Dodgers Territory - Pitching Updates, Ohtani vs. Lindor MVP Talk

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Alanna Rizzo & Clint Pasillas discuss the Dodgers starting pitching situation being as up in the air as ever.(5:27) There's good news for LA - Yoshinobu Yamamoto returning from the IL and Walker Buehler continuing to trend in the right direction. (7:09) But there are still question marks surrounding Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, and Bobby Miller.(15:33) Scott Geirman from Dodger Blue also joins the show to add to the pitching update conversation.(31:54) An East Coast media personality is presenting the weakest reason yet as to why Francisco Lindor should be the NL MVP over Shohei Ohtani. DT is LIVE on Mondays & Thursdays at 3p ET/12p PT all season long on the DT YouTube channel! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!To claim your free Anytime Fitness trial pass, visit AnytimeFitness.com and get yours today! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Good people. What's up? What's up? It's Questlove. So recently I had the incredible opportunity to have a real conversation with an actress and producer, Jamie Lee Curtis, from routines to recovery, true lies, and a certain Jermaine Jackson music video. Jamie's real and raw. And it's something I really admire about her. I am so happy that I'm the head bitch in charge at 67, that I have the perspective that I have at my age.

to really be able to put all of this into context. Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the story of the woman who last participated in a Formula One race weekend, the recent uptick in F1 romance novels. and plenty of mishap scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years.

Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, the data coming out, his velocity is looking good, you know, his secondary things, all on the positive there. I would start Yamamoto game one to try to maximize his usage in the postseason. Hey, hi, hello, everybody. Welcome to this live edition of Dodgers Territory. We are your host for the next 30 months. minutes. That is Clint Paseas. I am Alana Rizzo. Thanks so much for being here. We want you to get involved. Make sure you load up the questions in the chat so we can get to those momentarily. You know, rate us five stars. If you like what we're doing, we appreciate you very much. Subscribe, like, tell all your friends wherever you get your podcast and of course on YouTube. So we talked about it at length on Tuesday, Clint, about whether or not the Anaheim Angels were going to give Shohay Otani any sort of reception. They did. It was a video. board, you know, kind of hello, welcome back type of situation. I know you really wanted something.

I didn't think it was necessary. This was hilarious. The scoreboard operator said, used to work here. He's funny, though. This dude's sneaky funny. There was one time that Jonah Heim of the Texas Rangers was playing in Anaheim, and Jonah has a daughter and the scoreboard operator said really missed an opportunity. He could have named her Anna. Get it? Annaheim. Jonah Heim's daughter could have been Anaheim. And he also had an opportunity one time when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays was back in Anaheim playing. And he said something like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is like Wilson Guerrero's nephew or something, not referencing his own father, who was one of the famous, most famous angels of all time. So there you have it. So he's a stinky, funny dude. What did you think about what they did for him at the Big A? What they did they do something? I mean, I saw a board. It's like called.

I mean, they put the like, welcome back or whatever, his, his, his accolades or whatever. I appreciate the crowd. I think the crowd gave him a nice, I'm not calling it a standing ovation, but it was a stand and oh. They did, it was the crowd. The crowd did the heavy lifting there. You would assume, too, because it was mostly Dodgers fans. And because it was mostly Dodgers fans, you know, the seats weren't full for pitch one. So shout out to our fine people, show up in the third, leaving the seventh as everybody.

seems to think about LA fans and traffic and whatever. But yeah, you know, nice, nice little cheer or whatever. But I'm sure, you know, when Shohei goes in the Hall of Fame, he's wearing a Dodgers hat, not an Angels hat. It is safe to say that Otani, obviously, did not want to stay in Anaheim. And I'm okay with the level of welcome back that the Angels gave him. I mean, this was a kind of last minute decision, I believe, on Monday to even choose whether or not they were going to do anything for him. I'm okay with it. I didn't need, you know, pomp and circumstance. They said, welcome back. They gave him an ovation. It is what it is. Like, we had this conversation. You were, you were like, these mother efforts better do something for him. And I'm like, I don't really care if they do. So I was fine with the level of welcome back. They just do so poorly at taking care of their own and and giving their organization any sort of history. That was one of the guys you're going to look back as, wow, this is, this was somebody who was very impressive in our organization, somebody who meant a lot to the team, made them a lot of money and best he got was uh you know it is your birthday sort of sign there bera sammas

said they had a photoshop 99 cent banner there um we got to talk about something else too i know producer jeremy really wanted to bring this up but but alana are we really doing this are you going to stage coach this is something that is very important to everybody because they got some artists there uh that you're interested in seeing i'm a little annoyed no uh no john party uh no morgan wallin in there. But how are we getting Alana Rizzo? Here's a deal. I've never been to stagecoach. I lived in California for seven years, not that you have to live in California to go to stage coach. But the point is I've never been because it's a busy part of our season, right? It's the beginning of the season. I had very few days off. I don't like crowds. I don't like people.

