PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Eduardo Rodriguez a LOCK For Diamondbacks Starting Rotation After Flawless Start vs Reds?

Episode Date: March 15, 2025

Become a Diehard for just $36! This Week Only! http://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube Happy Pie Day! Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez made starting against the Reds look easy as pie on Friday, giving up no hits in 3.2 innings of work with six strikeouts. Did he just secure his place in the starting rotation? And does he help to give the D-backs a top 5 starting rotation in MLB? We also have more on some breaking news that LHP Blake Walston will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2025 season and Jordan Montgomery will make his next start in a Cactus League game. Join Derek 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.

Well, Eduardo Rodriguez looked like a ballerina on the mound today, and most importantly, he looked like the Diamondbacks fourth starting pitcher. We are going to talk about him and his place in the rotation. We're also going to talk about this rotation being a top five rotation major league baseball. We're not surprised, but apparently other people are. All this in 30 seconds, don't you go anywhere. Welcome in. Happy Friday. I don't even know. Are we still skiing?

I don't know. We got to find something new for 2025. But welcome in to the Ph. AndxD Backs podcast. My name is Garrett Montia. Occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And as always, I'm joined. Maybe not as always.

Sometimes he abandons me. But I am joined by a very happy Wildcat. My producer on the ones and twos large intimate, Kevin Thomas. Kevin, how you feeling today? Feeling good. It's a nice, we're in some nice, dreary weather here in the valley. And I feel like it's refreshing almost to have some cloudy days, you know? How's your basketball tournament going?

It's going great. Yeah. Big 12 tournament going great. Post game tonight. out. Ian Damon will be there after Arizona, Texas Tech. I'm excited. Hopefully they get a dub. Fun story. You posted about 30 minutes before I woke up today, which means that's when you were awake until and then how early I will not to not to pull the not to pull the curtain back too far, Derek. Oh, did you get up early? No, I was I was I was I was a that was a scheduled tweet.

I actually went to bed at three in the morning last night. Oh, yeah. After making that video scheduled it because I didn't want to post it. I'm going to say it at three like a D-Gen. That's, yeah. You should just do it at three. Just do it at three. It doesn't matter. We want to see the content.

But of course, you know, happy pie day to you all out there. We're going to talk about why Kevin doesn't like pie because I can't wait to get to that. But Eduardo Rodriguez, he made things look easy as pie today on the mound. And it is a very, very good thing for the Arizona Diamondbacks to have yet another one of their starting pitchers looking absolutely ready for the regular season. The Diamondbacks win today by a score of two to one. Overall, a great day by the pitching staff, a little bit of a flat day offensively. I don't know, Kevin, if I want to get excited sometimes about good spring training starts, because I'm not that familiar with the Reds roster.

When I look at the players that I saw today, there weren't a whole lot of familiar faces on their roster. So, again, we will preface all of the enthusiasm and excitement about Erod's start today with that. But with that being said, he absolutely. shoved. He looked great and he did not want to come out of the game, which I understand. If I'm pitching like this, just leave me in until my arm falls off. But it's spring training. You don't want that to happen. Erod goes three and two thirds innings pitched. He doesn't allow a hit, doesn't allow a run, didn't walk anyone and struck out six. That was a pretty good day at the office for Eduardo Rodriguez. His fastball, very encouraging today, hit 94.1

miles per hour, which is, you know, again, he's kind of in a different form than we've had had a chance to see him in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. That part's very exciting. There's also another unsaid part about Erod and what he brings to the clubhouse, at least, and that would be he very much appears to be a team leader as well. We've talked about Corbyn Burns and how he looks very ready to kind of embrace that role. and, you know, work with his teammates to bring the best out of them, to share any knowledge or any information he might have, considering how on top of his game he is.

But Erod very much feels like that as well. And today he was feeling it. This is what he had to say about his outing against the Reds. So like everything, you know, one of those days that you don't want to come out of the mouth. That's how I feel today. He's like everything that was throwing was just going right what he wanted. So I just want to keep that mentality and go for my next game and for the season, you know. I feel like everything was working great today.

Is that where you were telling Tori when he came out? Yeah. I mean, it really was to work, so I was okay, I take it, you know, but one of those days, like, I don't want to get out of the mound. You know, nobody wants to get out of the month when you feel like that. But we laugh and not come out of the game because he's the boss. So I think it. Is that about as sharp as you've felt all spring?

Got to be, right? Yeah, I mean, got to be for sure. The last game I throw two innings this one to throw. I went out there until three or two thirds, and it's the best I ever feel. It's been trying. Do you have any other boxes you have left to check before you feel like you'd be ready? It just didn't matter getting stretched out a little bit more. Yeah, it just as a matter to get stretched.

