PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Recapping pitchers and catchers reporting on Day 1 of Diamondbacks spring training

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Spring training is here, and we are excited to recap day one of pitchers and catchers reporting at Salt River Fields for the Arizona Diamondbacks! We have more from Zac Gallen on the short offseason, Torey Lovullo on managing expectations and workloads, and Paul Sewald on not being complacent after their magical postseason run. We also give our reactions to the Diamondbacks spring training jerseys and what it means to us to be back out at the yard.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to Suns Takeovers, Coyotes & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://gophnx.com/events/Arizona Lottery: Visit AZAdventure.com for more information on how you can take an adventure with the Arizona Lottery and for a chance to win $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes! PrizePicks - Download the PrizePicks app today and use code PHNX for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!NASCAR Weekend at Phoenix Raceway: March 8-10! Find more information at https://www.phoenixraceway.com/spring/ on the Shriners Children's 500, and be on the lookout for racing content from PHNX!Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Empire: Schedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! Receive a $350 OFF discount when you use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.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!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Let Someburros cater your next meal big or small! Order online or find one near you by visiting someburros.comWhen 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome back to baseball. Of course, this is the PHNXDBACs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of baseball. This is the vice mayor of baseball, occasionally known as Thunderstick Jesse Friedman. And boy, did it feel great to be back out at Salt River Fields today watching a bunch of guys throw balls around. It was fun. It was great, Jesse. Watching those PFPs, watching everything that we had to watch these guys.

get to do today. It was, it was just, it was great, even though it was not nearly enough time to be back out there at Salt River Fields watching the Diamondbacks getting ready to play some baseball this spring. It is truly amazing, like how much joy people like us can take from like pictures doing PFPs, like just pitchers like, you know, running like, you know, fake batted ball and they're darting over to cover first base and whatnot, like the most basic of things that you'll ever see on a baseball field from pro athletes. But yeah, it was great being out there. The weather was lovely.

I'm really hoping that I didn't get totally fried. Sunburn will be part of programming for myself tomorrow. I am very white. But, but yes, day one was a success all the way around. A lot of fun to be able to see, you know, see the players again, you know, see Torrey talk with him for a while. We talked with Zach Gallen. We talked with Paul Seawall, both of those guys for a while.

Just a fun day at the ballpark all the way around. Uh, ski, of course, to Connor and ski to you all. And yes, uh, it's still spring training for us, too, Jesse. We got a we're, we, we, we, we, we have to iron out the kinks. Uh, some, some things didn't get charged. You know, there were some internet connectivity issues. Jesse definitely got way too much sun. But, uh, I will tell you, it was, it's, it's, it's, it's, there's something beautiful about this time of the year. You and I discussed it a bit, but even, even as journalists, even as credentialed media, we don't get to. be around the players when they're practicing and doing some of the things that they do during spring training i mean hell they don't even do some of this stuff during the regular regular season this is like again what i spoke about yesterday where it's like little league style drills that the that the players are going through going back to the basics going back to the fundamentals and it's it's just really cool to see i mean again for two guys that love baseball as much as you and i do it's just still never it never I'll never get over how even the biggest athletes even the most

professional best athletes in the sport of baseball still need to to run those those small practice drills when they start their season like this yeah absolutely I mean it is it's back to the basics every single spring training and yeah there is part of you like just intuitively you'd think that like okay you're a major league baseball player do you really need to focus on you know these most mundane activities and whatnot all the time. But yeah, I mean, it's part of the routine. It's part of, you know, just kind of the procedure that teams go through every year. And there's a reason that you do circle back to those really basic things.

I mean, you know, before you get too crazy on, you know, thinking about pitch mixes and, you know, swing paths and mechanical changes and whatnot, you know, going back and doing the most basic of tasks is always the right place to start really to matter what level you're playing at. So yeah, it's also this time of year is just fun because players also, while they're doing these kinds of things, they tend to just be more relaxed. There's a lot of a lot of joke telling that happens on the field. It's fun to kind of be a fly on the wall, fly on the backstop as the case may be and be able to kind of hear some things that take place. And I mean, even just in general, like in the clubhouse, players are just, you know, players are certainly still some level of relaxed during the season.

We can have good conversations then as well. But this time of year is just different where players are, you know, especially in a relaxed state of mind. You know, they don't have. There's not a, you know, a big game against the Dodgers or something happening tomorrow. They're certainly still taking their day-to-day task seriously. But, you know, they're able to put up with us the media a little bit more this time of the year. So I certainly, certainly enjoy that part of things as well. Well, and I like honestly, my heart filled up talking to some of these guys.

And I mean, some of these guys, we've had a chance to interview. some of these guys are just guys. I mean, most of the guys we've interviewed on this show. I feel like we've become a little close with. And I mean, it's nice for them to come. It was great to see Drey Jamison. You know, that absolutely put fire in my blood. And, you know, it was great to talk to Ryan after we had him on the show yesterday.

He was great, just a very interesting person, very interesting to talk to. And we definitely continued our conversation about the Rock and WrestleMania today. for sure. But another thing that was absolute fire, Jesse, that filled my heart up with joy, was seeing those Diamondbacks unies today. The black alternate jerseys

with the teal, which has always been my favorite since they dropped the new uniforms, matched up with those teal spring training caps, they look sharp. They look sharp out there. It was a good look, and I'm glad that's the jersey that they're apparently going with during spring training.

Yeah, we were we were debating about this the other day in the office. My hypothesis was that teams tend to wear like their most primary color during spring training. That's at least like mostly what I'd observed looking around the league. The A's are wearing green. The Dodgers are wearing blue. Like they had their Sedona Red jersey, which is mostly worn during spring training

during that phase. Yeah. Yeah. If you look at like images from last spring training, the Diamondbacks appeared. Apparently I did not really pay any attention to this whatsoever in the moment. But they appeared to be wearing the right. red jerseys the entire time, just the exact same uniform. And I imagine they'll do the same this time around.

But I was a little concerned pairing those teal caps with like a bright red uniform. I would have been a bit of an excessive splash of color. But with the black. I would like to see them together. I would like to see them together. I wouldn't the red with the full diamondbacks and teal across. I don't know how much like you're right. That might just be too much like it'd be a lot.

