PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Christian Walker Hits TWO DINGERS In Diamondbacks Shutout Win Over Rangers

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Christian Walker is officially back, hitting two home runs in the Diamondbacks win over the Rangers at Chase Field on Tuesday. On a night where Zac Gallen looked dominant once again and the bullpen wa...s excellent, we are discussing if we will see more starts from the Milkman and Merrill Kelly over the Snakes final stretch. We also have more on the fun from our final Takeover of the year!An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose your offer!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Sanderson Ford: The Sanderson Ford Summer Sales Event is here and they are teaming up with the boys of summer for a final Playoff Payoff Sale. You get the payoffs like deals on 24 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend. Lease one today for as low as $299 a month for 36 Months with only 10 percent cash down.Zbiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/phnxdbacks to get 15% off your first order when you use PHNXDBACKS at checkout. Pre-Alcohol is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked. Empire Today: Schedule a free in-home estimate today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Mint Mobile: To get your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://mintmobile.com/diamondbacks.  $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Shady Rays: Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:05 Oh yeah, you know that song. Skiy to you all. Welcome into Studio K. Of course, presented by our friends at Circle K. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX, now, then, and forever. And of course, this is the PHNX DBAX podcast.
Starting point is 00:00:23 The Arizona Dibax skunk the Rangers by a score of six to nothing, and we have so much more on it. Right now, of course, I'm joined by my guy, the people's producer, Damon Dog, behind the Mac and of course this show is brought to you by our friends at the Bet365. Of course, go download Bet365 and use that code of PHNX365 when you sign up, choose your offer and find out why it is never ordinary over at Bet365.
Starting point is 00:00:48 And of course, very, very great to see all of our wonderful diehards and all of our wonderful friends out at Chase Field tonight for an absolute route of the Texas Rangers. This rematch from the World Series kind of went our way a little more. of course the Diamondbacks win by a score of six to nothing. It started off. Great. Diamondbacks get two dingers back to back. Got a Jock Peterson home run that went to the moon. And of course, Christian Walker is absolutely back with his two home run night.
Starting point is 00:01:19 But there's just so much to talk about from this game. Obviously, the Diamondbacks improved 81 and 64. It is a night where there are a lot of wins and losses happening around Major League Baseball that are impacting the Arizona Diamondbacks. But of course, they can only control what they have. can control, which is this game, and they did a great job of that. Zach Gallen was outstanding once again for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight. Of course, Zach went out there, and Zach did Zach things.
Starting point is 00:01:45 Zach goes out there, goes five innings pitched, gives up two hits, no earn runs, two walks, seven strikeouts. Of course, he didn't have his longest outing. And, you know, again, with the way that the Diamondbacks bullpen has kind of pitched, you would like to see a little bit more length out of Zach. But it's his second consecutive game. shutting out the opposition. Obviously, last time he didn't allow a hit.
Starting point is 00:02:07 But in this case, Zach Gallen was just very, very good tonight. And I mean, it didn't feel like the Rangers had much going on in this game at all. Of course, I was sitting with so many of you out in the bleachers. So I don't really know at times
Starting point is 00:02:18 what was going on in this game. I just know that every time I looked up, Zach Gallen was shoving. Is that a fair assessment, Damon? Zach Allen was shoving and Paven chance were being had. Oh, the paving chance were amazing. It was just a good night, right? good night all around for the Diamondbacks.
Starting point is 00:02:34 I mean, this was a thorough win. We talked about wanting to see them come out. And especially over these next 18 games, right? They have a day off on Monday. They have another day off on Thursday. They have this weird two games set with the Rangers. And then like Archie addressed, they go on a very long stretch without any days off against some very important opponents. And a lot of those games are here at Chase Field.
Starting point is 00:02:56 So it would be great to see the support. There was some great support out there tonight, although it was a little bit. I mean, it's a Tuesday game, so you're not expecting too much, too big of a crowd to show up. But Diamondbacks fans did a great job showing up, and so did the team. Of course, Jock Peterson was one for two tonight with that big home run. Christian Walker was two for four with three RBIs and his two home runs. Jake McCarthy, one for four. Pavement Smith, one for four with an RBI, a lot of contributions from everybody.
Starting point is 00:03:24 Corbyn, one for four as well. So it was just, it was a good night. It was a great night to be out to ballpark. We had a lot of good vibes going on. And honestly, it's just great to see this team playing as well as as they're playing right now. And of course, when we're talking about that, we're talking specifically about Zach Gallen, going back to Gallen. Gallen is very important when it comes to obviously the way the rest of the season goes. And one thing Archie brought up on the show yesterday was, you know, if Tori Lavallo is in fact going to maybe change direction with Zach and Merrill, right?
Starting point is 00:03:56 and possibly use those guys a little bit more, maybe give someone like Brandon Fott, who has a lot of innings work this season, maybe just one outing off, one start off. And we got a chance to ask Tori if that was his plan. This is what Tori had to say before the game today. He has any plans to get Zach and Merrill extra starts or you stay on schedule?
Starting point is 00:04:21 That's probably the question of the day. I don't know that answer. you guys need to stay tuned and we'll keep you posted on that. We're presently talking about that right now. With two off days, this is when we start to get really creative. We take deep, deep dives into direct matchups against certain teams, how they handle righties, how they handle lefties. We're going to try to line it up exactly the best way to help us win baseball games.
Starting point is 00:04:47 So, yes, it is probabilities. Yes, it is direct matchups. It's all of the above that we're going to drop in and say, this is where it fits best for this particular pitcher against this particular team. And then we want to make sure we have the right guys lined up at the very tail end of the season. So there's a lot that's going into these conversations.
Starting point is 00:05:07 And it takes hours to get to that point. And we haven't quite got there yet. I think FOD is up to 165 in the season. You feel like there's maybe a fatigue factor playing a role and kind of what you've seen from him recently? Yeah, you guys had the remote control drone in my office just now for the past hour. I got it. I feel you.
Starting point is 00:05:26 Just dying. I can't forget it. Yeah, you guys. Yeah, it's pretty good. We haven't necessarily discussed that, but we've maybe talked about giving him an extra day or two, if possible. I don't think there's a fatigue factor for him. He's got such a clean delivery. He's a big body. The overall pitches that he's thrown haven't been excessive.
Starting point is 00:05:49 I think he's going to be okay. I think he's going to be fine. But when we can give players rest and we feel like that, There's a need for it. We will, but we haven't yet figured out what that model looks like. But, yeah, we want to be mindful of it. The stuff is not ticking down. The velocity is still the same.
