PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Lock In Coaching Staff for 2026, No Changes Planned For Next Season

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4Per Torey Lovullo, the Arizona Diamondbacks are keeping their entire coaching staff intact for the 2026 season, signaling stability and continuity as the team looks to build on 2025. We break down what this means for the D-backs and explore how continuity could impact player development and team performance next year. We also dive into the MLB postseason, sharing thoughts on the biggest storylines so far and the surprising challenges fans faced with MLB’s planning—or lack thereof—around Game 3s of the Wild Card Round. From scheduling headaches to fan frustrations, we examine what went wrong and how it could be improved.An 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/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/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Zen Leaf: Visit our friends at Zen Leaf (http://zen-leaf.store/phnx) for 50% off using promo code ZENPHNXSpencer’s Appliances: Visit Spencerstv.com and use code PHNX5 for 5% off appliances OR use code PHNX10 for 10% off TVs, audio and mattressesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Phoenix Raceway: Tickets, hospitality and upgrades are still available for the NASCAR Championship Series October 31st through November 2nd! Visit the link HERE to get yours now!Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website.Visit Mountain America Credit Union to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!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/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!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!Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxWhen 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.

Well, the wild card round is over and three teams advanced yesterday, and we still aren't one of them, and it makes me sad. We are going to talk about the divisional round, as well as the news from yesterday that Tori Lavolo gave the announcement that his entire coaching staff will be returning in 2026. Should they? We're talking about it in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere.

Happy Friday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNXD Backs podcast live from Studio K. presented by our friends at Circle K. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. Happy to have you here. Happy for it to be Friday. One week down of the off season for us around here.

Going fast. Just 15 more weeks to go. Welcome in. Glad to have you guys here. Of course, that is my guy, the one, the only Damon dog on the ones in Tuesdays today.

He is the man behind the Mac. And we are glad to have you guys here for another wonderful edition of the PHNX, Steve Bax podcast. Of course, this show is brought to you by our friends at Bet365 from Game Time. Make sure to use that code of PHNX 365. When you sign up over at Bet365, you get yourself some bonus bets. And following a few easy steps. And over at Game Time, of course, use our code of PHNX. You'll get $20 off your already low first ticket purchase. Welcome in to you guys.

Happy to have you guys here. Glad to have so many people here and so many people throwing up puk emojis already based on the news from yesterday that Tori Lavallo gave, on Burns and Gambo that this team will not be making any coaching changes for the 2026 season. We are going to dive into that, what that means, and if that makes any sense for this team next season. But first, of course, welcome into you all here. Glad to have you guys here on a Friday.

Hope you guys are enjoying your wonderful Friday. Today, we have no baseball on the TV today, but we did get kind of spoiled yesterday with the amount of win or go home games that we saw. Eight teams remain in Major League Baseball. it. Eight teams remain. And some of these teams, honestly, sold way too much for them to be in the position that they currently are in. The Padres are going back to San Diego yet again without a ring and without advancing out of the first round. Did you see their umpire reaction, by the way, Derek, after the game? Uh, yeah, yeah, I did. All class in San Diego. All class in San Diego.

Absolutely. I take it by your reaction. You were, you actually were in agreeance with them. Well, okay, what I will say is that this is a reason why we need the ABS challenge system in baseball, right? The Padres lose to the Cubs yesterday, three to one. The Padres only scored five runs in the entire three-game wildcard series. So let's start with that. They are not, they didn't like get hosed or screwed here. Their offense was terrible. Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out three times in an 0-4 showing in the finale.

So I'm not hearing it about it coming down to. of that one at bat, Damon, for sure. But they did get hosed on a huge missed call that might have been a big part of their, you know, season going belly up. But like, you're going to talk to us about missed calls. You're going to talk to us about instances where umpires absolutely screwed a team. The Diamondbacks fans will not hear it and will not have any sympathy for you at all. I'll never forgive old Angel Marquez, right, who screwed us in the world series on that Gabby, A, B, I'm pretty sure. Like, it's, it's, it'll stick with me for the rest of my life.

It sticks with you. And again, these are all the reasons why after this season, all of this is going to go away. This is the reason why. Because, honestly, you don't want the Padres to have an excuse for why they lost here to the Cubs. Again, the Cubs, they already have a brewing legend in PCA. Forget brewing. He is a legend already. That man is a legend with Cubs fans already.

And overall, you just felt like the Cubs were going to win this series, win this, you know, just this, it felt like everything was in their favor. And mostly it was because of the lack of offense that the Padres were able to produce. But yeah, you're not going to convince me that one blown call is the whole entire reason why the Padres lost. It was just a very important call. And those calls aren't, you know, those calls aren't like often in games. But when they come at a pivotal time like this, you just want the call to be right. And that's essentially, I think, what everybody wants here. Flea ball in the chat said, why did it take so long for ABS to be approved?

That is an outstanding question. And honestly, ABS probably still isn't perfect. Like what we see in the K zone on TV is a flat two-dimensional field, right? It's the reason why sometimes calls don't make sense because essentially with it being a flat window that the ball has to pass through, that is not necessarily the case with, you know, what an umpire sees or how they call the zone. right. Ryan Thompson once said that the strike zone is a column and I think that's the best way for you to think about this is as a column, right? So I think there was a lot of arguments about the ABS system or any

kind of automated system merely seeing the front window that is the front of the plate and not having a very more to it than that, right? Plus umpires are protecting their jobs, right? There's very much a vested interest here and umpires and staying behind home plate and continuing to call balls and strikes. Believe it or not, even the players in a lot of instances would prefer to have the human element behind the plate, especially catchers, especially pitchers, because they feel like in general they can work with their strike zone better than a more rigid computer strike zone that's determined by the ABS system. It's the reason why it's going to a challenge system and not a full ABS determination, automated

balls and strikes, just having it be automated, right? which I don't really hate at all. However, we have to have a villain in this story, as Damon once pointed out. So if we make the home plate umpire go away, who are we going to shout out? A computer? We're going to tell the computer it's wrong? I tried that with Chad GPT. And then Chad GPT convinced me that it wasn't wrong and convinced me I was wrong.

