PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Arizona Diamondbacks head to Denver for their final series of 2022 with the Colorado Rockies

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

Taking a look back at the first year of PHNX in the Valley and discussing the Arizona Diamondbacks heading to Denver to take on the Colorado Rockies for their final series of the season.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.Join us this Saturday starting at 3:30 pm for our ASU watch party as the Sun Devils take on Oklahoma State. Enjoy free entry, food and drink specials, and one heck of a good time on a massive screen! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/college-football-watch-party-asu-at-ok-st-tickets-411796834417Enter 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 Fantasy 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 at PHNX at our beautiful new studio with our new microphones. And I'm going to mess that up all show long. We're going to mess it up. We're going to mess it up all show long. I'm next to this guy. Of course, I am your mayor of this building. I don't know. Does that work?

Am I the mayor of the building? I mean, I think there's like probably thousands of offices in this building. Does the building have a mayor? is my question. They probably don't. We'll decide that later. What we've learned is that if an establishment doesn't have a mayor, then Derek just sort of claims it and it doesn't take him particularly long to do so.

That's the way it works. That's the way the electoral process works. Of course, I am your mayor of PHNX, Derek Montia. This guy is the vice mayor, PHNX, the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Derek, it feels like it's been a long time since the Diamondbacks have played baseball. And I know it's been like... A day? It's been like a day.

But it just feels like it's been a long time. It feels like it's been even longer since you and I have been in the same room. That is also. Yes. So, of course, we thank you guys for being here. Josh said, did I make a written promise not to hit the furniture in the new studio? If you'll notice, I am batless right now. And, of course, I think that answers your question, Josh.

I think we have a no bat for Derek Rule in the new office. More furniture does not like if I hit the furniture. So, of course, shout out to them for furnishing our office. It's so beautiful because of them. And it's the hard work that people put in, including PD and myself, by the way, which I would like to, I would like to point out. Do we have a, what is going on? What is happening? What is going on?

A $50 super chat from Elizabeth. Oh my God. That's the burrito sore herself. Thank you so much. She says, happy one year. Thanks for the debacks coverage. I've been dreaming about since 98. Wow.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Oh, I'm so emotional right now. I'm so touched. Thank you so much. You guys mean the world to us, especially all of you that have been here. You know, since day one, since we were doing it in our in our bedrooms and our offices this year, it's been a crazy year. And today is our one year anniversary of the first time of you and me doing this show together. That's really crazy to think about.

It doesn't. It feels like 10 years. Our first show was a year ago today. And I was, my studio in Washington was in my room. I was set up in like a corner of my, of my room in my tiny little Washington apartment. That's right. I was living in at the time. And I think at that point, I believe I had met you once in person ever.

That is true. We did our first show and we like barely knew each other's names. I mean, I actually told this story before, but Jesse and I years ago had met before PHMX. We did. Even a thing. Before it was even a glimmer in Brandon Spano's eye. We were we were meeting up. And this guy was basically asking me if it was worth it to keep doing it.

Right? Yeah. I think that's accurate. In those short of terms, is it worth it? to keep doing it. Well, folks, it was worth it. It was worth it. I want to say this. I'm going to get all mushy on this episode because it's one year anniversary, but I have enjoyed doing this show with you. You are like family to me. And it's been a blast. I mean, it's been a blast. And all of you guys are like family does. So we thank you guys so much for always being here with us, for making this year so

much fun. And honestly, you guys say we make debacks coverage fun. You guys make debacks coverage fun. Yeah. Without you guys on Twitter here in the chat in our Discord, it would not be what it is. So we can't thank you guys enough for supporting us, for watching the show, for spending your lunch with us. I know sometimes you want to watch Netflix on your lunch. I get it, but you guys are here with us all the time. And we appreciate it so much. So thank you for helping us reach this point. This is just the beginning, folks. Year two is going to be so much better than year one. Trust us, me and this guy, we can walk to the ballpark from here. So this studio, chef's kiss.

I may sweat like crazy walking to the ballpark. That's all right. You can take those scooters. That's right. We'll take a little. Oh, we'll get a little bird scooters. Yeah. It's like three blocks away.

This guy's worried about sweating. Whatever. True. You never adapted from leaving Seattle. Everyone is constantly sweating here. That's how it is. Including in this studio. Including in here.

These lights give off a lot. Still working on the airflow. These lights are hot. But of course, we do have news to talk about lots of news, Diamondbacks news, even on an off day yesterday. The Diamondbacks optioned Tommy Henry to AAA Reno and recalled Taylor Widener, something that isn't too surprising considering Tommy Henry's struggles lately. And of course, trying to get him right, obviously still has lots of options left being a rookie. And I think that it's probably the

best move for right now because it doesn't seem like he was being very efficient on this team. Yeah, it was, it's, it's been a struggle for Tommy Henry and his last couple starts, I mean, eight in the third inning's 12 earned runs, right? I mean, it's just not, it's not the kind of outcome that you can really deal with for very long, right? Especially as the stakes have gotten higher here in Arizona, the diamondbacks are really trying to win games and, you know, they have sort of a next man up situation here where if, you know, if Tommy Henry is struggling, there are other guys that can fill that role. We don't really know what they're going to do with this spot at this point. Some people have suspected that maybe this is the beginning of the Brandon Fott era for the Diamondbacks, which would be super exciting. If you don't know anything about Brandon Fought, he has a sub three ERA in the Pacific Coast League. And that's about all you need to know about Brandon Fought. He's been that good. He's a huge fan of this show, too, by the way. He is, yes.

