PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Did Arizona Diamondbacks' Season Just Die at Hands of Los Angeles Angels WALKOFF?!

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

📬 Arizona sports in your inbox! https://gophnx.com/newsletter The Arizona Diamondbacks lost in heartbreaking walk-off fashion to the LA Angels. Jesse Friedman joins Damon Fairall on the PHNX Diamondbacks Postgame Show as they break down this tough loss, the Diamondbacks standings in the NL West, and if this truly is the final straw for the Diamondbacks this season. An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ APS: Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostats Chicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today! bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Vme: Download the Vme app and play today using code PHNX! Available on the App Store and Google Play. Vme – Anyone. Anything. Anytime. https://getvme.com/?vmereferral=PHNX Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnx All Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate! 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, that might be it. The toughest moment of the D-back season. And where's Derek Montia? Nowhere to be found. Welcome on in to the PHNX D-Backs show. I am your host, Damon Farrell, Damon Dogg, of course, with my guy, Kevin Thomas. As always, my right-hand man on the ones and twos. And folks, we lost a heartbreaker tonight.

The Arizona Diamondbacks lose six to five to the Los Angeles Angels of Ames. of Orange County of, you know, the greater California area. And of course, it was a heartbreaker. It was an absolute heartbreaker. If you are here in the chat, ready to hang out with us on this Friday night postgame L edition, God help your soul. Thank you. Thank you for being here.

Like this video. Subscribe to the channel. I, of course, mention off the top, no Derek Montia. he's he's you know sipping on a margarita or some sort of rum drink in on a beach in Puerto Rico but I do have my guy Jesse Friedman with me here ready to go

live from Texas where me and Kevin just got back from at a conference that he is attending and braving the elements of a very very late night Jesse Friedman I think Derek got out like like just in time, right? I mean, he clearly sensed that this team was about to kind of crash and burn and he was like,

all right, this is the time that I need to go back to Puerto Rico and visit my homeland and, you know, reconsider my life. It's not over officially, Damon. You know, anything along those lines, I'm going to declare that a little bit hyperbolic even now,

but the Diamondbacks are also six games out of the wild card and things are certainly not looking good for them at this point. Yeah, this was this was a devastating one and definitely feels like one that, you know, may carry some weight moving forward when you're talking about, you know, what this team could be doing in the foreseeable future. Jay Cuddy says it. Derek knew. Ryan H says Derek is petting iguanas. Jesse, you know, I think that you're 100% right. Derek, time this up. He did this on purpose. And everybody blamed Derek. Hashtag blame Derek. I think we're back. I think we're back. Yeah, I mean, that's been a refrain on the PHNXDBACs podcast for a number of years now. You really can't go, we really can't go wrong going in that direction.

I do see a hashtag blame Jesse Friedman in the chat, which I'm going to try my best to ignore. I know my track record being a guest on post game shows around here is not exactly the best. But you know what, Damon, at the end of the day, you're watching this game and you're seeing a team in, theoretically a postseason chase, you know, at least doing their best to try to get themselves in the mix. And just watching the names coming out of this bullpen is a little bit startling. I mean, it's not to say that Anthony Dishclavani pitched poorly in this game. He actually was very, very good and is a big reason that Diamondback stayed afloat in this game. But if you had told anyone a few months ago that, you know, in the eighth inning of a really close game where you've

actually gotten some decent length out of your starters recently, you know, your, you're pitching Anthony DiSclavani in the eighth inning. Yeah. Like that's not, that's not exactly where you want to be. And again, Dechlefani, to his credit, actually was really good in this game. He is by no means the reason the Diamondbacks lost, far from it. But, you know, obviously a tough moment there for Kyle Backus in the ninth inning. And another game where the Diamondbacks just all around did not pitch particularly well.

and of course that that started with Ryan Nelson just not having the kind of outing that we're used to seeing from him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think we're in a difficult place as Diamondbacks fans right now because ultimately when anything goes wrong like the way that this team has been playing recently, especially along this stretch, right?

Because it felt like the Diamondbacks escaped the really difficult stretch of this season being at 500. And then they opened up an easier stretch of their season in this last month or so. and you wanted them to take big advantage of playing the Rockies and the White Sox and the Marlins and the Royals and all these teams. And what do they do? They seemingly play worse baseball almost once they hit that that easier part of their schedule. And that falls, you know, for many people, that falls on the manager. And, you know, that's, it's a trickle down effect, right?

And I'm always a defentory guy. I'm always a, you know, I don't like to do the like whole, like, whole, like let's question every single move. But I'll be honest, man. Some of some of these ones were a little bit puzzling to me. I mean, you hear the broadcast talking about it. I don't know necessarily. I didn't look into exactly what arms were fresh and whatnot in the bullpen.

But I do know, as you stated, like there has been some length out of this starting pitching recently for this team. Kyle Back is, you know, going up against a bunch of right handers, some of the better hitters in that Angels lineup. DeScoffani, as you mentioned, like wasn't the reason the Diamondbacks lost tonight. but him pitching like 60 pitches is pretty crazy to me. And he did allow a few base runners here and there. And then, you know, it was just, I honestly, like,

you don't pinch run for Catella, as Sean points out in the chat here. It was just a lot of puzzling decisions. And I feel like a culmination of a lot of puzzling decisions recently. What did you see from the bullpen decisions tonight from Toro Lovola? I mean, I think there are certainly days with this team where you, could you could wonder about Tori's bullpen usage and you know i there have certainly been decisions he's made this year that i haven't agreed with that i just didn't really think made sense i'm not sure that today is is a day where i would go in that direction i mean de schlophani pitched three

scoreless innings he put up three zeros uh you know i mean Kendall graveman just off the injured list he gave up a run but you know i mean he's theoretically someone that that you have some trust in like this is a guy the diamond back signed going into the year hoping that he'd at least be able to fill a low leverage role and maybe even more than that given the volume of injuries that this team has taken on and Kyle backis has pitched really well uh yeah for this team this season as well and and you know like someone like louise rungifo is a switch hitter who actually has been worse against lefties than righties and of course they they pinch it brought in kevin newman to get the the advantage there before that so you know i i don't really really

