PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: Natitude adjustment

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing the D-backs taking two of three from Nationals in their first series after the All-Star break, getting quality starts from Gallen and Bumgarner, and things getting heated in clubhouses around MLB.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 and make your first deposit and get a RISK-FREE BET UP TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply.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), visitOPGR.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.FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. They have officially licensed gear for men, women and kids and everything from bobbleheads to swimsuits to crocs. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% off 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, occasionally known as Baby Grogu. And this is my vice mayor, the one and only thunderstick Jesse Friedman. Derek, one of these days, we're going to do a post-series show, and the Diamondbacks are going to have actually won the last game of the series. I don't believe it. Where they win the series and the game that we do the live show? No, I don't believe you.

I don't think that's ever going to happen. That's just not in the cards for us, Jesse Friedman. Of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use our code of PHNX. Of course, that is America's top rated sportsbook app. Jesse, yes, they lost a tough game today that really felt like the way the nationals were playing that the Diamondback should have won, should have swept the series. They played really well in this series. And to be honest, it does take away a little bit the loss today from how good the two wins were.

So we're not going to do that. We're not going to just blow through the two wins and focus primarily on today's loss. But today was interesting. Corbyn Martin got the start. He makes his first start in a game since June of 2021, where he started against the Padres for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Had some control issues today. but still had a pretty decent outing for a guy that hasn't pitched in 10 days. And, I mean, he gave the Diamondbacks a chance to win.

Yeah, he did. I'm not sure that he was quite as good as four innings, one run will make it sound. Right. I mean, he only lasted four innings. So I guess that's like not an ideal outcome in itself. Right. And the five walks, not ideal either. Right.

The five walks, and I think the D-BACs defense really picked him up too, which is, I mean, which is great to see. Christian Walker made a really nice leaping grab. Alec Thomas made a couple of diving plays. So he got, you know, I think he had some favors done for him by the Diamondbacks defense and his control was a little bit all over the place. I thought it was probably the right move to get him out of there after four innings. But, you know, he bent, but he didn't break in some ways. And there's something to be said for that. He definitely gave the D-backs a chance to win.

I like that. He bent, but he didn't break. And I think there's a lot to build on there going forward. Like I said, I do think the fact that he hasn't pitched in 10 days is something that people should take into account. And honestly, it's a solid base to build on. He did give up some pretty hard hit balls. And they all seem to be that same gap between Varshan and Alec Thomas out there in center field. But Thomas, like you said, did another incredible job, not only today, but in this entire series defensively.

He just makes highlight-worthy plays look easy. You know, I still am amazed by how easy he makes those, you know, catches at the center field wall look. He's been great at the plate. And so were a lot of guys in the series. This team was very good offensively throughout the series. Came up a bit short today, but really put it on the nationals over the last two games.

I think you tweeted it out from our account where you said they were on pace to outscore their opponents by like 680 runs in the second half after the first game. So that was, it was nice to see. But it was very nice to see the starting pitching be so good for these three games. And I'm going to throw Corbyn Martin in there. He was pretty good. But Bumgarner and Zach Gallen were both excellent in this series for the Diamondbacks. Yeah, this series really was, I mean, it really was a great way to start the second half, even though I know the outcome today wasn't great in the end. I mean, the Diamondbacks outscored the Nationals 20 to seven in the series. This was, this was not close. I mean, the Diamondbacks were far and away.

the better team here. We've seen them do this from time to time where, you know, they kind of stack up the offense in one or two games. And then, you know, there's another game where they, where they really struggle. They actually had their fair share of base runners. They still had 10 hits in this game. They actually out hit the nationals. But they left 13 on base. There were several moments in this game where they really had an opportunity to score, namely in the eighth inning when they had the bases loaded and nobody out. And somehow three pitches later, the inning was over and the Diamondbacks didn't score with Cateel Marte popping up and then Christian Walker grounding into an inning-ending-ending double play on the first pitch he saw. That was a really,

really rough moment in this one. But yeah, that was ugly. But the series on the whole was a really big win. I know the Nationals aren't a very good team, but I do think this was this was good for the Diamondbacks to start the second half, really in the right way overall. Let's take a look at the numbers for this series. Like you said, it was a dominant win. Two wins to one. It really felt like it should have been a sweep, especially when you look at this ERA of both the starting pitching and the relief pitching for both teams. Yeah, I mean, it's not even close, Derek. I mean, the national starting rotation had a 675 ERA, the Diamondback starting rotation in this in this series had a 142 ERA. The D-BACs bullpen ERA was pretty good, even though they gave up

a couple runs here in this game today. With runners in scoring position, the Diamondbacks hit 400 in this series compared to just 154 for the Washington Nationals. So it was really very lopsided, but this is the beauty of baseball, right? You can completely outplay a team overall for three games, and you still wind up just taking two out of three in the end.

