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.
Speaker 1: This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3: Here we go again. We're gonta running back to.
Speaker 4: Get in on the show called eight six six, nine
Speaker 4: eighty seven two five seven day, and be sure to
Speaker 4: follow Dodger Talk wherever you catch short podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Vasse.
Speaker 5: Last Day.
Speaker 3: Welcome to Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Vasse with you until nine o'clock tonight here on
Speaker 2: AM five to seventy LA Sports. After the Dodgers dropped
Speaker 2: the final game of this four game series five to
Speaker 2: two to the Padres, who snap their season long eight
Speaker 2: game losing streak, but are still a game under five
Speaker 2: hundred and are now fourteen games back of the Dodgers
Speaker 2: in the NL last eight six six nine, eight seven
Speaker 2: two five seven is the phone number. The Padres and
Speaker 2: Diamondbacks are both fourteen games back of the Dodgers in
Speaker 2: the NL West. The Dodgers fifty nine to thirty two
Speaker 2: and still have not played an extra innings game so
Speaker 2: far this season. That's ninety one games to open up
Speaker 2: the year without playing extra frame. So there's that little
Speaker 2: side note to all this as well. Eight six six nine,
Speaker 2: eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 3: Later in the show, we'll check in with Jose Mota.
Speaker 2: You'll hear from Edwin Diaz, who faced hitters for the
Speaker 2: first time since going on the il after having surgery
Speaker 2: to remove those loose bodies in his right pitching arms.
Speaker 2: So we'll hear from the Dodgers closer about how he
Speaker 2: felt today and when he may return. Also, we'll get
Speaker 2: to the birthday Boys show. Hey Otani, he was back
Speaker 2: in the starting lineup tonight. He was one for three
Speaker 2: with an RBI in the seventh inning. He turns thirty
Speaker 2: two today, and will get into how the Dodgers may
Speaker 2: manage Otani the rest of the season. I have my thoughts,
Speaker 2: want to hear yours eight sixty six nine eight seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy. But let's talk about one of the
Speaker 2: personal sides of this game tonight, and that was late
Speaker 2: Eliza Alfonso, who got his start today behind the plate.
Speaker 3: He got called up.
Speaker 2: Yesterday, making his major league debut tonight, and hours before
Speaker 2: he took the field, he got the unfortunate news that, yes,
Speaker 2: his sixteen year old sister and his stepmom were found
Speaker 2: today in Venezuela, but they were found dead, and that
Speaker 2: is a crushing blow to him, to his dad, and
Speaker 2: to his entire family. And then here he was tonight
Speaker 2: making his major league debut, achieving his dream, not only
Speaker 2: the dream he had, but even possibly the dream that
Speaker 2: his sixteen year old sister was telling him about before
Speaker 2: those massive earthquakes in Venezuela. We had a chance to
Speaker 2: talk to Eliza Alfonso yesterday before the game to hear
Speaker 2: his journey and his thoughts. Yesterday you could find it
Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio app, but he caught up with reporters
Speaker 2: after tonight's game as well, walked us.
Speaker 6: Through kind of what today was like and what went
Speaker 6: into your process of deciding.
Speaker 2: Is so flick.
Speaker 7: The very well he loai, I mean momentous, deficial, but
Speaker 7: like I said, yeah.
Speaker 8: Just a really tough day, you know, tough day for
Speaker 8: me and my family. Obviously things are out of our control.
Speaker 8: I was very grateful and thankful to God for the
Speaker 8: opportunity to make my debut and play in this game,
Speaker 8: but obviously things didn't go well baseball, But yeah, all overall,
Speaker 8: just a very difficult day. Just you.
Speaker 9: Listen today what we kind of screamed on.
Speaker 7: Link Yea, Venezuela. One of you that make me know?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 10: I just.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I was talking to my dad and my brother
Speaker 8: in Venezuela. Obviously, my agent, my my girlfriend are here
Speaker 8: and they've been helping me through this, just trying to
Speaker 8: navigate through this whole day, and and they've been just
Speaker 8: kind of telling me, you're asking me to enjoy the moment,
Speaker 8: enjoy this time, and just kind of processing that. But
Speaker 8: I've had great support from my teammates as well ever
Speaker 8: since I got here yesterday.