But I, you know, it wasn't just the jerseys. was telling you in the clubhouse, I was pointing out some of the hoodies and stuff, like some of the black hoodies with the Diamondbacks and teal written in it, written across the front of it, just simple font stuff with baseball, dive backs baseball and such, but I loved it, man, I love it. The stuff is going to be fire this year. I think the one thing that is exciting about it as someone who is a huge fan of laundry is that I see a lot of potential for a lot of good designs here. I think we're going to get a lot of good shirts, a lot of good hats out of this color scheme. And I think they're going to be inspired after seeing these guys in the black with the teal trim and the teal hats to maybe venture down that teal road a bit more because that still seems to be kind of an accent color and not necessarily a primary color. But man, give me, give me more teal because it looks good.

It looks good. Salt Riverfields looks good though. Everything looked good. They were putting up new beer signs. They were open up the stores. They were getting everything ready for guys to be out there for, fans to be out there because before we know it, we'll be watching some games being played out there. But Zach Gowan spoke to Jesse and the other media earlier before I was there because that was far too

early for me to get there. It's far, way too early. Derek, it wasn't light out when I woke up this morning. I know. I saw the picture you posted. Slightly before sunrise when I ride at the ballpark. Yes, I know that some of you have ridiculous jobs that require you to wake up at like five in the morning and I and I do not NBU and that and that's not and I'm very happy to not have one of those

jobs but today I almost did because yeah getting to the ballpark at 7 a.m. was a little on the early side for some of us for sure. Well and you didn't get your normal amount of time off and we know Zach Gallen didn't get his normal amount of time off due to the short off season and this is what Zach Gallen had to say when asked about that time off and and you know what what the off season was like for him. So it's a good problem now. I think that's a short off. season. I was talking actually to Alex Breggman not too long ago and I'm joking like you know, I'm like, you know how it is, like having a short off season and it's a good problem to have. So, yeah, I mean, we tried to fit in vacations and doing all the recovery stuff and whatnot in the

short period of time, but, you know, I'm hoping that this is going to be at the start of the standard for us. You know, we have the feeling this called us that, you know, we should make the postseason every year. That's a goal we're striving for. And, you know, I hope you know, guys, you know, are holding themselves account. That's our goal. It gives a chance to be, you know, actually finish the job. There was a lot of talk about finishing the job, Jesse, finishing the story, if you will.

And, of course, Tori also commented on it and said, you know, that they just came up short, you know, and talked about still being hungry. But I feel like the short off season gives you a chance to kind of stay, a little bit more dialed in than you would another off season. Also, you know, you are hungry. You did come off of coming so close to achieving the ultimate goal. And so like now, you know, you kind of are a little excited to get back to it. The only thing I can compare it to is like a video game when you die and you want to just,

you want to restart over and you want to, you're like, let's go. I'm ready to play that. I want to beat this. You played the final boss, but you lost. Yeah, and you're like, you want to get back in there. I want to get back in there. I know how to beat him now. It took me a while there to figure out.

Like you had to shoot an arrow into his eye and then jump up on the platform and do that. But like you kind of feel like you have an idea now having gotten as far as you got that you can accomplish that task and you can get, you know, back there. But you also, I mean, like again, it's the time off doesn't seem ideal. It doesn't seem great to have a short amount of time off, especially. for a game like baseball that is so long and puts kind of so many miles on your body over the course of one season. I just think that if there was going to be a year,

you're going to have a short off season. You kind of want it to be a year where you can't wait to get back to baseball and can't wait to get back to trying to achieve that goal. Yeah, I mean, it seems like there's definitely a sense of hunger in that clubhouse. You know, as you said, wanting to kind of get back in that place where the diamondbacks were.

as soon as possible. I mean, obviously that's a ways down the road, but trying to put themselves in position to get to that place again. You know, Tori talked about how there's around 90%. Zach Allen talked about this as well. There's about 90% of, you know, the full roster that's expected in spring training

out there already talking position players along with all of the pitchers and catchers. So there's a lot more guys out at spring training now than are, you know, necessarily required to be there. Granted, the Diamondbacks are not the only team in that position. I'm sure if you, you know, go to other spring training sites, there's a lot of position players rummaging around at all these places. But I think particularly, particularly this year for the Diamondbacks, there seems to be a hunger.

There seems to be, you know, a real desire to get back in there and get back to work and, you know, try to kind of right the wrong at the very end of the season for everything that, you know, was so fantastic about the 2023 season for the Diamondbacks. they did fall a little bit short. And, you know, I think a big theme from today was just trying to not be complacent, not just expect that you're going to get back to that place by default because he made some offseason additions or whatnot. You know, this team is, is seems to be ready to put the work in to get back to that place.

I like that mindset too. The mindset was especially going into the 2024 season that nothing of what they did last year carries over to this to this season. Yeah. Not just because they accomplish. the feat that they accomplished and they won the National League last year does not even guarantee doesn't guarantee them a single win in 2024 and that is the mindset that you need to have coming back off of it but I do feel like you need to also

kind of stay hungry and know how good you are right like you know now how far you can make it you know how things can go yeah once you reach that that postseason and once you start playing teams in a situation where especially like the Diamondbacks were like they had no business being there. So all the pressure was on the opposing teams. And that's going to change this year for this team. This team is going to have a target on their back a bit. And they aren't going to be, you know, the underdog that they were in 2023.

But Zach Galen definitely wants to go out there. He wants to continue to pitch. And I know Tori talked about having a little conversation with Zach and Merrill about maybe letting Tori pull him out of the games a little easier and whatnot. But Zach discussed the anything. that he had put on him, right? Is that what the other clip that we have here is? Yeah, yeah, we have another clip of Zach talking about his innings load last year,

which was enormous. I think it was 243 and two-thirds innings, if you count the postseason. Yeah, we have another clip of Tori talking about this as well. But here's what Zach had to say about the innings total and some of the conversations that have been had going into this year. And we've had conversations just, you know, what's the, smartest way to get to that. I think just, you know, being smart about certain times in the year, maybe it doesn't have to be, you know, 20010 innings. It can be, maybe let's just peel an inning off

here because we want to save, you know, 10 innings from the postings, like whatever it is getting that postings will be a number. So, yeah, I mean, I feel too for you, right? Like the one of the word, yeah, I mean, that's kind of, but Tori and I've had, you know, we have such a good relationship to where, you know, I can go to him with something. And it's a good, you know, I have the flow between us. It's like, hey, that's the way I feel good about this, you know, whatever. So, yeah, I mean, I know the training set here and the management, everything is they're going to be, you know, proportionary about just making sure I'm healthy. It's a long season.

