Speaker 1: The quest for the three peat has begun.
Speaker 2: Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
Speaker 2: three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
Speaker 2: the fifth fifth.
Speaker 3: This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: Here we go again.
Speaker 3: Brgaray running back to get in on the show called
Speaker 3: eight six six eighty seven two five seven and be
Speaker 3: sure to follow Dodger Talk wherever you catch your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Vasse. Welcome the Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Vasse with you until eight o'clock tonight at eight
Speaker 2: six six nine eight seven two five seventy. The Pirates
Speaker 2: score four runs in the eighth inning to beat the
Speaker 2: Dodgers tonight by a final score of nine to eight.
Speaker 1: Show Hey.
Speaker 2: Otani was allowed to go into the seventh inning, and
Speaker 2: he did get the first two outs of the seventh,
Speaker 2: but three runs scored in that seventh inning and Otani
Speaker 2: did not finish. And look, Utan has made it very
Speaker 2: clear about his intentions and the purpose and the goal
Speaker 2: of pitching this year. And the reality is it's going
Speaker 2: to be a challenge for Otani to a qualify for
Speaker 2: the era title. He's going to need one hundred and
Speaker 2: sixty two innings to be able to qualify for that
Speaker 2: ra title. By the end of the year, you got
Speaker 2: Christopher Sanchez and Jacob Mizarowski pitching every fourth or fifth day.
Speaker 2: Sanchez has the longest scoreless inning streak by a left
Speaker 2: hander this year. He's likely going to be the National
Speaker 2: League All Star starter in Philadelphia. It's an uphill battle.
Speaker 2: And if you really do take a step back and
Speaker 2: examine Otani's pitching season, it's been good and what he's
Speaker 2: done is remarkable, no doubt, slam dunk MVP and possibly
Speaker 2: one of the greatest seasons we have ever seen by
Speaker 2: any player in baseball history. But if you're just solely
Speaker 2: judging him on pitching and winning the Cy Young Award,
Speaker 2: maybe in another down year he may If it was
Speaker 2: between him and Mason Miller, I would say yes, his
Speaker 2: chances would it would be much greater than what they
Speaker 2: are right now when you have two outstanding starters like
Speaker 2: Sanchez and Misowski doing what they're doing. So my point
Speaker 2: is he was going into the seventh inning tonight, so
Speaker 2: he could qualify for being one of the r leaders,
Speaker 2: maybe the er leader, but.
Speaker 1: For only one night.
Speaker 2: Because that qualification would have gone away by the next
Speaker 2: time he started a game, so his pitch count was
Speaker 2: in check.
Speaker 1: Don't get me.
Speaker 2: Wrong, he was in the low eighties when he started
Speaker 2: that seventh inning. But the reality is he's dealing with
Speaker 2: a blister on his right middle finger that a trainer
Speaker 2: came out and checked on in the inning before. So
Speaker 2: why is he going back out there for the seventh inning?
Speaker 2: Is it solely about trying to qualify for the ERA leaders.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's no I just I didn't see what
Speaker 2: good could have come out of him going out for
Speaker 2: the seventh inning, except for the mere fact that you know,
Speaker 2: we saw the implosion of Kyle Hurt and Jack Dryer,
Speaker 2: who you know, Jack Dryer has not been as good
Speaker 2: as he was a year ago, and Kyle Hurt was
Speaker 2: completely off his game. So it's hard to argue against
Speaker 2: maybe a sixty or seventy percent Otani going out there
Speaker 2: for the seventh inning. And Max Munsey's error in that
Speaker 2: seventh inning to allow that ground ball to go under
Speaker 2: his glove was a huge mistake, allowing another run to score,
Speaker 2: especially when incredibly, after Orotani throws one hundred and two pitches,
Speaker 2: he hits a two run home run in the ninth
Speaker 2: inning to bring the Dodgers within one run in the
Speaker 2: ninth inning off of Gregory Soto, who's been very shaky
Speaker 2: of late for Pittsburgh as their closer. I mean, that
Speaker 2: was a big run that much allowed to come in,
Speaker 2: and Munsey has been outstanding defensively at third base. That
Speaker 2: was just that was a big mistake, I'll just put
Speaker 2: it that way. Obviously, bigger mistakes by Kyle Hurt walking
Speaker 2: the first two batters in the eighth inning. It just
Speaker 2: was one of those nights for Kyle Hurt, and he
Speaker 2: just couldn't.
