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.
Speaker 1: This is World Champion Dodger Talk. Here we go again.
Speaker 1: We're here.
Speaker 2: We running back to get in on the show called
Speaker 2: eight six six seven two seven, and be sure to
Speaker 2: follow Dodger Talk wherever you.
Speaker 1: Get your podcasts. Here's your host, David Vase.
Speaker 2: We are live at Nationals Park as we are waiting
Speaker 2: first pitch between the Dodgers and Nationals in the final
Speaker 2: game of this three game series. Right now, the rain
Speaker 2: is still falling here in our nation's capitol, and the
Speaker 2: groundscrew is extensive here.
Speaker 1: It's not like Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2: They got a lot of people here because of this
Speaker 2: type of weather that shows up virtually seemingly every time
Speaker 2: the Dodgers come to town and when they leave town,
Speaker 2: the weather still is a wildcart and it comes to
Speaker 2: playing baseball in Washington, d C. They're squeezing the tarp
Speaker 2: right now as trying to get some of that water
Speaker 2: off the tarp as the rain continues to fall. And yesterday,
Speaker 2: as I was standing next to the Dodger dugout waiting
Speaker 2: to go on the field to interview the player of
Speaker 2: the game, Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 1: I was talking to some of.
Speaker 2: The ground Screw people and I said, Oh, what do
Speaker 2: you think we're gonna play tomorrow?
Speaker 1: Not play tomorrow?
Speaker 2: They said, ah, the rain stop said three thirty Eastern times,
Speaker 2: So it seems like they were right on point. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't expect this game to start on this beautiful easter
Speaker 2: Sunday anytime before twelve.
Speaker 1: O'clock Pacific time.
Speaker 2: From the people that know the most, and that's the
Speaker 2: ground Screw, they have a whole radar system set up
Speaker 2: here in Philadelphia at National's Park. It serious business to
Speaker 2: try to figure out the rain patterns here on the
Speaker 2: East Coast. And speaking of that, talking to people that
Speaker 2: are in the know in Major League Baseball, even the
Speaker 2: Yankees and Red Sox are looking at the weather and
Speaker 2: may have a rain delay because the rain that's here
Speaker 2: in Washington, DC is stretching out all across the eastern seaboards.
Speaker 2: So there's rain on the East Coast in different and
Speaker 2: affecting different games.
Speaker 1: As well.
Speaker 2: As far as the Dodgers go, nothing is changing pitching wise,
Speaker 2: Roki Sasaki will make the start today whenever this game
Speaker 2: is underway. Tomorrow, Justin Robleski will start for the Dodgers
Speaker 2: in Toronto. Remember Justin pitched in five different World Series
Speaker 2: games last year and did not give up a single run.
Speaker 1: So he'll be back on the mound in Toronto.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers will be back in Toronto tomorrow, and everybody
Speaker 2: is anticipating that. You heard our interview with Justin earlier today. Look,
Speaker 2: we are all excited. The fans in Toronto are going
Speaker 2: to be very excited, and certainly the Dodgers are ready
Speaker 2: to go when it comes to going back to Toronto
Speaker 2: and getting ready to play that game, play that series.
Speaker 2: And like Rick Monday and I were talking about, yes,
Speaker 2: you're excited, I'm excited. The players are, I would say,
Speaker 2: looking forward to this. But it's not going to change
Speaker 2: anything that happened last October between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers are the back to back World Series champions.
Speaker 2: But you know, this is a rare occurrence where you
Speaker 2: go back to the same place where you won the
Speaker 2: World Series, whether it's the Dodgers or any other team.
Speaker 2: Take for instance, last year it was the Yankees turn
Speaker 2: to come to LA and the Dodgers did not go
Speaker 2: back to Yankee Stadium last year after winning the World
Speaker 2: Series in the Bronx, So this is definitely great scheduling
Speaker 2: by Major League Baseball. No knowing that the Dodgers were
Speaker 2: going to Toronto this year. To have the Dodgers going
Speaker 2: back to Rogers Center on the first road trip of
Speaker 2: the season certainly was good scheduling. And there is going
Speaker 2: to be national televised games Tuesday is TBS.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow, Fox Sports one.
