DodgerHeads Live: Landon Knack, Bobby Miller & more Dodgers rotation plans

e [Applause] magic dodg of one and all High Fly ball into right field she is gone he struck him out two balls at a strike to count on Taylor Reyes fires swinging a drive deep left downi it's his way back W up [Music] what's up everyone welcome into Dodger Heads live presented by Dodger blue.com part of the bluewire podcast Network my name is Jeff Spiegel joined tonight by Matthew Moreno here to talk Dodgers on an off day Matt after they uh split the series with the angels kind of a bizarre series one game goes crazy the One Direction and the other game goes crazy the other direction but we appreciate everybody joining us live here on Facebook on YouTube on Twitter as usual you've noticed we've switched up our rotation a little bit as far as hosts for the month of September uh just for some scheduling reasons so shout out to Blake and Scott who will be on uh this channel not tonight but uh in the very near future so Matt you uh you enjoying the off day today yes and no um the reason I'm not I know everybody's excited about the NFL starting tonight Ravens and Chiefs they just went to halftime so this is perfect timing you guys can come spend some time with us uh but every year the start of an NFL season bothers me oh gosh because all I hear is oh football's back yay football's back it's over and I'm sitting there saying college football season started two weeks ago baby football has been back where has everybody else been yeah do you yeah well but at the end stay tuned everybody we'll get uh Matthew Moreno's Las Vegas report from the uh USC game beating LSU and uh RA in in the the Raiders stadium Allegiance stadium so that'll be good look I I love college football I'm with you I love the NFL uh it's great it's great the NFL you know just money grabs everywhere games every night of the week so uh I'm excited for NFL season but I do agree with you I mean week zero NFL or college stuff is weird let's be honest college football started this past weekend that is fair but you know Florida state Georgia Tech as an opener in Ireland like that's a little bit better than kind of you know just a random FCS School playing you know Florida type thing so I do agree times week zero can be hit or miss uh so fine you know but I still I will say like college football has technically been back even if you consider it only this past Saturday Fair it's good stuff it's good stuff well uh a couple things we want to hit before we get to a bunch of questions we've got some mailbag questions we received on social media of course we'll do a live Q&A here as well uh but Matt I think the most interesting thing to talk about with the Dodgers right now is the starting rotation you've got guys that are injured that may or may not be coming back that may or may not be coming back soon you've got injured guys who are expected to come back soon you've got struggling guys who have been a mess you've got young guys who have been good who are finally back up and so as it currently stands Matt looking ahead to the next six games this is how the Dodgers rotation shakes out they've got land and aack scheduled to pitch tomorrow Gavin Stone Jack flarity Walker bu Yoshi noou Yamamoto coming back and then Bobby Miller so as they have all season they appear to be going to a six-man rotation we'll get to Glass now and Kershaw here in a second let's start with Yamamoto because I think that's the headliner of this group makes two rehab appearances expected back up on Tuesday from the Dodgers what do you expecting from Yamamoto in that one a short outing like no more than four Innings and I think if he if he completes four that would be amazing it would mean that he was extremely efficient throughout the start and literally everything went well uh I mean he's pretty much you know it's I had a feeling you know before you know kind of Bobby Miller struggled against the angels uh before Clayton Kershaw's injury last week Dave Roberts had already left the door open of hey like it's possible that Yamamoto only makes two rehab starts with OKC and then he's back with us when he only ended up pitching two innings in the second one even though he threw 53 pitches so like on one hand he sort of did like stretch out a little bit more from a pitch count standpoint but the Dodgers also like to see the the practice of literally like spending an inning break in The Dugout and then going back out there and so you know he fell short of the three Innings and I thought hey like they might have to reconsider uh let me backtrack I'm jumping all over the place I apologize everybody before that start I thought Yamamoto would only make two take them M twice for Oklahoma City and then join the Dodgers just because of the way things had been going with their rotation with glass now being out mainly then Kershaw's injury happened then Bobby Miller struggled and I thought okay like he probably is just coming back and sure enough Dave Roberts did say as you mentioned that he will be back on Tuesday the uh the interesting Wrinkle in all this is Bobby Miller which I know we'll dive into but with Yamamoto like it's basically just starting his clock like a you know don't put too much I stock into you know if he does really well or sort of struggles a little bit he's going to the important thing is if he's healthy and feels healthy after that outing do you know at one point they were talking about he was going to pitch three or four Innings and then do an additional inning in the bullpen I haven't seen anywhere that that additional inning happened have you seen anything