PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Jordan Lawlar Has EVERYTHING To Prove In 2026 For D-backs

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

Jordan Lawlar enters this season with everything on the line. Once viewed as a cornerstone of the future, Jordan Lawlar now faces a true prove-it year as a member of the Diamondbacks. With expectations rising and opportunities no longer guaranteed, what does Lawlar need to show to solidify his place in Arizona’s long-term plans as an outfielder? We also dive into the latest updates from Spring Training, including comments from Torey Lovullo that kind of tipped his hand on who will start Friday’s game. Plus, we’ve got an injury update on Corbin Carroll and what Lovullo is seeing from him early in camp. On the national stage, MLB.com listed the D-backs as one of 10 teams most capable of beating their playoff odds, and ESPN dropped Arizona’s final offseason grade. We break down what those evaluations really mean and whether this roster is being underrated once again.0:00 SkeeYee!!! 3:00 Rainy day at Salt River Fields 7:30 Plan for starters + Soroka 13:30 Different approach for WBC players 16:20 Corbin Carroll UPDATE 24:40 D-backs playoffs odds 📉 33:10 Jordan Lawlar = most to prove 47:50 ESPN offseason grades 56:40 Opening Day pop for Ketel MarteJOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/Phoenix Raceway: Get your tickets now for March 5-8! https://www.phoenixraceway.com/march-cup-weekend/?CID=PIR_DI_TP_BA_PHNX26Spring_251120ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesbet365: 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/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: 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.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!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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It was photo day out at Salt River Fields for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it was also a rainy day. God, I hope the guys didn't get messy before they took their pictures. Ski and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast, live at five. I tried something different there. Welcome in. My name is Derek Monti, of course, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. Thrill to have you guys here and thrilled to be providing more Diamondbacks updates from camp as things get up. prepare to kind of wrap up.

I mean, camp doesn't really end. They still keep doing these drills and they keep practicing while spring training games are going on. But the end of camp is tomorrow and I will miss it. But I won't miss the 14,000 steps I've been putting in every single day walking around that facility. I am not alone here today. Of course, I'm joined by the one,

the only Damon Farrell, aka Damon Dog on the ones and twos. Bark, bark to you, Damon. Hope you're having a good day, my friend. Good to see you, Derek. missed you at the office earlier today, but it's good to have you here. I was stuck in the rain for a very long time.

I actually went out to Salt River Fields kind of late today because it was photo day, right? So they canceled media availability in the morning and they kind of let us know that the guys were going to be busy, taking all of the wonderful pictures that Damon uses to make the thumbnails for this show. We appreciate them doing that.

Shout out Jordan Lawler. Yeah, shout out to the Jordan Lawler picture from today's thumbnail for sure. But it was a rainy day out there at Salt River fields and of course, you know, if you're in Arizona and you kind of love that. Like it wasn't torrential downpour or anything like that. It wasn't something that was unpleasant to be in. It's one of those rare rainy days during the spring where you can kind of enjoy it knowing that soon enough there'll be 115 degree days coming here and ruining our lives for a brief period

of time. But before we get to that, of course, we have all of this wonderful weather that we get to enjoy before things get super hot. But Tori discussed the rain. in his opening statement. He loved having the rainy day out there and he loved the fact that these guys are you know getting to kind of work under these conditions which one aren't ideal and two have kind of the training and the schedule change today. Things kind of got had moved around due to the rain a little bit and of course just Tori loves it because it gives these guys a chance to react to all of this craziness. Here's what he had to say. Yeah, good day. Good day today. We talk about being adaptable and making adjustments inside of our culture right there you know

with some some things that changed rapidly this morning with the weather late scheduled meeting so we pushed our day all the way back to basically right now and you know we don't get off field at 2.45 3 o'clock but these guys really gave a good effort got the job done today probably the most exciting part of the day for me was being able to work in the rain we don't get a chance to do that very often here so you know we're in a very controlled atmosphere at Chase We have beautiful days in spring, and we're always working in those types of environments. But with rain coming down, I was super fired about that.

We got great infield work, and the infielders need to learn how to pick up a ground ball and working around the infield when the ball's not perfect. So great work day, and that's probably the most excited that I've been so far this spring, because it's something we don't get to practice a lot. And I know it almost seemed like he was being a little dramatic there, but I get what he's saying. Like, you know, the conditions at Salt River Fields during spring are so perfect that it's rare you're ever going to play during the regular season on days that nice. Maybe you will sometimes in certain cities on day games and such, Damon, right?

Like nice blue skies with some clouds in the sky, but mostly like high 70s temperatures and, you know, sunshine and all of that. like the conditions here when these teams play spring training are amazing. So it does definitely help to have a little adversity, a little something, you know, just to kind of mix it up, right, just to have some variables thrown in there. And I asked Tori about that, if that's kind of what he liked here most about the rain. This is what he had to say. Totally, totally. And they weren't complaining about it.

I just think the coaches went out there. We all amplified the intensity because we created a, an awareness of the players amplified the intensity because we created an awareness of how important it was. So, yeah, we don't ever get that opportunity ever. And we go on the road and all of a sudden we're thrown into an environment that we're not very used to. So I think being able to practice like that today was real exciting for me. And again, it's just giving this team a chance to go through different, you know, drills

and such with different conditions. Again, the rain was not rain. It was not rain, Damon. And it was like the mist that you get from a restaurant in Scottsdale and their, you know, system to keep you cool during the summertime. That's about, that's about the level of rain that we got out there at Salt River Fields. I'm not going to talk trash about it, though. I left and went to Chipotle.

