PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Zac Gallen’s scoreless streak ends early as the Rangers down the D-backs in game 1

Episode Date: May 3, 2023

It didn’t take long for the Rangers to put an end to Zac Gallen’s scoreless streak as Texas takes game one of the series over the D-backs by a score of 6-4. In bigger news, Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Brandon Pfaadt will make his major league debut in game two of this series while former top prospect Kristian Robinson has been cleared legally to resume baseball activity. Also, Purple Hair Derek has arrived.WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS HERE: https://www.fubotv.com/phnx SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports Keepin It 100 Golf Scramble: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phnx-keepin-it-100-classic-scramble-golf-tournament-tickets-617328515207 Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Manscaped: Save 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code “PHNX” at Manscaped.com. BetMGM: Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code PHNX (betmgm.com/phnx). Place a pre-game, moneyline wager in the amount of at least $10 on any market at standard odds price. You will receive $200 in Bonus Bets instantly regardless of the outcome of your wager! Just make sure you use bonus code PHNX when you sign up!Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, DC, IL, IN, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA)21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS, NV), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI). Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. US promotional offers not available in DC, Nevada, New York or Ontario.Knockout Nights: Join our cornhole league during the 1st Friday night of every month! They’re free to enter and will include food and beverage specials, giveaways, and BetMGM prizes: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/622016186157Pins & Aces: Check out pinsandaces.com and use code PHNX to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.PHNX: Join us at the BetMGM Sportsbook at State Farm Stadium for all Suns’ away playoff games. Our PHNX Suns watch parties, presented by NUTRL, will feature food and drink specials, PHNX giveaways, and BetMGM deposit matches. Join us by grabbing your free ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/616706063437Circle 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!: Learn more about OGeez! at https://ogeezbrands.com//. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Rotowire: Get your free trial and unlock all the best fantasy sports news and analysis at https://rotowire.com/phnxFour Peaks: Enjoy a refreshing Four Peaks’ Red Bird Lager during the NFL Draft on April 27th. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Roman: Go to https://ro.co/PHNX today to get 20% off your entire first order. 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.

We're going to talk about this Diamondbacks game here in a moment, but we all know what you guys really came here for tonight. It's Purple Hair Derek. I regretting everything, basically. I regret my actions. I regret tweeting, mostly, and committing to this. But if this was the driving force to get the Arizona Diamondbacks to a winning record, April. Can you only imagine what we're going to do in May?

Purple hair. Don't care. Purple rain. Purple rain. Holy crap. Come here to Sarah Roberto and you can have your hair looking as incredible as mine. Look at this. Look at this purple. Look at that purple. Hello and welcome into another edition of the PHNXD Backs podcast. You guys did this to me. I guess I did it to myself, but I am your purple-haired mayor of P. HNX, occasionally known as Derek Montaia. Can we get Jesse back in here?

Let's get Jesse in here. Jesse, why aren't you here with me on this celebratory occasion, buddy? It's purple hair night. I'm not in your league anymore, Derek. Your hair is too amazing. I don't think I think you just deserve this moment all to yourself. It makes a lot of sense, honestly. I mean, right now you're my ego.

and you both couldn't fit in this room with me. So let me tell you, though, I don't mean to pat myself on the back here. I don't mean to, like, get over complimentary, but I'm really liking the purple hair, Jesse. I don't, I don't hate it. I don't hate it. Yeah, honestly, it's way better than whatever you had going on

before dying your hair purple. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. There's the reason you were wearing these hats all the time, right? Like, you weren't proud of. what's under there. But now, I don't think we're going to be seeing Derek Montia wearing so many hats these days. I got a lot of purple wardrobe. I got a purple shirt on underneath here. I got a lot of purple. So,

I mean, it matches. I got clothes to match. Things are looking good for Derek. Maybe not so good for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but we have a lot of excitement coming up. Even though they might not have won tonight, let's talk about it, Jesse. We have we have speculated on it. We have been excited about. We had been titillated by it. But tomorrow the day is here. Brandon Fott will make his major league debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Let's fucking go. What a week on the show, right?

We get purple-haired Derek on Tuesday. We get Brandon Fott's Big League debut on Wednesday. I don't know if it's going to be hard, Derek, for any other week of this season to compete with what we got going on this week. I know. I know. I have to wear this hair to the ballpark on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That alone is going to be just barrels of entertainment. But we do get to see Brandon Fott join the Arizona Diamondback starting rotation,

which is something that we have been waiting for as long as people have been waiting for me to dye my hair purple, maybe even longer, I think. But this is very exciting for us. It doesn't feel real, but let's talk about it. What makes Brandon Fott so exciting as a prospect? Because we did get some comments on Twitter from people that basically, you know, said some negative things, which we understand. Like we're Arizona sports fans. We're never going to be in this very positive state of mind where we think everything is going to go well for us.

We always think that there is going to be something bad coming around the corner. And there have been some questions about why Brandon Fott is so special. I think there's just this general skepticism of DBAX pitching prospects, right? I mean, if you go back over the years, the DBAX best pitchers that they have had, and they have had some like Zach Gallen, who didn't have his best stuff tonight, but it's still been outstanding this season. But those pitchers that have been good for them in recent years have been pitchers that came outside the organization, whether as a free agent signing, as a trade, or whatnot.

