PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Eugenio Suarez homers in first game back from injury in Diamondbacks win over Padres

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

Pitcher Ryne Nelson continued to make his case for the Diamondbacks starting rotation against the Padres on Tuesday. But after getting dinged up in the fourth inning, is it possible he made a stronger case for coming out of the bullpen? We chat about this and more from D-backs spring training, including Eugenio Suarez’s dinger in his return. We also discuss the renderings of the Oakland A’s new $1.2 billion ballpark in Las Vegas and what losing Lucas Giolito for the year means for the Boston Red Sox.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to Suns Takeovers, Coyotes & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://gophnx.com/events/Arizona Lottery: Visit http://www.AZAdventure.com for more information on how you can take an adventure with the Arizona Lottery and for a chance to win $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes! PrizePicks - Download the PrizePicks app today and use code PHNX for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!NASCAR Weekend at Phoenix Raceway: March 8-10! Find more information at https://www.phoenixraceway.com/spring/ on the Shriners Children's 500, and be on the lookout for racing content from PHNX!Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Empire: Schedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! Receive a $350 OFF discount when you use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.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!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Someburros: 20% off your order of up to $100 when you use code PHNX at checkout for the whole month of March at https://www.someburros.com/When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome in to another edition of the H&X TV Back show. Right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, as your mayor of PHNX, this man next to me, occasionally known as your thunderstick, Jesse Friedman,

always known as my vice mayor. And we have your updates, of course, from a big Diamondbacks win over the San Diego Padres. Toro Lovelo put a good lineup out there today. Keteli wanted maybe to get a little bit of that, get a little bit Padres action. Maybe start the things off early, even in spring training, and get a win under their belt.

And they did. Well, the Padres clearly had no interest in winning this game. They did not know a single player in their lineup today, Derek. That's not actually true. But the Padres definitely had, they didn't exactly have the A team out there against the Diamond Rocks. And when you saw them fielding there on some of those balls in the middle of the game. It felt like the C team playing defense for sure.

Yeah. Toro Lolo made the inevitable. A C-team, I guess, mistake that we knew he was going to make one of these days. There was some confusion today about who would be the D.H. Whether it was Peterson or Peterson. Yes, those are two different, two different players. Spelled differently, but pronounced like mostly the same. Like when I say Peterson for Jace Peterson versus Peterson for Jock Peterson,

I feel like I'm basically saying the same thing. And I asked Tori Lavello, I said, do you feel like it was only a matter of time before someone made? the Peterson versus Peterson mistake. And he said, absolutely, it was only a matter of time. So, you know, it's spring training in all facets, Derek. Even when it comes to writing up the lineup cards, you know, you have to knock the rust off and make sure we're attending to precision all the ways that we need to.

I'll take it a step further and say, I guarantee this won't be the last time that this mistake happens. Yeah, probably, yeah. Probably during the regular season. If on opening day, Jace Peterson is batting cleanup in the first lineup that you see, we know why. We probably, yeah, we probably know why that happened. Well, we had a couple of guys that were out due to injury returning to the lineup today. Alec Thomas came back. He looked amazing in the outfield.

I made a comment to Jesse that Thomas is once again, he's like Christian Walker over there first base. You just don't really appreciate how easy he makes difficult plays look. How graceful he is. Like he made a sliding catch that just looked like it was. was routine and there's nothing routine about making a sliding catch in center field during a baseball game. Yeah, he's good. He's really good at center field. He's good at playing baseball. That's the analysis. This is the kind of quality analysis you'll get from Jesse Breedman on the show. Another guy returned to the lineup today, Gino Suarez, who may be my new man crush and deservedly

so after the way he performed today. He had a first pitch fastball dinger that was absolutely crushed. And it was great to see him come back and have such an outstanding day out there. I mean, you can really see what kind of spark this guy could could potentially be for this lineup. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, just two played appearances today. He walked once. He hit a three run homer as Tim makes an amazing comment. Tim.

Don't even start with me today, Tim. Anyway, Tim says I look 20 years younger since yesterday's true. I was tired yesterday. Leave you alone. Anyway, go ahead. So that just means you look your age now, right? I'm good. Yesterday you were 20 years older.

Yesterday. Now you're back to just being, what, 53-ish. Whatever, 64, however old you are. Yeah, Suarez, as far as, as, as far as, to be fair, this fastball that he hit over the fence was one of the worst pitches that you'll see is about a center cut of a forcing fastball from Pedro Avila as, as could be imagined. But, yeah, I mean, he did with it what A. Oh, Hennio Suarez is supposed to do with mistake pitches, right? And that's, that's hit them over the fence with a decent frequency. and yeah, he did that today.

It was over 109 miles an hour off the bat. It was 422 feet, which is far. This was not a cheap shot by any means. And, you know, I think when you heard him having issues in the backside area, that's kind of what was described, you kind of wonder, like, is this going to affect his power or whatnot? Is that, you know, is that going to be a factor when he comes back? And certainly looks like he's back ready to go.

And he hit the ball a very, very long. long way today. We talked to him after he came out of the game. He talked about how quickly he has felt like he's become part of this Diamondbacks family. And I know, you know, the feeling is kind of mutual there when it comes to Gino because everybody has already said such wonderful things about him. They've said wonderful things about Eduardo Rodriguez that both guys have fit in with the team very well. But this is what Gino had to say on just kind of becoming part of this Diamondbacks family. I mean, the way they treat me, you know, it's a lot for me.

I feel already, I feel like they're part of my family, and they got a really good energy here. We feel like we are family in the clubhouse and on the field and practice. We got a good energy. We communicate, and that's all for me. You know, I feel great. I feel happy they be part of this team. Look at that man.

Look at that man. See, that's why I said. That's my new man crush. The hair, the beard, everything. The answers, the sincere. the love he showed today. It was great. And I mean, honestly, you can see, you know, we talked to Paul Seawall. Paul Seawald talk kind of said, you know, it's not like the trade for Gino was contingent on what he had to say about him. But they did pick his brain about what kind of, you know, teammate he was. And Paul was very excited for them to be pursuing Suarez and to be bringing him over as a part of this team. He knew how big of a teammate he could be, like what kind of clubhouse guy he could be and how he could be. And how he could be. could add to this team that that whole we're we're going to joke the whole year about being connected and dangerous there's no way we're not but it's a very real thing and it's something that jessie

and i actually kind of want to dive into a bit more with tory because there is a philosophy that is up on the on the wall there that we were kind of checking out today yeah yeah and there's a there's a there's a lot more into this whole change of culture that troy lovolo is trying to institute right there is something to be said about this standard that they're trying to set. And right now, Petey is on set with a wine glass and he just made a Joker card appear in the wine glass. My God, like, I can't concentrate with Petey over here doing incredible magic tricks just offset. That's not fair. He didn't bring that energy onto our show, but he does it over here so only you and I can see it. That's not fair. Sorry. Mollet, Mullet magic is real, Derek. Mollet magic is real. But yeah, I wish I

could grow some locks like Gino, Tim. Those days for me are far in the past. But Gino did have himself an incredible day out there. And, I mean, he talked, again, this is after the game, but this is what he had to say about doing whatever he can to help this team win. That, I mean, like I say, it was really nice, you know. That's a lot of fun. And when you got days like this, you know, I got a couple of bad.

