May 5, 2026 • 28 mins
New York sports media personality Keith McPherson is in for Kelvin, and he and Rob debate whether or not the Philadelphia 76ers have any hope at all of upsetting the New York Knicks in the playoffs, explain why they have a big problem with JJ Redick setting the stage for the Los Angeles Lakers to get demolished by the Oklahoma City Thunder in round two, and tell us why Shohei Ohtani may have to stop being a two-way star and focus only on being a full-time hitter.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
You're in New York. You know the Knicks did that thing.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
They flexed their muscles, Rob g it was a pretty
ugly game if you're the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Yeah, I mean it was a record setting performance there
by the New York Knickerbockers. They've won their last four games, Rob,
I don't know if you saw this by a combined
one hundred and twenty five.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Points, can you say fluke? I'm sorry, Fluke.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Maybe by twenty five. It's a flu twenty five sounds
like a trend to me, and that's not it. I mean,
they blew the doors off of the Philadelphi seventy six ers.
They won by thirty nine points. They have just been
running roughshot the last three games there against Atlanta. Game
one here against Philadelphia. It's all coming up orange and
(01:12):
blue right now in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
But Keith, I know you want to tryst the Sixers,
So I'm gonna let you take the floor because we
got something to talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
Yeah, I mean, Philly did all that talking right. They
came back. They knocked off big bad Boston, but they
weren't big and bad again. Another series ends for Boston
and Tatum is not on the floor. But the Sixers fans,
they acted like they wanted this smoke with the Knicks
going back to twenty twenty four and the way that
they came out in Game one was a complete no
(01:44):
show and the amount of excuses afterwards. I'm like, come on, Philly,
y'all supposed to be tough. Come on, Philly. I thought
y'all were Ryan High. You know, the Phillies fired their manager.
They start winning games, the Flyers winning overtime, they start
winning games. You know, they get Mkay Lemon in the draft.
Philly was pumped in their chest out and then all
of a sudden they got humbled in the garden and
(02:04):
it looked like the JV versus the eighth grade team.
This can't go on. I heard that the Knicks won't
shoot like this again. I heard that it was, Oh,
they didn't get enough rest. You know, it was a
big game seven series coming off of one day rest
and trial. I don't want the excuses you got embied
back obviously, have Maxi and Paul George and Tsunami Poppy
(02:26):
and VJ. Edgecomb and everybody else that you got on
that team. I want to see the Sixers make this
a series. And right now I'm thinking they're about to
get swept or the gentleman suite.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
There you go, always being a prisoner of the moment.
That's what you young guys do. Whatever happened yesterday, that's
what it's gonna because they weren't supposed to beat the
Celtics either, right, and they look bad against the Celtics,
and guess what, they came back and won a Game
seven in Boston. And you think one game in New
(02:56):
York against these Knicks who last year when they beat
the Celtics, everybody penciled them in to the NBA five.
All they gotta do is beat Indiana. Oh, they were
up by twenty with the four minutes to go. No,
they were up by fourteen with two and a half
minutes to go to against Indiana Game one and guess what,
they lost and lost that series. They have a new
(03:18):
coach because they couldn't get it done last year. It's
the same crew that choked it down against the Pacers,
and now you're ready to usher them in. It was
just a week ago, Keith that people were saying, coach,
no Brown, do for you.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Right now, Mike Brown is looking good right ago that defense.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
When they were struggling against the Hogs.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Oh they hated ye, but they're not gonna lose back
to back none point games again. Like those games, they
could have swept the Hogs. They don't really like each other.
You gotta trade Cat New York. There's a lot of
over reaction. Look at the team, everybody from Brunton to Cat,
to Mitch to Og to McKay out to Josh Hart.
(04:01):
They were all clicking. And they've done this now three
games in a row. But series, it doesn't one game.
This is a new series. It's game and Rob listen the.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Building building.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
One game in New York and you get what you wanted.
And my point is, don't count out the Sixers. Don't
do it.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Don't do it. It's going to be a game series.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Already know what the Knicks are, and the Sixers showed
me something coming back in that Boston series, down three.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
To one, winning Game seven in Boston.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Do not pooh pool Philadelphia, do not poo poo a team,
And where Paul George is a third option, it's actually
it's actually great. They're not relying on him and guess.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
What he's and beans and be gonna make it a
six to seven game.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
This is typical of Oh the Lords. The series is over.
It's a seven game series for a reason. It ain't
a one game series. If that was the case, the
Knicks would have won forty championships by now.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I'm never gonna bet on the Knicks. You know what.
I'll believe in the Knicks when they're in the.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Championship and there's three minutes left to go in the
first quarter and they're actually in the NBA Championship. That's
when I'll believe that the Knicks are in the championship,
not any minute before that. I don't care how many
games they win, because I've seen.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
This movie year after year after year.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
The last time the Knicks won a championship, Moby Dick
was a guppy, that's how long it's been.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
Listen, I'm not talking championship and I ain't know Nick fan,
but they're gonna beat the Sixers.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
The Sixers always get to the semifinals. Unfold.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Let's see how long mb can even play. He's gonna
be hobbled. He was even talking after the game, like, Oh,
I guess we gotta get physical.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I guess we gotta play that kind of game too. Okay,
play it.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Then we remember what he did to Mitch Roon Mitch
Robinson two years ago, grabbing his ankle, like I'm telling you,
rob if they leave two, oh, if the if the
Knicks leave and go down to Philadelphia, the city of
brotherly love to Oh, the Knick fans are gonna go
down there and take over that building.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
It's gonna get ugly fast.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But the only problem is you gotta remember this first
of all. All right, Max, he's been averaging almost twenty
eight twenty seven points a game.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
He's going to bounce back. He's that good.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And number two, Nick Nurse pulled the starters right in
the third quarter, was obviously and he knew his team
had heavy legs. They had played seven games in the
first round, and he was smart, we're not gonna win
this game. Put the reserves in. We'll be ready for
Game two. And the series doesn't start in the NBA
until a road team wins. So the Knicks winning at
at the Garden is not doesn't mean the series is over.
