PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Brandon Pfaadt dominates as Diamondbacks secure series win over the White Sox

Episode Date: September 27, 2023

Brandon Pfaadt was clutch for the Diamondbacks and helped the Snakes secure a series victory over the White Sox. We discuss Pfaadt’s outing in Chicago, the D-backs designating Zach Davies for assignment, and an update on the NL Wild Card race.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE 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 WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx WIN MONEY THROUGH SPLASH SPORTS: https://www.splashsports.com/phnx Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Score 25% off a bag of your favorite OGeez! Fruits of Creams. Go to https://theflowershopusa.com, add a bag of OGeez! to your cart, enter promo code “PHNX” and pickup at a local The Flower Shop dispensary.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.

Let's go. Welcome in to another edition of the Ph. The VHNX D-Bax podcast, and this is the official podcast of all games now happening in Chicago, because good things happen for this team in Chicago. My name, of course, is Derek Montia. I am your mayor, Ph.NX. This is my vice mayor. And his name is occasionally known as Jesse Friedman.

He's also your thunderstic. is occasionally. Your main name is occasionally known as Jesse Friedman. Sometimes it's that guy from TV, you know, that kind of thing. Right, right. Welcome in to a special episode of this show. Once again, covering the Diamondbacks win against the Chicago White Sox. They secure the series win now with two victories over the White Sox in Chicago.

And honestly, I think the big story today was Brandon fought and how good he looked out there. Obviously, just absolutely clutch when the Diamondbacks needed him. Yeah. And I mean, it was a similar. story in one of the games against the Cubs, right? Not that long ago. Brandon fought was really good in in that game as well. His final line today, five and two thirds innings, five hits, no runs, no walks, eight strikeouts. He has one walk in his last three starts at this point. He just like doesn't walk guys. That's just kind of what Brandon fought does at this point. He throws strikes and, you know,

he makes guys earn it. And, you know, sometimes they do. We saw that. We saw that in his last outing against the New York Yankees. It was not pretty at times. Aaron Judge, obviously, obviously, got him a couple times. But yeah, a great outing for Brandon fought on a day where the Diamondbacks offense, frankly, didn't do that much. But they, you know, they did enough to win this game three to nothing. You know, and I think the, the big thing here is that Brandon fought, of course, we know it's been the inconsistency, right? I think it's the fact that there is a lot, you know, that that is on this game. He, the Diamondbacks have kind of folded under the pressure at times. And this feels like,

step in the right direction when there is, you know, obviously not a fantastic team that they're playing on the other side of the diamond. Not fantastic at all. When Andrew Vaughn is your three hitter and I like Jimenez is batting cleanup and everyone else has an OPS under 700. I think that's literally true. Yeah. Yeah. This is not a great white socks lineup. But yeah, Brandon Fott did what you're supposed to do to teams like the white socks, right?

And the D-BACs bullpen followed through and did the same thing. His changeup looked great today, possibly the best it's ever looked. I think so, yeah. He threw 12 of them, so it wasn't like he was throwing it a ton. But against lefties, Brandon Fotz, change up is a really key weapon for him. And at times, it just hasn't really been there. We've seen him basically ditch the change up for entire starts at times. But it looked really good today.

He got five whiffs on the pitch. You got some soft contact on the pitch as well. If that continues to develop and continues to be a weapon form against lefties, That's a huge development for Brandon Fod and the Diamondbacks moving forward. I think the big thing here was he wasn't throwing his fastball right down the middle of the plate. He wasn't, you know, he had he still wasn't great with it. But I mean, his command was much better than it's been. Yeah, there were some misses down the middle for sure that White Sox hitters didn't take advantage of.

They did not. You're going to get away with a little bit more against this team than you're going to get away with against other teams. But yeah, it wasn't so incredibly one dimensional. He was still, you know, a sweeper was good as usual. The change up, like we said, was also good. The sinker has turned into kind of a nice weapon for him in tandem with the four-scene fastball. Just gives hitters a little bit of a different look. And at this point, I mean, Brandon fought.

I think you've got your number three starter in a postseason series, dare I say, if the diamondbacks get there, if they wind up having a need for that, it's hard to argue that Brandon fought wouldn't be that guy. And he could be, he could be the Diamondback starter in game one. If they make, if they do in fact make the wild card round, he lines up to be that guy right now. And, you know, based on how he looked in this game, it's, I mean, I don't know who else on this team wouldn't be, you know, would be more deserving of that opportunity than fought in a situation where neither Zach Allen nor Merrill Kelly is available. Yeah. The Arizona Diamondbacks did designate pitcher Zach Davies for assignment, which we will talk about here shortly. but that obviously impacts the rest of the season just as far as the fact that they are kind of already short on starting pitching.

And of course, like I said, we'll have more on that. But, you know, the one thing about fought today was you could argue that maybe you could have let him go a little bit longer just because the bullpen has been utilized a lot and will be, you know, we'll continue to be utilized from this point going forward. But, you know, again, I think that you could also argue that Tori did take him out at the right time, right? When potentially things could have turned on him a bit. He almost made it through six. He goes five and two thirds. Gives up five hits, no runs, no walks, and eight strikeouts. And of course, you can't ask for more out of starting pitching when it comes to young Brandon fought in his development.

