Ken Rosenthal's Inside Scoop + Dodgers checkup w/Jack Harris

00:00:06
Speaker 1: As always, we welcome in our inside scoop with our insider and friend Ken Rosenthal. Ken, always good to be with you. It's been a crazy week, of course. What do you think as the topic of conversation of our sport has been the shake up within the Major League Baseball Players Association, what do you anticipate being maybe the biggest challenge or struggle, if you will, for the new interim executive director.

00:00:29
Speaker 2: Bruce Meyer will be the same as it is for every executive director every time there is a negotiation, and that's just holding the union together. And as I wrote the other day, Bruce Meyer has been the number two. He's like a bench coach moving up to manager, and you never know how that transition is going to go. If indeed he can be a leader in a grander way than he has been before. He of course has led negotiating teams, he has done other things in leadership capacities in the Union, but this is bigger and he has some challenges. I know the vote was unanimous, and obviously that's a good thing, but these votes always tend to be ananimous, and not everyone is a Bruce Meyer fan within the union, within the Union offices, so he's going to need to keep that going. Now, his supporters would say, hey man, it's unanimous and he's come a long way in he's seven and a half years with the union, and all that is true. But once this gets down to the nitty gritty and once the negotiations start, once the offers start flying back and forth, it will be a challenge as it is for the other side as well, to keep the constituency together.

00:01:39
Speaker 3: My question to you is Ken, after all said and done, you see more players now coming out and verbally talking more about you know, the situations, the salary caps and what's going to happen twenty twenty seven kind of like now the players it seems like their voices are are even more heard. So do you see them getting more involved with Bruce are do you do you understand that or is it just going to be Bruce Meyer taking over and just listening to what the players have.

00:02:07
Speaker 2: Well, he'll always listen to the players, and that's what the job of the executive director is. And he has done and is doing right now outreach toward players. He's touring camps in Arizona, and it does seem that at this point the players are galvanized. The owners are galvanized. We're nine months away from negotiations or at least the expiration of the CBA, and I would fully expect both sides to be talking as much as they want to talk, and talking tough again. Once this all gets going, then we'll see how tough everyone is and we'll see how this evolves. But if there's one positive to come out of this for the union, and it's something Chris Bassett mentioned to me the other day, he's a member of the executive subcommittee, it's that they feel like there's going to be more transparency now between the union and the players that that's been lacking before. And that's something that's come to the Ford as this investigation of Tony Clark by the FBI has come to come into their come to dominate their conversation, or at least enter their conversation. So they feel like this is going to get them to a better place, this transition to Bruce Meyer, and it might very well do that. Then they still have the owners to contend with and the quest for a salary cap by management side and all of that.

00:03:27
Speaker 4: Ken now that this is done, Bruce Meyer has been elected, I know we have a bargaining negotiation coming up CBA in December. Can we stop talking about this? I mean we can't because Bruce is elected. The baseball starts today, games start today.

00:03:44
Speaker 5: Can we stop? Please? Can you? Maybe it's you, it's just you can.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: Well, we can stop talking about what's going on with the union. That was a story that dominated this week for obvious reasons. Aj, I'm sorry. Spring training is going on, but the head of the union did resign, so we had to kind of cover that story. But what I thought you were getting at is will we stop talking about labor for the next nine months.

00:04:06
Speaker 6: No.

00:04:06
Speaker 2: I know that it's going to be the backdrop to the entire season, and certainly there'll be plenty of baseball talk, as there should be, that's what we all love to talk about. But this is hanging over the sport right now, and there will be negotiations that begin at some point, probably after opening day, and we'll see how it goes. I don't expect much progress early on. I don't expect progress even before December first, because both sides are dug in and here we go.

00:04:34
Speaker 6: Ken.

00:04:34
Speaker 1: You were at Red Sox camp today in Florida. Of course, what did you go in thinking, what did you want to find out?

00:04:41
Speaker 6: Kind of what's going on there.

00:04:43
Speaker 2: I'm most curious about their offense and what it's going to look like with our ralvi Ol Devers, without Alex Bregman, without either of those players. And certainly they're very high on Roman Anthony and he looks like he's going to be a superstar. They brought in Contraras, and he of course as a productive offensive player always getting older. It just seems to me that while William Abreu is a potentially dynamic offensive player, while Trevor's story can build off what he did last year, there are a lot of ifs there. It's not like David and Manny. It's not like Euglos and Pedroia. It's not like any of those combinations. Not that uglosm Padoya were dominant, but they were parts of a greater whole. And that's my concern with them, that they will not be able to hit enough. In my view, even with the addition of Chad Derbott from Milwaukee recently, there's still one bat short, and maybe that bat doesn't come until the deadline, maybe the season starts and they're much better than people think all of this is possible. But when I assess them, I love their rotation. Obviously, they've done a great job building that, both with veterans that they've brought in and with the youngsters that they've developed. And their bullpen should be fine Chapman certainly at the back end. But will they score enough runs? That is the question lingering over the Red Sox right now.