And it was, you know, very good for me. And two goods are bad, good defense. and we scored around and put everything together. It's a lot, you know. That's what I want to do. That's what I want to do and help the thing everywhere, you know. Every defense, running the bases, hit a bomb, hit a base, take away, everything. Everything that I can do I would do for them.

Look at that. And then my mustache together with his beard makes a whole beard. So it makes all the sense of the world. Yeah, no. Again, he did have himself a great day out there. And, you know, this vibe, you know, they talk about being a good vibes guy. It feels very real. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, definitely heard nothing but positive things about Gino Suarez and what he brings to not only a team on the field, but in the clubhouse last year in Seattle. And from everything we've been able to see, that's translated well over to Arizona and getting him back healthy and, you know, getting some experience before before the season starts is certainly a good thing for him. Dean says no one with that hair can be anything but sincere. There you go. That's true. Marco says Gino has broken hearts with hair like that. Your goddamn right, he has. God damn right.

Speaking of heartbreakers, Pave and Smith, two for two today. Speaking of heartbreakers. Pave and Smith. Pave and Spitz. It breaks a heart that he's like going to make the roster or something. He had an exit below of 112 miles per hour on double today. Let's calm down. All right.

This might be the real pavement. He had big postseason Haven dead he did he did he did coy for most of it was such a good at bad yeah dex legend he was a he was a decoy he was a lot a lot of the playoffs that was now with this guy david pipe it up over here did you get a chance to hear jerry p miced up i texted you about that jerry p was miced up at today's game and let me tell you it was incredible Today's broadcast was made for Damon. It really. Yeah, it was handcrafted for David.

Like this was Geraldo Perdomo. Like it wasn't really Steve Berthium and Bob Brenley broadcasting this game. It was like Haraldo Perdomo was steering the ship of that broadcast for basically half like I don't, how long did he stay on like four innings or something like that? He was chasing down his teammates. He was trying to get Merrill Kelly to do an interview. He was a straight up harassing Merrill Kelly to come on in the interview. Yeah. Yeah.

He was he was a reporter for the day. I mean, that's our guy right there, Jerry P. But Tim asks a terrible question in chat. He says, Jesse, let's play hypothetical. Prudomo starts first month, WRC of 80 or below. Do you pull the plug? I mean, pull the plug is in as in. Take them out back?

Like, what are we talking about? Pull the plug. Pull the plug is in as in, I guess, bench him and or at least stop, stop starting him at shortstop every day and bring up Jordan Lawler or something like that. I don't think so. You know, 80 isn't that bad. You know, if it was, if it was 40, then maybe you, maybe you'd consider that. But, I mean, his WRC plus last year wasn't, wasn't all that.

I mean, I think it was in the, in the mid-90s maybe. So, yeah, I think Prudomo would have to really struggle for a decent amount of time before they would, they would go a different direction. Of course, it would also depend on how are guys doing in AAA? Is Jordan Lawler, you know, really raking down there and kind of banging down the door? Then maybe the team would be more open to that. What about Catele-Marty playing shortstop? Yeah, yes, apparently.

So Tori didn't say that he's like, like I don't think Cotel-Marte is really being considered for the backup shortstop role. But Tori did say today that Cotel-Marte is very interested in the backup shortstop role and has made that clear to him. Well, this is what Tori had to say on Catell's energy so far this spring, which the man is hitting the cover off the ball constantly. So this is what Tori had to say.

Very engaged, very hungry, and I've been really impressed by that. He has, we have watched him mature, or I have watched him mature over the past seven plus, over the past seven plus years in a very, very good way. And he's taken on a lot of responsibilities, and I'm watching the work habits. I'm watching the energy and the focus every single afternoon. in a very impressive way. I mean, we've seen it. You know, Catelle has been just absolutely dialed in.

I asked him yesterday if there was anything he did differently or maybe if the time off being so short, you know, did anything. And he did kind of say that they, you know, they just played in the World Series two months ago, three months ago, right? So like, yeah, I mean, for the most part, though, we saw videos of Cattel training in the Dominican Republic where it felt like he was just never really taking a day off. It felt like he went to the offseason and just went into training mode.

And now he's back here. And it feels like the results are a reflection of that. Yeah, I could tell it has continued to look fantastic. And yeah, I think I think he has matured. I mean, Tori seems very sincere when he, when he, you know, you can, you can kind of tell the difference in some ways when Tori is saying stuff. And, you know, he believes it. But he's kind of just saying it, you know, doing the manager thing.

And when he's saying something that he really is like, oh, you kind of. I struck a chord here. This is something that I very strongly believe right now. And you can tell he really strongly believes that Cotel Marte is not only a better player than he was, you know, seven, eight years ago when he first came in the Diamondbacks organization, but just a more mature person in general, more mature player, more mature leader around the clubhouse. Yeah.

I think there's been a lot of growth there for Cotel and what he brings to the yard every day. And we've, yeah, spring training results, again, I'll say it for the, for the, for the 100th time. We're not reading much into that, but he still looks physically in great shape. And that is, you know, the most important thing for, for Citell Marte at the end of the day. He also said that the shoes that he's wearing right now in spring training are nothing compared to the fire that he's ready to bring during the regular season. So if you've seen Cattel's purple, they're like purple and teal, Nike pleats. Yeah, Cetel always has his, they're incredible,

fashion sense. And those are, he says those are nothing compared to what we're going to see. I can't wait for that. But you can judge Tori's sincerity on this. Here he is talking about Catell possibly playing some backup shortstop and if that's a reality for this team. When did you talk to him today? Yeah, he told me I'll be our backup shortstop. I love that. Maybe he'll enter into the conversation.

He loves to play shortstop. But the backup shortstop is probably going to play 20 plus games, 30 plus games. So I asked him the same thing. I said, do you think you play 30 games? like yeah I'll do anything whatever you want me to do but he's a very good shortstop we can remember when he was healthy and moving well before we put him out to center field he's a very short stop i just don't know how sincere any of them were right like because i go around this joint right i go around this place i say like i'll help out with anything around phnx right do i really

want jacob to sit me down and go hey will you will you produce coyotes really fast like i don't want that i'm not ready for that responsibility right and if he puts me in that spot i might after all of a sudden just go back on the thing I said about being willing to do anything to help out, right? There was a reporter, I believe it was, was it Barry Bloom, I believe, who Barry Bloom was just coming with the hits today, by the way. Someone incredulously asked, are you serious? Like, you're actually considering playing Catelle for like 30 games? You wanted to confirm because based on this answer, Tory is talking up Cattel's desire to be that. He's not necessarily in this answer saying that the diamond backs are really considering having Catelle Marte is a shortstop.

