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 fifth.
Speaker 1: This is world Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3: Here we go again. We're gheta running.
Speaker 1: Back hosted by Dodgers in signer David Vassie.
Speaker 3: Three in the mix.
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Speaker 1: six six, nine eighty seven two five seven, and be
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Speaker 1: Here's your host, David vase Day.
Speaker 3: Welcome the Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Vasse with you until nine o'clock tonight here on
Speaker 2: AM five seventy LA Sports. The Dodgers go down to
Speaker 2: the Astros quietly tonight by a final score of two
Speaker 2: to one, wasting another really good start from shoe Hey Otani,
Speaker 2: who went seven innings tonight, allowed just four hits, including
Speaker 2: two solo home runs, and that was the difference. In
Speaker 2: the game as Otani and the Dodgers lose to the
Speaker 2: Astros two to one. It was Christian Walker and Bryden
Speaker 2: Shoemake that hit those solo home runs. It was Walker
Speaker 2: leading off the second inning and then the number nine
Speaker 2: hitter Shoemak homers off of Otani in the third inning.
Speaker 2: And those were the only two runs Houston scored against Otani,
Speaker 2: who had not given up a home run this year
Speaker 2: coming into the start. But of course the Dodger killer,
Speaker 2: Christian Walker, is the first one to homer off of Otani.
Speaker 2: It was Walker's thirtieth home run of his career against
Speaker 2: the Dodgers. We have two phone lines open at eight six, six, nine, eight, seven,
Speaker 2: two five seventy. Pete Lambert out of Sandmis gets the
Speaker 2: win after Now, Pete Lambert, I'm sure he's got a
Speaker 2: lot of family and friends out there in San Dimas.
Speaker 2: But Pete Lambert is going to shut out Ti Oscar Hernandez,
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman, Miguel Rojas and these Dodgers. Are you serious?
Speaker 2: I mean, no offense to Pete Lambert or his family
Speaker 2: in San Dimas, but Pete Lambert is going to shut
Speaker 2: out Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Max Munsey, Tioscar Hernandez. That's
Speaker 2: really hard to believe. I don't care how good he
Speaker 2: was pitching or if this was his best start. It's
Speaker 2: Pete Lambert. Come on, break it down all you want.
Speaker 2: It's Pete Lambert. He shouldn't shut out the Dodgers for
Speaker 2: seven innings like he did tonight. Will Smith ta Oscar
Speaker 2: Hernandez hitless tonight. It's inexcusable to be shut down this
Speaker 2: way by Pete Lambert of the Astros, who are in
Speaker 2: second to last place, who have a reeling pitching staff,
Speaker 2: and you allow Pete Lambert to not only shut you out,
Speaker 2: but you allow him to stay in the game for
Speaker 2: seven innings. That's just wild to me. Considering the players
Speaker 2: that are in this lineup for the Dodgers, Andy Piez
Speaker 2: was the only Dodger that had more than one hit tonight.
Speaker 3: He was three for four.
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker drove in Alex call who was pinch hitting,
Speaker 2: for the only Dodger run. And I know Will Smith
Speaker 2: hit a couple of balls to the deeper part of
Speaker 2: right field, and you know Cam Smith made a couple
Speaker 2: of nice catches on him. I know Freddie Freeman flied
Speaker 2: out to the deepest part of the ballpark.
Speaker 3: But come on.
Speaker 2: That this should not happen. It should not happen this
Speaker 2: many times on one road trip where the Dodgers are
Speaker 2: scoring one or two runs. They scored four on Sunday,
Speaker 2: they scored eight last night, and they come back with
Speaker 2: a clunker, scoring only one run. The one thing that's
Speaker 2: alarming to me. Once Pete Lambert came out of this game,
Speaker 2: Brian King, the left handed reliever for the Astros, came
Speaker 2: in and pitched two scoreless innings a six out save
Speaker 2: against the Dodgers, who have right handed hitters that are
Speaker 2: in there to mash lefties. Taoscar Hernandez had a horrendous
Speaker 2: at bat in the eighth inning. Will Smith didn't do
Speaker 2: anything against Brian King. Those two guys are supposed to
Speaker 2: be mashing lefties. Taoscar Hernandez did not do that last
Speaker 2: year and he hasn't done it again this year. Taoscar Hernandez,
Speaker 2: All right, how about this. Do you know how many
Speaker 2: home runs combined Will Smith and Taoscar Hernandez have hit
Speaker 2: off left handed? Pitching two of your best right handed
Speaker 2: hitters in the middle of your lineup, do you know
Speaker 2: how many home runs those two guys have combined against
Speaker 2: left handed pitching this year. I'll give you a hint.
Speaker 2: It's as many as you and me combined. Zero. They
Speaker 2: have not hit a home run off a left handed
Speaker 2: pitcher this year. That is inexcusable and that is not
Speaker 2: a recipe for success. Ta Oscar Hernandez is hitting two
Speaker 2: thirty one against lefties this year without a home run,
Speaker 2: and he had an awful at bat in the eighth inning.
