PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Josh Naylor & Eugenio Suárez DELIVER at the Plate for Diamondbacks in Spring Training

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Become a Diehard for just $36! This Week Only! http://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube While the Diamondbacks pitching competitions have been the talk of spring, two position players have been quietly putting up extraordinary numbers for the Snakes. We discuss the production of Josh Naylor & Eugenio Suárez as well as some of the prospects who have shined so far in camp. We also have more on the D-backs continuing to live in the Dodgers shadow, Chase Field being voted the worst ballpark in the NL by USA Today, and quality control problems at New Era. Join Derek and Kevin for the PHNX Diamondbacks Show LIVE! An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/ Gila River: Win a Lamborgini! Visit https://playatgila.com/promotion/350k-lamborghini-luxe-giveaway/ for details Branded Bills: Use code PHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! Check out FOCO merch and collectibles and use promo code “PHNX10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. Rugged Road: Gear up for your next adventure with Rugged Road Coolers - Your ultimate outdoor companion! Head to http://ruggedroadoutdoors.pxf.io/ALLCITY and use code PHNX for 10% off! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #dbacks #diamondbacks #arizonadiamondbacks #mlb #zacgallen #corbincarroll #ketelmarte #mlbtheshow #mlbtraderumors #tradedeadline #traderumors #allstargame Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks have some guys that are playing really well this spring. We're going to talk about their corners being super hot. We're also going to talk about if the Dodgers live rent-free in their heads. And if they do live rent-free in their heads, can we start charging some rent, some very high rent? They have plenty of money. Also, don't forget, this is the PHNX Ariana's podcast. That's what you're watching. We're starting in 30 seconds.

Don't you go anywhere. Everybody, welcome in to another edition of the PHNX-Dbacks podcast right here on B.HMX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of teasing stuff. Have you seen one of my tweets lately? And of course, welcome in to another edition of this podcast. I am pleased to be joined by you guys here in the chat. I'm pleased to also be joined by my producer on the ones and twos, large intimate Kevin Thomas. KT. How are you today? I'm much more of an Ariana Grande stand than I ever thought I was today. I'm a huge fan of hat companies everywhere. We got a hat for you then.

Hell you. Hold on to your butts because we got some hats. We got also some questions about the quality control over at New Era for sure. Certainly not as high as the quality control over a brand of bills. No, not at all. Not at all. Those people know what they're doing over there. Trust me, they wouldn't even let me screw up my own hat. So I appreciate them and their quality control.

This show, speaking of quality control, is brought to you by Waymo. And they are very good at quality control when it comes to getting us home safe and also not having to talk to a yappy driver. You can play your own music. And of course, it's a great way to get around town during spring training, especially if you're here from out of town and you've never experienced Waymo. So give them a shot. We appreciate them for sponsoring our spring training results.

The Arizona Diamondbacks win. They win their last two games since the last time we saw each other. They won today against the A's. They also win against the Royals. Good game today. Of course, this is something that's going to please a lot of people that watch this podcast. Pavin Smith went yard. That's right.

We've got to see some Pave and power. His first home run of the spring, I believe it, if I'm not mistaken. But regardless, a very effective one. Diamondbacks win, again, 5'2. Some guys really showed out today. And shout out to, excuse me, I forgot the person in our YouTube chat that asked for it. But asked for some more spring training results. And I apologize.

I do realize in going back and watching this, I've kind of, Kevin, steamrolled the spring training results and I think it's because of lack of belief in their importance, right? Because it's spring training. I don't want to get too excited about anything nor do I really want to get too upset about Justin Martinez's ERA right now, right? Yeah, but also there's also like there's just so many cool things going on, Derek. There are. Between like Josh Naler's suit game. We got different kind of cleats popping off right now. I told you about Josh Nailer. This man in Oakland was wearing a a suit, a beautiful suit, sparkly blue. And I asked about it, basically, big leaguers act like big leaguers.

They dress like big leaguers if you want to be a big leaguer. There's some advice for you, youngsters, if you want to be a big leger one of these days. But Payman Smith, definitely a guy that we would like to see getting some power going, like to see him doing some good things. Of course, Ryan Nelson was on the mound today. He went three and two thirds innings pitched. Did what Ryan Nelson does. In three and two thirds innings, he just gave up one home run.

And that was pretty much it. the only mistake of the day. He did strike out one. Gilbert Diaz looked great coming out of the bullpen. He gave them two and a thirds innings pitch. He allowed one hit, walk two, struck out two. No runs allowed. But the one guy that stands out for me today that caused some chaos there,

Juan Corneal, he caused some chaos. He's a youngster getting some time here late in the game. He singled, stole second, caused the throwing error, which then led to the go-ahead runs scoring, which I believe was Ryan Waldschmidt. uh, Waldie as we are going to call him from now on from this point on. Uh,

so yeah, some great things happening there. Uh, but mostly, uh, mostly young guys looking great, right? Uh,

and the win against the royals, we had both Merrill Kelly and Brandon fought pitching in that game yesterday. Uh, that was on Tuesday. Merrill Kelly did what Merrill Kelly always does. He went five and a third inning's pitched, allowed five hits, but didn't give up a single run.

Uh, did not walk anyone and struck out one. Meanwhile, brandon fought out of the pen. He went three innings. He allowed to, Three hits, one earned run, one walk, and two strikeouts. So not bad.

