PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Multiply the Zachs

Episode Date: May 24, 2022

On this episode, Jesse and Derek answer Mailbag Monday questions and are joined by D-backs pitcher Joe Mantiply to discuss the success he's been having this season against both lefties and righties, working with Brent Strom, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here at PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of PHNX. I'm joined by my vice mayor, the one and only Thunderstick Jesse Friedman. Derek, it's a great day on the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast. We've got Zach Ranky back in town. It's mailbag Monday. Joe Mantiply is joining the show today.

It's going to be a fun one. So many things, Jesse. I'm so excited to myself. But of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks. at the Draft King Sportsbook. Go download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. If you haven't had a chance to do so, new customers can get down on the third round of NBA playoff action

just simply by betting on a team to win. You bet $5 on any NBA team to win. And my suggestion would be bet against the Dallas Mavericks because screw the Mavericks. And you will get $150 in free bets if they win. So any new customers out there go get down on the action over at the Draft King's sports book. Jesse, yes, like you mentioned, full show today.

We're joined by Joe Mantipli shortly, but of course, we are here talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks, continuing to roll. They have a series coming up against the Kansas City Royals, something that they don't do too often. It's a two-game set, makes it a little awkward, weird kind of two-game set here in the middle of some four-game sets and some three-game sets and whatever. The scheduling is weird. The Diamondback schedule is a nightmare, by the way. So, again, this is why we talk about series like this against teams like the Kansas City Royal. that you really have to kind of jump all over teams like this. You really do.

You really do. I mean, the Kansas City Royals are not a great baseball team, Derek. I mean, I think that's pretty well documented at this point. They're around 10 games under 500 right now. And there's a reason for that. I mean, they don't have a whole lot going for them. The offense is pretty rough. Zach Granky is about the only thing that's going right for them on the pitching side of things.

So, yeah, I mean, this is a, a good opportunity for the Diamondbacks to keep pressing forward and continue to build momentum after that series win in Chicago. Patrick Lyons from the DNVR podcast called him Donald in a tweet. And I don't know where he gets off calling Zachary Granky Donald. But we, of course, have him listed in our probabilities as correctly as Zachary, Zachary, Granky going up against Zach Davies, a lot of Zacks in here. I think maybe John Paul Heasley needs to consider changing one of his names to Zach.

I don't know. That would really round things out here. It would have been nice, I think, to Z Zach Gallen match up with Zach Granky a little bit. Yeah, sure. You know, kind of our past ace versus our future ace or our current ace, but this is how the series breaks down. And I think the Arizona Diamondbacks have an excellent chance to win against even Zachary Granky here. But yeah, I mean, taking a look back at Zach Granky, he was a big acquisition for this team. And again, the Diamondbacks were kind of in a position when they went after Zach Granky, that they are just a little bit now where they were surprisingly good, better than expected.

And the team went out and acquired surprisingly one of the biggest free agent pitchers on the market at the time. But again, I think the Diamondbacks. definitely have an advantage here in this series in game two against with Zach Gallen on the mound as well. But let's take a look back there. It's kind of interesting to look at the trade deadline deal that was done for Zach Granky. Because the Arizona Diamondbacks got back in return, not only Corbyn Martin, not only relief pitcher J.B. Kouskis, but Josh Rojas and Seth Beer. And it really, when you look at the amount of guys,

that they have and the impact that these guys have had on this team this year, it's a pretty impressive haul that the Diamondbacks got back. I mean, this year, like, you know, you haven't necessarily gotten a whole lot from those guys in particular. Seth Beer obviously fell off a little bit after he was very good at the beginning of this season. You don't remember us chanting beer on the street? Oh, it happened. It happened.

It was it was the best day of the. the PH and X Diamondback show so far. There's no question about that. I don't want to take anything away to some of those big moments early on, but, you know, Seth Beer was sent down for a reason. You know, he needs a little bit more time there to iron some things out with his swing.

Corbin Martin, I think, is probably the guy you could argue has been the best out of that group for the Diamondback so far this season. Josh Rojas has just played in so few games, even though he granted had a three-homer game mixed in there. So you've really always, only you've really only gotten a little snippet of each of those guys this season. But I think it's,

it's more about, you know, what could the diamondbacks get from that group, you know, the rest of the year next season, the year after, you know, the great thing about acquiring a hall of prospects like that is that their impact is going to last for years and years and years after the move is made. So, yeah, I don't know if they've necessarily gotten a whole lot this year, but there's certainly potential for them to do well moving forward in the future. Here's what I'll say. about that trade is I'm not ready. Thank you, Chris. Chris Melton in the comments is yeah, it's all right. I didn't intend it is slander. It's a matter of the guy has only played about four or five games. So that's that's more what I'm referring to there.

