PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: 3 of 4 in Chi-Town

Episode Date: May 23, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing the D-backs taking three out of four against the Cubs in Chicago, Josh Rojas' three-home run day, and looking ahead at some win-able series. 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 D-Backs podcast right here at PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of Sholo, Arizona, and I'm joined by my vice mayor, the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. You got out in nature, huh, Derek? I enjoyed the forests and cooler weather up there. I hated it all the whole time, but that's just me. If you're going to take me somewhere, take me to a beach.

That's pretty much where I want to go. or you better get me plenty of liquored up before you take me out to the middle of the forest, and that didn't happen. However, we thank you guys so much for joining us. We are sponsored, of course, by the fine folks over at the Draft King Sportsbook. Go download the Draft King Sportsbook app now to get in on the NBA action. Do what I do and bet against the Dallas Mavericks, because that seems like a solid bet. New customers right now can do that exact thing by betting $5 on any team of your choosing to win and get $150 in free bets if they do.

Do that at the Draft King's Sports. book, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right. Diamondbacks lost today, kind of on a down note, but don't want to take away from the fact that they went up to Chicago and got a little redemption for the Cubs winning their previous series here at Chase Field by taking three out of four from the Cubbies. The Diamondbacks looked good in this series, Jesse. I mean, yes, in the final game, we did have a little bit of a, maybe overuse of Ian

Kennedy against Chicago that came back to bite the debacks for sure. But a lot of really positive things happened. And I guess we could say a few negatives. A few negatives for sure. Yeah, I think this one, it felt like a game that the Diamondbacks might really have a chance to steal, right? I mean, it was three nothing throughout most of the game. The Cubs took an early lead. And then the Diamondbacks came storming back toward the end. And, you know, they were eventually up four to three. And it looked like just another iteration of this Diamondbacks team coming out of nowhere and winning these games that they really had no business winning. And yeah, unfortunately, Ian Kennedy, I mean, he'd already been used three out of four and Toro Lavello turned to him again to make it four out of five. And

that's just a lot to ask of a reliever. And Ian Kennedy has certainly had his struggles at times throughout the year anyway. So those are the first two home runs that he's given up all season, but they did. They came at an unfortunate time. I like what you said, especially about Ian Kennedy, because here's the thing. It's not Ian Kennedy's decision to go out there, four out of five games. And you probably shouldn't be even utilizing a very, very good reliever that much. Now, I'm not taking anything away from Ian Kennedy, but we have discussed on this show that Ian Kennedy has a very limited pitch selection. He doesn't go out there and try to full,

with a whole lot of stuff. So you really were, you know, when there were other options to go to, I don't know if turning to Joe Mantiply, because they've used him a lot lately, would have necessarily been the answer. I maybe would have liked to see Noe Ramirez out there in that case. But I mean, it's whatever. You have no way of knowing how this game would have gone, no matter who was out there.

But I do think that Ian Kennedy being out there was a mistake on managing and not as much on Ian Kennedy's performance. I know there's been a lot of bashing over both him and Mark Malanson, and rightfully so. There was a tweet that we put out about, you know, the batting averages and basically the line hitters are slashing against them. And neither guy looks great right now. They don't. Yeah, 284, 357, 459. That's the slash against Ian Kennedy.

And then Mark Malanson, 349, 406, 429. And yeah, I think, I mean, it's unfortunate, right? The Diamondbacks finally went out this offseason and spent more money than they've spent in a long time on their bullpen. I mean, Mark Malanson was the biggest free agent reliever acquisition the Diamondbacks have made in franchise history. And he only costs $14 million, I believe, is his total contract value. So, yeah, it's unfortunate to see the team spend some actual money, at least relative to what they've, spent in the past on relievers and, you know, get the kind of performance that they've gotten so far. Ian Kennedy's ERA on the year is still 393. He's done a nice job limiting damage so far.

