Dodgers Territory - Pitching Shoves, Should Shohei Just Pitch on Start Days? DT Happy Hour!

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Alanna Rizzo, Katie Woo, and Clint Pasillas recap the Los Angeles Dodgers' series with the Mets where pitching, pitching, pitching was the story for LA. Shohei Ohtani capped off a dominant series for ...the rotation with 6 strong innings. And he did so without also slotting into the DH spot. Should Shohei just pitch on start days? The hosts discuss. One player who would benefit from more Ohtani days off is Dalton Rushing. The young catcher is breaking out this season. Is he proving Andrew Friedman right once again? Alanna shares her thoughts. Plus questions from the chat and we look ahead to the series in Colorado during this unexpected happy hour show! One thing to pack, five ways to power! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code FOUL at Ridge.com/FOUL #Ridgepod 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 Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of IHard Media, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this seasonal Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death Mike Sessario. People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you're in the shower. It's really like a stone sculpture. You're constantly just chipping away and refining. Take to Interactive CEO, Strauss Seldin, and our own chief business officer, Lisa Coffey.
Starting point is 00:00:35 Listen to Math and Magic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Saturday, May 2nd, country's biggest stars will be in Austin, Texas, at our 26, IHard Country Festival, presented by Capital One, C, Cain Brown, Parker McCollum,
Starting point is 00:00:53 Riley Green, Shaboozy, Shaboozy, Dylan Scott Russell Dickerson Gretchen Wilson Chase Matthew Lauren Elena tickets are on sale now
Starting point is 00:01:08 Get yours before they sell out at Ticketmaster.com It's Financial Literacy Month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoh Spencer and venture capitalist
Starting point is 00:01:24 Lakeisha Landrum-Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they failed. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Mets, and I said last night on my all Dodgers show, it's like 95% the Dodgers being very good at baseball and 5% Loll Mets. Welcome to this live edition of Dodgers territory on this,
Starting point is 00:02:09 fine Thursday afternoon, April 16th. It is an off day for Los Dyers. Alana Rizzo, Katie Wu, Clemeseus. We are your host for the next 30 minutes or however long we feel like because the fact we're on YouTube and on pods, we can do whatever we want. Speaking of that, please rate us five stars, like and subscribe to Dodgers Territory on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your pods is we try to make our way to 20,000 subs. Buy our new stuff, guys it is a new material on our dodgers territory dot com is lit baby onesie baby t-shirt golf towel bucket hat fanny pack all the things um you guys let's get the questions in we want to make this a very fan friendly very interactive show so if you don't mind get your questions in we'd love to answer
Starting point is 00:02:55 those um we're going to answer them momentarily let us get to the big ticket talk about a sweep Swip. You said it, right? I said two of three. You said sweep. Clint, you have honors. Take it out. Listen, I'll keep it short. I'll keep it sweet. And then I'll stumble through it because that's what I love to do along the way. Pitching, pitching, pitching is 100% the story of this series. It was fun to watch Robleski, Yamamoto and Otani absolutely own the New York Mets. And I said last night on my All Dodgers show, it's like 95. percent the Dodgers being very good at baseball and 5 percent low Mets but when you're looking at your starting rotation posting 21 and two-thirds innings two earned runs allowed and 19ks of course rublesky didn't hold up his end of the strikeout bargain only striking out two but this is the type of crap and we're talking about the Dodgers being very good and the Dodgers having a bunch of depth you look to a series like this and you look at that starting rotation and you feel pretty good
Starting point is 00:04:00 about their chances for that 3P. That's where I'm at. That's the thing I really loved about this series. Katie Wu was there. She's in the know. She's doing all the hard stuff while we just sit here and pontificate about it. It was a good series. I didn't realize.
Starting point is 00:04:16 And we're going to talk about this later in the show, KW, about how we thought the Mets were probably the second threat as far as the daughters were concerned. They are not, at least right now in this small sample size. What did you notice over the course? of the last few games. I mean, Dodgers pretty good at baseball. Yes, slightly. Slightly good.
Starting point is 00:04:36 I was, you know, I knew the Mets coming in. They were reeling, scuffling a bit with their offense. I was really shocked by their overall approach or lack thereof. And, you know, I think that's a testament to just like where they are as a team right now. Carlos Mendoza, their manager, saying straight up they're not playing good baseball after Wednesday's game. And also, the pitching was dominant. I know Robleski didn't have a ton of strikeouts on Monday, but he did hammer the zone. And that's what I think sets Rebleski apart from a lot of pitchers that would be in this fluid role.
Starting point is 00:05:04 He's so early in his career. Some pitchers nibble. They're afraid to go after hitters. Robleski is like, here it is. Good luck. And no, he didn't get a lot of swing and miss, but he got up, because he was so relentless in the zone and because the Mets approach was so not great, he was able to get the results quickouts and that allowed him to go career high eight innings. And then he turned over to ace number one and ace number two. Those numbers switched based on today.
