PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: A Tiger by the tail

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing the D-backs avoiding a three-game sweep by the Tigers at home, ending their five-game losing streak, the offense finding a groove, 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.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am your mayor of PHNX, and I am joined not only by all of you, but by by vice mayor, who is currently at Chasefield still, the one and only thunderstorm, Jesse Friedman. Thunderstorm, yeah, that's fitting. Yeah, the original plan was for me to go back. to my car and then drive home and then be home like your home and do our show that way. But it is currently pouring rain in downtown Phoenix, Derek.

And I had to park a ways away today. So I would have been trafficking in the pouring rain for like 15 minutes. It would have been no fun at all. So here we are. Looks a little bit like the Haboob Globe. That's one of my favorite giveaway items of all time. Something like that. I'm very excited that you could at least join us from the friendly confines of the press lounge at

Chase Field, one of my favorite places in the whole entire world. But of course, we have to remind you guys that this show is brought to you by our friends at the Draft King Sportsbook. Go get down on the draft king sportsbook. America's number one sportsbook app and get down on the Stanley Cup action. You can use our code of PHNX and a bet on either team to win their game. Might be over soon. The Avalanche might take it tonight. So we'll see what happens. But for now you can get $100 in free bets no matter what if you bet on those teams. Jesse, Arizona Diamondback. Avoid the sweep and their five-game losing streak with a win against the Detroit Tigers today at Jays Field. You were there for it. So what were your thoughts on Dallas Keikl and his first start for Arizona? Yeah, I mean, the numbers don't necessarily look great, right? Four and a third innings. I think it was six hits, four runs, three walks. Yeah.

Yeah. But he had seven strikeouts. Yeah, seven strikeouts, I think was notable. And he's not normally a strikeout pitcher that's not really. the way that Dallas Kikel normally operates, at least not for the last few years. So, yeah, we talked to him after the game, and he spoke about how his stuff was really good. He made some mistakes. He wasn't happy about how he walked a couple of lefties.

That's been an emphasis for him. That was something that I wrote about a couple weeks ago was just what went wrong for Dallas Kichael in Chicago. And one of those things was he really struggled against lefties, which is kind of surprising given that he's a left-handed pitcher. but that's just sort of the way that things worked out. But other than those couple of walks, I think he was pretty happy with it overall.

He did say that he was tremendously nervous before the game started. Tori told us that and then he confirmed it afterwards. He said his heart was pounding like crazy going into this game. So I think it was a big moment for him just getting back on a major league field. And, you know, it's a big opportunity for him. He's here on a minor league deal. So it's a different situation than what he's been used to in the past. I think that's exactly it, right?

He has had the security of being a player that had a career. And now he is a player fighting in a way for his career, right? He is not far removed from being a Cy Young winner, not winner, right, but nominee. I think he got a lot of Cy Young vote. Oh, he was the Cy Young winner back in 2015, yeah. 2015, right. And I mean, I understand baseball is.

is one of those games that, unfortunately, guys that still seem to have a lot left to give, like he did to date, watching him on the mound, their careers end, unfortunately, early just due to the fact that sometimes you're no longer effective for that role, right? Like, we've seen guys all of a sudden not be able to hit a baseball. And it doesn't matter how good they are defensively and how much they still have to offer as an athlete. If they can't hit a baseball, they're not going to be of use to a baseball team. And the same thing with a pitcher,

can't pitch effectively. Something we saw to Kike Olda Day was that he was outside of the strike zone. Outside. Yeah. Right. But then what's wild is I don't know if his strikeout or his pitching outside of the strike zone. And then he came back in the strike zone like the second time through the rotation. Yeah, he did.

And that's how he started getting strikeouts. I think because everybody thought he was kind of out of, didn't have great control and kind of was all over the place. But it almost, it almost seemed. And like he was intentionally doing it. Yeah, we were tweeting about it. It's pretty bizarre. He had, I think, his first two strikeouts of the game, he didn't throw a pitch in the strike zone, the entire, the entire bat.

I think Jonathan's scope was the first one. It was an eight pitch of bat, and all eight pitches were outside the strike zone. But it wasn't like the umpire was making mistakes or handing him calls. It was simply that every single pitch was outside the zone, but he was still getting guys to foul it off. he was still getting guys to swing and miss at it. He had 15 whiffs in this game, which is really high for a starter who goes four in a third innings. 15 swings and misses is a really, really big number.