Speaker 3: How do you have to honor your family going forward?
Speaker 7: Jo shimpre.
Speaker 8: Yeah, just going out there and doing the best Liken,
Speaker 8: you know, just remembering how my sister supported me, and
Speaker 8: how her dream was to watch me play in these
Speaker 8: games or playing the big leagues, and just hearing her
Speaker 8: screams or hearing her cheers, just something that's going to
Speaker 8: keep me pushing forward.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: There's Eliza Alfonso, the Dodger rookie who made his major
Speaker 2: league debut tonight catching Emma Sheen and unfortunately lost his
Speaker 2: sixteen year old sister and his stepmom who are found
Speaker 2: today in Venezuela after those horrific earthquakes over the magnitude
Speaker 2: of seven point zero seven point one.
Speaker 3: Just horrible, horrible situation.
Speaker 2: There, and our thoughts and prayers are with Eliza and
Speaker 2: his family and of course everyone in Venezuela who are
Speaker 2: still going through all that. It's not something that just
Speaker 2: happens overnight. This is going to be a long process
Speaker 2: for that country, and our thoughts and prayers go out
Speaker 2: to all of those people. Like I mentioned last night
Speaker 2: on Dodger Talk, Miguel Rojas actually played with Alfonso's dad
Speaker 2: in Venezuela and explain to me how Alfonso's dad, Eliza Senior,
Speaker 2: is a legend baseball legend in Venezuela. And also the
Speaker 2: fact that Rojas knows the family is a good thing
Speaker 2: for Alfonso right now to have him and have his
Speaker 2: locker right next to Miggi's. And if you saw the
Speaker 2: broadcast tonight, Rojas had something written on his cap for
Speaker 2: the Alfonso family, and so did Eliza. So seriously, just
Speaker 2: an incredible, incredible wave of emotions, and certainly, you know,
Speaker 2: I can't understand the feelings he had tonight making his
Speaker 2: major league debut under those circumstances. But he has a
Speaker 2: good baseball family around him, and it starts with Miguel Rojas.
Speaker 3: Good news.
Speaker 2: Like we mentioned last night, Miguel told me that his
Speaker 2: wife and kids made it back from Venezuela yesterday morning.
Speaker 2: They actually had drive five hours to another Venezuelan airport
Speaker 2: to be able to get a flight to Miami. So
Speaker 2: they should be or will be on their way to
Speaker 2: Los Angeles to be with Miguel. So that's a weight
Speaker 2: off his shoulders that his wife and kids are safe
Speaker 2: in the United States and they were just a building
Speaker 2: over from a couple that collapsed when those earthquakes hit.
Speaker 2: So I'm certainly happy for Miguel Rojas, but right now
Speaker 2: he has a lot of empathy and sympathy for Alfonso
Speaker 2: and all the other people in Venezuela who are going
Speaker 2: through a horrific time after those horrible earthquakes. Eight six
Speaker 2: six seven two five seventy is the phone number. We're
Speaker 2: gonna take a time out here on Dodger Talk. When
Speaker 2: we come back, we'll take your phone calls. We'll check
Speaker 2: in with Jose Mota. You'll hear from Edwin Diaz, and
Speaker 2: we'll get into how the Dodgers should manage Otani the
Speaker 2: rest of the first half and the rest of the
Speaker 2: second half of the season. Dodgers fall to the Padres today,
Speaker 2: five to two, five seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 4: On air at AM five seventy, online at amfive seventy
Speaker 4: LA sports dot com, and available by podcast on the
Speaker 4: iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: This is Dodger Talk with David Massy.
