PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Backup for the D-backs? Another young arm is ready to make MLB debut for Arizona

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

After avoiding being swept in San Francisco at the hands of the Giants, are the Arizona Diamondbacks still the team to beat at the top of the NL West? Or are they just temporarily holding the spot for another team? We also have breaking news on a D-backs reliever being called up as well as answers to your Mailbag Monday questions!WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS HERE: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx 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 omahasteaks.com and enter PHNXDbacks for $30 off! Minimum order may be required. See site for details.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.Manscaped: Save 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code “PHNX” at Manscaped.com. BetMGM: Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code PHNX (betmgm.com/phnx). Place a pre-game, moneyline wager in the amount of at least $10 on any market at standard odds price. You will receive $200 in Bonus Bets instantly regardless of the outcome of your wager! Just make sure you use bonus code PHNX when you sign up!Swing for the Fences: https://promo.betmgm.com/en/promo/sports/swing-for-the-fences 3-Ball Challenge: https://promo.betmgm.com/en/promo/3ballchallengeGambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, DC, IL, IN, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA)21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS, NV), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI). Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. US promotional offers not available in DC, Nevada, New York or Ontario.Pins & Aces: Check out 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.

and welcome in to another edition of the PHNXDVACs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, formerly known as your mayor of PHMX. And I was requested to open the show with a song about backing that thing up again. You're a big fine reliever, won't you back that ass up? Because we are excited to talk about some reinforcements coming to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and that was the way I was asked to introduce it. This is the guy that asked me to introduce it that way. He might play coy.

He might play like he's an innocent lad. but he's not behind the scenes. It's the one and only thunder stick Jesse Friedman. Sean ditch this again. He did. He ditched us for Nashville. He's going to start a family there. So I'm concerned.

I mean, I am a little concerned. I am concerned. Like, okay, so like, I'm concerned about you not drinking enough water and taking care of yourself. Sean, it's a bit more like a teenage son that I'm worried about his rambunctious nature. And the fact he might not come back and I might get the short end of the stick on this fucking deal with these guys trading my mayorship for Sean and

it's looking like a worst deal every single day. Mayorship just doesn't get you what it used to, you know? I just, I hate it so much, you know? But I will get the people to vote for me once again and I will get the people to vote for Corbyn Carroll and Lordus Gariel Jr. If you haven't done so already,

what the hell are you waiting for? Get out there and vote right now. You can vote once per day and it is time to get these guys into the All-Star game. Jesse will say, Lourdis, maybe not so much. But Corbyn, for sure, should be a starter. And, of course, we do have, when it comes to Louris Geryl Jr., the Toronto fans still behind us.

So that's exciting to know. But Michael in the chat says, I mean, I would ditch you to hang out with Leah Petey and Craig, too. Wow. Words hurt, Michael. Words hurt. But Jesse, thoughts on this vote and Corbyn Carroll possibly getting one of those starting outfield positions. Yeah, I mean, the Braves have a really incredible fan base. and as you alluded to, the Blue Jays have a really incredible fan base.

And it is going to be hilarious and tragic if Lordus Correel and Michael Harris wind up as the two starting outfielders in the National League joining Ronald O'Cuna. What should happen, Derek, is it should be mooky bets of the L.A. So I think we'll get the votes. And it should be Corbyn Carroll, even though he has been on a bit of a rough stretch of late. His MVP case isn't quite what it was a week or so ago. But yeah, his numbers still make it abundantly clear that he very much deserves to start in the National League. And I mean, Michael Harris of the Atlanta Braves has had a nice few weeks, but his numbers are not even in the same stratosphere as Corbyn Carroll.

His OPS just got over 700 within the last few days. And Lordus, as of a few weeks ago, did look like, you know, a prominent, reasonable candidate to start in the All-Star game. Unfortunately, we're no longer at that point. It should be Mooky Betts and Corbyn Carroll. And yeah, hopefully Diamondbacks fans show up in these next few days and make sure that Corbyn gets that opportunity. Make sure to vote for him because he's going to need that. I do think Corvin Carroll kind of has the popularity of the baseball fandom behind him. I feel like a lot of people now know who Corbyn Carroll is.

They're excited about him and they want to vote to get him in there. So let's make that happen. I think for me it goes beyond a lot of things. It goes beyond just getting him into the All-Star game. It's just a fairly magical story for his first all-star game to not only be one in which he starts but for it to take place in the city

he grew up in, right? That's an incredible story and we can help make that happen. The Diamondbacks salvaged a crucial series finale against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday 5 to 2 void the sweep. They're the only team in baseball

that have not been swept and that continues. They're also the only team in baseball to not be shut out. They have set a, a franchise record now, 79 games straight this season without being shut out. So this team, even though we've complained about their offense at times, a very good offensive team when you talk about consistency and their ability to at least score some runs and also avoid losing these series and getting swept.

But Ryan Nelson was a big reason why they won that game. He was absolutely outstanding for the Arizona Diamondbacks at a time where they needed him the most. It's kind of baffling that Ryan Nelson was the best starting pitcher in that series when we looked at it because I'm sure we did not give him that credit when we were previewing that series. But man, did he step up? Seven innings pitch, three hits, one earn run, two walks, six strikeouts. And his changeup was working. It was working. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that was after the game, Ryan Nelson said that was the best change up is his really ever felt in the big leagues. You know, he did have some really solid outings last year, obviously, he had a sub 2 ERA in three starts last season, getting a cup of coffee in the majors. But what he did yesterday was probably the most complete package that we've seen from Ryan Nelson. And it's a reason why this guy was a top 100 prospect for a lot of people. You know, there's a reason why Ryan Nelson was viewed in that way

coming up through the debaq system because he does have pretty good stuff. And although the secondary stuff has been really inconsisten, It's not the, it's inconsistent. It's not that it doesn't exist. It's just that it sort of comes and goes and you see flashes of it and then suddenly just doesn't have a feel for whatever pitch anymore. And, you know, in this game, it wasn't just the change up for me, Derek. It was also the slider.

He got four whiffs on the slider, seven whiffs on the change up. When he has those secondary pitches working, he doesn't need them to be elite. Like he just needs them to help keep hitters off balance because his fastball is a really good pitch. And you saw what that can look like. in that game at a time when the Diamondbacks very much needed that. I think the mood around here, Derek, in this world of Diamondbacks that we live in, the mood would be very different coming into today if the Diamondbacks had not won that Sunday game.

I mean, you'd be looking at a sweep. You'd be looking at a half-game lead in the NOS, but Ryan Nelson came through in a big way. There was a question in the chat. BK. underscore 14 asks, what's the MLB record for most games without being shut out? Diamondbacks aren't close to that one. That belongs to the 31 through 33 Yankees who went a staggering 308 games without being shut out. But more recently, the 2018-19 Yankees went 220 games without being shut out. That's over a season.

So a lot of these are teams that, so for the top five, pretty much they all finished an entire season plus without being shut out. So the Diamondbacks have a long way to go in regards to that. but as far as franchise history goes, they are there. And honestly, it kind of makes sense with this team and their ability to win at times in ways that, you know, we've talked about. They've won in a lot of different ways. They've had a lot of different guys step up.

