Dodgers Territory - Will Smith joins DT to talk extension + Mookie's FIRE start, Buehler soon??

Episode Date: April 1, 2024

Dodgers All-Star catcher Will Smith joins Alanna Rizzo and Clint Pasillas to talk about his massive 10-year contract extension! Smith also gets into working with this LA starting staff, including prized offseason acquisition Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a whole lot more.Alanna and Clint go behind the seams with the latest on injured pitcher Walker Buehler, who took a huge step toward his return over the weekend. They also of course cover that Mookie Betts sizzling start to the 2024 season.Dodgers Territory streams Mondays & Thursdays LIVE at 3p ET/12p PT all season long on the FT YouTube Channel :)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At CBS, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So visit us at cvS.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. You know, I always wanted to stay a Dodger. I love being there. You know, I don't think there's anyone more committed to winning and winning World Series

in Los Angeles Dodgers. And, you know, I'm just excited with the opportunity to be a part of that. I love it. I swear I can just listen to the song all day long. Hello, everybody and welcome to the Monday edition of Dodgers Territory. We are your host. I'm Alana Rizzo. That is my pal, Clint Paseas. It is awesome to see you. So we are in one full weekend to the 2024 Major League Baseball season. So, of course, let's just overreact. Shouldn't we? Shouldn't we just overreact about everything?

And we're going to start, Clint, with your thoughts. Let's go right to the big ticket, my friend. Mookie Betz is, I would say, Babe Ruthian right now. Are you liking what you're seeing out of Marcus Lynn Betts? I love what I'm saying out of Marcus Lynn Betts. But again, let's start overreacting on the positive side. You're comparing Mookie Betts, Marcus Lynn Betts, to Babe Ruth. And there's good reason for that, Dodgers fans, as we get you all set up for what Mookiee Betts has already done so far offensively this season.

Then we're going to get into a little bit about what he's done at the shortstop position. Go figure, though, Clint. He's the leadoff man, as you know this for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He leads the team with 10 RBI. He has been on fire at the plate. And even though he went hitless on Sunday that ended his streak of four straight games with the home run, he's still 11 for 22. He's batting 500 right now.

Batting 500. You see the stats on the screen there. Everything that could be read when it comes to his batting tool is red. He's absolutely tearing the cover off the ball, leading baseball. in FanGraph's wins above replacement at point nine right now, which already almost have a win above replacement, what, six games into a season, that's pretty damn impressive.

Four home runs. There's your leader. Like you said, nine runs scored, 10 runs batted in tied with Lordus Gouriel of the Arizona Diamondbacks. And the kind of surprising one, also tied for the lead. Three defensive runs saved as a shortstop. Yeah, he's playing a little bit of second base as well,

but the bat is there. And the glove, the arm, all that kind of stuff doesn't seem like it's going to be as big of a problem as some people really wanted to overreact and make it to be. Yeah, you're right. And there's a couple of people, including our own friend and teammate Eric Crats over on foul territory that really kind of questioned whether Mookie Betts was a playoff caliber shortstock. You had the conversation with them. What's your take? Yeah, I mean, I understand the thought process. You're moving a gold glove outfielder to the infield.

And then last minute, shifting him over to shortstop. I could understand the fears. I could understand, do you want this guy to be your playoff shortstop? Is that going to be a concern? So far does not seem to be a major issue. But, you know, it's still early. We will lean on small sample size and not overreact too much in the positive. We know, again, anger sells.

But happy to see what Mookie is doing so far. far playing a really good second base, playing a very nice shortstop and had a couple of really good plays that's short over the weekend as well. And you know what? It's not just mooky bets getting the job done. We're going to have Will Smith coming up on the show here in just a few minutes. But the Dodgers offense has been as advertised. We talk so much about the big three as far as Shoah, you know, Mookie Bet Showe and Freddie Freeman. But Max Muncie has come to the plate. What, how many times averaging, I mean, the guy, Max Muncie has come to the plate with men on base in 17 of his 26 plate appearances so far and is like pretty pretty damn good, including a two run shot to give

him the lead. I was say, actually, I think we got Will ready now. Let's ask Will ourselves. William Dill Smith, the owner of the longest contract extension in Dodgers history for a homegrown player. Welcome to the show. Will, how you doing my guy? I'm good, guys. Thanks for having me on here. Well, it's great to see you. Congratulations on the well-earned extension to you and to Kara. and to Charlotte. So exciting. What goes through your head as a player knowing that you're going to be in that uniform for the foreseeable future and perhaps end your career in a Dodger uniform? Yeah, it's exciting.

