Speaker 1: And now your host of Dodger Talk, David Vasse.
Speaker 2: We are live at Dodgers Stadium after the Dodgers continued
Speaker 2: to roll with a seven to three win over the
Speaker 2: Tigers and sweeping this three game series. Your world champion
Speaker 2: Dodgers have won the first five games of the season.
Speaker 2: Welcome the Dodger Talk David Vasse with you until about
Speaker 2: ten fifteen tonight. We're taking your phone calls at eight
Speaker 2: sixty six nine, eight seven, two five seventy. Look, I
Speaker 2: know everybody's freaking out over Roki Sazaki.
Speaker 3: Was his outing tonight ideal? No?
Speaker 2: Is it ideal for him to have walked nine batters
Speaker 2: and just four and two thirds innings in his first
Speaker 2: two starts? Absolutely not. Is it ideal to have your
Speaker 2: starting pitcher throw sixty one pitches in the very first inning,
Speaker 2: or excuse me, forty one pitches in the very first
Speaker 2: inninglutely not.
Speaker 3: Nobody's disputing that. But I will tell you this.
Speaker 2: I know for a fact the Dodgers fell coming into
Speaker 2: the season with Roki Sazaki that there was going to
Speaker 2: be growing pains. They were prepared for that, but they
Speaker 2: firmly believe by the time the season reaches the halfway
Speaker 2: point and into the second half that he'll be a
Speaker 2: much polished pitcher now.
Speaker 3: Joel Wolf, his agent, who was.
Speaker 2: Actually here at Dodgers Stadium tonight watching Sazaki pitch, he
Speaker 2: made it clear in an answer at the Sazaki press
Speaker 2: conference that Sazaki has a mind of his own and
Speaker 2: has his own ideas, and maybe he is.
Speaker 3: Even a little bit stubborn.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I've been around professional sports for a
Speaker 2: long time, and I've seen the guys that have been
Speaker 2: the best in the minor league or the best in
Speaker 2: college basketball or college football think they have it all out,
Speaker 2: and then they come to the big leagues or to
Speaker 2: the NBA or to the NFL, whatever you have, and
Speaker 2: get their teeth knocked in and then they have to
Speaker 2: reassess and say, you know what, you guys might have
Speaker 2: some ideas to help me out. And I feel like
Speaker 2: Sazaki may be at that point. A lot of times,
Speaker 2: great players or really good players at a lower level
Speaker 2: feel like they have it all figured out and need
Speaker 2: to experience failure before they open up to take in
Speaker 2: some of the help they may need. And some of
Speaker 2: the learning happens right on the mound. It doesn't have
Speaker 2: to come from a coach, and I feel like the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are well aware that Sizaki was going to have
Speaker 2: some bumps in the road, maybe to not this extreme
Speaker 2: or to this degree as far as having a hard
Speaker 2: time finding the strike zone, because that was painful to
Speaker 2: wa in that first inning. I think I went through
Speaker 2: a whole bag of peanuts visiting my family down there in.
Speaker 3: The first inning.
Speaker 2: But nonetheless, I mean, there's that's neither here there either.
Speaker 2: How much I eat these days, it doesn't matter. If
Speaker 2: it was one, two, three inning, I might have got
Speaker 2: through a half a bag of peanuts by then. But anyway,
Speaker 2: this is about Sazaki, and I feel like those that
Speaker 2: are already online saying that the Dodgers may have to
Speaker 2: send him down, I don't see that happening right now.
Speaker 2: I could see the Dodgers skipping a starter or two
Speaker 2: and maybe calling up a guy like Landon Knack to
Speaker 2: take that spot. But I don't see the Dodgers sending
Speaker 2: Sazaki to Oklahoma City. What's he going to learn there.
Speaker 2: He's not gonna be with Connor McGinnis and Mark Pryor.
Speaker 2: I don't see how he's going to get that much
Speaker 2: better pitching in Oklahoma City, except for the fact that maybe,
Speaker 2: you know, the Dodgers want to see him fill up
Speaker 2: the strike zone, but I just don't. That may happen eventually,
Speaker 2: but I just don't see that happening right now. Eight
Speaker 2: six six seven two five seventy is the phone number
Speaker 2: I thought. The biggest at bat tonight came from Taoscar
Speaker 2: Hernandez in the fifth inning with two outs and runners
Speaker 2: at the corners, after A J. Hinch put up the
Speaker 2: four fingers and walked sho Hao Tani intentionally because the
Speaker 2: Tigers young right handerrhes Olsen has had some troubles against lefties,
Speaker 2: so that was the right move. But nonetheless, Tai Oscar
Speaker 2: took it personally and delivered like he has so far
Speaker 2: in the first five games of the year, three for
Speaker 2: five with runners in scoring position and six RBIs.
Speaker 3: So for me, that was the biggest hit of the game.
Speaker 2: And you know, Tommy Edmand tonight, after having such a
Speaker 2: great game last night, made his presence felt by hitting
Speaker 2: his third home run of the year. He got home
Speaker 2: runs from Freddie Freeman and Will Smith as well. I
Speaker 2: loved what I saw on the seventh when shoe Hey
Speaker 2: Otani watched sole second and Freddie Freeman drove him home
Speaker 2: with an RBI double. I thought the Dodger offense, you know,
Speaker 2: they were one of the best in baseball last year,
Speaker 2: top two in almost every big offensive category. You want
Speaker 2: to talk about setting records, This Dodger team may set
Speaker 2: offensive records that we have never seen as a team.
