Speaker 1: This is off season Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: Get in on the show by calling eight sixty six
Speaker 2: nine a seven four hashtag Dodger Talk and now your host,
Speaker 2: David Basse.
Speaker 1: Welcome to our final Dodger Talk of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: That's right after tonight. We will talk to you in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. We got a great show for you tonight,
Speaker 1: and phone lines are open at eight six six nine
Speaker 1: eighty seven two five seventy. Coming up at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the hour, we are going to be joined by
Speaker 1: Dodger pitching prospect River Ryan, who showed a glimpse of
Speaker 1: how talented he is before undergoing Tommy John surgery in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, missing all of twenty five, starting to
Speaker 1: come back towards the end as far as pitching on
Speaker 1: the backfields at Camelback Ranch. And the reason why I
Speaker 1: wanted to have River Ryan on the show tonight is
Speaker 1: because many of his teammates were raving about what they
Speaker 1: saw from River Ryan the last month of the season,
Speaker 1: and they were telling me about him during the October
Speaker 1: postseason run about what they saw. They said he was
Speaker 1: electric and even better than the way he was pitching
Speaker 1: before he had Tommy John surgery. And the interesting part
Speaker 1: about River Ryan is a the Dodgers traded Matt Batty
Speaker 1: for River Ryan, who was a shortstop and pitcher somewhat
Speaker 1: of a two way player. And when the Dodgers acquired
Speaker 1: River Ryan, they said, forget about shortstop, you have the
Speaker 1: goods to be a pitcher. And you know he's been
Speaker 1: pitching exclusively probably for two and a half three years.
Speaker 1: And River Ryan, to me, is going to be this
Speaker 1: year's version of Emma Shean, a pitcher that has immense talent,
Speaker 1: big stuff, and is not going to be rushed to
Speaker 1: be part of the rotation the first half of the season.
Speaker 1: So to me, Dave Roberts said in spring training last year,
Speaker 1: Emt Sheen was his sleeper pick to help the Dodgers
Speaker 1: the second half of the season. Well, I am going
Speaker 1: to bet on River Ryan and Dave Roberts saying the
Speaker 1: same thing about River Ryan in spring training. If he's asked,
Speaker 1: eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is
Speaker 1: the phone number. It was a great show last night
Speaker 1: to kick it off with Mike Soshia and Mickey Hatcher.
Speaker 1: And as I mentioned last night, I got a great
Speaker 1: tweet and usually tweet replies are not that great. But
Speaker 1: I got a great comparison from a fan that responded
Speaker 1: to those two guys being on the show last night
Speaker 1: that they were the nineteen eighty eight Dodgers version of
Speaker 1: Keik A Hernandez and Will Smith. I would say that's
Speaker 1: as close of a good comparison of players that you
Speaker 1: can make from twenty twenty five to nineteen eighty eight.
Speaker 1: There's a third and that would be Oral Herscheizer and
Speaker 1: Yoshi Yamamoto. But when it comes to the guys we
Speaker 1: had on the show last night, Mickey Hatcher had a
Speaker 1: lot of edge. He was tough, don't get it twisted.
Speaker 1: But he also knew how to keep the clubhouse loose,
Speaker 1: how to have some fun, and that's what Keike Hernandez does.
Speaker 1: And Mike Sosha was the rock. He was the rock
Speaker 1: of the Dodgers. Never got too high, never got too low,
Speaker 1: and that's Will Smith. Now, their strengths as catchers are
Speaker 1: much different, but their personality very much in line with
Speaker 1: each other as catchers. So great comparison last night, And
Speaker 1: if you have any thoughts on what they had to
Speaker 1: say about what they were doing, how they broke down
Speaker 1: the World Series. Now's the time our final show of
Speaker 1: the year eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two, five seventy,
Speaker 1: And I want to know you know, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to say to you what is the most critical play
Speaker 1: of Game seven of the World Series, because there were
Speaker 1: three or four times if the Dodgers did not make
Speaker 1: a play or did not hit a home run, they're
Speaker 1: losing the World Series in Game seven instead of celebrating
Speaker 1: back to back World Series championships. I guess the way
Speaker 1: to phrase this is the way I feel. To me,
Speaker 1: the ball was going to be caught in center field,
Speaker 1: whether it was Pajez or keik A Hernandez. To me,
Speaker 1: the most heartrenching and maybe the closest play that the
Speaker 1: Dodgers may have lost the World Series was the play
Speaker 1: at the plate Miguel Rojas thrown to Will Smith and
Speaker 1: Isaiah kana Falafa not getting a big enough lead. Mickey
Speaker 1: Hatcher and Mikezosha talked about that and they basically shot
Speaker 1: down all the excuses people are trying to make for him,
Speaker 1: and also Will Smith having his foot come off home
Speaker 1: plate for a split second, so to for me, that
Speaker 1: was the play of Game seven. What was yours? Eight six, six, nine, eight, seven,
Speaker 1: two five seventy. I know everybody wants to know what's next. Well,
Speaker 1: what's next? We had Andrew Friedman on the show last
Speaker 1: week and here's what he said, is next for the
Speaker 1: Dodgers off season?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think adding a bat would be great and
Speaker 3: it would just take some pressure off some of our
Speaker 3: younger guys. That being said, things happen over the course
Speaker 3: of the season and getting our younger guys sim at
Speaker 3: bats is going to be really important. Things play out
Speaker 3: in that way. But I think just building out the
Speaker 3: depth more, adding a really interesting kind of position player
Speaker 3: that fits into our group really well is very high
Speaker 3: on the list.