have a ton of criticism for Tori Lavello's bullpen management tonight. I think ultimately the diamond backs just kind of, I don't want to say they lost because of Ryan Nelson, but this obviously was a pretty rough outing from him. He didn't set them up for success, only being able to cover four innings. And the offense had some opportunities and just wasn't quite able to do enough. Yeah. This game felt like a big game of just missed opportunities, really, for me at the end of the day. like unfortunately two of two of these big missed opportunities in a way kind of revolve around

uh my sweet sweet heraldo perdomo where you know if he has five more feet on that on that fly ball that fly out to to left or to right center field that he hit um in in that top of that ninth inning like this is an entirely different ball game right if if uh logan o hoppy gets called out on that steel attempt, which, you know, was a very, very confusing situation. You know, this is a completely different ballgame. And it really feels like along, I know that's how I'm sure a lot of losing baseball teams talk about their seasons, right? But it really feels like everything is going against this team right now. You go back to that Padres game where there's two robbed home runs and you lose one zero with Merrill Kelly throwing a gem. Like it just, I can't

help it just feel like that this has been such a just demoralizing couple of weeks here for Diamondbacks fans. And I think that's where it comes in of like, is this truly it for this team? Is it is it done? Is that is this the end of the season? Because not only are they losing games right now, but they are losing games in tragic, tragic fashion. Damon, my my heart hitting analysis on this is that sometimes some years, the baseball gods are just against you. And there's just nothing that you can really do to overcome them. You know, they're vicious beasts. You know, it's not easy to change their minds. And, uh, and that's kind of what it's felt like at times this year for this team. You mentioned the other day where Merrill

Kelly just throws an absolute gem and you lose because the Padre somehow robbed two home run, something that I was actually at the game that night and talking to people after it. No one on the Padres side or the Diamondback side had ever seen anything like that before. Like the odds of having two home runs that you even, two home run balls that you even can rob in one game is very unlikely. You know, most home runs are not, you know, kind of right there in that tweener zone where you could actually try something like that. So it's moments like that.

It's, yeah, that moment during the game today, I believe it was the fifth inning where Logan O'Hoppe appeared to be out at second base, but Geraldo Pardomo was called for blocking his path to the base. It's a newer rule that MLB is introduced here in the last few years. And I think there's a little bit of gray area there. Perdomo, of course, did not seem to be happy with that call. It's a little bit hard to assess, like, you know, was he just there because the ball led him there or was he occupying that space sooner than he had to? It's not reviewable. So the Diamondbacks couldn't really do anything about it. But yeah, you know, those are the kinds of situations that it has felt like just anecdotally have kind of been going against this team for

most of this year. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's it's just been, you know, you say the baseball gods, but it really truly does feel that way sometimes. And that's baseball, right? Like, that's a couple of bounces changed the, the course of an entire season. But another, you know, aspect of this entire season, if we're truly going to talk about and dissect what, what's really been going on. The Diamondbacks have had 31 different pitchers so far this year. You know, not to say that the Angels have some stud pitching staff on the other end, but they read a stat on the broadcast tonight that the Angels are only the third team in

MLB history to have all five of their starters that they had on opening day still be their five starters by the All-Star break. Literally my mind is blown. I didn't know that that was possible. I definitely didn't know that that was a thing that was happening this year. And my God, could you imagine? Could you imagine if that was the position that the Diamondbacks were in, how different that this season could possibly look?

Yeah, it is a pretty startling thought. I mean, it's also telling that the Angels are still a couple of games below 500, even though they, I mean, I guess they've had some injuries on the position player side, but they've made out certainly better than the diamond backs have this year. And yeah, I mean, it just is one of those things where some years you're going to have good injury luck, frankly. And the diamond backs have had that at times. Like, 2023, there were injuries, but by and large, the most important players on that team stayed healthy, right? I mean, namely, Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly both pitched the entire season that year and were very effective.

and their key position players stayed pretty healthy that year as well. It's so important. And I know that teams and players don't ever want to use injuries as an excuse, and I think we all can appreciate that. But at the end of the day, it has an outsized impact on your season. And everyone goes through some injuries. You're certainly not going to expect nothing. But what the Diamondbacks have gone through this year,

I mean, that number of 31 pitchers that they've used before the All-Star break is just absurd. And it's the reason that Anthony DiScoffani is having to throw three innings in the middle of a close game like this. You know, it's the reason that the Diamondbacks have multiple long relief types in the bullpen currently. And the back end of the bullpen is completely, you know, not well-defined at all. And, of course, Corbyn Burns is probably the best pitcher on this team. and we haven't seen him for more than a month now. Yeah. Sean makes a funny comment here in the chat.

It says, Damon, can you have Kevin mute your mic so that you can rage with obscenities? It's funny you mention that, Sean, because I said to Kevin right before we went live here, we were sitting, I was getting some of the stuff ready to go. And I said to Kevin, it's times like this that makes me sick that I can't just go on an absolute curse word tirade on our post-game show. because I am not happy right now. And it's been a long day. And the D-backs kept me up later. And then they freaking lost to a not good baseball team.

Long week. Good point. And I am definitely not happy right now. So, Sean, you have no idea how bad I want that, brother. Maybe we will do that at some port of the show. But yeah, we will get that out later in the show because I'm going to need that a little bit later. I think that for right now I'm going to try to stay as on track as I possibly can just because, you know, I don't know how much, I don't know how much more I got in me,

brother. I got to give you, you know, 40 minutes of just good, solid, straight line, you know, Diamondbacks post game show. And then we'll get into, we'll get into the craziness in the later aspects of the show. But getting back to this game, one of the notable performances that we absolutely have to talk about is Randall Gritchick, who of course is, is been seeing a lot more playing time with with Pavin Smith on the mend and uh you know it's it's seemingly been for the better I guess or I mean maybe not the right way of saying it but Randall Gritchick has

been definitely performing and and you know has his best game in a while tonight. Um, I guess just what, what do you see from Randall Gritchick and, uh, do you think that this is a guy that can help this team kind of get out of this funk? It's been a really weird year for Gritchick in that, you know, last season, he actually was pretty good against righties. And so some people who were wondering, like, oh, maybe we should be giving Randall Gritchick more of a full-time role. And then this year, the Diamond Becks bring him back for essentially the same role that he had last year, where you figure he's really just going to play against lefties, the

majority of the time. And this year, he's been better against righties than lefties. Actually, to the point where he hasn't been good against lefties at all, coming into this game tonight, Gritchick had a. 658 OPS against lefties, which is a pretty big problem when this is supposed to be like one of your, you know, I mean, this is a guy who's had a 900 OPS against lefties for several years in a row at this point. So it was really good to see Grishik kind of bounce back in that way, hit two home runs against left-handed pitchers, of course, and Tyler Anderson and Reed

