PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BRING IN THE BEARD! Archie Bradley Joins The PHNX Diamondbacks Team!

Starting point is 00:00:13 Backs podcast brought to you by our friends at Bet365. Download the Bet365 app. You use code PHNX365 when you sign up, choose your offer, and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365. And of course, again, welcome in here to the PHNX D-NX Kite, Kiyo, D-BAC show. Did you just say the Kioti? PHNX, D-Back show. My name is Jesse Fried. Derek, see, you got my whole fluster.

Starting point is 00:00:40 My name is Derek. You're really struggling, everybody. Derek Montya this is Jesse Friedman you're not you're not helping me at all here with this whole thing right

Starting point is 00:00:51 okay I'll get back on track I'm fine no I'm fine what is happening why is Saul what are you motioning at what do you mean it's not my guy I just started

Starting point is 00:01:01 come on with you come on Saul this is absurd I just started you give me a chance here oh man appreciate it skip you're filling in We'll kill it.

Starting point is 00:01:14 All right. All right. The real PHNX Devaks podcast can actually begin right now. The Divax, Archie Bradley, had a bit of a rough three-game series over the weekend in Tampa. Just curious your initial thoughts. This may not be the return of the beer that everyone was hoping for, but it is a return nonetheless. So, yeah, let's get right into it. A frustrating series.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Yeah. you know, tebacks have been as hot as anyone in sports the last month. And you go into a series, welcome back. No, absolutely not. I am not missing out there. I am not missing out on this. Give me a little bit as I get situated here. Well, of course, welcome in to Archie Bradley to the PHNX Diamondback show.

Starting point is 00:02:01 Thank you for joining us. And not just for a limited time appearance. Don't talk to me like this is a one and done thing. Right. No, no. I'm not. like I'm out of here and get you, you know, some food. Yeah, no, we'll feed you.

Starting point is 00:02:14 We have lots of alcohol somewhere in this building. We'll take care of you. But of course, the one and only Archie Bradley here, part of the PHNXEVACs show now. And we couldn't be more pumped about it, man. Well, let's get into it. Let's get into it. We talk about me a lot. We'll do that a lot.

Starting point is 00:02:28 We'll do that a lot of fun stories. I know. Yeah. Well, we, I mean, nobody, everybody knows who you are, right? No one needs an introduction at all for Archie, right, Jesse. But do you want to fill them in anyway? Yeah. I mean, I don't really feel like this is necessary.

Starting point is 00:02:42 But for those who don't know, Archie Bradley was selected seventh overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2011. And he is, you know, fantastic on the mound, but perhaps better known for his work at the plate. That's right. That's right. Hit in 2017 that people may or may not remember. Can we get that bat in the Hall of Fame already? I mean, Josh Rollwich, you used to work for the devaxes now like depressive. in the Cooperstown.

Starting point is 00:03:10 So considering it's the only reliever to ever do it, that bat has to be in Cooper's. Right. I've got it at the house, Josh. I can get it to you overnight. I don't know the protocol to get a bat in the Cooperstown, but I've got it ready to ship. Yeah, man, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, of course, I mean, a lot of fans are wondering how has life been for you over the last

Starting point is 00:03:30 couple of years? Because I know a lot of people have missed you. Life has been good. Hasn't necessarily been good in the baseball world as terms of playing baseball. I've had some injuries. I'm sure we'll get into it and have a full story over my injury in Anaheim. Sure. We're going to break that down.

Starting point is 00:03:47 But I just haven't been playing that well. My injuries have kind of piled up. I haven't been able to stay consistently healthy. I haven't been able to throw the ball consistently hard enough as these guys are throwing it now as compared to just a couple years ago. And my thought or my approach on what I'm doing now, I refer to people in the real world it would be like showing up to your job here and you have half the people here to work

Starting point is 00:04:13 or you don't have your computer and you didn't watch the last series and you have to talk about the last series. It just got to a point where I'm doing all this training, I'm spending all this time for not really a return or a return that I deem as caliber of playing at the major league level. No offense to any of my boys out there, anyone on the minor league grind right now.

Starting point is 00:04:32 But I would rather be sitting here talking about the debacks than being in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Reno, Nevada. at pitching where I don't think I'm good enough to be called up. If I'm going to be called up, I'm going to be called up because of my name and my status, not because of my talent being acceptable at the major league level. So it's not really a shift. I'm still trying to play. I'm going to play next year.

Starting point is 00:04:54 But let's take advantage of my time. Let's travel and let's dive into this town and city that has accepted me so openly and continue to make my home here. Even if it's not throwing a baseball, we can damn sure talk about it. I imagine you can't like walk around a grocery store without people recognizing you right here. No, and that was real quickly just to dive into it. I came out here in January to train. This is where this is where home is.

Starting point is 00:05:20 This is where I've known everything about who I've become as a man from 18 to 30 years old has been here in Phoenix. So I came out here to train and real quickly in the most humble way it was very eye opening that I am still very popular out here. Exactly that. The grocery store, the way sand has been open. and autographs, pictures, request where I was like, man, I need to take advantage of this. Like, you know, everyone has this storybook about how they're going to play and go off into the sunset, but that's just not the same for everyone. You know, you can only throw hard so many times.

Starting point is 00:05:53 You can only hit so many triples. You can only do so much sometimes physically. And you have to rely on other skills and other assets to continue not only life, but things I'm passionate about. I don't just baseball has opened this door to where I'm sitting here now. And I want to run with it. I want to take what baseball is giving me. And if those doors are done and I am done playing,

Starting point is 00:06:13 let's move on in the next chapter. But use this segue that baseball has allowed me to travel on and continue whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing. Yeah. Well, we're thrilled to have you here. And I know I told Jesse this, but when I used to cover the Diamondbacks in the clubhouse, you were my favorite person to talk to because you always had so much to say. And honestly, like when it comes to, you know, how some players can be.

Starting point is 00:06:36 And I understand. And like sometimes as a player, you get the same old questions day in and day out. But I felt like you. We're not very creative. Yeah. I'm sorry. Well, it's funny. We talked about it a lot off screen.

Starting point is 00:06:47 You have a lot of different perspective being on the outside looking in, right? And like, yeah. In the best way, you have to ask those monotonous repetitive questions. Sure. You have to ask things that are somewhat like, dude, are you really asking me this? Because we do need to know. And what was the answer yesterday? It may not be that same answer today.

Starting point is 00:07:04 And I think it's, it's. all comes down to understanding that this whole thing, this whole baseball, it is a business and it is a huge machine that is driven by reaction and interaction and sound bits and clips and bites. And you can either choose to narrate your own story by talking and being active and being a voice that people can come to and you can control a narrative or a story in a clubhouse or you can sit back and watch and let these rumors and things fly around. Sure. And so yes, I love talking and love being a figurehead. I think that's obvious. But I also took it as I can step in and kind of shield or block or help this young guy, you know, answer this question about this huge moment that he screwed up

Starting point is 00:07:47 and use it positively or use it where it's a non-story. And it's, hey, you know, this happened. We can move on. D-backs are fine. Well, speaking of looking from the outside, looking in, what are your thoughts on this Arizona Diamondbacks team and especially what they've accomplished? I wish I was on it. This is a team that I feel like Archie Bradley fits right in. Scrappy. Um, maybe not. I mean, Marte Corby, Corbyn, your guys, but I feel like every other day or, or especially recently, a new guy is,

Starting point is 00:08:15 is the hero. A new guy is stepping up and providing something. Um, and you're starting to see, again, we're missing a few key pieces, but, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:24 this team hit its stride and win games that earlier in the season, we had no chance of winning. Yeah. Even really competing it. Yeah. So, you have, uh,

Starting point is 00:08:33 you have some connections with some guys on this team. Obviously, some of them are former teammates of yours. Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly. I know you mentioned before we jumped on air that Randall Gritchick apparently. Yeah, that was that Homer doesn't count.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Okay. Every pitcher, uh, I don't care what you say. How many you've given up? You guys can fact check. I think I've probably given up. I think I've given up under 30 homers in my career. Okay.