It is very difficult for me to, you know, I'm 117 years old. So those types of atmospheres that are like a bunch of drunk, like young people, like kind of driving crazy. But I love love me some country music. There's there things in life that I love. We know dogs. We know baseball. We know this is a side of family and friends obviously, right? So dogs, baseball, wine, and country music. Like that's just my absolute jam. That's my vibe. It sounds like a country song right there already. It is a country song. And I, I really want to go to stagecoach this year. And I really love the artists. I love Tucker Wetmore. He's a new up-and-comer. Obviously, Luke Holmes, obviously, obviously, you know,

Zach Bryan, who by the way, needs a hug. I feel like, hey, Denny, calm down. We're getting there. By the way, Scott Gierman of Dodger Blues coming up. We're going to put up for him, by the way, because Scott's coming up in just a hot second. So, all right, Denny, should I not go to stage coach? I'm like, but should, are the tickets ridiculous?

I think so. I think so, just for people to dress up with their cowboy hats, cheeks out or whatever. I mean, it's a good time, you know, it's good visuals. there, good music, but whatever. We should probably get in to the big ticket. Okay. Lord said the new cowboy boots I just bought a month and a half ago and stage coach, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is apparently going to take the ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. No more rehab, no more getting ready. He's back. That's big news to me,

because we need to get him to the point where he is built up. He's feeling comfortable. He's going to start next Tuesday at Dodgers Stadium, which is smart against the Cubs. That's also smart. They had a good run for a hot second, but they're not going to make the postseason. This is big to me. Is it to you? Yeah, I love this. I was hoping they didn't throw them, you know, waste to start on another rehab outing. I could understand why, you know, maybe if there was something barking in the shoulder, but there's not. The whole point of this minor league rehab assignment was to make sure that he could bounce back. He did it twice. Might as well let him get back, get right against major league hitters. With all due respect to minor

league guys and 4A guys or whatever. Just needed to prove a shoulder isn't going to implode, wasn't going to implode, so we're good. So the next thing we see is probably, what, four innings, 65 pitches or something like that. Maybe at best we got about three starts before the postseason start begins. So getting Yamamoto back as soon as you can. So you can start to lay out what this postseason rotation could look like because we still don't even know when or if we see Tyler Glass now. So this happening now, great, great news for the Dodgers. And that is another point that I wanted to make that you started to say there.

It wouldn't be as big of a deal the addition or the subtraction of one pitcher if the other four were healthy. And if the other four were healthy and productive. And so far that is not the case really for any of them. Why hasn't a woman formally participated in a Formula One race weekend in over a decade? Think about how many skills they have to develop at such a young age. What can we learn from all of the new F1 romance novels suddenly popping up every year? He still smelled of podium champagne and expensive friction. And how did a 2023 event called Wagageddon change the paddock forever?

That day is just seared into my memory. I'm culture writer and F1 expert Lily Herman, and these are just a few of the questions I'm tackling on no grip, a Formula One culture podcast that dives into the under-explored pockets of the sport. In each episode, a different guests and I will go deeper into the wacky mishaps, scandals and sagas, both on the track and far away from it, that have made F1 a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Good people. What's up? What's up? It's Questlove. So recently, I had the incredible opportunity to have a real conversation with actors and producer, Jamie Lee Curtis, ahead of the release of her new thriller series, Scarpetta. I can honestly say I've never done an interview like. that before, you know, at one point I shut my laptop down. And we just started chatting as old

friends, recent Oscar recipient. So we have some commonality there. I predicted that, by the way. And you said these words to me, dust off your mantle. Yes. And I looked at you and I said, what? And you said, dust off your mantle. And then I left and that was it. And then when all of that happened. I remember the next morning, I think I wanted to, like, write you and go, how did you know? Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rows rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I

would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of he said she said and the search for accountability in a sea of lies listen to love trapped on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Gavin stone has been the most reliable productive starting pitcher that the los angeles daughters

have had in the 2004 season over the course of the time in which he has started bobby miller is probably not going to make a postseason roster right now he's just not i don't know what it is If it's in between the ears, if it's something mechanical, if it's just a sophomore slump. I don't know what it is, but Bobby Miller, his final line against the most, you know, his most recent outing, Clint was not good. And Fabian Ardaya of the athletic pointed this out too. His final line, five innings, five hits, seven earned runs, three walks, seven earned runs, three walks, eight K's, which you like the K's. I get that. But on 85 pitches, a 779 ERA, that is not going to get it done.