(06:47):
Go to Philadelphia, win game three, then maybe if you win,
if you hold court at home. But all the Sixers
have to do is steal one game. They're battle tested.
They knocked off the Celtics. They were down everybody in there.
Uncle counted out the seventy six ers. I'm not one
of those guys. I've seen it before, the Knicks. At
(07:08):
the Knicks are from New York, they're from Missouri. To
show me state, they gotta show me before I buy
into this ragtag group. There hasn't been able to be
the no that hasn't been able to get to where
they wanted. This was supposed to be the year, all right.
Everybody's injured, everybody's banged up. The Pacers, uh, the Celtics.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Oh, the Knicks going to the chair like it could
be the next year to get to the finals all.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Year though they didn't play like that. And this is
my point that doesn't matter're.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Talking about right now.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
We're talking about right now, Rob, They're They're eight point
favorites in game two.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That's just what d you want.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
You want it to be the brunts and burner, you
want the bodega cat. I'm telling you, I was at
game one of the Hawks series. I thought for sure
they were they were a gentleman sweeping them, and they
lost back to back games by one point. They're not
losing back to back games by one game.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, because and then on you don't you don't believe,
you don't believe Keith for one minute that they're sweeping
the seventy six ers because I'll bet you.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Twenty wings and a tall one.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Okay, I'm a gentleman, sweet, but really, because you know
they you know they're gonna protect home court, and I
do expect, you know, Tyrese Maxey to bounce back. But
the way that the Knicks have clicked in the last
three games, something has changed. And when I was looking at.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The basketball on the other side and they had a stinker,
don't don't don't lump in the seventy six ers with
the with the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Don't lump them in. That's not the same Hawks game.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
It would be like saying, oh, yeah, the Pistons are
gonna win the NBA Championship because they came back against
a a Orlando Magic team that that missed twenty seven
straight shots and had their second best player hurt. That's
not how you you gauge it. It was one game.
They won the game. I tipped my cap, But one
game does not make a series, and you need to
(08:56):
stop with that. This is where the difference between you
young guys who are prisoners of the moment.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
That's what you do. Everything is great, whatever what happened.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Yet they don't play until tomorrow night, so all I
can go off of is their last three games. They
dismantled the Hawks where you turn the game off at
halftime in the elimination game, and it was the same
damn thing for Game one against the Sixers. So what
I'm saying is this is a snowball effect. They are
steam rolling teams now, they are playing the best in
(09:26):
the playoffs, and if they are arrested, they were the
first team in the East to advance healthy connected under
Mike Brown. I don't see this train stopping, and I
don't see a flopping, limping Joel Embid turning it on
against whom I don't see VJ.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Edgecomb a rookie turning it on Maxie.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
I'll give you because I've seen MAXI ball against him
two years ago.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
We know what type of time he's on. Is Paul
George gonna be heroic?
Speaker 5 (09:51):
Maybe I just think the Knicks have enough depth, they
have enough experience as a team, like this is Nixon
five or six. I don't think it's going seven. I
don't expect to sweep and I give you that game one.
Don't believe just game one. But YO, like, are they
looking like they can stop the Knicks? The Knicks are
the only team that's gonna stop the Knicks in the
East is looking like maybe it is. I want to
get ahead of myself, but I was impressed with Game one.
(10:13):
I was impressed with Game six and five against the Hawks.
I'm not no Knicks fan. I'm surrounded by Knicks fans.
They're surrounding the whole seventh av They're gonna have to
shut that down.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
J R.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Smith was out there getting trampled. Is getting crazy in
the city. These Knicks fans are gonna burn the city
down if they get to the finals.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
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Speaker 1 (11:10):
JJ Reddick said something today, Rob Ge that just rubbed
me the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Ahead of Game one, Lakers, you mentioned it fifteen and
a half point underdogs.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
That is unbelieve. Has Lebron ever been a fifteen to
a half point underdog?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I don't know what I'm seventy of that long, my god,
but yeah, it's not looking good for the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Everybody's expecting.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
I don't need to lose this series, but all likelihood
to get sweat and JJ Reddick ahead of Game one,
spoke about the task at hand going against the defending
champion Thunder Ticklas.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
We saw a stat in our morning meeting this morning,
like our teams that have had back to back or
even more than that, ten or more better net ratings
in consecutive seasons. We're talking about the ninety five, ninety
ninety six, ninety seven Bowls and then the fifteen.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Through seventeen points.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
You're literally talking about two of the greatest teams of
all time. I said to a bunch of people yees
yesterday off site that we're you know, talking about this series.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
To me, I said, to give the Thunder one of the.
Speaker 7 (12:06):
It's one of the greatest teams ever in ndia instrum.
That's just the reality they are. They're that good.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I think our.
Speaker 7 (12:11):
Guys recognize that and respect that, and we know with
what contask we have in.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Front of him.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
No, they are not one of the greatest teams in
NBA history, JJ Reddick. What Blodi is that they won
a championship. We gave him a parade, We do the confetti, Adam.
They also win seven games against Denver and seven games
against Indiana. If Halliburnon didn't get hurt, they might have
(12:38):
lost that championship. I don't care what the numbers say.
This is a typical coach speak. JJ Reddick thinks everybody's
a dummy.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
You know what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Kathy's saying, we're gonna get drubbed, so I'm gonna soften
the blow. I'm gonna tell you how great they are,
so no one's gonna look at me and say, oh,
the Lakers are garbage or they're trash, or how embarrassing.
Even with Lebron, everybody talks about how great he is
and the numbers he's still putting up, and nobody gives
(13:10):
him a damn chance.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I get it, o case.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
He's a defending champs and they are a hell of
a team, but to crown them with one championship that
they're one of the greatest teams of all time? Can
you stop? Can you pump the brakes? Can you give
us a break? JJ Redick is full of bologee. JJ
Redick is a three dollar bill. JJ Redick is disingenuous.
