PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs After Dark: The Replacements

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks found a way to split their four-game series with the Braves and get back to .500, something they’re all too familiar with. But Brandon Pfaadt had another mediocre outing, and Derek and Rok discuss how the two pitchers in their starting rotation who have minor league options are making the difficult decision on who stays and who goes much easier on the front office. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are now listening to PHNXDbacks after dark. 500 we meet again. Am I right? This team with being a 500 baseball club is kind of perplexing. They always find a fucking way to be 500. And in this case, I guess it's a good thing because it seemed like things were spiraling out of control a bit for this team at the end of last week. losing a game to the Braves by 17 to 2. Yeah.

And also losing Jordan Lawler to a broken fucking hand. That just, that literally adds insult or injury to insult, I should say. Yeah. And then today what? Santana went down because it was growing. Santana did go down due to his groin. And that's, it's unfortunate. But at the same time, the Diamondback.

have been seemingly reluctant to play Jose Fernandez, who has, quite frankly, come back down to Earth after his incredible debut. However, he is still like a game changer defensively, offensively. He laid down a hell of a bunt in that way on Saturday, right? And I mean, that ended up being key. And he's just that kind of guy. It sucks to have yet another player go down. and quite frankly, the diamond backs have no depth now.

Their depth has completely gone to shit. But I will say that at the very least, the bright spot there, the silver lining, is that Jose Fernandez has emerged and, I mean, seems like he'll be a good replacement over there at first base. It might be a, you know, a little bit of a blessing here, even though it sucks that Santana got hurt, that Fernandez could see some more playing time due to it. That's something that I think all fans want to see right now. Yeah, I mean, you want to see one of your young guys, one of your top prospects, you know, get some playing time. Obviously, the circumstances around it suck.

Yeah. But, hey, throw him out there, throw him in the fire, see how he reacts, you know. I think defensively, I think he's an upgrade a little bit, not to knock Santana. I like Sanana, but he feels like he could make more dynamic play. Yeah, yeah, right? Does that? And I think, I'm honestly, I think because I mean, Carlos Santana's bat hasn't really been batten lately.

So, but I kind of feel like a lot of our guys, their bats aren't really battened. Oh, so many. I mean, it's early. So I'm hoping, I'm hoping that this will rectify itself and, you know, hopefully going to City Field and playing the Mets next week. They'll, you know, get some of the, they'll get some mojo, get some wins. And then start to, you know, start, you know, beaming upwards, man. Like, they got to, they got to put some, they got to put some series together, some series wins together.

I mean, they, they salvage this one nicely because after losing those first two games, it looked like this was going to be a route, right? And to be fair, the Braves have one of the best pitching staffs, or at least had. No, they're good. Still probably do. I'm not trying to knock it, but I'm just saying as far as statistically, they came into this series with a top three ERA for their starters and like a top three ERA for their bullpen. They were a difficult team to take on. And that's the reason why there wasn't much offense in this.

But man, give the fucking starting pitchers some flowers because these guys have been incredible. And I guess not all of them because Brandon Fott had another upstart. but even and even with Brandon Fott and Ryan Nelson's ERAs being what they were entering play today in the finale, the Diamondback still had the sixth best starting pitching ERA in all the Major League Baseball. And Brandon Foughts ERA was 7.5 entering play today. And Ryan Nelson's was like five and a half. That's crazy. But what's even crazier is how well Eduardo's pitch so far this season.

Oh my God. He has nothing to show for it because boys have not. Nothing. Zach's pitch great to start the season. Zach looks great. Brandon Fott struggling. I did not see that because I thought Brennan Fott was going to be one of our, like, one of our horses that was going to really help carry that that rotation. And not saying that he won't.

It's only been a couple starts. But he doesn't look like the Brennan Fott we saw that was dealing last year. Right. And even then, his ERA was still. Yeah. Five, right? And he still had that, he still had that knack to have that big inning where he gives up a lot of runs.

