PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Diamondbacks turn things around at the plate to split the series with the San Francisco Giants

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

The debut of Stone Garrett and outstanding starting pitching powers the Arizona Diamondbacks to a four-game series split with the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, where they have struggled to find success in the past.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 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% off 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. My name is Derek Monti, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX, this guy over here. He's the vice mayor. He's also the thunderstick. It's the one and only Jesse Friedman. Zach Gallen's pitching all right these days, Derek. Not too bad. He's doing all right.

I feel like ever since he got himself. a t-shirt night, he's been locked in. Could you imagine Jesse what he could have done after a bobblehead night? Lord knows. Anyway, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use R code of PHNX. Of course, the Draft King Sportsbook app is the official sports betting app of MLB and all sorts of other stuff. Get down on that over at the Draft King Sportsbook app. It's the official sports betting app of PHNX. That's the most important part. Thank you guys for joining us. Of course, we have so much to talk about. We are so excited about what has transpired in the last 24 hours for the Arizona

Diamondbacks. Things went from looking very bleak and gloomy after two losses to start this four-game series to the Diamondbacks battling back, taking the final two games and splitting the series with the San Francisco Giants. The biggest thing, Jesse, is we had yet another incredible youngster debuting. I don't know, can we still call him a youngster? 26-year-old Stone Garrett, aka Stone Cold Garrett, got the call and delivered in his debut. And boy, did he, man, he instantly was an injection of life into this offense that looked pretty dead in the water over the first two games of the series. Yeah, first player in Diamondbacks history to have three extra base hits in his first two games,

all three doubles. I'm pretty sure that there are some ballparks out there, Derek, where Stone Garrett would have two home runs already. He had a fly out in the game today that I think in some ballparks probably would have gotten out. It was hit to that right center field, a little dent in the wall in San Francisco. Plus the wind was blowing in a bit and stuff. Yeah, it kind of looked like the wind dead in the ball a little bit.

And then I thought it's double in the game yesterday also looked like it could have been a homer in some other ballparks. And sure enough, according to everyone's favorite Twitter account, would it don? that double from Stone Garrett in yesterday's game, that double would have been a homer in 10 out of 30 major league stadium. So unfortunate for him that he had to open his career in San Francisco, but nonetheless, he showed quite a bit here in his first couple games. Here's the thing is Elizabeth said she's here to be entertained.

Are you not entertained by what has happened in the last two games? If you aren't entertained by that, you have to be entertained by Stone's story. Not only is his father delightful and nickname Brock, which is how he became Stone. He needs his own show, right? He needs his own show. He needs his own show. That man was born to be on camera. Like the amount of time that they gave him was definitely not enough.

He needed the amount of time Tyler Gilbert's dad got during the no-hitter. That's what I did the whole game. But he makes his debut after eight seasons, Jesse. we're talking about a minor league journeyman. I don't know. I don't know if you'd say that because he hasn't moved around that much, but he's a guy that gave baseball a shot. And I think for the most part had kind of, you know,

like hesitantly hung him up. He was working as a realtor, actually. And one of the great stories to come out from his debut is Steve Gilbert, writing a piece about how Stone Garrett might just be, in Major League Baseball right now, thanks to LinkedIn. So if you think LinkedIn isn't worth your time, you never know where it's going to take your career. And in Stone Garrett's case, it took him to the Biggs eventually.

He was actually working as a realtor. I mean, he's a very, he's a very intelligent guy. He's very good looking. I mean, it makes sense. Like, realty to me seems like something that he probably would have been easy for him. Really good at, sure. Good at, right. Yeah, like he sold a couple of houses already.

It wasn't like he was just starting down that road. He was doing it. And apparently due to a, basically an old video coordinator from the Gulf Coast League reaching out to him through LinkedIn to see if it was still the same Stone Garrett, like as if you confuse the name Stone Garrett. Oh, are you the same Stone Garrett that I worked with? I don't know. I've worked with a lot of Stone Garrets before. But apparently he got a. call and he said hey glad to see you doing real estate and stone replied by saying hey do you know

anybody that still needs an outfielder i feel like i could still compete at double a or above and holy shit jesse can i think he's proven that in the last two days obviously who knows what happens right things baseball is one of those games that you can never get too excited about players performing well because you always feel like they are going to like you know come back down to earth just a little bit especially when it's an unexpected story like this one, right? But apparently that led to that video coordinator asking around who spoke to a Marlins guy in the front office with the Diamondbacks, Brett West. Two days later, Stone Garrett was signed to come to spring training in 2021. That's how it happened.