Dettmers. He's a really important part of this team with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. And the Diamondbacks have started to see more of those all of a sudden. It felt like, They went quite some time without like ever seeing a lefty. But now they're starting to see them more often. And that coupled with the Phaven Smith injury, as you mentioned, means that Randall Gritchick is getting a whole lot more playing time. And he's struggled lately. But maybe this is the kind of a turning point in his season.

Yeah. No, I mean, I think there definitely was a time where it felt like that they played, you know, 25 starters in a row. And I think that might just be. my Pavin-Smith, you know, very like-minded brain or oriented brain, I guess I should say, that is, that was feeling that way. But I love to see a little bit more Randall Gritchick in the lineup. And before we go any further, I do want to say that this show is brought to you by our presenting sponsors,

which are Bet365 and GameTime. Download the Bet365 app today and use promo code PHNX 365 when you sign up and get $20 off your first purchase on game time with code PHNX. when using that app as well. I used game time when I went to Petco Park, Jesse, last week on Sunday, the house that Jesse Friedman built now that you're out there in San Diego. You were at Petco Park on Sunday and you didn't tell me, Damon? I'm kind of offended.

I was. I was. I should have hit you up. You know what, Jesse? Honestly, it's kind of an adjustment period for me that you even live there now. Like, I just, it's forever in my heart. I'm like, Jesse Friedman lives at his townhouse. house in North Scottsdale and I'll go over there whenever I need to see him and I'll walk into

his living room and he'll have pizza in there for for your boy. But no, it's sadly, sadly that is not the case anymore, although I am happy for you because that city rocks, man. I can't get over how much I love San Diego. Every time I go, all I can think about is, you know, I think I could do it. I think I could just live here. I think I could do it. And then, and then I drive back home to Arizona every time, you know, as most of us do. But excited for you, my man. We will talk more about this game and about the pitching performances that we saw tonight. We'll do that right after the break here on the pH and X Dback show.

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Well, Jesse, you know, Ryan, Ryan Nelson has been unbelievable as of late, right? And, you know, it was, it was, it's been a stretch where he's really been the Diamondbacks ace kind of dating back to really the latter portions of last season, right? Where he, he was pitching, you know, pretty unbelievably and very unexpectedly, I would argue, as well. But, you know, after after his one earned run performance against the Royals in seven innings, six and two thirds with two earned against the Giants, five innings pitched with one earned against the white socks, five and two thirds with one earned against the Blue Jays. I mean, he had been on a nice stretch there of really, really good outings. Ended up giving up four in the

first inning of this one. Looked like it was going to be a disaster. Then he settles in a little bit more and ends up pitching a pretty solid game, all things considered, with the way that that first inning went. What did you see from Ryan Nelson tonight? He really was on quite a run coming into tonight, as you said. I mean, I think it's a 1.53 ERA over his last five starts, which is just unbelievable the way he's been pitching lately.

And then, you know, after giving up four earned runs in his last three starts combined, he gives up four earned runs in the first inning tonight. It was a pretty rough frame for him. His pitch count was up over 30. He was really laboring. It felt like he didn't. The fastball is just such an important pitch for Ryan Nelson. And his command of that pitch was not quite what we're used to seeing.

He made several big mistakes right over the middle of the plate. And even though that pitch has some good life on it, it is going to, you know, it is going to get hit every once in a while if he leaves it right in the middle of the zone. and then he also just was not able to get the swing and miss up in the zone with the fastball that we're used to seeing. There was not a lot of chase really on any of his pitches tonight. And then you look at some of his secondary pitches, he didn't get a whiff on anything other than a four seamer and a cutter. And he doesn't need a ton of whiffs on those pitches, but he wasn't really getting much value out of any of them at all. And when the fastball command isn't there,

the whole thing just doesn't really function right for someone like Ryan Nelson. Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting point, right? And I don't mean to put you on the spot necessarily because I know that if you had the complete and utter answer to this, you'd probably be working for a major league baseball team getting paid, you know, millions of dollars. But what do you think happens from, you know, a stretch like that for Ryan Nelson where his fastball is so effective and it is getting that swing and miss? And he is locating it up in the zone. the way that he wants to to a performance like tonight where it kind of just falls off immediately. Like, do the angels just have the right game plan and know what's coming?

Because that's the part that I guess is confusing to me. Everybody kind of knows what's coming with Ryan Nelson. It's not necessarily a secret. He's not one of these pitchers that has a massive arsenal that goes out there. And, you know, you really could see a bunch of different types of pitches. Like, you know you're getting that fastball. You know you're getting it up in the zone. What could be a differentiator for?

from having a good five, six game stretch like he did to struggling in the first inning like he did tonight? It's hard to say for sure. I'm not sure. I'm curious what Ryan Nelson himself would say was maybe the difference for him. Maybe there's something mechanical that didn't feel right in this game. That's unfortunately a little bit above my pay grade. I can say, though, that you know, you just look at the very first batter of the game. And I think it kind of tells the story. Ryan Nelson's first pitch tonight was a fastball that was like a foot outside. I mean, it wasn't even remotely close. And then his second pitch of the game was a fastball that was right down the middle. And Zach Netto, you know, made it look fairly effortless just hitting a solo home run to get

the scoring started for the Angels. So yeah, it's one of those things where I don't think any major league pitcher, no matter how good they are, you're not going to have your A plus command all the time. And for Ryan Nelson, the difference between him having that top level command that he has recently and having subpar command is enormous because he's so dependent on the fastball that there just isn't, you know, a lot of other great pitchers in the league. They have other ways to get you out. Like, all right, if this pitch isn't working, let me see if this pitch is working for me. Ryan Nelson doesn't really have that. And so if his normally excellent fastball command isn't there. It's like, well, this might just kind of be a rough one. And to his credit, he hung in there and was