Speaker 1: All right. That was Andrew Friedman on Dodger Talk last week,
Speaker 1: and if you missed the show or the interview, you
Speaker 1: can find it on the iHeartRadio app. You know, here
Speaker 1: are the names that fit that description. First and foremost
Speaker 1: Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals. Will the Dodgers be able
Speaker 1: to pull off a trade for Donovan and beat out
Speaker 1: whatever the Cardinals are being offered for him remains to
Speaker 1: be seen. Lars Newbar, I feel a little overrated. I
Speaker 1: know people have mentioned his name, and yes, his versatility
Speaker 1: to play all three outfield spots is nice, but to me,
Speaker 1: it's not the guy that I would want. Number two,
Speaker 1: Jared Duran I don't believe the Dodgers are as high
Speaker 1: on Jared Durant as everybody wants to make you believe.
Speaker 1: The other players that have been connected to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Harrison Bader, who they had interest in at the trade
Speaker 1: deadline last year, he would have interest in playing here.
Speaker 1: He's got some edge, plays great center field and can hit.
Speaker 1: And the other is still with a team. And the
Speaker 1: Astros are listening to offers on Jake Myers, who they
Speaker 1: drafted in twenty seventeen, and he had his breakout season
Speaker 1: last year. Offensively hit two ninety three, had a high
Speaker 1: on base and slugging percentage. So that's an interesting name
Speaker 1: as well, that plays great center field defense and offensively
Speaker 1: started to make things happen. Now, last night, I didn't
Speaker 1: have a chance to really get into this, but all
Speaker 1: I said it on Petro some money. I'll say it again.
Speaker 1: I know Tyler Glass now went on serious XM Radio
Speaker 1: and said the Dodgers reassured him that he's not being traded.
Speaker 1: You know, it's probably something to put his off season
Speaker 1: at ease. But you can't tell me if the Dodgers
Speaker 1: and Tigers are talking about a trade for Trek Scouobele
Speaker 1: and the Tigers say, you know, we need a pitcher
Speaker 1: that is going to help us win this year and
Speaker 1: they ask for Tyler Glass. Now, for example, you can't
Speaker 1: tell me Andrew Friedman's going to tell the Tigers now
Speaker 1: you know what them in December, we're not trading him.
Speaker 1: Can't do it, Sally, I find that very hard to believe. So,
Speaker 1: you know, things are very fluid in the off season,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure Tyler took whatever conversation he had as
Speaker 1: if the Dodgers were not going to trade him, and look,
Speaker 1: they very well might not. But I don't believe any
Speaker 1: player on the Dodgers is untouchable outside of Otani Yamamoto,
Speaker 1: Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. I'll put it that way.
Speaker 1: And as far as the latest on school Bol goes,
Speaker 1: it's in a holding pattern. The ball is in the
Speaker 1: Tiger's court. Are you going to trade him or are
Speaker 1: you not going to trade him? And I don't believe
Speaker 1: that decision is going to be made by the Tigers,
Speaker 1: and not just their GM, but by their ownership until January.
Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, the Tigers signed the all
Speaker 1: time Dodgers saves leader Kennley Jansen, who I can't believe
Speaker 1: accepted that contract. He could have got a lot more
Speaker 1: on the open market than what he got from the Tigers.
Speaker 1: I mean, he made ten million dollars with the Angels
Speaker 1: last year and there was no question about him being
Speaker 1: the closer. The Tigers gave him a club option and
Speaker 1: a two million dollar buyout on top of nine million guaranteed,
Speaker 1: so he got one million dollar more to pitch in Detroit.
Speaker 1: Come on with some of those reliever contracts. He could
Speaker 1: have done a lot better in my opinion. And if
Speaker 1: he needs me to represent him next year, let me know,
Speaker 1: ken Lee. I'm available during the off season. When we
Speaker 1: continue on Dodger Talk, your phone calls, we have two
Speaker 1: lines open, and also we'll get into bo Bischett and
Speaker 1: how he may fit coming up. At the bottom of
Speaker 1: the hour, River Ryan will join us and as we
Speaker 1: go to break, I just want to send out my
Speaker 1: condolences to the Reiner family. Rob Reiner was a huge
Speaker 1: Dodger fan that's been talked about over the last few days.
Speaker 1: Rob and Michelle, we send our condolences to your family
Speaker 1: and you will be sorely missed at Dodger Stadium. And
Speaker 1: we're hearing so many great things that Rob Reiner did
Speaker 1: to help everybody instead of just himself and his direct interests.
Speaker 1: How about this. One of his friends tweeted that Rob
Speaker 1: Reiner who had dugout seats for years at Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 1: and when he knew he couldn't use the tickets, he
Speaker 1: would share them with American gold Star Mothers. It was
Speaker 1: an organization created to help parents deal with the loss
Speaker 1: of their kids in the line of duty for the
Speaker 1: United States Armed Forces. That was Rob Reiner and he
Speaker 1: will be missed. And we'll continue with Dodger Talk next
Speaker 1: right here on five seventy LA Sports. Hey, check out
Speaker 1: Petro's and Money tomorrow two to four at the BJS
Speaker 1: in West Covina, their last remote show on the Streets
Speaker 1: of LA. They'll be at the BJ's in West Covina
Speaker 1: two to four o'clock. I will not be there, and
Speaker 1: I look forward to the day that Petros and Money
Speaker 1: come out to the Woodland Hills bjays. I'll show up
Speaker 1: to that one anyway. Had a lot of good times
Speaker 1: in West Covina back in the day. In that shopping
Speaker 1: center there was a National Sports Grill back in the day,
Speaker 1: and that was a very very fun place. I actually
Speaker 1: produced a Joe McDonald show there once where Kirk Gibson
Speaker 1: showed up in nineteen ninety eight and he was doing
Speaker 1: a promotion with cors Light and they had his image
Speaker 1: of rounding the bases after hitting his legendary walk off
Speaker 1: home run on the can of course light and I
Speaker 1: remember Kirk Gibson signing those cans of beer for Big Joe.
Speaker 1: Don't know where that went because Joe never drank, so
Speaker 1: I'm not sure where those cans of beer went. And
Speaker 1: I stayed for the after party. It was a good time.
