PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - PHNX D-backs Post Series: Rock Bottom

Episode Date: July 3, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing a heartbreaking loss for the D-backs in game three against the Rockies, how long the leash is for Dallas Keuchel, and how good Christian Walker and David Peralta have been at the plate.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, occasionally known as somebody that doesn't have much left to give. And I'm joined by the person that keeps me going. It's the one and only vice mayor of this program and this network, the one and only Thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Derek, you're your Arizona license. jersey pretty much made my day and and i think he's going to yes yes yes yeah well Colorado wants to do a license plate jersey i can do a license plate jersey too i'm just saying it it was pretty incredible your your photoshop skills are are really something Derek something to be

proud of thank you you know when i go silent on twitter you know that i'm up to no good basically is what's going on but of course uh this this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the draft king's sportsbook America's number one sportsbook app. Jesse, tough loss to the Colorado Rockies today. Seemed like the Arizona Diamondbacks had this one in the bag. Zach Gallen was dealing. The offense was rolling. David Peralta hit a big home run, Grand Slam home run that put them up early in the game. They just could not sustain the lead. Zach Gallen once again late in his outing kind of slipped up and gave up some runs and bullpen compounded it by giving up the lead. I guess my question before we get into the statistics of this game is first impression, is this the worst loss of the season?

Yeah, I mean, I feel like the fact that it happened at course field, you always have, like, you have to take games at course field with a grain of salt because, you know, this isn't like, this isn't like blowing a five nothing lead in San Diego or L.A. where, I mean, where you know, the ballpark is certainly. not the reason. I don't have any numbers to back this up, Derek, but honestly, both of the CJ Crone home runs, they both kind of felt like Corse Field home runs to me. Like, he did hit them hard, but there's a difference between, you know, how hard he hit those balls and how hard David Peralta hit his grand slam earlier in the game, which was, you know, a no doubter that was 452 feet and certainly would have been a home run in any ballpark. So, yeah, I think you have to take it with a grain of salt for that reason. The injury to Ian Kennedy, I think, also played a role in this one as well.

Noah Ramirez had to come out, you know, in the middle of a middle of it at bad. It was a three two count on the hitter. Really weird situation for him. So I don't know if it's the worst loss of the season, but, you know, I mean, it's up there for sure. You absolutely, you know, discuss a valid point, right? What happened with Ian Kennedy when the Diamondbacks looked like they were going to go into their game plan that they haven't been able to implement very much this season of Ian Kennedy getting the eighth, Mark Melanson getting the ninth and closing the game out.

We don't know what would have happened, obviously, but at the same time, we do see that the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen once again wasn't able to close the door. I'm not going to, like you said, I'm not going to harp on Noi Ramirez too much on this one. It just, yeah, it was unfortunate. And, you know, Nori Ramirez, honestly, probably wasn't the best guy for that scenario based on who he was facing. But at the same time, he was the only guy that had already been up and stretching in the bullpen prior to that, which is the reason I believe LeVolo went with him.

Yeah, no way, it's been a rough go for him lately. I mean, he had an 8.18 ERA in the month of June, and this was his first outing in July, and, you know, to give up three runs without getting it out. It's been a really rough go for him lately. I thought Joe Manipli did a great job out of the bullpen, as we're used to seeing. The man still has one walk over 30 innings pitched. He has the lowest walk rate in baseball. So he continues.

to cruise along, but yeah, it's been a rough go for Noe lately. I don't know why this was funny, but Josh Rojas's ninth inning double had an expected batting average of 0.150, Jesse. Really? Yeah, for that. Really? That's probably for me, I haven't been paying attention to the baseball savant stuff much this season, but that's probably the lowest expected batting average I've seen for a

ball that actually went in for a hit like that. know, so those, those metrics are interesting to me. Another interesting metric is the Diamondbacks once again lose on Sunday. They dropped a four and nine on Sundays this year after actually having some luck. They won three in a row there. So it seemed like the whole Sunday thing might have been broken, but the Diamondbacks kicked July off with a loss. I think that, again, the reason why this loss seems so devastating or disappointed to me is

because it's against a team that, you know, honestly, the Diamondbacks have a good chance to beat. They had a pretty significant league. Like you said, though, it's coarse field, so you can't really predict what's going to happen there. It's just getting to the point now with the Diamondbacks that they find new and fascinating ways to lose baseball games, whether they're down early, whether they're up early. It kind of, it's disappointing and disheartening. because it feels a bit like last season when they went through the stretch of not being able to win in any capacity, even when they were, you know, had things going in their favor.