Here's what I will say though. Have you ever, do you remember a trade in Diamondback's history? Now, mind you, you're right. I will do what Brent Strom always tells me to do, which is pump my breaks, right? But the trade has seen all four guys make it up to the major league level. And in some cases, these guys have been pretty valuable in the case of Josh Rojas, outside of the injuries that he's experienced, he's stayed on the major league roster. J.B. Bukowskis has become somewhat of a valuable piece in the bullpen right now for this team as well, with Corbyn's still making it to a major league level and showing that he has that value and Seth B are doing the same. So I think at least right now for this trade, it feels like this is one of the better trades

in D-BAC's history. I'm not I'm not ready to crown it as the best because we're still, I feel like we're still in the potential phase, right? We're still in seeing what these guys can do in the future. Like you said, they're still very early on into their career, but they can have a big impact long term. But I do feel like the, the hall that they got back for Zach Granky in this trade. And Zach Granky's performance with the Astros afterwards, it's not to take anything away from him, but by far he wasn't the most dominant pitcher in baseball where you kind of regretted letting him go after that point. So it feels like this is at least one of the better trades in Diamondbacks history with results still pending. It's not a bad trade. Yeah,

it's absolutely not a bad trade. I mean, the Diamondbacks freed up quite a bit of in the deal. That was certainly a big part of things as well. And so you combine that with, you know, getting Josh Rojas, who had a really good season last year. We at least can say that, even though he's been limited by injuries this year. And Corbyn Martin, as you said earlier, you know, we've only gotten, we've only gotten a glimpse so far this season. But Corbyn Martin really could be, I mean, Brent Strom still speaks highly of the guy. Strom worked with him back in Houston in 2017, 2018, whatever the year was, that they were together there. and Corbyn Martin has an opportunity to really be a guy at the top of a rotation coming up soon.

So there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about it going forward. Brute Squad barbecue in our chat says J.D. Martinez trade is still number one trade. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, at least under the Mike Hazen regime, there's just no debating that one. It's super, super clear. I feel like the only other trade that I could debate is obviously. the Kurt Schilling trade because the Kurt Schilling trade changed the the future of this franchise, at least for the short tournament.

It's the reason why they won a World Series. As much as I hate to give Kurt Schilling credit for anything. He is a big reason why they won the World Series. But all right, of course, Jesse and I are very excited to welcome a special guest today. We are going to welcome now, Joe Mantiply to the show. And I had some questions for him earlier today. Thank you again, man, so much for joining me.

Congratulations on the success you've had in this young season so far. We see you're a part-time baseball player, part-time rancher. So I was hoping you might be able to tell me a little bit more about your affiliation with Ginger Hill Angus. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we raise purebred seed stock, black angus production animals. My wife's family, they've been doing it for my father-in-law is a third generation on the ranch. So, yeah, they've been raising cattle for years since I want to say like the 60s. Wow.

Yeah, and that's just kind of his. It's definitely his hobby. He loves it. I've learned a lot about it, and it's nice to be able to help him out and, you know, kind of get you out of the house, gets you doing stuff. And yeah, it's fun. Have you been, how long have you been doing that for? I didn't get in. I started doing it when, you know, we first met. So we started dating back in 2013. So, yeah, I've been just kind of helping out since then. So. Is there anything you've learned as a rancher that's kind of transferred over to the mound at all? Patience, for sure. Especially when we're working and you're dealing with animals, they can be very stubborn. And, you know, they obviously, it's not like they understand what you're saying.

So you have to be very patient. And yeah, it can be frustrating at times. just like baseball, but it's nice to, at the end of the day, like you get, you know, what we're doing for that day done, and it's very, very good feeling of accomplishment and very enjoyable. And those, and those Angus, those bulls that you guys are dealing with are incredibly huge. So, yes, I can understand how sometimes they might not cooperate,

and there's not much you could do when they don't cooperate. For sure. All right. So speaking a little bit of stuff you've learned and learning, you've had a chance to work with Brent Strom this season. And obviously there's been a lot of talk about, you know, the impact he's had on this game and on this team. So I just wanted to get your thoughts on what it's been like working with him and kind of learning from someone with his experience. Yeah, Stromy's been awesome. You know, he's been around the game a long time. So he's got a lot of, he just has a lot of knowledge. about kind of what can help guys out where it comes to, you know, maybe little cues here and there that mechanically can help you out or when it comes to pitch selection and just how to attack hitters. So he's very, he's a very good mix of kind of the old school pitching style,

whether it be, you know, mechanically and, you know, making adjustments kind of on the fly. and he's also well adverse in the new analytics and how to apply that to, you know, each individual, you know, pitcher. So, yeah, I think he's got a very, he's got a very good sense of being able to work with different guys, which can be kind of a struggle. I know with myself, like giving lessons or something to kids and stuff. It's really hard to, it's very difficult to look at a certain kid and, and try to figure out kind of what you could do to help that individual.

Right. Like Taylor, the approach to them versus doing like a universal approach. It wasn't just a broad, just one way. So yeah, he's, he's very good in that sense and he's been very enjoyable. And I really, really enjoyed, you know, so far working with him. something I've observed is his mount I guess I just want to know what is a mound visit from Brent Strom like because it just seems to come out and be able to get guys back on track when when they might be you know kind of not finding the zone or just struggling a bit yeah I think

every every visit's different um every guy um he's always got something you know it's not you know what he says is never really, it's always very genuine. And every time it's like, you know, it's something different. It's not just going over the scouting report or the next hitter. Yeah, he can kind of sense when kind of the, maybe the game can be speeding up. And he's very good at just calming you down and, you know, bringing you back down to earth when everything's kind of going,

turn into chaos. So, yeah, every visit's different. Sometimes he'll say something funny and witty. and sometimes, you know, it's very, you know, serious. So he's very good at kind of reading the situation and what he should say. He seems like he has the respect of everybody, too. And I know that's not always easy when you're like a new coach to a team like this that has a lot of the same guys on it that have been there before.

