Season Defining Week For The Dodgers, Buehler Start, Smith Struggles. Ohtani bobble head night.

what's up Dodger fans hope you're having a nice afternoon and if you're following on the live stream thank you so much you are listening to the incline Dodgers podcast we are presented by tickpick and fansided this is Kevin Klein speaking here on a Wednesday afternoon August 28th and your Los Angeles Dodgers are 78 and 54 as they only hold a three game lead in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres as neither of those two teams seem to fade away but there's 30 games left and the Dodgers are in the midst of a series right now with the Baltimore Orioles and I'm GNA phrase it this way Jake this week in its entirety might be the most important week for the Dodgers this season because after Baltimore they go to Arizona for four games to face the Dbacks and who knows where that series may take us the Dodgers could find themselves out of first place after that series or they might be able to put the Diamond Backs away so we'll see what happens but it's a big series it is a big series and the Diamondbacks are hot right now so the Dodgers better bring it and they're getting tested right now against the Orioles you know this is a potential World Series matchup if we want to get go that far so this this is going to be a real test for the Dodgers to see kind of where they're at in terms of how they face up against playoff competition I got no confirmation if Christian Walker will play in this series he's killed the Dodgers as we all know catel marte's been the been on the aisle um there's a slight possibility he could be activated I think in the middle of that series but I can't quite conf confirm that as as well but despite those two injuries those are like their two best hitters Jake McCarthy has stepped it up Yano Suarez has been a hot hitter for the Diamond Backs and Corbin Carroll has really turned it around as well in the second half and then their pitching got healthy Maro is throwing for them again EIT who is officially known as Eduardo Rodriguez has been making starts for the Diamondbacks they've got Zack Gallen um Brandon F and I think Ryan Nelson a pretty strong rotation and a decent Bullpen but they're the best team since the All-Star break they're 26 and eight as we talk and it looks like they're going to for sure make the playoffs and potentially what we're looking at with this Dodgers Diamondbacks matchup maybe not only will it potentially decide the division but this could be the nlds matchup it very well could be and it's something that has been looming and has kind of scared me following this team given how the past two postseasons the Dodgers have been knocked out by an NL West opponent so this is huge and uh none of this is giving me any confidence because look they could dominate the Diamondbacks the Diamondbacks could dominate the Dodgers in this upcoming series The certainly the Padres have the season the season series already locked up I believe the Diamondbacks as well so it could mean everything and it could mean nothing because even if you go back to 2022 Dodgers dominated the Padres in the regular season and then when it got time for the postseason all changed so none of what happens in the regular season is necessarily going to translate to the postseason but it is nice again postseason is just know we we we we'll just have to wait and see unfortunately totally hit that like button if you haven't yet for us please hit that subscribe button if you're new following along the show we really appreciate you guys being regulars here last night's game was quite a stinker this was probably a matchup the Dodgers should have won they were facing a pretty weak start pitcher and despite all that they only mustered two runs and they lost to the Baltimore oals in the first game of the series three to2 I mean the the only highlights really was Jack flarity looked good once again for the Dodgers was able to go six Innings gave up three runs had like five strikeouts the only thing that's kind of been plaguing flarity I've noticed is the long ball he tends to give up one to two home runs every time out but other than that he's been pretty consistent able to pitch fairly deep um an Innings eater and has really good swing and Miss stuff I I love the secondary pitches that flarity throws for the Dodgers as long as the other guys are healthy which we'll get into I'm good with flarity starting a game three he looks like he has the presence and the attitude to go out there this guy looks like a winner so I'm not too concerned I've been happy with the acquisition so thus far but my God the offense was just atrocious last night it it it is and I see that uh one of our listeners Alfonso Luc is commenting offense approach is horrible get used to it folks this is this offense this is how they do business they go for the home run and if they don't hit it they're likely not going to score runs this team doesn't manufacture runs they don't really steal that many bases they don't bunt they don't you know wreak havoc on the bases and so this is just what this offense is uh unfortunately it's not going to change I've had to come to accept it even though it it infuriates me because I feel like there are other teams out there that have sort of more of a old school baseball strategy where it's scoring runs by means of any way any way to scratch runs across and that's just not this team and so just gotta hope that this team is hot when it when the when October comes around and and if it isn't we're going home early so that's just kind of the reality of it right now and it's kind of interesting when you look at the standings too because the Dodgers are right now uh going into today are tied for the best record in baseball which is kind of crazy when you consider all the injuries that this team has had so it is a little misleading too because just the feeling that I have and I don't know if you have the same feeling Kevin but do we does it feel like we're the best team in baseball