Speaker 1: All right, here we go, Fred Rogan Rodney Peach on
Speaker 1: AM five seventy LA Sports. We are getting ready to
Speaker 1: start the baseball season. We played a lot of games,
Speaker 1: took a long time, a lot of ups and downs.
Speaker 1: But now is when it really counts Rodney. This weekend
Speaker 1: is the beginning of what's important.
Speaker 2: Yes it is, Fred, Yes it is. And I know
Speaker 2: you know I like to live in the present. I
Speaker 2: know you like to live in the president as well,
Speaker 2: And so I ask you, though, does it feel different
Speaker 2: than it's felt in previous years? Does it feel bigger?
Speaker 2: Does it feel more exciting? How does it feel to
Speaker 2: you as opposed to say, last year or the year before?
Speaker 3: It feels more important to me.
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Speaker 1: All right, to me, this year it seems more important.
Speaker 1: It's really funny. I think there's more uncertainty this year,
Speaker 1: yet I've not felt is certain. I knew from the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year that it would all come down
Speaker 1: to this. It was tied ups and downs, not the
Speaker 1: traditional Dodger season that we have been accustomed to. I mean,
Speaker 1: they fought to the very end just to get to
Speaker 1: this point against adversity. Guys went to slumps, pitchers were
Speaker 1: all hurt. But here we are when it really begins,
Speaker 1: and of course somewhere aw night it really begins. Uh
Speaker 1: So I think it's important because I really don't think Rodney,
Speaker 1: if things were to go sideways, and I don't think
Speaker 1: they will, but if they did, I don't think the
Speaker 1: excuse we don't have any pitching is going to hold
Speaker 1: water here, not with the.
Speaker 3: Fan base it's the truth. But I don't think the.
Speaker 5: Care. They didn't care.
Speaker 2: Last year when Mookie and Freddy went one for twenty one,
Speaker 2: they didn't care. They didn't care. You know, you got
Speaker 2: other guys they should play, you know Lance Lann who
Speaker 2: they had to you know, bring off a pickup truck
Speaker 2: to come in and help him out. At the end
Speaker 2: of the year, he got brought happened with him. They
Speaker 2: got long balled, long ball Lance And but he was
Speaker 2: all we had. He was all we had. It wasn't
Speaker 2: like they could go, Okay, we we we don't want
Speaker 2: to put we don't want to put Lance Lann in
Speaker 2: there was he was all we had and and you
Speaker 2: had to deal with it. But but nobody cares. Nobody
Speaker 2: cares because you expect them to win the title. You
Speaker 2: expect them to be in the World Series every single year.
Speaker 2: And it's a good thing. But it's also a tough
Speaker 2: thing if you're a Dodger fan. But it's also if
Speaker 2: you're a Dodger player, manager, coach, whatever, because the expect
Speaker 2: expectations are so high. But there are factors. They're always
Speaker 2: factors in sports, and injuries are the biggest one. And
Speaker 2: the Dodgers have had their share these games. As we've
Speaker 2: seen in these playoffs so far in the wild card games,
Speaker 2: they're all gonna be close. They're all gonna be close.
Speaker 2: I don't care if the Dodgers won the division or
Speaker 2: not got the best record in baseball. These games against
Speaker 2: the Padres are going to be close. They're gonna be
Speaker 2: close ball games, and they can go either way. And
Speaker 2: there's gonna be a moment that that turns the fate
Speaker 2: who wins or loses that game. But don't think that
Speaker 2: they're going to roll through anybody in these playoffs, because
Speaker 2: everybody playing right now is good and every team has
Speaker 2: good players. They may not be named Otani, but they
Speaker 2: got good players. Peter Alonzo last night, Peter Alonzo for
Speaker 2: the Mets, you know, and that having a great series,
Speaker 2: but he's still Peter Alonzo, still a threat, a guy
Speaker 2: that's won home run Derby, the guy that hits a
Speaker 2: lot of home runs for the Mets, big star for
Speaker 2: the Mets. You know, he gets up in the ninth inning,
Speaker 2: two strikes on him, and he hits the three run
Speaker 2: home run in Milwaukee for them to win it. Milwaukee
Speaker 2: thinks they're they're winning the game and going to the
Speaker 2: next round and he hits a home three run home
Speaker 2: run in the ninth to win the game for him.
Speaker 2: They are stars on every single team, and don't be mistaken.
Speaker 2: San Diego has a lot of stars. And it's gonna
Speaker 2: be a dog fight. And oh, people like to think
Speaker 2: the Dodger's gonna roll with it. And they've got Otani
Speaker 2: and they got this lineup. They don't have the pitching
Speaker 2: that everybody thought they were gonna have, or we all
Speaker 2: thought they were gonna have, you know, at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the year.
Speaker 5: They don't.
Speaker 2: So it is going to be a dog fight, and
Speaker 2: get ready for that dog fight. So I mean, I
Speaker 2: think you've got to be realistic, Fred, But unfortunately life
Speaker 2: doesn't always work that way, and in fairness doesn't always
Speaker 2: happen in sports.
