PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Zac Gallen & Diamondbacks set for Game 1 of World Series vs Nathan Eovaldi & Rangers

Episode Date: October 28, 2023

Once upon a time, an underdog baseball team comprised of promising rookies and a few crafty veterans made a historic playoff run on their way to a World Series berth. And here we are, in real life, ready to watch Zac Gallen and the Arizona Diamondbacks take on Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series. We are discussing the pitching and managing matchups, the watchability of this year’s Fall Classic, and some of the eerie similarities between this year and 2001.An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Get 10% off your first order of Hero Bread at https://www.hero.co/ by using code PHNXSchedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See EmpireToday.com/PHNX for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Download the DROPS by SoleSavy app by visiting https://links.solesavy.com/phnxGametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Pins & Aces: Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.Circle K: Text PHNX to 31310 to join the Circle K SMS subscriber club and get BOGO 32 oz Polar Pops! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: Score 25% off a bag of your favorite OGeez! Fruits of Creams. Go to https://theflowershopusa.com, add a bag of OGeez! to your cart, enter promo code “PHNX” and pickup at a local The Flower Shop dispensary.Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. 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.

Game one day on the World Series. We are here. We made it. We made it. Welcome in. It's crazy. It's crazy. This is the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast presented by Desert Financial Credit Union.

Find exceptional service and financial solutions at Desertfinancial.com. We are here. It is time. Let's go. It is time for the Arizona Diamondbacks to take on the Texas Rangers in game one of the World Series. And the first thing we want to start off with, if you think that this is going to be a boring, series. If you think these two teams being here is going to somehow make the ratings for MLB's postseason plummet, then you don't know baseball. You hate baseball, maybe. You also hate

fun, potentially, but I know you have some thoughts on it. Yeah, I mean, listen, I am obviously chronically online to the point where it's kind of concerning. And all I've seen all week is anyone that's not a Rangers or a D-backs fan saying, this series sucks, why do I have to watch this? Because it's 919. You know what sucks? You know what sucks watching the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series? This is the first World Series in eight years. We haven't had to suffer through watching either the Dodgers or the Astros play.

And I am freaking pumped. This is the year of the underdog. That's it. It's not like that, but it's the year of the young guys doing it, right? Yeah. And what more would you want besides a battle between Creed and Sexy Red here for anthems? ski, by the way, to you all ski, Max, ski, Patrick. Of course, I am, by the way, your mayor of the PHNX podcast here,

mayor of everything. Mayor of the World Series, Derek Montia. This is, of course, social media goddess, the one and only Michaela Perkins. And we are joined by the very, very talented, very hot tag DNVR's very own. Fresh off the plane. Fresh off the plane, Patty Plantain. I'm happening. I'm so happy to have you here because I know we have a lot to talk about.

But what are your thoughts as an innocent bystander on the excitement level of the Rangers versus the Diamondbacks. It's the World Series. That's the only thing. That's what it's billed as is the 119th World Series. It doesn't matter who's playing. It shouldn't matter who's playing. This is for all the marbles.

This is history. Whoever wins this, look, they're going to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, forever. And their images. And you're going to have the commissioner's trophy in your ballpark forever. This is what it's all about, deserving or not to get into the postseason. once your ticket has been punched, you deserve to be there.

And these are the two best teams that ran through the postseason. Sure, we're talking 114 wins combined, fewest ever by two teams in the World Series. But they are the two best teams from their division with this playoff system, playoff format. It's the World Series. Watch. Don't be stupid. Watch. We play for rings, not ratings.

That's right. We do play for rings in the desert. That's true. And speaking of that history, obviously the Diamondbacks know from that magical 2001. season about winning and having, you know, holding on to that championship and being a part of that impressive lineage of championship teams in Major League Baseball. But there, and we've talked about this a little bit with Espo on Wednesday, but there are a lot of eerie similarities between this year and the 2001 season where the Diamondbacks won.

