PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Paul Goldschmidt and the St Louis Cardinals steamroll the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game sweep

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

The Arizona Diamondbacks were decimated in a three-game sweep by Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and the St. Louis Cardinals.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeWebsite: https://gophnx.com PHNX Locker: https://phnxlocker.com/Head on over to The PHNX Locker to pick up one of our new PHNX hats!SOCIAL: Twitter: https://twitter.com/PHNX_DbacksInstagram: https://instagram.com/PHNX_Sports Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit and get a RISK-FREE BET UP TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez! We have free stuff for you! Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3, YES THREE, bags of OGeez including Orange Creamsicle and Tropical flavors, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform Check out OGeez! online at ogeezbrands.com and on Instagram @ogeezbrands. You can also find their products at your local dispensary. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. They have officially licensed gear for men, women and kids and everything from bobbleheads to swimsuits to crocs. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offTake advantage of Mor Furniture’s Labor Day sale at https://morfurniture.com 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.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX Debaks podcast, brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook, America's top-rated sportsbook app. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of Maya Day Club. This guy next to me is not Jesse Friedman. He's not the Thundersick, but he's the one and only rock knowledge. What's up, homie? I am chilling. You know, I'm here because, you know, me and Jesse had to have a Falls Count Anywhere match to sit in this chair today. this is correct and he lost he did lose well i mean he was a bit overmatched there don't you think

yeah you know it was like heavyweight versus cruiser weight status you hit him with a stunner and he didn't even know he was like who does that move and you were like stone cold and he says i don't know that person so yes but you mentioned you mentioned my or day club you know yesterday was quite the ordeal for you sir i'm glad to see you've made a civilization i uh i almost stayed forever and I do have just a bit of Stockholm syndrome. Yeah. I feel like I'm not complete anymore now that I'm no longer in the South Bar. I was consistently drinking a diet of triple sec and sweet and sour mostly to keep myself hydrated.

It didn't work. I think I started getting crazy off of it, but not as crazy as the St. Louis Cardinals and Paul Goldschmidt drove the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. These boys got their ass stomped. There's no better way to put it than that. even in the games that got close, they really weren't that close. Even in games where the Diamondbacks had a lead, it was temporary. That game, in game two, things turned bad late in that game. It's hard to remember that that was an 8-7 game going into the ninth inning,

but this was not a great series. And it was a stiff reminder that Paul Goldschmidt is very, very good and that we should regret trading him away every single day of our lives. Yeah, you know, hard to believe that Paul Goldschmidt is still really great at baseball. Wow, right? Yeah. It's just crazy. It's crazy. I think you think guys peak at one point. I think with baseball players, it's not completely untrue, right? You see guys reach a certain level. We've seen that with players on this team. Jake Lamb was a guy that became an all-star with this team, but then never got back to that level.

of where he was at that all-star season. So there tends to be sometimes a peak in baseball players' careers, and sometimes these teams are just trying to guess if they hit it. Paul Goldschmidt, in the word of Dennis from its always sunny in Philadelphia, has only begun to peak. He's not even close to peaking yet, right? Like he, this guy was incredible. And when you talk about that,

you have to also talk about Albert Poole's, T.O. Albert having his two home run game against Madison Bumgarder, which is something that you could have, said at any point over the last, like, what, 30 years it feels like? I don't know. That's too hard. But, yeah, it's a long time that those two guys have been playing baseball. And even though it wasn't for the Diamondbacks, it was still kind of cool to see these two guys have the game that they got.

Yeah, Jesse's pointing out that we welcome this man onto our show and he has a Fernando Tatis Jr. shirt in the background. You've immediately lost all credit. We're talking about that later. He came to talk about. He has some things to talk about. I just want to touch on Goldie, because his season, this season,

the man is an MVP candidate. He is just absolutely raking. And it's, I think a big part of his, not six, he's always been successful. But I think that when we let him go to the Cardinals, the Cardinals have a different culture when it comes to the way their baseball team is

handled, ran, played on that field. It is a winning culture. And I'm not bashing the debacks in that instance. But when you go play for the St. Louis Cardinals, there's expectations almost every season that the team on that field is going to compete. So players got to step up and do a little bit more. And Paul Goldschmidt, man, like,

it's bittersweet seeing him in that uniform. But every time I see him on Sports Center or anywhere, I love seeing Goldie get his because I still love Paul Goldsmith. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I think everybody here in Arizona is still a big fan of his, which is part of the reason why it hurts so much. But yeah, like, I think I said it the other day, St. Louis is one of those teams that you go to.

And you kind of become part of the team. It's hard to go to St. Louis and like stand out. It's not to say you don't get recognition there. It's just to say amongst your peers, amongst your teammates, it tends to be one of those organizations. that's very much about the team. Goldschmidt is a guy that never really wanted, he seemingly never wanted that leadership role, right? He's just one of those baseball players

that happened to be the best guy on his team, so thus the leadership role is kind of thrust upon you, not based on any characteristic or anything like that, but just based on the fact that you're the best, right? And I think when he went to St. Louis, you didn't really have to worry about that because it's not really a, this guy is the star, this guy's the lead.

