PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - POSTGAME: Merrill Kelly SHOVES in D-backs Return, Vargas Sets Club Record in Win Over Orioles

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

After a brutal blown lead in Game 1 against the Baltimore Orioles, the Arizona Diamondbacks bounced back in a big way, grinding out another one-run victory to even the series and secure their fifth wi...n of this East Coast road trip. We break down Merrill Kelly dealing in his return to the mound, Ildemaro Vargas making history with an 11-game hit streak to open the season, and a bullpen that bent but didn’t break when it mattered most. Plus, we take a closer look at the roster moves Arizona made to get Kelly back into the rotation and what it means moving forward. 0:00 SkeeYee the D-backs win 🌵💡 11:00 Good night for Geraldo Perdomo  16:55 Apologizing to Ildemaro Vargas  22:55 The season so far...  29:35 Merrill Kelly returns  33:30 Another Paul Sewald save  37:00 Is it Ryan Waldschmidt time? 🤔  52:45 Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen  1:05:15 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back soon 👀 Limited-time offer! Become a Diehard for just $36: https://gophnx.com/intro-offer-youtube JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX 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/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order! Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes 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/ 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 40% 2+ pairs of 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! 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The mainstay is back and he is shoves in his return, and we also have Ildemarro Vargas making franchise history. Turn on the cactus light. The D-backs win another one on the road, baby. Into another edition of the P.HNX Diamondbacks podcast, Lio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is your mayor of PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Montaia.
Starting point is 00:00:38 It is your dog on the ones and twos, occasionally known as Damon Farrell. and it is your Arizona Diamondbacks winning another game on this East Coast road trip, beating the Orioles by a score of four to three. Welcome in to you all. Thrilled to have you guys here, and this is the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast. Of course, this show is presented to you by Bet365. Make sure you check out Bet365 where winning is everything.
Starting point is 00:01:05 Download that app today and use code PHNX365 when you sign up. We're also brought to you by the fine folks at GameTime. download that GameTime app, create an account and use code P-H-N-X for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Welcome in. Let's get some Cactus Lights in the chat. Diamondbacks win another one-run game. Didn't feel good.
Starting point is 00:01:28 They felt very nerve-wracking after watching them blow a 7-to-1 lead in game one of this series. Glad we didn't do a post-game show because we would have just been broken individuals. Damon already had abandoned this team prior to. to today's game, but has fully adopted them back. Yeah, I believe I said to you earlier, Derek, I'm out on this team earlier in the day. And then I think once I'll tomorrow Vargas put the ball over the fence, which I'm sure we'll talk about later, but I think I said to you that we're winning the World Series maybe. Maybe.
Starting point is 00:02:01 They might have said some things like that. The roller coaster year continues. It's never, we've never been more back and it's never been more over with this team. Derek, we never left. We never left. We never left. And the Diamondbacks win again. and they win this one by a score of four to three,
Starting point is 00:02:14 improved to 10 and 8 on the season. Damon, two games above 500. You know what to do, and you know who to do it with. That never gets old. It will never get old as long as I live. D-backs have now won five of their last seven road games, and Merrill Kelly made his return to the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.
Starting point is 00:02:44 And he gave the Diamondbacks a solid start going five in a third innings pitched, allowing two runs as the Diamondbacks were able to edge out the Orioles here by a score of four to three. Meanwhile, Ildemarro Vargas, aka Las Vargas, welcome to beautiful, fabulous Las Vargas. Ilomar Vargas sets a franchise record with an 11-game hit streak to begin the season, surpassing several people on the Arizona Diamondbacks. there was like five or six people that all had 10 hits to start the season. But now Vargy sets a franchise record here with 11. In fact, the names are David Peralta, D.D. Gregorius,
Starting point is 00:03:27 Willie Bloomquist, Tony Batista, and Steve Finley. They all had hit streaks of 10 straight games to start the season. Vargas now holds the franchise record with 11 consecutive games with a hit to start the season. And he got that hit in a big inning. and I guess that's part of the story here too is that the Diamondbacks once again were stifled offensively by yet another team aside from one huge inning
Starting point is 00:03:53 where they were able to give themselves a lead and in this case once again hold on to that lead in a close game and win the ball game. But just another night where the offense struggled to put things together outside of that big fifth inning. The debacks in fact had four hits
Starting point is 00:04:09 through the first four innings but none of those hits came in the same inning and Perdomo did have two of those early hits. So, man, it was great to see Jerry P. finally putting some things together at the plate. It was not only big for this team offensively or big for him, but he had a key stolen base that allowed him to score that fourth run that ended up being crucial to win this baseball game.
Starting point is 00:04:35 And again, got to take it slow, but Perdomo is one of those guys, again, And the concern level we discussed just the other day going down, going down. Because, again, even when he is struggling at the plate, he still finds a way to walk and get on base, and he still finds a way to produce and help this team win a baseball game. And he certainly did that in this one. But again, the story here is that the Diamondbacks were basically held in check for eight out of the nine innings overall. But they did have a big fifth inning.
Starting point is 00:05:05 And it started with the mechanical, the sexy man, the, the one and only big body James McCann, who got himself a nice ovation there from the crowd in Baltimore before his first at bat. And he started things off in that fifth inning with a lead off single. And then with one out, Barrosa walked and Ildemarovar Vargas goes yard
Starting point is 00:05:27 for his 11th consecutive game with a hit and a three-run bomb that put the Diamondbacks up at the time by a score of three to two. and when we say it left the yard, it was not doing what Cotel Marte's home runs were doing in game one, literally leaving the yard. This one barely cleared the center field fence.
Starting point is 00:05:49 Barely, but it did. 379 feet to left center, 99.2 mile per hour, exit below, and that one put the Diamondbacks up by a score of three to two, but they weren't done. Perdomo got his third hit of the night in that inning, and then, like I said,
Starting point is 00:06:03 stole second base and an underrated moment here, because even though Vargas gave them the lead, this fourth run was really the thing that allowed this team to have a little bit of space, a two-run lead over the Orioles at the time. It ended up being crucial with the bullpen giving up one run later in that game. And of course, another guy
Starting point is 00:06:21 that was a big part of this whole situation, Jose Fernandez, has a big RBI double that brings in Pardomo and makes the game four to two at the time. Fernandez, what more can you say about Jose Fernandez? The Diamondbacks. You know, scholar, gentleman,
Starting point is 00:06:40 legend. Legend in the making. Living legend. The Diamondbacks are now nine and... You can say everything about Jose Fernandez. Nine and two, Damon, with him in the starting lineup. Nine and two. Thank you for changing my life.