However, he did say Catelle is a really good shortstop multiple times. And I like to think of Tory as an honest, good guy, but I know he's lying to us in that statement. I know he is. There's no way he believes that to be the true. Damon just let out the biggest thanks, but no thanks while that video played in. I mean, you know, I will say that I want Cattel playing exactly where he's at, you know. And I think that's the biggest thing with Catelle. Obviously, Cotel is willing to play other positions because of that whole center field kind of fiasco that they went through at one point.

But, you know, Cattel's health, Cotel's bat is the most important thing here. The Diamondbacks have players that can play good defense. I mean, Cotel as a D.H might not be a terrible, you know, consideration or something at some point down the line on his career. Because really right now, it's not to say that Cotel's a bad. bad defender, but I do feel like the diamondbacks have people that, you know, players that that can play that position well. It's a matter of Cattel's bat needing to be in there. And I, I want him to play in the position that's going to, you know, put him in the best place to succeed, right? That's really what it's about. When do you think Cotel Marte last played shortstop in a major league game?

2017? 2023. What? Cotel Marte played. two innings of shortstop last season for the diamond backs. I just looked up the box score. This was on August 30th against the Dodgers. It looks like the diamond backs brought in Evan Longoria as a pinch hitter for Geraldo Pardomo and it required them to like shuffle their defenders around. And so Coutel Marte moved from second base to shortstop and logged two innings.

But yes, before that it had been since 2020 and he was only 16 innings in 2020. he hasn't played significant innings at the position since 2018. And yeah, I don't I don't think Catelle Marte is a genuine candidate for the backup. Shortstop role, Tori, and that follow-up question said that as of right now, he is not being considered for that role. So, you know, shout out to Catell for his willingness and, you know, wanting to be a team player and all that. But I don't think this is actually something the Diamondbacks will pursue.

I think Tim makes a great point, though. like Kevin Newman's confidence must be at an all time low, considering that if you were to hear that, if you were to see them bring in Elvis and do the things they're doing. Yeah, bringing in Elvis for Kevin Newman would be, yeah, a sign for sure that like, oh, I'm not, maybe they're not totally loving what they're seeing from me or they're bringing in more outside options. Yeah, not a great sign for someone like Kevin Newman for sure. And obviously that's not the only, you know, big spot that's up this spring that they have to decide about. Tori doesn't seem to be too concerned yet about any of this. He doesn't seem to be concerned about making a decision or setting a date for when he's going to make a decision for any of these spots. He figures he's going to let it play out as long as long as he can.

But he was asked today once again about that fit starter spot. and he was kind of basically pressed about if, if one, if the Diamondbacks would consider doing bullpen games opener style stuff this year. Yeah, which was never that, which, that's pretty obvious. Right,

right. It's pretty obvious when you go out and get an Eduardo Rodriguez and you have these other guys fighting for the final spot. Plus, no team on day one is planning to do bullpen games. I'm going with the opener strategy. That's not how this works. It was crazy to sit there today and hear the discussion.

going away where they were like, yeah, we, so is, is baseball changing to a strategy where they want guys to go six innings and, you know, have five starters? I was like, when did that ever change from baseball strategy? Like, what are we doing here? But I mean, I do think, and I think there is some validity to that. Like, we have seen a shift where some teams are a little bit more, more willing to do bullpen games and openers and that kind of thing. But I think it's out of necessity more than it's out of like you said a day one plan where we're going to go into the regular season and every five days we're going to just we're going to catch them off guard by throwing our bullpen out there like it tends to happen when you're when you're you're you're out of starting pitchers for whatever reason if guys get hurt or

whatnot and maybe you like the idea of a bullpen game more than you like your next available starter in triple a and that's what tory alluded to right Tori was basically trying to say like last year that wasn't really the plan either like that's just the way you've got kind of had no choice when you're when you're trying to win when you really need to win every game that you play, which was the case in September and in the postseason, you're going to put out there whatever you think gives you the best chance to win those games. And for that team at that time, what they had and who was healthy,

the bullpen game made the most sense. That's not the case now. They have, I think, multiple starting pitching options that would make more sense than going with a bullpen game in the fifth spot. Yeah. And like that's what Tori said. If he can help it,

that won't happen in 2024. He also said that there's more than two candidates, right now that are competing for that final rotation spot. And I do feel like at times we do kind of box it down to it just being Tommy Henry or Ryan Nelson. Sure. Both of those guys have been pitching well this spring, though they both kind of got nicked up a bit on their last outings.

Ryan Nelson today, Tommy Henry yesterday. But this is what Tori had to say about there being more than more than the two candidates. More than two. Yeah, more than two. So I know everybody targets Tommy and. and Nelly but they're the two

maybe front runners because of what they've done but we have a lot of guys that can go out and execute game plans. Everything they're doing is going to be considered. We've got to make the best decision for this ball club to help us win baseball games. And yeah, again I mean, I know that there are other guys in the mix

other guys in consideration but right now Ryan Nelson and Tommy Henry both have been giving at least a good enough efforts that it feels like one of those guys still is the front runner. Those guys probably still are both front runners. Ryan Nelson was okay today. He was actually, he shoved through three innings, but once he got to that fourth

inning today, which it seemed like the diamondbacks wanted to get him through four, he just struggled to get outs. He ends up going three plus innings pitched, gives up five hits, two earn runs, one walk, two strikeouts, 57 pitches thrown, 39 strikes total. Not a terrible day by any. stretch of the imagination. No. But what it did kind of look like to me, and I think this kind of sucks when you are in

this position is like Ryan Nelson looked great for a couple of innings. So then does that as a manager change your perspective that maybe, you know, shorter outings is better for Ryan, thus maybe relegating him to that bullpen roll. I know that's way too early to even be speculating on that. But it really felt like Ryan Nelson was cruising until he got to that fourth inning. And then it just seemed like things fell apart for him. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't, I don't know if his stuff. dropped off necessarily. He just wasn't really executing very well at that point in the game. I do think that, you know, the big narrative on Ryan Nelson has been, can he develop more consistent secondary stuff? You know, can you have other weapons outside of the fastball? And we've seen glimpses of that. I do like the slider being, you know, several ticks up and v. Lo, it averaged 88 and a half again today, which is, you know, three miles an hour more than, more than last year. That clearly has been a point of emphasis. But he's still through 60% four seamers in this game.

