Dodger Talk is sponsored by LA Care Health Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to
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Talk like that, David Vasse. We are live at Great American Ballpark in
Cincinnati. After the Dodgers fall to the Reds tonight by a final score of
three to one. Welcome the Dodger Talk David Vase with you until eight thirty
tonight here on AM five to seventy. LA Sports eight six six nine eighty
seven two five seventy is the phone number we will hear from Walker Buehler and
Dave robertson just a moment. Today is a ten year anniversary of a milestone
day in Philadelphia in Dodger history, and also earlier today, before I walked
into the ballpark, I decided to check out the Reds Hall of Fame,
which I found out is the second largest baseball museum in the country, second
only to Cooperstown the Baseball Hall of Fame. And when I walked in,
they said George Foster, the nineteen seventy seven National League MVP, would be
making a special appearance, and I said, Hey, can I talk to
George Foster about the Big Red Machine and the Dodger rivalry, and they said,
let us ask him, and they asked him, and I went into
the office and there was George Foster sitting down with a Reds cap miked up,
ready to speak to the paid attendees to the Reds Hall of Fame.
And we had a chance to talk to George about Rick Monday and also the
Big Red Machine in the Big Blue Wrecking Crew rivalry of the late seventies and
early eighties. In case you're too young to realize this, the Reds and
Dodgers both played in the NL West up until they went to the three division
alignment, so this was a rivalry going back to the sixties. It got
really heated in the late seventies after Sparky Anderson and the Reds went to the
World Series, and they were winning the NL West and the National League for
about two or three straight years, maybe four straight years, and then in
nineteen seventy seven, the Dodgers came to I guess they came into their own
and they acquired guys like Bert Houghton, Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith, and
Rick Monday to compliment the legendary infield and Steve Yeager, and that's when the
Dodgers, led by Tommy Lesorta in his rookie season as the manager of the
Dodgers, unseated Sparky Anderson in the Reds. So that rivalry really was heated
starting in nineteen seventy seven and it went through the nineties when the Reds were
in the NL West. So we'll talk to George Foster and we'll let you
hear from him a little bit later. But I know many of you might
be a little emotional after the way the last two nights have gone for the
Dodgers, and the way that homestand ended for the Dodgers where they had runners
at the corners less than two outs and could not cash them in. And
again the last well last night, they scored six runs on eleven hits,
and they led a journeyman reliever by the name of Johann Ramirez come in and
kind of derail what would have been a nice win for the Dodgers, considering
they were going to be headed up against Hunter Green, who had their number
last week at Dodger Stadium, and again tonight here in Cincinnati. It's astonishing
to see that the Dodgers swung and missed at eleven Hunter Green fastballs, and
look, he was averaging ninety eight miles an hour on his four seam fastball
tonight. So that was not an easy chore for the Dodgers. But the
one thing teams have known about this Dodger offense the last five years, six
years, the dog Dodgers are a very good fastball hitting team. And yes,
Max Munsey is out of the lineup right now, he's a really good
ambusher of fastballs. But nonetheless, you know, Joe Davis brought this up
during the Sports Net LA broadcast last night. During this ten game stretch where
the Dodger offense is averaging just about three runs per game, they have been
really bad against the fastball in the strike zone. They are swinging and missing
more at fastballs, and that's one thing the Dodgers hitting coaches told Joe Dee
that that's an indication of whether or not we're going to score or not if
we're able to do some damage with the fastballs in the strike zone, and
they just have not been able to do it. The Dodgers' best chance tonight
against Hunter Green was in the second inning bases loaded and nobody out and Jason
Hayward hits into a double play. They score a run. That was the
only run the Dodgers scored tonight. Eight six six nine eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number we'll hear from Walker Bueller and Dave robertson just a
moment. I didn't believe that Walker Bueller pitched that poorly. He did give
up two home runs, but they were solo shots to Will Benson and Spencer
Steer. Giving up three runs should not be be the end all when you
have an offense like the Dodgers have and they're hitting in a ballpark like Great
American Ballpark. It was the ballpark that hitters hit the most home runs in
all of baseball last year, and maybe that's part of it. Maybe the
Dodgers are tempted and over zealous with the band box a Great American Ballpark.
So we'll hear from Dave and Bueller in a moment plus between now and eight
thirty. I have a pair of tickets to give away to the Tuesday,
June twelfth game when the Dodgers host the defending World Series champion Texas rang So
Corey Seger coming back to Dodgers Stadium for the first time since leaving the Dodgers
for the Rangers. Let's go out to Mission Viejo. Brian, you're on
Dodger Talk. Lead us off tonight. Hi, Brian, All right,
thanks. You don't forget the seventy three and seventy four with the Reds and
the Dodgers too, Like the Dodgers couldn't hold a eleven game leader. Then
they came back strong in seventy four with Jimmy Winn and derail the Reds that
year. But you're right, the seventies requited thing. And also the Dodgers
are one for their last seventeen Do you hear that tonight with runners in square
position or overall overall just just in the batting order, that that's that's kind
of not going to get it done. And heyword, you know, like
that was key at bat I mean, he you know, he's got to
put the you know, kid it somewhere. But unfortunately it was a double
play. Yeah, yeah, no doubt, Brian, That's exactly what you
don't want. And the facts are, no matter what combination of players,
Dave Roberts has put hitting seven eight to nine. The Dodgers seven eight to
nine spots in the batting order is the worst in all of Major League Baseball.