Starting point is 00:06:52 I'm literally just Jose Fernandez. Or is eight and two, excuse me, eight and two. But they should be nine and one is what they should be with yesterday's loss. And that's not something that I even want to discuss on this program. We're not even going to do that. We are going to talk, though, about the roster moves that were made, including the one that allowed Merrill Kelly to be added back to the starring rotation. Some strange things there, and we're definitely going to give our thoughts on that.
Starting point is 00:07:14 But as far as the offense goes, they were without Catelle Marte's big bat after he hit those two home runs in game one of this series. Marte was scratched moments before the game. It felt like due to lower back tightness. And I think that we have a new number one enemy, Damon. I think we need to move Garrett Stubbs down. to three, Shohei Otani down to two, and lower back tightness up to number one. I don't know, where does Tommy John on there? Tommy John is still on that list somewhere, UCLs are, something like that. But our list of enemies is growing, and one of those is definitely lower back tightness now
Starting point is 00:07:50 with another player out due to that. But the Diamondbacks offense would not get another hit until sexy man James McCann got a single in the ninth inning that was mostly harmless overall. And I think that even though they won this game, it's very concerning that this offense disappears in the way that it does. We have seen far more games like this season than we have in games where you felt like confidently that the Diamondbacks were going out there and being able to put up runs, give themselves additional runs late, and really just secure a lead overall that you feel really can't be given up late, even though that's funny to say after yesterday.
Starting point is 00:08:31 loss, is it not? That's funny to say. But anyway, Damon, here we had ourselves at least enough offense in this one. And defensively, again, Ildemarro Vargas, solid. He made an outstanding defensive play to Rob Samuel Bessio of a hit there in the fifth inning. That ended the fifth inning. Nolan Aronado also got Blaze Alexander with a nice play over in the seventh inning. but there was a huge, huge, I guess two huge defensive plays, both bad, very bad, and good in the eighth inning. Geraldo Perdomo had a chance to make a double play to end the inning and not allow any runs to score.
Starting point is 00:09:11 Instead, he botched it, and the Diamondbacks were only able to get one out at second base instead of the inning-ending double play. That ended up being big because the very next batter came up, singled, I think it was Lioti Tiberas there, and scored the Orioles third run and really put the Diamondbacks in a very, very bad position with bases loaded essentially late in that game. And unfortunately, Juan Morillo kind of looking like he was breaking more than he was bending. But, oh, excuse me, no, it was the, yeah, it was that.
Starting point is 00:09:47 And then Colton Couser walked to load the bases. That's what ended up happening. But then they go to Ryan Thompson. and Ryan Thompson makes a one pitch out that not only gets them out of the jam, but he also made an incredible defensive play to get the ball, to field the ball and get it over to get Jeremiah Jackson at first base. Jeremiah Jackson, a guy who has been the absolute, an absolute thorn in our side during this series,
Starting point is 00:10:14 and he is somebody that I do not want to see again anytime Zoom, Damon. I have had my fill of this man, absolute fill of this man. But Diamondbacks, again, had some nice offensive performances tonight. Jose Fernandez, two for four with one RBI. Peraldo Pardomo in this one, again, another good night. For Pernomo here, or not a good, another good night. I mean, a good night, a night that we really needed to see. Unfortunately, like Damon was talking with me about before the show started,
Starting point is 00:10:43 it just sucks to see him make such a big error, big mistake in that moment. It wasn't an error, but mistake that unfortunately didn't get them out of the inning. and almost caused them to cough up the lead and the game on a night where he was having such a good performance at the plate. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that, you know, we were talking about how much we want to see Heraldo Pardomo start putting together some games. Batteries are dying again. We wanted to see Heraldo put together some good stretches of games. And we were talking about that on Mailbag for a good 10 minutes of the worst 10 minutes of my life.
Starting point is 00:11:20 and well but it's good to see him respond this fast and playing you know one of his better games of the season but it ends up not being a very clean game because of how impactful that error could have been to to the result you know what I mean and it's it almost cost you the entire game potentially um so you got you got to you got to just you know if he's going to struggle at the plate he needs to play great defense and so you know I think that the defensive level needs to be better than what it happens. this season. Like in the offense, I are fullheartedly believe that it will get a lot better. Like I don't think that Geraldo Pridomo is cooked and he was a, you know, one season wonder because he was also good in 2024.
Starting point is 00:12:04 He was also good in the first half, especially of 2023 and in the postseason. So I just think he's a good baseball player. And I expect that to, you know, that form to return. But defense needs to improve for sure because that's, that was a big time mistake in that moment. It was huge. And again, it's also like, I guess you could say it's, it's very akin to what happened to them in game one where you feel like, man, we finally had the offense just come out, show out, just smash another team, six run lead. And then we watched that six run lead evaporate by this bullpen, a bullpen that you and I just discussed again on Monday. Is this bullpen good? Is this
Starting point is 00:12:48 bullpen good, stupid idiots. I yelled at them when I watched that episode back, just like many of you did, right? But I still think this bullpen is good. I just think that, unfortunately, we have these kind of moments, right? Where Taylor Rashi went out there and just could not get out of that inning, could not stop from allowing runners on base,
Starting point is 00:13:08 and you just felt the inevitable coming, you know? And even our guy, Johnny Lazzania, struggled in that one. So, again, the Diamondbacks made some moves to improve their bullpen, we will have to wait and see if it does that. If these things that they've done have improved this team. But so far, this team has been odd. You know, this is. It's just so hot and cold.
Starting point is 00:13:33 It's impossible to know how we should feel about them. And you're almost 20 games into the damn season, Derek. It's nuts. They lead the league already in blown games, blown leads with six. That is not a category that I wanted to once again lead the league in, Damon. That is not a category I feel great about. It's not? No.
Starting point is 00:13:57 Diamondbacks are also six and four in one run games. I mean, it's like it's almost 500. You're a game away from being 500 there, but you'd rather be in the positive direction. So that's six and four. That's pretty good. The more importantly, I mean, it's like I'm saying, it's a game away from being five and five. Right. Well, two games, two games away from being five.
Starting point is 00:14:18 500, but one game difference from being 500. If one of those. Six and four. Yeah. And if one of, if you lose. If they lost to be six and five, they wouldn't be 500. Holy crap. I'm bad at math.
