Aaron Nola Dominates As The Philadelphia Phillies Shutout The Houston Astros!!

welcome into another episode of Locked on Phillies and in today's episode the Phils shut out the Astros they take a serious Victory they've hit by threshold for when we officially say they're back to themselves what are they we'll discuss in today's [Music] 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'm your host Conor Thomas thank you so much for checking us out today we're part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day please make sure you're raing reviewing subscribing to the YouTube all that great stuff that really helps us out here on lockon Phillies you may know me for some of my other work uh Five Years on the radio here in Philadelphia talk at sports 975 The Fanatic I've been three years a credential Philadelphia philes media member and this is my third season as the host of lockon Phillies today's episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game app create an account and use code locked on MLB and you'll get $20 off your first purchase terms apply download game time today what time is it game time oh a new little slogan there from our friends over at game time I love that the Philadelphia Phillies are rolling again folks they have got it figured out at least by my standards I told you that when they win three of four series that's when we'll officially be able to tell you they're back to themselves and they've won three of their last four series they won the series against the Washington Nationals three games out of four they lost one to the Atlanta Braves after that one to two and then they won two Series in a row now two of three from the Kansas City Royals and two games so far against the Houston Astros with a sweep and play today we'll get to today's game in a little bit but recapping last night's game easily the most impressive part of the five nothing shutout victory was Aeron NOA on the mount he was dominant in a spot where you really really needed him to be Taiwan Walker goes today we're going to talk plenty about that but man was no just so so good last night seven Innings only allowing four hits no earned runs one walk sixks five base runners allowed that's a pretty darn good day especially against an Astros team that sits at 70 wins on the year they got a solid offense but arinola gave you one of those really dominant Nola starts that are uh they're iffy Sometimes some you don't know what you're gonna get with arinola every now and again you know he's you know he's durable you know he's got a high ceiling you know that he's a talented pitcher but you never really know game to game whether or not you're getting great aerona okay aerola maybe a bit of bad aerona but last night oh my good just I mean as dominant as you could have expected you get seven clean shutout Innings it rests your Bullpen you only need need uh you only needed to use I should say Jose Ruiz and Tanner Banks who both also had of course shutout outings the Phillies shutting out the Astros their 13th Shut Out of the Year by the way that's tied for the lead in Major League Baseball they had what like five last year this is just really really good signing that the pitching staff is where you need him to be the bullpen is starting to feel it a little bit and the offense while it wasn't the biggest offensive explosion 11 hits five runs beautiful that's what you need double digit hits is the perfect Mark to get to for this team it normally need means about five runs exactly the number that they had last night so so good so that's a shout out to the pitching like arinola I love what he's been doing recently he started to kind of feel out where he's supposed to be is he heating up for October he's got about four or five more starts on the year hopefully those go as well or close to as well as this one and he'll be rolling to get ready for the postseason another guy that's rolling right now Nick castios a really good job by him in the game last night only one for four but that one was a bashed home run a three run that allowed the Phillies to extend their lead they're already up one- nothing in the inning one nothing in the game but that three-run home run gave the Philly some great breathing room that's kind of where you felt like hm okay nol is going really really good right now if he keeps on this path four runs will get the job done well God knows one run would have gotten the job done in a shutout last night but let's talk a little bit about Nick castanos because he's kind of the unsung hero of this stretch for the Philadelphia Phillies I don't know where in the world the Philadelphia Phillies would find themselves if it was not for the efforts of Nick castanos over this past month and a half two month stretch he's been the guy kind of keeping them alive offensively and he's been really good lately barreling up some baseballs finding a way on base not swinging as much at that breaking ball low and away he's an aggressive hitter he is and that's just his nature but man he doesn't get enough credit this fan base rips Nick castanos I remember somebody I don't know he does some podcast about the Phillies I don't even remember what it's called but he was complaining all start of the Year about how people are saying Nick castiano shouldn't be in right field how can he not sit why do you not give him a day if you're Rob Thompson and that guy kept saying well you put him out there because you don't have a much better option but also because you believe in the back of the baseball card you believe in the allstar from last season a multi-time All-Star in his career a guy who paid a lot of money to be here and a guy that can be streaky but when he gets good