00:06:05
Speaker 5: Ken.

00:06:05
Speaker 4: I'm glad you corrected yourself. It was Perzinsky and Patroya. That was a great duo in Red Sox history.

00:06:10
Speaker 5: For godd You're right.

00:06:11
Speaker 4: I just want to make sure that we correct you properly. I don't want people on Twitter to come after you. But what about Tristan Cassas. You didn't mention him, and we've kind of talked about him, and he's kind of been there for years. Can he be a force that they need, whether it's DH or first base or whatever it is. Can he finally be healthy and be a force for them?

00:06:29
Speaker 2: Well, that's a really good question, and he is healthy and apparently he looks good. Of course it's early. They're just playing their first exhibition game today against Northeastern University. But with Contrera's coming aboard and with the four outfielders that they have for three spots, I don't really see a place for him right now. Now. Of course, players get injured all the time. Tristan Cassas has been the one getting injured at times. So maybe down the line he does become a contributor to this team. We all know that it's not just twenty six players that carry you through a But right now, I don't see a spot for him. I don't see a spot for Yoshida. I don't see a spot for Christian Campbell. They have some interesting pieces that are kind of surpluses for them. Christian Campbell's on somebody I would give up on. He could be part of their future. But they are a team that is a little bit top heavy, or actually just position player heavy. I should say not top heavy, but just a surplus of position players does exist with this club. Could they still make a trade to maybe balance out the roster differently, Yes, they could. They could even trade a starting pitcher. They've talked about that, Patrick Sandoval, Ryan Beyo. So right now, AJ they're in a decent place. I don't know that they're in the place they're going to be even opening Day and certainly at the deadline.

00:07:47
Speaker 3: Is there anyone else at camp right now that you're seeing, maybe young er role that you're like, Oh, this guy right here, can't wait to watch him this year, Maybe in a year or two come up and go out and dominate for the Red Sox. Or so that's in camp now, That's like, we haven't really brought up his name yet. This is a dude.

00:08:04
Speaker 2: The two left handers, Peyton Totley and Connor Early, those guys are interesting pitchers, to say the least, and it seems to me that well they might not be part of the equation initially for the Red Sox. We saw them both last year. It's Connolly Early, by the way, and they were both good. So those two guys intrigued me. Campbell still intrigues me. At this time last year, they were talking about him as a starting second baseman, one of the best young hitters you're going to see all that, and all of a sudden he's not that anymore, at least the way this thing has evolved. So they do have young talent, and it's interesting young talent. They've got more coming, So, yes, Todd, certainly there are some guys you can look at there and say he might break out this year.

00:08:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt about it. Now I want to jump to a manager. Pat Murphy, as we all know and love, great guy. He just signed a new what three year contract extension?

00:08:59
Speaker 2: Is that what we call actually contract? Todd? It's a reworked part of his last year reworked at gave him two more years.

00:09:07
Speaker 3: I knew I would screw that one up. That's why you're right. Talk a little bit about him and what the Brewers thought. You know, getting a guy like Pat Murphy was the biggest thing to do, especially to sign him for three more years.

00:09:22
Speaker 2: Well, it's so interesting to me, Todd. With the Brewers, they take pieces away all the time, and yet they still remain strong. Who am I talking about? Josh Hater Corbyn Burns, Willia Domas Craig Counsel. When Craig Council left a couple of years ago, a lot of us thought this could be a turning point for them in a bad way. They elevated Pat Murphy from the bench coach role he had managing San Diego way back kind of on an interim basis. Didn't get that job and he was a bench coach, and I mentioned before with Bruce Byer the bench coach becoming a manager. It's always an unusual transition, but obviously Murphy has done quite well back to back National League Manager of the Year and last year the Markey Brewers. This small market team in a sport where small market teams can't possibly succeed one ninety seven games, most in the majors. So he's done a tremendous job there, there's no doubt about it. He has a little bit of a different style than some managers. He's more gregarious, perhaps, but he challenges those players to play a certain way. They do that. Yellich plays a big role in helping him establish the tone there, and really it made a lot of sense for them to get this done and keep him in place because he is a big part of their success in the last couple of years.

00:10:40
Speaker 4: Always need you work for Rob Manfred with your small markets can't succeed, Ken, So it's good to hear you finally admitting it.

00:10:46
Speaker 5: I appreciate that with all of our people out here, we really do appreciate.

00:10:50
Speaker 2: Actually, AJ, if you're listening AJ and Rob Manfred and everybody else, you might be talking about the small market argument. Is one that the owners and mister Manfred are arguing against. So that when I say the Molonkey Brewers won ninety seven games, it's contrary to the MLB position like these teams can't possibly compete.