I mean, again, Brandon Fought hasn't had the strongest spring, but he has been working on things. And I'm not sure if there's any super concern there. I feel like sometimes the results that we're seeing, maybe out of the big three, like Brandon, Corbyn, Bruns, Zach Gallen, and Merrill Kelly might be a little too good to believe in because those guys have been absolutely shoving for this team, but some good stuff there from Brandon Fott as well, and that, you know, starting pitching matchup or competition that we've been talking about

doesn't feel like it's coming to any closer of, of progress or an end. What we are finding out today is that the Diamondbacks will be moving Jordan Montgomery to backfields for his next outing due to some rain that's expected here in the area. However, you know, it could be looked at as a move that absolutely is being done to kind of prevent Jordan Montgomery from potentially looking bad again in another outing. That might be what some people are suspicious here of. It's probably not the case.

I mean, there has been a lot of moving parts. Eduardo Rodriguez, for instance, had to have his start moved to a backfield game when it was raining last week as well. So it's not uncommon for this to happen. However, it's Jordan Montgomery, right? And it's a guy who a lot of people are very unsure of, unsure of in regards to what the future holds for him, how he is going to factor into this team, if he's going to make the starting rotation,

if the Diamondbacks are going to trade him. That's what all the questions right now are all about. But position players-wise, things are going very good for the Diamondbacks. And as Kevin and I discussed earlier, the guys really doing it are our corner guys are corner men uh this is an amazing time to be alive and be a gino swarz fan or a josh naler fan because both of these guys have been killing it uh in the game against the royals josh naler went two for three uh two rbi stole a base go look at our twitter account you could see i threw a kendrick ed on that that was his second

his second stolen base of the spring the man's a maniac and i love it and i can't wait to see him do more. He said afterwards that the catcher was a friend of his and you could see him kind of doing a mock about his catcher friend having kind of a weak arm and not getting him on the stolen base. Gino Suarez, another guy that contributed to that win, he was two for two with a walk and a double. And I mean, these guys didn't just do it in the win against the Royals. They've been doing it all spring. Let's take a look at their numbers. Let's take a look first at Josh Naylor's numbers because these are incredible. Josh Naylor's average right now is 4.83. He has a 515 on base percentage and a 1.136 OPS.

Only 5 RBI and no home runs, but I don't care about that. I know he's supposed to be the power guy, but I, you know, you're putting up these numbers and doing this other stuff. And I mean, that's, that's going to lead to the power.

His power will come and I'm not concerned about it at all. I'm just happy that he is a guy that has already shown that he can do kind of Diamondbacks baseball here a little bit, right? Like, this is a guy that wasn't supposed to be. be this athletic he's out there stealing bases he has a 483 batting average and he's just doing it every day for this team so far during spring training so uh real real great addition so far meanwhile as we've talked about a little bit christia walker uh the guy who he has replaced is

currently out i i believe still with an oblique strain i haven't seen an update on that but just as far as the two circumstances go uh the diamondbacks aren't in a terrible spot here with what ended up happening, despite the fact that we lost Walker. It feels like Josh Naylor is already adapted very quickly to this team. He's kind of beloved already by his teammates. Grandal Gritchick said, said he's not all there in the best possible way. That was how he described him. And I love that description.

That's a guy I want to hang out with. And another guy I want to hang out with is someone who has gorgeous hair and an amazing accident and a great smile and puts up these numbers. Let's look at Gino's numbers. We know it's Gino. Gino so far this spring hitting 355 with a 447 on base percentage. He has a 1.1-124 OPS, 13 RBI, two dingers. And look at that.

Look at that school boy picture there. That's a good picture you got there, Kevin of him. But yeah, man, I mean, it's just great to see these guys contributing so much. I know that we've had a slow start from a couple of other guys, right? Like Lord is coming back from his injury. He hasn't been doing so well at the plate. but again, it's a progression. The hope here is that the struggles that these guys are experiencing are good.

It's almost like you don't want maybe too much of this. Maybe you don't want Josh Naylor putting up these numbers because you don't want them, you know, gassing out and coming back down the earth by the time the season starts, it would be great for these numbers to be, you know, something that you see right off the bat in the regular season. Hopefully he's able to maintain it. Probably not because these numbers are crazy, but something good, as good, you know, something up there.

Meanwhile, Gino is just on the same tear that he ended last season on, and that's great to see. You know, again, I know that it's not like patterns or patterns, right? But again, there's that intrepidation with Corbyn Carol and Gino that they might start off the season as slow as, you know, they did last year. And that doesn't appear to be the case. Corbyn did miss some time with that lower back tightness. But Gino so far is just right on the money so far. And Corbyn was doing well, too, before he missed some time with the lower back tightness. So hopefully, again, he can get that all worked out prior to opening day and be back to the production that he had there early in spring.

There's some prospects killing it, too, that I would like to highlight as well. Jorge Barrosa was in this game today. He's been doing great. He has a 320 batting average, 433 on base percentage and a 913 OPS. The Diamondbacks potential first baseman of the future, Tristan English, in a very limited sample size, has a 429 batting average, a 500 on base. base percentage and a 1,000 OPS. So a couple of young prospects there that are doing some good things. And again, Tristan English, he's a name that we've seen in the organization.