Speaker 2: So look, even this early in the season, when baseball
Speaker 2: isn't really on the national TV platform middle of the week,
Speaker 2: you're finding ways to get them on.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 2: Robleski tomorrow, Yamamoto Tuesday, and show hey Otani in the
Speaker 2: finale of the three game series in Toronto, and all
Speaker 2: three of these pitchers played a pivotal role in the
Speaker 2: World Series. I mean, honestly, Otani does not have great
Speaker 2: memories of pitching in Toronto because he gave up that
Speaker 2: three run home run to Bob Bishett And I can't
Speaker 2: think of a time that I ever saw Otani look
Speaker 2: defeated on the mound. Then I saw when he gave
Speaker 2: up that three run home run to Bob Baschetti was
Speaker 2: doubled over and that made you feel a little bit
Speaker 2: in doubt that are the Dodgers going to be able
Speaker 2: to pull out this Game seven victory, especially when they're
Speaker 2: seemingly superhero superhuman player was made to look human for the.
Speaker 1: First time in a long time in a Dodger uniform.
Speaker 2: I would say, honestly, that was the only time in
Speaker 2: the two years that Otani has been with the Dodgers
Speaker 2: that you could say it was a deflating moment, and somehow,
Speaker 2: some way, the Dodgers were able to come back. You know,
Speaker 2: one one play, couple of plays involving Max Muncy that
Speaker 2: goes unnoticed in Game seven as well, was when Andris
Speaker 2: and Menez was at the plate and they took the
Speaker 2: bunt playoff. There was a runner at second base, I
Speaker 2: can't remember who it was. Runner at second base laid
Speaker 2: in the game and they could have had an insurance
Speaker 2: run there and they chose not to bun. Instead, Jim
Speaker 2: Menez hit a rocket right at Munsey. He made the catch,
Speaker 2: and if you go back and watch the replay of
Speaker 2: that line drive catch by Moncie he's even shaking his
Speaker 2: head and say, wow, that was a screamer right at
Speaker 2: me an insure two to away from his glove. That's
Speaker 2: a base hit to left field and a run scores,
Speaker 2: and maybe more so, I heard Dave Roberts say this
Speaker 2: again this morning to Nationals broadcaster. There were so many
Speaker 2: pressure point moments that the Dodgers were fortunate to have
Speaker 2: go their way in Game six and Game seven. So look,
Speaker 2: it was one of those World Series that the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: you know, had a lot of had somebody from above
Speaker 2: looking out for him because there were so many plays
Speaker 2: that could have gone against them in Game six and
Speaker 2: Game seven, and somehow.
Speaker 1: Some way it went their way.
Speaker 2: And here they are, back to back World Series champions
Speaker 2: and arguably a better team than they were a year ago.
Speaker 1: Now a year older as well.
Speaker 2: And that brings us to Mookie Betts, who we've talked
Speaker 2: about extensively already today. But the MRI results showed a
Speaker 2: strained right oblique and you heard Steven Nelson mention that
Speaker 2: he was talking to Mooki about it on the bus
Speaker 2: and Mooki reminded him that he went through this in
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen when he won his won and only MVP
Speaker 2: award in the American League, and that was his best
Speaker 2: season in baseball. I'm looking back at some of the
Speaker 2: stories when he did strain his oblique.
Speaker 1: First of all, it was on the other side.
Speaker 2: It was his left obliquees aside that he strained back
Speaker 2: in twenty eighteen and he missed two weeks. So if
Speaker 2: history is any indication of how long Mooki Bets may
Speaker 2: be out with this right oblique strain, at least two weeks.
Speaker 2: And the Dodger called hey Sung Kim, and he is
Speaker 2: going to be part of the mix at shortstop. Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts said he's gonna basically shift the platoon that he
Speaker 2: had at second base, and Alex Friedland now is going
Speaker 2: to get a lot of time against right He's and
Speaker 2: lefties at second base, and he's going to platoon at
Speaker 2: shortstop with Kim and Rojas.
Speaker 1: Today, Rojas is.
