PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt IMPRESS in Spring Training Debuts

Episode Date: March 1, 2025

Become a PHNX Diehard for just $4 a month! http://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube 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/ 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/ Gila River: Win a Lamborgini! Visit https://playatgila.com/promotion/350k-lamborghini-luxe-giveaway/ for details Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. 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! Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off! 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. #dbacks #diamondbacks #arizonadiamondbacks #mlb #zacgallen #corbincarroll #ketelmarte #mlbtheshow #mlbtraderumors #tradedeadline #traderumors #allstargame Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, Merrill Kelly made his debut. He looked pretty good. We also had Brandon Fott making his debut. He also looked pretty good. Who isn't in this rotation? We still don't know. But what we do know is Corby Franklin Carroll is the best damn baseball player on this planet. And we're talking about him hitting another dinger and so much more on today's episode.

We're starting in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast, live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K, Hello to you all. It is your mayor of P HNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. I am joined, of course, by my guy, large intimate Kevin Thomas on the ones and twos.

Remember, that's the order it always goes in. His nickname never goes in the middle because then things get definitely non-FCC correct, if FCC is even a thing that exists anymore at this point. But hey, welcome in to another episode of this baseball podcast that is presented to you by our friends at all pro shades, who honestly, Cleve need no help with advertising because if you've seen this company's commercials during

Sun's game, you know they are already way funnier than I can ever pretend to be, but they do make a fine product. So of course, if you are looking to block the Sun out of your life, which remember, once again, the Sun in Arizona is trying to kill you. The Sun and also the suns, they're both trying to kill you. But you want to make sure you check out our friends at all Pro Shades. Kev, we got some debuts, we got some pitchers making their first starts of spring. And of course, like Tori Lavallo said about his whole situation with the bullpen, I don't know if he's moved the ball down the field at all in making a decision for his starting rotation. Merrill Kelly got the start today against the Royals. The Diamondbacks get the win.

And of course, we got Merrill Kelly having himself a great day out there for the Diamondbacks. Again, it's another spring training, but in his debut, Merrill goes two innings, gave up only one a hit aloud, no runs, walked one, struck out to, it's Merrill the mainstay, folks. I mean, it's exactly what he does, and it's nice to see him in his very first outing come out and look strong. I will always, I will always say it with the caveat that this is spring, so nothing to get crazy about. But again, so far, all the starting pitchers have looked fairly solid for this team, as well as the bullpen has too. Hello to you all. Tom, He says I already hit like.

That's my man. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate it. If you're here, make sure to hit like, even if it's not for me, do it for Big Kev, or do it more importantly for Corby, who just can't be stopped. Had himself another perfect day to day. Corbyn went three for three with another home run, his third home run of spring training. He had three RBI. And he's just quite possibly the best form we've ever seen.

I have no idea. Like the thing about a player like Corbyn Carroll is you don't know really what his full potential even is, right? And I think that we know in the past that we talked about the contract, the Diamondback signed him to, looked very good before they even had a chance to really see him play Major League Baseball for an entire season. He ends up winning the rookie of the year. They look like geniuses for locking him in to that contract beforehand. man. Last year, he stumbled out of the gate, had himself a rough first half, but got things back on track. And again, I think I addressed this a few weeks ago, or maybe not even that long ago. But, you know, I think you might feel like there is a repetitive, perhaps, a thing that happens where this year he comes out and struggles again.

So far, that very much does not appear to be the case for one Corbyn Carroll. He does not look like he stumbled out of the gate. he looks very strong in regards to, you know, his performance so far this spring. And again, it's more to be excited about. However, there are some injury updates that might be a little upsetting that we'll get to here shortly that, of course, happened during spring. Unfortunately, you tend to lose guys, and the Diamondbacks lost one of their very versatile players today, and not for days but for weeks, according to Tori Lovol.

So we will get to that. but the other debut that occurred since the last time we did this show was Brandon Fott, had his big debut, he started against the Reds, came out and had himself an equally good day, almost eerily similar here to Merrill Kelly's line, two innings pitched, one hit aloud, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts. So I guess advantage Brandon fought for not giving up a walk, I guess, by comparison to Merrill Kelly's line. Otherwise, fairly, I'd, identical there, but very cool to see the starting pitchers for this team come out, considering we know that if this team can get that portion of, you know, the entire team on track

to be as good as many people have said that they're going to be, or at least estimate them to be, it's a very scary rotation, right? But in this scenario, I mean, how can you deny potentially Brandon fought being in the starting rotation? You look at the strengths that he has. You look at how good he looks this spring, his trajectory just in general. And it feels, I don't know, like you start doing the math here. And unless there's a potential like Jordan Montgomery IL stint to start the year, which we have an update on him as well, that might or might not be the case.

It's kind of trending in the direction of not being the case. It really does feel like the two players, regardless of how well they perform, that are, you know, essentially going to be optioned potentially, is Brandon Fod or Ryan Nelson. And like, that's just a, it's a crazy thought. It's a crazy thought to see considering how important both of those guys were to the starting rotation last season and how good both of them really honestly could still be for this team this season.

Is it crazy to think that, Kev, considering the option situation? I mean, like, again, barring a trade happening, which seems less and less likely, the more time progresses. I mean, we are living in a world where Brandon fought very much could possibly be optioned to Reno despite the fact that he is incredibly good and has no reason to be. Yeah, and I think you kind of hit the nail on the head earlier when you mentioned the fact that you lose guys in spring all the time. And I think that this is, we talk about it all the time,

that the diamondbacks have some of the best pitching depth in the league right now. And I think that that's an advantage because a lot of teams can't afford to lose a guy as good as Brandon fought at the second half or even in the middle of their rotation because they're going to need him to start the year. But the diamond backs are in a position where they could option fought as good as he is down to AAA arena. But yeah, Derek. King Snake Meister says somehow some way fought has to be in the road.

and unfortunately Nelson has to be in AAA, so he stretched out for injuries, but you're right. Part of that scenario is that, like, again, and I probably beat this horse to death entirely too often, but you've got to keep players stretched out. It's the same thing that I said about Jordan Lawler and other young players that really we as fans don't want to see in AAA anymore, right? Like, there is nothing more to prove for a player after a certain point in AAA. However, as an organization, you don't have many choices on what you can do with them. At one point, it's either play them, find a place for them to play regularly on the everyday roster

or have them on the minor league roster. So that way they are staying, they are getting there at bats if they're a position player or they're staying stretched out as a starter, right? So it's the part that sucks with all of this because right now it's an embarrassment of riches. And unfortunately, when you have this situation, it does mean that, you know, they, that, that could be the case. And I don't think fans are going to be happy about that. Pondon donkey, is that probably how to say it there?

