PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Could Drey Jameson Be the D-backs’ Closer OF THE FUTURE?

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Need some fire in your blood? We’ve got you covered. Diamondbacks pitcher Drey Jameson joins us in studio for an electric conversation about his road back from Tommy John surgery, which teammate is the toughest to strike out, and whether he sees himself stepping into the D-backs’ closer role in 2026. And of course we discuss his custom cleats and if there has been a pair that was too pretty to be used in a game. We also have more on Arizona’s acquisition of Nolan Arenado and how keeping him away from the Padres was a must.JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An 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/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesbet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I finally got a co-host that will put the appropriate amount of fire in your blood. We are thrilled to have Dre Jameson here talking about his career and what 2026 holds. Don't you guys go anywhere? We're starting in 30 seconds. Ski and welcome in to a special edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast. Thrilled to have you guys here. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX, but none of you care about that. You care about this man sitting next to me.

We're thrilled to have Diamondbacks pitcher Dre Jameson in studio. Of course, we also got our guy, Damon, dog. on the ones and twos today. Damon Farrell, the lege to my cafe. But thrilled to have you guys here, ski to you all. Dre, thank you so much for being here, man. I appreciate it so much.

I have to dive into a really personal topic right away. And before we get started, I need to know how big of an impact has rapper and producer Dr. Dre had on your life? Positive, negative. How old? have the Dre day comments already gotten? I would definitely say that. I mean, I never really listened to his music.

Okay. But the one thing that I always say when someone doesn't understand, like, when I'm introducing myself, and they're not understanding, like, what I'm saying, Dre. Yeah. I always say, like, Dr. Dre. Yeah. So that's kind of, that's kind of the farthest I would say I went with the whole Dr. Dre thing.

I've always asked my mom, like, was that like your favorite rapper? And she's like, it had nothing to do with that. So, but yeah. It'd be great if she was like, no, the chronic is my favorite album ever, absolutely. But I know we've gotten mileage out of using it on our thumbnails quite a bit. So, hey, we'll take any good pun we can get. But before we get on to your stuff, I just wanted to ask you what your reaction was to the Diamondbacks picking up Nolan Aeronato via trade. I know this just kind of happened, but what do you think he'll bring to the franchise with all his years of experience?

I mean, yeah, he's obviously a really good player. I think the biggest thing for us is having him, you know, a lockdown defender. And then, you know, like the years that he's had in the league, the impact he's going to have on a younger team. And I think that's like something that's really big to bring into an organization. We had a couple years, Evan Longoria. Yeah. I think he was the glue guy.

And I think Aronado is going to be that glue guy for us this year. There's been a lot of comparisons to Evan Longoria, obviously, due to the third base thing. Years of experience, but I guess you personally, do you take those opportunities when you're around veteran guys to kind of Pick their brain and get what you can from them like how does that dynamic work for you personally? Do you I mean that's something you jump on or do you just kind of like let natural conversations happen? Yeah, I like to Intertine with them. Obviously his journey is a little different than my journey as he's a position player. I'm a pitcher, but you know experiences and how to handle yourself and how to go about certain things.

I'm also a very kind of not standoffish, but I'm very shy when it's at first. So it takes a minute for me to get the courage to walk up to someone like that. But when he's in the clubhouse, he's your teammate, he's your brother, it's easier to talk to. Sure. And yeah, I'm definitely interested and excited

to pick his brain and hear about the stories that he has had during his career. See, and it's like, it's a big reason why we're such like big fans of James McCann being back on this team obviously as a catcher that has more of an impact on you as a pitcher but it still feels like you know again his ability to share what he knows with you and that relationship feels feels like something good to have back there with somebody that with that many years of experience correct yes I agree with that yeah so when you hear brewer rumors like this brewing over the off

season do you ever get a little anxiety that your name is going to be tossed in there I mean I know at one point there was like some discussion that teams very much liked you and obviously at interest in you for good reason, right? But like do you get that or do you just kind of block out the noise and not really worry about your involvement in anything until if it happens, it happens kind of thing. Yeah, I'm a, I'm a guy that stays where my feet are. And for me, like outside noise, I try to block it out as much as I can. It's also we're all human, you know. So when you start hearing noise and things like that around your name, you get a little curious. But for the most part, I mean, I'm just trying to stay within myself, do whatever I can to help whatever ball club it is.

Hopefully the debacks for a long time. But, you know, things change. Things go different ways. And we'll see what I'll have. Yeah, for sure. I mean, again, it feels like it's easy to ignore stuff for the most part. but then, you know, like social media algorithms will be what it is. And like you, it feels like it's just hard to constantly avoid all of that stuff.

But you've also just had one of the more frustrating paths. I think that would be fair to say. Fair. Because you were incredible when you first made your debut for this team. And you've been incredible for stints, but the injuries have kind of been a problem. You had Tommy John surgery, the bone spur, and now you're back again. How have you kind of, I guess, stayed focused to get back to this spot without letting those injuries kind of get you down too much? Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like what I said.

I kind of stay where my feet are. And it gives you, it's, it's, I've always been a guy that has been told like, hey, you can't do this or hey, you're not going to be able to do this. You're too small. You're the, you're to this. You're to that. So it's kind of reverts back to that a little bit in a sense of like Tommy John now is in a sense. It's so not common, but it's so common that it's a very comeback surgery. It's not a career-ending surgery, but then I got hurt again the second time this past year.

That one was a little more frustrating because it was like we didn't know what exactly was going on. I was having problems and there was no answers for a long time. So at that point in my career and that injury, I was a little on the edge of like, is this just how my elbow is going to be. Yeah. And then we took a route and fixed it. And then I did some stuff this offseason went and saw some people that's off season to really get to the root of the problem and start really working in on the body.

