Dodger Talk (5-17-25)

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To get in on the show called eight six six nine eighty seven two five seven and go to the show. And now your host of Dodger Talk, David Vasse.

We are live at Dodgers Stadium after the Angels defeat the Dodgers in Game two of the Freeway Series by a final score of eleven to nine. Welcome the Dodger Talk David vass say with you until eleven thirty tonight right here on AM five to seventy LA Sports. We have phone lines open and the phone lines are alive tonight. Hello, we have phone lines open, just to open so many are so outraged over this loss tonight they had to get in right now. It's like when the Apple store opens,

Yeah, I mean, I love being back out there. It felt.

It's just it's a special thing to get to go back and pitch a Dodger stadium. Obviously I wanted to pitch better, need to pitch better going forward. But you know, I think for me, just to see that, I think there's some glimpses of some my stuff being there, which is good. The problem tonight was just command. I had really bad commands tonight. So I think I can fix that, which is good, which is an encouraging thing.

But obviously not good enough to night to get it done.

But you know, first, first one back and just to be back out here a daughter stadium was a special for me, regardless of the outcome the night, and.

Just overall physically the toe they need the arm.

How do you feel, Yeah, physically feel great. You know that first inning was long. I hadn't had, you know, a really long ending like that in rehab before, so I think my you know, stamina was kind of put to the test early, which is good. And so you know, obviously took my lumps on this one, but physically feel good and ready for the next one.

It looks like you took a pause on your way out of the dugout, like you stopped and so you put your head down.

Were you reflecting?

Was it the Is that something to normally do or were you kind of thinking about what was going to happen now?

No, I don't remember pausing. I always wait till.

You know, eight with the game to go back on the field, So maybe I was just a little early today. But uh yeah, I think, you know, before the game and you know, leading up to this, you know, it's definitely I don't like the word emotional but there's definitely some like some thoughts, you know, some it's just it's just special.

You know.

So I think as you have done it more and you get a little bit older, you just learn to appreciate that more.

So I wouldn't say that, but just it was it was special.

Yeah, like what was it like being your thoughts?

And yeah, Russia great.

You know.

Obviously I didn't gve him a lot to work with today, so you know he's he's going to be good. He cares a lot, wants to be good, you know, prepared a lot, did a lot of homework, and you know he's he's learning on the fly, and so you know, I didn't give him a lot of help today.

Obviously I didn't hit a lot of spots. But he'll be fine.

All right. There's Clayton Kurage. Obviously it's good to hear him say he thought his stuff was good enough. He just needs to have better command. Everybody was worried about his fastball velocity. Well, a lot of times when you see a guy in rehab mode, even Kershaw, the adrenaline in minor league stadiums is not what it is in the big leagues. And tonight we saw his fastball touch ninety one miles an hour. He averaged about eighty nine miles an hour on his fastball tonight, so it was

Hi Sean, Hey Dave, thanks for taking my call. Good to be with you tonight. I I agree with you on the Clayton stuff. You know, I just I feel like, regardless of how he performs from here on out, I mean, we're in a bit of a victory lap for a future Hall of Famer, so you know, it's just good to see him out there, regardless of, you know, what the performance looks like.

Hey, I want to.

Ask you just about ken Lee tonight. I've noticed this with him a couple of times where I've seen him intentionally bock, Yeah, get a runner on second over to third. And I'm trying to understand the strategy from his standpoint.

Score a run.

So what's the strategy there for him to you know, intentionally bock and get that guy over to third when you know you've got the potential to have you know, a base runner score there versus someone on second who's probably not going to score off of that hit if it goes to zach Neto. In that case, it just curious what your thoughts are.

Yeah, he told me this, He did this with the Dodgers. Is that what you're referring to when he was with the Dodgers as well, Because he explained it to me, He's concerned about that runner at second base peeking into his glove and relaying signs to the hitter. So he'd rather have the runner just go to third base and eliminate that even being a possibility. He's that confident that he'll be able to get the third out and not

So even with pitchcong do you think the best that's still a threat.

Uh.

Yeah, because as he's getting ready to deliver the pitch, he's concerned about the runner peeking into his glove and seeing the grip of the pitch and relaying it to the hitter.

Sure, okay, because he's very deliberate.

He's very deliberate with the with the uh, with the delivery. But that's the reason why, Sean, thanks for the phone call. Eight six six seven two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out to Ben in La. You're on Dodger Talk.

Hi, Ben, Hey, Dave, thanks for thanks for taking my call. I just have two main points to make I don't think Kershaw's appearance today was anything of a victory laugh. I think it was really sad, and I think we should really consider having him move into a different role, maybe pitching as a reliever, you know, coming in later, taking one or two innings. You know, I don't really understand why the front office is putting so much trust in him. And at the same time, you got to

You don't think lights right there, ben No.