Speaker 2: Will Smith is hitting two thirty eight with no home
Speaker 2: runs against lefties this year. That's a problem that needs
Speaker 2: to change. If the Dodger offense is going to score
Speaker 2: some runs, especially against lefties, you can't have Max Munsey
Speaker 2: being your left left your best left handed hitting player.
Speaker 2: The right handed hitters have got to get it going.
Speaker 2: Eight six, six nine, eight seven two five seventy is
Speaker 2: the phone number. I actually believe ta Oscar Hernandez, and
Speaker 2: I've said this for the last five or six days,
Speaker 2: has got to be dropped in the order. Max Munsey
Speaker 2: should be hitting cleanup. It shouldn't be Kyle Tucker, it
Speaker 2: shouldn't be ta Oscar Hernandez. And the old line that
Speaker 2: the Dodgers could have used show Hao Tani the hit
Speaker 2: her in the lineup tonight. That goes out the window
Speaker 2: considering he's zero for his last seventeen And he can
Speaker 2: deny all he wants that the pitching hasn't taken away
Speaker 2: from the hitting, But when when is the last time
Speaker 2: Sho Hao Tani went one hit one home run in
Speaker 2: eighty four at bats or plate appearances. That's what's happening
Speaker 2: right now. One home run in his last eighty four
Speaker 2: plate appearances. And I'm I'm not I'm not backing down
Speaker 2: from what I said last night. He shouldn't played tomorrow.
Speaker 2: He should have tomorrow as a recovery day and then
Speaker 2: come back on Friday against the Braves. Work on the
Speaker 2: hitting if you want to keep your timing going. Just
Speaker 2: shouldn't be in the game, maybe as a pinch hitter late.
Speaker 2: And speaking of that, did you realize that O'tani still
Speaker 2: could have came off the bench as a pinch hitter
Speaker 2: in the eighth inning, top of the eighth inning because
Speaker 2: he was removed as a pitcher unofficially after the seventh,
Speaker 2: but he could have stayed in the game as a
Speaker 2: pinch hitter in the eighth inning, but the Dodgers were
Speaker 2: staying away from him as a hitter. Tonight eight six
Speaker 2: six nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Lou in Phoenix. I guess Lou
Speaker 2: you drove all the way out to Houston to see
Speaker 2: the Dodgers score one run.
Speaker 4: Uh, hey, Dave, thanks for taking my call. If I
Speaker 4: had a Hyundai like you, I probably would have driven,
Speaker 4: but I decided to fly.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, you had a hunt. If you had
Speaker 3: a HYUNDAIY from downy Hundai, you could have drove there.
Speaker 4: That's exactly That's exactly right, TV. We appreciate, we appreciate that. Yeah. No, really,
Speaker 4: I'm just here to knock off the stadium off my list.
Speaker 4: The barbecue that I had today was better than the
Speaker 4: Dodgers offensive performance. But look, I just had one question
Speaker 4: that you could answer for me. They tinch hit for Freeland,
Speaker 4: who's a switch hitter, as we know late in the
Speaker 4: game with Espinal. Yeah, and I just didn't understand that
Speaker 4: move there, DV. What what you know? I mean, we're
Speaker 4: splitting hairs at this point. We knew that wasn't a
Speaker 4: critical thing, But what's the thought process. There any any
Speaker 4: insight to us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Dodgers don't believe Alex Freeland is a good
Speaker 2: right handed hitter. That that's what it comes down to.
Speaker 2: I was told that in spring training and they that's
Speaker 2: why he's playing against righty's and not lefties when there's
Speaker 2: lefties out there. Uh, it's you, Miguel Rojas at second.
Speaker 4: Base, gotcha?
Speaker 5: All right?
Speaker 4: Well, hey, appreciate that. Thanks for all you d d
Speaker 4: V appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Hey, thank you for making the trip out there to Houston.
Speaker 2: At least you got to see Otani pitch.
Speaker 4: Always a pleasure.
Speaker 2: All right, Lou, thank you for the phone call. Eight
Speaker 2: sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
Speaker 2: phone number. Dodgers fall to the Astros tonight, two to one.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to mission via ho. Bill, you're on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. How you doing, Bill?
Speaker 6: Pretty good? Thanks for taking my call. It's another alarming
Speaker 6: thing is the number nine hitters in the last two
Speaker 6: weeks have hit four home runs against Dodger pitching, which
Speaker 6: doesn't happen a lot.
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree with you more. You go back to
Speaker 2: Patrick Bailey beating the Dodgers in San Francisco with a
Speaker 2: three run home run. It's happened way too many times. Bill,
Speaker 2: I'm with you.
Speaker 6: And that was an O Tawani start, even though he
Speaker 6: didn't give up the home run. That's so in a
Speaker 6: way it was kind of connected to this start, and
Speaker 6: then the dB Swanson in the Cubs series. Yeah, ninth spot,
Speaker 6: and then the little used root Rios Revea's the guy
Speaker 6: that was with the Dodgers, that with the Marlins. He
Speaker 6: hit one the other day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oustereos Ruiz. Yeah, I'm with you, Bill. That's tough
Speaker 2: to swallow. Tough to swallow when the number nine hitters
Speaker 2: are beating you. And tonight it was the number nine
Speaker 2: hitter for the Astros, Braiden Shoemake hitting a solo home
Speaker 2: run off of show Heyo Tani. But two runs against
Speaker 2: Pete Lambert and the Astros should not stand up, Bill.
