PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BREAKING: Zac Gallen Set For FOURTH Straight Opening Day Start With D-backs

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

Corbin Carroll is back — and leading off for the Arizona Diamondbacks in his first Spring Training game — and suddenly everything feels right again. The D-backs are also set to get another major boost with Merrill Kelly reportedly making his first spring start against the Kansas City Royals. We break down what it means for Arizona to have two of its biggest stars healthy and returning before Opening Day, and why avoiding extended absences from both players could have a massive impact on the regular season. With Carroll back in the lineup and Kelly rejoining the rotation mix, the Diamondbacks suddenly have some tough decisions looming — including a potential logjam in the outfield and a crowded competition for starting pitching spots. We also dive into Steve Gilbert’s latest roster projections from MLB.com and discuss how he sees the D-backs’ roster battles shaking out as the regular season approaches. Plus, we have plenty of thoughts on Team USA’s shocking loss to Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, including why manager Mark DeRosa’s questionable decisions and lack of awareness about the team’s advancement scenario may have played a major role in pushing Team USA to the brink of elimination. Limited-time offer! Become a Diehard for just $36: https://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order! Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! 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/ Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. 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! 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.

Corby and Carroll is back in the lineup today. Merrill Kelly returns to the starting rotation on Friday, and we have never been this back. And welcome in to another edition of the PHNX feedback podcast, live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of PHNX occasionally known as Territ Montia. I'm thrilled to have you guys here. Welcome in to another edition of the HMXVXVX podcast.

I'm joined on the ones and twos by my dog and your dog, Damon Dog, aka Damon Farrell. Hello to you, Deborah. Hello to you, Damon. Hello to everybody else in the chat. We got ourselves big news today, some big returns for the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as a huge debacle with Team USA in the world baseball classic. Damon, I'm going to do some screaming about Mark DeRosa's management of their team. Derek's fired up, guys.

I am fired up about that. But of course, first, we have really, really good news today. We're going to talk here a little bit about Diamondbacks' upcoming game today against the athletics. And in that game, one young Corbyn Carroll will be the Diamondbacks designated hitter and will be in the lineup hitting leadoff. Can you believe it, Damon? Can you actually, I mean actually believe? it?

No. No. It does feel fast. It does feel fast. But again, it's weird because the haymate bone, which we have become experts on, is a useless bone. It's a stupid bone in your hand that you don't need. However, the recovery of this kind of surgery is about pain tolerance.

That's really what it comes down to. There's not a way to re-injure the bone once it's been removed. however it can be very painful especially if the hand that it's been removed from is also throwing hand for the purposes of gripping a baseball right at least that's what we're told damon and i both have our fully functioning haymates in our hands as of as of recording this or doing we're live so i promise you i shouldn't say it's functioning really the proper terminology it sounds like it's completely useless it's a dumb thing but we got lots of dumb things like that in our bodies right like we have lots of dumb things like tonsoles or something oh don't even get me

started on my tonsils. All my tonsils are trying to do is kill me, Damon, and they have been since I was a small child. Unfortunately, my father's cousin was a doctor, and he told my dad that I shouldn't get them removed because tonsils are of some sort of filtration importance, but not in my case where my doctor as a grown man has told me that if I don't get them removed, there's a good chance that I'm going to affixiate in the middle of the night. So that's how I look forward to dying, and things just took a dark turn. We were sitting here trying to talk about Corbyn Carroll returning, and here I am already five minutes into the podcast talking about dying, Damon. That was a wild turn of events there. You brought up tonsils. You had to bring up tonsils

and set me off. That's like me bringing up Shoahe Otani to you. Brother, I came up with another example. I want my tonsils put in a cop car and driven away, Damon. That's how I feel about my criminal tonsils. I went in and gave another example of the chat and then you gave us your entire medical history. Well, yeah, I mean, I do that. You know I shared much. I'm an overshare. I am an overshareer, but the Diamondbacks here have Corbyn Carol back in the top of the lineup. I mean, there is some concern, some concern from some of you in the chat about Corbyn returning too soon, right? And, you know, that could be the case. The only person that unfortunately is really going to know that is Corbyn Carroll. He is the only one that's going to

be able to tell people in this instance that he's experiencing pain or discomfort due to this surgery due to coming back this early, right? So, unfortunately, he feels like the, I mean, I guess I don't know if unfortunately is the right word, but I mean, Corbyn just is a gamer and he seems like

the kind of guy who's going to do everything you can to be out there, to be participating, to be playing as soon as possible, especially considering that, you know, with this kind of injury, the big concern is how much time it takes to get back to having power and how Corbin really

did, you know, find a way to increase his power last season and, and, you know, really put some home runs out there. So I feel like that, the fact that he was, you know, trying his best to be ready early due to his participation in, you know, the team USA, which now has become a disaster and could be, might not even make it out of the pool round. But they would have if Corbyn was there. They would have if Corby was care. Meanwhile, I just think that this is a good thing to see Corbyn back. Corbyn did say that he wanted to get 10 games in before opening day. And as far as this is concerned, this would give him 13 games, including today's game between now and opening day. This would allow him to not only get into 10 games. It would allow him to not necessarily need to do it

in 10 consecutive games leading up to opening day. The Diamondbacks do have a day off in between their final spring training game on the 24th and then 25th. They're off. We're off. We're off on this show because I'm going to be drunk the evening of the 24th on my birthday. So we're taking the 25th off. But we will all be back there on the 26th for opening day against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And then we will be here bringing you post-game shows for Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays show. So just to give you an update on what we will be doing that opening series.

