PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Ryne Nelson shines as the D-backs win second straight against the Braves in Atlanta

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

The Arizona Diamondbacks got another stellar outing from Ryne Nelson on the road in a victory over the Atlanta Braves that gives them their first series win of the second half. The D-backs’ offense continued to produce against the best team in the National League. We also dive into potential help with starting pitching for Arizona as we look at trade deadline targets Marcus Stroman and Jordan Montgomery.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Go to https://birddogs.com/PHNX or enter promo code PHNX for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order.Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Learn more about OGeez! at https://ogeezbrands.com//. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. 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. 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.

to a victory edition of the PHNXD Back podcast. I am back and I am still your mayor of the city of Phoenix. As these guys said, I was brokering a deal to become the mayor of Las Vegas. We'll see what happens later this week. This guy had banging next to me. He's Mr. Electric, not just now, but all the time. Sean DePaz. And of course, it's Thunderstick and the vice man, Jesse Friedman.

Gentlemen, quite the game tonight for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Quite the start for Ryan Nelson, something that continues to confound me because I don't understand how this man is so good on the road and so bad at home. But thankfully for this team, he was very good tonight on the road in Atlanta. Yeah, I mean, it was just as everyone, everyone predicted, right? I mean, you know, game two on the road facing the Brays, you know, a guy with an ERA around five against Charlie Morton. Like, you know, this was on paper, pretty easy win for the Diamondbacks, right? Yeah. Yeah, no, Ryan Nelson pitched absolutely incredibly in this game. I know he got dinged up for for the home run late, but still seven innings, two runs.

Just outstanding stuff from him across the board. He kind of set the pace for the debacks throughout this game, just getting this offense back in the dugout time after time. He was incredibly efficient, too. He had 64 pitches through six innings in this game. It was amazing. Tossing around the idea of maybe a complete game. Yeah, I mean,

we saw him pitch into the eighth inning against the Giants a few weeks ago. So, like, when he has it running, I mean, he really can get pretty deep into games at times. I think, you know, removing him in the seventh was probably the right decision. It wound up working out ultimately. But yeah, and this offense had some huge moments as well. A bunch of different two out RBI hits in this game just kind of stacked on top of each other. Yesterday's game maybe wasn't a great all around win for the Diamondbacks.

Pitching side wasn't so great in yesterday's game for as incredible as that win was. But today it was a much more complete product all the way around. The bar was set pretty low for Ryan Nelson as far as what he had to come out to accomplish. be better than Zach Davies, who was put on the 15-day IL today. We will talk about that later, of course. But we're not done talking about Ryan Nelson because this man has been incredible. On the road, he is now 4-1 and 11 starts. He has a 2.67 ERA, 14 walks, 49 strikeouts.

Compare that to his home numbers, and it couldn't be more different. His numbers at Chase Field are pretty atrocious. In nine starts, he's 2 and 4. with an 8.08 ERA. He has 16 walks and 24 strikeouts. So you just have to find a way to get Zach Allen to pitch exclusively at home. Correct. Ryan Nelson exclusively on the road.

When Merrill Kelly comes back, you want him exclusively on the road. Yes. It might, you know, guys might have to pitch on one or two days rest every now and then, but it's going to be worth it. They call you a manager for a reason, right? I mean, that's what you do. You manage. So, yeah, just like schedules at a TGI Fridays, you got to manage.

You got to manage this better. You got to make sure. Ryan Nelson only pitches on the road. Zach Allen only pitches at home. Perfect for a postseason series, though. Right? Still Ryan Nelson out there for the road games. You know, if you're hosting the series.

See, that's big brain activity right there. That's big Christian Dixon Walker energy right there is what it is. By the way, we found out Christian Walker's middle name is Dixon. And yeah, you bet your ass. I'm not letting that go. I'm so disappointed in like kind of all three of you, specifically you. Yeah. I take the blame on this.

That's not known. I'm definitely taking the L. wildly on Derek. Yeah, the majority of the blame is on, is on Derek. But I will say that it is like the first, one of the first things you see on his page on MLB dot com or on the Donovanb

Dixon. So I would have expected Jesse to have known that as well. Yeah, I don't, I know, I'm not a big middle names guy. Like I don't see. Neither am I.

I know a lot of things about this Diamondbacks roster. I don't think I could name very many middle. Yeah, but that's different. But if I saw that Christian Walker's middle name was Dixon, it's not something I would forget. And it's Christian Warren or man. It does stand out a little bit. The man was two for three to nine. He had two runs scored.

He's back, by the way. Mustache, gone. And I think there's a correlation there. I might be reaching, but. Do I have to say my mustache? Well, I accomplished good things. You don't look like a cop. That's the difference.

You don't look like a cop. Christian Walker, very cop-like. And I didn't like that. But I do like the way he plays defense, especially with what we were seeing over on the other side. of the ball from the Atlanta Braves and their defense today pretty bad. Uh, did lead to quite a bit of the Arizona Diamondback scoring, which was fairly clutch. Jesse, they were fairly clutch today.

They were extremely clutch in this game. All of the Diamondbacks runs came on two out RBI hits. The Diamondbacks not in a home run in this game. Yeah, you can definitely win. Yeah, win all the time doing that. Uh, no. In the second inning, uh, Dbacks had a runner at second with two outs. Gabby Moreno came up, got the scoring.

started for the Diamondbacks with a ground rule double. In the third inning, the debacks had the basis loaded with two outs. Lordus Gariel came through with a two-run double. Derek's purple hair was tingling once again. It was. It's still here, guys. It's not gone yet. In the sixth inning, first and third two outs.

Nick Ahmed comes through with an RBI double. And then in the eighth inning, first and third two outs again. Nick Ahmed comes through once again with an RBI. I guess I was first and second two outs. Nick Ahmed comes through again with an RBI single. So, yeah, I mean, if you're the Braves, probably a pretty frustrating game to lose. You weren't out away in all of these situations from putting a whole bunch of goose eggs up against this Diamondbacks team. But they were tenacious and, you know, they came through in a lot of big spots in this game, which is something the team has really struggled to do in recent days.

You keep saying you're giving the team the team too much credit. This is Nick Ahmed's game. Nick, it's all about Nick Ahmed. Nick Ahmed was resilient. He was resilient in this one. But you're right. That's usually actually something that happens to the Diamondbacks. They're usually the ones that can't get out or.

Of late. You know what I mean? Like honestly, even in some of the major losses they've had this year with that, not the not the one-sided losses, but the ones that were close, there were a lot of occasions where the Diamondbacks were one out away, as we have said time and time again from being out of those situations. And they weren't able to do it.