And you know what? Chad GPT is right. I think, you know, I am like Mr. Like, I love having enemies. Oh, I know. You do. And so that's why I sit there and I'm like, when you take some enemies away from me, It almost hurts a little bit.

Like we need those people to yell at and scream at when things are going bad so that we can feel better about why our team is not winning baseball games. A thousand percent. But there's a number of reasons for sure. And of course, that's because anything in baseball needs to go through testing and minor league systems and other forms before they determine that it's, you know, the right technology for Major League Baseball. There is also the fact that Major League Baseball is so rigid in its rules and its time tested. you know, you don't want to mess with the game, right? They have messed with the game so much over the last 10 years, so much. I mean, I cannot believe, personally, being a very, very old person,

how much the game has changed in a way that I never thought it would, including the incorporation of a universal DH and, you know, again, the pitch clock and all the things that they've done, the amount of, you know, times a pitcher can step off a plate off the mound and all of that. Like, it's all for the better as far as making baseball move fast. and be more entertaining, but there might be consequences like the amount of injuries that we've seen, and that's something that definitely impacted the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025, right? But again, I am not going to shed any tears for a National League rival.

Again, you ringless bums from San Diego can go back to San Diego and lick your wounds and figure out how you're going to resign all of those free agents and if, you know, basically selling your farm system off the way you did was worth it. We're going to do an entire breakdown of the disaster that was the Padres season, mostly because it's going to make me and Damon feel better about ourselves, but also because I think it's relevant here. Meanwhile, here's what I'll say, Derek, about the Padres. The, the pod, me and my, me and my roommate were having a conversation yesterday because I don't really hate, truly hate the Padres. Like, I don't have, like, hate in my heart for the Padres. I think they have a lot of kind of cool players.

They, I love their ballpark. It's my favorite ballpark to go to. Damon noted San Diego Padres fan. All this to say, all this to say, the thing that gives me joy in them losing is the fact that their fans think they're so much better than us. You have this many rings, to your point, Derek. Zero. It's 1969, right? Zero rings.

That's a long time they've been in existence. Zero rings. And meanwhile, you have all these Arizona people residents that have become pod. fans recently that go to the games that they act like they're better than the D-BACs fans, even though you've lived your entire life in Arizona. You only like the Padres because it's counterculture and you think it's freaking cool. And now you get to eat this loss and the Padres get to lose in a big moment again. Like they always do.

And that's who I, that's who I'm laughing at today. Like I don't, it's not the same level as like hatred as I have for like the Dodgers or the Phillies. Like those teams I despise. But the Padres fans, you guys. eat it. I don't disagree with you there. Also, I will say this in regards to the Padres just in general, like they are a team that had a lot of turmoil to begin the season. So much like the Diamondbacks, you have to applaud the effort of that team and their ability to come together. Jackson Merrill said that this hurt more than last season by far because of all of the injuries and everything

that they had to kind of get through in order for them to get to the postseason. So I'm glad it hurts. and again, no sympathy from this Arizona Diamondbacks podcast at all. Meanwhile, we were very excited to see Noah be sad yesterday to take himself down a notch. But lo and behold, his Tigers beat the Guardians by a score of 6 to 3. And the Guardians got beat by a guy named Dingler from Cleveland. Can you imagine getting beat by a guy named Dingler from your own town? But yeah, Dylan Dingler hit the go-ahead run there in the sixth inning. He started his playoff career, 0 for 9, and then had a big home run there

that helped the tigers break out and take that game from the Guardians. Before Dingler's home run, the Tigers had managed just four runs in the series. That's been the tale of this wildcard round. And Michael Rokickey was absolutely right when he said this has been a wildly entertaining wildcard round. We are going to talk a little bit later about the scheduling and me getting pissed off about the fact that MLB just continues to shoot itself in the foot when it comes to growing its own sport. You don't say. How they decided to do things once again.

but that's that's true later i know crazy right major league baseball not knowing how to actually uh you know i don't know take take take take hold of the opportunity here with so many people being you know intrigued by major league baseball this is the third season in a row that total attendance in major league baseball rose right we are in the precipice of baseball a baseball renaissance of people being more excited and interested in baseball than ever and they can't get the scheduling right and in 2027 they're going to cancel the season and it's going to kill all of this momentum that they have built but uh again back to the tigers that has nothing to do with the tigers or the guardians it has to do with when those games were played though some guardians fans weren't happy about that we're going to like i said

get into that but meanwhile they're also not happy because their team lost and are now out of the playoffs the tigers did play some sloppy sloppy defense yesterday but man they somehow got away with it like in some of those instances, there was a play made late there, where their first baseman just threw the ball away, but somehow he managed to get the out at second. A couple of things that went wrong for them. But what went right for them was the Tigers went 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position. They were finally able to convert some runs after going one for 15 in game two

and having a franchise high 15 runners left on base in that game. So that remains pretty incredible. And then there's the big time, prime time game itself. The Yankees beating the Red Sox. The Yankees become the first team to overcome the 1-0 deficit in the new wildcard series format. That's kind of crazy, Damon, to think about that the teams that win the first game in these three-game formats win 100% of the time. Wow. Up until now, the Yankees are the first ones to break that tie.

There's been a lot of celebrity sightings this postseason, obviously, with the two big franchises. that celebrities all root for, the Dodgers and the Yankees still in it. I do laugh when the broadcast will show two celebrities sitting together, but then only address one of them. You know, oh, Jason Bateman's here, but totally forgetting the guy that he's sitting next to or whatever. Did you know, by the way, Jason Bateman apparently is like he grew up a Reds fan? Well, there's a lot of frauds.

Like, no, like, apparently that's why he was cheering so hard at the Dodgers game is because he was cheering for the Reds? No, he was like cheering. cheering against his childhood team and like getting like fired up about it kind of insane more proof more proof the dodgers fans are bad people i should know i would honestly i would venture to guess that like there are some real there are some real dodgers fans out there i let's take away like the bleachers the behind home plate dodgers fans oh they're terrible i'd say about half of them they're terrible it's the seventh inning and half the seats were empty what was going on there

I would say like the lower Bull Dodgers fans, half of them are fans of other teams that have become Dodgers fans moving to Los Angeles. BC is trying to hit us where it hurts? He said, is Emma Stone a D-Backs fan? Don't care. I know she's a Suns fan. I know she's a Suns fan. Don't care. You know, also I want to address is Jimmy Fallon.

