Dodgers Territory - Shohei's Pitching Plan Around WBC, Dodgers Insight with Orel Hershiser!

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

Alanna Rizzo, Katie Woo, and Clint Pasillas dive into the latest news and headlines out of spring training for the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers! What is the pitching ramp up plan for Shohei Ohtani while he's participating in the World Baseball Classic? Katie has the latest (4:31). (11:35) Alanna and Clint talk about their experience at spring training last week. We hear from Andrew Friedman who spoke about his concern for pitchers playing in the WBC (17:42). Plus, Orel Hershiser joined us at Camelback Ranch to talk about the 2026 Dodgers and his role with the club this spring (22:49). Use our code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order* seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TERRITORY10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Quit overspending on wireless with 50% off Unlimited premium wireless. Plans start at $15/month at MintMobile.com/Territory Check out DT merch at dodgersterritoryshop.com Support Guidry's Guardian at guidrysguardian.org Find Clint on YouTube at youtube.com/@alldodgers Follow Katie's work at The Athletic 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.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host at the podcast The Away End, with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, 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 podcast. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person?

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featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more. I'm an alcohol. And without this group, I'm going to die. Listen to the Sino show on the I-Hare radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Are we going to get an Otani version off the mound where it's two, three innings,

and they use them as an opener or a bulk man and they use the rest of the bullpen to plan that out? We don't know yet. The Dodgers don't know that. Otani doesn't know it yet. Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to a brand new episode of Dodgers territory. We are in three different states.

Alonarizzo in Massachusetts, Katie Wu in Arizona, Clint Paseas in California. We are taking you through the next half an hour of a brand new show. Thanks for being here, you guys. appreciate it. Please rate us five stars, like and subscribe to the Dodgers territory. We're trying to get to 20,000 subs. You can do it on YouTube, of course, or anywhere that you get your

podcast. Let's get into the big ticket. Katie is at camp. Let's get there now, Clint. All right, Katie, I'm going to defer to you. You're the one there in the flesh with these guys, in the clubhouse, in the dugout. The Dodgers are 2 and 0 so far. They have outscored their opponents 20 to 3 without a home run. They've done a really nice job. But more importantly, it's not about the results, Katie, it's about the process. What have you noticed in your first week and change

being at Camelback? Oh, yeah, boots on the ground journalism here on this show. Sorry about the background noise. We are like three minutes from first pitch here at Camelback Ranch. But I think the big theme for the early part of Dodgers spring is, stop. We've heard this before, slow playing.

We are seeing a very slope. with a lot of the stars coming off. Another short post or short off season, which is a great thing for if you're the Dodgers. So we haven't seen like a lot of guys, Buki Betts hasn't been in there yet, Freddie Freeman. You're seeing as a lot of the pitchers slowly start to ramp up. Some guys, again, just kind of resting.

They don't really need all five, six weeks of spring to get ready for this six, seven month long season. So, and they're taking the field right now. But we'll see more and more veterans get into more games later, especially with the WBC beginning. Otani, I'm sure we'll take. talk about. He left yesterday. Yamamoto around maybe the weekend, Hassan Kim, all those guys looking to leave within the next week. So then I think we'll start seeing the progression of more

playing time. Yeah, we got Landonac on the bump today is we're getting people mixed in there. We saw the Blake Snell news. Not too much has changed. Katie, it looks like not expecting to get him on the opening day roster. Not a big deal. Dave Roberts telling you that much. It's like opening day. it's not a hard and fast target. What can you tell us about the Blake Snell and kind of the outlook for pitching this week? That was a real big jump scare, Clint, when you did like the three separate people on the left

on why it was just my forehead. I love that. Well, you're vertical, so that's why I'm keeping us here too. We're live, baby. We're live. There's no real update on Blake Snell, right? And this is kind of very similar to Tommy Edmund, where they don't necessarily need him for opening day.

They weren't necessarily projecting him for opening day, but they still haven't ruled him out all the way. It's just a matter of where he is as he builds up through spring. Now, he's been throwing off flat ground, some catch play. Dave Roberts said today that Snell was at 86, 87, below-wise, in terms of just throwing. These are obviously very, very low numbers, not where he's going to be when he's right.