Speaker 2: In the starting lineup, and I can't wait to see
Speaker 2: the reception Rojas gets in Toronto tomorrow when his name
Speaker 2: is introduced. I really hope he's in the starting lineup
Speaker 2: tomorrow in Toronto. So Rojas is in there today, and
Speaker 2: really that's the biggest question now. You can handle defensively
Speaker 2: figuring out shortstop for the Dodgers with Rojas especially, and
Speaker 2: mixing and Kim here and there. But now who's going
Speaker 2: to hit third for the Dodgers. That's a big spot
Speaker 2: in the order. Is it going to be Taoscar Hernandez
Speaker 2: like he is today?
Speaker 1: Is it going to be Will Smith? That would be
Speaker 1: my choice.
Speaker 2: I would have hitting third and Pahz or te Oscar
Speaker 2: hitting fifth behind Freddie Freeman against right handed pitching. But
Speaker 2: Paz is the hottest hitter in this Dodger lineup and
Speaker 2: arguably in major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: He's hitting five hundred and he's.
Speaker 2: Played all eight games, three home runs, ten RBIs, And
Speaker 2: the biggest thing that stands out to me about Paz
Speaker 2: is the fact that, yes, he's struck out five times,
Speaker 2: but I mean he's only walked once, but he only
Speaker 2: has five strikeouts. And Jose Motive brought this up during
Speaker 2: the postgame show yesterday. The fact that Piz is seeing
Speaker 2: more pitches per at bat than we saw last year.
Speaker 2: That's all a sign of maturity and also trying to
Speaker 2: figure out what works best for Paz. Don't try to
Speaker 2: change him and turn him into Max Munsey where he's
Speaker 2: going to see nine or ten pitches and walk.
Speaker 1: That's not him.
Speaker 2: And Jose even mentioned to us that he's getting less information.
Speaker 1: Some guys don't want all that information.
Speaker 2: In fact, Kyle Tucker told me in spring training he's
Speaker 2: more along the lines of less is more when it
Speaker 2: comes to information. Don't overload me with information, don't overload
Speaker 2: me with all this technology stuff. I'm more towards the
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman spectrum of hitting. And Freddie does not, you know,
Speaker 2: take twenty thousand swings in the cage. He's in there for,
Speaker 2: you know, probably a good fifteen to twenty minutes, not
Speaker 2: overdoing it.
Speaker 1: And that's the type of guy Tucker is as well.
Speaker 2: And Tucker is getting the day off today as well,
Speaker 2: scheduled day off, so Tucker sits and Mooki is on
Speaker 2: the IL. So the Dodgers starting lineup today is Otani Rojas,
Speaker 2: Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman, Andy Paez, Alex call who is
Speaker 2: making a second straight start. Max Munsey gets a scheduled
Speaker 2: day off as well. Santiago Espinal is in there against
Speaker 2: the lefty Foster Griffin. Dalton Rushing is making his first
Speaker 2: start of the year behind the plate and Alex Freeland
Speaker 2: in there against Griffin and he'll be hitting from the
Speaker 2: right side. Freeland is a switch hitter. So that's the
Speaker 2: Dodgers order today. Whenever this game gets underway, and it
Speaker 2: will get played, nobody wants to come back here.
Speaker 1: Just get this.
Speaker 2: If you have to wait a little bit longer, you're
Speaker 2: gonna wait a little bit longer. The flight to Toronto
Speaker 2: is going to be a little bit later. But it
Speaker 2: feels like everybody's prepared now to hang in there for
Speaker 2: at least the next two hours before this rain starts
Speaker 2: to head out of Washington, DC. Hope you're having a
Speaker 2: great Easter Sunday. This was one of my favorite holidays.
Speaker 2: I remember my uncle Sal who hosted Easter Sunday at
Speaker 2: his house every year when I was growing up. He
Speaker 2: had company tickets to Dodger games, and the schedule would
Speaker 2: come out, and back then, opening Day wasn't until April,
Speaker 2: so Easter would fall right around the Dodgers wrapping up
Speaker 2: spring training in Vero Beach, and I would have my
Speaker 2: pocket schedule out and I would circle, you know, a
Speaker 2: handful of games and in the middle of our Easter Sunday, celebration.
