PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Brandon Pfaadt Struggles, Diamondbacks Bats Go SILENT In Loss To New York Mets

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

The Diamondbacks can’t win them all, but the loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday was an ugly game. We have more on Brandon Pfaadt struggling, a terrible 5th inning that turned on the Snakes, and if we still want the layoff that comes with winning the division.  We also are discussing injury updates and why Torey Lovullo still isn’t ready to name Justin Martinez as this team’s closer.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose your offer!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Sanderson Ford: The Sanderson Ford Summer Sales Event is here and they are teaming up with the boys of summer for a final Playoff Payoff Sale. You get the payoffs like deals on 24 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend. Lease one today for as low as $299 a month for 36 Months with only 10 percent cash down.Zbiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/phnxdbacks to get 15% off your first order when you use PHNXDBACKS at checkout. Pre-Alcohol is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked. Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Mint Mobile: To get your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://mintmobile.com/diamondbacks.  $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Shady Rays: Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I don't like that song anymore, Damon. I do not like that song. But I do like being here with you all. Welcome in to Circle K's Studio K, right here at PHNX Studios. Of course, my name is Derek Monta, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And this is the PHNXTBAC show brought to you by our friends at Bet365. Go download the Bet365 app right now and use code PHNX365. When you sign up, choose your offer and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365.

And our guy Bees, who is a known representative for the people in the chat, says it best when he says here, chat, I am bamboozled by this performance. Not upset, just bamboozled. Like, what the fuck even was that game? And I don't know. I don't know what that game was. I don't know what that fifth inning was. And of course, that's where everything kind of turned sideways for this Diamondbacks team.

We thank you guys all for being here, of course. Again, I am your mayor still. and will be when all is said and done. So there's no worries about that. Of course, I am here with the people's producer, Damon Dogg, who before we get into this show, I want to issue a public apology to because I questioned this man's loyalty after what occurred on this show yesterday. You know, with Archie here, the ESPO thing and the embarrassing me.

But this man, this man, much like the Diamondbacks, was kind of railroaded into this. and I would like to take back any accusations of him not being aligned with me. I think I'll let the rest speak for himself. I'm not going to talk for Damon and say that he in any way like endorses me as mayor just yet. But I will say that I questioned his, you know, his loyalty and I was wrong to do so yesterday. Due to the Communications Act, Derek, we are, you know, hereby legally required to play all political parties' ads. found this out, you know, and give equal opportunity to all parties on our show. Our lawyers contacted me actually.

Yeah. So, I mean, that was not a display of me stabbing you in the back. It was just a display of me following the law. I get it. And that being said, I believe we might have a certain political ad later in the show lined up. Oh. It was paid for as well that we can't, we can't legally tell them that they can't play it. Okay.

I don't like that sound of that. That might be another ESPO ad, but I'm not sure things are getting very dirty around here. And much like this game, this game was a filthy game. It was an ugly game. Diamondbacks, of course, lose to the Mets 8 to 3. They are now 75 and 57 this year, which at least is a fun little, you know, number combination there. But more importantly, the Diamondbacks are 10 and 10 this season in games following an off day. So I guess I have to once again question, do you really want to win the division and have like a week off before you play another baseball game after seeing this display today?

I don't know. But the snakes didn't win the margins in this game, that's for sure. And Brandon fought was not great. The pitching was not great. The bats were silent for the majority of this game. This was just a flat out loss to the Mets. Sean Mania absolutely had the Diamondbacks just befuddled, if you will. And of course, the Diamondbacks pitchers weren't really fooling anyway.

Brandon fought relied on his sweeper a lot as he does. He relied on the foreseeing fastball. It just wasn't really fooling many. batters. It wasn't like he was missing much. He was just getting a lot of extra base hits. There were a lot of extra base hits off of Brandon fought tonight. In fact, the Mets

had five extra base hits. I believe they were all off Brandon fought. I could be wrong about that, but it felt like they were all off Brandon fought. His line was four and two-thirds innings pitched. He gave up eight hits, eight runs, six of them earned. He walked one and struck out six.

It was probably the worst implosion. We've seen a Brandon Fott in a while as far as his reliability, his ability to go deep in a game. And mostly, you know, we've always talked about Brandon Fott giving up that big inning. The Diamondbacks were down two to nothing prior to that fifth inning. And that fifth inning was Basura for this team. They absolutely stunk it up. And it wasn't just the pitching's fault in that one.

They got some awful defense behind them. Brandon Fott got pulled out of the inning with after two outs, four and two thirds innings pitched again. And they brought in Jordan McGoverns. for his first appearance out of the bullpen and guess what it did not go well surprisingly uh at least initially it did not go well monte comes into the game with what basis loaded i believe at that point and two outs just had to get one out uh just had to look you know somewhat serviceable out of the bullpen and what does he do he hits a batter with the very first pitch he throws and walks in a run uh then he proceeds to actually walk in a run without hitting the next batter uh and then

the third, I believe the third run scored on, what was it? It was the Pardomo error, which Pardomo just looked awful at times in this game defensively. I mean, even at the plate, he looked bad. It was a really bad night for Jerry Pee. You got anything to say over there in defense of your guy? I mean, I was the one that told you when he popped up late in the game. I was like, it's been a tough game. It's been a tough game for Pardomo Hive.

And we'll recover. But yeah, it was the worst Pardomo game we've seen in a while. It really was. It really was. It was unfortunate. And this was just a bad game. And I mean, the Diamondbacks are allowed, I think, to have those bad games, right? They're not, they're not immune to it.

They're not, again, they're not perfect despite the fact that they feel like they were playing what felt like perfect baseball there for a while. But this game, this one, you know, of course, this one's a bit of a shock. I mean, at least it's all in one game. Diamondbacks still have a chance to win the series. They still have two more games here against the Mets. This is just an important. you know, series, obviously, with the implications here of the Mets making up ground in the wildcard race, and also with the Diamondbacks being as close as they are to the Dodgers.

