Dodgers Territory - Mookie Back! Shohei Break? Quarter Pole Review!

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Alanna Rizzo, Katie Woo, and Clint Pasillas recap another tough weekend for the Los Angeles Dodgers. (0:53) The offense let them down once again. While there is no single player leading to the team's ...struggles, Shohei Ohtani has been mired in a terrible slump. Would he benefit from a few days off? The hosts discuss. (10:48) Mookie Betts is set to return from the IL. How big of an immediate impact can he make? And who will be the odd man out on the active roster? (19:18) The Dodgers are a quarter way through the season. How are we feeling about this team and are we worried? (30:28) Plus a look ahead to the series with the Giants. Stop us if you've heard this before... this is a get right series for the Dodgers. Go to HelloFresh.com/FT10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free breakfast for Life! One per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as a discount on the first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan. Use our code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order* seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TERRITORY10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Check out DT merch at https://dodgersterritoryshop.com Support Guidry's Guardian at https://guidrysguardian.org Find Clint on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@alldodgers Follow Katie's work at The Athletic https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/katie-woo/  Subscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTubeRate and review our podcast on Apple and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.
Starting point is 00:00:20 Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
Starting point is 00:00:53 Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert. smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes,
Starting point is 00:01:19 A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue 42. A rep, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Starting point is 00:01:44 I'm bored. I'm bored with this team. I really expected and anticipated that this was going to be like such a fired offense. Welcome to a live edition of Dodgers Territory with your host, Alana Rizzo, Katie Wu, and Clint Pizzias on this Monday, May 11th. Happy that you guys are with. with us. Thanks so much. Please rate us five stars, like and subscribe to Dodgers Territory podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your pods as we try to make our way to 20,000
Starting point is 00:02:25 subs. We appreciate it very much. A lot to get into. I speak English. Let's get to the big ticket. The best words. The best. Words are hard. The series are hard. Games are hard and continuing to win is hard. Katie, another time when we're saying, oh, it's a kind of a turn the page type of series. We've got to get on this team here coming into the stadium and not a great turnout against the Atlanta Braves. Albeit, they're probably the best competition. The Dodgers have faced this season, but the Braves show that they are not to be messed with. Yeah, I completely agree. And that's why I thought Friday's game was so encouraging. And they go out and they beat Chris Sale.
Starting point is 00:03:09 And Alana, you talked about the probables coming into this series with Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder. Obviously, the Dodgers probabilities changed a little bit. But I thought the way that they played on Friday was so indicative of the Dodgers playing baseball at their best. And I thought it was really encouraging because it just felt like a competitive late September, early October series between two of the top teams in the NL. And I thought, okay, this was like the caliber kind of game that the Dodgers play and win. And then I'm not quite sure what happens Saturday and Sunday because that was not at all the case. And granted, we were dealing with some weird things in the rotation. Blake Snell coming back on a pitch limit, only at 75 pitches, got some weird traffic on Saturday in the first and second inning.
Starting point is 00:03:49 Justin Robleski had a line that had never been pitched before in baseball history. It was just we continue to harp on the offense and rightfully so. I'm sure we'll get into it. This series, though, just left so much to be desired. And it just didn't feel like it was a Dodgers baseball series. Yeah. Great. Clint, what's your take?
Starting point is 00:04:07 It was definitely not the series I was hoping for while I was on vacation because usually when I go camping, the Dodgers play pretty well. They decided to screw me over in that regard. I'll jokes aside with that. Yeah, you know, did Relev, no, not even. There's not too many silver linings from this one. Yeah, the Braves are a good team. They are playing a lot better baseball than the Dodgers right now. The run prevention side of the baseball for the Dodgers wasn't great, you know, giving up.
Starting point is 00:04:37 Back-to-back game, seven earn runs. The defense didn't really help out Blake Snell. The defense, Justin Rebleski himself, didn't really help out Justin Rebleski in that game. You know, what it comes down to is the offense. We keep talking about this offense. You're not going to win very many series scoring just seven runs. And that's where we're at. I mean, that's really the focus of this whole debacle, this whole nightmare,
Starting point is 00:05:03 this whole stretch they've been on for 11, 12 days now. It is the offense. Yes, there's nice things. Blake Snell returns. Rebleski goes deep into that game, saving the bullpen off of what essentially was a rehab start for Snell at the big league level. But, yeah, Riz, you mentioned turning the page series. We've been turning a lot of pages lately. We've written and read an entire book at this point with the amount of pages that we are turning.