Think about that. We're talking Marlins, we're talking Rockies, we're talking
Oakland A's and the Dodgers seven eight to nine hitters this year have the lowest
batting average in baseball. Coming into this series, they were hitting one ninety.
They're on base percentage was two twenty. That is shocking. And it's
not on Dave Roberts. It's not on Andrew Freeman. It's on the players
they're underperforming. It's shocking to see. You know, here at Great American
Ballpark, they have a huge scoreboard in left field and the player's batting average,
slugging percentage, on base percentage are in huge font And it is shocking
when you see Keithy Hernandez's batting average being now two oh six, his OPS
is five seventy, his on base percentage is under two hundred. I believe
it's time for Dave Roberts to start thinking about Miguel Rojas getting more time at
third base until Max Munsey returns, because right now, Keyy Hernandez, he's
not getting it done offensively. He's made great plays at third base, but
Rojas can play defense to at third base. So for me, it feels
like maybe it's time for recalibrating who should fill in for Monsey at third base
until Key k gets it going again. Let's go out to Hollywood. Eric,
you're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi. Eric, Dodger Day should
David, I'm a little bit upset, and I'm sorry. I'm a huge
I believe Blue, but it starts at the top. It starts at the
top, the one, two, three hitters. It starts at the top.
They have to leave by example. Yes, I understand that they can't
hit every day and they can't kill it every day, but you know what,
they need to do something. They're getting paid a lot of money at
the top of that order to make something happen, you know what I mean.
We have a great team on paper, but something's off, man,
something's off, David, And I hope you could tell me what's off,
because I don't understand. We have a great team on paper. We got
we have great chemistry, guys, we got we got good guys in the
lineup, but they're not producing. And I'm seeing a lot of the things
that I saw last year in the playoffs, where they cannot bring runners in
and people in sporting positions they couldn't bring them in. Okay, I know
it's early in the season and I don't want to say for how, but
David, I'm bummed out. Man, Come on, talk me off the
ledge, bro. What's going on? Eric, It's one of those peaks
and valleys. The way I could talk you off the ledge is even with
the Dodgers having lost this game tonight and obviously struggling in the last four or
five games, they're still thirty three and twenty one and well above the Padres
and everybody else in the NL West. And that is the consolation here where
the sky is not falling. Uh. Their lead has been shrunk because the
Dodgers have lost a season high four in a row. Now the Giants have
won a season high four in a row. So the Giants now are in
second place. But my point is these things happen during the season, Eric,
and I could tell you what's going on in the month of May.
Those four big players they're not hitting well. Will Smith is hitting under two
hundred, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts are a very human two sixty in the
month of May. Otani is the only one that has continued to hit this
month. So that's the biggest issue right now, and hopefully they can get
back on track. I'm not for them, man, I'm in a root.
I'm gonna I believe Blue, David, I bleed blue to the end.
We're gonna ride this all the way through. But yo, man,
I mean, and you can probably you can probably take this off the air.
But you know what, I just what's going on with the top man?
What's going on? You guys are getting plaid a lot. I just
told you. I just told you. I know, I know. Their
their salaries mean nothing when they're in the batting batter's box. Eric that that's
not that's not something that is tangible. When they're on the field, they're
really good and they'll get it going again. The last ten games have been
ugly, no doubt about it. But they will get it going again.
