Speaker 1: We're joined right now and by one of my favorite people.
Speaker 2: He was such a big part of Dave Roberts' staff
Speaker 2: when the Dodgers we're going to nlcs's and World Series.
Speaker 2: He went on to manage the Rangers, and thankfully he
Speaker 2: is back in the Dodger organization with that beautiful bald
Speaker 2: head and that clean shaven beard. That's the one and
Speaker 2: only Chris Woodward. What he thinks a lot for the time,
Speaker 2: I appreciate it absolutely. Always a pledge to brother hey Man.
Speaker 2: Always great to see you out here. You have so
Speaker 2: much to offer. What's the first three games of this
Speaker 2: series shown you about this team?
Speaker 3: You know what, this team that we're playing obviously has
Speaker 3: a lot of fight. You know, they've played together, they
Speaker 3: do a lot of things really well, they play the game.
Speaker 3: So it's actually been a test for us, obviously with
Speaker 3: curse going down after that first inning, kind of put
Speaker 3: our backs against the wall and to pitch his staff,
Speaker 3: and you know, thankfully we got some horses down to
Speaker 3: that bullpen that took the ball and honestly pitched when
Speaker 3: they probably weren't supposed to and didn't you know, weren't
Speaker 3: really ready to pitch based on how they had pitched
Speaker 3: so many games before that, So it honestly took a
Speaker 3: team effort for the first two games, and somehow we
Speaker 3: came away with two wins. Offense, put a bunch of
Speaker 3: runs on the board, and it was really cool to
Speaker 3: see the fight in this team against a team that's
Speaker 3: like they're not scared of us at all, which I
Speaker 3: kind of like, it's good for our team. But yesterday,
Speaker 3: obviously we'll put that one aside and we have a
Speaker 3: chance to win three out of four in a huge.
Speaker 1: Series for us.
Speaker 2: You're a great person to ask this question, obviously, with
Speaker 2: where the pitching staff was the last two days. How
Speaker 2: tough is it to swallow a game like yesterday where
Speaker 2: you're handcuffed on who you can use and live to
Speaker 2: fight today.
Speaker 3: I think the one thing that we're really really good at.
Speaker 3: Obviously we have really good pitching, and we have good pitchers,
Speaker 3: but I think our staff, you know, Doc and Mark
Speaker 3: and Connor and Bartle and the bullpen do a great
Speaker 3: job of keeping.
Speaker 1: Our guys healthy. It's it's a it's a little it's a.
Speaker 3: Lot undervalued obviously in the league, where a lot of
Speaker 3: teams feel like they have to fight to win every
Speaker 3: game and use their best pitchers no matter what. Where
Speaker 3: We're not afraid to say, okay, we're we're almost willing
Speaker 3: to sacrifice the win for the betterment of our team
Speaker 3: long term. And I think that, you know, come playoff time,
Speaker 3: everybody's got to, you know, set during this month, it's
Speaker 3: all hands on deck. You might have to pitch seven
Speaker 3: in a row, who knows. But like for the long
Speaker 3: term of one hundred and sixty two games, it's hard
Speaker 3: to not buy into or be tempted into using guys,
Speaker 3: you know, when they pitch three out of four or
Speaker 3: two out of three and you end up, you know,
Speaker 3: making that guy obviously not have a great outing and
Speaker 3: with less stuff, but you potentially get guys hurt. And
Speaker 3: I see that happen.
Speaker 1: A lot throughout the league. We don't do that.
Speaker 3: We refuse to do that with our pitchers. And I
Speaker 3: love that about us because obviously that's why I feel
Speaker 3: like we maximize we put guys in. Hey, we're using
Speaker 3: these guys today no matter what, Like we're not using
Speaker 3: those guys, and I think that that's honestly a great
Speaker 3: quality of this organization. Like I said, come in the
Speaker 3: middle of this month. It doesn't matter if you have
Speaker 3: to pitch five in a row. You have to pitch
Speaker 3: five in a row. You need to get into the playoffs,
Speaker 3: and the playoffs start, it's all hands on deck and
Speaker 3: everybody knows that. But up to that point, I think
Speaker 3: we do the best job in baseball out.
Speaker 1: Chris Woodward is our guest.