Speaker 1: Get out of his own way.
Speaker 2: Tyler Callahan hitting a go ahead, three run home run
Speaker 2: and all of that put a damper on Ryan Ward
Speaker 2: hitting his first career Grand Slam in.
Speaker 1: The sixth inning with two outs.
Speaker 2: Ironically, it's Ryan Ward who's been waiting for his opportunity,
Speaker 2: a twenty eight year old rookie, finally getting his opportunity
Speaker 2: because of the injury to ta Oscar Hernandez, who comes
Speaker 2: up with the big hit of the game. After Kyle Tucker,
Speaker 2: the high priced free agent signing, strikes out again in
Speaker 2: a big spot.
Speaker 1: With the bases loaded.
Speaker 2: It was Ryan Ward that picked up Tucker and the
Speaker 2: dog in the sixth inning, because that would have been
Speaker 2: a huge missed opportunity. Bases loaded one out and you
Speaker 2: don't score a run. If it wasn't for Ryan Ward's
Speaker 2: grand slam in that sixth inning, I think we'd be
Speaker 2: a little bit more frustrated and upset talking about this
Speaker 2: game tonight. So it was Ryan Ward, the twenty eight
Speaker 2: year old rookie picking up the guy that's making sixty
Speaker 2: million this year, who struck out with the bases loaded
Speaker 2: ahead of him. Let's head downstairs right now to hear
Speaker 2: from manager Dave Roberts on sports and at LA.
Speaker 4: I think I'm seeing I think I'm seeing more walks
Speaker 4: than when we were going really well. And I think
Speaker 4: that you know, when we're on the attack and kind
Speaker 4: of imposing our will on those offenses were as good
Speaker 4: as anyone. And I think when you or I know,
Speaker 4: when you give free passes, it sort of builds momentum
Speaker 4: for the other team, And you know, takes one hit
Speaker 4: to score a run instead of a couple of hits
Speaker 4: to build an inning. So I think right now we're
Speaker 4: doing a little so inflicted damage.
Speaker 3: Things really shifted tonight in the seventh anny, whether it
Speaker 3: was how show how his work ended. And then of course,
Speaker 3: as you just talked about with the bullpen, what were
Speaker 3: you seeing just there in that moment, just as he
Speaker 3: got deep into his outing.
Speaker 4: You know, I thought he still had enough in there
Speaker 4: to keep going. You know, there was a walk in there,
Speaker 4: there was some soft contact that that kind of the
Speaker 4: squibber off that bat that infield hit gets a strikeout,
Speaker 4: and then with the with the low at bat or
Speaker 4: lou at bat got behind and then he went after
Speaker 4: him and then he.
Speaker 1: Hit a double.
Speaker 4: Uh So I still felt, you know, we we you know,
Speaker 4: unfortunately we got it. We got out of that inning,
Speaker 4: gave up another one, but got out of that inning,
Speaker 4: and you know, I still felt we had the game
Speaker 4: in hand.
Speaker 5: Calls in Steven, especially when it's low that he thought
Speaker 5: about challenging, but you just to put the abs. Now,
Speaker 5: how do you guys kind of evaluate the situations like that,
Speaker 5: especially with how that didn't played out.
Speaker 4: I know, And that's one of those things that you
Speaker 4: know from the side and the dugout, you put it
Speaker 4: in the hands of the players. And I think both catches,
Speaker 4: both of our catches have been very good, and I
Speaker 4: guess I hadn't looked back, but I did hear that
Speaker 4: a couple of those pitches to allow were strikes and
Speaker 4: it would have obviously flipped the count. And you never know,
Speaker 4: but you know, I thought Dalton's done a good job
Speaker 4: with all of our pitchers, and so it just probably
Speaker 4: in his opinion that it wasn't worth the challenge. But
Speaker 4: it's not an exact science. And I think we had
Speaker 4: one challenge left right there, so that might have been
Speaker 4: something that caused a little bit of pause. But yeah,
Speaker 4: you know, it's just it's a game of baseballs.
Speaker 5: Like you mentioned that a couple of games have gotten
Speaker 5: away late, just kind of.