Thanks a lot for the phone call. Eight six six nine seven two five
seventy is the phone number. I feel like the Dodgers have gotten into a
trap here where they've turned all slug in the month of May because they have
the tenth lowest batting average as a team in the month of May. They're
hitting two thirty as a group, but they have the second most home runs
in all of Major League Baseball thirty two, and they're in the top ten
of runs scored in the month of May. So it feels like they have
fallen into the trap of boom or bust, and they've got to go back
to when the Dodgers are at their best, and I'm talking about the last
five six years. What makes a Dodger offense really good is passing the baton,
taking the walks and letting the guy trusting. How about that trusting the
guy behind you. And right now it feels like everybody's trying to do it
themselves and it's not working out very well because in the last ten games the
Dodgers are averaging just three runs per game. Let's head downstairs right now to
hear from manager Dave Roberts. Obviously, Walker Bueller still coming back from the
Tommy John surgery. I thought he pitched well. I thought he built off
his last start. It's not going to be shutouts every time, but hopefully
Dave Roberts was asked about this offense did that one. Just kind of feel
if he came down to not cashing in on some of those chances offensively,
it did it did? I thought, you know, in that I don't
want any Jason, you know, bases loaded, nobody out, we stressed
you know green right there. I thought he took a good at bat,
ultimately grounded into a double play, cash in one, and then we had
another situation at bad where ball wasn't hit deep enough and couldn't cash in,
and that was sort of the story of the game. I thought Walker through
the baseball well. It was good to see him getting the sixth inning again,
and you know, I heard him. I had a good at bat
and he ended up leaving a change and I think down it kind of got
a little closer to him for the double LA first pitch base hit for the
extra insurance run. But overall, I thought he threw the baseball well,
and we just couldn't capitalize offensively. The last sixteen games, the offense has
really been in a world to use your favorite to what I think, Yeah,
what's going on? How does this happen? You know, I don't
know that answer. You know, I think each game you can sort of
dissect each game and figure out whether it was situational hitting or we didn't take
good at bats or giving credit to the opposing staff. I thought today,
I thought Hunter through the baseball. Well, then they started mixing and matching
with the pen. But as far as you know, the two weeks of
very inconsistent offense, it's a collected effort. It's not just the top that's
got to go out there and do their thing. It's you know, the
middle, it's the bottom of the order, it's everyone and not trying to
play for one big hit. But we haven't got that hit. And so
I think that each game and you look at there's some opportunities for us to
put up a crooked number and we just haven't been aimed to do that.
But not getting on the fastball his Hunter Green the kind of guy can kind
of make that exploit that show. You know, I haven't, you know,
just watching obviously at real time right now and not kind of going over
it again. Obviously it's a it's a lively fastball with the with the slider
in there. We didn't get a whole lot of good swings off, to
be quite honest, and I don't know how many times we punched tonight,
but you know, whatever he was doing his mix, we weren't on tonight,
whether it be the fastball or swinging through the slider. At times,
we just we know, we saw him a week ago and we got to
him late, and that last time, the last time we faced him,
and we just I thought we got the pitch count up. But he did
a really nice job of getting to that sixth inning, which you know,
we weren't even sure he was going to even you know, get into the
six, but you know it's his credit he did. All right, there's
manager Dave Roberts, and Hunter Green certainly was doing a lot of things right.
Dave Roberts was spot on, even though he wasn't sure about his answers,
he was right. The Dodgers swung a miss at eight sliders from Hunter
Green tonight, and they swung a mist at eleven fastballs from Hunter Green tonight.
He was pumping consistently upwards of ninety eight miles an hour, and the
Dodgers had no answer for Hunter Green, who wins his third game of the
season. He goes six innings tonight, throws one hundred and seven pitches,
and I thought Jose Motive brought up a great point as far as the hitters
go. You know, it's not just about trying to swing or your mechanics.
It's about controlling the batter's box. And when I say that, it's
control rolling the tempo of the at bat. Even with the pitch clock,
there are ways to control the at bat. As a hitter, you have
a timeout and Hunter Green was controlling the pace tonight. Not only was he
dominating the Dodgers, but he also was working at a quick pace and before
you knew it, you looked up and you had two strikes on yourself.
The Dodger hitters need to do a better job of being in control and being
aware of the fact that this guy wants the ball back and he wants to
throw it quickly. Like I said, I know the pitch clock is part
of this, but there are ways to slow it down a little bit.
You don't have to be ready and staring at the pitcher until eight seconds.
You don't have to be ready twelve seconds left on the clock, So that's
part of it. And also calling a timeout. Every hitter has a timeout
and every single at bat if you feel like the pace is going too quickly
even after the first pitch call that time out. The Dodgers did not do
a good job of that tonight. They have to be more aware of that
moving forward. It's not just about your swing, and it's not just about
the percentage of what he might throw on this count. There's a lot more
to it, and in a lot of ways, it's a lot more simple.
You can't make it too complicated, but you certainly have got to control
the pace of the game, and the Dodgers did not do a good job
of that tonight against Hunter Green. Eight six, six, nine, seven,
two five seventy is the phone number. It was a sellout tonight at
Great American Ballpark forty one, eight hundred and eighty and Dave was out here.
Dave, thanks for calling in appreciate it. DV. How you doing,
I'm doing great. Are you from LA or are you a Dodger fan
out this way? Well, actually I'm from Santa Monica. Moved to Nashville
about ten years ago, so it's like a five hour drive. So I
just came up with the weekends. I thought Dave races of heart. Sitting
from the side, I was behind the dugout. But it's kind of hard
looking at it from the side of you, but I thought Walker looked pretty
good tonight. He looked like he had good commands and good control, and
his his velo looked like it was pretty good. Unfortunately, we couldn't get
him any freaking hits. But I wanted to say the last at bat.
I know you get tired of hearing about Chris Taylor. I know it,
and I love CT and he has been great for us for years. But
that last at back he had, I think it was the top of the
eighth When he was coming off the field, Dave, he looked defeated.