Speaker 3: That being said, the Dodgers have made a change.
Speaker 1: Now Jack Floerty was going to start game one and
Speaker 1: Yamamoto is going to start game two.
Speaker 5: Now it's been changed.
Speaker 1: Yamamoto will start game one and Jack Flaherty will start
Speaker 1: game two. Why the change because if it goes to
Speaker 1: a fifth game, Yamamoto will have the proper amount of
Speaker 1: rest to be able to pitch in that final game.
Speaker 1: So that's why they made the change. And I think
Speaker 1: it'll be fascinating to watch Yamamoto work and that'll.
Speaker 2: Be scrutinized, Right, that'll be scrutinized. That decision, Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 2: that decision will be You know, Yamamoto's coming off injury,
Speaker 2: hasn't had a whole lot of a whole hasn't had
Speaker 2: a whole of starts since he comes he came back,
Speaker 2: He's had some ups and downs. But now you're you're
Speaker 2: claiming he is your ace going into the playoffs because
Speaker 2: if there is a Game five, you want him available
Speaker 2: for Game five. That's why you're starting him in game one. Right,
Speaker 2: what happens if he goes out and has us a
Speaker 2: struggles in game one? Is he still your Game five guy?
Speaker 2: I mean they put they they've been They're banking on
Speaker 2: the guy. They spend a lot of money on being
Speaker 2: their guy going forward.
Speaker 5: In these playoffs.
Speaker 2: You know, Flarity they've made the decision that they'd rather
Speaker 2: have Yamamoto take two starts than Flarity have two starts.
Speaker 5: So well, you know, we will see.
Speaker 2: But there's no exact science, there's no crystal ball, and
Speaker 2: hopefully Yamamoto comes out and and does his thing and
Speaker 2: holds him down and is able to to be ready
Speaker 2: to go in game five if necessary.
Speaker 1: I don't mind the move. I don't mind it. When
Speaker 1: he's on, he's really on now. To be fair in
Speaker 1: Japan in the postseason, Adam was talking to me this morning.
Speaker 1: Yamamoto has struggled, but it's a new ballgame. Now we
Speaker 1: know his stuff is electric, and we know when he's on.
Speaker 1: No one's going to hit him.
Speaker 3: That we do know.
Speaker 1: And if he had not been hurt this year, who
Speaker 1: knows what could have happen for him, because when he
Speaker 1: was good, he was great. I don't think starting him
Speaker 1: in game one is a big deal. But what I
Speaker 1: do think, and you tell me how you feel about it,
Speaker 1: what I think is this that got to win the
Speaker 1: first game. Oh yeah, I think they've got to win
Speaker 1: the first game. If they don't win the first game,
Speaker 1: I think there's going to be problems.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I we're not saying that they can't win the series
Speaker 2: if they don't win the first game. But the first
Speaker 2: game is more I think, more important for the Dodgers
Speaker 2: than it is for the Padres. For the reasons why
Speaker 2: we just talked about Yamamoto is starting and when you've
Speaker 2: got your ace going, you got to win the games
Speaker 2: when your ace is going, and that's number one, it's
Speaker 2: at home.
Speaker 5: You got to win that first game at home.
Speaker 2: If they go down oh one, then home field advantage
Speaker 2: goes back to San Diego, and that that could be
Speaker 2: tough because then that makes game two a must win game, right,
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of pressure playing the you know,
Speaker 2: and having home field advantage and playing these games at home.
Speaker 2: You know, San Diego can come in here and go.
Speaker 2: You know, as long as we take one out of two,
Speaker 2: we're good. And even if we don't, we're still good
Speaker 2: because we're coming back home, our fans are be ready,
Speaker 2: and we can get to at our own place. And
Speaker 2: then Game five and then sudden death is a crapshoot.
Speaker 2: Anybody can win that one. So they're playing with it
Speaker 2: being a lot looser, I believe than than what the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are. The Dodgers have to go into it and
Speaker 2: no one will say it, but I believe they all
Speaker 2: feel it that they got.
Speaker 1: To win game one, and I am wondering, given what
Speaker 1: has happened in the past, the last couple of years
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Do you think, and you know, the
Speaker 1: way they look at it, Rodney is every day is
Speaker 1: a new day. That was yesterday. We're here now. But
Speaker 1: do you think in the back of anyone's mind they're thinking,
Speaker 1: we cannot have this happen again in the playoffs?
Speaker 5: We can't.
Speaker 3: We can't get knocked out this fast.
Speaker 5: Do I think they're thinking about it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, in my have creeped in, But I don't think
Speaker 2: that's front of mine.
Speaker 5: I think you know, you look at this as as players.