Yeah, I mean, with this loss, the Diamondbacks are now tied with the Rockies in the basement of the NOS. They're both 35 and 44 at this point. So, yeah, and I think Dennis, the comment that Dennis just made in the chat is there's some truth to that. I mean, the Diamondbacks don't have a whole lot of. of a whole lot of talent in order to, you know, in order to weather these types of storms. And it's not to say they don't have some talented players on the roster, but I think we all know at this point in the season, it's not the level of talent that they need in order to be a true contender. And, and, you know, they're still in this process of trying to build in that

direction and recover from what happened last season and continue moving forward. I guess when I take a look at this team, one thing that we've talked about is how they have to kind of play perfect to win, right? To be successful, they, they, they have to play a perfect game. And this one felt not perfect, but like they were, they were, they were playing the game well, right? And because of that, they had the lead even with Zach Gallen giving up the three runs before he exited, right? But then the minute that something went wrong for them, right? That's when the wheels fell off. And it's, again, it just goes to show that they, they can't even afford to have something like a pitcher need to leave early due to injury without having it have a huge impact

on them going forward. You know, that inning obviously fell apart for Noe Ramirez. Baseball's rule of having to face three batters means that you can't, you know, have a guy go out there and at least pitch to one batter while someone else is warming up and then get them out there for the following batter. They had to have Noe stay out there for three. And the results were what they were. The Diamondbacks even mounted a pretty decent comeback there in the bottom of the inning to make things at least exciting. And, you know, again, the offense in this game and in the series wasn't necessarily the culprit, right? We had the Diamondbacks win the first game and offense was huge for the team in the first game, right? But again, the pitching in this series

didn't really keep them in the games. And to be honest, they needed all of that offense to win, especially in game one and in every game, this series. Yeah, I mean, you're going to need a lot of offense to win at course field, right? I mean, that's just sort of the nature of the beast. Every time the Diamondbacks play a series at Cors, Derek, maybe you feel the same way. I find myself just sort of relieved at the end of the series, whether it was good, whether it was bad. It's just course field is just a place of goofy baseball games. You just never know what's going to happen in games at Coresfield, a five-run lead.

as we saw in this one doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot in that stadium. And so there's this sense of relief of, you know, going back to a place like Chase Field, which we're going to talk about later in the show, has actually been a pitcher-friendly ballpark this season, where things are more normal, right? Those kinds of leads are not as fickle. And the sport that we know and love is a little bit more normal,

where, you know, when you have a three, four, five-run lead, you feel a little bit more comfortable at course, field, it just feels like you never know what's going to happen. And the Diamondbacks certainly got a taste of that in this series. In the first game, the Diamondbacks were up at one point, I believe in the seventh inning, up six to one. And I still didn't feel comfortable with that size lead. Yeah, especially early in a game.

Like early in a game, I mean, it might as well. I think Chris Gargiola said it on the broadcast yesterday at, you know, four or five run lead early in the game. It might as well be a tie game almost in a stadium like that. I hate how right he is, but that's absolutely the truth. We did see some big bombs in this game. We'll talk about Christian Walker and David Peralton, what they were able to do offensively in this series.

But unfortunately, the bullpen really was what let the team down. And honestly, it's not even that horrible if we take a look at the numbers for this series. The Diamondbacks dropped two to one. Well, I guess I'm wrong about that. Relief pen, ERA. 10.29. It definitely wasn't the starting pitchers in this one, Jesse. Yeah, I mean, the starting pitching ERA was five, so that's not particularly great either. But, yeah, both teams, especially the Rockies with runners in scoring position, Derek.

I mean, a 571 team batting. I know it's scored field, but my gosh, yeah. The Rockies were literally, were six for seven with runners in scoring position. I believe that was in the game yesterday. So, yeah, it was an insane series of offense, especially in some of those big moments. Unfortunately, Dalton Varsho up there in a big spot at the end of the game today and was unable to get it done. But, yeah, it was not a series of pitching, Derek.

Those are some high ERAs all the way around. The Rockies bullpen was probably a little bit more steady. Daniel Bard is, you know, out here throwing 99, 100-mile-hour sinkers. And I don't care what ballpark you're in. that's going to be pretty hard to hit. So, yeah, it's a tough one for the Diamondbacks. I mean, like we talked about entering this series and one of our shows last week, this is your chance to, you know, really cement yourselves as being better than at least

the Colorado Rockies in the division. And unfortunately, after that big game on Friday, 9 to 3, you get all sorts of momentum. And of course, of course, this was bound to happen, Derek. The baseball gods were never going to let Zach Allen win his fifth game of this We know they're very, very against that ever happening. So we'll have to see moving forward if eventually Zach Allen is able to get over the hump and get his fifth win. I just hate it so much. Why can't he win five games, Jesse?

It's five games. It's not even that many games. We're not asking a big game winner. I just, it's so frustrating. Like, chalk this up to more reasons for Zach Gallen to leave Arizona when his contracts up because, Jesus. I couldn't win with, you know, the ways that gallon pitches, I believe, too. Like, this is crazy. You know, speaking of that, the Diamondbacks don't have much time to decide on what they are and what they're going to be at the trade deadline.

