PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs After Dark: WBC > Spring Training

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Let’s be honest. Spring Training just can’t compete with the World Baseball Classic. From national pride to playoff-level energy in every inning, the WBC delivers the kind of baseball fans are craving while the Cactus League is…just kinda expensive. JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX 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_251120 ALLCITY — 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 visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes bet365: 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 40% 2+ pairs of 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.

You are now listening to PHNXD Bax after dark. Bro, the world baseball classic has been fucking incredible. We're only four days in. It's wild, right? Four days. Literally, four days in. It feels like so much longer. It's just, you know why?

It's because there's so many games. I mean, they've literally jam-packed games from like 3 a.m. to like 5 p.m. And I fucking love it. I love it. I got up, I, I shit you not. I said this the other day on the show. I got up at 2.45 a.m. just randomly because I'm old, and sometimes my back causes me to get up at 2.45 a.m. And guess what? In 15 minutes, in 15 minutes, a baseball game was starting. No, I don't think it was Japan. I want to say it was Chinese Taipei versus Korea, possibly. Okay. Something like that.

But regardless, it didn't matter. It was starting in 15 minutes and I wasn't going anywhere. Actually, I think it was Chinese type favors. It's check yet now that I think about it. Okay. This has been just a fun tournament. And it's funny you say it's only been on for four days because it feels like spring training is two months ago.

I'm not at you that. It's like the fact that... I've never been so checked out of spring training at this point of spring training. Exactly. I don't even know. No, but... The thing is, too, is like, these are, I mean, these games matter, but these aren't even like the games where it's like you win or you're out.

Like, this isn't even like elimination. This is just the initial round. And it's just been outstanding. Sure. But with poor playing what it is, right? Like every win matters, right? We already have teams eliminated. The Netherlands has already been eliminated.

Chinese Taipei has been eliminated. They got them. They got slaughtered by the Republic of Dominicana this morning. Oh, my God. That happens anytime. you play the Republic of the Republic of the McDonald. Yeah. But what we also have is the scrappy

Australian team that their catcher won't shake hands with people and I fuck with that energy. I fuck with that energy. I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it. We'll be friends later. Yeah. Fuck off. Yeah, we can shake hands, you know, after

the game in the tunnel. I get it. But like like we're going to war right now, so fuck you, bro. You fucking play for Chequia. You are a a plumber or a civil engineer or perhaps in some cases a nuclear response

monitor. Somebody who probably should be playing baseball. No offense to this man. No offense. And then on the flip side. And then on the flip side of that, you got 17-year-old Brazilian kids

throwing 100 plus against Aaron Judge and company. Oh, yeah. That's insanity. 17? Diamondbacks Mitch Bratt, right? he got his first start at chase field ever playing for canada against team USA and he got his ass kicked but 17 years he was 19 at the time when he did that so like yeah impressive and brazil's got two 17 year old hurlers well Brazil's in a weird spot Brazil was like they barely fielded a team

yeah and i think that that's that's probably the only thing that's been a disappointment here However, you have to kind of have it that way in a tournament like this. You have to have really good teams. You have to have the bad teams. If this was the world MMA classic, I think Brazil would run the table. Oh, well, sure. But the world baseball classic Brazil is getting their asses slaughtered. I mean, also maybe the world BBL classic, but that's a whole other category that you shouldn't search on the internet.

And, you know, excuse my ignorance. I had no idea that so many, like, Japanese people had migrated to Brazil. Brazil so many years ago. And there's like a there's like a population of like Japanese like Brazilian people. Yeah. I had no idea. Because there's some dude like like Kawasaki or something on the on Briss.