Starting point is 00:05:29 I am going to take the silver lining, though. You briefly mentioned it with Justin Rebliskey. I understand a silver lining is Blake Snell returning, but I also understand Justin Rubleski. Yes, it probably was the worst start of his year. I mean, I think he saw his ERA jump a run and a half almost, basically, from what he took into the game versus what he left the game with. But give him a little bit of credit for going as deep into that game as he possibly could. I think it was, what, eight and two thirds before they had to get somebody else out of the bullpen.
Starting point is 00:05:57 So at the very least, even with not the best outing of his career, he pitched and gave the Dodgers a ton of length. And again, some people were like, why did you, you know, him go out there? Why didn't you let him complete the game or what? Well, he hit a dude in the head. So at that point, it's probably time to get him out of the game. But I'm going to give this dude a lot of credit because, again, he's been tremendous coming into the season, the most effective starter in terms of ERA that we've had this year, a guy that were like, wow, I mean, at least for me, I was like, he's showing me something. I didn't know exactly what we were going to get
Starting point is 00:06:28 from him. So I'm going to, that's my silver lining of this game. And he got zero run support. And, you know, you're right. It was a Blake Snell rehab start. And I thought, Robo did a really nice job in this game. He did what he needed to do, obviously, given this team length, helping the bullpen out while they are in the middle or just starting out, 13 games and 13 days. You need these kind of outings. But again, overall, we could force some silver linings. We could force some nice things.
Starting point is 00:06:56 But Katie, this is a team that is just not playing well. You had the notes heading into this. They've lost, what, five of their last seven series? That's not the Dodgers team. you signed up for. No, I always would say winning teams win series. And I was saying that when I was covering a team that wasn't winning a lot of series, and here we are again.
Starting point is 00:07:15 The Dodgers, it just hasn't been a good run. I mean, they've won nine of their last 21 games. And again, lost five of their last seven series, which goes to show it, they just haven't been consistent enough. And we can go ahead and we can pick apart, you know, Snell, not being super efficient in his first two innings back or Glass now going out after just an inning with that injury. Rebleski, Alana, you were spot on with everything you said. The defense did play into it.
Starting point is 00:07:40 Heison Kim does not get a lot of help from Blake Snell there. Rebleski throws away of what could have been a game or at any ending double play. But we harp on those because there is no offense. If there was offense there and the Dodgers were able to slug their way out of some of these situations, we probably wouldn't be talking about these situations in such depth. But they just haven't been able to. You look at some of these guys, Andy Paz went through it a little bit, but he's swung the bat well.
Starting point is 00:08:06 Alex Call might see a couple more at bats, more games with Teasca Hernandez struggling, showing how Tani's OPS is under 800. You have Freddie Freeman under 800 as well, Kyle Tucker. It just, when you look at the names in this lineup, there should be so much more slug. And we talked to Max Muncie after the game on Sunday. He's essentially said it's a combination of everything, of guys not feeling super comfortable in their approach,
Starting point is 00:08:29 guys not feeling super comfortable where they out in their swings and the mechanics. And it can compound through a lineup. When you know your entire lineup with the exception of a couple guys, Muncie who's been swinging the bat really well with not a lot to show for it lately, when you know that your lineup is struggling as a whole, you can put pressure on yourself to be the guy that gets the entire team out of their slump. And that usually leads to the opposite effect of what you're looking for. And I think that's what we're seeing throughout the Dodgers one through nine.
Starting point is 00:08:56 And it's leading to us being able to or having to fine tune on all these things that could have gone wrong or didn't go their way when ultimately we probably aren't talking. about it if the Dodgers just hit the ball. Well, I mean, if Eli White didn't smash his face into the wall, I mean, Max Muncie could have had five RBI and that game could have been very differently. Obviously, the offense not coming until the ninth inning for the Dodgers, but it was just a little bit too late. But I think Katie brings up such a good point, Clint, in terms of Shohei Otani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, all with OPSs below 800. I mean, that is something as jarring as the fact is that this team has won nine of their last 21, but they've lost five of their last six.
