Intro welcome into another episode of Locked on Phillies and in today's episode we're going to talk about when Bryce Harper and Kyle schworer should return to play JJ GMO as well and why it's probably not as soon as the Phillies think they should all of that on today's episode you are locked on Phillies your daily Philadelphia Phillies podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes this is locked on Phillies I am Welcome your host Connor Thomas we come to you live from the locked on podcast Network your team every day thank you so much for checking us out please make sure you're rating uh reviewing subscribing to the YouTube as sorry appreciate it if you're wondering why no episode yesterday I was deathly sick uh I don't know what happened to me on Sunday into Monday but I was feeling very under the weather so we'll make up the episodes but appreciate you bearing with me I know there's a lot of stuff going on in Phillies land right now we will catch up on it today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com to get started so go ahead and check out our friends over at FanDuel it's a it's a big part of the season for the Philadelphia philes with a lot of All-Star information with some Phillies News guys coming back from injuries and with the Dodgers coming into town but the first thing the biggest news or kind of lack of news right now for the Philadelphia Phillies is on the Kyle schwarber Bryce Harper JT rmo front so I'm doing the podcast a little bit later today because I was hoping by this point it's about 2:46 Eastern Standard Time right now uh that we would have some type of news on guys being activated for tonight's game and maybe this news will break while I'm recording this if so I'll try and have it ready for you without constantly being on my phone throughout this episode but there's been word that tonight could be the night Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber that Kyle schwarber and Bryce Harper return to the lineup for the Philadelphia Affiliates they are both eligible to come off the injured list today it sounds like it's much more likely than that Kyle schwarber will be activated tonight than Bryce Harper because of a couple reasons well first of all kyber's injury seemed more mild from jup Street he also is going to be daging so it's a lot less of an intensive position he doesn't have to worry about Fielding or doing anything like that and it seems like he's closer to return to play but Bryce Harper has also been rumored to potentially be in play to be activated tonight to play against the Dodgers and there's part of it being he's such a quick recoverer from injuries he's done this in the past we saw with Tommy John we saw with the broken hand we've seen it with basically everything this dude is a superum when it comes to recovering from injuries so the belief is not just that he'll potentially be back earlier than the time frame but he'll want to be back earlier from the time frame and this series against the Dodgers has a lot to do with it rest assured if this series was against the I don't know white socks you're probably not seeing K War Bryce Harper tonight but because the Dodgers it seems like Bryce Harper wants to work his way back and try and find his way in the lineup tonight that's kind of what the whispers are but we have not heard anything at the time of me popping on to record this episode I have heard no official word that either Kyle scharber or Bryce Harper or JT rudo are going to be activated now JT is not going to be activated he still seems like he's a post All-Star break activation but these other guys I mean could be any day could be any hour could be any minute now that we hear news on Bryce Harper and Kyle schworer so let me talk to you about when the time frame should be for these guys to return to play and it'll play into our next conversation where we take a peek ahead at this series with the Dodgers we break down everything there it should be post Allstar break for both these guys it really should I don't know why you'd be rushing them back you'd have to be so darn confident that they're healthy like 100 100% confident that they're healthy to play them and it just doesn't feel like the Philadelphia Phillies are it doesn't feel like it's a 100% clear okay they're When should they return good to go play them this is the first day they're eligible to return off the injured list and for that to be the day that they actually return it kind of seems like you're risking stuff if you were the Philadelphia philes I know Kyle schorer doesn't do all that much he got injured in left field and I I use that lightly it's more in an athletic sense right he got injured in left field he's probably not going to play Left Field the rest of the year because of it he'll be in the designated hitter position and that's much simpler for him he'll just run the bases put together his a bats and should be okay on that front should save him from injury in the way that he sustained this injury uh but Bryce Harper is not that way folks I don't know if you've noticed the way he plays baseball he's going to be aggressive from the second e steps on the field whether it's the Dodgers the White Sox any team in between uh and whether he's just coming off of injury or whether he's been healthy for months so you got to be careful with these guys here's where the Philadelphia Phillies are right now in the standings just in case you forgot they're three and a half games up on the Dodgers in the National League for best record meaning and we'll talk about this in the next segment they could get swept by La and still have the best record in the National League it would only be by half a game it' be less than ideal but that is a possibility also when you're looking at the divisional standings you still have a seven and a half game lead over the Atlanta Braves after losing two or three to them over the