Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 119 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Profile & Projection

Episode Date: March 21, 2020

The Dodgers are good. Like REALLY good. With all of the right pieces in place, the pressure will be on manager Dave Roberts to lead the franchise to its first World Series title since 1988. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to talking baseball. Team, players, teams, profiles, projections, what they did last year, what we think they're going to do this year. Players they've added. Players they've dropped. Stuff. Jake, how are you? James, doing all right. We, uh, we got a doozy.

The Los Angeles Dodgers. Yeah. Probably should have been the number one team. Yeah, but all of our audience is very biased. Our Yankee conglomerate of fans probably tuned into this one, or tuned into the voting a little bit here. But this team has the Los Angeles Dodgers. I'm doing well.

Thank you for the update. A little hot. Got a little warm in the Bronx today. This team has so much talent on it. This Dodgers team is crazy good. They have young talent. And they added crazy good players on all facets of the ball. It's insane.

Can I tell you how many players do you think? So OPS plus and ERA plus, right? Kind of standard. If you're above 100, you're above average. If you're below, you're below. average. How many players total do you think they had last season that were 100 or that were above 100 OPS plus ERA plus?

Like qualified or? Qualified. Like 45 games and they count. No, so I'll give you a hint for the, there is someone who only played 86 games and he's qualified on according to baseball reference. I'll say eight. Total. Total.

Final answer. Final answer. 18. 18. Did you miss the part where I said pitchers end like ERA plus and OPS Plus? Yes. Okay, so combined. I was only doing OPS Plus.

How many hitters did I get? Eight, you're right. Okay, yeah. Yeah. One point. Pitchers as well. 10. And I told you, yeah.

I got it. Yeah, you don't, good job. Perfect game by me. Two for two. Perfect game. 18. 25 guys on a roster. 18 were above average.

MLB players, yeah. That's insane. It's good. I checked it. The Houston had 16, and then the Yankees had 17. The Hodders had 18. They added Mookie Betts, Bruce Starr, Gratrol to the Penn,

who's unproven, but the arm talent is incredible. They have them starting in the minors here. Oh, really? Well, I don't know what they're going to do with him, but they added him. Oh, okay. And they added David Price. They lost Ryu.

Yeah. The Ryu for Price Trade, David Price is 34 and a half with a lot of miles on there. You know, a lot of people think Price still has one more year in him. I think so too, but there's a chance that could not happen and the price for Ryu and the rotation could look a little different because, I mean, Ryu was like two bad starts away from winning the Cy Young last year. So that could be missed, and they'll need someone else to step up in the pitching staff,

but they've got options for that. And they added Mookiee Betts, the best player from the American League. I added Mookiee bets. David Price and Rie was an interesting one because Rhea was like phenomenal. But David Price, they still have Kershaw and Walker Bueller. And I heard, damn, I don't, I hate repeating things that I'm not confident.

But I remember reading an article that Kershaw spent this offseason improving. Like going crazy. he's still incredible. Yeah. I mean, he's not the Kershaw he used to be. Right. Plouf yelled at us when we said that. And like we get it, but also like you get it, Plouf.

Like he's not, he's not 26-year-old Clayton Kirshall. But it's still. So really good. I mean, still above above average. Still really good, yeah. Still incredible. I mean, last year he pitched 28 games, started 28 games. He had 303 ERA.

Yeah. It's really good. 16 wins. He's still fucking crazy. He doesn't have to pitch against the Dodgers, too, which is good. Yeah, I mean, he's in a weakened division. It's nice. It's nice.

They're good, man. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of insane that A.J. Pollock, a guy who was the best player on the Diamondbacks for a few years there, a guy that when he's healthy is like a five-tool impressive player, who they gave a pretty legitimate contract to, he's a platoon guy for them currently. Yeah, it's weird. I mean, yeah.

A.J. Pollock, who I think they gave a four-year, not a math pod, a five-year contract, five-for-80, something like that. Again, he's a platoon, currently he's a platoon versus lefties hitter for them. He'll play more. It's the NL. He's got a gear up. You got a contract, BPD?

Five for 60. Five for 60. So I blew it out a little bit, but a guy that if he didn't have an injury history would have commanded a lot more money, he's a bonus piece for them right now. And I mean, the lineup is, wow. It's really good. Walker, well, I mean, the rotation and the lineup. It's all really good.

