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Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop + Dodgers checkup w/Jack Harris · Foul Territory

0:06
Speaker 1: As always, we welcome in our inside scoop with our
0:09
Speaker 1: insider and friend Ken Rosenthal. Ken, always good to be
0:12
Speaker 1: with you. It's been a crazy week, of course. What
0:15
Speaker 1: do you think as the topic of conversation of our
0:17
Speaker 1: sport has been the shake up within the Major League
0:20
Speaker 1: Baseball Players Association, what do you anticipate being maybe the
0:24
Speaker 1: biggest challenge or struggle, if you will, for the new
0:27
Speaker 1: interim executive director.
0:29
Speaker 2: Bruce Meyer will be the same as it is for
0:32
Speaker 2: every executive director every time there is a negotiation, and
0:35
Speaker 2: that's just holding the union together. And as I wrote
0:38
Speaker 2: the other day, Bruce Meyer has been the number two.
0:41
Speaker 2: He's like a bench coach moving up to manager, and
0:44
Speaker 2: you never know how that transition is going to go.
0:47
Speaker 2: If indeed he can be a leader in a grander
0:50
Speaker 2: way than he has been before. He of course has
0:53
Speaker 2: led negotiating teams, he has done other things in leadership
0:57
Speaker 2: capacities in the Union, but this is bigger and he
1:00
Speaker 2: has some challenges. I know the vote was unanimous, and
1:03
Speaker 2: obviously that's a good thing, but these votes always tend
1:06
Speaker 2: to be ananimous, and not everyone is a Bruce Meyer
1:10
Speaker 2: fan within the union, within the Union offices, so he's
1:14
Speaker 2: going to need to keep that going. Now, his supporters
1:17
Speaker 2: would say, hey man, it's unanimous and he's come a
1:21
Speaker 2: long way in he's seven and a half years with
1:23
Speaker 2: the union, and all that is true. But once this
1:26
Speaker 2: gets down to the nitty gritty and once the negotiations start,
1:30
Speaker 2: once the offers start flying back and forth, it will
1:34
Speaker 2: be a challenge as it is for the other side
1:35
Speaker 2: as well, to keep the constituency together.
1:39
Speaker 3: My question to you is Ken, after all said and done,
1:42
Speaker 3: you see more players now coming out and verbally talking
1:46
Speaker 3: more about you know, the situations, the salary caps and
1:49
Speaker 3: what's going to happen twenty twenty seven kind of like
1:52
Speaker 3: now the players it seems like their voices are are
1:55
Speaker 3: even more heard. So do you see them getting more
1:58
Speaker 3: involved with Bruce are do you do you understand that
2:01
Speaker 3: or is it just going to be Bruce Meyer taking
2:04
Speaker 3: over and just listening to what the players have.
2:07
Speaker 2: Well, he'll always listen to the players, and that's what
2:09
Speaker 2: the job of the executive director is. And he has
2:13
Speaker 2: done and is doing right now outreach toward players. He's
2:17
Speaker 2: touring camps in Arizona, and it does seem that at
2:22
Speaker 2: this point the players are galvanized. The owners are galvanized.
2:25
Speaker 2: We're nine months away from negotiations or at least the
2:28
Speaker 2: expiration of the CBA, and I would fully expect both
2:32
Speaker 2: sides to be talking as much as they want to talk,
2:34
Speaker 2: and talking tough again. Once this all gets going, then
2:39
Speaker 2: we'll see how tough everyone is and we'll see how
2:41
Speaker 2: this evolves. But if there's one positive to come out
2:45
Speaker 2: of this for the union, and it's something Chris Bassett
2:48
Speaker 2: mentioned to me the other day, he's a member of
2:49
Speaker 2: the executive subcommittee, it's that they feel like there's going
2:54
Speaker 2: to be more transparency now between the union and the
2:57
Speaker 2: players that that's been lacking before. And that's something that's
3:00
Speaker 2: come to the Ford as this investigation of Tony Clark
3:05
Speaker 2: by the FBI has come to come into their come
3:09
Speaker 2: to dominate their conversation, or at least enter their conversation.
3:12
Speaker 2: So they feel like this is going to get them
3:15
Speaker 2: to a better place, this transition to Bruce Meyer, and
3:18
Speaker 2: it might very well do that. Then they still have
3:21
Speaker 2: the owners to contend with and the quest for a
3:24
Speaker 2: salary cap by management side and all of that.
3:27
Speaker 4: Ken now that this is done, Bruce Meyer has been elected,
3:30
Speaker 4: I know we have a bargaining negotiation coming up CBA
3:34
Speaker 4: in December. Can we stop talking about this? I mean
3:38
Speaker 4: we can't because Bruce is elected. The baseball starts today,
3:43
Speaker 4: games start today.
3:44
Speaker 5: Can we stop? Please? Can you? Maybe it's you, it's
3:46
Speaker 5: just you can.
3:47
Speaker 2: Well, we can stop talking about what's going on with
3:50
Speaker 2: the union. That was a story that dominated this week
3:52
Speaker 2: for obvious reasons. Aj, I'm sorry. Spring training is going on,
3:55
Speaker 2: but the head of the union did resign, so we
3:57
Speaker 2: had to kind of cover that story. But what I thought
4:02
Speaker 2: you were getting at is will we stop talking about
4:04
Speaker 2: labor for the next nine months.
4:06
Speaker 6: No.
4:06
Speaker 2: I know that it's going to be the backdrop to
4:09
Speaker 2: the entire season, and certainly there'll be plenty of baseball talk,
4:13
Speaker 2: as there should be, that's what we all love to
4:15
Speaker 2: talk about. But this is hanging over the sport right now,
4:18
Speaker 2: and there will be negotiations that begin at some point,
4:21
Speaker 2: probably after opening day, and we'll see how it goes.
4:24
Speaker 2: I don't expect much progress early on. I don't expect
4:27
Speaker 2: progress even before December first, because both sides are dug
4:31
Speaker 2: in and here we go.
4:34
Speaker 6: Ken.
4:34
Speaker 1: You were at Red Sox camp today in Florida. Of course,
4:38
Speaker 1: what did you go in thinking, what did you want
4:40
Speaker 1: to find out?
4:41
Speaker 6: Kind of what's going on there.
4:43
Speaker 2: I'm most curious about their offense and what it's going
4:46
Speaker 2: to look like with our ralvi Ol Devers, without Alex Bregman,
4:50
Speaker 2: without either of those players. And certainly they're very high
4:54
Speaker 2: on Roman Anthony and he looks like he's going to
4:56
Speaker 2: be a superstar. They brought in Contraras, and he of
5:00
Speaker 2: course as a productive offensive player always getting older. It
5:04
Speaker 2: just seems to me that while William Abreu is a
5:08
Speaker 2: potentially dynamic offensive player, while Trevor's story can build off
5:11
Speaker 2: what he did last year, there are a lot of
5:14
Speaker 2: ifs there. It's not like David and Manny. It's not
5:16
Speaker 2: like Euglos and Pedroia. It's not like any of those combinations.
