PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs OF Alek Thomas and Daulton Varsho are Gold Glove finalists…who deserves to win?

Episode Date: October 21, 2022

To the surprise of nobody, the Arizona Diamondbacks have three Gold Glove finalists from the 2022 squad. We also take a look at Arizona’s Organizational All-Stars and what old friend Fernando Rodney has been up to.BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Four Peaks: Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly.  Bad Birdie: use code “PHNXSPORTS” to take 15% off your next Bad Birdie order! https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Sit in the same seats we do! Check out https://morfurniture.comUnderdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Liquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy Friday and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I'm your mayor of PHNX. This guy's your vice mayor, your thunderstick, your journalist, extraordinaire, the one and only Jesse Friedman. And of course, we are thrilled to be joined. And I'm just here for the ride. Yeah, she's here for the ride. She's our photographer, extraordinaire.

It's the one and only Danielle Cortez. Danielle, thanks for joining. Yeah, I am honored to be here with the mayor. Oh, well, listen. And the vice. And the vice. Of course. I'm talking about you all.

This is the first time I've ever been on a show with Daniel. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Somehow, Danielle's like usually my replacement when I'm running. As a matter of fact, when he found out Danielle was coming on, he was like, oh, do I still come in? Yeah, that means I'm not supposed to be here, right? Of course, we are brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app. We actually have some Arizona Diamondbacks news.

Believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced yesterday, their gold glove finalists on the team. They have four, but three that are still currently on the team. Shout out to David Peralta, the freight train for getting the, what is it, the finalist nominee for left field. We also have Alex Thomas. In the National League, too.

Which is kind of weird, because he no longer. plays in the National League, but he played more games with the D-VACs than he did with the race. That's what I was going to say, is that what it boils down to do. Yeah, I think that's how it works. That happened with Zach Ranky, too. I remember when they traded him to... Yeah. To hear you said, yeah. Yeah, it sounds great.

He still got it with the D-back. So we also have Alec Thomas in Senderfield, of course, the guy that has all the tools, Dalton Varsho gets nominated not for one position, but for two because, of course, Dalton Varsho nominated for Rightfield and for our special

favorite new award, the Super Utility Award, which we know he's going to take because, of course, Dalton Varsho has all the tools. And lastly, Christian Walker nominated for first base, which we've talked about all season long. He led the league all first baseman in defensive run saved, as well as, was pretty much at the top of MLB in defensive run saved for any position. Are we sure that Dalton Varsho shouldn't be nominated for like third base or second base? Yes. Not name for, give him for everything. Like make him a final.

Even if he didn't play there, he probably would have been an elite defender at that position. I feel like his defense is strong enough at other positions that it should carry over. I think he'll play good third. It feels like a college football preseason poll. Right. He's like, yeah, I'm favorite.

Like, it sounds like they'll be good, right? If he just give it to him. If he played second, he'd had like 20 defensive runs. So give it to him there too. Don Varsho, unfortunately. I don't want to rain on the parade here. Here he comes. Here I come.

Well, actually, Jesse. Yeah, well, actually me. I think Tommy Edmund is going to win the utility spot. Oh, come on. Tommy Edmund. Tommy Edmund plays both second base and shortstop. And I think the fact that Dalton Varsho has played so much right field, right field, just maybe not being quite as valuable a defensive position as like those spots up the middle.

Sir, right field, center field catcher. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I mean, he's doing it all. Tommy Edmund, I don't think he's a catcher like Dalton Varshow. is Dalton Varsho does indeed have all the tools. But when it comes down to looking at the numbers, I think Tommy Edmund probably has the upper hand.

Dolan Varsho in right field, it's wild. Mookie Bets has logged literally more than twice as many innings in right field as Dalton Varsho. And yet they're like neck in terms of the defensive metrics. So, yeah, Dalton Varsho has been just as valuable as Mookie Bets in half of the reps, basically, in right field. So that one's close. He hasn't, I think it's like 500 innings he's played in right field.

this year, which is not a lot. It's pretty rare. I don't know if it's ever happened that someone has won a gold glove award at a position where they played that few innings. So that's kind of the obstacle for him there, but there is a case to be made. The numbers in right field are insane. What about Christian Walker's chance at winning first base? I feel like he probably has the best chance of any of the players listed as being an actual

gold glove winner? I feel like he has to be the walk, right? I mean, he's just watched, I don't have the numbers in front of me. If he doesn't win, we riot. But yeah, no. There's no, I mean, Goldie. I mean, he's taking a step back defensively, right? I mean, you watch the games, you get the, like, he's not, I mean, he's still Paul Goldfinite, right?

But, like, he's not the Goldie that we had here. Matt Olson, for, you know, like, gold glove finalists always. But Christian Walker has just been so much better than every, not just the National League, American League, the whole thing. He's just by far the best first baseman. It's really interesting to me that this is his third gold glove nomination. For a guy who had a reputation coming up in his career as a liability on defense. Well, Goldschman wasn't highly thought of defense either.

