PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Another blown save by the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen leads to a loss to the San Francisco Giants

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

No lead is safe for the Arizona Diamondbacks and their bullpen, which is tied for the most losses in MLB this season. A blown save by Ian Kennedy leads to a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeWebsite: https://gophnx.com PHNX Locker: https://phnxlocker.com/Head on over to The PHNX Locker to pick up one of our new PHNX hats!SOCIAL: Twitter: https://twitter.com/PHNX_DbacksInstagram: https://instagram.com/PHNX_Sports Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit and get a RISK-FREE BET UP TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez! We have free stuff for you! Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3, YES THREE, bags of OGeez including Orange Creamsicle and Tropical flavors, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform Check out OGeez! online at ogeezbrands.com and on Instagram @ogeezbrands. You can also find their products at your local dispensary. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. They have officially licensed gear for men, women and kids and everything from bobbleheads to swimsuits to crocs. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% off 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.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX Debax podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I'm your mayor of PHNX. This guy is your Thunderstick. He's also your vice mayor, the one and only, Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. I said it twice. I did think twice. You did say it twice.

It's more powerful that way, right? It really is. It's an emphasis on what a great nickname it was that I gave you. but of course this podcast is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King's Sportsbook app America's top rated sportsbook app. Hello to everybody in the comments. Happy to have you guys here. Thank you so much for joining us, of course.

It's a sad episode, I guess you could say. We're not really thrilled. I know that I just, I just, I just, I will say Charles Woodall Pike, say the line. He said, say the line. Jesse, ladies and gentlemen, the bullpen. I turned over and discussed and went to sleep. You texted me. You were like no bullpen tweet.

No, there wasn't. Derek, Derek had enough. Derek, Derek got broke last night by the ninth inning home run off the bat of Brandon Crawford. First of all, I hate all guys on the Giants named Brandon. They're just,

they're all just the worst. And they have been terrorizing us for years. I just knew last night in that inning that something bad was going to happen the previous not not the previous at bat but i believe two at bats uh one was taken for a ride very very far where uh our young king sir alec thomas had to do kind of a little a little hop in the air to grab it but it almost it made me question i spent some time with it rolling around in my head jesse i was wondering if he needed to actually do that in order to prevent it from like going over the wall like because the trajectory kind of looked like that was a short wall like you might

have just made its way over into that little corner right there. But I was relieved. I was thankful. And then two batters later, the game was over and the Diamondbacks lost. I'm not that disappointed, I guess, in the bullpen because they did only have a one run lead. And it was a one-nothing game. But it's still a hard pill to swallow after Merrill Kelly's outstanding outing to start that game. Yeah, Merrill Kelly was great again.

And the Diamondbacks have, they've wasted. a few too many of these, Derek. It feels like Merrill Kelly is just sort of continuing to do what he's been doing for like more than a month now. I mean, he was the pitcher of the month in July for a reason and he's been excellent in August. But this is rough. I mean, the Diamondbacks for some reason

just can't seem to really get him any run support. I thought Junice on the giant side was really good yesterday. So they certainly ran into a tough customer there. but you just got to get more offense than, you know, the one solo home run from Christian Walker. And although I know we're going to talk about the bullpen quite a bit today, I think you have to also recognize like only scoring one run is going to make it hard to win a game, no matter how good of a bullpen you have. So the Diamondbacks offense needs to really pick things up here.

If the Giants would have put up five runs in this one, we wouldn't even be talking about the bullpen. you know, if the offense would have been the problem here, you know, like you said, hats off to the Giants for what they were able to do defensively holding the Diamondbacks just to one run. Christian Walker, like you said, hit his 29th home run of the year. Another solo home run. It's his 22nd RBI since the All-Star break, which continues to lead the National League

and RBIs since then. And a lot of them have been off solo dingers, right? is second solo home run in this series. And again, the only offense for the Diamondbacks in the second consecutive game coming from the bat of Christian Walker. I believe, Derek, I believe that yesterday is the first game that Christian Walker has ever finished with a batting average of 220 or higher. His batting average has been below that this entire season.

But yesterday, first time that the average, I believe, first time it ever hit to 12. There you go. There you go. And more than that, though, I mean, he's been, he's been really doing it all the last few weeks. It hasn't just been the solo home runs with a guy is hitting 391 over his last seven games and 352 over his last 15 games. So he's really started to unlock more potential in that bat than, you know, just the occasional solo home run like we saw earlier in the year. Let's go. Let's go. Start kick. Let's play celebrate by Cool and the gang.