I can say I kind of lacked that in the years prior. But now it's go time and it's full body, full health and trying to stay on the fit. Have you always kind of, I guess, been able to stay healthy up until this point? why like suddenly the changes come up because you were lucky enough to not have to experience this kind of stuff yeah well i've never been injured now i have but before tommy john i had never been injured i had never broken a bone i have never like nothing it was i didn't have to realistically warm up to go do what i wanted to do like it would life was easy the game was easy um not in the sense of competition but like staying on the field um and then all that hit i had t jj

and then I just felt like it was a tumble, it was a spiral. And it was like one thing after another, after another, after another. So that was my cue of like really, you know, zoning in on my body to basically just stay on the field. And, you know, I think when I'm on the field, I do my job. I do what it was asked of me and some. And I just think, you know, I just have to stay on the field and I'll be fun. Was not knowing the bone spur was what the problem was, was? that like the lowest moment for you as far as like these injuries are concerned just having that

I guess like having medical professionals kind of looking at you being like I don't we don't know what it is yeah I mean that's that was super frustrating there was a lot of uh me being really annoyed um a lot of conversations more than I've ever had um in the sense of opening up usually they tell me what to do I do it um and I and I trust in in the team and I still trust in the team today. We figured out the route and you know we had to try a couple different things to see what was what but for the most part I think we we zoned in on the problem and I took some outside action as well along with inside action to basically work the two plans together and now I'm on a on a plan now and I feel healthy and the ball's coming out good and yeah and it involved Botox

how how like I've I've read this about your return before but like how it is how did how was it explained to you that Botox impacts this injury and and helped it get relief yeah so I got Botox in my neck both my scalenes okay and then I got it in my peck minor and basically it was it's it's not the TOS surgery but it's kind of resembles it a little bit in the sense of like there's a my muscles are contract in a sense and it was not letting my nerve endings glide smoothly to where I was feeling the pressure in my elbow from it. So when they did that, it worked. But for me, it was like, okay, what caused it?

How do I prevent it? And talked with them, made a plan with them. And then I got some outside help down with Mike Barowitz in Florida. And we went through a hole, you know, he tested every single joint in my body and kind of pinpoint. pointed it down that my shoulder was a little inverted in and we're trying to get that back and huge progress so far. And the ball's coming out good. But yeah, I mean, for the most part, it's really just, yeah.

Well, I imagine that's a problem for pitchers quite a bit, like pain, but just now, you know, or at least in the, probably maybe in the older days of baseball, it was just more like, well, now you just, that hurts now and you're just going to have to figure out a way to maybe pitch slightly different in order for you to not experience that pain. But you're getting down to like the actual root of the problem to ensure that this like doesn't happen. Yeah, because it got to a point where I couldn't even extend my arm without like a knife feeling sensation. Yeah, you're saying you couldn't shoot a basketball.

Yeah, if I were to try to shoot a basketball, it would hurt. That's crazy. We don't have that problem anymore. But I would just say it's the most annoying part is I knew it was something small. I knew it was something little minimal. It wasn't like something that needed a whole lot of. surgery or anything like that. Correct.

Yeah. It was more of like just what, what is the problem and how do we fix it? And it, I mean, it came down to Botox, but it's wild. It's wild.

Maybe it's because we're in Scott still. Yeah. No, that's a good. It fixes everything. It fixes a lot of things. But I guess was, has anything in your game changed?

Like what, what do you feel like has changed from your first big, big league stint where you've had, you know, so much success. And honestly, you've had success throughout your entire career. We've been talking about you as being an elite bullpen option for this team and we've kind of discussed your numbers before and you always put up

good stats everywhere you've gone and at whatever level you've been asked. But has there been something that's taken like a big leap forward now from the time when you first started? Yeah, I mean- Yeah, I would- I would say from the time of like, my big league debut to now is a kind of understanding a little more of pitching rather than throwing. When I first got drafted, I was a thrower. It was early. My stats were really good. But I also think that came with a lot of guys didn't know who I was. I was a new arm in a system, and they didn't have much intel on me. So the success came from not knowing who I am as a pitcher, what I can do. Obviously,

as the years go on and the longer you're in in the game, you get picked apart a lot, a lot more. And I think that's shown in the last couple of years since then of, you know, I'm not, I'm not a guy that before I was going out, striking out everyone.

And then now it's like, I toned, I zoned in basically in a sense of like, instead of trying to strike out everybody, I'm trying to get quick outs. I'm trying to get outs. And that was when I was still a starter. Now reverting back to the bullpen roll.

it's a role that I've never been in before so it's something I'm still even today learning how to do trying to find a true routine that is best for me to be ready for every time I step on the mound so that's still a learning learning process that I'm taking in now especially now that I've been hurt the last two years basically there's not much there's not much intel and not much experience in the bullpen because I've been hurt a lot of it so um Yeah, I would say just from the start to finish as of now, it's really learning how to pitch rather than throw. Yeah. And how has your, I mean, obviously your preparation has had to change from being a starter to being a bullpen arm.

Like, has that been like the biggest, hardest thing to adapt to from being a starter to being a reliever? Or what would that be if that's not the case? As a starter, you have more to be able to work counts. you have more game to make the game. Whereas as a back-in bullpen guy or even an early bullpen guy, early bullpen guy, you're probably coming and cleaning up messes, going one-plus. So you're going into a game that is already kind of messy in a sense.

And you have to go in and you have to figure a way to get out of it and limit damage. And for me, I like the high-pressure stuff. situations. I don't like, I mean, I'm not saying I don't like, I'll do it. Obviously, I've done it. I'll do it for the next 10, 20 years if I can, you know. But for me, I want the high leverage moments. I want the moments where you got to put everything out there on the line and you got to compete. And sometimes it doesn't go your way. And, you know, the other side, they get paid to do the same thing. You get paid to do. So obviously we want to be on top more than more than your own bottom. You know, it's part of the game and it's it's more of basically just understanding as of what I've understand as a bullpen guy is it's like we got to get to two strikes even faster. We got we got to get out. So like there is no at the end of the game is when the most runs are scored.

So you got guys that have seen pitches over and over today or over and over that day and they're just really trying to zone in and score runs. And later in games is when pressure is coming on. guys are taking more serious at bats because, you know, a guy's 0 for three and he doesn't want to go O for that day, like he's going to lock in a little more. True. And a little more. Yeah.

