PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs Opening Day Roster All But Final After Last Cactus League Game

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Opening Day is almost here, and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ roster is coming into focus. We break down the final bullpen battles and whether this group has enough to keep Arizona competitive until reinforcements arrive.We also recap the end of Cactus League play, including the D-backs closing out Spring Training with a three-game sweep, and separate what actually matters from what doesn’t this time of year. Plus, we dive into your Mailbag Monday questions one last time before regular season baseball returns. 0:00 SkeeYee to Opening Day week!!!  3:05 Strong finish to Cactus League  10:05 Gabriel Moreno coming alive  13:00 Do you believe in Jorge Barrosa?  22:00 Predicting the Opening Day bullpen  30:30 Kade Strowd trade review  35:45 Mailbag Monday  44:30 Needed changes in MLB  55:15 Spring Trainings breakouts  1:00:20 Dodgers game upcoming... Limited-time offer! Become a Diehard for just $36: https://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order! Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/ Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have baseball this week. To another edition of the PHNX feedback podcast, LODE, presented by our friends at Circle. Hey, it is your mayor, it is your guy, it is time for baseball season. I'm Derek Monta Gateman. That is your baseball crew. That was Jesse Friedman.

I'm just more of a lover of the game. But welcome in to opening day week, ladies and gentlemen. We have opening day, just a few days. is away and we couldn't be more excited about that. When I say we, I'm not alone around here. I got you guys, of course, in the live chat. I got my guy. Damon Farrell, aka Damon.

He's probably more pumped than anybody because his Thursday is going to be filled with hopefully a lot of magic. Perhaps he gets to see the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers on Thursday and his wildcats advance. It could be one of the best or one of the worst days of my entire life. It really could.

But welcome in to all of you guys. Glad to have you here. We have a lot to talk about. It is Mailbag Monday and this show is brought to you by our friends at Game Time and bet 365. Make sure to download that GameTime app and create an account use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply. And over at Bet365, any new bet 365 user can sign up and use our code of PHNX 365. You'll make a $10 bet. You'll get $365 in bonus bets, win or lose. Hello to you all. Thrill to be getting on to regular season baseball. We finally have a wrap on Cactus League play.

Now we just have two exhibition games here with the Cleveland Guardians before the Arizona Diamondbacks start their season in Los Angeles on Thursday. One of those games being tonight and one of those games rudely being during our show tomorrow at 1240. But yeah, let's let's go. Welcome into you guys. The Diamondbacks do finish their spring training season with a record of 15 and 13 if you care about such things. I do know that we kind of overreacted to how things were going for this team for a little bit. So we might as well overreact on the other side of things and say 15 and 13.

That means we're going to the yoffs, y'all. That means we are going to the yoffs. But of course, the Diamondbacks finished up their season or their Cactus League season strong, if you want to call it that. They win their final three games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So like I said, they end their season at 15. and 13, and 13, something none of us care about, and I know no one will ever talk about ever again.

But, I mean, it's good. Once the reinforcements came back, Derek, it felt like this team could actually win a spring training game again. It did. And again, I mean... Funny how that works. I really wasn't concerned about losing the games in the fashion in which the Diamondbacks were losing them.

And I wanted to be clear about that. That's not really what made me panic. What made me panic was what was going on with the pitching staff and what was going on with the number of runs that the Diamondbacks were allowing For the most part, when you look at the guys that were away and participating in the World Baseball Classic, there wasn't, you know, it was mostly outside of Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka. It was mostly the Diamondbacks, you know, position players that were missing, right? So offensively, if things kind of drifted, then I feel like that's, it is what it is, but not that much to overreact to.

What it was more was the fact that over, you know, those nine games where they lost eight out of nine, they gave up 13 runs multiple. times and considering that there is a number of guys who are fighting for a spot in the bullpen and some of those guys have not been performing well that it was discouraging right you're hoping that the competition here for relievers brings out the best in some of these guys and for the most part it has in a few we're going to highlight those guys we're also going to talk about the diamondbacks pretty much having their opening day roster set with the exception of a few bullpen pieces which we will discuss who we think is in and who we think is out. But in regards to overreacting to pitching and such,

I am very much ready to overreact to Zach Gallin's outing against the brewers on Friday. Damon, he did not have a good outing. And it is what it is because it's spring training. And it is what it is because it's a starter essentially getting some work in and maybe just possibly working on one thing particular or another. but Gallin's results did not look good. He in four innings gave up nine hits, six earned runs, walked two, and struck out nobody.

He gave up home runs in the third inning to William Contreras, gave up a home run in the third inning to Bowers and gave up an home run in the fourth inning to Zamora. So in regards to Gallin getting ready and galling being prepared for opening day, I now have my concerns. I have more concerns. I know they won the game.

It was good to see the bullpen come in and only allow one run after Gallant exited the game. Right. So that that part was good, but also concerning that the bullpen only allowed one run. And Gallen was sitting here giving up six earned runs on nine hits. So, you know, there's that. Book's Journey wants me to not forget, by the way, that they crushed the spring breakout game two, which we will get to that as well as spring breakout game. game very exciting.

Jose Fernandez continues to be exhilarating and continues to be the future of this team. So much so that the Diamondbacks now in spring, or in the minor league season, I guarantee you we're going to see Jose Fernandez forced into third base or first base so that they can figure out where he is going to play in the future, much like what they did with Jordan Waller when they were trying to figure out a place for him to play. I was just about to say, Derek, like I have like a weird like thing with other short stops right now where I'm like, do I root it for them? Do I root against them?

I want our players to be good, but I kind of have an agenda here at hand that matters more than anything to me, I would argue. I understand. But yeah, you're right. At all times, right? First base is looking pretty wide open, Jose Fernandez. I'm just saying. Fernandez.