Starting point is 00:09:34 series. That is jarring. So is the OPS numbers for your key hitters in the Dodgers lineup. Is it time to give Shohay Otani a blow? Give him a day off. You know, people, people have been calling for this a lot. People have been asking, pointing to the struggles for Shohay Otani in your lead off spot. You need that guy to be your spark plug. You need that guy to be the lynch pin to the offense. And he's something like four for his last 33, I think, has only one homer in his last 102 at bats. I forget, I know a lot of people tweeted out the numbers last night. People would like to see Shohei get a little bit of arrest. I know Shohei Otani does not want arrest. That is not his game. We did run a poll with our YouTube members, by the way, a couple of options. Let him
Starting point is 00:10:21 figure it out. Give him a day off or give him three days off. Give him a few days. I am probably, I don't know. I'm 50, 50 on it. Only four votes. Listen, we are small but mighty when it comes to the members if you guys want to be a member by the way join us support the show 399 a month you can join we will eventually have um our first happy hour show coming up at some point but back to the poll here three people of the four we'd like to see him get a multi you know multiple days off uh we had one saying you know keep him in the lineup that's a majority three of four is the majority 75% of the people 75% of the people are saying give him a day off katy what do you think about it i understand And where this is coming from,
Starting point is 00:11:05 especially when you look at Showe over the last 25 games. He's hitting 212. He has a slugging percentage of 318. He has one homer in those 25 games. And when you're Shohei Otani and you're essentially setting the top of the order and you're getting on base and you have like the appeal that Otani does and you are not delivering, it does send a ripple effect
Starting point is 00:11:25 throughout the rest of the lineup. The big thing for Shohei is how can he balance pitching? because right now he's phenomenal on the mound. He looks like a very early NL Sayyong contender, which is exactly what he wanted to be. But can he adjust for better production? Because when you look at these numbers over the last 10 games, I mean, our expectations for Shohei Otani are very high to begin with.
Starting point is 00:11:46 So seeing numbers like this, it's frankly jarring. And no one is worried about Shoah O'Hawahatani long term. Okay, no one's sitting here like, oh, he's done. It just is a problem the Dodgers need to figure out relatively soon because it's compounding the rest of the offense. Now with Otani, he's supposed to pitch Wednesday against San Francisco. We'll see if Dave Roberts takes him out of the lead off spot like he has a couple of times this season. But right now it's important for Otani to figure out how to be productive.
Starting point is 00:12:12 That OPS, even if though it's, you know, under 800s, still in the upper 700s. If you throw out the walk rate, it gets significantly lower. He's just had a hard time making solid contact. And I don't think that's a sentence we've ever said about Shohei Otani before. It is something that needs to be figured out because it's affecting the rest of the lineup. and we're seeing it in the box for almost every game. And we got the perfect timing. I guess you got somebody coming back today that hopefully wakes up this lineup,
Starting point is 00:12:39 helps this lineup, lengthens this lineup. We've got to talk about the return. Marcus Lynn Betts. Alana, he's played eight games this season. Dodgers were good then. They were also very good at the probably two weeks after losing him. Then they've been really, really bad right now. We've talked a lot about what Mookie can bring to the lineup
Starting point is 00:12:58 First, just, is your quick thoughts on getting Mookie back in this lineup. Really short rehab stint for him, only two games. But he says he's ready, right time, right place for Mookie. Well, I do think the fact that you get a name like Mookie Betts back in the lineup can only make you feel better about things moving forward. But I want to caution everybody on thinking that Mookie Betz is going to be the savior that is this lineup, right? That, you know, the savior to the lineup right now.
Starting point is 00:13:22 I think it's important, obviously, that it helps restack the lineup and reposition the lineup the way that you want it to be. we can't expect him to hold the entire load of the Dodgers offense coming off to very, very short rehab starts and dealing with the injury that he was dealing with. So let's be cautious about thinking that he's going to be the second coming of the Messiah. That being said, getting Mookie back, you know, can only help moving forward in the long run. So I'm excited about a Mookie coming back, but it's got to be the entire lineup that gets going again. It can't just be Max Muncie continuing to carry the load for the. this Los Angeles Dodgers team, everybody up and down the lineup for the most part,
Starting point is 00:14:03 with the exception of perhaps Andy Pahas and Max Muncie. And I haven't even really looked at Andy's numbers lately, but with the exception of those two, everybody is performing below where they need to be, Clint. Yeah, getting another, you know, grown up in that lineup. And we'll talk about what this means for the active roster in just a second. We got some news from Katie and Fabian about who is going down. But the fact is you are losing, all right, I'll spoil it. You are losing every day Alex Friedland, who has been fine.