But at least Jordan Montgomery, after, you know, after that fifth inning on the bright side, he did settle in nicely after that. And he gave the Diamondbacks three scoreless innings, or actually four scoreless innings. He went four and two-thirds innings pitch, five hits allowed. He didn't allow any runs because he wasn't on the hook for those runners on the base. So he has zero earned runs in this game, one walk, two strikeouts, the one hit by pitch. So, I mean, if you do want to look at Jordan Montgomery outside of the inherited run situation, and given that this is all new to him, he did do a good job of at least saving the bullpen,

which is exactly what Tori Lavello said that he was going to do prior to this game. He said if we were going to see Jordan Montgomery, it was going to be in long relief when a guy was struggling and Jordan Montgomery was probably going to come into the game and finish the game out. And that's what we saw today. that is a unique weapon that Tori now has out of the bullpen as much as we want to look at this in the negative and obviously be very no i look i was in the middle of talking thunderbolt um but i'm not going to put up with this shit i'm not going to put up with we already are going to concede the next two games because the diamondbacks lost game won so let's calm down okay again the diamondbacks are 10 and 10 this season when it comes to a game after games after a day off so they have not been very good They've been better lately, but they're still not good. When you look at this team's overall record, being 10 and 10 on days off after games after day off,

just kind of shows that they're not really sharp coming out after this. But I'm not going to sit here and immediately concede because they lost tonight's game. This was one bad inning, six runs allowed in the fifth inning. Outside of that, I hate to be that guy, but outside of that, the Diamondbacks actually did enough, despite their bats going silent for basically seven innings. to actually win this game if that fucking terrible inning doesn't go the way it does. But yes, the Diamondbacks did only have one hit until the seventh inning. And you can blame the offense a little bit for the way this game goes because, again,

they were being held in check by Sean Minai and the Mets there. But Corby Carroll, in good news, is still hitting home runs. That's a positive. He hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. And the Diamondbacks now have 40 home runs since August 1st, which is second in baseball behind the New York Yankees. So, again, something to continue to be impressed by with this team, considering we had no idea at times where the power was going to come from for this team.

Some people thought it was going to be Gabby Moreno. Can you believe that? Allegedly. I mean, allegedly. Some people smoke a lot of pot. I'm just saying some people's brains are filled with hops and bong resin. Okay. So not everything is always going to be.

We can't always predict the future, especially like my freezing cold take about the Diamondbacks being two up in the division after that Dodgers series might not be the case. But that dream is still alive. But again, that ugly fifth inning thing just fell apart for the team. And it sucks because, again, outside of that, this team actually did play some fairly good baseball in this game. But their defense was really bad. and again, all it takes sometimes is one bad inning. I will ask you guys this, though,

and I would love to hear response in the chat. After Corbyn hit that home run, despite the fact the Diamondbacks were down eight to three, did you believe? Did you start believing? Because in what world would we believe that the Diamondbacks could come back from an eight-run deficit, this world?

Because I believe that, and I'm sure there were some of you out there that once they started to go and you were like, all right, now we're talking. We got them an eye out of the game. we got some things rolling. I mean, I definitely believed. And so, but pro canon knew it was over.

And of course, thank you guys all for being here in the chat. I do have to say, though, that Pardomo has been very good prior to this game, as far as his defense is concerned, even though it fell apart there, including not just the error there in that inning, but he just played some balls really poorly, right? Like, I think Pardomo is like one of those guys like Christian Walker, where we get kind of used to. him making some very good plays over there and making them routinely that when we see him

have an inning like he had, you could just tell. He just wasn't handling things well in that church. He's very steady. He may not be the type of shortstop that's making like the wow plays that you see out of like the best defensive type short stops, but he doesn't make mistakes that often. So when he does, it's pretty glaring. Yeah. He had one error in 59 games prior to tonight. Yeah, that's not shocking. Right. Yeah. It's really not. I mean, I think there was only one one shortstop in the league that had a better fielding percentage over that span than perdomo. So, you know, again, there's going to be, there's going to be some bad nights. And tonight just felt like an off night all the way around for this team. It just, this, this is one of those games that to

pull the curtain back a little for you. I hate planning a show after a game like this or during a game like this, because I have no idea what direction it's going to take. Even after the Diamondbacks were down eight to nothing, I still was not ready to fully commit to a headline that says the Diamondbacks, you know, get rocked by the New York Mets. So even then, it changed a little bit. This team is still special. And again, we're going to have nights like this. The big thing is, is that there are a lot of tough opponents ahead.

We've talked about this stretch. We've said it's not easy. I think we've gotten used to dreading the schedule a little bit and then seeing the Diamondbacks come through. So hopefully that's the case here. But this is a tough stretch. There's no way to sugarcoat. You got the Mets who are very much in the wildcard race, very hungry.

And right now are just playing. really good baseball too. You got the Padres. I think the Padres lost today, right? But the Diamondbacks could potentially end up with a, what, finishing out their season with like six straight games against the San Diego Padres on the year. Like, did they?

The Padres were down a run going into the seventh and then scored the final three runs in the game to win. Goddamn Padres. Yeah, see, that's what it is. But I mean, that's that this is. This is a tough time. And then they had the Dodgers after that. So the Diamondbacks have to play their best baseball.

And they definitely did not do that today. They did not do that today. And I think I got our guy, Thunderbolt, to come back down to reason a little bit. But he was right. He's right about Perdomo. He said not the fans comment. That's him being insane again. But he said he was missing the most basic plays.

And you're right. That's what it felt like during that inning. That does not help when the pitching was already struggling. That does not help when things are going poorly. I mean, you had, you know, Jordan Montgomery. coming in with all those inherited runs and he hits a batter, he walks a batter, and then, you know, things continue with due to that error. So, uh, this was just one of those really ugly games. And you guys are right. Maybe they want us to revoke Kingsnake tonight. I'll consider it.

I will consider it. I'm not saying I'm committed to revoking King Snake. I'm just saying I'll consider it. But I do thank you guys all for being here in the PHN exports YouTube channel. Of course, make sure you subscribe to the channel. Make sure you sign up for notifications. Don't miss all that great stuff. make sure you leave us a review on the audio podcasting side if you're listening over there make sure you're subscribed on your favorite audio podcasting app if you haven't done that already and hit that like button that's the most important thing i on a night like this i'm feeling empty of self-esteem i have nothing left to give uh and those like buttons definitely uh is

do i do i call it likes it just likes right when i say the like buttons does that make me like an old person i feel like that's like kind of yeah calling it the twitter right oh boy yeah it's creeps up on you fast. Johnny Walker, again, old friend of mine from elementary school, says, Go DVax. I'm just joking. That was a callback to an old joke. The views of Derek Montia do not represent the views of PHB. Correct. He's got to do that thing again. It's rough. But of course, we'll have more on this game, of course, to count. Maybe Kingsnake or not when we come back here from break. But first, of course, we've got to thank our friends at Sanderson Ford as our official vehicle sponsor. I love our friends at Sanderson Ford. Their team over there is incredible. I'm sure you guys

were seeing the crazy commercial that they memed me and Jesse on and, you know, all the things that we did over there. They have a wonderful staff over there who's just really dedicated to helping you find a vehicle that fits your personal needs. And that was an awesome part about taking my Ford Broncos sport big bend out is that afterwards the first thing our guy Lauren over there asked me was like, how'd you like it? And, you know, like, what are your thoughts on like maybe a full size and like, what do you thoughts on maybe a different vehicle? Like, he really wanted to see, you know, what I was looking for and what options I wanted and things like that. And this is from a man that doesn't even knows that I'm not going to buy a vehicle anytime soon. Just trying his best to help me out and show me

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Ford and get four tickets for your family to see the debacks push for the playoffs, get 0% for 36 months OAC from Ford Credit, see dealer for details. Oh, and of course, bet 365 makes a night like tonight so much better, especially with the live in game betting. If you got down on a Corby and Carroll home run in the middle of the game, that bad boy hit. Of course, new customers right now can sign up and use our code of PHNX365. And when you do, you deposit $10 and choose between two offers. You can either get a bet and get offer replaced $5 bet or more, and you get $150 in bonus bets,

or you can get a first bet safety net offer by placing up to $1,000 bet, and if you're qualifying bet loses, you receive a matched refund in bonus bet. So check out everything Bet365 has to offer right now, including their baseball early payout offer, where you are a winner if your team goes up by five runs, and that includes same game parlay selections and parlay selections. So all of those are marked as winners when you go up by five runs over there at Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHNX365. When you sign up, choose your offer and find out why it's never ordinary.

