Speaker 1: The right quot.
Speaker 2: Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back and with it an annual
Speaker 2: postseason tradition.
Speaker 1: Scam is back. Baby.
Speaker 2: This is Sax and Cakes in the a APPA go
Speaker 2: with proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your
Speaker 2: favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to
Speaker 2: talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six
Speaker 2: six nine, eighty seven two five seven now. While the
Speaker 2: Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app. We've
Speaker 2: been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes.
Speaker 2: Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven
Speaker 2: e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Speaker 1: And chefs like that.
Speaker 3: Your Los Angeles Dodgers have a two to one series lead.
Speaker 3: Hi everybody, and welcome to Saxon, Kates and Am.
Speaker 1: Here on AMPI seven Sports.
Speaker 3: You're a home of sho Hey Otani and the Dodgers
Speaker 3: as they go into City Field last night and get
Speaker 3: a win over the New York Mets and eight nothing
Speaker 3: shutout over the Mets. I am Tim Kats, joined by
Speaker 3: two times World Series Champion from a Rookie of the
Speaker 3: Year and my favorite number three of all time.
Speaker 1: He is Steve Sacks. Saxy. Good morning, Good morning, Tim.
Speaker 4: How are you.
Speaker 3: I'm fantastic. I slept like a baby last night, Saxy.
Speaker 3: Feeling good about the Dodgers Game three win.
Speaker 1: Last night.
Speaker 3: They got home runs early from Kei k they got
Speaker 3: home runs late from show Hey Otani and Max Munsey.
Speaker 1: And last night was Walker Buehller's return.
Speaker 3: Walker Buehler last night, I don't even want to say
Speaker 3: it was vintage Walker Bueler. This is Walker Bueller two
Speaker 3: point zero that we saw last night in Game three
Speaker 3: of the NLC. Not a ninety eight mile an hour
Speaker 3: throwing Walker Bueller. Not the cocky, swagged out Walker Bueller
Speaker 3: that we saw for many years dominate as one of
Speaker 3: the top pitchers in the National League. But last night, Saxy,
Speaker 3: what he did in the second inning against Lindor with
Speaker 3: the bases loaded, the way he pitched to batters last night,
Speaker 3: he wasn't just a thrower. And this may sound weird
Speaker 3: to people, but last night, Walker Bueller was a pitcher.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And you know what I liked about what Walker did
Speaker 4: last night is he was attacking the hitters. He wasn't
Speaker 4: just out there pitching trying to go in the fringes
Speaker 4: of the plate. He was attacking these guys. And I'll
Speaker 4: tell you that curveball that he threw Lindor was a
Speaker 4: real gutsy, ballsy move right there. It was the best
Speaker 4: curveball he threw all night. And it couldn't come at
Speaker 4: a better time. I mean, he put it all out there,
Speaker 4: and that pitch was absolutely paralyzing to the Mets. He
Speaker 4: was too much for these guys. And man, I'm telling
Speaker 4: you what the guy the thing. I look at it
Speaker 4: and I say, well, you know, a big hit can
Speaker 4: really bring a team up. And you know a great
Speaker 4: play can really bring a team bring a team up,
Speaker 4: but the pitching staff and making pitches like that can
Speaker 4: just electrify that bench. And that's exactly what it did.
Speaker 4: The team took off from there and really put it
Speaker 4: to the Mets. And you know, I was just thinking about,
Speaker 4: you know, the things to talk about today and today's show,
Speaker 4: and you know what it really comes down to to
Speaker 4: me is with all of the great attributes that this
Speaker 4: team has, you know, the ability to pitch, the great bullpen,
Speaker 4: the fact that they have the best offense in baseball.
Speaker 4: You know, you know what else they have and it
Speaker 4: sometimes people question it because you know they're the Dodgers
Speaker 4: and they spend a lot of money, and know these
Speaker 4: guys are pampered. You know, you hear all that stuff
Speaker 4: from the opposition. But what this team has tim is
Speaker 4: this team wants it, and this team wants it really,
Speaker 4: really bad. And that is a dangerous combination when you
Speaker 4: have a very very talented bunch of professionals that really
Speaker 4: in its raw sense, that's a dangerous combination. And I'll
Speaker 4: tell you this too, this team has not seen the
Speaker 4: best of what it can be yet. There is another
Speaker 4: there's another level still to be gotten here with this team.
Speaker 4: We haven't seen it yet, but we're about to. And
Speaker 4: that's scary how good this team could be. We haven't
Speaker 4: seen the best of the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Yet, absolutely, because every night it's been a different player.
Speaker 3: When they collectively come together in a game and put
Speaker 3: it together offensively, look out, an eight to nothing shut
Speaker 3: out could just be the beginning what those Dodgers offense
Speaker 3: can do.
Speaker 1: And Walker Bueller last night, I.
Speaker 3: Mean from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty one, when he
Speaker 3: burst onto this scene with the Dodgers game won sixty
Speaker 3: three that he pitched against the Rockies in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 3: his rookie season too the World Series run in the Bubble.
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, he was one
Speaker 3: of the top four pitchers in baseball. He finished fourth
Speaker 3: in the Cy Young voting. He had a two forty
Speaker 3: seven ERA two hundred plus innings. He was, you know,
Speaker 3: right there with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer and Justin
Speaker 3: Verlander as one of the best eras in baseball. And
Speaker 3: then he gets hit by injuries and he falls off
Speaker 3: for two plus seasons coming back from the elbow surgery.
Speaker 3: And then this year he was just trying to figure
Speaker 3: himself out because the fastball wasn't as electric as it
Speaker 3: has been over the years, and he had to figure
Speaker 3: out what kind of pitcher he.
Speaker 1: Was gonna be then.
Speaker 3: And I think it was more mentally anything more than
Speaker 3: physically for Walker Bueler saxy because the arm's fine. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's been rebuilt, you know, it's the second time around.
Speaker 3: Now that's a fresh arm on Walker Buehler. But the
Speaker 3: guy who's got that brash, that swag sometimes maybe comes
Speaker 3: across his cocky when he's out there and when he
Speaker 3: talks to the media, and he used to back it
Speaker 3: up with that ninety eight hundred mile an hour fastball
Speaker 3: and just throw it right by guys. Now it's sitting
Speaker 3: ninety two to ninety three, and he had to figure
Speaker 3: out how to pitch. And it took him, I think,
Speaker 3: all regular season to mentally get over that hurdle. And
Speaker 3: he did last night with the curveball to Lendor on
Speaker 3: a three to two pitch when he could have gone fastball,
Speaker 3: tried to paint the corners, try to be cute about it,
Speaker 3: or just shove right at Lindor and say, here, do
Speaker 3: with it what you will. If I beat you, great,
Speaker 3: if you tee off on me, hey, you're the better
Speaker 3: guy in this battle. Instead, he mixes it up with
Speaker 3: a knuckle curveball and strikes him out. We saw a
Speaker 3: young man grow up last night, right before our eyes.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I still see Walker Bueller as one of the elite
Speaker 4: power pitchers in the game. I don't see him as
Speaker 4: a guy that's gonna sit in the low nineties. I
Speaker 4: saw him go get ninety six last night when he
Speaker 4: needed it, and I mean pitching up in the zone. See,
Speaker 4: he's got a great combination and we used to marvel
Speaker 4: when we saw Max Scherzer do this is that he
Speaker 4: still had that great combination of talent where he could
Speaker 4: go get the upper nineties when he needed it, but
Speaker 4: still pitch ability and being able to out fox the
Speaker 4: hitter and keep him off balance. Seeing him grow into that,
Speaker 4: we're seeing a combination of sheer power and smarts all
Speaker 4: rolled into one. And Walker Bueller is making a case
Speaker 4: for a strong situation for him. Come you know this
Speaker 4: postseason when he's a free agent. He's really turning things
Speaker 4: around for himself.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and he even talked about it last night that
Speaker 3: he was fighting for a postseason roster. We talked about
Speaker 3: this yesterday, which Walker Bueller was gonna show up in
Speaker 3: October and quite frankly, and let's just all be honest.
