The right fist. Dodgers Playoff Baseball is.
Back, and with it an annual postseason tradition Scam is back.
Baby.
This is Sax and Cakes in the A app Go with Broway.
Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now while the Dan Patrick Show streams on the iHeartRadio app. We've been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven e LA Sports.
It's Tim Kates and Steve Sachs.
It's a matchup everybody's been waiting for, not saxon case and AM. Yeah, you've been waiting for it. But Dodgers and Padres Weds gets underway officially tomorrow night out of Dodgers Stadium. We'll have all the covers beginning at four point thirty in the afternoon, with Dodgers on deck, first pitch at five thirty eight.
Right here on AM five to seventy LA Sports.
Yoshi Yamamoto is now the game one starter going up against Dylan Cease for the Padres Saxony. We're gonna hear from Tony Gwinn Junior coming up later on in the show.
We're gonna hear from Chris Taylor as well, who is hopefully gonna turn things around here in October after a pretty good finish in the month of September for the veteran outfielder infielder for the Dodgers that has been a part of this postseason run the last few years, including the World Series run, but also a guy part of the run and arguably one of the best insiders in all of baseball, and we're lucky to have him right here on AMFI seventy LA Sports. He is David vasse,
our Dodger insider. Good morning, Dave, how you doing.
Buddy, Good morning guys. It feels like Thanksgiving. Man. You get the two family members over that you don't see all but once a year. So great to have you guys back too.
David got to take that as a slap, but that's okay. Dave Yoshimoto gets the starting game one. It was announced late into their workout last night, David that Jack Flarity not gonna go in game one, but going game two and Yoshiyamamoto goes in game one, and there's there's a little bit of strategy to this move.
Well, here's my thing. The schedule hasn't changed since two days ago to yesterday to today. The schedule's been the same. So I am a little curious why they decided to flip these two guys yesterday when they knew what the schedule was. They knew there were five days off between a game one and a game five. My concern has been the last three or four Jack Flarity starts is that maybe his back has flared up on him, and that's the reason why his average fastball velocity has gone
down each of his last four starts. Maybe the Dodgers are trying to give him an extra day of rest. But I will say this, Yoshi Yamamoto highest paid starting pitcher in baseball history. If you're that guy, you should be starting game one and you should be available for a game five. The only reason why I thought maybe it made sense for Yamamoto to start Game two is because if he did, he would be available to start
game one of an NLCS. But obviously the Dodgers are not counting that Before it happens, and going to have him pitch in a possible Game five in this NLDS, which in my opinion could very well happen. I feel like this is a series that is going to go four or five games for sure.
Yeah, Dave, good to be with you again. It's been a while and nice to see you at the stadium during the season though.
I always love seeing you. Steve Sas Thanks buddy.
Hey, listen, talking about the change up with Yamamoto and Flarherity, you mentioned something about the back. How serious do you think that situation is? And I kind of like the switch. You know, Flerity was great throughout the season, as you mentioned, Dave his last three starts as Era was tipping up in the sixes on those three particular starts to end the season. But is that enough to make the switch or do you think it's something more physically with the back?
Well, the Dodgers are saying, and Jack has told me that he just feels like his delivery has not been SYNCD up. Is it not syncd up because his back is preventing it from being synced up? I mean, he's answered the bell, he hasn't missed the start but the reality is at least two teams backed out of training for Jack Flerty over concerns of his back, So you know, you have to wonder if it's there. You know, if anybody's had any back issues in their lives. You know,
it doesn't just go away. You just have to manage it. And what I believe Jack Clarty has done. And look, you give him an extra day, maybe that helps him manage it to be the best he possibly can be on Sunday rather than Saturday.
David vassare Dodger insider, joining us here on a FI seventy LA Sports. David, if you could just kind of talk about what the last week has been like for this Dodgers team off the field and what they've been doing the last couple of days and what's in store today as a rap up for Game one of the NLDS tomorrow night at Dodgers Stadium.
Well, the nineteen eighty eight Dodgers netwhere the best team, in my opinion, the Dodgers have had in LA, the most magical team the Dodgers have ever had in LA. And what made them so special is how tight knit of a group they were. And Steve obviously can talk
about that more than I can. But the Dodgers, since the regular season ended, have eliminated distractions, have committed themselves to each other by having these watch parties at Dodger Stadium to watch the Braves and Padres and all these games. My understanding is they've been watching them in the Dugout Club at Dodger Stadium each of the last three nights. And basically, when I say distractions, you know, their friends, their family. They've been pushed aside for the task at hand,
which is to win the World Series. Now, some players have told me that they don't want to liken this to the twenty twenty bubble, because you can't go backwards, you can only go forwards. But what they all agree upon is that this has been beneficial, as Walker Buehler
told us yesterday, kind of a group think. And I like hearing that because the last time they played the Padres, they all drove their separate cars down the San Diego The first time they were together as a team in San Diego was when they arrived in the clubhouse together
for Game three. So I don't know if this is going to translate or if it's too little too late to come together like this, but I like to see that the Dodgers want to change the narrative and try to make a run to the World Series again.