Speaker 1: And tomorrow at Bjason, West Covina, I'm sure it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a great time as well. Petro. Some money will
Speaker 1: be there two to four, but I encourage you to
Speaker 1: stay for after they're gone, because they're gonna be giving
Speaker 1: away prizes until five o'clock and then you could see
Speaker 1: my rams take on the Seattle Seahawks. Eight six six
Speaker 1: nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear from River Ryan coming up at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the hour. But first let's go out to
Speaker 1: the phones and David in Paramount. You're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David, I hear you on the radio. I see you
Speaker 2: on TV. You know, I watch your show sometimes on
Speaker 2: the Thank You Gusk on TV with when when you
Speaker 2: come on and talk to the other sports people on TV.
Speaker 1: On the screen here it says that you were a
Speaker 1: Game three of the World Series and you caught the
Speaker 1: show heo Tani game tying home run in the seventh inning?
Speaker 1: Is that true?
Speaker 2: That is correct, sir, Yes, it is.
Speaker 1: I heard about this because there's an auction going on
Speaker 1: for that baseball right now at scpauctions dot com and
Speaker 1: it closes tomorrow. It's crazy. I was just looking to
Speaker 1: see what the bidding's at. It's at one hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars last check, David. So you caught this
Speaker 1: ball and you decided to auction it off.
Speaker 2: It took me a little while, you know, after consulting
Speaker 2: with the family, you know, I felt that it was
Speaker 2: a great thing to do and see where this ends up.
Speaker 2: This is I'll be just obviously my first time ever
Speaker 2: involved in such a moment. So I wanted to give
Speaker 2: it a try. I wasn't going to, but we just
Speaker 2: went for it.
Speaker 1: This could be make the family a very happy merry Christmas,
Speaker 1: I'm sure.
Speaker 2: Or a three wise Man Day in January, or even
Speaker 2: my wife's birthday, which is on January twenty fifth.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. That's awesome. Hey David, where were you sitting
Speaker 1: and did did you catch this home run from Otani
Speaker 1: in Game three cleanly? Did you catch it clean or
Speaker 1: did it bounce and you had to scramble for it.
Speaker 2: I was sitting in section three or seven of the
Speaker 2: left field pavilion, occupying seat seventeen, and when Showhy came
Speaker 2: up to bad, we were down. Went out in the
Speaker 2: seventeen first pitch off of mister Sir Anthony Domingez, yahoom.
Speaker 2: It came off, It flew up and we were all
Speaker 2: looking at it. I was looking at it. I was
Speaker 2: looking at it, and then I've seen it fall off
Speaker 2: to my left about maybe ten to fifteen feet, bounced
Speaker 2: off a fan and it bounced directly into my hands
Speaker 2: and I felt it hit my left arm. I gripped it.
Speaker 2: Just pandemonium, It just went crazy. Everybody, my son was excited,
Speaker 2: everybody in our section was excited, and I just didn't
Speaker 2: let go that ball. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: So is that where you sit when you usually go
Speaker 1: to Dodger games? Or was that that's just where you
Speaker 1: sat for the World Series?
Speaker 2: That's normally where where my son and I sit. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because he's a season ticket holder, and you know, every
Speaker 2: now and then I'll catch a ball again with him,
Speaker 2: and that's where we were.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, that's so cool. And did you stay for
Speaker 1: all eighteen innings?
Speaker 2: All eighteen innings? We were not going to leave because
Speaker 2: we already knew that after that game was tied and
Speaker 2: it went into extra innings, and it just kept going
Speaker 2: and kept going, and just kept hoping that the Dodgers
Speaker 2: would win the game. And it happened when Freddie Freeman
Speaker 2: hits that home run, and it was like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: you know, we went nuts. Yes, we stayed. We stayed
Speaker 2: until it was over.
Speaker 1: That's so awesome. Hey, congratulations on being so lucky to
Speaker 1: have that ball bounce right into your hands. It was
Speaker 1: the game tying home run. O'tani that game a major
Speaker 1: league record on base nine times. Going into extra innings.
Speaker 1: He was trying to carry the Dodgers to a win
Speaker 1: in nine innings, and luckily for the Dodgers, they got
Speaker 1: it in eighteen. So man, David, thank you for calling,
Speaker 1: and congratulations and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Speaker 1: And we'll keep tabs on where this ball ends. It
Speaker 1: ends tomorrow night the auction I was checking it out.
Speaker 1: So if you want this baseball, scpauctions dot com is
Speaker 1: where you go. All right, David, Merry Christmas and call
Speaker 1: back anytime.
Speaker 2: Thank you, sir, God mess you take care. Happy Merry Christmas,
Speaker 2: Happy New Year, see you and your family and stay safe. Please.
Speaker 1: Hey, happy Merry Christmas to you too, David, thanks for calling,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. How about that the guy that caught Otani's
Speaker 1: game tying home run in the seventh inning of Game
Speaker 1: three of the World Series calling in, And you know
Speaker 1: I did see this online at cp auctions dot com
Speaker 1: that this ball is being auctioned, and last checked it
Speaker 1: was close to two hundred thousand dollars. It closes tomorrow,
Speaker 1: so I don't begrudge him. You know, it's great to
Speaker 1: have a baseball, but it's even better to have two
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars eight six six nine eighty seven. Two
Speaker 1: five seventy is the phone number. Man Well and Guardina.
Speaker 1: If you were in David shoes, would you have kept
Speaker 1: the baseball or would you put it up for auction?
Speaker 2: Nah?
Speaker 4: Man, you gotta go with David Man got option that
Speaker 4: that bad boy. That's a life for your family. A
Speaker 4: speaking of family, am five seventy guys like you the
Speaker 4: real DV my Man, Ronnie Fossio, my man calling ye.