So his stuff was really effective in this game. His change up, he was able to move it around and got a lot of whiffs that way. But yeah, you're right. As the game progressed, he started getting in the zone a little bit more. But, yeah, I mean, some guys succeed based on, you know, trying to stay outside the strike zone and, you know, keep the ball. out of the heart of the plate, but you do need to get some of the plate normally in order to be effective. So I think he found a happy medium there as the game continued.

He did. And his slider was working really well, to be honest. Like he could go to that and get some effective swings and misses. And that was something that it was good to see. It was effective. But it even seemed like he was relying on it a bit too much with some of those walks. And we saw him effectively used the change up as well. So it was just good. It was good to see because honestly, the Arizona Diamondbacks right now are a team of opportunity.

He is a guy looking for an opportunity. It's a match made in heaven because it's a guy that wants to return to form. He wants to be the effective pitcher he once was in his career. And the Diamondbacks are absolutely looking for a diamond in the rough like this. Like somebody who had at least at one point in their career the ability to be one of the best pitchers in the game. And now, you know, might kind of be lost for. period of time, but now reunited with Brent Strom and, you know, the, be able to be back together with somebody that not only is so experienced, but that you have a relationship with and you're

familiar with, you know, it's, it seems to be working out, at least for the first game, right? He didn't get the win, but he gets the no decision. And he should have gotten the win. The Diamondbacks, this game was all over the place offensively for both teams. It was good to see the Arizona Diamondbacks bats wake up in this one. They set a season high with 13 hits, and they tied a season high with five runs in the sixth inning. So this was one of those, again, Jesse cathartic games that we see the flood games open. You love that word, dear. I love that word.

I think it's amazing. It's just, it is. It's one of those games that it feels so good and freeing to see this team, like really just score a lot of runs, right? I mean, it's not aggregate scoring. It doesn't carry over to the next damn series. And honestly, we've seen them. shit the bed after putting up a big offensive output like this in the following series. So, but it does like it does make you feel like it's a reminder to the team what they can do.

Just a confidence boost for them as a squad because they put up a lot of runs. And the Diamondbacks were hitless in their last 17 at bats with runners in scoring position. Prior to the RBI singles in this one by Josh Ross and Pavin Smith in the fourth inning. So I mean, it's that that's been. probably one of the more frustrating things about this team this season has been their inability to score with ducks on the pond. Yeah, and I mean, they were good in this game. I think they were five for 12 in this one with runners in scoring position. But yeah, they didn't have a hit in either of the first two games of this series with runners in scoring position,

whereas the Tigers were pretty consistent throughout the series in doing that. So that's something we talked about with Joe Mather yesterday. We had a press conference with the Diamondbacks hitting coach. And he said that's a conversation that they had a couple weeks ago. They really hit it home then. And he thought the guys were doing a good job in that regard right after that happened. But we all know, I mean, the ebbs and flows of baseball hitting with runners and scoring position is a lot easier said than done. But it also has a very significant impact on whether or not you're winning baseball games.

So hopefully for the debacks, that'll be something that they can build on moving forward. forward. You and I get asked about Christian Walker quite a bit because of the number of solo home runs he has this season and right, you know, his lack of success otherwise other than hitting home runs, basically, right? He was 0 for three in this one. He did have a walk and an RBI with a sacrifice. But again, the, the one thing I think you and I often answer with, because we don't really know, right is the the idea that they that it's just pressing you know it's just when the when the pressure is on there seems to be a lack of clutch you know a clutch factor for this team the dog in him if you will right the dog in him kind of disappears a bit when runners are in scoring position but not

just him like everybody on the team right and it kind of reminds me again of when they collectively go on a go in a slump and nobody on the team can seem to hit it feels like the pressure is just mounting for each guy. And it's not making it any easier for them to just go up there and try to hit a single and get on base or try to walk and just be a man on base for the next guy to bring you home. One of Lavalantras is the idea of handing it off to the next guy, right? And that's something that he really tries to drive home,

but it feels like this team struggles with at times. The idea that you don't have to do it all, but you as a team can do it. And that's what we saw today. We saw this team doing it. Everybody kind of contributed to this one. And it was a great offensive output from this team. It really was.