Yeah. Who rounds out the rotation? Walker, Bueller, Clayton Curshaw, David Price, and I believe it was Alex Wood and your eyes. Urias, yeah. Which I think we pronounce wrong and people will correct us. Yeah, I think it's Urius. I think I remember that.

Could be so wrong. There's a couple. It's messed up when guys who have the same last name pronounced it differently. Maybe that'll be some content we do. We'll do the Uriuses. We'll do someone else we just did. Urias. Urius.

Urius. And yeah, I mean, if they've got Dustin May, who's looking to start the year. year in AAA potentially or could easily be in that rotation and has the talent, I think, to be a, you know, he could be the third guy in this rotation by the end of this year. I don't think that would really shock. I guess it would shock a couple people, but he's got the ability to do that. Bruce Dargraderall, I wonder if they keep him stretched out just to throw it in the Red Sox

faces and be like, hey, you guys are a bunch of big old idiots. He's good. Jeter Downs faces Bruce Ardoradol on the World Series of 2020. Three, Bruce Sir Gratterol strikes him out. Downs retires out of embarrassment. Dodgers win the trade, something like that. Probably something like that. Tony Gonsolin can start for you and you need a start.

Not allowed. Cat guy. Not allowed on the mound. Tony G. in the power of three. This team's awesome, man. You know that's his Instagram handle? Adam Colerick is our favorite guy to watch. When they're in a series against Juan Soto and we get to see that once a game.

I, you know, okay, I have a confession. Okay. I kept looking at this team and being like, how did they lose in the playoffs? What happened? And you just reminded me, Davy Martinez didn't bring in Colorex to face Juan Soto. Dave Roberts. Dave Roberts, two managers. Dave also didn't.

Dave Martinez also didn't do that. Also did not. Two guys that didn't. Yeah. Either did David Mendelsohn. Yes. Okay. And they let Kershaw, who's not a reliever, who had already escaped the inning.

Yeah. It's got a bad playoff history. The managing. Or the decision making. The Dodgers are known that, like, Dave Roberts doesn't make any decisions. The Dodgers win the World Series or this is Dave Roberts last season. Yeah, but it's non-negotiable.

Yeah, it's just publicly because we've talked with a lot of people that say, like, he doesn't make a single decision. Right. Like, even in-game reliever decisions. Right. Like, there's literally, like they say the nerds in the tunnel. Yeah. We've heard that the Dodgers literally, like, within eyesight,

There's the crew there that make all the decisions. Nerds in the tunnel. He's a babysitter and that's fine when you've got these babies to sit on. Ugh. That's why you've never gotten a babysitting gig. Is that why? You'd like me to sit on your baby? You're gross.

It's one of the worst names of professions there is. A babysitter? A house sitter. No, because, I mean, you sit on things in the house. I have all the Dodgers who he thinks is the best babysitter. Ooh, interesting. We met Jock briefly. He was kind of serious with us.

He thought we were the real media. Which makes me respect him as a babysitter. Now, you want someone fun. He's taking it serious. I'm actually going David Price or Justin Turner. Pricer Turner. God, I don't know, Mookie. Mookie's a really good answer.

Mookie could teach them everything. Actually, no, you got to be careful Because Mookie, there's kind of no coming back from as a dad Yeah, he's so cool. Oh, dad, we went bowling. You want to go bowling? Mookie steals all of the coolness. We went to the cages.

We threw the football around. Like anything your kid does with Mookie. They're going to like Mookie better than you. Yeah. It's a hands on Sierra. Gonsulin's a hard at no. No. Stay away from my kid, Tony Gonsolin.

Joe Kelly, probably a no. No. Just chewing gum too loud next to the baby. All right, well, we did that. Okay, cool. It's interesting, Jake, they have a lot of free agents on this team. Contract year, guys. Contract year.

They got Kike Hernandez. They got Jock. Mookie's a big one. Alex Wood. Blake Treenen, they signed help out in the pen for one year. Justin Turner. He's coming up. So, I mean, they still have a lot of young town and they have guys coming up.