Starting point is 00:14:29 You're terrible at math in this. What is going on here? Brother, you're adding a game. I'm saying that if one of those results was changed the opposite way that it would be 500, so it's not too far off from being what it should be. Yeah. If they lost today, they would be five and five and one run games. Yes.
Starting point is 00:14:44 But more importantly, they've played 10 one run games. already. That's nuts, man. That's crazy. This is a team that has 18, they played 18 games total, and 10 of those games have already been one run games. So say what you will, but they are on the positive side of that. And a big reason why they are on the positive side of that has been because of the bullpen being able to hold these leads late. They're not perfect. They're not holding teams completely scoreless, although they have done that in a few instances, but just more More importantly, with the way that this offense has failed to produce in extending innings and more innings and extend leads, score late to give them, you know, some sort of cushion, it's impressive what the bullpen has done, even though we are going to scream about how much we hate the bullpen a lot this year and probably not give them the credit they deserve. But I will tell you, the guys that deserve credit are the guys that did it today.
Starting point is 00:15:44 again, Jose Fernandez, build that statue of this man. Two for four with an RBI and a double. Geraldo Pardomo, three for four today with a run scored. Peraldo Pardomo Dammit Damon is the 10th Diamondback now all time to have multiple games with three plus hits and two plus stolen bases. He is also the fifth MLB player to reach the feat in a game this season. So there he is doing it with his two stolen bases today and his three hits. Perdomo absolutely deserves consideration.
Starting point is 00:16:16 He deserves your consideration for King Snake. But because Damon has to apologize to this man on every single episode, it's finally time for us to give credit where credit is due. A man that's been doing it for this team all season long, our King Snake, Ildemarovar Vargas. He was one for five today. Probably should have been two for five. He was kind of robbed there on a catch in the ninth inning
Starting point is 00:16:39 where, you know, Kouser closed his eyes and somehow had the ball fall in his hand. But one home run there, three RBI, one run scored. And more importantly, with that home run, Ildemarro Vargas set a franchise record with 11 consecutive games with a hit to start the season. People might be wondering why Damon has to apologize to Vargas profusely like he does. But the man leads the team now in offensive stats. He's hitting 381. He has a 1076 OPS. You just can't say enough about him being unexpectedly.
Starting point is 00:17:15 good. And when I say unexpectedly good, Ildemar Vargas is not a name we are not familiar with. In fact, we are very, very familiar with this man. But of course, you know, the, what he's been doing for this team is a big reason why they sit at 10 and 8 and why they've been so good in these one-run games. Yeah, I think Derek, is this the time where I apologize? Please, go ahead. I mean, go, I, you have the floor as, as you do every episode. This is, yeah, I do have to do this about once in episode. episode, I'm sorry. I will, I need to be better. And you know what? I'm going to continue to say it. No one's happier than me that Ildemara Vargas made me look like an absolute idiot.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Because for those of you unfamiliar, I will say it again. I said that El Demarovargas, I didn't want to watch El Demarovargas ball all season long. That's what you said, yes. He currently, Derek, has a 201 OPS plus. League average is 100. If you want to look at some expected stats, his Wobah is fifth in the league, his ex-Woba is also, I believe, up there towards the top 11th. He's just playing out of his mind right now. And he's one of the best hitters in all of baseball. And I don't know if I expect that to continue.
Starting point is 00:18:37 But I really hope we're talking about like the craziest come from nowhere, all-star season that we've seen in a really, really long time, Derek, because it would be nuts. And he belongs in the lineup every damn day. Yeah. Every day, Aldamaro Vargas should be in the lineup. And I think that the Diamondbacks are kind of at that spot now where they're going to continue to do that. Although he's not qualified. He's not, he's a non-qualified player currently as far as stats are concerned.
Starting point is 00:19:06 He does have the third highest batting average in all of baseball. And as O'KAM said in the chat, he has the seventh highest slug in all of MLB. It's not. I mean, he's a power hitter. He's not just a good hitter. He's a slugger. It's like, this is like. Well, no, it's bases, right?
Starting point is 00:19:25 Because slugging is bases, and it's the fact that he's been able to get so many extra base hits. He's been getting a lot of doubles. I mean, he just, I don't know what to say about it other than he's just quietly doing it. And it's a huge, I mean, huge for this team. considering that they didn't have Catele-Marty available to them today due to the lower back tightness, Purdomo struggles.
Starting point is 00:19:45 Corbyn Carroll's still good at getting over that hip flexor injury and not really being himself yet. Like there's a lot of things here that aren't going the Diamondbacks way. The injuries are starting to pile up. We got, you know, Gabrielle Moreno now moved to the 10-day aisle with not a back injury anymore,
Starting point is 00:20:01 but a left oblique injury. Yeah. So just a lot of things are not going the debacks way. But what is going their way is young guys coming up and contributing the way that Jose Fernandez has contributed and hell even Luke and Baker our big old hoss that's been added to this you know roster it was one for four today and you know he's not knocking the cover off the ball but he's still contributing and uh they've gotten contributions from a lot of guys Jorge brosa is another guy hitting 244 he was one for two today
Starting point is 00:20:35 with a run scored and a walk. So these guys, these are the guys, the James McCann going two for four, the six through nine hitters for this team, no matter who they are, continue to deliver for this team. And Vargas, he's kind of been moved up. So as Jose Fernandez.
Starting point is 00:20:52 Yeah, they're superstar status now. Who thought we would be winning baseball games with Vargas hitting leadoff and Jose Fernandez as our DH 18 games into the season? It's wild. Yeah, not me. I certainly did, I certainly didn't. think that, Derek, with also Jorge Barrosa starting every single game in the outfield.
Starting point is 00:21:11 Like, it's just kind of crazy what's going on right now. The Diamondbacks aren't even close to full strength. And yet they continue to like be, it's more than treading water. They're, they're, you know, above 500. They're winning a lot of these series. And they're playing really well. And even the games they're losing, you feel like they should have won a lot of them. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:21:29 They should have won yesterday. Well, absolutely. That's the worst loss this season. probably two games out of that series with the freaking Dodgers. Definitely. I'm not going to go back and do that. That's revisionist history. But still,
Starting point is 00:21:41 there's a lot of games. They should have. Like you said, they've blown the most leads in baseball already this year. So I feel like, you know, this team. Six games.