Yeah, Dave, it's a great point.
And we all know the physical attributes that this team brings to the table, the sheer, athleticism and just great baseball players. But it's that other part of it that comes into it, the human aspect of it that means so much. I love the fact that Dave Roberts in his recent interview was talking about the team and having that edge back and he likes that personality part of the team. Can you see a marketable difference in this team from before on the field.
I can't see it on the field, Steve. I've only been allowed to be at Dodgers Stadium one day, which was yesterday. We'll be back out there today. But what I can tell you is being in the clubhouse and talking to a hand full of players and observing just the way that they're acting. They do. They are very focused. They really don't want to be distracted with anything that's going to take them away from what their focus has been the last three or four days, And you know,
being around them every day. It's a loose clubhouse, and they're very good at being able to answer the bell when it rings, but just a different level of intensity. And like Dave Roberts said, edge being around those four guys, and I never saw Mookie Bets come to his locker. I never saw Freddy Freeman come to his locker. Otani did not come to his locker. So a lot of these guys do not want the outside voices to interfere with their preparation for Game one.
Injury wise, David, the big one is Freddy Freeman. Certainly, Miguel Rojas says he's going to be ready to play with the adductor muscle that he tore. But Freddy Freeman's ankle's the big question right now for the Dodgers because they could shake up the lineup and certainly shakes things up defensively for what Dave Roberts wants to do, and having Max Monthly maybe play first What do you hear in as far as that ankle and his availability for tomorrow night.
Well, number one, I thought it was telling that for the first day the Dodgers did have Max Monthly play first base during the workout, take round balls, there take throws at first base. They had not done that all week until today. Monthly told me in Denver that it's like riding a bike. I think I can remember how to play first base, so he's not concerned if.
He has to do it.
While we were allowed at Dodger Stadium, Freddie Freeman did see live pitching, but I was told he was going to try to run the bases. I did not see that. I don't know if it happened, but my understanding is if and when he does try to run the bases, whether it was yesterday or if it's going to be today, that is going to to be really telling as far as the Dodgers making their decision about whether or not Freddie Freeman is good enough to start Game one of
the NLBS. So maybe we'll see that today when we're out there, But that is, from what I understand, kind of a big decision maker in Freddie playing whether or not the Dodgers like what they see when he runs the bases.
Hey, David, the startup for Game one, lots of people talking about what might transpire in this matchup between these two teams. In the first game, I mean, the Dodgers had six players through out the course of the season that struck out over one hundred times. Dylan Cease certainly as a strikeout pitcher two hundred and twenty four strikeouts during the season. But the Dodgers still, you know, one
hundred and fifty seven plus. I mean, when you talk about a team that had a run differential second best in all of baseball, is this a team that can string a bunch of hits together or do you see this as a big bomb it's going to take place in Game one.
Well, even Freddy Freeman has told me Steve that it's hard to string together three or four consecutive hits, and that's why he believes being able to have the ability of more players to hit the ball out of the ballpark is huge. You saw that in the Mets series. The Brewers did it to win Game two. You saw the Mets do it last night with Pete Alonso. So even the players like Freddy Freeman buy into the fact that you need guys in this day and age of baseball to be able to hit a two or three
run home run to help you win. And the Dodgers, let's face it, no matter how much we loved the squeeze play, the manufacturing of runs. That's just not baseball these days. And with all the power arms coming out of bullpens, I tend to concede a little bit that it is hard to string together three or four hits. So the Dodgers are built to slug. If you look at the numbers, the team number, they've hit more fly balls than any other team in baseball, exit velocity, all
that stuff and the slugging percentage top to bottom. The Dodgers are built to slug. But you have guys like Keik Hernandez, Tommy Edmund sprinkled in there Otani who's a power hitter but makes contact Mookie power hitter contact, Freddy contact. So they do have guys that are multi dimensional. So I feel like that's in their advantage.
Dave, we appreciate you joining us this morning. I know it's gonna be a long day. You'll be with Matt money Smith's a day from three until seven with a pet some money show love.