And he is our king snake of this one for coming out there and putting zeros up on the board against the Chicago White Sox. just an outstanding outing for the youngster. Yeah, I wouldn't have felt right to, you know, we thought about giving the King Snake to Corbyn Carol, who had, you know,

kind of the big hit offensively for the debacks in this game. But yeah, I mean, the debacks won this game primarily because of Brandon fought. Yeah. And what they gave them, you know, most of the time scoring three runs in a nine-in-game

is not going to get you a win, but it did because of how good Brandon fought was in this game. And I mean, yeah, if you look at it, at fought and this second half of the season that he's had, He was called back up from the miners on July 22nd. So he spent essentially his entire second half of the season in the majors.

That's 13 games, 12 starts in that span. He posted a 4.22 ERA with a 1-24 whip. Those aren't front-line starter type numbers, but they're serviceable starter type numbers, right? They're basically league average, maybe even a tick above league average for a starting pitcher. You know, if Brandon Fott comes out next year and is the pitcher that he was over the second half of the diamond back,

I mean, that puts them in, that puts them in a really good position. The Diamondbacks offense, speaking of which went one, two, three, five times in this game and sent the minimum to the plate in the seventh inning. But they did score in the third inning, like you said. As long as you string all the hits together, it works out pretty well. They just got to be all in the same vicinity of each other, perhaps the same inning. And that's the reason why I think fought deserves the credit for this win. I mean, obviously being able to hold this White Sox team that isn't very good to know runs isn't that impressive of a feat.

But still, there's a lot on the line for the Arizona Diamondbacks right now. So I think to be able to kind of step up in this situation and give them such a good outing was very encouraging as far as Brandon Fott goes. And then as far as the offense goes, you know, you would like to see more. You would like to see more than that, you know, third inning where Jace Peterson singles, Perdomal walks. Corbyn hits a two-run double that scores two of the runs. Corbyl the Corbin then eventually scores on a Tommy Fam RBI single in that same inning. That's did that was the whole offense. And like you said, in a lot of games, that's not going to be typically enough to secure victory, especially with the way things have been going for the Diamondbacks lately. The bullpen,

however, continues to hold things down. So as much as we want to give credit where credit is due to Brandon Fott. The combo of Andrew Saul, Frank, and Ryan Thompson just continues to be very, very good for the debacks. They have a lot, they've allowed a combined one earn run in 21 and two-thirds inning since becoming part of this team. And just as, just as everyone expected, you know, that's usually the way it goes when, you know, two guys are pitching in the minors and then you bring them up in the middle of a pennant chase and ask them to pitch high leverage innings. Usually they post, you know, a sub-0.0.5. five ERA combined or whatever that is. And I mean, we talked about it with Thompson.

I mean, he struggled, but his struggles weren't significant. You could say his ERA was very high. His sample size was small. But still, like, he only really had two games this season where he gave up a lot of runs. And that was enough to really just send his ERA skyrocketing. But since he's become a part of this team, he's only allowed one earn run himself. And that filthy, filthy Saul Frank has given up no earn runs. that man, I don't understand how somebody, you know, like you said, that's been called up from the minor leagues that wasn't expected.

Yeah, it's just, it's never who you expect it to be. And that's why baseball is the way it is, right? You can be a top prospect. You can be one of the best players in the perfect game and in all the stuff in the minors. And you can do everything. And then somehow it doesn't translate to a major league level. And yet there are other guys that don't look very good in any of those other levels that come up to be just absolute studs at a number. Major League club. I mean, we talked about the hitting when it comes to the Diamondbacks and how

frustrating it is. The guys like McCarthy and Kyle Lewis and so and and Pavan Smith who continues to just absolutely rank in the PCL. It doesn't translate. It just doesn't translate, right? But whatever Saul Frank is doing, keep doing it because today was, today was impressive. Like he's had some good outings, but his curveball today looked very, very good. Yeah, it really did. And I mean, in some ways, it's kind of baffling the success that Thompson and Saul Frank have had given that they really haven't struck out that many guys. I think Saul Frank has six strikeouts in nine and two thirds, I want to say. Thompson is eight and 12 innings. It's exactly what I want out of my relievers. I don't want strikeouts. I want ground balls. I want fly balls. I want boring baseball. I want you to not even remember what happened in the six, seventh, and eighth inning because it was so boring.

And it was just, I don't know, some reliever came out and got a bunch of guys out. Nobody got a hit. That's what happened. Like that's kind of what they are. We've said it about the bullpen. It's, it's been too exciting all year long. You never know what you're going to get. You never know what you're going to get out of the guy closing the game when they were doing the closer by committee.

You didn't even know what you were going to get sometimes out of a guy that pitched out of his mind three days ago that comes in today to relieve and all of a sudden can't figure out how to hit the strike zone or, you know, whatever. It was, it was frustrating because, you know, you weren't having this kind of consistency that Saul Frank and Thompson are

providing now out of anybody else this season. You factor in Paul Seawald. You factor in how good. Maybe Kevin Ginkle. He's maybe the one guy that deserves that credit for being consistent, fairly, fairly consistent over the season. But this bullpen just looks completely different. I've had people ask me now, like what is this Diamondbacks team?