But like I said earlier, you know, he hadn't even given up a home run up until now. And he still had his, his ups and down. So I think it was, it was bound to happen at some point. He was going to give up a long ball. And the timing here wasn't great to say the least. Yep. And Jesse actually has more information about that over at go phtnx.com. He's been, he wrote a piece about all of the closers that have been here under the Mike Hazen era. And not, not all bad, but just definitely a lot of ups and downs with the closer situation. You can get that over at go phtnx.com if you're not a member already, sign up to become a member. You can get an annual membership.

You'll get a free t-shirt over at the p.nx locker.com. Or if you're not interested in the annual membership, you just want to try us out. You'll get your first month for just 50 cents if you try us out with the, the month-to-month option. So either way, join us over here. That way you can not only read the wonderful work from Jesse and myself, but from all the other writers here at at PHNX, as well as members-only discounts over at the PHN locker.com and access to our members-only discord. And Jesse, you covered that conversation on the closers pretty, pretty well. And I think that it is, it's odd because it does seem like Mike Hazen might have a little bit of a type

when you start looking at Fernando, Rodney, Joaquin Soria, Mark Malanson, Ian Kennedy. Both of those guys were closers last season for their respective teams, and they were brought over to essentially solidify the back end of this bullpen. I'm not going to say that they can't do that, but I'm going to say in the modern era of baseball, I don't know if you can just have the same guys go out there in the eighth and ninth inning every single game. I don't feel like it works that way.

but I wanted to address the Clutch Canucks comment. He said to be one game under 500 isn't the worst result. Their schedule starts to look very favorable after the Dodger series this week. And he's right about that. Not only that, but let's take a look at what they did in this series, right? By no means should we sit here and just lament about the loss today. I know that's the most recent thing. But the Diamondbacks went into Chicago.

They played Chicago very well. and they had an opportunity to really get back against the Cubs, get some redemption, and they did. They took three out of four. And honestly, the numbers look very good in this series. Three wins to one. Starting pitching ERA gets down below the opponent, as well as the relief pitching ERA,

which was excellent in this series. Yeah, 4-4-3 for the Diamondbacks as a starting rotation. We've definitely seen some regression there, but it's really encouraging to see the diamond. Diamondbacks still win three out of four in a series where their starting pitching certainly kept them in games. Wasn't necessarily spectacular. I guess Zach Allen was still pretty good despite his one 40 pitch inning that we talked about the other day. But the other deback starters in this series were just sort of okay.

And sometimes that's going to happen. Your starting pitchers are not going to dominate every single day. And to see the Diamondbacks take three out of four in a series like that is great. And even the bullpen, I mean, the D-BACs bullpen had a 3-95 ERA in this series, despite the two key runs given up in this one. So you're absolutely right, Derek. Even though we had kind of a downer finish to this series, all in all, the Diamondbacks played a really great series against the Cubs. The Saturday game in particular was arguably one of the most fun games to watch that I've seen in a long time. There was so much back and forth and it really went down to the wire.

and the debacks won a big one there. And you hit the nail on the head there. Even today's game was exciting, right? It felt early on that they were out of it. The Cubs scored early and it felt like that three-run lead that they had was going to maybe be built upon a little bit. I know at least my hopes were a little down and to see this team not only come back and tie the game, but then to take the lead and to take it late,

it's been a fun team to watch. This series was fun. Watching Josh Rojas hit three home runs. a freaking game was fun. I mean, and that's what it's all about. It's not so fun that he got plunked on the hand and now is day to day with the hand contusion, but regardless,

that's the balance of the Diamondbacks world, right? Something good happens and then something bad happens to kind of even it out. It's like Thanos. There must be balance. But I will say they, you know, they were impressive in this series. And I think that the dog in them meter was at 10, right?