You know, just throwing to her endings doesn't really win you anything. You got a throw quality to her ending. So, yeah, I'm excited. Like, I've pretty good all season in terms of trying to be healthy and get stronger and, you know, get better. I mean, I've seen Zach come out of games. I know Zach is reluctant in times to come out of games, but Zach's still Zach. He's still a very easygoing guy, no matter how competitive he is. So I feel like removing Zach from a game is probably a little easier than removing Merrill Kelly from a game.

But the one thing here is that Tori at times has been questioned a lot about his managing. and that comes to pulling starting pitchers from games at certain times, leaving them in. Also comes with his starting lineups and starting, you know, everything that he does. You know, we make the jokes about it doesn't matter. You could be on a 15 game hitting streak. If you're going to sit, if you're trying to sit. If Vittori has you penciled in to sit, you're going to sit. I think he's gotten better at that.

He has. He has. But there is still some elements of that. There's a method to the madness, right? And the reason why is because even though that they haven't made the playoffs every single year, Tori has been the manager of this team, he plays the season like he is going to make the postseason. He plays the season like he needs to manage the load for every single guy on this team so that they're fresh and ready once the playoffs come around. That, again, is something that he's only really had the opportunity to do twice in his tenure.

but it also feels like something that, you know, when you do make it there, feels brilliant. You know, it feels brilliant. And it feels like he knew exactly what he was doing the whole time. I feel like after the run that they had last year, maybe guys will be a little bit more on board with it. Maybe guys will listen to Tori a little more. Maybe he knows what he's talking about, especially when it comes to the fact that

Zach Gallen did have the workload that he had. And this is what Tori had to say about Zach's innings in 2023. And if that workload was a factor in. and him kind of struggling a bit down the stretch in the postseason. Do you feel like Zach struggling a little bit more down the stretch? Do you think that was partially because of the innings total climbing as high as it did? If you ask him, I know he'll tell you no. He just felt like he wasn't duplicating his pitches and tunneling right and landing pitches.

And I'm going to take that side of it. I believe that he was strong and healthy. He was still firing low bullets in there at 93, 94 miles an hour. So I feel like he was strong. I just feel like he wasn't executing as efficiently as he was early on. Would you like to see that total number lower than 243 or whatever it was last year? If it is in the 240s, it means we played all the way through October. I'll obviously welcome that.

But, yeah, I think as you are gearing up for the playoffs, if you get to that position, you want your starters as strong as possible. 240 is a big number. It's a really big number. So, yeah, I would like to see that decrease a little bit, but I can't predict what will happen. We've got to win baseball games, and I'll do the best thing I can to help us do that. If he does get to that number, are there lessons on how to make a guy? By the way, you see that room there.

There was 782 people shoved in off the base. It's not a room, Derek. It's a nook in a hallway. It's a nook in a hallway. It's similar to what Klauson Family Guy has, or American Dad, excuse me, Klaus on American Dad. I messed that one up. But hey, there were a lot of people shoved in there. We all appreciated talking to Tori.

And, you know, of course, I like, I do like what he said there, right? Like, yes, if Zach has a workload like that, then that means that we've done some pretty special things. Like, there's no way Zach's going to reach 240 innings without the Diamondbacks making a substantial run in the playoffs or without running Zach out there every three days during the regular season, which is probably not a good idea. But it has always delighted me that both Gallen and Kelly don't want to come out of games. We've seen it at times. We've seen it when Merrill Kelly was absolutely at his best getting pulled out of the game. And it was almost kind of a funny little interaction with a smirk as he came out. But for the most part, we never get to really see Merrill Kelly happy when he's removed from a game.

Nor do you really see most starting pitchers happy about it. but Tori did have to have a conversation with Zach and Merrill and had to discuss this, right? Jesse had to have a chat about how like, hey, look at what we did last year. Maybe listen to me sometimes. Yeah, and I think that that kind of plays into the broader narrative of this spring training for the Diamondbacks. One of the biggest takeaways for me so far has been the Diamondbacks expect to make the playoffs. And so they are going to, you know, the decision. that they make right now in spring training,

as well as the decisions that they make in the regular season, are going to be guided by the expectation that they are going to be playing deep into the postseason, right? And that's not to say that, you know, you're going to start, you're going to do a six-man rotation or something like that, but it sounds like Zach and Merrill, you know, the debacks might back off them a little bit

in the early part of spring training. I think Tori said in passing that we might see them at the beginning of March at some point. So, you know, the first week or so of games, you might not see those guys pitch, which certainly makes sense. And, yeah, I'll be curious to know where Gallons innings count lies for the regular season. You know, if he is able to stay healthy, how much lower than that 210 mark that he was at last year in the regular season? How much lower than that is he during the regular season this year? You know, what does that look like practically?

I mean, you don't want, you don't want to hold him back and be over the top and, you know, make it so Zach, gallon is suddenly a five a dive guy or something like that. But it does sound, I mean, you know, you heard me there asking the question, would you like to hear, would you like to see that number lower? My expectation is that even if the diamondbacks do go all the way to the World Series, they probably do want that number to be lower in, in 2024 in any scenario. You know, as you heard there, Tori is, neither Tori nor Zach are necessarily chalking up his struggles toward the end of the year on the innings count and, you know, the workload that he had accumulated up to that point. But I think us as outsiders, you know, who watched him, who watched him pitch down

the stretch, it, you know, a lot of times when you are tiring out, it's not necessarily a VLO drop. It's a command issue, you know, it's a pitch execution issue. And I think we did see some of that at the end of the, at the end of the year. If I'm the Diamondbacks, I probably do want to see that enemies total come down a little bit in 2024. And I suspect that the diamond backs, the diamond backs and Zach probably do as well. Some important things to address. They did say that Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly are fine. They are healthy and they are strong. Yeah, for sure. And that there's no reason other than the short off season and the workload that they both had last year to not start them until March. So if you don't see that, that's the reason why. Again, there's

nothing really that they're playing for, you know, these guys aren't, you know, battling for a position. or anything like that. But, you know, another thing here is, is that Merrill and Zach are both guys that the Diamondbacks, you know, absolutely need to win games, right? And there's a balance there. But they also want to rest them. And Tori addressed this and talking about, you know, the conversations he had with both of those guys.

But like, there is something to be said about what you discussed earlier. They cannot just assume that they're going to be back to the playoffs. next year. And Tori as a manager needs to balance, you know, utilizing his two strongest starting pitchers and also making sure he, he kind of has that end goal in mind, you know, it's a balancing act. But here is what Lavello had to say about his conversations with those guys. Yeah, and that was part of my one-on-one with he and Merrill today. And I love how they never want to come out of games.