Are they going to like, are they going to be something special in the playoffs? And I still don't think we know because so many components of this team right now that are performing well, that are that are contributing to this team's success. are still fairly new. So we don't know if this is like a lasting thing or if this is just kind of like, you know, almost what we saw with Ryan Nelson and,

and Trey Jamison last year where they came up and were so good. And we couldn't really explain it other than like, hey, maybe it's just, maybe it's just, you know, that extra oomph you get from being at the major league level mixed with a lack of a scouting report on you.

I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, especially the bullpen of this Diamondbacks team is kind of difficult to evaluate right now. not that long ago, the bullpen was the worst thing about this team. And I don't think it was even close, right?

It was clearly the biggest weakness, the biggest flaw that they had. And now at this point, I mean, not only do you have Thompson and Saul Frank doing what they're doing, you know, Kevin Ginkle being one of the better relievers in the National League, despite what happened the other day in New York, you know, Paul Seewald locking down that ninth inning, even though it hasn't always been pretty. And even some of the other guys like Miguel Castro is actually pitched pretty well lately. Luis Frius, you know, came in and got a big out in this game when there was a runner at second. That was, you know, the runner that the Brandon fought left the board there in the sixth inning.

Frius has looked pretty good. So they're like, there's some actual depth here suddenly to the bullpen. And of course, that's a fickle thing. I mean, you know, one week the bullpen looks great the next week. It's, you know, maybe it becomes the diamond back's biggest weakness again. But it's especially here in the month of September, it's been one of the best things about the diamondbacks that late in games you know you have a three run lead uh here today against the the white socks and that lead was never really in serious uh peril like it i mean it was fairly clean there were a couple

hits here and there but by and large it was a pretty clean finish for this diamond backs bullpen you could almost say paul sewald in the bottom of the ninth was maybe the the closest it came yeah i mean it was a it was a two out double yeah yeah i mean a three in a three run game right That's not D-BAC's fans have been through much worse. We've been through that much worse just in the month of September. You kidding me? But yeah. No, I mean, you're right.

You could say what you will. You know, again, you kind of want to reserve judgment. You want to remain cautiously optimistic about some of these guys, but still a small sample size. But now we're to the point now, especially like, you know, Ryan Thompson, we saw him give up a run. And we were like, oh, we were like, oh, now it's going to start happening. Yeah, and here he comes out here and his scoreless once again. And again, that one run in the entire month of September now that we are sitting here on September 27th is pretty impressive. And I mean, he did join the team at the end of August.

And I think he had some games in August. So Frank joined on like September 4th, I think. So those guys have been really important parts of this bullpen for basically an entire month. And, you know, if the debacks do in fact make the postseason, they're probably going to be getting big outs in the playoffs. do it's crazy how much can change in a one month span it's wild and like you said brandon fought very much in line right now to be the starting pitcher uh should the diamondbacks make the playoffs and go on to that wild card round so uh it'd be i mean it'd be a bold move right you know imagining game one in in philadelphia wherever it winds up being and brandon thought is is your guy you know it'd be

a bold move you know maybe the debacks would do a bullpen game sort of a setup where they you know maybe they don't have fought face the top of the lineup like you know get past schwarber and and harper and you know some of the tough lefties and i don't know what lefty though you have from the bullpen like open that game if they were to go that route uh but these are you know these are the big questions that we'll get into here potentially in the next few days if if the diamond backs are able to are able to clinch and uh you know it we still don't know if they were to clinch whether it would be the Phillies or the brewers in the first round so we'll have to see how things pan out Things are looking good right now.

And of course, we thank you guys for being here in the PHNXports YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, make sure to do so now. Smash that like Gabby says here. Can we get Gabby up there? Drop a like. Just drop a like, yo. And also make sure to sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of our shows go live.

If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, we always appreciate you guys here as well. Make sure to leave us a review. We always appreciate that feedback. And make sure to subscribe there also. And if you're looking to watch all of the Diamondbacks games, if you're looking to watch all sports, you can do so with Fubo TV. You can watch 140 plus live channels of sports, shows, movies, and news. And, of course, you can watch the most Arizona sports for the lowest price. Start watching immediately with a free trial.

And then if you want to sign up, there's no contract, no cable, no hassle. You just sign up and start watching and you'll get 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage included at no extra charge. Got NFL season coming up. Got all sorts of wonderful college football games. Of course, big, big playoffs here coming up for the MLB season. So watch all of your favorite playoffs, college football, and NFL with Fubo. Go to FuboTV.com slash PHNX to sign up for 15% off your first month of Fubo Pro. And also, you know, as we say around here, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's more fun when you bet on it.

