WEBVTT - Will the D-backs Still Buy at the Trade Deadline After Recent Slump? 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.799 Hello and welcome to another episode of Snake's Territory, part 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.760 of the Fouls Territory Network. Be sure to like this video, 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.400 subscribe it to our YouTube channel, maybe leave us a 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.560 five star review wherever you get your podcasts. I am 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:27.400 Jesse Friedman alongside Jack Summers and Jack Diamondbacks did not 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.200 have a great weekend out in Tampa. They get swept 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.920 by the Tampa Bay Rays. They get outscored fifteen to four. 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:39.280 It was a lifeless showing and they are now under 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:44.040 five hundred for the first time since May seventeenth. 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.519 Yeah, that place has just been a house of horrors 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.680 for the Diamondbacks. They was swept there in twenty three, 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:52.760 they swept this year. They lost two or three to 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.440 the Rays last year at Chase Field. As we heard 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.880 at nauseum. You know, the Dbacs are zero for six 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.440 in Florida and I think they scored ten runs in 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:05.440 the six games between. 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:06.480 Tampa and Miami. 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.119 So yeah, good news for the d Backs that they 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:11.720 do not need to go back to the state of 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.280 Florida again for the rest of the season, unless it's 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.680 supposed season. Well. 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.840 Unfortunately, there really was no good news for Merrill Kelly 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.000 after another rough outing for him on Sunday in the 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.199 finale of the series. Six innings, eight hits, five runs, 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.840 two walks, three strikeouts. He allowed three home runs in 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:35.400 the game, Jack, he generated four whiffs. I guess if 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.080 you want to combine Zach Gallon and Meryl Kelly in 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.560 the course of that series, those two guys combined to 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:44.760 get five swing and misses and allowed five home runs, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.920 and that is you do not want those two numbers 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.720 to be the same. So Meryl Kelly another rough one, 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.240 and at the end of this game, I'll just throw 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.320 these quotes up here. Now, Merrill was sort of at 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:02.520 a loss for words. Merrill started, I guess the first 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:07.280 quote that we saw from Jose Romero in his story 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:11.880 over at the Arizona Republic was Meryll saying that he 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.440 doesn't really have any more ways to describe what's happened 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.400 this season. He said, I'm starting to run out of 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.680 words for how bad I've been this year. And then 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.880 you see here he said, just more of the same, 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.000 missing pitches, bad counts. And then Merrill went on to say, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.320 we still have half a season left, but as a 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.360 whole on the year, definitely the poorest results the porse, 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:34.560 I've felt the least. 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:36.400 I feel like I'm doing my job. 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.800 That part sucks probably the worst, not doing what the 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.920 team needs me to do, what the team counts on 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.720 me to do every fifth day. I've mixed some good 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.840 ones in there, but as a whole, I think that's 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.560 the part that hurts the most. And I guess if 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.919 you're a Diamondbacks fan the very least can maybe respect 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.760 that Merril Kelly is really feeling it right now and 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.959 is trying to do everything he can to get back 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:01.440 on track. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.399 Yeah, for sure, Meryl cares. I mean, I know it's 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.600 frustrating for all of us, but not as much as 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.320 for us as it is for him. I mean, yes, 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.799 he's well paid. He's well paid professional athlete. He makes 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.200 a lot of money. But don't for a minute think 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:22.080 that Merril Kelly doesn't care immensely about how well he 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.080 performs doing his job and trying to help his teammates. 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.280 You know, at the end of the day, we don't 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.720 have to feel bad for him as a person. I mean, 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:35.080 he's going to be absolutely fine. But don't kid yourself, guys, 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.080 these they care. I know when we're watching on TV, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.880 whether guys are not hitting or you know, having bad 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.720 at bats, or you know, serving up meatballs. It just 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.680 feels like they don't care, and it's listless and lifeless 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.040 and all of that. And it can feel that way 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.640 in their dugout as well. But they care. They work hard, 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.960 they try, they care. It doesn't excuse poor performance, but 0:03:58.000 --> 0:03:58.400 they care. