PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: A rocky road

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing the D-backs losing a four-game series at home to the Rockies for the first time in history, Joe Mantiply being selected as an All-Star, and how good Josh Rojas has been with the bat.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, hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX Debax podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of PHNX, but I want no responsibility for this series at all. And of course, I'm joined by my vice mayor, the one and only rookie of the year, Thunderstick Jesse Friedman. That was a rough one, Derek. A lot of momentum early. A lot of incredible defensive plays and all that just to lose three out of four to the Rockies over the weekend. Not great. Not great today.

It doesn't feel great. It definitely feels like the Diamondback scored more runs throughout the series, which, if my calculations are correct, they did. They did. They did. Four more runs. But they unfortunately lose their first ever four game series to the Rockies at Chase Field this weekend, which that's not the kind of history. we want to be setting. But of course, it was brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook.

If you haven't had a chance to check them out, go download their app. The Drafking Sportsbook app is the number one rated sportsbook app in America. Jesse, big loss today. It doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel like they should have lost this many games to the Colorado Rockies. The D-backs actually lose their last four. one-run games that they've been a part of, and they've all been to the Colorado Rockies.

Yeah, it's not great. You know, when you're kind of trading places in the standings off and on with one particular team, losing every single close game that you play against them is, it's not what you're looking for. But a shout out to Michael, who just said in the comments that for the record, he was at the one game that the Diamondbacks won in this series,

and he's five and one in the last six games that he's attended. So I think, Hold on. Wait, that's bullshit. Wait. So he's five and one in the last six he attended. I guess my question is, why aren't you at every game? And what can we do? Michael being at every game. I don't know. Do we have to talk to his boss? Do we have to get the Diamondbacks to give him season tickets? What can we do to help make Michael at more baseball games? That's obviously what they need here. More Michael. Yeah. Because whatever luck they can get. They haven't had good luck in this. this series at all. No, no, they didn't. I love how we like turned that around to be like blaming Michael for not attending more Diamondbacks games. That's exactly what I was doing. It wasn't like what we were doing. That's exactly what I was. Okay. All right. I just wanted to make sure I was following that correctly. But yeah, this one was this one was rough Derek. The defense,

there were so many incredible plays. Dalton Varshot with one pretty much right at the beginning of the game and then Alec Thomas and then David Peralta had one too. All three outfields. right in a row made just some spectacular grabs in the outfield. And all that for the Diamondbacks to lose a game in which they did not give up an earned run. All three runs scored by the Rockies in this game, they all came with Kenan Middleton on the mound. I believe it was, yeah, it was in the seventh inning. And all three of those runs were unearned. It was all because of a throwing air by Josh Rojas.

And it's hard to get too worked up about that just given how well Josh Rojas has played lately really on both sides of the ball. I think he's really been doing a good job at third base. But in this one, he had that throw. There was also play later in the game in the ninth inning where he almost, the Rockies almost added to their lead with another defensive miscue from him. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

But all in all, a rough one, Derek. Anytime you lose a game where you don't give up an earned run, it's a pretty tough pill to swallow. The clutch canuck in our comment says, Rojas has been fantastic. he's reminding me of Dustin Padroia making all the tough blaze and elite hustle someone every rebuilding team would want

absolutely right absolutely right I know that we have talked a bit about Josh Rojas being a utility player and not I guess sometimes when you think of a utility player it's usually a guy that can't earn a spot at one position but I feel like when we call Rojas that it's kind of

like Dalton Varsha where it's the versatility is part of their performance it's part of something that makes them an elite player, their ability to play at different positions. I think Josh Rojas could settle in at any one position, and I think he settled in at third base nicely. Didn't have a great day defensively. Like you said, the offense or the defense in the outfield was incredible.

The plays made right off the bat by Alec Thomas and Dalton Varshot were top 10 highlight real plays, top 10 plays of the day. Even David Peralta's catch, it was kind of funny because he had the most wholesome smile and reaction to making the catch almost like almost looking at Varsh and and our young king, Alec Thomas, like, I still got it, you guys. Like, I could do it too, you know, because again, he's not quite the defender that those two have proven to be in the outfield. Going back to Josh Rojas, though, like you said, he has been pretty elite defensively

at third base. Unfortunately today, he had two errors today and it really did cost the Diamondbacks big, unfortunately, you could say he made it up for it at the plate as of late because he has been incredibly good, including how good he has been in the series. But Josh Rojas, Jesse, has 34 hits against the Colorado Rockies this season, which is the most of any player in Major League Baseball. Obviously, they played the Rockies a lot, so that's part of it. But Josh has really stepped out and stepped up against the Rockies.

He has 34 hits against the Rockies this season alone. This season alone, yes. Oh my gosh. Are you sure, Derek? I mean, that's like three. Excuse me. Excuse me. I apologize.

That dates back to 2021. I apologize. Okay. It's most hits over the last two seasons. Okay. That way I was going to say, that'd be like he'd have to average like three hits per game. Three hits per game.

Well, he almost was in this series because he was incredible. But yeah, over, over the last. two seasons, excuse me, he's been, his 34 hits dating back to 2021 are the most against Colorado Rockies. Yeah, yeah, he's, I mean, and you could just see his confidence in this series, too. It's not just that he's going through, you know, a time where the ball is, is falling in form or whatever. I mean, he's genuinely destroying the baseball.