Starting point is 00:05:28 fantastic. Otani lights out. We'll get into both of those. But overall, a really well-pitched series and rest of the bullpen. So now as the Dodgers prepare for this off day and this juggerna four-game wrap-round series in Colorado, they should have their full bullpen ready to go. And Alana, you know how those series go out at Corse Field. They can get pretty long. So best-case scenario for the Dodgers who are an MLB best 14 and 4 and are doing this without Mookie bets which is even more scary. I mean the best thing about being in Colorado for four days is
Starting point is 00:06:02 snooze. It's the greatest breakfast spot ever. It's at Union Station. Go ahead and get in line now because they don't take reservations and it's bay nannas. It's right by the ballpark. Let's talk about Otani and the domination. I almost said denomination. That's just 700 million. It's a lot. Yeah. Let's talk about how much he dominates you guys. I mean, it was interesting when he was like, oh, when Dave was like, hey, I'm not going to have him hit today. He's just going to pitch today. All he did was strike out 10.
Starting point is 00:06:35 It's fine. I mean, the guy is just absolutely ridiculous. There's a lot of jokes coming from this, too, which we will talk about later in the show. But Katie, you witnessed it. I mean, he's just so much fun to watch. And John Smolt, all of favor, John Smolt, said that if he's, you know, he said that if he's, He just pitched, he would be like Jacob de Gras in terms of domination. And Shoah Otani, he looked every bit of that when he took them out.
Starting point is 00:07:03 Yeah, I was surprising. I was surprised when the lineup came out and there was no designated hitter, Shohei Otani at the top of it. And Dave Roberts said that this was a one-off. Remember, O'Tani was hit by a pitch on Monday's game, right in like the upper back shoulder area, the scalpelah for if we want to get technical. And Dave Roberts said, if Shoah O'Hawahy had not been hit by a pitch, he would be hitting yesterday.
Starting point is 00:07:24 So first time in almost five years where Otani was not a two-way player on a day that he was scheduled to start. He said he was surprised at first but agreed to the decision. It just kind of goes to the Dodgers load management of him overall. And then he said he didn't really sense anything different in between innings other than he felt like he had a little bit more time to game plan. Now, don't worry, he's still going to be a two-way player. Dave, Robbins.
Starting point is 00:07:47 The question, like, Dave, is this going to be a thing for you guys? This is a trend. Are you going to sit Otani during the start days? Most likely not. It's got to make sense, as Dave Roberts said, to take your best hitter out of the lineup. But given where Otani was with a hit-by pitch, some lingering soreness,
Starting point is 00:08:02 he felt fatigued after his first two starts. This day, this decision only for yesterday made a lot of sense. And you saw six innings of 10 strikeouts, establish the fastball and just kind of unleashed the arsenal from there. Everything was working. My favorite part about yesterday's game was, as we know, Otani comes in. hadn't allowed an earned run top of the fifth comes that first earned out he says what the hell
Starting point is 00:08:28 i don't do that and dialed it up four straight heaters over 100 miles per hour his four hardest thrown pitches of the game ends the fifth inning leaves the tie and run stranded at third base comes out for one more inning of work strikes out the side on three different pitches business as usual casual all right wait wait clint before before you talk our d h yesterday i do have a question let us pretend that Clint and I were not homers. Let us pretend that Katie wasn't a trusted journalist. Do we, meaning the Dodgers, baby Shohei Otani too much? No.
Starting point is 00:09:09 No, tell me why. Tell me why. Quinn, you are me. I want to hear from you. You, you're the outside. You're the objective. You're the one that has the credentials. We're just here.
Starting point is 00:09:23 Given where he's what he's done in the last two years, two significant elbow surgeries, the Dodgers, we talk a lot about their load management, they don't need pitchers in April, they need them in October, it makes sense to do this. And this is coming from someone who objectively loves to see Shoai Otani
Starting point is 00:09:38 as much as possible. Like I said, I was kind of like, not annoyed, but like where is the leadoff hitter in this lineup yesterday? But I don't think they're bathing him. I think this is really smart because if you lose Otani for any point of time, that is an irreplaceable.
Starting point is 00:09:53 You can't even talk about the magnitude of a loss that is in your lineup. And that's coming from a lineup that is stacked with superstars. So he's a generational talent. He's the best player we're ever going to see in this game. Be cautious with him. It's working. They're going to keep the six-man rotation likely through the rest of the month given the off days. They're also going to try to stack up his start days with the team off days,
Starting point is 00:10:14 similar to what they did last year. This is all by design so we can keep enjoying Show-E Otani. We all want to get greedy, right? We all want to see as much Show-Hae as possible. him taking five and bats every day and taking them out every five days. But if we do that, we're going to lose him. So the Dodgers are really smart to schedule him the way that they are. He has seemed to be very open to it and understanding.
