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Talker. Like back damn Cats, Well, it was disaster in Detroit and
it is. The Dodgers get walked off again for the second straight day.
They take a lead into the bottom half of the ninth inning, and for
the second day in a row, they give up the lead. This time
it was a three to two Dodgers lead. Johann Ramirez went back out to
the ninth after a one two three eighth inning that included a leadoff single.
Well got a double play ball to help him out. He gives up a
leadoff triple on an O two pitch to former Dodgers Zach mckinstree, justin Henry
malloy an RBI single that tied the game, scoring mckenstree. Back to back
bunnettempts misplayed by Johann Ramirez, the Dodger reliever, and he the second one.
He throws down the third bait line and the winning run comes in and
the Tigers will win it four to three, eight six six nine eight seven
two five seventy is our telephone number eight six six nine eight seven two five
seventy is certainly a lot to get to. We want to hear from you,
Dodger fans. I got one line open if you want to jump on
board, believe it or not. After what happened on this three game trip
in Detroit, the way they lost in back to back fashions, and the
way this Dodgers team has played the last week, I still got one line
open here on Dodger Talk on five seventy eight sixty six nine eight seven two
five seventy. This is a disappointing way to go into the All Star Break.
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. This is not the way this Dodgers team
wanted to go into the All Star break. Now, certainly, having four
plus days off, a chance to recharge, get reinvented here as far as
what they're gonna do with the starting rotation, and the front office has got
decisions to make, There's no doubt about this. This is a Dodger front
office that between now and the trade deadline at the end of the month,
I've got to figure out how to put together a roster for October. Now,
With that being said, the Dodgers have a lot of players on the
injured list and players that they're gonna get back here after the All Star break,
But to me, there's still question marks about some of those players when
they come back. Joe Kelly has made a couple of rehab assignments in a
ball and Triple A. He's coming back after the All Star break. But
what Joe Kelly are we going to see as far as at the back end
of that bullpen. Bruce dark graderol is trending in the right direction to come
back, probably sometime in August. It is my guess, purely my guest.
Michael Grove, we have no idea what the status is of Michael Grove,
im it. Shean's done for the year. Tony Gonsolin's certainly done for
the year. We find out yesterday an esophagus injury and surgery for Dustin May
and Is scare that he had over the week has now landed him on the
IL for the rest of this season, and certainly our thoughts are with him
in his speedy recovery. Ryan Braze haven't seen him in a while since his
calf injury. The Dodgers are gonna get back Clayton Kershaw if everything goes right
on his next rehab assignment in Oklahoma City coming up on Friday. They'll get
him after the All Star break back in this rotation. But to me,
you're getting back a veteran Clayton Kershaw that you don't know what you're gonna get
out of him. Certainly, you know what he can do and what he
has done in his Hall of Fame career, But now this Clayton Kershaw in
twenty twenty four, you and I we both don't know what we're gonna get
from him when he comes off the injured list. Walker Buehler, he's off
in Florida right now, trying to figure out how to get back to the
Walker Bueller of old. My point is oh Yamamoto starting to throw off a
flat ground. But I mean, I'm not a doctor. It doesn't sound
like he's coming back right after the All Star break. You're probably looking at
late August. I'm purely guessing there, But based on the way he's got
to make minor league rehab starts and revamp himself back up, he's a ways
off. With that all being said, the Dodgers are getting back Jason Hayward
as well. They're gonna get back players to help out this team. Max
Munsey, I don't know what's happening with Max. The oblique injury. One
week it's good, one week he's regressed. The next week he's taking ground
balls and he's hitting, and now he's shut down and not doing baseball activities,
and the oblique injury is not responding. The oblique injury is not responding.
If it's not responding in July, can it respond by August? Will
it respond by September? At what point do the Dodgers then say I need
to find an everyday third baseman because this platooning with three different guys at third
base is just not working. Or we're gonna give the job to one of
these guys come September and let them fight it out to see who it's gonna
be. The rotation needs help. Tyler Glass now is hurt. I didn't
even mention Tyler Glass. Now he's hurt as well. But we'll come back
with the back stiffness after the All Star break. Today a prime example of
the Dodgers team patching together a twenty seven out game and doing so with a
guy named Brent Honeywell, who nobody knew outside of Tyler Glass now. And
I don't think he's with the team right now because they were teammates in Tampa
at one point. Today was a rough day for the Dodgers' bullpen, but
a Dodgers' bullpen that has pitched more innings the last two weeks than Dodger starters,
more innings pitched by the Dodgers bullpen combined than Dodger starters. You're asking
them to do a lot of work and pick up for the lack of innings
from your starters. Eventually it's gonna catch up. And now we find out
today in the ninth inning, Dave Roberts saying, well, Alex Vesi was
getting warm, but he was our last guy. He was our designated survivor,
the last guy there for the Dodgers' bullpen. With not having the availablity
of Blake trying Daniel Hudson back stiffness, couldn't go to Evan Phillips after he
threw twenty plus pitches yesterday in the blown safe. They had nobody left down
there to pitch outside of Alex Vesia. Now here's my thing about the ninth
inning, you've got a left tander of Zach McKinstry. I get Johann Ramirez
was ahead O two, but he left a pitch out of the plate for
a triple. To me, I would have gone to alex Vesia to start
the ninth inning, and thinking in the back of my mind, final game
before the All Star Break, if I've literally got nobody else out there,
then I'll go to Keik in the tenth We'll take the l But darn it,
we're gonna go out there and try to win this in the ninth inning.