Pone, Pone donkey, maybe? Nelly carried last year. You're absolutely right. Nellie carried this team last year. Brandon Fott was consistent, but Nellie was at times for a stretch more than once, the best pitcher in the starting rotation. And I don't know, again, how you make this decision

other than making it based on who does and who doesn't have options, right? Like the, you're probably not going to see a Jordan Montgomery in the bullpen, even though I've told you guys he very much likes it down there. Just he likes hanging out down there. He doesn't like pitching out of there, but he likes hanging out with those guys. But that doesn't seem likely, right? It doesn't, you know, you're not going to, you're not going to option him because he doesn't have options.

So there's just only so many choices that the organization, can do. And I guess I say this so often to almost get people to set their expectations in one way or another. I mean, like I said, barring a trade, which might also involve one of these young pitchers, which may even be more devastating should the organization choose to do that. You know, that's the reality of the scenario, right? Like, it's trending in a direction where we very much could see Brandon fought in AAA Reno, and we could see Ryan Nelson in the bullpen. And, Again, I guess at the end of the day, it's about those guys still being a big part of this team's future. And even though they're not being utilized now is the way they should,

hopefully one day they'll get that opportunity when that opportunity presents itself. Right. And again, there's going to be a lot of guys that aren't going to be potentially part of this starting rotation after this season. So the Diamondbacks are going to need Brandon Fott. They're going to need Ryan Nelson in the future. They can't really do anything in regards to trading them or moving them. especially with how good they've been for this organization. So it just, it sucks because it's a reality, you know, here right, as Brandon Fott makes his debut, right?

And again, it's the situation when you're a baseball player, when you're absolutely doing nothing wrong, yet you could still be, you know, be sent down. And yeah, you're right. Weirdly enough, there is not even room for Monty in the pen anymore for sure. Groundhog mom is absolutely right. Road trip to Reno. It's a great way to spend a weekend. It's a great way to spend a weekend.

And it is the biggest little city in the world, I think, is the BLC, right? So I love the Reno Aces. They are an incredible organization. They have amazing people over there. And yes, I implore all of you. Maybe we'll make a trip out of it. I do know that I will be traveling with one Jack Summers to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Oakland A's in Las Vegas.

We've already made that a trip. And apparently we've taken on very good. Bloom as a passenger on this trip. So I can't wait to hear Barry Bloom yellow curse words and other drivers while we drive down the highway. That's going to be a delight for me personally. But yeah, stay tuned for all of that exciting action. For now, though, again, as you can tell whenever you try to get on the freeway at 4 o'clock in this freeway, spring training games are happening all over the place. It's a beautiful time of the year. We also have the extra innings fest happening tonight. Great time last weekend.

out at the innings fest. And then this weekend, we also have extra innings. We're in extra innings. I think that means that there's a band on second base when the show starts. I don't know how the ghost band rule works when it comes to festivals. But extra innings fest is going to be a great time tonight. I'm excited to see the Lumineers and others. So if you guys are out there, if you're watching this live and you're going to be out there,

make sure send me a message. Say hello. Nicholas says our Arizona sports brains are not use. to this amount of legitimate depth? No, no, you're right. We don't know what to do with depth. This team doesn't know what to do with depth. When have we ever had depth?

When have we ever had more than five starting pitchers in the entire time you've watched this team? I'm not talking about actual pitchers. I'm not talking about human beings. I mean, when have we actually had more than five guys that you were like, I don't know, they're all good, which one's going to be in the rotation? Never.

not never don't lie to me we've never had that so uh yeah you're right we don't know how to do this but uh Trent Walker is uh definitely correct Corby Carroll looking amazing dark horse for MVP dark horse for MVP yes I don't even I don't even care how crazy people think I am talking about it already the reason why is because Corby and Carroll has never looked so aerodynamic in the entire time I've covered him He is more aerodynamic. He is, he's more muscular. He's more, he's just locked in. It's incredible.

And of course, I don't know. You see these guys after offseason and then you tend to think that I've said it quite a bit about Randall Gritchick, how huge he looks, right? But these guys are in great shape. I think they have the proper motivation. And I don't know, man. I mean, you give a guy like Corvin Carroll an opportunity to really find his zone after struggling and realize. as a ball player, as an athlete, that no matter how bad things were for him during a stretch, he found a way out.

And he didn't just find a way out where he kind of, you know, kind of did okay. No, he was a completely different baseball player in July and beyond. So that version, that, that, I guess that that evolved version of Corbyn Carroll, is still not into his final form yet, but that evolved version of Corbyn Carroll, is playing baseball right now in spring training. He's crushing the ball. He's just out there killing it. The other day, you know, he hits a grand slam,

and he steals two bases. But more importantly, I don't think I stress this enough on the show. One of them was home on a double steal with Pavin Smith. I know some shenanigans and hijinks happened, but still nonetheless. Corbyn Carroll's an unstoppable machine. He is the machine. No offense to Albert Pooleholz, but he is our machine.

And it's going to be a crazy, season. I think that there's a lot of components to this team that are going to be better. And then, of course, there's some new faces that, you know, again, I can't wait to see how they can really contribute offensively. Bees is here. I love Bees being here. He says Phoenix is the best to be a baseball fan year-round spring. You are not wrong. We also got fall ball. We beat everybody. We beat everybody. Plus all this outdoor baseball happens during this time of the year when it's beautiful outside. I was telling Kevin before we started to show. I'm not ready for summer because it's already hot to me.

