Phillies SPLIT With Pirates, Trea Turner Heating Up

Like the weather, Trea Turner has been scorching hot of late. He homered in three straight games against the Pirates as the Phillies split with the Pirates! The series wasn't without a little drama as Zack Wheeler and Don Mattingly disagreed on Wheeler's usage; hear from them during the series! #RingTheBell #PhiladelphiaPhillies #MLBonX

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Welcome in, ladies and gentlemen, into one of the hottest recording rooms that I've ever done an episode from after this. We're in the evening now. We're I mean, I'm gonna give you a timestamp in a minute, but this day today goes down as one of the hottest that uh I can recall in my lifetime. I mean this was just a brood you could feel it at about 7 a.m. this morning as I was going to work. I said, boy, I can't imagine what it's gonna be like at noon. I have a date here that the last time Philadelphia reached the extreme heat of today, July 3rd, 1966. I mean, listen, I I remember I remember there being really hot days when I was a little kid, so this is going back about probably 2011, 2012 in that range. I mean some really hot days that I could have sworn felt just about as hot as this one, and especially playing sports in the summertime and being on and granted that was being on turf uh so everything feels about you know, what is it like seven or eight degrees hotter? So the i I probably am way off on that number. So, you know, i i today kind of felt similar, but July 3rd, 1966 is the last time. 104. Wow. Incredible, truly incredible, I gotta say. Uh just w I mean wild. And wild that we played a day baseball game today as well. Let's just start there. Uh now, first, so the Phillies, I mean, let's start with today's loss. Now, listen, I'm probably gonna sound a little more irked right now than I actually am. It's about so it's about midnight here. I have a train schedule, so a little personal info here, give you a little scoop on what's going on with me July 4th weekend. I'm supposed to take a or was supposed to take a train tomorrow after work at around uh 6.58 at night from Wilmington, Delaware to go up to New York. Going out to see my buddy on Long Island. A college buddy, of course. Now, there's an alert that I get at n midnight saying that my train's been cancelled. So, as you can expect, about less than twenty-four hours in advance, I'm pretty P.O.'d about it. And excuse me if I may sound a little more irked at the situation. I really am not with the Phillies splitting the series against the Pirates, so I don't want it to come off that way in the in their effort today. Don't want that to obviously be any reason why people may think, man, he sounds a little more annoyed about that than he probably should be. So I I long story short, I fix it all around and uh out of Philly tomorrow night at around six o'clock. Now, why that at midnight that train gets canceled with the heat, I suppose would be the reason, so excuse me, but you know, so I I I apologize to anyone if that's the reason why. But if it's for, you know, I mean you have a week that you could have let me know that you could have not even put that on the schedule if people are taking off or whatever the factor may be with Amtrak. I mean, I come on. Just ridiculous. Now, there were plenty of trains out of Philly, out of 30th Street. They cancelled about four or five out of Wilmington. So why that is, I don't I hey, it beats me. It really beats me. But back to business. So the Phillies split against the Pirates, and they won the two games you expected them to. Now, maybe obviously the game that everyone had circled between Zach Wheeler and Paul Skeens didn't exactly top out the way you wanted to, but overall, a solid series from the Phillies. Now, game one, you get Bryce Harper hitting a ho, you know, Trey Turner, Belton one, Harper home run, Marsh home run, you got a five-nothing lead. You got a five-nothing lead. Even with Alan Ron Hell on the Mound Monday, I'd like to think they could hold on to the stinking lead. Now, what we end up getting, obviously, was Aaronola, who seemed to be fine. Seemed to be kind of cruising. He gives up a leadoff double in the fourth. Don't love that, but you know, he gets O'Hearn to strike out. Okay, one down, let's see if he can't allow this inning to maybe end limiting the damage. Maybe he gives up a run, maybe he doesn't, and away we go. Next batter, boom. Two run blast. Gets behind in the count, gets a first pitch strike, misses with the with the fastball so badly that it's not even in the in the pitchers, you know, in the uh in the pitch-by-pitch box here on MLB.com and he leaves his knuckle curve right in the middle of the plate, same spot as the first pitch, and Valdez doesn't miss it. 5-2 game. We go to the fifth. Triola home run. 5-3. Double the mango. Connor Griffin single. Brandon Lausak fly. Now it's 5-4. Griffin stealing second, gets to third on the air by JT. He walks Brian Reynolds, O'Hearn RBI single, we're tied at five. I mean like that, and we're tied at five. Just they have to go to Seth Johnson to come in and pitch with the bases loaded. He walks Rodriguez, Pirates have the lead. You know, then uh Callahan grounds out to first, Harper to Trey. They try to turn two, they don't, you know, throwing error by Trey, two run score, eight-five. I I just I don't know what to say. Well, I don't know where to really go with this. Uh hopefully Aaronola, Don Mattingley, and JT Romuto have some answers. Let's hear from them after the game.