I think the only concern that you have if you're the Dodgers is you just look at where we are on the spring calendar, and a full ramp-up period really does put. but Snell's opening day availability in doubt. But Dave Robert said today, opening day is not really a hard line for Snell and the Dodgers. They'd much rather have him in September than April for obvious reasons.

And I think as we've seen Blake Snell's career play out, he's at his strongest in the second half of the season. We talked about this all off season. The Dodgers have the depth in their rotation to get through April if Snell isn't ready as we see those odds start to increase. There's not a lot of panic level within the organization. I think he's gonna be just fine.

I want to talk to you a little bit about Shohei Otani. Dave Roberts, Andrew Friedman, everyone's saying, Katie, Shohei Otani is not going to pitch in the WBC. Oh, but there is an opening because Shohei Otani said that, you know, if, you know, if Mike Trout shows up, it'll be tempting. Obviously, he didn't receive insurance to pitch, and he was asked if he'd pitch in a big spot against USA and the World Baseball Classic. Now, we know that Mike Trout is not on the roster.

We know that Shoahe Otani is not going to pitch. But what else did you learn from his final little presser there in Camelback before he left camp to go to the World Baseball Classic for Japan. I think that to me is the most interesting storyline for the Dodgers, and the fact that their most interesting storyline is going to be happening in an entirely different continent is interesting in itself. But for Otani, it's just trying to figure out how exactly he can ramp up as a pitcher while not pitching in the tournament.

And I think that's what the Dodgers and Otani are trying to figure out because they can't guarantee anything. There are plans for live VPs. There are plans for simulations, bullpen sessions, but it all depends on just how far Japan goes in the tournament and what Shoah can do on the side. And this is something that's going to be contingent on the entire team, his performance at the plate, and just what the Dodgers can control with him being away from the team for at least three weeks. So it's very hard to map out what Otani is going to look like,

the workload when he returns, especially with Japan being one of the favorites alongside Team USA and the Dominican Republic for this tournament. Now, President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman has said that he does expect Otani to break camp in the rotation. But I think it's going to be a matter of just how built up is he? Are we going to get an Otani version off the mound where it's two, three innings? And they use him as an opener or a bulk man. And they use the rest of the bullpen to plan that out. We don't know yet.

The Dodgers don't know that. Otani doesn't know it yet. It's all going to depend on what the next two or three weeks look like in Japan. But they certainly have a plan. Now it's just about how likely it is that they can execute it. You know, Alana, this feels a lot to me like what we dealt with. last year. We had the question a few times. What does, you know, Shoah's ramp up coming back from an injury? What does this look, what does that, that pitching ramp up look like? While he's also

de-haging in games at 7-10 at Dodger Stadium, and I think we're going to see a lot of the same thing. We're going to see a little bit of simulated games, probably during the WBC. He's going to try to keep that arm loose, and I'll put the quote back up. He said, he's going to do everything in his power to make sure the quality and the volume are in a good place. I don't think we need to worry about building Shohei Otani up to 80, 90, 100 pitches. I think in opening day, 60 pitch mark is pretty good. Maybe get him through three or four innings. He's not going to be the opening day starter.

I think that works in the Dodgers favor. He has a little bit of extra time. The schedule. Also, early in the season is on our side, on the Dodgers side. The Dodgers play three games, have a day off. Three games have a day off. So he could pitch game four, game five of the season, and it's not going to be a huge issue.

Really depends, though. And you mentioned it there, Katie, how far Team Japan makes it in that WBC? The finale is March 17th. And from there, it's about 10 days until opening days. So not a whole lot of work you can get done back at Camelback Ranch, maybe one game. But I'm not worried.

