Frustrations arise as Phillies get off to cold start in 2026

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1:00Spencer, right before we got started, one of our co-workers Justin came in here and said there better not be any smiles. No, not much smile about right now. And you said it. There is not a lot to be smiling about as to Philly's start their season one and three. They've been outscored 21 to five in their last two games, the past 48 hours really. Yeah. 21 to five, Sean Kane. Not good. No, we're going to start, I guess just with this past weekend, last time we told you guys. Everything was great. Start the season one or no. Yep. Dominate the Rangers. Christopher Sanchez looked great. The bass were rolling. Boom. And we're both at homeers. And since then, it has not been good. No. It hasn't been good. And you know, less than a week ago, even before opening day, we did our our season preview podcast. We made all our predictions and, you know, a lot of positive vibes coming out of the spring getting ready to go and you said it opening day was it was great. Sanchez pitch great and the offense did enough and here we go. And then it's been rough, man.

2:01It's been real rough the last three games, you know, in fact, it could be even, the numbers could be even worse Saturday if, if Jake Berger catches that ball and ends that game at nine innings, the Philly's don't score any runs on Saturday. They finished that game with two hits as it was. They got a few extra hits and runs and extra innings and in that ninth inning, obviously. But no, you said 21 to five, the last two games Sunday and Monday. And I just think the biggest thing to me is like, there's nothing really for them to hang their hats on right now. It's not like you can say, oh, the offense looks all right. It's just the pitching or the pitching's been good. It's just the just the offense is struggling. No, it's everything. The offense, obviously, is struggle. We're going to talk a ton about that. That to me is the biggest problem. But the starting pitching hasn't been good since Sanchez, you know, Nola was okay, gave up a couple of home runs. Lazardo certainly wasn't what I expected in his first out and giving up six earned and then Taiwan Walker. You know, didn't give a lot of hard hit balls Monday night, but he still gave up four runs in the first inning and six earned total seven with the one unearned run. So you factor the starting pitching, the offense hasn't been good. The defense wasn't good on Monday night, a couple of misplaced, a couple of miscues.

3:02And the bullpen, I mean, some guys have been good, but generally the bullpen hasn't been great either. So what are they doing well is the question. It's four games. There's 158 left, but I think it'd be silly just to kind of brush it off. I mean, it's been bad. It was ugly. 21 to five is ugly. No matter how you slice it, particularly against a national team that really isn't expected to do a whole lot. You can hear and just took a tool, man, like 13 to 13 to two, that's rough, it's rough. It's not great. And we can, we'll start on Monday's loss, yeah, and because I want to hit on Aeronola, I want to hit on Hazus Lazardo, and obviously I want to hit on Bryce Harper and this offensive struggles, but let's start on Monday. And again, we'll get to our off topic, start, we'll get to that, but this is a much more dying issue currently. But 13 to two to a team that's going to probably finish last in the National League and they come in here and just beat the brakes off you. And like, like you said, it wasn't pretty, I mean, John Crook after the game said it was ugly. The beginning was ugly. The middle endings were ugly. Yep. The end was ugly.

4:02Dylan Moore throwing 30 miles per hour to end the sea or to end the game. Yep. If you were to told me at the beginning of the season that four games in, Dylan Moore's first appearance in the field is going to be on the mound and the ninth inning against the Nationals. I would've called you crazy. We see more of the mound before Andrew Painter. What, like what are we doing? Yeah, that's not good. That's where the state is right now with this Philly's team, four games in again, four games in. We're going to calm it down, but the defense, which something that this team has stressed for so long on improving their defense and it was just sloppy all over. I mean, I get Sosa coming home in the first inning, you know, and even Rob said after the game, hey, that's just him, he's kind of plays the game. He hesitated, but in his mind, he just was like, gotta get out at home instead of getting it out and kind of hopefully shortening that inning. But it was just ugly. I mean, then you have Sosa like lobbing the ball to turn when he's three feet away from him. That doesn't get caught. It gets away. Bryce struggles with a, you know, tough liner to the first base, but that leads to the

5:04Nationals fifth run of the game on Monday. It's just ugly. It was ugly all around and I want to hit on this, but I want to get your thanks first, but I'll say it to begin. Sosa Crawford not playing to me is ridiculous today on Monday. I get facing all these lefties, but that's your best defender and there was multiple balls tonight that not to discredit Brandon Marsh, but I think Justin Crawford makes some of those sketches. There was a handful of hits the center field where I think Justin Crawford makes those sketches. Yep. There's a few bloops that fell in a few different plays that one that fell in between Marsh and Garcia that I think Crawford gets to. Like I think we've said it before. Like I think Marsh is a better left fielder than center fielder Crawford. I think I know is a better defensive center fielder and it didn't come as a surprise to me. Rob Thompson said before Sunday's game that, you know, AJT was going to get Monday off so he could catch painter on Tuesday so we'd see Marshawn on Monday night. And he also said I'll probably get Martian there in center field just to get Crawford today. And you mentioned, you know, against a left hand, Justin Crawford hit like over 350 against lefties in triple A last year.