And last season, Ryan Nelson threw 54% four seamers. He actually threw more fastballs today than he did last season. Or a greater percentage of fastballs today than he did last season. I think the same was true in his last start. So we're seeing some good signs there. I still like the secondary mix a little bit better than last year. But he didn't get any wifts on anything outside of his four seam fastball today.

I think in his last start, nine of the 10 whiffs were on his four seam fastball. So there are still some signs that I'm maybe a little bit concerned about with Ryan Nelson, where I don't know if he's quite gotten, he hasn't at least shown yet that he's gotten over the hump with those secondary pitches. Well, this is what Ryan said, how he's approaching that fifth starter spot. And of course, you know, doing whatever he can, at least right now, to keep himself in that competition. I mean, it would definitely, it's the goal, obviously, but I think that to achieve that it's more. so down to me and what I got to do to get better every day and just trying to constantly improve and work on myself and be better at my craft.

Does it help that you were basically going through that a year ago this time too? Yeah, I think that being there before definitely helps and understanding how to deal with that a little bit better and just like I said, just focus on myself and try to make sure I'm the best version of myself that I can be. that is one thing that all of these guys including branded fought have is is some experience now and the the opportunity to come into this spring with a different approach a little bit than last spring where you didn't know if you were going to make the team you didn't know what your role was going to be you didn't know if you could find a spot for yourself i feel like these guys know

what they're competing for and they also know that if they don't get that role that they're you know what their role is going to be probably coming out of the bullpen as a long reliever whoever doesn't get that that spot. And I don't think it's a definitive thing either because as the season goes on, we could definitely see Tori potentially make a change there if whoever does get the spot isn't performing well. Absolutely. Yeah.

I mean, you know, last season we saw Ryan Nelson win the spot and then, you know, he didn't necessarily stay there the entire season. He made a decent number of starts and in the majors for sure. But once the debacks got in the playoffs, he wasn't much of a factor at that point. So, yeah, he's been in this race before. I mean, he was in a very similar position last year at this time. I think him and Dre Jameson were kind of the front runners at that point, whereas now it's, it's Ryan Nelson and Tommy Henry.

But, yeah, this race is still certainly not over. I continue to say that Tommy Henry is the front runner in my mind kind of until he, it depends more on him and, you know, him kind of pitching himself out of the spot in some ways. but Ryan Nelson is going to play a pretty significant role on the Diamondbacks no matter how this initial race pans out. And I don't know if did you bring up Trey Jameson there and the word race in the same I think I might have. Because if you did, we have to talk about the fact that we just randomly bumped into

Dre today out at Salt River Fields and we just got we just asked him how he was feeling and he randomly decided to tell us that he ran a 40 yard dash yesterday just for fun. There was an Olympic sprinter apparently that was. That came out, came out to Salt River Fields. And he went for it. And he told us he allegedly ran a 4.414. And so like if sprinter did 435, I think he said. And people were like kind of freaking out about how good a 435 was,

which I don't really know that much about 40 yards times, to be honest. But I'm told that 435 and 441 are both very good. Very good. Very fast. Very fast. Very fast. So like, one of those thing is where can we get Dre James? Like he doesn't have to pitch.

We can get him on the roster pinch running, right? Can we not? I mean, that seems like I would, I'm not going to tell Tori how to do his job. Look, you guys do your thing over there. I'm just suggesting that if the man can run a four, maybe he doesn't need to be a pitcher anymore at all. I don't know. That's, it's just crazy to think that he could be that fast as a pitcher.

It's a wasted skill on a pitcher. It really is. When does he have to sprint to go cover first? I mean, come on. Like, yeah, anyway, we thank you guys for being here in the PHNX Sports YouTube channel so much. Of course, if you haven't subscribed to our channel yet, what are you doing? Make sure to do so right now. Sign up for notifications.

That way you don't miss when any of our wonderful shows go live. Leave us like. We always love when you drop those out of boys on us. If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, we love our listeners. We appreciate you guys as well. Make sure you guys leave us a review and make sure you're subscribed on your favorite audio podcasting app over there. Jesse this weekend, Phoenix Raceway. That's where we will be.

That's where the PHNX crew will be, having fun, out there for the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Of course, March 8th through the 10th. We cannot wait. They're going to have all sorts of Q&As with drivers. There's going to be so much fun to be had. So whether you're a diehard racing fan like my wife or simply looking for a fantastic day out with some alcohol like me,

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So when you open a free checking account online right now, you get $200 in bonuses. Get started by visiting Desertfinancial.com slash 200. I guess it's time for us to start prepping for the regular season. And in doing so, we have to start making enemies, right? That's the only way that this can begin. So it is Tuesday.

And you know what we do on Tuesday. We haven't been doing it for Barry Long, but it's Tiermaker Tuesday. So we are going to now do a little tier ranking of National League baseball teams. Is that right? That is, that is correct. This guy's idea because he just wants to ruffle feathers.

but let's like can we get our tier maker board I absolutely love it by the way Jesse I want a ruffle feathers too it's all I know you're a big band right up Damon's out yeah this is all I've ever wanted to do it's all I'm a lot guys I'll just start this off can we put the Phillies like really low I mean like so low that like they get mad yeah you just want to start off with that I just want to throw it out there you can put them an F tier right now because of the existence of P-H-O-I and CHGO we should probably put the Cubs and the Phillies like at least one full tier lower than they, when where they really belong. But the White Sox are just so irrelevant. We don't even mention them. They are AAL team. We don't care about that. They are quite literally irrelevant. They are irrelevant. That's true. I was just imagining a world where Jesse was just forgetting about the white socks again. So he was just roasting them again. Right. Right. Right. We watch the white

socks meet the diamond bag. So I don't know how much roasting we can do right now. But what we can do is we could start off by putting the Colorado Rockies in the F tier. I mean, I don't think that there's any question about that. That's a good play off the bat. Is that is that a good good start yeah i think so okay i mean there's dnvr right so let's just shoot let's take shots right now uh they're a terrible baseball team and they're going to continue to be terrible but you know what they're also going to do they're going to continue to like to have crazy attendance and it's going to infuriate the true fans so much that they can never send the proper message to their ownership uh with that going on are we going like from the bottom up is that how we're doing no i just wanted to start things off with the rock i think that was a good start yeah right like you like you like you i you're You said you wanted to rubble feathers.

You said you wanted to make enemies. So let's just start off right away. All right. I'm going to stick with the trend of bad baseball teams. We're going to keep going from the bottom here. Okay. The Washington Nationals. Yes.

Are probably the next team. F tier. I think that's probably fair. That's more than fair. Yeah. They are projected for 58.6 wins on Bacota. And I saw that satin starter jacket that they have on, you guys were talking about the episode I wasn't on, which I was very mad.