We've also seen him lay down some very, very impressive bunts where he's reached base as well. he's just impacting the game in a lot of different ways right now. There was also a play, an incredible base running play, which I think we talked about the other day, where he caught the defense sleeping and grabbed second base, basically when no one was paying attention. So he's, I mean, base running defense offense, Josh Rojas is doing everything right now. And that's why, you know, even though he is technically the reason the Diamondbacks gave up three unurned runs today, you know, I mean, with how much he's given the team in

series. It's all in all, he's really been one of their best players here over the last couple of weeks. Yeah, it's got to suck to be doing well and then also have the mistakes you make, magnified by them being so critical that they are basically the direct reason why the team lost the game, unfortunately. You brought up bunts. The debacks have 45 bunt attempts coming into this game this season, which by the way leads all of baseball. And they have 12 bunt hits, which is tied for third most in MLB. So they've been doing it. They've got some speed and they've been able to convert on those bun attempts,

which is something obviously Jack Summers and I were talking about the effectiveness of it. You know, when defenses get settled in, they tend to, you know, be comfortable. And the one thing that a guy like Josh Rojas, Dalton Varshow, Buddy Kennedy can do with that bunt attempt that they can get on at first base is it makes that third basement especially uncomfortable, you know, down there where they're kind of on their heels a bit more because they have to, uh, they kind of got to come in a little bit, but they still have to be prepared for the batter to take a normal swing at it. There's just so many things offensively that the bunt can can open up and a lot of teams aren't utilizing it this season. Also, though, it's not as easy to bunt

as, as, as you would expect because come on, 12 bunts being the third. third most in baseball is is kind of it seems kind of surprising that there's that few but bunting is not an easy not easy thing bunting for a single for sure but back to Josh Rojas just been tearing it up man I mean incredible what he's been doing and I don't want to as much as it affected and impacted today's game I don't want to take away from what he's been doing this month because in the month of July he actually has the best batting average in baseball dating back to July 1. He entered the game with a 483 batting average in the month and went two for four today. So he didn't do anything to impact that negatively and probably continues to lead the majors at this point.

Yeah. And I want to address what Bees is saying in the comments here just about the Diamondbacks outfield and just how incredible it looked in this game and how good it's looked recently. He said, I can't remember the last time our outfield group was this stacked with talent. Can you guys? and he also pointed out that, you know, Corbyn Carroll is, is not even here yet, right? Yeah, he's still, he's getting close. He's in AAA. That just happened. But he's not even here yet. And this outfield is, is looking pretty good.

It's a little bit, it's pretty easy to dream on, right? Derek, I mean, thinking about what Dalton Varshow and Alec Thomas are already doing at the big league level. And with Corbyn Carroll right around the corner, I mean, it's, it's pretty crazy to think about how good the Diamondbacks outfield could be in a few years. And obviously Varshow and Alec Thomas are still figuring out things offensively. I don't think they've been quite as consistent this year as they might hope to. But this Diamondback's offense and defense from the outfield could be really incredible here within the next year or two. Especially what we saw today. You know, Dalton Varshow, I think, could end up having a future as an outfielder more than a catcher with the plays that he's currently making defensively.

and he's made all season long. Before Alec Thomas was called up, Varsh was doing work in center field. And, you know, of course, being where he's at in right field, a little bit easier, but today he made it, you know,

look really easy. That ball that he caught in the first inning would have easily been a double, if not a triple, based on how it kind of was played off of the bounce, but he did a tremendous job. I was, I was really impressed with that,

I think, for the most part, like, you know, the, the defensive output from this game. And that's the thing that sucks is, like, like you said earlier, Rojas has been playing some great defense at third base as well. So for him to kind of have the mistakes that he made today were uncharacteristic. But that doesn't impact the way that we see his impact on this game. So we're still given Josh Roas our king of the series, our draft king,

king of the series, 500 batting average in this. went seven for 14 with two runs, six RBI, and three walks. Just a gamer. We talked the other day about the heads-up base running play that he made where he stole second, you know, and just everything that he does to kind of spark the offense. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's the definition of an all-around player right now.

And, yeah, even though he had the miscue in this game, the reality is the Diamondbacks had no business throwing a shutout in this game. If you saw, you know, how hard some of those balls were hit early in the game that the Diamondbacks defense was able to, Diamondbacks defense was able to make plays on. They were pretty fortunate to be throwing, you know, a shutout by the time the seventh inning rolled around. So, and that's not to take anything away dinner for sure. He does. He does.

Yeah, Tyler Gilbert, I don't want to, I don't want to say that, you know, I wasn't impressed with his outing. I mean, five and two thirds innings and no runs. allowed. There's something to be said for what he did, but he only had one strikeout in this game, and he really did benefit from an extraordinary performance by the Diamondbacks defense in those innings. Look, the fact is, though, the Diamondbacks are looking for someone that can come in, get outs, and, you know, honestly, just do what Tyler Gilbert did. It might not be sexy, but he held the Rockies scoreless into three hits. That's impressive, especially for a guy that a lot of people didn't want to see get that spot in the rotation or get another opportunity.