Today that was the Braves. And I think it's impressive as I believe somebody said in the chat that, of course, peak Diamondbacks. is them losing like they did against the Toronto Blue Jays and being able to completely not score and then having this explosion in this series against the Braves. And honestly, two of the best wins of the year for this team. I mean, today, I think the impressive part about it is if this was Merrill Kelly or Zach gallon, we wouldn't really have been that surprise, maybe a little bit for Zach Allen because

it was on the road. But for the most part, we would expect that kind of performance to get this out of Ryan Nelson. And of course, if Ryan Nelson could somehow figure out this level of, of competitiveness and can be consistent at it, then this guy can really be one of the Diamondbacks answers. We have, we have a problem when it comes to starting pitching right now. And I know we're going to discuss that more. But the Diamondbacks need Tommy Henry and Ryan Nelson desperately. And tonight's performance is very encouraging about his future with this team. Yeah, we were having a conversation just a few weeks ago about, you know, can the debacks continue with Ryan Nelson

in the rotation, right? He had the same conversation about Tommy Henry probably multiple times earlier in the year when, when he was struggling. And you really have to give these guys their props. I mean, they've really fought through a lot of adversity. They've fought through a lot of highs and lows to get to the points where they're at. And no, Tommy Henry wasn't great as last time out. And, you know, even with Nelson and Henry at their best, I don't, I don't think, I don't think we should kid ourselves and say, you know, their number two starters. or something in this league. I don't think they're quite to that point yet.

But Ryan Nelson pitched like a number two starter in this game, right? Going into Atlanta seven innings two runs, you really can't ask for anything more. And he's come up big for the debacks in some of these games against top notch opponents. And it was really, really, really good to see today. I think the one thing that, you know, of course, kind of surprised me here was Nick Ahmed, being able to do what he did. like Nick Ahmed is has not been very good this season but if he can you know do this and

and he can kind of get things back on track we've seen a lot of guys kind of you know get online like I don't know relax I know it's one game it's but I mean stop it's stop it if we're putting any kind of hope on Nick Ahmed figuring things out in this season we have things have gone very bad I honestly why was even in the lineup today that's what we were It was a little weird. Yeah, I mean, a Ritey on the mound. You'd think if you were going to give Ahmed a game, you'd wait until a lefty. Granted, there are no lefties in this series for the Braves.

I guess the D-Backs maybe just want to get him in there every now and then. But, yeah, it was a little weird. We haven't seen a whole lot of Ahmed starting against Ritees this year. Well, and Jerry P. is playing the way he is. He had big knocks on the last night's game, right? He had a big, big knock toward the end of the game last night, which I don't think we even talked about because there was no, we would have, We would have done like a three-hour show if we actually talked about at all of the little new on

Yeah We did we did entire show without mentioning that Lordus went I believe oh for six yesterday. Oh yeah Yeah, I think he I think he did yeah, we never mentioned that I mean I mean it's a one for five today So like the hair needs to go right? I mean I think that's a conclusion we need to come different color. No, I'm not doing a different color. No, he should go either green or yellow don't do a different color. Oh great to a different color. Yes. Well yeah, but I mean if he does you obviously no what that's whatever he does your So what if he goes on like another unbelievable street? Like if he has another month.

Red would be crazy. Yeah. Red would go crazy. I think I think him embracing the lapina and going like green would be five. That would be far. Jake McCarthy. Another guy. We haven't really talked about.

But two for five today. Two stolen bases. Couldn't stop him on the base path. He's just been out now batting lead off. And I thought he did a pretty good job today. I feel like I've said this about multiple players throughout the season. So take it with a grain of salt maybe, but he's, especially with the way he's been playing recently and like part of the chaos that he's been,

he's got like, uh, like NLCS hero written all over. Like, like, that mustache, that baby face with it? You're absolutely. Yeah,

like he, like he's just going to try really hard, man. And he's going to create chaos and then he's going to end up with a series where he's gone like 15 for 23 and five stone bases. And then you're going to be like, That's the best player on this team all of a sudden. He's not going to do anything in the World Series.

That's not how this works. But now he's just, I mean, he's obviously part of the chaos company. Like him and him and and Corbin. Like they just, they make things happen. Whoa. And Christian Walker. Let's not forget. Christian Walker is absolutely causing chaos on the base.

And so is like Carson Kelly would in a different way. Anytime a ball is at the left field, and Lourdes is playing. There is chaos. There is chaos. a different way. Well, we got to give our King Snake out to the man who deserves it. There's a lot of good offensive players tonight.

We kicked around the idea of giving it to Nick Ahmed, but we're not going to do that to you people. Our King Snake, of course, is Ryan Nelson. This man was incredible tonight. Seven innings, pitch, three hits, two earn runs, five strikeouts. And, man, if the Diamondbacks can get this out of Brian Nelson more often, then it really does feel like it's a three-man, four-man rotation now. I mean, it really does. Once Merrill Kelly returns and once we got him and Tommy Henry having outings like this,

it really feels like this team is just one starting pitcher away from potentially having a solid, you know, things locked up, at least for the rest of the season, as far as their starting pitching goes. Yeah. I mean, you wish that these two guys had found a little consistency earlier in the year because then the conversation around the deadline would be very different, right? You'd be maybe talking about adding someone at the back of the rotation just so you have you get to the playoffs type thing.

Sure. Your focus is probably more on the bullpen. Maybe that power bat. Obviously now a starter is still a huge priority. But like if they had been pitching like this all year and obviously specifically with with Ryan, it's a smaller sample size, I guess. A little more recently

that he hasn't been good. But like it would be a different conversation I feel like if they had been if they had the chance to find, not that they weren't given a chance, but if they had been able to find consistency earlier in the year, Yeah, I mean, it's still four guys, though, right? I mean, it'd still be Gallen, Kelly, Henry Nelson.

Yeah. And then you'd still probably need a fifth guy anyway. But yeah, I mean, for Ryan Nelson, it's really all about what are his secondary pitches giving him. And in this game, he did, I mean, he was still very heavy fastball, 62% for seamers. It's not like he was mixing it up a ton. But he was mixing it up enough. And he got a couple of whiffs on the cutter, a couple of whiffs on the slider. He got a whiff on his change up as well.

He was able to command those pitches relatively well. He got a decent number of called strikes with those pitches, even if he wasn't getting whiffs. And that was just enough. Like, Ryan Nelson does have a really good force team fastball. So if he's able to just get enough from those secondary pitches, then he can be a pretty darn good pitcher. And that's what we saw today. Yeah, his command was solid today with that 95, 96 mile per hour four seam. He was then 56% of his pitches were in the zone.

So he was really all over the strike zone. And the other thing about it was his efficiency was so sexy. He left the game with what, I think, 84, 85 pitches. 84 pitches. And I mean, we kind of kicked around the idea of him going back out there. We talked about him. He could have gone back out for the game, right? But I mean, Kevin Ginkle did make things a little bit more interesting tonight than he did, you know, last night.

Obviously, coming in and striking out the side was incredible last night. But he did shut the door, even though things got very, very tense there. Ginkle kind of got rattled there by a cunia being on third base and trying to like Oh yeah Run down the ginkl Ronald Acuna robbery that oh it's wild I knew that was gonna have I knew it was gonna pop off when these two got on the field against each other But I did like is there a more electric match up in baseball than Ronald the Cooney jr against kevin I don't think we're gonna Yeah, there you go like an actual baseball sense just in a fight fight yeah

Yeah just in a round circle like fighting in kind of situation. See, I think here's the thing, is that Kevin Ginkl did like one of the weird, like one of the weirdest

walkbacks I've ever seen where you know, Ronald Kunia's down the base path if you haven't had a chance of seeing this. And there was nobody at third because they kind of had a shift going on essentially.