Speaker 2: As we move forward through one hundred and sixty two games,
Speaker 2: eight six, six, nine, eight, seven, two, five seventy is
Speaker 2: the phone number. Dodgers beat the Tigers seven to three.
Speaker 2: They're off to a five and oh start. They are
Speaker 2: off to the second hottest start in Dodger franchise history,
Speaker 2: because no other team except for the eighty one Dodgers,
Speaker 2: have won their first five games of the year. In fact,
Speaker 2: that year, Rick Monday and the boys started six to zero.
Speaker 2: Let's head downstairs, speaking of number sixteen, Will Smith, the
Speaker 2: Dodger catcher, may have some insight on what was going
Speaker 2: on with Sazaki tonight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure. You know, Dodger Stadium's intimidating. It's you know,
Speaker 4: there's four decks here, there's it's loud, it's fun. You know,
Speaker 4: it takes a lot to be able to perform here.
Speaker 4: You know, again, we have full full confidence in Rokie.
Speaker 4: You know, he'll settle in, He'll he'll start pitching better,
Speaker 4: he'll start dominating the zone and he'll be really good
Speaker 4: for us.
Speaker 3: And then just for you personally.
Speaker 5: With the bat obviously a big swing tonight. Where are
Speaker 5: you feeling just when it comes to your quality of
Speaker 5: that bats and kind of.
Speaker 1: Being locked in?
Speaker 6: Uh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know I was able to just get a
Speaker 4: change of up in the zone today, get it out,
Speaker 4: get it in the air, and get it out of
Speaker 4: the park. Yeah, feel good overall seeing the ball. Well,
Speaker 4: I'm just trying to take good at bets.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: Piecing together seven guys like that, I mean, you guess
Speaker 2: worked that to profession last year.
Speaker 1: It's not easy.
Speaker 5: I mean, can you just describe how how difficult that is?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean we've had to do it a lot,
Speaker 4: you know, just you know a lot my tenure as
Speaker 4: a Dodger for six years now or whatever. It's fun.
Speaker 4: It's uh, you know, those guys are ready for it
Speaker 4: whenever that happens, to pick the starter up, you know,
Speaker 4: like they say, their dogs down there, So you know,
Speaker 4: we're fortunate to have all of them. They went out
Speaker 4: tonight and put a bunch of ears.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the bullpen dogs carrying over from last year. Six
Speaker 2: different relievers used after Sazaki only lasted an inning and
Speaker 2: two thirds. Jack Dryer was the first reliever to come
Speaker 2: in and stop the bleeding. Dryer is going to be
Speaker 2: a name that you were going to grow to know
Speaker 2: because the Dodgers think very highly of that young left hander,
Speaker 2: and rightfully so.
Speaker 3: And how about Kirby Yates.
Speaker 2: The first ten batters he has faced as a Dodger,
Speaker 2: he has struck out seven. He is now part of
Speaker 2: that bullpen dog mentality out there for the Dodgers. Eight
Speaker 2: six six nine, eight seven two five seventy is the
Speaker 2: phone number. Basically, what Will Smith said in his first
Speaker 2: answer is maybe there were some jitters with Sazaki making
Speaker 2: his first started. Dodgers stated him a lot different than
Speaker 2: pitching at the Tokyo Dome in different ways. So, like
Speaker 2: I said, the Dodgers are not going to have a
Speaker 2: knee jerk reaction and send down Sazaki to the minor leagues.
Speaker 2: Like Dylan Hernandez is calling for let's go out to Anaheim. Miles,
Speaker 2: you're on Dodger Talk with David vasse Hi.
Speaker 7: Miles, Hey, David, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 3: Doing great? Miles.
Speaker 2: I got to hang out with the Javiers, you know,
Speaker 2: Javiers in Newport Beach. I got to hang out with
Speaker 2: Pops and Junior. I mean, those guys are legendary. Javier's
Speaker 2: right there. Not to mention the bat boy Javier and
Speaker 2: the dugout that saved Otani's life.
Speaker 3: We had three great Javiers in the house tonight.
Speaker 7: Oh Man, Absolutely, I love it. Javiers is fantastic.
Speaker 5: Quick question for you.
Speaker 7: I know you just talked about Sasaki. We got Will
Speaker 7: Smith's answers. It seems like nerves definitely playing a part.
Speaker 7: I mean two big games, one in the Tokyo Dome,
Speaker 7: his first game at Dodger Stadium, so I definitely understand that. However,
Speaker 7: there were concerns when he was coming over about his Mcanai,
Speaker 7: about his fastball velocity dropping last year in the NPB.
Speaker 7: Is there anything that we're seeing with his mechanics that
Speaker 7: could be leading to his control and command issues? Is
Speaker 7: there anything there that you think maybe needs to be
Speaker 7: cleaned up as he moves forward with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Well, I think Mark Prior would be laughing if you
Speaker 2: are were asking me what I could clean up from Suzaki.
Speaker 2: But Miles, I know what you're saying, a lot of times,
Speaker 2: when you're chasing velocity, you start overthrowing, and when you
Speaker 2: start overthrowing a lot of times you'd lose command of
Speaker 2: your fastball. I mean, he was throwing ninety seven up there,
Speaker 2: but it just didn't have command. So I could see
Speaker 2: what you're saying where he's trying to chase the velocity
Speaker 2: and in turn he's losing fastball commands. So that could
Speaker 2: be part of this equation the Dodgers have to figure out.