00:11:13
Speaker 4: I know I'm aware, But anyways, let's go to the Orioles, Jordan Westburg's out, Jackson Holidays out. Can they compete with what they have? I know they brought in Chris Bassett, but do they have enough pitching? We showed World Series odds earlier they were high on the list for being a World Series team?

00:11:29
Speaker 5: Or are they that good? Am I missing something here?

00:11:32
Speaker 4: In a tough al East with the Yankees, Je's Dodgers, Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles Rays, are they really a team that could win the World Series? Because I could make a case that could finish fourth or fifth in the division.

00:11:45
Speaker 2: Sure, I agree with you, aj either way. It could go either way. And I do expect their starting rotation to be good, maybe not great, but good. And when you come back with Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish, both of whom excelled last season and in certain cases will be not on anything's restrictions, but you can't expect two hundred out of them, but they're good. Then you bring in shame bas, you bring in Efln, you bringing back You've got Dean Kramer, and you're in a better spot. And of course Bassett only adds to that. Now with the losses of Holliday, who is expected back sometime early in this season, and Westburg, whose condition is not exactly clear, yes, it's a challenge for them. Now they have Kobe Mayo. Kobe Mayo was a top twenty prospect in this sport only a year ago. He's a guy who can certainly step into third base. He is there. They could also maybe make a trade for someone, but I don't expect them to do that. I expect the Westburg injury to mean that Mayo gets a long look now and a real runway if indeed Westburg is out for a while to establish himself as a quality major leaguer. That doesn't happen. Yes, they've got to do to some things. But to get to your original question, are they a world Series I don't know that I would go that far. I do like what they've done. I do believe they're on the right track, but as with almost every team in both are Arizona and Florida. There are questions. There's a lot of what ifs, and that's why the sport is so great because we don't know how these questions will be answered. And if they're answered in the affirmative in the Oil's case, great they're a playoff team. If not, then you've got something else.

00:13:26
Speaker 3: You kind of lead this into my question. You talk about what ifs. We've been talking about the Dodgers all day to day. Are there any ifs of them not winning another World Series?

00:13:36
Speaker 1: Like?

00:13:36
Speaker 3: Do you see them even if they're not healthy? Do you see them finding a way to get back to the World Series?

00:13:40
Speaker 2: At least Todd The only thing I would say there is for all of their dominance the past couple of years, even beyond that, for the past I don't know, decade plus. The last two years they nearly lost in the playoffs, and in twenty four they nearly lost in the Division Series. It was as good as they should be, and they should be really good. Obviously, you never know, and I'm not totally convinced it's going to be a total juggernaut. We talked about one hundred and twenty wins last year, and I heard you guys talking before it came on. They don't need to do that. They don't necessarily even want.

00:14:16
Speaker 6: To do that.

00:14:16
Speaker 2: They'll slow play the regular season and then try to get hot in the playoffs. But the playoffs do have a randomness of outcomes. It's not fat a complete that they're going to win. You look at them now, with Tao simly in a better place physically, with Mookie Bets, Dave Roberts saying he is going to be more like the old Lookie Bets this year, and not just Atani and Yamamoto and Glass now and all that they have in their rotation, but the younger pitchers coming off injuries like Gavin Stone and River Ryan, it looks like they're invincible. I think we all know better than to expect that.

00:14:52
Speaker 5: Ken who's playing shorts off for the Dodgers.

00:14:55
Speaker 2: Mookie Bets, who Mookie Bets.

00:15:00
Speaker 5: I just love the way you say it.

00:15:00
Speaker 4: I just like, well, I just want you to keep saying it, Mookie Mookie Mookie Bits.

00:15:05
Speaker 5: I like it. I like it, but that wasn't my question. I love. I could just listen to you say that all day long.

00:15:10
Speaker 4: Uh Alana doesn't know this Todd doesn't know this, but recently, Ken, I'm gonna congratulate you. You want a trophy That is the Ken Rosenthal Award for being a great human being, voted on by Ken Rosenthal, awarded to Ken Rosenthal. So what I want to know is do you travel with that trophy when you go to other camps and do you take it around with you and show it to like Alex Korra when you met with him today, You're like, look, I won my own award, Alex, shouldn't you congratulate me?

00:15:41
Speaker 5: All right?

00:15:42
Speaker 2: Since you brought this up a jay, I'll have to reveal what this is.

00:15:46
Speaker 5: I just what it was.

00:15:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, you need to say it correctly. What a shockin gave me this trophy at the winter meetings for being a good teammate.

00:15:57
Speaker 5: That's all it is.

00:15:58
Speaker 2: And no, I do not bring it with me on the road. In fact, it doesn't even have a prominent place in my office, as you learned the other night when you were at my house. So it's very nice and I'm very honored, honored by any award anybody might give to me. But that's the whole thing. It wasn't invented by me.