Speaker 2: Comes back, all right. That was Dave Roberts on Sports
Speaker 2: and at LA. I just want to get to the
Speaker 2: avat that he was talking about. In the seventh inning,
Speaker 2: Otani looked like he was about to try to tap
Speaker 2: his cap to challenge all three of those pitches to
Speaker 2: Brandon Law because he was right. The first pitch was
Speaker 2: ball one, but if you look back at it, it
Speaker 2: was a strike, and then ball three to allow was
Speaker 2: a strike as well. But rushing was wrong on a
Speaker 2: recent ABS challenge, so he was a little trigger shy
Speaker 2: to go to UH to challenge that, and earlier in
Speaker 2: the game it was Otani that tapped his cap and
Speaker 2: was right. It wasn't rushing, so Otani had great instincts
Speaker 2: about what was right what was wrong to challenge as
Speaker 2: far as the abs goes, eight six, six nine, eight
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy is the phone number also in
Speaker 2: this game that gets lost in the shuffle. Otani should
Speaker 2: have had two home runs tonight because Brian Reynolds made
Speaker 2: an incredible catch in the top of the third inning
Speaker 2: that would have made it two nothing Dodgers in the
Speaker 2: top of the third inning. Otani should have had a
Speaker 2: pair of two run home runs. He hit that one
Speaker 2: in the ninth inning, which to me, I don't think
Speaker 2: people really can wrap their heads around what he did.
Speaker 2: After throwing one hundred and two pitches, he has enough
Speaker 2: in the tank to hit a two run home run
Speaker 2: to try to will the Dodgers to at least.
Speaker 1: Time that game.
Speaker 2: In the ninth but he should have had another two
Speaker 2: run home run. But there is a short wall in
Speaker 2: left field. Brian Reynolds tied time did perfectly, had enough
Speaker 2: hangtime to be able to make that catch and it
Speaker 2: was at least two rows back of that wall. That
Speaker 2: short wall in left field also another play that could
Speaker 2: have changed things a little bit. Top of the second inning,
Speaker 2: Mookie Bets, who's hitting a buck eighty five. You gotta
Speaker 2: do more things until you come out of this. And
Speaker 2: in the top of the second inning, there was an
Speaker 2: error in center field on what Mooky thought was going
Speaker 2: to be an out. But Mooky wasn't running hard out
Speaker 2: of the box in that top of the second inning.
Speaker 2: He should have been standing at second base when that
Speaker 2: ball d by Magnum in that second inning, because the
Speaker 2: very next batter grounded into a double play. In that
Speaker 2: second inning, Max Muncy grounded into a double play and
Speaker 2: then Kyle Tucker struck out, So if Mookie Betts is
Speaker 2: standing at second base, there is no double play. And
Speaker 2: who knows that the Dodgers get an early lead for Otani.
Speaker 2: But you just want to see the game played the
Speaker 2: right way, and Mooki was feeling sorry for himself instead
Speaker 2: of running, and you never know.
Speaker 1: What could happen like it did.
Speaker 2: Eight six six nine, eight seven two five seventy is
Speaker 2: the phone number. The Pirates come from behind and beat
Speaker 2: the Dodgers. Tonight nine to eight. Let's go out to
Speaker 2: Dave and Aliso. You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Dave?
Speaker 6: Yes, hello, thank you for taking my call. You know,
Speaker 6: I know every team goes through this. Every team blowsags.
Speaker 6: It's common in baseball. But the way the Dodgers blow saves,
Speaker 6: they blow saves in a very demoralizing way with home
Speaker 6: runs Like Tennis Scott, I'm gonna make the team's work
Speaker 6: for blowing to save, you gotta give.
Speaker 2: Well, there was no blown save tonight. It was just
Speaker 2: a well Kyle Hurt blew the save in the eighth inning.
Speaker 2: But it wasn't a walk off home run type of thing.
Speaker 2: But I look, when it's that late in the game, Dave,
Speaker 2: and you give up a lead, it's not gonna feel
Speaker 2: good no matter what team it is, no matter what
Speaker 2: picture it is, right.
Speaker 7: The next picture, like Draya, when you when your two
Speaker 7: picture gives up a devastating home run like that, your
Speaker 7: responsibility has come in. You need to shut the team down.
Speaker 7: That's what That's what loses penance in the end of
Speaker 7: September by one game or home field advantage in the
Speaker 7: World Series. You can't give away games like this. You
Speaker 7: have to make teams work to beat you with, you
Speaker 7: know base.
Speaker 2: It didn't make them work to be they did, they did, Dave, Dave,
Speaker 2: let's not overreact.
Speaker 1: Was it a great ending to the game? No? Was
Speaker 1: it two.