A lot of people wanted to see Tommy Henry or Corbyn Martin. It's understandable. But at the same time, Gilbert has done a good job in his two starts, even though it's more of a, almost like a bullpen game a bit, right? He's not giving him a lot of length in the first start. But five and two thirds, that's not bad. That's what they're getting out of some of their other guys in the rotation. So I tip my cap, sir, to Tyler Gilbert in the day he had. Like you said, he was bailed out by his defense, and we've talked about that today quite a bit, but still an effective outing and exactly what the Diamondbacks needed.

They still need to figure out what they're going to do with this rotation. And for the time being, he's given him solid work. Yeah, yeah, he really has. And I mean, as a number five starter, you know, you're not looking for a guy to come out and strike out, you know, eight or ten every time out anyway. So I think I think he's been, he's been more than adequate. far. And it was interesting. I mean, Tori Lavello didn't commit to Tyler Gilbert being the starter for this game until yesterday. So it wasn't a matter of, you know, the Diamondbacks instantly deciding to bring Tyler Gilbert back after his last outing. They took some time to think it over and make

sure this is what they wanted to do. And ultimately, they decided to go back to him and have it make another start. And I mean, all together, Derek, I think in nine and a third inning, over these two starts that he's made. He's given up one run. And so it's hard to ask for a whole lot more than that from him. So I expect we'll probably see Tyler Gilbert out again. I think his next start would probably land on Friday. And we'll probably continue to see him.

I mean, as long as he's, as long as he's having the success that he's having like we've seen so far. You mentioned, you know, of course the other opportunities. And the young guys are still. coming very fast as far as, you know, as their trajectory and being on this team. You brought up Corbyn Carroll being moved up to AAA Reno, which is very exciting right now. And Tommy Henry continues to be incredible for this team in Reno. 3.89 ERA and 16 starts with a 1.392 whip.

He's been very impressive. And he's somebody that I think everybody's very excited to see a name that gets thrown around a bit when we see a potential. potential spot in the rotation coming up. So between him and Corbin Martin, I feel like, you know, there is future for the starting rotation there. And these guys could end up being, you know, the ones that take over those last couple of spots. But for now, at least the Diamondbacks have Dallas Keikl

and, you know, Tyler Gilbert giving them decent efforts. You know, again, Keikl had a rough start, but he came out and gave them seven solid innings of work. And that's all you can. ask, especially after a guy kind of has a bad first inning to rebound like that and come back out, stay up in the strike zone like he was staying up and being effective. Yeah, and Kluck makes a good comment in the chat too. He makes a good point just pointing out that every single game, the Diamondbacks have lost

since July 3rd was by two runs or less. And that's, that tracks. It feels like the Diamondbacks have lost a lot of very winnable games over this last week. It honestly feels like Derek, there is a universe that is not too hard to imagine where the Diamondbacks have won like seven or eight games in a row because they've been in all of these games. And in almost all of these games, they've had a lead for a good portion of the game. And they just weren't quite able to finish it off.

Let's actually, let's take a look at our buy the numbers for this series altogether. This will kind of make my point all the more clear. as you can see, the Diamondbacks ultimately lost this series. But if you look at the numbers, the Diamondbacks starting rotation in the series had a 3-28 ERA compared to 579 for the Rockies. The D-Backs bullpen had a lower ERA 238 compared to 3-27 for the Rockies. And with runners in scoring position,

the Diamondbacks hit 313 in the series compared to 188 for the Colorado Rockies. So I know a lot of that, Derek, is coming from the game yesterday. yesterday when the Diamondbacks won nine to two. I think they were six for 12 with runners in scoring positions. So, you know, you'd like to see them spread the offense around a little bit over a few days rather than just going crazy in one game. But the Diamondbacks on the whole really did play better baseball against the Rockies. They outplayed the Rockies in this series.

It's just a matter of, you know, scoring the runs at the right times and, you know, making the place that you need to at the end of games in order to, win and unfortunately they just weren't able to do that. Jesse, you talked about going to a different universe or multiverse like we need Wanda and the dark hold to take us there. Right. That's Dr. Strange reference for all of you that haven't seen it yet. But I think I feel like at times we're living in a different multiverse because believe it or not, the Diamondbacks entered the game as the best team in baseball in the month of July with runners in scoring position. I don't know that's possible.

But they have been very good lately. Unfortunately, much like we've talked about with this team being a leaky dam, once you plug up one hole and fix one thing, it seems like there's something else that kind of starts falling apart of it. And during the beginning of the month, they didn't get solid starting pitching. And at times they just didn't have a lot of opportunities with a lot of guys on base. So even though they were good with runners in scoring position,

they didn't have the opportunities like they've had earlier in this season. Again, these are all things that make me feel like this team at times gets all these things aligned and then they all kind of fall out of alignment again. I think that, of course, this team could be very good. And we've seen, like, there's the proof to believe that this team could be very good, should they be able to get these things to align. Unfortunately, that's much harder, that's much easier said than done, at least is what I should say. Right. Of course, again, shout out to Josh Rojas, our Draft King of the series. If you guys haven't done so already, please sign up for the Draft King's Sportsbook.

