PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - After falling behind early, the Diamondbacks offense takes night off in loss to Mariners

Episode Date: July 29, 2023

Tommy Henry struggled in the first inning and gave up four earned runs early, and the Diamondbacks did not have an answer from their offense in a game one loss to the Mariners at Chase Field. We recap the bats going MIA and discuss if we will see this organization make any moves at the trade deadline with the way they’re currently playing. SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Go to https://birddogs.com/PHNX or enter promo code PHNX for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order.Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Learn more about OGeez! at https://ogeezbrands.com//. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. 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.

I don't know. Whatever. I'm sad. This is a sad show. Welcome in. We were going to do, we were going to be the bang bang gang. We were excited tonight to just have the two of us here.

We're talking about Dick Mountain later. This is supposed to be a happy episode, but it's not because Arizona Diamondbacks lose game one against the Seattle Mariners by a score that really doesn't matter because they were down essentially in the first inning and they never mustered up enough offense to get. get passed essentially the deficit that they were in prior to picking up the bats for the first time. My name is Derek Montia.

I am occasionally known as your mayor of the city of Phoenix. This man next to me, even when he's low on energy, is still Mr. Electric, Sean DeBaz. And we will be hearing from the one and only thunder stick Jesse Friedman here in a bit from Chase Field. But, of course, first we have to talk about this loss. Now, obviously, Tommy Henry had a terrible first inning, right? He goes out there, he gives up three doubles, a single walk, four earned runs in the first inning before, again, the Diamondbacks even picked up their bats. But theoretically here, when you look at the end of the game, you look at what Tommy Henry was able to do after that point.

Do you blame Henry for this loss, or do you just blame the offense that really couldn't muster up more than two runs on essentially an error? I mean, I know it's kind of a chicken's way out of the end. right it's both like I mean I it's because it's it's hard because you under I would understand if the offense like you go out you haven't even had a chance to swing yet and you're already down for nothing that's pretty discouraging but in other hand like you're a professional ball player you kind of just have to do your job um especially at the plate so it I mean yeah I think because of what has been going on with the bullpen the offense is beginning somewhat of a pass for how just lethargic they've been lately like no part of

no part of this team except for Catel Marte has been good. Yeah, that's fair. I would say Corbyn Carroll Yeah, but he didn't have a good night. He did not have a good night tonight, but when you talk about the effort, I don't think you see a difference in effort from Corbyn Carroll. I do feel like at times, like you're saying,

you can kind of see the air let out of their balloon. And like you said, there is something to be said about being down four runs before you even go out there and play, you know, have one offensive at bat but uh i don't know right now the diamond backs offense has not been very good lately they

continue to kind of struggle the only time when we do see them when we're able to see them put up a lot of runs seems to be in games when they're giving up a lot of runs yeah right like it's just kind of a weird thing here where uh they they show up uh when when it's when it's when it's not important when it's a blowout when essentially they're down by a lot but when they have a chance to potentially come back and answer back like They've done all season long. Lately, they have not. Tommy Henry, again, not a great first inning, but when you look at his overall line,

I think most of us would take something close to this. He gives up, he goes six innings, pitch, he gives up six hits, four runs, four earned, one walk, six strikeouts. Yeah. I'm not saying it's great. I'm not even going to go out on a limb and say it's good. I'm just going to say that Tommy Henry after an outing, you wouldn't be that upset if that was his line.

Yeah. I mean, he's not face. Yeah. It's not his job to go out there. I mean, it's not the expectation for him to go out there and pitch seven no score. And he was incredible. Let's be honest, he was really good. I think he sat down like, I believe it was close to 10 plus in a row after that first inning.

He definitely got things back on track. It's just unfortunate that it took, you know, that terrible first inning for him to go there. Right. And Benjamin saying something that I was going to kind of get at is like, I feel like for so much at the beginning of the season, we were taught, we were praising this team for being like something, no matter what,

like something is going to go wrong, but they have something else go right to pick it up. Yeah. Right? And now that's not happening. Things are going wrong. And there is, the offense is not showing back up to,

to pick up the bad forerunning or the pitchers are giving up 13 runs when their offense is putting up, and forcing their offense to put up 17 or whatever. I'll take it a step further than that. I will say also the Diamondbacks, I mean, they were doing so well that we were looking at the other side of things and saying, why couldn't they put together more complete performances? Yeah, exactly.

Where everything was working at the same time. Now what we're seeing is, to be honest, nothing really working. Like, at least nothing working when we exactly need it to, right? The Diamondbacks needed an offensive pick me up tonight. They didn't really get it. Like I said. You just been waiting for someone to hit a bomb. Yeah, it felt like that.

I mean, they had a lot of opportunity. as it felt like, it's not like they weren't out hit. They had as many hits as the Mariners. And that's where I think the value, and we're obviously going to talk more about deadline stuff later, but like the value in like the power bat conversation comes because you look at a guy like Cody Bellinger and that's exactly what he's been able to do for the the Cubs is he hits big, he makes big hits and he injects energy into that team. Yeah.

That's one thing that can carry teams to, I mentioned it the other day, it's exactly what happen with the Phillies. Bryce Harper sparked that team to play out of their damn mind, and they made the World Series. You cannot tell me that that is not a real thing. And I am a person that does not. And this team doesn't have it. I don't believe in momentum. I don't believe in magic.

I don't believe in a lot of that bullshit, to be honest. But man, the injection of energy from a single player is real, and it can be real. And don't tell me, like, don't tell me, Ellie Dela Cruz did not do that to the Cincinnati Reds. That is the physical manifestation of energy being injected into a baseball. ball team. That man is an electric ball player and he makes everybody excited around him. I mean, even when he does dumb shit, it's still like electric because he just, he's, he's at 11, he turns it up to 11 all the time. Like he everything he does, it's at a maximum output of, of energy. And he plays with his heart in his sleeve. Right. That's what, that's what I've,

I've had this conversation before and I was framed differently when I was talking to Damon about like this team not having like cool players. Yeah. Like, they don't really. have those guys that wear their heart on their sleeve in that sense. And I think it provides something to teams. It does. It gets the team fired up. It absolutely does. And right now at times, we've seen this team and not just this year's team. This team in the past be too complacent about that. And that's something that may be a reflection of Tori Lavallo a bit because Tori Lavallo doesn't like to go in that direction necessarily. Tori Lavallo tends to be more of an even keel kind of guy throughout

a baseball season because there's so many ebbs and flows throughout the season that he feels like it's better if you if you kind of stay in that more in that calm state but we wanted to give a shout out for our super chat by the way a super chat during a loss you're a you're an angel name is advice and the name is advice be calm see clearly that is some advice that the arizona diamond backs could absolutely use right now and bcomc clearly asks why are the trades taking so long well we're going to get to some of the trades that have been made that we've talked about. I've said, I'm jealous. I'm getting FOMO.

I'm watching these other teams make moves. But some of these trades that are happening right now are, let's be honest. I mean, Luke Gialito was a pretty big name moving and switching. David Robertson. Yeah, David Robertson. He was sad. He was sad. He was texting us curse words about David Robertson getting traded to the marlins.

I mean, that was the first name that I was on. Yeah. Well, a lot of Mets play. A lot of Mets. fans are very angry about them. They traded them in division. Yeah. Yeah.

With indivision to the Marlins. You're trying to help the Marlins win a World Series? What are we doing? Black flagging it. White flagging it. I mean, unless your mindset is we're going to fleece them for some prospects and he's going not resign at the end of the year, then I guess. But yeah, I, I, I don't like that.