And he's a guy that hopefully can, you know, get there because the Diamondbacks may have a need for a first baseman in the near future. Elise in the comments, aka Mike Hayeson, great to see you here, Mike. Says, I think Naylor is going to be streaky like Seawalk was when he's hot, he's hot. but he can have brutal cold streaks. Let's hope he stays more hot more this year. Yeah, absolutely. And like, again, I know he want to see like the power out of him, but I would take this especially right now, you know, just kind of more of a high batting average and a high

on base percentage for him early on in spring and let the power come naturally because I'm sure it will. He's a beast at the dish. And I think he will be that. But yeah, I mean, again, there's, that's probably a lot of guys. You could probably say a lot of guys go through some pretty brutal stretches at times and I know guys that we've seen on this team in the past have done that as well. So, you know, again, hopefully he can kind of work here with Mather and get himself in a position to maybe, you know, be a little bit more consistent. He's not a prospect, but I did want to talk about Trey Mancini because he's an incredible story and he's another guy that's absolutely killing.

it this spring. Mancini has a 421 batting average with a 450 oba on base percentage and a 976 OPS. But today, March 12th is the five-year anniversary of him having surgery. He was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. Obviously, I don't have to tell you how serious stage three colon cancer is, but it's, it's, you know, probably incredibly, you know, these kind of results are not typical. Let's just say that, right. So for him to be able to have a clean slate, have a clean bill of health now, and for him to be five years removed from that is amazing. He was a guy that was an incredible baseball player prior to, you know,

the limitation due to the surgery and everything like that. and he is an absolutely outstanding person. I had a brief opportunity to talk to him. I know a lot of people have spoken very highly of them. So somebody just you got to really root for, you know, and again, so far, putting up some really big numbers in a limited sample size this spring, but not really so limited. Like these guys are getting up there in their, in their, you know, plate appearances. So just good to see him coming back and contributing at the dish like this. But the Diamondbacks have a lot of good stories, a lot of smiles, a lot of fun things happen in out spring training.

Things are going to get serious, though, now. You know, we have, today is Wednesday, March 12th. So we are 15 days, almost two weeks away from opening day, which is very exciting. That's very exciting. Can't wait for that. We are going to be bringing you a pregame and post game show that day. So can't wait. That's a wonderful way to spend my birthday week as with.

with opening day. But I will say this, that there's going to be a lot of difficult decisions to be made by Tori Lavallo and his staff about, you know, a lot of things here. Obviously, there's a lot of young prospects that aren't really expecting to make, you know, the team. Yet it's, you know, it's at least a chance for them to show out and, you know, kind of make a good impression on Tori, on his staff, on the front office, on a lot of people here. And a lot of these guys, like Barrosa, like Tristan English, are doing so. Let's see what we got. Elise said, Gino, April through June was especially cold.

Yeah, that was about as cold as anybody could be. I don't forget. I kept a list of all of you trade Gino, cut Gino people. And I still have that list, by the way. Ina Jackson said, would love to see Mancini on the 40 man, but not sure how that happens. And that's exactly the problem. And that's why I bring this up. Like there are guys that are absolutely killing it in spring training and they are probably not going to be a part of the 40 man roster.

The Diamondbacks have so much talent. That's why it is so absolutely exciting to be a fan of this team right now. And again, I can't stress that enough because this is like the best possible scenario where the decisions made aren't going to be how do we fill this roster? How do we fill certain spots? how do we provide ourselves with that depth? It's just going to be, you know, who, going to be all about, you know, who is the best here and who's performing well, who can contribute to this team.

I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. But when you start looking at the roster spots, when you start looking at who you as a fan and me, you know, as someone that talks to Tori, we probably agree. on who is in and who is kind of on the bubble, right? And so when you start looking more importantly at who is in on the roster,

you'll start seeing very quickly how limited space is, right? And again, if one of the starting pitchers ends up in the bullpen, that pretty much at this point by process of elimination just leaves one roster spot. We had Dre Jameson really impressing the other day against the Dodgers. He hit 100 miles per hour on the strike zone. apparently it had show hey a little shook and then obviously scott mcguff really had show hey shook i didn't get a chance to see all of that because i was in a car driving but i won't lie very much enjoyed um all

of that but uh again dray jameson is another guy that's fighting for that spot there's a couple of other pitchers that are right there with him as well so uh that's going to be a tough competition for that and we already know how tough the competition is for the starting uh starting rotation so it's good and it's fun but things are going to get serious now and a lot of tough decisions are going to be made here in these next two weeks and we'll see what ends up happening for for troy and his pitching staff pitching staff and everything but uh this team is going to have options and that's another thing that's good uh competition isn't just in spring training remember that the competition remains because if guys are performing and other guys aren't uh there's a good chance that a swap can easily happen. Decisions can be made later. And I think at this point, the Diamondbacks very much seem all in on this season. They went out and did the thing with Corbyn Burns.

They added the pieces that they needed to add. And we know about the personal, I guess the personal goals here that the guys have. So many guys are in a walk year. You got even the newly added Josh Naylor, who is a free agent after this season, potentially. So if these guys want to go out there and strike it rich, if you will, they'll need to perform this season for the team. Plenty of motivation to get it done and plenty of talent on this team in order to make them a contender. But are we just always going to be the little brother to the Dodgers? Are we always going to do that?

Are we still doing that? Because that's what we're talking about on the other side of this break. Don't you guys go anywhere. You're watching the P.HNX Diamondback Show. Well, again, a big shout out to our. friends at Waymo. Waymo, of course, our autonomous ride-hailing service consists entirely of an all-electric Jaguar-I-Pace vehicle fleet.