Do I have to I did not sign up for that.
It's a little too late now, but if you want to back out it.
You get Steve Sacks and I get Matt money Smith.
Thanks a lot, I win game over on that one. I know about that, David, appreciate it. We'll talk to you later on this afternoon.
Thanks David, all right, thanks for you.
All right there he goes David Vasseur dodge her insider. Freddie Freeman's ankle is a big question, Saxy. He's spraying the ankle at the last week of the season, the last series of the season at home against the Padres. Did not make the trip to Denver for that three game series to end the regular year in Denver against
the Rockies. He's beginning treatment now for seven days. It'll be eight plus days between games that he's played, assuming he can go tomorrow in game one of this NLDS an ankle spraying that that balloons up there like a candle lip on the side of your ankle. I'm sure you've experienced that before.
I have.
How how I mean can he come back after a week? Can you play on that after seven eight days?
I'll bet you my house that Freddie Freeman will be in the lineup. If he can walk, He's gonna play. I would I would say if it wasn't Freddie Freeman, I wouldn't be so you know, so definite on my on my answer to that. But let me tell you what Freddie Freeman his makeup as a person is. If he can crawl out there, he's going to play. And you're not going to get more of a professional hitter
in the game than Freddie Freeman. And I know you can throw names out there, but I've seen Freddie Freeman be in slumps, and I've watched his preparation in batting practice. Hit every ball line drive in batting practice that didn't go to the right of second base. Everything was lined
at the shortstop. And I'll remember this for a long long time, when Freddy Freeman was in the slump a couple of years ago, and he was in preparation before the game hitting those line drives in that five to six hole, and then he goes out in the game and he hits three line drives in the game over the shortstop s head and the slump is gone.
I would put my money on.
This guy as opposed to just about anybody in the game. He is a professional hitter at the highest highest aspects that you can possibly shoot for, and I would bet on Freddie Freeman being there and being the normal Freddie Freeman that we always see.
And I guess if you're gonna have an ankle spring maybe the best position on the field, yep, to have that ankle sprain and still be able to play defensively is first base.
Right sure?
I mean, you know it's a I think first base is a little bit underrated. When people say, you know, you can just hide somebody over there, you can't. How many times do we see people, you know, ground ball to first, a regular ground ball and they can't throw the ball home, or you know, they make an easy place seem seem like it's really tough. So I think it's a bit underrated the amount of defense that's needed over there. And Freddy Freeman's about as good as it gets.
He'll be playing, in my estimation, and you won't even be talking about that that ankle.
I think it's essential that he plays for this Dodger n LDS series saxually for this reason. His bat is great. But ever since the series in Soul, South Korea, and then coming back to start this regular season, I said it, then I'm gonna say it now, give him the gold Glove at first base. He has saved so many bad throws from Gavin Lugs, Miguel Rojas, Max Muncy, Keith Aron Ed.
Anybody who's played in field for the Dodgers this year has made a bad throw or nine over to Freddie Freeman, and he has picked the ball out of the dirt. He has saved their butts so many times. And it goes down as a ground ball out in and in and out. Nobody thinks any different of it. You just keep moving along. But I notice it. He has saved so many guys' rear ends with his defense over there.
They need him.
It's so underrated. And what he does over there at first base is just huge. I mean, I can tell you Tim when I went to New York and I was Don Mattingly at first base, he gave me so much confidence. And that's one of the reasons I was fortunate to lead the league in my position in fielding is I had Don Mattingly at first base. He caught everything I threw over there and saved my butt many
many times. And so I know Freddie Freeman does the same thing here with the Dodgers, and it is absolutely critical that he's in the lineup.
Absolutely. We'll find out tomorrow when the rosters come out. I don't think there's any way he's not on this roster, certainly hopefully in the lineup tomorrow for the Dodgers. Game one of the NLDS is tomorrow night. We'll have all the action beginning with Dodgers on Decond four to thirty. First pitch at five thirty eight at SAX and Kate's in the Am.
We're live and local.