Speaker 6: No, that's right. And now you're gonna get a mcculler's tomorrow.
Speaker 6: Hopefully they can find a way to beat him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's right handed with an ERA of six and
Speaker 2: a half. They should Lambert spin the Astro's best pitcher.
Speaker 2: But man, that's tough to swallow. Guys like Braiden Shoemake
Speaker 2: and Pete Lambert beating the Dodgers tonight. That is not
Speaker 2: something that I would have believed. Thanks for the phone call, Bill,
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five
Speaker 2: seventy is the phone number. By the way, I have
Speaker 2: two pairs of tickets to give away to Will smith
Speaker 2: Netflix Joke Fest coming up on Thursday night. If you're interested,
Speaker 2: I have phone lines open at eight six six nine
Speaker 2: eighty seven two five seventy. It's going to be at
Speaker 2: the Saban Theater on Thursday night in Beverly Hills. Tickets
Speaker 2: are on sale now and for another chance to win,
Speaker 2: you can listen tomorrow or on our Instagram page. So
Speaker 2: I have two pairs of tickets to give away to
Speaker 2: Will Smith's Netflix comedy show sometime between now and nine o'clock.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Brian and West Hollywood. You're on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. How you doing, Brian?
Speaker 5: Very good?
Speaker 7: I guess you're doing just as good as I. Just
Speaker 7: want to make a point here.
Speaker 5: Two.
Speaker 7: You know, at the start of every game, we don't
Speaker 7: know which team will win, nor do we know the
Speaker 7: final score. But I do think it's reasonable to ask
Speaker 7: for the Dodgers to score three runs in each game
Speaker 7: and to prevent their opponents from exceeding five runs in
Speaker 7: each game. And if that concept or those two points
Speaker 7: are followed throughout the season, you have stability on your
Speaker 7: offense as well as your defense, And therefore the losses
Speaker 7: of the wins are not the first factor, but more
Speaker 7: or less focusing on do you have any deficits in
Speaker 7: your offense? Sure, if you score less than three runs,
Speaker 7: there's room for improvement. If the opponent exceeded five runs,
Speaker 7: it has to be addressed accordingly. And I believe that
Speaker 7: teams win and lose, that's true, But the underlying effect
Speaker 7: is how did you do offensively? Did you score those
Speaker 7: three runs? And that's a reasonable expectation of any team
Speaker 7: as well as the defense. Can you prevent your opponent
Speaker 7: from exceeding five runs? When you see the Dodgers winning
Speaker 7: like eight seven or nine to eight, those are victories. However,
Speaker 7: what you will see is there's instability because teams don't
Speaker 7: prepare themselves for eight seven victories.
Speaker 2: We've we understand all that, Brian, You're losing all of us.
Speaker 2: It's a little bit long winded. So what's your point.
Speaker 2: We understand the math.
Speaker 7: Yeah, but what I'm trying to say is you're trying
Speaker 7: to say win and loss. I'm just trying to look
Speaker 7: at it from a little different perception and not winning loss.
Speaker 2: No, there are reasons these players that are supposed to
Speaker 2: be performing are underperforming. Brian, It's pretty simple. If you're
Speaker 2: getting no home runs against left handed pitching from the
Speaker 2: two guys that are supposed to hit left handed pitching
Speaker 2: as right handed hitters in the middle of your order,
Speaker 2: that's problematic. And there's nothing that Dave Roberts can do
Speaker 2: about it because those are his players. You're not cutting
Speaker 2: Will Smith, I mean ta Oscar Hernandez. He's still got
Speaker 2: one more year left on his contract. The Dodgers are
Speaker 2: not releasing him. But there are ways to change the lineup.
Speaker 2: All right, thank you for the phone call. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: not rocket science.
Speaker 3: I'll just put it that way.
Speaker 2: And I felt like Brian and west La was trying
Speaker 2: to make it more than what it was. We understand
Speaker 2: run differential and what wins and loses games. But you know,
Speaker 2: is Jack Harris of the California Post going to continue
Speaker 2: to use the excuse that these guys were sick I mean,
Speaker 2: is that the reason why the offense is not going consistently.
Speaker 2: My only issue is these guys are another year older
Speaker 2: and this is the same group of guys essentially that
Speaker 2: we're in a second half prolonged slump. Something is not
Speaker 2: connecting here. Either there's got to be some sort of
Speaker 2: different type of language being used with these players as
Speaker 2: far as the hitting language goes, or these guys have
Speaker 2: got to understand that you can't cover the entire part
Speaker 2: of the plate, and you've got to be a little
Speaker 2: bit more nimble in the middle of the game to
Speaker 2: understand how a pitcher is attacking you, no matter what
Speaker 2: you saw on video coming into the game. And look,
Speaker 2: I believe in taoscar Hernandez, I believe in Will Smith.
