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Talk. Like back, David Basse. Welcome to Dodger Talk. David Vasse
with you until ten o'clock after the Dodgers defeat the Rockies nine to five at
Corsefield eight six six, nine to eighty seven, two five seventy is the
phone number. I know we're all going to be caught up with the offense,
and it was nice to see them put up a ninth spot tonight,
even if it was at cors Field. But this season has been about the
Dodgers starting pitching. James Paxton has been a big part of it, and
I know he's had some downs, but he's also had some ups, and
tonight he beat a not a very good team. But it's not easy to
pitch a course field, and especially not easy to pitch a course field and
only give up two hits. No matter who the Rockies lineup is, that's
still a significant accomplishment. Paxton goes seven innings tonight, strikes out eight and
only gives up two hits. The Dodgers now forty five and twenty nine.
They are eight and a half games ahead of the San Francisco Giants, who
are now in second place behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The Padres
have lost four in a row. There are now two games under five hundred.
The Rockies fall to twenty five and forty seven. They are nineteen games
back of the Dodgers in the NL West. And look, this was game
one with life without Mooki, and tonight it looked good. Right against the
Rockies, it looked good. Show he Otani, the new leadoff hitter.
Dave Roberts said he will see most of the time in that top spot while
Mooki Betts is on the injured list. Otani will lead off against right handed
pitching. I know, we see a lot of right handed pitching in Major
League Baseball, and from there, you know, I was a little surprised
they had Will Smith hitting second and Freddie Freeman remaining in the three spot,
but it makes sense. I'm sure Freddie wants some consistency to his season last
year he hit second all year. I'm sure he was he would do whatever
Dave Roberts asked of him, but I'm sure he preferred to hit third,
and I'm fine with that as well. You want your guy that can make
contact and drive the ball to be in that three spot with runners on base,
especially with Mookie Betts on the injured list. And look, there's no
sugarcoating the loss of Mookie Betts, but a lot of teams would still love
to have two MVPs like the Dodgers do with sho Heyo Tani and Freddie Freeman.
They're going to have a two time All Star and catcher Will Smith,
not to mention ta Oscar Hernandez, who is having one of the best seasons
of any National League outfielder. So the Dodgers have enough players to be able
to cover it until Mooki comes back. And Dave Roberts said before the game
today it's expected to be six to eight weeks no surgery for Mookie Bets on
that left hand that was broken on a ninety eight fastball. And you know,
just like Yamamoto I was telling you, so many were worried and concerned
about who's the odd man out. Well, a lot can happen. One
pitch can change a season, one pitch can change an opportunity and all of
a sudden, now the Dodgers are calling Miguel Vargas back up. He was
active for tonight. And Miguel Rojas, who has been playing sparingly now is
thrust into an everyday role. I know he's wanted an everyday role. Well,
here you go, Miguel Rojas, here is your opportunity. Hopefully he's
ready for it, because the Dodgers are going to need him for at least
the next two months. Nine eight seven, two five seventy is the phone
number. Let's get back to Corsefield to hear from the manager, Dave Roberts.
It was a great, great performance across the board, and obviously Maggie
had had a great night. Offensively solid as always at short and to see
show Hey slide into the leadoff spots and I seamlessly was big and just up
and down the line up. We got contributions. And you know that first
inning, I thought Taos at bat really set the tone for the night.
