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.
Speaker 3: Here we go again. We're getting ready to run it back.
Speaker 1: To get in on the show, call 866-987-2570. And be
Speaker 1: sure to follow Dodger Talk wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Basset.
Speaker 3: Welcome to Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Vasse with you on this warm Labor Day weekend
Speaker 2: after the Dodgers bats warmed up a little more too
Speaker 2: tonight as they scored five runs to beat the Nationals
Speaker 2: 5-3 in game one of this three-game series. Phone lines
Speaker 2: are open at 866-987-2570. Interesting how the phone lines don't
Speaker 2: really light up the way they do after a couple
Speaker 2: of nights ago. I guess the Dodgers have satisfied you again.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've been saying that the Dodgers are certainly
Speaker 2: one of the.
Speaker 3: Better teams in all of baseball.
Speaker 2: They just obviously are not going to be able to
Speaker 2: win rise to the occasion every single time they play
Speaker 2: a team like the Tigers or the Royals or even
Speaker 2: the Nationals. The Dodgers, with their 84th win of the year,
Speaker 2: have a 10-game lead in the NL West and are
Speaker 2: tied with the Braves for the number two seed in
Speaker 2: the National League postseason picture. So that's where it stands
Speaker 2: right now. And really tonight was about, in my mind,
Speaker 2: four guys. Blake Snell, who, again, was dominant, six scoreless innings,
Speaker 2: seven strikeouts, and only two walks. And Snell, since coming
Speaker 2: off the IEL, has pitched 29 innings, has allowed just
Speaker 2: three earned runs, has thrown two scoreless outings, and has
Speaker 2: 38 strikeouts and 12 walks. I've been telling you, even
Speaker 2: before Snell became a Dodger, he's this guy. His only
Speaker 2: challenge is to stay healthy for a full year. I
Speaker 2: think we all have to accept that maybe Blake Snell
Speaker 2: at this stage of his career is a 20 to
Speaker 2: 25 star guy. And there's nothing wrong with that, especially
Speaker 2: when you're on a team like the Dodgers, when all
Speaker 2: that really, I shouldn't say all that really matters, but
Speaker 2: October is way more emphasized here for obvious reasons.
Speaker 3: And Here's Snell. He didn't rush it.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers did not allow him to rush it after
Speaker 2: having that nanoscope procedure. And how about that? Scooble and
Speaker 2: Snell having that nanoscope procedure. Scooble's only took 30 minutes.
Speaker 2: Snell's took two hours. But the same surgeon performed the
Speaker 2: nanoscope procedure, and that's the guy that came up with it, Dr.
Speaker 3: Neil Eletrosh.
Speaker 2: I mean, we got to give that guy some props
Speaker 2: because a lot of guys would not be back pitching
Speaker 2: after all that. So that aside... I didn't need to
Speaker 2: see 29 innings and only three earned runs. Some people
Speaker 2: act like they're surprised over this. How can you be surprised?
Speaker 2: And that's been my biggest issue all along with the
Speaker 2: way broadcasters, media, and fans treat Blake Snell. Put some
Speaker 2: respect on this guy's name. He's won two Cy Young Awards.
Speaker 2: He's thrown a no hitter just three years ago. He
Speaker 2: carried the Dodgers along with Yamamoto to the world series
Speaker 2: pitching wise. I mean, this guy doesn't shy away from
Speaker 2: the big stage. And now all of a sudden I'm
Speaker 2: getting texts from guys like Brad Paisley saying that Snell
Speaker 2: should be the game one starter. Oh, how the tide
Speaker 2: has turned. And then my guy, Oral Hershiser says, giving
Speaker 2: Blake Snell the ultimate compliment, calling him a pitching savant.
Speaker 2: I knew that about him. I tried to explain that
Speaker 2: to people before. But obviously, when it comes from Oral Hershiser,
Speaker 2: that's the ultimate validation when you get that type of
Speaker 2: compliment in the middle of a game. And look, I've
Speaker 2: experienced it. I've experienced it. When Snell was on the Padres,
Speaker 2: we'd be watching some of the Dodgers taking live BPs.
Speaker 2: And he would tell me every hitter's strength and weakness.
Speaker 2: We'd look at the opposing dugout. He'd tell me every
Speaker 2: Dodger's strength and weakness, how he would attack them. And
Speaker 2: before his last start, he was showing me guys that,
Speaker 2: you know, how he would attack. There's a great photo
Speaker 2: that I posted on my Instagram story, you know, with
Speaker 2: him with the binder.
Speaker 3: He has that binder. He does his homework.