Speaker 2: These guys are going to get it going consistently, but
Speaker 2: right now they're not. And until they do, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: are not going to go very far, especially without Mooki Betts,
Speaker 2: especially with sho Heo Tani in the worst slump of
Speaker 2: his major league career. So all these things are happening
Speaker 2: at the same time, and that's the reason why you're
Speaker 2: seeing the Dodgers scoring one or two runs for the
Speaker 2: better part of the last week and a half, outside
Speaker 2: of scoring eighteen runs in the first or in the
Speaker 2: last two games against the Cubs, the Dodgers haven't really
Speaker 2: done much of anything offensively consistently that would make you
Speaker 2: believe that they can sustain anything. And the reason being
Speaker 2: is what I mentioned. And also Freddie Freeman, who has
Speaker 2: won for four, probably should have had two more hits tonight.
Speaker 2: But Freddie Freeman only has two extra base hits on
Speaker 2: this road trip and he's hitting second, so he was
Speaker 2: one for four. That's that's what it is. Eight six six,
Speaker 2: nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
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Speaker 2: dot com slash events and don't get it twisted. The
Speaker 2: reason why the Dodgers were even in this game is
Speaker 2: because of their pitching. Shoe Heo Tani was magnificent again,
Speaker 2: Alex Vesia magnificent. The Dodger offense has been lagging all
Speaker 2: year long. They're twenty two and fourteen, and as Freddie
Speaker 2: Freeman said, at the end of the last homestand a
Speaker 2: big reason why is their starting pitching and their pitching staff.
Speaker 2: And that's one hundred percent true. That's what won the
Speaker 2: Dodgers the World Series. It was their pitching, it was
Speaker 2: their defense, it was their base running and timely hitting.
Speaker 2: Right now, they got the defense, they got the pitching,
Speaker 2: but they don't have timely hitting happening consistently. And they've
Speaker 2: hit into ten double plays on this road trip, ten
Speaker 2: double plays in five games on this road trip, and
Speaker 2: tonight they left eight more men on base. They were
Speaker 2: one for eight with runners in scoring position eight six,
Speaker 2: six nine, eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: We're gonna take a time out here on Dodger Talk
Speaker 2: when we come back more of your phone calls, and
Speaker 2: also we'll share our conversation with Dodger pitching coach Mark Pryor.
Speaker 2: We caught up with Pryor before the game today to
Speaker 2: talk Robleski, to talk about Otani, and we'll get to
Speaker 2: your phone calls as well. After the Dodgers go down
Speaker 2: quietly tonight in Houston two to one to the Astros.
Speaker 2: On the back to back World champion Dodgers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: On air at AM five to seventy, online at AM
Speaker 1: five seventy LA sportwards dot com, and available my podcast
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio ass This is Dodger Talk with David.
Speaker 6: Bass In.
Speaker 2: Dodgers fall to the Astros tonight two to one. David
Speaker 2: Bassey Dodger Talk with you until the top of the hour.
Speaker 2: We'll get to Mark Pryor here in about five minutes,
Speaker 2: but I just want to get you an update on
Speaker 2: keyk Hernandez, who made his first rehab appearance tonight for
Speaker 2: the Oklahoma City Comments. Keik got the start at third
Speaker 2: base tonight. He was one for three with a double,
Speaker 2: so they missed keyk Hernandez as well. He brings a
Speaker 2: certain spark, to say the least, to the Dodgers, and
Speaker 2: he's he's a good hitter. I know last year's regular
Speaker 2: season was not great offensively, but I feel like keyk
Speaker 2: Hernandez could give this team a spark somehow, some way,
Speaker 2: in some spot.
Speaker 3: And Bruce Star.
Speaker 2: Gretorol made his second rehab appearance for Oklaho Home a
Speaker 2: City as well. He did give up a couple of
Speaker 2: runs in two thirds of an inning, but it was
Speaker 2: great to see him cover first base and have that
Speaker 2: Bazuoka quick like catlike quickness for the Bazuka big man
Speaker 2: to cover first base. So he's on his way back.
Speaker 2: And brock Stewart probably is going to be activated tomorrow
Speaker 2: before the game and be available out of the Dodger bullpen.
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Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers Own the Dream. All right, let's go back
Speaker 2: out to the phones Century City. Ben, you're on Dodger
Speaker 2: Talk with David Vass.
Speaker 8: Say Hi, Ben, Hey, good evening. I'll keep it quick.
Speaker 8: Kisung Kim. He's the offensive spark plug. I really like
Speaker 8: him at the bottom of the order, bringing the speed,
Speaker 8: bringing the defensive versatility. It's exciting that, you know, to
Speaker 8: hear Keyks on the horizon. Mokies might be coming back soon.
Speaker 8: But I'm just really afraid that you know someone who's
Speaker 8: shown a lot of traumise and the potential to kind of, yeah,
Speaker 8: shake things up and get some speed on the bases,
Speaker 8: even if it's not the big home run hitting that
Speaker 8: he could get sent down back to the miners with
Speaker 8: all the veterans coming back. So I hope there's a
Speaker 8: solution to that problem. But I and I know a
Speaker 8: lot of fans feel the same way. I hope he
Speaker 8: stays up in the big leagues because I've loved what
Speaker 8: I've seen from his sophomore year so far.