because they really, they came out after losing six in a row and they showed out. And they did what they needed to do to, you know, kind of get themselves back on track in a lot of ways. Going back to the numbers, the thing I was most impressive about was batting 333 with runners in scoring position. Can we do that more often? Because holy crap, you know, that right there is a big reason why we see that those three wins up there at the top. it really is it really is and i never want to like reduce baseball down to to one number but that number is pretty important if you if you perform better with runners and scoring position than your opposing team you're gonna you're gonna win a lot of games that's just the reality of it that number

is extremely important and we saw in the dodgers series the diamond backs hit i think 208 in that series with runners and scoring position and it's it's just going to be really hard to win games if you're not coming through in those moments where it really matters. And in this series, the Diamondbacks did. The offense didn't necessarily pop off on the hole. They showed some good signs overall. But in the moments that really mattered, I mean, the number of two-out RBI singles that we saw in this series, it was really unlike anything we've seen from this

debacks offense this season. And Jacob in our comments talked about the, you know, schedule. And that's something we've talked about quite a bit about how difficult their schedule, hardest schedule in the, in Major League Baseball. And the Diamondbacks have been doing an excellent job even with the schedule. And I don't, I do see some relief in sight. And I think that what the Clutch Canucks said earlier is another, you know, is very true after the Dodgers series, which again is going to be another, still

an important series for them. After that, they, they have the ability to really run away with some games and build on maybe not only just getting to 500, but getting over 500. Our expectations have changed so quickly, though, Jesse. Our ability to be rational about this team. And that's the reason why I wanted to say we need to accentuate the positives. And we need to be excited about things like series wins, even if they didn't get the sweep.

A four-game series sweep is very hard unless you're the Dodgers. Sorry, too soon. but the you know the diamondbacks taking three out of four from the cubs is is fantastic and not something even though the even though the cubs aren't a great team it's still not something i saw this team doing this season so it's very encouraging right we have seen some people losing their minds in our comments about especially the relief you know pitching and me with my memes about the bullpen probably do nothing to help that out but the bullpen actually has been pretty damn good lately, you know, and again, even today, Caleb Smith, the wheels almost completely

fell off for him. And he was able to somehow hold it together enough to keep it scoreless and keep this team in the game. And that's something that has been great to see about not only the relievers, but the starters. You know, Merrill Kelly had another rough outing today, but once again, he was able to get it back in and lock in and keep zeros up on the board after giving up some runs and Chris Melton in our comments says love the youngans and I love how I love the youngans. I love the way that all of this I don't know I guess all this experience is rubbing off on them because these young guys on this team are playing at the same level as the veterans if not higher let's be honest. Alec Thomas needs to hit higher in the lineup and everybody knows it everybody

wants it and I think we've seen enough of him now to not think it was just some sort of fluke at a major league level. There are changes that need to be made. I just don't know because I don't know this Tori Lavolo version 4.0 or whatever anymore. I don't know what his decisions are going to be because he is making decisions differently than he has in the past. I feel like he was more reactionary in the past. And at this point, he probably would have already put Alec Thomas at the three hole or the four hole on this team. But, you know, I think that there are things like that that could help to make this team that much better than they, than they already are right now.

That's an interesting question. Yeah, like if, if Tory in past years would have, would have moved more quickly on that. But yeah, I mean, the point is that Alec Thomas is, is performing extremely well.

And as Jacob says in our comments, just call up Corbyn Carroll. I mean, it's hard not to, man. I mean, the way that Corby and Carroll is hitting in the minors. Like,

not even just to say, it's hard not to call them up to the But it's hard not to put him on the Reno Aces and see what he can do just for a little bit. I think it's only a matter of time before that happens. I mean, Corbyn Carroll has clearly shown you everything that you need to see at the AA level. So, yeah, I mean, Reno is, Reno is really the last step there. And I expect that should happen relatively soon. I don't really see why the Diamondbacks would continue with him in Amarillo for that much longer.

Yeah, and I mean, I think it was, we were talking about Varsho did not spend very much time in Reno before he was called up. So I think Corbyn Carroll is still very young and I don't expect to see him until next season. I think until at least the Diamondbacks can squeeze that one more year out of him before they call him up. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him up on this team as soon as next May. It could very well be one year from now that Corbyn Carroll is tearing it up at Chase Field. just on our comment says even with the loss today, this team has been very fun to watch. And I think that's the thing that we really need to keep reminding ourselves of.

