PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Jake McCarthy, Diamondbacks SWEEP Second Series Of The Year, Beating Nationals In Finale

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

While we may still be a little hungover from our PHNX Takeover of the Chase Field Pool, that’s only because we were celebrating being present for the Diamondbacks second sweep of the season! But it wasn’t easy in the 9th, and we are discussing if we saw the last of Paul Sewald in the closer role after he failed to covert another save opportunity in the series finale against the Nationals. We also have more on who would fill that closer, MLB Power Rankings for this week, and the upcoming matchup with Paul Skenes and the Pirates.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and choose between either:Bet and Get offer and place a bet of $5 or more and get $150 in Bonus Bets OR First Bet Safety Net offer by placing a bet up to $1000 and if your qualifying bet loses you receive a matched refund in Bonus betsDisclaimer: 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/Sanderson Ford: The Sanderson Ford Summer Sales Event is here and they are teaming up with the boys of summer for a final Playoff Payoff Sale! They are pushing for the playoffs and you get the payoffs like deals on 24 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend. Just ranked highest in quality in its segment by JD Power. Lease one today for as low as $299 a month for 36 Months with only 10 percent cash down.Indeed: listeners of this show will get a SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility at https://indeed.com/allcity. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.Mint Mobile: To get your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to https://mintmobile.com/diamondbacks. $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Gametime: 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!Shady Rays: Exclusively for our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.Chicken N Pickle: Head to https://chickennpickle.com to see all the fun you can have at their Glendale location! PHNX will be hosting Trivia Nights and Pickleball Tournaments so stay tuned for info!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

edition at the pHXDbacks podcast right here presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHMX365. When you sign up, choose your author and find out why it is never ordinary at Bet365. And of course, it is never ordinary on the pH and XD Backs show. We had ourselves a blast out there. And of course, this is my co-host, occasionally known as Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. If he was a bloated corpse in the pool at Chase Field. My name is Derek Montia.

of course, I'm your mayor. This is the czar of content around here, the one and only Espo himself. Future mayor of PH&X. Well, lifeguard of the Chasefield pool. That's the most important job that he has around here. And didn't need, you almost needed to save this game. You almost needed to rush in with your floaties and make sure the Diamondbacks won this game. I mean, I was going to run in and say Paul Seawald.

Oh, God. I don't know if you were going to save him as much as you might just drag him into the pool area away from the mound. But first, first. What a turnout for our PH&X takeover. I want to thank everybody that came out. It was so much fun. I have not had that much fun in the baseball game in 15 years. And I know a lot of it had to do with the very concept of me not having any shoes on while basically at Chase Field and being in the water.

But it was also just a blast to hang out with, you know, a group of people like we have. This community we built is a lot of fun. And I can't say enough about how unbelievable yesterday felt at times. You were just looking for another excuse to be shirtless. Correct. Yeah. I mean, I'm always searching. I'm always searching for that.

And I mean, today, well, I guess, you know, we'll get to it. But, you know, of course, the biggest thing to come out of yesterday is that Jesse Friedman, of all people, jumped into the pool and did what he alleges is a cannonball. We have evidence of that. Here's the tape. Jesse got wet. Jesse got wet. Jesse actually got what. Here we go.

Now it's a party. Look at that great time. Espo, was that an actual cannonball? No, but I will give him a pass because that pool is like three feet deep. It's it is three feet deep. Very warm, very warm. Probably could broken both ankles. Suspiciously.

You say that, but not all of us take so much care. Damon, do you have the other video? No. Oh, of course. Well, we'll show you a real cannonball here. but I needed a little bit more. No, I apologize about that. But it was, it was amazing to see Jesse jump in the pool.

It was. And, you know, I think my favorite part of the whole day was cheering for Jesse when he came, came to the pool. And then also, again, when he came out in the swimsuit to do the cannonball, you had people in Chasefield looking at us in the pool going, what the hell is going on? We don't have a Jesse. We had some great chance going on. Yes, Jesse got cheered when he arrived. He also got cheered when he left, which he took exception to and made sure to point out to everybody.

That's not very nice to cheer on someone as they're leaving. But then he got bigger applause when he came back and joined us in a swimsuit. But, you know, it was just so much fun. It really was. That pool area is something that everybody should experience at least one time. It was on my bucket list. And it was really cool to be able to do it with the whole group. Yeah, that was awesome.

Yeah, that was awesome. You know, with a bunch of our diehards and other people, was special. Like, that was a really cool way to get it across that off my bucket list. Like, that was a major thing that I've always wanted to do since that ballpark opened. And to get it to do it with that group was great, great turnout. Well, we have a video of a real cannonball, by the way. And this is how you do it. Show him, Damon.