Yeah. And the Diamondback showed a lot of fight in this game. This is actually, even though the final score looks a little bit lopsided, Derek, this was a really crazy baseball game. There were six lead changes altogether if you count ties. So, yeah, there was a lot of ups and downs throughout this game for the Diamondbacks. But they bounced back. And I think a particular instance of that that stands out as J.B. Wendelkin, you know, giving up the home run and then coming out the next inning when he'd already thrown, I think 20 pitches and, you know, having a one, two, three inning the next inning. So that was that was big to see. And the Bambachs just showed a lot of resilience. It felt like, you know, even when they got down a couple runs, which happened multiple times in this game, the offense was able to pick things up and and keep moving. And it felt like they had a lot of belief that, you know, even when they were down by a couple of runs,

They were still within striking distance, and they still had confidence that they could come back. And sure enough, they did in this one. Well, if you guys haven't signed up for a membership at go phnx.com yet, I don't know if you know this, but Jesse's here full time. As demonstrated the fact that he now lives at Chase Field. I do. Yeah, I'm not going to leave. I'm just going to stay here.

He's not leaving. He's going to ask them for a pillow and a blanket, which they'll say we have none. They'll say we have this old Randy Johnson jersey. that you can use as a blanket maybe and, you know, figure out the rest of the far as pillow is concerned. But Jesse will be offering some amazing insight from the Arizona Diamondbacks Clubhouse and from Chase Field over at go phnx.com. So make sure to sign up to become a membership or become a member.

Get a membership. Get an annual membership. You'll get a free t-shirt over at the PHNX Locker.com. You can grab one of these hats if you'd like instead of a t-shirt, whatever you want over at PHNX Locker.com. Josh Hunt misses the smell of the state. There is something to that. I feel like what does Chasefield smell like? It has a very distinct aroma and it is a good smell, but I can't place exactly what it is.

I want to say, like I think of churros. I think of Wetzel's pretzels and the smell that that cinnamon, buttery pretzels smell that emanates from Wetzel's pretzels, at least that's the smell that gets me because when I'm walking around, everything else kind of blends together. but once I get that Wetzel's smell, oh, it's on. I'm going to pay way too much for that bag of little breaded pretzel deliciousness. But anyway, definitely get yourself a membership. It does not come with Wetzel's pretzels, but it does come if you get the annual membership

with a T-shirt for PHNX Locker.com. If you're not interested in the annual membership, you can get a month-to-month option. We understand gas prices are high. Times are ridiculous right now. So you'll get your first month for just 50 cents if you go in that direction. maybe you stick around and enjoy us. Maybe you take some time to decide. But hopefully you come around on an annual membership.

Either way, you'll get access to our members-only Discord. That's always a lot of fun. Tonight I was blaming the show starting late on Jesse and the Discord. So that's what you get. You get updates that other people don't get. And you get that in the Discord. You also get members-only discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. Sign up to become a member.

And also join us at Four Peaks Brewing Company this Wednesday. We will all be broadcasting live from there. just going boom, boom, boom, boom, one after another. So you can come not only meet us, hang out with us, drink with us, eat with us, but you get to watch us do this thing that we love called PHNX. So join us over at Four Peaks Brewery. Not only do you get to see us, but you get a wonderful variety of the Four Peaks brews. I'm drinking a Hopnot IPA right now as we speak.

You can get whatever you wish over there at the Four Peaks Brewing Company. Obviously 21 and over only and enjoy responsibly for sure. but if you can't come down and join us at Four Peak Brewery, make sure to go pick it up to your local convenience store, local grocery store. It's all over the Valley. It's Valley owned. It's a Valley company in the mix here in the Valley since 96.

So make sure to check out Four Peaks if you haven't done so already. Jesse, we talked a bit about the bats coming around in this one, but they really, really did. Pavan Smith had a career high, four-hit game. He went four-for-five with three RBI. Dalton Varsho had a monster home run into the pool. Like you said, that was really the shot that separated this game. That was much closer, had much more back and forth up to that point.

And still, Mark Malanson gave up a run in the ninth. So, I mean, had it been closer, this one could have gotten dicey. But Dalton Varsho helped make sure that didn't happen with his big home run. Carson Kelly also had a home run. Yeah. And the Diamondbacks tied a season high with three sacrifice flies, which is their most at Chase Field since May 12th, 2015. It's such a random stat, but I mean, Sacrifice slides aren't that.

It doesn't say much. Sacrifice slides are just, they're a little bit unpredictable. It's a little, it's hard to really pinpoint like a reason why, I don't, I don't know. It's a weird, it's a weird thing to keep track of. Here's what I feel like. I feel like we don't see the Diamondbacks at times. do enough to manufacture runs. And I think that this is part of that, right?