Speaker 4: I'm just so thankful man for you guys, for everything
Speaker 4: you guys give us all year long. You guys are
Speaker 4: the gift that keeps giving man like Sanna Sack all
Speaker 4: year long.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: And so I love it man, all the Dodger Info.
Speaker 4: Looking forward to this new upcoming season with Edwin Diaz
Speaker 4: and all the moves that the brain trust is gonna
Speaker 4: make with Gombs and Freedmen, you know, because I know
Speaker 4: it's gonna be some moving parts. But we were talking
Speaker 4: about it on hold me and Ronnie. It's not impossible
Speaker 4: to three Pete And I'm thinking it's more like it's
Speaker 4: impending because the way that this organization handles their business
Speaker 4: is second to none. And I'm so proud to be
Speaker 4: a Dodger fan, and like I said before, man, I'm
Speaker 4: just thankful for you guys at five point seventy for
Speaker 4: keeping us in the loop every day.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, Marry Christmas, have a.
Speaker 4: Great day day season. You deserve the time off.
Speaker 1: Thank you many appreciate it. Merry Christmas and Happy New
Speaker 1: Year to you as well. Look, it's not impossible to threepete.
Speaker 1: It happened five years ago when the Yankees did it,
Speaker 1: the A's did it in the seventies, of course. I
Speaker 1: mean when we talk about modern day three peats, those
Speaker 1: are the two that really stand out to me. So
Speaker 1: it can be done. And the Dodgers are in that mindset,
Speaker 1: from Mark Walter to Andrew Friedman, to Dave Roberts to
Speaker 1: the players to want to go for a three peat,
Speaker 1: and they have the players to do it. They're going
Speaker 1: to add more players to try to achieve that. And
Speaker 1: there are no apologies to be had the Dodgers. You know,
Speaker 1: thirteen fourteen years ago we're the laughing stock of baseball.
Speaker 1: Under Frank McCort and Mark Walter, Magic Johnson, Todd Bowley
Speaker 1: and the rest of that ownership group has resurrected this
Speaker 1: franchise and made it the best in baseball. And these
Speaker 1: last fourteen years are the best fourteen years the Dodgers
Speaker 1: have ever enjoyed in their franchise illustrious franchise history. As
Speaker 1: far as sustained success goes, it's been remarkable compared to
Speaker 1: where they were just merely in twenty eleven, twenty twelve.
Speaker 1: It wasn't that long ago. So there are no apologies
Speaker 1: needed for what the Dodgers are doing. They're playing within
Speaker 1: the rules. But as I have said many times before,
Speaker 1: whether it's the Dodgers television deal, whether it's the Dodgers
Speaker 1: deferring payments, which by the way, all the teams do
Speaker 1: it started. You know, they have Bobby Bonia day for
Speaker 1: a reason. His salary was deferred by the Mets back
Speaker 1: in the late nineties, and that was the brainchild of
Speaker 1: his agent, Dennis Gogo Gilbert. So for those that have
Speaker 1: sour grapes and are salty about the Dodgers deferring contracts,
Speaker 1: it's been going on for a long time. Okay, it's
Speaker 1: been going on for quite some time. And now they're
Speaker 1: a luxury tax and there are three or four steps
Speaker 1: ahead of everybody else. And now you're starting to see
Speaker 1: other teams this offseason start to defer contracts, including the
Speaker 1: Blue Jays with Dylan c. So again, the Dodgers are three, four,
Speaker 1: five steps ahead of everybody else. And when you talk
Speaker 1: about the Dodgers pursuing a guy like Tarrek's scooble has
Speaker 1: nothing to do with their payroll, has everything to do
Speaker 1: with their player development. They're scouting and cultivating young players
Speaker 1: that other teams covet for a picture the caliber of
Speaker 1: Trek's scouble. Let's go out to Ed and Wittier. You're
Speaker 1: on Dodger Talk. How you doing?
Speaker 5: Ed?
Speaker 6: Doing great? Dave? Thank you so much for taking my call.
Speaker 6: I just want to say thank you for the whole
Speaker 6: entire year and all this time you've been with the Dodgers.
Speaker 6: It's amazing. I've talked to you a couple of times
Speaker 6: this season and it's always a pleasure to be on
Speaker 6: the radio with you.
Speaker 1: Hey, thank you, edpreciate it.
Speaker 6: So my question is, is I know we're going for
Speaker 6: a three P. This year was an amazing year followed
Speaker 6: up with the twenty twenty four World Series to get
Speaker 6: that three P. Who do you believe is our biggest contender?
Speaker 6: I know it's still super early in the offseason and
Speaker 6: there's a lot more thought are going to happen. But
Speaker 6: who do you see is gonna be our kind of
Speaker 6: biggest hurdle? And then where do you think the Padres
Speaker 6: are at and the Orioles as well, with that signing
Speaker 6: that they did earlier. I'll hang out on here. You respond, thank.
