Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 2: All Right, Join right now by Dodger left hander Eric
Speaker 2: Lauer navigating lineups, navigating LA traffic for a day game
Speaker 2: in the middle of the week. Eric, thanks a lot
Speaker 2: for the time appreciated.
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2: Have you been getting used to what it's like to
Speaker 2: navigate the streets of LA.
Speaker 3: A little bit.
Speaker 1: It's still the traffic still kind of sneaks up on
Speaker 1: me sometimes, but I'm getting better at it.
Speaker 2: And he justin Robleski helped you out last night hour
Speaker 2: and fifty two minute game. What have you seen from
Speaker 2: Robleski that impresses you the most?
Speaker 1: I think his ability to throw strikes. I mean, he
Speaker 1: fills the zone up a lot. He's not afraid to
Speaker 1: go after guys, and you know, I think that that
Speaker 1: plays into his hand of you know, I have a
Speaker 1: lot of good stuff. I'm gonna come at you with
Speaker 1: everything I got, And you know, he throws hard, has
Speaker 1: good offsby stuff, and you know, slows him down with
Speaker 1: that curveball now, and I think he just keeps him
Speaker 1: off balanced well, but he stayed in the zones and
Speaker 1: he gets guys out in the zone.
Speaker 3: Which is hard to do.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts always talks about how the starter sets the
Speaker 2: tone for the game, and I feel like the starter
Speaker 2: not only set the tone for the game the first
Speaker 2: night against the Race, but also for the series. And
Speaker 2: that's you. You could have allowed that game to get
Speaker 2: out of hand after the first couple of innings. How
Speaker 2: did you maintain composure and be able to navigate, you know,
Speaker 2: four or five more innings to go six.
Speaker 1: I think that's That's something that I've kind of been
Speaker 1: dealing with a little bit more than I would like
Speaker 1: to have this year. So I'm kind of getting used
Speaker 1: to having the first inning and second inning kind of
Speaker 1: be a little more of a scuffle for me, which,
Speaker 1: you know, moving forward, I plan on that not being.
Speaker 3: The case anymore.
Speaker 1: That's a great plan, I mean, I think that's the
Speaker 1: plan I should go with.
Speaker 3: But I think when you get in that.
Speaker 1: Situation, you know, you know, you're still keeping the team
Speaker 1: in the game, and the goal at that point becomes,
Speaker 1: all right, how long can I go in this game
Speaker 1: to you know, keep us in it? And you know,
Speaker 1: luckily enough, I was able to go the six innings
Speaker 1: that I needed to get to, and you know, keep
Speaker 1: just the big the biggest part is just keeping the
Speaker 1: team in the game. And I know that that big
Speaker 1: three run homer, you know, put us right back within
Speaker 1: striking distance.
Speaker 3: So at that point, it was just a matter of, you.
Speaker 1: Know, making sure that I was going out there and
Speaker 1: executing pitches and making sure that I was staying on
Speaker 1: top of guys and that I wasn't letting my pitch
Speaker 1: count run up too high. But you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: a matter of you know, just really focusing and making
Speaker 1: sure that you're taking care of what you can take
Speaker 1: care of, and you know, executing pitches the best you can.
Speaker 2: How much does the defense behind you playing to the
Speaker 2: trust of your stuff and attacking the strike zone because
Speaker 2: you guys get so much attention for the slug the offense,
Speaker 2: but the defense is the best in baseball.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, And that's why I think for me, it's
Speaker 1: important to keep the ball in the yard.
Speaker 3: You know, I've been struggling with that a little bit.
Speaker 1: So I think, like, I'm more than comfortable letting them
Speaker 1: hit it. It's just I need to make them hit
Speaker 1: my pitch, and I need to, you know, make sure
Speaker 1: that I'm executing pitches to the best of my ability
Speaker 1: because I know that I can be in zone. I
Speaker 1: know that I can you know, attack hitters, especially aggressive
Speaker 1: hitters who are gonna go after pitches in zone and
Speaker 1: you know them, let them put the ball in play,
Speaker 1: because nine times out of ten we're gonna make the
Speaker 1: play and I won't have anything to worry about.
