Intro welcome into another episode of Locked on Phillies in today's episode we're going to break down how the Philadelphia Phillies out at last night's MLB All-Star Game down in Texas and why it was basically a perfect night if you're a Philadelphia Phillies fan you are locked on Phillies your daily Philadelphia Phillies podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day yes this is locked on Phillies I am your host Connor Thomas thank you so much for checking us out we come to you Show Open live from the locked on podcast Network you may know me for some of my other work been hosting radio in this city for over five years now at 975 the ftic three years as a credential Philadelphia Phillies media member and this is my third year as the host of locked on Phillies so thank you so much for joining us if you want to take it a step further please I would love for you to rate and review wherever you consume in this if you're listening in podcast form if you're watching on YouTube and haven't subscribed yet or maybe you want to flip over from podcast to YouTube subscribeing to the YouTube get you notifications when new episodes are posted and it really really helps us out here on lock on Phillies it's quick it's easy it cost you nothing and it makes a big difference to me so I'd appreciate anyone who did that or of course anyone who's done that already today's episode is brought to you by prize picks the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to priz picks.com lockon MLB and use code it's all in lowercase lock on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100 see what other shows you listen to to get you a $100 to put out on prize picks man that's why you check out locked on Phillies and we're recapping last night's MLB All-Star Game down at Globe Life Park glob Life Park or Globe Life Field bottom line down in Texas in Arlington I hate when they build new stadiums I got to learn all these new names I remember the ballpark in Arlington does that make me old man there's not many stadiums around baseball that make me feel old yet but but I'm getting there bottom line is last night it was a great stage for one of the greatest events in the Phillies AllStar Game sport the MLB All-Star game was awesome it wasn't the most high-scoring type of Affair a 5-3 final that saw the American League win for the 10th time in 11 years more on that in a little bit but the Philadelphia Phillies if you're a fan of them and if you're watching lockon Phillies I assume you probably are they had themselves a near perfect night it was a great performance by all the Philadelphia Phillies who participated in the All-Star game now Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler they were not there they did not make the trip to Texas they're both taking the time off dealing with some stuff we'll talk about Ranger in the final segment because there is a little bit to be concerned with injury-wise with Ranger and part of the reason why he wasn't down there but the six Phillies that participated three position players three pitchers Alec bow Trey Turner and Bryce Harper all started at their respective positions for the national league and they were as good as you could have hoped right they all had a hit in the game Bryce Harper the first hit of the game a double because who's going to start off the All-Star game but Bryce Harper when opposite field double to move up show he Otani from first to third it's just beautiful to see him in the National Spotlight you had some great things to say about the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of the game about how they' built a winning culture and Dave debrowski is a guy that he fully trust he knows what Dave wants to do he wants to win Bryce Harper had himself a great weekend and I'm not just talking about the awesome look at him and that nice clean white shirtt and the cowboy hat pandering to the folks down in Texas the same way he does sometimes us up here in Philadelphia but no price Harper was great Trey Turner had a hit Alec BM had a hit and there was a moment early on in the game before we get to the pitchers Christopher Sanchez Jeff Hoffman and Matt strm all saw action in this game well there was a moment where all the guys were miked up that were in the field Trey Turner Alec bow and Bryce Harper all got on the mic at the same time to talk to the live TV broadcast and it was funny they were all laughing chuckling uh there was a shot thrown out of Bryson stot right off the bat saying it would be more fun if one of our infielders wasn't on the beach right now now priceon stot hasn't had a good enough year to be an All-Star so it is what it is I think Bryce Harper was the one who made that joke they were roommates back in Vegas like those guys known each other for a long long time Bryce Harper is the ultimate mentor to Bryson stot so no bad blood there just a it's funny to see these guys interact they actually like each other you love to see that the locker room this team is built it's something Bryce Harper talked about when I was talking about those clips earlier of him talking about Dave debrowski and the team culture like it's just such a close locker room and you could see that they're all making fun of each other they're all not taking anything too seriously now it's the All-Star Game no one really takes it too seriously but there was a play it may have been the TV broadcast called it the best play they've seen someone make with a live Mike on I don't know if that's in the allstar game I don't know if that's ever but there was a ball hit back up the middle that Trey Turner Dove to his left four flipped to Second and you got yourself a situation where and Ketel Marte was the only non Philadelphia Phil he's member of the infield playing second base there he ranges over covers second it was a great play and then of course