Speaker 1: Dave, all right, ed, thank you for the phone call. Well,
Speaker 1: here's something that I brought up on Sports and at
Speaker 1: LA last week, when you're talking about the Orioles signing
Speaker 1: Pete Alonso, who I thought was going to sign with
Speaker 1: the Red Sox. But the Red Sox are trying to
Speaker 1: play too rational. Andrew Friedman made the saying famous now
Speaker 1: and infamous in some ways that if you're going to
Speaker 1: be rational in free agency, you're not going to sign
Speaker 1: the player. You've got to be irrational to sign the
Speaker 1: best players in free agency. And I am shocked the
Speaker 1: Red Sox did not land Peede Alonzo. I thought the
Speaker 1: Orioles had one of those anomaly seasons where they have
Speaker 1: so much good young talent that they just took a
Speaker 1: step backwards. But I fully expect them to take a
Speaker 1: big step forward. And since twenty eighteen when the Dodgers
Speaker 1: and Red Sox met in the World Series. Every Al
Speaker 1: East team has played the Dodgers in the World Series
Speaker 1: since twenty eighteen, except the Baltimore Orioles. Does it mean
Speaker 1: it's their turn? Think about it. Every Dodger Championship or
Speaker 1: every Dodger World Series matchup since twenty eighteen has been
Speaker 1: Dodgers versus the Red Sox in eighteen, Dodgers versus the
Speaker 1: Rays in twenty, Dodgers versus Yankees in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: in this past year, Dodgers versus Blue Jays. So is
Speaker 1: that the Orioles turn to step up and try to
Speaker 1: knock off the Dodgers, something that other ALS teams haven't
Speaker 1: been able to do. As far as the National League
Speaker 1: goes to me, as we sit here today before Christmas,
Speaker 1: December seventeenth, I would still say the Phillies are the
Speaker 1: toughest challenge for the Dodgers. Even if they lose Ranger
Speaker 1: Suarez in free agency, which many people are saying is
Speaker 1: going to happen. They re signed Kyle Schwarber, who is
Speaker 1: part of the culture, the heartbeat of that team. Bryce Harper,
Speaker 1: I would expect to be better next year. Trey Turner
Speaker 1: is still there, Christopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, those guys are
Speaker 1: still there and they're trying to get their bullpen better.
Speaker 1: So to me, the Phillies are still the biggest challenge
Speaker 1: to the Dodgers, like they were this year in the
Speaker 1: National League. There were a lot of plays said swung
Speaker 1: the Dodgers way, similar to the World Series, that could
Speaker 1: have gone the Phillies way, and the Dodgers might have
Speaker 1: been out in the NLDS. So don't forget the Phillies
Speaker 1: had the second best record in the National League this
Speaker 1: year as well. Let's go out to Daniel in La.
Speaker 1: You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Daniel?
Speaker 7: How's it going? So ironic that you say that the
Speaker 7: Dodgers are four to five steps ahead of everyone else,
Speaker 7: and yet it really amounted to about one or two
Speaker 7: plays the Dodgers that in the postseason that made the difference,
Speaker 7: especially against the Phillies Game one to base run, a
Speaker 7: mistake by Philadelphia, and then the Kirkling era, and then
Speaker 7: the World Series, especially Games six and the ninth inning
Speaker 7: and then all Games seven and everything happened. It just
Speaker 7: realizes that the Dodgers are closer than people appear to
Speaker 7: everybody else. It just takes one or two plays. But
Speaker 7: that appreciates more of our front office and such, because
Speaker 7: at the end of the day, they're ballplayers. They have
Speaker 7: to execute their fundamentals on offense and pitching. It's not
Speaker 7: so far as oh, a vast payroll and that's gonna
Speaker 7: make the infinite difference. It's fundamentals what you do with
Speaker 7: those players, and it really makes a difference on those
Speaker 7: one or two last plays.
Speaker 4: And I just.
Speaker 1: Want to know, Daniel, how long have you been on Daniel? Daniel,
Speaker 1: how long have you been a Dodger fan for.
Speaker 7: Following the team? Since two thousand and four?
Speaker 1: Okay, so you know that was the Fox era going
Speaker 1: into the McCord era. You know in the past since
Speaker 1: the O'Malley sold the team to Fox, that the Dodgers
Speaker 1: spent big on guys that were not really great character
Speaker 1: guys in the clubhouse, like Kevin Brown. They traded Mike Piazza,
Speaker 1: they signed they signed Carlos Perez, they signed J. D.
Speaker 5: Drew.
Speaker 1: So the Dodgers under previous ownerships have spent money on
Speaker 1: the wrong people. The Mets have a huge payroll, they
Speaker 1: have spent it on the wrong people. That's what also
Speaker 1: said Breds the Dodgers, when they're committing long term to players,
Speaker 1: they're making sure they are committed to baseball and winning
Speaker 1: and our good character people in the clubhouse, in the community.
Speaker 1: So that's the difference as well. You can spend all
Speaker 1: you want, but if you don't spend it on the
Speaker 1: right guys, like a Maximuntcy, like a Mookie Bets, like
Speaker 1: a Freddie Freeman, you don't have the wheel play, you
Speaker 1: don't have a resilient group that comes back in game
Speaker 1: six in game seven.
Speaker 7: Right and well, and just to throw out there from
Speaker 7: the last few or I just want to point out
Speaker 7: that a lot of us last year at this time,
Speaker 7: who thought the Blue Jays in last place in the
Speaker 7: American Leaguees would be our World Series upon of this year.
Speaker 7: So who's say this year? Maybe it could be the Orioles,
Speaker 7: Maybe it could be the Twins or White Sox or
Speaker 7: god hold, the Angels. We don't know. That's the beauty
Speaker 7: of baseball. That's what one hundred and sixty two games
Speaker 7: are determined to find out. And if there's a Dodger
Speaker 7: challenge on the way, whether or not we expect it
Speaker 7: or not, we'll be.
Speaker 1: There all right, Daniel, have a great new year. We'll
Speaker 1: talk to you in twenty twenty six. Eight six six
Speaker 1: nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a time out when we continue. River
Speaker 1: Ryan is going to join us. He is my pick
Speaker 1: to be this year's Emmitt Shean, the breakout pitching star
Speaker 1: of the year. He is on his way back and
Speaker 1: better than ever. You'll hear from young River Ryan next
Speaker 1: right here on Dodger Talk on a five to seventy
Speaker 1: LA Sports Dodger Talk David Vasse taking you to eight o'clock,
Speaker 1: and we are joined right now by a guy that
Speaker 1: we got to know for a bit before he had
Speaker 1: to have Tommy John surgery. But in the short time
Speaker 1: fans got to see River Ryan pitch, they loved it.
