September 2, 2025 • 39 mins
The Dodgers' offense continues to struggle against mediocre pitching as they dropped 2 of 3 against the snakes over the weekend. They needed a Will Smith walkoff HR in order to avoid the sweep after Tanner Scott blew a 3 run lead. Fred and Rodney debate whether Scott should be left off of the playoff roster. USC dominated Missouri State but UCLA was destroyed at home by Utah.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, let's go to work and one hour sprint
today with the Rodgers in Pittsburgh, Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete
on AM five seventy l a Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Rodney, how are you fight on for old s? C Fred?
You're not gonna do you want to do that at
the time? Do you really want to do it off
the top? We can't. I don't care Missouri State, Oregon State,
Alabama State, I don't care who it is, seventy three.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, we're gonna wait, you know what, We're gonna wait
a bit on that. I mean I was gonna do
it off the top. I mean I was gonna do
it later in this show, and you brought it later
at the top.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, let's do You can't. You cannot. You cannot be
impressed with that. You can't. You just can't. Hey, Fred,
I'm impressed with any win, Are you kidding me? It's
hard enough to win out there, Fred, even if it's
against Missouri State, you know, even if it's even if
(01:01):
Georgia Southern's coming to town next week, Lay Hilton, that's
gonna be a tough one too.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Missouri State was outmanned, overwhelmed, and basically looked like a
Pop Warner team from a Gorey Hills.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, right, that's kind of what they look like.
I think John Bosco would have give him a run.
They did. They looked like deer in the headlights. I
mean it was uh yeah, it was a tough one.
I like it though, all right, I like it though.
What have we complaining about SEC schools to do this
(01:38):
all the time. They always start their first two three
games with some cupcakes. Needs to get some confidence going, friend.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, but when they started with the cupcakes, I can
assure you they did not celebrate off the top of
the show. When you annihilate someone, you don't come on, well,
he sure kick the hell out of them.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We're really good. Let's say what you want? One and oh, okay, one,
all right, one and oh talk to me in six weeks.
But now let's get to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I guess you feel good about what happened when Will
Smith with the walk off to give him the win
over Arizona, So that that makes your glass half full.
The two games before that, Lee left your glass half empty.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Again. They couldn't hit. That's just the bottom line. It
didn't hit.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, and now they find themselves two and a half
up on the Padres as they hit the road, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That might be the best thing is that the Padres
kept losing. Padres ran into a couple of buzz saws, right,
who knows that that Minnesota was gonna get after him
a little bit? And so look, the thing that bothers me,
because we've been talking about this hitting all season long,
is that now that they're back pretty much almost to
(03:00):
full strength and got their guys back. I gotta tell you,
even though they lost those first two and almost blew
it for Yamamodel, the starting pitching I thought, as as
is gonna be fine. I'm not worried at all about
starting pitching as they go into October. Now, yeah, Blake
got in some trouble on Friday, and you know, glass
(03:22):
Now has had a no hitter through six and then
gave it up in the seventh a little bit and
kind of got a radic But for the most part,
if there, and it's more glaring when they don't get
any run support. I mean, the last two outings of
Blake Snell, he hasn't gotten any run support. And they
didn't really give glass Now either any run support. Either.
So as a pitcher, sometimes you go four or five,
(03:44):
six and he with your lineup and then score still zero,
zero or one nothing. It's like, come on, fellow's got
to give me something, give me something out here to
work with, and they haven't had it. But I'm not
worried about them. So, you know, winning the last game,
Will Smith home run. It was good to see because
it's really good to see him come back now because
he was he was down for a little while after
(04:07):
leading the league and hitting for a long long time
for most of the season. It's good to see him
come back. But I'm i'm I'm okay with the starting
pit now. That wasn't good for Tanner Scott. We'll get
to that, yeah, but we'll get that. In terms of
the of the starting pitching with Snell, Glass now Yamamoto
and and Otani and Kershaw, I'm i'm I'm feeling pretty
(04:30):
good about it, right. And that's why they built the
pitching staff the way they did. You didn't get to
see it much as the season progressed because at one
point or another somebody was hurt.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But now they're not fingers crossed. Everybody keeps healthy and
that's the pitching staff. Okay, so on paper, the plan
with the pitching staff worked. They have built a great
pitching staff, and we know that when you hit the playoffs,
pitching is going to win. So they have done that.
(05:00):
Andrew Friedman did that. That is the pitching staff that
he hoped you would see. And now you've got one
of the best in baseball. Good mission accomplished. The part
no one thought is they couldn't hit, right, That's the
thing nobody anticipated.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
They couldn't hit.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Now, Max Munsey when he gets back, and he's going
to be another week, but when he gets back, he
will make.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
An enormous difference.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Enormous because you can't go in lose the first two,
win the third one and feel good about it. Hey,
well we got out of here with a win. Yeah,
but you lost the first two. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Let's just say they make Zach Gallan, who has been
struggling this year, look like he was cy young. I
mean again, that was gonna get everybody's best. I'm sure
he was a little more amped up to pitch against
the Dodgers than he's been for the last two months
of the season. But still you can't make him look
that he's good, but he ain't that good and he
hasn't had that good a season, so you got to
(05:59):
get after a little bit early. But you're right. The
hitting continues to be an issue. Even when they get
great performances for six seven innings by their starting pitching,
they can't give him any help.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Saturday, the Dodgers faced Eduardo Rodriguez. He was the fourth
starter with an EIRA of over five. Okay, the Dodgers
have faced that many pitchers in the past eight games. Okay,
four starters ERA over five in eight games. They lost
all four. They scored one run in twenty four innings
combined against the four pitchers. Not going to get it done.
(06:34):
Not going to get it done. This is the thing
that is confounding to everyone. The pitching is great now,
starting pitching as planned.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You did it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
You built that staff and that's no easy task, but
they did it. They built a great starting staff. When
they're healthy, and how they're healthy again, not on wood.
They stay healthy. But the thing you did not expect,
and they have gone through ups and downs throughout the years,
hitting wise, this has been awful, just awful. And you
(07:10):
can start pointing fingers, point go ahead, point well, Taylornandez
has been struggling. He had to sit him, had to
sit in one game just to try to get his
head straight. He'll be in the lineup today. Michael Confordo
has been confounding. They've stuck with him, and there are
moments where he has come through and moments where he
(07:31):
has But if you look at the totality of this,
that's what's going to get him, that's what will beat them.
They can't hit now. Maybe it all changes on this
road trip Pittsburgh Baltimore. Maybe, but they better start hitting
because I don't think when you start the playoffs, if
(07:52):
you have been this way all year long, and we
both know the importance of momentum, I don't think when
you hit the playoffs, if you're hitting like this, someone
is gonna walk into the room, hit the switch and
then everybody's on fire. I think guys gotta get on
fire before they get there.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, and it's gotta be consistent because we've seen it, right,
We've seen them explode for ten runs and then they
go play three games and they can only manufacture two
runs in those three games. Then they'll explode for eight runs.
So the consistency is not there. And if you don't
have that kind of consistency in a five game, seven
game series, it's gonna be difficult. You watch the other teams,
(08:33):
you watch the Phillies or Milwaukee or even San Diego,
you better believe they are going to score runs. They're
gonna score runs. Chicago Cubs, They're gonna score runs. And
when you do look at the lineup, you're like, why
can't they score? Why can't they score? And you said it,
(08:55):
I think a certain times the wrong guys have been out,
been hurt. Is wrong guys are struggling at the wrong time.