You talked about laundry without me on it. We did talk about laundry without you on. If I could take them down another level for that white jacket, I absolutely would because it was a terrible jacket. Yeah. Yeah. Patrick didn't like it either. Their logos are terrible.

Everything's terrible. They have a terrible team. All right. Next up, what else we got? Elise says DNBR has to know the Rockies are terrible. I don't think they'll be offended. Yeah, you're right about that. We all know.

If they have a problem with the Rockies being an FTA or they're kind of just wrong. Yeah. It's just kind of the reality. situation at this point right okay so uh i think we should close out the f category i don't know if you have more teams than this but i'm putting the pirates in the f category is that fair the pirates is that not clear they're clearly better than than the rock is correct and their future is brighter so okay i would i would put the pirates in the d tier d tier pirates can go in the d tier if the pirates get nick gonzalez he's going to have a big year this year there you go yeah you go the pirate you know if

Like O'Neill Cruz comes back. Like he's a really exciting young player. Sure. They have a few of those. Yeah. Yeah. I think the pirates are a step above the, the,

uh, the Nats and the, and the Rockies. Do you have any other teams in the F tier? No, I don't think the F tier. Okay. I think it's probably just the Rockies and the Nats.

All right. Then let's move up, uh, to essentially, oh wait, we have a D tier. Okay. It's C tier.

Okay. So pirates I'm putting in the D tier. And they might be alone there, honestly. I don't really have a lot of other. Yeah. Because like the Mets were obviously a pretty miserable team last year, but they're like projected to be an above 500 team, which I don't know if I fully buy that. But I think they're better than a D tier team.

Okay. So where would you put the Mets as a C or a B? Since we're talking about them, let's just rank them. Yeah, that's tough. I get what you're saying. I think I would probably put the Mets in the C tier. Okay. Kodi Sanga, I believe, is potentially not on track.

to be ready for opening day, which is a big problem for them. Their position player group is, I think, better than people maybe think it is. They obviously, things weren't great for them last year. But you talk about,

you know, having Pete Alonzo and Francisco Indore, Francisco Alvarez is a player I really like, Brandon Nimmo. You know, they made some additions this offseason. They're a decent team.

I think C is pretty fair. We need to clarify for the chat. I know that there's a lot of logos on here because these are all the major league baseball teams, but we are only tier ranking National League baseball teams. So, no, the Oakland A's would not be a part of this, nor with the Chicago White Sox, nor with any of the teams in the American League. That's fair.

That's fair. Yes. If anyone came in thinking that we were doing the whole league. He wants to know what the hell we're doing. And that's fair because he said the A's are at F tier, what the heck. Yeah. No, that's fine. Talk about not knowing baseball, Derek. If we had just skipped over F and D and we're like, all right, we're in C.

We're in C. We're in C now. We're in C now. All the other teams are this higher or better. Are the B tier or the C tier, Derek? I don't know. All right. Well,

I want to definitely put the Cardinals in the C tier. That's who I think belongs in the C tier. Okay. Because I think their offseason moves were trash. And I think they're still going to be a bad baseball team. They might be the definition of a C tier team. Right. I would,

I could make a case for the Cardinals as a B tier team. Okay. The computer projection things like the Cardinals a little bit. They view them as being the best team in the Central. They always like the Cardinals. They always like the Cardinals. like the Cardinals. Yeah. Very true. I think, I mean,

Sunny Gray starting the season on the injured list, which it appears is what's going to happen because of a hamstring issue, that's a big development for them. There's a lot of pitchers starting the year on the injured list, man. I mean, we're going to talk about Lucas Gialito with the Boston Red Sox here in a little bit, but man, I mean, it feels like

a lot of these top tier pitchers and even some of the ones that, you know, teams added are not coming in healthy this year. It explains why we've heard the word health said from so many Diamondbacks so far this spring that health and getting yourself up to a level where you're ready to play 162 games

at a speed that's kind of slow enough where you don't hurt yourself while you're getting ramped up is kind of a careful balance but yeah of course yeah I still don't care for the Cardinals one bit all right what else you got? All right if we're sticking in C tier I think the San Diego Padres

are a team that you could make a case for, I think the Miami Marlins are a team you could make a case for. I disagree with that. I think the Reds. I think the Marlins and the Reds are B tier teams. I really do. Okay. At least the Reds are.

I think the Reds got pulled down by injuries and stuff, but I think they're young and exciting team. I think they're going to be a problem this year. Did Damon just put the Padres in the C tier? I know that's what you were saying. Yeah. No, that's, that's, that's, wasn't that what you were saying? Well, I, I hadn't quite gotten there yet.

I think that's where I was going to land, but I don't, hadn't quite made the final call in my head. You were verbally. The Padreys pitching staff. Let's talk about the rotation. Yeah. How can you put them in B tier with that rotation? Correct.

I mean, Musgrove and Darvish is a pretty decent one too, but you're right that there's a lot of question marks after that. They don't really. Darvish because we're Diamondbacks fans. The Padre. The Padres like don't do outfielders anymore. Like that's just like not a thing that they,

I mean, they have Tatis, right? It can play right field. But center field and left field, they just kind of like traded away some guys. and then they didn't replace that, which continues to be bizarre. They just didn't do much.

Like they didn't do anything. What did the Padres do this off season? They signed Yuki Matsui. I think their bullpen is decent. Yeah, I mean, obviously the Juan Soto trade was huge, but it was bigger for the, you know, it was bigger in the immediate sense for the New York Yankees and it was for the San Diego Padres. So I'm saying the Padres got good depth from the Yankees in that trade for Juan Soto.

So, I mean, I guess. I like Michael King. Like, I think Michael King, the centerpiece of that trade could be a good starter for them. Yeah, I'm between, I'm between B and C on the Padres. What do you think? That means there a C. That means that's where we're going. All right.

Red stay and B. Let's go back to the tier list. Red stay and B. I'll let you put the Marlins in the C tier. Because, again, I don't think the Marlins really did much to get bad. better in my opinion this off season. That's how I feel. Yeah, that's fair. The Marlins

were a, you know, they were a fairly heavy negative run differential team last year. They still managed to find their way into the playoffs. And as Luis Frize going to hit $300, $360 again next year, $350 again next year? I mean, like yeah, probably not.