00:16:17
Speaker 1: Ken the biggest mistake you've ever made in your life is welcoming Aj into your home to be able to see the trophy.

00:16:23
Speaker 6: To begin with, a.

00:16:25
Speaker 2: Lot of that is correct.

00:16:28
Speaker 4: I will say that he's got a very lovely home and his wife Lisa was very accommodating. They had a great habachi Helena. It was supposed to.

00:16:36
Speaker 5: Be the great.

00:16:37
Speaker 4: It was great appetizers, the whole deal. You know, Ken has like seven Emmys right in his office and then he has the Ken Rosenthal Trophy presented by Ken Rosendal, voted by Ken Rosendal down on the.

00:16:50
Speaker 5: Put up by the Emmys.

00:16:51
Speaker 1: Ken, I apologize for Aj. I apologize for all of us for Aj. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Have a great weekend. Enjoy camp and don't get guys, fair territory with Ken Rosenthal airs every single Monday and Thursday. We are at Dodgers camp at camel Backgrant Jack of course is here and we appreciate you being here.

00:17:11
Speaker 2: Jack.

00:17:11
Speaker 1: Thank you so much making the change from the La Times to the California Post. And here we are as the Dodgers do make that quest for a three piece. So let's start with Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the start tomorrow. What have you talked to Dave about or Yama about in terms of workload. I mean, this is a guy that posted every fifth day last year, pitched huge innings in the World Series, and here we go again.

00:17:34
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I think you know, the question coming off last season for him was like, how is his arm going to feel? How is his body going to feel after throwing as many as many innings as he did over the course of the full season, obviously with what he did in the World Series, pitching back to back games a game six and seven, throwing two complete games in the playoffs, and it was interesting to hear him say, like, you know, I felt good right like I went through the off season.

00:17:57
Speaker 6: My body felt strong.

00:17:59
Speaker 7: He's coming to camp looking just bigger, more physically imposing. He's going to pitch for Team Japan and the World Baseball Classic, and there's a lot of optimism around camp here that he's going to be able to handle the WBC workload, is going to be able to make it through another full season feeling healthy and fresh. And you know, he's already talking about I'd love to compete for a Cy Young Award. Dave Roberts has mentioned him, along with a couple others of his pitchers as Cy Young candidates. So, given how much he had to pitch last year, the fact he's coming to camp looking as good as he is, as far ahead of schedule as he is to be pitching in the first Cactus League game is a good sign for someone who, again, I think had the biggest question marks about how last year's workload was going to.

00:18:38
Speaker 5: Impact him this year. Does he get a heavier javelin is?

00:18:42
Speaker 7: I mean it might be at the workout training methods he explained he does right, It's like body weight stuff. It's like handstands and push ups and all these other things that you know, his trainer, YadA sense, who was a big reason why he pitched in Game seven last year, kind of convincing him like, hey, you know, let's see how you feel tomorrow when you come in.

00:19:00
Speaker 6: So he trains in a really unique way.

00:19:03
Speaker 7: He takes care of his body in a really unique way, and at least at this point a couple of years into his big league career, it's worked out.

00:19:08
Speaker 6: It's worked out, all right.

00:19:09
Speaker 1: Can you expand on that a little bit because he was saying, Todd, I'll get to you in a second, but I wanted to follow up with you Jack on that because it's almost as if he said, I, if you can align your body correctly and feel a certain way, you're gonna be okay with pitching in Game seven. So it was kind of was it more Was it more of a mental approach? Was it a physical approach? I mean, he relied very heavily on that advice. What more can you tell us about that?

00:19:34
Speaker 6: Yeah?

00:19:34
Speaker 7: I think it speaks to just the really clean mechanics he has, Like he talked about when he went out there in Game seven last year, he felt okay and he was able to stay in his delivery. That was the thing like Dodgers people watching it in amazement notice too, is that even for as much as he had thrown last October, going into that game, he was able to repeat his delivery and his throw in a way that just not many guys can do with the amount he had pitched.

00:19:57
Speaker 6: And that speaks to, again.

00:19:58
Speaker 7: The way he takes care of his body, the way he's out there multiple times a week throwing his javelins around on the backfield. Some of the other things he does that are a little different that are unique, but have really been good for him, even at the size that he plays at, to take care of his body and be in a spot to not only pitch as much as he did last October, but turn right around and be ready for this season to.

00:20:19
Speaker 3: I want to go to Sho Hao Tani a little bit, talk a little bit about his spring training. Is he a full go I've heard he looks electric out there. Talk a lot about him. Is there anything that we need to know that is going to hold him back from being one hundred percent doing everything they want?