Starting point is 00:06:05 The information that we get, I'm sure you guys get it too, but that we get that's very detailed about the spin of the baseball and the movement of the baseball. It's all very similar. So we feel good about it. Maybe just an extra day of rest might do them some good as well. I can't express to you how good that felt. for Tori to tell me
Starting point is 00:06:27 that that was the question of the day that I was Tori's favorite student in the class. Like Jesse gets that shit all the time. I meanwhile, I never get it. So I just had to throw that out there that that felt really good. Also, it felt good for Tori to suggest that we have a camera planted
Starting point is 00:06:43 in his office, to be honest. That also felt pretty good. But I get it. I get where Tori's coming from with this because these are questions, I'm sure they're asking themselves, and I'm sure this is discussions that is going on, especially with the stretch that they have coming up and then these two off days right now it it makes a lot of sense that you would possibly skip over someone like brandon fought and give guys like maryland's act that don't have nearly
Starting point is 00:07:04 as many innings those at least one extra start it also is just a weird stretch coming up here where the diamondbacks have a lot of games to close out the season you know consecutively where they don't really get any more days off after that but i can't i can't wait for uh you to tote your one-time question of the day championship similar to your fantasy football championship around here. Oh, did you know that I was a one-time question of the day award winner? Damon brings up an interesting point. I don't talk about it on this show ever,
Starting point is 00:07:36 but I did win the PHNX Fantasy Football League. So I just figure this is a great opportunity to throw that out there. I know Tori would be a fan about that. But one thing I'm a fan of is the way this bullpen pitched tonight because these guys shoved. Zach might have shoved, but these guys shoved. One hit allowed in four innings of work by the bullpen. and one hit allowed by Kevin Ginkle.
Starting point is 00:07:57 Outside of that, you had four innings of perfection from these guys. Ginkle also walked a guy, but I don't care about that. But you have Ryan Thompson coming in, working a completely clean inning. You have AJ Puck, which many of you brought up in the chat, was just filthy. He's just filthy. Three strikeouts in one inning of work, and the man just continues his dominance. He has a 3.14 ERA this season, but keep in mind that that 3.14 ERA is impacted. by, I believe, those four starts that he had this season that he should have probably never been made a starter, but he pitches so well that it's hard not to consider him as that.
Starting point is 00:08:34 But this man comes in. He absolutely shoved. And then, of course, Justin Martinez shut the game down at the end. There were some people asking, like, why did these guys get the work in this game when this game was obviously, like, in hand? I'll say two things about that. One, I don't feel like any Arizona Diamondbacks game has been in hand. No matter what their lead is, no matter how the circumstance. is land. It feels lately like they need to continue to score runs and to do everything they can to have a dominant win like this. Like I don't remember the last time that the Diamondbacks really beat a team like this that you didn't really feel like they should beat like this, right? I mean, yeah. When Ginkle came in and Thompson though, I mean, it was we were up four runs. That's not,
Starting point is 00:09:16 that's not a crazy lead. No, no, it's not a crazy lead. You're absolutely right. Nor is really honestly a six to nothing lead, a crazy lead. Like I understand with the importance of wanting to protect these these leads and and get these games. I completely understand it. But I mean, yeah, this is, this is just one of those nights where you got to tip your cap because, yes, INA says Gallin had two of the three hits. You're absolutely right. Two of the three hits were off Zach Gallons.
Starting point is 00:09:39 Zach Gallin's night. Five innings pitch, two hits allowed, no earn runs, two walks, 7K. And then the bullpen combined, four innings pitched, one hit, one walk, six strikeouts. That'll play. And that's, like, we talk about, like, what, do we? have concerns about this team going into the postseason. Well, this is a Rangers team that hasn't been playing great baseball. Their OPS isn't super high. They have not been a great offensive team this season, but it's still the defending World Series champs, right? And I mean,
Starting point is 00:10:11 you got to be pretty proud of the way that your team played tonight and you got to be pretty confident that this is going to hopefully lead to them, you know, having this carry over to game two. Then they get another rest day and then they go on that. stretch of 16 straight games essentially to close out the season without really an off day. And that's, I mean, that's a tough stretch, right? They have a lot of good opponents in there. But their schedule is not nearly as tough as some of the other teams that are in this wildcard race. When you start looking at the Atlanta Braves schedule, when you start looking at, you know,
Starting point is 00:10:45 the Mets who they have left on their schedule and the Cubs who they have left on their schedule, it's not, it's a rough go for all of these other teams as well that are in this race. So the Diamondbacks do have the fact that they have some easy teams before them. And again, I think I said this yesterday. But if they can perform well against Milwaukee Brewers with seven games left against that team, then things should kind of fall their way. But I do want to talk about our takeover because our takeover was incredible tonight. And it's because of you guys.
Starting point is 00:11:13 You guys made our takeover wonderful. It's our last takeover the year. So I don't want to get mushy and super sentimental about it. But I don't know when or if I'm ever going to see you, people ever again. So I got to, we got to get mushy, right? We got to show the love. I have absolutely had a blast coming out to all of our baseball events, everything we've done, including way back when we did like the home run derby for the, for the fall, you know, for the fall league and everything else that we've done together. But tonight was just a perfect night. I felt like between the Diamondbacks
Starting point is 00:11:44 winning the meetup at the Desmond and just all the fun we had out there in Section 133. it was truly what this place is all about, what PHNX is all about. Just great vibes. It was amazing. You know what I mean? People that didn't know each other before PHNX and it's just become a fantastic little community that we have, especially our D-Backs, you know, fans are great. And it's awesome doing this show and then being a part of it.
Starting point is 00:12:10 I know you do two good beats. I know you got you also got the Cardinals. You're a two-timer a little bit, but I got to say, like there's something special about our Diamondbacks community, is or not, you know? absolutely i think you know we we had i think everyone felt similarly around here about our coyotes community yeah uh and there's a lot of similar people like for sure we we're in fact we have we have adopted coyotes fans over here to our baseball world and i love that as well because again it's what ph and x is all about i get it you know sometimes things happen and sometimes your favorite
Starting point is 00:12:43 sports team just ups and leaves and you're kind of left you know like in in a position of of feeling like what do I legitimately do with myself considering how much I invested, you know, in this team? And like, again, I could only imagine if we were in that predicament with our baseball team and I hope we never are. But honestly, look at what's happening with the Oakland A's. If it can happen to the A's, it can happen to any of us. So I just want to say that while we have this team, while we exist in this moment together and while we are a community and a family, I want to say I had a blast with you guys. And I hope to do many more takeovers next season.
Starting point is 00:13:19 and I hope to see you guys, maybe even before then, at Cardinals events, of course, at maybe in the FN. Yoffs, maybe we get together for something there. But it did feel like it was because of us that the Diamondbacks beat the Rangers so thoroughly. I get it. I know it's more of the performance of the players on the field and Zach Gallen and the bullpen shoving and all that stuff we already said. Christian Walker hit two dingers, Jock Peterson and Christian Walker going back to back. That's all been incredible. In fact, Christian Walker and Jock Peterson combined to hit back to me. back home runs for the fourth time this season.