That's what I did while it rained. So I can't sit there and be the tough guy. However, I will defend myself. I will defend Megan Plain and I will defend my guy Jose Romero because we were the ones out there. We were it. It was us as the trio to cover spring training and to cover Torrey's press conference today. All of those other cowards left us behind because rain or other conditions like the photo day. Honestly, Derek, after my commute in to the office this morning, or not this morning, let's face it, this afternoon at, at 2 p.m. Yeah. Morning. The 202 was a disaster.

and it was just because it was sprinkling. Oh, yeah. So I understand why people are trying to stay inside. Oh, yeah. Arizona drivers are ridiculous when a drop of water comes down from the sky. Let me tell you also what they're ridiculous. When you're driving on the freeway and there's a curve or it goes uphill or downhill, that also scares them.

Changes scare Arizona drivers because, look, Damon, let's be honest. Here in Phoenix, we have a grid, all right? Grid is simple. Everyone should use the grid, but few cities do. And it makes things easy on us. However, we don't handle variables well. We haven't had the training that Tori is trying to give these guys out there today. But again, it's all about trying to get these guys ready for live action, which starts on Friday.

So the Diamondbacks open up their season here against Colorado Rockies. The question on everyone's mind was, who is Tori going to start on Friday? Is it going to be Gallen? Is it going to be Merrill Kelly? Well, guess what? It's none of those guys. and in fact Tori doesn't really even know because he forgot. But that just shows how important it is.

It's not going to be a starter. It sounds like it's going to be one of the younger pitchers, and they're only going to go one inning. Here was Tori's answer about who's going to start. It's not going to be anybody that you're hoping, like Kelly, Gallen, Soroka. Gosh darn it. I looked at it today, and I knew you guys would ask me,

but it's going to be a young shirt that's going to throw a one inning. I know that much. And is that just because of the start of the spring time? Yeah, I think we're just going to slow play some things. Everybody's going to be ready, built up to six innings and, you know, 85, 90 pitches by the time they take their last spring start. So we're not, yeah, the clock is still in our favor with building guys up.

We just want to give them as much time to throw their pens, their lives, and then eventually get them into a game. Jason in the chat is asking to Tori suddenly lose all body mass. He looks not well. I will have to admit I did something weird with my camera today because it looks very it's in the same place it always is Damon

but it looks very far away and yeah I don't know how to answer I thought the same thing I even zoomed it in there I know you did I know you did it was even farther away on my shot but no Tori is fine health-wise

I assure you that and me and Damon know because we go over to his house for dinner every Sunday and we see that man he's eating like a like a chance yeah he's he's he eats like he's never eaten before. It's incredible. By the way, great to see all of you guys here.

Got to give a shout out to our mom here. Chris is in the chat. So anytime Chris is here, it's a special occasion. Glad to have you here. Can't wait to see you out at baseball games. Can't wait to see all of you guys out at spring training games or regular season. Once we get over to Chase Field, can't wait for that. those improvements, by the way, they're going to blow you away.

If you haven't seen the new video board and the new additions that they made, the new ribbon board, they are top notch. 16, I don't even know what, 16K, 32K, I don't even know how many K, it's a lot of K. A lot, lots of, lots of Ks. But speaking of Ks, let's talk about the pitching staff a little bit. Tori discussed Michael Soroka because I was curious as to if his progression is going to be any different. And I failed to ask about Eduardo Rodriguez as well because it's a similar thing.

Erod will be pitching for the Venezuelan team and the WBC. Michael Soroka will be pitching for Team Canada. But Michael Sroka also has a much different situation here than Erod. Though, I guess, Damon, you could argue that Erod is in the same situation as Michael Soroka. Like Erod and Soroka are both essentially performing to make the starting rotation. Nothing is guaranteed to anybody. I mean, as much as Tori says that Gallin and Merrill aren't in there, but we know Gallin and Merrill in there. We know Ryan Nelson is in there.

So it pretty much feels like you have Brandon fought Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka kind of competing here for the final two spots. So it does feel that way. And two of those guys are going to be gone and missed time to the WBC. You could say that that benefits them or perhaps it, you know, puts them kind of out of the team's kind of eye and control while they're sitting here, you know, letting Brandon Fomp make starts and figuring these things out. But I asked Tori here about Michael Soroka and if his, you know, his evaluation is going to be any different or if his progress here throughout the season or preseason here is going to be any different.

He was the only pitcher today we saw doing up downs. So he was taking, he was pitching during live BP. And then Ryan Thompson came out, pitched. And then Michael Soroka came back out and pitched. We didn't see like Thompson, for instance, he was done. once he went out and he pitched his his inning of work. But Soroka, it was on a pitch count, so they were obviously trying to get him stretched out. And it very much felt like he is, you know, kind of still obviously in that starter conversation.

Just because they added Zach Gallen does not immediately, you know, make Michael Soroka on the out. He's not necessarily on the bubble. Like we said, you could probably say all three guys are on the bubble competing for those two spots. but Tori commented on Soroka's, you know, spring so far and if it's going to be any different than the other starting pitchers. Yeah, everybody's going to get, well, Soroka, I think, will be first out. Because he's going to pitch for Team Canada. Right.

So I think he's going to be first out with our group in his progression. So I think he's day four, maybe. You're going to see youngsters all the way up until Soroka, and I think Soroka first out getting ready, getting him ready for WBC. So based on Tori saying that, I'm just kind of speculating here. It sounds like Soroka will make his first start on Monday's game. And the Diamondbacks will be using essentially their young pitchers to go out there and play the role of opener, more than starter. I don't know if when he says youngsters, if he's penciling in a Mitch Brad or a Cole Drake.

I've seen Mitch Brad out there quite a bit, in fact. So that's been kind of fun to see him out there. So there's a good chance he could have time. Oratory could be alluding to the youngsters that are going to be competing for a bullpen spot as well. But Michael Soroka, again, he is a guy that will be taking part in the WBC. And again, there's just this weird timing with it. These guys are going to be with their World Baseball Classic teams on March 1st. And they kind of have to figure out how to get their reps in before the other guys.