I think he wanted to just get an easy out and move on. I think he doesn't have that same kind of team energy that we're looking for in the Dodgers, and frankly, I don't like him in the lineup so often.

Well, all right, we'll give him a break. Let's see where it goes. He's been hitting the ball a lot better, you know. So we have seen signs of lie from Michael Conforto. But time will tell whether or not this stage is for Michael Conforto. He did play New York with the Mets. But this is a little bit different, no doubt about it. And as far as Clayton Krushaw goes, he's not going to the bullpen. And I disagree with you. I don't. I think it was sad. I think it was Uh it was. I don't want to call it

Ben.

So no, I'm not accepting that. I I strongly disagree with that, and I think you should actually I feel like, you know, I'm not going to say you owe him a little bit of respect here, but yeah, you owe him a little bit of respect here.

Ben, Yeah, I understand that.

Yeah.

I guess after that first inning he was pretty good. First inning was bad.

This was a rough series, losing to the boss.

He's apologized to clean Kershaw right now, please please do He's a closet listen, He's a clauset list man.

You know, Clayton, I loved everything you've done. I love your legacy. Let's see how it goes against the Mets. I'm not as optimistic as you are, Dave.

Geez, Ben, Okay, what's swan soda? Gonna take a walk, that's all he's gonna do. Ben, how dare you? Thank you for the phone call? Great phone call, Ben, appreciate it. Hey, we can agree to disagree, but I feel like I won you over. Take a step back. It's his first start in over a year. Matthew Stafford his buddy from Highland Park. Did you know that Clayton Kershaw and Matthew Stafford grew up together in Highland Park and they played on the same Little league team. That story's never been

I'm doing good, DV.

Thanks for taking my call. Just I can't disagree more with that last guy on that Clayton Kershaw.

Take right, sacrilegious right there.

He should have all the clout, especially with a Dodger fans that he could ever want and need, and not that he needs it.

But he doesn't want to be that guy. He doesn't want to be Adam Wainwright his last year with the Cardinals. He doesn't want to be a hood ornament. He's out here to compete. And you saw a guy that maybe didn't have the best command or the best stuff. He didn't throw ninety nine, but he threw eighty nine ninety and was able to compete his way through four innings in his first starting over a year. How many guys do that, Some guys tap out when it's raining lightly.

I agree, one hundred percent. Couldn't agree more. I did want to just make a few quick points. A couple of good spots. Obviously, Freddy Freeman hitting the cover off the ball. He's out of this world. Andy Pajis, you know, he's a bona fide outfielder in this league. He just needed a couple of.

Weeks to get it right.

But the concerning the bullpen, you know, and it's tough to fault those guys, but just the usage. You know, you've seen Vessia. He's grooved a few two men pitches this year, which he really get.

Better as the as the season goes along. That's been his track record, And you know, the best comparison I can make for Alex Vessia is key Hernandez. I know one's a pitcher and one's a position player, but we always talk about October k K. Well, go look at what Alex Vessi has done for the Dodgers and nineteen postseason appearances. I believe he's only given up one or two runs. He's October Vessia, so as the season moves along,

I'm hoping you're right. And obviously you know we'll see in September October, so that's good. Another thing I was just really real quick concerned about with Yates. Obviously he really hasn't been the guy we saw last year. It just it doesn't seem like it's been been put together. And I knew as soon as you know he gave up that you know that that inning, I knew it was going to be some sort of injury.

I mean the three the three run homer to Logan o'happy that gave the Angels the lead. Look, Kirby Yates is a gamer. He had an all star season last year with the Rangers, but he threw more innings than basically he's thrown his entire career last year sixty innings. He's thirty eight years old and tonight was his twenty second appearance, So I guess he's in that Daniel Hudson bucket. Maybe a little bit more effective at this stage of

Yeah, I mean, obviously they're special. Anyway I can help the team win as a big part of what I want to do here. Yeah, It's it sucks. Wait, ended I hate losing way more than I love winning. It's one of those things. It's a pill to swallow and learn from and see what we can build on moving forward, especially with some of these pictures. I just I like to take the fall for things like that and never ever put any blame on a picture. So I'll look at some things to night, and uh we'll move forward.

What were you finding just with navigating through their lineup then with this one and seeing how they're able to find different ways to get to you guys.

Yeah, it's maybe I'll let some things speed up on me.

Uh.