Starting point is 00:13:52 And it was the fifth time that Christian Walker has had a multi home run game this season. So these guys have just been doing it. But of course, I do want to take credit and say it's because of us. It's because of us. A piece of Yoshi says Derek Henning at Diamondbacks relocation is crazy. I'll say the quiet parts out loud. I don't mind. Derek loves talking about the D-Backs relocating and Zach Gowan not resigning with the Diamondbacks.
Starting point is 00:14:16 Yeah, it's my two favorite top things. Those are his, oh, and Goldschmidt is overrated by this fan base. Those are his three favorite topics, and all three of them are horrifically negative and make Diamondbacks fans hate him. Yeah, I don't have any, he's right. I don't have any arguments with that. I have nothing more to say. I'm guilty as charged, if you will. But of course, it was awesome.
Starting point is 00:14:36 And of course, we do have to give our Sanderson Ford deep drive of the game to a home run. And we know which one it is. As much as I want to give it to either one of Christian Walker's two home runs, we have to give it to Jock Peterson's 450 foot blast in the bottom of the first. And of course, the Diamondbacks did the thing that they did. They got an early lead here in the first inning, and they were able to maintain it. They kept Rangers' hitters off balance. And this was just an overall good night.
Starting point is 00:15:04 The Diamondbacks were able to add a few runs late to really make this, kind of that blowout victory of 6 to nothing. But like you said, 4 to nothing is a lead that I don't feel comfortable with, especially considering how quickly. things can turn for any member of this bullpen. Ryan Thompson blew close to that big of a lead the other day. It wasn't that long ago that happened. So, I mean, and he pitched in this game.
Starting point is 00:15:28 I don't think, I think going to Ginkle and Ryan Thompson when you're up four runs is not crazy. And then you probably already had puck warming up at that point. Yeah. Well, of course, we will have some more here shortly on this baseball game. And we'll also be hearing from the one and only Jesse Friedman who we left at Chase Field. we stayed Jesse stayed there we came here
Starting point is 00:15:48 like we always do but of course we'll get around to Jesse joining us here shortly we do want to thank you guys maybe those of you that oh it's Steve Steven Bannas I don't it's I'm going to have to say it's Stephen bananas right it's Stephen bananas All right Stephen bananas says is our mayor saying
Starting point is 00:16:05 he wants to relocate the Diamondbacks and then what you put ESPO at the end you didn't even tag ESPO like what is he supposed to see this magically he's in his car driving home home from the game. So good luck getting him to see that. But Matt is absolutely right. The Padre series is going to be huge series with the season series being five and five as we speak. I hope Chase has over 40,000 each for each of those three games. Yeah, I mean, that's. And we're not talking about
Starting point is 00:16:30 you loser Padres fans that live in AZ either. You guys stay at home. Damon's on one tonight. He saw guys in Dodgers fans. Oh, I was so mad. And he's fit to be tied. It's great. It's so good. But since you guys are Dodgers fans and since none of you all, Maria might be. here and I definitely know BC's lurking in the dark somewhere. But of course, we thank you guys so much for being here in the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, we implore you to do so now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss whenever our shows on this wonderful network go live. And of course, hit that like button, HTL. We hold the line. We hit the line and we love the show. Of course, Zach, huge fan, huge fan of holding the line.
Starting point is 00:17:08 So hit that like button. It's for my self-esteem, mostly. Nobody else is. If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, make sure you subscribe over there. Of course, leave us a review. Those reviews do mean the world to us. Even though most of you probably think that we don't take anything that you say in your reviews to heart, we take it to heart so much. So much. I'll lose sleep for a week over negative reviews. I'm not telling you to not leave a negative review, but I just want you to understand that if you do leave a negative review, that you're just hurting me deep down inside.
Starting point is 00:17:39 So, of course, if you are listening on the podcast, audio podcast side, though, we love you. We thank you for listening. Of course, we do have some business to take care of, but we will get back to this game. But first, we do want to give a shout out to Sanderson Ford. Sanderson Ford is the place for you to go get a brand new vehicle. It is our official vehicle partner. And for a good reason. We love the folks at Sanderson Ford.
Starting point is 00:18:00 They are, of course, a family, a family that has been owned and operated Sanderson Ford for more than three generations. Similar to PH&X. Yeah, right? We're family. We're all family. Why, it's a great partnership there. We might not have as many generations invested in PHNX, but wait, my daughter will be here doing shows before you know it. Like, she'll be here, hold things down.
Starting point is 00:18:21 But, of course, go out to Sanderson Ford, not just because they're wonderful people, because of the wonderful deals they have and the wonderful vehicles that they have to offer. Of course, right now, they are pushing for the playoffs and you get the payoffs like deals on a 24 Ford Broncosport Big Bend, just ranked highest in its quality by J.D. Power. And of course, you also have 0% financing for 36 months with no payments for 90 days on Ford F-150, Escape, Edge, Explorer, and Expedition. So, of course, check out the Sanderson Ford Summer Sales event, which is here right now, and they are teaming up with the boys of summer for a final playoff payoff sale. Purchase or lease any new Ford and get four tickets for your family to see the debacks, push for the playoffs, and you also get 0% for 36 months, OAC from Ford Credit, C dealer for details. make sure to grab those tickets and come join us for a Diamondbacks game.
Starting point is 00:19:09 There's not a lot of those left this season. Also, of course, this show is brought to you by our friends at Bet365, which always make watching live sports more fun with their live in-game betting. Bet365 offers the widest range of games and markets available for live in-game betting across 78 sports. So make sure to not miss out on everything Bet365 has to offer. We talked about this lead, right? We talked about the lead in this game. you would have cashed the minute the Diamondbacks hit that five run mark because with the Bet365
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Starting point is 00:20:29 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. some really cool stuff coming up with Bet365 there. We really do. In the playoffs, I think, and maybe even sooner, but definitely in the playoffs. We're going to be making some pH and X personalized bets. Oh, yeah. On the Bet 365 app. We had one this weekend for the Cardinals, right?
Starting point is 00:20:46 We did for Cardinals. This weekend there will probably be one for Cardinals next week. Maybe a little Diamondbacks action? Yep, absolutely. You check the app on this Sunday, and there should be a little PhNX logo for a boost that comes up. And then Shane, Johnny, Bo and I will come. kind of figure out what those bets are going to be for Cardinals. Derek and I will probably figure those out for Diamondbacks. It'll be a lot of fun. So download Bet 365 with our code.