I mean, overall, there is enough time here with how long spring training is and when it starts. I feel like it starts earlier every year, and this might be the earliest it's ever started. But I do think we have Tori here talking about the WBC and how his approach for those guys might be different. Yes, yes. I'm currently working on that right now with some of the guys. I'll get a chance to call them in. They're going to get on the field early, how often. I'll leave it up to them.

I don't know what the workload is going to be like for them once they leave on the first. But I want to be fair to them and get them as ready as possible so they can go represent their country. But, yeah, I'm going to manipulate the lineups a little bit to giving that opportunity to go out and be as ready as possible because when they leave, we're going to be able to fill up that space with the guys that are here. So it'll all equal out. But yeah, for sure. I'm going to try to get them as ready as possible. I'll tell you guys, I think that this is complicated.

I think it's difficult. I know he's trying to do his best to manage all of this, but I feel like the World Baseball Classic does add a different wrinkle to this whole thing. I don't know. I mean, I still feel like, as Damon and I discussed at one point, I still think it's beneficial for the guys. I still think Merrill Kelly, even though he wasn't very good for Team USA when he participated in the World Baseball.

Classic still had himself a hell of a year that season. And it feels like he's been a different pitcher ever since that point. I would argue that it helped prepare him for the playoffs in particular of like high leverage baseball. And yeah, it wasn't his best performance. But he started the final. And so now when he goes in the World Series, he goes out there and he shoves and he slamming his glove when he comes off the mound.

And I think about it every night before I go to bed, Derek. Oh, I know. I know. I have a hard time falling in sleep thinking about that. I'm fired up right now thinking about it. It's funny because I don't know why this is the first time I've ever thought about it, but Alec Thomas, right? Like,

Alec Thomas also participated for Team Mexico and that BBC, and he delivered the biggest hit of the entire season for this team in, in- Second biggest hit probably in franchise history. Yeah, yeah, and he planted a flag. He did. He did. That was special.

Got used to taking over territory while playing for his world. Yeah, I think it's a good thing to have your players be in these moments because I think it prepares you for, you know, those high pressure and high leverage situations throughout the entirety of the season. Now, you want, that's a knock on wood thing because like there's obviously Edwin Diaz like situations where you end up losing a guy.

And that's worst case scenario, very unlikely to happen, but is possible. So you got to be on the lookout for things like that, but I'm all for it for the most part. I mean, again, you could argue that a guy could slip on the freaking mud out there with the rain today

and hurt himself. 100%. As unfortunate as it is, like there's car accidents that are like, like happen all the time with athletes and yeah swinging a bat didn't get hit didn't have anything bad happened in practice it was a stupid bone yeah a stupid bone that we don't even need why let's just remove these from everyone's hand at birth damon what are we doing why do we need a haymate bones this is insane uh but speaking of corbin uh i'm still upset about his injury yet he looked amazing today he

was out there uh it doesn't look like in our video he actually has anything on his hand anymore he definitely doesn't have the cast, but he still has like an ace bandage type wrap, just a very small amount too, nothing crazy. So I think it's mostly just to protect the stitches in his hand that he got when he had the surgery. But again, he was out there throwing, running, doing all the stuff. Like, it's just wild to me because when I get out there to the yard, especially on a day like this, this was a weird day where the schedule is off, photo day kind of messed everything up.

And the first person I see out there is Corbyn Care. just working, just busting his ass to ensure that his hand injury isn't going to keep him from preparing every single other part of him for the baseball season. It just sucks that it takes so much time away from him having a bat in his hand and it takes time away from him catching baseballs. And all of that is obviously very valuable when ramping up and getting prepared for the season. I shouldn't be surprised by it, but I am. I mean, I'm still, like I said, we had people dunking on us when we were talking about Corbyn coming back, you know, the next day after surgery saying he has another hand. Like they were like, I don't understand why this is so impressive. The man still had like sedation in his system from having surgery.

There was still like stuff from his surgery running through his blood system. He just got up, went to work, and started doing his job. Most of us would have taken a week off to recover from hand surgery. Corbin didn't even take 24 hours, right? So even though I might be surprised, his manager is not. And this is what Tori had to say about Corbyn being an absolute beast and machine. No, because I've watched it so often and it doesn't surprise me anymore. But it did at one time.

And I thought, this guy's like a machine. and it's hard to describe the disciplines that he has. So when I see him throwing balls off the wall a day after his procedure, I am not surprised by it anymore. He is going to try to shrink up that gap of downtime to make sure it's as little as possible before he gets back on the field. He doesn't do that for himself. He doesn't have for his team.

He wants to go out there and help us win games, and that's the most impressive part about him. still feels like Corbyn is going to be back by opening day. That might just be hope. Again, I completely understand after everything this team has gone through, like letting someone of Corbyn Carole's caliber taking an extra week to make sure he's healed,

to take as much time as he needs. Same thing with Lordus being ready by opening day. As great as that would be, as much as it is amazing to see him out there. Again, working as hard as Corbyn. Like, it's just, wow, Lourdes doesn't even look like he's in any kind of injury protocol. At the very least,

Corbin's not taking batting practice and such with the fellas. When Corbin's out there working out, he is doing a lot of it by himself or with a trainer or maybe with one of the coaches, but he's not getting a lot of team activity due to the fact that he's just having to work on stuff that, whatever he can work on. Meanwhile, Lortis is just part of the batting groups,

and he's just out there taking, IPP and taking batting practice and then going out to the field and running down flyballs and catching them. And I just still cannot believe this for a man that suffered a torn ACL five months ago, September of 2025. Yeah, it happened really late. September, October, November, December, January, February, five months ago, six months ago. Like, it's insane. So there was a chance that he could come back, I think, by the eight month mark. But I don't think anybody was talking about him coming back at the sixth month mark, aside from Lourdes.