I think what's unfortunate about this is both, both Brandon and Ryan Nelson should be feeling the pressure, and maybe they are, in regards to what is going to happen with the starting rotation with Merrill Kelly gets back. Right. But as it stands, are you really going to put Michael Soroka, who has a zero ERA? into the bullpen or do anything with our edwardo rodriguez you're not touching zach and you're

not touching maryl and the guys that have options left are fought and nelson so is it out of the realm of possibility that tory would go to a six-man rotation i think it is because of the way that it impacts all of the pitchers like in theory going to a six-man rotation one time through is good especially if you're talking about yeah you're right you're right but then because it's it's if they have an off day or or if they have two off days right then you got off days you're pitching eight there's eight days you know seven days in between yeah Zach starts and doesn't pitch again for eight days that's that's not ideal for a start exactly and that's oh yeah I get that you know what I mean I try to explain that it's it's the same way where I try to explain why it's so fucking shitty that the the

moves are what they are but at the end of the day I I think and I have not asked them this I'm just speculating. I'm just talking out of my ass right now. But I think any fucking starting pitcher in the rotation would rather be optioned to AAA Reno, believe it or not, and stay a starting pitcher and stay stretched out rather than being converted to a bullet arm. Because when you go to the pen, you have two problems. One, if you're good in the pen, it's not like they're going to say, oh, see, this guy's so fucking good. He needs to be back in the starting rotation. No, they're going to be like, hey, look at this fucking great arm we have for the pen. And next thing you know, you blink and you're a bullpen arm for the rest of your career. It's happened to several

guys that were starters for the Diamondbacks on the ass. And it could easily happen to either one of these guys. Ryan Nelson, quite frankly, is proven that he's better than that. And I think Brandon Fought has at times, but Fought still just doesn't have the statistics to back it up in the same way that Nelly does. Right. But I think that at the end of the day, both of these guys would probably rather be option considering that they have the minor league options to Reno and stay available as that sixth starter once something happens.

And again, you never know what's going to happen. With your career, you never know what's going to happen when you get sent down. I think fans view it as a demotion much more than the players do or the, you know, the front office does, but it sucks. It sucks that it's the way that it has to go.

And again, it's not just one spot in the rotation. It's a couple. You have Corbyn-Bern. returning on the horizon. So what is, is there a projected return date for Merrill Kelly? Yeah, Merrill is supposed, I mean, it was based on how he felt after his first outing and he had a two-hit scoreless outing for the aces. Okay.

And in Albuquerque, which is a place where the ball flies. And so, I mean, he did a great job. And he reportedly felt fine. But it's just a matter of probably feeling comfortable. I wouldn't be surprised to see him do one more rehab start. I would actually defer that. With the way he pitched, there's a good, I would too, because considering they have the coverage for it right now, you might as well give these guys another turn through the rotation,

give everybody a chance to kind of look their best one more time and see what your decision is on the other side. The problem is that when it's Ryan Nelson and fought not playing well, that makes the decision actually easy for the Diamondbacks in a way, because those are the guys that have minor league options if it was you know if it was someone like soroka for instance you have to think about putting him in the bullpen yeah or opt him down right or well you can't he doesn't have about it but you have the fact that you know you could dfam if he was really bad and like that's obviously what you don't want to happen yeah you just you know right now he's just outperforming the younger

guys the good part is the younger guys are going to be a part of this franchise for a while so you're right even if they get sent down even if they get optioned there's still the a key part of the future of the diamondbacks it's just not the here and now considering that they have multiple guys on one year deals that probably won't be here next year and that's when they'll be called upon to return to the starting rotation if that's the the route they go but it's just you know you kind of wish brandon fought and right nowson we're making this decision harder on the diamond back you get you know what i mean like you kind of wish that was the case but And then Corbin is Corbyn's due back.