Speaker 2: You look at as a new year, new team, knew everything,
Speaker 2: and this is a new opportunity. I don't think you
Speaker 2: look back at the past. I mean I used to
Speaker 2: get people ask me, well, you know when I played
Speaker 2: for different teams and I was in Philadelphia, Well, you know,
Speaker 2: you guys have not beat the Cowboys in Dallas for
Speaker 2: the last seventeen years or whatever it may be. And like, well,
Speaker 2: I wasn't here for all seventeen years. I don't care
Speaker 2: about all that. All care about is this game. And
Speaker 2: so as a player, you don't get caught up into
Speaker 2: what happened last year. Now, you know, if you're Mookie
Speaker 2: Bets and Freddie Freeman, who struggled. Then you look forward
Speaker 2: to the opportunity more so than you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: I got to do better than I did last year,
Speaker 2: and I'm shaking and I'm nervous and all that. No,
Speaker 2: you're like, I'm about to break out this year. Last
Speaker 2: year was a bad one. But that's not going to
Speaker 2: be front of mine. For me, it is dealing with
Speaker 2: what I got to do this year and stay in
Speaker 2: present to it. That's for you and me and the
Speaker 2: fans to debate and talk about. And oh my god,
Speaker 2: they can't have what happened to them the last two
Speaker 2: years happened to them again. That's what we're all thinking about.
Speaker 2: Oh no, they get down to run early in the game.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, here we go again. No, players don't
Speaker 2: think that way. They don't think that way, especially when
Speaker 2: they're present in in a in a series in the
Speaker 2: following year.
Speaker 5: They don't look back.
Speaker 2: You gotta look forward, and you gotta look to This
Speaker 2: is a new year, new team, knew everything.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts was saying that when they win, it's not
Speaker 1: really joy, it's relief. He was saying that, he said,
Speaker 1: the expectations here are so high and and perhaps in
Speaker 1: some regards unrealistic, but that's the way it is here.
Speaker 5: He said.
Speaker 1: When they win, for him, it's relief. He can't even
Speaker 1: really enjoy it because the expectations are so high and
Speaker 1: those players know the expectations.
Speaker 5: I think he enjoys it. I think he enjoys it.
Speaker 3: If they win the World Series, I'll enjoy it.
Speaker 5: I'll tell you.
Speaker 2: I think he enjoys it. I don't think he. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think, yes, they're there. It's it's a relief when
Speaker 2: you win. But I think it's also it's a combination
Speaker 2: of enjoyment and relief. Yeah, I believe that. I mean,
Speaker 2: there are certain standards for certain teams, and you feel
Speaker 2: a certain way where you've got to win. If you don't,
Speaker 2: then it's, uh, you know, it's considered a failure as
Speaker 2: opposed to anywhere else in the country it wouldn't be.
Speaker 2: But I think you still get joy out of winning.
Speaker 1: Andrew Friedman was asked about Dave Roberts, because you know
Speaker 1: Dave's deal, He's got one more year in his deal.
Speaker 1: And Andrew Freeman said something, And I don't know if
Speaker 1: Dodger fans know this or want to hear it. But
Speaker 1: how do they base things, how do they make decisions
Speaker 1: on what they're going to do on consistency, on consistency,
Speaker 1: not oh my god, they lost this game, consistency having
Speaker 1: that same consistency every year. And if you just base
Speaker 1: it on that Dodger fans who everybody wants Dave Roberts
Speaker 1: fired right now and they have even started the Padre Series. Yet,
Speaker 1: if you base it on that he's done the best
Speaker 1: job in Major League Baseball, well the record will support that.
Speaker 1: You might not believe that, but he's done the best
Speaker 1: record in baseball. If how they make decisions is based,
Speaker 1: Rodney on consistency, because you tell me a team that's
Speaker 1: been more consistent year in year out than.
Speaker 2: Dodgers, No one, no one, And he said the stats,
Speaker 2: the record supports all of that. No one has been
Speaker 2: more consistent. No one's won more than Dave Roberts since
Speaker 2: he's been the manager of the Dodgers. But again, it
Speaker 2: goes back to winning championships and just because you bring
Speaker 2: somebody else in, and that's the thing that you know,
Speaker 2: Ned Colleti always says, if you're gonna if you're gonna
Speaker 2: get rid of someone, the next guy he you better
Speaker 2: know that he's gonna deliver. Otherwise, why'd you get rid
Speaker 2: of the guy that brought you to the playoffs every
Speaker 2: single year and won as much as Dave Roberts has won.
Speaker 2: Because it ain't no guarantee if you bring anybody else
Speaker 2: in that they're gonna win a title.
Speaker 1: So things do get underway, uh tomorrow and and uh
Speaker 1: you'll hear the games right here on the radio station
Speaker 1: AM five to seventy. Of course you will, and we
Speaker 1: will invite you to be with us, and make sure
Speaker 1: to tune into Spotlight on Blue every Friday. It's presented
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Speaker 1: All right, let's continue on, Bill Plunkett of the OC Register,
Speaker 1: we'll join the program next.
Speaker 4: Make sure to tune into the Spotlight on Blue every
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Speaker 5: Come on. Oh yeah, it's absolutely Friday, and on Fridays.