So I think DBAX fans just kind of naturally. it's hard for them to buy in to the latest top pitching prospect being called up. And frankly, there have been some guys that people have really gotten excited about over the last couple years with Tommy Henry, Dre Jameson, Ronald Wilson. And yet those guys haven't necessarily been all that great either. So I certainly understand where people are coming from. I think the DeBack's history with this stuff is maybe wounded some people and just made them naturally very skeptical.

But I will say Brandon fought. I'm not going to say that Brandon Fott is the next Max Scherzer or the next, you know, Clayton Kershaw. You know, I think he has a reasonably high ceiling. But what really makes Brandon Fought special is how high his floor is. Like there are, as I said the other day, there are basically no analysts that don't think that Brandon Fought will at least be a solid major league starting pitcher. And there's a lot of value in that, right? And not just that, but a solid major league pitcher who can go deep into games,

who can throw, you know, 200 innings. He's built for that. He's 6 foot 4, 220. He has better size than any D-BAC's pitching prospect we've seen in a while. And his stuff is really good, too. He has, I think he has a more balanced mix than any D-BAC's pitching prospect we've seen in a while. There are, you know, some guys have this one good pitch with Ryan Nelson. It was the four-scene fastball with Dre Jameson.

It was the slider, you know, the sinker was interesting. But Brandon fought you have this mix that just makes sense, right? It's a four-scene fastball that he commands really well. He gets a lot of swing and miss on that pitch. It's a slider that's one of the better out pitches in minor league baseball the last few years and has helped him do historic things in terms of his strikeout numbers. It's a change up that really works well against lefties. And it's a curve ball that helps out in all situations just to keep hitters off balance.

We haven't seen a debacks pitching prospect with this kind of command and that kind of pitching arsenal in quite a while. Uh, Giselle Soto with the, uh, with the chat. I love it. She says, here's to Purple O'Darick and Brandon Fought Day tomorrow. It's a special week. Thank you so much for the super chat. Uh, we thank you guys, uh, for being here. Jacob Franklin in the comment says,

D-backs can certainly use another arm, uh, to carry weight. And that is absolutely true. Not only, uh, could they use another arm to carry weight, but they could use another arm that can give them some quality starts, which right now, they're only able to get out of two sources and they weren't even able to really get that out of Zach Gallen tonight. Zach Gallen was good, wasn't great, and wasn't the Zach Gallen that we saw over a scoreless streak, which is going to happen. The Texas Rangers are a very tough team, and you know, you're going to falter sometimes

against teams that are hitting as well as the Rangers are hitting. To be honest, they're one of the best hitting teams in the league this year. So it's not to take anything away from Zach Gallen, but he definitely wasn't dominant over this team. I will say, though, that the idea of bringing Brandon fought in is a bit scary for one reason. I feel like we've constantly kind of been, you know, looking for that next, you know, kind of young player to come in and help this team. And it feels like we're getting down to the bottom of the barrel. Not to say Brandon fought is the bottom of the

barrel. I mean to say that it feels like outside of Brandon fought and a few other guys that they might start getting light if they still need to continue to go to their minor league system in order to call guys up in order to kind of fix some of these problems. Dominic Fletcher has been excellent since getting called up. So again, they do have talented players that they don't really seem to want to shy away from giving them the opportunity to play at a major league level right now. But Brandon Fott really, you know, it feels like we need Brandon Fought to be good. We need Brandon Fott to be as good as we hope and think he can be. Because if so, this team can be, can be, potentially better than we thought it could be.

Yeah, I mean, with what scouts say about Brandon Fought, I mean, it's not all that hard to envision Zach Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Fott, being one of the better one, two, threes in baseball, right? And even though four and five are a little bit up in the air, you know, hopefully you get Zach Davies back soon. Hopefully Ryan Nelson's able to pick things up. You've got Trey Jameson and Tommy Henry, of course,

in the mix for those spots as well. but that front three for the debacks is pretty good. And I think you just have to hope that Brandon fought tomorrow doesn't put too much pressure on himself. Correct. The debacks, as much as the debacks do in a sense need Brandon fought to be good, they don't need him to be their ace. It'd be great if he was, but they don't need him to be their ace. This guy named Zach Gallen, yes, he had his 28-inning scoreless streak snapped today. But he's still been arguably the best pitcher in the game since,

August of last year. Like, Zach Allen has just been insane. Merrill Kelly has continued to be solid, even if this start to the season maybe hasn't been quite as clean as he's been hoping for. Brandon Faw doesn't need to be a number one and he probably doesn't need to be a number two. But if he can be even a number three starter, you know, who comes out and is durable and is able to get you 180 innings a year. And he's just had a way of getting results. Like you look at his numbers in the minor leagues. It's really incredible, Derek. This. season in AAA. Brandon Fott has a 3.91 ERA, a 1.1 whip. He has a strikeout rate of about 29 percent, a walk rate of about 6 percent, both of which are very, very good. And that 3.91

ERA, remember, we're talking about the Pacific Coast League. So that's outstanding. And Reno. And Reno specifically, right? And like you said, he might not be an ace, but man, they don't need an ace. Zach Gallen is still very much their ace. Merrill Kelly is still very much a solid number two. What they need is a guy that can give them stability outside of those two guys. They need that third pitcher that can come in and offer something similar to what Merrill Kelly is doing, right? Merrill Kelly isn't, you know, blowing you away at times with his stats.

