PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - D-backs pitcher Drey Jameson joins the show to discuss his extraordinary feats of athleticism & more

Episode Date: February 14, 2023

On a special Valentine’s Drey episode, we are joined by Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Drey Jameson to discuss his transition to the big leagues in 2022, working with Brent Strom, his incredible feats of athleticism, and more!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 PHNX: Make sure to get your hands on our new “Slim Valley Reaper” t-shirt! Go to https://phnxlocker.com/products/slim-valley-reaper now!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! Gambling Problem? Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/OH/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MD/MI /NJ/ NY/OH/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. VOID IN ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. BONUS bets: Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. $200 issued as bonus bets that expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded.  See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballlterms. No Sweat: Valid 1 per customer. NBA same game parlay bets only. Min 3-leg. First bet after opting-in must lose. Paid as one Bonus Bet Token based on amount of initial losing bet. Max. wagering limits apply. Bonus Bets expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Ends at the start of the final NBA game each day when offered prior to 2/16/23 @ 10PM ET. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/basketballtermsOGeez!: Learn more about OGeez! at https://ogeezbrands.com//. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog 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 $100Four Peaks: Drink, eat, find, and experience Four Peaks at https://www.fourpeaks.com/.  Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “PHNX_SPORTS15” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comRoman: Go to https://ro.co/PHNX today to get 20% off your entire first order. Order by February 8th for guaranteed shipping in time for Valentine’s Day.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. 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 Valentine's Dre and welcome in to a special edition of the PHNX DBAX podcast right here on PHNX. I am your mayor of love, of course, occasionally known as Derek Montaia. This guy, he's the vice mayor of love, also the thunderstick, the one and only Jesse Friedman. Well, we had some technical difficulties, but we said we were going to have, they were, of course, my fault. But we said we were going to have Dre Jameson on the show and fingers crossed. We are going to have Drey Jameson on the show. We weren't going to do the show without Dre Jameson on the show. That we were going to boycott if we couldn't get him in here.

But of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app. We, like we said, we're very excited to be joined today by one of the Diamondbacks most exciting young pitchers. Dre Jameson, Dre, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us, man. How's it going? We are doing great. How are you doing?

I'm doing good. How was your off season so far with, uh, considering the excitement over the last year in your career. Yeah, it was good. You know, relaxed and just spent time with the family, the girlfriend, and just relax for the most part. Yeah, it's not long enough off season, that's for sure. So you've got to get that time, man. No.

Dre, we were just out at Salt River Fields. They did a demonstration of some of the new rules that are being put into place in 2023. And honestly, our heads hurt. All the information being thrown at us and all the particularities of how things work. How is this for you? I mean, I know maybe you've gotten some experience with some of these things down in the minor league. So maybe you're a little more familiar than most. But is it a little bit challenging?

Just mentally not only thinking about all the things that you've had to think about in the past when you're on the mound, but all of these new changes that are coming. Yeah, I mean, I've dealt with some of them, you know, as of last year. playing in double A, then AAA, then finally getting my start in the big leagues. To be completely honest with you, I don't know every single change that's happened. I just take a ball every fifth day and go out there and compete. But for the most part, I mean the time, like the little clock thing, like I've had that in AAA.

It's kind of in my eyes, is like a pitcher's advantage because you're rushing the hitter to, you know, to get into a swing or if they took a bad swing, not to get that deep breath. They have to get right back in the box. Sure. But the pitcher, it's tough as well, too, because when you need to step off, take a breather, you can't really do that.

But for me, it's more of like when you get into a groove and you're feeling it, like a hitter can't mess up that groove by, you know, sitting out too long and stuff like that. But all the other rules that they've applied, I honestly couldn't sit here and talk about them. because I don't really know. The demonstration they did today, they did show us the pitch clock.

They showed us, like, stepping in and out. Like, they kind of discussed all the nuances about it. And I think that was what had our head spinning is it seems like it is a lot of information. But then at the end of the day, it really felt like if you as a pitcher just kind of,

you know, don't take that time that you won't really run into any of these time frames that they're kind of setting up. I mean, they got on the mound and kind of, showed us how long, like, eight seconds is to stand there and stare down a batter until the pitch clock ran out. And it seemed kind of ridiculous for that much time. So it doesn't really feel like, like you said, aside from like some of the pickoff attempts and some of, you know,

stepping out and stepping back in and when that clock starts, it really doesn't feel like you guys are impacted too much, at least with the length of the pitch clock. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I agree with that for sure. And I don't know if they're applying the pickoff rules. you have two pickoffs and then the third one if it's not. Right. Is that? Yeah, that's what they were discussing. Yeah, they were saying, like, if you, yeah, the third one isn't successful.

Yeah, that one's a little frustrating. Like I said, I had that in AAA as well. Just for the fact of like, you pick off twice and it gives that, that runner an advantage in a way because it's like, okay, I can get off more, but I still have to know I have to get back. But at the same time, their jumps can be way, bigger than a normal jump. I honestly don't think that rules can apply that long just because it's kind of tough.