Man, I'm like, he looks bad, and I feel bad for the
guy, and I don't know what the answer is. I know we're not
going to send him down and we're probably not going to trade him, but
what can we do with him? Dave, Well, you got to keep
running him out there, and it's hard. That's why part of the reason
why Dave Roberts started him today. There were two reasons, he said.
Number One, Pie has knew did a mental day off. He's been really
going through it. He's swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone. It
felt like the game was speeding up on Andy Pajaz. So that's part of
it. Number two, Chris Taylor had a good game last night. He
had his first extra base hit. The guy plays once a week, so
why not give him another start to see if he can build upon yesterday.
So that's the reason why he was out there in center field today, and
you just hope that he can come up with something here. But Dave,
the facts are the Dodger outfield offense outside of ti Oscar Hernandez, it's not
very good right now. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Dodgers are looking
to add an offensive upgrade at the trade deadline in some form or fashion to
that outfield. Yeah, we're gonna have to do something apparently. But hey,
real quick, I wanted to say, Dave before I go. It
was great the Dodger fans there were. I mean, that was a shot,
like I haven't seen it Atlanta or Chicago. I mean, it was
it was awesome. But I saw you. I took a picture of you.
I sent it to the text OsO line and I told I'm like,
look at this Dade out here's big timing in his suit. So he sent
me that picture. Was that yesterday. Yeah, it was last night.
He sent it to you. He sent it to me. He got it,
Dave, and he sent it to me. Yeah. I said,
look at this guy here, thinks he's something. And I love you,
Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Brother. Hey, thank you,
Dave. Hey, I don't think I'm somebody that's just the uniform. When
I'm filling in for Kirsten Watson, I gotta go suited and boot it.
We'll do it again tomorrow. I'll be on the broadcast with Eric Carros and
Joe Davis. They were tremendous to me last night and can't thank them enough
for including me as much as they do. So looking forward to doing it
again tomorrow, and then I'll be back on Dodger Talk when the Dodgers are
in New York to take on JD. Martinez and the New York Mets.
Speaking of Walker, he was back in his backyard here. This was the
ballpark that he grew up coming to major league games. His favorite pitcher was
Bronson, a Royal for the Reds. Because he's from Louisville, Kentucky,
so this is not too far from there to come see major League baseball.
Him and Will Smith had a lot of family and friends the last couple of
days. In fact, the Dodgers director of travel got the message to us
that Walker Buehler requested fifty four tickets for his start tonight, So a lot
of support for Walker Buehler, who did pitch okay, he deserved maybe a
better fate. Instead, he takes the loss because the Dodger offense only scored
one run. Let's head back downstairs to the Dodger clubhouse to hear from the
Dodger right hander that last run in the sixth is I think, you know,
just a little bit of a lapse for me, just in terms of
the pitch lection and back to back kind of scram and a little bit more
than I should be And and so that's kind of the next thing is making
sure I have all that lockdown. How much of difficulty is it tasted the
same team too in a row like that, I think it's probably more mentally
challenging than than it is physically. Like I think the last one I probably
could count on a couple of hands with the balls that I didn't like that
I threw. And so when you face a team like that, I feels
like you kind of have nowhere to go because you've kind of done everything already
or everything you wanted to. But you know, they had a good approach
and put a couple of good swings on it early and then during the sixth.
But you know, it kind of is what it is, you know.
I think if you get the pitch count to where it was for me
at least this this kind of rehab or physical side of it, I feel
good about. I feel like I made some pitches there for a few innings
in a row, and yeah, I don't like give enough homers for swoonings,
but little little encouraging to kind of ride it out for a few innings,
but wish I could have finish it at a little bit better and the
getting as much swing and miss as you have in the past, Like,
is there something you attribute that to right now? And has that been a
surprise coming back that there hasn't been more of that so far. I don't
think I've necessarily ever been like a guy that just wins swinging miss all the
time. I like, I think I've punched guys out in the past with
pretty low swinging miss numbers. You know, I think my swinging miss is
either either two shrike growl, and but I also just like I try.
I'm not trying to strike guys out looking and that seems to happen in newcent
amount for me. I don't know, I'm not super concerned about it.
I feel like the pitches that I make that are good as long as they're
out or strike out, ground it whatever, I'm kind of good with.
That's kind of how I'm always pitches, is trying to move contact and if
they missed the mess or to take it miss a strike, great. But
you know, I think my last started punch out seven on like five shinging
mess. So I think to night to five or six something like that,
like kind of is what it is. That's just kind of how it does.
Do you feel like you were able to make most of the same pitches
in the same location and whatnot that you did last Sunday? Yeah, I
made some. I made some pitches that I liked. I made a few
pitches that I really didn't like. You have both the homewort one oh and
and two oh. I think this is kind of what we don't like.
