Dodger Talk is sponsored by La Care Health Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to
millions of Angelinos for over twenty five years. And now your voice for Dodger
Talking like Back, David Basse. We are live at Dodgers Stadium. After
the Rangers defeat the Dodgers tonight three to one and take two out of three
at Dodger Stadium, Welcome to Dodger Talk. David Vasse with you until the
top of the hour. Jose Moto will check in at ten forty five.
You will hear from two time World Series Champion and former Dodger Nathan Avaldi.
We had a chance to catch up with Evaldi before the game to get his
thoughts on Walker Buehler, what he saw last night and what's ahead as far
as coming back from two Tommy John surgeries for Bueller, because Nathan Valdi is
the most successful pitcher to come back as a starter after a second Tommy John
surgery. So you'll hear from the former Dodger. Eight six six nine seven
two five seventy is the phone number, not surprising after a Dodger loss.
We have a full board of calls. I would love to see this after
a Dodger win. But nonetheless we will get to all of you and not
surprising, some of the same names that call after losses. Also, we
do have another copy of Andy McCullough's book, The Biography on Clayton Kershaw,
The Last of his Kind, to give away. Kershaw threw a three inning
simulated game today, forty five pitches and was hitting about eighty eight eighty nine
on the fastball. I guess he's toying with a change up. He has
said for many years that he has change up envy. So uh, that's
the latest on Kershaw, and we'll give away the biography from Andy McCullough during
the show tonight if you can answer another trivia question about his no hitter against
the Rockies, which is just five days away from its tenth anniversary. Eight
six six nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number? All right?
A couple of frustrating things tonight, obviously the bottom of the eighth inning,
where Journeyman reliever at this point, thirty nine year old David Robertson strikes
out the Dodgers MVPs of bets Otani and Freeman with runners at the corners.
Strikes him out for the second straight night, those same three hitters in the
same inning, the eighth inning. So that's frustrating, and I think at
some point now we got to start talking about show Hey Otani, because show
he Otani's in a major slump. We can ignore it, we could celebrate
him, you could wear the jerseys to the stadium. But he's human and
he's going to go through slumps, and he's in a big one right now.
In his last twenty four games, show he Otani is hitting exactly two
hundred after going over tonight. He has twenty six strikeouts in his last twenty
four games and only five home runs, and quite honestly, I don't remember
any of those five being impact home runs. Otani on May sixteenth was hitting
three sixty. After tonight's game, where he went hitless, he is now
hitting three to oh six. Otani was zero for four. The Dodgers' MVPs
of Bets, Otani, and Freeman were combined two for twelve tonight. Mike
Lorenzen had the entire Dodger lineup off balance all night long. The only run
scored against Lorenzen was a solo home run by Andy Pajez in the seventh inning.
Other than that, nobody really did much of anything. Mike Lorenzen improves
his record of four and three. Michael Grove won a six Dodger pitchers tonight
in a bullpen game, gave up two runs in the first inning and takes
the loss, and Kirby eates with his tenth save of the season. Also,
the frost straight thing for Dave Roberts has got to be that he had
to use Blake Trinan tonight. The Dodgers were losing in the seventh inning three
to nothing, and he brought in a very high leverage reliever and Blake Tryning
down three to nothing in a bullpen game. Uh. Not only did he
have to use trin In in that situation, but Trynon pitched last night,
and it's only the third time this season Tryon has pitched in back to back
games. So that's frustrating, and there was really nobody else for him to
use in this type of situation. I'm sure the Dodgers would have loved for
Yarborough to give them maybe one more inning and the Dodger offense to score some
runs, but that was not to be, which is you know, confusing,
considering the Dodgers scored fifteen runs in the first game of this series and
then score combined three runs in the last two innings. I don't have an
answer for that. Eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two,
five seventy the phone number. Let's go out to Eddie and Montebello.
You're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi. Eddie. Okay, David,
enough already with this because these bullpen games. Already this top of the order.
Enough, already with this. Enough is enough the thirty nine year old
pitcher and pitch that bet. I mean, this is a pandemic. Pages
run through stop signs, he by reperal concession. It's like I get fired
on the spot. Enough Gavin, luck for Bobus yet enough, I'm done?
All right, good night now, Eddie appreciate the phone call. I'm
not sure what he wants to do with the first three hitters Smooki, Otani
and Freeman. Does he want to bench them all at the same time.
Look, you can't have the first three hitters those guys go combined two for
twelve, especially on a night where you're going to start. Austin Barnes that
means Will Smith is not hitting cleanup tonight. That makes the line look a
lot different when you don't have Will Smith in there. And that's why I
told Buster Only on his podcast at Yankee Stadium that I firmly believe Will Smith
is the most underrated player on this team and could be the most underrated player
in all of the National League. Will Smith did come off the bench in
the ninth inning against Kirby Yates and struck out to end the game. But
nonetheless, without Will Smith in the starting lineup, without Max Munsey uh being
available, he's on the injured list and his weeks away. Those are two
big time hitters that you did not have in your lineup tonight. Eight six
six seven two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out to Fullerton.
