Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: All right, we're in the manager's office with the man
Speaker 1: that has one of the best babbleheads out there this season,
Speaker 1: and that's manager Dave Roberts.
Speaker 2: Dave, thanks a lot for the time. Appreciate it now, Dave,
Speaker 2: thank you so much.
Speaker 3: It's exciting. I've got some family that's coming up that's
Speaker 3: going to be here at the ballpark, and they did
Speaker 3: a nice job with the ball bobblehead, so it'd be good.
Speaker 3: You know, it's another day coming off a loss to Schemes,
Speaker 3: and the guys came in today ready to go and
Speaker 3: hopefully get get a major league one tonight.
Speaker 2: What do you want to see from your team?
Speaker 1: Your identity as an offense since you've been the manager
Speaker 1: is to take your walks and pass the baton.
Speaker 2: How does those players get back to that?
Speaker 3: I think a little bit. I just want to see
Speaker 3: our guys starting to impose their will on pictures. I
Speaker 3: think that we're a little bit sort of chasing our
Speaker 3: tails and letting pitchers dictate, dictate at bats, and obviously
Speaker 3: they have the baseball I understand that, but there is
Speaker 3: a way that you as a hitter can dictate at
Speaker 3: bats and I want to be more assertive in the
Speaker 3: batter's box.
Speaker 2: And where does that all start?
Speaker 1: Because I know you as a player always had a
Speaker 1: plan during batting practice, you had a plan in the cage.
Speaker 1: How do players kind of flip that mentality of trying
Speaker 1: to hit a three run home run with nobody on base?
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think it certainly starts with the mindset
Speaker 3: the work in the cage, which I feel the work
Speaker 3: of the cage has been consistent. I do think that
Speaker 3: the mindset we can sort of change and get kind
Speaker 3: of to that mindset of scaring people out of the zone.
Speaker 3: And certainly there's not a lack of talent with our offense,
Speaker 3: but I do think that collectively, if we get that
Speaker 3: kind of mindset of scaring guys out of the zone,
Speaker 3: that mindset, the preparation will manifest itself in a ballgame.
Speaker 1: David, it's so easy to pick out the guys that
Speaker 1: are not swinging the bat well, but I wanted to
Speaker 1: bring up the guys that I feel have really done
Speaker 1: a great job for your offense this season, in particular
Speaker 1: Tom Yedman, ta Oscar Hernandez, and Will Smith where would
Speaker 1: you be without those three guys?
Speaker 3: Well, I have no idea. You know, Tommy has found
Speaker 3: his powerstroke this year and he's just very dependable. I
Speaker 3: can play him at second base, run him out there
Speaker 3: in center field, hit him anywhere in the order, hits left,
Speaker 3: hits right, and he's just so dependable as a ballplayer.
Speaker 3: And he's gotten huge hits for us. And with what
Speaker 3: Tayo has done, he just has a knack for the
Speaker 3: RBI and getting a big hit. And I would say
Speaker 3: he's probably one of the guys that has the best
Speaker 3: heart rate when the game is on the line or
Speaker 3: a big spot, and sure enough, he more times than
Speaker 3: not comes through. And with will Smith, the consistency of
Speaker 3: play defensively offensively, he's a stalwart. And to have a
Speaker 3: defensive catcher that you can plug in against left, first,
Speaker 3: right and be productive. Happy, he's healthy, he's playing really well,
Speaker 3: and let's just keep man. But to your question, I
Speaker 3: don't know where we'd be without the production of those
Speaker 3: three guys.
Speaker 1: Tonight you have Roki Sazaki on the mound. Everybody is
Speaker 1: so focused on velocity. When you see his velocity fluctuate
Speaker 1: the way you did in his last start, Does that
Speaker 1: concern you or is that just a matter of him
Speaker 1: actually commanding the baseball better when he's not trying to.
Speaker 2: Throw one hundred.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that it's certainly not concerning, as we've
Speaker 3: seen that when he does throw one hundred and it's
Speaker 3: in the middle of the hitting zone, it gets hit.
Speaker 3: And when he does also try to overthrow, he doesn't
Speaker 3: command it. So I do think that the last couple starts,
Speaker 3: he's found a rhythm of as far as velocity on
Speaker 3: where he can get the velocity but while still having command.
Speaker 3: And the last part of it is I just think
Speaker 3: him throwing his secondary pitch for strikes has been a
Speaker 3: huge game changer for us.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager, two time World Series manager for
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, is joining us.
Speaker 2: Here before pitch.
Speaker 1: When you look at some of your players that are struggling, Dave,
Speaker 1: they're human, even though they've accomplished a lot of things.
Speaker 1: How do you get their confidence back up?
Speaker 3: Well, I think their individual conversations. I know the hitting
Speaker 3: coaches are grinding with them. I think it's just more
Speaker 3: of trying to get them to be who they are,
Speaker 3: and I think for me, careful is not the way
Speaker 3: to go, especially when you're talking about in the batter's box.
Speaker 3: I just like that aggressive mentality in the hitting zone,
Speaker 3: in your zone, and so with guys like you know,
Speaker 3: Michael Muntz, you know MOOKI right now, I just want
Speaker 3: those guys to be aggressive in their hitting zones and
Speaker 3: then expect it to turn, and which I know it will, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Dave, thanks a lot for the time. Great to
Speaker 2: see you.
Speaker 1: I'm happy for all the celebration that you've deserved, and
Speaker 1: certainly the Dodgers are very fortunate to have you, so
Speaker 1: thank you for the time.
Speaker 2: Thanks Dave.
Speaker 3: Good catching up and let's get a w