Like, we can do the pitch clock. We can do all that. But at the same time, you've got to play baseball. And the way that game was written up a long time ago is hard to go away from it. So I don't know. We'll see how that goes. And I think that's what we thought was it really does take away some of that, I feel like, some of that freedom that you kind of have.

they talked about obviously impacting the game in a positive way to have more action occurring more regularly instead of obviously the downtime baseball can have. But we agree with you. It did seem not only a bit, I guess, extreme to have that few of pickoff attempts, right, based on the speed of some batters, but also having that kind of math going on in your head while you're out there trying to pitch seems like a lot. I mean, it's part of a lot of people's games, too. Like, you slow the game down and you have to control the run game, you know, and believe it or not, controlling the run game is huge. Like, when you can control the run game, then you're not giving up those stolen bases to then put guys in scoring position.

And I think that this rule is definitely going to be something that a lot of guys are going to struggle with. I'm also not a guy that really focuses much on pickoffs, but more of being quick to home plate to then giving my catcher a good chance to throw him out a second. Dre, I want to talk about the season that you had last year. Great start for you in AA. You moved to AAA pretty early in the season. We all know, I guess, I mean, we don't know personally, but it's difficult to pitch in that environment, right? And it's difficult to pitch in Amarillo as well.

You eventually get up to the big leagues. And suddenly, you know, you have a sub two ERA. it's hard to really ask for anything more than what you were able to do in those few starts at the end of the year. Just what was that season like for you pitching in all those different environments and what kind of clicked once you got to the big leagues? Yeah, I mean, in double A, you know the park short, ball flies. And I mean, not knocking AA at all because it's each level you go to, some guys dominate and some guys struggle. Then they go to the next level and they dominate. and I went to AAA and struggled like no other.

But yeah, I mean, double A is kind of like I was throwing really hard at the time. And then when I got promoted to AAA, it was, I felt like a lot of the same type of hitters that were in double A, but more advanced. So you had a lot of free swingers in AAA, but also had a plan. So it was not anyone that's like, all right, I'm going to take a pitch. up and out, they were going to swing at it. But at the same time as they were more advanced hitters to get to that pitch rather than in double a, you had guys that were just swinging at that pitch that had no business swinging at that pitch. And triple, I mean, believe it or not, the ball just flies. Oh, yeah. We are. We've heard. It's frustrating as a pitcher because it's like

you beat someone and they get rewarded. Yeah. Because right field, it's just blowing out. And it's kind of like, it's hit or miss. It's hard as a pitcher to be able to take that in and be like, okay, well, I beat him. That was a good pitch. I just got beat. Because in all sense, you didn't get beat, he got lucky. And don't get me wrong, I've gotten God.

Like, top time. Yeah. We're like, whoa, like, that ball was sent. And then when I got the call to the big leagues, it was just different. I think it just brings out the best. that you have. And yeah, I just went in there like nothing. Like I'm supposed to be there and just went out there and competed and the numbers showed

for themselves. Yeah, you were great there. And we know that obviously the Diamondbacks have a legend in Brent Strom when it comes to a pitching coach. How has it been working with him and what kind of impact did he have on your progression up to the big league level? Yeah, I mean, honestly, when I got to the big league level, there wasn't much that he was like trying to change.

His thing was just go out and do what you know how to do. Like believe in your stuff and throw your slider. So when I went out there, that's what I did. I didn't think anything of it. I wasn't trying to throw it 105. I wasn't trying to overdo anything. I was just going out there and doing what I know how to do best. And whatever happens, happens.

And he's a firm believer on that. Now he's telling me to throw the slider more, throw the slider more. obviously keep the four seam up, sinker down, and things like that, but for the most part, like pitch shapes, there's no new pitch shapes that he's actually wanted me to do, but besides location-wise of each pitch is, this is where it's benefiting, and this is where you're having the most success with this pitch to this pitch to this pitch. How thick was his file on you? Was it, was it, would you have a giant binder for you, or what was that like?

No, just scattering ports and just go out and compete, you know. That's awesome. Jay, I remember one of the things that Stromi said about you when you were first called up was he addressed kind of the stereotype that a big league starter needs to have this certain build. They need to be six foot three or higher or something like that. He basically said that that doesn't apply to you because you're so incredibly athletic that you just kind of rise above all of those things. Is that kind of how you view that as well? I mean, I've obviously been told that I've really athletic. But in all honesty, I just think it's my competitiveness.

Like, I just don't think anyone's going to out-compete me. And I hate losing. It doesn't matter if it's out on the field. If it's playing chess, if it's playing ping-pong, it doesn't matter. I hate losing. So I think my competitive drive is really what has gotten me this far in baseball and in life. Does that carry over to you beating Corbyn Carroll in a foot race not once but twice? I mean, I already knew that was going to happen.

