PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Zac Gallen continues historic run in the Arizona Diamondbacks series win over the Milwaukee Brewers

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

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

Hello and welcome to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. This guy in the box next to me, he is the vice mayor. He's also the Thunderstake, Jesse Freeman. Is this real, Derek? So what's happening right now real? Is this baseball team hashtag good, dare I say? You're using it right.

You're using it right this time. And also remember, Jesse, that we are no longer the greatest duo when it comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. We held that. We held that title there. We did have that for a while for the last like eight months, right? But that's not something we can claim anymore. Of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks of the Drafking Sportsbook app. Download the Drafking Sportsbook app.

Use our code of PH&X. Get yourself a fun little bonus if you're a brand new customer. Only at the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's Top Rated Sportsbook app. sportsbook app. Guys, the Arizona Diamondbacks, they take three out of four from the Milwaukee Brewers. What tough schedule, Jesse. This was supposed to be a tough schedule.

This ain't shit. Bring it on. What? What? Who else wants some of this? I don't know. Diamondbacks are eight and two in their last 10 games and are playing some pretty impressive baseball. It's hard to say that anybody's playing more impressive baseball though than the zone

Zach Gallin is currently in. It's been incredible. it absolutely has i mean what we're seeing from zach gallon right now derrick is is historic i mean he is moving into not only diamondbacks franchise records but i mean the all-time scoreless inning streak record i believe is 59 innings um and it is stood for a very very long time um and obviously that's still a ways away for zach gallon but i mean at the rate that he's going right now derrick it feels it feels like when this guy is on the mound like I'd be shocked if Zach Gowland gave up a run, honestly.

Like that's how it feels right now. It's like you just sort of expect, you get sort of lulled to sleep watching this guy pitch because you just feel like he is going to throw scoreless inning after scoreless inning after scoreless inning. And he's just making it look so easy right now with all of his pitches working. I mean, today was especially incredible.

The Milwaukee Brewers, Derek, went O for O with runners in scoring position. They literally did not have. have a man in scoring position for an at bat in this entire game. That's how good Zach Gowan was here today. Ties already ties a major league record for most scoreless starts six in a row. And that ties Zach Granky, Oral Hersheiser, and Don Drysdale. So that's some pretty.

Pretty decent company. Pretty decent company. approaching Brandon Webb's streak of 42 innings pitched for a franchise record and just continues to do it in a way that I don't know. I mean, like, let's be honest, today there were a couple of times where this phenomenal defense behind him helped him keep this game scoreless, right? I mean, Varsho had a catch alone that saved, I think, a run from scoring. So let's let's give it up for the fact that these guys not only are pitching so well. when you talk about Merrill Kelly and you talk about Zach Gallen, but they are just being backed up by this defense.

And it's just incredible. Today's lineup, if you wanted to see the young guys play, the young guys played today. You know, LaVolo found a way. He was a stone away from actually having all of the youngsters, basically in the lineup, right? But, you know, this is what you want to see. And it's more than that because it's like I was,

I don't think anybody could really expect this young core to be as productive as they've been. Corbyn Carroll is now five and one in the games that he has participated in with the only loss being the bullpen blowing game three, which is a whole other thing that we could take a look at the bullpen losses and factor in the fact that they still are up there as far as a league leader in bullpen losses. You factor that into this record that the Diamondbacks currently have, and you could really see where the dive-backs could be at if they had a competent bullpen that could handle the game.

I mean, shit, Jesse today, Mark Melanson had a five-run lead and he still came in and gave up a home run. It just once again showed that if this game was close, Malanson is not an arm out of the pen that you can count on to keep the game scoreless, right? But Zach Gallen, that Gallen has been everything we could hope that he would be. Yeah, he really has.

I mean, yeah, it's not just Mark Malanson, right? I mean, yesterday Ian Kennedy also had a bit of a bit of a rough one. And yeah, the bullpen is, yeah, the bullpen as a whole was just not, not particularly great in that game. So, yeah, I don't want to put it all on one guy. But yeah, I mean, I know a lot of people are questioning right now, like, how good could this baseball team with a competent bullpen? And I think it's a fair question. It's a question that Tori Lavello was asked during a press conference. yesterday. And in typical, Tori Lavello fashion, you know, he said that those are the kind of

questions that could keep him up at night. And so he's not going to, he's not going to spend time thinking about that sort of thing right now. That's more a question for the off season. But it is a question for the off season. It is a question that the diamondbacks are going to have grapple with and they're going to have to try to figure out how to come around next year and make sure that the bullpen is not a hindrance. This team doesn't need the bullpen to be elite or anything, right. I mean, we don't necessarily want to set the bar that high. But even with just, you know, a average level of competency back there, the diamondbacks would be in a much better spot. But that's not the story right now of this baseball team, right? I mean, the diamondbacks still win

three out of four in this series. They continue to cruise against some very good baseball teams. The Milwaukee Brewers are only a few games out of the playoff race right now. So this is, this was really painful for them. I'm sure losing three out of four games. that they probably viewed as being pretty winnable coming into Arizona. And the Diamondbacks are playing spoiler right now for some pretty good baseball teams. In fact, Jesse, I believe it has been, let me take a look. I don't know what the results of St. Louis's game today was, or if they even played, I don't think they did.