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.640 Zach Gallon has the worst ERA in baseball among qualified 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.760 starters at six point one point five. Mary Kelly is 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.720 still not a qualified starter, so he technically is not 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.560 on that list, But if you were a qualified starter, 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:18.000 his five point eight four ERA theoretically would rank second 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:22.080 worst in baseball, just behind his teammates Zach Gallon. So 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.240 certainly not what the Diamondbacks we're hoping to get from 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.120 those two guys this season. We talked a little bit 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.520 more about Gallon after his start on Friday. In terms 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.600 of Meryl Jack, I know you've done some work looking 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.400 at some of the underlying numbers for Merrill this season 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.920 and in comparison with twenty twenty five, and I guess 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.080 there was a narrative early in the year that he 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.680 just had a few really bad starts and he didn't 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.760 have a full spring training. You could maybe excuse those 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.320 clunkers in the beginning, but I think your chart here 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:58.440 shows pretty clearly that Mary Kelly, even if you exclude 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.599 those really bad starts at the beginn any of the year, 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:02.440 he has not been the same guy. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.359 That's correct. And the other point for me was, even 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.760 when he was having some good starts, a lot of 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.120 the underlying stuff just didn't look right. And there are 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.240 a lot of really big red flags and warning signs 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.120 that even those few good starts that he did have 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.839 were just not sustainable. So what this chart is, and 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:24.240 it's a little eyecharty, but. 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:24.760 Hang with me. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:30.279 So this is Merril Kelly's ex wOBA by pitch type splits, 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.360 and it's being compared against the MLB average right hand 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:36.760 starting pitcher. So I want to be very specific. I 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:40.080 want to compare Merrill to his class of player right 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.440 hand starters, and so on the screen it shows twenty 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.520 twenty six year to date. And just for those that 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:53.880 may not know, x wOBA is basically the same as XCRA. 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:58.680 XCRA is ex wOBA converted to an ERA number, So 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.480 it's just easier to pull the x wOBA and Merrill's 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.640 ex wOBA for the year is coming into today's start 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.240 was four oh two, and the average right hand starting 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.239 pitcher was point three two three. But if I throw 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:17.159 out the first four starts, just don't include him, just 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:21.840 toss him out. His ex wOBA from May ninth forward 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.279 was still point three six eight three sixty eight x 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.960 wOBA against a three to nineteen average for the average 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:34.240 right hand starting pitcher. Compared to twenty twenty five, he 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:38.320 had a three sixteen x WHOBA versus a three twenty 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.839 two average x WHOBA for the right hand. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:42.880 Starting pitchers in the league. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:47.520 So we can see a fifty point gap in the 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:52.200 expected stats on wOBA for Merrill Kelly, even if you 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.640 throw out the bad first fourth starts. The other part 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.960 of this chart that I just want to highlight is 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.440 I did break it out by pitch type, and on 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.440 the far left hand side of the column you can 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.360 see what the wOBA is for the average starting pitcher. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.599 For example, because if you hit the ball, if you 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.120 put it in play, I mean the average hitters like fastballs, right, 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.440 So the average wOBA on a fastball is zero point 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.720 three four nine. Merrill's this year is five oh two, 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:23.360 and even since May ninth, it's four fifty. The changeup, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.280 which is his bread and butter. I mean, the changeup 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.400 was his best pitch in twenty twenty five or with 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.560 a two seventy x wOBA against This year it's three 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.800 ninety and even since May ninth, three point fifty five. 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.280 The cutter's bad, the slider's pretty good, but he doesn't 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.160 throw out that much. The curve is the pitch that 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.800 he's getting the most success on, but again is probably 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.680 hard to sequence in more frequently than he has. I 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.640 showed the total number of pitches as well. He's only 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.440 got a two oh nine x wOBA on the curve 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.040 ball since May ninth. So there are you know, I mean, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.040 basically it's ever think about the curveball and maybe some 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.960 of the sliders getting hammered, forcing change up, cutter, sinker, 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:10.560 they're all getting absolutely drilled, and you know, so it's 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.480 really hard for me to see where to be optimistic 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.840 with Merrill going forward, Like what's the way forward for 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.960 him to reverse this collapse? 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:21.440 And that's what this is, folks. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.720 This is a complete and total collapse through you know, 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:28.960 however many starts he's got fourteen or whatever for a 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.119 thirty seven year old pitcher. 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.760 I think We've always understood with Merrill that the stuff 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.640 wasn't all that great, and as it continued to diminish 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.200 as he got older, like there was a risk there, 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.320 certainly that he would just sort of drop off the table. 