PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - How can the Diamondbacks keep Zac Gallen in Arizona for the long term?
Episode Date: September 13, 2023Recent starting rotation struggles have only highlighted how good Zac Gallen has been for the Diamondbacks. Is a setback in his Cy Young bid a good thing for Arizona’s chances at keeping him in the ...Valley? We also discuss how good Tommy Pham has been in September, which teams have been eliminated from playoff contention, and our weekly MLB Power Rankings.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx WIN MONEY THROUGH SPLASH SPORTS: https://www.splashsports.com/phnx Head to https://factormeals.com/phnxdbacks50 and use code phnxdbacks50 to get 50% off.Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Score 25% off a bag of your favorite OGeez! Fruits of Creams. Go to https://theflowershopusa.com, add a bag of OGeez! to your cart, enter promo code “PHNX” and pickup at a local The Flower Shop dispensary.Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. 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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hello and welcome in to another edition of the PHMX Debats podcast right on PHMX.
My name is Garrick Fontya.
Of course, I'm your mayor of PichNX.
This man is in charge of the public works.
He is Mr.
Electricity itself.
Sean DePaz.
Of course.
Corporate commissioner, Sean DePaz.
And of course, there's the vice mayor himself over there.
It's Jesse Friedman.
Has anyone ever drank coffee on this show?
I don't believe.
I've drank coffee on a show before, but I think it was just a G-rated that I've done it.
Listen, I'm tired, man.
Yeah.
I am a sleepy little boy.
There's some long nights.
And I am.
Yeah, Damon always drinks coffee.
Apparently, I'm not on the show, according to Jesse.
Because I drink coffee every fucking day.
It's cold.
It's great.
No, it's not really.
This is real coffee.
This is real hard.
I just cured it right before.
I can see steam coming out of the cup.
Damon also just hit into my favorite bit that I do to Leah all the time, making her feel bad for not
including me and like the the pH and X coyotes crew to now the point where I was like I would
always she would always be like it's it's it's Craig and PD and me and I'd be like I'm here too
yeah he's also so now I get included in everything so keep it up there Damon and you won't be
forgotten I'll make sure not to include you Damon plenty but of course one thing that we found out
today is that the Arizona diembacks are going to include plenty of Zach Gallin and plenty of
Merrill Kelly in their lineup for their final 16 games of the season maybe just their final
16. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Because it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
Mike Fitzgerald confirmed on Luke and Wolf this morning that Zach Gall and Merrill Kelly will start eight of the team's final 16 games, including the next two games.
So that would put Gallin starting on September 13th, at least based on our calculations, September 13th, September 19th, September 24th.
And then in the finale there against the Houston Astros on September 29, not the final game, but the start of that series.
Kelly would then pitch every game after him, including tomorrow, then September 20th, September 25th, and September 30th.
Interesting thing about that is that would make the two-game series with the Giants, I believe, Gowan and Kelly, which is a fairly important series.
Yeah.
We said it doesn't stack up well for the Cubs series here at home.
No, Gowan, no Kelly in that series.
But what are your thoughts specifically, Jesse, on how this is going to impact Gowan?
and Kelly's availability in the playoffs.
Yeah, it doesn't,
it doesn't line up great.
If you,
if you were curious what it would look like for the diamond backs to make the
playoffs and have neither Zach Gallen nor Merrill Kelly available in game one,
it looks like that's what you're going to see.
That makes me sick to my stomach.
Mr.
Mantiply.
I already have anxiety about that.
Why is that?
Is that due to the,
how soon after the final game?
Because the final game is,
essentially on what,
October 1st of the season?
Yeah, yeah.
So how soon after that do the playoffs start?
Would that three-game wildcard series
start on the second or the third?
It would start on the third.
Okay.
So, yeah, with the way that things line up,
you've got Zach Gallen pitching today.
And what kind of messes with things
is that gallon pitches today on the 13th,
but he's not able to pitch on the 18th
because the debacks don't play that day.
Right.
He's going to have to pitch on five days rest
and start on the 19th.
And if you just work it out every five days
from that point forward,
it lands with him starting on the 29th.
And if he starts on the 29th,
he can't pitch on the third unless he's on short rest, right?
You would just have the 30th, the first, and the second as off day.
So he would be on short rest if he were to pitch on in game one.
And Merrill Kelly would be on even shorter rest.
So the debacks, as things line up,
the debacks would have Zach Gallen available in a game two
of a potential wild card round,
and they would have Merrill Kelly available in a game three.
they would not have either available in a game one,
which you have to presume would be some kind of a,
some kind of a bullpen game, right?
Where the debacks just, you know, matchups the heck out of the thing
and try to piece it together.
No.
If they managed to win that first game with the bullpen game
or however they managed to go over,
then the debacks are in a great position
because then if you either win game two
and then you get to start presumably Merrill in game one of the next series
or I guess then you go three games
but then you have Meryl presumably again
and a winner takes all game three.
I think I think that's if you're asking me frankly
that's the silver lining is that I feel more comfortable
about Kelly being in the finale
should the Diamondbacks be able to you know
I would argue split the first two games.
More than Zach personally.
I think I'd rather have Meryl more than anybody
be in that last game.
I mean based on how he's pitched lately of how
and I mean like
it's going to be on the road.
there's Zach start game one but it like I think I like the idea of Merrill being obviously since
neither of them are going to start game one like I like Merrill coming second in that situation
because I mean like realistically obviously losing game one could kind of ruin the whole series
for you but like if the series is going three games regardless I would much rather have the
bullpen game come in the first one the last one yeah so that's a that's a fair point silver lining I
guess that's a fair point well speaking of Zach Gallen for the
first time this season, Zach Gallen is no longer the leader for MLB.com's Sy Young Award voting
polls. So there's been four previous polls this season. Up to this point, Gallen was the NL
leader in the previous four polls. He got the most votes. He got busted down to third in the latest
polling. He did allow 11 runs over two starts on August 28th and September 3rd, which basically
caused his ERA to skyrocket a bit. And it caused him.
to kind of lose that stranglehold
he's had all season long on that voting.
I believe Justin Steele now
is the voting favorite, followed by
Blake Snell, who just
still walks a crazy amount of
people, but it's just insane
sometimes to look at Gallin's
home versus away splits, and that factors
into what you're talking about
as far as who you would prefer there
in that final game. Gallin this
season at home is 11 and 2 and 14
starts with a 2.18
ERA, a 0.9,7,
one whip, a strike out to walk ratio of 7.64 and an opponent batting average of 220.
His away stats, he is four and five and 16 starts.
He has a 4.36 ERA.
He has a 1.186 whip.
His strikeout to walk ratio, 3.52, half, half, more than half of what it is at home.
And a 245 opponent batting average.
So really, the batting average, I mean, that,
changes a bit, but it's still, it's still nothing compared to the contrast of his ERA at home versus
away, his whip and his walk to strikeout ratio. Yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be really
interesting to see how the Cy Young race pans out. I know a lot of people, there have been a lot of
articles written in the last few days, you know, with people kind of making their lists and, and talking
about how it certainly seems like it's going to go down to the final start of the year.
It seems like none of these guys have a, have a significant advantage if they really have much
an advantage at all.
I still think Zach Allen is in this race just because of the innings, as we've talked
about previously.