They don't have Jorge Saler anymore. That's a pretty big loss for them. They signed Tim Anderson, which that's not necessarily a huge. upgrade on paper. Their starting rotation has depth and is pretty darn good. I do I do like their starting rotation a lot. They've got some some pieces in the bullpen. Tanner Scott is great. But yeah, their offense continues to have some question marks. I think C is pretty fair for the Marlins. Okay. I think Tim Anderson is a good by low guy. He could be. I mean, Tim Anderson,

Tim Anderson at his at his best was a pretty pretty darn good baseball player. He was putrid last year. I doubt he reciprocates that. Yeah, he was he was pretty bad. He had a six DWRC plus and hit one home run in 524 plate appearances. That would be shocking if he does that again in my opinion. I would take the over on one and a half. I would do. On zero point five homers on one and a half homers. I'm taking over one and a half.

I'm taking the over on that. What about the Cubs? Chicago Cubs. I lean B. Yeah, that's where I have them too. I mean, they were like plus 100 last year. I know the, uh, you just have you just slip when you, You just have to put them in the D tier for a second.

I think it was my subconscious. I couldn't put CHGO Cubs like in a similar tier to the Diamondbacks where they're probably going to be. It was hard for me to do for a second. I figured I figured that would be difficult for you, Damon. I get it. Yeah, the Cubs, I mean, I could make a case for the Cardinals being a better team than the Cubs, but I think based on the seasons that those two teams had last year, I'm pretty comfortable putting the Cubs ahead of the Cardinals. I didn't love the Cubs off season, at least what.

what's happened so far. Obviously, getting Cody Bellinger back was a really big development for them. But that's something they just kind of had to do. I like the Shodding Minaga move that they made. He's kind of coming in, replacing Marcus Stroman. They got Hector Neris for the bullpen. So they've done some things, but it seems like they're mostly bringing the same team back. They also were a pretty decent team last year.

I mean, they didn't make the playoffs, but they were close. And their run differential suggested that they were a lot better than their record showed. So I think B is is pretty fair there. All right. So where do you want to put the Brewers? Hmm. I mean, this is a tough one. A bunch of mediocre National League Central teams.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think the, yeah, I don't know. We don't have to figure where to put the Giants here at some point, too. The brewers, I mean, it's between B and C. I can very comfortably say that. Yeah. They don't have Corbyn Burns anymore, which is obviously a big loss.

Their offense, there are some question marks. They did bring in Reese Hoskins, which is a pretty big ad for them. Gary Sanchez, that move took about like a month to be made official after it was first reported, which was kind of funny, but it was made official eventually. Their rotation isn't what it used to be. I mean, it's Freddie Peralta. They're not going to get Brandon Woodruff back this year, which is tough. I don't know. How do you feel?

Between B and C, I could go either way. I would say they're a C tier team. I think that they didn't get better pitching wise. Like you said, Brandon Woodruff is a question mark. They're not going to, yeah, he's not going to pitch. Yeah. So, I mean, it's basically, you know, a loss of their two studs, right? I mean, I can't imagine that you would still see them as being a favorite to win that division.

That's probably why St. Louis arguably could be a beat to your team. They probably have a good chance of winning that division. It might be between those three. three teams if St. Louis was up there in the B tier. But yeah, no, Brewers, I think, are definitely a C tier team. So in the central, we've put, this is interesting, we've put the Reds and the Cubs and B, and then we've put the Cardinals and the Brewers and C. That's what we've done. Do you agree with the Reds being in B? Yeah, that's another one that's really hard between those two. I think Hunter Green is going to have a really good season and could really elevate the,

They really just need that front line starting pitcher. We talked about the Reds Diamondbacks comparison and they just don't have the Zach Gallin, Merrill Kelly at the top. So they need that, but I think Hunter Green could be not necessarily quite like a Zach Gallen, but I think he could have a really good season. He really was trending upward toward the end of last year. They've got some good young pitchers as well. So, yeah, you could make a case either way.

I think I'm okay leaving them and be. The Reds could really be a, I don't know if they're connected, But man, could you imagine if they brought on on Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell and how that would? Anytime the word connected comes out of your mouth, I immediately think the dangerous is like right around the corner. I actually thought you were going to say, I don't know if they're connected, but they could be dangerous. That's exactly what I thought too. I say other words sometimes, you guys. The Reds winning the Central would feed families.

Yeah. The Reds are cool, man. I mean, the Reds are fun. They're exciting. Friedel, Matt McLean, Spencer Steer, Ellie de la Cruz, Christian Encarnassean Strand, Nelvie Marte, they got Gimer Candelario, Jonathan India is somehow still there. I don't know what position he's going to play. But yeah, they're a fun team that I think has a pretty dang high ceiling because of all those

young players and what they could bring. Also, Tim makes a good point in the chat about Jackson Churio with the with the Brewers. We didn't mention him. He's a huge factor for them this season. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's hard to elevate them based on a guy that we haven't actually seen in the major league game yet. Sure. Sure.

Marcos says Giants are B tier. And I kind of agree with Marcos. I think that the Matt Chapman move really was a move. I didn't like because of how, I mean, honestly, how good that makes them. I mean, it felt like that's kind of what they needed. And I sincerely think that they could be even an A tier team to be. honest. I feel like they could be. I don't see A. I think there's too many question marks in the rotation for me to call them an A team. Uh, you know, in a perfect world where Alex Cobb and

Robbie Ray are healthy. Uh, I could, I could maybe see them elevating to that level, but they're going to try Jordan Hicks in the rotation. Yeah. We'll see what that looks like. There's some question marks there. Logan Webb is really the only guy in the rotation that's like, I know what I'm getting. This guy is good. Right. Kyle Harrison, a prospect, uh, one of their top pitching prospects is going to probably, you know, be counted on in a bigger way this year. So, yeah, there's a lot of question marks in that rotation. I think the one, the, what we don't know is how is a Bob Melvin Giants team going to be, right? Because that's the big change there.

And we know this team, like it felt like the Giants did a lot with without having much. You know, we talked about how they had all of these guys that hit 230 and stuff on there, you know, as part of their lineup. But it really does feel like they were a team last year that was much better than it felt like they had any business being at times as far as record wise. Sure, all the bullpen games that they were thrown out there, all that stuff.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't, right? But it was effective, right? And, you know, of course,

that's what happens when you have a very, very handsome manager. Correct. Correct. Now you have a very, very good manager and Bob Melvin, but not nearly as handsome. So I don't know how that's going to work.

out for them. But I will say that it's the the Giants do worry me a little bit with Bob Melvin there with the pieces they've added. I feel like they are a better team. And I think they're just going to make the National League West that much more difficult for the Diamondbacks. Yeah. I think I would say B for the giants.

Okay. I think the ceiling is fairly high because of Robbie Ray because of Alex Cobb once he gets healthy. But but yeah, I can't put the Giants in an A. I just I think before Matt Chapman, I would have put, I would have fairly confidently put the Giants in the C range. Yeah.