Speaker 2: Dodgers fall to the Padres tonight by a final score
Speaker 2: of five to two. The Dodgers take three out of
Speaker 2: four from San Diego. The first two games of this series,
Speaker 2: the Dodgers came back in dramatic fashion. They were down
Speaker 2: six to nothing in Game one on Thursday and came
Speaker 2: back to beat San Diego twelve to seven. And then
Speaker 2: on Friday night, ta Oscar Hernandez Is go ahay grand
Speaker 2: slam in the seventh inning sunk the Padres. And then
Speaker 2: last night at jem from Yamamoto, seven shutout innings with
Speaker 2: ten strikeouts, beat San Diego three to nothing. And today
Speaker 2: the Padres snapped their eight game losing streak behind Manny
Speaker 2: Machado's big a three run home run in the seventh
Speaker 2: inning off of Kyle Hurt put the Dodgers away tonight
Speaker 2: as they beat LA for the first time in the
Speaker 2: series five to two. Daniels Jewelers presents the home Run Forecast.
Speaker 2: For your chance to win a fifty dollars Daniels Jewelers
Speaker 2: gift card, visit AM five to seventy LA Sports dot Com.
Speaker 2: Use the keyword home run and to your name you
Speaker 2: could win. Daniels Jewelers Own the Dream eight six six
Speaker 2: nine eight seven two five seventy. Sho Heotani turned thirty
Speaker 2: two today. He was one for three with an RBI
Speaker 2: single in the seventh inning, and in his career on
Speaker 2: July fifth, coming into the game tonight, he was just
Speaker 2: three for twenty six with one home run. And his
Speaker 2: next start is scheduled to be on Friday against the
Speaker 2: Arizona Diamondbacks, and there are some that are believing that
Speaker 2: the Dodgers and Otani should skip his final start, considering
Speaker 2: the scare couple nights ago, with him coming out of
Speaker 2: the game with some bicep tightness and by the way,
Speaker 2: his right bicep that's his pitching arm, and I would
Speaker 2: lean to agree with that.
Speaker 3: There's no reason to pitch on Friday. And here's an idea.
Speaker 2: Everybody keeps talking about, Well, the Dodgers don't want to
Speaker 2: risk him being run down going into October. They should
Speaker 2: shut him down from pitching completely in the second half
Speaker 2: of the season.
Speaker 3: Well, here's an idea.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers did a great job last year when he
Speaker 2: was starting to ramp up, and remember he would make
Speaker 2: starts for an inning, maybe two innings. Why can't the
Speaker 2: Dodgers manage it that way? It doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 2: be Otani pitching every ten days now instead of once
Speaker 2: a week. You could still have him pitch once a
Speaker 2: week and keep everybody on turn and in a routine
Speaker 2: at least until Blake Snell returns at the end of
Speaker 2: July or early August, and then you could reassess how
Speaker 2: o'toni's looking and how the rest of your rotation's looking.
Speaker 2: But to come out of the gates, I would still
Speaker 2: have Otani pitch once a week, but you can minimize
Speaker 2: the number of innings and pitches every start that he's
Speaker 2: out there. There's no reason to have him try to
Speaker 2: go seven innings and throw one hundred and ten pitches
Speaker 2: like he did in his last start, the left knee,
Speaker 2: the blister, now the right bicep. How about manage the
Speaker 2: innings for five innings, maybe six if the pitch count
Speaker 2: is economic enough. But how about do something similar to
Speaker 2: what the Dodgers did last year and eventually Otani was
Speaker 2: built up for the postseason. I see no reason why
Speaker 2: they can't decelerate from him doing what he's doing right now,
Speaker 2: trying to go into the seventh inning, and that really
Speaker 2: hasn't happened too often. And look, the reality is Christopher
Speaker 2: Sanchez and Jacob Mizerowski. If the voting for the cy
Speaker 2: Young was today, there's a good chance that one of
Speaker 2: those two guys would beat out Otani for the cy Young.