And then the way we'll finished his bad driving in a run, capped off
the offense with James Paxton, his efficiency. What stood out to you about
it most? I thought the fastball played up today. He got a lot
of swing and miss. He sped him up and then he you know,
through the curveball short got swing and miss and they were just off balanced on
I couldn't time them up. And obviously he only gave up two hits and
had a good rhythm. And think that last inning the ball started to kind
of cut a little bit glove side, started to losing a little bit of
lose a little bit of feel. But to see him get through seven,
it's just what we needed. Obviously, got a row confident and he doesn't
kind of understand that cave. Just to see it, like the first game
after his injury, how good is that psychological to the guy? Proved the
guy gener just kind of seeing it. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
I think I wasn't concerned. You know, we still got to go out
there and play and win baseball games. And like I said yes yesterday,
we still have good players. And you know, Maggie's been swinging aback the
last couple of months really well. So he's going to get more more opportunities
and show, Hey, the last week has been great, and Freddie is
really this last few weeks, this month of June, he's really been on
fire and getting on base five times night or six six times tonight. Pretty
impressive. Great game by Freddie Freeman, only the second player in Dodger franchise
history to be on base six times and to have five walks. First time
in Freddy's career he has ever walked five times in a game. Eight six
six nine, eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. Dodgers beat
the Rockies tonight nine to five, and going back to the Mookie injury,
the only thing I can compare it to I know I said earlier on Petros
and Money Show that it reminded me of when Sieger had Tommy john and hip
surgery back in twenty eighteen, and they went out and made the trade for
Manny Machado basically in the middle of the All Star Game. This reminds me
more of another Seeger injury in twenty twenty one, when he broke his hand
his wrist area and he was out for sixty five games, and the Dodgers
obviously went out and made the trade for Max Scherzer and Trey Turner. This
reminds me of that because the Dodgers at the trade deadline before Mooki returns could
make another trade for a shortstop, whether it be Bobashett or if the Brewers
cooled down, maybe Williadomas outside chance for that because of how well the Brewers
are playing in their playoff chances are pretty high these days. But I don't
see the Dodgers panicking and being forced into a trade just because Mookie Bets is
out until August. I feel like the way they're going into the trade deadline
and the way they're viewing this trade deadline the next six weeks is exactly the
same way it was viewed before Mookie's injury. Now, Yamamoto's injury could be
a little bit different because I know there were some around the Dodgers that believed,
yeah, they could use another bat to lengthen their lineup, but maybe
we need another starting pitcher. And that was before Yamamoto got hurt. And
I know Dave Roberts said yamamoto injury is not season ending. I'm not gonna
say I don't believe it, because I think he is hopeful that's the case,
and I know the Dodgers are hopeful that's the case. But when you're
talking about a rotator cuff, I've spoken to pictures in the past that have
had it, and they said, you really don't know what's going on in
that rotator cuff that shoulder area unless the surgeon goes in and sees it for
himself, because the MRI could show minimal damage, while when you go inside
and operate, all of a sudden, there's major damage in that rotator cuff
area. So there have been some pictures that have been able to pitch the
rest of their careers with some sort of strain, which is, by the
way, a tear in your rotator cuff. A strain is a tear.
No matter how they want to word it, you could look it up.
A strain is a tear. So there is some sort of tear in that
rotator cuff. But like I said, I've spoken to pictures in the past
over the years that have said I've been able to pitch through it. There's
been scar tissue that builds up around it. But then other times you can't
get rid of the pain or the limitations. And even though the MRI shows
kind of gray, cloudy images on the MRI, you have to go in
there to be able to see exactly the extent of the injury and the damage.
So That's the reason why I believe the Dodgers may be on the lookout
for another starting pitcher, whether it's Garrett Crochet from the White Sox jesus Lozardo
from the Marlins. They're looking for another starting pitcher that's not just a number
five guy, but a guy that possibly could start a game three. A
lot can happen, as I've said before, between now and the end of
the season, so you want to add depth to that rotation with guys that
can make a playoff start. Eight six nine, eight seven two five seventy
is the phone number. Let's hear from Dodger GM Brandon Gomes. I had
a chance to catch up with him on Sunday before the Mookie Beds injury and
before we knew the extent of the Yama Moto injury. So listen to this.
And this was the morning of Mookie getting hit by a pitch Sunday afternoon,
and the morning before it was made public the extent of the damage to
Yamamoto's shoulder. I know us in the media and in the fandom world,
we're always already zeroing in maybe five or six weeks too soon. When it
comes to the trade deadline, when do you start to kind of zero in
on what the needs may be and where you could help this team On July
thirtieth, I mean that's just assessing libory game and kind of seeing how guys
are trending, what we have internally, what could make sense elsewhere. So
it's it's constantly assessing what we have and kind of looking at, you know,
what's the bet we're gonna make moving forward, who's gonna help us win
you know, HELPM, who's gonna help us win in October and ultimately,
you know, win a world championship. So it's just you know, kind
of evaluating and assessing over these next six weeks or so. So much parody
in both leagues doesn't make it a little bit more challenging to pull off trades.