It really is about the entire team. He flourished in that environment. And I think that's why we're seeing him really have one of the best seasons he's ever had, at least one of the best seasons he's had St. Louis. And just the kind of, like the kind of series, Rock, that makes me drink a beer this big. This is how big the beer is that I'm drinking after watching Paul Goldschmidt this series, because the man killed three for six in Saturday night's game

with four RBI, two runs scored. Of course, the home run in the ninth off Euseda. The bullpen absolutely collapsed for this team. I don't know what to say else about how bad the bullpen is, but we have the numbers, and the numbers really don't lie in illustrating how bad the bullpen has been. The Cardinals, of course, no, they did not win six losses. This is a mistake here.

This is the score of the final game. and not they got routed here three losses to zero in the suite but starting pitching era pretty comparable 4.2 o era to 4.86 but that relief pitching era rocket nearly 14 for the arizona diamondbacks versus the 2.25 for the cardinals and then again the batting with runners and scoring position they have the big advantage there which the diamondbacks just don't seem to be able to to really excel there with runners and scoring position Yeah, that seems to be a recurring trend season after season with the Diamondbacks. And it's one of the most frustrating things as a fan of the team who watches to see, like, okay,

you know, we're in a close game. We got two runners on, one out. And you just don't know if it's going to go our way. And nine times out of ten, it doesn't go our way. None of those ones are. And on the flip side, I mean, like, it's just the other teams, when they have runners and score, but it's like a hit parade. Yeah, well, especially in this one, this series, it seemed like the Cardinals couldn't stop hitting.

And then you also have the fact that the relief pitching really couldn't hold a lead at all in any way, even if they were given one. I think the biggest key here, obviously, for everybody, as far as the losses go, was just the one performance by Mark Malanson. Mark Malanson was completely ineffective. And he came into a one run game and he gave up three hits, a walk, four earn runs without recording a single out. Here's the thing, Rock. Like, if Mark Malanson was failing at coming in for non-save situations, why would you make that all that he does? right like we've seen them pivot tomorrow to Ian Kennedy being the closer right at least in high leverage situations Ian Kennedy comes in we saw him come in today Mark Malanson has not been affected okay like

here are his splits in save situation he's 17 for 20 with three blown saves a 2.89 ERA and 7.2 strikeouts per nine non-save situation he has a three and seven record with a 5.48 ERA. and 5.9 strikeouts per 9. Just significantly different numbers there. Yet that's the role that they seem to move them to is non-safe situations now. Yeah. What multiverse was Mark Melanson good in?

Because it's not the one he's currently in. I don't know. Which one did we get, right? Like, did we make a mistake? Was there some sort of, we got the wrong Mark Malanson from the Padres? Did this imposter show up at some point? We definitely got a variant of Mark Marlanson.

And not a good. one. I think there's a confidence level, right? I mean, the Padre's team is very good. So maybe having that be high, I don't know. I really don't know. Like, I still wonder

why they've used him in so many non-saved situations when he doesn't seem to be effective. We've talked about Brenley bringing it up. I mean, it is, it's a weird mental thing, right? Like, what's the difference between a non-save situation? You're just going out there and trying to toss scoreless

baseball, right? Doesn't matter. You're going out there trying to kill an inning and not give up. So it's like, it's such a weird thing for Melanson to struggle so, so significantly in non-save situations versus safe situation. Fine. But you know that. Why would you then relegate him to this role? I mean, they still are going to have them on the payroll for next season and then a team option for the following season. So it's not like he's going away just after this season. Yeah, because I'm sure there's going to be nobody knocking on the deback. door for Mark Balancen services next season. So it's

going to be another long one. And hopefully you know, hopefully rest of this season, you know, off-season and coming to the next year, hopefully he gets some of that mojo back. Because, I mean, he's, hasn't always been the terrible version that we're currently seeing. Right.

Right. And, and I mean, again, the Diamondbacks really tried to do everything they could to solidify their back end. And they just, unfortunately, hasn't worked out. Ian Kennedy has actually been a bit better. I know he's not been perfect either. It doesn't seem like anybody that they put into that role has been perfect. But again, he at least has been a bit more consistent than Mark Malanson. And that's the part that really is heartbreaking. And I mean, this series as a whole really

just showed that the diamondbacks were outclassed by the St. Louis Cardinals. You know, like when the Cardinals needed to come back, they did. When they needed to put runs up on the board to secure a victory late in the game. Boy, fucking did they. But, I mean, of all the things that I can't believe is that the Diamondbacks most reliable reliever came into a game, or

I should put quotes around that, right? In theory, who should be their most reliable reliever, gives up three hits, one walk, four earn runs, and doesn't record a single out. And for that reason, Mark Melanson owns our OG's performance to forget.

