PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Christian Walker’s 2-dinger night powers Diamondbacks to big win over White Sox

Episode Date: September 27, 2023

What began in disastrous fashion ended as the Diamondbacks’ biggest win of the year by margin of victory. Christian Walker had two homers and a triple as the D-backs scored 14 unanswered runs to take down the Chicago White Sox. Meanwhile, the Cubs blew a six-run lead to the Atlanta Braves in an all-around enormous day for Arizona.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx WIN MONEY THROUGH SPLASH SPORTS: https://www.splashsports.com/phnx Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Score 25% off a bag of your favorite OGeez! Fruits of Creams. Go to https://theflowershopusa.com, add a bag of OGeez! to your cart, enter promo code “PHNX” and pickup at a local The Flower Shop dispensary.Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

electric episode of the PHNXDMAX podcast right here on PHNX. This fan next to me is just, he is all of us right now. My name is Jared Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of PHNX. That's Jesse Friedman over there. He's the vice mayor of PHNX. This man in the middle, of course, Sean Paz, the man in charge of all of the electricity in the building right now.

And of course, we thank you guys for coming on in for this postgame episode. What a win by the Arizona Diamondbacks. A very unexpected outcome when you look at the end results compared to where our emotions were after half an inning into this game. The Diamondbacks end up winning this one by a score of 15 to 4. I don't know. Did they stop scoring runs? Is that right? I mean, I stopped paying attention at 15 to 4 at least.

But absolutely an incredible win. Christian Walker put the Arizona Diamondbacks on his back in this game and carried them to a win. And I feel like in the process woke them up because there was a lot of contributions, including Cotel Marte, hitting a solo home run. But Christian Walker, two dingers tonight, six RBI, just an incredible night from him, especially when the Arizona Diamondbacks needed it the most. He crosses the 100 RBI threshold for the first time in his career. And I mean, you couldn't ask for the offense to be on a better role during a crucial week. more than this, a 15 to 4 victory. Yeah, I mean, the Diamondbacks trailed 4 to 1 in the second inning

and things didn't look good. Zach Davies was really struggling. The offense seemed to be maybe pressing a little bit, you know, swinging early in counts a lot against Jose Urenia. Six pitch first inning. Yeah, six pitch first inning. I mean, that wasn't the start that you wanted to get to if you're the Diamondbacks. But, you know, out in Atlanta, I know we're going to talk about, you know,

later on what happened in that game. But the Cubs had a 6-0-0 lead and they lost 7 to 6. The Diamondbacks trailed 4 to 1 in the second inning and won 15 to 4. Just, I mean, just an enormous day for the Diamondbacks in terms of their playoff hopes. This was, I believe, their biggest margin of victory for any game this season, winning this game by 11 runs. Good time for it. Just, I mean, so unexpected, right?

I mean, in those first two innings, the offense just, you know, didn't look fantastic. and Zach Davies, it, you know, it seemed like he was going to have a short outing, which he ultimately did. But the Diamondbacks bullpen came in and Ryan Nelson was phenomenal. And, you know, somehow we're talking about a 15 to 4 win. I didn't want to start off by talking about Zach Davies because Zach Davies was absolutely terrible for the Diamondbacks when they needed him the most, honestly. He was oddly utilizing a slider that Jesse pointed out he does not use. And when we say that, it's a piece.

pitch that he is literally only thrown 13 times this season prior to this start. There's also 15 times in this game. 15 times in this game. He threw it more times in this game than he has all season. Is now the time to experiment? I mean, I guess I understand trying to go in with a game plan of, you know, surprising, you know,

the White Sox, right, trying to maybe find out that there don't hit a slider well. So maybe you're trying to throw it. Maybe it's just a matter of changing up your game plan and what they know from, you know, from from your tendencies so you're trying to catch them off guard but is now really the time to try a new pitch when when yeah we're in the final week of season to be fair it wasn't uh i mean it it wasn't particularly bad i mean he got five whiffs on the pitch which is actually pretty impressive on eight swings

i don't think the slider was was really his problem in this game at all but he didn't really have his change up he didn't really have a feel for his change up in a way that we've seen kind of a lot this year. And yeah, I mean, you know, Zach Davies has an ERA around seven and he's pitching in some pretty pivotal games for the Diamondbacks down the stretch. And he also, as I'm sure we're going to get into later, still lines up to pitch in game 162. Don't even start. No, no. So that would be an interesting conversation. We could get into that right now because he went three innings in this game, gave up eight hits,

four earn runs, one walk, three strikeouts. Does Zach Davies start again for the Diamondbacks this season? I mean, I understand out of necessity, he kind of might have to, but does he have to? I don't know. And I want first your knee-jerk reaction to that. Do you let Zach Davies pitch again at all? Oh, do you let it? Like, is he?

Should he? No. Will he most likely? Yeah. I just feel like just how it's going to work. I mean, like. In the final game of the year? Because that's what he's pretty much lined up for at this point, right?