And I mean, he's going to have more innings.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, if he goes like seven innings of start the rest of the way and four more starts,
I mean, he's, you know, he's going to creep close to about 220 on the season.
That's a pretty big number when no one else in the race, or at least no one else who
really seems like they have a real shot at this point.
Top three guys.
He's even going to hit.
Yeah.
He's even going to hit 200.
So, I mean, Blake Snell averages less than five and two,
innings per start.
Justin Steele averages like six innings per start.
Those are those are like kind of troubling numbers, right?
For for Sy Young candidates who, you know, have good numbers elsewhere.
I mean, they both have really, really good ERAs.
That's, of course, where the big advantage for them lies.
But innings have a lot of value, you know, them not going those extra 30 innings.
Those are innings that their bullpen has to cover it, you know, probably not nearly
as high of a level as those pitchers would be able to.
So there's a lot of value in the innings, and Zach Gallen has that advantage.
She's at least close enough in ERA and WIP and some of the other categories to keep himself in the race at this point.
I want to give a quick shout out to Tyler Hall.
It is his birthday today.
Happy birthday, Tyler.
Thank you for joining us.
No, there's a lot of things you could be doing on your birthday.
So sitting here listening to me be a gas bag is something that I truly appreciate.
But the question remains in regards to Zach Gallen winning the Sye Young.
Do we even want that?
And I'm going to be really selfish here for a moment.
Like I know Zach Gowan wants that.
I know Zach Gowan at the end of the day wants to achieve all of his, all of the awards,
all the goals.
He wants to win World Series.
He wants to win a World Series here in Arizona.
There's no doubt in my mind.
And I'm sure very much so, knowing how competitive he is, that he absolutely wants to win this award.
So there's no doubt.
That's not the question here.
Nor is it one of those things where he doesn't deserve it, nor is it one of those things that I don't want him to be happy and win all the awards.
I just also want to be happy.
And I want Zach Gallen to stay here in the Valley.
So it feels at times, like even though we're rooting him on for this award,
that this award could potentially just be another thing that prohibits him from being able to stay here.
Gallen is under contract until 2026.
He's got two more arbitration eligible years in 2024 and 2025,
which a Cy Young Award would essentially impact, right?
I mean, if he wins a Cy Young Award, he's going to get paid more in arbitration.
And that's going to be a good case for his side in order to get that more money.
But his Major League Baseball career earnings aren't very much.
And I'm not going to say this from a perspective of a man that's ever earned anywhere close to this money.
But including his $563,000 signing bonus that he got with the Cardinals,
he's earned about $8.7 million in his career.
Now, that's a lot of money.
7 more than I have.
That is correct.
That is correct.
But by comparison, right, Zach Gallen has been known for the last few seasons.
It's one of the best pitchers or one of the better pitchers in baseball.
By comparison, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are both getting paid each this season,
$43.3 million for one year of playing baseball.
That is a lot of money.
Right.
And the thing is, is that at the end of the day, Zach Gallen wants Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer's money.
And I mean, the way that he's pitched.
you could argue that he deserves it.
So Gallin will and should get paid when he is a free agent,
which will almost likely eliminate the debacks from that equation.
So really it feels like the only way they can get Zach Gallin to stay
is to figure out some sort of contract extension, right?
And I hate to say it, but Zach Gallen, just missing out on the Sight Young Award,
that would be a good time to be like, hey, let's get that contract extension done.
I just want him to stay in the valley.
But I feel like, again, that's one of the things about this award is it truly feels like,
should he become a Cy Young award winner,
that that is going to just kind of seal the fate
that we only have, you know,
two more seasons of Galen here and after this year.
I want to believe that they can resign him no matter what.
I know that might be a little naive.
I would like to believe that.
I don't know.
I, this is going to sound like,
I want my guys win awards.
Like I don't like,
I can't concern myself that much with the future.
Like I want that,
you know,
and get the credit he deserved.
I want the country to recognize
that we have the best rookie in baseball.
and the best pitcher in the all in the National League.
Which is funny because that's why I feel differently.
We have we have Corbyn under contract.
So I'm like,
give him all of the awards.
I mean,
it obviously is very different in that regard.
And obviously like this team doesn't directly gain something from him
winning this award the way they do with the draft pick and Corbyn.
But like yeah,
I still,
I don't know.
I just like I feel like there's something about like the culture of the organization.
Like you show with people that like we win over here.
Yeah.
Like we've got like and we develop people into the best picture.
So like I feel like there's value in that.
Maybe not direct or like tangible value.
But I don't know.
And just as a fan, like I want to be able to tell everybody like we have the best picture.
And we're going to have the best pitcher next year.
Because ultimately if they win a World Series next year, I don't care if they're like obviously.
I would still want them to resign him.
But it doesn't matter as much because they've got the ring.
As much as I want it, it feels inevitable anyway, Jesse, right?
Like Scott Boris being his agent doesn't typically sign contract extensions.
It does not bode well.
Marcus said in the chat his agent wants him to hit the open market and yeah I'm sure that's the case I'm sure Zach wants to hit the open market right so like for the most part it feels inconsequential as far as if he does or doesn't win this award impacting how long he's going to stay here but
am I right in assuming that a Cy Young award for Zach Allen Allbut seals it considering what that would make his value at that point I don't know how much of a difference it makes honestly whether he finishes first or second or third or whatever it is the point is it's going to be really hard for the diamond backs to to
then Zach Gallon at the end of the day.
Yeah.
Maybe it has a marginal impact, and I agree it probably would make some difference in
an arbitration hearing.
You know,
he'd probably make a little bit more money over the next couple of years,
which of course impacts the Diamond Batson in some way,
which he absolutely would deserve.
I think it is a common misconception, though,
with Scott Boris that his clients never sign extensions.
It is rare,
but it has happened before.
There have been,
I believe,
more position players than pitchers,
but there have been a few pitchers.
Someone asked a question about this
in my last mailbag story
over at go p hnx.com
so you can check out a more
full fleshed out version of this over there.
But three pitchers are notable
who are Scott Boris clients
and signed extensions. Jared Weaver
with the Los Angeles Angels, who is
at one point a very, very good pitcher.
Not so much toward the end of his career.
That didn't end so well
for the Angels. Lance McCuller's
Jr. with the Houston Astros,
Scott Boris client.
And then of course, Stephen Strasbourg, the recently retired Stephen Strasbourg, a Scott Borence client who signed.
Those are a great example.
Stephen Strasberg.
I don't know.
I mean, that was a little tough.
I just think Scott Morris knows what he's doing.
I was going to say.
I think Scott Bors very much knows what it.
It almost feels like now, like if that guy on size and extension, like, oh, God.
Scott Moore.
What is Scott?
No.
There's an obvious connection, especially with with McCollers and with Strasbourg.
where those are both very injury-prone pitchers, right?
And Zach Gallen has not really been that.
He had some roadblocks in 2021,
including a little bit of a UCL scare at one point
that happened just a couple years ago.
But, yeah, Lance McCullers, he was slated to hit free agency at age 28.
He signed a five-year, $85 million extension with the Houston Astros.
And then Steven Strasbourg also was slated to hit free agency at 28.
and the Nats gave him seven years and $175 million.
Of course, that contract has really turned disastrous for the nationals.
So, yeah, it's tough.
