PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - What are we thankful for? The Arizona Diamondbacks ZiPS Projections for 2023

Starting point is 00:00:07 Well, hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX debacks podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of Thanksgiving. I'm joined by my vice mayor of Thanksgiving, the one and only thunderstick Jesse Friedman. Thanksgiving is great, Derek. It's a top two day of the year for me, top three maybe. Wow. Really? It's up there.

Starting point is 00:00:34 I don't know. Where is it for you? I don't rank Thanksgiving very. high as far as holidays go. I will say that this one particularly wasn't great. The family got sick. So my favorite part of Thanksgiving is like the late night meet up with like my brother or, you know, or some of our friends where we have pie and maybe have a little bit of brown liquor and enjoy, you know, just kind of being around each other a bit more. The family thing, you know, we, we, we eat with our family quite a bit with our in-laws. And so especially this year, we decided to forego the

Starting point is 00:01:13 turkey. I think they listened to this podcast and I think you influenced them. But there was no turkey this year. So I think it felt honestly a little less special without that. We almost just had like a normal meal and just ate a lot more than we normally would, you know, which was fine. But again, there's something to be said about cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving. Mostly because you're never going to cook a turkey at any point the rest of the year. So that's the reason why it's special, I guess, on Thanksgiving. But before we get too deep into this, I want to remind everybody that this show's brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook, America's top rated sportsbook app. Jesse and I definitely have some things we're thankful for that we are going to share later.

Starting point is 00:01:59 But I think the thing we're most thankful for right now is the early Zips projections in regards to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yeah, I'm just thankful for Dan Zimborski in general. Dan Zimborski is a gift to humanity is what Dan Zimborski is. We're definitely going to have to talk about some more neural network stuff later in the off season. If any of you remember. He's having too much fun with that stuff. Let me tell you. He's gone off the rails with that.

Starting point is 00:02:28 But God bless AI, by the way, and everything it's doing to help us cut down on our time of making memes. There you go. Yeah, Dan does a lot of great work over at Fangraphs. And, yeah, one of the many things that he does is Zips Projections, which is basically just a projection system that he came up with. It's basically a machine where you put in statistics from recent years for players across Major League Baseball, and it spits out projections for what their statistics will look like moving forward.

Starting point is 00:03:02 So we don't have statistics for individual players just yet, but we do have an early look at projections for the standings, as you mentioned earlier. And Derek, the diamondbacks come in in 83 and 79, which kind of goes along with what we were talking about earlier in the week. When I had Sean on the show on Tuesday, we went through some of the work that Jack Summers did earlier in the week.

Starting point is 00:03:28 He used steamer projections, so kind of a similar system. We came up with 84 wins earlier in the week based on those numbers. And here, Dan in the Zips projections has 83 wins for the Diamondbacks. And of course, this is still before, you know, they've fixed the bullpen, before they've found a right-handed bat for the lineup, which, of course, those are things we expect them to do at some point over the off-season. So again, it just kind of continues to lend credence to the fact that this Diamondbacks team

Starting point is 00:03:59 might be a little bit better in 2023 than we were even initially expecting. Yes, Zips really likes the Dxiefts. Diamondbacks young players, Corbyn Carroll, Brandon Fought, Drey Jameson, and Ryan Nelson in particular, which is very exciting because those are guys we very much like as well. They have them tied with the San Francisco Giants for third place in the division with the Colorado Rockies only winning 68 games. And he wanted to what Dan Zimborski wrote about the Colorado Rockies.

Starting point is 00:04:31 The Colorado Rockies are a baseball team, period. They will play a number of baseball games in 2023 and win at least a handful of them, period. Those are sentences. Those are sentences that began and ended. By the way, my favorite part is like taking a step backwards about what you said. Zips is something Dan developed. Right. And the amount of people that come for Dan,

Starting point is 00:05:04 based on things that he says about Zips is amazing. It's incredible. He tends to quote tweet them a bit and show off on his timeline. How many people think that Zips is this overlord that is more powerful than Dan, that Dan has no right to question. How dare he question Zips? How dare he find anything wrong with it? And I just find that part delightful.

