August 5, 2026 • 32 mins
DV takes your calls after the Dodgers fall to the Cubs, 5-1. Tarik Skubal and Mookie Betts address the media. Dave Roberts shares that Dalton Rushing has a slight UCL tear.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The quest for the three peat has begne.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Here we go again. We're gonta running back.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
To get in on the show called eight six six,
not eighty seven, two five seventy, and be sure to
follow Dodger Talk wherever you get your podcasts. Here's your host,
David Vase that day.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome the Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
David Vase with you until the top of the hour,
live from Wrigley Field. We have phone lines wide open
tonight at eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy.
I know many of you traveled to Chicago to see
the Dodgers at Wrigley Field in the middle of summer
instead of what seems to be a tradition where the
Dodgers get here in April. So this is refreshing, but
(00:58):
the result has not changed. The Dodgers have lost their
eighth series in the last ten years at Wrigley Field.
After dropping the first two games of this series, including tonight,
five to one, they have lost a season high five
in a row after being swept by the Red Sox.
(01:18):
And look, it's not just about the pitching or the bullpen.
The Dodger offense just has not been very productive, especially
the bottom of the order five through nine. It just
hasn't been there consistently. I mentioned this last night. I'll
mention it again. Freddy Freeman, now who extended his hitting
(01:38):
streak to fourteen games, has been on base forty five
times since the beginning of July and has only scored
eight runs. I'll say that again, Freddy Freeman has been
on base forty five times since the beginning of July
and has only been driven in eight times.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
That's shocking.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And what that tells me is guys like Muncie Betts, Tucker,
those guys and Tascar Hernandez for that matter, even though
he's a few hitters behind him, are not doing the
job to drive him in. And tonight Mookie Betts grounded
into a double play in the second inning, Kyle Tucker
(02:22):
Homer's I mean anything but a double play right there,
and all of a sudden you got a multi run lead.
And look, it's been a struggle for Mookie Betts. He's
only hitting two seventeen this year, with balls in play,
he is grounded into the second most double plays of
any Dodger. Is on base percentage is two eighty. His
slug in percentage is three ninety. It's hard to ignore
(02:46):
at this point in time, and you just wonder whether
or not the Dodgers are considering moving bets down in
the order to give Freddy Freeman some protection and more production.
Are they considering moving ta Oscar Hernandez backup in the lineup.
He's sitting over three hundred since the beginning of the
All Star break and is looking more like Taoscar Hernandez,
(03:07):
even though he did add a couple of bad at
bats tonight. But I could tell you this. A couple
of coaches told me today that going back to the
last homestand for seven ten games, ta Oscar Hernandez has
been in the batting cage, actively taking batting practice in
the cage at ten am. He's at the ballpark at
(03:27):
ten am, already taking batting practice on a night that
the game starts at seven ten. So don't tell me
Taoscar Hernandez doesn't care. And you know what else is happening,
because he's doing that who's showing up with him? Now,
Andy Pa has come on. You got to reward these
guys for putting in the work, and they're rewarding themselves.
(03:49):
Let's head downstairs right now to hear from Mookie Bets
on sports Net.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
LA.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Oh, it's a long season. This is a little dister rut. Okay,
I think everything's okay. I just know I need to
be better. Yeah, I can't speak for everyone else, but
I'm gonna have to help the team at some point.
It's been too long, frustrating. But you know, as far
(04:16):
as the boys, I mean, I think everybody's in. Everybody's
in a pretty good headspace, and it's just a time
that we go through. You never know what happens tomorrow.
What are you feeling that It is just kind of
missing for yourself personally right now, I have no idea.
I feel like I'm hitting the ball hard, feel like
I'm having good at beats, you know, not swinging at
bad pictures. It seems like every time I touch the
(04:39):
bat it goes at somebody. So I just need something.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
I'm just trying to figure it out. I'm founding it
is a stretch man, especially with where you were a
month ago and how well you were swinging the bat.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Then.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Yeah, I don't know, man, I don't even know what
I'm doing different. I feel like I'm hitting the ball
hard at the same rate I was hitting it at
the time.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I have no idea.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
I'm pretty candid throughout the season about your struggles.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
How hard is it to stay committed to your approach,
especially when you feel like you have the good quality
of the best that you wanted.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I mean, yeah, it's very hard. I mean I've never
you know, I've just never done this, so I don't
I don't really know how to get through it. So
every day I show up and I'm trying to restore
that hope meter in order to uh keep myself going.
But uh, it's it's this is uh really hard.
Speaker 7 (05:37):
What was about a year ago this time when you
said right off the season there's no play one day
at a time. Is that a then a restake you
need to make again or can you make?
Speaker 8 (05:49):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (05:49):
No, I mean I did that earlier in the season.
I mean that I just want to help us win.
That's that's really it. I mean, it doesn't matter you
can hit the ball hard are you want, doesn't matter
if it goes that's someone Those are outs and not
trying to be result based because that's that's you know,
a deep hole. But at some point you got to
(06:10):
help us win. And if you can't keep going out there,
and I mean I'm not saying I'm dragging us down,
but I'm not helping at all.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
What was all?
Speaker 6 (06:19):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
There's Mookie Bets on sports and at LA. He's very aware.
I mean, if you shoot MOOKI straight, he's going to
give you direct answers. And I thought he was really
honest right there. The thing that I'll say about Mookie Bets,
the reason why even last year he was still hitting
high up in the order is because he was taking
longer at bats and he was drawing walks. This year,
(06:42):
he's swinging first pitch. He grounded into a double play
in the second inning, and his walk rate is the
lowest of his career. He's not even taking walks, and
that makes it even more compounding. As far as the
h there's no other way to say this his worst
offensive season in his career. I mean, we're talking about
a future Hall of Famer and he's having his worst
(07:05):
offensive season, and that's hard to believe, especially coming off
of last year where he had at the time his
worst offensive season. Eight six six nine seven two five
seventy is the phone number Dodgers fall to the Cubs tonight,
five to one. David Vasse live at Wrigley Field. We'll
get to your phone calls in a moment. But tonight
(07:25):
there was a lot of excitement about Trek Schouoball making
his Dodger debut.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
He just needed some run support.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
He got one run tonight in his Dodger debut, and
that's hard for any pitcher to deal.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
With a couple of bad lucks.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
But Andy paj has saved him on a couple of
broken bat flares to center field. But Kyle Tucker misplayed
a ball that turned into a double for Alex Bregman
in the sixth inning, and that allowed the Unlucky Nico
or the the fortunate Nico Horner unlos Lucky Dodgers to
(08:01):
be the victim of the Baltimore chop there for the
goal ahead run to score. Let's go down back into
the Dodger Club aust to hear from Trek's school ball
on sports in at La yeah.
Speaker 9 (08:12):
I mean, that's going to bed last night, you know, excited.
It felt like, you know, my major league debut, you know,
kind of same type of vibe in terms of, you know,
the nerves running through. But I think that's all good stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I did a field by the time you took the mound,
and like you can actually get into the starter.
Speaker 9 (08:31):
I mean, baseball is baseball.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The game is the game.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
You know.