Matthew, you're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Matthew. You
know, I gotta tell you, it's uh, this is very very hard
to watch. You go to these games, you spend hard earned money,
and it's it's it's frustrating. It's really frustrating. It's spent all this money
on teams and I mean, my god, how many time in this pandemic
team all right, thank you for the phone call. Eight six six nine
eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. Yeah, I can understand
the frustration. It sounds like Eddie and Montebello's got what five lines? Does
he have like a batcave in Montebello to call in with all these different voices
and phone numbers. That's pretty amazing. I applaud you, Eddie, and
I applaud your passion. I know one guy that is not Eddie and Montabello,
but loves to call after losses. And the Dodgers lose two in a
row, which means Ken in Newport Beach calls back to back nights. How
you doing, Ken, David? The reason that I call you is because
you tell the truth. I don't get that from all the people I listen
to. And I'll give you an example. All night on t they were
talking about the bottom of the lineup. Not once had they mentioned that the
Dodgers are five and five, they're ten and ten or last twenty last ten
games, Otani's hitting one ninety five and Movie's hitting two nine those are the
two worst averages of the starters. Not once did anyone mention it that's where
the problem is. And O'tani is swinging at pitches that I did maybe I
did when I was four years old, but three feet in front the dirt.
This is a problem because if you're planning on going to a World Series
and the top of your lineup, which is supposed to be the best and
the highest paid, is this bad And it's been a while now there's a
problem, And you'll tell the truth and you already did, and I really
appreciate that. Yeah, I mean, it's no secret Mooki and Otani have
been in a major slump since probably May twenty fourth, where they're both hitting
in the two hundred and tonight, it continued, You're right, the offense
is not going to score a lot of runs with those two guys in a
slump at the same time, especially on a night where you don't have Will
Smith in the lineup and Max Munsey is on the il, It's going to
be hard to score a lot of runs, that's for sure. And we
saw this two years in a row in the playoffs, particularly with Mooki.
You know what his numbers were. I don't want to see that again.
So something has got to change, and I certainly hope that we start telling
the truth. Maybe everyone will hear it if the truth is told on TV
and on the radio. Okay, Ken, thank you for the phone call.
Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Joe Davis and Oral Herscheiser are the two most honest men I have ever met
in my life. Let's go out to Weslake. David, You're on Dodger
Talk. How you doing, David? Hey, David, thanks for taking
my call. I'm frustrated too, man, it just feels like October and
June. Man pathetic game. Quick shout out to Bruce Bochee. Man that
dude can I don't know. He can barely walk now, but man,
oh man, he can out manage Dave Roberts. I can tell you that,
Jimmy. What was Dave Roberts doing tonight? How could you say he
can out manage Dave Roberts. Dave Roberts did not strike out in the eighth
inning against thirty nine year old David robertson That was Mookie Betts, Joey o'tani
and Freddie Freeman. No, I'm not talking about tonight, I'm talking about
most of the season. He just doesn't play enough smart ball as Jerry Harrison
Junior so eloquently. So now you're quoting Jerry Harriston Junior. Now you're really
gone off. He's my hero, David. Oh boy, here's the deal.
Here's the deal. Seventy games in, it's obviously what the weakness of
this team is. It's the offense. Okay, wait, wait a minute.
Can we get back to how Jerry Harriston Junior is your hero? Did
you know Jerry Harriston Junior was teammates with David Robertson on the O nine Yankees.
Robertson has been a journeyman the last seven years. He's the last remaining
member of that team that's still playing. Yeah, his stuff is wicked.
It looked good tonight, although the unprofessionalism of Muki and Otani really shined through
TONIGHTFS Okay, how are they unprofessional because they tried to get a hit and
they came up empty. I mean, I don't know if you would classify
it that way. He looks at a two balls in a row right down
the middle of the plate, a curve ball that hung that he could have
swung at the first pitch, and then the next one right down the middle
of the plate. Well, there you go. I agree with you.
When Muki is going good, he's aggressive early in the count and he gets
into these periods of time where he sees too many pitches. When he's aggressive
early in the count, Alex Korra told me this when he first got to
the Dodgers in twenty. When he's aggressive early in the count is when he's
the most successful. One question for you, Dave, is when monkey comes
back, do you feel Friedman and upper management are gonna go find a guy
who has a high ops whether it's an outfielder, centerfield, right field,
or second base to upgrade those They're already looking for that, David, trust
me, they're looking at it. Luis Roberts' name has been out there.
