PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Adrian Del Castillo POWERS Diamondbacks To WALK OFF Win Over Phillies With First Career Home Run

Episode Date: August 10, 2024

The Arizona Diamondbacks continue to have unlikely heroes step up this season. In just his second game as a big leaguer, catcher Adrian Del Castillo hit his first career home run at the best possible time as the D-backs walk off the Phillies by a score of 3-2. We have more on Ryne Nelson’s dominant night on the mound, Del Castillo setting a franchise record, and this team of Snakes finding a way to win in another close game. An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose between either:Bet and Get offer and place a bet of $5 or more and get $150 in Bonus Bets OR First Bet Safety Net offer by placing a bet up to $1000 and if your qualifying bet loses you receive a matched refund in Bonus betsDisclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Sanderson Ford: The Sanderson Ford Summer Sales Event is here and they are teaming up with the boys of summer for a final Playoff Payoff Sale. You get the payoffs like deals on 24 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend. Lease one today for as low as $299 a month for 36 Months with only 10 percent cash down.Indeed: listeners of this show will get a SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility at https://indeed.com/allcity. Terms and conditions apply.  Need to hire? You need Indeed.Gila River Resorts & Casinos: YOU DO YOU at Gila River Resorts & Casinos. Visit https://playatgila.com for details.Mint Mobile: To get your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://mintmobile.com/diamondbacks.  $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Shady Rays: Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to https://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/allcity and use code PHNX for 10% off!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Diamondbacks are a motherfucking wagon. Welcome in to another edition of the P.HNX. D. Bax podcast right here on P.HNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am occasionally known as your mayor of P.NX. This man next to me is occasionally known as your dog, my dog. It's Damon dog. And of course, we will be joined by the Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman,

my vice mayor himself here from Chase Field shortly. Hopefully that concert going on. on tonight isn't going to completely ruin any chance of Jesse having reasonable audio. But what a fucking win. Excuse me, Ruth, once again for my language. But what a fucking win for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight. Holy shit. Adrian Del Castillo, walk it off.

Diamondbacks win three to two. Damon, this team just constantly finds ways to, to win and finds new heroes. It feels like there's an unlikely hero for this team constantly. And it's not the bullpen, that's for sure. But it definitely was Adrian Del Castillo tonight. I'll tell you what, Derek, we're going to need Jesse tonight because me and you, we're talking World Series. We're talking.

Nothing crazy. You got your, no, you got your ring. I want another ring. But this time I wanted to be a World Series ring because that's what I'm thinking about right now. You have this ring. It's not going to be she'd seen very well, but we're going to talk about this ring in a little while. Yeah, yeah. We need to see to bring us back down to Earth because this show is going to get pretty crazy, I think. Yeah, this show is going to get nuts. But we got this ring by beating the Phillies and don't forget that we did it again tonight. The Arizona Diamondbacks get their seventh walk-off win of the season. This is the first time, Damon, and franchise history,

that a player's first career home run was a walk-off. Welcome to the show, ADC. unbelievable what a way to get your first home run um and and like i think from what i've seen this far like i know it's been really early so it's it's crazy to say this but like the way he was mashing in the miners i i feel like he's got to be the backup moving forward for gabby and like that platoon is incredible it feels at least that's what it feels like two young guys that are just you know Both can mash a little bit from behind the plate. He looks pretty good defensively. Like he looks like he plays the part defensively, which I think, you know, we were all a little bit not like maybe concerned about, but we wanted to see if he could kind of just hold his weight here in the majors from a defensive standpoint.

I think most of us thought that his bat would play. But man, does it actually play? And he's already learning from Gabby Moreno. We talked to him before the game today, and he talked about kind of copying a little bit of Moreno's stance behind the plate. And, you know, going to, I think he was like going to his knees more. And he sees Gabby do it. He says, if Gabby can do it, I can do it. And it works out for him.

So he's already making adjustments that are making him a better catcher. Like you said, I think he's an incredible talent. I think the problem is, if we're being honest, that there's a lot of guys that mash in both Amarillo and in Reno. And it's hard at times to know if it's for real or not. Del Castillo led the PCL in doubles. He was a double machine. His first at bat as a diamond back, he hit a double. And here he is in his second game delivering a walkoff winner, his first career home run.

And of course, just a legendary hit here to start his Arizona. of Diamondback's career in just his second game. But of course, we thank all of you for being here tonight. Of course, the PHNX Diamondback show is presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHNX365 when you sign up. Choose your offer and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365. And even though that's their catchphrase, I'm telling you, Damon, it's an easy transition for me to talk about why it is never ordinary with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Because it isn't. Tonight was an extraordinary night. for two individuals, including Del Castillo, but we got to give our flowers to Ryan Nelson. It was quite possibly the best outing of his entire career, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Diamondbacks suffered the loss in game one here against the Phillies. This is a Phillies team that inexplicably has struggled since the All-Star break a bit.

They are still tied now with tonight's loss, with the Braves for the second worst record in Major League Baseball since the All-Star break. I know Phillies fans don't give a shit about that based on how many of them, responded and blew up our account. They totally don't care. They don't care. But that's fine. They do still have the best record in baseball.

But so did the Guardians before they ran into the Diamondbacks. Let's just remember that. Ryan Nelson, though, gives them just such an incredible outing tonight. Just we know we've seen this out of Nelly, right? We've talked about how good he was over the course of the month of July. I think four out of his six starts, he gave up one earn run or less. And I mean, it's easy because. is you don't really pay attention to Ryan Nelson that much,

considering that you think he's going to get replaced in the starting rotation eventually. So even his good outage, you're like, hey, great, he's keeping us going until Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez come back. But we're going to have to have a very serious discussion here, and so are the Arizona Diamondbacks, about what they do with their starting rotation and what they do with, you know, Brian Nelson versus Jordan Montgomery, essentially.

like everybody else's spot in the starting rotation is fairly secure. But Ryan Nelson set a career high tonight by going out against one of the most potent offenses in baseball and throwing four perfect innings before allowing a leadoff double to Alec Bohm there in the fifth inning. And of course, that came right after I tweeted in any way about him having a good night. So yeah, it's my fault. But his pitch selection, Damon, was pretty good. He threw a lot of cutters tonight.

That's something that allowed him to mix things up. He threw 61% four seams. He threw 28% cutter and then 11% other. But, you know, the slider, he threw that a little bit. He threw the change up. He got 14 whiffs on the night. He got nine strikeouts. Throw that circle K meter up there on the board because he almost filled this bad boy up tonight.

This one? That's the one. Oh, you mean this one? It's the one we hijacked from Chase Field. Yes. And, of course, he was lighting it up tonight. That's for sure. but man, just allowed three hits, two runs, one, which was a walk that essentially A.J. Puck couldn't hold and allowed that run to score.

But the other one was a Bryce Harper home run in the seventh, which you got to give credit where credit is due. Bryce Harper is a beast, especially in those big moments. And, you know, he got Nellie in that moment. But, I mean, Nellie was damn near perfect tonight against, again, the team with the best record in baseball. I'm never going to use the term best team in baseball because you're not. You're simply not. You just have the best record in baseball. But Nellie's line tonight, seven and a third innings pitch, three hits, two run runs, one lock, nine strikeouts.

