striking out and whipping more than twice as often up out of the
45:00
zone this year as he was two years ago, and he has batting averages
45:07
of zero and one forty three in those areas where just two years ago he
45:13
hit three forty six and two eighty six. Which is I mean, that
45:19
made me be like, maybe it's maybe it's not a selectivity issue, but
45:22
maybe he just used to be able to get balls there and he hasn't been
45:27
able to this year. But he still feels like he can. I think
45:30
we saw a very similar thing happened to Nick Castianos last year with this sort
45:34
of like low and outside slider, and if you looked early and earlier in
45:37
his career, he was able to get to that pitch. So it was
45:40
so hard for him to lay off of that because he saw it and he
45:44
was like, oh, yeah, yeah, I can get this. Back
45:47
to Trey Turner, I also just wanted to mention, I almost don't know
45:51
what to make of this. There's this weird pocket middle middle where he's batting
45:55
two hundred, where he hit five hundred two years ago. That's exactly where
46:00
you would expect somebody to hit five hundred, like a pitcher made a mistake
46:04
and left a pitch middle middle like and that's got to be fastballs too.
46:07
It's just it's just bizarre. He did. Trey did mention in an interview,
46:12
and I can't remember the source now that he actually felt like he'd gotten
46:16
into some bad habits last year and that they've been carrying over. And I
46:21
don't know if that's a selectivity habit or if it's something mechanical. His swing
46:25
looks the same to me as it always has. I've always been a big
46:29
trade turner fan. I've watched a lot of trade turner so I don't know
46:31
if it's like pressing going into free agency and then pressing with a new team,
46:37
because I obviously like numbers as much as the next week. But I
46:39
mean, those kinds of mindset problems are one percent real. So look,
46:45
obviously I don't know. I'm just a nerd. But my diagnosis is he
46:49
just like needs to stay within himself right right, And I think it might
46:52
be about diagnosing why and how he was getting to those high pitches two years
46:57
ago and he's not anymore. And I'm sure the whole Phillies analytics team are
47:01
looking into this. If just I an actor with a laptop, I'm onto
47:07
this mystery. Who was very knowledgeable, who is very knowledgeable? I will
47:12
say, so, yeah, well thank you, yes, yes, Well
47:15
moving along here, I wanted to talk about some pitching with you two,
47:17
Ellen, because you know, something we were just talking about on our table
47:21
Talk podcast this past week was one Andrew Painter and how he's likely going to
47:25
be just shut out for the remainder of the season. Again, a huge
47:28
disappointment here because we really wanted to see what this young kid was really going
47:31
to be able to give us here perhaps at the back end of the rotation,
47:35
and the threat of Tommy John surgery is looming with this injury that he
47:39
does have with the tradeline, I'm sorry. With the trade deadline right around
47:45
the corner, what kind of moves do you see the Phillies front office potentially
47:49
making from a starting pitching standpoint, if any, and why? Yeah,
47:54
gosh, the Andrew Painter situation is just a massive disappointment. I know it's
48:00
not practical, but I just sort of wish you'd just like get Tommy John
48:04
rather than like continuing. You know, they won't they with Painter and Tommy
48:07
John, Like it's good for a TV show, but it's bad for real
48:09
life. So here's what's complicated for the Phillies. Everybody needs starting pitching.
48:16
And I think Phillies fans who aren't also looking at the broader baseball picture can
48:22
clamor for another starting pitcher. And I don't think that they're wrong, Like
48:27
I wanted them to sign another sort of four or five guy coming into the
48:30
season so that you're not relying on Painter. Hey, Hey, And I
48:36
am delighted and impressed with what Christopher Sanchez has put together in his last few
48:40
starts. But I always feel like you actually need six starters, not five.
48:45
And the issue is almost nobody has five starters. Yeah, there are
48:52
so many good teams or teams that we think of with good pitching staffs with
48:57
a sat rotation of only four guys because if injuries, like the two teams
49:01
that the Phillies just saw, the Marlins and the Rays, and off the
49:06
top of my head, like the Diamondbacks Atlanta just got Sirocca back, but
49:09
they were running out with four guys for a second, like same for the
49:13
Brewers and the Dodgers, or like three fifths rookies. So anyway, it's
49:17
everybody. And here are some facts now that might surprise and shock Phillies fans.