He's the most obvious answer in center field. If you pull off a trade
for him, you probably put Pahez in right field and Jason Hayward gets spots,
starts and comes off the bench. That's one guy I love that.
I would make you general manage right now, David Dasse, make that deal.
Okay, thanks for the phone call. Eight sixty six nine eight seven
two five seventy is the phone number. Speaking of trades, the Dodgers made
a trade today. They announced it after a first pitch was thrown. It's
kind of good and bad. The Dodgers acquired a left handed reliever, Jose
Hernandez, from the Pirates. He's a Rule five type of player, which
means he has to be on the major league roster, so he will likely
be active tomorrow or Saturday against the Royals. Nick Ramirez, another left handed
reliever, was in the clubhouse today. The reason why the Dodgers made this
trade now two reasons. The Royals have a lot of lefties on their team,
and b it looks like Ryan Brasier is not coming back. Ryan Brasier
hurt his left calf I believe I think that was his left calf that he
hurt, and they moved him to the sixty day injured list, which means
Brazier is not coming back until September at the earliest. And my understanding talking
to some former Pirates that know about Jose Hernandez, they feel like the Dodgers
may have gotten another one of those diamonds in the rough as far as relief
pitchers go. Jose Hernandez, a left handed reliever, you will see him
at Dodger Stadium this weekend against the Kansas City Royals, who come to town
starting tomorrow night. Let's go out to Brock, who is at Dodgers Stadium
tonight. Hi Brock, you're on Dodger Talk. Hey, what's up TV?
Thanks for taking my call. Brother. You know, we just got
to keep perspective here. We'd rather lose now. I know, Dodgers fans,
we we're the most passionate, most loyal fan base in the MLB.
But we got every game I've been to this year, including uh May thirty
first Military Appreciation Night where I actually sang the anthem every game I've been through,
so I started. Yeah, I sing the anthem on the thirty first.
Yeah, it was pretty. It was a dream come true, absolutely
dream come true. But they lost the game. You know, the boys
lost, so every I I kind of want at this point, yeah,
exactly, exactly right, perfect. We got a key perspective here. We'd
rather lose now, we don't want to lose at the end. All these
people that are talking World Series and all this, like, let's take it
for what it is right now. We need to win that and these guys
will figure it out. We hope, you know, we holp the top
three for sure, but we've got to figure out those those little plays and
start playing small ball again, man, not trying to hit it up.
All right, Rock, since you sang the anthem and the Dodgers lost,
and he came to the game tonight and they lost, you are going to
play David Vassa with our next caller right now, Chris in Fortune, send
your complaints right now. The Brock who was at Dodgers Stadium tonight and did
a hump up brack of singing the national anthem, Go ahead, say hi
Brock, Say hi, Chris, Hey, Chris, how can I take
your call to night? Hey buddy, how you doing? You're talking to
bat luck charmer? Go ahead, Chris, what do you got? Oh?
Yes, you know, you know what, I'm pretty agree with what
you're saying. You know what, I don't really mind Dodgers losing right now.
I know they're going to make the playoff. That's what they did for
the last ten, you know, twelve years. You know, it's all
about winning the last game in October. I'm just a little worry about their
recent usage of lookie bats. Freddie Freeman and Otani. I feel like we're
just playing them too many days. Do you feel like we need to give
them more day off and get We'll let Rock. I'll let Brock answer that
question. Go ahead, Brock handle this. Sure, I'll take it.
I'll take it. I would agree with that. They do get a majority,
you know, obviously a majority of that playing time there, So it
is. It is a little concerning. But again, we're we're we're approaching
the All Star break and we're approaching that this is this is the dog days
of summer, so we got to keep that in mind. You know,
it's been hot, June's the dog days. They just came off a big
trap. Well not quite but pretty soon. All right, Well, good
job. I like that perspective. All right, good job. Thanks a
lot, guys. Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
phone number Dodgers fall to, uh the Rangers tonight, three to one.
Hey, Brock, are you still there? Yeah? Still here. I'm
gonna give you a copy of Andy McCullough's biography on Clayton Kershaw, the last
of his kind, for handling that phone call. Hey, I appreciate you,
brother, I appreciate it. Hey see, you're a winner tonight on
Dodger Talk. Thanks for the phone call. Eight six six nine eighty seven
two five seventy is the phone number. I had a chance to catch up
with Nathan Avaldi. Right everybody is wondering what's wrong with Walker Buehler. When's
all going to come together for Walker Bueller. He's made eight starts. It
hasn't to me been horrible. He's just still in the process of figuring it
out. And the former Dodger Nathan Evaldi is basically the most successful starting pitcher
that has had two Tommy John surgeries. Avaldi has won two World Series Championships
since then and led the Rangers along with Corey Seger, to that World Series
last year. I had a chance to catch up with Nathan Avaldi earlier today
and here's his thoughts on what he saw from Bueller last night. I mean,
I think he's done really well. You know what I mean. Last
night's having won great. You know, the swing of the bat changed everything
with Corey and I feel like Seegers, you know, he's locked in right
now. It's Corey's Corey All y'all have seen that before I talked to Walker
a little bit like when he was going through the process and rehabit and everything.