able to put up a few zeros after that rough first inning, but he obviously didn't pitch very deep into the game. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it wasn't his, you know, greatest performance tonight, but you do see the bullpen kind of get in there and step up a little bit. You know, they give up two runs, but it's just another game where this offense puts up a decent amount of, of, of, you know, of production and the Diamondbacks end up getting the loss anyways. And it feels like the story of this season, feels like the story of last season, feels like the story of this franchise at times when it comes to the pitching side of

things and the inability to truly develop that side of baseball and have those prospects in your, in your organization. But yeah, I mean, Ryan Nelson, you're going to need him. Like the room for air when it comes to Ryan Nelson is, is unfortunately like I know that this is a crazy place to be before the all-star break even with the Corbyn-Burns signing that you know we were also hyped about like imagine if I told you

man like Ryan Nelson can't afford for him to have bad games if this team wants to pick things up and it's like maybe you're just not a very good baseball team right and it kind of feels that way right now where you know it was in 2023 at times where it was like every time Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly walk out under the mound, you have to win that baseball game. Like, no if, fans are buts about it. Because then you've got to find a way to win one of the next three

with any of the other, you know, three pitchers that you happen to throw out there on any given night. And they're back in that same mold right now. It's, it's, you got Ryan Nelson, hopefully not pitching like he did tonight, more like he did in the stretch prior to this.

Zach Gowan hopefully figured some things out with James McCann and, and, you know, just a little bit. bit of, you know, getting ready for this season. And, and then Merrill Kelly has been kind of, you know, the mainstay that he really always is for the majority of this season. But you need those three guys to be the horses that get you to being a back to, you know, a relevant, competent and potentially a postseason baseball team. Jesse, I do want to ask you about, you know, whether or not this team should buy, should sell what you think currently is the

is the dime back season over? Is this team dead? We'll get into that right after the break here on the pH and XD back show. But before we do, let's talk about some good things in the world. And that's going to start off with our friends at Desert Financial Credit Union. They've been Arizona's number one credit union named by Forbes for a few years now. And it is for good reason. When you guys sign up today for a free checking account, DFCU is going to give you $200 like around the Monopoly Board just for signing up. that simple. It's literally like going around the go. And they give you $200. You know, of course, you know, I'm an Arizona Wildcats guy through and through. But if you

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ads. We do have one more that we have to hit here. It's our friends at Monarch. money. I know that I am a big spender when it comes to all sorts of small trivial things, whether it be clothing or going to concerts or a Padres game, for example. But I could really use myself a subscription from Monarch Money. We got a promo code for you. It's PHNX for that you'll use at monarchmoney.com. And it's going to help you save. It's going to be an app that tracks your subscriptions, tracks your unwanted, unnecessary spending and helps you get your budget on the right track. It's not your average budgeting app. It's a complete financial command center for your investments and goals and start building wealth with 50% off your first year for our listeners over

here at PHNX sports. If I had Monarch money, which I should get on Monarch money, I'm sure I would have so, so much more money because I am, as I said, a way too big of a spender than I should be. And that's why Monarch money is here to help, right? So get control of your overall finances with Monarch Money. Use code PHNX at Monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at Monarchmoney.com with code PHNX. Before we get into whether or not the Diamondbacks should be buyers should be sellers and whether or not the season is dead, let's talk about the numbers from tonight's game and really just get an encapsulation of what and how close this game was all things considered. I actually screwed up the expected

batting average here. It's not supposed to say $2.99 for the devax. It's supposed to say $2.99 for the Dbacks. it's supposed to say $298 for the debacks. So it's actually a thousandth of a point off from the Angels expected batting average. The Angels out hit the Diamondbacks by one. Runners in scoring position was the same average at $250 for both teams, but the Angels got one more hit at three for 12. The same amount of expected batting or extra base hits. And then as I said, with the expected batting average,

Diamondbacks at 298 and the Angels at 299. Angels, of course, get a one-run victory. the process. Jesse, have you seen a by the numbers that has been that, that neck and neck, I should say. That's about as neck and neck as they get, Damon. It doesn't, doesn't get much more equal than that. I do think it's worth noting that the Diamondbacks walked eight angels in this game and the Diamondbacks had just two walks. So both teams had a decent amount of traffic on the bases, but the Angels had an absurd amount of traffic on the bases in this game. I mean, that's 20 base runners across the nine innings of offense for them.

And it's just tough to win that way. I mean, the Diamondbacks were able to make some big pitches at times and work out of some of those situations. I think the Angels ended with 14 guys left on base. But at a certain point, you know, it's just going to be hard to keep all those guys to strand all those base runners. And obviously we saw in the ninth inning, Kyle Backus was unable to do that. Yeah, I mean, you see it with, you know, even Anthony Diskalani, who you mentioned pitching pretty decent in his three innings of work.

He walks a couple batters. Ryan Nelson walks four. Kendall Graveman walks too. I mean, it's, you did walk too many guys tonight. And if you're going to be even from a, from an actual hitting the baseball standpoint, that's going to be the big differentiator there. And, you know, the angels just had more people on the base paths when they were getting these hits. because they were, you know, getting a lot more walks. And also part of that is, is Mike Trout as well, I will say, you know, you intentionally walk Mike Trout and pitch around him consistently. Like, that's going to lead to a lot more walks. But that's why the Angels have a guy like Mike Trout on their team is in the middle of their lineup so that, you know, you have to avoid a guy like that and pitch to, you know, a player such as Taylor Ward, who, you know, is one of the league leaders in home runs right now

at 21 bombs hitting right behind Mike Trout. So that's baseball as well. I know I keep saying that. But another aspect of baseball is whether or not you're going to be a buyer or seller at the deadline. And with the way that the National League is looking right now, how smart would it be for the Diamondbacks to, you know, go out there and actually bring in, give up resources to bring in more pieces when this team is kind of on

the outside looking in when it comes to even qualifying for the playoffs. I think maybe there could be a scenario where bringing in pieces to help you now could still make sense. But I think bringing in pieces to help you in 2025 only, like those rental pieces, that's a bit of a tough sell right now. I mean, the Diamondbacks are six games out at this point, both obviously, well, I guess not obviously, both the Padres and the Giants won tonight, which is not great for the Diamondbacks.

