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December 17, 2025 46 mins

Off season Dodger Talk with David Vassegh who talks to Dodgers pitcher River Ryan and takes your phone calls.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is off season Dodger Talk.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Get in on the show by calling eight sixty six
nine a seven four hashtag Dodger Talk and now your host,
David Basse.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to our final Dodger Talk of twenty twenty five.
That's right after tonight. We will talk to you in
twenty twenty six. We got a great show for you tonight,
and phone lines are open at eight six six nine
eighty seven two five seventy. Coming up at the bottom
of the hour, we are going to be joined by
Dodger pitching prospect River Ryan, who showed a glimpse of

(00:36):
how talented he is before undergoing Tommy John surgery in
twenty twenty four, missing all of twenty five, starting to
come back towards the end as far as pitching on
the backfields at Camelback Ranch. And the reason why I
wanted to have River Ryan on the show tonight is
because many of his teammates were raving about what they

(00:59):
saw from River Ryan the last month of the season,
and they were telling me about him during the October
postseason run about what they saw. They said he was
electric and even better than the way he was pitching
before he had Tommy John surgery. And the interesting part

(01:21):
about River Ryan is a the Dodgers traded Matt Batty
for River Ryan, who was a shortstop and pitcher somewhat
of a two way player. And when the Dodgers acquired
River Ryan, they said, forget about shortstop, you have the
goods to be a pitcher. And you know he's been
pitching exclusively probably for two and a half three years.

(01:46):
And River Ryan, to me, is going to be this
year's version of Emma Shean, a pitcher that has immense talent,
big stuff, and is not going to be rushed to
be part of the rotation the first half of the season.
So to me, Dave Roberts said in spring training last year,
Emt Sheen was his sleeper pick to help the Dodgers

(02:09):
the second half of the season. Well, I am going
to bet on River Ryan and Dave Roberts saying the
same thing about River Ryan in spring training. If he's asked,
eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is
the phone number. It was a great show last night
to kick it off with Mike Soshia and Mickey Hatcher.

(02:32):
And as I mentioned last night, I got a great
tweet and usually tweet replies are not that great. But
I got a great comparison from a fan that responded
to those two guys being on the show last night
that they were the nineteen eighty eight Dodgers version of
Keik A Hernandez and Will Smith. I would say that's

(02:56):
as close of a good comparison of players that you
can make from twenty twenty five to nineteen eighty eight.
There's a third and that would be Oral Herscheizer and
Yoshi Yamamoto. But when it comes to the guys we
had on the show last night, Mickey Hatcher had a
lot of edge. He was tough, don't get it twisted.

(03:17):
But he also knew how to keep the clubhouse loose,
how to have some fun, and that's what Keike Hernandez does.
And Mike Sosha was the rock. He was the rock
of the Dodgers. Never got too high, never got too low,
and that's Will Smith. Now, their strengths as catchers are
much different, but their personality very much in line with

(03:40):
each other as catchers. So great comparison last night, And
if you have any thoughts on what they had to
say about what they were doing, how they broke down
the World Series. Now's the time our final show of
the year eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two, five seventy,
And I want to know you know, I'm not going
to say to you what is the most critical play

(04:02):
of Game seven of the World Series, because there were
three or four times if the Dodgers did not make
a play or did not hit a home run, they're
losing the World Series in Game seven instead of celebrating
back to back World Series championships. I guess the way
to phrase this is the way I feel. To me,

(04:23):
the ball was going to be caught in center field,
whether it was Pajez or keik A Hernandez. To me,
the most heartrenching and maybe the closest play that the
Dodgers may have lost the World Series was the play
at the plate Miguel Rojas thrown to Will Smith and
Isaiah kana Falafa not getting a big enough lead. Mickey

(04:46):
Hatcher and Mikezosha talked about that and they basically shot
down all the excuses people are trying to make for him,
and also Will Smith having his foot come off home
plate for a split second, so to for me, that
was the play of Game seven. What was yours? Eight six, six, nine, eight, seven,

(05:07):
two five seventy. I know everybody wants to know what's next. Well,
what's next? We had Andrew Friedman on the show last
week and here's what he said, is next for the
Dodgers off season?