There's some guys that are going to be like, hey, this might be my, last run with this squad. Yeah, and I think, you know, in sports it happens quicker than you think that, you know, we'll look at this Dodgers lineup right now and we're like, wow, man, I mean, they are built, they are stacked, this team could easily win the World Series. We could look back at this team in two years and, like, it might be Cody Bellinger and a different crew. And it's kind of how quickly baseball moves. But, yeah, they're loaded and they, you know, they just have Good NL pieces, man. I mean, Kike Hernandez, like you mentioned,

said it and forget it. Chris Taylor, I close my eyes and I see he's hitting six in their lineup and it seems like the Dodgers love him. Every time I turn on Chris Taylor, he does something bad. Okay. Like every time, it's just, I know it's not right, but every time I've watched Chris Taylor play baseball,

he does something atrocious. You don't like him? I'm not saying that. I just, I know my time. has been bad with him, but I hope he understands that, like, what I've seen from him... No, he doesn't.

Not good. He's just telling you, why don't you watch the good stuff? I mean, I should. I try. No, you haven't. Think about it. I mean, because he's got...

Good. His numbers aren't great from last year. Bieber Ruiz. His numbers aren't even that great. Don't feel bad about that. Big catching prospect for them. They're losing their catcher and best relief pitcher

in Russell Martin thoughts. And can you play the bood-o-o-ch sound for me? Holding, waiting. Holding. I'm not thinking. I'm never thinking. Close, but it wasn't that one. And we don't actually have that sound effect.

Okay, okay, okay. Perfect. Tough break. Tough break. Dustin May. Yeah, I mean, they've got one of the best farm systems in baseball. They've got one of, maybe the best roster in baseball. Yeah, and they lost their best relief pitcher in Russell Martin.

Okay, and we got it. I think it. Is this train train in, trinen? I think it's pronounced Trianin. Trianin. Trianin. Blake Trianin. Trina, I think. Block A Trianan.

Do we need to talk about him more? Because when they signed him, I think they signed him hoping he's their closer at the end of the year. Oh, you do? I mean, dude, have you seen Kenley Jansen? Yeah, intentional block champion, Kenley Jansen. Like last year it hit a point where it's like Hey I know it was cool But it kind of wasn't last year

And I know Trinan's coming off a terrible year But when he's right he can be special And I guess when I look at this bullpen With Joe Kelly, Pedro Baez, Ross Stripling There guys Blake Trinan can be a dude And it seems like all the analytic people started drooling about Blake Trine in last year saying, you know,

the A's weren't going to be able to afford them. This is a guy that one of the savvy teams is going to go out and get, and here he is on the Dodgers with a guy in Kenley Jansen who kind of struggled. Kenley Jansen made 62 appearances. Guess how many he allowed a run in? 15. 62 appearances. He allowed a run.

20. A run. in 20 of them. Nice, second guess. It's bad. It's almost a third of your appearances. It's not ideal. And, man, you know, analytics people come at me for this.

Why not? Ooh, I do like Kenley's middle name is Geronimo. I do like that. Geronimo. Sometimes the eye test still works. And this guy is not the Kenley Jansen from 16 and 17 that combined. for, I mean, two years of some of the best closing baseball you'll see. I mean, 136 games, 88 saves, a 1.58 ERA.

This guy was lights out. He was special. He was special. He was different. A 14K per 9. In the past two years, his K per 9 has dropped. You know, he's sitting at a 10.8K per 9. His ERA is 334.

Don't get me wrong. I know that's not everything. but man, it just, and I think Dodgers' Twitter will be with me here. It just crossed a point last year where it was like, you're the biggest question mark on this team. And, you know, he used to be a part of what made it special. So can he regain that form, maybe? You know, who knows?

Did the juice ball mess with him a little bit in his cutter? I mean, he's had some weird body stuff, some baseball injuries, and I think he had his heart thing or whatever, and he hasn't been the same guy. since. So I don't know. I think if I would assume that the gossip around Dodgers land is like, hey, if training takes off, he could close for us. He was there until the trade and all that, he was there get. Right. Crazy. It was their whole off season pretty much. Jimmy Nelson. Jimmy Nelson. Jimmy stars. Who's hurt. Jimmy Nelson's hurt. It's hurt. It's hurt. Can't work. It's hurt.

