PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - TPSP: Diamondbacks lose World Series to Texas Rangers, Suns defeated by Wembanyama and Spurs

Starting point is 00:00:09 the Phoenix Sports podcast. You know me. It's a girl. I'm Michaela Perkins. I'm so stoked to be here. Happy Friday, everybody. Welcome to you all in the chat. Elizabeth, DJ, Chris, Charles, Daniel, it's the fam. Happy Friday, everybody. Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe wherever you get your podcast and leave us a five-star review. I know you guys might be wondering, what is happening right now. Well, TPSP is looking a little different these days because, as you all have known, Sean has moved on to greener pastures. And I was not feeling great last week. So thank you, Espo and Bo for holding it down for me. But I'm going to try to go solo. I have always looked up to a lot of women in this industry. And there's a few like Kay Adams who do their own things. So you know what?

Starting point is 00:01:02 I'm not saying I'm the next K. Adams by any stretch of the imagination. Don't come for me. But I have a lot to say. You know, I can talk a lot. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing or not. The audacity of you to say you're going solo as I sit behind the computer. Okay, okay. I'm not entirely solo.

Starting point is 00:01:18 This is true. Thank you, Jacob, for holding you accountable. My producer, Jacob, is behind the back. And, you know, we love Father Overlord Jacob. He's going to bring the realness. And I'm just going to talk here you're off. So, strap in, everybody. I'm so stoked to be here. I've got so much to say. I'm smiling, but this podcast is going to be kind of sad. So we're going to get all the good energies started and out of the way. And then we're going to get really, really into it because I just want to know, what has Arizona done to the state of Texas? I feel personally victimized. Raise your hand if you feel personally victimized by the state of Texas. Faj is raising his hand too. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:02:02 what we did to piss Texas off so bad. But they have come for our absolute throats for the past like two and a half years. And I'm just tired of it. I'm tired of watching the teams that I love, just get shit on by teams from Texas. So I think we need a little bit of a therapy session. You know, we need to talk through this. We need to break down the World Series. We need to break down losing two in a row to the Spurs.

Starting point is 00:02:26 Hell, we can even take it back to the Dallas Mavericks. Okay. We're going all the way back. We're dragging Texas through the mud because, I'm sick of it. I just want to know what Arizona did to Texas. But before we did that, before we get into all of that, if you haven't signed up to be a diehard yet, you have to do it right now. Right now you have to become a diehard, become a part of the family. We've got so much exciting stuff coming up. And the best way to be a part of it is if you are a part of the PHNX family,

Starting point is 00:02:51 head on over to go phnX.com and become a diehard today. There's a ton of great benefits. You get discounts on merch, access to our members-only Discord, which we're all talking in. You get discounts on events, which by the way, we have a super fun event coming up on November 15th. We're doing a Phoenix Sun's takeover. We will be going to the Suns game on November 15th. We're also going to be doing a pregame meetup at the Desmond. So go get your tickets. You can get tickets by going to the Suns Twitter.

Starting point is 00:03:18 PHNX underscore Sun's Twitter. You can go to our events tab on our website. Just go grab your tickets. We're going to have a great time, hang out with us. Also want to give a quick shout out to Burrito Express. They brought in Burritos to the office this week. And boy, did I need it. I there's literally no better burrito place in the valley.

Starting point is 00:03:34 I will put my life on that. And I will also say that if you were going to get a burrito from Brito Express, you need to at least have four salas. And they always bring me enough salsas as long as nobody else in the office complains about how many sauces I eat because we all know they like to talk crap about how much salsa. How many ones are this week? Five, but it's fine. For one burrito?

Starting point is 00:03:52 Yes. It's fine. We're pushing a little bit there. It's okay. It's fine. We need salsa on a burrito. So thank you to Barreto Express for bringing those in. They were absolutely delicious.

Starting point is 00:04:01 No better place to get your burritos. They've got multiple locations in the valley. Definitely check out the Tempu location if you're in there. Thank you so much, Brito Express. You can grab a burrito and follow Brito Express on Twitter at Burrito EXP. All right, you guys, I need to talk about, I need to talk about some things. I need to get some stuff off my chest because in case you've been living under a rock, the Arizona Diamondbacks, they lost.

Starting point is 00:04:29 They lost the World Series. The Cinderella run has come to an end. After defying all the odds and exceeding all the expectations, the Diamondback season is over. They lost game five to the Texas Rangers. And we got the displeasure of watching the Texas Rangers celebrate their first ever World Series title on our home field, which, I mean, I guess, congratulations. I guess it's nice that.

Starting point is 00:04:59 They finally won their first one. It couldn't be us because we won ours for the fastest expansion team to win a championship. But it was tough watching that. I'm not going to lie. It didn't feel good watching a team celebrate on your home field. That also added an element to it that did not feel great. And it was just emotional because, you know, the Diamondbacks, they defied every odd. They exceeded everybody's expectations.

