PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Cue the screaming baseball

Episode Date: March 25, 2022

On this episode, Jesse and Derek are joined by D-backs broadcaster Steve Berthiaume to chat about the expedited spring training season, working with Bob Brenly, his thoughts on the rule changes to MLB, and more! 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.

Hello and welcome to a very special edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, of course, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And I am joined, you know Jesse, he's the vice mayor, but we are joined by a very special guest. It's Steve Berth Eume, Steve. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm glad you guys had me on the show. It's fun to be here. Thanks.

Thank you so much. Yeah, man. And Jesse, I apologize for running you over there. you know, I just, I was excited to get to this key, but of course, Jesse, my vice mayor, Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Jesse, how you doing? I'm okay, Derek, but I'm not the important one today. Today's all about Steve for Theume, so we're excited to have you, Steve. There should never be a day like that, but I'm glad to be here, thanks.

So before we get on to the show, I just want to remind everybody that this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. Go download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Now get down on the college hoops. action. New customers can use our code of PHNX to bet just $5 or more on any team to win, and you will get $200 in free bets if they do. It's that simple if they win you win with the Drafking Sportsbook. Steve, again, thank you so much for joining us. How has your time out at spring training been so far? It's been a little limited, Mr. Mayor. I've spent, I go out generally

the first week or two a lot. I try to go every day, and then I kind of pull back and do stuff at home. because I can be very productive at home without interruptions because now I'm in crunch time. Our opening days are two weeks from today. So I've basically been doing prep since about January 1 leading up to spring training. Then it kind of stop, get very deback-centric, and then it's time to kick it back in to start worrying about the Brewers and the Padres and other teams. So my spring training's been good. I hope to get out to more games next week. We're doing three more games.

Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Three more games on TV this spring. So I'll be out there pretty much every day starting over the weekend. Jesse and I were talking about this on a previous show, but attendance numbers have been a little bit down at the spring training games. Is that to be expected just with the lack of tourists being able to kind of plan on this weird season that started so quickly and just kind of went from not existing to existing in less than a week?

I would think. I mean, when you cancel essentially a full month of spring training, guess what? You're going to jam up everybody's plans. So I don't, I'm not a travel agent, but I assume that a lot of people had to cancel travel plans to the Valley, unfortunately. So I think those two have to go hand in hand. It would seem almost just common sense. Steve, I know this is hopefully a little bit more of a normal spring for you compared to what we've dealt with the last couple of years, right? It's nice to have a bit of a taste of normality, even though this spring is still not completely normal. But I want to,

want to jump into what the last couple years have been like for you. I know one of the hardest things that broadcasters around the game have had to deal with is not being present for road games, right? Having to sit, I believe, at the, you know, the box at Chase Fields in an empty stadium watching a monitor and it's you and Bob Brenley and, you know, whatever crew members you need. And you're tasked with trying to, trying to commentate a game that you are not present for, right? You're kind of just a spectator on television like everyone at home. What has that been like for you over the last couple of years? Well, Jesse, I will say that it's been infinitely harder for our ballet sports Arizona crew in the truck.

The way those guys pull those shows off is nothing short of a magic trick. It's incredible what they're able to do, what they have been able to do in terms of the production value and technically with such limited resources. So those guys get all the credit. Bob and I, when the Diamondbacks have been on the road, are in literally a dark ballpark where the only ones in there. There's about eight people at Chase Field for, say, a night game. People in the offices have gone home. And it's just us in our little booth and everything else is black and dark,

and we're just staring like this at the monitor to go, ooh, there's a base hit to left field. That's really what it is. But it's been okay. I think we did a really good job, given the circumstances, is in trying to make it as normal as possible. No one I know is quite sure what that word means anymore, but I think that in talking to people that watch the games,

they say, you know, it seems sort of normal. So I think that's a victory for us. It's been challenging. There are times when it's hard to, I don't ever want to complain about it on the air, but I do want the viewer to know that there are moments when Bob and I can't see what's happening because of the camera angles and whatnot.

So there have been very occasional times where we're not able to tell you for sure what's just happened. We kind of have to wait and piece it together. That hasn't happened very often. But that was the biggest challenge. Like for me, if someone hits a ball in the air, the camera behind home plate locks on the ball as it should and follows the ball. It doesn't have the umpire in the shot. So for me, I'm waiting to see fair or foul. but I can't because the umpire is not on camera, so I don't want to say it incorrectly.

