PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Brandon Pfaadt’s Spot in the Diamondbacks' Starting Rotation AT RISK?!

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

Become a PHNX Diehard for just $4 a month! http://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube The Diamondbacks’ internal competition for both their starting rotation and their bullpen continues to create difficult decisions for Torey Lovullo and his coaching staff. While it is just spring, we discuss how much each start matters for the players competing for a spot. Did Brandon Pfaadt’s outing on Tuesday put his spot at risk? Derek is joined by D-backs pregame and postgame host Steve Zinsmeister to discuss the battles in camp, his new podcast, thoughts on the depth and the additions this offseason, his favorite players to interview, and more! Join Derek, Steve, and Kevin for the PHNX Diamondbacks Show LIVE! An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/ Gila River: Win a Lamborgini! Visit https://playatgila.com/promotion/350k-lamborghini-luxe-giveaway/ for details Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #dbacks #diamondbacks #arizonadiamondbacks #mlb #zacgallen #corbincarroll #ketelmarte #mlbtheshow #mlbtraderumors #tradedeadline #traderumors #allstargame Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Diamondbacks lose today by a score of 11 to 5 to the Giants. And I asked the question, is it too early to start wondering if any starting pitchers spot in the rotation is at risk? And more importantly, is Brandon Fotz. We're talking about it right here. Don't you guys go anywhere? We're starting 30 seconds. This podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek, Tia.

Occasionally known as your mayor of this joint. I am joined, as always on the ones and twos by my man, large, intimate Kevin Thomas. And we will also be joined by my former co-host and I guess backstabber in the podcasting world is how I'm going to label him quite a bit on this episode. So on and only Steve Zinsmeister, the Diamondbacks free game and postgame show host and my good friend who I was walking around Salt River Fields with today, enjoying the wonderful weather and the Diamondbacks kind of getting their pitchers wrung through by the Giants today. It was a lot of offense, not a lot of great pitching. Diamondbacks did a good job generating some offense. Again, none of this really matters because it's spring training. However, does it?

Is it? Does it matter when it comes to this competition that we've been talking about with the Arizona Diamondbacks, their starting rotation, and their bullpen competition that they have as well. But of course, before we get on to it, I wanted to give a shout out to our sponsor, All Pro Shades Concepts. If you haven't had a chance to check them out, make sure to do so. They are doing a wonderful job in making your home look lovely while also protecting you from the sun and the elements. They do more than just sun.

So make sure to check out everything they have going on. Diamondbacks had a big first inning outside of that first inning. Their offense today went pretty silent. Gabby Moreno had a three run dinger. That was fun to watch. I was actually out in the grassy area there, Kev. And I got to kind of be close to it. One funny thing that happened was there was a.

lady who was standing in the outfield that when we were doing laps around Salt River Fields, we saw her at the beginning of the game and she was ready. And when I say ready, she was ready, ready, ready. She had her glove. She had her mitt. She was ready to go. She was ready to catch a fly ball. The only thing was she was standing on the concrete of the concourse, if you will, at Salt River Fields. And it was very far away. It seemed maybe like she was not fully aware of how far balls travel or maybe she just wasn't, you know, really aware of where home runs tend to land at Slob Riverfield. However, when Gabby hit this dinger, it basically landed right where she was standing. So it made me and Steve feel very foolish for, for picking on her

and for, of course, you know, doubting her. She knew exactly what she was doing. Jake McCarthy had himself a good day to day as well. He was three for three with a run scored and he continues to be excellent this spring at the dish, still batting over 300. The big story, I guess, from today would be Brandon Fott. And we know that the starting rotation competition is a pretty fierce one. We still don't know what the Arizona Diamondbacks, what Tori Lavello and Mike Hazen and Company are going to do

in regards to this starting rotation. It's been a topic that I have beat up quite a bit on this show, simply because it really is the biggest story going on for the Diamondbacks. the biggest story for the D-backs right now is their depth. Their depth right now is good. It's great. But it creates, I guess, some problems, if you will. It creates some problems for some people.

Maybe people that might be on the outside looking in. Maybe people that find themselves not as a part of the starting rotation. It's a difficulty for Tori Lovolo, who gave his thoughts on it. We'll get to that here shortly. But Brandon Fott definitely struggled today. He was supposed to get two, three innings, not necessarily through. three innings, but like we talked about with Corbyn Burns the other

day, it was more about the up downs, getting him at least into the third inning. They also had a pitch count in mind, and unfortunately when it came to Brandon Fott's day, it did go further than they wanted it to with his pitch count. He really struggled out there at one point

with just getting guys out. I mean, he only lasted an inning in a third. He gave up six hits, three earned runs. He walked one and struck out to, He just didn't have his best stuff today. And Brandon Fott did give his thoughts on the outing. Here's what he had to say first about his day.

Yeah, it's supposed to be three innings. Fell a little short of that. Didn't feel the best compared to the first one and since the other day. But I think we hit our pitch count. It came out early. That's what it is. But I think we just got ourselves sent us some deep counts

and threw too many pitches and didn't get away with it. Fott fully knows he's in. a competition for his spot. But I think that, again, after an outing like this, when you start to look at the rest of starting rotation, it gets to a point where you don't want to overreact about one bad outing, especially during spring. You don't want to, you know, start proposing this question that we're proposing on this show.

But, you know, it is a factor, right? Like, every start is important for these guys because there is not a lot of starts left between now and opening day. And the Diamondbacks have some decisions to make much. sooner than that, including decisions that might be made on the other side of their road trip here they're making this weekend to Las Vegas. So we should see some cuts start to happen around then. The Diamondbacks are playing a lot of games over this stretch, including games both here in Phoenix as well as those games in Las Vegas. You also have, you know, several other games

kind of very close together. I think they said they're playing like seven games in four days or something crazy like that. So a lot of the younger talent is going to be needed to just fill the and play all of these games. But again, it's a great opportunity for these guys to be seen and at least make some sort of impression on the coaching staff while they have this opportunity. But when it comes to the bullpen, when it comes to the starting rotation, I feel like every single day is important.

Kyle Nelson didn't have a great day out there for this team. He's also kind of competing for a spot. Scott McGuff went out there. He gave up two hits and earned run. You got a couple of other guys. know, of course, a lot of names on this list that did come out in relief aren't going to be guys that factor in as much this year to the Major League roster. However, the ones that did or the ones that do factor in, they didn't have themselves a great day to day. But Brandon Fott discussed why he thought he struggled today, and it had a lot to do with being aggressive in the zone.

Nothing. I mean, I think pitches weren't in the zone. We weren't aggressive today. And I think ultimately, that was the major key. The other day we were aggressive. We were throwing everything. Today we weren't as aggressive in the zone. I think we threw a lot of pitches because of that.