weekend so I look at that and I'm just like there's no reason to rush these guys back and play them like you can wait till the end of the All-Star break and be totally fine without Bryce Harper without Kyle schworer and without JT rudo but if the Philadelphia Phillies do want to play here's what I will say I don't think that the Philadelphia philli training staff organization Dave debrowski John Middleton Rob Thompson all these guys whose inputs go into this decision or these types of decisions I don't think they've made any glaringly poor moves in I don't know what the past three years of this run like I don't see them as having mishandled any major injuries I don't see them as having rushed any guys back and led the quicker injury no I think they've really been solid in this area of taking care of their players so I don't like if they tell me Bryce Harper's ready to play if they tell me Kyle Scher is ready to play I'm gonna be forced to believe them but deep down in my gut I'm going to be worried that they're coming back too soon unless it's backside of the All-Star break and that makes it interesting for at least for Bryce Harper because he's a guy that's qualified not only to be on the All-Star team but to be a starter and the leading vote getter for the national league so then do you let him play in the All-Star game if he hasn't played before that point I would and that goes directly in the face of what I'm saying here like why would you excuse me why would you rush back for the allstar game if you're going to not want him to rush back for an important series with the Dodgers and I'm like I don't have a good answer for you only that the intensity level in the allstar game is significantly lower than any regular season game so I don't see Bryce Harper getting hurt I can't remember the last time someone got like seriously injured in the All-Star Game just doesn't happen uh maybe you get hit by a pitch but that's something that that could happen any game at any point there's nothing you can do to really like avoid that I just I look at it and I say that seems like a safe concession to make for a guy that values those moments but he probably and speaking of Bryce Harper specifically values the moments against the Dodgers just as well and wants to show up and help his team win it annoys him to see the team lose two or three against the Braves I'm sure JT Kyle schworer and Bryce Harper were all very very upset that they could not contribute to that Series against the Braves it's no fault of theirs and I don't think they're like mad at their teammates for not getting the job done because frankly I told you ahead of that brave series if you get one that's all that really that's acceptable with how hamstr strong you are as a team and who you're facing on the Mound and all of that stuff that's contributing and being on the road that was fine but still I know these guys are motivated to come back I know that at least for Harper and schwarber they are in time frame to come back tonight and if I had to guess right this is my gut feeling right now without any true information about guys being activated or not I think Kyle schwarber plays tonight I think Bryce Harper does not play tonight I think Judo is post All-Star break but I do think we'll see Bryce Harper before the All-Star break and that's just my gut feeling on the situation but we'll keep you updated I I'll keep an eye out on social media throughout the uh the episode here's what I'll do as we get ready to go into our ad segments I'll just take a quick peek every time to see if we've got any news on uh on Bryce Harper or anything like that and so far doesn't seem like we have anything on him or Kyle schwarber breaking as of this time maybe by the uh by the second ad break but coming up next we're going to talk about this series with the Dodgers from more of an overarching team perspective not just oh okay our Harper and schorer and real Muto going to be in play to play but how much does this series actually matter for the Philadelphia Phillies is it similar to the Atlanta Braves the short answer I think in more ways than not yes it is I'll explain what that means and who's pitching and all that good stuff ahead of the series coming up next as we continue today's FanDuel episode first though I want to talk to you about our friends over at FanDuel you know FanDuel right of course you do and you love sports but sometimes even though we love sports so much you never want them to stop you just don't get Sports the way you're used to getting them the playoffs have wound down NBA's done NHL's done I guess you got NBA Summer League now but it's not all that much going on in the Sports World and fandel understands that but they let you keep the sports going whenever you want all you have to do is open up the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood and I'm not just talking about like futures for upcoming Seasons this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fel.com and start making the most out of your summer you could bet on the fightings you could bet on futures for the birds or I mean look at what the basketball team is doing in this city a lot of stuff you can do so go ahead and check out FanDuel America's number one sports Series vs Dodgers book let's discuss this series with the Dodgers now because this is a huge series I know it might feel like there's a certain malays surrounding this team right now because of the lack of Bryce haror lack of Kyle schworer lack of JT Remo we've hit this point of the Season where it's like okay they're still the best team in baseball by record they're still winning regularly is but this isn't the team that we're going to be watching they're missing so many guys it's hard to get excited about this team this is a series to get excited about one way or another just like that Atlanta Brave series now I'll say the same thing that I said to you