So I have to wait until we see the umpire go like this or follow, whatever it is. So that's about as bad as it gets. That's very little. That's not much to ask, given the circumstances. So we're looking forward to getting back to live players in front of us for a full season. But I think that the crew in the truck was just unbelievable. Our producer, Jeff Gowland, Director Brian Moss, Craig Ritchie, Brian Hogan, everybody at Valley Sports. really, really pulled some magic tricks in that truck because you're essentially doing two feeds at once.

They're directing or producing two baseball games at the same time going to two different places, which is mind boggling. So they really did a wonderful job for it. Well, and I think you guys did a wonderful job as far as how easy it was to forget that you weren't there. And you guys, you even had a couple of moments where you guys kind of laughed it off and, you know, broke that fourth wall and, you know, basically said like, yeah, we, we get. can't really see what's happening here on the monitor. That kind of made it funnier, right? That was that moment where you realize like, oh yeah, these guys, because, you know, you're going back to the live shot and showing you guys at Chase Field. And it was just, you know, it's a reminder sometimes you

guys aren't there, but you do a great job at, you know, making us as the viewer feel like you're there, you know, and I commend you for that. But I know you spent a lot of, I appreciate it. I know you spent a lot of time around Bob Brenley. And I wanted to ask you, uh, being, being around Bob this much? Is there something we should know about Bob? Is there any stories to share about funny things about being around him as much as you guys are?

Oh, I mean, he Bob loves baseball. I mean, he loves it. It is part of his DNA. And I kind of get a kick out of it when he, you know, because he can get like a kid. If the team is playing well, he kind of skips into the booth.

And he, I don't even think he's aware of it, to be honest with it. I think it's a wonderful trait. And when things aren't going well, he is more like the manager who kind of quietly turns around and kicks the garbage can in the club, you know, behind the dugout where the cameras can't see. So he wears it, man. I mean, he really does. He loves what he does. He loves baseball.

He's dedicated to the diamond backs. And that to me is fun. I'll kind of look over at the corner of my eye and just sort of smirk and smile because he gets excited, man. And one of the things about Bob is he does. all his own research. We joke, and Bob has a staff. We have a lot of fun with that. There is definitely a staff. But Bob grinds, man. He does all his own work. He's there well before the game starts. He's on fan graphs. He's on baseball savant. He's looking up the numbers that he is interested in and thinks are important. So he's a really hard worker and he loves baseball.

Steve, baseball is a little bit different now than it has been. We officially have the designated hitter in the National League. That, of course, is one of the developments that came out of the new CBA. We have some other interesting real changes around the corner banning the shift, a new pitch clock, bigger bases. I'm curious what you think as a broadcaster about these changes. Do you feel these are things that make the game more entertaining that might draw some more people in? What's your perspective on this? Jesse, I think you said the magic word entertaining. I am very much in favor of all of them. First and foremost, this is an entertainment product.

And that's something that here in 2022 has to get branded on everyone's forehead. Like, we have to make this entertaining. And I think Rob Manfred has done a pretty good job the last few years. And again, a lot of this stuff, most of it can be collectively bargained. It's not just so simple as saying, okay, we're going to do this starting tomorrow. He's trying to get out in front of this. No one wants a 16 inning game. That's insanity.

So I'm in favor of everything that protects the health of the players, first and foremost. And I think player safety is a huge issue with the Ghost Runner or the Manfred Man with two ends, as we like to call it sometimes at second base, or the Herbie in honor of Herb Washington. Jason Stark had a little contest to name the Ghost Runner. I guess we all settled on Ghost Runner unofficially. but Bob and I once, one, there was a year, I think it was 2013 maybe, maybe a little after that. We had a, I think we had a Saturday game in Pittsburgh that went 15, 16 innings. And then the following Saturday, we did a seven-hour game in Philadelphia on a Saturday night, backed up by a one o'clock kickoff the next day.

So nobody wants those. Nobody wants those games. They're just not good for baseball. they're dangerous for the players. So I think getting back to the entertainment part of it, if you're a fan and, okay, it's the ninth inning, Diamondback home game, they don't score, we'll still tied, we go to 10. If we don't have that ghost runner, you might say, boy, they could play another 20 innings. I got to go to bed, and you turn the game off. But if you're coming up knowing there's going to be a ghost runner at second base,

I think you're much more inclined to stay around and watch that 10th inning, knowing that there's a pretty good chance you're going to see the game end one way or the other. And so that goes back to entertainment. The game has got to be entertaining, and that's priority one. I think everybody, the other thing about the Ghostrunner, I'll say, I was a little bit surprised to find out how much the union liked it. The players really seemed to like that. Everything I read said that when they, you know, they had these discussions and they got feedback, the players union really seemed to like the idea. So I think that's just one more reason to do it. And everybody hates the shift. I mean, they just do. I'm not a huge fan of legislating where you can put your defenders,

but I just think it needs to happen. The D.H should have happened five, ten years ago. Most pitchers, I don't think, not only can they not hit, they can't even bunt. Some can, some are very good at it. Most can't. That's just where we are. It's just honey. Sure. And if you can make the bases bigger, that's a safety issue as well. Maybe it encourages more action on the base paths. So I think anything that makes the game more entertaining to watch needs to be done. So I'm in favor of all those things for those reasons. Right. And I'm with you on all that.