At Bet365 must be 21 or over and physically located in Arizona. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1,100 next step. Text next step to 53342 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. And now to our regularly scheduled political advertising. When tough times come, PHNX needs tough leadership. But Espo, he's just another LeBron James family. boy. I would take a James Jones suspension of $2 million fine for LeBron James. Go ahead and do that. I don't care. Violate the rules. It's like if you're getting arrested for shoplifting,

don't do it for gum, do it for like a time. Doesn't follow the rules. Endorses shoplifting. What else is he capable of? Espo, he's not just radical. He's dangerous. I don't care. Violate the rules. Technical standards in PHNX officials is responsible for the content of this advertising. Wow. That's not a good look for Espo. That's, uh, that's crazy. Anyway, I don't know. That's a, that's a, that's, that's pretty type of ad that makes you think a little bit. It really does. It makes you wonder like who you really want the future of pH and X in the hands of, right? I don't know. You think you know a guy. You really do. And then next thing you know, he wants to violate rules and, you know, have suspensions and shoplifting's okay. giving up draft picks, like as if this team can afford to give up draft picks? Yoshi throwing in third party. Well, you might have to check out the Discord, Yoshi,

because I unfortunately had to reveal the reason why the coyotes moved. And that reason, of course, is because under my mayorship, I may or may not have trusted my friends too much, you know, to take care of business, to make sure. And again, not to throw any shade Stephen Peters way. but just to acknowledge the fact that he reassured me time and time again that the coyotes were not relocating, so there was nothing for me to worry about. So I promise in my future term that I will not put my trust in these people anymore going forward,

nor should you come Election Day in November. Moving on, let's take a look at the count presented by Desert Financial Credit Union. And of course, this one's pretty ugly. those those hits are definitely wrong because the diamondbacks did not get 13 hits those are swap but of course eight to three is a score on this one the Mets out hit the Diamondbacks 13 to seven runners in scoring position four for 16 for the Mets oh for four for the Diamondbacks extra base hits five of them for the Mets a majority of them all off of Brandon fought there three for the Diamondbacks one double one home run there and of course

the expected batting average, which you all asked for and wanted so badly. 288 for the New York Mets, 148 for the Arizona Diamondbacks. We're going to update it? It was never wrong in the first place. I don't know what we're talking about. You can't prove it. I definitely not right now live on the show, but I'm sure we'll talk about it. What about hard hit percentage?

You guys killed it. That's how. No, Maze devil, you're wrong. We did not have 13 hits. I don't know what you're talking about. We never saw that graphic ever. But of course, you guys were right. We probably shouldn't give out a Kingsnake.

I'm going to anyway, though, because, you know, I'm kind of hardheaded and I do what I want. So, of course, let's give it to our guy, Corbyn Carroll, for that dinger. Corbyn Carroll continues to hit a lot of home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And he moved one step closer to getting Damon over here a win for his future's bet. So, I mean, that's really why you got Kingsnake tonight. Can I not lie? I mean, that was where my mind went to when he got the home run. That's absolutely where mine went to for sure.

But Maze Devil, Mays Devil said, how the fuck did we have 13 hits? They said, how the fuck did we have seven hits? That's a very valid point. I have no idea how those things added up to whatever this name was. That sounds like Photoshop to me, but I have no idea. It really does. It really does. Of course, we do have a fun video for you guys to check out over on the PHN Exports YouTube channel

if you haven't done so already. But we do have Tori talking all about. The fun fantasy football draft that this team did in which Tori got to help out on picking the order in which the draft is going to take place by hitting numbered balls out at Fenway. Tori told us today he really wanted to rip one over the big green monster. But he also told us he hasn't taken BP since like 17, I think he said. That's like seven years. That's a very long time. But I did ask Tori about doing things like this.

We know Tori tends to have all of these little fun events. We know about the petting zoo and the cornhole tournament. We know about him doing this. And, you know, it's not something every manager does. So here's Tori on the importance of him kind of, you know, having these moments with his team during the season. And I guess offering these moments of fun and relief for them. Yeah, it's, it's, I think it's needed.

You know, I talk about balance here all the time, days off, take advantage of it, spend it with your family, friends, children. So this was a totally different element. And they see the side of me from time to time. We have a mid-season team party at our house, and they see a different side of me there. It's a cornhole tournament. And I think it's nice to see the human side of your manager.

In years past, the managers I played for is very guarded. I don't even know what kind of car they drove. I don't know where they lived. I didn't know if they were married or anything like that. But the game's changed a little bit. So when I can give them that side of me, I think it refreshes them to see that I'm a human being at the end of the day. And there's a nice balance there, but they know that they have responsibility to do on the backside of that. It seems to work out very well.

So this is something you know that would be Spark. Spark, you would have never done this in a million years. No chance. Not a chance. Not a chance. He would have laughed at it. No way. No way.

Tori often talks about his manager Sparky like as if it was like the parent that you don't ever want to be like like you respect your parent and you love them but you're like I'm never going to be that kind of dad and that's Tori with this team of course that's why he's so beloved by his players but of course we do have Jesse Friedman here joining us

from Chase Field is my thunderstick but maybe not my vice mayor with the way he was talking in the office today about endorsing Espos. But whatever, that's fine. We'll get him in here shortly. Is he here? He's here. There he is. Jesse, you traitor.

Welcome in to the show. It's a rough night for all of us around here. Espo's getting attacked by some unknown super pack. There's commercials airing on our show. And of course, the Diamondbacks got shell-shocked here a little bit by the Mets losing 8-3. That fifth inning was pretty terrible. Yeah, it was it was brutal, Derek, you know, the Mets weren't necessarily hitting the ball all that hard in that inning, but it just felt like every single batted ball was just sort of out of grasp of the Diamondbacks defender. It was a particularly rough night for Geraldo Pardomo.