And the similarities only are getting, or they're only increasing, right? Now the Rangers are announcing that George W. Bush is throwing out the first pitch tonight. That's the same thing that happened to 2001. Yep. Obviously, we've talked a bit about the dates lining up exactly. Exact same dates. The All-Star game being in Seattle, the same year as, you know, obviously it was in Seattle this year. A bird was murdered by a pitch this year. It was.

It was the ace, too. You guys, I literally have chills. Like, I am such a superstitious person. It's crazy. I'm not even a little stitious. I'm super suspicious. Like, I have chills. Like, this is a team of destiny.

I'm not trying to jinx anything, but I swear to God, the similarities freak me out. Like, it is uncanny. Yeah. It feels like it's our year. And again, There's got to be a lot of factors for it to work out this way, especially considering that the entire postseason format changed, right? And it required baseball to have actually had to take time off

and start to postseason late in 2001 for these dates to match up like they are. But here we are where the Diamondbacks could potentially do it. And of course, that talk about it being boring is incredibly off base to me. But I do know the two of you are very, very into this world series. I know you got some facts. I think it's time for a little bit of a fact off. I don't know I'm going to lose. I know she's guys.

She's bubbling. She's right. What do you got? Give me some fun facts. Did you know that the first ever game, Toro Bello managed? Oh, we're going to. Opening day, 2017, against none other than the Bruce Bochie. Yeah.

It was a win. It was a walk-off win against Mark Melanson. Not on the dive backs on the Giants at the time. Wow. That makes a lot of life. But Toilovall's first game. Wow. You got something for me.

And Mark Melanson from Colorado, where we both kind of are from. I don't claim him. I don't hate Mark Moyer. How about this interesting juxtaposition? The Texas Rangers are the oldest franchise in MLB right now without a World Series, 1961 where they were the Washington Senators. So they don't have one. They're the longest.

Meanwhile. The youngest team, at least tied, are the Arizona Diamondbacks. And they do have one. It's crazy. How about that? It's wild. I mean, there's just so much going on in this. I know we're going to get to Bruce Bochy and Tori LaVolo comparisons here in a little bit.

You know what else is crazy though? Real quick. What else you got? Brandon fought. He debuted this year. He did. He debuted against the Rangers. The Texas Rangers.

Yep. You want to know the last time a pitcher debuted in a season and then I played them in the World Series? Well, it had to have been during interleague play unless not. So I would think there's like it's happened three or four other times. Never happen. Ever? Never. It would make sense.

Right? I mean, yeah. In the same season, you're debuting and then playing that exact same team in the World Series. And I mean, Brandon Fought is savage as Damon would quickly attest to because I know our producer, David would so. With more than just the two A's,

the two A's back to back. Yeah, Savage as well. So, yeah, it's weird, but it's savage. So,

but I mean, yeah, like how often do you actually make it that far with the rookies part of your starting rotation and having that rookie working meaningful baseball games in the postseason the way that Brandon Fott has been doing. And honestly, they were,

I was talking. to it about it today with a couple of guys, but like I've had a lot of people question like why Tori Lavello is going to bullpen games and stuff. There seems to be a lot of thought that it's like a it's a like some sort of chess match or something. And really it's just much like Brandon Fott, you know, having to pitch here, it's just about availability. It's about arms. It's about they don't really have the full starting rotation. And somehow this has worked out well for them. Brandon Fott has worked out well. But the one guy that they need is that gallon. We need you, Zach Gowan. You're got it. Maybe.

maybe our only hope because, of course, we cannot have performances from Zach Gallen like we had in the NLCS and really expect to beat this Rangers team. And I don't think we will. I do feel like maybe Zach has evolved a little bit here from the playoffs. And honestly, he has done good. He has done well in the playoffs outside of that series against Phillies. It just felt like the Phillies really had his number. Yeah.