Speaker 1: And if you get to know this young man, you'll
Speaker 1: love him even more. Easy guy to root for, and
Speaker 1: he's going to be ready for the Dodgers attempt at
Speaker 1: a three peat in twenty twenty six. And River Ryan
Speaker 1: joins us. River thanks a lot for the time, appreciate.
Speaker 5: It, Yeah, absolutely, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I kind of tipped you off, to which
Speaker 1: teammates kind of told me that you looked not like
Speaker 1: your old self, but a new, improved River Ryan. The
Speaker 1: last month or so of last year, What did you
Speaker 1: take away from the end of your season, even though
Speaker 1: you didn't pitch in a minor league game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, during the entire rehab process, it was I was
Speaker 5: really just trying to refine some things as far as
Speaker 5: mechanics go on the mound and really just be able
Speaker 5: to try to repeat my delivery. Going into twenty twenty six,
Speaker 5: I also was able to add a new pitch to
Speaker 5: the arsenal, So now I think we have seven. We've
Speaker 5: got seven pitches now, wow. So it's yeah, I'm really
Speaker 5: excited to be able to get back out there in
Speaker 5: the showcase what I can do.
Speaker 1: When did you come up with this new pitch? Were
Speaker 1: you thinking about it as you were rehabbing the elbow
Speaker 1: or is it something when you, you know, were allowed
Speaker 1: to let it rip that you decided to experiment with.
Speaker 5: Well, actually, at the end of twenty twenty four, I
Speaker 5: kind of was throwing throwing, I was throwing some sliders
Speaker 5: and catch play and I accidentally kind of like, I
Speaker 5: don't even know how to describe it how I figured
Speaker 5: it out. It just kind of came out a different way,
Speaker 5: and I was like, that's interesting. So I tried to
Speaker 5: just remember how I held the ball that time, and
Speaker 5: I actually figured it out. So yeah, we were working
Speaker 5: on it all year this year in rehab and continuing
Speaker 5: to work on it through this offseason home. I'm ready
Speaker 5: to showcase it in twenty twenty six. I think it's
Speaker 5: going to be a very effective pitch.
Speaker 1: Can you describe the feeling when you throw a pitch
Speaker 1: like that that you weren't intending to and you see
Speaker 1: what it does and how good it feels coming out
Speaker 1: of your hand. Was that an AHA moment or was
Speaker 1: it like, oh I found something. Can you describe what
Speaker 1: it felt like?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it was more of just like I
Speaker 5: was caught off guard by it, Like I didn't know
Speaker 5: that I could make the ball do that. So I
Speaker 5: just kind of just tried to do some research on
Speaker 5: path outings of myself and see if it was going
Speaker 5: to be a good fit for the arsenal, And yeah,
Speaker 5: I think it's gonna mesh really well with with the
Speaker 5: pitches that I offer. But yeah, it was definitely kind
Speaker 5: of just like a Well, I didn't know I could
Speaker 5: make the ball do that, so that's amazing.
Speaker 1: River Ryan is our guest, and River, when you say
Speaker 1: you have seven pitches, I remember when rich Hill was
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers, he talked about shaping pitches and you
Speaker 1: may have one fastball, but you can shape it two
Speaker 1: or three different ways. Or your curveball, you can shape
Speaker 1: it two or three different ways. When you say you
Speaker 1: have that type of arsenal, are you talking about shaping
Speaker 1: some of the same pitches differently, or do you have
Speaker 1: seven different pitch grips.
Speaker 5: No, I actually have seven different pitch grips. But I
Speaker 5: also along with adding a new pitch, I have been
Speaker 5: trying to manipulate some ways I throw different pitches so
Speaker 5: I can throw them like, for example, like a curveball
Speaker 5: like a U darbish slow curveball, or kind of just
Speaker 5: like a stock curveball and a strikeout curveball. So essentially
Speaker 5: one pitch can be three different pitches. But I'm still
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm still got a long way to go
Speaker 5: as far as learning learning how to pitch. It's only
Speaker 5: been a few years for.
Speaker 8: Me, but.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's really cool to be able to do
Speaker 5: different things with the baseball when it's essentially like the
Speaker 5: same pitch, right, So that's that's also that's also being
Speaker 5: worked on, you know as we speak, and looking forward
Speaker 5: to showcase that in twenty twenty six as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, people forget when the Dodgers treated for you, you
Speaker 1: were going between shortstop and just learning how to pitch.
Speaker 1: This has not been your entire life where you've kind
Speaker 1: of mastered pitching. Did this time off, I know elbow
Speaker 1: surgery is never ideal, but did this time off provide
Speaker 1: you with the opportunity to maybe find yourself as a pitcher.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Absolutely. I mean when you have that kind of downtime,
Speaker 5: you you know you got to do something right. So
Speaker 5: I definitely really started to put some time and effort
Speaker 5: into learning how to pitch and what kind of pitches
Speaker 5: I can use in different situations, what kind of pitches
Speaker 5: I can use against different types of hitters. Yeah, it
Speaker 5: was I was really just able to break down some
Speaker 5: stuff over this this this time I spent in rehab
Speaker 5: in Arizona and learn some different things about pitching that
Speaker 5: I'm excited to put to use.
Speaker 1: So when Kyle Hurd and some of your other teammates
Speaker 1: were telling me, it's September, just how great you looked.
Speaker 1: Who were you facing? Was it like those inner squad
Speaker 1: games with other teams? Was it like real game type
Speaker 1: of scenarios? Can you describe what they were raving about?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was just pitching to some of the guys
Speaker 5: that were also in rehab with me that were, you know,
Speaker 5: just trying to get some reps, a couple of minor
Speaker 5: league a couple of minor league guys. And then towards
Speaker 5: the end of the year, I think my last live
Speaker 5: I was thrown against uh, some of some of my
Speaker 5: old teammates and Triple A, like Ryan Ward, justin Dean,
Speaker 5: just some yeah, some of those guys. But yeah, it
Speaker 5: was it was just it was I ended the ended
Speaker 5: the rehab on a really, really high note. So it's
Speaker 5: exciting for sure.