Speaker 5: You know what happens. Yeah, you know. No, we don't.
Speaker 2: No, we don't, Roddy Pete, Fred Rogan, we absolutely do
Speaker 2: not care on a Friday Friday.
Speaker 1: No, we don't. DoD your fans care about tomorrow very much.
Speaker 1: So let's bring on our buddy, Bill plunk into the
Speaker 1: OC Register. Bill, how are you today?
Speaker 6: I'm doing just fine, guys. I do care.
Speaker 5: We care today, Bill, Bill, what do you care about?
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna say on the air, but I do care.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, you're ahead of us because we don't. All right,
Speaker 2: So Bill, only on Fridays, Bill only.
Speaker 6: On Fridays only Friday.
Speaker 3: All right, Bill, let's get into it. So they've made
Speaker 3: the move.
Speaker 1: Yamamota will start Game one that will in Essen's given
Speaker 1: an extra day of rest if it goes five.
Speaker 3: Do you like that move?
Speaker 6: I don't see anything wrong with it. I don't think
Speaker 6: they expect to get more than four or five innings
Speaker 6: out of Yamamoto, So starting him in game one you're
Speaker 6: both in is fresh to back him up. I think
Speaker 6: there's some plus there. But the main reason they're doing it,
Speaker 6: and they're kind of acknowledging that they expect this to
Speaker 6: go five games, is to give them options for Game five.
Speaker 6: They can start Yamamoto again on five days rest, which
Speaker 6: is what he's gotten minimum all season, or they could
Speaker 6: come back with Flarity on four days rest, which he
Speaker 6: is very accustomed to. So game five they would have options.
Speaker 6: I would think that the bullpen usage has a lot
Speaker 6: to do with that. If they get to a Game
Speaker 6: five and their bullpen has been tax maybe you go
Speaker 6: with Flarity because he gives you the at least the
Speaker 6: potential to get deeper into the game. Or if the
Speaker 6: bullpens rested, maybe you go with Yamamoto again, thinking that,
Speaker 6: you know, depending on how he looked in Game one.
Speaker 6: There is nothing that the Dodgers front office values more
Speaker 6: than optionality, so much so that I think they invented
Speaker 6: that word.
Speaker 5: I was gonna say, I was like, you made that
Speaker 5: up then you bill?
Speaker 6: Oh no, I have heard that word so many times
Speaker 6: from Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes over the last few years. Yeah,
Speaker 6: they love optionality, but you know.
Speaker 2: You make a good point that you know Flaherty is
Speaker 2: better suited to go on shorter rest, and say Yamamoto,
Speaker 2: who is notoriously they want to make sure they give him,
Speaker 2: you know that five days if possible.
Speaker 5: Where do you see the concern?
Speaker 2: I mean, I know starting pitching and how deep the
Speaker 2: Dodgers' pitchers go, But when you look at this series
Speaker 2: and this match up, what concerns.
Speaker 5: You if you're a Dodger fan.
Speaker 6: Yeah, there's you know, it's easy to look at the pitching,
Speaker 6: and we seem to do it every year at this time,
Speaker 6: and they don't have enough. Their bullpen is this, their
Speaker 6: starters are that, and we end up focusing on starting
Speaker 6: pitching and the pitching decisions in game. But if you
Speaker 6: look over the last few years when the Dodgers have
Speaker 6: fallen short in postseason series, it has largely been because
Speaker 6: the offense dried up. Now, the starting pitching was horrible
Speaker 6: last year, so maybe that doesn't apply. But Lookie Betts
Speaker 6: and Freddie Freeman were combined one for twenty one in
Speaker 6: those three games the year before against the Arizona or
Speaker 6: a year before against San Diego. That time they scored
Speaker 6: in the first game and then the offense kind of
Speaker 6: disappeared the rest of the series. And you go back,
Speaker 6: you know, other years against the Nationals and such. The
Speaker 6: key is to get clutch hits. I know, you know,
Speaker 6: I don't know how you manufacture them. But the team
Speaker 6: that gets clutch hits like Pete Alonso going deep in
Speaker 6: the ninth inning are the teams that advance. And the
Speaker 6: Dodgers have to find a way to be that team.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 6: They think they can. They have a deep enough lineup
Speaker 6: that there are, you know, potential guys to come through
Speaker 6: in the clutch, all up and down the lineup. Padres
Speaker 6: have the same thing. So it's to me, it's going
Speaker 6: to be one key hit that wins a game that
Speaker 6: flips the series.
Speaker 5: Yeah, real quick, I mean Starry fed in at the Cakes.
Speaker 2: I mean, you get into these playoffs, all the teams
Speaker 2: are are pretty good, they're all playing at a high level,
Speaker 2: and there is not at least this year, there's not
Speaker 2: a team that you can look at it and go,
Speaker 2: They're going to roll through the playoffs. They're going to
Speaker 2: just dominate everybody. Everybody can beat anybody at any given night.