Speaker 2: Guys that are probably not the highest leverage relievers? Yes,
Speaker 2: Kyle Hurt and Jack Dryer are not going to be
Speaker 2: in high leverage spots. And how about this, If the
Speaker 2: Dodgers lose the NLS by one game, I will buy
Speaker 2: you tickets to a playoff game, Dave, because I don't
Speaker 2: believe that's going to be the case. They're seven and
Speaker 2: a half games ahead of the Podres, they are eight
Speaker 2: and a half games ahead of the Diamondbacks. It wasn't
Speaker 2: a good night, but I just feel like it's a
Speaker 2: little bit of an overreaction by you. And come on,
Speaker 2: Jack Dryer, you're telling me he doesn't want to come
Speaker 2: in and shut down the pirates. Of course he does,
Speaker 2: but there were other moments in this game that caused
Speaker 2: the Dodgers to lose.
Speaker 8: I see, okay, all right, Dave, thank you.
Speaker 1: For the phone call.
Speaker 2: Eight six six, seven seventy af the Dodgers lose the
Speaker 2: nl WEST by one game.
Speaker 1: Uh call, me back.
Speaker 2: I'll buy you tickets to a playoff game. We're gonna
Speaker 2: take a time out when we come back. More of
Speaker 2: your phone calls. We have phone lines open at eight
Speaker 2: sixty six nine, eight seven two five seventy. We'll get
Speaker 2: you an update on Will Smith and we'll hear from
Speaker 2: Shoho Tani as well as the Pirates score five runs
Speaker 2: in the eighth inning and beat the Dodgers nine to
Speaker 2: eight on AM five to seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 3: Dodger Talk is available on AM five seventy LA sports
Speaker 3: dot com.
Speaker 9: Hand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3: Back to more Dodger Talk with Dodger insider David Basse.
Speaker 2: Which to Ward, these wings hitch a drive to right field,
Speaker 2: toward the wall.
Speaker 9: It is done.
Speaker 2: It's a grand slam, the first career grand slam for
Speaker 2: r Ward.
Speaker 1: A line drive over of.
Speaker 3: The Clementi Wall in Wright, a frozen rop for Ryan Ward.
Speaker 1: His third career home.
Speaker 8: Run is a grand slam.
Speaker 1: Gotta love it.
Speaker 2: A guy that has persevered in his professional baseball career
Speaker 2: finally getting an opportunity, twenty eight year old Ryan Ward,
Speaker 2: and he delivered in a big way with a two
Speaker 2: out grand slam in the sixth inning. Unfortunately, after the
Speaker 2: Dodgers went up six to one, they gave up eight
Speaker 2: runs in the seventh and eighth innings tonight and they
Speaker 2: fall to Pittsburgh nine to eight at PNC Park. Daniels
Speaker 2: Jewelers presents the home Run Forecast. For your chance to
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Speaker 2: five to seventy LA sports dot Com, use the keyword
Speaker 2: home run, enter your name and you could win. Daniels
Speaker 2: Jewelers own the Dream. Eight six, six nine, eight seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy is the phone number. Let's head back
Speaker 2: to Pittsburgh to hear from show Heo Tani. I'm curious
Speaker 2: about the abs challenges that were not called in the
Speaker 2: seventh inning and more importantly, how that right middle finger
Speaker 2: and blister affected him tonight.
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts has shared with us that if you look
Speaker 3: at your last few outings, you've been dealing with the blister.
Speaker 3: We saw it was bothering you today. Just what is
Speaker 3: it like kind of managing that and clearly you're making
Speaker 3: your starts, but just how does that feel at the moment?
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, no issues with the blisters.
Speaker 10: I don't think it's been affecting my performance. Just the
Speaker 10: last you know, a couple at bats where you know,
Speaker 10: I was just hoping. I wish I got some call
Speaker 10: my way, but just didn't turn out that way. And
Speaker 10: that's the part that I wish I could have been
Speaker 10: able to change a little.
Speaker 8: Bit and want challenge a couple of weeks.
Speaker 11: And just say too much.
Speaker 8: Skill that.
Speaker 1: Uh hosting give out in the day. I got a
Speaker 1: night you skill my station all day. I might have
Speaker 1: to move.
Speaker 10: I'll say a bunch of counts because I really got
Speaker 10: close to you know, doing one. Usually let the catchers
Speaker 10: make that determination. But looking back, I think situationally how
Speaker 10: important it was that at bad Looking back, I think
Speaker 10: I could have done a few challenges.