Speaker 2: And if that can continues to trend in that direction,
Speaker 2: maybe Otani recognizes, I'm not gonna win the cy Young
Speaker 2: this year.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: I've got to do what's best for myself for the
Speaker 2: postseason and what's best for the team. And I don't
Speaker 2: see him shutting down from pitching. That just isn't in
Speaker 2: his DNA. I just feel like the Dodgers and Otani
Speaker 2: can find some common ground here where he pitches once
Speaker 2: a week, but there's no reason to push him more
Speaker 2: than five innings every start. Eight six, six, nine, eight
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go
Speaker 2: out to Long Beach, Corey. You're on Dodger Talk with
Speaker 2: David vasse Hi.
Speaker 6: Corey. Hey, David, that's a great point with Otani. I
Speaker 6: agree with you one hundred percent. I hadn't thought of
Speaker 6: that here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's just a thick outside of the box. Instead
Speaker 2: of just making a black or white issue where you know,
Speaker 2: you shut him down or you just have him keep going,
Speaker 2: or he pitches once every ten days, there's gonna be
Speaker 2: a lot of rust on him and it throws off
Speaker 2: the tire rotation if he's pitching just once every ten days.
Speaker 6: So here is my question. I'm I'm livid, I'm upset.
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna use foul language, but why is my
Speaker 6: boy Robo not on the All Star team?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: You know what the players always complain about the players,
Speaker 2: the fans voting. You know, over the years, I think
Speaker 2: the players have gotten a lot wrong as well. And
Speaker 2: I don't know if they weren't paying attention to what
Speaker 2: Robleski's done. Because I got news for you, Corey. I'm
Speaker 2: not sure they have the stats on their phone laid
Speaker 2: out or if they're looking at their laptop. But the
Speaker 2: reality is five Dodgers kind of hurt Robleski in the
Speaker 2: initial selection process, I believe. But because ya, I'm amoto
Speaker 2: likely won't be able to pitch. I'm starting to hear
Speaker 2: that Misowski the way he's lined up, won't be able
Speaker 2: to pitch. There may be openings for Robleski to be
Speaker 2: a laid ad, So I wouldn't give up hope on that.
Speaker 6: They're better be And last thing, God bless the Alfonso
Speaker 6: family and thank you very much for taking my call.
Speaker 2: All right, Corey, Yeah, that's a good way to end
Speaker 2: the call. Definitely, we're thinking about the Alfonso family. Eight
Speaker 2: six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
Speaker 2: phone number I mentioned. Last night on the show, Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts talked about Evan Phillips being activated today. Well, I
Speaker 2: got news for you. Dave Roberts said it's going to
Speaker 2: be tomorrow. Evan Phillips will be activated tomorrow and will
Speaker 2: be in the Dodgers' bullpen. So the Dodgers recently got
Speaker 2: brought Stewart back on the last road trip. They're getting
Speaker 2: Evan Phillips back tomorrow. And Edwin Diaz through the hitters
Speaker 2: for the first time. He was in his full uniform
Speaker 2: earlier today and that was cool to see number three
Speaker 2: in the home whites getting ready to face hitters, including
Speaker 2: his buddy Keithy Hernandez.
Speaker 3: And here's what Edwin.
Speaker 2: Diaz had to say about how he felt today and
Speaker 2: when he may return to close games.
Speaker 9: Feel great, so a little bit hard about finally back
Speaker 9: on the mount. Throwing feel really good, like throwing good pitches.
Speaker 9: So it's like good start.
Speaker 2: We keep hearing after the All Star break, But will
Speaker 2: it be the first game after the All Star break?
Speaker 3: Do you have a sense of when when exactly you'll return?
Speaker 9: Not not really, I just I just know, you know,
Speaker 9: Azar break start next week, so I start doing rehab assignment,
Speaker 9: So any any moment after the AZAR break, I hope
Speaker 9: I can be back with the team. As now, we
Speaker 9: are on schedule, so everything we go in the posiitic duration,
Speaker 9: so I can't see them shape measing that the fastball.