Speaker 2: And the suggestion that the Dodgers should win and the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are going to just go roll through into the
Speaker 2: World Series. I know that's what the Dodger fans want
Speaker 2: to believe, but that's just not the case.
Speaker 6: Isn't that what they thought the last two years? And
Speaker 6: how did that work out?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think if you're a Dodger fan, you've been
Speaker 6: following this team, you should have learned your lesson by
Speaker 6: now and understand that October is a different animal from
Speaker 6: the regular season. That weird stuff happens in October? Is
Speaker 6: that unpredictable stuff happens in October? The Detroit Tigers are
Speaker 6: playing in the Division Series round. Who would have predicted
Speaker 6: that a few weeks ago? Yeah, you know, a lot
Speaker 6: of it is timing. I don't want to say luck,
Speaker 6: but there is a certain element of good fortune that
Speaker 6: has to happen for you to move and advance in October.
Speaker 6: If you were listening to the postgame when the padres
Speaker 6: one the other night, Manny Machado said, you know, when
Speaker 6: he was asked about playing the Dodgers, this is what
Speaker 6: everyone wanted. And I don't think that was a shot
Speaker 6: at the Dodgers that you know he wanted the Dodgers.
Speaker 6: I think it was an accurate statement. This is a
Speaker 6: matchup that everyone should have wanted to see. I think
Speaker 6: it's clearly the best matchup in the Division Series round.
Speaker 6: These are two teams. Either team could win the series,
Speaker 6: either team could go on to win the World Series.
Speaker 6: It is, it's a terrific matchup.
Speaker 1: Well, well, you know you mentioned lack of hitting the
Speaker 1: last two postseasons. Yeah, that was an issue. But I
Speaker 1: look at it this year maybe a little differently, Tell
Speaker 1: me what you think. I think because of the sense
Speaker 1: of urgency they've had to have near the end of
Speaker 1: the year, they've had to battle all the way through
Speaker 1: that It wasn't easy, it wasn't scripted. You know, they
Speaker 1: didn't have a ten game lead or an eight game
Speaker 1: lead at the end, so they had rest guys. I
Speaker 1: think because just of the overall intensity, they should be better,
Speaker 1: they should be more prepared. I know they've had days off,
Speaker 1: I know that, but I just think how they got
Speaker 1: here this go round should make them better hitters this
Speaker 1: time around.
Speaker 5: What do you think?
Speaker 6: I absolutely agree. You know, the last couple of years
Speaker 6: they didn't take a meaningful at bat after like July.
Speaker 6: I mean, the games in September didn't matter, you know,
Speaker 6: other than resting and that kind of stuff. The idea
Speaker 6: that they had to play to the end this year,
Speaker 6: I think does change it. And I also think that
Speaker 6: the last two years have caught their attention. You know,
Speaker 6: you get bounced in the first round two years in
Speaker 6: a row. That better leave a mark. And I think
Speaker 6: it has and I think they will be better for
Speaker 6: it this year.
Speaker 2: Who are you looking for bill to be key components
Speaker 2: on the Dodger team? And you know, Fred believes that
Speaker 2: it's you know, Otani's gonna is built for this and
Speaker 2: he's going to have a great series, and and Muki
Speaker 2: has said that he's been, you know, waiting all year
Speaker 2: for this to redeem himself. Who you look at from
Speaker 2: the Dodgers standpoint that you think is going to be
Speaker 2: a key factor and or needs to be a key
Speaker 2: factor in the series.
Speaker 6: I would point at Mooki absolutely because you know how
Speaker 6: poor he did last those last It's only three games,
Speaker 6: but he was over He's got to be a threat
Speaker 6: behind Otani because they're not going to want to face Otani.
Speaker 6: They're going to try and pitch around him or at
Speaker 6: least minimize his damage. So there has to be threats
Speaker 6: and production behind Otani. Muki being the first one, and
Speaker 6: the next one's Freddie, And based on what we saw
Speaker 6: yesterday in the sim games, I'm not sure Freddie's going
Speaker 6: to be in the lineup tomorrow. He took at bats,
Speaker 6: but he didn't run out of the box and he
Speaker 6: didn't play defense. So that tells me that that ankle
Speaker 6: is still limiting him, and I have some serious questions
Speaker 6: about whether he's in the lineup tomorrow. If that's the
Speaker 6: case and he's not, then that puts even more of
Speaker 6: a burden on guys like pay Oscar Fernandez, Max Munty,
Speaker 6: Will Smith Uh to be productive and to take advantage
Speaker 6: of whatever h you know, scoring opportunities Otani and Betts
Speaker 6: can create at the top of the lineup.
Speaker 1: I know that a Brandon Golds, a Oddia general manager,
Speaker 1: said when it comes to Frey playing first base, you
Speaker 1: don't need a lot of mobility, But I had not
Speaker 1: heard that he couldn't even get out of a batter's
Speaker 1: box yesterday.
Speaker 3: I don't know if one more arrest is going to
Speaker 3: make a difference.