Like I said, I'm gonna I'm gonna take blame as much as possible. But rookie, that's my job. Uh Essentially, I'm gonna take blame for every little thing that happens on the field, whether it's good, bad, ugly everything. But yeah, like I said, it's it's gonna be a long night looking at some things and uh figuring out what we can do to move forward and be better.

He Uh there was some concouraging things from his start today.

You saw him a couple of weeks ago where some of them are encouraged things that you saw.

Yeah, it's uh, I mean he's he's the best left handed picture of all time. And uh, like I said, uh, I think I could have made some better decisions in uh certain situations, and I I think moving forward, I uh, I'm not gonna run into those problems anymore, especially with him in particular. But yeah, it's it's a game of baseball. Sometimes things don't go your way. But like I said, that's the best life had of picture of all time. I should be able to navigate him.

What were the pregame means?

Like in preparation with Curse Good?

I felt like we had a good plan moving in. I felt like we rode most of the plan for the most part, executed some things, and like I said, maybe there were some hiccups I made throughout the road, and that's, like I said, something I can grow on and move forward and do better.

That's what all Right, there's Dalton rushing and that's a peek into people that have been around him know already. I mean, that's the type of guy he is. He's a servant to the pictures. He's not just all about hitting, even though he's a really good hitter. He really takes it personal when things don't go right for his pictures. Eight six six nine seven two five seventy is the phone number. All right, we have two callers that want to complain about Michael Conforto, so I'm gonna let them

To Luke, thanks for taking my call again, Dave, Hi.

Luke and the OC, how you doing.

I'm taking my call as well. I'll let Johnny go, Yeah, don't.

I don't know, Dave.

It's it's almost we're almost fifty games in.

Uh.

The guy hasn't made any any real adjustments or anything like that. I just with Kim and Tommy coming back and Tail coming back, I just I don't know, something's got to change with this. I'm on board with what Ben said about Conforto, but he has to put some respect on the two time champ Krushoff for sure, but Conforto, I don't know. I want to hear what Luke has to say.

I do too. Your insight on all.

This, sure, Yeah, I think my insight is actually more of like a Roberts criticism of why wouldn't.

Roberts entertain the idea of pinch hitting there? And it's not like a dig at gets Conforno. It's more of just trying to give Kim a shot, give Smith a shot, give the people who have indicated that they're hot recently a shot. I mean, I know, like to Johnny's credit, like John Now, Johnny Conforno.

Was like not been.

I mean, he has been great all season. He's been better as as late as you pointed out earlier to day. But I think team's gotten on like well, like like nine straight games, like just give him a shot.

Was snapped last night. He did reach nine nine consecutive plate appearances, that's true, And he did come in as a pinch runner and almost beat out a bang bang play at second base because I don't think Tim Anderson realized who was running right there, But yeah, I mean he was in there. And look, that's that's a fair

Yes, I totally agree, totally gree I'm not pulling plugs on anybody. I'm I'm thinking about, you know, situational hitting. I think Confordo is long term. I think he makes sense. I'm just trying to, you know, think about that's hitting.

You hear it now?

Now?

And how about this, Johnny? All right, hold on, let me just let's make a compromise here. If Michael Confordo is still hovering where he's hovering right now, uh mid June, then I will agree with you guys that Dave Roberts is going to have to go to the matchup game. And and sorry, I know the Dodgers took a one year flyer on him. But I know the hitting coaches believe that Michael Conforto is gonna figure it out. I mean, two for forty two stretch that he's much better than that.

I wouldn't say us get back again, but he's he's two for thirty two with running the scoring position in over twenty six last twenty seven. So it's it's when you got people making production.

I agree, that's fair. That's fair. Let's circle back. Okay, let's give it a little bit more time. Thanks guys, great great conversation. See very calm discussion right there. Eight six six eighty seven seventy is the phone number. Dwayne McDonald was not amused. Eight six six nine eighty seven

Hi, Josh, Hey David, thank you for taking my call. I really appreciate it. You know, I was actually one of the few people who lights the michaeltonfordos signing in the offseason, and he always thought he's been a solid that he's usually good for about twenty homers a season, so it's you know this, the slump that he's been in has been disappointing for me by myself, but I'm sorry, Day I don't understand how you let him back in

That's fair, Josh. And if Dave Roberts was going to have Smith hit against ken Lee Jansen, why not do it there? Yeah, you're right, and you guys and Johnny was right, and so is our guy from the OC, Michael Confordo. This year just two for thirty one with runners in scoring position. That's got to get better in those situations, or I agree with you guys, Dave Roberts is going to be forced to get somebody off the bench that can take a better at bat in those situations.

Hi, Ken, Hey, there.

How are you doing?

I agree with him every time with.