I mean, hopefully the final game of the year doesn't matter. like if we're being honest if you look at the rest of the season that has the highest likelihood of being a meaningless game is the last one so that's all you can really hope for hopefully the you know the Astros do their job or we do their job or

someone does their job as long as the right people do the right job people do enough of their job then we will be okay do your job don't worry about other people's job just do your job and Davies nothing would be more beautiful than Davies going out in like a blaze of glory seven innings no runs in game 162 um like let's do it

jacob wants to know what the snake is whispering in your year oh it's what does he say oh it's that the deep extra motherfucker wagon yeah it's saying that's all jj's been saying all night long jesse does zach davies pitch again for the diamond back during the regular season this year yeah i don't know uh hard hard to say be interesting to see what torrey levello has to say after this game i will say that you know going back back to what we were talking about with Ryan Nelson and how good he looked in this game. He and Zach Davies are sort of on the same schedule now. Yeah.

I know that Ryan Nelson is being used out of the bullpen. So, you know, this isn't, he's not necessarily used as in a starting role. And I don't think it's impossible. You could see him pitch at some point in the next several days. But yeah, I mean, you maybe could target that where in that last game of the season, maybe Ryan Nelson gets, gets a few of those innings. But it's tough because, you know, Ryan Nelson for as great as he looked to day has not been that guy for for most of the season uh frankly and so if that once if that game

162 does matter the diamond backs are going to i mean they're going to have their back against the well are going to be in a really tough position so if you're them you just sort of do everything you possibly can to avoid that scenario i think it will be just in verlander on the mound for the astros in game 162 if i'm not mistaken so you just don't want to be in that spot if you're the diamond when it's Justin Verlander against, you know, whatever the diamondbacks piece together in that game. We got a super chat from our guy. Let's see where we got. Peace of Yoshi.

Thank you so much for the super chat. Piece of Yoshi says, okay, but 16 and 15 run performances behind Davies. Yes, I mean, you're not going to get that often. Like Jesse said, this is the biggest margin of victory for the diamondbacks all season. This is actually something that's been so few and far between that I rarely remember being able to say like how cathartic. it felt for the diamond backs to just have a big offensive output and really just kick a team's ass even in some cases where they put up a lot of runs it was still a fairly close game you know but this one felt really good like you said Ryan Nelson he was good he was really good and

Ryan Nelson is something that somebody that the Diamondbacks absolutely can look at just everything is not is night four and two thirds any one hit no runs two walks four K's uh it's just nice to have him doing that and hopefully he can stay locked in and the diamondbacks can look to him when they need him. Christian Walker though obviously had the big night right. Christian Walker hits his first home run in the first inning. It's his 32nd of the year.

Too good for a cycle. Yeah. He's just he's too good for the cycle. He had to hit another home run instead of like a double or single forget all that. He actually as Jesse pointed out his offensive production was better than a cycle. So I think you'd take mathematically. I think you'd take two homers and a triple over a mathematically sure but from the vibes perspective you'd much rather your first base been hit for the side the vibes are crazy for for a cycle but uh in the fifth inning he ripped a three run triple that really broke the game open i mean christian walker was just such a big source of the offense tonight not only that but he also you know i felt like he got things kick started for the rest of the team it felt like guys really kind of got locked in after that they were able to relax like jesse said it felt like he felt like he felt like he got things kick started for the rest of the team it felt like guys really kind of got locked in after that they were able to relax like jesse said it felt like it felt like

Like they were fairly tense early on. Like, you know, of course, it was, it was a big game and they felt the pressure. We know that sometimes they've stepped up in those games, but we've often seen them, you know, kind of struggle as a team offensively when they're in one of those, you know, big, big games against a big opponent. And this was just huge. Christian Walker surpasses 100 RBI for the first time in his career. He added another home run in the sixth inning. That made the score 11 to 4.

And then he also recorded the last out of the game just for fun, just for yeah, just why not? Because he should. And for all of those reasons, Christian Walker is our King Snake. Christian Walker again, three for five, two home runs, six RBI. Bang, bang, big night for Christian Walker. And I just think back about your comments not too long ago, Sean, where you were talking about how the team was, you know, kind of doing well without Christian Walker really being a big productive part. and should he wake up, should he join in? At least the offense becomes scary.

Right. And I mean, that's what you saw tonight. That's what you saw tonight. Yeah, I mean, Chris Walker is like he's like, the guy that has the capability of doing the most damage with a single swing of the bat. Like, it's not, I don't think a hot take by any means. Like, when he is on, it gives the offense like a little bit.

The offense just feels more dangerous. Yeah. And like obviously, you know, like, could tell Corbyn, like, are all great players, but it just, there's something about Christian Walker where it's just like when he's on, there's a little bit of fear if you're the other team. And you felt that again tonight because he was all over the place. Well, the Diamondbacks, I mean, you know, we've talked about how they've struggled with runners in scoring position. We've talked about how at times they're able to get runners on base, but just not get that big hit.

Christian Walker has struggled in that regard this year. He absolutely has. And if he can get back on track when it comes to that, this team's office. looks much different, you know, especially with the way some of the guys are hitting. Cattel Marte, obviously still, like I said, he had that solo home run tonight contributed as well. I mean, just felt like everybody at one point was kind of hitting for this team and everything was going their way. Even though early on, it did not look to be the case. But yeah, here we go.

We're wagging again. We're going back up the mountain. Damon, let's go back up the mountain. Shall we? There is. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, guarantee. I thought that was originally for when you were fighting to be 500. It was Mount 500, yeah, but now we've just summited Mount 500.