Starting point is 00:05:32 Well, he also, he also quote tweets situations where people get mad at him for not giving credit to Zips. That, yeah, that too. Not not like actually giving credit where credits do. How dare you, Dan. How dare you not? This is Zips we're talking about here. Give credit to the people that put into the hard work over at Zips. It's pretty wild.

Starting point is 00:05:59 So the thing that stands out to me that the most, potentially even beyond the 83 wins. I think in some ways we were kind of expecting that, given what we had talked about earlier in the week with the steamer projections. So this is a list of teams that Zips has within one win of the Diamondbacks. Within one win of the 2023 Diamondbacks, these are the teams on that list.

Starting point is 00:06:24 The Seattle Mariners, right, postseason team, the New York Mets team that just won 100 games, the Philadelphia Phillies, team that was just in the World Series, right? It's just crazy to me looking through these projections. It's not just that the Diamondbacks are projected for 83 wins. It's that some of the other teams around the league that are viewed as, you know, obvious contenders,

Starting point is 00:06:48 like teams that are that are thoroughly in the mix for postseason contention. The Diamondbacks are like right there with those teams already. And like you said earlier, a lot of this is because, and Dan talked about this in the article. A lot of this is because Zips really likes Corbyn Carroll, Brandon Fod, Dre James, and Ryan Nelson. Dan also talked about how he double-checked every park factor and calculation specific to the Diamondbacks

Starting point is 00:07:16 because he was very skeptical of how good the numbers came out for the Diamondbacks in these projections. But yeah, it's wild to me not just how good these numbers came out for Arizona, but how close they are to some of those other big-name teams. around the league. I think the thing there is that the young players have really shown an ability to play at the major league level when it comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That's that's one win that they had in 2023. Whether there's a lot of things you could say about this team, the ups and downs, you know, how close they were to getting kind of back into the wild card hunt there. You know,

Starting point is 00:07:53 obviously the one thing we can all agree on is we can blame a lot on the bullpen. But really, when you look at the young players, they came up and adapted to a, you know, at a major league level so quickly. And of course, we expected that out of guys like Corbyn Carroll and Alec Thomas, right? But mostly Dre Jameson, Ryan Nelson, and the impact those guys had when they came up. Those were the guys that really got us talking about playoffs and wild card and made us lose our minds about where this team could actually go. It felt like this team was complete a bit. And and it felt like that they had enough options everywhere that maybe they could start repairing some of the areas that they were weak at, mainly that bullpen.

Starting point is 00:08:37 It just didn't end up working out that way. The bullpen remained, you know, a problem for them the rest of the season. And they didn't quite finish as high as at one point we thought they might have. A lot of that excitement, though, was brought on by these young guys. Yeah, it's so true. And there's obviously some volatility there, right? Like you have to acknowledge that some of the success that we saw last year is not necessarily guaranteed to carry into 2023, right? Especially for, you know, for some of the rookies, sophomore slumps are a thing.

Starting point is 00:09:11 And I think we would be naive not to at least acknowledge that, you know, those things are possible going into next year. But yeah, I mean, I think there's also a lot of reasons to believe that that what we saw last year wasn't a fluke, you know, like Dre Jammison and Ryan Nelson, when they came up, they were facing really the best opponents that the diamondbacks face. I mean, those fantastic outings that each of those guys had in their short stint in the big leagues, it was against the Dodgers, you know, it was against the Padres. It was against a lot of the most formidable competition the Diamondbacks face. But again, it's just a few starts. And, you know, you can only go too far.

Starting point is 00:09:50 You can only get so bullish based off of a few outings in the big league. So there's a lot that still has to be proven here moving forward. word. Well, like I said, we, we are very thankful for you guys being here for listening to this show. I know yesterday one thing I was thankful for, Jesse, was OGs. I was very thankful on Thanksgiving to have OGs go-Mays. Now, I know Mr. Friedman, young Mr. Friedman, I know you do not dabble in such things, but nothing really is better to prepare yourself for a large meal. than consuming some form of marijuana in some way. It just makes your,

Starting point is 00:10:33 it just makes your hunger level go through the roof. It's the, it's the, it's the, it's the munchies that you may have heard of before. And, you know, I, I don't have in this situation myself, I don't have the, the, the cousins in any way to go take the cousins walk with. That's where, that's where you leave and go away with people that you can share this mutual bond with, not in front of your elders that might frown upon such activities. But thanks to OGs and their wonderful orange cream single gummies, I was able to get through my Thanksgiving with the maximum hunger that I needed.