Because sometimes you just need to take those O. Gs in order to forget nights like game two. And I think that would go to all of us. Yeah, because he got charged for all the, for three of those four runs on that Grand Slam, didn't he? Wasn't he responsible for that? He got charged for four runs. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you got charged for all. I think he got charged because he let everybody on and then you said it came in and then he gave up, right? Didn't he give up the? He gave up the bomb. Yeah, he gave up the bomb. Oh, it just, it's not, it's not been a, it's not been a good. weekend for the Diamondbacks and hopefully they can put this behind them. They do have the Kansas City

Royals coming up and we'll get to that schedule. But of course, to forget a series like this, use our friends from OGs, get over it with OG's wonderful variety of flavors. Rock knows what I'm talking about. We are both huge fans of OGs. And I was out at their pool party this weekend, which again, we're still going to talk about. But in the meantime, make sure to try OG's wonderful variety of flavors, strains and doses that they have at your local dispensary. Make sure to pick those up. If you haven't had a chance, find them at your local dispensary by going to OGsbrands.com or on Instagram at OGs brands. That's OGE-E-Z brands.

And also go to our website at go phnx.com to sign up for a little giveaway that we got going on because OG is all about flavoring life. And they are flavoring life with the flavoring life sweepstakes. Look at that guy. That's open shirt, Derek. That guy. That guy lost his keys this weekend. And now we lived for like 24 hours at that Maya Day Club. But don't do that.

What you can do is enter the sweepstakes. If you go to go PHNX.com and sign up, you will win three bags of OGs gummies. That includes my favorite, which is the orange creamsicle flavor as well as tropical flavors. You get the OGs hat. You get a PHNX T-shirt of your choice as well as a PHNX annual membership. And remember, of course, that's for 21 and over and to enjoy responsibly. And also, speaking of enjoying responsibly, I am enjoying this very large beer responsibly, Rock. Yes, you are.

You know, another thing about this past series was there was a lot more Cardinal Red and Cardinal Powder Blue in those stands. Yeah. Yeah. On top of that, if you noticed, there was also a lot of, you could say it was almost everybody in the crowd when Albert was batting. They had their phones out. The entire crowd had their phones out watching this man swing that bat and hit those home runs. And, I mean, you know. And St. Louis is one of those teams that has fans that are everywhere.

But, man, D-BACs fans got outnumbered by Cardinal fans. Yeah. Well, and I mean, I think it's one of the ones you don't think of, right? Right. When other, there's other fan bases that when the teams come here, you tend to, like, kind of expect it, right? You're like, all right, Dodgers, Padres, I get it. There's a lot of fans, you know. The one thing is the D-Backs haven't been around very long, so when they play older franchises,

We know that this is Little Chicago or where everybody from Chicago comes when they want sick of the weather. So of course Cubs, White Sox, they tend to be outnumbered in those games, right? And then you have like the Yankees, Red Sox, those are another loss of wherever playing them here. But yeah, I mean,

there's just something about the Cardinals. And our friend, Dr. Nighthawk, who happens to be a big St. Louis Cardinals fan, says, happened here in Colorado two, Sea of Red. I mean, there's, again, there's something to, it's easy to forget. that the St. Louis Cardinals are essentially the Yankees of the National League, right?

Yeah. And I say that just because they tend to have a lot of money to be able to bring in free agents, like Paul Goldschmidt and Olinoernado. They have the allure of the franchise having that mystique and being around for a long time in a history. They have a shit ton of championships when compared to other franchises. And they just tend to be not only really well run, but really well respected by the fan bases and players and things like that. So, I mean, I'm as mad as it makes me for Paul Goldschmidt to be there, I'm glad he's someplace that he's like beloved by the fans.

And that's something that you're not going to get a lot of places, but you will get with the St. Louis Cardinals when you're an outstanding baseball player. Absolutely, man. And here's the other thing, by the way. Speaking of my large beer, also make sure to check out our friends at Four Peaks, where we will be next week broadcasting live on Wednesday. you can get all of us, all the shows from Four Peaks, and you can join us there as well on August 31st.

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there at the Four Peaks Brewing Company that you do that. But enjoy their wonderful beers. Their beers are delicious. I love them. And they're also helping us out by giving you guys something free. You can enjoy not only the flavoring live sweepstakes, but you also get a shot at another membership by joining our Toast of the Month sweepstakes, which will get you a $50 four-peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. So again, go to phtonx.com, click the link in the show notes, whichever one is easier for you, and enter that way you can join us, become part of the family. Must be 21 or older and must enjoy responsibly.

Rock, we saw there in the graphic that a big difference in regards to the Diamondbacks and their relief staff really is the ERA between starting pitchers and relief pitching. It seems like in this series, coming into

this game, the Diamondbacks had a 2.10 ERA in their last five games. But what's wild about that is that includes Madison Bumgardener's rough start there against the St. Louis Cardinals. I don't, look, I joke about Madison, bumgarner, probably more than any baseball player on this team. But I love that dude.