But that's okay. We're going to what spring training is for and just getting back in the group. And he's right. This is what spring training is for. The problem is that at the same time, guys like fought are still competing for their spot. And that's what makes this tough, right? the coaching staff, Tori Lovolo, he needs to make the right call here,

but they also have limited options when it comes to what they can do with the guys that are on the roster before you start talking about players no longer being on the roster. Deep down inside, it still feels, and based on some conversations I had today with other members of the media, the feeling is still that Jordan Montgomery will most likely be the odd man out here, that Jordan Montgomery will somehow be the one that is traded before opening day or at some point. The thing about Monty is he is set to make a start on Friday for this team, his first start of the spring, and we'll see how he looks when he comes out and he competes on Friday. The Diamondbacks really need to kind of show Montgomery off if they intend to trade them, right?

They need him to go out there pitch well and to be seen for other teams to know about it. There's a good chance that there's teams that are still desperate for starting pitching prior to getting into the regular season. There's also a chance that an injury might happen that requires a team to desperately suddenly need starting pitching and they might be willing to give up more than anyone was for Montgomery just to make sure that they can fill out their starting rotation. So there's a lot to that. However, it does feel like if no moves are made, right, that Brandon Fott does become an easy choice.

for this team. Not an easy choice based on his performance, but I guess an obvious choice based on his options and the fact that they know that he is still, despite the fact he has been very good for this team on the main roster and did contribute so much last season. He was the most consistent starting pitcher for this team last year. He still has some development. He's still a young player. And again, it's not about him not necessarily earning it or deserving it. It's more about the that it's just the situation. They don't want to get rid of anybody. If they don't want to get rid of anybody,

the opportunity is there to possibly move Ryan Nelson into the bullpen as a long reliever and have Brandon fought be available for depth when they need that depth. Right. But yeah, Ocean View Coffee Shop says Brandon is my guy. And Kevo echoes that. He says he's a sweet, sweet boy. He absolutely is.

And we've never been more back now that Roger Besson's and his football slider are in our chat. So that's something great to see that. That means it's officially the beginning of the season. But I guess in the end, does a start like this matter? Probably not. It's probably not going to be the deciding factor if Brandon Fott makes, you know, is part of the starting rotation or not.

It's just there's not a lot of starts for these guys left, right? You look at how many weeks are left of spring training. there's a good chance that Brendan Fott has five, six starts left in him before we get to opening day. So each start is fairly important when it comes to earning his role in the starting rotation and kind of outplaying, you know, the other guys that are that are up for it. I have no idea how this is going to go, like honestly. And that's the reason why, as much as it feels like an overreaction, it might not be, right? because again, every start is probably going to matter. Every start's going to be taken into consideration.

If these other guys continue to shove the way they've been pitching and performing, you know, it's really about, you know, who are they going to put in that rotation, who they aren't, and what they're going to do with those guys. The young guys, Nelson and fought, they just, unfortunately, are a victim of the fact that they're still have, they have still have options left and there's still that availability for them to keep those guys stretched out in Reno. while, you know, hoping, you know, at some point to get them back up, but not hoping that it happens due to catastrophic injury or some other reason? I don't know.

This is why managing is tough. And this is why when you have depth, the way that Tori Lavello does have depth this year, it's not an easy decision. The Stone Garrett just cleared like waivers where no one even picked him up. He was outrighted. And that was a guy who not that long ago, the Diamondbacks absolutely needed in their lineup in order to have, you know, have a complete lineup. When you kind of take a look at the past, you know, few years beyond probably, you know,

like they had good depth last year. The injuries did away with that, but they did have good depth. And you could even say they had pretty good depth in 2023. But, you know, when you go back further than that, Tori Lovolo had had some struggles at times filling out the roster with the best available players. and finding those best available players in the organization, rather than this good problem he has of too many good players, too much depth and having to make the tough decision about what to do with all of it.

And this is what Tori had to say in regards to how he is, you know, kind of hoping to roadmap this whole situation and how difficult the decisions are. Yeah, it's been a big challenge for me to get the right guys innings. you know for example I know Hamson who I want to play every day and we want to get a good look at him which we will

we will continue he's going to get a ton of batts but you know he's backed up a couple times he's got a day off and I would love to get him start after start after start after start that's the situation I'm in right now with some really good quality backups that we've got to evaluate our starters are our starters and I got to get them time but, you know, when you look at position players,

we have a number of really good athletes that are ready to step in if needed, and then we all know what's going on with the fishing staff. Those are probably our toughest discussions. And I don't look forward to it. That wears on me. It's hard for me. But we're going to take the best team and move forward

to help us when baseball games. That's a space I'll be coming from. Tori is a great manager because of his connection with his players, because of his connection with, or not even just his connection with his players, but the way that he connects the team. And we were talking about how the sons kind of need to bring Tori in and figure out a way to fix this broken situation with the sons

because it feels like the coaching and the managing of that situation with that team couldn't be more night and day as far as what's happening with the Diamondbacks. However, what he said there is true. Tori hates these tough conversations and he doesn't really want to have this problem where he has to decide on who makes it in and who doesn't especially when it's not a matter of guys not deserving it. All seven starting pitchers probably deserve it to a certain extent. And to be honest, the only one that might not is Montgomery. However, if you take a look at the work he put in this offseason, the shit. shape that he's in. Maybe that's not the case either. He had a bad season last year,

a really bad season that was impacted by a bunch of variables, right? But it feels like he is very much back on track this year. And, you know, again, you got to give credit where credit is due that at least he got himself in good shape and is ready for the season. You know, that's the worst part about this is, like I've said, there's even young guys in the system who we're going to talk about here in a little bit because the top 30 prospects list for 2025 dropped and even some of those young guys have experience playing at a major league level and even those guys might deserve a shot at this point in their career to be on a major league roster but it's it's not a terrible problem to have i just think when you have a heart like troy lovolo does

and you care about your players as much as he does it does make it difficult right it makes it um not pleasant to have to decide on which of your you know kids you're going to send off to Reno and which kids you're going to keep here with you at the house. So one kid, though, that I definitely know is sticking around is Dre Jameson. I had a chance to talk to him in the clubhouse today, mostly because I wanted to compliment him on his amazing sneakers, his cleats today. No, they were not Scooby-Doo. This time, they were tommator on one foot and Lightning McQueen on the other foot. The man has impeccable style and taste, and I can never question anything he does.

He told me that he's looking to hit some pretty high numbers on the radar. this year looking to hit 102 which is something he feels like he's capable of at this point he's maxed out so far this spring at 100.2 so not too far away from his goal there this brings me back to the conversation we were having with the bullpen and closer role where I do feel Jameson I don't even know if I'd call him a dark horse anymore I feel like Jameson if he if he can hit those numbers if he can do it with regularity and as he told me can do it with accuracy, I think that he could be the man we're looking at as the next closer of this Diamondbacks team, right?