Speaker 7: Yeah, he's definitely a talented arm I have no doubts
Speaker 7: about him long term, and I just wonder if maybe
Speaker 7: the nerves are affecting his mechanics. He was missing armside
Speaker 7: quite a bit today against lefties especially, so I just
Speaker 7: wonder if he's get in his head. And I hope,
Speaker 7: I hope he cleans it up. I hope that Dodgers
Speaker 7: figured out because he's an incredible picture.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's so talented, he will figure it out. Miles,
Speaker 2: thanks a lot for the phone call. Yeah, I could
Speaker 2: just hear Mark Pryor driving home right now. Ve's a
Speaker 2: you don't know anything about cleaning up anything except your house.
Speaker 2: Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy is
Speaker 2: the phone number. Let's go out to Hawaii, Rick, Aloha,
Speaker 2: You're on Dodger Talk with David Vasse.
Speaker 5: Hello, DV.
Speaker 6: Hey, I don't call that often, but I this time
Speaker 6: I had to call him over currently on on the
Speaker 6: Big Island. And I've been a fan since fifty eight,
Speaker 6: and I just wanted to acknowledge how great it is
Speaker 6: too for all the Dodger fans to have you on
Speaker 6: the air and talk and you know, Dodger Talk and
Speaker 6: so on and so forth. It's fantastic. I think you
Speaker 6: just do a wonderful job. Everyone knows that. I know,
Speaker 6: we all appreciate it, and I just thank you, Rig.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
Speaker 6: Mahallo, my friend, You're very welcome. And uh uh, you know,
Speaker 6: I you know, the World Series is one thing, but
Speaker 6: then going into the beginning of this season in Japan,
Speaker 6: the Dodgers the team in Japan and taking care of
Speaker 6: the Cubs and then coming back and then sweeping the Tigers.
Speaker 6: What a fantastic start. And I just just wanted to
Speaker 6: share my thoughts about that. That's great, all right.
Speaker 3: Rick, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Good vibes from Hawaii and look, there's great vibes at
Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium. Everybody's happy. I mean, how could you not
Speaker 2: be happy? You got the defending World Series champions. They
Speaker 2: added more talent and the players are focused. They still
Speaker 2: got their edge like they came up short last year.
Speaker 2: That's the most impressive part about this team as far
Speaker 2: as I'm concerned, being with them in spring training, going
Speaker 2: to Tokyo and now here in LA. These guys are
Speaker 2: enjoying themselves. But when it's time for business, they have
Speaker 2: that edge, and that is to me what separates them
Speaker 2: from a lot of other teams out there, because they're
Speaker 2: not feeling themselves. They don't feel like this is just
Speaker 2: a victory lap season. They want more. They want to
Speaker 2: make history. Not by winning one hundred and seventeen games
Speaker 2: in the regular season. They want to make history by
Speaker 2: becoming the first team to go back to back championships
Speaker 2: since the Yankees in twenty twenty five years ago. Eight
Speaker 2: six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
Speaker 2: phone number. Dodgers beat the Tigers tonight seven to three.
Speaker 2: They sweep the three game series, and they have won
Speaker 2: the first five games of the twenty twenty five campaign.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to Malibu, Bob. Hope you're safe out there.
Speaker 2: Hope you're doing well.
Speaker 8: David Bath saying, Dodger Bob back with you for another season. Man,
Speaker 8: it's great to hear your voice.
Speaker 3: Nice. Thank you, Bob, appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 1: Dad.
Speaker 8: Just wanted to comment on and be supportive of your
Speaker 8: comments last night about Friedman's pining for Tommy Edmund. It
Speaker 8: makes total sense when you see the way this guy's performing.
Speaker 8: I hope all the other Dodger fans are appreciating what
Speaker 8: we got.
Speaker 5: In that guy.
Speaker 8: Man, what a great you know, re signing of his
Speaker 8: contract and re upping him. I'm happy he's a part
Speaker 8: of this team.
Speaker 3: Man, Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2: I mean not only like Knights, like tonight, he hits
Speaker 2: a home run, everybody loves him. But how many people
Speaker 2: appreciate what he did in the ninth inning last night?
Speaker 2: How many people appreciate the defense he played at shortstop
Speaker 2: last year all October with Keith a Hernandez playing center field.
Speaker 2: I mean, the Dodgers do not win the World Series
Speaker 2: without Tommy Edmond.
Speaker 3: He is a winning player.
Speaker 2: That's the way most people that have been around him,
Speaker 2: coached him, played with him, describe him.
Speaker 3: He's a winning player.
Speaker 8: He's definitely showing us that he's a winning player and
Speaker 8: he's part of a winning team. So, you know, just
Speaker 8: good to be back here. Just good to seeing these
Speaker 8: guys play with so much confidence right now, coming off
Speaker 8: of last season, and they're hungry for a dv You
Speaker 8: can tell it right now, call it, man, you can
Speaker 8: see it.
Speaker 5: They're hungry for another.
Speaker 2: No doubt, and that's what makes them so dangerous because
Speaker 2: they're not easing up and any one of these guys
Speaker 2: up and down this lineup, whether it be Freddie, Freeman, Otani.