And I also agree with your opinion on the shift there. Like I hate what comes with the shift. I hate the way that the rule has to be implemented where they say so many guys have to be on this side because it really limits the defensive schemes that teams can use. But at the same time, I am in favor of them not constantly putting, you know, five guys to the right side of second base just because they know of tendencies of batters now and how, you know, how like, how little the likelihood is that they can hit to the opposite field, right? Well, the reason to ban the shift is because it works so well, right? To your point.

Um, and how many fans when you see a left hand batter hit a bullet towards second base you think, okay, base hit and there's a guy standing right there. Sure. It's just like, oh, it goes back to making the game more entertaining. And I thought when they first came up with these kinds of shifts and they got very popular, that it might create a generation of hitters that would learn to use the whole field. Right. So I said, okay, maybe there's an upside to this. But what we've discovered over the recent seasons with the overshift is the left-hand

hitters just aren't going to do it. They're going to try to hit it through the shift or over it. And that has resulted in more three true outcomes, more home runs sometimes, a lot more strikeouts, and the ball's not in play. And when it is in play, it's hit right at somebody. We can't have those things in baseball. Steve, this baseball team won 52 games last year. It was not pretty to say the least, right?

But I think we're all feeling relatively optimistic going into this next season. At the very least, that the team can just improve dramatically, right? And coming off a 52-in season, you know, dramatic improvement seems very well within reach for this team. What do you think has to happen? What are the key factors for the Diamondbacks in 2020? 2022 that you think could allow them to make, you know, maybe it's 75 wins, maybe it's 80 wins. Maybe it's even, you know, fighting for a wild card spot come September or October. And there are some extra ones out there, too.

I would say a good start is not having your entire starting rotation on the injured list. There's one. Yeah, that'd be nice. Yeah, right? We went through that last year. That one, right, for sure. I mean, look, you know, you say, oh, you can't use excuses. Well, when you lose four out of five starters, you kind of can.

So that was there, and that's just another obstacle that had to be overcome. I love the way they spent money on the back end of the bullpen. I thought, you know, the way Mike and the front office have tried to build bullpens over the years, you know, for the most part, they've shopped at the discount store. They've tried to piece a bullpen's together. Bullpen's always evolved, I think, not just year to year, but over the course of the season, a bullpen can be very different in August than it is in April. And I think that happens with every team every year.

But I think over what we went through last year with a bullpen, we found some pieces that worked pretty well. Noe A. Ramirez, I thought, did a nice job as, you know, he had a good two, three-month run as the eighth inning guy and got him on a lot of jams. I thought J.B. Wendellkin was a very nice pick. He pitched pretty well in September. So you do, at the end of that, come out with some positives you can take into 2022. Now you add Ian Kennedy in the eighth.

You add Mark Malanson, who led the majors and saves last year. to pitch the ninth, and suddenly you're feeling a lot better about that bullpen. I like what I've seen from Kyle Nelson, the lefty that got from Cleveland. I like the pickup of Caleb Berger. I think maybe Ali Perez can pitch at 40 or 41 over the course of the year. He had a nice run here a few years ago. So I feel better about the health of the rotation. I feel much better about the bullpen.

I think we'll see some of the young starters come up and pitch out of the bullpen this year. I think Mike will get pretty aggressive with that. to develop these starters down the road, start them out in short bursts, let them have some success. That's going to help the bullpen. And I think to me, Jesse, one of the things that doesn't get talked about a whole lot was, among the things that went wrong last year was you had three critical bats in your lineup really struggle offensively. David Perl, it's a Christian Walker, Carson Kelly.

Those are three critical bats, and all three guys really, really had down years. Now, Christian had the two oblique injuries early. and just never could quite get going. Carson had a nice run. They had a broken toe and a broken wrist for crying out loud. That's a lot to overcome. David was healthy all year, but just wasn't the same guy. Now, he's looked tremendous this spring.