Speaker 3: If it wasn't because of injuries to Tyler Glass now,
Speaker 3: Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, we may not be seeing Walker
Speaker 3: Bueller pitch last night. He may be coming out of
Speaker 3: the bullpen as the Landon Neck role, and Landon Neck
Speaker 3: doesn't make this roster, or Landon Neck and Brent Honeywelt
Speaker 3: make the roster ahead of a guy like Walker Bueller
Speaker 3: because of his struggles. It says a lot, and we
Speaker 3: mentioned this a couple of days ago. It says a
Speaker 3: lot that Andrew Freeman, Brandon Gomes, the GM and Dave Roberts,
Speaker 3: Mark Pryor, this collective brain try, the Dodgers never stopped
Speaker 3: believing in Walker. Buehler sack see all along one in
Speaker 3: six record high era couldn't figure it out a lot
Speaker 3: of outings that he couldn't get up past the third inning,
Speaker 3: and they stuck with him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and Walker is smart enough to thrive in that
Speaker 4: momentum that he had built up once once he got
Speaker 4: past Lindor, I mean lights out. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: you got a guy on base now and then, And
Speaker 4: I know he struggled a little bit. You and I
Speaker 4: talked about that during the game with his slider, of
Speaker 4: being able to put it you know what, But he
Speaker 4: made pitches with that pitch when he needed it. He
Speaker 4: got behind hitters with it, but he came back actually
Speaker 4: when it was on the line and made a couple
Speaker 4: of great pitches with his slider. It wasn't you know.
Speaker 4: So what I like about him is Walker is a
Speaker 4: ballsy dude. He's gutsy he's not afraid to throw. He
Speaker 4: has he has deep conviction in all of his pitches,
Speaker 4: and uh, it's hard to beat a guy like that.
Speaker 1: He got J D.
Speaker 3: Martinez on that slider. They want to call this we
Speaker 3: missed it by two feet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's great.
Speaker 3: He adjusted though we're talking about it, you like, he
Speaker 3: can't throw it for a strike, he's missing big time,
Speaker 3: but he adjusted.
Speaker 1: Mark Pryor went out there.
Speaker 3: I think he started seeing Will Smith set up even
Speaker 3: more inside, maybe exaggerating it a little bit behind the plate,
Speaker 3: just to get Walker Bueller to get that slider more
Speaker 3: competitive because he wasn't getting the chases. But when it's
Speaker 3: all said and done, the amount of swinging misses that
Speaker 3: he got last night were the most he had in years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and teen eighteenth swinging missus.
Speaker 3: I don't think he had eighteen swinging misses in his
Speaker 3: sixteen starts during the regular season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he jumped another level last night. We saw it
Speaker 4: right before our eyes. And this has got to be very,
Speaker 4: very frustrating, especially for the Mets when they see what
Speaker 4: kind of artillery that he brought out there on the mound.
Speaker 4: They were shocked, they were They looked at this really,
Speaker 4: this guy is coming off exactly. He barely got by.
Speaker 4: He got one win during the season. I mean, this
Speaker 4: is a really big lift for the team. I know
Speaker 4: that team in the hotel is signing a big relief
Speaker 4: right now that they got Walker Bueller back to the
Speaker 4: to where he should be. Another situation tonight, I know
Speaker 4: we're gonna when we change our speeds and start talking
Speaker 4: about the other side because they got to deal with
Speaker 4: some guy tonight that's really on a terror. When you
Speaker 4: talk about somebody that's got some momentum.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, can Tona has really been pitching well for
Speaker 3: the Mets, and you all have my moto hopefully to
Speaker 3: building on that momentum that he've had in his last start.
Speaker 3: Walker Bueller, we know how cocky he can be, and
Speaker 3: he rubs people the wrong way. Sometimes it's arrogant, but
Speaker 3: he backs it up for the most part. And because
Speaker 3: of the injuries, he hasn't been able to back it up.
Speaker 3: And I've also seen a different side of him. He's
Speaker 3: much more subdued, and maybe because he's married now and
Speaker 3: he's got a young child, probably a lot to do
Speaker 3: with that.
Speaker 1: He's grown up. He's a he's thirty now he's he's he's.
Speaker 3: Gotten out of that young phase of his life and
Speaker 3: we've seen the development of his picture on the mound
Speaker 3: last night. Just listening to him, and we're gonna hear
Speaker 3: me here, froim in a second. He sounds grown up.
Speaker 3: He sounds like a mature man out there realizing what
Speaker 3: he's doing is something that he had hoped to try
Speaker 3: to do and get back to his old form, but
Speaker 3: also realizing that he has reinvented himself. Here's Walker Bueler
Speaker 3: post game last night, after his four shutout innings.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just uh, I throw what Will puts down. You know,
Speaker 5: I think this series, in this playoffs, I think is
Speaker 5: in sync with with the pitching staff as Will has
Speaker 5: ever been and he's calling really good games. And you know,
Speaker 5: I trust what he sees more than anyone. I trust
Speaker 5: what he sees more than I trust what I see.
Speaker 5: And so I think that, you know, that's just a
Speaker 5: tip of the cat to him.
Speaker 4: When he started this journey back from the you know,
Speaker 4: the Tommy John you talked about wanting to pitch in
Speaker 4: games like this is kind of simply how fun was tonight?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's everything to me. You know, he talked about
Speaker 5: it before the San Diego start, the big games, or
Speaker 5: me being in big games. That's that's literally all I
Speaker 5: care out. And you know, the way Kik talks about
Speaker 5: our team having some sort of of confidence when I
Speaker 5: pitch regardless, I think is kind of really the goal
Speaker 5: for any starting pitcher. You know, there's the stats and
Speaker 5: free agency and all of that, but I just want
Speaker 5: twenty five guys in the locker room that believe that
Speaker 5: I give us a really good chance to win. And
Speaker 5: if I've created that in our locker room somehow, that's
Speaker 5: that's probably what I'll be the most proud of when
Speaker 5: I'm done. It'll five you in second row.