Starting point is 00:05:27 Nobody had them making it this far. ever like coming into the season i think i had them winning like a sony eight like 80 games and finishing that's still over i know but i didn't think that they were going to make it to the world series jacob like i definitely thought that they were going to do better than the season prior but i didn't think they were going to make it to the playoffs i was blown away by what these diamond backs accomplished and i think that kind of also makes the loss a little bit hurt a little bit more because like why not us we made it this far like we didn't make it this far to only come this far you know it sucked it sucked to watch

Starting point is 00:06:04 but you know it it is what it is it happened i also just want to give a quick shout out side note to the security guards that were locking down the pool at chase field the pool had more security than the white house on january 6th they were not letting the rangers get anywhere near that pool I can't believe you just said that. To the security team at Chase Field because if I had to watch the Rangers get in that pool, I was going to lose my mind. I would run out onto that field

Starting point is 00:06:36 and body slay the Rangers before I let them get into that fucking pool. So thank you, Chase Field security team for not letting them get in the freaking pool. If I had to watch them wait on our home field, at least I didn't have to watch them get in the freaking pool. That would have made it so much worse. But listen, I mean, coming into this matchup and we can look at it at the numbers for game for the series against the Rangers, it was going to be a tough matchup.

Starting point is 00:07:03 Like, I don't think anybody was counting out the Rangers. Statistically on paper, the Rangers exceeded in the categories that the Diamondbacks really struggled in. And you just, you looked at it and, you know, the things that the Diamondbacks weren't great in, the Rangers really, really exceeded in. You can see despite the Diamondbacks out hitting them, the Rangers outscored them. They played the long ball better, you know, eight home runs to three home runs. Starting pitching ERA, the Diamondbacks had a better starting pitching ERA. I think obviously you see with the relief pitching ERA, the Rangers posting a 484 and the Diamondbacks in the fives. That kind of made a difference as well.

Starting point is 00:07:44 So, I mean, even though the numbers are pretty even, the Rangers just found ways to win at the Diamondbacks. could not. And like I said, when we came into this matchup, I was worried about this, you guys. I'm not going to lie. Like, I did not think this was going to be an easy series by any stretch of the imagination. The Rangers did not lose a single game on the road in the playoffs. That is wild. Like, that is insane for a team to not lose on the road. Like, they were road warriors. And I kind of had a bad feeling after the Diamondbacks lost game one, because I knew going into the series, if the Diamondbacks were going to have a chance win. They were going to have to beat the Rangers at home. And I really would have felt a lot better if the Diamondbacks had won two in Texas. They obviously lost in a heartbreaking passion and extra

Starting point is 00:08:30 innings, but I really had a not great feeling after that. And it didn't work well for the Diamondbacks. Not having a fourth starter really hurt this team. And, you know, high insight being 2020, obviously Mike Hazen even said this too. You know, they probably should have gotten another starting pitcher before the trade deadline. it showed. It showed, you know, only really having two true starters on this team and then another rookie who was limited in how many innings he could go. It just, it caught up to the Diamondbacks. And you have to give them credit. You know, they did as best as they could with what they had. I think Toro Lavello outmanaged every manager he was up against except for the last one. Tough to outmanage the goat, though.

Starting point is 00:09:15 Yeah. Bruce Bochie is one of the best of all time. Bruce Bochy just secured his fourth championship title. So what can you say? Bruce Bochy is Bruce Bochy. That's a titan of all Titans to go up against. So it was a tough series for sure. But I mean, you got to give credit to the Diamondbacks.

Starting point is 00:09:30 They did what they could with what they had. And they really, they looked a little gassed towards the end of it. You could tell that they were giving it their all. They were fighting every at bat, every pitch. It was a commendable effort for sure. Arizona opened this season at plus 600 odds, plus 6,000 odds, which is like a 1.6% probability of winning the National League. And they also opened the year at plus 12,500, which is like 0.8% probability to win the World Series, according to our friends at that MGM. 0.8% chance of making it to the World Series, and they did it.

Starting point is 00:10:12 it wasn't pretty. There were a lot of ups and downs, even during the regular season and in the postseason, but they defied all odds. If you would have told me coming into the season, a team with a 0.8% probability would make it to the World Series. I would tell you you're insane. Like actually insane.

Starting point is 00:10:30 So it's really, it's cool to see what they accomplished. And, you know, it's emotional. Like, we haven't seen the Diamondbacks make it this far in a really long time. The last time they, won the championship was in 2001. I think I was six years old. Six. I don't know how to do math. Yeah, I think that's right. Six. It's a bit of minute since we've seen the Diamondbacks to be this successful. And we were all so emotionally invested in this team. Like there were so many things to cheer for,

Starting point is 00:10:57 so many personalities on this team, so many good people. And it just, it sucks that they fell short. But this team has such a bright future. And that's really what I want to focus on because, you know, they lost. We got to put it behind us. The Rangers got their first World Series title. Shout out to them, whatever. But the future of this team is so, so, so bright. And I hope that people understand that. And I know that it's like easy to get down and upset when you watch the team that you love lose on the biggest platform and the biggest stage possible. I'm making this sound really bad.