SPEAKER_06 7:47

I thought the home run on the break, just a break and ball that kind of sit there. And then obviously got out of that inning. Trio kind of jumps him the next inning, and from there it just seemed to go south. Yeah, got behind in some counts, kept up some hits, and just really couldn't put anybody away after that. So tonight he was no, honestly, early in that game, I thought he was gonna roll. The way he was throwing the ball, it seemed sharp. Um good breaking ball, down in the zone. Um kind of a lot of swing and miss early in early in the game, and then just got sideways. So I'm not quite sure what happened, you know, kind of after that. Um but I thought it was stuff at the beginning of the game. I'm like, this is electric tonight. It reminded me of Colorado when he was down in the zone, good changeup. Uh the breaking ball didn't didn't really pop at all. It's you looked like it stayed stayed on plane and then then it went down. Yeah, after that, it just didn't seem the same after that.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

I don't know, just uh some bad pitches that you missed some some doubles and some bad counts. Yeah, for sure. I mean, definitely haven't really had a strength like this ever in my career. I mean over my career I feel like I've been um kind of an innings eater uh since I've been with the Phillies and it's been tough, you know. I mean haven't really stepped with the sticks me too much this year. It's a little bit different, but gotta keep working and believe I can get back to that point.

SPEAKER_05 9:24

Yeah, I just feel like I don't know, the what was it, the fifth or sixth inning? It just sped up on them quite a bit there. Um the stuff diminished quite a bit, and it was kind of a tough spot because of where our bullpen was at and how many innings they've thrown recently. Like I think he probably got left out there a little longer than he normally would have in that situation. Um you could just tell he got a little tired, it was hot, um, and then just the stuff wasn't as good that any.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Aaron, either tell either go to the management and let them know there's something physically wrong with you. Or I'm sorry, man, but you gotta act like a professional here and figure this one out. I know he's a nice guy, I know he's a good dude, seems to be pretty well liked in the clubhouse. I don't know how much he is right now because it's like, yo, you we're we're all sacrificing something here. Sanchez is going, you know, Sanchez is breaking franchise records over a century long to help us win games at one point. Zach Wheeler came back from what could be a very serious, life-threatening uh surgery. Jesus Lazardo has been trying to figure himself out. We just called up a kid that came up here from AAA that pitched pretty well and showed a lot of heart and a lot of real at times poise out there on the mound to be able to pitch through traffic and whatnot and run hell. And if I was the worst team in Major League Baseball that just needed someone to go out there and you know what? We're not looking for anything special, we just want you to pitch about five innings. I wouldn't even take Aaron Nola. I wouldn't. What's the point? I mean, honestly, it's just now I mean, contract aside, I'm not I'm not taking him at all. You wouldn't even have him to be to be your number five guy. Again, to just be a guy that could go five innings, you know, at least pitch more than half the game. Not only that, be effective, at least you'd think be effective. I mean, he he can't even do that. He can't even do that. Now the offense, down eight five, down three runs, they get back into this. They claw their way back in the eighth, Marsh hits a solo home run to make it eight six, JT an RBI single to make it eight seven. And then unfortunately, Justin Crawford, with runners at first and second, strikes out looking. Now he's got to protect the plate there on that pitch. That was too close of a pitch to take. Um that was not, and I think he he tried the ABS challenge too and didn't get it. Uh, it just wasn't a good scene altogether. Then Chase Sugert, who gets two quick outs. Brandon Lowe grounds out, and he gets Reynolds to strike out. Then he allows a single-to-Hearn, Valdez walks, and then a three-run blast by Andy Rodriguez, and that was the game. 11-7 Phillies lose, and you're just left sitting there going, boy. I can't believe in five days we gotta watch this idiot pitch again. I'm sorry, that's that's that's kind of what it is. And you know what? It sucks, right? Because he's not some I mean, he he's not like the equivalent of Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick, where it's like, yeah, you know, he was someone that they got at the deadline and, you know, maybe had some success for you, and then you signed him to a big deal and he really wasn't worth all that money, even though I mean he didn't need to be traded here in twenty twenty-three and for this to all happen, to now we all know he wasn't worth the money ended up getting. But he wa I mean, he now it's starting