I'm like, what? And they got some dudes that look, they look like they're Japanese, but they're on the Brazilian team. It was crazy. I feel I feel like that's not a surprise anymore. I mean, you know, you know what I mean? Like you see that everywhere. You have Great Britain doing everything they can to qualify anybody.

you know bro they have Clay Thompson's brother in right field we own islands we colonized we'll take whatever a place you guys might have come from that might also be attached to Great Britain

you can come play for our world baseball classic team yeah because the Great Britain I mean they're one like there's their superstar player is jazz chisholm right that's the best that's their best player yeah anybody else is majorly that's currently in the majors um i know they have a couple of guys i can't just i'm probably someone some

random ass reliever because usually what it is some random ass reliever you've heard of like once they they that's exactly what it is i mean i i think you could say that probably about the majority of the teams that aren't outside of yeah outside us dominicans japan yeah all the teams that insurance wouldn't insure you know those well speaking of insurance Let's talk about your team Puerto Rico. Oh, man. How? Honestly, man, I wish I could have been there to catch your reaction to that walkoff.

Oh, that walkoff is fucking incredible. And you know what? I heard Ozzy Albi say that his walkoff, even though it was against, it was Nicaragua, right? That's who it was against and it was in the bottom of the ninth. And that was the first one in WBC history. And his was the first walk off. ever. And he said that that is the best moment of his life. Like he basically

said it was better than the World Series. And that's, that just goes to show that this isn't like, this means something to these guys. Right. This isn't just an exhibition thing. This isn't just these guys getting to go fuck around and, and play for their country and just kind of have a good time. But, you know, play meaningful games representing where they come from. These guys take this seriously and it means a lot to them. Not to mention the fact that you have Samurai Japan that is now a juggernaut in this in this world baseball classic.

The only team. Do you imagine being at a game in the Tokyo Dome during the WBC? Oh, I can't. Do you imagine sitting in the cheering section as they're cheering for Sayas Suzuki the way they've been doing? Imagine me sitting next to Benito who was there in the Tokyo dome. Timothy Shalame. Me, Timothy Shalamee, Benito. I mean, that's the fucking three-some we never knew we needed.

Taking more pictures, you know, following the directions. You would be a photo slut that. Oh, God. My phone has a terabyte of memory, and I would have used it all up from that every single. They would, I mean, they probably wouldn't have liked me in the first place, but they would have ended up aiding me before the end of that. Hey, speaking of photos, I just want you to know that the birthday, if you gave me a couple years ago, the framed photo of you and Rosario Dawson still sits on my desk.

Good. Good. And I look at it and I smile and then I get a little angry at you every time I look at it. Yeah. Well, when you when you talk about the greatest days of someone's life, meeting Rosario Dawson and being in her embrace, being in embrace because I got in the good graces of her boyfriend. Okay, okay, okay, okay. WBC. It's like it's like Benito says in Monaco Sophia Vigara also prettier in person when you get to see her. Anyway, when it comes to the old baseball classic, their one thing, obviously, that is happening here is nobody cares about spring training anymore. Not to say anyone would have in the first place, but there is so little interest in spring training games. Yeah. I would like you as a man of logic and common sense.

Thank you again. To explain to me why they think they can get away with charging what they're charging for spring training games right now. Rock, you and I could get in plenty of seats, as you've seen during the World Baseball Classic, almost criminally underattended as far as what you see on TV, right? I've seen some of my friends there. they're sitting in sections where the seats behind them are all empty. Doesn't make any sense to me. Part of it is because the games aren't cheap to get into World Baseball Classic Games. Definitely not.

And they should be. They shouldn't be. They should be. They should be. Right? Like, when you have space to have people in, then I feel like you should do everything that you can do. And this is a universal common theme here between spring training and the World Baseball Classic.

You should have people in there. If it, not only would it be amazing for the atmosphere. Right. And I mean, obviously, you have that in Japan and you have that in Puerto Rico, right? But you do not have that in Houston. And that's the contrast. And you don't have that in Miami. It just, to me, it just looks bad.