I'm sure you guys have probably touched on that already. He made an error in that inning. And there were a couple of other balls that I think he probably normally would have been able to make a play on that for whatever reason, it just it just wasn't. an off night for him both defensively and at the plate he went 0 for four with a couple of strikeouts um but yeah this is i mean you're not going to win every game if you're the debacks right i mean this team has won six games in a row uh this one i think you could still find a little bit troubling in some ways just given that it was sloppy it was ugly in a lot of different ways but it is still only one game i i wouldn't be uh wouldn't be too concerned about it if i'm a

fan of this team we've seen time and time again the diamondbacks you know play an ugly game and then very quickly bounce back and start to look like the team they've been over the last month and a half, which is, you know, the best record, the best team in all of baseball. Entering the month of June, Jesse, they were one in seven end games following a day off, but now they've actually got things back on track a little bit, including winning a double header after a day off. They are 10 and 10, but they have still not been extremely good in days following a layoff.

So I guess my question to you is, have you changed your tune about wanting to win the NL West? I mean, you mean like as far as whether I think the buy is actually something that you should want or not. Yes, you still want the buy, I'm not going to back off that. I know that our pal Archie has maybe had a slightly more nuanced approach to that question. And I get that he's the, you know, he's the player. and I'm the know-it-all journalist who pretends to like understand exactly what he said it himself I didn't say I didn't call him the know-it-all journalist this thing he said it himself but at the same time I my opinion is what it is Derek I mean if anyone could maybe convince me otherwise it

probably would be Archie but he's going to have to keep trying because I'm still not there we'll get you there we'll get you there a bunch of compliments for your haircut in the chat including one from Tori when we entered the press conference today. Yeah, Tori complimented Jesse's haircut when he came in. Do you think this whole Jesse like not liking his haircut thing in the morning was just a ploy for everyone to tell him how good is hair cut? I think so. Because that's crazy. Tori told him nice haircut.

Yeah. The whole chat flooded comments, nice haircut. Meanwhile, the new guy, Kevin was like, don't worry, he'll grow back is what he said. And Jesse wasn't supposed to take that as a dig. I felt like it was a dig. Yeah. Yeah, clearly I did not get. unanimously positive feedback because Kevin, yeah, I appreciate the way that Kevin went about it.

He did not go out and just straight up tell me that it was bad, but he took the approach of trying to give me hope for the future, which, yes, helpful, but also we know what you really thought, Kevin. You can't hide it from me. So, well, of course, if you want to join Jesse Friedman at Chase Field, they're a great place to do so through us through game time. We always talk about how great game time is, but you can save up to 60% on last minute ticket deals. And we really mean that. There are some tickets going for tonight's game for next to nothing. And of course, especially if you're waiting last minute, you know you can get on there and save even more with exclusive in-app deals and select seats ahead of the game or event. Of course, save even more when you choose a section and just let

game time choose for you. Right now, they want us to let you know, though, that those tickets for the Dodgers versus the Diamondbacks on Labor Day are 50% off. We are. We are. are off here on Labor Day. So we might just pick up some of those tickets and join you at Chase Field. So make sure you don't miss out on 50% off on tickets for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks game on Labor Day exclusively on game time. This is a limited availability and a limit supply. So get your tickets while they last.

And of course, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right. Well, of course, I need to fill up at Circle K on my way home. I know Damon and I, we're planning maybe a joint trip to go there and just go crazy on the froster machines. Like just be kids, get every flavor in our in our frosters, right?

Tough L tonight. Like, it's a treat yourself to a frostor. Yeah, you got to get over this one. Right. A little suicide foster action, for sure. Will you guys wait for me because I also need to fill up my car? I mean, by the way, there's a great day to do so. The anniversary of the inner circle is happening. You get 40 cents off gas here very soon at CircleK. So do not miss out on that event, I believe. That is on the 29th, if I'm not mistaken.

So two days from now. Yeah. So go fill your tank up on Thursday. Get 40 cents off gas. And of course, sign up for the Inner Circle. It's for free. You can join that Inner Circle. Simply by downloading the CircleK app today.

Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details. But when you do, you'll save 25 cents off per gallon on your first five Phillips. So you go on Thursday, get the 40 cents off, join the inner circle, save 25 cents off per gallon every day after that. Not every day, but your first five Phillips after that. And then you'll save three cents off per gallon every day after that as a member of the inner circle. So do not miss out on stopping by America's Thursday stop. And especially on a night like tonight, go try every flavor of froster that they have.

It's a great idea. Jesse, what else you got from tonight's game? Because I know this one is one of those ugly ones. I'm sure Tori would be like, let's flush this one and move on. And I mean, this team with the way they've been playing lately, they deserve to be able to have a bad night and flush it and move on. But, I mean, again, this is a tough Mets team in a tough series that they still have ahead of them. It is.

Yeah. I mean, you got Luis Severino tomorrow, who's had a pretty darn good season for the Mets going up against Eduardo Rodriguez. I know there was, I feel like I've seen this question on Twitter a whole bunch, like why did Brandon Fott start today and not tomorrow? when it had previously been announced that they were swapping places. My understanding is that that was just a clerical mistake that was made at some point and that that was never actually happening. The debacks were never planning to swap those guys.

So that's really a non-story. But anyway, yeah, this is, you know, this is an important series for the debacks. The Mets are the team right now that presents the biggest challenge for the Diamondbacks postseason run, right? for them to make the postseason in the first place. The Mets are the best team right now in the National League that is not currently in the playoff picture. And yes, the margin there is still pretty big.

I believe it's six games as of right now. So the debacks have a nice cushion. Their chances of making the playoffs are still very, very good. But this series was an opportunity to try to just put aside any doubt whatsoever about whether the debacks would be able to finish the job and get to the postseason and just sort to focus on, you know, what the seating was going to look like at that point. And this Mets team has posed some problems for the Diamondbacks over the years, Derek. I mean, I think back to last season when the Mets were here, I think it was July 4th through

6th. It was right at the beginning of the Diamondbacks devastating tailspin. They broke us. It was an ugly, it was a very ugly series. Yeah, the Debacks got swept. And you look even over the past several years. I mean, in 2022 and in 2021, the Mets won both of those series at Chase Field as well. So the D-backs have now lost eight of their last 10 games against the Mets in this ballpark.

So I don't know if there's anything to that if it actually is predictive in any way, but D-backs have struggled against the Mets here at Chase Field over these past few years. And, you know, it'd be really, really good if they were able to find a way to turn things around. Well, we have more here on tonight's game, and of course, a big part of the way things went there in the fifth inning was Brandon Fought, kind of letting things fall apart, Jordan Montgomery coming in and just really struggling to get out of the blocks as a reliever in his first outing for this team out of the bullpen. And even though that fifth inning went the way it did, I mean, he still recovered fairly nicely and gave the Diamondbacks four more innings of scoreless baseball. So, I mean, with all things considered, it didn't, it wasn't great. It didn't. I mean, it would, like, there's no, there's no way to, like, sugarcoat how things started.