Baby, what is you doing? Jimmy Fallon, Damon, was behind home plate at the Yankees'I's Red Sox game and was cheering his best. My doubt for the Yankees, for the Yankees, Jimmy Fallon. You're cheering on the Yankees? Sir, did you not make an entire movie about being a Red Sox fan in Fenway during the regular season and playoffs? When the Red Sox came back from the biggest deficit in postseason history to defeat the Yankees and go to the World Series and win it, and you're just behind home plate in dark blue cheering for the Yankees, you're a monster. Pick a side.

Pick aside and stick to it. Where is the loyalty? Where is the loyalty anymore? I don't know. But I'll tell you who I would be loyal to is that guy, Camp Schlittler, who was incredible yesterday. First pitcher to go eight scoreless innings with 12 plus strikeouts and zero walks. And oh, by the way, it was his debut as a rookie.

No big deal, right? No big deal. His line, eight innings pitch, five hits aloud, zero earn run, zero walks, 12K. Incredible. I have to put some respect on his name because I openly chose him in our bets yesterday to go less than, I believe, 11 and a half outs. Ha!

Ha! He was still striking dudes out at 11 and a half outs. He wasn't even at the halfway point in the gas tank at that point. But he was incredible. And, you know, the Red Sox also started a rookie pitcher as well. And this was just amazing. However, Schlitler did apparently have Red Sox. Sox fans attack his mom on social media. And I feel like that woke the sleeping dragon inside of him.

He threw 107 pitches in yesterday's game. Ninety-six of them were some form of fastball. And of those 96, 11 of them were over 100 miles per hour. Sixty-four of them were 98 plus miles per hour. And 61 of them were in the strike zone. This man was on fire and it was an incredible sight to see. He also might have screamed F. Boston. into the night as he went off the mound, thus becoming a legend for Yankees fans forever in October, for sure here. But just really cool to see. Like this is the kind of stuff you love to see in baseball

where a guy like this emerges not out of nowhere necessarily. Apparently Yankees fans were very high in him. And apparently at one point, there was a rumor that the Diamondbacks might have been able to acquire him. And I don't want to really even discuss that or talk about that. after seeing what he did for sure. But again, let's take a look here at the updated brackets for all of the fun that we have, the eight remaining teams here.

We have the most despicable series that any of us Diamondbacks fans can imagine, which is the Dodgers versus the Phillies. Again, I really wish that both teams could lose there. Meanwhile, you have another amazing rivalry. Like, that's the one thing that's great about the way that this postseason is stacked up. It feels like you have a division rivalry after division rivalry. You just have cool things going on. You have the Brewers taking on the Cubs.

those two fan bases absolutely hate each other. So that is amazing. Then over here on the AL side, we are now a Seattle Mariners podcast. Let's not forget that. Tigers advance to take on the Mariners in a divisional round. And then you have the Yankees taking on their division foe in the Toronto Blue Jays there in the divisional round.

So that's how things stack up for the next round, and we cannot be more excited about it. We're going to talk more about this next round here before we get out of here. but we have so much more to discuss, including the announcement yesterday from Tori Lavallo on Burns & Gambo that the entire coaching staff will be returning for 2026.

Again, should they? We're going to talk about it, and we're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next Diamondback Show. Well, now is a great time of the year for pure edibles, especially now that we are clear of our own ups and downs, we can just relax a little bit

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community, rooted in Phoenix, and ready to help. All statements are subject to terms, exclusions, and conditions of the applicable policy in all instances of the current policy contract language prevails coverage is subject to individual policyholders meeting underwriting qualifications and state availability, other terms, conditions, and exclusions may apply. Well, Damon, big news, I guess. And news that does not make the Diamondbacks fan base very happy. I think the reason why and the meme I see or the response I see is insanity,

the definition of insanity, right? Doing something the exact same way and somehow expecting different results. And while I will say that there were plenty of reasons for the Diamondbacks to have the results they had in 2025, I don't disagree that the coaching staff doesn't have a huge impact on it. And when a season disappoints in the way it does, you know, I know people want to see a change. I think the big reason why we're not seeing any changes next year, and before we get to that, let's take a look. Because, of course, Tori Lavallo appeared on Burns & Gambo.

We have this tweet that this one comes from our guy, John Gambadoro, who says, Toy LaVolo, spelled incorrectly, tells Burns and Gambo that he will bring back the same coaching staff for next season. said they brought in four new coaches this past season. And I think a big part of that is, you know, of course, this leaving this coaching staff intact for 26, people want to know what does this mean for the team's future, right? There's a benefit of continuity. And I think that's something that the Diamondbacks had a lot of problem with this year with having the new coaches, right?

having the change over there at third base especially was was impactful based on everything that Tony Parish-Chika brought to this, you know, team. And everybody can agree, including based on the actions of the front office, that Sean Larkin was not the right choice over there. And Sean Larkin did have a lot of problems, and you could probably hang quite a few losses on Sean Larkin coaching third base for this team. I still don't think that he was a problem being the defensive infield coach, but I do think that this was a problem overall, and that's the reason why they made the change. I think the change to Tim Bogart mid-season is the biggest reason why we're not seeing any changes.

When you look across the staff, you could think, you know, you look and you wonder where the real problem is. Obviously, a lot of fans are going to say Tori LeVolo, first and foremost, right? And there's not a way for me to argue one way or another with that. I'm entirely too close to the man. I'm sitting here thinking about if he's going to make garlic bread this Sunday with the lasagna the Damon and I are going to go over to his house and have. But just as far as the stability, this gives...

They said we had to pick up the garlic bread this Sunday. Oh, God damn it. Are we just going to get the cheap stuff that's already buttered at Walmart? Because I don't feel like making it all my self again. I just... Mrs. Lavolo put so much into the actual dinner. No, I know. She'll be so mad. She'll know because there won't be enough paprika on it.