But again, this will give Corbyn the time to get back. And of course, this also allows for him to assess and to see if playing. is causing him, you know, pain, right? Damon, I mean, that's what this is about. This is about you could take live at bats. You can go out there and you can, you know, participate in drills and everything in the backfields at Salt Riverfields, but you don't really know

until you're actually playing real baseball games how your hand is going to react and how it's going to feel the next day. I would imagine that he's like pretty close to 100% if they're letting him come back this early before spring training with what that injury was supposed to be. And this far in advance of the regular season even. And, you know, Corbyn's talking about wanting to play 10 games.

Like, I think they're very on top of things. Debris has it in the chat. I would think the medical professionals are on top of this. I know people probably don't want to trust this Diamondbacks medical team because of how many injuries that, you know, we've sustained in the last two, three seasons now. And I get it. You know, even this start to this year has felt like there's been a lot of injuries.

But I really, I think that. it feels worse than it actually is in a way. Like Merrill Kelly, Corbyn Carroll, the two worst ones. These guys seem to be coming back pretty soon here. Lourdes is on the fast track. Like, AJ Puck is saying that he feels, you know, pretty good already. And he's pushing to come back faster. I just think that, you know, this is a situation where, you know,

this organization has definitely been burned by injuries the last couple years. They're not going to take chances when it's, you know, when it feels like there's a risk to be. he had. And if Corbyn's coming back this fast, I think that it's fair to say that he's like good to go. You know what I mean? That's fair to say. I mean, again, this is all about pain tolerance. This is not about anything that they can do an x-ray or an MRI on or anything that they can like look at the instructional damage of it and determine if it's okay for him to come back or not. You know what I mean? Like, and again, if if Corbin just has a different level, a different pain

threshold that might allow him to come back early but of course brother the guy loves ball more than anybody i was i was just thinking about corbin carroll earlier today and i was like just as i often do and i think about him every single day of my life absolutely and you ever just be sitting there and just start thinking about corbin carol all the time so hashtag relatable but um i'm i was thinking about just like this guy just loves ball more than anything more than anything as derrick stares at the picture of corbin carroll on the wall. But I just feel like, you know, like he just loves baseball. He's all about baseball and he's going to do whatever it takes to play.

And if it's really truly down to what he can tolerate from a pain perspective, sure. I don't think that we're going to see Corby and Carroll on the shelf for too long. I think he's going to do what it takes to play through that pain. That's fair. But the other good news that we have about a returning player from injury is that Merrill Kelly will be returning this Friday against the Kansas City Royals. He will be making his first start for the Diamond

of spring training, then very encouraging to see Merrill back out there. We're going to talk here in a little bit about Steve Gilbert's roster projections. Steve is still playing it conservative when it comes to Merrill being ready and in the rotation come the regular season. Not that it's not that he's going to miss too much time, but that there's a good chance that there might be two, you know, passes through the rotation before Merrill is added at the back end. And we'll discuss that here shortly. But I also think that based on the time frame and the way that things are lining up, Merrill has the opportunity now. If you look ahead at appearing in three spring training games between now and opening day if he starts on Friday versus the Royals. This would put him in the March 19th game against the White Sox.

And then this would have him actually starting in the spring training finale on my birthday. Once again, March 24th, got to reinforce that as many times as I can on March 24th versus the Guardians. Do you think that three starts is enough to get him stretched out in time to be ready at the back end of the bullpen? Or do you kind of agree with Steve Gilbert's assessment that there's a good chance that he might just miss at least that one turn through and then have another four starts and then have him start then, especially with Michael Soroka being available in the back end? Yeah, I mean, I got to be honest, this is something that I would say is far above my pay grade of like I got no idea. And, you know, it would be pure speculation on my part. I think that Merrill is an experienced enough pitcher where, like, he knows his body. He knows what feels good and what doesn't.

And he's been a guy that, I don't want to say he's like a hypochondriac because I don't think so. But like he's been a guy that has been very kind of, I think, on edge when things aren't exactly feeling right. Like we've seen it with the cramps pulling himself out and whatnot. if he's ready to go I kind of again I kind of defer to him similarly to like I did with Corvin but obviously I want the people that deal with the arms

and the medical staff to be a part of it as well because we need Merrill Kelly for the entirety of this season we can't just have him rush back not be ready to go so that one I'm a little like pitchers I think you're always going to be a little bit more cautious about and a guy like Corvin Carroll like if it's truly just like a pain tolerance thing

It's like if I think he wants to play more than anything. Whereas Kelly, like I'm sure he wants to pitch, but it's like, brother, I want to make the playoffs this year. And if we make the playoffs and Merrill Kelly's not in the rotation, then it's probably over right then and there. Like that we need that guy in our postseason rotation. Here's what I think. And this is the only reason why I think he won't miss that first time through the rotation is because he's going to go out and pitch against actual major league level talent. Yeah. he's going to go out and pitch in spring training games against teams.

