PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Ryne Nelson was outstanding in his debut as the Arizona Diamondbacks win 5-0 vs the San Diego Padres

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

Rookie pitcher Ryne Nelson dazzled in his MLB debut, pitching seven scoreless innings and leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeWebsite: https://gophnx.com PHNX Locker: https://phnxlocker.com/Head on over to The PHNX Locker to pick up one of our new PHNX hats!SOCIAL: Twitter: https://twitter.com/PHNX_DbacksInstagram: https://instagram.com/PHNX_Sports Score the best seats in the house at Gametime: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit and get a RISK-FREE BET UP TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visit OPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez! We have free stuff for you! Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3, YES THREE, bags of OGeez including Orange Creamsicle and Tropical flavors, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform Check out OGeez! online at ogeezbrands.com and on Instagram @ogeezbrands. You can also find their products at your local dispensary. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. They have officially licensed gear for men, women and kids and everything from bobbleheads to swimsuits to crocs. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offSit in the same seats we do! Check out https://morfurniture.comSign up for Underdog Fantady today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the oldest rookie sensation that the Arizona Diamondbacks have seen over the last year. This guy next to me is, of course, the prodigy himself, the Thunderstick, the vice mayor, the one and only Jesse Friedman. That was some game yesterday, Derek. and it didn't feel right. I know it was Labor Day,

and for like the first time ever, we didn't do a show on a Monday, but it just didn't feel right not doing a show on a daylight. Not after that. Ryan Nelson came out and absolutely dominated in his Major League debut, and this team continues to roll,

and people are getting very excited about this baseball team, Derek. It is a great time to be rooting for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The hottest team in baseball, Jesse. Is that, that's not hyperbole. That's fact. But of course, this is the hottest Arizona Diamondbacks podcast that you can find.

And this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's top rated sports book app. Let's talk about it, Jesse Friedman, because this is incredible. This is crazy. I think that, you know, again, we've talked about wanting to see the debuts of these young players, right? We wanted to see Corby Carroll. We wanted to see Alec Thomas. And so far, so good.

everybody that has come up has performed at a major league level and has proved that they do deserve to be here in the major leagues. But what we saw out of Ryan Nelson in his debut was some next level stuff. So he set a franchise record for seven scoreless innings in his debut, tied a franchise record with seven strikeouts in a debut and had the second longest outing by a rookie ever for the Arizona Diamondbacks with seven innings. I mean, you couldn't ask for anything better, especially against a division rival like the San Diego Padres, who they themselves were pretty hot coming into this game with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yeah, I mean, like, by all accounts, if you just sort of put all the numbers together, it was probably the best major league debut of any Diamondbacks pitcher in franchise history. And there have been some pretty good pitchers in this organization to make their big league debut. So Ryan Nelson put himself in some pretty special company with that performance yesterday.

I don't know what happened to the scouting report, Derek. I don't know what happened to all of the numbers from AAA that we were looking at. Ryan Nelson was not. 98.1 miles per hour, Jesse, 98.1 miles per hour. There is not a single time we've heard about Ryan Nelson, I think, going past 95 in AAA. He's, so he's touched 97. What I've been saying is he's averaging 9. 93, 94, and he's touching 97 occasionally, not necessarily every start, but some starts he would

reach 97. And then yesterday, his first big league strikeout, as you said, a 98.1 mile an hour fastball, technically a little bit below the bottom of the strike zone. Josh Bell wasn't particularly happy about it. But there were, there were. It's not your job to umpire a game. That's not your job. Come on. It's only your job to umpire the game when they had calls to go against the Diamondback. You know that. Right. Exactly. exactly. But yeah, no, incredible, incredible stuff. You alluded to it. I guess there's been some question from other people that kind of were familiar with his game, but do you think that this had to do with that that extra adrenaline, that extra excitement about it being his debut in order to,

because it wasn't just hitting 98. It's like you said, he's a consistent 93 to 94 mile per hour pitcher. Yet what we saw was him touching 97 a lot yesterday. And I mean, just a attacking the strike zone in a way that you would see a dominant veteran major league baseball pitcher attacking the strike zone, fearlessly, confident in his stuff, just, you know, one, two counts, right? Not dancing around the outside of the strike zone. I mean, going for a high fastball in the zone. And I mean, honestly, it's kind of, it's kind of a theme amongst the success the Diamondbacks pitchers are all having right now, especially, especially that high strike, that high. fastball in the zone that seem to be giving a lot of batters fits, not just swinging and whiffing at it, but also just letting it go by because it looks like a ball. There is so much improvement, but Ryan Nelson seems to be right now just right there in the same league as Merrill Kelly and Zat Gowan. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what more you could possibly have asked from Ryan Nelson in his big league debut. If you did ask more, you would be a jerk, I think. If you ask more than that,

you're asking too much. This was, this was unprecedented. I mean, Ryan Nelson's been looking a little bit better lately in Reno. But this move sort of came out of nowhere. Like, I think we were all a little surprised the other day when Tori Lavello was like,

oh, Ryan Nelson's going to make the start on Monday. It was like, oh, interesting. Like I, I didn't know there was like another spot in, in the starting rotation right now.

