PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs After Dark: Fickle Fans

Episode Date: May 31, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks just won 11 out of 13 games played against division rivals. So why are some D-backs fans angry about it? Derek and Rok discuss the reaction to our latest show headline and why some fans seems to be unable to enjoy the highs during a 162-game regular season. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are now listening to PHNX D-BACs after dark. How the fuck are you going to see your baseball team go 11 and 2 over a 13 game stretch against any opponents, let alone division rivals? Ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of PHNX coming in hot. And not be happy about that, Rock? Because Arizona fans are fucking dummies, respectfully. Respectfully. But still. Never happy.

Never happened. I just feel like for a city and an organization that hasn't had a tremendous amount of success, I would think that going 11 and 2 over a 13 game stretch would be something that would make all of us happy. It would be the one thing in a divisive world where we don't agree on much that all Diamondbacks fans could agree on. This was a good thing and the team is hot and you fucked around and you let the snakes get hot. Yeah. Instead, instead, there are people that instantly needed to respond to us in some way by telling us that what they did over this thing. 13 game stretch doesn't matter, Rock.

That going 11 and 2 is something you should have done. I had one comment that said, well, if they could sweep the Giants, why couldn't they sweep the Rockies? Are people insane? Do people not understand that even if you're the worst team in baseball,

you're still a major league baseball team? There's still nine guys out there with blood in their veins. veins and pride in their hearts that do, in fact, want to win a baseball game every day they go out there despite whether you believe that or not? You know, it's, it's mind-blowing. And these are the same people that I don't understand the fact that they don't understand that baseball is a sport where if you're good three times out of 10, you know, or whatever the,

I'm not good with numbers. No, that's it. Yeah. If you get the ball three times out of 10, you're doing great. You're a Hall of Famer. Like even the best, even the teams that win their divisions, they're still going to lose 50, 60, or more games a year. You know why?

Because they play 162. Correct. You're not going to see, I mean, you might see a team win 100 plus a couple times. That's not the norm these days. This is not the norm. And the D-BACs winning 11 games and a 13-game stretch. I don't care if they were playing the Savannah Bananas. It's 13 games that.

are going to affect the standings when they matter come after the all-star break as we get closer to a playoff push so yes let's win all the games against all the bum-ass teams we're supposed to win them all you lose one or two no big fucking deal the test is that's a good thing carry that momentum into seattle and you carry that into l a and then see what happens right exactly no you're a hundred percent right. And don't get me wrong, there's going to be tests. There's going to be better teams that we play that are going to give us a better idea of how much of a contender this team actually is, right? What you can also say at the same time is even if they lose that series against the Dodgers, that they aren't cooked and that their season isn't over because they still have a lot of baseball

games to play and this team is going to look considerably different when September comes around and they have a lot of these guys that are on the injured list back versus how they look right now, right? But it's more of the dissatisfaction of fans. And I don't know if they're non-ball knowers. I don't know if they just are people in general that are miserable human beings. So they go through their life feeling and thinking this way. I don't know if we've just gotten to a point where we're so jaded by Arizona sports that we don't know what to do when good things are happening. So we instantly want to kind of pump the brakes and, you know, lower our expectations even in the moment, right? You're not wrong.

You're not wrong because to be an Arizona sports fan means that you have really only seen one of the four major teams win a championship, a grand total of one time. Right. And that was in 2001. So if you're a lot, I'm born and raised. So I'm a son's fan. I'm a D-Backs fan. You know, I don't fuck with the, I don't fuck with the NFL, but I don't, I never fuck with the Cardinals.

But I've been hearing, it's the same thing with Cardinal fans. They've been, they cry and complain the same way some D-Backs fans. Oh, yeah. They just don't know how to just roll with it and go. It's a good thing right now. It's fun. They're playing great baseball. It's fun to watch.

Watch it. Like, enjoy it for what it is. The Cardinals have no business having any fans, and they've given those fans that they have me, including myself in that group. Very little to be excited about. On the flip side, this DeBax team has given you far more than they should have over the last five years. I know that there was a terrible season in there when we started this podcast. We started this podcast in 2021 at the tail end of one of the worst seasons in baseball history. history.

Awful. Awful. Right. So we've, we've been through it. And we've also been to the mountain top in 2023. And to be fair, what a ride. This team has tried to keep things competitive, keep, you know, keep this team, keeping up with a very difficult team to keep up with and Dodgers in the same division.