And she'll be like, you guys didn't make this yourself. The least we could do is bake some garlic bread, the two of us there. That's fine. That's fine. I like, I'm... I hate when I'm the one that has to bring something freshly made, but I will do it in order to get my hands on that lasagna for sure. But maybe the rest of the coaching staff is thinking the same thing because they don't want to miss out on the wonderful Sunday dinners over at Tori's house. But, you know, of course, Tori's leadership style is in-game decisions. All of that has been in question.

I think that his leadership isn't the problem. Oh. Right? They're, you know, when you hear guys say they would go to war for him, they would die for him, when they say the thing, as outrageous as it is that they say about him, you don't really feel like there's a problem with the players respecting him as a leader or wanting him to be their leader. You just feel like the track record is very mediocre for Toy Lovela outside of that 2023 season. And you feel like the in-game decisions aren't there. But to be fair, Tori relies quite a bit on his entire staff.

I think that's one of the reasons. Maybe a lot is being misconstrued about Tori's comments, It's about having a seat at the table when it came to decisions for the pitching rotation and the bullpen and the starting lineup. But I do think part of that is because that's how Tori Lavello manages. So I don't think that this is entirely an indictment of the front office wanting to control the team and have Tori as just a puppet under Mike Hazen really making these decisions. That might be a factor, but it might just be more about the fact that Tori Lavello tends to be very open to the opinions, experience, and knowledge of other people. will be the first one to tell you that, right? And so, I mean, when you look at the coaching staff overall and the guys that are going to return next year,

I think you could kind of pick and choose which guys you might have an issue with returning. I'm sure the biggest problem. And Scott Mack demands more mediocrity. He says more mediocrity, please. By the way, Damon, can we scroll all the way back up? Before we started, Scott Mack dropped one of the most eloquent comments about how you could say this.

And he said, the culture of mediocrity continues unabated. and that is how so many of you feel and I don't think that you are wrong to feel that way. I don't think people's comments about like this being the definition of insanity is wrong, right? But there's a reason for it and it's because especially a first year coach like Brian Kaplan took time for him to figure out how to do the job. And I think Tori even made a comment about that about Kaplan kind of coming into his own and learning the staff and learning about the players.

but I mean he had a lot on his plate in 2025 right this is a guy that was blamed for the failures of the pitching staff right out of the gate he was blamed for all of the injuries for as ridiculous as that is and I think it was even worse because when Brian Kaplan was brought in from the Phillies he was he was said to be a guy that strongly focused on player health and that player health this season was going to be an absolute priority for this team it's one of the reasons why out of the gate they kind of slid played the season, you know, and that didn't work. Like slow playing the season and holding guys back didn't work. They still got injured and they still, those injuries occurred to the best most, in some cases, most important players on this team, right? But I guess the bigger question for the Diamondbacks as a whole and the bigger question I'll propose is was bringing in a first year pitching coach the right move in the first place. After replacing a guy, who had the experience that Brent Strom brought in last year in the role is bringing in a guy that's never been a major league pitching coach, the right decision, that right there could be a big

reason why this team had the failures that it had in 2025, right? I don't have an answer for you on that. I don't have a personal opinion because I still understand what they were trying to do with Brian Kaplan and I understand what baseball teams are trying to do across MLB, right? They're trying to bring in new younger coaches that have different point of views and are doing things differently. They are evolving with the evolving game, with the evolving analytics, especially with the evolving pitchers, right? Like, pitchers aren't sane now. This kid was throwing Damon yesterday, Cam for the Yankees, a hundred mile an hour sinker

where's our guy in the zone. Where's our guy who throws up? He's on the IL because he hurt his arm throwing a hundred mile per hour sinker in the zone, right? But not a starter. Not a starter, a reliever. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. A guy who goes out there for one, maybe two innings and does it is a lot different than a guy who goes out there for six innings shoving 100 miles per hour.

Yeah. And I mean, some of you guys here say, like Sean says, I was committed to hating Kaplan for the injuries, but that was just the worst luck ever, unfortunately. And yeah, I mean, I think that there was a lot of reactions to that because the injuries were so preposterous to us as fans that at times in life you want to place blame on somebody. for that, right? Like, that's the reason why Diamondbacks fans were like, it's Brian Kaplan's fault. It's Tori LaBello's fault. It's that Esposito guy's fault. You know, Greg Esposito's fault. Yeah, that one, right? It's that Greg Esposito's fault. You know, no, Max, but still, Damon, I mean, it's, I think it's human nature to want to place blame, especially when you see a pattern developing and you're like, how are all of our pitchers going down? Not just pitchers on the major league roster,

but even the ones that were next in line to come up, should something happen to those guys on the major league roster. So, I mean, overall, I just think that this was, as Sean said, bad luck, but it's hard sometimes when things pile up so big to still call that bad luck. Kaplan might be a bad coach, Derek. We don't know yet. We don't know. But it's too early to say, I think.

You know, I think there's something to be said. Maybe he did contribute to these injuries. The Diamondbacks clearly don't think. so. Otherwise, they wouldn't have retained him. And they have more information on all this stuff than we would at home without a doubt when it comes to like people's injuries and the thresholds that it takes to reach the Tommy John status and whatnot. For sure. But we don't know if Brian, he might be a terrible coach. He might be an awful pitching coach. He might get everybody hurt next year. But I think it's too early to say that after one year because it very easily could

have just been a fluke in 2025. 100%. I don't know if that's like a ringing endorsement. And like that doesn't fire up DBAX fans. But I think that's just reality. You're probably not going to fire the guy for that. Right. Stu Padassos says I saw the amount of players that went down from T.J. While Kaplan was in Philly, it's pretty scary. So maybe there is a connection there.

I don't really know because I haven't looked at that. But if that's the case, then I mean, it's odd considering that Kaplan's area of expertise is player health. Right. And not necessarily being a pitching coach. But I think that there's other members of the staff that we don't talk about, that there's no reason to. Nobody ever has a bad thing to say about Dave McKay. So I don't think anybody expected Dave McKay to not be back. But the big, like I said, the big replacement there during the middle or the end of the season, more aptly said, is that it's Tim Bogar replacing Sean Larkin.