5:21
Speaker 2: Not that uglosm Padoya were dominant, but they were parts
5:24
Speaker 2: of a greater whole. And that's my concern with them,
5:28
Speaker 2: that they will not be able to hit enough. In
5:30
Speaker 2: my view, even with the addition of Chad Derbott from
5:33
Speaker 2: Milwaukee recently, there's still one bat short, and maybe that
5:36
Speaker 2: bat doesn't come until the deadline, maybe the season starts
5:39
Speaker 2: and they're much better than people think all of this
5:42
Speaker 2: is possible. But when I assess them, I love their rotation. Obviously,
5:49
Speaker 2: they've done a great job building that, both with veterans
5:52
Speaker 2: that they've brought in and with the youngsters that they've developed.
5:56
Speaker 2: And their bullpen should be fine Chapman certainly at the
5:58
Speaker 2: back end. But will they score enough runs? That is
6:01
Speaker 2: the question lingering over the Red Sox right now.
6:05
Speaker 5: Ken.
6:05
Speaker 4: I'm glad you corrected yourself. It was Perzinsky and Patroya.
6:08
Speaker 4: That was a great duo in Red Sox history.
6:10
Speaker 5: For godd You're right.
6:11
Speaker 4: I just want to make sure that we correct you properly.
6:14
Speaker 4: I don't want people on Twitter to come after you.
6:16
Speaker 4: But what about Tristan Cassas. You didn't mention him, and
6:19
Speaker 4: we've kind of talked about him, and he's kind of
6:21
Speaker 4: been there for years. Can he be a force that
6:23
Speaker 4: they need, whether it's DH or first base or whatever
6:26
Speaker 4: it is. Can he finally be healthy and be a
6:28
Speaker 4: force for them?
6:29
Speaker 2: Well, that's a really good question, and he is healthy
6:32
Speaker 2: and apparently he looks good. Of course it's early. They're
6:34
Speaker 2: just playing their first exhibition game today against Northeastern University.
6:38
Speaker 2: But with Contrera's coming aboard and with the four outfielders
6:42
Speaker 2: that they have for three spots, I don't really see
6:45
Speaker 2: a place for him right now. Now. Of course, players
6:48
Speaker 2: get injured all the time. Tristan Cassas has been the
6:50
Speaker 2: one getting injured at times. So maybe down the line
6:54
Speaker 2: he does become a contributor to this team. We all
6:56
Speaker 2: know that it's not just twenty six players that carry
6:59
Speaker 2: you through a But right now, I don't see a
7:02
Speaker 2: spot for him. I don't see a spot for Yoshida.
7:05
Speaker 2: I don't see a spot for Christian Campbell. They have
7:08
Speaker 2: some interesting pieces that are kind of surpluses for them.
7:12
Speaker 2: Christian Campbell's on somebody I would give up on. He
7:14
Speaker 2: could be part of their future. But they are a
7:18
Speaker 2: team that is a little bit top heavy, or actually
7:21
Speaker 2: just position player heavy. I should say not top heavy,
7:23
Speaker 2: but just a surplus of position players does exist with
7:27
Speaker 2: this club. Could they still make a trade to maybe
7:30
Speaker 2: balance out the roster differently, Yes, they could. They could
7:33
Speaker 2: even trade a starting pitcher. They've talked about that, Patrick Sandoval,
7:36
Speaker 2: Ryan Beyo. So right now, AJ they're in a decent place.
7:41
Speaker 2: I don't know that they're in the place they're going
7:43
Speaker 2: to be even opening Day and certainly at the deadline.
7:47
Speaker 3: Is there anyone else at camp right now that you're seeing,
7:51
Speaker 3: maybe young er role that you're like, Oh, this guy
7:53
Speaker 3: right here, can't wait to watch him this year, Maybe
7:56
Speaker 3: in a year or two come up and go out
7:58
Speaker 3: and dominate for the Red Sox. Or so that's in
8:00
Speaker 3: camp now, That's like, we haven't really brought up his
8:02
Speaker 3: name yet. This is a dude.
8:04
Speaker 2: The two left handers, Peyton Totley and Connor Early, those
8:08
Speaker 2: guys are interesting pitchers, to say the least, and it
8:12
Speaker 2: seems to me that well they might not be part
8:15
Speaker 2: of the equation initially for the Red Sox. We saw
8:17
Speaker 2: them both last year. It's Connolly Early, by the way,
8:20
Speaker 2: and they were both good. So those two guys intrigued me.
8:25
Speaker 2: Campbell still intrigues me. At this time last year, they
8:28
Speaker 2: were talking about him as a starting second baseman, one
8:30
Speaker 2: of the best young hitters you're going to see all that,
8:33
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden he's not that anymore, at
8:35
Speaker 2: least the way this thing has evolved. So they do
8:39
Speaker 2: have young talent, and it's interesting young talent. They've got
8:42
Speaker 2: more coming, So, yes, Todd, certainly there are some guys
8:46
Speaker 2: you can look at there and say he might break
8:48
Speaker 2: out this year.
8:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt about it. Now I want to jump
8:52
Speaker 3: to a manager. Pat Murphy, as we all know and love,
8:55
Speaker 3: great guy. He just signed a new what three year
8:58
Speaker 3: contract extension?
8:59
Speaker 2: Is that what we call actually contract? Todd? It's a
9:03
Speaker 2: reworked part of his last year reworked at gave him
9:06
Speaker 2: two more years.
9:07
Speaker 3: I knew I would screw that one up. That's why
9:09
Speaker 3: you're right. Talk a little bit about him and what
9:14
Speaker 3: the Brewers thought. You know, getting a guy like Pat
9:16
Speaker 3: Murphy was the biggest thing to do, especially to sign
9:19
Speaker 3: him for three more years.
9:22
Speaker 2: Well, it's so interesting to me, Todd. With the Brewers,
9:24
Speaker 2: they take pieces away all the time, and yet they
9:28
Speaker 2: still remain strong. Who am I talking about? Josh Hater
9:31
Speaker 2: Corbyn Burns, Willia Domas Craig Counsel. When Craig Council left
9:36
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago, a lot of us thought
9:39
Speaker 2: this could be a turning point for them in a
9:43
Speaker 2: bad way. They elevated Pat Murphy from the bench coach
9:45
Speaker 2: role he had managing San Diego way back kind of
9:48
Speaker 2: on an interim basis. Didn't get that job and he
9:53
Speaker 2: was a bench coach, and I mentioned before with Bruce
9:55
Speaker 2: Byer the bench coach becoming a manager. It's always an
9:58
Speaker 2: unusual transition, but obviously Murphy has done quite well back
10:02
Speaker 2: to back National League Manager of the Year and last
10:06
Speaker 2: year the Markey Brewers. This small market team in a
10:09
Speaker 2: sport where small market teams can't possibly succeed one ninety
10:13
Speaker 2: seven games, most in the majors. So he's done a
10:15
Speaker 2: tremendous job there, there's no doubt about it. He has
10:17
Speaker 2: a little bit of a different style than some managers.
10:20
Speaker 2: He's more gregarious, perhaps, but he challenges those players to
10:24
Speaker 2: play a certain way. They do that. Yellich plays a
10:27
Speaker 2: big role in helping him establish the tone there, and
10:31
Speaker 2: really it made a lot of sense for them to
10:34
Speaker 2: get this done and keep him in place because he
10:37
Speaker 2: is a big part of their success in the last
10:38
Speaker 2: couple of years.
10:40
Speaker 4: Always need you work for Rob Manfred with your small
10:42
Speaker 4: markets can't succeed, Ken, So it's good to hear you
10:45
Speaker 4: finally admitting it.
10:46
Speaker 5: I appreciate that with all of our people out here,
10:48
Speaker 5: we really do appreciate.