But I guess the fact that the diamondbacks have a double header against the Dodgers in L.A. later this month sort of opened the door. where they would need an extra starter. And so it sounds like Ryan Nelson is going to be the guy through the end of the season. It sounds like they're going to leave him in the starting rotation through the end of the year. And I think a lot of people are excited about that, Derek. I mean, who wouldn't want to watch more of this guy yesterday, who like you said,

is just pounding the strikes zone the entire game. He comes in with a really big, in a really big spot in the seventh inning, right? Jurekson ProFar hits the triple. He's at third base with two outs, Juan Soto's at the plate. And you're like, all right, maybe this. is when he like finally gives up a run and like becomes human again. But no, he just like chases right after Juan Soto.

I'm sorry to cut you off. But my thought in that exact moment was and you're not, you're not wrong. It was this is how it's going to end up looking messy. Like this is going to be a shame. He's going to end up having an excellent outing, but he's going to like blow it here at the end, get the loss,

you know, like it's the typical Diamondbacks fan in me just coming out and feeling that, that dread of the moment. but instead what we saw was somebody step up against arguably one of the toughest lineups in baseball, at least allegedly on paper, not really with the way that they've been performing lately. Juan Soto hitting 188 with runners in scoring position, I think even worse after yesterday's game. So, you know, this is one of those games that really it's just a coming out party for a guy that we had no idea had it in him. Whether he does that consistently remains to be seen, right?

it's going to be interesting to see the Diamondbacks proceed with a six-man rotation or if someone falls out of the rotation. I'm not saying that it's what they're going to do, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bum Gardner get less starts or maybe even be shut down for the season at a certain point. I mean, just because they can do that without having to really like have them take the reputation hit. They can just use the fact that he's an older player and that, you know, at this point, he's arms tired. We're going to rest him, you know, and then maybe figure out the future going forward. But I, I mean, like, so how how practically do you do that though, right? I don't know.

Like the six, even if the diamond backs get to the point. Well, I mean, like, like right now they have six starting pitchers on the active roster, right? And they have the extra, the two extra spots from it being September that they can work with on the active roster. The tricky thing with trying to shut down. on Madbum, Derek, is that, like, you got to do something with him. You're not just going to have a guy on the active roster who never plays. So you probably have to come up with, like, a mystery injured list stint, essentially.

And you can't, you can't send a guy onto the injured list with, like, I guess you could do like an arm fatigue sort of a deal, but they might, they might want to get a little bit more creative with that. I don't know. They have to do something with them. It doesn't, look, all I'm saying is once you get past a certain point in your age, I don't know if you have to prove your injuries anymore. I just find them to be very believable.

That's all I'm saying. We just need everybody to be on board with this because the diamondbacks are eight games back, Jesse, for a wild card spot. Not to mention the fact that they are beating the teams in front of them. They are beating the teams that supposedly were going to give them such a hard time. We said on this podcast, I said that this was a nightmare of a month for them in September. And it really is based on the opponents that they play. But so far, what we've seen is a completely different team.

You brought up Josh Rojas and these players being excited about the challenge to play teams like the Padres, to play teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers. And I don't know, but I feel like that's exactly what we saw yesterday. We saw a young team putting it to these guys. Jake McCarthy just continues to be incredible. Not to mention that that lineup, you know, when you looked at the production at the end of the day, Stone Garrett, unbelievable, right, for this team. another guy who someone in our Twitter mentioned still continues to bring up his like strikeout rate in the minor leagues. And it's like, uh, nobody cares about that now.

Let's just look at this man, you know, just. The man sitting four 24. He terrifies people when he comes up to the plate. They don't even know what to do with them. Right. So like, uh, it's just it's one of those things that, yeah, like my mind says, yeah, considering wild card is ridiculous. Like at this point, we should still focus, I think, on finishing.

your 500 doing the best that you can to make this season you know like i said get yourself out of that out of that area of being a terrible team where people don't think that you can improve and get to that next level right i feel like the diamondbacks got themselves right out of the basement and now are like knocking on the door of being considered a competitive team right uh yeah and i mean if you take them for granted right now they are a competitive team like this team is a competitive team i'm just talking about the kind of like stigma about them and the record and everything like that like that, right? But I, what I'm excited for more than anything. I mean, we could talk about this season. We could talk about them, maybe making a wildcard spot. I am excited about next year. I'm,

I'm excited about this team that we're watching on the field, starting over on a season with the confidence and belief they have in themselves. And starting with a clean slate. You know, this, this year, it's kind of gotten away from them a little bit. And there are pieces of this team that no matter how many opportunities they were given have not worked out. right but then there's more there's more players there's more pieces to this team that have worked out than the ones that have it you know it's just identifying those and in the case it's you know guys like mark malanson and madison bumgarner guys that you thought you could count on and you didn't know what you were going to get out of the younger guys and now it seems like the younger guys really are the ones that that that you know that this team can count on you pointed out in a tweet that the team that beat the Padres yesterday was basically the starting lineup in the in Reno. yesterday. So it was, yeah, it was their opening, like their opening day. So for an opening day for the reno aces this year, Alec Thomas was in the starting lineup, Stone Garrett was in the starting lineup. And Ryan Nelson was their opening day starter. And through the seventh inning of yesterday's game,

