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
Talk. Like back, David Vasse. We are live on the South side
of Chicago, a guaranteed rate field. After the Dodgers shut out the White
Sox tonight three to nothing, Welcome to Dodger Talk. David Vase with you
until ninth thirty tonight right here on five to seventy LA Sports. And can
you believe this is our second Dodger Talk of the night. We had a
thirty minute rain delay Dodger Talk in this game. It was the top of
the seventh inning with two outs and two on for the Dodgers. Will Smith
at the plate and the Dodgers already had two runs in and the rain came
down pretty heavy, and that's when everybody cleared the field, and luckily there
was not more rain or delays after that. Thirty minutes later, the Dodgers
and White Sox resumed the game and the Dodgers were able to tack on one
more run in the ninth inning for a three to nothing win. Daniel Hudson,
the winning pitcher Stephen Wilson, the losing pitcher in alex Vesia. The
say eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Miguel Rojas was our post game guest today. Yes, Miguel and I reunited
on the radio after him crashing the party on TV on Saturday. But that
was really fun and I appreciate all the love the guys give me when I'm
filling in for Kirsten Watson. But it was great to catch up with Miguel
Rojas tonight because I guess this is going to be a thing until it's not
a thing anymore. When Miguel Rojas has a hit like tonight two for four,
the Dodgers are now twenty three and zero on the season. When he
gets a hit, the Dodgers win, and that trend continued tonight. Am
I going to say that's an absolute? Only cysts deal in absolutes number one,
but number two. No, it's not an absolute, but it's a
fun little thing, right, And what it says is Miguel Rojas is much
better offensively this year. A big reason why is he's another year removed from
right wrist surgery. That kind of hampered him last year, so that's a
big reason why he's a better hitter this year. And look, I feel
like he just got back to himself. He's not trying to pull for power.
He's just trying to get hits and hit line drives, and that's his
role on the team. What world were we living in where we thought at
the end of June Miguel Rojas would be hitting fifth for the Dodgers in a
game. I'm not sure any of us thought that. But in case you
missed it earlier today, Dave Roberts let us know that ta Oscar Hernandez was
not here in Chicago. Instead, he was in the Dominican Republic and he's
going to return tomorrow because of personal reasons. But Dave Roberts said it's nothing
serious, just a personal matter, and I'm sure we'll find out more tomorrow
when ta Oskar gets back. But obviously Dave Roberts doesn't want to speak out
a turn for any player on their personal reasons. Eight six six seven two
five seventy is the phone number. Here was Miguel Rojas. After the game
the Dodgers win, Mickey Rojas gets a hit. Seems to be a trend
and you're embracing it. Yeah. Like I told you today, all I'm
trying to do is do my part, you know, and help the team.
But I mean, if these is dreg gonna be alive, you know,
we want to continue to do it. Every time I get a hit,
I feel like we gotta get on DW so hopefully all weekend right is
out and make it forty and nothing. It seems like you haven't missed a
beat. Playing every day again, it's like riding a bike out there.
Yeah. I mean when I play my natural opposition, I feel really comfortable,
you know. Uh, you know when you're gonna play the communications been
on point with Dave and the whole the whole organization. We all know that
we gotta look it down for a little bit while while Mookie gets ready.
It's really it's really hard to replace the guys like MOOKI and we miss him
a lot, but we're gonna give him time to actually recover, get better
and come back a hundred person. Hey, with you at shortstop and a
Tani at leadoff, Mookie and the Dodgers can hold out as long as he
needs to. Yeah, I feel like that's a That's what happened. When
you get a group of guys that really uh really care about winning, really
care about each other. And I feel like when you have a group that
that is talented like us, you know, and you have a lot of
players out there that they can play everywhere and they can play every single day
for any other team in the league. He's a he's a really comfortable for
our organization to feel. When you lose a big pig. It's like Mookie,
but I mean, we're gonna continue to do what we're doing, and
I mean hopefully we can hold it down and he's coming back. Love being
with you, Miguel Rojas, the model taking care of you today. Thank
you, Thank you guys. I love it. I love the model.