And Ginkle just kind of walk the ball over to make a cunia go back to third base. And like he just, he just wanted him to go stand on 30. Like he even like kind of pointed to the, base.

It was such a weird situation. It was like dancing around and the down the base pass. He was actively trying to annoy him because he's in his like, right? He's like he can see him over there. He's, you know, he's just, it's a part of, you know, the situation being what it was. But. It did. I have to say it did kind of feel like Okunia sort of got what he was looking for.

He absolutely. He absolutely did. He was, yeah. He was a wild bitch. It was a wild bitch. Yeah. He was trying to get in Gingles head in a five two game, right? Like, Gingles.

in Ginkles back was not against the wall at that point in the game, but Acunae was on third base and he was trying to wreak havoc in whatever way he could. It's a very Josh Rojas move and I respect it because like you said, it works and the team is down more than just one run. So it's not like a Coonius is just trying to score. He is actively trying to rattle Kevin Ginkle and he did. It worked, but he still was able to shut the door and the Diamondbacks get the win. So great, great win for this team. and don't have no idea what they're going to do with their starting rotation going forward.

But hopefully Zach Galen can be better on the road tomorrow. And maybe this team can steal a sweep from the Braves in Atlanta, which would be one of the most unlikeliest outcomes I could have imagined after that Blue J suite. Going to going to Atlanta. That's what everyone expected, Derek. I don't know what. I don't know what universe. I definitely did not.

That against the devax yesterday or today. that didn't happen i definitely expected them to win no chance not a shot i don't believe him at all but i will tell you right now uh there's some more fun to be had if you're interested in betting on the bet mgm app you can get in on no run no run first inning fridays no run first inning fridays get on a little nerfy action of course you opt into the promotion on your bet mgm app place a no run first inning bet on any MLB game bet no on the will there be a run in the first inning market if your bet loses but only one run is scored during the first inning you will receive a bonus bet equaling your stake up to $25 so get down on this today it's available only on Fridays because it is

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Call 8778-N-Y or text Hope N.Y-Few-N-Y-6-6-6-6-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-Masachusetts. 21-1-A., 2nd, 9-2-2-0-0-0-1-N-AW-A., Massachusetts, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, or Ontario. Ontario. What up? Well, we thank you guys for being here right now on the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the channel and do so now, we are sitting here in tremendous heat, by the way. So when you start to see me just leaking liquid out of the top of my head, no, know that I'm fine and I'm not having a seizure or something.

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We always appreciate the feedback. Chris Melton says, why do we have to have Zach at this weird ass early start again? We don't know, Chris. That is a great question. And if we could get you an answer on that. We know, we know this is like all things going against that Gallaud. It's on the road. It's early in the morning.

It's what? It's an East Coast game. Like these are all... How many day games the man gets? Well, and not just day games, but like he has played in at least two that I could think of, like particularly early games.

Like the Detroit game and now this one at 920, right? Like that's... Yeah, it's the incidentally early games. Early games, man. Early games, I don't like it. Like the two earliest they played and he's pitched both of them. Yeah. But here's the thing is Chris is one of our favorite diehard members.

Not that we love you all. We love you all. But Chris. We love you especially much. So make sure to experience this love, you also become a diehard member. Not only will you get our love, but you will also get all sorts of wonderful benefits, including a free gift certificate for Mountain Mike's Pizza that basically pays for the entire membership. You get a free piece of merchandise from the PHNX Locker.com, 20% off all future purchases.

You get a ranch card from Dobson Ranch Golf Course and so many other exclusive benefits from our partners. You also get Jesse's newsletter, full count. You get access to members-only invites for merchandise and events. and discounts on events, including our takeovers, which are happening very soon here. On July 25th, you can join us at Chase Field. We will be having a little burger sampler bar at cold beers and cheeseburgers to kick off the game, as well as some good outfield seats. Bring your glove.

Respectfully, fuck the burgers. I'm going for the mac and cheese. The mac and cheese side salads, the French fries. There's a lot of incredible. I'm there for the all you can drink drinks. That's what I'm there for. All you can drink like soda pop. I want a good soda pop.

You fucking nerd. Get out of here. Anyway, here's our takeover. So make sure to join us. It's the St. Louis Cardinals who are becoming sneaky good. They are not in last place in their division anymore. And of course, this is not going to be. Steenky good, Derek.

They are eight and two in their last 10 games, motherfuckers. They are eight and two in their last games. Don't start with me. Do not start with me. What's their record again? What's what happens when the Cardinals win that goddamn division? They are not worse than the first. the last laugh.

Pittsburgh pirates are worse than them and now they're sneaky. That is that. That's correct. That's correct. Just making sure on the same page. I mean, we've talked about them being seller dwellers all year long and here we are playing them and of course they're playing their best baseball because of course that's the way

that the Arizona Diamondbacks have things. But make sure to join us for that takeover event. Today some news came out. Zach Davies pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Not a lot of you are fans of. Has been placed on the 15 day IL. Leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks now with only three starting pitchers on their active roster. Jesse, how advantageous is this move for Tori Laval?

That was so uncalled for. What was the attack on Zach? Listen, look. I don't like him. I know. Look. Look. Jesse tweeted out yesterday that the man has the highest ERA of any Arizona Diamondbacks

picture in history. With 12 or more starts, I'm going to attack him. Here's this guy who none of you fucking like. he's hurt yeah correct i mean a lot i tell the truth a lot of people of course suspected like all right this is the this is the mystery injured list stance right this is obviously something that that we've seen in baseball before and frankly we don't really we don't really know i mean there's not really a great way to find that out especially on the record can i was telling jesse this like you can you can you can take this for what it's worth it's where you know take it take it for what

it's worth but we we were told and troy lovolo told us this one day about a different injury last season in very convincing fashion. But he basically said that these kind of things are not in the hands of like the front office or Toy Lobolo, that these are calls made by the medical staff. So if there's an injury like this, it's typically an actual injury. Because the training staff, if Mike Hazen gets on the phone and says, hey, we need to give Davies a few days off.

I'm stepping out of it after that. I was just putting that out there. I'm not saying it's truthful. I'm not saying it's a lie. I'm just saying that's what we were told. you can you can take that for what it's all this to say we don't really know if it's a phantom injury it's a lower back inflammation we do know according to steve gilbert i believe tori levello said this that zack davies is going to have an MRI tomorrow um MRIs are expensive procedures right so i guess that

counts against the the mystery you know i have lower back inflammation when i had to get a medical marijuana car you know what i'm saying i'm just saying that that's not something you're not do i have it do i not have it? Who knows? Only I know if I have it. So where did the debacks go from here is the big question, right? I mean, as you said, they have three starting pitchers in this rotation as of right now. Zach Gallen, Ryan Nelson, and Tommy Henry are the only starters on the active roster. We do we do have a pretty good idea of where the debacks are going because of a couple of reports. Gambo had had one of those reports earlier today. I believe we have that tweet.

