Did Arizona Diamondbacks’ Season Just Die at Hands of Los Angeles Angels WALKOFF?!

Did Arizona Diamondbacks’ Season Just Die at Hands of Los Angeles Angels WALKOFF?!

Well, that might be it. The toughest moment of the Dback season. And where’s Derek Montia? Nowhere to be found. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Welcome on in to the PHNX Dbacks show. I am your host Damon Frell. Damon Dog of course with my guy Kevin Thomas as always my right-hand man on the ones and twos. And uh folks, we lost to Heartbreaker tonight. The Arizona Diamondbacks lose six to five to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of uh you know the greater California area. Um and of course uh it was a heartbreaker. It was an absolute heartbreaker. If you are here in the chat ready to hang out with us on this Friday night postgame L edition, uh God help your soul. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Like this video. Subscribe to the channel. Uh, I of course mention off the top, no Derek Montia. He’s he’s, you know, sipping on a margarita or some sort of rum drink uh in on a beach in Puerto Rico. Um, but I do have my guy Jesse Freriedman with me here ready to go. Uh, live from Texas where me and Kevin just got back from uh at a conference that he is attending and uh braving the elements of a very very late night Jesse Freriedman. I think Derek got out like like just in time, right? I mean, he clearly sensed that this team was about to kind of crash and burn and he was like, “All right, this is the time that I need to go back to Puerto Rico and visit my homeland and, you know, reconsider my life.” Uh, it’s not it’s not over officially, Damon. Uh, though, you know, any anything along those lines, I’m going to declare that a little bit hyperbolic even now, but the Diamondbacks are also six games out of the wild card, and things are certainly not looking good for them at this point. Yeah, this was uh this was a devastating one and and definitely feels like uh one that you know may carry some weight moving forward when you’re talking about you know what this team could be doing in the foreseeable future. Uh Jay Cuddy says it, Derek New uh Ryan H says Derrick is is petting iguanas. Jesse, you know, I I I think that you’re 100% right. Derek time this up. He did this on purpose and everybody blamed Derek. Hashtag blame Derek. I think we’re back. I think we’re back. Yeah. I mean, that’s been a refrain on uh the PHXDbacks podcast for a number of years now. You you really can’t go you really can’t go wrong going in that direction. I do see a hashtag blame Jesse Freriedman in the chat, which I’m going to try my best to ignore. I know my track record being a guest on postgame shows around here is not exactly the best. Uh but I you know what Damon at at the end of the day you’re watching this game and you’re seeing a team in theoretically a a postseason chase you know at least doing their best to try to get themselves in the mix and just watching the the names coming out of this bullpen is a little bit startling. I mean and it’s not to say that Anthony Dcliffani pitched poorly in this game. actually was very very good and is a is a big reason the Diamondbacks stayed afloat in this game. But if you had told anyone a few months ago that you know in the eighth inning of a of a really close game where you’ve actually gotten some decent length out of your starters recently, you know, you’re you’re pitching Anthony Davani in the eighth inning. Like that’s not that’s not exactly where you want to be. Uh and again, Dcliffani to his credit actually was really good in this game. He is by no means the the reason the Diamondbacks lost. Far from it. Um but you know, obviously a tough moment there for Kyle Bakus in in the ninth inning. And another game where the Diamondbacks just all around did not pitch particularly well and and of course that that started with Ryan Nelson just not having the kind of outing that we’re used to seeing from him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I I think um we’re in a difficult place as Diamondbacks fans right now because ultimately when anything goes wrong like the way that this team has been playing recently, especially along the stretch, right? Because it felt like the Diamondbacks escaped their really difficult stretch of this season being at 500 and then they opened up an easier stretch of their season in this last month or so. And you wanted them to take big advantage of playing the the Rockies and the White Socks and the Marlins and the Royals and all these teams. And what do they do? They seemingly play worse baseball almost uh once they hit that that easier part of their schedule. And that falls, you know, for mo many people that falls on the manager. And and you know, that’s it’s a trickle down effect, right? And I’m always a defendatory guy. I’m always a, you know, I I I don’t like to do the like whole like let’s question every single move. But I’ll be honest, man, some of some of these ones were a little bit puzzling to me. I mean, you hear the broadcast talking about it. I don’t know necessarily, I didn’t look into exactly what arms were fresh and what not in the bullpen, but I do know, as you stated, like there has been some length out of this starting pitching recently for this team. Um, Kyle Bakis, you know, going up against a bunch of right-handers, uh, some of the the better hitters in that Angels lineup. Uh, Dfani, as you mentioned, like wasn’t the reason the Diamondbacks lost tonight, but him pitching like 60 pitches is is pretty crazy to me. Um, and he did allow a few base runners here and there and then, uh, you know, it was just it I honestly like you don’t pinch run for Catel as Sean points out in the in the chat here. Um, it it was just a a lot of puzzling decisions and I feel like a culmination of a lot of puzzling decisions recently. What did you see from from the bullpen decisions tonight from Tory Lavalo? I mean, I I think there are certainly days with this team where you could you could wonder about Tori’s bullpen usage, and you know, I I there have certainly been decisions he’s made this year that I haven’t agreed with that I just didn’t really think made sense. I’m not sure that today is is a day where I would go in that direction. I mean, Dfani pitched three scoreless innings. He put up three zeros. Uh, you know, I mean, Kendall Graveman just off the injured list. He gave up a run, but you, you know, I mean, he’s theoretically someone that that you have some trust in. Like, this is a guy the Diamondback signed going into the year hoping that he’d at least be able to fill a lowleverage role and maybe even more than that given the volume of injuries that this team has taken on. And Kyle Bakas has pitched really well uh for this team this season as well. and and you know like someone like Luis Rango, he’s a switch hitter who actually has been worse against lefties than righties. And of course they they pinch it brought in Kevin Newman to get the the advantage there before that. So, you know, I I don’t really have a ton of criticism for Tory Lavell’s bullpen management tonight. I think ultimately the Diamondbacks just kind of I I don’t want to say they lost because of Ryan Nelson, but this obviously was a pretty rough outing from him. He didn’t set them up for success only being able to cover four innings and the offense had some opportunities and just wasn’t quite able to do enough. Yeah, this game felt like a big game of just missed opportunities really for me at at the end of the day. like um unfortunately two of two of these big missed opportunities in a way kind of revolve around uh my sweet sweet Heraldo Purdomo where you know if he has five more feet on that on that fly ball that fly out to to left or to right center field that he hit um in in that top of that ninth inning. Like this is an entirely different ballgame, right? if if uh Logan O’Hap gets called out on that steel attempt um which you know was a very very confusing situation um you know this is a completely different ball game and it it really feels like along I know that’s how I’m sure a lot of losing baseball teams talk about their seasons right but it really feels like everything is going against this team right now you go back to that Padres’s game where there’s two robbed home runs and you lose one zero with Mel Kelly throwing a gem. Like it just I can’t help but just feel like that this has been such a just demoralizing couple