01:44 - Thank you for joining us inside the lines.

01:46 - I'm Corey Clark.

01:48 - Tonight, we're going to take a look at the playoff prospects

01:51 - of the Philadelphia Phillies, who sit now as the number two seed.

01:55 - And they've earned themselves a week off before their playoffs.

01:59 - Their postseason begins on October 4th.

02:02 - And who better to join us than two of the men?

02:05 - The two best beat writers on the Phillies

02:07 - beat first alphabetically from The Athletic.

02:10 - Matt Kalb

02:13 - and from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

02:16 - Scott Lauber

02:18 - was good to be here.

02:21 - Scott, I'll start with you.

02:23 - This team,

02:25 - has had diminishing returns

02:27 - going back to 2022.

02:31 - When they went all the way to the World.

02:32 - Series, won the pennant.

02:36 - They've lost

02:37 - in an earlier round every year, since.

02:40 - But this year, they seem to be on more of a roll.

02:44 - Right?

02:44 - They had 18 wins in August, 17 wins in September.

02:49 - There seems to be a little bit more more momentum going into October this time

02:54 - it's a little

02:55 - bit more momentum, but also a little bit more consistency.

02:58 - Just from the beginning of the season through to the end, they've had a couple

03:02 - of different kinds of off of regular seasons the last few years.

03:06 - Last year, obviously they get off to a hot start

03:10 - and really we're a 500 team from about the middle of June on the year

03:14 - before, it was kind of the opposite, slow start, better second half this year.

03:19 - They were really,

03:21 - pretty, pretty level from beginning to end, pretty consistent

03:24 - from beginning to end.

03:25 - And I think they did kind of peak,

03:28 - over the final two months of the year after the trade deadline,

03:31 - when they added a closer and Joe on Duran, when they added a center fielder

03:35 - and Harrison Bader, and then they really kind of put together

03:38 - a couple of months that have them feeling good going into the postseason.

03:41 - But as you said, they've back the last couple of postseasons, going

03:45 - from the pennant in 22 to the LCS

03:48 - game seven and 23 to the first round last year.

03:52 - And there's going to be a certain amount of pressure on this group to

03:54 - kind of do it.

03:56 - Once more.

03:57 - They've been together now for four years.

04:00 - It might be the last year that they are all together as a core,

04:03 - as a group, and there's going to be some pressure on them to finally,

04:07 - you know, get through to the end of October, and be,

04:11 - back in the World Series again and have another crack at it.

04:15 - And, Matt, the other side of it

04:17 - is you wrote about how,

04:21 - the one side being the momentum going into the playoffs.

04:25 - But this year,

04:29 - their win totals have gone up in the regular season each year.

04:32 - And they even did better, this season.

04:34 - So the regular season side,

04:38 - as, as Scott was saying, they've been more consistent, but they've,

04:42 - they've they've managed to up their win total over the last four years to.

04:46 - Yeah, man, I think it just speaks to the roster that they've built.

04:49 - And it's crazy when you think about it because they've done this.

04:52 - You know

04:52 - without Zack Wheeler for the last six weeks

04:54 - of the regular season and they go into the postseason,

04:57 - you know, as one of the favorites to win it all without Zack Wheeler

05:00 - and not having Zack Wheeler at the top of the rotation, is such a huge thing.

05:05 - But, you know, Christopher Sanchez has really stepped up.

05:09 - He'll be starting game one for the Phillies in the NLDs.

05:12 - And then Hazel Lozada, who was an off season trade acquisition,

05:16 - you know, probably goes down

05:17 - as one of the better trades that was made, in all of baseball,

05:20 - last off season, just given what was asked of gave them 200 innings.

05:24 - Had some hiccups during the season but finished, the season strong.

05:27 - And he's a guy that they trust and he could start game two for them.

05:30 - And you have Ranger Suarez in game three possibly. So

05:34 - you know, without Zack

05:35 - Wheeler, it's a heavier lift.