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.199 What's odd about his twenty twenty six season is the 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.319 numbers haven't really dropped off the table. I mean, it's 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.480 forcing fastball this year is averaged ninety two point zero 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.120 last year at average ninety one point nine. You look 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.280 at the movement on some of his pitches, I know, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:06.400 the cutter movement profile is pretty different this year. I'm 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.760 not sure it's clearly worse than it was last year, 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.920 but it is different. The change up his signature pitch 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:16.160 that you mentioned almost exactly identical in terms of velocity 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.360 and movement. I think he's lost a third of an 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.280 inch of drop, but that is such a small number 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:24.439 it's hard to believe that that is solely responsible for 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:28.520 the difference there. And it sets up a situation with 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:33.040 Meryl Jack where I'm just like, I just can't really 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.760 put my finger on what's gone on with him this season. 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.679 The narrative that he's kind of pushed in his postgame interviews, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.480 and he talked about it again today, was just throwing 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.440 too many pitches in the heart of the zone. And 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:50.080 I know this is maybe a bit of an oversimplification, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.960 but if you just look at the percentage of pitches 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.800 in the heart of the zone from Merril Kelly, he 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.240 actually has thrown fewer of them in twenty twenty six 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.360 than he did season ago. This season he's a twenty 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.080 two point three percent of his pitches in the heart 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.600 of the zone. Last year was twenty four point three percent, 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.400 so actually down two percent in that regard. The one 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.960 thing I could find Jack was his zone rate is 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:19.000 down pretty significantly. He has thrown forty three point five 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:23.320 percent of his pitches in the zone entering today. Last 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.600 year was forty seven point eight percent, and I think 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:28.800 compared to the rest of his career, I believe that's 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:32.319 the lowest zone rate of his career. So in terms 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.200 of just literally throwing the pitch in the strike zone, 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:39.000 Merrill Kelly has regressed in that regard, and I guess 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.880 that that results in fewer counts in his favor and 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:47.640 hitters maybe just being more comfortable against his wide arsenal 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:48.160 of pitches. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.640 Meryl also talked about his mechanics and saying that, you know, 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.120 he felt like there was some issues there with his mechanics, 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.520 and there were definitely some problems there. I go back 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.160 to discussion I have with Brent Strom during the Madison 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:07.679 Bumgarner trials, and you know, when we look with looking 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.079 at Bumgarner, I mean, his velocity was the same, his 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.120 spin rates were the same, the movement profile on his 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.040 pitches was essentially the same. We couldn't figure out why 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.800 hitters were crushing him, but he was having a lot 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.760 of location mistakes. It wasn't so much that he was 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.240 walking guys, but he did get scared out of strike. 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:26.719 Zone a little bit. 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.199 And I asked Strom, I said, do pictures sometimes maybe 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.560 have to go a little harder or closer to max 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.640 effort when they get older And it doesn't show up 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.120 in the velocity and the spin rates, but it does 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:43.079 show up in inconsistency and mechanics and inability to locate. 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.040 And he said absolutely. He said, you know, the location 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.680 oftentimes goes first, especially when you're looking at guys that 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.200 don't throw ninety eight miles an hour. It was like, 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.560 all of a sudden, why is this? You know, command 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.679 and control expert having a hard time dotting the ball 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.280 like he used to do and keeping it in the 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.280 strike zone. And so you know that's an age factor. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.439 I mean, look, we all get older. Father time is 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.120 undefeated and being able to repeat your mechanics whistle clean 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.480 every single time so that you can put the ball 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.240 exactly where you want it. That's part of the formula two. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.079 And there's probably some ways to measure that, but it's 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.320 much more subtle and difficult to do so, and so 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:27.240 those things will show up first before you see the 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.040 rest of the underlying metrics kind of following behind. 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:35.520 Yeah, I think that. I think that makes a lot 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:35.959 of sense. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.880 Certainly, that could be at the heart of what's going 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.760 on with Merrill Kelly five point eight to four er 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.360 at this point still just such an enormous difference from 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.679 where he was a season ago, a three point five 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.480 to two ERA in one hundred and eighty four innings. 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.160 He's one of the best pitchers in baseball and this 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.679 season far far from it. So Diamondbacks get swept by 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.800 the Rays Junior Camonaro, Holy cow, they are going to 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:05.560 be happy to not have to pitch to him anymore. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.160 He went five for ten in the series with three 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.280 home runs. That was pretty brutal. And the Diamondbacks have 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.240 now lost six of their last eight. They are ten 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:19.240 and eighteen since reaching a season high seven games over 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.320 five hundred back on May twenty seventh, And I guess 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.400 we should maybe touch on the offense here as well. 