The San Diego things just count leverage for me, and I don't necessarily think
I'm complacent, but I think in the past I could kind of get away
with one. I went too and throw heaters and you know, just really
try and rip them and when I burn and blowed by people. But you
know that's something that you won't look after, you pick through if you needed
tinles in those counts. But you know, they did a good job.
This seam played really well to their park. I think obviously Benson gent up
ball a mile, but you know, the steer ball, I didn't think
it was a horrible pitch and and he kind of wrapped it out of here.
So you know, it is what it is, all right. There's
Walker as the Dodgers fall tonight by a final score of three to one.
Interesting enough when they're asking him about the swing and miss. This Reds team
swings and miss more than most teams in Major League Baseball. The Reds have
the fifth most strikeouts as a team, and tonight the Dodger offense struck out
more than the Reds offense. The Dodgers had eight strikeouts, led by show
hey Otani, who struck out three times tonight, and the Reds only struck
out six times. They did not have a hitter strikeout more than one time
tonight against Walker Bueller and the rest of the Dodger bullpens. So that's indicative
of the way tonight went for the Dodgers. And speaking of show, Hey
O'tani. We did not hear the full Dave Roberts media session, but he
did tell the reporters that Otani has been nursing a hamstring contusion during the last
week. No word on which hamstring it is, because Jack Harris just said
hamstring in his tweet, but he's been running with a governor and we noticed
up here as he was going for three that he was not running like he
was going for a triple. But because of the way the ball was fielded
in left field by Jacob her Tubs, he went for three. So that's
something to keep an eye on. That Otani is nursing a hamstring issue.
We'll find out tomorrow which hamstring it is, but certainly something to keep an
eye on. We're gonna take a time out here on Dodger Talk when we
continue your phone calls. We have three lines open right now eight six six
nine, eight seven two five seventy. We have a pair of tickets to
give away still for Tuesday, June twelfth, as the Dodgers will host the
Texas Rangers. And also we'll share the call of the ten year anniversary of
Josh Beckett's no hitter. That's right, ten years ago today and Philadelphia,
Josh Beckett threw a no hitter. We'll share that call with you and my
conversation with nineteen seventy seven National League MVP, the former Red George Foster.
So a lot to get to between now and eight thirty as the Dodgers fall
to the Reds tonight three to one. This is Dodger Talk live from Great
American Ballpark in Cincinnati, right here on A five to seventy LA Sports on
air at AM five seventy, online at amfive seventy LA sports dot com,
and available my podcast on the iHeartRadio ASP. This is Dodger Talk with David
Basse David Vasse, live at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. After the Reds
behind Notre Dame High School Zone Hunter Green, defeat the Dodgers tonight by a
final score of three to one. The Dodgers were homer tonight, but the
Reds hit two home runs, solo shots by Will Benson and Spencer Steer against
Walker Buehler. Daniel's 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. Eight six, six, nine eighty
seven two five seventy is the phone number. I will say this about this
series. I felt like last night was the game the Dodgers needed to have
to take two out of three here in Cincinnati or maybe even Sweet because Hunter
Green has been pitching really well for the Reds. He's their ace, and
he pitched really well against this Dodger lineup last week, and the Dodgers have
not been doing well against the fastball. And that's what Hunter Green does.
And he's now using a slider that has been affected and that gave the Dodgers
fits last week and gave them fits again tonight. So I felt like last
night the Dodger offense say what you will about it tonight and overall the last
ten games, but they scored six runs last night. They should have won
the game. If it wasn't for Johann Ramirez who couldn't get one out in
the fifth inning, and honestly, James Paxton needed to get one more out
and be better in that fifth inning as well. But for the Reds to
score six runs with two outs in that inning, it's one thing to try
to come back from a two run deficit. By the four run deficit where
you have to score ten runs, that's a little bit of a tall order
to ask. So I felt like with the Dodgers losing last night, it
was going to be hard for them to win this series. And now they
have lost four in a row and the Giants have won four in a row.
They have leapfrogged the Diamondbacks and Padres and our us five and a half
games back of the Dodgers. Now in the NL West, eight six six
seven two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out to Danny in
Claremont. Thanks for being patient, Danny, you're on Dodger Talk. Hey
Dave, thanks for getting me on my pleasure. You know I'm not gonna
of course, you know, I'm not gonna sweat a four game losing streak
in May. You know, like you said they they have a really good
record. Uh, Hunter, Green's a good picture. Sometimes the good pitchers
are gonna beat you, and there's it's just, you know, I've been
watching way too much baseball, Dodger baseball. It's a sweat, you know,
a four game losing streak in May. There are That's not to say
there aren't any concerns. And for me, a big one right now.
