PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Zac Gallen struggles at Chase Field in Diamondbacks series loss to the Orioles

Episode Date: September 4, 2023

Despite a strong showing in game one, the Arizona Diamondbacks drop two in a row and the series to the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend. We recap Zac Gallen’s uncharacteristically bad start at home on Sunday, a lack of offense dating back to Los Angeles, and a look ahead at their upcoming series against the Colorado Rockies.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 WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx WIN MONEY THROUGH SPLASH SPORTS: https://www.splashsports.com/phnx Head to https://factormeals.com/phnxdbacks50 and use code phnxdbacks50 to get 50% off.Go to https://saturdayneon.com and use code PHNX for 10% off your order today. Free shipping for orders over $200!Gametime: 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.

Hello and welcome once again to disappointment. This is the PHNX Debaks podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. Once again, even though Shane still hasn't given me my sash back. And I think he's going to hold up in his office and board the doors and the windows until,

you know, eventually I have to go in there and with some sort of crew and demand that he gives it back to me. Also joining me, though, was a man that does not have to fight for his title because he deserves it and earns it. It is the one and only vice mayor, Jesse Friedman, aka our thunderstick. Jesse, not the Zach Gowan outing we were hoping for at home at Chase Field, especially when we really needed to see a better Zach Gallin outing after his last started against the Dodgers.

Yeah, it was not pretty. It wasn't a good week for the Diamondbacks, and it was not a good week for Zach Gowan, right? I believe between these two starts, 11 and two-thirds innings altogether between Los Angeles and his start here against the Orioles. He allowed 17 hits total in those two starts as well as 11 runs. It is just kind of a puzzling week for Zach Gallen where he just has not really looked like himself. I know we've talked about how there have been games for him this season and some of late, where he's given up a lot of hard contact and gotten away with it. he didn't get away with anything this week.

I think there was even maybe some bad luck mixed in there. There were some hits that, you know, some ground balls that got through early in this game, some Diamondbacks defense that didn't help him along the way. But yeah, it was a terrible week all the way around for Zach Gallen and possibly an even worse week for the Arizona Diamondbacks who lost five out of six games to these Dodgers and Orioles teams. I will say this about Zach Gallen's outing at the very very,

least he got things back on track after a while and i think that's the reason why when torrey went to go pull him he was even at 99 pitches he was still like not with it he did not want to come out of the game and what's funny is we've we've had conversations with zack gallon about being economical with his pitch count or not you know not going too far uh in some instances as far as you know how you know how how how high he'll drive his pitch count up for certain you know, games or or certain outings. But this one felt like he wanted to remain in the game and clean up, you know, the, the batter getting on base and he wanted to get out of that inning.

He ends up going just five and a third giving up eight hits, five runs, five earned, one walk, four strikeouts. But then, you know, Kyle Nelson comes into the game. And to be fair to Zach, the Baltimore Orioles were not fooled by anything Kyle Nelson was throwing. And so like comparatively, you realize that maybe, maybe it wasn't Zach Gallen who was being bad as much as it was just a Baltimore Orioles team that has been good all season long that was dialed in against him. And yeah, he gave up four earned there early and he wanted a chance to try to get out of that, you know, sixth inning without letting that run score. But the bullpen definitely not effective against this team as we saw.

They definitely let things go. I mean, even if Zach Gallen had a decent outing, I feel like the. The bullpen, this would have been one of those. There goes the bullpen blowing the game because they could not keep the diamondbacks in this game once they came into it. But like you said, it's not just Zach Allen. It's not just the bullpen. The defense was also not great behind the mound at all. And a lot of that had to do with Pavin Smith over at first base.

I know people want to rage right now about Pave and Smith. and I know people are not happy that Pave and Smith is back and that this is the guy that they decided to add to the lineup. I brought this up just the other day, and we kind of scoffed up the idea that we would even see Pave and Smith at first base, but then Christian Walker was unfortunately hit by baseball very hard. He still comes back today and hits a dinger and basically hits another ball that absolutely should have been a home run in any fall park in America.

But let's first talk about Pave and Smith in his defense. because things weren't great for him over there at first. They were not. Yeah, I can point to two plays in particular that could have swung this game in an enormous way. If you go back to the very first inning of this game, there was a single off the bat of Anthony Santander, that, you know, not an easy play.

I don't think it's, you know, easy necessarily for Christian Walker, but a play that you feel like Christian Walker probably is able to make that goes for a single instead of being an out. And if you play out the rest of that inning, I mean, that Santander single allowed the base runner in front of him to go first to third, which then allowed Santander to take second, which then allowed the next single in the inning to score two runs, whereas it would have scored zero runs. So that right there, that play turns potentially a scoreless inning into a two run inning. And then later in the game, there was an Adley-Rutchman two-run double that happened in the sixth inning. Also, not necessarily an easy play for Christian Walker. if he was in there, but a play that I think Walker probably is able to make,

a play that we've seen Walker make before. Pavin was diving going to his right, just wasn't quite able to lay out far enough. And that turns into a two-run double for Adley-Rutchman. If you play out that inning without double being turned into an out, there are two fewer runs on the board. So those two plays alone by Pavin Smith at first base, if Christian Walker's in there, if he's able to make those plays,

that's a four-run difference in this game. and the diamondbacks lost this game by three runs. So you could theoretically make a case that those defensive miscues in and of themselves cost the diamond backs this game. I think that's maybe a little overly simplistic. You know, there's a lot more, a lot more to this. There were some other defensive plays in this game that were not great. Ketel Marte had an opportunity, I think, to get an out at the plate in that sixth inning as well.