there's got to be something said because Trey Turner gets up and complains about his belt he was wearing a fancy shiny belt and one of the first things he says after making the great play and Bryce Harper and Alec bone were fired up by the way watching him make that play he complains about his belt because normally he wears a little league belt because the big fancy ones aren't comfortable for him and that's just I love it dude the guy signs a $300 million contracts he's still wearing Little League belts I'm not saying he's like oh salt of the earth man of the people he doesn't he drives an old beat up Chevy to the B like no it's not that I'm sure Trey Turner has some EXP expensive things but it's just it's funny that these guys feel comfortable to let their personality come out with the Philadelphia Phillies and on a national stage so that was great to see from the position players it was a great moment to see those guys on the national stage last year we saw it with the Atlanta Braves when Rob Thompson who was managing the All-Star game last year more on that in the second uh decided to get they weren't all starters but get all the Braves infield on the field at the same time and they had them all miked up and I was thinking how cool would it be how awesome would it be to see like a whole group of your guys in the All-Star Game miked up the Phillies had the talent the past couple years they just hadn't had the execution early on in the season to earn multiple trips to the all-star game like that like multiple multiple this year they had eight six went and that was a awesome moment for Phillies fans so hopefully you enjoyed that something else you definitely should have enjoyed was the pitching performance of Christopher Sanchez Jeff Hoffman and Matt strm now Sanchez was the most efficient he only threw two pitches got two outs was properly removed by Tory Lolo Lolo lllo uh the manager of the Diamondbacks who was serving as the manager of the National League All-Star team they won the pennet last year in case you uh blocked that from your memory which I would be totally understanding of as a Phillies fan but uh Christopher Sanchez gave one of the more efficient performances in All-Star History Two pitches two outs is great keeps the pitch countdown and it makes him look really really good Jeff Hoffman Matt Str each gotten out in total the Philadelphia Phillies pitchers did not allow a base runner a hit a walk anything just a solid performance on the mound something you've come to expect from this pitching staff and uh pitching was a big part of the All-Star game you got to see Paul skes who maybe you'll see this weekend when the Philadelphia Phillies resume their second half of the schedule by heading out to Pittsburgh across the state we're going to preview that series on Friday Maybe by Friday we'll know if skines is throwing in that one but he looked electric the Phillies pitchers looked electric I mean everybody looked really really darn good so it was a fun All-Star game now again the American League won five to3 Jared Durant of the Red Sox wins Al or Al wins All-Star game MVP he had a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning of that game and there was no scoring after the fifth inning the bullpens locked it down you also got to see Mason Miller who maybe we'll talk about tomorrow when run through some potential trade options for the Philadelphia Phillies I may have something bold to say and it's prisoner of the moment and it has to deal with Mason Miller and what I'd be willing to trade for him after seeing him in the All-Star game last night my goodness that dude is good but something to keep in mind just for the rest of baseball Rob Thompson and if you're a Philadelphia Phillies fan I brought it up the American League has won 10 of the last 11 times the All-Star game has been held the only time in the past 11 opportunities that the national league has won was last year with oh yeah that's right Rob Thompson managing the national league side I don't know what other National League managers can't figure out but if that's not proof that Rob Thompson doesn't know what he's doing I know it's a small sample size but come on if you can manage the National League All-Star team to a win against the American League basically in this Millennium that's a pretty darn good feat compared to what peers have been able to I don't know why the American League always wins I don't get it previously it might have been like a conversation about DH and how they have that extra hitter and they're used to using it and everything I I don't buy that at all I I look at this and I say well this is just kind of weird circumstance at this point so that's why I think that Rob Thompson should manage the All-Star game every single year until he decides to hang it up listen he can win if the national league wants to win that's what they'll do now it's not like previous years like growing up where if you won the All-Star Game you'd get HomeField advantage in the World Series no that's that's not it at all it doesn't matter for that anymore the highest standing between the two teams playing in the World Series is how you determine home field advantage now so that has changed it's not that big of a deal another thing that has changed that needs to change back too this is some commentary that I saw I want to give my quick thoughts on it the uniforms are like I didn't think they were as ugly as everyone thought they were they weren't like abysmal hideous uniform forms but they weren't pretty and this is an event that Major League Baseball does a great job with every single year outside of the jerseys I don't know why they switched from players wearing their team jerseys I don't get it it's not more aesthetically pleasing you never had an issue with that apparently they did not assult uh consult with