Dodgers Territory - Mark Prior Talks Pitching Injuries, Ohtani Timeline and More!

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Shohei Ohtani is inching closer to joining the Dodgers' pitching staff with the latest good rehab updates from Dave Roberts. DT hosts Alanna Rizzo and Clint Pasillas discuss the latest in the progress...ion of Sho-Time (2:40).Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior joins the show and opens up about the rash of injuries that has pitching staff running on fumes (5:50). Prior also shares new updates on Shohei (9:30), Roki Sasaki (15:01), and the emergence of LA ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11:20). Plus thoughts on Clayton Kershaw, Jackson Ferris, and more (18:19)!Finally, Alanna and Clint look ahead to the upcoming series with the New York Mets (27:26).Get 20% off your first Slab Pack or card purchase by going to https://ArenaClub.com/FOUL and use code FOUL.Download the HOF app and enter code FOUL to get a 7-day free trial + 50% off your first month at https://hofbets.comSubscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTube!Rate and review our podcast on Apple and Spotify!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:01:34 In our organization, you know, we're feeling the ramifications of the injuries. But it's across, you know, the landscape of baseball as a whole. A lot of teams are dealing with injuries. And welcome to the Wednesday slash Thursday edition of Dodgers Territory. We are your host. I am Alana Rizzo. That is Clint Paseous. We love that you guys are here.
Starting point is 00:02:10 Thank you so much. We are so dang close to 10,000 subscribers, you guys. I think we're like, we're less than 200. subscribers away from 10k so please do the thing rate is five stars like subscribe to dodgers territory on youtube spotify apple wherever you get your pods a big show for you today we're excited about it dodgers pitching coach entering his sixth year as the pitching coach of your la dodgers mark prior uh is going to join us shortly but first we're going to introduce you to a new segment it is the arena club player spotlight hit it clint let's do it oh fancy front end fancy
Starting point is 00:02:48 And what's up Arena Club? We appreciate you being a partner of ours here on Dodgers territory as well as the foul territory platform. So yeah, this is what we're going to be talking about. We don't talk about Shohei Otani enough. So let's absolutely make him our Arena Club spotlight player. This is a dude, right? I mean, this is a guy that is so unbelievably gifted.
Starting point is 00:03:10 Entering play, Clint, on Wednesday the 21st, as we sit here and we record this show. He is nine for 27, with three doubles, three home runs, seven stakes, six runs scored in six games versus the diamond backs this season. How about some fun with numbers, will you? On Shohei, he's batting 323, 413, 679 with 38 homers, 75 ribbies, and 98 runs scored in 106 regular season games at Chavez Ravine as a member of the doyers. That's a lot of numbers I just threw out there. but the point is Shohei Otani is so awesome.
Starting point is 00:03:49 And by the way, he's getting closer to facing hitters. We'll get into that with Mark Pryor coming up. But he's just a dude. Yeah. And amongst the league leaders and wins above replacement, stolen bases, batting average, you know, a leader in homers and all that, just so dang good at baseball. And I said as of the time we're filming this, recording this,
Starting point is 00:04:12 he's fifth in baseball and wins above replacement. Like you said, he's getting healthier, getting closer to getting him on a mound where he is essentially the war cheat code when Shohay is healthy. It is on the mound. And we did get a positive update this week from Dave Robertson Company. Yes, he finally has mixed breaking pitches into his routine. He's doing that on flat ground, but he's already thrown off a bullpen mound. So that means we are inching closer to him facing hitters, which means we're inching closer to needing to needing to see how they figure out what a rehab situation. looks like because it's pretty difficult to lose your lead-off hitter and your your your
Starting point is 00:04:49 DH and all that kind of stuff he can't go run off to Rancho Kukamonga and start some games but just at this point right now obviously Alana like you said we're going to talk to Mark about all of the pitching injuries like how much of a boost would adding somebody who's not only an MVP with just a bat but a legitimate Sy Young award contender with I guess the arm to the pitching match how much I mean is it? It would obviously be massive, Clint, but I will say this. There is a caveat to the massiveness of this. He has to be healthy and he has to be ready.
