PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: A giant-size series win

Episode Date: July 7, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing a disappointing finale in a D-backs series win over the Giants, if the 15 game improvement at the halfway mark is sufficient call this season a success, and more!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. New customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS on either NHL team to win their game, and get ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS IN FREE BETS no matter what.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling 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! is dedicated to creating innovative and memorable cannabis infused products that flavor life’s journey. If you’re interested in trying the amazingly delicious variety of flavors that OGeez! Brands has to offer, go to https://ogeezbrands.com.Join over 4 million men worldwide who trust MANSCAPED with this exclusive offer for you…. 20% off and free worldwide shipping with the code DBACKS at https://manscaped.com.Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Just visit https://athleticgreens.com/Diamondbacks 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.

Well, I guess I won't need this goddamn thing, will I? Why did you bring that in here? Look at how clean it is, Jesse. Like, you can tell how few, how little sweeping. Is it a good sign? Is it a good sign if a broom is completely clean? I think, I think that's what just doomed the diamond backs, Derek. I think it was your fault.

I brought that to the game with me. Thank you guys so much for joining us. Of course, welcome to the PHNXD-Backs post-series show. my name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. This guy over here is the Thunderbrum, Jesse Friedman, occasionally known as the vice mayor.

And yes, to our friend Jusel, it is sad girl ours. Bam says in the comment should have let Peralta bat right there at the end. Hindsight is 2020, Derek. Jordan Louvre is very, very good against left-hand and pitching.

I think that move made a lot of sense. Of course, you never know what would have happened if they'd gone to David Peralta. stead. Never know. That's the meaning. And we will never know.

And we will never know. But we are not going to dwell just on the loss because this was a big series win for the Diamondbacks over the San Francisco Giants. Of course, this show is brought to you by our friends at the Draft King's Sportsbook America's number one sportsbook app. We thank you guys for joining us on this D-Backs after dark episode. A rare late series finale, a 640 start on a Wednesday. I don't know what the hell's going on.

I don't even these lights are bright. It's dark out. I don't know what we're doing here. I don't stay up this late. Jesse usually takes over for any game that goes past 9.30 p.m. because I'm asleep on my couch by then. But today's game was a bit unfortunate. It looked like the Diamondbacks, once again, were running on all cylinders early.

They had an early 4-0 lead where Merrill Kelly looking like he was in cruise control there a bit. I mean, we were even trying to avoid the idea of calling it a no. hitter just yet, but he had a no hitter going through, I think it was through four innings going into the fifth, right? Yeah, four and a third, I think. Yeah, and then of course, Brandon Crawford ruined that for us, like he ruins everything for the Diamondbacks, and then a fan ruined a home run for the Giants right after that, which shout out to that fan.

Did you notice that the fan, so not only does the fan interfere, but the fan also throws the baseball back immediately, immediately, immediately. Which I don't know how I feel about that. Does that make it better or worse? Well, was there a sense of regret? And that's why, like, he knew he did something wrong. So he just tried to throw it away. No, I don't think so.

Because, look, he was wearing a Colorado All-Star game shirt, which leads me to believe he was a neutral fan there with no real skin in the game between the Giants and the Diamondbacks, but I don't know that. But I don't know. I think trying to mess up the game for the Giants possibly, because what fan throws the ball back that fast, that decisively? You only do that. You only do that when you are, you know, they're.

to see the home team and you're upset that the opposing team hit a home run. So mystery fan that caught the ball, I salute you. I know what you were. You did a good thing. I don't know. But anyway, you tried to keep the Diamondbacks from losing. Unfortunately, they did. Even though that home run did not count as a home run, we definitely did see the Giants

come back and the Diamondbacks not really be able to do anything offensively to combat that. Yeah. The offense after, I think at one point, Alex Cobb had retired 10 in a row. He'd retired 15 of 16. We've seen that from the Diamondbacks at times this year where if they do jump on a team early, then they kind of just coast through the middle innings a little bit. They're kind of sitting on a lead and they don't add to it.

And in this game, you saw where that ended. One point I want to bring up, Derek, this is pointed out by Ryan Kellepire. Am I saying that right? I don't know if you know this dude. I think you're saying it wrong. I hope you're saying it wrong. I'm not the only one that's. those names.