No, we can't because we'll get. MC8, I'm sure, but still, the Diamondbacks lose this game in very dissatisfying fashion. Conspiracy hippie said, on a positive note, I've one of the coolest hats you've ever seen. I love this hat. And conspiracy theories. It was conspiracy hippie. I'm sorry, going back to that. And you might like, there's some flowers on it.

Yeah, this one's this super bloom hat. This is incredible. Shout out to the hat club. They're not a sponsor. but they're just very, very good. I love them. And we had our friend Benjamin on from the Hat Club. So make sure to check out their content because they're always coming out with amazing hats.

But Merrill Kelly, again, dialed in his performance last night, seven innings pitched, four hits, zero earn runs, two walks, seven strikeouts. Just an absolutely dominant outing from Kelly and Jesse. He's kind of done this to the Giants all season long. Yeah, he has done this to the Giants all season long, as you all can see here. Merrill Kelly has made four starts against the Giants since July 6. So like in a little more than a month, he has seen this same team four times, which can be a little bit difficult as a pitcher. You know, you sort of feel like the opposing team is going to figure it out against you eventually. But that has not been the case for the Giants in Merrill Kelly.

Six and a third two runs back on July 6th on July 11th in San Francisco, seven innings two runs on the 25th, back at home at Chase Field, eight scoreless innings from Merrill Kelly. And then, of course, in the game yesterday on Tuesday, seven innings and no runs allowed. So the Giants just haven't figured him out, Derek. And I'm not really sure they ever will at this point. I mean, it just seems like he, he's certainly figured them out more than they've ever made any kind of progress figuring him out. And I don't think the giants really want to see any more of Merrill Kelly for the rest of this season. Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.

I am probably, I mean, I don't even know if Merrill Kelly has won all of those outings because unfortunately, he hasn't received the run support in a lot of his stellar performances this season, but I'm going to do something, Jesse. I know that Tori Lavallo can't question the umpiring, but I'm going to. I don't think MLB can find me, can they? I don't think I don't. Oh, I don't know. Anyway, let's talk about Corey Blasters strike zone,

which was questionable at best as the game went on there late. I think that there was a very pivotal call against Estrada that would have ended the game. It was a strike that was located in essentially the exact same location that Blasser had called a strike, I think in the same at bat. I think like in the same at bat,

it was in the same exact spot. He did what the broadcasting crew referred to as an umpire Bach where he went into his motion. He did the full, he was gonna punch him out and he just something made him stop

and not do it. And then we know how the game went on. So, was that what manager troy lovolo and our friend jeff bannister so he did about jesse when they came out and had a discussion with blasser not to mention banister yelling some things that i'm definitely going to have to find out what he was saying at a later time i probably won't be able to report that back but uh regardless here's the thing uh gabriel says robot um now neither one of them were actually a strike so that's the thing that i will say about cori blasser is that both were outside of the strike zone but as we all know if that's where you're calling it that's how you're calling it it should be

consistent regardless of where you're calling it and at the very least it should be consistent in the same mother effin at bat jesse yeah i mean i understand why the diamond backs uh why a levello and why jeff banister were uh as animated as they were um i did think it was interesting after the game tory levello had a much calmer tone about it um he didn't really seem that mad about it anymore. And in his post-game interview, I guess, you know, a lot of that is just the emotion of the moment. You know, it's different then than it is like an hour or so later.

But, yeah, Tori was aware that it was not a strike, that it did appear like it was outside of the zone. But yeah, I mean, I think there's certainly a case to be made that you want the zone to be consistent. And I think the fact that the fact that the umpire like, started his motion and then stopped. I think that's really what did it. If he had just not called it,

maybe you're upset. But it was sort of like, it was sort of like this, this conscious, I don't know, like you can't often see what's inside of an umpire's head, like what they're thinking when they're making their call. But in this play,

you could. Like you could see that Corey Blazer thought it was a strike and then he sort of went back on it and call it a ball. And I think that's really what got under their skin in this situation. For sure. And I get it too. Just in defense of him, even though I, you know, I don't want to do that. This feels gross to even do. But in defense of him, sometimes you might just be ready to make that call. So like, it's like your, your triggers there. And you make that motion even if, if you think it was a ball because you're just kind of ready to punch him out. He's already got two strikes. It's the end of the game. It's a seemingly, it's a seemingly, it's a seeming.

done deal. But yeah, I think Levello just needed to get the shit off his chest. Like sometimes, Jesse, I'm a confrontational person, as you may or may not know. And sometimes I just need to save my peace. Is it going to change anything? No. Do I know that? Yes, I do.