But yeah, like you said, we're going to talk about it later. But I think we might need to, we might need to temper the idea that, like, the debacks are being super slow and all these other teams are going crazy. Like, we'll talk about the. the Dodgers trades. They're not. They're not great. But here is one question that I have, and especially after looking at Tommy Henry's performance tonight, what would you do with the starting rotation if the Diamondbacks are able to land a starting pitcher? The obvious answer here is that that starting pitcher fits in with Merrill Kelly and Zach Gallen as the top three.

So what do you do personally with the rest of the rotation? DFA, Zach Davies over text, eject them into the sun. I don't know. I understood that reference. If you know, you know. I mean, Zach Davies is the obvious one out in my mind. Right, but you still, are you guys, are you guys in Brandon Fought back down? Are you going to wait to see Brandon Fought against Mariner's tomorrow? Well, I mean, let's be real, there's a chance that the problem gets solved in the trade,

and that Brandon Fought is someone that gets traded. I'm not necessarily, I'm not advocating for that, but I'm just saying, like, obviously, that's a name that keeps coming up in some of the proposals that we talk about on the show. so there's a chance of that it gets solved. I mean, yes, as you guys have pointed out, it's, we know we can't make all of these trades with Alec Thomas, Braddon fought involved. We get it.

They're proposals, and we know that the Diamondbacks are most likely going to just make one. There's the chance. I mean, yeah, I, I'm honestly going to be surprised if Davies ever, I don't know if Davies ever pitches again for the Arizona Diamond and an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. I don't, I don't know why, like, why you would. Yeah, I like, because you're either,

you're either requiring someone or fought us. still up here, I think, especially if he has another good start. I can't wait to see his next start. I cannot wait to see his start too much. I mean, no pressure, young man, but I think that's going to be such an important start, not just for him, but for the organization. Hearing Brent Strom talk about the stuff they did and like how excited Strom is about how beneficial these were for Brandon Fought, he was just very big on the way that

the change to the other side of the rubber kind of makes his arm's, slot very deceptive now. Yeah. And one of the drills he was talking about, I don't think I had a chance to talk about this the other day, but he has him throw through like a hula hoop, right? So that he throws each pitch through a hula hoop and they all land in the strike zone, but they're different pitches. So they have to go through the hula hoop first to get to the plate. And then as he perfects it, they move the hula hoop farther and farther away. So they move it closer to the batters box to try to get him to throw basically, you know, all of the different array of pitches he has

through the hula hoop. So they're all coming at you at one point and their break doesn't break until late. Like so, I mean, I don't know. See clearly with another super chat. $2.000. This is a suggestion, man. Oh, be calm. See clearly with another super chat says, can Davies be in the bullpen as the closer?

He can be in the bullpen as like a. I don't know. Yeah, he can be in the bullpen as a backup bullpen catcher if he wants. Here's the thing. Get him off my damn. Look, he just wants to DFA in by text. I do. But the bigger point here is that the Diamondbacks do have the potential to not send Brandon Fought down,

but to potentially make Ryan Nelson or Tommy Henry a bullpen arm. Yeah. We've seen Tommy out of the bullpen once this year. We have. And I know that they are kind of committed to not doing that with Ryan Nelson. But I mean, in the postseason, everything's different when you get there. And Jesse will have some updates for us on Drey Jamison. but we know how much we hated what they did with Drey Jameson.

So I don't know how excited I am to move one of these guys to the bullpen. Well, I hated it at first, but I loved it after it happened. Like, I loved Drey in the bullpen. I think he's so like. I just hated the switching back and forth. I hate it. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right.

And if you're going to make him a bullpen arm, make him a bullpen. Oh, you know. I mean, what are we going to do? We're going to say Zach Davies is going to be worse or more inconsistent. Like, use them however you want. It can't get worse than it already is. I think that. idea there is Zach Davies wasn't terrible in short outings but he could be open he can be an opener

he could be uh I mean a bullpen arm like right that's the thing at the at essentially at the end of the day is that the diamondbacks have a lot of problems to solve of course today the bullpen gives up just one earned run but they did they didn't fall apart at 19 the last 20 now it was uh yeah basically yeah something like that um and the devacs had lost 15 of their last 20 which that that That is not good. Not good, folks. Not good. I guess the big question that we're faced with now is,

should they even be buyers at the trade deadline? I feel like that's a drastic statement to make. But the one thing I will say based on some of these trades we've seen is, is it worth it? As Jesse brought up with the angels being buyers, what are they doing? Like, where are you getting in at? How are you getting to the playoffs?

games out of the playoffs and they lost. I just don't know, you know, if, and again, I'm not, like, because I think the thing is, and we've tried to clarify this about this team, they don't have to be one or the other. They just have to not make any trades that mortgage their future in order to try to make their team embarrassing a night, or embarrassing, better. I'm reading your guys' messages and it's getting in my brain. Groundhound Mama says the bullpen was not the problem tonight. You're absolutely right about that.

AZ Sports Girl says embarrassing. Yeah, that's what you could say, especially from the offense tonight. Like I said, outside of Cattel Marte, there was not much offense generated at all. And the runs they did score were due to an error. So we are going to give our King Snake to the one and only mighty, mighty Marte, who went three for four tonight with a walk and was very good again for this team. But unfortunately, couldn't do it all by himself. The Diamondbacks, again, went 0 for seven with runners in scoring position. So it's not like they didn't have opportunities.

And, I mean, look, I know hitting with runners and scoring position isn't, it's something a lot of teams aren't very good at. But the opportunities squandered and their inability to convert really tells the tale here because it's not, again, it's not like they didn't have enough hits. They just weren't able to get the big hit that drove in the runs. Washman wants the team to get moved to Flint now batting for your Flint Tropics Number seven Corbyn Carol What are we talking about

Just stuff being sad We're just sad We're just sad that the Diamondbacks suck Because this sucks And I mean I think you made the comparison To our wonderful producer tonight Leah by the way

Leah Merrill's here tonight Hello I haven't produced the show in a while And I didn't bring any luck to the debacks. No, you did not. Oh, our, our conversation on big goods. Yeah, we had a long discussion about big goods.

One of several long. It continued over from earlier today. Which discussion from like yesterday. Yeah. We've been on this bread kick arguing about bread. But somehow while we were doing that, not paying attention to the game, that's when we were talking about. We were talking about the not being able to hit with runners in scoring position.

That's what we were talking about. I don't know, I'm like, I'm not a professional baseball player. So I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about. I'm an idiot, but also, like, it's the same thing. You're batting. It's the same thing. Like, the idea. There's just a guy over the third.

What the fuck? What I understand? Like, baseball is an incredibly mental game. So, like, I understand why it is more difficult. But, like, at the end of the day, you were just trying to do the same thing you do all the other times. Yeah. No, I mean, it's the same. Wait.

The mental part of it is what makes it so frustrating because it feels like this is so mental because we know they are better. Why can't any? if their relievers fucking get through the ninth inning. Why is it they all collapse? It feels like a mental thing. But then they go fucking go in the eighth or they go on the seventh or they go on the six and they're able to get, you know, one hit, no runs scored. Why?

Well, because like people look at me in the press box when we have this discussion, like I'm crazy and they're like, Derek, the ninth inning, that's the three hardest outs to get. And I'm like, no, that's not even the case. Three outs. Statistically, it's the seventh and eight that's technically harder than the ninth. It's just hard for the Diamondbacks to get it. don't know, but I'm very frustrated, as we all are.

Can I just address something real quick? Is not doing well. Like, okay, Benjamin made a few. First off, like, Otani is a half of a year rental. Benar has control. Yeah, Coggs is saying it. And I think that is, like, that's the thing, getting back to what we were talking about, not wanting to, like, do too much and mortgage the future.