Make sure to do that over at BetMGM Sportsbook. You can wager through their sportsbook mobile application. and you will get some free money for doing so. All you have to do is download the bet MGM Sportsbook app and sign up with our code of PHNX, deposit at least $10 into your newly created account and wager that amount of at least $10 at a standard odds price. Once you've placed the qualifying bet,

you will receive $200 in bonus bets regardless of the outcome of your wager. I know, of course, like I've talked about lots, I am a same game parlay guy. So when it comes to these late season games with Zach Gowan and Merrill Kelly, on the mound. You know, you know, I'm parlaying in there for for some strikeouts. You know, I'm going for like, I'll do the minimum, you know, like I'll do the minimum. I don't need to

go out there and expect Merrill Kelly to get nine strikeouts. I just need like four out of him, right? Whatever, whatever BETMGM sportsbook provides me with, I will do that and I will just string together nine legs of maybe what you would call a cowardly parlay, but I'll win most of the time. And you can't too over at the BEDMGM sportsbook app. So use our bonus. code again pH and X when you sign up place your first bet MGM sportsbook wager through bet MGM sportsbook mobile application of at least $10 you'll receive $200 instantly and additional winnings regardless of your wager's outcome check out the show notes for full details and now listen to our missing Shane to talk about the disclaimer gambling problem call

1 800 gambler Colorado DC Illinois Indiana Kansas Louisiana Maryland Mississippi New Jersey Nevada Ohio Pennsylvania Tennessee Virginia West Virginia Wyoming call 8778 hope and why or text hope and Y 467 369 New York call 100 327 50505 5-50 Massachusetts. 21 plus to wager. Please gamble responsibly. Call 1-800 Next Step, Arizona. 1-800-N-1-1-7-1-1-7-1-7 for confidential help, Michigan.

1-8-801-0-2-3, Puerto Rico, in partnership with Kansas Crossing, Casino and Hotel. Visit at MGM.com for terms and conditions. U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C., New York or Ontario. Well, the big news for the Arizona Diamondbacks and their starting rotation is that they announced before today's game that Zach Davies has been designated for assignment. The corresponding move is they have recalled Justin Martinez from AAA Reno. But this is a big big. deal because we know Zach Davies obviously had a terrible outing yesterday.

We kind of talked about hypothetically if he would get another start this season, if we would see him again this season. You know, obviously we could just could have discussed if we would have even seen him in the playoffs should he have remained on this, you know, roster. But now with Davies gone, the Diamondbacks really do have two starting rotation spots that they don't have starting pitchers for really, right? I mean, obviously, it feels like Ryan Nelson is going to be the move there based on what they did the other day. And he would be on the same number of days of rest.

But yeah, Ryan Nelson, I mean, what are they going to do? In that last game, in a game 162. Yeah, I think, I think if if it if that game matters, as we talked about yesterday, I suspect it would be a bullpen game where Ryan Nelson is probably your bulk guy. And he did look really good in that role yesterday. We talked about how great he was in that Tuesday game here against the White Sox. So, you know, if that game does matter, you don't necessarily feel great about Ryan Nelson being in that spot, just given the struggles that he's had this year, but he's probably the best option they have. And again, like I said yesterday, if you're the Diamondbacks, your hope is probably just that that last game doesn't matter.

And you don't have to worry about that. And, you know, you can just let some of your lower leverage guys take those in. Well, per John Gambadoro, the D-BACs will turn to a bullpen game for the series finale tomorrow. And then, like you said, hopefully that game won't matter. We know we're going to see Zach and Merrill, right? In the final two days there. Yeah, Zach is lined up for Friday. Merrill is lined up for Saturday.

I mean, there is, I still think, a possibility where, I mean, technically the Diamondbacks could clinch this thing tomorrow. Mathematically, it's possible. it would involve the Marlins losing both of their doubleheader games today. I know people in the chat have been talking about the Marlins are currently trailing in that game. I love to hear it. But the Marlins would also have to lose tomorrow and the Diamondbacks would have to win tomorrow. So unless all of those things happen, this is at least going to bleed somewhat into the Astros series and you're going to have to have gowns start the first game.

But, you know, maybe if the debacks are able to clinch by Friday, I think Gambo also tweeted this out, something that we've talked about, And we suspected the debacks would save Merrill Kelly to start game one of the wild card of the wild card round. And then Zach Gallen would be able to pitch game two. And then you could kind of piece things together from there. So yeah, we'll just have to see how if the debacks were able to do this, how quickly are they able to pull it off? If that were the case, would they just essentially finish up the season with two bullpen starts? Yeah, that's a good question.

Would Brandon fought then pitch at the end of the regular season? I mean, Brandon fought pitch today, so he does it. He would be on short rest if he pitched again this season. Right. And I assume they want to keep him. I don't think they're available for that. He's got to be one of the three starting pitchers in that series against the Phillies, right? Or whoever they play.

Yeah, I mean, you can't do Gallin and Merrill and then like bullpen game, you know, anything else. So at least not like long term in the playoffs. You could do gallon and Maryland and then one bullpen game in the playoffs and in the wildcard round theoretically. But yeah, it would be interesting if the debacks were to push Merrill off to start game one of the wild card round like What exactly would those last two games look like? Even if the games don't matter you still have to have someone pitch unless you're gonna have Sevees of Ovala go out there for 18 innings or something Which I don't think that's gonna happen. So yeah, we'll we'll see what the debacks do they do have you know some fresh arms in the bullpen right now I mean those arms will become a little bit less fresh tomorrow

with the bullpen game that they have. I think Bryce Jarvis will, you know, he's definitely a candidate to give you two or three innings in that game. But yeah, you know, like everything else right now, I guess the devax just sort of cross the bridge when they get there. Joe Mantiply hasn't thrown since September 22nd. Yeah. So could he get a bulk of work, like more than just one inning potentially with the rest?