6:05And again, it wasn't Randy Johnson or Sandy co-fax. It was foster Griffin. Like I think Justin Crawford would be well, as I say that. Of course he goes five innings two and runs, but yeah, no, I'm fine with Justin Crawford not playing every day. As long as he plays four days out of five, five days out of six, fine. So that was Rob Thompson's plan and he stuck to it and sure enough, you said it. A couple balls dropped in. I thought early in the game that Crawford probably gets to. So it is what it is. I know he wants to get Marshawn and get Marshawn opportunities against lefties who Marsha, by the way, one of the few bright spots offensively so far this season, the best off of the player so far. Yes, that bear is mentioning. So I get wanting to get Marshawn to line up and maybe give Crawford a day, but obviously didn't work out defensively, but yeah, the Sosa stuff like he booted the ground ball late in the game, the Turner play with him and Turner was awkward at the bag. And that play in the first inning, like I get it. You said, you know, he's going to be an aggressive trying to get, but to me, it's the first inning you're playing back. Just get the out. Yeah. Get it out. Limit the damage. Let that run score. Maybe you get out of that inning with two runs instead of four, one run instead of four. And yeah, I'm all for being aggressive.

7:05I just think there's a time and a play second. It's the first inning. It's not in. James Woods running. He can move. I just think, get the out of first base and try to limit the damage, but it is what it is. The defense was sloppy. Justin Crawford probably could have helped in that regard, but yeah, just an ugly game. You're down for nothing in the blink of an eye. People are settling into their seats and it's for nothing. You're down seven, nothing at one point, and they're just over, especially with the way this offense is going. It's going to take them weeks to score seven runs. So pretty frustrating. It's been a couple of frustrating days at the ballpark, unfortunately, here for the fans and for us watching in. I'm sure for the team too. They're certainly frustrated, but they're going to stick with the whole, you know, long season. We're not frustrated. We're not going to panic, but it's been ugly the last couple of games. Yeah, and obviously topper then gets ejected in the first inning on Monday as well. I get why I still don't really get the rule topper after the game basically said, hey, once he's passed that advertising, when you're sitting in the stands, you know, we're talking about there's a big independence blue cross logo, the IBX logo down the third baseline.

8:05He's being sent. The runner is being sent past third, he's trying to scoring, bang, bang, play it first. And then obviously as soon as you walk out of the dugout after a replay review, it is an automatic ejection. So that is why Rob Thompson, he just wanted explanation because even in my opinion, my buddy Timmy was like, I don't understand why that is a call. And I'm with him. Like it doesn't make any sense as to why that is, you know, the runner gets sent back the third. He's safe at first, then he can continue. So I think even just Rob, I don't know, I know it's an immediate injection. Right away. But it's maybe just like, hey, get the guys fired up. But in the fourth game of the year, I didn't expect Rob Thompson to try to get the boys fired up by being ejected. Yeah. You figure there's going to be less ejections now, especially with the automated ball strikes where you can't really even argue that anymore. But yeah, it was for nothing. Rob probably seen it off at that point, but no, and he said it after the game, like we tell our guys to keep playing. So great play by Taiwan, you know, he was called out. Weaver was at first initially, but Taiwan didn't know that. So he turned and fired home and Marshawn makes the tag. So at the very least, I think he at least got the runner at home.

9:06But the rolling is he's safe. And once the out call was made on the field, they say, Millis thought the inning was over and he kind of years off. So I guess the interpretation was the call was made dead ball right then. Everybody goes back to the bases where they last advanced to. So, you know, I get it. Rob thought he was owed more of an explanation, but yeah, just another instance of frustration really being the word of the day on Monday night, because that was a tough one to watch. And the six time Rob Thompson has been ejected as a Philly manager and his four years, not even four years yet coming up in June will be his fourth year as a Philly manager. And yeah, only the six time, which I thought was kind of surprising. But let's go to the Taiwan and makes his, you know, 26 season debut, obviously, once Zach Wheeler is back, which will get to him and his outing on Saturday as well. But it's just frustrating because again, it's the nationals, like this team is not going to be in any sort of, in my opinion, could come back to buy me in the butt in August. Right.

10:06In my opinion, I don't think they're going to be in any sort of playoff contention in August, September, let alone July, maybe. But you come in here and you're like, okay, Ty, just do what you, you done, he had a pretty good spring and he, he finishes the game four and two thirds, ten hits, seven runs, six of them earned, three walks and only two strikeouts. It's just not what you wanted to see. No, no, six earned is not what you're looking for. You can make the argument there wasn't a whole lot of hard hit balls and there really weren't like even the, the double by Garcia, he walks, would the start the game then Garcia kind of pokes a, a double down the left field line inside the third base bag and then you get some bloops and some bleaters. Uh, but on the other hand, he threw 99 pitches and I believe there's only six swing and miss, which is insane, which is a low, too low of a percentage. You want a little more swing and miss than that. And when balls are put in play, things happen and we saw lots of things happen defensively for the Phillies. So, um, yeah, not a good outing and, you know, we kind of anticipate here that maybe Taiwan makes another couple starts and if Zach Wheeler continues to progress and Zach's back in a couple of weeks and Taiwan goes back to that role of the swing man and the bull