Starting point is 00:05:24 I do not want them to force Sho Hayotai, not that they would force him, but I do not want them to force Sho Hayotani to come back sooner than he is ready to because of the decimation of injuries to the starting staff and even to the bullpen that is obviously being overworked and taxed just because of the lack of starting arms in the Dodgers rotation. If he's healthy, if he's ready, if he's stretched out, if it makes sense, bring it. But please do not rush him back just because we desperately need some starting arms. We can sustain up until he's actually ready. We will be fine.
Starting point is 00:05:58 The daughters are still in first place. It's May 21st, as we sit here today. Just don't force the issue. But yes, of course, if he's ready, I cannot wait to see him. And we will talk to Mark Pryor about what that looks like, where he is in the process. But first, let's check out the slab pack from our new friends at Arena Club. We love to see it. There is.
Starting point is 00:06:19 I love this. You need a drum roll, it feels like. Our first pack rip, what do we got? Arena Club gives us a show-hoyotani card. How do you like that? Why is he an angel? You know, we appreciate Arena Club. Listen, the good thing is you can use the buyback program from Arena Club.
Starting point is 00:06:38 You can get yourself a card that has Show-A and a Dodgers uniform, is what we all want to see, but that's pretty dang cool. And Alana, why don't you tell people what our friends at Arena Club are doing for supporters of the show and supporters of the Foul Territory Network? Right. Absolutely. Right now, you can get 20% off your first slab pack or card purchase by going to arena club.com slash foul and use code FoulUL. That's aranacl code F-O-U-L for 20% off your first purchase. It is cool. Love having them as part of our show.
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Starting point is 00:07:40 Installation required. Disposal fees and shop fees extra were permitted C-store for pricing. Eligibility may vary, not valid with other offers. Support for the show comes from public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year. over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of
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Starting point is 00:09:30 Let's do it. Always great to be joined by Dodgers pitching coach. Obviously started with the organization in 2018 and is now, the Dodgers pitching coach for the last six seasons. Mark Pryor, the USC great, much to the chagrin of Dave Roberts. Mark, good to be with you. So you got nothing going on, right? I mean, nothing on the top of your head, nothing to worry about, nothing to work through. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Recency bias. You know, last night was great. Yama, Yama went out and performed like an apes and stopped an unfortunate losing streak. But I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
Starting point is 00:10:06 in general, but yeah, clearly we, you know, we have our challenges right now in front of us. And, you know, we're going to find a way to do it. Mark, I assume you guys by this time of season are smart. Don't look at the internet because when I read the internet, I hear Mark Pryor is actively injuring all these pitchers and the strength and conditioning coaches. Nobody knows what they're doing. It turns out pitchers can break. It's a very volatile career choice, as you know, very well. could you help try to explain to some folks so we can we could use this in perpetuity
Starting point is 00:10:40 explain to some folks how sometimes injuries just plainly aren't something you can control yeah yeah clearly i can speak to the injury front as a player um yeah it's a unique an environment i think uh you know clearly in this uh you know in our organization you know we're feeling the the ramifications of the injuries but it's across you know the landscape based baseball as a whole, a lot of teams are dealing with injuries, specifically to pitchers. And it's tough to pinpoint one thing, you know. And, you know, I know, I don't think it's fair for me to go and say, you know, what is causing injuries, what is not causing injuries.
Starting point is 00:11:24 Unfortunately, I don't think it's fair for anybody because I do think there's so much that goes into, you know, guys getting hurt is so much of just an individual basis, you know, where they've been, what their previous injury history is. Some things are fluke. Some things are, you know, wearing and tear, you know, or being used, you know, tired type thing, injuries. But it's an unfortunate thing that we're having to deal with. And so is every other organization to some capacity.