Allegedly. Allegedly, yes. I don't know which one of you troublemakers that really is. We appreciate you. But he's, I mean, he's the kind of guy who really could be like a mid-futely. rotation, potentially top of the rotation starter for the diamond back. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of potential here for Brandon Fought to contribute. But we don't really know what's, what the deal is going to look like without Tommy Henry here. The diamond backs have talked about

using a six-man rotation in preparation for a double header happening in LA in a couple weeks from now. So you figure they still are going to need six pitchers to get through, to get through that period of time. So I don't know where this is where this is going to go. But sending down Tommy Henry means he has to be, he has to stay there for at least 10 days. So this, he's going to miss at least one start because of this move. As it stands right now with the upcoming series against Colorado Rockies, the series will be kicking off with Zach Davies leading the way for the Diamondbacks in game one, Madison Bumgardner in game two and Zach Gallen in game three. So right now it's still to be determined who's going to start in their series against the Dodgers. And they do have the four game with

the double header against the Dodgers. So like you said, this is that stretch that they needed the extra pitcher for. And now they've sent Tommy Henry down. I will say Michael McDermott in the comment says, Henry is still a candidate to pitch in the doubleheaders since that's the 20th, correct? Right.

And not only that, but I mean, this would allow him to go down and get another start in Reno in between now and then versus basically having him have potentially a long layoff in between starts. But I'm okay with this line. up going against Colorado Rockies. I like Zach Davies very much. He's been on fire lately. Madison Mumgarner kind of got himself right in his last start. And most importantly,

we have our guy, the milkman, Zach Gallen, delivering in game three in which could be potentially history for Zach Gallen. A lot of potential history to be made in that game, not only franchise history, but even Major League Baseball history. Let's take a look at what Zach Gallen has been doing since August 8th because it's been pretty impressive. He obviously has the scoreless streak that we've been talking about so much. It's old news. It's old news. 41.1 innings pitched, yawn. Just the second longest streak in franchise history.

No big deal. Could pass Brandon Webb in this game. Most importantly, it's the longest scoreless streak in Major League Baseball since 2015 when Zach Granky did it. So that right there, I think, is an impressive feat because that's seven years since someone has gone this amount of time. scoreless basically I mean six consecutive starts of six scoreless

innings is tied for the Major League Baseball record which we've talked about with the aforementioned Zach Grinke also with Don Drysdale and a couple of other big names as far as that is concerned so he could set he could make history if he gets through this next start against the Rockies scoreless once again with six innings pitched five and one record in those six starts and he's just been

damn good obviously a 0.0 ERA scoreless means that. That's sort of how it works. That's how scoreless, you know, kind of works. But a 122 opponent batting average, 46 strikeouts, and eight walks. That's, some of the Diamondbacks pitchers have eight walks in an inning, it feels like. So, I mean, it's incredible to see the efficiency that he's had on the bump. Yeah, I mean, 2015, that Zach Grinky streak, that was the year that Zach Grinke had.

I want to say a 1.66 IRA or something ridiculous. He was a Dodgers. Innings for the Dodgers. And that was also, I mean, that was the season he was coming off of, you know, when the Diamondbacks brought him to Arizona, right? That's why they had to pay over $200 million for a guy in his 30s because he had a sub two ERA that you were prior, right? Yeah, I mean, Zach Gallen has put himself in rare company, right?

There's no getting around that. Sunday's game's going to be fun. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be difficult. He's one inning away from the franchise record, right? Brandon Webb's franchise record of 42-inning. it back in 2007. Zach Gallen being at 41 and a third,

he would break that record by throwing a scoreless first inning, which at Corse Field is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to do. I don't like the odds of that. Yeah. But do you think that the pressure would be off once he does that? Do you think he really cares about, like, I don't know. Here's what I've learned. He's making it sound like he doesn't care at all.

He doesn't care at all. But I don't believe that. I don't. Well, you know, he, his, his explanation to us about why a no hit wasn't really that big of a deal was actually a good argument for it. Like the things he told me and Jesse in the clubhouse about why he like a no hitter wasn't that impressive, but a perfect game was. I mean, I know obviously the difference in the number that have occurred historically

in Major League Baseball. But just also how much, you know, what a difference it means to him personally, what a no hitter means. Like everybody has different levels of appreciation for these feet. But Zach Gallen does seem to come off as cool as he does when he's doing these interviews or whatever. I mean, that's just him, right? So, like, I would believe that he doesn't care, but I think he would like to set the franchise record. I feel like that is he basically said, like, I might as well. Like, I'm right, I'm like right there. So like, might as well.