We're less than 30 days away. Mike Hazen was quoted as saying this team is going to dictate how we're kind of looking at things. Well, I don't know what you could be thinking after watching today's loss. Yeah. It's not to say that the Diamondbacks aren't. aren't there. They're not, they're, they're close, right? They're close to being, uh, you know, a competitive team, but it's like today's games like today. I don't know. I can't like I keep saying that, but I mean, today really was just a spot of tough luck for this team. It just seems like

we say that quite a bit at times about this team. And more than anything, we said it way too many times last year. So that's the thing that when we start getting into a grouping of games like this where you're just like, things just aren't following in the right direction for them. That was two straight months of baseball for them in 2021. So hopefully the Diamondbacks will, you know, they know, hopefully they know what they already are and what they're going to do at the trade deadline. I don't feel like anything they could do between now and then is going to change much for this team. But Jesse, you would know more because you wrote a piece recently. for go p hnx.com actually that dropped today about this exact subject yeah i yeah it's it's our

our trade deadline primer i wrote a lot of words i think it's like 2 000 words or something ridiculous like that it's far it's far too many words so if you can only get through half of it uh that's that's fine there's a lot of pictures though i tried to make it as as easy on the eyes as possible that's that's damn decent of you yes yes midway through have some lunch and then go back at it for the second half. Find a picture you like to stop at, and then you can hit up the second half of the article. Yeah, yeah. But there, I mean, there's a lot of information in there that I hope people find helpful about, I give a list of which Diamondbacks players are most likely to get dealt. There are some names that I think we can be pretty confident about. And then beyond that,

there's also some discussion about the Diamondbacks roster log jam. That's a big topic in there as well. The Diamondbacks have a number of minor leaguers who are on the the brink of making the major league roster. We've talked about this a lot. There's a lot of exciting prospects, especially on the pitching side, who are almost to the majors. But the tricky part, Derek, is the diamond packs are going to need a room on the 40-man roster and on the active roster in order to fit all those guys. And it's not abundantly clear right now where all that room is going to come from.

So that might mean the diamond backs are fairly active at the trade deadline in order to kind to try to consolidate some of that talent maybe or find some sort of a way to open up the space that they need. The only concern is that there's still a second half of the season to play at that point, not second half, but two more months of baseball to play, right? So the big question there is, is do the diamondbacks leave themselves in a position to be shallow, you know, in order to trade some of those pieces that they have that currently start on the field for them are in the starting lineup away for prospects potentially and just lose that depth right now that they have. Pavan Smith was sent down to Reno this week, which were kind of not a surprising

move, but a surprising move when it took place, right? Pave and Smith had been struggling there for a while, just having a problem not only at the plate, but at times finding at bats, especially with Cotel Marte kind of their being their designated hitter for the time being until he gets back on the field. right so I definitely understood that there's a lack of that bats for Pavin but he you know it seemed like he was finally getting back in a groove had a four hit game and you know even with all of his struggles this season this is when the team opted to send him down I don't think he's going to be down for long but like you said there is kind of a log jam for them and at this point it's really about needing you know some some other other bats and needing some other you know guys that

that can, you know, maybe switch hit or hit from the other side of the plate, just things like that that this team currently doesn't have because they're very, they're very one-dimensional in a lot of ways, including hitting. Yeah. Yeah. And I think a lot of people were surprised, too, that Cooper Hummel was the guy who got the call up rather than Jake McCarthy. Jake McCarthy has been just raking in Reno since he was sent down a few weeks ago.

So I think he'll probably be back at some point, but it's sort of like you're saying, Derek, that diamondbacks have a lot of left-handed hitters. They have a lot of left-handed hitters and a lot of left-handed hitting outfielders in particular. And so there just wasn't enough opportunity for Pavin Smith. And I think the reason they didn't call up Jake McCarthy is there probably wouldn't be opportunity for him either. So, you know, you'd rather have those guys getting every day at bats for the time being.

And maybe this trade deadline, the diamondbacks make a move or two, that opens the door for those guys to come back up and get some more opportunity. Bob Brenley brought it up on the broadcast today about, you know, guys needing to get more at bats. Cooper Hummel was a guy that they sent down just so that he could continue to get those at bats and not ride the pine. Yeah. The entire sending up and calling people down, it gets complicated, it gets frustrating at times, but there really is a method to the madness. And the purpose really is to make sure that these guys who aren't going to be starting every day don't just sit there and do nothing. It's the same thought process why Mark Malanson will come into a 9-3 ball.

game or 9-2 ball game and pitch the ninth or whatever right it's to get him work and so that he's not sitting there for you know a week plus without getting some actual game playing time in and uh you know getting some reps just doesn't always go mark milanson's way when he does that anyway with that with that being said make sure to just check out jesse's piece on go p hnx dot com on the two thousand twenty two two diamondbacks trade deadline primer if you're not a member of go p hnx dot com you can sign up to become a member If you get the month-to-month option, you'll get your first month for just 50 cents. You'll also get access to our members-only Discord. That's an absolute blast to be in during Diamondbacks games, win or lose.