Starting point is 00:21:10 And yeah, get in on that with us. Damon and Jesse really do the majority of the work around here. I am merely a figurehead mayor, whatever you want to call me. But of course, this man, he's, without him, the bets would be foolish. He would actually make good bets. So that's why. I don't know, Derek. You were pretty hot last postseason. I, well, no, because that was the op. It was the opo, right? It was like I was going opposite and I got on fire. But that's only because I want to hedge my bets emotionally and make sure if the Diamondbacks lose, at least I win.
Starting point is 00:21:41 Of course, the Diamondbacks definitely did that tonight, though. So let's take a look at the count presented by Desert Financial Credit Union. Diamondbacks won six to nothing. They out hit the Rangers 10 to 3. Runers in scoring position, neither team was good. Rangers, O for two, Diamondbacks, one for nine. I don't know what to do with either of those. But it doesn't matter because the Diamondbacks had six extra.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Extra base hits to the Rangers zero and the expected batting average there was 279 for the Diamondbacks to the Rangers 132 Diamondbacks pitching just was flat out incredible in this game and and that's really What it came down to right? The Diamondbacks did enough offensively and their pitching was was really really good Yeah, I mean 10 hits nothing to scoff at either That runner's in scoring position obviously I think we'd like to see that get a little bit weeded out absolutely one for nine is not great and that XB isn't exactly fantastic either, but I mean, that's kind of a funky stat anyways. Six extra base hits.
Starting point is 00:22:39 It was a good night all the way around for the Diamondbacks. Yeah, no, it really, really was. And of course, again, it's because we were present. They did the thing for us. Overall, I don't know. I mean, I feel like this is how weird baseball is right now and with how tight things are, where one win feels good. it doesn't feel like you're out of hot water with, you know, the wildcard race.
Starting point is 00:23:05 And a loss feels devastating, right? Because, again, you have the Cubs, for instance, who probably should be getting smashed by the Dodgers. And instead, they've won the last two games. It looks like they're going to win tonight and they won yesterday. You just constantly have these teams that are in this race with the Diamondbacks showing up on every single, in every single game on every single night. and playing good baseball. So the Diamondbacks have to continue to do so.
Starting point is 00:23:32 And they did that tonight. And of course, it feels good. Feels good. Of course, we do have to give our King Snake out to somebody. And who are we going to give it to? I don't know. I guess there is more than one guy to give it to. But Christian Walker is our guy tonight.
Starting point is 00:23:44 Two for four, two home runs, three RBI. And man, it just feels really, really good to see Christian Walker have a multi-home run game. For Christian Walker, just to have a home run, period. It just felt good, right? So, like, this is one of those things that Archie and I briefly touched on yesterday, but that was the feeling that we both kind of have of, like, is Christian Walker and Ctele Marte possibly costing this offense, you know? And, like, you don't want that.
Starting point is 00:24:15 And obviously, they got to get into games for them to get into a rhythm and get back to being, you know, members that contribute to the offense in a meaningful way. But at the same time, their replacements as we have. have, as we've talked about, so much, have played so well that it's hard to see this team struggle offensively on, you know, when Cattell and Christian came back and not think like, wow, what would tonight have been like if Kevin Newman and Josh Bell were out there, right? So. Yeah, the only pushback I'd have on that, I think, is that Josh Bell and Kevin Newman a lot of
Starting point is 00:24:47 the time are singles hitters, especially Josh Bell had been hitting a lot of singles, not a lot of extra base hits, whereas Catell and Christian Walker have like game breaking type of hits. and at bats. So I think that's where like, they're just a little bit, that caliber is, is just a level that Josh Bell and Kevin Newman can't reach because Ketel and Christian's upside is that much higher.
Starting point is 00:25:08 Elise in the chat says, Derek said I was crazy for saying we probably need to win every game we have left. That is crazy. Elise, that is crazy. At least that's the worst take you've ever had. That's the worst take you've ever had. And you have nothing but good takes, but that was a miss.
Starting point is 00:25:25 She can miss. I didn't think she could I didn't think so either I didn't think she good but that is crazy to think they have to win all of our game you're starting to hang out with Thunderbolt too much
Starting point is 00:25:34 and I don't like you two like becoming friends like that but of course we do have my guy we do have the Thunderstick and I don't know I can't I'm not allowed to call him my vice mayor anymore but it is the one and only
Starting point is 00:25:45 Jesse Friedman here joining us so let's bring Jesse in here we were hanging out Jesse I talked about it a little while ago it was a fun night out there with all of our people in Section 133 and the Diamondbacks delivered for us.
Starting point is 00:26:01 Yeah, and you know what, Derek, they wouldn't have delivered if there hadn't been, you know, crew of 20 to 30 PH and Xers down the down the left line. Jesse, PH&Xers? What are you doing here? It's like you don't even know Zach or Steve. What is happening?
Starting point is 00:26:17 Yeah, good point. Yeah, this is one of the better games the Diamondbacks have played all season. You know, I mean, obviously a shut out. win, that's a pretty good place to start. This was the Diamondbacks. I believe it was their ninth shutout win of the season, their first since the end of July.
Starting point is 00:26:35 People might remember the game where they beat the Washington National, 17 to zero. Patrick Corbyn, old friend, was not particularly great in that game. But that was a while ago. I mean, the Diamondbacks have nine shutout wins this season. It's been about a month and a half since we saw the last one. And I guess that speaks in part to this pitching staff and how things have been a little rough lately.
Starting point is 00:26:55 in both, really both the rotation and the bullpen. That was not the case today. Zach Gallen, he wasn't as efficient as you would have maybe liked him to be, but he still managed to go five scoreless innings. And then your five big guns at the back end of the bullpen, I mean, these are the guys that are going to be getting the ball in the biggest moments in the playoffs, at least that's how it stands right now. Kevin Ginkle, Ryan Thompson, A.J. Puck, and Justin Martinez,
Starting point is 00:27:19 they combine to give up one hit tonight. And I believe it was an infield hit, if I'm not mistaken. And so, yeah, just a well-pitched game for the Diamondbacks and a well-played game all the way around. Well, we will have a little bit more from Chase Field and from Jesse here on this game. But first, we do have to remind all of you that if you're leaving Chase Field right now to stop by Circle K, it's a great place to stop on your way home. Right now you can get yourself, of course, join the inner circle, right? And if you haven't, I have good news for you because there's one benefit we haven't been talking about. And that is that when you join the inner circle, your first five polar pops are free.
Starting point is 00:27:55 Just free. Do you like free? It's free. I mean, I can't get Circle K to pay you money to take a polar pop. But I can get you a polar pop for free. So go out there and sign up for the Inner Circle for free right now by downloading the CircleK app. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details.