But I think we've said it since he's been here,
is they're gonna go, regardless of Otani and Freddy. If
Mooki is going, then the Dodgers are going. They got
a shot, Yeah, regardless of everybody else. He's the keys, Like,
(09:19):
he's the catalyst of all of those I think that
they all look to, but he is for whatever reason,
he's that motor, he's that motivator. That is, if Mooki's going,
it feels good. Think about it. When he started to
come out of that slump a little bit, more and
more guys started to hit. Things started to happen. They
started to score more runs, so hopefully that continues. But man,
(09:41):
and you look at it, it's the others, right is
Otani's about to hit another fifty home run season? You know?
Freddie is what? Freddy is leading in the National League still?
Or is he close? He's won two or three if
he's not leading the league in hitting right now? Will
Smith was leading the league and hitting for the whole season,
(10:02):
but the others did. Taoskar's not doing it. You know.
Pa has has come on a little bit, but there's
no Tommy Edmonds this year. Max Munsey's been down most
of the year. So they haven't had that production from five,
six and seven and eight and nine in that lineup
like they had a year ago.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
All right, now, let's get to the elephant in the room.
Let's just get into it right now. I don't know
if you saw the telecast Sunday. I watched it on TV.
Late in the game. Joe and Orl are having a
conversation and they're talking about who should be on the
playoff pitching roster. I mean, that's something we kicked around
all last week and they're talking about it, and I
(10:44):
actually It was a really good conversation. And as you
listen to this, the one thing you took away from it,
I think Joe said it, You've got to have people
you trust. You have to have people you trust. Those
are the players that you will find on the playoff
pitching roster, people you trust. And then ironically, ironically, that
(11:13):
conversation ends and here comes Tanner Scott into the game.
You got a three run lead, right, yeah, you got
a three run lead. All you gotta do is get
out of here, finish it. He gives up a three
run homer, and I'll be really honest with you. As
(11:39):
your wife watches and listens to the game, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So does mine.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
They got a run around first Arizona. I swear, I
get up because you know what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna take the.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Trash outside real quick.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's all you gotta take thirty seconds, by the way,
I mean, it's not like I'm taking at twenty miles.
I figure I'll get this trash, throw it out, come
back in.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Two outs, two outs, one more to go. I'll be
there for the final out.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I get up to leave, and she says to me,
you know he's gonna give up a three run homer.
Carvin Carroll was at the play I said, Carvin Carroll's
a left handed hitter. He's a great player. But I mean,
Tanner Scott is on the hill left against lefting. You
know he's gonna give up a three run homer. Right,
I'll be right back. I got into the kitchen and
(12:33):
I don't have to walk very far to get this trash.
I get into the kitchen, I take it in my
hand and I hear this. He just gave up a
three run homer. M I said, right, okay, I throw
out the trash. I walked in and went, oh my god,
what happened? She goes he gave up a three run homer.
(12:56):
I told you he gave up a three run homer.
This coming on the heels of Joe and Oorl having
a conversation about the playoffs. Who's going to be on
that pitching roster? And it's gotta be guys. You trust
Tanner Scott may be the greatest guy in the world.
We thought he wasn't right earlier in the year, and
then he went on the il. This has not been
(13:18):
the guy who was the best closer in baseball that
you give a three year deal too for over thirty
million dollars. This is not that guy. Now, I don't
know who this guy is, but he's not that one
to a point now where this was your big free
agent relief signing, to a point, I don't even know
(13:43):
if you can trust him to be on the playoff roster.
And if that's the case, how in God's name did
we get here?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Oh, he's got to be on the roster. Don't get
me wrong, I'm you know it's been is disappointed in
a year for Terres scott Is you can imagine. But
you gotta have him on the roster because first of all,
he does have history of being pretty good and he's
going through this funk and maybe it was injury and
(14:16):
then maybe he's coming back. But he's also a left
hander that throws ninety nine and so when you have that,
you cannot keep them off your You know, Kope's coming back,
We'll see how he does. But a left hander coming
out of that pin late, you're gonna you're gonna need
those guys. And you can't just break keep trotting out
(14:38):
Banda and Vessia, because we've seen those guys get you know,
Vessia is like, how many days in a row you're
gonna pitch me? My arm's falling off now, and we
see what happened with him. Same thing with Banda, who
was sharp early in the season when we rely on it,
he came out of that that you know that pen
and was like, Banda's coming in to shut it down,
and he did, but he says his struggles lately, so
(15:00):
you're gonna need that left handed arm. I'm not totally
done with him, and I agree with you that you
can't be the closer and come up and give up
a three run homer. You know, you'd almost rather him
walk a run in here and there then giving up
a three run home run as the closer when you
(15:20):
got to finish it out. You can't make that good
a pitch. Everybody's got their pitch and got their wheelhouse.
You know that going in. Don't pitch him inside low
covin curl, don't do that. That's his spot and if
you miss, he's gonna he's gonna make you pay. And
so he's he's you know, it's like we talked about
(15:41):
with other pictures. They're not hitting their spots, so maybe
it takes time maybe, But here's the thing. You've got
what twenty four games left? Twenty something like that, twenty
five twenty five games? Though, you have to keep trotting
him out there? You do? That would have been that
(16:01):
would have been what do you do? Not tried them
out there? Listen?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
That would have been as devastating a loss as they
had suffered all season long. You don't have the luxury
of playing around you.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Who are you gonna try it out there? I don't know,
but Kirby Yates. Kirby Yate's gonna close it out for
you the rest of the season, or you're gonna move
trying and back to the closed out role. I mean,
you're getting Copeck back. So you got Kirby Yates, you
got trying it, and you got Copek who's your lefty
at the back end? Okay, that's fair, that's fair. Let
me ask you a question, going back to what Joe
(16:37):
and Oral said. You're the manager, You've witnessed this all
year long.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
You've seen this player go on the injured list, you've
seen him come back, you know the struggles he's had.
It really comes down to one thing, aside from who
you're gonna try it out there.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Do you trust.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Him not as a human being, that he's gonna go
out and rob some bud?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Do you trust him in that such playoffs start tomorrow?
Every game is a playoff game. Now, it doesn't start tomorrow.
You're gonna make the playoffs, but it doesn't start tomorrow.
And how many how many games has he played or
pitched since he's been back? Maybe three tops, maybe? So, Yeah,
(17:23):
I gotta I gotta, I gotta see more. And that
was disappointing as it can be for a closer to
do that. But I gotta see more, and I gotta
get him out there, because what's the alternative. You don't
trot him out there the rest of the season. You
just give up on him right now. You can't afford
to do that. I understand you can't afford to do that.
(17:43):
I'm saying, are you gonna trot him out there when
the game really comes? Well, first, every game counts, every
game counts. If we got a rerun lead, yeah, I'm
trotting him out there again. Yes, if we're in the
three set in the and we happen to make the
we win the division. But we got to play that
(18:04):
Wildcard three game series. Am I trying him out then,
and he's continued to do this? No, But right now,
as we embark on that and we get ready for that,
I gotta i gotta continue to see if he can
find it. I'm let me ask you this.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
If by you continuing continuing to see if he can
find it right now, what if that knocks you into
the wild Card? What if that is the reason you're
in the wild Card? What if that then.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Maybe you don't put him in in that that late
inning or that ninth inning close out situation for for
the next couple of games. Maybe you bring him in
and switch him and trying right like he let him
take over the seventh or the eighth inning, and and
and use somebody else to close. Now that you got
Kopek back, let him close a little bit. But I
(18:54):
don't completely give up on him.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
No, And understand I'm I'm not sitting here and saying
give up on him as a person.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I'm not saying that. No, you know, I know you're
not saying that, right, But I'm saying, just with that conversation,
what do you do, Trus? What do you do from here?