It's where we go to cry. It's where we go to hug each other. It's where we go to cheer and send gifts and have Josh Hunt make us amazing pictures and gifts. But, of course, not only do you get that access to the Discord, you get members-only discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. If you sign up for an annual membership, you'll get all that stuff and a free t-shirt from the PHNX Locker. com save yourself some money stick around become part of the phoenix family that's what we want you to do join us we're going to be at four peaks brewery out on eighth street again for uh for the coyote's draft party we're going to be having all sorts of fun so make sure to join the family uh keep up

with us and make sure to uh you know enjoy the content that jesse's putting out there because he writes 2,000 words and somebody somebody has to read it of course um hopefully hopefully I'm not ready. Yeah, no, everybody knows Derek's never going to read 2,000 words. 2,000 words. Condense it down to me in a 300 word, cliff note, please. Anyway, also, speaking of 4Peaks Brewery,

go out, check out our friends at 4Peaks Brewing Company. They are amazing, they are incredible. They have a number of locations that you can go try their food and their beers at, not to mention the fact that if you can't make it out to join us for the Coyote's draft party, you can grab yourself some Four Peaks from your local convenience store,

your local gas station, your local liquor store, wherever you get your booze at, make sure to grab some Four Peaks. They have a wonderful variety of flavors. I'm sure a beer that you'll love under their entire umbrella of delicious ales and porters and IPAs. I'm telling you, I'm going to get Craig Morgan to enjoy an IPA. He might not know it. I might have to get him, like, put some O. Gs in it or something just to fool him, but he's going to enjoy an IPA, Jesse. Mark my words, that's my goal. And of course, You can too if you're a man of taste and class because IPAs are incredible. Check out Four Peaks brewing everything they have to offer.

Of course, again, join our P. HNX Coyote's crew for their draft day live party on July 7th at 4 p.m. At Four Peaks 8th Street Pub. Must be 21 or older to enjoy Four Peaks. You can go to the pub and eat and bring the family, everything like that, but must be 21 or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. Of course, we always want you to do that, especially this weekend. It is a dangerous weekend out there. It's a fun weekend, right? July 4th, we hope you guys are having a blast.

We hope everybody is grilling some broths or some burgers. I was invited, Jesse, to a 4th of July party where I was informed. We weren't allowed to set off fireworks and we weren't going to be grilling. And I said to that is, I decline your invite, sir. That's what I said or have me come to a 4th of July without fireworks. I don't I don't care what Saul says. Saul specifically told us not to blow our hands off like JPP. I don't care.

I'm out there. I'm lighting stuff on fire. I'm holding it my hand way long, Jesse. It's what Fourth of July is about for me. Of course, it's about this country, which at times is a wonderful place. And at other times, especially lately, can also be a terrible place. But we hope you guys are enjoying and celebrating this country that affords us all of these wonderful freedoms that we have. and look forward to, you know, of course, grilling and being in a pool very soon because that's in my future, personally.

But who deserves to be in a pool? Maybe, Jesse, maybe someone that's not going to be around much longer to party. Dallas Keikl. Dallas Keiko had a pretty rough start in his second start for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Five innings, pitch, six hits, seven runs, six earn runs, three walks, three strikeouts. So the question, I guess, to you, Jesse, is how long is the leash for Dallas Keikle, especially considering this team and their needs right now? Yeah, I think that's a big part of the question, right? I mean, the Diamondbacks just had Zach Davies go down with an injury, and we're now just two days away.

I think it's going to be Tuesday where the Diamondbacks have to make a choice about, you know, how they're going to replace Zach Davies for the moment until he's ready to go again. They might use an opener. They could call somebody up from the minor leagues. We'll have to see what they want to do there. But, yeah, it's going to be tricky for the Diamondbacks not to have a long leash on Dallas Kichel. Just by virtue of the fact they don't have, they don't have many options. And I think this has been a trend for this organization recently is, you know, once you get down a starting pitcher or two, where exactly do you go?

That was a huge issue for the team last year. And granted, they had four guys down at once rather than just two like they have right now. But it's going to be tricky for them. Is it Corbyn Martin? Is it, you know, Tommy Henry? He's throwing the ball really well in Reno right now. There are some different directions that they can turn, but it's not super clear at this point. My guess is they will give Dallas Keikl another go at this, just given how much experience he has in this league.