Get them built up to 60 pitches, and I think we will be fine. It's a long season, guys. It is a long season. And, again, you know, throwing live BP, on Sunday for Shohei, doing all the things that he can. The one thing about this team, I mean, I think he had a 30 pitch live BP on Sunday. The one thing

about this team, guys, is they do have the depth. And even if you have to have, like, a Gavin Stone or a Justin Rebleski or somebody, not necessarily Justin Reblesky could be coming out of the bullpen. But who cares? Like, what if our opening day starter is an opener? You know? Like, you can do a lot of different

things. You know what I mean? Like, obviously we're working on the, we're looking at the load, or the, I can't talk. Load management for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. You know, Yosho Tani's not your opening day starter. Blake Snow's not going to be ready for opening day. But they do have enough depth to be able to figure it out and slow play it as long as they need to, because this is a team that is built for October.

Katie, now we have a better sense of why Freddie Freeman is not participating for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. And we knew it was for a personal issue, but there's some more light being shut on it. And it's all for a good reason. Tell us more. Yeah, saw on Instagram, Freddie Freeman is expecting his fourth child with his wife, Chelsea. And that is just fantastic news because anytime that you hear a player say it's personal, you want to obviously respect their privacy and you're hoping that it's the good personal news, not the bad personal news.

He joins Mukie Betts as a player who's also not playing in the WBC because he is expecting his third child as well. So lots of Dodger babies and Dodger Blue around. That's my favorite part about camp so far is the family's coming in with all of their babies and their kids and their coordinated outfits. It is adorable. It certainly puts my, like, very, I look like a scout today. It really puts my outfit, like, to shame. That's what you're looking for.

You're there. You're there. You are a scout. It's a lanyard. You're the Dodgers territory scout. It's a stylish lanyard. Yeah, yeah. That's right.

Just don't show off the scanner, the code there, else people are going to steal your credentials. But, Katie, we appreciate the insight. Obviously, you got a game to go cover your first time up there. Covering the team. in the always wonderful Camelback Ranch Press box. Hopefully they've made some improvements. But go enjoy the game.

Get some good land and knack stuff. Tell him we said what's up. And we'll see you probably later this week. You got it, guys. Talk to you later. See you, Katie. We appreciate Katie. Taking some time.

It's always awkward trying to get some content there right in front of the clubhouse and always awkward trying to find some decent Wi-Fi. But we made it work. I feel like we made it work. Yeah. I love the fact that she's there. She just adds a whole other level, whole other layer of coverage to this team.

And of course, Kitty is going to be with us all season long. A lot more to talk about. I don't know if you want to continue here on the big ticket, if you want to do behind the seams in terms of things that are spring training recap of what we thought, but you tell me, you're directing.

How about this? Let's take a break. We're going to hear from our friends of foul territory. Then when we back with some behind the seams, because we were behind the seams at Camel back last week. Trisha, I'm here at spring training where the games have started, the weather is beautiful, and soon enough, I'll be at the WBC with a stack Team USA, Scoobel, Skeens, Judge, Raleigh, Bobby Witt, Jr., where else would you rather get seats than on

Seatkeek? The number one rated ticketing app with over 70,000 events listed on Seatkeek. It's not just baseball. There's the NBA, concerts, festivals, and the World Cup are now on there as well, which would be great to be at. And Seat Geek has your back. Each ticket is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, so you know that you're getting a good deal. So look for the green dots. Green means good and red means bad. Plus, every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, I have a code for you guys.

You can use code Territory 10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at Seat Geek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code Territory 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so that you can use it later. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and now I guess also as 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. 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, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. we're back in our home studios and well warmth for me less warm for you of course over there in the greater snowy Massachusetts area but hey just a couple days ago we're at camelback ranch uh it's always nice being a camelback always fun being there at cbrr with you you are a celebrity of course the people love to see riz what kind of stood out for you in our second camelback as a podcast uh you know would you like would you hate i mean the the business as usual right

kind of like taking the lunch pail to the yard. I mean, this team is so laser focused. And we always ask, you know, how in the world can back-to-back World Series champion get better? And it's like they are just even when they're splitting hairs in terms of things that they could possibly work on, they realize that there are things that, you think about the game seven last year, right? Think about game seven coming down to inches. And having, you know, Miguel Rojas doesn't make certain plays defensively. Kiki doesn't make certain play defensively.