You know, that's something, you know, I think a lot of players, you know, hope for. And, you know, I'm fortunate enough to be given that opportunity by, you know, by the Dodgers. And yeah, you know, I always wanted to stay a Dodger. I love being there. You know, I don't think there's anyone more committed to winning and winning World Series than Los Angeles Dodgers. And, you know, I'm just excited for the opportunity to be a part of that. Yeah, is there anything scary about the idea of committing the next,

10 years and ultimately your entire, we hope, baseball career to one team? I mean, yeah, 10 years is definitely, you know, a long time. But no, I think I wanted to keep playing for another 10 years or so. So, you know, committing to the Dodgers was pretty easy for 10 years for me. So, yeah, it wasn't, it was not too scary. I'm not too worried about it or anything like that. Well, let's brag on your starting rotation here for a little. little bit. Yamamoto had a really nice second outing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A little bit of a

hiccup there in Seoul. We can understand that. But Bobby Miller, my goodness, as Walker Bueller would say, yish, he just shoved over the course of the weekend. What have you seen so far from the starting staff, including Tyler Glassnow? Yeah, they're all studs, you know. All five of them, even a couple of guys that are on the aisle coming back later this year. You know, they just work really hard. They they get after their bullpins. You can see the intent behind every pitch they throw. And then they get out in the game. They just compete.

They obviously have good stuff, but they're just competitors. They're guys, you know, you want going out every five days. You want to be catching those guys and having them on your team. All right. Let's talk a little bit more about Yamamoto, a guy that you didn't necessarily have a huge book on before he came a Los Angeles Dodger, but a guy that you're obviously going to be catching for the foreseeable future. When he's right, what is his stuff like to catch?

Yeah, when he's right, he's executing almost every pitch he throws. It's incredible the, you know, the command he has. Just being able to go in-out, up down with his fastball, landing his curb ball, you know, keeping it short, and then a splitter. His splitter is just a wipeout pitch. He's got that cut or two for a little wrinkle. So it's just mixing, and it's just his ability to execute is what's going to keep him going and be really good in the big leagues for, you know, for a long time.

So we already had our first big, exciting game. Of course, Max Muncie was on foul territory earlier today talking about the big time two-run shot to put the Dodgers ahead. I mean, that just has to really help solidify the vibes early in the season. It's not too much of a new team. You got a lot of returning pieces. But still, every year, there's a different field of the ball club. We're not doing this anymore.

We're not doing this anymore. And what is something like do? something like that do early in the season to kind of galvanize a newer group of dudes? Yeah, I think, you know, that's all the fun stuff. But I think, you know, the most important thing is the fight. It's showing the fight we've had. And we've had that since I've been a Dodger and I've, you know, been around that for a while. But I think for the new guys, it's seeing the fight every single game, you know, we're never out of it.

I think just being able to see that and see that, you know, know, not take it bats off when you're down a couple of runs, pushing one across in the sixth. So it's only two more we have to come back in the eighth, you know, stuff like that. It's just a fight. And I think we really showed it this weekend. And I think also that, you know, all the talent we have on this team, you know, it doesn't mean anything. It means a lot, but it doesn't mean we're guaranteed wins. And I think we get a fight for every last win. And I think this weekend showed exactly that. Well, one thing the Dodgers have had for a long time is an unbelievable amount of talent, not only on the current roster, but in the farm system for over the last

decade. And you're going to get some reinforcements back here in your starting rotation, hopefully soon. Walker Bueller, I know, you know, he was pleased with what he's doing so far. He feels pretty good. And if you left it up to Walker Bueller, he would have been back two months ago. What's that going to be like to get him back in? And of course, you still have curse. You still have some other reinforcements coming in. Yeah, I'm excited for Walker to get back there. I know he's, he's, he's, he's, at the bit. But yeah, he's a stud, you know, multi-time All-Star. He's done the playoffs. Just a guy that goes out and competes and gives everything he's got. He's fun. He's fun to catch. He's fun to work with.