But Cardinals didn't play today? On a Sunday, I would expect every team, every team to play. I mean, I'm trying to pull it up while I'm in the middle of talking. So there's a good chance that I do. Oh, yeah. No, they won. They won two to nothing. So in, I think since the All Star break, it has been an 11 and a half game swing for the Brewers and the St.

Louis Cardinals. The brewers have absolutely gone into a tailspin since that Josh Hader trade. Yeah, which is wild because Josh Hader has been horrible for the Padres. So it's not like they're missing Josh Hater right now. Absolutely, right? Like what a, what a nightmare it's been for that team. But on the flip side, it just goes to show that the Arizona Diamondbacks, really, I mean, this, I don't know, there's something about this infusion of young guys that are keeping this going. Even when, you know, even when guys don't have a great day, Corbyn Carroll was 0 for 3 today.

But Corbyn Carroll is the first Arizona Diamondback since 2009 and the fourth player in franchise history to record six plus RBI in his first five games, right? this guy is not only up here and not only, you know, it's not only fun to see him at a major league level, but he is contributing to this offense. He's contributing defensively. We've seen him do that. He almost had an amazing play gunning down one of the Brewers players at the plate. And he was just that close,

just that close to being, you know, an incredible play. Alec Thomas batting 3.42 with three doubles and six RBI in his last 12 games. So he's really gotten his offense back on track. But like you said, These are all the reasons why the Diamondbacks right now are 8 and 2. And looking at the numbers from today, you will see why they won this series, three games to one.

And honestly, we're in a position to sweep all four games from the Milwaukee Brewers. Let's look at the number. Yeah, let's look at the numbers from this game. The Diamondback's starting rotation was insane, right? A 1.14 ERA compared to the Brewers 5.96, Diamondbacks jumped on some pretty darn good starting pitchers in this series. Brandon Woodruff is no slouch. Corbin Burns was the starter in the game yesterday.

I know the Diamondbacks ultimately went on to lose that game, but they still jumped on Corbin Burns early. They made him throw 30 pitches in the first inning. You can see the bullpen ERAs, even though things have been rough at times in this series, the Diamondbacks still had a bullpen ERA of 3.38, which wasn't bad. The Brewers side 2.38. They were pretty solid in that regard. but 333 with runners in scoring position, Derek.

I mean, that's going to win you some baseball games. And the Diamondbacks, it feels like every time we look at one of these by the numbers graphics at the end of a series lately, that number is like well into the 300s or like even close to 400. The Diamondbacks are getting some very, very timely hits as of late. And like you said, Corbyn Carroll has contributed to that. I know there's obviously still some development there, as we expected. We did not necessarily expect Corbyn Carroll.

to come up and at 350 out of the gate or anything. But he's come through in some really, really big spots for this baseball team. And he did it again today on the base pass. The man goes first to third on a ball that was basically on the infield. And he goes first to third and scores on a sacrifice fly. That's what speed can get you. And Corbyn Carroll, that tool is ready to go. That is major league ready from the get-go.

Corbyn Carroll is already one of the fastest players in the game. They discussed it on the broadcast today, but we've also discussed it on the show. this speed on the base path, Jake McCarthy, Corby and Carol, Alec Thomas, what these guys are doing is disrupting the defense. And they have to make plays in a way that makes them uncomfortable, right? They're not able to settle in and make a solid throw like they normally would because in their head, they have a guy that's running like just a quarter of a step faster than almost everybody else they've seen run up the first baseline. And so now that that pressure is on those defenders when that when this team is as speedy as they are, right? And I mean, again, like you said, the runners in scoring position for the series batting average has been much better.

Over the last 10 games, which they're 8 and 2, the Diamondbacks are batting 340 with runners in scoring position. So it's consistently, we've seen it in the series. We've seen it throughout the last 10 games. And it's just been a blast to watch. it's just a fun team to watch. I mean, like I said, the way they kind of imploded in game three, that, you know, the Diamondbacks at times can't seem to do anything right when it comes to the closer bullpen situation, no matter who they put out there, no matter what they have

going on, it seems like they're always having a bit of bad luck and, you know, just slamming the door there at the end of the game, right? But they were in control of that game, too, to be honest. So it's like the one loss. that they had was kind of a, I'm not going to say a fluke loss because, you know, Kennedy gave up a home run to a very large fellow there. And, you know, but it's still just been an absolute joy to watch this team be as good as they've been over this stretch. And there, we don't do this often around here, but there's nobody else that we can really give this award to for this

series than Zach Gallen. He is our draft kings, king of the series. And I know he only pitched in one game. But this game, this streak has been historic. Seven innings pitch, zero runs given up in in this one again, 41.1 innings pitched consecutively of scoreless baseball. That's, that's damn impressive, Jesse. I don't think we're allowed to give King of the series to anyone but Zach Gallen as long as this streak is going. He's not going to pitch in San Diego, but I think we still have to give him King of the Series for that series. That's a spoiler. for the next, you know, for the next post series show. But we're just telling you now, I'll put it in my notes.