05:39 - This might be the most talented team they've had, but without Wheeler

05:42 - in the playoffs, it's they're not as good as they were previous years.

05:46 - I do think, though, there's a feeling that,

05:48 - like Scott said, they're a little more consistent.

05:51 - I think there's a better feeling about the lineup going into this October.

05:54 - And that manifested in those 96 wins during the season.

05:57 - There was just a more consistent offense.

05:58 - I mean, since August 1st after the trade deadline,

06:01 - they were one of, if not the best offenses in baseball.

06:04 - Over that stretches two months of really, really, really good production

06:08 - from their lineup.

06:09 - And I don't know that that was overlooked.

06:10 - I mean, we tend to focus on the pitching

06:12 - in the bullpen, and we think about that all the time.

06:14 - But, their offense really, really produced in the last two months.

06:18 - And I think that's why they have some confidence going into October.

06:23 - Yeah.

06:24 - Scott, you, you both mentioned the, acquisition of Bader and Duran.

06:30 - Did the Phillies have the best

06:32 - trade deadline?

06:33 - And, you know, shore up their center field?

06:38 - You know, and and the end of their bullpen.

06:40 - I mean, if you look back on it, it kind of seems like they had one of the best,

06:44 - if not the best, trade deadlines, you know?

06:47 - I mean, you could certainly make that argument

06:49 - and and you'd be on firm ground if you did.

06:52 - You know, they got they kind of went to the top of the, of the closer

06:56 - market and got the best available guy out there in Tehran,

07:00 - not only for the rest of this year, but they have him, beyond this season.

07:05 - He's under control.

07:07 - They gave up a lot to get him.

07:08 - They gave up two top 100 prospects in the sport in Eduardo Tight and Mike Abel.

07:13 - But, you know, it was the kind of a trade that,

07:16 - you know, Dave Dombrowski has made in the past

07:19 - when he thinks he has a chance to go get it.

07:22 - Go get that World Series.

07:24 - And to think that they were able to get Iran without touching,

07:27 - Andrew Paynter, Justin Crawford or Aiden Miller was was pretty incredible.

07:33 - And look, I mean, if we're being honest about Harrison Bader, you know, I don't,

07:38 - you know,

07:39 - nobody first foresaw that they would get this kind of production out of him.

07:43 - They thought, okay, you know,

07:44 - they've been looking for a right handed hitting outfielder for quite some time.

07:48 - And they landed on Bader this time.

07:50 - They could have easily landed on someone else,

07:52 - but I think they liked the season he was having in Minnesota.

07:56 - They liked some of the adjustments that he had made at the plate,

07:59 - and they thought that he could carry that through for at least a couple of months

08:02 - and give them more stability than they've had for quite some time in center field.

08:06 - And that's exactly what they got.

08:08 - So, you know, they did they had a terrific deadline.

08:11 - It was kind of a pivot point of their season.

08:13 - And, you know, it was it was definitely, you know, I thought.

08:17 - But then again, like,

08:18 - I thought the Mets had a good trade deadline

08:20 - and they obviously had a horrible trade deadline.

08:22 - So, I think the Phillies knew what they were getting into.

08:25 - Darren.

08:25 - Maybe they got more than they expected out of Baker and off they went.

08:31 - Yeah, I think with Bader too.

08:32 - I mean you mentioned his brought.

08:34 - Yeah. Go for it.

08:35 - He's brought stability to a position that,

08:38 - you know, really has been a black hole for the Phillies for quite some time now.

08:40 - And no doubt as Scott said, Bader,

08:43 - you know, probably hit better than the Phillies expected or anyone expecting.

08:47 - He's probably not as good as he hit,

08:49 - you know, for the last two months of the season.

08:51 - But really, they just need another awesome four weeks from him.

08:54 - And it's going to go down as one of the, you know, better trades they've ever made.

08:57 - But I think he's just he's brought stability and confidence to center field.

09:01 - And he allowed the Phillies to do things that they wanted to do to their outfield

09:05 - for months.