Speaker 9: You know, that's something I couldn't do early in the
Speaker 9: season because you know it wasn't right now. I just
Speaker 9: gotta keep throwing right, making pitches, you know, to try
Speaker 9: to throw my sltterer a little bit more first, right,
Speaker 9: like I didn't I didn't do it today, But I
Speaker 9: feel great. My football Shay was good. They give me
Speaker 9: good feedbacks.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: So Edwin Diaz feeling good about his fastball, still trying
Speaker 2: to get the field for his slider. And my under
Speaker 2: standing is Edwin Diaz when he said he should be
Speaker 2: returning shortly after the All Star break, it likely will
Speaker 2: not be on that first road trip in New York
Speaker 2: Philly and New York City Field his own, his old
Speaker 2: home ballpark. He should be returning towards the end of
Speaker 2: July early August. So uh, that is encouraging, and he
Speaker 2: has a lot of life on his pitches. Let's go
Speaker 2: out to Glendale. Calvin, you're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Calvin, Hey.
Speaker 5: David, I'm good. I just wanted to talk about Show
Speaker 5: Hayes managing Show Hayes workload. And I was wondering if
Speaker 5: you could see them doing a kind of what the
Speaker 5: Seattle Mariners have been doing, doing like a piggyback start,
Speaker 5: maybe having like Will Klein or someone pitched the first
Speaker 5: like one or two innings and then having a Tony
Speaker 5: comment and take over and that's something you can see.
Speaker 2: But then no, I can't see going that way, Calvin.
Speaker 2: Remember last year, Otani would start the games, and then
Speaker 2: a guy like Justin Robleski, who was phenomenal last year
Speaker 2: piggybacking Otani would be the guy on the back end
Speaker 2: of games. And that's when Justin Robleski really became a
Speaker 2: valuable part of the Dodgers' pitching staff because he's so
Speaker 2: nimble and flexible and versatile to be able to start
Speaker 2: games or come out of the bullpen as a long
Speaker 2: man behind an Otani abbreviated start, and he pitched five
Speaker 2: games in that seven game World Series coming out of
Speaker 2: the bullpen, didn't give up a single run, including in
Speaker 2: Game seven. So if the Dodgers were to do a
Speaker 2: piggyback situation similar to last year, Otani's not going to
Speaker 2: come out of the bullpen. He's going to start the game.
Speaker 2: But let's say it's a four inning start, if that's
Speaker 2: what they settle on, or a five inning start, then
Speaker 2: somebody would come in after him, But no, Otani would
Speaker 2: not come in out of the bullpen. You would have
Speaker 2: him start the game. Because that Otani role starts to
Speaker 2: get sticky as well. And look, come on, Otani's not
Speaker 2: coming out to the bullpen for an opener.
Speaker 5: Right, No, yeah, I don't think you'd be about that.
Speaker 3: Well, you suggested that.
Speaker 5: I was just wondering if, like you know, we could
Speaker 5: see it happen. It seems like it's worked out for
Speaker 5: the Mariners, but I know some of their pitches haven't
Speaker 5: been too happy about it too, So I don't know.
Speaker 3: I feel like we talked this out, Calvin.
Speaker 2: I feel like we talked this out and you realize
Speaker 2: Otani would not go for an opener and that idea
Speaker 2: probably wouldn't be the solution to managing Otani.
Speaker 3: True, fair enough. Were you at Brand Boulevard? Where are
Speaker 3: you going? Didn't I funk.
Speaker 4: Me?
Speaker 5: I'm actually doing some deliveries right now.
Speaker 3: All right, be safe out there, Calvin.
Speaker 5: Thanks David, bye, Hi.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't have no opener for Otani. It would be
Speaker 2: my suggestion would be Otani starts the game and goes
Speaker 2: five innings. There's no need to push him even to
Speaker 2: ninety pitches some nights, no need to even push to
Speaker 2: push him to one hundred pitches. It's about the long game.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers have a fourteen game lead in the NLS.
Speaker 2: They don't need Otani to be a hero and go
Speaker 2: for a complete game. That that's just not in the cards.
