PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs After Dark: The MF’N WBC

Starting point is 00:00:00 You are now listening to PHNXD back after dark. Rock, motherfucking world baseball classic season is here. It's fucking time. Excited, right? I mean, it's the best, it's the best thing that baseball has to offer that isn't like the MLB postseason, right? Like it's the best fucking thing.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, especially coming all, off of the way 23 ended, you know, Shohay punching out Mike Trout, you know, expectations sky high for the team USA, you know. It's, man, look, I've been looking forward to this since Shohay struck out Mike Trout.

Starting point is 00:00:59 So let's just keep it a buck. Yeah. Well, you're a big Fernando Tatis guy. And that, that Dominican team is stacked, bro. That is, that is Daven's team. That is the team that Diamondbacks fans that have no stake in this whole thing. If you don't want to be super ultra patriotic right now, you got to go for Team USA.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Come on, man. You got the nicest fucking guy ever and Jerry Perdomo and you got the best fucking second baser in the fucking world. I can tell Marta on that team, bro. What's crazier today is I was sitting there talking in the clubhouse to Carlos Santana, who was on a Dominican team that won it back in, what was it, 2013, I think he said. Yeah. And that's, that's, that's, that's crazy. It's crazy how many times he's participated in it. And again, it's also like, it's great to see how much it means to every one of

Starting point is 00:01:56 these guys to represent their country. Erod talked about it with Venezuela, obviously all the Dominican guys on, on the Diamondbacks, but like, it, it means a lot. It means a lot. I mean, I know that might be kind of sappy at times. I know it might. be kind of whatever but like you can tell that this definitely means a tremendous amount it's right up there now with representing your country in the olympics as far as these guys and that's and i think that's the next thing i think i think i think i think they need a room baseball to the summer olympics absolutely don't you don't you think this is fine though why i fuck with this like this is fine it is it is but i would not be mad at seeing every four years of the olympics too i'm not i don't

Starting point is 00:02:40 think you would take away from the WBC. How do you make that happen in the July, though? How do you make that happen in the middle of a baseball season? It's literally a... It's logistically. It's impossible. Right. Right. But, you know, again, it's the reason why what baseball was part of the Olympics at one point, wasn't it? But it was just like amateurs and such...

Starting point is 00:03:04 A lot of them were... That's back in the days when it was more the amateur guys, not any pros. and then, you know, they didn't really start doing the pro thing. I want to say until the dream team in basketball in 92. Right. Well, and the World Baseball Classic that that allows for that. But right, when that thing started, it wasn't like this. No.

Starting point is 00:03:23 When World Baseball Classic, you were thrilled if your team, if your country had like a superstar from Major League Baseball as a part of it, but it was definitely rare. It wasn't, it wasn't this. That fucking Dominican team is stacked. bro, that lineup, like their pitching might not be great. Their bullpen might be dog shit. But that lineup is going to put up fucking 12 runs a game. So good luck fucking. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:49 I mean, they're literally like one through eight are like killers. And then the number nine hitter is the catcher. And not saying the catcher is a slouch, but compared to the first eight guys, he's a slouch. It's an AL all-star team with Catell and Perdomo on it, basically, a Carlos Santana. And Todi and Soto. And fucking, and, uh, Hulu and Rodriguez. Well, it's like, it's just, it's an all-star team in general. Like, it's disgusting.

Starting point is 00:04:15 It's a disgusting lineup. Machado is on that team. Team USA's lineup is pretty fucking gross too. It's pretty gross too, right? So it's like, again, this is the thing that makes it exciting. It makes it exciting because you have all of these countries now participating at the highest possible level. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico, my tiny island.

Starting point is 00:04:36 Poor guys. Fucking disaster. It's an absolute disaster. Yeah. The insurance. Nobody wants to insuring everybody. Yeah, right. I mean, Carlos Santana isn't insured.

Starting point is 00:04:49 He's still, the Diamondbacks are still letting him play, right? Francisco Indoor wasn't going to participate regardless because of the haymate bone thing. So that sucks. But we do have Nolan Aronado. And today I found out that Nolan Aronado has never even been to Puerto Rico. Never even been. This is going to be his first time going to Puerto Rico. Oh, I want him.