I think I said this about Innings Fest. I'm probably going to complain about it tonight at Extra Innings Fest. But it's already hot, Kev. I'm not ready to stand in the sun for extended periods of time during any part of the day ever. I felt the same way this morning. I was getting ready to walk my dog. Usually I throw on some sweat pants. And I was like, damn, and I'm going to sweat.

I was like, damn, and I'm going to be sweaty when I get back. The hoodie days are over. The hoodie. I'm so sad. The hoodie days are over. So much pain, Derek. I already missed the, the, the winter. the winter weather of Arizona.

The frigid temperatures of 50 degrees. I know. I know. Good times that are behind us. But unfortunately, we have some bad times to discuss with some injury updates on the other side of this break. So we appreciate you guys so much for being here. You are watching the PHNX Diamondbacks show. Don't you go anywhere?

We'll be right back after these words from our sponsors. And speaking of how hot it has been outside, of course, we talked about all pro shades concepts. They can help you stay. cool not just with their awnings that are retractable and motorized but they also have retractable window shades which my wife is very very interested in and again i don't know it's maybe it's just the fact that i grew up in the 80s and still not used to all this cool technology i know these awnings have been around for a while too but i love the motorized awnings coming up and down i think it's a baller move uh they can also replace and fix most old or outdated patio shades and motorized awning so they can come to

your house take care of you with that they are the most trusted local shade company voted number one by ranking Arizona for patio shades at 2024. Their better business bureau a plus a plus ratings with over 1,000 five star reviews on Google. So of course, we know we want to trust other people, their reviews. You can make sure you check them out. Their license, bonded and insured, call 6232041476 or visit all proshadeconcepts.com now to schedule your free estimate.

Oh, well, if you are looking for a fun night on the town, on the town, you know that Heal of Rivers, and Casinos always offers you that, but you can get ready to rev your engines for the $350,000 Lamborghini Lux giveaway. Here's how to win every Friday, like today in February. Get out there. It's the last chance tonight.

You have a chance to win cash, free bonus play or qualify for the grand finale drawing. There's weekly drawings. So, of course, one every night, 7 p.m. for exciting drawings. And then the grand finale will happen tomorrow night on March 1st at Wild Horse Pass, where one lucky winner will drive away in a Lamborghini. Is it you? Is it going to be you? I hope it's you. I hope it's one of you just so you give me your rides.

Don't miss your chance. This is your opportunity to experience the thrill of luxury and speed. Visit them tonight for your chance to win big. You do you at Heela Rivers Resorts and Casinos. Visit play atheila.com for more details. Well, we have some more unfortunate injury news, injury updates, and I hate it. And it's never good when it happens during. spring training, but our favorite Labrador retriever, Blaze Alexander, unfortunately, suffered a grade one right oblique strain. We've heard that phrase quite a bit last year with Christian Walker and other players. Hate to hear that because it's like a weird, undetermined

amount of time. It sounds like something, you know, at your side muscle, you know, it's going to be something that hopefully heals fairly quickly, but Tori said it's going to be weeks, not days. Here's what Tori had to say about Blaze's injury. Okay, a couple health updates. I know you guys talked to Blaze, so yeah, it's an oblique strain. I know he gave you a grade one. What does that mean? I don't know.

It's weeks instead of days. We know that. It's unfortunate. It's an untimely injury. I know he worked hard. I could see his game and the improvements he made, and he had a real opportunity to show us what he could do. He will still get that opportunity when the time comes.

He's got to get healthy. You know, clearly he will most likely run out of time. to show us through the course of spring training, but that's part of the game. And being adaptable, making adjustments, is part of our culture. So he will find his way back on the field when it's the right time.

But for right now, he's with the medical team. Taking swings in the cage, is from what I was told. That sucks. And it's unfortunate because Blaze was being viewed as like a super utility player. that was going to definitely have an opportunity to get some playing time on the major league roster. He already had his experience from last year. And from what I've been told, there was a lot of excitement.

Obviously, we know there was excitement from Blaze. He's a ball of excitement. He is Mr. Excitement. But it sucks. It sucks because, again, Tori said weeks, not days, so we don't know how long. That's going to be for him to be gone. And honestly, other players have been playing pretty well.

Hampson and Vargas have played really well this spring so far. Jordan Lawler is another guy that's played well that we've talked about quite a bit, potentially being that same type of position for this team. So it kind of opens up. And I know that, again, we have a lot of opportunity here, which is good. The Diamondbacks, once again, they have depth. You might have looked at all of these guys that they had as potentially backup infielders and thought that they had too many.

Again, what are they going to do with Jordan Lawler? what are they going to do with Blaze. It kind of, it's baseball. It figures itself out sometimes. And the reason why you have this depth is for the purpose of making sure that these guys are, that there's someone available for you. And again, in the Diamondbacks case, not just anyone, right? Like they have good options when it comes to backups and replacements.

And their depth right now is pretty good. However, just like last season, injuries can pile up very quickly. And if you start losing these guys and, start losing backup players that you were going to have as utility infielders and maybe even an occasional outfielder in Blaise's case, then suddenly your depth disappears quite quickly, right? So it makes sense why the Diamondbacks have been patient with everything that they've been doing in regards to what seems like in excess of players due to injuries like this that could potentially, you know, happen. We had another couple of injuries that occurred that have caused the

Diamondbacks to lose some guys already for the season. Relief pitcher Tiago Vieira suffered an elbow injury where he will require Tommy John surgery. And Josh Winder, who is a former Twins reliever that signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks in January. He's appeared in one game for the debacks this spring pitching an inning in two-thirds. And he also will effectively have his season ended due to needing Tommy John surgery. So again, it's not to be all doomsday, but, and I know these guys are relief pitchers in the case of Winder. It was a guy that was here on a minor league contract and was just trying to make, you know, the major league roster. But it does very much feel like, you know, you're already seeing the options kind of, you know, dwindling and the depth paying off just a little bit.