Do I really think that I need to go up and say this thing to this person? No, it doesn't need to be said. Am I going to anyway? Yes. because I need to say it for me. I don't care how it impacts the rest of the world. It's just like, no, sometimes I just need to get some shit off my chest. I need to go let a motherfucker know that I am disappointed with them,

like that they have upset my day. And yes, I need to, no, I'm not like a check swing. It's kind of like a check swing. She's comparing, I don't know, are you comparing my anger to a check swing? comparing the swing or the motion from the umpire i don't know it's all bad none of it's good i don't recommend it at all but uh i shout out to sean to pause by the way for being our producer today we already scared lea off yeah yeah yeah you know it was one one day and uh pretty much had enough already so i really thought i really thought she was going to last longer jessie i thought

she was going to last longer but uh do we miss mark milanza And yet, Jesse, do we miss Melanson in the save role? Is this an overcorrection? Do we need to remember? I just wanted him not to be in non-save situations. And now you're putting him in nothing but non-save situations. That's the wrong direction. Just use them like last night.

I don't. Is it just, are they doomed? Does it matter at this point? Is it like whoever is the closer is going to turn? into an unreliable pitcher for that one inning of work that we need them to lock things down in. Yeah, I mean, we were talking about this in the Discord a little bit last night. Shout out to everyone who is commenting and making their thoughts and opinions known yesterday. But I think there comes a point when like it's sort of hard to criticize the Diamondbacks

management of their relievers when there just aren't really any great. ones if we're being Frank here, other than Joe Mantiply, who's been outstanding this season. But beyond Joe Manciply, it's like it almost feels like it doesn't really matter that much what you, you know, what role you use in Ian Kennedy or a Mark Melanson in because neither of them are premier closers in this game, right? I think that's, that's abundantly clear at this point. And so I'm not sure it really matters that much, which role each of these guys in. I think Ian Kennedy's still done a pretty good job overall. He's got a three point. 3-8 ERA on the season, which is very respectable.

I'm not sure if he can maintain that based on some of the peripheral numbers, but I don't know. I think the takeaway here, Derek, is the Diamondbacks needs to sort of rework how they invest in their bullpen and how they build their bullpen, not like how they're going to rework which role each guy fits into, because we've played this game before, and if you don't have good relievers,

you don't have good relievers. and it doesn't matter how you set up your bullpen, it's going to be really hard to be successful. It's really hard to be successful with any crew that Dan Bolino is a part of, Jesse, and you know that. But you're right about Ian Kennedy, regardless of how well he's been doing last night is our loving, we're doing this in a loving way.

It's our OG's performance to forget. And, yeah, Ian Kennedy has no idea. at what OGs are and never will and that's fine. But you know what OGs are. And of course, if you want to get over last night's heartbreaking loss like I did, I think I was pre-prepared, went with some Indicas beforehand. That's why I was able to just turn in disgust and go to sleep. But do what you want to with our friends at OGs.

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your local dispensary. Check out their website over at OGsbrands.com or on Instagram at OGs Brands. Also, check out our friends at Four Peaks, where we will be coming to you live every Wednesday, last Wednesday of every month. We'll be at the 8th Street Pub, drinking beers, having good times. This is where we'll be all day, August 31st, 1304 East 8th Street in Tempe. If you can't be down there, join us online. We'll be doing live shows.

All of us will be down there doing live shows. Grab yourself some four peaks from your local grocery store. Or, like I said, head down there in person. Check out their wonderful variety of food and beers that they have on tap. Always incredible. They always got special stuff too down at the 8th Street pub. So if you get a chance, go check out like their limited edition beers that they have. They had a nice selection of their winter beers,

December kind of stuff over here during their July. you know kind of Christmas in July thing. Todd Cowden in the comment says, just need to bird some sage. Yeah, I'm good with that. Let's mostly in the bullpen. Let's just get in the bullpen. Get some sage burning, whatever.

Open shirt, Derek for close a roll. You don't want that. That's not a good idea at all. I am unreliable to say the least. But also, when you're over at our website, entering the OGs contest, make sure to enter our toast of the month. sweepstrikes for our friends at Four Peaks.

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I was not in my house earlier today, Jesse. I was lugging things around downtown Phoenix as we are preparing for our move to the new studio, which I will have an update for you guys in a little bit. But let's talk about this bullpen being a mess first. Our office is a mess right now, but this bullpen is more. of a mess because D-backs relievers have taken 29 losses this season, Jesse. And that's tied for the most in Major League Baseball. What are your thoughts on there?