because I've not felt that really at any point this season despite the record I felt like there's really been no best team in baseball this year like 2016 it felt like it was the Cubs year 2018 kind of felt like it was going to be the Red Sox year 2020 like the Dodgers year um but this year I don't feel like there's been any clear front runner the Phillies have fallen off the Atlanta Braves are good but they're decimated by injuries Baltimore and the Yankees are both battling it out in the American League but I don't feel like neither of them are a leap tier above the Dodgers so uh despite us not feeling like the most flashiest 78 win team um we are in the top tier and it might just be one of those years where boils down to health to be honest I don't think there is any best team on paper right now and you said that flarity is you know you'd be comfortable with him being a number three starter well right now he's the number one starter so because we don't have glass now we know Yamamoto is coming back but we don't know what we're gonna get with him if he's going to be healthy so again we're going into the postseason looking like kind of the same we've looked previous years where the starting pitching is just in shambles all the time and we're scratching and clawing to try and find other starting pitching out there you can make the argument between flarity and Gavin Stone because Gavin Stone after having a few down uh outings in a row has really stepped it up recently and has looked really good and I I'm confident with him starting a playoff game so those are the only two starters right now that I really have confidence in starting a playoff game I don't really have confidence in Kershaw even though he's looked good but he always looks good in the regular season so it is and and and Walker bu hasn't looked great I mean you know it's it's he's going tonight against Corbin Burns I'm worried about that game and and you know the the wi they really did need to win game one of this Oriol series if they if they really wanted a shot to win the overall series um because you had to figure that this Burns game was going to maybe not go our way and now that we lost game one it doesn't look great for game two and then you know we're looking at surviving and trying to not get swept at home this isn't the first time someone in the chat said I looked like Pal Gasol but pretty [ __ ] funny Craig Craig's on it um so I want to go back so I'll go back to the first game and then talk about tonight's game because I feel like this is a big game for a couple reasons but offense was just atrocious once again with runners in scoring position one for for eight they've been kind of a sleepy offense since the All-Star break they're hitting 244 as a team which is fairly disappointing all season long they've been very underwhelming with runners in scoring position hitting 255 so like what Jake was talking about earlier the the approach on offense just doesn't feel it and if there is a collapse in the postseason they've got to really shake up this coaching staff because they have the players on paper but so many of these guys just don't seem to get it done we have opportunities where a guy like Tommy Edmond triples Miguel Roos drives him in feels like it's set up for a big inning nothing after that we've got first and second nobody out can't score I'm just getting so frustrated Mookie Betts will steal a bag no one's able to drive him home well yeah there was that there was that moment and I forget which inning it was but it was first and second nobody out with Otani Betts and teoscar Hernandez coming up and nothing happened yep yeah Tio didn't I don't think Tio was able to drive on any runners but so we'll talk about the injuries but since he didn't play last night and we'll see if he's in the lineup today some people will be most concerned about glass now maybe others are still worried about Yamamoto for me the biggest injury that I'm scared about right now is Freddy Freeman he doesn't take days off ever so the fact that he was out of the lineup on Tuesday with this fractured Freeman uh fractured finger for Freeman every time the Dodgers try to sell us an injury I'm no longer buying that [ __ ] the fact that they're trying to play this like it's nothing big like I've had a fracture in my foot before I can only imagine how painful a fracture in your finger is it's pretty clear that Freeman is off and I think he's like three for 26 or three for something since the injury so it's clearly affecting him as well and this is a big bat that the Dodgers don't have currently healthy yeah and what would give you the indication that the Dodgers wouldn't be forthright about an injury Kevin I I I can't figure it out um I don't trust anything they ever say about any of these players it it is just we get duped time and time again where players you you you know they'll tell you not to worry about a player like glass now and then he's now and now it's a much slower uh progression of him coming back and who the hell knows if he's going to be even available um down the stretch or in the postseason so yeah losing Freddy Freeman though is would be catastrophic for this team he is the most consistent hitter in this lineup um that we have and he is the one guy that actually has the correct Approach at the plate versus anybody else in this lineup he shortens up he goes the other way he is is able to just use that bat as a tool rather than something that you know he just uses to hit home runs and so for him not to be 100% healthy in and out of the lineup that's really tough the good news is is is that this team is at the top of the division and yes they have the Diamond Backs and the Padres is breathing down their necks but this team can survive the rest of the season with limited playing time from Freddy Freeman in order for him to get healthy I mean I I I just hope that they are taking the precautions necessary because I believe whether this team wins the Division or not they're going to make the playoffs and so if