Save us, Lourdes. Lordus was like, I will be back for opening day. And he knew he would. Meanwhile, I was speculating that we could have lost Lourdes for the year. I think I said at one point on this podcast that we may have seen the last of Lourdes Gourdes, Gourke, in a diamond back to Jersey. That is not the case, my friend. That was a reverse jinx, Derek.

And that's why you're the that's why you're the best in the business is because you're willing to you're willing to put your reputation on the line for the betterment of this franchise I appreciate you for it. Do I have any reputation left? I mean not not anymore. No, but maybe you did at one point. I mean, I drank that away with the champagne with the champagne and the one in the shirt. Yeah, that probably was the end of of anyone. Yeah, I agree. Let's be honest. No one took me seriously before that. So that's also fine. But you were a big Jay. I was Big J today, wasn't I? You were. Wasn't I? Because there's only three of us. So someone had to do the question asking around here.

Oh, sorry, Tori. Sorry you had to put up with me. But anyway, we're going to take a quick break. On the other side of this break, we got stuff to talk about, including the Diamondbacks playoff odds and MLB.com, thinking that they can overcome those odds, perhaps how that could be done.

A big factor there. Jordan Lawler, who is going to have a huge season for this team or maybe not and will probably be labeled a bust if that's the case. Which way is it going to go? We hope it's the first scenario. We're going to talk about it here in a moment. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time in Beck Show.

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terms, conditions, and exclusions do apply. MLB.com had an article today about teams they think can overcome their MLB or their current playoff odds, their pre-season playoff odds. And of course, the Diamondbacks do not have very good odds of making the playoffs in 2026. We knew that. Don't tell us the chances.

We don't want to know the odds, but I'm going to tell you anyway. The Diamondbacks have a 31.6% chance of making the playoffs. And the reason why MLB listed that the Diamondbacks have the odds against them is pitching, which is something I think we can all agree with.

The Diamondbacks offense has been stellar. In fact, I'm starting to believe that if the Diamondbacks can somehow be a top 10, offense and baseball once again, that Joe Mather needs some sort of statue to be erected of him outside of Chase Field. Yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be like a dictator-style statue too.

Yes, yes. And we're going to march in formation and wear outfits. Yeah, for sure. And Joe Mather is our king. Yeah, and he will have a vote on whether it's bearded Joe Mather or shaved Joe Mather because he loves to just switch it up randomly out of nowhere. Beard one day.

fresh baby face. You know, not fresh baby face. I swear, even if that man shaves his five o'clock shadow goes back within 30 seconds of him shaving.

Wow. I mean, that's a real man. It's a real man. That's what a real man does, Derek. Not a guy like with a mustache. I mean,

or a boy like me. Yeah, little boys like a hundred percent. I mean, Joe Mather, he's going to, he's tasked with elevating the games of Haven Smith, Jordan Lawler,

you know, Alec Thomas, Adrian Del Castillo. Like, these are all guys that are going to a lot of playing time. Even Gabriel Moreno, I'd argue. Lordus when he comes back,

like these, those guys are necessary for this team to win this season. And so, I mean, if he, if he finds a way to do it, like all, all props to him,

100%. 100%. And again, with the top of the line of being as formidable as it is, right? You don't necessarily need to make miracles happen with this offense in order,

with those guys that you're talking about. 100%. You're, It should be like average. You get Alec Thomas and those guys around 250 batting average. You get them contributing in the bottom of the lineup and driving in some runs of those guys, you know, that are going to get on base a lot. And this team is fine offensively. Pitching is the biggest problem.

And obviously we know injuries are the reason why the Diamondbacks right now are projected to be very bad. And it's not just it, Justin Martinez and AJ Puck. It's not just missing Corbyn Burns. It's the fact that there's so many unanswered questions about this bull. bullpen and the staff, right? But the Diamondbacks had the fourth highest bullpen ERA last season and fan graphs ranks the team's relievers as tied for 27th in projected war at, for an entire season, Damon, 1.2.

That is the projected war of the Diamondbacks bullpen for the 2026 season. Derek, it sounds like another Mike Hayeson bullpen. That's what that sounds like to me. I mean, at the very least, it can't be, it can't be worse than that, right? Like they can't, they can't be worse than 27th. There's a lot of, there's a lot of unknowns in this bullpen. We talk about it all the time. There is like some room for optimism and hope because like, yeah, what is fan grafts

basing any of these guys off of? Yeah. It's not like relievers are oftentimes like your big time prospects. You know what I mean? So Jordan Lawler will be given grace of a fan grafts type projection system because he was supposed to be so good. For sure. So they're like, yeah, he's going to have a three plus war season. Whereas who really, you know, Brandon Garcia is like our 27th prospect or something like that.

And he's going to be in the bullpen. And he's going to be in the bullpen because that's typically, that's typical of bullpen guys. You need a left handed. You need a left handed bullpen arm. And there's not many of those. I'm not sure if you've seen that. You also have the fact that like, again, fan graphs doesn't have a. a good chance to know who's going to be in the bullpen because of the uncertainty, right?

There's a lot of uncertainty about this pen and a lot of uncertainty about the guys that probably end up in this pen. But it does feel like we're getting closer, right? Like if you factor in a Michael Soroka being in there as a long reliever, let's just say for argument's sake, because somebody from the starting rotation is going to have to go to the pen, be cut, be DFA'd, like what you know, BDFA'd, like what you, you, you know, you, Which that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. No, it wouldn't because you're going to eat that.

It doesn't, right? So he was paid a decent amount of money. Seven and a half million dollars. So you got Michael Soroka, let's just say for argument's sake in the bullpen. You got Ryan Thompson. You got Kevin Ginkle. You got Paul Seawald. You got Brandon Garcia.