As the Dodgers have started their postseason run. It's the first team to eleven wins, win three in the DS, four in the Championship Series, and four more for a World Series championship. And it starts tomorrow night out at Dodgers Stadium. Coming up hood from Chris Taylor, who has maybe turn things around here in twenty twenty four. We'll go around the Baseball playoffs. A wild scene in Milwaukee last night. Gotta get Saxy's take on that. Also, your
phone calls Tony Gwinn Junior next hour. I got a pair of tickets for Game one of the NLDS to give away with Saxy here for tomorrow night. Keep listening for your chance to win and call in and talk about this series this game tomorrow night. Yoshiomamatu on the mound. This Dodgers team are the strong of October behind them. Can they put twenty two and twenty three in their rear view and push ahead here in twenty twenty four in the NLDS, Let's talk about it eight six, six,
nine eighty seven two five seventy. He is Steve Sacks. I'm Tim Kates. Thanks for being with us as you make your way to work, school and start your Friday. Here on Anti seventy I sports ah Freddy Freeman's walk up song. Hopefully we're hearing it at Dodgers Stadium tomorrow night game one of the NLDS Dodgers in San Diego Padres saxon, Kates and the am back with you. Here is the Dodgers run for a World Series Championship begins
tomorrow nights against the Padres. Wave My Wrongo Causino. Dodgers on deck beginnion at four thirty, first pitch at five thirty eight. Thanks to David Vasse who joined us. Tony gwyn Junior from the Padres broadcast will join us coming up a little bit later next hour. I did see on the Padres website Saxy they talked about slaying the beasts. Oh that is the Dodgers. So I don't know if that's fitting or if that's just the folks in San Diego wanting to continue to play this.
We're just a little team down here in San Diego, and we're just a David versus Goliath. We're just a little guy against the big beasts. I think we've gotten past this.
This is a pretty big payroll they got in San Diego an a pretty darn good team.
They've had now a couple of years in a row.
Yeah, they're not They're not fooling anybody playing the little, meek and mild team a little passive aggressive type of attitude. No, they're not at all. They got they got some beasts on their own team too. But you know, it's it's good. I mean it's smart. You want to go in there as the underdog, that's for sure. And by most people's accounts, they will be the underdog, but not against many teams, but adds the Dodgers they might be. But we'll see
what happens that it's gonna be a great series. I you know, I'm not gonna tell you what I think until the end of the show. But I'm I'm gonna dig this series. It's gonna be great.
You have a pull of ESPN Riders, the Athletic and I think Sports Illustrated the Three Outlets, And it's about eighty percent of those baseball writers insiders that are making predictions for this NLDS series picking the Podres in it is best of five NLDS over the Dodgers. So if anybody wants to play the underdog role, the Dodgers can
make the case for it. Certainly, nobody's gonna want to make them the underdogs for the salaries and payroll this team has, and the superstars and MVPs that this team has, but you know, matchup wise, they can make a case that they're the underdogs in this series based on the way the Padres have gotten to them. And you know, you look at the roster top to bottom for the Padres,
it's pretty balanced. They added to their bullpen, they got a really good rotation that is healthy right now outside of Joe Musgrove, and a lineup where Jake Croninworth will get you one night and then all of a sudden, it's Tedtis and then it's another night it's Manny Machado. Doing his It's a lineup I look at it does scare me a little bit, sax.
Hey, they've got guys stacked throughout. When you talk about you know, the pitching staff for sure, when you talk about guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, and just you know, they've got good defenders on this team too. So this is going to be this is going to be an epic matchup between you know, the two powerhouses I believe in the National League. You talk about the Phillies too, But listen, these are the two
teams that are going to bring all the excitement. It's going to be great weather and people are going to really enjoy these two teams going at it. But yeah, this team is well rounded. They got guys you know, hit the ball out of the park. They got arguably the best hitter in the National League with Luisa Rise. Yeah, so you know, you look at it up and down, they've this is a team that is the aren't chumps on this team.
This is a good club.
A name I want to make sure we don't leave out as Jackson Merrill, the twenty one year old and he's amazing superstar center fielder drafted as a short stop out of high school in twenty twenty one, so good they needed a spot for him somewhere in this lineup that they made him a center fielder this year. And he goes on to have a All Star season just turned twenty one a couple of months ago. It hits nearly three hundred twenty four home runs ninety rbi on
this season. If if this young kid, this left handed kid, who is so good defensively as well, doesn't win Rookie of the Year, there's something wrong with baseball.
Yeah, give credit where it's due, and this guy's the sky is the ceiling for this guy.
He's got so much talent.
I mean, you see him in center field, still a little bit raw in this game where the ball was hit over his head to centerfield. I believe so Lair hit it, and he started one step in and then started a straight sprint back, looked at the ground and came up and looked. He was looking for a spot to run to, found that spot and looked up, caught the ball, and then he was one step to the
hitting the wall. But there's a guy that can make a mistake on a route and still correct it by his sheer athleticism, and we saw that on full display when he played this series against the Mets. Phenomenal player, power, speed, he can hit, he can do all of it.