Zach Allen is going to be the king of the series then, too. Bees in the comments is you guys sold on Carson Kelly being the everyday catcher. If not, that means we've lost the goldschmidt trade, right? Bees, we've lost the goldschmidt trade. That's it. I mean, that's it. There's no, there's no, but or if or whatever. I mean, Emmanuel, Emmanuel Rivera, though.

Manuel Rivera. I'm Emmanuel Rivera. It does have to factor in now to all Goldschmidt trade talk, but I still feel, unfortunately, even with his contributions for this team, that we did lose that trade. And I mean,

that's just because Paul Goldschmidt is a once in a lifetime talent. And the Diamondbacks, let's on it, let's be honest, they blew it. Right? You don't, you don't ever let a guy like that go.

But it is going to be the unfortunate tale for franchises like the Diamondbacks until the end of time. There's always going to be teams that are willing to pay everything in the world to get somebody like that. And it's always going to be more money than, at least with the way baseball is currently set up,

it's always going to be more money than a team like the Diamondbacks are willing to offer or can even offer. So yeah, yeah. At the very least, they got something for him, right? We say that about a lot of these guys. We say that about even David Peralta, even though it wasn't much in return, right?

It's the fact that if the guy is going to end up walking as a free agent at the end of the season, you got to try to get something for him. them, but it's always going to be the goldschmidt trade, you know, and that's the part of it that I think a lot of people will never factor in is just that like, like the Diamondbacks were going to be able to keep them. They just weren't. It just, it wasn't. I'm sad now. You made me sad. It's a happy day. Zat Gowan, throw the Zach Gallen graphic up. I want to look at that again. Zach Gallen, King of the Z. Oh, that's good. Oh, that makes you feel better. That makes me feel better.

Because remember, Jesse brought up the St. Louis Cardinals lost the Zat. gallon trade let's not forget that and now we have that gallon so by proxy i'm factoring that gallon into the goldsmith trade now that's it it's canon some of you no not sad derrick no but mischievous derrick maybe at best i'm not sad i'm not sad anymore because there is that's the guy you found back um but yeah no i definitely uh am factoring that galen into the st louis cardinals trade jessie i don't know why not that that was that was pretty wild that some of you may not have seen the tweet I put out there yesterday. I feel like I'd seen this before, but it hadn't occurred to me, at least for a while,

that in 2017, when the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Marcelo Zuna in the winter in order, they got him from Miami, they sent Miami a four-player package that included both Sandy Alcantara and Zach Gallin. In the same trade, Sandia Alcantra. So much, Jesse. That's a lot. That's a lot of pitching. That is a lot of pitching.

That is a lot. And I mean, those guys are, Sandy Alcantra has been the favorite to win the Sy Young Award for a number of months now. I think things are maybe getting a little bit closer at this point as he sort of faded a little bit in half of the season. Zach Gallin, meanwhile, has surged into that conversation. I don't think Zach Gallen is your front runner for Cy Young, but he's putting his name in the mix. I mean, there's nothing, there's nothing like 41 and a third consecutive scoreless

innings to make Cy Young voters at least have to think about you a little bit more around this time of year. Does he, he has the ability to make history, right? There's enough time for him left. Let's just say, you know, that he does it. That, that, that, that's hard to bypass someone making history with a consecutive scoreless streak. Not to mention that's already the guy that holds the MLB record for most consecutive starts, giving up three runs or less to begin his MLB. career. So there's something about Zach Gallen, you know, being consistent and just keeping runs off the

board, man. And this guy is good at doing that. And it's, uh, it's been fun to watch. It's been a lot fun to watch. I love, I love what, um, I want to say real quick. So yesterday we were talking with Brent Strom. And of course, we had to ask about the Zach Gallen scoreless streak. And Brent Strom was just like, my job right now is to get out of his way. Like, I don't want to mess with anything that's going on there. And so throughout this process, it sounds like Brent Strong has pretty much just stepped aside and said, hey, you clearly know what you're doing. Like, you clearly have some things figured out right now. And so it sounds like a lot of this has just been Zach Gallen. I mean, obviously, still looking at scouting reports and still coming up with a game plan

then working with coaches before every game. But a lot of this has been some of those coaches stepping aside for a little bit and just letting him do his thing. And my, has he done that, Derek, over the last month? Yeah. And as people are pointing out, it's a bit scary that he has to continue to try to hold this scoreless streak during his next start, which happens to be in Colorado. Not great.