Speaker 9 (08:35):
It's my job to just go out there and compete
and do what I do what I can and try
to put our team in a position to win a
ball game. And that's all I can ask myself to do.
But the game's always just a game. Stuff was I
think it was one of your lowest strike rates, but
you got out the change up seemed to be working
the overall. Yeah, yeah, I mean I think my stuff
was plenty good. You know, I felt like I commanded
(08:56):
everything really well. I think, you know, maybe the lowest
tracker I don't even look at, don't even.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Know what it is, but.
Speaker 9 (09:01):
You know, when I was missing, I was missing in
the areas that I was trying to go. There's just
a few sinkers and a few sliders that can kind
of flip that bats. You know, I probably should be
a little better at first pitch strikes, and I think
especially second or third time through. You know, I need
to be better there. But you know, the stuff come
out my hand was is what I expect out of myself.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
How was it working with Ben and kind of just
being thrown together here?
Speaker 9 (09:27):
Yeah, he's great back there. He's great back there, called
a great game, you know, on the same page all night.
You know what he was trying to do, you know,
feeds right into what I'm trying to do on the mountain.
So credit to him. You know, it's tough both ways, right,
But I'm always gonna trust my catchers. You know, the
preparation that I get to watch those guys do you know,
even just today, I'm gonna always trust those guys. You
(09:49):
know that they're really important. And yeah, he was great
back there today for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
At the end of the sixth it looks like he
had a short combo with Dave Roberts. As you guys
get to know each other, pitch count any limits kind
of come into play.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
How important is that conversation?
Speaker 9 (10:03):
Yeah, No, I mean he just he told me I
was done. You know, I felt I felt good though,
you know, just kind of expressed that to him. But
I'm gonna trust him and in those decisions and where
he wants to go. You know, he's the manager for
a reason, so I'm always gonna, you know, support whatever
he thinks his best. But yeah, I think he's you know,
just words of encouragement about the outing obviously, but yeah,
I'm always gonna trust where he goes.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
He look like you were trying.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
To sneak a fastball by Dansby there and go ahead,
would maybe.
Speaker 9 (10:28):
That, Yeah, I mean, just trying to go down in
the way and if he jumps it, there's not much
damage there obviously, pull it back to the heart of
the plate kind of not where I'm trying to go.
And he put a good swing on it.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 9 (10:38):
That was I think the only really hard hit ball today.
But yeah, he put a good swing on it. I mean,
he's a really good player. You know, he gets he
just pulled it back middle. If that ball's down in
a way, it's gonna be a tough time to pull
a fastball down in a way, you know, especially the
way he did. But you know, he put a good
swing on it for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
All Right, there's Trek school Bawl after making his Dodger debut,
going six innings tonight, aligned to e runs, including that
solo home run to Dan spy Swanson in the third inning.
And like I mentioned earlier, Dan spy Swanson has done
a number on the Dodgers this year. He's seven for
eighteen a three eighty eight batting average, with two home
(11:16):
runs and five RBIs against the Dodgers this season. Eight
sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
phone number. Let's go out to the phones for the
first time tonight, David and Westlake Village.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're on Dodger Talk Live from Chicago. How you doing.
Speaker 10 (11:32):
I'm doing great, DV. Thanks a lot for taking my call.
I guess this is what fans of other teams must
feel like. It's weird for Dodger fans to to kind
of lose this much. But here's the deal, man, When
you when you go on a losing streak like this,
you can look at every facet of the game going bad.
You know, there's bad base running, bad hitting, bad defense.
(11:53):
I'm wondering, is the fourth inning too early to do
a defensive replacement for Kyle Tucker. I'm just I'm kidding,
but I'm not really kidding. That guy is just you know,
he hits a home run and still manages to contribute
to a loss for the game.
Speaker 11 (12:11):
But here's the deal to me.
Speaker 10 (12:14):
When we get Will Smith back, you know, hopefully, and
Il Snell and Broken Glass now come come back, this
rotation with Yoshi and Scoobs is gonna be really great,
which changes the bullpen because right now the bullpen's a mess.
There's no one on the trust tree that that's on
there right now. And but when Robleski and Rokie go
(12:37):
to the bullpen, when all our big dogs come back,
I put us up against anybody, So things are gonna turn.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
What do you think, d d.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Right, all right, David, Yeah, you made some good points there.
I know you took some shots at some guys and okay,
that's fine.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
It makes for entertaining radio right there.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
But nonetheless, let's let's not forget the last two years,
the Dodgers have played more games than any other team
in baseball, and they have had shorter off seasons than
any other teams in baseball. And I had a current player,
you know, give me a phone call yesterday. We were
just talking about a few different things.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
And I mentioned just.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
How the Dodgers are in a little bit of a
rut offensively, and he said, that's a They are playing
more games than anybody else the last two years. It
takes a lot out of you physically and mentally. And
we're in the dog days of August, so that may
be part of all this. Maybe the dog days of
August are a little heavier for the Dodgers than most
(13:43):
teams out there. I'm not going to say that's an excuse,
but that's from a current player, maybe a contributing factor.
Let's go out to Ray in Georgia listening on the
iHeartRadio app Hi Ray, you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Hey Dave, thanks for getting me on.
Speaker 6 (13:58):
And I just have a couple of things.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
The first thing is, sometimes in a slump like this,
you got to make things happen. And when I saw
bets coming up after a tiny got I forget who
got on ahead of uh? That's I say, lay down
a bun.
Speaker 11 (14:14):
Try to get.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
A bunt down that ignites a team. Looks like Dave
Robertson in the World Series, I mean in the playoffs
against the Yankee set one stolen base and you can
maybe start a rally there. And just that's why I'm
glad word for it is back. This guy is like
a mosquito that's gonna that can ignite a team in
a sense maybe by just hustling. You know what I'm
(14:39):
saying is and so uh Pa has too. He's so
young he can make himself more valuable by learning the
bun Morey Willis is in heaven right now saying what's
going on with these Dodgers. And one other thing, see
see what you think about is when I look at
uh Will Smith being out a lineup. He's a right
(15:00):
handed back. It gives a lot of a protection to
our lefties too, and he has power and right now
we don't have that right now.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So one, yeah, they're not getting a lot from the
right handed hitters. That's pretty apparent. Ray, And I'm glad
you brought up Will Smith because the Dodgers miss him
and they're going to miss Dalton Rushing's bad as well.
I mean, Dalton Rushing had an ops of over eight
hundred eighty at twelve home runs. Uh, they're missing the
offense from their catchers, but especially Will Smith from the
(15:29):
right side.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Great call, Ray, thanks a.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Lot for listening to us, and we'll see you in
Atlanta later this month.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
You got it, you got it in The heat takes
care of day.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Hey, the heat's everywhere.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
El ninil eight sixty six nine eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Dodgers fall to the Cups
tonight five to one. We're gonna take a time out
when we continue more of your phone calls. We have
two lines open at eight sixty six nine eight seven
two five seventy.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Also, you'll hear from Dave Raws.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
On what he shared with us exclusively regarding the extent
of Dalton Rushing's elbow injuries.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So don't go anywhere more.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Dodger talk on a five to seventy LA Sports Cubs
beat the Dodgers five to one.