I find it hard to imagine that in order to stay stretched out or get further stretched out, that he would be able to do so by going to like backlock games or simulated games at Salt River Fields. After having already competed in spring training games, it just feels like their plan at least is for him to get these three starts in before the regular season and to not miss a time through the rotation. That's what Tori Lavello has told us, and that's what everything is trending towards. So it feels like overall there's a good chance that Merrill won't miss that time for the rotation. However, that does create, again, some logjam issues with the starting rotation as far as what's going to happen at the back end there with Soroka or Eduardo Rodriguez or Brandon Fott and others. But today out against the athletics, we do got Ryan Nelson on the mound making his third start of spring. and we got Corby and Carol out there

hitting lead off for this team so that's exciting to see. Electric. It's electric. Paymond Smith, by the way, hitting 308 so far in spring training with a 1,000 OPS. I just want to throw that out there. Ildemar Vargas also doing pretty well

hitting 308. However, his OPS is much uglier at 693. Derek, no one, can I just say no one wants Paveen Smith to make me look like a clown more than me? I don't know. Maybe, maybe I,

do. I might want him to make you look like a cloud more than you do. But it would be great for content, number one. But number two, like, I love this baseball team. Obviously, obviously Pavin Smith has been a guy that I've had a lot of question marks about throughout his career. But like,

I really hope he sustains it, man. He had a great start to last season. It would be electric if he could do that again this season. But then I need to see more consistency from Pavin Smith. And hopefully he has it because it feels like he has like a really good a really good eye, right? Yeah. It feels like, you know, his OPS is always fairly decent because he walks a lot and his

hits tend to be extra base hits. Now we just got to find a way to, I think, be a little bit more clutch in moments when you have runners in scoring position and whatnot where it feels like maybe there's been some letdowns from Paveman Smith in the past. And he's been given ample opportunity, right? So, yeah. This season is like, it's make or break, I think. It's easy to, I mean, I think we're starting to overlook Paving, but.

But I think Pavin is right there at that same point with Alec Thomas and others that could make that breakout. Like we've seen brilliance from these guys before. We've seen them be able to hit. They've had moments. Yeah. It's just, again, I've said it time and time again. It's about consistency. That's the difference between a great player and a good player.

I mean, it's a difference between a mediocre player and a great player even. Baseball is such a stupid game that if you hit the ball 25% of the time, you suck. And if you hit it 30% of the time, you're a hollow player. famer. So that's the difference in these cases. And I feel like both of these guys are definitely better than what we've seen out of them up to this point in their professional careers. However, like you said, like I said, there's been times where for short stints, they've really put it together. So far this spring, we're seeing a lot of good out of those guys. We're seeing a lot of good out of Jordan Lawler and the young guys that kind of are stepping up and trying to fight for a role

on this team. But, you know, so far you got, you know, Payman Smith hitting safely in all six of his games at a, you know, 389 clip, seven for 18, a 1.33 OPS in those six games. My favorite. A triple, two home runs and four RBI. My guy. Yeah. So. And then you also have today, or the other day, yesterday, yesterday. It was kind of sad. It was pathetic a little bit. Not a lot of offense, but the Diamondbacks did lose to the Dodgers by a score of four to one. I know Damon hates that,

but what he won't hate is that Jordan Lawler hit a lead off home run and it was off of Tyler Glass now. Correct. So again, we keep talking about Jordan Lawler doing it against Major League pitching. Show me that he can do it against Major League pitching. Well, he just did, and he leads the team

with four home runs right now. I mean, Jordan Lawler, like, we're here for it, brother. This is, you're talking about like the difference between, you know, being great and good is or great in average is consistency, right? Absolutely. And we, you know, we see that with Alec Thomas, Pave and Smith, guys that have shown flashes of being like where you're like, oh, man, this is what we drafted, you know, Pave and Smith

top 10 for. This is what Alec Thomas was a top prospect in this organization for so many years for. But what we don't see is that consistency. There are times where they're up there at the plate and it's just like they have no chance. Like we saw that against out with Alex Thomas against T's. Team USA, right, a little bit, where it was flashes of like, oh, he's just not going to, he's just not going to do anything right now. And I feel like, you know, like guys like Perdomo, guys like Cattel, you can never serve them up a pitch, right? Because they'll make you pay no matter what kind of game they're having thus far.

Jordan Lawler. And that's kind of what happened with that four scene fastball from Tyler Glass now yesterday. Yeah. He made him bay for it. Absolutely. I think Jordan Lawler, like this spring is showing why he was that top level prospect. And if he does maintain this level of consistency, like he's automatically the fourth best player on the team.

Which would be, I mean, that would be maybe best case scenario for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. For sure, for sure. Meanwhile, Brandon Fott, he made his second spring start. He gave up one run over two and two-thirds innings, but he did strike out four. So not a terrible outing at all from Brandon Fod, and it's very encouraging to see him strike out four

in two-and-two-thirds innings. Meanwhile, Brandon Garcia, he's a stud. He's a certified G. He's a bona fide stud, and you can't teach that. He recorded his fifth consecutive scoreless outing since being removed from that game where he was sick and he was removed due to illness. And in four innings, he has one hit, one walk,

and four strikeouts. He's all we got, Derek. He's all we got, Brandon Garcia. I mean, you might be the season. So right. Brandon Garcia might be the season. How do you do you do it? you go in the game night one against show hey otani muki bets and freddie freeman because

you're going to get those three most likely as the one lefty in the bullpen that needs to get those outs i'm hypothetically i mean it's it he brany garcia is everything to us yeah to me i know i know good news about today's game it is uh it will be uh dbacks dot com live stream uh and you'll be able to hear Jake Lamb on the call over there, along with Braden Bell. So that's... He's back. He's back. He's never been more back. We've never been more back with Corbyn Carroll back in the lineup today and Merrill Kelly returning on Friday. So good news all around. Meanwhile, by the way, other news from yesterday, just real quick, Lucan Baker went two for three with a walk. He has hit safely in six of his last seven games and continues to be a real good looking, you know, addition for this team this offseason.