00:20:35
Speaker 7: Nothing's going to hold him back physically. And one of the things that's been really good for him this offseason, it was his first off season being completely healthy with the Dodgers. He didn't have to He's passed the Tommy John recovery, he was past the shoulder surgery that he had last offseason, and it's allowed him to come into camp and as good of a spot this early on as the Dodgers have seen him. Obviously, there's going to be some complications for him ramping up as a pitcher, just because he's going to the WBC. It might be hard to face hitters that whole time there, but the Dodgers still think he's going to be ready to make starts from the beginning of the season. You're going to see them be still a little more methodical with how he's used over the course of the year, given the two way workload and the fact that they want him to be as fresh as possible come October. But this is as close as we're going to see you back to a full time two way show, Heyotani. And the way he's come into camp, the fact he's already been facing hitters as a pitcher. He's been getting in taking live, live batting practice as a hitter the last couple of days is another sign of a guy who, even with a short off season, was able to come into camp feeling really good, feeling ready to go and take on a big workload in his own right this year as he goes back to being a full time two way player.

00:21:43
Speaker 4: How does that work though, Because he's not pitching in the WBC for Japan, right, So how's that going to work? How are they going to continue to Is he gonna have to throw live vps bullpens because those are not the same. It's pitching, even though it's spring training, and they're still different than a big league game.

00:21:56
Speaker 5: If they go all the way, if they make a run from the to the.

00:21:58
Speaker 4: Finals, he's basically going to I missed three weeks of camp where he could be pitching in Great Fruit or sorry, Cactus League games.

00:22:05
Speaker 7: How do you ramp them up? Yeah, that's going to be part of the challenge. I think that the specifics of that plan even they're still kind of working through, and in terms of is he going to be able to throw live vps or face hitters while he's hitting in the WBC, I think at a bare minimum, their hope is that they're going to be able to keep his arm moving, that he's going to be able to stay in some sort of throwing programs, whether it's bullpens or long toss, and that when he comes back to the Dodgers at the end of March, they can maybe get him a start or two at the end of spring training in the Freeway Series. My guess is he's not going to be fully ramped up for six or seven innings the first time the first couple times he takes the mound this year as a pitcher. But again, Andrew Freeman is confident they'll be able to find a way to keep his arm in a spot where he can come back, maybe throw two or three innings in a Freeway Series game, and then be ready to go to make starts at the beginning of the season.

00:22:50
Speaker 6: I mean.

00:22:51
Speaker 7: The other nice part that they have with him is that because he's like an extra pitcher on their pitching staff, they can get away with him being shortened up a little bit at the start of the season because they can almost piggyback him or do some other things.

00:23:02
Speaker 6: So they have some flexibility.

00:23:04
Speaker 7: But that was one of my big questions coming into spring. Yeah, like they have their own rules. The Dodgers have their own rules a lot.

00:23:11
Speaker 6: Just get over it.

00:23:12
Speaker 4: And the only team that defers money, I mean the one that's a.

00:23:17
Speaker 5: Fans say, look the Dodgers.

00:23:19
Speaker 4: They have their own rules, they can do whatever they want, have their own TV deal, they have their own I'm not I think Dodgers are awesome.

00:23:28
Speaker 5: I love the Dodgers.

00:23:29
Speaker 2: I think.

00:23:31
Speaker 6: On the margins, you're.

00:23:32
Speaker 4: Supposed to do though, so you win, so you went back to back World Series.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: I know.

00:23:37
Speaker 5: I'm not. I'm not mad at the Dodgers at all. I just think it's funny. He's like, we know they get to carry the extra picture.

00:23:43
Speaker 4: The problem is no one else can figure out how to make a two way player.

00:23:48
Speaker 1: Go get yourself another. Then you can also have Jackie there, but.

00:23:57
Speaker 5: Only on the Dodgers side.

00:23:59
Speaker 1: The White Sox there, they don't have those trees.

00:24:01
Speaker 5: They don't trust me. I walked over there today. They do not have.

00:24:05
Speaker 1: You had teed earlier today jack that Dave Roberts was a little bit bullish about Mookie Bets. What more can you tell us about that because he was trying. I assume it's the way that he was playing defense last year.

00:24:19
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at Mooki this season, the Dodgers hope is that, Okay, last year and the offseason going into last year, he spent so much time focusing on defense, learning how to play shortstop at a high level, and then translated that to a good season defensively. Amid all that, obviously the offense dropped off. There was the stomach virus he had at the start of the year. It's apt him of a bunch of weight and strength and then led to some bad habits over the course of the season. And then you couple the fact that he was still taking you know, dozens hundreds of ground balls before every game.

00:24:50
Speaker 6: It was tough for.

00:24:51
Speaker 7: Him, I think to maybe balance that that workload on both the defensive side and offensively once he started struggling at the plate. So their hope this offseason is he's able to kind of get back to the basics. He explained it as almost rewiring his swing. He's not changing what he's doing at the plate, but he's trying to get back to a place where, you know, for him, it's really important the way his hands load, the way that the whole swing connects for him to maximize the strength he has and what is another guy with a smaller frame.