Speaker 2: Eight six, six, seven, two, five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Dodgers fall to the Padres tonight five to two, but
Speaker 2: they win three out of four against San Diego and
Speaker 2: they are returning.
Speaker 3: Down South, sad. Let's go out to Jose Mota.
Speaker 1: It's time to go around the horn with Jose Mota.
Speaker 2: All right, Jose Mota, let's start with the birthday boy.
Speaker 2: What do you believe would be the best way to
Speaker 2: manage Otani's workload as a pitcher the second half of
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 10: Everything you said there was running the money. It's been
Speaker 10: done before with previous players, previous pitchers, sometimes on effectiveness
Speaker 10: or lack of after this six or seventh inning and
Speaker 10: mold management. I mean, you have to manage Otani differently
Speaker 10: you do manage anybody else in baseball. We're talking about
Speaker 10: a guy that needs to have every single moment and
Speaker 10: minute of his day planned out the way he likes
Speaker 10: it to be able to perform, and if you really
Speaker 10: explain it to him and is the right path to take,
Speaker 10: I am right with you on what they should do.
Speaker 10: Remember last year there was a change of plans. Altani
Speaker 10: was in to pitch in early May that would push
Speaker 10: back ALTONI was throwing full bullpens in the you know
Speaker 10: spring twenty and twenty twenty five. They pushed him back
Speaker 10: a little bit. He understood why then instead of throwing
Speaker 10: all those sim games or you know, live vps against
Speaker 10: his team, is like, why don't we just take that
Speaker 10: into the game and save those arm well litsten and
Speaker 10: get me back in mentality of attacking. So, yeah, David
Speaker 10: makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of
Speaker 10: sense to go out there and just manage him. Understand
Speaker 10: that body needs obviously a little bit more rest. Nowadays,
Speaker 10: he's full board with everything that goes on. The saw
Speaker 10: Young talked is great. That takes a secondary face to
Speaker 10: me and show he needs to understand that, you know,
Speaker 10: whatever they do, and hope they manage it that way.
Speaker 10: They could just let him loose and you know, give
Speaker 10: him a longer lease in the postseason and let him
Speaker 10: go after. But you got to get there first, and
Speaker 10: hopefully you want to get there with a very healthy
Speaker 10: and productive show.
Speaker 2: Hail toney E LIESI Alfonso Jose, what a day for him,
Speaker 2: What emoments must have been going through him as he
Speaker 2: was announced when he took his first at bat. I
Speaker 2: give the Dodger Stadium crowd here a lot of credit
Speaker 2: for understanding the circumstances. And that was pretty special as well.
Speaker 10: Yes, and quite sad. I mean Elierzera got to meet
Speaker 10: his father and got to cover him and talk to
Speaker 10: him many times, and it is hard to even imagine
Speaker 10: what he's gone through and what happened this morning, just
Speaker 10: you know, and to listen to your interview and to
Speaker 10: listen to him talk to the media after the game
Speaker 10: or before the game about this. His little sister yelling
Speaker 10: at him to hit the ball hard. I mean, Dave,
Speaker 10: that stays with you forever, man, And you know, for
Speaker 10: him to think that, I'm going to honor her in
Speaker 10: my stepmom every time I come to the plate. But
Speaker 10: there's so much more to this, because is an entire country,
Speaker 10: the suffering, and he as he mentioned the Dollier fans
Speaker 10: right on spot, they're so aware of everything that happens
Speaker 10: with their teams. I really want to congratulate them for that.
Speaker 10: But also adding to twelve fonds, a think about this.