Starting point is 00:11:54 Right now it's very acute for us. We've lost, you know, a lot of guys that we expected to carry the bulk of the endings for us. put a lot of pressure on some other guys. And unfortunately, you know, we've had some guys come up hurt. But I don't know. One thing I can say for certain is there's no active training or anything to try. And it's weird because, you know, over the course of, you know, 20, 20 some plus years now that I've been as a player or been on the minor leagues or the big league side as a coach, you know, things have drastically changed. You know, we've gotten smarter. the technology's gotten better, our recovery, the trainers and the strength conditioning
Starting point is 00:12:36 are really maximizing every individual's talents. But I don't think we've slowed, you know, the injury front. And that's unfortunate. And, you know, it's unfortunate mostly for players, you know, who have to deal with the injuries. It interrupts careers. It interrupts seasons. obviously it can wreck, you know, wreck havoc with organizations and their plans. And then, you know, for fans, fans want to see the best players in the world play. And, you know, when they're hurt, it's unfortunate. Yeah, speaking of the best players in the world, Shohay Otani, Mark, looks like he's getting closer to facing hitters.
Starting point is 00:13:15 That's good news. Where is he in terms of that process? And what does a ramp up for him look like? Obviously, you can't send him out someplace because he's a DH. What does that look like for you and how close is he? He's getting closer. To put a time on it, I think is probably not prudent. You know, it's been a very interesting rehab to, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:37 personally from an experience standpoint as an organization. I think it's been interesting to watch. You know, normally you're dealing with a guy who's, that's all he does, it's all he does is pitch. And so you, you know, you kind of know what their workloads are. You know, you know, when they're tired or expect to be tired or sore. and when they shouldn't be. And so you can kind of go off of that, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:59 and the track record of previous guys who've had previous, you know, similar injuries. You know, again, as everything was show, he's unique and he's kind of an outlier situation. You know, there's days where he goes four for four and he's run around on the base pass and he comes in the next day and he's feeling, you know, tired and exhausted. You know, so the throwing work volume needs to be cut short or tweaked to kind of manage. that. And so it's been an ongoing learning process, I think, for everybody involved. But he is getting closer. His last couple bullpins, he's really ramped up, kind of the intensity and all his pitches. And so, you know, I think we're getting close. I think we're getting close to where he can start
Starting point is 00:14:40 facing some hitters, whether that's in the next couple weeks or, you know, as we turn into June, into the latter part of June, I don't think that's unreasonable. But honestly, things are always a little bit TBD just because of what he does on the offensive side of the ball. and what the stress of that takes on his body at times. You know, one of the guys who has been around this season has actually been able to stay healthy and is a damn good ace for this team. It's a guy who won, well, we're recording this,
Starting point is 00:15:10 and we're going to post this on Thursday. So I can't say last night's game. But last night's game, Yoshinomo Yamamoto plays the stopper for this team. And my God, he's so good this year. What was something you guys worked on with Yama to kind of get into this point where he's taking these next steps into,
Starting point is 00:15:25 to really becoming, you know, he's an ace of Japan, and now he is a true Syung front runner in MLB. What was the big difference, you guys worked on this offseason? Yeah, honestly, I think it goes back to the playoffs. You know, I think last year was such a learning curve for him. As we see, you know, Roki trying to transition as well, as show did, you know, back when he was with the Angels.
Starting point is 00:15:53 I think that first year is such a transition, on so many different levels. But I think what we saw when he came back off of his IL stent in September and then through the playoffs, was his understanding of the hitters and what the game is like over here. And then really understanding how his stuff and his strengths play against these guys. He's got above average pitches, you know, split, fastball, his commands, you know, he can do a lot of different things, which allows him to attack.
Starting point is 00:16:25 hitters in a lot of different ways and change the way he attacks hitters so they don't always have the same look. And I think that started really, he started feeling that and having that confidence with themselves. And I think if you go back to that first playoff game against the Padres, I think there was a lot of little, some previous games that he had in that season last year, the first game and career, obviously, and they, you know, during the season. And then he kind of got roughed up again a little bit in that game, you know, in that first game against the Padres. is in the DS. But he really, you know, around rallies, his teammates rallied around him. He really went to work. And it was more about understanding how his stuff plays against hitters and really kind of fine-tuning that and looking at, you know, if guys had splits and it faced these hitters going to see what the swings looked like. And so I think he started really internalizing,
Starting point is 00:17:17 which just led to more confidence. And then I think you saw him take off in that game five in the DS, you know, and obviously in the CS in the World Series. He got stronger over the offseason. He put a lot of work into knowing that he didn't want to go on the injured list like he did last year. And so I think you're seeing the strength component and then you're layering on and compounding just the overall confidence of he knows that he is an elite pitcher in this game right now.