the Players Association when making that change so the players were not asked about it Major League Baseball just said hey we're going to flip it over I'll make my case right now too well not even make my case I'm just going to say bring back the players wearing their own team's jerseys it's ridiculous you don't still do that I don't think that's just Nostalgia sometimes you think things were better back in the day they actually weren't it's just you remember it differently you remember it fonder when time passes no that's just objectively the better way to do it so hopefully Major League Baseball will make that change next year after the Philadelphia Phillies win the national league pennet and Rob Thompson is managing the national league to their second win in the last 12 Allstar games but for everything else besides the uniform it was a darn good day or I guess night at the Ballpark for Philadelphia Phillies fans and the most important thing everybody got out healthy it was efficient they got some play but not too much play it was just a great night for the Phillies Bryce Harper Alec bow Trey Turner Christopher Sanchez Jeff Hoffman Matt Strom to be in the National Spotlight absolutely love it now coming up next we're going to turn our eyes because now the All-Star game's over the Phillies have the next two night off we're going to turn our eyes to the second half I'm going to give you the most important players to me of the second half for the Philadelphia Phillies I'm going to give you two position players I'm going to give you one starting pitcher and I'm going to give you a bullpen pitcher that really need to step up if the Phillies are going to go where they want to go for the rest of the regular season and obviously for the postseason we'll get into that coming up as we continue locked on Phillies first let's talk about our friends over supplyhouse.com because you can get supplies from the site that's Supply House made for the skilled trades that's supplyhouse.com supply.com is the reliable way to order Plumbing HVAC and electrical products online their easy to use website is packed with helpful resources and the latest product info to help you get the job done right you can shop a complete 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important for the Philadelphia Phillies now the first position player that I'm going to pick that is one of the most important players for the Philadelphia Phillies in the second half of the season is JT realmuto what the Phillies have been this year is they have been darn consistent guys have gone through slight slumps guys that have slumped to start the season have tried to come out out of it some have some haven't that's part of the reason Whit marfields longer on this team but Nick casos has started to pick it up Bryson St has started to show signs of life being The Hitter he used to be but the one thing I've looked at over the past month month and a half that the Philadelphia Phillies need is they need a catcher guess what folks JT Realo he's that guy and he's coming back soon he should be back sometime in the next week and a half and that's why he's important right because how does this team Elevate their ceiling I don't think and we're going to talk about the trade deadline in tomorrow's episode epis I don't think let me get this prize pick thing out of here I just saw that if you're watching on YouTube like I don't think you're going to get someone at the trade deadline that is like a major major major improvement over the guy you currently have at the position are there better players than Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh and Christian Pache out there that you can add to this Outfield to put you in a spot where you look better top to bottom in the lineup absolutely but is it going to be as big of an improvement as JT rudo is over Rafael marshan and Garrett thubs no way man JT Rito is like an allor Catcher And you have him coming back and why he's so important well he's going to be one of the guys that really determines what the ceiling of this team is in the second half they've been good even without him so imagine how good they can be with him you saw what this team looked like without Trey Turner they won and then you bring him back and he's sitting like 345 so it can make a huge difference getting back an all World talent and JT rido if he comes back and is the player you expect to be well that just makes this lineup even more dangerous that's why he's hugely important because he's going to help this team reach their ceiling and he won't cost you anything unlike players at the trade deadline the other position player that I think is really important is Brandon Marsh and you might say well he's been a platoon guy he hasn't hit against lefties since like early May why is he so important if you're GNA add to the Outfield well because I think you're looking at a center fielder that you can add and if you do that well you still need someone to play in the corners and it's not going to be Johan roas playing Left Field now he's a guy that you're going to use as a defensive replacement or a base running replacement and he'll be playing center field behind whoever you acquire you may have to get another guy you may have to get two outfielders if you don't believe in the left field spot but Brandon Marsh is a guy who can maybe make the Phillies believe in what they have out in left field if he can put something together over the next couple weeks ahead of the trade deadline and start to look like a ified maybe even just a platoon player so you can go out and you can get a guy that I don't know is just a a right-handed bat to hit lefties that you play out there in left field as well every day that you face a left-handed pitcher rather than putting Brandon Marsh Lefty on Lefty which they don't like to do that would