49:25
Would you guess that they're starting pitcher excuse me, that they're starting pitching
49:31
leads the National League in Fangraft's War, there you go, folks, And
49:36
that since June this is that's for the whole season, including the rough start
49:39
to the season, and that since June first, they have the second best
49:45
starters ERA and best ERA for the whole staff including the bullpen in baseball are
49:52
you surprised, folks. Yeah, Now, because Atlanta has so many pitchers
49:59
come back like they're going to get Max Freed back, They're gonna get right
50:01
back. I don't think it's fair to say that the Phillies need pitching less
50:05
than everybody else, right, But I do think it's fair to say that
50:08
the market is going to be crazytown banana pants for starting pitching, especially since
50:15
so many losing teams weren't planning to be losing teams and might not be sellers,
50:21
right, It's so hard, Like I actually I love the expanded playoffs
50:25
and the additional wildcat obviously all Phillies fans would like. Yeah, but I
50:30
liked it even before it ended up benefiting the Phillies so much. But it
50:35
really does complicate the trade deadline picture, and again that there's so many teams
50:39
that versus for their record, you would think this team might be a seller,
50:43
but it's like, but they were supposed to maybe be in contention this
50:46
year, so or are they going to sell? I don't know. So
50:49
I could just see the asking price for a starter to be too high for
50:52
the Phillies to end up with one. Yeah, And I don't know that
50:58
I see dumbrous seeing the need to be so great as to like try to
51:02
go out there and get Lucas Giolito or something. On the other hand,
51:07
I feel like it would be a total Dombrowski move to get Jack Flaherty,
51:13
like a pitcher who has a frontline starter name value but is actually having a
51:16
down season. I mean, or I guess maybe Shane Bieber to a lesser
51:22
extent on both of those things, Like Dombrowski is so good at his job,
51:24
obviously, but he has a brand. I would be happier if that
51:29
name value person was James Paxton because I've always been a huge big Maple fan,
51:35
and I'm just thrilled with the season that he's having. He's always been
51:38
an injury risk, so that might mean that he doesn't quite command what you'd
51:43
expect from having a season. He has a two point seven three ear A
51:46
and a point nine whip Collie. He has been so good. He has
51:50
a thirty one point one percent called strike plus with percentage he has elite hard
51:53
contact suppression. I mean. The thing is, we'll see if the Red
51:58
Sox are sellers, though, right, so I could also see an Eduardo
52:04
Rodriguez move too. He's in the sort of complicated place of having an opt
52:08
out but also a lot of money on his contract. So if the second
52:13
half of his season isn't as good as the first half and he doesn't opt
52:15
out, then the team that trades for him is sort of on the hook
52:19
for the money. And maybe that's exactly the kind of thing that you know,
52:22
Middleton is willing to absorb, or maybe not not wanting to exceed the
52:25
second luxury test tax threshold. But it does mean that because of that sort
52:30
of complication, Rodriguez's asking price might not be as high as his excellent first
52:37
half of the season would suggest. Yeah, yeah, all right, Well,
52:39
as we're running out of time here, I do have one other topic
52:44
that I wanted to get into with you. It's the fact that the Phillies
52:49
have actually played more away games during the first half of the season. Ellen
52:53
they I mean they've They've had fifty one of them thus far, and the
52:57
remaining games on the season, seven point five percent of them are going to
53:01
be played at Citizens Bank Park. And I think this is pretty good news.
53:06
I think it's good news for this team that's looking to have a hot
53:09
second half of the season. So in the end, they have the twelfth
53:14
easiest strength of schedule ahead, even though they lost their last two games before
53:17
the All Star break. What does this team need to do to have a
53:22
hot second half of the season in your opinion, Well, it's also good
53:28
that they're not playing the last as much in the second half, giving you
53:30
know how astonishing Atlanta is and how good the Marlins have been, and how
53:35
even when the Mets are scuffling, I still feel like they could sweep the
53:38
Phillies at any time. Yea, Look, the only granular thing that I
53:43
can say is that I think they just need to continue to focus. There
53:46
have still been too many defensive mistakes from good defensive players who I think we
53:52
all know are capable of more So this hot stretch over the last month I
53:55
think looks even better if you don't gift the National's two different games on defensive
54:00
misques. And to start the season, the Phillies were like toot Bland all
54:06
up and down the lineup, like literally every single person. And it's looked
54:09
better recently, but there's still some kind of mysterious base running gaffs at times.
54:16
So I think, really this is it's simple, but Also it's hard,
54:22
like how do you do this? I don't know. The stars just
54:25
need to be themselves, you know. And that's what we saw last October.
54:30
Almost everyone was playing to seventy five percent of their potential. Yeah,
54:36
there's there's more. We know that there's more to Trey Turner and Kyle Schwarber
54:39
and jt Romudo and obviously Bryce Harper that's injury, and there's more to Wheeler
54:45
and Nola. We know they can do it and I love them, so
54:50
I don't even think it's about like we need to see their one hundred percentile
54:54
possible outcome and everybody needs to be firing on all cylinders. They just need
54:58
to be who they are because we know that when they are, they're as
55:01
good as any team in the league. Yeah. Absolutely, Yeah, I
55:05
don't have any I don't have any nerdy stats this time. Oh that's fine.
55:08
That is fine again, folks. Ellen Adair actor and also on the
55:15
great podcast Take Me into the ball Game. I absolutely love the name of
55:21
that podcast. And again, her movie that she's been working on Heard is
55:24
coming out this fall. Ellen, it was great to have you on the
55:28
podcast. I absolutely loved our discussion. I would love to have you come
55:31
back on and join us down the road talk more Phillies and we can talk
55:36
more about what's going on in the world of acting as well. Sure,
55:38
yeah, absolutely, I would love that. What a fun conversation talking with
55:45
Ellen, and that's going to do it for us here on this particular podcast
55:49
episode. Hope you enjoyed our discussions this week. Next week one of the
55:54
two guys should be back on this podcast with me. Whether it's gonna be
55:59
Len, whether it's gonna be Eric, I actually don't know yet at this
56:01
point. But really it was great to be able to talk to counselman Thomas.
56:07
It was great to be able to talk to Ellen specifically about this Phillies
56:09
team, what has happened with them, and where the team is going to
56:13
be going in the future. So hope you're enjoying the content. Remember to
56:16
head on over to Philadelphia Sportstable dot com the tour. We've got all of
56:19
our podcast shows. If anything happens to your podcast feed, just go over
56:22
there. You can hear all the shows. We have our PST special podcasts
56:27
as well. Go over there and listen to some of our movie reviews.
56:30
Got a lot of great nineteen eighties movie reviews that you can listen to.
56:35
A lot of them are extremely fun. What am I mean? A lot
56:37
of them? They're all fun, So that being said, Folks at Philadelphia
56:42
PST. On Twitter at Jeffrey Underscore Warren, you could follow me, follow
56:45
Eric at brick Pollit, and you could follow Len at Len Hunt Sicker as
56:49
well. I am on the threads at mister jeff Warren. You can follow
56:54
me there, and we've gonna we're gonna have some great content for you next
56:59
week as well. Well, it's in the works. Folks, take care,
57:01
We'll catch you next time.