The Freeway series? Was that just a obligatory how you doing? You didn't really care? Right?

Oh I do?

I do care to tell what I was doing. Okay, but Kershaw didn't look good in the perst any with us Kershaw. I'll live with whatever goes on with him because he is a superstar. I'm not happy with some of the relief pictures. I think Garcia needs to go. Guy's got a four fifty e RRA. To bring him in at that time made no sense. Now what everyone was talking about was my main point. You had a choice with the face of the look.

He brought in Lewis. He brought in Luis Garcia because Kirby Yates got hurt.

I understand, I understand, And there's short unrelief pictures and that's.

That's right, that's the reason why.

Yes, but you got you got Smith at three thirty, you've got Kim at four fifty two, and you've got a guy who simply is not hitting. And if you're trying to win this game, you pinch hit those guys. The only reason you wouldn't is maybe you are getting some pressure because Friedman spent seventeen million dollars in that guy, and maybe he's saying, let him stay, let him stay, but you got to play to win.

I'm sure that's in the back of Dave's mind to a certain extent. But Andrew Friedman isn't calling into the dug at. I'm saying, do not pinch hit for Michael Confordo under no circumstances. That's a that's a Dave call, and it's a fair question. That is a fair question, especially since we saw Will Smith come off the bench to face Kenley in the ninth inning. So yeah, you're right,

Sports on air at AM five seventy, online at AM five seventy LA sports dot com, and available by podcast on the iHeartRadio app.

This is Dodger Talk with David Bassa.

Here's the pitch and k Hammers of all the left failed, No doubt about it. The Dodgers get home back. Keek goes halfway up to pavilion in field. Is seventh home run of the season and it's five four.

Key k Hernandez a big night. Same with the Dodger offense. They scored nine runs tonight, but they fall to the Angels eleven to nine. Key k Hernandez on base all five times tonight, two for two with three walks and that home run in the fourth inning. Daniels Jewelers presents the home run Forecast. Go to AM five to seventy lasports dot com and use the keyword home run for your chance to win a fifty dollars Daniels Jewelers gift card predicting the number of home runs in the next game.

It's time to go around the horn with Jose Mota.

All right, Jose Moda. The Dodgers score nine runs and they lose. Callers are upset that Dave Roberts did not pinch it for Michael Conforto in that situation with the bases loaded in the eighth inning off of Kenley Janssen. I find it hard to nitpick the offense after scoring nine, But do you feel like that's a fair question.

It is a fair question because there's a history now with him and he has not hit beyond all the numbers you throw out, and the callers called him out in which they're right. He doesn't hit right handed pitching, which is a bigger mystery coming into today against right handed pitching. And Kelly Jenson is just not any right handed pitcher. He's dominant right handed pitcher. And I think after he filed off the first pitch, I told you, so he's going to get one pitch, he better not

And on the flip side, Will Smith is one of the best hitters in baseball with runners in scoring positions. So if you're going to bring him off the bench to face ken Ley in the ninth inning as a leadoff hitter, why wouldn't you bring him up in that type of situation where he could possibly put you ahead.

It all makes sense. Absolutely.

It doesn't have to be a right lefty matchup right there, because Will Smith is a guy that puts the ball in play. We saw the great app that he had later in the game the following inning. Kelly is actually gets a little more frustrated pitching against guys like that to have less holes and can cover the outer half, but cutter, he he just has to go sink or he can fight it off inside too. So yeah, that's a viable option. I think next time we might see

Fair enough Dodgers fall to the Angels tonight eleven to nine. Clayton Kershaw made his season debut tonight. We heard from Kershaw earlier in the show. What did you think, Jose from what you saw tonight?

I think the only thing that he overthrew really was his curveball. Well, he threw a couple of curveballs where he just didn't have a nice grip and he overthrew those. But overall, it is just a lack of command. And then, and I'm going to put this very carefully, Okay, when you're a rehab and you're facing obviously less line ups, lesser lineups, lesser talent, and you have a lot of anxious guys at home play a lot of the pictures that he made to Ward the solaieran company most likely

It was a big night for him.

So let's beat him this one and then hopefully he'll be better the next time, all.

Right, Jose, thanks a lot for breaking that down. We'll check in with you again tomorrow as you fill in for Rick Monday on a big Sunday for the Dodgers to try to win the final game of this three game series. So far disappointing first two games from the Dodgers in this series.

No doubt you got the cattle them mount and tomorrow is a new day. Go out there and go get him.

