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 getting ready to run it back.
Speaker 3: To get in on the show, call 866-987-2570.
Speaker 4: And be sure to follow Dodger Talk wherever you get
Speaker 4: your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Basset. Welcome to Comerica Park in
Speaker 1: Detroit and Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Basset with you until 2.30 today here on 570
Speaker 2: LA Sports after the Tigers beat the Dodgers by a
Speaker 2: final score of 2-1. That's the score the Dodgers beat
Speaker 2: Detroit last night. But today, a frustrating loss on top
Speaker 2: of a frustrating road trip for the Dodgers as their
Speaker 2: offense couldn't do anything today. And the Tigers are not
Speaker 2: really swinging the bats all that well, but they got
Speaker 2: the key hit. In the ninth inning, twice, Javi Baez
Speaker 2: with a leadoff double off a Jack Dreyer. That started
Speaker 2: the snowball and the chain reaction of events in that
Speaker 2: ninth inning that led to Kevin McGonigal's walk-off base hit
Speaker 2: that went over the head of Quique Hernandez and Teoscar
Speaker 2: Hernandez in left center field.
Speaker 1: 866-987-2570.
Speaker 2: You know, honestly, I've talked to a couple of players
Speaker 2: earlier today about What everybody's saying about this team in
Speaker 2: the month of August. And the reality is outside of
Speaker 2: the three games at Coors Field, the Dodger offense is
Speaker 2: only averaging three runs per game. But talking to a
Speaker 2: couple of players before the game today, they reminded me
Speaker 2: of their record, which is one of the best in baseball.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. But right now they conceded.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers are not playing their best baseball, but reminded
Speaker 2: me that they do have 81 wins. They do have
Speaker 2: one of the top five records in all of Major
Speaker 2: League Baseball, and they also reminded me of something that
Speaker 2: I was reminded of midway through the summer. Every team
Speaker 2: is bringing their best. The Dodgers can't match that for
Speaker 2: 162 games, especially a team that has played more games
Speaker 2: than any other team in baseball since the beginning of 24,
Speaker 2: starting the year in Seoul, Korea, then running the table
Speaker 2: to a five-game World Series win at Yankee Stadium, and
Speaker 2: then starting the following year in Tokyo, and then going
Speaker 2: through a seven-game World Series and never having home field
Speaker 2: advantage throughout the postseason outside of those two games against
Speaker 2: the Reds. The Dodgers can't match what the Tigers are
Speaker 2: bringing in the first two games of this series. They
Speaker 2: just can't. There was 40,000 here at Comerica Park today.
Speaker 2: They don't get 40,000 fans at Comerica Park this year.
Speaker 2: They had 39,000 fans last night. And in the ninth
Speaker 2: inning of this game today, 40,000 plus were on their
Speaker 2: feet when Kevin McGonigal came to the plate and eventually
Speaker 2: won the game. Chris Sale, if you want to go
Speaker 2: back to Atlanta, had not dialed up 100 miles an
Speaker 2: hour on a pitch in almost seven years. Chris Sale
Speaker 2: hadn't thrown a complete game in almost that amount of
Speaker 2: time as well. So my point is, and I understood
Speaker 2: what these guys were telling me earlier today, and they're right.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers, especially in the dog days of August, cannot
Speaker 2: match that World Series or we're getting up for the
Speaker 2: Dodgers mentality anymore. every single game for the entire regular season.
Speaker 2: These guys know how to navigate a season.
Speaker 1: They are winners. They have won back-to-back championships.
Speaker 2: And last second half, they were kind of in the
Speaker 2: same situation that.
Speaker 1: They're in right now.
Speaker 2: But I do believe in the month of September, the
Speaker 2: schedule gets easier, of course, but I do believe the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are going to feel the the need to start
Speaker 2: the sprint to dial it back up. I'm not saying
Speaker 2: they're not trying because they are trying. That's not something
Speaker 2: to characterize this as. It's just not happening for them.
Speaker 2: And for whatever reason this year, they're hitting into more
Speaker 2: double plays than any other team in baseball. A key
Speaker 2: inning was the sixth inning today when Tommy Edmond, with
Speaker 2: the bases loaded, grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. Also,
Speaker 2: making matters worse is that you don't have Andy Pahas
Speaker 2: anymore in your lineup, and you're probably not going to
Speaker 2: have him for the rest of the regular season. That's
Speaker 2: a 21 home run, 80 RBI number two hitter that
Speaker 2: play gold glove defense in center field. They haven't had
Speaker 2: Dalton rushing. who hit 13 home runs at an 800
Speaker 2: OPS while catching, what, 80 games this year for the Dodgers?
Speaker 2: So Will Smith is coming back next week. He'll help
Speaker 2: things out. But the Dodgers need more from, or I
Speaker 2: should say, more consistency from Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, and
Speaker 2: Mookie Betts because they haven't got.
Speaker 1: That all year long.