It's unfortunately just the way that things work. And Michael says 98 mile per hour exit velocity on the Walker double play. Yeah. I mean, we're surprised. I'm not, we're not going to defend it anymore. Like, I know that there's people out there that think, I'm pretty sure they're, they're mocking us when they talk about, you know, Christian Walker being unlucky, right? Oh, yeah.

People, people are, are like complaining to us that like he needs to start, he needs to work on hitting it where the defender is not, right? Which there's some, there's some truth to, but that's that's, that's. It was an oversimplification. We were talking about this when we were at the game, the mad bum start where he, I think that was mad bum start, where he had a ball that was the hardest hit ball of the night, 110 mile per hour exit velocity. It had an expected batting average of 710, right?

So it's like it had a better XBA than Cotel Marte's triple that fell in. Like, yes, it's just, it's stats, it's nerd shit to some people. I get it. Like, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things if the ball's not landing for a hit or whatever. But sometimes it's just hard to be mad at Christian walk. I mean, I guess the thing is, and Jesse brought this up to me, maybe maybe Walker can try to not hit it so hard all the time. Maybe a little flare out that's single or, you know, something. that rolls out for a double or something, you know, I don't know.

But definitely have seen him struggle in, you know, these cases with runners and scoring position today, obviously was a huge moment in that, that basis-loaded situation. But getting back to the starting pitching, starting pitching was incredible in this series. Zach Gallen finally gets win number five. Five, Jesse. We got five. Career. We got it.

Number five. it was it was getting into no hitter territory at one point and we had a conversation with him about it and it was interesting. His perspective on it was definitely interesting. And Tori Lavolo had a funny comment

about it about basically once Zach Gallen gave up the hit, he kind of felt relieved because at that point he could manage the game a bit more like a normal game and not have to worry about that new variable of Zach Gallin potentially throwing a no hitter. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's kind of funny that like in some ways, people don't realize this. Like, potential no hitters are a manager's worst nightmare because

you put them in a position where you know, like you know as a manager that this probably isn't very good for your pitcher. Like, they're probably going to be all messed up after throwing 130 or however many pitches it takes. And it would actually be kind of nice for you to just like still win the game, but have the guy give up a hitter too so that you can win the game, but have the guy give up a hit or two so that you can take him out, you know, when you normally would. So, yeah, Tori after that game sounded pretty stressed out about the situation. And even Zach Allen himself sounded pretty relieved that he, you know, it was a dinky little hit, but he wound up giving up that dinky little hit.

It was an infield single. And that ended the no hitter. I think it was with one out in the sixth inning. And then, you know, he was still able to go through seven. It was still an outstanding outing for him. And then Madison Bumgarner yesterday, eight innings. two runs. That was only the second time in his diamondback's career that he's finished eight innings. In his start, he had nine strikeouts, I believe, which also tied his highest ever with

the diamond back. So one of the best outings he's ever had since coming over to Arizona. Absolutely. And he also had some words for Victor Robles, which is what we're going to talk about here in a minute. Like you said, he had a very interesting outlook. So did Tori. they both thought he had better stuff in the loss to the Padres, but that his stuff was comparable tonight. And he just talked a lot about feeling good, like, like physically,

you know, I don't think that he really, like I think there's like a lot of aches and pains. Obviously, every athlete has. It doesn't really get to drive, but sometimes it's nice to finally get in that position where you find yourself waking up and not having those aches and pains as often.

I can speak from experience on that, myself just a little bit but uh i i was very it was it was just great to see you know and and carson kelly had very good things to say about uh both of these guys about bum gardener especially uh and what he's been able to do as of late but carson kelly has also been very good lately carson kelly just yes i mean he he looks like the guy that jesse wrote about at one point on go p hnx.com talking about how big of a you know how big of a piece he could be if he could return to form especially what we saw early last season where he just was unbelievably good at the plate he just said he's uh you know it's he said it's all him he said that the struggles

early on in the season were a mental thing for him and you know you just it's funny but baseball maybe more than any sport is one of those sports that that that can impact you to a point where you just can't even hit the baseball. Yeah, I mean, it's a mental grind. There's no question that out of all the professional sports, right? I mean, they all require a lot of mental toughness. But baseball is probably up there above every other professional sport, just with how much of a grind it is, especially offensively.

You know, when, of course, as the saying goes, right, the very best fail seven times out of ten. And that's just the nature of hitting and the nature of how difficult it is to hit a baseball at the end of the day. So the fact that Carson Kelly is, you know, looking as good as he is is a great sign for the Diamondbacks. They have not gotten much offense from the catching position this year. Jose Herrera kind of showed off today why he's still with the team. It's obviously not because of his bat. That was never the reason that Jose Herrera became a big leaguer.