But what we've seen in those last few starts is Merrill Kelly being that same Merrill Kelly that we saw last year, Merrill the mainstay, consistency that he adds to the starting lineup, giving this team just a chance to win every day he's in the, in the lineup or on the mound. That's what they need for Brandon Fott. Somebody that gives them a chance to win every time he's out there on the mound. And, I mean, again, I think the biggest concern is like what you're talking about, putting too much pressure on himself because it does kind of feel like, you know,

you are, you know, the key to the starting rotation. You're the key to the team's success this year. So sometimes that does put a little bit, you know, too much on you. I think this coaching staff has done a tremendous job at acclimating minor leaguers to the big leagues. And that is a reason why I'm fairly confident that he shouldn't have too many issues with overthinking it or putting too much pressure on himself. They've done it with Corby and Carol who had every damn analyst on the planet talking about him being a superstar and a future all-star and a future this and a future of that, right? and somehow that guy was able to block out all of that noise and still be what all of those people expected them to be on the field so far, right? So that's something that this team is very good at.

And that's what this coaching staff was kind of put together for, I feel like. It was put together to be able to handle these minor league kids coming up and becoming big leaguers. I think that's something that they've taken pride in. And the debacks have had a lot of young players debut in the last year, right? I mean, last season it felt like there was a new guy making their big league debut, you know, every every couple weeks toward the end of the season. So this is something they have a lot of experience in. Toro Lavello talks a lot about trying to get young guys to be comfortable right away,

you know, to just try to be themselves and not feel like they have to go out there and, you know, do something crazy right out of the gate. And, yeah, and Brandon Fah, you know, I mean, it might not be immediate, right? Like if Brandon Fogg goes out and struggles a little bit in his first start, like you said earlier, this Texas Rangers offense is good, right? This is not an easy situation for him,

pitching on the road. He's pitching against Andrew Heaney for the Rangers, who's had a solid year so far for them. But yeah, I mean, I think it's a good situation for him. It'll slot in right between Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly, which I know kind of excites people, just the symbolic nature of having technically slotted in as your number two starter.

But yeah, what I really feel more than anything right now, Derek, is just I feel bad for people who have to work tomorrow, you know, who have a day job that doesn't really allow for them to be watching a baseball game in the middle of the day. But maybe, I don't know, can we help with that? Can we come up with some sort of a form that people can give their bosses? Yeah, I can do that. I will write, I will handwrite every.

everybody a note from the mayor of PHNX. We'll just, we'll put it all in caps or something. Maybe they'll just think it's from the mayor of Phoenix. Who knows? People don't keep up on their politicians these days, believe it or not. So there's a very good chance that your boss or whoever is your supervising person at work might not know who the mayor of Phoenix is. So we'll throw out an excuse to get you guys out of work tomorrow and make sure you get to see Brandon Fott's debut. Still, real missed opportunity to not have that be on a Tuesday, Jesse.

because then it would be fought Tuesday. It's unfortunate. They missed Gowan's Bobba Head Day. They miss all these days just by one day. I think his next start would be on a Tuesday because the Debeks have the off day on Thursday. We got a couple times day and we got fought Tuesday. We got some holidays to celebrate.

But I'll tell you, I might throw a little money down on Brandon fought in his debut because I feel that confident about him coming up and having a good outing. and the best place to do that is over at the BetMGM app. They have their signature bets. Of course, the NBA playoffs are crazy right now. Damon and I were talking about how good the rivalries,

how good the matchups are in this round of NBA playoffs and how happy the NBA must be with the way everything worked out because they just have one key matchup after the next. And right now you can bet on all of those key matchups. Each game and market has their own unique set of signature bets. So make sure to check that out over at the Bet, GM app. We also are going to have our PHNX curated in-app bet. So look for a purple hair, Derek, guarantee, maybe coming one of these days. I don't know. We'll see what happens. I'm still messing

my hair because I usually have a hat on. So I don't know what I'm doing, Jesse, but I just want it, in my face. But I will say that, of course, the sports book out at, out at State Farm Stadium, the Bet MGM sports book, we've been having a blast out there. I've been out there for our sons watch parties. We've been having so much fun. We are going to also have our cornhole league, Jesse and I are a dynamic duo. We are Damon's dogs. That's our name. That's what we're going with,

Damon's dogs. And we are going to go out there, and we are going to, I don't know, bark at the competition. We're winning it all. We're winning at all. That's what Damon's saying.

Coach Damon is saying we're winning at all. So you can make sure to join us for our knockout nights cornhole league. It's going to be the first Friday of every month. A bunch of us from PHMX will be out there. There'll be food and beverage specials, giveaways, bet MGM prizes. so much more. So make sure to join us. We'll also have shows broadcast live on site beforehand.

So if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, do that before coming out. Use our bonus code of PHMX. There's a few different offers depending on where you live. But if you are here in Arizona, you will get up to $100 in bonus bets on your first wager with BetMGM. Again, make sure you use bonus code PHNX. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Shane Defenlock. Explain to you the disclaimer. Claimer. 21 plus to wager, visit betmgmgm.com for terms and conditions. U.S. promotional offers not available in Washington, D.C., Nevada, New York, and Ontario.