Hopefully the Diamondbacks don't need it. Hopefully they don't have a catastrophic season like they had last. or knock on wood, knock on my head. I don't want to even start talking about that. But again, when you see someone like Blaze go down already so early, kind of sucks, right? Big question mark right now is Jordan Montgomery, right? There is a very good chance. I don't know why.

There's a very good chance in my head, not based on information or news or reporting or anything that I should actually be basing this on. But I have a very good, I feel like this is trending in the direction of Jordan Montgomery potentially starting the season on like the 15 day IL. I don't know. I mean, it just kind of helps some of their problems with the roster and it helps some of their problems with getting through the first month as far as,

you know, depth because, again, if it's just this minor injury and he's still kind of getting over it, he would be kind of available to go and, and, you know, especially if anything else happened after, you know, that's done on the IL.

But that's not what is happening in reality. In reality, it seems very, very much like Jordan Montgomery is trending towards being ready to pitch in spring training and ready by opening day to be a part of the starting rotation. Should that be where he lines up? Tori said he threw a 31 pitch bullpen today. And his stuff looked really good. Talked about the fastball, being able to elevate the fastball.

And, you know, just in general saying that it was a very positive bullpen for Montgomery. As far as the next step is concerned, next step would be. getting him on a mound against live batters, not in a game, but just against live batters on the team in the back lot. So again, we'll wait to see that that will be a couple of days before that could potentially happen for Jordan Montgomery. But I don't know. I think that this is a good sign. It's just, it's still a very crowded house. It's a very crowded roster. There is a lot of things going on right now with this team that I don't know what they're going to do. I don't know if, I mean, I feel like there's internal game planning, you know, maybe a plan A,

plan B, plan C that they kind of have in mind. However, it feels very much like when we speak to Tori, he is being fairly open and honest about the fact that these guys are making it difficult on him and on Mike Hazen to make some of these decisions. Let's see, Jose says you're saying, bad juju, even if it's Montgomery and we have a surplus of pitching, talk about something else. There's injuries, pal. I don't know what to tell you. There are injuries that have occurred. Luckily, there's not a lot of them and luckily they're not to key players right now, but it's a good thing that they have this depth, right? So I don't know, though. It's more about what the Diamondbacks are going to actually do with their roster spots, what they're going to do with their starting

rotation when it comes to opening day or when they have to trim down their roster. So there's going to be a lot of tough decisions to make, but I think that the plan would still be for Jordan Montgomery to be part of this starting rotation. And how can we not have that? Especially if

and I will give you this scenario, you know what happens, Kevin, when rotations kind of go through series, Corbyn Burns probably top of the rotation. Let's just say for argument's sake, Corbin Burns is going to be our opening day starter. There's a good chance that Jordan

Montgomery could be starter number five. Am I wrong about that? No, you're not wrong at all about that. So you mean to tell me that if we get rid of Jordan Montgomery before we have a chance to actually see like a regular season starting rotation roster, we are going to deprive ourselves of the chance of seeing Montgomery Burns on a, on a roster one two, Montgomery and then Burns? Yeah, I said that last show, I believe.

I was like that that's likely probably the reason why Hazen has not dealt Montgomery yet because you haven't seen it. And the shape that he came back in, don't you just want to see it first? No, what I want to see is the Simpsons character, Montgomery Burns's name as part of our roster. I want to see Montgomery Burns is what I want to see.

He missed the joke because I was taking you so serious. I was taking you so serious. That's not true. That's not true. That's not true. I've watched, I would say 75% of the Simpsons. Oh,

It's the best animated TV show of all time. I still didn't pick up on Montgomery. No, I was taking you way too serious, I was trying to listen to you on your take. Yeah. Jose also says regarding the Blaze injury, didn't we have a number of oblique injuries last year? Yes, we did.

That's what I was saying. And especially like Christian Walker and several of them became nagging. Injuries, again, I don't know where Blaze was going to end up as far as the position players go. I'm not going to sit here and say that Blaze had a great chance of making the roster, considering some of the other options the Diamondbacks have. But, you know, again, that's what that's what the beautiful part about spring training is, is guys can come up, they can work on things during the off season. They can take the advice from the coaches from last

season that they were told and come back and show that they, you know, took that advice and applied it and have improved themselves in, you know, in ways both defensively and offensively, right? And they can earn themselves a spot in the roster. He is probably one of those guys that's right there as a perfect, I guess, spring training player, right? Like, because spring training means the most to guys right now, like Blaze Alexander, like Jordan Lawler. You know, again, these are guys that want to be part of the main roster,

and they don't want to just be there as a pinch hitter or pinch runner occasionally. They want to have, you know, value. They want to be a regular player, and they want to figure out a way to be a part of the roster. And I'm sure with Tori and Mike Hazen, they want to creatively figure out a way to include so many of these guys. But again, a big part of it right now is that the depth gives them those options. And the depth also might unfortunately require guys, again, like we were talking about earlier, with Brandon Fott or whatever decision gets made, might end up with guys being sent down.

But it's really, I feel like, for the overall good of the team and for, not only the team for depth, but for those players individually. You got to get your reps and you got to keep playing regularly or else in baseball especially. You just won't be any good. And it's just such a weird sport when it comes to that. So the reason why when a pitcher goes down with an injury, even for a very short amount of time, they have to get stretched back out. And we hear that.

You know, we hear about them, you know, throwing, oh, they threw so many pitches today on the back lot. Okay, they threw so many pitches today in a bullpen against live pitching. They threw so many pitches today. Right. So like, that's why baseball is so weird is because if you stop even for a short amount of time and lose that progress that you made, getting yourself stretched out as a pitcher, getting yourself warmed up as a position player, you're just not going to be as good as you were. Right. So it's, it's probably the most difficult sport in regards to that. Because I don't feel like wide receivers in football need to get warmed back up to how they run and catch the ball, right? Like, yeah, there's certain things if they had time up that they have to work themselves back too. But. It's not like baseball. Basketball, same thing. You can be off with an injury once you're cleared. You're back in there hitting threes like it was yesterday.