I think a big part of it is when he doesn't play first base, you realize how much we take him over there for granted. His ability to make some of those grabs. look easy, his ability to stretch, just his defense in general over there playing, you know, the position, right? But, yeah, he kind of does it quietly in a way that is easy to forget how good he actually is. But he leads the league in a few defensive categories. Yeah, and well, I mean, first base is kind of like a forgotten position, right?

You don't really think, if you have a good first baseman, you don't think about it. Right. The only time you think about first basest, he catches the ball and move like two feet to his right, two feet to his left. Yeah, Christian Walker this year, this is, it's honestly insane. So he has 17 defensive run saved. Next highest mark for a first baseman is six. Christian Walker has 17.

Ridiculous. So if he doesn't win, the system is utterly broken. It's flawed. And we'll never be repaired. I think that there is something to be said about the outfield getting nominated the way they did. David Peralta, as Michael McDermott talked about, in the comment said that Praalta should win his gold glove. He's the only good defender in left field of the group.

I think that, you know, honestly, there's a good chance that Varsho wins it in right field based on maybe not the amount of time, like you said, Jesse, not the amount of time that he played there, but what he's done like overall, if he doesn't win that utility award, he should kind of get credited for his defense in center field as well as right field for that right field award. That's my opinion. Yeah, I don't, it's just so weird.

Varshot has been like he's moved around so much that it's hard for him to win an award. But yeah, I don't know if I feel quite as confident as Michael that Varsha will win in right field. But the case is there. It's just a matter like, are you going to let someone who played 500 innings

in right field win that award? If you're comfortable doing that, then I think he should win it. Do you think they missed on anybody being nominated as a finalist on the Diamondbacks team defensively? On the Diamondbacks, I don't think so. Okay. Yeah, I don't really see anyone else's

being the debacks defensively are are almost a little bit top heavy like they have a few elite defenders and a lot of the other guys don't actually grate out that well defensively um so amy ovarra was really good at third base but there's just not enough of a sample there for him to qualify there's also guys like manny machado who play third base in the national league that might be an issue bit of an obstacle there so uh yeah i don't think i don't think anyone got snubbed Zach davies and zach gallon are both good defenders on the mound um so i'm I wouldn't have been shocked to see them in there. I'm not sure the numbers necessarily favor that, though.

So I don't think there's any egregious snubs on that front. Yeah, I would have said both the Zaks and the rotation as well. But I don't think they're good enough to warrant a finalist. Yeah. Not right. They're not Zach Rankie. Yeah. The ultimate Zach.

The ultimate, the other. The other is the King Zach. He's King Zach. Just like Austin Nola is King Brother. He is King Zach. I will say this. Next year, we're going to see Corbyn Carey. Yeah, we are, baby.

Yeah. Man. And that's like one thing, like you said, you brought up, I think it's one of the things, if you want to say that hampered anybody's ability to be nominated that weren't nominated, it's the amount of time they had either on this team, on the main roster, or just in their position. Yeah, yeah. And one thing that we didn't talk about how crazy it might be that somebody will win two gold gloves in one year. We never think about it.

Dalton Barshot? Yeah, Dalton Barshot could win. We're talking about, like, should he win at either of these? Yeah, probably. Jesse doesn't believe he's going to go. No, but there's a possibility that he wins two gold gloves. How cool is that? Do you think they have a rule built in where you can only, like, you can be nominated for multiple, but you can't win multiple?

No. That would be weird. I don't know the answer. I can't imagine. Probably not. I don't know. We're going to find out because. Maybe next year, Dalton Varshot could, like, win three of them.

Yes. Like, center field, right field. and utility Silver Slugger Just focus in on two solid positions that he can win and then you can also

get the utility award right Yeah at the moment that Dalton Varsha wins a Sai Young award All the tools That's when we know we've maybe got a little

too far This says Marsha wins both He has all the tools and all the hardware So that's That's the way that works So that's exciting

And I'm very excited to see Of course all of you guys Here with us today Make sure if you haven't done so already To sign up for a membership over at go phtnx.com

Make sure to get either an annual membership you get a free t-shirt like the good boy Cody the coyote over here on the wall or any shirt that you want from the phtonx locker.com or you get your month-to-month membership and you will get your first month for just 50 cents regardless of your membership status We will give you members-only access to our discord which is really worth the price of admission alone I mean I think I got kicked out of that chat I can't even get back into it because you guys just took it over and you serped me as mayor but it's fine I deserve it You can also get members-only access to some of our events, as well as members-only discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. If you're watching us right now here on the PHNX Sports YouTube channel, we thank you guys for joining us. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of our shows go live. Also, if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there.