I think he's, I think he's hilarious. I think he's himself. I think he is, he's a guy that wears his feelings on his sleeve. And I just love that about him. He's, as far as covering a baseball team, he's just so close to chaos at all times that he is the most fascinating player at times in the locker room. but it's hard not to look and see the big difference there between what Gall and Kelly and even Tommy Henry are doing for this baseball team versus Mad Bum. They've talked a bit about him moving from one side of the bump to the other,

and that doesn't really seem to be effective. He's striking guys more out, but he's giving up more earned runs than ever. So I don't know if that's, you know, if that's the give and take that you really want. Their strikeouts are great and all, but, you know, really it's about effectiveness and keeping your team. in the game, which he hasn't really been able to do in his last two starts. So I guess my question to you is, do you see Gallen, Kelly, and Henry being the core of this moving forward? Do you think that the Diamondbacks can somehow get out of Madison Bumgarner's contract before it's over? Or do you see him just being here until it rides out?

To answer the second question first, I don't know that we're going to be able to get out of Madison Bumgarner's contract because he's not performing. at a level you would expect from what he's capable of doing. So I don't know that a lot of teams are going to want to take that contract on. So I get that. As far as the other guys that are in the rotation, these young guys that are out there, they very well could be, you know, part of this team's rotation moving forward. I think another part of what's going on with Bum Gunner,

and this just could be my take, he's been pitching, and he has a very long career right now. now. There's a ton of film. These guys have seen him, faced him numerous times across their career. These younger guys, there's not as much film, and they haven't faced some of these guys as much. You know, so with baseball, you know, they study everything. These guys have access to film on every pitcher and every instance, every situation. And they can watch all of this stuff. So they can know Bum Garner's tendencies, you know, what he's going to do here, what they're going to do here, what they think he's going to do there.

And that could be a small part of some of his struggles. His stuff seems to be sometimes where it should be. Other times you're just like, man, what's going on with this guy? And he just doesn't know. If he's missing, if he doesn't have his accuracy, it's, he's almost completely ineffective. And then on top of that, you have the frustration that really seems to get to him and and really make them kind of fall apart even more, which obviously isn't great. But it doesn't, like, it's just a huge difference, it seems like, between, like, Gallen and Kelly and everybody else.

And, I mean, at this point, the Diamondbacks really don't have to, like, rush to fix that. But especially with Tommy Henry here now and kind of being included in the mix, it doesn't feel like there is a, like, there's a lot of relief or, or something to look forward to from, you know, the minor leagues. Brandon Fott is somebody who actually has been really good for the Reno Aces. He improved to a 3-0 record going, tossing seven scoreless hittings with just one hit a loud versus Salt Lake last night. So he continues to be excellent. He might be another guy that we see as part of this rotation. But I also don't, you know, I don't see a need for the Diamondbacks.

to panic at this point. They're not really contending this year or even maybe next. So like that rotation spot can maybe be something that they maybe look to free agency to bring somebody in or make some trades. The Diamondbacks do have a lot of young players that could potentially be very enticing to a team that's rebuilding to add to their roster. Yeah, we do. And the only caveat to that for me is that also kind of scares me.

Because I don't want this team to go all in on a big name free agent and deplete our farm system. We got some guys in the minors right now that given the time to develop, I think they could be some incredibly great baseball players. You just got to give them the time. You know, not saying we should not look to move one of those guys if we get an opportunity to grab somebody that can come in immediately and help this team. they have a lot of outfielders that are going to come up at the same time or that are going to be like around the same progress at the same time. So definitely if that presents itself, you know, an opportunity to make this team better, right? That's what it's all about.

But I don't see. And here's what I worry about. What I worry about is them pivoting away from Mike Hazen as GM or Mike Hazen stepping down as GM based on things that have happened. with, you know, his wife and wanting to take care of his family. It would be completely understandable, right? But with that being said, I think the reason why I fear that is that Mike Hazen has actually developed what seems like a pretty exciting plan for the future of this team. And as we move along, as these young players that they've talked about,

but we haven't had a chance to see much of come up and become successful at a major league level like we've seen out of Alec Thomas and Stone Garrett and Tom. Tommy Henry. That really makes it a bit more understandable why the Diamondbacks didn't want to block these positions by bringing in free agents, even if they weren't very costly free agents by MLB standards. They really wanted to do what you're talking about, which is let the young guys play and give them an opportunity and have them come up and succeed, you know? But like nothing, this series, nothing went right for the Diamondbacks, to be honest. Like even Joe Manton apply as far as a relief. Like, because, the bullpen really doesn't have a lot that you can rely on for the future, but Joe Manciply seemed to be that piece. He came into this game Rock with a 13-game scoreless streak. He is the only pitcher in baseball to accumulate two scoreless streaks of 13 games plus or more, and of course had a meltdown in his third inning of work, giving up two earn runs in this

game and getting the loss in this one, his fourth loss of the season. So it's frustrating because even when you look at Melanson, even when you look at Kennedy, you start saying things, you start throwing out other options, you start looking at how good Mantiply has been, and then Mantiply comes into a game like this that was very close and ends up giving up the go-ahead runs when it comes to, you know, this close game against the Cardinals.