And I'm beating that drum a lot. Are I not Kevin? I'm fine with that, though. I'm fine with continuing this conversation on and on. Yeah, no. And I wanted to mention one thing about Dre Jameson. I looked at up. Cars debuted in 2006.

Yeah. He was about 10 when cars came out. And this is a perfect example of like when you're a kid, you don't have money for things. You can't really buy what you want to buy. And then when you get your first big boy check, What do you do? You go buy some Lightning McQueen-Tomater accessories for your baseball kit there. And Scooby-Doo is just timeless.

Scooby-Doo never, there's ever. Oh, no, yeah. Scooby-Doo, a friend of all ages. I love Scooby-Doo. Yeah. Probably my favorite cartoon growing up. I don't know where that falls in your rankings, but Scooby-Doo is an all-timer. I am not a huge fan of Scooby-Doo.

I won't lie. Wow. It's mostly because it's the same episode every time. But there was a later variation, a more recent variation of Scooby-Doo that I've to be pretty hilarious. Side note, I do leave Scooby-Doo on for my dogs every single day when I leave the house.

You got to leave something on for the dogs. I usually leave like ESPN so that my dog can know ball. You know, my dog has to know ball if I know ball. And so I leave ESPN on for the dog. Oh, that's pretty good. That's pretty good move. Reese is standing here in this room with me, and he had the audacity to send a message

in our chat that says, cars came out before I was born, Reese. Yeah, I came out a month before I was born. I thought I could count on you to not be that. I told you, don't make me feel old, Reese. That was the number one rule we discussed. You know, I was too old to go watch cars in the theater. You know, but I didn't have a kid left.

Yeah, yeah. It's, I'm gonna, I want to cry for you. You just get out. Just go. I'm sorry. I was, I was really, proud of you for the food reviews. No. He does this to us every time. Yeah, I know.

Don't. Go make Max buy me a beer. Please. No, go make Max get beers for the office. Yeah, Max. Beers for the office, Max. Here, here. Yeah, and everybody's on board with that. Well, we have lots more to talk about, like I said, including Steve Zinsmeister showing up at some point. I don't know. He said he had players to interview. I don't believe him. I think he's just hanging out with Bear, my other old co-host. And I think he's just hanging out with Bear, my other old co-host. and I think that they're leaving me out because they love to do that.

They love to do that. But we're going to talk more about the Arizona Diamondbacks top 30 prospects on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere you're watching the P.HNX Diamondbacks show. Again, got to give a huge shout out to all pro shade concepts. They have been in business for 20 years in the Valley. And they started making window shades by hand for friends and family in Phoenix. And I love that story because I don't have that kind of, I don't have that kind of ingenue. I don't have that kind of dedication to anything.

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Text next step to 533442 or visit problemgambling.az.gov. All right, Kev. Well, wake up, babe. The DeBack's top 30 prospects list just dropped this morning. And there's a big shake-up at the top. I don't know. Big shake-up. There are a lot of things in baseball.

And this is the reason why I needed somebody of Jesse's intelligence here to always explain things to me. But there are so many things in baseball that I really have to ask, does it matter? How much does it impact things? And I guess really what it comes down to it is the top 30 prospects list gives a ranking of your prospects and allows organizations and front offices to use that number to tout how good some of these guys are,

especially if they start making trades and moves. And using that for the return, right? But this one was very interesting. for us because the top five dropped and there are some names on here that I'm sure a lot of Arizona Diamondbacks fans aren't familiar with or at least one name. That's very high. We got Jordan Lawler as the Diamondbacks overall top prospect. Kev will start there.

Any surprises to see Jordan Lawler back on top as the number one overall prospect in the organization? No, it's kind of a situation where I'm excited to see what Jordan Lawler can do. Derek with some opportunity and with some with some runway there. But yeah, no surprise, but Jordan Lawler at one. He was a star today. He was a star out there in spring training. He was really, he was, it was very, very exciting. A lot of people wanted to see him.

A lot of people wanted his autograph. And he has a weird star aura about him already. I know it's something far too early to say. I don't know. Maybe it was the way that his beard lined up. maybe it was how handsome he is in real life. I don't know. It was, it was something to get over. But it's the number two name on that list that I believe is going to surprise a lot of Diamondbacks fans who may never have heard of Dimitrio Miguel Chrysantis from right here at Nogales High School in Arizona.

He was the seventh round of the pick of the 2022 MLB June amateur draft. And my man is putting up some big numbers for the Arizona Diamondbacks. so far. It doesn't matter where he plays. He just succeeds. In 2023 for the, I guess the Arizona, the complex league, he slashed 347, 417, 465 with an 883 OPS. In 2024, for two teams, including Vesalia and the Arizona Complex League, he slashed 341, 429, 492 with a 921 OPS. my man is is killing it and i think that again very exciting for the diamondbacks to have a young player like this coming up and and making uh making a splash like this and and again a guy who has done it fairly quickly he's only 19 years old right now and already uh has come up and and made a

big splash on this team going back to that list of course another couple other guys slade caldwell uh there at third gilbert diaz at fourth and adrian del castillo rounding out the top five. And again, Jillber and Adrian Del Castillo, both guys made themselves, made a name for themselves on this in this organization last year, guys that honestly,

both of them came up fairly big when called upon. They didn't exactly have perfect seasons by any stretch of the imagination, but both had some pretty big games. Both made some pretty impressive debuts, including obviously what Adrian Del Castillo was able to do there with his bat. King, King Snakemeister says a hell of a lot of infielders in the top 15. You're not wrong about that. I think the concerning thing is the lack of actual pitching.

I mean, the pitching depth is not great for this team. We have some players of note that that we have for the rest of the top 30. Drew Jones coming in at number seventh overall. why why do I why do I why do I why do I why do I want to panic about that? Why do I want to why do I want space there can we talk about it? Yeah, explain the way you feel. I don't why you're terrified right now. I don't know really.