on opening day, but he was in the same sentence at one point as Steve Carlton for the most consecutive opening day starts. Well that's the last time he's ever gonna be brought up in the same sentence as Steve Carlton, we can uh for sure put that on the books. But not only that, he was so impactful in the twenty-two postseason, the twenty-three postseason. He pitched I mean, what was it like three straight years? They clinched a postseason berth and he was on the mound. The one year against Houston, he was downright unhittable. Funny enough, he was great against Pittsburgh the following year. I mean, he made a lot of big starts for the Phillies in his career. And it's just a shame that the way that this is kind of come to what it's come to, which is just can we get out of this guy's contract? You know, can we get on the horn with Bob Myers and figure out a way to get out of this guy's contract? We'll talk about the Sixers on a separate episode, but game two featured heroics from Christopher Sanchez in more ways than one. Uh because in spite of a little cut on his uh thumb, he goes seven shutout innings, and he also really did a great job for the bullpen because they needed that. Trey Turner hit a homer, Justin Crawford a big game, three for three with three ribies, uh just an excellent game out of Crawford, and again awesome to see Trey Turner back-to-back games with a home run, and Christopher Sanchez pitched well. But I'll tell you what, after the night before, which was a horrible loss, because you blow a 5-0 lead, when he called the trainer out, if you look at, and he said it after the game, they were making fun of him, but when he called them out and everyone's holding their breath, like, oh my goodness, what could this be? And they look at it and they see what it is. Like the guys come in, they see what it is. I'll tell you, it probably loosened them up a little bit when they looked and saw it was a little scrape, and they're like 'cause he said it after the game, he was like, they were giving it to him pretty good because like, dude, that was no reason to need to call the trainers out, you know, they're all like, oh my god, you know, I thought it was something serious here with ya. And it wasn't. And he pitched fine the rest of the game, and the Phillies go out, they put up a nice eight spot on them, and they beat the Pirates eight to nothing. Now in Wednesday's game, again you have Zach Wheeler and it's Paul Skeens on the mound for the Pirates. And what you got was not what was exactly advertised, which was going to be a pitcher's duel that we saw out in Pittsburgh. And instead you got uh a little bit of a back and forth between Wheeler and Skeens in terms of both teams' offenses being able to get to the other one. Now, the Phillies obviously did more damage against Skeens than the Pirates did to Wheeler. But I mean you know, there was certainly uh enough, and we'll talk about it in a moment, here with Zach Wheeler, where he did not go as far into the game as he would have liked, and as everyone else would have liked, but the Phillies put up a five-spot on Skeens in the in the second. Justin Crawford reaches on a fielder's choice. Uh Alec Bone gets hit with a ball. Bad fielding by the Pirates leads to two runs. Trey Turner then blasts a three-run home run. Third straight day, he's homered. Great to see. But the Pirates get two Wheeler in the third. Henry Davis homers. RBI single for Brian Reynolds. Now he gets out of it. And then he gets more run support by Brandon Marsh, who hits a solo homer to make it six-two. Bryce Harper adds on in the fourth with a two-run double to make it eight-two. And then the fifth happens. Um it was not necessarily the inning that Wheeler would have liked. After uh Nick Gonzalez puts a little bloop shot single. Um the couple just excuse me hits for the Pirates, kinda BS hits, if you're Zach from Zach Wheeler's perspective. But Dom Addingley pulls them. Zach Wheeler doesn't go five complete innings at minimum. You know, I mean that's something that we talk about with Aaron Ola. Hey, you gotta at least give me five complete innings of three-run ball, and that's unfortunately kind of what Wheeler couldn't do. And he was not happy after the game. Uh we'll play that in a moment for you, as well as Don Mattingley's decision to take him out, but then also uh the response from Don Mattingley. So um Kyle Backis would hit Jared Triolo, be the that would actually be an earned run against Zach Wheeler, even though he hit two batters. He had um first and second, and he hit the one guy, then the bases were loaded, I misspoke earlier. And then he hits and then he hits uh Triolo to make it A4. Like, why is that you know, I understand if it was a hit, but he hit two batters. I understand if it was a base knock, okay, you know, he credit that to Wheeler, sure, but he hit two batters in a row. I mean, what are we doing? Now, Zach Wheeler and Don Mattingley, they uh sparred a little bit in the media. We'll play Don Mattingley first on the decision to take Zach out. Zach's feeling on being taken out, and then Don Mattingley earlier today.