Starting point is 00:11:10 And of course, I also was very nice all day, Jesse. I was extremely nice. And that's a shout out to our friends at OG. So if you're interested in dabbling in what OGs has to offer, they have a wonderful variety of doses, strains, and flavors for you to choose from. And of course, you can find them at your local dispensary. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy. And I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Starting point is 00:11:33 They also have sales today, by the way. So make sure to check this out. You're checking this podcast out on Friday. It's Black Friday. Of course, just like everything else, OG's brands has sales. So find them at your local dispensary near you. Also, if you want to join us for a wonderful party, make sure to join us at Four Peaks, 8th Street Pub.

Starting point is 00:11:54 who is hosting all of the U.S. and Mexico World Cup matches. It is an absolute jam over there, Jesse. There is so much fun being had. And honestly, I really dig the vibe. I was not, I personally was not expecting there to be such a huge response to these watch parties. So make sure if you haven't seen some of the videos, check those out in social media. You'll see what I'm talking about. All of those people are enjoying a good time.

Starting point is 00:12:21 and they are enjoying beer specials, giveaways, guest appearances, and so much more. They have $3 kiltifters and wow wheat pints. So make sure to join us again for the U.S. and Mexico World Cup matches over there. Be there. They do the delicious breakfast buffets. It doesn't matter what time the game is on. So make sure to check out what we got going on with our friends over at Four Peaks.

Starting point is 00:12:44 And if you can't make it out to the 8th Street Pub, make sure to grab some wonderful Four Peaks beer wherever you get your beer. again, must be 21 years or older to enjoy. Can I point out, can I point out real quick that the, the Diamondback Zips projection is far better than any other team in the All City division? I just feel like we have to say that before moving forward. That is something I'm very thankful for.

Starting point is 00:13:10 And I'm, I'm, I'm kind of hoping that the Diamondbacks don't see these Zips projections, right? Because this is the kind of thing that would make them lose their mind and want to go do something crazy and make some sort of big trade that they don't need to make right now. The White Sox 76 and 86. That's their Zips projection. That is rough for a team that came into this year with the expectations that they did.

Starting point is 00:13:35 Oh, man. Well, baseball is fun, Jesse. Baseball is fun. And remember, it's not played inside of a machine, Dan Zimborski. This is true. You and your Zips monster that you've created. but what else what else we got going on in the baseball world yeah i mean it it seems like in terms of the the hot stove situation it's cold it's cold stove it's it's relative yeah i mean again you

Starting point is 00:14:01 don't necessarily expect that much to be happening this time of year but um but yeah no no big developments on that front what what was interesting yesterday and this is all uh hypothetical not even really speculation at this point there's been no reports of a deal like this actually having, actually having any real legs as of yet. But I did listen to a podcast yesterday. It was a show hosted out of Toronto. It was like a Blue Jays podcast.

Starting point is 00:14:35 And Mike Faron was actually on as a guest friend of the show, Mike Farrin, former Diamondbacks pre and post game show host. And they were going through possible trade scenarios between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Arizona Diamondbacks trying to find. find a possible fit between those two teams. The needs of those two teams sort of fit together nicely. The Diamondbacks, of course, need a catcher. Not necessarily a starting catcher, though I think it is something that they could look at.

Starting point is 00:15:04 And the Toronto Blue Jays could use an outfielder. And so there was talk of which of the Diamondbacks outfielder. And there are several, of course, that are probably available for the right price and which Blue Jays catcher. And there are also several available for the right price on that end. And so basically what they came up with, Derek, which is something that I don't know if we talked about this exact trade, but we talked about at least something very similar

Starting point is 00:15:29 with a mailbag Monday question in the last couple of weeks. But they had Gabriel Moreno, the 22-year-old catcher from the Toronto Blue Jays, who made his big league debut this past season, coming to Arizona in exchange for outfielder Alec Thomas going to the Toronto Blue Jays. Derek, like I said, I think we've sort of talked about at least a trade that was maybe similar to this at some point. But I think I thought it was interesting to see that, you know, we're not at least the only ones who have talked about something possibly fitting with the Diamondbacks and the Blue Jays. Especially when it comes to catcher, a young catcher like that.

