PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - POSTGAME: Brandon Pfaadt DEALS, Geraldo Perdomo DELIVERS in Diamondbacks CRUCIAL WIN Over Cardinals

Episode Date: July 19, 2025

📬 Arizona sports in your inbox! https://gophnx.com/newsletterThe Diamondbacks are in must-win territory for almost every game between now and the end of July, and Brandon Pfaadt got them started on the right track with a victory over the Cardinals on Friday. Geraldo Perdomo delivered with runners in scoring position yet again, Pfaadt was efficient, and Adrian Del Castillo made a big splash in his first game in the bigs this season. Derek and Damon are joined in studio by Dalton Feely from Jomboy Media to give his thoughts on the state of the Snakes and his first night back in the Valley.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Phoenix Raceway: Tickets, hospitality and upgrades are still available for the NASCAR Championship Series October 31st through November 2nd! Visit the link HERE to get yours now!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxAll Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate!When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, the second half of the season is here and the Arizona Diamondbacks are undefeated. Dalton, if you don't mind, we're lighting up the cactus light. We got more on the Diamondbacks big win tonight over the St. Louis Cardinals. We got our guy, Dalton Feely, from John Boy here in studio, to talk about all of his feelings on the Diamondbacks being the subject of trade deadline talk. We're doing this all in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere. Another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Terrik Montaia, occasionally known as your mayor of this joint. Back from my vacation.

and thrilled to be talking about baseball. Of course, this show is brought to you by our friends at Best 365 in Game Time. We'll use our code of PHNX 365 when you sign up over there, get yourself $150 in bonus best to follow in a few easy steps. And over at game time, get yourself some tickets to any event that you want to go to, especially those last minute events, and use our code of PHNX to save $20 off your first order. We are live in studio.

When I say we, I got my guy, Dalton Feely here, bringing the good vibes back to Arizona in person. We got Damon Dog on the ones and twos, and we are here talking about a thrilling Diamondbacks win here in purple. They did it. They finally won in their Serpientis jerseys, which doesn't seem to happen often around here. Diamondbacks win this one by a score of 7 to 3. And Dalton, I know things aren't great. I know that we are in a must-win kind of scenario for the Diamondbacks.

Not to say every game is a must-win, but especially over this 12-game stretch leading into the end of July. It feels like they have to win a lot of these games And at least they get things started off on the right foot It's a daunting task We do not want the dying backs to sell We would love to see them have their aspirations And get into the playoffs for 2025 But that said, good way to start the second half of the year

Brandon Fought comes out and shoves they win in their new city connects to purple Which I have to grab myself one of these I got the throwbacks on which is still fired Don't get me wrong Yeah, you need an upgrade for sure And I will oh don't worry I'll be hitting the team store shortly That's why I'm here

It's yeah It's harder in person, too, because when you get here in person, you have to be around the city. You can't avoid it. There's just people sitting on the left and right of you and all that purple and it looks great. But, yeah, I mean, again, a big night for Brandon Fott. He was excellent tonight for this team, giving them once again another outing of seven innings plus. Shut out baseball tonight for Brandon Fought. And, I mean, overall, you know, just something that the Diamondbacks needed,

which was a lengthy start from a starting pitcher that gives the bullpen a little. little bit of rest. Things weren't easy once the bullpen came into this game. They immediately made it, much closer game than it need to be. But the Diamondbacks do improve to 48 and 50 now and they just are two games under 500. Yeah, Brandon fought shove and

seven steady. That's the second consecutive very good start. He has that start in San Diego, two, where he goes a career high eight innings. This gives reminiscent vibes to Brandon fought in the beginning of 2025 where he was consistently going six plus innings, quality start. Quality Brandon, quality Brandon.

And obviously there had been like an eight-stretched start where Brandon Fought was getting shelved. And it had been a problem for him. But Brightside, we've seen him now throw consecutive starts make be very, very, very, very, very good for Dimeback's pitching staff that needs length to avoid the bullpen as possible. I don't want to jinx it, but fingers crossed,

is he back a little bit? Because anytime a starter has two consecutive, like really good outings, just like Brandon Fought has done, optimism's back a little bit. We've seen flashes in it in 24, And then obviously in the playoffs in 23, we saw it earlier this season, Derek. So I'm kind of hoping, hey, if he starts pitching well again,

it's a huge pickup for that rotation. Here's the thing is that I feel like that's been the story of the season for so many components to the Diamondbacks as a team. Right? Offensively, they've been pretty consistent throughout the year. We know we've seen some clunkers, but I think they've had three, they've been shut out three times this year. So the offense really hasn't been the problem. Still in the top five in OPS and a lot of statistical offensive.

categories, but it's been the pitching, and it goes for the bullpen too, where they will put together two good games. They'll put together three good games. We'll sit there and look at the bullpen like, oh, the last five games, the bullpen's only allowed one earned run and, you know, 11 innings pitched. And then it just all falls apart again. And it feels like that's the case with the starters too. Brandon fought easily the most consistent starting pitcher early on, but then he had his struggles, as did every starting pitcher in the Diamondbacks, you know, starting rotation. And that just seems to be what it is. Like, Gallen will put together two good starts. You're like, hey, is he back? And then all of a sudden, a clunker, you know, and, I mean,

Eduardo Rodriguez returns from injury. Wow, three good starts, four good starts in a row, but then puts up some horrible starts, right? Yeah. Brandon fought there was reason for concern, I feel like, during a portion of the season, because, you know, his ERA ballooned. He had that yes hitter that we call it where he will never forget that game never forget that and I mean that's a big reason why his ERA sits at five plus you know right now but

tonight and in San Diego it was about efficiency for Brandon Fodd it was about those long starts like you said eight innings against San Diego seven innings tonight and he was just getting a lot of soft contact like not necessarily everything like soft dribblers or soft ground balls but just not a lot of hard hit balls

I mean tonight he had seven batted balls that were hard hit over 95 miles per hour, and only two of them were for hits. The other ones were lineouts and flyouts and stuff. But it was pretty impressive as to what he was able to do, kind of pitching the contact and not shying away from the zone, but just kind of attacking with his sweeper and a slider. Yeah, and that's when you know, Brandon Fought's really on. Sure, he's got strikeout stuff. He had done it in the minor leagues, and he's shown flashes in the post season two in 2023.

But he's out of that cutter into his repertoire recently, and he's become a little bit more of a soft contact guy, which has been massive, right? Because we've seen Brandon Foppe's super efficient first pitch. First pitch strike percentage was always near to top of baseball. And opposing lineups knew that and would attack him early in counts when they got that fastball in the zone and just jump them, which led to his ERA balloon and giving up these hits and runs. Now he adds that cutter. It's a little bit of a wrinkle. And it's been very effective. He's just been able to mix it in. It's a little bit more unpredictable for him for what he's going to throw in certain situations. And it's made him so much more effective. Last two outings, we've seen it.

And I believe it was the San Diego outing because I don't know what he did tonight in terms of cutter usage. I think it was his career high in Cutters last start. It's been leading to success. And the Dynbacks really need him to continue pitching well. Well, and what's interesting to me is that he wasn't throwing the cutter. That wasn't even a pitch that was part of his repertoire until late, until recently. So adding that pitch seems to be a big part of why we've seen him have these two nice outings. Tonight he really leaned heavily on his sweeper, his sinker, and his four seam.

That was his major pitches. He threw the sweeper 36% of the outing, sinker 27%. So that was the majority bulk of his outing. But he still threw six different pitches tonight. His line, he ends up going seven innings pitch, allowed four hits total, no earn runs, no walks, six strikeouts. And I feel like the no walks part is as impressive as the rest of it. Because if I'm not mistaken, I don't believe he walked anybody in the Padres outing either.

I could be wrong about that. I might just be giving him too much credit. But at the same time... It's a good guess because he went eight innings per. along you'd assume he wouldn't walk anybody yeah he did he gave up eight eight uh he gave up four hits two runs no walks one home run uh four strikeouts in that one and again six strikeouts tonight we have our circle k strikeout meter again uh it takes a lot of salt water to power up the circle k strikeout meter so i tend i usually like feel bad about like two and three strikeout performances but we

got six on the board tonight but i think we could get the six uh strikeout meter up for six but uh again it was just a nice outing of him to contact, not really shying away from that. And because of that, just getting a lot of outs, the old fashioned way, just getting fly balls, getting a lot of ground outs. And again, allowing him to only, you know, to kind of save some of this bullpen and not have to lean so heavily on a unit that we still don't know who to really trust in that bullpen right now as it stands. So no comment on the bullpen. Uh, no one thing I do want to say of Brandon Fault, which is a really funny stack. because obviously he was very good to begin the year.