I have not I don't think I don't necessarily think that it did because of how that start ended up going got it he did throw the 53 pitches over two innings uh one of the at bats was 17 pitches I think in the first inning when he kind of got knocked around and again this is all from uh his second rehab star with Oklahoma City his most recent one um we do have the video up I I will caution that there were only you know I think the first two or three questions areen in't English and it's a lot of Japanese after that so if you are uh Native in that in the J in Japanese language then hey go enjoy the full video if not you might only have a couple questions yeah yeah I'm with you it'll be interesting I like that they're just going to let him get built up at the major league level um a because of the state of their current rotation if they're going to do a six-man I think Yamamoto even for three Innings is probably as good if if not better than everybody else that you could possibly throw in that rotation considering Landon Knack is already up and in this group um and obviously the goal is for him to be accustomed to Major League pitching so as much of the acclamation process as you can get started ASAP I think with Yamamoto I think is a good decision for the Dodgers so again he's expected on Tuesday the other sort of transaction that the Dodgers have made slash are expected to make is that Landon Knack is coming back up he's expected to start game one of this next series on Friday this is a guy Matt that we on this show have been clamoring for for a long time I did my mystery players and which of these starting pitchers you want and the entire point was Landon Knack has been really really good now some of the underlying metrics not super awesome for him but the actual results the Matt numbers have been very very good an RA of three um has given them length has controlled some of the contact and so Knack expected to start on Friday do we think this is just a temporary um sort of spot in the rotation or do you think this might be a chance for him to get stretched out over the next few weeks not stretched out but but get an extended run I should see at the major league level I think it's an opportunity to stick at the major league level not maybe not necessarily in the rotation but he could you know shift into the bullpen potentially at some point which you've already seen him follow an opener uh I think two times this season with the Dodgers so far uh they also don't have you know a long reliever right now and so ever since you know the Ryan yard brro trade and I know people have kind of wondered why the bullpen has been constructed that way among other uh aspects of it so I think maybe Landon KN could also fill that void as well yeah and I I see somebody in the chat asking about Landon knack's options so to clarify he he has been optioned only four times officially you can be optioned five times if you were to be sent down after five options you would basically be DFA and placed on waivers um so to clarify what that means for Landon Knack as far as I understand this and Matt you correct me if I'm wrong is that he is up the Dodgers can send him back down to Triple A with no repercussions I actually believe they can then call him back up so long as he is not optioned a sixth time before the end of the season so just because he's up now does not mean this is his only time that he will be up with the major league roster is that how you understand it yes and the the technicality or loophole if you will with all this is because the Dodgers started the season in South Korea with the soul series and so the option any players that got optioned right after that didn't count until the official limit of five for the season and so that's kind of where the hangup is if you look at you know the transaction log yes lonac has been sent down five times already this season Jeff as you said officially the account is really only four yeah so with with only a few weeks left in the season I don't imagine this will come into play even if the Dodgers decide to send him down at some point I don't think they're going to have to make any crazy decisions they will obviously not be doing anything that puts his status with the organization moving forward at in Jeopardy so again knack to start Friday Gavin Stone Jack flarity Walker berer Yoshi noi Yamamoto and then Bobby Miller is the Sixth Man in this rotation now the injury updates that we have and we're going to get to Bobby Miller I'm just going to set up the injury updates because I think they apply is that Tyler glass now is expected to throw a bullpen this weekend it will be his first time throwing off a mound since going on the injured list with elbow tendonitis um Dave Roberts has indicated that he would need to have multiple bullpens then face live hitters then a simulated game and then with or excuse me a rehab appearance of some sort all this within three three weeks so again multiple bullpens face hitters rehab appearance the rehab appearance is Dave guessing but he's the manager so you would think his guess matters all with three weeks left in the season the other update we have is no update on Clayton Kershaw he's in a walking boot he played catch that's all we have these two guys Matt as we sort of draw this out like well let me just ask glass now and Kershaw do you expect these guys back before the end of the regular season I think Kershaw is the more likely of the two just because he apparent like we you know we found out as his toe injury became public that oh by the way Dave Roberts you know mentioned yeah he's been dealing