Starting point is 00:10:35 Obviously, he wants to play every day too. But this is what's best and it's going to allow all of baseball to enjoy as much show Hey Otani as possible. And we're three starts in, but he sure looks like already, once again, one of the best pitchers in the league. You know, it's funny. What we're talking about losing the best hitter in the lineup. I didn't see that much of a difference without him in the lot.
Starting point is 00:10:55 Yes, of course you do. Dalton rushing is not the player. I'm like, are you insane? That Shohey Otani is. But even what did Joe say after the game? Like, well, I guess rushing saying like I'm going to get used to it. Shohay said, or I'm not going to get used to playing like this or whatever. And Shohay said like, listen, we got a pretty good DH out there.
Starting point is 00:11:13 That's the one I really want to focus on here. Dalton rushing getting into that lineup hasn't like early in the season extremely small sample size. It hasn't been much of a loss in terms of what he is doing. And then, you know, looking at that recent action, which his whole season is technically recent action. Four homers, he had the Grand Slam last night. Shout out the Dodgers for not listening to us in the early parts of the offseason and not signing the airbender there. We appreciate him setting that spot up. But having Otani take a couple, I'm not saying every time he starts, But if it's every couple of starts, maybe once a month, you give that DH spot to Dalton rushing because you got to keep the kid fresh.
Starting point is 00:11:56 You got to keep him in the lineup, keep him relevant. That's a word that Dave loves to use quite often keeping these guys relevant. And right now there are fewer people on that bench of those bench dogs or bench mafia, as somebody called it last night, which I like. There are fewer guys that are hotter and more deserving of playing time than Dalton rushing. So if this is the path to getting him four more at bats once a week, I think Shohay, or not once a week, months a month, Shohay can take a little bit of a rest and understand it's more about the team than him, even if everybody wants to see him do it both ways. It won't be every, shouldn't be every start.
Starting point is 00:12:38 It doesn't need to be every start. You know what's crazy too is I think we need to, and I was thinking about this and we talked about it in our production meeting today. I think this also is an illustration of how good Andrew Friedman and Andrews staff, his scouting staff and all the things are about building an unbelievable farm system, right? So when we have Will Smith, obviously, who they signed to a 10-year, $100 million extension or whatever it was, he's your guy, right? Austin Barnes gets released. You have Dalton Rushing. Dalton Rushing could have easily been a trade piece at the deadline or in the off-season. reason and Andrew and his guys, girls, staff, found a way to keep Dalton rushing and it's very rare when you can have a team that consistently reloads, not rebuilds, but reloads and still has a very deep farm system.
Starting point is 00:13:36 Let's give kudos to Andrew for keeping Dalton rushing to be able to do these types of things, knowing what you have in terms of talent and what you have. you can expect to have in terms of production. And Katie, I'm interested to know in terms of your perspective about Dalton rushing. I mean, that's a really, he's a good key cog in this whole big puzzle that is the Los Angeles Dodgers because it's not going to take the 26. It's not going to take the 40. It's going to take beyond that to get them where they want to be. And the Dodgers fund office has talked about this a lot about staggering contracts.
Starting point is 00:14:10 It's why they were looking more at the shorter term deals as a free agency than the long ones. And you can also kind of stagger the catcher spot. Dalton Rushing is a good enough catcher. I mean, he was a top prospect for a reason, to be the starting catcher for, let's say, at least 25 other fan bases. And Andrew Friedman for understanding that eventually the Will Smith era,
Starting point is 00:14:31 hopefully not for a long time, will come to an end. And then you have a successor that's already following after Will, that's learning how to be a Dodger, learning how to be a professional plane in front of 50,000 a night. They have the same agent They're close.
Starting point is 00:14:44 They can work with the same pitching staff in the same meetings should allow for a seamless transition when the time comes. And we're nowhere near that. We're just thinking ahead in the future. But also credit to Dalton Rushing, who came in last year, had never not been the guy. He'd never not played at least five games a week. He's learning how to take five at bats per week if he's lucky. And his whole job is to not even get on base, but to turn the lineup order.
Starting point is 00:15:08 He's hitting eight or nine. That's a completely different role than he's used to. And he struggled. And I think he's been pretty candid about how we had to come into this season and not accept that role, but kind of embrace what is required of him in the moment. And that switch in mindset, I think, has led to a lot less pressure that he's putting himself in the box. And we're seeing the box score reflect that. I mean, ambushing the first pitch challenge change up, you know, that's his, that's, that's Devin Williams' best pitch.
Starting point is 00:15:35 And just kind of, don't rushing kind of understanding in the moment, like, I can do damage here. If I just trust myself, my job here is to just hit when I'm ready and not do too much. and then Swats his first career grand slam. That is so much growth that we're seeing from Dalton in just the first three weeks of the season. So I think it really is a credit to the switching mindset that he had to come into for spring training. Dodgers are certainly benefiting from it now. It's unbelievable that you say that because I've covered this great game of ours for 20 years. I've been doing this a really long time.