of weeks here for Diamondbacks fans. And I think that’s where it comes in of like is this truly it for this team? Is it is it done? Is that is this the end of the season? Because not only are they losing games right now, but they are losing games in tragic tragic fashion. Damon, my my hard-hitting analysis on this is that sometimes, some years, the baseball gods are just against you, and there’s just nothing that you can really do to overcome them. You know, they’re they’re vicious beasts. You you know, it’s not easy to change their minds. And uh and that’s kind of what it’s felt like at times this year for this team. You mentioned the other day where Mel Kelly just throws an absolute gem and you lose because the Padres’s somehow rob two home runs. something that I was actually at the game that night and talking to people after it. No one on the Padres’s side or the Diamondback side had ever seen anything like that before. Like the odds of having two home runs that you even two home run balls that you even can rob in one game is very unlikely. You know, most most home runs are not, you know, kind of right there in that tweener zone where you could actually try something like that. So, it’s moments like that. It’s yeah that that moment during the game today I believe it was the fifth inning where Logan Hoppy appeared to be out at second base but Heraldo Purdomo was called for blocking his path to the base. It’s a newer a newer rule that MLB has introduced here in the last few years and I think there’s a little bit of gray area there. Purdomo of course did not seem to be happy with that call. It’s a little bit hard to assess like, you know, was he just there because the ball led him there or was he occupying that space sooner than he had to. It’s not reviewable. So, the Diamondbacks couldn’t really do anything about it. Um, but yeah, those, you know, those are the kinds of situations that it has felt like just anecdotally have kind of been going against this team for most of this year. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s it’s just been, you know, you say the baseball gods, but it it really truly does feel that way sometimes. And that’s baseball, right? Like that’s a couple bounces change the the course of an entire season. But another, you know, aspect of this entire season if we’re truly going to talk about and dissect what what’s really been going on. Um, the Diamondbacks have had 31 different pitchers so far this year. Uh, you know, not to say that the Angels have some stud pitching staff on the other end, but they read a stat on the broadcast tonight that the Angels are only the third team in MLB history to have all five of their starters that they had on opening day still be their five starters by the All-Star break. Literally, my mind is blown. I didn’t know that that was possible. I definitely didn’t know that that that was a thing that was happening this year. And my god, could you imagine could you imagine if that was the position that the Diamondbacks were in how different that this season could possibly look? Yeah, it is it is a pretty startling thought. I mean, it’s also telling that the Angels are still a couple games below 500, even though they they I mean, I guess they’ve had some injuries on the position player side, but they’ve they’ve made out certainly better than the Diamondbacks have this year. And and yeah, I mean, it it just is one of those things where some years you’re going to have good injury luck, frankly. And the Diamondbacks have had that at times like 2023 there were there were injuries but by and large the most important players on that team stayed healthy right I mean namely Zack Gallon and Mel Kelly both pitched the entire season that year and were very effective and their key position players stayed pretty healthy that year as well. It’s so important and I know that teams and and players don’t ever want to use injuries as an excuse and I think we all can appreciate that, but at the end of the day, it has an outsized impact on on your season. And everyone goes through some injuries. You’re you’re certainly not going to expect nothing. But what the Diamondbacks have gone through this year, I mean, that that number of 31 pitchers that they’ve used before the All-Star break is is just absurd. And it’s the reason that Anthony Dclavani is having to throw three innings in the middle of a close game like this. You know, it’s the reason that the Diamondbacks have multiple long relief types in in the bullpen currently. And the back end of the bullpen is is completely, you know, not not well defined at all. And and of course, Corbin Burns is is probably the best pitcher on this team. And we haven’t seen him for for more than a month now. Yeah. Sean makes a a funny comment here in the chat. says, “Damon, can you have Kevin mute your mic so that you can rage with obscenities?” It’s funny you mentioned that, Sean, because I said to Kevin right before we went live here, uh, we were we were sitting I was getting some of the stuff ready to go and I said to Kevin, “It’s times like this that makes me sick that I can’t just go on a a absolute curse word tirade on our postgame show because I am not happy right now.” And uh it’s been a long day and the Dbacks kept me up later and then they freaking lost to a not good baseball team. Long week, good point. And I am definitely not happy right now. So Sean, you have no idea how bad I want that, brother. Maybe we will do that at some point of the show. Um but yeah, we’ll we’ll we’ll we will get that out later in the show because I’m going to need that a little bit later. I think that for right now, I’m going to try to stay as on track as I possibly can. just because uh you know I don’t know how much I don’t know how much more I got in me brother. I gota I gotta give you you know 40 minutes of of just good solid straight line you know Diamondback’s postgame show and then we’ll get into we’ll get into the craziness in in the later aspects of the show. But um getting back to this game, one of the notable performances that we absolutely have to talk about is is Randall Gritick, who of course has been seeing a lot more playing time with with Pavin Smith on the mend. And uh you know, it’s it’s seemingly been for the better, I guess, or I mean, maybe not the right way of saying it, but Randall Gritic has been definitely performing and and you know, has his best game in a while tonight. Um, I guess just what what do you see from Randall Grick and uh do you think that this is a guy that can help this team kind of get out of this funk? It’s been a really weird year for Gritic in that, you know, last season he actually was pretty good against righties. And so some people were wondering like, oh, maybe we should be giving Randall Grick more of a full-time role. And then this year, the Diamondbacks bring him back for essentially the same role that he had last year, where you figure he’s really just gonna play against lefties the majority of the time. And uh this year, he’s been better against righties than than lefties. Actually, to the point where he hasn’t been good against lefties at all. Uh coming into this game tonight, Gishik had a 658 OPS against lefties, which is a pretty big problem when this is supposed to be like one of your, you know, I mean, this is a guy who’s had a 900 OPS against lefties for several years in a row at this point. So, it was really good to see Gishik kind of bounce back in that way. Hit two home runs against left-handed pitchers, of course, and Tyler Anderson and Reed Demmer’s. He’s a really important part of this team with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. And the Diamondbacks have started to see more of those uh all of a sudden. It felt like they they went quite some time without like ever seeing a lefty. Uh but now they’re they’re starting to see them more often. And that coupled with the Pave Smith injury, as you me mentioned, means that Randall Griick is getting a whole lot more playing time and uh he’s he’s struggled lately. But maybe this is the kind of a turning point in in his season. Yeah. Uh, no. I I mean I I I think there definitely was a time where it felt like that they played, you know, 25 starters in a row. Um, and I think that might just be my my Pav Smith uh, you know, very like-minded brain or oriented brain, I guess I should say. Uh, that is that was feeling that way. But, um, I love to see a little bit more Randall Gritic in the