Let's get into it then real quick before we get out to the calls and learn from Chris Taylor coming up in about fifteen minutes and his hopes of having a turnaround postseason for the Dodgers. But this MLB Playoffs so far, we've seen the Astros get bounced in two games in the Wildcard round by the six seeded Detroit Tigers, who caught fire since the All Star Break. The Cleveland Guardians now take on the Tigers in the NLD or the Alds. The Royals upset my Baltimore Orioles in two games.
They now take on the Yankees in the ALDS and the Mets advancing to take on the Phillies, and they did so with a unbelievable win last night. Saxy down two to nothing against arguably one of the best relievers in baseball, and Devin Williams for the Brewers comes out, melts down and then Pete Alonso It's an opposite way sort of a line drive home run that gets out
of the Ballpark to give him the lead. They tack on one more and they come back in the ninth inning and stun the Brewers last night to advance to take on the Phillies. This is what I love about October baseball, and if you're a Brewers fan, you hate it. The dramatics of the ninth inning on a pee Alonso change up from Williams that he takes the opposite away.
If there wasn't so much hype in this Dodgers and Padres series coming up, you'd hear a lot more about this about the Mets, you know, in this comeback that they made against the Brewers. And Pete Alonzo noticed when he comes up to bat. You ever see how Pete Alonzo gets ready to hit. He throws the bat out there and he never goes He never goes a full swing, right, He just he kind of goes like it's almost like an advanced version of Pepper that he's playing at the plate.
He's so strong and he's got such great lower body development that when you throw that pitch on the outside part of the plate, remember what he's doing beforehand. He's almost like playing Pepper. He is telling himself under no circumstances. Am I going to roll over too early? You don't
see Pete Alonso doing that too much. His outs can go the other way, they're pop ups, but rarely does he roll over too early because he's so concentrated on making sure that he makes contact without rolling over prematurely. And on that pitch, on that change up to Devin Williams that he gets everybody to roll over on, he didn't get that with Pete Alonso. He stayed down through the ball. And the reason I mentioned that lower body development is he's so strong that he can go and
dig that ball out. That was a low pitch on the outside corner. You can dig that ball out, loft it up in the air, and still have enough strength to get that over the wall. And that's exactly what he did. And how about this Pete Alonso going into this next season, this offseason as a free agent, I think he's going to be well suited to break the bank with some team.
No doubt about it. That home run last night. Afterwards, he was on cloud nine running the bases and getting the win for the Mets as they advance to the NLCS. With Saxy sets up now an NLDS round between the Dodgers and Padres and an NLDS round between the Phillies and the Mets. Either way, Rob Manford and Major League Baseball is getting in a National League Championship series with West Coast versus East Coast.
Yeah. I mean, you couldn't pick it any better.
Well deserving for all the teams because they're all really, really talented. This isn't one where oh, some team got lucky and what if not. These are really talented teams. People are gonna be glued to the set and watching this, so I'm really excited about it. We got a lot of baseball headed for us for this next month, and.
This Brewers Mets series in Milwaukee. All three games were there. In Game one, Saxy, things got a little chippy between Jesse Winker of the Mets and Brewers shortstop William Damas. Now apparently they got a little bit of history between them. I don't know to the extent of what it is, but from what I gathered, there's a little bit something there. And Winker hit the ball in the corner and rounding second,
going to third on his way to a triple. In Game one, he apparently mouths something to Williadomas that wasn't very friendly to him, and when he got to third a, Domas started chirping at him from shortstop. Neither really left their spots and nothing really escalated after that, but you could see when they look back at it, Williadomas was telling Jesse Winker to meet him in the parking lot if they really want to have a throwdown after the game.
I dig that.
Yeah, the two of them have no love loss between the between them.
Yeah.
I kind of like the fire between these two teams because it adds a little something there. I was intrigued actually watching Game three last night, not only because it was a winner take all, but to see what's gonna happen between Jesse Winker and Williadomas, if anything, or if
the team teams were gonna get escalated. And you know, because guys were hitting each other and Baker apparently did took obsession exception to being hit a bunch of times by the Milwaukee Brewers over the last couple of years. That's kind of where it goes back to, I guess, but I love this. This is old school Steve Sacks Matt at the world when he's playing I love it.
And did you see when Weaker scored he helmet down, hair flying everywhere that this is great brokes helmet.
Yeah, it was great.
On the other side of that, I'm not a big fan of chirping.
Really, nah, and I thought you would be that s Actually, for some reason, I thought you were a guy who liked loved a chirp.