Yeah, yeah, Fernandez. But we also have third base, right? We have third base because Nolan Arnato is there next year. but I mean he could be the third basement of the future for this team. And considering how good he's looked so far, I can understand the impression being made. Jordan Lawler, speaking of impressions being made, was two for three in that game. He had a run scored.

The Diamondbacks didn't really have anybody particularly stand out, but they were still able to score eight runs and pull off the win. But again, when you talk about Gownd's performance on Friday, it's not hard to look at Ryan Nelson's performance on Saturday and suddenly start having second thoughts about who your opening day starter is. Because meanwhile, on Saturday, the Diamondbacks beat the Rangers by a score of five to two, and Ryan Nelson absolutely shoved, Damon, shoved against the Rangers, five innings pitched, four hits allowed, zero earned runs, zero walks, 7K.

Just saying. Just saying. At the very least, Ryan Nelson continues to solidify himself as one of the starters. And we're going to talk about the rotation being set for opening day and for the first. the start of the regular season here with some interesting things in there in regards to where guys are positioned. But Diamondbacks again beat the Rangers. Marte, Coutel Marte, had himself a nice little day, two for three. Ever heard of him? He's back. Might be more back than ever. Two for three a double run scored. Alex Thomas, one for two with a home run. He had three RBI and a walk. And

Vargy, Il-Domorrow Vargas continues to impress this spring. He was two for two with a double and a run scored. Vargas is now hitting 390 with a 966 OPS. And a couple of other guys have been putting up impressive numbers too. Those guys are the guys that, to be fair, you know, the Diamondbacks looked to last year, gave opportunities to like Jorge Barrosa and, you know, Burosa struggled especially offensively, but so far this spring Barrosa's looked outstanding. Another guy that's looked outstanding when it comes to pitching besides Ryan Nelson in that game is Taylor Clark. Taylor Clark went one inning, gave up one hit, zero earned roll. runs, one strikeout. His ERA ends in Cactus League play at 1.04. Pretty good. Another guy with a very,

very low ERA pitched in yesterday's win over the Padres, which was an 11 to 1 victory. And that was Juan Murillo. Juan Murillo gave up his first run of spring training, Damon. He almost made it out. He almost made it out of spring training without giving up an earn run the entire time. He gave up just the one run. He finishes his Cactus League play with a 1.08 ERA. That was one run allowed in eight in the third innings pitched of relief for Juan Morillo. So again, some good performances there from some bullpen arms. And Morillo isn't necessarily a guy that is in, but he is a guy we think is going to be in. And again, we're going to talk about the finalized roster here momentarily.

But one really good sign from yesterday's big win over the Padres was that Gabriel Morrill. Reno is him again, Damon. He is him again. After concerns about his arm injury, which he appears to be fine and well from, he was three for four yesterday with a double that he smoked and two home runs that he also smoked. Yeah, two RBI. First, a home run in the third inning went 455 feet with an exit below of 108 miles per hour. The second one, one inning later, went 459 feet and had an exit velo of 110.1 miles per hour. 900 feet of home runs. Just casually.

Insane. Yeah. I mean, if you throw the double in there, there's probably a thousand feet of hits there, for sure. I love it. For sure. I love it. And again, it's, you know, he is a guy that, uh,

talking about my concerns this spring training, meaningless concerns. I had my concerns about how long it took for him to get his first hit. Yeah. And then more concerns based on the injury. right? Which I think is always kind of there with Gabby until, you know, he proves that he can consistently stay on the field, right? Because that injury was like, it just felt like, oh my God, here we go again.

And thankfully it feels like he's fine. But yeah, that's always going to be in the back of my head. Glad to see him hidden, though. Yeah. And I mean, it's a very encouraging sign, of course, because the Diamondbacks don't, their offense, again, is going to be good this year. But it could be great. if Gabriel Moreno could take that step forward in a similar way that Perdomo did last year.

And, you know, and those other guys can maintain their level of production. If you can keep the trio of stars that the debacks have still hot at the plate, but you add in a Gabby Moreno, you add in consistent, consistent, yeah, production from like a Jordan Lawler. This offense is fine. It's fine. And in fact, I would say that there's a good chance that the Diamondbacks are less reliant on the home run ball and the power this year, even though it's going to be there, and they can be more reliant on consistent batting average.

Let's not forget that just one season ago, this team led Major League Baseball and Batting Average. They tied the Padres, but still led Major League Baseball and Batting Average, right? I think that is very possible with the way this team is constructed, because you're going to have less of those Feast and Famine guys like Gino Suarez was last year on your roster. and consistently when you look through one through nine, these are all guys that can hit. You start adding in the potential of a Jordan Lawler.

You start adding in potentially like Jorge Barrosa when he's playing and other guys contributing in the same way that they've been contributing this spring. And you could see this team very much being fine offensively this year. It's all about the pitching. It's all about the pitching staff, the starting pitching staff, and the relievers, right? but Jorge Barrosa, again, a guy who deserves his flowers for what he's done in Cactus League play.

Two for four yesterday. Another home run. Two runs scored. Berosa's batting average is 333, but more impressive, Damon. His OPS is 1.118. 1.118. And like, again, this is a guy that has not really shown this level of consistency or power during the regular season at any point. And fans were right to be kind of.

have discouraged about the idea that Jorge Barrosa at one point before the Lawler decision was solidified was going to be, you know, an outfielder for this team, right? But I think that this is what's so cool about baseball. It's also what I really like about pro wrestling. You never know when a guy is going to turn a corner and suddenly be something completely different, you know, and again, this is just Cactus League play. So I'll, I'll reserve judgment for regular season at bats, but, you know, for, again, for a guy that really has not shown any, like, that this was even kind of on the radar for him, I, I'm impressed by what he's done in spring play. It's been fantastic. I'm also going to be that guy like I often am. You have to be that guy.