Starting point is 00:28:11 But you will get, once again, five polar pops for free. You also save 25 cents off per gallon on your first five Phillips and then save three cents every day after that. make sure to stop by America's third stop, fill up your car, fill yourself up. You know you're thirsty after watching the Diamondbacks whoop that trick tonight. So go stop by Circle K. Of course, also make sure if you want to join us for wonderful games like tonight's game, you download the GameTime app right now and check out the GameTime's new feature called GameTime Picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier.
Starting point is 00:28:43 And when I say this, I mean, there is a special category for those of you that are familiar with GameTime. You may have pulled up the arena, the event that you want to go to, and you might see up at the top there's a couple little tabs. One of those tabs, GT picks, game time picks. You get down on that and it will zero in on the best deal that it can find you. It filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. And let me tell you sometimes that deal is one that you're like, that wasn't even on here. I missed that one all together. So make sure to save as much money as you can with game time.
Starting point is 00:29:17 GameTime picks makes it easier to save more on sports, concerts, comedy shows, theater, and so much more. You can even save exclusively when you, like, maybe even let GameTime choose a section for you and let GameTime choose the seats. They have all in pricing, and of course, when you toggle that feature on, it will show you the total up front with all fees included, no surprises at all when you get to checkout. So take the guest work out of buying tickets with GameTime, download the GameTime app today, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. What time is it? What time is it, Damon? Game time? It's game time. It's game time. All right, Jesse. Well, it was game time for the Diamondbacks today. I played the clip from before the show where Tori basically called us geniuses. He called me more of a genius than you.
Starting point is 00:30:08 But we did talk about maybe getting Zach and Merrill, you know, some more starts. And he said that is the conversation that they're having as well as your question about. Brandon fought maybe getting, you know, a day off with how much he's pitched. But with the way Zach pitched tonight, you could feel very encouraged about Zach getting an extra start. You know, you can feel very encouraged about the Diamondbacks team wanting Zach Gallen to pitch as many games down the stretch as they can. And considering the workload he's had and how much he's, how much rest he's had can do to the injuries, it's, it's kind of a good plan. Oh, you're muted, Jesse. Yeah, I guess not having the mute button turned on.
Starting point is 00:30:53 That would help. That would help. Yes, where was I? Yeah, Zach Gallen. Yeah, especially when he's pitching like this, right? I think as of a couple of weeks ago, I maybe would have tapped the breaks a bit on the, you know, try to get Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly as many starts as you could down the stretch because frankly, neither of those guys was really at their best. But as you start to see both of those guys come into their own, I mean, yeah, D-backs want to win as many games as they can down the stretch. They're in a more comfortable position than they were a year ago.
Starting point is 00:31:28 Certainly, I think their playoff odds push back up toward pretty close to 90% based on the outcomes of today. But that's still not 100, right? I mean, this is not a sure thing. You still have just a two-game cushion on both the Mets and the Braves. And it's not just about making the playoffs this year. it's also about what position do you find yourself in. Can you actually play the wild card series at home? That's something that the Diamondbacks are only half a game away from doing right now.
Starting point is 00:31:56 They're half a game behind the San Diego Padres as of the end of play today. So that, yeah, they have they have some goals down the stretch here that they still can accomplish beyond just making the playoffs. And as of right now, I mean, at least with what we've seen from Zach the last couple times, what we saw from Maryland, San Francisco, It'll be interesting to see what he looks like back here tomorrow. But those are generally been your two best guys. And you're going to want them on the mound as much as you can down the stretch.
Starting point is 00:32:26 I got a super chat from Stephen Bananas. He says, first he said it kind of feels like to me, Jesse had to fall, ask that question due to my great question. That is basically, I kind of got that vibe as well. Yeah, Jesse had to upstage me for sure. Or at least he had to get in there, get in on it, right?
Starting point is 00:32:42 I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let, for you. be complimenting you without like trying to inject myself. I knew I knew it made you sick when it happened. I could feel like the anger like just kind of coming off of you as you told me like I was his favorite student. Yeah. And Jesse, his whole life has been the favorite student.
Starting point is 00:33:00 Oh, absolutely. So, I mean, even in these press conferences, the amount of times that I have to hear Tori and say, that's a great question, Jesse. It makes me sick. Well, I think. And that's exactly why it made him sick. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:11 That Tori had that reaction to you. It makes all the sense in the world. Stephen, thank you for your super chat. It's not a $50 super chat, so we could tell you didn't slip on the button like Yoshi did last night. But he says, that's Mr. Bananas to you. Yes, sir, Mr. Bananas. And he says, remember, a vote for Espos, a vote for espionage. That's a very good point.
Starting point is 00:33:30 He says, PS, thankful for this podcast. We're thankful for you. So thank you for being here. Jesse, overall, not a lot of complaints tonight. I don't, like, there's nothing we can really say the Diamondbacks should do other than to keep this, you know, to try to keep this role going, right? Like they have another winnable game tomorrow against the Rangers, and then they have a very difficult stretch that they have to kind of do everything
Starting point is 00:33:53 they can to stack wins. I saw listless Rangers team out there tonight. I saw a team that really wasn't, you know, playing for much. And it's understandable that they weren't playing very hard, right? But like, you got to take advantage against a team like this, even if it's just two games. I mean, Corey Seeger's not in the lineup, right? What is there to be afraid of? with the Texas Rangers, right? Adoles Garcia? Yeah, right. He's wild. Yeah, I mean, there's still
Starting point is 00:34:20 some good players on this team. Like, I think Wyatt Langford's going to be star, and we saw glimpses of that today. He made a great catch and left field. He had a couple of hits in this game. He stole a couple of bases as well. There's still some pretty good players on this baseball team and some good pitchers as well. I mean, Nathan Eowaldi has still had, for all the players on this Rangers team that have struggled this year, Nathan Evaldi is really not one of them when he's been. healthy he's been very very good and has been very good recently and the debacks tomorrow get another guy in a similar spot in cody bradford a lefty who is not throw the hardest he is going to give us some trouble tomorrow jesse he's sort of the he's sort of the type of pitcher that the debacks have struggled with
Starting point is 00:35:02 right like david peterson of the metz and geoffrey springs of the rays these kind of finesse left-handed pitchers that's what they're going to be dealing with tomorrow and it will have a different feel right now that Catelle is back in the lineup, although obviously Cattel, we haven't really seen him look like himself since coming back from the injury. That's still something that probably have to expect. It's just been a few games. It's just his third game played off the IL. But at some point, Catell is probably going to start absolutely destroying left-handed pitching again. And for the D-BACs tomorrow is as good a day as any for him to get back to that. He really is. What do you have from the clubhouse tonight?