Starting point is 00:14:34 But when you could put an eight-time All-Star in your lineup, four-time World Series champion, all of that kind of stuff. And you get Mookie back in the lineup, Katie. I think that's hopefully that, not necessarily what he does at the bat. Hopefully that just wakes up the rest of the boys. It's like, all here. Let's go have some fun. It will definitely be helpful for the Dodgers to have one of their franchise staples back in the lineup. almost every day. The Dodgers are going to ramp him up carefully. So we're looking ahead of the San Francisco series.
Starting point is 00:14:59 Dave Roberts said Muky Best will play Monday, Tuesday, off day, Wednesday, back in the lineup on Thursday, and then we'll probably play two of three in Anaheim over the weekend. That's just because of the nature of obliques. We know this. They're very finicky. The last thing they want to do is overplay Moogie too too much in his first week back. Now, what this means for the rest of the lineup, and we talked about this with Dave Roberts yesterday, Alana's spot on about, you know, you can't rely on. on Mookiee Betts to power the offense for nine players. But putting him back in the lineup and Dave Roberts said it's either going to be in the two hole or the three hole will allow guys to kind of go back to the roles that they were
Starting point is 00:15:34 really successful in in the earliest part of the season. Dave Roberts is not moving Otani out of the lead off spot, but you can if you have Mookie Betts hitting two again, move Will Smith back to three or four. Kyle Tucker is back down there. Freddie Freeman's four or five. Teo's got to go down a little bit because it's not looking good for our guide Theo. And then Andy Paul has, I think this is most important, can go back to hitting
Starting point is 00:15:54 either seventh or eighth in this lineup where he really saw a lot of his early season's success in the first couple weeks of the season. So it elongates the lineup, which maybe could spark this guy into better production. Now, when you look at why this decision was made and why it's going to be, it's not official yet, but we know this. Alex Freeland will be optioned to triple A for before Moogie Betts to come up. It's all about playing time. And for Kim, the Dodgers really wanted wanted to see a better overall approach with swing decisions. And we're seeing that. Wrote about it in The Athletic.
Starting point is 00:16:26 He's nearly halved his strikeout rate and he's increased his walk rate 5% comparative to last year. These are all trends that suggest that what Heisson Kim is doing in the box is sustainable. And the Dodgers don't really want to mess up the progress that he's made by sending him back to AAA. Plus he can still see, even with Mookiee coming back, consistent playing time by platooning second base with Miggie Roe and then backing up Mookiee bets at shortstop. We just talked about.
Starting point is 00:16:49 Mookie will probably have a couple of off days as he ramps back up. Now, why wasn't it Santiago Espinal, you ask? The Dodgers love their 26th man and they think there's some real value in having a true 26 man on the roster. And what that means is a guy that they can just, with respect to Espinall, sit and shelf and play when needed. They don't view Alex Freeland as that kind of player because he is so young and they want him to get consistent in bats.
Starting point is 00:17:14 It's why he made the opening day roster in the first place, if we recall. So by moving Espinall and keeping him in that 26 man spot, it allows them to not have to worry about getting playing time for both Kim and Freeland, because that just simply wasn't going to be possible with Mookie back, putting Freeland back in AAA where he has a lot of his production married a lot of what he did in 2025. So you can fine tune over there, give Kim a chance to continue building what he's established in the major leagues. And then you have Espinall just kind of holding that value as a 26 man where they don't really have to worry about him. If he gets in, great. If not, that's okay too.
Starting point is 00:17:48 because they're not worried about his long-term development like they are with Freeland. Yeah, I don't mind this move. This was the move I was anticipating. I didn't think they would go straight to Espinall just because, you know, they always like to keep just that one guy around for a few more weeks. He's going to earn that ring a little bit longer when he's well, well off the roster. We all forget about Santiago, San Diego, Espinal by the time we get to October. But guys, the savior is here.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Mookie is back. The Dodgers will start hitting again. I promise there's no guarantee. teed with that but we got more i just said he can't be the savior you didn't listen to either katie or myself no you didn't listen to either one of us typical you guys are here when that happened um but listen i know what people want to hear so i'm just doing that to button us up and then let's move on we're going to take a break we have more to talk about because the dodgers have played 40 games uh it's been a bit of a mixed bag more things we're going to talk about here right after the break
Starting point is 00:18:42 big dog you know how it is man we're always hungry and how do we get our food uh we don't the stuff that makes our bellies hurt. We go to Hello Fresh. We find out specifically what we love to eat. And guess what, Cratsy? I know it helps you out the household. Wifey is happy and the kids are extra happy. I'm good at two things.