Speaker 2: And like I mentioned on the show yesterday, I am
Speaker 2: very much a proponent when rosters expand for the Dodgers
Speaker 2: to get some youthful energy, exuberance, production, and call up
Speaker 2: James Tibbs to get some time in left field. How
Speaker 2: about Kike Hernandez? He's barely played this year. He's got
Speaker 2: fresh legs. He brings the energy. Kike in center, Kike
Speaker 2: in left. You got to do something different because these
Speaker 2: guys have a lot of miles on them. And they
Speaker 2: have played, Teo's played virtually every game this year outside
Speaker 2: of missing some time with a hamstring injury. Kyle Tucker
Speaker 2: has played every game this year. Low energy player. You
Speaker 2: need some energy in this lineup. And you need some
Speaker 2: fresh legs. So I'm very much in on James Tibbs
Speaker 2: being called up in September. I'm very much in on
Speaker 2: playing Alex Call and Kike Hernandez this More than what
Speaker 2: we have seen. And I'm sure you're going to see
Speaker 2: both those guys in the lineup tomorrow. Because of the lefty,
Speaker 2: Frambois Valdez. But I'm in on those guys playing against
Speaker 2: righties more as well. If this is what you're getting
Speaker 2: from your two corner outfielders. Today's game brought to you
Speaker 2: by Modelo. Modelo, the mark of a fighter. We have
Speaker 2: a full board of calls. We're going to get to
Speaker 2: the Otani situation. We will hear from Dave Roberts on
Speaker 2: what's going on with Otani. But first, I want to
Speaker 2: give Blake Snell some shine because, again, four starts since
Speaker 2: coming back off the IL, he pitched pretty well. Today
Speaker 2: was a classic Snellzilla type of regular season game where
Speaker 2: he threw 99 pitches in five innings, had 10 strikeouts,
Speaker 2: only allowed one earned run, but he was out of
Speaker 2: the game after five, throwing 99 pitches. So let's hear
Speaker 2: from Blake on Sportsnet LA.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just.
Speaker 6: More.
Speaker 5: more passive today than aggressive um yeah i don't know
Speaker 5: for what a reason but getting ready for a day
Speaker 5: game today was tough uh i don't know why that
Speaker 5: was locking it was a little tougher but um yeah
Speaker 5: overall um happy with the way i competed with runners
Speaker 5: on base happy with um the way i continue to
Speaker 5: just Learned and developed throughout the at-bats on what I
Speaker 5: should do, what I don't like, what I like. But yeah,
Speaker 5: overall didn't give in. I made pitches when I needed to.
Speaker 1: What happened there in the third?
Speaker 7: Was that something with your cleat that was the issue?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I heard the announcer say I was going for
Speaker 5: sticky stuff. I was like, you're tripping. But no, I
Speaker 5: have on my big toe, like when I drag my foot, Um,
Speaker 5: I have a big like blister, so I have a
Speaker 5: bandaid on there and it was wrapped up, but then
Speaker 5: it went under my foot. So anytime I was like pushing,
Speaker 5: I was slipping. And I was, I thought if I
Speaker 5: kept doing that, I'm going to hit somebody. Cause I
Speaker 5: had no clue where the ball was going. Um, so
Speaker 5: that was the first time I was like, uh, I
Speaker 5: was like, Chris, can I change my bandaid or just
Speaker 5: throw the bandaid off and come back out? So Um, yeah,
Speaker 5: I went, you know, down a couple of steps, took
Speaker 5: the mandate off, put my sock back.
Speaker 1: On and then went back out.
Speaker 4: Did that help?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean, my foot hurts more now, but yeah, um,
Speaker 5: it definitely helped.
Speaker 8: It sucks.
Speaker 5: Cause when I throw day games, um, the mound, as
Speaker 5: it gets harder, it, it just like my foot is just, yeah.
Speaker 5: So I'll put like a toe sleeve on or I
Speaker 5: gotta figure it out. But it's happened before, so I'm
Speaker 5: not worried.
Speaker 9: Is that why you were motioning behind the batter?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't know how to like get around the catcher.
Speaker 5: I didn't want to say like time and use like
Speaker 5: a time with the catcher.
Speaker 9: He was like turning around.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like someone's in the stands. I was like, Chris,
Speaker 5: I'm trying to talk to you. I don't know how
Speaker 5: this is weird. I don't know how to signal you, but.
Speaker 5: I was trying to get around Fatty to talk to Chris. Yeah,
Speaker 5: but that's what it was, obviously.
Speaker 2: All right, here's Blake Snell explaining why he ran off
Speaker 2: the mound and into the tunnel. I actually thought he
Speaker 2: was changing his cleats, but that makes sense.
Speaker 1: He's got a blister.
Speaker 2: He had to change the Band-Aid, and so only Snellzilla
Speaker 2: could explain it that way, and that was the one
Speaker 2: point of levity in today's game. I know many of
Speaker 2: you are frustrated with the Dodgers' offense, and look, I
Speaker 2: just laid out, you can't just run out the same
Speaker 2: guys right now, and that's why I'm a big proponent
Speaker 2: of more Kike, more Kaul, and even James Tibbs getting
Speaker 2: called up when rosters expand on September 1st, 8 6
Speaker 2: 6 9 8 7 2 5 70 is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Santa Monica. Justin, you're on Dodger
Speaker 2: talk live from Detroit. Hi, Justin.
Speaker 8: Hey, Dave.
Speaker 10: Thanks for taking my call. So listen, I'm going to,
Speaker 10: I'm going to piggyback off what you, you said, which
Speaker 10: is exactly like, you know, A lot of miles and
Speaker 10: nothing really productive you're seeing out of Tucker, which we've
Speaker 10: been saying all season. And Teoscar, as of late, can't
Speaker 10: do anything. Those guys got to take, they got to
Speaker 10: get out of the lineup. And here's my, like, my question,
Speaker 10: or like a challenge is that I want you to
Speaker 10: look at our lineup, and I don't want you to
Speaker 10: look at any dollars and what their salaries are or anything.
Speaker 10: And you want to look at production, energy, who would
Speaker 10: be the best lineup out there. And you tell me
Speaker 10: if you're really going to be putting Teoscar Hernandez every
Speaker 10: day out there, because I don't think you are. And
Speaker 10: I actually believe that we should play small ball. We
Speaker 10: are not doing that at all. You saw it in
Speaker 10: this game. As soon as the runners on second, they're
Speaker 10: laying a bunt down. We'll keep that. You know how
Speaker 10: to lay a bunt down. You're clearly hearing pop-ups or
Speaker 10: ground ups these days. Go and lay the back down.