It's pretty crazy in his words. But that's per of that article with Steve Gilbert, incredible story. And just, of course, I mean, everything's been incredible. Speaking of his dad, his dad didn't even have time to pack reasonably for the frigid weather that is San Francisco, right? I'm not sure if it was, it doesn't sound like the problem was that he didn't have enough time. It was just that like many people in the world, I think he underestimated what summer in San Francisco is like. It does not feel like summer in San Francisco in the month of August. It is very, very frigid there this time of year.

So I have made the same mistake that Stone Garrett's dad made. But it was very unfortunate to be repping the opposing team when your son is making his major league debut. Not a great, not a great look. And you're going to be on TV and stuff. And by the way, if you go to San Francisco, you will hear this insufferable quote so many times that you'll gag. But the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. And that's a much one quote that every lift. driver will tell you if you ever travel to that city.

I will say that I understand this because coming from a warm weather environment, it's hard for me to remember that other places are still or are already possibly cooling down. That doesn't work. That's not how things work here, Jesse. I've lived here my whole life. I've acclimated to the desert. And as far as I know, summer ends shortly after Halloween.

And then we go into what we like to call the wall. It's winter and fall kind of combined. together, right? Like, it's not really winter. It never, it gets in winter for two weeks in February, basically. And then the rest of the time, it's just kind of fall, spring, but I'm not used to that. I understand

traveling. The funny thing was Stone knew his dad was not going to dress properly. Yes, yes, that was funny. He specifically said, I don't know where he is, but I know, I knew he wasn't going to bring a jacket. And yeah, he was right about that. But again, another great asset to this team. It's just exciting to see,

him get called up to to have this, you know, have this excitement about him and to have him come up and find the success that he's having early on. Yeah, I mean, as far as like the long term outlook for Stone Garrett is concerned, it's, you know, it's a little bit hard to say like where exactly he's going to fit in in the long term. The diamondbacks have no shortage of outfielders. We've talked about that at length. And they are all performing extremely well right now with the exception of Alec Thomas, I guess, Alec Thomas had a bit of a rough one today. He has, and he's been in a rough patch this series as a whole, but Jake McCarthy has been outstanding.

He really has. Three for five with an RBI and a run scored. So like you said, there's lots of assets. It's exciting to think about the amount of assets that they have in the outfield. And they're kind of, they're all kind of coming up around the same time, too. We have the inevitable possibility of Corbyn Carroll getting called up next month or in a week or so. So it's going to be interesting to see how this team, you know,

kind of shuffles things around. Dalton Varsho was excellent defensively in this series. So like you said, there's there's quite a few pieces that excelled in the series and showed why the Diamondbacks have a bit of a dilemma on deciding who to go with with their outfield going forward. Pitching, though, bullpen, we talked about it already. Not great in this series. starting pitching fucking outstanding.

Zach Gallin was incredible today. Zach Gallen was efficient. He was, it looked effortless, right? Like he made the San Francisco Giants look like a pedestrian baseball team that can't really do much offensively. Even when he gave up a hit, he was able to gobble up a double play to end the inning or get out of it and effaced the minimum, I believe, through seven innings.

So he was just dialed it in this game. he was it honestly might have been the best i've ever seen zach gallon um i know things may be faded form a little bit in those last couple of innings he needed like 22 pitches or something like that for the seventh um but i mean it was it was a video game derrick i mean 12 strikeouts 12 strikeouts 12 strikeouts is a career high form he also got an out in the eighth inning which surprisingly he had never done in his major league career first time that zach gallon has ever retired a batter in the eighth inning you should have retired two um,

Alec Thomas making a, um, unfortunate air on a, on a fly ball out there. It was very, very windy. So, uh,

sort of understandable on that front. But nonetheless, I mean, Zach Gallin, they were talking about it on the broadcast like, he's putting up the kind of numbers that really put him like squarely in the mix for pitcher of the month in August. And that's right after Merrill Kelly was just named pitcher of the month in July.

Um, and to think like from where we were a year ago, Derek, with this starting rotation, to now having guys who potentially could go back to back in pitcher of the month awards, it's insane. And it is the foundation of what is propelling the Diamondbacks right now.

The starting rotation as a whole in this series gave up seven runs. Six of them were by Madison Bumgarner. He had a bit of a clunker in that first game. But Zach Davies, Merrill Kelly, and Zach Gallen, outstanding. They allowed one run combined between the three of them. Let's take a look at the numbers in this series. because, like you said, they have been outstanding.