Speaker 2: Hunter Fiducia told us before his last start in Detroit,
Speaker 2: it's a real eye-opener when you go into the game-planning
Speaker 2: room with Snell before a start, and he's just rattling
Speaker 2: off quickly what he's thinking with each hitter. He's calling
Speaker 2: the pitches with his pitch comms. So at some point,
Speaker 2: the baseball world is going to have to give this
Speaker 2: guy his respect, and And I don't believe it needs
Speaker 2: to come after the way he's pitched. I don't believe
Speaker 2: it should have come last October. I mean, everybody was
Speaker 2: at his feet fawning at him after the way he
Speaker 2: pitched in Philadelphia and in Milwaukee.
Speaker 3: That should have came before.
Speaker 2: And I feel like now everybody again is now on
Speaker 2: the Snellzilla bandwagon, which is fine.
Speaker 3: He takes names.
Speaker 2: And I do believe he needs to pitch with a
Speaker 2: chip on his shoulder to be successful. I've known some
Speaker 2: players that do that and he certainly is one of them.
Speaker 2: 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Let's head downstairs right now
Speaker 2: to hear from Snellzilla on Sportsnet LA.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I feel good. The fastball location is getting better.
Speaker 4: I got to move it around more. So I'm looking
Speaker 4: forward to do that. Land curveballs a little more in
Speaker 4: the zone. I just can't be walking guys that I
Speaker 4: know I can get out. Just got to get ahead,
Speaker 4: quit trying to be so perfect and just attack, get ahead. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'll fund myself with being able to go deeper in
Speaker 4: the game. Going six is cool. That's a good starting point.
Speaker 4: I really want to go 7, 8, and I want
Speaker 4: to get to 9. For me to do that, I've
Speaker 4: got to locate the fastball more, throw more strikes, and
Speaker 4: get early contact for outs. Overall, though, a lot of
Speaker 4: weak contact. Happy about that, but I can still execute
Speaker 4: a lot better.
Speaker 5: In general this is your only your fifth start since
Speaker 5: coming off the aisle do you feel though that just
Speaker 5: where the stuff is at where your body is at
Speaker 5: like things are in a really good position um.
Speaker 4: Yeah i just i think it'd be way better like
Speaker 4: yeah i think it's going good um because i've just
Speaker 4: pitched in this league so much and i understand hitters
Speaker 4: and I'm starting to adjust quicker, which I'm getting excited about.
Speaker 4: I go out there with a plan to be able
Speaker 4: to adjust and get quick outs off of that or
Speaker 4: get ahead to get strikeouts. It's starting to get quicker,
Speaker 4: which I'm extremely happy about with that, being able to
Speaker 4: go out there and be like, no, I'm going to
Speaker 4: throw this instead. So I'm happy about that, but, yeah,
Speaker 4: I just... I think I could be way better.
Speaker 3: I really do.
Speaker 4: I think I can locate the fastball in, out, up, down.
Speaker 4: I think I could do that better. Right now I'm
Speaker 4: just missing. I'm around the zone, but just missing. I
Speaker 4: think I could be even better. So I just got
Speaker 4: another week ahead of me of really good practice and
Speaker 4: focus and great catch and getting my body in great
Speaker 4: positions to be able to repeat. Yeah, I like where
Speaker 4: I'll be.
Speaker 3: All right. There's Blake Snell on Sportsnet L.A.
Speaker 2: After pitching six scoreless innings, but still not happy with himself.
Speaker 2: And I saw him in the Dodger dugout after he
Speaker 2: came out. Dave Roberts gave him a big hug and
Speaker 2: he was about to walk away. But Snell wanted to,
Speaker 2: you know, really explain to him what was going on
Speaker 2: on the mound. during that start tonight and really explain
Speaker 2: his thought process. And he really does respect Dave Roberts' authority.
Speaker 2: You know, I know on the caliber of athlete here,
Speaker 2: it's not close. But I remember when Shaquille O'Neal had
Speaker 2: a coach he could respect and Phil Jackson, he respected
Speaker 2: his authority. And that's the way Blake Snell is. looks
Speaker 2: at Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts. He respects their authority.
Speaker 2: If they tell him to do something or they don't
Speaker 2: feel like he's giving enough of something, that will hit
Speaker 2: home with him. And you saw that in the dugout.
Speaker 2: I've seen that with Andrew Friedman. When he respects those
Speaker 2: type of positions... He gives that type of authority a
Speaker 2: lot of ears, and he really lets it sink in.
Speaker 2: 866-987-2570 is the phone number. Dodgers behind Snellzilla. Beat the
Speaker 2: Nats 5-3. Let's go out to Whittier. Roman, you're on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3: How you doing, Roman?