They also massed up, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Miguel Rojas. But I tell you what, like, that's just, those are not productive numbers heading into the most important time of the season. He had a little stretch here where maybe he was pitching himself back into some sort of conversation, some sort of, you know, staff role,

not necessarily a starting pitcher, starting pitching role, but right now I'm out. I am all the way out. There's too many things that are just wrong, too many things that are kind of broken. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said all of the things that are wrong. Is it between the ears? Is it the mechanical?

Yes, and yes, there's something going wrong. You're not seeing somebody who kind of knows exactly where the ball is going each and every time. You're seeing big time differences in the mechanics here and there. There's nothing showing me that right now he's ready to get big league hitters out consistently. And, you know, I'll shoot myself in the foot early by saying this is a what have you done for me lately kind of league, even though I'm going to very much change my opinion on that when we talk Walker Bueller in just a second. But he's not done enough. He hasn't earned enough leash to be like, look, we know he can figure it out. He's earned this spot. He has not done enough. So at this point, he's got really good tickets to the postseason, but he ain't pitching.

Remember when Walker didn't make the postseason roster? He actually wasn't even on the team yet. He was still a rookie and he went to the postseason. He was sitting like in the triple deck. I'm like, geez, they couldn't get the number one draft pick that they. They had better seats. But by the way, Bill Plunkett of the OC Register, tweeting this saying, Miller will stay in the rotation and start against the Cubs next week. Cubs coming into town, by the way, see Cody Bellinger again. But, you know, it's, yeah, you're right. I'm out.

I'm out on him too. But again, it's like Tyler Gladys now is out. Yamamoto's coming back, but what is he going to be? You know, Flaherty, obviously, we need him to perform. This is a rotation that makes me, Hershaw's out. You know, it gives me pause. Eric says this. Dodgers aren't doing a good job in managing their home loan pitchers. I wouldn't say that.

I just think that it's an issue of, I just think that he is in over his skis. I've said this a thousand times. I think guys get brought up way too quickly without having enough innings in the minors because they're forced to come up, A, because of injury or B, because they're cheap. Miller needs to be sent way back to single A to learn how to pay. I'm not certain that he has to go back to single A. but Bobby Miller at home is money, but Abel of Minerva, you're not going to have every, you know, every game is not going to be at home. He's not ready. And right now with what I've

seen his stuff, he's not ready. No, he's very much not. Even with the injuries, even assuming no, you know, worst case scenario, assuming no Yamamoto, assuming no Glass now, I still don't want to see Bobby Miller starting a game. It's just the stuff is not there. The poise is not there and you know he's been he the knock on him early in his minor league career was that he could not get uh he didn't pitch well out of the stretch so if you walk the lead off batter you're immediately putting yourself in a hole he also i think hit a batter or two last night just knowing how important the neck this stretch of game uh stretch of games were or was for him or whatever this month um i think my my friend jeff snider said it on on his show last night he

He's consistently shooting himself in the foot. And, you know, thanks for trying. We'll see you in spring training next year. That's where I'm at with big game, Bob. No more big game. He's not trending in the right direction, but you said on our production call earlier today that Walker Bueller is. You saw something you must have liked in Anaheim again.

He's better at home than he is on the road. Just considered a last season of sophomore slump. I'm thinking sophomore slump, too. I'm in agreement there with David. It's the hair ever since Bobby started growing his hair. He's falling with a cliff. I don't know. I think it's more in between the ears,

not necessarily the lettuce in the show. But you like what you're seeing with Walker. Why? With Walker. So one thing that also is kind of really effed Walker in the A this year, he has not gotten received crisp defense behind him at any point, or at least consistency or consistently. But Bueller, I'm buying.

I'm all the way in on Walker Bueller. He's showing signs of butane of old. the guy that we saw in the postseason. And I'm an eye test guy. I love the eye test. And he's showing something. He's got some bravado back. He's got some strut back.

You know, that's what you want to see out of Walker. Early in the season, it kind of felt like he was searching. Not, didn't feel it. He was searching a whole lot. Dave said it, but you could also see it on the mound. But knowing you could get that guy possibly back and, you know, there's a lot, between now and a month from now, there's still a lot of baseball to be figured out. again, we'll go back to what is Yamamoto going to be?