Brandon fought recorded his 10th win. And I get it. Pitching wins they're not sexy anymore. We're in 2025. This isn't 2005. I get it. But there's three National League pitchers to have 10 plus wins this season. Brandon fought Matthew Boyd and Freddie Peralta.

It's a good group to be in right now. And Brandon Fought, I get it. He's had his struggles this year. But when he's on, if he goes six plus innings, it's indicative for the timebacks to win those games usually. Yeah, it's big. And again, it feels like starting pitching inconsistencies has been, a problem all year long. And again, we also, you know, have the losses that we've experienced.

But even when we had Corbyn, even when Zach Gallen, everyone was healthy, it still felt like we weren't getting consistent long outings. We were relying too heavily on the bullpen that was actually not terrible in the beginning of the season, but became terrible as the season drug on, you know, but again, Brandon Fott has been just a great, you know, he's been a great part of this starting rotation. And what you like to see is this consistency out of his last two outings. And for that to continue, hopefully.

Bullpen wise, no, we're not like, no, we're not giving any flowers tonight. Saul Frank, Curtis, you guys both made this game unnecessarily. Base is loaded jam for Saul Frank. Curtis, three runs. And Saul Frank, too, that was ridiculous because you get two outs without issue. And that seems

to be again, when you talk about reoccurring themes for the Diamondbacks, getting a goddamn third out is seems impossible at times by this bullpen but the first two are fine they're easy they're a fly ball in a ground out Derek we won we did it I know it was a 7-0 thing lead they got a field goal it's over

we did it that's ballpen rants for when they deserve it but gino botched that no no fine I won't it's his birthday yeah okay you're right happy birthday gino by the way good vibes only baby positive vibes we do have stuff hear from one Brandon Fott. We do want to hear from him on what was working so well from him tonight. This is what Brandon Fott had to say after the game. Yeah, that's probably the best of sliders felt all

year and felt good in warm up, so we're going to use it quite a bit and it paid off for us. Is there an adjustment with that pitch for some reason? Yeah, I feel like the last few weeks we've been making subtle grip changes on the sinker and slider and using them more. and like we're at. Cutter felt good. Not to righties. I think I tried it out to Walker when Alec made that catch. So maybe we'll just keep that to lefties, but it feels pretty good.

And man, boy, that catch was something that he's talking about there. That Alec Thomas catch was one of the best catches that we've seen this year. I mean, there was a lot of talk from Tori, a lot of talk from Brandon Fott there about it. The dugout was going crazy. I mean, this was. The stadium was going. Derek, I, I'm feeling my jaw because I have to pick it up because I legitimately, that was, and I can't, granted, I'm not always in Arizona to see it in person. Sure.

That is like, that's the greatest catch of the year by. No, that was by far. By far, one of the best catches that I've ever seen at Chase Field. And yeah, I think the, the thing that was addressed when it came to Alec Thomas and that catch is how, how well Thomas knows center field, especially at. Chase Field, which is a difficult place to play it. He knows the dimensions well. You can just see the confidence on his face. And there is something about

when a ball like that goes to Alec Thomas, you kind of knows that he's going to make the catch before he makes the catch. Like you just know. You can see he doesn't look lost. He's not turning his head one way or another. He has a the angle on it. He's playing it perfectly. And it's just, it's wild

to me how good he is defensively out there for this team, especially at home. He did like a little little bit of a stutter step right before getting to the wall. Yeah. As if he knew, hey, I'm about to hit this wall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you said, knowing the surroundings.

Without even looking, it's crazy. He had a great feel of it. It's six cents, shout out, Bruce Willis. Words, I'm struggling to put it into words because it was a phenomenal catch. It was the greatest catch. And you know it's a really good catch when AT celebrates the way he did. He kind of did a little, like a little, Naruto, like, celebration, arms down, celebrating. when a guy of his caliber gold glove finalist celebrates a catch like that, right.

That's when you know it's a super special catch. For sure, for sure. And not only that, but like you said, the ovation in the stadium. The last time I heard that kind of ovation was when I showed up to the stage. That's right. No, I was going to say when the crowd was all going positive for Ketel, but also when you showed up at the stadium. That's for sure. But again, just an amazing night defensively out there for this team.

Overall, just a thorough victory, right? I mean, yes, they did put up the field goal, like you said late. But outside of that, outside of that, it was nearly a perfect win. And, I mean, overall, this team, it was a team effort on the offensive side of things. We're going to talk about the offense. But just, you know, this one feels good because the Diamondbacks need to get going on the other side of this break so badly. They need some positive things to happen. And I think it was my friend Jack Summers, who took.

turn to me right when this game started going well for the Diamondbacks and said, they're going to continue to make this difficult on us, aren't they? Right? Because I think that's the biggest problem with the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks is who the hell is this team? Tori was asked about it after the game. Players were asked about it. I mean, it's like you just, you have games like this where you see what this team can be, even with all of the injuries they've experienced and everything they've gone through. You feel like they're resilient enough and talented enough to overcome that and still be a contender. But then something terrible will happen that will completely change your perspective on that and we'll all go away after two or three games.

You said it best. It's resiliency with this team. And it goes to the offensive side of the ball. You've mentioned the top five and a lot of offensive statistics. This lineup, when they go, this team really does go. And there's not been many clunkers, as you mentioned recently. It's been the pitching. That has been the biggest question mark.

both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen. And the beginning of the year was the defense too. Something that had never been a really question. Since like the beginning of 2022, where they started like really clicking defensively, there hadn't been much questions on the defensive side of the ball. But this year they obviously got to a slow start on that, you know, behind there's pitchers.

Rotation, bullpen has been the questions. If you get a decent outing and you have a couple run lead, sure it might not feel safe with the bullpen in play. but that said the lineup you never know because bottom of the ninth you could be down four runs and guess what you end up winning game sorry Padres fans yeah that's uh well also then you could also lose them that way too which we've seen uh but yeah again this you're right about that and even bringing up the defense is such a great point point that's like it's it's like the diamondbacks if you consider them to be a five tool player always have one tool broken yep not only not not not working not not developed broken and as bad as you can imagine. But then that tool varies from one game or from one week to another. And it's been why this has been such a frustrating stretch.

But we do have more from Brandon Fott speaking of the defense behind him and how good it was tonight. Here's what Fott had to say about his guys getting us back. Yeah, I think both Alec and Corvin had tremendous catches. So shout out to them. I think those were the plays of the game and kept us going, getting us back in the dugout, and keeping us on offense. So shout out to them. they've been doing that all year

so they probably don't get enough credit for that. I think the reason why they don't get enough credit is the same reason why at times we're so frustrated with this defense is because of all the things that we've talked about of all the components that this team has bad and good that have been not working and working the defense for the last couple of years

has always been superior. It's always been their calling card and that like we've even broken it down on this show where we've kind of been like what the hell even is Diamondback's baseball anymore because you don't really know the way that it's varied from one season to the next what it was in 2023 versus what it was in 2024, what it is this year. But I will say that the one thing that you can say has always consistently been a part of this team even when they were bad and losing a lot of games was defense.

Their defense has always been good and they've always had a talented infield out there, especially with this particular group of guys, this young, you know, core. And it, like you said, it just wasn't there early on. but we have seen this team get back on tracks as the season has gone on. Different team per season, different team per week. It's been impeccable. Like June and July, I feel like they'd win three in a row,

then lose three in a row, then win three in a row. Like they would never have a stagnant run of consistently being good or consistently being bad. I will say defensively, if it wasn't for the Milwaukee Brewers, the last couple of seasons, the dimebacks would probably be the platinum glove award winning team defensively.

That's how good the dimebacks have been. That's the caliber they've been playing up to. prior to this year, and granted it's gotten a lot better from the beginning of the season, but the defense, like that is a true identity. And I do think the one other part that's been missing, especially when we compare it to that 2023 team, I know we shouldn't look back,

but like that was the World Series team, right? It's the base running. It's that, it's the chaotic baseball. It's that energy taking extra bases, stealing some bags. And I feel like, granted, it was definitely the ideal move to go get some power. And the lineup needed it after the 2023 season.

I do feel like the one hit this team is still taken. They're not as a, electric on the base paths as they had been. Right. You know, and that's something, maybe some chaos baseball comes back, the answer backs comes back in that sense soon. I think that's the one area I would love to see them, you know, take a step forward in again.