I guess after the game today, I feel like all the pitches are right there. You know, for me, just work and stretch a little bit more and get ready for them. I throw them as many in as I can during the season, you know. But the rest, everything was just clear and perfect. You said before that you kind of look like a ballerino when you're on. Did it feel like that today? Yeah, I feel like it was dancing out third today for sure. You know, those, like I said, those things.

days don't happen every often, so just have to enjoy those days and try to repeat on the next start. I've got last appearance for you to go out in the backfields and what is the next level of progression for this time? For me, like, I don't really care, like, if I throw in the back field, throw on the big field for me, just go out there and do my job, you know. If it's live BP or minor the game, they just do you face on hitters and you just throw the pitches with the same purpose, you know, preparation for the season. And that's what it is for me.

either way like minor league or out here so we got transonic in the comment says that his name is Kevin so he feels like I'm talking directly to you uh Kevin Kevin I am talking to you you specifically uh no I mean this is a everything is very encouraging to see there from erod I think he showed some humility there saying that he doesn't have days like this often and I guess as a starting pitcher you really don't where you're just out there um throwing gas just out there you feel good you are effective um he was efficient like everything you could want out of him and i think the big thing about this is that when you start looking at these competitions that we've discussed for the last few weeks in camp especially the pitching competitions uh it's as i said the other day

there's not a lot of spots actually available so as much as it seems like a competition it really is in some sense three or four players potentially competing for just one spot. And right now with the starting rotation, especially after today, that's very much what it feels like. It feels like the Diamondbacks have solidified their top four starting pitchers in their rotation. And Erod was already probably a part of that plan. In fact, he was pulling the curtain back. He absolutely was, I think, because, yes, we got our one Barry Bloom, if you've known troublemaker from the Las Vegas trip, kind of pulled it out of Tori a little bit in regards to, you know, Erod essentially already being that fourth guy in Tori's mind. This is what Tori had to say

after Barry kind of, you know, poked at him for a little while. No, I don't. I haven't had any of conversations. It's hard on me. I'm not going to lie. It's a very difficult decision. And when I sit down and talk to the group, I'm going to tell them that. It's been agonizing for me. I don't know. I don't know what the answer is. There's no right answer and there's no wrong answer. I think. Is Eduardo, yeah, most likely it will be in that space, correct. Yes. It sounded like he was going to rip the podium off there at the end. Yeah, no. And I don't think it's much of a surprise. I don't think a lot of people thought Erod was really competing for a spot in the starting rotation. It's just a matter of there essentially being four guys that are all,

you know, vying for two spots. And as much as you would think it's a no-brainer, especially based on what the Diamondbacks are paying, you rod, that's not the case with Jordan Montgomery, right? Jordan Montgomery is a guy that is getting paid a whole lot of money in 2025. And there's still some doubt about what his role is going to be and how things are going to shake up. However, even that doesn't really feel like that there's doubt there. It feels like Jordan Montgomery would have to have a pretty bad spring or maybe come up injured in some way in order for him to not end up as the fifth man in the starting rotation,

which then leaves some unfortunate conversations that Tori has to have some unfortunate decisions on what you do with the one Ryan Nelson and one Brandon fought. The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, are without another young arm for the 2025 season, and that does impact their depth. And we're going to talk about that here in a little bit. But back to this game, of course, We've got to talk about some other notable players besides just Erod. Ketel Marte was one for two.

He had an RBI in this one. He got the first knock, bringing in a run. He also walked. It's currently hitting 286 this spring, which I guess isn't alarming or a problem. But he does have a 636 OPS. It's spring training, though. Do we care? Not really.

I would say that I still don't really care. I care a little bit more about Corbyn Carroll because he was on fire prior to missing some time with some lower back tightness. He was one for three today with a double. It was great to see him have a big extra base hit for this team. Not a lot of extra base hits in this one. In fact, that was just one of two extra base hits the Diamondbacks had today. The other one being our precious Paven's solo dinger that ended up being the game winner for this team.

The game was tied prior to that. But Paven Smith does hit his second home run of the spring. And honestly, as things kind of come here closer to opening day, I'm pretty excited to see Paven Smith get an opportunity. I know how are PHNX Diamondbacks crazy people feel about him. I know you guys love him. And I know that he's been a guy that's, you know, been in the organization for a very long time. So it would be great for Pavin to finally have an opportunity to play.

And then upon being given that opportunity, we could really see him hopefully find some success this season and kind of make this his big breakout season. We've been looking for that for a long time. but AJ Puck allowed the only run of the game for D-backs pitching. I don't know how much I want to overreact to that. Of course, it's got to be Puck. It was a first pitch home run to Sammy Stafuta, right down the middle of the play.

It was a fastball as middle, middle as you could be. So a mistake pitch there, but again, not too much to worry about. And again, this Diamondbacks pitching staff today only allowed three hits in this one. it is against, you know, I don't want to say like the B team for the Reds, but not necessarily they're, you know, starting lineup out there. Tori was asked about the Diamondback starting lineup, and he did say that as we move from this point forward, that you will see the actual regular guys in there more often.

So if you have held out up to this point to watch a spring training game, you might have done the right thing because you're going to see some starters play some more. and get that time. Ildemarovar Vargas, he got in the game. He's still been getting a lot of at-bats for this team. Garrett Hampson also got in the game. There was some discussion today about, of course, that backup role, some of those backup infielder roles.

Tori talked a bit about Hampson's versatility, that Hampson has the ability to play some outfield as well as shortstop. But it really sounded like, you know, they're trying to solidify, you know, a backup situation. Jordan Lawler might have a good chance at being, that backup shortstop and getting some time on this team in 2025. So that's again another exciting thing for a young player that we have been excited to watch for for a while now. But yeah, just overall a good day for the Diamondbacks. A dreary day out there at Salt River

Fields. Not exactly the kind of day, I'm sure out of towners flew to Arizona to see. But regardless, a fun day. And again, the youngsters always fun to watch. Speaking of which the spring breakout game is going on. I believe right now as we speak. So I guess not a great time to be doing a baseball show right when another baseball game is happening. But I got to find time somewhere, people. Okay, I can't do them at 10 o'clock at night or 10 o'clock in the morning yet. Yeah, we'll get to those. During the regular season, we'll get to plenty of those. But a ton of talent on display for the Diamondbacks, those spring breakout games, again, if you're not familiar with them, are like, you know, top minor league stars in the organizations being part of

the roster and playing against each other. So the Diamondbacks are playing tonight. Dimitrio Chrysantes. I'm sure that's, I'm messing that up in some way. But he is the Diamondbacks number two overall prospect. He's playing in tonight's game. You also have Tommy Troy being featured, Hansel Luis, and more, a few other guys. So, again, great, great opportunity to see the youngsters play.