Everyone is concerned about Mookie at shortstop, and you know, there is our
concerns there, but he's playing well. But for me, the bigger one
is the center field. You know, it's the last World Series team that
had a rookie center fielder. I don't know, but they need to find
some sort of steady production out there, you know, and it wasn't out
man, it's not looking like it's pi haz right now. And I think
you're keen on a you know, a trade incoming. And that's kind of
what I foresee too, is that there could be a big trade. You
know, maybe they're gonna fill a couple of spots. You know, right
now, they kind of got their B squad bullpen going, you know,
they got guys coming back. The staff seems like it's going to be strong
this year and just get stronger, and the offense is gonna come around.
You know, you're not gonna win every single game you play, and sometimes
good pictures are going to beat you. But really, I'm that center field
spot is a big question mark for me right now, because you know,
you got to have a you got to have somebod out there. You can
handle that position. Yeah, Pa Haz can handle it defensively, but they're
not getting much offensive production from Paz, from Chris Taylor, from Jason Hayward.
Honestly, ta Oscar Hernandez is the only Dodger outfielder that is giving them
any sort of production. So they're kind of boxed in. If they're gonna
stick with Jason Hayward, where are they going to make a trade to improve
this outfield. It's going to have to be a guy that can play center
field. And maybe when you hear rumors about Bob Bischett, maybe Kevin Kiermeier
is in that conversation as well. But I know the Dodgers almost had a
trade for Taylor Ward of the Angels a couple of years ago, and twenty
he's only he's been as good if not better since then, So we'll see
what they do. But I agree, shortstop outfield, maybe another arm in
the bullpen that would be on my shopping list as we speak right now.
Kim is an interesting name because they tried to get him in the offseason and
he's a great defend in the the he would you need to finish up the
middle? Yeah, for sure, would be interesting here names we got.
Oh, you want those tickets, Danny, you got those tickets? You're
going to the game Tuesday, Tune twelfth against the Rangers. Hey, my
pleasure, A five seventy, Hey, my pleasure. Come out and see
come out and see Coreyer. Hopefully the umpires allowed Dodgers Stadium fans to give
Corey his due, unlike what they did to Bellinger. I'm still upset about
that. Yeah, thats all right. Hold on eight six six, nine
eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number. Yeah, when the Rangers
come to town, that'll be the first time Corey Seeger has been back to
Dodger Stadium since uh he signed with the Rangers a couple of years ago.
All right, speaking to Corey Seger, he was not playing shortstop for the
Dodgers. Ten years ago, he was still in the minor leagues. And
on this date back in twenty fourteen in Philadelphia, it was Josh Beckett on
the mound for the Dodgers and Drew but Terra the catcher that day when Josh
Beckett, in the twilight of his career, had one one more great moment.
So here goes Beckett. He's coming up, he is sent and on
the way the three two pitch to Chase Hedley got it. God ain't looking
stright. Three, and Josh Beckett becomes the eleventh Los Angeles Dodger to throw
a no hitter and the first since Hideo Nomo on the September seventeenth, nineteen
ninety six at Denver against the Rockies to throw a no hitter. So Beckett
had retired twenty three in a row. He walked Jimmy Rollins with two outs
and then got utly. The biggest pitch may have been the three to one,
the curve ball. It was call strank two, and then he gets
Utly swinging and for Josh Beckett a no hitter. That's right, ten years
ago today, Josh Beckett with the no hitter in Philadelphia against the veteran Phillies
team and Drew but Terror was the catcher, and if you remember, the
cell of vibration brought an injury as aj Ellis stepped on Drew but Terra's catchers
mask in the celebration on the mound and sprained his ankle and had to go
on the injured list. That's part of the side note of that no hitter.
And Josh Beckett is still the last Dodger to throw a complete game no
hitter on the road. And if you remember, a couple of weeks later,
Clayton Kershaw would throw his first and at this point only no no hitter
of his career at Dodger Stadium against the Rockies. So we'll celebrate that when
it comes around. But tonight it's Josh Beckett's night, the ten year anniversary
of the no hitter in Philadelphia. He struck out Chase Utley to end that
game. Eight six six nine seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Let's go out to Blake in Santa Barbara. You're on Dodger Talk with David
vasse Hi. Blake. Hey, Dave, First of all, from a
Santa Barbara slant. Spencer Steer and then Jared Christian and Karnacion Strand and Matt
McLain. We're all proud Santa Barbara Foresters in the Summer League, So shout
out to them. But I want to talk about, Yeah, I used
to do play by play for them. I want to talk about where the
spark is going to be because, just like Matt mney Smith talked about,
when we get into the first round of the playoffs, we'll be favored and
we'll run into a team like the Diamondbacks like we did last year, and
they'll have their hair on fire at Mock two. And I think, you
know, this Dodger team obviously has the pieces and the talent, but when
it comes down to playoff baseball and we need some emotion and we need some
fire, and we need to dig deep. We know that Looky and Freddie
are not the emotional leader that he is. It Tayoscar, what has changed
since last year that's going to get this team emotionally over the hump when it
counts in clutch playoffs moments. Yeah, that's a great question, Blake.