Starting point is 00:19:01 Cooking is one of them, but not trying to choose what we're going to have. I've gone 15 meals so far and they haven't given me one repeat meal. There's so many to choose from and they can make it easy for me. Yeah, and I think the best part of it is for me, I'm very particular. I'm trying new things. and I'm really, really liking these things from HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com slash FT10FM now to get 10 free meals plus a free breakfast for life.
Starting point is 00:19:28 One per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as discount on first box, new subscribers only varies by plan. That's hellofresh.com slash FT10FM to get 10 free meals plus free breakfast for life. Who wants that? I know everybody would love that. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app.
Starting point is 00:20:07 We love Bleeding Blue because we love a good baseline. We love something that's going to get the blood flowing or something like that. I don't know. Anyways, what I want to tell you guys to do is buy our stuff, support the show a different way, go to Dodge Territory Shop.com, scan that QR code, click the link in the description. we got to update all the stuff in here because there's been more stuff alana you know this there's like a baby onesie in there i do like that there is yes there's some golf stuff as well a lot of really cool stuff there and it supports the gang here as part of bleeding blue by the way
Starting point is 00:20:38 we like to make this a little bit of our thoughts a little bit of your guys thoughts sound off in the comments below share your thoughts about what's going on with this team i i want to put this one up to lead us off by the way. C. Carrera says he agrees. Listen, I said it. Mookie is our savior. That means it has to be true. And also Nancy Brown with the
Starting point is 00:21:01 $10 super chat. We can get it up here. Thanks, Nancy. Appreciate Nancy. Yay, Nancy. Glad they kept Kim for now. Love him. And yeah, the fact that he can play some shortstop. And we know that Mookie's going to have to slow ramp up, like Katie pointed out. So it's the right call to keep him
Starting point is 00:21:17 around. But guys, of Quarter pull check in, 40 games in. Got 122 left. Like I said, some good, some bad. Which one of you guys wants to talk about how you're feeling with this team right now? All right. We got a hand up from Riz. How are you feeling, Riz?
Starting point is 00:21:33 I'm bored. I'm bored with this team. And what I mean by that is I really expected and anticipated that this was going to be like such, I mean, such a fired offense. And not every game. I understand that you're not going to be able to, you know, put up 10. runs every single game, but they just not have, they have not gotten any sort of traction, you know, it's like, it's just been kind of like ho-hum baseball for the last, and they're
Starting point is 00:21:58 still treading water and that's the thing. And I don't know what that means. I don't know. Does that mean that the NL West is like really bad? Does that mean that? I mean, I know the American League is worse in the National League. I completely understand that in terms of run production and those types of things. But right now we're essentially tied with San Diego, you guys. We've lost two in a row. They've won two in a row. So we're tied. We're one game back in terms of wild card. Am I worried about us? No, I'm not worried about it. I just think right now it's just kind of ho-hum. They're not really like grabbing the bull by the horns and I'm not suggesting that you do that. I'm an animal welfare advocate. So don't grab any bulls by the horns.
Starting point is 00:22:32 But I just, it's just kind of like ho-hum baseball right now. Like there's no, there's no real. And again, I don't ever think it's a lack of effort. I'm not suggesting that at all. It's just a lack of results. And it's a lack of fire power, you know, in terms of these guys. And I know it'll all come together. I still think they win the division. I still obviously think they go to the postseason. But right now it's just kind of been, it's just been kind of just mediocre.
Starting point is 00:22:58 So I'm kind of bored. Sorry. I can see that. Yeah. It's been the same storylines as someone who has to write them every day since over the last like four weeks where we keep saying, and the Dodgers have earned this, they've earned the benefit of the doubt.
Starting point is 00:23:12 We keep saying, oh, give them time. It's going to turn around. They're going to start to slug. Showay's going to hit. Roki's going to figure it out. Patience, patient, patience, whatever. For a fan, that's boring. For media, that's boring.