Speaker 2: All right, Ben, thank you for the phone call. I
Speaker 2: know many of you are huge Hayes on Kim fans,
Speaker 2: And look, he brings a certain dimension to the game
Speaker 2: and plays really good defense. And I know everybody talks
Speaker 2: about his speed, but I still feel like he could
Speaker 2: be a better base runner with all that speed. And
Speaker 2: after watching Santiago Espinal come off the bench a few
Speaker 2: different times, he's been given spots starts as well, it
Speaker 2: just doesn't seem like it's it's sticking for Santiago Espinal.
Speaker 2: So there is a world when Mookie Betts returns that
Speaker 2: Santiago Espinol is the odd man out. But I do
Speaker 2: understand even at the beginning of the year, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: line of thought was you can't have Freeland or Kim
Speaker 2: just sitting on the bench. They want Kim to play.
Speaker 2: He needs reps and if he's not going to play
Speaker 2: every day, it doesn't help him get better by sitting
Speaker 2: on the bench. Same with Alex Freeland. Eight six six
Speaker 2: nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Bob and Malibu. Bob, you're on Dodger.
Speaker 4: Talk, Uncle Dave.
Speaker 9: Sorry to hear you're out in the armpit of America,
Speaker 9: Houston man, But you know, I want to ask you
Speaker 9: a question about Dave Roberts comments the other day where
Speaker 9: he was asked whether he thought about the twenty seventeen
Speaker 9: series with the Astros, and he kind of downplayed it.
Speaker 9: But I found it funny that in his interview with
Speaker 9: John Schneider of the Blue Jays, he still managed to
Speaker 9: get a little shot in there when John brought up
Speaker 9: George Springer and Doc Robert. It's kind of mentioned that
Speaker 9: most of Springers highlights probably came from the twenty seventeen season.
Speaker 9: What's your thoughts about it? Do you think that the
Speaker 9: Dodgers still kind of keep that in mind when they're
Speaker 9: playing these series there in Houston.
Speaker 2: Well, there's not too many guys that are still on
Speaker 2: that team from twenty seventeen. I can't think of one
Speaker 2: off the top of my head that's still there. Kershaw
Speaker 2: may have been the last one to be part of
Speaker 2: that team. And look, I could just tell you this, Bob,
Speaker 2: the guys that are part of that twenty seventeen Dodger
Speaker 2: team have not forgotten.
Speaker 3: And it's still a touchy subject. And I could tell
Speaker 3: you this as well.
Speaker 2: Guys like Andre Ethier and rich Hill never got a
Speaker 2: chance another chance to win a World Series they were
Speaker 2: not part of twenty twenty. Chase Utley's last major League game,
Speaker 2: along with Ethiers, was Game seven of the twenty seventeen
Speaker 2: World Series. So Chase Utley has a ring with the Phillies.
Speaker 2: Andre Eathier never won one, and trust me, it burns him.
Speaker 2: So nobody we'll ever forget about that, especially the veterans
Speaker 2: that never got another shot to win one.
Speaker 9: Good understood, man, Thanks you. I know a lot of
Speaker 9: fans feel the same way, and you know, we think
Speaker 9: about those players who never got the shot. So I
Speaker 9: found the comments to be a little passive. I'm sure
Speaker 9: that's just kind of playing nice in the press. But
Speaker 9: I did enjoy his job at Springer when he was
Speaker 9: talking with John Schneider there and Jeff Passin's interview between.
Speaker 7: The two coaches.
Speaker 9: So all right, good luck tomorrow, Dave, enjoy your time man.
Speaker 3: Thanks Bob.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the only Dodger that currently is on the active
Speaker 2: roster technically is key A Hernandez, who's not in Houston
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers. He's on a rehab assignment. And Max
Speaker 2: Munsey didn't come to the Dodgers until twenty eighteen. So
Speaker 2: Keyk's the last active player on the Dodgers that played
Speaker 2: in the twenty seventeen World Series for them, obviously, there's
Speaker 2: other guys spread across the league, but for the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: Key K, who's not there and on the IL, is
Speaker 2: the only other Dodger that was part of that World Series.
Speaker 2: Eight six, six, nine, seven, five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Mark Pryor was not even part of the Dodgers coaching
Speaker 2: staff in twenty seventeen, but he's a huge part of
Speaker 2: it now as the pitching coach. And I had a
Speaker 2: chance to catch up with prior before today's game. And no,
Speaker 2: we didn't start with Otani. We actually started with Justin Robleski.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean it's it's pretty impressive what he's doing
Speaker 5: right now, and it's fun to watch. It's it's been fun,
Speaker 5: I think for the staff and an organization in general,
Speaker 5: just to kind of see the maturation process of Justin
Speaker 5: over the years, especially the last you know, two three,
Speaker 5: two and a half years at the big league level.