It's because he's very good behind the plate. And he showcased that. today, but it's really nice for the team to get, to get a boost, you know, offensively from, from Carson Kelly. I want you guys to know this. Even if I'm not addressing your comments, they all make me chuckle and I enjoy every single one of them. So don't, don't think they're going unnoticed Brute Squad and Michael Rokickey. But I do appreciate Brute Squad saying that Christian Walker's hitting is like Jesse's partying. There's only one setting maximum. What with that being said? We want to keep the

party going and try to try to stay positive. So for that, we're giving our draft king of the series to a guy that didn't even play today. We're not even going to address today's game. We're going to give it to Carson Kelly for his excellent offense in this series. 571 batting average with a home run, two RBI, three runs scored. He's, he's been his, he's back to his old self and look at him on the mound there. Talk about multi-purpose. This guy is a utility player when it comes to what he can offer this team. I mean, that picture is not from this series. I think it's kind of hilarious.

That's a picture that we chose. Garza Kelly did not pitch. But shout out to, of course, our friends at the Drafking Sportsbook. If you go use as a new customer our code of PHNX, you can make your first deposit and get a risk-free bet up to $1,000 on the Draft King Sportsbook. Use it on baseball. You know, why not?

Go get yourself a big parlay or, you know what? Maximum bet. Just go. a lot of money on one thing that's like a sure shot. You know what I mean? I would bet against the nationals after watching them play. That's what I would do. I set there over under at over at the 58 and a half the other day. I don't believe in that any longer, Jesse. I do not believe they're going to hit 59 games. So go bet against the nationals. But you use your money wisely over at the Drafking Sportsbook, do what you want to do. Of course, that's promo code PHNX to get that risk

free bet up to $1,000 only at the drafting sports book minimum age and eligibility. Ably, see show notes for details. And here's the thing. Don't hate on Emma's picture choices, ever. Everybody. Remember, don't talk to me or my surly daughter like that ever again. Also, we have a new sponsor, Jesse. It is actually a company that I quite adore.

So, again, we continue down this streak of things that are in my office and in my life. But we are now partnering with our friends at Focco, which is a leading manufacturer of sports and entertainment merchandise with a product line that includes apparel accessories, toys, collectibles, novelty items, and more, but more important, Jesse, if there is a bobblehead shaped hole in your heart that's missing from the lack of bobbleheads this season given to you by the Arizona Diamondbacks because they're giving away awesome shirts like this one that I'm wearing, you can go to phoco.com and get down with their, dude, they have incredible bobbleheads, including they have a pre-order right now for

City Connect bobbleheads for all the teams that have City Connect Jersey, including the very own Arizona Diamondbacks. I saw one that was sold out, I think, from last season, where it was David Peralta from the photo shoot in the Serpientas jersey with the snake around his neck, and it was a bobblehead. High quality, incredible stuff, and I know we have some big bobblehead fans on watching this show right now for sure. So make sure, if you're watching, if you're watching, if listening go check out Foco. They are they got you covered with the best Arizona

merchandise. Of course, head over to Foco.com. Click on the link below in the description of this show. And for non-pricell items, you can use code PHNX for 10% off of your order. So that code again is PHNX for 10% off. And Michael's right. We absolutely need a Derek Montia bobblehead. That's for sure. I'm going to get that's just spoiler alert. Jesse, that's your Christmas present. Going forward, though, of course, something, somebody that Madison Bumgarner does not plan on sending a Christmas card do is Victor Robles, Jesse.

Speaking of his excellent outing, Mad Bum did have a great night. The shit was heated in clubhouses across MLB, but we'll start with our very own with Madison Bum Gardner. Victor Robles hit a home run against Madison Bumgarner in the 7-2 win by the Diamondbacks. and Madbum Madbub was not happy about him watching that home run and celebrating it. What did you think of Robo's

his reaction to that home run? It's a clown. Holy. No shame. No shame. It's 7 to 1. You hear your third homer of the year you act like Barry Bond's breaking the record. Clean it up. I don't care about getting up to run.

Nobody, I mean, hell, we won 7 to 2, 8 to 2, whatever it was. that's frustrating. I'm the old grumpy guy I know, but that type of stuff didn't, that didn't used to happen. Now it's, that's,

that's ridiculous. I have to laugh because I feel like I've been holding that laughing since last night. And I had to get it out because I couldn't laugh while he was saying it, but I wanted to. I don't, here's the thing. I'm conflicted here, Jesse,

because on one hand, I'll actively. Like if I, if I'm beating the computer, which you know I play it on rookie when I'm playing MLB the show, if they like do something when they hit a home runoff me to like celebrate, I'm going to, I'm going to hit the next three guys just out of spite. Right. Like I'm going to be so furious that they did that. I wish I could come at this from the perspective of like mad bum's the old man.

