Phillies Announcer Scott Franzke on Phillies Slump, Ranger Suarez & Bullpen Depth

Why are Phillies slumping? you're now watching the Mike miselli podcast on the BET Rivers network good day everybody and welcome to the Mike melli podcast brought To Us by bet Rivers Tuesday July 23rd our episode is playing today and it's baseball oriented at the top because we have a very special guest the brilliant play-by-play man for the Phillies radio team Scott fransy who sounds brilliant no matter what slub from the street they throw in the booth on them Scott how you doing today I'm doing great Mike how are you I'm doing good now you're in Minnesota Phillies lose again last night and uh I don't want to say there's a sense of panic here but you know how Philly fans are they overreact to a lot this is still in my opinion the best team in the league I think the numbers prove it uh but they're in a little low as we say don't say slump we say lull losing five of their last seven from your perspective what's going on right now a little bit of everything I mean part of it is um you know I mean that's es and flows of a baseball season you're going to go through times like this and what's remarkable is that they just haven't had any stretches really like this um uh to this point I mean and one of the reasons why they have great starting pitching so that eliminates long losing streaks kind of takes you out of that you know the starting pitching hasn't been as good as it was before but I think anytime you go through a stretch like this it's something a little bit different each night so it might be you know last night they ran into a really good pitchure bayy oer was good and shut them down um you know the bullpen didn't keep it close late and so they didn't have a chance late um you know I think it's a little bit of that you know couple nights ago in Pittsburgh Bullpen gives up a lead um yeah so I I think anytime you struggle and you you go through a stretch like this it's it's usually a combination of a lot of things all right Ranger Suarez struggles let's focus on um what may be real problems um so last night rager Suarez does not get the job done again um the obvious implication is has he hit some kind of a wall what's going on with the ranger what are people saying down there about it I I mean I don't know that he's hit a wall I mean his command has been off I think he's really struggling uh with some of his secondary pitches um you know last night he hardly used his change up at all um I don't think he had a real good feel for it and kind of bagged it um but that's such a huge pitch for him um fastball command I thought was a little better than than maybe his last time out but still not where we would expect Ranger to be um so again I think it's something that you know every pitcher goes through it and and um you you know you try to keep the the lows uh to to a short stint and I know it's getting to be a long run here for Ranger without a win um but you know I think the one thing though he came out of it healthy and and that seems to be um you know that's important obviously um but I I I don't have any long-term concerns with regard to Ranger but I think he really need especially his change up he's really got to figure that out uh yeah I'm not too worried either I mean listen he's uh he's getting up there in Innings and maybe not used to pitching these kind of innings but I think by playoff time if you've got four guys that you're going to throw at Phillies' bullpen depth somebody uh they're in a lot better shape than than everybody else so now let's look at the Bullpen we've seen this with avado before and any flashes back um do you believe they need one more right-hander for high leverage situations uh yeah I mean I don't think you can ever say you don't need another pitcher I mean um I think they need um that I know they'd love to have more I mean you look at the way you use a bull Piner in the regular season it's very different when you get to the playoffs and you're starting to dip into that Bullpen earlier in games uh you're matching up earlier in games fourth fifth inning at times so I definitely think that they would like to get another arm be it a righty or a lefty I think a righty would be preferred but um but yes I I think they're going to work to try to add arms uh and I you know the odds of going from now to the end of the season without having a guy that ends up on the iil pretty slim I mean that's just the nature of the game so you need as much depth as you possibly can have I I I I know you guys probably have these conversations off air but you know Mason Miller is would be a prime get but it's going to cost you so much to get him is it worth the cost if you if that's a guy that you can get I don't think the A's are gonna deal him I really don't um but that's just me I don't think the Phillies are going to uh to pay the price that that that would it would take um and and I I'm kind of on board with that I mean I don't think Mason Mason Miller's got really good stuff but Mason Miller also doesn't have like a fiveyear track record of doing this um this is a guy who's who's really doing this this this year for the very first time and at some point he will struggle uh and he will have to go through it and he will have to make adjustments so um I don't know that I'd be will I for this is me talking I'm not sure I would be willing to do it I don't think the A's are going to do it um and I don't think the Phillies would want to pay that price I guess the example Hesley um