00:25:19
Speaker 6: He felt good about the offseason work he did.

00:25:21
Speaker 7: The Dodgers feel like he was able to kind of get his mechanics back to where they need to be. And the hope is that now because he's grown so much defensively as a shortstop, he's going to have a little bit more bandwidth to do both things. He's going to have the strength back that he lost last season, and that you'll see a Mookie Bets who Dave Robert said, like offensively, he expects him to be an MVP caliber player. You couple on the defense and the fact he was a Gold Glove finalist at a premium position last year. They still think he can be one of the best players on their team. But it's something that's going to be interesting to watch, especially, you know, even in these spring training games. Is how does Muki's bat look. Does some of that power come back that he was missing last year? Is there a more consistent swing that he just couldn't really find for an extended stretch a year ago.

00:26:05
Speaker 3: I want to ask a little bit about one of the newcomers, Kyle Tucker. How is he acclimating with his new teammates. Looks like we saw one video of him, he was smiling left and right.

00:26:15
Speaker 5: Man.

00:26:16
Speaker 3: Is he starting to get comfortable over there as a new guy with the Dodgers.

00:26:20
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:26:20
Speaker 7: I mean it's funny. For as much attention that was paid to Kyle Tucker's arrival this winter, he's almost kind of blended into the background here early in camp. Like even today, he's walking out on the field with Will Smith and Freddie Freeman and all the fans are shouting at Freddie and Will and then he's just kind of like one of the guys there, which is part I think of what the appeal was or why people felt like this was going to be a good fit for him, is because he doesn't have to come here and be the biggest name guy. He doesn't have to be the guy that's you know, speaking for the clubhouse or anything like that. Now, he did talk in their first team meeting of the spring about why he wanted to come to the Dodgers, what his perspective on them was playing against them over his career, how much he's admired the kind of team they've built and the way they played. You know, Max Muntzky talked about that being like a refreshing thing for guys on the team to hear, just to remember, like, Okay, we've set a standard at this point that even other players in the league kind of look up to and admire. But yeah, on the field, he's you know, he's just one of a bunch of star players here. We're gonna he's gonna talk to the media today for the first time. So it has been interesting to go from a winner where there was so much angst about Kyle Tucker joining joining the Dodgers to where now you know, He's just kind of like another one of these guys out here on this team that has so many big names.

00:27:34
Speaker 4: Just another way the Dodgers broke the rules because the way they set up his contract is breaking rules left and right.

00:27:40
Speaker 5: Uh, they're just better at it, I know, I know.

00:27:44
Speaker 4: Uh, Blake Snow he threw one hundred innings last year and he said his arm is fatigued before we even started basically camp.

00:27:54
Speaker 5: What's going on there?

00:27:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been a.

00:27:58
Speaker 4: You know, two hundred inning ish one two young guy pitch GiB keep in the postseason before utand innings.

00:28:04
Speaker 5: What changed?

00:28:05
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think last year, you know, he as another new arrival to the Dodgers, was really eager to like start the year strong to you know. He started their home opener after they came back from Japan. One of the problems with that is that his shoulder started bugging him during the spring, and he tried to pitch through it.

00:28:21
Speaker 6: At first.

00:28:21
Speaker 7: He made a couple of starts at the beginning of the year, and then it got worse and then he missed four months, you know, letting his shoulder recover. He comes back late in the season and wow, you know, he was able to save some bullets, and the inning count wasn't huge.

00:28:34
Speaker 6: He did have to ramp up quickly.

00:28:35
Speaker 7: And one of the things he said looking back in hindsight is it just kind of felt like he was playing catch up the whole season.

00:28:41
Speaker 6: He was able to pitch well in the playoffs, but the shoulder really started bugging him again then.

00:28:45
Speaker 7: So at like another Dodger thing, you know, they get into this winner they say, Okay, look, if your shoulder is not feeling right, if there's some lingering stuff there, take your time, slow it down.

00:28:54
Speaker 6: We don't need you to make thirty starts next year.