11:07pen is the long man, can he contribute elsewhere and obviously they're going to need him again to make some more starts, whether it's a double header, whether it's, you know, knock on wood, this doesn't happen, but chances are starters going to have to go on the IL at some point or miss a start. So Taiwan really is their pitching depth because they don't have a lot of pitching depth other than him in the organization right now, at least at the big league level. So Taiwan's important. He's going to be their six man when Wheeler comes back, but, you know, he needs to be better than he was on Monday night and again, didn't get, wasn't like he was giving up home runs like Luzardo and Nola, it was just kind of, they were finding their spots and the walks don't help either. But, um, but no, disappointing and it's just been, that's kind of been Taiwan. Like, you know, I thought he made some progress last year. He bounced back and forth and he was taking one for the team because it's tough to bounce back and forth and he was certainly better than he was in 24. I thought in 25 and, but he just, you know, he has these outings and unfortunately, that's the way it's been over the course of this four year contract, 72 million dollars, you know, in hindsight, the Phillies are, I don't think are getting a 72 million dollar pitcher. Taiwan's a good teammate. Taiwan's going to kind of eat innings like he did on Monday night, but just kind of a

12:09frustrating start all around for him. And the fans were booing. Oh, yeah. And understandably so. Yeah. And it wasn't just for Taiwan. It was for this offense too. Oh. So the offense, I bet. Yeah. For sure. But I think it does come down to the fact that the fans are just frustrated with Taiwan. It's the same story for four years now, where, hey, man, just get on the mound. Do we do hold the chance to win the game? Correct. We don't want to be down seven often after a couple of minutes. Correct. Right. And he hasn't really done that in his Phillies career. So just a frustrating start to 2026 for Taiwan Walker. Yeah. Yeah. We'll seize that with her hopefully soon. But understandably, there has been some booze. And we'll transition to that before we recap the series loss of the Rangers this weekend. We'll hit that with her as well. Put the offense tonight on Monday, seven total hits, which, hey, there you go, more than this past weekend.

13:09At least you got a couple hits earlier in the game before the fifth inning, like over the weekend. Correct. One homer, his eighth career homerun, pretty cool. But that's the only offense. And just saying that, Rafael Martianos, the only offense is a problem. Yeah. A trade turner, one for five, Kyle Schubert, over three with a walk and two strikeouts. We'll get to the guy batting third in a second. I'm not even going to say that's that line currently, Alec Bome, over four with a strike out. Don't let's go see it. It did have two hits. One of two. Him and Marshall, the only players in this lineup with multiple hits on Monday. He finishes two for four. So, so over four with a strikeout, auto camp, one for four, two strikeouts, Brandon Marsh, two for three, a run scored, a walk, no strikeouts, and obviously, Marshall, one for three, with two RBIs. Then the guy batting third, he was currently hitting 63, oh 63, finishes the day, over five with one strikeout. Yeah. And that's Bryce Harper. Yeah. Bryce is struggling. And, you know, we talked about it, the WBC didn't start well, and we thought that maybe

14:11that big home run would get him going, but not so much. And he's got company, Bryce, Trey, and Kyle Schorber, one, two, three in the order, the top three guys, six for 50 in the first four games of the season. Turner had a double on Monday night. That was their only hit of the big three, quote unquote, on Monday. And yeah, Bryce's one hit was a broken bat single that came in extra innings on Saturday, that cold game that they lost in extra innings to Texas. And we can talk about any aspect of this team that you want. But if Turner, Schorber and Harper aren't going, or at least one or two of them aren't going, they're not going to win games. Like we talked about it in the post season, the last couple of years, those three guys need to get on. They need to get going. You know, Alec Bohm hasn't certainly not been doing much either after the home run and opening day. You can lump him in with the top four there, but, you know, they're getting contributions elsewhere. You said Garcia had a couple hits. Marsh has been all right. You know, camp whatever, and Marsh on with the home run. But if those guys at the top aren't getting it going, and they're not getting it going early. It's been more than opening day when Schorber hit the home run that there's just been no early offense. Like, zero. Get it going.

15:12And you haven't been, you know, Mackenzie Gore kind of has their number a little bit, but like foster Griffin and Jacob Latz on Saturday, like set the tone. Let's go. Like get on base, score some runs, and then put some pressure on the defense right out of the gate. Like the Nationals did on Monday night, like score some runs early. But no, it's been frustrating, man. The offense has been real frustrating, not a lot of hard hit balls, no early offense. Again, it's four games over the course of 162. You're going to have a four game stretch where the offense doesn't do a whole lot. And hopefully for the Phillies sake, there's just happens to be at the very beginning. But if this is a sign of things to come, man, it's not a whole lot of margin for error for the pitchers, especially when you're pitching. And there's just no early offense. You're like, oh boy, I can't allow a run here. We're going to get down early. It'd be nice to have a cushion every once in a while for a Phillies starting pitcher. But no, the big boy's got to get going. Schorber doesn't look good. Harper, you just mentioned, not looking good. So hopefully it comes soon here. Yeah, they set the tone. And right now that tone is not being set. And it's just trickling down the rest of the line up. And trade turner, you rarely see hit into double place, hit into two on Sunday in the

