Speaker 1: And now, an exclusive interview with David Basset for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: It's the managers meeting in Atlanta. Dave Roberts, three-time World
Speaker 1: Series winning manager, joins us every week.
Speaker 2: Thanks again for having us in your office, Dave. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: It's good to be back, Dave. Catching up with you and,
Speaker 3: you know, got in yesterday night. The players flew in
Speaker 3: on Sunday and They had their fantasy draft yesterday, so
Speaker 3: there's a little bit of fantasy chatter going on, but yeah,
Speaker 3: we've got a fun, good series. It's always fun playing
Speaker 3: the Braves.
Speaker 1: It was cool to have Shohei Otani join us on
Speaker 1: our plane yesterday.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. He opted to stick with his family
Speaker 3: an extra night, get a good night's rest on Sunday,
Speaker 3: then fly with us, and so that's the great thing
Speaker 3: about the two planes, because you do have that option,
Speaker 3: and most players certainly take the option to fly with
Speaker 3: the team, but in this case, newborn baby and Extra
Speaker 3: night at home.
Speaker 1: We'll get to him in a little bit. But like
Speaker 1: you mentioned, three-game series against the Braves. You guys are
Speaker 1: in a good spot, four games ahead of them in
Speaker 1: the loss column for that number two seed. How significant
Speaker 1: is this series to maybe solidify your spot in the
Speaker 1: top two of the National League postseason?
Speaker 3: It's significant on a couple fronts. Obviously that, which you
Speaker 3: had mentioned, and regardless of how this series goes, there's
Speaker 3: still a lot of baseball left. But the other part
Speaker 3: is that they're a postseason team. There's a chance that
Speaker 3: we could see them. So kind of gathering information. And
Speaker 3: they're still the same cast of characters with those guys,
Speaker 3: with our team. So we're very familiar. But as we
Speaker 3: get through August and into September, just kind of, again,
Speaker 3: seeing how we stack up against those guys.
Speaker 1: You do have a six-game winning streak. It seems like
Speaker 1: the wheels are back on the track for your offense.
Speaker 1: Do you feel that way?
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: How interested are you to see how it plays against
Speaker 2: the Braves?
Speaker 3: I am interested to see how it plays against the Braves.
Speaker 3: I think that if we continue the same mindset, relentless at-bats,
Speaker 3: it doesn't really matter who we play. So I think that, yeah,
Speaker 3: we're in a good spot. I think team at-bats, grinding
Speaker 3: the starter. I think that coming off and off, I
Speaker 3: think guys are energetic, just kind of walking through the clubhouse.
Speaker 3: you know, obviously you get excited to play the Braves,
Speaker 3: but we're in a good spot offensively.
Speaker 1: You have Alex Call starting in left field tonight against
Speaker 1: Bryce Elder. What do you like about that matchup? And
Speaker 1: does Tao play the next two games?
Speaker 3: Tao will play the next five games before the off day.
Speaker 3: I think that this is one I just wanted to
Speaker 3: give Tao the off day, an extra day, and use
Speaker 3: today as a work day. And then Alex, I think
Speaker 3: he's just a guy that's going to put together good
Speaker 3: at-bats and You know, Elder's kind of a neutral pitcher,
Speaker 3: so it's like staying on the cutter, work some at-bats,
Speaker 3: work some pitches. And, you know, I just think that
Speaker 3: for me it also gives me another opportunity to give
Speaker 3: Alex a start.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts is our guest.
Speaker 1: It's the manager's meeting presented by Downey Hyundai. We haven't
Speaker 1: talked to you since the unfortunate news of Andy Pahez
Speaker 1: requiring surgery on his left hand.
Speaker 2: What do you see with him towards the end of
Speaker 2: the season?
Speaker 1: Because obviously he can come back in a month, but
Speaker 1: we saw with Will Smith last year, it takes time
Speaker 1: to get that strength in the hand.
Speaker 3: It does take time to get strength on. Andy is
Speaker 3: determined to get back as soon as possible, but, um,
Speaker 3: Bones still take their due time to heal, but I
Speaker 3: do know that it's not season-ending, and we're going to
Speaker 3: get him back as soon as we can. And he's
Speaker 3: really motivated to keep his body in shape, his legs,
Speaker 3: his obliques, and kind of that left hand, whatever, the
Speaker 3: right hand kind of working that top hand with the swing.
Speaker 3: But he'll be back soon enough, but it does take
Speaker 3: a little bit of time to get that strength back.
Speaker 1: How are you looking at center field until he comes back?
Speaker 1: Alec Thomas back in there again. How does Tommy Edmond
Speaker 1: and Kike Hernandez and Alex Call fit in that position
Speaker 1: until Pahez returns?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what? That's funny is before we got
Speaker 3: to this interview, I was thinking about Thursday and sales Thursday.