I don't know you do. I don't know. No, that's
not it. That's not it. That's not an answer. You
gotta give me. What do you do? You can't say
all that and then say I don't know what to
do because either don't want him close either don't let
(19:24):
him try him out there, or you're not gonna you're
not gonna pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I'm not okay. If his role is the closer, then
he's not playing. If his role is a relief pitcher
and you need a left handed arm, I guess what
you're thinking, which don't.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You think you don't you think you would need that?
You come up a team that's got loaded with lefties.
Don't you want to have another left handed arm that
could come in in the eighth? Say you don't close
him so he gets in. He's not sharp, But isn't
he a guy that you still probably need on that roster? Okay,
right now, who do you have more confidence in? Simple
(20:02):
simple question? Who? Rodney?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
We're co managers and we're going to the bullpen. We
gotta make a decision. We're gonna bring in Tanner, Scott
or Robleski. Who you bringing in right now? And it's
the playoffs, it's tomorrow tomorrow, regular season tomorrow. Who are
(20:25):
you bringing in?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Okay, I gotta see all right, it's the playoffs? Who
you bringing in? Neither one of them? You need a
left handed arm and all you have is banda and okay,
so that means bands.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Left right, that is left because you just said you
need more left handers. So now, who do you trust more? Tanner,
Scott or Robleski? I trust Rebleski?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I do I try trust him more? And if you're
basing it on, who do you trust? And if you also.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Include the fact that every one of these games matters, Now,
that would have been your heart punctured by a spear
if they'd lost that game, hun Day, You're not opening
your lead on the Padres. You're not even keeping pace
with the Phillies. You're losing ground in a game that
(21:28):
you had. And if that's the case, who do you trust?
It's not him? How much more do you need to see?
Rite it off as a bad year. If he goes
out and does a good job, you know what you think?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
My god? Oh wow, okay, this is great. What if
he does find it? But you'll never know because you
won't try him out there.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I'm not putting him out there in a situation where
he could cost us the game. I'm not doing it anymore.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Okay, So, okay, this is not the playoffs. This is
twenty four more games left, twenty five more games left.
So you say you in, you're not trotting him out
there and letting him continue to kind of try to
work through or get back from the injury. Oh please,
He is not going to be in a safe situation
(22:16):
any longer. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying he
has to be in a safe situation. He could be
in the seventh eighth. I don't know if I gotch
him in. I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
If I put him in the eighth, he can go
in the seventh inning. Put him in there, maybe in
the sixth if somebody needs a break or they need
a left handed pitcher in there quickly. He would not
go in any high leverage situation.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
None. He's a time bomb, and he's proven it this year.
Maybe next year he'll be great.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And maybe if we kept sending him out there, starting
tonight in Pittsburgh and he closes and from now until
the end of the season he strikes out every hit
or he faces, I'm wrong, But the body of work
doesn't indicate that at this point. And I don't think
you have the luxury of sitting here and guessing or gambling.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You don't have to put him in the highest leverage
of situation. But he's got to get work, is my point.
He's got to get work. And if you're not gonna
get him work going forward, what are you doing. First
of all, you paid the guy. You know he did
go on the il. You gotta get him work in
And so maybe it is a situation where it's not
(23:32):
high leverage and it's not the ninth inning. You leave
that to Copek trying and Kirby Yates. You even move
Vessia back if you need to, because he's closed before.
But you gotta, you gotta, you gotta continue to see
in these next twenty five games. You gotta continue to
see if he improves.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
That's all, okay, Well, been waiting the whole season to
see that. All right, listen, now this is very important.
We have to point this out. You know, we don't
get out very often. They don't let us out of
the studio very often, and there's a number of reasons. First, Uh,
they don't know what we'll do.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Second.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
It's sort of like we're imprisoned. We love it, but
we don't get out very often. We don't, so when
we do, we love it. And it's a pretty big deal.
And we are going to be out this Thursday, BJ's
Restaurant in brew House in Irvine noon to two thirty.
Now we're going to be there. We'll do the show
(24:33):
there kick off of the NFL season, and we are
going to be on hand for that. And we're excited
about it because we don't get out very much. And
when we go to the BJ's restaurants, they're usually packed.
Now coming to see us, thank you, you know, we
want to see you because we've missed you. But there's
always this. We're giving away Dodger tickets now you can't
(24:55):
win them unless you come to BJ's in Irvine on Thursday.
You know what else, giving away Chargers of Broncos tickets.
That's going to be a battle. Those two teams right now,
you figure are in it and a bit behind Kansas City,
but Denver's pretty not far. I don't think they're that
far behind Kansas City. I think both those teams and
(25:19):
watch out for Denver because they're coming they're coming with
a guy that's got all kinds of confidence in his
second year playing quarterback for them, and Bo Nicks. They're coming,
and I think this is, you know, second year with
Harbaugh and the Chargers. They're coming. The AFC West is
gonna be difficult. And don't sleep on the Raiders either,
(25:40):
because Pete Carroll can coach.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So that's it.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Thursday noon, BJ's Restaurant and brew House, Intervine, Dodger tickets,
tickets to the Chargers and Broncos game. We would love
to see you there. You know, Deshaun Foster really shut
things down, didn't let the media know a lot about
(26:04):
what you Seeli was doing before the opener, and now
we know why.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Oh yeah, come on, Roddy if Fred Rogan on a
beautiful Tuesday, hope you had a great Labor Day weekend
and we're all back at it now.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
It feels like the kids are back in school and
now we got our time to ourselves again. You remember
those days, Fred, right, I do, indeed absolutely, kids are back.
Couldn't wait for Labor Day to get there and get
here so kids could go back to school, so you
had some time to yourself. Yeah, get those kids excited.
You know what money is good, money is fundamental. Fred,
(26:53):
It's good, all.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Right, I'll give you two minutes before we get into
this next thing if you want to sit here and
tell us how great you see is after their annihilation.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
What a great night, what a great day at the coliseum? Friend?
Oh yeah, chosens are back. Chosen to are back. Man,
It's just it was good to see you will see
them come out of the gate the way they did. Uh,
play with a lot of enthusiasm, make plays all over
the field. It yeah, it was a good start for
the Trojans for the Cardinal on Gold. Fred, I loved it. Okay, good.
(27:27):
So that's what you have to say about, right, Fred,
What do you always say, beat the team just supposed
to beat right one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
But okay, not get too excited now, beat the teams
are supposed to be. Let's not get too excited. Let's
just say, okay, they were supposed to do that grand
scheme of things. It wasn't lost. Big picture doesn't mean much.
It was like a spring game, basically, like an extended practice.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
But they win. Okay, what you're saying, everybody got play,
you know what, let alone got in the game.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Everybody, We're here to have fun. Yes, don't talk about UCLA.
What do you want to say about that?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Oh? What was my man? My man? And I loved
him too, God rest his soul. Denny Green. Denny Green,
legendary coach coach at Stanford Northwestern coach the Arizona Cardinals,
(28:34):
Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, legendary coach. Love them great offensive Mine
was offensive, big time offense coordinator before became a head coach.
They are who we thought they were. Remember that legendary
speech when he said that about the Bears. The Bears,
who are who we thought they were? Fred Unfortunately, UCLA
(28:58):
is who we thought they were. And it's it's unfortunate
and and I'm not even gonna be as hard as
Bill Plashki was because Plashki basically annihilated them. He called
Nico overpaid when he took a big time pay cut
to come to u c l A. It was here.