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Well, we thank you guys for being here on the PHNXports YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed already, make sure to subscribe now. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when we go live or any of the other shows on the network go alive. Also, if you're listening on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there. Leave us a review. We always appreciate your feedback. Tonight's game did not go the Arizona Diamondbacks way, obviously.

Zach Gallen's scoreless streak ended very early in tonight's game. And Gallen wasn't great. He was good, but not great. a pretty damn good Rangers team offensively. Gallon goes five innings giving up seven hits, three earn runs, no walks, and six strikeouts. It's kind of crazy to say that that's not a good, you know, not a great outing.

It's so-so, but I feel like Gallen has set the bar so high that it feels like an outing like this is kind of mediocre by comparison to what we've seen him do. Yeah, he sucked today, right? He was awful. You said it. The way that Zach Gallant, I mean, that is really how it felt, though, right? And there is some truth to, like, I think Gallen was kind of fighting himself a little bit through this game.

It never really felt crisp for him. I know there were stretches where he set down, I think you sit down eight in a row, Texas Rangers at one point. But he never really looked sharp. And, you know, you look at the box court at the end, five innings, three runs, no walk, six strikeouts. That's still pretty good stuff for, you know, a day. when I really don't think Gallen was at all at his best. It is unfortunate to see the scoreless streak end, but as we said previously,

scoreless streaks of, you know, scoreless streaks of like 10 innings are relatively uncommon, even for good pitchers. So, like, the fact that he got to 28 is incredible. The fact that he got to 44 and a third last year, you know, still blows my mind. So I'm not concerned about Zach Gallen, but every starter is going to have days like this,

and he still gave the debacks a chance to win. and they did not lose this game because of him. I don't mean to derail this podcast to talk about my looks again, but Espo compared me to Jared Lato's Joker. And I don't, there's a fucking line that shouldn't be crossed. And I think that's it, right? I mean, I don't have tattooed words on my forehead or anything. But sorry, I'm feeling very self-conscious, Jesse, with this purple hair.

So I got to make sure I address all of this. Bullpen, not great. Like you said, Zach Gallen, eh, not. Not terrible, but just not himself, not what we've seen out of them. But yeah, it's hard to maintain any kind of scoreless streak. So three earn runs still was enough to keep them in the game. Bullpen, unfortunately, could not keep them in the game after that. Scott McGuff is just not, he just gives up the runs at the wrong time, Jesse.

I feel like he gets put into games where they only have a one-run lead, and that's when he gives up his runs. Because outside of that, his numbers aren't nearly as bad as I want them to be, as I want to scream at his baseball reference page about. Like, I want to yell, I want to be angry, and then I don't,

I get confused quickly as to what is going on because opposing hitters are batting just 191 against Scott McGuff. But when they do hit him, it's a two-run dinger that gives them the lead over the Diamondbacks. He's had a nice run. Like Scott McGuff went, like six or seven outings or so without giving up a run entering this game. So he really has pitched pretty well.

I think his season as a whole is still been better than, you know, the 4.91 ERA would maybe suggest. But you're right. He has given up some unfortunate home runs and some in some really bad spots, right? I think everyone's going to remember, well, one of the first games of the season in San Diego, you know, he comes in with a one run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, gives up two home runs.

And that was it, right? the Padres won that came on a walk-off. There was another day where he gave up a costly home run as well. So, yeah, he hasn't always been great in those big situations. But coming in today, I mean, opposing hitters had an OPS of like 500 or 550 against him or something like that. So he really has had a decent season. He just, the long ball has really, really hurt him at times. Ben, in the comments, I'm not even mad at McGuff.

I'm mad at the offense. They had many opportunities to score more runs. And that's the truth. I mean, the Diamondbacks were one for six today with runners in scoring position. Ketel Marte had a solo home run. Christian Walker had a home run. But outside of that, I mean, there wasn't a lot of offense being generated. There wasn't a lot of, again, there wasn't, they had four walks.

So it's not like they didn't walk, but there just wasn't a lot of patience. it felt like at the plate, it didn't feel like they were making Rangers, pitchers work very hard at times. And I know that's kind of a constant, like, cliche I say about this team. But it really does feel like outside of a couple of guys, there's there's not, there's not guys putting together lengthy at bats that are making the opposing pitcher put in that work. Yeah, it's a very, it's a very valid point. I think the first three innings were pretty tough for Jonathan Gray. And then after that he really got into a groove and the Rangers relievers on i know there were a couple walks here and there but on the whole uh they were they were pretty effective and i will also say

the debacks had their chances against will smith in the ninth inning will smith absolutely will smith did not melt down in terms of the box score but he melted down if you look at where some of the pitches were that will smith through the debacks had a couple of balls that that looked like they might be homers off the bat evan long Longoria had a big one at the beginning of the, near the beginning of the ninth inning that looked like it might have tied the game. It was just to the warning track. Emmanuel Rivera got a meatball that he hit,

I think just in front of the warning track. And it was like that throughout Will Smith's outing, honestly. He was throwing sliders right down the middle. There is a sense in which the deback should have at least gotten one run. Like they should have done more against Will Smith based on the pitches he was throwing. And they also had some really good matchups. It was a little. I know Will Smith is their closer, but it was a little gutsy for Bruce Boeci to bring in Will Smith

when the debacks at Evan Longoria, Kattel Marte, and Emmanuel Rivera, three players who are way better against lefties than they are against righties. Debacks still couldn't get it done. Yeah. And I mean, that Emmanuel Rivera shot to the outfield, it looked way better off the bat than it flew. We saw a couple of home runs from the debacks that fall short on the warning track that seemed like they would have been dingers in other ballparks. And that happened to the Rangers, too.

