Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker. Now,
Speaker 1: don't be alarmed when you don't see Freddie Freeman or
Speaker 1: Mookie Bets or Max Munsey and the Dodgers starting lineup
Speaker 1: this weekend against the Angels and the Padres. Dave Roberts said,
Speaker 1: there is no injury issues. We have seen those guys
Speaker 1: out here going back to the beginning of the week
Speaker 1: taking batting practice, participating in life batting practice as well,
Speaker 1: but are going to slow play when they get into games.
Speaker 1: These are veteran guys. Munsey is thirty five, Freddie Freeman
Speaker 1: is thirty six, Mookie Bets is thirty two going on
Speaker 1: thirty three. They have played back to back World Series Championships,
Speaker 1: so no need to force these guys into lineups early
Speaker 1: in spring, which means the Dodgers are going to give
Speaker 1: a lot of their young players some opportunities to leave
Speaker 1: an impression and in the case of Alton Rushing, get
Speaker 1: a lot of reps behind Will Smith, who is going
Speaker 1: to leave for the World Baseball Classic as part of
Speaker 1: Team USA's team, but also get some time at first
Speaker 1: base to give Freddie Freeman days off, and also early
Speaker 1: on you know, get him off his feet and not
Speaker 1: start into game. So Dalton Rushing is going to have
Speaker 1: a runway to get a rhythm for his season, and
Speaker 1: it feels like he has a better understanding of what
Speaker 1: to expect and what is expected of him from the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Here's our conversation with the very gregarious Dalton Rushing Rush.
Speaker 1: Great to see you, and man, you got a real legit,
Speaker 1: big league locker, a guy that has made, the guy
Speaker 1: that has arrived.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good to be here. Good to see you, David,
Speaker 2: missed you. I don't like your nipples as much as Kik,
Speaker 2: but it's good to see you and looking forward to
Speaker 2: another World Series.
Speaker 1: I wore a jacket. A fan came up to me
Speaker 1: asked me about my nipples. I said, hey, I got
Speaker 1: to cover up in the spring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's cold out here early in the morning, isn't it. David,
Speaker 2: I like that la Weather.
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, Hey, I could definitely feel the vibe
Speaker 1: the energy from you. You are so excited to get
Speaker 1: this season going. What's it like to have the faith,
Speaker 1: the backup of the organization to believe in what you
Speaker 1: can do for them this year?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think I think that's the difference. This year.
Speaker 2: I got a feel of what the big moments kind
Speaker 2: of feel like. There at the end of the year,
Speaker 2: I had a couple of big moments, and being able
Speaker 2: to know what it feels like in that moment is
Speaker 2: kind of the reason you want to get back out there.
Speaker 2: The grind of a full season, the ups, the downs.
Speaker 2: Obviously you look back at last year was a lot
Speaker 2: of things that I could look on a downside, But
Speaker 2: I personally think that I learned a lot through those
Speaker 2: tough times, wherever stretch it was in the year, And
Speaker 2: I think that's what excites me this year is because
Speaker 2: it's one thing throughout my whole career. It's if I
Speaker 2: have a down, down month, whatever it is, I bounce
Speaker 2: back really well.
Speaker 1: It wasn't a normal year. I would imagine since high
Speaker 1: school you've played every day, you've been the guy, knowing
Speaker 1: the role, knowing how to prepare yourself for the role.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like it has giving you a head
Speaker 1: start coming into this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's given me a head start. And
Speaker 2: I think the other side of that is I'm going
Speaker 2: to be able to show the production at an early time,
Speaker 2: show what I can do the difference I can make
Speaker 2: in the box, and then I think that you kind
Speaker 2: of you push all your chips to the middle of
Speaker 2: the table there. And I've said it in the past,
Speaker 2: I don't care where I play, what my role is,
Speaker 2: as long as I play baseball. And that's I think
Speaker 2: that's what I'm most excited about this year is I
Speaker 2: can really focus on, hey, how many games can this
Speaker 2: team win? But also how many games can I get
Speaker 2: on the field and help this team win.
Speaker 1: What did you learn about when you do get those
Speaker 1: opportunities after you know, backing up or getting a spot start,
Speaker 1: what did you learn how to approach your at bats.
Speaker 2: I've learned that situational hitting is your best friend, and
Speaker 2: those those situations, learning how to control the baseball, know
Speaker 2: where to hit the baseball and what situation, and that
Speaker 2: produces runs for your team. And I think if we
Speaker 2: can do that from a one to nine standpoint, it
Speaker 2: doesn't matter if you're an everyday player or if you
Speaker 2: play once a week, then we're gonna win a lot
Speaker 2: of baseball games. So we're gonna have a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I know you're a catcher at heart, and obviously you
Speaker 1: are a catcher on this ball club, but also we
Speaker 1: talked about this first base maybe in your future to
Speaker 1: get Freddie days off. I don't see a first basement's
Speaker 1: glove in your locker.