That's the second time I've appeared. listen on this podcast. Hold on. What makes you think that was a better cannonball? It was a much better cannonball. Is that just because of the water? The touch. Jesse, he didn't keep.

Derek, you're a wrestling guy. You know? You have a respect for the showmanship, the process. Yours had nothing close to Jesse's and you know it. Excuse me? When you cannonballed, everyone was like, oh, that's cool. Derek, they started chanting the mayor after I came up out of the water, which you didn't continue to video.

There were 30 different. Jesse chance. Three different ones. That's not. Well, hold on. Like, hold on. Again, this is the second time I've appeared shirtless on this show. So me being in a bathing suit is a rarity. I was just in a lazy river less than two weeks ago. This was the story arc of Jesse getting wet from all of last postseason to now. Right. Right. You don't have that storyline. I know I don't. And you can't. How that has zero to do with my cannibal. It has zero to do with my cannibal.

Oh, I do not. I don't. I don't. respect the bad injury. The man didn't lock his arms. He didn't tuck his knees. You said water displacement was a big part of this. But let's be very clear. Of course you were going to displace more water than Jesse. And I don't say that. We're doing bad jokes now. Look, I can't make a fat joke. I'm just speaking from experience. That's low. That's low. Science says you and I. I expect that out of Dave. I expect that out of you. Science says you and I are going to just plays for water the Jesse Freeman. All right?

So you can't count that against him. Fine. Fine. But anyway, uh, well, we do have somebody. We should be, uh, talking about their ability to do anything when it comes to performing at Chase Field. And that's Paul Seawald. Uh, this weird, this was a weird series by the way. The diamondbacks get the sweep, but they couldn't have achieved it in more different fashion from one game to the next. You have the game one that looked like a blowout where the diamond backs have a five run ninth to inning comeback victory in game one that they walk it off.

You have the 17 to nothing route in game two with a franchise or tying a franchise record for 22 hits. And then, of course, what became the five to four nail biter here yesterday. That never should have been. It should have never been. It was a five to two game at Balls, Seawald, unfortunately, really just has seemed to run out of gas. It was the embrace the chaos series because there was, you couldn't have had three more different games.

Exactly. You got the gamut of emotions. All the way the diamondbacks win. Like it's all the different wins this year. You know, they've had some comeback victories. Of course, nothing as dramatic as game one.

They've had some blowouts, but arguably that was one of the biggest of the year, the biggest shutout victory of the year. And then, of course, yesterday, which, you know, at least they go and they get the win and all as well. But you have covered a lot of different sports besides just basketball.

And I know that this happens. in every sport, but is there anything as dramatic as how quickly in baseball, a baseball player can go from being good, being productive to suddenly not even being able to play the game? I think baseball is such a mental sport. And it comes down to, like, I know it's a team sport, but when it's basically one-on-one, when it's pitcher better, right? Especially there in the ninth inning, right? It's all the focus is on you.

And Seawald in particular, when you look at that, it just screams, mental. It screams a guy who's lost his confidence. It's a little afraid to, at times it felt like he was afraid to throw it in the strike zone for fear. Something was going to happen that was bad. And I don't know if you've just got to sit him for a little while and let him get his mind right, put him in some low leverage situations to just get out there and let him believe he could actually throw those pitches again and actually perform at that level. Because, Because he's pitching scared it feels like right now. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

And that's the last thing. That's the last thing you want your closer to be doing or any athlete in any sport in the clutch is play scared. Because that's when mistakes happen. That's when, you know, you just don't get the job done. Well, and it seems to happen to whoever at times the Diamondbacks put in their latent games, right? And, I mean, some guys have shown that ability more than others. It's the reason why he's kind of relied so heavily on the ginkle,

Thompson Seawald three-man setup, right? But what we saw yesterday was Ryan Thompson go out there in probably one of the worst situations you could be in as a reliever, right? Like inherited runs, game on the line, closer broke down, and they're trying to get you to go out there and literally save this game before it falls apart. And honestly, Thompson hasn't really been good in situations where he's inherited runners.

And he showed that, you know, like what you're talking about, that ability to go out there, put all that other stuff aside and just be a stone cold killer in that moment and he got the job done but uh and i think that's why so many people have been clamoring for them to move on from paul seawald like it's not to say paul seawald can't still be an effective reliever even a closer but it seems like right now it's just like he's like broken you know yeah yeah if i'm tory i go to him and go i believe we can get back there but i need you to understand i'm going to make a change for the short term well you

you work on some things and you get that confidence back. And I'm going to try some different combinations and see what we can do. But right now, we have such a thin margin for error that we can't even afford to lose one of these saves. So I need you to go. And whether it's the sixth or the seventh, you know, if we need a guy in either of those situations, go out there pitch a few times. Get the confidence back. and when you feel good, we'll put you back in that situation.