And now, now I feel comfortable putting them up in the B category. All right. Well, we got the Diamondbacks and the Phillies. And of course, those are our teams, right? Yeah,

yeah. Yeah, that feels, that feels pretty pretty clear. I don't want to give the Phillies that credit, but they deserve it. So we'll do it. As much as I want to do it just out of spite or pettiness,

I want to put them. I mean, let's put, you know what, Damon, just for a second, throw them an F tier. The Phillies.

Yeah, just put them in, you just want to, you just want to see what it looks like. That looks good. Doesn't that look good? I like that.

I like that. Where they belong. I just wanted to try it on. Should I think like a Drew Stubbs tier? Yeah. And you just, they just get to be there by themselves. Yeah,

sure. Whatever. Yeah. The Philly fanatic is what you really remember his name. Is it true stuff is like the guy who played shorts stop for like a long time. Yeah, a long time of Cincinnati Red,

right? Yeah, yeah, Philly. Phillies and Diamondbacks. You can put it back in the A too. Phillies and Diamondbacks in A. I, like, I don't

think that the difference between the Diamondbacks and some of the teams that we have below them is necessarily enormous. I mean, you look at the projections, the Diamondbacks versus, you know, like the Diamondbacks, according to baseball prospectus are projected for half a win more than the Cardinals.

So the projections don't quite line up necessarily with what we're saying here, but the Diamondbacks were just... Computers are stupid. We know that. They were just They were just in the World Series, and they had a good offseason, which we've talked about at length. And, yeah, I think at this point, you'd rather be the Diamondbacks than you would be the Giants or the Cubs or the Cardinals or any, the Brewers, any of those teams. You would rather be the Diamondbacks. Maybe the difference isn't massive.

It's not as massive as the difference between a couple of other teams we're about to talk about and the rest of the National League. But I do think that there is a difference between where the Diamondbacks are and all of those other teams we talked about as well as as well as the Phillies. They're in that same category for me. We have talked about my theory with the you know leveling up, right? And it's like the Diamondbacks they established who their core was and they added pieces to it and they got their core to be successful, which it was almost like two steps going up two levels in one season because this team was very. There were a lot of question marks about this team at the beginning of last year. So how far they've come from the start of last regular season to now is incredible. And that has allowed them now this offseason to add those free agent pieces that hopefully can, you know, fix some of your shortcomings and get you over the hump, right?

And so for sure. Right now it definitely feels like, you know, the Diamondbacks are a team that had success. They know that it was not as successful as it appears to be. Like the mentality in that clubhouse is very much the correct mentality, which is we almost didn't make the playoffs at all. So we have to make sure that we don't start thinking we're one of these S-tier teams yet because they're not, right? It's not to say that they can't get back to that point, but this franchise is only one, a hundred games one time in franchise history. And that one time didn't even matter because it wasn't a year that we actually did anything significant in the playoffs or anything. It just means that, you know, of course, this franchise is moving in the right direction.

And I think that A is not just us kind of being homers here. I think it is a fair assessment of where the Diamondbacks actually are. Jesse said, right, when you look at the other teams, you can look at the Diamondbacks and see that they are in a better position than most of these other teams. Yeah, I think they're closer, like they're in A and they're probably closer to B than they are to S. the teams in S we're about to get to on a bit of a different level

but yeah I mean the diamond box if we had done this a year ago are probably confidently in the C tier and they are in a substantially better position now than they were a year ago well there's no mystery it's the Dodgers and the Braves in the S tier and for good reason right those teams are

they these are teams that can literally lose the biggest star on their team which in the Dodgers case you'd have to argue who is the biggest star on that team obviously it's a toni But I mean, you know, you could make a case for other guys. But like the Braves could literally lose Ronald Acuna and they'll still win 120 games. Like it's crazy how good those two teams are.

Did you say 120? Yeah, 120 games because it's crazy how good those two are. I mean, what? Yeah. It doesn't matter because when you get to the playoffs, it's a completely different season. It's a completely different thing by that point, right? But those are two teams that you can just write right as I think, Somebody one day said, you can write it in an ink, you know, that these are in fact.

What is the demon doing? Oh, he's creating a new tier of cheaters, it looks like. Yeah. Where are you put? Who are you putting in the cheaters tier? Oh, the Dodgers. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. That's fine. That's, you know what? That's not an overreaction at all. And I like it. Yeah, there you. I figured that before this was before this was over, one of you would at least want to experiment with putting the Dodgers at the very bottom of the tier list.

I feel like this is completely fair. I honestly don't know what everyone's freaking out about right now. No, can you tell me why they're cheaters? I'm sorry, did you not watch this whole offseason? This is the definitive nationally tier rankings list right here. There it is. That's it. We'll publish that and put that on social media

and there won't be any backlash at all in regards to that. That's fine. I kind of do want to post that to social media. So they get for circumventing the CBA, right? Right, Damon? That's right. That's right. Cheaters.

Even though it was really just Shohei Otani being entirely too nice with the term of this contract. Giving up money, basically. We've already gone down in that rapid hole. Yeah. Well, if you like money, you can make some money. And you can do it by betting on Showay Otani, by the way. You can do it on the bed MGM sportsbook app. And right now you can get down on all sorts of future bets for Major League Baseball.

one thing they have jesse which i just find to be delightful is they just decided to make random matchups between two players and you get to choose who is going to hit more home runs than the other like who's going to hit more home runs but it's like just random it's like random it's like paul gold smith versus ral de cunia you know like it's like that like you're like what are these two guys have in common nothing it's just bet mjim having fun yeah exactly uh so of course you can get down on the fun with the bet mjm sports book app right now you could sign up and use our code of PHNX, deposit $5 into your newly created account, place a wager in that amount.

And once you have placed a bet, you'll receive $150 in bonus bets regardless of the outcome of your wager. Shane is back. That way, now you can actually get good advice on pH and X bets. Oof. Wow. Shots fire. You can take that statement however you wish to. Derek, I produced that show one day, like two weeks ago.

I am deeply offended by this, all right? Me and Damon are a package deal. Crazy. He said there was lots of music and stuff. It was complicated. It was so complicated. He put his producer hat on and he started cooking. Proud of him.

It was pretty impressive. Sign up for bed MGM and then you can use their wonderful advice over there. Use your bonus code of PHNX. Place your first bet MGM sportsbook wager through the sportsbook mobile application for at least $5. You will receive $150 instantly in additional winnings regardless

of your wager's outcome. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to our guide Damon, talk about the disclaimer. on that here with all of our stuff going on at PHNX. But also check out Healer River anytime. They offer an authentic and immersive experience. They have an unprecedented level of entertainment and excitement. You won't find anywhere else here in the Valley.

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Visit play atheila.com for more details. We're doing our PHNX Cardinals watch party at Healer River. That's right. Resorts and Casinos, Jesse, would you like to go to that? I would. Oh, that sounds good. Okay, Derek, I'll see if I can get you on the list. It's going to be pretty tight.