Starting point is 00:05:12 That man, turn his back on the USA. You know, you know what he said? He said he didn't get the call, so he didn't feel like he was like one over the other, right? Which is fair to say. Like, he also has the last opportunity to participate in the WBC. So do you fucking blame him? Do you blame him for not? No.

Starting point is 00:05:32 You know, it's like that's, it's such a weird thing, right? The whole Puerto Rico thing. by Bonnie It's the half-time show It being part of the United States People not really knowing that There's a lot going on They literally should have bad bunny

Starting point is 00:05:46 On the on the coaching staff Like he should be like Yeah Coaching staff Did you see this man at that? I would have him hitting first overall Lead off I mean why Hitter fucking Benito

Starting point is 00:05:59 We need all the help we can get We need all the help we could get right Let me ask you this Because I'm sure you saw the story that came out this week about how I think it's Terrick scubble and Paul Schuble, the most you're going to see them is for one to two starts.

Starting point is 00:06:14 So you're going to see them early on, but when it comes to the gangs where it's the games that matter, matter. You don't have schemes in Scoobel. I don't know if that's entirely the case, but... No, I understand why they're only

Starting point is 00:06:30 it's twice. I get that. You're right. I mean, it is limited for everybody, and in some cases, that's, the way that the WBC shakes out. It's just when... However, two-headed monster. I mean, they're going to have to be careful with guys. It's the Edwin-Diaz thing, right?

Starting point is 00:06:47 You can't have... You can't have Edwin Diaz happening again, where you lose a guy in a WBC. It was a fucking disaster for the WBC. You know what I mean? It really was. It was... It's the reason why now

Starting point is 00:07:05 this has become such a thing. And, I mean, it probably... already would have been a thing with the, I guess, level of, of talent that is participating in this WBC, but, but man, I mean, it's, it's the reason why I had my, my, at least my reservations about the Diamondbacks having 12 guys 13, when Corbyn was a part of it, participating in it, simply because it's just a lot. It's a lot. I know a few of them are minor league guys. I know it's like Drew Jones is going to be in there for Netherlands. You got, you know, a couple of other guys participating as well.

Starting point is 00:07:44 And that's cool for all of them, right? It's cool to see all of these guys getting their chance to participate for their countries. Christian Robinson is going to represent Great Britain and be their, I think, center fielder, right? So. But when it comes to like the, you know, again, the Diamondbacks like stars like Cattel and Perdomo, yeah, I personally have my concerns about them participating in a tournament like this. However, an injury or whatever could happen in a meaningless spring training game as well. I would almost prefer that if something bad were to happen to any of these guys, at the very least it would happen in a game that meant something in the world baseball

Starting point is 00:08:27 classic versus it being at a game 12 of spring training in Good Year, Arizona. All I'm going to say is I don't want to see. no player that I love and like Edwin Diaz themselves. That's all I'm going to say. That's what it comes down to. That's what this whole insurance thing with Puerto Rico comes down to and so many. And I mean, justifiably so. Because if I was the Mets and going into the 2020 season,

Starting point is 00:08:54 I'd be fucking tight. I wouldn't let a single play. If I was the Mets, I wouldn't let a single player participate in the WBC. Not at all, not any of you guys. Let me ask you that too. What do you think about teams not wanting their guys?

Starting point is 00:09:07 to go. I mean, it makes sense. It's their right, right? I mean, they're under contracts. I mean, you sign this. There's a reason why you request permission from your team to participate in the World Baseball Classic and you want them to sign off on it. Right. But at the same time, too, I don't blame teams for doing this because at the end of the day, what does the World Baseball Classic victory mean for the Diamondbacks?

Starting point is 00:09:35 what does it mean if the yeah like it's it's great if the dominican team wins it right because there's three diamondbacks players on there but that's it i mean it's kind of like if they would have won a winter who's the third dback on the dominican team who i'm missing oh carlos fentana yeah the the one that isn't insured but the diamondbacks still allowed him to participate in the world baseball class i mean he's basically playing this season for free so well yeah and again at his age and such, it's a bit more difficult to guarantee that he's not going to get injured participating in anything. It's kind of a nice thing, too, because this is honestly, you figure this is probably his last time playing on that team. Right, right.