Not that we're done, it's over, because you could destroy him mentally completely, where he's useless for you the rest of the year in any situation. I'd approach it like that and go that way. Well, Tori still has time now to have someone else potentially fill that role and give that opportunity, or at least see how someone does with that opportunity, see if they have another body that can fill that role. based on his body language and such when he went and took Seawald out of the game it looked very much like Tori was fed up

like that's... I mean you should be. You don't get that. Well, you just don't get that often from Tori. He's very good at protecting that feeling and projecting a feeling like, again, like you said, of confidence in his relievers, even when he's removing them from the game. You know, it looked like this was potentially it for Paul Seawald.

And I think that there's been some tweets out there about that in regards to it. but I agree. Like there needs to be some sort of still, you have to still try to use him in the bullpen. He's still a valuable reliever for you. And he's still a guy that has proven this season that he can get the job done in those high leverage situation.

It's just something fell apart here over the month of July. Like everybody else had a great month. It's like, it's like Paul Seawald's, you know, ability to be big in those moments went away so Gino can smash home runs again or something. feels like, you know, everybody else kind of went in the opposite direction this month. Diamondback's had a tremendous month of July. It's crazy to me how baseball, and it happens in other sports.

I mean, hell, even Simone Biles in the Olympics in 2020, things come up, you know, she had the spinneys. You get the yips in baseball. I'm blanking on the second baseman from the Yankees in the late 90s who, Chuck Knobloch, who just was one of the best defensive guys. and then all of a sudden couldn't throw it first. Had something happened in his life, I believe his father died, who taught him baseball,

and all of a sudden he's chucking it into the stands, right? Little things can play such a big part in this that it can throw a guy off. You just, you hope that he hasn't just completely falling off a cliff and that it's a bad month and not where you can't trust him in any situation. Yeah. Well, the Diamondbacks did enough yesterday to take care of business. Let's take a look at the count for this series

presented by Desert Financial Credit Union. The Diamondbacks put a weapon on the Nationals. Like the account said, three curly QWs in a row. Diamondbacks outscore the Nationals 31 to 12. They out hit the Nationals 48 to 29. Obviously, most of this came in that second game because the other games were only decided by one run. Runners in scoring position, Washington was 9 for 24

for a 375 batting average. Backs 395 batting average 15 for 38. Both teams very good with runners in scoring position. In this in this series, the Diamondbacks just had more, obviously. Starting ERA, 3.71 for the Diamondbacks to the abysmal 10.13 for the Nationals. And then 4.50 relief pitching ERA to another abysmal ERA 12.27. Diamondbacks wrecked the Nationals ERA in this series, especially just in that second game for sure. But of course, there's a lot of credit.

that could go around. But I don't care. They were chanting Derek's bestie in the pool area for this man. So Ryan Thompson is our king snake because this man came into the game when we thought all hope was lost, when we thought this was a blown save. He got one save for the game and then he got another save for saving our pool party and making sure that all of us went home happy with the Diamondback second, just second sweep of the season, which is weird.

I'm actually giving the king snake to Paul Seawald. Why is that? Why would you do that in what universe? because that game was on pace to be super short. They think to Zach Granky. And we weren't going to get her money's worth at the pool. He did. He gave us an extra 20 minutes.

Yeah, I mean, we got extra time next to Paul Seawall. That's a great point. That's an excellent point. That's why I have you here to make great points like that. But, of course, we thank you guys for being here in the PHN Exports YouTube channel. If you have not subscribed to the channel yet, do so now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss whenever our shows go live.

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And leave us a review. We appreciate that feedback. I met a lot of audio people yesterday. We did. I don't know why that's so surprising to me. Maybe because I have to look at my stupid face all the time on this TV, right? And I understand people not wanting to do that, right? But still,

it's still surprising when we meet people that say they only listen on it. It's simple. I'm the data guy when it comes to our shows, right? You're the data guy? Yeah, you've come to me all the time. What are our numbers? How are we looking? Oh, yeah, that's different data.

Yeah, that data. So I looked at it, and they were all video people until that episode you were shirtless. Ah, with Jesse Jr., and then they went out of you. Again, I expect better out of you. I expect better out of you. A game is my favorite part of this show. Oh, and Jesse. Yes, yeah.

Monster. Jesse is really good. Jesse's really good, too. I can quit. I can leave. I have other skills. I don't have to just do these podcasts, but this is where I need an Indeed read, but I don't have one. But what I do have, Bet365.

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Yeah, because flex is the only guy that I know that could bet a thousand dollars of blinking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got them stacks on stacks on stacks. And then get it back in bonus bets if he loses it, right? Because he's just going to bet more anyway, but that's, I respect that. I also respect the fact that P. HNX is now Sanderson Ford Country. I don't know if you've known. Madison Ford Country.