Starting point is 00:08:57 Which is pretty good. I don't get a lot of homers hit off me. But that rookie year didn't count. I didn't have a beard. I didn't know what I was doing. I was doing. I was throwing about the same miles per hour I am throwing right now. But yeah, I think it was right center in St. Louis.

Starting point is 00:09:12 It makes me so mad. But, yeah, Gritchick's there. You know, I think we talked about it. I may be jumping. This is my first time doing this. So if I jump ahead of schedule guys, just coming down. But Gritchick is the first guy you brought up. But a couple guys that are my class or my, that I've played with continuously against hitting 10 years of service.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. which I know everyone here has seen the D-BACs post about these guys, but guys, 10 years of service is incredible. Yeah. I mean,

Starting point is 00:09:43 you think about not only the luck, and I say luck, but there's so much luck that goes into playing 10 years. Not only talent, but a couple guys, Gritchick, Gino Sores, and Jock Peterson just recently,

Starting point is 00:09:55 all 10 years of service. So guys, tip of my cap to you guys as someone who's still grinding, trying to get that 10-year mark. you have you've made it if there's ever a time in baseball you can say you've made it when you hit 10 years of service you have made it it's so hard because being you know baseball is such a fickle sport where like no matter how good you are at it it's it is hard to maintain that level of excellence for any extended period of time let alone you know long enough like 10 years like

Starting point is 00:10:23 that the wave of youth that is coming to the game that um for better for worse is you know taking older guys jobs in the in the new formats with ross the way teams can carry guys. It's not as easy to stick around in the game like it used to be. I'm sure every old guy says that right. When you're not playing, right? All the game has changed so much. It's so young.

Starting point is 00:10:43 But, I mean, really it has. You aren't seeing these days of old where guys have to accumulate 2,000 minor league of bats or throw 1,000 minor league innings. Sure. If you're ready and the whole timing and holding guys clockbacks, I don't think it's as big of an issue as it was, say, 5, 10 years ago. Right. I think one of the biggest narratives just kind of getting into what's happening with the Diamondbacks right now.

Starting point is 00:11:06 Catelle Marte was just placed on the injured list just a few moments ago. I know, Archie, you played with Catelle. You saw Cotel have an extraordinary 2019 season. I mean, that was a year where he finished top five MVP voting. He's become a really important part of this Diamondbacks team. Just what's your view on kind of the player that he's emerged into? I mean, in some ways, for me, when I, I, I, look at the dime backs last year he is the guy yeah i know corbin came on last year rookie the year

Starting point is 00:11:35 marl gallant starting an all-star game um but martay signed an extension when i played with him he just signed another extension last year two years ago that's going to extend them i think through the two thousand twenty nine season i mean for me he is your he is your diamond back um again maybe not as popularity wise i know the but when i look at the debacks i look at marty and i look at this season I look at the pace that he's played at and the weight he's carried for this team, which again, one thing I'll talk about before I get super deep. I'm trying to approach this in a way where I am always for the player. I'm not here to critique guys or like, you know, I hope that I'm probably going to say some

Starting point is 00:12:19 things that are going to piss some guys off. It's just part of speaking when you do podcasts and you talk media. But I'm trying to give my take as an insight of being inside the clubhouse and not really judge or critique players based on performance because it's freaking hard to play baseball. And I know this guy should have hit more homers because he traditionally has, but I hope that my time here, I'm able to give an insight from a player's view and not so much of a media view of critiquing or asking why, but giving an answer to why or these things happen or don't happen. It does feel messed up to me from time to time that someone like me who, you know, barely played

Starting point is 00:12:54 baseball in high school and we don't speak of my high school baseball career. You know, that's something that I think we all always like, well, let's see the tape. You know, you're asking me this question. Let me see some high school tape. The tape is pretty much non-existent, Archie, because my coach never put me in the game. We'll just end that conversation right there. But yeah, I mean, as, you know, journalists and people in the media, like, yes, it is our job on, on one hand to provide analysis and, you know, give people what they're looking for from a content perspective. But, yeah, someone in your shoes obviously sees things a little bit differently.

Starting point is 00:13:28 you know what it's like to get to this level and to succeed at this level. And at times to struggle at this level because baseball is just such a difficult game. It is. And that's where even more so from when I was in to now, the outlets you have at your fingertips to showcase who you are, your frustration inside looks that were never even acceptable before. We're now at a time where I don't know. I think the media in sports is the greatest it's ever been right now. Wow.

Starting point is 00:13:59 These, these podcasts, I talk about a lot. I'm not afraid to admit it. Like a guy I really look up to in this stuff is Pat McAfee. I think Pat McAfee has changed sports journalism, sports representation. The things you're allowed to say on sports, on ESPN in general. But to that side, like everything, it's a double-edged sword, right? When you're in there grinding and you're trying to play, like, dude, I don't really care about my O-4-4 yesterday. And people don't get that.

Starting point is 00:14:25 What do you mean you don't care? And I don't care. You know. Like this show, sometimes you do a cold open and you screw it up really bad. And you just got to shake it off. And you got to come back and do the show tomorrow, right? You go over four, you got a game to play tomorrow. But I know normally on this show, we do do a thing around here.

Starting point is 00:14:40 And of course, every year, of course, is still our year. Every month is still Hispanic Heritage Month. Every week is Shark Week. Every day is Earth Day. And on Mondays, we go to the mailbag. So we're going to do a special thing where we want you guys to send your questions for Archie, for Mailbag Monday in there. And before we move on.

Starting point is 00:14:57 Damon, would you mind hitting that Mailbag Monday music please? My mailbox, always something interesting in my mailbox. I'm trying to get to everything in my mailbox and then once it makes me go out. So make sure to send your questions again for Archie here in the chat. We'll make sure to reach those. First, Elizabeth, of course, one of our favorites says, how does Archie feel about cursed fans attending games? And just to give you a background, Elizabeth is one of those cursed fans.

Starting point is 00:15:31 She believes that every game she goes to, they lose. Well, I mean, it's been a scientificly proof it. As long as there's some data behind this. So, Elizabeth, this is where we talk about this. We're all in this together, right? If there is data backing the losses in your attendance, then we have to make an adjustment. See, you called me a monster for that. And he agreed.

Starting point is 00:15:55 I mean, it's no different. I mean, I wear. cleats, gloves, whatever, I give up runs in a glove, like, all right, I'm probably not going to wear it the next game. I'm going to give it one more chance in the rotation that week. And not throwing it away, but I give up runs wearing a certain glove again. Like, okay, this gloves out, at least for the rest of this month. Like, so Elizabeth. Do you have a talk with it?

Starting point is 00:16:17 Do you tell it? Oh, yeah. So there's a funny skit. If I had a glove, I would show you, but I can, there's only one way to know if a glove is ready for a season and that's to yell profanities into it. Okay. That's the only way to tell is that glove is receptive and ready to go. for the years to drop a couple F-bombs. That sounds right.