Starting point is 00:16:07 I mean, it's weird because Carson Kelly really isn't that old. I think he's just been a part of this team for long enough that it feels. like he's been around for a while, but it just, it's the inconsistency that the Diamondbacks have had there. It's the inability for Carson Kelly to stay healthy at times. And I think also it's about getting someone that maybe fits their timeline a bit more as far as,

Starting point is 00:16:33 you know, the youth movement that this team currently has going on. I like Gabriel Marino. I think he would be a great fit with this team. I just don't know. I mean, the one thing that Toronto Blue Jays do have is, a surplus of talented catchers.

Starting point is 00:16:48 So I wouldn't be surprised to see them make some sort of move like this. It makes sense for both teams because that's basically those are positions both teams have a surplus of talent on. I have said in the past when we when we've had to ask, when we've been asked these terrible questions about who would I part ways with and it always hurts my heart to decide on one guy or another, I've usually thrown Alec Thomas's name out there. the actual thought of losing Alec Thomas though and seeing him go somewhere else and succeed and be everything that we knew he could be here that yeah that's that's a that's a hard sell for me right now

Starting point is 00:17:27 and I think it was you that convinced me in regards to where their stocks are currently at right Alec Thomas right now isn't going to get potentially as big of a return that you know based on how he was performing as of late that's why I think if a big trade did come this way for Alec Thomas that that fit and got the diamond back somebody in return the diamondbacks might even be surprised by that and might pull the trigger you know I I still don't like the idea of partying ways with any of these guys Jesse I don't even want to I I don't want to do that it's necessary though the diamondbacks are going to have to do that in order to bring in the talent they need to have a well-rounded baseball team versus a team that's just heavily talented

Starting point is 00:18:14 in the outfield, you know. Yeah, I think, I mean, you absolutely have to go in to any trade of a diamond backs outfielder, knowing that they very well could be a total stud with their next team, right, for many, many years. And if you're dealing Alec Thomas, it's not a guarantee, right? There's some risk there, which is maybe why you're okay dealing him in the first place. but you have to be okay knowing that Alec Thomas could go to the Toronto Blue Jays and, you know, have a 750, 800 OPS and win a few gold gloves over the next six years, you know, like, like that is within the realm of possibility.

Starting point is 00:18:53 On the flip side, I do think that, you know, while, while maybe you're not getting peak value for Alec Thomas right now, if, if the Blue Jays were willing to do this, and I'm not totally convinced that they would, but Gabriel Moreno is a pretty good get. for Alec Thomas at this point. You don't see, we talked about earlier in the week, you don't see many catchers make the big leagues at 22 years old. It's really just, it's very, very rare. Even the best catching prospects around baseball,

Starting point is 00:19:25 you know, usually it's more like 24, 25, that they're really becoming full-time players. So it's really impressive that Moreno has managed to get to the highest level this quickly. I think there are questions about his power, at the big league level. He's kind of flashed some power and the miners at different times, but it seems like the hit tool is really what people are most excited about. He hit 319 last year in 73 plate appearances in his first taste of the big leagues, which is obviously very, very impressive. He doesn't really strike out. His strikeout rates in the minors were always very, very low,

Starting point is 00:20:01 only an 11% strikeout rate this last year in the majors. So yeah, I think you have to be, you have to be prepared that any outfielder you deal, you know, could have nothing but success wherever they go. But if, you know, if it means getting a guy like Moreno in return, I could see the Diamondbacks taking a pretty serious look at that. It's kind of like the Zach Gallen Jazz Chisholm trade, right? Like, jazz went off and did some really great things in Miami, right? but it's hard not to feel like we didn't win that trade when you see what his overall numbers are for a season, and you see what Zach Gallen's doing here.