Now we're just more games over. That's all. Don't question the graphic. What are you even doing here? Come on. I was just more making the point. Look how we've come. We used to be, we used to be celebrating.

Yeah. Hitting, making, being 500. Just getting to the top of 500. And now they are. Now it's a guarantee. Now it is a guarantee for this season. But we thank you guys, of course, for being here in the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the channel,

make sure to do so leave us a little thumbs up we always appreciate that drop a like as our man gabby marino says also make sure to sign up for notifications that way you don't miss when any of our shows go live if you're listening on the audio podcasting side make sure to subscribe subscribe there as well leave us a review we always appreciate that feedback of course i am drinking a victory beer tonight uh this is a joy bus while wheat like i've said doesn't matter wins losses this beer makes me happy and all four peaks beers kind of make me happy so make sure to find your favorite one. You can follow them on social media at Four Peaks Brew or at Four Peaks Pub. And of course, you can also check out Pumpkin Porter, which is now available on store shelves and back in draft lines throughout the Valley. It tastes like a pumpkin pie. That's what it tastes like.

And more importantly, get to the A3 Pub and get the Pumpkin Porter cheesecake. That will change your life. That sounds amazing. It is incredible. It will change your life. And their chicken tending. Well, that's that, but the French onion soup. Oh, yeah.

It's seasonal and it's amazing. and I still miss their chicken tendons. It's bread cheese and onions. What more would you want? I don't think any of us have eaten dinner. This just seems like this conversation. We're going to move on. We're going to push through and we're going to tell you to visit 4Peaks.com slash locator to find

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If the ghost actually did make the beer, how much do you know the beer would cost? Well, less because it's ghosts don't need money. So you don't have to pay them. So it's free labor. Ghost labor is the cheapest. But if you are, if you are head of Four Peaks marketing and you have ghost made beer, you're a fool if you're selling it at cost. Yeah.

I mean, that's got to be. I don't feel like they, I don't feel like they go with. that angle enough. They need to tell everybody about the ghost. Like they're trapped in a room, making beer in the back. The hazy ghost IPA. Yeah.

And it's like it was made by the ghost of the four people. I wouldn't even call. I wouldn't even call for money for that beer. It would be ghost peaks or something like that. That's what it would be. It would be something like that. But I don't know. The ghost of four peaks.

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Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance eligibility and deposit restrictions apply, JJ. Jesse Jr. did a really great job with that disclaimer. I was really impressive. At one point, but otherwise, it's not great. What do we got for the out of town scoreboard? We're getting to yell at for not bringing up the Cubs situation. It is absolutely time to discuss that exact situation that you guys want to discuss. Here is the out of town scoreboard.

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Cleveland Guardian 11 to 7. L.A. de Cruz hit a home run 119 miles per hour. 470 or 67 feet. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. It was a rocket. Yeah, it's amazing.

Miami and New York got rained out, so that game will be made up tomorrow as a doubleheader. But this game in the middle that we're showing right now, absolutely electric. The Chicago Cubs lose to the Atlanta Braves by a score of six to seven. And my God, what an outcome that was considering, like Jesse said earlier. At one point during this night, the Cubs were up by a lot, and the Diamondbacks were, it was looking bleak. down four to one cubs were what up six to six nothing six to nothing yeah i think in the middle of the six it was the worst possible day for business yeah and then it wasn't yeah it was it was bad and then it was good for us but we should also probably touch on how exactly the cubs lost this game

have we're getting there we're gonna get there but uh yeah it's a devastating loss because of how they lost right uh it was first it was uh five unanswered runs uh and then the braves basically had a situation, I believe, with two on and two out. And a fly ball to say a Suzuki in the outfield that looked like it was the third out that would end the inning was dropped. And two scored Roth, it was completely mad. He just lost it, right? And that involved the two Braves players scoring and the Braves taking the lead for good. And the Cubs losing that one in fairly maddening fashion, I imagine, for Cubs fans. right now but you guys think uh did steve bartman like somebody like a steve bartman ghost like blocks say

suzuki's view of that ball or something perhaps perhaps it was the goat yeah it looked like suzuki was i don't know if he was maybe fiddling with his contacts or something after afterward maybe that's what happened we'll have to see what the explanation is after the fact but yeah point being i I mean, that play, obviously, you know, the Cubs let the Braves get back into this game. The Cubs let the Braves score five unanswered runs in order to turn it into a game again. So it wasn't all because of this play. But, yeah, I mean, theoretically, they're up six, five, and then this play makes it 7-6 Atlanta, and that was the final score. And if the Chicago Cubs ultimately don't make the postseason, you know, buy a game, you know everyone's going to go back and look at this game and look at this one fly ball.

for whatever reason, say a Suzuki just lost it in the lights or something and wasn't able to make the play. Oddly enough, the Miami Marlins still have a worse record than the Cubs, but you were saying that the Marlins' playoff chances now are actually better than the Cubs. Yeah, I think it's because that's according to fan graphs as of a few minutes ago. I think it's because the Marlins' path to catch the Diamondbacks is a little bit clear at this point because the Cubs are now two full games behind the Diamondbacks in terms of like what they would actually have to do to overtake. them since Arizona you know has that tiebreaker so yeah it is a little weird for the moment though the according to fan graphs the marlins have a better chance in making the postseason even though

if the season ended right now the marlins would not be in and the chicago cubs would be in so go figure uh jacob shult by the way he's absolutely right uh he's this is a reference to our question for mailbag monday he said davies gets voted out of the big brother house first that is correct that is how we would uh handle that situation as of now elise also with a very good comment in regards to this Cubs loss. She says that loss is an all on say a pitching staff should be able to hold a six to nothing lead. Yeah, for sure.