Okay. Well, I think that is likely. I apologize to Ryan in advance for not knowing how to pronounce his last name. But Ryan pointed out, if you look at Sam Long, who is the lefty that the Giants put in to face Jordan Looplo, originally to face David Peralta, then to face Jordan Looplo, when the Diamondbacks made the change. Sam Long against lefties this year has an opponent batting average of 444. He's a left-handed pitcher with an opponent batting average against lefties of 444 and against

righties. Ritey's have hit 133 against him this year. All right. So to all the people who are saying should have let David Peral to bat, I have to apologize and say there is. The numbers do not back that up. The numbers are more in your favor than I've ever seen them for a situation like this. So I don't know exactly what it is about Sam Long.

There has to be some explanation for this. Some guys, depending on their breaking pitches, they can actually be more effective against guys who are opposite handed, which is not common, but it is possible. So an interesting, interesting note for this one. Josh Hunt points out in our comments. Also, did we get transported to a different dimension because Mantiply gave up a critical home run? No shit. Yeah, he does not do that.

He does not walk guys and he doesn't really give up, you know, I don't know. I don't think he gives up critical runs like this typically. But Mantiply is also human. Like the numbers he's been. Are you sure, Derek? There have been moments this season where. I can't confirm that. Like saying that out loud.

I have nothing to back that up other than I would believe MLB only lets human beings play this game. But who the hell knows? Because he has been an absolute machine as of late. Still owns a Major League record with 32 consecutive appearances without a walk by a left-hander, surpassing a pair of 30 game streaks by Sean Doolittle. And, oh, both of them by Sean Doolittle. So, yeah, that's some pretty good company, 32 games. And still, you know, again, can't expect to be.

to be perfect all the time, but he has been very good for this team. He hung a curveball. I mean, it was just a really bad pitch, and I'm sure he would tell you it was a really bad pitch. It was a curve ball that landed basically right down the middle. So, yeah, Joe Mantiply, I think you're right. I think he is human. Allegedly.

Allegedly. And those mistakes are going to happen every now and then. Well, we got another good start out of Merrill Kelly. We actually got some pretty good starts in this series against the Giants, which helped the Diamondbacks win this series. Tyler Gilbert was surprisingly effective, at least in a short outing. It was very short, yes. But I think for me personally, I think that was the thing that was the right managerial move, right?

It wasn't necessarily an opener, but once Lavello started to see that, you know, the lineup the second time through wasn't really fooled by anything he was doing. He went to the bullpen early and it ended up working out well for them in game two. Yeah, it did. Three and two thirds innings, one run first. Tyler Gilbert, which yeah, I mean, you'll certainly take that. You can't have that every single game. Your bullpen would deteriorate very quickly. But yeah, he was, you know, he was effective. He got himself into a bit of a jam. Base is loaded nobody out. He was able to get out of it. So, yeah, it was a good, good outing for Tyler Gilbert. Yep. Chris in the comment said, not going to stay

mad at Mantiply. Because we can't. I mean, his ERA is still 1.64, I believe. So you can't really get mad at that sort of thing right now. Another thing you can't get mad at is Dalton Varsho hitting the fastest pitch for a home run in the stat cast era dating back to 2015. For the Diamondbacks. For the Diamondbacks. Not in the history of baseball, correct. For the Diamondbacks. 101.8 mile an hour fastball off of Deval, who was the pitcher.

37 in the night tonight, right? but 101.8 mile per hour cutter, if you want to call it that. Why the air quotes on the cutter? Why can't it be a cutter? At 101.8 miles an hour? It's just, it's just nasty. It's fucking nasty is what it is. I can't even, you don't even call it anything.

If it has movement on it at 101.8 mile an hour and lands anywhere close to the strike zone, it's just like the end of the world pitch is really what it is. But Don Varsho has been outstanding for this team as of late. and let's be honest, smacking that 1001.8 mile per hour fastball, that's only going to be another tool in the tool belt, right? That's like, he's got all, again, there's some fool walking around with no tools at all

because Dalton Varsho has all the tools. That, it's proven. See, I really want to go in the clubhouse and show Dalton Varshow, this absurd graphic that you made where he has like eight arms. Does he have eight arms? No, he has, Yeah, six or eight. Yeah, something like that.

Yeah, no, show them the oops all tools. Show them that one. That one's a little cuter. The other one's a monstrosity. We don't want to scare them away. We want them. Hey, speaking of graphics, guys, I have a really cool graphic for Jesse. Let's hear it.

Uh-oh. Yeah, let's see it. Oh, my God. Look at that guy. That's the omnipotent Jesse Friedman right there. I'm going to kill you. Look at that. This is not healthy.