Speaker 10: You know how to do that. Why we don't instill
Speaker 10: that in our offense, I have no idea. And when
Speaker 10: you hear guys saying like, well, you know, look at
Speaker 10: last year, we went through these ruts, but we won
Speaker 10: a World Series. This offense is not performing anywhere like
Speaker 10: we had the potentially of last year. It is dead
Speaker 10: right now. I hope it changes when we get Will
Speaker 10: Smith back. I would love to see Tibbs, like you said.
Speaker 10: I'd love to see DePaulo up there. I mean, this guy,
Speaker 10: all he's doing is hitting home runs and double A. Like,
Speaker 10: let's see these kids get in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, he's not ready. He's not ready. He's not ready.
Speaker 2: He's a great hitter. He's ready offensively. From what I've
Speaker 2: been told, he's not ready maturity-wise, defensively, all that stuff, Justin.
Speaker 2: So you're not going to throw him on a team
Speaker 2: that's trying to three-peat. So Tibbs is more realistic than,
Speaker 2: as I call him, JDP. But I love the passion,
Speaker 2: and I agree with you. But let's remember, these veteran guys,
Speaker 2: they know what it takes to win in October. And
Speaker 2: it's not like these guys are 10 games out of
Speaker 2: first place. I mean, the way you sounded right there, Justin,
Speaker 2: would be this team is in third or fourth place
Speaker 2: and gave up on the season. No, they're going to
Speaker 2: win the NL West and they've got to maintain. that
Speaker 2: number two seed over the Braves. And that's why as
Speaker 2: much as Dave Roberts and Mookie Betts wanted to downplay
Speaker 2: being swept in Atlanta, that was a huge series. The
Speaker 2: Dodgers went in there four games up on the Braves
Speaker 2: for the number two seed and a buy in the
Speaker 2: first round. They take two out of three. They leave
Speaker 2: Atlanta five games up and you have the easiest second,
Speaker 2: easiest schedule in baseball. more likely than not, you are
Speaker 2: going to be the number two seed. So I disagreed
Speaker 2: with Dave. I disagree with Mookie trying to downplay the
Speaker 2: significance of that series sweep by the Braves. Let's go
Speaker 2: out to Los Feliz. Tony, you're on Dodger Talk with
Speaker 2: David Vasse.
Speaker 7: Hi, Tony.
Speaker 4: Hey, Dave.
Speaker 3: Nice talking to you. You know, after going through all
Speaker 3: of the incoming, all the miasma, all the smoke, and
Speaker 3: looking under the hood, The fact is the Dodgers are
Speaker 3: 28-27 in the month of July and August. They were
Speaker 3: excellent in 2024, 30-21. They have a better record than
Speaker 3: last year at this time. They were 25-27. They're going
Speaker 3: to be playing teams with a 481 winning percentage in
Speaker 3: the next half. And, you know, yesterday on the broadcast,
Speaker 3: Joe Davis briefly touched on a subject I want to
Speaker 3: ask you about, a question. These July and August repeats,
Speaker 3: rinse repeats, are quite similar to last year. And I'm curious,
Speaker 3: if you think there's any, I don't want to sound
Speaker 3: like a conspiracy theorist, but as you mentioned, their age,
Speaker 3: the mileage, the incredible, unthinkable doing a three-peat for the
Speaker 3: first time in the National League, do you think these
Speaker 3: July and August swoons are somewhat, quote-unquote, planned? I don't
Speaker 3: mean they're losing intentionally, but they're somewhat realizing this is, quote,
Speaker 3: a marathon and not a sprint, obviously. Curious what your take.
Speaker 1: Is on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, the Dodgers under Andrew Friedman have mastered the
Speaker 2: 162-game schedule and how to navigate that.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's proven.
Speaker 2: They've won the NL West every year since Andrew's been
Speaker 2: in charge, except for that one wacky Season in 21
Speaker 2: where the Giants won 107 games, the Dodgers won 106.
Speaker 2: So they do understand how to navigate. They're not going
Speaker 2: to push their pitchers and they're not going to push
Speaker 2: their players in July more than they have to. But
Speaker 2: in this case, in this season, I thought the Dodgers
Speaker 2: came out of the all-star break with the most, the
Speaker 2: toughest schedule I can remember since 1991 for a Dodger
Speaker 2: team coming out of the all-star break.
Speaker 1: Three games at Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 2: They had to play a doubleheader the final day at
Speaker 2: Yankee Stadium. They win that series. Then they have to
Speaker 2: go to Philadelphia. They take two out of three there.
Speaker 2: And then on their off day, they are sent to
Speaker 2: the White House on that day off and then have
Speaker 2: to fly back. to New York to play the Mets,
Speaker 2: and they won each of those series. But I feel
Speaker 2: like the residual of all that, the adrenaline started to
Speaker 2: wear off, and I feel like that tough travel schedule
Speaker 2: started to catch up to the Dodgers. So every season
Speaker 2: is unique, Tony, and to me, coming out of the
Speaker 2: All-Star break with that schedule was tough, and for an
Speaker 2: older team with a lot of miles.
Speaker 1: So that's my thought on it.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Dave.
Speaker 9: Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: All right, Tony, thank you for the phone call.