Speaker 2: Uncle Sal would take me to the driveway where his
Speaker 2: car was parked. He popped the trunk where he had
Speaker 2: his tickets and he's he would ask me, all right,
Speaker 2: which games do you want? And he would hook up
Speaker 2: some reserve level tickets for me. And I usually would
Speaker 2: bring my cousin or my uncle, my other uncle Ray,
Speaker 2: because I couldn't drive. I needed somebody to take me
Speaker 2: to the game. My mom was working, and you know,
Speaker 2: I needed somebody to take me to the game. So
Speaker 2: those are the type of memories that baseball gives you,
Speaker 2: especially on holidays like this on Easter Sunday. So hopefully
Speaker 2: you have an Uncle Sal somewhere in your life that
Speaker 2: will pop the trunk for you and give you his
Speaker 2: company tickets.
Speaker 1: Don't be too greedy, though, Don't be too greedy.
Speaker 2: I actually left a couple of surprises for my kids
Speaker 2: back home tops baseball cards, put together an Easter egg
Speaker 2: and inside a pack of cards, so I surprise the
Speaker 2: kids with that. Easter is actually one of my favorite holidays,
Speaker 2: maybe for those memories. Fourth of July is another one
Speaker 2: of my favorite holidays as well. I'll take Fourth of
Speaker 2: July and Easter any day over Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: I'm a big lamb guy. I love lamb.
Speaker 2: Fun things that you find out about me during a
Speaker 2: rain delay. Right, and during this raindlay, since it's going
Speaker 2: to be at least two hours, we're gonna hop on
Speaker 2: over to the M five seventy LA Sports Instagram page
Speaker 2: and do a rain delay Instagram Live presented by our
Speaker 2: friends at Navvy and Tankless water Heaters. So at some
Speaker 2: point in the next two hours, if you get tired
Speaker 2: of your family, check out the Instagram Live and we'll
Speaker 2: be able to We'll have some Dodger talk fun there.
Speaker 2: You could bring in your questions and you never know
Speaker 2: who my up. Maybe I'll go ambush Luis Cochito Cruz
Speaker 2: with the Instagram Live. Yeah, he loves Instagram. This guy
Speaker 2: is the king of Mexican Instagram. This guy is a
Speaker 2: Mexican Instagram legend. He's wearing his fancy jumpsuit. Forty thousand followers,
Speaker 2: but who's counting only Luis's Luis He.
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll get you up to forty thousand and one
Speaker 1: after this.
Speaker 2: Rick Monday by the way, as Instagram now Rick Monday Official.
Speaker 2: Maybe he'll jump on our Instagram live together. Maybe we'll
Speaker 2: get you some followers. Rick, all right, that'll do it
Speaker 2: for us. On this abbreviated edition of rain Delay Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: We're gonna send you back to your local programming in
Speaker 2: whatever market you're at, and here in our Los Angeles
Speaker 2: flagship headquarters, we'll send you over to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1: Fingers crossed.
Speaker 2: Steve Hartman is working on this Sunday, because if he is,
Speaker 2: you'll be entertained. All right, thanks to Colin Ye, thanks
Speaker 2: to Dwayne McDonald, Rick Monday, and Steven Nelson in the
Speaker 2: captain's chair here, we're just waiting for first pitch, so
Speaker 2: enjoy your Easter Sunday, and we will have Dodger Baseball
Speaker 2: at some point in time. You could check back on
Speaker 2: our social media pages and five to seventy LA Sports
Speaker 2: or mine at the Real Underscore DV and we'll let
Speaker 2: you know when first pitch is going to happen. Here
Speaker 2: in Washington, DC, the Dodgers have scored twenty three runs
Speaker 2: combined in the first two games of this series, so,
Speaker 2: as Rick likes to say, when the game starts, hopefully
Speaker 2: there's some more rockets.
Speaker 1: Reg Lair, all right.
Speaker 2: That's it from Washington DC for now. Check back for
Speaker 2: first pitch talk to you later see it