The odds are certainly not in the Diamondbacks favor.
Those guys had some injury risk, and you have to figure that that had some part in Boris
and the player being, you know, interested in signing that extension.
Zach Gallen will hit free agency a little bit later than those two examples.
he'll be 30 rather than 28, which theoretically would lower the price tag.
But he obviously has, at least at this point,
considerably less injury risk than either of those guys.
And he's also, Lance McCuller just isn't a great comparison
because that gallon is just better than Lance McCuller's
and significantly more established than Lance McCullors was at that point.
Yeah, correct.
I feel like the important thing is like Boris isn't necessarily like
morally against signing extensions.
Like he obviously is trying to get his players to make the most money.
And I mean like
Not signing an extension is a risk for the player too
Like if especially pitchers like if
Knock on wood
But if something happens at Zach Gallin's elbow or something next year
And then it's like well
Bet you wish you signed that extension last year
So and plus I mean based on like though
I get one clip that we heard him talk about on the mookie bet's podcast
But like it definitely seems like he likes being here
It doesn't seem like he wants to necessarily
He doesn't seem like he's kicking down the door to get out of Arizona
No not at all not at all
I think if the money's right he'll stay here
I think it ultimately is going to come down to Ken Kendrick.
It's going to come down to money.
You're going to have to pay the dude regardless.
Like he's going to make a lot of money.
He's going to have to pay him.
It's going to be $200 million or more, you know,
depending on kind of what happens over the next couple of years.
If he stays healthy and continues to pitch about as well as he is right now,
it's, yeah, I think it's safe to say it's going to be 200 or more.
Connor Cunningham in the chat says, I don't see why it matters if he takes one or third in
Sigh Young.
His value is what it is.
Mad Bun coming off books soon, Ahmed money, et cetera.
We have proven we will pay guys.
And that's a very good point.
The Diamondbacks will pay guys.
Yeah, usually it just seems to be the case that they're looking to pay guys from other teams, that big payday.
Like they did with Madison, Bumgartner, like they kind of did with Granky that, you know, that it's not, you know, again, a guy like Gallen.
But we haven't really had a guy like Gallen that was here.
He kind of became a star here in this way.
And now we want to keep him here besides Paul Goldschmidt.
That's the one guy who was like that.
And obviously,
that's the one that sticks out in a lot of people's minds that make us feel like this isn't going to happen.
I'll say this too.
He pitches better in Arizona.
Like,
as far as like,
he's better here.
We gave you the home away splits.
You want to have a 4.36.
He's like he has a good relationship.
Like Connor brought it up.
The relationship with Stromy.
Like,
yeah.
I feel like there's outside of him,
I like apparently liking it here.
Like from a career perspective,
there's a reason for him to want to stay here too.
It's a great point.
That's a great point.
Speaking of a good career, having a good career here in Arizona, Tommy Pham has been
really doing some good work here.
In September, FAM is slashing.
He's emotional.
He's always outrageous.
In September, FAMM is slashing 298, 327, 596, with a 922 OPS, 3 home runs, 8 RBI, 8 extra
base hits.
And at 35 years old, Fam is the oldest player in the league.
to still 19 or more bases this season.
I feel like that's got to get the young guys juiced.
Yeah.
It's almost like when Christian Walker steals a base.
You're like you're not supposed to be able to do that.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Yeah.
It's incredible.
Well,
and there is an incredible article over at the athletic from Ken Rosenthal and Will Salman
about Tommy fan that I think everybody that's a Diamondbacks fan should check out.
It details kind of his past and how like he's had some crazy things happen to him.
and he kind of gets a bad rap,
considering how many teams he's been on
and a lot of what he's gone through in his career.
But it details a lot about how intense of a teammate he is,
how good of a teammate he is,
how good of a locker room guy he is
and how much people enjoy playing with him.
I think that it was Mike Hazen,
who basically said that we don't really know the real Tommy fam.
He said, whatever you think you know about Tommy fam, you don't.
Yeah.
That was the Mike Hazen.
Yeah, that was a killer Mike Hayes and quote in this story.
By the way, the title of the article is beyond the slap.
And then I think it's that quote, which is a wild.
It's a wild title.
But yeah, of course, right now, especially with Tommy Fam.
Like, it's kind of crazy when an incident like that happens.
We've joked about it at times and such.
But it has kind of become the thing that Tommy Fam is known for instead of, you know, his play or his success as a ball player, things like that.
obviously the incident that happened earlier, you know, in San Diego, that that's a,
that's a thing that kind of people have been talking about when it comes to him. And,
you know, again, uh, when I met Tommy fan for the first time when he joined the team,
he was very intense, but it was funny because in reading the article, the, the way people
described him of being a very direct person that's, and, and, and that have that intensity. It's like,
yeah, that's why our, our handshake was like that. It was electric. He like, you know, a lot of
people just kind of like passively like hey how's it going like it's no big deal but you can tell
maybe they didn't even register like he looked into my eyes and was like how's it going and like
gave me a firm handshake and stuff so like i mean i love tommy fam and i'm i'm glad that he's
part of this team but to read this article really did shed light on kind of who he is and
and what he's kind of gone through in his career and honestly he he really is the kind of guy that
that brings the experience that most of the diamondbacks players don't have and i think that's what's
the most valuable about him being here.
Plus, he's been absolutely raking.
So, I mean, as far as the slap goes, like, I think, A, we know that, like, no one is
as, as, like, people are better than the worst moments.
So there's that.
Yeah.
B, I think it clearly shows, I mean, for better or worse, it shows that this man is like,
if he's got a problem, he's going to handle it.
Like, he's going to, he's not, like, if he's got something to say, he's got something
to do, he's going to, like you said, it's going to be direct about it.
You can't question his competitive fire either.
when it comes in the form of slapping someone over fantasy football, that's a problem.
But when it comes in the form of him being a leader in the clubhouse and like kind of
and being whoever he is for this team, like it's good.
I think it's something that the team needs, especially considering how young they were.
Like that's why you sign a guy like Evan Longoria for that veteran leadership.
And I think fan provides that in a very different way than Evan Longoria.
But it is like, and I've said before, like he gives it very much like Kauai Leonard energy.
He has no, no frills.
No, you don't see him laughing or.
smiling or anything ever.
Like he's here to take care of business.
He's not,
and he's not wearing the flashy guards.
Like we see some of the other guys that we very much enjoy.
Yeah.
I mean,
we kind of put fun on them all the time for having the Franklin gloves and the basic black
Adidas cleats.
Like he's not,
he's here to play baseball,
man.
He's here to win baseball games.
And I think this,
this team might not that this team didn't have that before.
Like everyone was here obviously to win baseball games.
But I think he provides a certain amount of edge that you didn't get from the younger guys or
like that's absolutely true.
A lovable veteran like Evan Longoria.
Like he doesn't provide kind of that like you need to have a little bit of fear when you play
this team in the way that Tommy Fam, I feel like, does.
I love that there's a quote in here from Buck Showalter.
There's honestly so many good quotes in this story from The Athletic.
Bug Showalter said if you can't handle the truth, you can't handle him.
Yeah.
And that's my kind of guy.
Yeah, it's this guy who is, who is by all indications, very, very direct, maybe even uncomfortably.
Almost motoristic.
But to the point.
where it's like, you know what, he's right.