(13:39):
It's coach Pat Keith. He's trying to deflect and tell
you there's nothing to see here. He's warning Laker fans,
don't worry we are losing because they're so great. I
never heard of defeatist attitude before you even get into
a series. My god, do you know that thing's called upsets.
(14:00):
I'm not buying JJ reddick. Well, you know, JJ was
in the media.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
This is a Jedi mind trick, and it's smart, honestly,
because the almighty Lakers don't even belong on the court
with one of the greatest teams of all time. If
he's right about them, they might go back to back
champs and they're gonna say, hey, JJ was trying to
tell us, And you know what it is. It's you
underpromise and you hope that you overperform. If the Lakers
win one game, then it's like, oh, look at the Lakers,
(14:26):
Look at the job JJ's doing. If they win two games,
oh we got a series now. And you know, he's
just kind of like you said, throwing platitudes at him
this off in the blow.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I get it.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I understand it. I would do the same thing. I
would be like, hey, huh, listen, these guys are great.
We don't belong on the same hardwood as these guys,
it's gonna be a tough series. Maybe it's also a
Jedi mind trick to get in their heads where they
kind of come in thinking it's gonna be sweet. They've
been off for a little while. Maybe even get that
first game. Nah, they're not getting that first game. They're
gonna get smaller than a half point. They couldna get smoked.
(14:56):
Do you think Vegas gives away fifteen and a half points. No, Seriously,
they look at this and go, no, there's no match
up here. What are you talking about?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Ain't no way.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Aretha Franklin sang that song, Alex can we get that?
Ain't no way, Aretha Franklin, Ain't no way, But he's
gonna sit here and tell you that they're the greatest.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Just call it. I believe in my guys.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I know on paper we're over match, we're not supposed
to compete and win this thing. But I believe in
my guys. This is it Areta, let's hear it. This
is JJ Reddick on the piano. Was Areta Franklin is
gonna be singing Keith there you go. Ain't no way,
Aretha Franklin, JJ Reddick on the piano. He don't love
(15:50):
the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
He just said it.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
He's too busy flossing the OKC thunder they say lossing?
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Is that what it is? Glazing? You know what I'm saying. Yeah, glazing,
that's what he's doing. Close.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Okay Blosso hey you get my point, Keith Man. Yeah,
I knew what she was getting at what you were
alluding to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
I hate it? I hate it man. Where's the competition?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
There's been some great upsets in sports history? They really have.
There been some.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
That's why we play. That's why we love the games.
You know why it's the ultimate reality TV it is.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
That's why.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
The only thing that moves the needle today in today's society,
live sporting events and national news.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That's all. Nothing else. Nobody watches television like that.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Nobody cares about movies being dropped all not like this because.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
We don't know what's gonna happen. That's why we watch.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
If all the time that the home team or the
best team was gonna win, Keith, it would be it
wouldn't even be interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
The Yankees.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
The Yankees have a great tradition. They haven't won since
two thousand and nine. Oh, why you gotta go there
be cause I'm just trying to make the case that
it ain't automatic.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
It ain't automatic. The Dodgers, right, they've won back to back.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Last year, the Blue Jays had eight chances to beat
them in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Would you agree eight?
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Or did?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And they couldn't get it done. And that's how the
Dodgers won their back to back World Series.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
That's why we gamble on this stuff.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
That's why you know somebody's gonna get paid fifty thousand
dollars to go watch the World Cup. That's why sports
are undefeated in ratings and in ticket sales. And there
are a million shows like the one we're doing right now,
and there's gonna be another one after and it goes
on all day and all night across this great country
and globe with people talking sports because we care. Why
(17:58):
do we care so much? Because it's unknown, the results
are unknown. We can't wait to see what happens.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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listen live.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Rob g Let's start here.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
The Dodgers are playing Otani's pitching against the Astros, it's
too nothing Houston in the fourth and the Dodgers so far, uh,
not getting much done offensively. Now, Otani this year is
not hitting when he's pitching, but when he's just hitting
as well.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
He's struggling this year, Rob, you give us the detail.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, Well, first off in tonight's game and they're down
to nothing. As you mentioned, he's gone three innings, four strikeouts,
no walks, two home runs given up, both solo shots.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So that's what the which is a lot more runs
than he's been given up. He hasn't been given up,
as you mentioned, Rob.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He just was named the NL Pitcher of the Month
for the March April span there in Major League Baseball.
He's been really good, looking, every bit like the sign
candidate that they said he would coming into this season.
The only problem is that while his pitching is better
than ever, his hitting is on the flip side worse
than has been in his career. He is oh for
(19:12):
his last seventeen hasn't recorded a hit in a week,
his longest hitless streak in four years.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
He's only got one homer.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Since April twelfth, and his ops is the first time
it's been below eight point fifty this deep into a
season in three years. So Dave Roberts has said he's
made the decision starting tonight, and I guess moving forward,
on the days that O Tawny pitches, he will not
not be a DH anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
He will only be pitching.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
On those days, and then he'll DH on the off days.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Keith, I'm sorry, Uh, I'm sorry. I get the pitching thing.
I understand. He's a unicorn. Nobody's done it since Babe
Ruth in the nineteen twenties all that, but even Babe
Ruth came around and they decided that, you know what,
that bat, that stick is too big. Not pause, okay,
(20:07):
not to have that say yeah, not to have that
guy hit him every day. Dude, two years ago, right
when he was injured, when he wasn't pitching and he
had the fifty to fifty was that last year?
Speaker 3 (20:26):
What am I thinking? Two years ago? Two years ago?