Speaker 2: Another factor to the Dodgers' offensive struggles is their best player,
Speaker 2: Shohei Otani, in a slump this month. Outside of what
Speaker 2: he did at Coors Field, in his last 31 at-bats,
Speaker 2: Otani is just five for 31 with 13 strikeouts. He
Speaker 2: was one for four today with a single. He did
Speaker 2: a great job of moving the runner over as well today,
Speaker 2: but Tomorrow was supposed to be a day that Otani
Speaker 2: went back to the mound in a major league game,
Speaker 2: but only 20 pitches in his bullpen session yesterday led
Speaker 2: the Dodgers to pause that, push it back and not
Speaker 2: have him start tomorrow. Tyler Glass now will be pitching tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Otani will not. And Otani is not going to start
Speaker 2: on Tuesday at Dodger stadium as well. When we continue
Speaker 2: on Dodger Talk, we will get into whether or not
Speaker 2: Otani should even pitch again the rest of the year
Speaker 2: and his value to the Dodgers as a hitter versus pitcher.
Speaker 2: We got a full board of calls. We will get
Speaker 2: to you after the Dodgers fall to the Tigers today, 2-1.
Speaker 1: On 570 LA Sports.
Speaker 8: Dodger fans, this is Blake Snow. You're listening to the
Speaker 8: home of the back-to-back world champion Dodgers on AM 570
Speaker 8: LA Sports.
Speaker 1: Snellzilla Saturday.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, the Dodgers get the loss today as Kevin McGonigal
Speaker 2: walks it off in the ninth inning with the bases
Speaker 2: loaded to beat Jack Dreyer and the Dodgers today.
Speaker 1: 2-1.
Speaker 2: Blake Snow went five innings through 99 pitches. had 10 strikeouts,
Speaker 2: and only allowed one earned run. Snellzilla, as he said earlier,
Speaker 2: did not lock in today. He was not as aggressive
Speaker 2: in the strike zone as we had seen in his
Speaker 2: previous three starts.
Speaker 1: The third inning, again, gave him problems.
Speaker 2: That's the run that he gave up, and he threw
Speaker 2: 27 pitches in that third inning. Also, his last inning
Speaker 2: of work, in the fifth inning, he threw 26 pitches.
Speaker 2: If he could have been more economical and threw more
Speaker 2: strikes and get quicker outs, he might have gone back
Speaker 2: out there for.
Speaker 1: The sixth inning.
Speaker 2: But instead, five innings, 99 pitches, 10 strikeouts, and the
Speaker 2: Dodger offense was stifled again today as the Tigers beat
Speaker 2: the Dodgers 2-1. The Dodgers have only scored three runs
Speaker 2: in their last three games. Shohei Otani is in a slump,
Speaker 2: five for his last 31, 13 strikeouts, no home runs.
Speaker 2: And today it was revealed that Otani will not pitch tomorrow.
Speaker 2: And when he pitches, we don't know because the Dodgers
Speaker 2: are not sure. Dave Roberts told reporters after the game
Speaker 2: that the Dodgers, Dave Roberts, Mark Pryor, Andrew Friedman, Shohei
Speaker 2: Otani will huddle up in L.A., and decide whether or
Speaker 2: not Otani throws another pitch in a major league game, which,
Speaker 2: you know, I all season long, I have not been
Speaker 2: one of those that have been in the absolutes because
Speaker 2: only cysts deal in absolutes and I don't deal in absolutes.
Speaker 2: So I was not one of those that said Otani
Speaker 2: should not pitch ever again back in July. But the
Speaker 2: reality is Otani is has not pitched since July 3rd.
Speaker 2: And it seems like He's continuing to try to make
Speaker 2: it happen, but his body, over 30 years old now, what, 32,
Speaker 2: is not cooperating with him.
Speaker 1: The left knee's a problem. The right bicep's a problem.
Speaker 2: And you can't tell me as much as he wants
Speaker 2: to believe it, as much as Dave Roberts wants to
Speaker 2: convince us that the left knee, and when he starts
Speaker 2: to try to ramp up, doesn't affect the way he
Speaker 2: hits at the plate because ever since he started to
Speaker 2: ramp up The offense has gone downwards. So at this point,
Speaker 2: I am very much a proponent of Otani just saying,
Speaker 2: you know what? It's not going to happen this year.
Speaker 2: Maybe next year. Maybe we'll come up with a better
Speaker 2: plan to try to avoid the long toll of a season.
Speaker 2: But to me, at this point, with Scooble now a Dodger,
Speaker 2: with Glasnow and Snell back, the Dodgers don't necessarily need
Speaker 2: Otani back. As much as they need Otani, the leadoff DH,
Speaker 2: the 50-50 MVP, the 40 home run guy, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: need to spark their struggling offense. And here's what Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts had to say earlier this morning when he let
Speaker 2: it be known that Otani may not pitch tomorrow and
Speaker 2: hasn't decided when Otani will pitch again.
Speaker 11: I don't think he's 100%. So I think that's where...
Speaker 11: we're trying that's the hard part right now is trying
Speaker 11: to figure out if he's not 100 you know overall
Speaker 11: bodied um is it worth you know giving him an
Speaker 11: inning uh to build up um or not and so
Speaker 11: i think that that's kind of where we're at right
Speaker 11: now trying to weigh the positives and negatives so i
Speaker 11: don't again short answer i don't have an answer right.
Speaker 10: Now when you say he's not not 100% specifically?
Speaker 11: It's not. The knee, the body, it's just not. Just throwing, pitching,
Speaker 11: not 100%. What percent it is, I don't.
Speaker 1: Know the answer.
Speaker 9: Is it something that you're talking about just affecting when
Speaker 9: he's going to pitch again, like this week, or if
Speaker 9: he will pitch again at all going forward?
Speaker 11: More of when. And then it's just more of, again, weighing,
Speaker 11: does it have to be tomorrow? So that's kind of...
Speaker 11: internally trying to discuss it.
Speaker 1: Is Tuesday then kind of the backup option?
Speaker 11: I would say if it's not tomorrow, I don't see
Speaker 11: it being Tuesday. But it could be. But, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 11: could kicking it, pushing it a couple days be a possibility? Sure, yeah.