All right, Jose, thanks a lot for checking in. Appreciate it. Jose Mota, part of the Dodgers broadcast team filling in for Rick Monday, who will return during the Diamondbacks series. Dodgers fall tonight eleven to nine to the Angels, and they also lose their veteran reliever Kirby Yates, who left the game in the seventh inning with a right hamstring strain.

Hi, Stephen, Hey, how you doing?

Dave?

Listen to you a long time and first time. Thank you, Thank you for telling me, and no problem. I got a question, why would he start the rookie instead of Will Smith because there was a left handed pitcher and Will Smith, of course is the day game tomorrow, and then that would be his best game tomorrow. I just don't understand why Dave Roberts did that.

So there's a left hander tomorrow as well, you say Kukuchi. So Dave Roberts Sam had to choose a night, and he decided to go with rushing because rushing kot Kershaw in his last rehab start. They did a game planning situation during the game last night. So that's just the way he lined it up, he chose tonight to have Smith sit and start him tomorrow for the day game against another left hander.

Well, normally he doesn't do that, But so you're.

Selling that's of change. I'm not sure if you noticed. Austin Barnes is not here, So things are going to be a little bit different the way he rotates the catchers because Dalton Rushing's going to push for more playing time, especially from what we've seen the first two games of his major league career Stevens. So it's not going to be Will Smith catching once a week anymore. He's going to get a few more days off in hopes of keeping him more fresh for the second half.

Yeah, now, what do you think about I know you're a big fan of Muncie, and my seats are just looking my seats are directly looking at third base, and he cannot go to his right at all, and he's weaker.

He's weaker going to the line. You're right, yes, yes, he is a step slower.

Right.

I'm seeing many third basements there over the years, sitting there, he's probably the you know, the worst one I've seen, and well, come on, well I'll be the last fifteen years who.

I'm not going to say he's he's not Brooks Robinson Steven, but he's uh, he's solid and he's gotten better.

Well, how many airs does he have so far?

I don't have that at the top of my list. I don't keep his errors right on my stats sheet here, I.

Know, because there's too many, too many to jot down.

Hey Steven, Wow, Hey, I gotta go. I want to share Blake Snell before I say good night. Come on, Steven. That's that's enough months he hates for one night. I mean, the guy got a big hit tonight as well. He made a leaping catch on a line drive in the second inning tonight, So come on, layoff, Max Muncie. All right. Blake Snell joined us for another snell Zilla's Saturday. I don't know if it's a regular thing, but the last two Saturdays he's opened up about where he's at and

He's just helping me with with like my timing and I'm trying to like keep it slow and go back. So I don't have any hiccups, and you know he's helping me with like, hey, just trust your body where you're at vlow wise, like don't try to do less than don't try to like manipulate your body, like let it be natural and just connected. So that's what we're working on talking about. And yeah, I felt good to

That's great.

So yeah, I'm pretty pretty and yeah, it just feels good to finally like play catch again and like be able to work on something.

Instead of just being cautious about the pain coming back. I'm sure.

Yeah, thrown with pain sucks. You don't notice it when you're in it. You know, you're just like it's going to go away, because that's usually what we go through and you're like it's just early or go away. But that's pretty tough when it didn't, and you know, like I probably should have stop throwing before opening day, but I wanted to pitch so bad that you know, made it worse than then you know it was probably gonna be.

It sounds like the coaches just want you to be honest with them and honest with yourself.

Yeah.

They I mean they tell me like, you know, take your time, go slow, but that's like foreign language to me. I'm just like, you know, it's always been like we need you back, we need you back. And you know I was trying to go, you know, I just I want to pitch here. I love I love being a Dodger and yeah here it take your time, and I'm gonna do that. But I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna. I want to be back. So it's I gotta find

No doubt you gotta be honest with yourself. And once snail Zilla's back on that mound, it's gonna be a big deal for the Dodgers when he's healthy. Now, where does all this go? I mean, this is kind of tedious when we say you're playing catch? How big? How big of a day was snail Zilla's Saturday today? And where does it go the rest of the week?

Yeah, just a progression build up seventy five feet and then we'll go into like one fifty and then get into bullpens after the road trip.

And you need me to stand in for one of those bullpens.

Yeah, I mean wear a diaper, but yeah, I'll be I'll be ready to go. Yeah, So you know, just we'll see how it all goes and the build up and then having Connor out there, Mark, Mark's gonna start coming out there as well. It's gonna be exciting and just to you know, be able to throw and work on stuff and and get ready to go to go compete. And you know, it's tough watching all these games, you know,

All Right, there's Blake's now. That was an exclusive conversation with him where he kind of let us know more than I was expecting about how his shoulder got hurt and where he that as far as his progression to come back, So things are moving in the right direction. He's paying free for the first time in a long time,

Just