Just incredible. Just incredible. I mean, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he looks really good right now. Like, he keeps improving on his performances. And, I mean, you mentioned it, like the debacks are going to have a difficult decision between Jordan Montgomery and Ryan Nelson. I'll tell you the 404 people watching right now and the two people on the.

show i don't think that we really think it's that hard of a decision but the diamondbacks are they're going to play it differently you know they are and obviously the money is a huge factor um so it's going to be interesting but based off of performances there's no question in the world that ryan nelson has earned this spot in the rotation uh and uh i mean kind of just like in awe of what i saw tonight against a philly's like out dueling the n l sy young frontrunner and zach wheeler like that's i mean yeah you couldn't you can't make this stuff up right nelson went out there and just absolutely shove tonight and again to also share those flowers a bit with del castillo del castillo caught edwardo rodriguez's first game um had an issue with the pitch com where he had to throw down

signs and he also catches his gem from brian nelson there comes a point where you might have to say that maybe adrian del castillo is just fine behind the plate and maybe especially considering what he's able to give this team offensively, maybe you go with him over Jose Herrera right now for what I'm being. I was thinking it, I think I texted my buddies it earlier. I told Jose Herrera that he better get ready to learn Renoese because. You're going back, bud.

Just keep your bags packed. It's going to be like the bachelor. Like when they go on a, when they go on a date and they have to pack their bags and then the guy comes in and walks out the door, the second Gabby comes off the aisle. they're just going to wheel his luggage right out, put him on a plane to Reno.

And Jose Herro's fine. Like he's a backup catcher, you know. I'm not trying to shit on him, but. But Mays Devil says it in the chat. Like he's supposed to be good at certain things like framing, and he's not a good framer, right? And he also hasn't been doing those other things better than Del Castillo. I think the one thing about this team is their ability to continue

to adapt and to become something new and to change when they have a better option at a position. And that's why that discussion we're talking about there about the starting rotation is very difficult because what do you do with a man you're paying $25 million to? You're going to put him in the bullpen. You can't send him down to Reno. You're not going to DFA him. He has a team option for next year that he's going to pick up and then he can just sit around and get paid $50 million by this team to do nothing.

And that's not, I mean, there just comes a point where you're like, you're going to pitch and you're going to figure it out. And that's even if it's a detriment to this team. But Ryan Nelson is incredible. And he has been pitching incredibly well lately. And I just don't really know what the Diamondbacks can do. I really don't. I feel like, like you said, there's 441.

one of us make that 443 that probably all think the exact same thing here. It's a no-brainer. Ryan Nelson is your fifth man in the starting rotation with the way these two guys have been pitching. But we know it's not that easy. And we know that the Diamondbacks most likely are going to either keep Ryan Nelson stretched out by sending him down to Reno, which seems like an absolute slap in the face to a kid that has been shoving this season for the Diamondbacks when they needed him

in an emergency situation. Or you can put him in the bullpen. But if anything happens to these other starting pitchers, you have to realize that it's not that easy for him then to convert back to being a starting pitcher. Should he go to the bullpen and start pitching in games and having those short outings? Things change for him. And he doesn't stay stretched out. He doesn't stay in the same form.

And you might have blown your opportunity at having, you know, Ryan Nelson at his finest, be in your starting rotation. And his finest lately has been incredible. I just don't see how you can justify taking him out of the rotation. You can't do that when he's pitching like this. I mean, and to be fair, they kind of did do it with Yilber. He didn't obviously come off of this kind of performance, but Yilbert was pitching pretty well and they pushed him back down to Reno.

This team has a lot of options right now, which is crazy to say, because we've been hurting for having depth all season long. and had to have all these call-ups and everything. And now we're sitting here and it's an embarrassment of riches. We have too much depth. Yeah. Where it's like literally a problem to make the choice on who you go with. Well, Tori was asked that question beforehand.

Ina Jackson in the comment said that a six-man rotation might be in the cards. Tori actually said today that it does not sound like they're going with a six-man rotation. Here's what he had to say about having that difficult conversation. Yeah, that conversation has been had for about the last hour in my office. So it dominated a lot of our thoughts, and we aren't sure what that answer is yet. We want to let it play out as far as it can play out before we have to make that decision. When you get to that point and you're making tough decisions like that, you've got a lot of death, and you've got a lot of good baseball players.

That's where we're at. So I don't know what that answer is, but we are discussing it presently. Tori was asked clearly after this, are they going to go with a six-man rotation? Is that an option? And Tori said, no, he does not believe that they're going to go with a six-man rotation. So that was before the game. Can you imagine how much more difficult that decision is now after Ryan Nelson went out there against the team, once again, with the best record in baseball and did what he did? I feel like it is.

I feel like it's very hard. So I don't know. But again, shout out to Ryan Nelson. He should have only one earned run. AJ Puck continues to kind of be up and down, despite the fact that we thought we were getting a very, very solid reliever in AJ Puck. I still think he is that.

But you know who might be ready for the closer role is Justin Martinez. Because our boy went out there and did his thing. He might have tried to go for Rice Harper. Yeah. Yeah. It's that that has to be attempted murder, right? Like when you throw over 100 miles per hour at,

like the police have to get involved, at least just to do a report and question people and get some, you know, get some answers. But how do you get out of the way of that? I don't know. It doesn't make any sense to me how he was able to jump out of the way of that. Talk about reaction time.

But hey, props to J-Mart, thinking ahead, trying to, you know, weed out the enemies before the playoffs even. And like, it's high- IQ thinking galaxy. We probably shouldn't go down this road. But no, I will say this is that, you know, we we saw different Justin Martinez tonight.

And again, things kind of went really well for him. He went out there. He gave up one hit. He struck out Bryce Harper. He pitched an inning. He did exactly what the Diamondbacks needed him to do. He was incredible tonight. But we know he can be incredible.

It's just a matter of him not feeling like the moment is too big or letting the moment. kind of, you know, overcome him, right? This is a really big moment in a very close game that was tied when he went out there. He keeps it tied and the Diamondbacks are able to walk it off there in the bottom of the ninth. But, man, Justin Martinez, we talk about who Tori can turn to there in the ninth inning. I think it's going to be J-Mart very soon. Like, I think as long as he can, I mean, we, like I said, we already know what he can do. If he could just figure out the way to do it in the ninth inning,

it's a no it's a no brainer yeah i mean i don't want to i don't want to harp on the the uh 102 to harper's head too much harper no please do but please do uh talk about a good strategy right in terms of like scaring the absolute shit out of somebody and then how are they going to hit the next pitch when you're throwing over a hundred like yeah kind of insane but i mean and he has like the sinker that he throws he changes it up with the slider like justin martina It's just... It's so nasty. Everything he throws.

Like, there's a difference of what, 14, 15 miles per hour at times between one pitch he throws you versus the next one? How do you even begin to time that? How do you even begin to catch up with his movement and that filthy sinker that he throws like 99? And it just drops out of a seat. It's insane. It's just filthy.

It's just filthy. But I want to talk about AJ puck real quick. And I just said it in the chat about Jake being out of position. I went back and watched that play a few times. He was playing pretty shallow. And also he wasn't really fully running for the baseball. I mean, it's tough sometimes when it's hit directly behind you because you want to keep your eyes on it.