The red pill. There was no permission. Neal. to show that picture on the air. That's the coolest picture I've ever seen of you, ever in the history of knowing you. Well, next show, I'm just going to wear those sunglasses throughout the entire show. Jesse, I told you to wear them now and you said no.

I thought you were joking. I didn't think I was allowed to do that. But, buddy, I'll get them right now. These lights are extremely bright. Yeah, so I honestly can use of sunglasses. It wouldn't be terrible right now. Dalton Vars show, unfortunately, didn't get a hit today. Ends his five-game hitting streak,

but he was very, very good in this series. And actually, he's our Draft King of the Series. 500 batting average in this series with 6 RBI, 2 run scored, and the one home run. I fucking love that picture of him too so much. I frame it or have a poster size of it in my wall. But yes, Varshot, our short king, he has all the tools and he knows how to use them. And again, in this series, the Diamondbacks had no problem offensively. I think, you know, obviously in this game,

in this game, you know, things went south for them both. I'm not going to say Merrill Kelly had a bad day giving up two runs. So I'm going to pin this one on the bullpen. So I think that's pretty fair. I think it's pretty fair to pin this one on the bullpen. The bullpen gave up five runs. And that's not to say that, you know, someone like Joe Manciply has had a bad season, like we said before.

These days are bound to happen. Sean Poppin was not particularly sharp coming in after him. I also thought that Tori might have left in. Curious what you think. I feel like Tori might have left Joe Manipli in a little bit too long. He's been used a lot lately. He didn't pitch yesterday, but I want to say this is three out of four for him. In the inning or in the next inning when he came in and fight?

The fact that he came in for the first hitter of the ninth inning. That was Yostrowski, right? Yeah. Yeah, and he hit a batter. And it just didn't seem like, I don't know. The number of pitches that he's thrown over the last few games has really added up. So I was not sure about that. And that's something that we've actually seen from some of the guys like Noah Ramirez and Joe Manciply that Lovolo honestly has relied on maybe too much.

You know, at times he has no problem giving guys even when they're on a five game, 10 game hitting street, giving them a day off, you know, out of the starting lineup. But some of these bullpen guys, especially the ones that Lovolo can count on like Mantiply, they get called on just too often, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's tough right now with Ian Kennedy on the injured list. He has a small blood clot, by the way, for those of you haven't heard. In his right calf. In his right calf, yeah.

Not a super scary injury. He's totally fine. He was still throwing yesterday. So I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. But hopefully he's back soon for the debacks because they need him. For games like this, they were kind of down a back end reliever in this situation. Going to Sean Poppin in a crucial spot there was probably not the ideal outcome for them. You know what I found really interesting about that is it's a,

deep vein thrombosis and they said that it could have been potentially caused just by playing in the altitude in Colorado playing against the Rockies course field man it's just nothing is nothing is normal it no there are no givens at course field nobody nobody leaves course field unchanged yeah you're not the same person you were when you went there to play after you leave but again shout out to our king our short king I don't feel like I need to throw that in there. That was like, that was like the buddy Kennedy comment of you going too far.

Let's not bring up the buddy Kennedy comment. I don't need to hear about that again. All right, but our king of the series, Dalton Vars show, by the way, our friends at Draft Kings, shout out to them.

We appreciate them as sponsors. And of course, you guys need to make sure to go sign up for Draft Kings if you haven't done so already. I'm telling you, sports are fun, but they are so much more fun when you bet on the Draft King's sports book

and have a little, just a little, a little game, a little, little, was it, little skin in the game. That's what they like to say. That's what the kids say. But of course, this draft king's sports book this past weekend, there's plenty of great baseball action. That's one thing I love is. Oh, there is always plenty of great baseball action. The same game parlay options are pretty incredible to me, just to say like when I go in there and some of the things, it's so hard for me not to like, add 15 legs to it because I feel like I know everything that's going to happen in a baseball game Jesse but

how long does it take to make a 15 leg parley shorter than you'd think like I mean really because like again this might be like Shane calls it a coward's bet but sometimes I just go with like the best odds on stuff and try to like add as many of the things that are most likely to happen into a game right like all Gultzman hitting a home run there you go yeah you get it you get it now that's losing that sort of thing Oh, that's... Keep that energy going for this weed again, for sure. The Rockies, yeah, things in Denver weren't great at the beach. Hey, God, they're finally starting to hit more home runs. That's not a good thing.