Speaker 6: Just to go back to that Lindora bat. Do you
Speaker 6: feel like that's only maybe pre surgery that you probably
Speaker 6: would want to try to throw a fastball in that spot?
Speaker 5: Oh, in twenty eighteen, nineteen twenty, I would have thrown
Speaker 5: a fastball. I mean, there's no.
Speaker 6: Yeah, when the bases are lowered there in the secondading,
Speaker 6: is there a place that you go to mentally, right
Speaker 6: so that you kind of have to channel to be
Speaker 6: able to sort of get out of that spot.
Speaker 5: Yeah. The fear of pitching the way I pitched all year.
Speaker 5: I think is probably probably where I channel it from.
Speaker 7: I saw the stat that you now have the second
Speaker 7: most postseason starts in Dodgers franchise history, just behind kersh All,
Speaker 7: the pitchers that have come through the Hall of famers Nukem, Cofax, Drysdale,
Speaker 7: Fernando Herscheiser. For you to be second on that list
Speaker 7: and giving your team so many victories in the postseason,
Speaker 7: even after missing the last two postseasons, what does that
Speaker 7: mean to be be in that company?
Speaker 5: I honestly, I think that's a team stat. Just to
Speaker 5: be honest with you. We've been in the playoffs every
Speaker 5: year that I've been here and healthy at least, and
Speaker 5: I've been very fortunate to get the ball, and you know,
Speaker 5: the trust thing or whatever we kind of developed through
Speaker 5: the years to let me have the ball. You know,
Speaker 5: this year is kind of a pretty good example of that,
Speaker 5: just because of the way the regular season went. But yeah,
Speaker 5: it's a cool stat and a cool thing, But to me,
Speaker 5: that's about our team.
Speaker 7: Lastly, Doc has said you've had to almost relearn how
Speaker 7: to pitch coming from this surgery. What has been the
Speaker 7: biggest difficulty or the thing that you've learned the most
Speaker 7: and kind of relearning how to come back out here and.
Speaker 5: Be you again. Then on three to two at the
Speaker 5: basis a little that I gotta throw a kerball now
Speaker 5: instead of a heater.
Speaker 1: All right, there's Walker Buller last night, Saxey.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, having seen this kid come up in
Speaker 3: twenty seventeen, remember when he was drafted at a Vanderbilt.
Speaker 1: He was all about this swag.
Speaker 3: He was a kid that didn't lack confidence on and
Speaker 3: off the field. I mean he sounds humbled. He sounds
Speaker 3: like a guy who is so appreciative of being there.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is a completely different Walker Bule.
Speaker 4: I love it. It's real and there's there's nothing contrived
Speaker 4: about what he's saying whatsoever. I see him as a
Speaker 4: very confident, humble at the same time person. What I
Speaker 4: like about him is he's showing true leadership and that
Speaker 4: he gives it back to his teammates and he means it.
Speaker 4: He's not just saying it. It's not a bunch of eyewash.
Speaker 4: I think he's a real deal, and I think the
Speaker 4: like you said, the guy's in that locker room, think
Speaker 4: he's got a great chance to win every time he
Speaker 4: goes out and pitch Walker. One thing about him, he
Speaker 4: expects it every single time to be at the top
Speaker 4: of his game. The GM and the front office and
Speaker 4: everybody will never ever have to worry. Is this guy
Speaker 4: going to give us one hundred percent all the time?
Speaker 4: Is he worth the investment? Is he a team player?
Speaker 4: Is you know all those boxes are completely checked. That
Speaker 4: will never be a doubt in their mind. They know
Speaker 4: that this guy's a real deal.
Speaker 3: Something I thought that was real cool, just to kind
Speaker 3: of wrap up Walker Bueller here was early in the
Speaker 3: game he changed and started pitching out of the stretch,
Speaker 3: and they didn't really understand why on the broadcast why
Speaker 3: he did that. Maybe they thought it was a mechanics
Speaker 3: thing that he just felt better in the fifty five
Speaker 3: degree weather there at City Field, and they were kind
Speaker 3: of speculated why why he was doing it. Well, after
Speaker 3: the game, he said he didn't have a feel on
Speaker 3: the mound. He said that the dirt was so hard
Speaker 3: that he couldn't get a grip even with his cleats
Speaker 3: and his for in the first inning, he felt like
Speaker 3: he didn't have enough control of his pitches, especially you know,
Speaker 3: and then wind up, and so he said I felt
Speaker 3: more comfortable that I had more control over my austby
Speaker 3: pitches pitching out of the stretch. So immediately he made
Speaker 3: a decision mid first inning to just go from the
Speaker 3: stretch the rest of the way and paid off.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, there you go. That's a guy that's in
Speaker 4: tune with his wind up his body. He knows what
Speaker 4: the feel is and that's that's a That's a great
Speaker 4: sign right now, is you know, the guy's feeling every
Speaker 4: little thing that goes on out there. He makes it.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know what I mean, change your delivery
Speaker 4: in the in the middle of the game. That's kind
Speaker 4: of a big thing, you know. But he's able to
Speaker 4: do that. The guy's a pro. He is really good
Speaker 4: right now.
Speaker 3: And the Dodgers counted on him last night and he
Speaker 3: came through. All Right, we're off and running here on
Speaker 3: Saxon Kates in the am, Steve Sacks, Tim Kates and
Speaker 3: you on this Thursday morning, as the Dodgers have taken
Speaker 3: a two to one series lead in this best of
Speaker 3: seven and LCS Walker Bueller. Last night was fantastic. The
Speaker 3: four different relievers that came out of the bullpen put
Speaker 3: up zeros. The Dodgers with another shutout win last night
Speaker 3: over the New York Mets at eight nothing victory. We're
Speaker 3: gonna hear from Dave Roberts, We're gonna hear from Max Muntsey.
Speaker 3: We're gonna hear from Key k Hernandez.
Speaker 1: In the eight.
Speaker 3: O'clock hour, David Vass say, we'll join us our Dodger
Speaker 3: insider the Live from New York City.
Speaker 1: Also, we'll check in with Sean.
Speaker 3: Green, former Dodger slugger, former Mets slugger.
Speaker 1: He's been on both sides of this rivalry.
Speaker 3: We'll check in with Sean Green in the eight o'clock hour,
Speaker 3: and your phone call, Saxy. We got an autographed number
Speaker 3: three Steve Sex Jerse gonna.
Speaker 1: Give you it today.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: All right, one lucky Dodger fan is gonna get that
Speaker 3: between now and nine o'clock this morning. Thanks for being
Speaker 3: with us. It's SAX and Kate's in the am. We're
Speaker 3: off and running on this Thursday morning on a FI
Speaker 3: seventy al I Sports. It's SAX and Kate's in the
Speaker 3: AM on the Thursday morning. Thanks for being with us
Speaker 3: as you wake up and enjoy a Dodger victory from
Speaker 3: last night. As they take a two to one series
Speaker 3: lead in this best of seven NLCS. Right back at
Speaker 3: it tonight from City Field in New York. Game four
Speaker 3: Dodgers on Deck starts at four o'clock first, pitching five
Speaker 3: oz away from the Galpamotors broadcast both the Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Speaker 3: and Jose Kintana with the pitching matchup in this Game four,
Speaker 3: which the Dodgers have a shot at going up three
Speaker 3: games to one. But I feel like I learned my lessons.