SPEAKER_06 19:21

I thought Wheels hung in there. Obviously, he was one of those nights that his pitch count got extended uh early in the game, didn't get ahead in the count as much as I'm sure he would like. Give up some soft contact for hits that you know just kind of extended it in. He's extended his pitch count. So it was one of those nights that just one of those. I don't know if the heat's got something to do with this game at all. Uh but obviously it's it's a situation where you're you know you're not dealing with perfect weather out there.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yeah, I was upset. Take it out again.

SPEAKER_04 19:58

Like the if it's fine?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Obviously, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

Talking to Hama?

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 20:06

Will you?

SPEAKER_06 20:10

I have not at this point. I don't think you want to talk to me yet. Maybe he'll settle down and talk to me later, but uh I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. But uh in general, I I mean it really doesn't bother me at all that he's upset. I think the great ones never want to come out of a game. And he's no different. I mean I had first call out there, he he did not want to come out of game. But from my standpoint, I gotta protect not necessarily him, but he's at 105 in that in that inning. He has a 10-pitch of bat, he's at 115 in the fifth inning. Um this is a long-term kind of situation. I think you guys know our rotation is is obviously a great rotation, but the depth of it is not just filled with you know four four schemes down in the minor leagues ready to pop in and fill the spot. So, you know, my job is to make sure that that this guy stays available, you know, through the course of the season, and we got a long way to go. So I don't I really don't mind guys being upset. That's what, again, that's what the great ones do. But I still have to make decisions for the whole club and and in general for him.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Now I'm not gonna sit here and freak out over the fact that he called out the manager. Zach Wheeler has earned the right to get out of it. But 104 pitches. For everyone out there that thinks that Don Mattingley is going to allow his guys to basically, you know, not pay attention to the pitch count like it's the nineteen eighties all over again, there is some analytics involved here. Even though I think Mattingley still pretty much will use a lot of judgment and a lot of, you know, what he's also feeling, I think he does tend to factor that in, which, you know, is kind of a lost, I'd say, if I could describe it as art in the game in terms of managing, absolutely. I mean, I know there's, you know, Terry Francona, I even think Dave Roberts to an extent, but even then, you know, they're pretty much still managing a little bit by the book to an extent. Now, when we talk about the rest of this game, they give up two more. Seth Johnson comes in in the sixth, then he pitches again in the seventh. I think the thought was he could eat some for the pen, and he was still pretty brutal because then Orion Kirkring had to come in and pitch an inning in two thirds, and he got great defense from Alec Bohm, Bright Bryce Harper as well. I mean, Alec Bohm with a potential, you know, game-saving play because a run probably scores there, uh, where he goes to his right, makes a fantastic grab. Then he belts a two-run homer, his tenth of the year. Phillies lead 10-6. Johan Duran comes in. First time we've had to see him in a while, which is always nice. You know, when you don't have to well, I guess it was the first time since Sunday, but first time he's had to pitch, you know, two games close together in quite a while, which is, again, a good thing, especially when you're winning. And the Phillies, they at least get the split. Now, talking about Trey Turner's approach at the plate was Trey Turner, because let's face it, three games in a row with a home run, that was deserving of being our intro song into this episode. I believe first time this year we've gone to Trey Turner. Now let's hear from him.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