Lay down, we need to record that. Let's get that. We're just going to play that every time we do this, but I need a new car really bad, so we might be taking a trip to Sanderson Ford here. We are very proud to have Sanderson Ford as our official vehicle sponsor. Of course, you can check out their 65-acre facility. Is that right? That sounds like entirely too much space.

It is the largest Ford dealership in the nation. So I imagine that they have every single automobile you're looking for. There's a reason. those Mustangs and Broncos need to roam. Oh, they do need to roam. Yeah, you got to take them out for a little drives. Make sure they're taken care of. Let me tell you, I need myself one of those Broncos for sure.

Me and this guy, David, we're talking about you're talking about dream cars, especially in some of those color combinations that that Big Ben Bronco comes in. Woof, love that 24 Ford Broncos. How fitting is it that our first Sanderson Ford Deep Drive of the game was on Gino's three home run night? was on Gino's three home run night. Yeah, I mean. No one else has done that all season. Three drives.

Three drives to the outfield, right? We took a lot of trips out there, but there was one that was deeper than the rest. But Sanderson Ford is family owned and operated through three generations. So they are part of the Valley, just like we are. They're also America's most awarded for dealership for customer satisfaction. So they will take care of you, save 0% or they have 0% financing for 36 months with no payments for 90 days on the Ford F150, Escape, Edge, Explorer, and Expedition, which great, great. Great offer right there. You used to work in banking.

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That's beautiful. That's harmonic. It's time for me to mess with the power rankings. And since Jesse's not here and he's watching and I know he's watching, this is going to send him through the roof. But since I got my hands on the here we go, since I got my hands on the. I love it, there. This would be interesting. I did the thing that Jesse probably wouldn't have allowed me to do.

Damon, let's throw those. I didn't even do them. So Jacob helped me out with them. So I haven't seen them yet. You haven't seen them? I know what I did. They're all up there. Throw up there.

Hell yeah, the D-Backs are on there. The DeBacks make their first appearance on our power rankings. And it's not just because I'm an insane person. I will give you valid reasons for them to be there. But the Orioles take the top spot here. And I think they, again, have an incredible season. They did a great job at the trade deadline, adding to that team.

I still don't know where Eloy Jimenez is going to play, but it feels like the Orioles are just stacked as far as, you know, their offensive weapons, their youth, everything about that team is, looks like it's in very, very good shape to contend. I am very disappointed that when this graphic went up, one through 10 wasn't the Arizona time.

I know, yeah, I probably should have just done that. Yeah, I probably should have shot for that. Although it's tough to deny what the Orioles are doing for sure. And I didn't want a phone call from Jesse, right? Like, you know that I didn't want that for sure. But the Phillies have not been playing very good baseball right now. And this isn't just a knock at them because they're coming to town soon. And I just really want to take them down a peg.

This is because the Phillies have the second worst record post-all-star break at three at nine, only second to the White Sox, who are 0 and 13. Wouldn't you hate what you're doing if you lived in that city? I mean, the only thing I can say good is cheese steak. The cheese steaks are amazing. I mean, you can only run up and down the rocky steps so many times, especially when you live there. The statue's not even there anymore.

I know, I know. And their big thing is a bell that's cracked. Congratulations, guys. You can't even ring it. It's at ESPO on Twitter, folks, for those of you that are Phillies fans that want to find this man. Of course, going back to the power rankings, Yankees move up one spot to third.

Dodgers drop, of course, the biggest, because once again I was in control of the power rankings this week, but also because the Dodgers suck and they've been losing to the Padres. They got swept by the Padres for the first time. Not even sure they belong on this list here. Yeah, no, I mean, I could have removed them completely. I'm thinking more like 12, 13 range. I mean, a lot of these teams, honestly, over the last 10 games are 5 and 5, 6 and 4.

You got the Dodgers at 5 and 5. You got the Guardians at 6 and 4 in their last 10. Then you got the Brewers there at 6, twins at 7. these teams are all interchangeable. They're all very close. A lot of them are in the same division. That AL Central is just for some reason a battle between teams with very good records and the guardians and the twins and the royals there.

Yeah, this is primarily the N.O. West and that division on here. Yeah, that's pretty much what it is. Padres, of course, they are nine and one in their last 10 games. They swept the Yankees and got to give them respect because not the Yankees, the Dodgers, which those two teams might as well be the same. as far as I'm concerned. The Padres sweep the Dodgers. And, I mean, honestly, we talk all season about the wild card, wild card, wild card, right?

Because we just expect the Dodgers to run away with it. But they are not. And they, I mean, they made some savvy moves, especially right at the trade deadline like they always do in literally the 11th hour. But, I mean, there's a four and a half game gap right now. And there's still a lot of games to be played between the Padres, the Diamondbacks, and the Dodgers. Is it five for the Diamondbacks, four and a half for the Pardons?