Starting point is 00:21:47 Imagine if all six of those are somehow not blown leads. Yeah, or if only four of them were or something. You know what I mean? It's it. So this team is far from full strength. There's a lot to be excited about and positive about. You do feel like you keep getting more and more of the injury.
Starting point is 00:22:03 here. But you got Mayor O'Kelly back today. So maybe hypothetically there's a domino effect here. Brandon Fott could hopefully help out the bullpen rather than, you know, and, you know, kind of doing what I guess Taylor Rashy and Joe Ross were doing, the guys that were kind of on the fringe of the bullpen. So, you know, I think that this is, it's just been such a roller coaster ride of like the losses feel so bad. And the winds feel so good that it's hard to really know what to your think about this team.
Starting point is 00:22:32 Yeah. And I think that that's exciting in a way that it's, we're this far into the season. And, you know, a lot of fan bases probably are getting a good idea of like how their team is going to play baseball. And we're just sitting here like, I have no idea what the hell this team is. They can make the playoffs. They could finish fourth in the division. I mean, I genuinely have no idea what's going to happen. Every, both of the things you just said, being very far apart are both so viable for this team.
Starting point is 00:22:57 Also, like, again, you don't, you don't know what this team's going to look like in May. No. I don't know what this team's going to look like in June. In July, it could look really good. If things break right, you know what I mean? Really good. Yeah. So it's a good thing. As Coolbro says, we don't know because reinforcements are coming.
Starting point is 00:23:14 Also, I'd like to discuss what piece of Yoshi said. Can we discuss Blaze trying to spill our secrets? I didn't see this. I will say that I am. I just know that Blaze owed money to James McCann. Now that we're on this side of the Blaze Alexander experience. It's not as charming anymore. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:33 Yeah, it's not cute. It's not as cute, Blaze. Yeah, it's not funny anymore. Like, I was already against him for stealing our snake. But now you're going to spill our secrets. You're going to, like Ryan Nelson just straight up walked Blaze on a four pitch, four pitch at bat yesterday. And he didn't even throw a single pitch anywhere close to the strike zone.
Starting point is 00:23:52 He just was like, nah, you're not getting me. You're not getting me. I'm going to wait and get a guy that I didn't basically grow up with. in developmental and tell all of my secrets, too. So good job, Ryan Nelson, yesterday. Bad job bullpen. Good job today, Merrill Kelly. Good job today, bullpen.
Starting point is 00:24:11 One more thing before we go to break, I did want to say, Geraldo Perdomo is an outstanding translator, and I think we need to tap into this man more for post-game interviews. Speaking as a member of media that loves to get the interviews with the Spanish-speaking players,
Starting point is 00:24:26 to have Perdomo translate for us in the clubhouse would be shhaping. huge, Damon. It would be huge. I'm a man that also, Derek, peruses these videos often as you send them in and we have to get them ready for the show. That Geraldo Perdomo translator experience was something unlike anything I've seen in this organization before. That was, he was, you know, he was expanding upon words. He was telling it exactly how it was said and not just summarizing. I loved it. I loved it. I loved every moment. of it. Heraldo Pardomo, all-time translator. I'm going to nominate him for that job. I'm going to go out
Starting point is 00:25:07 and just nominate him for the job, Darren. I'll make sure to see if I can push that, make that happen. Well, we'll work our way towards that. But we are going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. We got to talk about the mainstay coming out, having his 2026 major league debut and giving the Diamondbacks a big win here over the Orioles. We're going to do that on the other side of these messages from our partners. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PhD. to next Diamond Back Show. Well, here's hoping that you are never in an accident or have a serious injury occur. But if you do, contact the husband and wife law team first. The lawyer you hire does matter and you want to ensure that not only are you hiring an experienced attorney,
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Starting point is 00:28:16 Full disclosure, there was a, there was an update that we did over here. And the update brought did something. I mean, this is unbelievable. That's unbelievable. It is a score sheet. That is a score sheet from a basketball game. That is unbelievable. What?
Starting point is 00:28:34 What even is that? This is a McDonald's all-American Scorsheet. Throw it up there. Let's take a look at that. No, I'm joking. I don't want to do that. Let's see how Arizona's own Caleb Holt did.
Starting point is 00:28:47 Yeah, yeah, in the McDonald's game. And it's like transition flying in from the side too. It's crazy. That's the craziest thing I've ever seen. we do our best around here but we're not perfect uh and you could say the same about merrill kelly today he did his best in his return to the mound he wasn't perfect but damn he gave this team a chance to win and he once again showed what he is able to do especially in circumstances where he gets himself into like a basis loaded jam like he did uh even though he did allow a run to score by walking a batter
Starting point is 00:29:17 he was able to get out of the inning and again merrill uh he's back the mainstay is back and had himself a really good outing today to kick off his season. He threw a really nice mix of pitches to keep batters off balance. I think that was the most impressive thing today. This team seems to be going to their change-up a lot. That might be part of the pitching plan that's been implemented by Jeremy Blyche and Brian Kaplan here with this pitching staff. We saw Juan Morillo throw perhaps entirely too many change-ups in a row,
Starting point is 00:29:49 and a lot of them in that eighth inning. We also saw Merrill Kelly do that today. But again, a nice mix of pitches. He threw his four seam 26% of the outing. He threw his change up 24%. He threw his cutter 24%, 17% curveball, and then 8% sinker. I think we have his pitch chart here. And again, not only did he throw a nice mix of pitches, but as you can see, his changeup was consistently landing.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Kind of low and outside of the zone, it was breaking in the exact kind of way. He needed it to. Curve ball was a little all over the place. but again, his cutter and his fastball were setting that change up, setting up that change up nicely. And again, it was just an effective outing overall here for Merrill using that pitch mix. It wasn't perfect. He did give up that lead off home run there in the,
Starting point is 00:30:39 I believe it was the second inning to Basayo. And then he loaded the bases in a third and walked in a run. But he locked in after that and was able to give the Diamondbacks a solid outing without having to turn to the bullpen too early. Merrill ends up going five in a third innings pitch, five hits, two runs earned. He walked four, which is probably the biggest problem in this outing, and he struck out three giving up that one home run. But again, Merrill in his return makes you feel very good about this starting rotation.