about the series against the Atlanta Braves the outcome of the series is not Series vs Phillies going to affect my view of this team one way or another it's just not and that doesn't mean you can't be excited it doesn't mean you shouldn't be excited it doesn't mean shouldn't be in front of your television at 6:40 p.m. tonight as Zack Wheeler takes the mound and say oh my goodness this is High Level Baseball that I need to watch it absolutely should be anytime sh otani's playing anytime you got a team the caliber of the Dodgers a team the caliber of the Phillies they're facing off if you're going down to Citizens Bank Park God bless you it's hotter than H double hockey stick outside but my goodness this is one of those series that you wait all season for unfortunately the Phillies aren't that healthy for it unless you get the news the schwarber and Harper are back which still nothing on that front at this time uh but it's it's still a big series to get excited about it's just not one that's going to affect my view of the Philadelphia philes and here's why if the Philadelphia Phillies were to go out in this series against the Dodgers and they were to get swept what would happen they would still be the best team in the National League by a half game close to the all-star break now based on where they were projecting to be about a month ago and where that would put them now it would be a downturn you would have a very valid reason for that downturn occurring which is the injuries that happened to Harper schwarber Ruto so you lost three big players you've held your own if you can't compete with the Dodgers in this series I'm not going to lose faith in the Philadelphia Phillies as a great team you just saw what happen against the Atlanta Braves the offense for the Philadelphia Phillies right now is partially nonexistent you're going to have games where you have if you have Brandon Marsh batting cleanup and the bottom half of your lineup all batting like 200 or below you're going to have a really hard time competing that's what you saw against the Braves in the series finale down in Atlanta against Ronaldo Lopez a shut out by the Braves pitching staff it just wasn't the Philly's best possible lineup but it's what they had to work with you could see that depending on who's available again in this series so that's why I'm not putting up too much stock into it right what I will say is the pitching is set up very very well for the Philadelphia philes you got Zack Wheeler going tonight against Bobby Miller Bobby Miller is not been good this year in 25 Innings pitch he's got a 612 ER he's one and one a one six whip I mean 25 strikeouts and 25 Innings cool 25 hits given up in 25 Innings five home runs in 25 so he's given up a home run every five innings he's given up a hit every inning he's walked 15 like he's just not that good of a pitcher Zack Wheeler we know has been outstanding name to the All-Star team we're going to run through more about the allstars besides these starters that we've already talked about because it's been a little bit since I've been on here we're going to talk about the all stars that made it for the Phillies in our final segment but this game tonight should be a game that the Phillies dominate compared comparatively pitching wise then you have Christopher Sanchez facing off against Gavin Stone in game two and Gavin Stone's been pretty good record-wise he's 92 record uh but a 303 ER Christopher Sanchez 296 I don't know uh I look at that and I'm like okay that's a good pitching match but the Phillies could still have the advantage in that one as far as that's concerned then you get Aeron NOA against Landon Knack the Dodgers aren't throwing their best guys in this series either even though Landon Knack has a 286 ra and 34 and two3 in Pitch he's not one of those names you hear and you say oh wow you gotta face that guy SO pitching wise you match up well Phillies Pitching against them you got Nola you've got Sanchez and tonight you've got wheeler that's a huge Advantage for the Philadelphia Phillies the issue is pitching is not the problem with this team right now I know Ranger Suarez has had some weird bumpy starts lately I know Zack Wheeler and Aon NOA and Christopher Sanchez like the staff has had over the past two weeks some bumpy starts I talked about this in an episode you can go back and find it it was like two weeks ago when these injuries first happened with Bryce Harper Kyle schwarber JT Ruto well jts happened before that and I was talking about how the pitching staff has to step up and you may see this pitching staff feel some of the pressure of having to carry this team they may start pressing because the offense isn't as productive they feel that they need to be perfect not just good it leads them making mistakes leads them trying too much and now that pressure leads to a bit of lesson performance and on top of that they just weren't going to be Sai Young caliber pitchers four of them in the starting rotation all year long it wasn't realistic so maybe it's a bounceback series here for Phillies pitching against the Dodgers maybe it's more the same if you don't have Harper and schwarber I don't I don't know but I'm not too concerned about this series let's talk expectations because we saw from a pitching perspective that the Dodgers do not really have too much to be worried about on the mound from where you're sitting as the Phillies but when you look offensively of course you still got to see Shan teoscar Hernandez Freddy Freeman Will Smith you don't have to see Muki Betts who is still recovering from that broken hand but they have a bunch of guys that are still really really good they're quality stacked team you're going to have to face one of the best lineups in baseball even without mukie bets and that's going to be a tough task for the Philadelphia Phillies pitching to contend with it's also going to be a tough task for