It makes sports better. That's simply the way I look at it. I enjoy betting on baseball, and it makes every baseball game more fun. The other night, I was watching the Milwaukee Brewers versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, and my wife walked in the room and simply said, why? why why why is this on my television right now she's like i know you're a baseball guy but come on and then without me saying a word she said you have a parley on this don't you man i said yeah yeah guilty and of course uh they blew it in the ninth inning i was so close jesse had a five-leg

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That means that, I mean, I'm not telling you what to do with your money, but maybe making a bet of up to $1,000 might be a good idea. Who knows? That's a lot of money. I'm just saying, though, it's a rink. just free bet. So that's promo code PHNX only at Drafking Sportsbook. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. And yes, Jesse, I definitely had a little bit of skin in the game when it came to the

debacks and the Rockies at times. And let's just say they disappointed me there as well. But anyway, one person that hasn't been a disappointment is Joe Mantiply, Jesse. Yeah. The D-backs nod as their reserve all-star pitcher. He will be on the NL team, which is a stacked team for pitching. I am worried about watching these All-Star game, Jesse. This selection was very thorough. They got some great pitchers on both squads.

And I think this is going to end as a 2-1 game, possibly the most boring All-Star game of all time. But we'll see. Joe Manorkeye, though, absolutely deserves the nomination. I believe or the selection. We put a poll up actually on Twitter, and you guys selected Joe Mantiply as the representative for the debacks in the All-Star game.

So great job paying attention. Great job giving credit where credits do. National League rankings. He's fifth and whip, 10th in ERA with a 1.91 ERA, and he owns the Major League record for most consecutive appearances by a left-handed pitcher without a walk. 17 games scoreless streak that he had earlier this season from May 7th to June 21st. Thoughts on Mantiply, our buddy, big old Joe, being an all-star, Jesse.

Yeah, well, I can say Mike Hazen casted his vote a couple days ago on the radio and said, you know, if the Diamondbacks only get one representative in the All-Star game, that it should be Joe Mantiply. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. And the guy has one walk all season, Derek, and he's given up three extra base hit. this entire season. So, I mean, you're looking at a guy who basically, I think his opponent batting average is right around 220. And essentially all of those hits are singles.

And he hasn't really walked anyone on top of that. So he's been very, very hard to do any kind of damage against. And he might be one of the best stories in the All-Star game, Derek. I mean, there's not going to be that many guys at the All-Star game, you know, had Tommy John surgery a few years ago. have been DFAed, you know, the Tigers had him, then the Yankees, and then he eventually found his way over to Arizona. He's been on quite a journey, and I believe he's 31 years old.

You know, this is not, you know, a prototypical first appearance in the All-Star game. This is a guy who's been on a journey for a number of years and has had a lot of people, a lot of people lose faith in him at different times, a lot of organizations that have let him go at various times throughout his career. And the fact that he's made it here and he's completely deserving of this opportunity, it's really pretty incredible. I agree, man. And not only just what, like you said, what a wonderful story.

Drafted by the Tigers in the 27th round of the 2013 draft out of Virginia Tech, right? I will say that listening to not only the road that Mantiply's had to travel to hurdles in his path, but listening to his wife on the broadcast talk about the family supporting him and everything they've went through the struggles, the ups and downs, just being a major league ballplayer and not a highly touted player that had maybe a little bit easier of a road. Joe was a guy that really fought hard to be here. They talk about how he just works out constantly and he just has this amazing work ethic to, you know, dedicating himself to being better.

at this game. And all I could think listening to it, Jesse, is, God, being a pitcher in baseball sucks. Like, this sucks, man. I mean, and honestly, it's not even, like, his story is unique because he's definitely had more adversity than, than, than some guys that have made it to the level where he's at, right? But still, there are so many guys that have the same list of, like, hurdles that they've gone through with Tommy John surgery and, you know, a long stint in the minors and kind of being passed around from team to team before they really caught fire at one point with one team. Like, baseball is just this game about like at times making it through like it's a marathon, not like it's an actual, you know, sport that athletes, you know, get to play and be at the top

of their game right away. It's something you kind of have to survive at times to make it to the point in your career that Joe Mantiply is that. Yeah, you could, you could definitely tell. Just in the interview with both, both of Joe Mantipa's parents as well as his wife who were there at the ballpark today, they've all been through a lot, you know, they've, they've all gone through a lot of ups and downs to see Joe make it to this point. And yeah, I mean, I think he's totally deserving of this. I do, I'm curious. Let's put the pull up one more time. I just want, I want people to see how close this actually was. Merrill Kelly only 8.7% of the vote.

But according to you guys, 25.3% of you said Christian Walker, 24.9% said Zach Gallen and then Joe Manciply, 41% of the vote. But this was pretty close, Derek. I mean, the Diamondbacks had multiple candidates who are worthy of consideration here. I think the right choice was made. I think Joe Manteply was the guy. But I think it's interesting that like Zach Gallen and Christian Walker were right there.

not that far behind in our vote here. Both of those guys have made big contributions to this team as well. According to an article I saw based on the ESPN special today, that Merrill Kelly and Zach Gallen both received a vote to be All-Stars. So I'm not very familiar with that process or where those votes come from. I imagine that's an internal selection. I didn't know that they tallied votes. Joe Mantiply got two votes versus the one vote each that Gallin and Merrill

Kelly received. But yeah, like you said, it's, I think part of that is the fact that the people that are selecting recognize the true effort and the history, essentially, that Joe Mantipa has been making. Not to mention,

I'm sure they're familiar with his story and just everything that he's been through and how good he actually is compared, comparatively in Major League Baseball to all the other relievers. I guess my question to people that are here in the chat and are here with us, I want to know, does it bother you as a fan that the, the D-BAC's only all-star selection is a middle relief pitcher like Joe Mantiply. And this is no offense to Joe Mantiply.