Yeah, we needed confirmation on these rumors about you beating him twice and also about you standing flat-footed and dunking a basketball while under the hoop without like a running start. Is that accurate? That is accurate. Oh, wow. All right, well, we need video of that for sure. I got you.

Jay, from just like a pitch arsenal standpoint, I know adding the sinker, that's a little bit more of a recent edition for you. That seems like it's been a really big pitch. Once you got to the big leagues, your ground ball rate was very, very high. And just for me, as kind of a pitcher analyst, anytime you see a guy with a, you know, a lot of whiffs along with that really high ground ball rate, it's really exciting. There's a lot of potential there. Just from a pitch arsenal standpoint, are there any other weapons that you're working on, anything you're looking to add this coming, this coming season? I'm working the sinker-wise is I mean it ranged in the big leagues at least because I started playing with it a little bit early on like when I was in double a and triple-a I was just throwing the crap out of it and it would be anywhere from 94 to 100 and I was trying to find that that me or I don't know how you would say but I was trying to find that ground point of this is when it's the best and So when I got to the big leagues, I was ranging my sinker anywhere from 84 to 97.

And it's almost like I was working on it as a change-up because as of right now, like that's one of my off-season goals is to get the change-up really working and be effective. So I almost went towards like the sinker, that slow sinker, because it has the same movement as my change-up. But I can just vary the speeds on it. Right. I mean, my slider is more of, I have like three sliders. So it's not just one specific slider that's going to be the same all the time. I have three, the one that goes horizontal, one that's got a little more depth and one that's like really sweepy.

And then the curveball is just something that I'm going to start guys off with early. It's not really a put away pitch. Sure. Because I just don't want to waste a pitch. That's probably my fifth best pitch. I'd rather go to the slider. But yeah, well, the sinkers has definitely been a pitch that I've only thrown for a year. I just picked up on it not long ago.

And it's a pitch that I've been working on getting to the front hip to the lefties to come back onto the dish and then back during it and then top shelf coming back on. So it's like I miss a heater up, throw the sinker up, and then it falls back into the zone. Things like that. but not really changing the Arsenal much, no. We discussed watching your performances last year that you game plan. It seemed like you game planned well for your opponents, and it felt like you kind of changed things up from start to start. Is that kind of an important emphasis for you,

or were you just kind of focusing on different pitches from start to start? Yeah, I mean, I got the scatter reports, and I saw, like, who does what good and who does what? Not good. I don't go away from my strengths, but I take my strings into where they're not doing. Like, if a guy can't hit an up and in fastball, I'm not going to throw it down and away fastball. And so I just go to my strings of, okay, why not just pound it up, harden into him? And if I can't, if I don't have that pitch that day, then I'll have something that looks there,

such as like the sinker. It'll start there. They swing, and it falls into them. But yeah, for the most part, I'd just try to mix my pitches. That's the main thing. Early on in my pro career, I was heavy-fat forcing fastball. Some games, I'd be 70% fastballs. Well, when you move up the ladder, you know that it doesn't matter if you throw 88 or you throw 105.

If you throw them 70% fastballs, these guys get paid for a living to hit. They're going to catch up to yourself. They're going to put some basketball. some bats are last last thing for me dray um i just i mean it's an interesting situation coming into spring training with all of the different starting pitchers that that this team has right it seems like there's sort of a competition being set up coming into spring training i know uh some of the other guys in this race are guys that you know well ryan nelson brandon fad Tommy henry um and and the list goes on with some of the veterans on the team as well uh how are you approaching this spring training

just coming in knowing that you know you sort of have to prove something that you know you sort of have to prove something here in order to get the role you ultimately want? Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I just got to go out and compete. And I'm going to do everything in my power to get that spot. But at the end of the day, it's ultimately out of my, it's not my decision. Sure. I'm going to put work in. I'm going to do what I need to do to do it.

But at the end of the day, I don't make the call on who's going to be there, who's not. But ultimately, if whatever happens, I just hope that it. it's the right decision in a winning ballgame standpoint and not a business standpoint. Yeah, we agree with that. And I think that we know that you guys are very young, exciting team. And I know that you have had that chance to play with a lot of your teammates now that are on the major league roster as well. Has that kind of made the transition for you easier that this Diamondbacks franchise is kind of moving in a direction where you guys are all around the same age and you guys have played together in the minors and just kind of a fresh roster. as far as the young faces on this team.

Yeah, I mean, there's pros and there's cons to that. There's, you know, I see a lot of guys that I grew up and playing in the, in pro ball from the beginning, come up with me or I go up with them. Like, it's an easy thing to do. But at the same time as when I did get to the big league level, we don't have that many, like, vet vets that, you know, can show you around. And the ones that are there, they did a great job at it. And I'm glad of that.