Andy Pahas doesn't bail Kiki out on that ball in seven. center field. I mean, those are the things that these guys started practicing when full squad arrived. You know, all of that stuff main so much at the right moment. And just the experience level, that stood out to me, the experience, the prettiness, the work ethic, all the things. And then, you know, just how Dave, when we had the sit down with him, taking us through game one and then specifically six and seven, how he was so, his ability to be able to recall every single detail of a game. And he hasn't even sat down and watched the World Series yet. Damn, just the natural recall of a manager.

And you're very good at this too. But like the natural recall the manager has of being able to remember every single thing that happened and what went down. And I mean, that to me is just, I can't remember what I did yesterday. I don't have good recall in terms of like, oh, yeah, game five, this happened. And this was the lineup and this was the order. Yeah. That's not how my mind operates. But it is, it's really need to be able to kind of dig into the mind of Dave Roberts for that type of stuff.

Yeah, with a lot of the good ones, how baseball players, how sports, you know, athletes are able to recall so many moments from, I mean, for Doc, that's only a few months ago, but you can think of some people, you know, pulling back. MLB Network did that thing where they had, I think it was the network at least, but they had the Greg Maddox, like, talking about his career. And he's pointing out different at bats against, like, Barry Bonds over his career, his first time going back to Rigley in Atlanta. like how the good ones are able to have that recall is insane because generally I am pretty bad at it. You know who's really good. There's two broadcasters in particular that I've worked with personally that I think about when I think about this unbelievable memory and recall. Number one is the greatest of all time in Vince Scully. That man's memory of things that occurred, I mean, this is a guy obviously that covered Jackie Robinson, Sandy Kofax to Clayton Kershaw, you know.

And the stuff that he remembers about the lineup and the weather and the way that he tells a story and just remembering all of the different things that happened in that moment and in that game is unbelievable. And the other one is Chris Mad Dogg Russo, who has an idetic memory. And if you don't know what that is, it's like if you watch Big Bang Theory, it's Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. And that's kind of like how Chris is. And it's just, but the ability to be able to remember that, don't think for one second that doesn't help your career. If you have that type of recall and you know the history of the game and being able to like recall events and moments and also kind of like weave it into today's game, I just I absolutely envy people that that can think of sports and stats and all of those things just at the drop of the hat. You know, one of my issues too. I still kick myself for, you know, I had so many things mixing through my brain trying to get my first question off.

to Dave. Yeah, because I'm thinking of like, as I'm saying it, I'm thinking of like 10 different things. And people know me. People talk shit about me in the way I kind of will either bail on a question or kind of over fluff it because I'm a fluffer. I am, there's a lot going on in the Noggin. Don't worry. I'm not professionally a fluffer.

I do it for fun. But either way, because there's so much. There's so much you could think of in the moment to kind of build this story to get to this crescendo. So the problem is I tend to miss the crescendo sometimes because I feel that, you know, that clock ticking and all the eyes on us. But even so, that's not what this is about. We're not here to scout each other. We're here to talk about spring training.

And I like, yeah, I like getting eyes on all the dudes phrasing. You mentioned the laser focus there. And, you know, Katie mentioned, it's a little bit slow over camp. Even, you know, Doc has said it's a little bit slow over camp because they do have more time. Dave has said, you know, recently, I think you said yesterday, you know, I have to be, I have to appreciate the fact that we have six weeks as opposed to that we're taking off to Tokyo or we're taking off to Korea or whatever. I don't think, it's like Dave, like, I don't know what to do with my hands right now when we're figuring this out.