16:13series finale. Yep. It's just, you know, again, it's four games, but like, I don't understand. I don't know if this is still like them warming up for spring, like, but like you had two guys in the World Baseball Classic, you have the guy that just won the batting title on National League. Yep. And they're not ready. Yeah. It doesn't make sense to me. You have to be ready for this. And like you said, it comes down to those big three. If that's what you want to call them, producing. Yeah. And obviously Rob has said the last two days, like, yep, you know, they'll, they'll get it. They'll find it. Trace said the same thing. Kyle said the same thing today on Monday. Bryce said it yesterday as well on Sunday. We'll get there. We'll get there. Yeah. And they will. And they will. But what stinks is I look around all around Major League Baseball. And all these stars are already having pretty good starts. Yep. Yeah. And your guys aren't. Yeah. I mean, it's frustrating, man. It's super frustrating. And I'm more surprised for Kyle Schwoper to be completely honest. I don't know if that's a World Baseball Classic thing. But, you know, you start the season with your first bat of the year with the home run.

17:15Yeah. And then you go what you, what you've done over the last three games and it's concerning to me. And I think I brought it up to Ricky at the ballpark yesterday. You know, this team as a whole batted 183 against the Rangers. Yeah. And the opening series at home. That's the thing. You're not on the road. Mm-hmm. You're at home in front of these fans up and waiting and waiting and waiting for the season to start. And you don't get to gram. You get to break there. Correct. No to gram on Saturday after he was scratched. You got Jacob Latz and Mackenzie Gore. Yep. Who came in with a 70 or a career at the Bank Park at three starts. Yep. What it's going to come down to in my opinion, I asked Ricky this, I don't think this will continue. But if it does, how short is the lease for Kevin Law? Wow. Yeah, I mean, because, you know, you can't fire all the players and somebody if you need to quote, quote, shake things up, he would probably be the first guy. Yeah. It's been years. And I know the guys love him.

18:15And I like I love him. He's a great dude. Right. But something's not working. I don't know if it's the preparation. We saw a trade turn on the guys. They had extra batting practice today on Monday. That didn't work. No. So I don't know what can change. But it could be Kevin Long. If this continues, could be gone by May. Yeah. Well, yeah, if this continues at this rate for sure, they're going to have to do something. But, but yeah, it's not like Kevin Long just forgot all the sudden how to be a good hitting coach. But that's just the nature of of baseball, like you're not going to be able to revamp your roster on the fly. And if you're looking to shake things up, the hitting coach is a convenient scapegoat. You know, Turner, like you say, Turner had an awful spring. And he talked about that on Sunday. It was like, I'm actually happy about that because the best spring I ever had was my worst regular season. So he's aware. He's obviously thinking about that. But so far, not so much for him either, you know, ate a nice double on Monday night. But at that point, the games are out of hand. And Turner just had some bad at bat. So you mentioned the double plays. You know, he's swinging the pitches out of the zone. He's had some lazy pop ups and some big spots. He had a big strike out over the weekend and a big spot. So you just expect a little more from him.

19:16And again, you keep prefacing all this with four games, four games, four games. But it's just been ugly, man, offensively. And again, it's the big boys that need to lead the way and they're kind of leading in their own direction right now. And I think what's frustrating is it's just the same thing that Philly fans are used to. Yeah. Just these guys not producing. And every game has felt like, it's just lifeless. The ballpark was lifeless. I mean, the ballpark, the atmosphere was great. But then I'm sitting in the press box on Saturday and Sunday and it's just like one, two, three. I need to move it about. Yeah. One, two, three. And that's frustrating. Yeah. It's very frustrating. Yeah. So again, I don't know necessarily if Kevin Long, but again, it's just, it's the same problems over and over and over again. And you know, what's the definition of insanity and I'm just doing the same thing, expecting different results. Yes. And there hasn't been. Right. And I think the frustrations are here early. Now, before we hit that break real quick, I do, I'm going to stand on my mailbox again. Yes, sir. I know, I know he's bad, no 63.

20:16And I know that he was my MVP vote for the season. And I know that he was going to have an already, no, of course, all right. But what I am frustrated with is the amount of fans that in my opinion are rooting for the downfall of Bryce Roper. Ooh, that's what I'm frustrated. The booze were loud. Yep. On Saturday. Yeah. And on Sunday. Yep. Understandably so. But they were a little more loud. Yeah. I'm used to. Copy. I don't know if they're tired of the stick. I don't, I don't understand. But it's Bryce Harper. He deserves appreciation. Yeah. And I think booing him is not going to help anything going forward. Yeah. And I just think the fans, the fans that are disrespecting him and booing him. And if you're one of them listening to me right now, I'm sorry. Like that's not the way to handle this. He's your franchise player. He's most likely going to have a statue in my opinion, outside of his bank park at some point.