Starting point is 00:11:28 But the future is so bright. So let's talk about the future. Okay. Let's bring the vibes up, the mood up. There's a lot to be happy about. I know, right? Now we're in the future. A little reset button.

Starting point is 00:11:41 Listen. The Diamondbacks, they've got Corbyn Carroll. And when you have Corbyn Carroll, there's a lot that you can do with that. Corbyn Carroll should be the nationally rookie of the year, in my opinion. He was just voted the National League Rookie of the Year by the MLBPA. The players voted him as the National League Rookie of the Year. He should be the official one. We need to take a look at these numbers because these numbers are insane.

Starting point is 00:12:03 Remember that Corbin Carroll is a rookie, okay? He led the Diamondbacks in hits, 161, runs with 116. 16, batting average was 285, which led the team. Slugging percentage was 506, which led the team. OPS was 868, which led the team. Stolen basis 54. Like, this kid was unfreeking believable. Like, I could not tell you the last time I was this excited by a rookie. Maybe Mike Trout's rookie season, but even then, like, this is unheard of for a rookie. And in case you were wondering, we have him under contract until 20. 2030 with a team option in 2031. So Corbyn Carol is here to stay and we just got a glimpse of the greatness that is about to unfold. It's going to be magical watching this kid play baseball. This was his first season. He got so much good experience in the postseason. Like this kid is going to rake for years to come and we just have to sit back and enjoy. I think another good thing to point out from the series too, Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly, dogs. Like,

Starting point is 00:13:12 The fact that we have two true starting pitchers that could contend for technically the ace title, great position to be in. Zach Allen obviously struggled a little bit towards the end of the season and a little bit in the postseason. And Merrill Kelly was really like that lockdown pitcher that we needed. But still an amazing season overall from Zach Allen. He was in the Cy Young conversation for the first half of the season. He'll probably still finish like in the top five-ish range for a Cy Young voting. this was an awesome starting pitching duo that we can build around.

Starting point is 00:13:46 And it's awesome that we have two guys that can kind of contend for that like ace position. And for the first time and maybe forever, I don't know. I didn't hate the Diamondbacks bullpen. Who would have thought? Not me. If you would have told me that I would be sitting here saying the Diamondbacks bullpen was good. I would have laughed at you because when was the last time the Diamondbacks had a good bullpen? Jacob, do you know?

Starting point is 00:14:12 I wouldn't even consider 2017 really all that kind of a bullpen. No. The Fernando Rodney experience was an experience to say the least. Archie was unreal. Like, you're probably looking at when JJ puts was the closer.

Starting point is 00:14:27 Yeah. Like, yeah. You're probably going back. Far. 2013. Far. The fact that the bullpen didn't make me want to pull my hair out is a miracle

Starting point is 00:14:37 accomplishment in itself. And like Zona Tucson, on 93 in the comment says, Ginkle rules. And I know he's saying that because Ginkle is a U of a grad. Ginkle freaking rules. Let's take a look at these numbers because again, this is actually insane. Kevin Ginkle made 10 appearances in the postseason. He posted a zero ERA. He did not allow a single earned run to cross that freaking plate. And this was like, are you shitting me? In 11 in two-thirds innings, he recorded 15 strikeouts and a zero ERA. I, like, I am mind-blown the fact that this kid was able to put up no earned runs

Starting point is 00:15:20 in 10 appearances. It is outstanding. I cannot say enough good things about Ginkle being an absolute dog. I think, um, another honorable mention, C-Wald is going to be the closer for this team. Um, I think it was Tor. It was Tori or Hazen who said it in his conference. He was like, breaking news. Seawall is going to be our closer next.

Starting point is 00:15:39 year because he always like the media always asks during spring training like have you named a closer yet have you named a closer yet and torrey was like we have a closer everybody no need to ask me this year it's covered so it's great to see that we actually have a closer a true closer got a set up man and ginkle like the pieces of this team are in place and they're ready to roll and their championship window really wasn't as supposed to open until really next season and then especially in 2025 2025 was the year for the Diamondbacks and the Diamondbacks made 2023 their year. They got so much good experience under their belts. They got to shine on the biggest stage and get the Diamondbacks put every put the league on notice, put everybody on notice. And, you know, there was a bunch of talk about how

Starting point is 00:16:23 the ratings of the World Series were low and their two small market teams and blah blah blah, blah, literally shove your ratings where the Sean don't shine. Okay. Like, I don't want to hear about ratings. Like it was so refreshing to see two teams, one who had never won a World Series before, one who hadn't been there or hadn't won a World Series since 2001 competing in a World Series. I'm sorry, I'm tired of the Dodgers being there. I'm tired of the Astros being there. Speaking of a Texas team, I swear to God, I never ever want to see the Astros in a World Series ever again. I'm maxed out. I'm good, at least until you know who, two, you know who's retired. I just, I'm so happy for the Diamondbacks. And I know that it's hard. The moral victory thing, it's not my favorite. I get it.