Speaker 9 (16:20):
Hi, this is Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
This is the home of the back to back world
champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 9 (16:25):
Don't miss a moment of the quest. Four to three, P.
Speaker 12 (16:29):
Two one, Tucker slings hits a high drive the left
center field, caring this ball headed back and his gone
and office a field home run Kyle Tucker. He comes
back to Wrigley Field and picks up his tenth pome
runner this season, getting the Dodgers on the board and
it is.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
One to nothing.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Kyle Tucker turned the booze into silence and cheers from
the Dodger fans that were here at Wrigley Field, and
that was the only run the Dodgers score tonight as
the Cubs beat them again five to one. Daniel S
Jewelers presents the home run Forecast. For your chance to
win a fifty dollars Daniels Jewelers gift card, visit AM
(17:10):
five to seventy lasports dot com. Use the keyword home
run and to your name you could win. Daniel S
Jewelers own the dream. With the Dodgers loss and another win,
the Diamondbacks are just eight and a half games back
of the Dodgers now, and more importantly, the Dodgers now
are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the number two
(17:32):
seed in the National League. The Brewers are two games
better than both the Dodgers and Braves for the top
seed in the National League. And I just mentioned to
our friend Ray and Georgia the Dodgers will be in
Atlanta to take on the Braves later this month and
that should be a big series as it as it
(17:52):
pertains to seeding in the National League postseason. We all
know the top two seeds get to skip that wildcard series.
If you're the number three seed, you have to play
the top wildcard team in an NLDS matchup. So, uh,
that's that's something that is steering the Dodgers in the
(18:15):
face after losing their fifth in a row. Eight six
six seven, two five seventy is the phone number. Let's
go out to Dave and to Luca Lake. You're on
Dodger Talk Live from Wrigley Field.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Hi, Dave, heyy Dave, how you doing, man? You're the man.
Always love listening to your show. Congratulations on being connected
with some great trajectory here. I got two questions. I
always wonder if when a team, you know, like the
Dodgers come out and alys scratch one run, is it
(18:50):
bad hitting or is it good pitching? You know? And
you could say that with any kind of sporting event,
like is it good d or great offense or vice versa.
Then the other thing, a sense of urgency. Sense of
urgency is something you can't fake. Everybody says, oh, you
gotta have a sense of urgency create sense of urgency,
but says of urgency is something that comes from deep inside,
(19:11):
when you really have that feared when you're like a
wounded animal. So my question to you is, at what
point do you think the Dodgers will have a sense
of urgency because in the past they haven't had one,
and they got punched in the mouth going into the
playoffs when they had one hundred plus wins. So this
is a mine.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Dave, pump pump the brakes. You're talking about something that happened.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Three years ago. We're talking about the here and now.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
They're the reigning back to back World Series champions, So
I would say they've had a sense of urgency.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Come on, well, yeah, no, I get I get that, and.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I had the best record in baseball for a long
stretch of time. This is just about the ebbs and
flows about a season, and right now the offense is
in a little bit of a funk. But I'm not
going to make these broad brushes of statements to declare
the Dodgers are not playing with urgency where they flat
against the Red Sox, I guess so the Red Sox
(20:09):
are a hungry young team because they're fighting for their
playoff lives. The Dodgers are not. And in that series
at Dodgers Stadium, the Dodgers threw out a bullpen game
and image shean in that series. So come on, let's
take a step back and examine what's exactly going on.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
And let me just say one thing about the Cops.
Credit to them. They look like a legit contender. There's
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Oh they're legit.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And they just got Clay Holmes and Kevin Gossman, and
they just acquired a really good reliever from the Angels
and Zephyr John. You saw that tonight as well. So
all of that has contributed to the Cubs beating the
Dodgers in the first two games of this series. Hey Dave,
great call, Thanks a lot for the phone call. Eight
sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
(20:57):
phone number. Trek Scuoble went six innings tonight, struck out six,
allowed just two earned runs but no offense from the Dodgers.
And look, like I said, I'm not going to say
the Dodgers don't have urgency.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
He was going back three years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, they didn't have the sense of urgency in those playoffs.
Series in twenty two and twenty three. They thought they
could just show up be the Dodgers and beat the
Padres and Diamondbacks, and we found out you can't do that.
But the Dodgers have made major adjustments in their mindset
going into the postseason each of the last two years
(21:35):
and it's resulted in winning back to back championships. And look,
the biggest concerns right now would be the Dodgers' lineup,
and you go back to last year. The Dodgers ran
Michael Confordo out every single day all season long, and
then when at time to get to the postseason, they
(21:56):
left them off the playoff roster. So even though right
now Mookie Beds probably shouldn't be hitting fifth, I'm not
going to overreact that they have to move him down immediately.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
But.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
You have lost five in a row.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
He is stalling a lot of rallies, and when the
Dodgers talk about passing the baton, he's not really doing that,
not even taking walks, And to me, that's a big
problem because he's had his lowest walk rate. And I'm
not putting this all on Mooki Ohtani really hasn't done
a lot here. In the last couple of weeks. When
he does, the Dodgers have a good chance to win.
(22:33):
Max Munsey's been in a little bit of a funk
outside of a couple of key home runs on the
last road trip. Ta Oscar Hernandez to me, should be
hitting behind Freeman and Munseie right now at this point,
because with one swing he could give you a three
run lead. And Tommy Edmond he's cooled off since he
came back. But trust me, losing Dalton Rushing and not
(22:55):
having Will Smith hurts the offense, especially at the bottom
of the order. Speaking of Dalton Rushing, we got a
little bit more detail on the extent of his right
elbow injury. Dave Roberts joins us every week on the
Manager's Meeting presented by Downy Hunday, and here's what he
told us as far as the Rushing's injury and the extent.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Of it and how long they may be without Rushing.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Dave Roberts is our guest the Manager's Meeting presented by
Downey Hyundai. All Right, you got Trek Scooble on the mound,
and you got Ben rhurtvid catching. Ben Rurtvitt is back,
So is Hunter Fiducca. Where is the Dodgers catching situation
right now?
Speaker 8 (23:37):
You know, obviously with the news of Dalton having a
slightly torn UCL, I think it is. So we're going
to keep the hitting going. You know, he's gonna have
a slow program with a throwing don't know what that
looks like, you know, for the rest of the season
and throughout the postseason. Fortunately, it happened the day before
(23:58):
the trade deadline. So here we are a day after
we had two catchers on our roster and the day
today we're looking at two new catchers. And thankfully, you know,
we had wrote Vet last year caught in some postseason games,
we had Fidusha last year in the years prior, so
there's a lot of familiarity and so we certainly raised
(24:20):
the floor on the catching.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
That's Dave Roberts giving us that update on Dalton rushing
before the game that he does have a slight tear
of his right UCL. And look, that's that's a big
problem if you're a catcher that needs to throw.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
But they're going to keep the hitting going.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Remember, Otani was going to have Tommy John surgery a
few years back, and he's still finished out the season
for the Angels. So you can still hit with a
torn UCLA. You you cel whether it's slight or major.