However, that is also kind of what the point of spring training can be at times as well, right? We get a chance to see plenty of the young guys play. and get a chance to, you know, again, become familiar with them. That's what that's what this is all about. Sometimes that's the reason, again, why baseball, I think, can tend to feel not as exciting as other sports. Typically, just because it takes so long for these young players to eventually have an impact on the game, right, to get to a major league roster. And not only get to a major league roster, but be good enough where, you know, they're a star. And it feels like very few guys kind of leak through and have an early success in the game.

major leagues. So go out, support the young guys and get to get to know them. This is the team of the future. Remember, the Diamondbacks are going to be a team that for a very long time are going to need to build from the minor leagues. And it's the only way that they can keep up with this crazy NL West Division that they're in. Another way that they can keep up with this crazy NLS division is through their starting pitching. And apparently, according to a recent article from Anthony Kastrow vins that dropped on MLB.com today, Diamondbacks have a top five start. pitching stuff. Is it too low?

Is it too high? I don't know. We'll get your guys' thoughts on it on the other side of this break. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback Show. Don't you go anywhere. Well, of course, big shout out, as always, to our friends of Bet365. They help make betting on live sports more fun. And, of course, it's never ordinary at Bet365.

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member which is a free membership program you can get in on now join the inner circle for free by downloading the circle k f today terms and conditions apply it for our particular participating locations, visit circlek.com for details. You get 25 cents off per gallon on your first five Phillips. You'll save three cents every day after that. You'll save so much more on all sorts of things, including getting your first five polar pops for free. Well, we might have a good baseball team, ladies and gentlemen,

and of course a big part of having a good baseball team is having very good starting pitching. The Diamondbacks, according to an MLB article from Anthony Castro vince, on the top starting rotations in MLB were on his list at number five. Now, that's a big deal for a lot of reasons. Obviously, the Diamondbacks probably wouldn't be there without the addition of Corbyn Burns. And we know that Corbyn Burns was a gift from the heavens that fell in our lap, thanks to how much, how great it is to live in Scottsdale, Arizona.

But the Diamondbacks haven't finished in the top 15 in Team ERA since 2019. So that's a six-year gap. And in that time frame, they made it to the World Series. They also came one game short last year, as you may or may not remember, of making or missing the playoffs. But the fact of the matter is, especially when you look at Eduardo Rodriguez's start today and how good he could be as a part of the starting rotation, which we really, you know, I know we've seen him there, right? But have we really seen, you know, Erod at his best? Have we seen him feeling his best after coming off of those series of injuries that he went through last year?

I don't know. So there's a good chance that even though we did see some good performances out of him, the best is yet to come from E. Rod. Then you pair that together with these guys. Would you mind, Kevin, throwing up the big three for the Arizona Diamondbacks? this is what Corbin Burns, Zach Gallen, and Merrill Kelly have done so far this spring. 22 innings pitched, 20 hits allowed.

They have a 2.04 ERA, a five earned runs, one home run. They have 27 strikeouts, a 1.27 whip, and are already rolling along nicely, right? If you factored in Eduardo Rodriguez, two starts in there as well, there's a good chance. Those numbers are going to look even big. better. So when you when you talk about the diamondbacks being a top five rotation in major

league baseball, it's a very, it's a very accurate statement. And I think that that is with the mystery still as to what is going to happen with their fifth spot. Should they be higher than that? Perhaps you could perhaps make a case for that. The teams that are above the diamond backs, obviously at number one are the Dodgers. And I don't think that there's any refuting that the Dodgers have something special going on with pitching over there. especially if you've paid any attention to Roki Sasaki and what he has been doing this spring. He looks like he is absolutely worth all of the hype and is going to be a problem for us. But after that, it goes Phillies at number two, Braves at number three, and Mariners at number four.

Now, the Mariners have a very good starting pitching rotation, probably a bit underrated, you know, because they are very good. But outside of the Braves top three, I don't know how fearful I am of those starters necessarily. You got Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Rinaldo Lopez. Very good, though. Very good. I'm not going to take anything away from those guys.

But, you know, you got Spencer Schwellenbach and Ian Anderson after that. Then when you take a look at the Phillies, the Phillies have some really good guys at the top, Zach Wheeler, Erinola, Christiwere. Sanchez and then Ranger Swares and Jesus Luzardo. So Philly's probably adequately rated there at number two. I would

maybe make some sort of argument that the Diamondbacks might be as high as as fourth on this list. However, outside of that, I'm not going to be too you know, it's not going to be too crazy. I don't think it's too underrated or overrated in any way.

It's just very exciting to see that the Diamondbacks are in that spot. That's an incredibly good spot for them to be. And it is obviously the addition of Corbyn Burns. However, I do think, like I said earlier about Erod, I think Erod is going to be one of those additions to this team that he's hopefully has a great year and people kind of slept on him, right? People, you know, missed his time in Detroit, might have missed his time in Boston, might not know how good of a pitcher he could be. And he could be entering, you know, again, one of his best, best seasons yet, right?