It went after the All-Star break or before, is it before after the All-Star break? I mean, essentially, yeah, it's weird because Corbin feels great and he's already throwing max effort bullpens. Is he? I mean, he's, for all the tons of purposes, he's well ahead of schedule. And he wants to be out there. If you asked him, he would be out there, you know, for this matchup against the New York Mets. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. He would be fighting for that.

But, I mean, I can understand the organization also being. hesitant based off the injury type that he had 100% you don't want you don't want to push him back too soon because god forbid jesus christ man if he goes out there and blows his shit out again and the first second couple starts yeah you just like fuck really yeah also and i hate to say this because it is what it is but in a similar way that this is like that service time manipulation bullshit right they don't really want corbin burns who has an opt out in his contract after this year to play too much of the year because that gives them that much more of an incentive to come back next year.

And I mean, I'm not saying that comes internally. I'm just speculating on that. And I would think that, like, again, the more time he misses, I think the more likely it is that Burns returns next year. But again, you imagine, shit show that 2027 could be. We have fucking war chests for both sides. They're putting money in war chests, Rock, fucking war chests. So just go ahead and cancel the 2027 season as far as that's been.

No, I was going to see, you imagine if they added injury time to your contract like they're doing wrestling? Oh, God. You know what, though? I mean, I don't think that that's that unfair. I really know. No, it's not. I mean, they're still getting paid his $180 million, whatever it was, dollars no matter what. I'll tell you this much.

Guys would have gotten contracts sooner and probably. would have got you know what I mean like there probably would have been some more deals being made a lot of times when you get to a point in your career where Paul goldschmidt is at or some of these older guys are they're reluctant to give you anything more than a one year deal and that's because of injury you're old you could break down at any point well not even that too if they if they're on a one year deal and they go and they have a phenomenal season they have the leverage going into the next the next contract negotiation wherever they go yeah very true and I mean there's a lot too. The business side of baseball is, it's the business side of baseball.

It sucks, honestly, is really what it comes down to. But when it comes to business for the Diamondbacks, they have some tough, tough decisions when this comes back or when Merrill Kelly comes back. Well, not even just them. I mean, you also at some point this season are going to have J. Mark return, I would assume, probably later on. Is A.J. Puck projected to play this year? Oh, God, yes.

AJ Puck is actually probably going to be the first returning pitcher. He's supposed to be back. I like you. That little scary ginger in the bullpen, he was nice. He was nice when he was pitching for us. It'd be nice to get him back there. If J. Mark, when J. Mark comes back, if J.M.R. is J.mart? I like it.

So. Oh, you love it. I mean, you love it. Yeah, no. They're going to be electric stuff. Electric stuff. They're going to be more careful with him than anybody else. Well, I don't blame him because he's so young and you don't want to.

to you don't want to push him back out there. And you know, the same thing with Corbyn, you don't want him to go back out there. And then all of a sudden blows his UCL again or needs Tommy John again. And then it's just like, fuck, that's two. Yeah. No, I mean, it's,

it's not just about these guys returning. It's like you brought up earlier. It's the pile of injuries that we're still having to deal with. The, yeah. Now Carlos Santana and his groin injury. We have Jordan Lawler who was playing really, really good. I mean,

you're not lying it's two defensive runs saved already this year he was tied for first because obviously i didn't realize that early into the season the night was his first homer in the big leagues i'm like in his major league career yeah so i mean it's it's unfortunate it is especially when he's playing well especially in that game oh my god oh he got hit he got hit right it was hitting the wrist yeah he was hitting the wrist. Man, not a good, not a good weekend for MLB players getting smacked in the wrist because I ain't going to lie. I know we're talking debacks real quick. I'm going to pivot real quick. I hated seeing Mike Trout get smacked in the wrist today and go out of the game because Mike Trout has been having a great start of the season. It's so unfortunate, man.