Is Glass now going to come back? But if Bueller's a rotation option, I'm not upset at it because, again, this is where I shoot myself in the foot where earlier I say, what have you done for me lately kind of league, but what has he done in his career in the postseason, he has been very, very good. I think it's a sub-25 ERA and 12 some odd starts, had a nine-start stretch in the postseason, culminating in that 2020 World Series where he posted an ERA under 1-3. He is very, very, very good

when the lights are at the brightest. And he's trending in the right direction. Everything I'm seeing out of him right now is very, very good. You said he's trending in the right direction. You're also an I guy. I too am an I gal. But what is trending in the right direction is the curveball. I mean, he gave up a couple of solo shots,

one to Logan O'Hoppe on a cutter, one, two, I think it was Ward on a fastball. But I know he's not a curveball guy, but that looks good. His off-speed stuff looks better. You know, if he can get back to where he wants to be with that fastball, I agree with you on the strut. I just, God, I need, I need confidence in our top three. I don't know. And what's crazy, Clint, is we sit here on September 5th, and I don't know who our top three are. Got to, you got to wait two or three weeks to know. We get, one guy back on Tuesday. But as of now, it's what, Flaherty, Stone, and Walker Bueller. That's kind of the top three. Does that give you a lot of like, I cannot wait for the postseason to start?

We better put up 75,000 runs. Yeah. Hey, we got the offense to do it. We've seen that. They, they put up some good, put up a good game there in Anaheim and game one. We'll talk to our buddy Scott Gierman about it. He's going to join us on the other side. But first we got to hear from our friends, AJ Presensky Air Crats, and of course, Scott Braun with Anytime Fitness. The summer gets super busy and getting back on a good fall workout routine needs to be easy for me. With Anytime Fitness being available anytime, anywhere, they make it easy to work on getting stronger and more confident into my schedule. Crats is spot on. It's got to be easy to make that routine happen. And that's why we love Anytime Fitness with access to 5,000 plus

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But this guy's money with the hot takes course. You know him from Dodger Blue does his live streams over there. I think you guys were live last night, if I'm not mistaken, if not Tuesday, where I bugged you on the show. But Scott, what's going on? What do you like about this team? And what do you like about the Yamamoto news? So there are a lot of things to like recently about the Dodgers. Great.

Always, you know, we'll start off. Good to see you both. Clint, it's great to be on. These last few weeks, we spoke about, you know, on our show, and I believe a bit on here about Dodgers trying to find some identity following the, you know, the trade deadline and heading into August. And since about August 16th, and I had it pulled up, I believe it was, you know, right there after the St. Louis series started. Dodgers are 13 and five. They've been on a nice run of series wins here, split with the Angels here in the freeway series. But I want to piggyback on a lot of what you said about, you know, Walker Bueller. I like them.

You know, the attitude that Mookie Betts brought. I'm thankful that they took care of business against the Mariners. Nice sweep there. One a series against the race. One a series against the Orioles. Going to Arizona, take three or four. Look, they're taking care of business. There are a lot of positives here while you're still waiting for some of this injury news to break. And now Yamamoto's coming back. Land an axe up. That's an arm that we can trust. We have a good baseline of where he's at. and we're seeing the big three clicking right now. Who is your big three, Scott? Who's your pecking order of the starting rotation?

Oof. So I was speaking of the offense, but if you're talking about the pitching staff, that's okay. But if we're talking about the pitching staff, we're going to think glass have full with, you know, Tyler Glass now, okay? And Yamamoto, all the, you know, the data coming out, his velocity is looking good, you know, stuff, you know, his secondary things, all on the positive there. I would start Yamamoto game one to try to maximize his usage in the postseason just for the off, you know, making it deeper in. I would say Yamamoto, you're going to go Flaherty and then Glass Now because I don't know how much leash. I don't know how much leash you're going to have glass now. Is he going to have enough time to build up his innings, build up his pitch count into the postseason here?

I think they're going to softball it. They're going to go real slow with him. But I would say it's those three. And then after that, you're going into Gavin Stone. And then we're going to chat Walker Bueller. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, best case scenario, you get, you get Glasnow back. He's able to build up to maybe like six innings or something like that.

That might be bold. It feels like they're going to need that piggyback guy. Do you think if everything shakes out the way we kind of hope and expect? I mean, we're talking about this the last time we did a show talking about Kershaw or whatever. We could assume our top four already. Who is that the guy that's best suited for like a piggyback role? there's a chance that both Yamamoto and Glasnow need somebody early in the postseason if they're not really fully built up. Is it Kershow or is it Bueller? I would honestly say it right now with what