And it's tough that you need to track it. But also, like, he's kind of like side running, not as fast as he can. And that's fair. But it was a well-hit ball. And it still would have had to be a great play by Jake in order to catch it, right? I get what I know saying, but at the same time, I think the frustration that fans feel and that I vent by being the voice of the people here on the show is by saying that it's just not fun to not have these relievers come in and shut the door like we thought we were going to get out of them. We had Dylan Floro come in in the bases loaded situation, a very difficult situation for any pitcher to be in, especially Floro, who was not very good within. inherited runners. However, it's just like, ah, we want to see these guys, especially the ones

what we got at the trade deadline, go out there and be different. And I mean, we've even seen those kind of performances out of Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkles. So we've seen those guys come in and shut the door on, you know, a kind of a mess that the starting pitcher may have left for them. And I think that we just, we kind of expect that and to see AJ Puck go out there and throw a pitch right down the middle of the plate. And honestly, it's, oh, It's, you know, it really pisses me off. It's, it's, it's Johan Rojas. Like, the one guy that Steve on the broadcast, who by the way, if you want to

blame anybody for ruining the perfect game, it's Steve, who Steve on the broadcast constantly needs to harp on was so terrible last year. It was always an easy out. I swear he said that every single time. Yet this man is killing us. And I don't want to hear that anymore because that was then, and this is now. And right now, he, you know, gave up or he hit a huge double that, again, I mean, again, You could say that Jake was out of position and maybe Jake could have caught it if he was in a better position,

but still felt to me like it would have taken a really great play by Jake in order to make that. And there was some great defense, right? Corbin had a play where he was kind of out of position, but he still made an outstanding play there in right field where he just got just the tip of his glove on the ball and caught it. Nelson had some spectacular defense there behind Ryan Nelson tonight at second base as well. or not Nelson. I'm sorry, Kevin Newman was excellent at second base there. But of course, I mean, it's all about the offense tonight because there was not much of it. And the pitching was great and the offense was timely. Of course, Adrian Del Castillo contributed in more ways than just that home run.

He got that blue Barbie single in the first inning that scored Corbyn Carroll and gave the snakes an early lead. So Del Castillo delivered in the beginning of the game and then he absolutely capped it off with his biggest hit. as a major leager that first career home run which of course is our sanderson ford deep drive of the game what else would be our sanderson ford i i wanted to push back on this a little bit derrick i i don't i don't know about that one what you're going to go with jock peterson's home run no i just i just wanted to be contrarian i know i'm sorry it's not me i would never on the show yeah we just see too eye to i you and i are no jesson i are no jess i i don't know jess i i are no jess Jesse and Derek, that's for sure.

But we did have fun interviewing people at the Chasefield pool. We had a fun little video, by the way. Shout out to our diehards for not only being there for appearing in that video and making it as awesome as it is. But man, speaking of awesome, Del Castillo awesome. Jock Peterson, speaking of which he also hit a home run, a solo home run in the bottom of the third, his 19th of the year. And again, you can't say enough about how good Jack Peterson has been as, you know,

a free agent pickup might arguably been one of the best free agent pickups of the option. Yeah, you can't say enough about Jock Peterson. You really can't. The guy has just been incredible. He hits nothing but big home runs. He does nothing but hit home runs, really. It actually is pretty simple. And I mean, it pretty much was just like a match made in heaven in terms of what the Diamondbacks were looking for,

the price point they got him at. He's been incredible this season, and he seems like a really good, like, leader in the clubhouse locker room guy as well. Jake moved his locker over next to him, and apparently those two are just getting right along. And it's very cool because I'll be the first to say that when we first got Jock Peterson, I made comments about how Jock Peterson didn't strike me as the kind of guy that would, like, be a mentor to other guys in the clubhouse. And what the hell do I know? Again, I'm just an idiot sitting here in front of this microphone that knows way less than he thinks he does. But that was definitely not the case with Jock.

We've heard from several of his teammates that Jock has talked to them about being patient in the box. And just, I mean, he has great at bats. Like Jock Peterson is doing everything that we thought we were going to get out of Jock Peterson. But I think, once again, the thing that's still the most surprising, is how he works the count, how he's able to impact the game in more ways than just hitting the, the baseball. Yeah. I mean, you're right. He does the intangible stuff as well. And he just fits in with this team. I feel like every time I watch the post game show, they always interview Jock. Like it seems like he's kind of taken that responsibility in a way on himself to be the guy who

speaks a lot for the clubhouse. And that's not something that's like kind of, I know it seems minor, but like there's a reason for that. And I think his leadership is is, is a, another big part of his value that he's brought to the table on top of just a phenomenal hitting season that we couldn't ask more out of the guy. Yeah. And they did all this, of course, like I said, I mean, it wasn't a lot of offense, right? But it was enough to give them the win. And you got to give credit where credit is due.

The pitching was outstanding tonight from Ryan Nelson and cast and the rest of the bullpen as well. So great job by the Diamondbacks on a close victory. Another close win. they've been picking those up and that's something that's been impressive. They now have a 64 and 53 record. And what's also impressive is that they have a 32 and 21 record after suffering a loss this season. So they've done a great job at bouncing back and at least, you know, keeping things in the

wind column for the most part there after losing a game. And that, of course, is also, that takes into consideration how atrocious this team was at times in April and May. So, of course, a lot of those victories have come recently. But we thank you guys so much for being here. Having you guys here with us in the chat is a victory. And of course, if you have not done so already, make sure to subscribe to the PHNXports YouTube channel.

Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss whenever we go live. And of course, make sure to hit that like button, HTL, like this video, LTV. Get a little Jerry P action going on there. LTV. A little LTV and a little HTL on this. But of course, make sure if you're listening on the audio podcasting side, we love you guys too. Make sure you subscribe on your favorite audio podcasting app.

And also make sure you leave us a review. We love to hear back from you guys and those five-star reviews mean the world to this little mom and pop shop that we call the P.HNX Diamondbacks podcast. I wanted to give a shout out to some more super chats. Stephen Weiss says, congrats to Mark, aka Bread in the Discord, for getting third in the world at tonight's dance. That is my oos. Let's go, ooze. I'm so proud of you. So cheers to that superstar and snakes alive. We so back. We are so back. And yes, that's our guy Mark, aka the breadman himself out there at the hip hop. What is it? The hip hop dance championships or something like that. I've seen him talking about it on Twitter. So I didn't know I didn't know Mark had sweet feet like

that. I really didn't. He is filled. with surprises. He's a, he is a man of, he is an enigma that man. Also, our boy cogs, whose record going to baseball games

at Chase Field is very, very good. He says, they did this for me. This is all, this is the all time cogs game. Oh, yeah.

Dog shoved ADC. First Career home, home or a walkoff. This is better than any high could ever experience. I don't know about that. I love you guys. Ah, yes.

You tried 50 milligram edibles? Cog's a little too young to your mom's so mad at you're saying that stuff. AZ Catch G, thank you so much. He says, good seeing you guys. Good seeing you. Appreciate you being here. And good seeing the Diamondbacks get a W against these evil,

evil Phillies with the way these fans have been treating me. But of course, shout out to Bet365 because, of course, it's never ordinary. At Bet365, it's never ordinary with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But Bet365 offers the widest range of games and markets available for live in-game betting across 78 sports and they were a pioneer in live in game betting. It doesn't get any more fun than doing some live in game betting, especially when this game tied up. Who knew where it was going to go?

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With the Bet365 early payout offer for baseball, you're a winner if your team goes up by five runs with an instant payout. Parlay and same game parlay selections will be marked as winners. And we know this Diamondbacks team has a tendency to do that. They can go up big at times. So get down on the Bet365 app right now. Download the app and use code PHNX365.

When you sign up, choose your offer, and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 21 and over and physically located in Arizona. If you are someone you know as a gambling problem wants help, call 100 next step. Text next step to 533442 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. It's time to talk about MintMobil. Hold on. I have to.