And that's what I thought when.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
He had the fifty to fifty, right, fifty home run,
fifty stolen bases, all that unbelievable year and whatnot. And
now the more we get to see him when he
hits and pitches. He's not the same guy. I don't
care what anybody says. If I have to give up one,
I'm giving up the pitching as much as pitching is
(20:52):
big in order to win the World Series. Keith, we
both know baseball, We understand the importance of pitching. But
I can't lose a bat where this guy now is
not gonna hit on daisy pitches. Take him out of
the lineup. He's pitching really well, but scuffling offensively. Rob
Jesus mentioned ops down big time in big worse than
(21:15):
three years. He's on an zero for seventeen clip, not
hitting home runs. This ain't no blip. I got too
much data that tells me when he's playing every day
and he's an offensive guy, that he is one of
the best players. Now when you water him down with
(21:38):
the pitching, he ain't the same guy. If I have
to pick one, I want a guy who plays every day,
who's gonna play one hundred and fifty eight games, who's
gonna have a chance to hit fifty home runs, who's
gonna be that guy at the top of my lineup
and a threat every time he comes to the plate.
Over a guy who's gonna play one at once every
(21:59):
fifth or not gonna hit, or his pitching is going
to derail his hitting.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
I'm not with it anymore. It was cute, it's now fugly.
How's that well said. I'm not gonna disagree. I think
the loneliness is hitting him. He's been without epay for
some time now. It's skin lonely over. But I'm an
o Tani haters, so I'll just lay out. Listen, he's
a left handed bat, he's a leadoff hitter. You're gonna
(22:26):
want that bad in the game four times a game.
That's more important. These are the deferred Dodgers, right, all
the money that they have, they can always go and
buy pitching. I'm sure they'll try to have enough. Now
they want to be honest, go look at the pitch
they don't need, and they don't they don't need. They
won a World Series without him pitching. They honestly won
that World Series with him hurt. So like the allure
and the effect of the Otani unicorn, like, they've already
(22:50):
made their money, They've made his contract back. They've already
won back to back championships. They might win three. Who knows,
I would try to keep him healthy for the duration
of the contract. He's thirty one, he's only getting older.
And I would just say, hey, listen, we have this
universal DH and we've had it for years. You're just
gonna be a DH. Maybe they start to scale it back,
and we have seen them scale it back. Maybe you
(23:11):
scale it back and make them come out of the bullpen.
But I just think, you know the throwing, and I
know he fashioned himself as a pitcher, I think coming
into the league, But I just don't think it's it's
worth it. I think you want that bat, leadoff bat,
left handed bat, power bat in your lineup to drive
in runs, and if he's struggling there, it's not worth
(23:31):
it to make him take the ball every five days.
I think he's easier to replace in the rotation than
he is in the lineup. And they've got the money
to do it and the wherewithal to do it. They
always make trades, they always go forward at the deadline.
I think this is a simple fix, and.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
They've gone out and spent a ton of money on pitching.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I agree. I agree, like they have pitching enough. They
did win without him really contributing the last two years
on the pitching side, right they did, rob G, can
you look it up? He didn't want to play. He
didn't want a World Series game last year.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I don't, I don't.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
And and two years ago when they won, he he
didn't hit or pitch right, he was he was injured
two years ago when they beat uh, the Yankees. So
the Dodgers need him to be o Tani and for
him to be the m v P and put up
the numbers. And it's just too much data that that
(24:25):
that makes me not feel good about It's not a
blip in the screen.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Now you're not.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
He's not gonna hit when he pitches. I want I
don't want that bad in the lineup. Really, all right,
rob G, rob G, you got the numbers.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
So last season twenty twenty five in the World Series
two starts zero and one, a chubby seven point five
six e er probably across.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Took him deep eleven hit seven earned runs, two homers,
three seven runs, That's what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Like, and then two years ago they won and he
didn't pitch at all because that's when he had the
you know, the shoulder thing.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
So so what are we doing here? What are we doing.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Babe Ruth gave up pitching two, didn't he. They were like, dude,
you're too valuable. We need you to line up every day.
And the best one about old TONI is that he
does play every day.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The thing about baseball, Keith judging ol' toanni when they play,
they play every day. They know they played one fifty
eight out of one sixty two or something like that,
a great number.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
We can't even say it's like a return on investment
type of thing, because, like I said, they already made
his contract back, They've won their two World Series. It
isn't like, oh, we you know, we paid this guy
seventy million a year because he's a DH and an ace, don't.
I don't think it's that either. I think it might
be a little bit of the showcase of the unicorn.
(25:57):
We have the one player that pitches hits. We want
to keep that going a little bit longer because we've
really only seen it for one year here in Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Or a unique glow field at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
So maybe that's the thing they want to They want
to get another couple seasons of him out of them
out on the mound and I think they could, but
not if it compromises the hitting.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
The hitting is paramount. The hitting is the priority. Wouldn't
you be.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Concerned, like like, this is a this is a bad
slump for him. I just like like the way the
way he mashed two years ago. And I know last
year's numbers weren't nearly as good right as as that year,
And that's a once in a lifetime kind of year
that he had. I mean, that was the fifty to
fifty in the bags and the and the home runs
and all that. But this year has been very disappointing.
(26:46):
And if I'm the Dodgers, I gotta get that guy right.
I gotta get him right. He's that big of a
part of the team and that's why this he's not hitting.
And guess what they're doing scuffling, right, They lost a
series to the Rockies.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
This this scuff's gonna happen. No, I know, This's gonna
be the face of the franchise and they go as
he goes for the most part. I know they got
some other guys, but he is the face of the
twenty three man.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Mookie Betts, you know, has been hurt the last couple
of years too. Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, Kyle Tucker who they signed, they got him, but
they have enough pitching. I do believe that, and I'm
with you, maybe if push comes to shove, but they
have they got and when Diaz right as they're closing,
they went out and got him from the Mets, so
they don't really need a closer.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
He'll be back at some point this year.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
I just think I want to see old tany hit
every day, seven days a week. I don't want as much.
And he's a very good pitcher. Was he gonna win
the SI? I know, against all odds, he would want
to be able to win a Cy Young in an MVP?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Am I right? Would that be? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:00):
But he's not gonna I'm with you, that's not gonna happen,
is it? Because you already see it's one or the other?
Which one would you rather have? The cy Young or
the MVP.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
He's got a bunch of MVPs already. Yeah, But the
Dodgers aren't pitching, aren't paying for that for him though.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
They're paying for championships, and they don't even need to
pitch him. They need to get him through the regular
season and then he doesn't need to make starts in October.