Not great. Not great. But we'll see. I think he can persevere. I wouldn't be surprised to see him at least get to that Arizona Diamondbacks franchise record, which seems to be pretty close. But, you know, it's like you said, like with Brent Trump, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to bring it up.

Let's just move on. Let's forget it. But we do want to tell you that you can't go to the Draft King sports book. Use our code of PHNX. And as a new user, you can get down on the NFL season, which is here. It's here, Jesse. All of all of your concerns, all of all of the strong. stress in your life, depression, sadness, all of it can go away because like a warm hug,

the NFL season is ready to be there with you every Sunday. Is the NFL season really a warm hug? I do not view the start of the NFL season. People love NFL. You know what people love more than anything is fantasy football, Jesse. That's fair. That's fair. Is what people love.

And I got an app for you for that, too, by the way. The Draft King Sportsbook, of course, is where you want to go get down on betting on the games. You can get same game parlay, get all sorts of action. Use our code of PHNX as a new user. If you bet on any football game, $5. That's all you got to bet. And it doesn't matter if they win or lose. You'll get $200 in free bets instantly. And I mean super quick. That's code PHNX only at the Drafking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Also, you can get down on, I'm telling you, there is an amazing promotion. It was my pick of the

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But we're over at PH&X, we are firm believers in betting on Corby and especially Shane Defenbach. But of course, not just that, not just the NFL week. One, we got going on, which is right around the corner. But we have our new friends to speak about over at Underdog Fantasy. It's the easiest and most fun way to spice up your football season. It's Underdog Fantasy in their pick-em game. Just look for your favorite.

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We have you covered for the fun for the NFL season. And again, Jesse, that's why the football season is so much fun. We have so many of this game. Like, it's hard to get in on fantasy baseball. Let's be honest. I love baseball. The fantasy baseball season is a marathon, right? It's not for the faint of heart.

It is not for the pain of heart. But if you are a dedicated baseball lover, You'll get down, you can get down with fantasy for baseball, too, over there. More importantly, Jesse, not only do we have the now of this pitching staff ready to go, but it seems like the future of this pitching staff might have just packed his bag and jumped on a bus from Reno to Phoenix. Because Ryan Nelson will be called up and we'll start Monday in San Diego against the Padres. and Ryan Nelson has been a guy that has been in Arizona's, you know, one of Arizona's top pitching prospects, pretty much his entire time he's been in this organization.

Oh, he's not on a bus, Derek. The man's a big leager now. He's flying first class, you know. He's, I'm sure he's on a plane. He better be on a plane. Flight at best, Jesse. He's on in southwest one. He got them to want to get away rate.

You know what I mean? They didn't get them. Yeah, but they did pay for the early bird boarding. So he's like one of that. He got an A-Borting 15. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's, that's a, that's a whole other level of chaos when you have to try to log into your Southwest account and get that boarding pass right at the 24 hour mark before your flight. You better be on it because everybody else is.

Let me just tell you that. Yes, it is true. I can hear that. Early bird. Conspiracy's hippie says flying in this economy. Michael says, wouldn't it be a bus from Reno to San Diego? Shut up, Michael. Just shut up.

Okay, I'm sorry. I said, Phoenix, you got what I was saying, but Nelson is on the way. And, again, I mean, this is one of those things where the Arizona Diamondbacks do have some ability to move around. Tommy Henry's in the rotation. Did not have a good start his last outing. So it's just great for the Diamondbacks to continue this youth movement that we've seen in the outfield and everywhere else. And now with the pitching staff, we didn't know when we would see some of these pitchers. I mean, things looked kind of bleak for their numbers and such in Reno. So the fact that we're starting to see these guys come up is,

is, you know, pretty welcome sign for this team that's been a little bit desperate for pitching help. Yeah, so Ryan Nelson, if you look at the numbers, you might be a little bit puzzled by the move. And I've heard from a number of people who feel that way already. If you look at his numbers, they don't jump off the page, right? He's 10 and 5 with a 5.43 ERA. But you got to remember in this is that the, I don't have the exact number in front of me, but the league average ERA in the Pacific Coast League is pretty close to where Ryan Nelson's ERA is. It's right around the five is probably closer to five and a half.

So Ryan Nelson having a 5.43RA, it's actually a pretty league average. It's not like he's been horrible down there and the Diamondbacks are suddenly bringing him up. He's also looked a little bit better over the last few starts. One of a somewhat of an odd observation that I've made recently is that his walk numbers are down, but his strikeout numbers are also down a little bit. It seems like the Diamondbacks might be trying to push Ryan Nelson of late to pitch to contact a little bit more, try to get a little bit deeper into games, cut down on the pitch count a little bit. I think that might be part of some of the numbers that we're seeing.