But yeah, the guys are there. They're working. We saw Gavin Stone throwing live BP, Roki Sasaki, Edwin Diaz as well, Alex Vescia looking really good. He's already punched Shohei twice in spring training, Kyle Tucker on the backfields. Blake Trinan to get it going again. Tyler Glassnow, he threw a good two innings in his live VP. But yeah, you know, when we were there, you know, we even saw the days we're starting later because they don't need to rush. And I appreciate the way this team has kind of taken all

of his experience, all of its experiences, and this is what I was trying to get across the Dave, taking all of these experiences and have built this perfect beast to building up, getting through 162, winning a division, getting through and to a World Series, and hopefully winning it. I mean, they have a script, and it's kind of perfect for this club. It really is. And I think having a full spring training for the first time in a couple of years is beneficial. But then you also have the World Baseball Classic mixed in, too.

that kind of adds a different type of wrinkle in terms of like how these guys are going to get their work in and certain at bats and those types of things. I always believe spring training is more for the pitchers for the pitchers than it is for the position players, obviously making sure they're completely stretched out and healthy and not rushing things. But we had a conversation, Clint, with Andrew Friedman on foul territory on Friday, myself and A.J. Persinski, because they're continuing their spring training tour brought to you by Fasinal. And we had a conversation with Andrew about, does he worry at all about his pitchers participating in the World Baseball Classic? Take a listen.

You get nervous about guys going to the WBC just in terms of, because the greater picture for you, obviously, is another World Series championship. It's like you don't want to take them away from that moment, but you've got a bigger thing in mind. Yeah. I mean, I think when I have my baseball fan hat on, I think it's outstanding. I think it was great for the game.

Watching it three years ago, I loved it. I was hanging on every pitch. I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was great for the game. That being said, for our pitchers especially, to throw it that intensity in March, worries me with our designs of playing through October. So it's about preparing these guys as best we can,

doing everything we can to put them in the best position to go out and do that. and then see where we're at as they come back. But yeah, the pitching makes me a little nervous. Position players, it's almost that they don't get enough. Like Will Smith and Cal Raleigh are going to alternate. Will's going to have way fewer plate appearances going in than he would have had he been here.

And so even just building up the tolerance with his legs to catch and withstand that. So each guy is a little bit different. I love it in a lot of ways, but in some ways just wearing my Dodgers had. I feel a little nervous. Yeah. It makes us nervous to some degree.

For me, I would say the Yamamoto factor makes me a little bit nervous. And we saw today for Team USA, Terrick Scoobles, only get a pitch in one game, this WBC, which I don't know. I mean, I understand it feels a little, I don't want to say it feels a little chicken shit, but it feels a little chicken shit to me to a degree. I'll give that spot somebody else. Imagine if he blows out his arm, which could happen in that one out, which could happen. in that one outing and then the tiger's like, oh, God, now what, right? But I get it. It's such a balancing act, right?

Like, and we can talk about this more. This is kind of my thought for the road, but you want these guys to be able to have the opportunity to play for their country. But the bigger picture is they are employees of the Major League Baseball team. And that is who is paying them all of this money. It's not the World Baseball Classic. So I can see it from both sides. All you can hope for is good performance, good health, no injuries, no Edwin Diaz stuff

from the last time that this happened. And thank goodness that, you know, and he's pitching. He's playing for Puerto Rico. He's right back in there. So you can tell how much it matters to these guys. And the thing with Edwin Diaz, too, at least that was like kind of a freak injury. It wasn't from pitching. It wasn't the actual act.

It was, they're celebrating. Not that it makes it any better, but I think it makes it a little less worse. You know, Kershaw, he's part of the roster. We don't know how much he's going to pitch. He's not employed by the Dodgers, so we don't really need to care about his left arm or shoulder or knee or ankle. head, shoulders, knees, and toes anymore, all that. But, yeah, I really hope Yamamoto, that's the only guy I really care about. I also, you know, appreciating what Andy was talking about there, as I call him,

little Andy F, with Will Smith, not getting all of the reps he might. And, you know, we talked to some of the players out there, how kind of scripted their spring training is. Max Muncie says he's going to get 47 at bats. Like that, they have a number. I think Freddie said he was, or maybe it was Freddie who said 47. and one of them was supposed to get like 53 at bats or whatever. Like them not having them in camp, you know their hands shaken. They want to have the control of the situation.

