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<v Speaker 1>We're here with Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas. Miguel, thanks a

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<v Speaker 1>lot for the time and always appreciate you delivering on

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<v Speaker 1>the field and for us.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, of course, anytime that you guys need me, it's

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<v Speaker 2>a pleasure talking to you.

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<v Speaker 1>Guys. It's great to see the smile back on your face.

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<v Speaker 1>How tough was it to watch and just be patient

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<v Speaker 1>with the healing process.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess that's all I can do. When you

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<v Speaker 2>feeling something throughout the year that you can really like

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<v Speaker 2>play through. It's really hard and it's a challenge for

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<v Speaker 2>you to stay focused on what you need to do

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<v Speaker 2>to get back on the field as soon as possible.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's exactly what I tried to do. I try

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<v Speaker 2>to work myself as hard as I can every single

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<v Speaker 2>day to come back in the minimum time. And I'm

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<v Speaker 2>happy that I'm back with the guys. And I mean

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<v Speaker 2>it was really tough to watch on TV, for sure,

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<v Speaker 2>but at the end of the day, we got a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of time left and were ready.

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<v Speaker 1>You were one of the first key players to come

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<v Speaker 1>back from the injured list, Mookie coming back Monday. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you feel like with yourself, Mookie and the rest coming

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<v Speaker 1>back that can restore order to the season.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I mean, I feel like we've been opened down

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<v Speaker 2>this year, and part of that is injuries on the

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<v Speaker 2>pitching side and the offensive side. But at the end

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<v Speaker 2>of the day, we got a pretty good team that

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<v Speaker 2>can actually fill in for the players who went down. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 2>a bunch of us went down at the same time,

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<v Speaker 2>especially with the Freddie situation and his family situation that

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<v Speaker 2>he has to stay away from the team for so long,

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<v Speaker 2>and a guy I know Freddy take care of his family,

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<v Speaker 2>and uh, he cares about his family a lot, but

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<v Speaker 2>he's pretty hard on himself when he comes to like

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<v Speaker 2>not playing every single day. So the same way I feel,

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<v Speaker 2>and the same way Mookie feels. The same way Max Montsterfield,

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<v Speaker 2>and I feel like everybody creating momentum coming back I

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<v Speaker 2>think inspire others to trying to come back as soon

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<v Speaker 2>as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>To Miguel, You've been around a lot of great players

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<v Speaker 1>in your career. Have you ever seen a player of

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<v Speaker 1>Mookie's caliber be so flexible to move positions and do

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<v Speaker 1>what's best for the team.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I feel like that's what a superstars is like.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, Uh, it doesn't matter what happened on the field,

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<v Speaker 2>but he's always willing to do whatever it is best

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<v Speaker 2>for the team at the moment, you know, uh, And

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<v Speaker 2>that kind of flexibility you don't find any anybody else.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like this is the first time that I

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<v Speaker 2>play with a guy who won multiple Sitable Slogers, Gold

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<v Speaker 2>Gloves in right field and he's willing to move to

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<v Speaker 2>the infielder. And it's not just to to the to

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<v Speaker 2>the dirt, but to shortstop, which is one of the

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<v Speaker 2>hardest positions to play in the sport. And I mean

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<v Speaker 2>all the all the credits to him for for being

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<v Speaker 2>what the what is the best for the team, And

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<v Speaker 2>that's what a superstar and a leader should be looking

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<v Speaker 2>looking like.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, speaking of shortstop, it is the most amending position

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<v Speaker 1>on the field outside of catcher. How do you make

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<v Speaker 1>it look so easy? How do you have those instincts?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it just something that you had at a young

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<v Speaker 1>age or is it something you learned over time.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like I've been playing the position for like

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<v Speaker 2>for a long time, almost my whole life, if ever,

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<v Speaker 2>since I remember going to a field, I wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>be a short stop. That comes from like watching really

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<v Speaker 2>good short stop early in my age, like Marvi Scale

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<v Speaker 2>the Becomeseion, Louis Aparisio and all those guys coming from Venezuela.

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<v Speaker 2>We we uh produce a lot of good short stops

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<v Speaker 2>in my in my jown age. So I was watching

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<v Speaker 2>them and I was trying to emulate the way that

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<v Speaker 2>they play short and I meant the at this point,

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<v Speaker 2>it takes a little bit more of preparation for me

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<v Speaker 2>because I'm thirty five years old and I'm trying to

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<v Speaker 2>like stay on the on the top of the game defensively,

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<v Speaker 2>and I just stay proud of them, and I just

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<v Speaker 2>stay pride of playing good defense behind my guys, and

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<v Speaker 2>that's what keeps me in the in the in the

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<v Speaker 2>big leagues for so many years.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, so fair to say Venezuela is the country of shortstops.

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<v Speaker 2>It used to be. It used to be that way.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like we still have some representative on like

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<v Speaker 2>the shortstop from Colorado. I seek Toobar, and we have

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<v Speaker 2>Brian Rocky in clevelandand and we have a couple other guys.

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<v Speaker 2>But right now it's trending more towards the catchers because

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<v Speaker 2>we have a lot of catchers in the big leagues

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<v Speaker 2>right now, but definitely when when I was growing up

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<v Speaker 2>he was. I mean, we produce a lot of good

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<v Speaker 2>short stufs.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, before I let you go, Tomorrow is Matt kemp day.

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<v Speaker 1>You were teammates with Matt Camp when he first got

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<v Speaker 1>called up. Is it surreal to realize that you're still

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<v Speaker 1>playing and tomorrow he's officially retiring.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's crazy to see how many players that I

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<v Speaker 2>play with now they're coaching or they like don't with

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<v Speaker 2>their careers and and moving on to the next charter

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<v Speaker 2>of their life. But especially with my that I got

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<v Speaker 2>an opportunity to debuty here when he was like at

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<v Speaker 2>the top of the game, you know, thirty thirty guy,

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<v Speaker 2>MVP caliber season every single year, and for being uh

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<v Speaker 2>like socialize guy and being open to uh to help

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of John players at that time. I always

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<v Speaker 2>going to appreciate what he did for for me and

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<v Speaker 2>for all the John players in this organization, Like Jock

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<v Speaker 2>Peterson can talk to you about it. He was like

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<v Speaker 2>really really good person outside of being a superstar. And

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I'm happy for make he's uh that he's

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<v Speaker 2>retarding as a dollyer, you know, uh as as his

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<v Speaker 2>last day and yeah, it's so real to to be

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<v Speaker 2>here tomorrow, playing in a light up, trying to win awards.

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<v Speaker 2>Here is when when Matt is coming back to actually.

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<v Speaker 1>Your retard, who is a better smelling teammate one, your

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<v Speaker 1>rebate or Matt Camp?

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<v Speaker 2>I gotta go, I gotta, I gotta go with Matt

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<v Speaker 2>because I like the way that he always dress a

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<v Speaker 2>smile and smell and and and all that. Nothing nothing,

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<v Speaker 2>nothing against one, but uh, it's different every single day,

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<v Speaker 2>So I go with Matt.

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<v Speaker 1>Awesome, Thanks a lot for your time. Great to see

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<v Speaker 1>you back out there, Shortstop. You make it look so

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<v Speaker 1>easy and it's a pleasure to watch you really be

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<v Speaker 1>a magician there every night. So thanks a lot, no

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<v Speaker 1>thank you,