Correct. Like, first off, there's not a whole lot of trades that have been made. There's really been two major trades that have been made. It's the Geoledo trade and the Robertson trade. Both of which are rentals, I believe, correct? as Geolito a rental? Gio Lido a rental. Yeah, and I know Robertson is.

All of the, I think all of the White Sox starting pitchers were essentially, Lance Lynn was also a rental, I believe. I think Cease is the only one that isn't. That's the reason why the White Sox aren't part of the way. Exactly, right. And so like, I, I am not, I think what's most likely happening is they are prioritizing, not jeopardizing their future and trying to get guys with control, which is going to be easier to do what.

But when they get close to the deadline, also, Jose Dog, chill. Why are you celebrating being right about the team sucking? Like that's weird old energy, my guy. You know, it's something that we do. And I think it's because we have this weird thing here in Arizona where we haven't had joy. We haven't had things happen for us. So we're going to celebrate being right about the team being bad. No, here's why.

I think that it's just easier to go that route. And then if things are bad, then you're not disappointed. and you're not let down. But if things are good, then you win because you're still in the playoff hunt. Right. And that's why they go do things at the deadline

because they're still in the play on hunt, the playoff hunt, and they have a chance to spark this team. And I mean, that's the weird, that's the weird dual-sided nature to this conversation is that they need to get better.

They need something, right? And we know that we've seen this team have a trade happen like the J.D. Martinez trade where Tori LeBullo said that he went in and he pumped his fist in his office, like her Brooks. from the USA national team after they won the gold medal, right? Like who you played for?

They, but I'll tell you, I mean, you never know what the Diamondback could bring over that could spark this team to be better, right? And I think that that's like, I don't know. I mean, that's the hard decision and that's the decision that Mike Hazen and the front office are in. Do they make the move and how much are the moves going to cost, especially with the trade market being as expensive as it is right now? That's the thing. Like, everyone's getting very impatient, and I get that.

Like, I tweeted when the Robertson trade got tweeted last night, I said, I said, the debats need to announce Bednar. Like, and it was, it was tongue-in-cheek,

but like, I want them to do something, but it gets easy, like the price lowers as the closer you get to the deadline. Right. So, and that's going back to the question

that we were asked, that's the reason why this is taking so long is the diamondbacks are waiting. The diamond backs are also waiting to see how bad they're going to be, right? Like, so, I mean,

don't get it twisted. They also want to see, if there's any worth to them to even make this team better, right? The joke about the angels is that the angels are potentially going to lose Otani at the end of the season and that they're trading away their future now to try to like make this team have some sort of run here in the second half and they might not even make the playoffs. Do you want the Diamondbacks to be in that position? Do you want them to make trades but then still not be good enough to even make the playoffs?

Yeah. Again, I don't want them to go. Like, I love Marcus Stroman. I've said that I want him here. The reality is I don't really think that's that smart. part of a move, especially if it's the only move you're making. Like, Bednar, I like a lot because there's control. And I don't know that necessarily this year is the way it is going to be the year.

But he gives you a chance to be better this year and also be better next year and the year after that. And I think that was Benjamin's point or question early on. Like, why do we want to not give up anything for Otani and why do we want to go in on Bednar? Because the thought here is that this team is good this year, but they're going to even be better next year and beyond. and also, if you're of the camp that thinks this,

we have a limited time frame for Zach Gallen to be here. So next year and the following season are the two years that maybe are the years that you go for it. To have a guy like Bednar in your bullpen closing games completely changes the dynamic right now of this team. Also, they have not gone into an off season yet where they have been a playoff team. And so in terms of making the team even better next year,

is like sure they can do things at deadline now, get Benar, whatever. There's also going to be free agents that now they're going to be in on because this is a team that can win a World Series next year, that they would not have been on coming into this year because they are exceeding expectations. Every expectation that people from that organization had laid out have been surpassed. They did not expect this.

So they did not, this roster was not in a position to necessarily be a play to be a World Series team when they started the season. And so now they're trying to make these adjustments at the deadline. You give them a full offseason. season and you let the players to some players develop hopefully you get to next year where you have a more consistent third basement Nick Amen never has to see the field again you may be having another catcher who's good like I mean I'm not trying to like punt on this season but I'm saying the approach at the deadline should be one that sets you up for success for this year and next year and the year after that I think the biggest thing to me is the point that Tyler hall makes here and he says we've also seen them make moves and it all falls also true yeah and And honestly, that's a whole other conversation. That maybe goes back to the negative thought process and how that kind of infiltrates, you know, your ability to think that anything good can happen to your team. Also, I don't know.

I mean, really what we're seeing is a team come back down to Earth that overperformed all season long. And I think if we're talking about the reason why we haven't seen any trades made yet is that, is that. I mean, the front office, as much as we think that this team could go on to win the world series, because we love them, we love the way they played, we love the way that these young guys have really done so much this season. I mean, the expectations are, we're reasonable, right? I just want to say this too. They trade for Lucas Giolyoto. I'm not sitting here pretending that this team is like really any better.

Like, Lucas Gialito is not really changing. They're better, obviously. Lance Lynn, right? Yeah, like, that doesn't do anything for me. I'm, like, I'm not shaking in my boots if I'm the, the teams in the A.L. Wildcard race because the Angels have Lucas G. Alito now. Yeah. Like, and obviously that can just be one brick in a variety of moves, I guess.

But, like, again, the deadline is still, it really hasn't gone. Like, not a whole lot has happened yet. I know people want it at that thing has. Only two real players have been traded as far as I'm concerned. Three maybe. Like, eh. Yeah. AZ Sports Girl, we are also tired of seeing this team lose every day.

And it feels like that's exactly what's been happening again. They have now lost 50 of their last 20. And that's exactly why it feels that way. So are you going to go on the Draft King Sportsbook app and bet on them? Probably not. But there's lots of other great options for you to go bet on, especially for new customers. You can download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use code P. And X bet just $5 to score $150 in bonus bets instantly.

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terms at sportsbook.com or dot draftkings.com slash baseball terms. And that's a good reason he left. I wouldn't stick around for this anyway. But we thank you guys so much for being here right now in the PHN Sports YouTube channel. Sean comes back. You're back. You get a drink. You good.

No, I just went on vacation. Yeah, no, I understand. That's a good time to do that. Of course. If you haven't subscribed to our channel yet, subscribe now. this a little thumbs up just so that you could tell me you appreciate my fine ad reads here also make sure you sign up for notifications that way you don't miss when our shows go live if you're listening on the audio podcast side subscribe there leave us a review we always appreciate

the feedback and most importantly we appreciate those of you that have joined us as phnx diehard members we always love you guys joining us for that we had so much fun at her takeover event it was honestly it was our best takeover and it was a win and it was a rally monkey Shout out Coggs and his monkey, which Coggs, by the way, is the reason we lost this game. He didn't pull his monkey out fast enough. And I know that sounds like a euphemism. Wait until we start talking about Rich. Wait, yeah, exactly.

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You get Jesse's newsletter full count and the newsletter from all of our writers around here and so much more, including members-only merchandise, members-only invites to events and members-only discount. So become a die-hard member today. Well- Just, oh, real quick. Yeah. I just, Marcos in here talking about how Mike Hazen needs to be fired and is on vacation and all this stuff.

I just, I just, you better be in here apologizing to the man when if they make a trade. It's all I'm saying. There's still a few ways of debt. Nobody's done anything yet. We were a few ways of death. We'll allow you to relax. But you got to come. Relax.

If they come through with a trade, you got to come back and you got to get back. Just relax. I'm just saying. Talk to me on the 31st at 3.01 p.m. Then we can have this conversation. Until then, anything's possible. I don't know. I don't know about agreeing with him being one of the worst GMs in the league because...