Speaker 5: And you know, we talk about it, you know, clearly,
Speaker 5: you know, strikeouts are very nice and we all love
Speaker 5: him because it's a controllable outcome and you know, when
Speaker 5: you have missed that, that obviously helps, you know, take
Speaker 5: away anything that might happen. But the you know, we
Speaker 5: talk about this a lot. We talked about with Gavin
Speaker 5: Stone as well. It's like outs ultimately or what's trying
Speaker 5: to get so however you get them, whether they're strikeouts
Speaker 5: or their ground balls or fly balls like alts matter,
Speaker 5: and you know what, he's he's been showing up lineups
Speaker 5: and that was the challenge to him, and I think that's,
Speaker 5: you know, again, a lot of the credit goes to
Speaker 5: him and just his ability to you know, his confidence
Speaker 5: hasn't waivered as much as you know, I know, there's
Speaker 5: we've talked about what happened at the end of or
Speaker 5: the beginning of last year in Washington and what he
Speaker 5: was able to do to remake himself in Oklahoma City,
Speaker 5: and they come up and be a huge role for us,
Speaker 5: you know, in the bullpen, and I think they just
Speaker 5: gave him the confidence of doing it, not just believing it,
Speaker 5: but actually doing it, having the experience in high leverage situations.
Speaker 5: And he's just kind of taking it again to this
Speaker 5: role where he knew he was coming in in an
Speaker 5: undefined role this year and he's just kind of taken
Speaker 5: the opportunity and kicked the door down. And but he's
Speaker 5: been doing it by challenging, like you know, trying not
Speaker 5: to nibble around. He got a little you know, on
Speaker 5: the edges a little bit more than he probably would
Speaker 5: have liked to in the Chicago game in the first
Speaker 5: couple of innings. But at the heart of it is
Speaker 5: he's going to attack, and he's going to force action
Speaker 5: and makes force that team to make some swing decisions,
Speaker 5: you know, and hopefully the strikeouts will come. But I
Speaker 5: think teams know that he's going to be on attack,
Speaker 5: so they don't have a whole lot of time to
Speaker 5: wait and see what he's going to do. What's working.
Speaker 5: He knows he's going to throw strikes, and so he's
Speaker 5: been the beneficiary of a lot of efficient outings and
Speaker 5: been able to go deep for us when we needed
Speaker 5: him to go deep given some short starts or our
Speaker 5: bullpen was you know, taxed at various times. So it's
Speaker 5: been remarkable. He's been an unbelievable competitor and it's been
Speaker 5: a lot of fun to watch on the sidelines.
Speaker 2: Is that the biggest thing as far as what you
Speaker 2: saw at the beginning of the year last season when
Speaker 2: he came back after making adjustments, the confidence that he
Speaker 2: exudes not only on the mound but as he's stalking
Speaker 2: the dugout while the team is is scoring runs for him.
Speaker 5: Absolutely. I mean, I don't think anybody who's been around
Speaker 5: justin you know, thinks that he lacks his confidence and
Speaker 5: his abilities to get good guys out. And that's just
Speaker 5: an it thing that you know, you kind of guys have.
Speaker 6: But I do think.
Speaker 5: At the transition from where he was at the beginning
Speaker 5: of last year to where he came into the relievers
Speaker 5: and then now is really understanding his foundation and what
Speaker 5: he is as a pitcher, And you know, it's it's
Speaker 5: clearly it's a four seam fastball, slider heavy mix and
Speaker 5: then use some complimentary pieces at times, I think, you know,
Speaker 5: at various times he thought, you know, and we thought, okay,
Speaker 5: well maybe he's got all these weapons. Let's see if
Speaker 5: we can use them all. And he hadn't quite mastered
Speaker 5: all of them, and it takes time to be able
Speaker 5: to master, but you know, we try to really hone
Speaker 5: in on master these two, you know, really use these
Speaker 5: as is kind of you know, bread and butter, and
Speaker 5: then let's as we you know, as his career continues
Speaker 5: to grow and develop, you know, those other pitches will
Speaker 5: be refined to where they you know, they might get
Speaker 5: to that level. So it was really understanding his foundation
Speaker 5: of what that is. And it's really a big being
Speaker 5: on the offensive as the pitcher and not trying to
Speaker 5: sugarcoat anything and just really try to bully guys as
Speaker 5: best he can.