Sean Larkin will be back as fielding coach. And I don't know, man. I mean, I saw Sean Larkin have a lot on his plate, too, just like Brian Kaplan this year. I don't feel like he succeeded under the pressure. I don't feel like he succeeded over there at third base. And he didn't get better, right? Like, Kaplan seemed like, as Sean put it, you know, and I just had it on screen. Kaplan and the pitching staff got better as the season went on.

And it looked like people were improving, developing, you know, Gowan was back on track, Erod, you name it. Yeah. The third base situation just continued to get worse and worse and worse over the course of the season. Absolutely. And I mean, when you saw Tim Bogar come over there, you felt some peace. That's the one thing is Tim Bogar brought like peace to the third base coach position. So I didn't expect him to be let go. I just expected maybe him to not be retained because he didn't want to come back.

He was kind of asked to step into this role. And I don't feel like he did it reluctantly. But I also don't know if this was a long-term deal for him. But he will be back there. Sean Larkin will be back as a fielding coach. And I think those are the biggest Brian Kaplan and Sean Larkin even returning as Fielding coach is probably the things people are most upset about. Nobody is mad that Jeff Bannister is coming back.

I dare you. I dare you to find a problem with it. He'll fight you. Say it to his face. Say it to his face. Find a problem with anything bad he did. He's our muscle on the bench, you know? He's the reason why the Diamondbacks got into zero altercations this year.

Nobody wanted any of that smoke. Do you think that he'll be hit up for managerial interviews this off season? That's a better point is I do think that Dave McKay and Jeff Bannister are prone to potentially being poached away by other teams. I will say there's a lot of names available on the market, and quite frankly, no disrespect to Jeff Bannister, but it feels like every team is trying to get younger at head coach. Every team is trying to bring in that next guy,

because those are the candidates that you're seeing step up. You're seeing Skip from Marlins, get some love, and probably be connected. He'll probably have a managerial position after all of a sudden done. But again, I work. that a guy like Banny or like Dave McKay could get poached away, right? These are guys that are huge parts of this coaching staff and guys I don't want to see you leave and Scott Max right. We need more Banny commercials. I want Banny showing up all the time. Remember college? Yeah, yeah. I want

him I want him showing up in the backseat of a car on a road trip. I expected to talk to me about college right now. And again, Banny and the top bunk is crazy. There's no way Bannett. That's that's the problem him with that commercial. There's no way Jeff Bannister is taking the top bunk. You'll take the top bunk and you'll like it. You'll sleep where Bannister tells you to sleep. If you sleep on the floor because he's sick of you snoring above him, you'll be sleeping on the floor.

That's the way it works. I mean, you're probably not sleeping in the same room. Let's be honest. You got the couch, buddy. No, that's for sure. That's for sure. But Joe Mather, another guy who honestly has no reason to go anywhere, right? Joe Mather, Lifetime contract potentially.

This guy has our team OPS top 10 every year. He was very much doubted in his first season. And that's the reason why I bring this kind of stuff up is because as these coaches get time to develop on this team as a part of this coaching staff, they get better just like players do, right? The debacks finished this season, fifth in team OPS at 758. For a team that didn't make the playoffs, they finished fifth in OPS. Third in slugging, Damon. Third and slugging at 433, seventh in team on base percentage at 325. they were tied for eighth in batting average at 251.

Offense is not the problem. And I know a lot of that might have been generated early on, but what I like was the adjustments that led to success later in the season, the way that this team adapted with Tim Bogart at third base and Joe Mather adapted the, I guess, focus, right? Like there was entirely too much focus on hitting home runs early this season. There was entirely too much focus on power. It's the reason why Mike Hayes and say,

said in their last media availability that they aren't going to focus on power as much as they're going to focus on defense. And I believe getting back to the roots of this team, which is the chaos ball. It is the you're going to get home runs. You're going to get power out of Pardomo, Marte, and Carol. That's fine. But what you need is a well-rounded effort. You need guys six through nine that can deliver with production. And you need solid, solid defense. Because once they got that this season, this was a different team. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the defense. was a completely different aspect of this team that they didn't have in the first half of the season. They were very sloppy, Derek.

And we were talking about it. It's like the last two seasons, you know, they have better teams on paper than they did in 23. But they just weren't playing D-BACs baseball. They weren't playing like the style of baseball that, you know, was conducive to how they won baseball games when they had their best season that they've had in a long time. And it felt like this second half after the trade deadline in particular that you really started seeing those debacks come back. And I think the struggle and the challenge is now, how do you keep that small ball aspect, that running aspect, that that high level defensive aspect,

while also continuing to hit for power? Because I think that that's kind of the, that's the struggle in baseball, right? Is you want, you want a bunch of power hitters, but you want those guys to also be able to defend, run, you know, do all the little things. So it's going to be a struggle for the diamondbacks this off season trying to supplement the power. of a Josh Naylor and a E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Hennio Svarez will also keeping their high level defense and their high level base running. But did they need it though? Like, did they need it? Like, no offense to Josh Nailer. I think to reach your ceiling, you need it. I think to reach like a true, like we're going to take down the Dodgers in the playoffs type of ceiling. Yes. Maybe not to make

the playoffs. But like if you want realistic World Series expectations, I would say that you do need to have that aspect. And Mike Hazel will be the first one to say, uh, chaos and power. Shoha Tani's already signed to a long-term deal, so I can't go get him, right? And that was, you heard that comment. That one heard us both really deeply. But you're right. I mean, I don't know. Like, they are set, I think, in certain ways. And even, I mean, again, the big question is going to be what they do at first base or if they have anything left to upgrade first base, right? In 2026, I think it's far more of a problem that they are going to going to have a first base of Pavin, Tyler Locklear, and Tim Tawa, then I feel like there's a

problem with the coaching staff, right? Like, there are so many things to address and changes right now and the coaching staff probably aren't, you know, aren't, it's not the best timing for that if you're not getting rid of Tori Lovelo. If Tori Lovelo is staying around for 2026, the rest of his coaching staff staying here for 2026 makes all the sense in the world. What I will say is that this team now has the ability, or this coaching staff has the ability to understand that everything is kind of on the line here. There's some guys whose jobs will be safe no matter what should they want to stay here in Arizona after 2026 season if it doesn't go their way and they part ways with Tori Lubello. But it's not just Tori who this season is very important for. It's Brian Kaplan and Sean Larkin.