So there are six games out at this point. They entered today with, I think, a 15% chance to make the playoffs, according to fan graphs for however much stock you want to put in those numbers. That number has presumably, you know, gotten much lower, probably, after everything that happened today. So I don't think you can go into the deadline looking to at least with the way things right now, you know, barring some significant change here in the next couple of weeks. But I do think it's possible that this team could look to do a combination of

where, you know, maybe there are some pieces all through 2026 or 27 or 28. I still think the debaX could look at that. But it's, you know, as far as what they would do with their rental pieces, I think selling those off probably makes a lot of sense, given where they are right now. Yeah. It's amazing when you think about, you know, a baseball season, right? And you see the debacks are 46 and 49.

And we talk about this stretch against maybe a little bit more easy opponents on paper, the Marlins, the Royals, whatnot, and you lose those series. But imagine if they had won this game tonight was obviously extremely winnable. They win that Padres game, you know, where they got robbed of the home runs. And then they win that Giants game. where I believe, you know, they lost that one in extras as well in that series where they could have gone up, I believe, 3-0 on the Giants there. I mean, all of a sudden, you're 49 and 46.

You're two games back from the San Diego Padres in, you know, who are a half game out of the wild card. Like that could be, that's game-changing type of stuff. But this team just continues to find ways to lose these games on the margins consistently. It feels like if the Diamondbacks want to win, it feels like they have to win by three plus runs because if it's going to be a close game, it feels like they find a way to lose somehow. And, you know, that's the unfortunate part of this season. But, you know, you were talking about it a little bit off air. Who are some of the guys that you could see being shipped out

potentially with, you know, if this is a season where you're going to end up punting potentially or maybe not punting is the right word? Like you keep a lot of the majority of the pieces on this team, but you just say, hey, you know, we need to retool a little bit. This guy's probably not going to be someone that we re-sign going into next off season. Like, who are, who are these players that you think could find new homes by the time that late July rolls around? I think the clear ones are all the guys who are on expiring contract. So Zach Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Josh Naylor, Ehio-Swarres, Randall Gritchick, there's a mutual option, although those don't normally get picked up. You could probably put him in that category.

as well. I think any of those guys could make a lot of sense and would be attractive to other teams. It was interesting to me this morning. Ken Rosenthal came out with a report that the Diamondbacks likely will not trade both Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly, just that they don't have the young pitching to step in and take over those rotation spots, which is true. I mean, I'm frankly not sure they have the pitching to fill one of those rotation spots. I mean, I guess right, maybe Bryce Jarvis slides into a starters role. Maybe Anthony Deescoffani slides into a starter's role. It probably wouldn't be great. It wouldn't be ideal, whatever it was. So what happened to us, man? What happened to us? Remember when we were like, Corbin, Byrne, Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Fod, Erod, how could you beat this

squad and now we're like, is human Lynn ready? Can he be called up? Yeah, I mean, it's tough because so many, I mean, they did have a decent amount of starting pitching depth on paper going into the season, but it's not just that you've lost Corbyn Burns and Jordan Montgomery and are thinking about trading off some of these other guys. It's that Christian Mana is hurt and likely out for the season.

and Tommy Henry just had the, the brace procedure is going to be out to at least the middle of next year. Dre Jameson's situation is hard, hard to know what's going on there at this point. So, yeah, I mean, their line of defense, like all of those next guys that you would envision

taking over, none of those guys are really available. And, you know, someone like Yilbert Diaz that you may be at high hopes for this year is just had a really rough season. So it's, yeah, it's, tough. I'm not sure I totally understand the thinking of like, we don't want to trade both of these guys

because we don't have the pitching to fill the spot. Like, I understand it because it would be, you might rack up a lot of losses, frankly, by doing that. But if you're selling, then you're selling and you're probably just not going to do very well the rest of the way. I think maybe this speaks to Mike Hazen and the fact that he hasn't really committed to like a, substantive sell at any point during his tenure. Even in 2021, the Diamondbacks going into that year were trying to compete. And they have sold off some pieces at times, but they've never really sold off anything super major other than, I guess, Zach Granky back in 2019. And that was contract motivated. They wanted to get off some of that money. So yeah, it'll be really interesting to see.

I think it's very hard for Mike Hazen to, to, with all the investments, that have been made with this team to kind of punt. And I think that's what it would be, frankly, if you were to trade both the Zach Gallen and a Merrill Kelly. On the other hand, it's like, well, why just trade one and not the other? Like if you're going to kind of half-heartedly give up on the year, maybe you should just get all of the assets that you can. So I can kind of see both sides of that.

Yeah. I mean, maybe it's maybe it just as simple as the fact of we think we can bring Merrill Kelly back in the off season at a reasonable number. And, you know, that that's, we care more about this team being good next season than we do about getting a, you know, maybe a middling prospect back for a half year of Merrill Kelly or whatever. But I do think, you know, there, you could certainly make an argument either way when it comes to that. I guess from my perspective and I know a lot of people love to do the, you know, Tori is the worst person alive. but Mike Hazen is the greatest GM in baseball history route, even though these guys are best friends in lockstep together

and both the faces of this organization. But I got to say, I am not particularly happy with Mike Hazen and his bullpen building that he did this season going into the year. But as an extension of that, if you truly believed in this team and believe in this offense, that is, you know, borderline an elite offense, really, and was last season the best offense in baseball. how do you not invest into the bullpen when you see the arms that we're throwing out here at

certain points of this season. If this team had two more competent bullpen arms that Mike Hazen got a month ago, what is the record right now? There's no telling, right? And that's where, like, I'm going to be upset. Like, I'm okay with them selling off if that's truly what they, you know, at the end of this. But if they're, if they're going to buy, it's like we should have been buying, you know,

the White Sox best bullpen arm in May, right? Like that realistically, if you truly believe in this team, I know you have to pay a premium for guys that far ahead of the trade deadline, but it's also a reliever from one of the worst teams in baseball. Like, I just don't really understand the thought process of like, well, we're going to pick this guy off the garbage heap and hope that he's decent. Like, no, I think you need to go out there and find some arms if you think that this team can compete.

