Clutch! Bryce Harper lifts Phillies past Astros with 1st walk off hit since 2020 | PHLY Phillies

Intro is Bryce Harper finally back three doubles over the weekend a walk-off last night the Phillies get a great win three in a row that's a winning streak we're going to talk about it next on the PHL Philly show [Applause] [Music] hello and happy Tuesday morning to all out there it's just a little easier to get up everything tastes a little better the weather's always a little nicer when you get a tremendous walk-off win on a Recapping Phillies Walkoff vs Astros Monday night welcome into the PHL y Phillies show presented by our sponsor I love them bet 365 find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 use promo code pH l365 when you sign up get $150 free dollars and maybe you feel inclined to let it roll tonight on the Phillies once again Aaron Nola finds himself in a big spot we'll get into that today Jim salsburg is going to join us at 11:30 as the Phillies have a Taiwan Walker problem which we'll dive into uh but forget all that for right now not wheels up Renee uh Rich made a I thought a really good point in the morning newsletter which you should sign up for all ph.com that Zack Wheeler probably had like C minus stuff wasn't his best went out there grinded through six innings probably could have gone a seventh if it was necessary and kept it to two runs and gave the team a chance to win uh and that's why he's an ace uh on a night where he doesn't have his best stuff he's still GNA give you a chance to win and he was spectacular last night Bryce Harper walkoff a lot of good things to like last night yeah I mean just look at how the game started and once Zach I feel like a turning point for this game was that fifth inning like the first three Innings uh he was at 61 pitches and the Astros were really just making it really tough for Zach to get in and out and that fifth it was like the the fifth inning one two three very quick the sixth inning was when um because I wrote it down it's like this is this is the moment and of course I didn't know how it was going to end then the sixth inning rally that we saw for the Phillies I felt like that time period when Zach really locked in started throwing strikes started getting batters out quicker uh his pitch count was at 86 into the fifth after the fifth inning he settled in and once he settled in so did the team and I was like so happy to see him battle through that because it easily could have went the other way you give up those two runs um you're struggling to get guys out the Innings dragging on and on the pitch counts getting higher and higher and so that's what you expect from your Ace not always going to be perfect that we know but to be able to have an opportunity it was ronal Blanco it was Zach wheeler and both of them were kind of going toe and toe of like who's going to drop first and up end up being Blanco and so to see Z wheeler in the series opener that we had talked about prior of they need to win this first game they need to continue um and getting back to what they were doing in the beginning of the Season that was such a changing moment that allowed for the big plays at the end obviously Bryce Harper Kyle schwarber Johan roas those plays happen because it starts with your asack wheeler yeah and if you want to if you're not sure if the Phillies you know locker room in clubhouse kind of had some tight butts over the last six weeks uh and how their attitudes were Rob Thompson after the game was asked about it like basically how does it feel to come home and usually that first game after a road trip is kind of like yeah especially in NBA like that first game back from like a long road trip you're going to struggle at home so for them to come back and get three in a row at home versus a really good Astros team um was big and Rob Thompson was asked about it and he said yeah this one felt big so I think between Bryce getting the weight of the world off of his shoulders I think Rob probably was able to unclench his cheeks a little bit last night I think everybody down there just kind of had a deep breath of like okay we are a good team let's get back on track here yeah and it's another moment for Rob uh we saw the Alec bone discussion of you know after for well I was going to say Sunday actually yes but how he let did he have four runners in scoring position left last night I think not great for Alec but but everybody else ising totally fine this is fine because honestly we expect there's going to be someone that strug it's theing to's we saw we've seen him some good game management decisions it's obviously not just him it's his entire staff but he's the one that we point the finger at when it goes wrong sure and you saw Sunday with Alec B uh his discussion of like talking him through that first inning mistake allowing him to just you know just play and not harping on it and in a way that would make it a Snowball Effect poorly but instead help Alec B reset yesterday was the same thing you know you look at Zach wheeler and you like I was like oh no wait a minute Zach are you going to be able to get through to six we've been saying six Innings is our number the Target that we want for all the starting pitch it allows the bullpen right to not be overused and overtaxed so you wanted him to get to at least six Innings and after the first four it's kind of like okay Zach got to get you to squeeze out a couple more Innings and he was able to do that and to have that trust even you know Zach wheeler is the guy we know that he is your Ace you have the high expectations for him but I I loved even the management of like let him Rock let him battle it out get through to six and then from there the game just was able to continue So Beautiful to see uh Rob Thompson be also able to unclench a little bit in the sense that like we're seeing him make some solid game management decisions yeah uh again in Rich's email he pointed it out too like how he used the bullpen right after Zach uh worked out kind of great and Jose Alvarado uh thoughts are with him and uh his family it's usually not great news when somebody goes on the restricted list for a personal matter uh so all the best to the Alvarado out there so he's not going to be with the team for the you know foreseeable future hopefully shorter rather than longer yeah that was sad to hear yeah it sucks we've been wondering what's going on with Jose in general in terms of his baseball playere have no idea what's going on personally but if there is something that's been going on that's that serious um definitely glad that he's able to step away be with his family and also uh just hoping that everything's okay for him yeah so you saw Rob kind of implement the bullpen this way last night Orion came back uh and Matt Gelb had a piece on the athletic the other day that between the All-Star break and I think Kansas City over the week maybe Atlanta I think the Atlanta series started hitting 98 again but between the All-Star break and that Atlanta series he hadn't touched 98 on the gun so he was probably going through a little bit of a dead arm period as well uh and he hit 99 over the weekend Kansas City so to see O come back in and Trust his fast ball again and not rely on the sweeper constantly he looks like he's turned the corner and he's