It sounds like he and Brent Strom have been working on some things. The Diamondbacks might have some patience there trying to get him back to his old self. He was a pretty good pitcher not that long ago, just a couple years ago. Dallas Kikekla had a really good season. So, yeah, or it could be Josh Hunt doing a pitching audition and maybe he's the one who gets in the mix pretty soon. Absolutely not. No, not, no. Josh Hunt has too many irons and too many fires, all right?

he's already he's already becoming part of pH and X. Okay, I need. Yeah, we need him in the Discord. Graphics and gifts and Discord activities. Oh, yeah. I can't have him pitching every five days. That's not going to work for my schedule. So I don't know what he's talking about.

But honestly, now I want to see Josh Hunt's arm. Like, that's now, I mean, I'm curious. So that's what I feel like. I have to jump in on this one. Yeah, that's a strong feeling that Josh, he hits like a monster. I feel like frozen has. like a monster. You think so. I think you're giving them too much credit. I don't know. Have you seen any?

Photoshop skills do not cross over to the field. Adobe Premiere skills do not carry into the batters box, Emma. What are you saying about my? What do you, then what? I'm not suggesting anything. You're a miracle and you could do anything you want. So I'm not, I'm not going to question Emma. Emma gets me graphics in like 12 seconds. And, you know, I don't even think she's human, but that's a whole other thing. I think you're a witch or something, but that would put you and Josh Hunt together, which is why you're here defending them. Witches stay together.

They turn witches when they become 16. I remember that from hocus pocus. And that's what we're dealing with. There's a bunch of witches around here because they're too good with the graphics and everything we need. I will say this, Jesse. I don't think that the Diamondbacks really are in a position to be choosers, right? This is a beggar or a chooser position, and the Diamondbacks are more beggars than choosers right now, especially when it comes to starting pitching.

You said they have two starting pitchers down. One of them is Humberto Castiano's, who is not even really a starting pitcher, to be fair. I'm not knocking him. I'm not saying that he has not given the Diamondbacks some quality starts. You and I were big fans of the dual Humberto lineup that we had going on last season at times because these guys did step up and give the Diamondbacks some solid outings when no one else in the bullpen or in the starting rotation could.

But, yeah, the Diamondbacks, I mean, it's not. just Zach Davies, they're really looking to, you know, interim replace for right now. They're still looking for that fifth starter spot. So it's not like to say that Dallas Keikl is just kind of a band-aid for the time being. I agree with what you're saying. I think they still really want to see what he has to offer because they're still heavily considering him in the future to be the back-end rotation guy for this, for starting rotation. And if he can, if he can give them some solid endings, even if he can't go very long, it's a big win.

We just honestly, we really haven't seen that out of Kichel. He did have some really nice swings and misses in his first start, but this second start wasn't very strong. He didn't seem to be before anyone. Even when he was going to get out of the inning, there was a really bad Christian Walker error that allowed all those to score, which compounded it. I mean, he really wasn't as bad as the line, you know, line was.

So I definitely think he does have a starter two left in him before the Diamondbacks decide to potentially. change directions. But like you said, they're still looking for that, you know, those spots, those pitchers to to relieve essentially or to make up for that they don't have in their starting rotation right now. Yeah, I think he's a, you know, I think he's giving up nine runs and nine in a third inning so far if you just combine his line from those two starts, which is not particularly inspiring. But yeah, I think in both starts, there's a case to be made that the numbers probably look a little bit worse than what the pitching line, how the pitching line looks.

I think you're right that Christian Walker air in the game yesterday was certainly a big, a big turning point that one. So, you know, maybe if that doesn't happen, Kichel is able to get out of that inning and his outing looks a lot better from there. But yeah, I mean, the debacks are going to need some, someone to step up there in the back end. Because right now you sort of get the sense that, you know, when it's Merrill Kelly, Zach Allen, Madison Bumgarner, they've all been. reasonably consistent. They're giving you a chance to win every time. But those other two games out of every five are looking pretty dicey right now with with Kichel and then, you know,

whoever the Diamondbacks decide to go with on Tuesday will have to see. Well, after this loss, Jesse, I need to re-up my OGs because I need to get over this emotionally and physically, and OGs is the perfect way to do so. Of course, we talk about their limited additional seasonal, addition seasonal flavor pinia colada, not to mention all of their other wonderful flavors that they have to offer, orange cream sickle, blackberry cream, blackberry and cream, like a fruit punch variety. They have all sorts of great flavors. The biggest thing to remember about OGs is not only do they get the doses right, but they get the flavors right.

A lot of times your edibles are not going to be very tasty, very enjoyable. You'll scarf them down to get, you know, to get to where you need to go, right? But, you know, of course, we want to enjoy that flavor, especially from our gummies and OG's brands focuses on that. They also have a variety of doses to offer you. They have a three milligram microdose and a 10 milligram regular dose, not to mention the fact that they also have indicas and setivas available for your whatever you want to do, whether you want to get over a loss, but you have a nice Fourth of July party to go to you. You need that, you need to keep that excitement level high with a setiva, or if your day is over after this Diamondbacks loss, you just want to take a nap on the couch, Indica for you. Whatever you're looking for, check out OGs online at OGsbrands.com. And on Instagram at OGs brands, that's OGEZ brands.com to find OGs near you.