be hugely beneficial to Dave debrowski saving some assets at the deadline if you got to go get two starters that's a tall task if you have to get one starter and a backup in the Outfield or a platoon player in the Outfield that's a lot more doable and the only way that you can have the luxury to do that is if Brandon Marsh steps up and continues to play the way he showed flashes of at points in the first half of the season a consistent good two weeks here from Brandon Marsh next thing you know you could be looking at a whole different Outlook in the Outfield Nick ganis is obviously set out there in right field but Brandon Marsh is super important now starting pitching the starter that is most important to the Philadelphia Phillies the rest of the way to me is Ranger Suarez because we know how good this rotation can be when he's great and we know how shaky your rotation can get if you got a guy in the middle of it that isn't pitching his best and Ranger Suarez lately has not been pitching his best we're going to talk about him coming up in the final segment so I want to save a little bit of what I want to say about Rangers Suarez right now for that but all I'll say is Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are going to be consistently good Christopher Sanchez has shown you he's been pretty darn dominant this year as well but all of those guys All-Star caliber two of those guys actually made the All-Star team NOA did not make it but it's just been a stack season for the Phillies so you kind of understand he was just the odd man out of those top four guys but I see ranger Suarez kind of like how we talked about JT rudo finding the ceiling of this team or I guess of the lineup Ranger Suarez is going to be the determination of whether or not this Philly's rotation can hit their ceiling again in the second half I believe they hit their ceiling in the first half for a wide stretch of the schedule to get back to that Rangers going to have to be really good and then let's go with a reliever real quick before we move on to our final segment the re reliever I see is most important for the Philadelphia philes the rest of the way is Jose Alvarado you look at it and you say okay you have two locked down crazy good relievers that were both All-Stars and Jeff Hoffman and Matt strm you know what you're getting out of those guys righty High leverage Lefty High leverage perfect I also look at oryan Kirk ring and I say he's had a sneaky Good Year it's hard to remember but this dude was in low a ball last year and he just came up at the end of the year and he's just kind of getting his first regular season experience this year he pitched in like two games in the regular season last year right before going into the postseason he's been really good I trust him in high leverage spots in the postseason so that's three guys and Jose Alvarado is a guy you should trust in those High leverage spots but he hasn't been the guy he was last year last year Alvarado was absolutely dominant one of the best Lefty relievers in the sport this year he's been good not right if he can get back to his greatness that gives you four guys that you trust right now and you're probably going to go add another one of those guys at the trade deadline to add to the bullpen a fifth guy that you trust in those High leverage spots if you have this rotation and five great pitchers out of the bullpen and a couple other guys you can use to potentially get a good inning here or there it's Anthony Dominguez and Gregory stto well that looks like a darn good playoff baseball team and I think Jose Alvarado is the key to making us a lot more comfortable with where they St on that front so those are my most important players you can let me know if you think somebody else is more important than those guys in the comments so let me know uh on the YouTube there I'm happy to have the discussion there are plenty of guys who are important to this team whatever the case may be I think the Phillies are going to be in good shape but we do have a little bit of a concern about Ranger Suarez that is some new information to me that I want to pass along to you I'm not losing my mind over it but I'll tell you why I'm a little more worried than I have been in the past with Ranger Suarez's status right now coming up as we wrap up today's episode first though let's talk about eBay Motors eBay Motors because if you're worried 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customers now this Ranger Suarez Suarez Wheeler situation has gotten interesting the Philadelphia Phillies apparently uh they told him not to go to the allstar game Zack Wheeler They gave him the option it sounds like and he chose not to because he's not feeling his best he wasn't gonna throw Rangers SARS though they said yo don't go to the All-Star Game and I've started to hear some Whispers I know I've said said multiple times on the podcast it's not like there's an injury or anything he's just trying to find his change up he's just trying to find his curveball it sounds like he's got a little bit of a back issue going on now that's also what Zack Wheeler has going on some back tightness for wheeler that caused him to miss his final start of the first half which would have been Sunday against the Athletics if you remember that Sunday game did not exactly go the Philadelphia Phillies way Bullpen games are killers for a season not because you're going to lose all of them you can win a game especially with this Bullpen but it really taxes arms that you're going to need in the postseason and the more you can balance the amount of time you use starters and the amount of time you use the bullpen the better chance that you get these guys to the postseason without being burned out what the rest of the season is is a war of attrition and a whole baseball season kind of is like that naturally