He's a guy that, you know, guys love playing behind. You know, they love the fire that he brings. And, you know, just the just the want to win. It's incredible with him. And, you know, I couldn't be more happy. He's, he's healthy. He's close to him back. You know, he wants to be back. He wants to be back yesterday. So I'm excited for, you know, that first start is going to get here in a couple weeks probably. So, Will, we already know you're going to be here for a long time. Dodger fans are happy about it. You are what, one of the like third, fourth, longest tenured position player on the team. If my math is serving me right, you got you, you got Max Muncie. But you also got your battery or your catching tandem mate there in Austin Barnes. Talk a little bit about the relationship with

Barnsey, the captain there. How does he help you? How does he help the staff and the rest of the team on a day to day. We know he's not playing every day. What does, yeah, what does Austin Barnes mean for you and the rest of the team? Yeah, I think, you know, he's a guy that's been around for a while. He knows what he's doing back there. He's just a competitor. He loves, he loves Duane. He'll do just about anything. And, you know, he's a good guy to have him on your team. He's, you know, just a gritty guy, I guess. So, yeah, he's fun. He's a good teammate. You know, I'm happy he's with us and yeah. We all love Sam. Remember Chase Settley giving him the nickname Sam. We all love Sam. All right, $140 million, my friend, 10 years. To whom much is given, much is expected.

What is the first order of business? What do you buy with a contract like that? What about? I don't know yet. Yeah, I don't know. We've thought of that. I don't know. but yeah we still have time it's still setting in it's a lot of money it's a lot of money there i want to go back to it's a barnsey thing we know barnsey he's a scrapper who you got in a fight you got barnsey you got joe kelly in a bar fight oh kelly i was going a sleeper too i'll throw in a sleeper Kyle hurt Kyle hurt oh i mean Kyle's got the size on barnsey but i don't know i never Barnes do you know he put up a fight I don't know about Kyle but He's definitely got the side, but maybe.

I don't know. I think Barnes is pretty scrappy. I think Barnes he might win in a cage match. Riverside. You know he was actually talking, it was Luxie yesterday. Gavin was going around the clubhouse talking a bunch of smacks and who he beat up. I had him at the bottom. So I want to make sure he knows that.

I'm going on here. Let's talk a little bit about Luxie. This is a kid, obviously, that was going to be the starting shortstop for you guys last year until he got hurt in spring training and now has an opportunity, obviously, to be on the opening the roster, the big league roster for the entire season. Moved him over to second. Obviously, Mookie's at the shortstop position, but what have you seen in terms of his development, Will? Yeah, I think he's just got to get comfortable back out there again. You know, he missed all of last year. Not tough. It's tough, you know, not really expecting,

not feeling the game flow, not really knowing what's going to happen, how you're going to feel out there, you know, the first time back, just physically and mentally. So for him, you know, I think it's just going to be settling in the first month or two, just getting back to, you know, getting his feet wet kind of thing and being comfortable out there. But, you know, I have no concerns with Luxey out there. He works hard. He's a good player, great player.

I think he'll be just fine. And I'm, you know, I'm just glad he's healthy and back out there with us. Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention, work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list. your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, and the rates are still rising. More women under 50

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Thy ticket, Lady Jennifer of Coolidge. Well, many thanks, good sir. Heareth my Discover card. They accept Discover at Renaissance Fares? Yeah, they do here. Discover is accepted at the places that I love to shop. Geteth with the times. With the times?

You're playing the lute. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen report. Will, do you keep in touch with Kirsch at all? in terms of his process and his progress and when he might be coming back, just conversations about those things? Yeah, he's been around all weekend.