21:17Got to win a World Series. Right. But in my opinion, you'll have one. But like it's just ridiculous to me. I don't think it's helping anything. No, and obviously he wants to do well more than anybody. And I think he's fine. He's been booed in his career. But obviously getting it from your home fans is a little different. And I think this all goes back to the off season. Like I think the Dumbrowski stuff kind of put a bullseye on him a little bit. Like, wasn't the elite last year. Can he get back to it? And obviously Bryce came out and didn't appreciate that. So now the fans are like, all right, Bryce will prove it. Here we go, Bryce. The World Baseball Classic was what it was. And they're expecting him to come out and have this big season. And obviously the team's one in three. And he has one hit in four games. So I think that plays into it. So, you know, I hate to say what you, you know, you use it like they're rooting for the downfall. And that's strong. And maybe some people are. But if you're hoping for the best for the Phillies, I mean, you need Bryce Harper. He's not going anywhere. He's got six more years on his contract. And if the Phillies are going to win a World Series. As you just said, Bryce Harper is going to have to be a driving force. So I think rooting for Bryce to fail is kind of a really counterproductive.

22:17I mean, you need him to be a driving force in this lineup. You need him to lead this team. So we'll see. I think Bryce will be okay. Will he be a lead again? Not to play it off of Dave Dombraski's comments, but that's up to him to prove. And it's obviously not been a great four games, but it's only four games. And yeah, you know, that's just Philadelphia. The fans are going to boo. They pay their money. You can't tell them not to boo because that just makes it worse. But that's the way to express their frustration. And you can argue all day. Does it help? Is it counterproductive? But no, they need to be supportive of Bryce as a fan base. Because if Bryce isn't going, this Phillies team isn't going anywhere. Won't go anywhere. It won't go anywhere. And I think it's one of those things. It's the select fans that, you know, they're dialed into their target. And they're not going to sleep until they're proven right. Yeah. And they'd rather be right than see him turn around. And that's, that can't be the case because like you said, I'm glad you said that. Because this team will go as far as Bryce ever takes them. Yeah. And in Bryce's defense, like you can always want a world series. Well, like, think about where the Phillies were from 2012 till he signed here in 19, you

23:22know, 19, they don't make the playoffs, but they're a little over 500, 20s that you throw that out with COVID. 21, he wins the MVP award, but they still don't make the playoffs after missing damn they have the season. And then 22 World Series 23 CS division division. So this is a good run here. And I know the good runs of the past, the late 70s into 80 world series, the 7 to 11 had a world series. So you need to get that world series to be compared to those groups. But let's appreciate and truth be told, if Bryce is in here, I don't think Kyle Schwarvers signs here. I don't think Tray Turner signs here like he was the first big that JT, like JT was a trade. But he's the reason these guys are coming to play here. So he is responsible for this era more than anybody. And yeah, he wants to want a world series. He needs to want a world series, give him a little more longer of a leash. I think that's a fair, fair sentiment before you start booing the guy in game four. Please. Please in game three over the weekend, whatever. What are we doing? Yeah. Goodness. Yeah. And the people calling for Topper's job right now, I haven't heard those, but I'm not

24:25surprised. Just check Twitter. Because it was, oh, well, there you go. That's what it should be. Thompson, fire or ejected. I'm adding something like, yeah, can we give it a rest? No. Give it a rest. That football mentality, man, every game is the end of the world, which is great, because they're into it and they're passionate. That's how we love it. But it is the best. Like, even the best teams, like the Dodgers this year are probably going to lose 55-16 games. That's just a long season. There's going to be some losses. Correct. Yeah. All right. We're going to head the ad break on the other side. Recap Hazel-Suzardo and Aranola starts over the weekend because that wasn't great. 17 hits on Monday, man. What are we doing? But a quick word from our friends over, I don't know, on the ad break. Welcome back to Phyllis Talk, presented by Teen Toilet, a Sean Kane over there, Spence Procuretor over here. Happy Tuesday, everybody. If you're listening to this on Tuesday morning, big day, Sean Kane. Yes, it is. We're going to get to that in a second. In a few pain or day. We're going to get to that. Yes. Give it some hope. And, you know, it's part of our tone, too.

25:27Big day. Yes. Big day building. It's exciting. It's kind of exciting. Very good. At least give some fans something to be happy about. But before we get going or before we get to that, I should say, Aranola on Saturday, first of the season. And again, the response from fans were just like, typical, typical, whatever. I mean, five innings, five hits, three innings, seven K's, sun me up. Yeah. Not great. Didn't keep the ball in the yard as much as you have a homerun. You have a homerun. Yeah. Regardless, I wasn't dissatisfied from Aaron Holister. Yeah. No. I thought the stuff was good. Like, I thought he had the strikeouts and you said it, he just had an issue keeping the ball in the yard, which unfortunately has been his undoing when things aren't going well. But no, all in all, five innings, three runs, a couple of homers, five or six strikeouts I've forgiven. Oh, wow. It's seven. Seven K's, seven strikeouts. I know Lazardo had seven, too. He did, too. Then they had 14. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, no. Lazardo, a couple of big homeruns, McCutcheon had the big three run homer.