That I felt like the thing about the create chaos moniker, right? Yeah. Yeah. It really did apply pressure that we're not currently applying on the, on the opposing team that even if it didn't result in a ton of runs being scored, it still resulted in like causing the starting. pitcher to have a mental breakdown while he was out there. TMP, too many pitches. Oh yeah.

Too many pitches. Not just that, but like, you know, I've talked about it in the past. You will have pitchers say this. I'm sure you've heard him say this. Like, I'd rather give up a home run, clear the bases and just like start over with a fresh clean slate in the inning rather than have them do the the carousel thing of single, single, single, single, single. Every time I look around, there's a guy on third, there's somebody stealing second. And that's the stuff that really could knock a pitcher out of a game, something that the Diamondbacks were so good at doing with, you know, Corbin and Alec Thomas and Jake McCarthy all being part of that chaos, right?

But again, you do have to evolve. And I think that they are evolving. And the offense, again, has evolved. They don't really need at times to rely on that creating chaos as much, you know, to generate the runs that they're generating this year. What they do need, though, is the defense. And I think that that's something that when we, We see this team playing solid defense.

We see starting pitchers like Brandon Fott be able to go seven, eight innings and not have those outings unnecessarily extended by bad drop play behind them here, whatever. Like we saw there with Gino there in the eighth inning, right? That's the way that things have gone for this team where you get the two outs. You got the one sure thing ground ball. All of a sudden that's messed up. There's an error.

They gave it a hit. It's not a hit. But they gave it an error. Happy birthday, Gino. Happy birthday, Gino. But they definitely. Definitely, you know, they definitely are a different team now. But the defense, again, solid.

All people could talk about was the Alec Thomas catch. We have Perdomo here talking about the Thomas catch. Here's what Frogdomo had to say. Amazing. You know, since I saw the ball, I knew he got at least 99% to cast a ball. He's really gladly even done before. Not like this, but, you know, since I saw that, I knew for sure it would not be now. And I feel like he says that, right?

Like I get what he's saying. Like I knew because that's what I was saying. Like you just saw the way Alec had the read on that ball. You knew he was going to catch it. I just have to feel like the starting pitchers look around them, look at those guys behind them, and they have all the confidence that they're going to make these plays. And when they don't, like we said,

when the defense hasn't been sharp, that's really when you see the body language of the starting pitchers just kind of, like look dejected and you really see them going through it. They're not bouncing back and being like, oh, well, you know, it's definitely like one of those situations where you can see the mental head-assing going on where they're like, damn, I should have been out of this inning. I hope that nothing bad goes on now.

I hope that this doesn't go off the rails. And then, of course, it does. So it's good to see, though, the defense again, incredible tonight. We have, we have Tori Lavello one more and then we'll get out of here at least. talking about this catch, but we can't get enough of this Ale Thomas catch. This is what Tori had to say. Yeah, the dug out erupted. The ball leaves a bat, and, you know, you see it, you see it basically wanting to leave the ballpark,

and he goes out there and just tracking it. And, you know, Alec had, I'm so used to his rhythm when he's running and then looks down at the wall and then looks back up for the ball, that means he's got a real good feel for where it's going to land. So when he looked back up there, I thought, you know, wow, It's not going out of the park. It's the ball died out there. And it was just a great catch with awareness of where he was on the warning track, the space that he had, it was a typical out of play.

And I was really happy to get him that he made it, obviously. Have you seen many outfielders better at running to the spot than that? No, I think his eyes carry a huge carry tool in that situation. So that's hours and hours, years and years of practice, probably from when he was a little kid. And he continues to do it. of the hardest working outfielers we have. I see him out there every day in BP tracking balls

because when that ball's hit, if you can go to that spot without having to redirect yourself, that's a clean angle. We work hard at it. He gets graded every single day on it. You know, Dave McKay gives him a report card. Every single day is to the efficiency of the route. But he's as good as I've seen for sure.

It was an incredible catch. Probably a catch of the year for the Diamondbacks, but we have one more from Brandon Fott here. And of course, he just talks here about starting the second half right with a win. And that's what we all love to see tonight is a big win for this team that needs it so desperately. Here's what Brandon had to say.

They came to the ball, game one. And I told them if it's game one or game five, I'm ready to go. And fortunately, I was able to start today and start the second half off. We are going to take a quick break, but on the other side of this break, we're going to talk about Geraldo Perdomo, his night,

and of course, ADC, making his grand return to the Arizona Diamond. Beck. So don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHNX Diamond Back Show. Of course, you know the moment when you turn around and your sunglasses are gone. You know it because you walked outside in the Arizona sun and it blinded you and you realize that something is wrong. Something is off. Your glasses are missing. Well, if you get your glasses from a fine company like Shady Ray's, you don't have to worry about that because they have your back with a lost and broken replacement plan that will ask you no questions about where your sunglasses went, where you were, what happened.

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NASCAR guy, mostly because of the Phoenix Raceway, which the Phoenix Raceway is holding championship weekend this October. Make sure to come on out October 31st through November 2nd and check out the big race, the championship race. For those of you that aren't in racing, let me tell you, it's exciting. They have a playoff system and that playoff ends here in Phoenix where, of course, a winner will be crowned. You get the best access in sports over there at Phoenix Raceway Championship weekend with a small ticket upgrade. You're in the Desert Diamond Casino Infield Experience, which is where we got to hang out last time. here in town and man it was an incredible experience to meet the ride drivers to check out the cars everything uh after a grueling season that starts in february just like uh looks like the baseball

season it all comes down to this in october championship weekend so we share a lot of things in common so we can appear adrenaline where legends are made don't miss your chance to witness nascars championship weekend in person coming to phoenix raceway october 31st through november 2nd Tickets for Sundays, Cup Series Championship race sell out every single year. So move fast, get yours before they're gone. And here's the kicker. NASCAR is taking championship weekend on the road starting in 2026. So this is your last chance to see the big championship race right here in Phoenix.

Tickets, hospitality and upgrades are still available. Get yours at Phoenix Raceway.com. Eric, you better get those tickets quick because I know that knowing your wife, you might be catching some divorce papers if you don't get tickets to the NASCAR championship. And let me tell you, Ryan Blaney. By the way, Ryan Blaney, that's our guy. He's kind of the equivalent of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He gets knocked out of races a lot.

He has a lot of do not finish his DNFs, right, where this poor guy is just out there racing, just living his best life, just trying to win a race and someone else takes him out. Just like Gino getting taken out, hitting a hand by the same guy that hits him in a hand in regular season game. Coins it?

Oh, I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't know. I don't think that's coincidence. No, no, no. Tinfoil hats on now, please, and thank you. Welcome back to this section of the show. That's right.

That's right. We're going into conspiracy theories now. But offensively, team got things going tonight. Of course, Perdomo, huge part of it. You got the party, a party started there with a triple, stand-up triple, but doesn't score another frustrating thing about this team. When Perdomo is not the one hitting with runners in scoring position, they can't seem to get guys in.

But they did a good job of generating their offense tonight. generating some more runs. Adrian Del Castillo is back and maybe better than ever. I don't know. He got a hit in his first at bat, a single with one out in the second, and then he kind of chipped in

all over the place all night long. And you could say that about this team overall. Perdomo had the big hit with two outs. Alec Thomas single there in the second inning. And then with runners on the corners, Jose Herrera brings in the first run in the game with an RBI single. Corby Carroll walks.

And then with two on and two outs, Perdomo delivers a two RBI single that pushed the lead up to three to nothing at that point. And it felt pretty good. However, we've seen this story before. So it was nice to see them just continue to add on. And small ball, right? No home runs tonight.

A couple of extra base hits. But for the most part, they were just doing it with walks and singles, taking advantage of mistakes that the Cardinals made defensively as well. Or I don't know if you can make a mistake. I guess getting hit with a baseball and then trying to make a play and throwing it for a throwing error. It's kind of more just all in the moment. I give him

Pante credit for trying to throw the ball. That thing was, what, 93 off the bat? Right to the back. Hit him right in his back? Like, yeah, I would have fallen to the ground and started crying. That's the, that's how I would. I'm out for a month.

Yeah, 100%. I'm like 150 pounds so it can wet, but. Yeah, it's going to break bones on you. But still, you're not going to turn around and try to make an attempted throw over there.