And, like, again, it's just probably the one sport where a layoff due to any reason is the biggest setback. You know, it's very unique to baseball. Thank you, please. But we have so much more to talk about, including this team, like I said, reasons to get excited about this team. And Jim Bowden has himself some good reasons for us to all get excited. about this team. He pegged the Diamondbacks as a bounce back team in 2025. We're going to talk about his comments and we're going to make the space like, yeah, we knew that this whole time, quite a bit. So don't you guys go anywhere? You're watching the PH&X Diamondback show.

Well, you guys know I love Circle K. Kev knows I love Circle K. I probably need to have more Circle K in my life, but that's only because Circle K is so cheap. It's everywhere. And they also have the Inner Circle Rewards program where if you get the Inner Circle rewards today. It's easy to download and get enrolled. Then just use your phone number at Circle K stores to get the deals. You'll save 25 cents off a gallon on your first buy Phillips. You'll save three cents off a gallon every a day after that. And then there's plenty of other member exclusive deals and discounts on the app. You go in there. There's buy five, get a six one free. There's free coupons. There's buy one, get one free. They take care of you all the time over there

on the Inner Circle app. So make sure to join the Inner Circle today for free by downloading their CircleK app. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com for details. Well, I've been on a role with bets. I hope you guys have to remember just because the suns keep losing. It doesn't mean we need to.

But go check out Bet365. Whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. Right now you can get down on some incredible offers. And of course, Bet365 is the app to get down on the live in-game betting. They pioneered live in-game betting and offer the widest range of games and markets available for live in-game betting across 78 sports. But tomorrow is another 365 slam dunk Saturday.

Place the qualifying parlay bet totaling $20 or more on tomorrow's NBA games and get up to $25 in bonus bets. Terms and conditions apply. Again, whatever the moment, never ordinary. A bet 365, it's never ordinary in this studio either. You know that with this guy. By the way, breaking news from bet 365. New customers now get $150 in bonus bets. When you bet $5, win or lose, sign up, use the code of PHNX365 when you do deposit $10 and place a bet of $5 or more to get $150 in bonus bets if your bet wins or loses.

Bonus bets can be used on the spread, totals, player props, futures, and more. Again, whatever the moment, never ordinary over at bet 365. Must be 21 or over and physically located in Arizona. If you are someone you know as a gambling problem wants help, call 100 next step. Text next step to 53342 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. All right. Well, of course, you know, we don't, we take what other journalists around here with a grain of salt because they don't know the Diamondbacks like we know the Diamondbacks. But Jim Bowden from the Athletic had some exciting news to say about the Diamondbacks. He pegged them as the bounce back team in 2025. And I'll say, of course, of course you did. Let's see what Jim had to say. Jim said the Diamondbacks front office responded to last year by putting together a strong offseason headline by the signing of Corbin Burns to a six-year, $210 million contract.

He went on to say, that moves gives Arizona a strong deep group of starters with Burns, Gallin, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Fott, Ryan Nelson, and Jordan Montgomery. He has the Diamondbacks as one of his six bounce-back teams and said he wouldn't be surprised if they secure a wild card birth in 2025. There is absolutely nothing earth-shattering about what he said there. The Arizona Diamondbacks improved last season. They absolutely were a better team

than they were the year before, despite not making the playoffs. 89 wins, right? They came one game short, essentially, of the playoffs, and then from that point, who knows what we did. But is any of this a surprise? to Diamondbacks fans out there. Do they, exactly.

Like, Groundhog Mama says it right there. An 89 win, best offense and baseball. It's a bounce back team. The hell it is. It's a team. I'm gonna, do we have a, do we have a soapbox I can stand on real fast? This is a team that got screwed by Major League Baseball

with their stupid scheduling during a storm. And we all know it. and the Mets know it and the Braves know it. And that's why they hugged out there and had themselves a little moment. It's also why Tori LaBolo will never forget it, right? This is a team that definitely learned from its mistakes last year. And like I've said, time and time again already, Tori will forever use this as a learning, you know, as a learning tool, right?

I mean, honestly, it sucks that it happened. But can you imagine having such a, like, it's like when your kids screw up really bad and you like told them and they didn't die but it's something you know you're going to hold over their head for the rest of remember that time i told you not to step on that ice and you fell in what kind of thing like that is such a powerful tool that's that's not going anywhere again corbin's going to be like 55 a 80 year old tory's going to call him and tell him something then he's going to remember 2024 it's never going away but that's because of course uh this team came so ridiculously close.

And then we look back at all of those games, all of those little mistakes, those blown saves by Paul Seawall, the series against the Braves early on where they were up every game in the series, that goddamn game against the Brewers, so many moments, right? So that's the thing about this.

When you're a Diamondbacks fan and you hear that the Diamondbacks are like some scrappy bounceback team in 2025, I have to say, get the hell out of here, is what I have to say. I have to say that because they're not a scrappy bounce back team They are a team that improved over the last three years. They made the World Series in 2023.

It should be no surprise that the Diamondbacks are good once again in 2025. The only thing that should be a surprise is that this front office went out there when this team already had six pretty damn good starting pitchers and added the best available starting pitcher on the market to the roster. That's the part that's the surprise. That's the part that should take people a little bit off guard. but I feel like that doesn't really make them a bounce back team, right? This is a team that lost some key components as well

in Christian Walker and Jock Peterson and other players. This is a team that is on the verge of losing their ace after this season, potentially, right? So I won't go down that path. I'll keep it up potentially. We'll keep it there. But it's a situation where you very much could scoff at the idea of this being a bounce back team. This is a team that could have absolutely made waves in the playoffs last year had they not been screwed out of that one game. And yes, I'm going to call it the screw job.