Starting point is 00:31:09 And considering that we, you know, have a lot of questions here about what this rotation is going to look like going forward, who's in, who's out. it's nice that, you know, Merrill was able to give them over five innings pitch today and only two earned runs. But then things turned over to the bullpen and got exciting as they tend to do. And Taylor Clark, excellent for this team. He gave this team nearly two innings today,
Starting point is 00:31:36 hitless, scoreless baseball. He struck out one and he continues to look better as the season progresses. Clark is going to be a huge weapon for this team and we just have to hope overall here that he can hold it together like he's been able to so far. He not only can give the Diamondbacks, you know, up downs and go back to the dugout, get back up and give them more innings,
Starting point is 00:31:57 but he just offers a very stable veteran presence that feels like it's, you know, again, it calms the game down a bit for this team. And things have been going well. He lowers his ERA with today's performance down to 3.86. Meanwhile, things were not nearly as carefree with Juan Murillo in there. one gave up two hits in his two-thirds innings of work. He gave up one earned run. He walked to, got himself into quite the jam.
Starting point is 00:32:25 There were some borderline pitches that if the Diamondbacks had any ABS challenges late there in the game to use, they might have been able to use those during, you know, his particular outings. It felt like there were two pitches overall there that landed in the zone that were called, you know, balls. But things just got out of hand there. And even though he didn't give up a ton, it just felt like the wheels were going to fall off for this team. Tori turns to Ryan Thompson, who comes in and throws one pitch, makes one defensive play, gets him out of the jam, and the Diamondbacks are able to turn things over to Paul Seawald in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. And again, inexplicably, Paul Seawald is the best pitcher in baseball when he's in there in a closed situation.
Starting point is 00:33:12 I have no idea what's going on. But amazing outing yet again. He got a strike out. Just, you know, pop up like an unexciting inning. And he got out of the inning with the sixth save, which now leads all of Major League Baseball, or is tied for the lead in all of Major League Baseball. Damon, did you see that one coming? You want to apologize to Paul Seawall while you're making apologies to people?
Starting point is 00:33:40 I don't really think that I, like, said anything too crazy about Paul Seawall. No. I know. But, I mean, I did after he blew that one, that one game, but that was a disaster. What was that against the Braves? Oh, yeah. Or I guess it was no, the Mets game. The Mets game.
Starting point is 00:33:54 And again, it's when you put him in in Thai games or, you know, whatever, like stop doing that. Just put him in for the saves and he'll be good and everything's good and stop using him in any other situation. Yeah, I mean, I'm not sold on Paul Seawall. Those other people are talking about in the chat. Jump the gun. And I feel like the second that you believe in.
Starting point is 00:34:14 Paul Seawald. It's like the Pavin Smith effect. There's a there is a parabola and the belief in him is actually the belief in him is what what destroys his career. Yeah. If we all start collectively as a family believing in Paul Seawald again, you're right. That's the second that Adolus Garcia puts it over the fence and we eventually lose the World Series. I love that. And so now I like I don't believe actually, Paul. I still don't. But I, you know, I've definitely made some jokes. Seawall or what was it? Skeen's Scoobel Seawald. Yeah. But he has pitched pretty well and I hope it continues. But I definitely don't think his stuff is going to be consistent because I think he throws slow enough where you're bound to just get people that just connect on on a 90 mile per hour fastball in the middle of the upper part of the zone.
Starting point is 00:35:07 But as we were talking about, his delivery is weird. And that's a big reason why he's successful is he just has kind of an uncommon arm slot, right? His angle that he throws, his arm angles weird. We were saying if he could throw a 95 mile per hour fastball, he might be the best closer in baseball just because of how he's able to locate, how he's able to have command and specifically, you know, that delivery. It's not quite Ryan Thompson, but it's not normal either. So I think that, again, this is more about.
Starting point is 00:35:41 about Seawald not necessarily being the closer for the entire season, but perhaps getting to that point where when matchups make sense, perhaps when A.J. Puck returns in June. If he can get us from point A to point B and then A.J. Puck returns, perhaps Puck can be very effective in that role. And then again, maybe Puck can get us from there to August for Justin Martinez's return. And then, again, you're looking at a very different bullpen by that point. Or you're good enough where you're trading for something.
Starting point is 00:36:11 somebody because your your team is relevant and you know that those guys will be in their returns eventually will be back in the organization. But like what if you could get someone that just upgrades this team right now for a decent price? I think that that's totally, you know, on the table. Yeah. Some people in the chat are talking about Tim Tawa being cooked. Tim Tawa is currently hitting 0.94. He was 0 for 4 today with two strikeouts. He has a 314 OPS. I think considering that the Diamondbacks are putting Tim Tawa out there every single day that it's not that out of the question to ask why we're not perhaps giving another young player an opportunity like this.
Starting point is 00:36:49 Why aren't we, why aren't we looking to Ryan Waldschmidt right now who's absolutely killing him. Scottie Mack, baby. Where's Waldo? Or, I mean, even honestly, like even a Tommy Troy who plays some outfield and also can play infield as well, which is something the Diamondbacks need.
Starting point is 00:37:06 Like, it almost feels like every player on this team right now can play multiple positions. And that almost seems like it's a requirement with the injuries and the way things are changing all the time for this team overall. Plus you have guys like Aeronado, even though he hit two home runs yesterday and felt like he was back, went O for four today, and still really hasn't consistently put it back together. So, you know, again, you might not mind seeing a Jose Fernandez in there at third base instead of an Aeronado just based on the fact that he's not only dynamic defensively, but also offers you far more at the play. Jose Fernandez is just one of those guys that you can use his speed to beat out an otherwise ground ball. He can steal bases. He can just be a factor in several ways like Perdomo is, even if he goes over four on the night.
Starting point is 00:37:55 You don't feel the same way about Aronado impacting the game that way on an over four night. So I would say that right now, the one thing that the young guys from this franchise are proving is that they are the reason why this team is winning. games and perhaps more of their young talent should be tapped into to see what they can do at a major league level and to see if maybe Waldie is the next Jose Fernandez that just comes up all of a sudden out of nowhere far earlier than we expected to see them and then just stays and then just ends up as being an integral part of this lineup that's helping them win baseball games the diamondbacks honestly it feels like their biggest mistake constantly is going after big-name veterans who are past their prime that they expect to add to this roster and magically
Starting point is 00:38:45 help this team win baseball games instead of relying on their farm system and their young impressive talent that they draft right so that's what we're seeing across baseball so far and it's working for other teams it is for the diamondbacks but yeah pirates absolutely but they're like they're like the best example of it i just think that it like you said derrick if tim taut was going to be playing every single game, then what we're watching right now is simply not good enough. It's hurting the team. He's hitting under 100. The only reason why I wouldn't want Walt Schmidt on the major league roster is if you're going to do to him what you were doing with Jose Fernandez for a minute, which is despite him having
Starting point is 00:39:23 an amazing debut and contributing, you were sitting in it for two, three games in a row. And that's where you're like, what the hell? What the hell are we doing? Why are we doing this? Especially considering what this team does when he's in the lineup, right? But it's also like in the other side of that coin is that you also mentioned is it's not as if you don't have versatile players on the roster. So Tim Tawa like is, yeah, his versatility is definitely his best trait where he can start at any given position essentially on the field. But I feel like Ildemar Vargas and Jose Fernandez and how versatile those guys are across the infield. Plus Jorge Barrosa playing both outfield spots or any of the outfield spots, Lord is being close to coming back.