And Tim Tawa, one for three, a double. And he's reached Bay safely in eight of his last nine games. So guys are doing it in spring. It's just a limited roster here. We would love to see our guys from the WBC back here, but we don't want to see them too soon. We want to see them after they've had a chance to hoist a trophy, perhaps.

And that's obviously Damon's Dominican team. But we're going to talk about what Team USA went through here in a little bit. Actually, let's do that after this break, David, because I am ready to scream. Don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the PH&X Diamond

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That was nailed it. Zach Gallin has been named your opening day starter to the surprise I'm sure of nobody. But the Diamondbacks have made it official. According to their social media account, Galin has been named the opening day starter. I'm also getting text messages about that as we speak as well from the Diamondbacks PR team. So thanks, thanks guys. Appreciate it. But yes, fourth consecutive opening day start for Zach Gallen. And of course, this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.

We did talk about Ryan Nelson possibly being a candidate there. I know it probably had more to do with if Gallen would be stretched out and ready to go. But it appears Gallen will be ready to go. And he looks good. He's looked good so far this spring. Any surprises there? I know Damon is working on getting some stuff out, but Damon, I mean, I know we talked maybe about Nellie, possibly being, you know, an option. But it always felt like it was going to be Zach once Merrill went down, right?

Yeah. This organization defers a lot to, you know, I think respect and, you know, your tenure at the organization and whatnot. That was part of, I think, what went into being like, this is Merrill Kelly's first opening day start. and then now obviously he gets hurt. Yeah. I think this was always, you know, going to be Zach Gowen. He's done it three other times. This is now his fourth opening day start.

So, you know, it was always probably leaning this direction. But maybe you could argue merit-wise that Ryan Nelson does deserve it. I felt like he would have to kind of have pitched lights out so far in spring. And it's not to say he hasn't. And I mean, again, the Diamondbacks could have potentially waited, you know, for today's game. perhaps to make, you know, to make that decision. But this would only have been Ryan Nelson's third start. I just feel like, again, he had to look like really good.

And Gallen had to basically look like he wouldn't be stretched out fully to give the Diamondbacks at least five innings on opening day based on his late start. But Gallen was training during the offseason and he only missed a half a week, essentially, of pitchers and catchers reporting. So it doesn't really feel like he missed too much time overall. I do agree with Damon on the assessment that this is a bit of a sentimental organization. So it feels like they are going to, you know, lean on a guy that's done it before that's had the experience and also a guy that they feel deserves it. They bring Zach back for this one year.

And, you know, again, it's, it's good to have Zach here. It is good to have him here. And I'm sure that he is very appreciative of this opportunity. We might have some video for you before the end of this episode from the clubhouse there. with Zach Gallen discussing that opening day start. But for the most part, overall here, the Diamondbacks are, you know, in a good position to be ready for opening day. But we have a little bit of a prediction article that was released from our guy,

Steve Gilbert, over at MLB.com. Steve gave his opening day roster predictions. And overall, everything seemed to kind of make sense. He had Gabby Moreno and James McCann here. as catchers, infielders. He has Nolan Aronado, Cotell Marte, or Aldo Pardomo, no surprise. And he has Pavan Smith, Tim Tawa, Carlos Santana, and Ildemar Vargas, making the roster as the seventh infielder. So that's who he sees and kind of makes sense with how good Vargy has been playing this spring

and also his ability to be a utility infielder. Damon and I have discussed so many times that this team has utility infielder options internally. and even if they didn't go with guys like Tawa and Vargas who have experience at a major league level, there are some guys like Tommy Troy and others in the minors that have looked very good this spring as well. Outfielders. I got to be honest, Derek.

That's now the debacks that I don't like. This is the part I struggle with, where I'm like, it's always... Where we go back to the veteran guys. It's always Jose Herrera. It's always Nick Ahmed split in time with Huron. Geraldo Perdomo. And you're like, I'm sorry.

Like, how many times has Il-Domaro Vargas been in this organization? No offense to the guy, but he is an injury. 714. He's an injury replacement, Derek. He is a guy that you stock up in the minors. And then when people get hurt, you call him up because maybe he can do a job. He is in no way, shape, or form on the opening day roster over a guy like Tommy Troy. This is what we did with Blaze, too.

It's like, come on. man, like these guys can help this organization win games right now over the guys that you have. And I'm about getting a good start to the season, a hot start to the season that sets you up for success later on in the year. I'm not about slow cooking development and all this stuff. Like, I get it. It could be better for Tommy Troy in general to have that, that start in AAA or whatnot. That's how they see it because these guys are going to- I don't care. I want to win games.

These guys are going to be replacement players, fill-ins, utility infielders. They don't want to make Tommy Troy into that because then he, just sits on the bench and doesn't get at bats. And I think that that's the thought process behind it. But they do though. They do get at that. That's the part that breaks me is that it's like Tori is going to play Ildemarovar. He's going to play everybody. And we're going to have to watch that. We're going to be subjected to watch that. And when he's hitting 212 with two home runs, I'm going to be sitting here being like, you know, it would be fun. Tommy Troy. Right. I get it. And that's not to say that we won't see that before the end of this year. I will say that it feels like Mike Hayeson and Tori Lovolo.