Speaker 4: If it's not tomorrow, probably a longer time off.
Speaker 1: Would make more sense.
Speaker 11: Yeah, and again, we're still thinking about potentially the build-up
Speaker 11: and what that would mean, which is fair. But at
Speaker 11: the end of the day, it's what's best for Shohei,
Speaker 11: what's best for us, what makes the most sense. That's
Speaker 11: kind of where we're at.
Speaker 7: At this point, just sort of given how long it's been,
Speaker 7: does it make you wonder if the knee's just ever
Speaker 7: going to get to 100% while pitching this season?
Speaker 1: Yes, and.
Speaker 11: To be quite frank, I just don't see, you know,
Speaker 11: everything getting to 100% by the end of the season.
Speaker 11: But then, you know, there's a lot of pitchers that
Speaker 11: are not 100% and still viable. So, again, it's just
Speaker 11: not an exact science.
Speaker 2: It certainly is not. And the Dodgers have said all
Speaker 2: season long it's a fluid situation depending on how Otani's feeling.
Speaker 2: Let's not forget, I mean, in this ballpark on a
Speaker 2: double header, when Otani was playing for the Angels in 23,
Speaker 2: he had one of the greatest days a baseball player
Speaker 2: would have in a double header.
Speaker 1: But that's when he was 28 years old. He's over
Speaker 1: 30 now.
Speaker 2: And has played more games the last two years than
Speaker 2: he has ever played before. And all those things, I believe,
Speaker 2: are taking a toll on him and the rest of
Speaker 2: the Dodgers. So, yes, I'm very much in favor of
Speaker 2: Otani just being the Dodgers DH and focusing on that.
Speaker 1: He hasn't pitched since July 3rd.
Speaker 2: And Dave Roberts also said him getting built up to
Speaker 2: five innings with this little amount of time left in
Speaker 2: the season is not realistic. So what's the point here?
Speaker 2: I wouldn't mind keeping him idle for a possible, you know,
Speaker 2: world series relief role. But I mean, the whole thing
Speaker 2: about him coming back to be a starter, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: don't need him to be that guy. They need him
Speaker 2: to be the 40 home run spark at the top
Speaker 2: of the lineup, which is, Ever since he started to
Speaker 2: ramp up, again, just he hasn't been. Maybe a coincidence,
Speaker 2: maybe not. But you have to imagine, a left knee
Speaker 2: doesn't know if you're just hitting or if you're pitching. Obviously,
Speaker 2: it hurt him when he lands. That's obviously the cause
Speaker 2: of it. But the right bicep became an issue now.
Speaker 2: So nobody's 100% at this point in time in the season,
Speaker 2: let alone a guy over 30 that's trying to be
Speaker 2: a two-way player. So he hasn't pitched since July 3rd.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers have navigated the season without him being a pitcher.
Speaker 2: They should just focus on him and letting him understand
Speaker 2: what the team needs. And if he wins a three-peat
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers, nobody will hold.
Speaker 1: It against him that he only pitched the first half
Speaker 1: of this year. Trust me. Let's go out to Northridge. Larry,
Speaker 1: you're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Larry?
Speaker 7: I'm doing great. It's always great to hear you. My
Speaker 7: family listens to you very, very often all the time.
Speaker 7: You're the best Dave.
Speaker 1: So thank you. Oh, there you.
Speaker 11: Go.
Speaker 4: I did too.
Speaker 7: Go Matadors DV.
Speaker 1: Love it.
Speaker 8: All right.
Speaker 1: What do you got first?
Speaker 7: Yeah. For F two questions. First ones you mentioned on
Speaker 7: the East coast road trip back when the Dodgers were
Speaker 7: in Philly and New York, they would have an easy
Speaker 7: ride through the playoffs. I'm hoping you still feel that
Speaker 7: way because you're the inspiration for us. Dodger fans. Do
Speaker 7: you still feel it's going to be that easy road
Speaker 7: you talked about a month ago?
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 10: I do.
Speaker 2: I feel that way because nobody can match Yamamoto, Snell,
Speaker 2: and Skubal, and I don't expect this Dodger offense to
Speaker 2: be down, especially with Will Smith coming back, Andy Pahez
Speaker 2: probably coming back in the postseason, and like I said,
Speaker 2: more Kike and the call-up of James Tibbs, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: can give this team a spark, some energy, some fresh legs.
Speaker 7: Awesome. I like our family just needed to hear that.
Speaker 7: Cause if you feel that way, we're all going to
Speaker 7: feel that way. And my second point you, you touched on,
Speaker 7: but maybe you could expand a little bit. Whose decision
Speaker 7: is it about Shohei pitching or hitting? Is it Shohei?
Speaker 7: Is it the Dodgers management? Because it does feel like
Speaker 7: the coincidence is that, Hey, you know, as soon as
Speaker 7: he ramped up, the pitching is when the bat calmed down.
Speaker 2: I think Shohei has a big say in this, Larry, um,
Speaker 2: the Dodgers have, uh, Definitely respected the superstar players and
Speaker 2: what they're telling them. I mean, this goes back to Kershaw.
Speaker 2: It goes with Freddie Freeman, who plays virtually every day.
Speaker 2: They allow players like Otani to be honest with them
Speaker 2: and have a lot of say about what they're doing,
Speaker 2: playing or not. So in my opinion, the biggest challenge
Speaker 2: for the Dodgers is to show Shohei Otani that, look,
Speaker 2: it's been since July 3rd. You were ramping up and
Speaker 2: you couldn't take the mound. We're running out of time.
Speaker 2: Let's just get this offense right.