Gambo said that Brandon Fott is expected to, there it is, he tweeted, I expect Brandon Fought to replace Zach Davies in the starting rotation for the Arizona. Diamondbacks fought made his last start in Reno on July 16th. He's only made two starts in Reno since we last saw him in the big league. And he's been very good in those two starts too. He was not good in his first of those two starts. He was quite good in his most recent one, I believe. So, yeah.

I mean, I wouldn't say it's like, oh, like Brandon fought, you know, did all these things to earn, earn this, this opportunity. It sort of feels like it's out of need and he's kind of the next guy on the depth chart. And, and yeah, I mean, his most recent opportunity was one game against the Tampa Bay Rays, who at the time were arguably the best team in baseball and are obviously still in that conversation. So the debacks. But it was not really. And he absolutely got rock. Yeah. I mean, if ever there was a start that like maybe you don't deserve another opportunity,

immediately afterward. I mean, that that was probably it. But it appears, according to what Gambo said, that the debacks are going to go with fought this weekend. We don't know if that's on the 22nd, which is Saturday or the 23rd on Sunday. I would maybe suspect it would be the 22nd. That would put him on five days rest.

I don't know if they'd want to go to six days rest. But Toro Lavello, according to Steve Gilbert, also said earlier today that it is likely that the debacks will go to a bullpen game for one of those two games as well. Oh, it worked out pretty well last time. They've got two spots to fill this weekend. They do not have a starter for the 22nd or the 23rd because of Davies being on the injured list. So what about Merrill Kelly?

What is going on Merrill Kelly? Because we had word that it, I mean, of course, we heard because of the blood clot that it sounded like he didn't even need to be put on the IL according to Merrill Kelly. According to what Ian Kennedy said from his experience last year, don't let them put you on the injured list. It's basically what Ian Kennedy said. Merrill Kelly was supposed to return after the All-Star break. and what's the word? We wondered if he might be able to.

He had one simulated game. I believe that was 75 pitches. It seemed possible he could come back after that. That is now not the case. The debacks are just kind of operating out of an abundance of caution and giving him a start down in the complex league. And then after that, I would presume he would be ready to go, which would put him available for the debacks next week in the Cardinal series.

So who knows? Maybe we get to see Merrill Kelly for, our takeover day next Tuesday. But I don't, yeah, he's not an option for this weekend in Cincinnati. The debacks need to, they need something else. They need some sort of solution for the 22nd and the 23rd. And it looks like it's going to be Brandon fought for one of those days and a bullpen game for the other one.

Tinfoil hat time. They've already secretly agreed to a trade and they're just waiting for it to be confirmed. So you're saying, Shohay Otani is going to start for the diamond backs on Sunday. Well, no, no, no, I'm not saying that. And then. I'm not saying he's not going to start on the 20s. He's been on 23rd.

Okay. All right. That's right. I said it here. Angels just swept the Yankees for the first time since 2009. Say it with me, everybody. Fuck the New York Yankees. I mean, we already did that in 2001.

But that means the Otani trade might not go through because now the Angels are winning games, right? Yeah, that's true. Stop it. Get on board with what we're trying to do here, Sean. By the way, it was funny that New York Yankees players, they were down four to nothing. And apparently they were being scrutinized on social media for, like, laughing and smiling in the dugout. Let's not do that.

Like what, what? So teams losing should be sad. No, no, yeah, no. Do they have to have the big lip out? No, no, no. They should be. Grow up. You're in New York Yankee.

Have some, have some fucking respect for the pinstripes. You know what? Grow some fucking side birds and have a good time. Live your best life. That's not how they do it in you are. Whether you win or you lose, you live your life and you have a good time. I don't care. You are in New York Yankee.

You do not have fun. No, I want you to have fun. And I'm not throwing, I'm not throwing shade at you. He might be throwing shade. I'm not throwing shade. So he's the one that needs the shady rays. I don't need my shady rays. Of course, you all need shady rays.

It's 155 degrees outside every single day for the last 20, 30 days. I don't even know anymore. It's just hot. That's all, I'm getting, I'm getting tweets from friends in England who are getting videos on their side of the pond about how hot Arizona is. That's, I know, that's not the kind of news I want to be making. But if you do live here, of course, you do need a good. pair of sunglasses. So make sure to check out Shady Ray's. They're an independent sunglasses company with a world-class product and the craziest replacement slash lost

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rated five stars by over 250,000 people. This man is going out of town tomorrow. He is going to Las Vegas. So make sure to follow him on Twitter for all of his Las Vegas shenanigans. But more importantly, first place you're stopping on the way out of town. Oh, I circle gay. I swear.

I literally asked. There was a whole conversation about were you there for that way? He was like, do I need to stop and serve the paper snacks before we go or we snapping on the way because I need to stop at Circle K for snacks. Yes, I asked all to make sure that we were stopping because I'd be downed if I don't have my Circle K snap snacks for a road trip to Las Vegas. Yeah, I got I just went on a road trip. I mean, of course, what is your key road trip snack, by the way?

I'm an almond guy. Almond guy. Oh, like I don't know why, but I go with Doritos, which doesn't seem like a, it doesn't seem like a sensible choice considering the Dorito cheese dust that you get on your fingers. No, you're in the car. Your poor steering wheel. It's all over the steering wheel. I don't want to get clean and something that like I'm gonna be sitting the car for a while

So I don't want to feel like complete shit to be quite honest with you But I mean I'm not gonna hate I also like sour skittles and they have like the little crystals of sugar on them I just don't make decisions It's like the last road trip I was driving so oh yeah I wasn't off the OGs like I normally would be on a road Yeah no I understand that changes kind of my that's a good point My wife is a solid co-pilot when it comes to that she makes sure the snacks get opened and properly and she's like handed me like napkins so I don't get her steering wheel. My last row trip. Mac was my

co-pilot. She put her headphones in and pretend she couldn't hear us all the time. Did you get lost with her being a cop-barre? Nerve to start her Coca-Cola was, or Diet Coke excuse me, was spilling in my car and I was like Mac, it's spilling on my car and she just didn't, or spilling on me and on my pants. I'm like, she just didn't do anything.

I'm like, Mac, clean it up and she's like, why are you yelling at me? And I'm like, you're spilling Diet Pepsi little for me and my car. What are you talking about? Now that here nor there. But yeah, check out Circle K. Don't take back to Circle K with you. That's the key to that story. But make sure you do check out Circle K to buy Powerades at $4 for $5.

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Head to CircleK.com slash store dash locator to find Circle K's near you And also make sure you're picking up your four peaks at Circle K It is the official craft beer of the Arizona Diamondbacks And of course when you're at Chase Field make sure to visit their four peaks draft room Located on the sweet level it is one of the best places to watch a baseball game in the entire ballpark And of course you can sit there and watch the whole time That's the best part about it. Wherever your ticket is, it could have a terrible, obstructed view, and you can go down to the Four Peaks draft room and find yourself a great seat.