I don't know if you want to say jointly, but it does feel like last year what we saw was guys on a much shorter leash than what we've seen in the past when it comes to those veteran players kind of struggling overall, right? But I know that the thought process essentially is at the end of the day that all of these guys, Ryan Walsh Schmidt, a Tommy Troy, it doesn't matter who you love in the minor league organization, especially guys that had an incredible spring and performed well against major league caliber pitching.

these guys, they want them to get at bats and they want them to start every single day until they're ready to essentially start at a major league level where they will still get at bats and play every single day. Until then, they feel like they need to have them stashed in the minor leagues, starting every day and playing in a place, especially like the PCL,

that is only going to make them better offensively, at least up here, and also produce some pretty incredible numbers for them should the Diamondbacks choose to ever trade any of these young guys. away, right? So there's a lot of thought process here, but I think the majority of it is about guys getting playing time and making sure that you're not leaving these young players, you know, sitting on a bench or playing every four days when they could be developing at a AAA level still, improving, working on their swing, working on things in a way that's inconsequential

to the major league club and isn't impacting wins and losses for the major league club, while still also getting meaningful playing time and playing every day. But that's only because I've been brainwashed by going to too many press conferences with the front office. I have no other way to think about it other than that. Diamondbacks here, Steve has Corbin, Carol, Alec Thomas, Jordan Lawler, and Jorge Barrosa. Once again, the Damon's dismay. As the outfielders, he does not have Lordus Gurriel Jr. making it back in time for the opening day roster. He also does not have Merrill Kelly making it back for the opening day roster.

His five-man rotation starting on opening day was Ryan Nelson, Zach Gallen, Zach Gallen, Brandon Fott, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroga. He may be on to something there. I don't know if he's essentially incorrect when it comes to the fact that they might skip Merrill's first time through. If that's the case, like I said earlier, Merrill would need some sort of backlock game, simulated game, something to get him stretched out to keep him on that schedule

where he would be ready to start essentially the next time around through the rotation. this time would put him in alignment to start against, I believe, the Detroit Tigers, or it could be a week later, I believe, on the road. But the most interesting part of Steve's assessment of his opening day roster predictions is the bullpen. He has an eight-man pen here, and the bullpen consists of, which, and he admitted, this is the most difficult one to figure out. He has Kevin Ginkle, Taylor Clark, Jonathan Lois Sega, Brandon Garcia, obviously, the savior of our bullpen. Paul Seawald, Paul Seawald, Ryan Thompson, Dre Jameson, and

Andrew Hoffman. And I like it. I actually like this bullpen. I'm surprised by it. And I think that there's an interesting caveat here as to what happens with whoever they move out of the starting rotation. Don't want to implicate that it's Michael Soroka, but it feels like whoever isn't there. What do you do with that guy? Does that guy instantly become a bullioner? bullpen arm, I don't know if that's the immediate transition from leaving the starting rotation right now with the Diamondbacks. I have no idea what's going to happen there, but that's going to be a difficult decision to make. Same thing that they're going to have to decide here when other players come back. They're going to have a lot of difficult decisions as the season

goes on, at least in their bullpen. They have young guys that still have options that they can send down. So of course, it makes someone like an Andrew Hoffman an easy target or perhaps even a Brandon Garcia when, you know, they get A.J. Puck and Justin Martinez back, right? But don't know. I don't, I don't hate this. I don't love this. What are your thoughts overall on Steve's assessment, especially the bullpen guys, Damon? Was not listening. Can you give it to me again? It's Kevin Kinkle, Taylor Clark, Jonathan Loisiga, Brandon Garcia, Paul Seawald, Ryan Thompson, then Dre Jameson and Andrew Hoffman. Love to see Dre Jameson on there, huh? Love to see him in there. That's our guy, for sure.

And I think Dre has been performing well. I mean, Dre even started, if you want to call it that, a spring training game or two. He was the opener for this team. And it feels like, again, when you look at the other options outside of these guys, you have some of the non-raster invites and minor league guys. So not a lot of major league experience here from the available options. Dre seems to be a pretty decent choice. I also like Andrew Hoffman a lot. I've seen him out there pitching extremely well.

like he pitched well for this team last season when he was called up. And again, I like him as an addition to this bullpen overall. But it feels competitive. It feels like it's ever changing. And even if this is who is going to be here on opening day, I doubt that this bullpen will be the same come May 1st. I doubt it will be the same come June 1st. And I know for a fact, it won't be the same come like the end of the season. Right. So it's going to be an ever-changing thing. Jeremy Strong says Hoff Daddy. We call him super bad Andrew Hoffman around here. Remember, because he sounds like Michael Sarah and looks like Jonah Hill.

But yeah, exciting stuff. Love to hear you guys' thoughts. Make sure you leave your comments about who you would like to see in the bullpen, who you think doesn't deserve to be there. All of that stuff. We always appreciate it. But now I'm ready, Damon. Now that we got the Zach Gowan opening day starter news out of the way.

Now that we talked about roster predictions, I'm ready to yell about Team USA and I think we should give me a second. Let's take another break. And on the other side of this break, we are going to scream about Mark DeRosa not knowing that Team USA did not already clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.