10:50
Speaker 2: Actually, AJ, if you're listening AJ and Rob Manfred and
10:55
Speaker 2: everybody else, you might be talking about the small market argument.
10:59
Speaker 2: Is one that the owners and mister Manfred are arguing against.
11:03
Speaker 2: So that when I say the Molonkey Brewers won ninety
11:06
Speaker 2: seven games, it's contrary to the MLB position like these
11:10
Speaker 2: teams can't possibly compete.
11:13
Speaker 4: I know I'm aware, But anyways, let's go to the Orioles,
11:17
Speaker 4: Jordan Westburg's out, Jackson Holidays out. Can they compete with
11:21
Speaker 4: what they have? I know they brought in Chris Bassett,
11:24
Speaker 4: but do they have enough pitching? We showed World Series
11:26
Speaker 4: odds earlier they were high on the list for being
11:28
Speaker 4: a World Series team?
11:29
Speaker 5: Or are they that good? Am I missing something here?
11:32
Speaker 4: In a tough al East with the Yankees, Je's Dodgers, Yankees,
11:36
Speaker 4: Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles Rays, are they really a
11:40
Speaker 4: team that could win the World Series? Because I could
11:42
Speaker 4: make a case that could finish fourth or fifth in
11:44
Speaker 4: the division.
11:45
Speaker 2: Sure, I agree with you, aj either way. It could
11:48
Speaker 2: go either way. And I do expect their starting rotation
11:53
Speaker 2: to be good, maybe not great, but good. And when
11:57
Speaker 2: you come back with Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish, both
12:00
Speaker 2: of whom excelled last season and in certain cases will
12:04
Speaker 2: be not on anything's restrictions, but you can't expect two
12:06
Speaker 2: hundred out of them, but they're good. Then you bring
12:09
Speaker 2: in shame bas, you bring in Efln, you bringing back
12:13
Speaker 2: You've got Dean Kramer, and you're in a better spot.
12:16
Speaker 2: And of course Bassett only adds to that. Now with
12:19
Speaker 2: the losses of Holliday, who is expected back sometime early
12:23
Speaker 2: in this season, and Westburg, whose condition is not exactly clear, yes,
12:28
Speaker 2: it's a challenge for them. Now they have Kobe Mayo.
12:30
Speaker 2: Kobe Mayo was a top twenty prospect in this sport
12:33
Speaker 2: only a year ago. He's a guy who can certainly
12:36
Speaker 2: step into third base. He is there. They could also
12:39
Speaker 2: maybe make a trade for someone, but I don't expect
12:41
Speaker 2: them to do that. I expect the Westburg injury to
12:44
Speaker 2: mean that Mayo gets a long look now and a
12:47
Speaker 2: real runway if indeed Westburg is out for a while
12:50
Speaker 2: to establish himself as a quality major leaguer. That doesn't happen. Yes,
12:55
Speaker 2: they've got to do to some things. But to get
12:57
Speaker 2: to your original question, are they a world Series I
13:01
Speaker 2: don't know that I would go that far. I do
13:03
Speaker 2: like what they've done. I do believe they're on the
13:05
Speaker 2: right track, but as with almost every team in both
13:11
Speaker 2: are Arizona and Florida. There are questions. There's a lot
13:14
Speaker 2: of what ifs, and that's why the sport is so
13:16
Speaker 2: great because we don't know how these questions will be answered.
13:19
Speaker 2: And if they're answered in the affirmative in the Oil's case,
13:21
Speaker 2: great they're a playoff team. If not, then you've got
13:25
Speaker 2: something else.
13:26
Speaker 3: You kind of lead this into my question. You talk
13:29
Speaker 3: about what ifs. We've been talking about the Dodgers all
13:31
Speaker 3: day to day. Are there any ifs of them not
13:34
Speaker 3: winning another World Series?
13:36
Speaker 1: Like?
13:36
Speaker 3: Do you see them even if they're not healthy? Do
13:38
Speaker 3: you see them finding a way to get back to
13:40
Speaker 3: the World Series?
13:40
Speaker 2: At least Todd The only thing I would say there
13:45
Speaker 2: is for all of their dominance the past couple of years,
13:49
Speaker 2: even beyond that, for the past I don't know, decade plus.
13:53
Speaker 2: The last two years they nearly lost in the playoffs,
13:56
Speaker 2: and in twenty four they nearly lost in the Division Series.
14:00
Speaker 2: It was as good as they should be, and they
14:01
Speaker 2: should be really good. Obviously, you never know, and I'm
14:06
Speaker 2: not totally convinced it's going to be a total juggernaut.
14:09
Speaker 2: We talked about one hundred and twenty wins last year,
14:11
Speaker 2: and I heard you guys talking before it came on.
14:13
Speaker 2: They don't need to do that. They don't necessarily even want.
14:16
Speaker 6: To do that.
14:16
Speaker 2: They'll slow play the regular season and then try to
14:19
Speaker 2: get hot in the playoffs. But the playoffs do have
14:22
Speaker 2: a randomness of outcomes. It's not fat a complete that
14:25
Speaker 2: they're going to win. You look at them now, with
14:28
Speaker 2: Tao simly in a better place physically, with Mookie Bets,
14:32
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts saying he is going to be more like
14:35
Speaker 2: the old Lookie Bets this year, and not just Atani
14:38
Speaker 2: and Yamamoto and Glass now and all that they have
14:41
Speaker 2: in their rotation, but the younger pitchers coming off injuries
14:44
Speaker 2: like Gavin Stone and River Ryan, it looks like they're invincible.
14:48
Speaker 2: I think we all know better than to expect that.
14:52
Speaker 5: Ken who's playing shorts off for the Dodgers.
14:55
Speaker 2: Mookie Bets, who Mookie Bets.
15:00
Speaker 5: I just love the way you say it.
15:00
Speaker 4: I just like, well, I just want you to keep
15:02
Speaker 4: saying it, Mookie Mookie Mookie Bits.
15:05
Speaker 5: I like it. I like it, but that wasn't my question.
15:07
Speaker 5: I love. I could just listen to you say that
15:09
Speaker 5: all day long.
15:10
Speaker 4: Uh Alana doesn't know this Todd doesn't know this, but recently, Ken,
15:15
Speaker 4: I'm gonna congratulate you. You want a trophy That is
15:18
Speaker 4: the Ken Rosenthal Award for being a great human being,
15:22
Speaker 4: voted on by Ken Rosenthal, awarded to Ken Rosenthal. So
15:26
Speaker 4: what I want to know is do you travel with
15:29
Speaker 4: that trophy when you go to other camps and do
15:32
Speaker 4: you take it around with you and show it to
15:35
Speaker 4: like Alex Korra when you met with him today, You're like, look,
15:37
Speaker 4: I won my own award, Alex, shouldn't you congratulate me?
15:41
Speaker 5: All right?
15:42
Speaker 2: Since you brought this up a jay, I'll have to
15:44
Speaker 2: reveal what this is.
15:46
Speaker 5: I just what it was.
15:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, you need to say it correctly. What a
15:51
Speaker 2: shockin gave me this trophy at the winter meetings for
15:56
Speaker 2: being a good teammate.
15:57
Speaker 5: That's all it is.