I mean, certainly right now now we don't know what's gonna look like
Gaus. It gets closer, it could stay this bunch stuff, or it
could separate, And you know that's that's part of like you just have to
kind of continue to stay flexible and and evaluate on what makes sense. And
it could be a big move, it could be a small move, Like
you don't really know how it's gonna play out. How do you assess the
National League? When you look at it, the Dodgers are among just four
teams consistently that have a winning record in the National League. Is it parody
or is it a down year? I think it is parody because you look
at the rosters at those teams that are like covering around five hundred, like
there's some real talent in there. And maybe it's you know, if they're
not because of injuries or whatever, there could be some depth component there with
their high end talent and a certain thing there. So I think it's more
for parity than the thing else. All Right, there's Dodger GM, Brandon
Gomes And that was, like I said Sunday morning, before Mookie Bets broke
his left hand wrist area and before we knew the full extent of Yamamoto's now
shoulder injury. And I go back to what I told you see I try
to share with you with what we see, and what we saw on Tuesday
afternoon was not a healthy pitcher. Because you don't see a pitcher playing catch
on flat ground with the Dodge GM, with two pitching coaches and a herd
of trainers watching you and now we found out exactly that Yamamoto, uh it
was maybe tricep titaness being a symptom of a shoulder problem, but that was
not normal, and we had an inkling of that. And if you were
listening to this show, so should you have eight six six nine, eight
seven two five seventy is the phone number. Dodgers beat the Rockies tonight nine
to five at coors Field. Let's go out to La John. You're on
Dodger Talk. How you doing, John? Yeah? Great post game as
always, Dave. You know, it's so interesting. It's you know,
Japanese pitchers they're incredible. I mean overaf you look at the history, including
you, Darvish. But they have to commit six years in Japan. So
when you offer a star like Yamamoto hundreds of millions of dollars, he's already
been pitching, but they don't. They pitch every five days, just like
Major League Baseball, and they have one hundred and forty four game season,
so it's not like it's a drastic increase being here in the US. So
the wear and tear, it's there. I mean, it's you know,
pitchers these days are fragile. It's just how the dynamic of being a pitcher
today looks like well, John, I know that the concerning part right,
because there is a lot of mileage on his arm and his shoulder, and
here he is two months into his major league career. The Dodgers have done
everything possible to cater to his needs, to give him extra rest and everything
else, and they're looking at a rotator CUF injury. With all that being
said, exactly, and it's serious. But I also I want to point
to something last night in Dave Roberts's post game and I don't mean to nitpick,
but this is really really important. Dave Roberts over and over again when
he was referring to Mookie Betts and the injury, he said, we need
to move on. He said it over and over again. He said it
at least twice, maybe three times, three times. I hope MOOKI was
not watching that press conference, because what he needed to say was we will
move forward, not move on, and that could bite him in. It
could really bite him at the end of the season if they don't win the
World Series and Mookie isn't or you know, isn't himself coming back from injury,
because he's going to come back, but is he going to be himself?
How long will it take for him to be himself? That's the big
question, and it's the game of baseball is all mental, and so you're
you know your manager has to have your back one hundred percent. I know
he does, John, I know MOOKI and number one, I'm sure he
did not hear or see what Dave Roberts said, So it's not going to
affect his head. What is going to be tough for Mooky is he's been
trying his hardist every single day, three or four hours and thanks for the
phone call three or four hours before every game, trying to be the best
shortstop as much as he can be, to be the best he can be
at shortstop. And that's gonna be a life change for him. I know
he's gonna continue to work and keep the legs going, but it's a lot
different when you're out there being able to make the throw because that was really
what he was working on, the throws more than anything else, maybe the
backhanded plays. So for me, that's going to be the biggest mental challenge
for Mookie Bets because he's been going NonStop since three or four days before Korea,
and it's disappointing. Right, I've been calling twenty twenty four the season
of Mookie Bets, and he was on an MVP track. But the season
of Mookie Bets is not over. This will be the season of Mookie Bets
if he leads the Dodgers to a World Series championship. And you're right,
it's not going to be easy to get back on track. It's not that
simple. He's gonna have to get some rhythm under his belt. And if
he comes back in August, that'll be more than enough time for him to
hit his stride in October. So who knows. This could be a blessing
in disguise. Obviously we did not like to see Moki in that much pain
on Sunday afternoon, and obviously you rather have him in the starting lineup all
the way through the season. But it could be worse. It could have
been worse. And I know my guy doctor Shin who operated on my left
wrist, is taking good care of Mookie beds and his fractured left hand or
left wrist area. Luckily, he will not have to operate on Muki,
and that's a big, a big plus for the Dodgers. Eight six six
nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. We're gonna take a
time out here on Dodger Talk. When we continue, well, head back
to Denver to check in with Jose Moda and also here from Freddie Freeman,
who a career night. The Dodgers beat the Rockies tonight nine to five on
AM five to seventy LA Sports on air at AM five seventy, online at
AM five seventy LA sports dot com, and available by podcast on the iHeartRadio
app. This is Dodger Talk with David Bassi. Two nothing Dodgers in the
second in and now will winds it down the right field sign next a fair
ball, It's gonna roll of the corner. Show. He's on the run.