We could be Colorado. We could be a lot of things. But the person that really keeps us grounded and reasonable around here is finally arrived. I don't have to do it anymore. Yeah, this guy can stop telling people relax. We are here with the one. one and only thunder stick Jesse Friedman coming to us live from Chase Field. Jesse, wonderful to see you.

And of course, I was wondering what the vibes were like tonight after the Diamondbacks have lost 15 out of 20. Feels like it's a lot. Yeah, not great. Diamondbacks Clubhouse was pretty quiet, as you would expect. We only spoke with Tommy Henry after this game. Didn't necessarily feel the need to speak with anyone else in the Diamondbacker. Clubhouse. I think Tori Lavello, what he had to say after the game was, was interesting. He was using phrases like, you know, our day will come. We're going to fight our way out of this

one way or another. I'll never stop believing in this team. They've proven it to me again and again, you know, these kinds of things where you can tell that Tori Lavello has some level of awareness that this Diamondbacks team has been in free fall for several weeks now, right? I mean, it's like they started struggling at the end of June, and those struggles basically haven't stopped for about a month now at this point. So, yeah, I mean, you can tell that this is really weighing pretty heavy on the guys in the clubhouse and on manager Tori Lavello, who is just continuing to try to find answers as the diamondbacks just continue to struggle day after day. What should we be most concerned about, Jesse?

Should we be concerned about the situation where they're starting pitching, or should we be concerned about this inability for the offense to step up when they need it to. I mean, it seems like their offense can find its way and blow out losses to make them not so significant, but outside of that, it doesn't feel like this offense is able to muster up much lately. Yeah, hitting with runners in scoring position continues to be a big problem for this baseball team. The debacks were 0 for 7 in this game. I believe the Mariners were 5 for 16. and that's just kind of been the trend. Like series after series, opposing teams are hitting with runners in scoring position

and the Diamondbacks really aren't. They really had their chances in this game too. I mean, they had nine hits against Logan Gilbert in the game. They did eventually score two runs that were charged to him, but they were because of a wild pitch in an error. Like the Diamondbacks never actually got like a big hit in this game. They were able to get some traffic on the base paths, but they really weren't able to execute when they needed to.

I asked Tori after the game if he felt that guys were pressing in those situations. And he kind of started by sort of saying yes. And then he kind of eventually arrived at saying no from what I could tell. I guess it's always kind of a hard question to answer. It just seems like hitting with runners in scoring position is something that ebbs and flows a lot. And you know, you might be overthinking it if you're saying that, you know, guys are pressing every time that they're struggling. And, you know, they're in a great headspace every time that they're doing well. I don't know if it's necessarily that black and white.

But whatever's happening in those situations right now, it's not working for the Diamondbacks. And you saw that today in a game where they had just as many hits as the Mariners did, but the Mariners, you know, come away with a 5-2 win. It's a fair question because it does seem like the worst things get, the more this team presses, it feels like the bigger the situation sometimes for this team right now, the more, you know, they all struggle. And I don't know. I mean, it's similar to what we've seen out of the bullpen in the ninth inning where it doesn't matter who Tori LaBullo calls upon, but it doesn't seem like anybody is able to effectively go out there and get outs consistently for this team.

Even when a guy proves he can do it in one game, he comes out the next and all of a sudden falls apart. So I guess the direction that this is this is leading me is to wonder if this team at this point should even be buyers at the trade deadline with the way that they're. playing. Your thoughts? It's really tough. Yeah. I mean, I think in some ways, Mike Hazen is almost in a sense. You could make a case that he's backed himself into a corner where he kind of has to because, you know, just a couple weeks ago he was using words like ultra aggressive in conversations with reporters. And even when we spoke with him on, on Wednesday, I mean, it was it was pretty clear that the Diamondbacks were looking to buy, right? Tori even said it in his press conference, right?

He was like, it's nice to be buyers this time of year instead of sellers like we've been in the past two seasons. So that was kind of tipping their cap a bit that Tori is even convinced they're going to be buyers at the deadline. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it's been pretty clear from top to bottom in this organization for a while that they're planning to buy. But, I mean, you have to kind of think ahead here.

The debacks right now are 55 and 49. I believe they're a game out of the wild card at this point. point. They're still in a reasonable spot to buy. I don't think it's outrageous, but you'll get some teams behind them. The Padres are playing pretty well. The Chicago Cubs have won seven consecutive games and nine of their last 10. They're only two and a half games behind the Diamondbacks at this point. There's, I mean, there's so many teams in this race that it really wouldn't be crazy for the defects to not buy at this point, but I'm not sure they're going to do that. I feel like with the comments that have been made, it would be a little weird for Mike Hayes and

that come out and say those things and then, you know, back up and decide to go a different direction. I'm not sure how that would be received in this clubhouse. We were just talking about it before the show. This was not a good night for the wild card. Like all of the wildcard teams won. The Reds won. The Phillies one. The Cubs one. Marlins one. So like, yikes. I have a question. What's wrong with Lordus Gariel Jr.? That's actually a question from our chat as well. Jesse. A lot of people want to know. Is he going to be the worst all-star of all time? Yeah, I mean, I have since May 23rd.

He's at 182, 223, 349, which is awful. And that's two months. I mean, I know he missed about a week with a groin injury in there. But for two months, which is like more than half of the season at this point, Lordus Gueriel has been a terrible hitter. And he did come over from Toronto with this kind of a reputation. We've known that Lordis was one of the streakier hitters in the game.

But this is another level of streaky where, you know, in May, he was basically the best hitter in baseball. And ever since then, he's really struggled. Derek, I know this is a really hard moment. As we discussed this. You want to cut the hair, man. I got it. I got most of it out.

This is not helped. It's not helped. It does not help. Die your hair black. Oh, man. I don't know what's going on. But yeah, Jesse's very good. Tori Lavello. Tori Lavello was asked after the game this question of, you know, what are you seeing with Lordus Gurriel? And it sounds like sort of a timing issue, which I guess is kind of what I've seen as well.

It just seems like it's just like he's a little caught in between. A lot of lazy fly balls to the opposite field where he's getting, letting the ball get a little bit too deep a couple weeks ago. It seemed like he was constantly rolling over the top to the pole side. Was your numbers? Did your numbers date back to May 23rd for Loris Gurrish Gurr. real? Yeah, May 23. That's the exact, yeah, that's the exact date I had. He's slashing 168, 227, 356 lugging percentage with a 584 OBP and a, or a 584 OPS. I'm sorry.

Yeah, my numbers, my numbers are basically identical, but I threw on his O for four from today. So unfortunately, those have gotten a little bit worse. It's even worse, yeah. Yeah. That's, that's rough. That's rough for this, too. Well, and I guess the other question, or at least the point I was making to the chat is, we talked about the angels the other day, and we kind of questioned what the angels were doing. While you appreciate in your heart what they're trying to do, while you appreciate the effort to not only keep Shohei Otani in an angel's uniform for the long term, but you could also say to try to make the most out of the time left that you potentially have with Otani,

the angels made some moves, but they might be for not. Right. They might not even make the playoffs. They lost 4-1 today. The way that things are going for them. The Dodgers also made some moves, uh, potentially some of the most mediocre trades in the history of major league baseball for one franchise all at the trade deadline. But let's take a look. Uh, we tweeted out.

And to be clear. The only reason we're calling it mediocre is because they went to the Dodgers. If this is any other team we're saying these are bad trades. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah.

These are straight up awful trades if it's for any other team. But for the Dodgers, We're still suspicious that they might make all four of these guys into some of the best players in baseball by the time this season is over, right? But yeah, like you look at some of these. They got Kiki Hernandez, Ahmed Rosario, Lance Lynn, a target we had for the Diamondbacks, but didn't know if we really wanted or not. And relief pitcher Joe Kelly goes back to the Dodgers. Of course, for that iconic moment alone, I think that was worth it, the trade. That's genuinely one of my favorite baseball.