they make the when they make the playoffs they better have Freddy Freeman available and I would hate for them to kind of push him more than they really need to at this point okay so this is Walker beer going against Corbin Burns tonight on paper it looks like a super lopsided match up right now you've got ber with an erra over six burns with an erra and the low threes believe it or not the Dodgers have had success against Corbin Burns in the past but that doesn't really matter at the end of the day because Corbin Burns is still a really good picture we've seen what Walker Beeler looked like for the Dodgers this season we're about to hit September after this outing for Walker be is this the make or break game for ber in your opinion I mean make or break in terms of what like whether everything whether he's you know are we talking make or break in terms of whether he can pick pitch a playoff game or whether pitch in general yeah I I don't know I was at his last start I think um or one of his last starts and he he was battling and he looked not great um and and he was hit around quite a bit he was in and out of trouble he he's he's having problems just putting guys away um and that's and that's really concerning because for him he's just he is a strikeout pitcher he is an overpowering presence on the mound and I don't believe he's at this part P point in his career where he has to you know kind of be a little bit more like Kershaw a little craftier a little more pinpoint accuracy like Greg Maddox or a Tom glavin type of pitcher I still feel like he's trying to be that overpowering pitcher that we remember and I don't know I mean I don't know if it's make or break because I I I can't I can't see him just going out there and pitching like six shutout Innings all of a sudden I I mean I feel like it's going to be a gradual buildup to something like that because we haven't really seen anything close to that this season for him so it is I don't know I don't know about make or break but it's certainly something where you're like I said you know this is a measuring stick for the Dodgers against these top tier teams if he's able to carve up the Orioles that would give me at least a little bit of confidence going forward it's baseball so you never know what's going to happen maybe Walker beer just goes goes out there and shoves tonight it's not the first time the the underdog has just completely upset a powering Force but I see it as this way I think ideally a successful start for berer tonight is if he's able to go five innings and limit the damage to three runs maybe even four runs I'll be generous but if he goes out there and he pitches like three Innings gives up six or seven runs and just doesn't look good I think the Dodgers have to DFA him I'm gonna I'm going to leave it as simple as DFA him yeah if he gets shelled out there we are in way too many close games at this point and I'm pretty sure unless you skip his next spot in the rotation for his turn he'd be in Arizona and if he looks like he's looked the last few starts and he's awful tonight then you just cut bait he's a free agent at the end of the year it's not like he's gonna go to a team at this point in the season all of a sudden be an impact pitcher you would have to just cut the cord there so hopefully we don't cross that bridge and he looks pretty solid tonight I assume he's out of is he out of options oh yeah he's a he's a true veteran at this point well then maybe a phantom iel I I just don't see them cutting him I don't see that but I mean stranger things have happened I do want to correct myself though because um I did not even think that this was possible this season but ber did have a one outing where he pitched uh six scoreless Innings against the Reds on May 18th but but every other outing has been at least three runs or more and yeah he's not and that that was the only start where oh no he didn't give up a he didn't give up a home run last time so there's only been two starts this season where he hasn't given up a home run so it's not been pretty for him yeah I mean we'll see what happens but that's where I'm that's where I stand right now if he just looks terrible tonight that has to be his last start as a Dodger for this season C landed kn call reesi find someone a solution to give you spot starts in this Innings because so far what Walker Beer's done for the Dodgers is really tax's Bullpen because he's for the most part been in unable to pitch deep in games and there was so much hype for him entering the season them holding him back because they wanted him to be more fresh for this September and October postseason run Chase and we just haven't gotten that out of Walker Beeler so far he's had a very disappointing season so I'm hoping that he turns it around tonight and this is this is the start of something good but you look at every other Dodger starter in the rotation right now including Bobby Miller who actually looked pretty decent in his most recent outing against the Tampa Bay Rays I think he went six Innings which was big for Bobby Miller had nine strikeouts and gave up three runs um at this point even Bobby Miller looks like there's more hope for him than than Walker Beeler but that's that's part of baseball maybe uh maybe that Chang es tonight hopefully it changes yeah hopefully it does change and yeah he pitched uh yeah he had a quality start last time out um so I mean that's something but he's been just as bad if not worse than ber this year so I don't know I I just don't I don't have a lot of confidence in this team I really don't like I said at the trade deadline and I know I keep hammering this home but I feel like we rested a little bit too much on our Laurels and we're banking on too many things to go right and it feels like too many things are we're we're waiting on too many variables to go right for us and the odds of all of those coming together at once are very slim at least we get you know Muny and mooki back which has been which has been really nice to have them back in the lineup