He acknowledged he's the old grumpy guy, right? Like he's fine with that. He wears your hat, right? But are your thoughts here? I mean, is he right? Do you think he is, do you think he's off base here when talking about that? A lot of people feel like, come on, man, this is baseball and people celebrating their achievements, no matter how big or small, is kind of what makes this game fun. Well, first of all, he is right for sure that he's the old grumpy guy.

There's no, nobody's debating. Nobody's debating that at this point. But I do think it's funny that he's, he's like self-aware enough to be to know. that. But yeah, I mean, I didn't, I don't really think it was necessarily that egregious. I mean, I in general love bat flips and love guys showing some emotion when they hit home runs. I think that sort of thing is honestly good for the game. And I would honestly push for more of that from guys than less of that. I do think that just in general, just like in terms of being a professional athlete in a game that you are losing by a lot.

It did come across is weird to me. Like not weird in a way that I would have necessarily been offended by it like Mad Bum was, but just like kind of weird. Like it just doesn't make sense to me why you would be feeling that sort of emotion. Like it's like I want players to show their emotion. I'm just not sure why Victor Robles was feeling that sort of emotion when his team was getting obliterated and they lost the game seven to two. Like it just doesn't really click to me why he was so pumped up.

I mean, home runs are great. I mean, don't get me wrong. Victor Robles only has three of them. So I guess for him, it's, it's maybe a little bit more of a rarity to be frank. But yeah, I just thought it was weird that he was so emotional. You're on to something there. I think that is it, right? We're not talking about somebody who is Barry Bonds.

That's the reason why Barry Bonds would act like he's been there before. You know what I mean? But. Yeah. And Sean DePas says, pimping a homer when you're getting blown out, clown move mad bum constantly complaining about people having fun clown move yeah both things are true right welcome to the circus yeah this is totally true i just at the same time okay so like one mad bum's

used to this i'm surprised that he gets like you could tell he was so mad about it that he was like at a loss for words like yeah he was like you know like he couldn't like he was beside himself like he wanted to curse so bad that's what he wanted to do uh and i just i'm fine with him being self-aware about it, but I think, like you said, he only has three home runs, right? Victor Robles. He got excited because it's exciting to hit home run. It's fun to hit home run, right? You're hitting a home run

off of somebody that's arguably going to be a Hall of Famer and see, Sean DePaz says it. Also, hitting a homer off Madbom is probably a significant accomplishment for a lot of guys, especially for someone who doesn't hit a lot of homers. Also, these guys are young. Madbom's been like a legend in the game for a long time. So

hitting home runs off of guys like him and Granky and stuff is probably a big deal for a lot of guys coming up. Yeah. More importantly, though, here's the thing. Let me say this. I love a mad bum

who has no clue what the score is of the game. He probably has no clue what his own ERA is right now or any stats about himself. Like, just no shit about Victor Robles off the top of his head. Like, you can tell how mad he made it

because he knew how many home runs he had. He knew how many home runs he had. I was surprised he didn't bust out like, yeah, Victor Robles, some guy hitting 236 with a 301 OBP. with the OPS of 623 and three home runs. Really? Really?

A guy with 24 home runs is going to get this excited off of it. You know, like I was amazed by him going into that about him, right? But he cares. And it's a big deal. Like he said, it wasn't about him having a home run hit off of him. He's had lots of those happen, right? It's the behavior. And again, I don't know.

Sean, can we just get Sean in here? Should we just get? because Sean's just making one good point after the next. He says last note, Madbom, always complaining about, always complaining probably invited a lot of guys to pimp homers. They otherwise wouldn't just get under his skin. Great point. I mean, it's a good point.

It is. It is a thing where you kind of do want to piss off the starting pitcher, right? You know, but hey, he's not the only guy that's being a grumpy old guy. Wait, wait, before we move on, do we have a picture of Victor Robles's reaction to his comeback today? Oh, I think we do. Do we have that picture? Do we have a picture of, okay, we don't.

We don't. That's devastating. But you can find it on Twitter. Very, very easy to find on Twitter. Pretty good. Victor Robles is pretty good. In the dugout. It looks like it was a homemade clown nose.

I don't know what they made it out of, but good for them. Also, happy birthday, Baxter. Shout out to Baxter, my pal, who, was on a hoverboard last night in an R2D2 costume, and I swore he was going to kill himself. But moving on. We also have more grumpiness in the clubhouse when it comes to Nick Castiano's with the Phillies,

who's been having a real hard time after signing a big contract over there. Did you hear the balloons there when you struck out and then playing the game there? No, man, I lost my hearing. So you didn't hear it. Come on, man, that's a stupid question. Why is that stupid question?

Can anybody else answer that for him? Anybody? Yeah, man, that's a stupid question. It's not a stupid question. If it's a stupid question, you should be equipped to answer. I did it. All right, sir. We got the answer.

We got the answers. That's the answer. I can't say that. It's a stupid question. It wasn't a stupid question. Of course. If I heard the booze, that's a rhetorical question. Of course, it's a stupid question.