Speaker 7: That seems what it should be. Thanks, as always, for
Speaker 7: your inspiration to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Hey, thank you, Larry. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure Max Muncy agrees with you that I'm
Speaker 2: the inspiration, but I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Let's go out to Hancock Park. Fred, you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: How you doing, Fred?
Speaker 7: I'm well.
Speaker 4: How are you?
Speaker 2: Are you flying over Hancock Park right now, Fred? Are
Speaker 2: you in a helicopter?
Speaker 1: Where are you at?
Speaker 4: I'm in my car.
Speaker 11: Okay.
Speaker 7: All right.
Speaker 1: What do you got?
Speaker 4: So I have a question first about what you started with,
Speaker 4: with intensity. What does that mean? Does that mean that, like,
Speaker 4: they're taking a few pitches off every at-bat? Does that
Speaker 4: mean they're not preparing as hard? Does that mean, like...
Speaker 4: They don't run as hard at the first. Is it
Speaker 4: every at-bat? Is it some at-bats? It just seems like
Speaker 4: a kind of nonsensical thing to say. They can't match.
Speaker 1: Another team's intensity. Is that like... Not for 162. No,
Speaker 1: not for 162, Fred.
Speaker 2: The Tigers have played as hard as they have played
Speaker 2: all season long in the first two games of this series.
Speaker 2: Chris Sale, like I mentioned, pitched his best game in nearly... seven,
Speaker 2: eight years against the Dodgers, the urgency, the heightened focused.
Speaker 2: It can't be there for 162 games. If you're trying
Speaker 2: to win the world series, you can't get on the
Speaker 2: roller coaster of getting emotionally high.
Speaker 1: When a certain team.
Speaker 2: Comes to town, it's just not realistic for a veteran team.
Speaker 2: That's one back-to-back championships. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: But Dave, that's nonsense because if you come up with
Speaker 4: the bases loaded, it doesn't matter what the other team's doing.
Speaker 4: It's up to you to just put the bat on
Speaker 4: the ball.
Speaker 1: Sure it does, Fred.
Speaker 2: If a pitcher is on the mound with the bases loaded,
Speaker 2: you're telling me he's not rearing back as a Detroit
Speaker 2: Tiger to make his best pitch because there is no October?
Speaker 2: And I got news for you. Tommy Edmonds is not
Speaker 2: trying to hit the ball on the ground, Fred.
Speaker 4: That's my point. If he's not trying to hit the
Speaker 4: ball on the ground, you can make the case just
Speaker 4: as easily that if you're not going to be playing
Speaker 4: in October, you have nothing to play for, and you're
Speaker 4: not going to give 100%.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Have you seen.
Speaker 1: What the Tigers... Fred, I know you don't follow the Tigers.
Speaker 2: I don't follow them that closely, but I could tell you,
Speaker 2: They were playing very lethargic coming into this series, and
Speaker 2: that's why they're out of the central and wildcard race.
Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, you see them play
Speaker 2: the Dodgers in tight one-run games. You got sellouts at
Speaker 2: Comerica Park for the first time back-to-back days all season long.
Speaker 2: That's what I'm talking about. This city, this team got
Speaker 2: up for the Dodgers. The Dodgers can't match that in Detroit,
Speaker 2: in Oakland, Sacramento. They just can't do that if you
Speaker 2: want them to be ready for when it matters the most.
Speaker 2: And they, by the way, they must be doing something
Speaker 2: right because they have 81 wins, Fred.
Speaker 4: I agree. My second question is this. Earlier you alluded
Speaker 4: to hearing about DePaula not being ready maturity-wise. I wonder
Speaker 4: if you can share with us what you hear about
Speaker 4: the Dodgers' problems with fastballs. Is it thought to be mechanical?
Speaker 4: Is it thought to be strategy-wise, it's well chronicled that
Speaker 4: the team's having trouble dealing with the fastball. And just
Speaker 4: what have you heard anecdotally about how they're trying to
Speaker 4: compensate for that?
Speaker 1: All right, Fred.
Speaker 2: Well, I believe that's a hitter-to-hitter issue. Max Muncy would
Speaker 2: love to see fastballs. He's done a lot of damage
Speaker 2: off fastballs. When he's had troubles, it's when the pitcher's
Speaker 2: pulling the string on him. Um, look, the bat speed
Speaker 2: might be a little slower for some of these guys. Uh,
Speaker 2: like I said, older team day game after a night game,
Speaker 2: all those things play into it. I know you don't
Speaker 2: want to hear that, but that's the reality of the situation.
Speaker 2: A lot of miles age guys over 30. Um, sometimes
Speaker 2: you don't, the bad speeds not there, but I know
Speaker 2: that was a narrative, uh, for six weeks. Um, I
Speaker 2: don't believe anybody's really given any clarity on why, uh,
Speaker 2: They were struggling for that point in time on fastballs.
Speaker 2: I will say this, fastball change-up pitchers have given the
Speaker 2: Dodgers issues in the last six weeks. Let's go out
Speaker 2: to Gary in Colorado Springs. You're on Dodger Talk live
Speaker 2: from Detroit.
Speaker 1: Hi, Gary.
Speaker 7: Hey, Dave.
Speaker 9: I just want to say, first of all, thanks to
Speaker 9: you and the 570 team. You guys do an amazing
Speaker 9: job keeping us like we're part of the team.
Speaker 2: Isn't Petros wonderful? Isn't Petros wonderful? He really has his
Speaker 2: finger on the pulse on everything.
Speaker 4: Sometimes.
Speaker 9: Hey, I just wanted to make the comment on that.
Speaker 4: Exactly.
Speaker 9: And all the happy hours, right? Yeah.
Speaker 1: All right, Gary, what do you got? Let's get serious.
Speaker 2: Now this is very serious life or death matter here.
Speaker 2: Dodger baseball.