Not all on him. It did. Yeah. And I mean, obviously, he also had a chance to come up in the ninth inning and perhaps redeem himself and he struck out. But again, it's not one play that makes that loss. It's like, you know, before that it was five. I mean, it ended up being seven unanswered runs scored by the brakes.

I get, I like, but he's going to be, he's going to be this game. This sentiment that is like in sports is such bullshit to me where it's like, ah, it's not one play. You should have done your job. But like, no, that's a routine fly ball. They did do their jobs. They did enough to win this game. But say Suzuki was incapable of fielding a routine ground ball.

Now, I don't want to, I don't want to like pusify him. If he was dealing with a contact or whatever, then it's not necessarily his fault. But like, it is like that play is why they lost the game. They win the baseball game if that play does not happen. Yeah. I mean, they'd still have to come back in the bottom of the ninth. For sure. Wouldn't have necessarily been over.

But yes, I agree with you. We probably do overplay that a little bit too much in sports. Like, oh, that one disastrous thing that happened. Like, what about everything that came before it? Yeah. We've done that with the other back this year before too, right? Yeah. We've done that, especially about comeback losses.

If a quarterback throws an interception, like in the red zone, trying to win a game, everyone's like, ah, the quarterback lost the game. It's like, why doesn't that apply everywhere? It's fair. But we're not going to do that now. we're just going to say like hey it's the cubs as a whole they all lost it um and like that doesn't we i hate to be heartless but we don't care around these parts because we're happy they lost uh and and i'm not i'm not uh throwing this out at the chg o cubs podcast at all but i will say we're going to

look at those all city standings here in a minute before we do that though let's take a look at the wild card standings because of course this has been impacted uh is this new this doesn't look updated Is this right? Yeah, I think this is right. Oh, why would this not be updated? Nothing, nothing. I apologize.

I just thought. Thank you. I think I deserve that apology. Yeah. Well, the games back. Why are they equal? Why are the D-backs and Cubs? Oh, that's a fair point.

Am I? okay. All right. Yeah. I feel like you now. Oh, Derek, I apologize. Derek, I apologize. Okay.

You apologize to the entire D-Backs fan base. That's what I want you to do, you son of a bitch. But yes, the diamond back. have a one game lead here on the goddamn Cubs. And I wanted to see that in there. I was excited to see that. And he robbed me of that joy. You son of a bitch.

But here we are. That might be my favorite like Derek Damon. That's like a dream show. All right. Well, the Diamondbacks are 83 and 74. And of course, I mean,

it's, it really is a substantial, you know, a current lead, even though we can't see what it is because Damon refused to update the graphic properly. Yeah.

How many games? behind are the Diamondbacks there how many guys behind the diebacks are the Cubs I don't know ever figured out never be able to look that information on yeah I don't know but I will I will say this though this night started out in a way game

game up I don't think that Marlins thing is right either down there but we won't yeah now it doesn't make any sense that made it worse I'm not going to be it worse oh man we need a plus one next to the diamond I didn't make it work

there's nothing there's nothing worse than thinking you're you're fixing a problem and you just made it worse. No, I lost this round, Derek. Do we have at least the old city standings? Is that at least correct? Can I get that up there? All right. Let's

go, baby! The Phillies clinched today, didn't they? Yeah, they not only have clinched but I believe they are now guaranteed to host a, you know, in the wild card round. They are cemented now into that top water card spot. They have clinched the

all city all city division i i think in general it you know it was already a pretty distant chance for them to come anywhere close to that right but at the same time uh it's it's it's really the distance between them and and the marlins and all i care about right now at this point the reds winning that's not great either we do need a trophy that we can send back and forth i mean not that we have we would not have had it yet uh there's although i will say if there was a trophy on the line for all city, Philly could get their ass straight up out of here. Because it's different when we're playing for pride and all

that. But if there's hardware on the, there's bullshit. How are you going to impact the season's winning record? But we spent all season thinking we're ending up with a trophy and then Philly shows up and they snag it from us. Fuck them. No shot. We would be doing just what their record is since they came on.

Yeah, not a shot. Which I don't know how good or bad that. Ever since I gave that pep talk, they haven't lost a game. Oh, okay. Well, then forget that We just won't we won't acknowledge that pep talk but if if the diamondbacks were to beat the Phillies in in the wild card around hypothetically with that I think that's got we got to take it back yeah it's kind of like it's got to be like it's like a ter it's like a territorial cup it's a robbery it's every time we play each other anytime you play yeah the trophy is up for grabs yeah if ASU and you evade me meet each other in the college football playoff later this year because that's definitely happening um it's gonna be for the territorial cup well we do have some fun facts in regards to the play and the pitch clock as well. But this is the first time in 30 years

that the MLB playoffs will not include the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Yankees, or the Boston Red Sox. Imagine that. Let's go. Make some noise. Let's go. Some of you are sitting there at Sean,

I thought you liked the Red Sox. Yeah. Maybe, but I hate the Yankees more. Yeah. So I will take the Red Sox, never making the playoffs ever again. If it means the Yankees never make the playoffs ever again. Lisk isn't that sacrifice he's willing to make.