He's around second, now touching third. He's on his way to the
plate. Smith around second. He is in the third, standing with a
two out RBI triple three nothing. Dodgers. Look like that ball hit right
on the foul line. It certainly did. Rick Monday still got that twenty
twenty vision from his playing days. Rick Monday and Tim Neverett on the call
tonight for us on AM five seventy LA Sports and Dodgers Radio. The Dodgers
defeat the Rockies tonight nine to five. Daniels Jewelers, they are the official
sponsor of the Trip around the Diamond. Stop by any Daniel's location and say
home run for your free team bracelet and fifty dollars gift card toward any purchase
of ninety nine dollars or more. Daniels Jewelers own the Dream, and I
will stand by my position that the triple is the most exciting play in baseball
outside of a walk off base it or even walk off home run. So
to me, seeing Will Smith off to the races for his first triple of
the season was more exciting than seeing any of these other guys hitting home runs
at cors Field, whether it was Jones, Stallings or Goodman. That triple
by Will Smith the most exciting play tonight at the Mile High City. Freddy
fe Freeman, very steady, he's not flashy, and tonight he did a
great job by and before we get to Freddy, can I just say that
I thought Will Smith at bat in the ninth inning sent a message to the
rest of the team. The team was up at that point in time nine
to one, and you have Will Smith battling in a twelve pitch at bat
and it ended up being a sacrifice fly. To me, that's the type
of at bat that sends a message to the rest of the team. We're
not giving up at bats and we are going to fight even without Mookie Bets
in the starting lineup. Freddie Freeman also sent a message tonight to pass the
baton a career high five walks tonight in the game, let's head back to
Coursfield to hear from the Dodger first baseman. I just thought overall, I
thought over the last few weeks, and we haven't sworn the runs that we
wanted to, but I felt like the bats were getting better and better as
each day went on. And you know, today we just kind of put
it all together. Yesterday and I was obviously some tough news and Mookie Bats
going down. How did you see this team's cutting up, build around him
and also step up for him in a way while he's down. Yeah,
I mean, obviously you're never gonna replace Mookie Bats. It's a top five
player in all of the Major League Baseball. But you know, we got
a lot of good guys in this group, a lot of veteran guys.
A lot of us have been through uh on teams that have lost people to
injuries. But we got a good group to hold it down and let them
get healthy, and we'll welcome him back here, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Did you have any preference, like how if you even got readjusted,
just show up and hit and play wherever? I'm told? Mention that everyone's
kind of a team when you lose, like a good play. Obviously you
were in that that brave team. Like how tough is that emotionally and as
a as a clubhouse to tiw you guys are and how do you kind of
stay positive? I mean, I mean you always everyone was pretty down obviously
yesterday when you lose Mookie. But I think it's just more of the guys
we have in this clubhouse. When you got you got obviously I've been around
long time. You got Jay, Hey, you got ct you got Will
got Miggey, the guy who's going to fill in for him has been an
everyday guy for a long time, really really good too. So we just
got a lot of guys that you can surround and create a clubhouse culture like
we have that we've done over the last couple of years here that is able
to kind of just try and keep it going. There's not season ending.