Speaker 3: So just trying to figure out, you know, if I'm
Speaker 3: going to give Max a day off, give Tucker a
Speaker 3: day off to then get I do know that Tommy
Speaker 3: will be in there, I do know that Miggy Rowe
Speaker 3: will be in there, and I do know Kiki will
Speaker 3: be in there. So then it's kind of, how do
Speaker 3: you rearrange those puzzle pieces?
Speaker 1: How do you view center field itself until Pahez comes back?
Speaker 3: I think Alec Thomas will take down center field with
Speaker 3: the right-hander on the mound, and then with the lefty sale,
Speaker 3: for example, I've got to decide if I want to
Speaker 3: run Kiki out there and keep Tommy at second base
Speaker 3: and keep him comfortable there, or kick Tommy out there, uh,
Speaker 3: put Kiki at third and kind of then put Miggy
Speaker 3: Rowe at second. So there's a little ways, a couple
Speaker 3: of ways I can do it, but I just haven't
Speaker 3: settled on that yet.
Speaker 1: That's half of the equation, finding a guy that can
Speaker 1: play defense and center field, but the offensive production by
Speaker 1: Andy Pahez at the top of your lineup, that's a,
Speaker 1: is that even harder to replace?
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 3: And I think that obviously love having Alec Thomas here.
Speaker 3: And I think the defense, uh, If you could argue,
Speaker 3: it's even gotten better with him over Andy, which nothing
Speaker 3: against Andy. But the bat is something we're certainly going
Speaker 3: to miss, and that's irreplaceable given who we have behind Andy. But, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's just an opportunity. It's going to be more opportunities
Speaker 3: for Kike, more opportunities, obviously, for Alec Thomas, most importantly.
Speaker 3: And then we've just got to kind of hold it
Speaker 3: down until we.
Speaker 2: Get him back.
Speaker 1: Will Smith is starting rehab games tonight in Oklahoma City. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he means a lot to your offense and what he
Speaker 1: does behind the plate. What do you envision as far
Speaker 1: as when the team returns home next week for Will Smith?
Speaker 3: So I was talking to Brandon McDaniel, actually, who does
Speaker 3: kind of a lot of different things in our organization.
Speaker 3: And BMAC said that he's going to catch five innings today.
Speaker 3: And the outlook is he'll be active on September 1st.
Speaker 3: So with that, he'll probably be every other day. But
Speaker 3: getting him back September 1st would be fantastic.
Speaker 1: Do you foresee him being in the top four of
Speaker 1: your lineup? How much does that compensate for the loss
Speaker 1: of Pajas?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good question. I think just kind of
Speaker 3: looking at our lineup right now, when he comes back,
Speaker 3: depending on how he looks and feels, I think three, five,
Speaker 3: or six would probably be something I would kind of
Speaker 3: toy with.
Speaker 2: Love it.
Speaker 1: See, Dave Roberts is trying to win a game tonight,
Speaker 1: but he's always got his mind on the big picture
Speaker 1: as well. Sunday, Dave, I know you don't believe that
Speaker 1: I plan things out, but Sunday, you may need a starter.
Speaker 1: And you said last week that, hey, there's a chance
Speaker 1: that Shohei could pitch in a game, Lauer's in the bullpen.
Speaker 2: So, you know, I was just wondering.
Speaker 1: If you could share what your plans may be for
Speaker 1: Shohei's next step.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I do know that, you know, Lauer's going
Speaker 3: to pitch a run in that game, and there's a
Speaker 3: possibility that Shohei could open that game.
Speaker 2: Okay, we'll take that.
Speaker 3: I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 2: One other thing before I let you go.
Speaker 1: When Freddie Freeman first joined the Dodgers, there obviously was
Speaker 1: a lot of fanfare of him returning to Atlanta.
Speaker 2: It doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal anymore.
Speaker 3: Yeah. You know, what's interesting is that obviously you and
Speaker 3: I know Freddie as a brave, you know, from years ago,
Speaker 3: but you know, the baseball world, even outside of in
Speaker 3: the sports world, you know, you could argue he's a Dodger,
Speaker 3: you know, with, with winning two championships with us and,
Speaker 3: you know, being an all-star many times over for us. And, um,
Speaker 3: you know, it's interesting is, yeah, there was a lot
Speaker 3: to be made rightfully. So of him, you know, coming
Speaker 3: over here and his first time back here. But I
Speaker 3: think right now, you know, I certainly see him as
Speaker 3: a Dodger and know that he has history with the Braves. But, man, Dave,
Speaker 3: I'm just so happy to have that guy. And I've
Speaker 3: said it many times, you know, he's on my Mount
Speaker 3: Rushmore players because he just set a standard for us
Speaker 3: to elevate play for everyone, and even myself as a manager.
Speaker 3: So lucky to have him, and I don't think we're
Speaker 3: going to see any emotions tonight.
Speaker 2: Okay, sounds good. Dave, well said as always.
Speaker 1: And thank you again for allowing this time every week
Speaker 1: for us and getting more insight on what is to
Speaker 1: come for the team that has the second best record
Speaker 1: in baseball. Thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, Dave. Let's go get a win tonight.