But yeah, that's unfortunate for Dalton Rushing. That's a that's
a big blow. I was just singing the praises of
(24:59):
Dalton Rushing, how well he's controlled his emotions and how
well he's swinging the bat. That's a big loss for
the Dodgers. I'm glad they got Ben, Roard Finn and
Hunter Fiducca, but they're not Will Smith and Dalton Rushing.
Let's go out to Century City. Ben, You're on Dodger
Talk Live from Wrigley Field.
Speaker 13 (25:17):
Hi Ben, Hi, good evening. I'm gonna give away my
age here, but you know, my first great memory is
a Dodger stadium, Eric Ganne, Welcome to the jungle. You know,
the stadium shaking, big Kenley fan as well. When I
was a bit older, So I was so amped up
to see the Diaz signing this offseason. Really excited. His
(25:39):
first few appearances, you know, pretty worried and then it
made sense, Okay, he's you know, injured and getting that
magic new fangled surgery, and I've been worried you know,
obviously a lot of the focus on the offense, uh,
the hitting, but I gotta say, you know, his last
two appearances now post injury. Of course you've got to
(26:02):
be patient and everything, but yeah, it's I'm getting kind
of flashbacks to uh, sort of the Tanner Scott experience
last year.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And all right, bet let me let me ease your concerns,
because yes, in three games since coming back from surgery,
Edwin Diaz has not looked like Edwin Diaz. And during
the rehab process he was talking about getting the feel
for the slider because the slider was not where he
wanted it to be, and it hasn't been where he
(26:36):
needs it to be. Like I said, going back the
last you know, five years, I guess recent history here
talking to Dodger hitters about Edwin Diaz is facing him,
and the Dodgers have gone to Diaz in the past
when he was with the Mets. They say, if he
doesn't have his slider, then his fastball is very hittable
(26:59):
because that all you're sitting on. You don't have to
respect the slider. So the slider is his wipeout pitch.
That is the pitch. Uh, don't get distracted with the
ninety eight. The slider is the pitch, and Nico Horner
was sitting on the fastball because he knew Diaz did
not have his money slider tonight. So that's the issue,
(27:21):
and that's another part of the equation. Evan Phillips Edwin
Diaz are coming back after not pitching for long periods
of time. So all of these things are a perfect
storm to have a five game losing streak and just
not look like themselves so far. But Evan pitch good tonight.
(27:41):
He was solid, I guess tonight.
Speaker 13 (27:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, I believe in those guys in the
bullpen in general.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So that's it right there. I mean, look, if it's
going this way for d as ten more appearances from now,
Ben than we can have a serious conversation. And at
the end of the year. I have an interesting question
for Dodger fans. We all expect them to go to
the World Series and win it, who would be the
pitcher that gets the last out? Because in their previous
(28:15):
three World Series it wasn't their closer, It was Juliorius,
it was Walker Bueller, and it was Yamamoto last year.
Speaker 13 (28:24):
I mean, there's still no one in the world. I
want to see more than Yamamoto and the noun when
things really matter. He's my guy.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
What can I say?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
He's all of our guys been Thank you for the
phone call. World Series MVP. Let's go out to Eric
in Hollywood. Hi, Eric, you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
Dodger Dition.
Speaker 11 (28:44):
Oh Man, oh Dave, Wow.
Speaker 8 (28:46):
Wow.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
We're kind of like a little boozy streak or something
like that. Doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
We're the two time World Series tans.
Speaker 11 (28:54):
We're gonna have to deal with stuff like this during
the regular season. It's fine. We're gonna retool, we're gonna recalibrate,
we're gonna get things going. It sucks that Dlphin's got
that UCL That kind of bums me out, But you
know what, We've got all the weapons in our cachet
and we're ready to go, but we just need to
(29:15):
calibrate things. So doctor Nash, relax.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
We got this, We got this.
Speaker 11 (29:21):
You know what I mean. And Yo, I gotta give
you some DV yo.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
Ben Robred, everybody.
Speaker 11 (29:26):
Was telling you, everybody was calling you and saying, hey, man,
let's get in, let's get Ben back, and You're like, no, no, no, no, no,
and Drew was like, all right, let's bring back durham
Man Road back. So Drew's got to sump up his sleeve,
you know what I mean. He's bringing him back and
Hunter Producia. But hey, man, I don't care about this series.
I just want the Dodgers to recalibrate. I love the
(29:48):
fact that everybody's talking about us. We went through the
nineties and the two thousands and it sucked, and now
we are at the top of the hill and this
feels good. So that being said, Dodger Nation should let's
stay positive. Let's stay good.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
We got this. dB.
Speaker 11 (30:08):
Tell me something about Chicago hot dogs. Is that something to.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Eat over there or what?
Speaker 11 (30:13):
Or is it New York hot dogs? Of me eat
over there?
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I haven't had any hot dogs here, but the deep
dish is good. Eric, thank you for that monologue. I
love the energy and that's a great way to walk
it off tonight. And yes, I did say Ben Rortvitt
was not the only catcher in the world if the
Dodgers needed to acquire one, but he's a good one,
especially when you find out that Dalton Rushing as a
tear in his ucl.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
So Ben Rohdfitt.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I guess the biggest silver lining in all this is
that if you're gonna find out about an injury as
severe as Rushing has, at least you found.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Out before the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Because if this happened on August fourth, the Dodgers would
be in a heap of.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Trouble as far as they're catching situation.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
So that's why, I I hate to say it, I
was foreshadowing something there a week ago. What if Dalton
Rushing gets hurt, who do you have? And I was
not expecting this to happen, But man, the Dodgers are
very fortunate that, you know. I don't even want to
say they're fortunate, but I mean, dang it, Dalton Rushing
(31:21):
with a torn ucl. Hopefully Will Smith comes back here
in September. But luckily for the Dodgers, it happened before
three o'clock Pacific time yesterday and the trade deadline. Royt
Finn and Hunter Faducca, who were traded for each other
last year, are now teammates, so a little bit of
a surreal experience for both those guys. Tomorrow the Dodgers
(31:42):
will try to avoid the sweep. You know what, like
Tommy Lasorda said, I could find anybody to try. I
need somebody to do well. You got the right guy,
Uncle Tommy. Eric lower is on the mound and the
Dodgers are undefeated this year. When Loward takes the mound. Overall,
he's six and five with an ERA of four fifty,
going up against left handers Showta Imanaga, who is seven.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
And nine with an ERA of three sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Our coverage begins tomorrow morning at ten am, first pitch
at eleven twenty. Thanks to Dwayne McDonald out here at
Wrigley Field, thanks to calling me back at our burd
Bank Studios, and thanks to you for listening in case
you missed any of the show or our weekly conversation
with the manager Dave Roberts.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Presented by Downy Hundai.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
You know where to find it the iHeartRadio app once again.
The final score tonight at the Dodgers fall to the
Cubs five to one. Have a great rest of your night.