Also, make sure to follow them on social media at Four Peaks Brew or go to 4Peaks.com events to stay up to date on everything Four Peaks related. Again, check out Four Peaks Brew or at Fort Peaks Pub to keep up with the latest Arizona's hometown brewery. Must be 21 or older to drink Four Peaks, and please drink responsibly. And of course, don't miss out on grabbing those at Circle K while you're there and all sorts of wonderful beer. It is time for us to explore once again another trade deadline target for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And we are going to continue to focus on starting pitching. We're going to continue to dream about Joey Otani. But we're going to maybe set our sights a little bit more reasonably.

Today's first trade deadline target is St. Louis Cardinals' left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery. Jesse, this guy has been an absolute stud for a Cardinals team that has not had very many very much good when it comes to their starting rotation. No, Derek. The Cardinals are underrated. They're emerging, right? They're hot. I hate you both.

I mean, you said it. I know. Well, anyway, you deserve everything. It's because of Jordan Montgomery, right? Look at this ERA and this whip.

This guy's been an impressive pitcher for this team. He really has a 314 ERA, a 1,2,3 whip, 109 innings this year. Good strikeout numbers, good walk numbers, a 3.49 fit. He's been really solid, really, ever since coming over to the Cardinals last year was an interesting, actually a trade deadline deal that went down last summer between the Yankees and the Cardinals. Jordan Montgomery went from New York over to St. Louis, and he's been really good ever since landing with the Cardinals.

And yeah, we talked about Jack Flaherty on the show yesterday as an option. And people in the chat were like, why would you trade for Jack Flaherty when you can go get Jordan Montgomery? And yeah. You have Jack Flaherty at home. Yeah, right, right. exactly um but yeah i mean Montgomery being a lefty definitely helps theoretically although it seems like Tommy Henry is sort of here to stay in the debacks rotation so maybe that isn't an urgent need

but he is a he is a lefty and and he brings a lot of other things as well uh he's got some pros and cons like jesse said he definitely is a lefty uh he's a clear upgrade right now when it comes to what the Arizona diamondbacks have and there's starting rotation uh and he's available as long as this Cardinals team doesn't do the thing I'm lying about and actually does emerge. The Cardinals have already, it kind of surprised me, but John Mazzalek, they're a head honcho dude. I don't know exactly what his official title is if it's GM. It is a pro-hancho dude.

Sometimes it's the president of baseball operations. Sometimes it's all the same. But he's already come out and said the Cardinals are going to sell at the trade deadline. It's just a matter of whether they're selling off pieces like Montgomery, who are only under team control through the rest of the season or whether they might be willing to sell off a goldsmith or an R&O or some of the other guys that we've also already discussed on this show. As far as cons go for Montgomery, he is a rental as I alluded to. You're only getting him for two months for the rest of the year.

Theoretically, that should minimize the price. It shouldn't be too crazy. But obviously, as I also have here, there's a ton of demand in the starting pitching market, especially given that he's one of the few lefties who projects to be available. and another con would be he has pitched a couple of times in the postseason in his career, but he's never pitched more than four innings in a game. He's never been like the big like, all right, you are, you know, the game three starter and we need five or six innings from you.

He hasn't really fulfilled that role yet in his limited postseason experience. And the debaques would probably need him to do that if they were to make this trade. But across the board, I mean, in terms of, you know, availability, the fact that he is going, He is definitely an option for the diamond backs. There's no question the Cardinals are going to trade him. And he checks a lot of boxes for sure. Sean, what do you think the likelihood of them targeting Jordan Montgomery could be?

And again, like Jesse said, about the Cardinals parting ways with him. I mean, I guess it's hard to speak on likelihood. I feel like they're going to obviously do their due diligence on all of these guys. I mean, I feel like there's a higher likelihood simply because like Jesse mentioned, they have said they're going to sell. Yeah. And it's not one of those teams that we have to sit there and wonder. Exactly.

Like you know they're going to sell and you know the Diamondbacks are going to get a starting pitcher. So yeah. Those two things obviously match up. Like there's so definitely likely and likely in that sense, I guess. I know that's like an impossible task just like asking you how likely this is. But what do you think it would cost, Jesse, for Jordan Montgomery? Do you think that's going to cost more than a Diamondbacks are going to want to

give or given the fact that he's probably i mean yeah because i mean i feel like all of the teams selling are kind it's you know it's you hold all the cards it's it's a seller's market this time right because yeah the the ones that are selling they they are in power and then they're also very limited right so it's like especially we're talking about a leftie like right right and i mean i'm just saying like as far as the teams that right now are willing to negotiate or even take trade deadline calls like i feel like the tigers. I feel like Cardinals. I feel like there's like maybe five or six teams in baseball right now

that are willing to even start negotiating on trades, whereas all the rest of the entire league is still thinking that they're still in it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the Cardinals is interesting that the fit between the debacks and the Cardinals is interesting. The Cardinals have a lot of young, exciting position players, Brandon Donovan, Lars Neupar.

The list goes on. What the Cardinals really need is. There's new bar. Right. What the Cardinals really need is starting pitching. They need like long-term pitching assets. And something that their front office is really emphasized is swing and miss. That's something the Cardinals have not really emphasized in the past.

They've been the team that like, all right, we're going to pitch to contact and we're going to shift better than all the other teams. We're going to play better defense than all the other teams. But in this era where, you know, the shift restrictions are now in place, I think that's a big reason that the Cardinals haven't had the success, this year that they've had in the past. It's a different game this year. It's not just Yadda or Molina? Yeah, it's 90% the absence of Yadda or Molina, but 10% is the

starting pitch of woes. That's different. This is defense, right? I mean, well, yeah, I mean, this is sort of starting pitching woes in a sense too. But what they've said is that they're targeting guys with big swing and miss stuff. They don't want the pitch to contact types of guys. They want the swing and miss guys.

And they want pitchers over position players. That's at least what it looks like. I'm not sure the diamond backs necessarily are a great fit from that standpoint. Sure. They do have some pitching prospects. They do have some interesting pitching prospects, especially at the upper levels of the miners. But none of those guys are crazy swing and miss guys, I wouldn't say. So I don't know if it's a great fit, just debacks and cardinals and, you know, what they're

going to be looking for in this trade. But who knows? You know, I mean, we really at the end of the day don't know. All it takes is like one pitching prospect in the diamond back system. and that the Cardinals really like that that could flip this around. So you will learn. We'll see. Just about the,

just about to come out of my mouth. That's who it's going to be. Yeah. Yeah. I could, I could maybe see the Cardinals asking about him. Well, there's quite a bit of talk about who the Diamondbacks could trade.

And it seems like his name gets brought up quite a bit because he does seem like an exceptional young talent that really right now just has all the potential in the world to, to be one of the best pitchers in baseball. When we talk about starting pitching, though another guy that the diamond backs are potentially going to target is Chicago Cubs right-handed pitcher Marcus Stroman. We've talked about Stroman being an elite pitcher in baseball and his stats absolutely back that up. This man could have easily been the starting picture in the All-Star game had he, you know, participate in. Damon and I have been asking for Marcus Stroman for like what, two months now?