Starting point is 00:40:02 like that versatility from Tim Tawa is not as needed. I think you need a guy who can play and man the outfield and help the team in the process. Absolutely. And Ryan Walschmidt tears the cover off the baseball. And his slug is in the mid-500s and walks a lot. Like he just looks like a guy who is going to be able to hit at the highest level. And I think it is time for Ryan Walshman.
Starting point is 00:40:28 This is the one frustrating thing I think about this organization. I actually cooked up a tweet this morning. and I didn't hit send because I was like, I was like, you know what? It's just going to get people arguing with me in the chat. But I was like, I was going to just say like, I think the most frustrating thing for most of this fan base with this organization is that the young players are not as propped up sometimes
Starting point is 00:40:49 as I feel like that they could be. Where it's a lot of, well, we trust our vets. And it, well, I trust Ryan Walshman a lot more than what maybe is going on with Tim Tawa playing left field every single game. And I think it's time for that decision to be made, hard decisions to be made. Yeah, that's true. Well, we are going to take a quick break. But just before we do, Damon, I need to point out that only are the Diamondbacks back,
Starting point is 00:41:15 but this show is back because Scotty Mac is in the chat. I know. Fired up. This gorgeous hunk of a man that makes Johnny Damon somehow look like an ugly person by comparison has returned we are thrilled to have you back said he has a new job now so that's keeping him from coming on this podcast and ranting and raving but we will always reserve a spot for you to come here and tell us how tori lobello needs to be fired scotty max did you see what a woke him from his slumber it was talking tim tawa he was like i can't do it anymore i gotta go see what the post game
Starting point is 00:41:52 show is talking about he's he's like i'm fired up and i'm ready to get tim tawa he rose like the undertaker when he was like we need ryan waldschmidt on this team and i agree I've been pounding that drum since spring training, Scotty. Yeah, well, Paul Seawald has six saves and leads all of baseball, or is tied for the lead in baseball. And the Diamondbacks are somehow finally to 10 wins, 10 and 8 after winning today. The most impressive thing here is that tomorrow morning, they go for another series win.
Starting point is 00:42:22 And if they are able to pull it off, they will have won all three series on this East Coast Road Trip. An East Coast road trip, which quite frankly, we probably thought we were going to see the Diamondbacks get used to wipe the floor, right? Yeah. That's how that goes. And instead, they somehow found a way to battle back win five of these games on this road trip. And now it could win six and come home with a winning record and a winning road trip overall. So impressive stuff.
Starting point is 00:42:55 And the way that they've gotten it done has been fairly impressive. We're going to take a look at the numbers from this game on the other side of this break and complain about ABS challenges not being used properly. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHNX Diamond Beck Show. Well, APS has rate plan options for you, and they want to help you save this summer. We could all use some help managing our energy bill every single month here in the desert, not just during the summer when things are ridiculously hot.
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Starting point is 00:45:40 They out hit the Orioles 10 to seven. They had three extra base hits to the Orioles two. And they were just two for eight with runners in scoring position, but still capitalized on those two, at least on those two opportunities. And again, had themselves plenty of opportunities once again. to score just couldn't really bring home the majority of them meanwhile the orioles were one for six great job by the dbacks by you know and multiple innings keeping a runner at third base without scoring so they did a fine job with that and keeping the Orioles just to the three runs expected batting much higher for the Orioles and it actually was 276 batting expected batting average for the Orioles to
Starting point is 00:46:21 the Diamondbacks one ninety one expected batting average and then those damn abioles ABS challenges, the Diamondbacks were O'Fer 2 today, and the Orioles were 1 for 3. And there was a specific at bat where James McCann lost the challenge, and then I think it was Pete Alonzo immediately won the challenge
Starting point is 00:46:40 in the very next pitch, and all of that kind of sucked. So... It just felt very, like, how we lost... How we've lost every game has looked exactly like that. You know, like a bloop single, an infield hit,
Starting point is 00:46:56 a loss on the challenge system, then the other team wins a challenge, then, you know, there's a sack fly. It's just, every loss has been like excruciatingly painful. And yet the wins have felt equally almost as good. And I feel like today was, was almost one of those losses, but ended up being, you know, a pretty, pretty awesome day just because of that Eldamaro Vargas go ahead home run. Yeah. Well, and I'll tell you, man, this is, this is a team that's finding ways to win. They're scrappy. They are finding ways to score runs, even though, again, in this game, it was another instance where they were just able to kind of put it together during one inning. At least they're able to score enough runs to give themselves not only a lead, but give them a little bit of a padding there, like with that final fourth run they scored, that allowed the bullpen to not be perfect and give up a run, but still hold this game and still deliver a win for this team. I know Monday's game, or not my Monday's game, yesterday's game was a complete disaster.
Starting point is 00:47:59 The kind of game that you felt like could change a season for a team. But I will say that that is one benefit from the Diamondbacks having experienced what they've gone through over the last two seasons. This team has been shot. This team has been stabbed. This team has been drugged behind a car and they're still somehow alive. And I think that when you go through what this team has gone through over the last two seasons, specifically, you find a way to have a night like that and truly be able to flush it, as they say, and move on to the next day.
Starting point is 00:48:35 That's not easy, especially on a night like that. Like, you probably have some position players staring over at a Taylor Rashi and Jonathan Loisaga with some unhappy looks after that team was able to give their, you know, pitching staff a six-run lead. Ryan Nelson leaves with a six-run lead, and then next thing you know within the blink of an eye, they lose that baseball game. That was a devastating loss. And again, the Diamondbacks have six blown leads this year, which leads all of baseball.