Like it always seems, it always seems like the Diamondbacks are confident that the guy at the plate can get a big hit or whatever when at times it's right in, it's right smack dab in the middle of the offense struggling, right? So it's like, why not do some more bunting? Why not do some more sack, you know, whatever they can do to bring it in. Like you said, it's easier said than done, right? It's not like it's something you can just go out there and automatically do.

But it does feel like at times the Diamondbacks don't do enough to manufacture runs. I feel like we see way more sacrifice flies against us at times that score runs than we do see the Diamondbacks actually doing it. But I don't know. It might just be my perspective because I feel like we don't quite see the Diamondbacks do enough to play small ball and get those runs in however they can. Yeah, I mean, all three of them happen with the bases loaded. So in a sense, like, there was a little bit of letdown with each of them. You know, if you have the bases loaded, nobody out of the base loaded one out. You're trying to get more than one run in that situation.

But, you know, a sacrifice fly is more productive than what we've seen the Diamondbacks do in those situations a lot this year. There have been a lot of unproductive outs, a lot of pop flies, a lot of flyouts that weren't that weren't deep enough, a lot of strikeouts in those spots. So, you know, a productive out is is a great thing compared to what we've seen the diamondbacks do in those spots in the past. So, yeah, I mean, the offense was just good all the way around today. And this team very desperately needed that, Derek. It's been a rough, rough go for them over these last five games. It's been a rough go for Pavin Smith. Do you think this is kind of a, I don't want to put too much pressure on the moment or make it sound like he can just turn it on now going forward.

but do you think this is a pivotal turning point perhaps for his season where you can maybe get it going after this? It's tough. It's tough with Pavin because the Diamondbacks have a lot of depth both at first base and in the outfield, which are the two spots where he's going to play, right? You've got David Peralta, you've got Alec Thomas, you got Dalton Varsho. Now that Carson Kelly is back, you know, that that's probably going to be your outfield more often than not. and then Christian Walker, you know, has been arguably the best defensive first baseman in baseball. Maybe I shouldn't say arguably. That's probably not even up for debate. He has been the best defensive first basement of baseball.

So you're probably not going to play Pavin there. So it's a little bit unclear where Pavins at Bats come from moving forward, which is I think why we haven't seen him as much over these last few games since Carson Kelly came back. But we know how Tory works. He's going to get Pavin in there. He's not going to have him on the Major League. roster just to sit every day. But it's going to be sort of an audition for him, I think, just that he really is going to have to show that he deserves these at bats. And he did a great job doing

that today with a four-hit game. Let's take a look at the numbers from this series in our by-the-numbers breakdown. Detroit Tigers, again, Diamondbacks lose another series. A little painful because, again, we talked about prior to this series how important this one was potentially for the diamondbacks to get back on track to maybe steal a couple of wins from a team that those wins might be a bit easier to obtain from. Instead, they barely escaped without getting swept. Starting pitching ERA was kind of a wash for both teams. But really what it came down to is these games were close, but the diamondbacks didn't really start hitting with runners in scoring position there at the end until this game, whereas the tigers, like you said, Jesse,

kind of did it consistently throughout the series. Yeah, and the Tiger's bullpen is very good. I know it wasn't good in this game. You know, obviously they're not going to be using their best guys when they're down-server runs like they were at the end. But the back end that they have with Gregory Soto, I mean, he is a flamethrower. He was throwing 100 miles an hour as a lefty the last two nights,

getting the save in each of those games. And then Michael Fulmer coming in as well, it's a really impressive group that the Tigers have at the back end. So good on the Diamondbacks for finding a way to get to the bullpen a little bit in this one. And that's probably the difference in this series, Derek. I mean, if you want to pinpoint one thing between these two teams, you'd like to see the D-BACs offense, you know, split things up a little bit more than scoring 11 runs in the last game and not getting much in the first two of the series.

But the biggest difference in this series was probably the bullpen that the Tigers had a very steady back end, and the Diamondbacks didn't, at least not in this series. We saw even Joe Manciply, the man who could not give up a run against the Maguire. The Man Supply. We saw even him give up a three-run homer in the game yesterday. And I mean, you're not, you're not faulting Joe Manciply too much. I mean, he still has a 1.3 ERA or something ridiculous like that. So, you know, that sort of thing is going to happen. But the debacks need some of those other back-end relievers to step things up moving forward. They really do. And I will say, though, that they did get a good performance today.