He has a 357 ERA career against the Rangers a little bit higher than of all these career. ERA against the Diamondbacks, which is a 278. So kind of an even matchup here a little bit. But like you mentioned, Zach Allen has struggled two losses in his last starts, obviously coming against the Phillies, which isn't great. He also only recorded a single strikeout in his last start. Yeah, that was surprising. Yeah, that's definitely what's surprising.

And I mean, he's, I feel like he's having problems locating, you know, because obviously, you know, a lot of the, a lot of those home runs hit were balls that were just thrown right down the middle. Yeah, right down the middle of the plate. Yeah, Matt Gell wrote about this in the athletic that, you know, the game plan was recognizing that the Phillies, I think, in the final couple weeks going into the postseason, they were chasing a lot of balls out of the zone. So that was kind of the game plan. And yet, Merrill Kelly and Zach Allen were throwing it right down the center of the plate, center cut fastballs. And Phillies obviously took advantage of it as one of the best home running teams, you know, this postseason.

And so once they got away from that and actually were able to. stick to the game plan, they won four or five. And so despite the fact that Bruce Bochy has three World Series rings, he's going to be a future Hall of Famer, over 2,000 wins during his time as a big league skipper. And come back here in his first year, taking a team that was really bad last year, too. I think the Rangers still lost by close to 90 games last year. And yet takes him to the World Series. Tories has got his hands full here, but it's going to be another chess match.

It really is. And these two guys, of course, have both been very good for, both teams this year Zach Gallen and Nathan Abaldi here their season stats and how they stack up in comparison to each other and of course it really doesn't matter regular season stats be damned because none of that matters now

at this point like you said even Zach Gallin's last two starts don't really matter this is a clean slate now and hopefully Gallin can go out there and bounce back answer back if you will like our man Jay said in the chat from those bad starts 17 and 9 win and loss record

for Gallin Nathan Navaldy who was just absolutely incredible for the Rangers this year. Unexpectedly, right? Like no point did you think adding Avaldi to the starting pitching rotation was going to be the thing that unlocked the Rangers full potential like it did. But he has been tremendous for the Rangers this year. So this is no easy task for the Diamondbacks offense tonight. But gallon with the 3.47 ERA for the regular season, Avaldi 3.63,

2.1 whip for Gowan, 1.14 for Avaldi. And then 220 strikeouts for Gowan. Meanwhile, 132 for Evaldi, not as big of a strikeout pitcher, but absolutely effective in his time there with the Rangers. So there is one thing that Mack brought up to me before the show. And just if you guys think factor is going to be, or fatigue, excuse me, is going to be a factor here. Because obviously, Gallen has had to pitch a bit more than Avaldi. And the Diamondbacks have just asked more out of Gallen. They shortened up their rotation there at the end of the, you know, the end of the season there and kind of had him and Merrill Kelly pitching more.

So, I mean, and we know this is the most game, most interesting. he's ever gone in his entire career. Yeah, this is the most inning Zach Allen has ever pitched. The starting matchup does make me a little bit nervous tonight on the mound for a couple of reasons. Fatigue being one of them, like you said, Zach has pitched the most he's ever pitched. He has gone more in the postseason than Avaldi has. And I mean, Avaldi's just been a workhorse. His playoff record is excellent in four postseason games this October. He's yielded two runs or less three times in that amount of time. So it's a little dicey out there. We all know that Zach kind of has been struggling on the road as of late as well.

So I think the matchup. Forever. Yeah, the matchup on the mound does make me a little bit nervous. But if there's a game to answer back for Zach Gallen, it's definitely going to be this one. Answer back gallon. And then, you know, the last time that we saw Nathan Evaldi in the World Series, you know, he was winning a world series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, six innings in that 18 inning classic that we had there and really kind of earned. his nickname of big game Nate because he's been he's been doing that and so you know this entire postseason it seems as if we know when the diamondbacks are going to be locked

in or when they have to win because if they don't it makes it harder later on I don't know what to expect I don't know which games they're going to win which games they're not I don't know if they're getting to predictions but I think diamondbacks are going to take this in seven which which four are they going to win who knows I have no idea and I have no idea the question that's obviously been asked is you know Do they need to win one of these games in Texas? Yes. No?