So those pitches have to be a little more and a little more, you know, controlled and planned out. And that's what, you know, our goal in the bullpen is, is watching these games as they unfold is, it's not just sitting down there joking. And, I mean, we have fun in the bullpen. Don't get me wrong. But there's a time where you have to lock in and see, hey, this guy is scouting. report is right here it's it's telling he's not good at this this is this or he's good at this this this but today he's been hitting fastballs down on the way and that might have been his whole

but it's like he's he's been doing pretty well today is different today's different what is scouting report and that's just baseball in general and that's why anyone can win on any given day right yeah baseball's baseball's fickle like that but uh i will say it doesn't surprise me at all that you know you you thrive in those high leverage situations i i know you're a very competitive guy and I love that about you and I think that again it feels like that probably played into how long it takes to recover from some of these injuries I imagine it was just kind of like a lot of impatience on your end of wanting to get back out there while you're still essentially recovering right correct yeah

I'm super competitive the last thing I want to do is sit on inside of it and even if that's if I have to be the water boy you know but I'm but I'm on the roster and I'm doing and I'm competing at something like I'm going to get the water there faster yeah you're the best water boy that's just that's just my mentality that's how that's how I am and you know I think that's what's going to keep me in the game a little bit longer than maybe when my time comes maybe a little bit longer just because I have that competitive fire on me for sure well what's your mindset when you come into a game in a high leverage spot I know you haven't been doing the relief thing very long but like are you pumped like is that do you find yourself just i obviously

i know you're pumped when you pitch regardless but like do you just feel like you kind of because it feels like your makeup and who you are is kind of specifically made for those kind of situations like you just seem like the kind of guy that would be uh just a cool and a high leverage situation yeah i mean that's definitely my forte for sure um you're going to get the best jay jameson in a high leverage situation. How I prepare, how I take the field, how that kind of stuff happens for me is a very, I feel like I block things out even more in higher situations

because I know there's a plan. I know like I have to lock in, lock in. You know, you get thrown into a 9-2 ball game in the sixth inning. It's a little harder to lock in, which that's something that I have to work on. And, you know, because every time you take that mound, it should be the same mentality, same competitive, same everything. And we saw plenty of times where this team came back when the bullpen was able to hold a leash.

For sure. Even when the deficit was pretty big. Yeah, I agree. So I think, I think really just zoning in every time you take the field and it's an OO game no matter the score. It's O game and the first one to score wins. and on the defensive side is don't let him score. Yeah. Well, we got to talk about it.

Diamondbacks need a closer. And I feel like for the most part, what we've heard from Mike Hayes and over and over again is that this is kind of a wide open situation for bullpen arms. Do you see yourself as a closer for this team in the future or perhaps even in the bridge closer role between now and perhaps when some of those other guys come back?

I think I have a good shot, yes. It's a role I definitely love to take on. I think we have a lot of bullpen arms, even with some guys down. We have a lot of bullpen arms that can fulfill that position as well. So I think we're in a unique situation and a unique spot that it's going to give a lot of guys' chances to show like, hey, what can you do? What can you do in these high leverage situations? And I think, you know, that decision is going to come based off who shows that at an early stand. So, and for me, I'm full board.

That's the job that I want. If I'm not going to be in a starting role, that's the job I'm going to be working for until those guys come back. And then, you know, in that sense, it's not like, oh, Justin Martinez is back or AJ Puck's back. I'm going to be a get booted here. I'm going to get booted there. It's, that's just our bullpins getting stronger. Sure. Now it's, you got three closers, four closers, five closers, but you also got three,

mid guys, three mid guys, three mid guys. And you have you have guys that can can just go out and get out. So I mean, I think that boils down to a lot of success in a sense of like knowing you have a lockdown closer is great. But knowing that you have four lockdown closers is even better. And I think when those guys come back and the guys we have in our bullpen now, I think that's going to be the situation we're in. And I think we're just going to have some lockdown guys that are going to close out some games and doesn't really matter who you put back there. That's electric. Well, and I feel like one thing we've been talking about is how wide open the opportunity is for everybody. I mean, you're still a younger guy, right? And I mean,

even the guys that are younger than you, it feels like there is an opportunity on this team that you probably won't get on most teams to kind of come into camp, no matter where you're at in your development, no matter where you're at in your career, and impress and actually earn a job and like it again it doesn't really feel like that's been the case with the diamondbacks this much in the past and it also feels like it's not uh the case with with every MLB team but it just does feel like a great opportunity for guys that are hungry to to get started and and prove themselves yeah i think even last year was a was a good stepping stone for a lot of guys um a lot of guys to show what they had a lot of guys to show what they could do um and and that's what can make a big long time

big leaguer a guy that might not ever get a chance or a shot in the big leagues you have you have you know injuries and stuff like that that then they get called up and they do their job and they do it well and it's a guy that then will stick in the big leagues for a couple more years or shoot for 10 plus years you never know um but i do think there's a lot of opportunity on this team especially in the bullpen um it's just who's going to capitalize who's going to do their job and who's going to show up every day and work hard and be a good teammate and win ball games. Well, I mean, again, that's, it feels like at times, you know, this team and most major league baseball teams kind of, it takes forever for younger guys to get that chance,

right? But like, again, they have a lot of talent in this organization. And as we saw last year, a lot of guys did step up. I mean, I, I had said it on the show, but I almost felt like, you know, at least for my, my opinion it was unfair like some of these guys were like minor leaguers two weeks ago and here they were pitching in the eighth inning against showy otani and freddie freeman and doing an excellent job at it right like not not failing not being bad but still like this organization kind of was just in a in a need last year and it did feel like there were a number of guys that took that step forward yeah i i agree with

that and that refers back to like you know maybe some guys that didn't didn't or never really would have had a chance before, maybe got overlooked. Yeah. Is now they're making their big league debut and it's like, here you go. What can you do? You know, this is your interview. And I feel like a lot of those guys succeeded and they did a really good job. Yeah, for sure.