Starting point is 00:17:01 Moral victories are my least favorite victories. All the emotions around this team are valid and fair. I don't want to take that away from anyone. But it was really cool. It was really cool to see the Diamondbacks make it this far when no one expected them to. And I just, I have such a good feeling that this is just the beginning for this team. I'm so convinced that this was what they needed to get the experience. I mean, half the team is under 25 for God's sake. They're younger than me, which makes me feel really old and I'm only 20.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Are we starting to get to that age back? When I was like, when I was in college, I was like, um, no, I'm the same age as these guys. And now I'm like, wait, no, these kids, they're kids. Like, it hurts my heart to think that these kids are in a world series and they're younger than me. Like, what if, it makes me question everything. Like, what am I doing with my life? These kids are playing in a world series and I'm just here. Like, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:17:54 So the future is really bright. And one person that I also really want to make sure gets a lot of credit and gets a lot of shine on this podcast because I have, I swear to God, you can pull any receipt that you can possibly find of me speaking in front of a microphone or tweeting. And I have been the biggest Toro Lavello stand on the planet. Never once have I said the Diamondback should fire him. Never once have I questioned if he should be the manager of this team. I have been on the Tory train since the beginning. He is the manager for this team.

Starting point is 00:18:24 I know sometimes there are some decisions he makes that we question. Sometimes they work out in his favor and other times they really don't. But overall, there is no better. person to manage this team than Tori, mother F in Lavello. I swear to you, he knows how this team works. He is great with talent development. You've seen how he's been able to work with this young team and get them to a world series. If he's not the National League manager of the year, I will jump out this window. Like, I swear, you guys, he is incredible. Like, he needs to be recognized because I think, you know, he took it on his chin and I have the video of him that we're about to play. And it's

Starting point is 00:19:03 going to make me cry because I hate watching other people cry, but don't get it twisted that this is Tori Lavello's team. And he deserves so much credit for what he was able to do with this roster. And I don't want that to get lost on us because he took this loss pretty hard. And here's the video. I felt that. I've been feeling that for the past month, maybe even the last couple weeks of the regular season, that this fan base was behind us. And they were, they were ready to go. at every turn to root us on, cheer us on, and allow something good to happen. I'm just sorry.

Starting point is 00:19:39 I'm sorry to do my job to get us there. But I will. We all will. And we know they're out there. We love them. They can say what they want to us and the good times and the bad, but we know what they want.

Starting point is 00:20:03 They want a world championship as badly as we do. We all bleed to Dodo Red. You guys, that's so hard for me to watch without crying. I try to not. I hate watching the people cry. It makes emotional. You can't watch that video and look me in the face and tell me that Tori Lavello doesn't care about this team. I love the accountability.

Starting point is 00:20:23 He showed that clip went viral in every corner of the internet and every fan base under the sun was commenting on that video. It would be nice if my manager of X, Y, and Z team took this kind of accountability. Like, this is what we want to see. the passion that he has for his team, the love and the care, like he really is like dad. He's like a dad. Like, Toil Lolo is major dad energy. And he cares. He is so invested. Like, I don't know what else he could want from a manager. And so I will forever and always be on the Tory train until the wheels fall off. And I think everyone else should be too because I saw him getting a lot of flack for some of the pitching decisions that he went with in game four. And I get it. Like that game four was tough. to watch. I'm not lying. Like watching the debacks go down, 10 runs sucked. Um, but Toro Lavello is the manager that this team needs and he should get an extension, which we will talk about in a second. Um, but the world series is over. Diamondbacks run has come to a close and I know that

Starting point is 00:21:23 it sucks watching them lose, but you guys, there's so, so, so much good things to look forward to. So don't get down and out on these devax. I need you all to show up next season and still support them. they did the absolute best that they could and they did not give up and that's really all you can ask for I know we're not fan of moral victories but we're going to take one today okay before we get into how the diamondbacks can build around this young core that they've got I might need to put some sunglasses on because the diamondbacks future is so bright it's blending my eyes so shout out to shady rays because I'm going to need some sunglasses talking about the future of the diamondbacks they are incredible sunglasses I have two pairs I actually was a fan of Shady Rays before they became a sponsor. I brought my brother a pair of

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Starting point is 00:23:18 I don't know why that word is so hard for me. Try for yourself the shades that are rated five stars by over 250,000 people. Shout out to Shady Rays. Go pick up your sunglasses. You're going to need them because the future of the Diamondbacks is so freaking bright. They have an amazing core to build around that are all under the age of 25. Oh my God. Which is absolutely insane to think about. But listen, the team is not complete. There are some moves that still need to be made. And if I'm going to be talking about moves that need to be made,

Starting point is 00:23:47 we're going to break it down really fast. First and foremost, Torila Villanian's contract extension. He signed one earlier this year that extends him through June of 2024. I don't care how much he's asking for. Give it to him. This is the manager that will lead this team to a World Series. Mark my words. The divabacks need Toro Lavello to win a World Series. So there was a little bit-ish. John Giamidore of 97 had a little bit of an insider

