September 10, 2025 • 38 mins
Jack Harris joins us ahead of the Dodgers' final game against Colorado on this short homestand. As a minor league team gets set to be managed by A.I. - the guys discuss why this tactic can never catch on in sports.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on
a five to seventy LA Sports. Jack Harris is standing by.
Before we get to Jack, we do want to point out,
because we brought this up when it first happened. Charlie Cook,
a political pundit, a commentator, conservative, it doesn't matter what
side of the isle you're on right now, was speaking
at an event, a school event, a college event in Utah.
(00:24):
He was shot thirty one years old, two kids, and
now we realize that he has died, but he was
basically assassinated while speaking. Authorities are still trying to find
the suspect. They are scanning the area, and we wanted
to point that out because we did bring it up
(00:44):
when it happened. For more information, I'm sure they are
all over this. Go to KFI AM six forty because
in the world, there's no bigger story than that right
now and KFI has it. Okay, back to what we do,
and let's bring on our friend Jack Harris from the Times. Jack,
good afternoon to you.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
How you guys doing We're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Okay, Jack, doing that right? How do you think the
Dodgers are doing.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Better than last week? I would say at the very least,
you know, actually winning games here. They it was crazy,
like yesterday's the first time in ten days they won
a game on the same day the Padres loss, so
a two game lead, and like just a little bit
of encouragement I'd say about how the lineups looked, obviously,
how the rotation's been, and that you know, their hope
(01:35):
is that all the struggles of the last you know,
two months here they're finally starting to move past. But
we'll see they've looked like this at time so before
and then it started struggling again. So obviously a big
one tonight and then a big series come up this
week and in San Francisco too.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Hey Jack, do you think that collapse of the no
hitter with Yamamodo the other night was a I don't
call rock bottom, but a come to g this moment
for this team and that maybe that was something I'm
want to say that they needed, but something that was, Okay,
this really can't happen. We're too good to let this happen,
(02:12):
and this could be something that catapults them to play
in the way everybody believes they could play.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I mean, the ironic part about that loss was
Before that game, Dave Roberts had gathered the team together,
not for a big raw Ross speech, but just to
kind of implore them to loosen up a little bit,
to stop trying to be so perfect, to just trust
the talent.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That they have.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I think it's kind of similar to a meeting he
had last year in Atlanta where he told the team like, look,
I believe in you guys. I know we've had a
lot of injuries. And that was something that a lot
of players pointed to, you know, during the postseason run
as just being kind of a turning point for them.
So the hope was at that Saturday game, and it
was looking that way for a while, would kind of
be a turning point moment in the season. Obviously, it
(02:56):
then became, i think easily the worst loss that they
had had, and was a real question, you know, how
are they going to respond to that. Obviously, over the
course of a long season, you're going to have some
tough losses along the way in some stretches where you
don't play well, but that did feel like a tipping point,
and I think the fact that they were able to regroup,
that they came back the next day played a pretty
(03:17):
clean game that they've come into this series and taken
care of business so far against the Rockies. I don't
know if it's because of how that game on Saturday ended,
but I think it's just been a good reminder to
these guys that, look, we can deal with adversity. We
can have you know, one of the toughest losses you
could possibly take in the regular season and not let
(03:37):
it extend into the days after that, even when we've
been playing poorly beforehand. You know, I think what we've
seen here is like a lot of the guys in
the clubhouse have talked about, you know, obviously, they were
just really bad in July. The bullpen was bad, the
lineup was really generating very little offense on a daily basis,
the rotation was injured, and they felt like since then,
(03:59):
like if you look over the last month, they've played
better on a day to day basis, you know, they've
they've done a little bit better, not always, but a
little bit better manufacturing runs, taking more competitive, team minded
at bats. Obviously, the starting pitching is down a lot better,
and over the last month it's just felt like they've
lost a lot of these close games, a lot of
it because of the bullpen sometimes because you know, they
(04:21):
they have the chance to build a beginning and then
don't get that one hit that they need to really
break a game open. But they felt like on the
whole they were playing better. And I think what you've
just seen here over the last couple of days is
that some of those other little things have started to
go right for them. You look back at that game
Sunday in Baltimore, when you know, Miguel Rojas scores on
a on a pickoff throw from the catcher that gets
(04:42):
into the outfield. That's a break that went their way
that they weren't getting before. You know, Mookie bet says
that huge hit two nights ago to break the one
to one tie late night game, and then yesterday, you know,
the offense finally kind of exploded for a big game.
So they have felt like the overall play has been
trending in a better direction and just as the result
haven't been there. I think if you look this week,
(05:03):
you're finally starting to see the results turn. And the
hope is that that gives them some confidence and then
allows them to keep playing better baseball down the stretch.
But they got to continue it because Obviously, they've had
little spurts where they've looked good before and then couldn't
sustain momentum or just clean play. So that's going to
be the challenge now. So I think the fact that
they didn't let that Saturday loss in Baltimore spiral into
something more is a good sign, and it's up to
(05:25):
them to kind of keep it going here over the
final couple weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
All right. So Rodney and I were kicking this around earlier.
Are you're trying to figure out who would be on
the pitching staff in the playoffs for the first series,
and right now we're assuming it's the best of three
because not only do they have to win the division,
they have to catch the Phillies, all right, And it
came down to this, in our mind, what if you
can only pick one, Kirby Yates or Tanner Scott, who
(05:48):
do you pick?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I think of those two, I would pick Tanner Scott.
Obviously they both have have had really underwhelming, disappointing season,
and I think Tanner Scott, just from a stuffed perspective,
is better. You know, he throws his fastball harder. I
think the slider, when it's located well is so a
good pitch for him. I mean, the problem has been
really simple. It's just that he's left too many mistake
(06:16):
pitches over the middle of the plate, especially when he's
had the chances to put at bats away, like that
walk off home run he gave up in Baltimore on
a one to two fastball that he just threw down
the middle. That's something that you know, is he's more
easily corrected than I think what you've seen with Kirby HS,
which is just his splitter, which is his trademark pitch,
just has not been consistent this year. He hasn't thrown
(06:36):
it the way he's wanted to. And I think at
times you've seen Tanner Scott look good, look better at least,
and then get punished for a few mistakes. So I think,
you know, if you're picking between those two, I'd say
Tanner Scott. But yeah, the fact that you even have
to kick around these hypotheticals is just a reflection of
how poorly each of their seasons has gone and how
(06:58):
how much it's hurt the bullpen not have those two
guys pitching the way the Dodgers expected them to.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
H That being said, have you seen enough of Tanner
Scott to not let him close, or do you keep
trotting him out there to see if he can kind
of find it before October, or do you start to
work somebody else like trying it in the back end.
I know they like trying it for high, high, high
leverage situation to be that stopper. But who do you
(07:27):
put in the back end or do you keep Tanner
Scott and hopefully he gets better and gets into form.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, the team's thinking on this right now is they're
going to keep using all of those guys, but especially
Tanner Scott in leverage spots. So a lot of times
it's gonna be in the ninth inning, you know, if
there's a run of lefties or something else earlier in
the game where it makes sense to use him, you'll
see him there. But Dave Roberts just talked about this
a few times over the last week or two, which is, look,
these are the guys we have, you know, our team.
(07:56):
If we're going to be the team we expect to
be in October, it's gonna because we're able to rely
on Tanner Scott to some extent, Blake Trying and maybe
even a Kirby Yates, probably in a lesser leverage role
for him, but you know, that's how this team was built.
You know. For as good as if Guardar Driguez has
looked in flashes, he has seventeen career innings, Jack Dryer,
(08:17):
for as good as he's been this year, they haven't
really trusted him in a bunch of leverage spots. They
are hoping that some of these veteran guys, first and foremost,
Tanner Scott kind of figures it out. So that's why,
at least for now, you're gonna keep seeing him late
in games with a lead, whether it's a safe situation
or another leverage spot. It is at the point of
the year where you know, I think if things continue
(08:38):
to go poorly for him over the next week or two,
you know, that's when they'll probably try to get more creative,
you know, over that last you know, week to two
weeks of the regular season, figuring out, Okay, who's hot,
who can we go with, and it'll just have to
be a little bit more uh, outside the box thinking.