In course field for sure. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They would have had eight home runs tonight in course field. But, I mean, the Diamondbacks do have some roster decisions to make here coming up. We talk about these young guys becoming available. We talk about adding Brandon Fought to the roster, but there are some difficult decisions to make.

And one guy that is not going to seemingly make those decisions any easier is our King Snake of tonight's game. It's the one and only, Dominic Fletcher. Dominic Fletcher, two for three with an RBI and a walk. I think Marte had slightly better night, but this was just more fun to give it to Dominic Fletcher. And he's just been playing excellent baseball. I mean, so far, he has definitely added something significant to the lineup. His at-bats have been good. And to be honest, he seems like he's one of the most engaged players out there when we talk about making the opposing batterers or opposing pitchers work. He was doing exactly that tonight. He's been great. Yeah, I mean, it's only two games, right? But I mean, he's been outstanding. I think he's three for five

offensively so far. He looks really comfortable and confident in right field. There was one moment in the game where he made a really nice play. Alec Thomas was trying to make a play on a ball at the fence. It bounced way off from the fence and way off from where Alec Thomas was. but Dominic Fletcher was perfectly positioned to back him up. So yeah, I really like what I've seen from Fletcher so far. It was also kind of fun on the broadcasting, his parents, and all his family members in attendance at the game. His mom's stories about calling him the monster child, I believe it was.

And he kind of looks, you know, he looks like sort of a max effort guy, and that's what we've seen so far. A funny story about that. My friend texted me. to let me know that his wife, who is from Dubai, was watching tonight's baseball game with him. And apparently when the announcers said that his brother is with the angels,

she thought it meant he had passed away, which is fairly hilarious to me. But yes, his brother, David. That's terrible. I know. Well, it's terrible, but it's also a funny miscommunication. David Fletcher, not having, you know, the success right now. brother is. I believe he's in minor

leagues for the Angels right now. But Dominic Fletcher just continues to be awesome. We me and Damon were quite enjoying the fact that his dad during that interview you brought up was locked in. He was not really interested in being interviewed.

He had a baseball game to watch and I respect it and appreciate it because that's probably how I would be if my kid was out there. He's a baseball dad through and through, right? He has two sons that have played in the big leagues. He means business, right? They didn't get there without him, pal. They didn't get there without him. You know what I mean? But speaking of our favorite kids that we

worry about, still know Corbyn Carroll in the lineup tonight, did not play. When will we see him return to the lineup? Jesse, do you have any ideas? Nick Picoro is out in Texas, and he did write today that Corbyn Carroll's MRI on Monday showed no significant structural damage. there wasn't a whole lot of specifics there, but it seems like it did rule out any kind of significant injury. Tori Lavello, however, according to Nick Bacoro, did not rule out an aisle stint. So he still kind of said, you know, let's wait and see.

So that's still people wondering about the roster move is going to be tomorrow and the debacks do call up Brandon Fought. That's still my guess. I don't know for sure. But I feel like you're not going to rush Corbyn Carroll back and you can retro his IL stint. It's only 10 days, you know, which would only be like a week from now.

And I don't know if the debacks would want to play him a week from now anyway. So I think Tori also said that he wants to get Corby and Carroll out, you know, just kind of testing out his ability to run the bases and make plays in the outfield and make sure they get a good look at him before they put him back in there. I don't think that's happened yet. And I don't think you'll see him in the lineup on Wednesday either. Good to see Brandon fought in our comments tonight, by the way. Brandon, I know you're excited as excited as we are.

And here he is talking about Fletcher being legit. Just no spot for him because of our outfield depth. Canzone is in the same boat. There's a few guys that are in the same boat. But one thing that we can say is that I don't think anybody is safe on the Major League roster, right? We've seen Alec Thomas struggle as of late. I don't foresee Alec Thomas being sent down. But who knows?

I mean, really what it comes down to is the Diamondbacks are going to have to put together a roster and they're going to need to try to put it together with the players that are going to help them win baseball games at this point. They seem more perhaps a bit more dedicated to winning. Maybe they change direction just a bit rather than looking at this season as potentially just an opportunity to get a bunch of the young guys playing time. So I don't know if the patience. I don't know if the leash is going to be as long. I don't know if the patience is going to be there. but with guys like Fletcher playing as well as they are,

with guys in the minor leagues like Canzon playing as well as he's been playing, it's only going to be a matter of time if guys continue to struggle before the Diamondbacks give these other guys an opportunity, especially considering how long some of them have been waiting for their chance at a major league level. But something that was brought up today was like how big we've been on some of our young prospects at times, like Alec Thomas going back to last season,

like Drake Jameson and Ryan Nelson, And I mean, it's happening again with Brandon Fott. We're big on these guys. And I don't first see Nelson, Jameson, or even Alec Thomas, I don't see their struggles as being something that's career-defining in any case. Baseball is a game where guys get sent up, sent down, called back up, sent back down, and it's about developing them and how they come along as major leaguers.