On Sunday, though, we did have, once again, a little bit of a scare. It wasn't exactly sexy time with Scott McGuff. It wasn't lights out, blow out the candle, put the kids to bed, Scott McGuff. But he did end up able to, to, to keep the game from, as Jesse would say, he bent, but he didn't break in that game, going one in a third innings, giving up three hits, no runs, two walks, two strikeouts. And again, wasn't solid, but still went out there and did his thing, his splitter wasn't really working that well for him.

But again, Scott McGuff, definitely a guy that continues to have value when it comes to, you know, coming out of the pen for this team. What's really wild to me is, like, I came away from that outing also thinking the He didn't really have a splitter. And then I looked back at the numbers, and he had nine whiffs. And like nine whiffs in that short of an outing is really incredible. Five on the splitter. He got whiffs on five of 13 swings there on three of seven swings on his four seam fastball.

He also got a whiff on his slider. He didn't get charged with a run, but a run did score while he was out there, right? Yeah. So he still keeps a score. He allowed an Andrew Chaffin inherited runner. Yeah. So he still keeps a scoreless streak, right? Because he does have a pretty long scoreless streak.

Yeah, technically. But yeah, he just wasn't really in the strike zone. That was really the difference. Only 39% of his pitches yesterday were actually in the zone, you know, which it doesn't need to be that high because you are getting a lot of chase on pitches out of the zone. But it probably needs to be higher than 39%. But, you know, helpful that the Diamondbacks have an off day today.

So he's able to get a day off after throwing 38 pitches in that game on Sunday, which is probably about as many as the Diamondbacks would possibly be comfortable with him throwing. This off day couldn't come in a better time. they should have had an off day when they went to D.C. to play the Nationals for that makeup game. So this particular off game, I think 17 games in a row they played 17 days straight. They really need this one. Saturday didn't look so great. Diamondbacks, you know, of course, once again, in this series, they looked good at times,

but they just couldn't keep the giants from scoring. They couldn't keep the giants from scoring at critical times. Merrill Kelly was not good in Saturday's game. He gave up five earn runs, seven runs total, 10 hits in five innings. It just was probably his worst start of the season because Merrill has quietly been, you know, right up there with Zach Gallen as far as consistency and as far as performance goes. But, you know, they just had everything going wrong for them. You know, you had Corby and Carroll making a routine, a really big mistake on a routine fly ball that ended up being tremendously important in this game. So a lot of mistakes.

And again, we've talked about the Diamondbacks just needing to play cleaner baseball in order for them to continue to win. I mean, yeah, that wound up being a 7-6 game. The DeBox had the tying run 90 feet away against Camillo DeVall in the ninth inning. So, yeah, I mean, in a sense, that just made things a little bit harder to swallow, right? Corbyn Carroll made that, you know, muffed that fly ball, as you said. That resulted in two more runs, scoring. Merrill Kelly, though, was not good at all. Five innings, ten hits, seven runs, five of those earned.

Two walks, two strikeouts. I personally, I know we talked about on Friday, was Zach Davies probably how Zach Davies probably should have been removed to start the fifth inning or at least soon after that. Maybe Tori was a little bit too slow there. I mean, I know I kind of get it with bringing Merrill Kelly out for the sixth inning because he's been so good for this team. I don't really have a huge criticism of that,

but it was clear that he just didn't have his best stuff in this game. And, you know, sure enough, you bring him out in the sixth inning. It's a walk in it to run Homer. And that also you could view as being the difference in this game. So a very winnable game in a lot of ways for the debacks, they, you know, Christian Walker cleared the bases with a double at one point. You felt pretty good about the debacks chances of winning. But, yeah, between Merrill Kelly, just not having his best stuff.

I think the debacks had a runner third one out. at one point in this game, weren't able to score that run. A lot of different ways where the DeVX could have won this game and they just weren't able to do that. They weren't atrocious with runners in scoring position, but the Giants were just better.

And the Giants just, it felt like whenever the Giants started getting on a roll, they did it together. They were able to get hits and bunches in both of those wins. That's how they've gotten to this point. The Giants are kind of a scary team. When we talked about this NL. West on Friday, nobody really wanted to give them credit.

But they're, they're doing this without some of their best players right now, and those guys are still going to come back. So when we get some of these teams in ML West up to 100% as far as their rosters go, the Dodgers, the Giants, it's going to be a scary couple of last months. I think it's going to be interesting baseball. We're going to have a lot of crucial games against NOS opponents,

but this Giants team shouldn't be taken lightly. Let's take a look at the numbers from this series. It kind of tells the story a bit. this series was very, very close. Literally the Giants won the entire series by one run. There was a winnable, a winnable series in San Francisco for the Diamondbacks, and they weren't able to capitalize.

But very similar here in hits, errors, starting pitching, ERA, big, big part of the reason why the Diamondbacks lost the series. Yeah, yeah, I mean, the Giants got two really great starts in the series, right, Logan Webb and Anthony Dish Glafani and then they had their bullpen game which really didn't work out very well. Diamondbacks did score a number of runs in that game. But yeah, I mean

when the opposing team it's 4 of 7 with runners in scoring position across three games, it's going to be tough to come out on top. But, you know, as we said coming into this series, Derek, like this did not this was not well laid out for the devax. Like you only had

Merrill Kelly going in this series right out of him and Gallon. And then you also had both Davies and Ryan Nelson pitching, who obviously have struggled recently, whereas the Giants had Di Sclafani and Logan Webb pitching. So, and the Giants came in is basically the hottest team in baseball or one of the hottest teams in baseball. So I think taking one out of three in this series, as I said on Friday, is fine.

It's not, it's not what you want. And it does sort of feel like the debacks might have left something on the table here. But it's fine. You can absolutely move forward. You still have a two and a half game lead in the NOS. not the end of the world how this thing turned out. Completely agree. But it feels like at times, especially that's why it's funny to take stock about where we're at with this team.

We would have probably killed to have the Diamondbacks be in the position they're at currently. Right. 47 and 32. With a two and a half game lead in the NL West and leading the division at this point of the season. We are four days away from the end of the month. We're almost in July. We're almost to the All-Star break. And the Diamondbacks have not only maintained the lead in NL West for the majority of the season,

but they've been able to beat some good opponents, but they're going to need to do that now. Now is where things kind of shift gears and get to where they are. They have a much more difficult schedule. They have the raise coming up. And what they're going to need is they're going to need guys to perform the way that some of these young guys have been performing since coming back from the minors. And that would be Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy. Both of these guys have been incredible for this team. Alec Thomas, the Young King has returned.

The Young King has absolutely returned. Let's take a look at Jesse's tweet that pretty much tells the tale of what these guys have done since returning. I mean, my God, I know it's only 25 plate appearances, but Alec Thomas slashing 400, 400, 640. Good God. The number that really stands out to me more than anything is 14 on Jake McCarthy's ledger. The man has 14 stolen bases, Derek, in 100. 102 plate appearances. What?