he can make a big time difference for this ball Club oh wait yeah I think that guy host locked on Phillies I've been trying to tell you this Nick castanos over 162 is a solid baseball player he's going to go through really bad stretches he's going to go through really good stretches ideally you'd like a guy who's good all the time but not every baseball player is Bryce Harper sometimes and I know Bryce Harper went through a slump but like the Bryce Harper you normally see you're going to get guys that are streaky cold stretches hot stretches and when that hot stretches as hot as anybody in baseball than not named Aaron judge or sh Otani or I guess Bobby Whit as well like that's a good guy to have on your team and Nick castanos is that guy right now like you need the calming presence and you wouldn't expect it to come from a guy that strikes out as much as Nick castanos does but he's been really big in the stretches of the Year where the Phillies have not been very good you need that you need the guy to carry you through those tough stretches and he can't do it by himself that's why the Phillies were losing a significant amount of games but he was a guy that was not slumping totally like the rest of the team and he saved you a couple games here and there and now with the rest of the team waking up you can start to say still how much of an impact he makes so a lot of love to Nick castios in this game lot of work done by him to get to where he wants to be he tries not to think too much it doesn't mean he's not working it doesn't mean he's not approaching his bats with a defined strategy you might not like the strategy of C ball hit ball but for some guys it works and Nick is one of those and while that sounds like a minimalist type of approach if it works for him it works for him and clearly right now it is working for castios and the Philadelphia Phillies I just an incredible incredible effort by the whole team last night solid defense great work in general great managing by Rob Thompson to go with the right guys out of the bullpen Yan roas again a defensive replacement now you didn't really need him as much in this game but still you get the right guys out there in the right spot that that was the typical great Philadelphia Phillies win where you get offense you get defense you get pitching let's get out of here with a five nothing Victory and I talked to you about momentum from this Astro series building into the brave series now you have a chance for the ultimate momentum taking a sweep into a matchup with your division Rivals trying to chase you down has got to make you feel good and the Braves have taken the first two in their series up in Minnesota which they will finish off today that's going to be interesting to see because if they sweep to you haven't picked up ground really on him but you're cutting down the magic number I believe it's to 25 now for the Philadelphia philes so that's a good spot to be in uh the other thing that looked good last night Trey Turner Bryce Harper both with run scores Turner and RBI but both multi-hit games JT rudo multi-hit game Austin Hayes multi-hit game two run scored it wasn't just casos you're starting to have guys figure it out heat up and against a pitcher like Verlander he's still got like I told you he's not the guy did he used to be and you could tell that from last night's start you're not facing Sai Young MVP level yes he won an MVP in his career an MVP level Justin Verlander but you're facing a guy with knowhow with ability and while he might be on the back nine well on the back nine he still got the ability to go out and shut a team down the Phillies didn't allow him to do that they took a strong approach against the slow breaking ball they attacked fast balls when they got him and they got Justin Verlander to the tune of four runs they got the other one off the bullpen and that's just just great work by the Philadelphia Phillies top to bottom in this lineup it's a great time to be a Phillies fan right now folks if anything we should learn from that slow stretch right there are going to be times where this team gives us plenty to be mad about so when they give us stuff to be excited about let's be excited about it right let's enjoy these wins are you starting to feel like the Philadelphia Phillies are back to themselves now part of me is like um I still am a little bit nervous about the way that they played over two months like is that a flaw with the team I don't think so I think it was a really bad stretch one of those unexplainable slumps that happens in a baseball season it was a really long one there's probably some explaining to do with pressing and the approach of the plate but I don't think it was like a fatal fatal flaw in this team but that still has me like thinking are they fully out of it now but by my standards I told you when they win three of four series I will declare that the Phil Philadelphia Phillies are back to themselves and they've reached that threshold so it's only right that I stick to my word the shirt is rocking we've got a winning streak going on four straight games now for the Philadelphia Phillies that they've found a way to win they go for five today a series sweep momentum going into the Braves game it's Taiwan Walker on the mouth okay well that doesn't feel great so we're going to talk about it and we're going to discuss a preview of tonight's game and all or today's afternoon game and we're also going to talk about later on in the episode the expectations for Taiwan Walker going forward based around the start still plenty to get into on today's episode of Locked on Phillies first though let me tell you about our friends over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience is the formula for winning championships and it's also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance they got superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered they've got over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you're always going to find exactly what you're 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talk about game three the final game of this series with the Houston Astros we're looking at a situation where the Phillies could sweep but we're also looking at a situation with Taiwan Walker on the mou who has not been good lately that's the story of this game right it's Taiwan Walker and how he can do now you're facing Spencer arti whose name name looks like spaghetti and it's hard not to say that when I look at it he has not been great for the Astros either six and 11 this year a 494 ER in 116 and two- thirs Innings pitch he's allowed 17 home runs so not too bad there 140 strikeouts so he's got strikeout stuff working what's killing him is he's allowed 53 walks in 116 and two thirs innings you have to be patient you know what that says to me lot of strikeouts lot of walks good movement great stuff doesn't know how to control it attack the mistake pitches stay back let those breaking balls go this is a guy that should if you believe the way other teams have attacked the Phillies give the Phillies fits right this should not be a good match up for the Phillies a guy with good strikeout stuff that's not around the plate as much as he should be sounds like a nightmare for an aggressive approach at the plate which is what the Philadelphia Phillies employ so what do you have to do you have to step out of that mindset you have to go to the plate thinking okay I'm going to be ready to hit but I'm going be very disciplined on balls out of the zone or close to out of the zone and you may take a strike or two here on the corner but it's better than swinging yourself out of an a bat and that's something the Philadelphia Phillies have done when they're in bad stretches this is a guy though he's got a high ER for a reason other teams have been able to take advantage of what Spencer arag Getti brings to the m Mr spaghetti he's gonna have a tough time if the Phillies make him throw strikes because he doesn't really have the stuff like he's got good stuff but he's not really going to beat you too much if you make him throw a lot of pitches so can you do that disciplined approach of the plate great that may be hard to do with Taiwan Walker though because the expectation for me at least and probably for everybody in this fan base I can't speak for the team because they're going to believe in their guy but the expectation for the fan base and for yours truly is that Taiwan Walker could very easily give up an early lead to the Astros so what does that mean well you give up an early lead you press at the plate the offense is asked to do more you've got to be more aggressive you start swinging a pitch as you shouldn't start trying to do too much so you got to be patient but you also have to get a really good start out of Taiwan Walker what would be a good start for Taiwan Walker is the question now what I'm looking for is I'm looking for a quality start if he goes out there and gives you six Innings with three earned runs or less that is good enough by my book it's not what the expectation should be for a guy you're paying the amount of money that you are to Taiwan Walker but that should be the approach tonight or today I keep saying tonight like it's a night game today the Philadelphia Phillies should look to go out there and battle at the plate but they're going to need help on the mouth and they're going to need six Innings worth of work from Taiwan Walker that isn't six Innings of like five earn run ball that he slogs through he's got to look good I don't have a lot of faith in him to do that but you're kind of stuck with this is the decision the Phillies made now here's what I will say right Rob Thompson Dave debrowski the guys who got together in that Brain Trust to decide that Taiwan Walker's going to throw on Wednesday they're feeling Vindicated right now because you don't need this game you want the game don't get me wrong you're trying to win but if you go out and you lose today because tywon Walker isn't good on the mound or the offense is quiet for whatever reason you still won the series you still have momentum in some sense heading into the series with the Braves it doesn't kill you it's better then if you're in a situation where you're like we have momentum but I don't want to start off the brav series with Taiwan Walker potentially imploding on the mounted Citizens Bank Park now and we're going to talk more about this series tomorrow when we get into it with the Braves coming to town for four games you have Sanchez you have Suarez you have wheeler you have Nola again you have a situation where you get your best four pitchers to face Atlanta and go out there and go to work and try and take advantage of that Series against the Braves but let's look one more thing at the Astros before we're in a situation where we focus on the Atlanta Braves the only guys that have really seen too much of Taiwan Walker in the lineup today Altuve who's batting lead off is seen him for 32 at bats he's batting 344 against that's a problem Alex bregman four for eight batting 500 another guy to be careful of the only other guys that have seen him for more than five at bats are Victor kartini and Ben gamble who are one for seven and one for six respectively so Tom Walker has had some success against some guys in this lineup Alvarez over for Two Pea over three Meyers over for three now you're not looking