Baseball players are I don't care a little, I'm not superstitious, just a little stitious. You're superstitious. If you're like, oh, my God, I'm only going to get 47. I'm supposed to get 53. What do I do? What do I do? This is funny, though, Dodger Dogg, 72 said, I think it's 721, sorry, says, if someone blows out their arm in the WBC, it's going to happen anyway.

Stop the baby. I mean, yeah, I get it. I agree. I mean, probably, probably. But then everyone's going to be like, oh, it's because of the BBC. If he dies, he dies. I mean, that's a little. That's a little aggressive, but okay.

He dies. 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.

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, it's hope, it's heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty.

Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, we got one more thing. We don't want to leave it on the cutting room floor because we did run into Bulldog. Obviously, he was kind enough to join you guys on foul as well as we were kind of scrambling to find some stuff because they were starting later at Campbellback Ranch. The players were in the middle of their workouts. But I handed you a mic and I was like, go talk to your friend, Oral Hirschizer. And I want people to experience this because Bulldog is the best.

And Oral's back in camp for the first time in a number of years. And here's kind of what he's doing in his view of the current Dodgers. Great to be with the Bulldog. Oral Hirschizer, man, it's good to see you. And I know that Dave really wanted you to come down here, Oral, to just work with the arms at camp. You have some arms that we know about and some new ones. What are you most excited about in terms of kind of getting into this spring with this club? Yeah, the last time I was in camp, we got to go back to COVID.

And when then the rules with COVID cut the coaching staffs down because of the rules. So all of us kind of alumni, veteran coaches that were in uniform were kind of jettisoned. And then the Dodgers win the world championship in 2020. So they're like, why do we need those guys? But I ran into Dave in the offseason and he said, you know, you're one of us oral and you should be in uniformed camp. and I go, all you got to do is ask, and he asked, and here I am. But the exciting thing about camp, first of all, being back in uniform, and then second of all, being respected by the organization and the guys in welcoming me.

And so this organization is an elite status organization because they're open to everybody. And that's the great thing. You know, you're in the coach's room. You're in Dave's meetings. You're in the player meetings. And every voice has power. And that makes it a lot of fun to be an alumni that gets to come back and contribute. How do you tackle different guys in terms of not overstepping?

Obviously, Mark Pryor's here. Josh Bard is here, but you're such a wealth of knowledge. So do you approach them? Do you wait until they come up to you? How do you work that? Yeah, so here I am like day seven, and I would say nobody came up to me in the first three days, but Dave introduced me to the team. And after that, and I gave a little bit of a, he asked me to tell how Tommy was sort of nicknamed me Bulldog.

and in doing that, I kind of was vulnerable in the fact that I needed that nickname. I was fearful of being in the big leagues. I was fearful of trying to get Gary Carter out or Mike Schmidt or, you know, Johnny Bench and guys that I watched on TV. And so Tommy knew I needed something that he said, you're tough, you can do this, you are one of us. And so every time he shouted out Bulldog, it reminded me that I belonged. And so in telling that story, all of a sudden, guys started coming up to me, especially some of the younger guys and even the veterans had conversations with Blake Trinan or conversations with Tanner Scott or conversations with Edwin Diaz welcoming him to the club and I think that the key is

as a peripheral coach without real power that's not going to be with them every day like Mark and Connor is to tell the coaches and Dave about all your conversations don't do anything behind anybody's back you're be approachable give advice answer questions but then after that feed it back to the real coaches. And I think that then it multiplies them. I mean, I was a pitching coach for the Rangers for three and a half years. And the hardest thing is like 8, 10 guys are picking up a baseball at the same time and you want to work with each one or be with them and create that relationship, but you can't.

So the excess coaching and spring training with the rosters being so big and it being so spread out, it's good to have other eyes and ears and conversations. You mentioned Edwin Diaz as welcoming him to the team. I mean, a Dodgers bullpen, especially in the back end, just got a lot better with that. I think the biggest free agent acquisition in terms of arms is concerned. What does he bring to the club? Well, he brings a lot of experience. He understands what makes him good.