But on the whole, I mean, this guy, this guy is a chance to be a good Major League starter. He was the minor league organization player for the Diamondbacks last year. I think I was on the pitching side in particular. But he has been very good on the whole in his minor league pitching career. And even though the numbers don't jump off the page this season, he's been a lot better than those numbers probably indicate. It's a 93 to 94 amount hour fastball. He's got some good breaking stuff to go with it.

The walk numbers, like I said, have kind of taken a step back lately. So yeah, it should be a lot of. fun, Derek. I mean, the youth movement in Arizona continues with Ryan Nelson getting the call up for Monday's game. Emma, can you put that comment back up from conspiracy hippie? Because I actually had a similar question for you, and that would be, where do we see Ryan in the starting five? Do we see him as just a spot start? I know they've discussed that they kind of want to rest some guys in preparation for the series with the Dodgers. So do we ultimately see him end up in the bullpen? Do you think that, I mean, right now, there is an opportunity for him to win,

kind of win a spot in the rotation, right? Yeah, it's a little bit hard to say. With what Tori Lavello said yesterday, it does not sound like, at least as of right now, that he's replacing anyone in the rotation. He's basically just an additional starter that's going to give everyone an extra day of rest. And the Diamondbacks are preparing for that double header that they have in Los Angeles. which is a really unfortunate part of the schedule for the Diamondbacks. They play a stretch of a whole bunch of games in a row and right in the middle of it.

There's a double header. And so you kind of need to bring in an additional, yeah, with the Dodgers. I think it's September 19th to 22nd. It's in that series later this month. And so you need an additional starter. There's no way to get through that stretch without one. And I think especially as the Diamondbacks, you know, maybe they're going to be a little bit more careful with Tommy Henry's innings

through the rest of the way this season. maybe Zach Gallen, maybe they're going to tap the brakes a little bit on his innings as the end of the year gets closer as well. So I think it's just a good all-around move for them to have some extra starting pitching depth for the moment. I won't say it's impossible that one of these six guys could be moved out of the rotation at some point. Maybe it is Ryan Nelson just moving out to the bullpen. But in the long term, I think what conspiracy hippie was talking about is sort of in the big picture is like, is Ryan Nelson a long-term starter or does he move to the bullpen at some point down the road? And I do think there's a decent chance that that happens.

We have to see what he's like in the big leagues. I think he's going to get a shot. But there are, I think there's a growing population of scouts and analysts who believe that Ryan Nelson's ultimate destination will be the bullpen. Just based on seeing him in AAA this year, it just seems like things haven't been quite as smooth for him, especially compared to last year when he was one of the best pitchers in all of minor league baseball. So we'll have to see. I think it's totally possible. A move to the bullpen is an order, but it seems like the diamondbacks are willing to give him a shot here on the front

end and see what he can do. Do you think he stays around, though? Do you think like they send him back down after this one start or do you think he's... I don't think they're going to send him down. I don't think they're going to send him down. I think it's just a matter of, is he a starter on the big league roster through the end of the season or does he make, you know, a couple of starts and then move to the bullpen. Those are, those are things that are possible. But I'd be very surprised if the Diamondback sent him back down. Another factor in this that I should mention is that Ryan Nelson is Rule 5 eligible this winter. We've talked a lot about this recently.

And that means that he needs a 40-man roster spot before the Rule 5 draft this winter. And that sort of gives him an inside track to getting on the Big League roster. The Diamondbacks needed to get him on the 40-man roster. roster anyway. So you might as well, you know, give him a shot in the big leagues here toward the end of the year. And then maybe next season, he can hit the ground running with the big league roster and try to contribute for the Diamondbacks in 2023. These, the Diamondbacks have a lot of tough roster decisions to make, Jesse. They sent Gordon Looplow down and he had three home runs in yesterday's game. Three home run. The first four

innings, actually. It literally literally took him four innings. He had a three homer game. He has five hits with the aces for our home runs. So, and this is a guy that I know has frustrated a lot of Arizona Diamond Max fans. I know there's a lot of people that wanted to see him get sent down. But let's be honest, he's still a member of this team. And he's not going anywhere for the time being. So his success only makes it that much more difficult to, you know, to have some of these guys up and keep him in Reno if he continues to hit like this. it's incredible. Yeah. It's, again, it's, it's frustrating because the young guys are playing so well.

Some of the older guys are the ones that are really causing them problems, you know, and it's nothing personal, but it does seem to be the guys that not only make the most money, but also are, you know, are the guys that are veterans that you would think, honestly, would have more to offer, you know, than, then they currently do. Mark Melanson continues to be maddening, gives up a home run in today's game, even though he had the five run lead, Ian Kennedy. I mean,

you'd rather him give up a home run with a five run lead than with a one run lead, right? That's not necessarily a bad thing. No, don't do that. It's good timing is what it is. You're letting him off the hook when you do that,

and I don't want to let him off the hook. I do. I want to address, I am the Larry's comment real quick. He said, I can't find the source right now, but I think I read Nelson uses fastball, like 70% of the time.