Speaker 3: SA see Monday morning here on scam celebrating that Game
Speaker 3: one shut out blowout of the New York Mets and
Speaker 3: Game one Sunday night and feeling really cocky about this
Speaker 3: is gonna be a sweep.
Speaker 1: The Mets are done.
Speaker 3: And then what happened Monday afternoon in that day game
Speaker 3: at Dodger Stadium is that the roles were completely reversed
Speaker 3: and this series was tied up a game of peace.
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna pump the brakes on myself emotionally, not
Speaker 3: to get too excited about a two to one series,
Speaker 3: but just kind of quietly fist pumping. All right, we're up,
Speaker 3: We're up two games to one.
Speaker 4: Yeah, business like. I think that's uh. Try to try
Speaker 4: to keep a tempered spirit, you know that you can't
Speaker 4: go out there and think, oh, he's gonna roll over
Speaker 4: these guys. Look, they're a good team, no question. From
Speaker 4: mayon they had the same record as Dodgers. All right,
Speaker 4: they had a little rough start, but after that they
Speaker 4: were nails. It's a good club. They got guys playing
Speaker 4: with their hair on fire. On Cantona, the last eight
Speaker 4: starts has been ridiculous. He's got a point five to
Speaker 4: seven e R in the last eight starts. That that's
Speaker 4: just you can't even really measure that. It's so good.
Speaker 4: It's not what his back of his bubble gum card says.
Speaker 4: This guy's a five hundred pitcher and this whole year,
Speaker 4: it's crazy when you talk about what he brings to
Speaker 4: the table. This year he was ten and ten with
Speaker 4: a three seven five e R. A you know what
Speaker 4: his you know what he's done in his whole career.
Speaker 4: He's one o two and one oh three with a
Speaker 4: three seven five e R. Almost identical what he's done
Speaker 4: throughout his career. But if you take a snapshot in time,
Speaker 4: the last eight starts have been absolutely crazy, good so
Speaker 4: we'll see what happens. Now, will the real Jose Cantana
Speaker 4: please stand up? He's gonna face an offense that he
Speaker 4: really hasn't faced, at least certainly not in postseason, not
Speaker 4: like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know eleven's Indians pitched so far in the
Speaker 3: postseason six it's zero earned runs with eleven strikeouts and
Speaker 3: no home runs allowed. So a Dodger team that relies
Speaker 3: so much on the home run ball, this guy's not
Speaker 3: giving up a home run so far in his couple
Speaker 3: starts in the NLDM if.
Speaker 4: I can say this quickly too, And when you talk
Speaker 4: about the home run ball, the Dodgers are built to slug.
Speaker 4: This guy has led the league before in seasons past
Speaker 4: for the least amount of home runs given up. So
Speaker 4: what a face off we're going to have tonight? This
Speaker 4: guy does not give up home runs, absolutely doesn't do it.
Speaker 4: Maybe won a game per nine innings if he was
Speaker 4: going nine at the most. I mean. So he's led
Speaker 4: the league before with the least amount of home runs
Speaker 4: giving up, and of course the Dodgers pound, So this
Speaker 4: is gonna be a great face off tonight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Dodgers last night, three more home runs, two
Speaker 3: of them tacking on runs late in the game. Show
Speaker 3: he Otani with a three run home run down the
Speaker 3: right field line. Maximunsey with a home run to write
Speaker 3: as well a solo shot in the ninth inning.
Speaker 1: Last night.
Speaker 3: The Dodgers got massive production for Maximunsei. You look at
Speaker 3: the boss score, it just says two for two with
Speaker 3: an RBI. Yeah, but he walked three times. He was
Speaker 3: on base all five at bats last night for the Dodgers,
Speaker 3: passing that baton to Taoscar Hernandez who was zero for
Speaker 3: five by the way, Gavin Lux who was oh for four,
Speaker 3: the guys behind them, Will Smith, we talked about him
Speaker 3: yesterday as an X factor needed to get it going,
Speaker 3: and he did. And it started with a hit that
Speaker 3: went off the glove last night of Severarino and it
Speaker 3: was awarded.
Speaker 1: A base hit.
Speaker 3: He'll take it, take it, yeah, absolutely, because you get
Speaker 3: a little positive and reinforcement there. And then later in
Speaker 3: the game he gets a hit the left. He's seeing
Speaker 3: the ball better, his confidence is up, and.
Speaker 4: If he strikes out, we're not having this conversation.
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, And the Dodgers last night got some help
Speaker 3: from Severino in that second inning. It was some misplays
Speaker 3: to go off his glove. And I know John Smoltz
Speaker 3: said it a few times that nine times out of
Speaker 3: ten during the regular season, saver Reno's making those plays. Greatfielder, absolutely,
Speaker 3: But the moment game three n LCS, the pressure of
Speaker 3: the night, maybe the game speeds up on you and
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, a miss cue and you look
Speaker 3: at the scoreboard, and they took advantage of that last night.
Speaker 3: Two runs for the Dodgers in the second inning off
Speaker 3: mis cues.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you were mentioning what Max Munsey has done
Speaker 4: five times on base eight times straight. Now he's been
Speaker 4: on bass. So Muncie is quietly being, you know, part
Speaker 4: of that undergirding that can really you know, lift this
Speaker 4: and buy this team while the other guys are trying
Speaker 4: to get right and those other guys are like Otani
Speaker 4: hits another bomb last night, you know, Kei k hits
Speaker 4: another one. You know, so here we go. You mentioned
Speaker 4: Oscar Hey Hernettez. You know what they're barreling in that
Speaker 4: two seamer in on his hands and he's having some
Speaker 4: problems with that. But you know what, until he gets
Speaker 4: himself right again, and he's been great this year too,
Speaker 4: but you know, you go through fits and starts where
Speaker 4: it's not perfect. Hey, you got other guys are gonna
Speaker 4: carry ta Oscar like he's carried so many guys, you know,
Speaker 4: throughout the the you know, season and end postseason as well.
Speaker 4: So this is a great mix. This is what makes
Speaker 4: this team good. If it's not one, it's the other.
Speaker 4: And it doesn't take many combinations of guys doing well
Speaker 4: for this team to thrive. You know, you get two
Speaker 4: or three guys doing well out of nine and that
Speaker 4: could be enough.
Speaker 3: And they can do it with nobody out, one out,
Speaker 3: and they're so dangerous as an offense with two out sacks.
Speaker 3: And they did it again last night against the reliever
Speaker 3: Garrett Quick out from Lux and Will Smith. And there's
Speaker 3: two down in the top half of the sixth inning
Speaker 3: and Tommy Eman comes up and singles to write on
Speaker 3: the second pitch he sees, he gets his second on
Speaker 3: a bock. So just like that, two outs, single bock.