Thanks Miguel. Appreciate that. Miguel Rojas a great night for him and the
Dodgers as he has a single and a double, scores a run, and
the Dodgers shut out the White Sox tonight three to nothing. Eight sixty six,
nine eighty seven, two five seventy is the phone number. Now,
look, here's another thing I wanted to address, and we'll get to Garrett
Crochet and some mind numbing trade talk. In a moment. Also later in
the show, we'll give you an update on Clayton Kershaw and a Dodger legend
is going to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We'll get
to all of that in a moment, and your phone calls at eight sixty
six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. But I'm starting to hear
more and more debate discussion about out whether or not when Mookie Bets returns all
the way six weeks from now, whether or not he will get his spot
back at shortstop and more importantly, at the leadoff spot. I can tell
you this, Mookie Bets will be the Dodgers' leadoff hitter when he returns.
That's where he's best. That's where he helps the Dodgers the most. He'll
get on base show. Hey, Otani will go back to number two and
Freddie Freeman will hit third. Otani is on fire right now, and it's
not because he's hitting leadoff. He just got his swing in a better spot
and it coincided, unfortunately with Mookie Betts getting hit on the left hand on
Father's Day. Remember when Otani was hitting second on Father's Day and hit two
home runs and then Mooki got hit by a pitch and is now out for
six weeks. It's just a collision of great timing. And if you go
back to twenty twenty when the Dodgers first acquired Mookie Bets and during that shortened
season, they did not lead off Mooki Bets to start the year, Remember
Mooki Bets wasn't that good when he wasn't leading off. Remember how Mooki Bets
said, I want to hit lead off and Corey Seger will hit behind me.
And after that happened, they took off and Mooky and Seeger led them
to the World Series. Well, I got news for you. How do
you think it would go over if Mooki Bets comes back from a broken left
hand and the Dodgers tell him, Hey, Mooky, you're not gonna lead
off anymore. We got this guy Otani, he's gonna lead off. You're
gonna hit somewhere else. How do you think that would go over? How
do you think that would go over for a guy that was on his way
to his second MVP before he broke his hand. Do you think that would
go over well? Because if you do, I would love for you to
be the person to tell Mooki Bets that. And there's a real chance,
a more realistic chance, that when Mooki Bets comes back in six weeks,
he's no longer the Dodgers shortstop. So you're gonna tell Mookie Bets when he
comes back. Mookie Bets, who moved from right field to second base and
then you asked him to move to shortstop because you had nobody else. You're
gonna tell Mookie Bets after he comes back from a injury broken left hand.
You're going to tell Mookie Bets, not only are you not going to be
our shortstop anymore, but you're not going to be our leadoff hitter anymore.
Do you feel like Mookie Bets might just disengage at that point in time?
Do you feel like you would lose Mookie Bets for the rest of the season.
I would say there's a great chance that would happen, and that's why
it shouldn't happen, and it won't happen. When Mookie Bets comes back,
Mookie Bets is the leadoff hitter. Eight six, six nine, eight seven
two five seventy is the phone number. I love the debate and Honestly,
if ESPN was being do their job and actually broadcasting, broad means to mass
broad not narrow. If they were actually broadcasting, that would be a great
debate on first take. But they want to ignore baseball and talk more about
hockey than they want to talk about baseball because they have a more lucrative broadcasting
contract with the NHL, the Major League Baseball Eight six six nine eight seven
two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out to Eagle Rock.
Michael. You're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi. Michael, Hey,
David, thanks for taking my call. I wanted to call in this weekend,
but I know you were on TV, so so I missed you,
but I wanted to ask. I know you listened or you had that interview
with Munsey last week, and I'm just curious from talking to him, do
you get the sense like is it on the table that he might miss the
whole season. I'm just, you know, worried over the fact that it
seems like there's been very little progress if Anny, So I don't know.