His very first pitchy through, he hit a batter, right? But, and walked in a run. But, I mean, you do got to give him some credit for the ability to kind of get back on track there and give the Diamondbacks what he gave them. Yeah, and that's a great place to start with some of our post-game footage. Tori Lavello spoke very highly of. Jordan Montgomery and what he was able to do in his first outing out of the bullpen. Here's what Tori had to say.

I think a little bit of unfamiliar territory comes in with the bases gassed and very little wiggle room and, you know, to be expected. You just don't know what it's going to feel like when you get into that environment in that situation. Once he got through that first inning, I thought he did a good job attacking the zone. It was four in the third, 70 pitches, did his job. job the way we want him to do his job and I was really happy for him very proud of him for making the adjustment figuring it out he's only pitched out the bullpen once or twice that's a huge adjustment

for somebody that takes 28 to 32 minutes to get ready for his first pitch he did it in six and a half minutes so it was a great job by him and I made sure he knew that that I was appreciative of what he did and I mean yeah I mean this is the exact like before the game tori's talked about how he was going to use Monty and this was the exact situation. It didn't go great. It wasn't ideal. But I mean, what he again, he was able to at least save the bullpen going forward and finish the game up. Yeah. I mean, this is pretty much exactly what the Jordan Montgomery role is is going to be, at least for the time being. He is the diamond back's long man. He is the guy that you turn to when you're when you're maybe down big and your starter is struggling. And

and you don't have a great chance to win a baseball game, but you're just looking to save all of your positive role relievers. And Jordan Montgomery was able to accomplish that here in this game. And you're right, it didn't start pretty. I mean, bases loaded. I think there were two outs at that point in the fifth inning. He just needs one pitch to get out of that frame. And as you said, he hits a battery, he forces in a run.

He winds up walking the next guy. I think a lot of people in that moment are probably feeling like, all right, this is the same, same Jordan Montgomery. ain't nothing's changed just because maybe even worse maybe even worse yeah it doesn't it doesn't get much worse than entering a game with the bases loaded and plunking the first guy you face and then walking in a run on on the next guy but to montgomery's credit he did settle in he did find a way to save the debacks bullpen tonight and here's what montgomery had to say about his outing and uh i guess also the process of just having to get ready so quickly in the bullpen

good. It was happened fast. I tried to get ready as quick as I could and went out there a little too amped up. But I guess it could have gone worse. Was it weird? Yeah, it was weird.

I think my starting routine is like close to 40 minutes. I just did basically everything in six. So it was quick. You know, before the game, Jesse, There was a moment where Montgomery was talking to our pal Jack Summers, and Jack was interviewing him for an article he was writing, and the minute Jack kind of got done,

Monty got swarmed by reporters. And I kind of recall, I honestly, like, I hate to say this, I just didn't have anything to ask him or hear from him on. And he kind of echoed that statement. Like, he was like, I haven't pitched, so what would I have to talk to you guys about? And I heard him kind of say that as he walked by. walked away and like he still answered questions and he still talked to everybody but like this is

kind of a confusing time for jordan montgomery and he doesn't right now have a lot to say on what's happening like he already made the statement about scott boris and then that turned into a big you know kind of a story right it turned into a talking point so it's like now you know i don't know what follow-up questions people would have for him before his outing but you know it's it's there there's not much to bother this man about before the game considering that this is still an adjustment period for him. And he doesn't know really much about how things were going to go. Tonight he had to get ready quickly and he came out and obviously wasn't sharp when he came out.

But he was able to eventually get back on track and be, I guess, a commodity for this team to give this team a good performance there in the final four innings that he pitched besides. And that's a tough situation for any reliever to come into. Basis loaded, middle of the game like that, kind of on a quick notice, right? Like it was kind of a lot for him. It was an overwhelming situation, and I bet it was a big learning moment for him to kind of figure some things out about himself.

Yeah, and Tori was again, I mean, as you heard a glimpse of there, he was very complimentary of Montgomery and what he was able to do in this game. Tori told us that the day that he had that tough conversation with Montgomery about moving to the bullpen that Montgomery was already in the bullpen and already trying to ask questions and figure out how he was going to make adjustments and whatnot.

So that's another thing that I asked Monty about after the game, just how quickly he was able to turn the page and what has obviously been a pretty difficult season for him. And I'm sure a difficult moment for him having that conversation with Tori. Here's what Montgomery had to say. It sucks. but I want to help the team any way I can. We're an independent race, and if I can be the long man

and maybe turn myself into a leverage arm, get us some big outs, and be a difference maker that way, and that's just what I'll do this year. He still looks like a man coming to terms with this, but, I mean, and again, this is him speaking to the media with cameras on. It still seems like the right attitude to have, even though it's not, it's obvious that he's still not okay with it.

Yeah. And I mean, if I were him, like, I wouldn't be okay with it either. I mean, to under, it's hard to understand this from, from Montgomery's perspective, because on one hand, yeah, the numbers are what they are. There's no debating from a numbers standpoint, the decision that the Diamondbacks made, right? It's Ryan Nelson over Jordan Montgomery every day of the week, right? the numbers are just so clear. They got to be so clear that the Diamondbacks basically had no choice,

but to make the decision that they did. But if you're Montgomery, you're still, you're still, you know, less than a year removed from being a pitcher that carried your team in a lot of ways to winning the World Series, right? I mean, like the Astros had no answer for Jordan Montgomery in the ALCS, about 10 months ago. And, you know, the VLO has been down a little bit. We've talked about that.

The command has not been. the same. But if I'm Jordan Montgomery, like, I still have the confidence, at least some semblance of the confidence that I had when I was dominating on the biggest stage less than a year ago. And so you can understand from his perspective how, like, this is a tough pill to swallow for as obvious as it might seem to all of us that this was the right decision to make. Like, it, yeah, this has got to be a really hard thing for him to walk through, especially someone like him who's just been the model of consistency. Like, I think that was the biggest selling point for Montgomery entering the season is that

you know what you're getting. Maybe you're not getting a number one starter, but you know what you're getting. This isn't even Blake Snell, where, you know, his top end is obviously elite. He won the Sigh-Young last year for a reason. But Blake Snell in his down years is not actually that great of a pitcher sometimes. Montgomery did not come in with that reputation. So it's been a, it's been a tough year for him. You know, I know he said some things.

maybe he would like to have back. But yeah, I can't imagine what it's like for him to go through such a quick change from being at the top of his game and, you know, pitching well in so many big moments to what he's been this year. I think the only thing he would take back is the fact that a lot of the stuff that he said comes off his excuses. But I don't even really fault him for the things he said because he's right. And he's being honest.