Oh, here we go. He's going to bring some Ryan Reynolds prop. I need a baby. I need a little baby Ryan Reynolds with me, just so that we could talk about MintMobil because, I look, I'm just trying to use it as an opportunity to meet Ryan Reynolds. Like that's the only reason why I agreed to do this. But it's crazy because after you start to read the ad, you start to realize that, wow, my cellular bill is not anywhere close to $15. It's actually very, very, very expensive by comparison to $15.

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Speed slower about 40 gigabytes on the limited plan. Additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply. See MintMobile for details. And again, call me, Ryan, whenever you finally see one of these ads. We can chat about the movie. I have a lot of thoughts. Let's talk about this game some more because I can't get over. exciting it was at the Arizona. No, okay, King Snake Meister says Ryan Reynolds is met, kick him out.

Can we block him forever from this show? I just, I just, can we put him in time out something, Damon? He has to be, there has to be consequences for that kind of comment. All right, let's take a look at the count presented by Desert Financial Credit Union, because this one's another fun one. Diamondbacks win by a score of three to two. They out hit the Phillies nine to five. Diamondbacks were one for two with runners in scoring position. Not a lot of opportunities. Again, Zach Wheeler was dealing also for the Phillies. So this was a pitcher's duel. It was a fun game to watch if you love baseball. Phillies were 0 for four. Extra base hits. Both teams had two. And then hard hit percentage, once again, is a meaningless stat. And it feels like it's

just made up an arbitrary. But the Phillies had a 42.1% hard hit rate to the Diamondbacks, 47.8% hard hit rate. Well, that doesn't factor in Catell, hitting the ball 180 miles per hour off the bat into the third deck foul. So I think casually, just casually to the third deck. That's for sure. I think if you added that one in there, it probably would have up this hard hit percentage to like 90, 90%, somewhere in that range. I mean, he hit it harder than I've ever hit any baseball get hit.

Yeah. Well, Elise says doesn't help when you hit into three double plays. It definitely does not hit help when you do that at all. The Diamondbacks have done that a lot, but again, Tonight was one of those nights that they found a way to win. And that's something that's been very impressive about this team, is their ability to win lately in close games, especially close games where it requires the bullpen to keep things locked down like we had tonight.

You know, Justin Martinez did an excellent job going out there in the ninth inning and closing the door on the Phillies. But, you know, good teams are able to win close games. And that's what the Diamondbacks have absolutely become. They've become a good team. And you can say what you want. want about their record now, but if you take a look at their record since June, it's a completely different story. They have a chance tomorrow to split this series on ring night. And I can't

think of a better night to do that. And of course, if they do, that will continue their streak of of not losing these series. And I think that's been impressive to be able to go out there and lose game one like they did and bounce back once again and take tonight's game. Yeah, no, for sure. that would be absolutely huge. And it just, but the problem with it is that as many games as we win, the stupid San Diego fucking Padres just keep winning. They keep coming back. They're coming back against the opposition's closer.

Like it's, they're pissing me off. No, it's insane. It's insane. I imagine they feel the same way about the diamond backs though, right? Like, I know we're not doing it the same way, but my God, the Padres and the diamondbacks, they're just, it's like, they're destined to do this forever.

It just sucks. Like every time I'm like, oh, another huge win, let's go check with the Padres did. Oh, they won. Every time they won. They're currently six wins in a row. We're both eight and two in our last 10. But that gap to the Dodgers is looking real small there. Here's looking real small.

El Gayo in the chat says, I don't care about the Padres. Neither do I. I don't give a shit about the Padres because they're not the team that I need. to lose. I need the Atlanta Braves to continue to lose. I need the St. Louis Cardinals to lose. I don't even give a shit about the bets anymore. The Diamondbacks right now have a two and a half game lead for the second spot in the wild card. And then the Braves are a half a game back there from that third spot. So as long as the Braves who have lost six games in a row continue to lose and that gap widens between us and the other teams that are in contention, I am fine with it.

this entire situation, as much as it infuriates Jesse, because it does make the regular season kind of meaningless at times, it doesn't matter where they're at. They just need to get to get in the playoffs, just get in the dance. And that's really what I want to see out of this team is, you know, we were asked at the beginning of the season, what would make this season a success?

Making the playoffs. That's it. Honestly, at this point, is the only thing that that's the bar. And I don't even, you know, I'm not even going to set it further. other than that, I'm just going to say what I would like to see out of this franchise is continued success. And we are seeing that now. It was a stumble out of the gate, you know, but it's the reason,

the reason why is when you look back at how we joked about the whole trying to set expectations versus trying to set a standard thing that Tori was trying to do, it was him trying to manage his way out of what happens to teams that make it as far as this team did as fast as they did. And then they have to come back and play another season of baseball a very short time after that. high of making it all the way to the World Series. It's not an easy thing to overcome. And baseball is such a mental sport. You know what I mean?

So it's like they tried their best, but it's, I think that's just such a huge reason. That mixed with the injuries are a huge reason why this team was so bad. They're early in the season, but they have not been bad lately. And they continue to stay hot. They continue to stay on a roll. They continue to be a goddamn wagon, Damon. Let's take a look at the Kingsnake, because we couldn't really decide. This one was a toss-up.

there were two excellent candidates. So we just decided to give it to both of them. We have King's snakes tonight. Ryan Nelson, seven in the third innings pitch, three hits, two earn runs, allowed nine strikeouts, just an absolute bona fide stud out there on the mound for the Diamondbacks. And of course, the certified G is Adrian Del Castillo, our other King Snake. This man, three for four.

Oh, Damon. Oh, Damon, that picture. That picture is outstanding. Oh, I love, I love two RBI, first career home run, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Walk-off fashion for Adrian Del Castillo, first Diamondback in franchise history to hit his first big league home run as a walk-off. And like, man, this kid, again, it goes lost with the home run thing,

but he was three for four tonight. And he had the biggest hits in this game. So the Diamondbacks might have a real one here in ADC. Yeah, I mean, there's, there's, this has been scientifically, like, this is a thing. There's two, sometimes snakes that have two heads. That's what just happened to our king snake. Yeah, they just kind of became one of those things. Yeah, but they morphed together, but it's a two-headed king snake.

I mean, what more can you say? I mean, who deserves it more, right? Like, it's, like, it's no hard. You know, I know, ADC, for me, he kind of edged out Ryan a little bit, but this game wouldn't have been as close as it was if Ryan Nelson didn't go out there and absolutely shove, against this Phillies team. So they both, they both deserve it.

They both get it. I'm usually pretty opinionated on the Kingsnake. Like I'll get me and Derek will get in screaming matches in the PHNX HQ about who deserves it. We've thrown things at each other. There was a TV group once. Yeah. It's pretty violent. But the,

this time, like I legitimately just could not decide. Derek was like, I don't know. You do whatever you want. Yeah, I was like, because you're going to argue with me that the other person it deserves it

no matter what I'd say. So you figure it out. But tomorrow is a day where everyone is winners. And hopefully the Diamondbacks can bring home another win. But at least 30,000 people attending the game are winners because this giveaway, Damon, this is this ring. This ring is incredible. I, like many of you might have been, I was expecting something made out of some sort of

acrylic plastic. There's no way I can show you. on this stupid camera of mine, how cool, how beautiful this ring is. It weighs five pounds. I've had a lot of questions about people asking me if it's a toy, if it's plastic. It is not plastic. It is, that's metal. It's metal on metal.