Starting point is 00:16:33 What are you like? What kind of response are you hoping to get from the glove in that moment? The coostics. You're looking for the softness on your face. You know, is the glove broken enough where you're not going to scratch your ears or face when you shove it in your mouth? Okay. And that also comes from my mom.

Starting point is 00:16:47 I don't want my mom or anyone else seems to say bad words. Right, right. You got a standard to set out there. But Elizabeth, back to the original question. If it's documented and we're losing games and you're there, I mean, there's multiple streaming services to watch games these days. You're just going to have to sit a few out. That's that's bottom line.

Starting point is 00:17:05 That's the answer there. Well, our scout mom, Chris in the chat, she had a question for you. It disappeared. Chris says, oh, down there, there you go. How many bad outings for a pitcher before you would change his role if you were managing? I imagine that varies based on like if they're a rookie with options. That's what we were just talking about a little bit before this. That's where I think you guys will get to enjoy a lot.

Starting point is 00:17:31 of my answers from this type of thing is, man, the bullpen role is so volatile compared to other guys in the lineup or your everyday players. You know, they're given a lot longer leash, a lot more leeway to screw up or work through struggles that they're having where in the bullpen man, it is all timing. To answer your question, honestly, even though this has been me before, especially where we're at now, August, September, you've got three or four games. You've got a series, maybe two series. And if you're in a seventh, eighth inning, ninth inning role and you're not producing, or a take that most people aren't afraid to admit.

Starting point is 00:18:10 But like, you blow a game in the ninth inning, right? You blow a game in the seventh, the eighth inning. People want to say like, oh, well, it's not your fault. No, it is my fault. When you handed me that ball, we had the lead. My job is to take that game into the eighth of the ninth with that lead and I blew it. It is my fault. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:25 So it's kind of a rough take, but even myself, it's a standards I help myself to you. If three or four games in a row, we lose the game because of your inning, it's time to make it change. There are a lot of fans that blame Tori in a lot of those instances, right? And I've actually said that same thing. Like I'm like, I understand blaming everything. You guys blame us for the fact we said on the Twitter account. They were going to win.

Starting point is 00:18:44 You blame Elizabeth for being there first and all that stuff, right? But when does it come down to just blaming the guy? And I'm sure even the pitcher himself, like you're saying, like accepts that responsibility that I screwed it up. It's not that like, oh, Tori put me in at the wrong time or shouldn't have used me or should have gone in a different direction. Correct. And I think that's to not get deep, but this new wave of analytics and numbers and the way Tori is given information from the people who the debacks hire to give him this information along with Tori's own feel and sense for the way he's managed for the past 20 years in his managerial career. But it's always easy to point

Starting point is 00:19:19 the finger. I think in baseball, what's the toughest thing to do because we're a little and it's maybe not as popular, but to blame the player more. I mean, there's certain times, I just think it's, we talk about viewing this as a business and teams wanting more, players wanting more. Like, it's okay to say Archie blew the game and he did. Like, yeah, there was runners on first and second and the fifth and we had zero outs, but like we had the lead in the eighth and Archie blew the game. It's his fault.

Starting point is 00:19:46 Sometimes I don't think there's enough of that. And as much as I was just defending myself, like that's in these times when you're talking about holding a wild card lead and chasing down the Dodgers in a playoff race. It's the brutal part of sports, but we don't have time for feelings. And I don't have time for your all-star status. And I don't have time for your three-year contract that we're paying you. Like, if you're not producing now and we need it, whoever is going to produce needs to be pitching that inning. And I mean, I feel like Tori did a good job early on, right?

Starting point is 00:20:12 He gave guys a lot of opportunities. And in some cases, that's what that first half of the season is about. Correct. Build some of those guys up that you believe in and give them that confidence. But yeah, I agree. Like when you talk about getting down here down the stretch, right? Like there kind of has to be tough options to be made. And the Diamondbacks, even though they keep going through all these injuries,

Starting point is 00:20:30 they have depth. They have guys that are performing. So I think that's the other thing too here is obviously they're thin at some positions. But when it comes to pitching and other things, if you're not performing, it feels like there's another guy that is. And in the worst way, it's so much different than like for an example, ninth inning, whatever. Let's just say Corbin's been struggling.

Starting point is 00:20:55 Corbyn comes up with the game on the line. There's more of a sense of like, I think he's going to get it done. You put in a reliever that struggled a couple games in a big situation. I don't care who you are, even your best friend. It's like, Ha, ha,

Starting point is 00:21:07 Hart has been struggling. I don't feel too confident in the bullpen right now. Like, um, and your team feeds into that. So sometimes, man, it's, it stinks. And I think that's the toughest job of sports and Tori is like,

Starting point is 00:21:20 yeah i mean you've had your clothes or your eighth inning guy but man you're just not getting it done right now we need to make a change and we're trying to win uh fernando in the in the chat asks what are your thoughts on yelbert diaz have you seen have a chance to see yelbert pitch yet very minimal i will say you know i've watched i've watched i've watched the debacks and watch baseball but with this opportunity coming up i've been paying a lot more attention um i think with everything man i need a full season like to judge a guy i've learned even myself i go back to my first starts, I was going to be the best starter there ever was. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Starting point is 00:21:55 The league is tough. And especially now, again, I talk about phases of the season, but teams are playing different now than they were two months ago. Not even from a like, but when you're playing to make a playoff spot, you approach the game differently. You do things differently than the early part of the season where you're just kind of hacking and swinging and trying to figure out who you are. Well, it's like what you said when we were talking prior to the show that, like,

Starting point is 00:22:20 even those at bats right sometimes when you're talking about an at bat early in the game versus the bat late in the game completely different when you're talking about that ghost runner and i know we're going to get into that a little bit but like yeah the game definitely changes depending on where you're at and the season changes depending on where you're at for sure um let's see got some more questions damon would you mind pulling those up uh marcus wants to know did you black out during that triple i did uh everything was good until i hit second if you watch the replay that's when i start wobbling and my run gets real out of control. And, yeah, because I still talk about it.

Starting point is 00:22:55 No one talks about the homers I gave up at all. Yeah. Like, it became a one-run game again. Really? Really, really. And like, even before I could realize, I was like, oh, crap. Well, what's crazy is that whole season, and you can fact check, I gave up, I never gave up more than two extra base hits in any outing that whole year.

Starting point is 00:23:14 Like, I only gave up one extra base hit per outing. Like, I never gave up two doubles in a game. And I gave up a back-to-back homers and then a double to Pat Velika. And so it went three extra base hits in a row. And I hadn't given up more than one in any outing that whole season. Do you have like alarm bells going off in your head at that moment when you're when you're like that's happening to you? Yeah. Well, too, if you look at it like the story or the Homer Aranato hit, Hunker, wall, whatever.