Padres. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, like, yeah, I mean, this is the first time in years that you really feel like, okay, Deanna West could be in play here for multiple teams. And at least that makes it more interesting going into August, right? I love fighting for a wildcard spot. I won't, you know, sneeze at that. I mean, look at what happened last year with this team.

Well, the last two World Series, you know, participants from the National League are the Phillies and Diamondbacks, and they both were the final wildcard spot. So like it's it feels a little irrelevant and it almost feels like if you do get one of those top spots that there's a chance where you might actually have an issue due to the layoff. Yeah. But I don't I don't like to layoff, but whatever. I just I just like the fact that this isn't the Dodgers running away with the division. It's, you know, it's the Diamondbacks who built the right way. It's the Padres who are figuring out their stuff finally and the Dodgers who weren't.

Superhero the Padres have completely depleted their their farm system now. So it's like the one thing that you can say about the upgrades the Diamondbacks made during the trade deadline was it didn't cost them a ton. No and they addressed their needs like the Diamondbacks didn't have a lot of weaknesses as you saw yesterday in person the biggest weakness there is the bullpen and their ability to count on guys especially late. I think they have a lot of options. I think AJ Puck is a lot of as a name that a lot of guys want to see a lot of fans want to see they're late in the game. But it'll be interesting to see what Tori. pivots to you're right though there's not a lot of room for you know error here and I mean at this point I know Tori to a fault believes in his guys and shows them that belief by allowing them to stay out there and to continue even when they're struggling it just seems like we're past that point now that you can no longer really do that sacrifice wins in order to try to even bring someone like Paul Sewell back it's tough because we saw it work last year right I mean they had one of the worst stretches and in baseball they really did their last summer but he believed in his guys and and it paid off

in the end but i think yeah you got you got to you got to figure out something uh with that pen i don't do you think puck is the guy to turn to the chat seems to to like that idea i think i think the only problem with that is if puck's your guy then you can't bring him in in other high leverage situations where you're matching him up and using the fact he's a left-hander right i do like the fact that like for most part from from a bullpen standpoint you're going to deal with Ritey is leading up to that ninth inning. So I like the change of arm, you know, of the hand and of the arm slot and things like that versus the previous guy you saw, especially going from like a Ryan Thompson who has such

a funky, you know, delivery to to Puck, who's, you know, the opposite hand. But I don't know. I mean, I think at this point, it's crazy, but like it almost feels like Tori might go back to the closer by committee thing, which was kind of a huge disaster for this team last year, they just have different weapons this year. You know, it's a different, it's a different bullpen right now. And there are several guys that you feel like you can still count on latent games. I mean, that would give you an opportunity, though, if you wanted to, to give Cuell

the chance as part of closure by committee and see if you can get him conference back from time to time. I don't think you have a lot of time to mess with it, though. Maybe you go closure by committee for a week or two and see how it works and then try to, you know, dub somebody the, the, the, the, permanent closure, but I don't think that's what you want to go into the playoffs with is going, you know, as a closer by committee. I don't like that prospect in the postseason. So I hopefully he can, he can land on a guy.

I don't know. I'd much rather have my left-handed guy in puck actually situation. Just available. Yeah, exactly. Not slot it in. Well, and I mean, they do have Jomantyplice still, but again, the puck is brought in there for those big high leverage situation. situations late and for those matchups, right? It's honestly just a shame that like Jay Mart just has struggled in those high

leverage spots because it feels like he slots in so perfectly. It's what everybody wants. And keeps everybody else in their perfect roles for them. Well, I know all sports are mental, but like, you know, you, you understand. Like baseball is just weird when it comes to how your mentality can change that. I mean, we saw Jay Mark, you know, like perform at a different level when his parents were in attendance watching him play for the first time. And I feel like that's a pretty high leverage situation for you personally, emotionally,

your parents seeing you for the first time. And he was incredible in that. So like his ability to lock it in and be that guy we think he can be late is there. It's just he's kind of, it's been a fast development for him to get to where he's at. He went from being a guy that you felt like was never going to really find command to being this guy that's literally dotting the corners and throwing his stuff at different speeds and just looking incredible, you know, but again, you just have that late inning thing where unfortunately sometimes that that spotlight is too bright, you know?

Well, in baseball, in most sports, one tiny mistake, you have a lot of opportunity to make up for that, right? Yeah. But especially in a closer position, one small mistake can cause. everything, right? And if you're not focused, like focus to me is such a big part of baseball, where in other sports you can kind of drift from time to time. There's a baseball, if you're not locked in mentally, especially as a pitcher, it's a game of literally, you know, inches, in less than that. Fractions of an inch, yeah. In most cases. So that's what amazes me about

and how quick guys can either fall out of that headspace or find their way into it and emerge. But it feels like the dimebacks have perpetually gone through this. What have, I mean, I can't remember a time where you had a closer that was multiple years. Like, when was the last time? Dominant, I mean, you know, Fernando Rodney, there was times where Archie Bradley was pretty good, but not just great. You know, like-Pas grande back in the day. J.J. Putts. B. K. Mantah.