15:58
Speaker 2: And no, I do not bring it with me on
16:00
Speaker 2: the road. In fact, it doesn't even have a prominent
16:03
Speaker 2: place in my office, as you learned the other night
16:05
Speaker 2: when you were at my house. So it's very nice
16:08
Speaker 2: and I'm very honored, honored by any award anybody might
16:12
Speaker 2: give to me. But that's the whole thing. It wasn't
16:15
Speaker 2: invented by me.
16:17
Speaker 1: Ken the biggest mistake you've ever made in your life
16:19
Speaker 1: is welcoming Aj into your home to be able to
16:22
Speaker 1: see the trophy.
16:23
Speaker 6: To begin with, a.
16:25
Speaker 2: Lot of that is correct.
16:28
Speaker 4: I will say that he's got a very lovely home
16:30
Speaker 4: and his wife Lisa was very accommodating. They had a
16:32
Speaker 4: great habachi Helena. It was supposed to.
16:36
Speaker 5: Be the great.
16:37
Speaker 4: It was great appetizers, the whole deal. You know, Ken
16:41
Speaker 4: has like seven Emmys right in his office and then
16:44
Speaker 4: he has the Ken Rosenthal Trophy presented by Ken Rosendal,
16:47
Speaker 4: voted by Ken Rosendal down on the.
16:50
Speaker 5: Put up by the Emmys.
16:51
Speaker 1: Ken, I apologize for Aj. I apologize for all of
16:54
Speaker 1: us for Aj. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
16:58
Speaker 1: Have a great weekend. Enjoy camp and don't get guys,
17:00
Speaker 1: fair territory with Ken Rosenthal airs every single Monday and Thursday.
17:06
Speaker 1: We are at Dodgers camp at camel Backgrant Jack of
17:08
Speaker 1: course is here and we appreciate you being here.
17:11
Speaker 2: Jack.
17:11
Speaker 1: Thank you so much making the change from the La
17:14
Speaker 1: Times to the California Post. And here we are as
17:17
Speaker 1: the Dodgers do make that quest for a three piece.
17:20
Speaker 1: So let's start with Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the start tomorrow.
17:24
Speaker 1: What have you talked to Dave about or Yama about
17:26
Speaker 1: in terms of workload. I mean, this is a guy
17:28
Speaker 1: that posted every fifth day last year, pitched huge innings
17:31
Speaker 1: in the World Series, and here we go again.
17:34
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I think you know, the question coming
17:36
Speaker 7: off last season for him was like, how is his
17:38
Speaker 7: arm going to feel? How is his body going to
17:40
Speaker 7: feel after throwing as many as many innings as he
17:43
Speaker 7: did over the course of the full season, obviously with
17:46
Speaker 7: what he did in the World Series, pitching back to
17:48
Speaker 7: back games a game six and seven, throwing two complete
17:50
Speaker 7: games in the playoffs, and it was interesting to hear
17:53
Speaker 7: him say, like, you know, I felt good right like
17:56
Speaker 7: I went through the off season.
17:57
Speaker 6: My body felt strong.
17:59
Speaker 7: He's coming to camp looking just bigger, more physically imposing.
18:03
Speaker 7: He's going to pitch for Team Japan and the World
18:05
Speaker 7: Baseball Classic, and there's a lot of optimism around camp
18:08
Speaker 7: here that he's going to be able to handle the
18:10
Speaker 7: WBC workload, is going to be able to make it
18:12
Speaker 7: through another full season feeling healthy and fresh. And you know,
18:16
Speaker 7: he's already talking about I'd love to compete for a
18:18
Speaker 7: Cy Young Award. Dave Roberts has mentioned him, along with
18:21
Speaker 7: a couple others of his pitchers as Cy Young candidates. So,
18:24
Speaker 7: given how much he had to pitch last year, the
18:26
Speaker 7: fact he's coming to camp looking as good as he is,
18:29
Speaker 7: as far ahead of schedule as he is to be
18:31
Speaker 7: pitching in the first Cactus League game is a good
18:33
Speaker 7: sign for someone who, again, I think had the biggest
18:36
Speaker 7: question marks about how last year's workload was going to.
18:38
Speaker 5: Impact him this year. Does he get a heavier javelin is?
18:42
Speaker 7: I mean it might be at the workout training methods
18:45
Speaker 7: he explained he does right, It's like body weight stuff.
18:47
Speaker 7: It's like handstands and push ups and all these other
18:51
Speaker 7: things that you know, his trainer, YadA sense, who was
18:54
Speaker 7: a big reason why he pitched in Game seven last year,
18:57
Speaker 7: kind of convincing him like, hey, you know, let's see
18:59
Speaker 7: how you feel tomorrow when you come in.
19:00
Speaker 6: So he trains in a really unique way.
19:03
Speaker 7: He takes care of his body in a really unique way,
19:05
Speaker 7: and at least at this point a couple of years
19:07
Speaker 7: into his big league career, it's worked out.
19:08
Speaker 6: It's worked out, all right.
19:09
Speaker 1: Can you expand on that a little bit because he
19:11
Speaker 1: was saying, Todd, I'll get to you in a second,
19:13
Speaker 1: but I wanted to follow up with you Jack on
19:15
Speaker 1: that because it's almost as if he said, I, if
19:18
Speaker 1: you can align your body correctly and feel a certain way,
19:22
Speaker 1: you're gonna be okay with pitching in Game seven. So
19:25
Speaker 1: it was kind of was it more Was it more
19:27
Speaker 1: of a mental approach? Was it a physical approach? I mean,
19:30
Speaker 1: he relied very heavily on that advice. What more can
19:33
Speaker 1: you tell us about that?
19:34
Speaker 6: Yeah?
19:34
Speaker 7: I think it speaks to just the really clean mechanics
19:37
Speaker 7: he has, Like he talked about when he went out
19:39
Speaker 7: there in Game seven last year, he felt okay and
19:42
Speaker 7: he was able to stay in his delivery. That was
19:43
Speaker 7: the thing like Dodgers people watching it in amazement notice too,
19:47
Speaker 7: is that even for as much as he had thrown
19:48
Speaker 7: last October, going into that game, he was able to
19:51
Speaker 7: repeat his delivery and his throw in a way that
19:54
Speaker 7: just not many guys can do with the amount he
19:57
Speaker 7: had pitched.
19:57
Speaker 6: And that speaks to, again.
19:58
Speaker 7: The way he takes care of his body, the way
20:00
Speaker 7: he's out there multiple times a week throwing his javelins
20:02
Speaker 7: around on the backfield. Some of the other things he
20:04
Speaker 7: does that are a little different that are unique, but
20:07
Speaker 7: have really been good for him, even at the size
20:09
Speaker 7: that he plays at, to take care of his body
20:13
Speaker 7: and be in a spot to not only pitch as
20:14
Speaker 7: much as he did last October, but turn right around
20:17
Speaker 7: and be ready for this season to.
20:19
Speaker 3: I want to go to Sho Hao Tani a little bit,
20:21
Speaker 3: talk a little bit about his spring training. Is he
20:24
Speaker 3: a full go I've heard he looks electric out there.
20:28
Speaker 3: Talk a lot about him. Is there anything that we
20:30
Speaker 3: need to know that is going to hold him back
20:32
Speaker 3: from being one hundred percent doing everything they want?