He's looked so good this spring. Yeah. Really, he's a lot quicker, more athletic. He's a little leaner. And so if we see the David Peralta that hit 30 homers back in 2019, and we see the Christian Walker that had 29 homers back in 2019, team. And if we see a healthy Carson Kelly all year, suddenly you're talking about a whole different lineup. Now you add Catelle Marte, who hopefully won't miss half a season. You add a full year of Varsho,

a better Pavin Smith, a better Joshua O'Hoss more experienced. You throw in an Alex Thomas, maybe, a full year of Jake McCarthy. Suddenly it's looking a lot better. And back to your point, Jesse, I think what I'm looking for this year is energy. And even going back to what we talked about, about making the game entertaining. I really believe, I don't know how many games they're going to win, but I think they're going to be a very engaging team to watch. And I think when you're a fan of a team, especially a team that's had a couple of tough years, when you start to see a bunch of kids finally wash ash ashore about hearing this great tide of minor leaguers in the system, well, when that tide starts to sort of land ashore and you see that, I think that really gets you

excited when you see Dalton Varsho grow from the guy that had a terrible spring last year, didn't really do much in the first half, get a chance in the second half and just absolutely take off. And when he watched Pavin Smith, some of the games he had, when he watched that four months stretch that Josh Rojas had, you're there at the start of something. And I think a fan, whether he's aware of it or not, he or she, you're there at the beginning. And that makes you more invested in what you're watching, more invested in the team because you say, I've been with watching this kid since he was a rookie. So down the road, as more and more of those rookies come up, man, you're all in. So I think, you know, the guy that personifies that for me last year was Jake McCarthy. I mean, Jake McCarthy came up end of the year. He's got the wild hair and the helmet's coming off and the hair's flying. He's running around the bases. Like it was an instant injection of energy. And so to me, me, I think that translates over television and it translates to the fan. So I think what I'm looking for is for everybody to pick up on that vibe. And I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.

I really do. Do you think, and just kind of speaking about everything you covered there, not only the guys that had kind of a down year, but have shown what they can do in the past and this new wave of young rookie talent coming up, do you think that is why essentially aside from the back end bullpen that they invested in that the Diamondback's primary focus was on the coaching staff. Because in our opinion, it feels like they established kind of a all-star coaching staff in a way around Tori Lovolo. And it just feels like they are giving not only the young guys, the best opportunity to come up and get some of the best, you know, coaching tutelage in the game, but also the guys that are on the team

now that, you know, kind of now can get that experience and kind of learn from a new set of coaches. And I know Madison Bumgarner, I can only imagine how hard of a guy he is to like win over, but like Brent Strom seems like the exact kind of perfect fit to, you know, win over somebody like Bump, mad bum and have him listen to him and take his advice. That was, I agree, Jess. That was a tremendous get for the organization, all those guys. Joe Mather, Damien Easley, Brent Strom, your life coach, Mr. Bannister. Yeah, that's an unbelievable quality group. And they were able to keep guys like Dan Carlson and Drew Headman on staff as well,

which I think helps with some continuity. That to me is a tremendous investment. And I think that's where the investment was made, if not in dollars, certainly in attention. Because I don't think you want to go if you're coming off 110 lost season and just start spending money on random players to fill spaces when you know you've got guys coming up, and you want those young guys to get in there.

Like, I kind of get a vibe that there, I think they'll be fairly aggressive with Alec Thomas. Like if Alec Thomas has a good spring, yeah, yeah. You might see him a lot earlier than you think. I don't know. I don't know anything, but that's just, that's what it seems to me.

And I think there'll be other guys. Yeah, and he's playing almost every day. And I think there's a reason for that. You know, you might see him in center field on opening day. Who knows? I don't know. But I think that's obviously where they want to go. That's where they should go.

So don't go out and spend money on, you know, Joe X to play right field for three years when you've got guys coming up. I feel really good about the coaching staff. I think you're right. But I don't think they, I think they address the major need, which was back into the bullpen. Yes. And I don't think there was, I think if you start going out and bring in random free agents, that's short-term thinking and you're thinking long-term here. You don't want to get off course from the long-term plan. So I think they've done what they should have done.

Steve, are we ready for Zach Gallen to bounce back? Is that your expectation for this season? Yeah, I love talking to him. Have you guys talked to him? He is such an interesting dude. He really is. I mean, he's a thinker, man. Like, he is, he's in it.