We're gonna go out there and tries to close the door, send a
message to my team going into the post and to the All Star Break that
we're gonna try to win this game. Now, certainly this doesn't just fall
on Dave. It's a collaborative effort here, and he's got a look and
you know you have to have one guy down there, I guess. But
again, my thinking this is just purely me. That's why I'm not a
manager of the big leagues. Certainly, not why I'm a pitching coach,
certainly, not why I'm an a bench coach. Certainly not why I'm a
bullpen coach and never will be a general manager in any of those positions.
We'll never have that job. But me lollioled me here, host and Dodger
talk. I would have gone to Vessia and said, empty the tank here
for me. You're not pitching for another four plus days. Go enjoy Tahoe
or Cabo or wherever you're going for your All Star break. But Vesia,
I need you for the ninth and if God forbid, the Tigers score run
tight, we gotta go to extra innings. Then the Dodgers go to a
position player. Are they even able to go to a position player? I
don't think they could go to a position player at that game. In a
tie game night, if you got nobody available, I guess you can go
there. But if you got options you can, Okay, But I'm trying
to win it in twenty seven ounce with my best guy out there, Johann
Ramirez. Nice guy, nice story. But the day before they're the game
before the All Star break. To me, just my opinion, I would
have gone to Alex Vassi. Again, I don't have all the numbers in
front of me. I don't have the percentages, I don't have the spreadsheet.
I don't have any of that at my disposal, but I got what
my eyes are telling me, my gut's telling me. I would have gone
to Alex Vesi in the ninth inning. They leave it to Johann Ramirez and
James Lord. He said it best on the postgame on Sports in LA.
The heart rate gets going, the emotions start taking over. You gotta calm
down in those situations. You gotta take deep breaths and get the heart rate
low, especially when you're fielding ground balls and you misplay one bunt. Okay,
regroup first and second. Still nobody out, tie game, bunt a
ball to you take your time, throw to third, get the force out.
So we're now one out first and second, and we roll the dice
again instead rush the throw, hurry play, throw it down the third base
line ten feet wide of third base. Run scores. It's just frustrating.
It's it's certainly frustrating, I know for you Dodger fans to see what the
expectations are this Dodgers team and to see the way this this Dodgers team has
played the last week or so. Now there's the other side of this where
I've got people already sending me text messages in tweets saying, slow down,
stop panicking. It's one hundred and sixty two game season and the Dodgers are
still in first place. The Dodgers may either go into the All Star Break
with a six game lead or a seven game lead, depending on what the
Padres and the Diamondbacks do in their final games before the All Star Break.
And right now, the Padres are losing and the Diamondbacks are losing, So
the Dodgers could remain seven games up going into the All Star break. And
so was a Moda put it out. They were what a half game back
at the All Star break last year, So it could be worse, it
could be a lot better. But as the great Mit Cronin says, losers
talk about winning at halftime, And right now we're at the halfway point theoretically
of the season, the All Star break, and you're whether you're six games
up or seven games up or a half game back. All that matters is
where you are come October and where you are in the postseason. That's it.
That's all that matters. So I'm not gonna panic too much about the
Dodgers having only a six game lead, or a seven game lead in the
division, because that's still a big lead in the NL West with two and
a half, almost three months to go in the regular season, and a
Dodgers team that's gonna get healthy. But I'm right there with you, I
see you on a hold. We're gonna go right to the phones right now.
I'm with you. This team needs to figure it out, figure it
out fast, clean up the defense, and start playing twenty seven outs,
playing for nine innings because this three to nothing lead and then operation shutdown offensively
not able to score runs. Dave Roberts, you can hear his frustration.
Had the bases load in the ninth inning, a one run game and a
chance to tack on a second run to make it a little harder for the
Detroit Tigers, and you can't, And you strand the bases loaded, and
you keep it a one run game, you keep the door open, you
leave it a jar just a little bit, and the Tigers busted right through
and win it in a walk off fashion. Eight six, six, nine,
eighty seven seventy Andy Lake Elson or start things off here on this postgame
Dodger Talk. Going to the All Star break, Hey Tim, Thanks for
taking my call. I just want to talk about number one. That's clear
to me, honestly, is we really do need a closer. We need
to call in and get a closer. Whatever our first move is going to
be, we need a closer. Bottom line, we need a closer.
We can't go to the playoffs with a super reliever or or or or bringing
guys in and thinking that they can pitch the ninth inning and shut it down.
No, we need a closer. That's number one. And number two
is I really believe that these relievers are pitching today thinking that they got to
shut it down and then I don't know. I just think that I've never
seen this before. I've never seen us just give up a leader like that
in the ninth inning and lose the game and walk off two days in a
row. So what about me is go ahead. What concerns me is that
are they trusting each other? The offense, the pitchers and all that stuff.