(29:22):
I don't even know where to start. It was granted,
Utah has got a great program and they've had it
for years. Windn't Ham has done a great job at
at at Utah and building that program. It's it's actually
a shame that that there's there's not the Pac twelve anymore,
because I think it was. It was competitive with the
schools like Utah and and UH and even even somewhat Colorado.
(29:45):
But Utah mainly has has built a great program there
and and and deserves a lot of credit. So they
didn't play a slouch. They played a they played a
very good team. I will say this, they didn't play
They didn't have the same open or US he did US.
He played played a couple basically, no disrespect to Missouri State,
but you you didn't deserve to be on the same
field as USC or really probably most of the teams
(30:10):
in the country that are in different divisions to Big ten.
I don't know if Big ten team would have done
the same thing to Missouri State as they opened with
him fair but to get dominated like that at home.
And we talked about this with Ben Bolts about about
the Rose Bowl and how you know it's not like
(30:33):
it was and there's you know, lack of attendance there
and lack of support. You do that at home on
your opener, what do you think the next game is
going to be like at the Rose Bowl for them? Awful? Awful?
Let me let me tell you so.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
First of all, the quarterback, the kid Nico he can play,
he can't play. He's real, he can talented, Yes, he
is surrounded basically nothing. That's what it appeared to look
like to me. Ucla looked confused, looked out of position.
(31:10):
They to me, didn't look very well coached. No disrespect
any of the coaches, and I'm just an observer. They
they were completely mismatched. They were a Big ten school
with legit athletes, and that's how you start the year
(31:31):
at home. People were leaving in.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
The third quarter. Who's going back to that? Who? And
the thing watching them is they looked like they had
a distinct lack of confidence.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
They were baffled. They couldn't figure it out. Now, granted
Miko had some problems throwing, sure, but if you just
watch him, he's a talented kid. But you have to
have players around you. I mean, Deshaun f said, and
Bill Plaski wrote it. He shut everything down to the media.
He didn't want anybody to know anything. God, now we
(32:06):
know why. Who would want people to know that? Who
would want people to see that? He said, Yeah, you know,
you'll ask who's going to start? And then I'll have
to answer those questions. I don't know, maybe you'll see
some of the stuff we're running that could get out
to who. You know, the old line, we don't want
you to know any of our secrets.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Well, what's the problem. We saw what you did. How
many secrets do you have? What are you holding back
from people? Well, we can't let you know this. Oh no,
it was pretty apparent. You let everybody know that. It
was pretty obvious. It was a really bad, disheartening start
for UCLA. And it now makes you think because starting
(32:52):
year two, you would think the coach would have a
different grasp, a different feel, the team would feel differently.
He's been there for a year. They didn't look any
better than they did the first year. And that's a problem.
Well here's the real problem, and I don't want to
(33:12):
We're not gonna pile on to Shaan and the coaching staff.
It's a new world in college football. It really is.
It's the haves and the have nots, And unfortunately, the
haves who can not only recruit high school kids, but
(33:34):
also recruit players that have already played in other schools.
It is a difficult navigation for these college programs now
I mean, when's the last time, as we look at
this real quick, when's the last time you saw Alabama
(33:55):
look ordinary? And they'd looked ordinary against Florida State, they
looked average, and you know, Bill Belichick with seventy new players,
they get blown out, blown out. That was embarrassing, embarrassing.
That was as embarrassing as the UCLA loss, you know.
(34:18):
But but trying to build a new program, new players,
transfer portal nil, how are you gonna pay these guys?
Who's going where? I'm telling you it is a It's
gonna be an uphill battle for schools like UCLA. And
if you're in the SEC, Texas will be fine. A
(34:40):
and M will be fine, Oklahoma will be fine, Georgia
will be fine. Tennessee actually will be fine, which is
when you look at that's more of a tragedy, travesty
or tragedy, however you want to look at it. For
Nico Is, he stays at Tennessee, he could very well
be top five pick in the draft. I don't know
(35:04):
where candidate. I don't Yes, he left a great program
on the on the up, and I don't know whose advisement.
I know he's got a lot of family out here
and all that kind of stuff. But man, you talk
about a bad decision again, no disrespect, it's just the
climate of college football right now. This is a bad decision.
(35:28):
And I don't know Miami. Miami is another school they
went from, you know, being over. Now they get a quarterback,
they pay ten million dollars from Georgia. He leaves Georgia
to go to Miami. Was Miami. They beat Notre Dame, right,
so now everybody's like, Miami's back, Miami's finally putting money
in the program. Miami's putting money in the program. It is.
(35:50):
It is a very interesting dynamic of college football right now,
where we might just see the same now what is it,
fourteen team playoff off now whatever? It is, same those
same teams every single year.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Mike Gundy, the coach at Oklahoma State, talking about Oregon,
basically started whining, whining, saying, Oregon spends so much money,
what do you expect? Look at us, look at it.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
We don't have that.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Oregon can do whatever they want. They have Nike money,
they can do anything. Guess what, Yes, they can, right,
stop whining. That's sort of like the Dodgers have all
the money stop whining, stop be better, figure it out.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Wasn't At one point they if people were complaining about
Oklahoma State because they had Tea Boom Pickings was playing them,
was spending all the money at Oklahoma State? What happened
to that? Right? What happened? Well, what do you expect
us to do? I mean, look at all the money
they're spending. Figure it out. Figure it out now that
the now that the field is level, right, so the
(37:00):
Alabamas of the world can't kind of go around the
corner and do stuff, and other schools can't go around
the corner. And now everybody can kind of spend some money.
Watch how quickly SMU comes back? Wait did we get
Eric started coming on? SMU is about to be a
powerhouse again. Yeah, because they're filthy rich, yes, yes, yeah,
(37:22):
you know how much money is in Highland Park, Texas?
Oh man, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Dodgers take on the Pirates in Pittsburgh. First game, three,
first pitch game today, three forty you'll hear every game
on a five seventy LA sports laughing the Gallpa Motors
broadcast booth and stream all the games and HD and
the iHeart radio app. The keyword AM five to seventy
LA Sports. We didn't even get to do the uh
(37:49):
I will do it tomorrow to take at the US Open.
Did you see that? Well, what are the players to
What happened to the crowd and the goal?
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah? He finally apologize here it's too late.
All right, Well we'll talk more about that tomorrow. We're back, yes,
right if Pete fred Rogan went down on a quick
sprint today one hour show on a Tuesday. All right,
Before we get out of here, a final reminder for today.
(38:17):
We will see you Thursday in Irvine. Bjay's a restaurant
in brew House. We are there starting at noon. We
don't get out very often. There's a reason for that.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
They don't trust us around people, and also we're mob normally,
so they have to spend money on extra security. I'm
not sure that will be the case on Thursday, but
we invite you to come down to bjays in Irvine.
We're giving away Dodger tickets and you know, as we
get to the home stretch, how valuable those tickets are.
We're giving away tickets to see the Chargers and Broncos,
and you know how valuable those tickets are. An early
(38:47):
season matchup, so we invite you to come down be
a part of the show. We're giving stuff away. You
can't win unless you're there. It's also the opening of
the NFL season, so get down there early, get your
spot in the bar, and you can stay through and
watch the kickoff of the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Cason.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
All of that coming up Thursday noon. Bjay's Restaurant and
Brue House in Irvine, Rodney, do you have anything to add?