Walker Bueller is showing. I know his ERA, stuff like that, but what my main consistent theme with him, and a lot of our chats take a note of it is, and I'll piggyback what Alana said is about his curb ball. His curbstall usage has spiked from a season rate of going into his last August 14th start against Milwaukee. It was about 13% curbball usage. The next three weeks, that thing spiked to 31%, 36, 30%. So there's a massive jump there. It's bringing his curveball, or no, his fastball back to relevancy. And he is not the reason the Dodgers are losing games. He's keeping him in there. With the heater, this on this bullpen is in, he's giving them enough innings, where you can say he's providing the Dodgers with some quality starts to give them, you know, five innings. And it was great to see

Walker Buehler crossed that five-inning threshold for the first time since he came back. So I'm liking what I'm seeing from him. You know he's going to compete, but he's not the reason they're losing games. So everybody's got to lay off. If you're not seeing, you know, 2018 Walker Bueller, take it easy. He's not the problem when things go bad, Walker Bueller's providing them with quality stuff. So I would say right now with what we don't know about Clayton Curshaw and the things that we do know about Walker Bueller and what he's continuing to show and grow, which is cool to say,

Walker Bueller growing at this point of his career. I would say I'm going to give the nod to Walker Bueller. I love the order of Tyler Glasnow, Yamamoto, Flaherty, Stone. I would be very happy with that. If those were the four that were going into the postseason for a best of five, provided the Dodgers are the number one seed in home field, I would, I'd be very happy with that. Now, again, what is Yamamoto going to look like? Is he going to look like the Yamamoto that we saw in New York? What is Glasnow going to look like? Are they just protecting him and putting him in bubble wrap, keeping him fresh and stretched out until the postseason because of the innings limit? Is Stone going to realize that he's 12 years old pitching in the postseason and, you know,

shit the bed? Is Flaherty going to man up and be what we hoped he was when we signed him to the one-year deal? I would love that order. That would be fine. Let me ask you this, Scott, is there someone that we don't even see right now on the 26th man that could be a different If Bobby Stone, if Bobby Miller's not on the roster in the postseason, is there somebody in the 40 man that would be? I mean, if you're looking for someone that's provided them with some innings, I would say I know a lot of people have brought up the peripheral stuff with Landon Nack and stuff say he's due for some regression. But I like the stuff that he's brought. I don't know how much upside he's going to bring. But I'm talking about if you put him in the bullpen and you say, you know, Tyler Glass now gives you, we'll say,

and you need somebody eat some innings there. I've got confidence that Landon Nack's going to go in and pump the zone. He's not going to walk guys. He's not going to put the Dodgers into a position where he's creating more trouble. If he gives up a home run, so what? You know, I like Landon Nack in a long relief role from that sense. A difference maker, you know, those guys have to separate themselves in the postseason. It's so tough to gauge what these bright spots are going to pop up in October.

The Arizona Diamondbacks had quite a few of them. And that's what made them such an interesting team. I thought it was going to be River Ryan early in the year. It should have been River Ryan. But Landon Nack has shown enough for me that he's in the times he's been called up, sent back down, that I've enjoyed what he's brought to the table. And I'm very happy that he's going to be back with the team because he's got a lot of moxie. He's got some grit to him.

You know, when you get called up, sent down and you're able to keep a certain level of consistency, it says a lot for me. I don't know the ceiling, but that's someone that Dodger fans should keep note of. That if there's a wild card to add to the roster, I would say, It's Landon Knack right now for me. And it's funny because he's kind of the only other healthy dude. That's where we're at. It should be River Ryan.

I miss you, Boo. He would have done magic things for this team in October. We talked a lot about pitching now. Let's kind of pivot. Let's talk offense. You mentioned the big three on offense. This is a very, very fun big three. And Dodgers fans in recent years have been very blessed with the top third in the order.

However, we've also seen them kind of fizzle out when it matters most in October. What do you think is different about this top three and who's kind of an X factor for you in the lineup outside of the top three guys when it comes to meaningful games in the postseason? I mean, it's got to be like to Oscar Hernandez, Will Smith. You know, Will Smith's had his tough times here. But some recent performance there, you know, going into Arizona, having the big swing in the first game and having some big swings throughout the series. Hard hit rates have been a solid thing for him. He's been maintaining that. The results just haven't been there.

Teoska Hernandez, I think all of us have kind of taken note that when the big moment is there, he's able to lock in. And when he's on an ad bat, that you know he's going to do some damage, it just looks like he's got a different feel in the box. And I think we've all seen that quite a bit. I would say Teosker, but, you know, you could pick and choose right now. There's different spots in the lineup. It's a whole different conversation prior to the deadline and prior to Tommy Edmund, prior to Max Monce, because you could say Tommy Edmund at the bottom. Miguel Rojas has been terrific with runners in scoring position. plus matchups. Max Muncie. How can we forget about Max Muncie? So it's hard for

Kevin Luck. Come on. Our guy. Gavin Lux. For sure. Yeah, for sure. That platoon there that they're working out with righties and lefties here. It's providing Chris Taylor with some good opportunities there. It's all about finding the matchups. And these are conversations, Alana, that we weren't able to have early in the season. It was like, who the hell is going to find some positive run here? Now we're getting to the spot where, yes, I see people in the chat. Kiki, big moments, absolutely, that we can finally have these conversations, take a breath and let these guys carve a role for themselves again and get back to Dodger baseball that made them so successful for years.