And he clanks that ball and it goes into center field for a hit instead. So, yeah, I mean, the Diamondbacks defense was was really just not good at all in this baseball game. And on top of Zach Gallen, not being his best, on top of the Debex offense, you know, hitting a few homers, but not necessarily getting a whole lot of traffic going on the bases. There are some reasons why the Diamondbacks really could have or even should have won this baseball game. All the home runs that the Diamondbacks had were great, but fairly unproductive in the grand scheme of things with no men on base. they were all solo home runs. Lordus Gurriel Jr. does hit a career high, 22 home runs now for the Diamondbacks. That trade, even though Varsho leads the league in defensive run saved,

continues to look like a very, very solid trade. I guess you could say for both teams. It's just worked out for both teams. Corbyn Carroll hits his 25th home run of the year. Or no, was it 25th? Was it 25th, right? Carol's was 24. 24. I'm sorry, 24. I'm getting ahead of myself just because that 25-50 season is looking more

possible or even maybe 30-50 season. Not a lot of time left there for Corbyn, but I mean, this guy just continues to be outstanding for this team. Despite the fact that he struggled, you know, when the Diamondbacks essentially were struggling, he's absolutely back as of late. He really is. Yeah, he really is. And that was something the Diamondbacks desperately needed, right? It was kind of Christian Walker doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the lineup with Corbin struggling and Cattel struggling for a while. Cattel still, I don't think, has quite gotten back to himself.

Lordus continues to hit some home runs, as you said, but he's not really getting on base at the clip that we saw earlier in the season. So, yeah, you know, at least with Corbin doing his thing again and Christian Walker continuing to be outstanding, I mean, it's funny this is sort of supposed to be the off day for Christian Walker and yet he winds up coming in. He winds up playing some first base in the latter part of this game. He winds up hitting a home run. And as you said earlier, also hitting a ball 442 feet that would have been a home run according to Stackcast in literally any other ballpark. Chase Field, the straightaway center is is rough. It is very, very difficult to get

the ball out of this park. It's hard to feel that like luck is on your side, like that the baseball gods are on your side when that kind of thing is happening. And I'm not saying against the Diamondbacks all season long. I'm just saying, you know, in this series as of late, when things are going wrong for them, things are going wrong for them spectacularly, you know, and it's like it's in every way in like this, this ball, for instance, this one ball, it's just a fly out. It didn't impact the game in that big of a way. But I mean, it's just the fact that we could be talking about Christian Walker having literally

a heroic day after getting plunked coming back, taking a few innings off, and then hitting two dingers in this game. It would be a very Christian Walker thing to do. But he did stay in the game to play first base and then he did hit that homer in the ninth inning. Again, it seems to be fine after getting hit in the funny bone area there in the elbow, but not a great place to get hit. And as a Diamondback fan, it's a scary thing to see him get hit like he got hit. That was not great because we've seen that happen far too often to our guys where that ends up being some sort of broken bone or something that causes them to miss time. That could have been absolutely disastrous for the Diamondbacks at this point, considering how much they need Christian

Walker. Today, Pavan Smith being out there just again, like reiterated how good Christian Walker is. It's, you made some great points. You danced around it safely because there's no way for us to say Christian Walker was going to make any of those plays that we accused Pave and Smith of missing. But he makes them so routinely and he makes them so often. And at times, he doesn't even get a round of applause for some of the things he does. He just, he just, just Christian Walker making a play. Yeah, we see that all the time. You know what I mean? So like, there's just something to be said that when he is not out there, you really notice how good he is and how much he is missed. But yeah and in fairness to paven smith it is important to point out that like yeah you put like a lee average first baseman in those situations he doesn't necessarily make that play i don't want to make it sound like paven smith was just you know clanking super easy plays that major leakers always make it's just they weren't errors they weren't yeah they weren't errors and and christian walker is is one of the best and like you just said i mean we're used to seeing that on an everyday basis and at the same time it does

feel like every time Pavin Smith does start at first base, there are a few of these plays that, you know, at times have been the difference in games. And unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, that very well might have been the case today. Kyle Nelson again, I like this bullpen is so infuriating to me. And I try to stay, I try to lower my expectations. I try to stay fairly calm and reasonable. and almost expect this kind of thing to happen. But I can only imagine how frustrating it is for Tori Lavolo, where you have a guy that just you're like,

yeah, he seems to be putting it back together. And then the minute that you count on them in a high leverage situation in another game, they can't even, they don't seem to be able to even be competitive with their pitches. And Kyle Nelson, again, it's not like he was erratic or anything like that, but he just, he wasn't fooling the Baltimore hitters at all with anything. Yeah, he's, he's just really struggled with, with runners on base and, you know, inherited runner situations.

Kyle Nelson has not been good this year. And he's also struggled in higher leverage situations. And obviously, this was the sixth inning. So it wasn't, you know, this wasn't the eighth. This wasn't the ninth. But it was also kind of a big moment in the game. It was. You know, he entered with the runner on third and won out, Zach Gallen leaving the game.

The game was still tied at that point. So it was kind of pivotal. The debacks had just tied the game, trying to hold it there. So it was kind of a big moment, even though it was the six. And again, Kyle Nelson just kind of struggled to do anything. He just gave up three straight hits and left the game immediately after that. So it's just this problem that the Diamondbacks have, unfortunately, where they just don't really have any left-handed relievers that they really can count on, frankly.

I mean, Joe Mancipy has just not been the same pitcher he was last year. Andrew Chafin obviously was not good. The Diamondbacks moved on from him at the trade deadline. He has continued to struggle since being dealt over to the Milwaukee Brewers. And frankly, Kyle Nelson is pretty much the best guy the Diamondbacks have from the left side in their bullpen. And yet he's just not, you know, for a playoff contending team, he's not an ideal first option to have, you know, when you've got some tough lefties. He also has reverse splits, which continues to be sort of a puzzling thing for him this year where he's been more effective against righties than lefties. So it's tough.