But of course, they're a great team to bet on to hit home runs, because Brian hit his first home run for the Rockies, finally. And that's not a good thing. We didn't want him to start doing that. I didn't jinx that, by the way. Are you sure? No, well, so I tweeted during the D-Backs Rocky. series about how Chris Bryant

has not homered as a member of the Rockies and of course everyone instantly was firing. But within a week he did homers so. He did but it wasn't against the Diamondbacks. I mean who did it happen against? Was it the Dodgers? Yeah I'm pretty sure it was the Dodgers. If it's the Dodgers is that I mean is that something people are really going to come out before? It will when he will this weekend

when he goes off on us. Okay that would be fair. Yeah, fair enough. You guys get down on the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend against Colorado Rockies. It's a great chance to use the Draft King Sportsbook. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use promo code PHNX. Make your first deposit and get a risk-free bet up to $1,000. That's promo code PHNX only at the Draft King Sportsbook. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Jesse, we just surpassed the halfway mark of the season. We did. The D-BACs 37 wins at the halfway

point this season are 15 more than their 81 game total in 20. 2021 of 22 wins. The 15-game improvement, second-best in the Major League across baseball, except for the New York Yankees who are 17 games better than they were last year. So I guess the topic for me would be, does this satisfy the improvement that we wanted to see in the team? Obviously, stretching it out for a full season. We're talking about them having 30 more wins and going,

74 and 88. Well, I don't think that's 30 more wins because last year they had 52. Oh, 52. So that's 20, 22 more wins. Okay. Well, stretching it out. It's substantial, though.

Right. It's still substantial. And it's still much better than I think a lot of people expected them to be able to achieve. But at this point, I don't know. I mean, I feel like with what we've seen out of the team this season, that might be a little bit of a letdown if that ends up being their record at the end of the season. You think it like going 74 and 88?

74 and 88. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, Tori talked the other day about just his thoughts at this halfway point and kind of what his perspective is. And yeah, I mean, I think he acknowledged that the Diamondbacks have, you know, they've improved a lot from where they were a year ago at this point to where they are right now.

I mean, it's a big improvement. And he talked about how a lot of guys have taken steps forward this season. But at the same time, he talked about how he doesn't want guys to get complacent. He doesn't want them, you know, being content with what is a very substantial improvement for this baseball team. I don't want to take anything away from that. But, you know, I mean, they're on a journey. This is sort of an in-between step for them between where they were last year, which was arguably the lowest point in the history of the franchise or at least pretty close to it. to where they ultimately want to be, which is, you know, getting back into the playoffs.

And it's been a while five years ago was the last time the Diamondbacks were in the playoffs. It's been more than a decade now since they've won the division. So, you know, this is an in-between phase for them. And I think it's been a good step there. I mean, it's hard for me to really, I don't know, it's hard for me to look at anything that's happened this season and say, you know, the Diamondbacks should be steps ahead of where they are right now. I think by and large it's been, it's really been a sense. success. But do you think in the end it's still not going to be considered enough, considering

that they won't make the playoffs and they'll probably finish about where they are in the division and this is most likely what we'll see for the rest of the season. Yeah, I mean, you're right. They'll probably finish fourth or fifth in the division. We'll see how things shake out with the Rockies. And I'm sure that if you, you know, at the end of the season when we're doing interviews with Tori and with Mike Hazen and with other people in the organization, no one is going to be content with where they are right now and rightfully so. I mean, they're competitors, right? I mean, this is what they're paid to do. So they're never going to be content with a big improvement if that improvement doesn't lead them to a championship. And this year, I think it's, you know, that's probably

not in the cards for them just yet at this point. I think it must be hard for Tori. Because Tori came in so hot with a team that was, you know, kind of rudderless and stuff. up as this captain of this mess that had kind of been left behind and somehow guided this team to the playoffs, right? Right away. Right away. You know what I mean? And so like there has to be like you said, that competitive fire, that competitiveness has to,

it's got to be killing Tori to a degree to not be anywhere close to where they were at that point over the last five years. I mean, that roster was good, man. It really was. That team could pitch. I mean, you had Granky, you had Robbie Ray, you know, you had Taiwan Walker that season. It was pretty good. Patrick Corbin had a pretty good season that year, too.

It's going to, in retrospect, it looks like such a better team than we thought we had at the time. Yeah. I mean, I think it's easy to take for granted, like having a, you know, a one-two punch like the Diamondbacks had that season. I don't know if people really realized how incredible that was having, you know, Zach Granky. and Robbie Ray as your one, two starters and having depth behind them. They wouldn't even call Robbie Ray the two starter. They used to call, they used to do this thing, call them one A and one B. Right, right, one A, one B, which I always think is usually, you know, managers just like not wanting to play favorites.