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All right. Well, I just, I just have to say, I'm probably guilty of this. Kevin, we are definitely guilty of this on this show because we constantly just openly admit that we play second fiddle to the Dodgers, right? As if we forgot what the hell happened in 20, 23. It wasn't that long ago when we absolutely smoke them in the playoffs, right? We didn't have a great last 10 games against them. But still, none the last. I know they're in the N.O. West. I know they spent a lot of money. I know they get all the free agents. I know that they have all the money. I've already said that part. Oh, man, they have so much money. Can you imagine having that much money?

No, I can't. But I feel like the conversation always comes down to, you know, questions about can the Diamondbacks compete with the Dodgers? And a lot of people, a lot of analysts have picked the Dodgers to kind of maybe not be so good next year. And when I say that, I mean, win a slight amount of games less, but they're still choosing them to win the N.O. West, and they're still choosing them to win it by a wide margin. However, everybody is kind of also keeping their eye on the Diamondbacks.

And it's hard not to, considering what they added this offseason and considering that, in all honesty, they have to do things like Atta Corbin Burns if they do want to keep up with the Dodgers. So, yeah, I guess we are kind of always living in the shadow a bit of the Dodgers. but does it really matter? I mean, really when it comes down to it, like I said, look what happened a few years ago. And again, we don't know what would have happened in the playoffs last year, but the Diamondbacks came one game shy,

not even game shy, half a game shy, or a series. Don't even give me, I'm so mad right now, even bringing up the bets and the Braves. I want to puke right now just thinking about that game. But anyway, here yesterday, our friends from foul territory, who we know and love and I have appeared on their show, for some reason, inexplicably for some reason. Jesse was also on their show as well.

But they were out at camp yesterday and they had a chance to stop by and talk to Mike Hazen. Here is what Mike Hazen had to say in regards to competing with the Dodgers. Yeah, I try not to think about what they're doing too much. I mean, what are you want me to say? You know, look, they... You guys beat them? Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, Mike.

I appreciate that. Yep, that was a good reminder. Look, they're one of the best run organizations in sport. That's probably the biggest problem we have is it's not just that they have the resources to do what they do. Go look at how they draft and develop. Go look at the young kids that are on their roster. They're given the opportunity to make trades or, you know, withstand the pitching injuries they had. Let's say last year, it's all because of the guys under the hood over there.

And so that's the biggest issue we have is that it's not just they have the resources. It's they're one of the best run organizations. and we have a tremendous amount of respect. We're going to have to deal with them. It is what it is. Everybody has to deal with them, but we are going to have to deal with them. But I try not to focus too much on that. We consciously try to focus on the race that we're going to run,

that we have to run over 162, and I think with the talent that we have on this roster, if we do our job, we're going to at least be able to go out there and go toe-to-to-to-to-with them at some point. There comes a point in life where you can't really worry about one team, right? the Diamondbacks did have to do something, I think, or at least maybe they didn't have to do something. JM here in the chat says I think Burns signing was more of an opportunity with him being a Valley resident. There are enough pieces in the miners to have sustained success.

And he's right. Like maybe the Corbyn Burns signing wasn't as much of an active move by the front office as much as it was just an opportunity that fell into their lap that they were smart enough to jump on and spend more money. than they were probably wanting to spend, knowing that they were bringing in a guy of that level of talent. But RA is absolutely right here. Super team can never beat the power of friendship. The deferrals are lucky. We miss the playoff by one game.

And that's the thing is the Diamondbacks are a different team. They ran differently. The vibes are different. The connection is different. And I think that what Mike Hazen said there is very, very important. The thing to remember is that we don't even play that. many games against division rivals anymore. It's not the old days of playing as,

you know what I mean? Like the four, I think it's 14 games, you know, so as far as it goes, the Dodgers, you know, are a menace.

The Dodgers are something to worry about when it comes to watching the, you know, watching the standings and doing that kind of thing. But the Dodgers aren't really a thing to be worried about in the, in the day to day, you know, running of the team, right? The Dodgers aren't really a thing.

The dime actually just have to worry about what their business is every single day. They have all the pieces here. Like I said earlier, this is a very talented roster. And, you know, I think J.M. said they're only about 11% of our schedule, handle our own business. That's exactly it, right? But it's also always good to hear from one Kevin Ginkle when it comes to Los Angeles Dodgers because he never holds back.

here's what Gink had to say on foul territory. Can you beat L.A.? Of course. I mean, I like to think every time we play them, they play a little bit tighter. You know, I don't know how, you know, like what their dynamic is, right? But, you know, their expectation is to win every game.

And I think when the lights are on and we play those big games in the middle of the season, you know, they're going to give us their age. game and we're going to try and give ours but we can beat those guys man i i feel very confident in the playoffs you guys were the last team right and i think that kind of like set the tone for what the future was going to be right so i think that time when we had that run in 2023 it kind of shocked everyone because i think for a long time we struggled against them and um to come into that series and kind of take it to them early on um i think it just kind of set them back and

It shocked everyone to be honest. But, you know, we're, I think we're a better team than what we were a couple of years ago. And obviously, they're really good, too. They're like, you know, they're going to have our work cut out for us. But I like how it's stacked up. It just, it comes back to my overall point is, you know, do the Dodgers live rent-free in our head, in the Diamondbacks heads? I don't know. I mean, it comes down to, you know, them always being asked about.

the Dodgers and for good reason going back there about what Mike Hayes and said it's not just about the talent that they were able to acquire every team every once in a while goes out there and spends a lot of money and gets talented players and makes the roster better it's how well the dodgers are run as a as a business as an organization as like not just as good at so good at going out there and being the premier destination for free agents to land but also being able to go out there and and have minor leaguers that come up and and contribute they'll add somebody that another team dumped and suddenly that guy will be one of the best players in the league.