coming back and then you go cousin Jeff Hoffman in the eighth EST Dez in the ninth and you save an ace up your sleeve with Matt strm in the 10th and the and the 10th you want to talk about clench butts when runners in scoring position uh you had Str there you know get a first first strikeout and he got some good defense behind him so you know hat tip to Rob for the uh for the bullpen execution last night in the uh hoseus week ahead at least uh so things things went great on Rob Thompson's watch last night they did and I know we'll talk even about Taiwan Walker that's another Rob Thompson move that I know you guys in the chat talking about we're not there yet but we will get there we're doing the POS night yeah we're starting with the positives but last night to see the bullpen um as much as we talk about it was important for Zach to be able to battle through for that win for the team it was also very Phillies Bullpen comes through in high leverage spots important for the bullpen to be able to get through in a situation it's a high lever situation games on the line it was a close game and we knew with how the game was going like at as both teams were struggling to score you knew it wasn't going to be like it was never going to open up in the sense of like becoming this high scoring game it was going to be down to one run it was going to be a close game and it had all the makings of that so to see Orion as you mentioned be able to go back out there and Orion Jeff Hoffman Carlos Estes and Matt strum four guys who you have a lot of expectation on in this Bullpen they are your high leverage guys they're that's the unit you're rolling out come playoff time they're the ones you're going to be heavily relying on in big moments and you knew that Orion was going to naturally have at some point a regression and dead arm hit a wall because he's he's young this is his first time getting a full season the majors he's a rookie this is his first time getting a full season the major so at some point the wall was going to happen and to see him come out and gets his sweeper back to what it's supposed to be getting some really good uh swings and misses on that Hoffman had a big double play Carlos Estes throwing strikes again looking like the EST says that you saw with the save streak and why you want him on the Phillies and then of course Matt strm coming in calm cool and collected to be able to lock down the Astros and and set up Bryce to be able to walk it off so the bullpen is so important for this unit but we know that they've been stretched too thin and so it was nice that in this last with all the with the three wins in a row with even going back to game two of the Marlins the national series The Brave series we won't talk that as much but the Royal series I think that stretch is also the bullpen to reset get them back to their usual workload get them back to you know one inning here and there not having to be uh called upon three four innings in of course taiwan's a different story we'll get there but I think that this is so huge to be able to reset the starting pitching to then reset the bullpen and it just trickles down from there and now I want to say their Phillies are back like l l I'm not going to go they're back well I I think I I I will say Bry is back B not B if Bryce is back and he's the moon of the Phillies Universe he controls the tides and the oceans then yeah they're pretty close to being back JT is back we can say that JT's definitely back I I think Bryce is back I think he's turned the corner whether it was an injury or just fatigue um you know he was playing pretty much his worst month as a philly you know what I wondered and I think Trey and Kyle are also back you know what I wondered um and this is not something that I think would cause any physical How close are you to declaring the Phillies are back? fatigue but we also have to keep in mind this is brace's full season starting from spring training all the way through at first base and obviously last year we saw him come out May was phenomenal in first base locked it down we knew he was gonna be an everyday first baseman this season but I also kind of wondered if part of maybe his wall was just it's a different ball game when you're at first base every day now for an entire season not just from May moving on and last year you're coming and you're just so excited to be back you're just excited to be able to play again this year I don't know if and I think it was mental I don't think it was all anything that was like physically taxing on him but I do wonder if there was maybe even any types of the mental grind of being an everyday first Bas and it's a bit it's different in your decision making how you're seeing the game how you're impacting the game and I also wondered if maybe it took him some time to much like we talk about with Orion settling in as a rookie like you're getting rookie first baseman in the sense of Bryce Harper of like a full rookie season for him in the sense of being an actual first baseman really nice play by him in the 10th inning there to uh to get the out behind the bag at first so that was uh that was all around really good and and I think if he's back um I want to see that keep going I'm not going to declare them fully back yet because they are what five and five over their last 10 uh maybe six and five now um over their last 11 uh whatever it is math you know they're they're they're close if they're not fully back yet they're close the bullpen has turned to Corner our sweet boy Ranger has returned he stabilized the starting rotation which will lead us uh shortly into the Taiwan Walker discussion uh but if Bryce Harper is back then yeah the Phillies are going to be back yeah I think give give me like one or two more series and I'll fully say series not game well sorry game if you win the night and take the series at home from the Astros I'll say they're back okay fair fair fair but you got to win this series you have to well the other thing that I want to still see to fully to clear the Phillies back is we need to get we saw a great return from Ranger this past weekend on Saturday I want to see that again and obviously we do know we're still working through tyon Walker is not going to make her break whether or not the Phillies are back in my opinion oh no he's a sun cost right he might toss them right he might cost them the game but he's not going to change them being back I want to see ranger Suarez fully be able to give us another strong start and Aeron NOA is another one I'm keeping an eye on like tonight is another night and I know we're get there of like okay Zack Wheeler battled out yesterday the Phillies grinded out a win we need to see aona go out there and be your number two be a be solid all the way through uh minimal damage so before I declare them back I need the pitching to continue to reset but it does help that you see your big three Kyle Trey and Brace I mean this is what you need from them as Trey Turner said it's weird we all went into a funk at once and it was very weird uh before we take care of some business we did just want to address one thing out there uh our friend uh John Foley did some great work with us over the past couple months uh he has decided on his own valtion uh to uh to leave phly and we wish him nothing but