But again, you know, Tanner Scott's stuff has ticked up.
(09:00):
I'd say his performances overall have been a little bit
better but the reality of the situation for the Dodgers
is from the offseason to the trade deadline, they built
this team. The front off is built this team needing
guys like Tanner Scott to pitch well, and so they're
going to have to just continue running him out there
hoping he can find something. And it's a much different
(09:22):
looking bullpen if he can get hot and be somewhat
of a trustworthy guy for you in October than if
he can't. So it's obviously a difficult position to be in.
It's obviously really frustrating to the fan base to see
him continue to blow games like he has for you know,
most of the season. But the best version of this
team is if you have somebody like him pitching well.
And that's why you're going to, at least for a
(09:43):
little while longer here see him continue to get opportunities
and hopes that he can get on some kind of
role as they get closer to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
That being said, let's look at Roki Sazaki. He had
a pretty good outing yesterday in Oklahoma City. Hit three
or hit three hundred, hit one hundred three times four
shout out.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It felt like three hundred. Compare to how it had
been this year.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
But here's the thing. So now he has a good
outing here and you're going, well, this is a guy
the Dodgers signed, all right, let's get him in here.
I don't know if you do that. I don't know
if you put him on the playoff roster, because we
just don't know how consistent he'll be.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Jack Yeah, I think this comes out to a couple
of things. I would guess after an outing like yesterday,
it's at least a lot likelier that we see him
at some point in the regular season again, probably coming
out of the bullpen. You know, they don't need another
starting pitcher at the moment. You know, one good outing
in triple A is not going to take him from
(10:39):
out of the roster picture. Tolv's on the postseason roster
for sure, But I think it does open the door
for the team to look for an opportunity to maybe
bring him back up here, see how he looks in
a big league environment, and then you know, just have
him as another option to evaluate as they get closer
to the playoffs. In case guys like Tanner, Scott In,
(11:00):
Kirby Yates, maybe even Blake trying and continue to struggle
and they feel like, Okay, you know, Roki Sasaki would
obviously be a pretty volatile option, but he has you know,
if he's showing that that stuff, that one hundred mile
an hour fastball, that new kind of slider cutter he
was throwing yesterday, and Okay, see if that can be
consistent even for a little while and you get to
(11:20):
a point where you just you need to find other
options in the bullpen you trust, then he can be
an option. So at this point, I'd still be pretty
surprised if he's you know, a key part of the
bullpen or even on the postseason roster at this point,
just given how up and down his season has been.
But yesterday at least kind of kept that in the
conversation and it's something they can continue to think about
(11:41):
as they try to figure out what their their best
thirteen pitcher pitching staff looks like for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Okay, that being said, what do you how do you
use immit Chan who's looked pretty good lately and really
looked good yesterday. How do you utilize him?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, I guess this will probably fit in to kind
of a multi inning role out of the bullpen. Somebody
who you know, if one of your starters gets in trouble,
can come in and help give you some length. You know,
the reality of this year's bullpen is, unlike last October,
when there were legitimately six or seven guys pitching at
a high level for the entire month, pretty unlikely the
(12:19):
Dodgers are going to find themselves in that situation if
you just look at how things have been going lately.
So if you can have somebody like him who can
give you some length out of the pen and a
postseason series, that could be really important. You know, two
years ago, before he got hurt, that was going to
kind of be the plan for him in that twenty
twenty three post season. Obviously that playoff run did not
last long enough to really see how that would look.
(12:42):
But again, with how steady the rest of the rotation is,
but with how well he's pitched, I think he gives
them kind of a weapon in the pen that they
don't have at the moment that could be really, you know, useful.
I think if you think to that Sunday game in Baltimore,
the way that Justin Rablowski came out and pitched two innings,
I think you could see a role like that for
Imachie and at some point point in the playoffs. So again,
(13:02):
there's still time for things to change. The way he's
pitched as a starter I think has been very encouraging,
and if you know there's unexpected injuries or something like that,
he gives them some depth there. But assuming the rest
of the rotation stays healthy the rest of the way,
you'll probably see him move to the pen and provide
some value there in a different kind of looking role.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Jack. With the Giants coming up next, I think the
Dodgers and Giants play each other seven times now, that
will pretty much, I would think determine the Dodgers' fate
and maybe the Giants, because you know, the Giants can be.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Up the Dodge coming Fred. They got the Phillies coming
to Fred. Well, I'm just looking at the Giants next.
I'm looking at the Giants next. Do you think that
could pretty much determine stuff?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean, that'll go a long way towards it, you know,
if they can play well those Giants series. The reality
is right now, the Dodgers have what's effectively a two
and a half game lead in the division if you
count the fact that they have the tiebreaker head to
head over the Padres this year and they can handle
those Giants series. Yeah, there's that big series against Philly,
but outside of those ten games of the nineteen or
(14:12):
so that they have left, the rest of the schedule
looks more manageable. I think the Giants, when you look
at the schedule, probably the hottest team that they're going
to face the rest of the way, And obviously they're
going to have a lot to play force since they've
gotten back within a couple games of a wildcard spot here.
So those are going to be very big games, not
only for the Dodgers' chances to close out the division
(14:35):
or the Giants' chances to try to sneak into the playoffs,
but I think just generally for the Dodgers, like those
games are probably going to feel pretty close to kind
of postseason environment games with how much it's going to
be at stake for both teams and if they can
play well in those games, you know, it kind of
reminds me of last year the way the Dodgers played
well against the d Backs and the Braves, and even
that last regular season series against the Padres and the
(14:57):
momentum that they were able to build there that they
took into the playoffs. So to me, that's the most
important part because, like, honestly, at this point, you know,
even if they don't win the division, like, the reality is,
they're probably going to be playing in a wildcard series
either way, unless they can sweet the Phillies and the
Phillies go cold. But making up four or five games
whatever it is on Philadelphia is unlikely. So you know,
(15:17):
postseason seeding aside. I just I think the most important
thing for the Dodgers over these final three weeks is
just playing well and doing it consistently. And if you
can do it against the Giants team that's been really
good the last month, now, that's going to give you
a boost as you as you come up on the postseason.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
All right, Jack, this is the last one for me,
But it's a two parter. All right.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
The Dodgers, like you said, more than likely going to
play in that wildcard series, that three game, dreaded three
game series. First, who are you trotting out there to
pitch on those first three games? And secondly, if it
does come down to a do or die tied at
one third.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Game, who's starting.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, I think if you're looking at a Wildcard series rotation,
it's Yamamoto and Snell will be in there. I'm almost certain,
and then you know the show. Hey Otani, as long
as he pitches well over these last couple weeks, I
think it would be hard to leave him out of
a postseason, you know, if you're looking at a three
man rotation, be hard to leave him out just because
(16:21):
of where his stuff is at, how good he like
when it's on. He can be probably the best pitcher
on this entire staff. Now, if it's a little shakier,
then maybe you start thinking about somebody like Tyler Glass.
Now if he can be more consistent down the stretch
and pitch more like he has in these last couple outings.
So I think that third spot's a little bit of
a question of just how guys look over these final
couple weeks. But again, I think you're gonna start with
(16:42):
Snell and Yamamoto in some order, and that's a good
place for the team to be, especially in a three
game series when you know this offense can very easily
go cold for a week. The bullpen could very easily
blow a lead late if you don't you know, give
yourself enough cushion in those games. So starting pitching is
going to be critical. And if you can art with
with Snell and Yamamoto and then have whether it's Okani
(17:03):
or Glasnow or you know, Clayton Kershaw has been good.
I don't know if they would throw them out in
a three game series like that given some of their
other options, but they're gonna have choices to make there.