I think, you know, just giving them the ability to go out there and compete. And that's time. They got to trust there's a decision that's being made that's never easy, but I have to be mindful of the team from both of the player. So, yeah, Zach and I, he's got a great method with me, and I've come to understand both those players very long. Do you believe him that he's not going to push back as much? No, push back.

I don't, I know. He walks off the mound and he'll hand me the ball, and when he doesn't want to come out of the game, and he says the same thing every time, every single time. And it tells me how I'm happy he is. So I have no problem with that. I love competitiveness. I love competitive players.

And I love the guy that has the ball the most to be the most competitive guy between the wide lines. I have no problem with that pushback. Once he's a day to him. That's BS. Pretty much every time. We laugh about it. I don't like to share those personal comments. He doesn't like what I do.

But that's pretty funny. Do you feel about it? He doesn't say BS. I like how he clarified. He doesn't say BS. He says the word. And that word is bullshit. And that's the exact thing.

I think I use that quite often, Jesse. That's just a general term for me about anything I dislike in life is typically bullshit. But yeah, no, I mean, that's exactly what it looks like Merrill's saying when he's being pulled out of those games. And it is understandable, right? Like, you know, these guys are competitors. And Tori loves that. Tori loves them being fired up. And I mean, they also know that.

Like they want to show Tori sometimes that they want to stay in a game. They want to show Tori that even if he pulls them in this moment, that they got that dog in them. You know, and like I think that's something that that is indicative of this entire team. When you talk about position players like we, we didn't just see position players out there. You know, we saw guys out there like Jake McCarthy and other guys, but we saw Catell Marte out there in the clubhouse today. We saw Corbyn Carroll come in briefly while he was working out and, doing other things, you know, they're around the facility. So like this team is is absolutely dialed in.

And I think that they are ready for the task at hand, which isn't easy. Like sometimes when you're a team like this that comes up and wins as many games as they did in the postseason and does the thing that they do, there is a little bit of a hangover typically. There is maybe a little bit of thinking that you're better than you are potentially and maybe you just had a good run. I don't know what this team is yet because we haven't seen them perform in 2024. It feels to be the opposite of that. It definitely feels like this team is special and that they kind of clicked at the right time. The offseason additions make it more exciting.

And I mean, it feels like this team really should be thinking about the playoffs as this season begins. Yeah, I mean, going back real quick to the pitch limit stuff, the innings limit stuff with Merrill and Zach. I think there's a difference between, you know, pitchers understanding in the grand scheme of things, that it's good for them to hold back a little bit from time to time versus pitchers like while they're in the moment, you know, in a game, in a competitive environment,

and you're telling them that they're coming out of the game. Like I have a pretty good sense at this point. I think Zach Gallen really does understand, you know, in the grander picture, the reason that the Diamondbacks would want to back off him a little bit. But that doesn't still mean that, you know, every single time you go in and you try to pull Zach Gallen out of a competitive environment, he's not going to be mad at you in the moment, right?

That's why Tori doesn't believe him. He's right to not believe him. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I think, you know, even if the Diamondbacks are, if, you know, Marilyn and and Zach and Tori, they're all on the same page about this stuff, but it doesn't mean you're not going to see, you know, some interesting interaction. on the mound from time to time during the season.

But yeah, to your point, I think this, this Diamondbacks team certainly is, they're well positioned to make the playoffs, right? I mean, the, you know, the projection systems have that chance being greater than 50%, not necessarily a lot over 50%, but over 50%, you know, some of the, I think, Pocoda, like we talked about the other day, they have the D-Baxes is the third best team, the National League, you know, ahead of the Phillies, ahead of, you know, the Cubs and the Brewers and the Cardinals and all those teams in the Central. So, yeah, this is a team that's in good position,

but there is definitely like a, I think they do need to have some awareness here of like, you know, occasionally teams in the playoffs do catch fire at the right time. And as of right now, I think that's the way the Diamondbacks are perceived. They are the 84 win team that caught fire at the right time. And some people would argue are a team that maybe had no business going as far as they did. and yet they, you know, they were able to get that far anyway. And so, you know, it's not to say that they were frauds or anything like that last year,

but they do still have something to prove this season and they shouldn't be complacent. And it so far looks like they're very self-aware of all of those, all of those dynamics. Eric has an interesting question. He said, do you think the debacks might attempt a six-man rotation with Henry and Nelson in order to limit Gallin's workload? Probably not. Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, I guess maybe here or there, you know, like spot start situations or whatnot. You know, maybe there would be a turn through the rotation here or there where you wind up with six guys. But I don't think that's something they would do regularly. The debats do have a decent amount of pitching depth, but I'm not sure they have enough to really confidently want a six-man rotation. You know, Ryan Nelson and Tommy Henry, those are certainly candidates for that fifth starter spot. I'm not sure you're necessarily wanting. to lock both of those guys into starting rotation spots. Of course, injuries can come up and then you're digging, you know, into your depth beyond that.

So I don't think they'd want to do a six-man rotation, but, you know, if the Diamondbacks have an off day here or there, you know, they're probably going to leverage that to get Zach and Merrill, you know, as much rest as they can. Well, we do have more from Tori, but I did want to thank you guys, of course, for your amazing comments for being here in the Ph.N.X.X. YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, make sure to do so now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of our shows go live. Leave us a like. We always appreciate that. If you're listening on the audio podcasting side,

we always love those reviews. They definitely help us out. Five-star reviews help us more than anything. Those give a little baby angel's wings. I'm not sure if you've heard that. But also, make sure you're subscribed on the audio side as well. Damon is getting back to normal because he is here in town. and he's had a chance to get some illegal peas in him. Not enough illegal peats, but some illegal peats. And of course, illegal pizzas is the way that everybody should transition back to coming back to Arizona from any vacation that they were on. But from caterings to gift cards, they have everything that you need for anybody in your life, especially on today. It's Valentine's Day.