Starting point is 00:24:14 that they are going to start working on Toro Vello's extension at the beginning of next week. So they are aware that Tori is going to want an extension and deserves an extension. So as long as they can lock up Toro Velo, I think that is something that they need to get done right away. I think they also definitely need to extend Merrill Kelly, who is under contract until 2024 with a team option in 25. And then Zach Gallen is set to be an unrestricted free agent

Starting point is 00:24:43 in 2026. Merrill Kelly, Zach Gallen, and Brandon Faw are technically all under contract for next year and 2025. So that gives them two years of their three solid starting pitchers if you include Merrill Kelly's team option. But I think both Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly have done enough to earn a larger contract extension. Like, I genuinely don't know what else Zach Allen and Merrill Kelly could have done this year to prove that they should be Diamondbacks

Starting point is 00:25:11 for longer than what their current contracts say. Even in the little bit of a slump that Zach Allen had, he was still pitching better than two other pitchers were on the roster. So I think it's time to give. Not a high bar. Yeah, the bar was low. The bar was definitely on the floor.

Starting point is 00:25:30 but wouldn't you agree with me though that Zach Gallin and Merrill Kelly have done enough to earn contract extensions? The only thing that makes me hesitate with Merrill is probably just his age. Yes, he's a little bit older. 35 years old. You still have him under contract for two more years.

Starting point is 00:25:44 You want him until he's 40? Especially, especially with some kids. Like it did, you know what I mean? The age thing definitely is scary. It does give me a little bit of a hesitation on that front. I think Zach deserves everything and more. Yeah. And I will go on record during the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:26:00 So I was like, well, maybe this is like a good thing that this is happening because maybe he's really not worth what we want to pay him. No, he's worth it. Yeah, he's absolutely worth it. Yeah, he's absolutely worth it. Yeah, he's worth it for sure. I understand the age thing with Brown Kelly, but he's still that age and he is sometimes out pitching Zach Allen. So I can understand maybe wanting to hold off and seeing, you know, what next year brings since he's still technically under contract. But this team doesn't have a lot of starting pitching options.

Starting point is 00:26:27 So if you got two that you know you can rely on, I think you should do what you can. But I can definitely understand wanting to hold off on Merrill Kelly just because of the age thing. They need to get more starting pitching this free agency. Like one for sure starting pitcher needs to come here, but two ideally would be amazing. And there are a lot of options out there in free agency. We've got Blake Snell, Aaron Nola, Sunny Gray, Jordan, Ron, Grum, right? Clayton Kirschott, no.

Starting point is 00:26:53 Okay. Just had surgery today. Oh, great. Okay. He's out until like June or July. We're just going to, we're going to go ahead. squash the Clayton Kershaw to Diamondbacks rumors right now because I swear to God if the Diamondbacks bring another pitcher from California who's old and past his prime, I might lose it. I might lose it.

Starting point is 00:27:11 So we're not going to do that, okay? We're not even going to go down that road. What if I told you, Madbone is younger than Merrill Kelly? That would make the fact that he's making $18 million and not even on the roster hurt even that much more. So that sucks. I hate hearing that. Thank you, Jacob, for ruining my day. Just doing my job. Great. But there are a lot of great started pitching options out there, and they definitely need to get one here, if not to, honestly.

Starting point is 00:27:38 Like, they need to focus on getting starting pitching, and that needs to be priority number one after locking up Tori Lavello on a contract extension. After that, they've got to figure out third base. Third base was statistically the weakest spot for the debacks with a minus 1.9 war this year. We can't have our third base. combining for a negative 1.9 war.

Starting point is 00:28:04 That's not going to work. So they need to go out and they need to find a third baseman. The market's a little thin. I'm not going to lie. The market for third basements is a little scary. A little scary bit hours. Evan Longoria is a free agent. I don't know if they're going to bring him back.

Starting point is 00:28:20 He is old. Sorry. Sorry, Evan Longoria. You're a little old. So I don't know if the Diamondbacks are going to want to go down that path again. Defensively, he's shown. He was a little inconsistent offensively. When it comes to the third baseman market, I don't really know what they're going to do.

Starting point is 00:28:37 Right now, the only attractive option to me is Jai Mare Condolario. But again, defensively, Condolario is not that great. He is a power hitter for sure. He is probably one of the top hitters that are going to be available pre-agent-wise, but defensively not my favorite. Jacob, do you have any thoughts? How do you feel about Matt Chapman? Oh, no. I just seem to know.

Starting point is 00:29:04 Oh, no. Because you're going to get elite defense by possibly the best defensive, one of the best defenses in baseball. And somebody who will knock the cover off the baseball from time to time. Sometimes he looks like the best hitter in baseball. Other times he looks like the worst hitter in baseball.

Starting point is 00:29:18 The inconsistency there scares me. I'm not going to lie. It's certainly an upgrade over what you currently have. Sure. Injury prone? A little bit? Yeah. I'm making you a little nervous.

Starting point is 00:29:30 There's just nothing available. I know. So like your other options are moving Loller to third having Ferdomo start at short and Ketel at second. It's like you read my mind. That was going to be my other thing is because the third basement market is not great, there is going to be coming a time where you have to start Heraldo Pardomo and Jordan Loller at the same time. I think you can probably slot Heraldo Prudomo over to third and have Loller. play short and can tell second.