Yeah, I definitely see where you're coming from there. I think it is challenging and, you know, it's hard for me to speak to this because I'm not a major league general manager and very likely never will be. I don't know what these conversations are like, but everything we hear from GMs about trades in May or even in June is that they're just really hard to pull off. And I think it can be easy for us to be like, all right, well, maybe instead of, you know, your number five prospect, and your number 10 prospect for so and so, like, you know, give them the four and the nine prospect or something. And I think it can be easy for us to be like, well, you know, surely the other team would be interested in that. My guess is it's not quite that simple because these trades just

don't really happen. And I guess the other point we should probably make here is that say the diamondbacks did trade for some solid reliever from some other team back in May, would it have been worth it? Like, is this bullpen plus one good reliever actually good enough? This is a conversation we had on my Dback show, Snake's Territory yesterday. If the Diamondbacks had David Bednar, if they went after him and traded for him at some point in the next two weeks, would this bullpen be good? And we kind of landed on, I don't think so. I think I think David Bednar would be great at pitching the ninth inning. But who pitches the eight?

who pitches the seventh. I mean, they're like, you can't build an entire bullpen around one or even probably two acquisitions at this point, given how many pieces they're, they're missing. And that's not to discount at the same time what you're saying about Mike Hazen and the fact that maybe from the very beginning of the season, this team should have been better equipped. I think that's, that's a very fair criticism. Yeah. I mean, it's, listen, like as, as good as Mike Hayeson has been for this team and as much as he's turned around this organization, uh, from the, the depths of hell in which Dave Stewart left us in, um, building a bullpen has not been an easy task for Mike Hazen in Arizona. No, neither has it been for any GM ever in the history of the

Arizona Diamondbacks. So that's not a unique thing to Mike Hazen, but it's just disheartening when you have such a talented roster or you feel that you have such a talented roster on paper and, you know, you lose all these seventh, eighth, ninth inning games because your bullpen is, is that of the Reno Aces. You don't, you have a genuine minor league caliber bullpen. And, uh, you know, it's, that's, that's the part that that really, really sucks for, for, you know, this fan base and for this team. But Jesse, I guess what, what would you do? If, if you had your GM hat on and I, you know, Jesse Friedman was named the new general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, what would be your plan going into this trade deadline?

Man, well, I think it's a very good thing that that is not going to happen because, yeah, I'm very underqualified for the job. But I think if I were just playing pretend here for a second, I think I would see what the market was like for Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly. I think to your point earlier, bringing Merrill Kelly back feels more realistic. This is, right, he grew up here, at least for part of his childhood. He has ties to the area. He went to ASU.

He seems to really enjoy playing in Arizona. He's already signed an extension here. He's later in his career. He's not going to make a ton of money. I think that could be possible. And I think it could be really helpful for the Diamondbacks next year to fill out. You just kind of need some arms to help fill out that rotation next season. I'm not sure you could do better than Merrill Kelly.

given what he will cost and how good of a pitcher he still is. So I would be, I think with Merrill, I would be setting the bar pretty high, where I might be like, you know, let's just keep him. And I know that even if you trade him, you still theoretically can bring him back. But that doesn't happen very often. I think you probably have a better shot at bringing him back if you just keep him in the organization. But, yeah, again, if somebody wants to totally overwhelm you, then maybe you would trade both Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly.

I think the other thing I would be looking to do is see if I can acquire a controllable starting pitcher who is, who is relatively young. You know, can I, can I replicate the jazz chisholm, Zach Gallen trade from 2019, something like that? Unfortunately, those moves are very difficult to pull off. So I think that would be a serious uphill battle. But this team, as you look ahead to 2026, they have two. rotation spots to fill, at least, two pretty clear rotation spots to fill. And they can't

pay $20 million for both of them. I mean, they already are paying Eduardo Rodriguez a lot of money. They're going to pay Corbyn Burns, you know, $30 plus million, even though we're probably not going to see him for most of next season. So you need to fill out this rotation with some affordable arms if you can. And so I think that's something that I would take a serious look at. But again, it's a lot easier said than done. The other thing, of course, is I would definitely listen to offers for Josh Naler and Gino Suarez, assuming the debacks are in a similar position than as they are now, I would be willing to move both of those guys if I could get what I was looking for.

Yeah, the hard part about the deadline is a lot of these guys that are on like the expiring type contracts, they just don't fetch that much as is. And so, you know, you're getting rid of sometimes like really good baseball players like Josh Naylor and it's like what is a team trading for a half a year of Josh Naylor if they don't have any indication or maybe like feeling that they're going to even try to extend him in the off season. So that's the hard part of this. If I was, if I'm putting my GM hat on for a second, I've heard some people talk about the idea of trading Merrill Kelly and trying to re-sign him in the off season. If that's something that he would be

interested in, I mean, I don't know how you vet that with him. Like I guess I'd probably approach it in the way of like, hey, Merrill, you've given a lot to this organization. where do you want to be? Do you want to be here? Or do you want to be competing for a World Series, the latter half of this season? See what he has to say. And if he says competing for a World Series, then broach the conversation of like, you know, you're a staple of this team. We would love to try to resign you.

Is that something you'd be interested in the off season? I don't know how realistic that is. But it's something I'd be interested in. Zach Gowlin, I think, yeah, I mean, how much do you weigh the haul you would get versus the qualifying offer in the compensation? that comes with that if he signs with another team or do you bring him back at that one year you know 20 something million dollar number because he had a down season even though he has started to pick it up as of recently so that's an interesting thing that you'll need to broach with

that conversation but as much as it hurts to say i think i think i would probably try to trade gino because i think this is the most you're ever going to get for him and you could get probably a good amount for a guy that is going to hit 40 plus home runs this year. And then I think I would try to trade Zach Gowan for a good, good size haul. But I think I'm trying to keep Meryl Kelly. And I've long said it, but I'm going to continue to say it. Josh Naylor's 27 years old. I want him on this team.