Leave us a review, whatever you feel Jesse deserves. And we'll just credit all reviews to Jesse. I'm a five-star guy. He's a five-star man. He's a five-star man. Five-star vice mayor. There you go. Of course, we have more to talk about within the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

But before we do that, we want to do a little thing we call spying on our exes around these parts because we found some very interesting information about a player that we did not know was still playing, folks. We did not know this man. I'm going to turn it. I'm going to get my hat on properly for this. Let's go. Fernando Rodney still. plays baseball folks. I don't know if you knew that. We didn't, but yes, Fernando Rodney, the

ageless wonder. We talk about Justin Verlander being an ageless wonder. My God, this man is almost going to be 46 years old, and he is still playing not only in the Mexican League, but he is currently playing in the Dominican Winter League. He does not stop. He's refusing. He will die on the baseball field, closing a game. That's where Fernando Rodney's life will end. I love this man so much. And you got to give credit where credits do for someone that's still throwing the ball at 45 years old. He was old when he played here. I know.

That was a long time ago. I am fully aware of that. He was 41 when he played here. We were saying he was over the hill. We throw him in that conversation of the Diamondbacks acquiring older players that are on the other side of their career. Five years ago. Oh, man. Jesse.

So do people want Fernando Rodney back in Arizona? That's the question I have in my head. I mean, we brought Oliver Perez back last year. That's true. That's true. And it looked good for about a week and then it didn't look so good after that. I don't even know the last in a week. Yeah, it was like a couple of appearances.

First batter looked great. All downhill. Hold on. Let's just give some stats from this year, shall we? In playing for Tijuana in the Mexican League, he had a three. 0.46 ERA in 39 games. Wow. And then right now in the Dominican Winter League in three games, he's allowed one hit in three

innings of work, no runs. Oh man, that's our guy. Come on, what's his agent's number? Let's get this man on the phone instantly. The level of competition in the Mexican League and the Dominican Winter League is definitely the same. What has happened, Jesse? Major League quality, yes, for sure.

You're a monster. I'm just telling you that right now. Do you think he still does the whole routine? Oh, God. He's better. Oh, God, do you get it's part of the package? Is he closing games? Do we know that?

I don't. He's definitely in relief because in three games he only has three innings pitch. So I imagine, it sounds like he's closing. I mean, could you imagine like Fernando Rodney's like an eight inning like starting picture like like 250 innings or something in the Mexican name this year? No, I can't imagine that. I absolutely can't imagine. that. But of course, not to discredit Fernando Rodney, but the Arizona Diamondbacks probably won't be

acquiring his contract anytime soon. But there are some organization All-Stars that have been named that they probably will be knocking on the door of some of these guys really soon. Jesse, who do we have as the D-BACs organization All-Stars? Now, these are within the minor league system, right? So these would be minor league players that are there players of the year at different position. So lay it on us, Jesse. What do we got? Yeah, so this is done by MILB.com. They go position by position across every big league organization and they choose players from their from their minor league teams as being the organization all-star each of them. So at catcher, we have Juan Sentinel. I'm hoping I'm saying that right. And yeah, he's a 32-year-old journeyman. The guy has been

in the Diamondbacks farm system for for a long time. Sounds like they should call him up and Put him in the bullpen. Yeah, clearly that's the only reasonable course of action here. Yeah, I mean, he just had a really good year. He spent time both in Amarillo and Reno. And if you look at his numbers, he just played really well. He said personal best in games, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBIs. He slugged 512.

He had an 867 OPS. This was also his seventh minor league season in which he batted at least 300. So he's 32. He's sort of like an organization guy. I'm not sure what is prospect of getting called up to the big leagues at some point looks like. But it seems like he did everything he possibly could have done this year. Just give me a call, man. Yeah, just do it.

At first base, they have Leandro Sedano, who is most well known for hitting my car with a baseball here in Phoenix that he hit in Amarillo as a sod pool. Ah, that's where that landed. That's where it landed. It broke my show. 527 feet right into the scy on X-B. That's right. You know what? It's funny because it really did go into the parking lot.

And I'm 99% sure it hit someone's car. It probably did. Yeah, they had to have hit someone's car. But this man is a menace and I can't wait to see him. Hopefully in the Diamondbacks roster soon. Yeah, yeah. He's just, I mean, he had a great year overall. He finished the year in AA.

And the Diamondbacks, I think, have some high hopes for him moving forward. I don't believe they technically have him under contract for next year. So he is a guy that they would have to sign back as a minor league free agent in order to have him back. But, yeah, Josh Barfield said that it's not just raw power, which, of course, you've all seen with the 527-foot home run. That's what it was. Yeah, he talked about him being a pretty good hitter at the same time and having a shot to maybe, you know, progress into the big leagues at some point. He's only 24. So it's not like he's, you know, been in the minors for 10 years or anything like that.

So, yeah, he's an exciting young player. Who else we got? Second base, we have Christopher Torrin. Ooh, Torin. I love Torin. Yeah, who is a 17-year-old in rookie ball, which it is not common to see guys who are that young on a list like this. But, yeah, he had 53 hits and 50 games played. He had 37 walks against just 20 strikeouts.

