WEBVTT - Dave Roberts (8-4-26) 

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<v Speaker 1>And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Schooble Day in Chicago. Trek Schouoble getting set to

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<v Speaker 1>make his Dodger debut, and we're in the manager's office

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<v Speaker 1>for the manager's meeting presented by Downy hun Day with

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Roberts. Dave, thanks a lot for the time, and

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<v Speaker 1>how excited are you for today?

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<v Speaker 2>I am.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm excited like all Dodger fans, and obviously coming off

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<v Speaker 3>losing four in a row, you know, to have a

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<v Speaker 3>guy like Terrek take the mound and be our stopper,

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<v Speaker 3>that's what we're looking for.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know, this is what I just learned is

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<v Speaker 2>this is his first.

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<v Speaker 3>Time pitching at Wrigley Field, So I think it's gonna

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<v Speaker 3>be something special for him, not only just to don

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<v Speaker 3>the Dodger uniform, but to also pitch on Wiggley Field.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's gonna be an exciting one.

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<v Speaker 1>On Sunday Night Baseball, it was not a great game.

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<v Speaker 1>You had just removed Emma sheehan from the game, but

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<v Speaker 1>when you got back to the dugout, he was waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for you. What's been the interactions like so far with

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Roberts and Trek Scuoble.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that was quite the juxtaposition. You know, you're giving

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<v Speaker 3>up Homers and you're not feeling good about the game,

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<v Speaker 3>but then you turn around then.

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<v Speaker 2>You see Trek Scooble. So that certainly put a.

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<v Speaker 3>Smile on my face, and you know, we were starting

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<v Speaker 3>to build slowly. I think that him getting into town

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<v Speaker 3>early to do his Day three lift, to meet the

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<v Speaker 3>guys in the dugout, spent a couple of days with them,

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<v Speaker 3>and then get on the player plane, I think was

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<v Speaker 3>great for his kind of assimilation with the guys, and

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<v Speaker 3>I think for me just little chats here there and

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<v Speaker 3>obviously gearing up for today, so you sort of leave

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<v Speaker 3>him alone. But he is a lot more talkative and

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<v Speaker 3>present than you know other starting pitchers. Not name Clayton Kershaw,

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<v Speaker 3>named Clayton Kershaw, but no, he's great, excited to be here.

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<v Speaker 3>But I think for me, he just wants to get

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<v Speaker 3>this first one out of the way.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's funny. I just asked Max Munsey if Scooble

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<v Speaker 1>is Krushaw like on start day. He said he couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>be from the further of Kershaw.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and that's The funny thing is that even Clayton

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<v Speaker 3>admitted that he like and you guys are gonna love him, Doc,

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<v Speaker 3>You're gonna love him. And he's more normal on his

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<v Speaker 3>start days than I was.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I was worried to look at Kershaw on the eye.

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<v Speaker 1>So I've been traumatized. I don't look at anybody in

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<v Speaker 1>the eye on start day.

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<v Speaker 2>No, I hear. You never know.

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<v Speaker 3>And these starters, it's it's once every five six days,

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<v Speaker 3>and so they get this adrenaline, this emotion, this focus

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<v Speaker 3>and get pretty irritable. And you know, Clayton was one

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<v Speaker 3>of those guys that I remember playing with Kevin Brown

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<v Speaker 3>when I played with the Dodge, and he was that

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<v Speaker 3>way where you just you know, you want to get

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<v Speaker 3>that kind of five foot radius and stand clear.

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<v Speaker 1>It's interesting how certain guys get ready for start days

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<v Speaker 1>that are really good pictures like Yamamoto, like a school

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<v Speaker 1>bl You've seen so many. Like you said, is there

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<v Speaker 1>at a certain point in time a switch that flips

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<v Speaker 1>before the game begins.

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<v Speaker 3>It does, But I think that some guys it starts,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, right when they get into the parking lot.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, at the ballpark.

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<v Speaker 3>It's that intensity and some guys, it's a slower burn

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<v Speaker 3>as you lead up to the game. When they get

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<v Speaker 3>their stretch, they start playing catch. And I think the

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<v Speaker 3>thing is, though, is that it's just got to be

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<v Speaker 3>natural and organic, because what happens is that if you

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<v Speaker 3>try to manufacture that focus, that intensity too early, that

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<v Speaker 3>expends energy. And that's something that I have seen with

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<v Speaker 3>young pitchers that you've got to be who you are.

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<v Speaker 3>You can't have it too contrived. There's certainly got to

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<v Speaker 3>be a level of focus, but I think that you've

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<v Speaker 3>got to be mindful of expending too much energy.

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Roberts is our guest the Manager's Meeting, presented by

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<v Speaker 1>Downey Hyundai. All right, you got Trek Skouoble on the

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<v Speaker 1>mound and you got Ben Rhtvit catching. Ben Rurtvitt is back,

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<v Speaker 1>so is Hunter Fiducca. Where is the Dodgers catching situation

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<v Speaker 1>right now? Uh?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, obviously with the news of a Dalton having

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<v Speaker 3>a slightly torn UCL, I think it is. So we're

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<v Speaker 3>going to keep the hitting going. You know, he's gonna

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<v Speaker 3>have a slow pro with a throwing don't know what

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<v Speaker 3>that looks like, you know, for the rest of the

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<v Speaker 3>season and throughout the postseason. Fortunately it happened the day

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<v Speaker 3>before the trade deadline, so you know, here we are

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<v Speaker 3>a day after we had two catchers on our roster,

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<v Speaker 3>and the day today we're looking at two new catchers.