Like I'm, you know, if I'm, I'm talking long term, that's a guy who I'm writing in pencil in my starting lineup for the foreseeable future. And baseball players, like 27 is like really like the start of your primal. most like he's just getting to play like probably the best baseball of his career and i just think that that guy is is is a really really good hitter and uh kind of an infectious personality and and i'm not trying to i'm not trying to get rid of a josh naler johnny walker is not happy with me in the way that i'm driving this conversation i understand i'm not derrick brother but i'm going to let you in on a secret derrick montia sitting in this exact same chair would be

having this exact same conversation right now with jesse friedman if he was here because That's the direness of this situation. That's exactly what we just watched tonight with the Los Angeles Angels. But I do want to say shout out you, brother, for your super chats. Kevin, if you wouldn't mind grabbing those real quick. Says go debacks for $10. And then says, forget the trade deadline. Forget prospects.

Let's win games. You know, I'm with it, man. I've been trying to say that. I've been holding the line more than anybody. I feel like, Kevin, you can attest this. I've been being like, this is a team that, you know, I believe in. I believe in this offense. I want to supplement this offense with good pitching at the deadline.

I want to compete and I think that this team can go on a run. I just, I don't know how much longer you can hold on to that rope when the team can just consistently is the most mid team of all time. Yeah, it's, I think mid is a pretty good way to describe it. I mean, they, you know, they just kind of oscillate back and forth from a game or two over 500 to a game or two under 500. And they've won just enough to, I think, keep D-BACs fans interested. like, oh, maybe this could still turn around.

But today definitely feels a little different, at least to me, Damon. I mean, six games out is just has a different feel to it than three or four. Yeah. Especially given, especially given the number of teams that are between you and that third wildcard spot. You're not just looking to make six, make up six games on one team. You know, you're having to make up some pretty serious ground on the giants and the Padres and the Cardinals and the Reds, you know, assuming you don't catch the Mets or Brewers, which I think is not so likely at this point. So, yeah, the odds are just very clearly stacked against you. And

this roster that team is operating with right now, I just don't know if it's that much better than a 500 roster, frankly. The debacks at full strength, you know, of Corbyn Burns is back and AJ Puck and Justin Martinez and Shelby Miller and Jalen Beaks and Ryan Thompson. And we can go down the list, if you get all these guys back, I think it's a pretty talented roster, but those guys aren't coming back, uh, you know, at least not anytime soon. And, and some of them certainly not the entire season. So at this point, it's hard for me to look at this roster, what it realistically is and believe that it's like, oh, no, like things will turn. You just need this player to get hot or that player to get hot. It's like, I don't know who's going to,

you know, you could see Zach Allen go on a nice run. Absolutely. You could see Brandon Fopp kind of turning some things around. The start, you know, maybe the starting pitching could kind of bounce back as we've seen here recently. But this bullpen is just not a majorly caliber bullpen. And again, even if you were to make some moves at the trade deadline, I'm not sure you'd really be able to make that big of a difference there. Yeah, we're going to round out this conversation here with one last break on the PHNXDbacks post game show. But first, let's talk about Empire today. am sitting on some Empire Today hardwood right now and it is the absolute most beautiful most pristine

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And of course, all pro shade concepts, another one of our favorite sponsors that we have. Call this number, guys, 623-204-1476. That's going to be the number that you're going to want to write down. We all know how hot it is in the state of Arizona, in the summer in particular. And these awnings, these custom fit shades can save you almost 20 degrees on your patio. And if that's not worth it to you, then you are absolutely insane.

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maybe there are some, it's mostly Johnny Walker. He's not too happy with it. I, the thing is, Johnny is, I was with you, my guy. Like, I'm trying to tell you, I know that you're seeing me here on this show and you're listening to me talk more than I usually talk because I'm more just kind of the court jester of this program, if you will, where I chime in to make funnies and everyone to point and laugh at me. But I, you know, I, like, I've been on the side of being like, this is a competitive roster. And it's just, it's just been hard recently. Kevin, if you wouldn't mind throwing up, there was a comment. I'm forgetting now that I wanted to, to bring up here. Definitely not happy here. Oh, yeah, it was the conversation about that, the

Johnny brought up about what record were we last year and the year before at the All-Star Break, or not at the All-Star Break, but at this point of the season on July 11th. Well, the Diamondbacks were 47 and 47 last year, Jesse, on July 11th. And they didn't make the playoffs. And they had a better record than they do right now, right? The year before that, the Diamondbacks were 52 and 39 with a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers at this point in the season two years ago. And they made the playoffs and they made the World Series.

I mean, if that doesn't right there encapsulate everything that we're talking about, then, you know, it's like that's, that's what I'm trying to say. Like this, this is an organization that is consistently only performed when they get off to hot starts. That is a fact. And a lot of times it's in seasons that you don't expect anything. And then you go into the next season after they had one of these surprising seasons where you do have expectations.

and what does that lead to disappointment in a 500 season. So it's like I just think that, you know, we have to be realistic about where we are. And last year's team was on paper better than at this point than we are right now. And they didn't make playoffs. Granted, it was by a game and, you know, a thing goes here or there differently. You never know. But, you know, it's just like that's that's the reality of where the Diamondbacks are at this point in the season. I would add that I think it's worth noting that July 11th last year the Diamondbacks were 47 and 47,

but they were also only one game out of the third wild card, which is a really big difference from this year where there's six games out. And I know last year that wound up being a little deceiving, like last July 11th, the Mets had the third wildcard spot at 47 and 45. They were two games over 500 and in the playoff picture. By the end of last year, the Diamond of course, when 89 games, they still don't make the playoff. So it wound up that you needed to be substantially better than where the Mets were at that point in order to actually make it. So we don't know really what the threshold is ultimately going to be, but it's hard to

imagine it going the other direction this year where, oh, maybe you can make the playoffs with 82 or 83 wins. There's just too many good teams that are in the mix here for me to really buy that. So it's a really different situation, all that to say. If the debacks are one or two games out, being a few games under 500, it'd be like, all right, you know, we're not in a great spot, but neither are the teams around us. And there's a path here. But when you're this many games out and you have to climb over four teams in order to get where you want to go,

mathematically the odds are very much stacked against you. Not to say it's impossible, but if you're really going to make the decision to trade prospect capital to improve this team, you're going to want to have. have a little more confidence than I think you would right now. Yeah. And Jay Cuddy makes a good point. It's not the N-Hell West. It's really just the N-Hell.