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, I think adding a bat would be great and
it would just take some pressure off some of our
younger guys. That being said, things happen over the course
of the season and getting our younger guys sim at
bats is going to be really important. Things play out
in that way. But I think just building out the
depth more, adding a really interesting kind of position player

(05:44):
that fits into our group really well is very high
on the list.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
All right. That was Andrew Friedman on Dodger Talk last week,
and if you missed the show or the interview, you
can find it on the iHeartRadio app. You know, here
are the names that fit that description. First and foremost
Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals. Will the Dodgers be able
to pull off a trade for Donovan and beat out
whatever the Cardinals are being offered for him remains to

(06:11):
be seen. Lars Newbar, I feel a little overrated. I
know people have mentioned his name, and yes, his versatility
to play all three outfield spots is nice, but to me,
it's not the guy that I would want. Number two,
Jared Duran I don't believe the Dodgers are as high

(06:32):
on Jared Durant as everybody wants to make you believe.
The other players that have been connected to the Dodgers.
Harrison Bader, who they had interest in at the trade
deadline last year, he would have interest in playing here.
He's got some edge, plays great center field and can hit.
And the other is still with a team. And the

(06:54):
Astros are listening to offers on Jake Myers, who they
drafted in twenty seventeen, and he had his breakout season
last year. Offensively hit two ninety three, had a high
on base and slugging percentage. So that's an interesting name
as well, that plays great center field defense and offensively
started to make things happen. Now, last night, I didn't

(07:18):
have a chance to really get into this, but all
I said it on Petro some money. I'll say it again.
I know Tyler Glass now went on serious XM Radio
and said the Dodgers reassured him that he's not being traded.
You know, it's probably something to put his off season
at ease. But you can't tell me if the Dodgers

(07:40):
and Tigers are talking about a trade for Trek Scouobele
and the Tigers say, you know, we need a pitcher
that is going to help us win this year and
they ask for Tyler Glass. Now, for example, you can't
tell me Andrew Friedman's going to tell the Tigers now
you know what them in December, we're not trading him.

(08:02):
Can't do it, Sally, I find that very hard to believe. So,
you know, things are very fluid in the off season,
and I'm sure Tyler took whatever conversation he had as
if the Dodgers were not going to trade him, and look,
they very well might not. But I don't believe any
player on the Dodgers is untouchable outside of Otani Yamamoto,

(08:27):
Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. I'll put it that way.
And as far as the latest on school Bol goes,
it's in a holding pattern. The ball is in the
Tiger's court. Are you going to trade him or are
you not going to trade him? And I don't believe
that decision is going to be made by the Tigers,
and not just their GM, but by their ownership until January.

(08:50):
And oh, by the way, the Tigers signed the all
time Dodgers saves leader Kennley Jansen, who I can't believe
accepted that contract. He could have got a lot more
on the open market than what he got from the Tigers.
I mean, he made ten million dollars with the Angels
last year and there was no question about him being
the closer. The Tigers gave him a club option and

(09:13):
a two million dollar buyout on top of nine million guaranteed,
so he got one million dollar more to pitch in Detroit.
Come on with some of those reliever contracts. He could
have done a lot better in my opinion. And if
he needs me to represent him next year, let me know,
ken Lee. I'm available during the off season. When we

(09:34):
continue on Dodger Talk, your phone calls, we have two
lines open, and also we'll get into bo Bischett and
how he may fit coming up. At the bottom of
the hour, River Ryan will join us and as we
go to break, I just want to send out my
condolences to the Reiner family. Rob Reiner was a huge
Dodger fan that's been talked about over the last few days.

(09:56):
Rob and Michelle, we send our condolences to your family
and you will be sorely missed at Dodger Stadium. And
we're hearing so many great things that Rob Reiner did
to help everybody instead of just himself and his direct interests.
How about this. One of his friends tweeted that Rob

(10:18):
Reiner who had dugout seats for years at Dodger Stadium,
and when he knew he couldn't use the tickets, he
would share them with American gold Star Mothers. It was
an organization created to help parents deal with the loss
of their kids in the line of duty for the
United States Armed Forces. That was Rob Reiner and he

(10:41):
will be missed. And we'll continue with Dodger Talk next
right here on five seventy LA Sports. Hey, check out
Petro's and Money tomorrow two to four at the BJS
in West Covina, their last remote show on the Streets
of LA. They'll be at the BJ's in West Covina

(11:03):
two to four o'clock. I will not be there, and
I look forward to the day that Petros and Money
come out to the Woodland Hills bjays. I'll show up
to that one anyway. Had a lot of good times
in West Covina back in the day. In that shopping
center there was a National Sports Grill back in the day,
and that was a very very fun place. I actually

(11:25):
produced a Joe McDonald show there once where Kirk Gibson
showed up in nineteen ninety eight and he was doing
a promotion with cors Light and they had his image
of rounding the bases after hitting his legendary walk off
home run on the can of course light and I