A of 4.97 ERA and a minus 3B war. but Lance Lynn not great Ahmed Rosario 675 OPS Kiki Hernandez 604 OPS I don't want to see the Diamondbacks make these kind of trades Jesse

like if it's a decision of whether or not they do this or not I don't want this because according to information that we have been sent the value kind of went the White Sox way right?

The White Sox seemingly won this trade and the White Sox are seemingly winning all of their trades because now a team that's kind of been rudderless has a direction involving rebuilding their farm system and moving towards the future and the trades they've made so far have kind of lined up to make them look pretty good. Yeah, I mean, I think the national reaction to these deals that the Dodgers have made is, you know, you look at who the Dodgers are getting and you're like, okay, this isn't this isn't really all that great you're not really sure exactly what they're thinking and then you look at what the dodgers are giving up and you realize okay they're not really giving up a whole lot in these deals that said

the dodgers are still giving up like actual value i mean it's not like they're trading nothing for players to on paper as you just saw in that tweet all of those guys have been below replacement level players this season theoretically you shouldn't really be giving up anything in order to get them and yet the dodgers did have to tap into their farm system along with i guess noa cindergarde was was one of the pieces that they used in those deals. But yeah, I mean, it just kind of goes to show where the trade market is out right now. You know, if you want Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, who have VRAs that average out to around six, you're going to have to give up, you know, a 23-year-old in double A,

who I believe is the Dodgers number nine overall prospect according to an M-O-Pipeline. That was one of the guys, one of the guys that went in that deal. So, yeah, it is a little weird. I mean, this isn't Scherzer and Trey Turner, right? like this is a little step down in terms of what we're used to seeing the Dodgers do at the trade deadline. But you could kind of squint and see how these guys, you know, in certain roles could help the Dodgers the rest of the way. Well, I mean, we talked about it. They're really looking for depth.

They do have some really good start players all around the diamond, starting pitching, infield, outfield, like they have great players. Really, they just don't have a lot. They don't, the injuries and stuff have really been their Achilles heel. and once, you know, like their depth has just kind of been exposed at times. So I don't feel like this is a terrible move to give them more depth. It's just not, like you said, it's not the kind of moves we're used to seeing the Dodgers make to bring in the big names. And I don't know. I mean, here is an, we got some analysis of these trades.

We got some screenshots here that kind of show, I know this is kind of hard to see, but the White Sox, really in these value situations have been the ones that have been getting the most, not only out of the, the Dodgers trade for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, but also with their trade with the Astros. Yeah, I mean, in both of these deals, right? Basically, what this is doing is it's looking at surplus value. So it's like how much money is the player's projected performance worth compared to how much money they're actually going to be paid. In both of these situations, I guess we're looking at the Dodgers. So if we look at the trade at the top, the Dodgers are getting two players in Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly,

who both have a negative surplus value. In other words, they're projected, they're making more money than they're actually projected to be worth. And on the other side, you know, the White Sox are getting three assets that all are on the positive side, which prospects generally are because they, you know, they don't really have any money. They don't really have any actual contracts and in books yet.

They make $10,000 a year and they get free hot dogs. So their value is still very high compared to their cost. And then at the bottom here, you see another trade that happened today, which didn't involve the Dodgers, but the White Sox and the Astros made a trade as well. The Astros apparently have this obsession with trading for Kendall Graveman at the trade deadlines the second time that they've done this in the last couple of years. They have to do it, Jesse. They have to.

Even Kendall Graveman grades out as being a negative surplus value player. His FIP this year is actually close to five. So there are some warning signs there with the reliever that the Astros are getting. And on the other side, the White Sox are getting Corey Lee, who not that long ago was one of the better young catching prospects in the game. So yeah, and both of these deals. I mean, you've got like theoretically negative value going to the buying team and the team that's selling is actually getting some pretty decent prospect capital.

Unfortunately, for teams like the Diamondbacks, that's kind of where the trade market stands right now. Yeah. Well, and it's understandable, but it's the reason why we don't want to see the Diamondbacks overpay. It's the conversation we've been having. When we put together some of these trade proposals that we've put together, a lot of fan reaction from the Diamondbacks fan side is that we're giving up too much

to get some of these players that we're trying to get. We're trying to be realistic based on the value here and based on the trade market. Just like at one point with the housing market, things were crazy and still kind of are. Like the trade market in baseball is the same way. It is definitely a seller's market and not a buyer's market. So the teams selling are going to get way more in return for the players, maybe even way more than they're even worth, just based on the fact that so many teams, A, are still in it, and B, feel like they are just one player or two players away from being competitive in the playoffs. I don't know if I can say that now about this Diamondbacks team after watching them play in the second half of this baseball season so far. And I don't know if I want to see them sacrificing trades where they are getting negative value in return.

for prospects they're giving up. Honestly, I mean, and like you said, a lot of this is due to the fact that baseball players are just paid so much fucking money, right? Like so many baseball players are paid so much that it's going to be hard once you've reached a certain level of being a major league star for that value at times to really be more than what you're getting paid because they're just paying guys so much money in order to sign them during free agency off seasons and just everything involved with guys getting paid a lot of money. But we've talked about this. The Diamondbacks key to success is building through their farm system, building through their minor league players. Corbyn Carroll is a guy that 30 out of 30 baseball teams would trade for right now. And they would absolutely pay anything to get a guy like Corbin Carroll to be on their team.

They would pay an absurd amount way more than the Diamondback signed him to an extension. So like the Diamondbacks only choice at times in order to remain competitive is to find, diamonds in the rough like Corbyn Carroll. They're not going to come around very often. And to be honest, that's the reason why I feel like they can't part with guys in order to kind of get these low value players back just to try to make themselves better without really asking the question, is this guy going to be enough to get us to the playoffs? If you're asking me, I think that's the reason why Mike Hazen is going to have a really

difficult time and probably why we haven't seen any moves made yet. it's just so difficult to look at the asking price for some of these players and think, is that guy really going to make us that much better than it's worth all of this that they're asking, right? So I don't know. I don't know what we're going to see, Jesse, but I hope they do something. And I think that's the predicament I'm stuck in. I'd like to see them do something to change what's happening right now to this team and how much they've fallen. but I also don't really know if I want to see them make a move

that involves mortgaging their future for this season that we are so unsure about how things will turn out. So I don't know. I'm also making a good point that I haven't really thought about. But as far as people in the chat are concerned, like everyone's comparing the Diamondbacks to what the Dodgers do. And it's not the same organization. Like we can't operate the same way the Dodgers do.

Yeah, because the Dodgers can't afford to get a guy. within their organization through a trade and then they can afford to get rid of a process. A long-term deal. Like, I mean, I think that I don't know if I made that point to Benjamin earlier because his talk about Otani, you know, and why people are willing to want to give up

so much for Bednar, not for Otani. And it really comes down to control, right? Otani, yeah, Otani's magical. Otani's, there's no doubt in anybody's mind that Otani is a significantly better player. than Bednar. That's not the question. It's a matter of the diamondbacks not being able to keep him past October and Bednar being under control for a number of years. That to me is the one thing at this point I'm looking for out of a trade that the diamondbacks make and we'll see if they get that. But I do appreciate Jesse being with us here from Chase Field. I do hope that in between there and the office, when you come back here, you stop at Circle K and pick up some snacks. guys on all the gas pumps by the way i don't know if you've heard a friend of mine today uh texted me that like uh i'm gas pump famous now and crazy people are going to come out of the woodworks to

try to like i i don't know like scam me and stuff i i haven't been i would try to be scammed because i'm on a gas pump yeah someone tries to get to know me because i'm on a gas station yeah i mean i that's the kind of let somebody see me see me on a gas station pump and be like i need it i need to i need to be friends with that guy i ever see that tweet where that girl's like why can't i have a guy like this And then the guy's like, hey, and then she's like, no. And then he's like, I'm literally the guy in the picture. Like, I feel like something like that's going to happen. They're going to be like, oh, my God, this guy's so cute.