No, I was.
When I was in the dugout, I was screaming for my team. But I'm not going to be on the field chirping at some dude, and you know, yelling from a distance. I'm not like that, and I never was, and I don't like that stuff. I think it's kind of whimping out. If you got something to say, you know, like what Doma said, we can throw down, or you can come over here and tell me, tell me to my face. I like that part of it, But the
screaming out, you know, with thirty people in front of you. Hey, you know what it's it's guys on the team don't like it either. They can see it. If you mean, if you want to say it's so you can go get him, I mean you can. You can get anybody you want on the field.
Is that fake? Tough guy in this right there.
Yeah, yeah, and everybody knows it, so you know, I just I'm just never a big fan of that. And you know, I never got to a point where, you know, I think I have to throw down with somebody on the field. I mean, if I'm not going to initiate it, but if it happened become my way, then that's that's fine.
But I'm not gonna initiate it.
Did it ever get close? Do you remember it during your playing day?
One time?
Really, one time in spring training when I was facing Roger Clemens. Uh, And I liked I loved facing Roger Clemens because he would throw it in there at like one hundred and one and I would send it out at about one hundred and eight. So that was good with me, and we had a good understanding. And one time in spring training, he threw me the first pitch of the game and it was a slider and it was outside, you know, four or five inches outside. First pitch of the game, this is spring training. And I
looked at the umpire. You know, I didn't try to embarrass the umpire, but I kind of looked back stepped out of the box. That's a strike, and I get ready to get back in the box and he screaming at me to get back in the box. Yell, point, get back in the box. So I called time out again, dug in you know, scratch, scratch, scratch, get a little deeper. And then I said, okay, come on, and he threw it right at my head and that that that I won't get. This is a family show, so I'm not
going to say what I want to say. If you and I were, you know, having a drink somewhere like we did in the off season, Tim, I might tell you, but I'm not going to say it right now. So I out anybody, well nobody so. But if it wasn't for my cat like reflexes, I would have got hit. But I was able to block the ball as I was going down to the ground. I got up and there was forty seven people in between us. And this is in spring training, and this is the only time
I wanted to go get somebody. So I kind of casually walked down to first and thought, hey man, if there's an alley here, I can go get this this lumpit right, But never happened, and he said, hey man, got away right, I'm sure it did, and I got him first, so I stole second and third in spring training just to kind of stick it back, you know what I mean, So you gotta do it.
Did you ever address it with Roger Clemons afterwards?
Nope.
There's guys I've only met at sixty feet six inches, I've never talked to him besides playing against him. My brother, my brother played in the Red Sox with him and caught him, and my brother said, you would have loved him because he was a great competitor. And I'm sure I would have if I was on the team with him. But the fact that that never happened changes kind of the narrative here. So anyway, we never discussed it, but it's okay.
You know it. Shed a lot of good times in baseball for me.
This Padres team likes to talk saxy. These are guys that are very vocal. They like to celebrate. They'll jump out of the dugout when a guy hits all home run. Manny Machado kind of I think is the tip of the spear, so to speak. For this Dodge or this Padres team. You see Jackson Merrill at his young age, very exuberant, as far as his emotions, they're not afraid to show excitement. They're also not afraid to get up there on the top of that top step in a dugout during a game.
Sometimes it can be seen.
As cockiness, as this team is arrogant, so to speak, and I think Dodger fans, I don't think. I know, the last couple of years, it's been thought of that this team's got a lot of energy. They look at the Dodgers nug out like, hey, hey, where's that energy? But where's that excitement? The Padres got it and they're winning. They took eight of eight of the thirteen teams, right, so they must be doing something right with that energy and that chirpiness.
Why don't the Dodgers have it?
Okay, Now, just because the Dodgers don't jump all over the place like a bunch of crazy people doesn't mean that they they're not animals and their own right. And I mean that in a very positive way. Okay, So that that means nothing. The other thing is when I see the Padres doing that, if it's if it's wholesome and real and it's not something that they're trying to gin up, then it's fine. I like the natural, you know, exuberance that you see from enjoy from doing something great
and winning. That's that's all fine with me, yea. And with Manny Machado. I gotta tell you, I'm a fan of Manny Machado. I like the way he plays. I think he's aggressive, He's a phenomenal player. I don't see him really doing too much that irks me once in a while. You saw that happen when he was with the Dodgers. I know that. But but but the guy is a great player, and he is the leader of that team. Whether he's jumping around or not, he's the leader of that team. There is no question about it.