Speaker 6: There, Bill, you should you should read my stories instead
Speaker 6: of Bill Plaski's. Then I wrote that last night. Yeah,
Speaker 6: he was in the same games. He was taking he
Speaker 6: was taking at bats, you know, re inning simulated innings,
Speaker 6: but he was out running, not running at all. And
Speaker 6: when on defense, it was Max Munsey at first base.
Speaker 6: And if you go back to last weekend, I'm sure
Speaker 6: you didn't read this either, but last weekend, uh, Dave
Speaker 6: Roberts told us that they would consider moving Monthly from
Speaker 6: third to first and kik at play at third base
Speaker 6: if Freddy's absence was going to be more long term.
Speaker 6: He was the first base.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got behind the paywall.
Speaker 6: Yeah, can you get behind the paywall?
Speaker 3: I got stuck.
Speaker 6: An actual paper still, I'm not sure where you can
Speaker 6: find one.
Speaker 3: But you know where you're going to find that, Bill, Bill.
Speaker 5: Bill.
Speaker 2: That being said, that being said, I mean, is there
Speaker 2: a chance that Dodgers kind of, you know, play the
Speaker 2: first three or four innings kind of by ear and
Speaker 2: and and not start Freddy and use him as more
Speaker 2: of a pitch hitter situation, or if they need him
Speaker 2: if they get behind or whatever, pitch hit him in
Speaker 2: the third or fourth inning, or if they don't need
Speaker 2: him stay they're up three or four runs and they
Speaker 2: don't necessarily need him, they don't use them.
Speaker 6: I think that's a possibility.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 6: Freddie is as tough as they come, and you know
Speaker 6: he doesn't want to miss a single game for one
Speaker 6: hundred and sixty two, let alone in the postseason. So
Speaker 6: I'm sure he will. And Brandon even said this yesterday,
Speaker 6: or Andrew did. He'll tell them, you know, I'm good.
Speaker 6: I can go and try it. If it looks bad,
Speaker 6: then maybe you have to pivot. Maybe you can talk
Speaker 6: him into like you, like you said, get an extra
Speaker 6: day of rest, don't play Game one, just be available
Speaker 6: to pinch hit. But I think that's a very much
Speaker 6: a question mark heading into Game one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, listen, if he can't run out of the
Speaker 1: batter's box, it doesn't matter what he does.
Speaker 3: He can't play.
Speaker 6: I didn't say he couldn't. I just said he didn't.
Speaker 2: Game.
Speaker 5: You don't have to run, you know.
Speaker 3: But I'm just saying, if the.
Speaker 2: Guy goes up and Let's say he just said he
Speaker 2: didn't do it. They didn't force them to run out
Speaker 2: of the box.
Speaker 5: They want him. Who knows what.
Speaker 6: That's It's a simulated game. They can change the rules,
Speaker 6: do whatever they want. And in that case, they just
Speaker 6: wanted him a team. I just wanted to face uh
Speaker 6: live pitching to get a feel for that, but not
Speaker 6: push the ankle, to find out if he could if
Speaker 6: he could run.
Speaker 3: Bill, how do you see this series with the Padres going.
Speaker 6: I see it going five intents, very fun to watch games.
Speaker 6: Beyond that, I can't predict the future. I really think
Speaker 6: in some ways the Padres are the better team. They're
Speaker 6: pitching is clearly better. Their lineup is comparable. So, like
Speaker 6: I said before, I think it's gonna be one moment
Speaker 6: that flips the series, and both teams are capable of
Speaker 6: having that moment. I just I don't know.
Speaker 5: I think you're right.
Speaker 2: I mean, and I think you know, not to make
Speaker 2: excuses for anybody, but I think Dodger fans sometimes get
Speaker 2: caught up in that. At San Diego and they're supposed
Speaker 2: to beat San Diego, but you're right, their lineup is
Speaker 2: just as good as a Dodgers at least not maybe
Speaker 2: not on paper as people look at it, but in
Speaker 2: terms of being hot and being productive the way they've
Speaker 2: been the last month, they're as good as anybody in the.
Speaker 5: League, including including the Dodgers. What do you what do
Speaker 5: you know?
Speaker 2: Going back to injuries and pictures, What do you know
Speaker 2: about muscrow who came out of the game the other day?
Speaker 6: Have not heard anything definitive, but have heard that it's
Speaker 6: not good. So I don't think he's he's in play
Speaker 6: for this series at all. Here's here's the maneuver that
Speaker 6: the Padres have to decide on depending on the severity
Speaker 6: of that injury. If they put him on the roster
Speaker 6: for the Division Series and then have to put him
Speaker 6: on injured list to get somebody else available, Muscrove then
Speaker 6: becomes unavailable for the Championship Ship Series round. If they
Speaker 6: don't put him on the roster at all for the DS,
Speaker 6: they can add him for the Championship Series. So I
Speaker 6: don't think we see him at all, regardless of you know,
Speaker 6: the long term problems with the elbow.
Speaker 3: All right, So what are we going to see for
Speaker 3: the Padres.