Starting point is 00:35:43 Yeah, so we have a few things here. I guess we'll start with, we'll start with Tori Lavello talking about Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly, not just Zach Allen, but just how important it is for Zach to throw a game like this and how important it's going to be for both Zach and Merrill down the stretch to really carry this team. Yeah, and I put that on them. I put it on Merrill too. I've had discussions with them. I've said, hey, you're the carry tool here. We've got to you guys go out and execute and do what you do best and empty the tank every time you you go out there and it's very important it's very important that they pace us they've done it before they know what it's like to stand on that mound and execute at a high level the most critical times and when they do it
Starting point is 00:36:31 the way the way that they've spoiled us with how they've done it it comes out like this so we need them and they can they can shoulder that responsibility the conversations that i've had with them they're willing to accept that and they take it on and they've both been really good over the past couple of outings. Yeah, I mean, these are the guys, right? These are the guys that you trust. And like I think the one thing I took away from his pregame presser was that these are the guys you trust regardless of what the results in the past have been.
Starting point is 00:37:01 These are the guys that if you can't trust them, then you don't really have a shot at winning. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's a great point. I mean, Tori was asked pregame today. I don't know if this was in the clip that you played, but is it important, like something along the lines of, is it important for you to see Zach and Merrill,
Starting point is 00:37:19 you know, are these next two starts important for you to see them get back to form so that you really do want to push forward with them the rest of the season and try to get them as many starts as possible? And Tori very quickly said, no, that not for me, basically implying like he believes in these guys no matter what, right?
Starting point is 00:37:38 Yeah. The diamond backs are either going to get to the, postseason because Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly carried them there. And obviously there's a whole lot of other players contributing as well. But, you know, they're going to ride it out with those guys, I think, no matter what. And it's obviously a good sign still that you're seeing Zach turn things around. And again, we'll see what we'll see what Merrill looks like tomorrow. Maybe he's able to build off that last out against the Giants.
Starting point is 00:38:07 Well, I know we have more from Zach from the clubhouse. What did Zach have to say tonight? Yeah, this is Zach basically talking about that very topic of, you know, Tori has said that he wants to sort of ride it out with you and Merrill the rest of the way. Is that kind of your expectation for the rest of the season? And here's what Zach had to say. Yeah, for sure. And I think that's definitely something we've talked about.
Starting point is 00:38:33 I mean, that's something we've talked about for the last three, four years, really. You know, years when we were out of it. And Tori said there's, it's going to come a time when we're going to be in. this thing and I'm going to have to ride you guys for you know whatever the pitch count you know dictates or whatever but I think in the same time it's being smart about that and understanding that you don't have to go and throw 110 pitches every night I mean I think you pick your spots where you know like tonight for instance maybe tonight's not a hundred and 10 pitch night it's maybe next next outing or two outings down the road from now so yeah I mean
Starting point is 00:39:04 it's what it's what we want we want planning games and pitching games that mean something and you know be able to give out give the team chance to win You know, it's funny. As one time I had a discussion with Zach about, like, a perfect game and a no-hitter and, like, what, how many pitches he'd be willing to throw and all this stuff. And I've also had conversation with Zach where he's, you know, said, like, that he would let his arm fall off for the team. But he's not going to let it happen for, like, a no-hitter because that's, like,
Starting point is 00:39:34 not that important to him. But, I mean, this just goes to show, like, when he says he's ready to go and, like, yeah, Tori, Tori's prepped us for this. Not just this year. Tori's prepped us for this in the past that we're the guys that he has to ride with. We are the dogs. We are the ones that are going to be in there getting the long outings and being asked to go over 100, you know, pitch count, all that kind of stuff. Then, you know, you feel like this is, these are the right guys for the job.
Starting point is 00:40:00 Like you feel that confidence that Tori has in them despite the fact that maybe the results have not been there, especially for Merrill this season. Yeah, this was, it was an interesting day for Tori where he could have tried to push Gallen for another inning, right? I think it was 94 pitches that Gallen through in five. And I think there maybe are some scenarios down the stretch of the season where Tori would have Gallen go back out there and try to, you know, go through whatever it is, 110 pitches or so in order to get through six. It's not something we see the Diamondbacks do with Gallen a whole lot. but this didn't feel like that type of game. And I think I agree with that decision. I guess in hindsight,
Starting point is 00:40:42 it's easy to, given that this wound up being a six-run win for the Diamondbacks. But just the way that the game was unfolding, the fact that the Rangers were just seeing so many pitches. I mean, even when Gallin had a one, two, three inning, it still was, you know, it still was like a 20 pitch inning each time just because Rangers, hitters were doing a really good job working counts.
Starting point is 00:41:03 So, yeah, if you send him back out there for the six, you know, who knows, maybe he's 110 pitches and he's only gotten one out in the inning. And then you're putting one of your relievers in a trickier spot at that point. So it'll be interesting to see what the usage looks like. Are the Diamondbacks trying to push these two guys to get every start that they possibly can the rest of the way? And in these games, how aggressive are they? I imagine if this game had been a little bit closer at that point, maybe Tori does try to get
Starting point is 00:41:31 a sixth inning out of Zach Gallen. It'll be interesting to monitor that here moving forward. interesting comments in the chat jesse from our co-worker erika day uh erika might you know when i said like circle k is america's third stop erika might need to stop by there because she's sounding a little thirsty right now she in our chat says erika wants walter in regards to walter pennington from the texas rangers uh left-handed reliever uh she says can erika come on the show if walter comes to the diamond back so like now she's referring to herself in third person and i don't think she just wants them to come. Three in a row, by the way.
Starting point is 00:42:08 Here's a third message. Yeah, what else do she got? Also, FYI, Erica is three and O and her D-BAC's attending. She's still talking about herself in the third person, which is a power move. It's a power move. I can't. Like, I want to say it's weird, but it's an insane power move, right? Anyway, that's a whole other story. We'll have to deal with Erica at a later time when it comes to that. But Walter Pennington cannot help us this season, though, maybe in the future. I will say, though, at this point, it's all. about, you know, the fact that we know the offense is running so well, right? We've seen this
Starting point is 00:42:41 offense even on, even in losses. The Diamondbacks have been able to put up runs. It's all about pitching. And today is that glimpse of like, this is how it could be. I know it's the Rangers. I know it's a team that doesn't have a great team OPS and things like that, Jesse. But like between the bullpen and the way Zach pitched, you're just like, yeah, this is this team. And then you factor in the fact that you know the offense can just casually throw up six runs on a night that didn't even feel like like they had their best you know offensive performance tonight and and this team feels very like like like they're in a good good position right now. Another thing that Zach was asked after the game is did did this did this have was there a little
Starting point is 00:43:23 extra in this one for you given the opponent and Zach kind of brushed it off I guess the way you would maybe expect him to he gave the classic line. of I treat every opponent the same. No, you don't. But he did also acknowledge that, yeah, it feels good to beat this team, right? And he also said, like, they got us when it counted. So it's not like, it's not like this one makes up for game five. Revenge.