So I think that's probably something, too, that helps out with guys like, you know, Madison Bumgartner and things like that. that might be a little bit hard to win over. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, he's been around the game so long, and he's worked with so many different, you know, different levels of players. And he's got the, you know, great stories about, you know,

Sandy Kofax and stuff, you know, all the way back to them to, you know, working with the Justin Verlanders and the Madison Bumgarner's. So he's kind of seen it all. So, yeah, his credibility is definitely there and definitely helps with that for sure. Well, and I know what he would say about this interview right now, he would be saying it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with you. So I do want to ask you about some of your success this season because you've been very good against both righties and lefties this season without giving too much away. Has there been anything

that you can pinpoint that's kind of led to the success against both hitters, especially with the three-hitter rule now and being a reliever in baseball? Yeah, I mean, I think I've really kind of honed in the last few years, like both my off-speed pitches, so change-up and slider. And my change-up works really well to righties and my slider works really well to lefties. So I'm able to kind of attack, you know, both those types of hitters differently. And then just try to, I try to change speeds as much as I can. Just keep guys off balance. And, you know, also like just try to attack and then when you get ahead, just stay ahead.

don't give in and try not to give any pitch away. So fortunately, it's been, you know, everything's been going good and just like to keep it that way as long as I can. For sure. And yeah, that was actually something we were going to ask about as well, because we've noticed that you've been throwing more changeups this season, and that would explain it considering you're saying that it tends to work well against righties. Yeah, for sure. A lot of times, too, when I'm coming out of the pen, certain situations like I'm coming into face a lefty and teams will pitch hit you know obviously their right-handed hitters sure if it's late in the game so really just honing in the

command and execution of of my change-up and you know it's able to even when I'm coming into face a lefty I've got a plan to face that guy I usually we usually have a good idea that it depends on the situation if they're going to pitch in so I like to come in with a plan of you know how I'm going to face a righty as well. So it doesn't, you know, it seems to not take any, anything away from, you know, my mentality when I'm coming in the game. That makes sense. That makes sense.

Something else I wanted to ask you, since you have a bit more experience with it than other pitchers in Major League Baseball, has been the talk about the baseballs. The usage of humidor is affecting them and just the balls being different and seems being raised, things like that. Have you noticed anything different at all? because the Diamondbacks had a Humidor before other teams did. And, you know, it was something that you kind of have had for the majority,

I feel like, of your time here. Yeah, for sure. You know, it's weird. Some days, usually I think it affects the starters more because they're going out inning after inning. Okay. It seems to be that they seem to be changing inning to inning. So it might feel like a different ball in the fifth and it was in the first.

Okay. So for me, I haven't really seen a difference in like when I've come in like ball to ball. Usually they're all pretty similar. Now day to day, some days they feel a little different, whether it be like more, sometimes they feel a little more dusty. Like the like maybe they were like the way they were rubbed up. They were rubbed up longer. Some of them feel more fresh.

Like they were, you know, maybe, I don't know, rubbed up like more, like sooner, closer to the game time. I'm not sure what makes them feel that way. But I try not to let that kind of affect me. Regardless of how the ball feels, I still got to execute a pitch. So that's usually my thought process. I just, you know, I try not to worry too much about, you know, what the ball. feels like at the time. If I feel myself kind of like get away from that, like, man, I have to kind of click it back on

real quick and just, you know, go with it. Right, not worry about the condition of the ball. I just wonder, was it, was there time in your playing career where you felt baseballs were more consistent across your, you know, season, for instance? Yeah. I mean, I feel like for me, I haven't really noticed that big of a difference. Okay. You can definitely tell, like, when you go somewhere where there's, like, more humidity.

Okay. Like, we're in Miami. The balls felt, I thought they felt better. I prefer to pitch in humidity. Okay. The- Virginia, so absolutely. Yeah, yeah, I grew up that way.

The ball just feels better in my hand in kind of a humid climate. Got it. Yeah, sometimes, like, you know, especially in Arizona, it can be really dry, Colorado. Right. So the ball can kind of feel like almost like a pool queue sometimes. Gotcha. So, yeah, I prefer the humidity. That's where I feel the biggest difference you can tell with the balls is just kind of the different climates you're in.

So one other thing, just about the season I wanted to ask you was, you were here last season. And you've been around Tori. Have you noticed a difference in Tori's approach with the new coaching staff? or is Tori's still kind of the same old Tori? Yeah, I mean, I think he's the same guy. I think he's trying to, you know, his message last year was very similar to what it is this year and the way he carries himself.

I think, you know, I think Tori has a lot of confidence in the guys that we have. I even think last year when we were struggling, he still had confidence in the players that we had. Last year, you know, we had a ton of injuries and there was just a lot of stuff going on that kind of, we couldn't was out of our control um so this year um yeah i mean i feel like the spirits are better because we're obviously playing better um so you know but i think you know i think he's the same guy

and kind of just trying to approach it the same way well we love tory so uh that's one thing around here that we've we've always been big fans of his and uh he's just a phenomenal person to be around so and i know that's the big thing is tory just uh is a very sincere person that cares about everybody he comes in contact with. So, of course, I know at times that might be a little hard when you're having to make some of the tough decisions that you do during the season. But definitely very happy for your guys' success this season

and for your success for sure. Before I let you go, one of our Twitter followers wanted to start calling you just simply the Mantiply. And I wanted to know, because we're big nickname guys around here, if you had any nicknames growing up, or if you currently have a nickname, I think Luke Weaver called you big old Joe. Yeah.