And you know, with me, it always came down to trusting the
process, right like it, I think we always have goals and we always
have little you know, you have the end goal of what time, how
fast you need to come back, But I think it's the game within the
game, and you know, you try not to have any setbacks. And
I was fortunate enough to where when I came back, it was at the
very beginning, you know what I mean, Like I wasn't trying to join
the team in the middle of everything. And you know, fortunately for Walker,
the Dodgers are playing really good baseball, so it's like he's only gonna
make them better by coming back. But I think his stuff's really good.
I mean, the fastballs, the life is there, you know, and
then it just comes down to being able to execute the pitches and trusting your
stuff again. I think that's one of the tough things is like you know,
every year we come into spring training, it's you know, you put
it in all that more work in the off season, and then it comes
down to trust again. Yeah, trust that you can execute, trust that
you're executing it and then trust that the pitches are gonna do what you want
to do by not trying to do too much. I think we all go
through it through spring training where you're trying to throw hard again, and you
know, at least for me, like I get to that point where I'm
trying to throw hard and then I'm start using my arm too much and everything
starts going everywhere, and then it's like, hey, trust the mechanics,
trust the process, and then when everything's feeling good mechanically, everything comes out
better out front as well. Is it true that the last thing to come
is the feel on the fingers to throw the secondary pitches. I don't know
if it's necessarily, you know, like on the fingers and everything. I
mean, I felt like I could drip the ball fine, and hey,
it just comes down to trying not to do too much, right Like to
me, you got to execute everything, and you got to be able to
execute it out front. You know, if you're trying to spin a purball
from behind you, it's going to pop out and it's not gonna be as
sharp as that one where you execute it like a fastball kind of out in
front and drip down through it. So again. A few times I I've
seen him throw. I thought he's looked really, really good, especially where
he is right now. I'm not just gonna ask you about that. I
have to celebrate you for what you've been able to accomplish in your career.
Since you were traded by the Dodgers in twenty twelve. You were a two
time champion and your reputation is for being one of the biggest gamers, big
game pitchers. Are you able to take that all in? That's the way
people look at you now. I mean, I I don't know. I
don't want to make this sound bad, but like I really care about like
what my team, how my teammates you know, preceived me, and things
like that. I work hard every day. It's, you know, how
the Dodgers brought us up and everything. So coming over there with the Dodgers
coming up, it was if you work hard and you play together as a
team. And I've always like had that passion, you know, remember tommyvilsorta
and you know, you play dodge a Blues. So it's always kind of
rain with me. And I've kept that, you know, and every time
you get traded, it's kind of a new opportunity to learn and get better.
And I've been able to bounce around with a lot of really good organizations
and learn from learn from a lot of good guys, and have really good
teammates around me, and that supports staff. So try to continue to spread
that, you know, of those good vibes and things like that and help
out the younger, younger generation and players, and usually it's a good recipe
for success. Thanks Nate, Congratulations, Thank I appreciation Nate A. Valdi
all grown up. Now, last time we saw him in a Dodger uniform,
he was just getting his feet wet in Major League Baseball. If you
remember, in the middle of twenty twelve, the Dodgers were in Saint Louis
and they traded Nathan Evaldi to the Marlins in a trade that brought Hanley Ramirez
to the Dodgers. And interesting enough, Hanley Ramirez was playing shortstop the night
Clayton Kershaw pitched his note hitter against the Rockies, and the anniversary of that
game is coming up five days from now. And look, the one thing
that really struck me as far as the biggest difference between Walker Bueller and Nathan
Avaldi, I haven't been in front of Evaldi in like three years. But
what struck me about Avaldi compared to Buehler is just how big and strong native
Valdi is. I mean, you can understand why he's been able to hold
up. His shoulders are big and broad, and he's a strong dude.
He has put in a lot of work in the weight room, and that's
kind of the difference between him and Bueler. And it's still up in the
air whether or not Bueller's body can hold up. I'm sold on a Valdi's
body. I mean, like I said, bigger, stronger than Walker Bueller
and that supports the ligaments. So we'll see where it goes from here.
Don't forget Walker Bueller is a free agent at the end of the year.