(11:46):
remember Kirk Gibson signing those cans of beer for Big Joe.
Don't know where that went because Joe never drank, so
I'm not sure where those cans of beer went. And
I stayed for the after party. It was a good time.
And tomorrow at Bjason, West Covina, I'm sure it's gonna
be a great time as well. Petro. Some money will
be there two to four, but I encourage you to

(12:06):
stay for after they're gone, because they're gonna be giving
away prizes until five o'clock and then you could see
my rams take on the Seattle Seahawks. Eight six six
nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number
we're gonna hear from River Ryan coming up at the
bottom of the hour. But first let's go out to

(12:27):
the phones and David in Paramount. You're on Dodger Talk.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
David, I hear you on the radio. I see you
on TV. You know, I watch your show sometimes on
the Thank You Gusk on TV with when when you
come on and talk to the other sports people on TV.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
On the screen here it says that you were a
Game three of the World Series and you caught the
show heo Tani game tying home run in the seventh inning?
Is that true?

Speaker 2 (12:56):
That is correct, sir, Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
I heard about this because there's an auction going on
for that baseball right now at scpauctions dot com and
it closes tomorrow. It's crazy. I was just looking to
see what the bidding's at. It's at one hundred and
eighty thousand dollars last check, David. So you caught this
ball and you decided to auction it off.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
It took me a little while, you know, after consulting
with the family, you know, I felt that it was
a great thing to do and see where this ends up.
This is I'll be just obviously my first time ever
involved in such a moment. So I wanted to give
it a try. I wasn't going to, but we just

(13:43):
went for it.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
This could be make the family a very happy merry Christmas,
I'm sure.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Or a three wise Man Day in January, or even
my wife's birthday, which is on January twenty fifth.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
That's awesome. That's awesome. Hey David, where were you sitting
and did did you catch this home run from Otani
in Game three cleanly? Did you catch it clean or
did it bounce and you had to scramble for it.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
I was sitting in section three or seven of the
left field pavilion, occupying seat seventeen, and when Showhy came
up to bad, we were down. Went out in the
seventeen first pitch off of mister Sir Anthony Domingez, yahoom.

(14:35):
It came off, It flew up and we were all
looking at it. I was looking at it. I was
looking at it, and then I've seen it fall off
to my left about maybe ten to fifteen feet, bounced
off a fan and it bounced directly into my hands
and I felt it hit my left arm. I gripped it.

(14:56):
Just pandemonium, It just went crazy. Everybody, my son was excited,
everybody in our section was excited, and I just didn't
let go that ball. I enjoyed it.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
So is that where you sit when you usually go
to Dodger games? Or was that that's just where you
sat for the World Series?

Speaker 2 (15:13):
That's normally where where my son and I sit. Yeah,
because he's a season ticket holder, and you know, every
now and then I'll catch a ball again with him,
and that's where we were.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's amazing, that's so cool. And did you stay for
all eighteen innings?

Speaker 2 (15:27):
All eighteen innings? We were not going to leave because
we already knew that after that game was tied and
it went into extra innings, and it just kept going
and kept going, and just kept hoping that the Dodgers
would win the game. And it happened when Freddie Freeman
hits that home run, and it was like, oh my god,

(15:47):
you know, we went nuts. Yes, we stayed. We stayed
until it was over.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
That's so awesome. Hey, congratulations on being so lucky to
have that ball bounce right into your hands. It was
the game tying home run. O'tani that game a major
league record on base nine times. Going into extra innings.
He was trying to carry the Dodgers to a win
in nine innings, and luckily for the Dodgers, they got

(16:14):
it in eighteen. So man, David, thank you for calling,
and congratulations and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
And we'll keep tabs on where this ball ends. It
ends tomorrow night the auction I was checking it out.
So if you want this baseball, scpauctions dot com is
where you go. All right, David, Merry Christmas and call

(16:36):
back anytime.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Thank you, sir, God mess you take care. Happy Merry Christmas,
Happy New Year, see you and your family and stay safe. Please.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Hey, happy Merry Christmas to you too, David, thanks for calling,
appreciate it. How about that the guy that caught Otani's
game tying home run in the seventh inning of Game
three of the World Series calling in, And you know
I did see this online at cp auctions dot com
that this ball is being auctioned, and last checked it

(17:05):
was close to two hundred thousand dollars. It closes tomorrow,
so I don't begrudge him. You know, it's great to
have a baseball, but it's even better to have two
hundred thousand dollars eight six six nine eighty seven. Two
five seventy is the phone number. Man Well and Guardina.
If you were in David shoes, would you have kept
the baseball or would you put it up for auction?

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Nah?