09:06 - You know, they got Brandon Marsh over the left field where he's better.

09:09 - They're more suited for that spot.

09:11 - And it allowed them to cut into Nick Castellanos, his playing time.

09:15 - Really he had not produced for much of the summertime.

09:18 - And they found a way to get Max Kepler

09:22 - more time in right field and make it really a platoon out there

09:24 - because they had a surefire center fielder.

09:27 - They didn't have to worry about platooning in center field anymore.

09:30 - It just allowed them to do things.

09:32 - And their their outfield defense as a whole has improved so much.

09:36 - And that is a big, big thing going into October.

09:42 - Right.

09:42 - And he's,

09:45 - Phillies manager Rob Thompson

09:47 - made a lot of interesting decisions and moves in that outfield. But

09:52 - Harrison Bader and Marsh were, were more,

09:56 - consistent, after the trade deadline.

09:59 - But talk about who seemed to be the odd man out.

10:02 - Castellanos.

10:03 - What is his role now on this team?

10:07 - I mean, I see him starting.

10:08 - Oh, yeah. Go ahead, go ahead.

10:11 - I see him starting against lefties, possibly in the postseason.

10:15 - I don't know if that's a surefire thing, but,

10:19 - you know, he's a guy who I think they could use as a pinch

10:21 - hitter later in games.

10:22 - If a team does bring in a lefty to face either.

10:25 - Marsh or Kapler, you could see Castellanos pinch hitting there.

10:29 - It's a different role for him.

10:30 - He's been an everyday guy for his entire career,

10:33 - and I think it's required some adjustments.

10:34 - And they were trying to get him acclimated to that role in September

10:38 - by using him as a pinch hitter every now and then, later in game.

10:43 - But they might not face a lot of lefties in this playoffs.

10:45 - And it might mean that Castellanos is not really playing very much.

10:48 - Yeah, I agree with Matt.

10:50 - Like I think he's probably in the lineup against Blake Snell.

10:54 - You know or he's probably in the lineup against trying to think who you know

10:58 - maybe in mid-August if they play the Cubs in the NLCS.

11:02 - Like it's the tough lefty that I think he's going to get an opportunity against.

11:07 - Other than that I think it's it's he's coming off the bench

11:10 - as a pinch hitter in the middle of a game.

11:12 - And, you know, we've talked about and this is like roster minutia right.

11:17 - Sort of end of the roster stuff.

11:18 - But like,

11:19 - you know, Johan Rojas was someone who I thought would have a real role

11:22 - on a postseason roster.

11:23 - Because if you pinch hit with Castellanos in the middle of a game,

11:27 - you're going to want a run for him.

11:28 - If he gets on base and then be defend for him,

11:31 - when you've got to put him out in the outfield.

11:33 - And Rojas will not be available to them at least until the nlso. Yes.

11:36 - So, you know,

11:37 - there are issues with bringing Castellanos in in the middle of a game.

11:40 - You do lose some defense if you do that.

11:43 - So I think you would do it if you were behind, you would do it.

11:46 - Obviously, if you need someone to come off the bench

11:48 - and maybe try to,

11:49 - you know, get an extra base hit or drive in a run or something like that,

11:52 - but I'm not sure you're going to do it when you're ahead,

11:55 - and I'm not sure you're going to do it just, you know, sort of as a reflex

11:58 - when a team brings in a lefty because there are real benefits,

12:01 - especially if you have the lead to leaving Marsh and or Kepler in the game.

12:09 - Yeah.

12:09 - It seems like, whatever Thompson did, it

12:13 - sort of worked out, as Matt was saying earlier,

12:17 - with the with the offensive production,

12:19 - but some other managerial decisions that, the fans have always questioned

12:24 - with, Rob is the, the bullpen some

12:28 - especially in the postseason. So,

12:34 - Matt, what is the

12:36 - how's the bullpen looking going into the postseason

12:41 - mean?