Starting point is 00:30:00 I don't hate that. I obviously don't know how long it's going to take for Jordan and Lawler to have enough consistency to be on the major league roster. So I'm a little worried about that. It's going to be interesting what they're going to try to do at third base because the market is not looking great.

Starting point is 00:30:18 So that'll be a big question mark, but it is something they need to address. Like whatever they're doing now is not going to continue to be an option. You could make a trade. You could make a trade, which would be interesting. They do have pieces to work with because Mike Kazan has done a phenomenal job of stocking up this farm system to be an attractive one to make deals with. But I'm a little scared about third base. I'm not going to lie.

Starting point is 00:30:38 I wish there were some better options out there. But I trust my Kazan to do what my Kaysen does best. And that is to find diamonds in the rough and make them World Series contenders. The other thing that Diamondbacks need to address, they need to find some big right-hand bats. They have a lot of lefties. They have a lot of left-hand batters in that lineup. And that came to bite them a couple times in the postseason. There are three Diamondbacks batters through our Ritees that are hitting the free agent market.

Starting point is 00:31:07 We've got Lorda Scurieliel Jr., Tommy Fam, and Evan Longoria, who are all free agents. If you ask me, I would prefer to keep Lordeus Gouriel Jr. However, and I want to know what you think, Jacob. One interesting candidate just came online because he declined his option with the Marlins. Jorge Soler. I would not hate it. I would not hate that. I do not mind somebody who hits 250, but also hits 37 homers.

Starting point is 00:31:35 Yeah. This team desperately needs some pop. Jorge Soler is a right fielder. So if we don't come back with Guriel, he can play right field. He's also a DH, so he could slide into the DH position. And the dude matches the baseball. He'll hit the cover off a baseball for sure. So Jorge Soler, possibly.

Starting point is 00:31:53 I don't know. Come on down. Come on down. You. Oh, Arder, so to time back. So it'll be interesting to see what happens. Look, you guys, Mike Hazen signed a contract in this, a contract extension in this season, and it was well earned. I was scared for my life that he was going to pick up and go to be the front office general manager of the Boston Red Sox because that is where his family is from.

Starting point is 00:32:15 He has a lot of ties to that front office. I was brick in it. I'm not going to lie. I was scared. So when he did sign that contract extension, I was stoked. Mike Hazen is a genius. And same thing with Tori Lavello. go back and pull all the receipts you want of me in front of a microphone or on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:32:29 I've been the Mike Hazen stand of the lifetime. Like if Mike Hazen has a thousand fans, I'm one of them. If he has 10 fans, I'm one of them. If he has no fans, I'm dead. Like I am Mike Hazen's biggest fan. Like he is the brains behind this operation. And I have full faith in his ability to put together a roster that will not only contend year after year in the postseason, but also win a World Series title.

Starting point is 00:32:54 So whatever happens. I know that they're going to be aggressive because in his postseason press conference, Mike Hazen said there were a lot of regrets that he had. A few that had to do with the trade deadline. I think that he is aware that this team is going to be competitive and they just need to make a couple adjustments to really take them over the edge. Whether or not Ken Kendrick, the owner will free up the money to do some of these things. That remains to be seen. But even if there isn't an abundance of cash flow, I know Mike Hazen will make whatever he has given work as we've seen him do in the past. as long as he doesn't get any more old-ass pitchers from California.

Starting point is 00:33:30 I'm going to be fine. How do you feel about Yoshinobu Yamamoto? That would be interesting. I don't think he's coming here, but... I also don't think he's coming here. Kendrick did say yesterday, in an interview, he said, the economic windfall of these playoffs did not put us in a bad position to substantially invest into this organization.

Starting point is 00:33:52 Can we talk about that, though? Like, can we, like, speak English? Economic windfall? What? Can you just say what you mean to say? I'm sorry. Am I done? There's a reason he's almost a billionaire.

Starting point is 00:34:03 Like economic windfall. What does that mean? I think it just means the trickle-down effect. Okay. Well, it would just be great if you were Ken Kendrick and you said, hey, guess what? Bank is open, baby. We're spending all the money we want to spend. Okay?

Starting point is 00:34:18 That would be great, Ken Kendrick. If you would just go on air. Kendrick, does that seem like what he would say? I'm Ken Kendrick and the bank is open. That's all I want from you. I don't want to hear about economic windfalls. That doesn't compute in this head of mind. So listen, as long as Ken Kendrick can just open up the money bags and let my Kays and do his thing,

Starting point is 00:34:36 I'm so convinced that this team is going to be so, so, so, so good next year. And I'm already excited for baseball and it's still 146 days away. Who's counting? I am. All right. You're counting. There's a lot to be excited about with the Diamondbacks. You guys.