He had 21 stolen bases as well in 899 OPS. So yeah, Josh Barfield was very impressed with what Christopher Torrin did. And on a name we've really talked about a whole lot, he doesn't really show up on top prospect list. It's pretty hard to show up on top prospect list when you're 17 and you're that far away from the majors. But he's done pretty much everything you could possibly have hoped for. I think the best thing there is there's 14 players across minor league that had a with 200 plate appearances and a strikeout. percentage lower than 10% and he is one of them.

And how many of them were 17 years old? And how many of them were 17? Yeah. For sure. Like Michael McDermott said, he'll be on a prospect list next year. Absolutely for sure. Third base,

Davis and De La Santos, who we've had a chance to see. No surprise there. Right, yeah, no surprise there. Dude's a beast, man. I saw him yesterday. He did not play, but he stood very close to me

and I didn't, I haven't had a chance. Like, kind of reminds me the first time I see Alex Thomas because you get used to the terrible pictures from when they were in high school that is the only thing you can find when you look them up

on like a search engine. So it's like standing next to it makes you realize just how much larger he's got in a relatively short amount of time. He's a big dude. Yeah, Davis and Davidson Davis and Santos is a monster. Yeah. He is a big dude

and he's gonna be making an impact pretty soon. I think we've seen him struggle a bit in Arizona Fall League but again like we've seen a lot of the Arizona prospects. Yeah. Like struggle. It's not anything new. a lot of prospects in general struggles. Zach Bain seems the only be the only one that's not having a hard time.

It seems to be pretty league-wide over the last two years. I mean, last year, the level of play at the Arizona fall week was horrendous. Yeah. And this year ain't much better. So I think, honestly, I think it's just a league. I don't put a whole lot of stock into Arizona fallout. I think the reason why I think it's kind of new to these guys is, it really is like an all-star of minor leagues in a way, right?

So sometimes you are facing the top prospects, and you haven't really faced that consistent level of competition elsewhere at times. Plus, there's a lot of pressure on, man. I mean, like I've said about Fall League, the stands are filled with scouts, you know, and you're sitting there as a fan or as a young player looking at all that and wondering about how today is going to impact your life, your career. You know, I mean, it seems drastic,

but there's a lot of pressure you could put yourself in in a fall league situation, I think, versus being on a minor league team and just playing a normal season. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And there's such a, there's such a gap between, like, pitching as well. So you get, like, you get, like, the top pitching prospects out there throwing 100 miles an hour. I know. And then you got, you got a high-a, like, 20-year-old out there, throw, like.

Dela-Sandoz is just very raw. Yeah. And so. Barely touch double. As a hitter, like you can't, you can't adjust to that. Like, it's hard to adjust go from 100 miles an hour to, you know, this kid who's barely getting it over the plate, right? Can't make it into strike zone, but you're still swinging at the stuff because you're used to what you were able to. Yeah, so I don't put a whole lot of stock into the Arizona Fall Lake.

Again, another no surprise at shortstop was Jordan Lawler, who, of course, we've seen a lot of in the Arizona Fall League as well. Can you imagine if it wasn't Jordan Lawler? No, I can't. I really can't. I can't even even other shorts out. He gets far more attention than anyone else. And for good reason. Jordan Lawler had a monster year.

It's not often that you see a guy touch four different minor league levels in one season. And I mean, he was just drafted last year. So like, this is his first full season of pro ball. And I think it's safe to say he made the most of it. Yeah. He was pretty good. Who we got in the outfield? In the outfield, we have Dom-Kanzone.

Hey, Dom-Kanzone. In a corner outfield spot. Dom-Kanzone in AAA this year, that's where he spent most of his time. He had an injury stint or two throughout the year. He's a little different than a lot of the other outfield prospects that hebacks have. We've kind of gotten used to this, you know, fast, like really good defender, you know, maybe not as much power sort of a profile because they have like seven of those guys. Where you go with this?

Dominic Canzone actually has power is where I'm going with this. You're like, you're like, we're used to these handsome, in shape, fast, good outfielders. And then there's Dom Kansom. You're right. My build-up made it sound like I was about to say that Dom Kanzone sucks or something, which he does not. Dom Kanzone is, you had a big year for the Diamond Bask. and the minor leagues, of course, AAA numbers. It's always hard to know how much to read into that.

But yeah, he's a guy who really is deserving of big league time next season. The power, I think, is probably the most attractive asset there, just that the debacks don't necessarily have a whole lot of that. He is left-handed, so that's great. But, yeah, I think he's a candidate to be moved in a trade, frankly, or maybe there's a way that they can find room for him on the big league roster next year, but he doesn't have much left to prove in the minors at this point.