They're missing some pieces. Nick Ahmed is still out with an injury. I mean, they're not at 100%. So again, they're able to find a way to win. And it's exciting to see guys like Thomas and Geraldo Perdomo on this team right now doing what they're doing and being a key part of the reason why they're being successful. I mean, at this, at this point last year, Derek, I think you mentioned health there. At this point last year, I think the Diamondbacks had basically lost their entire starting rotation.

I want to say Merrill Kelly was pretty much the last man standing at this point. And it was John DuPontier. It was a very young inexperienced Corbyn Martin. It was Matt Peacock. It was Riley Smith. Those are the guys that were getting the majority of these outings. And although the Diamondbacks aren't fully 100%. like no team really ever is.

They're close. I mean, the fact that Madison Bumgarner, Zach Davies, Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly, and Humberto Castiano, that was the five pretty much from the get-go. And that's still the five right now. And that's been a huge contributor

to the Diamondbacks. Being able to continue the success is at least on the pitching side of things they've been able to stay healthy. Motion in our comment says, we really need more depth at third base and you couldn't be more right about that. I mean, Josh Rojas, I think, has kind of slid in as their one, you know, starting, you know, third baseman. But for the time being, we quickly saw how bad it could be. No offense to Drew Ellis,

but he did not have a good day out there in any way. And honestly, there's something about Yanni Hernandez that even when he doesn't have a great day at the plate, you still feel like that guy gives you a lot. And Drew Ellis today didn't even, I know it was just some costly mistakes, but it just didn't feel like Drew Ellis was the answer at third base at all for this team today. Yeah, Drew Ellis made a pretty, a pretty key mistake early in the game on an infield pop-up. He called everyone else off. He was charging in from third base. And And he just kind of muffed the fly ball on the infield. And that ultimately turned into a run in that inning.

But I mean, honestly, Derek, the day before Yanni Hernandez made a kind of a key mistake at third base, there was a ground ball. It was hit hard, but we've seen some grounders eat him up at third base from time to time. The reality is that I don't think either Yanni Hernandez or Drew Ellis at the end of the day are really, you know, majorly caliber backup third baseman, at least not. Not at this point. You're really putting a lot of trust in them in these situations where Josh Rojas is hurt. And unfortunately, there's been, you know, that's been almost the entire season so far. So it's interesting how that, you know, they kind of keep switching back and forth. They just sent Hernandez down and called Drew Ellis up.

And, you know, maybe we see that that in reverse at some point soon. But the key is they need Josh Rojas back as soon as possible. I just want to explain one thing, by the way, to several. the people that comment on our Twitter page, by the way. Mark Melanson and Ian Kennedy, they don't got options left. That's not the way guys at that age and that point in their group work. So please stop suggesting that we send them down to AAA. And that's going to be the same for a couple of veteran guys.

Realize that when they do make these moves, it is typically because these guys have options left and they can maneuver them around so that they can get a fresh body. in without having to send someone else down that might be still, you know, still have value to the team in some way during the game, like a pitcher or something like that of the sort, right? So I'm sure we'll see Yanni back up. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens as soon as tonight or tomorrow morning after today's game. But again, we'll see how long it takes for Josh Rojas to get back. Since we don't know how many more opportunities we will have with Josh

Rojas being healthy this season. We're going to go ahead and name him our draft Kings, King of the Series for that three home run game. That alone won him king of the series because sometimes you just got to tip your cap to a guy doing big things and it doesn't get any bigger.

Then somebody like Rojas who wanted to play at Wrigley Field so bad missed the trip last year due to injury. I was able to make it this year and not only did he make it, but boy, did he show out in this game. Well, and I think he also experienced what, he also experienced why Chicago is called

the windy city. He might have gotten an extra little nudge. Hey, knock it off. A home run is a home run and a seven-inning no-hitter is still a no-hitter. Don't get me started on this, Jesse Friedman. But of course, just a reminder for everybody that Josh Rojas is our draft king's king of the series. Go to draft king sports book now, right now. You can get down on the MLB action, but new customers can specifically get down on the NBA action. New customers can bet $5 on any NBA team to win their game in the third round of the NBA playoffs, and you will get $150 in free bets if they do. Turn a small bet into a big payday over at the Draft King's Sportsbook.