Sure. And, you know, kind of being careful with their words. But I kind of get. I kind of get what he was going with, though, right? Yeah. I agree, right? Like he was trying to say, like, Granky is the one who's earned this. but Robbie is the one right now

that's pitching in a way that deserves to be. I mean, Robbie Ray had, I think his ERA was lower that year. He had like a sub three ERA. He was better than Granky for a period of time. Yeah. At least when you, the confidence level of him going out there. The problem was though, Robbie Ray once again never really had that length.

So he just, he always kind of went out there and did five, could give you five solid innings, you know, but then after that couldn't seem to keep it together much, right? And now, you know, again, the Diamondbacks are still kind of, experiencing that with their current ace with Zach Gowlin, who has been able to be outstanding for five innings at a time.

But things like we showed, talked about with the numbers, you know, really fall apart for him once we get to the sixth inning when it comes to OPS and such. And I'm sure that's the case for a lot of pitchers. I'm sure there's a lot of pitchers out there. That's what happens. You get tired.

The game goes on long. You're, you know, you're throwing 100 plus pitches. You're going to get nicked up, as Tori Lovolo likes to say. That's true, but I think you're totally right.

And I actually asked Brent Strom today in our press conference about what he thought of Zach Gallen's first half. And that was the main thing that he mentioned was the fact that, you know, Gallen will go four or five innings looking really good. And then that next inning, you know, he'll give up a three spot or a four spot or something like that. And so, you know, the next step for him is going to be finding a way to limit those big innings later in games. Your performance is definitely going to deteriorate as the game goes on. I mean, that's just sort of how it works. But yeah, you know, making that three run inning, one run inning or a two run inning, you know, that could be a big step for him. At least that's how the stamina meter works and a good old MLB the show.

Yeah, and MLB the show is completely an accurate reflection of reality. So, you know, if it's true there, then it's all I need. Are you fucking being sarcastic right now? No, you know that's true. It is a perfect simulation of real life baseball, Jesse. Not long ago. This is like a week ago. You were talking about how, I think your exact words where MLB the show is a hot pile of garbage.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly. Yeah, he's right. I'm sure you could go back and find that. You 100% said that. 100% word for word, I'm pretty sure. But, you know, I say a lot of things sometimes on this show, and I don't remember any of them. But of course, we thank you guys for watching us and remembering my words. We also thank you guys for checking out our partners.

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Remember, you can't untake it. Once you bought the ticket, you're taking the ride. So enjoy OG's brands responsibly. And also, join us over tomorrow at Four Peaks. Tomorrow is the day, July 7th at 4 p.m. Four Peaks, 8th Street Pub, part of our PHNX coyotes crew. The ones that aren't lost somewhere in Canada will be there for the draft day live party. I'm just amazed they made it to Canada.

I don't believe they do. did. I think they just gave up and I think they're still in Minneapolis and they're just lying to us now. But according to Craig Morgan's Twitter, they made it. So of course, you guys want to stay tuned for that because they are going to be delivering to you the finest NHL draft coverage of the Arizona Coyotes that you can find anywhere. I say that without hyperbole. You are not going to find better NHL draft coverage than you can get right here on PHNX. And if you're interested in joining us down at the 8th Street Pub in Tempe, come on down. We'll be down there. We'll be down there. enjoy some amazing Four Peaks

in honor of the series win. I'm not focusing on today's loss. I'm drinking a little Four Peaks Brewing Company, Rattle on Red Ale for the Diamondbacks. We need to get the boys over there some 15 packs of this, but you can try this, and the entire variety of flavors Four Peaks

has to offer over at the Eighth Street pub with us tomorrow for that Coyote's draft day live party. So make sure to do that. Also, you must be 21 or older, but not to go in the pub. Remember, they have food, bring the family, but only 21 or older to enjoy the Four Peaks Brewing Company. Also, go, if you're not coming down here, go to your local convenience store supermarket, wherever you get Four Peaks and pick them up. Wherever you get beer,

convenience store. It doesn't matter where. Four Peaks is doing some amazing things, by the way. They're holding their 12th annual drive to, it's Four Peaks for teachers. They are right now donating a decent amount of their proceeds to buying supplies for teachers. here in the Phoenix area because, as Jesse can attest to... I can attest. There is a need. There is a need. Teachers do not...