I don't know. It's not gold. These aren't real gems. There's no way. But I will say that when you take this replica ring, that this amazing company, by the way, clones. really cool name made like it literally looks side by side like the actual ring that players received and members of the staff received it is the coolest giveaway item i've ever seen damon i mean

you could kind of see it sparkling in the light a little bit like it's nuts how how awesome it is and they're giving away 30 000 which feels like more than they typically give away like bobbleheads or shirts or anything. So it's a lot of them. And I mean, I just hope they've thought it through that Phillies fans are going to also receive these and that some of them may in fact just want to throw them at Diamondbacks players on the field or something nasty. Like what are you going to do as a opposing fan with this besides throw it at a player and then get kicked out of a stadium. You're never going to come back to you for life. I don't know. But this is awesome. This is amazing replica ring. And I can't believe that they went all out like this. Like this. This

is so above and beyond, I think, what anybody expected to receive. Yeah, and the fact that we're giving it away in front of all the mouth breathing Phillies players and their fans, oh my God, that's just perfect. It's the petty ring. It's the petty ring and that's why I love it more than anything else. The other reminder is that, oh yeah, Joey in the chat says, B.B. said the box was kick ass too. The box is absolutely kick ass. And that I could show you because it's actually going to show up on the camera. So it's got this cool like the replica ring showing it on the side. It's got these amazing pictures

of the players, the team photo here and them holding up their rings. On this side, we get more of that. We got Zach. We got, of course, Alex Thomas had to be on the box. But the best part is then on the very back of the box, you have the series

that the Diamondbacks won, 2 over the Brewers, 3 over the Dodgers, 4 to 3 over the Phillies. So this is a very, very, very cool box and Bob wasn't like Bob was kind of overselling it but then I saw it I was like no he's right I actually saw him in the lounge and I was like Bob you were right about the box he's like I know it's really cool right like so it's it's great and they do a great job with these boxes on like the bobbleheads and stuff but this ring promotion I mean I've kind of been blown away

by the by the giveaways this year this is something that we implored them to do more of like we wanted more bobbleheads we wanted more cool unique stuff this I just still can't believe they're giving 30,000 away tomorrow. This is incredible. Speaking of which, shout out to Karen, Cog's mom, because I might have brought home the little Cattel batflip bobblehead that she told me to bring to the office. But he might, he might be mine now. I don't know. There's no confirmation on that. But what I will say is, you got yours to you. There he is. That it's going to be chaos tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be absolute chaos because again

there's a lot of people there's a lot of people going to that game we need more of that a lot of fans showing up what's that we need we do need more of that we need it to just be pandemonium at chase field downtown phoenix to just be a zoo that's all everything we've ever asked for as diamondbacks fans and this is like the first year in a while where it finally feels like the fan base is kind of like reinvigorated

by the team and and the investment that they put in the off season like didn't pan out at first It was a rough start to the season, but it looks pretty good right now. And I think people are starting to get pretty hyped up about it. I know I am. Yeah. Jay Cuddy says the black Serpentish jersey is also insane. I saw them.

They had that in the clubhouse. It's black with teal instead of beige. It's amazing. I don't know why the Serpientish jerseys always look better in the replica that they make for the fans. But it does. and this one is no exception to that. Of course, it's a great night to get out there, get out to the ballpark and support this team

because this team is a lot of fun to watch right now. And again, they are 11 games over 500. They have a little bit of a cushion here and kind of a vendetta to settle with these Phillies. You know, these Phillies are not. This is, like I said on yesterday's show, I truly feel like this is becoming a bit of a rivalry.

It's the Ph. Rivalry. I don't know. The Fah rivalry. Still not as bad as what the Phillies have going on with their, you know, their national league east guys. But.

Well, and we'll never be that. But if we can just be the thorn on their side that, that just always finds a way to ruin their season, that's enough for me. Because they get so mad about it. Like, Eric,

I'm telling you, when, when, like, I went out to Vegas, you know, some of the PHLY guys were out there. And they're like, they're like actually telling me like, I hate the diamond backs.

And I and like, you know me, Derek. That that fuels me. Oh, yeah. You love that. I've never. No, I've never. Oh, so fired up. And I'm like, I'm sitting there like, yeah.

You know what I mean? Like it just just giving it to him. Oh, and that Alec Thomas home run? How about that? Yeah, exactly. So I mean, I would love for this to continue to be just like, really good baseball games, high caliber playoff style baseball games against the Phillies all the time. That'd be incredible.

It would be. It would be incredible. Well, shout out again to Desert Financial Credit Union, of course, for checking our numbers and providing the count. For more than 84 years, Desert Financial has also been providing excellent customer service here. They have been Arizona's largest, most trusted local credit union dedicated to creating exceptional experiences by giving back to the community and providing financial solutions that make our lives. better. You can look to Desert Financial for checking and savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, investment options, and so much more. Of course, this is my home that I'm in with all these stupid video games behind me. And I would not have this home without the good

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First, we have a couple of super chats that I think you should read Derek. What do you got? Let's see. They're for you. Oh, they not like us. They not like us. What's up, babes? Good to see you. Be calm. See clearly. Thank you so much for your super chat. And then fuck sneak dissing first person shooter. I hope the Phillies came with three switches. Kendrick, Be calm. It's up. All right. We thank you. Amazing super chat, by the way. And of course, somebody that doesn't know any of those reference or what I was just doing with our hands is about to join us. It's the one and only Jesse Friedman. Jesse, I see you are confined to some sort of white space there behind you. I imagine that you are staying as far away from the concert that's currently going on at Chase Field as possible. Yeah, yeah. There is, it's Faith and Family Night at the ballpark. which some of you who've been, some of you who've been watching the show for a while, I remember a very similar situation last year

where I was huddled up in a corner behind the press box, and that is once again where I am today. But yes, this was just an outstanding win for the Diamondbacks, Derek. It's hard to, yet another win that it feels a little bit hard to put into words almost. Like we talked yesterday about how the magic sort of eluded the Diamondbacks for a day,

and that was weird, because it felt like when they needed that big hit late in the game, they were just getting it every single day, day and day out. And sure enough, today they're able to come through. You know, Philly's came back, managed to tie the game. A.J. Puck gives up that RBI double to Johann Rojas in the eighth inning. Ryan Nelson doesn't get the win, which is unfortunate given how well he pitched in this game. But Adrian Del Castillo, very first pitch he saw.

I mean, what do you say? that has to be i mean as far as first homers uh of your career go derrick that's uh that's about as good as i can remember that's that's a very fun way to hit your first home run but i mean it seems like this team just constantly finds a new hero finds a new guy that comes up steps up in that moment and delivers josh bell did that shortly after joining the team with christian walker going down now we lose gabby moreno jose herrera hasn't looked extremely sharp out there at the plate and you have ADC come in here. And Del Castillo was absolutely raking in the minors, Jesse.

But as I discussed with Damon earlier, it's just so hard to really believe that anybody is as good as their numbers are in the PCL or in Amarillo because of the way that the ball flies in those parks and the way that the offense is in those leagues. It's just it feels a bit deceptive. So as excited as you want to get about some of these young men that are tearing the cover off the ball, You just don't really believe it until they come up. I'm a believer now in Adrian Del Castillo.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I mean on one hand, it is just a couple of games, right, that he's actually played at the big league level. But on the other, I mean, to come in and make this kind of an impression this quickly is, is impressive. I mean, it's, we've seen some guys do stuff like this. But, you know, for Del Castillo, especially filling the shoes of someone like Gabrielle Moreno is so important for this team coming in and doing what he's done has been unreal. And it's not just him, right?