I don't know if all of those pitchers that are struggling right now are going to find their way to the starting rotation, but I do think that they're all going to be of value to this organization. And again, that doesn't mean that they might not get traded away or go elsewhere. But I feel like for now, for the time being, we're going to see Dre Jameson and Ryan Nelson get things back on track. And we're going to see them both add something somewhere, whether it's the bullpen, whether it's the starting rotation, wherever. But again, they have a lot of young talent. And there's going to be a lot of guys getting an opportunity.

We're just excited that Brandon Fott, who seemingly is the best, one of the best pitchers in their organization is finally getting his shot. because he kind of deserved it out coming out of spring training. And even Mike Hazen said that when we were talking to him about five. Yeah, I mean, he did it. I don't know if he went quite as far to say that he, you know, like he deserved it out of spring. Like I don't think Mike Hazen walked back going with Ryan Nelson. No, not at all.

No, I think he was ready since spring training. Like there's been no doubt from from their perspective, from a front office perspective, that he's ready to be a major league pitcher. It's just about finding him that opportunity and that, I guess, that spot when it was time to call on him. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of people, including honestly myself, who would make the case that Brandon Fought probably should have gotten that opportunity out of the gate, right? That like Brian Nelson for as great as he was last year and as good as he's looked at times, especially early in the season, Brandon Fought is just a more complete picture. or at least seems to be a more complete pitcher. I don't want to go too far since we haven't seen him actually pitch in a game yet.

But yeah, there's a case to be made that the debacks might have left something on the table by not going with Brandon Fott from the outset. And you can bet, Derek, if Brandon Fott comes out tomorrow and, you know, for the rest of this season and is the pitcher that a lot of people think he's going to be, everyone is going to look at the decision at the beginning of the season as a mistake, right? Like, you have this, you had this pitcher who looks like he might be. your third best pitcher this season and you just let him sit in AAA for a month. You know, maybe that doesn't change your fortunes in that many games, but could it have made

the difference in a couple of them? Probably. And that's along with Madison Bumgarner, you know, having a little bit of a longer leash, making those four starts at the beginning of the season. Those are the kinds of things that you look back on at the end of the year. You feel like you might have left some wins on the table. Well, not starting Brandon Fott out of the gate could be considered our OG's performance to forget. And that's just something that we throw out there whenever we think that bad decisions were made, bad decisions that you don't want to remember.

So a great way to do that is with our friends from OG's brands who always have a way to not remember bad performances. They also can make you just enjoy life a little bit better. They're all about flavoring life. They have a wide variety of doses and strains available in their edibles. They also have specific additions of their gummies. including their sleep edition gummy to help you get some great sleep at night and their happy balance gummy if you have stuff to do, but you just want to be in a good mood while you do it.

You can find them at your local dispensary at OGsbrands.com. Must be 21 years or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. You can also check out our friends at Four Peaks. Another great way to get over a loss like tonight or bad decisions that were made at the beginning of the season. You can follow them at Four Peaks Brew and at Four Peaks Pub to get all the latest on their, all of their events. And D-Bex fans, we got something special for you. There is something Four Peaks is introducing called the Four Peaks Four Seats,

where one lucky winner will get four seats to an upcoming Diamondbacks game. Tickets come with D-Bucks, which, as you know, are like Disneyland dollars. You can use them at Chase Field for all of your food and for also grabbing yourself some ice-cold wow wheat or hop-knot. You can enter by going to Four Peaks brew on Instagram, and the link will be in the bio. We're also helping our teachers out because teachers appreciation week starts next week on May 8th. Thank a teacher like Jesse. Jesse used to be a teacher.

He's a retired teacher now. He teaches me every day. So I don't know if he's a retired teacher. But you can thank a teacher and nominate them to win grants, Four Peaks Swag, and a grand prize of a custom makeover of their teachers lounge at school. And we got to hook up our teachers. So make sure to go to Four Peaks for Teachers.org to nominate a teacher. or to donate. Check out Four Peaks Brewer, Four Peaks Pub to keep up with the latest at Arizona's

hometown brewery. Must be 21 years or older to drink four peaks and please drink responsibly. Shout out to Four Peaks for this hazy IPA that I'm drinking in honor of my hair being purple. But there's another thing I'm drinking in honor. Brandon Fott isn't the only top Arizona Diamondbacks prospect who has some exciting news surrounding him. A name that some of you may have forgotten, Christian Robinson. may finally be back on track to play baseball for the Diamondbacks organization. And Jesse, I know you have more on that. You talk to Josh Barfield a bit on it.

And what is going on with Christian Robinson and his legal issues that have been preventing him for play baseball? It's complicated, man. This whole situation is very complicated. But as I tweeted out yesterday, the Diamondbacks have reinstated Christian Robinson from the restricted list, which paves the way for him to play. minor league games for the first time since September 2nd of 2019. It has been nearly four years since Christian Robinson played in his last minor league game. If you don't know the full story, you can Google it.

There's a whole bunch of stuff on the internet about what happened. But basically, Christian Robinson had an altercation with a police officer back in 2020. And it's been a long winding road for him not being a U.S. citizen trying to be able to work again in situations that, you know, he's been able to play extended spring training games out at Salt River Fields, but he hasn't been able to play in games where people are actually paying to attend. And obviously, that's a significant obstacle for any minor league or trying to make their way up to the big leagues. His altercation with a police officer resulted in a felony. And with having a felony, he cannot have a visa to basically work in the United States.

