👋 Good morning! Rob Thomson did not take Nick Castellanos out for defense late in Wednesday’s game, and of course the game ended this way. In the words of Harry Dunne, Casty totally redeemed himself.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, does the post-game shirt-untuck like Nick Castellanos. — Rich Hofmann

Gonna be short-and-sweet today, after a long Stream-a-thon day. Thank you to everyone who tuned in and/or donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, much appreciated.

But I do have some trivia for you. And I am gonna take today’s trivia questions directly from the Johnny Goodtimes quizzo hour.

Thank you to Johnny Goodtimes for doing my work for me. Answers at the bottom.

As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

There has been a lot of ranking the best athletes in Philly sports recently. I get it, slow time on the sports calendar unless you have a hockey or basketball team playing for a title (we do not). But what about the athletes with the highest approval ratings?

That conversation has probably been muddied recently since the Eagles won the Super Bowl. All of the Eagles have a high approval rating, as they should. But I think of “high approval rating” as another way to say “biggest fan favorites.”

Three names that come to mind: DeVonta Smith, Tyrese Maxey, and the focus of today’s newsletter, Ranger Suárez.

Everyone loves Ranger. He has memorable playoff moments on his résumé, and has proven to be a big-game pitcher. He is a fun guy to watch pitch and field his position, there is very little cooler than his exaggerated pause before firing to first base. And he is a beloved member of the clubhouse, and an incredible dancer to boot.

And for the second straight year, Ranger has put together two excellent months of baseball at the beginning of the season. He had the young Fish expanding the zone like Jamie Moyer used to back in the day… while throwing 10 miles per hour faster than Jamie Moyer, despite not throwing all that hard himself. Jamie Moyer really was a trip, man.

In Ranger’s last eight starts, after essentially taking a major-league rehab start in his season debut: 6-1, 1.17 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 12 walks. This is a man who heard all of the “Ranger is headed to the bullpen” takes, and I gotta say, he is not pitching like a man who is headed to the bullpen anytime soon.

Ranger’s Baseball Savant page is pristine. You can see it in the stats below when you are watching a game, he almost never gives up hard contact.

Now, am I worried that Ranger can keep this up? Of course, we all were there last year! I honestly wish the Phillies could elect to put him on ice right now, unfreeze him in late September, and this exact guy shows up headed into the playoffs. But that is not real life, so fingers crossed. For now, though, let’s appreciate that Ranger has been the best pitcher in the National League not named Paul Skenes over the last seven weeks. At a time when the team was struggling, he picked them up big-time. Love that guy.

Matt Strahm, on the other hand, is starting to worry me.

Bryson Stott has hit a bunch of balls in the air this year. But this one traveled a lot farther than most of them have. Good to see.

Mets lost again, too, Phils are now just one back. I am telling you, that franchise has absolutely nothing for Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh right now.

We will have a much more in-depth newsletter to close the week. I have some takes to get off my chest: Lakers selling for $10 billion, Ace Bailey bailing on the Sixers, Jaire Alexander, Bill Zito and the Flyers, etc.

All that said, I could not let the day pass without introducing you to Cousin Nolan. Another great moment for the fam.

One more in Miami today, Cris Sanchez against Edward Cabrera (6:40 p.m., NBC Sports Philly).

And oh yeah, the trivia answers:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann

Daily Newsletter Editor

PHLY SPORTS