lineup. Um, and and before we go any further, I do want to say that this show is brought to you by our presenting sponsors, which are Bet365 and Game Time. Download the Bet 365 app today, and use promo code PHNX365 when you sign up and get $20 off your first purchase on Game Time with code phnx uh when using that app as well. I used Game Time when I went to Petco Park, Jesse, uh, last week on Sunday, the the the house that Jesse Freriedman built. Now that you’re out there in in San Diego, you were at you were at Petco Park on Sunday and you didn’t tell me, Damon. I’m kind of I was I was I I should have hit you up. You know what, Jesse? Honestly, it’s kind of an adjustment period for me that you even live there now. Like I I just it’s forever in my heart. I’m like, Jesse Freriedman lives at his townhouse in North Scottdale, and I’ll go over there whenever I need to see him, and I’ll walk into his living room, and he’ll have pizza in there for for your boy. Uh, but no, it’s sad. Sadly, that is not the case anymore. Although I am happy for you because that city rocks, man. I I can’t get over how much I love San Diego. Every time I go, all I can think about is, you know, I think I could do it. I think I could just live here. I think I could do it. And then and then I and then I drive back home to Arizona every time. Uh, you know, as as most of us do. But uh excited for you, my man. We will talk more about this game and and about the the pitching performances that we saw tonight. Uh we’ll do that right after the break here on the PHNX Dback show. But first, I want to talk about branded Bills. Branded Bills, the absolute premium headwear of not just the valley, anywhere because they are going worldwide. Everybody, uh I was out at Big 12 media day. I saw an Oklahoma State retro logo branded Bills hat and I shouted out the guy wearing it. I said that is a snazzy looking Branded Bills hat there, my guy. And uh he then we we then went on to speak and talk about partnerships and all this kind of stuff. I told him that Brandon Bills was a sponsor of ours and he said, “Man, do I love a good Brandon Bills hat and I said, “Boy, do I love the same.” They’re the most comfortable hats I own. Uh the campus collection is unbelievable stuff. You got all your Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sundevils, uh, Grand Canyon, NAU, you name it, man. Tennessee, all the SEC schools, all on Branded Bills on as a part of their campus collection. And if you use our promo code of BBPHNX, you will get 15% off your first order. So, head to branded bills.com and use that promo code of BBPHNX for 15% off your first order. Another fine sponsor of ours uh that we would love to get let you guys talk about or let you guys hear about today is Shady Rays because Shady Rays uh has the absolute best process for buying sunglasses in the business. They have their their uh protection policy plan that is going to make sure that if you lose your sunglasses, if you break your sunglasses, you can just hit up their support team and they’re going to send you a brand new pair. Uh no questions asked. It’s that simple. Have you ever heard of anything like that, Kevin? I know that you and I are the kings of breaking and losing sunglasses. So, a a protection policy, a lost and broken protection policy like they have at Shady Rays is is something that you can’t turn your nose up at. I mean, I’m just on this planet losing things until I eventually lose my life. 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Well, Jesse, uh, you know, Ryan Ryan Nelson has been unbelievable as of late, right? And, you know, it was it was, uh, it’s been a stretch where he’s really been the Diamondback’s ace kind of dating back to really the latter portions of last season, right, where he he was pitching um, you know, pretty unbelievably and very unexpectedly, I would argue, as well. But, you know, after after his one earned run performance against the Royals in seven innings, six and two/3 with two earned against the Giants, five innings pitched with one earned against the the White Socks, five and two/3s with one earned against the the Blue Jays. I mean, he had been on a nice stretch there of of really really good outings. Um, ended up giving up four in the first inning of this one. Looked like it was going to be a disaster. Then he settles in a little bit more and uh ends up pitching a pretty solid game all things considered with with the way that that first inning went. What did you see from Ryan Nelson tonight? He he really was on quite a run coming into tonight as you said. I mean I think it’s a 1.53 erra uh over his last five starts which is just unbelievable the way he’s been pitching lately. And then, you know, after giving up four earned runs in his last three starts combined, he gives up four earned runs in the first inning tonight. Uh, and it was a it was a pretty pretty rough frame for him. His pitch count was was up over 30. He was he was really laboring. Um, it felt like he didn’t The fast ball is just such an important pitch for Ryan Nelson and his command of that pitch was not quite what we’re used to seeing. He he made several big mistakes right over the middle of the plate. And even though that pitch has some good life on it, it is gonna, you know, it is gonna get hit every once in a while if he leaves it right in the middle of the zone. And then he also just was not able to get the swing and miss up in the zone with the fast ball that we’re used to seeing. There was not a lot of chase really on any of his pitches tonight. Um, and then he, you know, you look at some of his secondary pitches, he didn’t get a whiff on anything other than a four seamer and a cutter. uh and and he doesn’t need a ton of whiffs on those pitches, but he wasn’t really getting much value out of any of them at all. And when the fastball command isn’t there, the whole thing just just doesn’t really function right for someone like Ryan Nelson. Yeah, I mean, it’s an interesting point, right? And uh I don’t mean to put you on the spot necessarily because I know that if you had the complete and utter answer to this, you’d probably be working uh for a major league baseball team getting paid, you know, millions of dollars. But what do you think happens from, you know, a stretch like that for Ryan Nelson where his fast ball is so effective and and it is getting that swing and miss and he is locating it up in the zone the way that he wants to to a performance like tonight where it kind of just falls off immediately? Like, do the Angels just have the right game plan and and know what’s coming? Because that’s the part that I guess is confusing to me. Everybody kind of knows what’s coming with Ryan Nelson. It’s not necessarily a secret. He’s not one of these pitchers that has a massive arsenal that goes out there and, you know, you really could see a bunch of different types of pitches. Like, you know, you’re getting that fast ball. You know, you’re getting it up in the zone. What could be a a differentiator from having a a good five, six game stretch like he did to struggling in the first inning like he did tonight? It’s It’s hard to say for sure. I I’m not sure. I’m curious what Ryan Nelson himself would say was maybe the difference for him. Maybe there’s something mechanical that didn’t feel right uh in in this game. That’s that’s unfortunately a little bit above my pay grade. I can say though that, you know, you just look at the very first batter of the game and I think it kind of tells the story. Ryan Nelson’s first pitch tonight was a fast ball that was like a foot outside. I mean, it wasn’t even remotely close. And then his second pitch of the game was a fast ball that was right down the middle and Zach Neto, you know, made it look fairly effortless just hitting a solo home run to get the scoring started for the Angels. So, yeah, it’s it’s one of those things where I I don’t think any major league pitcher, no matter how good they are, you’re not going to have your your A+ command all the time. And for Ryan Nelson, the difference between him having that top level command that he has recently and having subpar command is enormous because he’s so dependent on the fast ball that there’s just isn’t, you know, a lot of other great pitchers in the league, they have other ways to get you out. Like, all right, if this pitch isn’t working, let me see if this pitch is working for me. Ryan Nelson doesn’t really have that. And so if his normally excellent fastball command isn’t there, it’s like, well, this might just kind of be a rough one. And to his credit, he hung in there and was able to put up a few zeros after that rough first inning, but he obviously didn’t pitch very deep into the game. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it wasn’t his uh, you know, greatest performance tonight, but you do see the bullpen kind of get in there and and step up a little bit. you know, they give up two runs, but um it’s just another game where this offense puts up a decent amount of of of production and the Diamondbacks end up getting the loss anyways. And it feels like the story of this season, feels like the story of last season, feels like the story of this franchise at times when it comes to the pitching side of things and the inability to truly develop that side of of of baseball and and have those prospects in your in your organization. But, um, yeah, I mean, Ryan Nelson, you’re going to need him. like the the room for error when it comes to Ryan Nelson is is unfortunately like I know that this is a crazy place to be before the All-Star break even uh with the Corbin Burns signing that you know we were all so hyped about like imagine if I told you man like Ryan Nelson can’t afford for him to have bad games if this team wants to pick things up and it’s like maybe you’re just not a very good baseball team right and it kind of feels that way right now where you know it was in 2020 23 at times where it was like every time Zack Allen and Mel Kelly walk out onto the mound, you have to win that baseball game. Like no if ends or buts about it because then you got to find a way to win one of the next three with any of the other, you know, three pitchers that you happen to throw out there on any given night. And and they’re back in that same mold right now. It’s it’s you got Ryan Nelson hopefully not pitching like he did tonight, more like he did in the stretch prior to this. Zack Allen hopefully figured some things out with James McCann and and you know just a little bit of uh you know getting ready for the season and and then Mel Kelly has been kind of you know the main stay that he really always is for for the majority of this season. But uh you need those three guys to be the horses that that get you to being back to you know a a relevant competent and and potentially a postseason baseball team. Jesse, I do want to ask you about um you know whether or not this team should buy, should sell, what you think currently is the D is the Diamondback season over. Is this team dead? We’ll get into that right after the break here on the PHX DVback show. But before we do, let’s talk about some good things in the world. And uh that’s going to start off with our friends at Desert Financial Credit Union. They’ve been Arizona’s number one credit union named by Forbes for a few years now. And it is for good reason. When you guys sign up today uh for a free checking account, DFCU is going to give you $200 like around the Monopoly board just for signing up. It’s that simple. It’s literally like going around the go and they give you $200. Um, you know, of course, you know, I’m an Arizona Wildcats guy through and through, but if you are an Arizona State Sundevils fan, they have some really, really nice looking cards over at Desert Financial Credit Union that you can get a be a part of. Uh, they also have great Arizona Cardinals cards as well for all your Valley Sports fans. And NA cards, I heard the other day, Kevin, they have NA cards, too. So, you know, Desert Financial Credit Union is is uh they’re big fans of of the teams here in the valley and and uh we love them for it. Our guy, Eric Ruby, has been a member for over three generations of his family. Our guy Derek Montia has always and often said that he would not be in his home today if it wasn’t for his approval he received from Desert Financial Credit Union. We thank them for that. We thank them for being a staple of this valley. And um you know now uh we also appreciate them for being the number one credit union named by Forbes for a few years running here. So shout out Desert Financial Credit Union. Sign up and get that $200 free dollars today. Desert Financial Credit Union. It’s in the family. It’s in the family. That is such a good damn point, Kevin. Um but also let’s talk about APS. It’s the heat of the summer, guys. And uh you know what that means? It’s time to get your electrical under under control, right? because uh we all know how much these AC bills go up when it comes to summer in Arizona. And that’s why APS is here to help. They have their smart thermostats that start as low as $0. See if you qualify for installation and it could save you so so much money. Um a smart thermostat rate works with your APS rate plan and helps you automatically adjust the temperature in your home. Uh they also have off hours where of course you can on your phone on the app because it is a smart thermostat. You can fix and turn down turn up your AC when you are not home on the off hours to save as much money as possible. It’s the smart choice. It’s the smart thermostat. Right now APS customers may be eligible for smart thermostats for as low as $0 when you enroll the APS cool rewards program. If you already have a smart thermostat at home, see if it’s eligible to enroll in cool rewards plus free install is available at marketplace.aps.com. aps.com. And you know, Kevin, I actually uh made a mistake here on our ads. We do have one more that we have to hit here. It’s our friends at Monarch Money. I know that I am a big spender when it comes to all sorts of small trivial things, whether it be clothing or going to concerts or a Padres’s game, for example. 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That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code phnx. Before we get into whether or not the Diamondbacks should be buyers, should be sellers, and whether or not the season is dead, let’s talk about the numbers from tonight’s game and really just get an encapsulation of what and how close this game was all things considered. Um, I I actually screwed up the expected batting average here. It’s not supposed to say 299 for the Dbacks. It’s supposed to say 298 for the Dbacks. So, it’s actually uh a a thousandth of a of a point off from the Angels expected batting average. Uh the Angels out hit the Diamondbacks by one. Runners in scoring position was the same average at 250 for both teams with the Angels got one more hit uh at three for 12. The same amount of expected batting or extra base hits. And then as I said with the expected batting average, Diamondbacks at 298 and the Angels at 299. Angels of course get a a one-run victory in the process. Jesse, have you seen a by the numbers that has been uh that that neck and neck I should say? That’s about as neck andneck as they get, Damon. It doesn’t uh doesn’t get much more equal than that. Uh I do think it’s worth noting that the Diamondbacks walked eight Angels in this game. Uh and the Diamondbacks had just two walks. So both teams had a decent amount of traffic on the bases, but the Angels had an absurd amount of traffic on the bases in this game. I mean, that’s 20 base runners across the nine innings of offense for them. And uh and and it’s just tough to to win that way. I mean, the Diamondbacks were able to to make some big pitches at times and work out of some of those situations. I think the Angels ended with 14 guys left on base, but at a certain point, you know, it’s just going to be hard to keep all those guys uh to strand all those base runners, and obviously we saw in the ninth inning, Kyle Bakis was was unable to do that. Yeah, I mean, you see it with with, you know, even Anthony Discfani, who you mentioned pitching pretty decent um in in his three innings of work. He walks a couple batters. Ryan Nelson walks four. Kendall Graveman walks two. I mean, it’s you you did walk too many guys tonight. And if you’re going to be even from a from an actual hitting the baseball standpoint, uh that’s going to be the big differentiator there. And and you know, the Angels just had more people on the base pass when they were getting these hits because they were, you know, getting a lot more walks. And also part of that is is Mike Trout as well. I will say um you know you intentionally walk Mike Trout and pitch around him consistently like that’s going to lead to a lot more walks but that’s why the Angels have a guy like Mike Trout