It's Tim Bogar. You know, you could even probably throw in a Jeff Bannister because I'm not sure what would happen with Banny if the team parted ways with Tori LaBolo either. I mean, I feel like he would be a very easy replacement, at least an interim manager for Tori Lovolo. And we could see that happen in the middle of the season if things don't start well enough for the Diamondbacks. I would not be surprised to see that. And then Killer X gets his Thanos moment that he's been describing in the chat.

But I don't know. Let's be real Killer Rex for a second. I've seen you in our other chats and on our other shows. you'd move on to Drew Petsing. You'd move on to Jordan Ott if he doesn't look the way that, you know, you want the son to look early. You're Mr. Ler X is Mr. Fire the coach.

Yeah. He hated Boutenholzer, which was fair. I mean, Boutenolzer deserved it. And, you know, now he's in the Cardinals chat, hate him petsing. That's his job. We all hate petzing. He'll move on to the next guy. I'm doing Southwest bias and it's just going to be an entire week of me hating on

Drew Petsing from Monday through Friday. So make sure to stay tuned for that. But this, I mean, I guess the big question here is, is there confidence in this coaching staff to lead the team to the postseason next year? I think so. I mean, listen, I'm, we go to the Lovolo's household on Sundays. Like, we're the tired guys. We talk about this while we go over there. We just talk about garlic and stuff.

I think a manager's impact on the game has way more to do with the culture of the team and keeping a locker room together than it does the X. is in those stuff because I think that Tori is merely like he said if you listen to him a seat at the table when it comes to those discussions the lineups and all that stuff I think that that in large part has a lot to do with Hazen and for me and maybe that's that's how it should be because maybe Tori's bad at that stuff right but for me I think Tori is a really good culture setter and I think he's really good for young teams and I think that you heard in all the exit interviews how much that these players love the guy and it's like Like, that's what I want in a manager.

Is he perfect? No. Does he deserve criticism at times? Absolutely. But, I mean, I think he can make the playoffs next year, no doubt about it. Scotty Mac wants to know if it's always Italian food at Tori's house for Sunday supper. Without question. I mean, yeah, like, it's what Sunday is made for is Italian food.

But he did make stakes one time and they were exquisite. He smoked them on top of cooking them on the grill. Yeah, but we also had like an exquisite bottle of red wine with that. There was some. I kind of dictated what was going to happen. There was some Carbonara on the side, too. Like, there was some Italian stuff going on as well. You know, my biggest hope here, Damon, is that this fake bit we do actually leads to us getting invited to Sunday dinner at Tories.

That's what I'm really hoping. Dude, that would fire up the Twitter streets. That people on Twitter would be so mad, dude. Oh, yeah. I mean, you see it there right now today. People on the Twitter streets are mad because Tori said we're going to make the playoffs next year. Oh. I hate this guy.

Get fire him now. What do you want him to say? All Tori said was we're going to find the people who aren't up to snuff who don't, you know, aren't here for the ride of making the playoffs next year because that is the expectation. Isn't that what you want your manager to say? 100%. I mean, you can't. Like Tori is so real and down to earth about other things, but you can't be real and down to earth about your expectations for 2026. quite frankly, it is all or nothing for Tori Lavallo in 2020.

100%. He knows that. It's all or nothing for him. So as far as he's concerned, he either lives up to what he said there about making the playoffs in 2026 or he's not going to be around as a Diamondbacks manager to see what happens beyond that season. Right. And I think we all kind of know that. And that's the reality of the situation.

He's on the last year of his contract. There might not even be plans to extend him regardless of what the outcome is of the 2020 season short of them winning the world series. Like that might be the only thing that gives Tori an extension beyond the 2026 season. But again, success is going to be key in him sticking around. And then, you know, who knows? Dinners might end up being, as Killer X said, frozen lasagnas.

We might have to settle for Stoufers' lasagnas. Don't you put that evil on us, Killer X? They're just as good sometimes. Just not nearly as good as Miss Bulldogs. Just eating frozen lasagna at the table. things are not good. One coach nobody talks about, Damon, is Wellington Sepeda being our bullpen coach. You're correct.

Literally no one talks about him because I've never heard that name one time before you just said that right now. The Wellington Sapeta is our bullpen coach. And again, I mean, I'm amazed because in the past, I feel like the bullpen coach has gotten flack for the performance of the bullpen. This year, it's been all in Brian Kaplan. But regardless, the bullpen biggest problem with this team, pitching the biggest problem with this team by far. but the Diamondbacks ended the season with a 4.82 ERA, which was 27th in Major League Baseball for relief pitching ERA. I'm sorry, Derek. I don't mean to cut you off, but apparently Michael Dixon thought that we were being dead serious about the Lovolo Sunday dinner bit.

He said he thought it was real the whole time. Now we just have to convince Tori. We got one. Yeah, no, that's that's the next step. But more so convincing the fan base here, I think, Damon, that the, that this is still for the best. And I know people hate that and I know people don't want to hear that. And I'm a stupid man that's wrong a lot. So who knows. I'm not, I'm no killer X who apparently is never wrong, according to his comments in the chat, uh, except when he is wrong, except all those times when he's

basically wrong. But, um, yeah, you know, yeah, uh, Katie May says he replaced fetters. Yes, he did replace Mike in the, in the bullpen. Um, and yeah, I mean, I don't know. Again, it was weird because I felt like Mike got a lot of flack for the bullpen's lack of performance. I mean, yeah, our bullpins are Ever good, ever. Like you said, and like you said, you've never even heard Wellington Sapata's name in connectionally being the bullpen coach. First time, right? So just a wild thing.