Starting point is 00:23:40 But then the Homer that story hit was like 97 down the way. And he shot me off on. And I was like, how what? There's no rate. was really something especially in the lake you hit the double blah blah we am getting out but yes to your question i completely blocked out after the all right well we'll get back to some more questions here shortly of course we thank all of you for being here in the phnxports youtube channel make sure to subscribe to that channel hit that like button for this man next to me and of course for my

Starting point is 00:24:07 self-esteem as well also make sure you're subscribed sign up for notifications that way you don't miss whenever our shows go live if you're listening on the audio podcasting side make sure you subscribe on your favorite audio podcasting app. Leave us a review. Those five-star reviews mean the absolute world to us. Of course, we were out at Heel of River resorts and casinos this morning, and I didn't want to leave, but I had a very important thing to do here today, as you guys see. So I did have to leave, but me and Damon, we almost stayed and just, you know, got down

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Starting point is 00:25:34 I still have it. They told me to bring it back this morning, but I was like, is that negotiable? Because, you know, I don't want to give it back. I love my Ford Broncos sport. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, they'll do that, right? They'll eventually come repossess it, I'm sure. But of course, I think Totry's not even giving his back.

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Starting point is 00:27:01 And I think the most discouraging part about it was the performance by the starters, right? Like, you're very amped to see Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly go one, in any series for those guys to be back doing their thing. And, you know, they struggled in this one against the race. Yeah, Merrill Kelly was not, he wasn't at his best in that game yesterday. Five innings, eight hits, six runs, two walks, four strikeouts. His velocity was also down a smidge. I think it averaged 90.2 miles an hour yesterday,

Starting point is 00:27:30 down a couple ticks from where it was last season. But also, this is Merrill's second start coming off a pretty lengthy IL stint. So I don't know, Archie, no, no huge concerns there for you at this point, I imagine. I mean, again, we talk about the last month and a half of DeBacks baseball and I said it earlier. They've been the best team in sports, in my opinion. Yeah, they've been really, really good. I think just naturally you're going to have a bad series like that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:27:58 I talked about it earlier. I don't know why Tampa is such a hard place to play baseball. It's because of the catwalks. The catwalks. I mean, look, I'm not here to make excuses. I told you I'm here to give an inside point of view. Like, so they played the Rockies. Um, I'm assuming they left after the Rockies game.

Starting point is 00:28:14 Yeah. Yeah. I believe they, I believe they went to Tampa. Yeah. Would have been on when that evening. Full off day in Tampa, but still, I don't think people understand the, um, the time that, uh, the schedule that we're on. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:28:29 And then how going east coast does throw such a huge difference in our schedule and our travel, um, where I talked about it. Say you sleep in till. noon that's like sleeping until nine here right so there's a lot of factors and then i i don't know why but anyone that's ever been to tropicana and again i say this with no disrespect it's a shithole i mean it is that's the only way to explain it i mean the the bullpen situation you're sitting down the third baseline and you're looking towards center field and the way you sit like your knees are above your waist so you're sitting in an awkward position looking right yeah the

Starting point is 00:29:06 dugout only holds like 15 people comfortably so most guys are inside it's just i can't explain it there's almost this like a haze over tropicana that like you buy into the crappiness of tropicania well the roof the catwalk the lighting's different the turf and it bounces weird and we go over all these extra things and it's like dude just play the race yeah they've lost 10 out of their last 13 like just just play the team that's there and not the stadium in the environment well and and the smell too and again I can't explain it's just the aura you almost do feel like

Starting point is 00:29:42 you're underwater in some ways right right well and it's weird location right like it is kind of like out there in the middle of the water right just again the whole thing the hotel you stay at or at least we restate at it was an older hotel just the whole vibe of like that area and then Tampa

Starting point is 00:29:58 I mean it's one of those teams I talked about it good or bad go watch them take infield pregame infield and they're the most fundamentally sound team I've ever seen throw the baseball around the field. And that's just part of like the franchise's DNA. Like the Fredmer gift like back to back to back. Yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:15 National champs. Like that's the Tampa Bay raise. And yeah, just weird things happen there. Is that why they always feel that they can like kind of recycle that team so much? Yes. You know, because they just have that culture of.

Starting point is 00:30:27 I talk about a system. Like you talk about like a system player or a system team. Like that's why, you know, it doesn't matter that they lose in a rose. arena or they lose a Wander Franco or whatever like I know these are big star players but their system is set up to plug and play they are fundamentally sound they run almost like a playbook type of plays an offensive scheme where as long as this guy meets the criteria of the analytics then they can put them in there and it doesn't matter what does last name says he can play that role for the way

Starting point is 00:30:57 Tampa is trying to win games their their playbook definitely worked against the diamond backs over the weekend particularly on the bases the race went 13 for 13 and still bases over the weekend. 7 on Sunday. Yeah, it was, it was a bit of a rough watch at times. They had the go sign. They had the green light, man. Yeah, I think, I want to say they said on the broadcast at one point, the 10 was the

Starting point is 00:31:18 highest stolen base total in any D-back series in franchise history. So 13 would completely blow that out of the water. Not great. Again, I'm hoping that's a Tampa team that runs a lot compared to some of these other teams. Like, even with their new rules, the stolen bases are cool, but it's not like teams are crazy, crazy taking advantage. but you do see something like that.

Starting point is 00:31:37 And again, this is being on the outside looking in where I can offer more insight. It's concerning because that's something that going into the next series, the Marlins are going to look at. Yeah. It's ways where you talk about being able to beat a team that you're not better than by being able to do stuff like that. A single turns into a double per se.

Starting point is 00:31:56 And now a guy's in scoring position. And all you gave up was a single. You know what I mean? Yeah. I just hope it's something, obviously, not having Gabby. that we look at and adjust. I mean, that's the thing that I think

Starting point is 00:32:07 we don't talk about enough. That's something that I hope those guys will go into this Marlin series. Like, hey, all of you, we need to be quicker to home. We cannot allow guys to get to second base

Starting point is 00:32:17 and being strong in position for not really earning it. So you view this as maybe more so on the pitchers than on Adrian Del Castillo or Jose Herrera behind the plate? Both. I mean, I think it's both.

Starting point is 00:32:27 I mean, you're throwing in new catchers, new timing. Yeah, I think it's, something where if it look if we go into this marlin series and it's something we see more of like all right let's press a button and let's let's call a meeting and figure this out but i would chalk it up just all around again that's where we look at like bad play like yes there was a lot of opportunities

Starting point is 00:32:51 but also that something as simple like hey we cut down half those stolen bases and we win two of those games you know those guys aren't in scoring position and these doubles don't turn into two guys scoring right blah blah blah right we can but that's a simple thing cut down the stolen bases you cut down in scoring position those ground balls are double plays there's just things that happen because you keep guys stationary just blame it on the drop right yeah it's part of just playing there man it's it's it's something weird it's that damn stingray tank out there in the outfield well i'm looking at according to baseball reference you threw three you've thrown three and two thirds innings in your career at trap i think all one out incorrect is that all or was it two appearances uh it says it says three games three and two thirds innings and you did not allow an earned run.

Starting point is 00:33:37 All right. I know one of the times I was there, we played an X-Raining game and I was the last option out of the pin. I think it was 2019 that first half when I became the closure in the second half. Sure. I think Godley and I were left down there and Godley is like, hey man, start loosening up. I was like, bro, you're going in before me right now. That's how bad it is.

Starting point is 00:33:55 You're going in before me. But yeah, I think more than anything with the way we've been playing, I think it's just natural and sports. You're going to have a bad series. sure as unfortunate against the team that was not playing very good baseball that you would expect us to pounce on especially with gallon of maryl going back to back there but again i'm always going to give you the side of like the player like man we lost we got swept it's part of it let's go into miami beat them and then we're good yeah you go into miami lose two out of three and you look at the road trip like crap we just squandered a road trip against below 500 teams like that's a miss for us right right right well i know we don't really want to do this but let's like take a look at the count presented by Desert Financial Credit Union for this series. The raise outscored the Diamondbacks 19 to 12. They out hit the Diamondbacks 34 to 24.