The Chasefield is miserable some nights with the heat. We all live in this state. This state is fucking miserable sometimes with the goddamn heat, right? Like we can all admit that and we can be okay with it. And we can all say that we've been in Chase Field, even with the AC cranked, and felt a little uncomfortable, right? We can also say that we can agree that a man that was supposed to get a long-term deal based on the performances that you're talking about in the World Series last year

should have gotten the long-term contract that he was seeking and not this basic one-year deal with a player option that he ended up with the Diamondbacks. His feelings about Scott Boris were aired and they were back to the last. up by the fact that he fired the man. I mean, there's no, there was no, there's no doubt that he was unhappy with it. He wouldn't have fired Scott Boris if he was happy with it. It's just a bunch of factors, I think, that are contributing to all of these things. Not to mention the fact that he did tell our friend Jack today that he was, that there was

possibly some problems with his mechanics and like overstriading potentially and things like that. And those are things that I think we as fans don't realize that sometimes like that little thing in their mechanics that is different now is the problem. or, you know, they were trying something different, or maybe they were told to do something different. I mean, he is here with a new pitching coach, and maybe sometimes the adjustments that someone like Brent Strom

is trying to make for you isn't something that you take to right away, or maybe it's messed his game up or whatever, right? Like, pitching is complicated, and there's a lot of things that go into it, and those little mechanical changes that they make to their delivery can impact the success they're having, and that could be a reason why as well. But I think, you know, unfortunately now,

the perception with some fans is that he's made a lot of excuses. And obviously, you know, fans that are of this team are not happy with the amount of money that the Diamondback spent on him. And I'm sure the team is not happy with the amount of money they spent on him and what they're getting in return. Hopefully, though, he can still contribute. And hopefully we get to a point where at some point in the playoffs, some point from now until the Diamondbacks aren't playing baseball anymore, that we go, damn Jordan Montgomery really saved the day. And I don't know if we've had that moment at all. Like he's had some good outings as a starter.

It's not like it's all been a complete disaster. But yes, the Diamondbacks had to move on and make the right decision in regards to going with him or Ryan Nelson considering the way Ryan Nelson is pitching. And there's no doubt there. There's no doubt there that they did make the right decision. But again, he's going to continue to be a weapon for this team. And tonight, despite everything that went wrong for this team in the fifth inning, He still had, you know, at least a display there of what he can be, what he can contribute as a long reliever out of the pen.

Yeah, and I think you make a good point about the playoffs. Like Montgomery is someone who has a lot of experience on that stage. Is he going to be a part of the Diamondbacks four-man postseason rotation right now? It looks like he very likely will not be. You know, I think there is also a valid question to be asked of whether he would even make the Diamondbacks post-season. season roster. I think he probably would, but that's not necessarily a guarantee based on how things have gone so far. But I could envision a scenario where Montgomery is on that postseason roster. And as you alluded to there, he does come through maybe in a big situation. If the diamondbacks

are going to make a deep playoff run like they did a year ago, they're going to have a few clunkers from their starting pitchers. It happened last year, right? If you go back and look at Brandon Fotz numbers in game one of that wild card series, it was not. a pretty game for him. And there are a lot of other, at least several other examples like that throughout the postseason. So, you know, even if Montgomery is not the guy who was so big for the Rangers last year, maybe he can come into some of those spots and, and hold down a game for a debaq's offense that has shown a lot of ability this season to come back in games and, you know, find their way to claw back. So, yeah, maybe, maybe there is still a world where Montgomery

has an impact in the playoffs, even if it's not what we, all envisioned entering the season. Before we move on from this game, Jesse, I ask the chat this. And I have to ask you this, despite being down eight to nothing when the Diamondback scored three runs in the seventh, did you start to believe? Did you start to go? Maybe? Maybe.

I'm not going to lie, Derek, the first thing that came to my mind after Corbyn's home run was that, and granted, I didn't look this up to confirm, but I'm pretty sure that a, an eight-run comeback would be at least tied for the largest comeback in franchise history. I want to say it would be the largest comeback in franchise history. And that was the first thing that, like, those are the questions that were running. That you start asking. Yeah. Because you get three in the seven.

You get three in the eighth. You get three in the nine. Like, who knows, right? We've seen the Diamondbacks do some outrageous things this season. And we saw it even a couple days ago, a game that granted, they were not down eight. They were just down four in that one. But they found a way to come back and win anyway. So this is a team that you really can't count out in any situation.

At the same time, like looking at the lineup that the Diamondbacks are going with on a day-to-day basis, I'm not going to say it's a bad lineup because they're just are scoring like six, seven runs almost every game, it feels like. But at the same time, like just objectively, a lineup that is Geraldo Prado at the one spot, McCarthy and the two spot, you know, Lordus hitting third, just going down the list, it doesn't look to me like an elite lineup, right? And I think we do have to be realistic about like the lack of Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno and Catelle Marte. It's going to be hard for that for that lack not to show up at all. Right.

And this felt like a game where you did feel that a little bit. There isn't quite as much star power in this lineup as we're used to seeing. And games like this are going to happen for sure. And the difficulty of the schedule ahead is something to be considered with those guys missing, right? There might lose some games here. And there might, honestly, you might look back on all the games they won without those guys and think maybe they shouldn't have won as many as they did. Like that's the more surprising thing here than the fact that the Diamondbacks might still lose some more before they get those guys back.

But we did get some updates today, including a slightly confusing one on Christian Walker. Christian Walker, we were told by Tori Lavello could be back by this weekend. but then he was saying in a basically controlled environment, not against the Dodgers, which I'm sure made the Dodgers very happy. Yeah, it was a little bit hard to really glean a lot of information there. My takeaway is, I would guess in some ways that there is no takeaway. Like, Tori didn't really confirm or reject anything when he was talking about Christian Walker today.

Right. He did, as you said, he talked about how there was an idea that Walker could play in games this weekend. And then he later clarified talking about some sort of controlled environment. I think these would be games out at Salt River Fields. But he also, he was asked specifically about September 1st, which is coming up this weekend during the Dodgers series. And whether that could be a target date for Walker to come back and rejoin the team. And his initial reaction was it could be sooner than later. And then he also said, but it could be.

after September 1st, I don't know. So again, there wasn't a lot of concrete information there, but I wouldn't rule out entirely the possibility that Walker could play at least a portion of the Dodgers series this weekend. And I think, of course, that was part of it, is that Tori said he could be back by the Dodgers series. I think that's something that Gambo had reported, but could be leaves it kind of open to interpretation,

not to mention the fact that Jesse and I have, had a disagreement about what it means to be back by the Dodgers series. I said that if he's backed by the final game, that counts as being back by the Dodgers series. Jesse completely disagrees with that notion. But these are the arguments we have on the baseball field while we're waiting for other things to happen. But a lot of other injury updates as well, including Catell and Gabby Moreno, but still kind

of unclear on when we can expect those guys back. It's nice to hear, though. Tori did say Catell is a simple. now. Yeah, he said at least like mostly asymptomatic. It sounds like there are some movements that they haven't had Cattel try yet as he continues to sort of build things back up. He mentioned playing with spikes as a particular point of emphasis here, like a box

that they definitely want to check. It sounds like that was an issue the last time around where Cotel seemed to be totally fine with the ankle, doing his pregame work and whatnot. in the game with spikes on. It was a little bit different. So that's something that they definitely want to double check this time around. So I feel pretty confident saying that Ketel will not play in the Dodgers series. Those are, that's sort of my interpretation, not Tori's exact words, but Kattel is first

eligible to be off the IL in a couple of days here. But he saw some boxes to check. I think it's going to be not necessarily a super long time, but I think it's going to be a little a while before we see Kutel back with the major league team. Meanwhile, one of our diehards had a report, Jesse, breaking news on Gabriel Moreno, according to an autograph signing, Gabriel Moreno said he would be back in two weeks. Interesting. What are your feelings on that?