Speaker 3: He's in scoring position and Key ky Hernandez is up
Speaker 3: to bad. Key ky Hernandez falls behind one and two
Speaker 3: in the count. Fouls off a pitch, fouls off a
Speaker 3: four seam fastball, still one in two count. The sixth
Speaker 3: pitch of the bad is a split finger that's right
Speaker 3: over the middle of the play, and keyk a Hernandez
Speaker 3: hits it out for a home run.
Speaker 1: Well, two outs.
Speaker 3: They do all this two quick outs, and it could
Speaker 3: have been a bang bang bang inning. Instead, Edmond gets
Speaker 3: on box the second and then a home run from
Speaker 3: Keyky a Hernandez and they take a four to nothing lead.
Speaker 3: And what was a close to nothing game all of
Speaker 3: a sudden felt kind of out of reach at.
Speaker 4: Four nothing at that point, yes, and I was hoping
Speaker 4: just for a base hit. And then you know, we're
Speaker 4: up three to nothing. That's a monstrous difference as opposed
Speaker 4: to just two runs. And then he hits the bomb
Speaker 4: that that that's kind of well, didn't seal it, but
Speaker 4: you know what, it make you feel really good. You
Speaker 4: know what else I thought was a bit interesting is
Speaker 4: when Garrett come out of the game. You see him
Speaker 4: the dugget, He's got the smirk on it face. He's
Speaker 4: kind of smiling a little bit. He smiled more than
Speaker 4: just a smirk. He's kind of a smile. I'm like,
Speaker 4: what is so funny right now? He just got shoved dude,
Speaker 4: and you're laughing. If I'm sitting on that bench, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna I'm gonna say, you know, is there something that
Speaker 4: we're missing here? What's so funny? We're getting beat and
Speaker 4: you're laughing. I don't get that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a weird mos kind of a.
Speaker 4: Creepy like like grins like like this is blow you
Speaker 4: or something.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 4: It's kind of kind of freaky to me. Yeah, I know,
Speaker 4: I know, you know, Halloween's coming.
Speaker 3: Bit bo the Dodgers last night, the three home runs,
Speaker 3: they slugged, as we know they do, and ate nothing
Speaker 3: to win over the New York Mets. You mentioned Maxi
Speaker 3: Munsey on base five times, walked three of those five
Speaker 3: at bats. He's now been on base eight straight times.
Speaker 3: Going back to the game before that, here's Maximunsey after
Speaker 3: the game talking about with this offense, how dangerous they are,
Speaker 3: and of course about his buddy Walker Bueller and.
Speaker 1: What he did.
Speaker 8: Can't getting on basis huge in postseason. Give our guys
Speaker 8: a chance up the line up, and uh, you know,
Speaker 8: I was really proud of that tonight. I was able
Speaker 8: to layoff some pitches out of his own and uh,
Speaker 8: you know, just just be on base for the boys,
Speaker 8: and we have some big hits come through late in
Speaker 8: the game.
Speaker 7: How did that kind of know, how did that dagger
Speaker 7: feel he was supposed to come on?
Speaker 3: Seeing what Walker did today? How did he set the
Speaker 3: tone for you all?
Speaker 7: And just how impressive has he been this postseason?
Speaker 8: But the script, Yeah, Walker's uh, he's a different animal
Speaker 8: in the postseason. I don't care what his regular season
Speaker 8: numbers are, especially this year coming off the second time
Speaker 8: of John, He's still trying to figure out who he
Speaker 8: was as a pitcher. And you know, we all knew
Speaker 8: once we got into the setting he was going to
Speaker 8: be a Walker viewler and he was definitely that tonight.
Speaker 2: And you know, he had a.
Speaker 8: Couple of bats where he uh, he didn't execute some pitches,
Speaker 8: but then he's able to bow down and and and
Speaker 8: get the next guy out, and uh, you know was
Speaker 8: Walker showed the emotion, showed the anger, and showed the
Speaker 8: attitude and that kind of got us fired up on
Speaker 8: the Dog out. Just see him do that.
Speaker 2: She has the three straight shutouts, then you lose game too,
Speaker 2: then you come up with a shutout again.
Speaker 1: It seems like things are creaking at the right time.
Speaker 1: I mean, you shook that off from getting two.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, it's it's a it's a long series.
Speaker 8: You're not going to acheat perfectly every sing game. And
Speaker 8: you know, even even that game that we lost, we
Speaker 8: we felt like we were just right there. You know,
Speaker 8: we're we're maybe one two hits away from from breaking
Speaker 8: it open and taking the lead back. And you know
Speaker 8: we're also one two pitches away from executing in that inning,
Speaker 8: and you know they don't get the six runs, and
Speaker 8: so it's, uh, you know, you just got to understand
Speaker 8: that's uh, it's baseball. Thing's gonna happen. It's a long series,
Speaker 8: and you flush it. You move on each each day
Speaker 8: you go out there. The series is oh you never
Speaker 8: have a lead, you never you know, you're never behind.
Speaker 8: You gotta go out there and play the game that day?
Speaker 8: Did that and change seemed to work well for you?
Speaker 6: How did it feel for you?
Speaker 9: Bat and clean up?
Speaker 8: As long as I'm out there, that's all I care about.
Speaker 8: It doesn't matter if I'm you know, first, second, third, four, fifth, ninth,
Speaker 8: I don't care. As long as I'm in that lineup
Speaker 8: and able to help this team win.
Speaker 7: That's the most important thing to me.
Speaker 8: How long do you guys enjoy this one or is
Speaker 8: it already flip to the next page for tomorrow. No,
Speaker 8: you enjoy it right now. And then you know, you
Speaker 8: get on the bushad back to the hotel, you start
Speaker 8: looking at stuff for tomorrow, and uh, you know, you
Speaker 8: start getting your mindset right, but uh, you can't immediately
Speaker 8: move on. But he also can't celebrate it to so
Speaker 8: you know, he gets some frud and you have a
Speaker 8: go to get to the hotel, go to Liam Dudd
Speaker 8: and then start worrying about tom All.
Speaker 3: Right, there's Maxi Munsey after the game, and yeah he
Speaker 3: was moved into the cleanup spot last night's Saxy. Dave
Speaker 3: Roberts didn't adjust the top three, nor is he going
Speaker 3: to do that, even though people are saying Showy Otani
Speaker 3: should be moved in the lineup, they're crazy. But he
Speaker 3: moved Will Smith down to the seventh spot. So he
Speaker 3: readjusted four through nine, a little bit tinkering with the lineup,
Speaker 3: and it worked with Maxi Munsey in the cleanup spot.
Speaker 3: And it wasn't a Maxi munseie. Of course he hit
Speaker 3: a home onn late. But I mean, if you get
Speaker 3: your cleanup hitter on base five times. Yeah, in a game,
Speaker 3: you're gonna be pretty successful.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And it's a bit of a different animal with Max
Speaker 4: Munsey because usually cleanup hitters are looking to go there
Speaker 4: and do some absolute damage every time they swing the bat.