Matt Manta. I think J.J. J.J. Puts is the last guy. J.J. Puts was really good. He felt was like shut down. Yeah. Yeah. I mean. He had like an ERA under two one year, 40 like five saves-ish. Yeah. I mean, yeah, there were a couple of guys out there.

But this still feels like the best bullpen. The Diamondbacks have ever put together. And it got better with the additions they made up to the bottom for the trade deadline. Right. Right. And of course, they have options. That's the thing is, is this, this bullpen at one time. Like Tori at times has had to do what he can with what he has. Yeah.

Now it feels like there's depth on the starting lineup. There's depth in the bullpen, and he has to make the right decisions. And guys like Jake McCarthy make it hard because as much as Tori doesn't want to play him regularly, Jake has proven that he deserves to play regularly. He had three hits in yesterday's game again. This guy just continues to be incredible for this team, but he just isn't given enough playing time. Tori had him hitting in the two hole yesterday, and it seems to work well. And hopefully that's something that will continue to see.

but again, let's put that power ranking back up because I did want to talk about this Diamondbacks team. 58 and 51, 7 and 3 in their last 10. They have a better record than a lot of teams in baseball. And what's wild about that is they have the same amount of wins now as the Atlanta Braves. They have, you know, they're pretty close to some of these, especially these teams on this list and kind of deserve to be in the conversation. The Diamondbacks were, in fact, the best team in Major League Baseball in the month of July. They had a record of 17 and 8, and they did not lose a single series. So this guy, this team is incredible.

I want to get to the super chat from our guy, piece of Yoshi, because he's absolutely right. Pave and Smith did save the baseball game yesterday. Pave and Smith, world class defender? What? Who knew? Made a CWalk play, you know? And of course, the thing about it there is, is that Pave and Smith has been a guy that's honestly been playing very good baseball for a stretch now, whether it's in the market.

minor leagues, whether it's when he's been called up. And he's kind of been asked to do what the team asks him to do. But I felt like yesterday he was playing harder because the Diamondbacks went out and acquired a backup first baseman. And that should be Pavin's role to a degree. But you can tell, rightfully so, that Tori still doesn't trust him 100% to be that. Now, Josh Bell isn't a much better defender. So I don't know, but Pavan felt like he was playing a bit out of his mind yesterday.

I think there was another reason, though. His fan club was out in the pool. Oh, I've never heard louder. even chance than that ever. Mark was losing his mind. It was the best day for Don's bread ever. Well, he got for Peace of Yoshi, he said, Clayton Kershaw, was just so sad about his father, Christian Walker, being injured, that he forgot how to pitch.

Yes, that was also a great sight to see. Thank you, Peace of Yoshi so much for your super chat. You're wonderful, but you know who else is wonderful? The Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, no, you're not. You're dead to me with the comments you made about me earlier. But I was going to say Desert Financial Credit Union, because Desert Financial for more than 484 years has been Arizona's largest, most trusted local credit union.

They are dedicated to creating exceptional experiences by giving back to the community. And of course, they are dedicated providing financial solutions that make your lives better. Of course, I got my home ownership journey started through Desert Financial, and I would have never been able to do it without them. So you can look to them for checking and savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, investment options, and so much more. And right now, when you open a free checking account online, you can get $200 in bonuses. Get started by visiting desertfinancial.com slash 200.

And if they'll loan Derek money, you know, you got a pretty good shot of getting something. He's right. He's right. I have an 824 credit score. I will not put up with this slander. What's the last four digits, the CVV and your mother's maintenance? No, no, I'm not telling you any of that information. I thought we were just sharing stuff.

Well, you know what? I will share some information with you about Indeed.com because if you're looking, for a new like director of content, head of content, maybe a new co-host, maybe even right now on the spot. You just need someone quickly. You need indeed.

Forget it. Like maybe we need another producer. I'll get David over here to co-host. We'll hire our producer. But of course, if you, yeah, well,

he's been coming for my mayorship for a long time and we're going to produce some definite, I think that's been the one that's been coming for your mayorship now. No, I know. That's what I'm saying. It's him.

