Hittin' Season: A Philadelphia Phillies podcast

On Episode 678 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis from The Good Phight, Liz Roscher from Yahoo! Sports and Baseball Prospectus' Justin Klugh discuss the Phillies' weekend series win against the Dodgers, noting outstanding starting pitching (outside of Aaron Nola) leading the way. Also, whether Trea Turner has officially turned his season around, Nick Castellanos' is the team's MVP, how many Phils are All-Star worthy right now and a preview of this week's match-up against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

The Phillies looked great against the Tigers for the most part and will now face a tougher test in the Dodgers. Meanwhile, MLB teams struggle to get their houses in order during Pride, and the Mets are the trendy new team to give up on.

On Episode 676 of Hittin' Season, John Stolnis from The Good Phight recaps the first couple games of the Phillies series against the woeful Detroit Tigers, noting outstanding pitching performances from Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker against the worst offense in MLB. Also, it's June, which means it's time for Kyle Schwarber to hit a million dingers, but is Trea Turner also figuring it out? And John is joined byWashington Post National Baseball Writer Chelsea Janes for her analysis of the Phils and a look around the National League at which of the four struggling NL playoff teams from last year will return and which of the overachieving squads will falter down the stretch.

On Episode 675 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis from The Good Phight and Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus break down a satisfying weekend of baseball in the District of Columbia and thank the baseball angels for bring the Phillies the Washington Nationals multiple times a year. The offense, particularly, Kyle Schwarber came alive as the calendar turned to June, as the Phils finally get ready to stack some home games after spending more time on the road than any other team in baseball this year.

Another sweep, this time at the hands of the Mets, has Justin and John once more shaking their heads. Get into the gritty details of the Phillies' tepid-at-best offense during the Mets series, as well as talk about the reaction to Scott Rolen joining the Phillies Wall of Fame.

On Episode 673 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis recaps the first two games of the Phillies' three-game set against the New York Mets as an awful month of May draws to a close. John is joined by Grant Hill, the host of the outstanding podcast Serum, from WHYY's The Pulse. A die-hard Phils fan, Grant joins the show to offer his take on what we've seen from this disappointing and maddening baseball team here in 2023.

On Episode 672 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis, Justin Klugh and Liz Roscher recap the Phillies' split of their four-game series with the Braves in Atlanta over the weekend. Zack Wheeler shoved, Aaron Nola didn't. Taijuan Walker was fine, Dylan Covey wasn't. Did we learn anything new about the Phillies? Also, how MLB is wasting Memorial Day weekend as a showcase for its sport, Shohei Ohtani-to-the-Phillies rumors are hot and heavy! (no they're not), and lots more! Powered by WHYY and BillyPenn.com!!!

The Phillies dropped another game in frustrating fashion to begin their NL East gauntlet against the Braves and Mets. Let's distract ourselves from it with Phillies fan groups throughout history and Phillies takes from the outer reaches of fan-sanity.

On Episode 670 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis recaps a wild Wednesday, walk-off victory by the Phillies, staving off a demoralizing three-game sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Does this give the Phils some momentum heading into a huge four-game series against the Braves in Atlanta this weekend? Will Trea Turner's 9th-inning, two-out, two-run home run be the spark that lights his, and the team's, fires? Also, Phillies Radio Pre and Postgame Show host Gregg Murphy joins the podcast to talk about the up-and-down season, starting pitching issues, and whether the team is pressing as they struggle to put together any sustained success.

On Hittin' Season Episode 669, hosts John Stolnis of The Good Phight, Justin Klugh from Baseball Prospectus and Yahoo! Sports' Liz Roscher recap the Phillies' weekend series against the Cubs. After a nightmarish game on Friday, the Phils found two very different ways to win on Saturday and Sunday as their Dance with .500 in 2023 continues unabated. Also, this week, the schedule gets tougher as the Phillies search for a No. 5 starter, and hope the offense can find their footing.

Liz and Justin have three questions for each other about the Phillies' struggles with runners in scoring position, the Phillies Phantastic Auction, and what sort of additions you'd like to see at Citizens Bank Park. Then, get set for a weekend home stand against the Cubs!

On Episode 667 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis recaps a brutal series in San Francisco in which the Phillies went 2-for-2 jillion with runners in scoring position, made a ton of fielding mistakes and had two starting pitchers combine for four outs. The answer is simple. No more games in California. Also, MLB Senior Writer for The Sporting News Ryan Fagan stops by to share his thoughts on the Phils' early struggles and to chat about the other playoff teams from last year who are having a tough time so far, too.

On Episode 666 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis, Justin Klugh and Liz Roscher recap the Phillies' successful weekend series in Colorado against the Rockies, Bryce Harper's ejection and jawing at Rockies players, his monster weekend at the plate, and a discussion of whether Harper is the most perfect marriage of athlete and Philadelphia in the city's history. Also, starting pitching has been pretty good, the bullpen has been awesome, and the gang wonders if strong emotions regarding Gabe Kapler are still warranted as the team begins a three-game series against his San Francisco Giants this week.

On Episode 665 of Hittin' Season, hosts Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus and Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports chat about Bryce Harper's eventual move to first base, and take a look back at other instances in recent Phillies history when other, lesser players tried to change positions. How did they all work out? (Hint: not all that great). That plus chatter on the state of the Phils as they begin a weekend series in Colorado against the Rockies.

On Episode 664 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis recaps a fun couple of games against the Toronto Blue Jays to finish up the Interleague homestand, including outstanding performances by Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, the bullpen and Nick Castellanos. Also, Jose Alvarado hits the injured list, but it could have been a lot worse, the Phillies are heading to London next year, and WHYY's Avi Wolfman-Arent joins us to talk about making room for the Phillies as the city is obsessed with the 76ers, which Phillie he'd most want to have a beer with, and whether John Middleton's claims that injuries are the reason for the team's slow start are valid. Powered by WHYY and BillyPenn.com!

On Episode 663 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis, Justin Klugh and Liz Roscher recap a rough weekend of baseball against the Boston Red Sox, discuss the issues with the starting rotation, how it's NOT OK for multiple members of the veteran lineup to simply take the first two months of every season off, the plethora of young people at Phillies games and highlights from the Inaugural Hittin' Season Tailgate last Saturday afternoon! Powered by WHYY and BillyPenn.com!

On Episode 662 of Hittin' Season, Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus and Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports devote nearly the entire episode to answer this one simple question. What is Aaron Nola? Pitcher? Certainly. Human Being? No doubt. Ace? Ehhhhh. Bad Pitcher? No way. Something in between? You betcha. Justin and Liz went through his history, each start of 2023, and developed a definition for his varying performances that will ultimately not please anyone.

On Episode 661 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis from The Good Phight recapped a truly brutal Phillies series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Here's the good news... there is no way the Phils will play another series as bad as that one, right? Right? Also, Leo Morgenstern of Fangraphs joins the show to discuss Bryce Harper's return to the lineup, Aaron Nola's velocity drop, and some of the other top storylines around baseball through the season's first month.

On Episode 660 of Hittin' Season, John Stolnis of The Good Phight and Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports in NO WAY discuss Taijuan Walker's disastrous series opening start against the Dodgers. Instead, John and Liz chat excitedly about the return of Bryce Harper from Tommy John surgery faster than any human being in the history of the world and wonder, is Harper a Metahuman? Also, the positive developments from Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler in last weekend's series against the Astros, and some other baseball thoughts as the season's first month came to a close.