Speaker 4 (17:28):
Man, you gotta go with David Man got option that
that bad boy. That's a life for your family. A
speaking of family, am five seventy guys like you the
real DV my Man, Ronnie Fossio, my man calling ye.
I'm just so thankful man for you guys, for everything

(17:49):
you guys give us all year long. You guys are
the gift that keeps giving man like Sanna Sack all
year long.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (18:00):
And so I love it man, all the Dodger Info.
Looking forward to this new upcoming season with Edwin Diaz
and all the moves that the brain trust is gonna
make with Gombs and Freedmen, you know, because I know
it's gonna be some moving parts. But we were talking
about it on hold me and Ronnie. It's not impossible

(18:24):
to three Pete And I'm thinking it's more like it's
impending because the way that this organization handles their business
is second to none. And I'm so proud to be
a Dodger fan, and like I said before, man, I'm
just thankful for you guys at five point seventy for
keeping us in the loop every day.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
All right, Well, Marry Christmas, have a.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
Great day day season. You deserve the time off.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Thank you many appreciate it. Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year to you as well. Look, it's not impossible to threepete.
It happened five years ago when the Yankees did it,
the A's did it in the seventies, of course. I
mean when we talk about modern day three peats, those
are the two that really stand out to me. So

(19:13):
it can be done. And the Dodgers are in that mindset,
from Mark Walter to Andrew Friedman, to Dave Roberts to
the players to want to go for a three peat,
and they have the players to do it. They're going
to add more players to try to achieve that. And
there are no apologies to be had the Dodgers. You know,

(19:36):
thirteen fourteen years ago we're the laughing stock of baseball.
Under Frank McCort and Mark Walter, Magic Johnson, Todd Bowley
and the rest of that ownership group has resurrected this
franchise and made it the best in baseball. And these
last fourteen years are the best fourteen years the Dodgers

(19:59):
have ever enjoyed in their franchise illustrious franchise history. As
far as sustained success goes, it's been remarkable compared to
where they were just merely in twenty eleven, twenty twelve.
It wasn't that long ago. So there are no apologies
needed for what the Dodgers are doing. They're playing within

(20:21):
the rules. But as I have said many times before,
whether it's the Dodgers television deal, whether it's the Dodgers
deferring payments, which by the way, all the teams do
it started. You know, they have Bobby Bonia day for
a reason. His salary was deferred by the Mets back

(20:42):
in the late nineties, and that was the brainchild of
his agent, Dennis Gogo Gilbert. So for those that have
sour grapes and are salty about the Dodgers deferring contracts,
it's been going on for a long time. Okay, it's
been going on for quite some time. And now they're
a luxury tax and there are three or four steps

(21:02):
ahead of everybody else. And now you're starting to see
other teams this offseason start to defer contracts, including the
Blue Jays with Dylan c. So again, the Dodgers are three, four,
five steps ahead of everybody else. And when you talk
about the Dodgers pursuing a guy like Tarrek's scooble has

(21:23):
nothing to do with their payroll, has everything to do
with their player development. They're scouting and cultivating young players
that other teams covet for a picture the caliber of
Trek's scouble. Let's go out to Ed and Wittier. You're
on Dodger Talk. How you doing?

Speaker 5 (21:40):
Ed?

Speaker 6 (21:42):
Doing great? Dave? Thank you so much for taking my call.
I just want to say thank you for the whole
entire year and all this time you've been with the Dodgers.
It's amazing. I've talked to you a couple of times
this season and it's always a pleasure to be on
the radio with you.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
Hey, thank you, edpreciate it.

Speaker 6 (22:02):
So my question is, is I know we're going for
a three P. This year was an amazing year followed
up with the twenty twenty four World Series to get
that three P. Who do you believe is our biggest contender?
I know it's still super early in the offseason and
there's a lot more thought are going to happen. But

(22:23):
who do you see is gonna be our kind of
biggest hurdle? And then where do you think the Padres
are at and the Orioles as well, with that signing
that they did earlier. I'll hang out on here. You respond, thank.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
Dave, all right, ed, thank you for the phone call. Well,
here's something that I brought up on Sports and at
LA last week, when you're talking about the Orioles signing
Pete Alonso, who I thought was going to sign with
the Red Sox. But the Red Sox are trying to
play too rational. Andrew Friedman made the saying famous now

(22:57):
and infamous in some ways that if you're going to
be rational in free agency, you're not going to sign
the player. You've got to be irrational to sign the
best players in free agency. And I am shocked the
Red Sox did not land Peede Alonzo. I thought the
Orioles had one of those anomaly seasons where they have
so much good young talent that they just took a