The Diamondbacks just couldn't, unfortunately, do anything right. It felt like at times in this series. Yeah, and that's unfortunately, it just seems. to be a recurring theme that happens series after series with this team, unfortunately. They go through these spurts where they're playing really good baseball. And then the wheels seem to like fall off. And then it's just like, man, we're back to- Carry over, right?

Like they have a big offensive output. And you're like, all right, man, it feels like they got things back on track. They hung up seven, eight runs in this game. And then, you know, especially in this, you know, in this series, the first game, you know, all they could muster up was the one run. And that barely seemed like that was even. even plausible at times with with with with the way they were hitting in that first game and uh you know series game two things looked a little bit better game three same thing you know they had a

lead at times uh but man when you talk about things falling apart there's nothing more abysmal than them hanging up what was it eight runs eight runs in the ninth inning in game yeah that still is just yeah that's one way to completely break the spirit of the opposing team Well, that's what I wonder, like at this point, does that, like, the Diamondbacks probably had some confidence, you know, going into the series. And again, this reminds me of when they played the Dodgers and got swept in four, where it just, like, man, it not only does it, not only was it a sweep, right? But it just feels like it just let all of the air out of the Diamondbacks balloon and make them feel like they are, again, a sub, a subpar team by comparison to this, you know, this monster that they faced. But hey, at least we got the Royals next.

That's a, there we go, bounce back, right? That's all we can do, bounce back. And of course, one thing you can do is bounce back by going to our friends at FOCO.com. Get yourself some Arizona Diamondbacks merch. Maybe you don't want to do that. Maybe you want to move on. Maybe you want to move on the football season. I understand.

I'm not going to blame you at this point. But regardless of where you want to go, Foco has you covered. We are partnering with a leader in sports merchandise and collectibles. They have everything. Of course, license gear for Jesse's dog. I don't know if you know this rock, but Jesse's dog is very posh. We'll only wear licensed gear.

We'll not have you sending them any fake collars or, you know, clothing from eBay or any of those fake jerseys that you get. But Foco's got you covered with licensed gear for men, women, kids, the whole thing. I've been talking about the bobbleheads. do you buy that the Diamondbacks and other teams don't have bobbleheads because of the supply chain, or do you think that there's another reason why? Because there are some teams in baseball that have been giving away bobbleheads. I said some of those teams do have more money than the Diamondbacks.

Maybe they're looking to domestic companies to purchase their bobbleheads. Maybe they're getting them from Foco. I don't know. Foco makes a really high quality bobblehead. So, I mean, I could understand going to them, but for 10,000 of them, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know if it's a supply chain issue. It could

be a financial, and if it's financial, all I can think of, Ken Kendrick's has a $100 million baseball card collection, go sell a Hank Aaron and get some bobbleheads for your fan base. Well, I'll tell you, I think there was part of that whole 2020 debacle where teams just have all of this old, all

this old crap sitting around They can't get rid of. Foco doesn't have old crap. Foco's crap is up to date and awesome. Their collectibles and bobbleheads are amazing. And you can use our code of PHNX to get yourself 10% off all non-presale items. Yeah, they had like all the new City Connect jerseys this year. They had bobbleheads for the Field of Dreams game and the All-Star game.

It was lit. They have great stuff. So make sure to check them out. And also make sure to check out our friends at the Draft King Sportsbook. app. Of course, it is college foosball season, everybody. College football's back. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use our promo

code of PHNX and you will bet just $5 on college football as a new customer. You will get $200 in free bets instantly. That's code PHNX only at the Draft King Sportsbook. And Jirac, I did not do well with my picks on Thursday. Let me tell

you, I went 0 for 3. And that's the reason why they kicked me off the bet show, in case anyone was wondering why I don't appear on that program anymore. But hey, I'm out here trying. Okay. Here's the thing. If I could predict the future, do you think I would be here?

I would be on a Cayman Islands, like a billionaire. I can't do that. No. If you could predict the future, it would be like when Biff Tannen had the sports almanac and back to the future. Correct. And made all the correct bets and just destroyed the world. That would be you, my friend.

There would be a Derek world somewhere in Las Vegas, some giant monstrosity hotel that you would see my... Oh, you'd be the mayor. You would be the mayor of every city across the globe. Yeah, yeah. It would be like a villain in a bad 80s movie for sure. It would be a villain. But of course, don't do whatever you want over at the Drafking Sportsbook. Be a villain.

Who cares? Like, who are you to do it? Bet whatever you want, enjoy yourself. Have a great time. Remember, get down on the live betting. I've been having fun doing the live betting. That's more exciting to me than anything else just because things change fast. Got to get in quick before odds change.