Starting point is 00:20:45 You know, I think, I think that's one trade that the Marlins fans and that organization are going to end up regretting. But in the long run, you know, it's easy for both sides to say they lost a quality player that they would like to still have as part of their organization. By the way, it's Black Friday. We know you guys are searching for a gift to give the perfect gift to give. And if you aren't already a diehard, give yourself the gift of being a PHNX diehard or give somebody you love the gift of being a PHNX diehard. We're all about the culture, community, and content around here. And that's what we're giving you, of course, a free PHNX shirt or hat every year after renewal, 20% off every merchandise order. And right now over at the PHNX Locker.com, we have a very much.

Starting point is 00:21:31 shirts up to 90% off. Jesse, right now, you can get the Cess Cervesa shirt for 99 cents. That's wild. The utter disrespect. 99 cents. You can get that over there at the PHNX Locker.com.

Starting point is 00:21:49 Of course, you get 20% off tailgates and takeovers for every team in town. The D-Backs die-hard's only Discord lounge, all sorts of stuff, of course, and mostly you're getting the die-hard's-only newsletter from PHNX beatwriters like Craig Morgan, Jesse Friedman, and Gerald Borgay. Jesse, what do you got cooking on the newsletter this week?

Starting point is 00:22:10 Yeah, well, so the new, the first newsletter for diehards just came out on Wednesday. So for the people who are already diehards or who maybe will become diehards in the near future, be sure to check that one out. I went deep on Zach Gallen's change up and how that pitch is kind of, in my mind, the key to him being able to take the next step. So be sure to check that out if you haven't already. As far as next week's newsletter, I'm not going to, there's a few different ideas in the works.

Starting point is 00:22:38 I haven't exactly settled on one final idea for next week's newsletter. But stay tuned. It should be good stuff. There we go. Well, we value your support of PHNX and wouldn't have gotten this far without you. So we thank you guys. And we urge you to sign up to become a PHNX diehard. of course exclusive video and podcast content is on the way mailbags for diehards only and so much more so

Starting point is 00:23:03 make sure to grab yourself a membership or grab one for somebody you love and go over to p hnx locker dot com and get yourself an order by the way we got hoodies hoodies p hnx hoodies are now available over at p hnx locker dot com so make sure to check those out i promised you guys i promised you as your mayor that i would get you a phoenix shirt well not only is there a goddamn FNX shirt, there's a Phoenix hoodie. So get your ass over to PHNXLocker.com and check out all of this hard work

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Starting point is 00:24:09 And we were thankful for you doing that. We're always thankful for you. We know that. We always tell you guys how thankful we are for you. But right now, because it's this time of the year, we're going to tell you what else we're thankful for. Because, of course, you guys are our number one thing. We wouldn't be doing this without you.

Starting point is 00:24:27 We're thankful for you guys showing up in the live chat, showing up and bringing us your questions on Mailbag Monday. We love you guys for it. We are truly thankful for you. But, Jesse, what are some things we're thankful for besides, besides the listeners, besides the viewers? What are you thankful for during this time of the year? All right.

Starting point is 00:24:49 So is this like Diamondback specific or just like anything in the world in general? I'm thankful for Dan Samborski Jesse and I'm thankful for his Zips projections. That's what I'm thankful for. What are you thankful for? Okay, so I'm thankful for the winter meetings

Starting point is 00:25:11 which I will be attending in about two weeks. So stay tuned for that. We'll have, of course, our usual show happening five days during that week plus a whole bunch of additional content that I'll be producing there. I'll be there with Patrick Lyons from DNVR and Ryan Herrera of CHGO.

Starting point is 00:25:31 So we'll have a little, you're going to have a little all-city party in San Diego in early December for the winter meetings, which should be a lot of fun. So I'm pretty stoked, Derek. First time I've actually, I've always talked about going to the winter meetings. Usually it's not that far away from where I've lived. But just with how things have worked the last few years, it was never logistically possible.