Starting point is 00:34:42 Runners in scoring position, 9 for 35 for a 757 batting average for the raise to the Diamondbacks 241. They were 7 for 29. But the big story here, obviously, and I know one of the days it was basically an opener, but the Tampa Bay raise go out there and they post a 0.72ERA. They allowed one earned run by starting pitching in the series. that's the point that that that's what really I mean where the diamond backs really fell short right like is the diamond backs have been able to do it not only getting starting pitching but early right they've been able to go out there and put up runs in the first inning and kind of give their pitchers an opportunity to

Starting point is 00:35:17 pitch with a lead at least you know out of the gate and they did not do that in this series diamond back starting pitching era also pretty bad 6.06 relief pitching era basically a push 3.86 for the raise 4.07 for the diamond backs but again the diamond backs inability to score against the starting pitchers for the raise was was the big story in this one especially considering that you know you look at their numbers and of course numbers wise they didn't have anything that

Starting point is 00:35:43 you thought you were going to be worried about but you know baseball is baseball it's the reason why I was very cautious about this entire stretch that they had we've been worried about parts of the diamond back schedule the guardians the Phillies oh man there's a lot coming up and they smoke those teams

Starting point is 00:35:58 so I was like of course they're going to struggle against the below 500 teams, you know? And I mean, it was just, it happened in a great time where the Diamondbacks could really use to stack some wins here. The Padres lost some games, you know, those are the Diamondbacks had a chance there to make up some ground in the wild card race and maybe take that top spot. I just, I don't know if that matters. I mean, we've talked a little bit. We know that winning the division matters because you avoid that wild card, you know, series, right? But like in the grand scheme of things, I mean, do you as a team care?

Starting point is 00:36:30 where you finish as long as you're just in the new format in my opinion back you know back when the wild card the way it was set up it was a huge difference but I think take you know the playoffs last year there was what one team that won their division that advanced past the first round last year I think in some ways you know the playoff format which I think they've adjusted a little bit could have been detrimental almost to the teams that won their division having that full week off like you never ever take five consecutive days off from playing baseball and competitive game where now the format and honestly the way it plays out i think just getting in is just get in yeah just have a chance and then from there you you're able to see what you're really made of i mean there's some advantages i think but i don't

Starting point is 00:37:16 think it's like what it used to be to winning the division versus being a wildcar team yeah well i know we talked about uh the ghost runner a little bit in extra innings but how do you feel about it i know that like for the most part during the regular season a lot of players prefer to get the game over with rather than this going the 15 16 innings at a time like but you just have that you know runner starting on second base what are your thoughts on that rule when we voted for it I was all for it and I still am because I do I remember the days of playing 16 17 inning games and what that does to your staff and your rotation and your triple a team and the next couple weeks of how bad that throws you off.

Starting point is 00:37:54 And it's a Wednesday game against the Brewers that doesn't really even matter. But at the same time, I've been a part of these playoff races where you lose a wild card or a division by one game. Yeah, that's a good point. Every win matters, right? Again, this is going forward, every baseball argument or talk we want to have is always going to bring in technology and analytics and these new rule changes. You know, how far do we want to take the, what I call the natural principles that the game

Starting point is 00:38:22 was built upon and alter that. those. So from both ways, I love it because I do think it gets the game over. I think there's a lot of unnecessary things and the way people play the game post nine innings. But then at the same time, is it a true outcome? Are you really determining who the better team was that day? Yeah. And then from a player standpoint, which I think, you know, I can talk to from most. I hate it. Yes, you have a chance to be the hero, but like, let's just take, you know, we tie the game against the race and we go into the 10th and we don't score in the 10th and I'm going in the bottom of the 10th or whatever, you know, the scenario where the ghostrunners on second base, I have a complete different

Starting point is 00:39:04 mindset. Sure. I have no room for error. One mistake, one bad pitch, whatever loses the game. A single up the middle. Yeah, you know, you can name it. My whole arsenal, my whole mindset, everything I'm doing into that moment. is completely different.

Starting point is 00:39:21 And then not only that, we talked about it, like strategically might pissing people off, but I'm going into that situation, knowing what I know now, all walk four batters, three batters in a row and walk that guy in before I give him a base hit to lose the game. So you're going for swing. Yeah. I mean, like, again, if you ask me that when I was playing, I'm like, no, dude, I'm going to get this guy to butt, get it out. I'm going to move like.

Starting point is 00:39:44 But statistically, analytically, when you break it down, your best chance to succeed is no contact. Not ball not being put in play, a true outcome of a strikeout, a walk. And yeah, if it's win or lose, I'm going to beat the guy before he beats me. And I'm not going to give him that chance to beat me. But I struggle with it because like you said, in mid-May, April, whatever, games over. Cool. We just played 11 innings.

Starting point is 00:40:06 Everyone's home. But you start getting in September, August. And it's like, man, what if we had played that game out? Yeah. I don't know. It is what it is. Every team plays the same rules. But it's for me one of those things I struggle with when you talk about

Starting point is 00:40:19 true competitiveness in a divisional race or wildcard race coming down to a couple games. Like last year. The Diamondbacks literally needed a team to lose in order for them to get in. Like they needed things to happen. They didn't control their own destiny getting in there and like one more win would have done that for them. Correct. You know? Is, I mean, I guess Justin Martinez in a sense would be a good candidate for the Diamondbacks for a role like that. Because if you're talking swing and miss, I mean, that guy certainly has it.

Starting point is 00:40:46 and he's going to walk someone every now and then as well. But in a situation like that, maybe you'd be okay with that as opposed to someone who's more prone to giving contact. I threw in a game. I can't remember. It was when I was Anaheim against the Blue Jays. And Kirk was up. Okay.

Starting point is 00:41:05 Yeah. And runner on second, long story short, I end up giving up a hit to him on a full count on a great pitch. There's a ball way below the zone, whatever. And the next day, my pitch goes like, Okay, blah, blah, like, don't give in.

Starting point is 00:41:17 Like, he shouldn't, like, you gave up that run. You did nothing wrong. You bowled your ass off. You made great pitches, but there was no reason for him to even have a chance. Like, he didn't chase it, whatever, walk him. Like, sure. And it was just understanding the scenario of like, so what? There's a runner on first and second now with two outs instead of a runner on first.

Starting point is 00:41:35 And that guy just scored. Right. Like, there's no room for error there. Like, even your best stuff, it's either swing or miss or you walk the guy. Like, and, and, you, you. And I don't know. It's just, it's a weird. And every team, like the raise, if you're asked the raise and the debacks on the road,

Starting point is 00:41:51 how they're going to play the ghostrunner. Are we going to move the guy over or are we going to swing? Like there's a lot of different strategy. And it's turned into real quick like, shit, I don't want to be that guy. Like guys can say what they want in the bullpen. There's a difference in being the closer, being the seventh, 18 guy. But then you get into extras, you haven't thrown. You're supposed to have a day off.