He's had a chance to put a lot of injury and other things behind him at this point. And he's really looking to come back and be impressive. And again, when you look at who he's surrounded with, there's not a lot of pressure, I don't think, on Erod to perform and be, you know, a number two guy in the starting rotation, like maybe at one time he was expected to be. However, you know, again, there's also the idea that he has two, young pitchers who are going to be not in the starting rotation that most likely are going to be looking to continue to impress and looking for an opportunity to come back. So I don't think his

spot is in jeopardy, nor do I think that, you know, maybe he was ever not going to be considered for part of the starting rotation while this camp went on during, or this competition went on during spring. I just think that he is also a guy that's going to bring a lot to this big three that we just showed you already. So it's just an exciting time right now. And then the big question mark, obviously, is who's going to be the fifth starter? And, you know, the three guys right now

that are essentially competing for that spot, two of them have the ability to be moved within the organization. One requires his permission, and you're probably not going to get that. But Jordan Montgomery, Tori said that Montgomery felt great after his start on the backfield,

and he will start in a Cactus League game his next time out. Kevin, what do you think, man? What are we, I mean, I know we kind of talked a little bit about the fact that they might be hiding him. I didn't think they really were. But, you know, again, they just wanted to give him a chance to get back on track before they put him back out there in another Cactus league start.

Do you think it was just jitters? Do you think it was, you know, just the fact that he was trying too hard to look good? everything we've been told about his performance on the backfield has been solid and now here he'll make his next start in the cactus league game. Yeah, no, look, I don't want to really overthink it too much when it comes to Monty just based on the recent performance he did have and Tori Lavello's response to it. It kind of sounded more like Tori's kind of focused on making sure he's getting stretched

out, getting comfortable, that he understands his role and he's just trying to be the best Monty he can be, right? So I'm not trying to think over overthinking too much. I'd like to think that, you know, when things start up, he'll get back into rhythm. Caden Crippin brought up Greg Kessinger a little bit, a little good, bleh. I'm having a fat talking day. He brought up Greg Kessinger a little while ago. He said, I thought Great Kessinger made a pretty good case as the back infield.

Infielder maybe better than Hampson. Am I wrong to think that? I don't think so. I think once again, and we're going to get to some roster moves of Diamondbacks made today here in a little bit. But I do think that in regards to Hampson, I think it was his versatility that allowed him to still be here and to maybe be a little bit more alluring to Tori to have on the roster.

They have to figure out a way to make roster space, though. Right now, I believe with the roster cuts that they made, the numbers down to 40, and of course they have a couple of guys that they got to figure out if they're going to keep around, if they're going to make that 40-man roster, and if they're going to be part of this team going forward in 2025. But we do have more on that.

Just in regards to Jordan Montgomery, though, I want to say this. Like, I think everybody should be, every fan should be hoping that it works out with Jordan Montgomery, right? I think that we've talked about a lot of options. We are ready, especially after one start, to dismiss them to the bullpen or just, you know, flat out, get rid of them. but I just I don't think that's the case with with Monty I think he's going to end up being the fifth man that's what my gut tells me in the starting rotation and I think for some reason I believe that he's going to get things back on track I really feel like being a part of this rotation and not having the focus solely on him like it was at one point during last year is a big part of it and I think you know again it's had a chance to have a normal off season normal sports

training. We'll see how he pitches. Like Tori said his next outing will be in a Cactus League game. If he comes out and has an outing that was as bad as his first one, then I think some red flags might be going up, you know, and I think that there might be at least something to consider about, you know, another option other than him being the fit starter. But we'll get there when that start happens. So can't wait to overthink that when it happens. And I cannot wait to see what ends up.

happening overall with this starting rotation. El Gaios says it's starter or nothing for Monty. Well, we also have seen that this team doesn't really shy away from times at making those difficult decisions, right? So if that's the case,

I don't see Mike Hazen and the front office putting Montgomery in there to be a liability every five days and not give this team a chance to win. even if it means eating the entire contract for Jordan Montgomery, Mike Hazen will do what's right for this team,

and he will make sure that the right people are out there. And that's not me just, I mean, it is me speculating, but it's based on past decisions we've seen this front office make. And there's been tougher decisions than this particularly, though. I will remind you, Jordan Montgomery is still owed a tremendous amount of money. what I would give to see that much money in my lifetime, let alone over the course of one bad year. Whole other thing, though. Don't get me started on how broke I am right now.

Well, I will say this, though. We will definitely have some more on the Diamondbacks losing a little bit of their depth. Some breaking news today about Blake Walston. Very unfortunate. And we're going to have that on the other side of this break. Of course, you guys are watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Don't you go anywhere? Well, I am hungry.