Speaker 2: So Khrushaw always talked about he could live with solo
Speaker 2: home runs. It's the two three run home runs that
Speaker 2: really hurt. Is that kind of the mentality for you
Speaker 2: as well?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's a general overview, that's a very good,
Speaker 1: you know, way of thinking about it. Is like, solo
Speaker 1: homers generally won't hurt you unless there's multiple of them.
Speaker 1: But it's the two three run homers that you want
Speaker 1: to stay away from. And obviously that that makes it
Speaker 1: more important to stay away from, you know, giving up
Speaker 1: free bases, giving up walks, and hit by pitches like
Speaker 1: those are things that you definitely want to stay away
Speaker 1: from because that means that you, you know, you didn't
Speaker 1: execute enough pitches in that at bat to have a
Speaker 1: chance to get the guy out. But I think just
Speaker 1: in general, the comfortability of you know, letting not letting
Speaker 1: guys put the ball in play, but attacking the zone
Speaker 1: to where you know, if a guy's aggressive that they
Speaker 1: probably will get a hit or they will put the
Speaker 1: ball in play.
Speaker 3: And you know, just relying on your defense. Yet, Yeah,
Speaker 3: seven guys.
Speaker 1: Behind you, because there's one in front of you technically,
Speaker 1: so you got seven guys behind you who are elite
Speaker 1: at what they do.
Speaker 3: So you know, like, let them have fun, let them
Speaker 3: play a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. Eric Lawer is our guest before I
Speaker 2: let you go. Here's the million dollar question. Guys that
Speaker 2: come from different organizations and find success with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: You've had success, but you're rediscovering success and again this year,
Speaker 2: everybody wants to know.
Speaker 3: What is it about the Dodgers?
Speaker 2: How do they do it? Have you found out what
Speaker 2: makes guys successful here?
Speaker 1: That's a really tough question that I think that that's
Speaker 1: the million dollar question for a reason because it's not
Speaker 1: it's not one thing that you can particularly point to
Speaker 1: and say, like, this is what the Dodgers do that
Speaker 1: make them better or help guys, you know, get better.
Speaker 3: I think it's it's a it's.
Speaker 1: A mixture between you know, constantly being around elite players,
Speaker 1: and elite guys, elite mindsets, the communication, just the way
Speaker 1: that you know, the team, the coaching staff, the support staff,
Speaker 1: how the way everybody interacts.
Speaker 3: Is extremely seamless.
Speaker 1: And you know, that's That's one of the things that's
Speaker 1: I think a little bit harder about the game that
Speaker 1: people don't see often is you know, there's so many
Speaker 1: moving parts from the weight room to the training room.
Speaker 3: To the bullpen, to the.
Speaker 1: Manager's office to the food room. It's like there's so
Speaker 1: many different moving parts and moving you know. Piece is
Speaker 1: that sometimes communication can get really hard, and I think
Speaker 1: what what the Dodgers do really well is they stay
Speaker 1: on top of that communication and they make sure that
Speaker 1: everything is as seamless as it possibly can be, so
Speaker 1: that everybody is as comfortable and can trust each other
Speaker 1: the most that they possibly can. So, I mean, among
Speaker 1: many many other things, I think I think that to
Speaker 1: me has stood out the most is just the the
Speaker 1: planning and the execution of that plan and the communication
Speaker 1: of that plan is is far beyond a lot of
Speaker 1: other other places that I've been. It's it's it's a
Speaker 1: it's elite here, and it's it's everything that goes on
Speaker 1: in the clubhouse and around this team, everything is handled
Speaker 1: at an elite level and I think that just makes
Speaker 1: everyone better.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: And when you got a guy like Eric Lawer that
Speaker 2: can express himself, the communication is a lot easier. Thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for the time and the short time we've
Speaker 2: you've been on the Dodgers. It's been great to get
Speaker 2: to know you. And Rich'll better watch out. You might
Speaker 2: be becoming my new favorite crafty lefty.
Speaker 3: Oh boy, all right, I'll tell
Speaker 2: You Eric Lower has been our guest cole brew and
Speaker 2: all ready to go.