Speaker 2: I mean, the Dodgers are three to zero without Mookie
Speaker 2: Bets in the starting lineup. He didn't play in the
Speaker 2: first two games in Tokyo. He didn't play tonight because
Speaker 2: of a scheduled day off with the off day tomorrow,
Speaker 2: and you know the stomach illness that he was battling.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers have won three of their first five games
Speaker 2: without Mookie Betts in the starting lineup.
Speaker 3: Think about that.
Speaker 2: Eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is
Speaker 2: the phone number hey want to give a shout out
Speaker 2: to Jack Flerty. Jack Flerty pitched great last night. He
Speaker 2: was much needed help for the Dodgers at the trade
Speaker 2: deadline last year. He was basically him and Yamamoto were
Speaker 2: the guys that pitched the most innings of any starters
Speaker 2: for the Dodgers in October and tonight before the game,
Speaker 2: he received his championship ring on the field with his
Speaker 2: teammates Freddy Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Bets all out there
Speaker 2: to present him with his ring and also a goal
Speaker 2: old jersey that the Dodgers were wearing last night and
Speaker 2: in the home opener with that number zero that he
Speaker 2: wore last year.
Speaker 3: So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: And Jack Flaherty, from what I understand, if you remember
Speaker 2: last year, I know, Ariwana is pretty much out of
Speaker 2: most of our price ranges, but they made a smoothie
Speaker 2: after Jack Flerity, and from what I was told by
Speaker 2: the visiting clubhouse guys on the Detroit side, he bought
Speaker 2: forty five of those Jack.
Speaker 3: Flarity smoothies for everybody to enjoy.
Speaker 2: And he was out here reconnecting with all of his
Speaker 2: teammates from a year ago. I mean, he was like
Speaker 2: the mayor during batting practice out here and he joined
Speaker 2: us on the pregame show, and here's part of the conversation.
Speaker 3: And just reflecting back on last year.
Speaker 9: I think we always felt like we had a real
Speaker 9: chance at Padre series was really tough. What Yama was
Speaker 9: able to do in game five was huge, and then
Speaker 9: you know, Kika and Tayo coming up with huge swings
Speaker 9: winning that game was huge. And and I from there
Speaker 9: as starters, we kind of started to rolla i'mna kind
Speaker 9: of set the tone and then you know, I went
Speaker 9: out Game one pitched well, and then Walker did his thing.
Speaker 9: You know, Game three, Alma came back, Game four pitched well.
Speaker 9: So it felt like from there its starters. Once once
Speaker 9: we got one good start it, the three of us
Speaker 9: started to figure it out and put it put a
Speaker 9: couple of good ones together, which is kind of what
Speaker 9: we needed and kind of what you know, it was
Speaker 9: said that we didn't have enough of but uh, you know,
Speaker 9: those bullpen guys picked us up. And obviously the lineup,
Speaker 9: they they were relentless and they never stopped scoring. Being
Speaker 9: down five nothing in game five, Uh you know, they
Speaker 9: they just kept going. Especially you know, you get a
Speaker 9: guy like Garrett on the Mountain that he's one of,
Speaker 9: if not the best, in the league. You wish him
Speaker 9: a speedy recovery, but what they're able to do just
Speaker 9: keep chipping away and you give him a second chance,
Speaker 9: and they never stopped.
Speaker 3: That was Jack Flaherty.
Speaker 2: A great three games for him, coming back home as
Speaker 2: a World champion. He lived out the dream that all
Speaker 2: of you growing up here in Los Angeles being a
Speaker 2: Dodger fan, coming back pitching for the Dodgers and helping
Speaker 2: them win the World Series. That was spectacular. And to
Speaker 2: be able to enjoy the parade as well. I was
Speaker 2: on the same parade bus as Jack Flaherity and nobody
Speaker 2: lived their better life than Jack Flerity during that parade,
Speaker 2: that's for sure. And speaking of the World Series, I
Speaker 2: got to hold the last out baseball tonight. It was
Speaker 2: at the art of the Game stand on the field
Speaker 2: level behind home plate. I'm sure you've seen it. This
Speaker 2: baseball was very special last year to a lot of
Speaker 2: different people. This is the baseball Walker Buehler pitched to
Speaker 2: Will Smith to strike out Alex Verdugo at Yankee Stadium
Speaker 2: to end the twenty twenty four World Series in Game five.
Speaker 2: Many people could say, will Smith could have kept the baseball.
Speaker 2: The Dodgers could have kept the baseball. Walker Bueller could
Speaker 2: have asked for the baseball. Well, major League Baseball could
Speaker 2: have the baseball. But instead Will Smith's Foundation catching hope
Speaker 2: Walker Bueller's Foundation, the Bueller Family Foundation, and the Dodger
Speaker 2: Foundation have come together for a bigger cause. They are
Speaker 2: auctioning off this baseball and the bidding ends very soon
Speaker 2: on April fifth. This baseball that's been auctioned off will
Speaker 2: benefit the fire Relief Fund. So it's going to a
Speaker 2: great cause to those that were affected in Altadena and
Speaker 2: the Palisades. And look, it's gonna fetch a big number,
Speaker 2: but I'm sure there's a lot of people out there,
Speaker 2: especially in the Palisades, that had a lot of great
Speaker 2: memorabilia that unfortunately was burned in the fires. This could
Speaker 2: be a great way to start your new collection and
Speaker 2: also help the fire relief Fund. You can bid on
Speaker 2: this baseball the last out from last year's twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four World Series at t m nauctions dot com. That's
Speaker 2: tmnauctions dot com. Proceeds are going to benefit the fire
Speaker 2: relief Funds. So thanks to Buehler to Will Smith and
Speaker 2: the Dodger Foundation for coming together for a greater good.