Ryan Nelson had thrown all seven of those innings. And every guy who had either scored a run or driven in a run in the game up until that point, it was Alex Thomas and Stone Garrett. They'd done all of the run scoring. So it was basically the early 20, 22 Reno Aces just coming out and beating a very formidable playoff, contending team in the San Diego Padres. It was, it was remarkable what this team was able to do yesterday. I just,

I can't get enough of them. I can't get enough of them. I mean, watching yesterday, it was, yeah, like I had a sense of dread all game long, I think because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

You know, I was seeing not only a young pitcher come out and dominate on the mound, but I was seeing this team, you know, do what they needed to do in those, in those moments, right? Jake McCarthy, stealing two bases in the game, Stone Garrett's home run, just all of the moves that they make to put themselves in scoring position to keep the pressure on the defense, to keep them honest, keep them from shifting, all of that stuff. Like, you know,

there is a lot to this team now and it's athleticism that changes the way every team is going to have to play them defensively. And Chris Melton in the comments says, offseason is going to feel so long. Not as long as last year, Chris. not as long as last year. Let me say from experience. But of course, if you guys haven't had a chance to do so, make sure to check out Jesse's wonderful writing over at go phtonx.com. Of course, we have an incredible lineup of writers covering all the Valley Sports.

And if you haven't had a chance to sign up yet, make sure to check it out. Jesse's drop in free articles all the time. So if you haven't checked out his work, make sure to do so. Get a sample of that, and then get yourself an annual membership. You'll get a free t-shirt over at the P. NX Locker.com with the annual membership. You get this guy, the ASU guy. Jesse's got the Cessarvesa gem on, all sorts of shirts for you to pick from.

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because it's that time of the year. It's the perfect storm here close. We're going to be in the month of October soon. I know NFL, college football, it's all going on right now. But in a month after that, October, mid-October, all the sports are happening. And you can get your tickets over at our friends at GameTime, the hottest new ticketing site that makes it easier than ever

to score the best tickets for sporting events, concerts, shows, whatever you're into. I've been to some great shows over at Gamage, some Broadway shows. I'm not a big Broadway show guy, Jesse, but I've had some fun over there at some of the... I go to the stuff like Lion King, you know. I go to the stuff that I can identify the IP. I'm not going to a pure musical, but I will say that some things are, they're incredible shows.

So if you want to get up to 60% off your tickets, when you buy them last minute, like I do because I'm a procrastinator, go over to our friends at game time. If you love us at PHNX, you'll love game time. So the best way to support us is by buying your tickets

through the link in the description below. Jesse, we can't have a week where we don't do the thing, right? Because, of course, every week here, on the PHNX Sports Debex show is Shark Week. Every day here on the PHNX Sports DeBack show is Earth Day. And every Monday, we go to the mailbag.

But we didn't do a show on Monday. So on Tuesday, we're going to the mailbag. Always something interesting in my mailbox. I'm trying to get to everything in my mailbox. And then once in a while there's a letter that makes me go wow. And I know my first letter makes me go wow, Jesse, because put it up there, Leah. Our first question comes from our friend Gabriel.

And Gabriel asks, of course, how many games do we need to get past the Dodgers in the NLCS? Or is it a clean sweep? Also, I might be lit on Korean, rice, wine, and German beer, but that's beside the point. No, no. I don't think it's the alcohol talking. I think it's the 5-0-0 win over the San Diego Padres talking.

And I don't know. This is all crazy. But I'll say that it's going to take the whole series is what I'm saying. It's going to go seven games against the Dodgers to get past them. But Jesse, I don't, I don't know. Talking playoffs seems crazy. It doesn't even steam statistically possible. But when you look right now at the wild card standings at least,

the Diamondbacks seem to be the last viable team that could make it in. There's quite a, there's quite a difference in record between them and the Colorado Rockies and the Cubs, which I believe are the next closest team. Diamondbacks are eight games back. Those teams, I believe, are 17 games back. So it's almost like those teams are really the numerically, statistically eliminated teams, right? I know they're not yet, but that's basically what those are.

Diamondbacks are right on the edge, but it does still seem crazy to think about, you know, this team potentially making the playoffs. The only thing that I can say that bodes well for them is they do play the Milwaukee Brewers more. They have three more games against them. and they play the giants, which right now are a half a game ahead of them in the standings

and the Padres, which currently hold a wild card spot, a whole lot still before this, the end of this season. And Brian Abdallah says, we need a lot to go right. And that's exactly what it is. We've seen collapses like this, but yeah, it's going to, I feel like, and someone made the comparison before on this, but definitely feels like the bubble suns. It feels like the bubble suns because it feels like all of a sudden we know

who this team is. They're winning games. They seem excited. And it feels like they're going to go on a run here at the end of the season that's going to excite us even more, but then just come up short of making the playoffs. That's that's kind of what this scenario feels a bit like. Yeah. So I looked at it like two weeks ago.