That's literally word for word. He said, I might as well try is what Zach Gallen said, which I think I really hope that the Diamondbacks send Brandon Webb on the road trip, which I don't think they normally do. Brain the Web is usually just a broadcaster at Chase Field. Yeah, he should be there. But they, I mean, you really, like if ever there was a time where you should get Brennan Webb out on the road to do some, to do some color analysis. Send him down to the visiting clubhouse to interview him after the game.

There you go. You know, have him be the post game reporter. Yeah, instead of Todd Walster, Joe Jackson, and you just send down Brandon Webb. That would be, that would be hilarious. That'd be great. I do love that about Zach Gowlin. He reminds me of the kid in school that didn't really have to try to get straight A's, right like it was almost infuriating he wouldn't do his homework he'd barely show up in class you know

he didn't look like he was ever actually understanding the information but yet somehow he got an a plus at the end of the semester oh he's that kid you know uh but i'm glad i'm glad he's on our side that's all i'll say about that of course uh gallons's run has been you know fantastic to watch and he's the national league player of the week last week as well as the national league pitcher of the month uh for the month of august so Player of the week doesn't even seem like significant anymore. It's like, yeah, he just won pitcher of the month. I mean, it's one week.

Well, player of the week is significant because usually, I mean, it's a little bit easier for a position player to win that with the frequency that they play, right? That's fair. Yeah, and as a starter, you need two starts. Like, if you only start once, it's, I mean, I guess if you throw in a perfect game or something, maybe they'd give it to you. But other than that, it's going to be pretty tough. They also have to be pretty impressive starts, right, in order for you to be considered

for that. So, again, kudos to Zach Gowan. I believe you might have written a piece or two about Zach Gowan over at go phnx.com. I don't know if you guys know about our website. If you only watch us on this show, you may or may not have heard me talk about this, but we have a little website called GoPhNX. We actually have a piece coming on Zach Gallant's candidacy for the Cy Young Award, which a couple months ago would have seemed absolutely crazy.

And I'm still not going to, I'll give you the spoiler right now. He's not the front runner. But he's put himself into the conversation. Don't give it away for free. Make people go read it. I'm a kind person there. I like to be giving. But in order to get the entire article, you will have to be a subscriber.

Go ahead. Go ahead. There he is. He's giving you just a little bit making you come over. Just a little nugget. Sign up for a membership. If you haven't done so already, get yourself an annual membership. It'll come with a free t-shirt like this beauty, this Seth.

I'm putting this down, Jesse. Look at this guy. Oh, we miss you, Seth. Speaking of that, what an opening day. All right, remember opening day? Remember how long ago that was? You were just a little bubble on the screen back then. I was.

You're a full grown man sitting next to me. I'm so proud of you. But anyway. Did you see what Michael put in the comments just now? Just describe I run through high school perfectly. I figured as much. We all hate you now, Michael. I'm sorry.

You strike me as that, Michael. Of course you are. Of course, if you don't want the annual membership, get yourself the month to month membership. You'll get your first month for just 50 cents. Regardless of your status, you will get access to our members-only Discord, which is the absolute best place to be an Arizona Diamondbacks fan, as well as members-only discounts from the PHNX Locker.com where you get this shirt from,

go check out the locker. If you're not a member, see what you like, see what you want, and then maybe you sign up for that annual membership. Get yourself a free t-shirt. Also, if you're watching us right now on the PHAX Sports YouTube channel, God bless you. Thank you for being here. Make sure to subscribe to this channel. Sign up for notifications so you don't miss any of our wonderful shows go live. And also, if you're listening to us right now, on your favorite audio podcasting app. Make sure to subscribe there as well. Leave us a five-star review if you feel like Jesse deserves it.

We're going to base all reviews on Jesse's merit from this point forward. So this has nothing to do with me. I'm out of it. Now you're hurting his feelings if you don't give us a five-star review. But I did hurt his feelings yesterday when I smashed him in battleship, by the way. We had ourselves a fun little Ph&X meeting. And we want to thank our friends over at Snakes and Lattee for having us. It was an absolute blast.

the incredible amount of board games they have. It was overwhelming. Jesse and I went over to pick a game, and I chose Scrabble. Scrabble. Which was incredible. Against this guy. I grew up playing Scravel,

and I'll be honest with you, Derek. Battleship, you got me. You would not have gotten into Scrabble. Luckily, we took one look at it. We realized it was one of the old school ones he had to flip the tiles over and do like, no, we weren't having all that. So we went to a little easier game,

but the incredible amount of games, games they had out there. Scrabble was just too hard. It was too much. It was too much. We went and played battleship instead. This guy really oversold his skills. He was like, I haven't played a lot of games, but I played Scrabble. He said it with such certainty. It was terrifying. But anyway, yeah, Michael McDermott says never challenge a guy who writes for a living to Scrabble. By the way, Derek, I feel like we'd make a great team in what was the game we played? Categories? No, it was a catchphrase because we were on different teams, but Derek and I were getting each other.

We like kept making eye contact because we were getting it when nobody else was. We and her could like one word catchphrases and we would have been killing people. But yeah, that was another fun game we played. You can play all these games over at Snakes and Lates. So make sure to check them out. Thank you again for having us out for our meeting. Make sure to check them out Instagram at Snakes and Lattees 10P. And go out there, have some fun.