What a guy. Yeah. I appreciate that. But yeah, I mean, obviously, baseball is more fun when more teams get to be a part of the postseason and when it's more teams that haven't been a part of the postseason. Yeah. I mean, I will say, though, like, though, those three teams haven't been in the doing it, haven't done anything in the postseason in a minute. Like, if anything now, it is the Astros, Braves, and Dodgers that are those teams that show up every year.

That's fair. And unusual suspects. It honestly would probably be better for baseball if those three teams were in the playoffs. But I'm not complaining about it because I hate. the Yankees and also the Carmel's are just boring I'm tired of them I just want the Diamondbacks

in the playoffs so someone has to go someone has to go but that's only because the goddamn Diamondbacks are a wagon and we have a shirt that proves it. Look at his shirt. Look at this shirt. Look at this beautiful Serpientis font wagon shirt

it is it is specifically color coordinated for Sean's closet Yes. All of the clothes he owns are shaded beige. As I wear a green shirt. Yeah, I know. This is one of the words. That's because we planned it.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but we are all wearing shades of green. We are. We're color coordinated today. These clothes we're wearing shades of gold. I love this shirt. Our guy, Eric, knocked it out of the park with this one.

And this one feels special because the wagon thing is very special to us right here on this podcast. And I mean, what a year. What a year this has been to watch this team. And you know what? It's not over yet. The Diamondbacks.

have some more games ahead of them that they still need to win. And then maybe the playoffs. So we'll see. But things, they're a little bit closer right now. They got some breeding room. Their playoff odds have reached a new season high. They are at 89.1%.

Wow. Whatever that's worth, whatever stock you put in us. It's meaningless to me because I play fantasy football. And I know that those numbers can switch really fast. Yeah. Yeah. At least Jesse knows that from a,

from personal experience. We don't need to talk about that anymore. I'm just going to keep bringing it up as often as I possibly can. But I will say thank you to all. of you that are a diehard member already but if you're not a diehard member guess what you can join us and you can get that very brand new shirt uh as part of your die hard package right now you will get a free shirt of your choosing from the p hnx locker dot com you also get 20% off all future purchases you get access to our members only discord lounge you get all of the content around here you giving them a drink i was that was wow person oh okay uh you also have uh partner discounts you have a 50 dollar gift certificate for mount mics you get the Dobson ranch ranch card you get so many benefits including exclusive discounts from our partners and exclusive invites to events and even exclusive member merchandise so join us and become a diehard member today by going to go p hnx.com and you can also check out jesse's brand new

article which we will talk about here shortly again but a great way to read jesse's work is by taking some oj's gummies and then just sinking in to the numbers just diving in to all of the things that jesse has done like getting high and looking at Look at into stats. Let's go. Honestly, I joke, but like I can't get high and just get lost in whatever world I'm in. Like, I can get lots in the world of Jesse articles. It's absolutely true.

It might be the only way to get lost in the world of Jesse articles, honestly. They're magical. Wait, hold on. I'm going to defend you for a minute because your articles are an incredible combination, not just your written words, but you bring not only a lot of like graphics, you bring our tweets into it. You bring a lot of stuff to that. And it's a very thorough, entertaining experience.

But it is made better by OG's gummies. And of course, if you're stuck on what kind of gummies to get OGs took the guesswork out of it for you, the fruits, the creams. They have the mixed bags now where you can get mixed flavors, just like some of your favorite candies. But of course, these are all of those Hall of Fame flavors in one place. The fruits and creams are available in both a sunny sativa or a mellow, indica blend, allowing you to customize your OG's experience. For a win, loss, mood of day, it doesn't matter. Whether you're reading articles, whether you're not. Check out our friends at OG's brands for yourself and try one or a few of their many delicious flavors.

Check them out across all socials at OG's Brands and online at OGsbrands.com to find them at local dispensary near you. You must be 21 or over to enjoy responsibly. Again, Jesse had this brand new article that he just put up in regards. No, it's not the article, but your newsletter. In fact. It is a newsletter. Sign up for our newsletter, maybe. Sign up for the newsletter and you could get wonderful content like this.

Jesse discussed in the newsletter if Alec Thomas could potentially win the Gold Glove Award for Centerfield. We've discussed it quite a bit, and his defense has been incredible, not just at Chase Field, but that grab that he stole a home run away from Aaron Judge in New York. He's just been all over the place. So what are his chances here, Jesse? You want to give away some information from the newsletter a little bit? Yeah, I will. Because the way that the newsletter works, just so everyone is clear, previously we had newsletters which were diehard only pieces that were also posted on our website

so if you didn't read the email or whatever you could still find it on our website this newsletter which is completely free all of our writers here at p h and x do we all have a day of the week you can sign up for whichever newsletters you're interested in receiving from whichever teams are interested in following this newsletter if you don't get it when it sends out you you don't get it it's not on the website this is exclusive content just for people who subscribe so go to our website and make sure you're subscribed if you have not already. But yes, I will go ahead and spoil some of what's in here. There's this guy on the Colorado Rockies whose name you may or may not have heard.