That's super high. It would probably, I put out a tweet like that. That might be what you're, what you're thinking of. And it is, it is another thing we should mention, make sure everyone, everyone gets in on is, yeah, Ryan Nelson has been using his fastball a lot recently in some of his minor league starts. I think I've seen it creeping up towards 70% in some starts. It depends on which start you look at. But yeah, in the 65 to 70% range, he's been using his four seamer quite a bit.

And it has historically gotten very high grades from scouts. It sits around 93 to 94. That's around the average for the Ryan Nelson fastball. But it tends to play up somehow. And that's sort of what scouts have always said. I'm not sure it's quite played up to that degree in Reno so far this season, hence where, you know, the numbers being where they are right now. But something to keep in mind as we watch Ryan Nelson tomorrow will be how much is he relying on that fastball? Is he able to work in the breaking stuff enough in order to keep hitters off balance? I just want to give a shout out to our friends. I've been sitting here enjoying the victory with a Joybus Wow Wheat from our friends at Four Peaks.

You got to go check out Four Peaks wherever you get your beers. Go check out their locations. The 8th Street Pub is our favorite place. It's where we're at every Wednesday, the last Wednesday, not every Wednesday, every last Wednesday of the month. You can find us all broadcasting from there. So come down, join us, join the wonderful food, enjoy the wonderful beers. And more importantly, get down on our website and go phtnx.com, where you can enter our toast of the month sweepstakes.

One lucky winner will win a $50 gift card to four peaks. You'll also win yourself a PHNX membership as well, annual membership and a free t-shirt from the PHNX locker as well. And we, not the only ones giving away stuff. We also have our friends from OGs, who you guys know I enjoy very much and that Jesse knows very little about. So check out our friends at OGs. You've been talking about them for months, Derek,

and I still just haven't to figure out. What is it? What is it that they do? It's what I'm here for. I've told people, let me be your weed Sherpa. If you have questions, get at me on Twitter. I will answer what exactly edibles, what doses you need, what game you're watching, how you need to pair them with sports. I can be like, you know, like the Somali, the wine.

I'll tell you which wines to pair with foods and whatnot. But check out our friends at OGs gummies. They have a wonderful variety of gummies, edibles, different. They're the best-selling edible in the valley. and they have a variety of flavors that are just absolutely delicious. They're all about flavoring life. And you can also, while you're on our website, entering the Toast of the Month sweepstakes,

you can also enter the flavoring live sweepstakes from our friends at OGs, which will get you a three bags of the OGs gummies, including my favorite, the wonderful orange crimscul. You can also get yourself a PHNX membership, an OG's hat, which is very important, and a PHNX shirt of your choice. So make sure to do that over at our friends at OGs. Or no, on our website, don't go to OGs.

Go to OGs to OGs to find them near you. OGs brands.com or OGs brands on Instagram. But go to our website at go PHNX.com in order to enter both of those drawings for both OGs and for peaks. And must be 21 years or older to enjoy both, enjoy responsibly. Ryan H says we need a closer. Of course, everybody knows our future closer is open shirt, Derek. And I'm not going to criticize Emma because I miss. her, but she has been slow on the draw

today. Where, you know, whoa, whoa. Where's my OG's graphic with OpenShirt Derek? So I could tell everybody about the flavoring live sweepstake in the OpenShirt Derek. Because we, Chris won. But we're still doing it.

The same. We're not stopping. We're still doing it. We're doing it every month apparently. That's at least what I've been told. That's at least what my ad re tells me. And we need to see OpenSharderick because people need to know that he's going to be the closer of the future. Really, I mean, considering that moment, the Diamondbacks are on quite the run still since that moment.

I mean, when you factor in from when the Chicago White Sox called the Diamondbacks lowly, the CHGO White Sox, they're five and two since that moment. Open shirt Derek was what, Jesse, that was in the middle of the, that was in the middle of the blowout loss, right? That was in the middle of the blowout loss to Corbyn Carroll's debut. And of course, we know. I've walked all of the OpenShirt Derek stuff. out of my mind.

So I really can you tell you. There you go. Thank you, buddy. Thank you, Emma. I appreciate it. There he is.

Once again, your future closer. But yeah, I don't even know what we were talking about anymore, but go enter on all that stuff. Try that stuff. It's all delicious. It all makes your life better.

And Jesse's missing out on the OGs, but I'm not going to pester him about that. Speaking, though, of our friends from the CHGO White Sox, we are hot on their tail, Jesse when it comes to the All-City Division. We're breathing down their neck, buddy. we got them almost right where we want them.