Tommy Edmund has looked really good so the offense I mean you know we have to see about Freddy Freeman but generally speaking the offense if healthy is a really high-powered offense and can put up a lot of runs on a on On Any Given night but the pitching staff specifically the starting rotation I have like literally zero confidence that we're gonna have three starters for the postseason at least three that we're like 100% confident in going into a division series so you wanted to talk about Tyler glass now the only thing I wanted to say about Tyler glass now and I feel like at the beginning of this season when we talked about the trade when the Dodgers made the trade and then they signed him to an extension I feel like I got a lot of crap from you Kevin about you know trashing that trade and I think it was warrant the the trashing was warranted and then it was unwarranted because I never felt like getting a pitcher like glass now was bad idea if he was healthy but the truth is is that that was the only hangup I had to getting a guy like that is like yeah he's coming off a fairly healthy season and in a season where he pitched the most Innings he's ever pitched in his career I just was like a pitcher like that that is injury prone every single year I just and and with this Dodgers medical staff which who the hell knows what goes on behind closed doors but every year we're getting three or four guys with Tommy John surgery it feels I just didn't have any confidence that he was going to be able to hold up the whole year and you know I hate to be right I hated to be right about that but that's what's happened he is just not a healthy enough pitcher to be there when you need him and I'm very worried because he went out with a what they said was a minor injury and now of course as it always happens they're like oh actually it's a lot slower of a return and who the hell knows if he's going to be ready for the playoffs it's just H you know it's just so it's so frustrating uh and I know that it that Dodgers fans are not alone in this but man I mean the amount of injured starting pitching we've we've had over the last three to four seasons has been abysmal yeah I mean it's it's annoying how they tell us it's a minor injury as usual he'll miss the bare minimum and now they're telling with Tyler glass now that it hasn't gotten worse but somehow it hasn't gotten better so we're in the same situation and he's going to need to make one Rehab start apparently and they're worried he won't be stretched out and by the time the the postseason rolls around he might only be able to go four Innings or five innings because he won't be fully stretched out for the Dodgers but I still don't understand why there's reason to bash the trade because ultimately he still leads all the Dodger starters in war he leads all the Dodger starters in Innings pitched he definitely leads all the St Dodger starters in strikeouts he was an All-Star this season he for the most part when he was on the mound was able to go six to seven Innings very consistently and I can't fault the Dodgers for wanting to keep his Innings down and as long as he pitches in the postseason I don't care if he's out for the rest of this this regular season just give me what we saw from Tyler glass now pre this second I st and I'm happy it's not like Ryan pepio has uh done better than Tyler Glaston and Tampa Bay I mean he's got it's not about that I mean like you just listed all the things that he's done well this year and I can't dispute any of that because he has been the Ace of this staff I mean unequivocally the Ace of this staff all year but that's not the problem you know the problem is availability and like you said if he's available for the playoffs great we [ __ ] need it but that's a big if right now so that's where I'm at I'm not saying that they shouldn't have made the trade but I but I what I am saying is is that that was my hangup about it yeah I mean the big three on the market at that time were Corbin Burns who was always my number one but it's just seemed like the Dodgers didn't want to pay the Dodgers tax to acquire a one-year Scott Boris client number two is Dylan CE who's been pretty good for the Padres and the thing that CE has got going for him is durability he's made like all 28 starts this year and potentially leads baseball Innings pitched I'd have to look that up to confirm but that guy's a Workhorse and C's first class now I don't know who's better it would be really nitpicky but I guess you can argue either way and and then glass now was the other guy available but I mean they gave Yamamoto $325 million and we've got in a who in 14 starts out of Yamamoto so I don't know if it's a it's a if it's a glass out problem or or a Major League Baseball problem or just a Dodgers problem but I I bet you can't even name me 10 starters who have pitched the entire season yeah I can't you can't I mean [ __ ] and that's that's just the problem with baseball it's just for some reason no one can stay healthy some people say it's the pitch clock there's C some evidence that suggests that some say pitchers just throw too hard and that definitely seems like a strong cause uh so yeah I mean this it just sucks and the Dodgers are in a freaking situation once again where there's so many question marks with their starting rotation no matter how much money they spend no matter how they try to address it and it sucks so we'll see what happens that's why I'm kind of with Jake I don't feel like we're a locked to win the World Series by any means because there's just way to many question marks with this pitching staff but if healthy then yeah I feel really good about us um and and speaking of postseason starters I'm back on the Gavin Stone train he needs to be starting in postseason games over Clayton kersa where do you stand on that yeah I mean as long as long as we have you know three healthy enough starters I I would love to stay stay away from Kershaw in the postseason but we may not have a choice what do you think healthy i' go