You could probably give two innings tomorrow. The devx bullpen is pretty fresh. overall right now. Yeah. You might still want to stay away from Kevin Ginkle because he, you know, he threw 58 pitches in a two game span and, you know,

didn't look good in, in that second game that he pitched in New York. And he talked after that game about being sore going in and how he didn't really feel 100%. Kind of sounds like maybe the debacks, uh, shouldn't have used him in, in that situation given how he was feeling.

But yeah, outside of him, uh, Ryan Thompson has pitched in three of the last four at this point. So maybe the debacks would stay away from him tomorrow. But beyond that, pretty much everyone should be available in that bullpen game. So yeah, maybe they're able to get out of it and still have a good number of arms ready for the weekend. Going back to Zach Davies being designated for assignment,

obviously a big part of this isn't just their reaction to his out outing yesterday. I know that's kind of maybe the straw a little bit, but I feel like this was a more strategic move that they had planned out prior to his bad outing. Like if he doesn't have a good outing, we aren't going to utilize him in the playoffs. and we aren't going to, you know, bring him back. So we might as well free up, you know, like a potential roster spot for when the playoffs for when they have to cut down their roster so that they, so the decision is a little bit easier. I mean, if you're not going to use him, then he's on the roster. Then I mean, what's the point kind of, right?

Right, right. Yeah. I mean, Davies, as we talked about yesterday, would have lined up to pitch in one in game 162. And I think the debacks reached a point where it was clear they weren't going to let that happen. Right. They just weren't going to let Zach Davies pitch in that game if it mattered. I mean, you look at Davies last four starts. It wasn't just that game yesterday, right?

Three innings, eight hits, four runs yesterday. But the start prior to that against the Chicago Cubs, four innings, five hits, three runs, start prior to that against the Mets, four innings, four hits, three runs. And then before that against, you know, a subpar Rockies offense at home at Chase Field, three innings, six hits five runs. So he's been, I mean, this is four consecutive starts at this point, where Zach Davies has not only been, you know, clipped pretty early in the game,

but has just not been very effective. And somehow the debacks have won, I'm pretty sure all of those games, if I'm not mistaken, because Davies has just gotten crazy amounts of run support this month. The opposite of Brandon fought, as we saw today. But, yeah, I mean, once you came to the conclusion that you weren't willing to, you know,

ride it out with him in game 162, and you probably weren't going to use him in big moments in the postseason, then you might as well, you know, I don't know if Justin Martinez necessarily has, you know, a high leverage role waiting for him or anything. But he's at least an arm who can give you some length and who can pitch over the next few days, whereas Davies obviously, you know, wouldn't have lined up to pitch again until the final day of the season. I feel like that was more of the reason too, isn't necessarily for Justin Martinez in the postseason as much as it's him helping the Diamondbacks get through these bullpen starts that essentially

they see coming up on their schedule. This team is not afraid to part ways with veterans that have big contracts on this team or not even big contracts, but just guys that have been a part of this team that haven't performed well, but typically in the past, due to necessity or due to like Madison Bumgarner's case due to his size of his contract and how important he is to the franchise, they weren't willing to really part ways, you know, the way that they've kind of cut guys this season.

Yeah. And I have Lindsay Smith over here giggling about me saying, do-do. So that's something you guys needed to know what's going on in the background. But yes, April 20th, they DFA, Madison Bumgardner, much, much to our surprise. And honestly, these other guys, I think would have been very, very surprising had the Diamondbacks not done the Madison Bumgardener move. I felt like after that, all bets were off. If you weren't contributing to this team any longer, they weren't going to be able to keep you on the roster.

Carson Kelly, DF8 on August 13th, Nick Ahmed on September 7th, and now Zach Davies on September 27th. And to be honest, the Diamondbacks have continued to improve when, you know, when they've moved on. And it's not like, it's not huge improvements, but it really is one of those things

that they have so much young talent within their organization ready to go that they might as well get the get get them then their experience in this game started and then contributing rather than continue to let a guy that has consistently shown that they're not performing at the same level they once did yeah you know have have that roster spot i mean Madison bumgarner right he only got four starts this year but he was oh and three with a 1026a the debacks i just didn't really have much of a choice at that point, right, with how many young arms they had who were all still healthy at the time. It just didn't make sense to keep giving bum garner the ball.

You know, you move forward to Nick Ahmed, who, of course, that just happened a few weeks ago. That's the one out of these four veteran DFA moves that I think could be questioned maybe to some degree. Jordan Lawler has had his struggles. And, you know, Nick Ahmed has some experience and maybe you trust him defensively a little bit more in big moments. And it's not like Lala has been producing in a way that makes you like in one way or another. Like he's had some great defensive plays and his arm is so strong that even when he makes minor mistakes,

he can still make up with it with strong throws. But and again, he's made some amazing defensive plays already. But we saw that at Nick. Nick was able to make some very, very good defensive plays consistently. And at times his bat was better, right, than Jordan's has been. Yeah, I mean, neither of them have. have hit much, frankly. I mean, I guess it's not a huge difference there.