the best uh he is now a friend uh somebody we'll keep in touch with keep in the trust tree uh we wish him the best going forward Renee and uh really enjoyed our time working together with John yeah it's been fantastic to see all that he's been doing I mean he's always done such great work covering the and to be able to have him be a part of our pH family has been a fun time and we wish him nothing but the best it's like a bit seet but definitely wish him nothing but the best moving forward um and I know so many of you guys have talked and and were reaching out to him when he tweeted out that his you know he was moving in a different direction with a new opportunity so definitely excited for John uh to be able to have that chance moving forward because you know when it was game time we could always count on John to come out and be ready to go what a transition from John fully stepping away and we are going to miss his game time production but you guys you always have the game time coverage when it comes to the game time app because with the game time app you have a chance to take advantage of great prices last minute deals and those Flash Deals that as the game gets closer the tickets actually get cheaper which makes it even better so if you are last minute wanting to go out maybe wanted to try to get a ranger Suarez bobblehead yesterday for the I know for the Star Wars day maybe want to get out to see the Phillies um because you're excited to be able to see Aon Nola tonight or Taiwan Walker tomorrow I know you can use the game time app to do it to go to that game with the game time app they make it stress free for you to be able to get out to games we cannot guarantee the game won't be stressful at times we can guarantee the process for getting tickets will be and with the game time app they have What's called the Super Deal where no matter you know what you're you're looking at their deals top all the rest so you can make sure to check out for upcoming live events on the app you can browse through your seats get a nice view of your seats so you know exactly the angle you're going to be able to see the field the court the the pitch whatever it is you're looking to go to the gay Time app has you covered there they've got the Super Deal they've got their lowest price guarantee they also have EV event cancellation uh 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view so today take the guest work out of buying tickets with the game time app download the game time app create an account and use code phly to get $20 off your first purchase terms to apply again create that account and use code PHL y to get $20 off download game time today cuz what time is it game time and it was game time on my eyeballs the other day when I woke up and I went what the hell is going on itching watering the allergies I don't know if it was sleeping with the windows open or what but the allergies attacked me and I said Addie I got to run out to Right Aid because I need some help and relief and it's fall allergy season people it's going to get rough out there and make sure you're stocked up with everything you need from Right Aid go talk to your friendly neighborhood Right Aid Farm is this today they can give you some tips and pointers uh whether it be checking the pollen counts in the morning keeping your windows closed if you really suffer uh some over-the-counter medications uh that can help you because allergic reactions occur when your body misidentifies a substance such as pollen that damn pollen it's everywhere as harmful to the body and then your immune system releases histamines to fight those allergies interestingly enough these same histamines are also the cause of your allergy symptoms really confusing stuff such as a runny nose itchy or watery eyes or wheezing and that's why antihistamines medication that suppresses all this stuff in your body are often the first line of defense in treating your allergy symptoms well make the next line of defense your friendly neighborhood pharmacist at w a go talk to them they have over-the-counter options and it's still it's still if you're not having enough release just talk to that pharmacist about different types of medications you can try like decongestion uh might be worth a shot maybe they just say hey go run a netti pot through your nose go talk to them they'll shoot you straight and tell you what you need you can always ask your Right Aid pharmacist for recommendations on ways to get relief this allergy season all right Jim Salsbury is going to be joining us in about 11 minutes or so and much uh like the chat uh the big question to Jim is going to be what do the Phillies do with Taiwan walker uh Renee we talked about it yesterday kind of spitballing the idea I thought it would only make sense to wait until What do the Phillies do with Taijuan Walker? the roster expands in September and kind of get you know one or two more starts out of them Tyler and I talked last Friday night on the postgame show that he was slotted for basically seven starts for the remainder of the year to get through to September we know he's not on the playoff yeah no duh uh it's at the point now where uh his expected erra is like 67 and he's not giving the team a chance to the win uh to win but even worse he's taxing your Bullpen while doing it yeah um Rob Thompson yesterday announced he's going to bump up from Thursday to Friday I think this is strictly playing the matchups and giving them one last chance because Thursday I believe he was going to get Max freed and the Atlanta Braves Wednesday if you bump him up a day give Sanchez that extra day you get to throw him against a young kid in Spencer arag Getti for Astros probably has a little better chance of hanging in that and giving the team a chance so I think this is most likely his last opportunity uh on Wednesday if he goes out and performs well and gives the Phils a chance to win maybe you see a second or third opportunity but I think he's on a one game trial basis from here on out we'll see what he does I think he's cooked uh it probably sucks for Taiwan because he probably knows to a degree he's cooked um it is what it is and uh it could be his last start on Wednesday maybe not yeah yeah I mean listen we got a lot of updates from the team yesterday with roster moves from Weston Wilson being place on paternity leave and hope hopefully as he comes back he doesn't hit the dad kid um to Max Lazar being recalled from Triple A to replace Wilson Kobe Allard option Le High Valley buddy Kennedy recalled but then also with the Jose Alvarado news we also got the Taiwan Walker news like a lot is going on for the Phillies right now and I think it's I think to shake things up I was actually thrilled to see that Taiwan walker uh got moved up a to the point of that you mentioned Jamie for the matchup this gives you a chance to have him he's coming in no but it makes sense like would you rather have him he's not be would you rather have him series opener versus the Braves and a must needed series you have to win uh because depending on how things shake out well in general there's a close race with the Braves to continue that arm extension in the NL East but also you want to just make sure you're after dropping the last series we know that Braves have had the Phillies numbers