The pitching, starting pitching numbers, outstanding relief pitching looks much better, honestly, because even though they made mistakes, it's not like the relief pitching gave up, you know, a lot of runs. None in Madison Bumgarteners start, like you said. And then really just that crucial run in the loss, you know, that was the biggest one. But, you know, as you can see here, relief pitching ERA was incredible for both teams. neither team could hit with runners in scoring position, really. And again, the starting pitching, like you said, I'm actually amazed.

Like the only reason I think really here is that the Giants outduled them in the ERA department is from Madison Bumgarner's start. Yeah, yeah, that's really it right there. And the bullpen honestly was pretty good for the Diamondbacks in the series. It was really that Ian Kennedy to run a Homer that costs the second game of the series. outside of that, the Diamondbacks bullpen only gave up one run in this entire series. So hats off to them for what they were able to do in this one. And I don't know.

We're very mean to them. We're very mean to them. We are. Because they have been good at times. It's just those critical errors, right? Melanson felt, I felt a little puckering going on when Melanson came in last night, but he looked really good. And maybe maybe that's what he needed. Maybe maybe just to compete for a position and not have things handed to him might just be that little extra motivation that Melanson needs to stay sharp.

Again, the other key there, put him in an actual save opportunity and not when the game was tied or when the diamondbacks were down by a run. So bam in the comments, said proud that D-backs knocked out Logan Webb early. Yeah, they were all over him. They did not. They had one of the best pitchers in the National League not looking at. and very sharp. And I mean, the biggest thing about this series was really Christian Walker for me, Jesse, is Christian Walker consistently has, has just been dialed in over his last 12, 13 games. He's been outstanding. And in this series, he was our draft king of the series. 3.54 batting average. Of course,

his batting average has been much better since the All-Star break. Of course, still leading or tied for the lead in RBI since the All-Star break. He scored five runs in this series, two RBI on his two solo home runs that he had. Just couldn't really have any, you know, guys on the pond, no ducks on the pond for him to really drive in. But Christian Walker continues to be outstanding for this team. Yeah, they mentioned him yesterday as being like a possible candidate for player the month in August.

I don't know if we're like quite to quite to that level, but he has been very, very, very good this month. And yeah, I mean, he provided all of the offense that the Diamondbacks got in the first two games of this series with a solo home run on Monday and then again, a solo home run on Tuesday. It was good to see the Diamondbacks come through in some of those big spots in yesterday's game and in today's game. And yeah, I know you mentioned Jake McCarthy earlier, but that hit last night, bottom of the top of the eighth inning, second and third, two outs.

the Diamondbacks have really struggled with runners and scoring position in two outs. And he had arguably the biggest hit of this whole series with that two run single. So all across the board, there was just a lot of really good signs in these last couple games. And you can just kind of feel the energy in this fan base right now, Derek. Like the discord is popping. Twitter has really been going crazy the last couple of days. There's just a sense of excitement around this team, not for, you know, splitting a series with the Giants so much, but just like where this team is headed in the future,

it's really starting to materialize in front of us right now. After game two, I had a hard time even envisioning a split, right? Yeah. I mean, because you were getting the giants, you were getting their two best starters in the last two games of the series. Right.

It was tough. Yeah. And so the way that they bounced back, the life that Stone Garrett brought to this team, the way that Merrill Kelly and Zach Gallen pitched, even Zach Davies, right? I mean, Yeah. And there's just a lot of lot to look forward to. I think the thing that we saw was not just Stone Garrett playing well in this series. Jake McCarthy played well. You know, the young guys are playing well. Dalton Varsho played well. We see Rojas continue to be really good for this team. So I think it's just a matter of starting to like see the picture develop. Right. You're starting to see who this core is, why this team was committed to not bringing in any free.

agents and why their stance was that they were going to let positions stay open so that these young guys that were now seeing play and succeed weren't blocked so that they could come up and play. But it's been great. It's been outstanding. I'm so excited for it. Of course, again, Christian Walker, our Draft Kings king of the series, if you haven't done so already, sign up over at the Draft King Sportsbook app. Download the app.

Use our promo code of PHNX. I can't believe I'm saying this, Jesse, because it doesn't even feel right. but college football is here. And if you bet $5 on college football, you will get $200 in free bets instantly as a new customer. It's that easy. You bet the money. The free bets are yours.