Starting point is 00:10:16 That's nice on both sides. The DR team allowed it and the debacks allowed it. Right. And Nolan, too. Nolan, that's, again, going back to what Nolan said today, he said this is his last chance to participate in it, right? Oh, another one. He's never been to Puerto Rico? Right.

Starting point is 00:10:33 He gets to go, like, he gets to go have pernil and Coquito and maybe a pinocalada on the island. Like, this is, I'm so happy for him. I wanted to just give him the big three, the Mofongo, Tostones, and Pernil. I just wanted him to have that. And perhaps he would follow a little bit of mine instructions. I also would love to make him some Coquito, but between you and me, I doubt that he would accept me making him a random alcoholic coffee. cocktail in a jar that I give to him in the clubhouse, right? Yeah, because he's probably not even familiar with getting coquito like that at all to

Starting point is 00:11:11 begin with. I doubt he's not familiar with the shit. Right, right. And he's definitely not going to trust a guy with a must-at. I know, right? I hope he experiences all the good things. The Puerto Rico team is not winning anything. And that's fine. I'm fine. And they're playing in Puerto Rico. They're all. They're in San Juan. I know. Fucking crazy. It's fucking crazy. that's going to be electric atmosphere for them. They might win games based on just vibes alone, for sure. But that is an underman team when it comes to...

Starting point is 00:11:44 Oh, yeah, because Hobby Baez ain't playing either, because Javier Baez is doing the same thing I'm doing right now. Nope. Moken weed. Hey, another person who's come, this is going to be their last WBC. I mean, and fuck him because of who he played for. This is the last time we're going to see Clayton Kershaw and competitor to baseball. Fuck that guy, though.

Starting point is 00:12:03 but oh yeah well Clayton Kershaw probably I mean oh if if Damon was here as he as he is at times he would go off on a 20 minute tangent with you about this being a make-a-wish situation for Clayton Kershaw overall I will say I get it I understand but really when it comes to like a national team for a tournament like this with all due respect fuck off with your retirement tour bullshit. Like this should legitimately be an opportunity for you to make your roster the best that it possibly can be. And you mean to tell me that Clayton Kershaw at this point in his career is giving you

Starting point is 00:12:46 that, or is he just riding on the coattails of a very good team USA that could allow him to get a win here in his career? I would need to see the names on the list that didn't make the team. Exactly. I would need to see that before. I can definitively say. Because, I mean, there's probably a scenario where Clayton Kershaw can go in there and eat up four or five innings if needed for Team USA. So, I mean, he's really sung out.

Starting point is 00:13:17 I'm not saying he's useless. I'm not saying he's useless. I would love to see who didn't make the squad because his 87-year-old curveball throwing, Eiffis pitch, having ass is on that team now. Fuck the Dodgers, by the way. Yeah, no, I mean, while you're here, you might as well drop one of those. You got to. Fuck those guys. I mean, he did have a 1.6 war in 2025.

Starting point is 00:13:40 So he wasn't completely useless. I mean, he's still, he's been dog shit, but I mean, he's still Clayton Kershaw. I know, I know. That's what I'm saying. Like, uh, I'm torn. I don't care. Damon's not here. See, if Damon was here, he would be like, this just further adds to the case of Derek being a secret Dodgers fan.

Starting point is 00:13:59 Meanwhile, I am not. And I don't want Clayton Kershaw to be a part of this team. But like a lot of people. I feel like we do think of certain guys as being far worse than they actually are. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks, or excuse me, Team USA roster, still very stacked, still okay. I have my thoughts on what you said earlier in regards to like Paul Skeen's and Terrick Scoobel. It's going to be interesting to see if this team goes far how much they are able to utilize those guys and lean on those guys. And it's, I mean, if you look at Team USA's pitching lineup, it's,