you need to start off the series the right way and Taiwan Walker the mount is not starting off the series the right way so you get to have him close out this Astro series which gives you a chance you took care business last night Aaron Nola and the Phillies should go out and continue that again tonight and now game three hopefully is more of we're either sweeping or either way we know we already won the series that's a less pressured situation versus game one now you have Christopher Sanchez back at home game one against the Braves perfect we love that great match up against Max freed but then as we know taiwon Walker with how he's been struggling with his 626 RA in his 13 starts been on the iil twice this season his velocity hasn't been there his splitter hasn't been there he overall hasn't been able to even be the Innings eater that you need from him he's not performing and with the team right now in a space where you're getting Ranger back he's going to make his second start this week you're getting uh Bryce Harper back he's finally out of his slump the numbers that I have on like where he was and where he is now are remarkable with what he's B he's battling through with that slump you're you're getting guys that are taking steps forward and if Taiwan Walker can't move forward with the rest of the team and be better yeah we've seen them make the tough decision around Whit marfield yeah we've seen them make tough decision in the past I think this is absolutely an opportunity Taiwan this is a game there is should be no pressure the team takes care of business tonight no pressure on the series go out there lock in see it's going to be a pressure cooker cuz he's at home and the fans the fans are going to let him know for sure like there's no patience left but again you were going to be at home Wednesday or Thursday I'd rather be at home Wednesday um so I do feel like is this is it this is the test this is the final test of uh whether whether or not he's here because you do have options I know everybody's like you know one the biggest not great at all with what his contract is and how much money you spent on Taiwan Walker but at this point not my money screw the money tired of them losing games behind Taiwan walk the two years after this the eight eight uh two years 36 million 18 per that's due to him uh I think John Middleton and Dave dumbrowski already understand that's a sun cost that's gone I don't think he's on the team at all next year the question is how quickly has he gone from the team now I do think it's going to happen uh pretty soon but those options to come up Seth Johnson the guy they just acquired from Baltimore is on the 40 man roster uh of course Michael Marcato you got kobby Allard you got Drew just did someone I think the other thing that actually makes it worse for taian and Tyler Phillips we now at the end of August you we're down to what is it 35 regular season games left I think it is it's it's a very like the regular season countdown I know in the chat K saying the It's the final countdown it's also final countdown for the regular season so in reality you're not rolling out your fifth pitcher in the playoffs anyways the Phillies were looking to get to possibly a six-man rot to get their top four some extra rest heading into this heavy stretch and I know Rob was mentioned that like right now we're thinking bigger picture we're thinking playoffs we went and get these guys extra rest so the six-man rotation was the goal games with thank you nerd research from the nrd this coming in with 31 games left you really can peace meal that fifth starter it can be Kobe as you mentioned Michael it could be Seth you can peace meal it and maybe instead of the six-man rotation it's a peac meal fifth the fifth starter and now you get to the playoffs in 31 games and you don't need that person anyways so it actually is timing because you don't need Taiwan at this point in the season if we were talking like May June okay totally different story but you really don't need Taiwan Walker at this point you just need to get through to the playoffs and then you're rolling with your top for yeah I mean it's going to be Tyler I'd like to hear who you'd like to see in this group I mean we we just kind of listed the names you know it's it's guys that uh it's not great but is it better than Taiwan yeah probably is at this point but again I think if Taiwan goes out on Wednesday and looks competent he might get another starter to we'll see how many of these seven remaining starts he can make and we're certainly going to talk to Jim Salsbury about it momentarily here Tyler what would you do if you were Rob Thoms and I talked about it on uh on Friday night like I I am almost in the mindset of of thinking about Seth Johnson um and but here's the thing take a look at them why not here's the thing it's a very weird situation the Phillies find themselves in because this is the type of start piter that bad teams have where you just go you're done sit down let's see one of the young kids let's see what he's got um let me call up a Seth Johnson let me bring back up a Marcato or a Phillips or uh whoever right and it's really easy to do when you're 47 and 84 like if you're the Colorado Rockies they just go color Rockies shut down you're done for the year it's a really weird situation where the Phillies find themselves in because they do have a sunk cost starting pitcher on a team that's tring with decisions in terms of who you're going to bring up because it can't just be go out and try somebody but I think at this point um to me Colby allard's earned enough of a of he's kind of playing a fire a little bit and I think that's I think there's been a little bit of luck on his side to your point though there's no good answer he's a junk baller that's going to happen junk baller pitch like that guy he's G it going to be a start Colby Allard makes whether it's down the stretch this year next year whatever it might be where he gets absolutely obliterated he gives up nine runs in twoth thirds of an inning right because he's a junk baller he doesn't have crazy stuff his curve Ball's pretty good but like he doesn't have like insane metrics sure but I think he's earned enough of a leeway where he's keeping hitters off balance he's throwing a lot of strikes he's throwing with conviction listen that that doomsday scenario is going to happen at some point in the happens to every pitcher Not Just Junk Ballers but it's definitively going to happen to him but I think at this point if if I'm turning to somebody right away I think Allard would be the one that gets the the first n and Johnson's intriguing to look at and then you have the option of going to Bullpen games and uh all that stuff but I believe I I heard our friend join the program uh as they say uh I believe Tyler do we have Jim yeah well as we are talking through like what you want to do next I do like the idea of of Kobe Allard Tyler Phillips I I I've seen enough of for now um there are 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tell you of course about a great event coming up from a great Local Company and that's true Mark Financial they are hosting a pickleball tournament coming up so if you know some pickle ballers in your life tell them there's a great tournament coming up in Ambler to benefit