Starting point is 00:17:42 And I think seeing that every time he takes the ball. And I think last night was a prime example. His last couple outings have been, you know, for his standards, been up to, you know, what he had set out at the beginning of the season, but very much, obviously, it's still quality outings. And then he kind of got into it as the game went on. He just got stronger and stronger. And that's what you see from elite guys. They might not have it all lined up in the first couple of innings. But as the game gets going, and he gets into a rhythm, he just started, you know, locating and commanding. He would make guys miss. He'd make guys get caught in
Starting point is 00:18:16 in between. It was a really, really phenomenal performance. At a time, when we really needed length out of him, for one. We needed quality out of him, which he got. And then he really just set the stage for us to have a chance to win a ballgame, and that's what you ask out of your aces. Yeah, the in-game adjustments from Yamamoto seemed so much more apparent this season than they did last season, obviously another year under his belt. Let's talk a bit about Roki Sasaki Mark, because this is a guy, of course, everyone
Starting point is 00:18:44 heard the name in the offseason, everyone trying to land this 23-year-old. But honestly, he's a kid. How much do you think that shoulder injury was kind of hampering the results? And where is he right now? Yeah, I mean, you can't say it's nothing. You know, how much of it played a role into kind of his trend down after, you know, his opening couple starts. That's hard to say.
Starting point is 00:19:07 But I definitely think this is something that's, you know, clearly he was bothered by it last year at times in Japan. And it's kind of reared its head again a little bit. So, you know, I think what's, you know, you have kind of two different paths going on here, you have a development path overlaid with him trying to perform at the major league level. And those things aren't easy. We see it a lot of times with, you know, guys coming up from AAA in the minor leagues and they're trying to continue their development at the big league level. And that's extremely hard and sometimes it gets messy. But I do think the shoulder thing has
Starting point is 00:19:39 something to do with it. Clearly the velocity continued to trend down. And finally, he got to the point where he spoke up and we're glad he did because I think it's something that. that we needed to address his overall, you know, shoulder conditioning and strength. And so that's what he's been, they've been really hammering over these last, you know, 10 days is making sure that his shoulders in a good spot to continue to throw. I think once he's, you know, feels and everybody feels he's in a good spot, then he'll start picking up a baseball and then we'll go to work as a group, you know, trying to fine-tune.
Starting point is 00:20:12 Some of the things that, you know, need to be fine-tuned is, you know, his fastball quality, trying to mix in his breaking balls, his cut. command in general, which I think has been a step down from what I think has been in Japan. And so it's a matter of trying to get that back and not making it so easy for hitters or be super predictable to hitters where they can just kind of sit on one pitch. So there's going to be a lot more of the stuff that's in like, you know, what we would call player development type stuff, as we try to ramp him back up to pitch for us in the major leagues. Hey, great conversation so far with Dodgers pitching coach Mark Pryor.
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Starting point is 00:23:58 was hoping he could be in the starting rotation. You do get a grizzled veteran to go from the young guys to the grizzled veteran back. Clayton Kershaw rejoined the team over the weekend. The results, notwithstanding. Obviously, I'm pretty sure Kirsch would have preferred a better season debut, but
Starting point is 00:24:13 there's still just something about adding the goat back to the mix, adding a future Hall of Famer to the mix. What does that do to a clubhouse? What does that do to kind of energize a pitching staff that, let's be fair, is kind of going through it right now. Yeah. I mean, anytime you get Clayton Kirshund, I think just the name alone, you know, starts kind of getting people's adrenaline going.
Starting point is 00:24:34 It gets our adrenaline, it gets mine adrenaline going because you never, you never sleep on, on Clayton. You never sleep on these greats because you never know when, when, when, they're going to show up and just go out and do something, you know, masterful. And we've seen that last year. We've seen it at times, albeit, you know, I think it was like, I don't know, seven starts or whatever he made last year. Some of those starts were extremely important for us.