I mean, the debacks are down to key position players right now in Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno. Probably going to be out without those guys for a little while. And not only, you know, not only did Josh Bell come right in and make a huge impact instantly, it was a quieter game for him today, but he still has four home runs already in his first week as a member of the Diamondbacks. then you've got Adrian Del Castillo starting his D-BAC's career, you know, four for seven with a homer, a double, a walk, three RBIs already in this game.

You had an RBI knock earlier in this game against Zach Wheeler. So, yeah, it's a surreal, surreal start for Adrian Del Castillo, for sure. I mean, this is a night where the Diamondbacks only scored three runs, and two of them were from Del Castillo's bat, including the most important one. but we had to give our flowers to both of these guys and we split the Kingsnake, Jesse. Something I know you probably would have been very much against because you like when we make decisions around here.

But we also gave it to Ryan Nelson because I don't know how you couldn't with the way he pitched tonight. He was absolutely dominant against this Phillies team. And I know this team hasn't been as good as they were early on lately, right? Like we've talked a little bit about the fact that they continue to be tied now with the Braves for the second worst record. since the All-Star break. And they're still a very good baseball team.

But again, Ryan Nelson tonight looked outstanding against this, this incredible lineup. He really did. I mean, the only reason the Diamondbacks were in position to win this game at all is because Ryan Nelson pitched what I believe was the best game of his life. Like Ryan Nelson is, you know, he's pitched into the eighth inning before. Like we've seen him pitch deep into games and, and put up, you know, really, really solid final lines. For him to come in here and have nine strikeouts against the Philadelphia Phillies. And, I mean, he gave up three hits in the game.

He had one walk all game. It was the very last battery face. He wasn't quite able to finish the job on Nick Castiano's. But yeah, and the context here, Derek, is also really important. We'll get into this more once we get into our footage from the interview room and the clubhouse. But the Diamondbacks have a decision looming, right? I mean, Merrill Kelly is going to start on Sunday. I feel pretty confident saying that at this point.

All signs are pointing to Merrill Kelly starting on Sunday. And the debacks are, from what we heard earlier today, the debacks do not have interest in going with a six-band rotation. At least that's what Tori said before the game today. This is a really big start for Ryan Nelson to make kind of one final push in his direction to keep his rotation spot. And, you know, we didn't get any final clarification on that. But safe to say, Ryan Nelson made an impression in this game

and made it very, very hard for the diamond backs to take him out of the rotation. Well, we played video of Tori's answer in regards to your question about that, Jesse. And of course, it was a difficult conversation that they were having an hour before that point. And that was before tonight's game. I imagine Ryan Nelson just made this even more difficult on this team. Because we were talking about it earlier. It feels like the answer is an easy one. until you factor in Jordan Montgomery making $25 million,

until you factor in Jordan Montgomery making another $25 million next year on his player option. There's not, you don't have that same maneuverability here with Jordan Montgomery. Should the decision be to go with Ryan Nelson versus Montgomery in the starting rotation? Yet with the way these two guys have been pitching, Ryan Nelson has been consistently since Jordan Montgomery came here, a better starting pitcher than Montgomery. Yeah, I mean, the numbers are pretty obvious, frankly.

I mean, we talked yesterday about how Jordan Montgomery showed promise. And I do think that he looked better in that game. It was very close to getting out of there with six scoreless innings. Obviously, that's not quite how things played out at the end there. But, yeah, the numbers would make it a really easy decision. You know, if these are two guys who are 25 years old and trying to find their way into majors and you're picking between them, like, it's a pretty. easy decision at that point. But as you said, the reality is Jordan Montgomery is here,

you know, not only for this season, he's making $25 million, but he already has a $20 million player option that is vested for next year, which it seems very likely that he will pick that up, given the way that his season has gone so far. And so the debacks are in it. They're in a tough spot as far as that goes, because, you know, as much as you probably want to say that that Nelson deserves this spot over Montgomery, you can't really send Montgomery down. That's something he would have to agree to. I don't really think that would happen at this stage in his career. You know, moving Montgomery to the bullpen, he's made one relief appearance, I believe,

in his entire career. That would be very different for him, something that maybe he could be a role he could be effective in, but you don't really know what you're getting from him in that spot. So there's a lot more variables here than just the simple, which of these guys has been better recently, the answer to that question. is really pretty simple at this point. And Ryan, he was outstanding tonight. His command was on point,

and we have more from Ryan from the clubhouse on his command in this game. I think that there's probably a number of things that go into it. I feel like on the mechanics side, I feel like I'm in the best spot I've ever been. And I think there's just like a mentality. And, you know, when you go back and you watch games where you struggle, a little bit, you learn from those mistakes. And I think it's just been a super intentional mentality of getting ahead and winning those

counts, you know, winning the 1-1 counts too, where the at-bats kind of switch. Yeah, I think there's a lot of things, you know, when the off-speed feels good, too, you can still strikes that way. So I think there's kind of a combination of a bunch of things. And he was mixing up his pitches tonight. He threw 61% fastball, of course, because, He's always going to. But he was throwing his cutter.

He threw a slider a little bit, through a change up a little tiny bit. And I think he was giving them just enough secondary stuff to make them respect his fastball and make him respect everything else he was doing. But man, Jesse, he, one of our guys from PHLY was talking about how deceptive, you know, he was being with his fastball. And I do like what we're seeing how Brian Nelson on the mound when it comes to his delivery. it looks like he's very good about leaving batters a bit baffled as to what he's going to throw. Yeah, this was not. I mean, we've definitely had conversations in recent weeks about Ryan Nelson outings where it was like, all right, this was really good, but is it sustainable to throw your fastball like 70% of the time?

Right. Maybe not. This game felt different to me. The fastball usage was still high, but his command of that pitch was so good today. And beyond that, his secondary stuff, I thought was pretty good. good. It was about as sharp as we've seen it. Yeah. You know, I think of a couple of slider whiffs that he had in this game, a couple of cutter whiffs that he had, you know, the fastball, of course, working up in the zone.

I came into this game, Derek, thinking that this was kind of a disaster matchup for Ryan Nelson, frankly. Yeah, throwing the fastball to this power hitting team. Yeah, because the Phillies are a really good fastball hitting team. If you look at the numbers going into today, this is not a weakness for them, especially the top three hitters in this lineup, Kyle Schwabre, Tray Turner, and Bryce Harper, all of those guys had just destroyed fastballs this season, even if you narrow down to fastballs, you know, with the kind of vertical ride that Ryan Nelson has.

And I think I also added a 95 plus mile per hour filter, even against those more high-octane fastballs, the Phillies had done really, really well. And Nelson was able to keep them off balance today anyway. It goes back to something that we've been saying a decent amount here in the last month, which is that a well-placed fastball is one of the best pitch, you can throw in this league, especially when you have, you know, the kind of movement that Nelson has on that pitch. So his command was was on another level. I mean, he was 17 for 17 first

pitch strikes. I don't, I keep track of that pretty much every game. I don't think I've ever seen a pitcher get anywhere close to that far into a start throwing a first pitch strike to every single hitter. The first hitter advantaged count in this game, talking about just a situation where there were more balls than strikes. Yeah. Yeah, a 1-0 count, a 2-1 count, anything like that. We didn't see that in this game until the sixth inning for Ryan Nelson. That was the first hitter advantage count. And it was when he threw a first pitch ball to Johann Rojas.