I'm going to go right down at WWE wrestling terminology road because I feel like doing it and I don't care. Once again, there's nobody here to stop me. Kevin's not going to stop me. He didn't stop me from calling him large intimate after calling him big sexy for like three or four weeks and then switching it over to large intimate. He's not going to stop me from doing this. no no in fact in fact if you did find a clever way to montreal screwdrop like come up with a nice moniker for it i would i would be all for it i feel you're saying by god the diamond backs have been screwed by god the way they were out there hugging and shaking hands and just being best friends disgust me to this day uh but i need i need uh i need big jr to do a like a commentary over them hugging and jumping being like by god they were in on it the whole time i can't believe it the diamondbacks are sick to their stomachs That video is coming very soon to our Twitter account, so make sure to keep your eyes peel. But I am glad that they're getting the recognition, and I'm glad that people feel like they are a team that's going to be competitive because they absolutely are.

Right. But again, it's kind of crazy when you take a realistic look at how bad the starting rotation was, the injuries that occurred. And again, the starting rotation, like, it's weird to even say that because the starting rotation's numbers weren't necessarily the numbers of the guys that are going to be in the starting rotation. year. You know, there were a lot of people. There were a lot of Tommy Henry starts. There was a lot of of Jilbert Diaz starts. There were a lot of other starting pitchers that came in to patch, you know, the tires on this vehicle to get us through the season because at one point, they were decimated by injuries, especially to starting pitching. Remember those times where Zach Gallen would just all of a sudden stop and look over at the bench and we would all go, oh no, oh my God, no, not again.

And his were always kind of just temporary, right? But it just, it felt like nobody. could stay healthy for this team last year. So again, when you take a step backwards and you say, wow, the Diamondbacks added Corbyn Burns, nobody saw that coming. It's such a surprise. It seemed so unnecessary. It seems so excessive. Is it for a team that just went through what they went through last year?

I don't think it is. I think it's a team that learned their lesson. And they're like, I will have eight starting pitchers and I don't care what you think about it. You know, that kind of thing. But Elise said has Erod even pitched in the game? spring yet. Did I miss it? I don't believe Eduardo Rodriguez is I don't have a person to like sit here and you know, help me tread water while I check that for you. But I don't believe I've seen Eduardo. I have seen him. I've seen him like in uniform. I've seen him in the clubhouse playing dominoes. His domino

table is very nice. I'm very jealous of it. It's portable, but it's beautiful. My father would have loved it. But yes, no, I have seen him. I just don't know if I've actually seen him start a game yet. So I'll take a chance to look that up and I will see for you. But again, there are some questions, right, about this team. There's always going to be some questions about, you know, health with these starting pitchers. And I think at the end of the day, that's really why the debacks did.

What is Eric talking to me about? Talking about starting picture injuries. Come on, dude. Yeah. Don't kill the vibes. No, get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here.

I am absolutely. I am absolutely going to. I got hurt before. I'm not going to get hurt again. We're still talking about it. Yeah, no. No, Elise, you're right. I don't think that it doesn't appear that he had to start this spring yet. But yeah, no, I mean, he can say that all he wants. I'm going to tell you, though, it's just something it might not be right now on everybody's minds. But I feel like it was on the mind of the front office when they saw an opportunity to go out there at Corbyn Burns. right you also just sometimes when you find out a player wants to play for you you just do it you just do it especially when they're one of the best players in the league right so there's that but again they've been

hurt before they've been burned before so there there is no surprise there really should be no surprise even though we are all still very much shocked by it uh there should be no surprise that they went out and added another starting pitcher because they really couldn't trust their starting rotation last year uh our guy dalton feely he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he's pulling up Michael Scott. He said, can never have enough starting pitching, Mike Hayes in,

and also Dalton Phelie. You're not wrong, my friend. You're not wrong. You can never have enough starting pitching. I honestly, there was never a moment where I vibed with someone more

than when Corbyn's as introductory press conference said, like, you never, he looked at the crowd like we were all insane. He was like, you never make it through a season with just five starting pitchers. No team has ever done that.

And I was just like, you are so right. and I love where your head's at. So hopefully the Diamondbacks are able to figure out some way to shuffle all of this around and keep as much depth as possible and keep these guys stretched out and available for anything that could happen.

So fun times. We're going to debate one other thing before we get out of here. It's Friday night. I want to go see the luminaires perform. But before we get out, we're going to talk about the purple jersey because the City Connect jersey, the rumors are flying,

things are getting hot, sounding like purple is coming our way. So we're going to talk about all the pros and the cons about bringing a purple city connect jersey to the Diamondbacks. Of course, you're watching the PHNX Diamondbacks show right now. Don't you go anywhere. We'll be right back. Gotta give a shout out to our friends at Cornbread Hemp. Of course, they make some wonderful products

and their THC gummies are amazing. They're USDA organic. And their mission is to improve your quality of life with the highest quality hemp. And let me tell you, cornbread, Hems, THC Gummies are delicious. They are the first USDA organic THC edible proudly grown in Kentucky, as their beautiful packaging will tell you. And they are perfect for taking the edge off without making you feel anxious or paranoid like other cannabis edibles. And it's a great way if you are looking for a way to avoid alcohol, but still want a little bit of a getaway.

You could definitely try cord bread hemp THC. There's 10 milligrams, 10 milligrams of THC per gummy for just the right dose, and they do not use harsh solvents like petrochemicals or industrial acids, unlike most hemp THC products, no synthetic ingredients. So if you're looking for a healthier way to enjoy a carefree moment, you have to give cornbread hemp a try. They've created the first ever USDA organic THC gummy that's 100% legal. As a special offer for PHNX listeners, you can get 30% off your first order.

Just visit cornbreadhempt.com slash pHNX and use that code of PHNX. at checkout. Again, that's cornbreadhempt.com slash pH and X and use code PHNX for 30% off your first order. Cheers to a healthier happy hour. And speaking of happy hour, speaking of fun times, make sure to join Spanato's Pizzeria is the place for Suns fans for their watch parties. You have a chance to win free pizza for a year. What more reason do you need to go in other than that? You can also win tickets to the Sun's game on April 9th. And of course, you also have a chance to just show out in their little, they have a pizza competition.