Speaker 1: River Ryan is our guest. This is Dodger Talk until
Speaker 1: eight o'clock tonight on a five to seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 1: You mentioned a couple of guys that you know. Obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of Dodger fans have been eager to see
Speaker 1: Ryan Ward in particular. I don't know. I felt like
Speaker 1: I had a streak during last year River where at
Speaker 1: least one person a day for two months straight either
Speaker 1: text me, called me, or in person asked me about
Speaker 1: Ryan Ward. How good is Ryan Ward? And are you
Speaker 1: excited to see him get an opportunity at the big
Speaker 1: league level this year?
Speaker 5: Yeah? Absolutely. Ryan Ward's a special ball player. He's been
Speaker 5: putting up some crazy numbers over the past few seasons,
Speaker 5: and I really hope that he's able to get an
Speaker 5: opportunity at the big league level. I think he'll I
Speaker 5: think he'll do some pretty good things, and I'll have
Speaker 5: a pretty long career at the major league level. So yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm definitely a fan Ryan Ward, and I'm excited for
Speaker 5: him to get an opportunity this year.
Speaker 1: All right, And in the World Series, Justin Dean got
Speaker 1: a lot of play late game defense in center field.
Speaker 1: What did you think about the play where the ball
Speaker 1: got stuck underneath the wall and Justin Dean's putting up
Speaker 1: his arms. Were you watching all of those plays? And
Speaker 1: what did you think when you saw that play with
Speaker 1: one of your minor league teammates and the guy you were,
Speaker 1: you know, getting ready to play.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was a pretty pretty high IQ moment, if
Speaker 5: I'm remembering correctly. When he put his hands up to
Speaker 5: play the play was stopped. I can't, I honestly can't
Speaker 5: remember how it all went down, but like if amazing.
Speaker 1: How the ball finds you right river, amazing, how.
Speaker 5: The ball fly, Yeah, it finds you for sure. But yeah,
Speaker 5: the fact that he kind of just had to where
Speaker 5: withal to throw his hands up immediately, whether the play
Speaker 5: stopped or not, that's just kind of a high IQ moment.
Speaker 5: But it's it's funny too because I played against Justin
Speaker 5: Dean in college. He went to Lenore Ryan and I
Speaker 5: went to UNC Pembroke, and we my freshman year we
Speaker 5: matched up against each other. Actually didn't know that I
Speaker 5: played against him until talking with him this past spring training.
Speaker 5: But yeah, Justin Dean's always been been a very solid ballplayer. Defensively,
Speaker 5: if I remember correctly, he's been he's been a pretty
Speaker 5: good pretty good hitter too, as a good eye had
Speaker 5: to play. But he's just extremely fast, can cover a
Speaker 5: lot of ground out there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, no doubt. Hey, I got to ask you this,
Speaker 1: where were you watching Game six and seven of the
Speaker 1: World Series.
Speaker 5: My parents' house and my in law's house. We were
Speaker 5: kind of in the middle of visiting some some family
Speaker 5: members that we've been trying to visit. So and one
Speaker 5: was in Georgia, one was in North Carolina.
Speaker 1: So okay, so two key plays. Tell me what your
Speaker 1: thoughts were in the living room of your family's house
Speaker 1: when A Will Smith took his foot off home plate
Speaker 1: for a split second and then b when Pa has
Speaker 1: ran into keyk Hernandez. Do you remember what was going
Speaker 1: through your head when you saw those two plays.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I definitely remember the the collision kind of in
Speaker 5: the outfield more than I remember Will Will almost coming.
Speaker 2: Off the bag.
Speaker 8: But uh yeah, thank thank the Lord that he was
Speaker 8: able to get to get the footback on the bag.
Speaker 8: But yeah, that that play in center field was just
Speaker 8: I can only imagine how loud the stadium was trying
Speaker 8: to communicate. And you know, Key K and Pa Hayes,
Speaker 8: they both want to make the play and they're going
Speaker 8: to go, you know, as hard as.
Speaker 5: They can to make it happen. So fortunately they were
Speaker 5: able to. Pa Haes was able to you know, come
Speaker 5: out with the with the catch and nobody got seriously hurt.
Speaker 5: So yeah, that was a there's a hold your breath
Speaker 5: moment for sure. I think more of the more along
Speaker 5: the lines of injury injury perspective than actually catching the ball.
Speaker 1: But yeah, no doubt. I mean I love hearing where
Speaker 1: guys like you were watching and what you were feeling
Speaker 1: in those moments, and you're going to be a big
Speaker 1: part of the Dodgers trying to go for a three
Speaker 1: pet Do you have the vision of what the Dodgers
Speaker 1: and Image Shean did last year where you know they
Speaker 1: have the luxury of allowing you guys to you know,
Speaker 1: ramp up and be ready. Do you kind of feel
Speaker 1: like you're this year's Image Shean where they they deploy
Speaker 1: you in the second half when you're fully functional.
Speaker 5: Honestly, my whole mindset right now is trying to make
Speaker 5: the team out of camp. I think I think I'm
Speaker 5: more than healthy enough to have a full healthy season.
Speaker 5: It's just going out there and proving that I am
Speaker 5: healthy and doing what I am capable of doing and
Speaker 5: try to do it effectively in spring training and hopefully
Speaker 5: make the squad out out of camp. That'd be great,
Speaker 5: love it.
Speaker 1: That's one thing. Listening the river right now, it's the
Speaker 1: holiday time, he's with this family, it's the off season.