Speaker 6: Hey, Mr.
Speaker 7: Vassie.
Speaker 8: I'm just calling to tell you big thumbs up on
Speaker 8: your part. I don't know if you remember the day
Speaker 8: before yesterday there was a caller who and he wanted
Speaker 8: to down talk Teoscar Hernandez, and you put a stop
Speaker 8: to it right away.
Speaker 3: I remember.
Speaker 6: I don't know if you.
Speaker 8: Talked to Teoscar before the game, but he brought in
Speaker 8: that winning run, and the Dodgers won.
Speaker 5: So big thumbs up on your part by putting a
Speaker 5: stop to it, and go Dodgers.
Speaker 3: All right, Roman, thank you for the phone call.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Teoscar Hernandez really has been seeing the ball well
Speaker 2: since that series in Detroit. not just the Saturday game.
Speaker 2: He was on base three times Friday. So this has
Speaker 2: been coming along now for the last 10 days, 10 games.
Speaker 3: And it was great to see him.
Speaker 2: Carry over the heroics from last night to something early
Speaker 2: in the game tonight, driving in two runs in the
Speaker 2: third inning. So that was big for his confidence as well.
Speaker 2: So I love seeing that. And Props to Kyle Tucker
Speaker 2: for hitting a home run tonight at Dodger Stadium for
Speaker 2: the first time since June 15th. Let's go out to Orange. Gary,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3: How you doing, Gary?
Speaker 1: Good, David.
Speaker 6: How you doing?
Speaker 3: I'm doing great. You know I love a Snellzilla night,
Speaker 3: a Snellzilla win.
Speaker 6: Hey, I was going to call you last night. I
Speaker 6: don't want you to think I'm jumping on the bandwagon
Speaker 6: about Blake Snell, but I was going to call you
Speaker 6: last night because I'm looking back at the Detroit game
Speaker 6: where he pitched and And I was so impressed with
Speaker 6: what he did in that game. I think he pitched
Speaker 6: five innings or something, right? Struck out 10. You know
Speaker 6: this backspin. But I was impressed. I was kind of
Speaker 6: on the fence about him either way. But that game,
Speaker 6: he hung in there and he did a hell of
Speaker 6: a job, even though I don't think he really was
Speaker 6: recognized for it. So I was going to call you
Speaker 6: last night to tell you this. I just didn't want
Speaker 6: you to think I was jumping on the bandwagon tonight.
Speaker 2: Hey, it's okay. Jump on the bandwagon. But you got
Speaker 2: to stay on with guys like Snell. Especially you got
Speaker 2: to stay on with a guy like Teoscar Hernandez. He
Speaker 2: doesn't get enough credit for having such a big hand
Speaker 2: in the Dodgers winning the last two Octobers without Teo.
Speaker 3: I mean it.
Speaker 2: You can't spell October without Teoscar. Without Tao, you can't.
Speaker 2: And I just think there's a resume behind my confidence
Speaker 2: of these players, certain players. And that's the reason why
Speaker 2: I'm so convicted when I back those guys up.
Speaker 6: I agree with you. I mean, I think after I
Speaker 6: was just so impressed with the job that he did
Speaker 6: because he was so tenacious. He struck out 10, I think,
Speaker 6: in that game, didn't he? But he had a lot
Speaker 6: of runners on base. I think they had about, I
Speaker 6: think they were like two for 10, the Tigers, runners
Speaker 6: in scoring position. But he did a heck of a job.
Speaker 6: And anyway, I wanted to tell you that I was
Speaker 6: so impressed with his performance that it doesn't surprise me
Speaker 6: that he's doing what he's doing now.
Speaker 3: All right, Gary, thank you for the phone call.
Speaker 2: Duly noted. You're on the record now. Don't get a
Speaker 2: lot of compliments for Snell. You know, it's interesting. All
Speaker 2: the starts that he's made since coming back, all I
Speaker 2: hear about is Otani. All I hear about is the bullpen.
Speaker 2: All I hear about is the offense. But when Snell
Speaker 2: pitches well, there's not too many Garys out there that
Speaker 2: give him his props. He's done his job, and him
Speaker 2: and Yamamoto are going to be a formidable one-two punch
Speaker 2: for to start October. And look, I love Tarek Scooble.
Speaker 2: I believe he's really good. I believe we haven't seen
Speaker 2: the best of Scooble with the Dodgers, but there's no
Speaker 2: denying that Snell's been more dominant than Scooble since both
Speaker 2: those guys started to pitch for the Dodgers. Again, Scooble
Speaker 2: being traded, obviously Snell being activated off the IL. That
Speaker 2: is a, that's a fact, Jack, let's go out to
Speaker 2: Las Vegas. Sergio, you're on Dodger talk.