I'll just say, though, that, again, after winning 11 out of 13 games, The first comment on our show today, a day where the Diamondbacks are off and resting, preparing for that Mariners series you discussed, that is very important. Indeed. It's not a terrible Mariners team. It's not a great Mariners team. They're just good, and they're playing baseball right now. Right. They're good enough.

But if you beat them, you got to admit that you start, that's a team that's probably going to be around in the postseason come October. So that's a team that you start, you start feeling good about this team. team. Seattle's definitely going to be a test because you're right. They're not playing up to their capabilities right now, but they are a good enough team where they are going to be there. So you need to succeed against these teams, just like you need to be there.

You need to succeed against everybody. But you got to win the game you're supposed to. And when you do that, what doesn't happen is what's happened to us the last two years at the end of the season when we missed the playoffs by a game. And we're like, damn, if they just want to win a couple of games in May or June, this might be a different story. And when you go back and you look at some of the games they lost, they were against bad teams that, yes, they should have beat. Those, those happen to every team, like you said, every single year throughout 162 game season.

And don't get me wrong, our headline for today's show was intended to maybe ruffle some feathers. Ruffle them up. Our headline was, are the debacks quietly becoming the best team in Major League Baseball? Now, do we believe that? No, not really, but I'm not going to say I do, but I'm not going to say I don't believe it because I don't know. They're on a run right now. There's an argument to be made that they're playing very good baseball and that over the next month, they're only going to get extremely better when it comes to pitching, right?

You're going to get AJ puck back. You're going to get Corbyn's back. Those two pieces. It's hard to argue, unless you go the route that guys typically aren't. themselves when they originally return from Tommy John surgery that you think those two guys are definitely going to make this team better. Right. So there is a chance that they're not as good as they were in the past. There's always a- I think when Burns is going to, I think Burns is going to come back rolling.

Bro, my guy has been chomping at the fucking bit to return and play baseball. So you talk about a guy that hates bullfins? It feels different. His name is Corbyn's. Oh, he hates, he hates bullpens more than he hates traffic. He hates bullpins more than he eats. He hates bullpins more than he hates, you know, that when you get mold on bread, you know, that you just bought a few days ago. Bro. He hates. That's one of the most infuriating things in life, by the way. Just going to throw that out there.

It's so infuriary. It's like the bread should be good for another week. And it's already green. What the fuck? It's already green. Yeah. I was going to make a sandwich with that. Now I can't.

Right. But getting back to, I guess, the ire of this podcast or the whole reason why I'm upset. But our first comment on it was, and this is in regards to the Diamondbacks beating the Giants and the Rockies like they did. Oh, come on, exclamation point. They beat the Rockies and the Giants. And they barely did that. Wait till they have to face the likes of the Brewers, Braves, Dodgers, et cetera. To which someone responded, they split the series with the Braves in a four game.

series already but um are you even a fan making a comment like that are you just trying to get a reaction out of us like she's mad at our headline so she wants to like hurt people hurt people right she wants to hurt us hurt people hurt people hurt people hurt people hurt people uh and she wants to come back at us and hurt us as much as we heard her with the headline i don't know if cindy is a diving back span or not i don't know if she's a fan of p h and x in any way perform. But I will say that, you know, I understand that. And our headline might have been a bit much. But the reason why I bring her comment up isn't just specifically her comment. There was probably a half a dozen comments that we received like that on social media and other places. Simply,

when we discuss the Diamondbacks winning 11 out of 13 and being factually the hottest team in baseball. They had the longest, you know, winning streak currently in baseball. They had the best record over the last 10 games. It's not to say that the Diamondbacks are, in fact, the best team in baseball, but they were, in fact, the hottest team in baseball. And that's something that you just can't argue with based on the numbers. I don't care who the opponent is. I don't care who they played. I mean, the Dodgers played the Giants and split a four-game series with them. They definitely didn't sweep them six games, taking six out of six. No, right? Because that It doesn't happen. Right. It's just so rare. I know. I've talked about it so much. It's just so hard with the game of baseball being the way it is to actually beat an opponent that many times, no matter how much better you are than them.

It's annoying because if the rolls reversed and they went two and 11, we're having like, their people are like, oh, this team is terrible. Oh, it's the end of the season, brother. If they went two and 11, it would be the end of the goddamn season as far as most people are concerned, including, us on this podcast. Yeah, you know, just be happy with the fact that Corbyn Carroll is a triples machine. Catelle Marte is hitting nukes out of the park. Damn near every game. Hotest hitter in the game. I mean, just enjoy that shit. That's it. That's it, man. I don't get it. I will say that there are highs and lows that come with every baseball season, right? But you have to enjoy the good times. There's going to be more bad times for this team. You just have to. enjoy the good times. Yeah. And if you're a lifelong baseball fan, none of this should be news to you.