due to the length when you play 162 games health is going to be hard to come by it's by far the longest season in the major North American Sports it's going to be tough to keep these guys rested focused healthy and hitting the postseason without being burned out remember two years ago they shut down Zack Wheeler for like a month in the second half of the Season found their way into the postseason he looked really good because of it I don't know that they're going to do that with Ranger Suarez or Zack Wheeler it sounds like wheeler is going to make his next start after the All-Star break so you should see him coming up against the Pittsburgh Pirates but Ranger I'm a little bit more concerned now because before it was just oh well you can't find his stuff right now now it's oh well he's got a little bit of a back issue I don't know what extent that back issue is the Phillies have not put anything out like oh he's going on the injured lists or anything I I don't know exactly what's going on with that but that does scare me a little bit because backs can be tricky I said the same thing when wheeler had that issue it turns out that wasn't anything too major but as someone who threw out my back recently a back injury surv I am I'm an expert on these things and Buddy if your back hurts if you're over the age of 30 you know what back Pain's like it ain't good it can debil your debilitate did I say debili tize debilitate your whole body it can make it impossible for you to move around it can make it very difficult to spot pitches it can make it painful to go out there so something to keep an eye on with Ranger Suarez you already have Spencer Turnbull on the injured list you have Taiwan Walker on the injured list if Ranger Suarez has to take an injured list then all of the sudden the starting pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies it looks kind of thin the guys you have then the top three spots if Ranger needs time in Wheeler Nola and S or Suarez Sanchez look really really good and then you're gonna have two days where it's like I don't know who we're even throwing is Michael Marcato gonna continue to make starts he was basically pitching in the Home Run Derby when he faced the Oakland Athletics that's not a little that's not a lot of confidence that that inspires doing that um do you call someone else up I don't really know who else you call up or send down anybody like I don't really know how you make this work consistently without Ranger Suarez being available and I don't think the Phillies are going to make a trade for a starter because none of these are like season ending things so your four pitchers in the postseason are going to be wheeler Suarez Nola Sanchez maybe in that order maybe not in that order but bottom line is you only need four so you don't need to a roster move you do have to again War of Attrition survive this second half of the season and while you have an eight and a half game lead in the division and you have a solid lead lead over the Dodgers for the top spot in the National League and you still are the best team in baseball it's not like you can go through a two- we stretch of abysmal baseball and survive that comfortably this team is not going to do that they're too talented not to they're going to keep winning the roster the lineup I should say is going to get better once JT rido comes back which puts a little bit of less pressure on the pitching staff but still anytime you potentially have an injury issue with a starter that's so important to your team like Ranger Suarez is that can get people a little bit nervous and hand up right now I'm a little bit more nervous than I am or than I was uh when I thought it was just oh he can't find his pitches right now here in the potential injury stuff let's just hope that Rangers okay I'll keep you updated on anything we hear on that front we should find out soon who the Philadelphia Phillies are going to throw in the upcoming Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates but the Phils have the next two nights off they're off Wednesday night they're off Thursday night so tomorrow's episode we're gonna have a great opportunity to run through some trade deadline talk and a look at what the Philadelphia philes could potentially do we're going to highlight some players including Mason Miller who you saw in the All-Star Game and in the series this past weekend at Citizens Bank Park G to look through a couple other relievers and we're going to look through some Outfield options those are the main categories on tomorrow's episode I'm going to break down all of for you give my thoughts on the expense whether I would pay it and who is the most likely player at each of those positions to end up in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform ahead of the trade deadline it's a guessing game because I don't know that the Phillies fully know but hey if you've listened to this podcast you know I can be a pretty good guesser at times it'll be a fun conversation but that's all for today's episode thank you again so much for checking us out we are part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I'll urge you again if you have not yet please make sure you're rating and reviewing wherever you consume your podcast if you're watching on YouTube or if you want to check us out on YouTube go to the lock on Philly's Channel hit that subscribe button cost you nothing get you notifications when new episodes are posted it's the number one way to help us out so if you enjoyed this episode or if you enjoy all our episodes subscribe to the YouTube it helps us out significantly but that's all for today's episode once again I'll be back with you tomorrow I know it's an off time for the Phillies but no off time for lockon Phillies so I will talk to you again tomorrow on our next episode of Locked on Phillies