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That's promo code PHNX only at the Draft King's Sportsbook. 21 and over only, Arizona-only gambling problem, dial 1-800. Next step. New customers only minimum $5 deposit required. eligibility restrictions apply see draft kings.com slash sportsbook for details jesse um we got some we got an exciting announcement by the way um speaking of relief you speaking of the bullpen we are very excited um for a man who doesn't really get excited himself out there because he is one cool customer on the mound but on tomorrow show jesse we are going to be joined by the one the only the mantiply

D-BAC's relief pitcher, Joel Mantiplies, joining the show tomorrow. So make sure not to miss it. Monday at 5.30 p.m. He will be here with us pregame talking about being out at Rigley, working with Brent Strom and this pretty magical season he's had so far as a relief pitcher for this team. Magical is, I think, the right word. I mean, there aren't that many relievers who have an ERA of 0.55 at this point in the season. I don't feel like we should talk to them.

Should we not talk? Should we cancel it? I don't feel like anything to mess with whatever he's got going on. Whatever route he takes to work, he needs to take it every day, whatever thing he eats, he needs to eat the same thing because he needs to keep doing whatever the hell he's doing. All we know is that if suddenly Joe Mansepply winds up having, you know, a bad outing or something this week, it will 100% be our fault for bringing him on. Yeah. Like we're, we're really, we're really.

we are really on thin ice with doing this interview, so I don't know. But one thing I am excited about, besides, I'm going to get this excited about Joe Man. I don't know why. I don't feel like I was excited enough for the Joe Mantiply interview. But thank you for all you guys in the comments being excited. But I am excited about being a half a game back

in the All-City Network Division, Jesse. Just one half a game back from the Chicago White Sox, a, aka the CHGO socks. We got the DNVR Rockies right behind. us who have not they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've come back down there Jesse and of course the Chicago Cubs who we beat and we really put that all city record of theirs in the dirt at five and eight so shout out to all of our brother and at all city network this right now of course is the only division that matters to me I know

the NL West is already out of reach as far as I'm concerned but that division very much matters to me and Josh Hunt says take that DNVR yeah sucka we're back back at the thick of things. But yes, Jesse, this team, again, has another tough series coming up on the horizon with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But I'm not ready for that yet. What I'm ready for is I'm ready for two games with the Kansas City Royals here tomorrow and Tuesday at Chase Field. So again, Kansas City Royals, not to attack another franchise. Haven't had a great season. So the Diamondbacks definitely have a team right there that they could pounce on and get at a couple of wins, back over the top of Mount 500

before they find themselves facing off against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And of course, since I said, I just had to do it. We got to get back over Mount 500, Jesse, because I need to use that video as often as possible. But Diamondbacks right now, one game below 500, could find themselves back on top

before the Dodgers come to town. They could. They could. I mean, Zach Rankie will be on the mound. We talked about that. Zach Rankie and Zach Davies will, that's the pitching matchup for Monday. There's a lot of Zacks because that Gowan, right? Zach Gowan.

And then Zach Gowland will, there's three Zaks in that series. Yes, excellent. The Royals are not a, the Royals are not a very good team. I think they're 15 and 24 right now. So, yeah,

the D-backs have a, you know, a good shot to hopefully win both of those games. It'd be great to, you know, take both of those and be a game over 500 going into that Dodgers series. But, but yeah,

What we said in the comments earlier is absolutely accurate that after the Dodgers series, things really thin out for the Diamondback schedule-wise. And hopefully they can get on a run after that. Who do the Diamondbacks have? Because I haven't looked at the schedule beyond that. Who do they have coming up after the Dodgers? So it is if my internet will cooperate with me here. So they have the four with the Dodgers. They have three with the Braves after that, which the Braves haven't played extremely well.