I think so. Well, maybe. I mean, honestly. And maybe the only reason I feel that way is because of what we just saw in the series against Phillies, right? Like, first of all, I don't think that that shed that the Rangers play in out in the middle of nowhere in Arlington is going to be nearly the environment that, you know, that Citizens Bank Park was. Like the Diamondbacks are like, they're callous. They are numb to that kind of, you know, environment. And now they're going to be going into like a less hostile environment.

So I don't know. I'm sure the Rangers fans are going to bring it. So I don't want to be like one of those guys. It's like, oh, your fans suck compared to these other fans. Hey, first world series with two retractable roofs.

Oh, how about that one? Oh, there's a lot. He's got these. That one is not. I read that somewhere. No,

but here's the other thing, too, to consider is that the Rangers, eight of their nine wins came on the road. Yeah, I was going to say the Rangers only played four playout games at home and they're one and three. So I think the D-Baks winning and capitalizing on them not being good at home is huge.

Like, They need to win in Arlington. Well, and I mean, obviously, it's going to be a big, a big thing if they're able to steal even one of these games and then come back here and play three games at Chase Field because I feel like the fans here have been providing us. I want them to win in five. That would be so great. Oh, winning in five would be so great. Big love to Alley card with the super chat. He said, just a reminder that in 01, Randy Johnson deleted a bird from existence and Georgia W. Bush is throwing out the first pitch.

We talked about. We talked about all of this. Fast forward 2023, Gall did the same thing. and Bush is throwing out the first pitch. Alicard, guys. Here we come. 50 bucks, man.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. And of course, while you're here, make sure to check out all of the stuff we have to offer. We appreciate you being here

in the PHAX Sports YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to the channel. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of the wonderful shows that we have go live. Watch the ASU podcast, by the way.

Totri's slowly losing his mind, I think, over there. So that's a fun. It's a fun ride into madness for them. I just saw it. Was that Gabby? peeking out at the top over there we gotta get drop a like he was scyid if he was speaking if he could come in first then he gave it we love you you forget him a thing for no was a good time he's

that's such a gabby thing to do not be rude you know just check first before he just runs in the studio and ask everybody to drop a like make sure you do that of course uh make sure you subscribe to all that stuff if you're listening on the audio podcasting side make sure to subscribe there leave us a review even if you want to berate me like somebody did for being too drunk during game six which is fair. Please leave us a review and we always appreciate that feedback. I'll take that in consideration and drink less beers in non-clinching games for the Arizona. He didn't even realize it was game seven.

That was actually, his complaint was about game six to be honest. He did not like that I drank three beers out of the beer bat for game six. And that maybe three beers was too many. Maybe I should have just done one. What were his thoughts on the game seven show that? Oh, I don't know. It might have caused him to unsubscribe depending on his.

thoughts on my nipples. But anyway. The game eight. Yeah. The best part about this world series, too, for anyone that, like, doesn't know the names, like, they're not a ton of, like, big name guys. In fact, probably the biggest name that's going to be on the field is a guy you probably have the least confidence about and really doesn't have that swagger right now in game three

starter, Max Scherzer. Yeah. And, of course, we'll talk about how everybody seems to prefer Brandon fought on the bump over a future Hall of Fame or Max Scher in game three. We'll get to that. Yeah. But the young guys are really what it's the series. like is all about.

That's all about it. Evan Carter batting third for the Rangers tonight, second youngest number three hitter in World Series history. And Gavin Rayno is only 23 years old himself. So I'm assuming that combined the youngest combination. Yes.