Teachers have to buy way too much of this stuff themselves. So make sure that if you come down and enjoy the wonderful food and drink that they have at the 8th Street pub, you know that a portion of those proceeds are going to help out local Valley teachers. And that's an amazing thing they're doing over there at Four Peak. So yet another reason to come out. Even if you don't join us tomorrow, make sure to stop by. Four Peaks at some point and chip in on that because it's for the kids. It's for the teachers. It's like they said, if they didn't have barley and hops and water, they couldn't make beer. And how can teachers teach if they don't have school supplies?

A beautiful analogy. It really is. That was really good, right? I'm proud of that one. I didn't even come up with myself and I'm still throwing it out there. Jesse, looking forward at the calendar, once again, we are still treading down this entire path of NL West opponents. We get to see the Rockies again. We get to see the Giants again. Padres right around the corner. Is this the dumbest fucking schedule that the Diamondbacks have ever had to have this many, like this much NL West all just shoved together in one part of the season like this? It is pretty weird.

Badly planned. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I guess the lockout mess with the schedule a little bit, but pretty minimally in the grand scheme of things. We were looking at it looks like the Milwaukee series was moved to the end of the like just the end of the season, right? So it's like it's just been removed. Yeah. There were not that many changes that were made.

I will say it would be especially weird if the Diamondbacks were playing St. Louis tomorrow night instead of... Oh, just for one game. Good fucking job, Emma. Guys. Guys, I've been here since 9.30 in the morning. Emma has been the producer for every show on PHNX. We do not. We do not blame Emma.

And we made her be here until 10 o'clock at night to do this goddamn. show like give it up for emma ladies and gentlemen i'm literally being thrown around like a toy this entire week and she has a nerve gun that she has been shooting with me she has been very active yes um for sure uh thank you to emma by the way she's the absolute best and yeah if you guys can stop by that would be great i have no idea um if the coyote's crew is ever going to make it back yeah i mean if it took them that long and they had to work that hard just to get to Montreal. I mean, for real.

They should probably just stay there at this point. I mean, I guess we want Jacob back and, but, you know, the rest of them can just kind of hang out there, I guess. They're not looking at the schedule ahead like us. So, you know, they don't have any

actual games to worry about like we do, but the Diamondbacks. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, they can basically vacation in Montreal for like a month or two until the season starts. That actually sounds really nice. Montreal's a pretty nice place to be this time of year. pretty sure. Yeah, I'm pretty sure too. Rockies coming up again. Any concerns there?

I mean, again, I don't mean to pick on our DNBR friends. I don't mean to pick on the Colorado Rockies. There's still a baseball game that a team that was good enough to beat the Diamondbacks two out of three in the last time they met, right? But honestly, this is, again, they have the giants again that haven't been playing very good baseball and the Rockies. This stretch was going to be very bad for this team, but they really do have an opportunity. here, I feel like looking at these next two series to maybe not have it be as bad. Like we might see this team and this road trip or not road trip, but this stretch against NL West somewhere around 500 or maybe, maybe even above it if they can, if they can eke out

some series wins against teams like the Rockies and the Giants that aren't really playing that well right now. Yeah. I mean, the Diamondbacks totally outplayed the Giants in the series. Absolutely. Even in this game. Even in this game. Maybe in this game.

Come on. Come on. I mean, they lost the game, Derek. I know, but the giants, like honestly, with how many mistakes the Giants made, they should have won by 15 runs. Like, the Giants were making so many, like, base running errors, just stupid shit. That stuff when you and I looked at each other, like, in the, what was it, like, the first inning right away, where it was like a double play by tagging them up at first base. And it was like, at what world did that look like it was going to land for a hit? Like, there's just some really bad mistakes being made by the Giants.

Yeah, no, that's fair. I mean, yeah, the D-backs really did outplay the Giants in this series. We're speaking of, did we do by the numbers? Oh, no, we didn't do by the numbers. We better do by the numbers. I worked very hard on these numbers. This takes me hours people to put these together. He makes these fresh, so, you know, just for this show.

This is fresh, yes. He's made you do it three times. Yeah, well, the numbers change, Emma. The numbers change. That's sort of how it works. So, yeah, I mean, this graphic sort of makes my point here. you can see the Diamondbacks starting pitching ERA of 3.60 compared to 506 for the Giants. The D-BACs bullpen had an ERA of 397, despite what happened at the end of the game, a 10 bullpen

ERA for the Giants, 10.00. And the debacks at 370 with runners in scoring position in this series compared to 250 for the Giants. I know it's 2 to 1, and there are some times when, you know, you win 2 out of 3 in a series, but you really, like, score just as many runs as the opposing team. pretty even. The numbers. The numbers end up pretty close.