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That doesn't help. I'm still hungry. But it's also because I know how delicious Spanados is. We had it here in the office just the other day, and it never misses. It never misses, but you should not miss the wonderful fun that they're going to have over at Spanados Pizzeria. If you have a decent jump shot, there's a good chance you can win yourself some prizes with their horse contest,

a.k.a. Pizza contest. You can win free pizza for a year and tickets to the Sun's game on April 9th. And then so much more. Just camaraderie, fun. Go watch the Sun's team be terrible with people you can commiserate with about this team. Get all the info on the watch parties and pizza basketball contest at Spanadospizzeria.com. Spinados, the official pizza of the female. makes sense. Well, come check out Heela River Resorts and casinos. Of course, we already know it's a fun

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It's become way too, like it's just part of the game, which it really is. Also, Brent Strom was the second person to have Tommy John surgery. So if he would have been the first, then we would call it BS surgery. And I still love that story. But Wall Stevens number 30 prospect on the D-BAC's top 30 prospects list,

he would have been a starting pitcher in Reno and it had been an option for Lavello for depth in the starting rotation this season. So it's really unfortunate that he misses time. Here's Tori Lovallo talking about Blake Walsden and undergoing that procedure. Blake Walson is going to have Tommy John surgery. So it's terrible news for him, terrible news for all of us. The investment that he's made that, you know, continuing to work and grow and progress in the system, them is just going to be put on hold for, you know, 14 months,

give or take a month. But it's part of the game, it happens. And, you know, maybe there's a sense of relief that he knows what's going on. You guys can follow up with him and knows what's going on, and he's going to step out for a little while and come back stronger than ever. Kendall Graveman will begin to, we'll start to, you know, throw an aggressive bullpen. That'll be the next thing for him. I mentioned that there was some backtightness, a little discomfort the following day.

after his outing rather than get back on the mound, they talked about a very, very aggressive side on the mound with no hitters. What will that be? I don't know that exact answer. And let's see, what else I have? That's about it for right now. That's the roster moves today.

Well, first of all, about Blake, when did that happen? Did that happen his last out in Vegas? That did, correct. So he complained about, some elbow tenderness post outing. We decided to get some imaging, and then there's just a period of time before you get the results, and then there's second opinions and so on and so forth.

But I think it was determined over the past 24 hours that this was going to be his decision. It's just awful. And of course, you know, for Walston, who's kind of been part of the organization here for a minute, that's another setback preventing him, you know, from experiencing potentially, an opportunity, you know, at pitching out a major league roster this year. I guess it does provide an opportunity for other young pitchers in the organization potentially because the Reno Aces starting roster was honestly kind of, kind of stacked. And like almost every single guy on the roster has major league pitching experience.

It was going to be, and it still is going to be a great, a great asset for Toy Lobello from Mike Hazen, this team, to have this kind of depth and to be able to go down to the miners and if needed, right? We are already seeing it once again across Major League Baseball where they are absolutely dropping like flies at times. And I mean, there's a couple of teams right now that would desperately love to have the depth that the Diamondbacks have. But remember, I mean, it's flimsy, right? And again, losing someone like Walston also does not help, you know, with that depth. The Diamondbacks also, he brought up Kendall Graveman, who they signed. to a $1.35 million contract this year.

He's been experiencing some lower back tightness, and that's kind of prevented him from pitching, and he continues to be out. So it's just another frustrating kind of series of setbacks for Graveman, and that was after he had thrown a live BP. The problem is, is that, once again, we don't have a lot of time here before opening day. When you start to look at this starting pitching or the bullpen,

it really does feel like at the most there's two spots open should the diamondbacks perhaps decide that they don't want either of the starting pitchers that don't end up especially now with the loss of Blake Walston if they don't want either of the guys that don't end up in the starting rotation to be converted to relievers you might end up with Ryan Nelson and Brandon fought potentially both pitching in Reno to start the season and then that would at the most leave two spots in the bullpen right now. now, barring any kind of crazy decision or changes being made. So it's really about time. It's really about the two weeks left between now and opening day. It's less than that now. Now we're talking about 13 days between now and opening day. So, you know, the back tightness is, it does put, you know, Graveman's availability for opening day in jeopardy. And it also feels a little bit like, you know, again, that the spot isn't guaranteed. in that bullpen for anybody particular, but again, a couple of spots left and don't know who's going to end up with them.

There were some roster moves made today in regards to that. The aforementioned Gray Kessinger, he was an infielder that was kind of vying for that backup role. He was optioned to AAA Reno along with Tommy Henry, another guy we've seen start for this team in the past and make starts in spring training. And outfielder Jorge Barrosa, who has had a pretty good spring. actually looked very good so far this spring. Those three guys are optioned to

AAA Reno. These guys were all reassigned to minor league camp. Jeff Brigham, right-handed pitcher, Jose Castillo, left-handed pitcher, Juan Morillo, who I brought up during the series in Las Vegas against the athletics, looked really good. It was hitting

triple digits, and I think his pitches, his fastball was averaging over 99 miles per hour. So he's a guy that just excited about potentially. Connor Kaiser and Vielder and then Christian Pachet all reassigned to minor league camp. And I think this is, this is it. This is where not only does the, the giant block of clay get refined a little bit more into a statue by Tori Lavallo and his coaching staff.