at those as a big sample size that tell you oh those guys can't hit Taiwan Walker but you're looking at it in a way that you say okay we can we can work with this it's not a bunch of guys that have seen him a whole bunch the Phillies have never faced arag Getti so there's no stats from their lineup today but what I will say is Rob Thompson not going with a give up lineup it's schwarber Turner Harper B casano stot Marsh Hayes Garrett stubs catching that's totally fine to get him out there and get JG Ruto a day I have no issue with that whatsoever stubs four hits his last time out maybe has himself a nice little after afternoon maybe he doesn't I don't know but the lineup should be enough outside of Garrett stubs to carry you to a victory the numbers on today's game the Astros are actually minus 125 on the money line they are favored in this game because Taiwan Walker but ESPN analytics goes the other way it's got the Phillies as a 53.2% chance to win basically a coin flip of a ball game this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park with a sweep on the line it will be the offense that wins you this baseball game if that is indeed the case I can't imagine like tywan Walker goes seven shut out like Aon Nola did but I can't imagine him having again a quality start that's put you in position where the bullpen can step up and you can steal a game at the end of the series to make it a sweep and get yourself that much closer to October baseball now the Phils are going to be playing October baseball but gets you that much closer to a red October which is where we all want to be so that's the game plan what are you thinking folks do Phillies find a way to pull this one out and break out the sweep the shirt is rocking still like I told you you're in a situation where you have momentum the Astros are scuffling a bit Yeah I think they've got a good chance to win today's ball game I just have a good feeling about it I hope I'm not wrong coming up we're gonna talk a little bit more about Taiwan Walker though and the expectations not just for this start but what he has to do and what it leads to the path forward for Taiwan Walker we'll discuss as we continue today's episode of lock on Phillies first let's talk about liquid IV though because it's the absolute best listen round of golf baseball game maybe a tough night of drinking hey it happens well either way if you're out and about or you're taking in America's pastime don't forget to hydrate with liquid IV and they've got a brand new popsicle firecracker flavor a Surefire summer hit I know it's Surefire because I've had them and they're 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you want to go to in the middle of the summer when the weather's nice and you want a fun night out so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on MLB for $20 off download game time today what time is it it's game [Music] time all right real quick before we continue I want to thank you for making locked on Phillies your first listen every day please make sure your next listen is locked on MLB The locked on MLB podcast hosted by Paul Francis Sullivan Sully he's the best he's funny he's knowledgeable he tells you everything you need to know about what's going on around baseball outside of the Phillies and sometimes including the Phillies it's a great listen it's part of the locked on podcast network available on YouTube YouTube or wherever you get your podcast so check out locked on MLB your team every day part of the locked on podcast Network like I told you they're the best sull is the best no reason you shouldn't check that out after this show but let's talk a little bit about Taiwan Walker because let's say he does go out and has a rough outing today what do you do with him I if it's more of what you saw against Kansas City in the last couple times out for him you can't let him start again you can't I already would not let him start this game but the Phillies are making that decision it's working out because they've already won the series you can't get in a situation where he is single-handedly tanking the momentum of this team you've won four games in between his last start if you go out and lose the fifth he's lost the last two games for the that's never good that's like making two outs in the same inning while it is good for the team overall meaning you're winning games or in the inning example you're getting a lot of hits feels bad for that individual player knowing you're the one letting the team down he doesn't want to do that but it's reality and if he doesn't go out and give you a good start today you got to move past him you've got to you don't have enough time left in the season you don't have enough buffer in the division and you do not have enough room to work with in the chase for the on SE the Phillies currently tied for the best record in baseball with the Dodgers there's no margin for error there you can't give up games with a non-competitive pitcher and that's what Taiwan Walker has been but when I set the line for quality start for him I thought about what I would have to see in order for him to make his next start that's the Baseline anything less than that I'm thinking I still feel the same way you shouldn't start this guy anymore but if he gives you a quality start I'd let him go out there again I'd let him give you another run you need a guy to eat Innings right you need someone to keep the bullpen rested the rest of the rotation healthy you need a guy that's going to be able to go out there and throw the ball at least effectively enough to eat Innings he doesn't have to win every game but he just has to find a way to get six or seven Innings knocked off and it's not an