He really should get the nod in the big leagues pretty soon. I think the problem here, and for any of these outfielder's we name, is the idea that they have to find a way to get time when this outfield is already stacked. It's stacked now on the major league roster as well as stacked with the guys that are ready to come up. So I think it's, I mean,

it's it's there there's a lot of pressure there I think there is the ability for there to be a competition and perhaps bring the best out of some of these guys because they know that we talked to cooper hummel and it's still one of the funniest conversations I've had with a player ever because he was so like it wasn't like a joke but he was kind of just like like looked at me like I was crazy when I was like because I asked him like what he was doing out of Arizona Fall League and he was like I'm just trying to get some more reps behind the plate and I said, oh yeah, like, good luck, you know, playing in this outfield. He's like, have you, or I was like, why?

Why were you getting more rest of me on the plate? And he's like, have you seen this outfield? I'm never going to play in this outfield ever again. Poor guy. Ever. I know that now, you know, like, and it's a, no, I mean, I think to me it was funny because he was, he was doing it in a very joking way, but he was very serious and he was very, like, self-aware.

Like, the talent level out there has exceeded my ability to be, as impactful as the players that they have, right? So it's like good luck getting playing time. Not only with that, but with guys like this coming up. Yeah, and oh yeah, Drew Jones is coming up. Yeah, right. Right. Right.

Right. So we got to round out the outfield. We have Stone Garrett. Hey, that guy. I know that guy. Friend of the show. Friend of the show. Friend of Chirston, Susal.

Yes, right. Is it Seussle? Sussell. It's Sussell. Okay. Because you keep saying that and every time it's just. It's for, it's on purpose. It just gets at me.

It just to bother her. Stone Garrett has a lot of power. He's a very buff man. There's no question about that. A little bit. Yeah. His role going into next year, again, it's hard to figure out how these things are going to shake out. The fact that he's a right-handed hitter certainly does him some favors moving forward.

And he had a good year for the debacks. It's hard to ask for much more than what he did after getting called up toward the end of the season. So we'll have to see. Michael McDermott makes a good point. I don't see why Stone gets awarded but Carol did not. I think they're just tired of giving Corby and Carol awards at this point maybe.

We've given you all the flowers. Get out of your care. Scram. You know what I love about Stone Garrett? That guy goes up there and he swings as hard as he possibly can. Every single time. No matter where that pitch is, no matter what his approach,

he's going out there to hit that ball of 527 feet. We've talked about it. There's the normal swing, there's contact swing, and then there's a contact swing, and then there's a And then there's StoGare. There are no other buttons to Stokear. Yeah, StoGare.

It's circle all the time. Yeah, so many circles in circle. Isn't it square? Square, yeah. I think circles the context. Maybe this is why I'm not good at this game. Yeah, it explains a lot. Derek plays MLB to show on Rookie.

Shut up, Jesse. You have to tell everybody. You don't have to tell everybody that comes in here. God. Anyway. Who else we got? We've got Dominic Fletcher. The other Dominic in AAA and Dominic Fletcher is a very similar player to, you know,

player to the prototype of outfielder, the diamond backs of, maybe prototype isn't the right word. Prototypical. Prototypical. There we go. Hey, the D-backs got a type. They got a tight. They sort of do. They sort of do. Yeah, Dominic Fletcher is 5'9, 185 pound, and he does hit left-handed. So, yeah, it's a pretty similar profile to some of the other guys that have come up. He's a really good defender. He has a great arm. I think those are really what he's best known for, but he does have a lot of speed as well. So yeah, again, it's going to be tough to figure out how to get him in the lineup. I know Michael McDermott made a good point before. Maybe you don't want to trade guys necessarily because you want depth as well. You know, if one of the guys at the bigley level

goes down, you've got one of these, you know, one of these guys in a good position to fill that spot. But it's also, you know, Dominic Fletcher on another team would probably be a guy they would plug into the lineup on a consistent basis and really want to see what they have. So the debacks have a lot of guys in that position right now. Last but certainly not least is Brandon Fott. Our guy, Brandon Fott, getting the right-handed or the right-hand star getting the pitcher organization All-Star. And of course, no surprise there. He was their minor league pitcher of the year. And he has just been highly touted. this entire time. So it's been

great to see his success and it's exciting to know that he is coming. That's one thing that the Diamondbacks have kind of been short on, has been hopeful arms coming from the minor leagues. Now I will say, Dre Jameson has worked out much better.

And Ryan Nelson both worked out much better than I think we could have hoped for. And hopefully we'll see the same out of fought when he gets called up inevitably. I imagine pretty soon into next season. Yeah, it could be opening day. They could wait. He keeps saying Brandon Fott's going to open.

He's going to play on opening day. It's possible. It's possible. He's throwing it out there. It's never, it's not going to happen, but I love his own. I think it's possible just because with the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are incentivized to have rookie of the year candidates on the roster from day one. He doesn't hear what he's saying.

He's not going to start on opening day, Jesse. No, no. You're right. You're right. He's not going to be the opening day starter. But he could be in the starting rotation on opening. Day is the point I'm trying to make. They actually do have two more on this list.