They have beer. They have lattes. They have food. They were wonderful food. By the way, I had a Nashville chicken sandwich. It was incredible. Yeah.

So yeah, please. support them because it's a lot of places to go play board games and I'll tell you they had the most board games I've ever seen a place like this have so I love the nostalgia section that's where mostly because those are the only games that I knew how to play but they have some incredible some incredible stuff and yeah all sorts of stuff yeah like not all of those wonderful games and this guy said he's like he's a king of life and I'm like that's a humble brag but uh Speaking of another one of our kings of the diamond, Josh Ross was named DeBax's Roberto Clemente nominee for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And if you're not familiar with the Roberto Clemente Award, it's a recognition of a player who represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions both on and off the field. And the reason why I found this interesting is you don't really see, like we get a lot of press releases from the Diamondbacks telling us about the stuff that the players are doing outside of, you know, playing the game, right? So we get notified when they go and do a lot of these philanthropic.

No, I'm not even going to try to say that. Philanthropy. Philanthropy, yeah, because I should have just said. Don't even try to say philanthropy. Yeah, I would have lacked that you so hard. I was going to support. But anyway, you know, and Josh Raws' name, to be honest, doesn't really come up, I think, very much because a lot of the stuff he does

is just stuff he does. Like he's here from here in the valley. So we found out that he hosts free camps and clinics for youth baseball in the West Valley, which is, you know, where he's from. Yeah. He also donated gear to Millennium High School and Goodyear where he played. And at the evening on the Diamond Gala, which the Arizona Diamondbacks hold every year, Rojas, they auctioned off a truck. So, and for $120,000, which raised money for youth baseball and scholarships for high school athletes. A truck for $120,000?

$1,000. Oh, my gosh. But hey, you know, I mean, there's a lot of good that he does, and I almost feel like it's even kind of, at least to me, it's kind of that much more respectable that he does it under the radar like that. Yeah. I mean, obviously the Diamondbacks really aren't trying to, like, you know, make a big deal about this stuff,

but they do want to shed a light on the stuff that their players are doing, especially with us in the media. They want us to know when they're doing this stuff. So it's not just about what their contributions are on the field. Like this award, it's about what they're doing. the field. I just find it very cool that Josh Rojas, who is from here, is nominated for this award. He's one of 16 first-time nominees for this award. So a lot of young guys are contributing in Major League Baseball to their communities. And it's a wonderful thing to see. Yeah, I mean,

they consider it like the highest honor in Major League Baseball essentially. I mean, right, I guess what you do off the field is oftentimes more important than what you do on the field in some ways. So, Yeah, I mean, Joshua O'Hoss, there's no question, like just talking to him in the clubhouse and getting to know the guy. I mean, he's just one of the nicest people in the Diamondbacks locker room. There's no question about it. No matter how much he looks like he always wants to fight someone on the field. Oh, on the field, he's a menace. Yeah, he's an absolute terror, right?

But off the field, a fantastic human being. So it's great to hear. And like I said, it was almost surprising to me a bit because, like I said, I don't really see him getting a lot of that spotlight for the stuff he does. So kudos to him for contributing to our community and given back, especially to the high school that he played at and the community that helped make him the ball player he is, right? All right. So Michael McDermott in the comments is, if you are a baseball player and can only win one award, would you rather have the Roberto Clemente Award of the MVP? That's like a character thing. Yeah, that's a hard comparison.

There's other awards, I think, that would be a little bit closer to the Roberto Clemente Award. but MVP is such an incredible honor when it comes to baseball, right? There's so many players plus as our GM over here is doing this, the money involved with MVP is much more. But, you know, the Roberto Clemente Award, that's especially to win it because he's just the nominee for our team. All 30 nominees. Yeah, there's 30 nominees. So to win the award, I think just shows how much you care about your community and what you're doing with, you know, the extraordinary opportunities. That's been given to you the money that comes with your position as a professional athlete and everything you're doing

Yeah to just give back to your community and not only that, but to be Considered the most Philanthropic Philanthropic Philanthropic Philanthropic yeah Philanthropic Saul's right I was wrong Philanthropic he got Jesse But to be considered that in all of MLV is pretty Pretty damn impressive so I mean Ben says the answer that like Ben said MVP.

It is an MVP. I mean... I'm being honest, yes, MVP, but that's just because, you know, I'm not Josh Rawas. I'm not a kind person like that. You know that. So speaking of, Judge or Otani.

Why are you doing this to me? Otani. It's always going to be Otani for me, no matter what. What he does as a pitcher, when you look at the Los Angeles Angels page for team leaders, and he leads every category in pitching and offense,

how can he not be? be the MVP. He also plays for the Angels for the record. So like being at the top of their leaderboard is a little different than... I know, right? He's trying to do it all himself. Literally trying to do everything.

He is. I mean, I guess there's the NL MVP conversation too, but we won't. We won't go to. Then I will absolutely not do that. Thank you though for trying. MLB rule changes are happening. Our friend Rock who is normally known as our

collectible guru was not very happy about these rule changes. Really? Yeah. What are you, what are your thoughts on the rule changes? What are you doing over here? Oh, I love them. I love them.