That's a stupid question. We got the answer. We're good. Thanks, guys. We should be able to handle a stupid question. I did. Things got out of it. hand fast there, Jesse.

Oh my gosh. First question. Is it a stupid question? Yeah. It's a pretty stupid question. Absolutely. Right? I mean, I don't know.

Yeah. What were you wanting out of that? Like, okay, here's one thing. Last night when Nick Picoro asked Madbom the question about Victor Robles, which got that reaction out of him, he kind of knew exactly what he was doing, right? Like Nick knows Madbum. He knows what Bumgarner's going to say about that kind of reaction. So as a journalist, he asked him.

a good question that got a good response, right? This was a completely different situation. This is like a guy who's struggling and you're just kind of kicking him while he's down with that kind of question. And I just, I don't understand that. Then I also don't understand like escalating it further. It's, it's very awkward at times. And I mean, honestly, one of the things that sometimes keeps us as journalists in check is the fact that we do have to go talk to these guys in person. And so we have to watch what we say.

We have to watch how we act. And, you know, that's. Yeah, right. And we're not, we're not, you know, like, it's just such a weird situation that I could never imagine, you know, being a part of. Yeah, I just don't know what, I mean, what kind of reaction are you looking for from Nick Castiano's with that question? Like, what were you hoping to get out of him?

Like, were you hoping to comment on the fact that he's getting booed? Like, that that's just not something like, yes, every single player who gets booed is aware that they are getting booed. Everyone knows this, right? Everyone understands this. That's why the fans boo in the first place. They know that it's inescapable. They know that there's no way that players could possibly avoid it. They're not going to cover their ears while they're, you know, up there hitting or something. So I don't know what the goal was, but that is a, it's hard to blame Nick Castiano's for that. And for him to turn to the other reporters and be like, can you guys help out this guy? Like, can you guys help him understand why this stupid question? I

I can't really blame Nick Castiano's for that. And I don't know what I would have done if I was one of the other reporters in that situation. Like probably wouldn't have spoken up either. And it's so weird because like in our press core for the Diamondbacks, I mean, everybody's really friendly, you know, and the guys that are the men, guys have pretty good relationships with the players. And they, I mean, I don't know if that's, if people see that as good or bad, but we don't have people pressing players like this. and I don't think like in watching it, I look at that and I think, God, what is what is the point of that? I guess the point of it is to kind of become the news yourself a bit there, like what's happening with this clip, but not in a good way.

And not in a way a lot of people respect. So who knows, but I'm sure there are some people that probably are not fans of Nick Castiano's, probably the people booing in the crowd that probably loved the way that that went down and the way it got under his skin and the fact that they brought up the booze to him to his face. So who knows, but I just think people need to learn how to conduct themselves in general, better, you know? Yeah. We've seen a lot of bad behavior over the last couple of weeks in cases that totally didn't call for it, including fans of the Dodgers fighting at an All-Star game against each other at home. Like, it's, there's just, there's bad conduct all the way around. And I don't know what to say other than that.

But good luck. Good luck coming back into the clubhouse the next day and asking questions. I guess. Yeah. I mean, if he still has a press pass, I don't even know if they're going to look back in there. That's a great point. Don't ever, Jesse, I'm going to give you this piece of advice. Don't ever ask Madbum any question like that ever. He will not forget you. He will not forget you as much as you think he might confuse you one day with Evan Thompson like me. But anyway, moving on. Of course, you can get all the stuff Jesse is working on. You got a new piece coming out, Mr. Friedman? Yeah, well, today we have a piece all about Drew Jones's first day at the ballpark yesterday, which was honestly, it was a, it was a sort of epic day at the ballpark. There was just this, I don't know, there was just this gravity to the moment, you know, when he's out there taking batting practice and all of the Diamondbacks executives are out there on the field. Scott Boris is out there on the field, is Drew Jones's agent. Very intimidating presidents, by the way. Oh, absolutely. Scott Bois. He's very nice. He was very nice. Didn't threaten me at all.

Like didn't say he was going to take legal action against me in any way. A very charming individual in a powder blue blazer that he was rocking just the hell out. Yeah, he really was. He really was. And it was a weird moment when Drew Jones got up and did his press conference and asked, you know, took questions from the press. because, you know, Scott went and sat next to him. And it was, I think it was just odd because it was a very fatherly kind of thing, almost sitting next to him. Like he just sat there quietly, you know, smiling, very pleased over the young man,

you know, to his left. And meanwhile, his actual father and mother are in the crowd over here to the right, not sitting next to him up on the stage. Andrew Jones, obviously, a major league baseball player that's, you know, famous and pretty, pretty known in the game. but, you know, Scott Boris did have very nice things to say about Drew Jones. And it was a, it was pretty, I can't describe it other than like you said, it felt like a very momentous occasion.