This was not that. Like the Diamondbacks totally outplayed the Giants the last two nights and they really let one get away here. So I just think this is a big step in the right direction for them. And you're right. The Rockies and again the Giants are right around the corner for this team. And they have an opportunity to continue this momentum and, you know, try to push closer to 500. Well, hopefully they will do that. And again, the next series with the Rockies is here at home.

So make sure to come out and support them. It's not going to be a lot of opposing fans at that one. So you can come out as a Diamondbacks fan. Maybe when they say the line in the Cracker Jack song, you'll actually hear DeBacks instead of the opposing team this time around. We need you here for that. That's what we need you here for. And last weekend, when the Diamondbacks were in Denver,

the attendance was insane. They had like 48,000 back-to-back nights on Friday and Saturday. I think it was like 33,000 on Sunday. So, you know, is that going to happen realistically? in Arizona this weekend. Probably not. But the point is this team is playing some pretty good baseball. And yeah, I had my family was out at the game with some friends yesterday.

And they were going on and on to me about how much fun they had. Just watching the team and watching Alec Thomas make all these crazy plays in center field. Alec Thomas, buddy Kennedy. These young guys are not disappointing at all. And really, really at this point with the pitching. I mean, I think that's what I would like to see. You know, I would like to see more young arms coming up and getting an opportunity, considering, like we talked about, the most reliable arms that Tori LeVolo has in his bullpen right now are pretty taxed.

Yeah. And it would be a great opportunity to see some of these young arms because so far the guys, the players that they've been calling up, they've been legit. I thought Buddy Kennedy was going to end up being a prime candidate to be like sent up and sent down. bunch just utilized because of how many options he has. Well, I mean, to be fair, I think, you know, I don't want to take anything away from what he's done so far. But the fact that Coutel Marte is unable to play second base right now is a very big factor, I think, in him being in the lineup every day.

But the bigger point, I think, is that he has taken the opportunity and he has done some pretty big things with it, which just shows, you know, how valuable he's going to be as a major league baseball player. Like, you know, we talked about young guys take a while to get. going. So it's just great to see these guys contributing, you know, quickly. You know, and another big part of that was Pavin Smith, who

got sent back down to Reno. Recently we find out that he is going to be away for some time now. Mark said we're two best friends. I think we're best friends, Derek. Am I your best friend? No, I mean, I'm going to, I'm just

going to move on from that comment. Give me five minutes and I'll have a graphic for that. cause some energy problems around here. If I answer that truthfully, no, Jesse, you're absolutely my best friend. Like I said, you're going to be at my deathbed. Yeah, I mean, how many people are going to be at your day? Am I just like one of like... There's going to be a party in my deathbed, trust me.

I'm just one of like 27 people who are invited into the room. There's going to be there to make sure they see me die. That's all I'm saying. For better or for worse. But of course, uh, you do have matching hats. We do. Well, technically they're not fitting. Technically, they're not completely matching.

Why do you have to ruin it? See, that's why you're not my best friend. That right there. I'll work on that. It's that. You need to work on that. It's like Tori Lovallo in the press conference the other day asking Barry Bloom, how he could get up, how he could level up to be Barry Bloom's number one favorite manager,

which is a very hard thing to do. It's hard to impress Barry Bloom. He asked if maybe a championship would do it. I suggested 30 minutes of F-Bomb. like he likes to get from Bruce Bochy. So there's a lot of fun to be had. But by the way, if you guys haven't had a chance to read Jesse's wonderful stuff, he has an article right now recapping just a notebook worth of stuff.

Oh, yes, here. Look it. Oh, that was father and son up there. Father and son. Look at this. Look at all. Okay, that's just weird. That's not best friends at all.

No, that's my baby boy Jesse right there. I am not on board with this. Best friends look out for each other. or my son ever again is what I'm saying right there. But of course, read the baby boy stuff. How many babies have this goatee? A lot of babies. I have never seen a baby.

There's babies that come out of the goatee and then it falls off. But your latest article is a notebook piece. It kind of covers some of the stuff you've been. He's been all over the DeBacks Clubhouse. I've been all over. Yeah, there's some stuff in there. It had been reported. I think it was in an Arizona.