I think obviously it's the fact that Drew Jones was such a important piece last year. He was their second overall prospect behind Jordan Lawler and you know kind of dropping down behind Slade Caldwell behind some other guys that kind of flew up the list and passed right by him doesn't doesn't make me feel great about our number number two overall pick yeah no from the number two overall pick to number seven overall prospect there it's uh it's a little bit of a fall derrick what do you what do you what do you expect though this this upcoming year from drew jones i don't know i think the big thing is obviously taking steps forward like there's a lot of things about drew jones that we know he's going to do well right i think that

There is, you know, I think that, you know, his hit grade has kind of gone down and his power grade has gone down. And I think that's the two biggest things, right? He has already not proven that he is not ready yet. But again, he's just not having the same success. Guys, his age are. He's not having the same success in the league. And, you know, again, he still has a. ton of potential, but I think that he just hasn't really gotten much going. He did get better at a

strikeout rate. There's things he improved on, and I think it's a matter of coaching, right? Really, when it comes down to it, the reason why you draft someone like Drew Jones is pure athletic talent, pedigree based on who his father is, but more than that, you know that you are getting a very talented athlete. I think that what I've seen in baseball, is if you are athletic enough, if you're talented enough and coachable, then they can get you, you know, to where you need to be. But really when it comes down to it, I think it's, you know, there's a, there's high expectations when you're drafted that high. And, and, you know, when you don't live up to it, it's easy for them to kind of rank you lower and move you down in the rankings

as far as the prospects go. The thing about it is I don't feel like it's wrong. So that's what I hate. does that make sense? Like I do feel like, I felt like that last year when he was number two. And I was just like, I feel like there's better players in the system, you know, than him and guys that are more major league ready than him. So I don't know how you could see him as being the number two, you know, prospect and on the team. But let's see who else do we have on there, Kev besides. We also had Gino Groover, number 10. That's great for Gino.

We also have Yumen Lynn. he dropped down a little bit to 11th, but still, uh, he is, he is corn and we will never, like we'll never doubt corn. Corn will always be, uh, he is going to be great for this team. And I can't wait to see him, uh, make his, make his way up. However, again, it's like talking about the major league roster, right? Like, when do these guys get an opportunity? Next season might be that time.

But, uh, like, you know, opportunities, uh, like they had last year for Gilbert to kind of come up and get some starts probably, I guess hopefully, fingers crossed won't be the case this year. Hopefully they won't need them. They may need those guys, though, very soon, and that could be as soon as next year. Let's see, rounding out there. We got Blake Walston kind of dropped down there to number 30.

Tim Tawa there at 25. Not disappointing, just, yeah, I mean, compared to when you kind of look at some of where these guys were last year, Tim Tawa obviously different, but, you know, where you see where some of these girls, guys ranked uh blake waltston didn't drink drop too much but at one point he was pretty high up in the diamond backs prospect so feels like uh walston might be a guy that uh is is losing some steam there within the organization uh but hey we'll see how everything plays out i just love to put

too much thought into the prospects list because like i said at the end of the day it really comes down to the ranking helping the organization with moving maybe some of these guys or maybe another organization feeling like they got a bigger you know maybe maybe got a got themselves a good deal and a trade by getting a young prospect uh there's a couple of guys we didn't put up there but uh tommy troy he's still at eight ryan walshmidt uh another outfielder he's kind of moved up there in their rankings as well so but like uh i think it was king snake said it earlier a lot of infielders a lot of infielders in the top 15 uh and a lot of outfielders too just not enough starting pitching you would love to see the diamondbacks have again that next round of starting pitching christian

manna he's on here at 13th uh Daniel egan he's at 16 so uh they have some guys right there but every all all the other pitchers kind of drop down um below that and not a lot on this list for the top 30 so it's the future of this team the diamondbacks are always going to be a team that's going to need to build from within like this they're these prospects are always going to be important to the organization because this is where their next, you know, future batch of stars is going to come from. I've said it before. I'll say it again.

This team has done an excellent job at getting talent, finding talent, you know, scouting talent, and then signing that talent to a contract extension far before they get to the point where they've really flourished and become the player that this organization knows they could be. They did it with Catell-Marté. They were able to do it with Corbyn-Carrill. And now this off season, they do it with Errol Do Prodomo.

So these prospects, again, the Diamondbacks are a team that are going to need all these guys. And these will be names that hopefully very soon we see making an impact at a major league level. But that's all I got from that. We do have one Steve Zinsmeister joining us here shortly. And I'm very excited for that. So we're going to bring him in here on the other side of this break. Of course, you guys are watching the PHNXD back show. Don't you go anywhere.

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I don't know. There's nothing that makes me feel more like the future than that. There's still other things, too. Don't get me wrong, because I'm, again, as Reese established earlier, I'm very old. and I've been through many phases of having to carry music around. Yeah, like I carried cassettes tapes at one point in a box. I don't want to do this. I don't want to go back that far.

But speaking of going back far, I am thrilled to be joined by one, like someone who I used to consider a friend, but before he showed up on my block doing podcasts about the Arizona Diamondbacks, it is the pregame and post game host for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's none other than Mr. Steve Zemmeister. Hi, pal. How's it going? Hey, Derek. No long time, no C.

I feel like you were Candice, who just posted, I'm late, but I'm here. Yeah. I want that to be on the record. That's, yeah, yeah, that's you. Yeah, like long time, no C, two hours ago before I was sitting in traffic and before the Diamondbacks lost by a whole lot of runs. But it's spring training, so we don't care about that. I'm very thankful to have you here.

but I got to scream at you because you started a podcast. It doesn't involve me. And I'm angry. I'm angry. And you knew I would be angry. And you did it anyway. And that's fine. But I just want you to know my feelings are hurt.

Yeah. No, for those who don't know in another life, years and years ago, you and I did a podcast together. Yeah. Yes. That's had many iterations over the years.

But I don't want you to take too much offense to this, Derek. Listen, we had a lot of conversations of what this podcast was going to look like. You never came up, don't worry. Not once. No. Listen, I think that, and we've talked about this a lot, there's a lot of great avenues for you to listen to people talk about the Arizona

at Diamondbacks. And us at the team, we decided we want to be one of them too. And so we talked about a lot of different ways this podcast could look. And we ultimately came up with what we think is going to be a really cool look at kind of behind the scenes sort of of talking with a lot of players and coaches throughout the course of the year. It's awesome. It's the Rattle on podcast. And I guess my first question about it was going to be, how dare you? My second question was going to be, who the hell do you think you are? But we'll just move past that and we'll get to the actual questions.

Specifically, you're doing it with Diamondbacks players, which are kind of slightly more qualified to talk about the team than I am, I suppose. So I guess I'll let that one slide. But you have been, out there chatting with a lot of guys. Has anybody stood out to you so far as, as like a surprising person that you enjoyed talking to? Or maybe like somebody that was your favorite and you maybe didn't expect them to be like one of your favorite interviews? Yeah, I should have known you'd find a way to make this about you.