Starting point is 00:16:00 It's funny how I'm not going to say my age, but like literally we're all 10 years apart. I'm just going to go ahead and say that Katie's the oldest. But you mentioned embrace versus Xxie's the oldest. versus accept. And that is a huge deal. He's not accepting that he's embracing it. Can you expand on that, please? Because that is so important.
Starting point is 00:16:22 It's like it may not define you, but this is who you need to be right now. Yeah. Yeah, and that's exactly it. I feel like if Dolton Mushing comes in and just accepts that he's the backup catcher and this is just kind of his role, is he really putting in the work to make sure
Starting point is 00:16:38 that this is temporary or that he's in the best position to succeed, when he's called upon, rather than if he's embracing it, you can see him going with Will Smith to lead the pitchers meetings, taking control when it's his turn to hit in the cage and hit on the field. You can see the extra work that he's doing in. He's not saying I'm OK with being a backup catcher.
Starting point is 00:16:56 He's saying, I'm OK with this role being what the team needs for me right now. And I'm going to take as much advantage of the extra opportunity that I have when I'm not game planning to make sure that I'm ready for when they need more of me. And yesterday they needed more of him. And he answered the bell and way is the way is. that I think he's been able to do all season because of that mindset. Pretty good. He's pretty good. And the Dodgers, again, in a very advantageous spot.
Starting point is 00:17:20 I jokingly said before the show, and we got to take a pause for, you know, station identification here. Cometic effect. For comedic effect. No, no, talking about, you know, eventually throwing to a break here and we'll come back, continue the conversation because this is enjoyable. Hopefully people are enjoying it. Hit that like button, subscribe and all that kind of stuff if you are. But I jokingly said, you know, the 25-man roster is there's no weaknesses. Now you expand to 26. Alex Freeland is on the roster.
Starting point is 00:17:45 He's been a struggle bus. But listen, he's still young and you still have Tommy Edmund eventually coming back. You have Mookie Betts coming back. Also, we haven't given any love to Hessex on Kim, who wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the injury to Mookiee Betz. And he is playing a goddamn good shortstop. And he's hitting his first homer of the season. There's so much depth. There's so much talent.
Starting point is 00:18:10 And yeah, it's about everybody accepting, understanding their roles and embracing the roles that they have right now. Dalton's doing a great job. He doesn't like it. He shouldn't like it. But he's doing a great job. That's the thing. That's the thing. He shouldn't like it.
Starting point is 00:18:21 That's huge, right? You want guys that want to be out there a day. You want guys that are fighting their way in the line. If you want guys that want the ball in the worst situation, you want guys that I love that. I love that. That's a great way to put it. He should not like it. But to Katie's point, he's embracing the role that he's been given at the time.
Starting point is 00:18:41 Love it. We're so good. This is like this team. Hey, hey, wonder why? Because Riz, outside of your Wi-Fi that's struggling a little bit right now, we have liquid analysts. We have a liquid analyst. I'm a saint today. I'm a saint.
Starting point is 00:18:58 Why is my Wi-Fi all jacked up? How about we do this? Well, one, we got to get Katie some booze, which she doesn't have in the house. So that's a problem. But two, Riz, while I play this break, Alana, you jump out and jump back in. But we'll be right back after a word for our friends at Falta. Crats, the world has a cord problem. Wires everywhere.
Starting point is 00:19:21 It's 2026. And it is time to get a Ridge wallet, five and one. It's not a wallet. It's a charger. Look at this thing. It sticks to your phone. You push the button. It charges your phone while you can charge two.
Starting point is 00:19:36 different items at the same time. Oh, and don't forget, while it's charging, you got a little lean to John that'll help it sit right there. Appreciate your Ridge wallet. This is so nice. Which is great for me. If I'm at the airport, I'm watching a game. I can charge five devices and then I can just watch something on the phone. Of course, they still have the wallets that are money too. And we know the code. It's nice and simple. It's foul. F-O-U-L. One thing to pack, five ways to power. You can find Ridge's Power Bank at Best Buy or our listeners. can get 10% off at Ridge.com by using codefowl at checkout. Head to ridge.com, use codefowl, and you're all set.
Starting point is 00:20:12 After your purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support FT and tell them we sent you. 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. 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 00:20:39 I never get tired of that baseline. Never get tired of that. This is Bleeding Blue It's an opportunity for people to jump into the chat Chat's been going off We appreciate that A lot of people hanging out with this live If you're looking for a different way
Starting point is 00:20:50 To continue to support the show Without just hitting that like button And subscribe check it out We do have YouTube members set up now 399 a month You get an emoji You get different badges There's going to be polls
Starting point is 00:21:02 We eventually start running That you guys will be a part of Just our members will be a part of Helping kind of You know write some different segments Or different thoughts in the show There's also I think a 5% discount on the store. So good, check that out. We'd appreciate it. Click that join button
Starting point is 00:21:17 right here on YouTube. So we have enough money to get Wu a bottle of, what is it? Like whiskey, what kind of, what do you, what's your drink? No, I'm an Arizona state grad. It's Tito's or bus. Yeah. Yeah. That's a problem. Is Tito's from Arizona? No, I just know. Just really dirty people are out there. ASU people. Yeah, there. Oh my gosh. That's, that's so, all. All right. I mean, she did disagree. That degree is prominently displayed behind me somewhere. I don't know what it's worth. All right.