Like, you know, he's sort of just telling it like it is in a way that a lot of players
seem to really like having, you know, having someone on their team who's willing to do that.
Because you can't get that.
Like in sports in general, you can't get that from coaches anymore because I think we've,
we are at a point in sports where like new generation of athletes, they don't handle like
those straight up confrontational coaches.
You need it to come from a peer, someone that you respect in that way.
And I feel like, again, that's a kind of unique leadership that Tommy fan provides.
He also is playing fantasy football with the Diamondbacks players.
I believe Alec Thomas said that in a post-game interview the other day and talked about
how they've been like giving him crap about it and the whole thing.
So yeah, the fantasy football thing.
Who was the one to be like, hey, Tommy?
You got a spot.
Like four of them huddled in the corner?
You ask them.
No, you ask.
Zifer brings up a great question.
He says, do they keep them next year with all the outfielders they have?
Tommy Fam is currently on a one year, six months.
million dollar contract and no they're trading for mike trout remember they don't they're there they're
for a right-handed hitting outfielders are just saying crazy stuff well i mean i think from the for the most
part i think that um they they might they might consider it i'd like it he is going to be like the
problem there obviously is his age he's going to be you know 36 years old and yeah one of the older
guys in the league at that point but again i i really don't care about age considering his production right
now if he can if he can be this productive next season i think he could very very much be valuable
and i would i would rather that they kept him over over other guys that they might consider
keeping on another one-year deal well yeah that's the thing too like the outfield is not really
where they need to be spending money this off season that's very true and so like obviously this we
we know live in a situation where there's no salary cap but there's a salary cap for this team like
there's no unlimited amount of money that's going to spend um and so i like i mean for all the
reason we just talked about and like he is going to be more cost effective than Mike Trout.
Yeah.
And pretty much everybody else that they could probably pursue.
Exactly.
So like more cost effective than Mike Trout.
Tommy fan.
That's Tommy fan.
Put it on a shirt.
Yeah.
Put it on a shirt.
Like I would rather if you're giving out, if you're giving out like if you're passing on Tommy
fan because you want to take some big swing at in the outfield like I would rather you do
that with your pitching staff or.
Yeah.
The feedbacks have bigger needs than in the outfield for sure.
And Tommy fam is a guy who's.
not likely to command an enormous salary.
It's probably another one-year deal.
And, you know, maybe you can get him for five or six million or something like that.
And it is, it's very much a position that Diamondbacks have to fill.
And I mean, he's a guy, like Derek alluded to earlier, has been on so many different teams.
He might just kind of want to stay somewhere.
Yeah.
Especially if the team's good.
Yeah, for sure.
It seems like a good fit right now.
I mean, that article talks about him really enjoying, like, working with Dave McKay and the coaching staff.
because again, it's hard at times to get guys to respect.
You know, in Tommy's case, he might actually be working with a coach that's like his same age or even younger than him.
And like, you know, it's different sometimes.
Like I've said that about, you know, Brent Strom with someone like Madison Bumgarner.
You're making a lot of age comments today.
Am I for all the conversation we had yesterday?
Oh, was I not supposed to?
Was I not supposed to attack other people on their age?
I'm sorry.
But no, I'm just saying, though, right?
Like, I mean, there is something to be said about having respect or having somebody as wise as as Dave McKay to, you know, like they were going over like outpark, or ballpark dimensions and like going through the outfield and looking at just little ballpark factors and things like that.
Like it really does, like you said, it feels like this is a good situation for Tommy.
He enjoys being here.
And also, hopefully that makes sense for him.
last few stops of his career in New York City and San Diego, California.
Like there's and we've talked before, the Padres fans are, they bother me.
Like there's a probably a different kind of, it played for the Cardinals, like a lack of pressure here that I think certain guys, not necessarily, not necessarily Tommy, but there obviously are certain guys who I think like the atmosphere that that playing in Arizona provides as opposed to playing at a place like New York or San Diego.
Yeah, the, the fan of.
environment is much different.
Yeah, and especially got like Tommy Fam, who, you know, obviously had his interactions with San Diego and appears to be a more low-key guy.
Like, Arizona might just be the spot for him.
You might be.
Well, retire here, Tommy.
Yeah.
So we can retire your number.
Hang out.
He's ready to do it.
He's ready to.
He's ready to build the statue.
Right between 51 and 42.
Yeah.
Tom's right.
Yeah.
Well, we appreciate you guys being here right now on the PHAD exports YouTube channel.
If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, make sure to do so.
Sign up for notifications.
way you don't mess when we go live.
Leave us our little out of boys.
Those are those thumbs up there.
If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, we appreciate you being here to you listeners.
If you haven't subscribed yet, do so.
And leave us a review.
We always appreciate that feedback.
If you want to watch Arizona Diamondbacks games, you want to watch live channels of sports,
shows, movies, and news.
The best place to do it is at Fubo TV.
You can stream live TV from any device.
You can watch the most Arizona sports for the lowest price.
And you can start watching immediately with a free trial.
There are 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage included at no extra charge.
And you can watch your local teams when you're traveling, which is the best part about this.
Make sure not to miss a game.
Don't miss an event.
Don't miss Red Zone.
Cardinals football.
They got Red Zone.
That's what I care about.
Red Zone is one of the best adventures of all time.
It really is.
Syracuse.
That's a fact.
It is a fact.
It is a fact.
Whenever I had the Sunday ticket, I basically did Red Zone myself.
That's what I want to do.
I like, you know, I got a multi-screen set up.
I'll usually put, because usually they're not playing at the same time.
I'll have one screen for either the bills or Cardinals.
And I'll have them so I can lock in that one game and I throw Red Zone on.
I can get both of them on Fubo.
That's right.
And it's just, I have been spending in the last few years that was sitting through buffering and watching, you know,
it's a great point.
Watching Red Zone on maybe not completely legal channels.
This is better and easier.
And I don't.
We don't endorse.
We don't endorse using those.
No, no, that's what I'm saying.
Fubo is better because I don't have to worry about it giving me an inappropriate pop-up at a time.
Yeah.
No more viruses.
No more viruses.
Get Fubo.
Get Fubo.
It's safer.
You could watch all of your favorite college football and NFL with Fubo.
Go to www.fubotvvv.com slash PHNX to sign up for 15% off your first month of Fubo Pro.
And of course, big shout out to bet MGM, which makes a...
Of course, watching sports even better.
Right now, if you have not signed up at all for the BEDMGM app,
we don't know what you're waiting for.
Come join us, bet a little bit of money, make a lot.
In fact, you just have to deposit some money and make your first bet,
and you will receive $200 instantly in additional winnings.
You just got to wager through the BEDMGM Sportsbook mobile application of at least $10,
and you will get those $200 instantly in additional winnings,
regardless of your wager's outcome.
Once you have placed a qualifying bet, you will receive that $200.
and bonus bets regardless of the outcome of your wager.
And again, it's got to place a wager in the amount of at least $10.
So our favorite, you know, I'll tell you, I noticed on the build a game parlay that there
were some very good options for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But I did not place my bet and my bet would have gone terribly wrong in the finale there.
I was going the other way.
There is nothing worse than a bet that you didn't make that it would have hit.
Oh, that happens to me.
That happens to me more often than the other way.