The good news is, at least as it pertains to
the rotation, all of them are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
All right, Well, Jack, you're always very good, So thank
you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
All right, appreciate it, guys.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
All right, there goes our buddy Jack Harris. At the
Times Jack does a great job. Yeah he really does.
This Look around the Wild Wild nl West brought to
you by wild Fork for the wild Fork store near you.
Go to Wildforkfoods dot Com, wild Fork in your neighborhood. Okay, Well,
(17:44):
you don't want to have automated strike zone, right? How
about if you have an automated manager? That's next?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Hello Rogan and Rodney listener, did you know AM five seventy.
LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
shows like Petros in money. We are streaming Matt Dodger
Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of record, Clipper
Talk without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
Just go to a five seventy LA Sports on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Wip oh yeah, come on, let's keep it moving down
to home stretch. Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan on a beautiful Wednesday.
Many thanks to Jack Harris at the Times, always breaking
it down the Dodgers in real detail. Jack tells it
like it is, Fred, He really does. He really does
(18:33):
a terrific job, and he's honest. It's funny. Jack does
a great job. So Bill Plunkett, and of course David
Vasse is the man. They're with these guys all the time.
But they're so honest. They're not homers.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
A lot of times in a smaller market you get
guys that are homers, and if they're not a homer,
then all of a sudden they are excommunicated by the team.
We don't want you around. These guys aren't homers. They're
very honest. I think guys want people dealing with them
that are honest. If you're honest, then the players will
respect you. You just gotta be honest and open and
don't take cheap shots.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, don't take cheap shots, and come around. Be around.
Guys are okay with you if you're honest and you're real,
if you show your face. But if you're doing it
from afar, like you're doing it in your basement and
nobody ever sees you, then it becomes a problem. And
(19:32):
I can remember several of those guys in Philadelphia that
just were You never saw them, but they wrote scathing
articles about different people. But yeah, just be honest. And
if you're gonna be be truthful both ways, be honest
both ways. And if you're gonna rip somebody then they
do good, you gotta praise them too. You can't just
be one sided.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Uh, don't forget. On Monday, we're gonna be down at
BJ's restaurant, Rule House and Downey. We invite you to
come down there. You're getting notice this time. I mean
last time, we didn't even give you any notice because
it was the holiday. We got back and we did
the show. So were there Monday noon to three giving
away Dodger tickets, given away football tickets, given away Bjay's
gift cards. So come on down to Downey Monday noon
(20:17):
to three. We're excited about the show. Rodney. We can't wait.
We wish it was tomorrow. We do, we do, Freddy,
we do. Let's go see everybody Monday. Okay, I you
know what I saw this. I wanted to talk about it.
I guess you and Adam already did it. So that's
on me. The baseball team that's going to be managed
(20:38):
by AI, which of course it be right up my alley.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Oh no, I get it one, you know. Okay, I'm
gonna let you go because I get I'm leaning more
towards the automated strikes on. This is what I told Adam.
I said I was. I was vehemently opposed to it,
and until this year might have been the worst year
I've seen of balls and strikes being called. It's been
(21:04):
atrocious thread it really has in baseball. It has been
so bad it's almost like the Empires were doing this
on purpose to get the automatic strike zone in and
implement it. That's how bad it's been. It's been really bad,
to the point where managers and players are getting thrown out,
umpires are being sensitive if somebody questions a call it.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It is really bad.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So I'm leaning that way, but now we're taking it
too far with this AI manager stuff, way too far. Okay,
what's your team?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
All right? So first, when we talked about the automatic
strike zone, and the feeling was, well, you can't lose
the human element, and you want the only one to
say that. Almost everyone said that. Of course, almost everyone
was wrong because again we can't. No more watching than
you know on the field doesn't work. Doesn't work in
(21:57):
our minds. Life is check change. Technology has changed our life.
So the human element is guys pitching and hitting. That's
the human element. The umpire is there to officiate the
game and keep it under control. They don't need to
be that human. So, yes, the automated strike zone should
(22:18):
be here, and it's not because the umpires are bad.
And that's the other side of it. Well, what are
you saying they're bad? Well, some are, but that's not
the point. It's just the game has changed, Technology has changed, and.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
It's gotten tougher. I would say the way the spin rate,
the way the balls are thrown, guys are throwing much harder.
The reaction time has to be greater for the umpires.
I think it's gotten difficult more difficult over the years.
But guys aren't missing it like on you know when
you see that box umpires are not just missing it online,
they're missing it by a ball and a half outside
(22:54):
or inside or high. And it's gotten really bad.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So I okay. So now that moves to the AI
managed game, a minor league game. You guys talked about it.
A team is going to use AI to manage their game.
The Oakland Ballers of the Independent Pioneer League. Very good team,
by the way, very good team. Now AI is not
(23:20):
going to manage when to steal and stuff like that.
Why not because they said they don't have enough time
to relay the signals to the players. But AI is
going to make the end game decisions. They'll feed the
information in do we change a picture or not? What
do you think? Do we bunt here or not? How
(23:40):
do we handle this? They're gonna type it.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
If you can say you can bunt, why can't you
say you can steal?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Though? No, they just said there's not enough time to
get that information out there. That's all it's said. So
they're going to use AI. So what do you think
of that? I think it will be a fascinating experiment.
But just because I like the automated strike zone AI
(24:09):
to operate the game all game time decisions is not
going to work because the one thing that AI can't
do first, AI bases everything on a collection of data
from what has happened. It cannot predict the future. It's
not a fortune teller. So when you ask AI a question,
(24:33):
it has just completely savaged the entire internet, found everything
about that topic that you asked, and will present an
answer that more often than not has been used. That's AI.
You can't ask AI a question to predict something. It
won't do it. It doesn't work that way. It can
(24:54):
only work on existing facts. So if that's the case,
I don't think you can remove the human element from sports,
from playing because AI might tell you Rodney in this situation,
Rodney Pete should swing away. Maybe AI will tell you that,
(25:18):
But the truth of the matter is the pitchers throw
nine straight balls, but in the situation Rodney against this
picture swing away.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
So AI can't manufacture something in real time and somebody
type in two balls, five balls in a row, seven balls,
and nine balls in a row and redirect the response
or is it all going to be predetermined?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Well, it doesn't exist. It doesn't work that way. It
can't predict well it can use is.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
It's all based on probability. So I'm sure it could
be able to track if a picture through nine straight balls.
The problem is you can't predict whether or not he's
gonna throw a tenth or if it's going to be
straight down the middle. And that's based on probability. It
can tell you what it's.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Saying in real time. Can you say he threw nine
straight balls, the probability of him throwing a tenth one
is thirty two percent, So take this pitch.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
But yeah, you could type it into AI. Well, I'm
sure I would to take the answer.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
It will record all this stuff. It's not typing something
in when you're where you're dealing with something like this.
It's it's a model that's probably already designed to take.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You got to feed the information to it. So make
you feed information like this picture's got an eight e er.
We should light him up and we're gonna start and
he's terrible against left handers even though he's left handed,
so we're gonna go with the left handed lineup.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
Yeah, but that part's taking into account is input already.
I'm talking about in live game action. If a guy
is throwing a ball, the computer will pick up that
it was a recorded as a ball, not a strike,
and maybe even it could be as sophisticated as knowing
it was a ball on the low outside left as
opposed to low inside right. I'm sure these computers that
they're using for situations like this are fast enough and
(26:57):
have all this information. It doesn't mean that they're gonna
be right or wrong, but it takes all these variables
into account. It can't take into account how a guy's
feeling or something like that. That's a human isle I
know that.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But you can't take an into account like the probability
of him throwing five straight balls and what it made,
what the next pick may be.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
I mean, yeah, that's a guessing game at that point. Yeah,
it can only do so much.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Well, that's the problem. It can give you the probability,
but the probability they already have the probability going in
because they already run their analytics. This is just during
the game. It's like during the game analytics. That's what
it is. I don't think it works. I can't see
it working because what is not predictable. All right, Michael
(27:44):
Confordo's going up right now. AI is gonna say throw
it here here three times that are always going to
strike out. I'll tell you he's not had a good year,
and that's all been recorded and documented, and AI can
figure that out. What if he hits a ball? What
if this is the one at bat where he hits it?