Is there room for him in the rotation next year? It doesn't appear to
be, so this could be the last season Walker Buehler is in a Dodger
uniform. So we'll see where this goes and what direction it goes for Walker
Buehler. Eight six six nine, eight seven two five seventy is the phone
number. Dodg fall to the Rangers tonight three to one. They score fifteen
runs in the first game and only score three runs in these last two games
that the Rangers beat them. And last night Walker Bueller gave up a go
ahead, three run home run to his former teammate Corey Seeger. But I
thought it was encouraging to hear Nathan Valdi an outside perspective say, he thinks
Bueller's doing just fine for where he's at right now. Let's go out to
San Diego. Pallo, you're on Dodger Talk with David VEASSEI. How you
doing, pollow? Hi, David, listen, My Probert is with Dave
Roberts. Like in the eighth, you know one a Beato, you know
he got hit, he got first space. Conventional wisdom would suggest you know
that you want to bunt, considering that you know, you know that bar
can heal a lack, So why not bunt? You want to No,
No, Austin bonds, It wasn't on deck. Why not he got a
hit? Okay, Yeah, you got you gotta okay, But conventional wisdom
suggest that you should bunt, knowing that you have you know, the Dodgers
were down to the Dodgers were down two runs even if he bunchs but there
was yeah, but there was nobody out. There was nobody out, you
know, so you advance, so you advance him to second base. There's
one out, and he's still not representing the tying run. I disagree with
you on that one. Got a hit, Okay, I give you die.
He got a hit. But yeah, what if okay, what if
he strikes out. But conventionally anybody could strike out Mookie Bets, so Tani
and Freeman struck out. I know, but I understand, Hey, Paulo,
I understand. I'm all for moving the runner over when it calls for
it. That was not a situation to bunt in. Yeah, but we
didn't know that that the robertson the word strike out twy. You know,
two days in a row, you know the one, two, three,
you know, the best hitters in baseball. I mean, even if even
if Barnes bunts Bisio over and Mookie Bets hits a home run, it's a
two run home run, it's the same thing. It's a tied game.
It's not them going ahead. And you know, I just I don't feel
like that's the situation to bunt Bigio over the second base just to get the
runner into scoring position with one out. And he's not representing the tying run.
I agree, there's points in time to do that, but I didn't
feel like that was the spot. POWLO, Right, all right, agree
to disagree? I agree to disagree. Okay, thank you for the phone
call. Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
By the way, the trio of MVPs Bets, Otani, and Freeman
were combined two for twelve tonight. Freddie Freeman has been hot in the month
of June. Bets and Otani have been called for the better part of the
last three weeks, especially show hey O'tani who is only hitting two hundred in
his last twenty four games. He was hitting three sixty on May sixteenth,
and it's incredible that now he's hitting three to oh six? Is it a
market correction? Was he going to hit three sixty all year long? If
you talk to people around here, they thought he was. But I mean,
he's a really good hitter. How many guys are going to hit three
sixty? Not many do for a whole season. Let's go out to Huntington
Beach. Joyce, you're on Dodger Talk with David Vassi. Hi, Joyce,
Hi, number one. I'm a I've had a Dodger fan, and
you know the top three the MVPs aren't doing well. But what advice are
the batting coaches giving them to help him prove, you know, their slump?
Well, I mean, and then you've got some advice too, David,
Well, thank you. They need they need help. You know what
my advice would be, sea ball, hit ball. Don't try to put
too much information in your head, just seaball hit ball. Be prepared to
know what the pitcher is throwing and know what's working for him. In that
point in time, it just felt like the Dodgers were so off balance and
caught in between against Mike Lorenzen tonight and that was the biggest issue. Okay,
yeah, so yeah, you know they need to get help, you
know. And that's great that you can pinpoint things like that. They need
to hear that, you know. Well, thank you Aaron Bates and Rob
van Zoyak. They got it handled, Joyce. But I appreciate your confidence
in me. I only play a batting coach on the radio. Eight sixty
six ninety seven two five seventy is the phone number. We had a full
board of calls and we wanted to hear from Nathan Valdi, so we did
that first. And when we continue on Dodger Talk live from Dodgers Stadium,
we will check in with Jose Mota to see whether or not he can play
batting coach on the radio. The Dodgers fall to the Rangers three to one
tonight on a f five to seventy LA Sports on air at AM five to
seventy, online at AM five seventy LA sports dot com, and available by
podcast on the iHeartRadio app. This is Dodger Talk with David Bassen one O
from Lorenzo to Pia. Swings pummels the ball leftfield, hooking toward the corner.