Speaker 2: Mark Pryor, Dodgers pitching coach, is our guest shoe Hey
Speaker 2: Otani is on the mound for you tonight. Mark and
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts said after the game that he decided somewhere
Speaker 2: towards his third or fourth a bat that he was
Speaker 2: not going to have him lead off in DH. Were
Speaker 2: you part of those conversations to make that decision in
Speaker 2: the dugout? What goes into deciding, you know, what it
Speaker 2: may be best for him just to pitch tonight.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, ultimately that's that's Doc's call, and he's
Speaker 5: got a really good feel for what he's seeing in
Speaker 5: the moment, you know, and we're all seeing it kind
Speaker 5: of the dugout. I mean, he you know, he was
Speaker 5: running the bases, he got on base, he beat out
Speaker 5: that double play to get that one run, and then
Speaker 5: he's you know, first to third, first to home. You know,
Speaker 5: you can just see, you know, the amount of exertion
Speaker 5: that he was putting in, as well as what he
Speaker 5: had done in the day already, you know, took IVP
Speaker 5: or not LIVP, took batting practice on the field early,
Speaker 5: been through a small bullpen to prepare for today, and
Speaker 5: then obviously what he did in the game. And so again,
Speaker 5: I don't think you know, there's a it's not a
Speaker 5: yes no or a black and white situation. I think
Speaker 5: you're just kind of reading like, what's you know, what's
Speaker 5: the workload that he's been putting in? And I think
Speaker 5: last night and given everything that you bake in from
Speaker 5: yesterday's pregame and during the game, it just seems to
Speaker 5: make sense, like, you know, let's focus on the pitching
Speaker 5: because that's a tax I mean, that's obviously very taxing
Speaker 5: as it is. So I think it's more about just starts,
Speaker 5: you know, going to start to start, what has been
Speaker 5: going on leading up to that that start, and what
Speaker 5: maybe happened, you know, within the forty eight hours of
Speaker 5: that start. But again, I think Doc's got a really
Speaker 5: good feel and a good pulse of where show is physically,
Speaker 5: and then obviously watching what's going on in the field.
Speaker 5: I think if you know, he walks four times and
Speaker 5: it never leaves first base, you know, maybe there's a
Speaker 5: different decision and he didn't hit yesterday and stuff like that.
Speaker 5: So I think it's just trying to understand where he's
Speaker 5: at going into it, and where he's at, you know,
Speaker 5: right before it, and making sure we're in the best
Speaker 5: position possible May fifth, as well as October fifth, And
Speaker 5: I think ultimately that's you know, you're trying to have
Speaker 5: the short short term goal or the short term view
Speaker 5: and a long term view.
Speaker 2: Here's the one part that I can't wrap my head around.
Speaker 2: Thirty one years old. He's the greatest player on the planet,
Speaker 2: trying to be the best at pitching and hitting like
Speaker 2: he has been his entire career. But as you know, Mark,
Speaker 2: as you get over thirty, the recovery time takes a
Speaker 2: little bit longer and a lot more maintenance. How is
Speaker 2: he able to do the recovery of making a start
Speaker 2: going six to seven innings and then you know, having
Speaker 2: to DH the next day or maybe even two days later.
Speaker 2: Is that something we failed to appreciate.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there's always like a recovery aspect that.
Speaker 5: As much as we've advanced in that, I don't know
Speaker 5: if there's a true appreciation for each individual. Some thirty
Speaker 5: one year olds I feel like they're twenty five, and
Speaker 5: some feel like they're forty five. You know. I think
Speaker 5: one thing he's really a master at is you know,
Speaker 5: what everybody's always given advice about is, you know, get
Speaker 5: a lot of sleep, you know, And so I do
Speaker 5: know he values that and that's where you do recover.
Speaker 5: It's not always just like what you do. It's about
Speaker 5: allowing your body to actually recover, and that's that's probably
Speaker 5: sleeping and so you know, I think that's where he
Speaker 5: does He's very disciplined on that aspect of it. But
Speaker 5: as far as everything else, again, I think it's just
Speaker 5: you know, he's he's done it before, and I think
Speaker 5: he's learning how to do it at a thirty one
Speaker 5: year olds, which again it is different than being in
Speaker 5: the mid twenties. But he does take care of himself
Speaker 5: extremely well. And you know, again we do our best
Speaker 5: to have an understanding of where he's at physically, and
Speaker 5: I think that's why you're seeing days like this where
Speaker 5: he's taking you know, half the game off and to
Speaker 5: let him do what he's been doing on the mountain,
Speaker 5: which is has been pretty remarkable on its own, and
Speaker 5: that gets kind of lost in it because everybody wants
Speaker 5: to see the offensive side. But you know, obviously pitching,
Speaker 5: he's been a huge part of what we've done so
Speaker 5: far this year.
Speaker 2: Mark, Before I let you go, one last question show
Speaker 2: him has been so good as a starting pitcher this year.
Speaker 2: Is there one pitch that impresses you the most out
Speaker 2: of his entire repertoire.
Speaker 3: Is it the sweeper?
Speaker 2: Is it the way he's adjusted his split fingered fastball?
Speaker 2: What's impressed you the most. As far as one singular
Speaker 2: pitch that he's thrown, I don't.
Speaker 5: Think it's an actual pitch because I think at various
Speaker 5: times they're all you know, plus plus and you know it,
Speaker 5: you know, and he has a pretty good feel of
Speaker 5: what he wants to use. I think what's been really
Speaker 5: impressive is and when he's gotten into somebody's given him
Speaker 5: a you know, a pretty good battle, and his ability
Speaker 5: to adjust kind of his delivery. He you know, he
Speaker 5: messes with their timing and the little hesitation in the
Speaker 5: middle of the delivery, or he does some quick steps.
Speaker 5: It's you know, it's kind of that second third layer
Speaker 5: of the game that you know sometimes and for the
Speaker 5: majority of guys don't need or don't use. I shouldn't
Speaker 5: say they don't need it, they just don't use. But
Speaker 5: his ability to kind of tinker a little bit of
Speaker 5: just kind of pause a little bit mid delivery, mess
Speaker 5: up the hitters timing and here comes ninety you know,
Speaker 5: upper nineties, one hundred mine hour fastball, or here comes
Speaker 5: you know, a sixty nine mile hour curveball. You know.