No, it's always a funny nickname has always been, people will always call me Multiply. That's kind of how like my family, when people have trouble, the pronunciations are pretty funny that you can get sometimes. So when it comes to explaining how to, you know, say our name,

we would always say it's like multiply, but with, you know, obviously pay in. because we'll get mantipoli is a good one. Oh. Okay. Yeah. People try to fancy it up.

Extre syllables in there. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I get that with Montia, so I'm with 100% on that, for sure. But yeah, multiply my dad always called me Joe Bird.

That's my dad's nickname. Joe Bird. For me. Yeah. So my dad and everybody back home, like, kind of calls me, you know,

all my dad's friends. and stuff. Everybody calls me Joe Bird. Nice. Not sure where he came up with that one, but yeah, ever since I was a kid, that's just kind of been the, I can always hear him in the, in the stands. And he's a big, kind of bigger guy with a deep, deep, loud, carrying voice.

So, yeah, that was, that was always the go-to nickname. As a parent now, I completely understand the nickname that you just made up some time on the spot sticking for someone's entire life. So that's incredible. All right, before I let you go, I got five rapid questions for you. Okay. And then we'll get you out of here. First question, is a hot dog a sandwich?

No. No. Good answer. What are you watching? Parade or fireworks. Fireworks. Fireworks. In degrees, what temperature is high heat to you?

I'd say 95. All right. Crock shoes, yes or no? Yes. Yes. More All-American, baseball, or apple pie? More All-American? Yes.

Which one's more All-American? Baseball or Apple Pie? Yes, sir. Ooh. I know this is... I'm going to have to go with... I'm going to have to go with Apple Pie, I think. Oh.

Baseball gets played all over the world. I don't know about Apple Pie. There you go. That's a nice... And that's a good reasoning behind it. I like it, too. All right, you threw me a curveball there, which you've been very effective with as well this season.

So thank you for that. And Joe, we appreciate you so much for joining the show, man. Congrats again on the success of both you and the team this season, and we look forward to watching it continue. For sure. Thanks for having me, and I hope you have a good one. Yeah, man, you too. Joe Mantiply, fantastic answers, by the way. The apple pie answer blew my mind, Jesse, because...

I did not expect that. I was so not expecting it. because his reasoning was so solid. He's absolutely right. Baseball is beloved around the world. It's not just an American sport. So I don't know. I think Apple Pie might have been the answer there.

But shout out to Joe Mantisplai. Big thank you to him for joining the show. And of course, we thank you guys for being here. We know that you have a choice on your local sports to watch. But of course, you're here with us. And we want you guys to sign up at go phnx.com. if you haven't done so already for a membership with us. That way you don't miss any of the wonderful writing.

Jesse's actually going to have a piece on Joe Mantiply coming out very, very soon, actually, this evening or tomorrow morning whenever it gets posted. But check out GoPhNX.com if you're not a member already. Sign up for a membership. If you get your annual membership, you get a free t-shirt like this one behind me over at phnx locker.com. If you're not interested in that, you can get a month-to-month membership, and you'll get your first month for just 50 cents.

regardless, you will get access to some wonderful writing from not only Jesse and myself, but from all the other wonderful beats here at PHNX, as well as members-only access to our Discord and members-only discount over at our phnx Locker.com. So make sure to sign up for that. But of course, we thank Joe for being here. We thank him for answering our questions. And of course, today would not be Monday if we didn't answer your questions. So it's time once again for another edition of the D-BACs Mailbag Monday. My mailbox, always something interesting in my mailbox.

I'm trying to get to everything in my mailbox. And then once in a while there's a letter that makes me go out. Welcome back. And of course, we got not only Mailbag Monday questions from Twitter, but in our chat as well. So first from Twitter, our first Mailbag Monday comes from our friend Sean McNally, who always big shout out to Sean, by the way. for always dropping us questions without even asking for them. We love you for.

I appreciate that you think about Mailbag Monday before we even do. But Sean asks any word on the return of the other two catchers? Do you think the bump up in starter ERA could be a result of bar show behind the dish? Alec Thomas here for good return to AAA after catchers come back. So there's a whole lot of questions in there to respond to. So let's start first with any word on the return of the other two catchers. At this point, I think there is still some time there, unfortunately. I haven't heard any updates, but they tend to say like Carson Kelly is back on track and everything like that as far as his return, but still no confirmed return date.

Yeah, we haven't really heard any updates regarding either of those two guys. So, yeah, hopefully that's something that comes soon. The Diamondbacks are admittedly a little bit short-handed right now. You know, Dalton Varshow has caught quite a few games. And then, of course, they also brought up Grace and Greener as well to help kind of fill that role a little bit. So, yeah, they're lacking depth a little bit at the catching position right now. I think that's pretty clear. It's something we didn't really expect because we thought with Dalton Varsho here and the two catchers that they actually were pretty well covered as far as catching goes.