on their team is in the middle of their lineup so that you know you have to avoid a guy like that and uh pitch to you know a player such as Taylor Ward who you know is one of the league leaders in home runs right now at 21 bombs hitting right behind Mike Trout. So that’s baseball as well. I know I keep saying that, but um another aspect of baseball is whether or not you’re going to be a buyer or seller at the deadline. And with the way that the National League is looking right now, how smart would it be for the Diamondbacks to, you know, go out there and actually bring in PE give up resources to bring in more pieces when this team is is kind of on the outside looking in when it comes to even qualifying for the playoffs. I think maybe there could be a scenario where bringing in pieces to help you now could still make sense, but I think bringing in pieces to help you in 2025 only, like those rental pieces, that’s a bit of a tough sell right now. I mean, the Diamondbacks are six games out at this point. Both obviously, well, I guess not obviously, both the Padres’s and the Giants won tonight, which is not great for the Diamondbacks. Uh, so they’re six games out at this point. They enter today with, I think, a 15% chance to make the playoffs according to fan graphs for however much stock you want to put in those numbers. That number is presumably, you know, gotten much lower probably after everything that happened today. So, I don’t think you can you can go into the deadline looking to the way things look right now, you know, barring some significant change here in the next couple of weeks. But I I do think it’s possible that this team could look to do a combination sell uh where you know maybe maybe there are some pieces through 2026 or 27 or 28. Um I still think that Debox could look at that. Uh but it’s, you know, as far as what they would do with their rental pieces, I think selling those off probably makes a lot of sense given where they are right now. Yeah. Uh it’s it’s amazing when you think about, you know, a a a baseball season, right? And you see the Dbacks are 46 and 49. And we talk about this stretch against maybe a little bit more easy opponents uh on paper, the Marlins, the Royals, whatnot. Um and you lose those series, but imagine if they had won this game tonight was obviously extremely winnable. They win that Padres’s game uh you know to that that where they got robbed of the home runs and then they win that Giants game where I believe you know they lost that one in extras as well uh in that series where they could have gone up I believe 3 0 on on the Giants there. I mean all of a sudden you’re 49 and 46. You’re two games back from the San Diego Padres’s um in you know who are a half game out of the wild card. like that could be that’s gamechanging type of stuff. But this team just continues to find ways to lose these games on the margins consistently. It feels like if the Diamondbacks want to win, it feels like they have to win by three plus runs because if it’s going to be a close game, it feels like they find a way to lose somehow. And uh you know that’s that’s the unfortunate part of this season. But you know, you were talking about it a little bit off air. Who are some of the guys that you could see uh being shipped out potentially with, you know, if if this is a season where you’re going to end up punting potentially or maybe not punting is the right word, like you keep a lot of the majority of the pieces on this team, but you just say, “Hey, you know, we need to retool a little bit. This guy’s probably not going to be someone that we resign going into next off season.” Like, who are who are these players that you think could find new homes um by the time that that late July rolls around? I think the the clear ones are all the guys who who are on expiring contract. So, Zack Gallon, Mel Kelly, Josh Naylor, Au Heno Suarez, uh Randall Gritchick, there’s a mutual option, although those don’t normally get picked up. You could probably put him in that category as well. I think any of those guys uh could could make a lot of sense and and would be attractive to other teams. It was interesting to me this morning, Ken Rosenthal came out with a report that the Diamondbacks likely will not trade both Zack Allen and Mel Kelly. Uh just that they don’t have the young pitching to step in and take over those rotation spots, which is true. I mean, I’m frankly not sure they have the pitching to fill one of those rotation spots. I’m not I mean, I guess B maybe Bryce Jarvis slides into a starters role. Maybe Anthony Dcliffani slides into a starters role. It probably wouldn’t be great. It wouldn’t be ideal, whatever it was. So, um, what happened to us, man? What happened to us? Remember when we were like, Corbin Burns, Zack Allen, Mel Kelly, Brandon Fod, E-Rod, how could you beat this squad? And now we’re like, yeah, is human Lynn ready? Is can he be called up? Yeah. I mean, it it’s tough because so many I mean, they did have at least a decent amount of starting pitching depth on paper going into the season, but it’s not just that you’ve lost Corbin Burns and Jordan Montgomery and are thinking about trading off some of these other guys. It’s that Christian Mana is hurt and likely out for the season. And Tommy Henry just had the the brace procedure, is going to be out till at least the middle of next year. uh Dre Jameson’s situation is is hard hard to know what’s going on there at this point. Uh so yeah, I mean their line of defense like all of those next guys that you would envision taking over, none of none of those guys are are really available. And you know, someone like Gilbert Diaz that you maybe had high hopes for this year has just had a really rough season. So uh it’s yeah, it’s tough. I I’m not sure I totally understand the thinking of like we don’t want to trade both of these guys because we don’t have the pitching to fill the spot. Like I I understand it because it would be you you might rack up a lot of losses frankly by doing that. But I if you’re selling then you’re selling and you’re probably just not going to do very well the rest of the way. I think maybe this speaks to Mike Hazen and the fact that he hasn’t really committed to like a substantive sell at any point during his tenure. Like even in 2021, the Diamondbacks going into that year were were trying to compete and I they have sold off some pieces at times, but they’ve never really sold off anything super major other than I guess Zack Grankkey, you know, back in in 2019 and and that was contract motivated. They wanted to get off some of that money. So, uh, yeah, it’ll be really interesting to see. I think it’s very hard for Mike Hazen to, uh, to with all the investments that have been made with this team to kind of punt. And I think that’s what it would be, frankly, if you were to trade both a Zack Gallon and a Kelly. On the other hand, it’s like, well, why just trade one and not the other? Like, if you’re gonna kind of half-heartedly give up on the year, maybe you should just get all of the assets that you can. So, I can kind of see both sides of that. Yeah. I mean, maybe it’s maybe it just is as simple as the fact of we think we can bring Mel Kelly back in the off season at a reasonable number. Sure. And uh you know that that’s we care more about this team being good next season than we do about getting a a you know maybe a middling prospect back for a half year of Mel Kelly or whatever. But I I do think, you know, there you could certainly make an argument either way when it comes to that. I guess from my perspective, and I know a lot of people love to do the, you know, Tori is the worst person alive, but Mike Hazen is the greatest GM in baseball history route, even though these guys are best friends in lock step together and both the faces of this organization. But I got to say I am not particularly happy with Mike Hazen and his bullpen building that he did this season going into the year. But as an extension of that, if you truly believed in this team and and believe in this offense that is, you know, you know, borderline an elite offense really uh and was last season the best offense in baseball. How do you not invest into the bullpen when you see the arms that we’re throwing out here at at certain points of this season? If this team had two more competent bullpen arms that Mike Kasin got a month ago, what is the record right now? There’s no telling, right? And that’s where like I’m gonna