Well, we're going to take a quick break and on the other side's break. We're going to have more with Drey Jamison, including, as you all cannot wait to hear about all of his cleats. We're going to talk about cleats for like a half an hour. But don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the P.H. next time in Beck Show. Well, you know, these boys got some renovations going on over at Chase Field, and of course you can get some renovations started on your home. 2026 is a great time to get started

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Just head to brandedbills.com and use our code of BB, PHNX for 15% off that first order. We're getting some breaking news in our live chat that Ranger Suarez is going to the Boston Red Sox. And, hey, as far as I'm concerned, get him out of the National League. That's fine with me. If he's not going to be a diamond back, get him as far away from our division as possible because it's already, things are tough enough over here. but hey man you know again you're going to be a big part of this team and so hopefully I mean how do you view it like this is obviously something as fans that is exhausting to see

what some of the teams in baseball spend and do but like at the end of the day do you just like you just see it as guys in other laundry over there like is it is it easy for you to overcome you know throwing against or pitching against some of these huge names in baseball I just you know when you sit in BP and you watch batting practice you realize that even the best ones still get out in BP so yeah when when you're on when you're on your best and you're at your best you can you can get anyone out right obviously there's some guys that are you got it's you have to lock in a little more you have to you know be cautious of of what they can do you it's more of like don't let that guy beat us but at the same time it's like just attack them like yeah they the best hitters get out seven out of ten times right right so you're gonna get them out yeah you know it might not be this time we hope it is but at the same time it's like they get they get out seven out of ten times so I'm gonna throw to you yeah I've said it man guys guys that hit the ball 28% of the time get paid like

$25 million a year and guys that pay 23% of time somehow suck you know it's crazy it's what baseball is but when you look at your stuff um what pitch are you currently most confident in um definitely the sinker um i like the sinker it used to be the slider i'm working on getting that slider back from tj is kind of kind of been a different pitch for me um so trying to find that slider grip and trying to find you know the exact release points and all that kind of stuff on the slider is is a big thing that i'm working on now um but one pitch that i will say that i'm pleased with that I have confidence in is now the change up as I would say one of my better pitches really that's good that's that's always that's always good to hear change it's always good does the

does the Tommy John John surgery like impact your grip is that like what it what did it kind of impact the most after recovering from that um I would I would say more because I was like a really like pronator so I was already a pronator so getting to I think it's called supination is yeah here yeah Was before injury was a little easier to get to, but now since, you know, everything with the surgery and the brace and the elbow, I think kind of tightens things up to make you more of a pronator to where it's hard to stay on the supination. So that's something that I'm trying to find the medium to get the same horizontal break that I want. Right. But in a way of like not showing that I'm throwing a slider.

Does it make you just not trust it at times or trust it differently versus the way that you were confident in it before? No, not really. I'm always gripping it, thinking this thing's going to be nasty. And then I throw it and it's just not nasty. Like, what the heck happened? What happened? Well, what's something our people in our chat here don't realize about like getting prepared during this time of the year. Because I think like the baseball off season, obviously the shortest in sports, I know that there was a time where it was almost like,

guys were told specifically not to do anything during the off season those days are far in the past but what's what's what's difficult around this time of the year of like staying in shape but not kind of over-exerting yourself before you get in the camp for me is a little different um especially with all the injuries i've had it's it's it's making me more hungry to be in be in the field and and getting my work in um because this is this is a a year that i really want to come out and show who I actually am. And for me, it's like, you know, when the team or the coach, they're like, hey, and they, they break down numbers, you know, like, this is what the MLB averages.

And it's like, I don't want to know what MLB averages. Like, what are the elites doing? What are those numbers? Because, like, if I'm going to chase numbers, I'm going to chase the elite numbers. I'm not going to chase average numbers because I don't want to be average. And that's... Or just gives you a sense of satisfaction if you're slightly above average that you're doing fine because... Correct. I just, I want elite numbers. And that and that to, to that point, I'm bringing that back and saying, like, that's the kind of year that this is going to be for me. I'm putting all my eggs in one basket and we're going to roll with it. And what you see this year is going to be the best dream James here you're going to see.

Hell yeah. Fun for that. Well, let me ask you this. What is the toughest lineup you've faced so far in the big leagues? Do you remember having either your struggles or just in general kind of being maybe a little bit starstruck by the guys you were facing against? See, believe I'm not like really starstruck. I mean, I think it's cool. No one really starstrucks me. Yeah. But I mean, facing the Dodgers lineup was, and I didn't face them this year, but in 23, when I was a starter and faced that lineup, it was, it was. silly and then this past this past year with the Cubs.

That was a really good lineup as well. Yeah. And that was back when everyone was just hitting on the Cubs. This is when they were hot. So that was a tough game. And then, I mean, the lineup I faced in, I mean, I know it's spring training, but the lineup I faced with the Dodgers and spring training was kind of nuts.

Yeah. It's funny. It's a spring training lineup, and it's still crazy, right? Yeah, it's crazy. But I definitely say, and the Padres. I mean, I feel like every game that I've been in, there's, it's a team that's like, I can all start this, this is, this is legit.

Yeah. These guys are legit, you know, and there's games where you have, where they might have one really good player that's, you know, superstars and then a bunch of, not filling guys, but a bunch of daily MLB. Yeah. Yeah. Big leaguers. Does it, is it, I guess not harder, but like, you kind of know what you're getting

into with a, with a tough lineup. Is it those, is it? Is it the ones where it's just regular everyday big leaguers that like kind of can catch you off guard more because you're not like All dialed in on those guys? Yeah, because you're like on on those kind of games or you face you know 7 8 9 in the lineup you're coming in 7 8 9. It's like hey, let's just get these guys out like these we need to get these guys out Yeah you know because we don't want to face one two three if we don't have to face one two three at the end of the game, you know and those are the 789 guys or the glue guys. This Those are the guys that keep you in the game. They're the guys that turn that lineup over for those superstars to get in there and

try to win the game. So yeah, you definitely as a player can overlook that. I'm an honest person. You can overlook some of those guys, but that's something that has got a change in my preparation and as I'm running out to the month. I mean, it's the same thing with us as people spectating as fans. sit there and see a team that has a bad lineup, beat you or, you know, put up eight, nine runs on the diamond backs and you're sitting there saying, what the hell?

How did this happen? It's like, like you said, any given day, any guy is going to go out there and beat you or get his hits that day or be zoned in on the fastball that day. What's crazy, too, is it's like those bad lineups, like are not even bad. No, they're not. That's what, yeah. They're good. They're good players.

Guys hitting 240 instead of 270. Yeah. Yeah. Guys that don't have the last name, Otani, you know? Yeah. But at the end of the day, like, those are the guys that are grinders, man. Those are dudes that, like, they grind and grind. Your superstars don't really grow.