Republic article about a week ago, Jose Romero, who does a great job for the Arizona Republic. I love Jose. Yeah, Jose is a great guy. He had asked Christian Walker about whether he would want to participate in the home run derby. I asked Christian a few more questions about that in the clubhouse the other day, namely about, you know, there's this narrative that if you hit the home run derby, then you're basically sunk for the rest of the season because it messes with your swing. So there's some stuff in there about that. What did he think on that? Not giving too much away, but did he think that?

Well, my articles are unlocked this month, Derek. So we can give away, we can give away all of the secrets on the show. Okay, let's good. Let me ask this. Who's throwing to him if he goes to the home run derby? Yeah, so he had a few people that he mentioned. One of them was, one of them was just Dave McKay. Which Dave McKay throws bullpen for the Diamondbacks during the BP.

He does an excellent job. He does an excellent job. I want to say it was a man by the name of Mark Reed, who often throws BP at Salt River Fields. Christian Walker also mentioned him. And then he also said he had a friend who usually, a former teammate of his, who usually throws to him and some other people back home. That's the story. That's the one he wants. That's the one that ESPN wants.

That's the one that ESPN wants for sure. So, you know, I think, I don't know if it was me or you suggested that maybe Clayton Kershaw would be willing to do the honors. But I didn't mention that to Christian Walker. Oh, he'd like that one. I'm sure. He might. He might. But yeah, there's also some notes in the story about Brent Strom and his comments about

Zach Allen's first half. I also threw my All-Star game ballot in there because I'm sure all of you want to go in there and rip it to shreds. So I decided to attack this man. Open it up and allow for people to do that. Attack this man. Chris Melton, by the way, yes, I have talked to Mad Bum. and I'm pretty sure he has no idea.

I'm the person that sent the tweet out, so we don't need to, right? We just let it lie, right? I mean, he confused me for Evan Thompson and yelled at Evan Thompson for it, so we're all good. It's fine. Everything's fine. We don't need to worry about that. But, yeah, she says Dave is my favorite member of the deback staff. It's not close.

Dave is everybody's favorite member of the deback staff. I mean, he's unquestionably just, like, so good at what he does. And not to say the Diamondbacks don't have a lot of other coaches who were, in the same category, but there is nobody who questions that Dave McKay is about as good as you'll find as far as what he does for the team. So, yeah, I don't think you're alone in that, Chris. Not to mention, it's hard to find somebody that looks cooler in sunglasses than Dave McKay. I wish I was half as cool as that he was. I mean, I know someone really cool looking.

Oh, that's the one. That's not the right. That's the one. Yeah. That's such a weird. That's a weird pose for me. My elbow is like stick. It makes me kind of uncomfortable.

You look like a drug dealer I had one time when I was in high school. Anyway, well, read Jesse's stuff over at go phten.com. All that to say. All that wonderful stuff. Get that Christian Walker stuff out there. Anything else in there that you wanted to plug about that article? No, no, yeah, that's pretty much it. Christian Walker, get him to the home run derby.

That's our main priority right now. So make sure to do that. And also make sure to, if you're watching us right now on the people, HNX Sports YouTube channel here late at night after dark. Get down and sign up for notifications. Subscribe if you're watching us. If you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, subscribe to us there.

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We want to make sure you guys get a chance to check it out and realize the amazing content that we're bringing you. And then we're going to, you know, again, like the drug dealer thing I was saying, we're going to give you a little sample. And then we're going to take it away. We're going to put it under lock and key. And we're going to make you pay us money for it. And that's the way that works. But it's fine because that's the way commerce works. And we want you guys to be a member of our PHNX family.

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So either way, we're hooking you up, and you will get members-only discounts at the PHNXLocker.com, and you will get access to the members-only Discord, which, as Giselle said, that's worth the whole membership cost alone. There's just the members-only Discord. So join us in there. It's a happening place. I can't wait to get off the show and check.

That's the first thing I'm going to do is check the Discord to see exactly how sad everybody was. in there and make sure I can... Are you going to do it on your phone or on your computer? Have you figured it out? I don't think he's figured it out, Emma. I think he's revealing that he's... We thank you guys so much for joining us.

You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is a jerk and he's a Jesse Ed Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for joining us. on behalf of this jerk and myself, we appreciate your time for being here super late on debacked after dark. It's almost 11 o'clock, Derek.

I know. We better get you to back. I got to go. This is too late for me. But remember kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when the final game of the series is a getaway game that starts at 110. What the fuck?