Speaker 5: Pitched into the seventh a ton this year. Just how
Speaker 5: did you feel about the execution of your stuff that ending?
Speaker 5: Was there any fatigue that played into kind of how
Speaker 5: that played out?
Speaker 11: And I tell you I can just get a must
Speaker 11: you about puff once sage.
Speaker 10: You're going into that inning. The pitch can was pretty
Speaker 10: relatively low, So I don't think so. But you know,
Speaker 10: after the two hitters two hours felt pretty good. It
Speaker 10: was just the mis execution and that three zero pitch.
Speaker 1: Kill.
Speaker 8: And did you think that one the third inning was out.
Speaker 1: No home out?
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 10: To your height stand to ski, Yeah, I felt good
Speaker 10: off the bat. I thought it was going to be
Speaker 10: a homer. Looking back at the video, it was a homer,
Speaker 10: but the left field and made a fantastic catch and
Speaker 10: got it. Tip my cap on that one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was Brian Reynolds. It was a home run.
Speaker 2: That's what most players will say when they're asked that
Speaker 2: type of question. It was a home run. He just
Speaker 2: brought it back and that was Brian Reynolds. In the
Speaker 2: top of the third inning. That would have been Otani
Speaker 2: helping his own cause with a two run home run
Speaker 2: early in that game. Now you heard O'tani answer the
Speaker 2: question about the blister on his right middle finger. That's
Speaker 2: what we wanted to know about because if you look
Speaker 2: at the pitches he threw tonight, he's not going to
Speaker 2: show any vulnerability or that that affected him. But it's
Speaker 2: hard to ignore the fact that O'tani threw just about
Speaker 2: fifty percent of his pitches for fastballs, and the pitch
Speaker 2: that he threw the second most was his sweeper. The
Speaker 2: two pitches that really, you know, start to affect your
Speaker 2: right middle finger when you're trying to throw, when you're
Speaker 2: trying to throw it and you have a blister. Is
Speaker 2: his curveball and his split fingered fastball. Mark Goobazaw told
Speaker 2: me that in twenty eighteen it was his splitter. It
Speaker 2: was his slider that created the blister on his right
Speaker 2: middle finger. And of course, as you know, a curveball
Speaker 2: is going to be right there as well, resting on
Speaker 2: that right middle finger as well. So he only threw
Speaker 2: the curveball eight times tonight. His splitter, he only threw
Speaker 2: it four times. You can't tell me that was because
Speaker 2: he just didn't feel like throwing those pitches. You would
Speaker 2: have to believe he was trying to navigate this start
Speaker 2: without having to throw those too much and aggravating his
Speaker 2: blister on his right middle finger, which needed to be
Speaker 2: tended to in the sixth inning anyway. So that's something
Speaker 2: to keep an eye on moving forward. Let's go back
Speaker 2: out to the phones, Andy and Lake elsinor you're on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi.
Speaker 8: Andy, how you doing. I just wanted to talk about
Speaker 8: three real things, three things real quick. That's on my mind,
Speaker 8: and number one is Mookie Bets. Yeah, he's struggling. Obviously,
Speaker 8: he's been low the uker line, but you know he
Speaker 8: took on the role for shortstop, and you know that
Speaker 8: we already discussed this a lot of times, and you
Speaker 8: know his offense is gonna suffer and all of that,
Speaker 8: but he's as much if he was he was to retire,
Speaker 8: if he was to retire today, he'd be a Hall
Speaker 8: of Famer.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that, Andy, I don't know about
Speaker 2: that at all. He's a really good player, and if
Speaker 2: this was the NBA or NFL, he would be because
Speaker 2: of winning four World Series probably a fifth, if not
Speaker 2: this year, then another year. But I wouldn't say that's
Speaker 2: a that's a slam dunk right now.
Speaker 8: He was on the peer of the league. Plus he
Speaker 8: was on the peer of the World Series. I think
Speaker 8: he's that was in one year.
Speaker 2: What about the rest of I'm not going to bash
Speaker 2: Mookie Bets. All I'm gonna say is that he's not
Speaker 2: a slam dunk Hall of Famer right now. And when
Speaker 2: you say shortstop is taken away from his offense, sure,
Speaker 2: but it shouldn't be taken away so much where he's
Speaker 2: hitting a buck eighty five.
Speaker 8: Why, he just came back from the league.
Speaker 1: He's got one.