Derek, you'd be limping. Yeah. You'd be walking around limping for a month. It wouldn't even been the foot or the leg that got hit. I would just have a new injury that has nothing to do getting hit in the back. The spine connects everything, you know. Right. I mean, yeah. ADC, though, he's a guy. He's a guy that comes in, you know, again, getting called up to make his

debut like he did today and just be that guy, be involved in so many of those moments. It was a great thing to see out of him. And I mean, we know this. We've seen him come up and just have magical moments for this team. He caused them to go on a six-game win streak last time he debuted. I object to that. I think the reason why they won the 60 winning streak, that was the series. I was here when I first came back and I'm back. Look, we tried to pull out all the stops. We tried to before the All-Star break, bring Damon to Chase Field because he is a human rabbit's foot, right?

And he is very lucky for this team. It wasn't enough. So we further engaged in more Tom Fuller here by bringing you in and also having Adrian come back. The lever was pulled there. Yeah, we needed to pull both of those things together. but no yeah I mean he's he's just a guy that really I don't I don't know like offensively he just seems built for the majors I know that he has some issues still behind the plate I know last year

like my god if you the the the word was out that if you got a base runner on you could run on him and he wasn't going to be able to get you out and that was one of the most frustrating parts about seeing him behind the plate he was sent down to work on that hopefully he did but I mean still just overall, it was an impressive debut for him to come back, make his season debut here after having injuries and after having a pretty erratic season in AAA

and being able to provide the Diamondbacks with what he did tonight. One, two, three, easy as ADC. Thank you, Lando. 100%. I think I was saying some Jackson 5 before saying the two, because I was so happy. He's back. Three for three in his first three played appearances of his 2025

debut. I will admit, when he comes up with the bases loaded, I did think was going to hit a grand slam. I did too. I thought it was going to be a magical moment, a magical night four for four, the grand slam, five RBS.

Run scoring, double play, doesn't get the RBI, still gets the run in, which is at least, you know, the small clap, the golf clap,

if you will from. But no, it's been huge. We need another, I don't want to say a breath of fresh year. I think somebody might have said that in the chat,

but having someone just come in and contribute. It's a spark, it's a spark. Thank you. That's the term I'm looking for. Something to ignite this. offense, right? And granted

Paven Smith in April was arguably the best hitter in baseball for how productive he was from the left side of the plate facing off against right-handed pitching. Obviously, he's really cooled off since the beginning of May. ADC could be that spark, especially when facing right-handed pitching from the DH role.

I think that's where he could really thrive. And I will say for ADC, looking past the 2025 season, I know the dimebacks have been adamant about using him at the catcher position. But Gabby's locked up. That's where he's supposed must be playing for the duration of, you know, his time with the dimebacks and tenure of the time dimebacks. ADC, first base is a little bit more of a murky situation. I, I don't know if he's

able or unable to learn the position. I think that's a spot. If, hey, if this bat plays and you don't want him to be the full-time D-H and only clog up that position and he can't catch. Here you go. Every day roll. Congratulations, ADC. Here's a role because that bat can play. You don't need to convince me any further. I watched Moneyball on the plane coming home from Puerto Rico. We did it. I very much saw Scott Haddeburg make this exact move. Thank you. From going from behind home plate to first base. He didn't believe in himself, but you know who did? Billy Bean. Billy Bean believed in him. But the beloved scout in the in the movie says it's incredibly hard. Yeah, it's incredibly hard. It's incredibly hard. And you know what? We're going to play

Pena. We're going to play Pena. We're going to play Pena at first base. That's all I'm saying. But anyway, Diamondbacks again, a lot of, a lot of notable performances tonight, Geraldo Pardomo, two for four tonight, triple, two RBI. Alec Thomas just chipping in both offensively and defensively. We talked about that. Blaze Alexander, big hit for him tonight. He was one for four with a double and RBI there. So just one of those nights where nobody really stood out,

that was the single reason why they won, at least at the plate. But we're going to give our Kingsnake to Adrian Del Castillo because this man in his return to the team went three for four with two runs scored and an RBI. And again, he just seemed to be involved in so many things. Just so cool to see a guy like this, get another opportunity. And again, he didn't know how his season was going to go. He didn't know injury-wise.

He didn't know in a lot of different ways, you know, where he was going to end up after the game. He kind of discussed not really expecting to be called up, not expecting, you know, to get this opportunity to this soon. And I think the thing about guys like ADC is, is that the Diamondbacks don't have a lot of young players get an opportunity that really grab that brass ring. And that's what they kind of need in times because that's what baseball is about.

Baseball is about you getting an opportunity and being ready for it. Now with the way that the depth has been depleted, you're getting down to a point where the guys that are available to you in AAA or even AA, they're not ready necessarily for this opportunity. And that's the reason why, as much as we get excited to see, these guys get called up, they struggle at a major league level. ADC has just kind of always seemed ready. And I mean, even last year, you know, there were those times.

Like, again, we talk about the shortcomings of his game behind the plate, but this just seems like a guy that is destined to be a big leaguer and, you know, just needs to figure out where he's going to play and how he can contribute in other ways besides with the bat in his hand. Yeah, I mean, he just looks so comfortable at the plate. And it's been productive. Like, there hasn't been anyone that really seemed to over. challenge him or phase him. It's been very impressive. I will say, I'm curious, like, I want to see

him for a full season before I like, I make the jump of, wow, this bat's like super locked in and super here. I think he's great. I think he will be great. I think he is great. I would love to see the bigger sample size. But this team, man, eight of nine players record a hit. The only person doesn't get hit is our guy Corbyn Carroll from the lead off spot today. And, and you know what? It was literally team baseball. ADC was definitely the engine of tonight's game with the three hits and the one RBI, two RBIs, a run scored.

Two runs scored in an RBI, yeah. Yeah, see, that was the brain not working there. No, that's right. You were there. I was all over. It's not like there was a graphics for King Snake that just popped up two minutes ago. That actually told you what it was. That didn't say whatever. No, but long story short, ADC, I would love for him to figure out what his position is because he's a young kid, but he's already producing at this level.

I just want to see him play consistently, Derek. because that will answer way more questions for this dime back team. Because Pave and Smith got a long leash, heck, it's time to give ADC that long leash. And I've only seen him play one game this year already. Well, I mean, it's interesting to say, and it's interesting to think about like how important a catcher is to this game, right? But we've already seen James McCann come in here

and make a huge impact on this team and have a huge impact, right? And I don't know. I never heard any complaints about Gabrielle Marino, behind the dish. However, you know, I, I do notice that certain phrases are used by the pitchers more when they're talking about someone like James McCann. And even though this guy was kind of a cast off, cast away himself, right? Like, it's amazing that they're still able to find people that can come in here, either veterans like McCann or even a young guy like ADC and contribute to the team. And honestly, it's, I don't blame them for trying anything.

right now. Same thing with the bullpen with how erratic things have been. I don't blame them for continuing to try to find guys with Major League experience that have an ERA the last time they pitched in the majors of 7 or 8 or 9 or 13 just because they're looking for guys that

they need arms. They need an arm. They need arms. And I mean, again, baseball is filled with those stories of those opportunities that you give a guy and suddenly he can come back and be something different. Maybe not what he was before, but he's figured out a way now to play right i mean shelby miller is the finest example of that for this team considering

our history with him and what he was in the bullpen for this team this season you know ryan thompson in twenty twenty three i still think that hayson and co are trying to find the mike the ryan thompson oh i think that every year every time yeah i think that too and like grand because ronpson was weird and we talked about it a bunch on this show he was like he was like he was bad like i think it was like a three or four year right but two two bad outings that ballooned his ERA up, right? And again, when you don't pitch a lot of innings and you do have those bad outings, right? Yeah, it takes one bad game. Jalen Beaks this year. It's the same thing. He's had two or three like really bad

outings and the rest he's been rock solid and that ERA is now like a four four because of those outings. FOT's never going to recover from that the yes hitter, right? Like he's going to be fine. And I mean, again, it's not it's not a true, it's not a true, I guess, example of who he is as a pitcher going forward. But like that bad outing is going to hang over his head and his ERA for the rest of the season, no matter how good he pitches. So there's that. But Sean is asking if Brad Ziegler can still pitch. I do have a pair of his cleats in my office.

So if he can pitch, I would be willing to give him back his cleats. Maybe a like Mike situation going on with you right now where like you put the Ziegler cleats on and all of a sudden you're a submarine thrower. That would be wild. Yeah. I'm willing to give it a shot. Look, I mean. We do have those gloves.

We still need to break in there. You and me, we're still looking. We still haven't played catch. We bought those gloves a year ago. What are we doing? I don't know what we're doing. No, I think I'm in. I think tomorrow before the game.