But at the end of the day, it's like, it's kind of cool as a young player getting called up. And then you play with guys that you've watched on TV. That's another thing that's kind of cool that didn't necessarily have. But at the end of the day, as long as we're winning games and doing what we need to do, then we're going to leave a legacy behind for the other guys coming up. There we go. I love that. I can't let you get out of here without getting your best piece of advice for guys on Valentine's Day.

Do you have any Valentine's Day advice for guys that might be struggling this late in the day at this point? Well, you need to go and get some flowers. There you go. Do the thing. You know, do a nail thing, go get their nails done, and then finish it off with a good dinner. There you go. All right. Our producer is nodding emphatically.

very much in favor of your advice. But hey, we look forward to seeing you this year, man. It was a blast last year. And this team is, it looks like it's going to be very fun to watch this season. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks,

Ray. Well, that's, that's fantastic. At least the internet worked this time. Yeah, once we got him, we didn't lose him. Once we got him,

he was here. Great stuff. But a big thanks to Dre and the DeBacks for having him on. And again, pitchers and catchers, he goes out tomorrow. He reports tomorrow. So make sure if you have a chance to stop by Salt River Fields and see these guys in person, you got 12 days to watch them go out there and get their workouts in.

And it's a fun, unique experience that you can't really get. Just bring like four layers. Oh my God, it was so cold today. As we discovered today, it's entirely too cold outside for the start of spring training. All the good weather was wasted on Super Bowl and waste management. All of you visitors that came in the town, you got the best of it. We gave it to the tourists. There you go.

Well, again, big thanks to Dre. Happy Valentine's Dre to him. If you guys haven't done so already, make sure to grab the Underdog Fantasy app. Don't play it today. It's Valentine's Dre, but make sure to get it so you have it ready. When you want to play some fantasy sports against your friends, you can draft squads against five of your friends and the highest scoring squad, win some cold, hard cash, draft some NBA players with no positional limits, and whoever scores the most fantasy points can win.

Of course, we are writing on pitch counts this season. We know that. And Dre Jameson is definitely going to be involved in that. But make sure to check out their pickums game where you can go higher or lower on stats. And the more legs you add, the more money you can win. Of course, make sure to do that over at Underdog Fantasy. It's this easy to get started. Go to UnderdogFancy.com or download the app.

Sign up with promo code PHNX. An underdog will match your first deposit up to $100. And also, if you're still in town as a visitor, if you haven't left yet because you're maybe sticking around a few days. Go away. Yeah, Jesse's right. Go away. We had a hard time getting here on the freeway. But also, remember, recreational marijuana is free. It's legal here. Not free. You have to pay for it, but it's legal. That would be a lot. That would be so great. It is legal here. So make sure to go to your local dispensary and grab our friends from OGs.

They have a wide variety of flavors and doses to try, sleep additions, sativas, indicas, whatever you need, they have. Different doses. The minis are great for people that don't want a large amount. Maybe you don't have to like break it up and stuff. Something I'll tell you about edibles. It's a tray. It could be slightly tilted or off center. You have no idea how much you're getting in one edible first is enough. They're very much about exact dosing.

And of course, you can also get those micro doses instead of worrying about ripping things in half. So check out, oh, geez, and check out their new strawberries and cream, CBD to THC ratio branded as the happy balance. Strawberries and cream flavor. It's hit in the street soon. It's official. You can find strawberries and cream at your local dispensary. and must be 21 or over to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. And Jesse and I are very cold because we were out at Salt River Fields taking in the demonstration of the new rules that we talked about.

We were very excited. They did demonstrate the rules. We got out on the field. He showed us all the little nuances to everything. And it was very interesting. We're going to have a little bit more information, maybe some video and pictures for you guys tomorrow because we got here very shortly. We were just doing this like a half an hour ago, it feels like. But, Jesse, what was your kind of impression of the rules and some of the things they discussed today? I'm just so excited, honestly. Like, just as a baseball fan in general, this is like the best time to be a baseball fan. It really is. Like, the players are better than ever, right?

There's guys like Drey Jameson who throw 100 miles an hour. And there's like a whole bunch of them now at this point. And can just unflat-footed underneath the hoop. Right, right. Let's not forget about that. Who can outrun Corby and Carroll, even though they're pitchers. They don't even run. They don't even use that skill.

It's a wasted talent. It's kind of, yeah. I mean, maybe they give Drey Jameson some, some pinch run opportunities. We, uh, that was, that was a missed, a missed question. We definitely definitely should ask them about that. But yeah, I'm just excited. Um, I thought it was really interesting before we went out on the field and really saw all of the rules demonstrated. Um, they basically put together this PowerPoint presentation.