Starting point is 00:24:59 You know, when you look at the end of the season, you know, we win the division with three or four games left in the season. He had some moments where we were in a situation, you know, like Yamamoto was last night. You know, up against it from a, you know, guys aren't available to pitch, or we had some injuries, and he'd go out and, you know, he's getting us six in St. Louis last year in a day game where we really needed it. So guys, you know, they feel that, you know, and I think guys respond, players respond to that. They want to perform and they want to play at their highest level to support him.
Starting point is 00:25:30 But he can still pitch at this level. And I think the one thing that we took out of and watching him the other night is his stuff ticked up from where it was in the minor leagues. His command was, you know, was a slightly off, you know, to his standards. but his work in between has been better. His bullpen yesterday was extremely encouraging. So I think we're going to see a guy continuing to get better as far as his command and kind of see it in the same guy that we used to.
Starting point is 00:25:57 He knows how to pitch. And that's the one thing that is not a physical thing and has not been injured. He always knows how to pitch. He knows how to try to stay a step ahead of hitters. He knows what they're trying to do. And he knows what he can kind of tact and go to start and go to. different direction or when he can just stay with his strengths. And so that's the one thing that is still, you know, an elite level. Even as the physical tools, as he's logged more innings over his
Starting point is 00:26:25 careers, maybe have pulled back a little bit. His mind still works at an unbelievable level. And that's just, he knows how to pitch. He knows what to do. He knows how to, you know, in the moment, figure out ways to win and will himself to win ball games or get outs more or less. And I think that really just fires everybody up because they like to see that because they know it's not the guy that he was 10 years ago, but he's the guy that can still perform at a high level and set the standard for us. Yeah, and he's still the guy chasing 3,000 strikeouts for his Hall of Fame career. Mark, let's talk a little bit about some guys that maybe you have your eyes on as a staff, maybe somebody that's not on the 40-man roster that you guys have been surprised about or that you
Starting point is 00:27:06 enjoy what they're doing in terms of development that might come up at some point and help the big club. Anybody we should be watching for? Yeah, I mean, I think Jackson Ferris is the name that, you know, obviously people know who he is. They follow organization. I think getting a look at him in spring training, you know, he's got a deep arsenal. He's got the ability to throw multiple pitches to both sides. And I think that's one of the guys that I think maybe, you know, where he ends up this year, I'm not quite sure.
Starting point is 00:27:35 But, you know, I think if he continues to progress and he takes off this year, yeah, we could probably see him. but I think he's a guy that we're looking at, you know, next year to kind of step in and be one of those younger guys to continue his development, you know, in the AAA, you know, AAA and then into the big leagues next year. I was impressed with the way he throws. I think left-handed, I think, you know, with our right-handed dominant starters, I think being able to have a different look is important for us, you know, and I think that's another thing where Clayton brings up a different look
Starting point is 00:28:07 and we get different lineups and then we are able to maximize kind of our bullpins. You know, I do think there's still the progression of guys with Ken Robleski kind of take that next step. I thought his last outing when he came up was encouraging. You know, Bobby is obviously, you know, really trying to grind through and trying to find his footing again. I think, though people know who those guys are, I do think they still play a huge role
Starting point is 00:28:31 for us. And if we can get them over that home, I do think that all of a sudden provides a huge, you know, depth piece to us that allows us to, you know, you know, do what we do best, and that's, you know, be able to map out and do it, map out the season, not lean on guys as much as we'd like. But obviously, when we have injuries like this, those guys stepping in and playing key roles like Bobby did in 23 are huge. And those things kind of get lost at the end of the season when we're in playoffs and, and people kind of get focused on one or two starters. But those, those starts throughout the course of the season and what helps you
Starting point is 00:29:06 set you up for hopefully winning a division or at least, very least getting into the playoffs. The depth always tested, tested, tested. Mark Pryor always tested. Hey, before we let you go, what's something you do when you get home from the ballpark to just not think about the team, not think about the injuries and the next day and the why is this happening to me? What does Mark prior do to unwind? No, first of all, it's not a why as me. I feel very blessed and have a lot of gratitude for the position. We have a lot of really good players. And, you know, you know, over the course of the six years I've been here as a pitching coach and the other two as a bullpen coach, you know, we've gone through all of these things before. You know,
Starting point is 00:29:49 it's unfortunate. It happens. Unfortunately, we're, I guess we have the experience. But, you know, it's never a why, you know, why is this happening? It's just really about how do we find ways to to win. And when guys step up, it gives people an opportunity to play and perform and try to take, you know, take a job if they can. Look at Ben Casperius. He's a guy who came out of nowhere last year and all of a sudden now he's he's one of our guys by his own performances and stepping up when the opportunity was given to him. So that's, that's been a fun story to watch. But, you know, I'm like anybody else. You know, I get home and, you know, maybe watch a show, maybe watch, you know, something, just a kind of veg.