Are they trusting each other? I think they do andy. I appreciate
the phone call. I don't see any finger pointing. I don't see any
blaming of one guy here or a bullpen there, or the lack of scoring
on a game here. I don't see that, nor am I hearing that
at all. This is a team that is a very professional team, and
I think realizes they're just in a rut right now, and I'll get better
and get healthy and the second half of the season they'll get off and run
in on Friday against the Boston Red Sox. Now, with that being said,
again, you can't just keep saying that and see the division lead dwindle
and dwindle and dwindle and not do anything about it. If you've got a
hole in a boat or a hole in a ship, you got to fix
it. You can't let the hole get bigger or more holes start to pop
up, or what's gonna happen, and you're gonna sink. You're not gonna
go anywhere wherever you're at, You're just gonna stop and go to the bottom.
Now, if you're the Dodgers, you've got a six or seven game
lead, depending on what happens with the Padres and the Diamondbacks. You don't
want to see that get down to four and then three by the next week
and then go out on the road and your lead's cut in the half and
we haven't got to August yet or the trade deadline, and you start to
hit the panic button, and then maybe you start getting some thinking amongst players
about, hey, something's wrong here. We gotta do this, we gotta
do that. You don't want it to get to that point. Now.
A closer, Yeah, the Dodgers need a closer. But looking at baseball
and looking at the standings and looking about the divisions and who's in and who's
out, and realistically, who's gonna be a seller at the deadline. Let's
look at some of the top relievers, the top closers in baseball. I
mean it is Kyle Finnegan. Maybe an opportunity in Washington to go get him.
Or the Nationals, you know, realizing that there's no way they are
going to win the division. You know, they're out of it six games
in the wild card race, they may be sellers. So maybe a Kyle
Finnigan, the closer in Washington, who's third in baseball top closer, second
in the National League behind Hellsley. You know, look at Baltimore, San
Diego, Yankees, Atlanta, Boston, Well Kenlly Jansen. Kenley Jansen could
be available. Alexis Diaz in Cincinnati if the Reds decide they want to become
sellers. I mean the Reds right now three games under five hundred. You
know, they're not destined to make the playoffs. Carlos Stevis in Anaheim could
be available. But then again, if you're a team that's also looking for
a closer, the asking price is going to go up because I've just given
you three closers. You know what price is going to take to get a
Kyle Finnigan. Well, he's one of the top three closers in baseball the
first half of the season. He's got twenty five saves, two for five
er with a Whip North on one. Is he available at what price?
Kelly Jansen finally for his contract. You know the Red Sox are trying to
unload that contract and get rid of Kenley. It could be an option.
Kenley just recently, in a radio interview or an interview with the podcast,
said he sees himself closing his career in a Dodger uniform. That's what he
would like to do. You know, maybe that's an opportunity. So there'll
be some closures available at the deadline. I just don't know which direction the
Dodgers go. Then again, is that the hole the Dodgers need to close
up first? Is that the one they need to plug up? Or is
a starting starting pitching more of a problem for the Dodgers right now? I
would lean towards starting pitching is priority number one. I think number two.
You guys honestly started looking at the closer spot as well, and that's changed
for me. I thought starting pitching, bat off the bench, third baseman
was priority number two, but I'm starting to look at relief pitcher closer as
the second need for this Dodgers team. Trey and west La is next up
on Dodge Talk. Hi, Trey, how you doing? Tim? Hello,
sir, how you? Thanks for taking Oh you know you often hear
from me on bruinstock there. It's nice to catch up with you on this
side. Yeah, definitely listen. I spoke with Dave yesterday and I said
what I was witnessing was a near dumpster fire, and he thought I was
being hyperbolic, and perhaps I was, But given the roster, given the
expectations, I mean, I'm baffled. It's the situational hitting with runners in
scoring position, sloppy base running. You know, Rick and Tim, we're
like we literally threw the game away today. It's it's really frustrating. You
know, I don't have much to offer, but it's unfortunate right now.
Like you, I agree with you on the starting pitching. We had the
same bugaboo from last year. You know, it's we got guys on the
shelf. We don't know if they're coming back. We got some holes to
fill. You know, your boat metaphor. I agree with that as well.
The only thing I can say is, like you said, Coach Mick,
we're at the halfway point. You got to take a serious gut check.
These guys got to rest up and we got another half of the season
to play. So I remain optimistic, Dodger blue all the way. Let's
just go and you know we're gonna learn from the mistakes and let's be positive
and finish it out. All right. Appreciate it, Trey, Thanks for
checking in eight six six nine, eight seven two five seventy. The Dodger's
going to have to do something. The worst thing I think they could happen
is just to stay pat. And I know you're getting players back from injuries,
and you know, the old saying is like if you get a guy
back at the All Star break or the trade deadline from injury. It's like
making a trade. It's like you picked up another arm. It's like you
got a went out and got a bat by adding this player back to your
lineup. I understand that, But we just don't know what kind of arm
or we're getting back in Clayton Kershaw. Now fingers crossed. We all hope,
right, we all hope it's the Clayton Kershaw. It's going to go
out there and give you six dominating Indians every five days. You can count
on him being a stopper. We hope. We just don't know. That's
just the reality. You don't know what's Clayton Kershaw you're gonna get at this
point in his career. So another guy that you can count on come October.