And before they got into the rules, we, we love a good PowerPoint presentation around here. Uh, but yeah, before they even talked about the rules, they just talked about the state of, baseball basically and i thought it was a a fitting setup because the reason that major league baseball did all these things is because of the fans it's because of the results of surveys basically they've gone to fans and they've asked like all right how long is the ideal baseball game right what are the what are the plays do you want to see more of by the way the answer was two and a half hours yeah um you know what are the plays that you want to see more of what are the plays that you want to see less of right and and they basically put all of those things together and that's where we're we're

we landed at all of the rule changes that we have. So they also had a whole lot of statistics about, you know, just like major league baseball compared to the other major American sports. The state of the game and how, yeah, how it's not really as unpopular as we perceive it to be. And it's not an old person sport as we perceive it to be, though. They did show some demographics that made me believe that old people were in charge of the PowerPoint for some reason. It's a very old person favorable.

But they talked about like how everybody plays baseball. you know, when you're young and that helps establish you as a lifelong baseball fan. Yeah. And then kind of compared how like your sports viewing for the other sports kind of goes down, like almost for every sport as you get older, except for baseball where it's kind of like a little bit of a you. You're kind of like more fan when you're younger and then you're even more of a fan when you're older. And then in the middle. That's one of the one of the like big myths they were trying to dispel is people think like,

all right, the game of baseball appeals more to an older audience, right? And it doesn't grab the attention of young people. at least according to the graphs that we were shown that's not true basically what they showed is it's kind of this u-shape where very young people are very into baseball right like like like middle school age something like that apparently they showed that i think it was kids age 17 or something like that kids ages 6 to 12 i want to say something something like that um played more baseball than any other than any other sport in the u.s so it's basically this you shape where like the very young people are really into the game and then yes some of of the people, you know, in that older demographic are there as well. So, yeah, it's just interesting to see Major League Baseball's awareness of the situation and how they're looking at all these numbers and they're trying to figure out how they can have Major League Baseball, I don't know, perceived as what it is, which is, I think, the best sport out there, right?

I'm a little biased. I guess I do this for a living, but. I've told you guys, I'm addicted to the narcotic that is baseball and Daddy needs his sugar. Okay. But I will say this about baseball. Baseball is one of those sports that right now we talked about this as the perfect time since they're already just ripping the Band-Aid off as far as changing rules, changing things that they've considered to be sacred parts of the game for generations. They're changing it now for the better.

Like Jesse said, a lot of the things that they surveyed fans that they didn't like were mound visits and pick-off attempts and things like that. They like stolen bases. We want to see more of them. We want to see more runs scored. We want to see less defensive shifts and plays, and that's the reason why all of this stuff is happening. One thing that was interesting was how they had to basically discuss with teams circumventing these rules. The pitch clock and the shift, obviously the banning of the shifts is a big deal for some of this stuff, right? So they talked about the fact that they are well aware of baseball teams are going to do everything they can to circumvent this rule.

They basically just went to the teams and asked them, like, all right, if we do this, well, like, how are you going to mess with it? Right? Like what loophole are you going to try to exploit? And they were telling them straight up. One of my favorite things was this in motion rule, right? So for banning the shift, they were saying the teams were like, well, what if we just send like our shortstop in motion? Right. So that by the time. Because you have to start the play with both feet on the dirt.

And you have to be on one side of the second base. That doesn't mean once the pitch is being delivered that you can't like jolt over to the other side. But they've already thought of that. And that will also be called a violation. Another thing with giving the pitchers more time when it comes to the pitch clock is like the catcher holding on to the ball longer and things like that. They broke down so many nuances about when the pitch clock would start, when it would stop. We're going to have some videos posted on our social media accounts. Make sure to keep an eye out for that if you are interested in how this breaks down because it feels like they have covered kind of every angle at this.

Even the bases being bigger seems to actually have a purpose, right? And they know that the biggest concern here is safety. Ancles, you know, being stepped on, fingers being jammed, all of that kind of stuff. But they also acknowledge that the bases are now technically closer together, right? So like on those plays where, you know, it was off by just a little bit, it's almost like the idea of the changing the size of the baseball. Right. If you can do something very unnoticeable to get further results of a baseball traveling further, you're going to have more home runs. and if you think about how many home runs fall at the warning track, right?

You think just a couple of those go over the wall and, you know, if we can boost that up, right? So it felt like the one focus here was trying to determine how much fans really wanted to change and what was going to improve the game. Everybody agrees that shorter games are better. And honestly, the one thing that I also found surprising besides teams openly trying to circumvent the new rules that haven't even been put in a place yet. Is that really surprising? Yeah, it was kind of surprising.

That's not surprising. I guess they were just being so open and honest about it. That's the surprising part. That's the surprise. There you go. It was the graph where they showed the increase in game time over the years and how much longer the average game is for baseball than it was 50 years ago, 40 years ago, even 30 years ago.