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Yeah, come on down Irvine. My USC Orange County folks,
come on down to Bjy's Irvine. They hang out. We're
one to Oh it's all good. Yeah, come down and
celebrate that. Come down and party after that. Win you'll have.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
It's like one of the national title Ronnie, thank you
for just a brief hour. Kevin appreciated as well. Rodney
back tomorrow, right on
All right, let's go to work and one hour sprint
today with the Rodgers in Pittsburgh, Fred Rogan, Rodney Pete
on AM five seventy l a Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Rodney, how are you fight on for old s? C Fred?
You're not gonna do you want to do that at
the time? Do you really want to do it off
the top? We can't. I don't care Missouri State, Oregon State,
Alabama State, I don't care who it is, seventy three.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, we're gonna wait, you know what, We're gonna wait
a bit on that. I mean I was gonna do
it off the top. I mean I was gonna do
it later in this show, and you brought it later
at the top.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, let's do You can't. You cannot. You cannot be
impressed with that. You can't. You just can't. Hey, Fred,
I'm impressed with any win, Are you kidding me? It's
hard enough to win out there, Fred, even if it's
against Missouri State, you know, even if it's even if
(01:01):
Georgia Southern's coming to town next week, Lay Hilton, that's
gonna be a tough one too.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Missouri State was outmanned, overwhelmed, and basically looked like a
Pop Warner team from a Gorey Hills.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, right, that's kind of what they look like.
I think John Bosco would have give him a run.
They did. They looked like deer in the headlights. I
mean it was uh yeah, it was a tough one.
I like it though, all right, I like it though.
What have we complaining about SEC schools to do this
(01:38):
all the time. They always start their first two three
games with some cupcakes. Needs to get some confidence going, friend.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, but when they started with the cupcakes, I can
assure you they did not celebrate off the top of
the show. When you annihilate someone, you don't come on, well,
he sure kick the hell out of them.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We're really good. Let's say what you want? One and oh, okay, one,
all right, one and oh talk to me in six weeks.
But now let's get to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I guess you feel good about what happened when Will
Smith with the walk off to give him the win
over Arizona, So that that makes your glass half full.
The two games before that, Lee left your glass half empty.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Again. They couldn't hit. That's just the bottom line. It
didn't hit.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, and now they find themselves two and a half
up on the Padres as they hit the road, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That might be the best thing is that the Padres
kept losing. Padres ran into a couple of buzz saws, right,
who knows that that Minnesota was gonna get after him
a little bit? And so look, the thing that bothers me,
because we've been talking about this hitting all season long,
is that now that they're back pretty much almost to
(03:00):
full strength and got their guys back. I gotta tell you,
even though they lost those first two and almost blew
it for Yamamodel, the starting pitching I thought, as as
is gonna be fine. I'm not worried at all about
starting pitching as they go into October. Now, yeah, Blake
got in some trouble on Friday, and you know, glass
(03:22):
Now has had a no hitter through six and then
gave it up in the seventh a little bit and
kind of got a radic But for the most part,
if there, and it's more glaring when they don't get
any run support. I mean, the last two outings of
Blake Snell, he hasn't gotten any run support. And they
didn't really give glass Now either any run support. Either.
So as a pitcher, sometimes you go four or five,
(03:44):
six and he with your lineup and then score still zero,
zero or one nothing. It's like, come on, fellow's got
to give me something, give me something out here to
work with, and they haven't had it. But I'm not
worried about them. So, you know, winning the last game,
Will Smith home run. It was good to see because
it's really good to see him come back now because
he was he was down for a little while after
(04:07):
leading the league and hitting for a long long time
for most of the season. It's good to see him
come back. But I'm i'm I'm okay with the starting
pit now. That wasn't good for Tanner Scott. We'll get
to that, yeah, but we'll get that. In terms of
the of the starting pitching with Snell, Glass now Yamamoto
and and Otani and Kershaw, I'm i'm I'm feeling pretty
(04:30):
good about it, right. And that's why they built the
pitching staff the way they did. You didn't get to
see it much as the season progressed because at one
point or another somebody was hurt.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But now they're not fingers crossed. Everybody keeps healthy and
that's the pitching staff. Okay, so on paper, the plan
with the pitching staff worked. They have built a great
pitching staff, and we know that when you hit the playoffs,
pitching is going to win. So they have done that.
(05:00):
Andrew Friedman did that. That is the pitching staff that
he hoped you would see. And now you've got one
of the best in baseball. Good mission accomplished. The part
no one thought is they couldn't hit, right, That's the
thing nobody anticipated.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
They couldn't hit.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Now, Max Munsey when he gets back, and he's going
to be another week, but when he gets back, he
will make.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
An enormous difference.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Enormous because you can't go in lose the first two,
win the third one and feel good about it. Hey,
well we got out of here with a win. Yeah,
but you lost the first two. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Let's just say they make Zach Gallan, who has been
struggling this year, look like he was cy young. I
mean again, that was gonna get everybody's best. I'm sure
he was a little more amped up to pitch against
the Dodgers than he's been for the last two months
of the season. But still you can't make him look
that he's good, but he ain't that good and he
hasn't had that good a season, so you got to
(05:59):
get after a little bit early. But you're right. The
hitting continues to be an issue. Even when they get
great performances for six seven innings by their starting pitching,
they can't give him any help.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Saturday, the Dodgers faced Eduardo Rodriguez. He was the fourth
starter with an EIRA of over five. Okay, the Dodgers
have faced that many pitchers in the past eight games. Okay,
four starters ERA over five in eight games. They lost
all four. They scored one run in twenty four innings
combined against the four pitchers. Not going to get it done.
(06:34):
Not going to get it done. This is the thing
that is confounding to everyone. The pitching is great now,
starting pitching as planned.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
You did it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
You built that staff and that's no easy task, but
they did it. They built a great starting staff. When
they're healthy, and how they're healthy again, not on wood.
They stay healthy. But the thing you did not expect,
and they have gone through ups and downs throughout the years,
hitting wise, this has been awful, just awful. And you
(07:10):
can start pointing fingers, point go ahead, point well, Taylornandez
has been struggling. He had to sit him, had to
sit in one game just to try to get his
head straight. He'll be in the lineup today. Michael Confordo
has been confounding. They've stuck with him, and there are
moments where he has come through and moments where he
(07:31):
has But if you look at the totality of this,
that's what's going to get him, that's what will beat them.
They can't hit now. Maybe it all changes on this
road trip Pittsburgh Baltimore. Maybe, but they better start hitting
because I don't think when you start the playoffs, if
(07:52):
you have been this way all year long, and we
both know the importance of momentum, I don't think when
you hit the playoffs, if you're hitting like this, someone
is gonna walk into the room, hit the switch and
then everybody's on fire. I think guys gotta get on
fire before they get there.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, and it's gotta be consistent because we've seen it, right,
We've seen them explode for ten runs and then they
go play three games and they can only manufacture two
runs in those three games. Then they'll explode for eight runs.
So the consistency is not there. And if you don't
have that kind of consistency in a five game, seven
game series, it's gonna be difficult. You watch the other teams,
(08:33):
you watch the Phillies or Milwaukee or even San Diego,
you better believe they are going to score runs. They're
gonna score runs. Chicago Cubs, They're gonna score runs. And
when you do look at the lineup, you're like, why
can't they score? Why can't they score? And you said it,
(08:55):
I think a certain times the wrong guys have been out,
been hurt. Is wrong guys are struggling at the wrong time.