You know, I I definitely still chase, and that's fine. It's kind of always been a part of my game, but I was talking to somebody the other day, it's kind of like how I chase. You know, if I'm aggressive and I'm looking for a pitch and, you know, they get me, they get me. But I felt like, you know, a few weeks ago, a month ago, I was just kind of waving at the ball, and um, you know, I feel like that's changed uh in the last two, two and a half, three weeks, and um the swings have been getting better. I have stuff to build on each day. You know, if I get out, I kind of make the adjustment real quick and then get right back to it. So it's it's been uh it's been good recently.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Well, dare I say he's starting to feel himself, although, you know, he talks about chase. Now, do players chase, sure. A lot of players chase. But wouldn't you want to cut down on that? Because maybe that's the problem. Maybe that's not helping me, maybe that's not helping my eye. You know, and they want to talk about how he puts the backspin on the ball, bat you know, and all that, uh on the on the baseball, and da da da da. And yeah, granted, okay, that's in art of hitting, but you know wouldn't you maybe want to cut down on again swinging outside of the zone and chasing that poorly outside of the zone that we know he can do at times. Um, so I you know, but hey he had three games in a row where he hit homers and Philly's uh obviously won two out of those three. Now today, unfortunately, things did not go the Phillies' way. Alan Ron Hell, who was getting his first ever career start in the bigs. I mean, he had they had used openers in the previous couple games. Harper gave him an early lead, and Ron Hell pitched well. I mean, you gotta give him credit. He he pitched well, and it I mean, we talked about it. It was hot out there today. And this was one of those games where it was kind of like alright, you know, it's uh it's it's put out of touch. Let's get some water and let's let's go home. And that's at least the way that it kind of felt. You know, everyone's happy with their numbers, alright, cool, we're out of here. Um you know, and and Ron Hell, I thought pitched fine. Didn't blow you away. He doesn't have stuff that's gonna necessarily blow you away. And he's probably a career guy out of the pen, too, really. I think that's where he may fit. Long guy and out of the pen. Um but you know, he he he did a good enough job. You gotta give him credit for that. Now, is it a bummer they lost? Yes. It's a bummer. But let's be honest here. We're not gonna lose sleep over the six to one loss today. I'll lose sleep over my Amtrak train. I'm not gonna lose sleep over that. Now, what's weird is this the schedule. Um I I don't understand, you know, why the Phillies start their next series on Saturday. Uh it's just kind of a faux pas in the schedule. Um it really is. I mean, you know, I guess you you know, I I don't know. I mean, I get maybe they foresaw the weather and figured, hey, let's give these guys a break. I don't I don't know. But they had a scheduled day off tomorrow and then Saturday, Sunday, Monday for the next series. Uh it's quite interesting. And taking on Kansas City, a team that's just one of the biggest surprises out there. I thought they would battle for that division in the American League Central. It's the White Sox and Guardians right now, and I guess the Twins are four games back at 42 and 46, Royals are 35 and 53. But in case you're interested, for the American League Wildcard, they are within ten games. They're at ten games back. So you know, I mean, that just gives you an idea there at the American League. Now, the Phillies again would it have been nice, you know, your 49 and 39 would have been cool to get to 50 and 38, and you'd be a half a game up on the Cubs for the top wild card spot. Obviously. No doubt about it. But hopefully you can you can take two out of three against this Royals team. They are are they the worst team in baseball? They're 35 and 53. The Rockies are they're tied with the Rockies. I