I think what has help the Dodgers over the course of the last few years
is how steady they've been in the regular season because he can't get too high
like the Padres do, and he can't get too low like the Padres do
during the regular season, and that's why the Dodgers have been so good in
the regular season. But in the postseason. You're right, you got to
play with emotion and being right next to the Dodger dugout last night for sports
Net LA, it's kind of a quiet dugout, quite honest with you,
it's not a very loud dugout. And I don't know if that's good or
bad or how that plays out, but honestly, the loudest voice as far
as a cheerleader in that dugout is Dave Roberts. He's the guy that has
the most energy in that dugout, and I'm not sure who is going to
provide that for the Dodgers. I feel like when a team doesn't hit and
the offense isn't great, a call like yours comes in, right. This
team's flat. Well it's flat because they're not scoring runs and they're not getting
hits. But when they do score runs and they do get hits, there's
a lot of energy. The sunflower seeds are flowing so honestly, I think
it's your call. Is something I've heard before. When a team only scores
one run or is in an offensive drought, I think the spark of any
team is the leadoff hitter. Blake, Mookie Betts has to spark the Dodgers.
It's not about emotions, it's not about raw raw, it's not about
any of that stuff. It's about what you do between the lines. And
usually your leadoff hitter is that guy. Corbyn Carroll was that guy for the
Diamondbacks last year, Cotel Marte top of the order. So for me,
it's Mooki and Otani that should be the spark. When the Dallas Mavericks are
down twenty points right in the playoffs, right now, well stop stop right
there, No, no stop. This is not the NBA. It's not
you know that. It's not. You can't compare it, but there are
you can't compare it. I'm sorry, Blake, I know we all love
the NBA. You cannot compare it to Major League Baseball or what goes through
uh, the emotions of a Major League Baseball game. In an NBA game,
when a guy hits a three, he can go crazy, he can
throw up his hands up in the air. It's not like that in baseball.
Well, let's go to the Let's go to baseball. Then, when
a team like the Diamondbacks last year, when they were down five or three
in the playoffs, I guarantee you that was still a dugout that had an
emotional leader and had If there's a you hit a leadoff single, what what's
an emotional leader going to do when you're how how okay? Let's let's talk
about your your emotional leader, whoever it was in the dugout, whether it's
Evan Longoria or somebody else. Evan Longoria is in the dugout, right,
what's he going to do for? To tell Marte or Jake McCarthy what I
think that he can do a lot? Is he going to pass in the
baseball? Is he going to pass in the baseball? Is he gonna send
an ali oup to him? That's my point. You can't compare it.
There's a mentality in a dugout that you have to have. That's what you
could talk about, Blake. You can have Evan Longoria and others setting the
identity of an offense and demanding a certain approach. That's that's a fair comparison.
But emotional leaders. That's like you said, that's Matt money Smith talk
and that means absolutely nothing. Oh it's not football, it's not the NBA.
All right, Well, I'm sorry that it just that doesn't add up.
I mean, it doesn't add up. There's no such thing. Yes,
you can have a leader or three or four in baseball. That's another
problem with yours and anybody else's when they talk about leaders on baseball teams.
There's not one leader. It's a group effort. In the NBA, it
could be one guy, Kobe, it could be Derek Fisher, those type
of things, right, But in baseball, there's two or three guys on
a pitching staff. There's two or three guys on an offense. And that's
where things change. In those hitters meetings and in the dugout. I remember
the twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen Dodgers. They were a very
loud dugout and they would be on the top step, all of them saying
keep going, keep going in at bats, and that was the mantra.
I would love to see that again with these Dodgers. I don't hear that
in that dugout eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone
number. Let's go out to Newport Beach. Ken, how you doing.
You're on Dodger Talk Live from Cincinnati. Oh, David, I don't hope
you're having a good time there. But you brought up a bunch of stuff
that I was going to bring up. First media outfielders on you throw Altman
and Taylor with the other three you got al hiitfielders hitting under two thirty.
Now, it really shows up when you're number two and three hitters aren't hitting
him. If they are now, my question is, and you brought up
rovat rehos Rovost, isn't it maybe time to put the best fielder that the
Dodgers have it short and put Mookie in the outfield because thee outfield needs something
bigger than they're getting. What they're getting right now is a whole bunch of
strikeouts. I agree with you, Ken, but it feels like that horse
has left the barn. Doesn't feel like Mookie Betts wants to play right field
anymore. He wants to be an infielder, and he hit thirty nine home
runs playing part of the time hitting playing second base and he has started this
season kind of on an MVP level, So it feels like he's more engaged
and better, I don't whatever you want to call. It feels like he
does not want to play right field anymore. Yeah, but I know you've
got seven errors, which is second in the National League, and Rowhouse last
year didn't even have seven eras who played the whole season, And you got
to look at all these It's a fair question. The outfield is really bad.