This one.
I'll play what's worse.
Uzbekistan and 92nd minute goal off of free kick in your stupid mouth.
Alternatively,
why would you have seen Damon's face in that moment?
But alternatively,
why would you have given a shit about a match between Mexico and Uzbekistan?
Never.
You wouldn't have.
Never.
So now you do.
You got something to watch because you bet on it.
He's right.
He's right.
And that's why I bet MGM makes sports better.
Sign up for bet MGM.
Use bonus code PHNX.
Place your first bet.
MGM.
book wager through the bed MGM sportsbook mobile application of at least $10.
You will receive those $200.
Instantly an additional winnings regardless of your wager's outcome.
Check out the show notes for full details.
And now listen to Shane.
Talk about the disclaimer.
Gambling problem.
Call 1-800 gambler.
Colorado, D.C., Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey,
Wyoming.
Call 877-Hope-N-Y or text Hope & Y.
4-6-6-9-N-Rex 7-0-1-Massachusetts.
1-18-3-1-1-1-1-1-1-7-1-1-1-7-1-1-1-7-1-1-1-7.
Confidential help, Michigan.
1-800-081-00-2-3 Puerto Rico in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel.
Visit at MGM.com for terms and conditions, U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C., New York, or Ontario.
Well, it is time once again for our Major League Baseball Power Rankings.
So let's take a look at how the best teams in baseball stack up.
The Atlanta Braves maintain that number one spot.
And I don't think they're going anywhere.
I don't even know if anybody is going to beat the Braves or stop the Braves.
Like we can all have fun with this playoff's nonsense and the wild card.
We can all do have our little, our little games.
We can play have a little fun.
It doesn't matter.
The Braves are going to smash all of us, I feel like.
Their magic number to clinch the NL East is down to two.
So and that's, you know, going to happen.
Phillies there are not even close to them.
But yeah, the Braves just have had a stranglehold on that top position,
even when it looked like the Dodgers might come close.
They smack them back down the power rankings.
But they've hit 281 home runs as a team.
They're just on a different tier than the rest of the diamond backs have hit like 150 something.
That's just stupid.
The debacks have an above average offense and the Braves have hit almost twice as many home runs.
Well, Matt Olson got the club record with 51 home runs, which is just madness in this modern day era of to have 51 home runs.
I don't even feel like people are talking about it or acknowledging it enough because that man deserves his flowers.
But the Tampa Bay raise come in at the number two team here, Jesse,
overtaking the Baltimore Orioles.
Those two swap spots.
What's going on there with the race?
You know,
just wanted to switch things up a little bit this week.
There's no actual logic behind it.
You know,
just figure to little flop.
Stop playing games with us.
No, I mean,
the race,
the race have just continued to play really well.
And, I mean,
the Orioles are also playing really well.
But we're going to take a look at something kind of fun.
a little bit later in the show,
this altered standings where we look at this,
what the standings would be
if the results of every one run game
was flipped around the other way.
It's an alternate timeline.
And as you'll see when we get there in a few minutes,
the Orioles have benefited quite a bit from one run games.
They've won a lot of close games.
The run differential is about 70 runs off
of the raised run differential.
And granted, the raise did a lot of that
early in the season when they had a really easy schedule and they just absolutely trounced a bunch
of teams in the first couple months of the year. But I think I think that still has some weight that,
you know, in the grand scheme of the season, even though the Orioles do have a better record
by three games or so at this point. The race have outscored their opponents by about 70 more runs.
So I still could go either way. I mean, they're both really good teams, but I decided to go with
the raise at number two this week. All right. The raise also lost their all-star shortstop, but
middle of the year and just didn't skip and it just doesn't yeah it doesn't
Aaron Savali comes over from from Cleveland and has been really good for them they're
just they're just a machine and it's it's just really hard to stop the raise right now
that's very true looking at the rest of the power rankings Astros come in at number four
Dodgers at number five there's no change there the Rangers make the biggest leap of
the week from not being ranked last week to jumping into the six spot here they are back
in the second wild card spot or the third wild card spot
They're in there in the second the Mariners and the Blue Jays are tied for the third
Although they're both the Mariners and the Blue Jays are only half a game behind the Rangers
That's how close things are but the Rangers did win right now they did win a lot in the last week and they rightfully so made this big leap
Just scary there for a second yeah for the Rangers I was worried they weren't gonna
Make the playoffs which I mean they still might not yeah they still are like they're a half game there they're in it by a half game at this point
You say scary.
I say hilarious.
So,
I mean,
our two things are different.
Yeah,
they're both.
Yeah,
we got a core.
We got,
like you said,
the Mariners and the Blue Js
there at seventh and eighth.
And then the Phillies at the top,
wild card spot in the NL at 9th,
and the Brewers at 10th,
which,
of course,
the Brewers would still remain a team
that I do not want to encounter in the playoffs.
I hope,
I pray Mike Faron is right about that
when it comes to the Brewers,
but who would you rather play in the playoffs?
That's my thing.
That's the Phillies.
I'd rather play the Phillies.
Oh, God.
Thank you.
Oh, God.
You'd rather play the Phillies.
The World Series?
The Brewers.
You'd rather play the Phillies over the Brewers.
Kyle's over five home runs in three games against the debas.
No, thank you.
I think I would rather play the Dodgers on the Phillies damn year.
No, no.
Phillies pitching staff hasn't been very good lately.
Brian,
Brian Sitker, the manager of the Braves said yesterday that the Phillies scare him more than any team of the league.
Yes.
I think rankings of teams.
I would like, obviously I don't want to play the Dodgers and Braves, but after that, I would, I would play literally any other team's baseball before I'm there.
They're a sleeping giant waiting for the playoffs.
Is that the idea there?
A sleeping giant.
They're in a playoff spot.
There's no sleeping giant.
And we saw what they did last year.
Bryce Harper lives for these moments.
And Kyle Ford might be the greatest leadoff hitter of our home run hiter of all times.
I thought you were about to say.
Not that is a hot day.
He can't do anything other than strike out or hit home runs.
But get me to one.
war before we talk about the greatest leadoff hitter of all time.
Not the greatest leadoff better than Ricky Henderson.
No, but all that man does is strike out and hit home runs.
The guys in the chat are bringing up that the Rangers did just lose Max Scherzer.
Yeah, which I think came out a few minutes ago.
That I don't believe had been announced when I was doing this earlier today.
That maybe changes the calculus and maybe I'd bump the Rangers down a little bit given that news.
I mean, he hasn't been Scherzer hasn't quite been, you know,
Keith Scherzer in his time with the Rangers,
but that's still obviously a loss for them.
Really, once you get past the top five,
like in my mind,
the Braves, Rays, Orioles, Astros, Dodgers,
those are all clearly elite teams.
Once you get past those five,
there's a lot of good teams and maybe even great teams,
but it's really hard to figure out like,
all right,
are the Mariners better than the Blue Jays?
Are the Phillies better than the Rangers?
These are questions that really could go anyway at this point.
A lot of it has to do with, you know, obviously what they've done this season, run differential,
their difficulty of their, of their division.
I think, you know, what they have going on there in the Yale West is really interesting and fun.
And I think that this has been one of the better years for not having teams really emerge.
I mean, like I said earlier, I don't know if anybody's beating the brave.