20:35
Speaker 7: Nothing's going to hold him back physically. And one of
20:37
Speaker 7: the things that's been really good for him this offseason,
20:41
Speaker 7: it was his first off season being completely healthy with
20:44
Speaker 7: the Dodgers. He didn't have to He's passed the Tommy
20:46
Speaker 7: John recovery, he was past the shoulder surgery that he
20:49
Speaker 7: had last offseason, and it's allowed him to come into
20:52
Speaker 7: camp and as good of a spot this early on
20:55
Speaker 7: as the Dodgers have seen him. Obviously, there's going to
20:57
Speaker 7: be some complications for him ramping up as a pitcher,
20:59
Speaker 7: just because he's going to the WBC. It might be
21:01
Speaker 7: hard to face hitters that whole time there, but the
21:03
Speaker 7: Dodgers still think he's going to be ready to make
21:06
Speaker 7: starts from the beginning of the season. You're going to
21:08
Speaker 7: see them be still a little more methodical with how
21:10
Speaker 7: he's used over the course of the year, given the
21:13
Speaker 7: two way workload and the fact that they want him
21:15
Speaker 7: to be as fresh as possible come October. But this
21:18
Speaker 7: is as close as we're going to see you back
21:20
Speaker 7: to a full time two way show, Heyotani. And the
21:22
Speaker 7: way he's come into camp, the fact he's already been
21:24
Speaker 7: facing hitters as a pitcher. He's been getting in taking live,
21:28
Speaker 7: live batting practice as a hitter the last couple of
21:30
Speaker 7: days is another sign of a guy who, even with
21:33
Speaker 7: a short off season, was able to come into camp
21:35
Speaker 7: feeling really good, feeling ready to go and take on
21:39
Speaker 7: a big workload in his own right this year as
21:40
Speaker 7: he goes back to being a full time two way player.
21:43
Speaker 4: How does that work though, Because he's not pitching in
21:44
Speaker 4: the WBC for Japan, right, So how's that going to work?
21:47
Speaker 4: How are they going to continue to Is he gonna
21:48
Speaker 4: have to throw live vps bullpens because those are not
21:51
Speaker 4: the same. It's pitching, even though it's spring training, and
21:53
Speaker 4: they're still different than a big league game.
21:56
Speaker 5: If they go all the way, if they make a
21:57
Speaker 5: run from the to the.
21:58
Speaker 4: Finals, he's basically going to I missed three weeks of
22:01
Speaker 4: camp where he could be pitching in Great Fruit or sorry,
22:04
Speaker 4: Cactus League games.
22:05
Speaker 7: How do you ramp them up? Yeah, that's going to
22:07
Speaker 7: be part of the challenge. I think that the specifics
22:10
Speaker 7: of that plan even they're still kind of working through,
22:12
Speaker 7: and in terms of is he going to be able
22:14
Speaker 7: to throw live vps or face hitters while he's hitting
22:17
Speaker 7: in the WBC, I think at a bare minimum, their
22:19
Speaker 7: hope is that they're going to be able to keep
22:21
Speaker 7: his arm moving, that he's going to be able to
22:23
Speaker 7: stay in some sort of throwing programs, whether it's bullpens
22:25
Speaker 7: or long toss, and that when he comes back to
22:27
Speaker 7: the Dodgers at the end of March, they can maybe
22:29
Speaker 7: get him a start or two at the end of
22:30
Speaker 7: spring training in the Freeway Series. My guess is he's
22:33
Speaker 7: not going to be fully ramped up for six or
22:35
Speaker 7: seven innings the first time the first couple times he
22:37
Speaker 7: takes the mound this year as a pitcher. But again,
22:40
Speaker 7: Andrew Freeman is confident they'll be able to find a
22:42
Speaker 7: way to keep his arm in a spot where he
22:44
Speaker 7: can come back, maybe throw two or three innings in
22:46
Speaker 7: a Freeway Series game, and then be ready to go
22:49
Speaker 7: to make starts at the beginning of the season.
22:50
Speaker 6: I mean.
22:51
Speaker 7: The other nice part that they have with him is
22:54
Speaker 7: that because he's like an extra pitcher on their pitching staff,
22:57
Speaker 7: they can get away with him being shortened up a
22:59
Speaker 7: little bit at the start of the season because they
23:00
Speaker 7: can almost piggyback him or do some other things.
23:02
Speaker 6: So they have some flexibility.
23:04
Speaker 7: But that was one of my big questions coming into spring. Yeah,
23:07
Speaker 7: like they have their own rules. The Dodgers have their
23:09
Speaker 7: own rules a lot.
23:11
Speaker 6: Just get over it.
23:12
Speaker 4: And the only team that defers money, I mean the
23:16
Speaker 4: one that's a.
23:17
Speaker 5: Fans say, look the Dodgers.
23:19
Speaker 4: They have their own rules, they can do whatever they want,
23:21
Speaker 4: have their own TV deal, they have their own I'm
23:26
Speaker 4: not I think Dodgers are awesome.
23:28
Speaker 5: I love the Dodgers.
23:29
Speaker 2: I think.
23:31
Speaker 6: On the margins, you're.
23:32
Speaker 4: Supposed to do though, so you win, so you went
23:35
Speaker 4: back to back World Series.
23:36
Speaker 2: I know.
23:37
Speaker 5: I'm not. I'm not mad at the Dodgers at all.
23:39
Speaker 5: I just think it's funny. He's like, we know they
23:41
Speaker 5: get to carry the extra picture.
23:43
Speaker 4: The problem is no one else can figure out how
23:44
Speaker 4: to make a two way player.
23:48
Speaker 1: Go get yourself another. Then you can also have Jackie there, but.
23:57
Speaker 5: Only on the Dodgers side.
23:59
Speaker 1: The White Sox there, they don't have those trees.
24:01
Speaker 5: They don't trust me. I walked over there today. They
24:03
Speaker 5: do not have.
24:05
Speaker 1: You had teed earlier today jack that Dave Roberts was
24:09
Speaker 1: a little bit bullish about Mookie Bets. What more can
24:13
Speaker 1: you tell us about that because he was trying. I
24:15
Speaker 1: assume it's the way that he was playing defense last year.
24:19
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at Mooki
24:20
Speaker 7: this season, the Dodgers hope is that, Okay, last year
24:25
Speaker 7: and the offseason going into last year, he spent so
24:27
Speaker 7: much time focusing on defense, learning how to play shortstop
24:30
Speaker 7: at a high level, and then translated that to a
24:32
Speaker 7: good season defensively. Amid all that, obviously the offense dropped off.
24:36
Speaker 7: There was the stomach virus he had at the start
24:38
Speaker 7: of the year. It's apt him of a bunch of
24:41
Speaker 7: weight and strength and then led to some bad habits
24:42
Speaker 7: over the course of the season. And then you couple
24:45
Speaker 7: the fact that he was still taking you know, dozens
24:48
Speaker 7: hundreds of ground balls before every game.
24:50
Speaker 6: It was tough for.
24:51
Speaker 7: Him, I think to maybe balance that that workload on
24:54
Speaker 7: both the defensive side and offensively once he started struggling
24:57
Speaker 7: at the plate. So their hope this offseason is he's
25:00
Speaker 7: able to kind of get back to the basics. He
25:02
Speaker 7: explained it as almost rewiring his swing. He's not changing
25:05
Speaker 7: what he's doing at the plate, but he's trying to
25:07
Speaker 7: get back to a place where, you know, for him,
25:09
Speaker 7: it's really important the way his hands load, the way
25:12
Speaker 7: that the whole swing connects for him to maximize the
25:15
Speaker 7: strength he has and what is another guy with a
25:18
Speaker 7: smaller frame.