We joke about it all the time, but there's a reason why that joke is based in reality in some way. It's because these goddamn Dodgers are so good right now. The team is such a well-run organization. And at least, again, going back to the competition I was talking about bringing out the best in the team and the players, competition like this brings out the best in the Diamondbacks organization, because it has to. Are you going to sit idly by and let the Dodgers just run away with it and not even, you know, put up a fight? It does feel like a few teams in the NL West might be doing that. The Rockies are rebuilding and they have a fun, exciting team if you've been paying attention to what they've been doing this spring.

The Padres have an internal fight over control of the team currently going on that seems like it's impacting things. It might not actually be on a day-to-day operational kind of standpoint, but it does feel like it's impacting things over there. And the Giants took some big swings and misses. I mean, honestly, the biggest thing that the Diamondbacks did in regards to the Giants was stealing Corbyn Burns away when reports were that he was going to sign there. That drastically felt like it changed things and swung things in the Diamondbacks direction to be that second team.

But that's what it feels like any of the NLS. could ever be right now is the second team who knows what happens maybe the diamondbacks come out hot maybe they take a lead and then you know inevitably give it back we've seen that happen in the past i also think that overall it doesn't really matter i think that's what it comes down to is we've already seen we've had a taste of what the diamondbacks can do in the playoffs if given an opportunity and we've seen that they're not the only team that comes in as a sixth seed uh a wild card and some runs away with it and makes it to the world series. So it's something that's exciting.

And again, that entire wildcard thing makes the, who wins the division, you know, argument kind of a moot point, right? It's like, yes, they might win the division, but a lot of people are winning,

picking the diamondbacks to win a wild card spot. And that's really all that matters. Just give us a chance. I do find it funny, though, Kevin, that basically a lot of people are like, I would pick the Diamondbacks to win four divisions in baseball that weren't the NL West

and that's something that you have to like. You really do, but honestly, Derek, they could win the NOS. They could do it. They can do it. There's no like, yeah, there's no discounting them this early, right? Baseball is a marathon and there's so many factors, right?

Variables that can contribute to a team not, you know, not being 100%. And again, the Diamondbacks, the one, the one thing that Diamondbacks, that Diamondbacks have done is they're like they're like my friend Jared who is so annoying to go on vacation with because he

brings so much stuff but he is so prepared for every single scenario it doesn't matter it doesn't matter are you going to get sick in what way are you going to get sick Jared's going to have a pill for you that's the way it's going to work right the Diamondbacks right now they are

unnecessarily prepared because they just went through a catastrophic season when it came to injuries. And even with how catastrophic those injuries were, they fell one game short of the playoffs. So never again. I will never go without Advil in my bag.

I will never go without Band-Aids. Have I ever cut myself? Not once, but I'm taking Band-Aids every single time because you've got to be prepared just in case anything happens. And the Diamondbacks, with their depth, feel very prepared. They feel like they brought an unnecessary amount of, stuff on this particular trip but uh again that's that's the difference i will say this though rogu sasaki has looked so good it's like again remember that that that's how good he is it makes

me sick uh how good he absolutely is and uh i hate it i hated a whole bunch and i uh i really wish that we somehow would have figured out a way to have an eight man rotation and bring him over here as well. But we got our guy. Corbyn Burns, very, very good. Zach Gallen, Merrill Kelly, they have also been very good. In fact, there was a tweet I saw that, of course, I can't bring up right now in time, but the Diamondbacks, the three of them have like a combined 2.1 ERA and are killing it for this team. So really, when it comes down to the playoffs you need three guys maybe you need four but you mostly need three guys and the diamondbacks top three guys they are very good so get us to the playoffs give us a chance and i don't give a damn if the

dodgers are there or not uh we're going to do our own thing like kendrick what wop wop wop wop i'm going to do my thing uh anyway so we can go on uh and we can talk about the fact that despite the diamond back might be very good this year. Apparently, nobody wants to watch games at Chase Field because it might be the worst ballpark in the National League. I'm not ready to call it that. But let's get those renovations started as much as possible. We are going to talk about USA Today, apparently voting Chase Field as one of the worst

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Well, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Carol Royce and her team yesterday. And let me tell you, Carol Royce is who you need to go to if you need help purchasing a home or selling a home. Whether you're a first-time home buyer or a season pro, buying a home, it can be tricky. And the thing about it with Carol Royce is she will help you through the process. She can advise you on so many things more than just purchasing a home. And her team will stand by you. She discussed with us how many people have only purchased homes with Carol after meeting her team, after learning, you know, obviously how much they care about their customers and, you know,

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You can call them at 623-204-1476 or visit all-proshaids.com to schedule your free estimate. Well, thanks to all pro shades. We get to talk about Chase Field being voted the worst place in the National League to watch baseball games. Really? Really? Well, you know what I'm going to say, Kevin? I don't feel like this would have gone this way if they wouldn't have taken the cold stone creamery ice cream

out of the press box that they used to have in there for free. Facts. That's a fact. I do want to say that shout out to Las Vegas aviators for taking great care of us when it came to food and such. Not that I'm throwing shade at all in any way, shape, or form. I just wanted to put that out there. But a recent poll from eight USA Today network reporters and editors ranked Major League Baseball Stadium across baseball for ahead of the 2025 stadium.