Speaker 2: There, it's in there. No, it's I've always wanted to
Speaker 2: keep that in my back pocket, regardless of where I'm at.
Speaker 2: And obviously, due to circumstances this year, if Freddie needs
Speaker 2: a day halfway through the year, if Freddie needs a
Speaker 2: day in the first month, whatever it is, I need
Speaker 2: to be that guy that they can kind of lean
Speaker 2: on to still have a left handed bat in the
Speaker 2: lineup and give Freddie's time off.
Speaker 1: So have you taken any ground balls and work with
Speaker 1: some infielders there yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've done some infield work. I try and just
Speaker 2: kind of incorporated in the routine as much as possible,
Speaker 2: so it kind of feels second nature and just like, hey,
Speaker 2: give me the glove, I'll go play it. And I
Speaker 2: actually had some a lot of experience in college there
Speaker 2: and early on in pro ball, so I've I've kind
Speaker 2: of got a little bit of a background in first base,
Speaker 2: but obviously I want to excel and grow as much
Speaker 2: as possible to be a guy like Freddie, you know,
Speaker 2: it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Dalton Rushing is our guest. He has arrived. He's going
Speaker 1: to be a big part of the Dodgers three pete
Speaker 1: attempt in twenty twenty six. All right, let's put the
Speaker 1: catcher's gear back on. I've heard so much about Gavin
Speaker 1: Stone and River Ryan. Have you had a chance to
Speaker 1: catch any one of those guys so far?
Speaker 2: Early on? Yeah, I've got to catch both. And man,
Speaker 2: do we have a lot of pictures. It's not only
Speaker 2: are a lot of pitchers. We have a lot of
Speaker 2: pictures that can pitch for a really long time in
Speaker 2: this game. And I think that's the beauty of what
Speaker 2: this organization does. It builds it top to bottom, the
Speaker 2: strongest organization in baseball, strongest organization in sports. And yeah,
Speaker 2: they've both they've both looked fantastic. I mean, River explosive stuff,
Speaker 2: he's disgusting, He's around the zone, he establishes the strike
Speaker 2: zone early and it's it's almost everything you could ask
Speaker 2: for out of a pitcher. And Gavin as well. I mean,
Speaker 2: Gavin's got three plus pitches and the pitch ability is
Speaker 2: really there. He knows how to control the baseball. He
Speaker 2: knows how to control the game, And I think that's
Speaker 2: what I'm most excited to work with between the two
Speaker 2: of them, is their ability to know how to control
Speaker 2: the baseball and really navigate through seven innings.
Speaker 1: What's the difference for you catching bullpens for guys like
Speaker 1: that that are coming back trying to prove that they
Speaker 1: are back, compared to catching a bullpen for a glass
Speaker 1: Now or a Yamamoto.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think these some of these guys coming off injury,
Speaker 2: it's our job to one like, really make sure that
Speaker 2: one the throws clean, everything's coming out smooth. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, we need to we need to incorporate
Speaker 2: a little bit of the competitive edge. We need to
Speaker 2: we need to get these guys filling like they're throwing
Speaker 2: in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning of a game in
Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium against Diamondbacks the padres Like. We have to
Speaker 2: make them feel his game ready with all the nerves
Speaker 2: and everything is possible before the season hits, because obviously
Speaker 2: it's going to be a little bit of a different
Speaker 2: fill with fifty thousand there.
Speaker 1: Hey, speaking of edge, you got edge. You got a
Speaker 1: lot of emotion when you play. Have you learned how
Speaker 1: to play with that? And how to control it at
Speaker 1: times when you need to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think. I think last year I learned quick
Speaker 2: it's you control it as much as you can, but
Speaker 2: you don't lose it. Some of the best players I've
Speaker 2: ever watched, some of the best players that I get
Speaker 2: to play with every single day here, they hold this
Speaker 2: internal smoke, this internal heat that they know how to
Speaker 2: use it. They know when to use it and when
Speaker 2: the time is to use it. And I think me
Speaker 2: being the younger guy on the team and being able
Speaker 2: to see the other guys and how they go about
Speaker 2: their business. There's a time and a place to show emotion,
Speaker 2: there's a time and a place to say nothing. And
Speaker 2: I think that's what I'm most excited about this year,
Speaker 2: is to be able to show everyone the maturity and
Speaker 2: be the guy that can run the field from behind
Speaker 2: the play.
Speaker 1: Dalton Russian's got the entire package. First day ever talked
Speaker 1: to him, understood the pitcher catcher relationship. He's got edge,
Speaker 1: he wants to compete, he wants to win, and certainly
Speaker 1: the time is now. Thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 1: Great to see your smile.
Speaker 2: Perfect, Thanks David. Good to see you