Speaker 4: Max Munsey's can do that, of course, we've seen him
Speaker 4: do it many times. But he'll take the walk too.
Speaker 4: He's a very patient hitter and that little niche he
Speaker 4: has in his approach really works well with this team
Speaker 4: because you have so many other guys that can, you know,
Speaker 4: drive the ball out of the ballpark as well. And
Speaker 4: I like the way that Max Munsey can be. You know,
Speaker 4: you just plug and play with him. He can play first,
Speaker 4: he can play third, you can hit anywhere in the lineup,
Speaker 4: and you know he's a guy that'll take the walk
Speaker 4: and get the home run when you need it as well.
Speaker 4: So very valuable guy to have on this team.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Dodgers scored eight runs last night, and Otani had three
Speaker 3: of them with one swing of the bat. He had
Speaker 3: Mookie Betts, who was very quiet last night even though
Speaker 3: he walked. He was one for four. Freddie Freeman a
Speaker 3: one for five night last night. Te Oscar Hernandez. We
Speaker 3: mentioned an er for five night, Gavin luckson oh for
Speaker 3: four night. It was the bottom of the lineup coming
Speaker 3: through Will Smith two for four, Tommy Edmund won for four,
Speaker 3: Keiky Hernandez goes two for five.
Speaker 1: They drive.
Speaker 3: They drove in four of the Dodgers eight runs, the
Speaker 3: three run blast from Shoey o'tania and the solo home
Speaker 3: run for Max Munsey. The offense last night eight runs
Speaker 3: on ten hits, while the pitching limited the Mets to
Speaker 3: no runs.
Speaker 1: On four hits.
Speaker 3: Here's Dave Roberts after the game talking about his offense.
Speaker 9: I think it's been a lot of lessons that he's
Speaker 9: had to learn and appreciating understanding the picture he is
Speaker 9: today and also appreciate the fact that you just can't
Speaker 9: give in to Lindor in that moment. And that's something
Speaker 9: that you know as a learning lesson for Landonnac from
Speaker 9: the other night the other day. And so right there,
Speaker 9: that was the pitch of the game. Obviously, the crowd
Speaker 9: was into it, they were gaining momentum, and to get
Speaker 9: the breaking ball down below the zone and get a
Speaker 9: great hitter out was huge. And I think that's just
Speaker 9: kind of speaks to experience.
Speaker 6: Were you surprised when you saw it was a curveball there?
Speaker 9: No, I was kind of thinking along with them. I
Speaker 9: mean it was I mean, it was the right thing,
Speaker 9: and I thought, you know, this entire postseason, I think
Speaker 9: Will Smith is doing a fantastic job catching the baseball,
Speaker 9: calling the game, you know, not trying to get to
Speaker 9: predictable and appreciating the game score and all that stuff.
Speaker 9: So he's done a great job with the starters, relievers,
Speaker 9: and it was just game management.
Speaker 6: What's the biggest thing you've learned about Walker as he's
Speaker 6: just gone through this process trying to figure himself out
Speaker 6: again and trying to figure out what works what doesn't
Speaker 6: in those kind of big spots.
Speaker 9: I think a couple of things. Obviously, he's sort of
Speaker 9: had to I mean, I guess reinvent himself. And I
Speaker 9: say that in a complimentary way to still be a
Speaker 9: really good major league pitcher. Obviously this year was very rocky,
Speaker 9: trying to kind of get back from a really major surgery.
Speaker 9: And you know, I think the other part of it
Speaker 9: is that, you know, it's easy to be a you know,
Speaker 9: to ride when the wins at your back. That has
Speaker 9: been when he's going and riding really well, but you know,
Speaker 9: when there's some adversity, you get in the teeth and
Speaker 9: you lose confidence to then reset to come back and
Speaker 9: still stick it out. That's something for me that I
Speaker 9: don't think he's ever had to do outside of having
Speaker 9: a surgery. So that's something for me that speaks his character.
Speaker 9: And you know, you look at kind of in June
Speaker 9: or July. You know, I don't think anyone could have
Speaker 9: seen him in this position right now. So it's a
Speaker 9: it's a credit to Walker.
Speaker 3: How about a credit to you, Dave Roberts. How about
Speaker 3: a credit to you, Dave Roberts, sticking with Walker Bueller
Speaker 3: despite a one in six record in games in which
Speaker 3: he'd go two and two thirds and give up five
Speaker 3: and runs and you'd have to go to a bullpen
Speaker 3: early in a series in Cincinnati or wherever you happen
Speaker 3: to be on a road trip. I mean, you stuck
Speaker 3: with Walker Bueller. And I know he wants to give credit,
Speaker 3: And that's Dave Roberts right there to a t. I mean,
Speaker 3: not talking about what he and his pitching coach, Mark
Speaker 3: Pryor did, sticking with Walker Bueller and not giving up
Speaker 3: on the guy. The fact that he gives all the
Speaker 3: praise in the world to Walker Buehler for fighting through
Speaker 3: this comeback from a second Tommy John surgery. Is it
Speaker 3: credits to Dave.
Speaker 4: Yes, it is, and he constantly silences the critics every
Speaker 4: time you know that that situation arises. But you know what,
Speaker 4: when I see the body language, the swag of Walker
Speaker 4: Bueler and how he attacks hitters, I mean with with
Speaker 4: that and when the ball comes out of his hand,
Speaker 4: it's it's hard to argue. You know what the guy's got.
Speaker 4: Now he's got a new fresh arm h and he's
Speaker 4: getting after it. And Walker bueller Is pitches with absolute
Speaker 4: conviction and you can see it. And when you see
Speaker 4: a guy doing that, pitching with conviction, you know the
Speaker 4: confidence is going to continue to rise. And that's that's
Speaker 4: good news.
Speaker 3: I like the fact that after the four innings, Dave
Speaker 3: Roberts mixed and matched his bullpen to a t And
Speaker 3: I say that because Kolpak comes in the fifth, Brasier
Speaker 3: gets the sixth tried and gets the seventh, and then
Speaker 3: ben Kispirius in a blowout game. At that point, an
Speaker 3: arm that's not a high leverage release right now. But
Speaker 3: a very talented young arm that's there to hit to
Speaker 3: soak up innings did exactly that getting the final six out.
Speaker 3: So they didn't have to use an Evan Phillips and
Speaker 3: they didn't have to use Daniel Hudson.
Speaker 1: And in the the.