Let's go. Let's get you out there. You're a warehouse game's MVP. I've seen you. I've seen you in the outfield. I've seen you at the dish. You're in a little bit more prime of your athletic career, I think, than me and Derek. Guys, I have bad news.

I may or may not be washed per sources. I am sources. It's me. I'm sources. It's me. Hi. I'm a ball. Well, we do have Tori talking about ADC's night and what he brought to this team.

Here's what Tori had to say about his young catcher. Yeah, you know, in spring training, I think he was fighting to make the team. He wanted to show us what he could do. And he had the, I got to and have to mentality. Like, I got to show him I can hit. I got to show him I'm healthy. And that's hard. I think he was letting the game come to him today.

He checked off a couple of pitches on the outer edge. He checked off a couple pitches on the inner edge. And that told me he was looking in one spot in one area. and he was geared up and looking the right way for me when he's talking or when you're thinking about your approach. So the balance was there, the bat speed was there, and then all of a sudden you've got to start to get really stubborn to the pitch.

And as soon as you laid off and checked off those two pitches, and one out bad, I thought he's in a good spot. Well, let's take a look here at the numbers from tonight's game presented by our friends at Desert Financial. Diamondbacks win this one by a score of 7 to 3. They out hit the St. Louis Cardinals just barely 11 to 10. They were four for 13 with runners in scoring position, which is pretty good for this team. Two for nine for the Cardinals.

Two extra base hits for the Cardinals, three extra base hits for the Diamondbacks, no home runs for either team. And then expected batting average there, 376 for the Cardinals versus 279. Those are imaginary numbers that don't actually count, but still... Expected batting average hates Brinand fought. Oh, it hates him. Yeah. Expected batting average is like, this class.

should have given up 12 hits tonight and five home runs, but he didn't somehow. Yeah, well. Wobb to the expected batting average. I'm sorry to tell you. I'll say this, that overall, this was, again, I don't want to dwell on the, on the, you know, what happened with the bullpen there at the end. But I do think that's important. And I do think that it, once again, it's just an indication of how well this season and a game like this can go

until we get to the bullpen and then suddenly a 7 to nothing lead doesn't really seem safe and you don't feel comfortable any longer with it. And that's probably right now the most broken part of this Diamondbacks machine that we're watching. That's the point of the team.

That's the part of the team where I think a team that could be a contender and buy at the deadline. It might not be the case because of this bullpen. Not to just say the results of the bullpen because they've had their struggles, but the health of the bullpen too,

the amount of arms they've had to go back there. and quite frankly, I believe it's all eight arms currently in the bullpen were not on the opening day bullpen. That's not a red flag. That is like neighborhood on fire bad.

Like that's impeccable. Yeah, because Ginkle was injured. Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. Ryan Thompson just got her recently. So now he's out.

Ryan Nelson to the rotation. It's crazy. But this team, like we talk about this lineup. One of the best lineups in baseball. The rotation, has shown life has been bouncing back gallon Brandon fought the last couple of starts Merrill Kelly's been consistent sure I still have faith in some of those guys but we

get to the bullpen like we have to hold our breaths with a seven nothing lead Derek it's seven nothing it's not like one nothing with a runner in scoring position in the ninth inning oh no we're talking a touchdown lead basically it doesn't seem right it doesn't seem right dude it's not right but like I you can't play what ifs in this game but like if you have Justin Martinez and AJ puck it's a way different feel on this bullpen because if Fought gives you seven, eight, nine, you're good to go. You're feeling easy, breezy, lemon squeezy because you're going to get two shutout innings from both these guys, games over.

The rest of the bullpen saved. But now bullpen is completely imploded to the point where even if they go on a run, I still fear this. It might not be enough because the back end has just been so brutal. Yeah. And you just, you can't feel comfortable with any kind of outing, which or any kind of lead, which is why they need the starting pitching to do what Brandon Fought did tonight. And I think I feel like we're seeing a bit more of this philosophy from the other pitchers.

So maybe this is something that's resonating with the pitching staff with, you know, with Brian Kaplan. Maybe that's part of it is being a bit more aggressive to the zone, pitching a bit more to contact. It's just allowing you to get a little easier out. You're not you're not up there trying to work the edges and going to a full count with every batterer like Zach Galen has been doing, you know, getting behind in the count early and working his way back. like it just it feels like when we're seeing them not be scared to pitch to contact this team is a different team this pitching staff is a different staff and maybe

that change is why we're seeing these guys I mean again it also kind of came along when James McCann kind of got back there behind the dish not that he was you know catching tonight but still it just seems like overall we're seeing a little bit more of an old school philosophy which is helping these pitchers go longer and that's right now it feels like

that's the only path to the Diamondbacks winning and being successful is to get their starting staff to be able to go longer in these games and to not have to rely so much on the bullpen. And the only thing I do want to make a note of it, when it comes to this old school method, which I love, just pump strikes, pump strikes, just don't be too much in the zone.

Because I think sometimes there's been, especially with Brandon fought early encounters where he tries to throw a first pitch strike, it's too much middle, middle, or high in his own, where it gets hit and there's that hard contact. And that's where it's a problem. But if you're near the zone on the border of the zone, way more competitive pitches,

then you're going to get more swings and misses early and counts. Whereas if you're going to throw, I don't want to say a meatball because that's kind of offensive. But if you're throwing pitches over the heart of the plate, you're going to get jumped on. And Fought has done a good job of late, living more on the black than living over the heart of the zone. Well, we got Tori here just discussing this team playing like they're supposed to.

This is what Tori had to say about, you know, this team doing, doing what they're supposed to be doing. Sometimes, yeah, for sure. I know baseball's a hard game, and it's not always clean. It's not always easy. And as long as the efforts there and the guys go out and play focused baseball, I'm always pleased. Sometimes I think we get a little lackadaisical.

Today was one of those days where I think we were inspired. We were rested, and we came out and played the type of game that I'd expect us to tomorrow. And we were capable of doing it. So when they come out and tease me with this and they inspire me, that's what my standard is and I'm going to continue to hold him to that. By the way, Damon does not look like every member

of the Diamondbacks team. That's Caucasian, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Ryan Nelson and now Garrett Hampson. Well, technically, Garrett Hampson's not a part of this team. No. Was he still on the Cardinals? Because that was the last team he was on,

unless he got released from that bad. He is on the Cardinals, I think. I get some Ed Norton's. I know it's not a Diamondbacks player, but just random. Yeah, just random. white guy. Okay. I like formal fear. Sure. I mean,

we always said that you were going to be a stand-in for Jesse. So, I mean, this is working out at least. Oh, I usually wear glasses too. Yeah, there's that too. I'll take the hat. I don't have the hair for Jesse. Yeah, no, we've got to get you some. You definitely wouldn't wear a jersey. Jesse wouldn't wear a jersey, so we'll have to fix that. But it's okay. We'll work out. Dalton knows way too many

movie references. That's true. Yeah, you've seen more than five movies. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's like six. Oh, yeah. Yeah, good for you. All right. Well, on the other side, of this break. Like I said, I was on vacation. So we're going to get caught up on some of the things I missed while I was gone, including an amazing All-Star game and why I don't want to see a swing off in every regular season game. So stop asking for it. We're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time in Beck Show.

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At least I thought we were going to. Instead, what we got is Cotel Marte being out of the lineup today because he is dealing with a personal matter, and that personal matter is that his home was burglarized right here in the valley while he was away at the All-Star game. And I will say that this sucks for high-profile athletes and celebrities because of the fact that sometimes when you are when you are going to be at a thing people know you're going to be at that thing oh yeah and with it being the all-star game on top of that people had to know obviously this was a coordinated effort it would seem to be a little little more you know planned than your typical robbery or your typical crime uh but like again they knew katel wasn't going to be in town they knew his family wasn't going to be in town and now martay is unfortunately not available to the diamondbacks during a very important time in this team's season, right?

And I mean, again, you can't blame Marte. What happened is devastating, and it's one of those things that is, it's, it's, it's, I don't know, like you're a victim of it and it feels like it has to feel so disarming that you're, you know, your home, your, your, your safe place, your sanctity was broken into while you weren't there. And then on top of that to have, you know, I'm sure a lot of very expensive, very personal items to Cotel were taken. And so there's that aspect. I don't know. Like, I still don't understand how a burglary like that happens because what are you going to do with that stuff?

How are you going to sell that stuff without somebody noticing that you're selling like Cattell Martes, you know, four chain or whatever else, whatever they stole and not get caught? Hopefully that's the case. And hopefully it's like a Padres fan or something on top of that. You know what I mean? I'm just throwing that out there. That part's probably. Dodgers fan.