00:28:56
Speaker 7: We don't need you to be ready to go from opening day if it's going to you know, cause us to push you in that shoulder more than we want. Take your time with it and let it come along at a pace that will allow him to come back at some point this season. I think he's gonna be unlikely to start Opening Day, but to be able to come back and pitch fresh again. Everything about the Dodgers is being ready for October, and that's part of this. I think maybe it's a different situation or a different team, like he's maybe trying to push himself a little bit more right now, or the team's pushing them a little bit more, but they're going to play it conscious with him. I think you'll see the same thing if any of our other starters start feeling little things over the course of the season. They're going to be really, really protective of these guys. This is one of the things that coming into last year, after the Dodgers won in twenty four, their front office sat down and looked at, Okay, what are the biggest challenges of repeating as a World Series champion? And the one thing Andrew Friedman pointed to was if you push your rotation really hard in an October run, there's usually after effects the next year. So that's something they're going to have to manage this year. That's part of why Blake Snell's being slow played. That's part of why I think, you know, when it comes to a tani Yamamoto, like, if there's times they can maybe give them a little extra rest here or there between starts, they're going to do it. They're going to rely on their depth, and yeah, when it comes to Snell specifically, I think you'll see him back in the relatively early part of the season, depending on just how his ramp up goes as he starts to increase the intensity here in spring. But yeah, it's just another example of like a team that has the luxury of not needing a Blake Snell, a two time sy Young Award winner, to make thirty starts in a season and still feel good about the pitching options they're going to have.

00:30:29
Speaker 1: Jack two part question for you second base, with Tommy Edmund not being ready for opening day, who do you see getting the bulk of reps at second And also besides that, is there any other question going into this season?

00:30:43
Speaker 7: Yeah, at second base, I think you'll see Miguel Rojas obviously get a lot of the at bats, and then there's somewhat of an open competition for maybe like a platoon partner with him. I think hayes On Kim is a guy that has looked good, at least in the first couple of days of spring here. The Dodgers have felt good about some of the strides he made with his swing over the offseason he spent we saw a little bit last season. He's going to be in that mix. But it is funny, like you get into spring training, you're looking at where the position battles are and the biggest one is for a part time platoon role for maybe like the first couple of weeks of the season.

00:31:20
Speaker 6: That's just the reality of the roster they have. I think outside of that, if.

00:31:24
Speaker 7: Blake Snell's is going to miss some extended time at the start of the season or not be ready for opening Day, they're probably gonna have to find another starting pitcher to put in there. I think Justin Robleski is an option. Gavin Stone and River Ryan coming back from their injuries both look good physically, have bulked up over their rehab process.

00:31:41
Speaker 6: And then at the back end of the bullpen, probably.

00:31:43
Speaker 7: A few spots up for grabs two where guys like Will Klein at Gardo and Riquez are going to be trying to take the success they had in the postseason and are in a little bit more permanent big league time.

00:31:52
Speaker 6: But yeah, when you look.

00:31:53
Speaker 7: At this roster, there's not a lot of questions about how it's all gonna come together, what the lineup's going to look like. And again, like outside out of the Hayesung Kim Alex Freeland competition for a for a part time platoon spot, everything else is pretty much.

00:32:06
Speaker 5: Said, Okay, two things in what he just said.

00:32:09
Speaker 4: One who doesn't come in the first couple of days of spring training looking good. You never hear anybody coming and say, man, that guy's a fat funk, a junk like man, he looks terrible.

00:32:18
Speaker 5: Everybody's in the best.

00:32:20
Speaker 7: This has been a good camp for the best shape of the light. That's everybody's a lot like the Oscar Fernandez. The Oscar Hernandez is down you, Bruce gar gratter All, even though he's dealing with the shoulders, lost some weight. Even Dave Roberts is saying like he's in the best managerial of.

00:32:34
Speaker 5: Course because he's got back to back World Series.

00:32:35
Speaker 4: And then my other question is you mentioned how everything is in place, Key k Went's he back? And the other one is in the outfield. We have my new favorite player, Alex Call. Right, we have Tao, you have pa Hees, you have Tucker. So where does Alex call.

00:32:53
Speaker 5: Fit in this roster?

00:32:54
Speaker 6: Yeah?

00:32:54
Speaker 7: I think right now you'll see him probably being a little bit more of a bench bat. Somebody bring in and in different spots. You know, he still has left for which guy ready?

00:33:04
Speaker 6: Right, Tucker?

00:33:05
Speaker 7: I mean I think even when you're trying to figure out, you know, where he fits in it. It might even be you know, once they're at full health and they have some of the versatility, like with a Tommy Edmund when Key k Hernandez comes back. Like you know, if you have a Hayes on Kim in the lineup and then a lefty comes in, Okay, maybe you can throw Alex calling there and then rearrange the defense however you need to. But yeah, I mean, you know, I go back to the start of the off season. Someone like Ryan Ward got added to the forty man he was the MVP of the Pacific Coast League last year. You know, there's a lot of talk like, hey, this guy could take them at bats, he could be a big part of the puzzle. And then they get Kyle Tucker and suddenly the whole math changes. So I think Alex calls another one of those guys that probably saw his at bats go down with the way things have played out. But you know, there could be injuries, there could be other things. I think that's where kyk Hernandez, who's probably going to be back around mid season, you know where he fits in right now? It's it's tough to say because you look at the roster you go, okay, like where are you gonna get at bats for him? But over the course of a year, there's always stuff that pops up. The Dodgers would rather have more depth obviously than not.