I wrote over the off season at one point how I thought Jake McCarthy actually could steal 60 bases this year, given the new rules and everything. Obviously, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Sure. Given how much time he spent in the minors and whatnot and how slow he started. But yeah, like he's on that kind of a pace. Like Jake McCarthy is stealing bases at an alarming rate. And he doesn't need to, he doesn't need to hit 320. He doesn't need to slug even 450 with his 308, 370.

with his 308, 366, 418 lines since being called back up from the miners, there's so much value there for the debacks between his defense and his base running. And, I mean, talk about a pesky number nine hitter, right? I mean, Jake McCarthy is like the number nine hitter that every team would dream of, right? And Alex Thomas, man, the mechanical changes are not super obvious. They've talked a lot on the broadcast about how the leg kick is still there, but it's toned down a little bit. We were kind of monitoring his time in Reno and some of the adjustments that were being made there.

It seemed like those things were sort of consistent. But yeah, he's just, he's doing the thing. Like, he's actually hitting line drives. He's not rolling over the top constantly. He's shown some power with three doubles in that home run. And you're at the point now where you kind of feel like Alec Thomas might just be a pretty darn good player the rest of the way. It's amazing how when you have a 23-year-old kid like that who has the ceiling that he does, sometimes it's just a matter of making a few quick adjustments

and you're right back to being the player that people thought you could be. Taking a step back when it comes to Jake McCarthy, Jake McCarthy played 22 games in Reno this season. That's just a reminder. He's only played 49 major league games this year. And Jake McCarthy is currently ninth, no, excuse me, eighth in the National League in stolen bases.

That's wild. That is crazy. That is absolutely bonkers. And it's going to continue to happen because this team really, I mean, their DNA right now is that creating chaos on the base path, their ability to not necessarily, you know, stand there and hit a bunch of dingers like we've seen in a few games this season, but to manufacture runs and to cause the defense literally to make mistakes with their speed and just the idea that they might steal, the idea that they might take extra bases.

I mean, we're seeing teams make a lot of mistakes because they have to make a decision so quickly. and in some cases people are just making terrible decisions. But Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy aren't the only ones having an absolutely crazy June. Cotell Marte and Christian Walker have both absolutely stepped up for this team. I don't know if it's the All-Star snubbing. I don't know if it's just the fact that these guys are absolutely solid baseball players. And it sometimes takes a little while, but they absolutely have come around. Maybe it's the Burger King commercial.

I don't know. That must be what it is. Absolutely must be. Catell, though. Cotell has been crazy for this team. And honestly, Cotel not making the All-Star game. If he doesn't make the All-Star game is an absolute travesty. This man is slashing 333, 458, 628, with six-home runs, 20 RBI, five stolen bases. Look at this. These numbers are crazy. 17 walks, 14 strikeouts. Like Catele, Marte has been incredible. Christian Walker, also incredible.

Yeah, 372, 433, 628 in June for Christian Walker. If it wasn't for Fernando Tatis doing what he's done in the month of June, which unfortunately for the debacks is maybe a tick above these numbers, both Christian Walker and Citell-Marté would be like neck and neck right now in the conversation for NL player of the month because they have been that incredible. Christian Walker you see here on the graphic three homers. He also has 13 doubles in the month of June, which is a ridiculous number of doubles to have at this point in the month.

So yeah, I mean, there have been some guys in the debacks lineup who are sort of going through it, right? Corbyn Carroll, the last few days has not been great. Lordus Curiel, really the whole month of June has been kind of a disaster for him. But it's felt like the whole season, anytime you have a couple guys going through it at the plate, you've got another couple guys who are just on another level. And Christian Walker and Cotel Marte have absolutely been that. And to expand on Cotel Marte for a second, this was one of the X factors for the DBAs coming into this season. Like Catelle getting back to being Catelle, Cotel getting back to the player that he was in 2019 and in 2021 and staying healthy.

Like that there's so much value there. And that's exactly what he's been pretty much to this point in the season. If you compare his numbers this year with his numbers in 2019 and 2021, there's not that big of a difference. Like Catell is basically back to being the kind of player who could get down ballot MVP votes, which is which is just unbelievable considering where he was last year. And like I said this whole time, he gave a solid post-game interview in English with Todd Walsh yesterday. I knew he had it in him. I've heard him speak English fluently, but it's awesome. Awesome to see him playing, though, because like Jesse said, he's an absolute ex-bactor for this team.

This guy needs to be good. He needs to be the Cattel that we know of him to be. Defensively, we've seen him still be a step behind at times. Yeah, that might just be who he is at this point. Right. And on the flip side, though, it's, again, it's kind of like the bullpen. Like, you, the mistakes stick in your head more than the fact that he has made some pretty incredible plays at times at second base. And they're still shown he has good range there, but definitely not.

I don't know if I would say good range, but I would, but serviceable range. Like, he's all right. He's all right. He wasn't all right in that one game in the walkie. I didn't say great range, Jesse. I said good range for a reason, but it's below average range. But he still held his own at second base and he's been better. there than he was last year.

And frankly, if you have a second base spin with an OPS of 900, it doesn't really matter what kind of defense they're playing in second base. You're not taking him out of the lineup anyway. There's a lot of value there. And we have questions about lineup. We have questions about all sorts of things, including some breaking news when it comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. But first, before we do that, we did have one last thing.

Drew Jones is being held out with a hamstring injury. Don't know the extent of it. But, of course, they're going to be very careful with Drew Jones. and we'll probably see him miss a considerable amount of time. Yeah, he was on a rehab assignment in the Complex League. And yeah, he suddenly just like didn't play for a few days. So we kind of wondered what was up there. And sure enough, Nick Picoro over from the Arizona Republic, wrote a story today

where Josh Barfield, the Diamondbacks Farm Director, revealed that he does have a right hamstring strain. This is, you know, he was just dealing with a quad strain that he suffered in Visalia earlier this year. And then, of course, there was the labrum tear and the big shoulder surgery last year. You know, that injury was suffered literally in his first batting practice after joining the Diamondbacks organization. He has had just horrifically bad injury luck to this point in his pro career. And it's unfortunate, right? I mean, Drew Jones's ceiling is still sky high. He's only played 14 professional games.

He hasn't played well in those games. If you look at the stats, you're going to be like, oh gosh, this man got a $9 million signing bonus. That doesn't seem right. But it's such a small sample, and he just hasn't really been able to stay on the field at all. So hopefully this isn't too long. Barfield said it'll be a few weeks. It sounds like the middle of July would be the soonest that he could come back and get back on the field. But you just hope that Drew Jones is able to get reps in as soon as possible because it really has been a rough go for him to start his pro career.

And of course, he should go sit with the scouts. That's just a rule. That's true. Yeah. He's here in Arizona. So he might as well have him sitting in the sitting. sitting with the scouts in the ballpark and watching the debacks take on the raise this week. Make the best of your time like Corbyn Carroll and Jordan Lawler did.

But if you want to make the best of your time, make sure to download the BetMGM app if you haven't done so already. Of course, starting on June 23rd, BetMGM players will now receive a bonus bet upon logging into your BetMGM sportsbook every Friday for the next three weeks. That's on top of the other bonus period that they're going to give you as well. So claim period extends through Saturday and Sunday, 72 hours to log in the claim, and then 72 hours to use the bonus bet after you log in. So log in at any point during the weekend and claim your bonus bet on the house. It's just one of the many benefits that you can get by downloading and being part of the bet MGM app. If you haven't signed up for the bet mjim app, use bonus code PHNX. There's a few different offers depending on where you live.