Do you think that that is just Gabriel Moreno playing? Do you think that the listener of our show is a liar, Jesse? That's what they're exhausting. I'm just trying. What do you think of the truth to that statement? I'm not saying the listener. of our show is the liar. I'm saying Gabby might be the liar, but that seems pretty early, considering what we know about Moreno's injury. Yeah, I mean, again, we don't have a ton of

concrete information there. Tori just said today that Gabby swung in the cage today and that they continue to be cautious with how he uses his lower half. I mean, for a catcher in particular, like a groin injury is really tough, obviously, you know, doing what a catcher does. It's, it's, there's a lot of a lot of strain um you just staying in a squat position for that long so yeah i i don't think the debacks have much of a reason to be really aggressive with moreno especially with the way that adrian del castillo has played lately so the two-week thing i mean if gabby said it i'm sure there must be something there uh but it sounds maybe a little bit more optimistic than i would expect And again, I mean, we don't really know because like sometimes Tori is honest with us.

He's like, I feel one way, but the like things are going another way. Like they, they, I think the overall idea here with all of these guys that are injured is that they are all far too valuable to potentially lose for the rest of the season and the postseason. So they would rather be cautious with them now leading up to the stretch that they need them to be healthy for rather than try to get them back as soon as possible. and kind of rush them returning. Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, frankly, you're pretty much one setback from any, any of those three guys being potentially not available for the playoffs. And that's just something that you cannot have.

Granted, the risk there, I think, you know, is certainly bigger with Moreno than with the other two guys. But with any of these players, I mean, obliques can be sort of scary lingering injuries. None of these things are issues that you want to mess with, especially given that the debacks, they're in a very different position than they were a year ago. Like their chance of making the playoffs is still, I believe, over 90%, even after losing this game today, they're still in a really good position as far as getting into the playoffs. They don't have to go all out in the way that they did toward the end of last year.

I remember Gabby Moreno basically starting every single game down the stretch because there just wasn't any margin for error. That that's not the case in in 2024. We did have one more update from Tori LaValle, one that a lot of fans probably aren't going to like, but we tried to get confirmation from Tori. You did on Justin Martinez, officially being named the closer of this team or why the team wasn't going to name the closer, Jesse. And it sounds like, it sounds like Tori's still stuck on one man. it sounds like Tori still can't get over one man being his closer and that's Paul Seawald and i don't know how people are going to feel about that but we can say that paul seawald has even come into

middle relief low leverage situations and not looked very good we do know that when seawald was put into non-save situations he was also not very good so that's that might track but uh what are your thoughts here on like justin martinez kind of just being the temporary closer but Tori's still wanting to give that that mantle back to Seawald. I mean, at this point, Derek, we're almost a month into Justin Martinez being the Diamondbacks closer, like for all intents and purposes in terms of how like the decisions that Tori Lavello is making on a day-to-day basis with how he runs this team. Justin Martinez has been the closer for the last three weeks. I refuse to call it anything else regardless of what, you know,

what Tori wants to say. But yes, yes, I ask. once again today. This is something that came up a couple of weeks ago as well. I asked, you know, is it safe to call Justin Martinez your closer at this point? And Tori continued to say no, that he still thinks that the best Diamondbacks bullpen has Paul Seawald at the end, or has Paul Seawald in that closing spot and that he really wants to see Seawald emerge and regain that role. And you can understand like it was a it was a hard decision for the debacks to to move Seawald out of that spot, something that I think they maybe had to do just given what was what was going on on the field. But when they made that decision, they clearly wanted to see Seawald

get back into that role. And, you know, based on what we've seen from Seawald recently, I'm not sure that he's necessarily earned that. It still looked pretty shaky to me. But that's still what the debacks are saying, at least publicly, that they want Seawald back in that role. And we'll see. it doesn't seem impossible to me that that happens at some point here in this last month. I think the only reason why that's hard to believe is even though Justin Martinez hasn't been perfect, he's still at times is damn good for this team in that role. And, you know, I mean, it's the experience, right? Like the more experience he has, the better he's going to get at it, the more use he's going

to get to it. He's only 22 years old, so he's only going to get better. And I mean, I don't see a reason why. Unless he becomes a detriment to the team, unless he can't do his job, I don't see a reason to change it. But that's just me, and I'm a logical person who believes in common sense and results. What do I know? But speaking of results, Yulbert Diaz still getting some good results for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization as a member of the Reno Aces, Jesse.

He absolutely shoved tonight. He did. Yeah, if you're looking for some positive news on. this Tuesday night. We'll give you some good news before we go. We got we got some positive news. Yeah, six and two thirds innings from Yolbert Diaz tonight. I believe he allowed four hits, two runs. One of those was earned, did not walk anyone, had 13 strikeouts. A really, really impressive start once again for Diaz. His ERA and AAA is now just above three. And he's made four starts in, in AAA since the Diamondback sent him down. He has an ERA under three in those four starts.

So he continues to be a guy who is available for this team. Should they need any more starting pitching depth, if they want to try converting someone else to a reliever, Yober Diaz could still factor in down the stretch for sure. Well, that's another pitcher that could give the Diamondbacks, I guess, good problems to have good decisions that they have to make. But for now, the Diamondbacks have plenty of depth there, and we'll see how that factors in.

Of course, regardless of what Tori said there about his closer, I'm still saying Justin Martinez is the closer. And that's because sometimes Tori Lavola lies. That's what I'm saying. I'm throwing it out there. Tori Lavola lies sometimes. I never lie because I'm your mayor. Of course, I'm a trusted official. Elect me come November.