You know, when you don't have a single reliever in your bullpoles, that you feel really confident in against lefties, you know, for some of these big, these big situations and games, the feedbacks just don't really have an answer for that right now. Well, it's not just the bullpen, Jesse, and that's the thing that's really true. It's not at all just the bullpen. In fact, Zach Davies is once again our ace. I mean, if you want to go based on the last time through the rotation, Zach Davies, the ace of the pitching. staff. So I will give credit where credit is due. Zach Davies has been very good for this team

in his last two outings. And as much as we have worried about him being part of the starting rotation, as much as we've seen him struggle in Reno before coming back up here, you have to admit what he's been doing lately is a very pleasant surprise for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And he's the only one, right? I mean, think about what's happened to the Diamondbacks rotation this week. It was Gallen on Monday in Los Angeles, five and a third, six runs. Merrill Kelly in game two, five innings, seven runs, Brandon fought in game three, four innings, six runs, five earned. Then Zach Davies with his six-inning one-run gem on Friday.

And then, you know, the last couple days, Slate Soconi and Zach Gallen have had a couple more clunkers. So it's really hard to win a baseball game when your starting pitcher gives up five or more runs. And that has happened every single day this week, with the exception of the day that Zach Davies was on the mound. So, yeah, this really does all start with starting pitching this week and in the struggles that the diamond backs have had. I know the offense has stagnated. I know especially once opposing teams have put up these big crooked numbers, it seems like

the diamond backs at bats just get a little stale. They get a little bit stagnant. There's not quite as much patience. But there have been a lot of those crooked numbers this week, right? I mean, in both, I think both games one and two of that Dodgers series, the Dodgers were instantly up 3-0 in the first couple innings. Jason Hayward came within a few feet against Brandon fought on Wednesday of putting them in the exact same situation with a 3-0 deficit in the first inning.

And then today, you know, you had the Orioles coming out and making it 2-0 and, you know, then getting four runs up on the board. And then after the debacks tie it, they put up four more runs. These big innings, you know, have really hurt the debacks offense in some ways. Tori Lavello talked about it after the game. There's just like this natural letdown. You know, it's just sort of a, it's a hard thing to bounce back from when you claw your way back into a game like they did today.

And then suddenly you're, you know, you're back from four to four to a four run deficit. And you've got to find a way to claw back. And the diamond backs have not been able to do that. Tommy Pham was supposed to be in the lineup today, but he was a late scratch. But we don't know why. Has there been any updates in regards to that? I personally have not heard any updates on that. I know on the broadcast they were speculating that I think you,

I think Tommy Fam hit a foul ball off his knee yesterday. I want to say it was. So maybe this is related to that. But I'm sure we'll get some sort of information pretty, pretty quick here. Maybe they've even announced it here in the few minutes after the game. I haven't seen it yet. Well, you got Tommy Fam taking that.

You had the Christian Walker off of his elbow. Then today in today's game, you had Zach Gallen getting grazed off of a, comebacker that bounced off the mound. They had a lot of bad, just bad balls bounced not their direction today. And I know,

again, that's just such a cop out, but it really did seem like there was just a lot of weird plays where balls were, you know, taking a misdirection and they were missing them on defensive plays. And again, there was also the fact that,

pavement Smith, just being out there, playing defensive first, just isn't Christian Walker. And he's not. And few people are, but he's definitely not. And I miss seeing Christian Walker out there again. I'm sure so that the Diamondbacks, but I'm glad he's okay.

I don't know if the Diamondbacks are okay. We'll have to see. They have an upcoming series against Colorado Rockies that is pretty much a last-ditch effort to get right. If this team can't get their offense back on track in Colorado against the Rockies, I have nothing. I have nothing for you. Well, it's not in Colorado. It's here.

Oh, it's not. That's right. I forgot it is here. But still, but still, even if it is here. Yeah. I don't care how hot it is. Open up the goddamn panels in the roof. Let's do this.

King's snake for this series is once again, Corbyn Carroll, because Corbyn Carroll continues to be good for this team. Five for 13 in the series. He had that home run today, double RBI. I mean, there wasn't a lot to praise offensively for a lot of guys. I feel like in this series, but Corbyn at least was getting on base consistently. And he's back to doing that stuff.

He's back. He's back to being able to be a factor for this team. It's just there wasn't a lot of guys able to drive him in. Yeah. And as a piece of Yoshi pointed out in the chat, Corbyn did get his dome buzzed there toward the end of this game. I don't like that either. I don't like that.

Unfortunately, he was okay. He didn't get hit by the pitch. But yeah, like I am ready to fight. I will fight for Corby and Carroll, Jesse. I will absolutely. I will fight anyone. I will storm the field from the press box. I'll get my credential revoked.

That's what, I mean, again, that's what he wanted from us, right? I remember the Mookie Betts interview. There was something about like everybody needs to fight or something. I don't know. I just want to. How exactly does one storm the field from the press box? It would take me a long time to get down there. I'm pretty sure things would be over.

I'm not just like leaping like over, making like a dramatic landing, maybe pulling out a parachute. I don't. I feel like any solution I have other than like a rope ladder that I preemptively brought. Like I don't I don't know how the security guards are going to feel a rope ladder in my backpack. Plus where am I going to fit my charger and my AirPods? That seems like it's not going to work out. But anyway, we thank you guys, though, for being here in the PHANXports YouTube channel. We thank you for loving this Arizona Diamondbacks team, even though at times they don't deserve to be loved.

If you haven't subscribed to the channel, make sure to do so now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss whenever we go live and leave us a little thumbs up just to let us know you're here and that you like our antics. If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, please subscribe to us there as well. leave us a review. We always appreciate that feedback as well. And if you need to fill yourself up, you need to cool yourself off after this loss, you need something to drink. You got to stop at America's third stop. And of course, that is Circle K. Circle K has their brand new Inner Circle membership program, which you should check out immediately. It's going to save you 25 cents per gallon

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And again, join the Inner Circle, be part of the Inner Circle. And also be part of Splash Sports, which is where we will be with our weekly PickX and NFL Survivor Contest. for everyone to participate in for real money. It's this easy to enter. You just head to splashports.com slash PHNX and sign up. Deposit cash to get started.