Dodgers fan. It's pure speculation at this point. I'm not trying to throw any. accusations one way or another but we'll just hope that it's an NL West you know fan and not show hey Otani caught with Marte's chain whoa

I didn't say that you're going to get this guy started and he's going to go on a whole rant about Otani being a criminal now are we talking about Otani the war criminal see there it is in a quarter wall I just opened the door yeah you really did Derek did you watch our what if episode by the way oh I did you stick

around till the very end I sure did at the very end I said that I want to What if Shohei Otani was put in prison for his crimes against baseball, but the higher-ups here at PHNX sports didn't allow me to. I still thought it was about, I still think it's a valid topic. It might be number one. I mean, it's, it's interesting. It's just, you know, it's real. When you think about it, it's interesting.

What if? What if I didn't bring that up? Yeah. I mean, this is on you, really. This is on you. But I wanted to talk more positive all-star game stuff. And not that. But, I mean, it does suck, obviously.

Going back to Cotel Marte, you know, missing out of the lineup, this is, this is similar to like an injury where like I don't think anybody's blaming Marte for not being in the lineup. I don't think anybody, I didn't mean make you laugh at the injury thing. I just met like it comes up out of nowhere and it's something he has to deal with. It sucks. It's out of the hands of everybody. But I do think that there are some people like basically acting like, well, why aren't you still out there? We don't know how long he's going to be out. And he should take as much time as he needs because not only life has been like.

Life has been lifing. And I think people, and sometimes I even forget this too, baseball players, athletes, they're also human beings, right? And so, Catel Marte over the last month has had his home be robbed while he's at the All-Star game. And the White Sox fan incident were... With saying something terrible about his mother. Right. So like life has been life for Catel Martite.

I think it's actually smart that he's taking a few days off because at least for the All-Star break, a lot of players who don't make the All-Star game, That's their like mini vacation during a season. Take some time reset. Kattel didn't have that. And not only did he not have that, his home was, like the place he would be going back to was the place that was victimized of a crime. Right. So it's hard to, it's, and again, baseball being such a mental game, it's hard to expect guys to be present and worried about the game that they're playing. When you're worried about personal life.

When you're worried about that kind of stuff. And I mean, beyond that, it goes to safety and other issues, right? Like, I imagine there's a point where you start wondering if you need to. move or uproot your life that much in order to prevent something like this from happening more. So, yeah. And Candace says it wonderfully here. She says he's human. He needs mental health days too.

That's exactly what it's about. But overall, he had himself an amazing All-Star game, as did all the Diamondbacks that were involved in action, except Gino getting it in the hand. They all did something in the game. They all did something. He made a great play. He did make a great play, which showed that his hand was fine. Yeah.

Right. Again, still, I'm with you. I still don't believe it's coincidence. that the same guy hits him twice, but whatever, I'll let that happen. You can't, you hit him in the goddamn hand twice. I don't know. What do you expect me to say?

Had birthday, J-L. Cotel Marte puts up the first two runs for the NL team. Corbyn Carroll hits a home run. So the first home run ever by a Diamondback in an All-Star game. Yeah. That's unbelievable. I mean, it's fantastic that Corbin Carroll did it too.

And I think Catel-Marty had the first RBI for the Diamondbacks since 2005. So this was like a relatively historic also. star game for the dime backs players and Gino Suarez got hit in the hands. Yeah, he did. Made a good play. But he was fine. But he was fine. And made a great defensive play. More importantly, though, getting hit in the hand allowed him not to be a part of that swing off after the American League tied the game. And instead of going to extra innings, we go

to a swing off. You're out on the swing off. No. Well, here's what I think. Is the minute I saw it, I was like, this is the greatest thing to ever happen. Okay. And then I knew it was going to be a problem. Because I knew people were going to be like, I want this. for every tie baseball game. And now what I will say is that I do deep down in my soul

feel like the swing off is better than the ghost runner. I do feel like that. Okay. Because I think I understand the ghost runner. I do want to get out of there faster. I don't want games to go to 15 innings during the regular season. I believe in all of that. I think it's unfair the way that like one extra innings game

can deplete your team. And then you're trying to figure out how to make it up and get guys rest for the next week and all that kind of crap. but I don't necessarily know if I don't know I don't know I'm conflicted because I knew like I knew it was special and again the fact that it happened in the All-Star game is what made it special but if we implemented this into regular season baseball I feel like it would maybe get very old very fast I think the best middle ground is if you if it's three extra innings and you don't score or not that you don't score it's still tied through three extra innings after the 12th inning we're we're still tied, then we do the swing off. So it gives teams three different chances to win the game. And if you can't figure your crap out by then, all right, swing off it is. So I think that's where you get the best of both worlds.

Yeah. I do like it. And I'm not saying that because I'm a fan of a team that has a bad bullpen. I'm not, no. No, no. But no, in all seriousness, I didn't say that. I truly think it's just very entertaining. And I think it's really cool if like the dime, if the dimex, if the two teams that were

doing the swing off kept it secret for who is coming out. And then it's like wrestling and you hear the walk up song. It's like, God golly. That's Colbert Carl's music. And Corp. Carl comes up. Like,

that would be sick. No one knows who's coming up to hit. You knew where to get me. You know how to get me on board with this. That's electric. You use pro wrestling entrances and themes as a part of this. Jake McCarthy. Yeah.

No, that would actually, it would be strategically would be awesome because like you can only have one pitcher go up, right? You're only sending one pitcher out there. You don't know, like, you, you don't know what pitcher I'm sending up, and I don't know what batters I'm sending up. So you have no idea. I mean, I'm not saying, I'm not saying you could.

But for the swing off? Yeah. Because you would have the BP, no. Oh, yeah. No, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Well, sorry. Still. Yeah. All right. Well, I don't know. But I have a quick 30 second rant that's like, I want to implement for baseball that they will never do, but I would love for this to happen.

What? So I think, actually, I'm going to take that part out. What I will say is I think baseball, the bullpen. should be hidden. We should have no idea who's warming up. No one should know who's warming up in the bullpen and then all of a sudden someone comes in and says, all right, you got to adapt. Theme song. I'm still I'm still a bored with the wrestling theme song. My God, that's Justin Martinez's music. CM's coming out, blowing on his hand. That would be sick. Anyhow. I love it. Can we also factor in that I don't have to tell you when I took someone off of the IL until after the game. So that way it could be a surprise

if someone's back from the IL and coming into the game. But then afterwards we're like, okay, we did make a corresponding roster move. We did submit it before the game. You as the opposition, we're just not allowed to know that Justin Martinez was back. I don't know. Dead lag brain. We're getting something here. We're on to something.

But we're going to take one more break real fast. And then we are going to talk about the NL West or the N. Hell West and where the Diamondbacks currently stand. And also some of this trade deadline chatter, which I don't want to have any part of. But we're going to be unfortunately forced into that discourse for sure. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback Show. Don't you guys go anywhere? Well, Pure Edibles was founded right here in Arizona,

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They're good. They're a good team. Brewers can play. A lot of discourse over the, Ms. The Ms. Yeah, right. Getting into the All-Star game, the one from the Milwaukee Brewers, of course.

But, like, that kind of stuff is so silly to me. I love when a breakout star happens in baseball. I'm sorry. That's a great graphic. Oh, yeah, no, yeah. Not only is it the N. Hell West, but we also have the Infinity sign there for the Rockies because we're not going to do that. Good job, David.

We're not going to calculate the Rockies. Good job, Damon. If you want to really know kind of just, you know, transform into my life, I literally just didn't want to go through doing the math of having to go through the Rockies games back and just said, you know what? And quite frankly, why should he? What's the point? What's the point?

I don't know. Well, you're telling me they're out. Yeah. They've been out for a month and a half since I retook over this show and declared them eliminated. I mean, they're, they're on pace to lose 135 games, I still believe. I don't even know. Going for history. Going for history.

Well, for history. The D-backs. They're just mediocre right now sitting at 48 and 50. They are 10 games back in the division, which still feels like the way this team has been playing, like it should be way more than that. Dodgers are not running away with the division right now as it stands, but they still have a pretty decent lead there at 58 and 40.