26:27But his stuff, I thought, was good. But he said afterwards, like, my stuff was good. I felt great. You know, seven strikeouts. I mean, I think the two of them combined for like 14 strikeouts and three walks, which is very good. But they're also combined to give up four homers and that's pretty much how the Rangers did their damage. So yeah, not, I mean, Lazardo, obviously, I'm expecting huge things from him to give up six earned. I thought it would be, you know, I was very surprised, obviously, by his line and the way he pitched, you know, the homeruns, you know, really costing him. If that's his worst start of the season, it's going to be better than his worst start of the season last year. So let's hope for Hazus that it goes up from here and Aaron, I got not too concerned about those two guys. I thought, you know, I thought they showed good stuff. They got burnt by the lawn ball. Obviously, Sanchez was great opening day. Taiwan, I didn't think pitch particularly well, but not ready to panic yet in terms of the starting pitching. I think that will still be what carries this team if they're going to get to the post season for a fifth year. I still think the rotation will be the biggest reason why. Yeah. You know, he didn't love giving up the homeruns naturally, yeah, especially to Brandon

27:28Nemo. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. That one didn't know. And did Coach get him? No. Coach got Luzardo. Yeah. Burger got one. Burger hit the foul pole. Yes. Correct. Yeah. You know, it is what it is. I just, some of the fans that I saw react into it, it's just like, yeah, man, I'll take five innings, five hits, three earned. I think Seager got nulla. Seager. Nemo got Luzardo. Correct. Yep. Yeah. You know, it is what it is. First pitch of Seager too. Or it was the first pitch of the bad to Seager. Yeah. Good hitter. The seventh pitch that Aaronolo threw in 2026 is a home run. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not necessarily worried about it. I don't think you should be either. It is what it is. I think I still thought he pitched well. His velocity was fine. Especially for the cold. We know we were so worried about him pitching the cold. Yeah. Sometimes I'm even mentioned before the game on Saturday that he was kind of worried about the grip of the ball for the hitters and for pitchers as well. But I'm okay with it. And Luzardo. Again, yeah, I'm not worried. It didn't help. It didn't help the side young. But you know, six innings, six hits.

28:31Not really what I expected to see out of Hazel's Luzardo in his first start. Especially two home runs. He didn't allow his second home run until May 8th. His eighth start of the season last year. Yeah. Which is pretty surprising to me. And he only gave up one home run all year last year to a lefty. Which is insane. And then Nemo gets him in his first start. Yeah. And the second inning, no less or the third inning, no less. Yeah. And then of course, Kutch gets him again. And then the whole viral clip of Kutch apologizing to the fans. Yes. Which was pretty cool. But yeah, I mean, one of those where I think one of them will bounce back. I think there was also some comments that I know Ricky talked about on the post game show about the tipping and all that stuff. And like, here we go again. But I didn't see any of that. And I don't think Luzardo did either. No, yeah. And I think in the game where you have seven strikeouts and all those swings and misses, I don't think he's tipping. I just think he got hurt by a couple long balls. And then Kutch and one obviously kind of busted the game open. So no, I thought they're both going to be all right. And I know you've said Wheeler a couple times. Yeah. Good good good report from him on Saturday up at Lehigh Valley, three scoreless innings. Very effective, very efficient. He's going to pitch again Friday down in Durham.

29:33And then we make another start for AA after that. And then we'll see where he is. But hopefully that maybe after a couple more rehab starts. I think Rob Thompson said Friday they want to get up to like maybe four innings and 50, 55 picks. And stretch him out. And then you know, once he makes another start after that, if if things are going well like if you can get up to six innings in the minor leagues like that's or you know five six innings in the minor leagues. Yeah. That's getting up here. And that's not wasting anymore bullets in the minor leagues. So yeah, knock on wood wheels. He's progressing and good news so far with him. Everything's going pretty smoothly. It's pretty cool to see him in the dugout on Sunday and Monday as well. Back here in Philadelphia. Pretty cool. Yeah. They have wheels kind of come back. But yeah, he said everything felt great and he looked great. I mean, three innings, only two hits, three strikeouts. He said he felt good. It was more or less trying to worry about some of the spin pitches, even pitching in the cold. But he said it was the best he's felt throwing the spin pitches all spring. Yeah. So I think all signs again continue to point to Zach Wheeler. Hopefully coming back pretty strong. I know his velocity wasn't great, but again the cold. I don't think he's worried about that.

30:34I'm not worried about his velocity yet. Yeah. I'd only hit 93, 94. Even I know Ricky at one point was like, what happened? 97, 98. I don't know if we'll ever see that again from Zach Wheeler. It'd be great if we did. Yeah. But I wouldn't expect, you know, 97, 98 from Zach Wheeler anytime soon. But I think everything just points to progression continuously. And we've had, we've basically said that all season or all season just continued to progress. Hopefully we'll see him towards the end of April. Orion Kirkering also threw on Saturday. He will be pitching Tuesday and Wednesday down in Durham for Lehigh. Back to back. He looked great. He threw 10 pitches, had seven strikes, got one, two, three in. Yeah. Fine. And I think we'll hopefully see Kirk here pretty soon. Yeah. And you know, they could use some good vibes down there in Durham. Okay. You know, it's been, it's been a tough 48 hours down there. Maybe we'll get to that later. But no, Kirkering back is a big deal for the bullpen. And yeah, the big test will be back to back outings. But he like breeze through his outing on Saturday.