So it's kind of crazy that basically teams, baseball players on both sides, offensive and defensive side, they figured out a way to just kind of stretch situations. out to give themselves more time and and it's resulted in you know games that are well over three hours now on average yeah yeah what people don't realize is like when baseball was really like center stage in the u.s which you have to go back a while at this point i don't know what year would you say like what rough what rough time period do you think baseball was last like this is the u.s. sport right this is america's pastime i mean what are you saying is that the 90s i don't know

well like so you had the the strike that really heard it i feel like like in the early 90s, right? But then they did everything they could to rebound. So I feel like much like professional wrestling, the height of its popularity was in the late 90s, like the late 90s, 97 to like 2000, right? That's when baseball was everybody was talking about the home run races and what McGuire and Bond was doing. And it felt like.

Stereoid era. Yeah, exactly. When things were good. So, yeah. So like just thinking back to when baseball really was center stage in the U.S., you have to realize it's not just. that people have changed, right? I think that's the common perception is people nowadays just need that instant gratification.

They need things moving more quickly. Tension spans are shorter. And so people think that's the reason why baseball has kind of fallen off from being center stage. But there's this other side of it where the game itself has changed. It's not just that people are different and they don't like what they used to like. It's that the game itself has changed, right? As you said, the games now are a lot longer than they used to be.

If you go back into the 50s and 60s, games were about two and a half hours long. That's how long the average baseball game was. And a lot of these things that fans don't like, like, you know, mound visits, right, pitching changes, you know, there aren't as many balls in play now as there used to be. All of those things go into changing the product. And I think making it probably even worse for today's audience than it otherwise would be. So it's not just that the people have changed. It's that like the game has changed too. And these things are in place.

These rule changes are in place to try to kind of get us back to where the game. was. You know who I blame, Jesse? Who do you blame? Statcast. It's the damn statcast era. And here's why, because now we know too much information. Yeah, bring statcast. You're going to hate this. It's because people just

used to go out there and play baseball. Now we have all of this information and it's all being transferred around. There's spreadsheets and information being accessed. People are too smart. People are too smart. There's just too much information. It's a game not based on feel anymore. And honestly, without

trying to rain it in a bit, it really does allow for them to do everything they can to try to, you know, to try to stretch the time and try to pass as much information along. Thanks. Mark, I appreciate that.

But anyway, you missed Dre, Mark, so I don't know what to tell you if you're just getting here. But I will say that I think that the idea here is that all of these clocks and everything don't allow for teams to strategic plan like as much in the moment. They have to game plan ahead of time. They have to make quicker decisions, right? And that allows for the action to kind of just happen faster. It allows

for mistakes to be made. Like Dre said, I mean, it really feels like the pitch clock thing is going to mess with the batter more than the pitcher. But you know there's going to be pitchers that have a problem with it. We also talked about I yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I would be curious to hear what other pitchers have to say about that. I feel like that's probably more of a case by case thing. It is. And I think that there is a rule honestly that impacts it more than the pitch clock itself is the idea now that a pitcher needs to come to a full stop when they are not pitching out of the stretch before they can deliver the ball to home plate, right? And this is so that they know when they are doing that and they know they can stop the pitch clock. But you know who's going to

hate this. Mike Clevenger is going to hate this. All sorts of guys around the league that have their little funny moves where they just kind of throw the ball while. they're kind of in motion are going to have to change their delivery. They're going to have to come to a full stop. And it's going to be interesting to see how much it impacts their ability to be a good starting pitcher. Yeah. I mean, everything we saw, the one thing that was fascinating was they showed that the time of games and minor league baseball dropped. 25 minutes, two hours, 38 minutes.

And nothing else did. Like all of the other stats, comparatively, strikeout percentages. Strikeout percentage went down a little bit. Yeah, walkout walks, I think went up a little bit. Yeah, pretty much the same. Batting average went up a tiny, tiny bit. It was almost identical, stat line for stat line for things like everything else that impacted the game. So it just showed that this really isn't causing more runs to be scored or a huge difference as far as, you know, how many, you know, what the offensive is doing.

Yeah. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see. I mean, it's funny hearing some of the guys who work for Major League Baseball who are in charge of, putting some of these rules into place and trying to figure out what they would be, they don't know what's going to happen. Like Morgan Sword, who's one of the guys who's been very instrumental in this process for Major League Baseball, he did a lot of the talking today. And he said, anyone who says they're confident about the impacts of this on the game

is probably lying to you because nobody actually knows what the impact of these things will be. We have some hypotheses, right? I think with the shift restrictions, you expect batting averages will maybe go up a little bit. But outside of that, like nothing is really set in stone. And at the end of the day, it really might be that we have a very similar baseball game that's just shorter and it's snappier and it's just more entertaining for fans to watch. So hopefully that's the outcome here. More of the stuff we want, less of the stuff we don't, basically. There you go. And you can get more

of the stuff you want, by the way, if you get yourself a PHNX diehard's membership over at go phnx.com, What you'll get more of is Jesse's articles. You'll get access to all of them. Most of them are unlocked, but he has the full count. Excuse me, full count. He won't let me add a... No articles. No articles in front of full count with Jesse Friedman.