Starting point is 00:30:32 But to be honest, it's a pretty quick go to bed. I'm getting up there and giving the white hairs and the beard, you know, I get to bed early. Maybe polish off a bottle of wine. Oh, geez, I don't know about an entire bottle. Mark Pryor, we appreciate it very much. There's one thing about this club. You are deep. You are good.
Starting point is 00:30:52 You will figure it out. You talked about recency bias. Look no further than the 2024 World Series. Thank you so much, my friend. Great to be with you. appreciate you. I appreciate you having me. Thank you so much. A big thank you to Mark Pryor for joining the show. But first, we got one more message from our friends at Fowel Territory before last lick. So here we go. I just want to say before Arena Club, if you were trying to very actively buy,
Starting point is 00:31:17 sell, trade, it was very complicated and used a lot of mail that was unnecessary. Yeah, I didn't even know how to do it. But I'm glad we have Arena Club now because it's a one-stop shop for everything card-related. It is. And right now, you can get 20% off your first slab pack or your first card purchase by going to arena club.com slash f-o-u-ul. Use code if you're a collector, you've got to check out Arena Club. Go get after it. No matter what kind of car you drive, two things are always true. All tires eventually need replacing and all vehicles need servicing. Luckily for you, Big O tires is an expert in both. They have all the name brand tires you trust for any vehicle on any road condition. They'll
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Starting point is 00:33:07 Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Lego Star Wars just made the jump to hyperspace. Introducing the Lego Smart Brick. New Lego Star Wars sets with smart bricks inspire your child's imagination, taking their play to uncharted regions of the galaxy. with responsive lights, a color recognition scanner, a synthesizer, and an accelerometer, your child's play doesn't just come alive.
Starting point is 00:33:33 It allows the Lego Star Wars galaxy to play back. May the Force be with you. Shop Lego Star Wars sets now on Lego.com or in Lego retail stores. All right, let's get some dogs adopted. I want to introduce you guys and gals out there to Rusty. Rusty was saved at literally the last minute from a shelter in San Bernardino. They were going to kill him because they just needed space. This dog is gorgeous.
Starting point is 00:34:05 He is young. He's not even a year old. He's a retriever mix. We just sent out his DNA kit to get the exact breed. We're waiting for those results. It's always fun when they come back in. All he needs, you guys, is a loving home. Someone that's going to be actively involved in his life, care for him, love on him, get him exercise.
Starting point is 00:34:22 He's awesome. He's vaccinated. He's healthy. He's neutered. Gidreys Guardian took care of all of that stuff for him. And he's ready for his forever family. Hit us up, giddreesguardian.org or hit me up on social to learn more about rusty. It's like bare claws, like paws.
Starting point is 00:34:37 Yeah, those paws were something else. So my assumption is you guys are going to, you're going to cut open into him and count the rings. And you're going to see that he's at least 80% good boy. That's, that's, at least a hundred percent. At least a, oh, wow, that's, that's a special dog. He's a hundred. He's been through so much. He's 100% good boy.
Starting point is 00:34:55 Yeah. Very adorable. He actually did eat his foster's pillow. He shredded it. So maybe he's 99% go boy. But that's okay. He's a puppy. He'll get through that puppy stage.
Starting point is 00:35:06 All right. What's coming up? What's coming up for you? Wait, we have a baseball thought for the road, right? Yeah, let's talk. Dodger baseball because, you know, we spent a lot of time talking Dodger baseball with Mark Pryor, but the Dodgers are off today. It is Thursday as of the time this is airing and starting Friday.