You can find their products at your local dispensary. It must be 21 years or older to purchase. And Jesse, you brought up, of course, playing at Coors Field and what we should and shouldn't expect, from the offense there shouldn't get too excited about the offense but we did see some nice the offense breaking out nicely and it made it made me think chase used to be coresfield light right or court wait yeah yeah it was like like the like the little brother or something i don't know yeah like little bit cores light field cores light field i think that's better right there you go there you go there you go major haven for offense and now not so much uh you could attribute

most of it, I guess, to the humidor. I don't really know what changed. None of the physical attributes of Chase Field changed. The only thing that changed is the turf, from grass to turf, and the humidor, right? So I don't know. Do you miss playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark like Coors Field is where you have, can't really predict what's going to happen? You get a lot of double-digit scores and such, or is what Chase Field has become more of your speed?

I remember there was a time when there was some concern about Chase Field being such a hitter-friendly ballpark that, you know, when the Diamondbacks had brought in Zach Granky and Shelby Miller, that maybe the fact that the stadium was the way it was was just really messing with them even more so than, you know, you would expect. And so there was a storyline there for a while that Chase Field was just excessively hitter-friendly. and a pretty difficult place for a pitcher who's not used to pitching there to come over and have success on the diamondbacks. But it's crazy, Derek. I mean, it sort of depends on which metric you look at and what year you're looking at. These sorts of things fluctuate. This season, Chasefield grades out as one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in the game. ESPN has a park factor metric, and according to that, only Petco Park has been more pitcher-friendly than Chasefield.

this season, which is remarkable. Yeah. But I don't think that's actually true. If you look at data from like the last few years together combined, Chase Field is more somewhere in the middle, which I think is probably more accurate. But the point is it's certainly not the hitters haven that it was just a few years ago. And I personally, just as someone who watches a lot of Diamondbacks games,

I don't really miss that part of Chase Field. I think it's a little bit nicer to have. a more balanced, a more balanced environment for hitting and pitching and, you know, just where you feel like pitchers can succeed and hitters can succeed and the stadium isn't really playing a big role in anything. I don't know. The thing is I would hate you just, it's too easy like with Coors Field to blame it on the stadium and blame it on the factors, right? The thing about Coors is it's not just the thin air in Colorado, right? That's also, it's also a massive park. So it just allows for a lot of

territory for the ball to drop in and for defenders not to be able to get to stuff. It's hitter friendly for all sorts of reasons and not just because you can blast it out of the park easily in Colorado, right? But I'm with you. I kind of like things being a bit normalized and out of control rather than, you know, unpredictable and crazy. I still think of the one time where I was on the field and I heard Mike Hazen on a phone call that I have no idea what was going on on the other side of that call where he said,

Well, the opposing team doesn't seem to have a problem hitting the ball out of here. And that was after we implemented the humidor. So I know that the humidor played a role definitely a big factor in it. But now every ballpark has a humidor. And they're trying to temperature control the balls much more. They're trying to just have it be more of an even playing field from ballpark to ballpark. Luckily, though, it did not stop Christian Walker and David Peralta in this series. Both of them tore it up.

Christian Walker had his fourth two home run game at Cores Field in game two. He was hitting 342 with a 1.198 OPS with in his last 10 road games. So four home runs, 10 RBI. Actually, make that, I believe, yeah, four home runs now. His 21 homers this season, because he had two in game two, are most spying Arizona Diamondback through the first 78 games of a season since Mark Reynolds in 2009. I was going to say Mark, Mark Reynolds would definitely be the guy. He's currently third in the National League and home runs behind Kyle Schwabber and Pete Alonzo.

So I guess the point I'm making is Christian Walker for the home run derby. Now, now. Oh, don't even get me started on the moist balls. That's all. I'm still working on that story. Things have actually normalized, though, a bit in baseball, which is interesting as we've moved into the, into the middle of the season. and offenses aren't as bad as they were to start the season. So, but again, Christian Walker for the home run derby, David Peralta,

really increasing his trade value, if you think that he's going to be a valuable trade piece, potentially for this game. He had another outstanding series for the Diamondbacks. He homered in game one in the win. He homered today. He has a 400 batting average in the series, and he is also our draft king's king.