We know he'll be back, so we just got to hold it down until
gets back, and we've got a good group to keep the vibes going and
play well because we know they would want us to play well and they want
to come back to a team playing really well. So we'll try and do
the best we can. How would you just wrap the way the Rockies pitched
against you tonight? Five walks at the base hit? Yeah, I mean
I have pictures to hit. I just followed him off, so yeah,
just the three more bold before I could hit the ones. But you know,
it's just kind of how they've always been pitching kind of round on the
edges, and I had some pictures of the hit that I felt off aware
of how rare it was to walk five times in a game? No,
no, is it? Is it rare? Oh? Is it rare?
Oh? No? I rally get five hits. There's Freddy Freeman, Yes
he would, he likes to swing the bat, but yeah, five walks
is very rare. Only Carl Yastremski has had a box score line similar to
Freddy Freeman's in the last ninety years. So he's in a rarefied company with
five walks in a basic getting on base all six times tonight. All right,
let's head back to Coursefield again. That's where Jose Mota is in the
Mile High City, I should say, in Denver, somewhere in Lo dough.
How you doing, Jose, I'm doing wonderful, man, especially after
we win a little scary there at the end, but you know, the
whole broadcast, I'm going never enough runs. The Rea's not gonna get it
done. If I's not gonna get it done, keep adding, keep adding,
because you just never known this ballpark, no doubt about it, and
the Dodgers were fortunate to tack on some runs late. What impressed you the
most about this, I don't want to say new look lineup, but a
new batting order without Mookie Bets, you know, in this ballpark. What
the personally the most was the fact that being down there in batting practice and
talking of the hitting coaches Aaron Bates and Rob Hascoyer, these guys were emphatically
just talking about line drives. Okay, It's very easy to say, oh,
we have a struggling offense. Let's go out there and take these four
games and swim for offenses. These guys were as direct as possible, just
to make sure they stress on the guys and really emphasize good at solid contact
and you sell the results. This game reminded me, Dave of that one
game in Washington against Washington that had twenty hits and it's twelve of them were
to the opposite field, to the middle of the field. Same thing,
and another thing too is I mean, the discipline is great. Another thing
too is when you look at and I always tell you this, you know,
teams like the Dodgers, he has lugging players. The minute you get
the first base, you outen score in position. So sometimes if we got
over carry without comment about what they did in men's corn position, I mean
to the fifth inning they were one for seven. What happened was you look
at taker and Anders drug somebody from first base Will Smith did the same thing,
and it happened a short time. So it's it's one of those things
where once you're on with the guys that there's really no base clock rolls from
this ball club. So you guys got a guy first base and if the
approach had today is going to be very conducive to getting guys in from first
base, and I really like that. What do you think about show Hill
tany leading off? It's only one game. I know he's coming off a
two homer game at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. I guess two questions here,
Jose, is he's starting to get his rhythm back, his balance back,
And do you believe that he changes anything being the leadoff hit or now?
Show he's not going to change anything. I mean, show his show him.
It's like if you move for your freeman up that leadoff, he's not
going to change anything. Guys like this Mookie Bets, those type of guys
just have to be who they are. And Heavier moves him to that spot
because he understands they are the best option. Yes, Show, he's getting
a little more settled with, you know, his life being anchored, his
feet being stable. We saw the results, you know against Kansas City,
the way he drew the ball, and you know, the best indication tomorrow
is against the lefty when he got a couple of hits against the left end
where he's not wailing off so much and covering the plate. But for sure,
you know, coming into today sixty four games in that leadoff spot where
he had done, you know, okay, he's gonna get on base.
But it was nice to see the way the ball was coming off the bat
hot again on a line, and when he starts going middle of the field,
we know he's back on truck. Hopefully he'll keep the rhythm going.
He doesn't have to change anything. There's gonna be some games when he's gonna
go back to the old but hopefully now he's gonna find a way to that
trigger and get back to where he is right now. The last couple of
games. Jose Mota is joining us after the Dodgers beat the Rockies nine to
five at Coors Field. Jose, let's talk about Yoshi Yamamoto. We all
know about rotator cuffs. The shoulder is a more serious injury than the elbow.