Why? Speed the fucking game up. All right. Yeah, yeah, that's, he's not wrong. He's not fucking wrong. You want to speed the game up. Not to mention the fact that I mean,

you guys, you have guys out there wearing oven mitts to make sure that they don't jam their fingers or get injured sliding into a base. Is that the official name for those? Are they called oven mitts? Yeah, they should be. Base running oven mitts. And I think that,

you know, the fact that they want to make the bases bigger isn't that big of a deal. I think the shift sucks. Like, like keeping the shift sucks. You want it gone? I want it gone. I think the shift sucks. I want more offense in baseball, even though I am habitually a person complaining about how long baseball games are,

which that's not going to help in any way. That's just going to create more offense and make longer games. But I don't care about that because what I care about is like, you know, an actual ability for a player to, you know, have a natural side he hits to and be able to maybe every once in a while eke a freaking ball through over there. Yeah, I mean, I feel like when it comes to the shift, I honestly, I think there's a decent case to be made in favor of the shift and keeping the shift, which I think a lot of people may disagree with me on. But the issue, and I'm curious what you think about this, Derek, the issue with getting rid of the shift is that you're kind of catering the game to a very certain type of player, right? There's this type of player that baseball has been kind of moving toward for years now, really, who is, you know, sort of a free swinging power hitter type who strikes out a lot and probably, you know, maybe walks a decent amount too. I think having the shift in play sort of makes it so that that type of player is limited in some ways, right?

There's still there's still a use to being a, you know, a slap hitter who can hit the ball to all fields. And, you know, which a lot of people view is a more exciting brand of baseball, right? When the ball is in play more, when Geyser are, you know, going the other way, when there's just more action on the field rather than more swing and miss. Right. Right. So that's my one concern with getting rid of the shift is that you're basically telling those players who struggle to go the other way, you know, who don't have a very diverse, like, offensive profile. You're telling those players like, that's okay, like you win. Like, we're not going to try to limit you from continuing to do that.

And I think there may be some drawbacks to that in the long run. But we'll, I mean, we'll see. I think it will be, it'll be interesting to see how it changes the game. The Diamondbacks, I do think we've talked about this before, will be at a disadvantage because they are one of the best teams in baseball at shifting and not being able to shift is going to limit their defense pretty significantly. So there's a lot of factors here, but I do understand that, you know, it's frustrating. I think I think as a fan, it's frustrating like watching a game and seeing a ball off the bat and knowing like, oh, that's going to be a hit. Like, oh, that was like right up the middle or something. And then it's like, oh, the second basement is standing on second.

base like what right so your your instincts will probably start to serve you a little bit better I guess is maybe one advantage but there's a lot of different factors that go into this I hate the idea of limiting what a baseball team can do defensively I think that part sucks right but what we've so the diamond back should be able to play four outfielders five outfielders exactly yeah okay he gets me uh what about what about the other rule changes besides the shift do you care about anything else that's happening I think the pitch clock is significant and I don't I don't dislike like the pitch clock. I am very much in favor of the pitch clock. Even as someone,

haven't they been kind of honoring the pitch clock already for what, two years now? Um, like in major league games, they like show it on the screen, but it doesn't, nobody cares. And I've talked to the guy in the diamond back's, uh, press box who controls it. And,

and he just openly acknowledged like, yeah, what I do is kind of pointless. Like I run this timer that nobody pays any attention to. Um, but next year will start to matter, right? So it's, it's 15 seconds.

That's how long you have if there's nobody on base to deliver a pitch and it's 20 seconds if there is someone on base. Some Diamondbacks pitchers, not all, but some Diamondbacks pitchers that is going to make a significant difference, I think. Zach Gallen is one in particular. When he doesn't have anyone on base, Zach Gallen works fairly quickly. But once Zach Gallen has someone on base, he starts to work very slowly. And so I think particularly on that part of his game, he's going to have to speed things up a little bit. Yeah, all right. Well, we'll see what happens.

It led to 26 minute shorter games in the minor leagues. You're talking about going from about a three hour game to almost a two and a half hour game, which even as someone who adores baseball and will watch five hours of it if I have to, I think that's good for the sport in the long run to cut, you know, cut down the length and make it a little bit more approachable for people who aren't quite as into the game going into it. Yep. And I agree. I don't have any problem with it.

You know, I want the game to go shorter. and I think that's the way to do it. You just want to be able to leave faster. That's exactly it. That's exactly it. He's not wrong. I don't want to leave at 10.30 anymore. 11 o'clock at night.