And we're going to be like, ew. And that's how Sean met his wife. Right. Well, you can stock up at Circle K and maybe find your wife at your local Circle K. It is America's thirst stop. They've got coffee. Right. They got coffee.

And maybe your next wife. And maybe the love of your life. Who knows? But they do have polar pops that stay cold longer. and they do have Circle K branded snacks that should not be slept on because not only are they cheaper, but they are better than whatever else you can get

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Of course, like I said, to have the chance to fight me for. Yeah, once you become a finalist, then you have to be drawn as the contender. to fight Sean for the truck. Winner takes all, including, I don't know, maybe Sean's, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe maybe Sean's hair, I don't know. If you want it, if you beat him.

Not everyone can get coils like this. Take a, take a trophy. If you're going to, if you're going to beat him, take a trophy. Take the glass. Take the stash. Hang it in your rearview mirror when you drive around. You can also get, buy two, get one free monster energy drinks and buy two get one free beatbox heart tea.

Make sure you're not missing out on all this great stuff, including the opportunity to fight Sean. Right now, text PHNX to 31310 to join their SMS subscriber club and get a buy one, get one free offer on 32 ounce polar pops. Head to CircleK.com slash store dash locator to find CircleKs near you. Of course, do not miss out on the Four Peaks beer while you're there. Four Peaks is the official craft beer of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have their Rattle on Red Ale as well as this delicious, super juicy staycation IPA that I'm drinking right now.

So make sure to not miss out on the wonderful variety of beers that they have. to offer over at Four Peaks. They also have their Four Peaks draft room at Chase Field. So if you are there enjoying a baseball game, swing by, check out the draft room. Maybe you watch the baseball game from there. It's located on the sweet level, has wonderful food, and of course, also has a wonderful view of the game. You can follow them at their calendar at 4Peaks.com slash events to stay up to date on everything

Four Peaks. You can also follow them on social media at Four Peaks Brew and at Four Peaks Pub to keep up with the latest Arizona's hometown brewery. Must be 21 or older to drink Four Peaks. and please drink responsibly. Well, we've discussed whether or not the Diamondbacks should make a trade. And of course, with Jesse here before we let him go, we have to make sure that we discuss some more potential trade deadline targets

for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And it's time for our favorite guy. It's Dick Mountain time. Let's make a Dick Mountain out of a Rich Mill Hill. It's time to climb Dick Mountain, Jesse. veteran pitcher Rich Hill, aka Dick Mountain from the Pittsburgh Pirates, would bring a lot of things to this starting rotation

that they don't currently have, including a left-handed pitcher and a veteran presence that they don't really have from any of their guys. I feel like Merrill Kelly is the most adult pitcher that they have there. But let's talk about Rich Hill and his season here with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Yeah, if we look at Rich Hill, stats, nothing that really jumps off the page, right? He has a 4.82 ERA, 147 whip. 114 innings. He's going right around six innings per star, a little under that. 7.7 Ks per nine, three point five walks per nine. He is a 4.42 FIP, which is, which is just okay. But yeah, I mean, in addition to the nickname, which I know you guys are probably most excited about. I'm a huge fan of Dick Mountain. I figured. I figured you probably would be. How would you not be?

Yeah, but, but, you know, he actually does bring, would bring some things to this Diamondback starting rotation. You know, is he, is he an upgrade over Tommy Henry? Is he an upgrade over Ryan Nelson? I'm not sure. I think the numbers there are pretty similar. You could make a case that he's not. But, you know, Brandon Fott is still very much an unknown,

even though he was better his last time out. He still has an ERA over eight on this season. It is pretty likely, at least on paper, that Rich Hill would be a better. option for that fifth starter spot the rest of the way then brandon fought would be any also if we look at the pros and cons uh you know one of the biggest advantages of potentially making this move is is is the cost uh rich hill theoretically this man is is 43 years old uh he shouldn't cost much as a rental for i don't like the way you said that i don't like the way you said that i'm 42 i don't like that

that's in the cons side jessie how dare you you ageist yeah but at the same time derrick you're not a professional athlete. You know, you being 202 is totally fine. If you're, if you're still pitching against major league hitters, your age is a little bit more consequential. Fine.

So, uh, no, no hard feelings there. But, uh, yeah, he is a lefty,

which is something that I guess would benefit the diamond back rotation, uh, kind of help balance things out a little bit. He obviously has loads of experience for as many years as he's pitched in the league. Uh, on the con side,

as I mentioned, he is just a rental. You're only getting him, for the rest of the season. And he hasn't been so great over his last four or five starts. It's not. You know, I guess that could be a bit of a red flag.

But I mean, the big thing here is, is, you know, if the diamond backs want to buy, if Mike Hazen wants to be able to, you know, turn around in a few days and tell,

tell his players like, you know, I said I was going to buy and I did. Rich Hill is a guy that you could add. theoretically, he's an improvement. And he shouldn't cost all that much. He really shouldn't.

one would hope obviously the market is set really high right now but i think just especially given the way that he's performed recently the price should be should be pretty low from the pirates i think the most important thing here is that for dick mountain to be located in scottesdale a lot of sense uh and i have a feeling that that might be one of the areas of town that he looks to live in when he's here also uh yeah i mean is he worth it i guess is the big question here is Does Dick get you excited? Does Dick make you excited and is a Dick Mountain enough to get the diamond bags over the hump, if you will? I knew.

I knew I was going to regret talking about a show on the show. You knew it. You left us here in the studio by ourselves, Jesse. We've been making Dick Mountain jokes all the way long. Yeah, I thought, I thought Leah would be like the adult in the room. She loves it. She doesn't build enough power. Maybe she's giggling along with you.

No, it's hilarious. As Cog said, if you bring us dick, we will never shut up. Yeah. What's her? Summer Walker said it. I just need some dick. Yeah. I mean, that's it.

I just need some loving. It's cheap. It's cheap dick. Right? Like, that's the biggest thing. It's the cheapest dick you can fly. But does the dick make you better, Jesse? I mean, does Rich Hill?

I want to say this. Like, this seems like the kind of dick that would be really fun for like a couple of days. And then we would realize that it sucks. And we don't want that dick. We don't want it anymore. Like, let's be real. It sucks. Like, I think, I think if you would have traded.

Yeah, I know. I think if you, he's so happy. Should we remove Jesse from the broadcast while we do this portion? I don't know. Real talk. Like, I think, I think it's rich. So, right? Like, it is Dick Mountain.

I think if he were to get traded here, like, the fan base would be a little excited over it for a few days. And then they'd realize that, like, oh, this is not really, like, it's not really tearing this team from a non-contender into a contender. Like it's not a move that really is going to move the needle a whole lot of direction. It helps, especially if it's in a series of other moves. Someone had said in the chat that if you package it with Bennar, you feed families. Martha said that.

And I love that comment. Like, absolutely. Well, and I mean, is he an actual upgrade over Brandon Fott? That's the big question. Like, Brandon Fott, we don't, we have no idea. Like, you know exactly what you're going to get out of Rich Hill. You know exactly. There's no, there's no surprises there.