Starting point is 00:43:50 Because the pitching matchups were the same. Yeah, I don't think any Diamondbacks player could possibly view that this way. You get that if you face them in the World Series of the playoffs and you knock them out. That's how you get your revenge period. Because of the ALNL difference, that's the only. way we'll ever get that's the only way you're ever going to get it is by all the rangers have done since is make me feel bad because corey segar continues to own us oh yeah so it feels good to not feel bad tonight but it also doesn't feel like it also doesn't feel like revenge whatsoever oh no yeah no i didn't
Starting point is 00:44:19 i didn't get my just desserts you know what i mean i did not get that but they own me the rangers own me yeah they they they do and i mean because of the size of of you know of the victory right but And the size of Adela-S-Garcia because he's on steroids. Because of the size of his head is what you're saying. Because the steroids. Right. Yes. I'm not going to.
Starting point is 00:44:39 I can't. I thought you were saying he was off the steroids now, Damon. And that's the piece of the- season. Now, but then he wasn't. Last season, there's a lot of accusations. I have it on good authority that Rob Manfred was the one that hit Adola-Carsia with an injection right before he hit his walk-off home run.
Starting point is 00:44:56 Wow. That's not at all true. But what I will say is that one thing that. one thing that does feel good is that the Diamondbacks are on pace to make the playoffs, and we know the Rangers are not, right? So at least there's that. And, you know, we can help maybe shut the door on their season a little bit more by finishing this thing off tomorrow with a two-game sweep.
Starting point is 00:45:15 You know, one thing we'll need, though, it's Christian Walker. And, of course, that's really the only guy I wanted to hear from tonight. No offense to Zach or Tori, but what did Christian have to say, Jesse? Yeah, we talked to him about a number of things, including, of course, the game that he had today. and said sort of the usual things about how it feels good to be contributing in a big way again. His two homers were both opposite field, which I think is also noteworthy in this one. Tori loves himself in opposite field home run and spoke very, very highly of that. But we do have video of Christian Walker, a question that I asked.
Starting point is 00:45:48 Basically, just did it take some pressure off you while you were out with injury, knowing that the team was playing pretty well, all things considered in your absence? And here is what Christian had to say. Yeah, very much, very much. You know, it's easy to, you know, focus on recovering and resting and getting the body right, you know, but it's also, you know, you have FOMO big time. It looks like they're having so much fun scoring a bunch of runs. You want to be in the mix. But now, proud of the guys for doing what they did over the month of August.
Starting point is 00:46:18 What a weird feeling that must be? Like, on one hand, you're mad, you're injured, and you don't want to miss time. And you want to come back as fast as possible. but you know based on an injury being an injury that you can't do anything to change that amount of time it's going to take for you to come back so it's like yes on one hand it was great to see the team playing great and yes but like does anybody want to feel not needed right like you don't really want to feel like oh wow this team's like better without me that kind of sucks you know like and you also have the fomo like you do want to be out there playing baseball these guys love this game and the last thing they want to be doing is sitting on the sidelines while they watch their teammates go and have all of that success without them and celebrate and have those moments, you know, it's, it's weird, but like, I understand everything that he was feeling. Yeah, and I think to a point that I heard Damon make earlier before I hopped on, you know, for as good as Josh Bell was replacing Christian Walker, there is still a difference here.
Starting point is 00:47:19 And that being on the offensive side of the ball, Christian Walker is a power hitter through and through. And that's something that honestly, I've, I've heard that a little bit too much about Josh Bell. People keep talking about Josh Bell as like, oh, yeah, he's your power hitter now with Christian Walker out. I know, I don't really ever think that I've viewed him in that light. Obviously, I think you hit like four home runs almost instantly after he joined the Diamondback. So it very much felt that way off that week. We talked about how hot that stretch was when the Diamondbacks picked him up. So it's like, yeah, he was, he was on a heater. But, Yeah, he came back down to earth.
Starting point is 00:47:56 And he did end up, he, he has been a great hitter for this team, a great hitter where he can work the count well and he can also, you know, get on base and get hits. But yeah, no, I agree with you. I haven't, we haven't really seen the power out of him, especially not the way we see Christian Walker. That's why tonight felt so cathartic to have Christian Walker come back and not only have a home run in a game, but have two and feel like, oh, this isn't just Christian Walker hitting a dinger and feeling good about it.
Starting point is 00:48:24 This is like this is Christian Walker being back. Yeah, I mean, I think, and not to say that Josh Bell is a bad player by any means, but just like the last few seasons, you know, this year he has a $399 slugging percentage. Last year it was $419. The year before that, it was $4.22. None of those numbers are prototypical power hitting first baseman type numbers, right? And it just goes back again to the value that Christian Walker does have for as great as Josh Bell was as a fill-in, and he obviously continues to have a role on this team.
Starting point is 00:48:57 Walker is your guy over there, right? I mean, he's the guy who's, you feel like you can count on to hit 30 home runs year-in, year-out, and you obviously can count on his defense. We saw an unbelievable over-the-shoulder catch that Walker made a point. Tori also talked about that at length in his post-game presser. I think it was when Ginkle was on the mound in the sixth inning, a moment where the game still felt winnable for the Rangers for sure. They were down to four runs, but they got their leadoff man on against Ginkle in that
Starting point is 00:49:26 inning. And then they won a challenge, and Langford winds up stealing second base. So there was at least some level of vulnerability there. And Christian Walker does Christian Walker things and just makes this very nice over-the-shoulder catch that feels sort of routine for him at this point. I mean, I would have been shocked if he didn't make the play. He makes it look effortless. He makes it look effortless.
Starting point is 00:49:48 And you don't even think about how. what the level of difficulty is to make that kind of play in that situation, right? I looked back at Jesse in the stands, like super excited. Like, oh, did you just see that, man? And Jesse was like, yeah, yeah, Christian Walker. Because he's not surprised. We've seen Christian Walker make over-the-shoulder catches that were, you know, five, ten times as impressive as that one, honestly.
Starting point is 00:50:15 And it's not to say that that one wasn't as impressive, but it wasn't impressive in its own right. But, you know, I think of the plays, like the pop-ups down the right field line that are in foul territory where Walker has to cover like a ton of ground in order to just get to the spot and then try to figure out where the ball is. The level of difficulty there is probably higher than the play here. But again, it's not an easy play. I mean, I don't, I don't think it's a given that like every other first base in the league makes that play. That's just who he is over there. And again, I mean, I think that's my biggest takeaway from This one is that Christian Walker was back technically a week ago today,
Starting point is 00:50:54 but now it really feels like he's back, right? Like now it really feels like you're starting to see him come to his own as the player that we're used to seeing. And that's a huge boost for this Diamondbacks team. Jesse said he's back this time. So that means he's really back, right? So that's real. A friend of mine, Johnny Walker is in the chat.