We're going to do it right now. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time in Beck Show. Well, Circle K is America's third stop. It's Derek's third stop. It's Damon's third stop. And hopefully you make it your third stop. That's because it can get you hydrated for less,

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So you can also save on polar pops, frosters, and so much more. So join the inner circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details. We've been telling you about Mark and Alexis Breyer, who is the husband and wife law team, and how if you have it experienced an accident or serious injury, they are the lawyer you should contact first. The lawyer you hire does matter. Make sure you do your research and understand the difference between qualified and unqualified attorneys here in the Valley.

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If you've had a serious injury, call the husband and wife law team first at 602-783-8-8-4-1 or visit their website at the link in our show notes and tell them PHNX send you. Boy, what a situation we have with Team USA and the World Baseball Classic. We had a lot of action yesterday that we should probably discuss. Canada beat my beloved team Puerto Rico to keep their quarterfinal dreams alive. They had some very good pitching there from, I believe it's Jordan Basil, Bazovic. But the Canadian offense did just enough here against Team Puerto Rico, who honestly, their pitching has been incredible so far in this tournament. And Canada stays alive heading into its pool race into its next matchup.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico has already clinched a spot, but it's about who seating there. in that next game. Meanwhile, Japan has no problem with seating or with Chequia. They beat them nine to nothing. And that game was actually tied until late when Japan all of a sudden exploded in the eighth inning with nine runs. And that is what Japan tends to do here.

But we got to talk about the team USA debacle, obviously. That's the big story in baseball. That's what everybody's talking about. Italy, who was previously undefeated in its first two games, beat the United States who was undefeated in its first three games by a score of eight to six and what has been deemed the biggest upset of this tournament so far. Italy jumped out, in fact, to a huge lead, eight to nothing leading through the first six innings.

It was kind of unbelievable and it felt a little bit like USA wasn't even trying until late. And then they rallied and they did manage to put together a comeback. PCA was amazing. He had two home runs in this game and four. RBI for USA. Gunner Henderson had a solo home run as well. But Italy just kept attacking and especially they did not, they did not pull back on the starter here, who is also the exact same gentleman that Team USA would theoretically send on the mound in the championship game should they make it that far. Nolan McLean, who we have talked about before, 24-year-old pitcher from the New York

Mets. He got rocked in this one. Overall, the Team USA just not only didn't send out their best lineup, but didn't seem to be really even trying that hard. And there might be a good reason for that, because as many people know, after having seen the interview, the video, before the game against Italy, team USA manager Mark DeRosa appeared on MLB Network and incorrectly stated that the U.S. had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. Now, I've interviewed people before, obviously. You may have seen it. You may have seen me bumble through a few interviews in my time. I don't know if I would have the courage to tell Mark DeRosa live in an interview

that he was wrong about his team clinching a spot. I mean, obviously there was some miscommunication. I know that seeing other teams go up 3-0 in the WBC has meant that they clinched, but that wasn't the case in Team USA. pool and the problem here being that the USA had in fact not clinched anything yet. USA has a potential here to have a three-way tie scenario with both Mexico and Italy, which is still possible. And tiebreakers, especially in this world, baseball classic that's not based on run differential

or how many runs you've scored, but more about how many runs you've allowed, could eliminate the U.S. depending on the total runs allowed here afterwards, especially considering that they allowed eight runs in this loss to Italy. And it's crazy because, okay, fine, the MLB network does not say anything to Mark DeRosa at the time. But you mean to tell me between then and the start of the game that nobody told Mark DeRosa that they hadn't clinched anything yet because it didn't feel like he was managing during that game as someone who had anything to lose?

and this whole team USA situation is starting to just feel like a big joke because we talked about what a juggernaut they were putting out there. And instead what we have is their star pitchers now leaving to go back to camp before the tournament is over. And a manager obviously not informed enough to take a game seriously that all the broadcasts were saying if the USA wins, then they're into the quarterfinals. All of the broadcasts knew what was going on.

they understood the assignment, but the team didn't. And again, the lineup looked more like a rest day than a must win. You had Paul Goldschmidt, who against right-handed pitching, is the fifth worst batter in Major League Baseball among qualified batters. And he started. You didn't have Bryce Harper in the lineup. You didn't have Alex Bregman. You didn't have Cal Rally.

You didn't have Bryce Terang. You sub those guys in late. These were among the best bats on their roster and sitting them obviously showed that there was a lack of urgency in regards to winning this game or that losing this game could potentially impact them.

Like they don't have a say in it now. It really comes down to what happens in the Italy versus Mexico game. DeRosa treated this like a spring training situation more than a tournament elimination game. And Italy immediately jumped all over and took advantage of the weak lineup and the sloppy play.

The sloppy play. That's another thing. Marta Rosa didn't seem to know, right? But let's talk about them partying after beating Team Mexico, shall we? Because if you're telling me, according to Mark DeRosa in a pregame press conference, that Team USA players had been out celebrating late that night before after beating Team Mexico, that tells me, Damon, that they were celebrating that they advanced to the quarterfinals. So not only does it seem to me like the manager was ill-informed,

but the entire team had thought they advanced. It's a colossal failure on everyone involved in USA Baseball. I just can't believe it. And again, it just doesn't feel like this team is taking it as seriously as they could. I said, I already said, didn't I use the word performative when it came to Team USA before this? Yeah. This seems, this just adds to that idea that their participation here in the World Baseball Classic is performative. They're more concerned about getting injured and they're more concerned about this impacting their season.