Brandon Fawt's the right-handed starter. The left-handed starter is Yumen Lin. What a weird way to categorize. It's a little weird. Umin Lin is their pick for left-handed starter. He just absolutely destroyed a rookie ball and then went up to Vysalia and continued to pitch extremely well. Umin Lin has like seven pitches.

It's wild. Oh my God. Yeah, he hasn't really risen up prospect list too much yet. because a lot of scouts don't really know too much about him yet. I think he's sort of flown under the radar. But, uh, but, but yeah, Josh Barfield said he's not fully physically developed, yet he still touches 93 miles an hour regularly. He's 19 years old.

So there might be, there might be. Those 93 and has six other pitches. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a pretty, pretty compelling, uh, pretty compelling, uh, resume that he's already built. And then they also have a spot for a relief pitcher. Hey.

And that goes to. Kyle Backus, who we've seen pitch in the Arizona Fall League. Quite a bit. Kyle Backis has looked pretty good in the Arizona Fall League at times. Definitely. We've seen him have some shut down innings and have some pretty good stuff. So it's exciting to see. Again, the prospects for the Arizona Diamondbacks tend to constantly be clouded by the places that they play.

So it's such a hard. It's hard to judge the actual talent sometimes pitching-wise that the Diamondbacks have when they're playing in Reno and in Amarillo as. Jesse is detailed about those two places. Yes, he was born in 2003. Oh my gosh. You know what I'm really excited about? I can't remember a time when the debacks had exciting, hard-throwing

pitching prospects. Yeah, right. For the longest time, you know, we go back to the Kevin Towers days, right? He liked weird armingles. He couldn't care less about Hart Duthrie. You know, even up to a... He just wanted you to be a submariner all the time. Yeah, like and up until now, DVex haven't had a hard thrower since, you know, maybe Yohan Lopez. Yeah, that's about it.

Yeah, he wasn't. And he wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't exactly the best prospect. No. Yeah, I can't remember the last time I've been excited about a DBAX pitching prospect. And now they got a bunch of them. Yeah. I think it's got to be back to like, you know, Archie Bradley, Brin Shipley back then. And it's been through pretty hard as a starter.

And then he got... And then threw hard as a... And then he threw hard as a... And then lost it. Yeah, now he lost it. Yeah. Yeah. So it's really exciting.

Just in general, the vibe around D-Backs baseball going into the next year. But especially pitching. Yeah. And again, I think the thing about it is the ones that we were kind of skeptical of how they would do at a major league level based on their numbers from the minor leagues have kind have come up and have been awesome. So, like, again, I know that sometimes it's a matter of coming back down to earth or whatever, but if Ryan Nelson and Dre Jamison can keep up similar production next season

and we can add Brandon fought to it, you know, there seems to be no limit to where this starting rotation could potentially go, especially when you talk about it being led by Zach Gallen as the ace and Merrill Kelly as the number two starter. Or Merrill Kelly at that point might even fall in at a number three or number four. I mean, who knows? No offense to mainstay, because he deserves to be number one in everyone's hearts at the very least. But that's their organization All-Stars. So those are basically some minor league players for you to look out for, not necessarily in the near future, but some of them in the near future, for sure.

There's a variety of guys peppered in there from 19-year-olds to 32-year-old journeymen. So that's the fun of minor league baseball. I also, I mistakenly said that Leander Sidney will finish the year in double-A. he did hit AAA at the end of the year. And that's likely where he would start next year. So just wanted to correct that. Michael McDermott says my prediction. Michael, do you just want to come in here?

Just fucking come down here. Michael says my prediction for Ryan Nelson is he's the team closer by the end of the 2024 season. That's a hot take. That's a hot take. That's a hot take. We're going to have to archive that one to come back to that one and see if that one. We keep receipts around here, Michael. Yeah, we keep receipts.

We keep receipts for sure. Make sure to check out our friends at OGs. If you haven't done so already, of course, OGs is the leading edibles maker here in the state of Arizona. And of course, they have done something wonderful by giving us flavoring our dreams with one of the best sleep addition gummies you can find on the market. Don't sleep on these. That's a joke. But, of course, you heard, yeah, you heard me right. I did that.

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Oh, that's sad. I have best dreams when I'm high, but of course. That's probably the best part, right? I mean, that's a little bit, a little bit. A little bit. Sometimes they can be too real in the dreams. That's a whole other thing. Of course, shout out to our friends over at Four Peaks Brewing Company, of course.

Spooky season is almost over. So make sure before it ends, you get a chance to go out to the 8th Street Pub and check out their haunted brewery tours, which you can participate in Monday through Wednesday, two tours per night. night and while you're there check out the chicken tenders uh by the way tootry calls jesse tendies and that's my favorite nickname that i think i've ever heard anybody call because he thinks that i he says i look like the type of person i know he says i look like the type of person who would order chicken tenders wherever i go yeah which of course is no it's not so he just comes in casually the other day when jessie and i are eating in the break room and just says what up tendies and that

made me fucking laugh harder than most of it i just have gotten used to it yeah he does that he does He didn't bat and high. He said, what did you call him? What did you call to? I call him Tori now. Tortie. Yeah, he's called Tori. People like to misspell Tochery and make it tortie.