But for our AZ audience, place your first bet offer and receive up to $1,000 in bonus bets if it loses with bet MGM. and make sure you use bonus code PHNX. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Shane, talk about the disclaimer. Disclaimer, 21 plus to wager, visit vetmGM.com for terms and conditions. U.S. promotional offers not available in Washington, D.C., Nevada, New York, New York. Gambling problem, call 1-800-800-Gambler. Colorado, D.C., Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania,

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That's on the other thing. Leave us a review. We like the reviews. Leave us review. Let us know how we did. We always appreciate the feedback. Most importantly, grab yourself a PHNX diehard membership today. Become part of the PHNX family. Not only will you get a free gift certificate for $50 to Mountain Mikes. You also get a ranch card for Dobson Ranch and a free piece of merchandise from the PHNX Locker.com. Hat, shirt, whatever you want. You also get 20% off all future purchases. You get access to our members-only Discord lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona sports fan. We just scream in there. about the Arizona Diamondbacks. We scream, we send maims, we attack, we meet personal attacks on athletes. It's a fun place to be. Join us there. Of course, you also get access to Jesse's newsletter, full count, as well as so much more, including discounts with our partners, special merchandise, and, of course, discounts

on events that we have, like our takeover events. So make sure to join us with a diehard membership and join us at our takeover events, too. They're a whole lot of fun. We got one coming up in July. But that's in July. This is June. Diamondbacks are winning a lot in June. And of course, today is a day that you guys all know what we do around here every week. The Shark Week, every day is Earth Day. And every Monday, we go to the mailbag. Megaran, let's go. My mailbox. Always something interesting in my mailbox. I try to get to everything in my mailbox. And then once in a while, there's a letter that makes we go out. Oh, man, I am just, again, I'm so sick of that guy's voice. We spent a whole lot of time in a car together driving between, uh,

Does he sing you the Mailbag Monday song? Oh, no, he doesn't sing to me at all. As a matter of fact, we're not allowed to listen to his music when we're in a car together. That's the kind of guy he is. He's that humble. But I did get to hear, by the way, I should say, I do get to hear his music sometime. On our last trip, I got to hear his new children's album that is coming out. And it made me tear up.

It's beautiful. So if you are a parent, it is a must have for your kids. And, of course, keep your ears up for that one. But we're not, I'm not, not promote, I'm done promoting his stuff. I'm promoting my stuff. It's this show. It's Mailbag Monday. Damon, what do we got for our first mailback question?

Brett Lee Johnson. I feel like I should scream when I do Brett Lee Johnson's questions. When Justin Martinez being called up. Oh, I'm sorry. Who do you see him replacing? And who do you think he's here for more of a long relief, two to three inning guy, or more for six, seven, eighth innings? For those of you that don't know and have not been paying attention to our PHNX Dback,

account on Twitter. Justin Martinez posted a whole lot of Instagram stories and reels suggesting that he has been called up to the major leagues, a lot of congratulations from friends, a lot of pictures. So it would appear Justin Martinez, based on that, is being called up to the Arizona Diamondback. So that does leave us in a position to wonder who is he going to replace and how is this going to impact the starting rotation and the D-back's going forward? It's yeah, it's not a super easy question to answer, frankly. And it is also a little odd that the Diamondbacks are bringing up Justin Martinez, and they're not bringing up Kevin Ginkle, who pitched really well for this team and got sent down anyway.

It's an interesting move here by the organization. But we can kind of go a process of elimination here. I'm going to go with the relief pitchers because I don't see any moves happening in the rotation. Of course, everyone wants to know if Zach Davies is being DFAed. Like 20 of the questions that were received. responses to this and the other tweet were basically Zach Davies getting DFA. I don't see it. Not at this point.

I will say this. Just playing devil's app kit. The only way I would see it is if maybe we see Dre moved up into the starting rotation. But they can't do that. They can't do that at this point. They've already said that they can't stretch Drake. They've already said that they see Andrew. They could use him as like an opener guy, though.

So I guess they could use him as a starter in that sense. But that's very much not likely. You know, I think that, you know, what we heard from them is that Dre is going to maintain that role in the bullpen. But that if you're asking, that's the only way that it could possibly, you know, this move could possibly impact Zach Davies being. Unless it's, I mean, unless there's some sort of injury, I guess, that would be, that would be the other thing. But yeah, so if we're just focusing on relievers, I don't think you're sending out Austin Adams. He's been good. Miguel Castro clearly off the table.

Andrew Chafin clearly off the table. Drey Jamison's been pretty good. I don't see that. Scott McGuff, obviously, there's no way that's happening. Too sexy. Right, exactly. Leaves you with three guys. Joe Manciply, Kyle Nelson, Jose Ruiz.

Those are the guys who have been a little bit inconsistent in the bullpen. But even among those, I don't think there's really an obvious choice here. Joe Manipli, right, the All Star last year just came back from injury. He has not pitched well recently, but I don't know if you're ready to pull the plug there. Kyle Nelson has not been good of late, but he actually was quite good in his most recent outing I believe on Saturday in this series, was really good in that game. And then Jose Ruiz is tricky because he doesn't have any options left. So if you're going to move on from Jose Ruiz, then you're moving on from Jose Ruiz.

You're allowing him to depart from the organization. Maybe the debacks are at the point where they'd be willing to do that, but they don't need to. Justin Martinez is already on the 40-man roster, so they don't need to make a 40-man roster move in order to make this happen. So it feels like one of those three guys to me, Derek, but as far as who it is, I don't know. There could be something else at play here. And we might just kind of have to wait and see how this unfolds. Absolutely. And we probably won't hear anything today because it is an off day.

So most likely the corresponding move and making that news official will happen tomorrow. So we will bring you more information on that once it does. I personally think it's going to be Kyle Nelson. But honestly, there's not a lot of left-handed options in the bullpen. Is Justin Martinez left-handed or he's right-handed? Justin Martinez is right-handed. And we should probably talk about how Justin Martinez throws 100 miles an hour. We absolutely should.

And has a pretty filthy splitter. Also throws a slider, which is not as big of a pitch for him. It's actually pretty much an identical pitch makes to Scott McGuff, actually. Just like add five miles per hour to the fastball. I like that. That sounds hot. That sounds sexy. Yeah, but of course, throwing scoreless innings is sexy.

And I know this very much impacts Brett Johnson because I believe Brett Johnson. because I believe Brett Johnson has the entire rainbow of Justin Martinez cards or something. Yeah, rugby cards, autographed rookie cards. Yeah, everything. Brett Lee Johnson has it all. Best of luck to you, sir. What else we got? Buddy, CWP, Cactus on Ice asks,

what would you consider to be the greatest strength of the debacks in the first half? And what is the biggest area of improvement for this team in order to stay in the playoff picture? Fantastic question. I would say the greatest strength of this team would probably be taking a step back to what I said earlier, like not manufacturing runs, but their ability to make things happen on the base path to score runs based on the fact that they take

they take advantage of mistakes the opposition makes. They take advantage of laxadaisical play and take extra bases. Jake McCarthy will get on first on a ground out somehow, and then he'll still second and third. He'll make an out essentially into a triple before the next guy is even, you know, at the dish or before the next out is recorded. So I really feel like that is their best ability is to just make things happen offensively when they don't really have a lot going on.