It's just $5 to enter either of those contests. And then for the PHNX weekly NFL pick X contest, first prize is $350 with second prize and third prize. You also have a PHNX Survivor contest. That's a $450 winner take-all prize. So we will be playing running weekly contests like this all year. so be sure to keep that leg candy and if you want to run your own contest you can do that over there at splash sports forget being the commission of your own league and chasing people down for the money and it's thankless

they just yell at you they call you like they're like god stop bothering me you're trying to run a league trying to run a legitimate league we can't we can't start the season without your money paul you know that kind of thing so forget all that go and do your own thing at splash sports uh and money for contests you're already running with friends and family head to splashboards.com slash phnx to join in we'll have different contests coming out so we are stoked to compete with and against you all be sure to click our link in the description jesse even though i don't want to let's take a look at the numbers for this series with the baltimore orioles uh things once again very very much uh explanation here's the explanation you want to know why they lost the series

here it is yeah i mean they they did didn't really hit with runners in scoring position. They hit six homers over the course of the weekend compared to just two for the Orioles. But four of those six homers were solo shots. And the other two were two run shots. So, you know, those six home runs only turned into eight runs for the Diamondbacks. It felt like the Orioles had traffic around the bases really throughout this series.

Obviously, Friday was a little bit of a lighter day for them offensively. But the last couple days, they've really been all over the place. They had 33 hits over the course of this three game series. And yeah, as you see there, the debacks a 7.36 ERA for their starting pitchers. It's going to be hard to come away with a, you know, a series win against a very good team when your starting pitchers are struggling to that degree. Who would have thought that Zach Davies would be the star here with his six innings, one earn run?

He definitely didn't contribute to this ERA being so high. But the relief, you know, the bullpen had a lot of work there to do. They went five and two thirds in the second game. of this series. So just not great for a bullpen that's already been taxed and already is fairly unreliable, right? Like you don't really know who you can count on at times. And then on top of that, it feels like they're getting a lot of work lately. It doesn't feel like they're the kind of staff that, you know, can do too many of these opener bullpen type games. Right. So like it's really starting to stack up. But offensively, too, you know, the runners in scoring

position they were three for 17 uh and honestly the the orioles almost doubled them up on on scoring opportunities so not only were they better at taking advantage of the runners in scoring position but they provided themselves with double the opportunities nearly the diamondbacks 17 runners in scoring position in the series the Baltimore Orioles had 31 so that's yeah like opportunities 17 opportunities with runners in scoring position yeah correct yeah yeah correct so yeah the Orioles had had 10 hits with runners in scoring position in the series compared to three for the diamond back. So, yeah, they just had way more traffic on the bases. And, you know, even if you're not really hitting homers, which the Orioles didn't do much of this weekend,

you can still score a heck of a lot of runs by just keeping the train moving around the bases. And they did it sort of in bulk, right? I mean, yesterday with Slade Soconi and the way that his out unraveled, he was really good for three innings. And then in the fourth, he just gave up seven consecutive hits. And that was that. The Orioles put six runs on the board. And the debacks weren't really able to bounce back from that. So really just a few huge innings for the Orioles and the series.

There was that six run inning for them yesterday. There was the four run inning today that kind of sealed the deal. Those big innings just ultimately buried the diamond backs this weekend. So we talked about this part of the schedule. And we said that this was the part that we feared, right? And it doesn't. I mean, it literally does. does not get much more difficult than a Dodgers Orioles week.

Like that is about as hard of a week as you can draw up in this sport. And it lived up to that. I mean, the Diamondbacks looked pretty overmatched in this series. They got outscored 23 to 5 in the Dodgers series. They got outscored 17 to 12 in this one. So that's what, 40 to 17 altogether this week. Jesse got outscored?

That's not great. And the words of the Iron Sheik, they humbled our ass. They humbled our ass and they humbled us. And that's the thing is that that's that's where I think a lot of Diamondbacks fans need to keep their expectations reasonable. It's not to say that this team isn't building towards something great. It's just to say they're not there yet. It's not to say that you can't get excited about wanting them to have a winning season and to be above 500. It's not to say that you don't want to shoot for the moon and see this team make the playoffs and maybe even make a splash in that wild card round and maybe advance. But just like, just like,

like, you know, when we advanced last time, it's going to come crashing down on this team very quickly, I think, once they start playing the elite talent in the National League. And that's what we faced here was the elite talent in the National League and the American League. Wanted to see how they would fare. You hope they would fare better. But coming out of it with one win in six games is about as expected, considering the way that this team has played against the best teams in baseball, right? So now what we have is a schedule going forward that is considerably easier

with those teams out of the way. But it doesn't mean that things get any easier because now things just get more important. You have games against the Cubs coming up that are absolutely must-win games. You have games now against the Colorado Rockies, which is this upcoming series they have, that is a must-win series,

if not a must sweep series. And now that's the mode you're in because you don't have a lot of time. After you deal with the Cubs, you have the Mets, then you have the Cubs again. Then you have the Giants. So it's like the Diamondbacks fate is in their own hands. They control their own destiny. But they like getting these losses against teams that are much better than you, that's in the past and it's done.

At this point, they have to focus on what's ahead and beating those teams that are in this wildcard rate. with them. Yeah, and one more thing on the Orioles. I think like in the first couple months of of this season, there was this perception that the Diamondbacks and the Orioles were kind of on the same in a similar place, right? Coming out of, you know, they basically shared the worst record in baseball two years ago. Last year they both took a big step forward. The Orioles a little bit more so than the diamondbacks. And then this year was kind of like the big coming out party for those two teams where they were going to come out and sort of show the league what they could do, the Orioles are significantly further ahead in that process than the Diamondbacks.

And obviously, their records bear that out. The Orioles are, you know, I think north of 30 games over 500 at this point. You saw it in the series. I think the Orioles are just the better overall baseball team. The debacks and Orioles are maybe somewhat similar from a starting pitching standpoint. The Orioles don't have a Zach Gallen type. Their starting rotation is maybe even slightly worse. but their bullpen is way better than this diamond back bullpen.