Yeah, there we go. Yeah. But I'll... He's doing the thing again. I'm going to just... Why is he gatekeeping Heela River Resorts and Casinos from me? That doesn't seem fair. Is he gaslighting me or is he gatekeeping?

I just said I'll see if I can get him on the list. How much else does you want? I mean, he's already doing you a solid, Derek. I mean, getting you into that place. All right. We know who's dog I am and whose dog I am not. But you talked about Cardinals, Sunny Gray has a mild hamstring. He could start the season on the IL.

Astros, Justin Verlander will start the season on the IL, with shoulder soreness, all sorts of, all sorts of bad things. But the worst one obviously has to be the Boston Red Sox signing Lucas Golito to a two-year, $38.5 million deal. This offseason only for him to possibly miss the entire 2024 season with a partial UCL tear. Yeah, he had Tommy John surgery, I think back in 2012, like when he was first drafted. So it would be a second Tommy John surgery, if indeed that is the path that they go there. very bad news for the Boston Red Sox and yet potentially good news for Scott Boris.

Oh, Scott Boris is looking at his chops right now. Yeah. He's like, this is why we wait. This is why we play the game. Right. Exactly. This is what we play it for. Yeah, he's going to definitely get the money he's seeking for those guys.

Hopefully he doesn't. I don't know. I just need him to learn his lesson. But yeah, it's definitely unfortunate. Again, I hate to reiterate something I said earlier, but that is why the Diamondbacks like keep reinforcing. the whole thing about health. Like getting through spring training and these meaningless games without a major injury

is pretty difficult. Like sometimes, you know, it's just going to happen. It's the luck of the draw. Being out there playing a game, you can get injured. And I think that a big part of what the position players are trying to do is get themselves ramped up the same way pitchers do without having those injuries occur. Diamondbacks lucky so far, but they've even had a couple of guys missed time, Alec Thomas.

Like we said, the guys that came back today. Gino and Alec Thomas missed some time. Yeah, and Randall Grischick is another, another name to keep an eye on. It doesn't, Tori Lavella was not willing to say anything about his status for opening day, you know, that potentially being an issue today. But it does seem like he needs to get into a game fairly soon. Yeah. And in order to be ready for opening day, I know the Diamondbacks could roster him on opening day

and just not have him be available in the field, just use him as a designated hitter only for a while. but that is something to monitor. He has not yet been cleared for all baseball activities and therefore is not played in an actual game. He will need to clear that bar before playing in a regular season game for sure. Well, in unpopular news, I guess you could say the Oakland A has continued their move to Las Vegas and they have revealed conceptual drawings of what their new stadium in Las Vegas is going to look like. and as much as people are probably going to hate me and Jesse for saying this kind of looks incredible.

Like it kind of looks like everything we would want like out of Chase Field. Las Vegas is still very hot. They have to deal with the exact same problems with having a ballpark that the Arizona Diamondbacks do. But look at this. Look at this. This is incredible. Jesse, what is that scoreboard on the roof? Yeah, it is pretty remarkable.

I love the amount of natural. light that comes inside this building. And the skyline of having the, you know, New York, New York and MGM grand and all that stuff out there in the background of that, you know, the outfield, that looks amazing. That's Vegas in the background, Derek. That's not New York. No, no, that's New York, New York. It's a hotel, Jesse.

I know you don't frequent Vegas very often. I've lost a lot of money in that building. But it looks like the Sydney Opera House from the outside. Yeah, it does. It's a really funky, it's a really funky design. It feels like it fits very well into Las Vegas, right? Like you have the sphere right there. You have all sorts of other crazy looking buildings.

I think that this looks really cool, man. I mean, as far as a baseball stadium goes, I would like to go to this. I was in Miami and I saw the Lone Depot Park for the first time in person. And that's a very interesting building as well. It kind of has a little bit of that going on. But P.W. Pondonki says AC working overtime in that building. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

There's a lot of light coming in. You'd think there is a cost to bring all that, all that light in from the outside. Can we look at the picture that has the scoreboard on it one more time? Because I do just have to go get down the weeds a little bit when it comes to the lineups that they have. Yeah, please do. So yeah, you're going to have to zoom in. You might not really be able to make this out. But they have Grishik on the scoreboard on the Angels side.

So apparently whenever this stadium opens, Randall Grishik will have found his way back to the Angels is sort of their assumption. They also have like exceptionally good batting averages for like everyone on the list. Yeah. A lot of guys said over 300. Yeah, which I also find fascinating. They have the A's having like all of the players that they have now except all of those players like suddenly being very, very good. So this is this is the future. This is a light drink though.

I don't care. I don't care if I have to hurt my neck to look up at that on the ceiling. I am going to do that. That's crazy. Tim says batter's eye would be dangerous. Yeah, they don't give a damn about. batters eye anymore. They don't care about that anymore. We're all about the looks and the vibes. It's a party vibe going on in Las Vegas. That's for sure. But I can't wait to take a road trip out there.

And I know that that is on the back of a terrible situation. But I just, I love baseball. And that building is going to be very cool. So I'm still a little, little ways away, I think, from being able to like actually break ground on that building. If that teacher's union has anything to say about it, they'll never break ground on that building. So we'll keep, uh, keep lock. into that situation as things progress. We do thank you guys for stopping by. We appreciate you guys for joining us tonight. Of course, we'll keep this party going over on Twitter.

You can follow me at cap underscore caveman with a K. This maniac next to me is at Jesse N. Friedman. Of course, we used to be Damon's dogs. We're not anymore. You can still be Damon's dog. I don't care. You can follow him on Twitter. Did Derek not start with the betting advice shot?

We were very cordial. We were connected. did, we were dangerous. And all of a sudden, Derek out of left field, just shoots me in the heart. I don't care what you have to say. Lindsay's saying that I did start it. I mean, she's usually pretty honest about stuff. All I will say is that.

Gerald says no. Oh, man. Stay tuned for the sun show. That's going to be a burner next. All I will say is that Alec Thomas came up to Derek in the clubhouse today and said, hey, dog. And I was like, this isn't, Damon's going to be furious about this. too.

We are Alex dogs. Bark, bark. They can't keep getting away with this. I know. I'm sorry. They love me. Anyway, follow all of us on Twitter. Damon is a Damon dog. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore Dbacks.

But all roads do lead to at pH and X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We appreciate you guys for joining us. We thank you so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful night. We will see you tomorrow again. Off day tomorrow. 1 p.m. So back to the old time.

So make sure to join us. at 1 p.m. tomorrow. And in the meantime, keep it classy. We appreciate you guys. Thank you so much for your time. And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when Gino mashes dingers.