You're right. It really shouldn't be. But for some reason, for some fans, and maybe that's it. Maybe there are a lot of fans that are new around these parts as far as baseball is concerned. I don't really know, but all I know is is that they, you know, they definitely have to chill out and enjoy the good times a little bit more. Just enjoy the good times a little bit more. Just, enjoy moments like this. Who knows what the future holds? And again, like we said, they might not take the series against the Dodgers. They might not go out against the best teams and necessarily prove that they are better

than them right now. It's also like watching the standings in May, which we've been filled ourselves, but that's also ridiculous. We have so much baseball to play. Don't stress yourself out with that just yet. we'll do that come August December, right? That's what we're watching the stage.

Post all-star break. That's when I'm, I mean, I don't remember. I look at the standings, but I'm like, it's also May 28th. So, you know, it doesn't fucking matter that we're in third place, five games behind the pod. It doesn't matter. It doesn't. It doesn't.

It really doesn't. And also, it doesn't matter if we're in a wildcard spot or in the second wildcard spot. Yeah. Because, again, there's just so much baseball left to play. Realistically, what the Diamondbacks have to focus on is getting a playoff spot and letting things fall where they may after that. This team has the talent. Once Corbyn Burns returns, once AJ Puck returns, once Justin Martinez is back in the bullpen,

this team has a talented enough pitching staff and starting nine to do something crazy this year. But again, they have to win a. against teams that they should be in order for them, like you said, to not miss the playoffs once again by one goddamn motherfucking game. Because holy shit, I don't know if I could take that again. I don't know if I can take that again. And honestly, I hate to say it. I don't know if the Diamondbacks as an organization would keep Tori Lavello if it happened for a three year in a row. Tori, this is the end of his contract. So at this point, Tori, I feel like has to do something special in order for the organization to want to bring him back.

Anything short of the playoffs is probably just going to be an amicable parting of ways at the end of the season and the Diamondbacks bringing a new manager starting in 2027. I hope that's not the case. I hope that's not the case. I hope Tori does something so amazing that they give him a blank contract and let him fill in the dates as far as how long he wants to remain here. I know at least half the fan base probably hates hearing me say that. But I still think that that's, I still think Tori's the guy for the job, man.

I just think that it's, you know, it really comes down to injuries over the last two seasons have screwed up all of their plans. And I even think that that has impacted Tori's decisions as a manager as far as giving guys days off and how he uses guys. you know, how his approach is. I feel like it's all been impacted by the horrific injuries we've seen pile up on this team at times to derail their season. However, right now, they're playing really, really good fucking baseball with a lot of pieces missing, and they're going to do nothing but get better as all of those pieces returned. So this should be celebrated.

And that's, I guess my main thought here is that when you see your team, play 13 games and win 11 of them. I don't care who it is. You said the Savannah bananas, that's a good damn baseball team. If you take 11 games against the bananas, against the fucking pitcher on stilts against outfielders that can do a backflip while catching the ball,

then you're a World Series contender in my eyes, but the Rockies and Giants ain't that. They're still good, though. They're still living, breathing baseball teams. The Giants are vastly underperforming. And the Rockies, they thought they were doing something there for a minute early on in the season. But then they just came right back down to Earth and are the Rockies once again, you know. Speaking of coming back down to Earth, I think the ball could tell hit 452 some odd feet may have just landed.

No. Just now? Might have maybe. No, actually, NASA is investigating it. It caught into the, like, I don't know what the section of the atmosphere is called, but it like got sucked out into space. and it's currently orbiting the earth right now as we speak. They're tracking it. It's amazing.

That checks out. I ain't going to lie, man. Like, watching that home run, the sound of that home run, and then hearing all the baseball analysts talk about how guys don't hit balls there during the day in batting practice. Oh, yeah. And he obliterated that shit in the nighttime. Mark DeRosa was in love with Catell.

Yes, he was breaking down his, his, his butt angle and all sorts of stuff. Deero had to tell a fooling in his mouth during that segment. Well, of course, this is going to be fun to see the test that they have before them, but we will be here to cover it and scream more curse words about it. So make sure to keep it locked right here to me and Rock on another episode of DeVax After Dark. Until then, follow us on social media.

I'm at Kp underscore Caveman with a K. my guy, my friend, is at Rock Knowledge. That's RO Knowledge on socials. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you guys for checking out another episode of this show. We'll see you next time.

And until then, behave yourselves and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun after dark. It's naughty after dark.