Starting point is 00:14:34 fucking nasty. Oh, it's gross. I mean, it's fucking gross. Yeah. It's literally, I mean, you got the best closer set up guys, middle long relief. See, and that's what I think when I like the Dominican lineup, the starting lineup is just nasty. But then they're pitching. Don't get me wrong. They got they got a solid ace. But outside of that, it does get questionable. And this once again is a tournament where you have to win multiple games and you also have to compete once we get to. like the quarter finals and the semifinals and all of that so the beauty of baseball though man anything can and will happen on any given fucking day it's so great right it's the only sport where you

Starting point is 00:15:14 can have a guy like Jose altouvae uh also somehow be as good as a guy like erred judge and those two players are very different sizes but uh man it's just going to be electric man it is going to be absolutely electric i can't wait and i before we get out of here i'll ask you this there is so much talk at spring training that this is like a good thing for these guys to go leave their teams and go participate in this tournament now I understand why like I understand they are going to be thrust into games that matter immediately games that you know that that they're going to want to have an impact it on it's going to be completely different from playing in spring training so that's great and all but I mean do you do you have

Starting point is 00:16:04 any concerns about how this tournament impacts these guys at all? Or do you think it just gets them ready earlier, essentially, for this tournament? I think the only thing it takes away from is just continuing to build that chemistry you're trying to get generated in spring training because you've been away from the guys. You're trying to get that chemistry back. But on the flip side, on the flip side, though, you got these guys going out there and they're going to go play high-level baseball when the rest of their teammates, I mean, they're playing high level, but it's not high leverage baseball.

Starting point is 00:16:38 So these guys are going to be, like you said, they're going to be thrust into a war. And I think that's going to make the players that are in the WBC better as they go into the season because they're going to have three weeks where they were going balls to the wall trying to win the ship for their country. Yeah, yeah. So I think it's a good thing. I'll tell you, one thing I do like is that three of the four infielders for the Diamondbacks are going to be on the same team still playing together. That makes me feel good. right like you talk about that chemistry right like it sucks that no one isn't there in a part of that

Starting point is 00:17:09 already but he's a vet how crazy would that have been if not just just to have another another deep back like if no one just had a little bit of dominican in his family somewhere imagine that no one was part dominican and you had an all dbacks infield i just i just i just i just want him to eat so many to stonace in porto rico rock i just want him to have the best time i don't care how team Puerto Rico does. I want Nolan Aronado's experience of Puerto Rico to be the best thing ever. Meanwhile, I will root for the Dominican Republic, which is very close to my island. It's very close to Puerto Rico. It's also, I mean, almost identical when you go to the two places, but that's either here or there. I'm just excited for more baseball and I'm excited for the world baseball classic. Cannot wait for that. You're going to have to come to the office and do a watch party with us because we are definitely going to sit back and watch some baseball we can make that happen for sure yeah let's make that happen but of course uh he is rock knowledge i am cap underscore caveman with a k on all social media uh he is at r o k knowledge i guess that's probably a bad r o knowledge that's i've literally realized as i've gotten older that

Starting point is 00:18:23 the way that i spell my name and the way that it said it's so fucking stupid it's dumb you're it doesn't make any fucking it's so dumb yeah 25 years later i'm like oh my name is dumb i'm still calling myself the mayor because Brian was making fun of me for trying to make people like me at a wrestling show. Sir, we're going to be drinking beers in our 70s and you're still

Starting point is 00:18:46 going to be referring to yourself as the fucking mayor. Who the fuck you are, man. Yeah, I know. I know. That's unfortunate, but it's, there's nothing I can do to change it now. You can't. Follow us on social media. Maybe you get impeached. I don't, even if I get impeached, I hold no position.

Starting point is 00:19:03 No one's voted me into anything. It's wildest thing anyway. I had somebody from the mayor's office come introduce themselves to me. That was funny. That was hilarious. So good on them. But anyway, you know where we're at. You know what we do.

Starting point is 00:19:17 We thank you guys for listening. Appreciate your time so much. Make sure to follow us everywhere on social media. Make sure to follow the show at PHNX underscore DVEX. As always, all roads lead to at pHNX underscore sports. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun. after dark

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs After Dark: The MF’N WBC

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