Meanwhile, you have guys from every other country no matter if they're major leaguers or not playing their hearts out in these games. So, I mean, this was a team that was flat and unfocused early and Italy did not relent when it came to jumping all over. over that when it came to grabbing extra bases. And I mean, this game ends up in an 8 to 6 loss. So when you look back at those first couple of innings and the way that USA was just giving away runs, you see how big of a failure this was. On top of the fact that allowing runs has a huge impact on this tiebreaker scenario. For people that already were critics of the Team USA, like Damon Dogg behind the desk over there, it just reinforces the perception that Team USA treats the WBC just far more casually than the other countries are.

And I mean, they had what seemed like an unbeatable starting lineup. But hey, a national team manager not knowing about tournament rules. It's embarrassing. I think that's it. It comes down to this being an embarrassment. Right? That's what it feels like. That's how seriously we're taking this thing.

We don't even know what the rules of the damn tournament are. man i mean listen i i never had you know never felt the passion for this team that was obvious if you listened to this podcast at all but like i i can't it does fire me up a little bit the lack of care from from their perspective like like do you see what scoble said when he was like

it's hard leaving these boys man then don't then don't like what are we talking about you're gonna go you're gonna go back to the organization that didn't even want to pay you yeah like what $11 million what you were at difference what you were asking for and that's where you're going to invest your your time and your energy into instead of the team that you committed to it doesn't make any sense to me i just uh in reading the comments too of course there's moronic comments from killer x as there always is but um you know again talking about these games not mattering

do any games matter does a world series trophy matter it's just a hunk of metal right does any of it matter because it's, it matters in the basis that they're trying to establish a world tournament here that's like the Olympics that allows teams to participate in this and have countries and interest. The interest is there, though I would argue in some of the stadiums, less so than other stadiums, right? But I just think overall here, obviously, you know, some teams come prepared with their stars actually wanting to fully commit to this. And others don't. I don't know if that's the case here. This situation just seems incompetent overall.

That's what this at the end of the day seems like. It seems like a very incompetent situation where Mark DeRosa, who came onto a show on the MLB network to be interviewed, already had the misconception that his team had advanced. And like right there, that's embarrassing enough in itself. However, it felt like it never got corrected. the entire time until they had experienced a loss and the game was over to Italy. So that's, that's crazy to me. That's crazy to me. And it feels very, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for here, David?

Embarrassing. I mean, we weren't even backing Team USA. They didn't have any Diamondbacks on there. We're still, this is still a team Republica Dominicana podcast. But overall, we have now, you know, the USA once again getting criticized after putting out one of their best rosters they've ever put out, that, you know, that they're not really trying. And it's hard not to agree with that. Now we have the most important games ever happening. If Italy wins against Team Mexico, then everything is fine and Team USA advances.

Though we're still very unsure about their pitching going forward in this tournament. And if they're going to have solid pitching, I don't know. but if Team Mexico wins, things get very complicated very fast. If Team Mexico wins against Italy, they automatically advance. And then Italy will also advance if Mexico scores four runs or fewer, and Team USA would be eliminated. And USA advances somehow if Mexico scores five runs or more, then Team Italy is eliminated. So there we go.

And also, it's very weird to come into comments on a show and ask who cares when you're here watching. Obviously, Killer X, you do. Damon, can we boot him now? Or can I throw him out? Because I've had enough of him. Look, if you don't like some form of baseball, don't watch it. I'm not asking you to. But I will also say that World Baseball Classic Play has been exciting.

It's been fun. And there's been plenty of drama, plenty of controversy. this definitely adds to it, right? The fact that one of the favorites in this tournament, it almost felt like it was a foregone conclusion that Team USA was going to advance to the finals here against Team Japan, has taken not only a significant hit and shown that they're human and mortal,

but they've also shown that, you know, a mistake could easily lead to their exit. And at this point, that's what's on the line here. The Team USA could be eliminated and not even advanced to the quarter final round. Should that happen, it would be the biggest embarrassment in, right, in Team USA history with this lineup?

I mean, in American history. For very long, you know, so yeah, it probably would be the biggest embarrassment. I mean, this is a national embarrassment, Damon. That's why everybody should care.

So there's that. But let's see. Jeremy Strong says, quick pivot to the game today. It's Corbyn's return and it's audio only. you can watch on dbacks.com we covered that a little while ago so if you haven't had a chance to tune in on there i've i've had to do that a couple of times myself when it comes to watching diamondbacks game so at least at least it's on the dbacks dot com live stream today and that one like again is hosted by raden bell and jake lamb this weekend does feature three dbax dot tv broadcasts uh Friday the royals game uh Saturday the giants game and then Sunday the Padres game. By the way, if you're a direct TV member, I just wanted to say that when it comes to those channels by the Diamondbacks channel, I found, I find Diamondbacks games randomly

on other teams feeds randomly on there. So make sure to keep an eye out for that as well. But they don't tell you that part, Damon. That's the part that they keep away from you for sure. But I want to give a quick shout out, obviously, to everybody that are diehard, you guys are the best, and you are the lifeblood of PH&X. You keep us. going. If you are not a diehard, we have an introductory offer right now for your first year, and that is part of our NFL free agency coverage. And I'll just throw in, I'll make it my own thing. It's also part of spring training coverage package. Damn right. Right? Like, you can't take that away from me. Also part of an opening day deal for baseball. Why not? Throw that in there,

too. What you get is for $36, you will get your first full year with full NFL free agency coverage all week long and baseball coverage all year long. You'll always. also get a complete access to our draft guide, scouting reports, prospect breakdowns, analysis, and access to who Damon and I hate because we just, we put together an occasional ranking of that. You also get a free t-shirt of your choice from our locker, access to our diehard Discord, 20% off on all merchandise and events and of course premium coverage all year long, football, baseball, basketball, we got you covered. So head on over to go phnx.com slash intro to get in on that introductory offer.