And it just goes to show how quickly injuries can decimate any position. position, even one you're well stacked at, like catcher for the diamond box, or at least on paper they were, right? Like you might not say that Carson Kelly wasn't having a great year, but Carson Kelly's still a very effective catcher. Same thing with Jose Herrera. He wasn't having a great year at the plate, but has had quite a bit of praise from his pitchers that seem to enjoy

not only working with him, but the way that he calls a game because he calls a game very effectively for them on the mountain. So for sure, definitely some injuries there, catcher. Going back to that question, he also asks, do you think the bump up in starter ERA could be a result of Varsho Beyond the Dish? It could be a lack of Carson Kelly and Jose Arara.

I don't think it's necessarily Varsho behind the dish. Like you said, Grenier could be a little bit of it. Working with a new catcher that you're not used to is going to be something new, right? it's kind of like the way we implored people to wait a little while before blaming the coaches for the performance of the team. As much as you want to blame, you know, Joe Mather for the team not hitting well, he hasn't had very much time with the team, right? So in this case, the catchers haven't had very much time with this pitching staff. And it definitely could be. I don't know if it's as much to blame as much as just kind of,

there being more information available on the pitching staff to hitters and being able to understand and figure them out a little bit quicker than they were earlier in the season is more of maybe a factor here. Don Var show is a good catcher. I mean, as far as we've been able to tell, he's really excelled at gunning guys down trying to steal bases. That's certainly been something of note the last few weeks. But yeah, I mean, he doesn't have as much experience working with the pitching

staff, especially this season. So I think it's possible that they're, you know, maybe the pitchers are are more comfortable with the other guys just because they've had more experience working with the other guys. But, but yeah, I mean, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Dalton is, you know, not doing well or anything from a catching standpoint. By all accounts, he seems to be doing great back there. So I think more than anything, I mean, the starting pitching, Derek was sort of due for some regression.

And we've seen that happen. And I don't necessarily think that, you know, it's because anyone's not doing their job or anything. This was sort of a correction that we kind of expected. And I'm not going to even entertain any questions today about Alec Thomas being sent down. That's not. We're not doing that. Alec Thomas isn't going anywhere. There are far more, there are far more candidates to be sent down than Alec Thomas.

And Alec Thomas definitely is not one of them. a brute squad asked with the crop of outfielders working their way up varsho a fourth outfielder or catcher at this point catcher i mean it seems right now like he's more valuable there but he also has a tremendous amount of value to be able to go out into the outfield and relieve any number of the guys like any of the outfielders could be relieved at this point by varsho so his versatility is is something that's going to keep him here no matter what not to mention even on a day off he has that versatility to be able to plug into the game and work any of those positions and stay in the game if he can somehow add pinch hitting wise or something to the game. I think Dalton Varsho, the concern with him as a catcher is just that there's more wear and tear. Catchers generally don't play six days a week like a lot of other everyday position players would. And so, you know, having him in there at catcher every day is probably a move that I, I don't think the Diamondbacks want him there, frankly, just because of the offensive value that he's brought this season.

I mean, Dalton Varshot is probably the best hitter the Diamondbacks have. I mean, at least this season, he has been that guy. I don't think there's really any debating that. He's been their most consistent offensive player. And so you want that guy in there as much as you possibly can. And, you know, if you start having him catch, then, you know, you might miss out on that. And not to say that also to say that Dalton Varsho is an incredible center fielder. And when a guy is able to provide that kind of value defensively, you know, you can stomach moving off the catch rod if he's going to do what he does in center field.

Someone asked if Varsho has all the tools. Again, a question I'm not going to address because, of course, you know, Dalton Varsho has all the tools. He has every single one of them, all of them. His garage is filled with tools. go on to the next question and this one comes from our pal on Twitter by the way this one comes from Josh Hunt

and Josh Hunt asked on Twitter a little question about what is your dream car and why and I love this question because every question we get is about baseball so thank you Josh for thinking more about us than you know

just baseball we're well-rounded people Jesse do you have a dream car do I have a dream car Do I have a dream car? So I'm a pretty practical person. So I'm one of those Honda Toyota people where that's like every car I own and I will probably never purchase anything different from that. But I think I'm one of those snobs who think Teslas are pretty cool.

I don't know if I'm going to take heat for that. But I mean, the dashboard is literally like a 17 inch iPad. I mean, it's incredible. It's stupid how big. the dashboard thing is on that. It's incredible. The amount of technology that they that they fit into those machines is is truly incredible. So at some point, I wouldn't, I wouldn't mind owning a Tesla. But, but I don't know, Derek, I'm going to, I'm going to guess that after your transmission ordeal, you're probably not buying another Nissan Rogue. Is that what it was? Oh, definitely not. I'm definitely not buying another Nissan Rogue. You're absolutely right about that.

Jesse, as crazy as it sounds for me, of all people, I've always wanted like a luxury RV. Like even one of those cooler retro looking ones, like an airstream or something like that, just because the idea of being able to go anywhere and, and, you know, have a place to stay where you're at,

as I've gotten older, has somehow become more appealing. This was like my father's, dream and I never in a million years wanted it for myself yet here I am remembering that I wanted to you know now now I want to travel and just stay in an RV even with what I told you about going up to show though yesterday but if I'm being completely honest my dream car is a Bugatti uh Kairn which is an amazing okay uh incredible car and I don't I don't know if if I if I got that car I think I I'm required to have some sort of midlife crisis or something I don't know um

But let's take a look at some of the questions that we got from the chat. By the way, Josh, thank you for being considerate. Chris Melton asked, are people still expecting Alec Thomas to regress at the plate? I don't know. Are they? Are they crazy? I mean, I'm not really aware of that narrative necessarily. That's definitely something that we haven't really talked about here.