How can anybody say with any sense of certainty that he will come back
because that's such a fickle injury and a lot of times MRIs don't tell the
whole story that's true. I mean, that was the scary the injury of
the eighties when guys who rotator cuff talked to all her shaws are about that,
and so many guys are pitching in the eighties before the Elbert became the
issue. It's just you just never know that there's so much going on there
that connects and rotates and pronates and extends it. You just never know.
Hopefully, because of the way that Yoshinovo has been taking care of his body
for many many years and the way he was careful on the way he posts
things in Japan, he is going to be back. Everybody that's playing the
game today throwing a baseball has some kind of here. I guarantee you that
it doesn't mean it's major, But when it's found, then you go,
okay, let's pull the brakes on and know what we need to do here
that you know, at least in terms of the medical advances that have been
made, is going to favor him. But going back to the personality,
and you know, he's not a guy that trains in the traditional way either,
And the Dodgers knew that every time in baseball. Knew that he has
his own way of training between starts, when it comes down to waste or
no weights and the javelin and things like that. So I mean, this
is something that obviously for him is new, and it's challenging because obviously the
results indicate one thing what he was feeling another thing where he was feeling,
I should say, But there's a lot of season left and hopefully he's going
to be able to because of the way he does take care of himself to
at least make small decisions all the directors of medical staff and know that it's
going to be a very small process without pushing it. All right, Well,
I'm not counting on it that he comes back, and I feel like
the Dodgers have enough pitching in that department to be able to make up for
it. Not to mention the trade deadline, but I guess I'll ask you
the same question people have been asking me the last twenty four hours. Or
do the Dodgers need to pursue another starting pitcher at the trade deadline more than
say, pursuing a bigger offensive bat or another infielder. One hundred for sure.
One hundred for sure. Of course, you never have enough pitching because
you know, you never know what's going to happen with guys out in your
staff. Right now, you know the case of a glassnew the case of
a Packson. You want these guys to be on track and know that they're
pitching under different circumstances and they're aiming for bigger stuff, so you can't have
enough. You never say that you have enough Bobby Mailers coming up of shoulder
injury, and obviously he had the shoulder injury last year too. So with
all that in short, yes, they are actually in the process of looking.
I mean that never stopped since the beginning of spring training, because I
mean these guys have been around and know they just cannot have enough arms and
to cover you. But as you mentioned too, Dave, it's very important
to remember this got to get guys, and you have to you have to
give up something to get a guy that, as you mentioned, can go
out there making free in the playoffs and hopefully is down to the point with
a very tough decision needs to be made come October. Ob see, if
they win the division, expect to win the division where you know that whatever
you acquire is going to be part of the top three guys that you need
that playoff, all right, Jose With that being said, all things equal,
I know Jose Mota scours the entire major leagues. You're not just locked
in on the Dodgers. If you had your choice between acquiring Jazus Lozardo or
Garrett Crochet, which one would you go for? Most likely Lozardo if I
have a choice, considering the track record, No course had the injury recently
coming back, and Lozardo is a guy that with his plethora of pitches and
the ability to fill his own and the power stuff that he that's possessed.
But we know one thing, he is going to be very expensive no matter
who's asking for him. So I'm going to lead for him. He's a
very talented pitcher. But I know there's some obscure guys that nobody's counting on
that perhaps can not have the names, but perhaps be on the verge of,
you know, taking the next step where guys are looking and the teams
are looking for the Dodgers. I'm not going to stay behind all right,
Jose should be interesting the next six weeks to see who becomes sell and who
remains a buyer, because right now there's a lot of logjam in the league.
Brendan Gome said, parody, But there's a lot of teams that are
hovering around five hundred that really don't have a chance to run him to run
into the playoffs. Jose, that's for sure. Yep, I'll talk to
you money now. Okay, yeah, you agree, right, No,
a lot of parody. You know what I was going to add was this
with the parody and with teams like say the Pirates and the d Backs and
thinking we have a chance here in San Francisco, all those other teams too
are going to say, well, if we have a chance, now,
one time chance, let's go out there and you know, splurs and get
the farm system out of here and get the what we need. So in
that term, because of this parody, there's more teams thin can we're in
it, that are willing to sacrifice more than other teams will to quite a
one or two or top three pitchers. A lot of time between now and
July thirtieth, we'll see who's a contender. As they saying, who's the
pretender? Jose, moda, you got it man. Sometimes Tom will separate
the people. So let's see that happens. Okay, thanks a lot,
be safe up there in Denver, Audios. There he goes, Jose Mota
live in Denver. After the Dodgers defeat the Rockies nine to five. Look,
there's a reason why some of these teams just hover and parody and you
don't really see them in the postseason. It's because they do not have the
ownership backing to go after it the way the Dodgers do, the Phillies do,
the Braves do. The Giants do have the ownership backing, but they
just haven't been able to get it on track. The Padres had it with
Peter Seidler, not really sure what direction they're going in, but there's still
they're still trying to be a playoff contender. Aj Peller continues to wheel and
deal to try to keep them in the race, and they're a perfect example.