That's what I look at. Who are your three going into a series
in October? Right now? Tyler glassnow assume he's healthy, it's just pack
stiffness. Gavin Stone and who landon Ack? James Paxton, Bobby Miller.
Who's that third starter? Is it Clayton Kershaw? But just don't know?
Is it Yamamoto? Don't know? We just don't know. James North Hollywood's
next up here on Dodger Talk. Hi James, how you doing? Good?
Tim Hey, listen. I agree with you that the biggest concern is,
in fact, the starting pitching. I believe a good motto for life
is expect the best, but plan for the worst. And what we've learned
about baseball the last ten years is sure we expect that Walker Buehler will come
back, figure things out in Florida, Bobby Miller will figure out mechanical issues
and let his stuff play at the level that we were used to seeing.
We hope that Yamamoto can't come back from a rotator cup strain all the way
through October, and that Kershaw will give us five innings of two run ball
every time he takes the mound. But I don't want to, you know,
put my eggs in that basket. So to that point, you got
to ask yourself, so how do we get that frontline starter? And in
my opinion, because a lot of these guys haven't performed this year, they
might be tough to move, but because of their track record, maybe not
in my mind. Gavin Lux, James Autman, Key k, Chris Taylor,
Cavin Vigio, any two of those five guys, I would, and
I think we could move for a frontline starter in addition to one of our
prospect catchers, you know in triple A, because they're kind of they're blocked
by will and we have a lot of talent there, but you got to
give to get. And I agree with you that where we have to get
the most is we've got to solidify that starting rotation because all those other guys,
there's a lot of upside there, but there's certainly no guarantee, you
know. Yeah, James appreciate it, well said, I agree with everything
you said. UH. And as far as the trade is concerned, what
is it gonna take to get Kenlly Jansen from the Boston Red Sox. I
don't think it's gonna be a heavy asking price, certainly. I mean,
you're absorbing the rest of his contract this year at a couple million dollars,
I'm assuming, so you're gonna give up mid level prospect or too, maybe
somebody at the major league level that's a guy that can contribute, that's young
still under his rookie deal, that you got can control under And the same
with the UH search for a starter, you know, David Vassa and I
were talking about this off air, and he brought it up on air a
couple of days ago. A deal to Detroit Tigers, you know, would
that be a possibility, And what about a trade to go get that guy
what's his name, Stuble Scruble, Stuble Scooble. Yeah, yeah, that
guy Tark Scruble, the kid from the Tigers who the Dodgers faced Friday night,
stud one hundred mile an hour left handed throwing starter. Go get him
and by it. At the same time, take Javier Bias his contract and
the millions that are still owed to him. And David Vesi brought the analogy
of the example of when you went and got Adrian Gonzalez and that deal with
Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. You had to absorb contracts in order to make
it and sweeten the pot for the other team. You had to alleviate some
of the dead weight, so to speak, and take that on and just
wear it. And Javier Bia is still a good defensive shortstop. Certainly,
his production offensively is not there at all, but you would have to take
on that contract in order to make a deal for that left handed Or what
about a trade for Garrett Crochet, you know that's a possibility. But I
think he's going to be target number one from everybody out there. He's a
former top fifteen pick, still under control. That's going to cost more.
So there are options out there, and I think the Dodgers, I certainly,
I would hope the Dodge would not worry about what it's gonna cost to
go out there and get them. And I say costs, it's not necessarily
always money. Costs could be giving up prospects, and the Dodgers have a
ton of prospects that they can give up. Eight six six nine eighty seven,
two five to seventy will take them come back. We'll get to all
your phone calls. If you're on hold, we're gonna get to you.
I promise. We're gonna go past the top of the hour. Even though
Colin he is not happy about that. We're gonna do it. We're gonna
bust the top of the hour and keep taking your phone calls. Eight sixty
six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. Because this is a day
in which the Dodger fans will certainly remember yesterday. Yeah, that one's stung
too. Give it up a five run lead in the ninth inning, losing
ten innings. Come back today, put a three spot on the scoreboard in
the first and then lose on a walk off ball thrown away down the third
base line by Johann Ramirez, and the Tigers beat the Dodgers today, four
to three. It's the All Star break. It's the time to get healthy,
get right, and hopefully get better the second half of the season for
this Dodgers team. Your phone calls when we come back. Dodgers losing Detroit
four to three. You're on amhi seventy LA Sports Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio
app. AM five seventy LA Sports be anywhere at any time, and you
can hear past episodes of Dodger Talk all of those things. Search AM five
seventy on the iHeartRadio app. We're streaming online. We stream every game too.
Come find me back to Dodger Talk on AM five seventy LA Sports.