Starting point is 00:21:50 No, wait, I want to know this because we have time and who cares. What gun to your head? To be fair, I just asked this question. Last meal on Earth and what's your non-alcoholic and your alcoholic drink of choice? Oh, my gosh. Last meal on Earth is probably in and out. I just know. Wow, welcome to California.
Starting point is 00:22:12 I was deprived. I was deprived. And then my, like, I don't know what my beverage is. I think I just take a shot, right? Embrace it. You're going down. Keel a shot. Those usually knock me out anyway,
Starting point is 00:22:24 so it would be like a kind of, it would be like a nice little precursor. I want tequila little time. I don't know if you pay attention. Woo, I don't know if you pay attention to the chat, but holy shit, you're a star. Rioja here in Barcelona. Happy to send a bottle to the famous author, Katie Wu.
Starting point is 00:22:42 Wu is cute. I don't want to admit. Capital J. I don't know. Hang on. There's more. There's more. This is so awkward and I just don't give a shit because you know what? I'm on the back nine. I do not care. All right. What are we talking about this? How about this? We got more. Julio wanted to know and I'll put, I'll just put it up here for now and then I'll go to a better screen when I'm smart enough to remember to do that. Julio was asking Katie how the interactions are with the players so far as you get settled in, uh, show hey and just telling us in general. Have a great day. But yeah,
Starting point is 00:23:13 how has the assimilation into the Dodger clubhouse been for you? Honestly, it's been great. And, you know, I've been lucky enough to be able to work in professional clubhouses for several years now. But when you walk into the Dodgers clubhouse, well,
Starting point is 00:23:26 to be fair, there's not usually a lot of players in there when we walk in. Never. They have a lot of meetings. They got a lot of early work. That's why they're good. But I will say the reception of players, yeah,
Starting point is 00:23:36 early work. I know their system. They're available. And they're total pros. and it is very clear to me that they take every responsibility, even dealing with the media, seriously. One thing that stood out to me about show A is if you don't see him a lot, when he is doing his post-game scrums,
Starting point is 00:23:53 he, and obviously I don't really know what he's saying at the time because he's speaking in Japanese, but he talks to each reporter. So whoever asks him a question, he'll talk back at them and hold eye contact and communicate with us. And I'm nodding around like, yeah, I get it. I have no idea what's saying. Thankfully, will I or tune exist?
Starting point is 00:24:11 But it's like the personal connection he tries to make and the intentionality that he does when he's talking to reporters, both in English and in Japanese, like, you don't see a lot of players do that often. And I mean, I think it'd be pretty, you would know her to work anyway because there's like 40 reporters there. But I do appreciate Otani, who's always holding the eye contact and talking to you when he answers the questions, when it can be easy and understandable for players just kind of like look into the abyss and answer questions. Yeah, he's good. He's real good at his job. I was thinking about that earlier, you know, Alana, thinking back to that first series in Tokyo and then all of the, I think it was in Tokyo, might have been the soul series, but all of the drama with Ipe and just that change. Dave has talked about it as well. That change in Otani from then, you know, we saw made him humans. It made him human. 100%. He became, he didn't have his, his wall of protection slash, hey, I don't want people to find out that I'm doing some shady shit using his money. But anyways, um, I really love this version of show.
Starting point is 00:25:13 Hey, we're seeing. We got some questions in the chat. Yes. The first one I wanted to bring up is Dodger Dog 721. I'm assuming your birthday is July 21st. We're going to have too many players. Where is Kiki going to fit? And we've talked about this a lot.
Starting point is 00:25:27 Like Clint just said the 26th man is a little suspect with Alex Freeland. Katie, what's your thought about when? What? Respectfully. Oh, respectfully. What is your thought about when Kiki comes back? Is Alex Freeland the odd man out? I think that's why part of the reason why the Dodgers elected to have Freeland on the opening day roster,
Starting point is 00:25:48 and we talked about this before, they know what they have in Hesong Kim and what he can do. They don't know what they have in Alex Freeland with consistent playing time. And it's also when Mookie Betts went down and why they decided to platoon shortstop instead of second base. They want to give Alex Freeland as much opportunity as possible so that he makes the decision hard for them when Kike, who right now is trending to return before Tommy Edmund, off the IL. Muki Betts still kind of progressing, hasn't gone all the way to full swings yet. Obliques are tricky.