So. Every time. So we launched the DeBacks Rattelon podcast about a week ago. We launched with seven episodes on DBAX. dot TV. You should go check them out right now. But we launched with a lot of a variety of conversations. So I talked with the president and CEO, Derek Hall, about the business side, the general manager, Mike Hazen, about roster construction and some of the offseason moves. Tori Lavello, that's up there right now. But what you're talking about, you know, the ones that kind of stand

out, a guy that I know you and I both appreciate a lot is Ryan Thompson. And that conversation stands out to me because I think he's just so honest about everything. So I had asked Thompson, and this is in the podcast if you go and listen to it or go and watch it on Debex.tv, I feel like everybody with the closer situation, everyone's talking about Justin Martinez, A.J. Puck, Kendall Graveman, Kevin Ginkle, and deservedly so. They have a lot of good options. I straight up asked Ryan Thompson, do you want to be the closer? And do you want to be in that conversation with all those other guys. And his answer, I'm going to paraphrase it for you, but you should go check it out so you can get it in its entirety. He basically said the quiet part out loud where he said,

if you just try to be a righty specialist, you're setting the bar too low for yourself. You should try to be the guy, no matter what position you play, and he just has the right motivations. And he flat out said, yeah, I could be a great closer. I believe that I can be a really good closer in the major leagues, whether it's now or in the future. future. But he also was very honest in saying, am I the best option right now with what we have on the roster? And he even said, probably not. I'll let you go check out his answer for yourself as to who he thinks should be the closer. But it was just a really honest conversation. And I left that talk with Ryan Thompson feeling like I was ready to run through a brick wall. And so I think that's,

that's probably got to be my pick for definitely one of the great conversations we have up right now at Vebacks. TV. Man, absolutely the same. Just personally from the interviews we've done, and I think it was because I didn't expect that much out of Ryan Thompson. I mean, you know doing this at times, you know, you kind of can get people that are excited about interviews, and then you know at times there are people that are just doing it

because they were asked to and they might not be the thing they want to do today. But it's with Ryan, it's always, it was always enjoyable conversations, whether it was about pro wrestling or baseball. But the pro wrestling ones are way better. I do say, though, that, like, yeah, it's the honesty. It's how open he is. And you don't really get that because, again, sometimes what does a player have to gain by putting themselves out there, right?

And letting people know how they truly feel or how they truly want to be perceived. Or in this case, right? Like being honest that you want something that you don't even feel like you're necessarily the best candidate for. Like, yes, I want it. But however, I feel like we as an organization have better options. And that's that's that there's that there's a lot of self-awareness there. But there's a lot of also honesty, you know, in that.

I know you conducted one of my favorite player interviews with Raldo Pardomo as a pregame, uh, interview last year. And, and of course, my favorite part about that, which I've talked about on the show, several times was his answer about like what what is like what's his favorite, you know, what, what's his favorite moment in baseball or what, what moment does, you know, gets him like pumped and he talked about being down 02 in the count right and like that was such a unique answer uh because who in their right mind other than a baseball sicko would say down 02

in the count you know a lot of people would be like after i hit a home run that's a pretty good moment or whatever the case may be uh maybe after we win but no prodomo just loves loves loves loves ball that much that that's his that's his favorite spot to be in. I think the question I asked Domo, he had just come off of his IL stint at the beginning of the season and I had asked him what he missed the most. That's what it was. What he missed most about baseball? What did you miss the most while you were injured and you couldn't be out there with your

teammates? And what are the answers that you expect to get, right? Like, oh, I just miss being around the guys. Yeah, being in the clubhouse with the boys or road trips or something like that. you know, or... And he very subtly looks at me and goes, being down 02. And I don't think it really registered with me at the time. I was like, is there a language barrier thing that I'm not picking up on you?

What kind of may-mey-at answer that is? I was like, am I the one struggling to understand this up, right? I was the one that said it right. Yeah. And I think it's just the mentality that you grow accustomed to with Pardomo. And I feel this way about a lot of players for the Diamondbacks these days. And maybe he's rubbing off in a good way. when it comes to approach at the plate.

But yeah, that was one of the more intriguing answers that I got in an interview all of last year. And I'm excited to sit down with Jerry at some point. We haven't done that on the podcast just yet. But with, you know, the context of him signing his new deal here this spring and just what he means to this roster, he's one of the best quotes you're going to find and one of the players that's most respected. Yeah. And I was just talking about it a bit before you got on the show. But the Diamondbacks have done just an excellent job.

And obviously not everything is, is you're, you're going to have some swings and misses, right? Not every, you know, you can't keep every player. You can't, you know, have everybody always work out. But Mike Hazen has just done an incredible job at identifying talent and like locking them into a contract extension right before, you know, that contract extension, the value of that deal probably, you know, would have would have gone up exponentially, you know, with Corbyn Carroll before his rookie of the year season. and Catele Marte, you know, prior to him doing all the stuff that he's done over the last few seasons. And now, now Perdomo. And I think like, I guess what are your thoughts on, you know, especially Perdomo, like what that means to the rest of the team to see someone like Jerry get that contract extension. And again, someone who I'm not going to say he doesn't deserve it or his numbers don't warrant it, but there would be some people that would argue like, hey, you're giving this to a guy that, you know, put up this or this or this.

and like it just feels like his value goes far beyond the stat line and you can't really quantify it. Yeah, it seems like if we were having this conversation 15, 20 years ago, I don't know that a player of Geraldo Perdomo's mold is what most people would be looking for in a shortstop to extend long term. But the Diamondbacks value very specific things. They value defense first and foremost. And while Jerry might not have like the most athleticism on the squad, Like, you know, maybe that belongs to another player.

Like, Cattell is kind of flashy with his glove, certainly. Blaze Alexander, when healthy, can make great plays that make you go, wow, or Jordan Lawler. But Pardomo makes every play. He makes the easy ones 100% of the time. He makes the relatively routine one 100% of the time. And then he'll make the plays that wow you as well. So defensively, he's, he's, Tori Lavello has basically called him a coach on the field. He is in charge of defensive positioning.

He's the middle linebacker or the quarterback, you know, depending on which side of the football you want to equate this to. And so like to see a guy with his background who came into this organization at such a young age internationally, work his way up to this point. I mean, there's a reason that this organization kept him around for so long. They realize his innate ability to lead. And he may not hit a lot of home runs. In fact, he didn't hit very many at all last year.

That doesn't seem to be an issue for them. They don't hear so much about the power lacking there because they know what they're getting in so many other areas. And frankly, leadership is going to be super important this year in a year where Christian Walker leaves in free agency. Jock Peterson, I know he wasn't here a long time, but he's certainly a guy that a lot of the young players looked up to. And now it seems very quickly that Jerry is that guy,

that a lot of people will look up to him and Cattell and Gino and a lot of the other veterans that they have. So locking up Jerry, super important for a team like the Arizona diamondbacks. Yeah. And I don't know if there's another sport. Like all sports, um,

confidence is important in every sport. But I don't know if there's a sport where confidence is as important as baseball, right? And not only does perdomo kind of like exude confidence that's infectious and makes you feel confident just by his presence, but there's also, you know, as we've discussed what he does for the pitching staff. And when you have guys kind of bringing it up,

when you have Jordan Montgomery last year, who was struggling talking about how much it helped him to have McGupper with have a Jerry out there giving him those words of encouragement even though it's small even though it might seem unimportant it ends up being important when you're talking to the players that he's impacted you know when when his leadership kind of resonates to some of those guys and you talk to them they'll tell you to your face like no that that meant the world to be you know that him doing that stuff really did help me you know kind of turn things around or help me through a game where I was struggling.