They can make a move at the deadline for a starter,
and they don't need to have him start games in
the you know, in the postseason.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're listening to the Best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
You're in New York. You know the Knicks did that thing.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
They flexed their muscles, Rob g it was a pretty
ugly game if you're the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Yeah, I mean it was a record setting performance there
by the New York Knickerbockers. They've won their last four games, Rob,
I don't know if you saw this by a combined
one hundred and twenty five.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Points, can you say fluke? I'm sorry, Fluke.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Maybe by twenty five. It's a flu twenty five sounds
like a trend to me, and that's not it. I mean,
they blew the doors off of the Philadelphi seventy six ers.
They won by thirty nine points. They have just been
running roughshot the last three games there against Atlanta. Game
one here against Philadelphia. It's all coming up orange and
(01:12):
blue right now in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
But Keith, I know you want to tryst the Sixers,
So I'm gonna let you take the floor because we
got something to talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
Yeah, I mean, Philly did all that talking right. They
came back. They knocked off big bad Boston, but they
weren't big and bad again. Another series ends for Boston
and Tatum is not on the floor. But the Sixers fans,
they acted like they wanted this smoke with the Knicks
going back to twenty twenty four and the way that
they came out in Game one was a complete no
(01:44):
show and the amount of excuses afterwards. I'm like, come on, Philly,
y'all supposed to be tough. Come on, Philly. I thought
y'all were Ryan High. You know, the Phillies fired their manager.
They start winning games, the Flyers winning overtime, they start
winning games. You know, they get Mkay Lemon in the draft.
Philly was pumped in their chest out and then all
of a sudden they got humbled in the garden and
(02:04):
it looked like the JV versus the eighth grade team.
This can't go on. I heard that the Knicks won't
shoot like this again. I heard that it was, Oh,
they didn't get enough rest. You know, it was a
big game seven series coming off of one day rest
and trial. I don't want the excuses you got embied
back obviously, have Maxi and Paul George and Tsunami Poppy
(02:26):
and VJ. Edgecomb and everybody else that you got on
that team. I want to see the Sixers make this
a series. And right now I'm thinking they're about to
get swept or the gentleman suite.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
There you go, always being a prisoner of the moment.
That's what you young guys do. Whatever happened yesterday, that's
what it's gonna because they weren't supposed to beat the
Celtics either, right, and they look bad against the Celtics,
and guess what, they came back and won a Game
seven in Boston. And you think one game in New
(02:56):
York against these Knicks who last year when they beat
the Celtics, everybody penciled them in to the NBA five.
All they gotta do is beat Indiana. Oh, they were
up by twenty with the four minutes to go. No,
they were up by fourteen with two and a half
minutes to go to against Indiana Game one and guess what,
they lost and lost that series. They have a new
(03:18):
coach because they couldn't get it done last year. It's
the same crew that choked it down against the Pacers,
and now you're ready to usher them in. It was
just a week ago, Keith that people were saying, coach,
no Brown, do for you.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Right now, Mike Brown is looking good right ago that defense.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
When they were struggling against the Hogs.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Oh they hated ye, but they're not gonna lose back
to back none point games again. Like those games, they
could have swept the Hogs. They don't really like each other.
You gotta trade Cat New York. There's a lot of
over reaction. Look at the team, everybody from Brunton to Cat,
to Mitch to Og to McKay out to Josh Hart.
(04:01):
They were all clicking. And they've done this now three
games in a row. But series, it doesn't one game.
This is a new series. It's game and Rob listen the.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Building building.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
One game in New York and you get what you wanted.
And my point is, don't count out the Sixers. Don't
do it.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Don't do it. It's going to be a game series.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Already know what the Knicks are, and the Sixers showed
me something coming back in that Boston series, down three.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
To one, winning Game seven in Boston.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Do not pooh pool Philadelphia, do not poo poo a team,
And where Paul George is a third option, it's actually
it's actually great. They're not relying on him and guess.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
What he's and beans and be gonna make it a
six to seven game.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
This is typical of Oh the Lords. The series is over.
It's a seven game series for a reason. It ain't
a one game series. If that was the case, the
Knicks would have won forty championships by now.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I'm never gonna bet on the Knicks. You know what.
I'll believe in the Knicks when they're in the.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Championship and there's three minutes left to go in the
first quarter and they're actually in the NBA Championship. That's
when I'll believe that the Knicks are in the championship,
not any minute before that. I don't care how many
games they win, because I've seen.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
This movie year after year after year.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
The last time the Knicks won a championship, Moby Dick
was a guppy, that's how long it's been.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
Listen, I'm not talking championship and I ain't know Nick fan,
but they're gonna beat the Sixers.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
The Sixers always get to the semifinals. Unfold.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Let's see how long mb can even play. He's gonna
be hobbled. He was even talking after the game, like, Oh,
I guess we gotta get physical.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I guess we gotta play that kind of game too. Okay,
play it.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Then we remember what he did to Mitch Roon Mitch
Robinson two years ago, grabbing his ankle, like I'm telling you,
rob if they leave two, oh, if the if the
Knicks leave and go down to Philadelphia, the city of
brotherly love to Oh, the Knick fans are gonna go
down there and take over that building.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
It's gonna get ugly fast.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But the only problem is you gotta remember this first
of all. All right, Max, he's been averaging almost twenty
eight twenty seven points a game.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
He's going to bounce back. He's that good.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And number two, Nick Nurse pulled the starters right in
the third quarter, was obviously and he knew his team
had heavy legs. They had played seven games in the
first round, and he was smart, we're not gonna win
this game. Put the reserves in. We'll be ready for
Game two. And the series doesn't start in the NBA
until a road team wins. So the Knicks winning at
at the Garden is not doesn't mean the series is over.
(06:47):
Go to Philadelphia, win game three, then maybe if you win,
if you hold court at home. But all the Sixers
have to do is steal one game. They're battle tested.
They knocked off the Celtics. They were down everybody in there.