be upset. Like I’m okay with them selling off if that’s truly what they, you know, at the end of this. But if if they’re if they’re going to buy, it’s like we should have been buying, you know, the White Socks best bullpen arm in May, right? like that. Uh, realistically, if you truly believe in this team, I know you have to pay a premium for guys that far ahead of the the trade deadline, but it’s also a reliever from one of the worst teams in baseball. Like, I I I just don’t really understand the thought process of like, well, we’re going to pick this guy off the garbage heap and hope that he’s decent. Like, no, I think you need to go out there and find some arms if you think that this team can compete. Yeah, I definitely see where you’re coming from there. I think it it is challenging and and you know it’s hard for me to speak to this because I’m not a major league general manager and and very likely never will be. I don’t know what these conversations are like, but everything we hear from GMs about trades in in May or or even in June is that they’re just really hard to pull off. And and I think it can be easy for us to be like, “All right, well, maybe instead of, you know, your number five prospect and your number 10 prospect for so and so, like, you know, give them the four and the nine prospect or something.” And and I think it can be easy for us to be like, well, you know, surely the other team would be interested in that. My guess is it’s not quite that simple because these trades just don’t really happen. Um, and I guess the other point we should probably make here is that say the Diamondbacks did trade for some solid reliever from some other team back in May. Would it have been worth it? Like I is this bullpen plus one good reliever actually good enough? This is a conversation we had on on on my Dback show stakes territory yesterday. If the Diamondbacks had David Bednar, if they went after him and traded for him at some point in the next two weeks, would this bullpen be good? And we kind of landed on I don’t think so. I think I think David Bednar would be great at pitching the ninth inning, but who pitches the eighth? Who pitches the seventh? I mean, there like you can’t build an entire bullpen around one or even probably two acquisitions at this point given how many pieces they’re they’re missing. Um, and that’s not to discount at the same time what you’re saying about Mike Hazen and the fact that maybe from the very beginning of the season, this team should have been better equipped. I think that’s that’s a very fair criticism. Yeah. I mean, it’s listen like as as good as Mike Hazen has been for this team and as much as he’s turned around this organization uh from the the the depths of hell in which Dave Stewart left us in, um, building a bullpen has not been an easy task for Mike Hazen in Arizona. No. Ne neither has it been for any GM ever in the history of the Arizona Diamondbacks. So that’s not a unique thing to Mike Hazen, but it’s just disheartening when you have such a talented roster or you feel that you have such a talented roster on paper and you know you lose all these seventh, eighth, ninth inning games because your bullpen is is that of the Reno Aces. you don’t you have a a genuine minor league caliber bullpen and uh you know it’s that’s the part that that really really sucks for for you know this fan base and for this team. But Jesse I guess what would you do if if you had your GM hat on and I you know Jesse Freriedman was named the new general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. What would be your plan going into this trade deadline? man. Well, I think it’s a very good thing that that is not going to happen because yeah, I’m uh I’m very underqualified for the job. But I think if I were just playing pretend here for a second, I think I would I would see what the market was like for Zack Allen and Mel Kelly, I think to your point earlier, bringing Mel Kelly back feels more realistic. This is right. He he grew up here at least for for part of his childhood. He has ties to the area. He went to ASU. He seems to really enjoy playing in Arizona. He’s already signed an extension here. He’s later in his career. He’s not going to make a ton of money. Um I I think that could be possible and I think it could be really helpful for the Diamondbacks next year to to fill out just you just kind of need some arms to help fill out that rotation next season. I’m not sure you could do better than Mel Kelly uh given what he will cost and how how good of a pitcher he still is. So, I would be I think with Merryill I would be setting the bar pretty high where I might be like, you know, let’s just keep him. And I I know that even if you trade him, you still theoretically can bring him back. But that doesn’t happen very often. I I think you probably have a better shot at bringing him back if you just keep him in the organization. Um, but yeah, again, if somebody wants to totally overwhelm you, then maybe maybe you would trade both Zack and Mel Kelly. I think the other thing I would be looking to do is see if I can acquire a controllable starting pitcher who is who is relatively young. Uh, you know, can I can I replicate the Jazz Chisum, Zack Gallon trade from 2019, something like that. Uh unfortunately those moves are very difficult to pull off. Uh so I I think that would be a serious uphill battle. But this team as you look ahead to 2026, they have two rotation spots to fill at least two pretty clear rotation spots to fill. And they can’t pay $20 million for both of them. I mean they already are paying Eduardo Rodriguez a lot of money. they’re going to pay Corbin Burns, you know, 30 plus million dollars, even though we’re probably not going to see him for for most of next season. So, you you need you need to fill out this rotation with some affordable arms if you can. Um, and so I think that’s something that I would I would take a serious look at. But again, it’s it’s a lot easier said than done. Uh, the other thing, of course, is I I would definitely listen to offers for Josh Naylor and Gino Suarez, assuming the Dbacks are in a similar position then as they are now. I would be willing to move both of those guys if I could get what I was looking for. Yeah, the the hard part about the deadline is a lot of these guys that are on like the expiring type contracts, they just don’t fetch that much as is. And so, you know, you’re getting rid of sometimes like really good baseball players like Josh Naylor. And it’s like what is a team trading for a half a year of Josh Naylor if they don’t have any indication or maybe like feeling that they’re going to even try to extend him in the off seasonason. So, um that’s the hard part of this. If I was if I’m putting my GM hat on for a second, I’ve heard some people talk about the idea of trading Mel Kelly and trying to resign him in the offseason. If that’s something that he would be interested in, I mean, I don’t know how you vet that with him. Like, I guess I’d probably approach it in the way of like, “Hey, Merryill, you’ve given a lot to this organization. Where do you want to be? Do you want to be here or do you want to be competing for a World Series the latter half of this season? See what he has to say. And if he says competing for a World Series, then broach the conversation of like, you know, you’re a staple of this team. We would love to try to resign you. Is that something you’d be interested in the offseason? I don’t know how realistic that is, but it’s something I’d be interested in. Zack Gallowen, I think. Yeah. I mean, how much do you weigh the the haul you would get versus the qualifying offer? um and the the compensation pick that comes with that if he signs with another team or do you bring him back at that one-year uh you know 20some million dollar number uh because he had a down season even though he has started to pick it up as of recently. So that’s an interesting thing that you you’ll need to broach with that conversation. But as much as it hurts to say, I think I think I would probably try to trade Gino because I think this is the most you’re ever going to get for him and you could get probably a good amount for a guy that is going to hit 40 plus home runs this year. And then I think I would try to trade Zack Gowen for a good good size Hall. But I think I’m trying to keep Mel Kelly and I I’ve long said it, but I’m going to continue to say it. Josh Naylor’s 27 years old. I want him on this