There was a spivocing moment where it came up for the first time. I mean, I love Michael Stroman. I love, he is the kind of cool that I was, I want on this team that I think the team is lacking. The kind of guy who was going to make headlines with stuff he says in the media and he's not going to ever really like hold back, which I love. I absolutely love. And then, oh, he also happens to be one of the best pitches in the National League. I would love to have Marcus Stroman in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. Do you think not to put this out there as something that would prevent this from happening,

but do you think that that attitude that kind of outgoing, you know, like you said, not holding back kind of personality would be a good fit for this team that doesn't really seem to ever have that? Like, I don't know. I don't know if it's fair. I mean, I'm just saying like, I don't know if that's a Tori Lavallo thing. If that's kind of his philosophy and then people kind of fall in line with it or what. but the Diamondbacks don't typically have like a lot of shit talkers.

They don't have a lot of people that are openly like saying like, I mean, God damn it. Christian Walker called himself a looker. Just said he was looking at during that Mets series and that got the Mets fans all riled up just about that. Like it was one of the most innocent comments about that whole situation. It was an adorable comment. It really was. But he said it with that mustache.

I don't like that mustache. I'm telling you that mustache rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But Marcus Stry was a lot of people. Roman though, just an incredible talent when you talk about his pitching stats. Yeah. Damien, can we put those stats back up there? Because again, you look at this stuff and this guy has just been doing it for the Cubs all season long. One of the big reason why the Cubs are still in the mix, which I believe they did say if they would take any offers on Marcus Drummond, they would happen at like 1159 PM on July 31st.

You're not you're not trade in form tomorrow. That's that's for sure. We are big fit fans here on the podcast. You see Marcus Stroman has a 339 fifth this year compared to a 288 ERA. And that's kind of been a thing for him for a few years where he just kind of outperforms his peripherals year after year after year. I don't know if it's this this it factor that we've been talking about where he just he just pitches with a lot of. He just pitches with a lot of swag and he's kind of a gamer out there. And I think he has a in a sense he has an intimidating presence on the mound even though he's five foot seven.

which is really good though. Yeah, his whip is 109. Yeah, it's not like his, it's not like his peripherals are bad or anything. But a 28-E-R-A is legit. I mean, he really, like, if the season ended today, he would be in the Sy Young conversation, absolutely.

So, yeah, I don't know if the debacks can realistically pull this off. We look at the pros and cons here. Marcus Stroman is a legit number two starter. Like, if he's your, I mean, you could kind of slot it in however you want, whether he would start, like a game two in a playoff series or a game three behind merrill kelly uh he has playoff experience he's

thrown about 30 innings in the postseason in his career and he might be the best starting pitcher available i don't know if there's if there's any starting pitcher uh outside of maybe show heyotani he's sort of in a category of his own i don't know if there's any other guy who's who's going to get as much interest as he will uh flipping over to the con side there's there's going to be a cost here I believe he's making $25 million this year for the last two months. You're looking at maybe you're on $8 million or so, which I think the debacks could maybe absorb. Ken Kendrick said before the season started that they would be willing to invest more

around this time of year if the team was in position to do so, which they are, which they are. But I don't know if that necessarily means they're going to take on a contract of this magnitude. And of course, he's going to cost a lot. like prospect wise he's going to cost a lot and he's just a lot and he's just a rental you're just getting him through the end of this season he has a player option for next year which he is pretty much undoubtedly going to decline with with the quality of season he's had i mean and that's going to be a con for a lot of guys that the diamondbacks are going to pursue because it's a lot of rentals

there's a lot of rentals and the diamondbacks aren't really i think in of the mindset that they want to give up a lot for this season right like i've said it before i'll say it again the season, they just are unexpectedly good. And it is great as that is for us, for fans, it does put Mike Hayes in an awkward position that he wasn't really expecting to be in, of now making these decisions about how far does he go? How much of the farm system does he sell to improve this team at this point? What kind of player do they pursue?

Do they pursue a guy that's under team control for a couple of years, but maybe isn't as good? there's a lot of really great pitchers that are available, but most of them that are available are in this situation where they are rental, and there's no telling if, you know, what you sacrifice for them is going to return, you know, is going to cause them to stay with the team or even return, you know, the worth for the rest of the season, right?

Like if the Diamondbacks were to make a big trade and then go on to miss the playoffs, that would be like the biggest disaster that you could potentially think of, right? Like where they do sacrifice part of their future for this season and then don't even have a have a chance at the post season, right? Groundhog Mama asks what is FIP? Jesse?

Oh. Jesse, man. Let me, I'm gonna, can I can I do it the way that I understand it? Sure. Yeah, because that might help you more than Jesse's explanation. Jesse does a great job of explains stuff. Hey man, I was a teacher as of a year ago, right, Derek.

Right, no, you're right. So it's what is ERA would look like if the pitching was absolute or if the fielding defense behind him was absolutely league average. Your ERA would look like if pitching didn't matter. The pitching didn't matter. If defense didn't matter behind you. If it was a league average defense behind you. So it's kind of like, uh, it's like a lot of these stats where it tries to take out what

has been done behind you in, in ways and just focus on your pitching. It's fielding independent pitching. So with no fielding involved, or at least the actual fielding that has occurred. Because we've talked about that with certain guys on the diamondbacks where they just had some amazing defense behind them and guys were making plays. So as good as their ERA was and as good as things looked for them, their pitching wasn't really at times to cause behind it as much as it was the great defense behind them. Yeah, it's basically just focusing on the stuff that a pitcher himself can control. So it's built on strikeout rate, walk rate, and then home run rate.

Obviously, home runs, they're in play, but they go over the fence. So you're not really giving, yeah, you feelers aren't really factoring into that. And then walks and strikeouts. obviously not 100% but for the most part are dependent on the pitcher they're kind of the sole responsibility catchers got to hate this stat oh absolutely yeah it's not it's not perfect

but it is a really it is really good on yadda or malina aren't you like y'all see my fifth recently and be like the catcher you don't even I'm the one calling the pitches by the way Connor Mormon his ex-fip 3.71 just in case you were wondering I know you

asked that in the chat but of course everything just he said is all true about Marcus Stroman with the pros and the cons. I think the thing here is is that he is the best starting pitcher available. If you take Shohei Otani, obviously out of the equation. I don't even know if you can call Shohei Otani. He's the best starting pitcher.

He is the best starting pitcher as far as his pitching performance go. He is a better potential, arguably a better pitcher than Otani. But obviously he doesn't bring everything that Otani brings to the team. I do think, though, that Marcus Stroman would. be just the cream of the crop as far as targets for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And I mean, you talk about making this team a legitimate World Series contender, having Zach Gowan, Marcus Stroman, and Merrill Kelly is your one, two, three. It's pretty formal.