I understand. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to defeat Jorge Barrosa at some point this season. No, Damon, no. I have a feeling. I hope he proves me wrong. But I have a feeling and me and Big Jake, we're texting about this a couple days ago. Yeah. Like, I'm going to be sitting there and we're going to be like, get Ryan Walschmidt these A-Bs. Please. I'm tired of watching this guy in the lineup. Now, this is unfair given the spring that he's had.

So I hope that, like I said, he proves me wrong. He makes me look like a big idiot. But I'm putting it on the record right now. Jorge Brosa, I, Damon Dog, do not believe in you, sir. Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. I get it. I get it.

Well, and it's going to be hard for him to, prove you wrong because as it stands, I don't know where he is going to necessarily get playing time. Tori Lavallo will never... He's the fourth outfield there right now, no? Yeah. And I mean... I mean, so like Jake McCart, I think Jake McCarthy from last year. He played plenty. That's true. That's true. But you do have the return of Lordus Guerriel Jr. very soon. I mean, we don't know how soon, but we think pretty soon. We've seen the videos. We've seen the tape on it. It appears that it's very imminent. So I don't know. The Diamondbacks, honestly, and this is, I think, um, some Somebody, books journey might have brought it up in the chat, but there is a very interesting

roster, you know, kind of decision to be made, multiple roster decisions to be made, and more when guys start returning from being injured and such and being added back to the 40-man roster. So I still don't know how everything is going to pan out, but we'll do our best to figure it out here on the other side of this break. But before we go to break, I did want to remind everybody, since we have so many people RSVP that we are having our opening day watch party in just a few days. Damon's got some complications.

Damon's availability is TBD. All right. Remember, just like pro wrestling, the card is always subject to change. But I will be there, perhaps by myself, perhaps with Noah, perhaps just with this dog that sits next to me. But regardless, we will be having a watch party and a pre-game show out at Crybaby at 818 North First Street in Phoenix, Arizona. here in downtown and then we will all be watching the Dodgers get beat by the debacks on opening

day doors open at five game starts at 530 we have huge TVs to watch the game food and drink drink available for purchase and you can RSVP for free on our website and uh yeah come join us yeah we got about 20 RSVPs already and that's very exciting excited to have so many people pumped for opening day yeah it's going to be electric uh you know Derek I do I would say that if somehow you brought the Damon's dog dog on a day that I maybe was not able to be in attendance, that sounds about like the saddest possible thing I could think of. I don't know if you paid attention to the details on this program, David. You're going to be sitting there just staring at them.

This dog does not appear on this show when you are not here. I don't know if you've noticed that. He doesn't come on the show when Damon's not here. So that's part of it. We got big Jake Franklin asking in the chat, should I fly in? Hell yes you should Jake Let's go Jacob We'll get a bed

We'll get a hotel room in downtown Phoenix And we'll share a bed like old times When we were in Chicago Just you and me Both being too big to share a bed together Cannot wait I might still pop out Derek Even if even if my show

With Wildcats conflicts and gets in the way a little bit Like I still want to see the people You got a lot going on Arizona sports has got a lot going on that day So yeah Very true Damon's gonna be all over the place But hopefully you'll be able to join us

Hopefully you guys will be able to join us. So make sure, again, your RSVP for that. It's free. Just want to know how many people are coming. So we know exactly, I don't know how many stools to have. I don't know how that works. I don't know. I'm not a food and beverage guy.

But we're going to take a quick break. On the other side of this break, we're going to talk about the opening day roster being set. And who is in and who is out of the Diamondbacks bullpen? Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the P.HNX Diamondback show. Well, summer is almost here. And we know that those energy bills are going to be struggling

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That's how quickly that decision was made. Sorry about that one, buddy. But of course, we know some other difficult decisions are being made by the Diamondbacks right now, including some recent cuts that were made. Philip Abner was a guy who we thought could potentially be an option for the Diamondbacks, left-handed option for the Diamondbacks coming out of the pen. He was reassigned or optioned, excuse me, to AAA Reno. So that happened and that kind of solidified Brandon Garcia a bit as the only left-hander.

However, with cuts being made from other teams and other roster decisions being made, there could be a last minute move here made by the Diamondbacks before they have to submit their opening day roster on Wednesday. So with that being said, we don't know exactly who is in and who is out or if Brandon Garcia is a lock for one of those final bullpen positions. Now, I did want to just discuss Jacob Amaya briefly because he had himself a tremendous spring. He is one of those like minor league guys that honestly, quite frankly, just like Jose Fernandez, maybe just like Ryan Walschman. You couldn't really ask some of these guys to do more than they did to impress. I mean, Ryan Walschman in the final game yesterday was three for four with a double and a run scored. He ends up spring training with a 302 batting average and an 821 OPS. Okay, so Waldie's ready, as are some of these other guys that I'm sure the Diamondbacks are going to try their best.

to, you know, stay, keep them ready and keep them available for an opportunity should it present itself. But Steve Gilbert in his recent article spoke to Mike Hazen, and he basically confirmed that right-handed relievers Joe Ross and Jonathan Loisiga, both guys who were non-roster invitees, they have made the team and their contracts will be purchased. So both of those guys are in the bullpen, which again, that's going to create some very interesting roster decisions that need to be made to the Diamondbacks overall 40-man roster. You also have Steve kind of confirming in his article that Ildemar Vargas has also been added to the roster or will make the opening day roster, it sounds like. So right now, the Diamondbacks position players seem set. Their outfield

is comprised of Corbyn Carroll, Alec Thomas, and Jordan Lawler, third. base is Aronado, shortstop Perdomo, second base Marte, first base, and D.H. would be Santana and Pavin Smith. You got Gabriel Moreno and James McCann behind the plate, and then your bench consists of Ildemarro Vargas, Jorge Barrosa, and Tim Tawa. And that's what the Diamondbacks position players are looking like for their opening day roster. And then we have the, like I said, the imminent return of Lordus Guerrille Jr. And again, that's going to be interesting how that impacts everything overall. Meanwhile, on the bullpen, veterans, Paul Seawald, Kevin Ginkle, and Ryan Thompson

seemed to be in along with Loisiga and Joe Ross. And then Taylor Clark has been undeniable. And considering the Diamondbacks acquired him as a free agent, that's somebody who is also kind of confirmed to be in. So outside of that, you would have two remaining spots in the bullpen. And with guys that have not been already optioned to AAA, or, you know, moved in some way. You got Juan Murillo and Brandon Garcia, which seemed likely.