He understands how to get through a season healthy. He's very rarely been injured. And in talking to him, he understands the foundation of pitching, which is the lower half of the body, setting up the lever system so that the upper half can reach its full potential. And so I just think on and off the field, he's a professional. He seems like the finest human being

in the conversations I'd had with him. He actually came up to me, and I was leaning against the fence, watching another pitcher, and he came and just leaned next to me and started introducing himself and just talking about any random topic, and then we started talking baseball and pitching,

and I felt open and another. to ask him a few questions and I'm like this is just a really kind unbelievable human being and I know he has a game face because the personality he showed me as an observer would not function in the big league so when his song plays and the crowd goes nuts and he comes into the game I know he's got a different game face than the one I've experienced and I can't wait to hear that coming out of Dodger Stadium for the first time when he comes in at home for his first save of the season And before we let you go, it is so difficult to go back to back. This team has achieved that.

A three-peat. Oh, my goodness. The Dodgers don't win the World Series again if? They don't win the World Series again if. Wow. Because the regular season's a marathon. And we really think they're going to be in the playoffs no matter what. Whether there's healthy, whether they're hurt like last year,

they are going to win the World Series because they have ability. They're going to not win the World Series because in the moment, in the moments that count in a game, which there are like five pitches and five at bats, they don't execute. Because that was the way they beat Toronto. Toronto outplayed the Dodgers, but in the moments,

the Dodgers were on top of the details and executed. Always good to see you. Thank you. Love you. I made sure to leave a love you in there because I thought that was important. He's a sweetheart. I've known him since his ESPN days, and obviously I worked alongside him for seven seasons,

but he is such a wealth of knowledge, Clint, and he does bring so much to the table. And again, until the Dodgers won in 2020, I mean, he was the end-all-be-all. He was the last World Series champion for the Dodgers. He was the World Series, you know, World Series, you know, obviously Cy Young Award winner, World Series MVP, all the things.

So Bulldog is tremendous, and we're lucky that he's on our team. Yeah, the thing I'll add, and obviously we're already kind of running along with today's show, but the thing I love about what he brought up there, Dave telling him, You're a part of this. You're a part of this team. Like, this is part of a greater conversation, but I do worry about the state of the franchise

and losing icons over the last, you know, five, ten years, Don Newcomb, Morrie Wills. You don't have a lot of the guys that always used to be around. You know, yes, there's some of the alumni, Tommy, you know, the greatest steward of Dodger baseball. Like these other guys, they need to step up and be around, be available. for this club preach the good word of dodger baseball the lore of dodger baseball like i mean i'm not i'm not likening andra ethier to oral hirshizer but ethier's in camp today you know chase that lee was there

chase outley's been there and of course chase only a daughter for a couple of years but he made a massive impact of course he adopted keke and john suhu got a beautiful photo of keke and uh chase uh together uh recently so some guys are doing it you know um yeah it's very it's very different now than it was, you know, the Ron Seiz of the world. And obviously, Sandy Kofax, who's a very private person, but he does come to spring training, usually one time a season. And then obviously he's at postseason and some key moments too. But yeah, Oral, it's special. He is special. The other guy I'll say before we take another quick break and we'll be back with the dog and our final thoughts for the road. But Max Muncie, he doesn't want to be that guy right now during

his playing career, and he told you as much. I loved to your guys interview. People gave a lot of love to you talking with months there at Camelback last week. But I think at some point, he will be aware. He has been around long enough in this organization to understand his place, his stature in the franchise. I mean, you look up postseason stats. You're going to see a lot of Max Muncie at the top of those lists. And he is somebody who I believe will be a good preacher of the word of Dodger Blue as his career ends and his post-playing career happens. But one guy, I'll challenge, you know,

we had Friedman on this show a couple weeks ago, and he pitched to Clayton Kershaw, you know, come work with us. I pitched to Clayton Kershaw, be there for your franchise. That is the one guy who was there from Vero Beach, all the way to Camelback, all the way to three championships and all that kind of stuff. It's funny because both Will Smith and Max Muncie said that they felt like they needed to carry on Clayton,

Kershaw's legacy and the message. And by the way, before I forget, a huge thanks to Tony B of doing that article or the article. The interview from West Coast Multimedia, he did a great job with all of that entire day. So we appreciate you, Tony B. We've got a lot to talk about, but I want to remind our friends to go to dodgers territory shop.com, scan the QR code, click the link in the description below, support the show and style. You can get a little bit of everything on that. It supports me. It supports Clint. It supports Katie. It supports the show. Appreciate that very much. We're going to be back with a dog after a word from our friends at foul. Hey, sometimes we do a little game on foul territory called role play. It's not what you think.