You know, teams in the, in Major League Baseball that have more formidable one through three than Zach Gowan, Merrill Kelly, and Marcus Drummond. Man, good stuff. We'd have a heck of an emergency podcast. Oh, boy. I am getting that jersey so fast. I'm going to put braids in my hair so I can start rocking the du rag again.

Like I'm going to go, I'm going to be all in on Marcus Stroman. We'll post the picture of him as a villain again. Very soon so you could see that. But speaking of Shohei Otani, since we brought him up, there was a wild trade proposal and an article that ESPN posted out today

where they kind of went through, I believe their top 10 teams. It might have been more teams than that, but their top choices as far as teams that could potentially trade for Shohei Otani. And the wildest thing, most of their predictions said, like, this is far-fetched. This is not likely to happen. This one probably wouldn't.

But their Diamondbacks prediction was like reasonable. They thought it was a pretty fair trade and they felt like this actually made a lot of sense. And despite the fact that me and this guy sounded like absolute maniacs even bringing this conversation up last week, it is something to be discussed. Here is the trade proposal from ESPN. They are saying the Arizona Diamondbacks would receive Show Aotani, and the Angels would receive shortstop Jordan Lawler, Outfielder, Alec Thomas, right-handed pitcher Slay Chaconi, and left-handed pitcher Umin Lin. Also, they added the caveat at the end because they have a GM kind of review the trade,

and Jeff the GM or GM Jeff give his perspective. He talked about crazily enough throwing in like Blaze Alexander, and then he likes this deal. So that would be... He said this wouldn't be... He said he would lean towards saying no from the angel's perspective. Yeah.

And I know that Diamond Duck fans probably think that's outrageous. That's outrageous, Jesse. Yeah, calls are saying if it guaranteed an extension, I'd do it. Yeah, I mean, I would... That's not going to happen. I would probably frame Derek for murder if a guarantee... If an extension was guaranteed. Like, I would do anything.

Wait, why? I would do anything it took. Oh, okay. You're saying... For a show... Oh, yeah. If we were... frame me for murder.

I would go away for murder. I would. I talked about this before the show. I said something that I'm not going to say on the airwaves, but I said I would do something really far for show. I would go with a plea deal. I would claim guilty on Sean's accusations of me being a murderer. That's how far I would go to make this happen if it involved in extension.

That's the biggest problem with any talk about this. It feels like the one thing that a lot of analysts are saying is that the Dodgers seem to just be chilling in the cut, waiting for whatever to happen to happen, and then they're just going to scoop them up after the goddamn offseason anyway when he's a free agent. And like that part sucks. So the fact that it feels like the Dodgers are just multering around the Otani situation, waiting for their time to strike.

Do demons fans have like an emotional attachment to the rivalry with the Dodgers? It would rather be. It depends on if you were there for the time that Mark McGuire became like this angry animal and went after members on our team when he was on their coaching staff, the big fight. We've got a lot of fights against them. If you were here during the ACL Pugge years, you probably fucking hate the Dodgers. Would Dax fans be pro realignment that got them

out of the same division as the Dodgers? Oh, that's a good question. I think as far as competitiveness, yes. And they could really do a realignment where it's like the West Coast teams and leave us the fuck out of it and start moving out. Well, keep us with the Rockies and the Midwest. You put us in the new ALS with the Los Angeles

or the Las Vegas A's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that. Las Vegas is an NL city. It just is. It just is. Unfortunately, it is also very possible that if they did realignment and you had 14 divisions, it would be the exact same as the NOS minus the Rockies. Yeah. In which case, it would be even worse.

I don't like that. I don't like that. No, Jesse, it should be the Mariners. It should be the Giants and the Padres and the, all those California teams fight each other. You know? Yes, the Royals. Us, the Royals, the Rockies. Who else can we throw in there?

Fuck. Astros? No, I don't want the Astros. No, no. No, no. No. Twins. Let's get the twins in there. We're kind of like up and down, right?

Like we're the West Mid Coast. I don't know what we're going to call it, but I don't like it. I don't want to have any part of any of that. But I'll be an AL team. They're, whoa, we got, we got, do we have breaking news? Let's go back to the show. Yeah, we have breaking news. We have breaking news.

I'm sorry. There's just some information about somebody that I'm very excited about. Somebody do this in the comments earlier as well. All right. All right. Well, let's take a look. Let's take a look really fast at that trade. again because I want to see I want this up on the screen and I want to ask you guys

if you're the GM of the Diamondbacks Sean are you doing this trade are you doing this trade? No forget forget extension talk this is literally just for what Jesse two months of show Hey otani yeah I mean I guess it could be three months I guess it could be we're gonna say three months when we win the world series but we're playing three months of show hey otani I mean man would it be nice to see show hey Otani in an Arizona Diamondbacks jersey just for him to go sign with the Dodgers next year in the office Oh, but what I mean, I can't do this. No, I can't.

Dipping into, dipping into your, your ideal outfield and the best defensive outfield that you have. And you, Min Lin, it's like your future, it's your present. It's a little bit of your,

that's way too much for two months or two and a half, three months of show hayatana. I try to keep Alec, but I would, if I could like switch it to Dom, I'm doing this trade. I think so too. I think if you took Alex or you men,

without. If you took Alec or you men Lin out, it's a lot more of a conversation for me, but both of them in there and like I don't really care about Slade personally. Not like as far as his trade is concerned. Wow. Like I never met him. I don't know him as personally probably. Jesus. As far as prospect and as an asset, I don't really care that much.

Jesse. Yeah. No, no, I wouldn't do this trade. If there was a way to do it without either of Drew Jones and Jordan Lawler included, then I would be interested in what that would look like. But my guess is from the Angels perspective, there just isn't enough impact talent in the debacks system for that to be possible. And no, I just, I don't think that if you're the debacks and you're in a position where like, yes, you have a shot this year. You're in a pretty good spot to make the playoffs. If you get show hey, then you're one of the best teams in the National League.

but like if the diamondbacks get show hey otani are they better than the Atlanta braves are they clearly better than the Dodgers i don't know if the i don't know if that's a clear yes i would i would lean toward no if the diamondbacks get show hey otani the Atlanta braves have are what like 10 games ahead of the diamond backs at this point who won the last two goddamn games jesse Friedman. This is true. I understand. I understand that we've seen.

This is the reality of now. Let's be right. You put Shoah on this team. I think it's similar to the Stroman situation in which you immediately have the most feared one, two, three pitching staff in baseball. I think that's fair. Most feared in the National League. Most feared in baseball, probably.

Right. I mean, fucking DH is smashing balls. You also have, like, my God. The best home run hitter in baseball on your team now. I will also say, though, logistically, something you have to consider in any team that trades for showy has to consider is if you trade for Shohei Otani, you enter six-man rotation land. Shohei Otani does not replace this fifth starter issue that the Diamondbacks have.

He doesn't take that spot. He simply adds to it, right? That's the way that Shohei Otani has been used for years in L.A. and the way that I would, I would expect him to be used moving forward. So six man rotation. Yeah. They don't have the starting pitchers for that.