Not you. You, well, you ate it and abetted, but of course he's the real one that's going on. I might be a double agent. Might be. Might be. If you need to fire your entire staff and start over, you need indeed. Indeed, of course, can help you hire faster. They can also help you hire quality candidates that fit your needs, of course, as an employer, ditch the busy work and use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging,

so you can connect with candidates faster. And of course, that's the problem. Sometimes you get a whole lot of candidates, a bunch of gibronies like this guy over here, putting in applications for job. He has no business having, you know, and then you have to figure it out later, you know, what you're dealing with. Indeed does help you connect and hire faster, but higher quality candidates. 93% of employers agree indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites according to a recent Indeed survey. So join more than three and a half million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent. Listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash all city.

Show to Indeed.com slash AllCity right now and support this show by saying you heard about us on the Ph.NXD.BX Podcast.Indeed.com slash all city. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. You need to hire. You need indeed. You said 824. You know you can't add the last two months scores together, right. Okay. That's fair. He's right. No, he's right. That's probably how the math got there. But of course, we have the pirates, or we're going to Pittsburgh, I should say. good food they have they put french fries on sandwiches out there so i'm not against that what's that beautiful beautiful ballpark one of the best in all the baseball let's take a look at the pirates at a glance because we just took them on scheduling is weird this year we get a lot of like like this was happens

with the cincinnati reds where we played all the games against them uh over what seemed like a one to two week stretch we get the pirates this time and we do not miss out on paul skeins despite the fact the probabilities yesterday told us differently we'll talk about that here in the moment but the record here for the pirates, 55 and 53. They have a minus five run differential. They are 5 and 5 in their last 10 with a 3.46 starting pitching ERA, 4.28 relief pitching ERA. The starting to shooting RA, very good. Third in Major League Baseball, relief, not so much, 23rd.

And we saw that when the Diamondbacks took on this rotation. At times they are especially against Luis L. Ortiz. They kind of had to wait for him to leave the game before they did. They're scoring. But if you can get into this bullpen, you can do. some damage. Outs above average right there, mid, middle of the pack. They have one for 15th.

Diamondbacks definitely lost some of their outs above average with the addition of Josh Bell to their roster. That was kind of funny to see his minus outs above average subtract from our team total. But let's again, I was talking about those probable pitchers. Let's take a look here at how things

line up in this series. Brandon Fott takes on Luis L.R.T. You got George Montgomery there in game two. Damn, there. Mitch Killer. What's that? I said,

damn, their staff is good. It's incredible how good their starting pitching is. And like I said, we almost missed Paul Skeens again a second time around because they had basically the same starting pitchers lined up

as we did the last time they played. But they pulled, I believe it's Marco Gonzalez here. And then Paul Skeens, we will see Paul Skeens go up against Ryan Nelson. And I just have to reiterate that Ryan Nelson had an incredible July. Four out of his six starts,

he gave up one earned run or less. despite his 4.53 ERA, he has been very good as of late. Meanwhile, Jordan Montgomery, no clue what you're going to get out of him. Espo. Jordan Montgomery might honestly, I mean, if he doesn't get back into being a consistent starter for this team, he might sincerely go down as one of the worst free agent acquisitions in Valley history. On a one-year deal, I mean, I guess it's two. Because it's his option.

Yeah, it's his option. And with the way he's performing, it's doubtful that he's going to not pick it up. Like, it would be such a stand-up thing, like if he had a bad year to just choose not to pick up the option and go with whatever because he might feel like he doesn't deserve it. Or that's not how money works. Yeah, or he wants to pitch somewhere else, right? But $25 million, I have a hard time imagining that with the way he's been pitching, he's going to get that or more or any kind of long-term deal. I mean, it's no Sam Bradford, $20 million for like, I think he played three games. games and didn't do anything that's fair like and you hope that if you get into the playoffs you get

you get a different guy is somebody that locks in well i mean you only need four starting pitchers in the playoffs so really when it comes down to it if edwarda rodriguez is what he think he can be we know what merrill kelly is brand of thought was huge in the playoffs for this team last year so i mean Montgomery could be the odd man out there when they hit the playoffs but they need to get there you know first and that's you know part of it is as that george Montgomery really at this point. He's proven at times how good he can be. It's just a matter of him really lacking that consistency.

And just honestly, having no idea what you're going to get out of him on any given night. Yeah, you hope he locks in. I want to go back to the Pirates rotation if you don't mind, though. I actually rather face schemes. Because look, the reality is this is what a starting rotation is going to look like when you get to the playoffs who you're facing. You're going to face the best of the best. So you might as well get locked. in now and figure out ways to get wins against quality starting pitching, right?

So why not take this as the kind of challenge that you understand? We got to stack some wins here because if we want to get to the playoffs, that's what we need to do. And if we want to win in the playoffs, we've got to beat pitching like this. So I don't have a – I actually prefer going up against – up against the best at this point because you're not wrong. You got, you know, two months until the playoffs. Just sharpen in on it.