It's in your account. That's code PHNX only at the Draft King's Sportsbook, America's top rated sportsbook app. I've talked over the last, I'm still doing the live betting, Jesse. Live betting for me is where it's at. It gets the blood pumping in my veins, you know? Sometimes I even forget I make betts.

if I set them three, four hours before the game and then come back and take a look at it. But I did win Shane some money on betting on Christian Walker to Homer in, I believe, game two of the series. So hopefully I can help you guys out. I'm obviously going to take the San Diego Padres on Friday over the Washington Nationals.

I don't think that that's too much of a no-brainer for me. I'm also taking the Astros to continue on the role. They slaughtered the Chicago White Sox today. So I'm going to take the Astros over the Atlanta Braves. And I'll give you one more. I'm going to take the Tampa Bay Rays over the Kansas City Royals. So there's a couple of Draft Kings pick of the week. Remember on Drafking Sportsbook app, you can combine those together into one bet.

You can split them up. You can do same game parlayers with all of those, whatever you want to do. That's what's beautiful about the Draft King Sportsbook app. So many options for you to go win money. Have a good time. Bet whatever you want and enjoy yourself. Remember, if you bet on the college football, using our promo code, you'll get $200 in free bets instantly.

Jesse, I, I'm very excited for Zach Gowan's success. But again, there's this, there's something that also makes me sad is Zach Gowan, I think, I think if I'm right about this, has given up one earned run since his t-shirt night. And that's pretty good. But again, maybe if we gave him a bobblehead, there'd be zero earned run since his bobblehead night. but I know we can't get bobbleheads right now. Next season, fingers crossed, they'll be back in the meantime. Check out our friends at Foco.com because they have you covered.

And to be honest, if you're talking about quality of bobbleheads, these are art, okay? These aren't, you're not going to come bring this one home and not recognize the face if you know what I'm saying. But we're partnering with Foco, which is a leader in sports merchandise and collectibles. They have you covered with the best Arizona sports merchandise and whatever team you root for.

I don't care, though. I don't want to hear about your other teams and who else you root for. I know we're in a... We're Arizona sports fans. We all have second teams. I don't care about your second team. Go get yourself some Arizona merchandise.

They have officially licensed gear for Jesse's dog, which is the most important member of the family we're covering, as well as men, children, women, everything from bobbleheads, the swimsuits to Crocs. Focos got you covered. So head on over to Focco.com. Use our code of PHNX and for all non-present. items, you will get 10% off.

Click below in the link in the description. If you don't want to go find it for yourself, I know typing in words now is hard for people. So if you want to click the link, I get it. Maybe that's too hard for you. I don't know. Maybe I'll buy it for you. Let me have access to your Venmo account and I'll take care of that.

That's probably not a good idea. Jesse did that one time. Don't, don't let Derek have access to you. Not a good idea. Not a good idea. controversial home plate rule is starting to stink up baseball jesse i hate it i'm starting to hate it what's weird is to hate a rule that hasn't impacted the team that you root for right like i feel like i like the hand check thing right i fucking hate the hand check thing and that's not my fault

that's not madison bumgarner's fault that's damn bolino's fault and you know it dan bellino today Did you see this mound of human? Like, I can't stand this guy. He couldn't even be bothered to get out of the way of Sergio Alcantra trying to make a play. Just stood there, just stood in his way. Like, he's just out there like a tree with roots in the ground. But anyway, Dan Bolino, I'll deal with you another day. This controversial home plate rule, though, Jesse, it seems to be bad for the sport.

The Major League Baseball umpires Association released a worded statement Wednesday regarding the criticism umpires are receiving due to the home plate collision rule if you're not familiar with it basically uh it catchers are like completely powerless now when a runner is coming in home it feels like it feels like that jesse like i get it i get what the rule is i get what the purpose of the rule is i get that sure don't want those home plate collisions anymore i get that they don't want guys trying to literally knock the ball out of the catcher's hand which let's be honest even though it's not good for player health it was one of the most exciting plays at time in the entire sport to see a guy barreling down on the catcher at home plate and then not know what's going to happen despite the fact that the catcher caught the ball and is standing there is crazy but the other thing is it is the buster posy rule that's what we're referring to thank you brian abdala the crazy thing about it for me is that like that's not acceptable at any other plate. at any other base, right?

Like, you can't just run into the second basement and knock them all out of his hand, right? So it's like, that's the part to me that's even crazy about that ever being a rule. And it's crazy that, like, they have to do all of this stuff about the catcher covering home plate and whatever. Like, I don't know, but this, this, this feels like when they decided to make home field advantage based on the outcome of the All-Star game. It feels like such an overcorrection that they have gone in the opposite direction of the rulemaking sense now. Like I get it. I get player health. I understand all of that.