They're there for a reason. Yeah, I mean, they did their work. They have a God gift of talent. They're really good at what they do. But, like, they don't grind like those dudes that got to grind. Yeah. You know, like, those guys that have to grind, which I would say in 23 was the debacks. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Like, you had a bunch of guys on that team. and me on the inside looking in is just like, do these guys grind? It's a team you don't want to play because they'll play small baseball. They're guys that are fine with laying down to bump to win. You go and tell, you know, one of the superstars,

hey, we need you to bunt with a guy on third one out or a guy on second one out. Yeah. They don't really want to bunt. They want to hit a homeowner. They want the show. And I think, you know, those, the grinder guys and the superstars that grind,

are the ones that are scariest. And that's Freddie Freeman. Freddy Freeman is. That guy's legit. Yeah, that guy's legit. Yeah, Grindr with the talent on top of that for sure. And I was going to say, this team still feels like it can be that, that team of grinders. Like, obviously a lot of the parts are still here.

But it also feels like, you know, again, they kind of got away from their identity a bit. And Hazen and Tori both talked about, like, getting back to that defensive mindset, running on the base paths, doing the fundamentals, the small thing as well. That's one thing that brought this team a tremendous amount of success in 23. I think the Debecks, I think we're going to shock some people this year. Yeah. Truly. I think we have some pieces.

I think we have enough guys that are hungry that want to win games. You know, they're not, we're not satisfied with being okay. We're not satisfied with not making the playoffs by one one game. Like I see and you can kind of feel the energy when even right now going to Salt River field. It's like people are in there working. And I've been in Salt River Fields when I was going through TJ. I was in there early January, December. Like, and you might have four or five guys in there.

Like, Salt River Fields is packed. Like, we've got a lot of guys in there working out. A lot of guys putting in work and showing face. And I truly believe that this year's going to be really good. That's great to hear. Who's, uh, I get, I want to ask who's the hardest worker out there right now, but I don't want you to put anybody on the spot. So I'll ask you this.

Who's your hardest teammate to strike out? Hardest teammate to strike out? Yeah. So you face guys in live BP like during spring and stuff. Is there anybody that like? Yeah. Um, definitely Corbin. I mean, it's a, he's a star of the team, but like he's, he's, uh, the work that that

kid puts in still to this day with them, whatever he's got. Yeah. You know, like he's still in there. He grinds. He doesn't miss anything. Like he, that kid, that kid, that kid, it works his tail off and it's someone you know outside looking in like something you look up to in a sense to like see the work ethic that he puts in to see the success that he has like that's that's

someone when I was saying like superstar the guys that grind and there's still that superstar status like yeah they're going to stay that for a long time and that's corbin carroll yeah he's he's amazing I mean this my favorite story is still him and his mom breaking into a high school in order to Get to Dick BP, you know, while COVID was going on or whatever. But obviously, one thing you've become known for very much is your electric cleats, your collection of shoes. I know everybody always has their favorite, but I have to ask all sorts of questions about the shoes.

I guess, first, are you the one that comes up with the concept? Like, are you the one that asks specifically for the cartoon character or whatever? Yes, I do. Is the artist a friend of yours, or is this just somebody that you've commissioned? Is it the same artist? It's same artist. I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't think I'll ever switch the artist. Okay.

But Lucia, he's a, I give him the idea and tell him run with it. Okay. So you just got to tell him like a. Correct. Because for me, I do. Go crazy. Yeah, like I want Scooby. Like right now I have some Buzz Lightyear and Woody Cleetson being made.

Hey, that's a separate. That's an exclusive. Yeah. And for me, I, with Lucia, it's like, hey, like, I want to. Buzz Light year, I want him to do this, but like do it your own way. Sure. Because for me, it's like when you tell an artist to draw a specific picture, they're going to do it.

Great. But you're like, hey, I want this idea. Use your creation. That's the artist. So all the artwork that they've done before, they can use their artistic imagination to even enhance it more. And they're the ones doing the art. So they're going to do an even better job if they're using their own idea within your idea.

Yeah. Like you're not going to be able to tell them like, all right, put these little, like, put this little stuff on the side and put this in between the eyelids and stuff like that. And an artist will just come up with some crazy stuff to do. How long does it take from the time that you like decide what you want and put it into him until it's finished? Earlier on in my career when I first started doing them, they were coming back pretty quick. I would say like two weeks. Is he getting more popular? The full idea.

Yeah, he got a lot more popular. He got a lot more big league. But no, he slammed now. So I've been going to him for a long time. So he works with me a little bit when I have an idea to get it in by a specific time frame. But I do my best to also let him know some of the stuff that I want to be done by that time. So I give him the timely manner. Now it will be a solid, like, we hope to have, like, a month in advance to let him know when I would want the cleats.

But, I mean, for just normal people in the sense of, like, just wanting, you know, even just regular tennis shoes or even, like, cleats for their kids or something around those lines, I think the weights pretty long. He's pretty booked up. I imagine so. I imagine so. It's like a tattoo artist, right? Like, once they start getting that notoriety, that appointment book feels up fast. How many custom pairs do you have now? Shoot, I have a lot.

Many? Too many to count. I mean, I'd have to, like, count them out. I'm probably, like, 15 pairs of cartoons. That's amazing. Yeah. Have you ever had a pair that you liked so much that you didn't actually want to wear them on field when you saw them? Like, they were so pretty.

You were like, I can't do this. So the SpongeBob, one of my SpongeBob pairs, the second Spongeball pair that I had made, I didn't want to wear them because the, all the detail of how crazy the detail was. And then the cleat when I put it on, I had to then wear it because it's like, I gotta show it off. Yeah, you can't.

And then- Buy it put it on a shelf just to display. Yeah. And that cleat then ended up like not feeling that great on my foot. So it was very easy to be a little bit like, all right, am I gonna wear these again? Yeah. And put them up.