Still nobody out. He goes to bunch, He bunts it back to Ramirez,
who throws to thirty, throws it away and the Tigers are gonna away.
In Coming in the store is Molloy and the Dodgers literally throw this one
away. On a Sunday afternoon, Dodgers get walked off by the Detroit Tigers.
Tell me if you heard that one before. Second day in a row.
They lose four to three today, giving him two runs in the ninth
inning. Johann Ramirez gets tagged with the loss as the Dodgers drop two of
three in Detroit. They go one and five on the road trip, and
they can lose six to seven going into the All Star Break. Daniels Jeweler
is the official sponsor of the trip around the Diamond. Stop by any Daniel's
location in say home run for your free team bracelet and a fifty dollars gift
card towards any purchase of ninety nine dollars or more. Daniels Jewelers own the
Dream. Johan Ramirez was out there in the ninth inning after getting the eighth
inning as well. Dave Roberts after the game said Daniel Hudson was unavailable with
back stiffness, Evan Phillips Blake trying it unavailable due to usage, and Alex
Vessio, who was getting warm, would have been pitching it for the fourth
time in five days and wanted to keep him out of harm's way. Now,
A lot of pushback on that from Dodger fans on social media, certainly,
and wondering, well, if you're going into the All Star break,
why not empty the tank so to speak, going into the All Star break
with four plus days off for a lot of these Dodger players outside of the
six who are going to the All Star Game, but for the Dodgers' bullpen,
a chance to have a break, and why not send it back out
there to pitch for the fourth time in five days, the third day in
a row, or get that usage up in a game here before the All
Star Break. The flip side of that is it's July, and you don't
want to burn out a picture or risk an arm injury taxing them here in
July when you really need them in September and certainly October eight sixty sixth nine
eighty seven, two five seventy. Chris and Mattlibu, thanks for being patient.
You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Hey, Jim, I
are you doing? Buddy? It's Chris and Malibu. Thank Chris. Hey,
do me a favor. Let me empty the tank a little bit and
just get this off of my chest. I thought, I listened to that
game yesterday and that was like, to me, embarrassing that they lost.
But that happens. Then you come back today and you get three runs in
the first inning, and then you cannot score a single run against the Detroit
Tigers for the rest of the game. After yesterday's debacle. What I'm not
understanding here, I get it in the middle of the season. There's a
lot of seasons ago, a lot of people coming back from the injured reserve
list. I just don't get any urgency from these guys. And I know
I'm gonna get a lot of pushback from people. But if it were if
it was Kurt Gibson's Dodgers, he would have taken somebody and shook him or
knocked over water. Somebody needs to get upset at how they're playing. It
seems like they take it for granted that they will come back and win.
They've been doing this for fifteen years. They've had the best payroll for fifteen
years, and they have not won a World Championship with one hundred and sixty
two games with the best team. As a guy who was at Game two
of the twenty seventeen World Series when I was sitting there watching Kenlly Jansen give
up four runs. They have not been the same since they don't have Where's
where's that Where's that heart? Where's that anger? Where's the person to shake
them up? And I kind of blame this on Dave Roberts is a great
guy, but he needs to he needs to get pissed off. Somebody needs
to take somebody by them, by the caller and say, listen, we
have the highest pay roll in the damn league. Play like it. Okay,
here's my pushback, Chris, and I'll let you finish. My guess
as the response would be, well, we won one hundred plus games all
these years in a row, and we don't have a World Series to show
for it. Why do we need to go out there and show that fire
and try to win a game in July like it's a game in October.
Went over the course of one sixty two, which is the greater part of
this whole season, we're still winning the division by six or seven games.
I guess that would be the flip side of it, is, like,
yeah, winning today and going all out to win this game and pushing guys
to the limit. On July fourteenth. You win a game in July,
but we're playing for the greater good of a championship in October. And I
just throw a little bit more in before he cut me off. But look,
it is July. I know it's Julian. But every time when we
get to October, these are games that you play to win in October,
and then when we get to October, we flame out because we don't have
that same heart. We have nothing to pull from. We don't have anything
to pull from. It's like Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. They're not coming
through that door with the way they were a couple of years ago. They're
not coming to save the day. Man, this is a big problem,
and it starts at the top. Andrew Friedman Dave Roberts in the same amount
of time in three years, the Lakers have gotten rid of three coaches because
they're not getting world championships. But Dave Roberts walks out on the thing every
year for fifteen years with no world championship. I've been a Dodger fan for
forty years, and I'm just frustrated, obviously, And I mean, so
anyways, That's where I'm at. By Chris, I appreciate man. Great
to hear you free, you know. For Dave Roberts, the old expression
damned if you do, damned if you don't, I think is the best
way to describe it. Because this is a Dodgers team that has fought,
fought, fought to win one hundred games, fought, fought, fought to
win the division, fought fought, fought to hold off the Giants, fought,
fought, fought to hold off the Padres. Have have tried to do
their best and win a record amount of games in the season and make sure
they get to the postseason. And they have done that, and they've they've
checked off that first box, you know, a decade in or plus and
now and they get to postseason and certainly they come up short outside of twenty
twenty in which they won in Arlington the World Series Championship. Now, if
the Dodgers go out today and Alex Vessi pitches the ninth inning, and I'm
just playing, you know, Devil's advocate here, the old damned if you
do, damned if you don't. So if he comes out and tries to
win the game of the ninth inning, Dave Roberts and this coaching staff and
this Dodgers team, and somebody gets hurt and they lose one of these these
relievers for the rest of the season, then it's well, why are you
trying to push here in July when the goal is October. I mean,
we've learned over the last decade. Your whole argument of well, this Dodgers
team needs to start, you know, being aggressive during the regular season in
anticipation for October. I don't know, is a win in July where you
come back and you've forced the issue in a ninth inning in Detroit in the
final game before the All Star Break worth it when you're looking at the greater
good of one hundred and sixty two and trying to win a division which you're
six games up or seven games up. I mean, if you're a Dodger
player right now, I'm just being the human element right now. If you're
a Dodger player, you lost six of seven going to the All Star Break
and you're hearing what's happening around you, and you're like, well, well,
the end of the ruld is not here, because we still got a
six or seven game lead in the division. As bad as we have played
at losing three straight in Philadelphia, back to back walk off losses to a
fourth place team in the Central and we're still six or seven games up.