Speaker 9: Got it. I just, uh, just wanted to make a
Speaker 9: comment on the roster construction. I don't, um, there's not
Speaker 9: a lot of help in the minor league, especially from
Speaker 9: the right hand side. Um, James Tibbs and Jose de
Speaker 9: Paula and anyone else down there are not on the 40-man.
Speaker 9: So really to make room on the 40-man, you're going
Speaker 9: to have to DFA Teoscar, Tucker, Miggy Rowe, or Kike. No,
Speaker 9: you're not.
Speaker 1: No, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't.
Speaker 4: Why not?
Speaker 2: There's other ways to get one of those guys on
Speaker 2: the 40-man roster.
Speaker 9: So they could trade or move somebody to the 60-day IL.
Speaker 10: Oh, yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2: They're not DFA Tucker or Teoscar Hernandez, Gary.
Speaker 1: They're not.
Speaker 2: There's other ways to get guys on the 40-man roster,
Speaker 2: a guy or just one guy in James Tibbs. They're
Speaker 2: not putting Josue DePaula on the 40-man roster, Gary. They're
Speaker 2: not calling him up. That's what I've been told. That's
Speaker 2: not happening right now. But James Tibbs is a real possibility,
Speaker 2: and there are ways to get creative to get him
Speaker 2: on the 40-man roster. But there's also the part of
Speaker 2: what may happen after this season with a new CBA.
Speaker 2: So that, I'm sure, is something that Andrew Friedman is balancing.
Speaker 2: But the Dodgers are trying to three-peat. And right now,
Speaker 2: they haven't gotten hardly any consistent production from their corner outfielders.
Speaker 1: Teoscar Hernandez.
Speaker 2: is not providing a whole lot offensively these days for
Speaker 2: whatever reason. And I believe that you need a spark,
Speaker 2: and I believe you need to have more Kike in
Speaker 2: the outfield until Pahez comes back. And calling up James
Speaker 2: Tibbs makes a lot of sense to platoon, maybe to
Speaker 2: platoon with Teoscar, maybe to take some at-bats away from
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1: Let's see.
Speaker 2: We've heard so much about these outfielders in the minor leagues.
Speaker 2: Let's see what they can do. The Dodgers need some.
Speaker 1: Help out there.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I totally agree. I just think that next week
Speaker 9: they're going to have some interesting decisions with people coming
Speaker 9: back on the expanded roster and what they do with
Speaker 9: the 40 man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not as interesting as you think, Gary. I laid
Speaker 2: it out yesterday. It's very doable. Go back and podcast
Speaker 2: the show. I don't feel like getting back into it
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 9: You're good.
Speaker 4: I will.
Speaker 9: I missed yesterday. Thanks for taking a.
Speaker 6: Call, man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I laid it all out there. It's not as
Speaker 2: complicated as you're trying to make it seem, Gary.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 9: We need Will Smith back, though. I think that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Definitely. He'll help in a lot of areas.
Speaker 2: So Will Smith continuing his rehab assignment at Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: All expectations are he should be in the starting lineup
Speaker 2: on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. 866-987-2570 is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers presents the home run forecast. The forecast has
Speaker 2: been a little dry lately. For your chance to win
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Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers own the dream. All right, let's hear a
Speaker 2: little bit more from Dave Roberts because as you know,
Speaker 2: Otani's whole baseball identity is being a two-way player. And
Speaker 2: going back to what I said, the Dodgers need Otani
Speaker 2: more as a hitter than they do as a pitcher
Speaker 2: right now. And the two-way thing stopped on July 3rd
Speaker 2: for this season. And I asked Dave Roberts earlier. whether
Speaker 2: or not Otani appreciates the fact that if you look
Speaker 2: at the Dodger roster right now, does he fully understand
Speaker 2: that the Dodgers, if he was making the decision, the
Speaker 2: Dodgers need Otani the hitter more than they need Otani
Speaker 2: the starting pitcher?
Speaker 11: I wouldn't bet against Shohei, but, you know, I still
Speaker 11: think that five innings to the end of the season
Speaker 11: is aggressive for anyone. I think that as the competitor,
Speaker 11: he wants... To do both, and I respect it. But,
Speaker 11: you know, nothing I'm saying changes his identity as a
Speaker 11: two-way player. But I think in the moment, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 11: he still feels that, you know, there's still an opportunity,
Speaker 11: and I'm not trying to say there isn't, you know.
Speaker 11: But I do think that at the end of the day,
Speaker 11: he knows, he's very aware of our roster and strengths, weaknesses,
Speaker 11: and his value to the ball club and whatever that means.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a good thing. And Otani is a very
Speaker 2: aware person and player. I know he doesn't talk a
Speaker 2: lot publicly, but he is very aware of what's going
Speaker 2: on baseball wise. So I, I am, I am very
Speaker 2: happy to hear that he would understand that the Dodgers
Speaker 2: need him more as a hitter than a starting pitcher. Now,
Speaker 2: what I will say as well with the uncertainty of,
Speaker 2: and the inconsistency of some high leverage relievers the Dodgers have,
Speaker 2: if you were to start Otani in a game four,
Speaker 2: let's say in a best of seven series, and he's
Speaker 2: able to get six to nine outs for you, that
Speaker 2: takes away some of the pressure of using some of
Speaker 2: those relievers at the back end of the game, because
Speaker 2: you could have Otani take down the first nine outs
Speaker 2: of a playoff game, and then bring in Tyler Glass
Speaker 2: now to take down the next, you know, 10 to
Speaker 2: 15 and match up possibly at the end. But that's
Speaker 2: the value of having Otani built up to maybe just
Speaker 2: to a point where he can give you three innings
Speaker 2: in a playoff game. But right now, it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like the body's cooperating. Let's go out to North Hollywood. Dave,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk from Detroit.