His name is Breton Doyle. Who? And Brenton Doyle is absolutely shoving in centerfield this year, patrolling, obviously a pretty challenging center field to maneuver. You remember, he threw a ball at the takeover game we were at, like to the concourse, unnecessarily because he just needed to show off how strong his arm was. His arm, and I think that's maybe what separates him from a lot of the other really good center fielder's in the National League.

And he has an incredible, incredible arm. And Alec Thomas doesn't have a terrible arm by any means, better than I think maybe even some other debacks outfielder's. But it's not what Brenton Doyle's arm is. Brenton Doyle has an insane arm. Some of his throws have been clocked it well over 100 miles per hour. which is absolutely ridiculous. And so because of that, if you look at the numbers,

Brenton Doyle has 17 defensive runs saved and 15 outs above average, Alec Thomas has seven defensive runs saved and six outs above average. So there's a really big difference there. So, yeah, I mean, defensive metrics aren't, aren't everything. And as I wrote in the newsletter, is there any case that the offensive numbers come into play or the success of the team? Yeah, I would hope that offensive numbers wouldn't come into play for a defensive award.

Right. But the reality is that they historically have made a difference. There was an interesting piece on fan graphs last year talking about this. Now there is considerable evidence that if you do not hit, you're sort of at a disadvantage when it comes to the gold glove race. This is a manager voted on award. Yeah, it is 75% voting from managers and coaches in the same league. So, yeah, and that's why the defensive metrics aren't the end-all-be-all.

because this isn't a bunch of, you know, BBWA people plugging it into their spreadsheets like someone like me might do. This is, this is, you know, actual major league managers and coaches going off of the numbers, but also, you know, what they've seen in some of these games. And yeah, on the offensive to your question about, you know, whether offensive production would be a factor here, if it is at all a factor, it would very much work against Brenton Doyle. he has a 40 WRC plus this season 100 is league average for those who don't know and among position players with 400 or more played appearances that is dead last in all of baseball and the next lowest is 61 so he is way lower than everyone else at 40 should it make a difference absolutely not I think breton doyle is is the best candidate for this award but alec Thomas those numbers that I gave he is pretty clearly in second in in the national league so if it doesn't go to

Brenton Doyle for whatever reason, Alec Thomas, and in my view would be the next most logical candidate there. I do want to turn this into a Christian Walker appreciation podcast. So he's good. In regards to his golden glove chances and a gold glove chances in the fact that he has had an awesome year. I mean, he still leads the National League and total defensive runs saved with nine.

It's not quite the year he had last year. But he's still considered to be the best defensive first base. I feel like in the National League and one of the best in all of baseball. Yeah, he's really good at first base. And the man can hit too, right? Yes, he can. After today, 32 home runs, 103 RBI. The Diamondbacks traded their franchise first baseman, obviously, entering the 2019 season.

It was one of the most unpopular trades in franchise history. And I think it continues to be to this day. No one is happy that the Diamondbacks traded Paul Golds. Paul Goldschman has 76 RBI this year so far. Just saying. Yeah, I mean, like, he may or may not have won a very important award last year. He might have won a significant award last year. I'm not that we're not going to acknowledge.

I'm focused in the past. I'm focusing the president. Why you bringing a bullshit is a better hitter and a better defender? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Christian Walker, I don't think you necessarily have to play the like, oh, was he as good as he been as good as Paul Goldschmidt since 2019? That's a, that answer to that's no. Yeah, the answer to that is probably no. but has Christian Walker been at a top 10, maybe even top five first baseman in baseball in that span,

especially over the last couple years? Absolutely. What he gives you defensively, you know, what he's giving you offensively these past couple seasons. He is incredibly impressive out there at first base and at the play. And also, it's not like he's playing at a time where there are a bunch of bums at first base. Like Freddie Freeman is going to end up maybe finishing the top three of him. beat votes this year, obviously Gold Trade did last year. So like, to say he's a top

five first basement when there are very good first baseman playing right now. I see Walk. Derek, what do you? I'm just, what are you humming over there? They wanted me to sing the song, so I just did it softly into the mic while we did that. Christian Walker. We haven't talked enough about the fact that his middle name is

Dixon. Yeah, we really haven't. Christian Walker. Big Christian Dixon Walker. Christian Walker per our friend Jack Summers over at Sports Illustrated has raised his OPS from 833 to 852 and his WRC plus from 121 to 125 in a single game. And as he says, do you have any idea how hard that is to do in game 157 after 64 played appearances?

Numbers are kind of stuck at this point. Yeah, it's hard to really get really crazy to do that. Right. So what a big night for Christian Walker. By the way, in a game where 19 runs were scored, the time of game was two hours and 55 minutes. God bless the pitch clock.

I told you we have fun stats for you, by the way. There have only been nine, nine inning games of three hours and 30 minutes or longer this season. Compared to the most ever in 2021 when there was 30. And nine. Three hundred and nine inning games that went over three hours and 30 minutes. Last season,

231 games that were nine innings went over three hours and 30 minutes. It doesn't take into account extra inning games. But of course, you can all thank the pitch clock. You can all thank the pitch clock. Every one of you can all thank the goddamn pitch clock. Is there anyone still complaining? No, nobody.