Speaker 6: You're going to see Dylan Ceeese in Game one you're
Speaker 6: gonna see Darvish, You're gonna see Michael King, who has
Speaker 6: been terrific. Yeah, and the fourth spot, I'm not sure,
Speaker 6: probably because of the you know, if Otani and Freeman
Speaker 6: are at the top of the lineup, they're going to
Speaker 6: want to go left handed. So you probably see Martin
Speaker 6: Perez in Game four. Uh see, hasn't been great against
Speaker 6: the Dodgers over the years. King his last two starts
Speaker 6: against the Dodgers gave up one unearned run and I
Speaker 6: think it was twelve or fourteen innings. He's been terrific.
Speaker 6: He was terrific in one of the wild Card games.
Speaker 6: And Darvish has you know, I know people in LA
Speaker 6: don't exactly respect mister Darvish, but he's been awful good
Speaker 6: over the last few years for the Padres. So to me,
Speaker 6: the advantage is definitely san Diego there.
Speaker 5: Especially he's been good against the Dodgers as well.
Speaker 6: Yes, he has. I think he's got about it two
Speaker 6: era the last few years against the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we could have used a little of that. When
Speaker 3: he was pitching for the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Knew you couldn't resist that, you couldn't sell you saw
Speaker 2: it coming I'm sorry, Yes, I can't get over there,
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: Bill, thanks for spending time with us today and setting
Speaker 1: up the series. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 6: You got it guys anytime, all right.
Speaker 1: So if there is pressure on one Dodger one, who
Speaker 1: is it? We'll talk about it next Hey, we bring it,
Speaker 1: We bring it a little bit.
Speaker 2: Today's Afternoon Delight is brought to you by rapper from
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Speaker 1: Dirk All Rodney. I want to mention something real quickly,
Speaker 1: and I was going to mention it yesterday. It's an
Speaker 1: event going on out in the Coachella Valley and I
Speaker 1: was lucky enough to be a part of it yesterday morning.
Speaker 1: It is the EPSOM Golf Tournament.
Speaker 5: And you go, what is that?
Speaker 1: Well, the EPSOM Golf Tournament is a qualifying tournament for
Speaker 1: players that hope to get their LPGA cards, and fifteen
Speaker 1: people will be awarded their LPGA cards at the end
Speaker 1: of this tournament, so it's their season ending event and
Speaker 1: then whoever qualifies moves up to the Big LPGA Tour
Speaker 1: next year. The top fifteen qualify works and the reason
Speaker 1: they're doing it and because so many people do come
Speaker 1: out to the desert in the valley out here, Indian
Speaker 1: Wells wants to get back into the ballgame in hosting
Speaker 1: LPGA events. There used to be an event at Mission
Speaker 1: Hills Country Club to dine ashore for years now that moved.
Speaker 1: So what they're trying to do is let the LPGA
Speaker 1: know that they're open for business. And I was out there,
Speaker 1: and you know, you've played more golf than I've ever
Speaker 1: played in my life. I mean, you know, if you've
Speaker 1: played five times ten times, that's more than I've ever played.
Speaker 1: But I know what golf courses look like, and I
Speaker 1: enjoy watching the sport and they have done such a
Speaker 1: magnificent job out there in trying to put on a
Speaker 1: show to encourage the LPGA to come back. The course
Speaker 1: is beautiful. And by the way, if as soon as
Speaker 1: it cools down, which it's like one hundred and twelve today,
Speaker 1: but as soon as it cools down and the season
Speaker 1: quote unquote begins, and so many people come out here
Speaker 1: from La. The courses are beautiful, they really are. And
Speaker 1: I see why people come out here now all the time.
Speaker 1: They want to play golf. When it cools down, when
Speaker 1: it gets to about eighty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it can be really nice, beautiful. It's beautiful to
Speaker 2: play golf there. I've done it several times and been
Speaker 2: in tournaments, but just gone there just to play golf
Speaker 2: for a weekend.
Speaker 5: And you're right, it is beautiful to play. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So anyway, Indian Wells is open to the public too.
Speaker 1: I'm not selling tickets for him, but you know, when
Speaker 1: the tournament is over, Indian Walls, the golf course out
Speaker 1: there is open to the public, and come out and
Speaker 1: make a weekend out of it, because you'll really have
Speaker 1: a good time.
Speaker 5: All right.
Speaker 3: Pressure Now for the Dodgers. Pressure, does one person have
Speaker 3: more pressure on them than any of the other Dodgers?
Speaker 2: You asking me, I'm asking, yeah, yeah, no, I think
Speaker 2: it's without question. I think it's Mookie Bets. You know,
Speaker 2: I know some people may say someone is Mookie Bets,
Speaker 2: and then behind that, I say Freddie Freeman. I think
Speaker 2: it's Mookie because of what happened last year. Mookie, since
Speaker 2: he became the Dodgers, been the leader of this team,
Speaker 2: he's been the player on this team, and and struggled
Speaker 2: last year without getting a hit in the postseason, and
Speaker 2: that that eight at him all off season and pretty
Speaker 2: much all season long, where he he's thrown it out there.