Speaker 3: How are you doing?
Speaker 9: Hey, David, nice to talk to you. No, I have
Speaker 9: to jump on the bandwagon here and give tail and
Speaker 9: Mookie and, and Tucker today, you know, I know he's
Speaker 9: been struggling throughout the year, but you know, hopefully he'll
Speaker 9: turn around. Maybe the, the bright lights of the post-season
Speaker 9: will get him going, but tail seeing tail go, you know,
Speaker 9: tail had such a great spring training. And I know
Speaker 9: during the season, he hasn't been the tail that, that
Speaker 9: we've loved. But I think maybe he's going to finish
Speaker 9: up strong, and then you just touched on the starting rotation,
Speaker 9: starting with Snell.
Speaker 1: I mean, Snell and then Glass.
Speaker 9: Glass now has been great, and then Scubo, hopefully he's
Speaker 9: been pitching great. We just need the run support. If
Speaker 9: they get the run support going, I think hopefully the
Speaker 9: 3P will happen, Dave.
Speaker 2: All right, Sergio, sounds like a good plan. Thanks a
Speaker 2: lot for the phone call. Appreciate it. I got to
Speaker 2: give Caber Ruiz, a former Dodger and now at the Nationals,
Speaker 2: got to give him some props because before the game
Speaker 2: he was telling me, hey, don't give up on Tucker.
Speaker 2: When October comes around, you're going to see Tucker. And
Speaker 2: I said, all right, I'm coming back tomorrow. We're going
Speaker 2: to talk about what you saw tonight. So I'm interested
Speaker 2: what he has to say after probably taking, you know,
Speaker 2: not a victory lap because he hit a homer off
Speaker 2: his team and they lost.
Speaker 3: But Caber Ruiz, the young.
Speaker 2: Catcher, certainly is is among others that believe Kyle Tucker
Speaker 2: cannot continue to go the way he'd been going. And
Speaker 2: October is a different season. 866-987-2570 is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Let's hear from Kyle Tucker. He spoke to the media
Speaker 2: on Sportsnet LA.
Speaker 10: How good did that swing feel?
Speaker 6: It was nice.
Speaker 10: Just able to contribute right there and put a good
Speaker 10: swing on the ball and have it go out. Overall
Speaker 10: as a team, just kind of grinded through the game
Speaker 10: and just put up some run support for Blake and
Speaker 10: bullpen to the rest as well. Does getting to 99
Speaker 10: at the top of the zone like that tell you
Speaker 10: about where your swing is at this point? That's nice.
Speaker 10: Being able to stay inside and throw a ball like
Speaker 10: 99 up and in. Puts me in a good spot
Speaker 10: to have success, so just try and replicate that again tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Do you feel like you'll be able to find anything
Speaker 3: repeatable with the swing at all, especially the last couple days?
Speaker 10: I know there was some frustration yesterday, too, but be
Speaker 10: able to find something you can carry to the next
Speaker 10: day at any point? Yeah, just try and put up
Speaker 10: competitive at-bats. Just try and take my walks and try
Speaker 10: and move guys over and take my knocks whenever they come.
Speaker 10: Just try and keep the line moving. If we do
Speaker 10: that as a group overall, it'll put us in a
Speaker 10: good spot to put up runs.
Speaker 2: This season, the overall picture is what it is for you,
Speaker 2: but what are.
Speaker 11: You looking to do in September to get ready.
Speaker 4: For the first season?
Speaker 10: Just keep going forward. We've still got 20 or 30
Speaker 10: games left of the season, so just trying to feel
Speaker 10: good going into the playoffs. We've still got plenty of
Speaker 10: games left to finish out the season, so just try
Speaker 10: and build some momentum just overall as a team and
Speaker 10: just try and carry that into the playoffs.
Speaker 2: All right, there's Kyle Tucker on Sportsnet LA. Like we
Speaker 2: talked about when Pahez went down, I believed the Dodgers
Speaker 2: needed three guys to step up in the absence of Pahez.
Speaker 2: And that was Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, and Kyle Tucker. Well,
Speaker 2: Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts have started to look like
Speaker 2: themselves the last couple of weeks. If they get Tucker
Speaker 2: going here down the stretch, that's the right time to
Speaker 2: get a guy swinging the bat really well. Freddie Freeman
Speaker 2: has talked about that. For a long time, you want
Speaker 2: to be swinging your best going into October. And if
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker can start swinging his best right now going
Speaker 2: into October, that would be a huge boost. And Pahez
Speaker 2: will be back by the end of the regular season, probably.