Speaker 2: And Chris, like I mentioned, you were coaching third base
Speaker 2: for some really special players in a special time.
Speaker 1: Of Dodger baseball.
Speaker 2: Do you feel this group is starting to resemble that
Speaker 2: attitude of those teams?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: You know what, Like I told Shohy the other night,
Speaker 3: and I know he's the greatest player on the planet,
Speaker 3: but like for him to square around a bunt, yeah,
Speaker 3: I thought that that was very indigative of like our
Speaker 3: team as a team, you know, our best player, who's
Speaker 3: obviously chasing history, maybe to something that had never been
Speaker 3: done before in the history of the game. He took
Speaker 3: one less opportunity to hit a homer potentially and do
Speaker 3: something for the sacrifice of a team to say, hey,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna get on basis for us, it's the top
Speaker 3: of the eighth enning. We're tight game. It's a huge
Speaker 3: series and he saw the third basement back and thought,
Speaker 3: maybe actually get on base by a bunt. I don't
Speaker 3: really want him to bunt, and I don't think Doc
Speaker 3: does either, But at the same time, like for him
Speaker 3: to actually think about that tells me teams on his mind.
Speaker 1: And not personal accolades.
Speaker 3: And if everybody kind of adopts that mentality, we will win.
Speaker 3: And you know, obviously that's probably our biggest task of it,
Speaker 3: just like everybody coming together for the common goal of
Speaker 3: just winning a championship, and if we.
Speaker 1: Do that, we will win.
Speaker 2: Speaking of show, hey o Tani, being on the same
Speaker 2: side as he is instead of going against him, what's
Speaker 2: it like from your vantage point watching what he's done
Speaker 2: this season.
Speaker 3: I'm thankful that I'm not. I was in awe of them,
Speaker 3: you know, watching him from the other side because he
Speaker 3: you know, we actually hit him pretty good when I
Speaker 3: was in Texas, but he had some monster games against
Speaker 3: this and I was just, you know, in awe of
Speaker 3: what he could.
Speaker 1: Do, you know, on the baseball field.
Speaker 3: But just getting to know him a little bit and
Speaker 3: seeing how, you know, how much he prepares, how much
Speaker 3: he cares about the game, how respectful he is to
Speaker 3: the game, the way he plays it, how hard he
Speaker 3: plays it, the way he's really adopted a lot of things,
Speaker 3: like understanding how to run the bases better, how to
Speaker 3: bake steel bases. It's just been impressive for me, obviously
Speaker 3: adopting our offensive kind of philosophy, understanding how important strike
Speaker 3: z Owne is. He still obviously swings, but at the
Speaker 3: same time he is He's improved a lot, in my opinion,
Speaker 3: and it has a lot to do with just his mindset,
Speaker 3: his ability to learn.
Speaker 2: How much do you believe he is thriving in this
Speaker 2: competitive environment.
Speaker 1: He loves it.
Speaker 3: I saw it in the WBC. Listen, We've never seen
Speaker 3: show hey in the playoffs. It's something that like unfortunately
Speaker 3: fans have been you know, haven't had a chance to see.
Speaker 1: We will see it, obviously. I can't wait.
Speaker 3: Because I think that this guy's got the DNA of
Speaker 3: a champion. Like obviously, but like when I saw him
Speaker 3: in the WBC in the beginning of a season, hasn't
Speaker 3: the seedon, hadn't.
Speaker 1: Even started yet, and he's firing.
Speaker 3: You know, he's going up against Trout and you can
Speaker 3: tell how much he loved that environment. I just can't
Speaker 3: wait to see him actually in a playoff environment in
Speaker 3: the MLB. It you know, obviously it's for going to
Speaker 3: be for our team, which is great. But I can't
Speaker 3: wait to see that because I think if the world
Speaker 3: needs to see.
Speaker 2: That, yeah, that will be special, and it will be
Speaker 2: special to have the Dodgers make a long, deep postseason
Speaker 2: run like they did in sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen.
Speaker 1: And of course winning get in twenty.
Speaker 2: Chris Woodward, always great to see you so happier with
Speaker 2: the Dodgers and always loved tapping into you.
Speaker 1: So thank you for the time. Awesome, thanks, Dave, appreciate it.