So it feels like they're kind of running away with it a little bit, but anybody can possibly, you know,
make a splash get hot in the playoffs and even end even end their season so apparently it's quote unlikely that max scherzer pitches in the playoffs which to me screams max shorz is going to come in and shut down whether they're playing in game seven of the world series well he did exodus start versus toronto with a right tricep injury which we are now finding out is now a season ending injury another weird situation with the toronto blue jays with alec manoa who uh was set down uh and did not report to like triple a and
It's just a sad situation because obviously he struggled this year performance-wise,
but like I feel like he became a lot of people's favorite, you know, kind of All-Star just a year ago when he was shit talking in the middle of the World Series and letting the announcers pick which pitch he was going to throw in the All-Star game.
In the World Series, sorry.
In the World Series, that would have been wild.
That would have been the greatest thing in baseball.
That would be the satchel page.
Like, all the field there's in me.
I got this.
But, yeah, I mean, again.
It's just, I think it's just obviously not a great situation,
but it's an example of how quickly things can go south for a professional ball player.
Like this game is, it's a fickle game and you can go from being one of the elite to not even being a league average very quickly.
Yeah, he was pitching a single A ball at one point this year.
He was pitching in the rookie league.
I mean, and the fact that he's not reporting to AAA shows that he's clearly not just like taking this in,
stride. Yeah, well, apparently he wanted, he wanted a doctor to look at like his knee or something.
There was some physical setback that at least, at least existed from his perspective.
I don't know if him and the, if he and the team were quite on the same page with that.
That's kind of how the story's been told, though.
Well, I hope things work out for him because he's a delightful personality.
And yeah, it sucks to see something like that happen.
I feel like it's not the same in other sports, not not to the same.
agree. No. Like, do we see this in the NBA where like a guy goes from being like the star pitcher in the
all-star game to just yeah not being able to really pitch in like you can't hit a three-pointer
anymore. Yeah. Yeah. I mean obviously like NBA players get heard and you know sometimes that's like a
big deterrent in their careers but there wasn't like a major injury here that's that's clearly
you see guys. You see like insanity where guys are on fire and take over the world for like a couple
of weeks. Yeah. But to put together an all-star level season. He had a 2.24.
YRA in almost 200
innings. He was their opening day starter.
Yeah. Yeah, he was.
And we are. Here we are.
Well, on the opposite
things and things. Yeah, Ben Simmons, but Ben Simmons
was never like. Ben Simmons was never on the level.
One of the best players in basketball. Yeah.
He just went from that level. I think
Ben Simmons was the same level as
Alec Minowah. I mean, there's a lot more
baseball players than there are NBA players.
But Alan Noah was like damn near
Si Young level last year. Yeah.
Ben Simmons was like a really good, a really good role player, right?
But yeah, he was like time All-Star.
Yeah, he was good.
I mean, he was obviously, he was really good.
Now I have to look up Ben Simmons stats.
I don't think he was.
People were considering him to be like a future superstar face.
Well, yeah, I mean, obviously when he was coming into the league, he was like,
huge of LeBron.
He was on the Sixers.
Yeah, but there was always like this guy can't shoot a basketball and he's going to have to
figure that out.
Even if Damon's right.
I mean, and I'm saying, I'm in the unlikely event.
The David is actually right.
David knows what the hell he's talking about here.
No,
I'm not saying you're not.
I'm just saying like,
they're still like,
you had to find the one.
Yeah,
there aren't that many.
Right.
In major league baseball,
this just happens so often.
And I mean,
especially like even looking through like
guys that won rookie of the year in the past
and how many names those guys
have just kind of faded into obscurity.
Carlin can't break a major league roster now.
Yeah,
right.
And he won rookie to the year.
And like,
obviously there's a good reason why his career changed.
at the same time.
Yeah, with him, there's a significant injury there.
Pete Crow Armstrong, though, did make his debut for the Cubs, by the way, just on the opposite.
Michael Carter, Williams.
Rookie of the year, and then he disappeared for the rest of his career.
There we go.
There you go.
That's a good one, too.
Well, let's hope that doesn't happen with PCA here, but he's flashed some great leather in incredible defense there in his second game for the Cubs.
So, again, another fun story, another young guy.
I feel like rookies this season are just absolutely becoming stars.
I just don't know if I've ever really seen that in baseball before where there was this many new faces.
Maybe, just maybe it's due to keeping track more because of Corby and Carroll.
But it feels like all of these guys are coming up this year and just becoming stars.
We talked about Ronnie Maricio yesterday, Ellie Dela Cruz, Matt McLean, obviously, James Outman, who I'm sorry, Damon.
I even had to bring his name up.
Francisco Alvarez and Cote Isinga.
Yeah.
Yeah. The kid for the Yankees.
The Martian Jason Dominguez.
Yeah.
Jason Dominguez.
And I mean, they had Volpey earlier this year.
Yeah.
There's been a lot of big names.
And then I mean, even like from like a star perspective, like you look at like the shortstop.
Like Dan v. Swanson and Nico Horner like that middle infield had been incredible.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And nowhere.
Like, yeah.
It's been a lot of a little bit.
I mean, obviously you still have like Ronald Cunia winning.
And competing with Mookie Betts for the MVP, but like, I feel like there's this I've been saying I knew from the moment the world baseball
And we were the way it did that we were going to be in for a hell of a season of baseball
It has been a hell of a season of baseball. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.
Was this the Cubs like retaliation like after the Diamondbacks called up Jordan Lawler and took three out of four in Chicago?
They're like, all right, we got a young guy too. Yeah, we're going to we're going to all the money on PCA next weekend
all the money. I don't know on any prop. Oh man. Well, that's going to be an interesting series, especially with no gallon or Kelly going in that one for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He's totally hitting the home run. This weekend, of course. But of course, if you are going out to that game, make sure to stop by Circle K and fill up. Fill yourself up. Fill your car up. It's America's Thursday. And they have a brand new free membership program that you can get in on. Join the Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit CircleK.com.
com for details. You can get that by downloading their app. It will save you 25 cents per gallon on your first five fillups.
We'll also get you by five, get your six one free on a selection of Circle K products, including pizza, coffee, and of course those ice cold fountain drinks.
So make sure to stock up and fuel up over at Circle K. Of course, also check out our friends at Pins and Aces, which make an absolutely incredible golf apparel polo, many of them, not just one.
It made me, I made it sound like they just make one.
They have a huge variety.
They have amazing prints, movie prints.
It's like right up my alley as far as the shirts I wear.
So make sure to check them out.
They're not just for the links.
They're for everywhere.
They're comfortable.
They're lightweight.
They're stretchy.
And of course, they are amazing to wear all the time.
Pins and Aces is the official golf apparel partner, PHNX in All City.
It is a family-owned golf and apparel business.
And they have more than just those polos I was talking about.
Hats, golf bags, golf accessories.
Of course, the beer sleep, which,
which again, not just for the golf course, it's for anywhere.
So check out pins and aces.com and use our code of PH&X.
You will receive 15% off your first order, and you will also get free shipping.
That's pins and aces.
com.
Did we have a whole conversation about rookies being stars this year and not mention L.A.
Dela Cruz?
I think I threw his name in there.
I was just kind of saying like, I feel like I didn't hear Dela Cruz or Matt McLean.