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.160 The Diamondbacks was scoring just the one run in the 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.600 finale of the series. They have now scored two runs 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:37.080 or fewer in fourteen games since May thirtieth, That is 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.120 the span of less than a month, and the Diamondbacks 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.760 have scored two runs or less in fourteen strake or 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:48.000 in fourteen games in that span. This offense jack continues 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:53.000 to be lifeless with runners in scoring position and really 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.440 more lately just kind of lifeless in general. 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.120 Yeah, I mean, we're going to dig into some of 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.920 the underlying stuff but later in the show on the offense, 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.720 But you know, we're getting close to the time where 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:09.000 some really big moves probably will be happening soon. I mean, 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.319 I don't know much how much further they can go 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:16.480 this way with the offense struggling this badly, whether that's 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.840 you know, change of player personnel or change of coaching personnel. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.360 Something's going to give just as simple as that. 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.160 What moves they'll choose to make and when and how 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:28.440 they'll make them, we don't know for sure. We can 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.680 make suggestions, We have ideas, just like everybody else. You know, 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.080 we'll put some of those forth today, but very very 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:36.880 difficult to watch. 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.240 They're just a tough watch right now. 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.880 Before we get to our first break, just circling back 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.080 to Maryland, Zach real quick. You and I had a 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:50.560 conversation earlier today offline about how the Diamondbacks could maybe 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.560 maximize the value on these two guys as they are 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.640 continuing to struggle. I know there's a contingent of people 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.040 that would love to see the d Bacs just remove 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.520 Merrill and Zach from their rotation and you know, maybe 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.480 throw Mitch Bratt and Cold Drake or something like that 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.640 in there. I don't think that's a realistic outcome for 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.360 this team right now. But Jack, I know you had 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.520 a thought about how the Diamondbacks could maybe get some 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:16.360 more value here. 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:18.960 Yeah, and this is an original thought. I mean, you know, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.840 other people have discussed this before, but I'm embracing the 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:26.320 thought the more I've thought about it, which is, at 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.760 this point in time, as for zach and or for Merril, 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.440 they have to consider using an opener in front of them. 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.760 And it doesn't really matter so much of the righty 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:41.040 lefty aspect of it. It's more about protecting them from 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.760 the top three on the other team's batting order, because 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:47.720 almost every team puts their best three hitters one, two, three. 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.240 Protect those two guys right now. Let them get their 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.440 feet under them by facing the lower down portion of 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:58.400 the order when they come out, and then by the 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.800 time they get back around to the top of the order, 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.920 they will have at least, you know, faced anywhere from 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:07.640 three to six batters, figure out what's working today, maybe 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.800 being a little bit more solid footing, maybe have a 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.280 little bit more confidence. And you know, oh, by the way, 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:16.040 that's one less time that they have to face the 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.120 top of the order. They're still starting pictures, they can 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.320 still give you length. You need the bulk. You know, 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.040 you can't just say, well, I'll send them to the bullpen, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.520 which I did, but you know, the reality is somebody's 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.960 got to start. So the other thing is is, you know, okay, 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.040 with pedigree and history and relationships and all of that, 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.760 I can see where that would be a difficult conversation 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.200 to have, but I don't see how either one of 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.840 them has a leg to stand on to push back 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.680 on this idea. If dbac's management went to them and said, yeah, 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:47.640 we're going to we're going to go with an opener today, 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.280 you know, or the next two or three times out, 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.440 we're going to try an opener for you guys, I 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.040 think that they could get some value that way. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:56.120 If you think it through. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.920 That way, they never really need to face the top 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.320 three of any batting order more than once twice. If 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:07.720 they're going really well, right, if they're pitching really well, 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.760 then you can say, okay, let them try and get 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.600 through that top three in the order. And if, you know, 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.000 if it happens too quickly, then it means it's not 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.760 pitching well in the first place. But I think at 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.080 least this way you can get some bulk innings out 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.440 of them. You know, you might be able to get 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:27.680 five innings, you know, fifteen outs or whatever from them 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:31.679 that way, so without giving up quite so many runs. 