The Padres, they have a wild card position currently. They are at 53 and 44. They're four and a half games back in the division. Giants, meanwhile, 52 and 46. There's six games back in the division. One game back in the wild card. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are the most. important stat is five and a half back in the wild card. I hate that. I don't want to be this far back

because like it's not just the game's pack, but it's still the number of teams that sit. Yep. In between them and the wild card, which makes it so much harder for anybody to make a case for this team to be buyers at the trade deadline. I really feel like the only case you can make is that this team's offense is very, very good and it would be a waste. to not try to do something to bolster this bullpen and make this team a complete team to go on a run. And again, I know that there's a lot of different ways that they could do this. I know that they don't necessarily have to approach the trade deadline as a buyer or seller, right?

It can just be more about trying to make the right move that makes sense for you while at the same time, moving some assets that most likely are not going to be a part of this team after this season ends. However, I still have a really hard time figuring out what the hell they're going to do if they move Zach Gallin or Merrill Kelly. I don't know. And the only answer would be that they would receive some sort of pitching in return. That would be major league quality starting pitching, which seems like an unlikely deal to be made.

I would say in terms of let's go, let's just say current state of the dimex, right? Current state of baseball, if we are near the deadline, if the deadline was tomorrow, what I think the dimebacks would do and what position they're in. I think they'd be sellers, but retooling sellers. And by that, I mean,

I don't think they're going to give up any controllable players because I do think this team is a competitive team for 2026, even with Burns, J-Mart, and Puck, most likely to miss majority, if not the entire season in 20206.

But that said, I do think it's a good time to move off of the guys who are free agents, the rentals, if you will, for potential buying teams. I do think it's one of gallon or cash.

Kelly to be traded. I don't think both because like you alluded to, I do not think they have the pitching to get through the season by trading both. And I personally think there is a Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly conundrum a little bit. And by that, Zach Gallen has had his worst season as a pro. He has been such an amazing pitcher for the Arizona dimebacks up into this year. So the two trains of thought for Zach Allen, which I don't think anyone has really talked about, it's number one. do you trade him for some sort of compensation and prospects? Number two, do you hold on to him and offer him the qualifying offer? And then that leads to another two choices of, A, if you offer him the qualifying offer,

is he going to take roughly $21 million for the next year and hope that he rebounds and he can make a bigger bag, if you will, a bigger contract in the following off season? Or number two, does he turn down the qualifying offer, get his contract somewhere else, and the ninebacks get a compensation pick for the 2026 MLB draft. There's a lot of questions for this team. I think Zach Gowland is going to be the biggest question mark. I think Gino Suarez is the biggest prize potentially available amongst all major league players. Third baseman who's hit 31 home runs this season.

I think the ninebacks have a lot of players to move Derek if they want to. Everybody loves Gino. And I know that Josh Naylor is also a guy that they are getting calls on. In fact, according to a report from Bob, Nightingale, the Diamondbacks are taking calls on all these guys now. They're taking calls. Which they should. They should.

It doesn't mean you should make a move, but you should take these calls. You're right. And that's the biggest thing here is that I don't know what they do without Gallon and Kelly. Meanwhile, as much as it would pain me because I love Gino Suarez. Happy birthday, Gina. Happy birthday, Gina. But what I will say is that he and Naylor make a lot of sense because of players that the Diamondbacks have in their system that are ready that could play. Blaze Alexander would make a great third baseman over there. And

Jordan Lawler, obviously, is a guy that a lot of people, right, if he's healthy and, you know, a lot of fans have wanted to see, get that opportunity at first baseman. You got Tristan English. You have other options. James McCann has been taking ground balls over at first base, so we're going to see him. Get that opportunity again. You know, there's another guy that's going to, I mean, you just feel like they're just trying to figure out ways with McCann to not dump him the minute that Gabby returns, which we have no idea when that's going to be because Gabby was just transferred to 60 day IL today as part of those roster moves that were made, which isn't the worst thing because it's still retroactive to when he was originally put on. So I believe this makes Gabby

available like in the middle of August. They said he is resuming baseball activities, but up to this point. He wouldn't have been back before that. Right. He wouldn't have been back before then. Up to this point, apparently he hasn't even been able to grip a baseball or grip a bat. So that's important that he i mean that just goes to show how far away he probably still is from being ready right so but they have to think going forward how do they make james mccann you know more well-rounded so that they can use them in more ways right only there's a young left-handed batter who's got a really good bat that could potentially be young enough to learn a new position and that's not really a great defensive catcher to begin with i i just i just i mean i don't know yeah uh that's

it but um I will say that overall here, yeah, like Candace is alluding to, of course, I'm going towards Gino because if Gino's not a part of this team and he hits 40 home runs, I don't have to die my beard, teal, which is a stupid bet I made earlier in the season. It started out at 50 home runs, and then he struggled after that hot start. And then I was like, oh, how about 40? I'll knock it down the 40. So if Gino hits 40 home runs, I have to die this stupid bearded. What was the exact wording of that bet? What do you mean?

Like what happened? Did you say 40 home runs with the dimebacks or 40 home runs for the season? No. This guy gets it. This guy gets it because I never said either of those things. He didn't specify, but since he's, he's tried to really put his foot down and be like, it has to be in a Diamondbacks uniform. That's who I cover is the Arizona Diamondbacks.

That's who I cover. That's what I cover is the Diamondbacks. It would hurt so bad to dye your, your beard teal and Gino's playing for like the Yankees. Yeah, it would. Oh, don't. See? See? You know, he's right.

I'm supposed to do that. You don't want that? No, I don't think you wanted that. I don't think any of you wanted that. Straight beard. Do you know how much I've heard Gino Suarez to the Yankees? Oh, do you not? It's, it's nausea.

You probably can't walk into your office without people talking your ear off about it. Especially on the night tonight, like when the Yankees lost to the Braves the way that they did, right? And like, I imagine that that's just, oh, Gino would fix everything for them, right? Oh, do you want Oswalda Farazzo? Yeah. Oswald Parraza? No. No.

No. We don't. Sorry. I will say if we're talking fits, I do think we're going to sell. I think if we're talking, if we're a buyer or seller, I do think it's more likely to be a selling team than a buying team. If they go on a run, I'm pumped. I'm ecstatic.

That's awesome. I think the most likely option is if you're going to do it, trade the rentals. Like Josh Naylor to the Mariners, Gino to the Yankees, Gallon to like maybe the Mets and then get your hall, get your prospects, and then retool for 2026. The thing with Gowan is, It's such a weird thing because all the scenarios you laid out are, they make sense. They make sense that they could go this way.

They could go that way. There's so many different avenues. I still believe deep down in my heart just like that I think that Diamondbacks will get solid trade offers for Gowan because of how teams feel about him. They don't care about what is ERA this year. They just think, well, if he's on our team, he's going to be the Zach Allen of old. not to mention we don't need him to be the ace on this team. We have an ace. We just need Zach Gallen to be a number two and number three guy and feel fine in that role.

Maybe without the pressure of being the ace. Maybe Zach Gallen is better for that team. We've seen him perform inexplicably well in big markets and in big games, right? So maybe he does go to a team like the Mets or the Yankees and suddenly is what he was for this team at one time. We've seen him be that throughout the year. So it wouldn't surprise me at all that he would be able to put it together. just consistently. That's that's all that's really been missing for Zach is consistency, not necessarily still seeing glimpses of how good he can be, which we've seen all year long.

But I will say that Gallin presents the most interesting scenario. Yes. I still feel like Merrill Kelly could be a situation where the Diamondbacks trade him and then still bring him back as a free agent. They do like the year old chapman kind of thing. Absolutely. I agree with that too. I think of all four guys that Kelly would be the one. Most likely to come back. Right. He would be the amendment.

That's why I love you, Derek. Right. Well, because he's a valley guy, right? And again, there's there's something to be said about how when you get to that point in your career and the age that Kelly is that just staying in a place that you like and is comfortable rather than going somewhere else and dealing with a whole new bag of crap, you know, that that might be into. Plus it would help the organization for him to be traded, to receive something in compensation for him. And then for him to come back and still pitch for this team after the season is over. I will add that. But Gall and I just don't see that happen. I know you guys were at the ballpark. When Jerry was miced up during the game, he mentioned in particular about Gino. We all know Gino wants to stay here in Arizona guys. And specifically went out of his way to say how like they think that, you know,

they have what it takes to put up a good record here before the trade deadline. But in particular was saying that like Gino wanted to stay in Arizona. So I could see a similar scenario with Gino or Merrill, honestly. Well, because it comes down to the guys you're around. and being especially like honestly there's there's plenty of cities that embrace Hispanic culture in major league baseball but but again this is one of them this is one of the biggest markets as far as embracing our Hispanic culture I mean tonight up on the board when when the diamondbacks offense was rolling you saw they're saying

vamos debacks momos debacks right which I was like come on let's just go all in and say vamos serpientis while we're at it right like what are we doing dbacks but I get it I get it and I know why they were doing it. And speaking of Domo, we do have video of him that we haven't shown you yet, of him talking about this team still having life. This is what Perdomo had to say. Amazing for us, you know.