Same with like my debut cleats. But I think the ones that are common, I've seen a preview of them and of him working on them and the buzz light years are crazy yeah they might be just too much to wear it yeah all right well I got to ask you this because I can't imagine you not being a baseball pitcher but if you weren't doing this if you weren't playing baseball what do you think you would be doing with your with your life with your career I got so much I could say on this I know you're getting into all sorts of other stuff I know your hydration yeah company that

you're working with. I know you also have some acting stuff coming up. That's very cool. So that's something I want to do. I want to, after baseball, I want to, I want to get into some movies. I'm kind of dabbling around in it now. That's awesome. But yeah, I was speaking to you earlier on this in the sense of this drink company I'm going to be behind. And it's called Pure Hydration Plus. It's full NSF approved. It's something that I think will take over the market, I think it has a really good chance, depending on how we market it, how we, or who we put it, you know, get it to the athletes that we can get it to, the people that just like, you know, hydration drinks to.

We're a big hydration podcast. I constantly have to remind Jesse to drink water every single episode. We'll have to get you. Yeah. Yeah. We live in Arizona. You got to stay hydrated here. But yeah, I think for me now and my career now, understanding.

that baseball doesn't last forever. For sure. And, you know, I was told that when I first got drafted, like, hey, what's plan B? And it's like, well, I don't have a plan B. And I still, to this day, we'll tell you, I don't have a plan B. That seems really early to be asking. Like, you're still pumped that you got drafted. They're like, hey, what are you doing after this job?

Yeah. But it's a good mindset to have, I guess. I like to be where my feet are. And when plan B comes, I'll figure it out then. But I don't want to put focus on plan B. when my goal, my dream, and my life is plan A. So the time that I can work on plan B, I should be working on plan A to making that an extra, you know, a year or two years.

So, but there's still the motion of starting things on the side, such as an offseason, trying to branch out, trying to get the connections, trying to dabble in some things that can set you up for the future. and that's with that hydration drink. Something that I'm more kind of hands off on. And my partners are more hands on. I'm just, you know, the guy that's backing it in the sense of just kind of having that as a backup plan would be like my answer to this day. Yeah.

Because it's kind of hands off. They're going to do it. And my role is whatever, you know. But. And then the acting thing. I'm super pumped for that. I actually sat down with Yardley Smith. Lisa Simpson.

Lisa Simpson. Lisa Simpson. He knows Lisa Simpson. And I sat down with a podcast with her that will probably be coming out before too long. I think she's got a lot more that she's going to do. What was the connection there? So my best friend that lives with me, Stan, his best friend that he went to college with is a huge movie producer out of NLA. Okay.

And he works under Yardley's me. Oh, okay. And she wanted to start like a sports podcast. And she's going to make it into like a segment. I'm pretty sure if she sees this. I hope I'm right on this. But she's going to make it into a segment. So she had like a murder mystery show a long time ago that got like over a hundred million streams.

I'm not surprised. And she's kind of doing the same thing with that, but with in the athlete standpoints. So we'll see how it goes. I had a really good interview with her. And like I said, That's it's connection based out and she wanted to learn about sports. Her husband's into sports. Sure.

And the easiest way for her to learn that is to do something that she's good at in that field. Yeah. To try to then learn more about that. Right. Talk to athletes, interview them, have conversations. Correct. Yeah. So it was a good, that was a whole good.

All that was good. And this whole movie thing now is with someone that's completely different. I don't know. A long time ago I put out on my Instagram store, I want to be in a movie. And they were like, We got you. I actually might have a role for you in the upcoming. And he just DM me two nights ago and was like, I actually have a script that we can do in Arizona whenever you want.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. What is your role going to be? What are you going to do in it? Going to be a, yeah, I'm going to be a golf instructor. Oh, well, that's right. And my name is James.

All right. I don't even know. I'm allowed to say that. Hey, that's fine. It's all right. Not a lot of movie producers watch this podcast. But, Roe, I appreciate you taking the time. when you're already talking to your Lee Smith and Lisa Simpson to come talk with us, man.

Thank you. Thank you so much for stopping by. He is Dre Jameson and look for him to be making things electric on the field next year for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Get out to spring training. See these guys do their thing, man. It's going to be a lot of fun. Starts really early this year. It feels like camp and everything starts earlier than ever.

We're playing spring training games in February. That's kind of wild this year. Well, the season starts, what, the 25th? Yeah. Yeah, like, yeah, or, yeah, 26, 26. Yeah, it's crazy. It is getting early and earlier. I know.

We need sports to your round, apparently. That's what we got to have. So, but thank you again for stopping by. Make sure you follow him on social media. We're going to take a quick break on the other. I have one more thing for, actually. What do you got? We have a video of you that we use a lot on this show.

I just wanted to play it real quick and then find out if you are familiar with the phenomenon. So without further ado, I'll play the video. That puts fire in my blood. Are you a. aware of how often we use that video on this show? Are you aware of how often we've said the phrase puts fire in my blood on the show? I remember that. That was a spring training.

Yeah. Was that the giant? Yeah. Yeah. When they swung, that was a three-oh, he swung, huh? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it put fire in your blood.

Yeah, it does. Never forgets. These guys never forget anything. Well, again, man, thank you for stopping by. Appreciate you guys for being here. We're going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. We're going to talk about the Padres. being in on Nolan Aeronado and why that makes it even sweeter that we were able to land them.

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So make sure to keep it locked there. I feel like the he gave that answer that was the sponge bob. It has to be the sponge bottle. He's like, I can't even wear these. They're so. I mean, yeah, well, and then the Buzz Lightyear. The Buzz Lightyear ones are on the way. Replace those when they come.

Those are going to be fresh. So fresh. I'm kind of hoping that he got, like, he got a pair of Woody and he got a pair of Buzz, but I hope he just swaps one shoe out with the other. Dude, I was thinking the same thing. Mismatch, mismatch of the same cleat, but one is Woody and one is Buzz. That's the way it has to work. A hundred percent.