Uncle counted out the seventy six ers. I'm not one
of those guys. I've seen it before, the Knicks. At
(07:08):
the Knicks are from New York, they're from Missouri. To
show me state, they gotta show me before I buy
into this ragtag group. There hasn't been able to be
the no that hasn't been able to get to where
they wanted. This was supposed to be the year, all right.
Everybody's injured, everybody's banged up. The Pacers, uh, the Celtics.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Oh, the Knicks going to the chair like it could
be the next year to get to the finals all.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Year though they didn't play like that. And this is
my point that doesn't matter're.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Talking about right now.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
We're talking about right now, Rob, They're They're eight point
favorites in game two.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
That's just what d you want.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
You want it to be the brunts and burner, you
want the bodega cat. I'm telling you, I was at
game one of the Hawks series. I thought for sure
they were they were a gentleman sweeping them, and they
lost back to back games by one point. They're not
losing back to back games by one game.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, because and then on you don't you don't believe,
you don't believe Keith for one minute that they're sweeping
the seventy six ers because I'll bet you.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Twenty wings and a tall one.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Okay, I'm a gentleman, sweet, but really, because you know
they you know they're gonna protect home court, and I
do expect, you know, Tyrese Maxey to bounce back. But
the way that the Knicks have clicked in the last
three games, something has changed. And when I was looking at.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The basketball on the other side and they had a stinker,
don't don't don't lump in the seventy six ers with
the with the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Don't lump them in. That's not the same Hawks game.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
It would be like saying, oh, yeah, the Pistons are
gonna win the NBA Championship because they came back against
a a Orlando Magic team that that missed twenty seven
straight shots and had their second best player hurt. That's
not how you you gauge it. It was one game.
They won the game. I tipped my cap, But one
game does not make a series, and you need to
(08:56):
stop with that. This is where the difference between you
young guys who are prisoners of the moment.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
That's what you do. Everything is great, whatever what happened.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Yet they don't play until tomorrow night, so all I
can go off of is their last three games. They
dismantled the Hawks where you turn the game off at
halftime in the elimination game, and it was the same
damn thing for Game one against the Sixers. So what
I'm saying is this is a snowball effect. They are
steam rolling teams now, they are playing the best in
(09:26):
the playoffs, and if they are arrested, they were the
first team in the East to advance healthy connected under
Mike Brown. I don't see this train stopping, and I
don't see a flopping, limping Joel Embid turning it on
against whom I don't see VJ.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Edgecomb a rookie turning it on Maxie.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
I'll give you because I've seen MAXI ball against him
two years ago.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
We know what type of time he's on. Is Paul
George gonna be heroic?
Speaker 5 (09:51):
Maybe I just think the Knicks have enough depth, they
have enough experience as a team, like this is Nixon
five or six. I don't think it's going seven. I
don't expect to sweep and I give you that game one.
Don't believe just game one. But YO, like, are they
looking like they can stop the Knicks? The Knicks are
the only team that's gonna stop the Knicks in the
East is looking like maybe it is. I want to
get ahead of myself, but I was impressed with Game one.
(10:13):
I was impressed with Game six and five against the Hawks.
I'm not no Knicks fan. I'm surrounded by Knicks fans.
They're surrounding the whole seventh av They're gonna have to
shut that down.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
J R.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Smith was out there getting trampled. Is getting crazy in
the city. These Knicks fans are gonna burn the city
down if they get to the finals.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Rob Parker and kelvin Washington weekdays at seven pm
Eastern four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio Now.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
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We're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
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Speaker 3 (10:52):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
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Speaker 6 (10:57):
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Speaker 1 (11:10):
JJ Reddick said something today, Rob Ge that just rubbed
me the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Ahead of Game one, Lakers, you mentioned it fifteen and
a half point underdogs.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
That is unbelieve. Has Lebron ever been a fifteen to
a half point underdog?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I don't know what I'm seventy of that long, my god,
but yeah, it's not looking good for the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Everybody's expecting.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
I don't need to lose this series, but all likelihood
to get sweat and JJ Reddick ahead of Game one,
spoke about the task at hand going against the defending
champion Thunder Ticklas.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
We saw a stat in our morning meeting this morning,
like our teams that have had back to back or
even more than that, ten or more better net ratings
in consecutive seasons. We're talking about the ninety five, ninety
ninety six, ninety seven Bowls and then the fifteen.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Through seventeen points.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
You're literally talking about two of the greatest teams of
all time. I said to a bunch of people yees
yesterday off site that we're you know, talking about this series.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
To me, I said, to give the Thunder one of the.
Speaker 7 (12:06):
It's one of the greatest teams ever in ndia instrum.
That's just the reality they are. They're that good.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I think our.
Speaker 7 (12:11):
Guys recognize that and respect that, and we know with
what contask we have in.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Front of him.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
No, they are not one of the greatest teams in
NBA history, JJ Reddick. What Blodi is that they won
a championship. We gave him a parade, We do the confetti, Adam.
They also win seven games against Denver and seven games
against Indiana. If Halliburnon didn't get hurt, they might have
(12:38):
lost that championship. I don't care what the numbers say.
This is a typical coach speak. JJ Reddick thinks everybody's
a dummy.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
You know what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Kathy's saying, we're gonna get drubbed, so I'm gonna soften
the blow. I'm gonna tell you how great they are,
so no one's gonna look at me and say, oh,
the Lakers are garbage or they're trash, or how embarrassing.
Even with Lebron, everybody talks about how great he is
and the numbers he's still putting up, and nobody gives
(13:10):
him a damn chance.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I get it, o case.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
He's a defending champs and they are a hell of
a team, but to crown them with one championship that
they're one of the greatest teams of all time? Can
you stop? Can you pump the brakes? Can you give
us a break? JJ Redick is full of bologee. JJ
Redick is a three dollar bill. JJ Redick is disingenuous.
(13:39):
It's coach Pat Keith. He's trying to deflect and tell
you there's nothing to see here. He's warning Laker fans,
don't worry we are losing because they're so great. I
never heard of defeatist attitude before you even get into
a series. My god, do you know that thing's called upsets.