And God damn it. Chase Field was rated only ahead of Chicago White Sox Rate Field, which opened in 1991. As you know, Chase Field opened in 1998. Two stadiums of the 30 teams were excluded from the rankings, obviously, Tampa Bay situation. and the athletics situation, which both are moving to minor league ballparks. So those ballparks weren't judged. But regardless, as you may know, both of those are American League teams. And so are the Chicago White Sox.

So what does that mean? Does that really mean that Chase Field is the worst ballpark in the National League? Kevin? Is it? No. Any ballpark of the pool cannot be the worst, brother. That's what I'm saying. I mean, is this, are people still mad about,

you're going to get the roof opening music back? You'll get that back. I get the issues with Chasefield, but worst is pretty dramatic. I think the problem is that when I was, again, in Las Vegas at the Aviators game, the one thing I noticed is a ton of standing room only space in a variety of different ways.

So if you went there and either purchased just a standing room only ticket or if you're there and your friends are there and you guys are sitting in different sections, you have a chance to mingle and hang out in a space where you're not going to have security guards constantly harassing you about keeping it moving. Keep it moving, right? So there's that. And I think that it extends beyond just having standing room for fans. Most ballparks now have party decks and various areas. you know if you've been to the pH and X center is that what it's called that right the phnx that's what's called I mean it's what we're calling it here it's the pHX center but right I don't know the pH and X center over there it has lovely standing room only places bars you can hang out at all sorts of all over the place they're closed during

wrestling events which make me very angry and it still confuses me quite a bit but still plenty of places for you to hang out with your friends like that's what going to a sporting event is all about and we turned it into a thing where it's become so restrictive that I can't even you know like copy my friend's ticket and go sit on the floor with him like I used to anymore because the ticket master app has the thing that moves back and forth uh but yeah that again that's don't act like me don't be like me uh be a better person but uh PNC park by the way which was open just uh three years after Chase field uh was awarded the highest honors so I don't know if date is necessarily a factor here, but maybe planning is.

PNC Park is on a different level as far as the views and stuff. So I'm not even going to try to say like you can match what PNC Park has going on. However, I think the fact that we live in this Godforsaken state that human being should have never established, you know, homes in, you know, we should have, like, it's an affront to God to live in Arizona, right? That's why it's 122 degrees here during the summer. Not only should we not have baseball here, we shouldn't live here. This place, the sun is actively trying to kill us.

I've told you that. That's why you need all pro shades concepts. You need them to give you more space to hang out because the sun is always after you, right? So I think that's the biggest factor here is that, you know, Chase Field obviously is a victim of, you know, needing to essentially be a closed, poorly air-conditioned facility due to the heat. the extreme heat in the summer, right? So, but I mean, I don't know. I think that there's a lot that they could do with these renovations that they have coming up.

Hopefully, uh, this house bill and everything gets approved, allowing the diamondbacks to proceed with, with, you know, I guess, you know, starting to, starting to improve this facility. And I know that they want to put in a considerable amount of money themselves. So it's not just on, you know, this bill, right? Like the diamondbacks want to contribute, uh, you know, $150, $200 million, I believe, I, I read to, you know, these renovations right away. So things can get underway. And it sounds like they're going to be major renovations.

You know, they're going to be adding additional suites. Hopefully they're going to be providing some more standing room only areas that I was just complaining about. And I really think Chase Field can use a way for them to figure. I hope they can figure out a way to just let some more natural light in without it roasting the people on the first baseline. right because that's really what it comes down to is as much natural light as you can let in i've been in the press box when the sun once again what i told you about the sun uh it's a star it doesn't know any better it's not like actively trying to kill us but it kind of all it is it's kind of its nature i know it provides us warmth and we wouldn't be here without it but this isn't a biology class it comes in

the window and shines right in my face around 435 o'clock for enough time that makes me regret ever um accepting any kind of job of covering this team and sitting in that box, right? So there's that. There's that to deal with when it comes to Arizona and having a ballpark here. And I don't think at the end of the day, Chase Field or the Diamondbacks are going anywhere. I think that everything's going to go through. They're going to make some great renovations. But will it be enough to get it higher on this list?

I don't know. I just, I'd want Chase Field to be a place that people want to spend time at. I want it to be an enjoyable place. I spent a lot of time there. You guys spent a lot of time there. I want it to be great. Maybe let us all go hang out in the pool more regularly. I don't know.

Maybe make it not a sweet. That might perk things up. Let's see what they have. Oh, everything is. I think this is all from the Dodgers organization stuff as well. So Elise says they need new windows doors that are properly sealed to keep the cold air. The building does get inside. The old infrastructure is a big reason for the issues with the temperature.

Great point. Yep, got a, do we, we don't have a windows and doors guy, do we, that we can send over there? Not yet. No, I don't think so. We'll get Max on that. I'll get Max on that. I'll get Max on that. I'll get Max on a windows and doors guy.