Starting point is 00:23:22 And for the Dodgers, who certainly don't seem to be too concerned of their playoff odds, because everyone, I think we're all under the impression that they're going to make the playoffs again. I do feel like they just haven't clicked as a team yet. And when they do, it's going to be very scary and very fun. But right now we're just kind of like waiting, anticipating like, okay, are the back-to-back world champs in the building? Because we've seen all the names. We're seeing all the players, but we haven't seen the production. And maybe that's a little unfair because the Dodgers have played their way to such high, high expectations.
Starting point is 00:23:53 And no team in the National League, as we know, has ever won three straight World Series. It's only been done twice in all of MLB history. But when you go out there and you proclaim the back-to-back world champions and you proclaim the bad guys, you put a big target on your back for better baseball. And I think the Dodgers would be the first to say they haven't played their best baseball, not even close. So I am excited to see what Mookie bats is coming back. and brings it to the lineup and looking more Dodger-like already. Hezhan Kim has done a nice job in doing what the Dodgers asked him to do.
Starting point is 00:24:24 Justin Rebleski has been a pleasant surprise. But when you think about the other stories that we're talking about, we've been talking about Emmett Shee-en's Velo since his first start. We've been talking about Roki Sasaki taking steps forward since spring training. And that I think, you know, when is Kyle Tucker going to wake up? What about Teo? That I think is the boring part that Alon is talking about, where fans are like, where are the Dodgers that we know,
Starting point is 00:24:46 40 games in, I don't think we've seen even close to what this team is capable of. Amen to that. Yeah, I agree with all that. And, you know, getting into some of the things that we heard Dave talk about yesterday, you know, they're just, they're not, this is a team that's misfiring right now. I made the analogy last night on my all Dodgers show. By the way, check that show out. You know, make the car analogy. Like, there's a spark plug that's missing.
Starting point is 00:25:10 Is that Mooki as a spark plug for this team? Is it show hey? maybe you've got to change a fuel injector or something like that the engine ain't firing right but we know on the outside it's a badass Porsche or insert good car here like i don't know 2008 acura t l sponsor your boy acura something like that you've got to get these guys you know fresh tank of gas give them a little bit of i don't know something they're missing something it is it is a kind of dullish brand of baseball some people in the chat by the way very much agreeing here. Let's go to Alex saying uninspired baseball from the Dodgers. And this is also a team that played a lot. They played late into the season two years in a row. You have to wonder if there's some of that. These guys have lives of their own at some point. You have the pull of other things going on. I don't know. Some just seems a little bit. No. I'm not I'm not, I'm not buying that. I'm not buying that because I don't ever, I don't ever like question the effort. These are
Starting point is 00:26:15 professional ball players. I mean, these guys absolutely want to win another World Series championship. I think we just, we're missing kind of that fire. Like, look at the Cubs walking off the Reds three straight days, right? That type, not to say that I want to be behind three straight games, but the fact is that there's that there's that opportunity to have a come from behind victory that really, I mean, the Dodgers fans are desperate to try to get into a ball game. And I noticed it too, and other ballparks where their fans are just dying to have something to cheer about and something to feel good about. And you can still feel good about this team, guys. We're not suggesting that you can't. I mean, they're still tied for first in the National League West. I still think they
Starting point is 00:26:50 win the division, as I mentioned. But right now, it just kind of seems like a lackadaisical, like, do to do, again, not the effort. Just the results aren't there. And it's just been kind of mediocre, kind of, you know, Mendoza lineish. And I think. And I think. And I think. And I think. And I think, sometimes, I guess. Go ahead. No, baseball, no is aburrito. I was just had to say, you just teeter up. I knew the shirt. You teeter up. Yeah. I think like, when you're, when you're, Again, no one's worried about the Dodgers and we're going to be talking about this team in September and not even thinking about what they were doing on May 11th. But right now, this is the only sample size we have.
Starting point is 00:27:22 So to go out here and say, I'm concerned about the Los Angeles Dodgers, that would just be like blatantly untrue. I'm not. They're going to figure it out. Just right now when you're looking at the entire National League, which I think is playing so many teams well above what we projected them to be, you're thinking, well, where are the Dodgers in this? But the Dodgers are also fantastic at load management. And I'm not suggesting that people are willingly taking time off. But you think about how deep they play into the season each year, all their superstars, the level of baseball that they play, it's okay for them to be tied for first, 40 games into the season and not having played their best baseball yet and still being in the position they are right now. I'm not waving the white flag saying the season, you know, chaos, disaster.