We can drop the West part of it. The West is kind of falling off a little bit. The Padres and the Dodgers are a lot more middle of the pack than they were. They're fighting in the thick of things for wildcard spots. The NL Central, which everyone thought was a terrible division, is somehow, you know, has four teams that are really good. And Paul Skeens is on the other one. And then you have the NL East, who has the, you know, the Mets playing good, they were playing

good baseball. I don't, I'm not familiar with how they're playing right now. I know they went on that horrible skid. But, um, and, and of course you, you, you know, like the Braves are bad in, in the NL East. The Phillies are obviously a good team. But like the Braves are behind the diamond backs. And that's a, a roster that is incredibly talented.

That's a roster that I think, you know, they're probably having similar conversations. Like, what do we do with this team? because on paper they're good enough to compete, but what they've shown this season, they haven't been good enough to compete. All I have to say is just to round out this conversation is Johnny Walker, don't ever accuse me of not wanting to win again. I am the last person that you want to accuse of that.

I'm a crazy person when it comes to wanting to win games for this team and not having loser behavior as Jesse has been very well aware of me bringing up and being against at all times. I just think that this is the, you say like you can't try to pivot into 2026. I completely disagree with you there, brother. I think that there comes a point where winning in 20206 is your best option. And that's there comes a point where that's what you have to do.

As a, this isn't the Dodgers. This isn't the Yankees. This is, you know, like you're not going to have a payroll that sustains you at the top year in and year out. And when you have a team that just doesn't have it, sometimes you got to switch things up. but um jesse it was a demoralizing night it was a tough loss and uh it might be t o d on the arizona diamond back season that will be figured out in the long run here but we appreciate

you staying up late uh braving the elements uh if you will in texas what is it 1 a m 1 10 am over there got to get you back to bed for for your your big conference we got one more super chat to hit real quick uh my nips hurt nat's fan Jesse, we have a Nats fan in this chat now who watches our program. He's a good guy. He's a good guy. Me and Derek, Derek used to go back and forth with him during the Nats series.

That's how he found the program. Then it started, Derek and him became friends. And now me and my Nips Hurt kind of get into it from time to time. Good friendly banter. But he says, sends a $5 super chat. Thank you.

My Nips Hurts says, Nailer for Josh Bell, improve your power. And we get a solid backup to national. or to Nathaniel Lowe on the Nats? Yeah, man. I guess. I don't know.

I don't know how to respond to that. Are the Nats in a buying position? I have no idea. But, um, Hey, Damon. Josh Bell, he was a pretty good trade deadline acquisition for the VACs a year ago. So,

you know, there's a, there's a track record there, you know? Who's to say? There certainly is, a piece of Yoshi, it takes offense to your 110 a.m.

because I believe he's on East Coast time, potentially in New York as a Mets fan, being like, hey man, it's 2 a.m. over here, brother. But, yeah, we appreciate everybody for staying up late, including my co-host here on a Friday night. I know this is not the best way to be spending your Friday night talking about a Diamondbacks loss, but we appreciate all of those who did so anyways, rocking with us.

Please leave a like on this video, does us so many favors. we appreciate it. Jesse, make sure that you drink water as Kevin just put up there on the screen. You can follow my guy, Jesse Friedman, at Jesse N. Friedman on Twitter,

as well as follow all of his work that he's doing with our friend Jack Summers over at Snake's Territory. Just great stuff going on over there at their YouTube channel and on all their social channels. So just check out what they're doing, of course. But Jesse,

thank you so much for joining me tonight, man. And we will catch you later on the PHNXD Back show. yeah hopefully people aren't blaming me for everything quite as much next time uh i know my track record here isn't great but uh maybe we can change that who knows you know maybe i just maybe i got too naive and i thought to myself that my own good juju would outweigh your bad juju jesse and and i just i got a little bit in my own head about it a little overconfident and it won't happen again we won't be doing any more post game shows me and you yeah i think i think i think

Derek pretty much decided that afternoon shows are the only shows that I'm allowed on. So maybe we should stick to that moving forward. Sounds good. Appreciate you, my man. Let's get you out of here and, you know, have a good night's rest. I don't know what that was. I wasn't trying to end the show. I had to remember kids, brother.

Come on, Kevin. I forgot. I have been here before. Well, I'm a kid and you didn't tell me to remember, so I forgot. We hit him with the with the wop-wop-wop, with the hez-haz-he. But before we get out of here, I did want to give my, throw my friend Sean a bone. Because I am sick and goddamn tired of losing baseball games in this team. So Kevin, without further ado, would you please mute my freaking mic?

It's very therapeutic. Derek is right about that. It does it, like, it gives you the ability to just kind of really all get it out. Like, I'm sweating now. And it just, I don't know. I mean, I hope I, it is, it is very therapeutic. but I hope that I encapsulated, you know,

everybody's brains tonight. I know that was the show I wanted to do. That was the show I wanted to give you fine folks if our friends over at Fast Remote would allow me to do so. I would have been, that would have just been the regular show. I would have done that for a full hour and Jesse wouldn't have gotten a word in,

but appreciate everybody for being here tonight, rocking with us on a Friday, as I said. Shout out Jesse Freeman for joining us. Give Jesse a follow Jesse and Friedman. and give me a follow at Damon Dogg. Give my guy Kevin a follow at Kevo Post, K-E-V-O-P-O-S-D-S-D. And shout out Kevin, by the way, for taking the time out of his Friday night

to help us out on this program, making his return to the show, bringing his bad juju back and stank back to this show as well, but we won't need to talk about that. Appreciate everyone for joining us, follow our main account at PHNX underscore D-Backs, and we will be back on a Monday at 12 p.m. for a mailbag Monday,

as well as a maybe a lead-in into the All-Star weekend. and the All-Star festivities. We'll be talking about all that and more on the PHNXD Back show. Until next time, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you're over 500 by the All-Star break

and you're not getting walked off in horrific fashion by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.