(28:06):
What what I'll take you one further. What if Michael
Conforto goes into AI and said, how would you pitch me?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
And they say the same exact thing. He doesn't like
it inside and low, he doesn't. I pitch him three
ways this, three times this way, and you'll strike him out.
And he's looking for it now. He doesn't hit the
curve ball, give him nothing but breaking balls. He punched
that into AI before the game. Which guys do self
(28:36):
scout themselves, right, That's that's what they do. But if
you've got an AI manager and he's gonna go strictly
off AI, that's how he's gonna pitch you, you can
counteract that by doing your own AI.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
And self scout yourself.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Or what what would that AI tell me to do
against me?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
That's pretty smart. I like that that act is very smart, right, Oh,
you're gonna use AI? Well so am I? Yeah? I
mean what if it was to a point where they're
sitting in the dugout before they're going up to bat,
and they could just ask it, here's what I've done
in the game tonight, and here's the pitches he struck
(29:15):
me out on. What should I do?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah? I wonder if you're talking about it in real
time they I mean they do it obviously, they do
it before the game. Yeah, I think, Michael, you've had
trouble there. You know, you have trouble with the breaking
ball lately, and the last month you were you were
hitting fifty five. So just get ready for a steady
dose of breaking pitches. And he knows that going in.
(29:40):
I mean, they do that self scout already. But you're
talking in real time. On my third time up, this
is how they got me out. Are they going to
continue to do this? Yes, Michael, they struck you out twice,
so they're gonna keep throwing your breaking balls. Okay, good,
I'm gonna hit went out.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Just sit there and wait, yes, just will swing it
anything else but a breaking ball. Look, breaking ball? Do
you think AI could design an entire football game plan.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm sure the sheets that
the offensive coordinator Sean mcvays have on the sideline, those
are those are analytics. Those are going through. Chicago Bears
played this on third and seven, first and ten eighty
percent of the time they're in this defense. So we're
(30:34):
gonna call our plays accordingly. This works against that particular defense.
And I got seven of them on my list for
first and ten and they go there. It's that detail.
It was that detail when I played.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
You knew, you know, their probability and third down they
were gonna play man coverage if it was five yards
or less. So you called a play that you thought
they were gonna play man coverage in. Or they like
the blitz at this point on the field, so you
call a play that you're protected or that's a blitz beater.
(31:09):
So yeah, that does it. It's the problem is, like
you said, in game adjustments, in game situations.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Now, yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Were told that we can run the ball against these guys,
and all of a sudden, they're stuffing us the first
ten times we run the ball. Then you gotta change
it up. You gotta throw that analytics out the window.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
When you played, How often was the information the analytics
you received right? How often did you have to throw
it out the window going in most of the time
is right?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
It was right. The problem is you can't You have
to adjust to saying they play man coverage. This should
work to a guy physically just making a play, or
a guy you know, being better on that day, or
(32:04):
them defending you and playing at a different level than
he played last week. Oh, their man to man coach
was terrible last week, Well, two of their corners were.
They were only playing at seventy percent. This week they're
more like ninety percent. So they're going to be better.
They're not going to be as far off on this
play or whatever. And it's totally different. Yeah, we've we've
(32:25):
had it, and it's most of them it's right, But
a lot of times it doesn't work. When you go
into a game said we should be able to run
the ball down these guys throat, and you get in
the game, it's like, this guy's playing out of his
mind and we can't run the ball because we can't
block him when we should. On paper, it says we
can block him, but we can't block him in the
real game.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
And that's the problem with analytics. Yes, that's it. That's
why I don't think you could ever have an AI
manager for that very reason. Yeah, Statistically, it tells us
this law of averages and probability tells us this. The
matter is, what if somebody's just having one of those
days that you're playing against Yeah, just having one of
(33:08):
those days where whatever you try against them doesn't work,
or whatever you were told to do against them fails
miserably every time you do it. It's wrong. Do you
sit there and say, but the law of average says,
if we continue to do this, eventually it will work.
Or do you go, I don't know, the guy just
sacked me nine times in a row. We should try
(33:28):
something else. Yeah, I think we should try something else.
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
That reminds me of the Game seven of the Conference
finals when Houston played Golden State. This is when Golden
State had to rant and all those guys, and this
is when I believe Chris Paul was with James Harden
in Houston. They got all the way to Game seven
and they missed like their first twenty five or twenty
six threes. They just cannot get a shot to fall
and It's like, well, analytics say, we've been so great
(33:52):
shooting threes all season long, we got to make one eventually,
and they kept shooting them, and they kept shooting them,
and they kept missing, and I think they only lost
by like eight or nine or something like. They were
in the game despite that, if they just tweaked a
little bit, they might have won that game, won that series,
and won a championship. That's an example of relying on
the analytics and just saying, eventually the numbers are going
(34:12):
to fall in our favor on a particular day or
a particular night. It may not happen for you.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Do you remember it happened in the Dodger game the
number one bungled moment in analytics and it wasn't the
Dodgers that did it.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
I know where you're going. Twenty World Series huh.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, Blake Snell.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
When Kevin Cash, the manager of Tampa Bay, came out
during the World Series. And by the way, he didn't
walk out, he skipped out. Yeah, he hurried out, you're
done because Blake Snell had hit his pitch count. Yeah,
Blake Snell, who was destroying the Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
Not even a pitch count Fred it was that he
was going to face the lineup for.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
The third time.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
Yeah, and the numbers say that he and pitchers in
general struggle the third time through the lineup, despite the
fact of how he's pitching. The numbers say this, therefore,
we're going to take him out.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
And I'm telling you, Cash jumped out of the dugout
to get him. It wasn't a slow walk, you know,
give me the ball. Pat him on the butt. Good job.
He ran out there. He was done. And that is
the moment that Mookie Beth saw this. He started allowed
to laugh and turned to the Dodger dugout. He said,
(35:31):
we got him, We got him. I understand you shouldn't
face the lineup three times. He is mowing people down
in the World Series and looking pretty good, pretty fresh,
not laboring, not struggling, and they took him out and
(35:52):
that turned that World Series around. That's when analytics is
a bad thing. You have the probabilities, you have the numbers,
but a human being has to interpret that and then
go with their gut. All numbers do is give you
(36:14):
enough information for probabilities. It's up to you how you
apply that. Now, all right, we will be back to
wrap up the proceedings.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Thank you so much hanging out with us for three
hours a day on a beautiful hump day Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Roddy p.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Fred Rogan.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Okay, so we'll see what happens with the Padres tonight.
Everybody's rooting for the Reds. Everybody loves the Reds, and
at least we do now. And we'll see what happens
with the Dodgers. Blake Snell goes, So you gotta like
their chances tonight. Just a question of do they hit.
That's it. If the pitching stays this way, and for
(37:01):
all intents and purposes that appears it will. The ballgame
is do they hit? I mean, the pitching is where
they wanted it to be at the beginning of the year.
You wanted pitching, you got it. Can I ask you
that same question? Yeah, real quick.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
That so three game series you're gonna start, Snell and Yamamoto.
That's kind of like I think the universal opinion Minell Yamamoto,
you got Game three, You're gonna play it by a year.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
You got Game three.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
You're sitting over there with Glass now Otani and Kershaw,
and you split them. You split the first two games,
so now it's a do or die or game three.
Who are you trying out there?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Okay, you might want to go a combo, Oh Tani
combo sandwich maybe O Tani Kershaw right now, Glass now
is not my third guy. That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
So you go with Tani when you let him go
as long as he can go, or you you you're
on the pick, and then you come back with you
come with Kershall right after that.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, that'd be it. I think I would do it.
Nobody else would. Everybody would think it'd be crazy, but
that's what I would do. Got you, Okay, I wouldn't
be mad at that, right, Ronnie, thank you, great job.