31:34True. 10 total pitches. That was, it was pretty impressive. So, so yeah, that's all, all news is good so far on the recovery trail for both Wheeler and in Kirk. So that is good news. And hopefully we get some more good news here on Tuesday with Andrew Paner. Because we've all been waiting for this for about three years now. Really? Finally we're going to get to see him on a big league mound in a, in a game that counts. He talked before Monday's game. He's excited. He said he, he thinks the, the failures of the minor leagues last year. It probably just makes him stronger. And he kind of steps into his first start and even be the stopper now. Like they just lost three in a row. We need a win, man. Like it's nice your day viewing and all, but let's pitch well and get us a win. But I'm excited to see him. And hopefully it's a soft landing spot. You say that against a team that just scored 13 runs. But generally you think the nationals at home could be a soft landing spot for him. So it would be warm tomorrow or Tuesday. Tonight I guess by the time this, this podcast is out. But a lot of good factors, hopefully leading to him pitching pretty well. And I, I know I'm excited to see it. I am so, so excited.

32:35Yeah. You know, we've been waiting for this kid, you know, three years ago. Right. It's going to be the fifth starter at 19 years old. And it's been three long years that we've been waiting to see Andrew Painter. And Tuesday is finally the day. So happy Andrew Painter Day into all that celebrate. I'm expecting big things. Pretty cool. He kind of explained why he chose 24. We mentioned that on the podcast before the season started. That's the number that he had when he was pitching for Team USA when they won the championship. When he was younger. Cool. So pretty cool. He was asked to like, hey, no one's ever worn 76 in Philly and all, you know, for the Philly's. I don't even think for like the flyers. Obviously not for the sixers. Sean Bradley wore number 76 for the sixers. Correct. Oh, did he really? Yes. That one, you know, he was drafted in 92 or 93. That's kind of a good pick. That didn't go. I told the Andrew Painter era goes a little better than the Sean Bradley era. That'd be great. Yes. I was rocking that 76. But he did mention, you know, Painter said that, you know, it wasn't really even a thought to keep 76. Right. Which I was kind of bummed about. Yeah.

33:35It would have been really cool. Yeah. But I'm excited. Again, it's been three long years. And I think hopefully he's not feeling too much pressure to be that stopper now. Yeah. You know, like you said, by the time you're listening to this, it might be over. But I'm expecting big things from him. And I asked you when he, you know, when he made his spring debut, when you and I were talking up here, what were your expectations? So what are your expectations for Andrew Painter on Tuesday? On Tuesday, against his nationals team, I'd like to see him go six innings and give up two or three earn runs tops. Like I'd like to see him come out. I think he's going to have a lot of extra juice. Obviously, he's going to have a lot of friends and family here watching. I mentioned the weather's going to be in his favorites and not going to feel like March 31st. It's going to feel more like it may or June with the with the temperatures in the 80s, hopefully. So I think there's going to be a lot of lots of like like to see him come out, like to see him locate, especially let off speed stuff, you know, the velocity is going to be there. But make your pitches early, get through those first couple innings, settle down, hopefully get some early run support. Please, that's too much to ask. Because I know he, him in particular, he's going to be all amped up.

34:38Let him relax a little bit if he gets a two run, three run lead, maybe in the first couple of innings, that would be great. But yeah, let's go six innings and two earn friends you tomorrow with seven strikeouts and two walks. Love that. That would be so happy. That would be so happy. We need to, we need something to feel good about it. And like, you know, maybe start the game with the Bryce Harbor home run. Ooh, that would be nice. To ease the nerves a little bit. Ryan, have Andrew kind of settle in and be ready to pitch. Because I think the crowd, like you said, the weather, the crowd's going to be so electric. And I mentioned it before, if you're going to the game, save that ticket because I think it's going to be worth a lot of money down the road. Yeah. After Andrew Painter's career is all said and done. So excited. Can't wait. Yeah, it should be fun. It should be a fun night. It's against the nationals too. Like you should handle business. You should. You should. You should allow 17 hits. Yeah, let's get a win with Andrew Painter. And then let's say you come in and get a series win and get him back to 500 by the end of this home stand and head out to Colorado. I was well. I was well in the world. Last thing before we hit the most devastating thing that happened to me in my sports career.