Speaker 3: The innings that they did get from Copec, Brazier and
Speaker 3: trin In, they were guys that they faced that they
Speaker 3: may not face the next time. And I say that
Speaker 3: they mixed and matched who they are gonna face. So
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts doesn't want Copec to see the same three
Speaker 3: or four hitters every time he goes out there, because,
Speaker 3: as you know, as a hitter, sax see then you
Speaker 3: start to see this reliever more and more and more,
Speaker 3: you can start timing it better, you see where the
Speaker 3: armslot is and you get more familiar with him. He's
Speaker 3: mixing and matching, so the next time Copek comes in
Speaker 3: he may not see that same group of hitters.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And the fact that that Cospiraus came in and pitched
Speaker 4: the last two innings, you know, so now you take
Speaker 4: a guy that's just gonna you know, clean up the
Speaker 4: this game, and he did a very good job at
Speaker 4: that but now he he suddenly looked at is the
Speaker 4: guy that, hey, you can maybe use him in a
Speaker 4: little bit more of a leverage situation, you know. Down
Speaker 4: the line, he showed that, you know, he had he
Speaker 4: had a lot of gumption going out and knocking down
Speaker 4: those two innings. I thought it was huge when Brazier
Speaker 4: came back and got that. I think Brazier got the
Speaker 4: double play hit to Munsie, Yes, uh, he was. He
Speaker 4: was struggling a little bit and kind of on the
Speaker 4: you know, tilting one way or another, and he gets
Speaker 4: that great ground ball to months he turns the double play,
Speaker 4: and how many times are we going to see it
Speaker 4: again and again? Freddie Freeman with with one leg out
Speaker 4: there picking the hell out of balls out of the ground,
Speaker 4: saving the middle infielders. That's what great first basemans do.
Speaker 4: You gotta have it over there. I mean, it's such
Speaker 4: an underrated thing over at first base that can change
Speaker 4: the whole complexity of the inning and the game. Freddie
Speaker 4: Freeman continues, continues to play that gold Glove branded first
Speaker 4: base that he's that he's at. We're a depth to
Speaker 4: seeing and we almost take it for granted how great
Speaker 4: he is to picking that ball out of the dirt.
Speaker 4: It's huge for this team and a ship.
Speaker 3: On whoever picks the Gold GOV finalists. I don't know
Speaker 3: who does that, Saxony. I don't know if it's the writers,
Speaker 3: who does it.
Speaker 4: Coaches, coaches and managers pick it.
Speaker 1: It's coaches and managers.
Speaker 3: Okay, so, no offense to Bryce Harper, no offense to
Speaker 3: Matt Olsen of the Braves, and no offense to Christian
Speaker 3: Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But how is Freddy Freeman
Speaker 3: not one of the three finalists for the.
Speaker 4: Gold Gold That's absurd, I mean absurd.
Speaker 1: Olsen is a two time winner in the American League
Speaker 1: with the A's. I get it.
Speaker 3: He saves runs. But I don't know how the metric
Speaker 3: has made. I don't know the numbers offhand. I'm sure
Speaker 3: I can figure it out and find it somewhere. But
Speaker 3: I guarantee you Freddie Freeman has probably saved more throws
Speaker 3: than any first baseman this season in baseball, from the
Speaker 3: opening weekend in Soeul, South Korea, to the home opener
Speaker 3: Dodger Stadium and then the rest of the year. I've
Speaker 3: been harping on it. I even said this is a lock,
Speaker 3: he's gonna win it from Gavin.
Speaker 1: Lux throws to the throws from roll Hans.
Speaker 3: Remember when Mookie bets with a shortstop Dodger fans how
Speaker 3: many bag throws Freddy Freeman helped him out with scooping
Speaker 3: out of the ground or going up and getting because
Speaker 3: he's six ' five and he can go get a
Speaker 3: ball high. This is an absolute travesty that he is
Speaker 3: not one of the three finalists as a goal glover.
Speaker 4: I get that totally. And you see Freddy working on
Speaker 4: this thing constantly. He it's not like he's gonna throw
Speaker 4: his glove out there and he's you know, he's very
Speaker 4: talented man, and he can just go do it. He
Speaker 4: works at it. I see him in spring training. The
Speaker 4: guy works his tail off, you know, being able to
Speaker 4: do that. And listen, just don't take it for granted
Speaker 4: how much he saves people over there at first base.
Speaker 4: And you gotta have that, man. It is a It
Speaker 4: is a treasure to have somebody that can go over
Speaker 4: there and pick that ball out of the dirt and
Speaker 4: go up and get it. Like you said, he's six
Speaker 4: ' five, so he's well adept to going out and
Speaker 4: you know, going up for the jump ball and bringing
Speaker 4: that thing down. He's huge over there.
Speaker 3: They have a stat called out above average and that
Speaker 3: they have I don't know how they come up with this,
Speaker 3: but apparently Christian Walker let all National League first baseman
Speaker 3: with a plus thirteen out above average in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: Bryce Harper, in his first full season at first base,
Speaker 3: was second in the National League with a plus eight
Speaker 3: out above average in twenty twenty four, and this year,
Speaker 3: Matt Olsen had fourteen defensive runs saves, six more than
Speaker 3: any other first baseman in base. I don't know how
Speaker 3: they come up with these numbers, but my eyes tell
Speaker 3: me what I saw this year was Freddie Freeman saving
Speaker 3: the behinds of so many guys over there at first base.
Speaker 4: Just ask people around the league what they think about
Speaker 4: Freddie at first base and they'll tell you absolutely. We
Speaker 4: in time, we'll talk a little bit about his throwing arm,
Speaker 4: which is crazy good.
Speaker 3: He is Steve Sacks, I'm Tim Kats. Thanks for being
Speaker 3: with us on this Thursday morning. We're live in local
Speaker 3: as the Dodgers have a two to one series lead
Speaker 3: in this NLCS Game four coming up tonight from City.
Speaker 3: Feel First Bitch at five Oho eight between now at
Speaker 3: nine o'clock, we got a Steve Sacks autographed jersey to
Speaker 3: give away. We're gonna hear from David vass Say in
Speaker 3: the eight o'clock hour. Sean Green, it's gonna join us
Speaker 3: in the eight o'clock hour as well. It's sax and
Speaker 3: Kate's in the am. Thankes for beeting with us on
Speaker 3: NI seventy light sports Walker Viueler is exactly what the
Speaker 3: Dodgers needed last night. Key k Hernandez, Mister October delivers
Speaker 3: as well and shootany goes deep late Dodgers a two
Speaker 3: to one series lead in the NLCS. Saxon and Kate
Speaker 3: to the am. You're in your home of the Dodgers
Speaker 3: an five to seventy LA sports Key Hernandez, By the way,
Speaker 3: it's unbelievable, Saxy, the numbers that he has put up
Speaker 3: in the postseason. He's now got a road ops in
Speaker 3: his postseason career of over one thousand, and only Carlos Beltron,
Speaker 3: some guy named Babe Ruth, and some guy named Luke
Speaker 3: Garrick have higher ops is on the road in the
Speaker 3: postseason in their careers than Keiky Hernandez. And the home
Speaker 3: runs that He has hit now fifteen postseason home runs
Speaker 3: in his career. I mean, forget what he does during
Speaker 3: the regular season. When it turns to October and we
Speaker 3: flipped the calendar, he becomes a different hitter.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's He's one of those guys that you can't
Speaker 4: explain it. I mean, you know, you look at his talent,
Speaker 4: you look at him as a baseball player, and you
Speaker 4: know he's a good player. He's a very versatile type
Speaker 4: of a guy. He's good athlete. But there's something about
Speaker 4: his personality that makes him different. When it's postseason time,
Speaker 4: he I think he relaxes more and it's some weird,
Speaker 4: quirky way and just embraces this. I'll bet he was
Speaker 4: a cut up as a kid, you know, because nothing
Speaker 4: bothers him. And the more the pressure seems to be
Speaker 4: put on the team or him, it seems to relax
Speaker 4: him more. You look at his post game interviews, Yeah,
Speaker 4: it's like he's is at a backyard barbecue and smiling
Speaker 4: away and you know, just not a care in the world.