Starting point is 00:42:10 And now it's like, hey, Archie, you got the 12th of the guy on set. And there's no room for air. there's no room for it like it's kind of shitty yeah it's it's worse than getting just the inherited runner from like a starter or something like that right because that's still you have still time to make that up like the the fact that you could go in there and just give up one like dinky hit and have that be the end of the game that definitely sucks i think we had a question about jmart there damon in the chat for uh for archie um from your experience what does jmart have to do to take the next step to be a long term closer a lot of people love jmart they see the stuff he has right but i mean

Starting point is 00:42:43 of course it seems like at times whoever they put in the ninth inning kind of struggles right yeah i think think it's getting back to what i was just talking about closing is so different especially when you take it on as your actual role like there's a difference in filling in and being a guy closer by committee but like when it is your title um it is different than than even when you first get it i think it's something you have to learn and goes back to risk reward like there's times i'm going to straight up challenge a guy and then there's times you have to understand, like, I'm probably better off walking this guy. I know it's going to put the winning run on first base,

Starting point is 00:43:17 which is a crazy thing to say, but I like this guy second, or I know I can get a ground ball from this guy, or in the best way, understanding, like, you have room to work with. Yeah, yeah. Like, I can go back to numerous saves. You give me two runs. Oh, buddy, it's going to completely change the way I pitch.

Starting point is 00:43:33 Like, you have two runs, man. Give up a homer, please. Yeah. Give up, you know what I mean? Like, and just understanding I say that, like understanding the difference of giving up a run versus giving up base runners. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:43:45 Like. And what that does to you as a pitcher and how that changes you. You know, what I, to kind of wrap it up is start to understand yourself. Like I was unique. I had a wind up and a stretch. A lot of relievers only have a stretch position.

Starting point is 00:44:00 I consistently threw better out of the wind up. So I would rather give up a homer than give up a double. Right. Right. Or, you know, just understanding that now there are percentages that you need to pay attention to and play into where when you're the seventh or eighth inning guy you're just slinging your stuff trying to make things happen but now as the closer the next step is truly understanding

Starting point is 00:44:20 where the game is at and what you have the ability to do or not to do instead of just like i'm going to throw a hundred and see what happens yeah like there are strategic decisions to make in challenging a guy or not challenging a guy or you know throwing certain pitches you know and that's and that's where the lack of experience for someone jmart's age right falls in like he has the stuff yeah there's doubt about it but it's a matter of knowing those moments where you want to pick and choose your battles and knowing who you want to face and that's where also we talk about you know i think i would love to hear your guys thoughts on this from a player saying this but why don't coaches call more pitches for situations like that right right why isn't there more of a coaching strategy about the the NFL or the

Starting point is 00:45:04 NBA maybe a little different but you're seeing everything from up top you have all the data and let's just use you for example you come up ninth inning runner on second base i get ahead oh one all the data in the world is in the dugout on what the percentages are of what you swing at oh one right right and i'm not sitting here saying take away the freedom of allowing me to be aggressive and throw what i want to throw but i'm a new closer in a situation where again we talked about it you take percentages of a guys at bats from the seventh inning on versus seventh inning before oh yeah they're completely different so you're facing a three-hole eater that has a complete different mindset of his thought in the third inning when he's trying to hit a homer in the second inning.

Starting point is 00:45:44 Vers facing you now at the game on the line. Like, I'm kind of on board with like, dude, tell me what to throw. I'm new to this situation. Yes, I have the stuff, but now I have data coming from the highest source possible. Personally, I'm going to have a lot more conviction of throwing that pitch than like, hey, I think I should throw 100 by this guy. Yeah. And J.M.R. does a guy who has four pitches. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:46:07 You know what I mean? Even me as when I came into my closer roll, I had a change up now. I had a curdle and a fastball, a change up at a two seam. There was times where you can't help but be cute and you try to out pitch a guy or do something when I was in the tugout, in the tunnel where it's like, no, throw slider, throw slider. And it's like, well, motherfucker, tell me to throw the slider. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think we get too proud.

Starting point is 00:46:29 And like, I think baseball, I meant to touch on us earlier is one of the few sports where in-game coaching or in-game adjustments. don't really happen as much as you see in football or basketball. That's the reason why they just can turn things around like after a timeout or a quarter or something like that. I know it's a long game, but yeah, like, dude, you go out there and you get lit your first inning. It's because you keep missing fastball up and away. I'd love to see like, hey, fucking let's get the ball down. Yeah, yeah. Hey, Merrill, let's fucking let's get the ball down.

Starting point is 00:46:56 You don't work well. Up in the zone. You're up in the zone. Let's make an adjustment. Or like I said, like, hey, like let's open the QB wrist. Oh, pitch two. Like, oh, that makes sense. Right, right.

Starting point is 00:47:07 Like some of this is like why are we not utilizing the information we have more. And especially towards a guy like J-Mart where it's new. Right. It's fresh instead of like, oh, well, he'll figure it out because he's a major league pitcher. Well, no. There's a difference in being a major league pitcher. And now you're tasked with closing out the ninth inning. Right.

Starting point is 00:47:24 Yeah. And again, that happened really quick for him too. We talked about Yilbert Diaz was just pitching in double A, like a month and a half ago. I mean, but he's up, right? 2019, I was literally the worst pitcher on the debacks. And next you know, I'm getting a save in Yankee Stadium. and I closed out 19 games in the second half. Right.

Starting point is 00:47:39 It happens like that, but I do think there is some strategic things that could happen that could help him understand those situations more. Instead of just leaving it on the catcher or pitcher to, hey, you guys figured out, what we gave you the information before the game. Well, now I've caught eight other guys before J-Mart. So many things have happened. I just hit a homer to tie the game. I'm on cloud nine.

Starting point is 00:48:03 Now I've got to go out and call the bottom of the way. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of thinking thoughts right now. You know, I think we forget that some of these guys don't have this experience. These guys haven't been there. And so. Well, and ADC, right? He led the comeback.

Starting point is 00:48:16 Like last night with the, with the Diamondbacks were getting no hit yesterday after six innings. I mean, it's honestly remarkable that they even managed to push it into extra innings in the first place. I mean, Adrian Del Castillo coming through with a three run homer. Talk about young guys like executing in big spots. And it was similar on Friday with Corbyn Carroll.

Starting point is 00:48:34 coming through with with that you run homer this was just a kind of a blip on the radar for the team where they they had a little bit of magic but they didn't have quite enough right correct yeah to turn to turn those games in the way it was trope it was the trumps the swamped I'm reading I'm reading some of these things because I've always loved this talk like I know coaches that call pitches all the way of the college I'm not I don't want a college atmosphere I don't want yeah you know where the catcher's looking over and the pitching coach is given the yeah every time right but when we talk about a strategic situation or high leverage High leverage situation where honestly I trust those numbers and analytics more than ever in those situations.

Starting point is 00:49:13 Why will we not give that information? Or I think some of it's as a player not being scared to do that. Like you watch now, you cross there are some starting pitchers, some pitchers that step off, pull a card out of their back of her pocket and read it and use that to pitch. I never did it because I was like, that's not baseball. You don't get. But it is baseball. Why would I not take advantage of information that I can carry and use? Especially baseball, right?

Starting point is 00:49:40 Baseball is the game that more than anything. He could literally just have written down. He can't hit chain jumps. But in the moment you're up there and again, you got four pitches. Your team just took the lead. No, dude, I'm throwing heater up in the zone. Yeah. Like, dude, that is the actually worst statistical pitch you could have thrown.