Speaker 5: So I think that's been a pretty impressive thing is
Speaker 5: just playing the game as it's as it's unfolding, and
Speaker 5: we try to talk about don't go in there with
Speaker 5: such predetermined you know, concepts like listen to like watch
Speaker 5: the game, read the games. What the game is telling
Speaker 5: you is what the game needs. And I think that
Speaker 5: he's really good at that, you know, right now on
Speaker 5: the mound, is being able to make those adjustments. Those
Speaker 5: have been pretty impressive, if not comical at times, just
Speaker 5: because you don't see it very you know, very often.
Speaker 5: And when he busted it out the other day, I
Speaker 5: think there was two stars ago, you're just like wow,
Speaker 5: Like it's just kind of like another It's a high level,
Speaker 5: high IQ move by him, and you know he gets
Speaker 5: some punch outs doing it or some ground balls and
Speaker 5: gets out of situations.
Speaker 2: So you're saying he reads swings as the game is
Speaker 2: going on. I always heard Khrushaw say that all the time,
Speaker 2: that he's reading the swings and that will tell you
Speaker 2: what direction to go in.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think he's reading swings the ruction direction of pitches.
Speaker 5: But I think when he gets in these battles, it's
Speaker 5: and he understands the timing as a hitter more so
Speaker 5: than any other pitcher you know who's playing right now
Speaker 5: for obvious reasons. He understands the timing component of it
Speaker 5: and if he can mess with it, if he can
Speaker 5: gain that edge, he's going to do it. And again,
Speaker 5: I think it's just it's a high IQ mute move
Speaker 5: and it's fun to see and we talk about it
Speaker 5: with other guys and you see other guys do it.
Speaker 5: But to be able to do it as well as
Speaker 5: pitch and hit and do all those things, you know,
Speaker 5: it's it's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2: Well show, Hey, Otani's workload is definitely the biggest of
Speaker 2: any player, But I don't know any other coach that
Speaker 2: has more on his plate than Connor McGinnis and Mark
Speaker 2: Pryor with all these great pitchers that they have on
Speaker 2: their staff, trying to help them maximize the best they
Speaker 2: can be. So Mark, thank you so much for the time.
Speaker 2: I know your day is very limited, so we appreciate
Speaker 2: you joining us.
Speaker 5: All appreciate it. Thanks David.
Speaker 3: There is Mark Pryor.
Speaker 2: He was kind enough to take out a lot of
Speaker 2: his time earlier today to join us on the pregame show,
Speaker 2: and I thought, after the way Otani pitched tonight, it
Speaker 2: was worth sharing that again and the first time We've
Speaker 2: heard from Mark Pryor on the show about Justin Robleski
Speaker 2: and how he's gone about it a very different way
Speaker 2: than Otani to be able to pitch as effectively as
Speaker 2: he has been. In Robleski's last start, no strikeouts and
Speaker 2: six scoreless innings. The last time a Dodger pitcher did
Speaker 2: that Mike Morgan in nineteen ninety one. Tonight, Show, Hey Otani,
Speaker 2: eight strikeouts, seven innings, he allows just two solo home runs,
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers fall to the Astros two to one.
Speaker 2: How about this? In Otani's last nine games pitching, He's
Speaker 2: throwing fifty one and two thirds innings. He has an
Speaker 2: ERA of zero seventy. The Dodgers record, though, is two
Speaker 2: and seven after tonight. He can't make this stuff up.
Speaker 2: That's why baseball is the best sport.
Speaker 3: Out there, all right.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow, Tyler Glass now will be on the moundies three
Speaker 2: and oh with an ERA.
Speaker 3: Of two fifty six.
Speaker 2: He's going up against Lance mccullors Junior, who has an
Speaker 2: ERA of six point thirty two this year and a
Speaker 2: record of two and two. Our coverage begins with Tim
Speaker 2: Kaits at ten am. First pitch from Houston, with Rick
Speaker 2: Monday and Tim Neverett at eleven ten tomorrow morning.
Speaker 3: We'll give away a.
Speaker 2: Pair of those tickets to the Will Smith Comedy Show
Speaker 2: after the game tomorrow. And we can't wait to see
Speaker 2: you at Downy Hunday on Thursday at four clock with
Speaker 2: Alex Vesia seventy five point fifty Firestone Boulevard Downy Hyundai.
Speaker 2: We'll be out there. It'll be a party. You don't
Speaker 2: want to miss it from four to five o'clock. Thanks
Speaker 2: to Zachelcaldy here in our Burbank studios, Thanks to Dwayne
Speaker 2: McDonald in Houston, and thanks to you for listening. In
Speaker 2: case you missed any of the show, you can find
Speaker 2: it on the iHeartRadio app once again. The final score
Speaker 2: tonight in Houston, the Astros silenced the Dodgers two to one.
Speaker 2: Have a great rest of your night. Fox Sports Radio
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