But again, just because you don't see the Dodgers, you know, doing cartwheels and whatever in front of the day, that doesn't mean that this team isn't stocked, locked and loaded, And it doesn't mean they're not animals behind the scene.
It doesn't mean that at all.
Yeah, I've had somebody tell me, well, the Fernando Tatis stutter stuff when he gets around third base.
That's that's a bit tired. I don't like that at all. That's that is a bit tired. It's kind of rubbing it in the face. You aren't the greatest player in the game.
Bro.
Believe me, there's there's better than you.
And so when I see him do that, it kind of irks my butt a little bit. It's like, you know what, You're not that great, Seriously, you're not.
I'm with you. I'm with you.
But then on the flips, if you're not a Dodger fan, you see these guys get a double or a home run and they do this kind of wiggle back and forth.
I don't understand what that means. I mean, if I would when we were playing, I'd get one right in the year. If I did that, if I hit a double off of Nolan Ryan and then I was shaking my ass on you know out there after that, they'd be like, point, you know what, you get throttled, no question about it. But I guess you can do that nowadays.
You know, every team does it some some fashion of a celebration. You look at the bullpen, you you do something, you look at your dugout, you do something, whether it's you do something with your hands, your hips, your head, I don't.
Know your legs.
It's it's some every team's got that celebration now, not only in the dugout, which I think is kind of cool. I have no problem within the dugout, you know, was it the Red Sox couple of year ago, or or pushing the laundry cart down the middle of the dug out.
Fine, it's in the dug out.
But when Tai was in Anaheim, they had the.
He's not gonna fit in a launder cart, that's true.
They had like the the samurai helmet that they put on after a home run.
That's cool. Yeah, I dig that. I'm okay with that stuff. Hey, my, my, my, I gotta get this in. My cousin, my nephew, my nephew. Nicholas. Nicholas Soguard is finally in the big leagues now with Todbucks stud playing really well too, so we're hoping that next year is going to be his rookie first big
year and he's going to make a big splash. But he did really well when he was up this year, and a couple of double the few doubles that he hit, I said, hey, don't don't be shaky, shaky, shakey after you do that, just go out there and and and he's such a humble kid when you won't see him doing that. So I think it's a great thing. Uh, you know, too much is too much like the little stutter step at third base.
Yeah, I don't get that. Yeah, I don't like it either. No, I don't like it either. We'll take a break, we'll come back. We'll get to your phone calls. Coming up next hour, Tony gwyn Junior will join us. We'll get his thoughts on the Padres Dodgers series from the other side of this rivalry. Yeah, I said it's a rivalry. Absolutely, Dodgers Giants are a rivalry, and I think now the
Dodgers Padres have gotten to a rivalry level. We'll get into Chris Taylor and hopefully his turnaround of this season here and Somber now October help out this Dodgers team. Got a couple of lines over. But if you want to jump on board eight sixty six, nine eighty seven to two five seventy he and Steve Sacks. I am Tim Kates in for Dan and the Dan Nets. Well
you can listen to on the iHeartRadio app. We're live in local right here on the radio AM five seventy LA Sports, Saxon Kates in the am AM five seventy LA Sports. It's playoff baseball time for the Dodgers. Game one of the NLDS is tomorrow night out of Dodgers Stadium. We'll love Dodgers on deck beginning at four to thirty in the afternoon. First pitch at five thirty eight, Yoshi Yamamoto goes for the Dodgers. Dylan Cease will be on the mound for the Padres and this best of five series.
Tony Wyinn Junior will join us coming up next hour. Your phone calls in just one minute. But Saxy, we talk about the superstars of this Dodgers team. We all hear about the big three in Freeman, Betts, and Otani. You throw Will Smith in there, Max Muncio, Oscar Hernandez, who's had a career season for the Dodgers and going into free agency, will certainly be one of the big names. Everybody's looking to get up as far as a slugger
and outfielder. But the bottom of the lineup at times has really been well and really not been well, and certain guys have produced. Gavin Lux had a great start to the second half of the season, we've seen other players elevate their game. Key k Hernandez is a guy who always comes around in October. It helps out. But Chris Taylor has had an awful twenty twenty four season. He'll be the first one to admit it started this season in a slump and it just continued in snowballed
and snowballed month after month. He went on the il, they tried to figure out what to do with them. He saw his playing time diminish the last two weeks of the season, got some more playing time, start stringing together some at bats, had a home run for the Dodgers in the series against the Rockies, and here he is after the game. We'll get your thoughts on Taylor and a change of the scenery here in October for him.