Like I totally get it. But can't we just have it be like another base where the guy can stand there, stand in front of a home plate and tag them? And like runners aren't allowed to just run in full speed and hit the guy like they're a fucking rhinoceros out of control or something? I don't know. this is a tough one for me, Derek. Honestly, I sort of understand where the umpires are coming from here.

Just looking at the statement that they made, this is word for word, but part of what they said. It's simple. Don't block home plate without possession of the baseball or change the rule. The umpires statement said that was part of what they came out and said. They're enforcing

a rule that major league baseball implemented. It's not like the umpires are taking the rule out of context. They are literally, it says, you can't block the plate. Well, where's the capture supposed to stand? Are they supposed to stand way over here,

make a like a stretched out tag? Like, I don't get it. No. How are we supposed to do this? Like, I think in the moment we're all thinking of most recently is with Austin Hedges, the Cleveland Guardians catcher who made, came out with a pretty harsh statement at the end of a game

where a call like that was overturned. they they um they after he was originally ruled out they ruled the runner safe because austin hedges was blocking home plate i i think it's just hard for catchers to do this because it's not something that they're naturally programmed to do and and because of that in these moments where catchers maybe don't follow the protocol it's it's they want to be like defensive they want to argue against this rule um brian abdless is imagine stone garrett running down the third baseline at you Yeah, that guy coming at you. Oh, I'm going to come in and stop a mud hole in your ass and walk a try.

See, Jesse doesn't get that reference because he doesn't even know who Stone Cold Steve Austin is. And don't even get me started on that. No idea. Because I'm currently accepting applications for new co-hosts. He doesn't know who's Stone Cold Steve. Look, there's a lot. Look, there are a lot of wrestlers. I understand you not knowing.

My friend Drew McIntyre, fine. Triple H, that's crazy, but that's fine too. Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, Hulk Hogan. I know the rock. I know the rock. I'd hope you'd know the rock, Jesse. I would hope you would know who the rock is. But oh my God.

Oh, my God. Again, send all applications to Derek at go p.h andx.com. I just need a brief statement on your thoughts of Stone Cold, Steve Austin's greatest rivalry, whether you feel it's Vince McMahon, Undertaker, or if those two things, things combined led to his great old to rivalry being the rock thoughts maybe on corporate ministry other things that happen along the way wcw invasion i'm down for all that the more you add in the more likely it is that you're going to replace jesse over here for not knowing who steve austin is but yes no i we're all complete i have no idea where we're even at we're talking about mowing

catchers down and i don't want stone garrett to uh mo me down so yeah i guess the point was made there but um i don't know i guess the idea there is that i have haven't seen the diamond backs really have a close play at the plate this season. I haven't really seen them make any exciting plays. I don't know if that's. Well, they have had close plays at the plate. They just didn't make headlines because the catchers followed the rule. And most catchers do follow the rule.

I don't mean that. I mean, most of the time, if there is a close play at the plate, the diamond backs don't usually have an incredible play for an out that gets made. Typically, we're not seeing, they don't have somebody in the outfield with an arm that can actually like hit the catcher when a guy's coming in. from third and have that kind of exciting play happen. I don't feel like, again, that's not an indictment of our, you know, outfield. I'm just saying I don't remember seeing a lot of those plays this season.

Maybe you're right. Maybe that's because Carson Kelly, Varshow or anybody else that's been back there this season is actually coming over here and, you know, standing off to the side and getting the ball like they should and not really able to make a play because if you're standing where you should, it's much more difficult to get that runner coming home at the play. I don't know. I don't think it is. Honestly, I don't think it really makes it that much harder.

You just have to be aware of it. You just have to make sure that as you're setting up to field the throw, that you're not in the way of the runner. And there's a way to set up so that it's not like you're having to reach really far behind you to make that tag once you have the ball. And you are allowed to block the plate. It's just you're only allowed to do it if the throw leads you there. and and it's just, I don't think Austin Hedges did that on this play.

And I understand the frustration. He's right that for 150 years, you know, that's an out at home plate. But the rule is the rule. And you can't blame the umpires for just enforcing what the rule is. And this rule is in place for a good reason. Like that Buster Posey incident is not something we ever want to see happen to another catcher. So you just can't, you just can't have it both ways in this situation. I see where Austin Hedges is coming from, but the problem isn't the enforcement.