But I think we've said it since he's been here,
is they're gonna go, regardless of Otani and Freddy. If
Mooki is going, then the Dodgers are going. They got
a shot, Yeah, regardless of everybody else. He's the keys, Like,
(09:19):
he's the catalyst of all of those I think that
they all look to, but he is for whatever reason,
he's that motor, he's that motivator. That is, if Mooki's going,
it feels good. Think about it. When he started to
come out of that slump a little bit, more and
more guys started to hit. Things started to happen. They
started to score more runs, so hopefully that continues. But man,
(09:41):
and you look at it, it's the others, right is
Otani's about to hit another fifty home run season? You know?
Freddie is what? Freddy is leading in the National League still?
Or is he close? He's won two or three if
he's not leading the league in hitting right now? Will
Smith was leading the league and hitting for the whole season,
(10:02):
but the others did. Taoskar's not doing it. You know.
Pa has has come on a little bit, but there's
no Tommy Edmonds this year. Max Munsey's been down most
of the year. So they haven't had that production from five,
six and seven and eight and nine in that lineup
like they had a year ago.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
All right, now, let's get to the elephant in the room.
Let's just get into it right now. I don't know
if you saw the telecast Sunday. I watched it on TV.
Late in the game. Joe and Orl are having a
conversation and they're talking about who should be on the
playoff pitching roster. I mean, that's something we kicked around
all last week and they're talking about it, and I
(10:44):
actually It was a really good conversation. And as you
listen to this, the one thing you took away from it,
I think Joe said it, You've got to have people
you trust. You have to have people you trust. Those
are the players that you will find on the playoff
pitching roster, people you trust. And then ironically, ironically, that
(11:13):
conversation ends and here comes Tanner Scott into the game.
You got a three run lead, right, yeah, you got
a three run lead. All you gotta do is get
out of here, finish it. He gives up a three
run homer, and I'll be really honest with you. As
(11:39):
your wife watches and listens to the game, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So does mine.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
They got a run around first Arizona. I swear, I
get up because you know what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna take the.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Trash outside real quick.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's all you gotta take thirty seconds, by the way,
I mean, it's not like I'm taking at twenty miles.
I figure I'll get this trash, throw it out, come
back in.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Two outs, two outs, one more to go. I'll be
there for the final out.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I get up to leave, and she says to me,
you know he's gonna give up a three run homer.
Carvin Carroll was at the play I said, Carvin Carroll's
a left handed hitter. He's a great player. But I mean,
Tanner Scott is on the hill left against lefting. You
know he's gonna give up a three run homer. Right,
I'll be right back. I got into the kitchen and
(12:33):
I don't have to walk very far to get this trash.
I get into the kitchen, I take it in my
hand and I hear this. He just gave up a
three run homer. M I said, right, okay, I throw
out the trash. I walked in and went, oh my god,
what happened? She goes he gave up a three run homer.
(12:56):
I told you he gave up a three run homer.
This coming on the heels of Joe and Oorl having
a conversation about the playoffs. Who's going to be on
that pitching roster? And it's gotta be guys. You trust
Tanner Scott may be the greatest guy in the world.
We thought he wasn't right earlier in the year, and
then he went on the il. This has not been
(13:18):
the guy who was the best closer in baseball that
you give a three year deal too for over thirty
million dollars. This is not that guy. Now, I don't
know who this guy is, but he's not that one
to a point now where this was your big free
agent relief signing, to a point, I don't even know
(13:43):
if you can trust him to be on the playoff roster.
And if that's the case, how in God's name did
we get here?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Oh, he's got to be on the roster. Don't get
me wrong, I'm you know it's been is disappointed in
a year for Terres scott Is you can imagine. But
you gotta have him on the roster because first of all,
he does have history of being pretty good and he's
going through this funk and maybe it was injury and
(14:16):
then maybe he's coming back. But he's also a left
hander that throws ninety nine and so when you have that,
you cannot keep them off your You know, Kope's coming back,
We'll see how he does. But a left hander coming
out of that pin late, you're gonna you're gonna need
those guys. And you can't just break keep trotting out
(14:38):
Banda and Vessia, because we've seen those guys get you know,
Vessia is like, how many days in a row you're
gonna pitch me? My arm's falling off now, and we
see what happened with him. Same thing with Banda, who
was sharp early in the season when we rely on it,
he came out of that that you know that pen
and was like, Banda's coming in to shut it down,
and he did, but he says his struggles lately, so
(15:00):
you're gonna need that left handed arm. I'm not totally
done with him, and I agree with you that you
can't be the closer and come up and give up
a three run homer. You know, you'd almost rather him
walk a run in here and there then giving up
a three run home run as the closer when you
(15:20):
got to finish it out. You can't make that good
a pitch. Everybody's got their pitch and got their wheelhouse.
You know that going in. Don't pitch him inside low
covin curl, don't do that. That's his spot and if
you miss, he's gonna he's gonna make you pay. And
so he's he's you know, it's like we talked about
(15:41):
with other pictures. They're not hitting their spots, so maybe
it takes time maybe, But here's the thing. You've got
what twenty four games left? Twenty something like that, twenty
five twenty five games? Though, you have to keep trotting
him out there? You do? That would have been that
(16:01):
would have been what do you do? Not tried them
out there? Listen?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
That would have been as devastating a loss as they
had suffered all season long. You don't have the luxury
of playing around you.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Who are you gonna try it out there? I don't know,
but Kirby Yates. Kirby Yate's gonna close it out for
you the rest of the season, or you're gonna move
trying and back to the closed out role. I mean,
you're getting Copeck back. So you got Kirby Yates, you
got trying it, and you got Copek who's your lefty
at the back end? Okay, that's fair, that's fair. Let
me ask you a question, going back to what Joe
(16:37):
and Oral said. You're the manager, You've witnessed this all
year long.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
You've seen this player go on the injured list, you've
seen him come back, you know the struggles he's had.
It really comes down to one thing, aside from who
you're gonna try it out there.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Do you trust.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Him not as a human being, that he's gonna go
out and rob some bud?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Do you trust him in that such playoffs start tomorrow?
Every game is a playoff game. Now, it doesn't start tomorrow.
You're gonna make the playoffs, but it doesn't start tomorrow.
And how many how many games has he played or
pitched since he's been back? Maybe three tops, maybe? So, Yeah,
(17:23):
I gotta I gotta, I gotta see more. And that
was disappointing as it can be for a closer to
do that. But I gotta see more, and I gotta
get him out there, because what's the alternative. You don't
trot him out there the rest of the season. You
just give up on him right now. You can't afford
to do that. I understand you can't afford to do that.
(17:43):
I'm saying, are you gonna trot him out there when
the game really comes? Well, first, every game counts, every
game counts. If we got a rerun lead, yeah, I'm
trotting him out there again. Yes, if we're in the
three set in the and we happen to make the
we win the division. But we got to play that
(18:04):
Wildcard three game series. Am I trying him out then,
and he's continued to do this? No, But right now,
as we embark on that and we get ready for that,
I gotta i gotta continue to see if he can
find it. I'm let me ask you this.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
If by you continuing continuing to see if he can
find it right now, what if that knocks you into
the wild Card? What if that is the reason you're
in the wild Card? What if that then.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Maybe you don't put him in in that that late
inning or that ninth inning close out situation for for
the next couple of games. Maybe you bring him in
and switch him and trying right like he let him
take over the seventh or the eighth inning, and and
and use somebody else to close. Now that you got
Kopek back, let him close a little bit. But I
(18:54):
don't completely give up on him.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
No, And understand I'm I'm not sitting here and saying
give up on him as a person.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I'm not saying that. No, you know, I know you're
not saying that, right, But I'm saying, just with that conversation,
what do you do, Trus? What do you do from here?