That's how it has to. I'll have to. I'll text him later. I'll text him about that. But hey, I'll tell you one thing that's good. thing that we are glad that the Diamondbacks got is Dre Jameson. Another thing we're glad that they got is Nolan Aronado because apparently the San Diego Padres wanted him. And so if that, if just having Nolan Aronado for $5 million a year in 2026 and $6 million for 2017 isn't

satisfying enough for you, hopefully what satisfies you even more is knowing that we helped keep the Padres that poverty franchise down even more and keep them from ever winning. winning a world series. According to Ken Rosenthal at the Athletic, the Padres were one of the teams that pushed hardest for Nolan Aeronado. What's weird is I don't really remember, I don't recall there being any connection

between the Diamondbacks and Aeronado until that final 24 hours. There was an article about some comments that Shane Bloom had made in regards to potentially trading Aeronado, and he mentioned apparently that one of the teams was the Diamondbacks at the time along with the Angels,

but then things seemed to move very quickly for the Diamondbacks and less than what felt like 12 hours later, we had ourselves a new third basement here in Arizona. Meanwhile, San Diego's plan, according to Ken Rosenthal, was apparently to move him to first base. So that's very interesting. It's something we brought up on the show.

It's something that was kind of asked of Mike Hazen, who did not give a clear answer about that. He honestly said that he had not had conversations with Aeronado about switching positions. and basically made it sound like they had no meetings internally to discuss that as of yet. Not to say it's something that they will not try, not something that they venture into, especially with having Blaze Alexander and Jordan Lawler,

both third basemen as part of this team. But according to this report, the issue with San Diego was not Aeronado moving to first base. If you look on his Instagram, Nolan Aeronado actually posted a picture of a first baseman's glove meaning he was all in on becoming a first baseman and he still might be for the diamondbacks. I just can't help but wonder if that picture was a teaser about him possibly going to San Diego. But according to this report, the holdup was that the Padres were unwilling to take on as much of Aeronado's salary as the D-Backs did.

And it's not like the D-Backs took on a whole lot of money. They get Nolan Aranato here for Justin or for Jackson. Martinez, that's the proper way to say it, former ASU Sun Devil. And they do have to pay him $11 million over two years in this economy. Where paying a player $5.5 million per year really is practically next to nothing. Diamondbacks couldn't even sign a reliever that cost $5 million a year. In fact, Michael Soroka, who is somewhat of a reclamation project as a starter, was still $7.5 million a year.

So to bring in a perennial gold glover and an All-Star, like, you know, like Nolan Aronado is, it's not taking on too much salary, and the Padres really missed out. Perhaps they were just playing hardball. Perhaps they thought that the Cardinals, you know, would maybe come down to their request or to their asking price. But the Cardinals agreed to send $31 million. of Aeronado's remaining 42 million over the next two years to the Diamondbacks.

I heard that the Rockies are paying five of that, Derek. Yes, I know. That's my favorite part about this, Damon. It is my favorite part. My favorite part is that the Rockies and the Cardinals are both paying Nolan Aronado to play for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, we're paying about what the Rockies are going to pay next year for Nolan Aronautier. Right.

So I don't understand how people within the Diamondbacks community can view this as a bad thing. I understand Nolan Aeronado had a bad season last year. Defensively, he didn't. Defensively, he's still one of the best third baseman in the league. That's what doesn't make sense to me about moving him to first base. Third base is so much more valuable defensively. And it's not as if he was bad at third base last season. He was very good.

Like he was 81st in range. His arm strength has taken a bit of a hit since, you know, his prime. But that's less important than being a guy who is, you know, able to get to all of these balls. And it's not like his arm strength is bad. It's 43rd percentile. Right. So it's very average. See, Mike Hazen's comments the other day made me feel like they just hadn't really considered it,

which makes me not really think that that's the plan. And you're right. I mean, if he was maybe an aging third baseman over there that had his best years behind him defensively, and maybe it became a bit of a liability out there for the Cardinals last year, maybe I would agree with the idea of moving them in first base. Maybe it's just because I feel like this team still needs a first baseman. Perhaps that's the reason why I feel like, Moving into first base makes sense.

But the bigger thing here is the Cardinals, meanwhile, they're the true property franchise. And I mean that for more than one reason. It's over. They have now sent $20 million to the Red Sox in the Sunny Gray trade. They've sent $8 million more to the Red Sox in the Wilson Contreras trade. And now they've sent $31 million to the Diamondbacks.

They have spent $59 million in just, getting rid of players and just and just making other teams take away the good players that they had. Wow. It does not seem like financial relief was the goal of removing Aeronado from the Cardinals considering how much they're eating here. The death of the St. Louis Cardinals franchised, Eric. I think that that's fair to say.

Like they are, they were Yankees and L. Like they were the premier organization in the National League forever. And now look at them. I mean, just a shell of themselves trying to get rid of salary just to save, you know, what, $10 million and they're still paying 50? Their teams falling off of a cliff. I saw a tweet and I forgot who tweeted it out, but Nolan Aeronado left the Rockies to go win playoff game, more playoff games in the Cardinals and ended his Cardinals tenure with less playoff games played than what he did in Colorado. No way. Yeah.

No way. I mean, you could argue that as time there was a success, because. he was very good for a number of years for the Cardinals, but the idea that they didn't win that many playoff games or more than he did in the time with the Rockies is nuts. He was more successful on the Rockies than on the Cardinals postseason-wise. And that's, that is wild to think about. I feel bad for like Kevin Thomas, of course,

former producer of this show, big Cardinals guy. He's just in the dumps, man. He's like, man, this he's like, this organization is cooked. And I'm like, it is. I got nothing else for you. Did you see he beat me up in the final episode that we did together. So I hope all the bad things happen to all of his sports teams Fudu doll until the end of time.

Yeah. I will say that the Padres meanwhile just continue to do weird crap. Like the idea that they were going to bring in a third basement when they already have a third basement is insane. And they're just going to convert him to a first basement because they're, you know, whatever. That franchise is a mess. And I hope all the bad things happen to them.

And nobody but them. But I do want to thank you guys for being here today. Big thanks to our guy, Dre Jameson. And there are certain people in this organization that I've always just really enjoyed speaking to. And he is definitely one of them. Also, hilarious to me to hear him say that he's shy because that man does, in fact, have fire in his blood. But of course, I also wanted to thank you guys for being diehards. If you are not already a diehard, now is a great time to join us.

We're going to have some new exclusive content for all of you in 26. A lot of surprises. So I hope you guys sign up right now. you can join us and get your free t-shirt. You can get 20% off merch, and get 20% off events, including our inevitable pool party that we will be having at Chase Field.