Speaker 2: And Will Smith is back. So all of a sudden now,
Speaker 2: This lineup's a little bit deeper. If those three guys
Speaker 2: continue to do what we saw tonight, all three guys
Speaker 2: drove in a run. Tucker with the home run. Mookie,
Speaker 2: two for four tonight, drove in the first run tonight
Speaker 2: and scored on Teoscar Hernandez's two-run double. So a good
Speaker 2: night for those three guys. A great night for Blake
Speaker 2: Snell as the Dodgers defeat the Nationals 5-3 on 570
Speaker 2: LA Sports.
Speaker 7: Dodger fans, this is Blake Snow. You're listening to the
Speaker 7: home of the back-to-back world champion Dodgers on AM 570
Speaker 7: LA Sports.
Speaker 5: The 0-1.
Speaker 3: Tucker with a fly ball to right.
Speaker 1: Heading on back is Cruz and it is gone.
Speaker 3: A home run.
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker's 12th home run of the year and the
Speaker 1: Dodgers now lead 5-0.
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker with his third home run of the year
Speaker 2: at Dodger Stadium. His first home run since June 15th.
Speaker 2: He hit that ball well over 100 miles an hour.
Speaker 2: It was a no doubter to right field as the
Speaker 2: Dodgers defeat the Nationals tonight. by a final score of 5-3.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers presents the home run forecast for your chance
Speaker 2: to win a $ 50 Daniels Jewelers gift card. Visit am570lasports. com,
Speaker 2: use the keyword home run, and to your name you
Speaker 2: could win Daniels Jewelers' Own the Dream. In just a moment,
Speaker 2: you'll hear from Dave Roberts give us the latest update
Speaker 2: on Shohei Otani.
Speaker 3: But first.
Speaker 1: It's time to go around the horn with Jose Mota.
Speaker 2: All right, Jose Mota, everybody's jumping on the Snellzilla bandwagon.
Speaker 2: Even my guy, Oral Hershiser, was impressed tonight. What did
Speaker 2: you think about the way he pitched tonight?
Speaker 12: I thought his stuff was really good. You know, his comments,
Speaker 12: which is so refreshing to hear every time he pitches.
Speaker 12: He never talked about his stuff not being good. He
Speaker 12: talked about command, which is the one thing that he
Speaker 12: knows he needs to have a little bit better. But
Speaker 12: you ask any pitcher on that staff right now, Dave,
Speaker 12: and any Bigley staff, if they will take the stuff
Speaker 12: he had tonight in any given night, spring training, regular season,
Speaker 12: October auto care, that was very good stuff well utilized
Speaker 12: against a team that, as you mentioned, can go out
Speaker 12: there and put up a lot of runs. This team
Speaker 12: is second in the big leagues in run score behind
Speaker 12: the Cubs. And they fight for you. We saw it
Speaker 12: at the very end. But, man, Snell is just superb
Speaker 12: in just mastering what he calls just the artistic part
Speaker 12: of pitching, which is go out there and show different angles.
Speaker 12: go out there and show different quadrants, miss when you
Speaker 12: need to miss near enough, but then have those chases.
Speaker 12: What are those chases coming from? They're coming from the
Speaker 12: stuff in 97, 98, what he needs to, but also
Speaker 12: having that bender going downwards that can really make your
Speaker 12: eyes go in one direction before you know it. You're
Speaker 12: already catching up with a fastball up. That was just
Speaker 12: a superb art of pitching right there by that guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was really keying in on how he would
Speaker 2: attack James Wood, who was in his second game back
Speaker 2: off the IL with an oblique strain. And in his
Speaker 2: first at bat, when he struck him out looking, he
Speaker 2: was really trying to establish not just his fastball, but again,
Speaker 2: the upper part of the strike zone up and in
Speaker 2: on Wood. And then he started to go away from
Speaker 2: him the second time around. What'd you think about the
Speaker 2: way he attacked James Wood?
Speaker 12: If you look at the results, curveballs, both of them
Speaker 12: looking on try counts.
Speaker 3: Tall guy, right?