Can you reassure me that he'll be back some point, even if it's really
far down the line. Yes, I can. We actually got an update
from Dave Roberts on Monseie. Munsey was in great spirits when I saw him
on Saturday. I hadn't seen him smile in quite some time, which tells
us things are moving in the right direction. And Dave Roberts said next Monsey
is going to start swinging by the end of this week and expects Munsey to
return shortly after the All Star break. So Monsey told me, once he
starts swinging, it's going to be two to three weeks until he returns,
so he is not going to be out for the season. He is going
to start swinging here at the end of the week, according to his manager,
and is going to return shortly after the All Star break. Okay,
great, that's that's great. Well. I was also going to request that
you do some mind numbing trade talks, but I heard you say you will,
so it sounds like your way ahead of me. So my big thing
is I would I would love to see them try to go after Sam.
I know that's controversial, so hope you'll get into But thanks so much for
taking my call, David. All Right, Michael, thank you for the
phone call. Actually it's not controversial. I'm all in with Tommy Fam because
he has a certain edge that I believe the Dodgers need, and also Tommy
FAM's a playoff performer. I've heard that Tommy Fam could be a tough teammate
for a full season because he is so intense day in and day out,
but for a half a season two months going into the playoffs. He is
an ideal teammate and an ideal guy to have, and the Dodgers need another
right handed bat. I would love to see a platoon of Jason Hayward and
Tommy Fam in right field to go along with Andy Pajez in center field and
Tioscar Hernandez in left field. I think that would be fantastic. I'm not
so hot on Luis Robert. I know there's been the rumor mill online that
the Dodgers are going to try to pursue Luis Robert. I believe the Dodgers
do have interest in Robert, but it seems like they're not going to get
into any sort of bidding war for Luis Robert. He's a guy that's hitting
under two hundred, strikes out a lot, and from what I'm hearing around
the league, picks and chooses when he wants to play. And let's not
forget the fact he doesn't play that much. He's always hurt. He's only
played one hundred games once in his career. So to me, Tommy fam
is more of the sure bet as a rental to help you get to the
postseason and help the pieces to the puzzle fit a little bit better. And
Garrett Crochet, you know, Rick Monday was impressed tonight, Jose Moto was
impressed tonight. We were all impressed by Garrett Crochet being so aggressive against this
Dodger lineup and not backing down to go along with great stuff. But the
facts are, as Jose and I were talking about, the Dodgers and other
teams are concerned about how by the end of this season it will be the
most innings he's pitched since his Tommy John surgery. How is that going to
play for a team that needs him to play in high intense games and be
a frontline starter. So that's a question when it comes to Garrett Crochet,
who also is under team control for two more years after this, which means
the price is going to be very high. Eight six six nine eight seven
two five seventy. Dodgers shut out the White Sox tonight three to nothing.
Paul in Si Ritos, you're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Paul,
Hey, Dave, turn off the radio, Paul, the radios off,
radios, off, radios up. All right. I know CIZ only
deal in absolute, but we are the EVA Empire. We need to embrace
it, and the entire league king anyway. But Okay, my reason point
of my call was we need to find ways to keep Niggy on the field.
It's just a matter of when he hits. I understand that it isn't
an absolute that he's gonna win, but we're gonna win. But it's just
the fact that when he does hit, we do win. So I do
think we need to find a way to keep him on the field, regardless
of what position it may be. But when you see to find the ways
to get him back on, I'm with you, and he's going to be
on the field a lot for the next six weeks until Mookie Bets comes back,
and we'll see where it goes from there. I'm not saying the Dodgers
need to make a trade for a Bobashett, but if they do make a
trade for Bobaschett. It brings Rojas coming off the bench again, and you
can move Mookie Bets back to second base. But if the Dodgers aren't able
to find a significant now, it has to be a significant upgrade over Mookie
for them to move Mooki off a shortstop. But if the Dodgers feel like
it would be best for Muki to play second base and they can't make a
trade, then Rojas is going to be your playoff shortstop, which wouldn't be
too bad these days. No, but Mooki, I think he deserves the
right to come back to his position and lose it if need be. But
I mean he's too leadoff and he shouldn't lose the leadoff him. Yeah.