And their position player core is just deeper. The debacks have Corbyn Carroll. He's the big, you know, the stud, the superstar coming up through their system. The Orioles have more guys, though. The Orioles have not only Gunner Henderson, right? They have Ryan O'Hern, who's come out of nowhere and turned to an outstanding player for them. They have Ryan Mountcastle who's been an outstanding player for them.

Adley Ruchman, of course. I mean, he's probably the best overall player. on their team. The Orioles just have a deeper young core than the Diamondbacks do. And I just can't really compare these two teams much. The Orioles are just in a completely different place as a franchise. I don't know, though. I think this makes me think of what Christian Walker said, where he said you can't get stuck comparing yourselves to other teams.

Or like he was talking about the progress, you know, the way they're hitting now versus the way they were hitting in the first of the season, right? Like the Diamondbacks are are in a great position for the trajectory that the team was on. Like the Orioles have just blossomed early and they deserve all the credit in the world for being as good as they are this season. I think the Orioles are ahead of schedule. And like you said, they've always kind of been.

Absolutely. Both teams are ahead of schedule. Right. And so like for the Diamondbacks though, I think it's still just a matter of, you know, again, And like you said, maybe not having as many of those guys, but it's not to say they don't have them in their farm system. It's not to say Jordan Lawler won't be here next year. And then when Jordan Lawler is here next year or this or this or this year.

I know this cross with the way the things are not are not giving up on that. And I still think it's I still think it's possible. It is. But luckily the Diamondbacks, once again, aren't the only team that that's playing bad right now that that is in the wildcard race. It's still kind of a mess. And we have an update on our live out of town scoreboard. Is this making its debut today, Jesse?

Look at that thing. Yeah, I guess if you guys didn't use it in L.A., then yeah, this is it. Oh, man, do we have light bulbs for this? Because this might not be the best idea to go this old school with. But anyway, yeah, the Chicago Cubs beat the snot out of the Cincinnati Red. So I don't know what to think about going into a series with those guys. here in a week or so. But Philly beat

the Milwaukee Brewers. We got the Miami Marlins winning over Washington. We have the Dodgers finally winning a game against the Braves. And then the Giants lose to the San Diego Padres four to nothing. So what are your thoughts here on

this race? And I guess we could take a look also at our wildcard standings because that's going to show where things are at. Oh my friends. that my friends is a four-way tie for the final playoff spot. That's impressive. It's insane. It's crazy.

You can't, I mean, come on. These teams wouldn't even be in it without this extra spot. That's the beautiful thing about this extra wildcard spot. And you could make a case that they really don't deserve, like none of those teams. No, not of them deserve it. Those D's are all just not playing well right now. I know Alex Cobb had a rough outing today for the Giants. After throwing a near no hitter in his last appearance,

I know he threw 131 pitches in that game. Maybe it had something to do with his struggles today. The Marlins have kind of hung steady, although they were playing the Nationals this weekend, and their schedule is the most difficult out of this group moving forward. And the Diamondbacks are just kind of coasting after a tough week, 70 and 67. and the Cincinnati Reds are somehow hanging around, Derek. I don't really know Matt McLean is, it appears is out for the season.

They just got decimated with a bunch of COVID-I-L injuries over the last few days. Some of their, I believe, Graham Ashcraft, I think, is injured with, I want to say something that wasn't COVID. And then Brandon Williamson, who has been a good starter for them, is on the COVID-I-L along with a number of other players. So the Reds roster is really desks. estimated right now. But yeah, none, I mean, these four teams, none of them are really playing good baseball right now. And, I mean, you get the sense that in a postseason series, none of these

teams would be able to hold a candle to what, you know, some of the other NL teams, especially the top NL teams are, are doing right now. But at the same time, you know, in the MLB postseason, anything can happen. So this, this third wildcard spot just kind of opens up the door for one of these teams to be able to make it in. And I mean, even the Chicago Cubs. I mean, there's, they're still not necessarily guaranteed a spot with how many games the diamondbacks have with the Cubs over the next few weeks. You know, that that race is not at all over.

I think the Phillies at this point, you can say pretty confidently they're going to be a playoff team. But, you know, the rest of that and a wildcard picture is still very much up in the air. Well, I want to take a moment to talk to a couple of our PHNX diehards that are here in the chat. like Charles Woodall Pike and Elizabeth.

And I don't know if Cogs is here, but Cogs too. You guys made me all teary-eyed with your messages that you sent to us at P.HNX for our two-year anniversary. And I just want to thank you guys. Again, I can't express enough how much your kind words mean to us. Jesse also got a bag full of love, essentially, a bunch of notes. And I think... They gave me a ping pong paddle, which was outstanding. So you can practice.

They gave me the balls. So it's like I feel like we need to get together here and work. They gave me a beer pod kit, it would feel, and some gummy worms. And I love them so much. But I can't thank you guys enough for that. Can't thank you guys enough for being part of the diehard family. If you haven't joined us already, we would love for you to also become part of this community over here. Yeah.

And Groundhog Mama, you too. Thank you especially for your note. And you're right. Chris is a very special part. of our die-hard community and we can never say enough about how much her love and support means to us and how much her being involved with sneaking around in the shadows and having something like this done means. I did hate the fact that I came home to my wife, very excited to tell her about it. And she was like, oh yeah, I know. Chris called me. And I was like,

damn it, damn it. Everybody do but me and us at PHNX. So we thank you guys. You guys are wonderful people. So like I said, if you want to join us over here, become a member of our diehard community, can get a free shirt from the Phaenx Locker.com. You get 20% off all future purchases. Get a discount card for all sorts of wonderful stuff with all of our partners. You get a Dobson Ranch Ranch. Ranch card. If you like golf, you like pizza, there's a $50. Mountain Mike's gift certificate. You also get access to our members-only Discord lounge, which is the best place in Arizona to be a sports fan. You get Jesse's newsletter full count and all the newsletters from all of our wonderful writers around here and so much more.