And that includes playing baseball, right? So his case was deemed a misdemeanor, which we knew that that was one of the potential courses of action, but it was taking a while. And it was also very complicated in the way that he had to basically do community service and other things that was requested of him by the court in order to get that felony change to a misdemeanor. And that wasn't exactly easy for him at times, considering at one point he wasn't able to come back into the country in order to. to complete some of those requirements. But as of now, it seems like things at least are back on track for Christian Robinson. We had some more from Josh Barfield. Jesse, what did Josh Barfield had to say here?

Yeah, this is, I asked Josh Barfield just about, Barfield's the DeBacks Farm Director, for those who might not know, I asked him just about what this has been like for Christian Robinson mentally. You can only imagine what this has been like for him. Obviously, he made a mistake a few years ago. but I can't imagine what this has been like just, you know, going through this and being stuck in this limbo situation for the last few years. So here's Josh Barfield about how Christian Robinson has handled this whole thing.

You know, this has been a really difficult process from start to finish. It's been a long process. Like I said, this goes back all the way to 2020. And, you know, I think he's grown a lot over the period. You forget how young he is and he's so young and going through the pandemic and all that. while going through this and not being able to go out there and play the game of baseball. And look, we know that he put himself in this situation, but at the same time, I think he's very apologetic.

He's learned a lot. He's, you know, I think to see where he is now, even where he was about a year ago, just from the mental standpoint, he's come a long way. He's got the, he's got the smile, his joy back. You know, for a while there, it was, he wasn't the same Christian, understandably going through all this. that I think now being around the guys knowing that he's, there's light at the end of this tunnel,

and that he can be able to play very soon. And he seems to be in a really good place. And he was very excited when he got that news. And that's the biggest smile I've seen on his face in quite some time. That's all great to hear. It's so great to hear him say that and talk about him smiling, talk about him just being in such a better place. Obviously, from what we know of the incident,

that it was kind of a mental health issue. And, you know, I mean, the entire, he was kind of having a mental breakdown. And like, it's, we all, we all were in 2020, right? Oh, exactly. Exactly. And it's wild how sometimes one breakdown that we have. Like, I, look, man, I've, I've had moments that I'm not proud of. I think we all have. But like, sometimes it's weird when when those moments can happen or what can bring them on right and just it's it's something that can literally change the course of someone's life in this case yeah we're talking about an altercation change literally changing the course of a man's life a man who was

once the top prospect for this organization jesse yeah and and the debacks still view him very highly. I also asked Josh Barfield just about, you know, what, what excites you guys about him as a player? Barfield talked about an incident during spring training, which Christian Robinson was a participant at. We had some pictures on our social account of Christian Robinson over the course of spring training. And Barfield talked about a batting practice session featuring Davidson de los Santos, Christian Robinson, and Kyle Lewis. So three of the guys who have as much raw power as you're going to find in this organization. And Josh went on and on about how Christian Robinson showcase something pretty incredible

being with those guys and was just absolutely destroying the baseball to all fields. But yeah, it's it's weird, Derek. I mean, he's 22 now, which is still relatively young. It's a little bit old for a guy who's going to start in low A by Celia. That's what the debacks have said. That's where they're going to send Christian Robinson. I should also say Robinson had a hamstring injury in spring training. So he's actually working his way back from that right now.

The debacks are trying to get him on a rehab assignment in order to just get him some opportunity. And that rehab assignment would also allow them to put off making a 40-man roster move. As of right now, the debacks have 30 days where they have to activate Christian Robinson. and when they do, that's when they'll have to make a 40-man roster move. He's been on the restricted list. So even though he's been on the 40-man, he hasn't actually counted against that number. So they're in this waiting game right now trying to figure out if Major League Baseball will approve a rehab assignment, which would delay when they have to make that roster move a little bit further out.

But either way, within 30 days, it appears you're going to see Christian Robinson playing affiliated baseball down in Visalia. That's exciting. But I'm also concerned. I think the Diamondbacks are going to have a lot of time. tough roster moves to make ahead. They have a lot of guys that they want to be part of this 40-man roster. And I mean, there's some guys that are currently on the 40-man roster that I'm not sure

when we're going to see them like Blaze Alexander and a few others. But the Diamondbacks definitely have some tough decisions to make one way or another. So it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out for them, especially considering, you know, the fact that they are trying to, they're trying to compete in a tough NL West, where they have dropped down the second place behind the Dodgers. And of course, we've talked about May. We've talked about how easy the schedule is ahead for the Diamondbacks, but it's also kind of equally easy ahead for the Dodgers.

They kind of play a lot of the same teams we do in this month. So it's going to be tough. The Diamondbacks are going to have to continue to win, and they're going to have to continue out to figure out a way to get the best players on the roster and balance this entire situation out. but Brandon fought, that's exciting. Can't wait for that. Christian Robinson, that's even more exciting because like Connor said in the chat,

he said, I was shocked to see K Rob is still only 22. No shit. Like, for real, like with all of that guy has been through, with all, with how much time has passed, he's still very young and has a real opportunity to get things back on track, you know. One thing I do want to talk about real fast while we're talking about Christian Robinson's situation and the month of May is that May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. And I want to say to everybody out there that I'm not great. And it's okay to not be great. It's okay to not even be good at times.