Glaston game one Yamamoto or flarity game two and then the other is game three and hopefully Gavin stone is game four I did not realize how bad Klay and Kershaw's fastball was this season until I looked at it opponents are hitting over 400 against Clay Kershaw's fast ball how can you feel good about any guy in October that has thrown a four seam fast ball that's 88 89 miles per hour and the the batter has a 400 batting average success rate against it not only that his whiff rate of swings and misses is like eight% so for the most part all Kershaw's fast balls are getting put in play and it's over 400 that's not a recipe for success by any means and he looked pretty shitty against the Tampa Bay Rays who are not a good offense by any stretch and then the next day Gavin Stone goes out there and shuts them down and Gavin Stone over his last three starts has been Sensational the Dodgers are three and0 in those starts Stone has an 095 ER 19 Innings pitched only two earn runs 23 strikeouts and a 61 6316 whip so Gavin Stone has figured it out once again yeah but unfortunately right now it's it's uh flarity Stone and maybe Kershaw or if you want to bring up like a land of knack or someone like that but it's Bleak right now if and and again I'm I look I am I've been fooled enough times with this Dodgers medical staff organization to not think that glassnow and Yamamoto are going to be there I I will believe that when I see it and when I see their names you know posted you know first of all on the on the postseason roster that's that's the first thing but once I see their name in the in the lineup um I'm not going to bank on them being there that's just how I that's just how I feel I I you know you can call me syndical if you want or whatever Doom and Gloom I've kind of had that demeanor pretty much all season with this because I'm just not confident in in the starting pitching being healthy and then also the the offense scoring runs doomcore s thrown out a statistic that there are 173 pitchers this year who are out or back from arm injuries 75 elbow injuries 34 shoulder injuries 19 forearm injuries and six oblique injuries it's a lot of injuries and the Dodgers are definitely a victim of that they lead baseball in injury War by a mile they've just been burned all 73 of those pctures on the Dodgers roster because it feels like it all right so uh if you haven't hit that like button please do so and uh we'll take some questions too if you want to drop any questions you have for us in the chat uh very uh always happy to answer whatever you guys have on your mind but it's it time to talk about Will Smith let's do it I am so disappointed and disgusted by this performance that will Smith has given us in the second half he's been a bottom five hitter the Dodgers gave this guy a 10-year contract and so far it's looking like a big mistake because Will Smith's hitting a who in 156 since the All-Star break a 487 Ops after the All-Star break I mean a 487 Ops are you kidding me Will Smith 41 WRC plus he just has one home run eight RBI and 29 strikeouts across 100 12 plate appearances and just 11 walks and last night I hear oh he got screwed by the Umpire no he didn't two of those C two of the three called strikes were actually strikes there was one egregious pitch that was definitely outside the zone and that should have been called a ball but it was called a strike but the other two pitches that he took for strikes they were strikes they touched the strike zone he should have swung on that 3-2 or 2-2 count whatever it was Ste he took it like a chump for strike three killed the momentum in the inning and I mean I don't know what's happened to this guy I don't know if he's injured I don't know if he just doesn't have a feel for the moment right now but Will Smith has been awful and the Dodgers really need to consider moving him to the eight or even the nine hole because he's been that bad if You' have told me at the beginning of the Season that Gavin Lux would move up in the lineup ahead of Will Smith I would have said you're absolutely out of your mind but that's what's happened because Gavin Lux for the majority of the season has been kind of lost at the plate in the second half he's been kind of putting it together and carrying this offense on a lot of these nights whereas Will Smith has kind of gone the other direction now I will say that you know despite his offensive woses he is throwing out Runners at a clip that he's never done done so before so there is a positive there but we need his Bat I mean you know we're not we're not paying him we're we're not paying him at all but the Dodgers are not paying him to hit under 200 and not drive in any runs because that's what we need him to do especially with Freddy Freeman in this finger thing uh Max Muny coming back he's looked pretty good I mean powerwise for Max Muny and Mookie Betts coming back from injury we really need Will Smith to uh to step the step it up here um and he and he's not been doing that but I am a believer in Will Smith I've always been a believer in him and I think that he's just going through a slump and that that's it um I don't know if there's anything else at play there could be you know an injury nobody's talking about it could be the case that he's catching too many games um you know with Austin Barnes being a a terrible hitter Maybe Will Smith is having to play more games than him I'm not sure I haven't crunched the numbers on that but um what he's doing at the plate right now is is not what the Dodgers need uh I can only hope that you know he can have a hot September uh leading into October and and we can get the Will Smith of old but um yeah I'm not liking what I'm seeing from him but given his overall resume and and rap sheet I'm willing to give him the benefit of of the doubt at least uh at least right now because he's he has proven that he is a really good hitter and that he that he is a clutch hitter he's been clutch in the postseason at times so I I'm just you know hoping that this is just a slump and and not