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<v Speaker 3>And thankfully, you know, we had rt Vett last year

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<v Speaker 3>caught in some postseason games, we had Fidusha last year

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<v Speaker 3>in the years prior, so there's a lot of familiarity

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<v Speaker 3>and so we certainly raised the floor on the catching.

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<v Speaker 1>Why did everybody love Ben rurt Fitz so much?

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<v Speaker 3>I think rort Is is a good teammate, doesn't take

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<v Speaker 3>himself too seriously, and he's a servant, and I think

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<v Speaker 3>a catching a catcher has to be a servant. And

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<v Speaker 3>I really think that last year him being here really

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<v Speaker 3>helped Dalton's growth as a servant, and so I think

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<v Speaker 3>getting him back, he does a lot of things right.

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<v Speaker 3>He's in it with the catchers and I think the pitchers.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's why tonight I really kind of flipping a coin.

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<v Speaker 3>Fidusha roared vet. I went with the energy the servant,

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<v Speaker 3>wrote Vet today. But Fidusha's going to catch a lot

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<v Speaker 3>with this too.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you feel like until Will Smith or Dalton rushing returns.

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<v Speaker 1>It's going to be a shared situation, or do you

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<v Speaker 1>feel like there's one guy that you may lean on

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<v Speaker 1>more than another.

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<v Speaker 3>It's going to be shared, but I think it'll probably

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<v Speaker 3>be three to five Fidusha over rared Vet, but it's again,

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<v Speaker 3>it's essentially shared.

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<v Speaker 1>Going back to Will Smith, I know we ask you

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<v Speaker 1>about this every week, but are you encouraged that you're

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<v Speaker 1>going to get him back?

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<v Speaker 3>Very much? So, don't know the timeline. He's more active,

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<v Speaker 3>he's swinging, he's throwing, he's lifting, moving around, so that's encouraging.

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<v Speaker 3>Just don't know the timeline, but I do think that

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<v Speaker 3>you know, the expectation to get him back we feel

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<v Speaker 3>really good about. But again the trade deadline covering our

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<v Speaker 3>downside getting two new catches is great. But you know,

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<v Speaker 3>once we get Will back, we're certainly going to be

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<v Speaker 3>a much better ball club.

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<v Speaker 1>Before we were back out of here. I know you had

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned that you found out right around game time on

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<v Speaker 1>Friday or Saturday that you guys acquired school it was Saturday.

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<v Speaker 1>What was your initial reaction? Did you feel like Andrew

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<v Speaker 1>would pull this off? What was Dave Roberts thinking going

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<v Speaker 1>into Friday and Saturday?

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<v Speaker 3>You know so Friday, I had really no expectations. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 3>we were kicking at tires and as Andrew says, we're

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<v Speaker 3>on the backboard. And then Sunday when he told me

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<v Speaker 3>we got him, or it was Saturday when we got him,

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<v Speaker 3>I'm sorry. When we got him Saturday, I was really

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<v Speaker 3>taken aback because I didn't expect something like that to

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<v Speaker 3>go down two days before the deadline.

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<v Speaker 2>And so once you told.

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<v Speaker 3>Me we got him pending physicals, I was a little

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<v Speaker 3>shell shocked, and I didn't really know it was happening.

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<v Speaker 3>And even that night, my wife goes, Dave, you're not

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<v Speaker 3>even that happy. You don't see that happen, and I go,

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<v Speaker 3>I am, I just it hasn't hit me yet. But

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<v Speaker 3>then when I saw him the next day in the dugout,

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<v Speaker 3>it certainly hit me.

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<v Speaker 2>All right.

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<v Speaker 1>Before I let you go, everybody's talking about the Dodgers,

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<v Speaker 1>So what's your reaction to you guys being the topic

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<v Speaker 1>of conversations on national debate shows that usually focuses on

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<v Speaker 1>the NBA and NFL. I feel like this is a

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<v Speaker 1>great example of how the Dodgers have brought baseball to

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<v Speaker 1>the forefront of the conversations.

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<v Speaker 3>I think It's fantastic. And I think that you and

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<v Speaker 3>I have known each other for a long time. We

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<v Speaker 3>talk a lot about different things, and you know, for me,

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<v Speaker 3>I love the game at baseball, and so if people

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<v Speaker 3>are debating baseball, talking about baseball, talking about the Dodgers,

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<v Speaker 3>we all win. And so I'm excited about it and

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<v Speaker 3>the Dodgers, what we're doing, what we have done, what

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<v Speaker 3>we plan on doing. Obviously the superstar players that we have.

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<v Speaker 3>So keep talking ball.

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<v Speaker 2>Love it, Dave.

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<v Speaker 1>Can't wait for first pitch Trek Scouoble taking the Mount

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<v Speaker 1>tonight at Wrigley Field. Thanks as always for the time.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks Dave, love it. Can't wait till next week.