Starting point is 00:25:53 So I'm pretty stoked. to be able to get out there and see what it's all about and, you know, be able to really be right there with, you know, with Mike Hazen and everything that's going on day to day and be able to give information that you won't be able to find in a lot of other places. Yeah, because the winter meetings is where a lot of these deals go down. So usually even at the winter meetings or shortly afterwards is when hopefully this hot stove really gets hot. And we start seeing some of these players either getting picked up or some trades happening or something.

Starting point is 00:26:26 We need, we need some, I need something happening, Jesse. I need this. I'm not, I'm not thankful for how quiet this time of the year is for us. But another thing I'm thankful for, I am truly thankful for the excitement that Brandon fought brings for the future of the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'm thankful for how Dre Jameson did when he debuted and how he continued to do while he was up. But then I think. that transfers over to like, well, this Ryan Nelson guy is pretty good.

Starting point is 00:26:58 This Drey Jamison guy is pretty good. Wait till you see this Brandon fought guy. So there's there's this continued excitement. I'm sure at one point it'll bottom out. Hopefully by that point, the Arizona Diamondbacks major league roster will be good. And we don't have to be looking to the future for excitement. The future will be now.

Starting point is 00:27:18 And, uh, you know, the team will be playing much better than what we've seen over the last couple of seasons, right? But even last year, you got to be excited about what an improved bullpen alone can do for this exact same team without there being any major overhaul, without there being any major change. Yeah. Yeah, I was, I was thinking about that the other day, too, just like this team down the stretch just got so, so interesting to watch. you know, like the days when Corbyn Carroll was in the lineup and the days that Dre Jameson was on the mound and, uh, the intrigue just kind of grew throughout the season

Starting point is 00:28:01 and especially toward the end of the season what a lot of those young guys got brought up. And next year, those guys are going to be in there pretty much every day. At least the position players will be in there pretty much every day. You know, Corbyn Carroll figures to be an everyday player for sure. Um, and then, you know, Dre Jameson, Ryan Nelson, those guys have a pretty decent shot to be in the starting rotation from the get-go, and maybe Brandon Fott is able to do that as well. This Diamondbacks team is just going to be really fascinating going into next year. There's a lot of reason for excitement, as we talked about with the projections and how they're somehow already projected to be an over 500 team.

Starting point is 00:28:40 And yeah, I mean, thinking about things that we're thankful for, I mean, there's a lot of excitement that comes with, you know, a team that seems to be approaching a kind of turning point. this last year was better. It still wasn't great with 74 wins. But once you cross over that 500 line and you're getting a little bit closer to possibly making the playoffs, things get a lot more interesting. And I think it's the debacks are one of the most exciting sports teams in Arizona right now. I think the Sons are obviously they're going to be in there, right? I mean, maybe they're not quite what they were a couple years ago. It's that the Sons are at such a level right now.

Starting point is 00:29:20 that there's no more excitement. Now there's just a very high expectations. And anything short of that is a disappointment, right? The Diamondbacks still aren't there. The Diamondbacks still could be disappointing. Next year, if they regressed even slightly in one less game than they did this year, it would be a disappointment. At this point, if we don't see them continue to progress and get better,

Starting point is 00:29:45 even if that doesn't mean they're going to hit the playoffs next year, even if that doesn't mean they don't mean they don't, they don't bring home the world series the following year. Like just that improvement from year to year is what we're looking for at this point. This team has the ability to be a very good baseball team. And honestly, they could be at that point where their core is figured out enough that when they do take that leap, when they do maybe add that big free agent name or make that big trade to bring in a superstar to this team, maybe they'll actually be ready

Starting point is 00:30:19 to have a complete team that can support that change, right? Having that superstar come over and now that person impacting this team to take them up to the next level. I don't think that they're going to do it this off season, but Mike Hazen also doesn't sound like he's waiting any longer. It sounds like he's getting to the point, maybe not a frustration, but I think he's getting to the point where he is tired of being the one that gets someone else's prospects and gives away a good Major League player that's going to help another team win. I think he's tired of that.

Starting point is 00:31:02 He's made it clear with his words, you know, but I will say that it's been a rough year. It's been a rough year for a lot of us. We've lost a lot of our loved ones this year, including Mike Hazen. And I am, to be honest, I'm thankful that this man still has, you know, his love for baseball and his competitive fire to want to continue to make this team good and want to continue doing this job, you know? And I kind of get it now. I've talked about losing my dad. And at this point, I feel like, like, like, I'm doing it to honor him. You know, like, I know this made him proud.