It is, he's kind of funny. But of course, that's the kind of joy that these people bring me. Drive four peaks brewing companies, beers if you don't get a chance to go down to the haunted brewery tour, wherever you get your beers. And make sure to enjoy them responsibly must be 21 years or older. Elizabeth says, but everyone likes tendies. Yeah, there is one person who orders chicken tendies. they go at the stable and it's not Jesse. Oh my gosh.

Listen, I have a sensitive tongue. And sometimes I don't know what it's going to do. Tendys are always the same. I can't be getting this jalapeno burger. I don't know how my night's going to go after you. Oh, great stuff. Of course, we have some updates from the American League Championship series. the evil Astros took a 2-0 lead over the evil Yankees.

And I don't know what. Like, it's like I don't care. And I also fear that whoever comes out of this is going to be the winner. There is no real surprise here, I don't think. The Astros took care of business at home, right? So they did what they did. And now New York goes back to New York. It's all about if the Astros can actually take care of business there.

But does anybody care who wins between this series? No. Really? No. I mean, baseball-wise, Astros are probably the most complete team. And all baseball. Yes. But, I mean, I'm rooting for whoever comes out of the National League.

I don't care. Right. I mean, no matter who comes out. It's not like there's a winner out of the series. There's no winner at all. Nobody's going to be rooting for them in the World Series. And, like, that's all there is to it. It's going to be people that live in those towns, you know, fans of those teams.

It's Houston and a bunch of bandwagon, like, in New World Series. New York and like that's it. It's the worst case scenario. Jesse. Framber Valdez is a monster. I mean, he's so good. But his name's Framber. And he's had to live like that his entire life with Framber.

I'd be a monster too just in the fucking gym working out. Because my name was Framber. Framber Valdez in the regular season had a ground ball rate of 66.5%. The next highest for a qualified starting pitcher is 56.6. It's like 10% higher than the next highest guy. And not only that, but he got 25 whiffs in the game yesterday. That is a lot of swing and misses in one game. No, 25 is like insane.

So to do what he does, I mean, he might be the most underrated starter in baseball. I don't think. It has been for a while. He's been doing this for a while. He's been really good for a while. Everyone knows Justin Verlander who's probably going to win the Sy Young Award for good reason, but Framber Valdez is not far behind in that battle, and he showed how good he can be.

One thing I will say is that Aaron Judge very nearly hit a home run in this game, and the exit velocity on that ball was 106 miles an hour, and it just fell short. Kyle Tucker made a nice play at the fence. I don't know if it would have been a home run. I think he was more robbed of extra bases there. Alex Bregman hit a three-run home run, which was all of the runs that the Astros scored.

The exit velo on that was 91 miles an hour. And I think the expected batting average was something like 040. So there's a case to be made. The Astros got a little lucky here with a 91 mile an hour batted ball going over the fence and scoring them three runs. Whereas Aaron Judge fell short with 106. But, you know, baseball is going to be baseball. And those kinds of things happen. So we can find out if it, if it would have been a home run once asked go, Wooded Dong.

Woodedong. There you go. There you go. We got to find it. We'll get there. We'll get there. you look that up, I'm going to give you guys a reason why, look, we've said we are a Philly's stand account. You guys voted for us to be a Padre stand account.

Barely, barely. But if we needed more evidence as to why you might want to root for the Padres, because, of course, we're going to have to root for whoever comes out of the National League. Look no further than Joe Musgrove bringing a Polaroid camera into the dugout all season long and taking pictures of some of their favorite moments with said Polaroid camera. And I know Danielle can probably appreciate this because he put together a wonderful collage of Polaroid pictures from their season kind of as a way to inspire them, but as a way to also remember the good times. And when asked about, like, Drixon Profar to look through all the pictures and pick his favorite, he just said, man, all of them. You know, like, it's like for someone, it kind of reminds me in a way, like I annoy my friends sometimes. with my selfie taking with them and my picture taking when we go out and do events, right?

I know why most people with that. My wife, my friends, my coworkers, it's always, actually they appreciate it. They know why I'm doing it. But my wife and my friends hate it, right? Until, until I send them that little video that Apple made of our pictures from the weekend and then they're like, aw, and I'm like, yeah, that's why I did that.

Take pictures wherever you go. That's right. Take candid pictures of your friends. That's right. Do it. Oh, the candid pictures are the best especially, right, when they're not looking. They're going to act like they're going to be so annoying. They go, put the phone away, be in the money.

No, you're going to want to remember these things. This lady is the one that took the best picture of me ever. The picture of me and Tori laughing about Jesse falsely heckling him and using the F word around small children. It wasn't Jesse, but it's still hilarious that Tori thinks it was. Now, Danielle took that picture of me. That's like, that is one of my favorite pictures. I've ever been a part of. And like again, it is.