I think the problem is just the rule itself. And I'm not sure that's really something you want to change at this point. See, Austin Hedges is me at pickleball, Jesse. And then the umpire is that sweet lady that was teaching us how to play pickleball that you thought was very nice and kind. She was nice. He was. You just don't like it when someone gives you directions. No, no.

She kept telling me I was stepping in the kitchen. And then we got a lot kept losing points. okay i don't the kitchen i thought your forward momentum could take you in the kitchen and it's just like this rule with austin hedges right same thing i feel like we're misinterpreting the same rule i don't feel like you're interpreting it the same way that that that guy over there taught us but that's a whole other thing i'm still i'm still fired up clearly derrick is not bitter about uh about not winning a medal in our pickleball out in this week he is part of it was your fault It was your fault. Do you not remember when we were partners for that one game?

And you were asking what the rules were, six games into the, into the series? Six games. Six games you were asking. Oh, Jesse. Jesse, you're lucky. You're such a good writer. You're lucky you're such a good writer. Go read Jesse's stuff over at go phnx.com.

He's a terrible pickleball partner, but he's an excellent writer. If you haven't gotten a membership already, make sure to do so. Sign up for an annual membership. You'll get yourself a free t-shirt. Are you wearing, is that a shirt? what do you got on over there? No, I was like, is that Seth Servesa? I was wondering. I got on our friend Four Peaks, but of course, you can't get this one. You got to go to Four Peaks to get this one,

but you will get a free t-shirt over at the PHNX Locker.com. If you don't get an annual membership, get the month-to-month, you'll get your first month for just 50 cents, and you'll still get discounts over at the PHNX Locker.com. Regardless of your membership status, you also get access to our Discord that Jesse said is always popping. Diamondbacks fans, things are on fire right now. We're excited. There's a lot. It's weird to be over here on the Discord having the party we are. But that's the great part about this is like-minded fans finding each other and knowing what we can be excited about,

how to temper our expectations so that these kind of victories do bring you joy, right? And don't hang your hat on your joy solely being based on your team, making the playoffs or whatever the case may be. but we're having a good time. We hope you join us over here, become part of the PHNX family. If you're watching us right now on YouTube, make sure to subscribe to the channel. Sign up for notifications.

That way you don't miss when any of our excellent shows go live. And also give us a little thumbs up. We appreciate that. As always, it always helps us out. If you want to, if you can't take looking at us, which I get, I get, all right. Jesse's a handsome guy.

He's hard to stare at. It's like the sun, but you can get us an audio podcasting form. but you have to leave us a five-star review. That's part of the deal. You also have to subscribe to us. So make sure to do that already. Jesse wasn't a good day in All-City for a lot of the teams.

All right, there's not a lot for teams to be happy about in the All-City Division, but the Diamondbacks can be happy taking a look at these numbers. The White Sox got smashed today. And when I say smash, they lost to the Astros 21 to 5. If someone beats me 21 to 5 in baseball, I have to, have to fight them in a fist fight at that point. That's the rules. That's the way it works.

The Colorado Rockies also got smashed today. 13 to zero by the St. Louis Cardinals. It was light work for them. Cardinals, I think, are already in Phoenix sitting poolside at their hotel because of how easy of a day they had against Colorado Rockies. Better than poolside at Chase Field, right? That's right. Those are bad memories.

That's bad memories. Also, if you want to make things worse for the Rockies. They are now in the seller of two divisions, both the All-City Network Division and the N.O. West. So, congrats to the Cubbies. They're not playing real well over there, Derek. They are not being great in Colorado Rockies land. And again, we've talked about how difficult this schedule is coming up, right? But luckily, the Diamondbacks still have some games against the Rockies left. They have some games against the Royals. So there's, again, there's some winnable series. Not to mention the fact that this series, they really did look pretty good against. which I think they have more games against the Giants left than anybody else. Yeah, the schedule is not, it's not that bad. It's bad, but it's not that bad.

It's bad because of the amount of Dodgers and Padres games that are left. That's what's bad, right? That is absolutely what's bad. But let's take a look at the schedule coming up, because things, at least for the short term, aren't super terrible. Again, we got the St. Louis, Cardinals coming into town, and our friend Paul Goldschmidt. Then we got two games set with the Kansas City Royals,

followed by going to Chicago for three games with a walk. So again, this week, they get away from the NL West a little bit after this four-game series with the Giants and have some non-Dodgers, non-Padres games to look forward to. We'll say that much. Yeah, yeah. And the White Sox are, you have to remember, like, the division that the White Sox.

and the Royals play in, it doesn't even compare remotely to the competition the Diamondbacks are facing on an everyday basis in the West. So, you know, the White Sox being 61 and 58 or whatever it is, I don't actually think that's too far off from the Diamondbacks being 55 and 63 in a very, very stacked NL West division.