Absolutely, so I think we need to do bright by Mooki and keep his
skirts up and just be prepared when he comes back to give him everything he
deserves. All Right, thank you for the phone call. Paul eight six
six eight seven two five seventy is the phone number, since we are getting
into some mind numbing trade talk. Uh, don't forget that I've mentioned heesus
Lozardo of the Marlins. He's another trade target that the Dodgers and other teams
were looking at earlier in the season, but unfortunately he's off the list because
Lozardo is now on the sixty day IL. He was placed there in the
last twenty four hours with lumbar stress reaction, meaning he has a stress reaction
in his back. He's out for at least four to six weeks, so
he's off the table. But there's another Marlin pitcher that could be of interest
for the Dodgers. That is their closer, Tanner Scott, and also in
Florida there's another pretty good closer, Pete Fairbanks of the race. We need
Eric Neander and Andrew Friedman to meet back at Brad Paisley's farm in Nashville to
pull off that trade. Eight sixty six nine eighty seven two five seventy is
the phone number. Let's go out to Huntington Beach. Mark, you're on
Dodger Talk. How you doing, Mark? Okay, I got a theory.
See what you think about this? You know their starting pitcher, I
forget his name right now, but he was in control of the starting pitcher.
Oh yeah, Garrett Crochet Crochet, Yeah, And I think the reason
they didn't he should have at least pitched the sixth and even the seventh,
you know, to try and win the game. But I think the reason
the White Sox really didn't do that is they don't want to push him and
maybe get an injury like you just mentioned with that other player, and then
they don't have no trade thing. So I think they held him back and
took him out in the fifth just because they are planning on trading them and
they don't want to injure them. So what do you think about that possibility.
I feel that's a good possibility. But also if they hold on to
him, they've got to watch his innings. Last year, he only pitched
ninety or twelve innings last year. That's that's not conducive for a guy that
now has pitched ninety four and a third innings. He can't jump from fifty
four to last year only thirteen games and then all of a sudden jump up
to ninety four innings. And more so, even if the White Sox keep
him, they have to watch his innings. Okay, yeah, but I
just wondered. I think maybe they're still thinking to trade. I mean,
you can't trade down are thinking about trading him? There there's no debate about
it. They are thinking of trading him, but even if they keep him,
they still have to be mindful of his innings. Ninety four and a
third innings for a guy that had Tommy John surgery and is slowly working the
innings up, So it's it's a win win. If they trade him,
they're protecting him, they're keeping the innings down, and if they keep him,
same thing, They're keeping the innings down so he could be ready for
next year. They're about to lose more games than the sixty two Metsu.
There's no reason to push him to win one game this year. That means
absolutely nothing. Getting over here, all right, who's that say hello for
me? All right, Mark, thanks for the phone call. Eight sixty
six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. We're going to
take a time out here on Dodger Talk. When we come back, we
will give you that Clayton Kershaw update. Also landon Nack. He made the
trip to Chicago. I will let you know what his future is for the
rest of this week, and also we will let you know which former Dodger
is going to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So a
lot to get to between now and the bottom of the hour, including your
phone calls at eight sixty six, nine to eight seven two, five seventy
after the Dodgers shut out the White Sox three to nothing 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 uh pitch to Keik in twigs and hits it
on the left hail that ball's gonna drop for a hit. Rojas will score
and the Dodgers lead at one nothing. Rounding first, heading per second and
sliding in safely with a pop up slide is Kei k Hernandez back to back
doubles. Miguel Rojas scores on Keyk's double for the first run of the game
with one out in the seventh inning. The Dodgers would go on to shut
out the White Sox tonight three to nothing at guaranteed rate. Field eight six
six nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. David Vase live
on the South Side of Chicago with you until the bottom of the hour.