you know an indication of something even worse which is you know did did we make a mistake with this contract I I'm not I'm not there yet he seems like one of the few hitters that will always benefit from that time off when the the Wild Card round is going on to the the nlds because he doesn't have to play for a week and then he's able to be more fresh but he pulls this act every season he fades in the second half this season for the most part he had an exceptional March and April and then after that he's pretty much hit 200 every month so if he didn't have that insane start to the season this would be a disastrous season for Will Smith and he is without a doubt the best at throwing Runners out that is his number one skill set he's the best in all of baseball he will catch you stealing he's been phenomenal at that but other than that at the catching position he's actually been pretty bad he now has a ne4 defensive run save he is maybe a bottom five framer he's been offl framing pitches all season this year and in terms of preventing in in terms of blocking balls and preventing balls from turning into wild pitches he's also been awful at that as well and especially in the last month or so I've seen a lot of balls that he should have blocked get past him and they result in Wild pitches and then the runner scores as a consequence so I'm pretty I don't know if he's going to last 10 years as a catcher for the Dodgers I highly doubt it I think by year four he'll be the Dodgers first baseman and kind of have the Joe Mau route because his Bat is too valuable to be a lousy Catcher And I don't I don't see it optimal at all for this team I don't care if he's able to throw Runners out there's so many other aspects to baseball and if he's going to be a 156 hitter because he's tired from Catching then in three years you explore other routes and you move him to the field and you find someone else to to catch for this team it's tough because you can't you can't get him off his feet you know as a designated hitter because Otani blocks that for the rest of time so it I don't really know what you do with him unless you unless you have some sort of competent backup catcher that you can pencil in there and the lineup doesn't take a massive nose dive with that guy in there so I don't really know what what you do but I I I don't feel like I'm at the point where I'm ready to say that this was a bust I mean this is year you know essentially year one post announcement of the of the contract so and Andy was an All-Star in the first half so you know I I just feel like there there is uh room for you know giving him a little bit of Grace and that's what I'm going to do with him and until I I I see otherwise um if this is if this is a growing Trend I mean obviously you got to look at the postseason right and see who steps up and who doesn't I mean it's easy to say that you know over the past few postseasons And mukie Betts has been atrocious yes he has he hasn't gotten a hit but you know it's not like it's not like everybody else is tearing it up and he's the only one so you got to have to kind of look at what you know the rest of the team is doing and if the rest of the team isn't hitting then you can't really put it all on Will Smith but if he if Will Smith is coming up with crucial situations and he's not performing and maybe the rest of the guys are setting the table and he's the kind of the the black hole in this lineup then maybe it's time for that conversation but the one guy that I've been kind of keeping tabs on and I don't really know what their plan is for him yet but Dalton rushing has been absolutely crushing it in Triple A in 19 games he's hting 343 with over a thousand Ops he has five home runs 15 RBI I don't know if he it I really hope he's a September call up because I'd like to see what he's made of at the major league level just to see if maybe we can sneak in another bat in there for the for the postseason run what do you think about that glad you brought that up because that's actually something I was going to cover so Jason Hayward was DFA I don't know why people are crying about that he wasn't good for the Dodgers Chris Taylor now gets the opportunity he hasn't looked good since being activated off the iil to his credit he's not striking out at an alarming rate yet and he's making contact but you just mentioned Dalton rushing and he's dominating in Triple A right now 343 hitter 458 on base 627 slugging with five home runs and 15 RBIs why why wait add him to the ad him to the roster September first when you can expand it to the extra bat DFA whoever I don't give a [ __ ] the way Dalton rushing is hitting right now Adam Adam as a bench player give him some spot starts here and there I feel like what you're GNA get from Dalton rushing most likely will be better than Chris Taylor anyways so it's a bench for a reason you need guys that you feel confident in and I I don't think Dalton rushing could fire his way into being into the starting lineup on a regular basis but I feel like wasn't it in 2016 Kyle schwarber was a pin [ __ ] for the Cubs and came off the bench a lot and he actually had some big moments and he didn't even play the whole season I think he was coming off an ACL maybe maybe um Dalton rushing could be that for the Dodgers he's playing in left field he so he doesn't have to be a catcher I'm all for it I think the Dodgers need to take some risks here and betting on dalon rushing seems like a pretty good risk to take I haven't seen any updates on Austin Barnes but but I I assume they're expecting him to come back at some point right yeah he's supposed to be activated whenever his IL stint okay is finalized because right now they have you know FIA on the on the roster but you bring up a good point Austin Barnes is like a wasted roster space he really is what if you give that spot to Dalton rushing over Austin Barnes and then you have an emergency catcher and a pinch hitter yeah I mean I I would do it I don't think that that they're going to because that would be a