so far, but we all know they won the World Series last year. But after that is really when it happens. You got three against the pirates, three against the, or four against the Reds, three against the Phillies, and then three against the Reds. And then you have three against, yeah, three more. So, I mean, those are all teams that have not been very good this year. So that's a huge window of opportunity for about two weeks where the D-BACs can try to gain some ground. Do you think, is this another case where if the D-BACs really,

want to prove that they are who they, who we think they might be, that they need to go in and really just kind of, uh, dunk on some of these teams. Like the pirates are no slouch. They beat the Dodgers in a series. So you can't underestimate any baseball team because they're all major league teams. But, uh, there's definitely should be a quite a few series wins in that stretch, especially playing the reds twice, the pirates.

They have, uh, like you said, the twins, I think after the, after the second series with the red. they have a lot of games in there that they could a lot of series that they could win. The twins are, I think, are leading the AL Central right now by a fair margin, but the AL Central is just just not good right now. So leading the AL Central is not necessarily a huge accomplishment. But yeah, I think I think you're right. I mean, winning these games is sort of asserting your dominance over some of these teams that are near the bottom of the standings in baseball right now is huge for the diamond back. and continuing to develop this identity as a team that is different from the team that we watched last year.

Last season, you know, if the Diamondbacks played a team like the Pirates or the Reds or whatever, you know, you felt better that they had a chance to win that series, but you didn't necessarily expect them to win that series because they weren't really the better team. Now the Diamondbacks, like the Diamondbacks looked like the better team playing the Chicago Cubs this week. I don't think this was just like a fluke that happened to win three out of four. the Diamondbacks looked like a better baseball team than the Chicago Cubs. And the Diamondbacks should look like a better baseball team than the Pirates, then the Reds, then probably the Phillies.

So this is a big window opportunity for them to show that maybe the Dodgers will get the best of them, but they're going to get the best of some of these other teams that just don't line up and are not as good as they are. The Diamondbacks took until June 21st last year to win 21 games. And this stretch, this stretch that we're on right now was the particularly, particularly horrendous stretch for them, right? If you talk about needing OG's gummies, I would have needed these gummies at this time last year. I would have needed them in a Costco-sized bulk package because every single game felt like a nightmare, right? Every single game, because we didn't know how historically bad at this point last season, the team.

was going to be. We were just like, man, they're like, at this point, we were like, man, they have a lot of injuries. This sucks, right? Like, there's a lot of guys down, this entire situation with last season and everything and kind of the mess that was, you know, the baseball during the pandemic made you feel like the Diamondbacks were put in a really bad place, but we were also hearing stories across baseball about injuries, uh, being suffered of, you know, major superstars across baseball. So it didn't feel as, as it does now looking back on how bad last season ended up and how this period of time, you know, was that for them. The Diamondbacks really do have an opportunity to go forward and

make this, you know, make last season forgettable. And the best way, once again, to do that is with a Costco-sized bulk package of OG's gummies. You can get a regular-sized package of OG's gummies at a local dispensary near you. And of course, OG's gummies are deliciously scratch-made THC gummies from our friends at OGs. You can get a wonderful variety of flavors to help you forget last season. And especially a chill Indica, which of all people, Cherston Seussle told me the Indycouch Indica thing,

Jesse, which apparently means, you know, because Indica makes you, like, sleepy and kind of chill. Indic couch, Indica, right? Yeah, that's Chirsten. I don't know about there. There you go. I don't know if she knows more than she's letting on. But again, O.G's

Brands has an amazing, wonderful variety of flavors, blackberries and cream, orange to cold watermelon, and they do have multiple varieties of strains like sativas and indicas. If you're interested in trying the amazingly delicious variety of flavors that OG's brands has to offer, go to OGsbrands.com. That's OGEZBrands.com to find OGs near you. And if you know a way to get those to me at this time last year with a note that may like warns me in a back to the future style way about what's coming, I would appreciate that. So anyway, if anybody out there is listening and can do that, thanks.