Starting point is 00:26:15 We know this, but he seems to be in good spirits. So we're going to continue seeing Alex Freeland. But when Kike comes back, if the Dodgers don't see better production, that's the decision they're going to have to make because Miggie Roe isn't going anywhere. I think with Kike, he can come in. And I think Mickey Roe and Kike are really here for playoff reinforcement, right? We tell this one for his last year. When she's on the line, you want the guys there that know how to win and the
Starting point is 00:26:39 the postseason. And both Kike Hernandez and Miguel Rojas are postseason caliber players. They just have a different level in their game that make him successful in the playoffs. So you'll see Kike just kind of being that utility rolling around the infield. I don't know what this means for Friland. He has X amount of weeks to turn the production around. And the Dodgers feel like they already know what they have in Kim. But if he continues to produce, he is playing a fantastic shortstop. The bats starting to come around.
Starting point is 00:27:02 That will be a different kind of conversation. So right now, it's too early to tell. Teams don't like to project weeks ahead because an injury can change things like that. But I would say the pressure's on Alex Freeland a little bit to start picking up the production. And beyond that, of course, at some point, this team's going to get Tommy Edmund back. You're also going to have Marcus Lynn Betts back in the lineup. If you're looking at guys that are, and this is not coming from a place of like talking crap or whatever, but guys that will be on the chopping box, Santiago Espinal, Alex Freeland. And then it's going to come down to those really
Starting point is 00:27:31 difficult conversations. What are you going to do with Hessong Kim? What are you going to do with Alex call who's had himself a fucking great season very underrated in the small amount of playing time that he is getting pimping you know walks and all that a la kelly kenny lofton uh i really like alex call friend of the show but this is how you make teams that aren't with all due respect the st louis cardinals by stacking up a shit down i had a player said out the other day they're like no offense no offense with all due as long as you say as long as you say we're like none take it you're like Yeah, Clayton, Missouri. I mean.
Starting point is 00:28:06 Hey, we got another one. We got another Wu question. A re St. Louis here from Stephen. It's either Stevenna or Stephen A. Banks is whatever. This guy says, Katie ever eat the barbecue pig snout while covering St. Louis? Oh, hell no. You can even get me to eat Emo's pizza. No way.
Starting point is 00:28:25 Forget. Ew. No. That seems a little bit suss. Rosamon is in the chat, by the way. asking somebody else in the chat what they're having for lunch. And this is just my shameless opportunity to say, this is my breakfast and my lunch so far because Riz said we're drinking.
Starting point is 00:28:40 So I'm drinking a hard Mountain Dew. It is 1230 my time. I have had coffee and Mountain Dew, end of list today. A hard Mountain Dew, that's a thing? Fancy. Mountain Dew, sponsor your boy. I'm at a loss for words. Listen, it's good stuff.
Starting point is 00:28:56 It's good stuff there. 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. I've 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 IHeart Radio app.
Starting point is 00:29:13 I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old.
Starting point is 00:29:30 I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things,
Starting point is 00:30:02 football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Anna Navarro, and on my new podcast, Bleep with Anna Navarro. I'm talking to the people closest to the biggest issues happening in your community and around the world. Because I know deep down inside right now, we are all cursing and asking what the bleep is going on.
Starting point is 00:30:31 I'm talking to people like Julie K. Brown, who broke the explosive story on Jeffrey Epstein in 2018. These victims have been let down time and time again for decades and decades by local law enforcement, by federal law enforcement, by administration after administration. The Justice Department through, I think we counted four presidential administrations, failed these victims. Listen to Bleep with Anna Navarro as a little bit. part of the MyCultura podcast network. Available on the IHeart Radio app,
Starting point is 00:31:05 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are we spinning forward to Colorado Rockies? I am using the power of Maddie Man 5 Dodge here, who says Coors is a trap series. We got to talk about it. It can be. It can be, Maddie Man 5. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:24 Talk about that Rocky series where we're going to see who we can see again. I forgot who's in that sliding up in that rotation so far. Well, all of our aces, just pitched, right? Yamamoto, Shohey and Rebleski? Sheen first, or is Glasnow first?
Starting point is 00:31:39 Blasnow, Sheen. Sasaki on Sunday, Rebleski on Monday. Gotcha. A wrap-way on series is so weird. Four days in Colorado. That's my hometown, bitches. There it is. We got a little bit of Braheen.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Now, Sheen, and full transparency. Alana was wearing a Denver shirt before the show. I was like, no, I was wearing a Denver Bronco shirt, not a rocky shirt. Let's get it. Don't get it twisted. That's fair. That is fair. Don't throw me into the bus.
Starting point is 00:32:06 But everybody's favorite pitch are going for the Rockies, TBD, both days so far. I honestly don't know if the Rockies have any starting pitching. But Katie, we'll get back to Capital J journalism here. You penned a column today about where the Dodgers are at in terms of that starting rotation, keeping it to a six-man rotation. What more can you tell to find folks here on Dodgers territory about what kind of the rest of the plan is, or I should say the plan is for the rest of the month? Just kind of business as usual.
Starting point is 00:32:35 I really like the sixth man because it opens up another spot for another pitcher. And Justin Robleski is coming off his best start of his career. And it also just keeps everyone healthy. And it keeps everyone rested. And there's no reason to rush through April trying to just get as many guys as possible, five, you know, regular rest. The Dodgers have the luxury of pitching depth that many teams don't have. So why not use it to your advantage?