Andrew Hoffman also had a really nice spring and probably deserves a shot. But again, they'll probably go with experience here over Hoffman's numbers that he put up in spring training and will likely see him left off the opening day roster as far as the bullpen is concerned. I could be wrong about that. And also, Brandon Garcia, again, isn't a lock. He really struggled. It was nice to see him at least have one, you know, good final outing of spring training yesterday, but still not super encouraged by what we saw out of his last like three outings prior to yesterday.

So, I mean, the Diamondbacks might not be confident in him as their only left-handed option for now either. So that's the reason why there is that caveat of they could still go out and add another arm should one become available from another team. But, you know, that that seems unlikely, though that I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, which is so contradictory to say. Sorry to be hypocritical and stand on both sides of the fence on that one. But like, I don't see the Diamondbacks making any last minute moves, but they have done it in the past. And it kind of is understandable with how, you know, bad Brandon Garcia's last few outings have been. Yesterday, though, one inning pitch, no hits allowed, no run runs, and two strikeout.

So at least a much more encouraging outing in his last outing of spring training. Then for the starting rotation, you have Zach Gallen, Ryan Nelson, and Eduardo Rodriguez going in Los Angeles. Zach Gallen will be on opening day. Ryan Nelson in game two, Eduardo Rodriguez in game three there against the Dodgers. Then back here at home will be Michael Soroka going against the Tigers and Brandon Fott going against the Detroit Tigers in the final spot in the starting rotation. I'm sure it's more about how things line up, but it's interesting to see Eduardo Rodriguez kind of moved up there to third. Michael Soroka, not in the final spot.

Brandon fought there in the final spot. I don't want to look too much into anything right now, especially considering that Merrill Kelly's return is also on the horizon and he will be back soon. But, you know, we had this tweet from Nick Picoro and Nick basically told us that Merrill Kelly could return at some point on the second road trip of the season, meaning that that Kelly's not going to be available as soon as we thought, right? The second road trip of the season, you know, isn't too long away, but it does go to show that based on him being placed on the IL,

he will have to miss a number of games before he can return. That second road trip starts on April 7th against the New York Mets, and then they go against the Phillies and the Orioles before returning home against the Toronto Blue Jays. And I'm going to wait to talk about the schedule until tomorrow, but their schedule is so difficult in the month of April. It's really bad. And I think the only hope here is that maybe the Padres aren't very good

when we go to Mexico City to take them on. We can just sweep that series and come back feeling rejuvenated and new. But Diamondbacks definitely have some tough tests to start out in the season, including Dodgers, Tigers, Braves, Mets and Phillies, and then Orioles, Blue Jays, all lined up like that. that throughout the month. But good to have Merrill Kelly back. But again, I'm not, I have no idea what the Diamondbacks are going to do for some of these roster spots that they're going to need to make when guys return. And again, difficult decisions are going to have to be made. Someone brought up

in the chat, yeah, Jorge Barrosa does not have any options left. So that's, that impacts this situation. I also have said that about, you know, their starting rotation. Ryan Nelson and Brandon fought are the only guys with options there. And depending on what the Diamondbacks want to do when Kelly returns, I mean, there is a chance that Michael Soroka might have outperformed either one of those guys. I'm not, I'm doubtful that Nellie is on the bubble like that. I feel like it's more about Brandon fought, but I'm not sure. And I don't envy the Diamondbacks for, you know, the roster decisions that they have to make. What I am at least cautiously optimistic about is that this bullpen is going to be

improved from last year. But why do I think that? I have no reason to think that, Damon. Honestly, and I'm like, I'm not, I don't want to attack the Diamondbacks because they did all that they could do, try to give guys opportunities and to bring in some new arms and to improve this bullpen. But I am not convinced a bullpen led by Paul Seawalt, Kevin Ginkle, and Ryan Thompson, and once again is going to be more effective than it's been in the past.

I do like what Jonathan Loisiga's done so far. Taylor Clark's looked outstanding. Juan Morillo's looked outstanding. So, I mean, there's some encouragement there, but I definitely have my concerns about the bullpen heading into the season. And it continues to be the biggest, you know, obvious, glaring weakness of this team. No doubt about it. I mean, you look at the lineup, I think you feel pretty good.

You feel better than you probably. did at the start of the off season with some of the springs that these guys have had with Jordan Lawler's breakout with knowing that Lourdes should be back fairly soon, those type of things, right? So the lineup shouldn't be the concern. I personally think the rotation is going to be better than what probably most Eback's fans think, considering that the last two years, we thought the rotation was going to be really good. It's much of the same guys. And I feel like it's been an absolute like just unmitigated disaster the last two years, everything that possibly could have gone wrong, went wrong. And so I just expect maybe a little bit more

positive regression in that regard. Um, but the bullpen. Yikes. It looks bad. Yeah, I know. And, you know, I think there were times this, this off season where we said the same thing about the bullpen of like, expect a little bit of positive regression. Maybe, you know, Mike traded for a lot of these new young arms. Um, a few of them hopefully will, we'll kind of, you know, stick and, and show out. It doesn't really feel like the young guys are the ones that are going to be the main horses in this bullpen. It's much more, like you said, it's Kevin Ginkle, it's Ryan Thompson, it's Paul Seawald. Yeah.