I just mean it's not, it's a, it's a rare nomination for a middle reliever like Mantiply to even get in the All-Star game. Yeah. So I guess is it, I mean, not taking anything away from Joe Mantiply, but is there part of you that wishes it was more of a household name like Cattel Martay or Zach Gallin? And I don't even know if those are household names. I mean, those are household names with us as D-BACs fans. right, but I was just curious if people are disappointed to not see one of the guys that we consider to be superstars in the All-Star game with Joe Mantiply getting the nomination.

So let us know your thoughts if you're here because I really want to know that. And I'm just interested because I don't know if I feel that way. I personally, you know, we had Joe Mantiply on here. We interviewed him. He's a great guy. Somebody we're both a big fan of. So I feel like it was the right nomination because of the, four candidates at least that we put out there.

I feel like he was the one that was putting up the best numbers that actually deserved to be in the All-Star game instead of it being like a name recognition or somebody that the fans, you know, would want to see more than necessarily the guy on the team that deserves it more. But another reliever that has had an excellent year recently has been Kyle Nelson, who Jesse recently wrote about for PHNX. And it's a bit of a fascinating article, Jesse, that you talk to, not only Kyle, Nelson, but his brother who had a big impact on his return, his slider, his game, everything,

that basically his success that he's had this season. Yeah, I talk with Kyle's brother Dylan. I think we talked on the phone for about 40 minutes or so. It was a lot of fun for me just to get to know not only Kyle throughout this process, but also getting to know Dylan a little bit as well. Yeah, it's a cool story, Derek. I mean, Kyle was, you know, he had an ERA over nine, last year in Cleveland, his numbers in AAA weren't particularly good either. And he knew he had to make some changes this offseason. And like a lot of guys, when the lockout happened, there was sort of nowhere to go, right? There were no team facilities available. There were, you weren't allowed to even speak with coaches at the time. And so Kyle Nelson went home to San

Francisco and he wound up working with his brother. And, you know, Kyle obviously really has turned things around for his career. So it's a lot of fun for me getting to tell that story. Well, you can get that over on go phtnx.com. If you haven't signed up to become a member already, sign up to do so. You can get an annual membership and you will get yourself a free t-shirt over at the p.nx locker.com. Like this beauty I'm wearing right here that if I move in the right direction, I can almost get it to match up with the sticker perfectly on my microphone. Yeah, your microphone is your microphone is wearing a t-shirt too. It's also wearing a t-shirt too.

You can get a sticker. You can get a t-shirt for your microphone or your coffee cup or your car or whatever. We got stickers. We got hats. We've got all that stuff over at p hnx locker.com. So when you get your free shirt, get some other stuff too. Of course, if you're not interested in the annual membership, you can get yourself a month-to-month membership,

and we will hook you up with your first month for just 50 cents. Regardless of your membership status, join us here as a member. Our members-only discord is popping, and you guys can join us in there during the games, after the games, on off days, whenever. Also, you can also get members-only discounts at the phtonx locker.com. Those are coming out so often, all the time. Isaiah Chavez likes the shirt.

I appreciate you, sir. We thank you for being here all the time. We appreciate all you guys. You guys are rad, and we couldn't do it without you. So we thank you guys so much if you already are a member and a part of our discord and a part of our family. You guys make it fun for us to do this, obviously. And by the way, the rumors that I'm replacing Jesse with a small child are completely unfounded, by the way. But he is pretty cool.

And apparently he gets paid Mountain Dew. We have, they suck. They need to do better. Oh my God. They suck. Well, come on now. Do we blame this kid? Because, like, the Diamondbacks were up at that point.

And he said, yeah, Rockies suck and they need to do better. So I don't know. Maybe we need him more talking about the Diamondbacks sucking and that they need to do better. I don't know. That's not a personal attack on the Diamondbacks in any way. I just need to know how we can get this kid's mojo working towards the diamond. And the Diamondbacks favor. Right. But again, he's a third co-host. That's what I'm offering him as a position.

Not to replace. Wow. Well, Jesse, he works on Mountain Dew. So, I mean, it's a whole different payment system. And he's, you know, it's inexpensive labor. But of course, we thank you guys, again, for being here. If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure to sign up to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. Sign up for notification, subscribe, do all of that. That way you don't miss when we go live. And we're doing this thing that we call PHNXDbacks. So if you're listening to us right now in your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us if you haven't done so already.

And leave us a five-star review. We thank you so much for doing that. And again, we thank you guys for being here. Elizabeth said, is the kid of jinks like the booker baby? Maybe. It might be. Maybe we don't want to put them on the payroll. Elizabeth also commented earlier that she was disappointed.

We didn't get a second player, but not that Mantiply was chosen as the only representative. That's a great way to put it. I guess, yeah, that would probably be my feelings. Like, I feel like Zach Gallen also deserve to be in there. However, Zach Gallen hasn't like the last stretch coming into this All-Star break. Zach Gallen didn't have great outings, which really kept out of it. And I don't know. I mean, I guess in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter because in three years,

the entire All-Star outfield is going to consist of Diamondbacks players, right? So it's going to be out with Thomas and your starting center fielder. It's going to be Corbyn Carroll and left. It's going to be great. Can't wait for it. Of course, looking forward at the All-City Division, the Diamondbacks have dropped back. Unfortunately, we're now in third. The DNVR Rockies take over a very important second spot in this division.