And the thing about Zach is he loves it. He loves every aspect of his, I really love guys that pay. attention to the details of their craft. Like, if you hear Jerry Seinfeld talk about comedy, not to be funny, but talk about the science of it and why something is funny and why it isn't, like, that's a science for him. It's a craft. And Zach Gallen is the same about pitching grips, and he's constantly tweaking. Now, maybe sometimes that's not always great, but he's into it, man. So with Zach, it's just help, right? I mean, three separate injuries last year. It goes back to what we talked about before. He's got to be healthy. There's all kinds of potential there. Let's go. Let's just get

healthy. Hopefully he doesn't have to hit. Like he said last year, you know, hey, they pay me to pitch. Why am I hitting? I mean, I was, I think it was about this time last spring where suddenly I was getting text like, hey, Zach Gallant just broke his arm. And you just went, oh, man, come on. Really? He was okay. Thank goodness. He's back in there. But just get healthy. That's number one thing for him. Get healthy. Get back to the guy we know he can be. I agree. Well, Steve, we could have you on all night. We could go three hours, but I know you have to get off to dinner, and we appreciate you so much. So thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to listening to you this season and watching this team, hopefully kind of, kind of outperform everybody's expectations of it. I think it's going to be fun. I really do. I appreciate you guys having me on. Thanks for the kind words, and you guys are doing a nice job with the show. I spent a lot of time this all season, you know, grinding away on the computer, listening to be. you guys so keep up the good work thanks a lot we appreciate that thank you so much steve thanks

all right well jesse uh i i i seriously i could talk to him i i had i had 12 more questions for him but again i know i know how we we discussed we would cut off at a reasonable time we still kept him 10 minutes longer but thank you again so much to steve ruthume obviously uh i i i just um still marveled by how entertaining he can be uh during you know the course of a three-hour game and considering he's, you know, the play-by-play guy. He's not really supposed to be as funny as he is. And I know from his time at SportsCenter, he's just, he's always been that. He's always been entertaining, which is, you know, what he talked about there. That, that entertainment factor is something that I personally really enjoy with them. And I do, I look forward

to, uh, to them being back on the road and, and just everything being back to normal a bit this year. In a, in a perfect world, the team is the source, like the primary. source of the entertainment. And, and I mean, I think the team was a source of entertainment for us last year. But Bob and Steve had to do a lot more heavy lifting in terms of entertainment value than maybe they would like to have to do. And they're always, you know, they're always good about, I feel like I always learned something new when I, when I watch a broadcast with Steve Ruthume and Bob Brenley, especially just Bob and his insight as a former manager. And, you know, there's always something that he recognizes that, you know, no matter how

long you've been watching baseball, no matter how long you've been a fan of the game or of the Diamondbacks in particular, there's always going to be something that Bob or Steve says that is like, oh, wow, I never thought about that. So they are, they are some of the best at what they do. And it's fun to, fun to have Steve. We'll have to see if we can pry Bob away at some point. Yes. Yes. That would be fantastic. That would be fantastic. And we got to have Steve back too. I got to, I have more questions to ask. So we got to talk, we got to talk about how formidable sports center was for me as a young lad and how he was a part of that like really fun era of sports center anchors but before we move on to the next segment of course we got to let you guys know go over to

go p hnx.com where you're getting quality content like this all the time if you're not already a member you can sign up to become an annual member you'll get your free t-shirt this bad boy over at p hnx locker dot com doesn't have to be this one but i won't lie if you if you don't get this one i'll be a little i'll be a little i have the same one we're twinning today dude Eric. Right. But you can get your free t-shirt for sign up to become a member. You'll get not only my articles, Jesse's articles, but you also get all the articles about

the suns, coyotes, ASU, U of A. There's so much craziness going on. Not to mention the Cardinals, which is in the off-season. And, you know, we love our off-season brothers because we know how it feels to be during the off-season. No, they don't understand. They don't know. They don't understand what we went through with, Derek.

I really understand it, but there's some amazing content coming out to go sign up for a membership. If you're not interested in the annual membership, you can get yourself the month-to-month membership, and you'll get your first month for just 50 cents. So whichever route you go, we just want you to join the family, join us on our members-only Discord, where we'll chat about the off-season acquisitions and all sorts of other stuff going on with this team, as well as, like I said, Moon Night's coming up. So that's what I'm going to be chatting about in our Discord. That's what I'm going to use the Discord for, but you can use it.