I guess it's not that bad, but still I understand you need to shake
things up. You don't want to come back off of the off the also
break and just say, well, you know, sky is not falling,
We're okay, and just continue to play like this. Certainly you can't do
that because that legal dwindle, dwindle, dwindle by the time you look up
in September, Oh what happened. We're down to a game and a half
lead in the division in September fifteenth. That could happen. So I understand
both sides of it. I really do. It's July. You want to
win every game, but at the same time, your ultimate goal is October.
So you go out there, you fight as best you can. You
make sure you don't tax guys here in July and they're not pitching four games
in five days and doing something they're not used to and putting extra strain on
that arm here in July when you really need them for October. So again,
I see both sides. I understand Mike Downey, your next up.
You're on Dodge Talk. I do a Mike. It's just Frank. Sorry
about that, Frank, go ahead, Yeah, go ahead, Frank.
Thanks for taking my thoughts him. Well. I wanted to talk about the
bottom of the lineup, but before that, uh, I want to say
Dave Roberts full full the whole world. We all thought vest was coming in
and he saw the result. So I've just wanted to name some players that
are just really hurting us. And this is just my opinion. I'm gonna
make it quick. Calvin Bigio defense dusted, Austen's crueless, Keith Hernandez defense,
great offense, offense not the same player, swings at everything, Calvin
looks defense okay, offense inconsistent ever since he's been a Dodger. Same with
me. Joe Vargas, Austin Barnes defense, great prize, hard to barely
hit the boss out of the infield, James Outman defense, great offense,
completely lost. Needs to make an effort to change and I don't see it.
Needs to get option again, And I just wanted to finally, if
this is what we have and hope to win it all, it's just not
gonna happen. We probably have the worst probably historical bottom of the lineup in
all of well at least for the first half. And that's all I've got
answer. Taking my cut team all right, Frank, appreciate it. Eight
sixty six nine Ken in Newport, You're next up on Dodge of Talk.
Hi, Ken, how you doing? Ay ten? I agree with the
guy prior, but I have a couple of other comments. We're two and
eight in the last ten games. We're in the single weakest division in baseball.
When you do two and eight and lose as many games as they have,
they would not be in first place in any other league other than the
one they're in. Now, what's the problem? Obviously starting pitching being injured
as a problem, Having those third basement is a problem. Having no real
second basement that can hit the ball as a problem. But I've been doing
this. Laskaska hit four years multiplier that times fifteen. This had been around
for a long time, and I am sorry but putting the same picture in
who gave a home run yesterday and started the collapse and then leaving him in
And let's not forget the first time he pitched hit five guys, So there's
something not right with him to begin with, and he makes two errors.
Why would you bring him back to second inning? And to say that everyone's
tired or everyone's in it. You don't have a game for a week.
There's no doublehanders tomorrow. There's going to be somebody in that bullpen that you
could put in because Rameirez has issues and there are constant issues learning the game
of baseball. And I'm sorry, I hate to say this, but I've
been watching this in the playoffs. I've been watching this in a World series,
and there's a lot of those that were lost by poor decisions by Dave
Roberts bringing in the right guy or leaving the starter in too long. Sorry,
but I'm pretty angry today. I want to see this. Yeah,
I got you can I understand your frustration. I'm gonna push back a little
bit. I see why he wanted to get guys rest. I understand that
it's the All Star break, and it's easy to look at that and say
you got to go into the break and you know, empty the tank,
so to speak, and let these guys pitch today knowing they'll have four days
off. That's one approach, but you have to look at their usage so
far, and guys who have worked three days in a row, or for
ves you had been four out of the last five. You have to go
back and look at how many you know, pitches he threw, how taxing
he was and during those outings. And for Vessia, you know he's never
going to say no. But if you're getting the guy warmed up for anticipation
for the tenth inning, bring him in for the ninth and let him go
out there. Pete Alex Vesia and go out there and get out. You
know, I like Johann Ramirez, nice guy, great story as far as
what Dave Roberts did talking him out in the Mountain Cincinnati and building back his
confidence and getting him back to being a guy that they can bring out of
the bullpen. But a high leverage situation like this going into the All Star
break, want to feel good about yourself, you know, why not go
to Vesia. Why not let him go out there and get the three outs,
and if he gives up the lead in the ninth inning, hey,
that was our last man standing and we're going into the break knowing that we're
going to get healthy. You know, that's the move I would have made
I'll go back even earlier in this game. I would have sent Brent Honeywell
back out there to the fourth inning. He had a one two three first
through fourteen pitches. He had a one to two three second, which he
threw nine pitches. He gave up one hit in a thirteen pitch third inning.