Starting point is 00:51:11 Johnny, I love you. He says, How long have you known him again? A very, very long time, Damon. I don't think legally I'm allowed to discuss how long Johnny Walker and I have been hanging out together. But I do want to say Johnny Walker, thank you for your super chat. He says my wife said to stop superchats
Starting point is 00:51:25 but I can't, I just can't help myself. Go, DeVax. And we're glad you can't help yourself. Drop your wife's name in there and I will say something very nice about her and then maybe you can just clip that the way we clip stuff and then maybe she'll just think that we just say lovely things about her on this show
Starting point is 00:51:41 all the time. So we do appreciate you for that. Of course. Jesse talked about some things earlier that Tori said and Tori may or may not be lying about that you know how this whole thing goes do i have to do the bit he's lying i'm lying but i might not be lying jesse junior never lies uh and of course we also know that the numbers they never lie uh jesse what do you got for tonight's number that doesn't lie tonight's number is 84.2 uh that's that's that's almost the number uh 80 a little bit a little a little different
Starting point is 00:52:16 Yeah, 84.2% is the number, and that represents Zach Gallen's first pitch strike percentage. There it is. There it is. So yeah, Zach Gallen was 16. Wow. 84.2. It's a pretty impressive number. And this is something we've talked about for a while as one of the key differences between Gallin this year and Gallen last season and years before that is he's just not throwing as many first pitch strikes. And you look at the numbers, and it is very clear that the difference. you know, 01 and 1-0 for Zach Gallen is very significant. It's something like a 250 point OPS difference between when he gets ahead of 0 and 1 and when he falls behind 1 and 0. So we also have a graphic, I believe, that shows where those pitches were. Yeah, here's that.
Starting point is 00:53:06 And this underscores the point I'm making here. It's not just that these pitches were in the zone. It's that pretty much all of these are quality pitches. You see the yanked fastball in the lower right-hand corner there. That was his first pitch of the game, actually. So I guess you can kind of throw that one out. There's also obviously a bigger miss there in the top left. But outside of those two pitches, pretty much all of these were in the zone.
Starting point is 00:53:33 A lot of these pretty much right on the black. He didn't get a couple of calls here. The zone was maybe a little bit wider tonight. But yeah, throwing, winning the first pitch of every bat is really important. And Gallen not only got ahead, but he threw quality pitches. None of those pitches turned into base hits. There were some foul balls. I think one or two of them was put in play for an out.
Starting point is 00:53:53 So, yeah, that was a really positive development for Gallen tonight. I mean, you know, I hate to give you credit. Again, it disgusted me as much as you getting credit from Tori. But you, you know, you wrote a wonderful article for go phnx.com. And a big part of it was you talking about these issues. and like getting down to the core of the issue, that's, we can't do that. Like, we don't know why Zach was struggling over that stretch. We just know that the fact that he wasn't landing those first pit strikes and not getting those
Starting point is 00:54:28 is, was putting him down and was causing a lot of the other problems he was having, right? Just getting behind in the count, staying behind in the count, not having, you know, just not getting ahead, not being able to be aggressive, especially with like his knuckle curve that's been really good this season. So, you know, it makes sense. But at the same time, it's amazing the impact that him going out and having a night like this where he lands 84.2% of his, you know, first pitches for strikes, like just it shows in the box score how dominant he was against this Rangers team. Yeah. And I asked him about the importance of those first pitch strikes after the game as well.
Starting point is 00:55:07 And he made an interesting point where it's, I guess it goes back to kind of what I was saying a moment ago about how it's really. important for these to be quality pitches. He said that opposing teams know that he's going to be aggressive early in counts, and it's important for him to be crafty and to, you know, not making a fastball every time or not get too predictable in various ways and mix it up. And again, really, really hit the edges of the zone rather than just sort of lofting it over the middle. So, yeah, he's done a much better job in that regard here over the last couple of starts and especially today. Well, we will be back here tomorrow. with another post-game show.
Starting point is 00:55:45 It's a little bit earlier this time, and unfortunately we won't be out in Section 133, but we will be right back here with more on tomorrow's game, and hopefully the Diamondbacks can sweep this two-game series against the Rangers. They definitely need, according to Elise, to win every single baseball game the rest of the way.
Starting point is 00:56:03 So we will be here to monitor that. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. The people's producer is at Damon Dog. That's D-A-W-G on the dog part. We are Damon's dogs. Bark, park.
Starting point is 00:56:19 Yeah, we do a subdued thing when Archie isn't here. I'm not trying to show off when Archie isn't here. But I just think I think that I would be taken much less seriously in the press box. Because people tell me this, I'm a little ways away from where the press box is. We try to create a little bit of distance. I'm not irritating people. They hear you. But I'm still with an earshot.
Starting point is 00:56:40 And I just don't think it would be great for me. career-wise, perception-wise, to be audibly barking. I mean, Steve would never let us live it down, Jesse. Steve would bark at us every single time he saw us. He would maybe call us the dog pound or give us some sort of nickname like that. That actually sounds pretty cool now that I'm thinking of it. So maybe you should just bark me on. I'll talk to all DMM.
Starting point is 00:57:05 Maybe Steve needs to meet me and then we can just make him one of the dogs. And it's pretty acceptable. Steve can be one of Damon's dogs and then he won't harass us at all for the barking. But of course, we do thank you wonderful people for joining us tonight. Make sure to follow our show at PHNX underscore Dback, underscored debacks, but of course all roads lead to at pHNX underscore sports. We thank those of you that came out to the takeover tonight so much because I know it's, again, it's been so many of you that have come out to all of our takeovers and so many of our events.
Starting point is 00:57:34 We cannot do this without you guys. And I'm not just saying the events. I'm saying we cannot bring PHNX to you for three years like we have without. the continued support of people like you guys. So we want to thank you. We love you. We appreciate you. And we hope you continue to show up to events. Most importantly, I hope you guys had a fun time because that's what this whole thing is about. We are not here for a long time, folks. We are here for a good time. So let's remember that. Of course, we'll see you back here tomorrow for another show. Make sure to join us then. I hope you guys have a wonderful night. In the meantime, Jesse,
Starting point is 00:58:10 you can now leave Chase Field. I'll allow that finally because we've been there all day. But of course, we thank you again for your time. We hope you guys have a wonderful night. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you get Zach and Merrill as many starts as you can in these last 17 games.

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