It does. It does. Because I'm like at that point, you know what? Fucking every, every 200, 300 level ticket, $10. Pack that bitch. I feel that exact same way when I sit there at a spring training game. Yeah. And there are like less than half.

half of the fucking seats available, right? And or like it filled, right? But when I say this, I say this because right now, you and I, I did the math on this, you and I could get in to watch a world baseball classic game tomorrow for $191.66 for two tickets. I'm not saying that's not great. It's not great seats. It's standing room only.

That's in Houston, right? So are we going to arrange a flight after this, after this podcast? We're going to figure it out. We're going to get there. We're going to get there. The tickets have been purchased, basically. They're in the cart. All right.

They're in the cart. That's not even that. That's not even that outrageous. $79 a piece, right? And then taxes and fees. However, Rock, for us to go sit in the cheapest seats tomorrow at Salt River Fields to watch the Diamondbacks minor leaguers take on. Humor.

Seattle Mariners. Humor me. It's going to cost us to sit in seats $114. That is outrageous. It's going to cost us $114 to go to a free training game, and it's going to cost us $191.66 to go to a world baseball classic game. Now, sir, I ask you, what time are we leaving? And how can we get to fucking Houston?

That is so crazy. The pricing is so high, especially considering, that like if you're going to that game to watch the debacks and the Mariners, you're going to see nobody that matters. No offense to my debacks. I love you guys. None at all. I mean, you'll probably see a starting picture that matters.

And on the flip side, you're not going to be Julia Rodriguez. You're not going to see Cal Raleigh. You're not going to see Josh Naylor. Right. Randy or Rosarayne is not going to. Nobody's there. Great point. Great point.

I was thinking of it just from the debacks perspective, but you're absolutely right. You go to see them take on the Mariners to see those guys as well. Yeah. I don't know, man. I mean, I know that they don't do dynamic pricing in Major League Baseball, but maybe they should. And I know that this isn't controlled by the debacks. And I want to defend them just a little bit for people that might think that.

Salt River Fields. It's controlled by Salt River Fields. Because I would go on the logic of let's drop ticket prices. Let's get these people in here. Because chances are these people are going to buy concessions. They're going to buy merchandise. We're going to make our money on the back end. Just get them in here.

If I get a free ticket to an event, I am going to at least buy food at the concession. If I get a free ticket, I'm like, that's beer money, I just say. Oh, I know. You're going to go hog wild anyway, even if you had to pay for these premium tickets, right? If I pay you. You are a person that does not go to events often, but when you go, you enjoy the shit out of it. I've seen you. I'm fucking as you should.

And I mean, I don't want to put your personal business out there, your personal finances out there. But I've seen the amount of money you dropped just on a single game at Chase Field with your incredible sister. Yes. And I will say that that's, that's, that's how people should do it if you're only going to do it every once in a while, right? But you're so much more likely to spend like that if you're not getting strapped for $140 for tickets to a spring training game. Right. And also, I will say that like Diamondbacks games, I mean, at this point, I would just feel like as a fan that I would wait until regular season game started. You could get $9 tickets to a regular season.

You get a hell of cheap tickets. Yeah. I mean, it's just wild, right? Yeah, you buy that $9 ticket and then you just act like you've been there before and you just snake your way down and sit lower level. It's not hard. Nobody cares. We just want you to fill in anyway.

We just wanted to look full, right? Yeah, I was, I'm glad you brought that shit up because I was going to mention the lack of crowds that I saw and then you sit in Miami. I'm like, why are there empty seats? galore. Well, and that goes for them, too. These tickets that I looked up are $79 standing room only tickets. You have plenty of standing room only, bud. You don't need to be charging $79 for standing room only because that's just going to make someone say, I don't want to spend that much to just stand. You and I know that that just is the price to get in the

door. And with that many empty seats, it's going to take maybe three innings until you and I are sitting down somewhere, not to give away our secrets, not to encourage people to do things they shouldn't do. But I feel like this is what sports teams, more importantly, not the team themselves, but the venue, whoever runs things, makes us do these things, right? And again, when you don't have the money to attend an event like this that only comes around once every four years, I say, get in the door and figure it out once you're inside and do it for as cheap as possible, right? But $79 for standing room only still seems outrageous, even for something, you know, as incredibly rare to attend as a world baseball classic game i feel like we didn't i feel like we