That's thirty six pitches. Not a lot of stress in those three innings.
Again, they wanted to get him around forty forty five pitchers or whatever
and get him out of the game. And Dave Roberts didn't know how many
innings they were going to get one, two or three. They got three,
You probably could have gotten four. If not, then you go to
Ryan Yarborough at a phone call's notice to come in out of the bullpen.
But why not knowing Again, it's easy to say this now, but I
said it at the time. If you know you need twenty seven outs somehow,
some way, you got to patch your way to get there with what
you have available in your bullpen, and you know who's available and who's not
available, You know the usage on these guys and where you stand as far
as getting to twenty seven outs, why not try to get another one,
two, heck another three outs out of Brent Honeywell, he's already got you
nine. Let him try to get to twelve. And then after that reassess
Ryan Yarborough comes in and the way Yarborough's been pitching has not been well.
Walk two more today, sixteen walks in his last eleven appearances. First two
guys reach base in the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth inning.
He's able to get out of it, but his control wasn't there, falling
behind constantly one to zero in the count too and own the count. Why
not leave Brent Honeywell out there? What do you have to lose it?
Brought him in to help get you through today. Let him go out there
and pitch until he can't anymore or the situation doesn't warrant it anymore. David
and Westlake next up on Dodgie Talk. Hi, David, Jim, thanks
a lot for taking my call. Man, oh Man, you and a
majority of the callers are just right on the button, so much smarter than
how Roberts acted today and managed today. I got to tell you, I'm
super angry about the message that he sent to alex Vessia today. You're just
before the All Star break, you get him hot in the bullpen, and
then you don't use him in the ninth inning. What kind of message does
that send to alex Vesia. To me, it says, I don't have
faith in you. I don't believe that you can get three outs in the
ninth inning. So I'm worried about the tenth inning when we don't have any
pitchers left. That guy has been lighted out in the ninth inning. He's
been great. Give him the ball to get the last three outs. Don't
count on Ramirez, who doesn't teach the ninth inning, who's never closed the
game. It doesn't make any sense, and it's a terrible message to send
to Alex Vessia. And you can speculate all you want about what this team
is going to be like in the future, after the All Star break,
after the deadline, it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that
this guy, Roberts, does not know how to use his personnel the way
he played in the Major League. He used small ball, he ran the
bases, he sold, he was a dynamic little player, and yet he
does not have the team that understands how to lay a bunt down. Forget
about buns, how to hit a ground ball to the right side with less
than shoouts for the man on second. I appreciate it yesterday the bun attempt
by Austin Barnes, that to me is not acceptable, and I know David
addressed it and wonder why there wasn't a better butnt attempt made by Austin Barnes.
Clearly, how is that Dave Roberts fault? You know you can put
the lineup out. Steve Sacks told me this over and over and continues to
always tell me this. The manager is not the person who takes the blame.
You can put somebody out there and they've got to go out and execute.
That's up to them to do that. Now, if they don't have
the ability to do it, you find somebody who does have the ability to
do it and execute and get the job done. Certainly, talent is one
thing, and there's more talent on certain teams than on the other and the
Dodgers have a lot of talent on their team. You've got to be able
to execute bunts. You've got to be able to execute fielding a bunt and
throwing to first to get the out and not bobbling the ball away and having
first and second and then the next butt attempt you get it, rush to
throw and throw it down the third baseline and let the winning run come in.
That's not Dave Roberts' fault. Johann Ramirez has got to execute the plays.
A pitcher's got to execute making the pitches yesterday. Is that Dave Roberts
fault Yesterday? That Evan Phillips give up the home run? Is that it's
Evan Phillips fault for giving up the pitch and giving up a home run to
lose the game. You can blame the pitcher or the manager for maybe putting
somebody out there that you don't think is in the right situation. Maybe it's
not not the right guy that you would have put out there. But you
know what, they got more information we do than we do. They know
their players better than we do, and the situations they're put in is the
ones they feel are the best. Now, certainly I would have managed a
little differently, but that to me, I'm not the manager of the Dodgers.