And I was just like, it's because you chose not to hear those names.
You blocked them out.
Sean has selected here.
Who?
Who?
What?
Also, a big shout out to all of our diehard.
You guys are amazing.
You made us feel great during our anniversary,
and we all can't thank you guys enough.
Like, legitimately you made us feel wonderful.
And we appreciate the love.
If you haven't joined the diehard family yet,
make sure to do so now.
Check it out at go phtonx.com.
The membership pays for itself.
You will get access to the members-only Discord lounge,
which that alone is worth the cover price.
You know what I mean?
It's like a good club.
But yeah, it might be a little high in price,
but you're going to have a good time. It's going to be worthwhile. But it's not just that. You also get a free piece of merchandise from phtonx locker.com. You get 20% off all future purchases. We have some amazing new shirts on there now. And of course, we have some incredible new designs coming soon. So make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that. You also get $50 gift certificate for Mount Mike's Pizza, that Dobson Ranch Ranch card, and so much more. You also get access to access to access to members-only invites to events, members-only discount.
on events and members only merchandise.
So join us today at go p hnx.com.
Jesse alluded to it earlier,
but there is this alternate timeline
coming to us from our friends
of talking baseball.
They posted a standings which basically
show what everything would look like
if the result of every one run game
in baseball was flipped.
So let's take a look at that.
It's amazing.
It's a little small.
But the one thing that really stands
out to me is that the Arizona Diamondbacks really would just be in the exact same spot that they're in, if not a slightly worse position that they're currently in.
But sticks out to me as the Yankees are at least clutch franchise in the history of baseball.
Yeah. Yeah. That's also true. That's also true. I mean, they literally are going from the bottom of the division to second place.
Yeah. With the switch of those games. And I mean, they are pretty on clutch. May I return your memories to 2001.
I just like it's interesting because I mean there's some divisions that are greatly impacted and then some divisions that appear to be essentially exactly the same the Miami Marlins just completely fall out of the playoff picture though if this is the case which is absolutely hilarious
the Cardinals are who we thought they were the Cardinals are exactly who we thought they were hilarious they are who we thought they were yeah Padres are six and 22 this year and one right that is absurd oh my God
So this is flipping it around 22 and 6.
Which is crazy.
That's a pretty huge difference.
The Padres have a closer.
So it's not like they were, it's not like they're the diamond backs where they like, ah,
they're blowing games late.
Like they have a good closer.
I think that's kind of a misconception that like your record in one run games.
Well, no.
Yeah, I know that.
But I'm just saying for it to be that egregious.
Like you would like having a closer should make it should limit some of those.
Yeah.
You would.
Yeah.
It seems very unlikely that that could ever happen for.
really any team on the and they have it's especially the Padres they have tons of guys who should be
able to deliver clutch hits in big moments that just especially early in the season that just didn't
happen like yeah Audrey's were like historically bad with runners in scoring position for the first
couple months of the year and imagine being bad with runners in scoring position it's going to be
well and I mean like Baltimore Orioles they take a their their seasons completely different they're 26 and 12
in one run games which I mean that around that's a big these are you get you're just
to the playoffs, take a look at the, like,
this is not sustainable.
Like being, like, those teams that are having that big of jumps, like,
well, Felix Batista was a big reason why the Baltimore Orioles were able to win so many
of those one-run games, right?
You call him King Felix?
Yeah, he keeps doing that.
Well, it's just cannot call Felix.
No, there's a back story.
There's a backstory.
So they call him King Felix in Baltimore sometimes.
And some, I have heard that.
piece of shit, a radio guy from Seattle or something like that at the All-Star game came up to him and like confronted him about it.
It was basically like stop using the nickname, even though he has no, like, he doesn't call himself that.
And he just called him over and like made him feel bad about it on camera.
When Felix had nothing to do with it.
So then he and Sean decided that I'm going to call it King Felix from now on just to spite that guy.
And so yeah, he's King Felix now.
I think that you're, I think your reasoning is deeply flawed.
But that's not.
No, there is no, I understand that, I mean, that sounds like a bad thing than that guy did.
But there is just no.
No, he's not King Felix.
There's no reasonable, yeah, you just can't do that.
I agreed with the radio guy in theory, like calling him King Felix is absurd.
You can't do that.
But you also can.
But you can't also call a player over and scold him.
Who had nothing to do with the fact that the social media calling him Kingfield.
It's pushing back on someone being an asshole.
Yeah, that's what it is.
I don't.
That's fair.
This has nothing to do with Felix Hernandez.
He is King Felix.
But, you know, there's been multiple kings in history.
There's been multiple King Georges.
Multiple King Henry's, right?
He's just King Felix a second.
Anyway, speaking of teams that aren't kings are no longer kings,
we have an update for you on teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention.
This is different, obviously, than winning the division,
because these are the teams that are officially, officially out of it.
In the AL, it is the Chicago White Sox,
the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals.
And the Yankees aren't eliminated.
They're not eliminated yet, but they will be so.
They're not eliminated from the division.
The division.
Yeah, there's been a lot of division teams being eliminated from the division.
Your Red Sox are also eliminated from your division.
But those are teams.
The playoffs yet, though.
Yeah, those are teams that have been eliminated from all playoff contention in the
National League, only one team.
The Red Sox and the Yankees have like the exact same record.
And Sean's over here talking about them.
Like the Yankees are like 44 and 100.
like the royals.
There's a difference.
There's a different.
We don't have Gary motherfucking cold.
Okay.
It's a battle of good and evil.
There is a difference.
That team was supposed to be good.
The Red Sox weren't supposed to be good.
That's fair.
That's fair.
Yeah,
that's,
I don't know.
I do think,
Derek,
I'm kind of questioning
if it makes you a bad person
that you just like put it
on our rundown
to just like hate on all the,
like give a shout out
to all the teams that have been eliminated.
Yeah, I did.
Shoutouts to the Colorado Rockies
for being the only team
in the team
National League for eliminated.
So good job, DMBR.
Let's take a look at those all city standings while we're here, shall we?
Yeah, let's put some ease by those names.
Can we get some ease?
Yeah, we need ease on there.
But I still don't feel good about being three and a half back now in this division.
Things were much different before these Phillies came along.
But yeah, the Diamondbacks still, come on, we still have something to play for here.
This is the most important division.
This is all the Dbacks have to play for.
This is what matters to us.
This is what we care about.
It was last year.
Yeah, it was.
It's all we had to play for.
But let's take a look at the actual wildcard standing, shall we?
Because, of course, All-City also runs the wild card right now.
We got the Phillies, Cubs, and the D-backs.
Reds won yesterday, so they managed to squeak in there and get one game back.
But still, the Diamondbacks doing okay.
Like I said, if they can manage to at least split this series with the Mets and win at home against the Cubs,
I think things look pretty good from there.
Gallin and Kelly though
That's gonna still
It's gonna be interesting how it stacks up and how it plays out plays out if they do make the playoffs
Yeah, I mean the D-backs like we said at the top of the show
They've got eight more games this year with either Zach Gallen or Merrill Kelly on the mound and they have eight games without either Zach Gallen or Merrill Kelly on the mound
Right
So you want to maximize those eight games where those two guys are out there
I don't know if you necessarily want to put like a number on it like oh they have to they have to go six and two or something in those games but
You would think they have, I mean, they need to be over 500.