That's perfect. I'm not sure. I mean, you, it's like you would, if you got Otani, like you would still need a starting pitcher. You would still probably want to go get somebody else.

If the debacks got Otani, yeah, I mean, it would be a heck of a lot of fun. And it would be, I mean, it'd be an amazing couple of months. But,

but Jordan Lawler is just a really important piece to this team's future. And I don't know if this, If this debacks team were, you know, maybe five games better than where they are, like really close to being like the clear cut best team in the National League, you go get Otani and you're like, all right, like we really might win the World Series. I just don't know. And I know people are criticizing me for saying that the Braves might still be better than the Diamondbacks if they were to make this move.

That's kind of where I stand. I just don't know if the debacks with Otani would be so incredibly good that you're willing to mortgage the future to that extent. Well, there was a tweet sent out tonight that apparently the Arizona Diamondbacks are scouting the man that I have been hoping that they go after. And that is Detroit Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. According to this MLB marathon tweet, it says scouts for the Orioles, Rangers, Diamondbacks, and Rays will be in attendance for Tigers. Starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez's start tonight. And boy, he did not disappoint.

Eduardo Rodriguez went seven innings, gave up four hits, two earn runs, no walks, seven. seven strikeouts. Wow. Send this man here now. I mean, and his last two starts prior to that were fairly atrocious. He gave up in four innings to the athletics, five earn runs, six hits, two dingers, and he struck out seven. He has struck out seven in every single start in his last three Mariners.

He went five innings, gave up two earn runs, three hits. So, I mean, he's trending in a good direction. And of course, Diamondback scouts were there to see him tonight. So he will be a target we talk about here shortly, probably to most. So make sure to stay tuned for that in regards to everything else. We thank you guys, of course, for being here. I got a wonderful package yesterday from our friends at Factor Meal Kits. It was a wonderful package filled with all sorts of wonderful food inside of it.

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Tropical fruit. They have strawberry and banana. my daughter was a big fan of the strawberry banana. And the thing is, it's perfect for a week where I came back from a vacation that not only was my weekend, but bled into my week a little bit. I have no time to go shopping. I have no time to cook. I have no time for anything. And honestly, having ready to eat meal kits in my refrigerator ready to go are incredible.

Not only that, but they are all extremely healthy. Everything I got, what looks amazing. And factors fresh, never frozen meals already in just two minutes. have to wait all you have to do is heat and enjoy and then get back outside uh no don't go outside stay inside stay inside even though it's it's it's a beautiful summer uh it's it's a it's a it's a devastating summer and we're very hot so uh they have all sorts of restaurant quality options like bouchetta shrimp risotto green goddess chicken grilled steakhouse filet mignon and so much more already in two minutes uh if you need an extra support uh boost uh support for your wellness

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and golfing, because of how it is, it's just unreasonable to be out there during this heat wave, but you can check out Big Drive Energy wherever you podcast at if you are missing out on all of your golf talk and all of the fun that you normally have out on the links. Of course, it's going to cool down soon. And we live in Arizona, so we have golf year round. Make sure you get some pins and aces gear. They get a ton of compliments on and off the golf course. And of course, they make amazing polos, hats, golf bags,

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and get free shipping. That's pins and aces.com. Well, that's all we got for you guys. evening tomorrow we will be back this man's going to Las Vegas so he's going to abandon us but Jesse and I will be back tomorrow I'm going to Las Vegas for work for the record He is he's going to cover Sun Devil's stuff which again

Makes me question how I got Fleeced on this deal with Shane I don't understand it I'm going as a producer I am just their producer I don't care You're done with that show we're done with them We don't claim them you're What do you got over there? I said work hard Play hard, that's true well it's Las Vegas

Are calling my name oh my god It's the best thing you can do in Las Vegas I'm not even joking dude i need god bless the fine folks at canami yes what are the other ones i can't even think of it yeah this american pharaoh american sunday silence that's what i'm on when it comes the electric ponies look they uh they they they move independently of tracks it doesn't make any sense it's wonderful it's the best thing you can do uh but it's just tragic to me to go to Vegas this time of year it's so hot Jesse. Vegas is maybe, what, three degrees cooler than Phoenix this time of year?

It was 116 degrees when I was there on money. Okay, it's not cooler at all. Not at all. You're looking at it from the wrong perspective. I would say that it's just the best time of the year to leave the city of Phoenix. Yeah, but to go somewhere hotter is just not. No, that makes zero sense. It's just equally as hot.

It's just as terrible there. Literally the only thing you do in in Vegas is sit inside an air-conditioned casino. That's a true. That's true. That's truth. Yes. I'm going to be. How much walking outside did you do again, Derek, when you were there over this past weekend? I took a small child who thought that she was going to go gallaband there around the strip and walk the whole thing. Exactly. She was done 10 minutes into a long. We crossed the bridge from New York, New York to MGM Grant. And she was like, I'm ready to go back to the hotel room. I was like, we haven't even gotten to the Eminem store yet. What are you doing?

It's frustrating. Kevin Ginkle's not the closer because he can't get scared because the fucking Akunis dancing on the By Ronald Ocuna Jr. Secondly, my time in Vegas is going to be me. I'm a land. I'm going to get in an Uber. I'm going to go to our friends at Circa. I'm going to get in another Uber.

Go to Resort World for Media Day. I'm going to take my ass back to Circa. And then I'm going to take my ass back to the car, back to Phoenix. I'm going to be in two places inside the whole time in air conditioning. I'm looking forward to Vegas. Look, I have a 12-year-old daughter. And I'm still going to tell you, Circa is a 21 and over casino. So, yeah, you draw your own conclusions.

My daughter thought kids-free weekend at Chase Field meant that no kids were allowed, which also sounds pretty fire. So that's this is a fucking bye. I can yell curse word chance and I'm not going to get kicked out or like it would be uncensored music dog. Oh my God. Let that DJ go off.

Remember that day we heard Cardi B uncensored? It was incredible. It was crazy. Although, I mean, let's not pretend that if like the right opponent's not in town. Like it like every Red Sox game is against the Yankees. It's none of it's 21 and over and you're sticking to fuck the

It's true. It's true. Well, make sure to follow this man on all of his adventures in Las Vegas. He is at Sean underscore to pause. Jesse Friedman, which I am not going to spell for you. Is that Jesse and Friedman? You figure out how to fucking spell his last name yourself. I am your mayor. I'm at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Maniac behind the Mac. That's Damon. We are Damon's dog. And of course, you have to do that before you follow him. He is at Damon, D-A-W-G. Our show is at P-H-N-X underscore D-Backs. But of course, all roads lead to at P-N-X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys for your time.

We love you. And we will be back tomorrow. It's a very early game. So make sure to get some sleep and then get up at 920 to watch Zach Gowan shove. It's Galentine's Day. So, you know, you need to be resting. Jack Gallen against Spencer Strider. What a matchup.

No, legitimately an incredible matchup. So make sure to join us for that. Of course, in the meantime, we thank you again for your attendance tonight. And remember kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when you just say, fuck it and trade for Shohei Otani. Just do it.