easy task especially the way he's been throwing the ball so if he's going to go back out there you're going to have to trust that he's saving your Bullpen that he's a good guy to have in the rotation the other starters don't have to carry the brunt of the load and that's what I'm looking for uh if he doesn't like let's say he doesn't and you've got to come up with a way to cover for him to make the next start well you now have Ranger Suarez back so you have the full complement of the rotation as it was supposed to be when everyone was healthy at the start of the Year wheeler Nola Suarez you're looking at Sanchez now and Walker so could you put in Colby Allard sure Michael Marcato was recalled to make up for Jose Alvarado on his personal leave which we talked about still wishing the best for Jose Alvarado could you start Michael Marcato sure could you bring up Tyler Phillips again and put him back out there he's had some really good starts absolutely Spencer Turnbull is not back yet he may not be back till very close to the end of the season I don't know what you can expect to get out of him but you can't get anything out of him right now so there aren't really that many great options like ask yourself if Taiwan Walker can give you six Innings today and three earned runs or less do you feel good that Colby Allard can give you that do you feel good that Michael Marcato can give you that I like those guys but I just I don't have as much trust in them as I do a Bonafide major league pitcher and Taiwan Walker is not that right now but he has been that before so if he can show you a flash that he can get back to being that guy well you kind of gotta roll with him so that's what's at stake this gets real complicated if Walker doesn't throw well today the standings also look a little bit less in your favor like I said every game counts so a lot on the line for Taiwan Walker and the Philadelphia Phillies today and again we talked about the offense earlier it could really help his confidence if you score early so that would be the plan if I'm the Philadelphia Phillies is find a way to scrape a run across or two in the first or second inning before you can get behind the eightball if Taiwan Walker struggles the other thing that you got to look at for him is his velocity can he hit 93 today can you hit 94 it's hot out there about 97 degrees right now like it's going to be hotter by the time they get well yeah for like it may get a little bit hotter for it's probably gonna be a little bit cooler actually but still that's good situation for the fil that's a good situation I should say for pitchers to throw the ball hard velocity is going to be good and spotting that splitter those are the keys for how you put together a good start if you're Taiwan Walker he hasn't had that onew punch all year so you're going to be able tell early if the first couple Splitters are non-competitive or if they're in the zone and getting smoked long day if he's spotting them he's got the fast ball with some vo well now we're cooking with a little bit of gas but I want us I want this to be very clear I'm heading in to this start from Taiwan Walker with the goal of him being very good not the expectation last night Aron NOA expected him to be pretty good Zack Wheeler you expect him to be pretty good Ranger Suarez Christopher Sanchez that's the thing those come with expectations those starts this comes with hope and sometimes hope is a good thing to have sometimes it doesn't exactly work out your ship doesn't always come in so for Taiwan Walker today he's got to really win part of this fan base back over I don't think he's going to do it in one start but the Journey of a thousand miles or 100 miles or whatever the expression is begins with one step today is the first step for Taiwan Walker to work his way back and save himself some type of face heading into October he's not going to throw an October unless he throws out of the bullpen I don't see that as a reality so he's looking at down the barrel of another Red October where he's not part of a contributing playoff team and that's gonna be tough for him mentally again well there's one way to change that buddy go out there and shove today I'm rooting for him there there's no reason why I shouldn't be rooting for him but it'd be easy to say well Ty Walker man I kind of don't want him to like I'm want him to blow up against so we can get him out of the rotation off the team no that's that's not what we're rooting for the easiest path forward for the Phillies is him being good is it the most realistic no so I don't know leap of faith time for Phillies fans when it comes to their favorite pitcher number 99 all right well that's all for today's episode of Locked on Phillies thank you so much for checking us out appreciate you joining us please make sure you're rating reviewing subscribing to the YouTube all that great stuff tomorrow we'll have a recap of today's series finale against the Houston Astros and also we're going to be previewing one of the biggest series of the year if not the biggest depending on what Milwaukee looks like when you play him later on in September this is the last time you'll play the Braves coming up so in tomorrow's episode we're going to have a big look in to the standings to the Braves the momentum the thought process of the series all of that great stuff that the Phillies are hopefully going to have sitting right in front of them on the back side of a sweep how good does that sound right let's make it a reality folks willpower baby that's what the Phillies need especially with Walker on the mount all right that's all again for today's episode I'll talk to you tomorrow on the next episode of lock on Phillies