We're already having a tremendous amount of injuries. I mean, we're having pitching injuries. We're having like it's finally to the point that even though the Diamondbacks are experiencing their fair share, it feels like for once. There's a lot. We're not the one that it's exclusively happening to, right? That's how fell last year. Oh, man, it really did. And, you know, rightfully so because of the way that those dominoes fell.

Look at how close all of these guys are to coming back. Then just to really stick it in, we lose Lordus right at the end of the season. And again, you talk about a guy coming back ahead of the bedroom. I forgot about Lordy. God damn, I forgot Lord is going to be coming back too. Yeah. Lordus is Lord is Lord is wearing a Serpiente's hoodie and sitting on the top step of the dugout. This man is ready to run out there tomorrow.

Again, just like Corbyn Burns. They got to they kind of have to like keep hold it back a little bit and save him from from himself. Tori said that just because Jordan got injured, they aren't going to change the plan here with Lordis. He's still going to come back in like DH initially. But man, they could really fucking use him in the outfield. and I think every single one of these guys returning is going to be such an uplifting moment for this team. It's something I talked about all throughout the offseason. However, it does also feel like every single time one of these guys returns, somebody else goes out.

Things get complicated for the roster, for sure, for sure. And like you said, the bullpen, they haven't been performing necessarily well enough, but there have been some pieces like Taylor Clark and a few others that, that, you know, deserve their credit and Juan Morillo's been excellent. You know, you have, you have a couple of guys that's still a really good. I think that, you know, again, when those, when the bullpen arms return, those decisions will probably end up being a little, a little easier than what they're going to do with the starting rotation.

And it's also going to make, it's also going to make us fans watching games not have that sense of dread knowing that we're having to go to the bullpen in the fourth or fifth for God forbid and we have to rely on these guys that have just not been doing it, you know, or even if, or even if we have a lead, you're, it's not, you're not, you're not comfortable because you never know if these guys are going to go out there and shit the bed. Right. Right. So. And I mean, Ryan Thompson still hasn't allowed an earn run. And they call Taylor Rashi, who did a good job, uh, ending today's game. And by the way, put some, put some, let's put some credit on Johnny Lazzania's name. I know. I know.

today was rough he gave up the run that tied the game but he did he saw as a 1.69 ERA hey I still been a really good addition to this bullpen the is that bad is his when he was pitching that that last pitch that he struck Matt Olson out with that

change up filthy yeah that he's going in there with a 98 mile an hour sinker and all of a sudden he's dropping a change on you it's just like that's nasty I mean I think the real thing that's still there's a lot of questions about is the offense And I don't understand what the hell is going on with the offense.

But again, credit where credit is due, because even though we kind of knock these guys, some of the guys in the lower part of the lineup have been doing a decent job like Barrosa. No, it's not great, but he's still. He's a little spark plug, man. He's a little spark plug. And like Ildemar Vargas, man, talk about a spark plug. That man is hitting 545 with a 1.674 OPS in a very small sample size.

but regardless, they said on the broadcast, right? He fucking does everything. He can do everything. I'm waiting for our guy, Cattel to kind of, not that Cotel's not doing it, but Cotel is not doing it. He's not doing it. He's hitting 184. He's got a 570.

Granted, the walk off today, I hope he carries that into the MET series and just rakes at at City Field. Yeah. I think that might, for all we know, that might be the spark player that kind of of battering his back a little bit, you know, that emotional high and then just go in there on Tuesday and, you know, do the work, man. He's been, he's been good in the field. You know, he's doing his thing in the field, but we need Cattel Marte to Catell Marte from both sides of the plate. You know what this team needs is this team needs some fuck you energy is what they need.

They need some, like, they need a chip on their shoulder. And maybe, you know, again, but the lights might have been a little, little too bright in Los Angeles. opening series but i think going on the road going into someone else's house kind of gives you that gives you that edge gives you that little bit of a of a little f u energy yeah i wish they would have squeaked one out in l i wish they would have just got one and they played them so well right like they really did like outside and they played good even the first even that first game like they played them well for half of a game like zach look great to start and then you know until until he didn't.