I don't know. You know Geronimo's real name? Excuse me Do you know Geronimo's real name? Geronimo. Geronimo Hill, the old catcher? No, no. Oh, okay, you don't even know the history of Geronimo then, huh? Kenley Jansen.

That's his nickname. Yes, that's his middle name. Middle name. Geronimo was a... You're talking about a person that went by Geronimo. He is Geronimo. Well, I think the name was around before him. Is the Native American chief?

Yes. Who they mispronounce the name called him Geronimo. and when he was the most fearless raider. Sure. So when he would raid, they would yell, Geronimo! Right. And that's what we get from the nickname. Like, we yell that before big things happen. Right.

So that's where it stems from. He's not the first. I know a guy going back, Caveman Time, Toronto. Might not be the first, but that's like the origin of how we know that name. He's a famous, Toronto. Anyway, his real name was, his Indian name before he got the nickname was Gialchi, which means the one who yawns, which cracks me up because he's known as like the fiercest raider. Big switch.

Yeah. Big transition. So anyway. Okay. Maybe that's what Kenley Jansson's doing. He was first Geronimo, now he's slowly becoming the one who yawns. And if you're forgetting,

Blake Trinen in 2018, oh my God. 80.1 innings pitched, 100 strikeouts, a 0.78ER. That's bad. He was sixth in the Cy Young Award voting that year. Dodgers fans, I think, are rooting for this guy to come in and take it by false.

Is the bullpen the weakness, or is it not using the bullpen in the playoffs? Honestly, the only way the Dodgers suck is if Dave Roberts and the nerds get it wrong. And Wei got it so wrong last year. I know Dodgers fans don't want to hear about that because they probably harped it enough. But, like, just at the time, Dodgers fans, it wasn't. about second-guessing the decisions. It was everyone first-guessed it. Like, what?

Yeah. Why did you do all that? Yeah. Joe Kelly for the full inning when you have Meada? Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, and it's, again, this year with the Dodgers feels like it's very much fighter flight.

This is either Roberts last year or a redemption year. And again, this is another team that should be super pissed about all the Houston stuff. I mean, they're telling themselves that, you know, they should have had at least one, if not two. I don't know. And this is going to be one of the dumbest things I've ever said. The Mookie Betts ad was pretty good for them. Pretty good. Where do they have him in the lineup? I think they're going to bat him lead off. And this is something the Dodgers have been weird about. Their lineup. They bat Bellinger fourth. If I'm them, open up boots and bell. Betts and belly. I don't know why they bat.

I don't know why they bat Bellinger 4th. I mean, I just thought this has already been proven. Like, get those guys up in the lineup so they get more at bats, no? I guess maybe it's a little different in the NL. And if you want to sneak Jock or someone at the top of the board, like knock yourself out. Turner was their three-hole hitter, and Muncie was their two-hole for the most... And that's what they still have on fan graphs. So they have Mookie Muncie Turner Belly?

Yeah. still ain't bad. No, I just get Bellinger further up. Yeah, my go-to line in these kind of situations is what does the other team not want to see? And if I'm the other team, I don't want to see Mookie and Belli back to back. Whether it's one or two or two or three, I kind of don't care. But get those guys in the top three of the lineup. Mookie, Belly, and who's your other three?

Turner or Muncie. Oh, I'm just saying those two. They need to be in the first three. Mookie and Belly need to be in the top three. I agree. I don't care if you bet Jock leadoff first Ritees. I don't care what you do if it's Muncie. Get those two back to back and either second and third or first or second in your lineup.

Are you excited for Gavin Lux? A little bit. I'll say this, and this will be a shot fired at the National League. So, hello, everyone. Like eight-hole Gavin Lux, that kind of sucks for me. Because I feel like his first two at-bats a game, he's probably going to get pitched around. Oh, yeah, you're hurting him. I mean, eight-hole, that sucks.

So again, and this lineup will be great, and Gavin Lux is a crazy, talented dude. And I think he's a friend of the program, right? One of my dear friends. In a way. He liked one of my treats ones. So, yeah. And he's from Indian Trail High School, which has ties to Geronimo because he was an American Indian. Perfect.