See you from Chicago. It's send it Away
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Time.
The quest for the three peat has begne.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Here we go again. We're gonta running back.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
To get in on the show called eight six six,
not eighty seven, two five seventy, and be sure to
follow Dodger Talk wherever you get your podcasts. Here's your host,
David Vase that day.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome the Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
David Vase with you until the top of the hour,
live from Wrigley Field. We have phone lines wide open
tonight at eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy.
I know many of you traveled to Chicago to see
the Dodgers at Wrigley Field in the middle of summer
instead of what seems to be a tradition where the
Dodgers get here in April. So this is refreshing, but
(00:58):
the result has not changed. The Dodgers have lost their
eighth series in the last ten years at Wrigley Field.
After dropping the first two games of this series, including tonight,
five to one, they have lost a season high five
in a row after being swept by the Red Sox.
(01:18):
And look, it's not just about the pitching or the bullpen.
The Dodger offense just has not been very productive, especially
the bottom of the order five through nine. It just
hasn't been there consistently. I mentioned this last night. I'll
mention it again. Freddy Freeman, now who extended his hitting
(01:38):
streak to fourteen games, has been on base forty five
times since the beginning of July and has only scored
eight runs. I'll say that again, Freddy Freeman has been
on base forty five times since the beginning of July
and has only been driven in eight times.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
That's shocking.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And what that tells me is guys like Muncie Betts, Tucker,
those guys and Tascar Hernandez for that matter, even though
he's a few hitters behind him, are not doing the
job to drive him in. And tonight Mookie Betts grounded
into a double play in the second inning, Kyle Tucker
(02:22):
Homer's I mean anything but a double play right there,
and all of a sudden you got a multi run lead.
And look, it's been a struggle for Mookie Betts. He's
only hitting two seventeen this year, with balls in play,
he is grounded into the second most double plays of
any Dodger. Is on base percentage is two eighty. His
slug in percentage is three ninety. It's hard to ignore
(02:46):
at this point in time, and you just wonder whether
or not the Dodgers are considering moving bets down in
the order to give Freddy Freeman some protection and more production.
Are they considering moving ta Oscar Hernandez backup in the lineup.
He's sitting over three hundred since the beginning of the
All Star break and is looking more like Taoscar Hernandez,
(03:07):
even though he did add a couple of bad at
bats tonight. But I could tell you this. A couple
of coaches told me today that going back to the
last homestand for seven ten games, ta Oscar Hernandez has
been in the batting cage, actively taking batting practice in
the cage at ten am. He's at the ballpark at
(03:27):
ten am, already taking batting practice on a night that
the game starts at seven ten. So don't tell me
Taoscar Hernandez doesn't care. And you know what else is happening,
because he's doing that who's showing up with him? Now,
Andy Pa has come on. You got to reward these
guys for putting in the work, and they're rewarding themselves.
(03:49):
Let's head downstairs right now to hear from Mookie Bets
on sports Net.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
LA.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Oh, it's a long season. This is a little dister rut. Okay,
I think everything's okay. I just know I need to
be better. Yeah, I can't speak for everyone else, but
I'm gonna have to help the team at some point.
It's been too long, frustrating. But you know, as far
(04:16):
as the boys, I mean, I think everybody's in. Everybody's
in a pretty good headspace, and it's just a time
that we go through. You never know what happens tomorrow.
What are you feeling that It is just kind of
missing for yourself personally right now, I have no idea.
I feel like I'm hitting the ball hard, feel like
I'm having good at beats, you know, not swinging at
bad pictures. It seems like every time I touch the
(04:39):
bat it goes at somebody. So I just need something.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
I'm just trying to figure it out. I'm founding it
is a stretch man, especially with where you were a
month ago and how well you were swinging the bat.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Then.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Yeah, I don't know, man, I don't even know what
I'm doing different. I feel like I'm hitting the ball
hard at the same rate I was hitting it at
the time.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I have no idea.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
I'm pretty candid throughout the season about your struggles.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
How hard is it to stay committed to your approach,
especially when you feel like you have the good quality
of the best that you wanted.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I mean, yeah, it's very hard. I mean I've never
you know, I've just never done this, so I don't
I don't really know how to get through it. So
every day I show up and I'm trying to restore
that hope meter in order to uh keep myself going.
But uh, it's it's this is uh really hard.
Speaker 7 (05:37):
What was about a year ago this time when you
said right off the season there's no play one day
at a time. Is that a then a restake you
need to make again or can you make?
Speaker 8 (05:49):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (05:49):
No, I mean I did that earlier in the season.
I mean that I just want to help us win.
That's that's really it. I mean, it doesn't matter you
can hit the ball hard are you want, doesn't matter
if it goes that's someone Those are outs and not
trying to be result based because that's that's you know,
a deep hole. But at some point you got to
(06:10):
help us win. And if you can't keep going out there,
and I mean I'm not saying I'm dragging us down,
but I'm not helping at all.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
What was all?
Speaker 6 (06:19):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
There's Mookie Bets on sports and at LA. He's very aware.
I mean, if you shoot MOOKI straight, he's going to
give you direct answers. And I thought he was really
honest right there. The thing that I'll say about Mookie Bets,
the reason why even last year he was still hitting
high up in the order is because he was taking
longer at bats and he was drawing walks. This year,
(06:42):
he's swinging first pitch. He grounded into a double play
in the second inning, and his walk rate is the
lowest of his career. He's not even taking walks, and
that makes it even more compounding. As far as the
h there's no other way to say this his worst
offensive season in his career. I mean, we're talking about
a future Hall of Famer and he's having his worst
(07:05):
offensive season, and that's hard to believe, especially coming off
of last year where he had at the time his
worst offensive season. Eight six six nine seven two five
seventy is the phone number Dodgers fall to the Cubs tonight,
five to one. David Vasse live at Wrigley Field. We'll
get to your phone calls in a moment. But tonight
(07:25):
there was a lot of excitement about Trek Schouoball making
his Dodger debut.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
He just needed some run support.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
He got one run tonight in his Dodger debut, and
that's hard for any pitcher to deal.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
With a couple of bad lucks.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
But Andy paj has saved him on a couple of
broken bat flares to center field. But Kyle Tucker misplayed
a ball that turned into a double for Alex Bregman
in the sixth inning, and that allowed the Unlucky Nico
or the the fortunate Nico Horner unlos Lucky Dodgers to
(08:01):
be the victim of the Baltimore chop there for the
goal ahead run to score. Let's go down back into
the Dodger Club aust to hear from Trek's school ball
on sports in at La yeah.
Speaker 9 (08:12):
I mean, that's going to bed last night, you know, excited.
It felt like, you know, my major league debut, you know,
kind of same type of vibe in terms of, you know,
the nerves running through. But I think that's all good stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I did a field by the time you took the mound,
and like you can actually get into the starter.
Speaker 9 (08:31):
I mean, baseball is baseball.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The game is the game.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
You know.
Speaker 9 (08:35):
It's my job to just go out there and compete
and do what I do what I can and try
to put our team in a position to win a
ball game. And that's all I can ask myself to do.