Values are good sometimes. Don't even know what to expect sometimes during live betting. But do what you do over at the Draft King Sportsbook app, America's top rated sportsbook app. That is correct. Here's what I got. Speaking of Draft King Sportsbook, I got our king of the series, which actually is a two-time winner in a row. That's Josh Rojas, Joshie, Joshi Rojas, baseball is life.

he had a 364 batting average in this series three runs two walks my wife had an interesting take on josh rojas we were watching him attempt to make a double play and she just brought up she's like he looks like he's trying harder than everybody else and i laughed because i was like he absolutely is he absolutely is so say what you will about josh rojas but man has been incredible uh he actually had a 452 batting average coming into this game with six RBI in his last eight games. So again, he's just been a big contributor to this team. Man, I tell you what, man. I still love just his attitude.

I love everything that he is. And, you know, I just like guys that try to make something happen when nothing's happening for your team, right? Like, we saw him in this series attempt to kick things off and get the offense going several times when nobody really was doing much. Yeah. No, he plays the game at a high level. You can, like your wife said, he's definitely out there trying harder. He's having fun with it. And you need that. You know, you need the young guys to be that spark plug for these veterans, especially as a season is getting closer to the end. These younger guys need to be there, put their foot on the gas, keep the team going. He does that. Little Dalton Varshow does that.

Yeah, for sure. With his little legs running around like a Heart and hustle. He's our short king. He's our short king. And he's also the heart and hustle award winner, by the way. So give it up for our short king. It's fun. It's fun. It's fun. Those guys play. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's and that's what it's about. That's what this entire season has been about. I think that's why it's, you know, yes, the Diamondbacks aren't probably going to end the season close to 500. And yes, the Diamondbacks aren't probably going to, you know, sniff a playoff spot. But the, the improvement. and the amount of playing time, the development, the maturation of the young guys, that has to be something that you're excited about with this team. And I mean, there's still a lot to look forward to going forward. And at the very least, I can say that this team is developing its identity more than whatever the hell you want to call the breakdown that last season was. But shout out to Josh Rojas, our draft Kings, king of the series. And of course, Rock, the only division that really matters for us right now,

We have to, small victories, right? We got to take small things. We got to keep it condensed. It's the all city division. That's the only division that matters. And right now, the Diamondbacks remain in second place in the All City Division, just behind those wily white socks who really have been very good lately, but they're still struggling to find their way into the playoffs in some way,

I think over there in the American League. Rockies continue to be very bad. And then you have the Cubs. Those two were supposed to be switched as well. but I think that was my mistake. That one was my mistake, but it doesn't matter. They're both. Rockies, we wanted to give them a little benefit of the doubt for the time being,

because they've had a rough season. They had a rough game against the Giants today where it looked like things were going to go their way. And they've kind of had a similar stretch of luck that the Diamondbacks have had against some of these tougher teams. But at least they still play each other quite a bit. And like you said, looking at the upcoming calendar, they do have the Kansas City Royals who get to see

Emmanuel Rivera return and all that he has been as of late for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The debacks do have Zach Davies going in game one of this series and Zach Gallin going in game two. So have to feel pretty good about that, but not so good about the White Sox series where things might end up lining up in a similar fashion as this one. I'll tell you, I take Tommy Henry and Merrill Kelly starting in a series any day of the week. But yeah, it would be nice to see Zach.

Gallin and Merrill Kelly start in as many series together as they possibly could. But yeah, D-backs have a chance to get right here against the Kansas City Royals after this sweep by the Cardinals. I don't like to say that, though, Rock, because it seems like whenever I say that, they do not get right against the team that I say they should get right against. Just got to go out there and play the game and hope that everything falls our way. That's all you can do. That's all you can do.

Well, I'll tell you this much. Let's talk about it because I know we have to talk about it. I am now the mayor of Maya Day Club. Yes. Again, it was similar to how I became the mayor of Disneyland. I just kind of made myself that. But it's because I lived there for a ridiculous amount of time. I was there doing the OG's variety show with my friends from PHNX.

And lo and behold, Rock, after I was done doing the show, I noticed that my car keys were nowhere to be found. Yeah, like, sure, you could blame me, right? Like, this seems like a my problem. I get it, right? Like, Derek, what were your car keys doing, not on your person? Well, in my defense, there were a lot of things that are important to me that weren't on my person, my wallet, my cell phone at one point, my backpack that had lots of

equipment in it. I don't know. Sometimes I expect when I'm asked. All I lost was my keys. All I lost, that's it. It was just my main mode of transportation. I am 100% convinced, Rock, that the people from Postmates that I was complaining about earlier in the day showed up and threw them in the trash or something.

I don't know. I have no evidence to back that up, but I just, I don't know. Whoever did this seem to do it despite me. And I spent way too long at that club. I'm way too old to be at a club. See, Leah says I saw the keys as the Friday show went live. So where are the keys, Rock?

That is the true mystery. Not how I survived for seven hours on nothing but tequila and whatever the hell this pink drink was in a bottle that I was mixing it with. That is not the question. No, no, no, never. or, you know, again, how comfortable those OGs pool floats are to sleep on when you need to just take a quick nap in the, it was hot out. I was in the sun. But I still want to know where my keys are. So if someone finds my keys, please contact me on Twitter.