25:19
Speaker 6: He felt good about the offseason work he did.
25:21
Speaker 7: The Dodgers feel like he was able to kind of
25:23
Speaker 7: get his mechanics back to where they need to be.
25:25
Speaker 7: And the hope is that now because he's grown so
25:28
Speaker 7: much defensively as a shortstop, he's going to have a
25:31
Speaker 7: little bit more bandwidth to do both things. He's going
25:33
Speaker 7: to have the strength back that he lost last season,
25:36
Speaker 7: and that you'll see a Mookie Bets who Dave Robert said,
25:39
Speaker 7: like offensively, he expects him to be an MVP caliber player.
25:42
Speaker 7: You couple on the defense and the fact he was
25:44
Speaker 7: a Gold Glove finalist at a premium position last year.
25:47
Speaker 7: They still think he can be one of the best
25:48
Speaker 7: players on their team. But it's something that's going to
25:51
Speaker 7: be interesting to watch, especially, you know, even in these
25:54
Speaker 7: spring training games. Is how does Muki's bat look. Does
25:57
Speaker 7: some of that power come back that he was missing
25:59
Speaker 7: last year? Is there a more consistent swing that he
26:01
Speaker 7: just couldn't really find for an extended stretch a year ago.
26:05
Speaker 3: I want to ask a little bit about one of
26:07
Speaker 3: the newcomers, Kyle Tucker. How is he acclimating with his
26:11
Speaker 3: new teammates. Looks like we saw one video of him,
26:14
Speaker 3: he was smiling left and right.
26:15
Speaker 5: Man.
26:16
Speaker 3: Is he starting to get comfortable over there as a
26:18
Speaker 3: new guy with the Dodgers.
26:20
Speaker 6: Yeah.
26:20
Speaker 7: I mean it's funny. For as much attention that was
26:23
Speaker 7: paid to Kyle Tucker's arrival this winter, he's almost kind
26:26
Speaker 7: of blended into the background here early in camp. Like
26:29
Speaker 7: even today, he's walking out on the field with Will
26:31
Speaker 7: Smith and Freddie Freeman and all the fans are shouting
26:34
Speaker 7: at Freddie and Will and then he's just kind of
26:36
Speaker 7: like one of the guys there, which is part I
26:38
Speaker 7: think of what the appeal was or why people felt
26:41
Speaker 7: like this was going to be a good fit for him,
26:42
Speaker 7: is because he doesn't have to come here and be
26:45
Speaker 7: the biggest name guy. He doesn't have to be the
26:47
Speaker 7: guy that's you know, speaking for the clubhouse or anything
26:49
Speaker 7: like that. Now, he did talk in their first team
26:51
Speaker 7: meeting of the spring about why he wanted to come
26:54
Speaker 7: to the Dodgers, what his perspective on them was playing
26:57
Speaker 7: against them over his career, how much he's admired the
27:01
Speaker 7: kind of team they've built and the way they played.
27:03
Speaker 7: You know, Max Muntzky talked about that being like a
27:05
Speaker 7: refreshing thing for guys on the team to hear, just
27:07
Speaker 7: to remember, like, Okay, we've set a standard at this
27:10
Speaker 7: point that even other players in the league kind of
27:12
Speaker 7: look up to and admire. But yeah, on the field,
27:15
Speaker 7: he's you know, he's just one of a bunch of
27:18
Speaker 7: star players here. We're gonna he's gonna talk to the
27:21
Speaker 7: media today for the first time. So it has been
27:24
Speaker 7: interesting to go from a winner where there was so
27:25
Speaker 7: much angst about Kyle Tucker joining joining the Dodgers to
27:28
Speaker 7: where now you know, He's just kind of like another
27:30
Speaker 7: one of these guys out here on this team that
27:32
Speaker 7: has so many big names.
27:34
Speaker 4: Just another way the Dodgers broke the rules because the
27:36
Speaker 4: way they set up his contract is breaking rules left
27:39
Speaker 4: and right.
27:40
Speaker 5: Uh, they're just better at it, I know, I know.
27:44
Speaker 4: Uh, Blake Snow he threw one hundred innings last year
27:49
Speaker 4: and he said his arm is fatigued before we even
27:52
Speaker 4: started basically camp.
27:54
Speaker 5: What's going on there?
27:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been a.
27:58
Speaker 4: You know, two hundred inning ish one two young guy
28:00
Speaker 4: pitch GiB keep in the postseason before utand innings.
28:04
Speaker 5: What changed?
28:05
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think last year, you know, he as another
28:08
Speaker 7: new arrival to the Dodgers, was really eager to like
28:11
Speaker 7: start the year strong to you know. He started their
28:14
Speaker 7: home opener after they came back from Japan. One of
28:17
Speaker 7: the problems with that is that his shoulder started bugging
28:19
Speaker 7: him during the spring, and he tried to pitch through it.
28:21
Speaker 6: At first.
28:21
Speaker 7: He made a couple of starts at the beginning of
28:23
Speaker 7: the year, and then it got worse and then he
28:25
Speaker 7: missed four months, you know, letting his shoulder recover. He
28:28
Speaker 7: comes back late in the season and wow, you know,
28:31
Speaker 7: he was able to save some bullets, and the inning
28:32
Speaker 7: count wasn't huge.
28:34
Speaker 6: He did have to ramp up quickly.
28:35
Speaker 7: And one of the things he said looking back in
28:37
Speaker 7: hindsight is it just kind of felt like he was
28:39
Speaker 7: playing catch up the whole season.
28:41
Speaker 6: He was able to pitch well in the playoffs, but
28:42
Speaker 6: the shoulder really started bugging him again then.
28:45
Speaker 7: So at like another Dodger thing, you know, they get
28:47
Speaker 7: into this winner they say, Okay, look, if your shoulder
28:49
Speaker 7: is not feeling right, if there's some lingering stuff there,
28:52
Speaker 7: take your time, slow it down.
28:54
Speaker 6: We don't need you to make thirty starts next year.
28:56
Speaker 7: We don't need you to be ready to go from
28:58
Speaker 7: opening day if it's going to you know, cause us
29:00
Speaker 7: to push you in that shoulder more than we want.
29:03
Speaker 7: Take your time with it and let it come along
29:06
Speaker 7: at a pace that will allow him to come back
29:08
Speaker 7: at some point this season. I think he's gonna be
29:10
Speaker 7: unlikely to start Opening Day, but to be able to
29:13
Speaker 7: come back and pitch fresh again. Everything about the Dodgers
29:16
Speaker 7: is being ready for October, and that's part of this.
29:19
Speaker 7: I think maybe it's a different situation or a different team,
29:21
Speaker 7: like he's maybe trying to push himself a little bit
29:24
Speaker 7: more right now, or the team's pushing them a little
29:25
Speaker 7: bit more, but they're going to play it conscious with him.
29:27
Speaker 7: I think you'll see the same thing if any of
29:29
Speaker 7: our other starters start feeling little things over the course
29:32
Speaker 7: of the season. They're going to be really, really protective
29:35
Speaker 7: of these guys. This is one of the things that
29:37
Speaker 7: coming into last year, after the Dodgers won in twenty four,
29:40
Speaker 7: their front office sat down and looked at, Okay, what
29:42
Speaker 7: are the biggest challenges of repeating as a World Series champion?