I mean, we've seen it also be, you know, kind of go in an area where they all can kind of slump at the same time. But this team this year has just had a wide array of contributions from everybody offensively. That's why we kind of laugh about the Payman Smith stuff, because even though Payman Smith doesn't have great numbers, and even though Payvin Smith hasn't been very good at the plate, the times he has been good have been critical for this team to win games. And, again, he's just one of those guys that at times have stepped up and helped this team win. That's probably one of their best attributes in the first half. The offense for me is, yeah, just the offense as a whole. I mean, the debacks right now are fifth in the league in OPS with a 768 OPS, which is pretty darn good for an indefinitely.

entire team to have a 768 OPS. Above the Dodgers, by the way. Yeah, the debacks have scored 409 runs this year, which is tied for fourth in baseball. No matter what way you look at it, this offense has been elite, frankly. And that's why the debacks are where they are. I know Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly have been great, but, you know, the rest of the starting rotation has been so poor that the starting rotation as a whole isn't really a strength. The bullpen has been significantly improved from last year, but I still wouldn't say it's been

a strength that wouldn't really say it's above average. It's kind of been a round average. But it's not a problem. Like starting pitching is more of been the problem for this team. When you talk about problem, it's starting pitching. It's their starting pitching is so problematic that it's kind of shocking that they have this record considering the inconsistencies they've had some of the ERAs on the starting pitchers that aren't Merrill Kelly and Zach Allen. And honestly, just the fact that they've had so many young guys in the rotation trying to balance out this. team that is way better than they have business being. No, by the way, look what you guys are doing. People are trying to like speaking. To be the poor guys in the chat.

Zona Tucson knows Zavis did not get DFA'd yet. What else we got? I think that's all. You got anything else to add to that as far as, as far as like the weaknesses, things that need to be improved moving forward. I think the starting rotation is pretty much the obvious answer there. No one wants to see what this looks like the rest of the way. if it's Zach Allen, Mara Kelly.

And, you know, even though Ryan Nelson was better, you know, a lot better in his last start, even though Tommy Henry was good in his last start, there's just not enough stability in the rotation moving forward for me. So I think that's pretty clearly the area that they need to improve the most. Stop playing Corby and Carroll in the center field. Just stop it. Just stop it. Okay. I'm not saying he's not capable of playing center field.

Just stop playing him in center field. Let's just keep him on the corner. That's an interesting take. I don't want him in center field. I feel like the majority of the mistakes we're. seen to make has been when he's playing center field and I don't know what it is about that position but I just don't want him there. I mean, if you have Alec Thomas in the majors, then yes, there really is no reason.

There's no need to play. And honestly, Jake McCarthy should play centerfield over Corbyn. That's my opinion. But that's just my opinion. That's just one humble man's opinion wearing an iron sheik shirt. What else do we got, Damon? B. Brian 3921 on Twitter. Is there a reason as to why starters haven't been announced for the race series?

Yes. possible change in the rotation. Jesse, do you have any answers as to this kind of intriguing question? I don't know if it's the change in the rotation. I don't know really why there isn't any. Because usually the probabilities, even if they're not correct, are usually still out there. You know, you usually have a probable or two in the series. Yeah, right.

Yeah, I mean, they're not going to reveal them until they pretty much know who it's going to be. But yeah, it is a little interesting. The raise, although as of right now, I'm not seeing a starter for the raise on Thursday. I think they have starters locked in. Yeah, they have Zach Eflin on Wednesday and then Bradley starting on Tuesday. But yeah, I do wonder if the Diamondbacks are looking at moving Zach Davies back. I don't think the debacks are going to DFA Zach Davies. But I do think they might be considering moving him back.

They don't technically need him to start until Saturday, I believe it is. in Anaheim. So, and especially against the Tampa Bay race, right? You probably want to put your best foot forward in this series if you can. So what the debacks could do is they could go, Zach Allen on Tuesday. I think it's obvious he's going to start Tuesday. And then Tommy Henry would line up for Wednesday.

And then on Thursday, the debacks could go back to Merrill Kelly because of the off day. He would be on full rest. If he pitched on Thursday, you could skip Zach Davies there. But you would have to reinsert him theoretically on Saturday or make some sort of a roster move. Yeah, they can't just skip Davies altogether this turn, but they can push him back. They can push his spot back to Saturday if they want to. So they might just be continuing to think through some options there.

Absolutely. The other thing I will say is Brandon Fott was very good in his last outing for the Reno Aces. And his next start lines up for Thursday, technically. I'm not going to rule out that that could be a possibility. We don't really have any reason to believe that, but I wouldn't rule it out. this point either. I mean, are you ready to just have Brandon fought power his way through it and figure out at a major

league level? Like, what more does he need to learn in Reno? I mean, what, because that's what we see. Yeah, it's a fair, it's a fair point. We see him kind of get back into a groove and then do well in Reno. Sometimes he kind of can fall out of it, but it's not for too long of a period of time. He did get, you know,

obviously he got rocked in the major leagues and that's not everybody's always going to come up and have the success that Drey Jameson and Ryan Nelson had last year. That was weird. It was magical. We can't wait until the Padres come back in town. That's too far away. We need Brandon fought here now. So I'm not against it, but I do like your first idea better. I like the concept of going up against essentially the number one team in baseball right now and putting your best foot forward. And that would be Zach Gallen, Tommy Henry, and Merrill Kelly

pitching against them. And that's, I like that as the reason why we don't have probabilities yet. The other reason to maybe not bring up fought at this point is, if you were going to bring up fought, would you actually want to do it against the race? Do you want to be like, welcome back? Welcome back to the Big East kid. Here's the best offense in baseball. But the angels have been playing well, to be fair. So, I mean, the angels, you know, if you were to do that, it's also, you don't have another poor team coming up after the raise that then you have to worry about that. Also, we also, if he doesn't start against the race, we get into that whole thing of, well, he has to make his next start in Reno.

And then that's going to push off his potential being called up another week or so, right? I also don't understand, like, if you were to bring up fought in the next few days, you're still probably not DFAing Zach Davies for reasons we discussed earlier. So, like, whose spot is he here to take? Like, if you're going to bring up Brandon Fought, you want him to have a rotation spot, I would think. You're not DFA. So you're not DFAing, Zach Davies. I the diamondbacks are not

I would be really surprised if the diamondbacks DFA at Zach Davies like this week it could happen it could happen not too far from now I mean I know the tweets have been floating around comparing like Zach Davies last three starts with Madison Bumgarner's last few starts

before those tweets those tweets are out there they exist I've seen them but there's just there's not enough starting pitching depth here for me for the debacks to be like nah you can just walk we don't need you I don't know if they're quite there yet That's for sure.