But now is when some of those tough decisions that, to be honest, to be fair, nobody really wants to make. You know what I mean? Like, Tori does not want to make these decisions, but it's part of. being a manager and you know I think that it's probably different for him I mean this was a question I asked him before but this is probably the most depth Tori Lavello might have has ever it might be the most depth he's ever had to work with as a manager of the diamondbacks so in that you might get a little bit more used to as a manager more about giving guys opportunity to help the the big league club more than telling guys that absolutely deserve an opportunity that they don't get one because

there's no spot for them. And unfortunately, due to their age or due to the options they have available, it makes them kind of a, I mean, makes them, it makes them an easy candidate to be sent down to AAA Reno. So Nick Ankenman says, I think fought sealing is higher than Monty's though. And yeah, I think that's it too. But you got to remember that one, they're not paying Brandon fought $25 million this year and two that Brandon fought is he has options left and the Diamondbacks can keep him in the organization. And again, keep him for depth. He would most likely be the first guy called up should an injury occur or should something happen,

you know, to any of the starting pitchers. So there's that. And, you know, I kind of hate once again the way that baseball does this, right? it makes you feel, Kevin, like going to the bench is a bad thing, because you're not going to the bench. You're going to a different team in a different city to play for a, you know, a sub league of minor league guys, right? Like it's weird, but it's a requirement in baseball because if you really want that guy

to be ready when you need them, he has to pitch every five days. Yeah, it's kind of weird to kind of send a toy from like the big brand toy store and just send them off to the island of misfit toys. Yes, there's nothing wrong with it. He's not missing an arm. Two months later, you send a ship over and be like, hey, uh, slinky. We need,

we need you back at the, at the toys are us. You know what I mean? How is slinky not supposed to be, you know, resentful of that? Exactly. He's like,

my springs aren't broken. My tail works fine. You left me with the, the jack in the box toy. I still have my leash and everything. I haven't lost a single part, right. Yeah.

So like you're right. That's kind of what it feels like. And that's the, I think maybe the players understand it a bit more than we do as fans. It's hard for us. to get over. It's just a reality, the reality of the situation. And like I said, I think that the expectation here is that fodder Nelson will be one of the arms in the bullpen. I don't even know if it's, I don't know if that's the case. Like it very much feels like if it is the case that it's more

likely going to be Ryan Nelson. However, the Diamondbacks might think that, you know, converting either of these guys to relievers is, isn't the best idea. Or maybe they just think they have enough relief arms that they don't need to kind of, you know, cut their depth at starting pitching down to one guy that pitched regularly last year and then, you know, a bunch of minor leaguers still. If you think about it, even though it doesn't do much to benefit the major league roster at this time, keeping Ryan Nelson stretched out with the way he pitched last year makes a lot of sense.

Also, as Elise, known baseball GM will tell you if she was in here in the live chat tonight, he would say she would say he would say she would say that you know again Ryan Nelson's fastball is very much with his accuracy and his ability to control it which those two things are the same thing and I just realized that though that's it's gonna play out of the bullpen and I think he has a good chance to be a big weapon for Tori Lobalo should they go that route and put him in the pen but a lot a lot remains to be seen about this team with a very short amount of time between now and opening day.

So we will, of course, monitor that situation. And of course, on the other side of this break, we're going to talk about how, no matter what USA Today thinks, the Diamondbacks whole stadium situation could be a lot worse. And look at our cousin team, the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a social media post that we're going to take a look at here. They're not even trying anymore.

They're not even trying anymore, folks. Oh, man. Well, I'm still trying. I'm still here. And I will be back on the other side of this break. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Don't you go anywhere? Of course, big shout out to all pro shades concepts. They always have us covered from this terrible weather, whether it's, whether it's rain or shine out there, all pro shades concepts will help make your outdoor living spaces even better with a custom fit awning. They have roll down patio shades to block the sun and keep your patio up to 20 degrees cooler. They can also. replace and fix most old or outdated patio shades and motorized awnings and we know what the sun does to those during the summer it absolutely demolishes them but not all pro shades company this is a company that started making window shades by hand for friends and family in phoenix now they're one of the largest installers of patio roll-down shades and motorized awnings in the valley they're license bonded and in short and you can call them right now they'll give you an estimate call them at

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We were talking earlier about some of the young, young snakes, young Diamondbacks doing it. Yeah. Do you know what a baby snake is called? What is a baby snake called? It's called a snakelet. I've heard that before. That's adorable, right? So I just wanted to ask you, which one of your, who's your favorite snakelet?

My favorite snakelet? On the spring training squad. Like one of the young guys that might not make the roster or whatnot, but he's just your guy, you know? Ryan Waldschmidt. He's your baby snakelet. Ryan Waldschmidt for sure. The Diamondbacks first overall draft pick. He just looks like a big leager.

It sounds like it talks like it. It has a great baseball name, Walt Schmidt. Are you kidding? Kidding me? Waldie? Waldie on the wall? I don't know. That sounds awesome.

But yeah, I think he's probably up there. I think I've talked about Jorge Barrosa. I mean, it kind of. it's hard because some of these guys have been in the organization for a very long time. So you kind of like, you feel differently about them, right? They're a little less snake liddy. Yeah, but you also feel like, I don't know, it's like baseball is one of those things that after a while I feel like you deserve a shot. If you've been able to stick around, you're in AAA, you've been through the organization, you've been through the, like you deserve a shot.

Your numbers might not warrant it. You might not honestly deserve the opportunity. but you never know what a guy's going to do until he gets to the show, right? We always say it's the opposite. We always say like, his numbers are great, but then you get them up to the major leagues and watch what happens. Like, yeah, I know. And there's a really good chance.