Native American. And, yeah. I'll be interesting to see how his playing time plays out. I wonder, are they, you know, you have guys like Kike Hernandez, Chris Taylor. Are they going to be working them in the lineup? Is there going to be a platoon thing there? If Lux struggles out of the gate, are they going to mess with things a little bit? But I don't know.

Like, that kind of bums me out. Like, think about this. In the National League, Gavin Lux is batting eight hole. Every time he comes up with two outs, he's getting five sliders in the dirt, and they'll see if he offers at him. If he was in the American League and he was batting 9th with mooky and belly ahead of them, I'd be pretty damn excited for Gavin Lucks. Yeah.

So that's a little AL&L, I guess, bias or truth, depending your opinion on things. But yeah, man, if Gavin Lux was on one of the first 10 teams we did, we'd probably spend a full two minutes talking about him. And here he's a mention. Yeah, he's from Kenosha, Wisconsin. right on the lake, right on Lake. Right on the lake there, Kenosha, beautiful. I wonder, you know. You find yourself up there early autumn?

It's very close to Chicago, so I think Gavin probably grew up Bears Cubs fan. Okay. But it is Wisconsin, so maybe he went pack. Yeah, if you're in Wisconsin, I think. No, but I mean, he's really close to Chicago. Pack Brewers. I'm interested to know what his teams are,

I'm sure, like maybe his Twitter, but I mean he's an hour drive. Who's his dad like? He's an hour drive. Gavin Lux's dad. Yeah, do you know what teams his dad likes besides the Dodgers now? I don't know. If you Google Gavin Luck's dad, a video comes up.

His name is Tom Lux. I think he had a good, like he was crying or something on Gavin's first hit. Did you do a video? I don't know. No, not Gavin's first hit. That was the guy on the A's who was really good. Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenoshae.

Gatorade Player of the Year. Lux's parents are Heather and Tom Lux, Jr. His uncle, Augie Schmidt, is a former professional baseball player and current head coach of Carthridge College. Augie Schmidt, huh? Do we want the Dodgers to trade for Lindor? No. Pretend you're not a Yankees fan for a second.

Pretend you're just a baseball fan. No, I didn't want, as a baseball fan, I didn't want them to trade for Muky. Oh, okay. I wanted Red Sox to keep Mooki as a baseball fan. I want the Indians to keep Lindor. As a baseball fan, I want more, I want talent spread out. Yeah, super teams, baby.

Yeah, it isn't the NBA? I don't like that. That's not the NBA. This already is a super team. I know, it's really, but it's a super team in a really... We like teams that go for it. The Dodgers have been in this three-year window where they've been the dominant team of the NL.

They have no rings. I think that gives them the leverage to say, hey, we want to go even further. Yeah. It's a super team, but I mean, superb. 23 of the guys on the 40 man are homegrown, and there's only seven free agent signings. I mean, Mookie's a trade, but whatever.

They took advantage of that with their system. Max Muncie, I mean, Diamond in the Rough Free Agent. Justin Turner, Diamond in the Rough Free Agent. Cody Bellinger drafted, Jock Peterson drafted, Corey Seeger drafted, Will Smith drafted, Gavin Luxe drafted, Matt Beatty drafted. I mean, Kike Hernandez and Austin, Barnes, trades, but also kind of like

not diamonds, but whatever, pearls in the rough, whatever you want to call them. AJ Pollock's like a bigger, bigger free agent signing. Walker Bueller drafted. Clayton Kirshaw drafted. I mean... This is my whole speech about the good teams that are... This is the Dodgers doing baseball correctly.

They're not, like the mooky trade is something, but they haven't, like you said, Super Team, and I feel like Super Team, they've built a Super Team the correct way. Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I mean, they could make this team more super and try to win a World Series. And if that's a Dodgers fan, that's exactly what you want.

Yeah, Dodgers fan, I'd want them to trade for Lindor. But as a baseball fan, I'd say, like, you know, spread it out. Yeah, well, this is a team that got eliminated in the DS last year. Do you know I'm rooting for the Dodgers to annihilate the West? Yeah. Everyone knows your Nile West Hater. Yeah, everyone knows that by now. Okay, good.