Starting point is 00:35:21 They are flying to New York right now. They're facing the mighty Mets, Juan Soto and the Mets. You know, I can talk about Juan Soto for a while. because like, there's some narrative out there that he's having the worst season in the world when you look at the numbers. He's so, the average isn't there. He's not always been an average guy. That's the problem, though, when you sign a $765 million contract, people are going to be on you because with great, you know, great reward comes high expectation or whatever. Yeah. But you know what? I think the biggest thing is what can't slump or what can't have a, you know, below average for him is his effort. I think people are getting on him because he's not hustling out of the box.
Starting point is 00:35:58 He says that he is, but Mendi, their manager, talk to him about it. But now is a good time to catch the Mets. They're scuffling a little bit. And their top of the order as far as Lindor, their lead-off guy, obviously Polar Bear, Juan Soto, all of the things. They're scuffling.
Starting point is 00:36:12 So let's get after it. Dodgers are scuffling a little bit. Mets are scuffling a little bit. This could very well be a matchup in the postseason. I love these types of early season matchups, just to kind of see. I know it's a cliche, but the measuring stick type of series. Yeah, you get a measuring stick type of series.
Starting point is 00:36:27 Yeah, you get a measuring stick early. You get one later and then hopefully you get one in October. I'm looking forward to seeing this series though. I think, I mean, we've now seen the Diamondbacks a bunch over the last week and a half or something like that. Yeah, I'm stuck with them, by the way. Kind of shifting east. And what's good, when the Dodgers shift east, especially on the road, that's earlier games for your girl, Alana. And she's much happier watching Dodger games not at midnight. Not at 1 a.m. By the way, we should point out we are going to post game Sunday after the game. I think that's any SPN game. I'm not under. I think it is. But we post gaming after that, we will not have a show
Starting point is 00:37:03 on Monday because it is Memorial Day so everybody go celebrate, get real drunk, have that. I guess we talked about the bottle of wine with prior off camera. I don't know whatever we did. He doesn't drink a bottle of wine. Just throw that out there. Probably not by himself. According to sources, what are you looking to see in the series? Like you said, a couple of teams that are kind of scuffling. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. I would like to see good pitching performances, of course. I'd like curse to have a back, you know, a better pitching outing than he did in his season debut. I'd like to see, you know, just good baseball, just good clean baseball and take advantage of the mistakes. Now, I will say that Mets have a very good rotation. They have the best ERA in baseball
Starting point is 00:37:43 right now, not just in the National League, but in all of baseball. So just good clean baseball. Don't give them any extra outs, those types of things. Like Clint said, we will be live post-game Sunday night. No show on Monday for Memorial Day. Please thank. I know it's not Veterans Day, but thank a veteran and remember those that have served and have paid the ultimate price. And then Clint and I will be back on Thursday. So there's a lot of numbers, a lot of information. Something else too.
Starting point is 00:38:08 Aren't we also Tuesday? Tuesday, Wednesday or something like that? No, we're post game. We're post game Tuesday. Is it Tuesday? Whatever it is. We'll be around. Whatever.
Starting point is 00:38:18 The important thing is we're going to be here. Just subscribe to the channel. Hit that notification bell. That'll help you be alerted of when we are live again. tube in for post game on Sunday. I'll be live on my channel. All Dodgers with Clint Buccia, that is I. I'll be live Saturday morning talking about the Dodgers
Starting point is 00:38:34 and other little things, taking comments, hanging out with the fans. I guess that's about it. Like all the things. We'll see you on the next one. Go, Dodgers. At Big O, when Tire Trouble is what you're focused on, our team of experts say, bring it on. Now through April 12th, get $80 in rebate savings
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Starting point is 00:39:46 because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So visit us at cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. Lego Star Wars just made the jump to hyperspace. Introducing the Lego Smart Brick. New Lego Star Wars sets with smart bricks inspire your child's imagination,
Starting point is 00:40:07 taking their play to uncharted regions of the galaxy. With responsive lights, a color recognition scanner, a synthesizer, and an accelerometer, your child's play doesn't just come alive. It allows the Lego Star Wars galaxy to play back. May the Force be with you. Shop Lego Star Wars sets now on Lego.com
Starting point is 00:40:25 or in Lego retail stores.

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