I don't know his timeline exactly. You ask her, she's ready to pitch today. So, yeah, I don't know. I'm not really into those conversations, but, you know, I can't wait for him to be back. Be healthy. You know, it's Clinton Kershaw. You know, Hall of Famer just stud.

So, you know, I'm looking forward to when he gets back with us. So Will, to ship gears a little bit here. We know you and Kara have the Catching Hope Foundation. Got to ask you about May 8th. What can you tell us about Will Smith's comedy night? Because we know you're the funniest guy in the clubhouse, man. What are you looking forward to with that? What can people...

I am not the one giving the jokes, not the one up, you know, just a fan of comedy. We've got professionals for that. But yeah, it should be a fun night. You know, I know a lot of teammates are going to come. bring their wives, bring a date. You know, we have some good, a good lineup of comedians. I know, subject with the entertainer, some other guys. So it should just be a fun night, fun, relaxing night.

It's all for good cause for catching hope. You know, we're doing a lot of outreach stuff this year in the LA area. And, you know, we hope to do more in the future. And this is just kind of the first big event we're doing and we're excited for it. One guy that is pretty funny, Kike Hernandez, was ESPN, miced up on ESPN, And was he giving away any secrets? I know the pitchcom stuff was going over the microphone. Did he give anything up?

Yeah, other than the pitches. You know, I was actually down in the cage, kind of getting loose, looking ahead for that game. And yeah, we could hear, you know, change up with Stoney on the mound. He's throwing a lot of those. But luckily, I don't think the Cardinals were catching on soon enough and couldn't really there. I mean, we knew change up, change up.

Change up was coming a lot with Stoner there in that nasty, nasty, nasty change up. We got a question from the chat from Geshmake. What is your general opinion of the pitchcom? That's something that's come along since you've made your debut. How has it kind of helped or hurt the job? I think it makes it easier. You know, it's a pretty direct conversation. And they know exactly what pitch to throw. I think you lose a little bit of the, you know, the interpersonal with the pitcher. You know, I can use a little more body language, I guess, with fingers and, you know, get a little more something behind it, you know, in certain situations, I guess, which the pitchcomics always, you know, the same fastball voice tone.

And you miss out a little bit on that, but it does make it easier. I don't have to worry about getting crossed up as much. Although the other night with Bobby, the first at bat, we were using fingers. He saw a slider through the changeup. And he's getting a lot of love for an ass to change up. But that was just... Along the same lines, Will, what is your opinion with the change in, you know, the pitch clock and, you know, having to get ready faster and deliver the ball faster? I mean, you guys have a couple of guys coming back from T.J. surgery, not to say that that's the reason they had T.J. surgery, obviously.

But what's your opinion on recovery time and just kind of speeding up the game that way? Yeah, it's quick. I'm all for it. I don't know. I don't know. I don't really know what going from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with men on did this year. but, you know, I think it's more entertaining for the fans. It gets the action going. You know, for me personally, it's sometimes a little more stressful because you have to think quicker in big situations. You have to think through things, and you don't have as much time to think fully through things,

but, you know, it just means that to be prepared, and pitchers got to be more prepared, and we just got to be, just challenge us to be a little better when it comes to pitch calling and making the right decisions. So, I don't know, I'm for it. I think it's a good thing just for the entertainment factor and not no one wants to be sitting around watching a guy not get in the box for 20 seconds or a pitcher take 30 seconds to throw a pitch nobody wants to see that so i think it's good for the game

yeah less less of this less of uh you know the batting adjustment no mar would not make it in this league right now we know that much alana uh you talk about catching you talk about putting down the fingers a little bit you talk about the pitch calm uh let's get back to the contract idea hey we're not looking way way down the road by the way happy uh belated birthday you just turned 20 29 10 years is a long way away, and that's a long time for a catcher. Do you see yourself moving off the position at any point, a little Joe Mauer in the future? Are you not even thinking that far yet? No, I'm not even thinking that far yet, honestly.