I have someone we haven't talked about yet. And that's David Peralta, who went three for four with a walk. Yeah. And David Peralta has been really dialed in as of late. As a matter of fact, he is our draft kings, king of the series, going with a 500 batting average in this series, six for 12, two RBIs. He had the one home run, two runs scored. Just really has been, again, the Diamondbacks keep having guys step up at different times. Unfortunately, it's not like, it's not multiple guys. But right now, David Peralta has been their best hitter and really has been consistent over the last week when the offense hasn't. Yeah, I mean, yesterday I tweeted this, he already has exceeded his home run total from last season in, you know, 64 games.

So it took him less than half of the season to hit more home runs than he did last year. And I think that's probably part of, I'm going to hopefully talk to him more about this in the coming days. But it seems that that's part of the adjustments that he made over the off season, you know, trying to hit fewer ground balls, trying to get the ball up in the air more. It's not as if David Peralta's hitting 320, you know, it's not the breakout season that maybe some people anticipated,

but it's still been good for him. I mean, you would, you would rather see David Peralta, you know, hit 20 home runs or so as a corner outfielder than, you know, hit eight and maybe have a batting average. that's 15 or 20 points higher. So I think it's a trade-off that works for him, and he was really big in this series for the debacks.

He worked with Michael Brantley during the off-season, who is his neighbor. And I know we've talked about it a bitch before, but one of the things that he said was most effective for him was the timing on his front foot about getting it down, not rushing it, not, you know, doing things like that. And again, it seems to have worked, not only that work that he did in the off-season,

but working with Joe Mather, you know, it seems to have had that effect on a couple of guys. We've seen this team hit for power this season much more than we did last year. I'd imagine they might, their home run totals might be pretty close to what it was for the entire season right about now. Because they did not have anybody that stood out as far as power goes. But it's great to see. Diamondbacks, once again, struggle in the NOS, but that's not the division we care about. The only division that matters is the All-City Division.

So let's take a look at where we're at there. Diamondback's still back a little bit from the White Sox, but it looks like all these teams are struggling. And yeah, we all suck, basically. But of course, none of us suck as bad as the Cubs. And that's what's important. I will say that they do have a series coming, some games coming up against the Rockies.

And in the vast storm, the upcoming storm, that is the next 20, one games against the NOS, the Rockies might be the only chance Diamondbacks have for some reprieve in the stretch leading into the All-Star break. Yeah, I mean, that Rocky series is going to be big this weekend, I think, give the Diamondbacks a little bit of a break. But yeah, it's a pretty tough road for the Diamondbacks moving forward. And they get the Padres, who, of course, were pretty tough on them over that series that they had last week. So, yeah, hopefully the Diamondbacks can come out on Tuesday.

I think we actually have a little misprint here. That Tuesday, Wednesday series, that's at home at Chase Field. And then the weekend series is on the road. So just so that's clear for those of you joining us live here. Yeah. And what's in the forecast for the Diamondbacks is pain, Jesse. We've talked about that. It's pain.

So make sure to stock up on plenty of OG's gummies for the upcoming 21 game streak. I guess you could say. Because the Diamondbacks just ended a five-game losing streak, and things might get way worse than that in the upcoming weeks. I don't want to be too negative, but hopefully, I don't know. I don't know, right? Jesse, this team steps up against the teams that they have no business beating, and then they play, you know, teams that are in a similar position as themselves.

Right. They've been playing them great. So we'll see what happens. But, of course, I'm still recovering from my OGs. Saturday. By the way, Jesse did not show up at the Maya Day Club in Scottsdale. My gosh, you're really going to hold that against

me for quite a while, aren't you? I am furious. Of course I'm going to hold that against you. We had so much fun and the only thing that was missing was a big cup of Jesse. I'll tell you, though, we got an extra dose of PHNX in the house. So we had some fun.

And OGs just launched their limited edition, seasonal flavor, Pinia colada. They were giving out non-medicated samples, Jesse, just so you know, just so you don't shame me more. But it was for everybody to try and it was delicious. They had drinks with the Pinia Colada gummies and it was a great time. I got to hang out with some of the guys from OG's brands. And they're just absolutely terrific people, much like all of our friends and all of our

partnerships. It's just amazing to be partnered together with local companies that are trying to do big things. And that's exactly what we're trying to do at PHNX. And same thing for OGs. They just became the number one gummy in the state of Arizona. So go support them. That's right. They beat out national companies.