Starting point is 00:31:44 that I did this and I don't want to stop doing it, even though I feel like folding some days after going through something like this. You know, we all do after we lose somebody that we love a tremendous amount, right? So, again, I think it's one of those things that you got to, you got to appreciate the fact that this man still has this fire to make this baseball team, you know, a competitive team and to put the best product that he can on the field. I am excited to see what this team does. I'm thankful for a lot of these young guys coming up and getting that opportunity.

Starting point is 00:32:18 But more importantly, in our direct lives, Jesse, I'm thankful that there are so many clips of you from your youth talking about baseball that we can unearth and play on this show. I am thankful for our amazing office at PHNX, a place that you and I truly enjoy being and working at and hanging around this cast of characters that we call. the PHNX crew every single day. It's an absolute blast. But I don't, I don't think that we, we give credit where credit is due. So I want to say this. I am so thankful for Espo and Saul Bookman. I am thankful for those guys having the passion that they had to pursue this and to create this digital media company along with Brandon Spano, who I'm also extremely thankful for. I'm thankful that I get this opportunity to work alongside of you and go unearth your videos of you when you were 12 years old and have such a blast that we do.

Starting point is 00:33:20 That's the biggest, the biggest perk of working. I'm still getting back to that. That's really, that's really what it is. But no, seriously, like Saul and Espo,

Starting point is 00:33:28 they do a lot every single day to not only make this place better to keep this place running for as long as humanly possible, but just to remind us of, of what we're capable of. And I think we get that from these guys all the time, that they are helping us become better at what we do. And honestly, for me, at times, it's even helping me become a better person.

Starting point is 00:33:52 So I'm really thankful for PHNX. And I'm thankful for every single person that has bought our merchandise, bought a membership, tuned in to listen to us. You guys have no idea the impact that you have on us. And we're very grateful to have an impact on, on you guys and the D-BACs community. Like, I can't, I, I, I, I, I, this was something that I would have died to have,

Starting point is 00:34:18 uh, just a show talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks regularly where we didn't, didn't get our, you know, five minutes on sports center or on the local news. So, uh, I'm, I'm really thankful that we have this opportunity to bring this show to you. It's really great. I mean, getting to talk about, you know, a, a baseball team that we've both covered on our own for a number of years, but getting to do it every single day. Like, there's just like this kind of coverage, especially in Arizona, just doesn't really exist, right? Like all of the local sports radio stations and whatnot, they just don't talk about the

Starting point is 00:34:58 Diamondbacks that much, if we're being totally honest here. You and I were doing it. You and I were doing it on our podcast, right? But now look at what we did. We combine forces and now there's one less podcast out. there because the two of us got together. So we're not, I guess we're not helping to add any additional,

Starting point is 00:35:16 content out there, but we're giving you better content now that the two of us have joined forces and are working as a duo. Let's go. Well, my, my, uh, my podcast was not five days a week. So there is,

Starting point is 00:35:29 there is far more. There is far more Diamond Vax content, uh, because of us joining forces than there was before. So, were you, What was your favorite dish from yesterday, Jesse, for Thanksgiving? Oh, I thought the stuffing was pretty outstanding.

Starting point is 00:35:47 It also got me thinking like, like, okay, so we've talked about turkey and how turkey is, is overrated. And frankly, if you are going to eat it on Thanksgiving, it doesn't deserve to be part of your dinner menu any other day of the year because it's just not that good. And it's too. But then there's, right, right. And then there's, you know, there's like mashed potatoes, which everyone loves mashed potatoes. We eat that like fairly regularly, right? Like throughout the year, at least I do. Sure.

Starting point is 00:36:18 But then there's stuffing, which I think is outstanding. It's probably my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. And yet it's like kind of, at least from my experience, it would be kind of weird to eat stuffing outside of Thanksgiving day. And I'm trying to figure out why that is. It's probably the best part of the meal. why are we only allowed to eat it this one day out of the year? And I know you guys are all cooking stove top.