I don't know. I feel like I could. I grew up in infielder and stuff, so I feel like I would pick it up easily if I had to. But no, I totally focused me being a catcher, you know, being back through every night. All right. First of a three-game set with the Giants, of course, a rival that you'd, You guys know very well. James Paxton takes the hill for the Dodgers tonight. Tell me what you've seen from him so far in spring, obviously solidifying a spot in that

rotation for you guys. And also, conversely, the Giants. I mean, this is this a different look team than it was last year. What do you expect from them? Yeah, I mean, firstly with, you know, with Pax, he's, he's a good pitcher. He's been around for a while. When he's on, he's dominant. He's, you know, a really tough lefty, really good basketball, spends the ball really well. It goes out and competes and gets guys out. And I faced him a few years ago. It's not a fun at bat. So I, you know, I expect a lot than him like we all do. And yeah, as far as the Giants, yeah, different team, you know, a couple new guys, position players, a couple new starting pitchers, obviously. So they should be, they should be good. They're always, you know, it's always a fight

against them. It's always, you know, it's always fun, games, crowds are into it. You know, those are the games you want to be a part of. So, you know, it should be a good three days against them and should be fun. Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention, work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list, your breast health.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer among women in the United States. And the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half. And yet, when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%,

nearly 100% for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now. Pay the girls some attention. head to Your Attention Please.com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis. All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse? Being understaffed or being

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who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a 75% dollar sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast just go to indeed.com slash podcast right now indeed. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs.

Thy ticket lady Jennifer of cool. Well many thanks good sir. Here is my discover card. They accept Discover at Renaissance fairs? Yeah they do here. Discover's accepted at the places that I love to shop. Get it with the times? With the times? You're playing the lute. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discover is accepted at 99% of places

that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen Report. We mentioned Paxton, one of the new starters, another one of the new starters who is not quite starting this season is Shohei Otani. You haven't talked about Otani yet. We're not going to get into all the other stuff, but we're going to get into the important stuff.

off of this guy just also signed a massive contract. And I know a lot of people like to know, where does Otani take the team? I know it's early in the season, but where is he buying dinner for folks out there? That's what I know our producers really want to know. They want to know? No, I know it.

We haven't really had a road trip yet. We had Korea, but, yeah, I don't know. Our first road weekend this coming weekend. So, yeah, I don't know about all of that. But, yeah, he's, he's, you know, he's one of the, he's probably the best player in the game. And, yeah, this year he's not pitching. He's on a mound.

But, you know, next year he'll be back out there. But, you know, just as bad. He can go deep anytime. He's, you know, he's never going to really slump just because of how fast he is, knock on wood. But he's just, he's such a dynamic player. This talent and the power and the speed and all of that together is incredible. It's fun to be a part of. It's fun to watch him work, you know, in the cage and all that.

So he definitely makes us a better team. He's fun to be, fun to be around and fun to play with. And, you know, he'll, he's definitely going to help us win some ball games. Well, I don't know if you saw the play between Reese Hoskins sliding into Jeff McNeil, of course, when the Brewers and the, the Mets were going at it over the course of the weekend. Did you see the play? And what's your opinion on it? Yeah, I saw it.

I don't know. I feel like five years ago, this wouldn't have been a. conversation at all because that was pretty normal to try to take a second baseman out and they're trying to turn two. Yeah, I don't know. I don't have much of opinion on it. It was just kind of I don't know, it just seemed like a baseball play to me. That's what I thought too. I thought it was a clean slide. Gritty baseball play. Chase Utley, a la Chase Utley. Will Smith, it is always a pleasure to talk to you again. Congratulations on a well-earned contract, Dodger for a foreseeable future. We appreciate you taking the time to be with Clint and myself here on Dodgers territory.

You'd be well. Yeah, appreciate it, guys. Thank you. All right. Always great to have players on the program, Clint. And, you know, Will Smith is a guy that is incredibly humble. And you and I talked about this when we were on the air the last time together. But he does remind me a lot of Buster Posey, a guy that doesn't say a ton but doesn't need to just because of what he does for you behind the plate, the way he manages a staff.