So the Diamondbacks have played really well the last two weeks, right? And so if you look at the standings about two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks were 11.5 games out of the wild card. And now there are eight games out of the wild card. And so, you know, realistically, it's like, yes, the Diamondbacks were playing so well over that stretch, but they only made up three and a half games. And so it's like, all right, you know, there's just so many moving parts. It's not just that the Diamondbacks have to like win basically every game.

It's that, you know, the teams in front of them, the Brewers, the Giants and then the three teams that are actually in the wildcard race, they need some pieces there to move in their favor as well. It's going to be pretty tough. The other, the other slight issue with what Gabriel proposed is, that the Diamondbacks would definitely play the Dodgers and the NLDS, hypothetically, if they actually made there. There's really no scenario where they see them in the NLCS, which I know that's sort of just semantics. But who knows? It's a, it's a fun time to dream on this baseball team. It's a fun time to dream on the baseball team. And I don't want to, I don't want to ruin that for

anyone right now because this is a team that is, that is worth dreaming on, right? I mean, and even if it's not this season, you know, maybe we're more talking about next year realistically. but the Diamondbacks Derek are 25 and 17 since the All-Star break. And if you look at what that translates to over a 162 game season, it's 96 wins. That translates to a 96 and 66 baseball team if you maintain that level of performance over 162 games. And that's the team that Diamondbacks have been since the All-Star break.

So, you know, if they're able to kind of continue to get things moving in the right direction here down the stretch and continue that momentum into next season, you could be looking at a team that's vying for some pretty big things in 2023. Something dawned on me just now when you were talking about this team. And it's different than them just being successful. I feel like for me personally, I want cards, baseball cards of the players on this team, Jesse. I want their jerseys.

I like, I want to root and be a fan of these guys. when people see us tweeting from the account are ridiculous memes and nicknames. It is because me and this guy are running around our houses screaming just like you guys are about how exciting these guys are. I mean, we're not allowed to do that in the press box over though we want to. Every once in a while, me and Jesse a high five and we get a bad look from other people.

But that's just because we know what's good for business around here, right? We know that the Diamondbacks winning is good for us as a show that covers this team. But more than anything, it's a deep down fan part of us that are like we're just so. excited to see this team be this. I mean, I can't think it's like, I've liked the guys on the team, but I've never felt like I was this much of a fan of them. And especially considering how much older I am than most of these guys, that feels weird. That feels weird. I could be a dad or at least an uncle to Corbyn Carroll really easily. And that, that's not cool. But anyway, we're going

to move on before I get depressed thinking about that. Next question, actually, next two questions are somewhat similar. They're both related to our short king, Dalton, Varshow. First question, can Varsho play second base? He kind of looks like he could and he picks it well behind the plate. I just want to see Varsho Rake. That's Rake McCarthy. Stone, that's Stone Cold. That's Talmas. That's our Young King trademark. And Corbyn Barrels, Corby Mcarrel, you get the idea here. That lineup. And for sure, we had that lineup in the other day without, I think, Stone Garrett in it. And it was very exciting to see those four guys all on the field at once. And you're right. everybody wants to see all five of these guys on on the field at once and figure out a way to get them in there.

The other question was about Varsho playing center field or catcher at which position does Varsho have the highest potential outfield or catcher. Also, I know moving Ryan Nelson to the bullpen is a hard sell, but would he be a good candidate for the closer? Absolutely not. We're not even, we're not even entertaining that question right now, Jesse, not on the day where Ryan Nelson. I kind of want to, but. Okay, we'll get back to that one. But let's first talk about Varshow, because obviously, his highest ceiling seems to be in the outfield.

And I'm sure that he does have the versatility for them to play him in other positions around the field. But I really think we're only going to see that in the case of him coming in late to like pinch hit and then stay in the game or an emergency catcher situation like LeBullo said we would see him in or something like that. For the most part, I feel like Barso is an outfielder. And D.H. Same thing with Stone Garrett.

Stone Garrett is an outfit. and a D-H, but I feel still, I feel like our primary outfielders are Corbyn, Carol, Alec Thomas, and Jake McCarthy. That for me seems to be like the best lineup as far as the outfield goes. But we've, you know, again, we've seen Varsho be incredible in right field. I mean, we've seen Varsho play better defense in right field. I think then we've even seen Jake McCarthy play at times. But I think that's a benefit to having all of these guys on the team.

going to keep them in rotation. And for now, with, you know, Corbyn Carroll's still probably being limited on how many games are going to play them, you're going to be able to find a way for these guys to all get, you know, regular at-bats without sitting anyone too long, I think. Yeah, Mike Hazen was actually asked this question a few weeks ago about whether Dalton Varsho could play a different position. It kind of seems like, you know, like you said, he's catching in kind of an emergency capacity right now. Diamondbacks don't seem to have any interest in having him catch for the rest of the season. Although it's possible they could pick that up next year and maybe look at that as a possibility for

2023, though I don't expect that to happen. But yeah, Dalton Varsho does have some experience playing second base. It's something he has done in the past, though not for quite a while. And I think if you were to pick a different position for Dalton Varsho, second base is probably what you would pick. So I don't know how realistic that is. Mike Hazen said that it wasn't something the team had talked about or had really considered. So I don't expect the Diamondbacks will go that direction with him. I think at the end of the day, Derek, I mean,

Don Varsho is one of the best outfielers in all of baseball right now. And so when you have a guy in that position, it's hard to even really entertain moving them anywhere else. I mean, he's already so good at what he does that it's just, It's hard to entertain moving them anywhere else. And I know there's a lot of outfielder going into next year. I think we might have another question that someone submitted about potentially moving one of the outfielder over the off season, which we'll get into a little bit later.