But the game's always just a game. Stuff was I
think it was one of your lowest strike rates, but
you got out the change up seemed to be working
the overall. Yeah, yeah, I mean I think my stuff
was plenty good. You know, I felt like I commanded
(08:56):
everything really well. I think, you know, maybe the lowest
tracker I don't even look at, don't even.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Know what it is, but.
Speaker 9 (09:01):
You know, when I was missing, I was missing in
the areas that I was trying to go. There's just
a few sinkers and a few sliders that can kind
of flip that bats. You know, I probably should be
a little better at first pitch strikes, and I think
especially second or third time through. You know, I need
to be better there. But you know, the stuff come
out my hand was is what I expect out of myself.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
How was it working with Ben and kind of just
being thrown together here?
Speaker 9 (09:27):
Yeah, he's great back there. He's great back there, called
a great game, you know, on the same page all night.
You know what he was trying to do, you know,
feeds right into what I'm trying to do on the mountain.
So credit to him. You know, it's tough both ways, right,
But I'm always gonna trust my catchers. You know, the
preparation that I get to watch those guys do you know,
even just today, I'm gonna always trust those guys. You
(09:49):
know that they're really important. And yeah, he was great
back there today for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
At the end of the sixth it looks like he
had a short combo with Dave Roberts. As you guys
get to know each other, pitch count any limits kind
of come into play.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
How important is that conversation?
Speaker 9 (10:03):
Yeah, No, I mean he just he told me I
was done. You know, I felt I felt good though,
you know, just kind of expressed that to him. But
I'm gonna trust him and in those decisions and where
he wants to go. You know, he's the manager for
a reason, so I'm always gonna, you know, support whatever
he thinks his best. But yeah, I think he's you know,
just words of encouragement about the outing obviously, but yeah,
I'm always gonna trust where he goes.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
He look like you were trying.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
To sneak a fastball by Dansby there and go ahead,
would maybe.
Speaker 9 (10:28):
That, Yeah, I mean, just trying to go down in
the way and if he jumps it, there's not much
damage there obviously, pull it back to the heart of
the plate kind of not where I'm trying to go.
And he put a good swing on it.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know.
Speaker 9 (10:38):
That was I think the only really hard hit ball today.
But yeah, he put a good swing on it. I mean,
he's a really good player. You know, he gets he
just pulled it back middle. If that ball's down in
a way, it's gonna be a tough time to pull
a fastball down in a way, you know, especially the
way he did. But you know, he put a good
swing on it for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
All Right, there's Trek school Bawl after making his Dodger debut,
going six innings tonight, aligned to e runs, including that
solo home run to Dan spy Swanson in the third inning.
And like I mentioned earlier, Dan spy Swanson has done
a number on the Dodgers this year. He's seven for
eighteen a three eighty eight batting average, with two home
(11:16):
runs and five RBIs against the Dodgers this season. Eight
sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
phone number. Let's go out to the phones for the
first time tonight, David and Westlake Village.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're on Dodger Talk Live from Chicago. How you doing.
Speaker 10 (11:32):
I'm doing great, DV. Thanks a lot for taking my call.
I guess this is what fans of other teams must
feel like. It's weird for Dodger fans to to kind
of lose this much. But here's the deal, man, When
you when you go on a losing streak like this,
you can look at every facet of the game going bad.
You know, there's bad base running, bad hitting, bad defense.
(11:53):
I'm wondering, is the fourth inning too early to do
a defensive replacement for Kyle Tucker. I'm just I'm kidding,
but I'm not really kidding. That guy is just you know,
he hits a home run and still manages to contribute
to a loss for the game.
Speaker 11 (12:11):
But here's the deal to me.
Speaker 10 (12:14):
When we get Will Smith back, you know, hopefully, and
Il Snell and Broken Glass now come come back, this
rotation with Yoshi and Scoobs is gonna be really great,
which changes the bullpen because right now the bullpen's a mess.
There's no one on the trust tree that that's on
there right now. And but when Robleski and Rokie go
(12:37):
to the bullpen, when all our big dogs come back,
I put us up against anybody, So things are gonna turn.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
What do you think, d d.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Right, all right, David, Yeah, you made some good points there.
I know you took some shots at some guys and okay,
that's fine.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
It makes for entertaining radio right there.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
But nonetheless, let's let's not forget the last two years,
the Dodgers have played more games than any other team
in baseball, and they have had shorter off seasons than
any other teams in baseball. And I had a current player,
you know, give me a phone call yesterday. We were
just talking about a few different things.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
And I mentioned just.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
How the Dodgers are in a little bit of a
rut offensively, and he said, that's a They are playing
more games than anybody else the last two years. It
takes a lot out of you physically and mentally. And
we're in the dog days of August, so that may
be part of all this. Maybe the dog days of
August are a little heavier for the Dodgers than most
(13:43):
teams out there. I'm not going to say that's an excuse,
but that's from a current player, maybe a contributing factor.
Let's go out to Ray in Georgia listening on the
iHeartRadio app Hi Ray, you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Hey Dave, thanks for getting me on.
Speaker 6 (13:58):
And I just have a couple of things.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
The first thing is, sometimes in a slump like this,
you got to make things happen. And when I saw
bets coming up after a tiny got I forget who
got on ahead of uh? That's I say, lay down
a bun.
Speaker 11 (14:14):
Try to get.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
A bunt down that ignites a team. Looks like Dave
Robertson in the World Series, I mean in the playoffs
against the Yankee set one stolen base and you can
maybe start a rally there. And just that's why I'm
glad word for it is back. This guy is like
a mosquito that's gonna that can ignite a team in
a sense maybe by just hustling. You know what I'm
(14:39):
saying is and so uh Pa has too. He's so
young he can make himself more valuable by learning the
bun Morey Willis is in heaven right now saying what's
going on with these Dodgers. And one other thing, see
see what you think about is when I look at
uh Will Smith being out a lineup. He's a right
(15:00):
handed back. It gives a lot of a protection to
our lefties too, and he has power and right now
we don't have that right now.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So one, yeah, they're not getting a lot from the
right handed hitters. That's pretty apparent. Ray, And I'm glad
you brought up Will Smith because the Dodgers miss him
and they're going to miss Dalton Rushing's bad as well.
I mean, Dalton Rushing had an ops of over eight
hundred eighty at twelve home runs. Uh, they're missing the
offense from their catchers, but especially Will Smith from the
(15:29):
right side.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Great call, Ray, thanks a.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Lot for listening to us, and we'll see you in
Atlanta later this month.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
You got it, you got it in The heat takes
care of day.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Hey, the heat's everywhere.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
El ninil eight sixty six nine eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Dodgers fall to the Cups
tonight five to one. We're gonna take a time out
when we continue more of your phone calls. We have
two lines open at eight sixty six nine eight seven
two five seventy.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Also, you'll hear from Dave Raws.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
On what he shared with us exclusively regarding the extent
of Dalton Rushing's elbow injuries.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So don't go anywhere more.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Dodger talk on a five to seventy LA Sports Cubs
beat the Dodgers five to one.