So join us today, become part of this diehard community. And also, we got our upcoming takeover event on September 5th. We do have tickets available for that still. If you guys haven't had a chance, join, check that out over at our events page. If you don't get a ticket to that, but you still want to go see a Diamondbacks game or even want to join us on September 5th, do so by buying your ticket through game time. It's the best place for procrastinators to buy their tickets. if you get FOMO, if you just want to, you know, get those tickets.

I'll tell you this. They're, and I mean, going back to Jesse's thing about teams being decimated by COVID, they'd also got Metallica because I was supposed to go see Metallica here after this show wrapped. And I am not anymore because their lead singer got COVID. And so that show has been pushed out. Really? Like that just happened?

It just happened because they had a two-night show. It was on Friday night and then tonight. And it was supposed to be a completely different set. set list with different opening acts and all that. So if you were a big Metallica fan, you would go to both nights and get a completely different experience. Well, you did because on night two, you got the experience of the show being canceled and moved to the following Saturday.

You can't say it wasn't different, Derek. It definitely was different. It just didn't happen. It sucks because my friend Brian, who was there said he met a lot of people from out of town. And they were staying here throughout the weekend so they could go to both nights. and now being moved to next weekend is not very easy for people that come from Denver and Nevada and California to just, you know, come back next weekend. So with that being said, if you are interested in seeing the Metallica show, chances are there's going to be a lot of tickets available from people who can't go.

And one of those places that you can get those tickets is at game time. So make sure to check out game time for the fastest. It's the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason. and you can snag the tickets without the stress with game time. Download the game time app, create an account, and use code P.HNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code P.HNX for $20 off. Download game time today.

Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. And I did want to say something, Jesse, I do have something to confess. I lost my shady raise this weekend. Really? I lost them. I did. Wow. I did.

You just did that on purpose because you know they're going to replace them, didn't you? That's maybe. I don't know, but you know what? Even if that's the case, they're not going to, no judgment. They're not going to ask me any questions. They're not going to come at me with those accusatory kind of statements like you just made. Shady Ray's is a premium sunglass company with a premium product, but they are also backed by the craziest most insane protection plan in all of eyewear. Their lost and broken replacement plan says that if you lose or break your pair, even on day one, they told us they will.

send you out a brand new pair, no questions asked. So now I need to get a brand new pair back from them. They have your back long after purchase. They have my back long after purchase. And of course, they're a world-class company with a world-class product. You can shop their entire location at their local spot here in town, here at Kierland Commons, or you can shop online at their website at shady raise.com. Again, if you do not love your Shadyrays, even if you get them in person or online, you can either swap them out for a new pair within 30 days or you can get your money back within 30 days. No questions asked. You get your money back for free. There's no risk when you shop with them. exclusively for our listeners, Shady Raises is giving out their best deal of the

season. Go to Shadyraise.com and use code PHNX for 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 250,000 people. Jesse, I am wearing this shirt for a very particular reason. And it's not just because I love the fact that it calls Brandy Johnson, a bird murderer down at the bottom. It is my bird murderer share. It says Revenge for Fabio. This is a bootleg shirt that is very limited. And you won't find this anywhere, by the way, because I'm sure someone would sue the person that made it.

But the reason I'm wearing this shirt today is in honor of the number one spot on our PH&X ranks, Arizona all-time athletes. And that spot, that championship spot, that top spot, goes to none other. than Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson is number one on this list and he absolutely should be. I know there's a lot of debate. It's a hot debate. It's a hot topic.

Who should be number one? Should it be Larry Fitzgerald or should it be Randy Johnson? And as much as I am a Cardinals fan and as much as I love Larry Fitzgerald, Jesse, this is no debate. This is no debate. The thing is that,

that Randy Johnson did things, especially for this team, much like Christian Walker does so regularly, that you just don't, you didn't even think at the time or in the moment how special it was. And I don't know if like younger fans really can wrap their mind around a man winning four Cy Youngs as an Arizona Diamondback. Is that right? Four Cy Youngs?

Am I, is my math right on that? Was, did he have 103 wins in five? years. Did he nearly have more wins than home runs allowed at 132 home runs allowed, 103 wins in that span? This ban was an absolute beast, an absolute beast. Nearly 2,000 strikeouts in five years, Jesse. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't compute. I mean, yeah, and what's even crazier is that, I mean, those four straight seasons where you won a Cy Young with the Diamondbacks, he was in his mid, late 30s that whole time. Started in his age 35 season.

That stretch ended in his age 38 season. Of course, he also pitched, you know, his age 39 and age 40 seasons with the Diamondbacks wasn't quite as good in 2003, but was very, very good once again in 2004. Yeah, I mean, Randy Johnson, at least personally, Randy Johnson is the best left-handed pitcher in the history of baseball in my book. I feel pretty comfortable saying that. The best pitcher of all time overall, I don't know if I would quite go to that level.

I think there's some good debate to be had there. But the best lefty of all time, that's a title that I think he absolutely deserves. And it's crazy. I mean, the reason that he had those crazy years with the Diamondback so late in his career, I mean, he was pretty good before that. But he actually hit his stride like right as he turned 30, essentially. That's really when Randy Johnson was at.

that is most effective. Before then, he was still a pretty decent pitcher. And, I mean, from that point forward, you know, he was, he was the best pitcher in, in the sport for a good long time. So, yeah, I mean, the fact that the Diamondbacks were able to, the fact that the dimebacks were able to have Randy Johnson in the first place, right? I mean, they had been a franchise for a year. And then they got Randy Johnson the greatest left-hand pitcher of all time.