a great cause the true Mark Financial Care Foundation is doing something I wholeheartedly agree with and that's raising money for financial education in our local communities I think this is not an important enough thing that is taught to children so true Mark is doing it through their Che it program and I absolutely love this so for those of you that came out to our golf outing uh you might remember our our friends over at Trum mark this is to benefit their Foundation the event is September 7th at Upper Dublin Sports Center in Ambler it's from 1:30 to 5 o'clock it's around Robin meeing it's a fun non-competitive event uh they're going to have certified pickle ball Pros on site uh paddles and balls will be available available for use for free the cost of play is $50 to benefit the charity uh but all players are going to get a swag bag from True Mark and ourselves here at all PHL so if you want to get your company involved and maybe a sponsorship or your logo at the event they're selling a variety of sponsorships anywhere from $200 to $1,000 and even if you don't want to play pickle ball come on out I think I'm bringing the family there's going to be some beer some food trucks a good time is had by all if you're playing in the tournament I'll be there playing hanging out and broadcasting from the event so come hang out with us Saturday the weather's been perfect recently and play pickle ball for a good cause the best Jim Salisbury joins the show part as a phly diard or fan you get a 10% discount on registration so register yourselves at trumark.com phly pickle ball uh all right I jumped the gun earlier and forgot we had some business to take care of but I believe our friend is now with the program uh let's welcome in Jim Salsbury to the show hello Jim hola amigos this is this is perfect golf weather Jim I mean I hope you're getting out there on the links this week I I haven't no we got to correct that it's uh it's it's it just I hate I hate golf don't ask as every true golfer says oh man uh so Jim yesterday Rob Thompson makes a little bit of news when he flipflops Taiwan Walker and Christopher Sanchez between Thursday and Friday now sanche as they call him gets an extra day an extra extra day rest uh and Taiwan Walker I I read into it as though it's probably a better matchup against Spencer arag Getti the young kid for the Astros than it is against Max freed for the Braves on Thursday you could look at it as the last opportunity before the roster expand September 1st what did you make of yesterday's roster kind of flip-flop there yeah I think both of those points are are are legit um though you know you're pitching against the other team's lineup uh not necessarily arti I do understand though how it all fits in um I I kind of take robin his word a little bit on this um uh actually I almost you know completely you know they wanted to get Sanchez a couple extra days rest uh because he's important he's had a really good year uh he's going to be important in the month of October and if you look at his Innings I mean he's you know way over his career high and he's uh he's you know continuing to pile up innings so uh you got to protect them a little bit uh much like they protect all their guys because they're budgeting for October um so I think it was about getting him a little extra time uh it also puts Taiwan Walker um out there again um on his turn and um you know it's it's like I I I think they're down to basically um a start by- start basis with Taiwan Walker if he goes out there and and has a decent one maybe he can earn another one but I think this is about getting Sanchez a little extra rest yeah well we have heard a lot of discussion Jim around uh what the Phillies are looking to do with their rotation maybe rolling out a six-man rotation uh now of course Taiwan Walker and Christopher Sanchez flip-flop you know I'm curious to know your thoughts on what the starting rotation will look like moving forward we saw Kobe Allard this past weekend in his first start in 17 uh games or days where he went out and had a f a good showing only the two home run he gave up solo homers one of them Bobby Whit Jr who's given hitting a lot of home runs against people these days um but what do you anticipate is going to be the starting rotation especially with 31 games left on the season is it six men is it possibly going to be five and maybe Taiwan Walker not in that fiveman rotation you know what are your thoughts on the future right um Rob Thompson said yesterday he he's looking at a fiveman rotation uh that's what he wants to go with um for the time being and now down to basically one month so the time being is a short period of time they used that extra guy in this stretch that they're just finishing up now they had 13 straight days they were concerned about the workload and they didn't have any off days in there they have one more stretch of 13 straight games it wouldn't surprise me that's mid September wouldn't surprise me if they kind of drop a six-man in there again uh depending on how guys are feeling it depending on you know where they are uh in the race uh you know in terms of locking their position up and and home field advantage that possibility just all those balls in play but uh he does want to go fiveman right now so you know your top four are looking pretty good they've had they've reeled off a pretty good little run here I mean Zack Wheeler what five straight quality starts he having a terrific month of uh August Nola's had a couple good ones in a row uh you know Sanchez has had coming off a really good one in the time before that or one before that was excellent and Ranger was uh very encouraging out in uh Kansas City so um you know you you going for deep right now and um I think they'll just continue to treat that fifth spot um kind of on start by start basis and A lot's going to depend on how Taiwan Walker looks tomorrow night Wednesday and if he looks okay I would expect him probably to get another one and if he doesn't uh then they're going to have to continue conversations that I'm sure they've already had already had you know about what to do with him where to put put him and um then at that point they would probably look at plugging that number five spot I mean they have time on their side because the schedule is dwindling and every time that number five you know there's a month left every time that number five spot comes up five more days have come off the calendar so uh we did the post game show Friday after his last start and Tyler and I calculated it was roughly seven spots starts remaining for the five hole right and after tomorrow night it'll be uh after tomorrow night be uh what five um or six six yeah yeah I think I I just think they can they can they can plug it if they had to or they can go with Taiwan Walker if if he's going to um turn it around here um I'm not really that worried about it because uh you can go you know Bullpen games you can go opener bul guy you can The rosters going to expand here in a couple days a few days you can um you know bring up somebody I just think you can plug it uh for for a month I mean you've been plugging two spots for more than a month I think you can handle it here but um as far as Walker I think he's probably on a start by start basis right now evaluate after each one