It felt like it. As much as we call Alec Thomas our young king, it felt like the new king has arrived. Like the prince is here, you know, it was, it was awesome. It was great. Yeah, I mean, he's a, he's an 18, an 18 year old young king at that. So it's funny, you know, you see him out there and it's like, oh my gosh, this guy looks like a high school kid. And then you realize like, oh my gosh, he is a high school kid. He graduated like two months ago.

I'll tell my stupid story that I told you. You're the like only some people get to hear the dumb shit that I do. Jesse's mostly the one. But I was walking around the concourse doing some social media stuff. Star Wars night was happening. So I was taking pictures and doing video. And I found myself, you know, it was packed by the way, a wonderful, incredible environment at

it was it was it and was incredible because it was diamondbacks fans like maybe it was because of this t-shirt maybe it was because of star wars night yeah star wars night yeah there was a lot of things combined but it just it was reminiscent of a time when this team was much better obviously in their standings and just much more popular with fans like and it wasn't that long ago you know we're talking about less than five years ago when the stadium kind of looked like this sometimes on a Saturday

night with with it being such a dominant you know home crowd it was also nice to see the national side being like some of the only empty seats in the entire place yeah um but uh for sure it was one of those situations where i was walking around the concourse found myself uh like very in tight around people because of all the the how big the crowd was and there was a young man in front of me wearing a drew jones jersey and i thought for a minute wow that's awesome someone already has a Drew Jones jersey and then I realized that it was just Drew Jones and he was taking the poor of Chase Field with Casey Wilcock and I was like you idiot it's I mean come on the dude's like six and a half feet tall and you know looks a certain way

that's hard to miss but I just found myself fixated on the name on the back and the number I was like wow someone already had one of these made so you know you can get quality written content like that from Jesse on go phtonx.com and you can get dumb shit like that for me on Twitter. But go check out Jesse's piece on Drew Jones's first day and everything else over at goPhnx.com. If you're not a member already, sign up to become a member. You can get an annual membership and you will get a free t-shirt from the PHNX Locker.com, a free t-shirt of your choosing or you can get a month-to-month membership and you'll get your first month for just 50 cents. Regardless of your membership status, you'll get access to our members-only Discord, access to our, obviously, all of the written content on Go-PhNX.com and access to members-only discounts over at the PHNX Locker. So sign up, join us, become a member, become part of the family.

It was great to see so many of you out at the Diamondbacks game. Shout out to Josh Hunt. Shout out to, I think it was Brandon Buck was out there. So great to see everybody, you know, coming out for the Diamondbacks games more because they can use this support. It's wonderful. And speaking of that also, make sure if you're watching us right now on YouTube to subscribe to the PHNX sports YouTube channel, like this video. It always helps us out to do that stuff. as well if you're listening to us on the audio podcasting app of your choice, make sure to subscribe if you haven't done so already and leave us a five-star review there. We would appreciate you so much for doing that.

But looking ahead at the schedule, Jesse, the Arizona Diamondbacks, do have some teams that have been playing some pretty good baseball coming up, the Braves and the Guardians on a road trip. They have been playing pretty well against the Giants, and that's who we'll see in the next three games at home before they go off on that road trip. Yeah, the Giants. I want to say the Giants just got swept by the Dodgers over the weekend. So things have continued to be a little bit of an uphill battle for them lately.

But, yeah, it's going to be a fun series, D-backs and Giants. There's some good pitching matchups, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have a Logan Webb, Zach Gallen game in there. We have a Carlos Rodan, Merrill Kelly game in there. I think that's Tuesday. So those should be a lot of fun, especially from the pitching standpoint. But yeah, this is where things, you know, you get off to kind of a nice easy start with the Washington Nationals, but this is where things start to take a turn for the worst as far as the Diamondback schedule is concerned.

They have the third hardest schedule in baseball over the second half of the season. So it's, you know, it's not going to let up much the rest of the way. Well, and they do have the Rockies coming up after that road trip back here at home. And that's very important, Jesse, because of course, the most important division in all of baseball is the All-City Division. And right now, the Diamondbacks are in a bit of a neck-and-neck race with the Rockies when it comes to not only their All-City record, but as well as the standings here are concerned.

They could have swapped places with them today with a win had they finished the sweep of the nationals. But of course, this is very important to us, especially when it comes to bragging rights. As much as we love the CHGO guys, we really need to beat Patrick. that's really what this entire season is about. When you guys asked me, like, what is, what record am I happy with? Like, what, what, what does that matter?

Just better than the Rockies. Better than the Rockies. That's not a bad goal. And I don't want to throw Patrick under the bus here, but he did say in our season preview article way back when, right before, I think it was like on opening day that we released this, I believe he said something along the lines of the Diamondbacks finishing with a better record than the Rockies feels like something of an impossibility. Like he just thought there was absolutely no way something like that could happen.