where you can go bad but uh I I I just think there is a a you know guys like Marte I don't think they capable of handling that kind of situation kiring may be I just think they need a right-hander it's a little more reliable because you you never know about Dominguez so I I I might be Outfield needs an upgrade tempted to to do it but we'll see with debrowski does now let's look at the Outfield situation where they're not getting the uh the input and you know casos has had some moments lately but you know that that whole scramble from center field to left field is is a little perplexing for a team that's supposed to contend for a World Series when they're not getting necessary output from The Outfield how do you see that yeah I think that's definitely an area they'd like to upgrade um and will it be a guy like you know Randy Rosara or or Luis Robert that a guy who could play every day I don't know that it'll be that uh but I you know they need somebody who's going to do damage against left-handed pitching they they absolutely need somebody who can hit left-handed pitching because they're going to see it uh when they get to the postseason they're going to see left-handers um you know I mean just think about if you got to a postseason series with Atlanta let's say they're healthy um they're going to throw it freed and sail at you and um you know whether they can line up their pitching the way they want you know after a first round or what whatever you're going to see him and you're G to have to find a way to beat him and it's probably going to take somebody who can Mash Ley so I think there's no doubt they're on the lookout for it um I think they need it I think they want it uh and I think they have assets to try to make it happen talking to Scott fransky play byplay voice Philly radio broadcast team Scott I always like like to look at people's Scott's career arc starting in Dallas career because uh it's not an easy climb to get where you are and so let's go back to the beginning you're you're Texas guy D were you ever a Dallas Cowboy fan no yeah as a kid I was um and you know uh it just got to be kind of a comical show there um post Jimmy Johnson Jerry Jones and that whole business and um I but at a certain point I kind of just became a baseball guy um you know there was once upon a time I would have worked any sport I would have I would have you know if you had offered me a football job would have run with it and done my best with it uh or basketball or whatever but um but once I kind of became a baseball guy I really tuned out on football in a lot of respects just the baseball season is so long and when when the season ends I just you know kind of forgot and moved away and went to did Minor League Baseball so kind of lost touch I you know my father who passed away recently he was a a Cowboys fan at the end and I I don't know how many times I heard that man say oh the Cowboys are never going to win man as long as Jerry Jones is the owner I heard him say that so so many times but at least he got his to see his Rangers win the World Series yes he did so there you knew there was no way you could even reveal what you just revealed to me when you came up here right there's no way you could have been labeled as a one time you know I mean I I mentioned that I was from Texas a lot rather than Dallas specifically yeah no I get it you know uh when I was working in Dallas you know after gone away and done Minor League Baseball I was working in in Dallas for the for their CBS Radio affiliate and I did pre and postgame shows for the Rangers I filled in on their broadcast but I also had to work year round for the radio station and one of the I I took one or maybe two trips to cover Cowboys games one was to Seattle and the other was to Philly and uh you know the the routine you know for the football is you flying on Saturday and you're there Saturday night and you kind of wander around and uh and then the next day you go to the stadium and we're on a the there was a media bus basically and they're taking us right down pison Avid and I mean the fans are lined up along the the uh Street there uh over by Wells Fargo Center you know up along that gate along the street and I mean middle fingers are flying and you know every and it's just media people on the bus not even any of the team but they're giving it to us um so that was actually my first time going to an a sporting event in Philadelphia U was a Philly's uh Phil Eagles Cowboys game trying to think what year that would have been uh I think 2005 uh would have been the first time I I don't know if you've ever heard this story on how uh nuts people are up here but a a pregame um tent radio pregame tent show had a guy he called himself chainsaw and uh he literally brought a chainsaw into the big uh rally booth that they had out there uh and he had a blow up doll of Troy Aman and he he started the chainsaw with the intent of sawing Troy Aman's blown up doll and half well a chainsaw and plastic don't mix and it and it grabbed and it clogged the chainsaw and it slashed his arm and he he band now this is a wound that needed a hell of a lot of stitches he bandaged it up and went went to the game anyway that's the kind of nut fan you that are anti- Dallas Cowboys in this town yeah that's I didn't see the chainsaws come out but we saw a lot of other stuff that's for sure all right so Franzke's move to Chicago you start your career TX said Prime sports radio and I assume you you knew you would need some kind of play-by-play experience because