Yeah, it's the first time it happened in this game. So just the command was so off the charts outstanding that, you know, maybe Nelson doesn't have like that crazy wipeout breaking pitch. But if you're going to pepper the zone like that, you're going to do okay for yourself. I just, I don't know what they're going to do. about this rotation decision, Jesse. I really don't, and I can't wait for, you know, the decision to be made. And we don't have very long to wait because, like you said, Merrill Kelly was there today.

We saw him practicing to be a backup infielder should the occasion call for it. And we also saw him getting ready. He went out there and threw a bullpen. Looks like he's very close to returning to the starting rotation. So that should happen on Sunday. And then they have that decision to make. but we have more from Ryan Nelson on that decision and on Merrill returning to this rotation.

Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. I try not to think about stuff like that, you know, but there's always like those, like thoughts that creep in there every once in a while, but I try to be able to flush that and just go out there and compete and do whatever I can to make their decision as hard as it can be. What a great way to put it there at the end, make their decision as hard as it can be,

because that's ultimately when you're the odd man out that's what you need to do in order to win you're playing time yeah and i i think i mean just nelson's wording there like trying to make this decision as hard as it can be the underlying assumption here i think like the status quo is that you keep jordan montgomery in the rotation right right this is the guy you just gave 25 million dollars to this is a guy who helped carry the texas rangers to be a world series victory last year right um that that's the default decision here for the debacks. And you almost get the sense that this start tonight, Ryan Nelson doing what he did tonight, is going to give that front office quite a headache. Because they know at this point that if they make the decision to remove Ryan Nelson from the

rotation after this start against one of the best offenses in baseball, they're going to take a lot of heat for it. And rightfully so, right? I mean, the baseball decision, the I want to win the most game's decision right? Like as of this moment, maybe things change in the next few weeks. But as of this moment, baseball decision is that Ryan Nelson needs to stay in this rotation. I don't envy the Diamondbacks front office for having to make this, to figure this out. As we said earlier, it's a little bit complicated because of Montgomery's contract decision. I do not think if I were the debacks, I would not even think about just paying him off and, you know,

DFAing him and putting yourself in a situation where you're eating not only the rest of this year's money, but next year that's off the table. If I'm them, I want to see what Jordan Montgomery looks like next year after a full spring training. It would not really surprise me if next year he's able to bounce back and look a lot like his former self. So it's a pretty complicated decision. Well, we have more from Tori Lovolo on that decision and on Ryan Nelson fighting for his spot in the starting rotation. Nelson, yeah, you know, I sat here before the game and I said, you know, we've got a slice of bias. possible. And we're going to evaluate as long as possible. So I don't know. I don't know what we're thinking.

We had the conversation. It ended. And we're going to reload that conversation. It's not an easy decision. And I mean, it's pretty much been made. But it sucks that that's the direction that you have to go. You really don't have a choice. You can't put Jordan Montgomery in the bullpen. He's not going to accept being sent down. I mean, maybe you maybe you could put Montgomery in the bullpen. I mean, I guess. I guess it's, I mean, if you were willing to do that, you know, I wouldn't. If the Giants can admit that out, if the giants could admit making Jordan Hicks into a

starter was a failure, put it back as a reliever. The Diamondbacks could do this. I don't know. I don't know if it was necessarily a failure. I mean, Hicks was pretty good. He just maybe reached an innings limit at a certain point. But I did, we don't have video this part, but I did just sort of point blank asked Tori a little bit later in the press conference.

Like, is it safe to say that? but Ryan will start again in five days, or is that something you guys need to kind of work through? And he said, yeah, I'm not, I'm not prepared to answer that question right now, which is a totally, totally fair response. That's the response that I expected to get. But yeah, we don't know. We don't know what the future holds in this situation. And it'll be very interesting to find out.

Well, Tori did have an answer on Adrian Del Castillo, feeling very comfy in the majors. This is what Tori had to say about ADC's big night. I think he came from a big time college program. I think he's a very relaxed personality. And he just looks like he's going with the flow. He's obviously decided to be a big league player. And he's not glossy eye.

And I know the difference. When a young player comes in, they're very sheepish. They have their head down. They talk to me looking down at the rug or the top of their tennis shoes. He didn't have that. You know, the hair slipped back. He smelled great. came in my office and we hugged it out.

And I like that. It's very comfortable. He's a comfortable human being. I don't want him to be complacent. I want to be comfortable. What do you smell like? It smelled delicious. I don't ask him what he's wearing.

Smell delicious. That's a perfect way to describe a man that just hit a walk-off home run for your team, Jesse. Oh, my God. God, damn it, he's a star. He's a star. Slicked back hair smelling great. Let's go. Yeah, that was a, that was a pretty funny moment.

We did clarify with, with Adrian himself after the game, what cologne he was wearing. Of course, that was something everyone wanted to know. But I'm sad to report. I'm sad to report that I did not have my recorder on. And I, and the exact, the exact brand name is alluding me right now. You got to be kidding me, Jesse Friedman. This is what I rely on you for. He said he smells delicious.

Tori could say that about me if I knew which Coloni wore. What are you doing? You dropped the ball. You dropped the ball. I've disappointed you. I did very much have one job tonight, and I was to figure out what kind of colonie Adrian Del Castillo is wearing, and I failed on that front there. Some journalist.

I'm not going to sleep not knowing this information, Jesse. I was kind of, I was on the fence about whether I was going to come to the game tomorrow or not. I'm absolutely coming to the game to make sure then I figure out which Coloni wore. But man, let's take a look at the man himself talking about his first career home run, which just so happened to be a walkoff winner over the Philadelphia Phillies.

100%. Yeah, Perdomo told me. That was a lot of fastball, so I'm just looking for a fastball over the plate, and I got it, put a good swing on it. How much of the whole sequence do you remember or how much it is a blur? Oh, man, it's a blur, honestly. Yeah.

Can you remember how loud the crowd was? Yeah, it was pretty loud, honestly. Good crowd today, too, honestly, yeah. Have you ever hit a walkoff before? In Reno, not a walkoff, Homer, but a walkoff hits, you know? But, I mean, you know it up here, it's different, for sure. It's what you're playing in all playing, you know, just you described being in that moment. Awesome, man, you know, these guys, happy to be here with these guys, you know.

What's giving you the confidence that you've had shown so far out to play? Just trusting the process, you know, just going up, you know, before the game, you know, having a good base home, you know, scout reports. And, you know, my coach is what they say. Even my other teammates that have faced him the pitchers before and just going up there with, you know, a good mentality. You know it was gone off of that. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't feel it off the bat.

So, yeah, that's when, you know. Tori said he doesn't freak out very often, but he said he kind of freaked out. Yeah. When you came in, what was that like? just kind of seeing him. It was awesome. Yeah, I mean, putting a smile on the guy's face is awesome for sure. He said he thought he might have said let's F and go, but he blacked out.

Do you remember what he told you? No, I don't remember. I'm guessing this is your top baseball moment that you've had so far, right? Honestly, yeah, I think so. Hopefully many more to come. Yes, indeed. Hopefully many more to come. Man, what a guy.