Speaker 1: Completely nice guy, but when it's go time. He has
Speaker 1: the edge that you need to be great and I
Speaker 1: appreciate that about you, River and can't wait to see
Speaker 1: you in spring training. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Speaker 1: I know you're somewhat of a newlywed. You got a
Speaker 1: great family that you're building. Things are looking great for
Speaker 1: you in twenty six and beyond. So thank you so
Speaker 1: much for the time and can't wait to see you
Speaker 1: in Arizona.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you for having me,
Speaker 5: and Merry Christmas to you as well. Stay safe out there.
Speaker 1: Okay, no doubt. Gotta keep your head on a swivel, River,
Speaker 1: especially when you're on the streets of Ventura Boulevard.
Speaker 5: Baby.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time, River, and we'll see
Speaker 1: you in a.
Speaker 2: Z all right.
Speaker 5: I appreciate it. Take it easy.
Speaker 1: There it goes River Ryan number seventy seven the last
Speaker 1: time we saw him, and like I said, I really
Speaker 1: do believe from what I have heard and just the
Speaker 1: people raving about what they saw from River Ryan. To me,
Speaker 1: he's the best candidate that you could say would be
Speaker 1: in that image. Shean role to burst onto the scene
Speaker 1: in the second half of the season to give the
Speaker 1: Dodgers some needed pitching depth and help manage the innings
Speaker 1: of their starters. And you never know as far as
Speaker 1: injuries go. A lot of things as we have seen
Speaker 1: with pitchers over the years, occurred during the year and
Speaker 1: you need guys like River Ryan to be able to
Speaker 1: step up and provide those innings. It's not just about
Speaker 1: the twenty six man roster as we have seen it,
Speaker 1: it's about the forty man roster. And that's what the
Speaker 1: Dodgers have been able to do better than most teams
Speaker 1: is not only have five or six guys, but they
Speaker 1: have seven, eight, nine guys that you know arguably could start.
Speaker 1: And look, if Justin Robleski is on this roster next year,
Speaker 1: why not have him part of the bullpen. Why not
Speaker 1: have him as a guy that can go multiple innings
Speaker 1: to help manage those innings. And don't forget about Gavin Stone.
Speaker 1: He had a way more serious surgery than River Ryan's
Speaker 1: Tommy John surgery. He had a major shoulder surgery. So
Speaker 1: him coming back this year and being as good as
Speaker 1: he was during the twenty four regular season is not
Speaker 1: as much of a sure thing. But I'm rooting for
Speaker 1: Gavin Stone. He made more starts than any other Dodger
Speaker 1: pitcher during the twenty four regular season. And remember he
Speaker 1: had that complete game against the White Sox in Chicago,
Speaker 1: So I'm rooting for him. He's a great guy. He's
Speaker 1: a guy that you know wants to be great, and
Speaker 1: hopefully that injury doesn't derail what was a promising future.
Speaker 1: So River and Gavin Stone hoping to come back and
Speaker 1: be big time contributors this season. I kind of lean
Speaker 1: towards River Ryan because of the severity of Gavin Stone's surgery,
Speaker 1: being that guy more than Stone is. So we'll see
Speaker 1: how it shakes out. But don't forget Bobby Miller and
Speaker 1: Landon nac are still part of the Dodgers. Remember Bobby Miller,
Speaker 1: everybody's next big thing. Well, he has a lot to prove.
Speaker 1: That was the most disappointing season for him. He's got
Speaker 1: to figure things out, and not just figure him out
Speaker 1: during the end of last year, but hopefully he's doing
Speaker 1: some soul searching this offseason to try to get better.
Speaker 1: And it's not just about physical stuff or about pitching mechanics.
Speaker 1: It's about thinking the game and maturing that way. As
Speaker 1: you get closer to wanting to be not only a
Speaker 1: major league pitcher for one year or fourteen starts, but
Speaker 1: how about sticking. I always remember Eric saying when he
Speaker 1: was playing for the Dodgers in his dry way, and
Speaker 1: it was a matter of fact, and it's one hundred
Speaker 1: percent true. It's hard to get to the big leagues.
Speaker 1: It's even harder to stay in the big leagues, and
Speaker 1: you can't get too comfortable. They love you until they
Speaker 1: don't love you. I actually told the player that last week.
Speaker 1: Are they still love me? They still got love for me? Yeah?
Speaker 1: They love you until they don't love you. And that's
Speaker 1: what you've always got to remember. Vince Scully always used
Speaker 1: to talk about baseball being a what have you done
Speaker 1: for me lately? Sport? And that's one hundred percent true.
Speaker 1: You're only as good as your last at bat, your
Speaker 1: last outing, your last pitch. That's the way baseball is.
Speaker 1: Like it or not fair or not fair, that's baseball.
Speaker 1: And that's the way I approach Dodger Talk every night.
Speaker 1: I'm only as good as my last show. And this
Speaker 1: was our last show of twenty twenty five. What an
Speaker 1: incredible Dole season. I look forward to reflecting back on
Speaker 1: all of it when we rejoin you after the new
Speaker 1: year and keep it rolling in twenty twenty six. Thank
Speaker 1: you to Ronnie Fossio for all his help during the
Speaker 1: off season shows and off day shows this year. Thank
Speaker 1: you for listening. I hope you have a very safe
Speaker 1: holiday season and I can't wait to do this again.
Speaker 1: And who knows, we may have an emergency Dodger Talk
Speaker 1: between now and January third. So Hey, Breaking Dodger News
Speaker 1: AM five seventy LA Sports is where you want to be,
Speaker 1: and we would have an emergency Dodger Talk show if
Speaker 1: anything major goes down, and you never know when that
Speaker 1: can happen. In case you missed any of this show
Speaker 1: or any of our shows during the season, you can
Speaker 1: find it on the iHeartRadio app. Make Dodger Talk a
Speaker 1: number one pre set and you'll never miss any of
Speaker 1: the interviews, any of the shows, any of the breaking news.
Speaker 1: All Right, Fox Sports Radio US next, we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you in twenty twenty six. Seea