And I think the biggest determining factor for me that, you know, comparing Randy with some of the other Arizona sports athletes is the man was the co-world series MVP. Without him, the Diamond Bad, or the Arizona Sports at large would still be looking for that first big title for, you know, one of the three major sports. So I guess four major sports, depending on, I don't know, does hockey count? Do we count hockey? Oh, my God. I can't believe you just said that on the same network that Craig Morgan works.

That's crazy. That's crazy. Craig knows not a deal. There were people the other day that were mad. wasn't giving Mercury the love. And it's like, look, I like the mercury, Mercury are the greatest local sports team we have by far, as far as championship caliber teams.

But I'm not the one that makes the rules here. You know that, right? Like, they don't, they don't count WNBA as one of the major four teams. My point is even if you do count the coyotes, the calculation doesn't change. The coyotes also have no, I know, I get it.

I get it. But they wanted us, they wanted us to throw the mercury on this too. And yeah, see, Sean's watching. Sean's going to tell everybody on the coyotes podcast. You're in so much trouble. You said that for Charles Woodall Pike, too, you monster. But like you said, I mean, he led the, he led all major league baseball in wins with 24 wins in 2002.

He led, I mean, he led most years in ERA. He led the National League in ERA in 1999. He led all of Major League Baseball in 2001. He led the National League again in 2002. like he was just the most dominant pitcher over that stretch and like you said it's just kind of wild that it was it all happened once he became in arizona diamond back you know what i mean like the wild thing too is is that right he did this in a ballpark that has widely be considered to be a hitter friendly park and in the middle of steroid air they had to have a they had to have

humadors and shit right and like yeah right like that's crazy that he did all of this during this time. It really is. It's basically like for like for great as Zach Gallin is and obviously he's had a rough week, but Zach Gallen is still a fantastic pitcher, one of the best in Diamondback's history. I mean, imagine Zach Gallen with, I mean, the equivalent of like the mid, low two ZRAs that Randy Johnson was posting in those years nowadays. I mean, that would be like Zach Gallen having a two flat ERA, maybe even under two.

So imagine Zach Gallen, as good as he all. already is, as fantastic as he already is, almost cutting his ERA in half. And also on top of that, having him throw about 60 more innings, Randy Johnson in 1999, 271 in two-thirds innings, 248.2 the next year, 249.2, 260 in 2002. Obviously, you know, we can't necessarily blame Zach Gowan for this because, I mean, pitchers are used differently now than they were back then for good reasons for valid reasons so you know i i don't want to be unfro to zack or anything just to like understand the just how how much of a different level randy johnson was on compared to i mean there have been some really good pitchers that have pitched for the diamond backs over the

years uh but randy just i mean best left-handed pitcher of all time i like i said yeah like you said yeah absolutely i mean you could talk about the fact that like you said earlier that he delivered Arizona, the only major championship we have in our in our state's history. But there's also that perfect game thing to not forget, right? Yeah, that was okay. Yeah. There's only been 24 of those, by the way, in Major League Baseball history. And like, it's hard to keep that in a perspective that that's only happened 24 times in a sport that has 162 games per season that has been around since the dawn of mankind, essentially. Like, it's crazy that he is one of only 24 pitchers to throw a perfect game in baseball history.

So, like, that right there, that and the, you know, I mean, it's like everything, everything combined. Like, there's lots to say, there's so much praise you could heap on other athletes in this state. But what Randy Johnson did was historic in his time here. literally. And, you know, that's something that I feel like is kind of understated at times. Like they talk about a lot of good pitchers in history. And Randy Johnson does get included with those guys. But he gets kind of lumped in there versus kind of at times being talked about literally one of the best pitchers of the modern era. And he absolutely should be. And he's number one. He's number one this list. I would again talk about me coming down.

on the field and fighting for Corby and Carroll, I will absolutely come all the way down from the press box to fight you on this topic when it comes to who's the number one athlete in Arizona sports history. Yeah, I would have been. I at least I was not asked to vote on this. I don't know if you were. I guess I, you know, granted, I've only been around for so long. You are in charge of all the voting for awards on this show, Jesse.

You know that. That's all goes through you. Baseball specific, sure. But there are, I will confess, there are people. on our top 25 Arizona sports athletes where I'm like, who? Like, I don't even know who these people are. But yeah, if they had decided, if the powers that were had decided that Randy Johnson was not the number one athlete in Arizona sports history, we would have had some

conversations about this. Things would have gotten a little testy in the office because I don't think either you or I, even if we don't necessarily know the full breadth of information about everyone else on this list, for least I don't. I know for sure that Randy Johnson is the best Arizona sports athlete of all time. And I don't even, you really can't even have that much of a debate about this. I don't think he is that. He is that historically good. And we'll be remembered that way for a very long time. Sean puts up a very good point. He says Diana Tarazi. And to be honest, I think there's more of a case to be made for Diana Tarasie than there is for Larry Fitzgerald.

Yeah, I think I definitely could see where you're coming from with that. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry, I'm a Cardinals fan too. I'm just saying. Let's take a look at what the Arizona Diamondbacks have coming up here at Chase Field this week. They are taking on the Colorado Rockies, who, of course, have not been very good this year with their 50 and 85 record. They have a minus 200 run differential.

And they're not so good in their last 10 games, 2 and 8. This is kind of exactly what the Diamondbacks need right now. Am I right? It is exactly what the Diamondbacks need. Yeah, I mean, the Rockies are about as bad of a team as you'll find in the National League right now. 50 and 85, a minus 200 run differential. They did win today, I believe, but they have not played well recently as a whole. Yeah, they're a bad baseball team, Derek.

They're a very bad baseball team. And, you know, even though the D-BAC schedule, the rest of the way, is honestly not that difficult. It's on the easier side at this point now that this week is over. But the Rockies are the one team in there that you're like, okay, now this is like a really bad baseball team. I guess the White Sox you could put in that category. Yeah. Yankees? Yeah, but like I don't know.