Right? There's five. You traded Blaze Alexander for Cade Stroud. Are you really going to leave him out of the bullpen? Yeah. Probably not. Six. So we're talking about two spots available.

But when you look at. these other things, these other six fingers, you don't feel super confident about that bullpen being better than a bottom five bullpen in baseball. However, they could be because those could be. Those guys are all capable of it at times in their career. They just all kind of were bad last year, all of them, even the parts the Diamondbacks acquired. Oh, I forgot Taylor Clark. Are you going to trade for Taylor Clark and not have him be in the bullpen? There's number. seven like I almost feel like this bullpen is already put together sign taylor carc but excuse me sorry you're right sign taylor carg uh and then dray jameson maybe potentially yeah or like

again one other spot like well i mean it's good that we have options at least right like there's there's some names to be named but yeah you need a little bit more certainty with the guys that you have because there's a lot of uncertainty but with uncertainty comes potential i would argue like You know, it's better than having a bunch of knowns who are trash, like so, which is what last year was. And you need big bouncebacks from Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkle in particular. And I think that they're going to be given their run. That's why you need big bounce backs from them because they're going to, those guys are in

the pen. So it's like they're going to be given high leverage roles. So if they stink, it's really going to hurt the team. Whereas the other guys might have to earn it a little bit more, which, you know, hopefully the players that earn it, the, the, the, the, cream rises to the top there. But that'd be nice. That'd be nice.

He said the cream rises to the top. Oh yeah, brother. I got more than President Jack Tony thinks that I got. Oh, yeah. But when it comes to defying the odds and this team needs to do that, they have to do it through their offense, right? Obviously, keeping getel Marte is what MLB.com listed as the most important contributor to that. While a hall would have been nice, you know a hall would have been more about the future than the now.

So keeping that trio of Cotel Marte, Corby, Carole, and Geraldo Pardomo intact was key to keeping this offense together. You get a guy like Gabby Moreno having a breakout season or perhaps contributions from Nolan Aeronado and Carlos Santana and all of a sudden this offense looks solid. Not to mention defensively, they look really good in the infield. Still some questions about the outfield, where guys are going to play, who's going to be out there.

How is Jordan Lawler going to fare? And that seems to be the big question. That seems to be the guy that everybody is talking about. That seems to be the biggest unknown. He is the player that Steve Gilbert named in an MLB article also dropped yesterday about the players with the most to prove for each team this spring. And I couldn't agree more, right? I mean, you could say quite a bit about perhaps Zach Gallen.

You know, Zach Gallen has a lot to prove on a personal level. Zach Gallen wants to still get that contract that we owe. always thought Gallen would get in free agency that didn't come this year around. So I feel like Gallen also has a lot to prove far more than Merrill Kelly or, you know, other additions to this team. Perhaps a Paul Seawald has a lot to prove. But the one thing you could say about Paul Seawald is he is at a later stage in his career, where proving himself isn't really the point here as much as just being a contributor to a team

that can help a team win. and that's something I still believe Paul Seawalt can do. But when it comes to like a bust, when it comes to disappointment, Jordan Lawler has the most to prove because Jordan Lawler wasn't being evaluated any longer as a prospect last year. He was being evaluated as a major league player. And the Diamondbacks theoretically chose to go with Lawler over Blaze Alexander, though I hate to say that.

I know it's something we talk about a lot. Blaze had far more value than Jordan Lawler and is a big reason why they were able to pull off the trade for a pitcher like Cade Stroud who had such great numbers from last year and is still very controllable by the team, right? So he could be a vital piece to the future of this team and maybe one of the staples of the bullpen going forward. But for now, we don't know if Jordan Lawler is a bust or not.

I am going to have a very hard time saying negative things about Jordan Lawler right now while we talk about this because I will admit it, I like Jordan Lawler a lot. And you know me. am not unbiased when it comes to guys I like. And I will say that when you're nice to me, it's very easy to win me over. But also, Jordan seems to be like very excited about this opportunity. Jordan seems to be very committed to this change to outfield. And I think that athletically, he's gifted enough to do it. It's just a matter of what is he going to contribute

offensively? And is he going to be able to adapt and play outfield at a major league level where he knows the angles and can kind of navigate that porch out there in center field. You know, he was selected sixth overall in the 2021 MLB draft, and it feels like the Diamondbacks haven't had much luck here with their highly drafted prospects. But, again, development takes time, especially with how young some of these guys are.

Drew Jones is another guy that's venturing into the same territory as far as Lawler is concerned. He's also a guy I like, So much and is also it's you know participating in the WBC. He is a guy that I want to see have a successful You know march here with his WBC team and kind of break out a little bit and have that success Carry over to his time you know in the minor leagues and take take that next step forward right but yeah. I mean that's another that's that's that's the exact type of thing we're talking about. I think off the top of the show where it's like those high leverage situations matter and I feel like yes a guy like that is going to to play the most meaningful baseball he's ever played in his entire life. Yeah.

And then going to go back to Hillsborough and be like, man, this is way lower stakes than I thought it was. Right. But hungry, right? You get hungry, but the pressure. You get a taste of that, right? But the pressure off your back a little bit more. Yeah, that's true.

Which is like, I feel like, you know, maybe. For country is, there is going to be a lot of pressure there. It would appear that he's going to be a starter, right? I mean, at least in the projected lineups, I've seen that he's a starter. It would, it would be cool if he started. His dad's like somewhat running the show. So maybe it's a coach's son situation. That could always help.

But I mean, Jordan just, again, with the injury to Lordus, with the injury to Corbin, Jordan has no choice but to step up. They traded Jake McCarthy. They traded Blaze Alexander. There's nobody else to kind of step in. There is Tim Tawa. There is Jorge Barrosa. There's other guys that if Lawler isn't capable of doing it, that there are guys that

are fully capable of doing it. Tim Tawa, by the way, who Geraldo Pardomo was. trying to convince to go play Dominican winter league ball. That's probably my favorite thing that I've seen, Domo do. Per Domo was trying to get Tim Tawa? To go play, yeah, winter league ball. I love that.