I don't know you do. I don't know. No, that's
not it. That's not it. That's not an answer. You
gotta give me. What do you do? You can't say
all that and then say I don't know what to
do because either don't want him close either don't let
(19:24):
him try him out there, or you're not gonna you're
not gonna pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I'm not okay. If his role is the closer, then
he's not playing. If his role is a relief pitcher
and you need a left handed arm, I guess what
you're thinking, which don't.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You think you don't you think you would need that?
You come up a team that's got loaded with lefties.
Don't you want to have another left handed arm that
could come in in the eighth? Say you don't close
him so he gets in. He's not sharp, But isn't
he a guy that you still probably need on that roster? Okay,
right now, who do you have more confidence in? Simple
(20:02):
simple question? Who? Rodney?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
We're co managers and we're going to the bullpen. We
gotta make a decision. We're gonna bring in Tanner, Scott
or Robleski. Who you bringing in right now? And it's
the playoffs, it's tomorrow tomorrow, regular season tomorrow. Who are
(20:25):
you bringing in?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Okay, I gotta see all right, it's the playoffs? Who
you bringing in? Neither one of them? You need a
left handed arm and all you have is banda and okay,
so that means bands.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Left right, that is left because you just said you
need more left handers. So now, who do you trust more? Tanner,
Scott or Robleski? I trust Rebleski?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
I do I try trust him more? And if you're
basing it on, who do you trust? And if you also.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Include the fact that every one of these games matters, Now,
that would have been your heart punctured by a spear
if they'd lost that game, hun Day, You're not opening
your lead on the Padres. You're not even keeping pace
with the Phillies. You're losing ground in a game that
(21:28):
you had. And if that's the case, who do you trust?
It's not him? How much more do you need to see?
Rite it off as a bad year. If he goes
out and does a good job, you know what you think?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
My god? Oh wow, okay, this is great. What if
he does find it? But you'll never know because you
won't try him out there.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I'm not putting him out there in a situation where
he could cost us the game. I'm not doing it anymore.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Okay, So, okay, this is not the playoffs. This is
twenty four more games left, twenty five more games left.
So you say you in, you're not trotting him out
there and letting him continue to kind of try to
work through or get back from the injury. Oh please,
He is not going to be in a safe situation
(22:16):
any longer. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying he
has to be in a safe situation. He could be
in the seventh eighth. I don't know if I gotch
him in. I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
If I put him in the eighth, he can go
in the seventh inning. Put him in there, maybe in
the sixth if somebody needs a break or they need
a left handed pitcher in there quickly. He would not
go in any high leverage situation.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
None. He's a time bomb, and he's proven it this year.
Maybe next year he'll be great.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And maybe if we kept sending him out there, starting
tonight in Pittsburgh and he closes and from now until
the end of the season he strikes out every hit
or he faces, I'm wrong, But the body of work
doesn't indicate that at this point. And I don't think
you have the luxury of sitting here and guessing or gambling.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You don't have to put him in the highest leverage
of situation. But he's got to get work, is my point.
He's got to get work. And if you're not gonna
get him work going forward, what are you doing. First
of all, you paid the guy. You know he did
go on the il. You gotta get him work in
And so maybe it is a situation where it's not
(23:32):
high leverage and it's not the ninth inning. You leave
that to Copek trying and Kirby Yates. You even move
Vessia back if you need to, because he's closed before.
But you gotta, you gotta, you gotta continue to see
in these next twenty five games. You gotta continue to
see if he improves.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
That's all, okay, Well, been waiting the whole season to
see that. All right, listen, now this is very important.
We have to point this out. You know, we don't
get out very often. They don't let us out of
the studio very often, and there's a number of reasons. First, Uh,
they don't know what we'll do.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Second.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
It's sort of like we're imprisoned. We love it, but
we don't get out very often. We don't, so when
we do, we love it. And it's a pretty big deal.
And we are going to be out this Thursday, BJ's
Restaurant in brew House in Irvine noon to two thirty.
Now we're going to be there. We'll do the show
(24:33):
there kick off of the NFL season, and we are
going to be on hand for that. And we're excited
about it because we don't get out very much. And
when we go to the BJ's restaurants, they're usually packed.
Now coming to see us, thank you, you know, we
want to see you because we've missed you. But there's
always this. We're giving away Dodger tickets now you can't
(24:55):
win them unless you come to BJ's in Irvine on Thursday.
You know what else, giving away Chargers of Broncos tickets.
That's going to be a battle. Those two teams right now,
you figure are in it and a bit behind Kansas City,
but Denver's pretty not far. I don't think they're that
far behind Kansas City. I think both those teams and
(25:19):
watch out for Denver because they're coming they're coming with
a guy that's got all kinds of confidence in his
second year playing quarterback for them, and Bo Nicks. They're coming,
and I think this is, you know, second year with
Harbaugh and the Chargers. They're coming. The AFC West is
gonna be difficult. And don't sleep on the Raiders either,
(25:40):
because Pete Carroll can coach.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So that's it.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Thursday noon, BJ's Restaurant and brew House, Intervine, Dodger tickets,
tickets to the Chargers and Broncos game. We would love
to see you there. You know, Deshaun Foster really shut
things down, didn't let the media know a lot about
(26:04):
what you Seeli was doing before the opener, and now
we know why.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Oh yeah, come on, Roddy if Fred Rogan on a
beautiful Tuesday, hope you had a great Labor Day weekend
and we're all back at it now.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
It feels like the kids are back in school and
now we got our time to ourselves again. You remember
those days, Fred, right, I do, indeed absolutely, kids are back.
Couldn't wait for Labor Day to get there and get
here so kids could go back to school, so you
had some time to yourself. Yeah, get those kids excited.
You know what money is good, money is fundamental. Fred,
(26:53):
It's good, all.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Right, I'll give you two minutes before we get into
this next thing if you want to sit here and
tell us how great you see is after their annihilation.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
What a great night, what a great day at the coliseum? Friend?
Oh yeah, chosens are back. Chosen to are back. Man,
It's just it was good to see you will see
them come out of the gate the way they did. Uh,
play with a lot of enthusiasm, make plays all over
the field. It yeah, it was a good start for
the Trojans for the Cardinal on Gold. Fred, I loved it. Okay, good.
(27:27):
So that's what you have to say about, right, Fred,
What do you always say, beat the team just supposed
to beat right one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
But okay, not get too excited now, beat the teams
are supposed to be. Let's not get too excited. Let's
just say, okay, they were supposed to do that grand
scheme of things. It wasn't lost. Big picture doesn't mean much.
It was like a spring game, basically, like an extended practice.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
But they win. Okay, what you're saying, everybody got play,
you know what, let alone got in the game.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Everybody, We're here to have fun. Yes, don't talk about UCLA.
What do you want to say about that?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Oh? What was my man? My man? And I loved
him too, God rest his soul. Denny Green. Denny Green,
legendary coach coach at Stanford Northwestern coach the Arizona Cardinals,
(28:34):
Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, legendary coach. Love them great offensive Mine
was offensive, big time offense coordinator before became a head coach.
They are who we thought they were. Remember that legendary
speech when he said that about the Bears. The Bears,
who are who we thought they were? Fred Unfortunately, UCLA
(28:58):
is who we thought they were. And it's it's unfortunate
and and I'm not even gonna be as hard as
Bill Plashki was because Plashki basically annihilated them. He called
Nico overpaid when he took a big time pay cut
to come to u c l A. It was here.
(29:22):
I don't even know where to start. It was granted,
Utah has got a great program and they've had it
for years. Windn't Ham has done a great job at
at at Utah and building that program. It's it's actually
a shame that that there's there's not the Pac twelve anymore,
because I think it was. It was competitive with the
schools like Utah and and UH and even even somewhat Colorado.