Starting point is 00:34:50 Get excited. I know that everyone's sad because we just lost, but it's going to be fine. I promise. is fine. It's going to be great. Okay. Before we talk about the Phoenix Suns, I might need to take an OGs because that, those two games against the Spurs were not fun to watch for two different reasons.

Starting point is 00:35:11 But either way, it was not fun to watch either of those games. Thankfully, our friends at OGs are here for us because they have a very exclusive deal for you, P.HNX listeners. They made it super easy for you to score on these savings. you can get 25% off any OGs products at your neighborhood Zen Leaf location from now until November 30th when you place an online order and use our code. Just head to www.zenleaf dispensaries.com. Find your closest location.

Starting point is 00:35:41 Order your favorite OGs gummies. I highly recommend the Happy Balance or the Orange Cremsicle. Either are amazing 10 out of 10. You can order them for pickup. You can enter the discount code PHNX at checkout. This deal is exclusive to our PHNX listeners. and a reminder. It is only available for the online pickup orders.

Starting point is 00:35:59 Discount code P HNX is active until November 30th. Go get your OD. Oh, geez, because sons are giving you a lot of reason to want to be high, to put it lightly. Oh, the Phoenix Sun. Higher than Victor Women Yama is tall. Oh, my God, Jacob. I love that. If you can get higher than 7 foot 4, man.

Starting point is 00:36:21 You're living. It's going to be nice. God. the Phoenix Suns. Oh my God. Where do I start? Okay. Well, we can start with the fact that it was Devin Booker's first game back since the season

Starting point is 00:36:34 opener against Golden State. It was his first home game of the year. He has been kind of been dealing with a high left ankle sprain. It was great to see Devin Booker back in a Suns uniform at home, the game. Oh, boy. Let's take a look at the numbers. It was a rough one. I think Phoenix forgot that they were.

Starting point is 00:36:56 were playing a game for the first couple minutes there. The San Antonio went on a 13-0 lead to start the game. It was kind of not great. They kind of, you know, put together a little bit of a comeback late, but it just wasn't enough. The Spurs outshot the Suns. They, the Suns had so many turnovers. They had 14 turnovers to the Spurs 8.

Starting point is 00:37:22 The free throw percentage, like, my God. Like, can we shoot? Free throws? I don't know. Free points. Hello. This first shot 92% from free throws and the sun's only shot 73%. It just like it was not great. I'm not going to lie to you guys. It was a little messy. Despite being only one rebound short. Yeah, one rebound shy of a triple double. Devon Booker finished the night with 31 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. It was great to see Devin Booker back out there. I think it definitely. confirms that this is Devin Booker's team. Like, Devin Booker is that guy. He is a dog. I think he looked a little winded at times, but conditioning is an easy thing to fix. He'll be fine.

Starting point is 00:38:07 He can get back his conditioning. I know that it's hard to condition when you have an ankle sprain. I can't imagine wanting to run. I would be sitting on my couch for weeks on end. So, um, Devin Booker is a dog. You know who else is a dog? A very tall, tall, tall man by the name of Victor Wampagnama. my god

Starting point is 00:38:26 he finished the night with a career high 38 points I am a little scared I'm not gonna lie mostly because I saw Wembe standing next to Katie who if you don't know Katie is gigantic he's what 6'9 he's almost 7 feet tall yeah Katie's like 611 610 yeah and Wembe is 7 foot 4 this is horrifying this is terrifying actually

Starting point is 00:38:51 seeing that side by side makes me want to cry because who can guard that? I saw a tweet last night that said, just a reminder that this is the worst Victor Wenbanyama will ever be in his career. Ever. Like, sir. And he's unguarable.

Starting point is 00:39:05 I'm sorry. I mean, even Kevin Durant said it. Like, it's hard to guard someone who is a head taller than you and who can literally just put the ball in the basket. Like, I don't.

Starting point is 00:39:16 Do you replicate that for the people again? Just take the ball and put it in the basket. Like, I don't know how you're supposed to guard against that. Like, he's ahead and a half taller than Kevin Durant. Like, it was terrifying watching that happen because the sons just didn't have an answer for it. Like, Kevin Durant did agree.

Starting point is 00:39:34 As good as you could probably do against someone like Wembe, I just like, oh, my God, watching him play basketball, it was like, holy shit, what is happening? Like, it's going to be really tough. It's going to be tough for teams to figure out and have an answer for Wemby. Unfortunately, the Sons found that out two straight games in a row. it was yeah it was tough kind of horrifying he looked significantly better in game two than he did in game one it's like all of a sudden he was like oh shh i just remembered how to play basketball yeah uh game one against the spurs was not great obviously there was that little controversial call at the end there after the ball was stolen from katy thanks to kelton johnson um the spurs are raised a 20 point deficit and they just they came back with a vengeance in game one and they obviously had that last minute victory which also happened to be the same night as game five, which brings me back to what the hell did we do to you, Texas?