the series with his 400 batting average six RBI three runs and two homers this is even made more impressive by the fact that he did not start in game two uh he only had a pinch hit at bad so david that really really producing in two games for this team uh more than more than anyone really on the lineup in the lineup at this point yeah i'll go ahead and spoil that on my uh trade deadline primer david peralta's name is is prominent uh among trade candidates it's for the Diamondbacks, which I think it is quite likely to happen. But it's also, I could see it being a little bit sad for Diamondbacks fans, just what David Peralta has meant to this organization,

the brand that he's built as the freight train. And I think he's... I love to send that picture out. It gives everybody nightmares. The train with him on front. Not to mention, he just passed Justin Upton with his home run today for sixth on the DeBack's all-time home runs list with his second home run. run of this series. So he has been here a while. He's been a staple of this team. And he's right up

there. Like I think he's right behind Mark Reynolds on the all-time home run list. Louis Gonzalez is up there at number one, Paul Goldschmidt, number two, Steve Finley at number three, Chris Young at four, and then Mark Reynolds at five. So some elite diamondbacks he's in company with when it comes to the all-time list. Yeah, I mean, he's been here since 2014. And he's been generally a pretty steady presence in the diamondbacks lineup. He's had, you know, injury issues every now and then. But, you know, he won a Silver Slugger back in 2018. He's won Gold Glob Awards here in Arizona, too.

So, yeah, I think it's pretty likely that he's not a diamond back anymore in about a month. But, yeah, and Elizabeth, I think you're definitely not alone in that. Elizabeth says Peralta is my favorite diamond back. If he goes, I'll be so bummed. And I think there's a lot of people who share that sentiment just based on what he's meant to this franchise and the fact that he's a he's a good player um and this season he's he's made some strides he's he's like you know gone from being an extreme ground ball hitter to now he he hits fewer ground balls than the average hitter which is a really dramatic dramatic change for him so

improved it by over 20% i believe from last week this season yeah and for some guys you know it's not like a universal thing that fewer ground balls is is better it kind of depends on hitting profile. But for David Peralta, that's always been a limiting factor for him is he hits the ball hard, but he tends to hit the ball on the ground a lot. And this year, he's sacrificed a little bit of the contact side of his game. The batting average is maybe a little lower than what we've seen in the past. But, you know, there's a reason that he has 11 home runs, I believe it is at this point. And he's on pace, you know, to hit more than 20 for for the second time in his career. And it's in large part because he's starting to get the ball up in the air more.

Jesse, by the way, have you downloaded the Draft King Sportsbook app yet? I have. I have. Yes. Want to make sure because, you know, of course, my advice lately has just been bet on the Yankees. I don't know. I don't care. Yeah.

Live in-game betting beforehand, single game parlays, multiple game parlays. It doesn't matter. The Yankees need to be involved in your parleyes because this team, I don't know what's up with them. but at times they seem like they can't be stopped. And for the most part, lately, they seem to be the only team I can win money on. So that's just my own personal perspective on it. But of course, you can download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use our promo code of PHNX, make your first deposit, Jesse, and get a risk-free bet up to $1,000.

That's a risk-free bet up to $1,000. So then I suggest go put $1,000 on something. And that seems to be the only logical solution there. But that's promo code PHNX only at the Drafking Sportsbook for new customers. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. And yeah, I don't know if that's, I don't know if what the Yankees are doing. Now I'm sure just to make me look bad, they probably lost today.

But I think they did. Yeah. Yeah. Because that's that's the way that this gambling has gone for me at times, Jesse. But I still do it for fun. I have a good time doing it. And I'll tell you guys, one thing I really like to do lately is just put a 10, 11, 11, 12 leg parlay, something crazy. And, you know, put it, put it for 10 cents.

Put it for 50 cents. Put it for a dollar. The options are unlimited at draft king sportsbook with how little or much you can bet. And you can bet just for fun. And you know what? If you add enough legs, it can still be a huge payday over at the draft king sports book. That's my advice. but how many legs would you need to have in order to like you bet a dollar and get like a hundred if you win you be surprised if you go in there and do like a full day's game full MLB days game worth of games and did uh you know just pick in the money line on them you would probably be surprised about the value you get for your bet you could probably get somewhere around like plus two thousand you know which on a dollar bet could net you two hundred dollars if you win all of the bet all of those.

So like, is the likely, is it likely that you're going to hit all of them? No. Is it 10 out of 14 and just lose the last one of the day? Yeah, probably. But still, you can bet a dollar and just have some fun. So however you want to use it, that's the best part about the draft king sports book. It's however you want to use it. And you guys can have yourselves an enjoyable afternoon, maybe make some money,

pay for like, I'm trying to make some money pay for my Disneyland vacation coming up, but you do what you need to do. we got to look speaking coming up of the Arizona Diamondback schedule and what they have on tap because again, this was one of those series where we were hoping the Diamondback could maybe sneak away with two out of three, get off on the right foot before they continue down this path of a very tough schedule against the NL West. They do get the Rockies again next weekend, but in between now and then they have the San Francisco Giants who have been playing some good baseball and again aren't an easy team to get past. not to mention the fact that these games are very critical for all the teams in the NOS,

considering that none of them have really played each other much. Like this stretch is where a lot of the NL West are playing each other, including the Rockies and us. So yeah, yeah, it's an important stretch for everybody, I think, in the NOS leading into the All-Star break, leading into that trade deadline coming up on August 2nd, which is less than a month away, that could be very important. This stretch could be very important for the direction that all of these teams in the NOS go, you know, once the dust settles after this next month. The Giants have lost seven of their last 10 games.