I mean, holding your breath factor a little bit there, right? I mean, it's funny because on one hand, when a youngster comes up has a slow start, you kind of say, okay, when are you going to get it going? But when they come up and have a quick start, you hope that they don't pull, and I hate, I hate myself even for pulling this comparison, but you hope that what happened to Seth Beer doesn't happen to someone like Alex Thomas, where they had a very, he had a very quick start. He had a very impactful start. And then we saw him drift off and not have success. And in my opinion, I think that's the reason

why the Diamondbacks are still being a little careful with Alec Thomas. And I think it might even play into why he's hitting lower down on the lineup still at this point. Right. Right. It's fair. It's fair. I mean, it's still a small sample size at this point. So I wouldn't say he's necessarily proven anything. But from a from a stat standpoint, there's not really a reason to think that it's utterly unsustainable. I mean, it's not like he has this super high strikeout rate. And it's not like every single ball he puts in play is falling in for hits. It's, I mean, so far it's legit. I mean, he's hitting the ball hard.

And so I don't really see anything fluky about what he's done so far. Can he maintain that, you know, over the course of 50 or 100 games the rest of the way? That's a, you know, that's a whole other question. So we'll have to see how he's able to, how he's able to continue as time goes on here. But I don't, I don't see anything so far that suggests that this is a fluke. You bring up a good point, too, that the major league season is such a different animal from anything that they've played at a minor league level. So a big part of it is definitely the momentum and if you can keep it and maintain it consistently throughout the season. The next question in our chat comes from G. Ferreira 481 who asks,

when can we expect to see to trade at the deadline or much sooner? See, again, this is an interesting thing for me because this is a change of expectations. And I don't know if we'll see a significant trade, but I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility. I just don't know if the Diamondbacks are buyers or sellers at this point, right? Because I think they're going to continue to build towards the future. I don't think that they are going to do anything to jeopardize the team that they kind of have right now in place that's been pretty impressive as far as overachieving.

But they also don't seem to have too much problems parting ways with certain guys at times. Or, you know, we've seen, we've seen guys DFA that I think Jesse and I both didn't really expect to see, get DFAed this early into the season. So they have definitely been moving on from guys. I don't see it out of the realm of possibility, but if you're asking me, I still feel like they're playing with house money this season. And I still feel like we won't see them do anything crazy at all,

either to make a big trade or do anything, just like we didn't see them make a huge splash and free agency to change this team this season at this point. There, yeah, they're not. I mean, today, Derek, the MLB pipeline updated their top 100 prospects rankings. And the Diamondbacks are the only team in baseball with three in the top 20. Of course, that's Alec Thomas, Corbyn Carroll, and Jordan Lawler, the three names that we've been talking about for quite some time here. This Diamondbacks team is set to be pretty good.

Not that far from now. I mean, on paper, it looks like a team that really could contend two or three years from now. And I don't think you really want to jeopardize any of those future pieces in a season where the Diamondbacks probably aren't going to contend with the likes of the Dodgers or, you know, the Brewers or whoever comes out of. out of the National League East either. So, yeah, I don't see the Diamondbacks making any big moves. Is it possible that they, you know, grab a middle reliever or another setup man or something? I think that's possible. I wouldn't necessarily expect it.

But it all depends on what the Diamondbacks record looks like at that point. If they're still hovering right around 500, if they're three or four games out of the wild card picture like they are right now, maybe that's enough to, you know, push the chips in a little bit. But if they do something like that, it's going to be lower level prospects. It's going to be guys who aren't as likely to factor into that picture two or three years from now when things really could swing in a different direction. I was sent today, Jesse, a video of Elijah Green running incredibly fast. And all I could, I couldn't help but think that he could a part of this team. And even if not Elijah Green, the Diamondbacks have several great options at

at number two for this. The good news there is that no matter who, I know at one point we joked about, you know, Josh Van Meeters walk off home run the last day of the season last year and how, of course, the diamondbacks are doomed with the second overall pick now. I don't think that's really much of a concern. I mean, this draft is really well stocked. Drew Jones, we saw a couple of mock drafts that just came out from Keith Law and Jonathan Mayo. they both had the Diamondbacks taking Drew Jones second.

And Drew Jones, by many accounts, is the best rated player in the draft. It sounds like maybe the Orioles want to go a different direction, maybe try to save some money with their first. Is it Tomar Johnson potentially? They did not have Tamar Johnson. They actually had Tamar Johnson, at least Jonathan Mayo had Tamar Johnson going seventh in the draft. It's amazing how that stuff changes. I feel like it changes more for baseball than it does,

for any other sport when it comes to the top five draft picks it's because nobody has any idea like that's just how the that's how the nlb draft works like there's a fine line between like the next babe ruth and a guy who's you know going to tire out in double a and not make it so it changes fast because it's way less predictable than other sports are jessie if i could find this fucking article on show hey otani and what a what a disaster he was supposedly supposed to be in major league baseball. I would tweet it out once a day, every day for the rest of my life, because it's amazing how wrong people can be about stuff. All right, the clutch Canuck in our comments asks, do you expect anything from Drew Ellis before Roas returns? He's under some

pressure today after that drop yesterday. I felt like the third base job was his to lose, and he lost it. So, like, to be honest, I don't expect anything out of him, which honestly sucks. And it's that that sucks to say. I hope he proves me wrong, right? But Drew Ellis has been given a number of opportunities this season. I don't feel like up to any point has he lived up to those opportunities or, you know, God, I hate myself for saying this, but grab the ball and ran with it, Jesse. He hasn't grabbed the ball and run with it at all. And I mean, the opportunity has been there. Before Josh Roas got back, Drew Ellis could have been the everyday third baseman for this team. And he just wasn't very good at third base.