We're just picking up our phones and we're talking as if we're somebody in baseball. But if you'd like that phone to be a little bit cheaper for making phone calls, who should you call, Kratz? Mint Mobile, because you get all the same speed with a tiny little price. Same coverage, tiny price. Ready to stop paying more than you have to. New customers can make the switch today, and for a limited time,

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Over 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com. Save money. Get after it, FtFam. I love the music. This is Havana.

You've met her before, but I have to tell you, we've got an update on her. She's still looking for an adopter. But guys, she has been going through some pretty serious training because she's a puppy. So she needs some guidance, right? But her trainer, Gus, said that she's been progressing really, really well. Her commands are so much better in terms of her listening skills, her recall,

all of the different things. Her focus, weight, settle, spatial awareness, and back, like moving back have been spot on. So her foster's doing a great job with her. One thing that they were working on specifically is she's so excitable with one of the little kids. She just gets so, like, she just gets so, like, happy to see one of the daughters. But, you know, you've got to make sure that you can control her and make sure that she doesn't hurt anybody, certainly not out of intent, just because she's a puppy. So anyway, Savannah is being fostered in La Habra,

and she's a great, great pup. Healthy, happy, all the things. So if you're interested in learning more about her, we would love to give her a forever home. Please reach out. All right, Clint, thought for the road. What do you got? Listen, jazz chisholm.

He's an interesting character. He decided to put it out into the ethos that he doesn't want to be a Dodger. He will not sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. when he's a free agent next off season. I don't know that the Dodgers ever wanted him or needed him, but I'm going to put this out here now. I'm going to make this proud declaration. I am not interested in dating Sidney-Sweeney.

I just want everybody to be aware. I'm putting it out there now. I'm sorry, Sydney. I know you were interested, but what a dumb thing. I don't know. I don't know. If he has a 50-50 season, maybe. Yeah, well, that's another thing.

He said he was going to be the next member of the 50- 50-50 club. I think he was 31-31 last year, right? I think he had 30 or 31 home runs and 30 still. I'm surprised he had that many home runs. Honestly, he weighs 12 pounds. So where he gets that power from? Holy moly. Yankee Stadium. Yeah, fair. True, true, true, true. That's fair. You still have to hit him. Anyway, what's your thought? My thought for the road is for all intents and purposes, since Major League Baseball players are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. We don't have baseball in the Olympics. The world baseball classic is the Olympics. And good luck to everybody going and participating for their respective country. But how

about team fucking USA, man? Both the men's and the women's hockey team. I was like losing my mind. And again, I don't claim to be a hockey professional. I don't claim to know a lot about hockey, but I do love this country with all of my heart. And congrats to both the men's and the women's team. And Jack Hughes, oh my God, loses two teeth, comes back, comes back, scores the golden goal in overtime. And I just, wow, what a moment for the team. I love to see. Iconic photo. Oh, God, Getty images. The iconic photo was just so darn cool. I apologize for my language, but for whatever side of the aisle that you're on, I still think this is the greatest place in the world to live. I'm proud to be born here. And I'm, you know, especially as a woman

in this country compared to what life would be like as a woman in other countries. So anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. Congratulations, USA. Thanks, Katie, for coming on from Camelback. Clint and I are back on Thursday, 82 in some capacity. Enjoy the game today. Hopefully you guys can watch Spring Training Game, and we'll see you on Thursday. And don't forget, subscribe trying to get to 20K.

We appreciate you guys. Go Dodgers. Bye! I'm Daniel Alarcon. And this is my friend. is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green,

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