Kevin appreciate it. And Rodney will do it again tomorrow, sir,
All right, we continue on Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on
a five to seventy LA Sports. Jack Harris is standing by.
Before we get to Jack, we do want to point out,
because we brought this up when it first happened. Charlie Cook,
a political pundit, a commentator, conservative, it doesn't matter what
side of the isle you're on right now, was speaking
at an event, a school event, a college event in Utah.
(00:24):
He was shot thirty one years old, two kids, and
now we realize that he has died, but he was
basically assassinated while speaking. Authorities are still trying to find
the suspect. They are scanning the area, and we wanted
to point that out because we did bring it up
(00:44):
when it happened. For more information, I'm sure they are
all over this. Go to KFI AM six forty because
in the world, there's no bigger story than that right
now and KFI has it. Okay, back to what we do,
and let's bring on our friend Jack Harris from the Times. Jack,
good afternoon to you.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
How you guys doing We're doing.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Okay, Jack, doing that right? How do you think the
Dodgers are doing.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Better than last week? I would say at the very least,
you know, actually winning games here. They it was crazy,
like yesterday's the first time in ten days they won
a game on the same day the Padres loss, so
a two game lead, and like just a little bit
of encouragement I'd say about how the lineups looked, obviously,
how the rotation's been, and that you know, their hope
(01:35):
is that all the struggles of the last you know,
two months here they're finally starting to move past. But
we'll see they've looked like this at time so before
and then it started struggling again. So obviously a big
one tonight and then a big series come up this
week and in San Francisco too.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Hey Jack, do you think that collapse of the no
hitter with Yamamodo the other night was a I don't
call rock bottom, but a come to g this moment
for this team and that maybe that was something I'm
want to say that they needed, but something that was, Okay,
this really can't happen. We're too good to let this happen,
(02:12):
and this could be something that catapults them to play
in the way everybody believes they could play.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I mean, the ironic part about that loss was
Before that game, Dave Roberts had gathered the team together,
not for a big raw Ross speech, but just to
kind of implore them to loosen up a little bit,
to stop trying to be so perfect, to just trust
the talent.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That they have.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I think it's kind of similar to a meeting he
had last year in Atlanta where he told the team like, look,
I believe in you guys. I know we've had a
lot of injuries. And that was something that a lot
of players pointed to, you know, during the postseason run
as just being kind of a turning point for them.
So the hope was at that Saturday game, and it
was looking that way for a while, would kind of
be a turning point moment in the season. Obviously, it
(02:56):
then became, i think easily the worst loss that they
had had, and was a real question, you know, how
are they going to respond to that. Obviously, over the
course of a long season, you're going to have some
tough losses along the way in some stretches where you
don't play well, but that did feel like a tipping point,
and I think the fact that they were able to regroup,
that they came back the next day played a pretty
(03:17):
clean game that they've come into this series and taken
care of business so far against the Rockies. I don't
know if it's because of how that game on Saturday ended,
but I think it's just been a good reminder to
these guys that, look, we can deal with adversity. We
can have you know, one of the toughest losses you
could possibly take in the regular season and not let
(03:37):
it extend into the days after that, even when we've
been playing poorly beforehand. You know, I think what we've
seen here is like a lot of the guys in
the clubhouse have talked about, you know, obviously, they were
just really bad in July. The bullpen was bad, the
lineup was really generating very little offense on a daily basis,
the rotation was injured, and they felt like since then,
(03:59):
like if you look over the last month, they've played
better on a day to day basis, you know, they've
they've done a little bit better, not always, but a
little bit better manufacturing runs, taking more competitive, team minded
at bats. Obviously, the starting pitching is down a lot better,
and over the last month it's just felt like they've
lost a lot of these close games, a lot of
it because of the bullpen sometimes because you know, they
(04:21):
they have the chance to build a beginning and then
don't get that one hit that they need to really
break a game open. But they felt like on the
whole they were playing better. And I think what you've
just seen here over the last couple of days is
that some of those other little things have started to
go right for them. You look back at that game
Sunday in Baltimore, when you know, Miguel Rojas scores on
a on a pickoff throw from the catcher that gets
(04:42):
into the outfield. That's a break that went their way
that they weren't getting before. You know, Mookie bet says
that huge hit two nights ago to break the one
to one tie late night game, and then yesterday, you know,
the offense finally kind of exploded for a big game.
So they have felt like the overall play has been
trending in a better direction and just as the result
haven't been there. I think if you look this week,
(05:03):
you're finally starting to see the results turn. And the
hope is that that gives them some confidence and then
allows them to keep playing better baseball down the stretch.
But they got to continue it because Obviously, they've had
little spurts where they've looked good before and then couldn't
sustain momentum or just clean play. So that's going to
be the challenge now. So I think the fact that
they didn't let that Saturday loss in Baltimore spiral into
something more is a good sign, and it's up to
(05:25):
them to kind of keep it going here over the
final couple weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
All right. So Rodney and I were kicking this around earlier.
Are you're trying to figure out who would be on
the pitching staff in the playoffs for the first series,
and right now we're assuming it's the best of three
because not only do they have to win the division,
they have to catch the Phillies, all right, And it
came down to this, in our mind, what if you
can only pick one, Kirby Yates or Tanner Scott, who
(05:48):
do you pick?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I think of those two, I would pick Tanner Scott.
Obviously they both have have had really underwhelming, disappointing season,
and I think Tanner Scott, just from a stuffed perspective,
is better. You know, he throws his fastball harder. I
think the slider, when it's located well is so a
good pitch for him. I mean, the problem has been
really simple. It's just that he's left too many mistake
(06:16):
pitches over the middle of the plate, especially when he's
had the chances to put at bats away, like that
walk off home run he gave up in Baltimore on
a one to two fastball that he just threw down
the middle. That's something that you know, is he's more
easily corrected than I think what you've seen with Kirby HS,
which is just his splitter, which is his trademark pitch,
just has not been consistent this year. He hasn't thrown
(06:36):
it the way he's wanted to. And I think at
times you've seen Tanner Scott look good, look better at least,
and then get punished for a few mistakes. So I think,
you know, if you're picking between those two, I'd say
Tanner Scott. But yeah, the fact that you even have
to kick around these hypotheticals is just a reflection of
how poorly each of their seasons has gone and how
(06:58):
how much it's hurt the bullpen not have those two
guys pitching the way the Dodgers expected them to.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
H That being said, have you seen enough of Tanner
Scott to not let him close, or do you keep
trotting him out there to see if he can kind
of find it before October, or do you start to
work somebody else like trying it in the back end.
I know they like trying it for high, high, high
leverage situation to be that stopper. But who do you
(07:27):
put in the back end or do you keep Tanner
Scott and hopefully he gets better and gets into form.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, the team's thinking on this right now is they're
going to keep using all of those guys, but especially
Tanner Scott in leverage spots. So a lot of times
it's gonna be in the ninth inning, you know, if
there's a run of lefties or something else earlier in
the game where it makes sense to use him, you'll
see him there. But Dave Roberts just talked about this
a few times over the last week or two, which is, look,
these are the guys we have, you know, our team.
(07:56):
If we're going to be the team we expect to
be in October, it's gonna because we're able to rely
on Tanner Scott to some extent, Blake Trying and maybe
even a Kirby Yates, probably in a lesser leverage role
for him, but you know, that's how this team was built.
You know. For as good as if Guardar Driguez has
looked in flashes, he has seventeen career innings, Jack Dryer,
(08:17):
for as good as he's been this year, they haven't
really trusted him in a bunch of leverage spots. They
are hoping that some of these veteran guys, first and foremost,
Tanner Scott kind of figures it out. So that's why,
at least for now, you're gonna keep seeing him late
in games with a lead, whether it's a safe situation
or another leverage spot. It is at the point of
the year where you know, I think if things continue
(08:38):
to go poorly for him over the next week or two,
you know, that's when they'll probably try to get more creative,
you know, over that last you know, week to two
weeks of the regular season, figuring out, Okay, who's hot,
who can we go with, and it'll just have to
be a little bit more uh, outside the box thinking.