(29:45):
But Utah mainly has has built a great program there
and and and deserves a lot of credit. So they
didn't play a slouch. They played a they played a
very good team. I will say this, they didn't play
They didn't have the same open or US he did US.
He played played a couple basically, no disrespect to Missouri State,
but you you didn't deserve to be on the same
field as USC or really probably most of the teams
(30:10):
in the country that are in different divisions to Big ten.
I don't know if Big ten team would have done
the same thing to Missouri State as they opened with
him fair but to get dominated like that at home.
And we talked about this with Ben Bolts about about
the Rose Bowl and how you know it's not like
(30:33):
it was and there's you know, lack of attendance there
and lack of support. You do that at home on
your opener, what do you think the next game is
going to be like at the Rose Bowl for them? Awful? Awful?
Let me let me tell you so.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
First of all, the quarterback, the kid Nico he can play,
he can't play. He's real, he can talented, Yes, he
is surrounded basically nothing. That's what it appeared to look
like to me. Ucla looked confused, looked out of position.
(31:10):
They to me, didn't look very well coached. No disrespect
any of the coaches, and I'm just an observer. They
they were completely mismatched. They were a Big ten school
with legit athletes, and that's how you start the year
(31:31):
at home. People were leaving in.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
The third quarter. Who's going back to that? Who? And
the thing watching them is they looked like they had
a distinct lack of confidence.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
They were baffled. They couldn't figure it out. Now, granted
Miko had some problems throwing, sure, but if you just
watch him, he's a talented kid. But you have to
have players around you. I mean, Deshaun f said, and
Bill Plaski wrote it. He shut everything down to the media.
He didn't want anybody to know anything. God, now we
(32:06):
know why. Who would want people to know that? Who
would want people to see that? He said, Yeah, you know,
you'll ask who's going to start? And then I'll have
to answer those questions. I don't know, maybe you'll see
some of the stuff we're running that could get out
to who. You know, the old line, we don't want
you to know any of our secrets.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Well, what's the problem. We saw what you did. How
many secrets do you have? What are you holding back
from people? Well, we can't let you know this. Oh no,
it was pretty apparent. You let everybody know that. It
was pretty obvious. It was a really bad, disheartening start
for UCLA. And it now makes you think because starting
(32:52):
year two, you would think the coach would have a
different grasp, a different feel, the team would feel differently.
He's been there for a year. They didn't look any
better than they did the first year. And that's a problem.
Well here's the real problem, and I don't want to
(33:12):
We're not gonna pile on to Shaan and the coaching staff.
It's a new world in college football. It really is.
It's the haves and the have nots, And unfortunately, the
haves who can not only recruit high school kids, but
(33:34):
also recruit players that have already played in other schools.
It is a difficult navigation for these college programs now
I mean, when's the last time, as we look at
this real quick, when's the last time you saw Alabama
(33:55):
look ordinary? And they'd looked ordinary against Florida State, they
looked average, and you know, Bill Belichick with seventy new players,
they get blown out, blown out. That was embarrassing, embarrassing.
That was as embarrassing as the UCLA loss, you know.
(34:18):
But but trying to build a new program, new players,
transfer portal nil, how are you gonna pay these guys?
Who's going where? I'm telling you it is a It's
gonna be an uphill battle for schools like UCLA. And
if you're in the SEC, Texas will be fine. A
(34:40):
and M will be fine, Oklahoma will be fine, Georgia
will be fine. Tennessee actually will be fine, which is
when you look at that's more of a tragedy, travesty
or tragedy, however you want to look at it. For
Nico Is, he stays at Tennessee, he could very well
be top five pick in the draft. I don't know
(35:04):
where candidate. I don't Yes, he left a great program
on the on the up, and I don't know whose advisement.
I know he's got a lot of family out here
and all that kind of stuff. But man, you talk
about a bad decision again, no disrespect, it's just the
climate of college football right now. This is a bad decision.
(35:28):
And I don't know Miami. Miami is another school they
went from, you know, being over. Now they get a quarterback,
they pay ten million dollars from Georgia. He leaves Georgia
to go to Miami. Was Miami. They beat Notre Dame, right,
so now everybody's like, Miami's back, Miami's finally putting money
in the program. Miami's putting money in the program. It is.
(35:50):
It is a very interesting dynamic of college football right now,
where we might just see the same now what is it,
fourteen team playoff off now whatever? It is, same those
same teams every single year.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Mike Gundy, the coach at Oklahoma State, talking about Oregon,
basically started whining, whining, saying, Oregon spends so much money,
what do you expect? Look at us, look at it.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
We don't have that.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Oregon can do whatever they want. They have Nike money,
they can do anything. Guess what, Yes, they can, right,
stop whining. That's sort of like the Dodgers have all
the money stop whining, stop be better, figure it out.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Wasn't At one point they if people were complaining about
Oklahoma State because they had Tea Boom Pickings was playing them,
was spending all the money at Oklahoma State? What happened
to that? Right? What happened? Well, what do you expect
us to do? I mean, look at all the money
they're spending. Figure it out. Figure it out now that
the now that the field is level, right, so the
(37:00):
Alabamas of the world can't kind of go around the
corner and do stuff, and other schools can't go around
the corner. And now everybody can kind of spend some money.
Watch how quickly SMU comes back? Wait did we get
Eric started coming on? SMU is about to be a
powerhouse again. Yeah, because they're filthy rich, yes, yes, yeah,
(37:22):
you know how much money is in Highland Park, Texas?
Oh man, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Dodgers take on the Pirates in Pittsburgh. First game, three,
first pitch game today, three forty you'll hear every game
on a five seventy LA sports laughing the Gallpa Motors
broadcast booth and stream all the games and HD and
the iHeart radio app. The keyword AM five to seventy
LA Sports. We didn't even get to do the uh
(37:49):
I will do it tomorrow to take at the US Open.
Did you see that? Well, what are the players to
What happened to the crowd and the goal?
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah? He finally apologize here it's too late.
All right, Well we'll talk more about that tomorrow. We're back, yes,
right if Pete fred Rogan went down on a quick
sprint today one hour show on a Tuesday. All right,
Before we get out of here, a final reminder for today.
(38:17):
We will see you Thursday in Irvine. Bjay's a restaurant
in brew House. We are there starting at noon. We
don't get out very often. There's a reason for that.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
They don't trust us around people, and also we're mob normally,
so they have to spend money on extra security. I'm
not sure that will be the case on Thursday, but
we invite you to come down to bjays in Irvine.
We're giving away Dodger tickets and you know, as we
get to the home stretch, how valuable those tickets are.
We're giving away tickets to see the Chargers and Broncos,
and you know how valuable those tickets are. An early
(38:47):
season matchup, so we invite you to come down be
a part of the show. We're giving stuff away. You
can't win unless you're there. It's also the opening of
the NFL season, so get down there early, get your
spot in the bar, and you can stay through and
watch the kickoff of the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Cason.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
All of that coming up Thursday noon. Bjay's Restaurant and
Brue House in Irvine, Rodney, do you have anything to add?
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Yeah, come on down Irvine. My USC Orange County folks,
come on down to Bjy's Irvine. They hang out. We're
one to Oh it's all good. Yeah, come down and
celebrate that. Come down and party after that. Win you'll have.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
It's like one of the national title Ronnie, thank you
for just a brief hour. Kevin appreciated as well. Rodney
back tomorrow, right on
Roggin And Rodney News
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