Yeah, and I haven't talked with Jerry about this specifically, but today I shot my latest episode of the D-Backs Rattle on podcast with Jake McCarthy. And while it's certainly a different context, I had asked him because, you know, I think he said this is his fifth major league spring training already. And I look around the clubhouse and I see a lot of guys that I kind of think of like them, where, yeah, they're still really young. You know, Jerry just got his first contract for. for the most part, but they've been here a while.

Yeah. And I had asked Jake, I was like, do you feel like you're sort of a veteran now? And even though he doesn't feel that way, he is starting to kind of take guys under his wing the same way that other guys took them under their wings, you know, a handful of years ago. So the next great Diamondbacks team of the future, like, you know, like after the next couple of years, like that next wave of Diamondbacks that you were talking about earlier before I came on with all the prospects.

those guys are learning the most important baseball lessons of their life right now from guys like Perdomo and Jake and so many other veterans that are on this team that have really high expectations. Well said, no wonder you left me behind. I guess this all makes sense. Well, we're going to talk a little bit more about your thoughts on some of these additions during the off season that they made on the other side of this break. So you hang tight. Don't you go anywhere. Don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the P.H.N.X Diamondback show. Well, I have my little pizza box. It's just out of reach down here. I'm going to get it anyway. And it's empty. There's Spanados on set. And it's empty.

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but Damon always used to want to leave me out of the boys' trips to Hela River Resorts and Casino. So I mean, yeah, it was weird. And, of course, you knowing me, we've known each other now for a while. happy belated birthday, by the way, to large intimate, Kevin Thomas. Birthday was yesterday. I hope you had a great time. I did. But yeah, we need to go celebrate.

Maybe Heel River is the boy trip for maybe Kevo's birthday. I think Healy River is the best spot to celebrate any occasion, to be honest, with you, a birthday and anniversary, even a little staycation for the anniversary. He's not wrong. Nice low romantic getaway. Who knows? Oh, love that. Love that.

I hate traveling. So again, staycations. It's the way to go. Let's bring Steve back in here because I need to get Steve's thoughts on staycations for of all, I know you love those. Staycations. Yeah, actually, I don't do a lot of, I don't do a lot of staycations. My wife and I got married last year and we decided to go to Montana, a place we've never

been before, wanted an experience. So I don't know that I'm an expert on staycations. Say again. How is that? Montana? It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah, we went to Glacier National Park.

We literally saw like a picture of people getting married in Glacier on Instagram. and we were sold. And you were like, that's what I want to do. Yeah. Yeah, we packed our bags, me, my wife, and my stepdaughter, and we went up to Montana and got married. That was in the middle of last season, by the way.

That's amazing. Yeah, you showed me some incredible pictures from that, and that was a beautiful, beautiful way to spend. That's the way people should do things. See an Instagram picture, be like, I want that, and then make it happen for yourself. So I'm manifesting something similar

for the Arizona Diamondbacks when it comes to a World Series, ring in 2025. But one way that they can very much get there is with the addition of Corbyn Burns. I've had to get everybody's thoughts on this, Steve, because it just seems like a wild thing that happened. What was your kind of reaction to first hearing the news that the Diamondbacks had added Corbyn Burns to their starting rotation? Yeah, a heck of a Christmas present, right? It really was. It really was. It's funny. The more I talk to players on the team and staff about the addition of Corbyn Burns, the more I realize that none of them thought they were even remotely

in the market for starting pitching, regardless of the level. I just, I didn't envision, I don't think the front office envisioned that they would be in the market for a starting pitcher, but when it is the starting pitcher, then the conversation changes. So I had the same reaction a lot of people did. I think he's a perennial Cy Young candidate that is going to be really, really good for a long time. And in the minimal amount of time, we've seen him in spring. His velocity is up, which even he has admitted is kind of baffling to him. He's like, I'm not doing anything like particularly different. I'm not trying to throw harder. So that could be a really good sign too. I know that he tinkered a little bit with the cutter. He's a master of the cutter. And so that's

certainly something that a lot of players could maybe even glean from him is, you know, could he sort of impact the rest of the rotation in a way more so than just, you know, hey, he's going to win a lot of games. But I mean, think about what some of these young guys like fought and Nelson, that they can draw from a pitcher like Corbin Burns, even if it's not like asking him direct questions, just from observing him in the way he goes about his business. So this rotation, it's been well documented. It's stacked. And I don't know how they're going to figure out the tough questions that they have in regards to who stays and you know do you throw guys in the bullpen or in reno but what a problem to have yeah and the diamond backs continue to show that they're willing to pay top dollar

to get elite talent that's why i still feel like at the end of the day the smartest move is to just keep everybody figure out a way for them to go where they need to go it's unfortunate for some of the younger guys based on the situation but i think that if they're professionals they understand the situation as well right they understand that already uh you know two, three spots in the rotation are already occupied. Those are already taken. And you might have a battle for two of the five spots, but outside of that,

it's still one of those things that, like Corbyn Burns said in his press conference, you're never going to get through a season with just five starting pitchers. The depth is needed and the Diamondbacks have that depth. And it's not depth that, like they had last year where they kind of had to scramble and call up someone like Jill Burr Diaz,

who did a good job, but maybe got called up a little bit earlier than they anticipated or maybe wanted to just did it out of need and you know again that that's something that they most likely won't have to do unless you know a move is imminent or something of the sort but burns i do like the fact that he talked about being a leader he talked about having those conversations with the young guys and and wanting to do that wanting to share with them you like you brought it up but brand and thought throws a cutter right and he was talking about it today how he's kind of talked to him a little bit.

And again, it's going to be different as the season progresses, right? There's going to be chances on road trips and other times where you're just hanging out and to be able to pick, I guess the brain of a pitcher of his caliber is, again, it's kind of like what we were saying with Jerry Perdomo's value. You can't really quantify how important that could be for the young pitchers on this staff, especially considering that for the time being, he's going to be the ace this year and beyond. and those guys are going to be part of a, you know, rotation alongside of him.