But Derek, your hair is purple. What more can you want? I'm digging the hair. I'm feeling the hair. But sometimes I'm not feeling the feelings. You know what I mean, Jesse? So I just want to make sure everybody knows that, you know, there's help for you out there. make sure that you don't feel like anything that you're going through isn't worth someone's time.

Kevin Smith, the writer, director, clerk, small rats, all of that, friend of Megaran. He put out an incredible video about kind of like a breakdown he had and how valuable his time that he spent with mental health professionals was. And I mean, again, these are the kind of thing when you talk about what we're all going through, when you talk about being an athlete and the pressure that these guys have put on them, especially when there's something like a top prospect for a baseball organization. It's not easy. So just make sure to know that we here at the PHNXDBACs podcast are absolutely with you. We are here for you.

And of course, there are people here for you as well. So make sure that if you're going through anything, that you make sure to understand that there is nothing too big or too small. There is no trauma too big or too small for you to not find help for. So make sure you guys are taking care of yourself. We lost Jerry Springer, and one thing that he used to say is be good to yourself and each other, right? So got to be good to each other, but you also got to be good to yourself. So make sure to do that this month and make sure to think about that this month.

It's not always an easy time for everybody. So we thank you guys, though, so much for you guys being here with us. And we're very thankful that Christian Robinson is not only through all of this, but he's also getting past these legal issues and can once again be a part. of this Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Hopefully we get to see him do big things. But more, sooner than that, we have Brandon fought on the mound tomorrow. So that's going to be a whole lot of fun to watch and make sure that if you need that note

that you hit me up, I'll write to you, I'll handwrite it and scan it or something. I don't know. I'll send you a picture on my phone. I'm realizing, Derek, that Drew Jones is hurt right now. He had a quad injury. I don't think he's going to be out too long. But when he comes back and Christian Robinson, you know, officially is activated and starts games in Vysalia, they're going to have Drew Jones playing center field and Christian Robinson probably playing right field every day for the Vysalia Raha'i, which is going to be really fun.

It's just going to be a really, the rawhide have had a rough go the last couple years. They haven't won a lot of games. But those two are about as exciting as any duo you'll find at the lower levels of the miners, even if it takes both of them really a little bit of time, right? Drew Jones is coming out of high school. Christian Robinson hasn't regularly faced live pitching in almost four years. Like you're not necessarily expecting to come out and have a 950 OPS from the get-go. Very true. But it's going to be a lot of fun to watch those two.

Arizona Diamondbacks come back home this weekend. They have the nationals. And then I think they, who they have after the nationals, Jesse? I think Brandon Fott will still will be pitching here in Arizona, right? against Marlins, actually, next Tuesday. So they got the Marlins, and then the Giants. We got our takeover event coming on May 11th. You can join us for that takeover event.

We have all sorts of what. You can get the takeover season pass here is all about games that we got coming up, including that game against the Giants on May 11th at 6.40 p.m. We got our takeover season pass, which, of course, get that shirt as well as the remaining takeover tickets. So check that out. That is now available at a discounted price, now that there's only $1,000. five games as part of it.

Join us for all of that. And if you need tickets to this weekend's game, make sure to check out our friends at GameTime. GameTime.com has you covered with the cheapest tickets at the last minute. Procrastinators, we got you covered. Of course, it's the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason. And that reason is they offer you the cheapest tickets you can find. Snag the tickets without the stress with GameTime.

Download the GameTime app, which is very aesthetically pleasing. Create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your. first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. And of course, grab some furniture. If you're going to watch the games from home, grab yourself a recliner with the USB ports and it goes back and it has another second TV that comes out of the arm and maybe a refrigerator on the side. I don't know. They are making advancements in technology every day that I can't keep up with. But you can find some amazing stuff over at morefurniture.com.

and you can have it delivered with their white glove delivery service that we got with our office furniture. So, of course, make sure to save big on the best furniture in the valley when you head to more furniture.com and send Jesse's suggestions for stuff that an adult should have in his house and not just a bunch of chase lounges. I bet Jesse wants one of those like hand chairs, I bet. You all think I'm the weird one. But to be honest, when I hear some of his furniture choices, I think I'm not the weird one anymore as I sit here with my purple hair staring at myself. I asked him to go, Jesse, with a natural shade of purple. And I think he really nailed it. I was like, don't go too over the top with it.

But I hope the Diamondbacks are happy with this. I hope Lourdes Gourrielle is happy with this. This is all his fault. He did this to me. And I hope Jake McCarthy is somewhere smiling as well. So a big shout out to the Diamondbacks for making me do this and having a winning record. Big shout to all of you for joining us. Thank you guys so much for being here.

Follow us on Twitter. I'm at Kapp underscore Kame. with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You got anything else for the people, Friedman, before we go?

Well, I just want to know what you're going to do if the debacks have an above 500 record in May, right? That's natural. They're going to have to do a little more than go above 500 in May. We'll have to talk about that on our next episode. That's fair.

Maybe a tattoo is on its way. I know there's been a lot of talk about me permanently marking myself. We know that the hair dye is eventually either going to fall out or wash out, but tattoos are forever. So we'll see what we can make happen. But in the meantime, we thank you guys so much for joining us. We appreciate your time. On behalf of Damon, Jesse, and myself, we love you and you thank you for being here. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you got the purpose.

hair let's go