Until he didn't, which is the story typically with, you know, our rotation sometimes. They look great and then all of a sudden, placata. I mean, that seemed to be the case today once again with Brandon Fott, and that brings me back to, you know, our central theme here, which is, I am concerned. I have my concerns here. Yeah. After another bad outing, his ERA goes up 6.75, and it was just another one of those innings where the Diamondbacks just needed him to get.

get that last out and he couldn't get through that fifth inning. Taylor Clark had to come in and get the final out of that inning. And I think that that's where you start to really have some questions about fought. It's just hard to look at, you know, his performances and not see this constant of him not being able to prevent giving up that big inning. And even in this case, that beginning was only two earned runs. Yeah. Right? But still, it was enough for you to get the sense with the way that he was giving up, hit,

after hit after hit there at the end of the fifth inning that you were like yeah no if they don't do something about this like they did bringing in clark it was going to be that inning where brandon fought gave up five six runs potentially and things we're going to just yeah and get out of control for this team just just giving up those two runs like yeah it's just two runs but our offense isn't really producing where no two runs could have been 20 runs you know 100 for whatever reason like our lineup is so unbalanced right now man yeah like corbin's corbin is corbin carol is that everything to us he's i love watching that man run around the bases when i love watching his face when he's doing him triples oh like he's just he's just

so his it's fucking great man 45 career triples i believe he's number he's number three all time on the debacks those he gets one more he ties the guy in front of him and he's like seven away from stephen four or 12 away whatever it is yeah so that record's gonna that record's gonna be corbans and he's also like tied with Shohei Otani for the active leaders in MLB, I believe they said. And that's funny because Shohei Otani has been in the league for, I believe, double the amount of time that one young Corbyn Carroll has been in the league. So yeah, good stuff. Good stuff overall, but big series ahead. And again, uh, just two big series, honestly, man, it's you got the men and the Phillies after that. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's a lot of easy place to, that's not a,

that's not a easy place to play baseball. No, but, uh, don't forget that Alec Thomas still owns that building and hopefully hopefully he'll show up to collect his rent during that series for sure but i love i love that fucking i love watching that highlight every time i see it it's it's one of my favorite things to watch period anytime i see it it's like a good movie i see it i have to stop and watch it from beginning here you know the only part is the only problem is typically when i see that one i also see the highlight of our boy paul seawald against the rangers in the world series and what he did gross yeah Don't put that up.

You just, you just, you just, you just went from making me happy to making me sad. I know. I, I apologize. 20 seconds.

It's been a hell of a fucking day, my man. It has been a day to day. Yeah. Yeah. Well, luckily we ended our day with a diamond backs victory. We did.

We did. That's what we needed to see. But of course, we thank you guys so much for listening. We will be back, of course, with another episode of D-Backs after dark. You can follow us on social media.

I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. This man. is at rock knowledge that's r o knowledge uh everywhere of course our show is that p h and x underscore debacks but all roads do leads to at p h and x underscore sports that's right instagram and facebook what do you snickering at nothing not nothing no yeah i'm just happy to i'm just happy to be brother i'm just happy to be we all should be we all should be but yes uh you know that's uh that's probably the attitude some of these players that might be getting replaced uh our feeling right about now.

Happy to be here, but don't know how much longer I'm going to be here. Hey, just so you know, dry march is over. So beers. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Bears on rock. Beers on rock. That sounds dirty, but I like it. Yeah, no, that's pretty good,

though. It sounds like a good bar. That sounds like a dime bar. Beer's on rock. Beers on rock. Beers on rock. All right. All right.

Well, of course, we thank you guys for your time. We always appreciate you checking out the show. Stick around. We'll be back, like I said, with another episode. Make sure you're subscribed right here for all of our audio-only podcasts. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun after dark. Yeah.