12:41 - I think it's a different dynamic for them this year,

12:42 - and that they do have a set guy in the back, you know, as a closer

12:46 - in John Duran and

12:49 - they could push him.

12:50 - You know I fully expect him to be getting a chances at,

12:53 - you know four outs or five outs save, you know, more than one inning at a time.

12:58 - Especially with the extra off days in this National League Division Series.

13:01 - There's an off day between games one and two, which is unusual.

13:05 - There's only two days where you're playing consecutive games.

13:08 - That's games three and four on back to back days.

13:11 - That's it. There's a lot of off days so they can be,

13:14 - you know, a little more aggressive with how they use their best relievers.

13:17 - But now that you have Duran at the back and, you know, he's at the end, you know,

13:21 - you can sort of have more clearly defined roles, I think, in this bullpen.

13:25 - And to me, David Robertson and Matt Strahm are the primary setup guys.

13:29 - You know, the guys that you would see in the

13:30 - seventh or eighth or maybe in the sixth, if you think you can push Duran,

13:34 - you know, two innings

13:36 - and then the middle of the game, if there's trouble and you need a lefty,

13:38 - it's probably going to be Tanner banks.

13:40 - And if there's trouble and you need a righty, it's

13:41 - probably going to be a Ryan Kercher thing.

13:43 - And you know, if all those guys are listed,

13:45 - there's been good and bad for them this year.

13:48 - It's not a rock solid group, but I think it is a steady group.

13:52 - I think it's a group that they feel like they can trust in certain match ups,

13:57 - and if they get them the right match ups in games that,

14:00 - they're confident in those pitchers,

14:03 - it's not a big strikeout group.

14:05 - And that's what's interesting to me, because in the playoffs, you're

14:08 - always chasing strikeouts, especially from your relievers.

14:10 - You want your bullpen to get a lot of swing and miss.

14:14 - That's not necessarily this group.

14:15 - They don't throw as hard as previous versions of the Phillies

14:18 - bullpens have thrown up,

14:21 - but their strength is the starting pitching, and it's gonna be interesting.

14:23 - They're going to face a decision.

14:24 - Rob Thompson's going to have a moment,

14:26 - you know, in the fifth or sixth inning of a game,

14:29 - and it's going to be a close game, and there's going to be guys on base.

14:32 - And you're saying, okay,

14:32 - is he sticking with his starter or is he going to his bullpen?

14:36 - Yeah, I mean, we're talking here on the morning

14:39 - after, Yankees Red Sox game one of a wild card series

14:43 - in which Aaron Boone did not stick with his starter

14:46 - at 100 pitches and lost, and Alex Cora did.

14:49 - And one he pushed Garrett Crochet to 117 pitches.

14:53 - Now Rob Thompson's, you know, sort of

14:56 - history over the last three postseasons has been, to push the bullpen

15:01 - a lot more, in those middle innings to not push the starters.

15:04 - Other than Zack Wheeler, really,

15:07 - to kind of have, you know, and it's not just Rob Thompson.

15:10 - Most managers, I think, in the postseason tend to behave this way.

15:13 - They lean more on their bullpen.

15:15 - And to me, and I'm writing something about this, you know, some of these games,

15:20 - maybe most of these games might be won or lost in the sixth

15:23 - and seventh innings of these games, maybe even the fifth and sixth.

15:27 - How does he decide to sort of deploy this bullpen

15:30 - and when how much will he push the starters?

15:33 - Maybe Christopher Sanchez gets the longest shot

15:36 - to go deep into games because he's their number one guy.

15:39 - And they probably I think they trust him more than they trust anybody else

15:43 - in their rotation.

15:44 - But like how do you navigate like outs 16 through 21 let's say of a game.

15:51 - And do they have the, the, the horses to do that.

15:54 - Because as Matt said, they're not a huge strikeout bullpen. So,

15:58 - you know, this is why the focus tends to be on the managers in the postseason

16:01 - and why I do think that, bullpen management becomes so huge

16:06 - because they kind of come out of the they kind of come out of their,

16:10 - their patterns from during the regular season

16:12 - and behave differently in the, in the, in the postseason.