and that would earn him another one if he pitches okay yeah Jim uh the the struggling offense over the last six weeks I think you can more or less uh just look at the highest paid offensive players on the Phillies and see why they were struggling Bryce Harper now after the weekend in Kansas City gets a double in every game gets the weight of the world off his shoulders last night with the walk-off opportunity uh looks like he has turned a corner JT definitely has and Trey and Kyle Even are starting to look better as well uh can we declare the Phillies offense back um I can declare it moving in the right direction uh and I think you know Phillies fans should be heartened by what they're seeing um you know offenses you know they can go in es and flows unfortunately and this offense ebed for quite some time but yeah I mean they had you know a couple prolific games in Kansas City where they put a pair of 11 spots on the board uh and then and then last night there was some you know they they got hits when it really mattered so uh it's good to see and the top of their lineup is coming through again they're really important schwarber Turner Harper u b cast um you know we're seeing more from the top of the lineup and that's what was missing when you know they had a rough stretch in Atlanta last week and a couple other rough stretches as some of their their top guys at the top of the lineup were just scuffling and uh this would be a really good time to you know kind of slowly get it together here as you move into the final 30 games um really build up ahead of steam and go into October with some momentum offensively because uh you starting to see a little off a little momentum on the pitching side you know Rangers looks like he might be healthy now and that's a good sign and You' seen performance from the other guys and I would expect performance to follow with Ranger um so this has a chance to line up okay for them in the month of September yeah and Jim last time we spoke I remember we signed off with by the next time we have you on the show we'll be talking about wins we'll be talking out you know positives the return of Ranger Suarez it's been three wins in a row I mean listen it's not it's not enough to write home about and and declare them officially you know going to go off and win the World Series there's still a lot of baseball left to be played but it does feel a lot different this conversation than even our last conversation when you look at the weekend the Phillies had and of course this string of wins scoring runs back-to-back games of 11 runs scored each that we're starting to see them kind of get back to where they were pre- All-Star break which is exciting to see yeah no question and and you know I think it was really big last night to come have an emotional win on the first game of a home stand against a really good Houston club that you have some history with obviously a couple of years ago in the World Series and to have your big gun have that have that hit uh that big hit by Bryce Harper to to walk it off and you know have schwarber on base create an energy and turn around base creating energy kind of the way they want it um they got a good start from Zack Wheeler uh obviously he didn't get the win but you know it was it wasn't one of those games where everybody was talking and writing about uh you know they wasted a good performance by Zack Wheeler no they got a good effort from Zack Wheeler and they cashed it in and and got themselves in the wind column so I think it was a great way to start off a a very important home because uh momentum is very important for this team you know we saw it during the last home stand schwarber hits that kind of rescue Grand Slam and they pile up some winds on top of it well this has a chance to um kind of I think be the same have the same effect last night's walk-off win they got a tough assignment tonight in verland uh one start under his belt since coming off the um uh injured list but uh you know I think you just got to go out and and and try to have good at bats the bats are getting better STS at bats are getting better Marsh had a big uh big hit last night he had a great series out in Kansas City I mean that that is such a lift right there the fact that you know he had been really struggling and striking out a lot um people starting to wonder if they were thinking about sending them to the minor leagues and I think those were discussions that were probably being had uh because they weren't getting enough well he he took he he took control of it all and basically eliminated that discussion and that narrative and he's been a real big boost for this team in the last few days so that's very good to see so they're warming in a lot of areas and those are all positives so Jim you've seen a lot of baseball games in your life yesterday uh Danny Jansen did something that's never been done in the history of the game before and that was registered himself on the box score on both teams actually had to catch his at bat when the game was suspended now I ask you the part of the beauty of baseball is you always see something you've never seen before what's the strangest thing Jim Salsbury has caught live at a game well I've probably seen some strange things over the years um wow I mean I've seen some great things I was at both of Roy holidays the perfect game and the no hitter Cole Hamill story book no hitter in Wrigley Field I was at that one when odel made that Circus catch um I was at the game when Don Zimmer went after Pedro I was covering that game Park and I could see Zimmer because I was way up in the Press Box I could see Zimmer come out of the third base Dugout and there was a big scrum around home plate I could see him run all the way around and I just followed him and he went right after Pedro um I don't know if those are unusual you know the Phillies made a trade once this is a good one they uh traded in at the trade deadline one year I think it was at the September trade deadline the waiver deal they maybe it wasn't I don't know but they in sha Stadium they traded for Todd Pratt Turk Turk Wendell from the Mets so they're playing the Mets and they make a trade for those two guys so they guys just had to change clubhouses and Turk Wendell pitches against the Phillies one day and the next day he pitches for the Phillies with Pratt behind the plate they were Mets the day before he gives up a game losing bomb to Robin Ventura while he's wearing the same under he wore for the Mets the day before that was pretty unusual that's great another another unusual one because we don't see it anymore I mean we don't see a lot of complete games anymore right I saw Cliff Lee pitch 10 shutout Innings One Night in that is strange yeah in uh it's strange given where the game has gone we just don't see the complete games we you know we think six Innings oh hey great job six Innings right so wow they uh we were in San Francisco one night and cfly is just getting the ball throwing the ball and mowing the Giants down and um all of a sudden like he's nine shutout Innings no walks and he runs out there for the 10th inning you know it was like crazy to just to see that it was surreal so he pitches 10 shutout Innings walks zero and loses the game so that was I just looked it up it was versus Matt Kane when Kane