Speaker 2: And speaking of Walker Buehler, he made his Red Sox
Speaker 2: debut tonight. It did not go the way he wanted.
Speaker 2: The Red Sox lost to the Rangers four to three,
Speaker 2: and Buehler went four to a third innings and allowed
Speaker 2: four earned runs. He had three strikeouts in no walks.
Speaker 2: So that's how things went for Walker Bueler in his
Speaker 2: Red Sox debut tonight in Texas, deep in the heart
Speaker 2: of Texas. We're gonna take a time out here on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. When we continue more of your phone calls
Speaker 2: at eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy.
Speaker 2: We'll check in with Jose Mota as well, and you'll
Speaker 2: hear from the director of travel for the Dodgers, Scott Akasaki,
Speaker 2: who got the Dodgers from Phoenix, Arizona, to Tokyo, Japan,
Speaker 2: and then.
Speaker 3: To Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: You'll hear how he did it when we continue live
Speaker 2: from Dodger Stadium after the Dodgers sweep the Tigers with
Speaker 2: a seven to three win on a five to seventy
Speaker 2: LA Sports.
Speaker 1: Dodger Talk is available on AM five seventy LA sports
Speaker 1: dot Com hand on the iHeartRadio app. Back to more
Speaker 1: Dodger Talk with Dodger insider David Basse.
Speaker 5: Wedge hits a drive deep right fan way up in
Speaker 5: the pavilion.
Speaker 3: Freddie Freeman gets a run right back with his second
Speaker 3: home run of the season.
Speaker 2: It is two to one on a Freeman blast to
Speaker 2: right field. Freddie Freeman putting on a show for the
Speaker 2: fans the last two nights here at Dodgers Stadium. He
Speaker 2: has gotten loud ovations every time he steps into the
Speaker 2: batter's box. He drove this fan base crazy last year
Speaker 2: with that walkoff Grand Slam, and his entire World Series
Speaker 2: was historic. I mean what he did last World Series
Speaker 2: was incredible, driving in more runs than anybody else ever
Speaker 2: has in a World Series. Not to mention that historic
Speaker 2: walkoff Grand Slam in Game one, and he had everybody
Speaker 2: on their feet tonight with that home run and also
Speaker 2: that RBI double, not to mention last night's game tying
Speaker 2: two run home runs, So the Freddie chance are well deserved.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers presents the home run forecast. Go to AM
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Speaker 2: home run for your chance to win a fifty dollars
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers gift card predicting the number of home runs
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Speaker 3: Daniels Jewelers Own the Dream.
Speaker 2: Let's take a couple of more phone calls before we
Speaker 2: check in with Jose Mota. Abby was at Dodger Stadium tonight. Hi, Abby,
Speaker 2: You're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 10: How are you doing?
Speaker 3: How can anybody be feeling that these days? Abby?
Speaker 2: If you're at Dodger Stadium, you got to get here
Speaker 2: if you haven't been here.
Speaker 10: It was so much fun. It was my first of
Speaker 10: the season, and I had so much fun. Thank you
Speaker 10: for taking my call. I love you, Dave, but I
Speaker 10: just want to say, okay. I was very nervous with Sunny,
Speaker 10: and then I was also very nervous because I didn't
Speaker 10: know anything about the reliever, Jack Dyer.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Jack Dryer.
Speaker 2: He's uh, the Dodgers drafted him, and he's basically a genius.
Speaker 2: He can solve a Rubik's cube one hundred different ways,
Speaker 2: and he's a really good relief picture.
Speaker 10: Because honestly, he was a genius. He gave us too
Speaker 10: clean innings and I was like, oh my god. Finally like,
Speaker 10: you know, a good pitch and he was a rookie too,
Speaker 10: and everybody was cheering him on. And you know, I mean,
Speaker 10: I'm going to be patient with the saucy Thank you
Speaker 10: for your thought, because I will take them to Mark.
Speaker 10: I mean, but wow, you know, good job Jack Dyer
Speaker 10: or Dryer or whatever same.
Speaker 3: Is, dryer like Dryer's ice cream.
Speaker 2: Abby, give the guy some respect.
Speaker 4: I do I respect.
Speaker 10: I mean, he was great and.
Speaker 2: Ben Caspirius are going to be two key relievers that
Speaker 2: are rookies. And Ben Caspirius had his coming out party
Speaker 2: in the World Series last year as well Game four. Abby,
Speaker 2: thanks a lot for calling in, and uh call back
Speaker 2: next time you're at Dodger Stadium. Let us know how
Speaker 2: the concessions are treating you.
Speaker 8: You know what.
Speaker 10: I'm a little bombed that they like got read of.
Speaker 9: I thought about it.
Speaker 2: Oh all right, maybe uh it'll come back for a
Speaker 2: home stand. You never know when the Phillies come to town.
Speaker 2: Thanks for the phone call, Abby, appreciate it. Hey, the
Speaker 2: Dodgers have a day off tomorrow, but we are going
Speaker 2: to keep the party rolling at the Citadel Outlets tomorrow
Speaker 2: at the Polo Ralph Lauren Family Baseball Fan Experience. I
Speaker 2: will be out there hosting from one to three and
Speaker 2: Tonight's hero, Taoscar Hernandez will be out there taking photos,
Speaker 2: meeting and greeting from two to three pm.