that's what you wanted to do uh and and here come the Kane County Cougars so tell me about that experience in uh where's that Illinois uh suburban Chicago essentially it's far west suburbs of Chicago in Geneva Illinois if you're familiar with that area Geneva Aurora neille out that way um yeah I you in working some with the Rangers people they they suggested to me the guys in the booth there they said hey look if you really want to do this you're going to need to go to the miners um because I was just doing a handful of you know high school games a year or whatnot so you need to go learn to do it every day and learn what the rhythm is like and learn how to you know work six seven days a week without a day off and and see if you really like it and um so yes I went to Kane County I mean I I I I got really fortunate because it was a as I said suburban Chicago and they had good crowds and it was low aall but they had really good crowds and um so made my tape sound a little better because it sounded like uh something really was going on uh and you know I mean there were other teams in the league that weren't the same uh you know in terms of attendance and and the success whatever and we had some good players that came through which was fun uh they were uh we were a Marlin's affiliate at the time so um actually that was my first time ever meeting Dave debrowski he was the GM of the Marlins and the Marlins actually came through Kane County and did an exhibition game with the low a team uh but yeah we had some really good players Adrian gonzal was migy down there when when you there Miguel Cabrera I saw Miguel's yeah we had a we had our infield my last year in Kane County our infield at first base was Adrien Gonzalez uh at third base was a guy named Nam Josh Willingham who played for a lot of years in the league ended up in the big leagues uh Cabrera was at short and there was another guy by the name of Josh Wilson who I think ended up with about a 16-year career he kept he was kind of a 4A guy but uh played a lot um so you had four future big Leaguers on the infield which for a low a team that's pretty remarkable it's pretty good uh sorry from there you go back to Texas a little Phillies hire Franzke as play-by-play announcer bit and then and then you get to Philly call uh what was that like because this is the big now a big spot um really exciting for me I mean I didn't realize what a great place I was Landing in I I mean I just wanted to do play byplay every day something I wasn't doing in Texas I was mostly doing the talk show and I would fill in here and there so I would have gone just anywhere really um I had uh I had interviewed earlier in the winter with Houston and didn't get that job and then I ended up I was actually believe it or not I had a plane ticket to go to PA Tucket to interview for their job um and again this is to go back to Triple A just because I wanted to do play byplay and po Tucket you know a spot where you do radio and you do TV and um I told the folks in pcket I said hey look I have this interview with the Phillies I don't know how that's going to go but um and I told the Phillies the same thing I said I you know I'm I'm ready to go if you guys want me and uh when they called and said yes I actually the next day I was supposed to go to PT Tucket and I called them up and I said I won't be on that plane tomorrow sorry W that's good so who who was the guy that actually reached out to you who was the guy that actually made the hire well uh it was in my interview there were three people Rob Brooks was in there and Scott Palmer was in there and David Montgomery and U yeah so uh it was those three guys and and um I don't know I don't know what the logistics were the The Waiting or who had the final say I assume David was really the the one who had the final say but uh and to end up here you know the team was getting really good uh to end up in a place where the you know where it matters um you know that you can't say that about every Market that it matters and I think that's for you know for what we do um to know that it matters to the fans um day in and day out it matters to them and then you know the partner thing that you know that worked out okay I guess three three fine gentlemen in that interview by the way uh so you're radio job is a lot more stringent than those uh lightweight TV guys because you have to do every game spring training I have to laugh because the Phillies are on the radio and those guys are still kind of relaxing before they get on the air and you're put to the fire right away uh so TV or radio? uh was was is Radio more your was was it your more your passion than television for and and for what reasons well I think um you know at a certain at a certain point in your career when you're when you're starting out you're G to do whatever they ask you to do um and I had always done radio I had only done a little bit of Television work um and I liked doing radio I liked the the nuances involved in radio as opposed to television now that's not to say I I've said this before because I I did get offered a TV job once and I turned it down to stay with with the Phillies and and I one of the reasons why is I wanted to do the playoffs um and and having gotten there early in my time with the Phillies in 0708 you know and and being a part of it then um I I that's what I wanted to do was I wanted to make sure I wanted to be on the the games during the postseason because um you talk about what matters and and obviously those things really matter to