The National League as a hole is a perfect example right now. If
you look at the wildcard race, the Dodgers, the Brewers, and the
Phillies are the division leaders, and you got the Braves at thirty nine and
thirty one, a legit wildcard playoff team. But then you have the Cardinals,
the second wildcard team, which is just a game above five hundred.
They got off to a horrible start and have dug themselves out of a hole.
But you look at the Giants, the Washington Nationals. You got how
many teams here? You got six teams separated by one and a half games
to be the second team as far as the National League Wildcard goes. Teams
like the Giants, the Diamondbacks, the Pirates, the Mets, the Reds,
the Cubs, all of these teams are within striking distance, and the
majority of them are under five hundred. That's the dilemma for the Dodgers and
every other one of these upper echelon teams to try to make a deal to
improve their teams. If this is the case six weeks from now, it's
going to be a very slow trade deadline. Teams are gonna have to turn
to only the Rockies, the Marlins, the White Sox, the Oakland A's,
the Angels. Those will be the one stop shop for some of these
teams if there is this type of logjam as we get closer to the trade
deadline. Because a lot of these teams have a lot of expectations to win,
and then you look at some of these other teams and smaller markets that
are two games, three games, four games under five hundred and still only
a game out of the Wildcards. So that's the dilemma for the Dodgers,
the Phillies, the Braves and all these other upper echelon teams that are trying
to add some of these teams and any other normal year would be sellers,
but with the expanded playoffs now it's a lot tougher to make a trade,
especially in a year like this. And this, by the way, another
topic for another night, but I will say this. This was the warning
from those that were against expanding the playoffs by two extra teams. They said
this would happen that you would have teams at five hundred or under five hundred
that aren't spending, that don't have a high payroll, but are still in
the playoff hunt. And also it waters down the significance of the regular season.
But more importantly, you have teams and smaller markets that are notoriously nonspenders
in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati that are under five hundred or right around five hundred,
that have a chance for the playoffs. What's the motivation to add payroll or
to give your city a superstar or keep a superstar. If you can be
five hundred or two games under five hundred and be in the playoff race,
that's what the people around the league were concerned about when Rob Manfred wanted to
expand the postseason. This is what you have, this is what you wished
for, and now it's an issue. So we'll see how it plays out.
Between now and July thirtieth. There's a lot of time, like I
said, for the pretenders to be separated from the contenders. Tomorrow, Walker
Buehler will be on the mound for the Dodgers in Game two of this four
game series between the Dodgers and Rockies. Bueller making his eighth start of the
season, going up against Austin Gomber, who is one in four with an
ERA of four to twenty six. Marongo Casino Dodgers on deck begins at four
point thirty, first pitch at five point forty. And you know the biggest
thing for Walker Bueller to do tomorrow believe in himself. Believe that he's that
guy again. Believe he's that guy. If Walker Buehler starts to believe that
with every bone in his body the way he used to and not have doubt
about conviction of pitches, he will be Walker Bueler again. So that's my
pitching mental health coach advice for Walker Bueler if it gets back to him in
Denver for tomorrow. Once he starts believing he's that guy, he will be
that guy again. Thanks to calling me Who's that Guy? Back in our
Burbank studios, Thanks to Dwayne McDonald at Corsfield, and thanks to you for
listening. In case you missed any of the show, you can find it
on the iHeartRadio app. Coming up next Fox Sports Radio and then an hour
from now, yeah that guy, Ben Maller on Fox Sports Radio once again.
The final score tonight at Corsfield the Dodgers defeat the Rockies nine to five.
Have a great rest of your night see them