It's the guys that we know, the evil that we know, if you will, Derek. And so I don't know that that makes me feel all that great. The Cade Stroud, you know, send down to the miners. I told you felt like a shot to the heart. I don't even know if we really discussed that. No, we didn't. Cade Stroud was optioned to AAA Reno. I mean, just a shot to the heart.

Like, on one hand, I have seen what Jonathan Loisiga's done so far, and I think that he's looked great. And I'm excited that he has rebounded because what he's done in the past is it makes me very encouraged about him as an addition to this team. However, yeah, no, I mean, I hate that the Diamondback traded Blaze Alexander for a guy that has now been optioned. I kind of penciled Stroud in, regardless of how he performed this spring, due to the fact that he was, you know, a subject, a guy the Diamondbacks traded for and actively added to this roster, giving up one of their most electrifying pieces from last year. And yeah, I mean, and I get it.

Like, where was Blaine? You just want to see Cade Stroud stick. Like, even if he's, even if you have, you feel like, oh, Blaze, you know, we had a little bit of excess of infield. We could get rid of them and try to get something that we needed. A lot of questions about where he was going to play. You just got to have Kate Stroud be on the MLB roster. If he's going to be in AAA Reno, all of a sudden, I hate the trade so much. And I told you, Derek, like, on top of it, now I feel like Kate Stroud's going to go down to Reno, have an ERA of 5-8, stink, ruin his confidence.

And now the trade was a complete disaster. We had Blaze Alexander and we lit him on fire. And we, and that's all. Now we burn that. We burn that player. So hopefully Kate Stroud ends up being able to contribute to this team, but that one felt bad. And yeah, I was hoping that a lot of these younger guys would kind of make themselves undeniable, Dre Jameson, Andrew Hoffman.

And it just feels like it's going to be us running back the vets that we know haven't performed all that great recently. And in hoping that, you know, Kevin Ginkle stays healthy and Ryan Thompson finds 2023 form and all this stuff. It's not good. The bullpen is not good. Yeah. Well, we are going to take a quick break. And on the other side of this break, we have happier times. We're going to do a little thing we call Mailbag Monday around here.

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Download the GameTime app today. Create an account and use code P.HNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms to apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Damon, what time is it? Game time! Well, we are here on our final Monday without regular season baseball.

And of course, you know that before the season starts, that every year on the PHA next time on Beck's podcast is our year. Every year, the year of the snake, Every month on this podcast is Hispanic Heritage Month. Every single week on this very podcast is Shark Week. Every single day on the PHNX Diamondback show is opening day. But on Mondays, we go to the mailbag powered by game time. Damon, let's go to the mailbag.

Welcome into Mailbag Monday, powered by our mailbox. Welcome into Mailbag Monday, powered by our mailbox. our friends at GameTime. Make sure to use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase on the GameTime app. Damon, what do we got here in the mailbag today? I know we got a lot of good questions. I know people are excited to be back to baseball this week. But, of course, you know, it's also the lull between the WBC championship game and opening day,

which is kind of like this purgatory that we're stuck in until the actual game start. But what do we got? our first question comes from Travis more of course is there any specific ballpark food that you really want to experience but haven't yet the crab cakes at canton yards come to mind first for me that sounds unreal yeah yeah like i mean i'm a sucker because we don't really get good seafood here in arizona right so i'm a sucker for any place that has like accessible good fresh seafood so if you tell me that a ballpark meal has crab or lobster in it I'm there I'm there. You don't even have to tell me twice. In fact, I had once the delicious crazy crab sandwich at Oracle Park in San Francisco along with the garlic French fries. And let me tell you, that was worth traveling to San Francisco for alone in itself. That sounds incredible, Derek. The garlic, by the way, the seagulls will eat the garlic french fries right out of your goddamn hands. It's amazing. I've never seen birds this brave in my entire life, but the crazy crab sandwich does go crazy. If I was to travel for an item I haven't had, the one thing I came across, Damon, that really struck me as like, I want to get on a PJ right now in Scottsdale and just head out is to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, aka

our bank park that Alec Thomas is the owner and proprietor of. They have burnt ends cheese steaks out there in Philly. Philly knows their way around a cheese steak as it is. You're going to tell me that they put burnt ends in a cheese steak and I can buy it at the ballpark. I don't care how much it's, I don't care how much it costs.

Money is no object when it comes to that. I will happily fly. And then like as far as gross food is concerned that most people probably would not agree with, look, I like Skyline chili. I'm not going to, I'm not going to hide it. I've eaten it before and it's delightful. And apparently Great America,

American ballpark, you can get like a Cincinnati Reds helmet filled with Skyline chili. I hate nessy foods at a ballpark, but I like Skyline chili. I'm conflicted and I want the helmet. So I'm probably going to get the Skyline Chili. I've had Skyline chili at Great American Ballpark. Have you? Did you eat it in a ball? And did you eat it in a helmet?

Or was it just in a like a trough? I think it was just in like a paper trough. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's Skyline Chili, brother. I know. It's the same. all the time

every time. It doesn't disappoint. Well, and it also disappoints every time. It's kind of a mixture of both. Yeah, for sure. For sure. But yeah, no, I mean,

I would travel all over the place. I will say that I don't know if Seattle ever got rid of the roasted crickets. But that always, yeah, Seattle Mariners used to sell roasted crickets for consumption. And it was a delicacy. I think that ended pretty fast, though.