I don't know if I'd put the Yankees in that category. And I know Sean is going to hate me for saying that. But the Yankees are not a rocks. You already hate you for the hockey thing. you said earlier. So he does. And people are also hating on me for, for, uh, Dianna Tarasi, which I, I see where you're coming from.

I would still personally pick, pick Randy Johnson. I would too. I'm backing you up on that. No, I'm backing you up on that. You're not alone on that one. I'm taking, I'm taking Randy here too. But, uh, I'm taking the diamondbacks over the Colorado Rockies. And like I said, it is kind of a dire moment for them.

I, I'm not going to say their season is over if they don't come out here and win a series against the Brockies, but there is something to be said about stepping up in the big moment and winning when you have to. And if you're doing it against an opponent that is obviously kind of waived the white flag already for the season and isn't really putting up much of a fight, then, I mean, what's the use of you even making the playoffs? Because are you even going to show up in that wild card series? Sure.

because this is just as important at this point as that wildcard series. And if you can't step up and beat a division rival that has been fairly bad all season long, and I mean, again, I don't need a sweep here to be convinced, but I do need the Diamondbacks to get their offense right and get things just back on track here against a Rockies team that's really struggled. Also, don't run against Brent and Doyle. Don't do that. he's not like our outfield

105.7 Derek did he hit it off of a bat did he pick the ball up and hit it off of a bat from the outfield back in or did he just he threw that he threw a ball I'm told he threw a ball at 105.7 miles an hour why is it on the mound then why is any pitching can he pitch how's his

how's his slider? Yeah that's a it's a fair question it's a fair question you you know there are there are times when You know, 5.7 miles per hour. It was the hardest throw by an outfielder ever tracked by Stapcast. Jesus Christ.

Yeah, 105.7 is pretty crazy. But yeah, I mean, this series is a whole for the Diamondbacks. This is an opportunity to do to the Rockies what the Dodgers and to a lesser extent the Orioles just did to the Diamondbacks, right? Like the Dodgers and Brails,

I think, show that they're just better baseball teams. And the Diamondbacks, like their last meetup with the Rockies. I know they took two out of three from the Rockies a few weeks ago, but that series wasn't all that convincing, right? Those were all close, competitive, stressful games down the stretch. In this series, you want to kind of show like, okay, you know,

maybe we're not quite up to stuff with the Dodgers and the Orioles at this point, but we're a heck of a lot better than the Colorado Rockies. And, you know, I don't want to say like from like a win-loss standpoint, the diamond backs have to sweep or the season is over or anything like that because that's just not the reality in the standings. All of these teams are struggling. As we said before, the debacks are in a four-way tie for that third wildcard spot, which is absolutely absurd.

You know, you don't necessarily have to win every single game. But on another, on another level, I do think this series is important to just kind of show the world that the diamondbacks are better than the Rockies, like to demonstrate that although they might struggle against some of the better teams in the league, they also are going to show how much better they are than some of the lesser teams in the league. And this is an opportunity to do that. Well, I agree with you 1,000 percent. And I am a big fan of the peaks, but I don't mean the peaks in Colorado.

I mean the four peaks right here in Arizona, Jesse. Of course, that's the official craft beer of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's what I'm drinking right now to get over this loss. And it is what I will be drinking when we have our takeover event. And I'll meet up at the Four Peaks draft room located on the suite level down the first base line in Deep Right at Chase Field. You can check out the events page in our show notes to find dates and tickets for the takeover. You can follow everything Four Peaks has going on over at their calendar at Four Peaks.com slash events to stay up to date on everything Four Peaks.

And you can also follow them on social media at Four Peaks Brew or at Four Peaks Pub to keep up with the latest Arizona's hometown brewery. must be 21 or older to drink four peaks and please drink responsibly. And yes, they have a wide variety of four peaks at the four peaks draft room and you can try them all. And I mean that. Literally try them before you drink them. There's so many flavors to be had. And if there's something you haven't tried before, make sure this last takeover event tier that we have here, we'll make sure to try all the beers. Jesse, maybe we get a, maybe when we get a playoff takeover?

Who knows? Who knows? Maybe that won't happen, but that seems like it would be logistically very difficult. I know, I know. We got hookups. We'll see what we're going to happen. Those tickets are in slightly higher demand than Tuesday. Just than a, yeah, than a, you know, whatever. But that's where we'll be. We'll be there, like you said, on Tuesday. So join us for that. Also, if you are checking out the BetMGM app and you are a new user, you can get down on BetMGM's $1,500 first bet offer. You can get it in four easy steps. You download the app on iOS or Android, or you can visit their website at betmgm.com.

You can sign up and deposit at least $10 into your bet MGM sportsbook account, place your first wager and receive up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if the bet loses. And if the bet does lose, your bonus bets will be available once your initial wager is settled. So do this today over at betmgm. Join us, sign up, get down on this. Of course, you can sign up for bet MGM. use bonus code PHNX. Again, deposit that $10 in place your first bet

MGM sports book wager. Receive up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if it loses. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Shane. Talk about the disclaimer. Call 1-800 gambler. Colorado, D.C., Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey,

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U.S. promotional offers not available in D.C., Kansas, Nevada, New York, or Ontario. All right, well, that's all we got. Again, we will see you guys out at the ballpark on September 5th. We'll be out there for the takeover event. We'll be back here for a week. It's two days from now. That's right. In the meantime, we have our Mailbag Monday episode, which may or may not,

have already been recorded in the past. So if we say crazy things about the Baltimore Orioles series that just happened, forgive us. I don't know what you're happening. I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did. But Sean says crazy things on this show all the time. That's why we do this episode so we can talk about him behind his back.

But yet here he is in a chat. So I don't really know what to do. I'm confused today. But 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. Sean is at Sean underscore to pause. Damon is at Damon Dog.

We are Damon's dogs. And Damon's at Damon Dog. That's DAWG. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore D-BACs, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys so much for your time today. We appreciate you stopping by on your Sunday. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it is so much more fun when Pavan isn't playing

first base.