(14:00):
I'm not buying JJ reddick. Well, you know, JJ was
in the media.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
This is a Jedi mind trick, and it's smart, honestly,
because the almighty Lakers don't even belong on the court
with one of the greatest teams of all time. If
he's right about them, they might go back to back
champs and they're gonna say, hey, JJ was trying to
tell us, And you know what it is. It's you
underpromise and you hope that you overperform. If the Lakers
win one game, then it's like, oh, look at the Lakers,
(14:26):
Look at the job JJ's doing. If they win two games,
oh we got a series now. And you know, he's
just kind of like you said, throwing platitudes at him
this off in the blow.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I get it.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I understand it. I would do the same thing. I
would be like, hey, huh, listen, these guys are great.
We don't belong on the same hardwood as these guys,
it's gonna be a tough series. Maybe it's also a
Jedi mind trick to get in their heads where they
kind of come in thinking it's gonna be sweet. They've
been off for a little while. Maybe even get that
first game. Nah, they're not getting that first game. They're
gonna get smaller than a half point. They couldna get smoked.
(14:56):
Do you think Vegas gives away fifteen and a half points. No, Seriously,
they look at this and go, no, there's no match
up here. What are you talking about?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Ain't no way.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Aretha Franklin sang that song, Alex can we get that?
Ain't no way, Aretha Franklin, Ain't no way, But he's
gonna sit here and tell you that they're the greatest.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Just call it. I believe in my guys.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I know on paper we're over match, we're not supposed
to compete and win this thing. But I believe in
my guys. This is it Areta, let's hear it. This
is JJ Reddick on the piano. Was Areta Franklin is
gonna be singing Keith there you go. Ain't no way,
Aretha Franklin, JJ Reddick on the piano. He don't love
(15:50):
the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
He just said it.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
He's too busy flossing the OKC thunder they say lossing?
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Is that what it is? Glazing? You know what I'm saying. Yeah, glazing,
that's what he's doing. Close.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Okay Blosso hey you get my point, Keith Man. Yeah,
I knew what she was getting at what you were
alluding to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
I hate it? I hate it man. Where's the competition?
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
There's been some great upsets in sports history? They really have.
There been some.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
That's why we play. That's why we love the games.
You know why it's the ultimate reality TV it is.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
That's why.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
The only thing that moves the needle today in today's society,
live sporting events and national news.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That's all. Nothing else. Nobody watches television like that.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Nobody cares about movies being dropped all not like this because.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
We don't know what's gonna happen. That's why we watch.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
If all the time that the home team or the
best team was gonna win, Keith, it would be it
wouldn't even be interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
The Yankees.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
The Yankees have a great tradition. They haven't won since
two thousand and nine. Oh, why you gotta go there
be cause I'm just trying to make the case that
it ain't automatic.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
It ain't automatic. The Dodgers, right, they've won back to back.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Last year, the Blue Jays had eight chances to beat
them in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Would you agree eight?
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Or did?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And they couldn't get it done. And that's how the
Dodgers won their back to back World Series.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
That's why we gamble on this stuff.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
That's why you know somebody's gonna get paid fifty thousand
dollars to go watch the World Cup. That's why sports
are undefeated in ratings and in ticket sales. And there
are a million shows like the one we're doing right now,
and there's gonna be another one after and it goes
on all day and all night across this great country
and globe with people talking sports because we care. Why
(17:58):
do we care so much? Because it's unknown, the results
are unknown. We can't wait to see what happens.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Rob g Let's start here.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
The Dodgers are playing Otani's pitching against the Astros, it's
too nothing Houston in the fourth and the Dodgers so far, uh,
not getting much done offensively. Now, Otani this year is
not hitting when he's pitching, but when he's just hitting
as well.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
He's struggling this year, Rob, you give us the detail.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, Well, first off in tonight's game and they're down
to nothing. As you mentioned, he's gone three innings, four strikeouts,
no walks, two home runs given up, both solo shots.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So that's what the which is a lot more runs
than he's been given up. He hasn't been given up,
as you mentioned, Rob.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He just was named the NL Pitcher of the Month
for the March April span there in Major League Baseball.
He's been really good, looking, every bit like the sign
candidate that they said he would coming into this season.
The only problem is that while his pitching is better
than ever, his hitting is on the flip side worse
than has been in his career. He is oh for
(19:12):
his last seventeen hasn't recorded a hit in a week,
his longest hitless streak in four years.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
He's only got one homer.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Since April twelfth, and his ops is the first time
it's been below eight point fifty this deep into a
season in three years. So Dave Roberts has said he's
made the decision starting tonight, and I guess moving forward,
on the days that O Tawny pitches, he will not
not be a DH anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
He will only be pitching.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
On those days, and then he'll DH on the off days.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Keith, I'm sorry, Uh, I'm sorry. I get the pitching thing.
I understand. He's a unicorn. Nobody's done it since Babe
Ruth in the nineteen twenties all that, but even Babe
Ruth came around and they decided that, you know what,
that bat, that stick is too big. Not pause, okay,
(20:07):
not to have that say yeah, not to have that
guy hit him every day. Dude, two years ago, right
when he was injured, when he wasn't pitching and he
had the fifty to fifty was that last year?
Speaker 3 (20:26):
What am I thinking? Two years ago? Two years ago?
And that's what I thought when.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
He had the fifty to fifty, right, fifty home run,
fifty stolen bases, all that unbelievable year and whatnot. And
now the more we get to see him when he
hits and pitches. He's not the same guy. I don't
care what anybody says. If I have to give up one,
I'm giving up the pitching as much as pitching is
(20:52):
big in order to win the World Series. Keith, we
both know baseball, We understand the importance of pitching. But
I can't lose a bat where this guy now is
not gonna hit on daisy pitches. Take him out of
the lineup. He's pitching really well, but scuffling offensively. Rob
Jesus mentioned ops down big time in big worse than
(21:15):
three years. He's on an zero for seventeen clip, not
hitting home runs. This ain't no blip. I got too
much data that tells me when he's playing every day
and he's an offensive guy, that he is one of
the best players. Now when you water him down with
(21:38):
the pitching, he ain't the same guy. If I have
to pick one, I want a guy who plays every day,
who's gonna play one hundred and fifty eight games, who's
gonna have a chance to hit fifty home runs, who's
gonna be that guy at the top of my lineup
and a threat every time he comes to the plate.