I, again, I do this every once in a while and everyone gets really upset with me because it's just not my brand. But like, I do like going to both the, or all three, I guess, of the Southern California. I almost forgot the Angels even exist because it's like, is that a team that people go watch play, I guess? They got Pac-Man snacks. I went last summer and I'm sitting here and I'm like, what? Angels, huh? but all three of the Southern California stadiums, I like the vibes there because it's like, it's SoCal, it's tacos and, you know, Mexican beer and I'm having a, it's just,

that's, that's where, that's where I want to live. Outside, you know, with 75 degrees and there's seagulls flying above. And I got a mischalada in my hand and I'm watching the D-Backs kick some Dodger ass. That's my ideal world. I mean, that, that sounds like a wonderful night. Um, also I don't mean to be anything pro Padres, but, uh, there may have been a leak of their new city connect jersey. Oh, you like it? I kind of like it.

I thought I kind of like it. Can I be real? I thought it, I mean, they went, they did what we did, which is they took their city connect jersey and they said, what if we switched up the vibe that kept the exact same logo, branding, all of that stuff, but with a different color way. Yeah. Um, because it's the same jersey that they had with the neon. You mean the San Diego? Yes, but it's, it's just differently colored. That's blue.

It's navy with orange instead of. I like the, I like, it's like got the Dia de los Mueros like vibe to it with the sugar skull or the, you know. That might be different, but I'm talking about just what the San Diego on the, on the front here. It's in that like friends font. You know what I'm talking about? But I, I think it's okay. I think that we did our rebrand of the Serpientes better than they did. I agree.

I agree. I agree. And then we got the giants becoming the Higantes. so everybody wants to be like us when it comes to that. I just see Jacob Candice, I'm sorry, I just disagree with you guys. I think that there's like certain stadiums where you're like, this is baseball. And I feel like, you know, it's old, but like there are, it's a pretty cool stadium, man. I will say I'm a sucker for a lot of things in L.A. when it comes to like the, like them being older and stuff.

I like the Hollywood Bowl. I like Dodgers Stadium. Rose Bowl. Yeah, yeah. Rose Bowl is great too. Absolutely. Absolutely. like, oh, take me back to the, I don't want to date myself talking about being there.

It's the one redeeming quality I think they have. Yeah. No, you're right. You're right. All right. All right. What else we got? Our next question here is from, let me get back over here.

Sizzle in the sun, Michael says, can we blame Nolan Aeronado for this heat wave? He didn't like Arizona spring training because of the cold mornings. 100%. Like you don't go out there and tempt the weather gods here in Arizona. I don't even know if weather gods is a real thing. but he definitely did. He tempted the baseball gods for sure. He was like, bring it on.

I want warmer. I want hotter. And boy, did he get it. Boy, did we all get it. We got games changing times. We got nobody wanting to play in the afternoon anymore. And that sucks. Like, the one thing that,

and the ironic part is that we're going to have nicer temperatures here in like a week. So by the time Diamondbacks have their opening day game, we're going to have great temps. And the roof's going to be open and everything's going to be open. It's going to be great. It's going to be great. But it did suck for spring training because I think that's the one thing that we all get out of spring training. You go to a spring training game.

You get to hang out. You get to enjoy the beautiful weather and be outside at an outdoor park. Even with the stadium open, it doesn't feel very like you're much outdoors, you know, at Chase Field. Though I will say it's completely transformed when the roof is open. I love Chase Field on such a different level when that place is opened up, top down, windows open. vibes immaculate. Like, that's great in all. And I'm glad we're going to get it to start the first season or the first month of the season. But, you know, again, I felt like we were kind of robbed there of the end of spring training. However, with it being a WBC year, was there very much

interested in spring training? Like, I would, I would argue that there wasn't. I would argue that more teams needed to do what they were doing out on the west side and, you know, changing their ticket prices and trying to do everything they can to just get people to come out watching baseball games, if it was just prospects and other guys performing and not the normal stars. But, yeah, the heat is to be blamed on Nolan Aronado, and hopefully he can, you know, learn his lesson. And I don't know. He needs to somehow make up for this in some way.

Maybe by hitting 400 in spring training, he did that. I don't know. What else we got, Damon? Our next question here comes from Flea Ball, who says NBA needs to get rid of back-to-back's and tank. thinking what does the MLB need to get rid of? Oh, boy. MLB needs to get rid of two game and four game series during the regular season.

It doesn't make any sense to me. It feels like considering how many times they have to like adjust and adapt and make a, you know, two game series here because you had a four game series here or whatever the case may be, seems silly. I think every series in baseball should be three games. and I know that's dumb, but it's just how I see it. I also think that they could, you know, make every series three games and reduce the season down by a little bit

so that we, you know, don't have as many baseball games, but I know they're never going to do that. So I'll stop beating that horse, but I will say when it comes to, you know, the season, I think there is, you know, things like that that they could change. I agree with Jacob and Jay Army Strong in the chat, though. They both said, just get rid of the Dodgers. That seems like an easy fix for baseball.

You do that and things suddenly get much, much better. I mean, you know that I'm all in on that answer. I know. But yeah, 2 BMC says two games get rid of, but I like a good four game weekend with a division rival. Yeah, I mean, you're not entirely wrong about that. I just think that it settles nothing. like, you know, the point of a series is determine a series winner.

And that's something that I think is, you know, is what the purpose of having three game sets should be. Zach says get rid of ghost runners and extras. No, sir. No, we're not going back to 15 inning games, Zach. I'm sorry. I don't want it. I don't want it as someone that has to sit there and be at the ballpark until 1.30 in the morning covering this team. So let's let's not get rid of ghost runners.

and extras, at least during the regular season. Get rid of the long drawn-out off-season. Like make free agency an event, make people care about free agents signing with different teams because that's what the NBA has done. They've commoditized that. That's what the NFL's done. They've commoditize that. The MLB sits there and puts their hands in their lap and goes, well, no one has any interest

in baseball for the six months that we don't play games. I completely agree. And I think that baseball does a bad job at all of their events. I think that, you know, covering baseball, the funny part about it is how quick everybody just says like, oh, well, nobody has interest in it, right? Nobody had interest in a lot of things when it came to the NFL and the NBA. But those leagues made those events into something, right? And with time, people buy in and they get excited for it and it becomes an event.