Speaker 12: And that's what I'm talking about. This guy just understands
Speaker 12: what it is to set up a guy, even on
Speaker 12: the stature and size. Guy's up in the zone. The
Speaker 12: guy's tall, okay? He wants to extend the arms. That's
Speaker 12: one thing. With James Ward, you've got to be very
Speaker 12: careful because he likes to extend, but not to extend
Speaker 12: to pull the ball, to go center field and the
Speaker 12: opposite field like a right at batter. And what Snell does,
Speaker 12: he gives you enough pitches to close enough, different velocities,
Speaker 12: different quadrants, and the ability to go out there and
Speaker 12: spin it and give you something different to look at
Speaker 12: to set you up. So, you know, James was thinking, okay,
Speaker 12: if I get on the fastball and I'm early, it's
Speaker 12: not where I want to be. I want to be
Speaker 12: able to just pop the fastball middle of the way
Speaker 12: and hit it the other way far, right? But with
Speaker 12: snow pitching, not anything about, okay, now he's got the bender.
Speaker 12: He's got the rainbow coming at me, you know, all colorful,
Speaker 12: you know, 12 to 6, the real troubles. And then
Speaker 12: the slider was not even present today because they didn't
Speaker 12: need it. So Based on three pitches and mainly two pitches,
Speaker 12: that's what he does against the guys like Wood to say,
Speaker 12: I don't know what's coming, but if anything, let me
Speaker 12: just be a little bit late on the fastball, which
Speaker 12: is what happened later in the game.
Speaker 2: Jose Mota is joining us, part of the Dodgers Spanish
Speaker 2: radio broadcast after the Dodgers defeat the Nationals tonight 5-3.
Speaker 2: All right, Jose, we got the three guys that the
Speaker 2: Dodgers need to produce going on the same night. Mookie Betts,
Speaker 2: Teoscar Hernandez, and Kyle Tucker. How high should we get
Speaker 2: our expectations that this is going to be routine the
Speaker 2: rest of the year?
Speaker 12: It can be routine the rest of the year if
Speaker 12: those guys just do what they're doing right now, which
Speaker 12: is just staying with the process and believing that through
Speaker 12: five-plus months of the season. going back to spring training
Speaker 12: six plus months, this is where you want to get
Speaker 12: to a point where you're comfortable enough. Swing the bat.
Speaker 12: It's not about overworking anymore. You don't need a lot
Speaker 12: of extra repeat. You don't need extra repeat right now.
Speaker 12: You need repetitive swings that are consistent with what you're
Speaker 12: trying to do. The league has shown you how they're
Speaker 12: getting you out. You have shown yourself how you're getting
Speaker 12: yourself out too, which is a big part of growing
Speaker 12: and maturing as a player. and mature as the season progresses.
Speaker 12: A guy like Mookie Betts, we see the pitch selection
Speaker 12: is getting better. The lazy fly balls are disappearing. He's
Speaker 12: getting a little flatter through the zone and finishing the swings.
Speaker 12: To Oscar Hernandez, two things, and talking to him the
Speaker 12: last 10 days or so, be on time, which is
Speaker 12: sometimes hard to do when your legs are not there
Speaker 12: with you, and finish with two hands. Go back and
Speaker 12: look since Kenley Jansen's ball that he almost hit out
Speaker 12: of the ballpark. His finishes are getting better because he's
Speaker 12: not letting go of the bat. And, Dave, sometimes, like,
Speaker 12: when you tell yourself, like, I like to ask her,
Speaker 12: finish with two hands. You're actually covering, like, three different spots,
Speaker 12: which is be there. Your hand's going to be flat.
Speaker 12: Your swing's going to be better. And when you make contact,
Speaker 12: finish off the swing. So it kind of looks like
Speaker 12: reverse psychology and thinking step, watch the ball, all those things.
Speaker 12: When you tell yourself two hands together, finish off the swing,
Speaker 12: it just makes everything so much easier and simple thoughts.
Speaker 12: And on Kyle Tucker, here's one thing. He has a
Speaker 12: lot of check swings in hitter's counts. At this point, Dave,
Speaker 12: there's nothing he can lose. There's no more he can
Speaker 12: lose than to say, you know what? Forget about it.
Speaker 12: I'm just going to go out there and just hack.
Speaker 12: Just swing the bat hard. Come off your feet. I
Speaker 12: don't care, whatever it takes, because at this point. you'd
Speaker 12: be in challenge. You see a lot of fastballs. So
Speaker 12: why not just let it happen? You know, when you
Speaker 12: hit foul balls, hit them far out that right field
Speaker 12: pole and just let the opponent know that you're true
Speaker 12: and be determined. And we see more determination. And with
Speaker 12: a big team at bat today, with a nice line
Speaker 12: at first base, turn into results later on because, you know,
Speaker 12: the rewards were there for them.
Speaker 2: All right, Jose. The Dodgers took care of business tonight.