Starting point is 00:49:08 But that experience lets them know that, you know, again, even though they've blown those leads, they've also been able to muster some big comebacks back, muster some comebacks up, and they've been able to pull some comebacks on some other teams. teams as well and ruin their night. So I don't know, man. Again, this team is so confusing. Their identity still is far from being determined. But you got to love what these guys that have no business doing what they're doing, you know, have been accomplishing for this team,
Starting point is 00:49:41 including Vargas, including Jose Fernandez, who still just looks like an all-star out there almost every single night. But yes, I mean, they're missing a lot of pieces, including Kattel Marte, who will be back tomorrow for this team, as you guys are discussing in the chat. And, you know, it's nice to win a game that when you saw the lineup before the first pitch, you were very doubtful that we were going to be sitting here doing a postgame show about a win tonight. So kudos to the role players, I guess you could say on this team for stepping up in the way that they have. And, you know, hats off to the bullpen.
Starting point is 00:50:21 even Juan Murillo for getting himself into that trouble, but still having been as good as he's been this year, Paul Seawald deserves his flowers because he somehow gets the job done and has been getting the job done when it comes to, you know, save opportunities for this team this season. And again, here we sit, two games above 500 approaching the final game of this, you know, East Coast Road trip. We welcome in a Toronto Blue Jays team this weekend that just blew,
Starting point is 00:50:51 a big lead, as you guys also were discussing in the chat. Jeff Hoffman blew that lead against the Brewers. And, you know, again, that Blue Jay's team is a team that's kind of had their struggles so far early this season as well. That's what I was talking about when we were looking at the schedule and looking ahead. Some of the tougher teams on the schedule might not be so tough as we approach those series. And some of the teams that we think we might be able to roll over might be a little more difficult than we anticipate. again as far as I guess
Starting point is 00:51:25 performing outperforming what our expectations were the D-backs absolutely have done that so far on this East Coast road trip and continue to roll as they have one more game before they come home so and yeah El Gaios right he says that wasn't Mordio as far out he got the ground
Starting point is 00:51:41 ball that Jerry just shanked and yes that's that's why I say even Mordio that he got himself into trouble wasn't necessarily all his fault in that moment so good stuff from this bullpen and again we have a big change a big new addition to the bullpen that we had anticipated but weren't really expecting this move we we thought that of all the guys right now in the starting rotation that might be moved out of the starting rotation it would be brandon
Starting point is 00:52:09 fought and it was fought but he was not uh optioned like we thought he was going to be uh he was instead moved to the bullpen and we're going to talk about that move on the other side of this break you're watching the PHA next time and Beck show. Well, Pure Edibles can help me celebrate a win like this. They can not only help me feel even better than this victory makes me feel, but they can also help me get some sleep tonight when I'm too excited to lay my head down on my pillow. But Pure Edibles is a wonderful edible company from right here in Arizona. They were created in Flagstaff and now they're produced right here in Phoenix.
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Starting point is 00:53:53 official gear, obviously. It's where I get all my jerseys, all my all-star jerseys, all my Cattell Marte jerseys, even this Phoenix Suns one I'm rocking right now. Get all of your favorite teams and players from Fanatics, including the latest drops, exclusive releases, and must have merch all in one place.
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Starting point is 00:54:54 However, still nonetheless, the moves that we somewhat expected them to make. When they reinstated Merrill Kelly to the roster, the Diamondbacks went ahead, and they made Brandon fought their newest arm in the bullpen. They also optioned Taylor Rashi to AAA Reno, and they moved Gabrielle Moreno to the 10-day IL with a left oblique injury. Plus, Pave and Smith was moved to the 60-day IL with that upper forearm tightness or soreness, and that's starting to not look like a great situation overall there for Pave and Smith. All I can say is, thank God for Jose Fernandez being what he is,
Starting point is 00:55:42 because between the Santana injury and Pave and Smith now being moved to the 60-day IL, this is an absolute disaster for this team otherwise. and yet somehow, once again, due to a young player emerging and becoming an everyday guy that you want to see in the lineup all the time, this situation instead of it being a disaster is actually quite fruitful for the Diamondbacks. I mean, at least as far as comparing what the production that they were getting out of Santana specifically and out of Pave and Smith versus what Jose Fernandez has been doing, it's, you know, it's not really a question about it. But unfortunately, you know, when you bring in a guy that's a free agent or you have a guy like Pave and Smith sometimes, you just feel forced to play the players like them over your young players.
Starting point is 00:56:33 It's exactly what we were talking about earlier. Though Tim Tawa is not like a veteran free agent that they brought in this offseason. Tim Tawa is a player who I believe still even has minor league options available that they could option him down and call up Brian Walshman. Right. So, but they did bring up Aramis Garcia as a backup catcher. Makes me feel a little bit like they are not super confident in Adrian Del Castillo playing catcher behind the plate, even though he's done that a few times in Gabriel Moreno's absence. But the big story here being that the Diamondbacks have moved Brandon fought to the bullpen. It's not a terrible idea overall.
Starting point is 00:57:14 and I do think that for the most part, Brandon Fott has been very good in short stints. And I think that's what the Diamondbacks are expecting to get out of him here as a reliever. I still, you know, I know if you're going to ask a guy, they're probably at the end of the day, going to want to stay on the Major League club by any means necessary rather than being optioned down to Reno. Plus, I believe it was his final option.
Starting point is 00:57:39 So if they did do that, and then when they recall them, They don't really have much else to do with them. And considering they extended him to a five-year deal, they might want to hold on to that last minor league option for a bit longer just in case. But overall, it feels like, you know, this is not the best fit for fought. However, you know, he could end up finding a way to really help this team win in the bullpen. We still don't know what this bullpen is going to be.
Starting point is 00:58:10 And again, you like Brandon. fought and they're better than some of the other options like Joe Ross or even Taylor Rashi, who blew yesterday's game. But I don't know. I don't know how it's going to work out. And it remains to be seen if it indeed works out. I mean, being a major league starting pitcher has a much different routine to it than getting warmed up out of the bullpen and coming in, you know, to help a team win baseball games,
Starting point is 00:58:41 right, but I will say that I do think fought can be very successful in this. And if the result is that he has to spend the remainder of this year in the bullpen, but ends up being a solid piece for Tori LeBowal out of the pen, then I think overall this is a huge win for this team. Plus he's there available for long innings and like not just two innings. He could literally step into a game and give the Diamondbacks four or five innings, if a starter really struggles out of the gate. So there's just a lot more versatility
Starting point is 00:59:16 with thought coming out of the pen. But you don't love it for his career as a starter and you don't love it considering that the Diamondbacks just extended him, expecting him to be a huge part of their future. Like I said, though, in the past, for him and Nellie, this is just this season. It's a weird season.