And what he can do for you offensively as well. Yeah, and the thing I love there, he says, look, I'm not thinking about down the road. I want to be a catcher for the entirety of this 10-year deal. That's how important this guy was, that he was handed, like we said last week, handed the longest extension ever for a Dodger player drafted by the team. They think very highly of this guy. They think of highly of his ability to manage the team, manage the pitching staff, call a game and love having that dude around and appreciate him being our first player guests on

here on Dodgers territory. Yeah, it's great to have him always. Love having guests on the show. We always appreciate them taking the time. Again, it's a big, it's a big series tonight against the Giants. It's always a big series when you play against your indivision rival and, of course, the history that these two clubs have. All right, time now for behind the seams. And we talked to Will a little bit about it earlier just as far as the pitching was concerned. But you have to like what you saw first from Yamamoto. He did not have a good outing, obviously, in Seoul, but he came back in front of fans at Dodgers Stadium and at least gave us a little bit more of what the Dodgers were expecting when they signed him to the biggest contract ever for a pitcher.

Yeah, Yamason really showed up, showed out. I mean, he was not quite Bobby Miller going off, but still five days in there, pitches through a 45-minute delay between pitches. So really, it's like the offense. It's really went out and took to the opposing team as well as they could. But you like to see that. Him going out there, he's kind of lauded. He's praised for his ability to stay loose. And he's not really a guy who's going to put on the bulk in the weight room. And the fact that he's able to sit there and spend 40 minutes away, go out, still throw another clean ending, much better debut at Dodger Stadium as we see Yama on the mound here. He had everything kind of working for him, the splitter was disgusting.

Fastball, he's dotting it and Will, will contel that one as well, and flip it in the curveball. I think you see why, and I think some other teams are seeing why, the Dodgers gave him all of that money for all of those years. This is an ace. All right, do you think he needs to learn, though, to pitch a little bit more, you know, high and tight, if you will?

I think that's one of the things that was a knock on him coming in because Japanese pitchers don't necessarily do that. But was it more of the fact that the Cardinals are a bad, offense or that Yamamoto was given you what you needed to see? I will stay positive on this. I'm going to say it was Yama giving us what we needed to see, but then you see everybody else in the starting rotation, kind of, you know, taking the Cardinals to school a little bit.

It's a young team. We know it's a young team, but also this is a pretty damn good starting staff. I would say maybe we had some moments in the offseason. Dodgers fans of overreacting or worrying a little bit about, yeah, Gavin Stone is your number five guy. you're also worried or relying on Amit Shee and James Paxton, all of that kind of stuff, hasn't thrown a lot of innings over the last number of years.

But you still have somebody like a Yamamoto who can take it to a team like the Cardinals. You could probably take it to a team like the Yankees with that new look outfield. And I think this was more of a show of the pitching staff is as good as we kind of hoped it could be and is only going to be getting better. Well, Derek Lewandowski, who does such a tremendous job for us on all of our social stuff, says that as a Yankee fan, Yamamoto would have looked good in pinstripes. Guess what, Derek? He wanted to pitch with Shohei and he wanted to be a Dodger.

So tough, tough, my friend, Yankees fans. All right, this is Dodgers territory, Derek, not Yankees territory. All right, let us talk about Walker Bueller coming back. You heard Will Smith say that, you know, again, if it was up to Bueller, he would have been back, you know, two months ago. But he's getting close, and that is going to be one heck of a guy coming back. back into a very good starting rotation. Yeah, this is a game-changing type of dude.

He's my X-factor for this team this season. They will go as far as Walker Bueller will take them because you look at the last few years. 2022, they get bounce in the NLDS. 23, they get bounce in the NLDS. Who wasn't there? Walker F. and Bueller, I've said it before. I'll say it again. I know you want to see him with the tight pants on.

I think the world wants to see him with the tight pants. I don't. I don't. I don't know where that came from, but I don't. Especially not this year's tight pants. But you can see right, right through it. No, no, no, no, no. The important thing is we want Walker Bueller back on the mound at Dodger Stadium.