But I don't think that moving Dalton Varsho out of that position is the way to go. Even if it's the only way to get all five of those guys that we were just talking about in the same lineup, I just don't think it's a worthy tradeoff. Farsho is just too good and brings too much value in the outfield right now that I don't think you want to move him anywhere else at this point. Brett Johnson in the comments that I believe Varsha leads all outfielders and outs above average. Correct me if I'm wrong though. Yeah.

You're not wrong. He does with 13. He also leads all outfielders and runs prevented with 12. So you're talking about all a major league baseball and like Jesse will say, you're talking about a guy in Dalton Varshow that doesn't even play regularly. right a lot of these guys on the list play outfield regularly you know so it's like there's something about dalton varshot being out there and doing what he's doing with limited playing time in comparison to some everyday outfielders that you know on their team might get a day off every

once in a while right dalton varsho has as has you know factored in quite a bit i mean he's been a huge part of this team's success so it's hard not to play him right but it's also hard not to play some of these other young guys that are coming up and performing incredibly for this team. Jake McCarthy, again, being another one of those guys that I would have a real hard time sitting a lot with the offensive production that he's been able to provide, not to mention what he's doing on the base path, right? So it's just been, it's just been fun to watch. Another part of that question was about potentially moving Ryan Nelson to the bullpen. And you wanted to give your thoughts. So go ahead, sir.

Yeah, Ryan Nelson is, you could maybe see yesterday why people have projected him to maybe be a better fit in the bullpen in the long run, just because of his delivery, right? And not to take anything away from his performance, he was outstanding in that game. And there's no way the Diamondbacks are going to move him to the bullpen right now, you know, after seeing him perform like that as a starter. But there is some, there is some reliever risk here just based on the fact that he has one of those sort of high, effort kind of deliveries out there that might make it a little bit a little bit more difficult for him to last in a starting rotation long term year after year. I also think Derek that like just frankly, if you were to put Ryan Nelson in the bullpen tomorrow, he very well might be the most effective reliever the diamondbacks have or one of the most effective relievers the diamond

backs have right from the get go. His stuff is really good. They don't have, they don't really have anyone down there, frankly, who can throw 97 miles an hour and control it to the degree that Ryan Nelson showed he can. So I think it's a move that the team might seriously consider at some point. But we're not there yet, right? Ryan Nelson, it sounds like it's going to be in the starting rotation through the rest of the year. As well, he should be after throwing seven scoreless innings in his big league debut, right? Like, you're not doing that right now, but it's something to watch, it's something to watch moving forward. All right. Next question. What do we got?

Harley asks quick offseason preview. Any potential big signings or more likely to offload some of the minor league talent, namely outfielders for pitching. Is it reasonable to expect a very different bullpen also considering how the moves over the last week, last couple of weeks with Ramirez and Da Vinci DFA's? Yeah, those have been actually surprising to me. Noe Ramirez was a very bright spot for this bullpen last season and even at times this season, but obviously, uh, he has not been reliable as of late. He has not been consistent as

of late. Chris Devinsky, same thing. He just had, um, some bad outings just pile up in a row. And it seemed like, yeah, you know, I don't know. It seemed like the diamondbacks were going to be more patient. But with what's going on, hey, Brandon fought, um, he's always this guy, he's always bothering us. Um, the, uh, the amount of, you know, talent that they do have. right like they they very easily at this point could i guess do something significant to make this team better i just don't see them i don't see it happening jesse i don't see them making any big moves um but the question about the bullpen it's it's hard right the bullpen question is hard because if we uh if the diamondbacks right now try to address the bullpen there are players

like milanson uh you have bum gardener that these guys are under contract not that bum gardener's in the bullpen, but you have some guys that are ineffective that have big contracts. And, you know, like you said, what are you going to do with them and their contracts? If you're not going to play them, they're not going to be a vital role of this team. You might as well, I guess, do something dramatic, like try a trade where you're pretty much offloading them and not getting anything in return or DFAing them at this point. Because, I mean, the bullpen especially seems to just continue to be a disaster. Ian Kennedy, he's a free agent after this season.

So the Diamondbacks might not, you know, pursue him. But yeah, I would definitely see the bullpen at this point being the primary focus, even more so than the starting rotation for the season off season. Yeah, Ian Kennedy has a club option. So the Diamondbacks can bring him back if they want to. And I want to say it's four and a half million, something like that. I don't know if they're going to pick up that option. they might, but they also might not.