Get that over at go phnx.com as well as a free piece of merch from phnx locker.com and 20% off of all future purchases. You also get discounts with our partners and our events. Get access to exclusive members-only merch like that sweet, sweet diehard's jacket as well as members-only events. Make sure to join us over here and, of course, get access to the die-hard Discord lounge, the best place to be an Arizona sports fan.

We thank you guys for being here right now in the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. Subscribe if you haven't done so already. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when we go live when we have technical difficulties before we start the show or when any of the wonderful shows on the network go live.

Also, if you are listening on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there and leave us a review. We appreciate you doing. So most importantly, for Jesse's sake, leave us a thumbs up. That way you know you'd like us. And we feel the love on this Valentine's Dre. I refuse to say it right this entire episode. I'm telling you that right now.

But of course, make sure to go grab our friends at the Draft King Sportsbook app. We know how my Super Bowl bets went. They didn't go great. But my baseball bets are going to go much better. I'm very excited about that. I already have some baseball bets as I made on this very show live during an episode. Corby and Carroll Rookie of the Year. I think I threw money on Zach Gallen winning the Sion.

I think you did. I mean, I don't know what that's in place. Anyway, you can do whatever you want on the Dowell on the Drafking Sportsbook app. Remember, same game parlayes. The more legs you add, the more money you win. And there's all sorts of specials to opt into around this time of the year, especially college basketball heating up and all sorts of things going on in March. So grab the Dowdraft King Sportsbook app and use code PHNX.

New customers can bet $5 and get $200 in $400. free bets instantly only at the draft king's sports book with code phnx minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply see show notes for details i don't mean to bog you down with more rules stuff but uh we did briefly discuss because it was kind of breaking news yesterday that all you ever talk about daren't more rules that's all i'm about you guys know that i love rules uh but the m lb joint competition committee has voted unanimously to make the extra inning ghost runner rule a permanent rule for all regular season games moving forward. Thoughts on the rule, Jesse?

I don't have a problem with it. It's a little weird, and I understand the purest, the baseball traditionalists who get hives every time they think about it. But I think it's better for baseball in the end. Nobody needs us going to 18 innings for one out of 162 games.

It never really made sense. I even would venture to say, Derek, I'm not necessarily on board with this yet, but there could come a day when Major League Baseball looks at the possibility of introducing ties where we don't play extra innings and we try to keep games consistently shorter. I'm not saying I'm on board necessarily. I'm just saying if you're playing 162 games, if you end the year with a few ties,

is that really going to change the outcome of the season that much? We can go 7-7 and 24. Wait until that happens and see how much you like that. Ties. We'll see. I don't hate the Ghost Runner rule mostly because I like going to bed at a decent hour. I like seeing my family. I like not spending all night like I did one time until 1.30 in the goddamn morning at an Arizona Diamondbacks 15 inning baseball game.

Never again. I never want that again. And you should neither. You guys all left. Don't bullshit me. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. You guys were there for two like 12.

And then when 13 came around, you were like, well, it's time to start it in the old dusty trail. So don't give me that. We had to stay until the end. I had media to do stuff. But anyway, let me tell you. I like the ghost runner rule. It doesn't bother me. I feel like it makes extra earnings more interesting.

Yeah. And I think that it's kind of like some of these rules where right now I am so in the mode to just accept rule changes and new things in baseball anyway because we've just been doing it for the last few years. That like let's just get it over with. Let's just revamp the game, find out ways that we can make it better. And that's definitely one of them as well. Obviously, it's still the same kind of spirit that the pitch clock is that basically we want to speed the game up and we don't want it to be as long. So I don't I don't Chris says no ghost until 12th. That is an idea I've heard floated around by a number of people over the years.

Maybe you don't do it in the first couple extra trainings. And then once you're really getting long, then it's like, all right, now we'll do it. I don't know if that works because as we've seen, the ghost runner doesn't immediately end the baseball game. Like just because you're using the ghost runner doesn't mean you've got a 10 inning game. In fact, a lot of times both teams score the ghost runner. Yeah, it's pretty, it's not that hard to score a guy from second base with nobody out. So I think if you didn't start it until the 12th, I'm not sure it would really be accomplishing its purpose. Most extra inning games end, you know, after 11 or 12 innings anyway.

So I understand where you're coming from. And it does make sense. But I'm not sure it really accomplishes the goal that MLB is going for here. We also have other information as wild animals brought up in the chat that the gallon bobblehead was announced today, you guys. Bobbleheads are back. Bobbleheads are back. Bobbleheads are back. We got them.

We did it. We did it. It was us. It was us. We did it. We pushed the envelope and we made them bring back bobbleheads. I'd like to think. I think it was your doing.

It was my thing. We should definitely give you all the credit. He doesn't want to take credit for it. I do believe the D-backs, when they tweeted out the picture of the bobblehead, did they not say, happy Galentine's Day or something. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's Galentine's Day.