But yeah, you got to get those. Got to replace a lot of stuff. The sun here is terrible. Again, I tried to tell that to the water park across the street from my house. Nobody over there will listen. And it looks like people that, it's six flags. They don't, again, they don't run. I'm probably eliminating a lot of sponsors with a lot of the negative things.

I've been saying, but R.A. says take down those panels with the generic stock photos to let more light in. Yes, I love that. I think just take them down and put windows there. That's not face, that, that area that of the outfield doesn't face the sun at any time during the day. So it's always going to be natural light without the sun coming in and, and roasting people. So that's a great idea. But the Diamondbacks are doing what they do, of course, and that's new food. Darren Roval posted this. What do we got? Kev? What new food do we have coming to Chase Field? I don't. Darren said new at DeBacks games this season. Filthy Mac fries. Cajun Crinkle Cup friend tries, white cheddar mac, cheddar cheese, pork belly bacon, cola barbecue sauce, slaw, crispy onions.

And if you weren't done yet, scallions sprinkled over the top. Well, sign me up. I'm hungry, Derek. Sign me up. That's all I can think when I hear everything that you just said. The Diamondbacks do have a what's new at Chase Day over there with my friend, chef Stephen Tilder. Can't wait for that. That's on Tuesday, March 18th. So I will be there stuffing my face and reporting back on how delicious all this food is.

But at least they're giving us some new food. And hopefully, like Elise said, hopefully they give us some new doors and some new windows. windows. That isn't a fun upgrade, but man, it would make a difference. Yeah, sometimes you have to be an adult. Trust me, I'm going through this myself. I spent a lot of time putting up a second TV in my living room and not spend enough time on the plumbing in my house, which that's a whole other thing. But we'll talk a little bit more about quality control. And when I say quality control, I mean when it comes to a new line of hats from new era that is getting a whole lot of attention. And a lot of it doesn't make any sense.

You're watching the PHNX Arianas podcast. We'll be right back after this break. Well, the Sons are playing tonight, and of course, it's always good to watch the Sons over at Spanados, the official pizzeria of the Phoenix Sons, where you can win pizza for a year. It is the place to be for Suns fans.

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You can also win some free Suns tickets to the game on April 9th. And what's better than free tickets and free pizza? Hanging out with cool people like the Phoenix Suns dancers and my buddy, the gorilla. I always have to name drop that me and the gorilla know each other. We're like this. But mark your calendar, sons fans. The excitement starts at Spanados. Get all the info on the watch parties and pizza basketball contest over at Spanados pizzeria.com.

Spanados official pizza of the Phoenix Suns. and the pure edibles and our friends of pure edibles is the official edible of my car drive to Las Vegas. They were founded in Arizona and are available at 130 dispensary statewide. And if you need to survive riding with Stadler and Waldorf from the Muppets, you can use yourself some pure edibles as well. They're not covered in sugar like all their competitors and their effects are clearly marked on their package. they are intended to share or rip for proper dosing. And of course, they offer gummies for sleep support as well as candies with uplifting effects derived from unique cannabinoids. And I won't get into all those because there's no reason.

I'm no scientist, but what I can tell you is they work and they work well, especially the sleep gummy. So check them out. Go find yourself some pure edible products from one of over 130 dispensaries across Arizona. And live a better life. Live a better life. Give them a shot. And again, car rides that you're stuck in the back of, they work really well for that. Another thing that doesn't seem to work really well, Kevin, is the quality control over at New Era.

The quality control at New Era seems to be out of control. I don't know how things like this happen. Like I understand mistakes. I understand sometimes when a decision is made, like some of the decisions with the jerseys last year, right? Yeah, the white see-through pants. were embarrassing when it came to the Diamondbacks, or baseball's jerseys, MLB's jerseys. But what I found to be more egregious and more embarrassing was the tiny letters. I don't like that.

But these hats are something. Kev, we have a look at the hats in question. Oh, boy. I'm going to get myself in trouble in this segment, aren't I? I'm going to get a phone call from Jacob before this is over. But, yeah, there's the Arianas. and and and the and the and the and the and the tettos and the anales. And the annals.

I didn't make the hats they did. This isn't you're forcing me to read them. And that's not my fault. You put your stupid names in my mouth and now I have to say, whoa, I can't. Never mind. Kevin, don't. We shouldn't even do this. But what's crazy is is that again, I understand sometimes when designs are made, right?

Like we come up with stuff here and we run it across other people. people and typically someone goes, hey, that's a bad idea. You probably shouldn't do that for this reason, that reason, or another reason. I don't understand how a company that makes and designs hats and merchandise and clothing didn't see this before the internet ran amok with it. Right? Like, and now they're pulling the hats, some of the hats off the shelves, not all of them, but they pulled the Texas hat for that being kind of a curse word that I said here out loud

in in in in Spanish but the Texas hat is going crazy it's going crazy I think John boy reported that on eBay it is selling for a thousand dollars all day long so if you purchased one of those hats and you are looking to make yourself a tidy little profit I would suggest very quickly maybe before people lose interest that you go out there and sell yours it's not a bad idea but man that's kind of crazy to me one that people would be willing to pay so much for just such a juvenile joke that I admit I would pay that much for a juvenile joke. But it's also, again, the fact that these got to production and that they got out there and that people have them and that this was clearly such a bad idea.