Starting point is 00:49:55 Right, right, right. That's what he's looking for. So I don't know. I would say that back to the thing is initially trust yourself, but also understand that closing games does have some more strategy to it than just pitching the seventh or eight. Like there's some important decisions and sometimes it's even giving up a run or giving up a base as weird as that sounds to accomplish a goal of not giving up the runs to lose the game. And that's the reason why we always joke about how this team seems cursed with whoever they put in the ninth inning, right? But like you said, it's a completely different game in the ninth inning.

Starting point is 00:50:25 So there is some, you know, some truth to the fact that what's happening there in the ninth is different than what happens the rest of the game. Justin Martinez comes out looks amazing when he comes out and pitches in a seventh inning situation, but then he comes out in the ninth and, you know, you got that happening. Sometimes I feel like patience in those situations really, really can work out pretty well. I mean, I think about Fernando Rodney back in 2017. Oh, yeah. You look at that man's numbers after April. If I remember correctly, I think the ERA was double digits.

Starting point is 00:50:52 I think it was 10, 10 or 11 or something like that. Worst closer ever in a non-save opportunity. I mean, the worst. It was incredible. But in safe situations, I mean, from like the beginning of May through the end of that season, Fernando Rodney was one of the best in baseball. I think too, as weird as it sounds, what helps J. Mart or what it helps the closer, whoever that may be is the staff before him.

Starting point is 00:51:16 The chain. Like you look at, you can name a ton of guys because a ton of trios have done it. But you look at your 7-8. Like when you have your solid 7-8, that's what also helps you have a good closer. Like I would argue in the most respectful way, nothing from Boxburger or Fernando. But the reason they were so successful is because Chaffin and I were so damn good at what we did in the seventh and eight. When you know that you can put out me and Chafin and handle two, three, four, five, six, seven. And now your closer is getting eight, nine one.

Starting point is 00:51:45 That's a big difference than, you know. Those guys giving up runs, moving the lineup down. And so, I mean, arguably as good as Rodney and those guys were, the innings before him were equally as important. of us handling our job and handling those hitters to allow that lineup to be in a more favorable spot for the closer what are you we talk about herald oh perdomo a lot on the show it is damon's favorite human being on the planet but like you know we've talked about how like he's such a cheerleader and motivator for a picture like what what what would that do for you like would you love a guy like perdomo that just came over and told you that you got it and like yeah because i showed you that

Starting point is 00:52:23 support i mean also that's that's what i grew up like you don't see it anymore because position players can't go to the mound like they used to and they can't um i mean before we were our own coaches like before mound visits like a player would come talk to you or um i think it's lost it's kind of cheesy and i think there's a time in place but you know you give up a hit and say i got you give me another one you know hey let's let's go here or i look at you know Ahmed and i played together for forever and Ahmed for me was kind of that sounding board in a silent way like you know I knew Nick defensively was going to do something special to bail us out of the game or pick us up. And so having a guy like that in Pardomo that is also vocal, every team needs that.

Starting point is 00:53:11 And it needs to come from different areas. And I think it's a weird thing to say. But when it comes from a Latin player too, it's a little bit more exciting. It's a little bit more. Just electric. Yeah. No offense to my white Caucasian guys out there. But you're not going to fire me up or make me smile.

Starting point is 00:53:27 same as Perdomo or Gino or, you know, any of my Latin teammates. Just they're their, their passion is there. Yeah, their passion. I mean, again, you talk about looking at something from the outside end, like not playing this year, looking at it, like put the dollars, signs. Like, dude, these guys come from a different country, man. We're talking about luxuries that are given to us or that are afforded to us daily that we don't even think about that aren't even options for these kids growing up.

Starting point is 00:53:54 And if you don't make it in baseball, where are you going to make it? it. And so, um, it is. I'm going to respond to Perdomo a lot better and a lot happy and a lot more than, you know, if Pavin is over the hell. Okay. Let's get this on. I'm like, Pavin, shut up. You know what I'm like to first, David. Well, of course, uh, we appreciate you guys all being here. Love all of your questions. Uh, and I have to say this. It's probably not easy for me to say this, but Ryan Reynolds, you had your chance. Uh, I got myself a new best friend. So, uh, but I will still tell you about. Mitt Mobile because Mitt Mobile is a great solution to your overpriced wireless plan and right now you can say goodbye to that wireless plan with MintMobil's premium wireless plan starting at just 15 bucks a month. All plans come with high speed data and limited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Bring your own phone, bring your phone number, nothing changes except how much you're paying for your service. Ditch overpriced wireless service with Mitt Mobile's limited time deal and get three months of premium wireless service for just 15 bucks a month to get this new customer deal and your new three month and limited wireless.

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Starting point is 00:55:32 I don't know what has been. What's going on? Jesse, it's okay. We need to cut to my two screen V, please. This is what happens when you leave me out of the Healer River resort trips that you guys have been doing. But of course,

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Starting point is 00:56:50 Well, we have a look ahead here at the upcoming series with the Miami Marlins. And of course, I would ask you about how many of these guys you know, but I'm sure that zero at this point with the Barless team. I think it was a fire tell. There's a few guys still there. But a majority of my teammates last year are with other teams now. Yeah. Well, there's a few guys. You guys are playing well.

Starting point is 00:57:10 Xavier Edwards. Yeah. Got to play a lot with him in AAA last year. Really exciting player. Yeah. Can play honestly not the same body type or the power, but reminds me in Marte. Oh, yeah. can play multiple positions,

Starting point is 00:57:25 has a knack for contact, putting the bat on the ball. I mean, getting into it, what I would hope that I see is that the Dianbeck take advantage of this Marlins' pitching.

Starting point is 00:57:35 Yeah. A lot of young guys, a lot of bullpen days for these Marlins. They don't have set starters, set pin. I mean, they are, they are the Marlins.

Starting point is 00:57:44 There's a plan there, I guess. You know, maybe I still got to play next year. It's like, I'll be careful. Yeah, no. We're no disparaging remarks here at all.

Starting point is 00:57:56 But if you have a pulse in the minor leagues, you have a chance to play in the big weeks for the Marlins right now. Well, I mean, and that's why it's a team on paper the Diamondback should be, but that's why it's a dangerous team, right? Because you don't know what you're going to get out of these guys that are young. They're, you know, called up and they're excited to play baseball. And these are probably the future stars of tomorrow for the Marlins here now. So let's take a look at their season so far. They are four and six in their last 10. And they are 46 and 78 this season with a minus 167 run differential.

Starting point is 00:58:27 Team OPS is 658, which is 29th in Major League Baseball. We have the starting pitching ERA that Archie was talking about there, 5.18, which is 29th in baseball. Relief pitching, 3.92, middle of the pack at 15th. A lot of those guys who are responsible for that have been traded. They have been done. There's a lot of Tanners, Scott. Those guys are gone. And Sean says, don't let Burger beat you.