16:14 - And we'll see how Rob Thompson handles this postseason.

16:20 - Scott, do we know who is

16:24 - who we're going to take, who the Phillies are going to take into the postseason?

16:28 - Which pitchers are there?

16:29 - I'm thinking of guys like, Robertson

16:32 - or, Buehler and Taiwan Walker.

16:36 - Are these guys going to be part of the,

16:38 - the roster in the first part of the, postseason?

16:42 - So they have a few more days to set their roster.

16:44 - They don't have to set it until Saturday.

16:46 - I fully expect that all the guys you just named will be there.

16:49 - Certainly.

16:50 - David Robertson as Matt said, is a big part of the

16:53 - the bullpen and the late inning mix in particular.

16:56 - Seven fitting maybe even a little earlier if they need them.

16:59 - But I think seventh inning a fitting to get to Darren.

17:03 - He's a big part of that, along with Matt Strahm.

17:06 - They do have some interesting choices to make with regard to

17:09 - not whether they put Taijuan Walker or Walker Buehler on the roster,

17:14 - I think I think they'll be on the roster, but it's how they use them.

17:17 - They're both long time starters in their careers.

17:20 - Taijuan Walker I thought kind of found a little bit

17:23 - of a routine that he was able to utilize this year when he

17:26 - he went to the bullpen and I think would tell you he feels more comfortable

17:30 - coming out of the bullpen now than he has ever felt in his career.

17:33 - But Walker Buehler, quite clearly, I think Matt would agree quite clearly,

17:37 - is not all that comfortable with it yet and is still trying to figure it out.

17:41 - He did get the final out of the World Series last year.

17:45 - So, you know, it's not something that's completely foreign to him, but,

17:49 - you know, these are going to be interesting guys,

17:51 - especially if we're talking about the middle of the game.

17:53 - And maybe how do you bridge a shorter start with,

17:57 - you know, your real guys at the at the end of your bullpen?

18:01 - How do you deploy some of those guys?

18:02 - So it's going to be very, very interesting to see how they all

18:06 - how the puzzle all kind of fits into place.

18:10 - Matt, the one name we haven't

18:12 - mentioned yet is Aaron Nola, who said,

18:15 - who is a, you know, a perennial,

18:18 - you know, front of the rotation guy in the postseason

18:21 - since, you know, the Phillies have been making the postseason.

18:24 - But kind of had a rough year this year, dealt with injury,

18:28 - and has been up and down since he came back.

18:30 - So what are what where is he going to be

18:34 - on Saturday?

18:36 - I mean, I think he's going to be on the roster

18:38 - and there's a lot of different things in the air here.

18:40 - I mean, the Phillies could

18:42 - like, use him as a reliever.

18:44 - But probably not.

18:45 - You know, I think he's on there just as insurance, in case,

18:48 - you know, there's an extra inning game.

18:49 - And remember, in in October, the extra inning rules are different.

18:53 - There's no, there's no ghost runners.

18:55 - It's back to being a normal extra inning game so this games could go longer.

18:59 - I also think there's a scenario in which, you know, one of their

19:02 - lefty starters ends up the ends up having to use him as a reliever.

19:06 - You know, sometime in the NLDs early in the series.

19:08 - And all of a sudden, you know, they need another starter.

19:11 - And maybe it's Aaron Nola starting, you know game three or game for the NLDs.

19:15 - I mean, probably not, but I think they've left a lot of these doors open.

19:18 - And that's simply because, you know, if they are facing the Los Angeles

19:21 - Dodgers NLDs, you know, they are good against lefties.

19:26 - And so that's there's a trade off here that they have to make.

19:29 - I mean, the Phillies would probably be starting three lefties in the first round.

19:33 - You know, but that's an unusual arrangement.

19:35 - I mean, I think they would have loved Aaron Nola

19:37 - to step up and really take a role in his final start of the season

19:41 - against twins, a team that's going nowhere and sold off all its pieces.