It's all about those moments, right? It's all about, especially even in the moment you don't want them taken for you to go back and see them at a later time. Trust me, as someone that's lived quite a while and almost hated every picture I've ever been in, they're worth it, right? Oh, I can attest to that. Living quite a while and hating every picture you've been in until very recently. I can attest to that one.

Yeah, just take hand of pictures of your friends. They'll get over it when they see the picture. Yeah, for sure. So anyways, Aaron Judge. Oh. Would it dong? Would it dong in two of 30 M.O.B. Ball Parks? Oh, just two.

Just two. Aaron Judge, I mean, it was 345 launch angle 28 degrees, two of three. Does it tell you which ones it would dong in? I'm sure we could find it somewhere. I didn't go that far. It exists somewhere. Aaron Judge was one for four yesterday with a single, and these were his exit velocities

111.7 106.3 that's the only we just talked about 103.9 that was a flyout and then the single was 101.4 He hits the ball hard. So his softest hit ball was his only hit. All of the other ones

were they were a lineout and then he had two flyouts. So anyone making the case that Aaron Judge sucks in the playoffs or something like that I don't really buy into it. It's such a small sample size and he's hitting the ball so hard.

You know, it's not like he's striking out every time he goes up there or anything. So, but yeah, the Yankees is. Baseball is the dumbest game. It really is. It's the dumbest game. It's so stupid and I love it so, so much. Yeah, Yankee Stadium would have been the other one.

Yeah. Minniquet and Yankee Stadium. Someone said Fenway. Well, it wouldn't have minamate because it was out at Minimian. It was an out of Minimitt. Yeah. We have empirical evidence. It would not.

It would not dogg it. It's not with Kyle. That's what I get for trusting Michael McDermott in the comments. Michael, you're done. Never mind. I reset my offer for you to come join us right now. Chase Field might be the other one. Yeah, yeah.

There's a good chance it might be Chase Field, the other one. Anyways. Oh, well, I'll tell you, we'll have a chance for us to all love baseball together. Speaking of loving baseball, out at the Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby, which is coming up, and we want you guys to come meet us out there. November 5th at Sloan Park, 635 p.m. Meet us out in the outfield That's where we will be

We will be out there We will be waiting for fly balls And we will be catching them Jesse's going to bring a glove And protect me the whole time So join us out there Get your tickets There

We might have some tickets to give away To some of you guys So stay tuned for that But make sure to put that on your calendar November 5th Join us for some hot hot Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby action

And I'll be there too There you Don't be fooled by the picture though Don't be fooled by the picture we just showed on the screen because it looks like the, you know, like the thing that's outside of Wrigley Field. Yeah. But we're not meeting at Wrigley Field. No, don't go to Wrigley Field. All of our Chicago listeners, make sure to show up here because we know there's so many of you.

So make the flight here and join us out at the Arizona Fall League. Of course, new customers over at the Draft King Sportsbook can bet $5 on any NBA team to win on Moneyline and bet. And you'll get $200 in free bets. a few team wins. Like the Suns did on opening night. They did. This guy was there for it. I still loved his analogy about basketball,

higher seed, being beat by a lower seed, right? Because that really is something that most people just think of as being cool when it happens. It doesn't happen regularly. But when it happens in basketball,

it just happens. No one says like, we need to change this playoff format. You know what I mean? I mean, it was a seven-game series. It was a little different maybe. But the Suns also didn't get a buy. That's right. That's true too.

But anyway. It's been five games for so long. I know. I know. I know. Nothing's changed. Just the excuses have changed. The always sunny meme that, oh, is somebody...

Yeah. Somebody getting knocked out in the first round. Make sure to boost your winnings up to 100% with Draft King stepped up same game parlayes. It's simple. Download the Drafking Sportsbook. Use our promo code of PHNX. That's promo code PHNX on the Draft King Sportsbook app. And you will get those $200 in free.

bets should your money line NBA bet win. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply C-show notes for details. And also make sure to check out our friends at more furniture. Of course, you want to get ready for NBA season. It's going to be a long son's season of us winning all sorts of games. So make sure to make sure your house is ready. I said make sure twice there. And I don't even know how that was possible. But again, make sure your house is ready for basketball season. Make sure that you make sure. That you make sure. That you make sure. More furniture fall sale over at morefurniture.com. You receive a $100 gift card for every $1,000 you spend.

I'd like to thank Danielle so much for joining us. Thank you so much for being here. And for the picture of me and Tori. That's still, I can't thank you enough for that. That's why you got the end of it. Michael McDermott, his invite has been rescinded. Of course, we covered that. Thank you guys so much for joining us.

Of course, in the meantime, you can get us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Danielle is at Aberka Daniel. Yes. Abracad Daniel. Nice. Of course, our shows at PHNX underscore DVACS and all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We appreciate you guys taking time to join us today. We thank you so much. On behalf of everyone here, we appreciate you guys. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you stop making excuses for why the Dodgers got knocked out of the playoffs. Thank you.