That's huge. And Moreno behind the plate as a catcher at 23 years and so however many days, you know, one of the youngest catchers to be behind the plate since Buster Posey, who could be a future Hall of Famer, didn't have the longevity, but did it in won a couple World Series with the Giants.

You like those comparisons. if you're a diamondbacks fan. Make sure to grab yourself the P.HNX shirt from the PHNX locker.com and also grab yourself a diehard membership. If you are a diehard, you'll get 20% off all future purchases. Of course, if you are not one, get one today and you'll get a free t-shirt like this. We Are Fucking Dangerous shirt. And so much more, there's a brand new Snakes of Chaos shirt coming to the locker for you guys.

That's a little preview for you for you to hold out on there. But, of course, get that diard membership today if you don't have one and you will get a shirt for free. Speaking of the experience, speaking of everything going on with this World Series, a big part of this is obviously Tori Lovolo versus Bruce Bochi in the managing matchup. And obviously, experience is a big factor here with Bochie having been here quite a lot. Three World Series rings is nothing to shake a finger out. Four World Series appearances. And then you have obviously Tori Lovolo, who literally prior to this postseason rod,

he's has a handful of postseason games. But fun fact, Tori has the advantage all time against games managed against Bochie. He does. 33 and 28. And you have that factor. I still love that that his first game as a manager was against Bochie and here they are meeting in the World Series. And that the D-Vax won that in a walk-off by hitting that off Mark Melanson. But that 33 and 28 record is something.

Of course, it's just like the stats we showed for the regular season. None of this matters now. But what does matter is Bochie's experience as being here before because he knows what it takes to win. I do feel like we've seen LaVallo manage very well when it comes to that doing what it takes to win. And obviously a big part of that is like he has this like it's almost like standing there, you know, with the monstars behind you. Right. And, you know, he has that bullpen behind him that somehow just pumps him up and makes him feel so confident about being like, yeah, you know what? You've gone four or two thirds.

I think the pen's got it from here, right? That is not something that Tori Lavolo probably could have ever imagined really doing. early on in this season when they struggle to step up in big moments. They're legit. There's plenty of people that look and go, I don't know if you can trust them. But I mean, the proof is in the pudding since September 5th and 35 games, 231 ERA for that bullpen. Incredible.

And a lot of that is in the postseason. So I think just because you might not know Kevin Ginkle, you say, oh, wasn't he sent down at some point in the year? Yeah, he was. As was Brendan fought. What about Ryan Thompson? I heard that guy was DFA by the race. Those are the guys doing it.

Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkle. And of course, jump, jump around for Paul Seaw. The Savior. The Savior. Pope Paul the Ninth. Mr. I can't see you closer. The saint of patron saint of high leverage innings. But that's what Tori Loblo has to manage tonight.

So of course, we are excited. We are not that very, not very far away from first pitch. So I do want to give you guys this because this has been very important so far during this postseason run. And it's time to go over Derek's betting line to curse the opposing team. Let's take a look at it if we could, Damon, please. Here are Derek's picks for tonight. Rangers win. Of course, I'm taking them.

That might not even be that dumb of a bet because, of course, this is game one. I think they're going to be pumped. It's going to be difficult for the Diamondbacks go out there against Nathan Abaldi. I think I'm taking the over-on runs because I think there's going to be a lot of run scored in this game. I'm taking Avaldi to get three strikeouts plus. I'm taking Garcia to get a home run. Let's curse his ass. And of course, because it's just been working, Ctele-Marté is going to continue his hitting streak.

And I threw that one player. Reverse jinks, reverse jinks. Yeah, reverse jigs, reverse jigs. But yeah, that's what we're doing with this one right now. But yeah, man, I mean, I'll tell you you could probably do a better job of making money. But as I've said in the past, that is absolutely worth my $5 right there to curse the opposing team. So hopefully that keeps working. But everyone like Derek's betting against us.