And yeah, like six and two sounds a lot better than five and three in those games.
And I mean, that's what they have the next two days with the Mets.
So I don't know if you're feeling great necessarily with a split here against the New York Mets,
knowing that you have those two guys going in this series and you don't have either of them going this weekend.
Brandon Stevens in the chat asked where my hat yesterday came from.
I believe that's from fanatics.
But don't let Max hear me say that.
But yeah, I mean, obviously, it's a good problem to have if the Diamondbacks make the playoffs to figure out how they're going to stack their starting rotation.
That means things have gone well for them this season.
I mean, again, that's the ultimate at this point.
That's just the ultimate finish line is for them to get in.
Right.
Even if things don't work out, you just still got to celebrate the fact that they have made, they're better.
Ever since that disastrous season in 2021, they've managed to climb their way out of, you know, that's a situation.
situation and get back to this get back to being this good of a team problem to have yeah i'd much rather
than throw jesse out there to pitch game one of the wild card than them not make the wild card
i bet jesse has a good breaking ball i can see it yeah you just had to like take that opportunity
to hate on my pitch you haven't even seen me throw a baseball i wasn't trying to i don't know
put any one of us i guess you were saying you would you would i would rather i would yeah i guess you
were talking up my pitch and i was that's fair you have a fresh arm you don't have many in it look at this point
We'd rather take the devil we don't know anyway.
Rather than the devil we do know, right.
Connor and Michael make an interesting point in the chat.
Oh, yeah.
I was going to address that.
Yeah, like, do the Phillies really deserve to have like their current season record in the All-City
standings?
That's a fair point.
We could just make the Phillies 0-1 because they lost their first game.
Yeah, like the way the stats reset for a player when they come over to the new team.
Yeah, the Phillies are 0-1 so they'd be at the bottom.
Sorry.
Yeah, I mean, that's good luck working your eyes.
a good idea. They're going to have like a
crazy win percentage if they
go on. They went one game. Yeah.
They're crazy. They'll be right back up there.
666. I don't know if that's not a good plan.
That's not a good plan. We'll have to come up with something else.
But of course, if you live
here in Arizona, you're an Arizona Diamondbacks fan. You need to get yourself
a quality pair of sunglasses. And of course, you can
get those from our friends at Shady Ray's, an independent
sunglasses company with a world-class product and a world-class
lost and broken replacement plan. Of course,
Shady Ray's tells us if you lose or break your pair even on day one, they will bring you. It makes it sound like they'll hand deliver it to you. They'll send you out. They'll have a courier of some kind or a male person bring it to you, but they will send you a brand new pair of glasses. No questions asked, no guilt. They won't heap shame upon you for losing them. They will just send you out a brand new pair. You can shop their entire collection at their location at Kierland Commons. It's a full stop shop for all things, Shady Ray's. And of course, if you don't like the sunglasses you either get at Kierland Commons or online, you can shop. You can shop at Kieran Commons or online. You can shop. You can shop. You can't. You can. You can
can either exchange them for a new pair or get your money back for free within 30 days.
No questions asked.
They have your back long after you make your purchase.
Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Raids is giving out their best deal of the season.
Go to Shady Raise.com and use code PHNX for 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses.
Try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 250,000 people.
And you know what?
It's tailgating season.
And of course, the perfect beer to have at Tailgates is our friends at Fort Peaks.
Kilt Lifter. Kilt Lifter is the perfect tailgate beer, and it has been for over 25 years here in the Valley.
Win or lose, we booze with Kilt Lifter.
So make sure to check out Four Peaks wherever you get your beer.
You can get Four Peaks, especially at the remaining games at Chase Field.
You go to the Four Peaks draft room up there in right field and get your beers there.
Of course, you can...
Game three of the ALD or the NLDS.
Yeah, with Merrill Kelly on the mound, right?
Wait, no.
I don't know how that would line up.
No, it wouldn't be Merrill Kelly at that point.
I don't know.
Game three of the NLDS would be the first role.
Don't even get me started beyond this three games series of the wild card.
That makes me even more worried.
It's the first chance we'd have to play a playoff game at home.
All right.
Well,
I'm for it.
I'm all for playoff games.
They might not have,
they might not have either Merrill or Zat.
Like if they got to the NLDS.
Like in games one and two.
Yeah, like they might have to piece together two games.
Well, we'll cross that bridge and get there.
Again, it'll be a great problem to have.
should we have to experience it, figure it out.
We are going to be,
there's going to be a situation where Zach Davies is pitching
in like game one of a series in the postseason
and we're all going to be upset about it.
And we're going to be like, remember,
we could be at home not playing baseball right now.
That's a great point.
That's a great point.
Sean, you are,
I think you are right, though,
that, yeah, I mean, like a game three of an NLDS.
That would be the first,
the first opportunity the DBA actually have to play a home play.
Which potentially could be a,
depending on how the first two games go,
either a clinching or a winner go home, right?
Because the DLS will be five games, no?
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is,
this all seems too early to be talking about any of this.
Yeah,
that's crazy.
I think about,
yeah,
we should,
so if they made it to the World Series,
who would be available in game one?
I can't wait for,
celebrate the Diamondbacks World Series victory with a kill lifter.
Five inning,
like relief appearance to win game seven.
Yeah.
Celebrate with a kill lifter.
Yeah,
that's right.
Well,
visit four peaks.
com slash locator to find all things from your favorite brewery tours and events.
Steinholding October Fest haunted brewery tours.
Again, the ghosts make the beer.
Sorry to tell you guys that, but it's the truth.
The ghosts make the beer.
Haunted brewery tours are all right around the corner.
So check out at Four Peaks Brewers at Four Peaks Pub on social media to keep up with the latest
Arizona's hometown brewery.
Must be 21 or older to drink Four Peaks and please drink responsibly.
That's true.
We could just catch Philly and play the wild card here.
Yeah.
That's true.
I mean, the door is technically still
still open.
I swear to God, if that happens,
we better play Philly and not Chicago
because I don't know how those snowbirds are down.
It wasn't cheap for the snowbirds to get down here.
They have the money to pay for playoff.
I remember I attended a Diamondbacks
Cubs playoff game in I think it was 2007.
Oh, wow.
Diamondbacks played the Cubs in the NLDS.
And I think,
I think they do a pretty good job of making,
it so that I don't know how they do it honestly but I think it's it's vast majority
Diamondbacks fans at playoff games generally from from my experience growing up
see a lot of teams that do like the zip code thing yeah right it's a little
different here because yeah they live here yeah they live here yeah they're in
Gilbert they are in surprise all right well that's all we got right now of course
make sure to follow us on social media I am at Kapp underscore
caveman with a K. This maniac
next to me, Sean, he is at Sean
underscore de pause. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.
The other maniac in this situation is the one
behind the Mac. That is Damon. We are Damon's
dogs. And of course,
you can follow him at Damon Dog. That's DAWG.
All roads, of course,
do lead to at PHNX underscore
sports. And our show is
at PHNX underscore D-Bex. Make sure to follow
at PHNX underscore Sports on
Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
And we thank you guys again for stopping by.
We appreciate your time. And remember, kids,
Baseball is fun, but it is way more fun when you know who is going to pitch in the first game of the playoffs.