Over a guy who's gonna play one at once every
(21:59):
fifth or not gonna hit, or his pitching is going
to derail his hitting.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
I'm not with it anymore. It was cute, it's now fugly.
How's that well said. I'm not gonna disagree. I think
the loneliness is hitting him. He's been without epay for
some time now. It's skin lonely over. But I'm an
o Tani haters, so I'll just lay out. Listen, he's
a left handed bat, he's a leadoff hitter. You're gonna
(22:26):
want that bad in the game four times a game.
That's more important. These are the deferred Dodgers, right, all
the money that they have, they can always go and
buy pitching. I'm sure they'll try to have enough. Now
they want to be honest, go look at the pitch
they don't need, and they don't they don't need. They
won a World Series without him pitching. They honestly won
that World Series with him hurt. So like the allure
and the effect of the Otani unicorn, like, they've already
(22:50):
made their money, They've made his contract back. They've already
won back to back championships. They might win three. Who knows,
I would try to keep him healthy for the duration
of the contract. He's thirty one, he's only getting older.
And I would just say, hey, listen, we have this
universal DH and we've had it for years. You're just
gonna be a DH. Maybe they start to scale it back,
and we have seen them scale it back. Maybe you
(23:11):
scale it back and make them come out of the bullpen.
But I just think, you know the throwing, and I
know he fashioned himself as a pitcher, I think coming
into the league, But I just don't think it's it's
worth it. I think you want that bat, leadoff bat,
left handed bat, power bat in your lineup to drive
in runs, and if he's struggling there, it's not worth
(23:31):
it to make him take the ball every five days.
I think he's easier to replace in the rotation than
he is in the lineup. And they've got the money
to do it and the wherewithal to do it. They
always make trades, they always go forward at the deadline.
I think this is a simple fix, and.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
They've gone out and spent a ton of money on pitching.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I agree. I agree, like they have pitching enough. They
did win without him really contributing the last two years
on the pitching side, right they did, rob G, can
you look it up? He didn't want to play. He
didn't want a World Series game last year.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I don't, I don't.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
And and two years ago when they won, he he
didn't hit or pitch right, he was he was injured
two years ago when they beat uh, the Yankees. So
the Dodgers need him to be o Tani and for
him to be the m v P and put up
the numbers. And it's just too much data that that
(24:25):
that makes me not feel good about It's not a
blip in the screen.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Now you're not.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
He's not gonna hit when he pitches. I want I
don't want that bad in the lineup. Really, all right,
rob G, rob G, you got the numbers.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
So last season twenty twenty five in the World Series
two starts zero and one, a chubby seven point five
six e er probably across.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Took him deep eleven hit seven earned runs, two homers,
three seven runs, That's what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Like, and then two years ago they won and he
didn't pitch at all because that's when he had the
you know, the shoulder thing.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
So so what are we doing here? What are we doing.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Babe Ruth gave up pitching two, didn't he. They were like, dude,
you're too valuable. We need you to line up every day.
And the best one about old TONI is that he
does play every day.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The thing about baseball, Keith judging ol' toanni when they play,
they play every day. They know they played one fifty
eight out of one sixty two or something like that,
a great number.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
We can't even say it's like a return on investment
type of thing, because, like I said, they already made
his contract back, They've won their two World Series. It
isn't like, oh, we you know, we paid this guy
seventy million a year because he's a DH and an ace, don't.
I don't think it's that either. I think it might
be a little bit of the showcase of the unicorn.
(25:57):
We have the one player that pitches hits. We want
to keep that going a little bit longer because we've
really only seen it for one year here in Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Or a unique glow field at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
So maybe that's the thing they want to They want
to get another couple seasons of him out of them
out on the mound and I think they could, but
not if it compromises the hitting.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
The hitting is paramount. The hitting is the priority. Wouldn't
you be.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Concerned, like like, this is a this is a bad
slump for him. I just like like the way the
way he mashed two years ago. And I know last
year's numbers weren't nearly as good right as as that year,
And that's a once in a lifetime kind of year
that he had. I mean, that was the fifty to
fifty in the bags and the and the home runs
and all that. But this year has been very disappointing.
(26:46):
And if I'm the Dodgers, I gotta get that guy right.
I gotta get him right. He's that big of a
part of the team and that's why this he's not hitting.
And guess what they're doing scuffling, right, They lost a
series to the Rockies.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
This this scuff's gonna happen. No, I know, This's gonna
be the face of the franchise and they go as
he goes for the most part. I know they got
some other guys, but he is the face of the
twenty three man.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Mookie Betts, you know, has been hurt the last couple
of years too. Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, Kyle Tucker who they signed, they got him, but
they have enough pitching. I do believe that, and I'm
with you, maybe if push comes to shove, but they
have they got and when Diaz right as they're closing,
they went out and got him from the Mets, so
they don't really need a closer.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
He'll be back at some point this year.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
I just think I want to see old tany hit
every day, seven days a week. I don't want as much.
And he's a very good pitcher. Was he gonna win
the SI? I know, against all odds, he would want
to be able to win a Cy Young in an MVP?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Am I right? Would that be? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:00):
But he's not gonna I'm with you, that's not gonna happen,
is it? Because you already see it's one or the other?
Which one would you rather have? The cy Young or
the MVP.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
He's got a bunch of MVPs already. Yeah, But the
Dodgers aren't pitching, aren't paying for that for him though.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
They're paying for championships, and they don't even need to
pitch him. They need to get him through the regular
season and then he doesn't need to make starts in October.
They can make a move at the deadline for a starter,
and they don't need to have him start games in
the you know, in the postseason.
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