(23:20):
step backwards. But I fully expect them to take a
big step forward. And since twenty eighteen when the Dodgers
and Red Sox met in the World Series. Every Al
East team has played the Dodgers in the World Series
since twenty eighteen, except the Baltimore Orioles. Does it mean

(23:41):
it's their turn? Think about it. Every Dodger Championship or
every Dodger World Series matchup since twenty eighteen has been
Dodgers versus the Red Sox in eighteen, Dodgers versus the
Rays in twenty, Dodgers versus Yankees in twenty twenty five,
in this past year, Dodgers versus Blue Jays. So is

(24:05):
that the Orioles turn to step up and try to
knock off the Dodgers, something that other ALS teams haven't
been able to do. As far as the National League
goes to me, as we sit here today before Christmas,
December seventeenth, I would still say the Phillies are the
toughest challenge for the Dodgers. Even if they lose Ranger

(24:27):
Suarez in free agency, which many people are saying is
going to happen. They re signed Kyle Schwarber, who is
part of the culture, the heartbeat of that team. Bryce Harper,
I would expect to be better next year. Trey Turner
is still there, Christopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, those guys are

(24:47):
still there and they're trying to get their bullpen better.
So to me, the Phillies are still the biggest challenge
to the Dodgers, like they were this year in the
National League. There were a lot of plays said swung
the Dodgers way, similar to the World Series, that could
have gone the Phillies way, and the Dodgers might have
been out in the NLDS. So don't forget the Phillies

(25:10):
had the second best record in the National League this
year as well. Let's go out to Daniel in La.
You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Daniel?

Speaker 7 (25:19):
How's it going? So ironic that you say that the
Dodgers are four to five steps ahead of everyone else,
and yet it really amounted to about one or two
plays the Dodgers that in the postseason that made the difference,
especially against the Phillies Game one to base run, a
mistake by Philadelphia, and then the Kirkling era, and then
the World Series, especially Games six and the ninth inning

(25:39):
and then all Games seven and everything happened. It just
realizes that the Dodgers are closer than people appear to
everybody else. It just takes one or two plays. But
that appreciates more of our front office and such, because
at the end of the day, they're ballplayers. They have
to execute their fundamentals on offense and pitching. It's not
so far as oh, a vast payroll and that's gonna

(26:01):
make the infinite difference. It's fundamentals what you do with
those players, and it really makes a difference on those
one or two last plays.

Speaker 4 (26:08):
And I just.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Want to know, Daniel, how long have you been on Daniel? Daniel,
how long have you been a Dodger fan for.

Speaker 7 (26:16):
Following the team? Since two thousand and four?

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Okay, so you know that was the Fox era going
into the McCord era. You know in the past since
the O'Malley sold the team to Fox, that the Dodgers
spent big on guys that were not really great character
guys in the clubhouse, like Kevin Brown. They traded Mike Piazza,
they signed they signed Carlos Perez, they signed J. D.

Speaker 5 (26:44):
Drew.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
So the Dodgers under previous ownerships have spent money on
the wrong people. The Mets have a huge payroll, they
have spent it on the wrong people. That's what also
said Breds the Dodgers, when they're committing long term to players,
they're making sure they are committed to baseball and winning

(27:10):
and our good character people in the clubhouse, in the community.
So that's the difference as well. You can spend all
you want, but if you don't spend it on the
right guys, like a Maximuntcy, like a Mookie Bets, like
a Freddie Freeman, you don't have the wheel play, you
don't have a resilient group that comes back in game

(27:32):
six in game seven.

Speaker 7 (27:35):
Right and well, and just to throw out there from
the last few or I just want to point out
that a lot of us last year at this time,
who thought the Blue Jays in last place in the
American Leaguees would be our World Series upon of this year.
So who's say this year? Maybe it could be the Orioles,
Maybe it could be the Twins or White Sox or
god hold, the Angels. We don't know. That's the beauty

(27:56):
of baseball. That's what one hundred and sixty two games
are determined to find out. And if there's a Dodger
challenge on the way, whether or not we expect it
or not, we'll be.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
There all right, Daniel, have a great new year. We'll
talk to you in twenty twenty six. Eight six six
nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number.
We're gonna take a time out when we continue. River
Ryan is going to join us. He is my pick
to be this year's Emmitt Shean, the breakout pitching star
of the year. He is on his way back and

(28:24):
better than ever. You'll hear from young River Ryan next
right here on Dodger Talk on a five to seventy
LA Sports Dodger Talk David Vasse taking you to eight o'clock,
and we are joined right now by a guy that
we got to know for a bit before he had
to have Tommy John surgery. But in the short time

(28:45):
fans got to see River Ryan pitch, they loved it.
And if you get to know this young man, you'll
love him even more. Easy guy to root for, and
he's going to be ready for the Dodgers attempt at
a three peat in twenty twenty six. And River Ryan
joins us. River thanks a lot for the time, appreciate.