They beat out companies from California. OGs number one here in Arizona. So make sure you try them. That pineapple and creamy coconut blend and that Penaeclada is perfect just in time for summer. And you can check out OGs online at OGsbrands.com and on Instagram at OGs brands. That's OGEEZ. Brands.com. You can also find their products at your local dispensary.

Must be 21 years or older to purchase. Jesse, we had fun, though, out there at the pool party. I know for sure. Did you swim? Did you actually? All I heard about the swimming was that I think you told me that every single square inch was filled with a human being. Yeah, that was what, yeah, it was all. It was a pool of humanity, Jesse is what it was.

I did not know that at the Maya Day Club, it was the spot to go with your bachelor or bachelor at party. But that was almost every single human being at this club in the middle of the day on a Saturday was attached to some sort of. So it wasn't a bachelor or bachelor at party. You didn't have like the whole space just just for this event. It was like there was just moms with all sorts of people. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't think it was just people invited by OGs.

I think it was. yeah, you could be a regular party of people and come to this. It was, like, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy things like this once I can get the idea of the cesspool of water out of my head, right? Like, once I can stop worrying about germs and disease and COVID and pandemics, I could just like relax and enjoy myself like I did for a little while in the water. But yeah, no, it was fun. And more than anything, it was great hanging out with the PHNX family.

It was, I sincerely love my coworkers. And of course, that means you too. Jesse, I've talked about you being at my side when I die. But it was a blast to hang out with everybody. And more importantly, it was great hanging out with like the guys from OGs and kind of getting their background and seeing like, you know, I mean, I know medical marijuana in the state and edibles and everything else like that. I know it still has kind of a, you know, negative connotation. I know a lot of people still think of it, you know, because of the short amount of time it's been legalized and all that very poorly. But it's amazing to see what folks like OGs are trying to do as far as provide a beneficial product that everybody can use in some way, you know, just to like to sleep better or enjoy things better.

And like to really talk to them and get their backgrounds on where they've come from and stuff was kind of fascinating. You know, like it's it's really. incredible thing they're doing over there. And honestly, I can tell with the way things are going that edibles are becoming the preferential way to consume marijuana. And it seems like a very smart thing that they have going on to make edibles that taste so amazingly, incredibly delicious. That is like they talked to me about this several times. That is their priority is like making these animals taste good. And that's something that if you've ever tried edibles before,

you know is not a priority for a lot of companies. Yeah. Some of them think the more it tastes like weed, the more you're going to like it or the more potent you're going to think it is. But anyway, my day club, definitely check that place out. We were at a blast there. And yeah, it was very busy. One thing about the pool was I wish I would have gotten in earlier. I had no idea how good I could have had it earlier before the place got busy.

Because, yeah, getting into a pool where there is really no square inch of space for you. Yeah, it could be a little uncomfortable. It was a little much, but Emma missed you. Emma was furious with you, by the way. So shout out to everybody. But I found myself for the first time in a long time, Jesse, drunk at Gus's Pizza in Scottsdale. And that brought back memories.

So, hey, shout out to everybody in Scottsdale. And most importantly, our friends at OGs for the invite to the party, because, of course, the one thing I realized when I was there was, had no business being there. I was far too old to be there, Jesse. You're not that old, Derek. Well, let me tell you, there was a guy. If you check out Gerald's Facebook stories, there was a guy that looked like Zeus. Actually, that's mean to say. There was Zeus was there at the party, like the Greek god Zeus. And he wasn't too old to be there. So I shouldn't feel that way either,

right? But again, we had a very fun time. And the Diamondbacks have a much needed day off. So that felt like a day off for me going to this place and then coming home and sleeping for 13 hours straight. But the Diamondbacks have a much needed day off. And I think that heading into this last stretch before the All-Star game, they really need to do something right now, I think, to change their season and the trajectory of their season. I feel like what we're seeing right now is what they're going to finish at after 162 games, like 10 games below 500, which falls. pretty close to what you predicted their season was going to look like and less like what I thought it was going to look like. But even when I said it, I think I was saying it in jest. I don't think I really believe that the Diamondbacks were going to finish one game over 500 or whatever crazy-ass thing I said at the time.