They've lost three in a row. So the Diamondbacks, you know, maybe you make a case. They're catching them at the right time. It's not about who you play, but when you play them. When you play them, there you go. There you go. I'm curious, Derek, do you think are people depressed? Are you depressed that there's no fireworks at Chase Field tomorrow that they move the game earlier?

I am a little bummed out by that, especially watching what the Rock Rockies had going on where they had their fans come out onto the field. Yeah. On the field. And they had fireworks that were utterly illegal happening during the game. Yeah, well, that's a whole other thing. Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, I do miss it a bit.

I am a bummed down. I'm bummed out that the reason why it's happening is because of the issues with the roof. Right. Seeing the people go down the field and watch the fireworks from the field makes me jealous that we did that. Yeah. The back don't do that. And that's surprising to me because that's real grass in Colorado. And we have turf.

So yeah. Why we can't let people go walk out and watch the gate and watch the fireworks. I believe they do that at Dodger Stadium too. I've seen fireworks at Dodgers Stadium where they had everyone on the field. So yeah, I'm just jealous. Yeah. I'm just jealous. I'm going to watch some fireworks.

I'm going to light off some fireworks right now. But of course, you know, we talked about the NOS. We don't care about the NOS. We only care about the division that matters around here. And that's the all city division. which now the Arizona Diamondbacks are tied with the Rockies and just edging them out with a little bit better of a all-city record. The White Sox, I think they were going to go on to win. And I know last time I checked the Cubs were in an extra innings battle.

So those records might be impacted differently now that those games have ended. But Diamondbacks let the Rockies creep back in. We are tied. And again, this is for bragging rights. So we got to keep of any division we got to keep out of the seller of. it's this division because, you know, we have all city meetups. And Jesse and I can't go in there and be the, like, do it for us, right? Don't, don't embarrass us is what I'm saying.

Do it. Do it for Jesse and Derek, if you're going to do it for anybody, you know, we're the guys out here in the trenches. We got your back. We're the ones reping you all the time. You know, I proved to everybody that we made a good decision by not using our license plate in our city connect jersey. Throw that back up there again.

Let's look at this monstrosity. I mean, come on. The only thing this thing's missing, Jesse, more cacti. This needs more, more cacti, maybe a cacti patch. I don't know. I think the Arizona, the Arizona font looks like it's from like the early 2000s or something. Yeah. That's great.

Isn't that great? That's, yeah, that's right off our license plate. That's right off our license plate. There you go. Hey, whatever, man. We thank you guys so much for joining us. We hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July. we will try to get these jerseys printed up so you guys can buy them over at the

PHNX locker we know you guys want one so maybe we'll get like custom made jesse and derrick Arizona plate jerseys made I don't know we'll figure something out but Chris says she's been on the field at chase for and I do know it's something they've done like like the kids running the bases and everything else I know they do yoga on the field they've done they just did the on father's day the fathers and sons catching I believe so it's not to say it doesn't happen. I just don't see them actually do it lately. And I don't know if it's because of the artificial turf. I've seen them replace divvits of that stuff before. And it's definitely not like anything I've ever seen before. It's like it's like loose and malleable, Jesse. It's not like a square of like turf that

they cut out a square and put like a square in. It's like they can literally fill in a little hole with some of that turf stuff. So yeah, I mean, I hope that they get back to that because I would love to see us as fans back on the field watching fireworks. We thank you. you guys for being fans. We hope you guys enjoy the fireworks wherever you're going to watch them at this 4th of July. Be safe. Joy, everything responsibly

and make sure that you guys are most importantly having a good time this 4th of July. On behalf of Jesse myself, we appreciate you guys joining us. You can find us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at Ph.NX underscore D-Backs. But of course,

all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you're watching us right now on the PHNX Sports YouTube channel, make sure to subscribe and sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of us go live. Also, if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there. Leave us a five-star review. That way, we know how much you love us. We feel the love. We appreciate it. And we keep doing this because at times games like today, Jesse was close to doing this show by myself. I was just going to sit in a corner and cry a lot. But I rebounded nicely. I just cried for five minutes.

and then we got the show going. So we again, thank you guys for joining us in the chat. We appreciate you spending your holiday weekend with us. We know you guys have better things to do than be here with us. So we are honored that you all were here chatting with us. On behalf of Jesse and myself, again, we really thank you for your time. Have a wonderful 4th of July and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you go to parties with fireworks and brats.