was in his prime what was the date on that uh 2012 I'm looking for the date uh this story was from February so oh on April 18 2012 oh wow wow so I wonder how many pitches he obviously he was under a 100 pitches I'm sure probably for for nine innings right yeah I'm trying to find that when he went out for the 10th but I remember being surreal when he ran out and the crowd got really quiet because everybody knew it was happening he ran ran out there for the 10th inning and 10 shut he threw just2 pitches in 10 Innings oh wow that is that is dealing that was yeah that was something and then he lost the game was that's brutal that's that's wild Jim it's it's remarkable to hear all the stories you have and yesterday was such a cool moment in baseball history but you've seen a lot of baseball history yourself so basically what I'm getting is when Jim salsbury's in the ballpark great things are very likely to happen I I don't know about that I just I've seen games there's been a lot of games or that part I've seen a lot of a lot I'm trying to think of some others but but uh they'll probably come to me but uh every day you know it's it's true what they say I know it's a cliche but every day at the Ballpark you have a chance to see something you've never seen before yeah it is the beauty of the game Jim last one for you as we uh wrap up here Johan ras' defense he appears to have really wred the ship there and that that catch last night in the 10th inning I mean that's a game saving catch his his defense has been spectacular lately it should be it needs to be that's his calling card so you better be good at the stuff you're supposed to be good at if you're going to be here and contribute so yeah that was a big play last night a game saer like you said uh not sure anybody else on the roster gets to that uh because he's you know he's he's quick he's got that great closing speed uh but you can help a team win a game in all kinds of ways you know with a walk with a great defensive play with a heads up base running play with a big hit uh it's not always just doubles off the wall and home runs that win ball games it takes all the little things uh eliminating bonehead plays can win can win you ball game so good job by Johan Roos you you know do the things the things that you do well you need to do well and uh he he came out last night and did that so a lot of little things in that game were real positives and um it's always good to win the first one of them home stand especially when you got Aaron NOA picking you up on the second night so you have a chance to extend this winning streak a little bit more yeah versus sherzer is going to be or Verlander excuse me I have sherzer Verlander on my mind still Verlander versus Nola is a great one uh as always you can read Jim's writing on all phly.com uh Jim as always we appreciate it and we will talk again soon all right guys good to be with you have a great day see you yeah you too buddy see you and there he is Jim Salsbury uh the reason I wanted to end there with Ros was because I wanted to give him some love for that play last night um and Tyler has the graphic I I went to look Johan Rojas Defense at the catch probability rate last night and I kind of got lost in some other things about his defensive metrics lately um he look started the year kind of slow and sluggish and he wasn't really he was getting the balls but he wasn't catching the balls uh for the last two three months he's been back to what we all expected defensively and when you just look at those MLB Savant fielding percentages right there uh with the running speed on top of it 100th percentile for running arm strength is 94 and look I once called this a candy ass armed Outfield I I'll I'll take my uh my uh come up and there his arm strength in the 94th 97th and another 96th and another uh dude's been an absolute stud in the field yeah and I remember when we saw Yan roas had a play earlier in the season where he ran into the wall and after that was a little bit less aggressive he seemed a bit hesitant of just kind of reading the ball and going after it and you see him getting back like he's already got the speed he reads the game really well and to be to come in as he reacts so well he's got an explosive first step and they come in as a defensive replacement and make that diving play where you know you're you're you're not hesitating you're making a game-winning play there he almost made it look easy he did make it look easy he always does make it look easy and we we've seen times where maybe the glove placement or he's he might even be overthinking a bit causes him to Bobble those plays but lately he's progressing in the right direction and to be honest with his new role especially since they brought in Austin Hayes he's not an everyday center fielder we've been seeing better production from Yan all around his at bats look better he's being able to grind out whether it's it's a walk it's a bun whatever it may be and then on top of that the icing on the cake that you already knew was his strength on the defensive side so as much as we talk about yesterday Zack Wheeler Bryce Harper there are so many other names Johan rohas being one of them that made big game-winning gamechanging plays that has you encouraged you have a piece like that that can come and fill in as an outfielder wherever needed Nick casianos is another one that I have to give some love to because you um before you do over the last 30 days Johan is hitting 306 346 on base 367 slug which is you uh but his Ops is 714 so to your point he's doing it both offensively and defensively lately now throw some flowers at castios right and he's meant as a defensive piece and giving you the offense I mean those are above what we expected in a good case scenario I remember saying what do we want to see from Johan that would that would be good that is phenomenal and that's fantastic well Nick has also been really good as well because we saw him get the RBI last night he's now had for the month of August for Nick casianos he's got um it's 11 RBI he's had five in the last week for the month of August and his numbers the last 15 days a 314 340 490 split with an 830 Ops Nick casianos who has just been doing his job he's been that everyday right fielder he's been contributing he's been someone that you know makes the play where needed and to see him make that play was fantastic I got some other guys to give love to before we start previewing tonight but I just am so happy with the fact that Nick has emerged as a guy that went from everybody wanting him to be DFA released traded figure out a way to get rid of Nick and now he's someone that you can count on in big moments to make the play and also just to be able to contribute to the team every single day yeah uh one other observation from last night uh Phillies fans you're the best in Major League Baseball uh Jose Altuve is a dirty rotten cheater who's very very good at baseball and will be in cbers sound right there one day but that was one of the best uh welcome to the game moments I've seen from a long time so we're gonna give you a little golf clap there Phillies fans you deserve it that was awesome yeah uh keeping the flowers going we saw Kyle SCH I love watching him run full speed put him he's on second base 10th inning Kyle schwarber