This is really pretty good ball club and just show to everyone. Like, you know, we still have some life. Life, when I said life, it's me, you know, everybody knows about people worry about asking about trade and all that shit. whatever we just go there and touch you get there that i'll be every single day that's why i got this little frog tattoo my little frogdomo right here not only he gives me courage that's what he does he's

he's close he's pointing towards my chest to remind me yeah that i'm i'm capable of good things in life you can do anything but let me tell you man i mean it's got to be frustrating because so much of this team is still going to be here so much of this team is going to be together fighting next year it's got to be tough to hear you know all of this trade talk all of this season is over talk and you're in the month of July you know you're still you know you just broke into the second half of the

season I still feel like this team isn't the kind of team to roll over and die I still feel like they have that ability to do what the tigers did last year and I've talked about that probably far too many times on the show but just the idea where the diamondbacks could potentially trade away some names or some players that would be seen as kind of waving the white flag, but still finding a way to be competitive and surprise some people and maybe even make the playoffs.

The resiliency, like we've mentioned about this team being super resilient. This is the time to prove it. And I wanted to pull up the schedule to make sure I had the team right, because I remember July was a daunting month for the Arizona timeback. The remaining schedule, they have two more versus the Cardinals. They have three versus Houston. They have three at Pittsburgh, and then they have three at the trade. So let's see, do math here.

eight of the last 11 games before the deadline are versus winning teams. Yeah. It is going to be tough. And if the dimex win, let's say eight of those games, you put yourself in a way better spot, then you can buy again, but they have to go on a run it. And it's right now. As Mary Jay Blas won said, it's now or never. And if they don't do it now, they're never going to win this year.

They're going to sell. I love that you just quoted Mary J. Blige. That's probably my favorite part of the show. But definitely love the fact that, you know, I mean, again, that they're not dead. and it's it might not be enough to drastically convince ownership and and mike hazen and the front office to change their approach and suddenly go buyer full buyer or whatever right but you do feel like this team does still have one last chance to make a good impression and and honestly to i guess start believing in themselves like tory talked about it the other day he talked

about, you know, how last year in July they went on this really big winning streak. And he said that the biggest difference was that they were coming into that locker room, not hoping things go their way, but knowing that they could make them go their way. And in him saying that, it very much does not feel like this team is doing that right now. They do not, does not sound like they're coming into the clubhouse knowing they can win. It's almost like they're just hoping that they can win. And I mean, that seems to be, if you want to talk about things

that might be the fault of Tori Lovela, that's probably the one thing because I feel like he as a manager has the ability to have an impact on that mindset and make these guys come in every day believing that they can win these games instead of hoping that they can win games. And part of it,

I hate harping on it, I kind of don't. The bullpen. Like we've seen times where this Diamondbacks team, this offense produces, you might get a decent outing from one of the pitchers in the rotation and the bullpen falters and it's just deflating.

You have a two-run lead, you have a three-run lead and all of a sudden it evaporates and it's gone. It gets to a point where you have too many of those losses where it's like you do not feel comfortable in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning because you've seen this song and dance before and you want to hope

that your teammates can execute on the back end in that bullpen, but it hasn't happened. And I think you're right. Like, you know, I think Tori does, does get some gruff for some things that it's out of his control. Lots of things. And you know what? I think he's done a really good job navigating the ship and keeping the diebacks as close

to on track as possible. But as you said, that is my opinion, like a manager, your biggest impact on the game outside of decision making within the game is controlling the mindset and the motions within the game and in the locker room specifically. So if your mindset is you hope to win,

that's a problem. You should be going in. into the game every day expecting to win and wanting nothing less. And we've talked about Tori being a great guy and a very open manager. Like very, very open person. Forget being a manager. Just as a person. He says what's on his mind.

He talks about how his feelings were in situations and all that. And that might be a thing that people perceive him to be soft or not. It's not. I'm going to put that out there. It's not by any means. It's actually one of my favorite qualities about him. However, there's also the other. side of him. We're connected and we're dangerous and we're going to drop 90 F bombs now for the rest of

this sentence, right? Like there is a side that this team kind of needs an edge. And I think that maybe Tori, when he's going through what this team is going through this year, he's not able to provide it because he himself as a manager is a bit lost. And he himself has that, I hope we win attitude, instead of coming in there and being like, we're going to eff and win this game today, right? And I don't know. I mean, it's the reason why I love Tommy fam so much, but it's also a reason why I feel like the clubhouse needs a Tommy fam

because this particular clubhouse needs a guy like James McCann who's going to look at Zach Gallen in the face and say, I hated hitting off you. You're good, dude. And like just telling someone how good they are, you know. And I mean, again, that edge and that mentality usually comes from veteran players and from the manager. And I think that Tori needs to go in there and tell these guys,

maybe start throwing some curse words around and maybe start getting them fired up in a positive way, maybe not like blaming them or getting, you know, unnecessarily down on them. But start going in there and just motivating these guys to throw all of this crap out the door and just go out there and win some baseball games. Bannister. Excuse me, Bannister comes in and says something too, maybe. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I could see him. I want to see Bannister hit a water like bottle with a baseball. all that. That's what I want to see him in. I just need that in my life because I feel like that would be an amazing sight to see. But what's an amazing site to see truly is you here at Chase Field, you here in our studio. I appreciate you, brother. Oh, you're a man. Come on. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming in here. Of course, you make sure to follow him. He is at D. Feeley. Is it 14? Bang. Yeah. Okay. I want to make sure I didn't mess that one up. But you make sure to follow him. Make sure to follow John Boy Media because they are the goats and we love everything they do.

We really do, like, we try our best to follow in the footsteps of what you guys do because you guys, just like we do, try to make this game more fun and make watching this game more fun. You guys do a great job of that. But appreciate you guys for watching us. Of course, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at K-Mack underscore K-Mab with a K. But as always, make sure to follow Damon. He's the most important one of us all to follow.

He's at Damon Dog with a DAWG. We are all Damon's dogs. Bark, Bark. There you go. That was a good. See, they always do the barking better than I do. But we appreciate you guys, of course. Thank you to all of you, Emily, Sean, Candice, Scott.

We appreciate you guys for being here live in the chat tonight. You can follow our show at PHNX underscore D-Backs. If you don't already, we'd love you to do so. I think we're like a handful of people away from 14,000 followers, and that's a big, big, big milestone for us. Of course, also make sure, as always, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you again for your time. I appreciate you guys hanging in there with us tonight.

I love that the quote down at the bottom says we have life. I don't know how much I believe that, but I would like to believe that. It's in quotes. It is in quotes. Amen. That's the truth. But hey, we appreciate you guys. It's good to have you back, Derek.

I will go ahead and say that, you know, as much fun as we had in your absence. And by the way, I will say I did write down all of the people's names who are in the chat here, who may have been absent when you were absent. because taking attendance. Feels a little bit personal. I know what that is. Yeah. Feels a little bit more personal.

But that being said, it's great to have you back to Eric. And yeah, it's time to go on a run here. I appreciate you brother. And thank you, Damon. You did an excellent job.

I got to give a shout out to Damon. Kevin, of course, uh, even though he, he doesn't necessarily like we didn't want Kevin here for a cardinal series. That's for sure.

But, uh, thank you to Kevin. Yeah, he's a big, oh yeah. I saw the agreement. Yeah, you know about the circle of that.

Yeah, yeah, And Emma, by the way, my darling Emma for all the social work she did for us. I thank you guys so much. It allowed me to take a real vacation and not be tweeting also on the side while I'm sitting on the beach. But I had a blast and I do have a new little frog tattoo. So that's probably the best part of all this. But love you guys.

Thank you guys so much. Scott asks if our bats will return tomorrow. I don't know the answer to that, honestly. Because as good as their offense can look in one game, we know how things can drastically change for this team. this season. But again, thank you guys for your time. We will see you on Monday. Dalton, unfortunately, he's here just for the weekend, but if we could keep him, we absolutely would. Thank him again for his time. Thank you guys for your time. We know it's your most valuable commodity, so thank you for sharing it with us. Of course, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it is far more fun when you

win a game and you are undefeated after the All-Star break.