4.10 Bullpen ERA, which is eighth worst in Major League Baseball and having the most losses. I feel like the losses thing is the key. It doesn't even feel like the bullpen is as bad as that. Yeah, I mean, I'm never a big, like, I don't look at. it wins and losses very often. I think it's pretty clear at this point that those stats don't generally mean a whole lot, at least on like a personnel basis. But there comes a point when it starts to mean something. And I think the Diamondbacks bullpen is at that point where if you're tied for the league lead and losses from your relievers, then that's probably a sign that things

aren't going so well. And obviously, I think everyone in the comments here can speak to every single one of those losses and the pain that may have come with each and every one of them. But it's tough, Derek. I mean, the Diamondbacks have potentially some help on the way, given that they have a lot of these pitching prospects and the upper levels of the minors that are getting close. And Mike Hazen has said that some of those guys will break into the big leagues as relievers rather than starters, which sort of goes against a little bit what the team has done more recently. I think they want to see those guys succeed in the bullpen first before they consider moving them back into the starting rotation.

And that's been that's been their, you know, kind of MO at times is to have that kind of soft landing in the bullpen see what guys can do. Unfortunately, sometimes guys are so good in the bullpen that they don't really work their way out. They just work their way into, you know, being one of the solid pieces of that pen, which I mean, have there been that many cases of that? I'm trying. I mean, I guess Archie Bradley sort of, but he started. I mean, he opened as a starter. Caleb is who I'm thinking of mostly, right? Caleb really wanted the starter role.

And every time he was moved to the pen, that's where he found success for some reason. Yeah. Inexplicably, wasn't very good as a starter, but as a bullpen guy was one of their most solid relievers for a period of time. But then every time he kind of worked his way back up, you know, he kind of started. chomping at the bit. He'd earn himself an opportunity for the starting rotation and then it would quickly turn back to

him not being better, just not being worth the value that he is out of the pen, I guess I should say. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Caleb Smith is a little different because he's not a prospect, right? I mean, he was a pretty well established pitcher at this point. But

you are right. Some guys, you bring him into the bullpen and they succeed there. And if you try to bring them back into a starting role, it just doesn't necessarily work, right? And that's the reality with a lot of these prospects coming up. Is there, they're more than likely,

they're not all going to be starting pitchers, right? Some of them are probably going to land in the bullpen long term. And that's okay. The diamondbacks need that, right? They need especially some guys with, with some bigger stuff in that bullpen. We were talking in the Discord yesterday, too, about like, the diamondbacks don't have much stuff,

and they don't have much velocity in particular at the back into the pen. And they really haven't for years, you know. It feels like this franchise has been trying to blow like 93 mile an hour fastballs past guys for the last decade. And it just doesn't work consistently, right? Like when all these other closers and, and even, you know, not even necessarily closers, but middle relievers on other teams are pumping 97 or 98 miles an hour, the Diamond Baxter are, you know, throwing guys out there who are, who are more niche, who are throw in, you know, 89 with a change up or something. And there's certainly a space for that.

But the Diamondbacks have probably relied on that sort of a reliever a little bit too much. Is it too soon for them to make a move during this offseason? Obviously, like we said, we know that Mark Melanson is going to continue to be a part of this team, Ian Kennedy as well. So I don't really see them going out doing anything via free agency. But if they did spend money, is that. the the the where they would spend money again or do you think that's kind of off the table now for them as far as trying to do that i feel like that's the only place that they've spent money over

the last few seasons yeah i mean they have spent money there but like it hasn't hasn't really been um significant money right no um i know uh i know cam cox uh our friend from 12 news i want to say um he he quote tweeted uh our tweet yesterday and and um you know tweeted a gift of a trumpeter and was talking about like possibly bringing in an Edwin Diaz or something like that, right? I don't know if it makes sense to go to that level because a guy like Edwin Diaz would command absurd amounts of money that I don't know if it makes sense to spend at this stage, but the debacks haven't really made like significant investments in the bullpen, right? It's just that they haven't spent a whole lot of money, but when they have spent,

that's sort of where it's gone in general. Yeah, we're We're already talking about it I don't know I mean 20 million a year I don't know I don't know if that's is I going to get it done I don't think that's going to get it done at this point