All of the people on the broadcast pick the Rangers like keep picking against us. Please. It is working for us. We will be the underdogs any day of the week because we live. to show up and prove you wrong. And that's what's going to happen. So keep it against the Diamondbacks, please. I'll tell you this much.

If the Diamondbacks need bulletin board material, what they could do is look back at that series they played against the Rangers when they really smacked the Diamondbacks around, right? Especially like you said, Brandon fought in his debut. There's a lot there to look at then and say, look at how far we've come since this moment. So far. I remember when they played them, it was literally like we were doing well. We believed in them. We're like, man, let's see how they do against this good Rangers team because they're super hot right now.

And they just smacked our ass back down to Earth. Like, bah, you ain't nothing, you know? And so like, then there were a lot of series like that against potential playoff contending teams that made you feel like this team, this Diamondbacks team was not in that, on that same level. But I think playing those high leverage games, those must win games for two freaking straight months, just absolutely transform this team. Yeah, listen to me, you guys. I'm going to get on my soapbox for two seconds. Please do. I promise.

But everyone's in my DM saying, fire us up, Mac. This is a team of destiny. Listen to me. This is going to be a series to watch. Both of these teams experienced 100 lost seasons just two years ago. They are teams that stumbled after really dominant starts in the regular season. They at one point both lost nine straight games. One of them backed into the playoffs and the other lost their division on the last day of the year.

One of them discarded their highest paid player and the other lost their best pitcher. in April. One team has never won a World Series and the other team has defied all expectations. They proved every single doubt or wrong. They made it here when nobody said that they would. This is the year of the underdog. All you big market teams can suck it because the D-backs and the Rangers are here to show you that baseball is for everyone and this series is about to be electric. And you know what? If you're not watching, shame on you. because this series is trying to rock. This is what fairy tales are made of.

Tune in and let's freaking go Diamondbacks. Snakes all day, every day. Snakes alive. I do want to add on to that and just say, I do not understand the idea of this not being an exciting series. These are the two up-and-coming teams. They both have young stars that are going to be starred. This is the future of baseball.

You were watching the future of baseball right now. Do you really want to see the goddamn Astros and the Dodgers again? Does anybody want to see that? Like, I don't understand how that could be more exciting. Why? Just because those are the teams that they want to see there because they think they belong. Just for casual fans. It's just wild.

Yeah. I want to watch Corby and Carol. I want to watch Josh Young. I want to watch Evan Carter. I want to watch Roller Podono. I want to watch Gabby Reno. I want to see anyone else. I have even been a casual fan of other sports at times where it wasn't the big teams that have done it before that allured me.

Sure. It was like the Tennessee Titans run that year that they made it to the Super Bowl. It was a story. how they got there that's so compelling as it was like I'm not familiar with these players actually that's okay I want to get to know what their stories were like their trials and their tribulations and for two teams as you pointed out Michaela that lost 100 games two years ago you go wow that that's a journey I want to learn more about those teams and so you're going to have hopefully seven games to learn more about that you're going to get even more invested and I don't think that the ratings are going to take the hit that everyone's I don't think in this year in which attendance was at an all time high games are quicker can we talk about all

these Twitter fucking dorks that want to talk about TV ratings like they'll see a penny of it. That is, uh, that is, that is, uh, the people's producer Damon dog. You can follow him on Twitter at David Dogg. Who cares about the ratings? We don't give a shit about ratings. We want to watch baseball.

We're going to go watch it right now because it is about to start. Make sure to follow us all on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. She is at Michaela E. E. Perkins. He is at Patrick D. Lyons. Uh, again, Damon dog.

We are Damon's dogs. He's at DAWG, by the way, on Twitter. Our shows at P HNX underscore D-Backs, but of course, all roads will lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We love you guys. We appreciate you for stopping by. Go snakes.

Let's go watch them win a World Series. Thank you for stopping by. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when you get to watch your team in the goddamn World Series.