And again, it's, these are all the, I guess the funny part about that is the way that we as fans place to blame. The way that we point our fingers at the different, you know, coaches and such when, realistically at the end of the day, it's the performance of the players on the field. And Mike Hazen was the first one to take accountability for the fact that he did not. give this team, this coaching staff, an ample roster that would be able to sustain the depth issues that they experienced. And quite frankly, I find that to be hilarious because all we were talking about was how deep the starting rotation was at the beginning of the season.

Go back and watch our episodes from March before all the pitchers got injured. We were just like, oh my God, what are they going to do with all these starting pitchers, right? And then the season went the way it did. So I don't even feel like Mike is to blame here. But, you know, when the team fails and reaches this level of mediocrity that they have over the last two seasons, and hard to even call last season mediocre. If the Diamondbacks won 89 games this year, we would talk about them being swept by the Dodgers right now and not missing the playoffs.

But regardless, this is still one of those situations where you feel like, you know, the Diamondbacks need to turn things around. And a lot of people feel like you're wasting the prime career of one Catel Marte and one Corbyn-Carrel. And now perhaps a Herald O Pridomo on a team that's, you know, finishing around 500 and appears to be set for that for the foreseeable future. So hopefully they can do some things to turn things around. And obviously a big part of that is going to be the changes that they make this offseason through free agency and other means. But we will keep you up to date on all of that.

We will be talking about all of that as the season goes on. So make sure to keep it locked right here to PHNX for all of that. But we're going to take a quick break on the other side of this. break, I'm going to scream and yell about MLB screwing up their scheduling. And I just, why can't you be normal? Why can't you be like the other sports MLB? We're going to talk about it on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PH&X Diamondback show. Well, if you're looking to make some gear that helps your brand stand apart from the crowd, look no further than branded bills. We did, and we have some amazing Phoenix hats here in the office, as well as some other amazing products

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I love this first round of the wild card, you know, series here. This was fun. We had some amazing matchups. And the way that the postseason, you know, bracket stacks up, we have some other really fun marquee rivalries and matchups to potentially look forward to as the postseason rolls on. But MLB did not have definitive start times set for their three games that were played yesterday. That was as of less than 12 hours before one of those games was played. Fans in Cleveland were left waiting with less than 12 hours until first pitch to be told when that first pitch would be. And of course they slotted in right into their slot.

You know, they were like, oh, Tigers Guardians, you guys go during the day when everybody's at work and nobody really cares to watch it. Then for sure, we're going to make sure that the Yankees and Red Sox get into that primetime slot. But even with knowing that, there is no reason for them to not schedule these things out, to not make this better on fans, to not make this better on the, broadcasts like the channels that they're on need to know what time these games are going to start everything needs to be better about this i'll take it even a step further um i will say that

wouldn't major league baseball be better if they just had multiple playoff games going in prime time is that so crazy damon how do you feel about stacking baseball games versus like again there's not a lot of people interested in a tigers guardians matchup per se that aren't tigers or guardians fans as much as baseball fans in general might be interested in the red sox yankees matchup i'm not stupid i understand that rank yankee's red socks matchup is a rivalry as old as time but even yankees fans were saying i wouldn't mind in mind it a day game right like you had a chance here with three games going over three days or three sets of games going over three days to perhaps give every team the spotlight and prime time instead of just focus focusing so strongly on the dodgers being the late game

And I understand that. That was a West Coast thing. But, you know, the East Coast teams about the Yankees getting that primetime slot and Ridd Sox again in that primetime slot. Am I crazy? Or is the way that MLB handled this exact scenario, an example of the bigger problem wrong with baseball, not making everybody excited about all their teams? Yeah, entirely. I mean, I think we've talked about this a lot, Derek, where, I mean, like,

I think it's pretty clear what baseball is trying to do. The NFL owns America. The baseball knows the NFL has proverbially snatched the America chain off of their neck. You will not get any argument. I'm even bad about it. Like, I sit around and it's not just because of fantasy football. It's because I love football. Everybody loves football.

I just sit around and watch games that I have no rooting interest in at all just to watch them. It's captured America, right? And that used to be baseball, but it's not like that anymore. Sure. So baseball then looks around and they say, how do we get more fans? How do we get more fans? We market better in other countries. How do we market better in other countries?

Our best teams that are the most marketable teams have to be good, have to be successful and have to have to have international players on those teams that drive those fan bases to want to be fans of those teams. Thus, you get 100 million people in Japan watching every Dodgers playoff game and vastly changing the math on the amount of people that are watching, and there will be postseason games. And basketball does that in China, right? Like they knew that their their method of madness was not going to be in America either.

So they're out in China. They're out in Asia trying to get all those people to be fans of their teams. Baseball is doing the same thing in Latin American countries and in Asia. And they're trying to capture those international markets. And what benefits them is Yankees Red Sox at night, Dodgers Reds at night. And all the teams of all the middle of the country cities being in the middle of the day. We don't care. People from foreign places aren't going to like any team from freaking Milwaukee.

I just, I think that there's a narrative, right? And that's the job of the league is to create the narrative between these two teams, right? Like, what? I didn't, I didn't see one time, one time on the broadcast, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Tigers facing the Cleveland Guardians build as two blue-collar cities going head to head that have like experienced so many years. years of sadness when it comes to sports, right? Like, there is such a tale to be told there that I never heard the announcers or broadcasters spin one time.

And that comes from Major League Baseball. That's something that baseball needs to play into. They didn't play into the Dodgers Reds Goliath versus David matchup enough, right? Like, there are things to be done to increase the interest in these matchups that goes far beyond the product on the field and goes beyond what, you know what I mean? like what the game. Oh, this game is fun. We'll talk about how they have two good starting pitchers or whatever.

Like, you know, I mean, the Red Sox Yankees, meanwhile, did an excellent job at at being like, dude, look at these two young rookies. They literally made that game three about the two young rookies on the mound who both dominated through the early innings. And it was just an impressive pitching duel by two guys who have no business being on this stage and pitching in the way that they were. Like, that's a good narrative, right? And that goes beyond just selling the round.