It's it kind of scares me to spend 20 million on a reliever Honestly does the song wait does the song come with him I mean are we all I hope so If we're if we're getting the rights to the song Then it's worth every dime of 20 million I play I pay three times that amount easily, but it does seem that the answer, though, is going to come from the minors. I feel like our top pitching prospects right now don't seem to look very viable as starting

pitchers. That's why there's not a lot of talk about the pitching prospects. You brought up Corbyn Carroll and Drew Jones being the number one and number two prospects according to Fangraphs.com, right? So number one and number two outfield prospect. Outfield. Outfield prospects, excuse me. But obviously there's a lot of excitement about other positions on this team. Pitching is not one of them. It doesn't mean that they still don't have some solid pitchers that have been in their system now for a few years that have hovered around, you know, their top five consistently. Just having a rough go at it when they get to places like Amarillo and Reno, which as we've talked about. Yeah. You know, it's just a bit of a, it's a bit much. You know, it's a bit much. You know, it's a bit much. much for those guys to have success there. Luckily, Tommy Henry seems like he is going to continue to be a part of this rotation, even though he's had two, I mean, not stellar starts. They're still better, I think, than what the Diamondbacks were getting from other

starting a reputation candidate. So good to see Tommy Henry, at least working out for this team. Jesse actually has some great information over at go p.nx.com on all of this stuff, including Alec Thomas being a pretty viable candidate for gold glove. So make sure to check that out over at go phtonx.com. If you have a membership already, thank you for being a member. If you don't sign up to get a membership, annual membership will get you this free t-shirt.

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That way you don't miss whenever the PHNX crew goes live. Sometimes we're radic. We're crazy. Things are going on right now. I'm talking about this move a bit. and I don't even know how much longer I can take being at home knowing the beautiful space that we have, Jesse, at the new PHN Export Studios.

By the way, carrying in a palette full of beer get some looks from our new neighbors. I don't know if they're excited about our presence or if they're worried about it, Jesse, to be frank. But regardless, I'm excited. I'm excited to be there. Also, if you subscribe to us on your favorite audio podcasting app and leave us a five-star review, we love you for it.

We love you for being a part of our family and for helping us out with that stuff. And, of course, for enjoying this content. We hope you guys enjoy everything we're doing here. We do this for you. I mean, a little bit for us, too, but mostly for you. Jesse, MLB announced the dates for the playoffs and next year's All-Star game. That's all being laid out now. seems like it could be the latest World Series game in MLB history.

If it does extend to seven games, the final game of the World Series will be November 5th. The playoffs start on October 7th. The best of three wild card series will be played on three consecutive days with no off day within the series. Is it a bit much? Or is this kind of, after 162 games season, is this nothing to baseball teams at that point?

What's an extra three games, 165, whatever? I don't think it's a huge deal. I mean, when you add like extra pieces to the playoff picture like they have this year, I think you want to, you don't want the playoffs to drag on for forever, right? Like, I don't know about the rest of everyone here, but like I think the NBA playoffs is entirely too long. Like it feels like the NBA playoffs drags on for like two months. and like the first round is sort of stupid

other than like the four versus the five seeds. Yeah, it's usually pretty much a one-sided, lopsided, victory by the higher seed for sure. So I mean, we all love baseball, right? But I don't know if we want to, if we want the playoffs to like drag on for forever and ever. And so yeah, it makes sense that the World Series could be a little bit later.

We had the lockout push things back a little bit. And then, you know, you extend the wild card. component of the playoffs a little bit with the two extra games. So it kind of makes sense why things would be that way. But I don't think you want to go much later than like the first week of November. Some of these places are going to start getting very, very frigid. Yeah.

And nobody likes baseball. Nobody likes baseball when it's like 35 degrees outside. So nobody wants that. It's going to be beautiful here. You and I are going to Arizona Fall League games and having ourselves a blast. Oh, yeah. Well, all these people are. Yeah.

Here, I mean, here, I wish they would just move. They should just move the whole season back, right? So that we get baseball, you know, not in like all of the worst months to be in Arizona. But there's probably no changing that, unfortunately. I want baseball in November in Arizona, quite frankly. Oh, yeah. Here's where the playoffs do start to have a bit of an issue is there is no off day in the LDS between games four and five. and no off days between games 5 and 6 in the LCS.

So that could potentially make things a nightmare if opponents are on opposite coasts, like let's say a Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and LCS. Yeah, that would be that would be sort of unfortunate for them. Especially. Not things that major league teams aren't used to, but. No, but right now, Jesse, we're at a. weird time, right? Like between staffing shortages, pilot shortages, and just things being at an all-time fucking wacky high, you know, travel now is, it's like it's almost a guarantee that your flight

is going to be delayed. It's just how much is it going to be delayed? An hour, 30 minutes, 10 minutes, maybe, you know, you sit on the tarmac for seven hours like the Arizona Diamondbacks did, right? There is no, there is no telling, you know, And I know there's probably contingency plans or things they can do at that point to shuffle things around should there be some sort of issue. But it just feels like you are putting all your eggs in one basket as far as flight travel is concerned from, you know, if things do end up like that. Even if it's a short flight, there's still no guarantee that the flight is going to take place or be on time in the year 2022. Let me tell you. It's way more common for shit to be.

delayed than it is for it to be on time. It's kind of a shock when it is. All-Star game in Seattle, July 11, 2023, so a bit earlier than the All-Star game this year. And I hope very much to see you guys there. Me and Jesse, I love Seattle. And Jesse might know a thing. I know a few people. I know a few people there. Yeah. It might be familiar with the area if he still remembers it. I don't know if he's completely moved on or not. But make sure check out our friends at the Draft King Sportsbook app if you haven't done so already. Of course, the Draft King Sportsbook app is your top rated sportsbook app.