There's just not a whole lot of talent in the AL Central relative to some of the other divisions. So it's not bad. I mean, this series with the Cardinals, is going to be a challenge. Tommy Henry and Madison Bumgarner are starting the first couple of games, Merrill Kelly, going at the finale of this one.

So I think it's going to be tough. If the Diamondbacks can find a way to win this series, it'd be huge. But things do get a little bit easier after that on the road in Kansas City and in Chicago, and there's a couple of off days in there as well. But before them, Jesse, we got to welcome back an old friend.

On a little segment we like to call spying on our exes around these parts. Is it the friend that I think it is? You know who it is. It's the Paul Goldschmidt guy, you know, that guy who currently leads the National League in batting average with 331 batting average, leads the National League in slugging percentage with a 620, leads the league in OPS with his 1.035 OPS and is just an incredible talent.

currently a front runner for the National League MVP, and why not with the way that he has been exactly what he was for the Diamondbacks over for the Cardinals. And I say that because even I didn't expect him to be the breakout star of a team like the Cardinals. If you look back at the Cardinals historically, they've had some great players, but they typically have great players that are there all at the same time,

so it's a great team, not as much as a standout. Paul Goldschmidt got all of his, you know, recognition here. But when he was here, he led the league in RBI in 2013. He led the league in home runs, slugging percentage, OPS. So he did a lot of the stuff that he's doing now for the Diamondbacks back when he became that breakout star in 2013, you know. But again, even I'm impressed by the fact that he's managed to become the guy on a team with as much history and as good of an organization. as a franchise as the St. Louis Cardinals. How old is Paul Goldschmidt, Derek? What do you think?

Off top of your head? Or maybe you've already looked this up and this is an invalid question because you already know. I don't know. I want to say he's 31. 34. He's 34. He's older than a lot of people realize. I mean, he came up in 2011. So this is his 12th Major League season. And at 34 years old, Paul Goldschman is having probably the best season of his career. And it's wild. What he has done with the Cardinals this season, especially in a year where like offense,

offense is probably a little bit harder to come by in 2022 than it was back in 2013 when Goldie put up the numbers that you were just talking about. So it's really incredible what he's done. I mean, slugging 627 is not something that you see every day, especially this season in baseball when some of the past. our numbers have been down a little bit. So it's wild what Paul Goldschmidt has done.

And I know fans will welcome him back this weekend. There's probably going to be a lot of St. Louis Cardinals fans in the stands as well. As everybody should. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, we're at that point where we need to be over this whole thing and we just need to go out there and say hey to our buddy, right? Give him a round of applause. Appreciate him for what he is and congratulate him on the success he's having.

It's wild, though. Like I don't think of Goldschmidt being old. but Merrill Kelly is one year younger than him, and I keep thinking like, Merrill Galli's only got so much left in the tank at this point. Yeah, right. So Goldie is outstanding. So is Merrill Kelly at these ripe old ages of 33 and 34.

And speaking of ripe old ages, of course, if you want another reason to go out and watch this series with the St. Louis Cardinals, there's a good chance. This is the last time to ever see Albuke Pooleholes or Yadir Malina. Actually, it is the last time to see these guys at Chase Field in a Cardinals.

uniform playing baseball. So if you have been a fan of baseball like I have as long as I have, like I can't believe Albert is still playing baseball. Like this is a guy that I like me, I, I'd consider myself to be a kid when this guy broke into the league. So it's pretty, pretty outstanding the career he's had. And again, it's a great chance to go out, watch some good baseball and, you know, give tip of the cap to some great baseball players who we're not going to see anymore out there. And again, great stuff to be had. If you need another reason to go out there, get out there, go get to the baseball game on your way home, stop by, see our friends at OG's gummies. They can get them at your local dispensary. Their Arizona's top-rated, top-selling

gummies, and you can find them everywhere. They have delicious flavors. They're all about flavoring life. And we're partnering together with them to give you guys some free stuff. We're giving you this little flavoring wife sweepstakes with that handsome fella right there on the screen. One lucky winner who enters over at go PHNX.com will win three bags of OG's gummies, an OG's hat, a PHNX t-shirt, and a PHNX annual membership. So go ahead and sign, go over to go pHNX.com to sign up for that. Also, in very exciting breaking news, I am going to be out at the Maya Day Club this day. Saturday with our friends at OGs.