So we'll take credit for that one as well. We're taking credit for all of it. But very exciting to know that the Diamondbacks are going to have those high-quality giveaway items, not to knock what they did. I actually liked a lot of the clothing items that they gave away last year. I thought that they were better than stuff in the past, right? But at the same time, you know what we want.

And what we want is bobbleheads and maybe even a little snow globe of a hoboob around Chase Field again. I don't know. I'm throwing ideas out there. But excited to see what is going to happen. And the Diamondback said that they're going to be linking some of those items. So we might see some more announced before the end of today. We'll definitely be – we'll have a little picture of the little Zach Allen bobblehead.

on tomorrow's episode as well. But until then, we thank you guys so much for stopping by. Of course. Derek, there's one more rule change. What rule change? They did one more. So there's also one more thing. And this one's arguably more important.

Did we not talk about it yet? Not only did they say that the ghost runner is permanent, but they also put limitations on when you can have a position player pitch. Do you see this part of this part of things? No. Yeah. So under the new guidelines, leading teams have to be up by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning to let a position player pitch.

Trailing teams can use a position player anytime they are down by eight or more runs. Eight or more! And then you can also, you can use them in extra innings too. That's the other rule. Yeah, we don't want to see teams just because they're, you know, if you're up by a good margin, you know, you could throw your catcher in there for the ninth inning

and just see if he can get out of it only allowing a couple runs and then you save your relievers. But nobody wants to watch that. I want to see Nick Ahmed pitch. He seemed confident. He seemed like he wants a shot at it. and I want to see it happen. After shoulder surgery, maybe not the wisest decision,

but we'll see what we can convince Tori to do. There's well actually Jesse again, but of course we thank you guys. That was well actually, Nick. He's the one who said it might not be a good idea after shoulder surgery. So don't pin that one on me, Derek. Thank you guys again, of course, for showing up for being here. Of course. Thank you to our friends at Fort Peaks Brewing Company,

which I've been sipping secretly behind the scenes over here. I was trying to, I was trying to be professional with Drey on. But of course, with so many sport events, sporting events in February and March, I can't help but have a Four Peaks in my hand. So make sure to follow them on social media at Four Peaks Brew.

Check out their beers. You can get them at your local grocery store, wherever you get your beers. And remember, 4Peaks.com slash events has all of your beer week entertainment as well. So they're doing all sorts of things. Like what's better than just drinking a beer? pairing them with delicious Girl Scout cookies.

And you can do that at the Four Peaks cookie pairing at their 8th Street publication in Tempea on February 16th. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. Also, after you do that and then you want to take that same experience home, hit me up in my DMs. I'll send you the link for my daughter's Girl Scout cookies. We make some transactions, make some stuff happen. That's the, I'm just putting that out there. She has a freaking 300 box gold to hit. So I need the help, all the help I can get.

Jesse loves game time. It's his favorite app. I'm still on the fence about it being my favorite app. It might be one or two. Draft Kings is still right there. But that's also because I haven't really needed tickets in a while. I haven't needed tickets to things in a while. But that time of the year is coming up.

I can't wait. We got Innings Fest coming up. We have all sorts of stuff. I'm going to do Kevin Durant's first home game with the Phoenix signs. Oh, yeah. Make sure to check that out. Our takeover is sold out. But congrats to those of you that made it in it.

I will see you guys there. Can't wait for Kevin Durant to join the Suns. But the best way to get tickets to those Suns games and Diamondbacks games all season long is to buy them through the game time app. Of course, you can save up to 60% on tickets when you buy tickets last minute. And the best way to support us is by buying your tickets through the link in the description. This is an app for procrastinators, buy procrastinators, make sure that you get in there and save yourself some money on last. Do we know that the creators of being time or procrastinators? I don't know.

I'm calling that. I mean, there's that an offensive thing to say. I imagine you have to be a procrastinator to think this app is a good idea, right? You're like, I don't like buying tickets. You're right. I want to wait until the last minute and then get a discount. So make sure to get your discount over at the GameTime app. Download it or go to their website.

Either way, Jesse will tell you, though, that it's one of the most aesthetically pleasing app. So get the app. We thank you guys, again, for being here. A big shout out to Dre Jameson. Thank him for being here. And, of course, a Wild Animal says Endings Fest Sunday lineup is much better than Saturday. I completely disagree with you 1,000% on that. Saturday has Green Day, Weezer, and the offspring.

That's 96 through 98 for me, basically. That's my formative years as a high school student. So I need that in my life. But go to both days. It's a great event. It's very fun. And I will be out there, definitely. Jesse won't be.

But that's because he hates fun. Correct. Thank you guys for being here again in the chat. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a k. Jesse is at Jesse N. Friedman. The show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports

on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We appreciate your time. We always appreciate your time. And make sure you guys all have a wonderful Valentine's Dre. On behalf of Leah, Jesse, and myself, we always thank you for being here. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you get the flowers,

you get the nail appointment, and you get the dinner.