Because like there were so many people being like, ah, you're going to ruin the game. And they were just wrong. We have one guy that shows up in our chat every once in a while that still doesn't like any of the new rules at all. You're wrong. I mean, you're wrong. I don't know how you could argue that it's better.

You could also not argue that it's not a new rule. Because according to a, It's the oldest for you. You can all thank the pitch clock, which technically has been around since February 27th, 1901. Good job, umpires, not enforcing a rule that's been around since 1901. That's a real fact, by the way, from baseball and the law on Twitter. They've been discussing it ever since the pitch clock was implemented, that this is not a new rule. And there is an article that they posted, by the way, on the date that that happens from February 27, 1901.

And in the article, it states the change that is happening is that the pitcher must deliver the ball to the batsman within 20 seconds after the latter takes his position at the plate. We should have been doing this the whole time. We could have been doing this the whole time. That's actually kind of a long time though. Yeah. Like after the batter. So like the hitter gets set. Yeah.

And then you have 20 seconds after that. I don't know how often guys. I bet you before the pitch clock was implemented. They were taken way longer than that though. I bet you they were. I mean, that's kind of the opposite of the narrative, right? Like games used to move way faster back in the day, not slower. So they did.

I'm guessing they just eventually realized that that wasn't really worth enforcing because, I mean, 20 seconds once the battery was set. It was probably something that they were enforcing, but they never had to enforce. Were they kind of on their hands? Were they like one? Yeah. They're like two. Yeah. Did they have electricity?

Did they have electricity? Oh my God. Oh, right. Well, I don't know. They did, Jesse. Damn it. Why are you making me feel stupid? But anyway, I do think it's funny.

I have to reveal at one point, Derek on our show rundown, accidentally had that the pitch clock has been around since 1091 rather than 1901. And I believed it for a second. I was like, yes, the pitch clock has not only been around for more than 100 years. The pitch clock predates the game of baseball. It predates time. Yeah. Baseball's been around for 15,000 years.

I've told you guys that. You all know that. That's the truth. But man, again what a huge win this was tonight for the diamondbacks and i mean i can't say enough again about uh how like because again this six games left there's now five games left after this this game literally felt like when they were down four to one that this this was potentially their season that's how each win and loss kind of feels yeah you win and you're automatically making into the playoffs or

there you lose and you're done it's over it's jover in fact but uh the thing is is that with with the teams being as close as they are. It's not as drastic as we were making it at one point when we were almost doing it. You know, we have fun around here. Sometimes we do it just for fun. The super drastic, super overreactionary thing. You guys know you've been here. But I will say that this definitely does feel like every win is critical and every loss does really change everything.

Look what happened with the Cubs tonight. And like Jesse said, how that could impact the season. You're going to look back on that one loss. and be like, man, we had that one six to nothing. I mean, that felt like a Diamondbacks thing. I genuinely can't remember like a time just as a baseball fan in a very long time where I have been like, like we had to throw on the end of that,

the end of that Braves game because like everything, everything matters. And then he switched over, we switched over and started watching Astros versus Mariner's because we need to know how the Astros are going to come in this final series. It all matters. It all matters and it's awesome. Like it is just so cool.

to be like engaged in the league in such and like in a way like this that like you can't as much as it doesn't matter how much you love baseball like it's very hard to to be this invested in baseball in June but like everything a little a little odd to be like

living living dying with like oh my God let's go the Braves just what the game in the bottom of the city it's June 3rd we are still seven games back Mark Salara just got here and Mark tardy, by the way.

We're going to have to talk later. What do you mean is that TV? Oh, it is TV. Jesse. This is a podcast. Oh, TV Jesse is a completely different guy. When our meetings,

Jesse, we have big giant head Jesse or big blurry head Jesse. There's a lot of versions of Jesse. Jesse was big giant head Jesse when he came in this morning. Oh, man. He was better than everybody else.

His house could barely fit through this door. He was like, you guys all see me on the news? It was unreal. Yeah, it's incredible. The reality was that Derek was out here like a proud dad screaming it from the rooftop. I'm like, Jesse was on TV.

I really was. Somebody in our Discord chats. I think it was Gissel. And it was a picture of, I think, Kardashian mom with the camera. I was like, yep, that was me. I was so proud. But Jesse did a great job.

In fact, my wife texted that he did a great job. So make sure if you haven't had a chance to check that out. That's the highest praise. It really is. She's a hard woman to please. I can tell you from personal experience. But definitely, Diamondbacks. fun time, fun time to watch this team.

And of course, you have every reason to watch every moment of the final five games of this season. And maybe some other games too, because it's all going to impact if this team can make the playoffs. But a great place to watch those games is at Illegal Pete's. Of course, patio season is here. We are dropping below 100 degrees. That means it's patio season. We were out there on the patio last Saturday. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful outside. So make sure to check out illegal peats. They have the strongest margaritas in Arizona. They also have some incredible food. Bowls, tacos, salads, burritos, nachos, of course, the piping hot queso, guacamole, all of that stuff. Check out their custom cocktails and their beers at their full bar. And make sure to have yourself a great time watching baseball and eating some amazing illegal pizza food. It is your go-to spot this summer.

Stop by for happy hour, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day at all 12 locations. Illegal Pete's, the go-to spot for burritos, buddies, and beer for over 28 years. And we don't talk enough about the fact that their happy hour goes from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. That doesn't even make sense. That's such a big range. That's happy hours. Yeah. Like usually it's 3 to 5.