19:45 - It was very good. It was his best start of the season.

19:47 - So you take it with a grain of salt. But I mean, the stuff was better, right?

19:50 - I mean, he was throwing harder.

19:51 - It was crisp. There were more strikes.

19:53 - So I think he left a good last impression on them.

19:56 - And I think they're thinking about ways to use him.

19:58 - But most likely, you know, you won't see him on the mound

20:01 - until the NLCS if the Phillies get there and they need a fourth starter.

20:09 - Scott, let's talk to me.

20:10 - Take another look at the, Oh, God.

20:13 - No, I was just going to throw in there, too.

20:15 - Like, I do think Rob Thompson puts a lot of stock in

20:18 - the postseason track record, which you know Aaron Nola's been there.

20:22 - He has pitched I think he's made the you know, he's made the second

20:26 - most starts,

20:28 - to Zack Wheeler in the last three postseasons.

20:31 - He's been sort of their their second guy, in their rotation.

20:35 - They already don't have Wheeler.

20:37 - So look, I do think that Rob Thompson values that

20:40 - and he values that experience and and all of that.

20:43 - And and I, you know, I fully expect him

20:46 - to start in the NLCS when they need a fourth starter.

20:49 - And as Matt said, maybe something goes haywire early in the Division Series.

20:53 - And they do need him earlier than that.

20:55 - But, you know, I think he's on the roster.

20:58 - And I think Matt's right.

21:00 - He did leave them with a good a good impression.

21:03 - After that twins start.

21:04 - And I think they feel probably

21:05 - a little bit better about him right now than they did a month or so ago.

21:13 - Yep. Aaron Nola, five and three record and,

21:19 - in the postseason with a 3.18 ERA.

21:23 - So he's been a solid guy, but it's sort of a different,

21:27 - been an interesting year for him.

21:28 - So let's take another look at this lineup.

21:31 - Scott, the Phillies pulled off the rare split Triple Crown with,

21:37 - Trey Turner capturing the batting title

21:40 - and, home run and RBI leader and Kyle Schwarber.

21:44 - So do we expect that kind of production out of these guys

21:49 - come Saturday?

21:52 - They would love it.

21:53 - If, if, if they got, you know, the regular season

21:56 - production out of those guys, I mean typically like, you know,

21:59 - there's less offense in the postseason because the pitching is so good.

22:03 - But there's no question that their lineup

22:05 - is carried by and and led by, you know, the three some of of Trey

22:11 - Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper batting one, two three in the lineup.

22:14 - And you know, I think it's important, if they could get those guys to the plate

22:19 - five times apiece in these postseason games and get 15 at bats

22:23 - or 15 plate appearances from them, they'd be in great shape.

22:26 - They'd sign for that right now.

22:27 - And I think, you know, the more often that they can get them up

22:31 - there, the better their chances to win.

22:32 - That's not saying anything that that's that's revolutionary here.

22:35 - But, you know, obviously, it's as good a top three as there is.

22:40 - The Dodgers would look at Ohtani and Betts and Freeman and say like, you know,

22:44 - will match our three against yours.

22:46 - But, you know, I, I think the offense goes with those three guys

22:50 - and they've all got to be stars.

22:52 - Stars win in the postseason.

22:53 - And those three guys have to be big stars.

22:57 - And Scott, you wrote about,

22:59 - Bryce and how he has been super consistent in October.

23:04 - But the only thing missing being actually winning the championship.

23:09 - But he's been probably the most consistent hitter of all

23:12 - the offensive issues this team has had.

23:15 - In the postseason.

23:16 - He was not really part of that.

23:20 - I mean, I think that there are I think I looked it up.

23:22 - There are 64 player active players with 100 plate

23:26 - appearances, career plate appearances.

23:28 - In the postseason, he ranked second in Ops.

23:31 - His Ops is over 1000 in the postseason.

23:34 - You know, he's been really good in the postseason.