is the guy get going he's is the man that you're choosing as the the ghost runner in a big moment game on the line Speedy slim schwarber and Rob was saying with how well he's been running the base he had all the the confidence in the world in Kyle and Kyle schwarber last night gets from he was saying he was going to go no matter what once Trey got on first base he was like I'm going no matter what I'm the automatic Runner I'm out here for a reason and he made it count and what makes it even better his run from second to home 7.1 seconds according to stat cast that was the fastest second to home time of his career he moving of his career and uh that's 14 seconds around the bases right that's we're talking about so would be like right now I don't want to get like overly happy and excited with the Phillies but these are the little things you have Kyle who's a guy that has been what percentile he's in for Major League Baseball for Sprint speed anybody want to guess um no cuz I don't know like I think he had the the adrenaline was pumping last I do know 12 what' you say 12 very close oh 14th percentile in Sprint speed which is frankly a little better than I would have I would have guessed like five or six uh but the adrenaline got to him last night and dude was all it was great it was great to see because he was right I mean you have Trey behind you he's like even if I get out there were no outs I'm going to go for it no matter what because I know Trey's behind me and you know I I trust I have I have faith and he just took off like a bat out of hell and to get there in 7.1 seconds impressive was amazing um really quickly though on Bryce Harper to give some numbers before we uh start previewing tonight so we saw his double to start off the game once he had that double I was like all right this is going to be a good game for Bryce it was his hardest hit ball of the night he only had one swing and Miss of his 21 pitches last night he also had the two walks in a game that was the first since July 13th he doubled now in four cons consecutive games and after what his numbers were going into the Kansas City series where he was batting 210 with a 674 Ops since returning from his hamstring injury because I told you the numbers were bad we talked about that on H Thursday awful numbers since coming back July 9th from his hamstring he had only walked eight times since July 19th well last night he also made some other firsts his first walk-off hit since 2020 and his 15th walk yeah his 15 walk-off plate appearance of his career and six with the Phillies we haven't really been seeing Bryce Harper um lately of course do much of anything offensively consistently well and it was great to see him where he was coming in last night batting 211 with three homers 10 RB a 628 Ops and an 0 for 24 skid from July 27th to August 3rd he's been struggling and last night from the moment he got that double on you knew Bryce was like you had Joel embiid In The Crowd recording we all knew it's showtime John K couldn't stop talking about how bad it would be to sit behind Joel and beat at a game it's a fair point is massive uh but I'm sure whoever was sitting behind him enjoyed their experience sit behind Joel and be too by the way he was like recording the entire game correct correct he posted it we actually retweeted it last night he posted it on his Instagram the video so you got to see uh from the perspec are you really complaining if you're sitting behind Jo though hwise yes but like you're sitting behind Joel and be yeah so tonight's game real quick it's Verlander versus Nola we all know what it is go out there and get it done Aaron please uh Justin Verlander as Jim alluded to there uh since his return from the I has just made the one start he went five innings um allowed two earn runs uh no home runs four hits on the night struck out six he's he's a real SOB he threw 76 uh pitches he's an SOB to go against even at age what 41 now so it's not going to be easy you need Nola to kind of go out there and battle for you a little bit tonight um all right Renee before we get out of here let's uh cruise around Major League Baseball for Around MLB a quick second uh showy Otani is um your man he is well on his way to being a 5050 player a 50 home run 50 stolen base player this man is a freak yeah he's something he's something else he's built different and uh he's someone that you can't even hate on we're watching greatness regardless who you're a fan of regardless you know we talk we're talking Phillies but this is just great for baseball to see him just the numbers the it's ridiculous and he's going to be a young candidate next year I was going to say and we are not even talking about him pitching like this is just we're we're witnessing greatness and I can appreciate greatness of about sport anytime uh Dylan Cruz we talked about yesterday the heralded rookie for the Nationals made his debut went 0 for three clearly his career is over that's sad for the Nationals been nice not yeah uh O'Neal Cruz uh he is a short stop a former shortstop for the Pirates who stands at 6' 7 in and hits piss missiles uh got moved to center field last night for the Pirates so a new experiment there for them maybe a new position uh seeing how he goes and I hate to be the one to deliver this news to Phillies fans to you and Tyler um but the conine curse Jeff conine who played for the Florida Marlins now the Miami Marlins at the time used to kill the Phillies Mr Mar Jeff conine the man that played like Babe Ruth every time he played the Phillies well his his son another conine and if he went to another team I'd go okay whatever he can't hurt us but Jeff conine son becomes a Miami Marlin and the con The conine Curse still lives in the hearts and minds of Phillies fans for probably the next decade and every time this kid comes to bat versus the Phillies I'm I'm going to expect the worst is it is it history repeating itself or is it a chance to get revenge against the co9 let's spin it maybe it's a chance to get back at conine for what his dad did to the Phillies all those years but it is just it's kind of a really cool moment though like yeah it's very cool for the family great Phil I don't want the conin to do well but I think this the time for Phillies to rewrite history and correct all the wrongdoings that did fingers crossed Royals won their game versus Guardians last night we talked about that they're now only one game back in the AL Central Diamondbacks those pesky sobs in the desert have won six in a row and Renee your final note on MLB I just see you added Whitley oh no I did that oh you did Tyler torture us with fig to do it yeah Whit mfield last night uh just I mean now granted everybody uh hit well for the Braves last night I believe they scored 10 runs yeah I think they had 16 hits yesterday uh Whit marfield five for five two runs scored in yesterday's game Enemy of the State playing great baseball apparently now in Atlanta that's awesome great he look like allar yeah so uh to Jim Salsbury we thank you for joining us for Tyler producing thank you to for Renee Washington myself Jamie Lynch we are signing off for the day tomorrow we have a postgame show in the afternoon so we will see you then maybe 4:30 is 4:45 walk fun join us then we'll see you bye [Music] we all sting like the May