You know, 3 to 5.30 maybe? No. No, 3.8. It's literally during dinner time. Yeah. The happy hour. It's an absolutely. It's a vibe.

Speaking of vibes, a great way to improve your vibes in your home by buying yourself an amazing sign from L.E., from Saturday neon. It's a big LED neon signs for your favorite collegiate schools. They have 19 select schools now, including the one that Damon will not shut up about. Colorado, if you're a big, if you're a brand new Colorado fan, get yourself. Colorado logo, it's solid. Yeah, I'm a good one for Alabama, Wisconsin, Auburn, and so many others. It's great for offices, man caves, dorm rooms, and so much more.

They absolutely make a great gift this holiday season. And of course, whether you're diehard, fan, or a casual supporter, you will love the way these signs light up your space in your home. So make sure to go to Saturday Neon.com. and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200. You see what Mark said? What did Mark say? He's got a legit reason.

What? From Happy Hour to legal peace. Oh, well, okay. Then, yeah, that's all is forgiven, Mark. That's a, that's a reasonable. But did you bring us to Kitos? I wish I was at happy hour as well. Yeah.

That might be something we need to go do right after this show because we need to celebrate. Have you guys seen what Mark and company have done to me in the Discord? I have absolutely seen the Barbie picture. Yeah. They like to take. I'm curious what happens in the HNXDBax Discord. Yeah, I know that Jesse is enough. They,

they find pictures of me like shots of me on that I give them. Yes, yeah, Derek generally provides the photos and then they take them and they, I don't know, is it an app. I don't honestly know what it is. I don't know what he does. There's something.

Just some sort of magic. There's some sort of magic that happens and it makes me look like, Ken or Barbie I guess I think there were two different ones there was that one but then there was just GQ Jesse that had like the good hair like some product in your hair genuinely a pretty good look that that's where I get my my there was a lot of swooning over Jesse in the discord it was good was it was odd it was off-putting our discord is so active it's impossible to find anything that's happened more than five minutes ago yeah yeah that's that people well a game happens good luck

Good luck getting to the start of that conversation. But of course, we appreciate you guys for making our Discord like that. You guys are the reason why our Discord is hard to find stuff in because you make it an absolute blast to be in. And we are a wagon. Derek, did you record Jesse's segment on VHS? I did record Jesse's segment on VHS. And I'm going to show him how that works at a later time. You can't do that.

He still doesn't believe me that you can record on the VHS tapes. It's a wildest thing. But anyway, you can follow us all on Twitter for more of this. hijinks, I guess you could say. Real quick, it's crazy that like VHS used to work where like you would have lifelong memories. You would record kids like first steps or a wedding. And then someone would pop it into a VCR,

record an episode of The Simpsons. And those memories are lost forever. Yeah. In favor of Bart Simpson. You know what's more awesome about that is popping in that tape thinking it is the family memories and seeing it start. I have a story for y'all once a series. And then like go through the first 10 seconds.

of like a birthday from when you were eight and then immediately just be and then it's yeah that thing yeah i used to record south park on my old bhs tapes that's what i used to do with them but anyway um great vhs day we'll teach you out of work vhs tapes by the way here at this podcast but in the meantime you can follow us on twitter i'm at cap underscore caveman with a k Sean is at shan underscore to pause jesse is at jesse and freedman the people's producer damon where you can shame him is on that kind of rhymed uh on twitter at damondaga i just say i literally made and sent a new version just because like i couldn't live with myself do you want put it up still messed up it's still messed up no not anymore oh do you want to put it i sure hope not three times of the

nationally wild card race there's that's wrong it's still wrong no i just no yeah it's better i honestly i had no idea at any point that any of them were wrong so yeah shockingly i think it's accurate yeah this is correct least. I think I did it guys. I think you did it. Marlins. For you, Damon. Yeah, big, big, big redemption moment for you. Marlins have, oh, Sean's right. Is that Sean from the CHGO White Sox?

Oh, I don't know. He said missed an opportunity call slowly. Yeah, you are the lowly white socks. So the Diamondbacks have had like, there's an enormous distinction that is developed between the Diamondbacks playing in Chicago and the Diamondbacks playing in New York. Yeah. Like the Diamondbacks finished the season two and eight in New York having lost that series with the Mets and then I guess two and eight against

New York teams right and then yeah I mean obviously they you know six out of seven against the Cubs this year and then you know having won the first game of the series Can we throw the all city standings back up there for Sean real fast just in case he was not present when we posted those I know

it's just it's just to see that the White Sox are 28 games back that's all I just needed to see that one more time thanks Damon I appreciate that All right. Well, where were we at? You were in the middle of saying Daimons.

Yeah. Yeah. He is, we are Damon dogs. Is that enough for you? Stupid Max on the rising show, stealing our bit. He's at Damon Dog. That's DAWG.

We are aggressively, Damon's dogs. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Do not miss out on that.

It is incredible. Pick up the brand new wagon shirt right now at the PHNX Locker.com. Get yourself something nice for yourself. Get ready for the playoffs, baby. We are a wagon. So again, we thank you guys so much for your time.

And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when Christian Dixon Walker mashes.