And if you go ahead and use our code of PHNX, bet $5 on college football. College football is starting. This is wild. I can't believe this. College football is right around the corner. Bet $5 in college football and get $200 in free bets instantly.

That's code PHNX only at the Draft King Sportsbook. Of course, it's my favorite sportsbook app. I not only like to go make all of my same game parlay bets on there, Jesse, but like I said, my new thing, my new gig, live betting. You get in on the live bets, you have an idea, you have a feel, you know, I probably would have lost money on the Diamondbacks game last night. I don't know if I would have been foolish enough to have the confidence to bet on their behalf late in that game.

But that one nothing lead felt shaky the whole time. But of course, you can do what you want. over at the Draft King Sportsbook app because they have a wide variety of ways for you to bet, including that live betting, which is, I don't know, it's just, it's exciting, you know? Like sometimes when I put my bet in ahead of times, I just have to kind of like sit around and wait, you know, when I live bet, I feel like I'm in there. I'm in the trenches, Jesse. I'm making decisions.

Because things change fast. Sometimes the odds change, like right in the middle of you making your decision if you want to take this bet or not. It's exciting. So get over on the Draft King Sportsbook app. use our code of pH and X and get yourself some money for betting on college football. Also, we are partnering with our friends at the FOCO at FOCO, leader in sports merchandise and collectibles. We still want bobbleheads.

I know. We're still asking. We still don't know where they are. I want bobbleheads. Everybody wants bobbleheads. And you can get them over at FOCO.com. They have you covered with the best Arizona merchandise and national merchandise, even if you're not in Arizona, you're not an Arizona sports fan. I don't know what you're doing here.

I think I'd probably have to thank you more. Like, I understand you being here if you're an Arizona sports fan, but if you're just like a fan of like the Cleveland Guardians, God bless you for listening to this show. But they have officially licensed gear no matter who you root for, for men, women, kids, Jesse's dog. Jesse's dog will only wear licensed gear. Everything for bobbleheads to collars for Jesse's dog,

officially licensed, of course, swimsuits, again, for Jesse's dog. Crocs, for Jesse's dog. These are all things for pets. no human actual clothing over there. No, they have all of your clothing gear covered, men, women, children, even the dogs. My dog does wear crocs. Yeah, he needs four of them, obviously. But yes, he refuses to wear anything else.

Gerald's dog wears shoes, and he looks adorable wearing those shoes. And by he, I mean, Gerald. Make sure to head over tophoto.com or click the link below in the description. For all non-presale items, use the promo code PHNX, and you will get yourself 10% off. Shout out to our friends forfoco.com for making truly a beautiful bobblehead collectibles. I love their bobbleheads. They're amazing. And I need some. I need some in my life. I'm just putting it out there. I'm not asking, I'm not begging for free stuff. I'm just maybe Fofoko representative is listening to this to make sure we did the ad read.

I'm just saying, throw me a couple of bobbleheads of debacks players in Serpienti's jerseys wearing snakes. I need that in my life. Because they died. backs are not giving them out, Jesse. So I was reminded about that today. Again, when we were completing our move, we are officially out of our old studio and onto the new studio. I know you worked your butt off yesterday. I definitely sweated through multiple shirts today, moving the final items. But luckily, all the beer has been moved. All the refrigerators have been moved. And all the bobbleheads have been moved. That's the reason what made me think of this is the amazing collection of bobbleheads that we have that are. are mostly broken, have all been moved over to the new studio. And we can't wait for you guys to see it because this place is gorgeous. But it's still a lot of work ahead, Jesse. Still a lot of space to fill. Yeah.

Well, I think August 29th, I believe, is the day that we'll be doing our first official show from the new studio. So stay tuned. It should be fun. I cannot wait. And of course, next week, Jesse, I just might be going. going to my very first Hollywood movie premiere in Hollywood. Wow. Would like the people that made the movie.

It's exciting. I hope to report back more. How did you get, how did you get into this? I can't, I can't tell you any of this. These are all secrets. These are secrets that will be revealed with time.