And he made a big step over the weekend, making his first rehab start at AAA, Oklahoma City, hits 95.7 on the gun with the fastball. Everything was kind of working well. I think he gave up three runs over four innings. But the important thing is came out of it healthy, came out of it clean. What do you like about? Walker Bueller this weekend. I love the fact that he's right back where he needs to be. I love the fact that look at his tweet. I effed up, but you know, goes on and I mean,

that's just the Walker Bueller, the competitiveness that you want to see. You see that type of competitive fire in the position players. You saw it with Max Muncie on that two run, you know, home run that put them ahead and ended up having them win the game. I like that fire from our pitchers. And you don't often see that. You did see it a little bit with Bobby Miller over the course of the weekend. And I know some people were saying, oh, big deal. It was the St. Louis Cardinals lineup. There's two MVPs in the St. Louis Cardinals lineup. So it is not as if they're a bad team. I just, I like seeing the competition. And Bobby Miller reminds me of Walker Bueller. They have a lot of the same characteristics. So I think you get butane in there with Bobby Miller,

with Tyler Glasnow, Yamamoto, obviously, you know, James Paxton tonight. This is a good enough rotation to maintain and sustain until, you know, Kirsch gets back and you have, you know, this is a team that's built to get to October. Now, it remains to be seen if they'll get past, you know, that first round. But Bueller had all of his stuff. And as long as he comes out of this healthy, again, you don't necessarily know what you're going to get from a guy that's had to

Tommy Johns. How long is it going to take for the rest to come off? But I think he's in a really, really good spot. And one last thing. We haven't talked enough about Gavin Stone. Yeah, the numbers weren't as pretty. three runs over over five innings but he was nasty the change up was nasty even though the entire world knew it was coming thanks to the pitchcom and ESPN uh in game interview but the numbers aside the

gavin stone absolutely crushed it he had i think he was hit 97 on the fastball like no i'll keep praising the change uh my my buddy duck mccain will say that thing moves more than a military of a family I like messing up my guy Doug's jokes or whatever. Moves more than a family that's in the military? Yeah, we all get it. I know I'm going to get some crap tonight on my show for me messing up that Doug line. But it is what it is. He's very good.

Bobby Miller, very good, punching out 11. And the future does look pretty damn bright for this Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation. Yeah, I love it. Again, first weekend in in the MLB season in 2024, There were some overreactions. Everyone's already crowning the Yankees as World Series champions because they swept the Astros in Houston. And Juan Soto is a man among gods there or god of men there. See, I can screw it up too.

But it's a fun, it's a fun conversation to have, you know, and this is a Dodgers team that we knew was going to be good. My question was, do they have enough pitching that time will tell? But it looks good so far. All right. It is time now for our last licks. All right. last looks we are looking for help my friend clint pacius with a dog named roger roger was saved out of the south l a shelter in chesterfield there in los angeles with a cherry eye in both eyes so you can take a look at his eyes plus he needed to be neutered he was

rescued or pulled by jesel's legacy and gidreysgirdre's guardian foundation is a handling the neuter and the surgery for cherry eyes so you can see how his eyes are red there but we did get the surgery on friday as well as Um, his manhood was taken away. I got to tell you, but you got to save the pet population. Um, he got neutered, which is a good thing. We don't need any more, uh, unwanted litter. So if you care to donate, go to giddreysguardian.org. Put Roger on your donation.

And, uh, thank you so much. We always appreciate all the help. We are a 100% donation based foundation. So another Dodger dog for you, my friend. Save the pups out there, people. Well, that's going to do it for us here on, uh, Dodgers territory on the Fowler territory platform once climbing up on your show other than the fact that you keep messing up Doug's lines tonight on all Dodgers that that's always going to be an easy easy thing for me to do

I love screwing up lines because I get too excited and I want to get through them uh tonight I will also be having some overreactions I'm going to be going live at six before the game so check it out all Dodgers with Clint Paseas here on YouTube if you're watching we also have a podcast hey Dodgers territory has a podcast too go check it out subscribe there, guys. Leave 18 star reviews if possible. Those are things that really do help out all of our channels and all of these platforms. But yeah, tube in and let's talk more Dodgers later tonight. Yeah, all Dodgers 6 p.m. Pacific right before the game. Dodgers with a three game set against the San Francisco Giants. We appreciate you being with us here on Dodgers territory.

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