But again, you know, Tanner Scott's stuff has ticked up.
(09:00):
I'd say his performances overall have been a little bit
better but the reality of the situation for the Dodgers
is from the offseason to the trade deadline, they built
this team. The front off is built this team needing
guys like Tanner Scott to pitch well, and so they're
going to have to just continue running him out there
hoping he can find something. And it's a much different
(09:22):
looking bullpen if he can get hot and be somewhat
of a trustworthy guy for you in October than if
he can't. So it's obviously a difficult position to be in.
It's obviously really frustrating to the fan base to see
him continue to blow games like he has for you know,
most of the season. But the best version of this
team is if you have somebody like him pitching well.
And that's why you're going to, at least for a
(09:43):
little while longer here see him continue to get opportunities
and hopes that he can get on some kind of
role as they get closer to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
That being said, let's look at Roki Sazaki. He had
a pretty good outing yesterday in Oklahoma City. Hit three
or hit three hundred, hit one hundred three times four
shout out.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It felt like three hundred. Compare to how it had
been this year.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
But here's the thing. So now he has a good
outing here and you're going, well, this is a guy
the Dodgers signed, all right, let's get him in here.
I don't know if you do that. I don't know
if you put him on the playoff roster, because we
just don't know how consistent he'll be.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Jack Yeah, I think this comes out to a couple
of things. I would guess after an outing like yesterday,
it's at least a lot likelier that we see him
at some point in the regular season again, probably coming
out of the bullpen. You know, they don't need another
starting pitcher at the moment. You know, one good outing
in triple A is not going to take him from
(10:39):
out of the roster picture. Tolv's on the postseason roster
for sure, But I think it does open the door
for the team to look for an opportunity to maybe
bring him back up here, see how he looks in
a big league environment, and then you know, just have
him as another option to evaluate as they get closer
to the playoffs. In case guys like Tanner, Scott In,
(11:00):
Kirby Yates, maybe even Blake trying and continue to struggle
and they feel like, Okay, you know, Roki Sasaki would
obviously be a pretty volatile option, but he has you know,
if he's showing that that stuff, that one hundred mile
an hour fastball, that new kind of slider cutter he
was throwing yesterday, and Okay, see if that can be
consistent even for a little while and you get to
(11:20):
a point where you just you need to find other
options in the bullpen you trust, then he can be
an option. So at this point, I'd still be pretty
surprised if he's you know, a key part of the
bullpen or even on the postseason roster at this point,
just given how up and down his season has been.
But yesterday at least kind of kept that in the
conversation and it's something they can continue to think about
(11:41):
as they try to figure out what their their best
thirteen pitcher pitching staff looks like for the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Okay, that being said, what do you how do you
use immit Chan who's looked pretty good lately and really
looked good yesterday. How do you utilize him?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, I guess this will probably fit in to kind
of a multi inning role out of the bullpen. Somebody
who you know, if one of your starters gets in trouble,
can come in and help give you some length. You know,
the reality of this year's bullpen is, unlike last October,
when there were legitimately six or seven guys pitching at
a high level for the entire month, pretty unlikely the
(12:19):
Dodgers are going to find themselves in that situation if
you just look at how things have been going lately.
So if you can have somebody like him who can
give you some length out of the pen and a
postseason series, that could be really important. You know, two
years ago, before he got hurt, that was going to
kind of be the plan for him in that twenty
twenty three post season. Obviously that playoff run did not
last long enough to really see how that would look.
(12:42):
But again, with how steady the rest of the rotation is,
but with how well he's pitched, I think he gives
them kind of a weapon in the pen that they
don't have at the moment that could be really, you know, useful.
I think if you think to that Sunday game in Baltimore,
the way that Justin Rablowski came out and pitched two innings,
I think you could see a role like that for
Imachie and at some point point in the playoffs. So again,
(13:02):
there's still time for things to change. The way he's
pitched as a starter I think has been very encouraging,
and if you know there's unexpected injuries or something like that,
he gives them some depth there. But assuming the rest
of the rotation stays healthy the rest of the way,
you'll probably see him move to the pen and provide
some value there in a different kind of looking role.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Jack. With the Giants coming up next, I think the
Dodgers and Giants play each other seven times now, that
will pretty much, I would think determine the Dodgers' fate
and maybe the Giants, because you know, the Giants can be.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Up the Dodge coming Fred. They got the Phillies coming
to Fred. Well, I'm just looking at the Giants next.
I'm looking at the Giants next. Do you think that
could pretty much determine stuff?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean, that'll go a long way towards it, you know,
if they can play well those Giants series. The reality
is right now, the Dodgers have what's effectively a two
and a half game lead in the division if you
count the fact that they have the tiebreaker head to
head over the Padres this year and they can handle
those Giants series. Yeah, there's that big series against Philly,
but outside of those ten games of the nineteen or
(14:12):
so that they have left, the rest of the schedule
looks more manageable. I think the Giants, when you look
at the schedule, probably the hottest team that they're going
to face the rest of the way, And obviously they're
going to have a lot to play force since they've
gotten back within a couple games of a wildcard spot here.
So those are going to be very big games, not
only for the Dodgers' chances to close out the division
(14:35):
or the Giants' chances to try to sneak into the playoffs,
but I think just generally for the Dodgers, like those
games are probably going to feel pretty close to kind
of postseason environment games with how much it's going to
be at stake for both teams and if they can
play well in those games, you know, it kind of
reminds me of last year the way the Dodgers played
well against the d Backs and the Braves, and even
that last regular season series against the Padres and the
(14:57):
momentum that they were able to build there that they
took into the playoffs. So to me, that's the most
important part because, like, honestly, at this point, you know,
even if they don't win the division, like, the reality is,
they're probably going to be playing in a wildcard series
either way, unless they can sweet the Phillies and the
Phillies go cold. But making up four or five games
whatever it is on Philadelphia is unlikely. So you know,
(15:17):
postseason seeding aside. I just I think the most important
thing for the Dodgers over these final three weeks is
just playing well and doing it consistently. And if you
can do it against the Giants team that's been really
good the last month, now, that's going to give you
a boost as you as you come up on the postseason.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
All right, Jack, this is the last one for me,
But it's a two parter. All right.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
The Dodgers, like you said, more than likely going to
play in that wildcard series, that three game, dreaded three
game series. First, who are you trotting out there to
pitch on those first three games? And secondly, if it
does come down to a do or die tied at
one third.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Game, who's starting.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, I think if you're looking at a Wildcard series rotation,
it's Yamamoto and Snell will be in there. I'm almost certain,
and then you know the show. Hey Otani, as long
as he pitches well over these last couple weeks, I
think it would be hard to leave him out of
a postseason, you know, if you're looking at a three
man rotation, be hard to leave him out just because
(16:21):
of where his stuff is at, how good he like
when it's on. He can be probably the best pitcher
on this entire staff. Now, if it's a little shakier,
then maybe you start thinking about somebody like Tyler Glass.
Now if he can be more consistent down the stretch
and pitch more like he has in these last couple outings.
So I think that third spot's a little bit of
a question of just how guys look over these final
couple weeks. But again, I think you're gonna start with
(16:42):
Snell and Yamamoto in some order, and that's a good
place for the team to be, especially in a three
game series when you know this offense can very easily
go cold for a week. The bullpen could very easily
blow a lead late if you don't you know, give
yourself enough cushion in those games. So starting pitching is
going to be critical. And if you can art with
with Snell and Yamamoto and then have whether it's Okani
(17:03):
or Glasnow or you know, Clayton Kershaw has been good.
I don't know if they would throw them out in
a three game series like that given some of their
other options, but they're gonna have choices to make there.
The good news is, at least as it pertains to
the rotation, all of them are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
All right, Well, Jack, you're always very good, So thank
you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
All right, appreciate it, guys.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
All right, there goes our buddy Jack Harris. At the
Times Jack does a great job. Yeah he really does.