Starting point is 00:58:52 That's all we have to do is don't let burger be this. But out above average, they are minus 22, which is tied for 27. So just not a great baseball team. And honestly, some of the really good components of this team that even made these numbers look a little bit better are gone now. But they still are four and six in their last 10. And they're still very capable of an upset and really ruining this road trip for the Diamondbacks. Yeah, I mean, again, looking at it strategically from a players, you look at these numbers. and Marte is out right he just went to DL so I think for me it's it's establishing who's

Starting point is 00:59:27 going to step up and drive the offense who's going to get us going yeah we had a lackluster performance in Tampa again you look at it 29th out of 30 starting pitching like that's terrible that's that's yeah for me a stat that you know we don't need to hit homers we're not a huge homer team anyways but like let's sure let's get on base let's make things happen and let's score runs early because these starting pitchers, they don't stop the damage. They keep giving up hits. They keep giving up runs. And again, Marte going down,

Starting point is 00:59:57 Walker out, Gabby out, Corby. Yeah, you know, like, I need to see some of these younger guys and slash older guys, jock, Gino, kind of take a step up and fill the void for these guys that are out right now, especially with Marte being

Starting point is 01:00:12 the driving force in our offensive production. Sean said said, is it a 10 day for tell yes, it's a 10-day injured list sprained left ankle which is unfortunately upgraded from that what was it it was a it was originally called a contusion and a couple days later it was changed to an ankle sprain and now maybe a slightly more significant ankle sprain again you want a players take on what I saw out of an injury perspective you got a guy that's trying to take in a bat in a big situation it's already been kind of bothering them yeah it doesn't look good guys again this is where i get to

Starting point is 01:00:46 offer my opinion with no no no holdbacks from hurting injuries from seeing stuff it's not like he did it running and it rolled over again like it was a weird pitch that the weight shifted and yeah afterwards what i saw i mean again there's a lot the our medical staff i will say is incredible here in arizona but seeing something like that like you say a non contact injury or non it scares me especially for a guy that is so big and and so powerful and moving so much you know that ankle scares me it really does yeah It might, unfortunately, I mean, there's still plenty of time. We'll see what the, what the news is as far as how long Katel is expected to be out.

Starting point is 01:01:27 But the MVP conversations surrounding Katel Marte just lost a little bit of steam today for sure. For sure. It's going to be, it's going to be tough. I mean, with the way that Shohei Otani is hitting right now, he just continues to hit a homer basically every other day. It feels like, yeah. But, I mean, nonetheless, Kattel has been so huge for the debacks this year. he's a big reason why they are in such good position right now. And the debacks, they still have a little bit of cushion in this playoff race.

Starting point is 01:01:54 So the most important thing for them is to get Cattel, you know, and all these other guys healthy going into the postseason. And we'll say the same thing we've already said about this team. I mean, this team is not built for Cotel to necessarily be the Super Czar. This team is built for like them to have this new hero every single night. Jake McCarthy has been playing incredibly well. We know Cotell or Corbin, right, has been hitting nothing but homers lately it feels like and that's a great thing to see but i mean again

Starting point is 01:02:22 you you're right like they need other guys to step up and they do have those weapons they do have the capability to do so i i think honestly the the offense kind of going flat is what it was because we did see them kind of come back online and like jesse said have that magic late i'm more concerned if i'm being honest about the starting pitching because the diamond backs were looking so so much to the return of merrill kelly and edwardo rogerie and edwardo rogerie And it's not to say that these guys aren't, you know, still kind of getting back to 100%, right? Like, it's still a slow buildup to being yourself again when you've been off as long as Kelly and Erod have been off. But like that, that to me at least is the concern for now.

Starting point is 01:03:01 And I want, you know, I want those guys to get back on track. The offense, I think they do have enough weapons for the offense to hold strong. If we look at the pitching matchups for this series, we had to take some educated guesses on the Dback side. because I don't believe. I guess they've put up starters now. So they had Brandon Fott going today, Edward Rodriguez tomorrow. Not to cut you off.

Starting point is 01:03:23 I thought you were going to say educated guesses on the Marlon side because I don't know any of these gentlemen. Yeah, that, yeah. I'm not familiar with your game, sir. There's some educated guesses on that side too. Okay, the Dback. So officially right now,

Starting point is 01:03:36 the Diamondbacks do have Brandon Fought and Eduardo Rodriguez listed from Monday and Tuesday. They do not yet have Jordan Montgomery listed for Wednesday. That day is TBD. Interesting. And obviously, we talked about this. at length last week with the Diamondbacks going with six guys in the rotation one time through and theoretically they were going to narrow it back down to five. We sort of assume that Jordan Montgomery stays and Ryan Nelson goes to the bullpen.

Starting point is 01:04:01 But obviously Nelson has continued to pitch really, really well lately. So we'll have to wait and see what happens with that Wednesday game. Nothing official as of right now. Well, it's going to be a big series just because of the fact that everybody is going to want to see the Diamondbacks get on track. It's not a big series that it means anything to beat the Norlands. This is the time of the year where, again, understanding what it takes to make the playoffs.

Starting point is 01:04:27 Like, obviously the coaches, Tori, those guys understand it. But as the players, like your jocks, your Gino's, like these are the series where you do. You win a series here. And it gives you some freedom, some cushion where you come back home and you play some of these tougher teams, the Giants, the Dodgers. Yeah. You know, not saying that your goal isn't to beat those teams, but you give you. yourself the leeway to not have to beat those teams.

Starting point is 01:04:51 You know, like I think, you know, we have two weeks of August and then a full September run. Again, if I think I'm correct, we're four games back of the division. We have a two and a half game lead for the second wild card. There is some strategy to play where this may sound weird as I'm sure when I was in there, guys in the clubhouse like, what do you mean we're not going to win the division? But like, again, is winning the division a goal?

Starting point is 01:05:15 Like, I know it is, but at the same time, like it doesn't mean as much as it used to when you had to win the division or get in by one wild card spot right like the three wild card spots and the fact that two of the national league's last representatives have come from the final wildcard spot proves how like unimportant you just need to get in that's what i mean so not saying that you you've you set up your last month and a half to like hey we're not going to go try to win the division but i do think there is some realisticness and some you know honesty to looking at your team and your squad and like okay we have have some leeway to test some things out here to make sure that when we do get in we're the

Starting point is 01:05:51 best team to make that run versus like hey let's allow them win the division and like what do we do from there yeah which it sounds crazy i'm not saying you don't go win the division i'm just saying like this is a series for example where you beat the marlins two out of three come back home like okay we we solidified our status in the wild card and give us ourselves a chance to go win the division you know what i mean yeah um so for me i think it's a huge bounce back because it again you turn a losing road trip into at least some positivity and then you can come back home and go from there you flush that series and yes well of course we are glad that our roster expanded early we know that happens next month but this guy's good derrothers expanded yeah yeah you're not pulling me

Starting point is 01:06:36 again my god you're pulled me once uh i mean and i've never lasted this long in a game so maybe i'm coming back as a starter yeah maybe the starter is a bag so That's all it is. All right. Well, we are thrilled to have you, and we hope you guys are excited about it, too. Of course, you can follow all of us on Twitter. I'm at K-Bapt-U-B-B-B-B-A-B-B-A. This man is at Archie Bradley 7.

Starting point is 01:06:58 Of course, Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. The People's Producer, Damon Dogg, is at Damon Dog. That's D-A-W-G. Oh, we are all Damon's dogs. This is where we bark-bark. So you got Bark-Bark Park. All right. That was pretty weak.

Starting point is 01:07:11 We do. It's the weakest bark-bark-ever. The one is full committed. I feel like I got half participation. Yeah, you're already his favorite. I got that real dog in. Yeah, no, I know. You're not going to.

Starting point is 01:07:22 All right. Well, of course, our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for being here. Thank this man for being a part of the team. And we will see you tomorrow for a post-game show. Of course, until then, have yourselves a wonderful night.

Starting point is 01:07:40 Behave yourselves and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Archie Bradley is on your team. that.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BRING IN THE BEARD! Archie Bradley Joins The PHNX Diamondbacks Team!

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