Someone with bad numbers is going to be even worse in major league baseball. But I don't know. I think sometimes there's certain guys that you just want to see them get a chance and see what they can do. And, you know, who knows? Maybe they fall flat on their face. I think that Barros is one of those guys. I think that definitely deserves an opportunity.

and he seems to just do a great job whenever I see him playing baseball. So a lot of excitement with the future of this Diamondbacks team. And like I said earlier, there kind of has to be, right? Like the debacks are always going to need to be a team that they're going to need to identify those times where they trade away a guy for prospects, even if it's an unpopular decision, simply to improve the future of this team. And as a team that did spend some money this off season, they've proven that they're not,

that they don't shy away from that, that they're not opposed to spending money, but it needs to be money spent at the right time. And I think every organization could use that lesson, right? Like you don't just go out and add a Chris Bryant to the Rockies just to add them, right? You don't go out and add some of these high-priced big names, simply to add them to a team that's mediocre at best, even with the addition of that player.

So, you know, again, I appreciate the fact that the Diamondbacks are doing things the right way. And, you know, again, you had a young team there that did something special in 2023. Next thing you know, Corbyn falls in your lap. And now you have one of the top pitching rotations in baseball. Does that last? Probably not, right? If you lose Merrill Kelly or Zach Gallen this offseason, things are different. But it gives an opportunity to Ryan Nelson and Brandon Fotz pop right back in there.

Eduardo Rodriguez is around for longer this year. Corvin Burns is going to be around. So the Diamondbacks have staggered things in a way where the starting rotation specifically could be good this year, could be great this year, and even very good beyond this year. And we'll see how obviously all that plays out, right? One situation, though, in baseball that you know I'm not a big fan of is everything going on with the athletics. We got to see in Las Vegas and be at a very beautiful ballpark. in their AAA park for the Las Vegas aviators.

And this situation for the Tampa Bay raise, which is getting even worse. Like, it's wild to me that we are worried about Chase Field merely having some minor, you know, flaws, right? When what is going on in Tampa is absolutely ridiculous. And I'll preface this by saying it's more ridiculous that this update came via social media. But yeah, Kev, do we have this post from the Tampa Bay raise on social media? After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment. A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision. Wow.

So we're blaming weather now. Well, okay. So for those of you that are unfamiliar, like even prior to the weather, they were talking about building a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay raise there. In the, what, the St. Petersburg area? That's where it is. St. Pete. It's not actually in Tampa.

I don't know. Like we'd like the, I don't know, like the Cardinals. But anyway, I will say this. When it comes to this whole situation with the Tampa Bay Rays in their stadium, I think that, you know, it's kind of oddly fitting, considering the stadium was built, the core, the soul of this stadium, the purpose of its existence was to steal a team

away from another major league baseball franchise. I won't go too deep in the history, but you can look it up. And if you look at the Tropicana and its existence, like it wasn't built like Chase Field was built or Banking Ballpark back in the day, specifically

for the Diamondbacks because we were awarded a franchise. No, no, no, my friends. This was a stadium that was built, I think, considerably before the Tampa Bay Rays were awarded to that section of the country just to steal, just to just to snatch away some other teams, you know, pro baseball team, or some other cities pro baseball team, I should say. Things were very greedy around a certain period of time and baseball teams were using

the fact that, you know, the teams were moving from one city to another as kind of like a negotiation tactic to get public funding for building new stadiums and a lot of this stuff. That's where this negative perception comes from for a lot of the stuff that's going on now, right? I don't want to fund a billionaire's ballpark, nor should you have to. However, there are certain things that every city kind of has to do at times in order to have a professional sports team. Part of it is supporting it, right, coming out, buying tickets, showing up to games. But another part is that the funding, especially in this situation, when the building, you know, for like the Diamondbacks is partially owned by the county, has to come from some sort of taxes or some place in order

for those funds to be, you know, used on the stadium. Like there is a price to pay for having a sports team. And I understand when people that don't watch sports or root for that team want to be upset about their tax dollars going towards paying for it, completely understand, right? but this is this time period when, you know, the Tropicana was built and baseball teams were kind of doing this. That's where a lot of this like developed or I don't know. Do you want to say flourished? I want to say festered, whatever you want to say, whatever word you want to use.

Germinated? Germinated. Yeah, germinated is pretty good. Like it's just where everybody got sick of it. You know, it was like it was happening all the time. And then the answer was, well, if you don't give us money for this, we're going to move our team to Tampa. and it was like, look, Tampa already built a ballpark. Well, that Godforsaken ballpark has always been a problem and will continue to be a problem.

It's an eyesore. It's not a good place to watch baseball. People that root for the team don't like going there. And even before all of this, it was probably going away, right? But now what's the answer? Well, the answer is, again, it feels like a lot of infighting. There's problems with the county. There's the team itself.

is kind of suggesting that there could be other places to play. We know Portland and Nashville are both chomping at the bit for a baseball team as well as other cities, right? They're not the only two teams. You also have the move them back to Montreal thing, which is still a lot. They're not the Montreal Expos, the Nationals, the Washington Nationals are the Montreal Expos. And I try to tell people all that all the time, but they don't listen to me, Kevin. They don't listen to me. So they're always like, move them back.

It's like they're not Montreal Expos. But yeah, at one time there was the, they were going to split time between Tampa and Montreal. And maybe that's not such a bad idea anymore after all of this. Did I, apparently at some point in the chat, I called Tim Nick. But you definitely did. Did I do that? You definitely did. All right.