And here we are, Derek. I don't know. The Rockies just got swept over the weekend. And the Diamondbacks took two out of three from the Nationals. So now they're half a game away from each other. It's probably going to be pretty close here. I look forward to the gloating that's going to and the screenshoting and the receipts posting. That's going to take place.

I look forward to that. I'm going to celebrate with some OGs gummies and some Four Peaks Brewing Company beers. Of course, our friends at OGs is the best edible in all of Arizona, top selling edible. You can get their gummies at a dispensary near you. They have a variety of flavors, including pinia colada that we can't stop talking about. But that's what their edibles are all about flavoring life. And they are all about making edibles that taste good and are enjoyable and get you where you need to go, whether it's a three milligram microdose, 10 milligram.

regular dose or beyond that with a medicinal card, whatever you're looking for. They can get to where you're at with Indica, Sativas, hybrids, all of that stuff. So make sure to check out our friends at OGs. That is OGsbrands.com or on Instagram at OGs brands. That's OG E-E-Z brand to find them. And again, this weekend, coming up on the July 30th, I believe, is the date. Saturday, July 30th, they are having their pool party out, the Maya Day Club. So make sure if you like good times and have better stamina than I do, find your way out to the Maya Day Club.

I'm going to get Jesse out there one of these days where he's going to be so sunburned and he's going to regret it so much. I burn so easily. I know. It's so sad. I recently. The sunlight in the press box when it comes into that weird window. Oh, yeah. Oh, I hate that.

I hate that. There's like this five minute stretch where the sun is just like beating down. everyone in the press box. It really is the worst. Also, speaking of next week, we are going to be out at Four Peaks Brewing Company, their 8th Street pub. All of us, every single show.

We're going to be live from Four Peaks Brewing Company. We're going to be enjoying their beers, enjoying their food, and most importantly, bringing you the finest Valley sports coverage that you can find, coyotes, bets, suns, sun Devils, Cardinals, and of course us. We are last, but certainly not least,

because we are going to bring you another post-series show. We're going to get a win that day. We're going to get a win that day there. First time since June 26th. We have not had a win in the last game of a series that we've done a post-series show for in about a month. So that would be nice if that happened. We'll see Wednesday. Wednesday is going to be a big day.

We definitely need that. And you need some four peaks in your life. So if you don't join us for that, make sure to go pick up four peaks at your grocery store. or excuse me, shout to Michael Ian Black, grocery store or convenience store near you, wherever you get your beer. Most importantly, you must be 21 or older to enjoy that or the OGs brands, but enjoy responsibly.

Also, we have our toast of the month sweepstakes that you can enter over at go phtonx.com. Toast of the month sweepstakes is going to give you guys a gift card over there to four peaks. It's going to give you an annual membership to PHNX, go phtonx.com, as well as one of those t-shirts from the PHNX locker.com. So make sure to go over to the toast of the month's sweepstakes, enter at go phnx.com.

Last but not least, Jesse, we had an interesting story. I mean, you and I even debated whether this is really a story or not, but it comes out based on a tweet from Jeff Passon that both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Aeronato cannot fly to Toronto with the Cardinals due to not being vaccinated, as well as I think one of their pitchers as well. We'll miss this series against the Blue Jays. And honestly, this has kind of come up because especially Paul Goldschmidt being right now the favorite to win the NL MVP, Nolan Aronado being a guy that's obviously a very good baseball player. And, you know, this is one of those situations where I know we're still in a time with the vaccinations where some people feel like Canada's different, right?

You have to be vaccinated to go into Canada. Yeah, right. Obviously, that's their requirements. We are different here. but a lot of people still feel like, you know, these players being around each other and especially being so vital to their team should be vaccinated. It's a weird thing because obviously it's,

you know, it's their own choice and now it becomes very public knowledge that they are unvaccinated, obviously. And also it kind of begs the question like, I think, you know, you said it in the chat. It's a three game series, right? So it's really not the end of the world as far as it's concerned.

But I guess my question is, hypothetically, what happens if it's the Cardinals and the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series? I mean, I mean, I don't think that's going to happen, but theoretically, yeah, it's an interesting question. It could happen, right? And it's not out of the realm of possibility. And that's a very important series, right? Obviously missing two of your star players and one of your pitchers is a huge deal. And not to mention the fact that like, does that change things? for them, you know, like, oh, well, since we're going in the World Series, we need to go get

vaccinated, like, obviously, because we can't miss that or whatever. You know, I mean, like, where, where's the line exactly when it comes to this stuff? And again, I'm not, I'm not trying to drag it out, but it does, it's interesting because there was a very good explanation I felt like on Twitter from a Twitter user named Drew Comments at SJS 856. And if you feel like looking it up, go check out the clip. I think it's excellent. But he really breaks down. in it how athletes like sacrifice all of this stuff in their life right they get up at four in the morning to do strength and conditioning drills and to work out and watch tape on their opponent just to end up getting swept in the first round of the playoffs right so then it's like okay you didn't

you didn't achieve your goal right all that working out doesn't guarantee you a championship it only increases the probability of you winning just like getting vaccinated increases the probability of you not getting COVID and of it not being right right right So it's a great analogy, but the one thing I took away from it is like, it is weird to me that athletes that sacrifice so much to play their sport, draw the line there when their sport is already taking a toll on their lives and their bodies and their knees and everything else, like, but they draw the line at getting a vaccination, you know, it's, it's just a, it's a really weird situation.