Ian Kennedy's had a pretty good season all in all in terms of like the ERA looks pretty good, but some of the peripherals there are pretty concerning. So I really could see that going either way at this point. But yeah, I mean, the Diamondbacks are not really in a position to bring in, you know, some big name for agent. I don't think they're at that point yet. They still have so many young guys coming up. I know people are talking about Brandon Fought in the comments.

right now he being one of them like there's a lot of different self in there yeah yeah let's bring his let's bring his comment back up brandon fought says also uh there's a guy named brandon fought who's quite literally a possible ace and a one a one to three rotation guy who hasn't been called up yet you're not you're not you're not wrong you're not wrong and and i totally agree i mean if you were to just look at the raw numbers like brandon fought has been outstanding in triple a even when ryan Nelson has kind of had his ups and downs there. The issue with Brandon Fought, which a couple of, some of you have probably heard me say before, but Brandon Fought is not Rule 5 eligible this winter, which means the Diamondbacks don't

really have to give him a 40-man roster spot in preparation for that, whereas they do with Ryan Nelson. They also do with Dre Jemison. I think there's a chance we see him at some point this year because of that. But Brandon Fought is sort of, it might be on the outside looking in here, just. because there are other guys who have a more urgent need to get an active roster spot this season. So, yeah, I'm not going to say it's impossible. I still think that there's a chance we see Brandon fought this year,

but it's probably not something that I'm banking on at this point. But there's a lot of guys. I mean, there's just so many young players that we still are trying to get a better feel for. Like, can Stone Garrett hit 424 for very long? Like, how good can Stone Garrett be if you put him in a little? the lineup every day. Yeah, so far the answer seems to be yes. He will just hit 424 until the end of time. That's that's all we know. That's all we know at this point. But, um, but there's put the statue out of furniture. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Let's let's, uh, let's get working on that. It could be made out of stone.

It could be made out of stone. There's all sorts of potential there. Yes. All right. I'm excited now. Obviously, I've been enjoying my OGs and you guys should too. Make sure to check out our friends at OG's, gummies, edibles. They are all about flavoring life. They have the top-selling edible in the state of Arizona or gummy. I'm not sure. There might be somebody beating them out with brownies, but they're definitely the top-selling gummy in the state of Arizona.

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And of course, that's not the only thing I'm enjoying. I am enjoying myself a hot knot from our friends at Four Peaks. and you should too. Maybe not a hop knot, maybe a hazy IPA, maybe a Joybus. Jesse's texting me about podcasters drinking too much. And I think he's making some sort of insinuations in our text messages. But of course, it was a hilarious video of this lady who clearly had too much to drink while she was screaming. And she was telling her audience about how shocking it was that everyone she knew would have a birthday that year.

She was just cooler by that guy. Yeah, every year. Yeah. Yeah, it's something. It's something when you realize that. But, of course, join us this Saturday, starting at 3.30 p.m. for the ASU watch party as the Sun Devils, which I am decked out in right now. Take on Oklahoma State.

You can join us at the 8th Street Pub for Four Peaks. Enjoy food and drink specials. And one, heck or hell, I'm saying the hell word, hell of a good time on a massive screen. Check our link in the show notes. To sign up for free, must be 21 or older. to enjoy Fort Peaks and enjoy responsibly. Remember, you can bring the family to Four Peaks 8th Street Pub, but only the 21 years or older people can enjoy the wonderful beer.

Jesse, we got more questions in the mailbag. Of course, more mailbag. Tuesday questions. What are we got? Leah, what are your hopes on debacks making the second wildcard? We'll say third wild card, right? There's three wild cards.

That would be rad if they got the second one. Yeah, I mean, that first one, the Atlanta Braves are running away with at this point. I feel like that one is already going to be given to whoever loses that division, right? But I don't know. I think as silly as this sounds, I mean,

you should be excited if your team makes the playoffs. Anything can happen. The role that this team is on and the way that they found themselves, good luck facing a one, two punch of Zach Gallin and Merrill Kelly in the playoffs, right? And I don't know who would factor in as the third. Maybe it's Ryan Nelson at this point with the way he's pitching. he keeps this shit up, he absolutely would be the third, right? So I don't know. I don't know

how excited I am about them getting the playoffs. I kind of believe in this team and what they're doing, but it is one of those things that, like, I feel a bit of patience. I almost feel like I am more excited about next season and beyond than I am about how this season particularly wraps up. Yeah. I mean, they were 45 and 57, like a few weeks ago, you know, like they just, they just dug sort of a big hole there that even though the team is playing so well and and you know we're all having so much fun watching this team day in and day out when you're in that kind of a hole i mean it's very very difficult to work your way out of it no matter how well you play down the stretch so um yeah it's possible right like the debacks are eight games out they're getting closer um you know the

the giants have started to get hot here as well so technically the diamond backs are in fourth place as we speak for the moment. But the debacks play the Giants still, and they play the Padres another series after this one. They have some other games against the Brewers coming up as well. So they do have some opportunity here to move up in the rankings. It's just a matter of like, is it realistic to actually get to a wild card spot? And it's going to be pretty tough for them to pull that off.