That's for sure. All right, what else we got, Damon? Jacob Schult on Twitter asks, is this DeBax fan base two reactionary? It feels like the sky is falling after every loss on Twitter. What do you think, Derek? Yes, the answer is yes. Well, you know what I think?

I think that the DeBax fan base is ready for things to implode at any given moment. And I think that's the worst part about how the history of this team has caused us to have trust issues, right? Like, you don't believe that this team really is as good as it is, despite the fact that Jesse read off the numbers to you that he did. They are an elite team offensively, and they have two of the best starting pitchers in baseball. That is the reason why the Diamondbacks are in first place in the NL West. Yeah. That is the reason why the diamondbacks continue to have success. And I think that we are all waiting for it to come to a crashing end. I think we're waiting to see this team go on a losing streak and for this to all

be kind of not real, right? Like a like a dream. Like it's fake. And so the minute that they start losing, it's the oh shit, here we go again kind of thing, right? It's the same thing with the bullpen. Bullpen's blow games. It's just the fact of the matter. Bullpen's blow games across baseball. This isn't something that's exclusive to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only the Diamondbacks have blown games the last two years. But that's what I'm saying. Like we've talked about how good some of these guys have been, especially it's the reason why we started the whole Scott McGuff's sexiest local man,

you know, campaign. It's because Scott McGuff deserves his credit where credit is due. He has been absolutely lights out for this team. And so have several members of their bullpen, even though at times it doesn't really feel that way, you know. And even this series in San Francisco proved that where the bullpen really couldn't go in there and do what the Giants bullpen seemingly has been able to. to do, you know, which is, which is hold a lead or, you know, hold those last couple of

of innings and not make it exciting. The Diamondbacks did, you know, make it exciting against one of the best relievers on their squad, though. So yeah, I don't know. I just think that we don't really know what's happening with this team. Like there were a lot of expectations and even people, I think, that had high expectations for this season. I think the Diamondbacks are even surpassing those expectations. So there's just that feeling out there, that sense of dread that the other shoe has to drop eventually. I feel like that's why everybody's so reactionary right now with this team. I think that's fair.

I'm also, I'm just very amused at all the comments people are making in the chat right now about at least saying I think we all have PTSD from past seasons like 2018. Charles Woodall Pike, it's never if things go wrong for Arizona sports teams. It's just when. It's just, if you're an Arizona sports fan and I get it. I mean, I'm, I'm a big son's fan. I was a Cardinals fan, but I'd just pretty much given up on them at this point, to be frank. He kicked that narcotic.

Yeah, but yeah, I understand that the way that sports have gone in this city for a long time. And yeah, it's very much not just baseball, right? Oh, yeah. You just kind of are conditioned to expect the worst. So I understand that being a fan is an emotional experience and you're going to ride the waves of those emotions. It also is, the debacks are in a bit of a tough position. I mean, obviously you wouldn't, you know, you wouldn't prefer to be in third place. than first place, but you do kind of have a target on your back right now in the NOS with three

extremely good baseball teams right behind you. So the debacks are, you know, in kind of a difficult position right now being kind of the new kids on the block, a first place team, a team way ahead of schedule and, you know, some pretty formidable teams right behind them trying to try and do some damage. And that's also a heavy task on Mike Hazen now to try to figure out how to shift gears when you probably had a different plan laid out when the season started. And now you literally have to throw that shit in the trash and, you know, literally go back to the drawing board and figure out what you're going to do. Oh, shoot, we're good.

Oh, my God. What happened? So, anyway. One more question. Then we got some ad stuff to do. But our last question of segment one comes from Michael. Michael Rokicke. Michael asked, the sports gods offer the following trade.

They guarantee the debacks win the 2023 World Series. In exchange, Derek must give up watching wrestling. Jesse has to give up salad and go. And Sean has to give up for Reno Express. Derek got up for life. Really bad into the stick here, I think, compared to Sean and Jesse. I mean, yeah, they just don't get to go to one of their favorite food places. Derek got the thing that he loves most in life.

And I literally have to stop watching the thing I've watched since I was five and currently have a job in. Do you accept the trade? Oh, man, what a personal. Like, this is a personal. attack on me. Yeah, your side of this is the only side of it's disgusting. Jesse can get salads elsewhere. Sean can get burritos elsewhere.

I know he doesn't want to. I know he absolutely doesn't want to go anywhere besides burrito express. But me giving up wrestling? Oh, man. Do I get to at least read the dirt sheets still? I don't know. Oh, man. That time, look, look, at times as a 42-year-old man, I have kind of gotten over watching

wrestling. I watch a lot of wrestling. and it's hard for me to still feel like I enjoy it as much as I did. However, I watched Kenny Omega take on Will Osprey last night, and it was one of the most incredible matches I've ever seen in my life. So the answer is no, I'm sorry. The answer is no. I will never stop watching wrestling for anything or anybody.

It asked my wife. We've already had that talk. Jesse, sorry. I'm not giving you. Yeah, I don't think the people are going to like your answer to your day. Do you still get salad and go? I know they're not. I'm sorry.

I got to be honest. That's one thing people respect to me, is my honesty. What if it was... But it's a World Series. I know. Yeah. What if it was that none of us could watch baseball ever again? Oh, no.

Jesse, why are you doing that? You get that World Series. But you just got to be dreaming about it for the rest of your life. You don't get us anymore. We go away because we get to watch baseball. Well, we can still do the show. We just wouldn't be allowed to watch the games. We're going to be like, I don't know,

can you guys explain how that's what happened in the sixth inning of that game? Because we're not allowed to watch it. We can still like a box scores and stuff, right? No, I don't like it. And Sean's not going to give up Burrito Express. I'm telling you, I know that. Sean's not giving up Burrito Express.

No one here should give up Burrito Express because it's amazing, it's incredible. And they have a wide variety of delicious burritos. And I love every single one of them. They're all great. Make sure to check out Brito Express around the valley. They have multiple value locations, but of course,

the best one is their job. Tempe location forks up all the time. They also do all sorts of wonderful community service and they support ASU athletics and athletes. They also have some sponsored athletes. So we thank them so much for being a part of our thing that we got going on here. We thank them for their food. Their burritos are always incredible.

Grab a burrito and follow Burrito Express on Twitter at Burrito EXP. And make sure to give the homies a shout out. Also, before we get on to more mailbag questions, we've got to thank our friends at more furniture for, of course, furnishing Jesse's house, furnishing my house, furnishing the apartment. They've sold out of Chase lounges all because of us. And Jesse is mostly the reason why that's happened. So if you wanted a Chase Lounge, sorry, you're out of luck. Make sure you wait until they come back in the stock. But check morefurniture.com, of course, to keep an eye on their wonderful stock, get whatever you want, except a Chase Lounge, because again, sold out. But they helped us

furnish our studios and we couldn't have done it without their white glove delivery service. So do not sleep on that. Say big on the best furniture in the valley when you head to more furniture.com. And now we have some more mailbag Monday questions. What do we got, Damon? Sillis asks, at Sillis on Twitter, asks, does Lavello have final say on the lineup card, or does the front office dictate who should be playing? Some of the decisions truly seem bizarre. This is 100% Toy Lovolo. I mean, I don't know if he has someone in his ear at times. I don't know if there's other. Tori seems like the kind of guy that takes a lot of people's So I don't feel like anybody's telling him what to do,

but I feel like he's the kind of guy that would, at times, check in with his coaching staff and other people to see maybe if they had, you know, some, I guess, some input. But for the most part, Tori does have final say on the lineup card. I think that is the reason why some of the decisions seem so bizarre, mostly because Tori likes to run things a certain way. And Tori doesn't let things like hitting streaks or who's hot or who's cold or anything to get in the way.