team. Like I I’m, you know, if I’m I’m talking long term, that’s a guy who I’m writing in pencil in my starting lineup for the foreseeable future. And baseball players like 27 is like really like the the start of your prime almost. Like he’s just getting to play like probably the best baseball of his career. And I just think that that guy is is is a really really good hitter and uh kind of an infectious personality. And and I’m not trying to I’m not trying to get rid of a Josh Naylor. Johnny Walker is not happy with me in the way that I’m driving this conversation. I understand I’m not Derek, brother, but I’m gonna let you in on a secret. Derek Montia sitting in this exact same chair would be having this exact same conversation right now with Jesse Freriedman if he was here because that’s the direess of this situation. That’s exactly what we just watched tonight with the Los Angeles Angels. Um, but I do want to say shout out you brother for your super chats, Kevin, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing those real quick. says, “Go Dbacks for $10.” And then says, “Forget the trade deadline. Forget prospects. Let’s win games.” You know, I’m I’m with it, man. I’ve been trying to say that. I’ve been holding the line more than anybody. I feel like Kevin, you can attest to this. I’ve been I’ve been being like, “This is a team that, you know, I believe in. I believe in this offense. I want to supplement this offense with good pitching at the deadline. I want to compete and I think that this team can go on a run.” I just I don’t know how much longer you can hold on to that rope when the team cons just consistently is the most mid team of all time. Yeah, it it’s I think mid is a pretty good way to describe it. I mean, they you know, they just kind of oscillate back and forth from a game or two over 500 to a game or two under 500. And they’ve won just enough to, I think, keep Dbacks fans interested like, oh, maybe this could still turn around. But today definitely feels a little different, at least to me, Damon. I mean, six games out is just has a different feel to it than three or four. Uh especially given especially given the number of teams that are between you and that third wild card spot. You’re not just looking to make six make up six games on one team. You know, you’re having to make up some pretty serious ground on the Giants and the Padres’s and the Cardinals and the Reds. uh you know, assuming you don’t catch the Mets or Brewers, which I think is is not so likely at this point. So, yeah, the odds are just very clearly stacked against you. And this roster that team is operating with right now, I just don’t know if it’s that much better than a 500 roster, frankly. Uh the Dbacks at full strength, you know, if Corbin Burns is back and AJ Puck and Justin Martinez and Shelby Miller and Jaylen Beaks and Ryan Thompson and we can go down the list. If you get all these guys back, I think it’s a pretty talented roster, but those guys aren’t aren’t coming back. Uh, you know, at least not anytime soon and and some of them certainly not the entire season. So, at at this point, it’s hard for me to look at this roster, what it realistically is, and believe that it’s like, oh no, like things will turn. You just need this player to get hot or that player to get hot. It’s like, I don’t know who’s gonna, you know, you could see Zack Gallon going on a nice run. Absolutely. You could see Brandon Faul kind of turning some things around. The start, you know, maybe the starting pitching could kind of bounce back as we’ve seen here recently, but this bullpen is just not a major league caliber bullpen. And and again, even if you were to make some moves at the trade deadline, I’m not sure you’d really be able to make that big of a difference there. Yeah. We’re going to round out this conversation here with one last break on the PHX Dbacks postgame show. But first, let’s talk about Empire Today. I am sitting on some Empire Today hardwood right now, and it is the absolute most beautiful, most pristine, and most shiny hardwood I have ever seen. We have savages in this office, and we would have destroyed this hardwood if it was possible. But that’s just the superior product that Empire Today provides. Whether it’s hardwood, carpet, tile, you name it. They are the experts in flooring. This is what they love. This is what they they live for. And uh this isn’t some big box store where this is what flooring is one of the things they do. No, this is what they are all about. So make sure you guys check out their catalog. Check out their virtual floor designer. 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They’re licensed, bonded and insured and call 6232041476 as I already said or visit all shadeconcepts.com now to schedule your free inhome estimate today. Yeah, I mean I I I want to get back to this conversation here that we were having for a second because I do think it’s an interesting one and and you know I feel that you know maybe there are some it’s most mostly Johnny Walker. He’s not too happy with it. I I the thing is Johnny is I was with you my guy. Like I’m trying to tell you, I know that you’re seeing me here on this show and you’re listening to me talk more than I usually talk because I’m more just kind of the the court jester of this program, if you will, where I chime in to make funnies and uh everyone for to point and laugh at me. But I I you know, I like I’ve been on the side of being like this is a competitive roster and it’s just it’s just been hard recently. Kevin, if you wouldn’t mind throwing up. There was a comment I’m forgetting now that I wanted to to bring up here. Um, definitely not happy here. Uh, oh yeah, it was the conversation about that that Johnny brought up about what record were we last year and the year before at the All-Star break or or not at the All-Star break, but at this at this point of the season on July 11th. Well, the Diamondbacks were 47 and 47 last year, Jesse, on July 11th and and they didn’t make the playoffs and they had a better record than they do right now, right? The year before that, the Giant the Diamondbacks were 52 and 39 with a tie for first place with the Los Angeles Dodgers at at this point in the season two years ago and they made the playoffs and they made the World Series. I mean, if that doesn’t right there encapsulate everything that we’re talking about, then, you know, it’s like that’s that’s what I’m trying to say. Like this this is an organization that is consistently only performed when they get off to hot starts. That is a fact. And it and a lot of times it’s be in seasons that you don’t expect anything. And then you go into the next season after they had one of these surprising seasons where you do have expectations and what does that lead to? Disappointment in a 500 season. So, it’s like I just think that, you know, we have to be realistic about where we are. And last year’s team was was on paper better that at this point than we were we are right now. And they didn’t make playoffs. Granted, it was by a game and you know, a thing goes here or there differently. You never know. But, you know, it’s it’s just like that that’s that’s the reality of where the Diamondbacks are at this point in the season. I would add that I I think it’s worth noting that July 11th last year, the Diamondbacks were 47 and 47, but they were also only one game out of the third wild card, which is a really big difference from this year where they’re six games out. And I know last year that wound up being a little deceiving. Like last July 11th, the Mets had the third wild card spot at 47 and 45. They were two games over 500 and in the playoff picture. at by the end of last year, the Diamondbacks, of course, win 89 games. They still don’t make the playoffs. So, it wound up that you needed to be substantially better than where the Mets were at that point in order to actually make it. Uh, so we don’t know really what the threshold is is ultimately going to be, but it’s hard to imagine it going the other direction this year where, oh, maybe you can make the playoffs with 82 or 83 wins. There’s just too many good teams that are in the mix here for me to to really buy that. So, it’s a it’s a really different situation. All that all that to say if the Dbacks are one or two games out, uh being a few games under 500, it’d be like, all right, you know, we’re not in a great spot, but neither are the teams around us. And and there’s a path here. But