Stay up it will. Andy pater Has hooks his seventh home run of
the season. Five rows up just inside the left field fal pole that gets
the Dodgers on the board. It's now three to one. Steven Hawk Harrelson
right there. Andy pa Has with the only run score tonight on a solo
home run in the seventh inning against Mike Lorenzen. The Dodger fall to the
Rangers tonight three to one. Daniels Jewelers is 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. It's time to go around the horn
with Jose Mota. All right, time to go to our very own hit
doctor, Jose Mota. Jose, you've heard the callers tonight, you've heard
the frustration. How does it go from the Dodgers scoring fifteen runs in the
first game of this series to only scoring a combined three runs in the last
two Do you ever see my batting average at cal State Fullerton or in the
big leagues. It's quite a contrast. In other words, I always was
trying to fill that gap. You know, here's one thing that i' learn
and I want everybody to listen to. And there's times in which very good
hitters are going through slumps, right, and they're believe me, they're going
to go through slumps, okay. And then it's where a hitting coach stops
talking about mechanics and says, okay, let's look at this. How many
times are you getting yourself out and how many times are they getting you out?
And most of the time that as will be, I'm getting myself out
by perhaps not putting my best wing on the best pitch that I see,
by not being decisive on strips that I should be swinging at. And the
worst part is by swinging the pitches that are of the zone. And that's
exactly what's happening right now with most of these guys getting themselves out and not
the pitch are getting themselves out. Jose, how do you explain thirty nine
year old David Robertson, who has been bouncing around baseball since twenty nineteen.
This is his seventh different team since twenty nineteen, striking out the Dodgers' MVPs
in the same inning back to back nights. Oh, because he can spend
the base. He threw the cutter today and yesterday at times when guys were
not expecting it. And I think, you know, going back to the
last two games, if you look at what the Rangers pitchers did, everything's
out of a pattern, okay, and then they pretty much were able to
expand those when they need it. But for David Robertson, if you can
spend the ball and have as they say something, respect your fastball because you're
ninety two or ninety five, then you're gonna have a lot of cook sect.
It doesn't matter who it is against. And then when you throw them
strikes, trust me, then the thinking is I gotta be even more aggressive
and before you know it, you explain a little bit more and that will
do it. Dave Robertson was pitching for Mike sociald a few years ago because
he can get a job. Yeah. Yes, and my socially gets said,
Hosy, this guy should be in the big Dy because there's a role
fram I don't know if it's going to be as a closer. It's probably
not gonna be, but uh hey, that's what happens to guys like that.
Almost have to reinvent themselves to find a way to get people out.
And uh, I don't think you'll ever going to forget this ending here today
who's on point, no doubt, and Freddy Freeman has owned him. How
did he get Freddy Freeman out back to back nights. I was able to
look for these pitches and he did not miss it on anything down the middle
of the plate. And that's exactly what happens when you face Grade A freeman
lineups and you have to amp up your game a little bit more. Ask
the Cincinnati res to plush Oltania and a lot of these dollar guys because the
amping up and saying, okay, we saw the report, but also we're
competing and this is going to get the best out of us. And at
some point, you know, even though as a hitter he never want to
say tip my hat, but these guys made pitches that they needed to.
And that is the bottom line. By not being predictable and having enough fastball
to go out there and expand and spend the ball. Well, if he
spends the ball today anywhere near thissult, you're going to be able to get
some people out. All right. You brought up show he O tani Er
for four tonight. He's hitting two hundred in his last twenty four games.
Tonight. I felt like some of these at bats were uncompetitive, Jose.
How does a guy going from three sixty just a couple of weeks ago or
on May twenty or May sixteenth go to where he's at right now? Well,
you throw away the average and you think about where the comparitive bats where
they're good at. Ask where the walks, which is part of what you
got to respect to and Nola's a hit or that well, you come without
top. There are many walks, Jose. That's what I'm saying. The
walks needs to be part of his game. And when Shoy's going well,
the walk is part of his game. It's not part of his game right
now, which, as I say, mechanically show he's not seeing the ball
well because Showy's lower body is moving too much, which makes everything else move
and ninety three fastball right down the heart of the play looks like it's ninety
seven with movement, and you're not able to start on time and finish on
time. He is not on time right now, and there's something he's done
than before. It's frustrating to him, leave me, but he needs to
settle down and just understand that the that he's surrounded by are going to make
it better all the way around. He's never played in a lineup like this
before, and guys are most susceptible to make mistakes against you. But you
have to be able to be ready to hit compete against certain pitches. A
couple of pitches here and there, and I mean, surely doesn't even need
to think about sacrificing power because he doesn't he makes bad contact of Bill's gonna
travel. So going for the point of Trump do too much and getting out
of a slump and one at bat is not gonna help him by getting back
to having his steet set cock that front and thee in and be said,
with your feet, it's gonna make everything way better. And hope it starts
very simple. So you're telling us you've seen stretches that have extended twenty four
to twenty five games like this before. Let me tell you Chaviotadi in twenty
twenty was benched by Joe Madden with the Angels competing for a playoff spot and
the pandemic here for that reason because he was not producing and he was going
through the same thing. Hopefully he's learned enough from that to know that there's
more in his game in which he has to go simplified and as I say,
go, because that's good enough to get him back where he needs to
be. Spring tuffs a good start. He's sitting most all left field,
left center field. Now he's rolling over, which tells you exactly what you
don't want to see from a hitter like that because part of the strength is
waiting on the ball. He's not waiting on the ball. He's rolling over
way too much. Foul ball on the pull side, not a good thing,
not a good side, as Freddie Peble will tell you, getting too
rotational. So he does the same thing over and over again. Right now?