I just think that, you know, again, they are pretty much in a hole, right? They're in a, they're in the worst hole that they've been all season long. And there is no, aside from the series with the Rockies, there really is. no reprieve between now and that All-Star break. Yeah, it's going to be a test for them. And I think it's going to be kind of a defining couple of weeks for them for the season, actually. Just the Diamondbacks are, they're kind of in an in-between spot right now where they're,

you know, they're not really close to 500 anymore. But they're also not at the level of being one of the worst teams of baseball, right? They have a decent amount of padding there. Sure. So, but, you know, just given how difficult these. next couple weeks are going to be, you know, it's not impossible to see the diamond back struggling through these next couple weeks. And it's going to be a challenge for them. There's no way around that. But I think given that, you know, just what we saw in this one, hopefully it's something the diamond backs can build on moving forward. And I think the offense is

due. A lot of those guys are due. Some things that we saw earlier in the season are not being maintained by some of those guys. And I think they probably will turn them around soon. than later. So yeah, I mean, hopefully it's only a matter of time for some of these hitters before they're able to, you know, really turn things around moving forward. Any frustration watching Mark Melanson come into a game with nothing on the line and still not really incredibly effective? I don't think there's much reason for frustration there, mainly because Heraldo

Perdomo really has to make that play. It was a pretty routine double play there that should have ended the game. And it didn't go, you know, it didn't go in as an air. That's actually one storyline that I do take away from the series is that Herola Prodomo really was a little rough. He had some rough moments at shortstop defensively. And it cost them run several times, too. Yeah, yeah, it did.

And, you know, they're not all errors. It's not like, you know, he made seven errors in the series or anything. but balls that you're used to seeing Major League short stops get to or throws that you're used to seeing Major League short stops make, he's struggled with. And I mean, that's understandable in many ways. He's a young, young player. He has, you know, a lot of time to figure these things out.

Non-safe situation points and makes my eye twitch. Accurate, accurate. I don't think you're alone in that. But, but, yeah, I mean, Mark did give up an. extra base hit in the inning. So it wasn't like he was, you know, it was completely just Harald of Pranoma's fault. But, but I think it's, you know, he probably should have been out of that inning pretty easily with that double play. I agree. And Heraldo Perdomo at times makes my eye twitch watching him play defensively. So hopefully he can lock it down. And again,

it makes us realize how much we took Nick Ahmed for granted. I think there at shortstop making some of those gold club plays that he always consistently made. and made look easy. I mean, I think one thing that I didn't realize quite as much about Nick was how strong his arm was and how good and accurate his throws were to first base to get a lot of those double plays and a lot of those, you know, dribblers up the middle that kind of coming up slow that Perdomo's kind of missed. I mean, he just at times doesn't seem to really have a strong arm to make some of those plays. And I don't know. I mean, obviously some of this stuff is experience and learning, but, you know, again, it's, this is what the Diamondbacks wanted. They wanted to have their young guys be able to come up for better or for worse, get time and gain that experience at a major league level.

So many of them are doing a good job right now at it. So I think that that's not going to change for the Diamondbacks for the time being. We're going to continue to see young guys get called up. No, we're not going to see Corbyn Carroll this year. I'm still very doubtful. Yeah. But I will say this. And Jesse and I can both confess to this.

When we were in the press box on Friday night, the rumor going around was that Dallas Keiko was going to start on Sunday. And me and Jesse both looked at several people and said, bullshit. Like, are you sure about that? His last start was at rookie ball, right? So there sometimes is, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, is that where we don't think it's going to happen, and then you never know what's going to happen.

I don't think Corby and Carol is going to get called up this year, but crazier things have happened for this team, and Dallas Kikell being added to the roster, getting called up within 30 days, and actually making a pretty decent start. None of those things were things that were on my radar. So who knows where the direction of this team goes going forward as far as calling up young guys and where they're going to get guys to play.

David Peralta are Draft King's King of the Series, obviously. doing some good things to raise his stock. So maybe he does find himself in a position to become a trade piece for this team. And maybe we see some outfielders, young outfielders get called up to fill up the spot. It seems like right now they have the roster to handle David Peralta going, you know, being traded. And yeah, like Chris says, we saw Buddy faster than I expected. And you're absolutely right about that. That was another one that completely shocked me.