I know that our All-City Division record is better than that. I think there's three wins missing from when we swept the White Sox. I think they should be 11 and 7, and the White Sox should be much worse than that. But I don't care. Here we are. Five games below 500. We are so close, Jesse, to take over this division, which, as I've talked about,

this is the only division right now that matters for us. It's the baby steps. We want third place in the NLS, first place in the All-City Division. two and a half games out Derek two and a half games between the white socks and the diamondbacks right now it is looking like something the diamond backs could do and i mean let's think about this to the end of the season in order so right now the white socks are 500 maybe they stay there the diamond backs want to finish 500 themselves they have to go 17 and 12 the rest of the way which doesn't feel i mean they just went eight and two in their last 10 like it sort of feels like the diamond backs are winning the vast majority of their games right now. 17 and 12 seems sort of realistic. Like I could actually see the Diamondbacks doing that. And could you imagine?

Coming around. Gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Jesse is on with my 500 record that I pick. I think I picked something like two games over 500, which was even more. You picked 82 and 80. You picked 82 and 80. But if you wind up,

so everyone needs to know this. At the beginning of the year before the season started, we each made our final record predictions for the Diamondbacks. And maybe some of you in the comments, comments want to share what your record predictions were. Be honest. I know some of you picked this team to win like 55 games. All right. So be honest. We saw your tweets. We saw your tweets. Yeah, we saw, we saw the tweet. We kept the receipts. So back on that day in our preseason show that we were doing, Michaela picked 61 wins. 61 and 101. Diamond bags are going to absolutely blow that out of

the water. I picked 75 wins, which I thought was pretty bullish, 75 and 87. That was my prediction. And then Derek came over here and was like, guys, I think they're going to go. 82 and 80. And I mean, many of you pretty much laughed at him because, I mean, let's face it, predicting a team that lost 110 games

to come back the next year and win 82, they go two games over 500, is a pretty bullish move. But when it's all said and done, it very well may happen that Derek was actually closer than any of us. And if they actually went 82 and 80, Derek, I would be floored.

I mean, that would be, that would be an incredible turnaround. from where they were last year. Everyone's talking about the Baltimore Orioles and the turnaround that they've had. Diamondbacks turnaround would be like right there with them. I mean, that would be,

the Orioles might finish a little bit better than that, but the Diamondbacks would be right there with them, which would be extraordinarily impressive. As some people are pointing out in the comments, they do have a tough schedule ahead, and they have the tougher schedule ahead. That's been a factor. And just going from this point on,

it's like these couple of games with the Rockies really are the reprieve. It's really, it's really, it's really the one chance for them to not have. I don't even think, wait, the 15th through the 16th, they are playing the Padres again. You got me excited. And there's so many games left against the Dodgers and the Padres that it's ridiculous.

And that's something that I really can't not be worried about. You know, you have to be worried about. You have to factor that in to this prediction. And that's the one thing that makes that 17 and 12 record the rest of the way look a bit daunting is the number of games, eight games left against the Dodgers, six games, I think, left against the Padres.

So it's just, it's tough. You know, you do have a couple of games here against Rockies, three more against the Brewers before the end of the season, and then six more against the Giants. We don't, we don't like you, Emma. Emma makes these graphics,

and she works really hard, and everyone is asking for Emma to make graphics, and then she texts them with us, and then we say, yeah, that looks great. And it's great. We inevitably realize that there are actually things, We take responsibility. Who do, who spot check this?

Who edited this? What a, what a, that person's at fault here. But yeah, that's our fault. But of course, they have a lot of games still left. And this series against the Padres, I think, honestly, like, I'm not going to take, we love you, Emma. We don't ever have to apologize. Don't apologize to us.

We don't deserve that. But the Padres, to be honest, are probably their. toughest test at this point. And this next three game series in San Diego is is going to be as interesting of a series as the Diamondbacks has had all season long. Not only I think is it a litmus test based on where they're at right now, but it's like, it really is going to be this team coming in on one hell of a role going up against the one of the two teams that has spoiled their entire season, essentially.

You pointed out the other day. Now the Diamondbacks are what, 59? and 50 against teams that aren't the Padres. 59 and 51 against teams that aren't the Padres or the Dodgers. And yeah, yeah, that's a lot of games that they've lost against the teams that are the Dodgers and the Padres. But yeah, let's take a look at the probable pitchers that they have coming up. Because, yeah, this is going to be quite a test for Ryan Nelson going up against Blake Snell. A really good pitching matchup there with Merrill Kelly.

versus Joe Musgrove. And then a whole lot of trouble comes to, comes into the Diamondbacks lives with you Darvish, who continues to just mow down batters. And as we know, like his favorite team to feast on is the Arizona Diamondbacks. As conspiracy hippie says in the comments, thankfully Clevenger pitched today, so we don't have to see that tomorrow. No, yeah.