fans and and for us to do the games um it's just so much fun um it's it's intense it's a definitely a different kind of intensity to the regular season um but that's what I I wanted to do and so in order to do the playoffs you got to do radio and uh yeah and and and with that you forged some legendary calls that people recreate all the time for you in your career with obviously bed of the bank being it might be your epit you thought about that you get you put that on I mean your many years from thinking about that but might that be uh on the stone yeah I don't know um I mean it uh I like that um I'm humbled that people you know it's resonated with people that they they liked it or whatever and um you know I I like I say Bryce did most of the hard work so he was he was the real last thing you've had a couple of Partners of course Larry Anderson is is the partner that people are most familiar with with you and the chemistry you guys have developed and now stalker comes in there uh first of all tell me about first working with LA and what you needed to be to bring the that's out of him um you know I think again uh going back to the the interview process um I've said this before but that was one of the things they told me they said we have this guy we think he's usually about the funniest guy in the room um but we we don't get that out of him enough on the air and so that would be what we'd be looking for and U so that was kind of my my that was what I had had focused on from the very beginning was um and it just so happens that I mean we we share kind of a similar sense of humor and um you know it's it's in the in this business you can't pick where you work necessarily and you can't pick who you work with and um you know I got I I got really lucky on both aspects um talked about why Philadelphia in particular but as for the partner um I you know I just can't imagine it would have I could have ended up with anybody better what one of the great parts of the broadcast because we know Larry Anderson Just loathes umpires and I like when you slightly let a little match under them to get that going well you know I mean like I said that's getting getting his personality out so and you know what he's um he he's so much fun to work with because uh he it matters to him he cares about it he cares whether they win or they lose he's honest about it um and he also likes to have fun with it um so he's willing to play around he likes to make he's okay with making fun of himself um and I think that's important for anybody in this business you know to be able to maybe not take themselves too seriously sometimes and um so yeah I think it's been it's been great it's been a I I you know it's just it's been so much fun to be a part of it with Balancing family life with broadcasting work him how do you do with uh family the road trips and family how do how do you negotiate all that do you take the family on the road occasionally or or no yeah they they will come um you know you kind of have to um they came to London which was awesome um and uh I have three kids and you know 14 10 and 10 Twins and um you know there's a lot going on at home they're busy uh they got a lot of stuff they want to do and uh you know their activities that they're involved in and you try to squeeze in an hour or two here or there to to go out and see them play you know or whatever um some function at school if you can make it um and you know I've I've become a little bit better at trying to manage the travel part of it and you know maybe fly on my own and um and get there day of the game and have an extra off day at home something like that so but they'll come and and you know uh they've been to the playoffs a lot um and and you know they're you know my son is he's 14 you know when they went to the playoffs in 22 is like it's like a real coming of age for you know a kid a young fan who's watched this team not make the playoffs year after year and um so it was really cool to see it um it was great for us to get back to it after so long away but it was great for me to watch watch them and and see it through their eyes in a new way and I it was really really cool meaningful for me in that regard Scott fransky a pleasure man I love talking to you and um keep it going and and we'll see where this thing goes I can't imagine that this is not going to end in a a World Series appearance this year from what what I can see we certainly hope you know they're a good team no team is without flaws and there's some luck involved when you get to the postseason but uh but uh we'll we'll see how it goes I'm looking forward to the ride sounds good Scott thanks a lot buddy we'll talk to you later appreciate it Mike that'll do it for the Mike Miss podcast for today you can check me on Twitter at Mike M25 H and also uh email Mike mikem miss.com a reminder that uh I am involved and I will launch it today another podcast that will you're going to find on YouTube channel it's called The Coldest murder we are Rec ing our first episode today it is about the murder and rape of a young 9-year-old girl in a Catholic church around the corner from where I grew up in Bristol burrow it's been a cold case for 62 years we are trying to bring some light and some more information into the case on why it was never solved and who could have been the murderer so that's happening uh and we'll uh follow my Twitter for some more information on that for Darren I'm I'm Mike missell have a great rest of the day everybody and we'll talk to you Thursday bye-bye [Music]