23:36 - On on balance for the majority of his career.

23:39 - And there's one thing missing.

23:40 - And it's it's it's a championship at the end.

23:43 - And of course, baseball is not like the other sports.

23:45 - You know, the star player doesn't necessarily,

23:48 - you know, can't necessarily win a game on his own.

23:50 - You bat when you bat in the lineup and you only bat,

23:54 - when your turn comes up and you know, you can't, win a game on your own.

23:58 - So, he's done, about as much as any active player has done in the postseason.

24:03 - And, and, you know, I think that they fully expect they'll get,

24:07 - you know, superstar Bryce Harper, in October again this year.

24:14 - Matt, a couple of

24:15 - guys who we haven't talked about yet,

24:18 - Alec Boehm who come who came back from injury

24:22 - and has been really productive, since then.

24:25 - And, Edmundo Sosa, who has been very consistent,

24:30 - sort of a utility man who's been able to fill in

24:33 - for everybody, whoever was hurt

24:36 - one of their roles in this postseason,

24:38 - start with, with, with Bowen.

24:42 - I mean, Bohm is probably batting cleanup for them.

24:45 - And. Yeah, and you're right.

24:45 - I mean, his

24:47 - his return from the injured list at the end of the season, was quite good.

24:51 - He finished the regular season on a, I think, a ten game winning streak.

24:56 - Took some really good swings, right?

24:57 - I mean, he was driving the ball,

24:59 - to the post side, which is something we really didn't see from him

25:02 - for much of the season.

25:03 - His power output really went down.

25:05 - It was a disappointing season for Bohm as a whole.

25:08 - But I think he took some of his best,

25:09 - you know, the best at bats he's taken all season in the final ten days.

25:13 - He was using the whole field.

25:15 - Wasn't striking out.

25:16 - Just looked like a confident guy.

25:18 - And he had been battling this shoulder injury.

25:20 - They said, now, you know, for for quite some time.

25:22 - And I think just getting some downtime with it.

25:25 - Getting this week, the bye week, you know, to get

25:28 - a little more rest for that shoulder I think will help him.

25:31 - And just having that consistent run producer,

25:33 - and the clean up swap, that would be pretty big for the Phillies

25:36 - going into October, because it's something that they,

25:39 - they didn't have last October. Remember?

25:41 - Alec Bowen was, famously benched, you know, in the second game

25:44 - of the NLDs last year just because, he wasn't producing.

25:48 - There was some bad body language.

25:50 - He looks like a different guy right now, which is.

25:52 - Which is quite the thing.

25:53 - So as far as Sosa goes, I think he'll mostly be on the bench.

25:57 - And I think that, you know, if they do face a lefty,

26:00 - that he will be starting at second base.

26:02 - And it's it's a tough decision, mainly because Bryson Stott has been

26:07 - one of the best second baseman in baseball now for more than two months.

26:10 - He made some adjustments at the end of July.

26:13 - And it's really shown, he's hitting for more power.

26:17 - He's more consistent.

26:18 - He played great second base defensively this year.

26:22 - You know, but it's hard to ignore Sosa's numbers against lefties.

26:25 - That's why he's on this roster.

26:26 - And so I do think if they face a lefty Sosa is playing at second base,

26:30 - I think the question will be, you know, late in games again,

26:33 - whether the Phillies use Sosa as a pinch hitter for stat,

26:37 - if a team does bring in a tough lefty

26:38 - to face start, you know, in the seventh inning, is Sosa coming off the bench?

26:42 - And I think that's that's that's one of the unknowns

26:44 - we're not really sure about yet because Scott has played better.

26:47 - Do they trust him more.

26:49 - But having Scott as a consistent produce

26:52 - third, batting ninth in this order that could be really big in October to.

26:58 - Scott, real quick,

26:59 - we'll take a look at how things line up.

27:03 - The winner of Dodgers and, Reds,

27:07 - wild card series.

27:09 - On paper, you would say,

27:12 - well, we want the Reds, but the Phillies have handled the Dodgers.