That's for the birds. I will say this, though, about the pitch clock currently running is at least it's not a shock to the system when they implement it. Right? Like these pitchers have been used to seeing it up there. And to a certain degree, it's been, you know, subconsciously making them speed up anyway because it's running up there and they see it and all of that. So I think there is a purpose to it being. up there. But our friend in the press box, yeah, we're looking forward to you actually having a

purpose. Imagine how much meaning you'll have in his life. Yeah, you're going to be so important in game. We appreciate that. We'll have to send them some OGs if he wants to. But hey, you guys could go pick up some OGs from our friends at OGs, the number one selling gummy in the state of Arizona. Of course, they have a wide variety of flavors, wide variety of doses and strains for you to choose from. They're all about flavoring life, and so are we. That's why we partnered together with them for the flavoring life sweepstakes. One lucky winner entering over at go-PhNX.com is going to win yourself three bags of

OG's gummies, including my favorite orange creamstacle. You're going to get yourself an OG's hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, not the one that I'm wearing there. That's open shirt, Derek, occasional habitual line stepper and closer for the diamond bags. You also get yourself a PHNX annual membership. So go sign up now at gopHNX.com or click the link below in our show notes. Also, check out our friends at OGsbrands.com or on Instagram, OGs Brands. You can also find their products at your local dispensary. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.

Jesse, I was featured in their newsletter. Really? Dispatch. Really? You're just all over there, everything these days. Hey, it's a mutual love. I love OGs. They love me back.

I am 40% OGs. even right now as we speak. But again, make sure to check them out. It must be 21 years or older to purchase. And speaking of 21 years or older to purchase, make sure to check out also our friends at Four Peaks Brewing Company, where we will be this Saturday, starting at 3.30 p.m. for the ASU watch party as the Sun Devils take on Oklahoma State.

Enjoy the wonderful food. And by that, of course we mean the chicken tendees. Also, drink specials and one hell of a good time watching our Sun Devils on a massive screen. Check our link in there. the show notes to sign up for free. It's a free watch party. They just want to, they just want you to RSVP if you can. So that way we know how many people to expect. Also, if you're not able to join us out at the Four Peaks 8th Street Pub, pick yourself up some Four Peaks at your local grocery store. Bring it home. Enjoy it with us while your watch ASU kick the hell out of Oklahoma

State. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly, please. Jesse, one year, one year of us doing this. I still can't believe. I still can't believe that we're in this office finally. It's a beautiful space. Josh Hunt asks, is there a mayor of OGs? Uh-oh. Is there? Not that I'm aware of, no.

Oh, Josh. Josh might be my vice mayor of OGs. We're going to have to work that deal out. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Derek, but like most like corporations, small businesses do not have a mayor. Like that's not like a normal thing. That's a huge mistake on their part because we. do here and this is that guy. But Jesse, of course, our one year

has been filled with quite the ups and downs for the Arizona Diamond Island specifically. And for us. Tank season was the rally cry a year ago, right? We were wearing tank tops, so Baxter was in a tank top. I think at one point we had Baxter in a tank top in a tank

drinking tank array. That's how into tank season we were. But now we've gone from that to covering the lockout. I mean, we went from covering one of the worst seasons and franchise history to cover it one of the worst situations potentially in baseball history, right?

Yeah. The beginning of the the pH and X Diamondback story is a very dark is a very dark story. It's shaky. It's best, yeah, for sure. But look at where we're at now. We got the kings of the diamond. Our wrist king, Eraldo Perdomo, our young king, Alec Thomas, or Speedy King,

Corby and Carol. Of course, our short king, Dahl Barshot, who, like Michael McDermott said earlier, is going to be the guy that's going to get the most money from the shift being banned forever. But it's just exciting. The future is exciting. Ryan Nelson, a lot of the other pieces that have come together for this team,

obviously Zat Gowan and Merrill Kelly being the first back-to-back National League pictures of the month for this team since Kurt Schilling and Randy Johnson did it. There's just so much excitement surrounding this team right now. And I know that they're in a hole that's hard to dig themselves out of at this point. And that's the reason why as fun as it was to dream about the playoffs last week and early this week. I really felt like the Padre season or Padre series was the thing that that ended it for them, which is fine. You know, we said every game was critical and they needed to play perfect baseball. They nearly did in that series.

But unfortunately, they still have some shortcomings that expose themselves. And mostly the bullpen being that. Yeah. But it's still been just an absolute fun season year. I just can't believe where we're. we're at right now versus where we were at on September 9th, 2021. So it's been a lot of fun. What has been your favorite part about this transition for you?

Because I've been here this whole time. I've been doing this. I've been in the studio. I've been helping. I built a brick wall. I, being Petey together, built a brick wall. Derek put in his blood, sweat, and tears. I put in my C, yes.

When you see it later on a show later in the day. It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. It is gorgeous. It is gorgeous. You were going to take it away from you. I was like, no, I'll just, I'll just let you take all the credit you want. You're the one that has gone from being in a apartment bedroom to now moving back here home and covering this team that you grew up doing Greg Schulte interviews about.

Oh, my gosh. What is your feelings on being here one year later from where we were at? So first I want to say, and I know I'm really going out there by saying this, some of you are, going to be shocked by this. Oh, me and this guy are very different. And I know that's shocking. Like,

I know people are, yeah, I know we seem like we're exactly the same. Um, but believe it or not, peas in a pod. Yeah, two peas in a pod,

right. Uh, believe it or not, we're, we're just very different people in general, but literally couldn't be more different. We literally couldn't be more different is all we're trying to say. Two different human beings.