don't know what the tiebreaker procedure is there. Um, so p perhaps they are the worst team in the bigs. Um I believe it's the Rockies, but regardless, it doesn't necessarily matter. They're the bottom team in the American League. You like to think maybe the Phillies can go out there and sweep 'em. Now here's the starting pitching matchup. Michael Waka for the Royals will start on Saturday. He's 3-3 with a 3-3-1 ERA for this 4th of July game. One-and-one with a 4-5-0 ERA versus the Phillies uh in his career. So some interesting numbers there. Um, you know, uh having a pretty solid season. And then then, you know, the Phillies have seen him before, so that's that's always a hopefully a positive. And for his numbers at home, he's three and two with the two eight five ERA and seven starts. So you don't love that, but hopefully the Phillies can scrap him to scratch him together and get, you know, work his pitch count getting to the bullpen. Jesus Lazardo, who's six and fourth of three eight, eight ERA, allowed to run on two hits with eight strikeouts and seven innings in 2023 and his lone start against the Royals. He's 4-0 with a 1-5-5 ERA on the road this season. Remarkably, he's been a much better road pitcher than he has been a home pitcher. Why? I I really couldn't tell you. I don't know what what the deal is. Um Game 2, we'll see Luender Avilia take the mound. 3-3 with a 5-4-0 ERA this season. He's never faced the Phillies, was called up uh last season. He's 0-3 with a 12-7-9 ERA and two starts and four more appearances this season at home. So not necessarily a starter, um, but you know, obviously someone that the uh Royals are a little bit trying to see what they have, I suppose, and it'll be Aaron Ola for the Phillies. And hey, uh Avila may be feeling pretty confident he could leave with a win in this one. 3-5 with a 6-0-4 ERA this year is Nola. He's 8-2 with an 8-7-4 ERA versus the Royals in his last two starts, where he's allowed 11 runs on 14 hits and 11 and a third innings. 3-3 with a 5-4-0 ERA on the road this year and nine starts. Hey, that's better than his overall ERA. And then game three, we'll see Noah Cameron, who's 4-6 with a 4-9-5 ERA this season. Now he gave up two runs on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts versus the Phillies last September. He's three and two with a 5-4-0-4 ERA at home this year, and he's a left-handed pitcher. Now it'll also be another left-handed pitcher making the start that day. That's Christopher Sanchez. 10-3 with the two flat ERA, allowed six runs on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts versus the Royals in his lone start against them. The good news is that was back in 2023. Uh so let's hope it looks nothing like that. Uh he's 3-2 with a 389 ERA on the road this year. I didn't know his ERA on the road. Well, I guess that start against the Brewers and his last start on the road against the Nationals is a big reason for that. But those are your numbers. Now, at minimum, win the series. You know what is sitting there in the middle of this in game two. You got Nola on the mound. If he can win the first two, I feel pretty darn confident you'll get the sweep. And maybe you'll be a season best. Twelve games above 500 and then 13 games above 500 when you leave Kansas City. But let's be honest. We're talking about Nola. We're talking about the Phillies offense against the lefty, that's also a thing here. But at the same time, it's the s it it's the Royals. You've taken care of business against so many other teams this year that, let's face it, are not very good teams. Like you think about the Rockies. Take care of business against the Royals. Let's see the Phillies do that. Alright, folks, thanks for tuning into this episode. We will uh obviously be back for the series recap. Now we won't be back on in case of any individual games, any individual accolades or anything like that goes on in the series. Uh, as you of course heard me uh spiel about that earlier, uh being up in New York at all. So thanks everyone for tuning into this episode, and we'll talk to you next time.