I don't know. how this team continues to do this. But like I said earlier, Jesse, it's just, we kind of knew that this team was always going to get big nights from different guys. We knew that part of their DNA was going to be the fact that they weren't going to rely on anyone's superstar. And of course, they kind of do and can tell as their MVP, right? But, you know, there is something to be said about how, like, they just have a different

person step up constantly. And tonight it was two very, too very. unlikely heroes and Ryan Nelson which is like I said the odd man out in the starting rotation and the rookie Adrian del Castillo we're still over here being sad about Gabriel Moreno you know going to the IL for an undetermined amount of time but Del Castillo much like Josh Bell did has made us feel a little bit easier about the player replacing the guy we're losing it kind of got cut off there toward the beginning but yeah that very first question to Adrian was you sure seemed ready for the fastball, like, is that what you were looking for? And, and Perdomo, Heraldo Perdomo is like a couple

sitting a couple lockers next door. And he blurts out, I told him. And then you hear Belkastio is like, yes, Perdomo did tell me before I went up there that he throws a lot of fastballs. So he went up ready for the fastball. So, yeah, there you go. There's another fun Perdomo moment for Damon. but yeah just another another wild finish for the diamond backs i mean how many times over the last three four weeks if we just you know come on the show and just been sort of speechless at least i feel that way yeah no i mean the nature of some of these games this is one of those nights for sure uh and of course shout out to johnny walker again a very old friend of mine uh says let's go debacks thank you for your super chat we appreciate you uh be comc clearly has written an entire

Kendrick verse based on this game. And I'm not, I'm not qualified to read all that. I'm not going to, I'm embarrassed to do that in front of Jesse. I won't lie. But it's actually a pretty good parody. And then there's another one that continues. Derek, you literally, you have to read it. You have to.

Is that how it works? All right. Well, he's, see clearly paid for it. Yeah, B.com C clearly says the Phillies was talking out of their neck. Don't pull no coughing out the mouth. The Diamondbacks are waiting. too paranoid for threats. These once again are rap lyrics.

You think the debacks going to let you disrespect our team, man. I think this Phoenix stop going to be there last stop. Kendrick, be calm. Thank you, be calm. We appreciate you. Jesse, I know you were too excited to provide us with a numbers. Don't lie number tonight because you were very busy and trying very hard to find a place to do the show from.

It would have been 17. So I sort of already gave it. Brian Nelson was 17 for 17. first pitch strikes in this game, which is absolutely wild. And again, like, I, I know I've seen guys get through the lineup once for sure, like go nine for nine, maybe 11 for 11 or 12 for 12. I don't think I've seen anything close to 17 for 17. And it wasn't just 0.1 counts.

It was, I mean, it felt like more than half of the hitters, maybe three quarters of the hitters that Nelson faced tonight was not only 01, but it was 02 or 12 if it wasn't 02. So he was just, you know, getting ahead of guys the entire way through. And again, pitched probably the best game of his career and maybe the biggest moment of his career, certainly one of the biggest moments of his career with this big decision, this decision looming with Merrill Kelly coming back. People are talking about Domo getting the C.

He is the team captain. And, you know, as much as we joke about that, he actually kind of is, right? Like we've heard a bit from Tori. We've heard from Perdomo. We've heard on the broadcast talking about Perdomo being the manager on the field. And you just can't underestimate how far that goes at times. And even when it's something like sharing information with a teammate like he did, it ends up being critical because that's what Castillo was looking for. And that's what he got.

And Perdomo, once again, found a way to be involved in getting the office. offense going. Like even when he wasn't down 02 in the count, he still found a way to contribute. But this team, man, is a lot of fun to watch. And we will continue to watch them tomorrow. Of course, we will bring you another postgame show tomorrow night. So make sure to be here for that. We hope very much so that you are at Chase Field tomorrow to get one of these bad boys because I'm telling you this continues to be. I just, it sparkles in the light, Jesse. I didn't get your thoughts on this. Is this the most impressive, which I'm dropping and breaking now,

is this the most impressive giveaway item you've ever seen that Diamondbacks provide? Yeah, oh, absolutely. I don't think it's even really close, honestly. Yeah, like there's other stuff I like. Like, I was always a big fan of the Haboob Glob and stuff like that, but I was never blown away by the Haboob Globes construction or how expensive it seemed to be giving away this many. I just thought it was a really neat idea.

to do it, right? Like, I thought it was cool and I always liked it. Of course, bobbleheads are bobbleheads, shirts or shirts, jerseys or jerseys, right? But this is so unique, but it's so much better than I imagine that it was going to be. I can't lie. I'm kind of over the moon with the quality of this ring. Just the resemblance of the real thing, right? Right. Yeah. Maybe they're not worth 30 grand each, although maybe they are. Who knows? No, who knows? I don't know. And might have gone all along. They'd probably go for a decent amount on eBay. I'll tell you. that but yeah they they really do i mean i i've seen what the what the real rings look like we got to see that at some point and and this really does look pretty much exactly like it so uh they're also

you probably talked about this derrick but they're also auctioning off a real raffle ring raffling raffling yes thank you um which also is is something that i would encourage people to to get in on it's all for it's all for a worthy cause and uh amazing cause and if if you win it like you get your name engraved on it just like the players do it's really it's really pretty cool and and from my understanding there's like tiers of rings and the quality of the ring that you win in this raffle is the same that the players receive so it's the top yeah quality ring and that's just that's really cool and yes uh there's a good chance that maybe it's nick omeds ring i don't know i can't confirm or deny that but um you can go on and you can get raffle tickets for that of course i think one

raffle ticket is $10. So they're not, it's not cheap, but you could win yourself a ring. I will be, I got to get in it. You can't win if you don't play. So I'm going to at least buy myself one because, Jesse, if the replica rings are this beautiful, I can only imagine how much the real thing shines under these stupid studio lights that I got here in front of me. So that's very exciting.

Also, very cool chance for you to go out and just celebrate this team's big achievement from last year. It's going to be a great night, great night at the ballpark. Hopefully the Diamondbacks can pull out. another win and find a way to at least split or win yet another series because they have not lost one since that series against the Minnesota Twins way back in June so long ago. I don't even remember it. Yeah, I mean, I guess we don't know the outcome of this series yet.

Obviously, we got a couple more games here. But for the debacks, you feel pretty good. I mean, taking one out of these first two games and then you've got Zach Gallen and theoretically Merrill Kelly pitching on Sunday. your two top guys from a season ago. Obviously, I remember down the stretch last year, Derek, and we were like kind of mapping out the debacks rotation, knowing that every game meant so much.

And, you know, trying to use every single off day to skip a starter so that Merrill Kelly or Zach Allen can pitch like almost every single game. Yeah, maybe there's a little less pressure to do that this year. And it also helps that, you know, Brandon Fod has taken some really big steps forward. Eduardo Rodriguez is here now as well. And of course, Ryan Nelson doing what he did tonight and it has been doing for the last few weeks. The starting rotation is in a pretty darn good spot here with, I guess just a couple months here to go.

Well, of course, we will be here for you the whole way. And then beyond that. And never, we never leave. We never stop. Even during the off season, we'll still be here for you talking about baseball when there's no baseball to talk about. But we thank you guys so much for being here tonight. Of course, you can follow all of us on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman with a k.

Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. Of course, the people's producer. Damon Dog is at Damon Dog. That's D-A-W-G. We are Damon's dogs. Bark, bark, bark. Our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports

on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Oh, A-Z-Cats, G, with a quick super chat. I appreciate you so much. He said one of those replica rings will end up on Pond Stars in 50 years, and the owner will be told It's not real. I can't wait for that episode.

I hope I live long enough to see that. That's exciting. That's really exciting. But thank you for your super chat. Thank you guys all for being here. Thank you for being Snake Affixionados. Of course, we will see you tomorrow night with another post-game show. And until that, until then, have a wonderful evening.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when you hit your first career home run as a walkoff.