He was like, he was basically like, it'll change your life. Like, it'll change. Probably was like, come live at my house. Oh, yeah.

Like, it's our crib now. Like, we're going to have the time of our lives. Right. Could you imagine the swag Tim Tawa would come back with if he went on that, if he actually did that? Oh, man.

You, braided hair. Tatoos. probably he would he would come back uh pronouncing bad bunny like by bonnie you know it probably would lock him in on as a roster spot on this team probably probably but uh lawler will get an extended look this spring in the outfield and that's probably like again he like if jordan lawler doesn't find a way to successfully convert to being an outfielder he might not even see regular season playing time due to those other guys like tim towa wants playing time or aubrosa

wants playing time. These guys are going to perform and they're going to compete as well during spring. Nothing is gifted to Lawler, but it's what, you know, it's where the team wants him to play and it's the opportunity he's being given. I just think at this point, it gets, if he doesn't find a way to have success at this level in this position, then his value starts dropping. I think that his value is already not at its peak and it's the big reason why he probably wasn't part of trade talks though I'm sure in some cases there might have been a desire internally to keep someone like Blaze Alexander over or Jordan right but I'm just speculating there I still think based on how high of a draft pick he is and based on you know everything that this

organization knows about him that they still believe in him and they still believe in him and they still think that he, you know, his development is coming along. You could argue that he has had a lot asked of him. You know, this is a guy that played a position that seemed to be blocked by Geraldo Pardomo and Cotell Marte, and he has done everything he can to try to play these other positions so that he can find a way onto a major league baseball field and get regular at bats. I believe once he gets regular at bats and has a place to play, he will find success.

because he has done it at every level of his career up to this point. So I still believe in Jordan, and I think that, you know, again, this might just be me doing the thing I said I was going to do earlier when I'm being biased about him because I like him. But I also think that he, you know, it's not exactly fair to ask a young player to start converting positions and to do it in kind of a rapid way. Like it felt like suddenly he was a third baseman and he kind of knew why he was, going to be a third baseman because they needed a third basement of the future. And you can't really say it didn't really work out, but now they have a guy who has a million

platinum gloves playing over there. So in order for him to get any kind of regular at bats and any regular playing time, the outfield seems to be the only path. And then even then, right, you're talking about him being in the outfield until Lordeus and Corbyn and Alec are all healthy. then he has to outperform Alec Thomas essentially to get playing time, which might not be the most difficult thing offensively, but he's going to have to be incredibly sound defensively out there in order to win playing time over Alec Thomas. And then he still has to put together, you know,

much better at bats than we saw for the majority of his season last year. Yeah, I mean, he just hasn't shown an ability to hit any sort of off speed pitch so far in his career. and until he fixes that, that's going to be the book on him. And they're going to keep throwing a lot his way, right? And so you hope that he can start jumping on fastballs better and then just show a little bit of development on the off speed side of things. But I mean, Jordan Lawler, like, it is a maker break year. But again, as there is with, I think the bullpen, there's room for optimism, right?

I agree. He hasn't gotten the opportunity that he will get this season yet in his career. And now the Red Sea has parted, if you will. And he is, you know, he just gets to, he gets to get a lot of bat bats all of a sudden. Yeah. So what do you have in store for this fan base and for this franchise? I think that, you know, hopefully, you know, this is, this is the year we finally see some life out of Jordan Lawler. And I think that would go a long way in terms of, you know, making this offense, you know, fine, as Mark puts it up there in the chat.

Like, if you can get contributions from Gabby, Lordis Lawler, who are like above, above. average players. Now all of a sudden the offense does look pretty decent, I would argue. Well, and also, I mean, he's been in this organization now for five years, Damon, which. Yeah. It's been a minute. Yeah. I mean, he rose through the organization fast, but then it kind of has stalled out, right? Yeah. Because injury and lack of opportunity and whatnot. And also, you know, like it felt like once they moved him, it kind of reset things. Not that, not to say that he was going to have some big opportunity to play shortstop or second base. But, You know, you could tell that.

I mean, I think the plan was shortstop until another guy decided I'm planting my flag in this position for a very, very long time. And rightfully so. I mean, that's, there was a lot of people that doubted whether the debacks should even allow Perdomo to be the opening day starter in 2024. And those people have a lot of have egg on their face. You know what I mean? Like, it's, that's a special circumstance that was like a positive thing for the debacks at least. I got to tell you this. Do you know how big, do you know how important

Catel Marte is to his teammates? I asked Drey Jameson on like the second day of camp. Just a, just like a normal, like, hey, how's it going? How's everything? And his response was a lot better now that we didn't trade a guy named Marty over there, right? Like his first response to me was like, Things are good because we didn't trade Marte, and that's one of his teammates.

So don't tell me that his teammates have a problem with Cotel Marte, because that's the first response that someone gets out of them. But yeah, like you said, there's a couple of guys that planted their flag that don't plan on leaving those positions anytime soon. But we're going to take a quick break. And on the other side of this break, we are going to talk about the ESPN's off-season grades for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And they probably nailed it. So we'll talk about it here in a moment. Don't you go anywhere?

