👋 Good morning! I do not know how we used to regularly do 3.5-hour baseball games.

Just four years ago, the average time of a MLB game was three hours and eleven minutes. That seems insane! Last night’s Phils-Sawx game took 3:29 and it felt interminably long, like a Yanks-Sawx playoff game from the mid-aughts.

What I am saying here is… Rob Manfred, maybe not so bad?

I did not think Rob Thomson managed a particularly good game last night. One of the issues: I understand why in theory you would want to pinch-run for Kyle Schwarber when he represents the winning run on first base. But I also am not a fan of taking Kyle Schwarber out of baseball games, especially when the guy you sub in gets thrown out by 15 feet attempting to steal.

This is where Weston Wilson was when the ball was in the second baseman’s glove. I like Wes Wilson, he seems like a good dude. But maybe, just maybe, we can stop pinch-running him for Kyle Schwarber late in games.

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

“I love the first day, man. Everybody all friendly an' [stuff]” — Namond Brice

To reiterate a take I have made before, the first day of school is decent enough. Not awesome, but the novelty and lack of responsibility always made it more tolerable than you expect. The second day of school? The single worst day of the year.

Some of the findings from the first day of practice in South Philly…

Jihaad Campbell, on the field: Uncle Vic would never lie to us, so Uncle Vic simply might have been mistaken. Happens to the best of us.

During OTAs, Fangio said that Campbell would not hit the “practice field practice field” until August. And while the Eagles were not in full pads on the first day, Campbell was out there and doing everything that everyone else was doing (even if he was officially listed as “limited”). As Bo put it on the pod here, there is not a better piece of news that the Eagles could have received on the first day of training camp. Plus, it sounds like The Timber Creek Thumper even made a few plays.

I like how Zach put it on the pod here. Even just by participating at this unexpected level right away, Campbell probably went from a 50/50 chance to be the Week 1 starter next to Zack Baun to 90/10. The heavy favorite.

Kelee Ringo: The good news for our guy Kelee: Everything about the rotation suggested he is CB2.

The bad news for our guy Kelee: He did not find the football on Day 1. I will let ZB explain in his practice notes…

If A.J. Brown beats you in a drill, I do not really care. If A.J. Brown beats you in a one-on-one drill that completely favors the receiver, I really do not care. But Terrace Marshall burning you? I do not want to read much more of that. Find the ball, Kelee!

And guys, it is training camp notes season. We at PHLY are dedicated to not only podcasting about our favorite teams, but writing about them as well. If you want to read Zach’s practice notes, or Charlie O’Connor on the Flyers’ offseason, or Jim Salisbury on Gage Wood… you can sign up for a discount rate on Year 1 here. You also get a t-shirt included from the store and can join our Discord community, where the sickest of the sickos talk ball (and puck). Make sure to act soon!

In the other position battles…

A.J. Brown wants to be the best receiver in the league: He even said so.

Brown probably needs a little more volume for that to happen. He was just 43rd in targets a season ago, partially because he missed four games and partially because the Birds pounded the rock.

You look at the ESPN list from last week, and A.J. was ranked fifth behind Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb. No argument here that those guys are all great players. But I think A.J. is right there with them, at the top of a loaded position group around the NFL.

Speaking of A.J.’s volume…

Jalen Hurts: I remember when Cole Hamels led the Phillies to a ring in 2008. He enjoyed himself that offseason, and was kinda terrible in 2009 before pitching at a high level the rest of his Phils tenure. Love me some Colbert.

That said, I do not think Jalen Hurts is gonna pull a 2009 Cole Hamels.

Red Sox 9, Phillies 8 (11): The Mets also swept the Angels, so they take the lead again on the NL East see-saw. In related news, I strongly dislike the Angels.

The Phils could have swept Boston, even holding a 5-0 lead in this one. But they lost in a game that saw them do a bunch of good things. For example…

In the immediate aftermath of that disastrous fifth inning, there was a lot of blame placed on J.T. Realmuto and Rob Thomson. If that is where your head is at, I am not here to argue with you. If J.T. (or Luzardo, or Bryce Harper) locates a simple pop-up behind home plate, that is a zero-run inning for the Sawx and not a six-run inning. Quite a swing there. So Phillies it hurts.

For his part, Topper let the starting pitcher stay in after walking FOUR guys in an inning, with a fresh bullpen and the day off today. If you are trying at all costs to win the game, there needs to be a quicker hook in that spot. Luzardo was practically begging to get pulled.

But I cannot place my focus anywhere but Jesús Luzardo. Holding a 5-0 lead, you cannot possibly pitch a more pathetic inning in that spot. Ball after ball after ball and then a meatball to completely blow the lead.

There is a degree of mental toughness that every starting pitcher needs. You are gonna run into bloop hits. You are gonna run into errors, like the mistake that Realmuto made. That does not give the starter license to completely unravel time and again. Luzardo has surrendered 42 runs in his last 47 innings! His last seven weeks contain what should be a career’s worth of implosions for a guy with his stuff.

(Also, why is he not pitching from the windup with the bases loaded? Let them try to steal home.)

Aaron Nola should return pretty soon. For the past few years, I have always talked about how “flammable” Nola is. On nights when Nola pitches well, he too often lets the game get away from him with one bad inning. Well, Luzardo is taking flammability to a new level. He is The Joker burning all the money in The Dark Knight.

I might consider giving Luzardo a phantom IL stint when Nola rejoins in the rotation. And that is for two reasons…

Oh well, Yankees up next.

Another day of Eagles camp. And I will have Trivia Friday coming at ya tomorrow.

Your tentative Thursday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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