Am I going to survive? Remains to be seen. But you can join us too. Come on out. We're going to be having a blast. We're going to be out there doing a live show. What live show? I have no idea.

We might just be making up a new show on the spot, Jesse. That's the way that shit happens with OG's pool parties. You have to expect the unexpected when you pop out there. So make sure to go out there. Brute Squad says, I finally seen OpenShirt Derek wish I hadn't. I'm going to show up on this goddamn show in an open shirt if you don't watch your attitude around. Right.

By the way, OpenShirt Derek, he's in the conversation for closer for the Arizona Diamondback. So let's calm down with all of that blasphemy about OpenShirt Derek. But make sure to check out our friends at OG's brands. If you haven't done so already. Of course, 21 and over only for flavoring life, flavoring your life. Make sure to be that. Enjoy responsibly. And that's not the only giveaway we got going on.

Go check out. while you're at on go p hnx.com signing up for membership and signing up for these sweepstakes, make sure to enter their toast of the month's sweepstakes from our friends at Four Peaks, our friends of Four Peaks Brewing Company. They're giving away their $50 a $50 gift card of their own for you to go down and get some wonderful food and drinks at any number of Four Peaks locations. We'll be down at the 8th Street Pub, but you also win a PHNX shirt of your choice and a PHNX annual membership.

Two opportunities for you guys to go win yourselves, a membership, as well as some fun freebies to go along with it, become a part of our family, and hopefully good luck to you. Hopefully you listening to this right now are the next winner of this. And like I said, we're going to be down at four peaks. We're down there at the final Wednesday of every month.

We're going to be down there the final Wednesday this month. All the shows will be broadcasting from there on August 31st. That location is the 1304 East 8th Street location in Tempe. And come down and hang out with us. Get some food, get some drink. They have a wonderful variety of beers to be had, to be enjoyed. And, you know, every episode of the show is dedicated to how incredible the chicken tendees are, which, I mean, again, Charles Little Pike, he's somebody that can confess to this. He's seen it himself.

Everybody at PHNX gets the chicken tendies. Isn't that right, Charles? He knows what I'm talking about. But everybody, go and enjoy Four Peaks. If you don't get a chance to go down to the A Street Pub, go to your local grocery store. Get yourself some Four Peaks beer, whatever variety you enjoy because they have a beer for you, no matter. or what kind of beers you enjoy. Brute Squad does support me for closer.

Malanson has lost 10 more games and I have facts, Jesse. Facts. That's you, even you can't argue with that one. So I'd like to see you try. He's also saved more. I believe he's saved 17 more games than you have as well. That's whatever,

but that's whatever. I did want to update everybody on the PHNX move. Today I was down at the new office, putting together IKEA furniture, which is now. ever fun. That is never a big Derek. Peak Derek. Oh man, I had a toolbell on Jesse.

I had on some cargo shorts. I was in full dad mode. I had a cracked open a cold one while I was doing it. Listening to music that none of the kids in the office wanted to listen to. You know, it was, I was in peak dad mode. Yep. So I tried to barbecue and Saul told me I'm not allowed

to do that indoors. So I'm going to have to figure out where I can do that. But our new office is wonderful. It's incredible. It's huge. And we have so much. exciting things in store for you guys to see when we finally show up there. I believe that's on the 29th of August is when we're going to start broadcasting

from the new studio. So make sure to stay tuned for that. Again, we appreciate you guys being here. You can follow us on Twitter until then. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. This guy over here is at Jesse N. Friedman. Bees in the comments says, don't sleep on those four peak casadillas. Bro, you are not wrong.

Or the pizza. You can't go wrong in four peaks. All the food's good. Of course, our show is at PHNS underscore D-BACs, but all roads lead to PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Again, we thank you guys so much for spending your lunch with us. Not lunch. Today, it's a different time.

It's almost go get yourself some dinner. I bet you're hungry. I'm hungry. Let's go get some food in us. Slinner time. You're only furthering the dad narrative right now, Derek, by wanting to eat dinner at 4.45 p.m. I don't have to stay up late for a game, Jesse, I could go to sleep early tonight.

What are you talking about? 8.30 bedtime. When you have to get up at six and go help Saul put together IKEA furniture, the end of the day can never come too soon. Let me tell you that. But again, we thank you guys so much for being here. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we always appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun.

But it's so much more fun when you get somebody else to build the IKEA furniture for you.