And again, I, I feel bad for the scrutiny that Paul Goldschmidt is, you know, most likely going to come under now with this information. coming out. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's my big thing is that like, I mean, nobody is going to change Paul Goldschman's mind, right? Like nobody who's like throwing shade at him right now is going to is going to change his mind or anything. So in my mind like, the public pressure isn't going to make him go, you know what, you guys, you're right. I'm going to go. Yeah. Oh, you're right. Like if you'd said that earlier already and stuff, you know, right. Yeah. Yeah. Like nobody's going to change his mind by reacting negatively to this. And so I feel like,

you know, making stories out of this all really does. does is cause division. And we know this is the opposite of what Paul Goldschmidt wants. He said in a statement that, you know, it's unfortunate that, you know, what really should be a private sort of medical decision is made public. And, and yeah, I mean, I just think it's a matter of like, no matter what you feel, I mean, I was very happy to get vaccinated. But no matter how any of us feel, right, like it's not a normal thing for medical decisions to be made public. And so it's just it's just kind of unfortunate. I think that Goldie has to endure all of the scrutiny that at the end of the day is not

going to be helpful for anyone, right? Like it's just going to be a bunch of people bashing him, which I understand why, but it's not going to do any good at the end of the day. So especially for a guy like Goldie, who you know the last thing he wants is the spotlight. The last thing he wants is a bunch of people like, you know, giving him the business about his private life decisions. I just think it's an unfortunate situation. and making a big story out of it

just isn't really going to help anyone at the end of the day. It also doesn't help that he's continuing to be incredible. And he hit two home runs today. Right. He did. That's only going to increase the spotlight on him, which is only going to increase this scrutiny that we're talking about, this public scrutiny, right?

Yeah. The bigger story here, though, Jesse, it's not that to me. The bigger story is that on Wikipedia, it has Paul Goldschmidt's nicknames as Goldie and happy happy like that's one that's one nickname or that's that's two different nicknames. Like he has two nicknames. Goldie is one. Happy is another.

When the hell has Paul Goldschmidt ever been called happy Goldschmidt? Yeah, I don't know. Is this like an opposite thing? Is this like a when you call like a fat guy slim kind of thing? What is this? I don't. I mean, Goldie's not, he's not not happy. Is he? I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, I, like, see, happy Goldschmidt? What is the happy Goldschmidt? I don't know. It's a really lame nickname. It's a very lame nickname. I need the story behind it. Maybe we can get him on here to talk about it. Probably not, but, you know, who knows?

We'll put the invite out there for him. Paul Goldschmidt, you're publicly invited to join us on the show and explain the happy nickname because I need to know more information about it. I've not, this man was here forever. I never heard that one time. No. Maybe it's a newer thing that developed in St. Louis. I don't know.

I mean, there's also a lot of dangers about, you said this is from Wikipedia, right? I mean, do we, do we actually believe that like this is necessarily genuine if that's where you found it, Derek? I don't know. The front porch sports is out there. As long as front porch sports is out there, I don't believe anything is real, you know? Like, oh, that's not great. Anyway, well, we thank you guys so much for joining us in the, chat joining us live we appreciate it of course you can follow us on twitter i'm at cap underscore caveman

jesse is at jesse and friedman our show is at p h nx underscore dbacks but of course all roads lead to at p hnx underscore sports on twitter we're close we're close derrick we almost have 4,000 help us get there midnight i got this shirt right here i'm ready i'm ready to mail it out to one of you right here i'm wearing one i'm keeping this one but i'm mailing you this one and uh of course make sure to get us to 4K. I don't know. Make fake accounts and log into those and follow us. I don't have an answer for you on how you can get. We have like 50. We need 50 more followers. Call your dad that doesn't use Twitter and tell him to log in. Get there you know. Totri. I know Totri has like 12 burner accounts. It's how he wins. At least. At least. Tick draft points over on the ASU show. So Totry,

log in use some of your burner accounts and follow us because we need to get over the hump. We want to give this shirt out and we don't have a lot of time left. We have. about six hours on the clock. So make sure you guys get people to follow us. That's what we're going. We want to be in 4K. That's what we want to be in 4K. This low definition crap isn't good for us anymore.

But again, we thank you guys so much for joining us. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we always appreciate your time. And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's not always fun to Madison Bumgardener.