This Look around the Wild Wild nl West brought to
you by wild Fork for the wild Fork store near you.
Go to Wildforkfoods dot Com, wild Fork in your neighborhood. Okay, Well,
(17:44):
you don't want to have automated strike zone, right? How
about if you have an automated manager? That's next?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Hello Rogan and Rodney listener, did you know AM five seventy.
LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
shows like Petros in money. We are streaming Matt Dodger
Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of record, Clipper
Talk without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
Just go to a five seventy LA Sports on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Wip oh yeah, come on, let's keep it moving down
to home stretch. Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan on a beautiful Wednesday.
Many thanks to Jack Harris at the Times, always breaking
it down the Dodgers in real detail. Jack tells it
like it is, Fred, He really does. He really does
(18:33):
a terrific job, and he's honest. It's funny. Jack does
a great job. So Bill Plunkett, and of course David
Vasse is the man. They're with these guys all the time.
But they're so honest. They're not homers.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
A lot of times in a smaller market you get
guys that are homers, and if they're not a homer,
then all of a sudden they are excommunicated by the team.
We don't want you around. These guys aren't homers. They're
very honest. I think guys want people dealing with them
that are honest. If you're honest, then the players will
respect you. You just gotta be honest and open and
don't take cheap shots.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, don't take cheap shots, and come around. Be around.
Guys are okay with you if you're honest and you're real,
if you show your face. But if you're doing it
from afar, like you're doing it in your basement and
nobody ever sees you, then it becomes a problem. And
(19:32):
I can remember several of those guys in Philadelphia that
just were You never saw them, but they wrote scathing
articles about different people. But yeah, just be honest. And
if you're gonna be be truthful both ways, be honest
both ways. And if you're gonna rip somebody then they
do good, you gotta praise them too. You can't just
be one sided.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Uh, don't forget. On Monday, we're gonna be down at
BJ's restaurant, Rule House and Downey. We invite you to
come down there. You're getting notice this time. I mean
last time, we didn't even give you any notice because
it was the holiday. We got back and we did
the show. So were there Monday noon to three giving
away Dodger tickets, given away football tickets, given away Bjay's
gift cards. So come on down to Downey Monday noon
(20:17):
to three. We're excited about the show. Rodney. We can't wait.
We wish it was tomorrow. We do, we do, Freddy,
we do. Let's go see everybody Monday. Okay, I you
know what I saw this. I wanted to talk about it.
I guess you and Adam already did it. So that's
on me. The baseball team that's going to be managed
(20:38):
by AI, which of course it be right up my alley.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Oh no, I get it one, you know. Okay, I'm
gonna let you go because I get I'm leaning more
towards the automated strikes on. This is what I told Adam.
I said I was. I was vehemently opposed to it,
and until this year might have been the worst year
I've seen of balls and strikes being called. It's been
(21:04):
atrocious thread it really has in baseball. It has been
so bad it's almost like the Empires were doing this
on purpose to get the automatic strike zone in and
implement it. That's how bad it's been. It's been really bad,
to the point where managers and players are getting thrown out,
umpires are being sensitive if somebody questions a call it.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It is really bad.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So I'm leaning that way, but now we're taking it
too far with this AI manager stuff, way too far. Okay,
what's your team?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
All right? So first, when we talked about the automatic
strike zone, and the feeling was, well, you can't lose
the human element, and you want the only one to
say that. Almost everyone said that. Of course, almost everyone
was wrong because again we can't. No more watching than
you know on the field doesn't work. Doesn't work in
(21:57):
our minds. Life is check change. Technology has changed our life.
So the human element is guys pitching and hitting. That's
the human element. The umpire is there to officiate the
game and keep it under control. They don't need to
be that human. So, yes, the automated strike zone should
(22:18):
be here, and it's not because the umpires are bad.
And that's the other side of it. Well, what are
you saying they're bad? Well, some are, but that's not
the point. It's just the game has changed, Technology has changed, and.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
It's gotten tougher. I would say the way the spin rate,
the way the balls are thrown, guys are throwing much harder.
The reaction time has to be greater for the umpires.
I think it's gotten difficult more difficult over the years.
But guys aren't missing it like on you know when
you see that box umpires are not just missing it online,
they're missing it by a ball and a half outside
(22:54):
or inside or high. And it's gotten really bad.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So I okay. So now that moves to the AI
managed game, a minor league game. You guys talked about it.
A team is going to use AI to manage their game.
The Oakland Ballers of the Independent Pioneer League. Very good team,
by the way, very good team. Now AI is not
(23:20):
going to manage when to steal and stuff like that.
Why not because they said they don't have enough time
to relay the signals to the players. But AI is
going to make the end game decisions. They'll feed the
information in do we change a picture or not? What
do you think? Do we bunt here or not? How
(23:40):
do we handle this? They're gonna type it.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
If you can say you can bunt, why can't you
say you can steal?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Though? No, they just said there's not enough time to
get that information out there. That's all it's said. So
they're going to use AI. So what do you think
of that? I think it will be a fascinating experiment.
But just because I like the automated strike zone AI
(24:09):
to operate the game all game time decisions is not
going to work because the one thing that AI can't
do first, AI bases everything on a collection of data
from what has happened. It cannot predict the future. It's
not a fortune teller. So when you ask AI a question,
(24:33):
it has just completely savaged the entire internet, found everything
about that topic that you asked, and will present an
answer that more often than not has been used. That's AI.
You can't ask AI a question to predict something. It
won't do it. It doesn't work that way. It can
(24:54):
only work on existing facts. So if that's the case,
I don't think you can remove the human element from sports,
from playing because AI might tell you Rodney in this situation,
Rodney Pete should swing away. Maybe AI will tell you that,
(25:18):
But the truth of the matter is the pitchers throw
nine straight balls, but in the situation Rodney against this
picture swing away.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
So AI can't manufacture something in real time and somebody
type in two balls, five balls in a row, seven balls,
and nine balls in a row and redirect the response
or is it all going to be predetermined?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Well, it doesn't exist. It doesn't work that way. It
can't predict well it can use is.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
It's all based on probability. So I'm sure it could
be able to track if a picture through nine straight balls.
The problem is you can't predict whether or not he's
gonna throw a tenth or if it's going to be
straight down the middle. And that's based on probability. It
can tell you what it's.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Saying in real time. Can you say he threw nine
straight balls, the probability of him throwing a tenth one
is thirty two percent, So take this pitch.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
But yeah, you could type it into AI. Well, I'm
sure I would to take the answer.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
It will record all this stuff. It's not typing something
in when you're where you're dealing with something like this.
It's it's a model that's probably already designed to take.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
You got to feed the information to it. So make
you feed information like this picture's got an eight e er.
We should light him up and we're gonna start and
he's terrible against left handers even though he's left handed,
so we're gonna go with the left handed lineup.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
Yeah, but that part's taking into account is input already.
I'm talking about in live game action. If a guy
is throwing a ball, the computer will pick up that
it was a recorded as a ball, not a strike,
and maybe even it could be as sophisticated as knowing
it was a ball on the low outside left as
opposed to low inside right. I'm sure these computers that
they're using for situations like this are fast enough and
(26:57):
have all this information. It doesn't mean that they're gonna
be right or wrong, but it takes all these variables
into account. It can't take into account how a guy's
feeling or something like that. That's a human isle I
know that.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But you can't take an into account like the probability
of him throwing five straight balls and what it made,
what the next pick may be.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
I mean, yeah, that's a guessing game at that point. Yeah,
it can only do so much.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Well, that's the problem. It can give you the probability,
but the probability they already have the probability going in
because they already run their analytics. This is just during
the game. It's like during the game analytics. That's what
it is. I don't think it works. I can't see
it working because what is not predictable. All right, Michael
(27:44):
Confordo's going up right now. AI is gonna say throw
it here here three times that are always going to
strike out. I'll tell you he's not had a good year,
and that's all been recorded and documented, and AI can
figure that out. What if he hits a ball? What
if this is the one at bat where he hits it?