the Philadelphia Philly offense to keep up with so it's not exactly easy I mean all you have to do is is look at what Otani is doing right now he can wreck a game by himself he's batting 314 he's at 28 home runs he's got 65 RBI it's kind of miraculous that with this lineup and those numbers he's only got 65 RB on the year um 48 walks he does have 87 strikeouts but 20 stolen bases to clearly lead the team as well he's just a monster that's why he's in the MVP conversation that's why Bryce Harper needs to come back soon so Bryce Harper can win the MVP and not allow Sho Otani to get another one but that's just what you're up against that's worth the price submission the other thing that I'm very interested in too I'd love for you to let me know in the comments who's going down to this series like who's actually going to be at S Bank Park if you're listening to this and you are let me know and let me know if it's a oh well I wanted to watch the Phillies I wanted to get to a Wheeler game or is it I wanted to see Otani I wanted to see the Dodgers I wanted to see a potential NLCS preview I wanted to see one of the best matchups in baseball to me and I don't think it's remotely close ah you know what maybe it's just because I don't like the Braves I was going to say to me this is the much more intriguing matchup than that one against the that Series against the Atlanta Braves was but part of that is because I've seen so much of the Braves versus the Phillies I know how those teams stack up it's a little bit less interesting to me than seeing what this version of the Dodgers with SH Otani which we have not seen the Phillies play the Dodgers with SH Otani yet like this is what I'm most interested in when it comes to uh the Series this year so it's going to be a big one it's going to be a star studded couple of games at sciss Bank Park and the expectations are the same as the uh the series with the Braves if you win two or three or if you sweep the series absolutely outstanding that's an amazing effort you feel very good about where the team is if you win one of the three games you did your job to hold the lead while missing three of like your top five bats I'm totally accept of the Philadelphia Phillies winning one of the five games one of the five one of the three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and ciens Bank Park I don't care that the series is at home I don't care that you have the distinct pitching match your lineup is just so weak without some of these guys maybe that expectation changes if we get any news on Harper or schwarber coming back which I'm going to double check on right now as I continue to make this point um and as of a couple minutes go the Philadelphia Phillies have announced the following roster moves designated hitter Kyle schworer reinstated from the 10day injured list outfielder David dah was designated for assignment first baseman Bryce Harper reinstated from the 10-day injured list today Cody Clemens option to Triple A Lehigh schwarber Harper both available to play tonight would you look at that see you know what I just told you that they shouldn't play that they should wait until the allstar break and now I'm so excited that I get to watch Bryce Harper and kle warber play baseball again like that's amazing to me I it might not be the best decision but this is why you do it this is why you let them play because those guys are such different makers that's hugely hugely exciting so I guess we'll update our first segment when should you see him back probably later than this when are you gonna see him back tonight tonight they return Ah that's great news see I'm glad I continued to check my phone so I can get you that information so this will be the breaking news podcast uh maybe I'll have to insert a little something ahead of the episode so either way man great to get that breaking news great to have those guys back screw it you better win the series now let's do it take two or three out of the Dodgers uh coming up next we're going to wrap up with a look at some All-Star updates who made the team who are the snubs because they were going to be for the Phillies they can't have every player deserves to be an All-Star be an All-Star but we'll discuss a strong number a franchise record setting number for the Philadelphia Phillies representation in Texas coming up next week that as we wrap up today's episode first though I want to tell you about our friends over at prize picks yes you know prize picks they're Prize Picks absolutely awesome they're America's number one daily fantasy sports app they got over 5 million active members it's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports unlike other apps on prize picks it's just you against the numbers you don't have to worry 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tax Network USA has saved their clients over $1 billion do in tax debt whether youo taxes you have complicated matters that require tax planning or maybe you just finally hit that big parlay this season you need help correctly find ing your winnings call 1800 549 1000 or visit TN usa.com lockon be sure to mention locked on Phillies a checkout you'll even receive a $250 discount off their services go ahead and check out our forensic tax Network USA all right well that's some big news that we got partway through the episode Kyle schwarber Bryce Harper they're going to be back which means I imagine Bryce Harper is going to be starting at first base in the allstar game if he's playing tonight for the Philadelphia Phillies now again that's activated we haven't seen a lineup yet and oh wait now we have seen a lineup and schwarber's batting Leed off and Harper is batting third this looks listen how much nicer this lineup looks sorry to get sidetracked but this is the big news Kyle shorer batting leadoff Trey Turner batting second Bryce Harper batting third Alec bone batting fourth Bryson stop