So I'm sure he wants to do everything you can to help them progress in their careers and get better and become the best versions of themselves. And again, it might have just been the right answer, but he just gave those kind of answers already that made me feel like the Diamondbacks added more than just a Cy Young candidate. They added another one of those leaders that you said earlier,

you know, that this team needs. Yeah, and if you go check out, out on the podcast. Shameless plug for the podcast again. The DeBacks Brattle on podcast, we started, I guess it was the second episode. I talked with GM Mike Hazen. And I asked Hazen, where is your attention in regards to give me the name of a player that, you know, maybe not everyone is paying close attention to, but you are. And he didn't give me a specific name, but he gave me a group that was fascinating. And he said, I'm focused on the group of starting pitchers that are in Reno. The guys that are not quite major leaguers, but have major league experienced or are really

close. Like we're talking about Tommy Henry, Christiane Mana, Umin Lin, Blake Walston. Who am I missing? There's a fifth one in that group that I just escaped to make. Jillber Diaz. Thank you. And so like he's thinking about that group. And in my head, I'm like, dude, you still have seven quality major league guys that you've got to figure out how to piece that together. And he's like, no, no, no, no. I'm thinking about, I'm thinking about what's next. And that's not to be dismissive of the problem that they have, which, again, is a very good problem. But it just goes to show you the lesson that they, I don't want to say learned last year because they knew. But, you know, having starting pitching depth, like you said, is, it's everything. I mean, imagine if last year,

instead of scrambling for, you know, four or five guys to try in the major leagues for the first time, Imagine if they had a major league quality starting guy sitting in Reno ready to go. Right. Who's motivated to get back there. And this isn't me advocating for Ryan Nelson or Brandon fought to go to Reno because I would be devastated to see those guys who I know. I know our major league pitchers be in Reno. But it's just the situation we're in where the organization, whether they stick them in the bullpen or Reno or we have a seven man rotation, whatever this ends up looking like, they're going to have a lot of options. available to them. And that's a really good feeling going into a year following the one where,

you know, between their top five guys, everyone for Brandon fought combined for 344 days on the IL. That is almost a full calendar year. So you can't tell me that adding Corbin Burns had something to do with that. That's insane. All right. Well, we, if you're watching on TV, make sure to join us over at go phtnx.com. We're going to continue this conversation a little bit longer. But we appreciate you guys. we love our viewers and come on over. Watch us a little bit more over at go p hnx.com. Yeah, no, and I hear completely what you're saying, especially when you say like you know how heartbreaking it is

that talented guys that don't even deserve necessarily to be sent down or possibly move to the bullpen might just based on the situation. But again, I mean, I think in talking to these guys, they've all been through their ups and downs. every player has been they're all professionals and i think they understand the situation right they hopefully they understand that it's not permanent and that they're doing this for the purpose of of that depth but also beyond like you talk about mike hazen talking thinking about that group of guys like that's what a good general manager has to do because if you're just too focused on the here

and now uh you you're not game planning for what that future is going to look like it sucks to say that the Diamondbacks have so many guys in walk years that they're going to potentially lose. I already love Josh Naylor. The thought of losing Josh Naylor at the end of the season already bums me out, let alone how much appreciation and how much I as a fan, along with so many other fans, love Zach Gowan and Merrill Kelly, and don't want to see those guys leave. It's a very, it's reality.

It's a very possible reality that we are living in. And as the GM, Hayes has to kind of, go that route too. He has to contingency plan on what the future is going to look like for this team. I feel like that's the biggest reason why the Corbyn-Burn signing is so good because I feel like it adds that bridge should the

Diamondbacks lose their number one and number two guy in the starting rotation in the same off-season. Yeah, it's stability, if nothing else for the future. Yeah. In regards to the starting rotation, I will kind of tease you with this. I did ask

Mike Hazen very directly, do you have plan if all seven guys are healthy on opening day, do you have a way to keep them all in the major leagues? I won't give you the answer to that right now. I'll have you go check out the podcast. Oh my God. But I will tell you this. Any answers, Steve? What is this? This is just an hour long commercial for your podcast you didn't include me on? Listen, Derek, I'm trying to teach you a thing or two about teasing here. I will tell you this. Haysen. I give it away for me. Hazen deflected and he said, that's not up to me. That's up to Tori.

So then I went and interviewed Tori and I won't tell you his answer, but I also asked him the exact same question. So you can find that on the Debacks Rattle on podcast. You might be a terrible person. But yeah, I mean, you're thinking about this constantly, by the way. They have to, right? This is not something they take lightly at all.

I mean, again, it's that, that right there is, is the interesting one to me. Like, okay, everybody's healthy. how do you do it how do you do it right and it's not to say there there isn't a way to do it it it just feels like there isn't a way to do it where because because you and i understand this like of course a lot of fans there a lot of people will say like why don't you just move them to the bullpen and that limits your depth that doesn't keep either of those guys ryan nelson or brandon potentially or whoever else doesn't make the starting rotation if it's one of those guys in there

it doesn't keep them stretched out it doesn't keep them available should that injury happen today and we need you in the starting rotation tomorrow, right? So that's that's the part where I think it gets tricky as far as how to how to maneuver around all of that if everybody is healthy. Yeah. And I will say this about that specifically. I know in several of my conversations with Tori Lavello over the last year, he has expressed on several occasions his regret for the way that things went with Dre Jameson when he first

came up and was a starter and then they asked him to be a reliever. They moved him to the pen and then they needed him. So they stretched him back out very quickly. And that's when he blew out his arm. And obviously that sets him back on an individual basis, you know, basically a year and a half, two years. And thankfully, we are going to see Dre Jameson this year pitch in and major league innings, I'm thinking. So that'll be really cool. But my point is, I think they regret it a little bit the way that they handled that, whether you really believe it's Tori's fault or not, which I don't.

Right. But you know Tori, he's the kind of guy to shoulder the blame, whether it's his or not. And I wonder, are they less, are they more hesitant to put Ryan Nelson in the bullpen or Brandon fought in the bullpen

or Jordan Montgomery in the bullpen where he was at the end of last season? Are they less likely to do that because of the way things went with the Jameson issue? Again, And I don't think that was their fault. These things happened. I mean, injuries happen across baseball every single year.

And they're just trying to prepare themselves for, you know, if and when that does happen, knock on wood that it doesn't. But these things have come across before. So they have hard decisions to make. I just think that they want their best starting pitchers to be available to them if and when they need them. It could be Tori's greatest asset as a coach and also maybe his Achilles heel. is caring too much, right?

Like legitimately caring about people. I talked about it earlier, but, you know, I don't know because, you know, again, that's, that's that thing is, is that like, it's hard for you,

you know, it's hard for you not to feel like you had some sort of impact on that situation that caused, you know, one of your players, one of your athletes to lose a year of his career, right?

Because of what you were asking for him. But like you said, most likely at the end of the day, it really wasn't the reason why that went the way it did you just have no way to ever really know right and tory just cares so much about his players we talked about it with the sun's situation and about how it feels like there's no love there right there's no family there's no bonding between that team and when you look at what this team has been able to do and how surprising they've been at times with tori lovela

as their manager it's hard to not feel like that is a big factor you know again the the perdomo thing right times a thousand because he's like the manager and he just has this like all-encompassing way to make not only the players feel like he loves them and thinks of them like his own children but for those players to come together and form a family and become brothers because of his influence yeah i'll i'll steal a word from the wall right behind you uh culture happens to be the exact perfect word for describing why Tori Lavello is the manager that he is. Guys want to come and play for the Arizona Diamondbacks because they want to play for Tori Lavello.