But that's what we call a teaser in this business as to what to look forward to. Because I'll tell you what not to look forward to is the rest of it. to this Arizona Diamondbacks schedule, which is not very agreeable. We once again, we thought that maybe we would see some luck against the San Francisco Giants. And so far in the series, we have seen two runs scored in two games, both by Christian Walker as solo home runs. So what are your thoughts for how the, not only the rest of August plays out,

but this daunting month of September? Well, first of all, the Diamondbacks have lost. I think it's 19 out of their last 21 in that ballpark. So for whatever reason, the Diamondbacks just really, really struggle to play in San Francisco. It's been pretty rough. But yeah,

the next two games, the games night on Wednesday, they get Carlos Sardon, who's like in the Sy Young conversation. And then tomorrow on Thursday, they get Logan Webb in the series finale. He's also a very, very good pitcher.

So unfortunately, the two pitchers that they've gotten so far, far are probably the two worse that they're going to see in the series, although both pitched really well. So they're sort of backed into a corner as far as this series goes. And yeah, you're not wrong. Derek, the schedule is only going to get worse from here for the most part. So a few winnable series here through the rest of the month.

We've got the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. They're playing some pretty good baseball. So it's going to be tough. It's going to be a tough road to the finish. I'm ready, Jesse. not to go in. Not to go in and bat. I'm ready to be chair up again.

Should I need to? Yeah, you're right. It's not looking great, but again, what are the expectations here? We're closing in on September 1st, and there's a very good chance that we could see this team pivot

in a direction of calling up, not just Corbyn Carroll, but perhaps some other youngsters to try to get those guys playing time before next season starts. So that might be it. might be what we have to look forward to. All of my dreams and aspirations and comic book covers of making the playoffs are silly at this

point. It seems so it's amazing how two games can change your entire perspective on how foolish you were three days ago. But I feel that way now because they did not look good in the series. And honestly, I think that's what's so frustrating about this particular game is that this game, even though they did not play well, it felt like they had a good chance to do something special, you know, but they still do. The Diamondbacks have a fun future to look forward to. And there's something that they definitely could do that would make both of us very happy,

which is kind of solidify the future of this team. Recently, we saw Jeff Passan tweet about what was going on with the Atlanta Braves and how the Atlanta Braves have solidified their future, Jesse. And look at this. This. Wild. I am. I am. To say I'm jealous of this does not do it justice.

You know, to be able to lock up the key aspects of your team going forward for this length of time is something very much that I would look for the diamondbacks to do, especially with these young stars that they're, you know, bringing up. If they can do that, especially if they can keep, you know, extend a guy like Zach Gallen to staying here in the valley, I'd feel very, very excited about the future of this team and, you know, establishing like a core. I mean, look at this core. I have no idea like who the Diamondbacks core is of this many guys. I could maybe name four, but not this many.

Yeah. Yeah. So for those joining us on the audio side, basically Jeff Passon put out this tweet that says, how to keep a core together by the Braves. And it's just a list of all of the different Braves players that they have locked up long term. So Austin Riley, they just extended. He's controllable in Atlanta through 2032. Matt Olson, 2030. Michael Harris. That was the big news that just came down. They sign him to an eight-year extension that's through 2030 with club options beyond that as well. Ronald Ocunia Jr. They also signed him to an early extension, like shortly after he broke into the big leagues. He's controllable through 2028. Now they have Von Grissom, who's a 21-year-old who just came up this year.

He's controllable through 2028. Ozzy Albies has been there for a while. He's through 2027. Spencer Strider, 27. William Contreras just made the All-Star team, 2027 and then a pair of really, really good starting pictures for them, Kyle Wright through 26 and Max Fried through 2024. So yeah, I mean, like seeing this, Derek just like brings to my mind the question of, and I've actually been talking with this with with with with Faj recently,

father overlord, overlord Jacob, who we love around here. And we were talking about how the diamondbacks need to do sort of what the Braves have done and try to lock up. some of these young players before they price themselves out. And that's the key, right? If Michael Harris continues to play as well as he is right now, once he's up for free agency, you're not going to get him for anywhere close to what the Braves are paying him in this contract.

So it is absolutely a situation where the diamondbacks need to get ahead of this. And they might have to take some risks in the process. You know, like are you ready to give Alec Thomas an extension beyond you know, 27. Are you ready? Like, are you ready to, yeah, yeah, I think a lot of people probably would be. Even though we haven't seen Alec Thomas hit Major League pitching

that much, you don't care? Don't care. He can have it. Extend them. Do 2032. Give them all the money. All of it. Every dime. I don't know. I mean, there's other guys. I don't even like that conversation. I don't even like this conversation about Alec Thomas

not being on the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's it's the way it's the way that thought crept into my mind when I was sitting there staring at Scott Boris sitting next to Drew Jones. I didn't want I didn't want that idea already in my brain when we just got this guy, right? So it's one of those things that the Diamondbacks do have to get out in front of it. It's the reason why it's important to make those moves when they're young. The Braves are a team that just won the World Series. That's another thing to be said here, right? True.