One last thing, Damon, before we get out of here, I know that when we are talking about prospects and players kind of struggling at times or guys that haven't really fulfilled their full potential, I know a lot of people are waiting for Drew Jones to kind of have that breakout season, and this year could be that for him. MLB named him one of the top performing prospects in the World Baseball Classic, adding in that Drew, a 22 first rounder has four hits, including a double and a walk through three games while playing the strong,

while playing strong center field defense that you would expect from Andrew Jones's son. So again, a great opportunity for Drew Jones, Christian Robinson, and other guys that are younger prospects to get into this tournament and get some playing time. More importantly, again, it's just kind of high leverage baseball, right? It's baseball that they will not get even at a minor league level. And I know those are competitive games that they want to win and it's against, you know, talented players, but, you know, getting a chance to participate in this tournament is an amazing experience, I think, for a young guy. Also, same with, like, you know, Mitch Bratt, who got a chance

to pitch for Team Canada here at Chase Field when he was 19 years old, and he's now part of the Diamondbacks organization. So just cool to see MLB kind of highlight what Drew Jones has done here in this tournament so far for Netherlands. Let's hope that this, you know, can be something that builds towards him moving back up the ranks. He's right now the Diamondback's number 16th overall prospect, but should probably probably be a top 10. That's where we would much rather see him than then where he's at right now. But he is a guy, much like others that we talked about, Jordan Lawler, you could even say this about Pavin and Alec, guy that has a ton of potential, obviously a very, very high draft pick. And so far has been, you know, a disappointment. However, it's baseball and development

kind of can take its time for for prospects when it comes to guys like this. Am I right? Yeah, no doubt about it. I mean, Drew Jones is a really young guy. Like, even, even still, he's very young. Like, if you look at, if you look up his age, you know, he's, he's 22. You know, he's going to be in AA this year. Like, it's not like his career is over.

And so I think, you know, you look at, I know he was up on the major league roster a little bit, but Jordan Lawler at 22 wasn't exactly, you know, firing on all cylinders. Sure. And, you know, this year he could potentially make a big impact. So if Drew Jones just can continue to get more consistent at the plate in general, I think you, you know, you think that he probably could be on the Moby roster someday. What that looks like, no idea. But he's fast enough and athletic enough and good enough at defense where it feels like, you know, the hitting is really the one thing that he needs to get up to snuff to make it to the MLB level. we have um i mean yeah we we we've seen guys we've seen guys kind of take their take their time and

we've seen guys now start to blossom right and not everybody's going to be corbin carroll that not only cruises through the minor league system but then immediately becomes you know an asset to a major league club and is producing at a major league level the way that corbin always has uh however i will say that it still feels like there's some tremendously talented guys in the system that very much look like they could be stars once they hit a major league level, right? And of course, it's Ryan Waldschmidt. You got Drew Jones is one of those guys. You got quite a few guys in their system. Still like Tommy Troy quite a bit. But again, it's mostly about at this point making sure that these guys are playing every day until that opportunity for them

to win a role on the major league club comes. I think that it is different from one guy to the next, right? Like Tim Tawa was a prospect, a top prospect. for this team that they don't seem to mind making into that utility bench player as much. But I think when you have stock in a guy like Jordan Lawler, you want them to be an everyday starter and you want to figure out how to make that happen. Same thing with Drew Jones eventually. Same thing with some of these guys that we most likely will see at some point this year, hopefully for good reasons and not for bad reasons.

But we got a lot going on. We, in fact, have to still wait and see if Lordus Gurriel Jr. is in fact ready by opening day. And we got to see how Corbyn feels here after being able to participate in some actual spring training games. So a lot still to be determined, but we now know that Zach Gowan will be your opening day starter for the Diamondbacks in Los Angeles against the Dodgers

on Thursday, March 26th. And we will be, of course, bringing you a pregame show and post game show that day. So make sure to join us for that. We're also planning a little fun watch party for you guys to join us at on opening day as well. So make sure to stay tuned for more details on that. But we, again, thank you guys so much for being here today.

We thank you for sharing some of your time with us. We will be back here tomorrow at 12 p.m. Make sure to join us then. Until then, you can follow us on social media. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-G. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark.

Our show is at P.HNX underscore D-Backs, but as always all roads lead to at P-H-N-X. sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for joining us. Appreciate your time so much. We will see you back here tomorrow. Until then, let's go see if Team Italy and Team Mexico somehow find a way to eliminate the United States.

That seems weird to say. Maybe I should go back and rephrase the wording on that, but I don't know. But we're going to be watching Swirl Baseball Classic. Hope you guys enjoy your afternoon and your evening. See you back here tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful night. And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Merrill Kelly and Corbyn Carroll return to your team.