Someone in the chat, Miles Gilliford asked, what's to deal with Christian Robinson and to be honest we still don't know what the resolution is on that i know that he's he still is having issues where he's kind of in a limbo right now now that the um what was it the the second camp kind of thing is over yeah extended spring training uh ended back in i want to say in june and so after that christian robinson is sort of in limbo with his with his current situation we talked about in a show a few weeks ago. But yeah, at this point, he sort of needs something, he needs something to change, because as of right now, he is stuck not being able to play in games that people pay money to attend. And so that basically rules him out from playing in any minor league games right now.

So, yeah, we'll definitely keep you all updated if there's any news to share on the Christian Robinson friends. But unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, there are no updates there. Brandon Fott in the comment says Davison is a top 100 guy in a future D-backs coat and like that is absolutely an exciting part of the Diamondback system right now is

as as great as it is to like covet the guys that are here. You have this entire line of guys that including Brandon Fought who you can't wait to see and yeah. Brandon Fott is I mean he's he is

just pitching extremely well We're just going to pour it on in case it's the real Brandon Fought. Like we're 99% sure it's not, but if it is, we're just, I just want you know we love you, buddy. All right, next question. All right. You need to build a four, four man, 100 meter relay team for the Olympics using the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jesse, who is your four? Okay. I mean, so Corbyn, Carol, Alec Thomas, and Jake McCarthy, I think are all pretty clear candidates. The fourth one is a little bit harder to say. Josh Rojas is fast. I want to say according to the sprint speed metrics, I think Stone Garrett is actually very fast. Wow. I believe he's like 80, 90 percentile with sprint speed right now. So the sample size there is pretty small. I'm not sure if there's going for an intimidation factor, I feel like. I absolutely am. Apparently yesterday and this this sort of made my day.

There were people at the Padres game, like in the stands yesterday in San Diego, who were like audibly, like gasping at how ripped Stone Garrett was every time he, which I could confirm. He is about as ripped of a baseball player as I've ever seen in my life. But I'm going to go, I'm going to go Stone Garrett as my fourth member of the crew.

I'm taking Cooper Hummel, Jesse. Okay. As my fourth member. Cooper Hummel actually has the third fastest sprint speed on the of a diamond backs according to metrics that I read. And not only that, but how are we structuring this? I mean, Corbyn Carroll is your anchor, right? You got to have Corbyn Carroll at the back end, Jake McCarthy at the front,

and then the other two guys in the middle, right? You just have Stone Garrett running and flexing the whole time, I imagine, right? Yeah, right, exactly. Makes a lot of sense. Stone Garrett is the best hitter's name since Barry Bonds, without a doubt. I mean, it might even be better than Barry Bonds. I don't know. We need metrics on that as well.

Next question. Do Ryan Nelson and Tommy Henry crack the rotation next year and do the D-Backs pick up Zach Davies and Ian Kennedy's option? Great question. This is a great question. Yes. I think Ryan Nelson and Tommy Henry do. And I don't think that they pick up Zach Davies or Ian Kennedy's options.

And I think that's sad to save you. So Zach Davies, they don't have a choice. Oh, they don't have an option. Jack Davies is a true. It's a mutual option is what it is. So it only gets picked up if both sides won. it. Diamondbacks are going to want it. Zach Davies isn't going to want it because he can go

and make four or five times as much money if not more than not on the free agent market. So they're not going to be able to bring him back. He rebounded incredibly this season, right? We talked about the diamondbacks picking him up. We speculated that this might be the case because Brent Strom, right? We know Brent Strom was coming over.

You knew Zach Davies was a guy that has shown in the past that he was a pretty good starter, a number three, number four guy in the rotation. but had his worst year last year, had his worst season of his career. So it was kind of a perfect scenario for him to not only bounce back, come out here to the desert and be around Brent Strachan,

but like you said, yeah, the most likely scenario is that he's going to get more money from another team. And honestly, with the Diamondbacks pitching situation isn't great, but the Diamondbacks do have Brandon Fott coming up, like we said.

No, they have plenty of young pitching arms. right, that like you said, we're going to need to make a space for some guys are going to make the starting rotation. Some guys are going to end up in the bullpen. But regardless, I feel like much like we've seen from the outfield, I think we're going to see the future of this team being built from pitching wise from the minors from the farm system. Yeah, yeah, I think so too. The issue with Davies is that he's 30 years old. And if you're 30 years old, which is relatively young in free agency terms and you just had like a mid-three-three-year-old. and you just had like a mid-3 ERA over a relatively healthy season.

I know he missed a little bit of time. You're going to make more than $1.5 million, which is what that option is for. So the Diamondbacks, I'm sure, would love to have him back, but it's probably not going to happen, which does open the door, you know, for Brandon fought, for Ryan Nelson, for, you know, maybe Dre Jameson works his way into that conversation.

I think there's a good chance we see, you know, some of those young arms get some opportunity next year. All right. Leah, do we have any more questions? I think we have one more. All right. And the same. This is also from Taylor Rain 5,

True on Twitter, says, Hear me out. Mad Bum is struggling. We could use a closer. He has bullpen experience. Mad Bum's great second act becoming a closer to finish his contract.