Speaker 3: We're gonna have prizes.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have that fast pitch where you can test
Speaker 2: how fast you could throw a baseball by you. So
Speaker 2: we're gonna do a lot of fun things out there,
Speaker 2: but really the headliner is Taoscar Hernandez out there between
Speaker 2: two and three o'clock at the Polo Ralph Laurenz Baseball
Speaker 2: Family Fan Experience.
Speaker 1: It's time to go around the horn with Jose Mota.
Speaker 2: Jose Mota, there was a lot of fiesta celebration in
Speaker 2: the booth tonight, beinga celebrating a birthday my friend.
Speaker 5: Yes, so Joby Lodamond as well.
Speaker 4: It was nice.
Speaker 5: So you see, paper has been so many years for him.
Speaker 5: Good time, and I think you welcome Cochito because Louis
Speaker 5: Cruise Is he's like active, like Dave say nowadays, I love.
Speaker 3: It Luis Cruz.
Speaker 2: I mean he comes in like he's walking in for
Speaker 2: Game seven of the World Series.
Speaker 3: That's the way he's dressed every day.
Speaker 5: I think it's great.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 5: You know that that reflection of what you see is
Speaker 5: also the reflection on how good he comes in and
Speaker 5: how hungry he is to do well in the booth.
Speaker 5: And he's doing very very well.
Speaker 2: I think he should come in with his number forty
Speaker 2: seven jersey, his Dodger jersey.
Speaker 3: One day.
Speaker 5: That might happen, though, give the idea, you know, Luise,
Speaker 5: like I.
Speaker 2: Love that, do that during the Brave series, Joseitan, all right,
Speaker 2: let's talk about Sazaki.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 2: Obviously not ideal first inning, not an ideal first two starts,
Speaker 2: but do you feel like he's overthrowing, trying to chase
Speaker 2: velocity and that's affecting his command.
Speaker 5: So now we're talking about two starts, right, we saw
Speaker 5: in Japan one hundred miles an hour right off the bat,
Speaker 5: I mean right off the bat, first sinning. The one
Speaker 5: thing I noticed is when we talk about dacent velocity,
Speaker 5: he's always looking up to see where the velocity is,
Speaker 5: and that to me is in the turn sometimes, especially
Speaker 5: at the stage where he is now a couple of things,
Speaker 5: and I'm going to make excuses for him. Would you
Speaker 5: allow me to day.
Speaker 3: No excuses, Just give us the facts.
Speaker 5: Let me give you the facts. Number one, he's dealing
Speaker 5: with the different baseball. Number two, he different the different
Speaker 5: slope on the mound. Number three is the fact that
Speaker 5: he is used to pitching more before a season than
Speaker 5: he's ever pitched as a Dodger. And it's a fact
Speaker 5: I recall with Shoel Tani with the Angels in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 5: comes spring training, he was terrible show. He couldn't throw
Speaker 5: a strike, He had a hard time grip in the baseball,
Speaker 5: had a hard time understanding that there's no taciness in
Speaker 5: the in the grip, and also with the seams way different.
Speaker 5: So with Asaki, though a product is not as polished
Speaker 5: as Yamamoto was and as show he was. All these
Speaker 5: issues are going to pop up at some point. And
Speaker 5: he pitched seven innings in the spring training in the
Speaker 5: Cactus League. Everything else was control, so you know that
Speaker 5: with him the stuff is there. We have not even
Speaker 5: seen the best slider. This guy has a devastating wife
Speaker 5: out slider that we have not seen yet. We see
Speaker 5: more like a get over type of slider where he's
Speaker 5: had some swings of misses, yes, and get over a strike.
Speaker 5: But it's gonna come down to repetitions day. I truly
Speaker 5: believe that. And I said this since before he was
Speaker 5: a Dodger, because I saw this kid pitch. I got
Speaker 5: to know his pitching coach. He needs repetitions to be smart.
Speaker 5: Now there's no time to wait in the regular season.
Speaker 5: So like today, great call by the call before on
Speaker 5: side misses mean what you are a catcher have to say, well,
Speaker 5: he's missing this way. I got a call well was
Speaker 5: in just to allow that fastball to run from the
Speaker 5: middle to the middle, from the inside to the middle
Speaker 5: of the player on the lefty. And he made a
Speaker 5: couple of adjustments there. But I hope he's not just
Speaker 5: jation boss. The one thing I do notice though, is
Speaker 5: I think he's thinking I had so far was with
Speaker 5: I want to get to a splitter account, and you
Speaker 5: can't force splitter counts. We have not there yet, So
Speaker 5: these hitters are much different. He's fishing, you know, a
Speaker 5: deeper line upstairs, more swings and misses against guys that
Speaker 5: know hit was much power in Japan. But I really
Speaker 5: believe this guy is going to show who he is
Speaker 5: exactly with more innings on him, because again, this is
Speaker 5: all different. Me just to quickly tell you, first bullpen
Speaker 5: for Japanese pitchers usually is one hundred pitches, and I
Speaker 5: saw the little Tani and he's like, oh, thirty pitches
Speaker 5: first bullpen. Well, no, I'm not used to that. So
Speaker 5: there's a lot of things he's going through right now.