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.520 So this is something I would try just to try 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.399 to salvage them. And that's what I'm talking about here, folks. 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.240 Salvage I do not believe that either one of them 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.800 is just going to magically turn it around and even 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:44.919 be a four or four point five Vra Pitcher. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.040 I think we're past a point of no return. 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.520 Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. As both of 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:55.080 these guys continue to struggle. It is frankly hard for 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.040 me to imagine the Diamondbacks actually doing that. I think 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.760 the factors that you mentioned earlier, of just the pedigree 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:06.199 that they have in this organization, it's hard for me 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:10.879 to see it happening, especially with maybe with Zach because 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.320 it's a one year contract. I think with Merrill, the 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.080 fact that he's coming back next year, like the optics there, 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.320 I just have a hard time imagining them going down 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.439 that road. But certainly it makes some sense. All this 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:25.640 to say, the Diamondbacks are not in a great position 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.560 after the weekend. The vibes have soured quite a bit 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.600 here over the past few weeks, and as we think 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.680 ahead to the trade deadline, which is thirty six days 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:40.840 away as we record here on Sunday evening, June twenty eighth, 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.960 the Diamondbacks have quite a few questions to answer. So 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.639 when we come back after this break, we're going to 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:48.800 dive into the trade deadline, how we think the d 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:53.600 Bacs should approach it. Are they maybe more leaning towards 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.159 cell mode at this point. We'll get into all of 0:18:56.160 --> 0:19:00.400 that on the other side of this break. We are 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:03.359 back here on Snake's territory. Shout out to all of 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.000 you who are here with us, watching on YouTube, listening 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.160 on your favorite podcast app. We really appreciate you. As 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:12.159 I mentioned earlier, it really helps us out. If you 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.240 would drop a like on this video, subscribe to our channel, 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.639 hit the bell icon for notifications, leave us a comment. 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:21.439 We always enjoy hearing from you. So thank you to 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.840 all of you for doing all those things. We really 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.000 really appreciate it. Well, Jack I mentioned it before the break. 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.000 We are thirty six days out from the August third 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:34.040 trade deadline. Some big decisions on the horizon. Of course, 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.359 the only public comments that Mike Hasen has made on 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.159 this subject or that he is planning to buy, so 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.679 I guess in that sense, you know you still have 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.680 to put some stock in those words. But Mike also 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:50.600 said those words long enough ago that you'll wonder if 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.359 things have maybe changed. The Diamondbacks are forty one and 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:58.679 forty two after their series loss or series sweep, I 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:00.920 should say at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:03.840 This is where they are in the standings. They are 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.560 three games behind the Saint Louis Cardinals for that third 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:11.679 wild card spot. And maybe even more daunting than that 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.119 number is the fact that they have five teams that 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.560 they would need to jump over to get into that 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:18.760 third wild card spot. 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.640 Yeah, their playoff odds are not great right now. As 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:30.479 of today, Fangraphs is already down to eighteen point five percent, 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:34.760 I believe, and I'm sure that when we look at 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.280 Baseball Reference, they're probably going to be down to about 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.800 six percent. Baseball Perspectus is going to be down to 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:45.560 about twenty three percent, So they're composite. Even if you, 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:50.080 you know, just use three different methodologies, it's going to 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.359 be about sixteen percent. When we compare where they were 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:58.200 through eighty three games last year, they were Fangrafts had 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.000 them in eighteen point two percent and Reference had them 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:02.440 in eleven point two percent. 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.879 So they had the exact same record, right, forty one 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:08.480 and forty two through eighty three games, the exact same 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:10.440 record at this point last season. 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:13.439 Right, and they were in similar spot and standings, So 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.080 you know, not looking great. 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:17.000 It's pretty bleak. 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.800 And you know, Mike is a responsible general manager, so 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:23.679 he's not going to, you know, all of a sudden 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:26.199 start stripping the farm, bear to go bring in a 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:26.960 bunch of rentals. 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:27.960 That's not going to happen. 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:31.960 You know, what he is going to do will still 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:35.240 largely be determined about by what happens over the next 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:39.480 you know, twenty five days. I mean, he's got fifteen 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.840 twenty games to decide ultimately what he is what he's 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:46.880 going to do. We, on the other hand, have opinions 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:49.800 about what he should do or where he's likely to 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.359