I think MLB is as guilty as anybody of writing off their own popularity and assuming that nobody's interested in their stuff so they don't capitalize on it. I said this about spring training with the lack of spring training games that were available to watch in this day and age. You know what we are watching today? We were watching pigs race. We were watching pig racing as many people right now are because it has electrified the internet. And it's one of the most exciting things I think I've ever seen. Electric. I'm a huge piggy smalls fan, have been since day one.

That's my racer. That's my goat. Wow, I didn't know we were on the same side here. Yeah, it's rare that we are. But we recognize the greatness in somebody that truly like rises above the rest, right? The idea of pigs racing here is the idea that somebody made that exciting and aimed to an event. Just like marble racing when that was the thing during like the pandemic. Like, you have to be better at promoting your own thing and making it into a big deal to get people to buy into it and also make it a big deal.

And yeah, like R.A. says people talk in NFL almost year round. How? It's a 17 game season. And yet, yes, NFL is king year round, year round, from January to January, bell to bell. So, you know, it really does seem like Major League Baseball does a poor job of turning their product, their content, their stuff into something that's a premier event. Instead, they want to throw it on like the MLB network or on MLB.com or whatever. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Put it on ESPN. Put it on something else. Get this stuff on in a national. audiences view on their radar and you know again that's that's that's that's on baseball to do but now now I'm bummed out talking about baseball being bad at what they do and promoting so let's take a quick break on the other side of this break we're going to do some more mailbag monday questions and

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membership is required based on eligibility. Some benefits require no cost registration activation, terms, conditions and exclusions do apply. All right, Damon, well, let's get back to our mailbag Monday. What else we got there? Presented by our friends at time. Yeah, of course shot at game time. Brighton. Bobbitt says, serious question, is there any

concern about Zach Gallin's fastball command with the uptick and velocity? Was an issue last year when it went up? Not serious question. If we set the over under for Killer X getting banned from the chat at 39 and a half times this season, we taking the over or the under? See, I feel like I, in regards to question number two, I feel like I have a huge impact on that. You are the entire impact insider, little insider trading there. I would probably take the under. I feel like 39 and a half is pretty high. As far as time, wait, like as far as times of me wanting to ban him,

39 and a half is very low. Oh, for sure. For the season, for 162 game season, yeah, I mean, I'm sure he'll be at 100 easily for times wanting to ban him. Derek will call for him to be banned no less than 162 times. Correct, correct. But the first part of that question actually, is concerning.

I mean, when it comes to fastball command, it feels like gallons, it feels like everybody's up a tick, right? It feels like everybody's velocity is up. That could be a product of the change in analytics approach. It could be something to do with Jeremy Blyche and his impact on this team. I do feel like, you know,

pitching, the pitching strategy is going to lean towards their pitcher's strengths now versus trying to pick so much on the batter's individual weaknesses. However, you know, again, the lack of command is is a problem for Zach. And I think that that is something that, you know, that led to a lot of those erratic outings where Galen would be outstanding one night and then five days later would struggle and would give up multiple home runs similar to this last outing that he had of the spring training season. But I do think that from what we've seen out of Zach so far, I am encouraged by a lot of things.

And I do think that, you know, if that's the case, hopefully Gowan can adapt and know where he's at. His fastball is very important. If Gowan can establish his basketball command, then the rest of his game is completely off. I mean, there's other guys in the starting rotation that their fastball is not landing. There's other things they can do. There's other pitches they can throw. And some of them are not even relying on the foreseem as their primary pitch. But when it comes to Gowan, that it really sets up a lot.

and, you know, his command is a big reason why he's had the success he's had throughout his career, right? So hopefully it's not a matter of him trying to do too much and go out there and, you know, have that velocity up a tick. It's a good sign, though, in spring training. It just means that perhaps, you know, now he needs to focus in on ensuring that command is there to partner together with his velocity. Excuse me. Well, else we got, Damon. Our next question here is from Jarmy, who is here in the chat, says Jorge Jordan and Gabby let home runs fly in the preseason. What do you think change for them?

And did that make decisions tougher or harder for Hazen when shaping the final roster? Bonus question, have you tried the new steak burger tacos from Freddy's? They're excellent. No, no free ad Friday. I can't answer that second part, but I have not and I will. So maybe other people should as well. I'm not. Does that an ad?

That constitutes an ad. for the rest of your question. Yeah, I mean, I will say Burrosa being as good as he's been this spring is a good problem for the Diamondbacks. I don't think the other two there really change much other than reinforcing what the Diamondbacks wanted to do, right? So when you talk about Jordan and Gabby, especially Gabby having those two home runs after the injury, little injury scare and the brief time down, those things are just very encouraging and it just makes you feel like, You know, the debacks did make the right decision here. Jordan's adapting well to the outfield. He's defensively, he's been good out there.

Gabby, of course, you know, his offense is picking up and things are looking good there. With Barrosa, I do think that it's just, it's interesting for him, for the Diamondbacks. And again, it's a positive thing because it does at least allow for the time being them to kind of feel like they can count on Jorge. and that when they put him into these games, it's not just going to be him taking up a spot in the starting lineup and being out there defensively as an outfielder. It feels like he can add to this team. He can be productive and he can help this team win baseball games.

But it's also a matter of, as we discussed earlier, with you guys saying in the chat, he's out of options. So the Diamondbacks don't necessarily have that ability to swap him down to AAA and let him get right like they've been able to do in the past. So I do think for Barrosa, he's aware of his situation, and it could be a big reason why he is performing as well as he is. I mean, some guys get their back against the wall, and that's when you see the best kind of come out of them.