Red Sox Yankees rivalry, right? But I also don't think that they talked enough about, you know, what happened with Schlittler and the Red Sox fans attacking his mom and giving him all of the reason to pitch the best game of his life just to spite people. Again, remember, pettiness and spite are my favorite reasons for anything in baseball to happen. So let's let's talk about that. It's fine. But overall, again, just I felt like just another case of Major League Baseball focusing too far, too much on like you said, those markets that they know. our big markets. Because by not,

by not going and paying love to these other series, you're doing an injustice to those teams and those series. And you're like, you're not allowing people to get behind these smaller market teams or like you said, these Midwest teams that they just kind of want to bunch together and ignore. Here's the aspect of things that Rob Manfred and baseball don't understand. That you, or maybe they understand it,

but they just don't value it the way I think they should. there is an inherent value in making young people like your sport and like your team and that's where you build fan bases for life man like if you are a young kid in Detroit and you're not at the game you know maybe maybe you know getting off of school and being able to watch the night game makes you a Detroit Tigers fan after beating the Guardians for your entire life and now how much money is baseball going to make off of that individual for the next 60 years of his life being a Detroit Tigers fan, $100,000? Like seriously, Derek, it's, it's, it's an insane amount of money to think about. Very small. Yeah, like, it's an insane amount. It's an insane amount of money to think about.

And, and I feel like, you know, when baseball, you know, they make it $18 to get a beer at Chase Field. It's like I'd buy three beers if it was $8 and you'd make more money off me in the process. But because it's $18. I'm going to get one. And then I'm going to sip on it the whole time and I'm not going to do it. Like you should want people to want to come back to your ballpark. Game in and game out.

That's how you build fan bases that care that want to pay money that have, you know, want to take their kids to the ballpark. Like all of this stuff I feel like is so obvious. And it's such like a grassroots thing that you have to approach. But baseball is like, nah, it's fine. Like let's just get Sasaki and Yamamoto and Otani on the same team and throw them together. And 150 million people in Japan will watch. watch it. And you're like, that's cool too. But like, how about building fans in America? Yeah. And I said, B makes great points. Normally, I wouldn't give an S word about that, but it's

beginning to threaten the long-term trajectory of baseball as a sport in terms of relevancy anyway, not that they care. Exactly. And again, I just think it's, it's important, man. It's important to this sport. It's important to these teams. And the Diamondbacks would be one of these teams. Like, they'd be in the marquee matchup if they were in the playoffs. They would have the Reds position. They would have faced the Dodgers. as the final game of the night, but it just doesn't feel like that the Diamondbacks would have mattered in that scenario.

It would have all been for the Dodgers purpose. But overall, of course, Damon is right about one thing and that is football as king. So make sure to join us for the PH&X Cardinals' tailgate out at Chicken and Pickle and Glendale before the Cardinals game on October 19th at 11 a.m. They're going to be taken on the Packers, who I foolishly picked.

That's the Rally House show. That's happening today. That is today. Yeah, sorry about that. No, no, you're good. That's at Rally House today. So get out there for that, for the live show. If you're in the West Valley.

If you're in the West Valley, specifically, they got a $50 gift cards they're giving away. And the boys will also be out, like I said, a chicken and pickle on October 19th for the tailgate. We'll be out there. We'll be having a great time. There'll be PHNX merch giveaways, yard games, drink specials, and so much more. Go to go phnx.com slash event. You can RSVP for this free event, just so we have an idea of how many people are going to come and how many people to make space for.

But, of course, like I said, these divisional round matchups are fun. Damon, if we could look at the updated bracket graphic again, we are a Mariners podcast, but I do want to ask which of these matchups are you looking forward to the most? And I'll open that up to the chat as well. I mean, obviously the Dodgers and Phillies eliminating each other is in one way. Like one of those teams is not going to go on, and that brings me joy. For sure. But then it's kind of like, it's kind of phased out by the fact that the other team will advance.

Yeah, I do. I will say, though, that this early on getting one of them eliminated is kind of a good thing. Yeah. Especially given that I think that those are probably betting wise, I'm just guessing, are the two favorites here in the National League. Man, I think Brewer's Cubs is probably the, I agree. I think the most fun one. Just based off the whole season. They hate each other.

Great counsel. They hate each other. Plus, the CHGO Cubs crew, I don't know if you remember, they took a road trip out to see a Cubs versus Milwaukee Brewers game. And during that fateful road trip, the elevator at the Brewer's stadium or the escalator broke. Bragg's revenge game. And Braggs tore both of his ACLs. And I don't mean to laugh about that because I was with him hobbling around on crutches. And I couldn't believe that.

So, yes, this is the Greg Bragg's revenge series. I mean, I got to say, Derek, now that Braggs is through it, you think he would admit that that was well worth it? No. No. No, he's never going to jump the same again, David. He's never going to jump the same again. He's a bricklayer. The guy was never jumping as is.

I mean, I'm talking about, I'm talking about that cash money that the brewers must have hit his line with. I still need to have some drinks with him and talking to him about that. Dude, his life probably changed forever. I'd take two torn ACLs for that. I'm not. I can't recover from bed at this age, so I will not. But we appreciate you guys so much for hanging with us and being here today. You guys are the best.

Thank you, as always. We are going to be back on Monday with a mailbag Monday episode. So any questions you have, make sure to save them up for that. Send it to us on Twitter. That is at PHNX underscore Dback. So follow that account if you don't already do so. Appreciate it. I think it was Jay Army Strong.

Thank you so much for your cotton word yesterday and for showing up today live. We appreciate you so much, man. It means the world to us. Thank you. You joined our supporters club too. So again, great, great way for you guys to support us as at supporters club. We love to see it. Love to see you guys here in the chat.

We are Mariners podcast from now on. So go see snakes. That's how we're calling them from now on. But again, until Monday, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a DAWG. Show again is at PHNNX underscore D-Backs. By the way, we're all Damon's dogs.

You know that. Our show, again, PHNX underscore D-Backs, but all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. See you guys on Monday. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, behave yourselves, and remember, kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you root for the Seattle Mariners, I guess.