Speaker 3: Hi, Dave.
Speaker 6: I want to preface my point by kind of saying
Speaker 6: I told you so back in April. They should not
Speaker 6: have started Otani, and they should have actually ramped them
Speaker 6: up beginning August for this exact reason. So, you know,
Speaker 6: that's just my paternal kind of overly worrying.
Speaker 1: That's what they did last year.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what I was hoping
Speaker 6: they would do. But, but you know, on the, the
Speaker 6: silver lining to this is I think come October, the
Speaker 6: Dodgers will get, they'll get in gear. Cause it's, you know,
Speaker 6: October is zero, zero.
Speaker 1: Can I just, can I pause you really quick? I
Speaker 1: know that's what you said.
Speaker 2: And, and I know that makes a lot of sense,
Speaker 2: but you know, who drives this is Shohei Otani, who
Speaker 2: was very clear in spring training that winning the Cy
Speaker 2: Young was very much a priority for him or a
Speaker 2: goal this year. It just hasn't come to fruition. So
Speaker 2: let's not forget about that part of the equation. Don't
Speaker 2: put this all on the Dodgers and what they would
Speaker 2: have done because the player, the best player on the planet,
Speaker 2: a two-way player has a lot of say in all this.
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, you're, you're kind of in Dave Roberts's ear.
Speaker 6: So I'm hoping you could kind of tweet that and maybe.
Speaker 4: Have that idea.
Speaker 6: I'm Matter of fact, but, but, but really, no, I mean, I,
Speaker 6: I hope come October, they, they get aggressive on first pitches.
Speaker 6: Why is they need to disrupt the picture. They can't
Speaker 6: let these pictures get in rhythm and sit there and
Speaker 6: get all cute.
Speaker 7: They need to get, get their butts out of there.
Speaker 11: They needed.
Speaker 6: And the way that I've seen them win the last
Speaker 6: two years is first pitch bang, whoa, pitchers shocked. And
Speaker 6: all of a sudden the Dodgers are in control. We
Speaker 6: all know you win game one, you kind of control
Speaker 6: the series. So it's really kind of everything kind of
Speaker 6: connects together. So I, I personally think they need to
Speaker 6: attack first pitches and just really be aggressive. And, and,
Speaker 6: and I'm hoping that once October comes that, that they'll
Speaker 6: be in control and that that'll happen.
Speaker 2: They will Dave. Don't worry about it. Well, I shouldn't
Speaker 2: say don't worry about it. I believe they will. And, Look,
Speaker 2: Teoscar Hernandez, you could see his post-game interview in the
Speaker 2: clubhouse on the Sportsnet LA social media platforms. He's echoing
Speaker 2: what I was just saying. Every team is bringing their best.
Speaker 2: Their pitcher is bringing their best. They're bringing a little extra.
Speaker 2: And that's what we have seen all season long. Every series,
Speaker 2: the opposing team is bringing extra. The pitcher on the
Speaker 2: mound is more focused. He's reaching back for higher velocity
Speaker 2: than we have seen all season long.
Speaker 1: I mean, A.J.
Speaker 2: Smith-Shauver in Atlanta, coming back from Tommy John, was averaging
Speaker 2: about 93 miles an hour on his fastball. He was
Speaker 2: dialing up 96 against the Dodgers. Chris Sale hit 100
Speaker 2: for the first time since, you know, Mookie Betts was
Speaker 2: on the Red Sox with him. So that was my point.
Speaker 2: And the Dodgers, like I said, cannot match that. every
Speaker 2: single game.
Speaker 7: Yes.
Speaker 1: Are they trying?
Speaker 7: Yes.
Speaker 1: Are they locked in? Yeah.
Speaker 2: But for 162 games, I think it's, it's unrealistic to
Speaker 2: believe that every player on the Dodgers for every pitch
Speaker 2: of the game is locked in and bring in that
Speaker 2: type of a focus and a little extra that they're
Speaker 2: facing every single game. Tomorrow, Tyler Glass now will be
Speaker 2: on the mound going up against Frambois Valdez. You don't
Speaker 2: think Frambois Valdez is up to pitch against the Dodgers?
Speaker 2: You're going to see it tomorrow, and the Dodgers will
Speaker 2: as well. Our coverage begins at 9.30 tomorrow morning with
Speaker 2: first pitch. at 1040. Rick Monday and Steven Nelson will
Speaker 2: be on the call for us on the Dodgers audio network.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Colin Yee back at our Burbank studios. Thanks
Speaker 2: to Dwayne McDonald out here at Comerica Park in Detroit.
Speaker 2: And thanks to you for listening. We had a lot
Speaker 2: of calls.
Speaker 1: It was lively. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, baby.
Speaker 1: I'm right here for you. I'm not hiding.
Speaker 2: One pitch at a time, one step at a time,
Speaker 2: one round at a time. The Dodgers fall to the
Speaker 2: Tigers today.
Speaker 1: Two to one.
Speaker 2: You can hear this show, yesterday's show, every show this
Speaker 2: season of Dodger Talk on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: Make Dodger Talk a preset. Like us. Download us.
Speaker 2: You'll never miss any episode, any interview that we share
Speaker 2: with you. And it was also great to see Jack
Speaker 2: Flaherty before the game today. A proud 8-1-8 from North Hollywood, Harvard-Westlake.
Speaker 2: He seems like he's throwing out the fish line for
Speaker 2: me to interview him tomorrow on the pregame show.
Speaker 1: We'll see where it goes.
Speaker 2: Once again, the final score today, the Tigers beat the
Speaker 2: Dodgers 2-1.
Speaker 1: Have a great rest of your day. See ya.