That's the absolute thing that. They're dominating. They're leading the vision, best record in baseball. And now we're saying, look, good times are still to come, you know? And they're still getting healthy and guys are able to be in the roles that put them up, put them up for success the most. You know, I think before we were just trying to fill holes and stop the bleeding. and here we are getting healthy and guys are being able to be where they're supposed to be.

Why hasn't a woman formerly participated in a Formula One race weekend in over a decade? Think about how many skills they have to develop at such a young age. What can we learn from all of the new F1 romance novels suddenly popping up every year? He still smelled of podium champagne and expensive friction. And how did a 2023 event called Wagageddon change the paddock forever? That day? is just seared into my memory. I'm culture writer and F1 expert Lily Herman,

and these are just a few of the questions I'm tackling on No Grip, a Formula One culture podcast that dives into the under-explored pockets of the sport. In each episode, a different guest and I will go deeper into the wacky mishap, scandals, and sagas, both on the track and far away from it, that have made F1 a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Good people. What's up? What's up? It's Questlove.

So recently, I had the incredible opportunity to have a real conversation with actors and producer, Jamie Lee Curtis, ahead of the release of her new thriller series, Scarpetta. I can honestly say I've never done an interview like that before. You know, at one point I shut my laptop down. And we just started chatting as old friends, recent Oscar recipient. So we have some commonality there.

I predicted that, by the way. And you said these words to me, dust off your mantle. Yes. And I looked at you and I said, what? And you said, dust off your mantle. And then I left and that was it. And then when all of that happened, I remember the next morning, I think I wanted to, like, write you and go, how did you know? Listen to the Kusloff show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final Rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines. It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of of a very strange paternity scandal.

The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped.

This season, an epic battle of He Said She Said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What do you think about Will Smith? You like the fact that he's working to write center a little bit more. Does that give you some inspiration about Will? Because Clint wanted him to go to Rancho Cucamonga about two weeks ago.

I mean, it's, you know, for what my biggest thing with Will Smith is that the results not being there for an extended period. The drop off in the second half is something that the organization will have to figure out, why is this consistently happening? What's going on there? Because last year, it wasn't so exaggerated. I think he was at about a 90 WRC plus. So it's a pretty for a guy who was above average hitter. Last year, he was about a 90 WRC plus for the second half. This year for quite some time, he was operating well below that.

So for him to have an uptick, I would say in recent weeks, I'm just going to use that August 16th spot as a good place for me. But his hard hit rates, his barrel percentage, stuff like that since August 16th, have been on the rise. And it kind of all came to a head against Arizona at a big time when they need. needed it the most. So what I've liked, Alana, Clint, is that when the Dodgers have needed these things to line up, all at the same time, it's not like one guy is coming through in one game. It's that against Arizona, it all started to click. Will Smith started to show up.

Mookie Betts has had some unbelievable aggressiveness with runners and scoring position, something I've been banging the table, yelling about it, 50. Please stop getting yourself into two strike counts with runners and scoring position to pigeonhole yourself where you've got to, you know, protect the plate, be aggressive. So Will Smith getting himself into good ball counts here, you know, that swing he had on a, you know, stuff inside, that's Will Smith. Yeah, right center is cool. But the fact that he doesn't have the quick is bad. But when he's able to just gear in on something on the hands, we've, we, there's almost nobody better. Mookie Betts and Will Smith, some of the two best guys on barreling stuff in her half. And that's when it's just like,

take a side, take a sigh of relief. Like these guys are clicking. So I, I, I, I, get you, buddy. Clint, I get you, man. Like, it was hard to watch, but I'm, we, I had the revelation on this show. Who's out there? Who's out there? That's better than Will Smith. Who would you rather have behind the plate? A lot of, a lot earlier in the thing was saying back of the baseball card. And I'm just like, in my mind, I'm like, Scott, am I going old school ball fan now? Back of the baseball card? Like, I had to remember a lot of these guys have done this for a long time. And he's somebody that how can we say he's nothing but been consistent, you know? But he's also been consistently falling off.

a cliff in the second half of seasons. So that's something again, like we talked about on my show last week. We need to figure out how to keep him fresh and froggy throughout a season. And by the way, if you're talking about being old school, you can't bring up WRC Plus in front of Alana Rizzo. She has no idea what the hell you're talking about. I totally didn't. And I was, you know, honest to God, I was doing it on this show.