Speaker 2: Hundred and fifty at bats now, Andy, He's got one
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty at bats now, Andy. And I'll say this,
Speaker 2: and I've said this, even though Mookie Bets is hitting
Speaker 2: one eighty five, his swings and his at bats look
Speaker 2: better than Kyle Tucker's.
Speaker 8: Well, the thing is is that he's playing shortstop ninety
Speaker 8: he's got one hundred and fifty at bats. So maybe
Speaker 8: if he was playing second base or right field, maybe
Speaker 8: those hundred and fifty bats would have been you know,
Speaker 8: a lot. Maybe he'd be batting to fifty at least
Speaker 8: by now. And the other thing that I want to
Speaker 8: touch on is Dave Roberts. I think Dave Roberts is
Speaker 8: kind of like obviously today was just like no one
Speaker 8: wanted that, right, But I think he's happy that the
Speaker 8: way things are going right now because it's already the season,
Speaker 8: and I just think that, yeah, he would say so,
Speaker 8: look at everybody else, Yeah, the.
Speaker 2: Second International League to the Braves, He yeah, so, But
Speaker 2: I would say he's in a good spot, seven and
Speaker 2: a half game lead in the NL West, all right,
Speaker 2: what's your third thing? Because you've stated one thing that
Speaker 2: I don't agree with another one that is obvious, And
Speaker 2: what's your third thing?
Speaker 8: Help us?
Speaker 1: Help us?
Speaker 10: Thank you? Andy.
Speaker 8: The third thing is just a question, and that is
Speaker 8: when do you think Andrew Friedman's gonna just let out
Speaker 8: say that, you know what, I made a mistake with Tucker.
Speaker 8: He had a chance to bring in Ballinger or or
Speaker 8: Bashat and put them on right field, but he signed
Speaker 8: sixty mils.
Speaker 1: Where would where would have played?
Speaker 10: Well?
Speaker 8: They could have put either or at right field? What well?
Speaker 8: I mean they would have both been better with the bat.
Speaker 1: Where would Max must be playing?
Speaker 8: No, no, I'm sorry, not thered I mean right field?
Speaker 8: My bad.
Speaker 1: Who would have been playing right field?
Speaker 8: Either Bashett or Cody Bellinger.
Speaker 2: Cody Bellinger argument is valid, Not Bo Baschett. The Cody
Speaker 2: Bellinger argument. I was all in for Cody Bellinger because
Speaker 2: he would have played first base when needed.
Speaker 8: But.
Speaker 2: You know, the Dodgers just felt like it wasn't a
Speaker 2: fit and Cody wanted to go back to the Yankees.
Speaker 2: But look, the Cody Bellinger argument is fair and valid, Andy,
Speaker 2: but not the Bo Baschette one. And part of the
Speaker 2: reason why and thank you for the phone call. Part
Speaker 2: of the reason why the Dodgers didn't sign Cody Bellingers
Speaker 2: because he wanted to guaranteed five year deal. I guess
Speaker 2: the beauty of the Kyle Tucker deal is that he
Speaker 2: can opt out in the first couple of years of
Speaker 2: the contract. He can opt out after all of them, really,
Speaker 2: but if he stays for the entire term of the contract,
Speaker 2: it's only four years. So I have to go back
Speaker 2: and look at what years he can opt out of.
Speaker 2: But there essentially he can opt out after the second year.
Speaker 2: So I think that's that was appealing to Tucker, and
Speaker 2: it was appealing to the Dodgers. Eight six six nine
Speaker 2: to eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: And I said this last night, and I'll say it again.
Speaker 2: I'll remind you of a Dodger from years past. Nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety one, Darryl Strawberry came in signing the biggest contract
Speaker 2: of the time and was coming back home a lot
Speaker 2: more pressure than Kyle Tucker had and a lot more
Speaker 2: attention than Kyle Tucker had. But Darryl Strawberry had a
Speaker 2: horrific first half of the season in nineteen ninety one,
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers at the All Star break had a
Speaker 2: nine game lead over the Atlanta Braves at the All
Speaker 2: Star break. With Darryl Strawberry having a horrible first half
Speaker 2: and only had five home runs, he finished with twenty eight.
Speaker 2: He hit twenty three home runs the second half of
Speaker 2: the season. And if I'm a Dodger fan, that's what
Speaker 2: I'm hoping for from Kyle Tucker, for him to get
Speaker 2: on a heater the second half of the season, because
Speaker 2: I just don't see it happening before the first half ends.