But yeah, maybe. The experience is definitely a benefit. Maybe at this point the debacks wouldn't hate to have Nick Ahmed's glove on the roster. I don't know. That was the decision they made. And I think we all still understand why they made it. Carson Kelly, he just really struggled this year offensively and defensively. There was just such a huge gap between him and Gabby Moreno.

It just didn't make sense for the debacks to be giving Carson, you know, that degree of playing time. And even, you know, him versus Jose Herrera are now Sebi Zavala, not necessarily a huge difference there either. So, yeah, I mean, the debacks have had to make some difficult decisions this year. And I think some would argue they've made those decisions a little bit later than they should have with some of these guys. But they did make those decisions. And, I mean, there's not that many playoff contenders out there that, you know,

like going into the season had four pretty key players penciled in that, by, the end of the year we're DFAed because they just haven't just didn't perform during the season and that's the case with all four of these guys. I have no idea what's going on in the chat, but it looks like some very bad math is going on according to Moe and I'm going to trust Moe's judgment when it comes to that. It doesn't matter. The Diamondbacks are a wagon, right? And that's all that really matters.

The Diamondbacks are on a roll. We're a wagon and you need this shirt in order to be a part of the wagon to join the bandwagon, if you will, because this shirt is incredible. And of course, let everybody know that you rep a wagon because this team has become that. I have people asking me, what does it mean for the Diamondbacks to be a wagon? And if you're asking that, then you don't understand it. You don't get it. I don't know what to tell you.

But you should buy the shirt anyway. It's a vibe. You should definitely buy the shirt anyway. Maybe if you buy the shirt, you'll understand it more. But it's an incredible shirt. And shout out to all snake aficionados out there. but make sure you pick up that shirt, of course. If you have not already become a diehard,

you can absolutely get that shirt for free by joining us over here and getting yourself a PHNX diehard membership. You will get a free piece of merchandise like this shirt from the PHNX locker. You also get 20% off all future purchases. Get access to our members-only Discord lounge. You will get all sorts of benefits from our partners, discounts with our partners, including a Mount Mike's gift certificate for $50. You also get a Dobson Ranch Ranch card and so much more.

So make sure to sign up today. You get access to all of our content around here as well as, of course, members only access to certain merchandise and certain events. So become part of the PHNX family. Now get yourself that shirt. And if you are already a diehard, use your discount. Get yourself the wagon shirt. Become part of the PHNX wagon that is the Diamondbacks. Now let's take a look at the wildcard updates.

No games are finalized yet, but you guys were providing us with some very, very, very, very, very good updates from. Did Damon get it right today? He did. He did the thing. I think he did. Proud of you, boy. Proud of you.

Hats off. Hats off. Hats off to Damon. I just walked back out of the dugout with my helmet off. He's, he's parading around. I mean, honestly, man,

like this, it's wild because your expectations changed throughout the season. Obviously, you know, looking at this record right now of 84 and 70, If you would have shown this to any of us in this room at the beginning of the season, we would have been ecstatic to know that this is where the Diamondbacks were able to get to by the end of the season.

So they're just, it's just fun, man. It's just fun that they're here ahead of schedule and that not only are they ahead of schedule, but it's not just like, oh, hey, it's fun to be here. We're glad we're here. No, this team feels competitive. And it feels like. That's the spot that like the Reds are in right now. Yeah.

Where they, like, they don't really have a real great shot at actually making the postseason, but they're still in the mix. And I think a lot of fans are happy that they're still in the mix. They're playing meaningful games. And that's what we asked for to play here at the end of the month, for sure. That's what, yeah, I think that's what a lot of Diamondbacks fans would have been happy with at the end of the season. And they've gotten a lot more than that for sure. But, you know, there's, there's a very interesting situation developing when it comes to the Miami Marlins.

like you guys said, the Miami Marlins are playing a double header, a very weird double header today. Yeah, they didn't start until, I mean, this is being played on the East Coast. So they started a double header at 410 local time. And then they still have a second game to play that is TBD. That makes no sense to me. None, not at all. I mean, I feel like it's very standard practice in baseball. If you have a double header, the first game is like your standard 1 o'clock or noon afternoon game.

and then you do a nightcap at like six or seven, so you have a couple hours in between. This game is going to have to start immediately, especially if game one goes three hours plus, right? I mean, you know, hopefully for all involved, it doesn't, but we kind of hope it does.

I mean, I guess it could be, and I know we're about to get into this, the field wasn't playable yesterday. So maybe they just couldn't get the field playable earlier in the day. And they couldn't start until 4 o'clock. I guess I haven't looked into the situation. Maybe that's what's going on.

Everybody in the chat is saying it's a straight double header. That's still stupid. Like, again, you're going to potentially start after 7.10 p.m. Eastern Dime. Like, that's just crazy. But that's what they chose to do. And of course, we are happy to have anything happen that upsets the Marlins right now because they are really the team we are most concerned about as far as impacting the Diamondbacks playoff chances.

And they are down for nothing right now in game one. And tonight, the other thing I'll say is tonight is Johnny Coato. It's Kodi Sanga, which is a pretty heavy advantage for the Mets on paper. So. Well, and according to an article from the athletic, the Marlins were upset about this postponement of yesterday's game. They did blame it on the Mets grounds crew for not covering the field at City Field over the, what, the course of the weekend?