It's like horse, but they spell pizza. It's a fun time. Get out there. Spanados is hosting official watch parties throughout the season where you can watch the game with the Phoenix Suns dancers and the gorilla. So don't miss your chance to be a part of the action. Mark your calendar, sons, fans, the excitement starts at Spanados. And I know it doesn't start with the suns necessarily all the time,

but Spanados one way or another will make your evening wonderful. Get all the info on the watch parties at pizza and pizza basketball contest at Spanados pizzeria.com. Spanados official pizza of the Phoenix Suns. All right, well, we talked about it a little bit on Southwest bias. And before we get on to this, I got to give a shout out to Waymo, by the way. Also, Waymo for sponsoring this show, sponsoring us in general and making sure we get home safe. I don't know if you guys saw Waymo the other day.

There was video of a Waymo literally swerving out of the way of a driver that had come into the oncoming lane. And the Waymo car did way better than, let's be honest. any of us would have been able to do. So shout out to Waymo for their wonderful safety and getting us home safely. But again, Kev, we got a topic to discuss. It feels based on all the rumors, all the things we've heard, like a purple jersey is heading our way. I don't know exactly the details. I don't know if it's going to be a vest or whatever, but it sounds like a purple city connect jersey is in the Diamondbacks future.

What say you about this young man, especially someone that basically is the age of the Diamondbacks jerseys, their oldest jersey? Yeah, the purple ones were in 98. I was still three years away. Yeah, yeah. But I will say my number one question,

first thing that comes to mind when you tell me that is, is it all purple like the 98 ones, or would it be like the 99 ones where it was the white and the purple shoulders with pinstripes. When you say the 98, are you talking about the purple one that was Arizona? All purple with the Arizona across the front. I think, like I think if they're doing it, it's a throwback to that.

That intrigues me. That piques my interest. Yeah, because I don't know. I mean, again, we've, people, fans have talked about it. If you want to do the vest, just do the vest. If you want to bring back the old school jersey, just bring back the old school jersey. It doesn't need to be a city connect. So the problem here is that no matter what, a city connect jersey is going to be a new thing.

It's not going to be, it can be an homage, right? It can pay tribute, but it's going to be new. Now, our guy, Jose says, San Colored Serpientas jersey, is awesome as it is. But yeah, we're due for purple. What if they combine the two? What if we get the Serpientis branding, but like that old Arizona jersey? And then maybe do some cool, like, again, like, I'm big on the, uh, the accents, like the, like, There are a couple of jerseys, like the black one that had the copper numbers that were glittery.

I still see people walking around Chase Field in that jersey, and it's so damn beautiful. Even the glittery numbers. I love the glittery numbers. I love everything about it. Everything was on point. The little trims of copper, the little trims of teal and other colors. It was just, it was great. King Snake Meister says, I want a vest so bad.

So do I. Like, I feel like a vest is a part of the Diamondbacks history. and I get really sad when I see other teams that have had vests periodically bring them back. Like the Reds, the Reds brought them back. They didn't even have a shirt on underneath. They just wore the vest. That was a tough look, right? You had that.

But I don't know. I think that the, like, the biggest con is how much purple are we talking? Are we talking an excessive amount of purple? Is it going to just be an audacious? use of purple, are the pants and the hat also going to be purple? What does the whole fit look like? Like, that's important. You know, Derek, my biggest con is not the purple.

It's not the use of the purple. It's not the shade of the purple. Okay. It's the era of the jersey that is the actual design of the jersey. But if you look at all the City Connect jerseys from last season, they're really modern. Yeah. And some of them are even futuristic. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. I would be worried that they would take the old IP and try to do like the, you know, know, when they bring the movie back around for the reboot 10 years later, but it's kind of nasty. Yeah. I don't want that. If you're going to do it, do it right. Or leave it in the past.

So I don't want like a modernized, like smooth version of it. I want the old one. I want the old one if you're going to do it. So that's my biggest worry is that they would try to modernize it too much. But the White Sox had a good one last year. The Nationals, I think, had a good one last year as well. I mean, some of these, some of these ones in the past have been incredible. Like the Nationals is still goaded.

The original gray with the cherry blossoms on it is still one of the best combos or especially like again something that meant something to that city but I think that the one thing that people are saying I like what Tyler says he says

can we get a tribal jersey that would be sick I remember when they did the tribal giveaway jerseys they have those those were pretty cool they never wore them but those were the sons ones were incredible but the teal sons ones that they did that were tribal.

But a lot of people want purple. Groundhog Mama wants Gritchick in a vest with no shirt on. Understandably so. He would absolutely look hot. Nicholas Beatty says if it's a purple jersey, it's a hard no on purple pants, purple jersey, purple hat, white pants. There's a little part of me that even feels like an all purple hat is too much. Like maybe a two-tone hat where something like this is maybe purple brim white hat.

I still like that idea. but I don't know. I mean, I think the biggest thing is the connection to the Rockies, right? Like, that's the one thing that is the danger of an all-purple jersey is the Rockies. Transonic wants chaos.

He said purple tops, red pants. We're not doing that. Not doing that. B says, I think the sons did a great job blending the new with the old in their Starburst jersey comeback. They absolutely did. They absolutely did. I love that jersey.

so much and I'm still mad that they had to not use it. The suns I could go on a whole thing about I I've lost sleep lately over the sun so don't even get me started on the goddamn suns. What I will say is the suns hurt me

because their jerseys are around for one season and then they just move on and I have this closet filled with cool sun's jerseys that they'll never wear again that I still want to wear and now I feel like when I put them on I'm that dude, you know, wearing the traded player jersey still to the game.

I don't know. How many cool jerseys have a bad son's team? It's not like the actual jersey. The jersey is still cool, but I'm saying like, you know, you're back on certain. I don't know. There was some bad sons jerseys that I really didn't like for a very long extended period of time for most of the teens in 2000, you know, but the Valley jersey. Once they got to the Valley stuff, it was credible.