You read this comment and you said our guy, Nick Ankeman has a comment. Yeah. Well, it's an honest. Dave for me, Tim. But yeah, your new name is Nick. Um, Nicholas. I'm going to call you Nicholas Ankenman now. Um, and Nicholas wants to know which drop was better Vegas or Tampa Bay. Well, that's a good question. Um, I've won money at the trough in Vegas. So there's that. I also want to comment on that. There are still people that for some reason, I think I might have even been one of those people prior to going to Las Vegas that think that there's still

some sort of like the athletics moving to Las Vegas is still up in the air. Let me assure you it is very much not up in the air. They're absolutely moving to Las Vegas. They're going to be there in 2028. There are signs and stuff. They completely leveled where the Tropicana was like level level. It's the flattest, most beautiful parking lot you've ever seen in your life. And yeah, I mean, they definitely are ready for a baseball stadium to be built there.

apparently what they're not ready for is for there to be a parking garage connected to it. All of their little designs didn't involve including a parking garage because apparently according to people in Las Vegas, the organization expects people to get there via public transportation. Have you ever heard of anything so insane in your life, Kevin, that employees and people attending games and I don't know the players themselves wouldn't want to maybe park their car somewhere at the stadium when they go to work. Look man, this is why we need walkable cities.

We need walkable cities. We don't need long trains. Why don't have to walk? I like walkable cities. Allow my walkable cities. Oh, God. I will say to compare it to an NFL thing, the Bengals, their practice facility, you have to walk across the street.

Like they have to stop traffic for the Bengals players to stop it. Are you serious? Yeah, it's like a thing. And then like there's like a big hill that like some players like walk up and it's like, so I think a player like strained a hamstring going up at this. It's a mess. But yeah, I'm all, I'm not against the walking thing. It's just you got to make it make sense.

It has to be like a nice leisurely walk. I think it, I think for me it illustrates that Las Vegas thinks that when they move a sports team there, that it's just going to be a bunch of like, like tourists, like people visiting coming in. And going to these games and not necessarily the people that live in the city that the team is going to the games. I don't know. I don't know how attendance is at these things. And we are definitely one of those cities that has to worry about, you know, always being 50% filled with opposing fans. But before we get out of here, today's national pie day.

It's March 14th. I always like it because it's now we're on the official 10-day run to my birthday on the 24th, which means now is when I completely shut off. and I don't do anything for the next 10 days. Basically, I'm absolutely lazy as can be. What, what? This is, I just realized this is the halfway point, the, the pivot point between my birthday and yours. My birthday was 10 days ago.

That's right. Your birthday is 10 days from now. Right. Wow. This is where things really, this is where business picks up, if you will. Big day. But it's also Pi Day. And you told me before we started the show that you don't like pie.

Yeah, no, today's actually St. National St. Louis Day for me, because the area code for St. Louis is 314. So everyone in St. Louis is currently celebrating 314 day. No, well, I'm not a big pie guy. You're getting a wrestling PLE, so that's cool. Huge. Backlash, huge. Johnson and Orden, huge. But no, I'm not a pie guy, Derek. Oh, the crust, like the crust on these pies, I'm not a, I'm not a big crust guy. Oh, you're not a big crust guy. Oh, you're not a big crust guy. Like, if I get apple pie, I will. It was not a big crust. If I get apple pie, I will pick around the crust. That's insane.

Yeah, I will. I don't like pumpkin pie. like period like what about like uh what about like chicken pot pie sweet potato pie never had sweet potato pie i love chicken pot pie never thought of chicken pop pie as a pie to be honest with you but yeah i think chicken pot pie is my favorite pie but i just i'm not a pie guy sorry i'm sorry michael i'm sorry you should be ashamed of yourself lemon meringue pies might be the most delightful thing ever created um i do love i i'm a big mix guy so i love like uh i love like sweet and sour and I think that's like pies can kind of deliver that in the best possible way. We can get yourself like some like a key lime pie with a bunch of like meringue or like whipped

cream on top and it's just. See, I'm not sure I like meringue. I'm just not sure. I'm like I don't think I'm meant to enjoy pies. I don't eat. I don't understand you. You don't like meringue. You know like crust.

Do you not like fun? I love fun. I love fun. I love fun. I just don't love pie. Derek's face is expressing every emotion. I'm happy right now. Yes, Michael. Yes, my heart is broken. Tim is right or Nick. He says rhubarb is incredible. Rubarb is outstanding. We used to have a lady at my dad's restaurant that made a rhubarb cheesecake. It would blow your mind. It was incredible. She didn't make enough of them. Man, I love pie. I'm going to go eat some pie. Free ad, Rock Springs, best pie place in this entire state. And it's not too far from me since I live in South Anthem, as my friends call it. I love pizza.

Love what? Do you love pizza? Pizza is a pie. Yeah. You know what? Zach might be right. Pizza might be the best pie. And that's something we can agree on, right?

Kevin. Yeah. Also, real quick, fun fact about me. I didn't know rhubarb was a real thing that existed in the world until I was like, I read a book in like elementary school where rhubarb pie was a big part of the plot. And I thought they had just like made up a fruit. Yeah. Like I thought they were like, oh, this is the rhubarb pie.

I thought that was just something the joker said. Yeah. That's just pretty much it. I was like, oh, this is a real thing. They took the pie from the book and made it into a real thing. It's amazing. But that's all we got for you guys today. We'll be back on Monday with another show, Mailbag Monday show.

Make sure to join us then. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with the K. Kev is at Kev-O posts. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Bex. But of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time. We appreciate you stopping by.

We'll see you on Monday. And until then, have a wonderful. weekend, behave yourselves, and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Eduardo Rodriguez is out there dancing like a ballerina on the mound.