27:16 - Right?

27:16 - And the the Reds they split with this season.

27:21 - Yeah.

27:22 - I mean, they won, four out of six against the Dodgers

27:25 - this year and played well overall.

27:29 - I feel like they've played well against the Dodgers overall for years now.

27:32 - For a few years now.

27:34 - So maybe it's one of those match up things.

27:36 - But look, I mean, you know, let's not kid ourselves.

27:39 - You know, you'd certainly rather face the Reds who had 83 wins

27:43 - and kind of backed into the playoffs on the last day than the defending champs.

27:47 - I do think, you know, watch what you you know, you got to be careful

27:51 - what you wish for because the Reds do have good starting pitching.

27:54 - Which could be dangerous in a short series.

27:56 - But they're so young and so inexperienced at this, at this postseason thing.

28:03 - You know, I, I, you know, and we sit here now

28:06 - and they're down one nothing in the series like, I mean, I have a hard time

28:09 - thinking it's not going to be the Dodgers, in here on Saturday.

28:13 - And, and in that case, like, you know, it's kind of a, you know,

28:17 - I think that, you know, with all respect to the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished

28:21 - with the best record in the league this year, I in baseball this year, I

28:25 - do kind of feel like the Phillies and the Dodgers are the two best teams

28:28 - in the National League.

28:29 - And it's going to be awful early in the playoffs to see them match up.

28:33 - You'd like to see a seven game series, not a five.

28:35 - But hey, you know, I think tonight's important too for the Dodgers

28:39 - because if they can sweep the Reds, they can really line up their rotation.

28:43 - They can have Shohei Ohtani start game one.

28:46 - You know, they can have,

28:48 - Snell and Yamamoto on regular rest, in games

28:51 - two and three that really sets them up in a five game series.

28:55 - So if the Dodgers can sweep,

28:57 - the Reds and wrap things up, they're in a lot better shape

29:00 - than if they've got to get pushed to a third game.

29:02 - And then, you know, is Emmett Sheehan going to start the first game?

29:05 - What's that gonna look like?

29:06 - So, I'm really I'm really interested to sort of see Phillies.

29:09 - Dodgers.

29:10 - If both teams can can line up and be at full strength and go toe to toe

29:14 - and, you know, five games and who gets to three first.

29:17 - So I think it would be a fascinating series.

29:20 - I think it's

29:22 - almost out of time.

29:23 - So we're going to have to jump.

29:25 - We're going to have to jump right to the prediction.

29:28 - So Matt I'll start with you.

29:30 - Where do you think the Phillies end up this season?

29:35 - I don't know.

29:36 - Predictions are not my strong suit.

29:37 - I think I'm going to get every single wild card series wrong in my predictions.

29:40 - So, I will say that,

29:44 - I'll say the Phillies win the National League.

29:47 - But they end up losing in the World Series again.

29:49 - That'll be my.

29:49 - That's my take.

29:50 - And that probably be wrong.

29:53 - It's got

29:56 - look through the National League.

29:57 - They probably win the World Series because I think the National League

30:00 - is just better this year than the American League.

30:02 - I, I think if they get by the Dodgers

30:05 - in the Division Series, then they're going to go to the World Series.

30:09 - I really do.

30:10 - I think that I think that that first series coming off the the bye week,

30:15 - you know, is, is is tricky to navigate and I think

30:18 - it's going to be the hardest series they play.

30:20 - So, I like the fact that they start this series at home.

30:23 - I like the fact that they can have their pitching lined up for sure.

30:27 - We don't know if the Dodgers will be able to do that.

30:30 - So I'm going to say that they win

30:31 - the National League and they win the World Series.

30:35 - All right.

30:36 - We'll end it right there.

30:37 - On that note, with the Phillies winning it all.

30:39 - So thank you to my guests Matt Kalb and Scott Lauber.

30:44 - And thank you for joining us.

30:46 - Inside the lines I'm Corey Clark. Good night.