I think we talked about Gambo speculating on that. We both thought that it was a pretty fair chance it was going to happen, but still seemed kind of out of nowhere when Buddy Kennedy caught up. So this team is committing to the future, and we're going to continue to see it. Whether that leads to them being successful this year remains to be seen, highly doubtful. But at the very least, it's going to be fun to watch,

and we're going to get to see these guys, you know, come up and blossom and have some fun moments. Get a lot of these, like, career first out of the way this season. so that next season they can focus more on the winning and less on the, hey, I debuted kind of stuff, right? Sure. You know, Buddy Kennedy looked pretty, like he had a pretty amazing weekend for his, you know, his debut, but then things came back down to Earth for him quite a bit,

not only with an injury, but then also he had an error and, you know, just some things with him that quickly taught him some, you know, brought him some experience in this game, but we love Buddy Kennedy. and to see him called up and be on this roster right now is fantastic. Same thing with Dallas Keikl. It's a great story. So, of course, you know, if you're looking for stuff to root for about this team, it's stories like this. And hopefully we'll see guys continue to have success as the season goes on.

Of course, go to the Draft King's Sportsbook, you guys, if you haven't done so already. Speaking of our Draft Kings, King of the series. And get down on the hockey action. Of course, we also have UFC coming up here on July 2nd. So if hockey isn't your cup of tea, you can get down on the UFC 276 pay-per-view. There's a ton of ways to come out on top in the Octagon, and you can do so at the Draft King Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of UFC. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now.

Use promo code PHNX, bet $5 on any UFC 276 fighter to win, and you will get $100 in free bets no matter what. They don't have to win. They can get their ass beat. will still get money. You will get paid out. Kind of like it was, it's almost like they owe you money, right? Like, so you're going to bet on this guy. He's going to lose. He's going to get beat up.

And then you're going to get paid for it. So it's like that episode of Family Guy with Brian and Stewie. That's promo code PHNX this Saturday at Drafking Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of UFC. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Jesse, I know

you want to get to sleep there at Chase Field. I know Peggy probably is going to make you some milk and cookies and tuck you in soon. So I'm going to let you get going. But we thank you guys so much for joining us. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Jesse, the coward that did not show up to Maya Day Club.

Is that Jesse and Friedman? I'll come to the next one, Derek. You better. You have no choice. I've learned my lesson with you. I'm going to come pick you up. And now that you're here in Phoenix, I can make sure you show up to these events by picking you up.

So to be fair, to be fair, I was, I was meeting my six-week-old nephew. So I am down to come. I am down to come to the next. How dare you? How dare you? You're going to turn this around on me? You were meeting your six-s- So, but you know what? Your nephew would have

probably wanted you to go to my day club. That's all I'm saying. But all right, well, I'm going to thank you guys. As long as I can bring him next time, then I'll come. That's what I'm saying. That's, yeah. Bring him in one of those adorable little baby rafts that I've seen. Yeah. That's awesome. All right. We'll get

tons of chicks that way. That's the way to go. All right. Follow our show at PHNX underscore Dbacks, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you guys are watching us right now on YouTube, please subscribe to the PHNX Sports YouTube channel, sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss whenever we go live, depending on when Jesse is free and we can go live. I'm just really, I'm just really ransacking him tonight. I'm just throwing a lot of bus left and right. But of course, you don't want to us when we do go live because we're a lot of fun and we thank you guys for being here. Of course, if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there.

If you haven't done so already, leave us a five-star review if you think we deserve it. And make sure that you follow us on all the social media channels and enjoy the stuff we're doing over here. Most importantly, love your Arizona Diamondbacks. They need your love. They need your support. And this team has been a lot of fun to watch as demonstrated by today's game. So, of course, be nice to Jesse, I guess. Whatever. Thank you, Emma. Thank you.

Whatever. She was the one, she was more mad at you for not coming than me. Don't know. See this? I don't like the way this gets to turn tables are getting turned. I don't like it. But we thank you guys for joining us. Thank Emma for being alive after yesterday. Thank me for eventually waking up and thank Jesse for not showing up to the point. We're live. We're live again tomorrow on Monday night, right? That's right. We're going to be alive on Monday night at 5 p.m. We're going to have a little bit of a schedule shift. We're going to start going earlier on Mondays, but tomorrow we're still going to be at 5 o'clock. make sure to join us on the off day.

We hope you guys have an off day that you enjoy. I don't know if it's your off day. You probably have to go to work. It's Monday. Monday's not an off day for many people. I know, I know, but we do hope the Arizona Diamondbacks enjoy their off day.

And we hope you guys have a great day as well. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we appreciate you guys joining us. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you actually show up to the fucking day club.

Jesse, what the hell?