batting fifth Nick cassalis batting sixth Brandon Marsh batting seventh then you round out with marshan and Roos post All-Star break you'll put JT Rito in there somewhere and you'll look like a much more formidable lineup than you could have ever imagined putting together without those guys that's a great thing and part of the reason is because you've got a bunch of Allstars back in the lineup so we knew what we knew the last time I recorded in an episode was you had All-Star starters Trey Turner at shortstop Bryce Harper at first base and Alec bow at third base that is three guys and I surmise that the Philadelphia Phillies could have as many as nine players 10 players on the All-Star roster now those were a stretch that would require multiple relievers that would require some guys that probably didn't deserve to as position player depth pieces but what you ended up with is seven Allstars and we already lauded Trey Turner and Bryce Harper and Alec B those three guys but as far as reserves are concerned you got four pitures on this team that all very much deserved it and you should have probably had more Zack whe and Ranger Suarez are both going to be All-Star starters for the national league now Zack Wheeler has been listed as um inactive for the All-Star game I don't know why exactly I guess it'd be because he's making the final start of the first half or the pre-all-star break schedule for the Phillies as it's scheduled I think he may not be available to actually pitch he made the team Ranger Suarez will be available to pitch it seems both those guys on the All-Star roster and then the two relievers that we planned on being there Matt strm Jeff Hoffman they both got the deserving knot all of those guys fully deserve it in fact there were more that probably deserved it too uh you could have looked at Jose Alvarado as a potential Bullpen guy that deserved to be an All-Star he's been more up and down than the other two but he's been darn good uh you could have looked at Aron NOA as a starter that could have deserved an All-Star nod he's got 10 wins to this point in the season you definitely could have looked at Christopher Sanchez who's got a sub2 ER and was the national league pitcher the month for June he's probably the biggest snub on this team the fact that Christopher Sanchez is not going to be an All-Star and it's tough he was just cannibalized by his own teammates and it kind of is what it is it it's a numbers game right because every team needs to have a representative there's only so many spots and with every team needing at least one representative for some teams their best player is a starting pitcher and that means that you can't really get it's tough to get three starters from the same team to go in to the All-Star team there's only like so when you have Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler already and both of those guys frankly deserve it more than Christopher Sanchez he gets left out in the Lurch the same thing for ppen pitchers it's very easy right that's another one of those positions where it's easy to just like pluck some guy who's got a good RA from a team that's not good at all and say okay well you're going to be the All-Star representative from whoever near the bottom of the standings we're going to throw you in there and that restricts a spot for guys in the bullpen that might deserve it too now I do think Sanchez is the biggest snub of all of them other guys you look at that probably could have garnered respect to be there JT rido didn't because of injury um Nick casanas and Brandon Marsh who I talked about they did not deserve to be there sorry I love those players I think Nick casanas has had a really really good stretch here with Harper and schwarber out to help kind of stabilize the team not as good as Trey Turner but he's been beneficial to this team so so he deserved consideration I I guess I don't know people would probably put me in the stocks out in front of Independence Hall if they heard me say that Nick C deserved All-Star consideration this year but he was up there in the voting so that's what the fans believe I I didn't truly think any of those guys were capable of making the All-Star team based on Merit the position players outside of who already did make it but it was fun to take a look I think Kyle Scher could have been the only option at DH uh but no you're looking at seven Allstars for the Philadelphia Phillies which is a great place to be their franchise record was five previously when you have seven that's a pretty darn good team the record like the all-time record is nine I believe yeah in Major League Baseball so you're only two away and we already said Christopher Sanchez was a major snub and you had other guys right on the preus there if JT rido doesn't get hurt he's an All-Star if Christopher Sanchez doesn't get snubbed you're looking at nine to tie the most in Major League Baseball history so nothing to be ashamed of there the Philadelphia Phillies wow well we're going to have a fun episode tomorrow as we react to schwarber and Harper's first game back feel a lot better about the Phillies chances tonight and in this series yeah me too so it'll be a fun one to watch we'll have a lot of fun stuff on their return and whether or not it is too early I mean maybe we'll see something tonight that makes us feel like okay no they're healthy or maybe unfortunately we could see something tonight that makes us feel like they should have waited so a lot of stuff still up in the air but this episode is not we are all wrapped up and finished so that's for tomorrow thank you so much for checking us out again lock on Phillies is part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day please make sure you're raing reviewing subscribing to the YouTube all that great stuff I really do appreciate that uh anyone who does that very much so and I will talk to you next time on our next episode