for whatever you want. Also, you'll get members only discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. So sign up to become a member today right now. It's my birthday. So do it for my birthday. You get your stuff a t-shirt. That's what you're getting as a present. Oh, I'm milking this, Jesse. You don't even start. You still haven't said happy birthday to me. And I don't forget that from last night. Well, it's because it's because Evan Thompson's birthday is only 364 days away. So I'm preparing to celebrate about this baseball team, Jesse. I do. I am the one. one that's tasked with that. But speaking of which, as Steve alluded to, we had some great performances today from the youngsters against Milwaukee Brewers. We finally got to see Alec Thomas break out of

the little bit of a slump he was in there. He was playing a lot, but wasn't hitting well. He was doing a good job in the field defensively, just not doing great at the plate, but had himself a really, really nice day at the plate, two for four with a double and three RBI. Seth Beer, three for three with a double two runs scored and two RBI himself. Josh Rojas had a solo home run. And Dan Strelay had a nice day going three and two thirds with two earned runs and four strikeouts. So nice day all around for the Diamondbacks and another big win in spring training. They're kind of on a role right now as far as offensively. Been putting up some big numbers over the last couple of games win this one 10 to 3.

I know people don't care about spring training outcome. I just think it's funny. You just said another big win in spring training. I know. Well, I almost, yeah, I caught myself saying it. And I was like, ah, that's not great. But what I mean is, is that they, you know, in several of these games, they've put up some pretty big points or runs points.

Listen to me. Listen to me. I swear you talk about baseball for a living day. I really do. I swear, I thought I did. I don't know. But yeah, they put up a lot of runs in these couple of games. So just nice to see them getting on a roll.

It was fun. See how hard it is. Jesse. Thank you, Isaiah. I appreciate it. Well, if Isaiah is saying it, then I don't have to, right? All right. Yeah. But any thoughts on today or the excitement, especially Seth B. are going three for three in that first base. I mean, we'll probably see him according to a projected lineup that came out based on some fan graphs information. We might see Seth Bier in the lineup on opening day as their DH. I think that's likely. I mean, really all he all Seth Biers auditioning for, let's be real, is that D.H.

spot. I don't think the diamond backs are ready to put Seth Beer at first base on a regular basis, especially given what we saw last season. I mean, he's not known to be a great defensive first baseman and he suffered a pretty serious injury while playing the field in one of his first few games at the end of last year. So I just don't think there's a reason to do that. Now that the DH is here, Seth Beer's a perfect fit for that. In fact, when he first came over from the Astros, one of the big questions was, hey, this guy might be able to rake, but like, what are you going to do with him in the National League? And now it makes so much sense.

Now it makes so much sense. Mike Hazen had the foresight to know that this day would come when the designated hitter is in the national league. He knew. Yeah, that's right. Mike Hazen. Brilliant. Brilliant.

But yeah, the projected lineup right now for opening day, it looks like it's going to have Josh Rojas in the leadoff spot playing third base. Where is this? Where is this lineup coming from? This lineup is from our... It's one thing to project who the starters are. It's another thing to start lining them. Like, we have no idea who's going to hit.

It's projected open-day lineups via fan graphs at database hit, which is a Twitter account. But, yes, so... I mean, fan graphs is reputable. So, but I just think the more, like, the thing that they actually might be right on is who's playing what position. I'm not really buying that. any batting orders. All right. Well, anyway, continue to see.

And then we'll compare it. And when opening day comes around, we'll revisit this. We'll circle back. Okay, that's what we do. We circle back on this show. We talk about when we're right and we talk about when we're wrong. And you know that, Jesse, because of course, you know, we still have this little graphic somewhere save.

Jesse. Are we getting? And you'll probably be wrong about this one. But let's take a look anyway at what it's going to look like. Josh Rojas leading off playing third, Catel Marte, second, playing second. Dalton Varsho catching or no, I'm sorry, center field, center field and hitting third. Christian Walker at first base, David Peralta left field,

Carson Kelly, catcher, Seth Baird, H, Pavan Smith, and right field, and Nick Ahmed batting ninth at shortstop. They have Christian Walker batting cleanup? Batting cleanup, yeah, and I think that that's probably not very likely with the way David Peralta's hitting this spring. I think he's going to sneak in there. Maybe they swap position or maybe Dahl. and Varsho drops down to fifth and those guys both move up with Christian Walker and third,

and David Peralta batting fourth. We'll have to figure out who the, I haven't really thought about this yet. We have to figure out who the Padres are going to start on opening day because whether it's a righty or a lefty will have a very big impact on what the, what the lineup actually looks like. Sure. And Jordan Looplo, you know, obviously might start if, you know, depending. Yeah, if it's a lefty, you're probably going to see Jordan Looplo, yeah.