He tends to have his game plan decided. It's going to be based on the starting pitcher, and it's going to be based on his lineup and things like that. It's going to be based on who he feels like needs a day off. And he has those scheduled out. He's very much a player's manager where, regardless of how good guys are doing, he feels like it's his job to rest guys

and make sure that they're at their best at all times. So, you know, I think that at the end of the day, that's the reason why his lineups seem so weird is because he has no problem. straying away from what the majority of people would do based on things like a guy just being incredibly hot or like we've even talked about some of the series during the regular season that we feel are important and Tori still kind of maintains the same course regardless of the opponent. I think Tori has the final say but at least for me personally I don't know I don't

know exactly what goes on there and you know how much I'm sure that the front office has some degree of input there. They have all to say when it comes to the guys they're giving him to be in the lineup. That is very true. Tori has made it clear at times that he has very little influence on that.

They might say, are you okay with this? But for the most part, even if he says no, they might still pull the trigger because that's their decision at the end of the day. Did, you know, is Tori solely responsible for, you know, Pavin Smith being the Diamondbacks leadoff hitter

for the time that he was I don't know if I would be, I mean, I would, I would assume so. That's the direction I would lean. But the reality is that we just don't, we just don't know. We don't know exactly how those decisions are made. There are some things about Tori, like you were talking about, you know, how he likes to give guys those scheduled days off. You know, those kinds of characteristics you can tell are clearly from him. And, and, you know, he's the, he's the one who's making those things happen. But yeah, you're right. I mean, he doesn't have the final say over who, you know, which players he has to pick from every day, right?

And so, you know, you might have to sort of make some compromises in your lineup knowing that maybe you'd rather have this guy from AAA in the lineup. Absolutely. But you don't have that option. It's like I imagine, I see Tori as the meme from Silicon Valley or the guy's standing staring out the window. Every time he looks at like what Kyle Lewis is doing in Reno, like another five for five night for Kyle Lewis. hand against window all right what else we got message from cogs or no brian bobbett asked timing for this question isn't the best since his last start was a clunker but is it time we start discussing meryl kelly alongside zack gallon in the si young race uh yes and no i think merrill kelly is

never going to get the credit that he deserves to be honest even if he does put up amazing numbers he just does it in a fairly unspectacular way where he doesn't get that many whiffs and that many strikeouts at times, but he just always does his job. Like, we've seen Merrill Kelly put up some extraordinary numbers in a starts this season. And yeah, we'll go ahead and just leave that last clunker kind of out, you know, of the, of the discussion for now. But I think very much so, Merrill Kelly is worthy of it, but he would not actually get that credit. That's what I feel like. Yeah, I mean, I guess maybe the spirit of the question is like, should, should he get that credit?

like should he be in this conversation i i think to some level yes i wouldn't say he i would consider him a frontrunner and uh and yeah i mean he doesn't have he doesn't have the peripherals that zack galen has and in this day and age you know there are a lot of baseball traditionalists out there who have votes so i don't think you necessarily have to have those things but you know if galen and merrill kelly have eras that are similar but gallon has a fip of 2.5 oh and merrill has a fifth of 3.75. I'm estimating there, but I think that's roughly where those numbers stand right now. I don't think it's going to be all that close. I think you're clearly going to give it to the guy who has those better peripheral numbers. So right now, even though Merrill has had an outstanding

season and I think deserves so much credit for, you know, at age 34, just continuing to get better, adding a pitch this year with the slider and being a huge part of this Diamondbacks team, I think Gallen is still the much more viable candidate, just given, you know, how few walks he has, how many strikeouts he has, the fact that he's probably been a little bit unlucky with some of the batted ball contact this year. Merrill, those narratives don't really hold. I think he's, if anything, probably overperforming a little bit right now with where he's at. Very true. And just to get back to Kyle's question in the chat, no official word yet on who Justin Martinez is a replacement for. he is going to most he's going to be a bull pit arm but we don't know how things are going to shake out yet and it's not official yet so that remains to be determined by the team we'll have that information for you guys tomorrow next question comes from cogs notorious troublemaker king snake cogs he asks who is your personal favorite deback's top 30 prospect out of loller jones and fought and that's fantastic outside of those guys right yeah so what do you what do you what

of your thoughts there, Jesse, on top 30 prospects. I know mine. I think I know mine. Okay, go for it. Mine is going to be Davis and de los Santos. I think that that guy is an absolute freaking beast. I think that the Diamondbacks are kind of holding off. And I don't know.

I don't know if defensively if he's going to come around to be able to be an everyday third baseman. But if he can, if he can, I mean, that guy is, I feel like the future of this team. At times the Diamondbacks aren't doing things. Like I don't foresee them doing anything else at shortstop, right? Because they have Perdomo there. Nick Ahmed might not be their next season, but we know Jordan Lawler is close, right? So it's like they're not going to do anything to bog down a position

that they know that they have their future starting shortstop waiting kind of in the wings for. I feel like Davis and Dela Santos could potentially be that for this team. And I still don't believe that he's 5'1 11. Because the man's a beast. And I think that he's going to be very good for this team soon. Davidson de los Santos is just, I mean, in theory, right? Like he's your power hitting third baseman, something that Diamond Dachs really could use right now. But yeah, I mean, his numbers in Amarillo this year.

He's hitting 203, 269, 310. That's a 579 OPS. For a guy who doesn't have a whole lot of defense or base running value, yeah, you're a far cry there from where you need be. He is only 20 years old. So I think a lot of people are saying, you know what, let's wait and see. It's been kind of a disaster for him this year, AA, frankly, but he's so young that I don't think you're ready to fully move on from him at this point. This is a hard question. There's a number of different directions. There are. I felt the same way. I also had Yumen Lynn, obviously, with his extraordinary pitch selection that he has. And my God, his numbers this year have been incredible.

There's been like a lot of praise coming out. And a guy you talked to, Ivan Melendez, another guy who, of course, just Hispanic, Titanic. That's very relevant right now in pop culture. So I like that name. And it makes me laugh. Yeah, Ivan Melendez does have an incredible nickname. Yeah, he's a good one for sure. Ivan Melendez has had really an incredible year for Hillsborough.

If you haven't seen it, we did an interview with Ivan Melendez a few weeks ago. You could find it on YouTube. It's also on go phtnx.com. You can read the interview there. A lot of good stuff with that. They actually, over at Fangraphs, they just released their top Diamondbacks prospect list, which I think looks pretty different from what you would find at MLB.com or other places. But there's a number of younger players here, Derek, that I think are interesting.