You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Well, Circle K is my Thurstop. It's Damon's Thirstop. And it's America's Thirstop. So if you need to get yourself something to drink, especially on a cold day like this, go save yourself money on some hot coffee, maybe some hot chocolate,

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much like we hope this Diamondbacks team will overachieve. Join Eric Ruby, SPG, Gil, the voice of PHNX-D-Backs after dark theme song, ESPO and all of our sons diehards out at the watch party at Healer River Resorts and Casinos Wild Horse Pass. Watch Book and the Sons take on the San Antonio Spurs tomorrow. There will be a live pre-and-post-game. show. There will be food and drink specials and there will be PHNX giveaways. Of course, the Immaculate vibes are free as always. But you do ask our SVP for free to be entered into the

raffle. So do so now over at go phnx.com and then join us. We're going to be having a great time out there for sure. Also, how many days now until SPG gets hired by an NBA team as like an analyst or an assistant coach? It would be the sons because of his relationship with Jordan Ott. Oh, it would be the biggest fumble. They're almost symbiotic. Yeah, like it would be Matt Ishpia's biggest fumble if he didn't sign SBG. I would say it will happen within the next I mean, two off seasons

here. I mean, there might be, like, maybe next off season is a little bit too early, but like one more year of relationship building and they're going to be like, what are we doing? You need to get this guy in the building. I mean, it's insane. It's insane. That guy knows more about basketball than I know about

anything combined. So that's, that's probably not a good comparison. I'm probably not the best person. He knows more about basketball than Jesse does about baseball. I'm starting that fight. Wow. Of course, yeah, no, I had to throw it out there. I had to do it. I had to do it. I had to do it.

Friedman v. Prision Gardner. Yeah, I want to make the boxing posters now. It's on the undercard of Gina Carano versus Rhonda Rousey. It's going to be amazing. But I will tell you guys, of course, the Diamondbacks did get graded by ESPN for their off-season moves. And it is a grade that I think is probably pretty fair.

ESPN and Jeff Passon, they know their stuff over there. They gave the debacks a C-plus for their off-season moves, noting key additions of Zach Gallen, who re-signed, Merrill Kelly, Nolan Aeronado, Carlos Santana, Michael Soroka, Paul Seawald, and Cade Stroud. Key departures being Blaze Alexander and Jake McCarthy. I feel like that list seems kind of small. key departures.

But we did trade everybody at the trade deadline for the most part. And Zach Gallen ends up coming back here. So they do not lose him. I would argue that perhaps the Diamondbacks, if anything, deserve a B minus over a C plus. And I would argue with a teacher about that. Okay. And my argument is based on simple mathematics.

When you take a look at what the Diamondbacks are being hit up here for, for the group of guys that they were hit up for, They are, they, they sign Merrill Kelly for $20 million for 2026. We're just talking about 2026 numbers since most of these guys are either on a one year or two year deal with this team. So they get Merrill Kelly for $20 million. They have Nolan Aeronado as a member of this team for $5 million. They have Carlos Santana as a member of this team for $2.5 million, if I'm not mistaken. Right.

So we have 20, we have 25, and then 27.5 million. You throw in Michael Soroka, 7.5 million. Now we're up to 35 million. You have Paul Seawald at 1.5, 36.5 million. Cade Stroud was a trade, and then Zach Gallen comes back. Now, Zach Gallen's $22 million is $14 million of it is deferred. So you add $7 million on. And for the low, low price of essentially like $44 million,

the Diamondbacks added all of these pieces to this team. when you look at free agency, look at what Kyle Tucker is getting paid. The Diamondback spent what $20 million less than the Dodgers did for next year on these guys. And that deserves a better grade than a C plus. I think that is what is the most impressive thing about Mike Hazen, what Mike Hazen was able to do.

He was able to get the St. Louis Cardinals to eat a ridiculous amount of the contract for Nolan Aeronado. They were able to get Zach Gallen to agree to come back here on a one-year prove-it deal for himself and defer the majority of the money he's getting paid on that one-year prove-it deal. They have Merrill Kelly back here for two years, and quite frankly, of all these guys, Merrill Kelly is the guy that does deserve the biggest contract, getting that $40 million for two years. Merrill has earned it with the way he has pitched. Merrill was the best pitcher on this team last season,

and he has been the most consistent performer outside of, cramps, which again, let's get that HVAC system fixed faster than two seasons from now. But overall here, I think that the Diamondbacks did an excellent job this offseason. Are they contenders for a World Series title? I would be foolish to say that. I think anybody would. But are they going to be a competitive baseball team in 2026? Far more competitive than I thought they were going to be.

Far more competitive. And Damon can attest to that because Damon not only had to talk me down off the ledger, several times, but he looked at me and was disgusted with me. He was like, pick yourself up, Derek, you sniveling coward, we are going to go to the season

and fight! And he was right, because they are going to fight. And I don't hate the moves that were made. I think overall, the ESPN credited that the resigning of Gallin really bumped the grade up, probably from like a C-minus or maybe even a D for the Diamondbacks,

but I think that what the end result could be for this team is an incredible starting rotation. Corbin Burns, Zach Gallon, Merrill Kelly, Ryan Nelson, and then whoever of the other three guys really performs that earns

that spot, right? Because we have that in the future. We have a bullpen that will have AJ puck return in June and then J. Mart in August. So pieces are going to return and this team is going to get better as the season goes on. Not to mention if we

can somehow be a buyer at the trade deadline, perhaps the Diamondbacks can really add enough pieces to put themselves over the top to, in fact, become a contender. Because I would argue with Corbyn Burns and A.J. Puck and J. Mark, all as a part of this team, things look much better for this Diamondbacks organization than they currently do. You're going to be sick of hearing as much as you do from like Steve Berthume and, you know, people that cover this team. that the trade deadline acquisitions are coming in the way of Corbin.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that they're already. There's Dering C trade deadline acquisitions. Absolutely. Absolutely. You're going to hear it for me. Are you kidding me?