Speaker 5: But you know what, it's hard to adjust. This is
Speaker 5: a big leaks. It's not Japan anymore, and the time
Speaker 5: has writ for him to know that it is one
Speaker 5: step at a time and the things he has reflexible
Speaker 5: with mechanics, with ideas, with implementing different things and strategies
Speaker 5: that perhaps he's new to.
Speaker 2: Okay, So with all that being said, we're trying to
Speaker 2: digest everything you just said. Sending him to the minor
Speaker 2: leagues to me is not the answer. I know some
Speaker 2: media people are already calling for that everything that you
Speaker 2: just said. I don't feel like going to the minor
Speaker 2: leagues is going to help him with the learning.
Speaker 5: Curve and it needs to happen here. And you know,
Speaker 5: fortunately he is an assistant and with the Dodger team
Speaker 5: that can absorb maybe skin to him and just throwing
Speaker 5: him out there in the fire and letting him run.
Speaker 5: I mean, Yamamoto in the playoffs. It was like, guys
Speaker 5: are gonna start a number five game, Well, you got
Speaker 5: to throw him in the fire because it's what is
Speaker 5: here for. So it'll come with time. It'll take two
Speaker 5: good innings for this gut to get going out of
Speaker 5: the belief to find whose rhythm, find his groove, and
Speaker 5: go out and dominate and show who he is because
Speaker 5: he's always been a strike throw, but never early in
Speaker 5: the season, as his pitching coaches and the pat have
Speaker 5: told me, always have commend issues in spring training and
Speaker 5: pretty much just what we're seeing right now.
Speaker 2: And with that being said, the bullpen use six different
Speaker 2: guys tonight. They're very fortunate tomorrow's a day off. Can
Speaker 2: the Dodgers withstand that? I mean, it's great for the
Speaker 2: learning curve of Sazaki, but it's not great for the
Speaker 2: bullpen If that's the number of innings have to cover
Speaker 2: every time out.
Speaker 5: No, I mean, it won't stay like this, I believe
Speaker 5: so if it does, and another option is going to
Speaker 5: have to be used. But you know, thankfully you have
Speaker 5: a bop and you can cover. You have the outdate tomorrow,
Speaker 5: and then you have some pieces kind of that bullpen
Speaker 5: that are key there and not even there right now,
Speaker 5: so give it some time. But understandably he needs to
Speaker 5: make adjustments on the fly now and understand that this
Speaker 5: tough play is good enough. He does not have to
Speaker 5: be that careful picking in the big leagues and not
Speaker 5: being afred to field his own and not be so
Speaker 5: anxious to get to splitter accounts. Because his fastball rise
Speaker 5: pretty well today. He had more run and tail than
Speaker 5: the rider he had back in Japan.
Speaker 2: All right, let me ask you one other question about
Speaker 2: his outing tonight. I thought the at fat that maybe
Speaker 2: could have gave him some confidence backfired against him. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Margo hitting a swinging bunt to score a run that
Speaker 2: was that was bad luck to a certain extent. But
Speaker 2: Trey Sweeney, uh fouling off so many pitches, taking it
Speaker 2: to a ten pitch at bat and then walking. Why
Speaker 2: couldn't he put tray Sweeney away?
Speaker 5: Well, because fastos were not commanded the way that he wanted.
Speaker 5: And I think tray Swinny knows who the guy that
Speaker 5: throws that hard. Or you got to land early and
Speaker 5: just use your hands and either a very good job
Speaker 5: just not over using his body and when the ball's
Speaker 5: near the strike zone and higher it's a lot easier
Speaker 5: with your eyes to be closer to just make contact
Speaker 5: for his week contact that he needs to just command
Speaker 5: the fast fil a little bit better, and it starts
Speaker 5: with up and down, north, south, east and west. But
Speaker 5: more than anything, just go out there and get into
Speaker 5: good counts and a lot of good things will happen though,
Speaker 5: so on ones are is going to be are going
Speaker 5: to be his best friends from here on on.
Speaker 2: One counts all right, Jose, thanks a lot for the insight.
Speaker 2: We'll look forward to hearing from you again on Monday.
Speaker 2: Enjoy your Sunday, Enjoy tomorrow you and Tel Yes, Sir
Speaker 2: Tayoe time at the Citadel Outlets for sure. Thanks Jose,
Speaker 2: love it, take it yeah, Ta Oscar Hernandez will be
Speaker 2: out there at the Polo Ralph Lauren Baseball Fan Experience
Speaker 2: from two to three. Will be hosting it from one
Speaker 2: to three out there, so we hope to see you
Speaker 2: as the Dodgers have a day off. You heard Jose
Speaker 2: talk about some reinforcements, Well we start to see some
Speaker 2: signs of that yesterday with Evan Phillips throwing to hitters
Speaker 2: and Tony Gonsolin doing the same thing. Phillips obviously is
Speaker 2: a reliever, so he doesn't need as much time to
Speaker 2: be built up. Also, show hey Otani through his first
Speaker 2: bullpen session since February twenty fifth. It was a twenty
Speaker 2: pitch bullpen session. But if you ask me, I just
Speaker 2: don't see Otani pitching any time before July, and there's
Speaker 2: no need to. They don't need to rush him back
Speaker 2: into this rotation. They've got plenty of arms that can
Speaker 2: cover the first half of the season. I really believe
Speaker 2: the Dodgers are trying to get Otani ready for the
Speaker 2: playoffs to be a weapon in October. Also, Clayton Kershaw
Speaker 2: today through to hitters for about an inning, So it's
Speaker 2: basically the start of spring training for Kershaw. With what
Speaker 2: we saw today, six weeks from now out, probably ready
Speaker 2: to come back to pitch in a major league game,
Speaker 2: but he's going to need to go through the whole
Speaker 2: process that pitchers go through during spring training, and that
Speaker 2: means going out on rehab assignments for four starts at least.