Speaker 10: The Dodgers took a very good look at him in
Speaker 10: spring stout, and he played in the fifteen games. That's
Speaker 10: every other game pretty much, right. That's for a catcher,
Speaker 10: that's a lot. And he earned his way here. You know,
Speaker 10: in twenty nine games he had three thirteen on base
Speaker 10: of three ninety two. And on top of that day
Speaker 10: he puts the ball in play beyond fifteen doubles, he
Speaker 10: struck out seventeen times. He had twenty two bucks. So
Speaker 10: it's not just about this moment or earning it. He's
Speaker 10: earned it way more. The other connection I see plays
Speaker 10: for you know, kas A kakas, that's right where things
Speaker 10: happen over there. And then the irony is he signed
Speaker 10: professionally on July fourth, twenty sixteen. I mean, if you
Speaker 10: don't believe if there there's so much in this story
Speaker 10: about what he does, and on top of that to
Speaker 10: make is and call a very good game. I was
Speaker 10: very impressed with that young man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, very very sad story, and our heart goes out
Speaker 2: to him and his family for what they're going through.
Speaker 2: But hopefully he sticks around for a while. I don't
Speaker 2: think Will Smith is coming back anytime soon, Jose, so
Speaker 2: we'll have time to share his story. And it's great
Speaker 2: that Miguel Rojas has his locker right next to him,
Speaker 2: and that'll be a great deal of support for him.
Speaker 10: Support system. Of course, I doubt your players along the
Speaker 10: best in doing that and being aware of the person
Speaker 10: first and then the player, But I think he's coming
Speaker 10: to the right group to deal with it and to
Speaker 10: have a productive starts with a big career for sure, Dave.
Speaker 2: All right, Jose, we'll catch up with you tomorrow. Rockies
Speaker 2: are in town. Kyle Karros is on fire, Jose Moto, watch.
Speaker 10: Out get the report from his father, would you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, he never watches any games.
Speaker 10: It makes you think that, but I'm happy that he
Speaker 10: got hot and hopefully he be able to stop him.
Speaker 3: All right, Jose, we'll talk to you tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Okay, there he goes Jose Mota part of the Dodgers
Speaker 2: Spanish radio broadcast. A great background on Jose knowing Eliza's dad,
Speaker 2: Elizar Senior, and certainly Will Smith is still having some
Speaker 2: neck muscle issues, so I think you know, Eliza's gonna
Speaker 2: be here for a while. And Dalton Rushing has been phenomenal.
Speaker 2: Rushing's you know, we don't seem to really recognize actually
Speaker 2: what Rushing's production has been.
Speaker 3: So far this year.
Speaker 2: You look at his season, He's sitting two eighty six
Speaker 2: with an ops of over eight hundred. He's been everything
Speaker 2: and more that you could hope for in this type
Speaker 2: of situation. And everybody talked about him being, you know,
Speaker 2: this top prospect and now he's the backup catcher that
Speaker 2: Will Smith Ben Rodvick came in last year. Well how
Speaker 2: about this year? Will Smith has been out for over
Speaker 2: a month and Rushing hasn't allowed the Dodgers to miss
Speaker 2: a beat offensively, And yes there's been some growing pains defensively,
Speaker 2: but overall he's been phenomenal in that department as well.
Speaker 2: So you gotta give him a lot of credit. And
Speaker 2: he'll be back behind the plate tomorrow night against the Rockies.
Speaker 2: Before we go away tonight, I do have to set
Speaker 2: the record straight.
Speaker 3: There's video out there, you know.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the story, me and keyk Hernandez playing
Speaker 2: catch today. Yes, the arm isn't what it used to
Speaker 2: be at Notre Dame High School in the mid nineties,
Speaker 2: no doubt or more part junior college. No doubt or
Speaker 2: the Sunday leagues, no doubt. But here's what happened. I
Speaker 2: was talking with Andrew Friedman and Key K was looking
Speaker 2: to be Key K, and he said, hey, Andrew, you
Speaker 2: want to warm me up? And Andrew had his yetti
Speaker 2: in his hand. He didn't want to allow that to,
Speaker 2: you know, leave his possession. So you know, you know,
Speaker 2: the president of Baseball Operations is not going to throw
Speaker 2: on a glove and warm up Key k Hernandez. So
Speaker 2: the next best option was yours, truly, and we had
Speaker 2: some fun. And honestly, yes, the throws weren't great, but
Speaker 2: I I could tell you this. The biggest victory for
Speaker 2: me today was that I caught every bullet from keyk Hernandez.