Speaker 5 (29:03):
It, Yeah, absolutely, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Okay, so I kind of tipped you off, to which
teammates kind of told me that you looked not like
your old self, but a new, improved River Ryan. The
last month or so of last year, What did you
take away from the end of your season, even though
you didn't pitch in a minor league game.

Speaker 5 (29:29):
Yeah, during the entire rehab process, it was I was
really just trying to refine some things as far as
mechanics go on the mound and really just be able
to try to repeat my delivery. Going into twenty twenty six,
I also was able to add a new pitch to
the arsenal, So now I think we have seven. We've

(29:50):
got seven pitches now, wow. So it's yeah, I'm really
excited to be able to get back out there in
the showcase what I can do.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
When did you come up with this new pitch? Were
you thinking about it as you were rehabbing the elbow
or is it something when you, you know, were allowed
to let it rip that you decided to experiment with.

Speaker 5 (30:14):
Well, actually, at the end of twenty twenty four, I
kind of was throwing throwing, I was throwing some sliders
and catch play and I accidentally kind of like, I
don't even know how to describe it how I figured
it out. It just kind of came out a different way,
and I was like, that's interesting. So I tried to

(30:37):
just remember how I held the ball that time, and
I actually figured it out. So yeah, we were working
on it all year this year in rehab and continuing
to work on it through this offseason home. I'm ready
to showcase it in twenty twenty six. I think it's
going to be a very effective pitch.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
Can you describe the feeling when you throw a pitch
like that that you weren't intending to and you see
what it does and how good it feels coming out
of your hand. Was that an AHA moment or was
it like, oh I found something. Can you describe what
it felt like?

Speaker 5 (31:13):
Yeah, I think it was more of just like I
was caught off guard by it, Like I didn't know
that I could make the ball do that. So I
just kind of just tried to do some research on
path outings of myself and see if it was going
to be a good fit for the arsenal, And yeah,
I think it's gonna mesh really well with with the

(31:34):
pitches that I offer. But yeah, it was definitely kind
of just like a Well, I didn't know I could
make the ball do that, so that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
River Ryan is our guest, and River, when you say
you have seven pitches, I remember when rich Hill was
with the Dodgers, he talked about shaping pitches and you
may have one fastball, but you can shape it two
or three different ways. Or your curveball, you can shape
it two or three different ways. When you say you

(32:02):
have that type of arsenal, are you talking about shaping
some of the same pitches differently, or do you have
seven different pitch grips.

Speaker 5 (32:13):
No, I actually have seven different pitch grips. But I
also along with adding a new pitch, I have been
trying to manipulate some ways I throw different pitches so
I can throw them like, for example, like a curveball
like a U darbish slow curveball, or kind of just
like a stock curveball and a strikeout curveball. So essentially

(32:35):
one pitch can be three different pitches. But I'm still
I mean, I'm still got a long way to go
as far as learning learning how to pitch. It's only
been a few years for.

Speaker 8 (32:44):
Me, but.

Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah, it's it's really cool to be able to do
different things with the baseball when it's essentially like the
same pitch, right, So that's that's also that's also being
worked on, you know as we speak, and looking forward
to showcase that in twenty twenty six as well.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, people forget when the Dodgers treated for you, you
were going between shortstop and just learning how to pitch.
This has not been your entire life where you've kind
of mastered pitching. Did this time off, I know elbow
surgery is never ideal, but did this time off provide
you with the opportunity to maybe find yourself as a pitcher.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (33:27):
Absolutely. I mean when you have that kind of downtime,
you you know you got to do something right. So
I definitely really started to put some time and effort
into learning how to pitch and what kind of pitches
I can use in different situations, what kind of pitches
I can use against different types of hitters. Yeah, it

(33:50):
was I was really just able to break down some
stuff over this this this time I spent in rehab
in Arizona and learn some different things about pitching that
I'm excited to put to use.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
So when Kyle Hurd and some of your other teammates
were telling me, it's September, just how great you looked.
Who were you facing? Was it like those inner squad
games with other teams? Was it like real game type
of scenarios? Can you describe what they were raving about?