But speaking of which, Zach Davies is now official, Jesse, the Zach Davies signing. So we did have some information. I know we talked about it the other day, but Zach Davies went with a, here's his career numbers versus his 2021. Like we said, 2021 was a very down year for him. But his career numbers still look pretty good. And I still think that the Diamondbacks have a pretty quality pickup here in Zach Davies. I think it's a low risk, high reward kind of situation for them where if he doesn't work out and he doesn't make a certain number of starts as far as his contract is concerned, then he's, you know, his contract is kind of incentive based at this point based on the number of starts he makes. So there's motivation for him to start and stay in the starting rotation.

And there's motivation for the Diamondbacks right now to have them with their still kind of figuring out what their lineup is going to look like. I'm excited to see him in the Cactus League. I think it's probably only a matter of, you know, a few days before hopefully we can, we can see him in a game. So, yeah, I mean, he's, he's going to be their fifth starter. So you kind of have to hope that those 20, 21 numbers aren't bound to repeat themselves because it was a, it was a rough year. I mean, he was one of the worst pitchers in baseball last year out of a starting rotation.

But given what he did the years prior to that, I mean, he was a pretty, pretty solid number four starter, one of the better number four starters in the game for a few years, for several years prior to, prior to last season. So, I mean, again, we have Brent Strom, Derek. So we have all of the- Everybody's going to be that. That's right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think Zach Davies is about to become, you know, Max Scherzer. I mean, it's only, it's only a matter of time as Brent Strom gets his hands on. Are you, are you mocking me? I feel like you're mocking me. Are you mocking me right now? I don't know. I don't know if you're being hopeful.

I'm supposed to be the hopeful one. You're supposed to be realistic here. Get to the numbers, analyst. Speaking of numbers, the ringer ranks Arizona 26th in MLB for their off-season moves. I thought it would be lower, to be honest. But hey, 26. You thought it would be lower?

Really? No, I'm just joking. But, yeah, no, it's right where. They have both Mark Melanson and Ian Kennedy. Like, that's, I'm not trying to say that's like, you know, signing Kenley, Hansen and Max Scherzer or something. But that's like those are respectable moves, right?

That at least gets you out of the, I think that at least gets you out of the back five. I think I could have even seen them higher than 26. Really, Derek? You really think, you really think, I thought you were the optimist. Yeah, I know. Well, apparently, like somebody,

we have to balance each other out in some way. No, I mean, I guess, I guess what you're saying is, is the one thing about Arizona, like what Steve said is as much as you don't want to use excuses if you were paying attention to this team you kind of know that they are more talented than than they were on paper last year as their record indicated right sure that's kind of what i think mike hazen is banking on at this point is not only will they not have guys get injured but hopefully now they have enough you know depth that they've created which they had none of at the beginning of last season will allow them to

kind of, you know, get back on track and, and hopefully not experience the catastrophic injuries that they did last season that caused them to be in such a hole constantly looking for arms and bodies and anybody that they could to fill their positional needs. Like, they were literally just calling up anybody that they actually were, you know, could play in a major game to, to fill these roles. I, I hope that doesn't happen for them again this season, but it feels like, especially when it comes to starting pitching, that they have more guys stretched out this spring than they did last year. I feel like they have more options.

And I feel like there should be a bit more of a battle for some of these rotational spots, even though it most likely will go to Davies. But there's some guys that are that really want it. You know, we've talked about Dan Strayley, Corbyn, Martin. I think there's a number of arms. And it's not a bad thing to have, you know, that many guys that you can either have a starting role or in a long relief role for this team. We're going to see all of them at the end of the day.

I mean, as long as they stay healthy and they're able to perform reasonably well, wherever it is that they start. I mean, teams go 11, 12, 13 starters deep pretty much every single year. So it's only a matter of time before we see any of those guys who don't make it at the beginning of the year. Yep. That's exactly right. Well, Jesse, of course, before we move on,

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new customers only, minimum $5 deposit required, eligibility restrictions apply, see draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. And Jesse, it's my birthday. Yes, it is. I'll acknowledge. Thank you. Although by the time people listen to this on the audio. podcast version. It will no longer be your birthday. It was my birthday. But let me just say,

my birthday is a very special day. And it's not just a special day for me and the Undertaker, who it's also the Undertaker's birthday, by the way. It's a special day in Arizona Diamondbacks history. Because on this day, 21 years ago, Randy Johnson hit a bird with a baseball. Here it is. There it goes. It went from existing to non-existing in a moment. Here we go in slow, wait in slow motion, Jesse. Here it comes. There it is. And there it just,

look, it just doesn't exist. It's like Randy Johnson was a magician. And he definitely was a magician because he gave me this as a birthday present on my 20th birthday. And I was watching this game and I laughed so hard that I got a cramp in my ribs. Would you like us to, Would you like us to murder another bird in celebration?