Starting point is 00:32:59 It's not just for show hey. It's for Yamamoto. So it's for Sasaki, who obviously has some things to figure out. It's for Emmett Sheehan coming back. He's going to be a big part of this season. He needs to stay healthy. Same with Glass now. These are all guys that have had injury histories.
Starting point is 00:33:13 So injury histories, yes. So making sure that you have and you can utilize the schedule with the off days, everyone kind of pitching once a week right now through April, not only opens up that spot for Robesky to see more starts. The Dodgers do believe that his long-term potential is a starter. It also just keeps everyone rested Blake Snell. through another live yesterday. I believe he'll repeat at least one more
Starting point is 00:33:34 and then we'll start talking about a rehab. But right now, what's the point in pitching everyone on traditional rest when you don't have to and your sixth man is arguably better than two of your other pitchers in the current rotation? What a life. What a life. A couple of super chats we appreciate.
Starting point is 00:33:52 So this is Roberto Hernandez 2258, super chat, two bucks from him next seven games, division arrivals, which is true. Go back to the other one, Clint, that Colorado games in Colorado don't count. Do I want the $10? Yeah, Fatty D. Games in Colorado don't count.
Starting point is 00:34:08 Well, they may not in April, but they will in September. So yeah, here's the thing. What? They said they all count. They just dumb. They do. They do all. Just stay healthy.
Starting point is 00:34:18 So I'm going to, this is a random question that I'm going to ask, Katie Wu. So I lived in Manhattan Beach for, well, I lived in L.A. for seven years, five of which were in Manhattan Beach. And now that's where my girl is. I see her posting all these pictures of like, I'm on the beach. And this is like amazing. And la la la la la. What is your favorite thing to do? You got to work on your copy, by the way.
Starting point is 00:34:43 Woo. The la la la la la. Work on your copy. Sorry. What's been your favorite thing so far? Like what's been the best part? Because I honest, so this is no BS. I swear to you guys.
Starting point is 00:34:54 Born and raised in Colorado, live there my whole life. When people ask me what is home, I say, LA, which is crazy, right? I was only there for seven years. I just want to claim it. I want to claim Los Angeles. I want to claim California. It means that much to me. Like when I fly into LAX, like there's just like, I don't have a soul. I don't cry. But like when I fly into LAX, I'm like, so what's been like your impression so far two weeks, three weeks into the season, just like living there Manhattan Beach the Strand all the things go well one seen the sun on a regular basis has really done a lot for my mental health um I've enjoyed that part and being from
Starting point is 00:35:39 california I know northern California Southern California are like two different states but a lot of my family is California I get to see my brother and his girlfriend at least twice a month and I you know Brian Ryan Wu is it Brian Wu I'm just kidding we're both in the area I think I'll figure it out I'll do some investigative For that, for that, that's what that is. I liked it. I thought it was funny. I got the woo.
Starting point is 00:36:05 I got the woo boo. What is wrong? You got the woo boo. Woo boo and Brian. Anyway, sorry. I think what's really stood out to me here is, I mean, I felt like I grew up my career-wise in St. Louis. I was 24 years old, my first feet writing job.
Starting point is 00:36:19 And I'm still so thankful for like the fans there and the people that I worked with that helped put me in a position where I could take the next step in my career. and this is it. So I did feel like a little homesick, right, for St. Louis. And then I get here and you start on an opening day. And Alana, you know this well. Like once the season starts, the grind starts and becomes your whole life. So to have, I think that's what's really sad to me about living in L.A. in general is just kind of being embraced in Dodgers culture.
Starting point is 00:36:47 Not that I'm not thankful for St. Louis culture, I am. But to be able to have that and then see family more and be closer to where I'm from and have a little bit more of a balance. I'm going to try to enjoy that because I've never really had that before. You deserve that. And I'm proud of you. You know, it's funny. It's funny, Riz, when I do see her posting like the Manhattan Beach, like, you know, the beach skate there. No, it just takes me back to you posting it three or four days a week.
Starting point is 00:37:15 Well, because it was awesome. And now I live in New England and it's fucking cold all the time. We went from winter to summer. It was like snowing yesterday. And it's like 112 degrees today. So you know what? The only thing missing to really bring it all together is her posting dirt on my boots somewhere. Every time I packed.
Starting point is 00:37:39 Every time I packed. I think you're actually a stalker. That's why you know that. I follow you on social media. You post the shit. Posted. So what is it like being the boss of two girls on this show? Because like we make your life miserable because I don't follow anything.
Starting point is 00:37:56 that I'm supposed to do. Listen. I'm looking at Rundown. I haven't touched shit on it. We've touched an amount of shit. To be fair. I'm the boss, allegedly. She's the one who guides us.