29:45
Speaker 7: And the one thing Andrew Friedman pointed to was if
29:47
Speaker 7: you push your rotation really hard in an October run,
29:51
Speaker 7: there's usually after effects the next year. So that's something
29:54
Speaker 7: they're going to have to manage this year. That's part
29:55
Speaker 7: of why Blake Snell's being slow played. That's part of
29:58
Speaker 7: why I think, you know, when it comes to a
29:59
Speaker 7: tani Yamamoto, like, if there's times they can maybe give
30:02
Speaker 7: them a little extra rest here or there between starts,
30:04
Speaker 7: they're going to do it. They're going to rely on
30:05
Speaker 7: their depth, and yeah, when it comes to Snell specifically,
30:08
Speaker 7: I think you'll see him back in the relatively early
30:11
Speaker 7: part of the season, depending on just how his ramp
30:13
Speaker 7: up goes as he starts to increase the intensity here
30:15
Speaker 7: in spring. But yeah, it's just another example of like
30:18
Speaker 7: a team that has the luxury of not needing a
30:22
Speaker 7: Blake Snell, a two time sy Young Award winner, to
30:25
Speaker 7: make thirty starts in a season and still feel good
30:27
Speaker 7: about the pitching options they're going to have.
30:29
Speaker 1: Jack two part question for you second base, with Tommy
30:32
Speaker 1: Edmund not being ready for opening day, who do you
30:35
Speaker 1: see getting the bulk of reps at second And also
30:39
Speaker 1: besides that, is there any other question going into this season?
30:43
Speaker 7: Yeah, at second base, I think you'll see Miguel Rojas
30:46
Speaker 7: obviously get a lot of the at bats, and then
30:47
Speaker 7: there's somewhat of an open competition for maybe like a
30:51
Speaker 7: platoon partner with him. I think hayes On Kim is
30:54
Speaker 7: a guy that has looked good, at least in the
30:55
Speaker 7: first couple of days of spring here. The Dodgers have
30:59
Speaker 7: felt good about some of the strides he made with
31:01
Speaker 7: his swing over the offseason he spent we saw a
31:08
Speaker 7: little bit last season. He's going to be in that mix.
31:11
Speaker 7: But it is funny, like you get into spring training,
31:13
Speaker 7: you're looking at where the position battles are and the
31:15
Speaker 7: biggest one is for a part time platoon role for
31:18
Speaker 7: maybe like the first couple of weeks of the season.
31:20
Speaker 6: That's just the reality of the roster they have. I
31:23
Speaker 6: think outside of that, if.
31:24
Speaker 7: Blake Snell's is going to miss some extended time at
31:27
Speaker 7: the start of the season or not be ready for
31:28
Speaker 7: opening Day, they're probably gonna have to find another starting
31:31
Speaker 7: pitcher to put in there. I think Justin Robleski is
31:33
Speaker 7: an option. Gavin Stone and River Ryan coming back from
31:36
Speaker 7: their injuries both look good physically, have bulked up over
31:39
Speaker 7: their rehab process.
31:41
Speaker 6: And then at the back end of the bullpen, probably.
31:43
Speaker 7: A few spots up for grabs two where guys like
31:45
Speaker 7: Will Klein at Gardo and Riquez are going to be
31:47
Speaker 7: trying to take the success they had in the postseason
31:50
Speaker 7: and are in a little bit more permanent big league time.
31:52
Speaker 6: But yeah, when you look.
31:53
Speaker 7: At this roster, there's not a lot of questions about
31:55
Speaker 7: how it's all gonna come together, what the lineup's going
31:57
Speaker 7: to look like. And again, like outside out of the
32:00
Speaker 7: Hayesung Kim Alex Freeland competition for a for a part
32:04
Speaker 7: time platoon spot, everything else is pretty much.
32:06
Speaker 5: Said, Okay, two things in what he just said.
32:09
Speaker 4: One who doesn't come in the first couple of days
32:11
Speaker 4: of spring training looking good. You never hear anybody coming
32:14
Speaker 4: and say, man, that guy's a fat funk, a junk
32:16
Speaker 4: like man, he looks terrible.
32:18
Speaker 5: Everybody's in the best.
32:20
Speaker 7: This has been a good camp for the best shape
32:21
Speaker 7: of the light. That's everybody's a lot like the Oscar Fernandez.
32:25
Speaker 7: The Oscar Hernandez is down you, Bruce gar gratter All,
32:28
Speaker 7: even though he's dealing with the shoulders, lost some weight.
32:30
Speaker 7: Even Dave Roberts is saying like he's in the best
32:32
Speaker 7: managerial of.
32:34
Speaker 5: Course because he's got back to back World Series.
32:35
Speaker 4: And then my other question is you mentioned how everything
32:41
Speaker 4: is in place, Key k Went's he back? And the
32:44
Speaker 4: other one is in the outfield. We have my new
32:47
Speaker 4: favorite player, Alex Call. Right, we have Tao, you have
32:50
Speaker 4: pa Hees, you have Tucker. So where does Alex call.
32:53
Speaker 5: Fit in this roster?
32:54
Speaker 6: Yeah?
32:54
Speaker 7: I think right now you'll see him probably being a
32:57
Speaker 7: little bit more of a bench bat. Somebody bring in
32:59
Speaker 7: and in different spots. You know, he still has left
33:02
Speaker 7: for which guy ready?
33:04
Speaker 6: Right, Tucker?
33:05
Speaker 7: I mean I think even when you're trying to figure out,
33:07
Speaker 7: you know, where he fits in it. It might even
33:09
Speaker 7: be you know, once they're at full health and they
33:12
Speaker 7: have some of the versatility, like with a Tommy Edmund
33:15
Speaker 7: when Key k Hernandez comes back. Like you know, if
33:17
Speaker 7: you have a Hayes on Kim in the lineup and
33:18
Speaker 7: then a lefty comes in, Okay, maybe you can throw
33:20
Speaker 7: Alex calling there and then rearrange the defense however you
33:23
Speaker 7: need to. But yeah, I mean, you know, I go
33:25
Speaker 7: back to the start of the off season. Someone like
33:27
Speaker 7: Ryan Ward got added to the forty man he was
33:29
Speaker 7: the MVP of the Pacific Coast League last year. You know,
33:32
Speaker 7: there's a lot of talk like, hey, this guy could
33:34
Speaker 7: take them at bats, he could be a big part
33:35
Speaker 7: of the puzzle. And then they get Kyle Tucker and
33:37
Speaker 7: suddenly the whole math changes. So I think Alex calls
33:40
Speaker 7: another one of those guys that probably saw his at
33:42
Speaker 7: bats go down with the way things have played out.
33:44
Speaker 7: But you know, there could be injuries, there could be
33:46
Speaker 7: other things. I think that's where kyk Hernandez, who's probably
33:49
Speaker 7: going to be back around mid season, you know where
33:53
Speaker 7: he fits in right now? It's it's tough to say
33:54
Speaker 7: because you look at the roster you go, okay, like
33:56
Speaker 7: where are you gonna get at bats for him? But
33:59
Speaker 7: over the course of a year, there's always stuff that
34:01
Speaker 7: pops up. The Dodgers would rather have more depth obviously
34:04
Speaker 7: than not.
34:05
Speaker 6: Uh.