So if you needed to stop by and get a last minute gift card, not terrible idea, great place to maybe take a date on Valentine's night. I don't know. We're scrambling here. We have to cover baseball. So Valentine's Day means that we get to see Tori. That's what Valentine's Day means to us. But make sure you check out illegal peats because they have the strongest margaritas. So again, makes for a great date night. You can kick the Monday blues with $3 margaritas all day long or ease your way back in the week with $2 tacos every Tuesday. If you work in health care or education, you can take your team to lunch illegal peats every Tuesday and enjoy buy one, get one free entrees. And don't forget to unwind after a long day at their happy. hour 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Illegal Pete, your go-to spot for burritos, buddies, beers, and date night, maybe. Anyway, it's a great place to go no matter, no matter who you're with. Great, great time over illegal peats. Also, I will just, I will just say real quick that even if you are like me and Valentine's Day is more appropriately deemed happy singleness awareness day or singleness awareness day, you can also go to illegal Pete's and have a great time on the past.

patio, you know, they'll treat you well there and you can still have a great Valentine's day all by yourself. Oh, Jesse. Oh, Jesse. Thank you for thinking of the single people out there. I appreciate you. Whether you have a date or you're going by yourself, game time does have you covered for all sporting events, concert, shows, whatever you want to go to. Of course, you can just buy one ticket if you need to. That's no. By the way, let's talk about going to any event by yourself. it is not a terrible idea. Going to events by yourself kind of rocks. Going to movies by yourself might be the only way to really go watch a movie.

That just might be coming from someone that's been married for over 20 years. But regardless, if you're going by yourself or with someone you love, make sure to check out game time because it is the place for last minute ticket deals. Of course, it is the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason is because it's got those last minute deals when you got the FOMO for all of those wonderful events you want to check out. So snag the tickets right now with. without the stress with game time, download the app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms do apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We did have one last thing, Jesse, from Tori. And that was that Tori Lovolo did, in fact, receive your ice cream. If you sent Tori Lovolo ice cream, we can confirm he received it, And he consumed it.

He ate all of it, every single bite of it. And that is something he was very appreciative of. But Jesse, something else he was appreciative of was watching another coach in a championship game not get the job done. And have kind of a little bit of understanding, a little bit of perspective, watching another coach, how he felt about Kyle Shanahan, not getting the job done in the Super Bowl. I think that this was something he kind of needed just to kind of flush the 2023. Not to flush the 2023 season because there was a lot to build on. There's a lot to be excited about, a lot to be happy about. But to flush that feeling that you failed by not bringing home the championship

when you guided your team all the way to the World Series. And this is what Tori Loebollo had to say about that and about your ice cream. I want to say thanks to all the fans out there that sent me ice cream. I don't know how you guys got my address. Some were hand delivered with no postage on it. They were just showing up on the doorstep. And I didn't suck my thumb and I didn't go camping. But I spent a lot of time alone.

I spent a lot of time very quietly dissecting what happened and just getting through what went right and what were wrong last year. And a lot went right. And I was very proud of that. You know, it never stopped. I watched Kyle Shanahan walk off the field the other day. It was a Super Bowl losing head coach. and I felt his pain

I felt what he was feeling I've lived that and I know the heartache that he had and by watching him it told me a story it might have told you guys a totally different story but I think we're all the same boat

and we heard for him at the end of it when I walked out of the room I'm like that's a pretty cool year like he was a Super Bowl runner up he got there that's awesome he should be really proud of himself

so I kind of told myself that the same way and maybe that was the last thing that I needed before coming here so I could totally turn the page and make sure that I was ready for today. So I had a ton of ice cream. It was delicious. I got 10 great pounds, my winter coat, and I need to work that off for spring training.

So that could be your thing, fans? It's just going to skip you like that. Maybe, yeah. And I don't know how they got the flavors right, but I'm chocolate peanut butter, and it just kept showing up chocolate peanut butter. I don't know what out there, but it was great. First, we need to address that chocolate peanut butter. is absolutely an elite ice cream flavor.

Like one of the best ice cream flavors known to mankind. When he said that, the look of joy in my face was similar to when Ryan Thompson said the dangerous and connected line on yesterday's. It was like chocolate and peanut butter, you say, a man. I see a fellow man of class. And, you know, but I will also say that it's, you know, we know, we know Tori talked about not watching the World Series last year and not really wanting to go back and relive it and things. But and it did it did really feel like he should kind of be proud of himself in the same way that

he was talking about being proud of Kyle Shanahan. Like that's something that you, you know, did. And even though you didn't obviously bring home the championship, there's still something to feel proud about about how much you accomplished, especially with a team that nobody saw getting that far in a million years besides ESPO. Yeah. And for those, For those of you who are maybe confused what he's talking about at the beginning with like, no, I did not go camping. I didn't suck my phone on those things. That's all from an amazing quote that he gave right when the season ended.

I think it was right after the Diamondbacks had lost the World Series in the press interview room at Chase Field. Where, yeah, he was asked like, you know, how he's going to kind of deal with everything that had just happened. And he said he just wanted to like go camping and just like be alone. suck his thumb and eat ice cream yeah that's that's what he's referring to there was a real a real gem of the word and we got an incredible video of him receiving like this entire uh package from coldstone i believe it was yeah even though he says he didn't spend any time in a tent sucking his thumb he definitely looked like a man that at least slept outside for three days when he came in and ate that ice cream but uh i mean there there again going back to what i was saying there is just something

again to be to be proud of like and and i know we have talked about it a lot we said it at times when it felt like the diamondbacks you know were were up against the wall like in the nLCS we felt like there was some times where this might be the end of their postseason run you just had to take joy in how much we got how far they got how much we got to you know just root for and celebrate this team during that run right like as fans you just got to be a excited that a team that kind of had no business getting that far got that far. But that's from a fan perspective. From their perspective, the things they did is what got them that far. And they can replicate those things in 2024. They can bring a lot of that same intensity back and they can maybe

even start it earlier. Like I said yesterday, I think, or maybe on Monday, this team adapted and completely changed throughout the year. And this team now is more of the team, or is the team that made the World Series run. So, you know, there's no shedding of one of your, you know, top starting pitchers in your rotation and moving on from him. There's no, you know, bullpen starts anymore, hopefully, you know, and some of the things that they went to just to get through the 162 game season last year. This is a more complete team and it does feel like, you know, that there is something to build on here from the World Series to not exactly just, you know, I guess underestimate how important that run that you went on is.

and how much you might be able to continue that this season. Yeah, I mean, I think looking at this roster that the Diamondbacks have right now, I mean, I know it's hard to see this stuff coming, but I'm not sure I see, you know, like four guys on this opening day roster, you know, that might be DFA at some point during the season, right? And yeah, and like that stuff is is unpredictable. You don't, you know, I don't think I saw Carson Kelly struggling the, you know, the way he did obviously was hurt at the beginning of the season.

and it was kind of a weird year for him overall. But yeah, I think, you know, the diamondbacks shot a little bit higher than they have in the past with some of their acquisitions, right? Jock Peterson coming in, like, he's someone, I think you can have a good amount of confidence in to be a contributor offensively. Eugenio Suarez, we talked about how Pocoda doesn't love him. You know, some of the projection systems, Bue on his slightly below league average hitter around league average.