Speaker 2: So we'll see when Kershaw comes back. But today was
Speaker 2: a good sign that he is moving in the right direction.
Speaker 2: Speaking up, moving in the right direction, Dodgers Director of
Speaker 2: Team Travel, Scott Akasaki, directs the Dodgers from city to
Speaker 2: city in the United States. In the last two years,
Speaker 2: has directed the Dodgers players, coaching staff in front office
Speaker 2: from Arizona to Soul, Korea, and then this year from
Speaker 2: Arizona to Tokyo, Japan, and then back to Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: I was just curious, how the heck did he do
Speaker 2: all that?
Speaker 11: Well, Dave, you asked that question, and you're giving me
Speaker 11: a lot of credit, but I certainly can't take that credit. Certainly,
Speaker 11: the folks at Major League Baseball, who organize the trip
Speaker 11: for the Dodgers and Cubs, played a huge role. The
Speaker 11: team that we have here. Al garciaan Security, Alex Torres
Speaker 11: the equipment side, and Marcazai and Baseball Operations really were
Speaker 11: instrumental in getting this trip off the ground. Patricia Romero
Speaker 11: and family programs, everybody was all synced up. Of course,
Speaker 11: our front office is aligned, so Andrew Brandon, their leadership,
Speaker 11: of course, the coaching staff, everybody is. When we needed
Speaker 11: information to get all the stuff we needed to get like,
Speaker 11: it came very quickly because everyone wanted to have a
Speaker 11: great time in Japan.
Speaker 2: You've been part of the Dodger organization for over twenty years. Now,
Speaker 2: you've seen a lot. What's it like in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five for you to be where you're at right now
Speaker 2: and not just being with a baseball team, but basically
Speaker 2: being with a rock band going around the country and
Speaker 2: the world was show.
Speaker 11: You know, Dave, not only is it the time with
Speaker 11: the Dodgers, but you know, I was born and raised
Speaker 11: in Los Angeles, so to see the city and how
Speaker 11: energized the city is and how energy how people are
Speaker 11: excited about the Dodgers is absolutely fantastic. And so yes,
Speaker 11: Shohio Tani, the best player on the planet. To be
Speaker 11: able to travel the United States and internationally with him
Speaker 11: is certainly amazing. But what a great group of guys,
Speaker 11: you know, show, Hey, everybody is absolutely awesome.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: There is Scott Akasaki, a Los Angeles native now the
Speaker 2: Dodgers director of team travel and part of the organization
Speaker 2: for over twenty years. He did a phenomenal job along
Speaker 2: with the rest of the Dodger travel team to get
Speaker 2: the team from Phoenix to Tokyo seamlessly and then back
Speaker 2: to LA for the start of the North American part
Speaker 2: of the schedule. That'll do it for us tonight on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. We will see you tomorrow at the Citadel
Speaker 2: Outlets at one o'clock. Don't forget Taoscar Hernandez will be
Speaker 2: out there, not signing autographs, just taking photos and being
Speaker 2: the great Taoscar that he is from two to three,
Speaker 2: and we'll see you out there at the Polo Ralph
Speaker 2: Lauren Baseball fan experience with Taoscar Hernandez, and then the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are back to baseball. On Monday night, Tyler Glass
Speaker 2: now will make his season debut, going up against former
Speaker 2: Dodger draft pick Grant Holmes, who somehow has found us
Speaker 2: footing in Major League Baseball with the Braves from reliever
Speaker 2: to now starter Verrongo Casino. Dodgers on Deck begins at
Speaker 2: six o'clock, with first pitch at seven ten. Thanks to
Speaker 2: Colin Yee back at our Burbank Studios, Thanks to Dwayne
Speaker 2: McDonald out here at Dodgers Stadium, and thanks to you
Speaker 2: for listening. Happy birthday to Pepe and Ingez, and our
Speaker 2: thoughts and prayers are also with the family of former
Speaker 2: Dodger organist Nancy b. Heflee, who was phenomenal in over
Speaker 2: or nearly thirty years of playing the organ here at
Speaker 2: Dodgers Stadium. She was a great lady and she will
Speaker 2: be dearly missed. I'll always remember fitting tonight or herscheizer
Speaker 2: replica Jersey giveaway.
Speaker 3: Nancy b.
Speaker 2: Hefley was always pointed out by Vin Scully. She was
Speaker 2: playing Master of the House before every oral, herscheizer start
Speaker 2: as he was warming up for the game. So, Nancy,
Speaker 2: we will think about you and your legacy will live
Speaker 2: on forever. And awesome lady, awesome organist, and she always
Speaker 2: made the Dodger Stadium experience great like dita rule does now.
Speaker 2: So just want to let you know we were thinking about you.
Speaker 2: And happy birthday, Peppy. Once again the Dodgers get you
Speaker 2: a win seven to three over the Tigers.
Speaker 3: Have a great rest of your night. See you