34:05
Speaker 7: And then with Key k specifically, they know that, you know,
34:08
Speaker 7: if someone gets hurt going into October or someone struggling
34:11
Speaker 7: and we need to inject some life into the lineup,
34:14
Speaker 7: He's somebody that always performs.
34:16
Speaker 4: That time chuirst thing of all time, Kik coming back
34:20
Speaker 4: to the Dodgers, it was like, well, like, where's KIK
34:23
Speaker 4: gonna sign Dodgers?
34:24
Speaker 5: Duh? Yeah?
34:25
Speaker 7: And I mean even with guys like him and Evan Phillips,
34:27
Speaker 7: you know, like they had to wait this offseason until
34:30
Speaker 7: spring started and sixty man il spots opened up, and
34:33
Speaker 7: they could have explored some other opportunities. Kevin Phillips talked
34:37
Speaker 7: about like some teams called during his free agency this winter,
34:40
Speaker 7: but the fact that they were willing to wait to
34:42
Speaker 7: then come back to the Dodgers. I think Max Munsey's
34:44
Speaker 7: contract extension is another example of this that the guys
34:47
Speaker 7: that are here really like being here and really want
34:49
Speaker 7: to stay here for as long as they can What.
34:51
Speaker 1: Do you need to see from Roki Jack. I mean,
34:53
Speaker 1: it seems like he's a big question mark still in
34:56
Speaker 1: terms of implementing a third pitch, but just you know,
34:59
Speaker 1: get bigger physically, getting stronger mentally, what do you need
35:03
Speaker 1: to say?
35:03
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the third pitch as he goes back
35:05
Speaker 7: to being a starter, is going to be really important.
35:08
Speaker 7: At least is something to just mix up his looks
35:11
Speaker 7: a little bit. Like I think even in the playoffs
35:13
Speaker 7: last year, you saw when he was executing like the
35:17
Speaker 7: fastball with both the hundred miles hour velocity and the
35:20
Speaker 7: command and then could play the splitter forkball off that
35:24
Speaker 7: when both of those pitches are as good as they
35:26
Speaker 7: can be, he can probably get away with being a
35:27
Speaker 7: two pitch pitcher. But even in the course over the
35:30
Speaker 7: course of the postseason, like the velocity dipped a little bit,
35:32
Speaker 7: the command dipped a little bit, and suddenly by the
35:35
Speaker 7: end of the World Series, right, it was Yamamoto going
35:37
Speaker 7: back out there on zero day's rest instead of Rokie
35:39
Speaker 7: Sasaki coming into the game. So I think that part
35:42
Speaker 7: will be important. I think the other interesting thing is
35:45
Speaker 7: going to see is going to be to see like
35:46
Speaker 7: how he takes the confidence he did build from his
35:49
Speaker 7: playoff success last year and translates that as he goes
35:52
Speaker 7: back into a full time starting role. I think you
35:55
Speaker 7: know times that he was asked like, what was your
35:57
Speaker 7: impression of the big leagues last year, he always came
36:00
Speaker 7: back to, well, when I was starting games, like, I
36:02
Speaker 7: wasn't healthy, I didn't feel like myself. So I don't
36:04
Speaker 7: even know if I got a great feel about how
36:06
Speaker 7: my stuff plays at this level. So it'll be interesting
36:09
Speaker 7: to see as he builds up, like can he get
36:11
Speaker 7: his fastball back to where it needs to be both
36:13
Speaker 7: velocity and command wise consistently? And can he just have
36:16
Speaker 7: again some other pitch that moves right to left that
36:20
Speaker 7: can keep right handed hitters a little bit more honest.
36:23
Speaker 7: But the talent, as we saw in the postseason, is
36:26
Speaker 7: still very much there, and the Dodgers are going to
36:28
Speaker 7: give him a lot of runway and a lot of
36:30
Speaker 7: opportunities to prove that he can take that and translate
36:33
Speaker 7: it into being a more effective big league starter.
36:35
Speaker 4: Are the Dodgers going to go one hundred and sixty
36:37
Speaker 4: two and this year like everyone thought they were going.
36:39
Speaker 7: To, Well, they started eight and oh last year, and
36:41
Speaker 7: it's kind of felt like, you know, a slim possibility.
36:44
Speaker 5: Uh No.
36:44
Speaker 6: I think the.
36:44
Speaker 4: Biggest competition this year, there was this close, literally this
36:48
Speaker 4: close from losing the World Series last year.
36:49
Speaker 7: Yeah, And I think that's the part that probably gets
36:53
Speaker 7: missed or forgotten when you're talking like at this point
36:56
Speaker 7: of the year, when you're looking at the roster and
36:57
Speaker 7: going like, how is this team going to be beat you?
37:00
Speaker 6: Times?
37:00
Speaker 7: Last year offensively, they were really inconsistent. You saw some
37:04
Speaker 7: of their veteran guys are getting to places in their
37:07
Speaker 7: career where if they're not one hundred percent physically, if
37:10
Speaker 7: they're dealing with some small nagging injuries, or even just
37:13
Speaker 7: like you know, over time, right like your body changes,
37:16
Speaker 7: your swing changes, some of the things you would do
37:19
Speaker 7: in the cage or mental cues or mechanical tweaks that
37:22
Speaker 7: would work in the past don't quite work as well anymore.
37:25
Speaker 7: And I think for the Dodgers, like one of the
37:27
Speaker 7: things that is going to be important under the hood
37:29
Speaker 7: this year is kind of figuring out a more consistent
37:32
Speaker 7: offensive identity as a team, because when guys were not
37:35
Speaker 7: at their best, right when Mookie Betts was struggling, if
37:37
Speaker 7: Freddie Freeman was struggling to Oscar Hernandez was dealing with injuries.
37:41
Speaker 7: I think you saw some issues in just like their
37:43
Speaker 7: team wide approach at times where they were just too
37:46
Speaker 7: easy of outs at different points, especially in the postseason.
37:49
Speaker 7: So those are the little things that over the course
37:51
Speaker 7: of a year I think can pop up and give
37:53
Speaker 7: them some challenges. But it's also a team that has
37:56
Speaker 7: a lot of experience obviously, that really likes playing together,
37:59
Speaker 7: that has a good culture, and that I think the
38:01
Speaker 7: Dodgers hope is when they do meet those moments of
38:03
Speaker 7: adversity this year where they're not one hundred percent healthier,
38:06
Speaker 7: the lineup scuffling a little bit, they're gonna be able
38:08
Speaker 7: to lean on last year's experience when they had to
38:10
Speaker 7: overcome that and be a little bit more prepared to
38:13
Speaker 7: avoid those stretches of inconsistency that yeah, put them in
38:16
Speaker 7: some tough spots in the second half of the season
38:18
Speaker 7: in the World Series. But again, like you look around
38:22
Speaker 7: the rest of baseball, that their margin for error is
38:24
Speaker 7: just so much bigger than everybody else, is that it's
38:27
Speaker 7: hard to start doing the hypothetical game. Okay, well, like
38:30
Speaker 7: who could beat them? Like if they're playing their best.
38:33
Speaker 7: They're gonna be really tough to be.
38:35
Speaker 1: They just can't struggle at the same time. I just
38:37
Speaker 1: have to stay healthy not struggle at the same time.
38:39
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Jack, We appreciate it very much. Guys,
38:41
Speaker 1: don't forget. You can check out Jack's work on the
38:44
Speaker 1: California Post.