It's a fair question. Ken, it is a fair question. But
the Dodgers don't believe Rojas can hold up for the rest of the year every
day at shortstop. He's thirty six years old, and Gavin Lux can't play
it. So that's why Mookie Betts was the guy they chose. And I
think we should give Mooki some credit right for saying yes and moving to that
position. How many superstars would do that can and make themselves as vulnerable as
he's made himself moving to that position. Okay, well, then I guess
the trade is going to have to happen because the outfield, yeah, is
hurting. It is. They're gonna have to get an outfielder. And if
they make a trade for a shortstop. Then you know, bo Baschett's name
seems to be coming up a lot. The Blue Jays are awful last place.
Then if that happens, Mookie goes back to second and he got a
shortstop for the next two years. And whatchar Gott also is a right handed
hitter, which is what they also need. Yeah, I actually think they
need another lefty in the outfield, in center field. Maybe so maybe Kevin
Kiermier is part of that trade as well. All right, well, good,
thank you for your time. I appreciate it. All right, have
a great rest of your holiday weekend out there in Newport Beach. Ken appreciate
the phone call. I know Ken will appreciate this. I had a chance
to run into the nineteen seventy seven National League MVP, that is George Foster
when I walked into the Reds Hall of Fame, and I did not expect
to see George Foster there, but he was making an appearance, and I
said, well, George Foster's here, May I speak to him and ask
him about the Big Red Machine and the Dodgers rivalry. I started off by
asking about our very own Rick Monday. I always saw his number because I
hit home runs. He was trying to chase it down and Rick and I
had met Rick in spring training because we were in Arizona at the time,
but he was with Oakland at one period of time. So but I always
saw that he was a he was a good player, and be a white
player, he was pretty fast. George, I've heard, you know,
being from La, the big Red Machine obviously dominated the seventies. What was
the rival were you like between the Reds and Dodgers. It was fierce and
I just remember the one that really stood out was Davy Lopes. I think
it was we were losing like fourteen to one, and he swung on a
three and oh pitch and hit a home run, and the next time up
we were greeted him with a with a fastball in the ribs. So you
know, that's that's how we played. The game, played at hard and
only draw all. The drawback, which was Pedro Baban. He loves to
fight, and the bullpen was locked. He couldn't get out, but by
the time he got out, one fight was over, but he made sure
he started another fight. Georgia, you're here at the Reds Hall of Fame.
What's it like for you to still be celebrated, you know, these
many years after playing. Well, it's good to be celebrated because things that
I had done before it wouldn't talk much about, but the with the Hall
of Fame, they're bringing it to light and being able to embellish what I
had done it. It was a good feeling to be and it's just known
for what I've done. So maybe what I've done helped other like to when
I do camps for clinics that work with kids, they feeling that, Okay,
he did it. They won't question what I'm saying to them, all
right, Yeah he did a lot. George Foster was the left fielder for
the Big Red Machine in nineteen seventy seven, the year the Dodgers unseated the
Reds as the National League was champions. George Foster hit fifty two home runs
to lead the league and had one hundred and forty nine RBIs to lead the
league six point thirty one slugging percentage that year to win the National League MVP.
He was a guy that was part of two World Series championship teams.
He was a five time All Star, one of the great players of the
seventies and certainly should be celebrated. And you know it was funny. After
I ended two minutes of questions, he said, that's it, that's all
you wanted to do. I said, hey, George, you weren't expecting
me, and you got people waiting for you to speak to them. So
I didn't want to take too much of his time. But certainly a great
honor to meet George Foster. And if you want to see a photo of
George Foster and myself today, you can find it on my Instagram page at
officially vast say. That'll do it for us on Dodger Talk tonight, in
case you missed it earlier today, the Reds and Major League Baseball decided to
move tomorrow's game time an hour and a half earlier because of severe weather storms
that are going to be in the Cincinnati area tomorrow afternoon. So instead of
a one forty Eastern start, the game will start at twelve ten Eastern nine
ten Pacific time. Our coverage begins at eight am, and it will be
Yoshi Yamamoto on five days rest for the Dodgers tomorrow going up against the Reds
bullpen games, So the Dodgers looking to salvage the final game of this series
before they head to New York to take on the Mets at City Field.
Thanks to Dwayne McDonald here at Great American Ballpark, Thanks to Colin Yee 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 we also had a candid conversation with Chris Taylor about the start to his
season. You can find that on the iHeartRadio app as well. Tomorrow after
the game Getaway Day, Tim Kates will handle that. I'll be on the
T side again, filling in for Kirsten Watson, Joe Davis, and Eric
Carros on the call on Sports Net LA, Rick Monday and Tim Neverett on
the call here on AM five to seventy LA Sports once again. The final
score tonight from Cincinnati, the Dodgers dropped their fourth in a row with a
three to one loss to the Reds. We'll talk to you tomorrow. I
have a great rest of your night and be safe this Memorial Day weekend. See you