But what's, what's incredible is that I think we, we basically turn that into an asset, right? So like if you're one of the, you know, more nerdy baseball fan types, then that's why Derek, no, that's why I'm here. And so, you know, if you want to talk about, you know, fit and weighted runs created plus and all those things, you know, I'm writing about that stuff all the time. Whereas if you're, you know, more of a- You want to get high and go eat hot dogs at the ballpark.

Let's get it on, right? Let's go. You could, I couldn't have said it better than that. So, yeah. Yeah, I think, I think just that, that dynamic is, is we hope is cool for you guys. Just that no matter what you're looking for in your Diamondbacks coverage, we hope that we're providing that for you in one way or another. And that's only going to grow over time, right? As we, you know, I just got out here like a couple months ago still.

So this is all still, you know, very new sort of in some ways. That's like actually being here and doing the show together. And we're still coming up with new segment ideas and all sorts of things. So there's lots of new exciting stuff coming your way. But we're excited to just be doing this and to know that like no matter where you find yourself as a baseball fan and like what type of content you're interested in consuming, we think we have the ability to provide that. And so come on board. Bring your friends. Leave us five star reviews.

I guess it's not just because of what you think of me. It could be what you think of Derek too. If you think I'm boring and you just want me to shut up talking about numbers, maybe you're leaving your review thinking about him more than me. but it's been a lot of fun. I want to say this. And I mean, I guess this kind of transcends just doing a podcast together

is like I think we've made each other better people. I think we've made each other more well-rounded and I think that it's kind of I don't know if I go that far. Oh, come on. It's a testimony to getting to know people who aren't like you because me and this guy

really don't have much else in common besides baseball. Baseball and battleship. Baseball and battleship. That's pretty much. Yeah. I was going to call it ballpark snap. and anxiety attacks.

That's a whole other thing, right? But of course, it's been an absolute blast to do it with him. And I want to say this, that Jesse is honestly, honestly, one of, in my opinion, one of the best writers that we have here at go phtonx.com. And I'm absolutely honored to work with him and to have him covering this team. I know things are going to change right over the next year. There's a good chance that we might add some more people to this show. There's a good chance Jesse might be out at the ballpark more.

but in a short amount of time, he has really done an excellent job, not only of writing incredibly unique pieces, but getting to know the players. Like, I love watching Jesse interview players because about two minutes into talking to them, you see their faces change with knowing their talking.

Initially, they're just so put off by me. They're so annoyed with him. It's like this kid is the worst. And then you see them light up because Jesse actually just knows so much about this game. And I feel like once they start conversing with them, they know that they're talking to a true baseball mind. I'm lucky to have you as a co-host to balance me out. And we are

lucky to have you guys here watching us for the last year because, of course, we can't do it without you. And we do it for you. So we thank you and we hope that we bring you the coverage that that we're hoping to bring you. We hope you that it is like Elizabeth said, something you've been hoping for since 1998. That's going to make me cry tonight. I'm going to tell my mom about that. The fact that someone said that about us makes me feel very special because that's what we were hoping to bring. We understand how local sports here in the valley have been. You get, you get what, like three minutes of my man, Richard signs on Fox 10, you know, recapping the day's events sometimes. And that's the most of you get. So we're happy to be able to bring you this coverage and,

make you excited about this team because it is a team worth being excited about. Let me tell you. Yeah. And can I also just say that like, and I, you know, I rooted for this Diamondbacks team growing up. And I was always immensely frustrated by, you know, local radio, pretty much any local outlet you could find, you know, it's Cardinals and its sons. Yeah. Almost all the time, if we're being honest, right? That's sort of just the general, that's sort of what you get in the valley. And Leah, I'm sure you can maybe, you probably experience this with the coyotes as well, who I'm convinced some local sports analysts don't even know the coyotes exist. But, but, but, yeah, Yeah, like our goal here is to be able to, you know,

we're here every day, right? We're here five days a week talking about this baseball team. And you're not, you're just not going to get this many other places, right? But even though the Diamondbacks are like the one team that is in season right now, right? Or one of a few teams that are actually in season in Arizona. The local coverage is still, it's still sons and cardinals almost all the time, right? For sure.

So that's sort of another goal of ours is like we want to be your go-to spot for Diamondbacks coverage. And we're here all the time. If anything, you're going to get, you probably already are sick of us at this point after a full year. It doesn't matter. We're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere. You know where to get us. We're on Twitter all the time.

One of us is awake at all time. You're going to get a snarky comment or something, whatever you're going to get. You can always find us. Josh Hent says between the memes, which Josh is a huge part of. So thank you, Josh. Yes. You have been a big of a part of this as anybody has. We thank you for that.

He says shows articles and Discord chat. It's been the most fun D-back season of all time. We thank you. And again, we wouldn't do this. We can't do this without you guys. So we thank you so much for everything you guys have added to just make this a team effort amongst all of us, right? Like we could be a group of people that just all like the Diamondbacks, but we're not. We're a team.

And we appreciate you guys being on our team. Before we go, okay, I want to give you guys my draft king's pick of the week. Speaking of a team, speaking of a team. I know Jesse's not going to like this. I want to talk football for about 30 seconds to three minutes now. So put me on the clock. Did I say 30 minutes? 30 seconds to three minutes.