All right? So who is shoe Hey Otani's best batting coach? Can
Rob Van Sooyak or Aaron Bates help correct it? Or is it something that
Otani goes to somebody else for or is it just Otani himself. If there's
anything the Dollers have as resources, and those are the people that have seen
him every single at bat, have seen every swing in the cage, take
him in the cage and work with him. So the resources are right there
now out of a player applying it and nothing that has to do with translation
or anything else but the fact that, as you mentioned before, sometimes see
the ball, hit the ball as your best friend. All right, Jose,
you did a great job diagnosing, diagnosing the symptoms. We'll see if
the Dodgers can't correct it against the Royals it's two of them. You got
time, but certainly you got to go out there and have the mentality that's
competing in winning at bats. That's the thing. Win at bats and before
you know what, everything else goes away, no doubt about it. Thanks
a lot, Jose. Great to hear from you, and we'll talk to
you tomorrow night. Oh the pleasure that thanks there it goes Jose Mota,
part of the Dodgers Spanish radio broadcast with the great Fernando Vealezuela and Pep Bee
and Ningez. Eight six six ninety seven, two five seventy is the phone
number. Dodgers fall to the Rangers tonight, three to one. They dropped
to forty two and twenty eight, but remain a healthy six games ahead of
the San Diego Padres, who won their third straight game tonight. So the
Padres now become just the fifth team in the National League with a winning record.
The Dodgers and the Padres in the n L West, the Phillies and
the Braves in the NL East, and the Brewers are the only team in
the n L Central with a winning record. Speaking of show, Hey O
Tani, he actually spoke to the media after the game tonight. Let's hear
what he had to say about tonight's eighth inning and his struggles the last twenty
four games. Did you feel like you were expanding the zone tonight or did
you feel like it was just some really good pitches we got you? Come
on, he's been able to execute side by side to side some pitch which
is, you know, pretty close. Some pitches maybe not exactly a strike,
but overall he's been able to execute pretty well. Why were you guys
having such a hard time with Lorenzen tonight? You assume you're fairly familiar with
the right mom or tie in any cock stage in this guy when he's been
able to mix his pitches really well throughout the outing. But we've been able
to actually hit the ball pretty hard and could have been a matter of a
couple of inches here and there. So yeah, do you how many help
you overrun the last couple of nights? But overall the last few weeks have
not been the numbers have not been very good. What are you going through?
Yeah? Ends with the home minus sushi. K I'm not gonna go
to my own n schedule here. Yokai it kim in a condlighted much of
conlight mean a conlighted to get you know, okay, So you put a
conlct and we must give a mania. Tibi is still not at all myst
conversations, and there's always going to be stretches of ups and downs as a
team. Personally, obviously, when things aren't going well, it's that's time
when we really put everything onto a microscope. So it's you know, my
approach has been the same, just being able to put up quality at bets.
All right, there is show Hey Otani with Will Ireton alongside on sports
Net LA, and look disappointing for the Dodgers to come home and lose two
out of three after winning two out of three at Yankee Stadium. We were
all very excited about that series. In the Bronx you were calling in celebrating
the Dodgers, and then tonight a full board of calls a very frustrated fans.
Obviously, there are high expectations for this team, high expectations for Mookie
Bets, Otani and Freddie Freeman. But no matter what your expectations are or
what anybody else's expectations are, every player goes through these type of stretches,
and we've seen that with Mookie Bets. He's had high highs and certain months,
and he's had low valleys and other months. What he's trying to do
is try to mitigate, you know, those months where you're not going to
be hitting close to four hundred. And that's the challenge for Mookie Betts and
certainly the challenge for every player, including show a Otani. I'm not trying
to make excuses for these guys, but it's the reality of it. You
would expect one of those three guys in the eighth inning to be able to
get a hit off of David Robertson. But I will tell you this,
hitting is hard these days. It really is. I hear that from guys
on other teams. I hear it from guys on the Dodgers, I hear
it from hitting coaches on teams all around the league. It is really hard
these days to hit these pitchers. I mean they are going not only in
different directions north and south, but east and west now with a lot more
pitchers incorporating that two seamers. So you know, even the best sometimes don't
look great when you have pitchers pitching on point tonight like David Robertson was,
and the way Mike Lorenzen was pitching tonight. For seven innings because he was
spinning that slider sweeper really effectively tonight. And Mike Lorenzen, despite going to
cal State Fullerton, is a really smart guy. Just kidding, just kidding,
have a lot of respect for the Titans and their education system there,
but really joking aside, Mike Lorenzen was really good tonight and is a really
smart pitcher, and he showed that tonight with the way he kept the Dodger
lineup off balance. So hopefully the Dodgers can bounce back tomorrow night. Let's
take one more phone call before we say goodnight. Let's go out to Hayesus
in the San Fernando Valley. Jesus, thanks a lot for being patient.