But even then, you know, the Diamondbacks got really, really poor production from third base last year. So the bar for him to clear is not especially high. And Eduardo Rodriguez, you know, he's someone that is coming off of 330 ERA season. And, you know, maybe he doesn't repeat that. But he's still someone that I think everyone around the game expects to be a solid contributor for the Diamondbacks this year in a way that last year, like, you didn't necessarily feel that way about Madison Bumgarner. You know, there were some more questions about certain guys on the roster, you know, who had had some good moments and some bad moments. their past. This, this roster to me looks just more steady across the board. I think it's, you know, it's more likely the devax would have to stick with the vast majority of these guys

throughout the course of the year. A big part of their postseason run and making the playoffs last year was bringing over Paul Seawald. And we had a chance to talk to Paul today. He had some great things to say about complacency. He has firsthand experience. The reason why he became a member of the Diamondbacks is because a Seattle. Mariners team that was on the cusp of, of, you know, kind of being a playoff contender and maybe more, uh, kind of got complacent in, in his words. And he talked a little bit about how it just felt like, you know, you know, you got a slow start out of springage training. You get those that slow start in April and you just feel like you can get those games back. You feel like it's

no big deal. You feel like, uh, even though we got a slow start, we'll, we'll pick some games back up. May will be better for us. then you just never really get back on track. And Damon, I switch these clips around. So this is the second clip, but this is what Paul Cuala had to say about that sense of urgency. Not necessarily in spring training, but just, you know, if you don't have any sense of urgency in spring training, and then it kind of continues into the regular season. You know, you just kind of like, oh, it's April.

You know, it's no big deal. We can lose a couple games, which you can. You don't want to panic in April. But you still want a little bit of sense of urgency as we get to March 28. And that's, again, that's it, right? I mean, again, you can't worry that much about spring training, but like, this is it. This is where it starts. This is where you start that journey.

And you kind of have to have that feeling that every single game throughout 162 game season is critical. And it almost was for the Diamondbacks last year. Look at how close they were to not making the playoffs. They lost two more games. They wouldn't have even been in the playoffs. Yeah. I mean, I think it was, I think it was one more game, right? Yeah, yeah, right.

Essentially one more game, right? Yeah. I didn't want to, I didn't want it to be that, like, dire, but yes, one game literally made the difference last year. Yeah, it was interesting to hear. I mean, Paul did say pretty upfront, like, he knows what it's like to be on a team that, you know, came off a really strong season and didn't really show up the next year. And, you know, I don't know if he was necessarily like trying to call, call out his

former teammates or whatnot, but there, I think there was a sense that that may Airner's team came into 2023, maybe expecting that if they did, you know, if they did falter early in the season, they'd be fine eventually. And as Paul said, there is an element to that. You know, you don't want to be too stressed out about results in April. And on the flip side, you don't want to get too high if your team is doing really well early in the season like the Diamondbacks did last year. But yeah, you want to have a mindset of like, man, all these games count.

we can't just roll out of bed and win, you know, 87, 88 games. This Diamondback team is going to have to put their best foot forward in order to get to the playoffs, even though, you know, some of the projection systems really seem to favor them. I mean, really just slightly over a lot of their competitors. Sure. Literally by half a game or less than half a game, right? Yeah. So it's going to be that close.

But, I mean, Paul Seawald also, you know, he discussed the Dodgers. You asked them about the Dodgers. Like the Dodgers are kind of one of those teams that they don't need to panic about a slow start because it always feels like at some point they're going to win every game in the month of June or July. And then it's going to all of a sudden go from them being a half a game back in the NL West to having a 14 game lead in the blink of an eye, right? But that is a team that can just roll out of that. Yes. You know, 97 or some odd games. I mean, my God, especially the way they're constructed now, right?

Like that's insane. But you did ask that obligatory. Dodgers question to Paul, and this is what he had to say. Ask the obligatory. The Dodgers spent a whole lot of money this out of season. You know, you're kind of newer to having the Dodgers and the division and whatnot. What's your perspective on that? How do you think this team should be?

Yeah, they're going to be really good. I'd be shocked if they didn't win 100 games again. You know, if their team stays healthy, they'll probably win 110 games. Obviously, we show that it doesn't really matter if you win 110 games. You have to win the. the last few and so it'll come down you know they have a lot of question marks as well as their health you know who is you know if they can get all their pitchers healthy in the playoffs they'll be very dangerous but uh they were not last year and and they have some guys with some question marks and

if we catch them at the right time our team is good enough to beat them even if they're at their best and that's how we should feel uh but we are not going to worry about he's right uh but i've also feel like he had to say that part there at the end like the diamondbacks can beat the dodgers have beat them. Yeah. Right. But this this particular Dodgers team has not been beaten by this particular Diamondbacks team. So it's going to be interesting to see. And, and I mean, again, it, if spending the most money on your team resulted in your team winning the championship every year, uh, things would be a lot different in major league baseball history. But that's not how things play out. This team, this Diamondbacks team is scrappy and it's built different. And at times,

you could even say like it was kind of constructed in a way to beat the Dodgers. Like that's kind of what the mindset kind of has to be at times when it comes to playing this team in the division. But I mean, it's it's also just a bunch of young guys that really don't seem to be intimidated by that. Hopefully that continues this year. It's going to going to need to play with a certain amount of, you know, bravado against the Dodgers when you start looking at that lineup and start seeing. the names that you're going to see from 1 through 9. Yeah, I feel like it's kind of obligatory on Paul's part to, you know, make sure he says, like even if the Dodgers are fully healthy, we can beat them then too.

They're not too good. But the first part of his answer, most of his answer to that question is the Dodgers can win 110 games and it doesn't matter, right? I mean, that's kind of what we saw last year to a lesser extent. And he did, he did, you know, point out like the Dodgers have some question marks. You know, you think about Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the fact that, you know, a starting pitcher that they're expecting a lot from hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors yet. On the injury front, as he referred to, Tyler Glass now doesn't have a strong injury history in either just Clayton Kershaw or James Paxton, Walker Bueller, you know, coming off of Tommy John surgery. There are some questions there for sure.

But, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, a baseball, in a sense is kind of immune to super teams when it comes to the postseason, right? I mean, it really doesn't matter how many games you win or even frankly, or even frankly, if you are healthy, like even if the Dodgers do have, you know, Paxton and Glassnow and Bueller and Bobby Miller and Yamamoto, if they're all healthy in the playoffs, that still doesn't guarantee that the Dodgers are going to win the World Series. They still would have like a 25 or 30 percent chance of, you know, getting bounced by some, you know, 85, 86 win team or whatever. in the first round of the playoffs. Those kinds of things can happen to anyone. So, yeah, I mean, it's one of the beautiful things about baseball. If you're a fan of a team like the Diamondbacks, you know, super team thing, the, you know, the big spending that other teams are capable of doing.

You know, it sucks in some ways as a fan, I'm sure. But it doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot once you get to the games that really matter. That's it. And that's the reason why Mr. Friedman isn't a huge fan of expanding MLB playoffs. And understandably so. Like, you can't keep this 162 game season and then just not have it matter when we get down to the tournament for the world. Eventually, we're just going to, we're just going to play 162. And then we're just going to have a 30 team tournament at the end.

And it's going to make it. It's all for seating, Jesse. It's just going to all be proceeding. They're just doing it to sell tickets and have some fun, make some memories, do the All-Star game. And then the actual season starts. It was all about the power of friendship and the friends we made along the way and you know it. You know it. But of course, speaking of making friends and the power of friendship, check out our friends at OG's brands because they're always enhancing your life.

They are flavoring your life. And they are all about making gummies that make your lives better. They have a wide variety of doses and strains. They have their sleep edition gummy. They have some setivas, happy balance with some CBD in there. They have all sorts of great, great, great. offerings, but their new products are there Rick Simpson oil, Big OGs, and their OGs naturals, which are vegan gummies made with live rosin, available in a sweet Clementine flavor.

To learn more about OGs G's gummies and where you can find them, head on over to OGsbrands.com. I will not be taking any more questions about me eating the Big OGs. That's, I think, I think I've answered all the questions I need to answer about that at this point. Also, check out BetMGM. It's a great way to get down on baseball. Once baseball comes back around, get down on some future bets, start looking at maybe some of those rookie of the year candidates. Yeah, last year was a slam dunk.

We knew we were betting on last year. We rode with Corby and Carol from the get-go. But, of course, this year is going to be interesting. So you can sign up right now and deposit at least $5 into your newly created account using our code of PHNX. And once you have done so, you will receive $150 in bonus bets, regardless of the outcome of your wager. All you got to do is sign up for the bet MGM app and use that bonus code of PHN app. Place your first bet MGM sportsbook wager through the mobile application for at least

$5.00. You will receive $150 instantly in additional winnings regardless of your wager's outcome. Check out the show notes for full details and now listen to Damon. Talk about the phone. Call 1-800 gambler available in the U.S. Call 8778708. Open Y or text open Y for 6769 New York. Call 100 327-5-0-800-1-800-1-800-1-1-8-1-7-1-1-7-1-1-7 for confidential help Michigan. 1-800-80102-3 Puerto Rico in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Visit Ben-MGM.com for terms. This promotional offer is not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico. That's muted there. Speaking of Damon, we kind of have a little bit of a confession to make, don't we, Jesse? I mean, should we tell him? I don't know if he can take it, Derek. I don't know. I don't know how I'll handle it. Go ahead.

I hate to break. He's here. He's talking. Play it on me. I hate to break it to you, Damon, and all of our people watching, but Jesse and I might be Ryan's dogs now and not Damon's dogs. I don't know how the hierarchy breaks down, but today when we were out at Salt River Field,

we saw our friend from yesterday, Ryan Thompson, tea time, Ryan Thompson, who did walk by and called Jesse and me his dogs. And then he got to find us after that. Jesse's high five was very awkward. He had his hands in his pockets. He wasn't ready for it. I meanwhile am ready to high five at any time at any given moment. So I was prepared.

But I was not prepared to be inducted into Ryan's dogs today on the first day of spring training. I thought we would have to prove ourselves more. Is there any possibility that we can be both Ryan's dogs and Damon's dogs? It seems like a mutually exclusive thing. Yeah, I think so. It does. You only what I would explain to Damon is. that if at some point Ryan agrees to become one of Damon's dogs,

then we would, we would as a result of that also. Right. Because we would still be Ryan's dogs, but we would fall under the Damon's dogs umbrella. Yeah. Right. See?

Exactly. Look at us. Look at us. We are not in the same room, but we are still connected and dangerous, Jesse. That is for sure. By the way, shout out to Arizona. Happy birthday, Arizona.

We love you so much. We love your weather. Today was a weird Arizona day because it was freezing in the shade and just hot in the sun. Jesse's melting in the sun. I had like three layers. I had like three layers on because I because I showed up in the ballpark at, you know, three in the morning basically. And it was frigid.

It wasn't even light out. Yeah, it might as well have been snow on the ground for all I knew. So I brought layers and then, yeah, as the sun, as the sun went about it. its course eventually it did get it did get a little warm out there did you get Arizona a gift for their birthday Jesse um unfortunately I think I dropped the ball this year yeah you did and know how maybe I maybe I get excommunicated from the state of the results of that I don't know what the ramifications are but well I mean it's there's there's a lot of pressure today we got to get Arizona birthday we have to get our valentine's day person a birthday I bought my daughter Lego flowers and

somehow I'm expecting that to be good enough for my wife to let me off the hook. I don't think it's going to work that way, but I felt like maybe my considerate actions towards my daughter might just carry over to at least make it understandable that baseball stole my Valentine's Day. I love when I can use baseball as an excuse, by the way. It's the best thing to use an excuse in any instance. It doesn't always work, but it really is the best thing to use it as an excuse. Yeah, I mean, to all the single people like me, you know, hanging out with us today, like, you can just say baseball is your Valentine and no one can just do that crap about that.

So to win. We do, we do love us some baseball. So that does actually make a whole lot of sense. But again, shout out to all the single people on Valentine's Day. Shout out to Arizona. Happy birthday, baby. And shout out to Ryan's dogs out there, all of Ryan's dogs, no matter where you are. No matter how far you roam, no matter how loudly you bark.

By the way, speaking of traveling Arizona and checking out all the wonderful things, Arizona has to offer. Right now, Arizona Lottery has their brand new, unique ticket promotion called Arizona Adventure, which is all about getting you out there to visit some of these wonderful spots all around Arizona. We're talking about spots like Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona, Jim Thompson Trailhead in Sedona, Arizona, which if you've never been to Sedona and you live here in the state, what are you doing with your life? Go right now.

