Speaker 1: And an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: Even though the Dodgers have the best record in baseball,
Speaker 1: even though they're doing pretty well, there's something missing. And
Speaker 1: that's something whereas number twenty two and he'll be back
Speaker 1: on the mound on Saturday against the Angels. That pillar
Speaker 1: of strength, competitive spirit, back on the mound at Dodger
Speaker 1: Stadium in Clayton, Kershaw. Thank you for the time. Great
Speaker 1: to see you back from Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: Wow, what an intro, Thanks Dave. Good to be back.
Speaker 1: It's been a long road. It hasn't been easy. How
Speaker 1: gratifying is it that that moment is coming up here Saturday?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right, this has been a it's been a
Speaker 3: hard one for sure. But yeah, I'm super excited to
Speaker 3: get back out here. More than anything, just tired of
Speaker 3: taking up space. You know, I want to I want
Speaker 3: to contribute. I want to help the team out, and
Speaker 3: so I'm I'm excited to get out there and start
Speaker 3: getting some people out and uh, you know, making a
Speaker 3: positive contribution.
Speaker 1: Even though it was rehab assignments in the minor leagues,
Speaker 1: how good did it feel to be out there and
Speaker 1: actually pitching again.
Speaker 3: Well, it feel good to be focused on pitching, you know.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, the last few times I pitched
Speaker 3: last year, just focus on how much my foot was hurting,
Speaker 3: you know. And so I think now kind of shifting
Speaker 3: the gears towards just how do I get people out,
Speaker 3: and you know, just focusing more on the next pitch
Speaker 3: as opposed to what hurts as nice, you know. So yeah,
Speaker 3: physically I feel good, and it's been a it's been
Speaker 3: a hard road, but now that we're kind of on
Speaker 3: the tail end of that and starting the new chapter
Speaker 3: of actually getting the pitch has been it is exciting.
Speaker 1: When you set out on this rehab assignment. You talked
Speaker 1: about the toe cooperating, the foot cooperating. How long did
Speaker 1: you have to kick it before it cooperated?
Speaker 3: I still kick it. I still kick its cooperating, you know.
Speaker 3: I think, Yeah, the last two weeks especially, I would
Speaker 3: say that I can feel the strength coming back a
Speaker 3: little bit and I feel like I can use it
Speaker 3: a little bit better. So I think it'll just continue
Speaker 3: to get better with time, and the more reps I get,
Speaker 3: the better.
Speaker 2: So no time like the president to start start getting some.
Speaker 1: Reps, even though you've had the career that you've had.
Speaker 1: You're coming back from a couple of surgeries on the
Speaker 1: same leg to get the results you got. Did that
Speaker 1: mean something to you? Did it validate anything that maybe
Speaker 1: you had doubts about?
Speaker 3: Well, I think anytime you can get people out, you know,
Speaker 3: I think that's important. And so that's why I enjoy
Speaker 3: going to Triple A because it's like, you know, these
Speaker 3: guys are all good hitters, they're all, you know, right
Speaker 3: on the cusp with being big leaguers.
Speaker 2: So it kind of gives some feedback right away.
Speaker 3: And obviously it's not the big leagues, but it's important
Speaker 3: to get that feedback. And I'll get some more feedback
Speaker 3: on Saturday, for sure.
Speaker 1: Hey, the feedback that I saw, I mean I was
Speaker 1: happy to see it. That was an old school kershaw
Speaker 1: coming off the mound like you did and turning and
Speaker 1: throwing to make a play off the mound. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's who you are. I mean, did you know you
Speaker 1: still had that?
Speaker 3: Just it's only in there if I need it. I
Speaker 3: guess I don't practice that too much. But no, that
Speaker 3: was a fun play. And yeah, I guess it's a
Speaker 3: good sign that the foot feels good.
Speaker 2: So it's great.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you question that people keep asking me.
Speaker 1: What motivates you at this stage of your career to
Speaker 1: go through all this to come back?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I think I think not letting an
Speaker 3: injury be the reason I stop. I think that's probably
Speaker 3: the main thing. Look, if I get out there and
Speaker 3: get sheld and I'm not any good anymore and just
Speaker 3: the time is to the time, then that's one thing.
Speaker 3: But I don't want it to be because I didn't
Speaker 3: rehab an injury well, or I let something get the
Speaker 3: best of me, you know, So if another hitter gets
Speaker 3: the best of me, that's one thing. But I'm not
Speaker 3: going to let myself do it to myself, if that
Speaker 3: makes sense, And so that's I think that's the biggest
Speaker 3: motivating factor. Another one is my family.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I think Ellen and my kids they're both they all
Speaker 3: they all want me to keep going. And Ellen's super
Speaker 3: supportive of wanting me to do it as long as
Speaker 3: I can, as long as I want to, And so
Speaker 3: I mean, if she wasn't as supportive as she was,
Speaker 3: it'd be a lot harder. So I think that's a
Speaker 3: huge motivating factor too.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, when you look at this
Speaker 1: team and where it's at when you come back on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Do you look at it from a ninety degree angle,
Speaker 1: looking down and seeing how it all comes together? How
Speaker 1: do you look at this team right now?
Speaker 2: I look at it, you know. I've been watching the
Speaker 2: games on TV just like.
Speaker 3: Everybody else, and it's a great team, you know. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, forty games in you can see a lot
Speaker 3: of things that are going really well. And for me personally,
Speaker 3: I just want to be a part of it. So
Speaker 3: I'm excited to start contributing and hopefully for a long time,
Speaker 3: all the way through October.
Speaker 1: No doubt, far from over. Kershaw, don't forget it.
Speaker 2: I hear you. I like it. Thanks Dave.
Speaker 1: So great to have Clayton Kershaw back. It'll be even
Speaker 1: better and the world will be right. The baseball world
Speaker 1: will be right when Kershaw's back on the mount on
Speaker 1: Saturday against the Angels. The uz and Os for Hey song,
Speaker 1: Kim Kershaw.
Speaker 2: Hey those are nice pipes, high songs, Jack.
Speaker 1: Great to see you smiling. Great to have you back
Speaker 1: all right, Thanks Dave.