when you’re this many games out and you have to climb over four teams in order to get where you want to go, uh mathematically the odds are very much stacked against you. Not to say it’s impossible, but uh if you’re really gonna make the decision to trade prospect capital to improve this team, you’re gonna want to have a little more confidence than I think you would right now. Yeah. And and and Jay Cuddy makes a good point. It’s not the NHL West. It’s it’s really just the Nell. We can we can drop the West part of it. It’s the West is kind of falling off a little bit. The Padres’s and the Dodgers are a lot more middle of the pack than they were. uh they’re fighting in the in the thick of things or wild card spots. The NL Central, which everyone thought was a terrible division, is somehow, you know, has four teams that are really good. And Paul Skins is on the other one. And then you have the NL East, uh who has the the you know, the Mets playing good. They were playing good baseball. I don’t I’m not familiar with how they’re playing right now. I know they went on that horrible skid, but um and of course you you have the you know, like the Braves are bad in in the NL East. The Phillies are obviously a good team, but like the Braves are behind the Diamondbacks and and that’s a a roster that is incredibly talented. That’s a roster that I think, you know, they’re probably having similar conversations. Like, what do we do with this team? Because on paper, they’re good enough to compete, but what they’ve shown this season, they haven’t been good enough to compete. All I have to say is just to round out this conversation, is Johnny Walker, don’t ever accuse me of not wanting to win again. I am the I’m the last person that you want to accuse of that. I’m a crazy person when it comes to wanting to win games for this team and not having loser behavior as Jesse has been very well aware of me bringing up and and being against at all times. I just think that this is the you you you say like you can’t try to pivot into 2026. I completely disagree with you there, brother. I think that there comes a point where winning in 2026 is your best option. And that’s uh there comes a point where that’s what you have to do as a this isn’t the Dodgers, this isn’t the Yankees. This is, you know, like you’re not going to have a payroll that sustains you at the top year in and year out. And when you have a team that just doesn’t have it, sometimes you got to switch things up. But um Jesse, it was a demoralizing night. It was a tough loss and uh it might be to on the Arizona Diamondback season. That will be figured out in the long run here. But we appreciate you staying up late, uh, braving the elements, uh, if you will, in Texas. What is it, 1:00 a.m., 1 11:10 a.m. over there. Got to get you back to bed for for your your big conference. We got one more super chat to hit real quick. My nips hurt. Nats fan. Jesse, we have a Nats fan in this chat now who watches our program. He’s he’s a good guy. He’s a good guy. Me and me and Derek uh Derek used to go back and forth with him during the Nats series. That’s how he found the program. Uh then uh it started Derek and him became friends and now uh me and my nips hurt kind of get into it from time to time. Good friendly banter. But he says sends a $5 super chat. Thank you. My nips hurt says Naylor for Josh Bell. Improve your power and we get a solid backup to nationals or to to Nathaniel Low on the Nats. Yeah, man. If I guess I don’t know. I don’t know how to respond to that. Are the Nats in a buying position? I have no idea. But um Hey Damon, Josh Bell, he was a pretty good trade deadline acquisition for the Dbacks a year ago. So, you know, there’s a there’s a track record there. You know, who’s who’s to say? There certainly is. Uh piece of Yoshi takes offense to your 110 a.m. because I believe he’s he’s on East Coast time uh potentially in New York as a Mets fan uh being like, “Hey, man, it’s 2 am over here, brother.” Uh but yeah, we appreciate everybody for staying up late, including my co-host here, uh on on a on a Friday night. I know this is not the best way to be spending your Friday night talking about a Diamondbacks loss, but we appreciate all of those who did so. Anyways, rocking with us. Uh pre please leave a like on this video. Does us so many favors. Uh we appreciate it. Jesse, make sure that you drink water as Kevin just put up there on the screen. You can follow my guy Jesse Freriedman, JesseN Friedman on Twitter. uh as well as follow all of his work that he’s doing with our friend Jack Summers over at Snakes Territory. Uh just great stuff going on over there at their YouTube channel and and uh on all their social channels. So just check out what they’re doing, of course. But Jesse, thank you so much for joining me tonight, man. And uh we will catch you later on the on the PHXDback show. Yeah, hopefully people aren’t blaming me for everything quite as much next time. Uh, I know my track record here isn’t great, but uh, maybe we can change that. Who knows? You know, maybe I just maybe I got too naive and I thought to myself that my own good juju would outweigh your bad juju, Jesse. And and I just I I got a little bit in my own head about it, a little overconfident, and and it won’t happen again. We won’t be doing any more postgame shows, me and you. Yeah, I think I think Derek pretty much decided that afternoon shows are the only shows that I’m allowed on. So maybe we should stick to that moving forward. Sounds good. Appreciate you, my man. Let’s get you out of here and uh and and you know, have a good night’s rest. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I don’t know what that was. I wasn’t trying to end the show. I had to remember kids, brother. Come on, Kevin. I forgot. I am a kid before. Well, I’m a kid and you didn’t tell me to remember, so I forgot. We hit him with the with the [ __ ] [ __ ] with the hezy hay. Uh but before we get out of here, I did want to give my throw my friend Sean a bone because I am sick and goddamn tired of losing baseball games in this team. So Kevin, without further ado, would you please mute my freaking mic? [Music] It’s very therapeutic. Derek is right about that. It does. It like it it gives you the ability to just kind of really all get it out. Like I’m sweating now and it just I don’t know. I mean I hope I I it is it is very therapeutic. But, uh, I hope that I hope that encapsulated, uh, you know, everybody’s everybody’s brains tonight. Um, I know that was the show I wanted to do. That was the show I wanted to give you fine folks. Uh, if our friends over at at Fast Remote would allow me to do so, I would have been that would have just been the regular show. I would have done that for a full hour and Jesse wouldn’t have gotten a word in. But, uh, appreciate everybody for being here tonight, rocking with us on a Friday. As I said, shout out Jesse Freeman for joining us. Give Jesse a follow. Jesse Friedman. Give me a follow at Damon Dog. That’s D AWG. Give my guy Kevin a follow at Kevo Post kevs. And shout out Kevin, by the way, for taking the time out of his Friday night to help us out on this program, making his return to the show, bringing his bad juju back and stank back to this show as well, but we won’t need to talk about that. Uh, appreciate every joining us. Follow our main account at PHNX_Dbacks. We will be back on a Monday at 12:00 p.m. for a mailbag Monday as well as a uh maybe a leadin into the all-star weekend and the All-Star festivities. We’ll be talking about all that and more on the PHNX Dback show. Until next time. Uh remember kids, baseball is fun, but it’s so much more fun when you’re over 500 by the All-Star break and you’re not getting walked off in horrific fashion by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. [Music] [Applause] We all silly like the mayor.

📬 Arizona sports in your inbox! https://gophnx.com/newsletter

The Arizona Diamondbacks lost in heartbreaking walk-off fashion to the LA Angels. Jesse Friedman joins Damon Fairall on the PHNX Diamondbacks Postgame Show as they break down this tough loss, the Diamondbacks standings in the NL West, and if this truly is the final straw for the Diamondbacks this season.

0:00 – Jesse Friedman joins the show!
8:00 – Missed opportunities
12:00 – Consistent lineups
15:00 – Randal Grichuk
22:00 – Ryne Nelson
33:00 – By the numbers
36:00 – Buyers or sellers?

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