All right here is your Clayton Kershaw update. He is not going to throw
for a week. He did have another MRI to take a look at his
left shoulder, and Dave Roberts said there was no new damage and they're just
going to take a break from him throwing. I have not been told this,
but I'm sure if there was significant amount of inflammation, maybe a quarterzone
injection. I'm not sure if we'll ever know that or not, but it
wouldn't surprise me if it took place. Number two. Look, Kershaw has
not had any setbacks to this point in time in his recovery from shoulder surgery,
and as good as doctor Neil Elachash is and as good as Kershaw is,
there was bound to be a bump in the road, and this is
a bump in the road. I'm not ready to call it a setback.
I'm just gonna call it a bump in the road to him hopefully coming back
this year. But everybody seemed like it was a foregone conclusion that he was
going to come back, and I was always hesitant. If you go back
to listen to shows in the past, I have never sounded as convinced as
many people out there seemed to have been that Kershaw was not going to have
any setbacks or any bumps in the road, and he was going to come
back in August. He was going to start a playoff game for the Dodgers.
That's a lot to expect from a guy that is coming off major shoulder
surgery, shoulder injury that basically ended Johan Santana's career. This was a significant
surgery, and shoulders are a lot more delicate to come back from than elbow
surgeries are. But if anybody can do it, it's cleaning Kershaw. I
am not going to doubt him. He has proven people wrong his entire life,
and I have full faith that if it is possible for him to come
back this year, he already has done everything in his power and will continue
to do everything in his power to come back. So that's where it stands
with Kershaw, and with Kershaw having a bump in the road, with Yamamoto
out supposedly until August, I'm not sold he's coming back either Yamamoto out,
Walker Bueller out for a period of time, and I don't don't believe it's
going to be just fifteen days. The Dodgers need Landon Nack to stand the
rotation. That's what's going to happen. He is going to start in San
Francisco Friday or Saturday. I forgot which day. Dave Roberts said he's going
to start in but he is going to start in San Francisco for the Dodgers.
So Landon Nack made the trip to Chicago. He's in the rotation for
now. I would venture to say he's in the rotation until the Dodgers get
past the trade deadline to see whether or not they can acquire another starting pitcher.
Eight six, six, nine, eight seven, two five seventy is
the phone number. Dodgers shut out the White Sox three to nothing. Let's
go out to Lake Forest. Michael, you're on Dodger Talk with David vasse
Hi. Michael, Hey, Dave, you know, I just wanted to
say I couldn't agree with you more about Tommy Fam and I get really good
feelings or pull hum feelings about in scenarios. I have no doubt that Tommy
Fam, like you said, for a short period, would be an incredible
assist as far as adding to the lineup for the Dodgers for a short period.
He is a gamer. He's proven he just needs to have the right
scenario and a couple of them. He gets a bad rap. He just
wants to win and he holds his teammates accountable every day. He brings the
intensity and I have no problems with that. I don't either. As you
know, we're talking about production, not so much attitude as far as long
term. Another thing, I was wondering what your thoughts were and is it
justin Rablinsky? Who are you talking about the left handed pitching prospect that just
got from up to I believe triple A that throws incredible smoke. Oh yeah,
I've heard about him. Yeah, Yeah, that's what I was wondering.
If you had any comments on that and what I wanted all the Dodgers.
What do you want me to say, Well, I didn't know,
Well what your thoughts were about his possibilities of actually making it up to major
League Baseball with the Dodgers, And if you have any comments on his performance
up to this point, I haven't. Indeed, I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him, so I can't comment on him. He's started fourteen
games for the Dodgers, and look, if they don't have anybody else right
now, if somebody else gets injured, they may have to dip into a
guy like Justin Robleski or even a Jared carros So. Landon Nac is here.
It's not like last year where you had Landon Knack. You had Bobby
Miller and Gavin Stone at Triple A or Emmit Sheen at Double A. They
have these other guys now that if somebody else gets hurt and they need a
spot starter, or they need a guy in the rotation for a week or
two, it's going to be these type of guys. I gotta run.