00:34:05
Speaker 6: Uh.

00:34:05
Speaker 7: And then with Key k specifically, they know that, you know, if someone gets hurt going into October or someone struggling and we need to inject some life into the lineup, He's somebody that always performs.

00:34:16
Speaker 4: That time chuirst thing of all time, Kik coming back to the Dodgers, it was like, well, like, where's KIK gonna sign Dodgers?

00:34:24
Speaker 5: Duh? Yeah?

00:34:25
Speaker 7: And I mean even with guys like him and Evan Phillips, you know, like they had to wait this offseason until spring started and sixty man il spots opened up, and they could have explored some other opportunities. Kevin Phillips talked about like some teams called during his free agency this winter, but the fact that they were willing to wait to then come back to the Dodgers. I think Max Munsey's contract extension is another example of this that the guys that are here really like being here and really want to stay here for as long as they can What.

00:34:51
Speaker 1: Do you need to see from Roki Jack. I mean, it seems like he's a big question mark still in terms of implementing a third pitch, but just you know, get bigger physically, getting stronger mentally, what do you need to say?

00:35:03
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the third pitch as he goes back to being a starter, is going to be really important. At least is something to just mix up his looks a little bit. Like I think even in the playoffs last year, you saw when he was executing like the fastball with both the hundred miles hour velocity and the command and then could play the splitter forkball off that when both of those pitches are as good as they can be, he can probably get away with being a two pitch pitcher. But even in the course over the course of the postseason, like the velocity dipped a little bit, the command dipped a little bit, and suddenly by the end of the World Series, right, it was Yamamoto going back out there on zero day's rest instead of Rokie Sasaki coming into the game. So I think that part will be important. I think the other interesting thing is going to see is going to be to see like how he takes the confidence he did build from his playoff success last year and translates that as he goes back into a full time starting role. I think you know times that he was asked like, what was your impression of the big leagues last year, he always came back to, well, when I was starting games, like, I wasn't healthy, I didn't feel like myself. So I don't even know if I got a great feel about how my stuff plays at this level. So it'll be interesting to see as he builds up, like can he get his fastball back to where it needs to be both velocity and command wise consistently? And can he just have again some other pitch that moves right to left that can keep right handed hitters a little bit more honest. But the talent, as we saw in the postseason, is still very much there, and the Dodgers are going to give him a lot of runway and a lot of opportunities to prove that he can take that and translate it into being a more effective big league starter.

00:36:35
Speaker 4: Are the Dodgers going to go one hundred and sixty two and this year like everyone thought they were going.

00:36:39
Speaker 7: To, Well, they started eight and oh last year, and it's kind of felt like, you know, a slim possibility.

00:36:44
Speaker 5: Uh No.

00:36:44
Speaker 6: I think the.

00:36:44
Speaker 4: Biggest competition this year, there was this close, literally this close from losing the World Series last year.

00:36:49
Speaker 7: Yeah, And I think that's the part that probably gets missed or forgotten when you're talking like at this point of the year, when you're looking at the roster and going like, how is this team going to be beat you?

00:37:00
Speaker 6: Times?

00:37:00
Speaker 7: Last year offensively, they were really inconsistent. You saw some of their veteran guys are getting to places in their career where if they're not one hundred percent physically, if they're dealing with some small nagging injuries, or even just like you know, over time, right like your body changes, your swing changes, some of the things you would do in the cage or mental cues or mechanical tweaks that would work in the past don't quite work as well anymore. And I think for the Dodgers, like one of the things that is going to be important under the hood this year is kind of figuring out a more consistent offensive identity as a team, because when guys were not at their best, right when Mookie Betts was struggling, if Freddie Freeman was struggling to Oscar Hernandez was dealing with injuries. I think you saw some issues in just like their team wide approach at times where they were just too easy of outs at different points, especially in the postseason. So those are the little things that over the course of a year I think can pop up and give them some challenges. But it's also a team that has a lot of experience obviously, that really likes playing together, that has a good culture, and that I think the Dodgers hope is when they do meet those moments of adversity this year where they're not one hundred percent healthier, the lineup scuffling a little bit, they're gonna be able to lean on last year's experience when they had to overcome that and be a little bit more prepared to avoid those stretches of inconsistency that yeah, put them in some tough spots in the second half of the season in the World Series. But again, like you look around the rest of baseball, that their margin for error is just so much bigger than everybody else, is that it's hard to start doing the hypothetical game. Okay, well, like who could beat them? Like if they're playing their best. They're gonna be really tough to be.

00:38:35
Speaker 1: They just can't struggle at the same time. I just have to stay healthy not struggle at the same time. Thank you so much, Jack, We appreciate it very much. Guys, don't forget. You can check out Jack's work on the California Post.