Speaker 1: I just don't see it.
Speaker 2: It's not something that looks like it's getting better or
Speaker 2: that he has a feel at the plate. The All
Speaker 2: Star break will be a good reset for him to
Speaker 2: just regroup, similar to Strawberry in the second half of
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 1: So you know, I'm not saying.
Speaker 2: There's direct parallels, but that's the closest thing I could
Speaker 2: think of when you talk about the salary, the attention,
Speaker 2: the salary, broad and the first half that both these
Speaker 2: guys are having. And don't get me wrong, I'm not
Speaker 2: saying Kyle Tucker is as good as Daryl Strawberry or
Speaker 2: we'll have as great of a career as Darryl Strawberry,
Speaker 2: even with the you know, back nine with the Dodgers
Speaker 2: didn't go so well, he did have he did get
Speaker 2: his personal life together, and George Steinbrenner gave him a
Speaker 2: second chance with the Yankees, and he won a couple
Speaker 2: of World Series and he was a part of that
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety six championship team and ninety eight championship team
Speaker 2: with the Yankees. So don't get me wrong, I'm not
Speaker 2: saying I'm not trying to compare Strawberry's career to Tucker's
Speaker 2: career because I have the utmost respect for Darryl Strawberry,
Speaker 2: and I think that if he would have been able
Speaker 2: to stay focused and stay healthy, he would have been
Speaker 2: a Hall of Famer. I don't think Kyle Tucker's a
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer. But I'll just say this, I don't
Speaker 2: see I've seen this before, and I don't see it
Speaker 2: getting better before the first half of the season ends.
Speaker 2: I feel like Kyle Tucker will take off in the
Speaker 2: second half of the year. He's you look at last year,
Speaker 2: he was great in the first half, horrible in the
Speaker 2: second half. So you know, tale of two halves. I
Speaker 2: guess it's the best if you had to pick one
Speaker 2: half that you would pick the first half for him
Speaker 2: to struggle with the Dodgers having a similar large lead
Speaker 2: in the division right now at seven and a half games,
Speaker 2: and hope for Tucker to figure it out and get
Speaker 2: more comfortable in the second half of the season.
Speaker 1: All right. Tomorrow, the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Will try to close out this series with a win
Speaker 2: and win the series at P and C Park, something
Speaker 2: that hasn't happened in a few years. Justin Robleski is
Speaker 2: on the mount for the Dodgers tomorrow. The left hander
Speaker 2: is seven and two with an ERA of two to
Speaker 2: sixty two. He's going up against right hander Mitch Keller,
Speaker 2: who's five and three with an ERA of four to
Speaker 2: eighty one. Our coverage begins at two thirty with Tim
Speaker 2: Kats and Morongo Casino Dodgers on deck. First pitch from
Speaker 2: P and C Park with Rick Monday and Tim Neverett
Speaker 2: at three forty. Before we say goodnight as well, want
Speaker 2: to remind you to head down to Downy Hunday.
Speaker 1: My friends. At Downy Hunday, they are the car.
Speaker 2: Dealership hub for the FIFA World Cup watch parties. They've
Speaker 2: set up a big screen in their showroom. Go down there,
Speaker 2: hang out, maybe you know, dip your toe in a
Speaker 2: Downy Hunday. But they've got all the World Cup games
Speaker 2: and tomorrow they're doing a big festival to kick off
Speaker 2: the World Cup down at Downy Hunday.
Speaker 1: So go out there.
Speaker 2: See all my friends out there, especially the man himself,
Speaker 2: Sam at Downey Hunday.
Speaker 1: He runs it.
Speaker 2: He's got the vision, and he's got great people working
Speaker 2: for him and loyal, hardworking people down there at Downey Hunday.
Speaker 2: So go check them out tomorrow and over the weekend.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Colin ye back at our Burbank Studios. Thanks
Speaker 2: to Dwayne McDonald at PNC Park. Thanks to you for listening.
Speaker 2: In case you missed any of the show, you know
Speaker 2: where to find it the iHeartRadio app. Make it a
Speaker 2: preset stream the Dodger Games live and find all your
Speaker 2: Dodger content right there on the iHeartRadio App. Don't listen
Speaker 2: to other shows, they have no clue what they're talking about.
Speaker 2: Once again, the final score tonight the Dodgers fall to
Speaker 2: the Pirates nine to eight.
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio is next. See them send it away
Speaker 1: the time