Holy cut, David van Fain, what's going on? David? Everything's great
late night at Dodgers Stadium. I'll do this forty minute away. Let's hope
it's with it. Man. I got a couple of things for you.
What do you think of that impression? Can I fill in on the tok
the money so for you anytime? All right? Good ball? Way?
Because Petros is a idiot and that money so I said, okay, thank
you for the phone call. Wow, he waited forty minutes for that.
Oh boy, all right, well, we are literally going to walk it
off right now on Dodger Talk because America's DH the man with the dead fish
handshake last season that hit thirty home runs and drove in one hundred runs,
hit his first walk off home run of his career. JD Martinez in New
York at City Field against the Marlins tonight hit his first walk off home runs.
So I had to give props to my guy JD. One out,
last of the ninth, two to one, Marlins Lindor bouncing around. Here's
the three to one pitch swing and a drive to right center. It's deep.
It's gonna win it back by the wall. It's gone put it in
the books. Day Martinez with a game, a winning two run opposite field
home run he hit adjust to the left of the Marlins bullpen beyond the three
eighty mark, and the Mets have cut back to win it in the bottom
of the ninth inne three to two. As Martinez has pounded on at home
plate, the Mets pour out of the dugout. They pour some beverages on
JD, who hits his sixth home run of the year. A come from
behind win for the Mets. Two in the bottom of the night, they
win the ball game three to two. America's DH with the dead fish handshake.
JD. Martinez walks it off. A walk off opposite field signature home
run by JD Martinez to win it for the Mets at City Field, first
walk off home run of his career, which is hard to believe, but
it was so wanted to give our guy JD. Martinez some love. Thirty
home runs, one hundred RBIs. He was part of a quartet for the
Dodgers last year that drove in one hundred runs and the Dodgers have never had
four guys drive in one hundred runs before, but JD. Martinez, Max
Muncy, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman all did it. So you know.
JD. Martinez was a big part of last year's offensive attack, and
obviously with Otani there was no room for him, so he signed late with
the Mets and is starting to hit his stride. If the Mets don't get
things going here in the wing column, you might see JD. Martinez also
traded around the July thirtieth trade deadline. All right, that'll do it for
us. Tonight on Dodger Talk, nobody else winning forty minutes to pummel Petro
some money. It's weird. I kind of enjoyed it, but I felt
like I had to cut it off. I don't know, for some reason.
I had some morality issues right there. I don't know why. I
mean, Petro some money are never that kind to me. But I feel
like I owed it to him. Anyway, We'll send that to him.
They'll play tomorrow anyway. Tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, the Dodgers will host
the Kansas City Royals. Cole Reagan's will be on the mound for the Royals.
He's four and four with an ERA of three to zero eight. He's
going up against Gavin Stone, my pick to finish in the top three for
the National League's Rookie of the Year. Stone this season is seven to two
with an ERA of two ninety three. Morongo Casino Dodgers on Deck begins at
six o'clock with first pitch at seven. Ten man, what an entertaining show.
The consensus is the show and the callers we're more entertaining than the game.
Even heesus from the valley, I was entertained. Thank you all.
A game in June. Beginning of June, everybody's fired up. I'll remind
you again the Dodgers at the second best record in the National League and have
a six game lead over the Padres. They lose tonight to the Rangers three
to one. Thanks to Dwayne McDonald out here at Dodger Stadium, Thanks to
Colin Ye back at our Burbank studios, and thanks to you for listening.
In case you missed any of the show, you can find it on the
iHeartRadio app. And also that's where you can find our conversation with one of
the best baseball men out there, Ron Rennicky, who broke down last night's
events and just base running and third base coaching in general. So you don't
want to miss that. And last night we had Corey Seeger on the show.
You don't want to miss that either. You can find it all on
the iHeartRadio app. Coming up next Ben Maller on Fox Sports Radio. Nobody
called in to rip then disappointing. We'll talk to you tomorrow night. See you