I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. You guys know that. My DMs are no longer open because that was a whole other thing. Oh, Lord. But Leah says it's not about the keys. It's about the friends we made along the way. No, Leah, it's not. These girls came up to me rock and were like,

oh, did you lose your keys? And all I could think was, do you have them or do you know where they are? Because it's not getting out of my face. I don't know. I don't care. I didn't care. I just wanted my keys back. I just wanted to leave so bad.

Yeah. I was really parked in a parking lot or a parking space. by the way, that had a sign next to it that said it was a towaway zone from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. So I had a very finite amount of time to get my car out of there. And Leah's over here like talking in the comments like she didn't abandon me. You know, I stayed there for hours, hours after you left. You know how long I was stuck there listening to that music? I swear to God it was on a loop.

It started repeating itself after a while. Yeah. Anyway, I'm not doing any. Here's the thing. My Day Club is a lovely place to spend a few hours, not a place for you to spend your entire day. She did. She did.

Look, I'm just taking it out on people. Leah says she did stay with me longer than anybody else. She actually, Rock, she sat with me and just consoled me because she knew I was sad. But maybe Mark says Leah did that to teach me a lesson. and I still don't. Here's the thing. Leah's too nice for that. Also, so is Shane and so is Sean DePaz.

And I'm going to throw out there that Jacob and Emma are also both too nice to that. So that only leaves one person and that person would be my GM, Saul Bookman. Now, do I think Saul Bookman would steal my keys to teach me a lesson? Yes. Do I still think he would steal my keys just because he thinks it's funny? yes do i think he would just steal my keys just to do it all of the above so i think we figured out who our prime suspect yeah i was going to say are we are we sure certain that he did not steal your keys do you know for a fact he didn't do it i don't know for a fact i don't know for a fact

rock because people can lie you can say no i don't have your keys and then be like t-hee i do have your keys ah so we'll see but uh that But, you know, again, the wildest part was I had a blast, even though I was stuck there because I was hanging out with our friends from OGs. And they are an incredible company. I know that we talk about using their products. We talk about how great they are. I often say I don't know that girl that I took the picture with. And that's a lie. I know. I know exactly who that is. It's all K-FAPE, right? But here's the thing is the OG's company is really ran by some incredible people. Their CEO brand. joined us on the variety show and he was just a delight to talk to you. And he killed everybody in my bud, what was it, Bud Band or Burn trivia contest. So he won that. And again,

it's a wonderful company to support. That's what we're all about. We're all about supporting local companies and we hope you guys support us. We just hit a million downloads on this little podcast thing that we do. And we're very excited about that. So we thank you guys for being a member for listening for everything you guys do, whether you're just watching this show, commenting, we do this for you, we do this because of you, and we thank you so much for being here

and being a part of it. If you haven't signed up to get a membership, sign up now at go phtonx.com, and get yourself an annual membership. You'll get yourself a free t-shirt, like this beauty flag one right here. I like this one a lot. Whatever t-shirt you choose, you can get your free t-shirt with that annual membership. You can get a month-to-month membership, and you'll get your first month for just 50 cents. Regardless of your membership status, you will get access to our members-only Discord and members only discounts over at the at the PHNX Locker.com. Also, if you're here, make sure to sign up to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. Leave us a thumbs up if you can and sign up for notifications.

That way, you don't miss whenever we go live like we did with our little OGs variety show. Sometimes we just do fun stuff like that kind of on short notice. So we were glad for you guys to join us. We hope you guys enjoyed what we put together for you. Again, my quick minor league update, hopefully we see Brandon Fought. Hopefully we see Corbyn Carroll. These are two guys that we very well could see before at the end of this season. And I think, again, going back to what Rock was saying, it's all about the young kids at this point and the excitement there.

Obviously, Rock has that Tatis Jr. shirt behind him. And I know he's a big fan of that. So I guess before I let you go, before I get out of here, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts on this? And more importantly, I guess, what are your thoughts on the way that his teammates reacted to this entire situation? Yeah. So first and foremost, the debacks are my team. So don't get your panties in a bunch of D-backs fans. Just to clarify.

Yes, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been my favorite player in the game. Prior to all of this, this young man was one of the faces of the league. He was the face of the show last year, the video game. He's one of the most exciting players to watch. You know, this offseason with the wrist, you know, that injury happened on the most. with a motorcycle. There's a cockity lied about it, whatever. The potteries didn't know.

He was on the cusp of coming back. And then he gets hit with an 80 game ban for using a steroid. For me, as a fan of his, I'm still going to support the man and be a fan. The problem is, though, this is going to follow him for the rest of his career. No matter what he does on this baseball field moving forward. he is always going to have the steroid tag attached to him, which if he were to continue playing baseball at the level that he does, he would be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

No, he will not anymore because he has steroids attached to his name. And anybody that has steroids attached to their name at this point is not in the Hall of Fame. And that's the biggest thing for me because he is so fun to watch. Like I don't know what his mindset is. I don't know if he has the wrong people around him. He doesn't have an OG, like, looking out for him. I don't know. But he's made some incredibly...