Speaker 2: You know, it's not meaningful until we get into the postseason.
Speaker 2: That's when it really means something. And he couldn't wait
Speaker 2: for the postseason to start because he wanted to redeem himself.
Speaker 2: So to me, without question, it's Mookie. Bet as the
Speaker 2: most pressure on him and and he's putting the pressure
Speaker 2: on himself. You know, sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn't.
Speaker 2: But I think he's putting a lot of pressure on
Speaker 2: himself to come back this year and deliver because he
Speaker 2: didn't last year, and he felt like he let the
Speaker 2: guys down because he didn't didn't perform offensively. So I
Speaker 2: think it's definitely Mookie. And then I would say behind
Speaker 2: that is Freddy because Freddy was the same way Freddie
Speaker 2: Mookie got a zero hits. Freddy got one, and that
Speaker 2: one hit was an infield hit, so it wasn't even
Speaker 2: you know, a substantial hit. So both those guys have
Speaker 2: a tremendous amount of pressure on them wear that Dodge
Speaker 2: uniform and performing in the postseason.
Speaker 1: And do you think of the back of Otani's mind
Speaker 1: he believes he's just gonna have to carry everybody.
Speaker 5: No, I don't think he's ever believed that. I don't
Speaker 5: think he believed that at all.
Speaker 2: I think that's the reason why I came to the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: because he doesn't have to carry everybody, and he hasn't
Speaker 2: had to carry everybody. He's had a great year and
Speaker 2: I would say carried everybody throughout the season. He was phenomenal.
Speaker 2: But I don't think at one moment that he felt
Speaker 2: like he had to carry this team. There's too many
Speaker 2: good players on his team, too many stars on his team,
Speaker 2: for one guy to think that he has to carry
Speaker 2: the whole team.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it'll be fascinating to observe that within
Speaker 1: the game. You know, how the top three hit what
Speaker 1: O'tani does and consequently, and now we don't know if
Speaker 1: predigal play or not. But Mooki certainly is a focal
Speaker 1: point here and what has happened in the postseason. And
Speaker 1: let's remember it's not like he's ever torn the cover
Speaker 1: off the ball in postseason plays. Okay, yeah, he's been
Speaker 1: okay at times, but the last couple of years he
Speaker 1: hadn't been great.
Speaker 2: So he hadn't been great, but he was pretty good
Speaker 2: in the year they won it. He was pretty good
Speaker 2: for Boston. I mean, there's another guy that went off,
Speaker 2: but it's pretty good for Boston in that postseason. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I just think that, uh, he's on the spot. I
Speaker 2: think you're having been for Corey Seeger. He might have
Speaker 2: won it when they won it.
Speaker 3: Now, but you know, Corey Seger was super human in
Speaker 3: that series.
Speaker 2: Went off like he did last year for the for
Speaker 2: the Rangers, So it's hard to argue with that. But
Speaker 2: but I think, you know, last year for him was
Speaker 2: a nominae. But the year's past, Mookie's been pretty good,
Speaker 2: well not the last two, so hopefully this go round
Speaker 2: will be a different story. I said it earlier, I'll
Speaker 2: say it again.
Speaker 1: I am of the opinion that they desperately need to
Speaker 1: win Game one and I also think it will be
Speaker 1: a very huge confidence builder. If the top of that
Speaker 1: order hits in Game one, I think that is vital.
Speaker 1: They've got to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree with that, and I think that
Speaker 2: it does not only is it a confidence builder and
Speaker 2: big for the Dodgers and the rest of the team.
Speaker 2: If the top three hit, I think it does wonders
Speaker 2: for demoralizing the Padres. If the top three hit, the
Speaker 2: top three are just going off and between the three
Speaker 2: of them they got eight hits in a game and
Speaker 2: a couple home runs, then it it sends a signal
Speaker 2: to the to the Padres, it's like, we can't get
Speaker 2: the top of that lineup out. Their big stars are
Speaker 2: coming to play and they're tough to beat. I mean,
Speaker 2: when you talk about Otani, Mookie and Freddy, there's not
Speaker 2: a better three combination in baseball than those three. And
Speaker 2: if they're on, it is intimidating for the opposing team.
Speaker 2: All right, here's what we're gonna do now.
Speaker 1: Yesterday, if things went in the little sideways, not gonna
Speaker 1: lie to you, the things went a little south yesterday.
Speaker 1: But this will be fun now because the game is tomorrow.
Speaker 1: It is time to trash talk to Padres and their fans,
Speaker 1: and nobody can do a better job of that than
Speaker 1: Dodger fans. It is time to trash talk the Padres
Speaker 1: and their fans. Dazzel lesson, dazzl everybody. It's always fun
Speaker 1: when we play this game. Trash talk to Padres, trash
Speaker 1: talk their fans. Eight six six nine eighty seven two
Speaker 1: five seventy eight six six, Well you know the number.