Speaker 5 (34:24):
Yeah, I was just pitching to some of the guys
that were also in rehab with me that were, you know,
just trying to get some reps, a couple of minor
league a couple of minor league guys. And then towards
the end of the year, I think my last live
I was thrown against uh, some of some of my
old teammates and Triple A, like Ryan Ward, justin Dean,

(34:52):
just some yeah, some of those guys. But yeah, it
was it was just it was I ended the ended
the rehab on a really, really high note. So it's
exciting for sure.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
River Ryan is our guest. This is Dodger Talk until
eight o'clock tonight on a five to seventy LA Sports.
You mentioned a couple of guys that you know. Obviously
a lot of Dodger fans have been eager to see
Ryan Ward in particular. I don't know. I felt like
I had a streak during last year River where at

(35:25):
least one person a day for two months straight either
text me, called me, or in person asked me about
Ryan Ward. How good is Ryan Ward? And are you
excited to see him get an opportunity at the big
league level this year?

Speaker 5 (35:43):
Yeah? Absolutely. Ryan Ward's a special ball player. He's been
putting up some crazy numbers over the past few seasons,
and I really hope that he's able to get an
opportunity at the big league level. I think he'll I
think he'll do some pretty good things, and I'll have
a pretty long career at the major league level. So yeah,
I'm definitely a fan Ryan Ward, and I'm excited for

(36:05):
him to get an opportunity this year.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
All right, And in the World Series, Justin Dean got
a lot of play late game defense in center field.
What did you think about the play where the ball
got stuck underneath the wall and Justin Dean's putting up
his arms. Were you watching all of those plays? And
what did you think when you saw that play with
one of your minor league teammates and the guy you were,

(36:29):
you know, getting ready to play.

Speaker 5 (36:32):
Yeah, it was a pretty pretty high IQ moment, if
I'm remembering correctly. When he put his hands up to
play the play was stopped. I can't, I honestly can't
remember how it all went down, but like if amazing.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
How the ball finds you right river, amazing, how.

Speaker 5 (36:48):
The ball fly, Yeah, it finds you for sure. But yeah,
the fact that he kind of just had to where
withal to throw his hands up immediately, whether the play
stopped or not, that's just kind of a high IQ moment.
But it's it's funny too because I played against Justin
Dean in college. He went to Lenore Ryan and I

(37:09):
went to UNC Pembroke, and we my freshman year we
matched up against each other. Actually didn't know that I
played against him until talking with him this past spring training.
But yeah, Justin Dean's always been been a very solid ballplayer. Defensively,
if I remember correctly, he's been he's been a pretty

(37:30):
good pretty good hitter too, as a good eye had
to play. But he's just extremely fast, can cover a
lot of ground out there.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
But yeah, no doubt. Hey, I got to ask you this,
where were you watching Game six and seven of the
World Series.

Speaker 5 (37:47):
My parents' house and my in law's house. We were
kind of in the middle of visiting some some family
members that we've been trying to visit. So and one
was in Georgia, one was in North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
So okay, so two key plays. Tell me what your
thoughts were in the living room of your family's house
when A Will Smith took his foot off home plate
for a split second and then b when Pa has
ran into keyk Hernandez. Do you remember what was going
through your head when you saw those two plays.

Speaker 5 (38:23):
Yeah, I definitely remember the the collision kind of in
the outfield more than I remember Will Will almost coming.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Off the bag.

Speaker 8 (38:30):
But uh yeah, thank thank the Lord that he was
able to get to get the footback on the bag.
But yeah, that that play in center field was just
I can only imagine how loud the stadium was trying
to communicate. And you know, Key K and Pa Hayes,
they both want to make the play and they're going
to go, you know, as hard as.

Speaker 5 (38:48):
They can to make it happen. So fortunately they were
able to. Pa Haes was able to you know, come
out with the with the catch and nobody got seriously hurt.
So yeah, that was a there's a hold your breath
moment for sure. I think more of the more along
the lines of injury injury perspective than actually catching the ball.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
But yeah, no doubt. I mean I love hearing where
guys like you were watching and what you were feeling
in those moments, and you're going to be a big
part of the Dodgers trying to go for a three
pet Do you have the vision of what the Dodgers
and Image Shean did last year where you know they
have the luxury of allowing you guys to you know,

(39:28):
ramp up and be ready. Do you kind of feel
like you're this year's Image Shean where they they deploy
you in the second half when you're fully functional.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
Honestly, my whole mindset right now is trying to make
the team out of camp. I think I think I'm
more than healthy enough to have a full healthy season.
It's just going out there and proving that I am
healthy and doing what I am capable of doing and
try to do it effectively in spring training and hopefully

(40:05):
make the squad out out of camp. That'd be great,
love it.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
That's one thing. Listening the river right now, it's the
holiday time, he's with this family, it's the off season.
Completely nice guy, but when it's go time. He has
the edge that you need to be great and I
appreciate that about you, River and can't wait to see
you in spring training. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

(40:29):
I know you're somewhat of a newlywed. You got a
great family that you're building. Things are looking great for
you in twenty six and beyond. So thank you so
much for the time and can't wait to see you
in Arizona.