I firmly believe that that's a factor. There's been so many times in the past where people have asked me, you know, like, oh, what about this move? He went to the wrong guy in the pen that day or, you know, he could have managed this situation better. And I'm like, okay, I understand on a game to game basis, you can make a lot of decisions different ways. What people don't see very often, the way that I get to see, the way that you get to see

in the clubhouse is the way that he handles this family that is a large group of men. And it's a lot of dudes with a lot of different personalities and a lot of different motivations and a lot of different contract situations and things going on in their own personal lives. And somehow Tori Lavello manages to steer that ship. and more often than not, he turns the correct direction. He pushes the right one. And so I don't think managers in general get enough credit for that because I think there's a lot of great baseball cultures around sport.

But Tori, there's a reason that he is the longest tenured manager in Diamondback's history and that he survived some of the statistically worst seasons in terms of winning percentage and a reason that he is still here. and that is because players want to play for Tori Lavello. They want to play their best for Tori Lavello. And I think that it's no coincidence that he was kept around for a couple of those years. And then all of a sudden they go to the World Series. And then they win five more games.

They went 89 last year. And even though they faced all that adversity we talked about, 344 days of having starting pitchers on the IL, they still win almost 90 games. Oh my God. Say it louder for the people in the back, Steve. Say it louder. you're not wrong. Yeah. Because everything is always just such a big disappointment, right?

Like, yeah, you won 89 games, but you didn't make the playoffs. It's like I still don't know. And I asked this question a bit during the playoffs last year. Like, would it have felt different if they did make the playoffs but got bounced in the wild card round? Does that make a big difference for you? I'm not saying that it's, you know, like I understand. Making the playoffs is an important step. And more importantly, it's harder in baseball for you to not just make the playoffs,

but make it consecutive years. make it, you know, become one of those teams. That's a contender every year, right? But you're right. The Diamondbacks have always kind of, and I guess credit to Mike Hazen and the front office for never really blaming Tori in those situations for it not necessarily being entirely his fault, right?

Especially when you have one of the worst seasons in team history under his belt, but also one of the best seasons in team history, one of the best playoff runs in team history, I guess the second best in team history, right? So a big all all the reason you're right is is because of Tory like sticking with him, allowing him to build that culture, to build the clubhouse the way that he does and to allow talent to want to come here and not only come here, but once they come here, stay here. You know, sign those extensions the way that Perdomo and Corbyn and these guys did.

It just, it's it's the only way that a team like this competing with other teams that seem to have endless amounts of money can compete can be in the conversation can possibly be you know not only in the playoffs but a contender so uh this is uh been great steve i appreciate you coming on even though it's been under like upsetting pretext with this whole you know you abandoning me and leaving me on for this whole thing but we'll get i'll get over it it's fine um especially if you're replaced me more with ryan thompson because that's uh that's a winning combination the two of you guys Yeah, I encourage you to check out my new co-hosts, which are the Arizona Diamondbacks players and front office members and coaching staff. Shameless plug one last time, Derek, because I know you want to go check out the podcast.

They're not as funny as me. You know they're not as funny as me. They likely will not be as funny as you. I can promise you that. If that makes you feel better and sleep better tonight, then, yes, they will not be as funny. But the DeBax Rattle on podcast exclusively at dbax.tv, which you guys should have. anyway because you want to watch the games right that's right um and so they're up there right now you can watch the video versions and then the audio version goes out 48 hours later two days later so uh we've got

i think eight episodes up right now and a ninth one that i'm working on tonight so uh lots of good stuff for diamondbacks fans who want to hear more from their favorite players good stuff man yeah go go go get all those answers to all that stuff he teased right now steve i appreciate you so much for your time buddy uh and i'll see you probably in a day or two we'll go walk around around Salt River Fields again. All right, Derek. Always a pleasure and I'll see you at the ballpark. All right.

Tell Bear I miss him. When do you see him next? Because I miss him too. I will. I will. See you later. All right, y'all. Well, we thank you guys so much for hanging in there.

That's Steve Zinsmeister. You can follow him at Steve underscore Zins, I believe, is his, I probably should have left him on long enough to do that. But yeah, make sure to find him. Yeah, Steve underscore Zins because he knows his name is way too long and complicated for you guys to find on Twitter. So follow him there. excellent work. He does a great job with the pregame and postgame stuff as well,

but go check out that podcast. The only criticism, I should have burned him on this, but we need to get Steve with a second mic for him to give to his co-host, though I would find it hilarious if we did a show together and he had to hold the mic for me the way he does for the players. Anyway, that's the only criticism I have. Everything else he does is great, so I have to at least get him for that. But I do appreciate you guys so much for stopping by. Thank you guys for the chat. You guys are always awesome. We will be back. What is today? Today is Wednesday. I don't know what day of the week it is anymore. I don't even know what year it is anymore. But we'll be back on Friday with more on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Make sure to join us then.

I will also have some more details on this Godforsaken car trip that I'm going to take with Barry Bloom and Jack Summers. And let me tell you, one of the people in this equation is the problem. And it's definitely not Jack Summers. so I'll tell you that right now. I'm going to take bets on if these two gentlemen I'm driving with are going to get in a fist fight on the drive there. I'm given like maybe four to one odds that that's definitely going to happen. But make sure to keep it locked to my social, especially my Instagram,

because I might live stream that entire trip for sure. But make sure follow me on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with the K. That's also my thing on Instagram, by the way. I'm using it more. So maybe follow me over there as well. Of course, our guy, Kev, is at large intimate industries.com.

No, it's Kebopo posts. You can find our show at PHNX underscore. Don't look up that website. Whatever you do. I don't know what that stuff might be. Whatever you do. It's not associated with anything I got going on. Please don't Google it.

We got going on. He didn't register it with anybody. I didn't register it at all. Yeah. We're going to need to copyright it, I guess. No, we're not. Yeah, well, we want to get paid. So anyway, you can do all that.

stuff, but of course, all roads do lead to at PH&X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time. Sorry that these shows are at an inconvenient time. It's so great for so many of you guys to still join us. I know, we're doing five o'clock because, you know, it's the only time we can fit this in so that you don't have to choose between us and a Diamondbacks game. So we thank you guys so much for joining us.

Like I said, we will be back on Friday. Until then, I want you all to behave yourselves. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday and a wonderful evening. tonight and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun when you don't go off and start a podcast without me and do it with players and expect that to be like better than the podcast you used to do with me steve