Starting point is 00:28:06 It's just kind of boring. And it will get better. And if it doesn't get better, then it won't be boring. So it's a win-win either way. Yeah, you know, I'm just going to steal the words that somebody put into my mouth right here. B.L. Boyd, you know, it's 40 games, people, they will be fine. They will be fine. And to borrow from my friend Alana is going to be great. It's going to be great. We can be going to get the date right.
Starting point is 00:28:31 I know. It's not. Today's the 11th. I think of a bad date. Listen, check your sources, B.L. Boyd. Also, I want to address this because last Friday or Thursday, this is a day. this is just completely changed gears. I was just pushing the buttons, but not on the show. A lot of you made it seem like I got my ass beat or something like that. See, I wanted to keep people guessing.
Starting point is 00:28:55 It's called click bait. Oh, you're in the engagement bait side of things. I'm proud of me. Only when it comes to us, though. Like, I don't, yeah, I don't like that stuff. But I'd rather, it's more exciting if we tell people that you got your butt kicked or somebody punch you right in your face, then, oh, Clint's just directing today. doesn't want to be a part of the show otherwise.
Starting point is 00:29:15 No, hey. Sorry that you got fake punched, but. Yeah. I was, to be honest, I was asking for it. But the whole effort was, I wanted it to be a shorter show. I would have thrown in a pointless 15 minutes. You guys crushed that show.
Starting point is 00:29:28 Got us out in just under 30 minutes because you guys are professionals. And I'm just some asshole talking to a camera. So we appreciate you guys helping me. I mean, I still got the camp late, but the drinks were flowing and I enjoyed that much. Well, there you haven't. Yeah. Dodgers are going to be fine.
Starting point is 00:29:47 Everything's going to be fine. It's going to be great. Yeah, it's going to be great. It's going to be great. Hey, how about we take another break here? Why don't you guys tell them a bit about our friends at Seatkeek? I think that's important. Well, there's a big series of the Giants coming up.
Starting point is 00:30:05 Maybe you've heard about it. And the Dodgers pulled out all the stops when it comes to the giveaways. We've got four straight games at Dodger Stadium. 25 World Series trophy replica tonight. We have the Ice Cube low writer bobbled. I want that so badly. I need that one. I got you. I got you. I'm here to help. Uh, the world champion gold jerseys on Wednesday and then Star Wars night. Alana's favorite night on Thursday. Uh, so why not go check out the ballgame? With over 35 million downloads, seat geek is the number one rated ticketing app. You can get tickets to the Dodger games to concerts, festivals, and more. And seat geek has your back because each ticket is rated on a scale of one. to 10 so you know you're getting a good deal. Absolutely. And it's not just for baseball games. As Katie said, look for the green dots guys. Green means good. It's relatively simple.
Starting point is 00:30:51 Red means bad. Every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, we have a code for you guys. We want to support you as you guys support us. Use code Territory 10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at Seat Geek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code Territory 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account. so you can use it later.
Starting point is 00:31:15 Thank you very much, seek geek. We appreciate the support. Let's get to last blix. This May, IHeartRadio celebrates Asian Heritage Month. Discover powerful stories, vibrant cultures,
Starting point is 00:31:26 and unforgettable music. From inspiring podcasts to playlist that span east, south, southeast, and West Asian artists. We're honoring the voices shaping our world. Listen now on. on the free iHardRadio app. And at iHardroredio.ca.
Starting point is 00:31:48 All right guys, speaking of the fact that there is a four game set that Katie mentioned coming up with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, Gidre's Guardian Foundation is running an auction right now. Thank you to Anita Olson for donating her four field level tickets as well as preferred parking in lot eye. For the Thursday game, so I believe that is Star Wars Night.
Starting point is 00:32:16 On May 14th, you can get four amazing seats, free parking at Dodgers Stadium. You go to 32 auctions.com slash S-F-L-A-D, San Francisco, L-A Dodgers. And you can create a free account and then you just bid. I think the bid, the high bid right now is about $525. So you can make a bid higher than that. And every single cent goes to Guidry's Guardian to help dogs in need. So it's a great opportunity for people. That's a pretty good deal, right?
Starting point is 00:32:45 Four people to a game, feel. level with free parking for under 600 bucks um that's awesome i know that uh i know everybody it works very very hard for their money so we appreciate uh anybody that wants to support our cause as well so thank you for letting me talk about that all right speaking of the heigantes um they stink they're really not good yeah according to sources the giants blow i just found this out before the game but yeah you look at them by the numbers just very middle of the pack or worse um they've had some kind of random guys stepping up. What's his name?