little too outside the box and I think that there's just there's a certain sense that of Austin Barnes being in the clubhouse and be in working with this pitching staff that they love because the production at the plate and the production behind the pl behind the plate of him just can't throw any he's the worst arm and he can't throw anybody out I just don't see what his value is other than I guess the pitchers like him and he's a good Clubhouse guy but I mean I think they got to figure out how to get as much offense as humanly possible given what we've already said about the starting pitching because the Dodgers are going to need to out score teams with the way that this starting pitching is lining up that's what's that's kind of needs to be their strategy so if they can squeeze a little bit of offense here a little bit offense there I think they got to try to do everything they can and I agree with you I I think Austin Barnes is a wasted roster spot at this point send your questions in the chat we got one from UCLA Lakers we actually haven't had a lot of questions today so I'm pretty surprised if you guys have Dodger questions drop them below but so do you guys not feel good about yamamoto's progress well he's making a rehab start tonight he's supposed to throw two innings in Triple A um I wouldn't say I don't feel good I just want to I want to see him make some major league starts before the postseason because it's kind of important to see how stuff looks or else we're gonna have another Kershaw or gonin situation where they they Rush a guy back and he's not fully healthy and he gets lit up in October so it's not that I don't feel good about his progress It's that I just don't have any confidence in it because I just I I've I don't have a reference point of being confident that the Dodgers are making the right decisions in terms of evaluating how ready he is all right so Evan Phillips has struggled in the second half he has an RA over five Daniel Hudson struggled in the second half he has an RA over five Joe Kelly nearly has an ER over five Joe Kelly can we just can we please I I am so so done with Joe Kelly because he could be I mean he could be absolutely lights out in the postseason and then everyone's going to be like you idiot but like it's so feast or famine with him I it's just maddening my last straw with Joe Joe Kelly came in that that Tampa Bay Rays loss where the Dodgers with Kershaw they were leading seven to five at one point copc gave up a run Phillips gave up a run and then Joe Kelly iced it off and gave up two runs and Extra Innings and and speaking of that game I don't know what was going on with Dave Roberts I hated his Bullpen approach in that game why would you pitch copc in the eighth Phillips in the ninth why wouldn't you flip them and get these guys used to their roles if Evan Phillips is going to be a setup guy have him pitch the eighth and commit to copc as your closer don't be a [ __ ] make it happen these guys need comfortability it's different in October because it's always an all Hands-On deck situation and so guys need to be ready whenever unnoticed but in the in the regular season you've seen it with Kenley Jansen Craig Kimbrell some of these guys they just need to know their role and guy like copc is going to thrive in the ninth inning so why would you throw off his game by pitching him in the eighth out of nowhere just made no sense to me and then they go to Joe Kelly and it was stupid no I I I I'm with you but what I've struggled to comprehend is where does Robert's responsibility start and where does it end and where does Andrew fredman in the front office responsibility start and where does it end they say that Roberts has the full Authority during the game to make the decisions that he wants to but part of me doesn't fully buy that and part of me thinks that it's something that has been cooked up by all of them at once right the whole front office and the coaching staff to where they're not going to say copc is our is our closer they've done this Closer by committee all season long and so it seems like that's the strategy they're going with so I don't know how much you can really blame it on Dave Roberts for pitching copc in the eth and Phillips in the ninth if it's based on matchups which is what they always do I'm with you I I I'm an old school guy like you know how much I love a sacrifice bunt or a squeeze play or a hit and run like I'm an old school guy I am I am a full believer in having a guy knowing that he's got the ninth inning or wherever the wherever the save situation is that's always been my favorite way to uh assemble a roster and to me that's something that I hope that the whole Brain Trust can kind of figure out is yeah okay matchup matchup you know copc has been the most dominant reliever for this Dodgers staff since he's been brought over so to me that is where I'm at too I would rather have him have that defined role than not but again I don't really think that you can put all of it on Dave Roberts because I don't believe that he's making all of those decisions maybe and it could be the front office pulling the strings and they need to be held accountable then and I'm I'm sick I'm sick of all this between the injuries and who's really running the show with these in-game decisions I'm getting fed up with all these mysteries in the NBA it's transparent what's going on in the NFL we know what the hell is going on but with the Dodgers it's literally like a magic show with all these hidden card tricks and pulling rabbits out of your hat like drives me nuts I don't know if anyone here in the chat is going to this Dodgers Orioles game tonight but besides it being ber versus Burns have you seen this bobblehead Jake of show Otani people are already there at 10 amm oh with decoy yeah I think they're trying to get that gold one is there only one gold one I gotta imagine there's more than one like a Charlie in the Chocolate Factory situation um yeah I've um I I understand that you know and I I have a I have a pretty decent