So, like, how did the Diamondbacks find their version of? the valley, right? I don't hate Serpientis. I don't mind Serpientis. I like keeping it and again, I think it's when you can do something like that that immediately acknowledges the huge Hispanic culture that

we have in this town and the people, our community, that's amazing, right? But yeah, see, she says purple, Grandot Mama says purple with Serpientis and copper lettering across the front? Copper lettering? I don't mind that at all. I also know that the Diamondbacks still mess around with

all of their giveaway Serpientis jerseys. And for some reason, those all still, I like them all better than the actual one they wore because they were all like reverse. But most recently they had the black one with the teal. And that's what I think we're going to see something similar to that, maybe a purple with teal Serpentis or something. But I don't know.

I love that you guys all want purple. I think that's the biggest thing here is it feels very much like the purple thing is happening. Jordan says my guess, my guess is black purple hat with the snakehead logo, like the spring training hats, love that. Purple or black jersey with throwback font, serpent. Oh, okay. So different, like not the snake font, I'm on board. I'm on board with that, Jordan.

I like that idea a lot. Exactly. The reason, Jose says, the reason we have purple is because that was Jerry's favorite color. And you know what? I love Jerry Colangelo. That man knows this town. You know, sports in this town better than any human being will ever understand sports in this town. and we are so lucky to have had him in our history,

but specifically the Diamondbacks. I've gone over this time and time again. They would probably be called the Scorpions to this day if it wasn't for him stepping in and doing something about that. And also, they wouldn't have won that World Series in 2001, by the way. Elise says, I don't think they can just repeat the Serpientis logo in a different color. That would be kind of boring. I agree. I agree.

That's why now Jordan's idea is really growing on me with doing this. the Serpientus name, but like a different, different logo. B says copper lettering would be such a nice touch, I agree. Or maybe just black lettering with the copper on the outside. Like copper lettering might be a lot. Maybe the copper number. Maybe the copper number down in the front and then the copper number on the back. We're like, dude, Derek Hall, I know you're busy learning, you know, slang, Gen Z slang and such.

But like, get over here, man. We got some ideas. We're kicking stuff around. He needs to make a jersey that would send a Victorian child into a coma. That's what he needs to do. Left no crumbs. Left no crumbs. But I'll tell you this much.

I'm excited to get. I had a very, very busy week. But that is over and beyond behind me now. So I'm very excited to get out. Watch some more baseball. More importantly, though, extra innings fest tonight and tomorrow. These festivals are incredible. Make sure you get out there.

I would tell you guys where my secret. favorite spot in Tempe to eat is, but I don't want there to be a line or a crowd at this place. And like Mac says, no free ad, so I can't do that. But I'll be stopping by my secret spot for my favorite little meal in Tempe. And I'll be heading over to watch a lot of good musicians make some good music. He might even be hopping on pH and X puffs with me tonight. Oh. And if, and if you're into that sort of thing, please come join me. I don't want to be lonely over there. Yeah. Look, a lot of people are doing a lot of things around here. Eric has this whole, remember the sons I was talking about that piss me out?

They're doing their thing over there. We also have the boys in, uh, at the combine, right? When does my beautiful baby Damon come on? Tonight. I think late tonight. God. I'm, I wouldn't, I haven't seen video of him. I haven't, I don't know if he's drinking enough water.

I'm furious. There's not been, there's not been one progress report update from Bo or Johnny. and all I get is videos of Johnny and, you know, Shane looking like they're going to fight each other at the Starbucks. The real question is, has Damon continued his workout every day thing? Yes. And again, I saw Bo Brock at a Starbucks. Is he not having caffeine?

I don't think, I don't think Moni Awesome for me to move. So I don't know what they're doing. You can't go to Starbucks and not get caffeine. That's not the way it works. I think if being in the general vicinity, your skin absorbs caffeine. It's like a contact time. It is a contact tie. Yeah, it's in the air.

It floats around in the air. But no, seriously, please come to Puffs, please. Yeah, come to Puffs. Look, if I'm going to make it in the middle of the concert, you have to come too. So. Erica Day might be there. Erica Day might make an appearance. Oh, Erica.

Well, then I definitely have to be there. So for sure. We have a nice little surprise of our favorite Emma stopping by. Don't let our other, I probably shouldn't have said our favorite Emma now that we have two emas that work here, right? It was a slip, but you can say like the OG. You could say the OG. You know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

I meant what I said. The original. Anyway, yes, Groundhog Mamas says everybody puffin watching the sun's dumpster fire. You're absolutely right about that. Transonic said he'll be at M3F next weekend.

Sweet LCD sound system. Nice. Again, this is probably it, right? This is when we're going to get like any kind of outdoor, big festival or concert during this time of the year. Yeah, at least during good weather.

At least during good weather. At least during good weather. So we got a little bit of that left throughout the month of March, and then everything is very, that in April. But again, we have a lot of fun to be had. So hope to see some of you guys out at Extra Innings Fest. Like I said, send me a tweet. I'm at Kapp underscore Caveman with a K. Our guy large intimate is at Kevow post. You can tweet either one of us about Pups or the concert.

We'll be happy to talk to you. Of course, make sure follow us. Also follow the show at PHNX underscore D-Backs. But as always, all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time and for stopping by. I, Kev, you got anything else before you get out of here? I got to compliment Kev because Kev went from being a producer to being a host in a very short amount of time to being a host that hosts the show all by himself. On several shows.

So speaking as a guy that doesn't like to do that myself, kudos to you, sir. I've been killing it around here. I do want to say for DeBax fans in the chat that are into like trading cards and that kind of stuff or just autographs in general. Sure. There's a card show coming to.

to town and Dre Jameson and Blake Walson will be there signing autographs. Wasn't Blaze also supposed to be at that as well? I think so. I might have been reading that wrong, but maybe. Possibly. But Dre Jameson for sure on the 22nd, Arizona State Card Show. Well, make sure to do that, make sure to check out all the wonderful stuff we got going on here, PHNX.

But we appreciate your time. We'll be back on Monday with another mailbag episode to make sure to shoot us your questions. And until then, the only other thing I got for you is behave yourselves. Be safe. enjoy your weekend and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun when you go to the extra innings festival just to boo tyler glasnow