Speaker 2: I felt like they may have been able to score
Speaker 2: a few more runs, but we'll take five tonight. and
Speaker 2: the Nationals didn't go away. They're still dangerous all the
Speaker 2: way to the final third out. They scored three in
Speaker 2: the ninth inning, but the Dodgers hold on for a
Speaker 2: 5-3 win. So I'm looking for at least five more tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Get Cade Cavalli out of that game early and get
Speaker 2: to that shaky bullpen.
Speaker 12: Yeah, if you don't get five, get three, but make
Speaker 12: sure you hold those guys down because you've got to
Speaker 12: go out there and play defense as they did today
Speaker 12: to hold back a team like the Nationals. And by
Speaker 12: the way, winning without Otani in the lineup, let me
Speaker 12: tell you, this is really big at this time of
Speaker 12: the year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it takes a lot of pressure off having to
Speaker 2: force him back in there, no doubt. We're going to
Speaker 2: hear from Dave Roberts in a moment. Thanks for checking in, Jose. Siempre.
Speaker 12: Bye.
Speaker 2: There he goes, Jose Mota, part of the Dodgers Spanish
Speaker 2: radio broadcast. The Dodgers beat the Nationals tonight 5-3, and
Speaker 2: tonight's game brought to you by Modelo, the mark of
Speaker 2: a fighter. Let's go out to Newport Beach. Mike, you're
Speaker 2: on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: How you doing, Mike? Good. Thanks, Dave.
Speaker 5: And thanks for all you do and the insight that
Speaker 5: you give all to us. You give it to us
Speaker 5: straight up. You know, it seems like the Dodgers have
Speaker 5: struggled against left-handed pitching. So you made a comment about
Speaker 5: playing Teoscar and Rojas more, and it was good to
Speaker 5: see them in the lineup tonight, even though they might
Speaker 5: not have produced too much. But I think that's one
Speaker 5: of the reasons why the Dodgers went out and got
Speaker 5: Scooble so they wouldn't have to face him in the postseason.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's a factor.
Speaker 2: If you had to face Mizorowski and Scooble, that would
Speaker 2: not have been ideal. If you had to face Chris
Speaker 2: Sale and Scooble against the Braves, that would not have
Speaker 2: been ideal either. And if he would have gone to
Speaker 2: the Yankees with Garrett Cole and Max Freed and Cam Schlittler,
Speaker 2: that would not have been ideal. Or even Tampa Bay,
Speaker 2: that would not have been ideal. So yes, and that's
Speaker 2: why So many sour grapes around baseball that the Tigers
Speaker 2: like the players the Dodgers had and didn't take what
Speaker 2: other teams believe to be a better package. So there's
Speaker 2: other teams understand that as well.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Well, thanks, Dave. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: All right, Mike.
Speaker 2: Thank you for the phone call. I did mention earlier
Speaker 2: that the Dodgers now are 2-0. with Shohei Otani not
Speaker 2: in the starting lineup, back-to-back nights for the first time
Speaker 2: this season. Dave Roberts joined us before the game today,
Speaker 2: our weekly manager's meeting presented by Downey Hyundai, and we
Speaker 2: talked about where this may be going with Otani.
Speaker 3: Is it going to.
Speaker 2: The IL level, or is just a couple of days
Speaker 2: off going to do the trick for him physically? You
Speaker 2: might be getting tired of answering Otani questions, but he's
Speaker 2: a big piece of your lineup, and where is this going?
Speaker 11: Yeah, I absolutely get the questions. I think right now,
Speaker 11: I think the easy answer is it's day-to-day. I do
Speaker 11: know that once we hit the three days of inactivity,
Speaker 11: there are days that you can't get back as far
Speaker 11: as backdating. So we'll have to make a decision on
Speaker 11: that fourth day. But right now, yeah, yesterday down, today down.
Speaker 11: So we'll see how tomorrow goes.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see how tomorrow goes. And that should be
Speaker 2: Sunday is that fourth day. So we'll find out on
Speaker 2: Sunday whether or not Otani is going on the I.L.
Speaker 2: or if the Dodgers are going to play this day
Speaker 2: to day for, you know, the rest of this homestand.
Speaker 2: But it kind of feels like, you know, you look
Speaker 2: at the Dodgers schedule, not just the Nationals, but then
Speaker 2: you got the Reds after that. You're telling me you
Speaker 2: can't put up series wins against these teams without Otani?
Speaker 2: I feel like the Dodgers are known so much for
Speaker 2: the big picture. Why not go with the big picture
Speaker 2: here with Otani? And the way Dave Roberts described it
Speaker 2: to me, the way Andrew Friedman has described it to me,
Speaker 2: is Otani has been very agreeable. He's not trying to,
Speaker 2: you know, put his will out there ahead of the team.