Yeah. The problem, as Diamondbacks fans are well familiar, is that it rained a whole lot in New York over the past few days. They just made us play through it. Like, isn't that how it works? Backs just played through it. But the problem here was that they didn't have city field. They didn't have the tarp down at city field like through the weekend as all the rain was

falling. And so, you know, the grounds crew was out there doing their thing, doing everything they could yesterday to try to get the game playable. So they didn't have to postpone that game. And it just wasn't possible. There was just too much water already on the ground at that point. Yeah. From several days of torrential rain in New York.

And so, yeah, I mean, I kind of think the Marlins have a point here. I don't know exactly who in the Mets organization would be to blame for this. But you kind of have to know that even if your team is on the road, if you have, you know, if you're about to come home in a few days and there's this degree of rain happening in the area, you have to protect your field and make sure it's ready to go or when your team comes back and, you know, try to make those games playable at a key point in the season. And the Mets just, the Mets just didn't do that. And the Marlins were not happy about it.

Marlins also had a gripe when it comes to pretty much their best pitcher in their starting rotation, right? Braxton Garrett not being able to both start in today's game, game one of today's double header, and also be available to start in game one of the- To start the last game of the season. Last game of the season, which is going to be a very, very important game for them. Yeah, the Marlins, if they are going to make this thing, I mean, it's going to probably come down to the last day. Yeah. So they, yeah, they had Braxton Garrett lined up yesterday and then he would line up again.

to pitch in that in that game 162 to finish things off and now that because that game was postponed Braxton Garrett can't start till today and he would have to pitch on short rest in order to pitch in in game 162 it's kind of similar to a Sunday's game where Zach Gallen was pitching for the Diamondbacks if that game had been postponed it would have messed with the debacks alignment not as much for the regular season but for the playoffs it would have made it impossible for both Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly to make their starts in the Houston series and also start two out of the three games in the wild card round, which would have been a pretty disastrous outcome for them. Fortunately for the devax, it worked out.

The New York Grounds crew was able to make it work. The New York Yankees grounds crew definitely deserved a Kingsnake one of those days from us. Because not only did they bust their ass to keep that field as dry as possible and used every single bag of dirt that that building held, but they still had time to fucking do the YMCA, Jesse. just still breaking down the YMCA, respect, respect to the Yankees grounds crew. We have a couple of other fun facts, by the way. Should the Chicago Cubs win one more game? One more game is all we need from the Chicago Cubs.

They will eliminate simultaneously the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants from playoff contention. So that's fun. But when we talk about teams in the playoffs, we've said the Diamondbacks are the only team currently in the playoffs in the National League side, with a negative run differential. Well, guess what? The Diamondbacks run differential is down to negative four and we figured out a new way

to use the Mountain 500 graphic. It's Mount Plus Zero. Let's go, Damon. Mount up that mountain. Let's go. Oh, no. It was so anticlimactic. Yeah.

And Damon just struggling back there. You know what? I don't blame Damon. You know what, here's the thing. I don't blame Damon. I blame the people that periodically clean up the files. on our computer because of space.

That's what I'm going to blame. But you let me know when you're ready and I'll scream again. This is Mount. It's Mount Zero. It's Mount Run differential. It's Mount Run differential. Okay. Not run differential.

We're going to get up Mount Run differential. We're going to get into the positives. Let's go. Negative four. They have three games, four games left. Of course. I want it to be three games. Four games left.

One more with the White Sox. But the most important part here is that they have won the series against the White Sox. that's what they needed to do. They do have the lead that they need. And honestly, if they can complete the sweep of the White Sox, it would make things a lot easier for Tori Lovelo and everybody in this organization, as far as this final series against the Astros.

The Astros are still struggling to get wins. They're still struggling for their playoff spot as well. So it feels like it's going to be a very competitive series with the Astros. And that's not a great thing considering that they're still a very dangerous team. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, talking about run differentials. the Astros are a plus 1-15 in a season in which they've largely over underperformed, right?

This hasn't been like the prototypical Astros year. And yet, you know, I mean, they're still out there crushing opponents more often than not, even though they haven't really done that in the last few weeks. It's been an uncharacteristic month for the Astros as they try to, you know, find their way into the postseason. And, yeah, all things are still kind of shaping up for the Astros to be a pretty desperate a baseball team coming into Chase Field this weekend. So if you're the Diamondbacks, if you're able to win tomorrow,

then you would put yourself in a really, really good position at that point because, I mean, you wouldn't even necessarily have to do much against the Astros. You would just be dependent on, you know, the Marlins, like losing one more game or something at that point. And you'd be in a really good spot. So, yeah, the Astros are, I don't think the Astros are going to come into town and not have anything to play for.

So for people who are hoping for that, I don't think that's going to happen. It's not going to happen. Michael on the chat says the Diamondbacks are definitely a white meat baby face. Derek, that is a pro wrestling reference. That basically, Jesse, is you in a way. Okay. Great. Just the most innocent, wholesome hero that anyone could imagine, right?