Do you think the... Do you think the topical cream excuse holds water in any way? Or do you think it's bullshit? It sounds just ridiculous. Because my thing is this... It really does. You are Fernando Tatis Jr. You are one of, if not the most exciting athletes on the planet.

it. You should have somebody vetting anything that touches your body, goes into your body. You're absolutely right. If the doctor gives us to you, you have your other person vet that medication. So there's problems there. You asked if I, the way that his teammates addressed him, spoke out on him. Yeah, because it wasn't exactly supported in any way it seemed like from his teammates. No, because you know what? Those guys are like a right call all season. Yeah, they've been battling all season. they just picked up the most lucrative free agent, or not free agent, the most lucrative player at the trade deadline.

Yeah, sure. Nando was about to come back. And that team was going to be a problem. And now, this is a distraction now. That's, oh, my God. That's a great comparison. Nicholas Batty in the comments said, he's like OBJ.

Yeah, you know what? When Musgrove said what he said, Clevenger said what he said, Machado said what he said, they're all within their rights. If I was his teammate, I would be pissed because they're all fighting to get somewhere. This team hasn't been in quite some time. And not saying they still can't do that.

But who doesn't want a Fernando Tatis Jr. coming back for the home stretch. Right. So in that instance, I have no problem with how they spoke to him towards him. There's been reports that he supposedly was going to be addressing the team internally sometime this week. it's all going to come out eventually. We'll know what was said. We'll know a portion of it. But for me, the baseball fan,

like, he's never going to get into the Hall of Fame now, I don't think, if his career continues at the level that it was, unless the, because the baseball writers, you know, as they get older and some of the older members drop off, some of the younger writers might have different points of view on the game. But, you know, anybody with steroids is not in the Hall of Fame, which is an entire level of hypocrisy in my opinion when it comes to Major League Baseball

because steroids save baseball, like it or love it, hate it or love it. You can't convince me otherwise. When McGuire and Sosa were chasing them home run records, it was the only thing that was on TV. And not everybody is oblivious at a fact that all them do is reduce the hell up. So, you know, it is what it is.

But the baseball runs at this point are not budging. They're not budging to let these guys in. So, you know. Well, I think I think the writers thing is definitely true, right? Yeah. They've said it a lot about the hypocrisy of the writers, like covering, you know, that time like they did. But, you know, I think it's all for, it's all for the health. It's all for the better of the game for things to be going in a way where things are fair and we're not doing this anymore.

But I don't know. I mean, I think that there's also something to be said about not having an archaic view. on medicine because I know that steroids do get prescribed for things. They do help. There is a medical reason for it. There is a medical reason to take lots of things. But in this case, for instance, I think someone said it in the comments. Doctors asked about this, said they would never have prescribed this supposed cream for ringworm.

So who knows? Maybe this was a self-diagnosis at the pharmacy in Tijuana or something. I don't know sometimes. He needs to come out and publicly say something, not his father, not somebody else. He at some point needs to, and it's going to happen. We're going to be a sit-down interview with him and somebody

where he's going to talk about this. And it needs to happen. His dad needs to not try to, like, stick up for him, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz. I saw what they said. I get what they're trying to do, but to me they're just making the situation worse. Like everybody feels the way they feel about it.

So let the young man. And they're going to. And they're going to. And go from there. I think the Padres are a team that already are, they seem to be pretty outstanding with or without Tatis, but I can understand the frustrations of not having a talent like that coming back. When you're attempting to make a run at the World Series,

who knows what's going to happen after this season, who knows what's going to happen in the near future for the Padres. they've mortgaged a lot of their future on winning in the near future, right? Like they have mortgage quite a bit of it. So it will be interesting to see if they can use this as motivation or if this is yet another, another thing that kind of holds them back from ever getting to that point. But again, he's going to be there for a while. Like I said, what, you signed a 13 year contract, 14 year contract?

It feels like the Padres have everybody for like 20 years, but it's wild. He's not going anywhere. So another side note, I know I usually come on here to do drop models with rock knowledge talking about the sports card industry. This new, this Tate's news is also affecting his value in the baseball card marketplace. So, yeah. You're not fan of that because I know you're a stockholder in the Fernando T's card industry. Yeah, this is not good for the sports card market either. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Yeah, for sure. Well, again, thank you guys all for joining us. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. Again, I'm at Kappa underscore Kman with the K. This guy over here is at Rock Knowledge. He's a K-a-N-N-Slanders on there because he's a hater, extraordinary on Twitter. On Twitter, D-Backs. And all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for taking the time to join us. Hopefully you had one of our. delicious beers from Four Peaks to drown your sorrows in this sweep. And let's move on. We have an off day tomorrow and then we get it in Kansas City. So we thank you guys again for joining us on behalf of Rock and myself. I appreciate you guys joining us, giving us your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun,

but it's so much more fun when you defend yourself and don't let your dad do it for you.