Jesse, I don't know what else to say. The Diamondbacks right now, Merrill Kelly, I was hoping that that outing against the Dodgers didn't affect his confidence too much. He looked there for a little bit like it wasn't great, but he definitely did get things back on track. And the starting rotation, I don't know where it's going to go. I don't know how much. Yeah.

You know, I don't know what's happening with this team right now. I feel like these guys are still as good as we saw in the beginning of the season, but those numbers, as we said, were a little crazy. The only people right now that seem to be earning those ERAs is Zach Gallen and Joe Manciply, to be honest, those two guys have been incredible for this team. The Diamondbacks, just to give people an update, they were, you know, basically either first or second in starting rotation ERA for the first several weeks of this. Prior to the Dodgers series.

Right. Prior to the Dodgers series. Now they are 12th in starting rotation ERA, which it's pretty crazy how quickly that changed. Life comes out you fast. Yeah, life does come at you fast. But that's still good. I mean, the Diamondbacks are 12 in starting rotation ERA, which is above average. I mean, it's been a strength for them this season, even though things have progressed.

They're 27th in bullpen ERA. That number, unfortunately, is pretty much hung right. there throughout pretty much the whole season and some of the underlying metrics suggest that that's a pretty accurate representation of where this bullpen stands right now. So the bullpen does not appear to be a strength of this team. And frankly, that's not exactly a huge surprise from what we expected in the off season. So yeah, I mean, between the bullpen and the starting rotation, the bullpen being one of the worst in the game, the starting rotation being a little bit above average, the diamondbacks

are as a team are now 21st in the majors in ERA at 3.97, which is really just crazy to me, Derek, because a 3.97 ERA is suddenly only good for 21st in the majors. I mean, that sounds like a pretty good team ERA, but that's, I mean, that's how much offense has been deterred this year by the humidors that have been put up across the, across baseball, whatever's going on. The offense as we've talked about has really taken a step back this year. And yes, thank you for bringing that up because I am working on a piece right now about offense being down across baseball. And it's the numbers are a bit staggering.

And I have factored in a lot of the complaints, mostly from Mets pitchers, but from others as well, about the size of the ball, the squishiness of the ball. I think we saw in a game, Zach Davies looked like he was literally ringing the ball out before he was like pitching with it. And I know part of it is like getting, you know, getting sweat and stuff off of it,

but it looked like you're just squeezing the hell out of this ball. And all I could think of was that. Like he is trying to squeeze all the moisture out of this ball and make it like, you know, easier for him to grip. They're saying like the, uh, the seams are raised and all sorts of complaints about it.

But it seems to be if you're asking me, I mean, the point you brought up, the humidor seems, to be the centralized theme of what is affecting it. It's the only thing that every single ballpark in Major League Baseball now has. So it's right even across the board. But it takes me back to one time hearing Mike Hazen on a phone call say about the opposition. The teams coming in here don't seem to have a problem hitting the ball, right? So it was like there was a time when the Diamondbacks

were one of the sole teams with a humidor, but it was kind of being blamed for offense back then, despite the fact that the opposing teams were coming in and tearing the cover off the ball. So I don't know what's happening with offense, but I have a lot of interesting numbers, and you can get that over at go phnx.com. If you guys haven't had a chance to sign up already, please do so already. Use all of our codes at all the places. By the way, I do need to tell you guys about athletic greens because I just got back from a trip where I, you know, didn't take good care of myself.

But of course, the one thing I remembered to do, Jesse, was, bring my athletic greens with me. And I go. What's the matter? I was the first one up this morning, Jesse. I was the first one packed and ready to go. I was the first one ready to get on a road trip and get back here home to Phoenix. But of course, I use it all the time. And that's the reason why.

It's the reason why I was the first one up today with one delicious scoop of athletic greens. I absorbed 75 high quality vitamins, minerals, whole food sourced, superfoods, probiotics and adaptions that got my date. started right and you can too over at athletic greens it's a no-brainer uh not only is an investment in your health but it supports better sleep quality and recovery that's a hundred percent like i used to wake up with a like just kind of soreness uh if i didn't take ibuprofen the night before because i'm old and i've no longer um i've broken my body it's done uh but athletic greens

kind of puts me back together uh they have over seven thousand five star reviews and Most importantly, it costs you less than $3 a day to invest in your health. To make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you one free year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit Athletic Greens.com forward slash diamondbacks. Again, that is athletic greens.com forward slash diamondbacks to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. And while we're talking about insurance, get yourself some pet insurance, by the way, if you have an animal.