Starting point is 00:40:27 Seriously, you beat us in Game 5 of the World Series and then the Spurs just have to be good all of a sudden and just like beat us at the last second of this game all in the same day. Like, I seriously want to know, Arizona, what did we do to you, Texas to make you so mad at us? Like, I really would love an answer because it sucks. Anyways, it was just a rough couple of stretches for the four of the suns. I am a little, I'm not going to lie,

Starting point is 00:40:51 I'm a little worried about this team. I'm not going to hit the panic button. I'm not panicking. I'm not hitting the panic button. So nobody can come for me. But Kevin Vogel, Frank Vogel, Vogel. What is this happening?

Starting point is 00:41:05 Kevin Durant. I just short circuit and combined Kevin Durant, the head coach. Frank Vogel was supposed to be a defensive coach. Okay. That's what we were sold as Suns fans when they made the higher decision to move on to Monty and bring in Vogel. We were like, okay, sell us on this. And like, well, he's a great defensive coach.

Starting point is 00:41:20 We can step up our defense. Um, this team really isn't a reflection of that right now. They are struggling mightily on defense. They got shredded at the three point line, um, by the spurs. The spurs came into the Tuesdays game shooting 31% from three. Um, they went seven for 12 from three in the third quarter alone, uh, on Tuesday. So that's not great. Um, defensively, this team is really struggling right now.

Starting point is 00:41:44 They don't look great. Um, you know who else doesn't look great? Yusuf Nurkich. Um, guys, we need to talk about this. We traded arguably a big piece for Yusuk Nurkich. And, um, I'm scared because he does not look good. Um, he's not a rim protector. We all knew this.

Starting point is 00:42:09 But he has repeatedly, repeatedly been out of position on defense. He's been caught tripping. He's been caught slackin. They have gone at him at the dribble because they know that they can get by him. I don't know why. It's scary. I'm not going to lie. It's scary.

Starting point is 00:42:27 I don't enjoy watching Mr. Nirkage play basketball right now. And that's not a great feeling to have when you traded a very controversial person for him, but somebody that looked better. It's scary. It's scary. Guys, I don't know how to feel about this. One thing, though, that we can all know for sure is this is Devin Booker's team.

Starting point is 00:42:49 despite the injury, he looked amazing last night. He got a slow start, but it didn't matter. He came out with a vengeance. So I'm not hitting the panic button on the suns. Obviously, we haven't seen the big three together yet. Bradley Beale is still out with some back spasms. But I'm a little scared. I'm not going to lie.

Starting point is 00:43:05 I don't think the team has really clicked yet. I haven't seen that chemistry yet. I haven't seen this be a team. They just look a little lost out there. So I'm hoping that they can kind of work this out. I'm hoping Beale getting added into them. at some point will add some just steadiness that they need out there on the court. But I am underwhelmed by the Phoenix Sun so far.

Starting point is 00:43:26 And that is not something that I thought I would be saying when you have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the same roster. So hopefully they can turn it around because I am underwhelmed. But hey, you know what? They're the Phoenix Suns and we ride or die for our team. And that includes showing up and supporting them in person. And you can do so by heading over to game time and getting tickets to the Phoenix Suns. by using the GameTime app.

Starting point is 00:43:51 You guys, GameTime is the best ticketing app in the country for a reason. They have the best deals for last minute games. They have anything you want, games, concerts, tickets that you need, they've got it. It's the fastest-growing ticketing app in the country for a reason. And you can go to a Phoenix Suns game for as cheap as $17. The Thunder are coming into town to take on the Suns next week, and you can get your butt in a seat for $17. Get your kids, get your wives, get your uncles and your grandmommies, and go sit and watch the Phoenix Huns.

Starting point is 00:44:24 Play basketball. Mine as well. It's only $17 for a ticket. And the Thunder and Spurs is our Game Time game of the week. Snag the tickets without stress with Game Time. Download the GameTime app. Create an account. Use code P.HNX for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:44:38 Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Also want to give a shout out to our newest partner, Healer River. We are so excited to partner with Healer River Resorts and Casinos. Arizona's biggest and best resorts and casinos, they are doing a huge $1 million

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Starting point is 00:45:27 And all they have to offer head to Play atheila.com. You can also come out and hang out with us. We are doing our Cardinals' home game watch parties from the Healer River Resorts and Casinos. So come hang out with us. We're going to be doing some fun stuff for Cardinals games. We will be there not this week because it is a away game, but the week after that we'll be back. So we will see you there.

Starting point is 00:45:47 Thank you guys so much for shooting into this episode of the. the Phoenix Sports Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. I love just talking. So I feel like I can talk a lot. And I love talking to you. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. There's going to be some exciting changes and some new things coming in the future shortly to the show. So stick with me. It's going to be a fun ride. I promise you. I will always bring the energy. I'll always bring the laughs. We've got some new exciting stuff on the way. Elizabeth, Daniel, Charles, Tyler, Chris, all the fan in the chat. You guys are the absolute best. Thank you for riding with us. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe weekend.

Starting point is 00:46:19 And as a reminder, we'll see you again next week at 1130, possibly 12. We'll figure it out. We'll let you know. Bye.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - TPSP: Diamondbacks lose World Series to Texas Rangers, Suns defeated by Wembanyama and Spurs

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