Yeah. I think they will. Yes, they absolutely will. D&O West, be better. It's tough with the Dodgers in there. Do more to be better than the Dodgers. Yeah. I also think it's a detriment to the Dodgers,

how easy their division is for them. A little bit. I know what you're saying. Hey, D-Backs won 85 games last year. Yeah, man, I don't know. I mean, they're going to be there. It's going to all come down to October. Walker Bueller, special dude.

Clayton Kershaw. a special dude wants a playoff redemption performance. It will be, I mean, the storyline for the Dodgers is going to be what David Price are you getting this year? Who steps up out of Arias, Wood, Dustin May, Brewster, Radarol, Tony Gonslin, your guy. And, yeah, I mean, health for this team. Are they going to have this lineup we just talked about come October?

Because if they do, it's going to be near impossible. I heard. I heard they were aiming for zero injuries. I don't think so. I honestly don't. I think you're messing with some bad voodoo there. Okay. That's like some...

You think they're sitting in their lab like, let's get one or two? I think they are. Okay. Because I think, imagine if they went into the postseason, not having an injury all year, you'd be so shook. You'd be walking around so nervous. Okay. Am I going to be the first to get hurt?

Yeah, I don't know. That's horrifying. I think... It's electrifying. If the balls were still juiced, they would have went to the DS. Does that still hurt Dodgers? That ball was a home run.

Probably. That hit was a home run. During the season. During the season, yeah. I mean, in my mind, as soon as before it wasn't, it was. I think in everyone's mind. It was a walk-off home run. I never had it.

Will Smith. Get in the gym. Sorry. Got them. Do you think they need to worry about walk-up songs less because I mean I know two guys on this team's walk-up song you do yeah who max mansey a funky monkey it's a good one I mean you can't Smith getting jiggie with it uh no those are layups they're actually not worried about those at all they're not even doing any deep thinking

it's not racking their brains like this is my song right but they're making no they're making you acknowledge it no I think you're max munsey get away from that if you're will Smith get away no because why are you doing the will smith no so then you have decision that's Jake from State Farm stuff. That's Jake from State Farm stuff. And you've taken a stance on that. No, you know, no. So line up with Will Smith. Get on the same page. What do all the billionaires have in, what are all the billionaires have in common? Billion dollars. That, and they wear the same outfit every day. Decision fatigue, man. The more things you have to think about in your day to day, the more dumb you're going to be. And that's what makes you think more. It makes you think

about Max Muncie, that funky monkey. Like, just play a, play a song you actually like, help yourself hit. But you're all about getting the crowd riled up. Like, Jay from State Farm. It's the best comparison I can give you. Funky Monkey's a great song. The Will Smith one, I think, is lame. Funky Monkey's great.

Okay. Like, get your own identity. That's what you can only have one of those per team. I think Will Smith needs to get his own song. Okay. I'm fine with that. He needs to get his own identity. Trying to be another Will Smith in L.A.

That's brutal. Yeah, that's true. Well, hey, Michael Jordan did it. Yeah, it's true. Put that B in the middle. Right. Went on to be a famous. What's Will Smith?

What's his middle initial? Can you find that real quick? Jim, that's a great call, Jim. That's a great call. Will Smith's middle initial is three, two, one, D. It was obviously going to be D. Oh, no. Stop the show.

You can't do D, though. Stop the show. Will D-Smith. That sounds bad. Dillis. Dills. D-I-L-L-S. Will Dills.

Stop the show. They named him Will Dills Smith? William Dills Smith. Will Dills. Is that his parents' name? From Lowville, Kentucky. The only way it's allowed is if Dills is his mom's maiden name. I mean...

It's tragic. That's, this is brutal. This is losing World Series stuff. You might have to trade him. Dills. Will Dills? He's getting traded this year. Oh, my God.

I need to find, like, the parent section. why would you name your son, Will Dills? William Dills, Smith, parents. Mom's made, and they're not going to have this anywhere. It's, that's just, I mean, that's tough. They might have to trade him. Bring up Ruiz. Rarely are we on the same page.

Parantheses, we're always on the same page. Bring up Ruiz. Trade Will Smith. I'm not even, I'm not dancing to the outro. This is terrible name. Trade him. Will Smith and Secret. for Lindor bring up keeper so I fake left and then you're real bad look for you you bills