collection of bobbleheads I'm sure you do as well but I I I am not waiting in line for for a bobblehead I'm not waiting in line for a pair of shoes I'm not waiting in line for an iPhone I'm just not gonna camp out and wait for something like that I don't know I'm not knocking anybody else that does that but I can't see any upside or appeal to doing something like that so good on you if you want to get in line and get that bobblehead that's great um but to me it's like I don't give a [ __ ] well people people are committed and if you if you were thinking about going to the game and you haven't bought the tickets yet I've already looked and compared the prices the best deals are on tickpick right now only $109 to get a seat and snag that sh Otani bobblehead and I believe they are only giving it out to the first 40,000 so you better buy those tickets right now and make your way to the stadium or else you're going to miss out and that'd be disappointing um I mean I got the Yamamoto bobblehead it looks pretty slick eventually I'm going to do a giveaway on that the other one I have I got the teoscar one that one's pretty cool that one looks pretty cool as well um NFL season's about to begin and if you're a fan of your local team or you're looking to travel to see your team you can get tickets on tickpick as well with no service fees at check out um I was just in Las Vegas and it was Raiders alumni week so I ran into all these former Raiders but I had no idea who they were but Allegiance stadiums right across the street um so that was fun um I'm excited for this upcoming NFL season not very confident in the Rams but I do think it will be a good season I don't know if anyone has any NFL takes if you want to throw them in the chat or if you did Jake NFL takes I haven't really even gotten back into it yet but I'm sure once the season starts I will I'm I'm looking forward to the to the ram season I haven't really looked into why they traded Ernest Jones but uh they obviously know more than me so so from Craig osterberg who is your game one starter in the postseason if it if if the post postseason were to start today it'd be flarity I'm going with I'm going with experience I'm going with you know just him being a good pitcher and to me he's he's my number one starter uh over over Gavin Stone right now but to be honest that's pretty bleak Nicholas Dugan who was on the show last week what's up Nick he uses tickpick and confirm it's cheaper than StubHub and Ticket Master love that I'm gonna make GL now pitch game one I don't care if he's been on the aisle I don't care if his elbow's hurting a little bit he's my game one starter running down with that ship we'll make it happen well what if he's not a what if him and Yamamoto are not there then I guess it's Jack flarity right that would okay so if if glas now is available then I'm obviously gonna go to Tyler glass now also I would have Bobby Miller start over Kershaw at this point when we were talking about the The Kershaw stuff sure I didn't even really get to that but just what I've seen from Bobby Miller in this most recent outing I'll even take a chance on him over Kershaw like sure I you know it's sort of like you you uh you kind of hold your nose right and pick or cover your eyes and pick it's like you don't feel good about it I'm just I'm just off of Kershaw at this point i' I've seen I've seen enough he's gonna have His Brilliant regular season starts but the fact that his velocity is as low as it is he he won't throw the curveball a lot which is his best pitch um it's only a 16% usage but a fairly low batting average against the the fast ball is just getting destroyed and his slider semie effective but not fully effective I just don't want to go down this Rabbit Hole again I can't handle it I couldnot stomach it I don't know if that means you have to leave Kershaw off the PO postseason roster all together and just figure it out with other guys I'm going to guess ultimately in the nlds that it'll be um 14 position players and 12 pitchers but we'll we'll uh we'll discuss that more in about a month um so Jake is there anything else you wanted to cover real quick before uh the show concludes um I really like Tommy Edmond I I I just I I loved what I've seen from him and I was a bit worried too when they traded for him because he hadn't played a single game this year um for the Cardinals but just watching him not only play multiple positions again I was at the previous Walker ber start against the Mariners that was the uh the final Jason Hayward game where he hit that massive home run in the eighth and Tommy Edmond made a play at shortstop that was just beautiful I mean it was a short hop in the hole he Dove for it and got to his feet and threw to First and he plays a decent center field he's got a ton of speed um and I think he I think he can be a real pest for us in the playoffs and I'm excited to see him kind of wreak havoc on the bases Edmond's good I like the ad he he's a little spark plug I think that's it uh I see so I see Doom s asking us the starting lineup for the nlds but we get asked that every week so I'm kind of tired of that question also like I feel like I feel like we should we should wait until you know we get at least get into midt or something like that to do that yeah we we'll definitely talk about the nlds lineup next month no doubt about it all right well I think that's going to conclude this episode so thank you guys for all watching today or if you're listening on the audio feed if you haven't hit that like button yet do so if you're on the audio feed hit that subscribe button leave us a five star review if you enjoyed the episode and if you're watching on the YouTube feed after the fact on the live stream drop a comment below and let us know um your feelings on Will Smith or are you trusting Clayton Kershaw to start a postseason game those are some good topics and I'll make sure to respond to those so thank you all for listening Kevin Klein and Jake Riner signing out and and we'll see what happens it's