Damon truth teller. Truth teller. Borderline. Jesse known Fibber. Espo. Huge liar. Huge liar. Don't believe anything Espo ever.

ever says, but the numbers, you can trust the numbers. Numbers never lie. Jesse, what do you have for tonight's number? Tonight's number is 394. That's 0.394. And this is something that we actually haven't touched on, at least not since I hopped on the show. 394 is Randall Grishick's slugging percentage this year against lefties. And this is interesting to me because Grishik is actually slugged decently well against

righties this season. a slugging percentage against Ritey is actually quite a bit higher. But when the Diamondback signed Grishik over the off season, the goal was for him to come in and hit in the middle of the lineup against lefties and do all kinds of damage. And it hasn't really happened that way this season. And it's not to say that Grishik has been a terrible addition for this team. Like I said before,

he's actually really held his own against Ritey's, which has really helped his value and made him, you know, a guy that Tori can use in more situations or maybe he feels comfortable using in more situations. But you compare Grishik's numbers against lefties this season to where they were the last couple of years. It's a pretty big difference. Entering today, Grishik had a 764 OPS against left-handed pitching. Compare that to a 9-95 Ops against lefties last year and a 926 Ops against lefties the year before that.

And of course, Grishik today went 0 for three against Sean Mania, batting fifth in the lineup. And he basically just hit three pop flies. He just seems to be getting way too far underneath the ball. So it's been a rough stretch for Grishik. He has a 619 OPS since July 7th entering today. So it's just been a bit of a rough patch form. Not really sounding any alarm bells or anything here, but just sort of thinking ahead of the playoffs,

Raynold Grishick is going to be used in some big spots. Like the playoffs are often come down to a few key matchups. And Grishik is supposed to be a weapon for this diamond. team against lefties where you know if if you've got a tough a tough matchup late in the game against you know a really good left-handed reliever maybe comes into face jock peterson or whatever the debacks are going to have ranao grishick available on the bench in some of those situations and you want to feel good about him in those spots and he hasn't quite been that guy at least not so far this season yeah well and and playing time might be a factor there for randall gritchick

and some of these other guys of course you know but uh again that That just only further confirms my point that the Diamondback shouldn't win the National League West Division. Anyway, that's all we got for you guys. We appreciate you stopping by. We will see you tomorrow with another postgame show from Chase Field, or at least one of us will be from Chase Field. I'll let you guess which one. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K.

Of course, Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. Damon, the people's producer, is at Damon Dog. He's always at Damon Dog, and that's D-A-W-G. we are Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. We do have some super chats that I don't believe I read. Did I get to all of those, Damon? Or is there?

Oh, okay. Nicholas Gruders. Nicholas Gruders has an excellent question, Jesse. Once again, confirming what I said, just confirms the point. Why do we suck after off days? Also is fought getting gassed. Four plus runs in four of his last five starts.

He's never thrown this many innings at this level. Still don't know why we suck after days off. Maybe it's just. the day off. Maybe it's just the not playing baseball and coming back to it. No way for us to really know that. But what do you think about that final part there about Brandon Fott? You think he's getting a little, I mean, he has been the Diamondbacks most consistent starting pitcher this year by far. Yeah, I think it's an interesting question. Fott's innings total is definitely getting up there. But he has also thrown a lot of innings in the minor

leagues as well. Nicholas is right that this is the most innings he's thrown at this level. But if you look at some of his numbers in the minors in the past, if I can pull these up real quick, Fought has thrown quite a few innings in the minors as well. Looking at 2022, he threw 167 innings down between AA and AAA and then last season, he threw 60 and two-thirds innings in AAA before being called up or I guess in between his call-ups and then he threw another 96 innings during the regular season and he threw, I want to say, 25 or so in the playoffs. So you add all of that together and you're at a pretty

big number. That would be pushing 180 roughly. And he's at 154.2 right now. So it is a lot of innings at this level for sure. But I think he's about as well equipped as any young up and coming pitcher to take on that workload. So I wouldn't be overly concerned. about that. I think fought for the most part throughout this season is just kind of gone. And he's just sort of ebdened and float a little bit. He started the year a little bit slow and then he went on a nice run. And now you've seen him have a few kind of tough starts in a row. This is just kind of the way it's going to be fought has still been a really valuable asset for this team this season. And I wouldn't be too concerned about a few, a few uncharacteristic starts in a row.

Ernesto wants to know does basically losing Gabby do anything for this team like is is the loss of Gabby possibly impacting the pitching? Yeah, it's hard to say. I mean, you know, we've heard really nothing but good things about Jose Herrera in terms of his, his pitch calling and his willingness. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to cut you off. One of Fots, I think it was one of Foughts strikeouts. I felt like Jose Herrera caused the call to happen because he, like so confidently grabbed a ball that was out of the strike zone and then just walked off like

it was the end without even waiting for the umpire to make the call and i was like did herera like influence the umpire to make that strike three call it was kind of wild right but yeah no i'm sorry to get you off go go ahead no yeah that i i don't think that there is a i mean you know herera is not he's not the best framer receiver uh necessarily and and gabby is not necessarily perfect in in that regard either But yeah, I mean, like we've heard about Zach Gowan and the rapport that he's been able to build with Herrera over the years and how it sounds like Tori might even kind of prefer to have Jose Herrera catch the Zach Gowen starts. So I wouldn't I wouldn't read into that too much. You know, maybe they got crossed up a few times today or had had some disagreements in certain moments. The reality is that fought just didn't really have great fastball command in this game.

And he talked about that after the game and how when he don't. don't have great fastball command. It just makes it harder to set up all of your secondary stuff. And, yeah, no matter what pitch you're calling, if you don't have the ability to really execute those pitches, it's going to be a rough night. I know it wasn't on a super chat, Damon, but there was another Star Chat up there that was very, very important,

I believe, up there in the Star Chats. I think it was, it's gone now. It's gone now. Did you? Okay. All right. Well, he'll find it and he'll throw it up there. And it's extremely important because it's basically that who's from Ryan right there. There it is. That's the one. Benedict Freeman. Friedman. Yep. That's right. We're talking about you tonight. You better not, you better pick a side, Jesse. You better pick a side and better be the right side is all I'm saying.

The ease of which Jesse threw Derek to the side and joined Espo's campaign this morning. Effortless with zero resistance as if Jesse has been waiting. for this opportunity. He's been waiting for the opportunity to hop off the Derek for mayor bandwagon. As if I didn't make you a vice mayor, you ingrate.

A piece of Yoshi in the chat says they're coming for Jerry's all-star selection. What? They can never take that away from us. They can't take that away from us. Ever, ever. They never will.

But thank you for your super chat. And thank you for those of you that have, for your loyalty, I guess I should say. Thank you for those of you that have committed to my campaign in my re-election.

But of course, this is just the beginning. And I am just, I've just started, Espo. Do you understand me? I have only just begun, Greg Esposito. All right. Well, you can follow our show. It's at PH&X underscore D-Bax. But all roads do lead to at pH and X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

That's all we got. We'll see you tomorrow for another postgame show. And hopefully, a much happier one. We appreciate you stopping by. We thank you so much for your time. We'll see you tomorrow. And until then, remember, kids, have yourselves a fun night. Baseball's fun.

But it's way more fun when you do this thing that we call winning and not getting your ass kicked by the Mets.