35:38I am very satisfied with the bullpen too. I know it hasn't been like bowling and I've rather struggled today. Bowling allowed two in runs. I've rather loved four in runs. Yeah. But I feel like the bullpen has been pretty good in my opinion. Yeah. I would tell her look good. He did. Tell her look good on Sunday. Doran in that extra inning game. You know, it was so so. Against the stupid ghost runner. Yeah. He's always a tough situation. Yeah. But yeah, the guys you wanted and we mentioned Kirkering being a part of that and banks. You know, you're your your high leverage arms for the most part. I thought I've looked okay. You know, back is didn't look good. We talked about him on opening day. Pops at his issues. You mentioned how varado. Amazing looks great. Yeah. And you know, Dylan Moore look good. You know, Dylan Moore that extra arm out there. You know, you can count on him to give you a few innings. I believe we're here. But yeah. No. Bullpen I think has been up and down. Yeah. But yeah, let's get Keller and Doran into this. Maybe go, hey, how about this? We go 16nings a painter. And then that's seven thinning tomorrow. Some combination of banks or someone else. And then maybe go Keller and the eighth. Doran and the ninth.

36:38And that's the plan. It's going to complete win. Let's do it. It's going to complete win. Yeah, let's do it. That'd be the most perfect outcome in all of this. That would be. Did you mention, did you say most devastating moment of your sports career? Yeah. Let's hit on it. So thanks for listening to Philistock podcast. We were told by a good friend of ours. That he didn't love the off topic starts. We're going to stick with him. We're going to stick with him. Yes. Yeah. Just now right now. Yeah. But we'll finish up. If you've listened to the pod, you know, I'm a massive Duke basketball fan. Yeah. And Sunday night. Yeah. I told you last year against Houston was way worse in my opinion. But that was, that was the worst way to lose a basketball game. And I, uh, I'm still not over it. And I don't think it will be. Yeah. Duke fans like yourself to deal with that loss last year and the final four to use and where they collapsed down the stretch with that team of Cooper flag and Con Kinepple and everybody all the other talented to not win a championship with that team.

37:38Brush yourself off. All right. We'll get him next year. You're the number one overall seed. Yukon. Not great. You're up 19 on Yukon. You're up 15 and a half time dominating. Going back to the final four and then it's just unravels. And the last 10 seconds, like you're going to think about that for the rest of your life. I met just unbelievable how that played out. It's all, I'm a villain of a guy. So Yukon is certainly not high on my teams to get behind. Uh, so tough for me, you know, obviously seeing them advance in that manner. But, um, but man, that's just, it's just an all-timeer man. I feel for you. And, you know, pseudo, pseudo Duke fan, you know, I guess you can get a chance for the boys because if you like, you like cheering for me. I do like you. I support you. Yes, you do. And I was a big Bobby Hurley fan. And I was 35 years ago now. Um, but, um, I did like Bobby when I was like 10 years old. But now it's just hold the ball, man. Yeah. And I'm not going to blame Kaden Booser. Yeah. But, uh, yeah. That's, uh, that whole sequence, like you said, that 10 seconds is going to stick in my head for a very long time.

38:39Probably the rest of my life. I mean, I just see it replaying in my head. And I see Mullins who hasn't made a three in the entire game. Just cash and, yeah, look good. But it wasn't one of the, uh, the most memorable shots of NCAA AA tournament history. You mentioned it. Latener, the Chris Jenkins shot. Yeah. I think Jenkins is number one. Latener against Kentucky's two. I know Latener hit another shot to 10 to the final four as a freshman. But, uh, to me, I think Mullins comes in behind Jenkins and Latener in my lifetime. In terms of NCAA tournament shots. Um, just to take that shot from almost the logo and it was good the whole way. Um, just, yeah. As soon as the balls kicked around and turned over and they gather it in, you're like, this isn't going to end well for Duke. I think he could just feel it coming. Yeah. Yeah. It was there. Um, good for Dan earlier though. I always like to see that guy succeed. Should have teed his ass out. It should have happened. Good coach, but not exactly easy to root for if you're not a U-con fan. And the worst part, if you don't know, Ricky Bow is a massive U-con fan. Yeah. So, uh, yep, we're going to deal with that one. Yeah. And for a day, there's always next year.

39:39No, it's not. Yeah. You'll be like, this is that sports. You come back like it's devastating. It is devastating. It's not a, not an exaggeration. And listen, if you, if you don't know me, for those that do know me, you understand my Duke fandom, if you don't know me, it's a long story. Just stuck with my whole life. And it's a reason to that. Um, so yeah, don't, uh, don't hate to Duke fandom. Just give the guy break, man. Yeah. As a Duke fan, I need to break at this point. It's been 11 years, man. Yeah, you're an easy target when Duke loses, man. I felt bad for it. It was blowing up. I had to take off the watch and blocks and people. Um, man. Get out of group chats. That sports. Yep. We'll be back. Something I've been used to my entire life. Yep. Hey, wrap up though, Phillies. Andrew Painter. Come on, get it together. One and three to start the season. Andrew Painter will be their stopper on Tuesday. Uh, have a great week. Yes. We will talk to you, uh, hopefully maybe even Wednesday. Um, if not maybe for the Colorado series some late night. We're already in the West Coast. Yeah, we're going out West Coast. Yes, sir. Uh, could be snowing in Colorado. That's time they get there this weekend. So we'll see. Yeah.

40:39Uh, hey, we're going to land the plane. The Phillies will get it together. Everyone relax. Yeah. For Sean Kane. I'm spending some recursion. We'll talk to you guys soon.