That means absolutely nothing. The White Sox continue to hover around 500. And the debacks continue to grow closer to the Cubs, which is something we don't want to do. But, Jesse, I'm not super worried. The DMACs do have a lot, not a lot of games left, but the rest is still against the NL West. I feel like they've fared pretty decently. They've gone five and seven so far in this stretch against the NL West. And they have six more games, three against the Giants and three against the San Diego Padres,

which now I don't know, like I wasn't so worried about the Giants, but then they beat up on the Padres today by a whole lot before coming into the, this series with the Diamondbacks. So now we're taking on kind of a little bit of a hot offensive team in the Giants and then we have the Padres to deal with. I feel like, again, if we look at the calendar that if the Diamondbacks can salvage the rest of this and they can go, you know, I mean, finish 500, that wouldn't, that that would be surprisingly good. That would be significant. Yeah. Right. And I mean, I know that's asking for a lot at this point. They can't and go 500. There you're going to be one game over or one game under, but still, I feel like

if they could, you know, maybe win the series against the Giants and, and take one of three against the Padres, that's not, that's not the worst case scenario, considering that this stretch looked pretty daunting when we were coming into it. Yeah, I think the debacks would have to go, I think it's 43 and 33 at this point in order to, uh, in order to finish the season 500. So not unachievable, right? It's possible. That would be, That would be quite something, though, for them to pull that off. But going along with what we were talking about earlier, I mean, let's just think about this last week of Diamondbacks games here.

So last Sunday, the Diamondbacks lost to the Rockies six to five, right? And this was the game where Zach Gallen came out afterwards and said, you know, if we want to, if we want to get to where we want to go as a team, these are the kind of games we have to win 100 times out of 100. The Diamondbacks were up five to nothing in that game that lost at 6 to 5. then the D-backs win two games against the Giants. And then there's the Wednesday game, which you and I stayed up entirely way too late in order to do a post-series show. And the Diamondbacks had a good chance to win this game as well.

And then the bullpen sort of fell apart at the end. And they ultimately lose that one seven to five. And then it's a series against the Rockies, Derek, where Thursday's game, they lose four to three. That's the game that Mark Malanson gives up the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. And then there's Friday's game. The debacks almost mounted the comeback. And that one, they ultimately lose six to five. And then there's the game today where they lose three to two.

And all three of those runs were unearned runs. These diamondbacks, they have been in every single game that they've played since like a week ago yesterday. Almost all of these games are games that you could make an argument. They probably should have won. They had leads in pretty much all of them. So it's looked different for them. They are on a bit of a cold streak here. but it looks different.

It looks like a team that really is playing pretty well. They're just not quite doing enough to shut the door late in some of these games. You sound like me and my current cold streak on the Draft King's sports book, Jesse, is what it sounds like. But you're absolutely right. I think the one thing that has been apparent during this stretch of kind of bad luck, you could say, is the Diamondbacks have said, Tori Lobello has said that they need to win the inches.

They need to play perfect baseball. When they do, it's a blowout victory like we saw in the third game of this series, right? But so many of these games are so close for them that the mistakes that they make end up being critical. You know, they didn't have enough of a lead. They didn't have enough of an offensive output to overcome, you know, Josh Rojas making those mistakes in, what was it, the seventh or the eighth inning, whenever that run happened, right? So, you know, but that was all it took. All it took was one inning of them putting up crooked numbers for that to be a wrap for the debacks, despite the fact that watching today's game really did feel like an overwhelming win in the Diamondbacks direction,

just like the series kind of feels like that. The series does not feel like a three to one victory by the Rockies. It does not feel like the first time in history that the Colorado Rockies have ever won a four game series at Chase Field. That's wild. That is wild that the Rockies have never won. on a four game series at Chase Field. Well, I'm sure, I'm sure a lot of it is scheduling. So if we went back and looked at it,

I'm sure there's not a lot of occasions where there were the four game series played against the Rockies, right? So, yeah, but still in the, you know, what, 23 years, I don't even know, what, 25 years, 24 years of Diamondbacks. This is the 25th, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, oh, I don't know, man, it's not the right kind of history to be making. But again, I guess to take something away is that.

that the Diamondbacks were that close to, I mean, winning, not only winning this series, sweeping it. It was just these mental mistakes, these small mistakes that were compounded by the games being close and the Diamondbacks not really playing good enough baseball to make those kind of mistakes, right? And I mean, that's really the difference. The Rockies didn't, they didn't play great, but they didn't make a whole lot of mistakes. You know, it wasn't the mistakes like we were seeing the Giants make, for instance,

in the Diamondback series against San Francisco. In that series, the Giants definitely mistakes, even in the win, outweighed what the Diamondbacks were doing, right? But this series definitely was very close, and these two teams are exactly that. They're both very close, I think, in their development, and the directions they're going. The big difference is the Rockies have Chris Bryant

that they spent a bunch of money on. And luckily, the Diamondbacks don't really have that outside of Madison Bumgarner. So I would honestly. I would honestly make a case that, and I've heard this from Rockies fans and even from Patrick Lyons over at the NBR. These teams are in a very similar place right now, but I think there's a lot more optimism about the future of the Diamondbacks than about the future of the Rockies. They do not have anywhere near the caliber of farm system that the Diamondbacks have. And there are a lot of questions there about what direction.