Yeah, it's a great point. I mean, he had a significant window of opportunity there and the diamondbacks learned pretty early that it at least appeared he wasn't ready for that opportunity just yet. So, yeah, I mean, he's still going to continue to get opportunity. And I think you have to be patient knowing that, you know, it's a Dalton Varshow, like a couple hundred major league played appearances before he really started to look like, like what he is now. So you have to be patient, but yeah, the early returns on Durellis haven't been great.

And like you said, hopefully he proves the critics wrong and is able to show what he can do. And this opportunity is as we wait for Josh Ross to come back once again. Josh Rawls was very good at third base, by the way. And he was. He had some really impressive plays already this season. We actually, or at least me, I'm not going to throw Jesse in there because I don't remember his take particularly. but we did say that none of those guys were regular everyday third baseman and the diamondbacks were either going to have to like truly platoon those guys out there or you know do something about their third base situation josh ross was doing a more than adequate job especially by comparison to the other options until he got hurt so that part sucks but hopefully uh we'll see josh ross back really soon uh i'm just glad that he got to go and play at rigley before he got injured again because that sucks And I would, if I could, and I know I'm not allowed to, I would send him, once again, a Costco-sized package of OG's gummies to make him feel better because everybody feels better on OG's gummies.

Stop by your local dispensary and grab some amazing scratch-made THC gummies from our friends at OGs. They have an amazing variety of flavors like orange creamsicle, blackberries and cream, watermelon, all sorts of flavors. They're perfect if you're in the mood for an uplifting setiva after you've hurt your hand or a chill indica after you've hurt your hand. If you're interested in trying the amazingly delicious varieties of flavors that OG's brands has to offer, go to OGsbrands.com. That's OGEZBrands.com to find OGs near you. And I have no idea about the marijuana testing policy in baseball, Jesse, so I promise I won't get anybody in trouble. But again, OGs brands, for those of you that don't have a rigorous testing policy at your job. Jesse, next question comes from our friend and our sister and the person we love, Chris Melton.

And she says, thoughts on McCarthy this stint, Candy is high praise. Well, Candy didn't even know what XBA was, so I don't really care much at this point. Did Candy, did Candy not know what XBA? Not only did he not know what XBA? He said he had never heard of it, Jesse. He said he had never heard of it.

Wait, and what I miss this? What context is this? Did you ask him about this? I believe it was our friend Chris Gersiola was explaining to him the XBA on a particular hit single home run. I don't know exactly what, the the hit was but he was talking about xBA and candy had said he had never heard of i just i just love how how i love how you're the one who's like scoffing it infuriated by it yeah you not know

about this stat i just learned about 12 days ago but no it's whatever it is what it is um but yeah thoughts on thoughts on mccarthy jake mccarthy's been outstanding and i honestly he was outstanding last season when the Diamondbacks needed the center fielder out of nowhere, when they finally decided to abandon the Cotel Marte and Center Field Experiment. And I think he's, again, he's a valuable piece to this team. I just think that the Diamondbacks are getting to a point where they need to decide who their outfield is now and who it's going to be. Because this calling guys up thing and doing all this, it just, it doesn't provide much consistency or stability for the players themselves. I mean, they're in a, they're in a situation right now where they're trying to figure out who those guys are.

I think they're trying to figure it out. And that's why there's so much movement is that things are changing constantly. And of course, there's injuries and other things. Yeah, still not as bad as the commentators on the Apple TV Plus podcast. But yeah, Jake McCarthy's been, he's been really great. And I mean, he went down to Reno after the Diamondback sent him down. And I mean, the guy. is absolutely raked. I mean, and we've talked a lot about Reno numbers. Now you have to be careful. But, I mean, the man hit like over 400 in his stint in Reno,

with all sorts of extra base hits and everything. So he has, Jake McCarthy is a really good base runner and a solid defender. And that's something that the diamondbacks don't have a lot of. As you think about the future of this outfield, obviously Alec Thomas is in there. Corbyn Carroll is in there. You know that those guys, you know, have the full package, offense, defense, and everything.

But there are other guys in that mix that you're not necessarily quite as sure about. Someone like Pavin Smith, for example, he's not an elite base runner. He's not a great defender. And Jake McCarthy has some tools that a guy like that doesn't have. And so the question is, you know, can Jake McCarthy find a way to hit enough in order to, in order to garner everyday playing time? And so far, he looks like he can. good on him for, you know, putting in the work in Reno and coming back up and showing what he can do.

