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<v Speaker 1>An exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.

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<v Speaker 2>It's Kershaw Day and the Big Apple, and we're joined

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<v Speaker 2>right now by Dodger manager Dave Roberts.

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<v Speaker 3>Dave, thanks a lot for the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey Dave, good to catch up and another exciting night,

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah it is.

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<v Speaker 3>It's always great to be in New York.

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<v Speaker 2>And as far as coming back to City Field, I

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<v Speaker 2>know we always talk about the World Series, but what

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<v Speaker 2>stands out to you the most about the NLCS last year?

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<v Speaker 3>You know what?

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<v Speaker 1>I think the thing that stands out most is Walker

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<v Speaker 1>striking out Lin d'Or with a three to two curveball.

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<v Speaker 1>I think show hey hit a huge homer. Just the energy, there,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of good memories. I'm sure they're going to

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<v Speaker 1>be looking to get some redemption and payback, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to be a great series.

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<v Speaker 2>The NLCS was just an encapsulation of how much you

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<v Speaker 2>leaned on your bullpen, and this year you're kind of

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<v Speaker 2>feeling the residual effect of the way that you needed

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<v Speaker 2>to use those guys to win.

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<v Speaker 3>The World Series.

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<v Speaker 2>How are you right now with your bullpen now? And

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<v Speaker 2>I guess that's a price that you're willing to pay.

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<v Speaker 2>And they were willing to pay.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, I think if you look back at

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<v Speaker 1>that series and even that Padre series, I think it

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<v Speaker 1>was Game three that we sort of had to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of hang in there and use the bullpen to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of get to the next day. We did that obviously

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<v Speaker 1>at City Field in the CUS. Right now, it's certainly

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<v Speaker 1>not ideal coming off and off day. I feel much

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<v Speaker 1>better about the state of our pen, the pitching, but

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<v Speaker 1>I think that as we look out, and I think

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<v Speaker 1>Clayton coming into his second one, I'm going to be

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit more mindful as far as the usage.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think the other guys who've gotten their feet wet,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to push them because you know, obviously we

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<v Speaker 1>need to win baseball games, but these guys have got

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<v Speaker 1>to go deeper in games, and they've got to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of take a little bit of the strain off the pen,

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<v Speaker 1>who have certainly been tax in the first couple months.

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<v Speaker 2>Kershaw talked about having a lack of commit but he

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<v Speaker 2>was happy with his stuff. Do you feel like both

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<v Speaker 2>will get better with time?

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<v Speaker 1>I do, And I think and I even told Clayton

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<v Speaker 1>this after this outing is I think I would be

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<v Speaker 1>more concerned if the stuff wasn't there, that we don't

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<v Speaker 1>have enough to work with. But the stuff was there,

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<v Speaker 1>so I feel and I think he echoes that feels

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<v Speaker 1>good about that. And command is something that he's always

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<v Speaker 1>been able to navigate and manage and have. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>after the first one, I do think that the command's

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<v Speaker 1>going to continue to get better.

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<v Speaker 2>Manager Dave Roberts, two time manager World Champion, is our

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<v Speaker 2>guest when you look at your bullpen and your pitching staff,

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<v Speaker 2>I know it's hard to say who's the most valuable

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<v Speaker 2>or who's the best, but would you say Benk Caspirius

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<v Speaker 2>has been more valuable than anybody outside of these walls

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<v Speaker 2>would have expected?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh?

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that this is a guy that came on

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<v Speaker 1>the scene last year and pitched in big ball games.

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<v Speaker 1>But the leverage innings, the amount of innings that he's

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<v Speaker 1>given us stability, which, to be quite frank, we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>really had that in the pitching. So for a guy

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<v Speaker 1>that's got call it three months of service to be

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<v Speaker 1>a stabilizer has been huge for us.

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<v Speaker 2>He seems to be very open to the different versatile

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<v Speaker 2>spots that you have for him.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and I think that's a good thing. I think

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<v Speaker 1>some of it is youthfulness, naivete, just happy to be

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<v Speaker 1>in the big leagues where there's a complete buy in.

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<v Speaker 1>But I do think that he is understanding that his

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<v Speaker 1>openness and willingness to do different things allows for a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of ability to plug some holes and to protect

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<v Speaker 1>and help us win baseball games. And so I just

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<v Speaker 1>kind of put him in that high leverage bucket and

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<v Speaker 1>use him as a Swiss army knife.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Dave, I'm gonna throw something at you that

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<v Speaker 2>I get thrown at. And it's a valid question. With

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<v Speaker 2>all those starting pitching injuries, has there been an urge

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<v Speaker 2>among yourself and the group in the front office to

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<v Speaker 2>maybe accelerate Otani coming back to pitch?

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<v Speaker 3>And how do you resist that?

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<v Speaker 1>You know the shortand no, I think that show hey,

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<v Speaker 1>doctor elatross a training staff for all driving this sort

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<v Speaker 1>of ramp up progression. I think it's separate. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>separate issue, and I think that you know one part

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<v Speaker 1>of it, or that I guess the main part of

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<v Speaker 1>it is his value to us as a hitter as

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<v Speaker 1>it is, as it stands, is so valuable, right, And

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<v Speaker 1>so to try to speed something up to take on

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<v Speaker 1>some type of downside just doesn't make sense. So I

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<v Speaker 1>do think that we are being very methodical about it.

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<v Speaker 1>I can safely say he's probably not going to pitch

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<v Speaker 1>for us until after the break. But I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>that the injuries that we've had is going to speed

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<v Speaker 1>up his process.

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<v Speaker 2>You played against and with Barry Bonds. Did you ever

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<v Speaker 2>think you would say what you said as far as

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<v Speaker 2>Otani being in the same sentence with him.

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<v Speaker 1>No, I didn't know. Barry was number one with a

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<v Speaker 1>bullet as far as by far, the best baseball player

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<v Speaker 1>I've ever played with, ever seen. But now you laren

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<v Speaker 1>what Showhy can do with foot speed, with power, with average,

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<v Speaker 1>but also the pitching. And I think that's something that

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you're you're trying to grate out the whole

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<v Speaker 1>player in totality, where I can't believe I'm saying that,

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<v Speaker 1>but yeah, show Hey in totality is a better baseball

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<v Speaker 1>player because you can pitch.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, You've seen a lot of baseball and you're not done.

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<v Speaker 2>You've seen a lot of things and a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>great players and looking forward to more of a great season.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks a lot for the time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks Dave, good having you and good being on with

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<v Speaker 1>you and uh let's have a great series.