And in this case, that could be what's going on with Jorge Barrosa. I mean, there's other guys capable of also being a backup fourth outfielder for this team on the roster. And in the case specifically of Barrosa, when Lordus Gurriel Jr. comes back, he becomes very expendable at that point. So he has a limited amount of time during the regular season to go out there and perform so well that the Diamondbacks have more difficult decisions to make once their roster starts to see those guys returning from the IL.

The hope here is that that is exactly what they have to do versus it being like, oh my God, thank God Lordus is back. We've not gotten anything out of Barrosa, you know, in the time that he's been, you know, you know out there in the outfield so yeah there's that but i i think that it's not making decisions tougher it's just making the diamondbacks you know believe in the guys that they have here and perhaps it's making mike hazen's job a little bit easier that he doesn't have to go out there and try to be kind of scanning you know the roster reports and things that other teams have done as far

as moves they've made to see if there's anybody available that they could add that could fill the role that they needed one of these guys to fill. So it's a good problem to have, but it's only going to get worse. Those guys, like I said, come back from the IL. We got anything else there, Damon? We got a few more, right? Yeah, we actually have two more questions. And it starts here with Geek Martinez saying, can Derek be the manager?

Dan Housin has been looking for so he can uncurse Arizona sports. Okay, so, yeah, Damon's confused her a little bit. Dan Housen, kind of a professional wrestler. Gotcha. Kind of not. Yeah, that's more. More of a ghoul. This is like, I would say like half our audience listens to this show because of Derek's wrestling.

Yeah. No, that would be fair. Half's probably a bit, a bit much. And then maybe maybe a quarter of the audience is here for the pro wrestling. Okay. Well, as long as there's like 5% is here just because of how much I hate the Dodgers and do that every day. That's all I care. Yeah, exactly.

As, as Derek, as much as Derek loves wrestling, that's how much I hate the Dodgers. That's like our one-to-one comparison. with you there. I made the mistake one time when I was working a merch booth sitting next to Downhousen to confuse him as a vampire. He's not a vampire. He doesn't have sharp teeth. He takes teeth as currency. It's really weird. He has jars of teeth. He also likes to make monies. So I have offered Dan Housen publicly on social media both monies and teeths, jars of teeth, for him to remove the curse off of the diamondbacks because this man can place and remove curses from people and entities and things.

Still waiting his response, but we'll see. We'll see. I don't even know if it's just off the Diamondbacks. I just think I need him to remove the curse off of Arizona sports as a whole. Perhaps we can make that happen by Thursday. That's the plan. But we'll see. And no, I don't want to be manager of this team ever.

Don't ever offer me that role. I will not take it. I will politely turn it down because I'm not ready for that level of stress in my life. Toy Lavello had a full luscious head of hair when he started managing this team. Thick, luxurious. He looked like the rock in the new Moana movie. And it just, now look at the man. Now look at the man.

All right, what else we got? Damon, we got one more. Yeah, we do. Our guy, Brandon, from the diehard discord, said, what are your honest predictions for our opening week series against the Dodgers? Cheers to another year. I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. I hate this.

My predictions are actually very good, very high for this team. I think the Diamondbacks have a very good chance of going into L.A. and taking two out of three. I say that because we just kind of watched this team USA team in the World Baseball Classic underperformed despite it being an all-star team, right, with a lot of high expectations. I think the Dodgers are going to have a lot going on with that team. I think they're going to have a lot going on that weekend with opening day.

I think that expectations are high. And I would bet that most Dodgers fans and maybe players even on that team think they're just going to kind of. roll over the Diamondbacks here in the opening series. And I would say otherwise. And I think that if the debacks can find a way to win just on opening day alone, that is a huge victory. But I do think that Eduardo Rodriguez has a very good chance to be impressive if he can

somehow be what he was there in the championship game and bring that same energy against the Dodgers, which he has in the past. And I think Ryan Nelson could also be very good. So even if the Diamondbacks don't win opening day, I think there's a good chance that they could still take two out of three with those two guys going on the mound. Don't ask me why. I believe in Erod suddenly. I'm drinking the Kool-Aid and I have since the end of last season. So that's not something you're going to be able to change when it comes to me, even though he gave up six earned runs, I think, or five-erdruds in his last outing of the year last year.

I still think E-Rodd is healthy, 100% and ready to go. And much like Zach Gallen, I do feel like he steps up against the bigger. opponents. Hopefully we can get that out of Zach and hopefully he gives his team a chance to win. But I cannot wait. And we are going to preview the entire season and series tomorrow on tomorrow's show. Tomorrow is our big 2026 season preview. We're going to make predictions. We're going to get crazy. And it's our last show without actual regular season baseball. Cannot wait. It's also my birthday. So I don't know. Bring a party hat. and some party favors because we're going to be having a party.

Cannot wait for that. Of course, Damon and I are available on social media at all times. You can follow us. I am at Kapp underscore Caveman with a K. He is at Damon Dog with a DAWG there at the end. And we're all Damon's dogs. Bark Bark.

Our show is at PH&X underscore D-BACs, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. As far as our schedule for this week is concerned, tomorrow we have a 12 p.m. show. That will be the last 12 p.m. show of the week. We are off on Wednesday so that I can recover from my birthday. Of course, I got to do, got to have that in my life. But we will be back on Thursday with a pregame show and a postgame show for opening day. Then we will have postgame shows on Friday and Saturday. So please join us for all of that.

And follow us on social media. We'd love to interact with you guys in the meantime and be around. If you haven't checked into the diehard membership, do so now. Join us. us on opening day out at Crybaby. We're going to be having a party and everything is great. Cannot wait for baseball to be back. Thank you guys again for your time. Appreciate you stopping by. We'll see you tomorrow at 12 p.m. noon.

Until then, behave yourself, Candice. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when opening day is finally here.