And you know what, Dave made the decisions he's gonna make. Certainly,
bringing Brent Honeywell in was a decision the Dodgers needed to last minute to
get him through. Today he gave him three innings. I personally would have
left him in there. But again, go to Ryan Yarborough, who up
until the last two weeks has been really good for this Dodgers team in his
role, and maybe today was the day he gives him four plus innings and
they get out of there with the win. Unfortunately, today was just another
day like Ryan Yarwals. Ryan Yarborough has been having the last two weeks in
which he struggles to get guys out, struggles to finish off batters, falls
behind an account, gives up leadoff singles, lead off walks, and the
Dodgers struggle eventually give up two runs and let the Tigers back into this game.
Now again, I can see where Dodger fans want to get after Dave
Roberts. I get that, I understand it because the manager takes the heat.
But again, the players have to execute folks, execute pitches, execute
bunts, execute fielding cleanly, execute going hard after a ball in the corner
and limiting a guy to a double rather than a triple. Legging out balls
like they did yesterday, and Rick Monday talked about guys giving a hard nineties
and beating out ground balls and putting the pressure on the defense. That's just
happening. What happened today The Tigers put the pressure on the defense to make
plays and Johann Ramirez could not make a play twice on bun attempts. Real
quick, we have to go to the All Star break with Ezzy? Is
he how you doing? You gotta be quick? Is he really need to
ask me how? I'm dainty? Day team? I am so firstrated with
this team, and but you're right, might have to be you hear me.
It's a way to wait top onth on Friday, that you know it's
the team part is not even really. I don't even blame Day this weekend.
I blame the player. They had the leader last tea game. They
blew it. It's the team. It's a team game. Yeah, I
know, But I'm telling me they were just unseparable. And I don't even
blame if the players need to be blamed for it, it's totally totally right
and we're just gonna say that. So but I when I say it's a
long season, you guys, I know it's happened and they make this one
thing clear. It now week up. It's only four days. Four days
is an internity in baseball, though I appreciate it. Is he what are
you gonna do for the All Star break? Cabo Hawaii? What are you
doing? I can't have to work with that's we got. Thank you?
Is the good thing is you can enjoy off night Dodger Talk with Davids Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to get you through your All Star break
and the Dodgers will reconvene on Friday night. The second half of this season,
and again it's a second half. I think of anticipation. How is
this Dodger team gonna come out in the second half? What are they gonna
look like? How are they going to bounce back? How is this roster
gonna look like coming out out of the All Star break? Who are they
gonna be able to get back to add to this roster from injuries? And
at the end of July, what is this front offic was gonna do to
make this Dodger team look different going into the postseason. What additions and subtractions
could they be making to help this roster of twenty six come October and the
playoffs, So a lot of things will be decided here post All Star break,
but certainly a time for this team to rest and get ready and to
decompress for a lot of these guys and get ready for the second half push.
Certainly, you Dodger fans are fired up, and I love it.
I absolutely love the passion and the excitement at times, and certainly the disappointment
when this Dodger team doesn't play to their capabilities, and certainly the last two
days are examples of that. This last road trip is an example of this
Dodger team just not playing up to capabilities. You played a really good Phillies
team, but you have no business getting swept like they did in Philadelphia.
And this Dodgers team is way better than this team that lost to a three
in Detroit to the Tigers. Losing in the fashion they did yesterday doesn't happen
very often. The numbers are with the numbers are. And you've heard about
how many times the Dodgers team had had when they score first, when they
have a lead in the ninth inning, they win nine times out of ten,
and yesterday was that tenth time they didn't win. And today this is
a Dodgers team that had a golden opportunity to come back and win and go
into the All Star break on a positive note. And they had every opportunity
to extend the lead in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,
and certainly the top of the ninth inning when they had the bases loaded
and couldn't get across another run to extend the lead and give themselves a little
bit more breathing room rather than a one run lead in the ninth inning.
And as it is, Johann Ramirez comes in pitches the eighth, they ask
him to pitch the ninth with Alex Vessia getting hot and real quick. With
Alex Vessia pitching, what happens if he goes out there in the tenth inning
and the Dodgers score a run and the Tigers score a run and you've got
to go to the eleventh inning. Is Vessia, who's now pitching for the
fourth time in five days, able to give you two days? That's the
question, you know, you think about, well, we're saving for extra
innings. Well, if you don't have anybody behind them, you better play
for twenty seven outs, you better play for only nine. And I think
that was where the mistake also went. But you know what, the Dodgers
will get better, they'll get healthy, they'll get right, and they'll enjoy
their time off and get ready for the second half of the season. That's
going to do it for Dodger Talk again. David vas Day will be with
you Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for off Night Dodger Talk. We'll
be back with you for the next Dodger game on Friday against the Boston Red
Sox who come to town. Kiley Jansen and the Sacks in town to start
the second half of the season, the start of a seven game homestand three
against Boston and three or four against San Francisco after that. Thanks to Colin
Ee, thanks to you Dodger fansi being a part of the show, for
listening, for podcasting. Enjoy your rest of your Sunday afternoon, stay cool,
enjoy your all star break. David fast Day's back with you tomorrow night,
Off Night Dotch. You talk so long, Everybody,