Plus, you will get access to the PHNX Discord Lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona sports fans and talk with all of your favorite pH and X personalities and fans. And Kevin, he's also there. Head to go, phnx.com, improve your fanhood by becoming a PHNX diehard today. Derek, do you think that we can end with this here,

but do you think that this makes Jordan Law? more expendable? Yes. What's weird to me is, and again, going back to what you were saying about Nolan Aronado, I don't feel like Blaze's bat, even though it was very hot at one point, ended up being good enough, consistent enough throughout the year, for you to say like, oh, you got to get Blaze in there at third base offensively, and that means you have to move Aronado over to first.

And you could definitely say the same about Jordan Lawler. I saw a report, in fact, that said Lawler was going to play the outfield because the debacks need to have his bat in there. And I was like, sir, have you ever seen Jordan Lawler play baseball at a major league level? That's no disrespect to him. But at this point, I do not feel like he has done enough to prove that his bat is valuable. And we need to find a way to get it into the lineup. Now, he's had a lot of success in his minor league career that still makes me believe in him.

I think that this falls on the diamond backs, quite frankly, because of this constant position shuffle that they, done with him. And again, this is that same thing of like, okay, well, you're constantly blocking him and then you also want him to figure it out elsewhere or figure it out as a utility player or now switch to being an outfielder. And I don't feel like that's fair to that young man. I don't feel like he should entirely be blamed for his development kind of being hampered by these changes and by these situations. But however, I will say that we're all big boys, right? This is baseball. You have to, you have to, you know, perform in order for you to get those jobs. And quite frankly, if Jordan Lawler, you know, isn't able to go out there and find a way to put

things together at the plate and find a role in the field, in-field, outfield doesn't matter, then, I mean, again, it's also on him. It's also on him. Derek, I think all their blame on the, on the organization. Let me ask you a question. I'm going to put you on the spot here. Jordan Lawler has less than 100 career A-Bs. Yeah.

What is his career? war. Guess. Negative point seven. Negative point five. That was a pretty good guess. But getting negative half a game war in that short of a sample size is diabolical. Yeah.

In what world does he just have a spot where he's penciled in the starting lineup? Yeah. Like I don't understand this idea that, you know, the Diamondbacks are blocking Jordan Lawler. Jordan Lawler is blocking Jordan Lawler. He needs to go up there and hit in his limited opportunities and prove to the Diamondbacks. that he earns more playing time because I don't think that it should just be given to you, especially not when you have a Eugenio Suarez, Catelle Marte, Geraldo Perdomo on your infield in the spots that he would play, right? And then now you have Nolan Aeronado. I think that

Lawler like it's not out on him. Like he's not done, but he needs to make the most of his limited opportunities and be undeniable for the diamondbacks in order to actually get more playing time and raise his value. Because what he's shown right now, There's no world where you'd be like, he needs more at bats. We need to actually get him up there more. So he can strike out on every breaking ball and never make to get a good hit. It's just consistency. It's just consistency.

Yeah. Right? It's like it's hard for you to shuffle a guy around. Let's not forget. He was asked to play third base not that long ago. It's not like third base was his natural position. Right. No.

He looked a little rough over there. Second baseman asked to play third. If you ask somebody to continue to do different things and you don't give them time to settle into that thing before then you're asking them to do something else, then I just don't feel like it's really giving them the biggest opportunity to grow in any role that you're asking him. However, Blaze Alexander is like the antithesis to that, right? He's the opposite. Blaze Alexander kind of thrived in every role that he was asked of. And like, even though last season for sure, right? Last year. He struggled with the defense at shortstop when he came up for Jerry in

2024. Absolutely. But last year at third base, he looked very promising at defensively. Right. Meanwhile, he's had 1.7 war last year, Derek, by the way.

Blaze was incredible. I mean, he made highlight, he made highlight plays after highlight play, no matter where he was, third base, making great plays, outfield,

Robin home runs, like he was outstanding. Blaze, maybe Blaze is the left fielder, Derek, or maybe. I can't believe he has video of him running bases and such, with like 95%

bar down at the bottom of the screen. It's insane. It's insane. I mean, he's sliding into third. Like, he's practicing sliding now, Derek. That's what we're at. That's the part of the rehab process that we're at. I don't know.

I'm checking my watch here. T minus five months from his ACL injury. And he's sliding into second base. He might be superhuman. He's him. Jesse once said that me dying, my hair purple, gave him superhuman powers. Maybe, maybe that's what happened.

I'm fired up for Lordus. I think, you know, I, I've never, you know, I was very hard on Lordus last year. I've never been more fired up for Lordus Gurriel Jr. B. I mean, right? Like, you got, you, you have to be fired up by somebody that's trying so hard to get ready. The expectations were so incredibly low that this man could be pulling, you know, a fat Thor from the Avengers and just sitting on his couch, eating and letting, you know, just enjoying his time off. No, instead, he's training diligently, pushing himself every single. day to try to blow every expectation out of the water as far as when he was going to return. And I mean, again, you see his messages.

He wants to be ready by opening day. Is he going to be? I have no idea. But, I mean, you got to love the effort that he's putting in. And you got to love how hard he's trying to make sure that he's back to help this team win baseball game. So you just love that about Lourdes. And again, you love that about this team.

As Dre said, like, this is a team that's a team of great. grinders. And that right there of him grinding to rehab and get back is the perfect example of that. But that's all we got for you guys today. Thrilled once again to have Dre here. I thank him so much for stopping by, especially in his brand new Corvette that probably should not be parked in our parking garage at all. That's crazy, David, that he drove around that narrow entrance way in that thing. It's got a big old fin on the back. It's amazing. But anyway, thanks to Dre. Thank you to you all for stopping by. We appreciate your time. We will be back tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show to make sure, so make sure to join us for that. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman

with a K. Damon, of course, is at Damon Dog with a DAWG. And we're all Damon's dogs all the time, even when he's not on set. Bark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore DBEX, but as always all roads lead to at pH&X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Love you guys so much. Thank you guys for stopping by appreciate your time so much we will see you tomorrow until then have a wonderful evening behave yourself books journey uh and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun when dray stops by to put fire in your blood