Yeah, Derek's going to do it as well. He's going to hear it around and have to use it a couple of times in his own right. But yeah, you're going to get sick of hearing that as much as you do. But in reality, it's the truth. You also just need to, I think, stay afloat to get to the trade deadline because if they're 500 at the deadline and those guys are. still, you know, in the early stages of coming back or going to come back soon. I think that the, this team with, you know, Tori being on an expiring deal with Mike

Hazen knowing that there's some pressure essentially. I would, I would think that they're going to go gun for it. If that's the case, if they're around 500, because they know that they have stars coming back and, you know, any, any sort of addition can can matter a lot. So I'm, I'm actually excited for this season because I don't really know what it's going to bring. It could be disappointing. I think it also could be, you know, a season that, you know, is a little bit unexpected and turns into a playoff appearance.

So Robert makes a good point when he says best in field, including Gabby and all of MLB. I like. It's hard with that first base position, man. But I'm telling. Unless we're talking defensively and then I completely agree with you. Yes. I think, yes, that's what we're talking about. Okay.

Offensively, a lot of questions here. In fact, one of the reasons why they weren't more excited about the office. season was Nolan Aeronado and Carlos Santana. Nolan Aeronado, wait, excuse me, let's get this straight. It's not Aeronado. It's Aeronado. We clarified that with him. You're Puerto Rican brother.

Let's get that. Let's all get on the same page. Let's all pronounce it the way the man and his family pronounced it. It's Arenado. He had an OPS plus of 87. Maybe when I'm correcting his name, I shouldn't say like, egregious things about his stats from 2025. But Carlos Santana had an OPS plus of 70.

And ESPN said both of these are uninspiring, and they're not wrong. But what I will say is, I believe in both of these guys to have a bounce back season. I don't know if Carlos Santana is going to really offer much production offensively, but I feel like his defense is going to be a vast upgrade of what they have over there now. And I do think that Tyler Locklear, when he returns, which sounds like it's going to be later than we anticipated, it's a good thing that they have Santana due to that. But I think Tyler Locklear, again, he is going to be a guy that is going to benefit most likely from this Carlos Santana situation.

And perhaps even Payman Smith does. Again, it's, I don't, I've said it before. I don't believe any of these guys are going to mentor the other guys. But when you're around a platinum gold glover like, you know, platinum glover, gold glover like are in auto, It's hard not for it to kind of rub off on you and for you to have discussions with them. And I mean, he's so far what I've seen out of Aeronado is he's an incredible teammate. He has been getting along well with everybody.

He's been like he looks like he's been a part of this team for years. Definitely commands respect, right? I mean, you can't be a platinum glove winner and not command respect, have as many home runs hits as this guy does and had the career that he's had without people being like he's a legend. But it's also the effort that he's putting in. Yeah. to mingle with his teammates and to become part of squad. Being that caliber of player and coming in with humility,

I think goes a long way for people. Yes. And it seems like he just wants to be a part of the team. And it's easy for him to be humble based on the numbers that he put up last year. He knows that he did not do well. It's the reason why on the first day of being a part of this team, Aranada was sending video of his swing to the coaches to try to start working just on day one. Right.

So I think part of that is feeling wanted as well. because you could tell how much disdain he had for the Cardinals for how things played out. 15 months of going through that. And I'm sure that. 15 months of what we went through with Cattel for a few months here during this off season. That's awful. I hope we never get that with Cattel. I hope to lose this number, uh, phrase, went loud and clear to all GMs across baseball.

Those talks are dead. We're not resurrecting them and we're moving on. Here's what I think is going to help with Catell. Opening day. lead off batter, number four, Cotel Marte, the loudest pop you're going to hear of any player, maybe the entire D-back season. I mean, it's going to be a sold-out crowd,

and it's going to be people on their feet standing up for their superstar who didn't get traded this off-season. And I think that's going to be like a big moment for him, not that he doesn't already feel this way, because I'm sure he sees the love that he's getting from the fan base, but like the fans love Catell. I think Tori loves Cattel and has had those conversations with him.

And so I feel like, you know, things are going to be all right on the Cattel side of things. I agree. I agree. We didn't handle it like the Cardinals are handled that they are an auto situation. They wanted him gone and were willing to pay 75% of his contract to get him gone. The D-backs were saying we want like an-old just doesn't like an unprecedented package for Catell, essentially is what the D-backs were saying for a second basement. Yeah. And no one gave us that offer.

Because it's unprecedented. 100%. And it stays unprecedented and we're fine with that. I have said it time and time again, but Catell still being a part of this team is one of the reasons why this team still has a chance to contend. And if they did not have Cotel, the outlook for 2026 would be far bleaker. And I don't know what they would have gotten back for C-Tel that would have made this

off-season grade be higher than a C-plus. But what I will say is I hope Aronado, see, I'm going to try to train myself to do it right, and Carlos Santana both prove a lot of naysayers wrong. And I hope they both have a resurgence here. It would be amazing. I also think that they're capable of it. I don't feel like this is a crossing my fingers thing. Perhaps I feel that a little bit more about Jordan Lottler playing center field. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it works.

I just don't know if it's going to. I already feel like what I've seen out of Aronado and I've seen out of Carlos Santana putting in the work, playing with their infield, bonding with their teammates this spring. I think this is going to be, in fact, as Robert said, one of if not the best infield defensively in baseball. So that's what we have to look forward to.

And of course, I thank you guys so much for joining us tonight. We appreciate your time. We love you. We will be back here with one last 5 p.m. show this week. And then we'll be back to 12 p.m. on Friday so that we can kind of hype up the first spring training game and then you guys can go watch Diamondbacks play some baseball,

real baseball against another team. So of course, we thank you guys for joining us until 5 p.m. tomorrow. Make sure to follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a DAWG. And as always, we're all Damon's dogs. Bark, bark.

Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs. But as always, all roads lead to at pHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram. Facebook and any other social media that exist out there. But again, thank you guys so much for stopping by. We'll see it tomorrow. Until then, hope you have a wonderful evening. And remember, kids, baseball is fun,

but it is so much more fun when it doesn't rain.