Speaker 6: So.
Speaker 2: when, when people say things that don't know, because nobody
Speaker 2: talks to Otani, he hasn't spoken to the media in
Speaker 2: almost three weeks. So nobody really knows, but I talked
Speaker 2: to Andrew Friedman yesterday. I talked to Dave Roberts today
Speaker 2: with our managers meeting presented by Downey Hyundai. Both of
Speaker 2: them said that Otani has agreed, whatever is best for
Speaker 2: the team, he.
Speaker 3: Will go along with.
Speaker 2: And I think that's part of the Japanese culture, respecting authority,
Speaker 2: but also the fact that I'm sure Otani says, yeah,
Speaker 2: thank you for taking this out of my hands because
Speaker 2: I'm not feeling my best, and I don't want to
Speaker 2: go out there and hurt the team and hurt myself.
Speaker 2: So you got the Reds after the Nationals. You got
Speaker 2: the Marlins and the Reds again. You could backdate this
Speaker 2: to the last game or the first game against– I
Speaker 2: guess you could backdate it to the second day, I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: Wednesday against the Cardinals. So you could possibly have Otani
Speaker 2: back in Cincinnati where the Dodgers could possibly clinch the
Speaker 2: NLS division and him being in the lineup would be
Speaker 2: sweet to have that. But I don't see any drawbacks
Speaker 2: to having Otani go on the IEL because it's not
Speaker 2: like the Dodgers are fighting for a playoff spot. I
Speaker 2: know it would be advantageous for them to have one
Speaker 2: of the top two seats in the National League, but
Speaker 2: they're in the playoffs. And if you're going anywhere this year,
Speaker 2: you're going to need Otani to be a force offensively,
Speaker 2: especially in the first couple of rounds. So I tend
Speaker 2: to lean that if the Dodgers, if you had to say,
Speaker 2: make a, give us an opinion, what do you believe?
Speaker 2: Otani going on the IL or not? I think he's
Speaker 2: going on the IL.
Speaker 3: I really do. Especially after what we've seen the first
Speaker 3: two nights. They're 2-0.
Speaker 2: The offense is humming right now. The last two, well,
Speaker 2: I shouldn't say that. It was humming in the ninth
Speaker 2: inning last night, and Tommy Edmond, who's the leadoff hitter,
Speaker 2: really started that rally. And then tonight, the offense did
Speaker 2: enough to win. So like we talk about, it's always
Speaker 2: about the big picture with the Dodgers. If we're going
Speaker 2: with history, if we're talking about big picture with the
Speaker 2: most important player, I'm saying that they're going to put
Speaker 2: him on the IL unless there is a drastic improvement
Speaker 2: when he shows up at the ballpark tomorrow or even
Speaker 2: Sunday afternoon. Don't forget, Sunday is a night game, 7-10
Speaker 2: start time, a rare 7-10 start time. I can't remember
Speaker 2: the last time there was ever a 7-10 start time
Speaker 2: on a Sunday game at Dodger Stadium, but that's what
Speaker 2: they have. And maybe that buys Otani a little bit
Speaker 2: of time where, When he shows up around 3 o'clock,
Speaker 2: he'll be able to give the Dodgers a better, clearer
Speaker 2: picture on whether or not he's had a significant improvement
Speaker 2: with the way his right side has been feeling. So
Speaker 2: all of that's in play, but if you had to
Speaker 2: ask me, I'd say IEL right now. All right, that'll
Speaker 2: do it for us tonight on Dodger Talk. Tyler Glass
Speaker 2: now will be on the mound for the Dodgers. He's
Speaker 2: 4-0 with an ERA of 279 going up against Cade Cavalli,
Speaker 2: who's 12-5 with an ERA of 312. Our coverage begins
Speaker 2: at 5 o'clock tomorrow. First pitch at 610. Thanks to
Speaker 2: Colin Yee back at our Burbank studios. Thanks to Dwayne
Speaker 2: McDonald out here. at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. And
Speaker 2: thanks to you for listening. In case you missed any
Speaker 2: of the show, you know where to find it, the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app. And our pregame conversation with Dave Roberts, presented
Speaker 2: by Downey Hyundai, can be found there as well. Once again,
Speaker 2: the final score tonight, the Dodgers defeat the Nationals 5-3.
Speaker 2: Have a great rest of your Labor Day weekend. We'll
Speaker 2: talk to you tomorrow.
Speaker 3: See you.