Yeah, we don't have to see Clevenger take 40 seconds between, between pitches and then have Bob Brenley go crazy and then have Mike Clevenger fire back at him in the clubhouse later in the thing. We don't have to deal with that this time, which is not a bad thing. But yeah, these are some tough games, right? I mean, the debacks are going to see a lot of the Padres and the Dodgers from this point forward. I thought it was interesting the other day. I talked with Josh Rojas along with some of the other reporters. And Rojas has basically said that the diamond backs, now that they're starting to gain some confidence, starting to win some of these games.

Like, they're pretty amped for the Dodgers series. Like, they're, they're pretty amped to play some of these better teams. They know that in the past, Rojas described it as being like survival games for them when they play a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is totally fair. Those are survival games for a lot of teams around baseball right now. But the Diamondbacks don't feel that way anymore. Like, they feel like they can go into some of these games against really good teams with a much more confident, positive,

mindset knowing the way that they've played these last couple weeks and what they've been able to do against some pretty formidable opponents yeah um and there's talk in the chat about extending the young guys and not going after free agents and i think that's exactly what we're going to see this team do i mean don't get the closer they get hopefully the more money they want to spend right and the more they want to supplement not only this young team but extend this young team spend the money on the guys that are already here and then do things to make the team better as you see fit when the time is right. But the time is not right, right? That's the reason why Madison Bumgarner's contract doesn't jive with what they got going on right now. And it makes it even worse that Madison Bumgarner is their fourth, maybe fifth best starting pitcher at times, you know, and also takes up a huge percentage of their payroll.

we got a comment says hello from Algeria I love D-backs well we love you thank you for joining us from Algeria that's incredible might be our far furthest commenter I know we've had some we've had some love at one point we were the like ninth most downloaded baseball podcast in Brazil so shout out to the country in Brazil we love you Brazil

and of course if you're here and you want to read some of Jesse's amazing writing which he actually has an incredible piece on today's baby boy of the moment, Zach Gowan and his friendship with Merrill Kelly, how these two guys feel like they have been teammates, as they said, for 20 years. So make sure to check out that piece over at go-Phnx.com. If you haven't had a chance to sign up for a membership, sign up for an annual membership, it'll get you a free t-shirt from our PHNX Locker.com. If you get a month-to-month membership, we'll hook you up with your first month for just 50 cents. Regardless of which

membership you choose, you will get members-only access to our Discord, which we love to see you guys all in. I love to be a part of that, as well as our members-only discounts over at the PhNX Locker.com. We're also looking up with our friends from GameTime so that you can get down on the cheapest tickets. Trust me, I wish I would have done this for the weekend. I've talked about this already because I paid entirely too much money at the box office, but you can save up to 60% off of whatever events you want to attend over at our friends at Game Time. They are the hottest new ticketing site that makes it easier than ever to score the best deals on tickets to sports, concerts, concerts, and shows. Save up to 60% on tickets if you are a procrastinator like me,

because you could get your tickets at the last minute. If you love PHNX, you'll love game time. The best way to support us is by buying your tickets through the link in the description below. And that's all we got, guys. We're excited. We're going to go rewatch that gallon pitch, probably is what I'm going to do. I always catch the replay at like 3 o'clock in the morning because I'm a psychopath like that, you know, but that's what I do with my time. And I, I'm waiting very patiently for Friday to come, Jesse, because we're going to do something special this week. We don't do this a lot, but we're going to be coming to you this Friday, live September 9th from our new studio is what we got going on, Jesse Friedman. The brand new PHNX studio that has been fully decked out by our friends at Moore Furniture is so close to being ready.

And we can't wait to broadcast our first show from there so much so that we're not going to wait until next week. No, no, no. We're going to come to you live on a Friday, which we don't even, we don't even do. We're not even supposed to be here today on a Friday, but we're going to be here on Friday to bring you our episode from the office, from the brand new PHNX studio. We got to give it a name. It's got to be like PHNXHQ or something like that. I'm sure somebody has something already. Saul's got something in the mix. But shout out to, again, to our friends at more furniture for hooking us up. They gave us a bunch of recliners that I'm going to spend all my time in. We have gigantic TVs. We have an amazing office, and it's all been fully furnished by our friends at Moore Furniture.

Make sure to check out their Labor Day sale. It's going on right now through this weekend over at morefurniture.com. If you need furniture, hop on it right now. It's the best time to get your stuff. You can look as nice and beautiful as our new studio. So again, we thank you guys so much for joining us. We appreciate you guys for being here on the comments. Until Friday, we are going to be still remote.

We will be here tomorrow with our Mailbag Monday. episode to make sure to drop us your mailbag Monday questions on Twitter or in the Discord. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore K-Man with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads will lead to at PHNX

underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you again for your time on behalf of Jesse and Zach Gallin and myself. We always deliver and we appreciate your time. And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you pitch 41.1 innings consecutively without giving up a run.