Starting point is 00:33:21 The guy who had the problem with the pants, not Clark Schmidt, but hold on. Patrick Bailey? No, Casey Schmidt. He's gone. He's gone. Yeah, they traded him. They traded his ass.
Starting point is 00:33:31 Casey Schmidt, though, leads a team with six homers, but all of a sudden, like, Rafi Devers has been kind of nowhere for this team. Sorry, Rafael Devers, has been nowhere for this team. Matt Chapman has been a void ever since he talked shit to Casey Schmidt, which is hilarious. Yeah, Willie Adomas is looking just like an awful, awful contract. So another get right series for the Dodgers, Katie.
Starting point is 00:33:56 Wouldn't it be funny, though, if like because Raphael Devers is just doing whatever, that it would be a jump start for the Boston. Since Buster Posey is already like cleaning house apparently by Patrick Bailey, that took 40 games. If Raphael Devers went back to Boston and San Francisco go ahead to eat the majority of the contract. It won't happen. But just, you know, these are just silly things that, that I think about. I just, I expected the Giants to be right around 500.
Starting point is 00:34:28 I didn't think they were. I thought they were the fourth best team in the NL West. I'm probably a little higher on the debacks than most. But I was not expecting this. So yeah, a get right series for the Dodgers who won't even have to face Logan Webb, who is a certified stud, but did go on the IL, very similar to a glass now situation where giants were like, oh, he's fine. and then press release injured list. So I should know the problem is on top of my head. I don't, my bad.
Starting point is 00:34:54 He's not been great this year. Logan Webb has been pretty bad this year. And maybe that's why he's on the IL. Maybe it's a phantom IL to get your mentals right. Get something right because Logan Webb has not been the ace that they expected, admittedly. So when you listen to him and his post game stuff too. But yeah, I mean, again, we keep talking about it, Katie and Clint.
Starting point is 00:35:12 This is a get right series. I mean, something's got to give. It is a four game series. too, which I hate. Yeah, but you got to take, you got to take three or four from the Giants or if you're the Dodgers right now, given where they are where they're at right now, their lack of production, no ace on the mound for them. You need to take three or four, especially with Yamamoto on Tuesday,
Starting point is 00:35:29 show hey on Wednesday. It's just got to be done. And Roki night. Another one. Keep building for Roki. This is a, the giants have one less loss than the Colorado Rockies. You need to beat up on a team like that. Everybody needs to be eating.
Starting point is 00:35:46 night. That's just the way it goes and you eat for three more days after that. So Katie's right. They could very well be the fourth best team in the National League West. They could be. They'll be fourth. Music is my ears. Katie's right. I thought three and four would be a little bit closer, but who boy are they not. You want to walk us off here, Riz? Sure. I always appreciate you guys being with this. Seriously, I know we're silly sometimes sometimes most of the time we don't make any sense, but we do appreciate you guys. Please smash the subscribe button on YouTube. Please rate us and review the pod on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast.
Starting point is 00:36:19 Don't forget to check out Dodgers Territory Shop.com for cool stuff. And members, by the way, get 5% off of everything on the shop. So you guys can become a member for $3.99 a month. You get cool things. We have special things for you guys. Loyalty badges. We're going to have some happy hours together as we get this going. Member shoutouts, discounted merchandise, as I just mentioned.
Starting point is 00:36:40 So there are some perks to becoming a member. And we appreciate you guys very much. Clint and I will be back tomorrow night for postgame after game two of the series between the Giants and the Dodgers. Katie, of course, will be working her little butt off in the clubhouse. Allegedly. And then all three of us will be back. Actually, no, Katie and Clint are together on Thursday. I am leaving on Thursday.
Starting point is 00:37:01 I'm flying to Florida to see Morgan Wallen because Morgan Wallen waits for no one. All right, guys. We'll see you. Stalker. We'll see you tomorrow. Go Dodgers. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the energy.
Starting point is 00:37:25 lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
Starting point is 00:37:51 And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok Podcast Network. on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day
Starting point is 00:38:09 and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app,
Starting point is 00:38:23 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.
Starting point is 00:38:35 We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?
Starting point is 00:38:52 Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to The Cliverts show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.