Speaker 2: I didn't let the priest behind me get hit. I
Speaker 2: didn't let any civilians get hit. I caught every one
Speaker 2: of his gloves. And Rick Monday's description of the way
Speaker 2: I threw is accurate. I need a cutoff man for
Speaker 2: when I was throwing to KEYK. But I appreciate Key
Speaker 2: K not taking my head off. He was throwing it
Speaker 2: very firm. He was warming up to make throws from
Speaker 2: third base to first base.
Speaker 3: But it could have.
Speaker 2: Been a lot harder that he was throwing and warming up.
Speaker 2: So I appreciate that, And I know this is not realistic,
Speaker 2: but I would love for every media member that criticizes
Speaker 2: major league players to just play catch with a major
Speaker 2: league player once and realize how fast, how hard they
Speaker 2: throw the baseball, and how hard it's coming at them.
Speaker 2: You would have a better understanding of how how great
Speaker 2: and how elite of an athlete they are. Baseball players
Speaker 2: they are to make the plays they make and make
Speaker 2: it look easy, because up here in the press box
Speaker 2: the game looks really easy. But when you're down there
Speaker 2: on the field and if you're just playing catch before
Speaker 2: a game with a big league player, postseason hero like
Speaker 2: keyk Hernandez, three time World Series champion, life comes at
Speaker 2: you really fast, literally and figuratively speaking. And I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: So thank you KEYK for not killing me today. And
Speaker 2: that was that was an all time experience I'll have
Speaker 2: playing catch with keyk Hernandez, with everybody watching, Steven Nelson
Speaker 2: screaming down on the field, Rick Monday judging every throw
Speaker 2: I made. But I'm telling you, the biggest victory was
Speaker 2: catching every one of those warm up throws from KEYK
Speaker 2: Hernandez and you could see the video on my Instagram
Speaker 2: at officially Vassay and on ex at the Real Underscore DV.
Speaker 2: That'll do it for us. Tonight on Dodger Talk Tomorrow,
Speaker 2: the Rockies aren't. Eric Carros will be on the call
Speaker 2: for Sports Net LA. His son Kyle Carros is on fire.
Speaker 2: Over the course of his last thirty games, Kyle Caros
Speaker 2: is hitting close to three point fifty. So we like that,
Speaker 2: but we don't like the Rockies trying to come in
Speaker 2: here and spoil the Fourth of July fun as the
Speaker 2: Dodgers take three out of four from the Padres on
Speaker 2: this great weekend, and the Rockies will throw out Kyle
Speaker 2: Freeland Tomorrow in Game one of that three game series.
Speaker 2: Eric lower will be on the mound for the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Our coverage begins at six o'clock with first pitch at
Speaker 2: seven to ten with Rick Monday, Charlie Steiner and Tim Neverett.
Speaker 2: And don't forget tomorrow, hard not to forget that Team
Speaker 2: USA will be back on the pitch and you can
Speaker 2: watch every second of.
Speaker 3: That game at Downy Hunday. Downy Hunday not.
Speaker 2: Only the premier dealership in Downy and in southern California.
Speaker 3: But it's a party. It's not a dealership, it's a party.
Speaker 2: They got a big screen you could watch the soccer
Speaker 2: game there our guys, Sam, very patriotic man there at
Speaker 2: Downey Hyundai. All right, that'll do it for us. Thanks
Speaker 2: to calling you back at our Burbank studios, Thanks to
Speaker 2: Dwayne McDonald out here at Uniclo Field at Dodgers Stadium,
Speaker 2: and thanks to you for listening. In case you missed
Speaker 2: any of the show, you can find it on the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3: Once again.
Speaker 2: The final score tonight the Padres salvage the final game
Speaker 2: of this four game series five to two.
Speaker 3: Fox Sports Radio is next. Have a great rest of
Speaker 3: your night. See him