(28:06):
What what I'll take you one further. What if Michael
Conforto goes into AI and said, how would you pitch me?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
And they say the same exact thing. He doesn't like
it inside and low, he doesn't. I pitch him three
ways this, three times this way, and you'll strike him out.
And he's looking for it now. He doesn't hit the
curve ball, give him nothing but breaking balls. He punched
that into AI before the game. Which guys do self
(28:36):
scout themselves, right, That's that's what they do. But if
you've got an AI manager and he's gonna go strictly
off AI, that's how he's gonna pitch you, you can
counteract that by doing your own AI.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
And self scout yourself.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Or what what would that AI tell me to do
against me?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
That's pretty smart. I like that that act is very smart, right, Oh,
you're gonna use AI? Well so am I? Yeah? I
mean what if it was to a point where they're
sitting in the dugout before they're going up to bat,
and they could just ask it, here's what I've done
in the game tonight, and here's the pitches he struck
(29:15):
me out on. What should I do?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah? I wonder if you're talking about it in real
time they I mean they do it obviously, they do
it before the game. Yeah, I think, Michael, you've had
trouble there. You know, you have trouble with the breaking
ball lately, and the last month you were you were
hitting fifty five. So just get ready for a steady
dose of breaking pitches. And he knows that going in.
(29:40):
I mean, they do that self scout already. But you're
talking in real time. On my third time up, this
is how they got me out. Are they going to
continue to do this? Yes, Michael, they struck you out twice,
so they're gonna keep throwing your breaking balls. Okay, good,
I'm gonna hit went out.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Just sit there and wait, yes, just will swing it
anything else but a breaking ball. Look, breaking ball? Do
you think AI could design an entire football game plan.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm sure the sheets that
the offensive coordinator Sean mcvays have on the sideline, those
are those are analytics. Those are going through. Chicago Bears
played this on third and seven, first and ten eighty
percent of the time they're in this defense. So we're
(30:34):
gonna call our plays accordingly. This works against that particular defense.
And I got seven of them on my list for
first and ten and they go there. It's that detail.
It was that detail when I played.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
You knew, you know, their probability and third down they
were gonna play man coverage if it was five yards
or less. So you called a play that you thought
they were gonna play man coverage in. Or they like
the blitz at this point on the field, so you
call a play that you're protected or that's a blitz beater.
(31:09):
So yeah, that does it. It's the problem is, like
you said, in game adjustments, in game situations.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Now, yeah, we.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Were told that we can run the ball against these guys,
and all of a sudden, they're stuffing us the first
ten times we run the ball. Then you gotta change
it up. You gotta throw that analytics out the window.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
When you played, How often was the information the analytics
you received right? How often did you have to throw
it out the window going in most of the time
is right?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
It was right. The problem is you can't You have
to adjust to saying they play man coverage. This should
work to a guy physically just making a play, or
a guy you know, being better on that day, or
(32:04):
them defending you and playing at a different level than
he played last week. Oh, their man to man coach
was terrible last week, Well, two of their corners were.
They were only playing at seventy percent. This week they're
more like ninety percent. So they're going to be better.
They're not going to be as far off on this
play or whatever. And it's totally different. Yeah, we've we've
(32:25):
had it, and it's most of them it's right, But
a lot of times it doesn't work. When you go
into a game said we should be able to run
the ball down these guys throat, and you get in
the game, it's like, this guy's playing out of his
mind and we can't run the ball because we can't
block him when we should. On paper, it says we
can block him, but we can't block him in the
real game.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
And that's the problem with analytics. Yes, that's it. That's
why I don't think you could ever have an AI
manager for that very reason. Yeah, Statistically, it tells us
this law of averages and probability tells us this. The
matter is, what if somebody's just having one of those
days that you're playing against Yeah, just having one of
(33:08):
those days where whatever you try against them doesn't work,
or whatever you were told to do against them fails
miserably every time you do it. It's wrong. Do you
sit there and say, but the law of average says,
if we continue to do this, eventually it will work.
Or do you go, I don't know, the guy just
sacked me nine times in a row. We should try
(33:28):
something else. Yeah, I think we should try something else.
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
That reminds me of the Game seven of the Conference
finals when Houston played Golden State. This is when Golden
State had to rant and all those guys, and this
is when I believe Chris Paul was with James Harden
in Houston. They got all the way to Game seven
and they missed like their first twenty five or twenty
six threes. They just cannot get a shot to fall
and It's like, well, analytics say, we've been so great
(33:52):
shooting threes all season long, we got to make one eventually,
and they kept shooting them, and they kept shooting them,
and they kept missing, and I think they only lost
by like eight or nine or something like. They were
in the game despite that, if they just tweaked a
little bit, they might have won that game, won that series,
and won a championship. That's an example of relying on
the analytics and just saying, eventually the numbers are going
(34:12):
to fall in our favor on a particular day or
a particular night. It may not happen for you.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Do you remember it happened in the Dodger game the
number one bungled moment in analytics and it wasn't the
Dodgers that did it.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
I know where you're going. Twenty World Series huh.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, Blake Snell.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
When Kevin Cash, the manager of Tampa Bay, came out
during the World Series. And by the way, he didn't
walk out, he skipped out. Yeah, he hurried out, you're
done because Blake Snell had hit his pitch count. Yeah,
Blake Snell, who was destroying the Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
Not even a pitch count Fred it was that he
was going to face the lineup for.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
The third time.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
Yeah, and the numbers say that he and pitchers in
general struggle the third time through the lineup, despite the
fact of how he's pitching. The numbers say this, therefore,
we're going to take him out.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
And I'm telling you, Cash jumped out of the dugout
to get him. It wasn't a slow walk, you know,
give me the ball. Pat him on the butt. Good job.
He ran out there. He was done. And that is
the moment that Mookie Beth saw this. He started allowed
to laugh and turned to the Dodger dugout. He said,
(35:31):
we got him, We got him. I understand you shouldn't
face the lineup three times. He is mowing people down
in the World Series and looking pretty good, pretty fresh,
not laboring, not struggling, and they took him out and
(35:52):
that turned that World Series around. That's when analytics is
a bad thing. You have the probabilities, you have the numbers,
but a human being has to interpret that and then
go with their gut. All numbers do is give you
(36:14):
enough information for probabilities. It's up to you how you
apply that. Now, all right, we will be back to
wrap up the proceedings.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Thank you so much hanging out with us for three
hours a day on a beautiful hump day Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Roddy p.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Fred Rogan.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Okay, so we'll see what happens with the Padres tonight.
Everybody's rooting for the Reds. Everybody loves the Reds, and
at least we do now. And we'll see what happens
with the Dodgers. Blake Snell goes, So you gotta like
their chances tonight. Just a question of do they hit.
That's it. If the pitching stays this way, and for
(37:01):
all intents and purposes that appears it will. The ballgame
is do they hit? I mean, the pitching is where
they wanted it to be at the beginning of the year.
You wanted pitching, you got it. Can I ask you
that same question? Yeah, real quick.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
That so three game series you're gonna start, Snell and Yamamoto.
That's kind of like I think the universal opinion Minell Yamamoto,
you got Game three, You're gonna play it by a year.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
You got Game three.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
You're sitting over there with Glass now Otani and Kershaw,
and you split them. You split the first two games,
so now it's a do or die or game three.
Who are you trying out there?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Okay, you might want to go a combo, Oh Tani
combo sandwich maybe O Tani Kershaw right now, Glass now
is not my third guy. That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
So you go with Tani when you let him go
as long as he can go, or you you you're
on the pick, and then you come back with you
come with Kershall right after that.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, that'd be it. I think I would do it.
Nobody else would. Everybody would think it'd be crazy, but
that's what I would do. Got you, Okay, I wouldn't
be mad at that, right, Ronnie, thank you, great job.
Kevin appreciate it. And Rodney will do it again tomorrow, sir,
Roggin And Rodney News
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