Speaker 5 (40:43):
Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you for having me,
and Merry Christmas to you as well. Stay safe out there.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Okay, no doubt. Gotta keep your head on a swivel, River,
especially when you're on the streets of Ventura Boulevard.

Speaker 5 (40:54):
Baby.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Thanks a lot for the time, River, and we'll see
you in a.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Z all right.

Speaker 5 (41:00):
I appreciate it. Take it easy.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
There it goes River Ryan number seventy seven the last
time we saw him, and like I said, I really
do believe from what I have heard and just the
people raving about what they saw from River Ryan. To me,
he's the best candidate that you could say would be
in that image. Shean role to burst onto the scene

(41:22):
in the second half of the season to give the
Dodgers some needed pitching depth and help manage the innings
of their starters. And you never know as far as
injuries go. A lot of things as we have seen
with pitchers over the years, occurred during the year and
you need guys like River Ryan to be able to
step up and provide those innings. It's not just about

(41:46):
the twenty six man roster as we have seen it,
it's about the forty man roster. And that's what the
Dodgers have been able to do better than most teams
is not only have five or six guys, but they
have seven, eight, nine guys that you know arguably could start.
And look, if Justin Robleski is on this roster next year,

(42:06):
why not have him part of the bullpen. Why not
have him as a guy that can go multiple innings
to help manage those innings. And don't forget about Gavin Stone.
He had a way more serious surgery than River Ryan's
Tommy John surgery. He had a major shoulder surgery. So

(42:27):
him coming back this year and being as good as
he was during the twenty four regular season is not
as much of a sure thing. But I'm rooting for
Gavin Stone. He made more starts than any other Dodger
pitcher during the twenty four regular season. And remember he
had that complete game against the White Sox in Chicago,

(42:49):
So I'm rooting for him. He's a great guy. He's
a guy that you know wants to be great, and
hopefully that injury doesn't derail what was a promising future.
So River and Gavin Stone hoping to come back and
be big time contributors this season. I kind of lean
towards River Ryan because of the severity of Gavin Stone's surgery,

(43:12):
being that guy more than Stone is. So we'll see
how it shakes out. But don't forget Bobby Miller and
Landon nac are still part of the Dodgers. Remember Bobby Miller,
everybody's next big thing. Well, he has a lot to prove.
That was the most disappointing season for him. He's got
to figure things out, and not just figure him out

(43:35):
during the end of last year, but hopefully he's doing
some soul searching this offseason to try to get better.
And it's not just about physical stuff or about pitching mechanics.
It's about thinking the game and maturing that way. As
you get closer to wanting to be not only a
major league pitcher for one year or fourteen starts, but

(43:57):
how about sticking. I always remember Eric saying when he
was playing for the Dodgers in his dry way, and
it was a matter of fact, and it's one hundred
percent true. It's hard to get to the big leagues.
It's even harder to stay in the big leagues, and
you can't get too comfortable. They love you until they
don't love you. I actually told the player that last week.

(44:20):
Are they still love me? They still got love for me? Yeah?
They love you until they don't love you. And that's
what you've always got to remember. Vince Scully always used
to talk about baseball being a what have you done
for me lately? Sport? And that's one hundred percent true.
You're only as good as your last at bat, your

(44:41):
last outing, your last pitch. That's the way baseball is.
Like it or not fair or not fair, that's baseball.
And that's the way I approach Dodger Talk every night.
I'm only as good as my last show. And this
was our last show of twenty twenty five. What an
incredible Dole season. I look forward to reflecting back on

(45:04):
all of it when we rejoin you after the new
year and keep it rolling in twenty twenty six. Thank
you to Ronnie Fossio for all his help during the
off season shows and off day shows this year. Thank
you for listening. I hope you have a very safe
holiday season and I can't wait to do this again.
And who knows, we may have an emergency Dodger Talk

(45:26):
between now and January third. So Hey, Breaking Dodger News
AM five seventy LA Sports is where you want to be,
and we would have an emergency Dodger Talk show if
anything major goes down, and you never know when that
can happen. In case you missed any of this show
or any of our shows during the season, you can

(45:48):
find it on the iHeartRadio app. Make Dodger Talk a
number one pre set and you'll never miss any of
the interviews, any of the shows, any of the breaking news.
All Right, Fox Sports Radio US next, we'll talk to
you in twenty twenty six. Seea
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