Starting point is 00:38:10 You're really not. You're really not the boss. But like, you do the most work. I'm not going to lie. You do the, all right. Well, Jeffrey's got it nailed down. This is openly drinking on the job, some professionalism. You know, the only reason I crack this open is because Riz has got
Starting point is 00:38:26 This is the first show I have had a drink on all year. I realize it's 20 games in, but this is it. I've had a really, really bad day. So it is what it is. And I am a fallible person. I am a fallible person. Speaking of that, hey, oh, there's our boss. Scott Brown is our boss.
Starting point is 00:38:48 He's like, why are my employees hammered? Sweet, let's get to Les Licks. Who said anything about hammered? I mean, you don't know how long I've been drinking. We'll still tell people about a dog. All right, guys. So here's the deal. We are very fortunate right now with Guidry's.
Starting point is 00:39:04 All of our dogs are in a good spot. We have three under us right now that are in good foster homes. I mean, obviously they need adopters. But what we really need right now are donations. Honestly, $10 helps a lot. Even if it's, you know, a dollar, 50 cents, $500. We are 100% donation-based. If you are led, if you can, please donate.
Starting point is 00:39:26 Guardian.org. It will help us immensely. All right. So thought for the road is kind of funny because I'm so hot. No wonder. Everyone's like Katie is so great, but look at Alana. I mean, how can you not look at Alana right now? So hot. So Shoay Otani is a very demonstrative dude, right? He's very expressive. He's like all these different facial things. So Dave Roberts was actually, Katie, you were there. You break this down because I, as usual, I don't know what I'm talking about. All right, all right. Give us the insight. So we're talking.
Starting point is 00:40:05 I don't even, this is yesterday, right? Yeah, we're talking about Otani and why he is not top of the lineup. Again, I'm really. And I'm like, excuse me, I'm new here. We got to stay on my routine. We love, we love an expressive man. And Otis is so fun to watch, not because of like what he does on the field, but because of his facial expressions.
Starting point is 00:40:26 And Dave Roberts does this face, and we all know it. One of the reporters asked, what was Otani's reaction? Because David said, you know, I let Shohei know that he would not be hitting today and just pitching. And he was very agreeable. Okay. So then the follow-up question is, well, how did the conversation go? And Dave does the best, I hope we have this video somewhere. I don't have it, unfortunately.
Starting point is 00:40:47 What do you mean? That was the whole point of this. You're no longer the boss. I have to do, Dave. I have to do a reenactment. Dave's reenactment right now? I would. I think we all should. It was essentially, and we all know the clip from Show Hey.
Starting point is 00:41:02 It was like, eyes open. Oh, gosh. It was like, like, show me does that face, whereas eyes get like so big and his like, I don't know, but the way that Dave did it was like perfect and it was so funny. And it would be really funny if we had a video, but clearly the show. No. So it wasn't any of these. It was not any of these. I do have this. You know, that. No, it wasn't any of those. But here's my, here's my, Here's my show, Hey, impersonation.
Starting point is 00:41:27 Ready? Like, we thought everybody was supposed to do their own impersonation. Mine's this. That's right. Sorry about it. Sorry about it. Because the kid is money, you know. I get it.
Starting point is 00:41:41 No, because he has a lot of it. Well, yeah, he's also money. This show will not be submitted for an Emmy, but it's one of my favorites. It was a good time. Bronson said, just saying, hey, he loves D. D.T. you guys could love D.T. Sweet. So we're still employed.
Starting point is 00:41:58 Got to listen. We still have a job. I'll sneak it in music here so we get the hell out of here. We guys subscribe to the channel, like the show, rate and review the podcast as well. This is, you know, Alana says it's not going to be submitted for an Emmy. This is Emmy shit. This is podcast award shit. I mean, we have a great time. But this was not, this was, let's just say this is not my finest hour.
Starting point is 00:42:19 And we know that Katie's gorgeous and her skin is like voluptu, all the things. I mean, like, five days. Forget about it. I need to shave. All right. So wait, what is today, Thursday? So we will be back on Monday. We'll be back on Monday.
Starting point is 00:42:33 Monday, 12 o'clock Pacific time ahead or after, ahead of the final game. The wrap-around, the fourth game set. Rapparound trap series. All right, I got to stop before we run out of music. So we'll see you on the next one. Bye. Bye. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of IHeartMedia.
Starting point is 00:42:55 And I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic, Stories, from the frontiers of marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this seasonal Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario. People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you're in the shower. It's really like a stone sculpture. You're constantly just chipping away and refining. Take two interactive CEO, Strauss Selnick, and our own chief business officer, Lisa Coffey. Listen to Math and Magic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Starting point is 00:43:33 Saturday, May 2nd, country's biggest stars will be in Austin, Texas at our 2026 IHeart Country Festival presented by Capital One. Tickets are on sale now. Get yours before they sell out at Ticketmaster.com. That's Ticketmaster.com. It's Financial Literacy Month, and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum-Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. There's an economic component to community thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail.
Starting point is 00:44:14 Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio 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.