Yeah, forged by fire, right? And plus we know how much Tori Lavello loves Paul Skins. Tori Lovallo's love for Paul's games. Another opportunity for them to kind of... The connect, hang out. Maybe Tori has them over to the house for dinner. Maybe that recruitment for, what is it, 2031? Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, it's a 231. You think Tori's still going to be sitting here? That's no shame on Tori. That's just a long time to be recruited. Yeah, no, you're right. You're right. But you got to lay the groundwork early, right? You got to put in those phone calls.

You got to act like you can. care, you know, even when that person has another person, right? You just got to put in the groundwork. You got to tell them, shave that mustache. Oh, no favors. Look, I questioned people at the All-Star game, which I'm wearing my shirt right now, and they were, uh, nine

out of ten, we're in favor of the mustache. When did the mustache come back? When did the mustache become cool again? I don't know. Started with hipsters. It started with Top Gun. Did it really? I think so. I think that's a good call. That's a great call. I think that's a good maver.

I think once Maverick came out. That's a good call. You hit the nail on the head of that one. Yeah, they were hot. That's a good call. All right. But acne still out, right? Still out, right?

Acne, backney, none of it's good when it comes to baseball. I want to defend this because as much as I didn't think highly of this situation, Damon made a good point is that Paul Skeen's girlfriend Livy Dunn apparently photographed or photoshopped out some acne that he was experiencing. And I mean, he said he's like, It probably was just something, like touching up photos is something that someone who posts a lot on Instagram probably has a team that does it. Yeah, you're right. It's probably not even her personally, right?

She's like, hey, put this through the thing that makes you know, gets rid of those. Why is that? Why is that actually a big deal to people right now? I don't know. It is. I don't know. People are freaking out about it. Why?

You know what? If I could have my face touched up every day on one of these shows, I would do it in a second. You want to take 40 pounds off me with the camera and it's filters? sure if you let's do it there were two guys that wished we could be touched up by Photoshop while doing the show it's these two fellas right here right yeah I like I want to look my best yeah especially let's be honest if he's got to be in a photo with her he needs some help to the oh it look better right like like Damon shut off that video before you had a chance to see my what my hair look like coming out of the water right I mean sometimes we just don't want that

we just don't want that information out there so earlier you were mad at me because I missed the your chance, but now you're happy with me because I was looking out for you. Well, I wanted you to strategically edit the video. It's what you fucking do, right? Like, you're good at that. He wanted you to add in those tears that didn't happen, Damon. Well, I wanted you to do. Roo proof, by the way.

I need to bump up, bump up the audio on them a little bit. You know, I mean, make those cheers sound louder. Maybe grab the audio, double them up, you know, put layer them, put two on top. We'll talk about it later. That's what they do at, uh, infield at Liverpool for any soccer fans are watching. Yeah, because we're a wreck of a podcast. Don't ever forget that. Paul Mullets all day.

Well, that's all we got. That's all you got, right? You got anything else? I got another hour. I got to do in about an hour. I don't think I got anything left. We're just going to push him over a little bit and add another chair over here. They're going to turn off the lights.

I'll be back at three. Yeah, well, that's what you got from him. Make sure to hit that like button before you get out of here because we do not want you to leave him before you do that. We will be back, of course, tomorrow night with a post game show. Sorry to disappoint you. No, Jesse on that one. I think it's going to be me and Faj following up here on this. series with the Pirates. But of course, we will be back on Monday with another mailbag

Monday episode. So, of course, until then, keep it locked right here to PHNX for the Sun Show and all the wonderful stuff we do around here. We appreciate you guys so much for stopping by. Of course, you can follow me on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. This man next to be is simply at ESPO, which still don't understand how you got that. Sources are not going to be shared. By the way, nobody approved Jesse's time off. so just so you're aware. Well, I guess we are going to need Indeed.com is what it sounds like to me. Sorry, Jesse.

You can stay in the chat. Of course, got people's producer here that everyone should follow. It's Damon Dogg there at the end. And we are Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. We do a bark, bark thing. That's a little too aggressive. No, no, no.

I got to be more aggressive for it. I'd be more aggressive for it. I appreciate the hard work that Damon puts in working with you. Yeah, I get it. No, that is a tall task. Max do it. Yeah. That's the worst one.

Bark, bark. Yeah. No, Max goes insane. We don't, I don't want that. I don't want that. I don't want Max's energy on this show right now. It's too much. But of course, you can follow our show at PHNX underscore D-Bax, but all roads do lead to at

PHNX underscore sports. Keep it locked right here. Like I said, again, we appreciate you guys so much for your time. We will see you tomorrow night. In the meantime, have wonderful evening. No baseball tonight. Enjoy your families. Maybe go watch Deadpool and Wolverine.

I can't recommend that enough. Until tomorrow. We hope you have a wonderful night and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you have a lifeguard on duty at the pool.