took it for granted when it was here i didn't know i'm mad at myself i'm mad at myself for not going when it was here in 23 in hindsight i'm like you i'm an idiot yeah just didn't know how good we had we just didn't know how good we had but hey let me ask you this god i know we talked about this on the last show about the baseball in the olympics did you catch brys harper's comments i think it was last night talking about hoping that when the when they start discussing the new CBA that they talk about

allowing possibly allowing the MLB guys to play in the Olympics because he was saying how he was saying how great this is and he was just saying it needs to be it needs to be seen by everybody and he basically alluded to the fact he hopes that when they go to talk to CBA

that it gets brought up and possibly could happen what a nightmare what a nightmare I mean you know I mean and we talked about about how much of a nightmare it'd be because it would be you'd have to put the season on pause. I mean, it's once every four years. I mean, I get it.

But if they could find a way to make it work, I wouldn't be mad at it. I guess not. Again, I think that at the end of the day, what the Olympics always needs to be is the top competitors in the world. They found a way to do this with the World Baseball Classic, but it feels like this is really the only period of time in which you could do that. You're right, though. It's only once every four years. I just think about how much of an issue, Edwin Diaz and... No, I know.

That's... No, trust me. I'm sure teams are like, oh, hell no. Just two injuries caused them to completely rethink this entire thing and caused insurance to completely change their... Yeah. And then you also figure it's the Summer Olympics, so that's like July, August, which is like in the heat of a tenant race.

Right. I mean, maybe it's probably... That's where I'm like, happen. Right. I mean, like, it's nice to want that, but I think that the World Baseball Classic has figured it out. And the best part about it is that the WBC takes the center stage here. It's not part of the rest of the Olympics. I love this, though, because of how much it is like the Olympics.

Like you said, my favorite part about the Olympics, well, my favorite part about the Olympics is waking up at random times and having sports be on. I love sports being on at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. That's what I love. I love that show. it's even if I have no interest at all, no rooting interest at all, even if I can't even bring myself to pay attention to who's winning in a game or in a sport during the Winter Olympics like that. I'm still having a good time with it on in the background and I'm still enjoying sports

being on. Hey, did you, were you a little, were you holding your breath on Friday night, what Catell got plunked on the elbow? I was, and then I was ready to fly. I was ready to fly somewhere. and attack anybody and see that's the problem with it that's the problem but you could also say the exact same thing about it's going to happen as spring training you could say it at a live BP look at Corbyn Carroll broke his haymate bone swinging a bat yeah like not getting hit in the hand

not sliding swinging doing something just swinging a bat right man swung the bat so hard swung his bat so hard he broke a bone in his hand what a guy what a guy and now here he is saying he's going to play 10 spring training games before regular season starts. I don't know. Those other bums that broke their haymate bones, the fuck are they at? They might not be back until April. I'm not going to call. Loser.

I'm not going to call Mr. Bum, buddy. Oh, losers. Lindora bum, I can't do it. Sorry. Sorry your hand doesn't heal as fast as Corbyn Carols. Chumps. I can't, I can't, I can't slander Lendor.

I love Lendor. I know. I can't I shouldn't be either but you really shouldn't you didn't make the WBC team so because of it because of his goddamn hammet bone yeah exactly it's a weak ass handmaid bone don't you dare come for Corbin biggest heel of 2026 is the hammet bone oh god you know what I'll take that over fucking Tommy John being the fucking the major cause of injury this year say it louder for the training staff and brother well you can follow me on the social media cap underscore caveman with the K.

You can follow him at rock knowledge, and I'll let you figure out how to spell that. Of course, this show is at PHNX underscore Dvex. But as always, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank you guys for listening. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun after dark.