No, no, Jesse, as a matter of fact, that's kind of the problem is I feel like in all this joy and all these years, in 21 years, this clip is old enough to drink now, Jesse. And in all of this time, we've never stopped to think about the bird, Jesse. And when I say the bird, I just mean his thoughts, his feelings, him as an individual, him. as an existing being and on this show right here i would like to honor the bird do we like we have a like a any kind of information on what happened to the bird like did someone did did like the well i mean well of course but i mean like this means the non-existing the carcass was still there though like you can see it in the shot oh there's so what there's so what i mean all the all the fellas All the feathers went everywhere, but there was absolutely a carcass.

And I'm trying to figure out, did the bat boy, like, have to go out there and pick it up? Like, whose job was that? These are the important questions, these are the important questions. So let's take a look. Okay, so right between... The carcass is right there. Right there. Right there.

Yep, it's right there. You can see the carcass. Well, you're ruining. You're ruining the idea of this bird exploding, Jesse. But, yeah, if you look right between Randy Johnson's legs, you will see the carcass of our friend. Oh. Oh, man.

That's rough. I don't, I don't like watching that now. Now that I see that part, I don't, that's not so great anymore. That's, uh, thanks to our producer, Jacob for making that sad. Well, rest in peace to the first. Right. How much joy has this clip brought us over the years? We're just laughing, right?

Well, we can't. have genuine joy with this horrible music in the background. You know, I like the music, first of all, and I think that it's appropriate for this whole situation, but I'll say like,

Ted Lassow kind of copied this bit, right? They did it with a dog, and that wasn't so funny, was it? No, no, no, but it's funny when it's a bird, isn't it? Yeah, it's hilarious. It's hilarious. I don't know.

well he said no don't give dead bird to someone we should yeah i don't know uh he said the tune makes him sleepy so i apologize i'll make sure that doesn't happen ever again but uh again in in memories of our friend the bird that's no longer with us uh he wouldn't be with us anyway i don't think well no i don't know birds live a long time so he might he might have still been with us uh by the way randy johnson was pitching to a very special connection with arizona now that that clip is so infamous. The batter that he was pitching to, a guy named Calvin Murray,

who you might know as Kyler Murray's uncle, the quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals. That is Kyle Murray's uncle, Calvin, at the plate in that clip. Yes, sir. Wow. Are you sure you're not just making up stories?

I am 100%. Is that how you celebrate? That's a verifiable stat, Jesse Friedman. Remember, I'm much older than you. I live through it. I was 20 years old. when that clip aired. You were probably four.

I don't know if, I mean, how old was Kyler Murray? He was probably I don't know. I don't know. Me and Kyler Murray about the same age, which really calls into question like how little I've accomplished in life at this point. It's really kind of depressing to think about. Hey, you know, it is what it is. He's part of history now

just like that bird is and just like Randy Johnson will forever be. Well, that's all we got. All I have is this. It's my birthday. I just want you guys to go out and celebrate it. Not with me. You don't have to send me money. You don't have to do that.

Just go. Have a great time. Enjoy yourself. Go to some spring training games and say the mayor said I had to do it for his birthday. Skip work tomorrow. Do whatever you need to do. Don't get fired, though. That's not smart.

You know your own. Do you? Are you providing notes for people's bosses? I will. I will. A mayoral decree. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes.

Send there. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I'll put it. My Venmo, I think my name is my Twitter handle if you want to send me money to drink. But no, more importantly, you take that money yourself and you go drink and have yourself a great time in honor of my birthday. That's all I want. I just want everybody to remember one thing. And that is that we're not here for a long time.

We're here for a good time. You can follow us on Twitter. I am at Kappa underscore Kedman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show, the premier coverage in DeBack's spring training coverage is over at PHNX underscore Dibb. but all roads lead to at p hnx underscore sports on twitter instagram and facebook listening to us right now in your favorite audio podcasting app please subscribe to us there leave us a five-star review if you feel jesse deserves it i know how you feel about me i'm i don't think well it's your it's your birthday darry so

if they were they were they were five-star review if ever people were going to say that you were a five-star man too it's probably be today thank you jesse i appreciate that i know how much that pained you to say but also go over to youtube and sign up and subscribe to our YouTube channel over at PHNX Sports. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss any of the content coming out from the PHNX team. And of course, we thank you guys so much for listening

and watching the show on behalf of Jesse and myself. We always appreciate you guys being here and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun on my birthday.