Starting point is 00:59:33 There are guys on one-year deals that most likely won't be here next year. There's a real good chance that if Michael Soroka continues to pitch like he does, he's not going to take 7.5 million again next year. That's probably out the window if he does. So those guys, Zach Gallen, Soroka, they might move on and probably will. So again, the Diamondbacks will need to turn to Nelly and fought very, you know, here in the near future. But, I mean, Damon, what are your thoughts on putting fought in the pen instead of going to, you know, essentially demoting him to AAA Reno?
Starting point is 01:00:10 Yeah, I mean, I think that it's interesting. As you said, I think it could, you know, hypothetically on paper and prove the bullpen, no, at least as it's currently constructed, feels like Brandon fought, especially, you know, in his, you know, the general way his career goes, the way his starts have gone in his career, he kind of mows down lineups in the early portions of games. Not the yes here. We don't remember. We don't talk about the yes here. But often times. You're definitely not bringing him in with inherited runners the way he's been pitching with baseball. baseball runners this season. Yeah, well, no, probably not. He's probably just going to be your long
Starting point is 01:00:45 relief guy if one of the other starters has a bad outing, which we kind of really haven't seen that bad outing from one of the starting pitchers so far this year, interestingly enough. So, you know, I mean, they, again, they've given up some runs, right? But it's not something that every pitcher doesn't do with Brandon. It just feels like at times when he hits that wall, he hits that wall hard in the inning. And it's usually in like the fifth or sixth inning, it feels. feels like in particular. I mean, again, our guy Dalton Feeley tweeted this out earlier, but he said that Fott has allowed a 1.209 OPS when going through the lineup the second time in a game this season.
Starting point is 01:01:23 It is the highest among qualified starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. So, you know, Fott's success seems to be when the guys are seeing him for the first time. Even though he profiles better as a starting pitcher, it feels like this could be a good move for him, at least for now. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't really allow him to continue his development as a starter and figure things out. Definitely. And he's extended. So it feels like you have some stake in the game here too of like we kind of need to get him back to being a starter because he would be making a lot of money to be a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Starting point is 01:01:58 He also hypothetically could get moved if they thought that there was value there in some capacity, probably not what you would have expected you could get for Brandon Fought a couple years ago. but I like what Coolbro says here. Like I don't think that it's over for Brandon Fought to be a starter. Just like it wasn't over for Ryan Nelson to be a starter when he got moved to the bullpen. I think it's over for this season. Not that long ago. But if the Riembecks need a starter, that's who they're going to go to. So there's no doubt about that.
Starting point is 01:02:24 If it's not over this season, then it's, we are experiencing three years in a row of horrific injuries, just mowing down our rotation because you would think that, you know, you'll be getting Corbin Burns back with the current. five that you have going right now. Right. So hopefully it's not that Brandon Fott will be back in the rotation this year because that would mean that some other people got hurt. But he also has to stay ready in case that that is what happens because that's what
Starting point is 01:02:51 happened with Ryan Nelson. And then that's how Ryan Nelson kind of locked down a spot more or less because he performed so well when he was given that opportunity again. So I hope Brandon Fott can still figure it out. But yeah, not the most encouraging thing in the world, but also probably the move that needed to happen with this team because I like I said on the podcast what was it on on yesterday's before these moves were made I was like I don't think it'd be fair to Ryan Nelson and as you said it wouldn't be fair to Michael Soroka to take them out of their the rotation based off of what they've given you
Starting point is 01:03:25 so far and with Ryan Nelson in the past two years remains to be seen right but what feels good is that the Diamondbacks we're having this conversation that the Diamondback could potentially have two guys that deserve to be starters that they have to do something else with because of how good their starting rotation is when Corbyn Burns returns. Let's keep our fingers crossed that that's the case and that perhaps Ryan Nelson and Brandon fought both out of the bullpen end up being this vicious two-headed monster from the midpoint on from the All-Star break on that are also are also in the bullpen with AJ Puck and Justin Martinez returning soon. Like that's a crazy sounding four guys out of the seven or eight, probably eight that you have in the pen, you're probably still going to have
Starting point is 01:04:09 Ryan Thompson in there. That's five, Seawald, six. And then you still have a bunch of other guys that are shoving, right? You have Taylor Clark. You have Juan Murillo. You have Johnny lasagna. You have a lot of guys that are doing well, right? So I think that this overall is going to perhaps be a much better bullpen than we ever anticipated it for it to be. Hopefully. the word anticipated now four times including that one in this podcast so damon you know what that means we got to start wrapping things up thank you for block and spilling me but uh we think you got before oh wait before we do that one more one more one more one more thing lordis gurriel jrckel according to jody jackson will be playing a rehab start for the amarillo sod poodles tomorrow playing seven innings in that game
Starting point is 01:04:59 we knew lordis was going to be back soon in fact april 14th now seems like like a long time. We've been sitting here, clicking on our watches going, where's Lordus? Perhaps Lordus is that option for the outfield that could replace Tim Tawa. But of course, we know that when he returns, there's a good chance he's going to DH for a while before he actually sees time defensively in the outfield. But it sounds like we should get Lordus back here in the next week to two weeks. And man, cannot wait to see that purple hair flowing out there in left field again. So, but Diamondbacks win today. Big win. for them winning this game by a score of four to three.
Starting point is 01:05:36 I think there was an Orioles fan who came in here and said that the Diamondbacks or that the Orioles should have won this game. Ha! Ha! You want to have that conversation after what happened yesterday? I don't think you do. I do not think you do. But I thank you guys so much for your time. Appreciate you guys stopping by. We will see you back here tomorrow with another midday postgame show. So make sure to join us for that. In the meantime, you can follow us on social media. I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. The dog is at Damon Dog with a D-H. at the end and we are all Damon's dogs.
Starting point is 01:06:07 Bark, bark. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We love you guys and we thank you so much for stopping by. We appreciate you sharing some of your time with us. We will be back here again
Starting point is 01:06:22 tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful evening and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when you live in fabulous Las Bargis.

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