the Rockies are going. Are they trying to rebuild? Why, you know, why do you go and get Chris Bryant, you know, if your farm system isn't very good and you're not really contending yet? You know, they just let Trevor Story walk. They let no, an Aeronado go for pennies on the dollar just a few years ago. So the direction of the Rockies is pretty strange right now. And so I think, I think just about anyone given a choice between these two teams would probably take the Diamondbacks. But you're right that as of right now, the Major League rosters are in a pretty similar place. Meanwhile, we have Rocky's beat riders tweeting about the fact that being at Chase Field and watching these two teams play each other was like watching a spring training game at Salt River Fields saying that there weren't that many people there. The ones that were there weren't really paying attention and the game seemed meaningless. And I can't argue with that, but I also kind of laugh at the fact that this is different for them. This is new because covering their team in their ballpark, they forget, I think, how bad the team is at times, considering that it's like almost every seat in the house is filled.

You know, meanwhile, you have Diamondbacks games at Chase that, unfortunately, do not look like that. It was 11,000 on Thursday, and then 14 on Friday. I think it was 15 yesterday. I haven't seen the number for today. But, yeah, the, as far as the 10th of the special promotion, right? The $99 summer promotion is going on right now, I believe. So many people, so many people this time of year, though, go on vacation. And, you know, I mean, it's like 160 degrees outside.

It's hard to, it's hard to blame people for trying to get out of town right now. Going back to that message from Bees really fast, Bees wrote, I know hitting is by nature, streaky. But what can be done to stabilize the production there, hitting for more for contact more as opposed to power? I don't know. I don't know. That's a great question. You know, I think that at the very least, the Batters, the Diamondbacks batters look more capable at the plate this year than they did last year. I do think that, you know, the lift and the power that they're getting is significant. At one point, they were one of the best teams in baseball as far as hitting home runs are concerned.

So I don't know. I mean, that's a good question. I think that it still baffles me that the entire team can go cold collectively as a unit so often. Right. But Josh Rojas, again, that's the reason why he was the king of the series for us in this one, is he remained consistent and he remained hot in the series. And honestly, even when he wasn't able to do much with his bat, he was still able to walk, get on base, just be productive, have productive at bats and get on base, which is the key. and I don't know if enough guys focus on that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The philosophy has not been the issue. That's absolutely correct. Especially for Christian Walker. Yeah. For Christian Walker, for Josh Rojas,

there's a few guys who have really been destroying the baseball lately. Yeah, I think a lot of it is just growing pains for some of their younger players. The debacks have a lot of very young players that they're playing every day. Guys like Geraldo Pardomo, guys like Jose Herrera, Alec Thomas, even. Alec Thomas in his last 15 games is hitting 143. There's certainly been some growing pains for him over the last few weeks.

And that's just going to happen. You know, when you're playing guys who are 22, 23 years old every day, these kind of streaks are going to happen. And I don't think it's necessarily a problem with approach as much as just guys who need more time in the big leagues. And Brute Squad Barbecue said pitch selection was the issue. I agree with that. I do think that's the case.

I think that's why we're seeing Josh Rojas have the success at the plate that he's having is he has been very selective with his pitches. He's been having lengthy at bats and he's been able to get the right pitch at the right time that he wants to hit. So, I mean, shout out to Rojas for being the one guy right now. That's recognizing that. By the way, another shout out to our friends at Four Peaks Brewing Company. We love our guys at Four Peaks.

I'm drinking a hazy IPA right now as we speak. But of course, you can try their entire line of IPAs, Craig Morgan. I'm going to get you to drink an IPA. Their entire line of beers, IPAs, porters, ales, it doesn't matter. Four Peaks has you covered. They have an amazing line of beers that are delicious. You can get them all over the valley. They've been in the mix in the valley since 96.

It says that on the can, and I just like saying it. No one told me to say it, but I'm going to say that a million times, because it's catchy. Of course, you can join us at times. We're always broadcasting from the Four Peaks 8th Street Pub. Jesse and I might be down there for the draft or we might be in the studio. We don't know for sure. But we'll let you know. We'll give you updates on that. Of course, make sure to go check out their 8th Street pub because it is delicious. Don't eat the building. I don't mean the building is delicious. Yeah, that was. Yeah, I wanted to clarify, the building is not delicious. I don't want any complaints from our friends down there Carter telling me that I told people to come eat the building but

the food is delicious the beers are delicious everything they have to offer is delicious and if you're really nice Carter will take you on a tour of the building and tell you where all the ghosts hang out of course if you can't get down to the Four Peaks a street pub make sure to find them at your local convenience store supermarket liquor store drive-through liquor store which again God bless America but uh you know whatever get them wherever you get your beers because they are delicious. They're incredible. And of course,

the delicious brick and mortar. Again, don't eat the building. Don't eat the building. Draft and drought, there's a no-brainer. That's right. Drink beer, save water. And don't, but be it says don't leave four peaks without getting the chicken tenders.