I mean, I'm not really overreacting here to this that I just can't believe a company that actually designs merchandise would do this, Kevin. It's kind of shocking, right? Like, this got by all levels of quality control and not one person was like, you know, think that kind of doesn't say what you think it does. I feel like what it comes down to is people being entirely too busy and not actually paying attention to what those things could, you know, what it looks like, right? Like like what people did with them.

They were just seeing the team, you know, the name of the team in the background, the city or the state with the logo in front. And we're like, what's wrong with this? This is innocent and fine. I will say that that is the exact reason overall why. like editors and such exist. Is it not? I mean,

we have editors and the point of an editor is for that person to catch something you did that you don't see with your own eyes. That's a hard thing to do. When you're designing something or writing something, you're not going to just typically make, you know, see your own mistake sometimes. You're just going to see the idea you had, the concept you had.

So like, how does a company like New Era not have that? I don't know. I'm what I don't have stock in them so I don't really care maybe this is like maybe this is like some sort of reverse any any press is good press kind of situation. Yeah, but then do you pull the hat? That's the question. Yeah, because now the new era. Oh, the he's the new era hat.

The heat's too hot. The heat's too hot. The heat's too hot. And so people are like, oh, new era is a valuable thing. If I was new era, I would just start selling them under aliases on eBay. That's what I was going to say. Honestly, some of these companies need to like leak their designs early, like on a burner on Twitter. Yeah, and see what the reaction is going to get.

And just see if it's flamed or see if people are like, yo, is this real? Like, did you make that? Or like, that's fire. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, there's some egregious upcharges on eBay at times. But Ina Jackson said, like, didn't someone proof read? I mean, that's what I'm saying, I know.

How do we not have people got to have people making, making, making sure that these mistakes don't get made. But I don't know. Do you want an Ariana hat? I think we put out Ariana wearing the hat. And that's very, I guess, a little, it's a hat on a hat.

But it still worked as a joke. I was going to say, Derek, like, how long until Ariana shows up to a D-Bax game now? Like, can we get Ariana to show to a D-Bax game? The way Vanessa Hudgens shows up to, like, W-D-W-W-E stuff. I saw Vanessa Hudgens at Innings Fest. So there's also that.

Yeah, she's all over the place. She is a true Arizona Valley legend. But I don't know. I don't know how this stuff happens. I'm still less concerned about this and more concerned about where are my city connect jerseys. Times ticking, pal. We don't have a lot of time left before opening day. And I was promised new city connect jerseys before opening day.

You see this shirt I'm wearing? This is the mood I'm in. Do you see this hat I'm wearing? I don't need to tell you. I was out of Las Vegas and that's all I saw. It's all I saw, Kevin. It's all I saw. It's a beautiful era of a beautiful brand.

I even saw Marte and Corbyn Carroll jerseys in the purple old school jerseys. Like, what? Yeah, people were rocking the vest. That's fine. Yeah, they were rocking the vest with Marte and I saw like a throwback black Corbyn Carroll jersey. I don't know if they're getting them bootleg off eBay or what, but maybe. They're getting their, they're getting their, Texas hats and they're getting their Corby and Carroll purple jerseys. But give me my stuff.

I want my stuff. I can't wait. Diamondbacks, of course, spring training rolls on. If you haven't had a chance to go out, get it, go see spring training. Don't miss it. You'll keep putting it off. And then next thing you know, it'll be over and you'll be sad. And you won't have a chance to go actually enjoy sitting on the lawn and watching outdoor baseball before they're back at Chase Field, which apparently is the worst place.

to watch baseball in the National League. I just can't believe that. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. I don't want to believe it. Bias and hatred. It is. It's bias to the desert, but like I said, we shouldn't live here anyway. Anyway,

but we do, and it's beautiful during this time of the year, and none of us are going anywhere, so I'm happy to be here. I'm glad you guys are here, and let's watch the Diamondbacks during the regular season, win some games. I can't wait. Until then, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore

Cape Man with the K. Brandon Steven says any news on when we may see the new City Connect releases. Brandon, as far as I know, it is supposed to happen before the end of spring training. So, sometime in the next two weeks. Get excited.

Espo sent out a picture in our Discord. That was very interesting. It was like a purple shirt with Serpientis snake S in teal and it was outlined in copper. If that is a little taste of what's to come, I'm excited. I'm excited.

So we don't have too much time before spring training ends. So let's get that. Let me give me my stuff. Give me my stuff. Anyway, we thank you guys so much for stopping by again. I'm at cap underscore K, Matt with a K. Large intimate, Kevin Thomas is at Kev-O posts. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Bex.

But as always, all roads lead to at PHNX. underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I have a very exciting announcement in regards to the show coming up here very soon. So guys stay tuned for that. Hopefully it will be something that you guys are excited to hear. And yeah, appreciate you guys stopping by. Jagurtha, you stop by too late. We got to get out of here, Jagurtha, but we've never been more back.

Jagurtha's here. We've never been more back. Ina says, visors, please? are we talking about you want the diamondbacks to wear visors i'm going to need a clarification from you on twitter we'll talk later but uh again we appreciate the rest of you guys so much for stopping by r a we thank you for being here thank the rest of you guys for being here elise we thank you for doing a great job at being the gym of this team we will see you guys on friday hope you have a wonderful evening and a wonderful thursday until then behave yourselves and remember kids

baseball is fun but it is so much more fun when you have corbin burns zach gallen and merrill kelly as your big three.