And as much as we hate to say this because he's been excellent in center field, this would allow Dalton Varsho to concentrate more on catching, which really at right now, the Diamondbacks need him to be more of their everyday catcher rather than be playing all over the place. So I'm not opposed to that. Brute Squad Barbecue wants to know how they can get their hands on some mantelly farm's brisket. it is ginger hill angus that's what you're looking for the company name ginger hill angus so i don't know it sounds already like it's going to be very expensive just based on that but ginger hill angus is what you're looking for and our last question for mailbag monday is if you could choose any third basement to play for the debacks who would it be oh man i mean i this is wide open that feels like it could be historical it could be now the dangerous question i think

I think that applies to everything and every team. Everything and every team. Like every time date. Yeah. Anyone. And every team. In the multiverse. It's incredible, Jesse.

I'll give you first dibs on this. We'll concentrate it more on modern day, but who would you rather have here for a third basement if you could have your, your pick of the litter? Do I have to pick a baseball player? Like, is this scope so wide? Are you going to pick a Nets man? Who are you going to pick?

I would pick. I would pick a baseball player and I would do two categories. So I would do one current time and one retired. Okay, one all time player, one all time third baseman and one. All right, Jesse, this is big. Oh, who would you have? Oh, man. I mean, current time third baseman, there's a lot of good third baseman right now in the game.

There's only one choice, Jesse, and it's Jose Ramirez. And I want to know why you want Jose Ramirez. Oh, interesting. Jose. Jose Ramirez is the only answer for Christ's sake. He's incredible. I think Nolan Aeronado, as people in the comments are saying, that was the first name that came to my mind.

I would probably, I'd probably go Nolan Aeronado if I'm picking right now from current players. I don't know. If we're including, if we're including all players from all time, third base, um, oof,

that's, that's a, that's a tough one. It really is. It really is. By the way, speaking of Nolan Aeronado, going back to 2019, the highest war since 2019, Nolan Aeronado at third base. Also, Paul Goldschmidt. So St. Louis has two of them. Dodgers have three of them with moogie bets, Freddie Freeman, and Trey Turner. So none of that's fair. I just wanted to point that out. Hmm. Yeah, so I was a huge Chipper Jones fan growing up. I thought that I thought Chipper Jones was a legend.

And the guy, the guy hit like 360 or 370 a few years. It was, he was just an incredible hitter. So I would, I would go with Chipper Jones. If you're giving me the choice, Jesse, there's only one clear cut case again for third base for all time. And that person is Wade Boggs. And the reason isn't because Wade Boggs was a great third baseman. It's because Wade Boggs once consumed 107 beers in one day while making a cross-country

flight in the U.S. While playing for the Boston, I believe it was for the Boston Red Sox at the time. But I mean, come on. Like, is there any other choice than a person that consumed 107 beers on a single flight? the answer is no. The answer is no. So, uh, cheers to Wade Boggs. Everybody in the comments got the answer wrong, including you, Jesse, but that's understandable. It's fine. You guys didn't factor in the beer factor like I did. And I bet you all feel like fools, but it's fine. I'm okay with it. It's mailbag Monday. So it's for everybody and not just me. There is no way that a hundred and seven. Is that what you said?

107 beers. 107 beers. There's an episode of it's always sunny in Philadelphia. There's no way. I feel like you would get like alcohol points. Yeah, like, can you actually survive that? Like, not only did he survive, the man played a baseball game when he arrived. The man played a baseball game when he arrived. So anyway, Wade Boggs, greatest third baseman in the history of the game. We thank you guys for your questions.

We thank you guys for being here. Of course, more than anything, we thank all of our sponsors. And the one that we have to thank the most is our Draft King's sports book for not only being our sponsor, for giving all new customers, this amazing deal. deal of betting just $5 on any NBA game during the third round of the NBA playoffs. And as long as you do and they win, you will get $150 in free bets if they do. I hate to say it, but I am petty. I am better bet on the Golden State Warriors to beat the Mavericks and you won't be disappointed if you're looking to turn a small bet into a big payday.

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see draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details the arizona diembacks are about to beat up on the kansas city royals hopefully they should uh it's a team that they definitely can be we've talked looking a bit at their schedule ahead how they really need to if they if if they want to be a competitive team this season they need to jump all over teams in series like this in order to uh yeah combat the three game series that they have coming up at chase against Los Angeles Dodgers. I'm excited to watch that Grinky pitch tonight, Derek. I am too.

I'm going to lose my mind if he throws an Ephis pitch, Jesse. I'm going to lose my mind. And I hope it's successful. I hope a Diamondbacks player swings three times at it, like they're goofy at the plate and strike out against one Ephis pitch because I loves that Granky. He had the most, I don't know why everybody called him weird.

And I constantly found myself, understanding that man more than I understood most baseball players when we were doing interviews and stuff. The guy is crazy. Brut Squad said I think some young guys are going to look silly against the Ephis, and you're absolutely right. Alec Thomas, I hope you watched some film on that, pal, because... I think he, Alec Thomas, I don't believe, is in the starting lineup tonight. So maybe they're sparing him the Zach Grinky.

That's a smart move. That's a smart move. He's going to embarrass you most likely. but we thank you guys for joining us. We thank you guys for being here on the comments. Of course, we appreciate the questions, not only on Twitter, but here in the comments as well. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap

underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports. That's on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you're watching us right now on YouTube, on the live stream, make sure to sign up

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