Starting point is 00:36:44 So like, let's be honest, we're not actually putting it in the chicken. Yes, I know some stuffing goes in the chicken or in the turkey. Right. All right. I keep calling it a chicken in the turkey, right? But let's be honest. We're eating the one from from, we're eating the one that you cooked like separately, right? So let's just, let's, let's stop all of this nonsense and let's just eat stuffing whenever we

Starting point is 00:37:05 want. Stuffing is a solid side. More restaurants have stuffing as an option and I am here for it. This is one of the few times that we agree on a food related opinion and I'm thankful for that, Jesse. I'm thankful for that. I just don't get it. I just don't get it. It's just weird. Like, everyone loves mashed potatoes. That's kind of a Thanksgiving staple. We eat that all year round. But stuffing, it just, I don't know. I mean, maybe we wouldn't like it as much. Maybe part of the reason we like it so much is that we only eat it like on this one day throughout the year at least for most of us and that's what makes it special but i don't know i if i ate stuffing like multiple times a week i don't think i'd have any problem with that all right so i have to ask it who on the arizona

Starting point is 00:37:50 time and backs is stuffing didn't we talk about this the other day we did but we didn't did we give i don't think we gave somebody i don't think we named stuffing i don't think we named gave somebody the honor of being stuffing. I almost feel like it needs to be a starting rotation pitcher, right? Because you only see them once every so often. Wouldn't it? Yeah, the starting pitcher only pitches

Starting point is 00:38:14 once a year. Let's see. I don't think the devax, the devax rotation has been fairly durable of late. So I don't think there's anyone who quite fits that. Drey Jameson was very good and we didn't get enough of him this year. So he's the stuffing.

Starting point is 00:38:32 There you go. There you go. I like that. All right. Well, I'm also thankful for our friends over at the Draft King's Sportsbook app, who, again, helped make my Thanksgiving more entertaining. Some great football games, by the way. We're played on Thanksgiving. This was one of the best, like, exciting, competitive days of football I remember having on Thanksgiving.

Starting point is 00:38:55 So that was fun to watch. And I am going to give you a non-football pick for our Draft King's pick of the week. I'm giving you the Phoenix Suns over the Dink. Detroit Pistons. I'm taking them for the money line. You could take money line, but there's not great value there when it comes to the money line. I am taking them to cover the spread at 12.5 points. So I think they're going to do that.

Starting point is 00:39:19 I also think that we're going to get campaign under 16.5 points. So there's one leg you can add if you want to do a same game parlay. And I was also taken the Sons as far as points. to be over on 118.5 points. So there's three legs to a same game parlay you can add. Wow. Yeah. Over on 118.5 points, but then you're betting the under on campaign.

Starting point is 00:39:48 Interesting. Yeah, correct. Correct. That's how those things work, Jesse. And you know what? There's a good chance that I won't hit on any of those things. But we'll see. We'll come back tomorrow because Jesse and I are going to have a special Saturday episode

Starting point is 00:40:01 of our show coming to you in audio. only show, but look out for that. In the meantime, I don't know if we made this clear enough, but we are thankful for you guys. Thank you guys so much for being here. Thank you so much for checking out the Drafking Sportsbook app. Make sure, by the way, if you sign up as a new customer, use our promo code of PHNX. Any $5 NBA Money Line bet, which you can take that Sons over the Pistons for your moneyline bet. We'll get you $200 in free bets if your team wins.

Starting point is 00:40:30 Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes. details. We're thankful for you guys. I'm thankful for Jesse. I'm thankful for everything going on. And I'm thankful that Jesse got me sick. That's what I'm guessing happened. So you may see us going remote a little bit next week as well, but we appreciate you guys still hitting us up for Mailbag Monday. Make sure to look out for the tweet and drop us your questions. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore Kman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. our show is at P HNX underscore D-Backs,

Starting point is 00:41:04 but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for tuning in on behalf of Jesse and myself. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun thanks to Dan Simborski and his zipped projections.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - What are we thankful for? The Arizona Diamondbacks ZiPS Projections for 2023

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