One of them is Christopher Torren, who is a name who is sort of caught on. They have him at 8th on the list. And he's a guy that they have listed as potentially having a 70 hit tool in the future, which is insane, right? I mean, that's, that's big time, that's big time contact ability. So he's one guy that comes to mind. He's a middle infielder, probably a second baseman, has a good chance to stay at second base could be a really good defender there.

And his offensive ceiling, there might not be a whole lot of power there, but there's really an incredible field of hit. And he's 18 years old right now. So a long ways away. But there's Christopher Torrin, and there's, there's a few other guys, which I'm sure at some point we'll have a show where we go more in depth on all those guys. but there's a few really young players that have just come up in this season. You guys brought up some of our favorites as well.

Ryan Bliss plays Alexander. A lot of guys playing really good baseball in the minor league system. And it's funny because when you hear someone like Mike Hazen say that the trade market is getting a little less likely and they might have to look internally at candidates to fill roles, this team has so much good young talent. I can understand how hard it would be to want to trade some of those guys. away suddenly when, again, you didn't expect the team to be this good, and now you've got to make that decision as to part ways with some potentially, you know, potential future members of this team in order to get better now, which I hope is something that they don't sacrifice for,

but we'll see. Next question comes from Real Native Nick, and he asks, which starting pitcher relief pitcher would you like to see get traded to AZ? All of them. Oh, here we go. All of them. Let's pick one. Let's take one, shall we?

I will take Eduardo Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers. He is a guy specifically with the way that the tigers have been performing, and he's kind of been a target. He's been brought up as linked to the Diamondbacks a couple of times when we talk about potential trade candidates. I don't know how much it would take, but I feel like he might cost just a little less than some of the other names that the Diamondbacks have been linked to,

and I just think he could be incredible here. I really do. I think that the change of scenery mixed with what we've seen out of his numbers already, He could be a solid number three in the rotation for the Diamondbacks. Man, I mean, we're about to, just so everyone knows, we're about to go like full into all the trade deadline stuff. Jesse's got to, Jesse saw what Gerald did over on the Suds. It was like, oh, hold my beer. Yeah, our Sons writer wrote about 40 trades for D'Andre Aiton, I think.

And yeah, we have more. I think we got more. We got more trade deadline targets. So we're in the coming weeks. We're going to have all sorts of funding through all these names. But to give a name right now, I think a name we've talked about on the show before, I think Lucas Gialito would be a huge ad for the Diamondbacks of the deadline. I still am sort of leaning towards that the White Sox will sell, although we don't know that for sure.

It's so hard in that division, right? That division is so bad that it doesn't really allow for a team to be truly out of it at this stage in the season. But yeah, Lucas Gialito, I think, is a good balance of a number of things. He is just a rental through the rest of the season, which I think means he wouldn't cost a ton. I think he would cost a lot, but not a ton. I think that's what the Diamondbacks are going to have to probably focus on, unfortunately, which sucks because it's going to cost more than you want to give up for a rental, essentially. There's going to be a lot of teams in the market for that.

But, yeah, if you slide in Lucas Gialito is the number three starter on the Diamondbacks, that's a pretty done good one, two, three punch. So, yeah, we'll get into a whole bunch more names on future. shows but there's there's one that comes to mind go what else we got damon last question comes from ryan hanley and ryan asks who will should be the next number to go up next to randy gonzo and jackie my god that's a good question um do we think paul goldschmidt gets yeah that's the first one that that's the first one that comes to mind yeah i feel like it's paul he's on a hall of fame trajectory right now with what he's done with the with the st louis cardinals and obviously continued an incredible

career there so uh yeah i mean it is a little it's a little different right because he hasn't you know i mean he very well may wind up playing the majority of his career elsewhere depending on how long he stays in the league but yeah i mean i think that would i think that would make sense the correct answer is corbin carroll that's the correct answer just put it up there now like if you want let's just retire his number while he's an active player. And I mean, I think everybody's fine with that, right? I don't think there's too much pressure on young Corbyn Carroll. Not like he doesn't have the entire pressure of being potentially the first MVP slash rookie

the year candidate in like 20 years, but whatever. Anyway, you need to go check out this team if you haven't done so already, especially on the road. And if you do go on the road, make sure to stop by Circle K, fill up not only yourself, your car, but your soul with Circle K. Check out your local Circle K for the best coffee, beer and snack selection, and premium gas. And of course, in gas entertainment. Don't forget that. They have ice coffee for just $1.89, so stop overpaying for ice coffee elsewhere.

12 packs of beer for just $9.99. And of course, Red Bulls, $3 for $8. Monsters, $3 for $6. Make sure you're not missing out on all this great stuff right now. Text PH and X to 31310. To join their SMS subscriber club and get a buy one, get one free offer on 32-ounce polar bops. Head to circlek.com slash store dash locator to find CircleKs near you. And while you're there, of course, pick up the official craft beer of the Arizona Diamondbacks,

Four Peaks Rattle on Red Ale, and as well as all their wonderful varieties of beer. Get them wherever you get your beers. Of course, get them at Chase Field at the Four Peaks draft room where we will be hanging out before our DBAX takeover events. Check out in our events page for more information on dates and tickets for those takeover events. And of course, before the end of this month, get over to four. Peaks for Teachers.org to nominate, donate, or reserve your kit for your thing to thank a teacher. Teachers, they don't get thanked enough. And of course, this year, Four Peaks is trying to thank them

with $11,000 cash grants and one lucky teacher will win a Teachers lounge renovation provided by Four Peaks. To thank a teacher again, go to Forteachers.org and complete the form to enter their chance to win. Nominations are due June 30th. And teachers, if you get a chance, head out to the 8th Street Pub. Of course, every Tuesday through July, you bring a valid teacher ID and you will receive $4 pints of kilt lifter wow hazy and hot knot check out at 4 peaks brewer at 4 peaks pub to keep up with the latest at arizona's hometown brewery must be 21 years or older to enjoy 4 peaks and please drink responsibly uh well that's all we got bk trying to slide in with the last minute question should we give gallon an extension at the end of the season give gallon an extension now

extend them as soon as possible do it yesterday uh there there's no question about the diamondbacks wanting to extend Gallon. It's more about Gallen wanting to extend his career with the Diamondbacks. And unfortunately, things are pointing in the direction of that not happening. But I don't want to end on a low note. And I feel like you forced my hand with that. So I will say, we love you guys so much. The Arizona Diamondbacks remain in the National League, a number, number one spot in the National League West. And of course, they have a big game tomorrow. Nothing today. So go enjoy yourself. Have a wonderful day off. And get back with us tomorrow. We will be having our post-game show tomorrow after their first game with the Tampa Bay Rays.

We will be out there at Chase Field. Jesse might stick around. I don't know. Sean's gone so Jesse can't stick around. See, there's a cascading effect when Sean goes and starts a new family in Nashville. And now we are left to figure it out. We're his old family that now have to pick up the pieces, you know. But in the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter.

I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Damon, the maniac behind the Mac. He is at Damon Dog, D-A-W-G at the end, and then you have to do a little woo-woo before you follow him. Of course, our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs and all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for stopping by. We appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when you don't leave us to go to Nashville.