Speaker 4: I mean, there's something different about his personality, and what
Speaker 4: a what a great thing it is for the Dodgers
Speaker 4: because he is something He's different and he's special in postseason,
Speaker 4: no doubt about it. It's not happenstance. Well maybe it's
Speaker 4: just you know the way it's going. No, No, he
Speaker 4: thrives in this situation. I'm not a clinical psychologist buying stretch,
Speaker 4: but I can certainly tell there's something different about him
Speaker 4: than other people in postseason.
Speaker 3: In the regular season, Key Ky A Hernandez has homered
Speaker 3: once in every twenty nine at bats. In the postseason,
Speaker 3: the frequency improves to once every thirteen at bats. He
Speaker 3: is hitting a home run and he now has fifteen
Speaker 3: in his postseason career. That is the same amount as again,
Speaker 3: this guy named Babe Ruth. I'm not sure who he is,
Speaker 3: but the same amount of home runs as Babe Ruth
Speaker 3: in the post It's crazy again. Key Hernandez has had
Speaker 3: a lot of opportunities. He's done it fifty seven more
Speaker 3: played appearances than Babe Ruth had to get to fifteen
Speaker 3: home runs in the postseason.
Speaker 1: It's because key Ky.
Speaker 3: Hernandez has been along this Dodgers team forever. Even though
Speaker 3: he left went to Boston, he still went to the
Speaker 3: postseason with the Red Sox and then came back last
Speaker 3: year to go back to the postseason last year and
Speaker 3: this year with the Dodgers. I mean, every year it
Speaker 3: seems like Keyky Hernandez has been playing in the postseason
Speaker 3: because every year the Dodgers at.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you look at the postseason home runs, Jose
Speaker 4: Altuve with twenty seven is leading that and then you
Speaker 4: have Schwarber with twenty one, and Key k Hernandez is
Speaker 4: number eight on the list at fifteen eighty. I mean,
Speaker 4: isn't that just amazing? How a guy that you know,
Speaker 4: he's not an everyday player either, but man in postseason
Speaker 4: he is. He does something really special.
Speaker 1: It's great.
Speaker 3: I mean, he may not have even getting this opportunity
Speaker 3: this postseason if not for the adductor strain of Miguel
Speaker 3: Rojas and he can't play short, so then Tommy Edmond
Speaker 3: goes as short and that opens up center field for
Speaker 3: Key k a Hernandez to play center field. So taking
Speaker 3: full advantage of the opportunity, just as we talked about
Speaker 3: Walker Buehler taking advantage of this opportunity because may not
Speaker 3: have even been on the postseason roster, certainly probably wouldn't
Speaker 3: have been in the rotation come October if it weren't
Speaker 3: for the injuries to Tyler Glass now and Key, the
Speaker 3: Clayton Kershaw into Gavin Stone, and the list of guys
Speaker 3: who the Dodgers just can't go to, guys taking full
Speaker 3: advantage of these opportunities. And I absolutely love it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it just you know, you can multiply
Speaker 4: that out and think how many great players are there
Speaker 4: that we just don't even know about, you know, because
Speaker 4: they're not going to get a chance. There's guys in
Speaker 4: Triple A that should be in the big leagues. There's
Speaker 4: guys that could be phenomenal players, And you know, it's
Speaker 4: part of this whole thing is being in the right
Speaker 4: place at the right time and having an opportunity to
Speaker 4: show your stuff. But there's some really good players out there,
Speaker 4: and Kik is a great example of this.
Speaker 3: I meant, I wanted to ask you this, and I
Speaker 3: totally forgotten space I should have wrote it down, But
Speaker 3: in talking about Kik being a mister October here in
Speaker 3: the postseason, somebody brought it up last night. I don't
Speaker 3: know if it was Oral Hersheiser or Jerry Harriston on
Speaker 3: Sports in LA or one of the guys on Fox
Speaker 3: on the post game brought this up and they said
Speaker 3: it's a different It was Derek Jeter. He said it's
Speaker 3: a different beast in October. He goes some players when
Speaker 3: it gets to October, when the game speeds up on
Speaker 3: you and all of a sudden, you know, the pressure situation.
Speaker 3: You need a pitch here, a hit here, a defensive
Speaker 3: play there, and the game could get on you quickly.
Speaker 3: And he says, it's you can't explain it. You can't
Speaker 3: tell You can tell somebody about it as much as
Speaker 3: you want, but they have to live it. They have
Speaker 3: to be in that moment and feel the pressure, the
Speaker 3: air in a stadium, the crowd in the stadium, the
Speaker 3: pressure on you at the player on defense or on
Speaker 3: the mount. And he says, once you get there, you'll understand.
Speaker 3: And some guys thrive and some guys just can't deal
Speaker 3: with it.
Speaker 4: I'll tell you. I'll tell you another reason why I
Speaker 4: think this is so and why he's on this great
Speaker 4: list of active players. And what I mentioned was active players.
Speaker 4: You know Jose and jose L Tiova having that twenty
Speaker 4: seven and then Schober twenty one, George Springer is nineteen.
Speaker 4: There's some great players on there with that. He's a
Speaker 4: part of and these are all active players, of course,
Speaker 4: but I thought it was really poignant in the interview
Speaker 4: that when somebody asked them the other day about why
Speaker 4: are your team so good? Why are you so good?
Speaker 4: Why are you doing this? Kyk? And he said are
Speaker 4: we on? Is this being taped?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: And they said, well I don't think so. And he says,
Speaker 4: because we don't give a you know what, right, And
Speaker 4: that's what it is. Is not that they don't care.
Speaker 4: It's that they're able to slough off all that pressure.
Speaker 4: That's what they don't care about. They don't care about
Speaker 4: the pressure. And that's why the guy's so good in postseason.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think it helps if they've been
Speaker 3: here before, so they know what it's like. And you
Speaker 3: know what, we know, we've been here, done that. We're
Speaker 3: not gonna let it get to us. No, Well, some guys,
Speaker 3: you know, first time, second time, you know, it gets
Speaker 3: to them, and make a bad play here on offense,
Speaker 3: a bad play on defense. The next thing you know,
Speaker 3: you open a door for a team month of Dodgers
Speaker 3: to take a two to one series lead in this
Speaker 3: best is seven NLCS one hour down, two to go
Speaker 3: coming up in our eight o'clock hour, David vasserra Dodger insider,
Speaker 3: joins us. Sean Green, former Dodger outfielder, former met will
Speaker 3: join us as well. Coming up here in this next hour,
Speaker 3: one lucky Dodger fan is gonna win and autographs Steve Sachs,
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