Everybody got the chicken tenders. It was incredible. They are very good. They're like tempora battered in Friday, I believe. They're fantastic. Definitely check that out. I am finishing my day up with not only four peaks, but of course I'm finishing my day up after this loss with some OGs gummies.

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or check them out on Instagram at OG's brands. again, their flavors are top-notch. I've talked about the Pinia colada, but the orange creamsicle is still my number one. I believe that's still Michaela's number one. I have to make sure I'm very careful on which OGs, Mikaela takes at certain times of the day. Because, again, OG's brands has a variety of strains to offer,

and sometimes Michaela takes a setiva at 10 o'clock at night. And let me tell you, her house has never been cleaner after she takes a setiva at 10 o'clock at night. We also get a lot done at two in the morning, believe it or not, between me and her text message. So it's an incredible time. But whatever you need from OGs, they have a strain and a dose for you, three milligram microdose, 10 milligram regular dose, higher doses for medical patients as well. Variety of flavors. Remember, flavor is what they're all about.

They want to make sure those gummies actually taste good, unlike other brands. They are Arizona's top selling edible gummy and make sure to try them out. Tell them Derek sent you. They're a friend. that's not going to get you a discount or a free thing or anything. But if you tell them Derek sent you, they're going to be like, oh, yeah, we like Derek. So, you know, maybe it'll get in good with them or something. I don't know.

No promises. They might not like me as much as I think. But definitely check out our friends at OGs. They do talk to me on Instagram. So I think they kind of like me, but we'll see. I'm still recovering from that pool party that Jesse didn't go to. No, I'm not going to stop talking about it. Well, thank you guys so much again for joining us.

Of course, we are excited to see this. Joe Mantiply guy in the All-Star game, man. Congrats to him. Yeah. Big achievement for him. And I know for sure that he is excited. They also showed on the broadcast, Tori LaBolo making the announcement for Joe in the clubhouse.

And that was a real special moment, especially considering, you know, me and this guy over here, we know what it's like to be in there. So it's a, they're a big family in that clubhouse. And I think that was a tremendous moment for Joe and for everybody to celebrate with him. Yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, this is an. exciting week or two here in the Diamondbacks world, Derek.

We not only have all of the all-star festivities next week, but we also are just a week away from the first year player draft, and we are going to find out what the Diamondbacks do with their second overall pick. And we are planning a grand live show experience. We'll be hanging out with you during the draft and bring you. You're not ready. We're not ready either. Let me tell you.

But a lot of work going into analyzing draft. for major league baseball. It's exciting, though, because the Diamondbacks have three very high picks in the draft, all things consider, the competitive balance draft pick, the second overall pick. And what's their second round pick? I believe it's the 42nd pick, if I'm not mistaken, or I think it's probably. Yeah, 40. 43rd is their second round, yeah.

So there's just, there's a lot. I mean, Jordan Lawler and Corby and Carol have both been promoted. That's very exciting. Jesse, do you want to tell him about what happened with Jordan? Lawler. Do you want to if I have to if I have to I'll tear the bandaid off. Let's do it. Yeah.

I'm not going to tweet this out publicly but if you listen to the show then you know you're on you're on the side. You deserve you deserve to know these sorts of things. Yeah. So right when Yes, yes right when Jordan Lawler

was promoted from Visalia to Hillsborough, I reached out to the Hillsborough Hopps, our friends over there. And I did an exclusive interview with Jordan Lawler, got some great stuff, was going to write an article, and unfortunately, my call recorder malfunctioned. And so I have no record whatsoever of anything that Jordan Lawler said other than what is in my own brain, which, you know, I remember lots of cool details that I'm sure we'll share on the show. And I'll probably include them in some articles as well. But it threw a bit of a damper in me writing this exclusive feature on Jordan Lawler that I was, that I was planning to write.

So very, very sad moment for me and us over here. And Derek is about to have a coughing spat as a result of it. It's so sad. I'm so sad for you. One interesting fact that did come out of it, not to spoil or give away too much that Jesse worked on talking to him, but I found it fascinating for Jesse to tell me that him and Corbyn Carroll talk quite often. And that's something very cool,

considering that these two guys are such a big piece of this organization's future. Yeah, I mean, they both had a big. injuries right a couple years ago and so they were both out at the same time and spent a lot of time at Chase Field together. They got to know each other that way. And I asked Jordan about, you know, how his relationship with Corbyn has evolved. And he said, yeah, they're in touch regularly. You know, they talk about life. They talk about baseball a lot. They've never actually played on the same team. But we may not be too far away from that, Derek, with, you know, Corbyn Carroll projecting to hit the big leagues probably next year and Jordan Lawler maybe just a couple years away. So Jordan, I mean,

I can say just from talking to him, Jordan's a very, very bright young kid has a good head on his shoulders. And there's a lot to be excited about with him for sure. Can't wait for that. Can't wait for you to put together whatever you remember. But again, make sure to find out for membership at go phtonx.com. That way you make sure to let Jesse know that his articles could be better if he actually had a working app. We're going to make sure that never happens again for sure. Yes. Again, these are the trials and tribulations of covering a baseball team.

We thank you guys so much for checking us out. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports. That is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We appreciate you guys joining us on behalf of Jesse

and myself. We thank you so much for your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when your recording app actually records the interview.