Speaker 9 (16:20):
Hi, this is Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
This is the home of the back to back world
champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 9 (16:25):
Don't miss a moment of the quest. Four to three, P.
Speaker 12 (16:29):
Two one, Tucker slings hits a high drive the left
center field, caring this ball headed back and his gone
and office a field home run Kyle Tucker. He comes
back to Wrigley Field and picks up his tenth pome
runner this season, getting the Dodgers on the board and
it is.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
One to nothing.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Kyle Tucker turned the booze into silence and cheers from
the Dodger fans that were here at Wrigley Field, and
that was the only run the Dodgers score tonight as
the Cubs beat them again five to one. Daniel S
Jewelers presents the home run Forecast. For your chance to
win a fifty dollars Daniels Jewelers gift card, visit AM
(17:10):
five to seventy lasports dot com. Use the keyword home
run and to your name you could win. Daniel S
Jewelers own the dream. With the Dodgers loss and another win,
the Diamondbacks are just eight and a half games back
of the Dodgers now, and more importantly, the Dodgers now
are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the number two
(17:32):
seed in the National League. The Brewers are two games
better than both the Dodgers and Braves for the top
seed in the National League. And I just mentioned to
our friend Ray and Georgia the Dodgers will be in
Atlanta to take on the Braves later this month and
that should be a big series as it as it
(17:52):
pertains to seeding in the National League postseason. We all
know the top two seeds get to skip that wildcard series.
If you're the number three seed, you have to play
the top wildcard team in an NLDS matchup. So, uh,
that's that's something that is steering the Dodgers in the
(18:15):
face after losing their fifth in a row. Eight six
six seven, two five seventy is the phone number. Let's
go out to Dave and to Luca Lake. You're on
Dodger Talk Live from Wrigley Field.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Hi, Dave, heyy Dave, how you doing, man? You're the man.
Always love listening to your show. Congratulations on being connected
with some great trajectory here. I got two questions. I
always wonder if when a team, you know, like the
Dodgers come out and alys scratch one run, is it
(18:50):
bad hitting or is it good pitching? You know? And
you could say that with any kind of sporting event,
like is it good d or great offense or vice versa.
Then the other thing, a sense of urgency. Sense of
urgency is something you can't fake. Everybody says, oh, you
gotta have a sense of urgency create sense of urgency,
but says of urgency is something that comes from deep inside,
(19:11):
when you really have that feared when you're like a
wounded animal. So my question to you is, at what
point do you think the Dodgers will have a sense
of urgency because in the past they haven't had one,
and they got punched in the mouth going into the
playoffs when they had one hundred plus wins. So this
is a mine.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Dave, pump pump the brakes. You're talking about something that happened.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Three years ago. We're talking about the here and now.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
They're the reigning back to back World Series champions, So
I would say they've had a sense of urgency.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Come on, well, yeah, no, I get I get that, and.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I had the best record in baseball for a long
stretch of time. This is just about the ebbs and
flows about a season, and right now the offense is
in a little bit of a funk. But I'm not
going to make these broad brushes of statements to declare
the Dodgers are not playing with urgency where they flat
against the Red Sox, I guess so the Red Sox
(20:09):
are a hungry young team because they're fighting for their
playoff lives. The Dodgers are not. And in that series
at Dodgers Stadium, the Dodgers threw out a bullpen game
and image shean in that series. So come on, let's
take a step back and examine what's exactly going on.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
And let me just say one thing about the Cops.
Credit to them. They look like a legit contender. There's
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Oh they're legit.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
And they just got Clay Holmes and Kevin Gossman, and
they just acquired a really good reliever from the Angels
and Zephyr John. You saw that tonight as well. So
all of that has contributed to the Cubs beating the
Dodgers in the first two games of this series. Hey Dave,
great call, Thanks a lot for the phone call. Eight
sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy is the
(20:57):
phone number. Trek Scuoble went six innings tonight, struck out six,
allowed just two earned runs but no offense from the Dodgers.
And look, like I said, I'm not going to say
the Dodgers don't have urgency.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
He was going back three years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, they didn't have the sense of urgency in those playoffs.
Series in twenty two and twenty three. They thought they
could just show up be the Dodgers and beat the
Padres and Diamondbacks, and we found out you can't do that.
But the Dodgers have made major adjustments in their mindset
going into the postseason each of the last two years
(21:35):
and it's resulted in winning back to back championships. And look,
the biggest concerns right now would be the Dodgers' lineup,
and you go back to last year. The Dodgers ran
Michael Confordo out every single day all season long, and
then when at time to get to the postseason, they
(21:56):
left them off the playoff roster. So even though right
now Mookie Beds probably shouldn't be hitting fifth, I'm not
going to overreact that they have to move him down immediately.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
But.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
You have lost five in a row.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
He is stalling a lot of rallies, and when the
Dodgers talk about passing the baton, he's not really doing that,
not even taking walks, And to me, that's a big
problem because he's had his lowest walk rate. And I'm
not putting this all on Mooki Ohtani really hasn't done
a lot here. In the last couple of weeks. When
he does, the Dodgers have a good chance to win.
(22:33):
Max Munsey's been in a little bit of a funk
outside of a couple of key home runs on the
last road trip. Ta Oscar Hernandez to me, should be
hitting behind Freeman and Munseie right now at this point,
because with one swing he could give you a three
run lead. And Tommy Edmond he's cooled off since he
came back. But trust me, losing Dalton Rushing and not
(22:55):
having Will Smith hurts the offense, especially at the bottom
of the order. Speaking of Dalton Rushing, we got a
little bit more detail on the extent of his right
elbow injury. Dave Roberts joins us every week on the
Manager's Meeting presented by Downy Hunday, and here's what he
told us as far as the Rushing's injury and the extent.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Of it and how long they may be without Rushing.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Dave Roberts is our guest the Manager's Meeting presented by
Downey Hyundai. All Right, you got Trek Scooble on the mound,
and you got Ben rhurtvid catching. Ben Rurtvitt is back,
So is Hunter Fiducca. Where is the Dodgers catching situation
right now?
Speaker 8 (23:37):
You know, obviously with the news of Dalton having a
slightly torn UCL, I think it is. So we're going
to keep the hitting going. You know, he's gonna have
a slow program with a throwing don't know what that
looks like, you know, for the rest of the season
and throughout the postseason. Fortunately, it happened the day before
(23:58):
the trade deadline. So here we are a day after
we had two catchers on our roster and the day
today we're looking at two new catchers. And thankfully, you know,
we had wrote Vet last year caught in some postseason games,
we had Fidusha last year in the years prior, so
there's a lot of familiarity and so we certainly raised
(24:20):
the floor on the catching.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
That's Dave Roberts giving us that update on Dalton rushing
before the game that he does have a slight tear
of his right UCL. And look, that's that's a big
problem if you're a catcher that needs to throw.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
But they're going to keep the hitting going.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Remember, Otani was going to have Tommy John surgery a
few years back, and he's still finished out the season
for the Angels. So you can still hit with a
torn UCLA. You you cel whether it's slight or major.