He might have a bad outing here and there. He's not going to be spectacular. but he's going to give you what his ERA is most of the time, right? There's something there about the idea that we still have no idea. We haven't even seen Brandon Fott in his final form yet. He's not even close to that point yet. So I just feel like there's an idea here that we might be upgrading or wanting to upgrade to a guy that isn't really going to make this team better. And again, I mean, yeah, all jokes aside, like, is he actually going to be enough to get this team to the playoffs by trading for him?

even if it's prospects that aren't, you know, like not a major move. Cost is going to be cheap, Jesse. What do you think that this is end up going to, this kind of move could cost the diamond bags? Yeah, we have a, we have a trade proposal idea here. This one's tough because, I mean, it is hard to gauge what it would really take simply because on paper, Rich Hill really shouldn't cost much of anything, you know, with the money that he's due for the rest of the season, I believe it's around two million or so.

I mean, that's probably about what his performance the rest of the year is going to be worth. So you really shouldn't, you really don't feel like you should have to give up much prospect capital to get him. With what we've seen so far in the market, though, you know, the angels paid pretty handsomely for Lucas G. Alito, who's obviously a better pitcher. But the Dodgers, as we talked about earlier, I mean, they gave up legit prospects in a deal that got them Lance Lynn, who you could argue is worse than Rich Hill. And Joe Kelly, who's, you know, a reliever with an ERA around five. So I think if you're the debacks, you'd have to be realistic and know this is going to cost you at least some sort of prospect capital. I have Dylan Ray here being the primary piece going to Pittsburgh along with a left-handed pitcher, I believe is down in Hillsborough and Spencer Geisting.

So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know it's pretty hard to gauge this. I think Dylan Ray in my book honestly feels like an overpay for half a season of Rich Hill. Dylan Ray was taken in the first few rounds by the Diamondbacks just last year. and had a really good start the other day with Hillsborough. He's like trending upwards down there. So, I mean, you'd kind of cringe if it actually cost a guy like Dylan Wright to get Rich Hill for two months. But for being realistic, it wouldn't shock me if that's sort of where the asking price was.

It doesn't take much to get Dick. It doesn't cost much. But speaking of, especially during this time of year, speaking of relievers, though, the Diamondbacks could still be in the market for relievers. I'm almost feeling more and more like that might be more important than even going after starting pitching. But it changes day to day. You know, seeing Ryan Nelson have a struggle and seeing Tommy Henry have a bad first inning completely changes my mindset. We'll see how I feel after Brandon fought pitches tomorrow.

But the Diamondbacks still definitely could bring in some relief pitching from these teams that, again, wouldn't cost very much and could potentially give them some stability late. games that they haven't had lately. One of those names is Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Alex Lang. Is it Lang or Lang? Lange? I believe it's just, I believe it's just Lange. I was talking to this guy.

When the last name is too obvious, they don't even give you a pronunciation on the nil baseball reference.com. But anyway, Lang is from the Detroit Tigers. Again, another team that is going to be having a fire sale similar to what we're seeing with the White Sox. and he has not been terrible as a closer for the Tigers team this year.

He actually has a pretty decent ERA. Let's take a look at his stats so far this season. Yeah, 3.89 ERA, a one-three whip. Not fantastic for a closer, but decent. He's thrown 41 and two-thirds innings out of the Tigers bullpen this year, 11.4Ks per nine. Swing and miss is definitely there. The walks are there as well, six walks per nine.

That's pretty high for a back-end reliever. but he does have 17 saves this year. Alex Lang is 17 for 20 and save opportunities for the Tigers. That's 85% that is significantly higher than the Diamondback save percentage this year, which I believe is right around 70. So, yeah, he's a clear upgrade. And we look at the pros and cons of bringing in a guy like Lang. Before we do that, Jesse, I want to just notice Alex Lang,

this is the man who earlier this season, I talked about his wonderful short sleeve turtleneck jersey combo. Can we go back to the stat sheet? We see it a little bit. It is a look. It's a fucking look. With the gold chain and the tats and the tats and the chain, let's take a look now at what the pros and cons are because there's another wonderful image of this man with its chains in full motion.

He looks like he's going to be it because he's afraid he's going to get bitten in the neck because he will bite you in the neck. I don't understand it. Like, does he cut the sleeves off himself? Is this just a shirt? Is it a faux turtlene? Is it just the, it's like a dicky? They have to trade so we can get an answer. I need to know this information.

I need to see this man with a shirt off. On an episode where we're talking about Dick Mountain, I concur. I also need to see this man with his shirt off. However, pros and cons here when it comes to Alex Lang. Of course, he is a closer and that is something Jesse that the Diamondbacks absolutely need to start considering at this point. Yeah, that's the biggest thing. He does have closing experience.

He's only stepped into that role full time this season. So it is a newer thing for him. He's not a David Bednar. He hasn't been doing this. Oh, I guess David Bednar kind of stepped into that role last season for the Pirates. He has a longer track record of being an elite reliever, though. The big thing with Alex laying on the pro side, though, is he's under control through 2027.

So you're talking about having a closer, a legitimate closer for four seasons after this one. So four and a half years of control altogether. together. His swing and miss stuff is legit. I mentioned his command on the con side. That is, that has been a downside for him this year up at six walks per nine. I believe it was mid fours, the past couple of seasons. So you feel like that's something that could regress in that direction as he moves into the future. He's not necessarily an elite closer, like we said. I mean, the numbers that we talked about earlier, they don't, you know, it's not a Raldus Chapman. It's not David Bednar. It's not, not that caliber of a guy. But he has shown himself,

to be really reliable in that role. And the last thing on the con side here is he's probably going to cost a decent amount, you know, four years of control of any kind of reputable reliever at this point. That's going to cost a pretty penny. So, you know, we'll see if the diamond backs are, obviously, David Bednar is a guy you would like to have a lot more than Alex Lang. But depending on how the cost works out, he might be a much more realistic option for them. A couple of people in the chat are not a fan of the non-elite.

descriptor. Yeah. I can't say I am either. No, yeah, it very much has like past failure vibe for trade, like Shelby Miller how was it type vibe. Someone asked you how a movie was there.

Like, I wouldn't say it was a lead, but it was right. Like, that is exactly how that's how Gerald responded to me, spoiler alert about secret invasion and I knew things weren't going to go good because I hadn't watched the finale yet. I was like, how is the finale?

It sounds like a nice person saying something sucks. He said fine. He said it was fine. I was like, oh, it honestly sounds like how Jesse would say somebody sucks. Yeah, no, it's fine. Well, I can, I can honestly tell you that wasn't the case here. That's fair. That's fair.

Alex Lang does not suck. But yeah, I mean, it's like what, like on the con side, what kind of negative descriptor do you give to say that like a guy is genuinely good? Like, he is genuinely good. But like, he's not that good. Like, I can't say he's mediocre because that would make him sound worse than he actually is. Just shy of elite. But I guess non, non-elite was was the best thing. could come up with it's it's kind of like when we talked about chafin's numbers before that last

outing he had that was pretty bad right like chafin's numbers were the exact kind of reliever that we would yeah throw the entire format to get it felt like right so it's like sometimes you don't really know but then looking at his numbers that we put up earlier yeah his numbers don't scream that he's an elite reliever or pitcher of any kind and i mean sure some of the other guys that were elite like david bednar that we talked about did have some things to their peripherals that showed that they had really good defense behind it and it wasn't maybe all of them. But I mean, at this point, the Diamondbacks really need to consider the kind of player that they're going to get in return for some of these trades. And our proposal here is not going to be a cheap one.

We are saying that this is going to cost Alec Thomas to the Detroit Tigers. So now how do you feel? I'm out. Oh, you're good. You're out? We can move on. Yeah. Sean's out.