To be able to lock up a young core like that after winning a World Series, that's not the case in modern day baseball. Typically what happens is baseball players become overpriced at that point due to their value, doing their championship contributions due to that ring that they wear now, and they can go elsewhere and have a team overpay for them essentially, you know, and, you know, leave to find at least a fatter pay day, maybe with a team that isn't going to have the same amount of success. the Braves locking up that much of their young core for the future just goes to show how it's done. It's the blueprint. You know, it's kind of, it's almost the opposite of what teams like the Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays do,

where they don't really want to commit that long-term money to these guys because they just kind of pivot and continue to build their farm system and grow from within. Right. So I love it and I am envious of it. That's basically what it comes down to. Diamondbacks, do the thing. Do the thing. Merrill Kelly has my confidence, says Chris Melton. He has all of our, he's, he's, he's, he's great. He's great. Jesse talks about throwing 93 mile per hour's fastballs. This guy was doing that and still striking fools out last night. Like Merrill Kelly, he approaches the game, kind of like a ground ball hitter. Like his stuff kind of plays that way. He doesn't really look like he's going to be as dominant as he is. but man, you just got to give it up for his night. And, you know, seven strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at. I know it's not like double digits, but for Merrill Kelly, it might as well be.

Yeah. And I mean, I think this connects really well with the conversation we were just having, right? The Diamondbacks just extended Merrill Kelly. And it looks like it was an absolutely brilliant move. Yeah, and Catel Marte. That move isn't looking quite as good at this point, given what Catel has shown defensively. but I still don't think you're like alarmed by it or anything. Like I think it's probably fine.

I think, I mean, we were actually surprised a couple of weeks ago to see Catell running full speed without really holding back for the first time this season. And now here we are back to Cotel having a hamstring injury again. Not too long after that. So I think he still has some injury issues that haven't been resolved.

And he's trying to kind of get through them faster than, you know, you can. Unfortunately, sometimes the amount of time it takes. takes to heal is the amount of time it takes to heal. This team isn't a team by any stretch of the imagination should be rushing Cotel Marte back this season, last season at any time.

Right. So, you know, that's definitely a guy who can still be a game changer if he's right. And I think that's probably, probably it. I was rambling on there. So I wasn't paying attention to that comment up on the screen, but I'm pretty sure it was agreeing with me. I think we were saying the same thing at the same time. Yes, Kutel is also consistently good when he's healthy, but his defense is iffy lately.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, he's still shown some flashes of playing, but let's be honest. Oh, how long was Kelly's extension? He's in his 30s. I think he's extended until he's 37. So it almost feels like Merrill Kelly's extension, I don't want to, I don't want to put this out there. Being a 41-year-old man, by no mean, should I be fucking saying that 37 is old and you

should hang them up. But I'm saying that 37 may be the end for Merrill. He might be able to squeak out a couple of more years, but guys nowadays don't stay typically too long after that. So I mean, this extension could be, you know, could be where Merrill stays for the remainder of his career. Maybe they even sign him to an extra year or two after that. Who knows?

But, you know, I think I feel like his story, his path, being connected to Arizona the way that he's been his entire career, entire life. I think it's a fitting and that Merrill Kelly spends his entire time here in the desert and doesn't really go somewhere else. So I personally would love that. And I think that extending him was, like you said, it was a brilliant move. And hopefully we see the Diamondbacks do that with some of these younger guys that have shown a tremendous amount of talent once they can get up here to the big league level. Looking forward to that. Of course, more than anything, I'm looking forward to this move being over, Jesse. Holy shit. Hmm.

It will, it'll be pretty cool. It'll be pretty cool. We are insanely excited. You're going to see some new sets behind us. We're going to have like three different studios that we can go from rather than two. They're going to look different. They're going to look stiffy. They're going to put me in a closet with the, with all the cocktails.

That's where they're going to be. Yes. Yes. But looking forward to that, looking forward to showing you guys that. So keep an eye on social media. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a k. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.

our show is at pH and X underscore Dbacks, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you again for joining us for your lunch. We appreciate you guys being here in the comments on behalf of Jesse myself. We always love and appreciate our PHNX family members

and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when this goddamn move is over. God!