So, yeah, that's Jesse's the white meat baby face of this podcast for sure. Peace of Yoshi also reminds us that the Houston Astros are. 47 and 30 on the road we didn't need a reminder of that but that's good information to have that makes me upset You're right. It is terrifying and he says that's terrifying There's also chat about Dfang Damon. We won't be DFAing Damon at all. No absolutely not we are on my last straw though We are damon's dog yeah no I mean demons on demons are you know strike one strike two Damon is you know yeah look he falls behind in the count but you know what he does And oh and two count, Damon's like batting average is 3.86.

I choke up on the bat. I choke up a little bit. He's going to foul off a few and then work the count. He might even walk when it's all said and done. We've talked about Brandon Fott being clutch. Damon, Damon Dogg is clutch. Damon is absolutely clutch for our show. But of course, in all wins and all losses, I'm drinking a joy bus wow wheat. Of course, it is one of the finest beers that our friends at Four Peaks has to offer.

And of course, you can get one of their fine beers, wherever you get your beers at here in the Valley. wherever your favorites is. Of course, a big seasonal favorite is the pumpkin porter, and it is back. It is pumpkin porter season. Back on the shelves in draft lines throughout the valley, so don't miss out on pumpkin porter. It'll be gone before you know it.

You know how these things go. But make sure to visit 4Peaks.com slash locator to find all your favorite brewery tours and events. Steinholding, October Fest, and a haunted brewery tours are all right around the corner. Check out at 4Peaks brew or at 4Peaks Pub to keep up with the latest at Arizona's hometown brewery. Must be 21 or older to drink four peaks.

Please drink responsibly. Remember, if you take the haunted brewery tour, demand that they show you the ghosts that make the beer, and they're going to play dumb about it. They're going to be like, what are you talking about? The ghosts don't make the beer here. And that's exactly what people that let the ghosts make the beer would say. So don't buy that shit. But go check out the haunted brewery tour for sure.

And also, it doesn't matter if it's fall. It doesn't matter if it's summer. It doesn't matter what time of the year. Here in Arizona, you need yourself a solid pair of sunglasses year-round, and you can get those premium polarized shades from our friends at Shady Rays. It's an independent sunglasses company with a world-class product. And they also offer the most insane protection plan in all of Iwear. They're lost and broken replacement plan.

States allegedly that if you lose or break your pair, even on day one, they told us they will send you a brand new pair. I lost mine. I contacted them. They said, say less fam, and they're sending me out a new pair. And I appreciate that because I have not only lost one pair of sunglasses, I've lost three. So I am obviously not someone that can be trusted with sunglasses. You've lost three?

I've lost three pairs of sunglasses in like the last week and a half. It's not a good week for me. But like one I know where I lost. The other one, no idea. Like not even a clue where it is. Shady Ray's must hate you. Shady Ray's does. You know what?

It doesn't matter because they don't ask any questions. You buy your sunglasses through them. You'll contact them. They'll get you your sunglasses back. You know they're still like this Derek guy. Yeah. He's going to put us on this. He's fully shit, this Derek guy.

anyway. You can show, see, that's the thing. No judge, they're not judgmental like these guys are, you know, no questions asked. Or if they are, they're not going to say it to your face. You're never going to hear about it. Right, that's fine. That's fine. And I appreciate that. You're the best kind of person if you're being judgmental quietly in your own head.

That's how we should all be. But don't miss out on shopping the entire collection of Shady Ray's at their Kirland Commons location. And again, if you don't love your Shady Ray's, you can exchange them for a new pair, or you can return them for your money back within 30 days. No risk at all when you shop with our friends at Shady Race. Of course, exclusively for our listeners,

they are giving you the best deal of the season. Go to ShaddyRase.com and use code PHNX for 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 250,000 people. And also go get the wagon shirt, again, from the PHNX Locker.com. We should all wear the wagon shirt. We should have like a beige out, you know, at Chase Field this weekend or something. I don't know.

But everybody go get yourself that wagon shirt. over at the PhNX Locker.com. Become a diehard. You'll get it for free if you aren't already one. And if you are one, you'll get 20% off. So make sure to snag that shirt. You can follow us on Twitter at cap underscore Kman with a K. Jesse over here is at Jesse and Friedman.

Of course, the people's producer, Damon, who you can give all of your notes to, can send all of your feedback to on Twitter. Oh, yeah, please do. Yeah. Slide in the DMs and just tell me everything that you don't like about the show. All of your thoughts on how he's performed. maybe give him some advice on how he can like, you know, just tune things up. Maybe just kind of figure some things out before the playoffs here because we need him running at 150% by the time the playoffs come around.

But he's at Damon Dog. That's DAWG. Of course, we are Damon's dogs. Whether he's not, fielding complaints for the show is a primary part of what being our producer means. It's true. There's a lot of complaints to be fielded. And Damon is all over.

It's 24-7. It's really bad. It's really bad. I mean, obviously, it starts with my shirts and then it goes through it. Like, without words even coming out of my mouth, there's already complaints coming out. I've almost become like a customer server. It's wild. Yeah, he's got a script.

He says he's training other people on also how to field the calls just so. Well, he's got the headset for it, right? I mean, he's wearing it during our show. He just never takes it off. I don't know what we were saying, but he's a Damon dog. And that's with a DAWG there at the end. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore DBAX, but all roads do lead to at PHNX. X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We thank you guys again so much for your time. We appreciate you stopping by and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Brandon fought shoves.