We'll see what happens. But of course, we're very excited to go out to four peaks. And I'm so excited that my pick of the week is ASU to cover the 12 points spread against Oklahoma State. I think they're going to smash Oklahoma State. ASU has looked very good in their first game. And I think that that is a safe bet for you. Not only that, but then you get to root for the Sundevils. You get to bet on the Sundevils.

You get to make some money off the Sundevils. And of course, not only is college football back, but the first week of the NFL season is, here. The Draft King's Sportsbook app is here. Hooking our fans up right now. You use our promo code of PHNX. You bet $5 and you'll get $200 in free bets instantly. Your team doesn't even have to win. You could lose like the Rams did. Just get the brakes beat off you. And you'll still win $200 in free bets. And as an added bonus for week one, just like a similar promotion they had in that Buffalo Bills Rams game, everyone can experience the thrill of the Draft King's early win promotion. It's this simple.

Draft Kings use the promo code PHNX, bet on an NFL team to win. If that team goes up by 10 points at any point during their game, you win, even if they end up losing. That's promo code PHNX over at the Draft King's Sportsbook app. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. And the bigger thing is I have talked about going to the weekend a lot because I had a whole good time. We had dinner in the fancy lounge that I paid way too much money for. and then we got seats down very close to the stage

and they were supposed to be obstructed view. They were not obstructed view. So I was very excited about that. But what I wasn't excited about really was finding out how much money I could have saved on game time because that's when we started working with them. And the very, I've had these tickets in my possession for three years. It was supposed to take place originally.

It was like canceled because of the pandemic like eight times. Well, yeah, it was canceled. It was at Heela River. And then they canceled it. and then they moved it to State Farm, so there was a bigger venue. And they allowed all of us that had tickets from the original show to purchase our tickets first before everybody else, right?

Tickets were very expensive. They were much more for State Farm Stadium than they originally were with the Healer River. And I found out that there were tickets available on game time. The night of the show, Jesse. Oh, man. So to have those in my possession for three years, I don't know if I'll ever buy tickets early ever a game. again, because game time is the hottest new ticketing site

that makes it easier than ever to score the best deals on concerts, shows, and sporting events. Forget going to the scalpers out front of Chase Field. Go to game time. Save up to 60% on tickets when you buy tickets last minute. That's the most important part. You know how it is. You have nothing to do on Friday night.

The Diamondbacks are home. They're playing the Dodgers. You were reluctant to buy tickets earlier because you knew what Chase Field was going to look like, but you're like, no, not so much anymore. I want tickets. I want to go. So it's great for procrastinators like me, and I know there's so many of you in the chat.

Josh Hens said, imagine if you went to the L.A. concert, which is the one that he, he canceled the show midway through. I would have rioted. You have no idea. You guys would never have. They canceled him midway through? Yeah, he lost his voice. Like, he lost his voice midway through the show at SoFi Stadium. So he had to not only cancel that show and refund everybody their money, but like he canceled like the rest of the rest of the rest of course.

Could you tell? Could you tell like during the, it was the first song. It was the first song. Wow. It was the first song. I don't know. It was the first song. All I know is that Doja can't canceled. So he decided to take up the extra time that they didn't bring on somebody else to replace her. He just opted to perform for longer.

And I mean, I think that there's a reason why just like with sports, right? Just like with like pitchers and pitching limits and stuff. There's a reason why they restrict these like performers like a world tour to like an hour or 90 minutes or however long that they're restricted to, right? They don't want them doing to themselves what the poor weekend did. But again, here's the thing about it. Maybe if you waited until the last minute, you wouldn't have bought those tickets that would end up getting canceled. So make sure to use GameTime.

If you love us, you'll love Game Time. The best way to support us is by buying your tickets through the link in the description. We'll also post it on our Twitter account if you're interested in that as well. Oh, Jesse, I'm not ready to end this. I'm not ready. But baseball is about to happen. It's not here. It's in Colorado.

We're going to go watch it. We have these incredible recliners out of here and three TVs. They're calling our names. Jesse and I are taking that over. We're going to kick back. We're going to watch baseball. And we're going to really celebrate the fact that we've been doing this thing for a whole year. All the ups and downs.

All the times we did it through little windows. I remember Jesse when he was a little bubble again. Look at him. He's a grown man now. I mean, I was a little bubble. He was a little bubble. He's earlier this week too. Ben says the weekend is like the Jacob deGrobb of singers.

Yes. Yes. Elite, but also on the endurance. reserve list quite a bit. We thank you guys so much for joining us, of course. Until Sunday when we do our wrap-up show for this Rocky series, you can find us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K.

This guy is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at pHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at pHNX. Maybe Zach Gallen's made some history. Maybe the next time we're talking. We're talking Zach Gallen-making franchise and MLB history. If he feels like it. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, he might as well try. Yes, yeah, we'll see what happens. But of course, we thank you guys so much for joining us here in the comments, in the chat, and all year long. We can't, we can't, again, thank you guys enough. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we appreciate you for being part of the PHNX family. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun if you try, I guess. I don't know, whatever.