But here's Chris Taylor at the end of the Rockies series talking about having a fresh start here in October.
My year is what it is. You know, I've accepted that a while ago, and for me, my goal has kind of just been, you know, helping this team anyway I can, and you know, trying to get ready for the postseason and trying to get right for when you know, I'm kind of hanging in my hat on you know, being ready and helping the team win the World Series.
Yeah, obviously putting a lot of hard work to get to this point.
Do you believe that just kind of based off the results, you think your swing is kind of where you want it to be.
Yeah, I do.
Really.
Ever since I got off the il, it's felt more consistent. And obviously there's still like days where it's not great, but that's like, that's baseball, right, and you know, overall, I feel like I'm in a much better place and I have a consistent routine every day and my approach has been much better. Remember what was the swing change you made when you came back from the aisle, And how's it helped you kind of be more consistent here
down the stretch? Well, yeah, my setup different. I put the bat on my shoulder to start, and then like my whole I kind of added a connection. I really don't want to get too too much into it because it's that's kind of would take me too long to explain.
But it was just.
Finding new fields and you know, what I was doing before had kind of ran its course a little bit, and you know, so I used that time off to find some new fields, and yeah, just overall, I feel like I started seeing the ball much better and I was able to use the whole field better.
All right, It's been a disastrous twenty twenty four overall saxy for the thirty four year old Chris Taylor, who we seen made big play after big play and had home runs for the Dodgers over the last couple of October's hits two o two on the year, but he was nine for ninety to start the year. He had a groin injury. He just could not find his mechanics at the play. You heard him there kind of talk
about a little bit. They had to rebuild his swing post All Star Break, though he hit over three hundred in twenty nine games seventy three played appearances after the Midsummer Classics, so he was able to turn things around at the plate, and like I said, the last week or so helped out this Dodgers team offensively. Can a guy put behind one hundred and sixty two game season and get.
Ready for a fresh start. Is that possible?
I don't know. I wouldn't want to put it behind me.
I would want to use it and propel me forward and say Look, I can learn a lot of things.
You know.
Some of the best way of being successful is to learn what you were doing wrong, is when you're going through those times where it's difficult, and I think that's what he had to deal with. So sometimes the best way of learning is going through failure. And he would nine nine for ninety would verify that. So, look, I think some of it was luck, some of it was mechanics,
some of it was mental. But I think you can use this and you know, get better from being that bad, you know, I mean you got to get back to basics.
And I mean, how many times have we seen.
Throughout the course of his career, cal Ripken went through changes in his batting stance. I mean we saw him stand straight up with the bat way up in the air. We saw him in a crouch, we saw him in a closed position. You saw so many different times where Kyle Riptan was battling and battling and trying to find that perfect way to kind of finish off his career. And maybe that's what we're seeing a little bit right now with Chris Taylor. I think he still got plenty
of baseball in him at thirty four years old. But a nine for ninety is like a whoa. That's a wake up call and you got to do something to correct it. And those three reasons I told you before, I think we're evident, but I think he can do this. I mean, get back to basics, and you know that's that's the key.
I think, at what point is a hitter as a baseball player, do you just throw everything out and start fixing your swing and start tinkering with it on a daily basis, or maybe just retooling it all together, like Chris Taylor did. I mean, is there a certain point where you're like, all right, enough's enough, or I'm gonna keep going here because eventually I'm gonna turn out and
get out of this slump. I mean, is there a certain point mentally that you know it's time to just abandon what you're doing and try something new.
One thing is constant about hitting is that you can't do anything until the pitcher releases a ball, and that place from from launching position to where you know the area where you have your bat where you're ready to hit, and you make that short arc to the baseball. That is the most important part of hitting. In my estimation, You can do things. You can tap your foot, you can close your stands, you can do all that things, but they're all going to be the same when it
comes from launching position to making contact. That's where the magic happens. And that's where he's got to really concentrate. All that other stuff before and after is do what you want to do to make yourself, you know, comfortable. But that place from launching position to contact is where it happens, and that's where you concentrate it.
He is Steve sax Iam, Tim Kates, two hours down, one to go here on Scam Saxon Kate's in the am. You're a home of the Dodgers, your home of Showy o Tani as we get ready for Game one of the NLDS tomorrow night out of Dodger Stadium, level workout today, both teams out of Dodger Stadium will be live and local from there as well with the Petrols of Money Show, David Vaz said with Matt money Smith from three until
seven this afternoon. So we got you covered all your Dodger information right here on your Dodger station A five seventy LA Sports