I had no idea what that meant. And then I was doing the Race to the Pennant on True TV with Yonra Alonzo. And I was like trying to talk about like Francisco Indoor, which we're going to get to in a second. And I was like, he's really good since May 18th on WRC Plus. I was like, I don't know what that means, but it looks good. All right. So Lindor or Otani, pretend you're not a Dodger fan. So pretend I'm not a Dodger fan.

You look at the argument for war and F-war, and we'll get into that as far as valuable players. I've seen the argument, heard it a bunch. I am an Otani fan. So I will get the bias out there. And we're continuing to see what a generational talent is doing, all the time. He's chasing 50-50. He's on track to look like he's going to cross that number. He's already done something no player has done 45-45 or 43-43. I think that with what Lindor is doing is providing the Mets with an all-around superstar. And if you want to tell me that Lendor is just being

an all-around player going, you know, Premier shortstop, he's doing what Mookie Betts did at the early part in the year when it was the runaway, right? When Mookie Betz finds that, you know, stays on track for what he was doing, Mookie Betz was on track to win an MVP because it's a premier position at shortstop. There is an argument for Francisco Lindor to, you know, gain MVP votes from that sense. Absolutely. Like, it's not going to be a runaway because voters will say Lendor is doing this offensively at a premium position. He's brought the Mets out of the gutter. I don't buy the whole thing of, oh, he's a leader in the clubhouse, that shouldn't be a thing with voters. You should purely look at on-field performance and stuff like that, what you're doing.

But if the Mets don't make the postseason, it's hard for me to say, what, you know, is he really, you know, is that, are we doing that? Are we going to get into an argument where if Otani gets 50-50 does something, he's going to have over a 1,000 OPS, and you're not going to give it to him just for the fact that he's a designated hitter. Like he's, this year with stolen bases, home runs, you know, what he's doing, average-wise, slugging, consistency, generational. Never seen this before.

So I think that history, I think history trumps a player of what, you know, what Lindor's doing, not taken away from him. But when a guy's making history, you have to acknowledge that because he's doing something you never seen before. Hey, but Lindor talks nice to the media. So that's something Alana and I are going to chew on after the bump here. But Scott, Scott, I want to thank you for coming on. That is Scott German, of course, joining us once again here on the show.

Are you guys streaming tonight? I won't be on there today. I'm going to, I have to coach my, not have to. I'm coaching my daughter's softball practice tonight. So I'll be out there in the heat. It's going to be a fun time. So I'm off tonight. I appreciate you coming on.

Make sure you give me a follow. Good Dodger fan, good smart guy, and also a good daddy out there. But let's get into last licks, Alana. All right. Sounds good. I love this. Always appreciate our boy. Scott German coming on.

How about this, guys? We have good news today. Sheldon was adopted. Sheldon is the first of these seven puppies to get adopted. So thank you so much to the Dean family for adopting Sheldon. Hallelujah. That means that six are left. And I'm going to present you Priya today. Again, this is the Big Bang Theory litter. And Priya is in need of adoption. She just like a brother, almost four months old. They're all from the same litter. I mean, how cute is she? Look at that baby. Look at that baby. She's so cute. Priya is. Four months old, fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated. She is currently in near the Landers, California area. So if you're interested in adopting Priya, let me know, giddreysguardian.org. Okay, as we look at our baseball thought for the road, how about this? Oh, yeah, by the way, really quickly, the Cubs are coming into town. You can win four tickets in a parking pass on Max Muncie Bobblehead Night.

Any, literally any amount to donate gets you into the contest. The contest ends on the ninth. It will be announced the winner randomly. We pick it randomly. We announce it on the ninth. So every single cent goes to dogs in need. So get yourself some tickets and a parking pass on Max Muncie Bobblehead night. The game is on September 11th. We were just talking to Scott Gierman, Clint, about this whole situation. And this is from Danny Abriano, who works for the New York Mets, works for SNY. We'll say it again when it comes to Lindor versus Otani. It's not that Lindor plays elite at an elite level, plays an elite position at an elite level.