Thank you for the phone call. Eight six six nine eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Dodgers shut out the White Sox tonight three to
nothing. 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. I will do my due diligence and talk
to Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes about the next wave of Dodger pitchers that are
close to being ready for major league action, and I will let you know
who those guys are, I promise, all right. I also want to
say congratulations to one of my favorite Dodgers of all time. And I was
lucky enough to ride the bus with him from O'Hare Airport to the team hotel.
And we're all lucky to be around Oral Herscheizer and learn about baseball from
his point of view because he has a brilliant pitching mind and he sees the
game in a spectacular way. I want to send out our congratulations to Oral
Herscheizer because earlier today, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Oral Herscheizer will be
honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year. There
was a group of twenty five celebrities that are going to be part of the
Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars next year, and today was the day they announced
who those people were going to be, and Oral Herscheizer and David Beckham were
the only two selected out of the Sports Entertainment category. Congratulations to Oral Herscheizer,
who will get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sometime in twenty
twenty five, and the only other Dodger I can think of that has a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is the one and only Vin Scully.
I actually have a program from the late eighties where nineteen eighty nine I believe
that Vin Scully had his star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well.
And of course Magic Johnson, part owner of the Dodgers, has a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well. So Oral Herscheizer going to
get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Congratulations, bulldog. Let's
take one more phone call before we say goodnight. Chris in Redondo Beach.
You're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi. Chris walk us off tonight.
Hey, Dave, are you doing bad news on Kershaw? Though? I
think you're right. That was hard to believe how you could come back fully?
Hey? I do How come Vargas does a game more play? He's
got lbs better than Lux, Piki and Taylor, but he hit almost all
the time and not really sure why is there something else we're not seeing there?
He doesn't have a position. I guess he played okay second base last
year. You could play him there against lefties, but he doesn't have a
position. And I love Miguel Vargus. He looks like the hitter we heard
of two years ago, and I think he just went back to being himself
and stopped thinking too much and trying to be the hitter that other people wanted
him to be. Why he got to be the Dodgers Minor League Player of
the Year a couple of years ago is by doing what he was doing two
years ago, and he finally got back to that. I know. Over
the weekend during the Freeway Series, Nomar talked about how he's throwing his hands
at the baseball again, which is a great sign. That's something that Nomar
saw him doing the minor leagues. But when it comes to him getting more
playing time, he's a left fielder right now, and that's a I can
make the argument. You're right that he should play and start against lefties and
left field over Chris Taylor. Tonight, Taylor start at second. Vargas was
in left field because ta Oscar Hernandez was dealing with a personal issue. But
I'm with you against lefties, he should be starting over Taylor. All right,
Thanks appreciate it, Thank you, No problem. Chris. That's how
we'll end it. Tonight tomorrow, game two of this three game series between
the Dodgers and White Sox. Bobby Miller, the Illinois Kid, will be
on the mound for the Dodgers. He's a huge Bears fan, so he'll
be pitching in Chicago on the South Side for the second time since coming off
the injured list. He's going off. He's going up against Chris Flexen,
who is two and six this year with an ERA of five zero three.
Morongo Casino. Dodgers on Deck begins at four o'clock with first pitch from the
South Side of Chicago at five to ten. That'll do it for us tonight
on Dodger Talk. Thanks to Dwaen McDonald out here at what is a guaranteed
rate field, New Comiski, and thanks to Colin. You just back at
the iHeart Studios. Are you sponsored by anybody, Colin? They gave naming
rights to the building yet Okay, Thanks Colin, appreciate your help and thank
you for listening. In case you missed any of the show or our pregame
conversation with former Dodger and now Readers Cup winning owner Jason Worth, you can
hear that on the iHeartRadio app. That's where you can listen to the pregame
interview and all our Dodger Talk episodes. Once again. The final score tonight
from Chicago, the Dodgers shut out the White Sox three to nothing. Have
a great rest of your night. See you so chuckling.