👋 Good morning! Man, what a beautiful sight.

Especially since Philly sports had a light content day outside of the Fightins, let’s do some Trivia Thursday. Five Phillies all-star questions for ya…

  1. Home run derby: Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard won the Home Run Derby in back-to-back years, 2005 and 2006. In what cities were those derbies won?

  2. Kruker: John Kruk memorably struck out against Randy Johnson in the 1993 All-Star Game. Where was that game played? As a hint, it was the same place that Kruk would hit a single, walk off the field, leave the stadium and immediately retire a few years later.

  3. Relievers: Since our guy Ricky Bo made the ASG in 1996, the Phils have sent eight relievers to the midsummer classic. How many can you name? I did not count Ranger as one of the eight, since he made it as a starter.

  4. Dingers: Since Mike Schmidt in 1981, a grand total of one Phillie has homered in the All-Star Game. Name him.

  5. Starters: Since Steve Carlton’s last ASG start in 1979, three Phillies pitchers have started the game for the National League. Name them.

Bryce is back (hopefully)

On yesterday’s Gargano show, Bill asked Tyler how concerned he was about Bryce Harper. Tyler answered, “Somewhat.” And it was hard to argue with that, considering how ineffective Bryce had been at the dish since coming off the IL last week.

I was certainly concerned. But after Bryce’s first career game with four extra-base hits in San Francisco, I am gonna hit y’all with the rare Double Meme.

In all of my ranting about Oracle Park and the Phillies’ disastrous bullpen, there was another unspoken issue for the local nine: Bryce Harper did not look like himself. That issue was more important than the Phillies’ bullpen and outfield situation, because they are not doing anything of note with a below-average Bryce Harper. The man has a 1.016 postseason OPS, after all.

But I wanted to give Bryce some time, because we have seen this story before. We have seen him scuffle coming off the IL, only to catch fire at some point. Sometimes, Bryce just needs a little time before he goes on an insane run. And he certainly did that yesterday, wearing out left-center.

Now that we are halfway through Harper’s 13-year contract, how Bryce ages is always in the back of your mind. His swing is incredibly violent, and those comments about the wrist injury being at “a standstill” were concerning… even if he did also say that the wrist was feeling better.

Yesterday does not solve all of the Phillies’ issues. I got quite a few texts of the, “Save some runs for tomorrow!” genre. But more important than the offense breaking out, we saw Bryce Harper look like Bryce Harper for the first time in a while. Maybe that would have happened on Monday if Phil Cuzzi was not umpiring, but for Phillies fans, it was great to finally see.

Saquon takes on the Suburban One League: That is all I got. I told you it was a slow news day!

The Luzardo roller coaster: Jesús Luzardo is either great or terrible, and there really is no in between. On July 4th against the Reds, he struggled mightily. But with the Phils desperately needing a quality start in that house of horrors, Luzardo shoved. He threw seven shutout innings and retired 17 of the final 18 batters that he faced.

One of Luzardo’s big issues over the past six weeks has been pitching with runners on base. First tipping pitches, and then locating pitches. Well, that is certainly one way to fix the problem: Do not let anybody on base! Always makes a big difference when you can locate your off-speed stuff.

VJ out tonight: I hurt my thumb playing hoops just last night, but I am playing (typing) through the pain. The same cannot be said for VJ Edgecombe.

Let’s do a quick Q&A on this subject, why don’t we?

Do thumb sprains stink for basketball players? Yes, it is very uncomfortable to simply catch the basketball.

Did the Sixers change up the wording on this? Yes, in true Sixers fashion. A sprain is different than a contusion.

Would it have been fun to watch VJ play against Dylan Harper tonight? Yes, tons of fun. I would have been legitimately juiced for that one, as far as summer games go anyway. Bummer.

Should you react differently to this sequence of events than you would in November? Yes, this is summer league basketball. A bummer, but nothing worth getting worked up about. And if the Sixers are being super careful with Edgecombe, this would be the time of year to do so.

Joel and Arthur: Arthur Embiid appears to be, as the kids say, a bucket.

Nice video. Also nice to see any signs of life from Joel, he was tweeting up a storm about the Phillies loss two nights ago. Probably not too happy with that Jordan Romano meatball to Patrick Bailey. Perfectly understandable.

No Phils, but the Summer Sixers are in action against San Antonio for some late-night hoops. Our Sixers crew will be on site in Las Vegas.

Your tentative Thursday schedule at ​PHLY​:

  • 🎙️ Philly Philly with Jon Marks: 8:00 a.m.

  • 🎙️ The Anthony Gargano Show: 9:00 a.m.

  • 🏒 Flyers: 12:00 p.m.

  • 🦅 Eagles: 2:00 p.m.

  • 🏀 Sixers: 3:00 p.m.

And oh yeah, the trivia:

  1. Abreu (Detroit), Howard (Pittsburgh)

  2. Baltimore

  3. Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, Craig Kimbrel, Pat Neshek (lol), Jonathan Papelbon, Brad Lidge, Tom “Flash” Gordon, Billy Wagner

  4. J.T. Realmuto (2021)

  5. Roy Halladay (2011), Curt Schilling (1999), and the hard one... Terry Mulholland (1993)

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS

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