But yeah, that's unfortunate for Dalton Rushing. That's a that's
a big blow. I was just singing the praises of
(24:59):
Dalton Rushing, how well he's controlled his emotions and how
well he's swinging the bat. That's a big loss for
the Dodgers. I'm glad they got Ben, Roard Finn and
Hunter Fiducca, but they're not Will Smith and Dalton Rushing.
Let's go out to Century City. Ben, You're on Dodger
Talk Live from Wrigley Field.
Speaker 13 (25:17):
Hi Ben, Hi, good evening. I'm gonna give away my
age here, but you know, my first great memory is
a Dodger stadium, Eric Ganne, Welcome to the jungle. You know,
the stadium shaking, big Kenley fan as well. When I
was a bit older, So I was so amped up
to see the Diaz signing this offseason. Really excited. His
(25:39):
first few appearances, you know, pretty worried and then it
made sense, Okay, he's you know, injured and getting that
magic new fangled surgery, and I've been worried you know,
obviously a lot of the focus on the offense, uh,
the hitting, but I gotta say, you know, his last
two appearances now post injury. Of course you've got to
(26:02):
be patient and everything, but yeah, it's I'm getting kind
of flashbacks to uh, sort of the Tanner Scott experience
last year.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And all right, bet let me let me ease your concerns,
because yes, in three games since coming back from surgery,
Edwin Diaz has not looked like Edwin Diaz. And during
the rehab process he was talking about getting the feel
for the slider because the slider was not where he
wanted it to be, and it hasn't been where he
(26:36):
needs it to be. Like I said, going back the
last you know, five years, I guess recent history here
talking to Dodger hitters about Edwin Diaz is facing him,
and the Dodgers have gone to Diaz in the past
when he was with the Mets. They say, if he
doesn't have his slider, then his fastball is very hittable
(26:59):
because that all you're sitting on. You don't have to
respect the slider. So the slider is his wipeout pitch.
That is the pitch. Uh, don't get distracted with the
ninety eight. The slider is the pitch, and Nico Horner
was sitting on the fastball because he knew Diaz did
not have his money slider tonight. So that's the issue,
(27:21):
and that's another part of the equation. Evan Phillips Edwin
Diaz are coming back after not pitching for long periods
of time. So all of these things are a perfect
storm to have a five game losing streak and just
not look like themselves so far. But Evan pitch good tonight.
(27:41):
He was solid, I guess tonight.
Speaker 13 (27:45):
Yeah, yeah, no, I believe in those guys in the
bullpen in general.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So that's it right there. I mean, look, if it's
going this way for d as ten more appearances from now,
Ben than we can have a serious conversation. And at
the end of the year. I have an interesting question
for Dodger fans. We all expect them to go to
the World Series and win it, who would be the
pitcher that gets the last out? Because in their previous
(28:15):
three World Series it wasn't their closer, It was Juliorius,
it was Walker Bueller, and it was Yamamoto last year.
Speaker 13 (28:24):
I mean, there's still no one in the world. I
want to see more than Yamamoto and the noun when
things really matter. He's my guy.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
What can I say?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
He's all of our guys been Thank you for the
phone call. World Series MVP. Let's go out to Eric
in Hollywood. Hi, Eric, you're on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
Dodger Dition.
Speaker 11 (28:44):
Oh Man, oh Dave, Wow.
Speaker 8 (28:46):
Wow.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
We're kind of like a little boozy streak or something
like that. Doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
We're the two time World Series tans.
Speaker 11 (28:54):
We're gonna have to deal with stuff like this during
the regular season. It's fine. We're gonna retool, we're gonna recalibrate,
we're gonna get things going. It sucks that Dlphin's got
that UCL That kind of bums me out, But you
know what, We've got all the weapons in our cachet
and we're ready to go, but we just need to
(29:15):
calibrate things. So doctor Nash, relax.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
We got this, We got this.
Speaker 11 (29:21):
You know what I mean. And Yo, I gotta give
you some DV yo.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
Ben Robred, everybody.
Speaker 11 (29:26):
Was telling you, everybody was calling you and saying, hey, man,
let's get in, let's get Ben back, and You're like, no, no, no, no, no,
and Drew was like, all right, let's bring back durham
Man Road back. So Drew's got to sump up his sleeve,
you know what I mean. He's bringing him back and
Hunter Producia. But hey, man, I don't care about this series.
I just want the Dodgers to recalibrate. I love the
(29:48):
fact that everybody's talking about us. We went through the
nineties and the two thousands and it sucked, and now
we are at the top of the hill and this
feels good. So that being said, Dodger Nation should let's
stay positive. Let's stay good.
Speaker 6 (30:06):
We got this. dB.
Speaker 11 (30:08):
Tell me something about Chicago hot dogs. Is that something to.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Eat over there or what?
Speaker 11 (30:13):
Or is it New York hot dogs? Of me eat
over there?
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I haven't had any hot dogs here, but the deep
dish is good. Eric, thank you for that monologue. I
love the energy and that's a great way to walk
it off tonight. And yes, I did say Ben Rortvitt
was not the only catcher in the world if the
Dodgers needed to acquire one, but he's a good one,
especially when you find out that Dalton Rushing as a
tear in his ucl.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
So Ben Rohdfitt.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
I guess the biggest silver lining in all this is
that if you're gonna find out about an injury as
severe as Rushing has, at least you found.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Out before the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Because if this happened on August fourth, the Dodgers would
be in a heap of.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Trouble as far as they're catching situation.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
So that's why, I I hate to say it, I
was foreshadowing something there a week ago. What if Dalton
Rushing gets hurt, who do you have? And I was
not expecting this to happen, But man, the Dodgers are
very fortunate that, you know. I don't even want to
say they're fortunate, but I mean, dang it, Dalton Rushing
(31:21):
with a torn ucl. Hopefully Will Smith comes back here
in September. But luckily for the Dodgers, it happened before
three o'clock Pacific time yesterday and the trade deadline. Royt
Finn and Hunter Faducca, who were traded for each other
last year, are now teammates, so a little bit of
a surreal experience for both those guys. Tomorrow the Dodgers
(31:42):
will try to avoid the sweep. You know what, like
Tommy Lasorda said, I could find anybody to try. I
need somebody to do well. You got the right guy,
Uncle Tommy. Eric lower is on the mound and the
Dodgers are undefeated this year. When Loward takes the mound. Overall,
he's six and five with an ERA of four fifty,
going up against left handers Showta Imanaga, who is seven.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
And nine with an ERA of three sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Our coverage begins tomorrow morning at ten am, first pitch
at eleven twenty. Thanks to Dwayne McDonald out here at
Wrigley Field, thanks to calling me back at our burd
Bank Studios, and thanks to you for listening in case
you missed any of the show or our weekly conversation
with the manager Dave Roberts.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Presented by Downy Hundai.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
You know where to find it the iHeartRadio app once again.
The final score tonight at the Dodgers fall to the
Cubs five to one. Have a great rest of your night.
See you from Chicago. It's send it Away
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Time.
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