It's a great time to go out and check out some of these places. The Chuck Huckleberry Loop in Tucson, Arizona. I know Damon is a big, big fan of the Chuck Huckleberry Loop down there in Tucson. But all of these destinations, he has to be. All of these destinations are all part of them. Yeah, right. That's exactly what I was expecting to hear. This promotion is all about celebrating state pride and the uniqueness and beauty of Arizona.

State 48 on its birthday, especially today. So what you can actually do is like a geocash situation. You can visit azeadventure.com for details and directions, but you can check in at these destinations, and you can have a chance to win up to $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes. So do not miss out on this opportunity. Visit azeadventure.com for more information on how you can take an adventure with the Arizona lottery and for a chance to win $1 million in cash and Arizona travel prizes.

Also, speaking of money, Speaking of having a little bit more money, and speaking of this great state of Arizona, Desert Financial has been Arizona's largest, most trusted local credit union for more than 84 years. So if you need a place for you to go and trust who is going to put your financial future in the hands of someone you can trust, they are all about their community and sharing success with their members, you can look to Desert Financial for checking in savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, investment options, and so much more. They got me started on my home ownership journey, and they can help you out as well. When you open a free checking account online, get $200 and bonuses, get started by visiting desertfinancial.com slash 200.

Well, that's all we got for today, kiddos. Jesse and I have another very early day tomorrow being back out there. No pre-workout media availability, but we will be out there to watch all those pitchers doing their thing. And again, position players, like we leave, I know that this is the picture. and catchers times, but the position players are out there doing just as much work. And just the, I guess there's a, there's a vibe, Jesse. The vibe is pretty good out there at Salt River Fields.

I felt like everyone we spoke to kind of had the right mindset. That mindset obviously being kind of spearheaded by Tori LaBullo talking to his players and telling them, you know, how they're going to approach 2024. But I really dig the buy-in from the players and how much it feels like everybody is locked in to try to make this 2024 season even more special than 2023 was. Yeah. Yeah, man. It's that time, it's that time of year, right? Anyone who we saw, we saw some people out there today. Yeah, that's right. Shout out to Josh Hunt. Got to see him out at the out of the field today. And his adorable son who was already smiling and giving me

daps and stuff. It was great. Yeah, I mean, we are, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our D-BAC's ticket rep was out there sporting a brand new Kevin Ginkle jersey that he had autographed by Ginkle. So I mean, it was there was just a lot of excitement, man. And I mean, again, when you get to come out and check out this workout, I know sometimes I have people ask me, like, what, what do you do out there? What can I do? And I mean, I don't know.

It's a unique experience to come out, just like I was saying earlier about us being around these guys when they're doing some of these drills and when they're practicing like this. We don't get this opportunity during the regular season. and this isn't something we typically get to be around. It's a fun time to see these guys getting themselves prepared and getting ready for this season. So if you have a chance, make sure to come on out to Salt River Fields. The access I feel like is just unprecedented. And I mean, again, Tori was out there signing autographs and chatting with people and Zach Gowndt stopped by.

And I mean, everybody kind of gives the fans some love. There weren't even a lot of people out there. Like it wasn't extremely crowded. So if it's also a situation where you might be concerned that there's too many people. people out there. Uh, I don't worry about that. Come on out. This team would love to see the support. And I know that's something that's going to be big, uh, this season to, to fill up that building and to show these guys the love they deserve for, for what they're trying to do. And what they did almost do in 20, 23. Yeah. Yeah, it gets even better to once like all the position players are out

there. Again, pretty much all of them are out there, but they're not doing as many organized drills that you could watch right now. Yeah. That starts Monday, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think, yeah, that sounds right. Monday would be when the first full squad workout. And yeah, at that point, there's a lot more stuff to see and walk around and do. So, yeah, but really, at any time, you can't go wrong right now. As you said, there weren't a lot of people out there today. If you showed up and you wanted a Toro Lavello autograph, you probably could have gotten it. Yeah. Yeah. There were not that many people there. So, yeah, the access is great. I know some people say it's maybe not quite what it used to be, but in my mind, still totally a valuable

experience if you're a big fan of this team. You know what I will say about it not being what it used to be? It was kind of wide open. And at times, even I as a media person don't know where I am and am not allowed. And obviously, sometimes we have personnel to direct us. And then obviously sometimes we don't. And I felt like in some cases, it wasn't really just as much about people roaming around as much as like as a fan i i want to go to where the action is i want to go to where the players are going to be so if i'm just kind of roaming around that giant facility uh you you might not you might not go to the right place or even come close to where the guys are actually working out at so i i understand that there have been some changes but i do feel like they do a great job of

putting you right in the middle of the action uh today where everybody was at is the exact spot where we were all day we were either watching i think it's that field that field one or whatever they call that field at, and then over there where the pitchers were kind of tossing BP. So again, come out. If you want to see these guys, if you want to get those autographs, great time to do it.

And as the season progresses, even as spring training starts and games start going, it's only going to get a little harder to get access to some of these players. So make sure to make sure if you're a fan here in Arizona that you take up that opportunity to do so. Of course, also make sure you say hi to us, because if you don't,

we're going to be very mad at you. So make sure to come say eye to us. We want pictures. We want to see you guys. We appreciate your guys' support. Not only this team, but of us. And especially Jesse, when he's, you know, bring sunblock for Jesse and maybe some water. You know, I'm always worried about him.

If you guys don't take care of me, then no one will. Who will? Who will? I mean, I don't know. Not me. That's for sure. But anyway, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K.

Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. of course, Damon, our producer, the people's producer, that Damon dog, that's D-A-W-G. And despite what I said earlier, we're still Damon's dogs. Bark, bark. I don't know if I can bark right now, Derek. Oh, my God. Sure. Oh, my God.

Notice. Remember this, Damon. I wrote that time stamp down. Yeah, remember. Remember. I think I'm on Damon's list now. I'm on David's list. Remember who you wanted to take on the staycation?

Maybe you pick poorly. Maybe you picked poorly, but anyway. You don't want to be on that list, Jesse. That's a bad list to be on. I'm still Damon's dog. Anyway, we can tell you that our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time.

We'll be back here tomorrow with more from day two of spring training. And until then, we appreciate your time. We thank you for stopping by. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. but it is so much more fun when spring training has started.