Jesse, you out? You in? What are you in on this trade? What are you thought? I don't know. I think Gambo, I believe, reported a few days ago that the tigers were intrigued by Alex Thomas or something like that. I think he's a guy they'd be interested in. I think if you're the debacks, you probably try to form some sort of a package deal with the tigers where you get a controllable reliever and Alex Lang. But yeah, maybe you get, you know, a short-term starter like an

Eduardo Rodriguez, you know, or a Michael Lorenzen in the same deal. I think you'd probably feel better about that if you're trading an asset like Alec Thomas. But look at the same time, like if the tiger, if this is actually what the cost was, it wouldn't totally shock me on in theory it is an overpay. You know, I did the baseball trade values thing for whatever that's worth. And, you know, it does say that this would be an overpay for the diamondbacks. But I mean, it's four years. Like the tigers have a lot of leverage in this situation. They don't need to move laying right now. And four and a half years of a bona fide closer who could get better with with time still on the upswing of his career, it wouldn't shock me if Alec Thomas is what that

cost. And frankly, I think Diamondbacks fans might have to be realistic about Alec Thomas and, you know, recognize that as good as he is in center field. And, you know, I think we've seen him take some steps forward offensively this year. The guy hasn't hit left-handed pitching in the majors. He has shown basically no sign of being able to hit left-handed pitching in the majors. And that's really limiting in his long-term profile. If you're, if you're, you know, as heavy a platoon splits as Alec Thomas does at this point, you have to have a real conversation about whether a guy like that can actually be an everyday player. As of right now, I think he more profiles as a fourth outfielder. And if you view him that way, if the Diamondbacks view him that way, yeah, you'd

probably trade, you know, five or six years of a fourth outfielder for four and a half years of, you know, a bona fide closer who could even improve once he gets over here. So it very much depends on how the diamond backs view alec thomas marcos valencia asked isn't rodriguez controllable in regards to edwarda rodriguez he very much so is i think he is under contract until the 2026 season so uh that's why we're 2026 but he also has an opt out that he is very likely to take so i think teams are viewing edwarda rodriguez as a rental as well they should because barring some sort of catastrophe in that opt out that opt out is after this season yeah Yeah, right.

Yeah. I really like Marcos's we feed families phrase. I'm going to start using that. Eduardo Rodriguez and Lang and we feed families. And yes, we do. Yes, we are going to start using that. Well, Jesse, we appreciate you updating us from Chase Field.

And I know you're going to be out there all weekend long. So make sure to keep it locked to Mr. Friedman's Twitter. That's Jesse and Friedman on the Twitter. And also, we might have an emergency. see podcasts or two in store if the Diamondbacks do make a move. So, of course, we ask you to keep a lock right here. Jesse, we thank you.

And we will see you, if not at some point this weekend. We'll see you on Monday. You will not see me on Monday, Derek. Oh, that is right. He's going to San Francisco. You loser. That's right. He's just going off to still cover this team.

So we will have Jesse in place strategically throughout the end of the trade deadline. And Jesse's just in San Francisco. Yeah, if we send like, look, Hazen, Hayes. If we send Jesse all the way at San Francisco and nothing happens, we're going to make them work. We're going to be furious. Our bosses are going to be furious. Our bosses, bosses are going to be furious. But anyway, all right.

Jesse will be out there for the series with the Giants, which apparently is going to be a very important series for the Diamondbacks. Apparently. Could determine their fate even. So keep it locked to Jesse Friedman. Jesse, we thank you again for joining us. Yeah, my flight leaves at 6 a.m. tomorrow. So I guess I should go home and pack. Yeah.

God damn it. That gives me so much anxiety. Get out of here now. I am the same way. I feel you get there. End this call with him. I don't want him on here anymore. Make him go be responsible.

Go do your thing, Jesse. My God. Have a safe flight, Jesse. Yeah, we do. Drink lots of water, Jesse. You know I worry about you all the time. I hope he took his sunglasses with him because he forgets him here at the office all the time. But you should just his laptop.

He does forget his laptop. The writer. He gets his laptop of the office. I mean, but if he still can hear all of this, by the way. And he just can't defend them. himself. Yeah, but we're not letting him get two words in edgewise. I will say this, though. Sunglasses. Jesse's are probably here at the office. He may have lost them, and if he did, they are Shady Ray's. So one thing that's great about Shady Ray's is if he did lose his Shady

raise, he would get a brand new free pair sent out to him for losing them because Shady Rays offers the most insane protection plan in all of eyewear. It is backed. Your sunglasses with Shady Rays are backed by a lost and broken replacement plan. If you lose or break your pair even on day one. They will send you a brand new pair. No questions asked. They have your back long after you purchase. You can shop their entire collection at the brand new location here in town at Carolyn Commons. It's a full stop shop for all things, Shady Ray's.

And of course, if you don't love your Shady Raise, you can also return them or exchange them for a completely new pair. No questions asked. There's no risk when you shop exclusively for our listeners. ShadyRays has given out their best deal of the season. Go to ShadyRays.com and use code PHNX for 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses. Try yourself. Try for yourself. The shades rated by five stars by over 250,000 people. And of course, Jesse isn't here to talk about how aesthetically pleasing the GameTime app is, but Sean can attest to it.

I can't. I look at the price of Drake tickets on it basically every day. He does. He's stalking Drake on the Game Time app. Of course, not just games. I do my stalking off the app. Well, yeah, whatever. You know what I mean.

He's stalking the tickets on the app is what he's doing. And you can too because, of course, precocting. Acrastinators get to win big on the GameTime app. The longer you wait, the cheaper the price goes. Of course, game time is the place for last minute ticket deals, and it is the fastest growing ticket app in the country for a reason. You can snag the tickets without the stress with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account,

and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Again, create an account, redeem code $20. PH&X for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute ticket prices, lowest price guaranteed. right over there, pal? I just, I get this comment that I look like Jordan Poole all the time, and I don't have my glasses on, so I can't see it. So I put my glasses on just to see that I was

getting called like I looked like Jordan Poole and then took him back off. I don't think I'm not hurt by it, but I just don't think it's that accurate. And yes, Cogs, I've listened to Utopia. It's I. It's good, but it's not his best album. All right. Well, there you go. By the way, if you want to enjoy music the right way, do it with a little bit of a wink, right? And that was friends at wink. It's a seltzer with a wink of THC. Summer's not a spectator sport, so grab an ice cold wink and go out there and play. They have a perfect balance of THC and CBD. And of course, they have a couple of varieties with their cans. They also have their countdown for those of you that need a little bit extra bit of a boost. But make sure if you're looking for just a balanced light and

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So check out everything they have to offer at drinkwink.com. and that is Wynk.com. So get down on that immediately. We thank you guys, of course, for being here. Those of you that showed up tonight after this loss, we love you. We appreciate you. It's Friday night.

We know you have better ways to spend your time, but we are so glad you spent it with us. You can follow me on Twitter at K-Ur-N-K-man with a K. Follow him and ask him for all of his music, what, reviews. You can ask me about anything. All of your takes. Listen, I got no friends. I have no life.

Talk to me on the internet. That's right. Send him questions. We're just kind of an AMA with Sean. Twitter but you get at Sean underscore to pause of course I don't know if you noticed that was weak in the entire but it was like it was aggressive and you didn't even notice I was hoping somebody did I know it is do we even do we even call it Twitter anymore do I even say that we're on Twitter I don't know but uh you get Leah Merrill on there she's at

M-E-R-A-L of course our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs but all roadsly to at P-H-N-X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We're still Damon's dogs, by the way. Whether Damon's here or not, we're still Damon's dogs. We appreciate you guys for being here tonight. We thank you so much for your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun,

but it is so much more fun when you can win baseball games at your home ballpark.