Remember, this isn't an advertisement, but remember, they need health insurance too. And one day you're going to really appreciate the fact that you got health insurance for your dog. Let me tell you, my wife is a vet tech, and that's a message from her. But a message for all of you is to relax a little bit. Enjoy watching this very fun team this season. I know, days like today really piss us off, right? Because a sweep over the Chicago Cubs kind of get you feeling like this team is on a different level. the Dodgers reminded us a week ago what level the Diamondbacks are on.

And I'm not saying that as an insult. I'm just saying the Diamondbacks aren't going to win every game this season. And they're not going to win probably more than around half of them, depending on how good or bad this season goes. So there's going to be a lot of losses. And a lot of times it's going to be situations like this where they maybe blow it late or a reliever comes in and gives it up or whatever. the Diamondbacks have very good starting pitching.

So remember that when a reliever comes in, a reliever isn't always going to be better than Zach Gallen, who was out there just dealing, and now they're excited to get into our bullpen and do some damage. But just keep things into perspective. This was a team that so many people said was going to win 75 or less wins this season. And, you know, they might do something crazy. They might do something special.

We get to watch it. We get to be here. We get to observe it. But don't be too down after a one game loss out of a four-game series. You know, just try to hang your hat on the fact that this team won three out of four. And Jacob Franklin is in our comments harassing me about Juan Soto. So we're going to take a second to address Jacob Franklin wants us to give up our second pick in the draft for Juan Soto. First of all, I don't know who told you that this was even something that the Washington National

would go for. But screaming it louder doesn't make it happen, Jacob. I'm sorry. There's a lot of things we need, but the third basement is definitely one of them. You guys, thank you so much for checking out the show. I have to say,

I have to say real quick, Juan Soto is not a third basement. No, that's what I'm saying. I don't care about Juan Soto. I need a third basement. I'm not worried about Wong Soto at any way, shape, or form. Right. And Juan Soto, is under control for like two more seasons.

So that doesn't really make it. I mean, not the Jacob, I hope is being serious. But it makes, it makes no sense whatsoever. It doesn't make any sense, Jacob. I was ignoring you for a reason and for a good one. Motion says the MLB should move the Diamondbacks to NL Central.

I'm not, I don't hate that idea at all. Not one bit. Who would we replace? Who would go to the NLS? Because we'd have to swap with someone, right? Yeah. Can we send them brewers over there?

Yeah, but I mean, if you're bringing the other team back to the NL West, I don't think any of the teams in the Central are really anywhere. I mean, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the NL Central. Yeah, yeah. They're not like they're pretty far east. So geographically, you're going to run into some problems doing that. But yes, I mean, in terms of just ease of playing your divisional opponents, it would be nice if the Diamondback suddenly played in the Central for sure.

That goes with Cliff Paul's comments that we need to just play the Cubs more often. So all of that plan works out perfectly. That's what we can do. All right. Well, we thank you guys so much for being here and loving the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.

Our show is at P.NX underscore D-Backs. But of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports. If you're listening to us right now in your favorite audio podcasting app, please make sure you've subscribed. if you haven't done so already, and leave us a five-star review. If you're watching us right now live on YouTube in the chat and the comments, we appreciate you being here. Make sure you have subscribed to the PHNX sports channel and sign up for notifications.

That way you don't miss when we go live hours after the game like this or any of the other live content coming out from the PHNX team, specifically, oh, just mostly us, right? Because we're the only one that really has the sport going on. So get me my crown, get me my mayoral sack. because the Diamondbacks are being a PHNX right now. We thank you guys so much for being here. We thank the Diamondbacks for winning a series yet again. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we appreciate your time.

And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you play the Cubs.