It's not that he plays every day. It's that he's a little bit. it's that he's a leader in a clubhouse on the field and with the media hopefully voters aren't blinded by homers and steals are you effing kidding me bro are you kidding me right now with this yeah i love what denny cortez said in the chat you know the precedent was set last year looking between uh you know if you're looking at homers and steals that's how ronald akunia junior won an MVP last year with his historic nobody's done it 4070 season um that's just a that's a that's a that's a that's a crock of shit right there to say that, oh, because he's nice to me. He talks to me. He should be the MVP and he's a leader in the clubhouse. You don't think Shohei is a leader in that clubhouse. Not every leader is vocal. Not every

leader is performative and needs to show like, are the cameras on? Hey, you're doing a bang up job over there, Jeff McNeil. I don't know. I'm talking, not here to talk Yanks, but it's a dumb-ass thing. If Show-Hae gets 50-50, that's, I think that's a lock.

I already said, I guarantee you he's winning your National League most valuable player award, even at 44, 46. So he's got the first ever 44-44 season. That's already unprecedented. That's enough to say he's a lock. And also, when you look at the numbers, it's supposed to be about offense. It's supposed to be about the counting stats, the numbers, and Shoah is better than Lindor in just about everything but what? I think games played and at-bats. But even so, he's got time to catch up on the at-bats because he's leading off now. That's just, it's a weak, weak argument. It's a biased argument. And of course, we're biased as well. We're covering the Dodgers. But, you know, peeling back the fandom, that is not a reason to vote

somebody as an MVP. Why not invoke Kike? He's a clubhouse guy. Let's do it. He dresses up like a banana. Yeah, no, I get it. Listen, and I don't care that Choday is not pitching this year. I don't care that that's not the defense that he's. I don't care. I mean, I don't give him extra points because he's rehabbing either. But the point is, and Francisco Lindor is a phenomenal player. But right now, as we sit here on September 5th, Francisco's not on a playoff team. And I understand that the conversation might continue and it might further when if the Mets get in.

But again, a historic season that Shohay Otani is having to me trumps anything that anybody else is doing. Decoy beats Lindor's dog. Unless, Unless Owl of Minerva, Lindor has a rescue versus a purchase dog. But I want to meet Decoy so badly. All right. So the Dodgers are coming up on a series, Clint,

with the Guardians, a team that could very well be in the postseason, obviously, you know, second best record in the American League. I know it's early, very unlikely to have a Dodgers Guardians World Series could happen. Do you care about this series?

Yeah. I will sit here and admit fully. I know so little about the Cleveland organization. I'm assuming they still have a manual class A. They still have Jose Ramirez, who's having a sneaky, very good season. But other than that, what I'm looking forward to in this series

is the Dodgers facing good pitching. That's all I care about. I want to see this offense. Click against the best of the best, because that's what you will face in October, and that is all I care about is the Dodgers doing good in October. So give me more series like this and less of what we're getting afterwards with the Cubs.

And I like the fact that they're playing a team that can win in a variety of different ways. How do you how do you neutralize a team that can not only slug but also can play small ball too? And I'm interested to see how they handle that. A good lineup, they have a great leadoff hitter in Stephen Kwan. He's fast. He's a good defensive outfield. They're obviously Class A should be the Mariana Rivera closer of the year, whatever the hell, the reliever of the year because he's unbelievable in the American League.

So you're not doing a show tonight, correct? Unless things shake out really differently and I decided to pop on super late. I've just got too much going on and I'm doing a weekend, turn around another camping trip because your boy can't not be pretend homeless enough these days. Is it 180 degrees in California this week? Pretty gnarly. It's pretty freaking nary. It was like 86 this morning at.

nine, something like that. So it is not a fun time here in L.A. So that's why I'm going up to the mountains where it's a little bit cooler. But tube in on my channel either way or go subscribe there, hit that notification bell. So it'll tell you if I do go live. And if not, we'll be back here on Monday. You could tube in here, hit that subscribe, hit the notification bell. So you guys know when we go live here.

Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Share it to your grandma or your mailman. If you like what Scott had to say, all those sorts of things. And also, another way to help support the show, listen to the podcast version. Go leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe there if possible. We'd appreciate the hell out of you for it. Clint, you have become one of my favorite people. It's been fun to get to know you over the course of this.

We appreciate you guys. We'll see you back on Monday. Another fresh live edition of Dodgers territory. Have a great weekend. Go Dodgers. Bye. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrific.

horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Good people, what's up, what's up? It's Questlove. So recently, I had the incredible opportunity to have a real,

conversation with an actress and producer, Jamie Lee Curtis, from routines to recovery, true lies, and a certain Jermaine Jackson music video. Jamie's real and raw. And it's something I really admire about her. I am so happy that I'm the head bitch in charge at 67, that I have the perspective that I have at my age, to really be able to put all of this into context. Listen to the Questlove show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ready for a different take on Formula One?

Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the story of the woman who last participated in a Formula One race weekend, the recent uptick in F-1 romance novels, and plenty of mishap scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.