Jesse, I'm going to let you start off with this one. Oh, man. Yeah, no. I don't think he's a, I don't think he's a closer. I do think it's possible

the diamond backs consider moving him to the bullpen at some point, although they're definitely not there yet. But if it happens, it's not going to be, it's not going to be a closer. I don't think. Madison, Bumgarner just doesn't really have the stuff that you'd be looking for in a closer. It doesn't really have like, you know, the wipeout breaking pitch or whatever in order to get those swings and misses. His cutter has been good at times. His curveball has been good at times. But I don't think it's really a closer's arsenal, even if it plays up a little bit. I think it's more likely that you see Ryan Nelson as the Diamondbacks closer in the near future than it is that you see Madison, Bumgarner there. But Bumgarner, I could see as like a long reliever. Like that is something that the team might try at some point.

So yeah. Could you also see them sticking to like this last outing he went five innings. He gave up two earn runs and six hits. Yeah. It wasn't terrible against the Milwaukee Brewers, right? No. They did end up losing the game because of course. But they, they definitely show or Bad Bum showed. that game that, you know, he wasn't completely off track. He's kind of gotten things back a bit. I'll be honest and say that I think, I think those numbers tell a better story about the outing than how good he really was. He still got knocked around a decent amount in the start. There was still quite a bit of hard contact.

So in all honesty, I wasn't like super impressed by the outing or anything, but it was viable. It was encouraging to see him not give up. right? Like exactly. Exactly. It was an improvement for sure. And that's what Tori Lavello said after the game is it was a step in the right direction. And it, you know, builds some momentum for Mad Bum to stay in the rotation, which is what I expect him to do. Well, if you guys haven't had a chance to do so already, make sure to check out our friends at the Draft King's Sportsbook app. Football season is here, folks. It's time. Let's make some money. Nobody cares about football. Nobody cares about football. Everybody cares about football. Everybody cares about football. see so much. Even baseball fans care about football and you know it. The first week of the NFL season is here. Draf King Sportsbook app is hooking our fans up with using our code of PHNX. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and you will get $200 in free bets instantly.

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See show notes for details. And of course, Jesse, I'm encouraging everybody to do all of the betting on the baseball as much as possible before the season is over. Of course, you know, you get down on the live betting. That's what I've been telling people to do. I just, I have a feel for the live betting. Yesterday I probably would have been bad. Yesterday I probably would have lost because I probably, there were several situations where I felt like the Padres

were going to start racking up some runs on the Diamondbacks. And Ryan Nelson proved me wrong, saved me some money by, you know, looking so good that I hesitated in pulling the trigger. And, yeah, sometimes you win by not betting, but sometimes it's more fun to bet. So make sure to do that on the Draft King's Sportsbook app. Kyle says, nah, I don't care about football. I just makes bet on the Super Bowl.

Loser buys another, a Warhammer unit. That is some, I'm guessing, video game stuff. And now I feel like an old man again. You guys did to me twice when I was paid it. But of course, make sure to get down on the Draft King's Sportsbook app. And also, what's that? Who is faster? Kyler or Corbyn.

Bees say it for next Monday. What are you doing? Like, come on. We'll address that one next Monday. I think we need some time to think about that. Maybe we need to see, I need to see some metrics on Kyle. Yeah, I'll look into that.

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fantasy promo code pHNX get in on the action today and jessey I'm I'm excited to get on the action. I can't wait. There's not enough baseball games left in the season. When the game, when the season starts and it's 162 games, it's daunting. I don't know how we're going to do it. I don't know how we're going to get through it. And now here we got, what, 27, 28 games left in the season. Not even that many home games left to Chase Field. And I can't wait to get down there because, of course, our new office is right around the corner. When I come out of the, when I come out of our parking garage, I can literally walk up the street right to Chase Field. It's so exciting.

And I'm so excited for you guys to see that new office. Of course, we're working on Friday this week just to bring you an episode from that. We don't work on Friday. This guy doesn't work on Friday. Look at him. But we are doing it this Friday so that we can show you our beautiful PHN Export Studio where we'll be bringing you our live show from at least four times a week. Sundays are still remote.

But we'll be there in the office all the time. And we thank our friends for more furniture for hooking us up and making our office so beautiful. these recliners guys. I can't stop talking about these recliners. They're amazing. But of course, make sure to check out our friends over at morefurniture.com for the best deals in furniture. And of course, get yourself one of these amazing leather recliners because they are fantastic to watch football in, which Jesse is going to hate me saying. But again, we thank you guys so much for joining us and being here.

And we can't wait to come to you live on Friday from the new studio. we will not be doing a show on Thursday. We will see you back here tomorrow on Wednesday for our post-series. Hopefully, we'll be celebrating a sweep of the San Diego Padres. I can't even believe those words just fell out of my mouth, but I might want to pick those back up and put them back in. Of course, you can follow us between now and then. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K.

Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at Ph.NX underscore D-Backs. But of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for joining us here live. We appreciate your time and spending your lunch with us on behalf of Jesse and myself. Let's go Diamondbacks and remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when the young guys can go out there and smoke the Padres.