with this off and on for multiple Seasons yeah uh so the fact that krisha has been able to keep playing catch and keep his arm active bodess well towards returning yeah now you know they do I the reason he's in a walking boot is to help with some of the inflammation in his toe take some of the pressure off Dave has also said that the Dodgers really don't know any sort of timeline until some of that swelling goes down and then they can get a better idea but I think considering Kershaw has pitched with it already that he is a little bit of a safer bet maybe than glass now just because of like I said he has experience with it and the multiple steps that you just laid out that glass now needs to take yeah I I hope I'm wrong with glass now but I've been on this train the whole time there is no in between between a minor elbow injury that is a 15-day stay on the injured list and a very serious highly concerning elbow injury like there's not there's not a 30 day elbow injury there's not a 45 day elbow injury and so the fact that glass now had a setback is now pitching again I'm just looking at all the things he needs to check off he needs to throw a bullpen he needs to recover he needs to throw another Bullpen then he needs to face live hitters and then he needs to throw a simulated game or rehab appearance you're telling me all those things are going to happen flawlessly seamlessly no additional pain all in what do we have three and a half four weeks left in the regular season to me Matt that just feels like too many things stacked against him now I hope I'm it's definitely possible I'm just it feels like the type of thing where a single setback and this whole thing this whole rehab appearance this whole you know coming back before the postseason thing goes sideways and then it's not well okay maybe he misses the first round it feels like he either comes back in the next three or four weeks or he ain't coming back at all yeah it's you know I get the concern and I do agree that things would have to you know go right every step of the way for glass now as he kind of reaches those different benchmarks if you want to find a silver lining You could argue that he's already dealt with the setback so to speak when you know he was originally due to play catch last Tuesday and he couldn't and they pushed that back to when the Dodgers were out in Arizona and he did it then back toback days you know looking at the calendar if he throws his Bullpen session on Saturday he could theoretically throw another one call it Tuesday or Wednesday yeah and then at that point he's maybe you know making if they don't need him to face batters in a simulated game if they say yeah just start your rehab assignment then that's you know the 16th or 17th type thing and then he's returning the next week which would be the final week of September so I guess that like that technically puts him back during the regular season because they would still be playing but yeah it's you know one tuneup start if you will before uh potentially starting game one of the nlds which is not it's not the most comforting aspect by any means and I see people in the chat sort of saying hey are we sure the Dodgers are telling us the truth when it comes to these injury updates when it comes to glass now especially if the Dodgers were going to fake an injury to rest him and then get him back before the postseason I don't think he'd be throwing his first Bullpen on September 7th considering the last day of the season is September 29th like the timeline if if he would have come back two weeks ago maybe and then you know he starts the process and then he's making his first start like on Monday September 9th and then he pitches on September 15th and then he pitches September 21st and that's it like I could see that but the idea that he's going to start this whole process make like one regular season start and then be ready for the postseason that seems like a stretch to me um so we'll see uh we got a super chat here from Richard we're gonna get to Bobby Miller oh we'll get to him right now he says with only 20 games left we can't afford another crap effort from Bobby forces Dave to punt on the game to save arms let him figure it out at OKC uh my thing with Bobby Miller is this Matt tell me if you disagree Knack Stone flarity ber Yamamoto Bobby Miller I think Bobby Miller is is the first one to go if Glau or Kershaw comes back do you agree with that I do agree like because I think Knack as much as they've used him I I think Bobby Miller I've said with him and ber there couldn't be any setbacks and I was on Twitter a couple weeks ago and I said hey the arrow is pointing up with Bobby Miller I never said he was back I never said he had arrived but things were looking better than they were the arrow is not pointing up anymore and there's not enough time in this season Matt for the arrow to get to a place where I feel good about it so I agree with Richard here not that we can't afford another crap effort I just don't want to see another crap effort like if glass now comes back then I want knack to stay and I want Walker beer to stay Walker berer would be staying because of contract stuff so that's that's the issue now the question I want to ask you is what if what if y glassnow doesn't come back like is Bobby Miller in the rotation until Kershaw or glassnow comes back in your estimation yeah I mean I would assume so just based on the fact that Dave said after uh Bobby starred against the angels that he was going to stay in the rotation and he twice now in recent weeks has said that Bobby Miller is starting games because the Dodgers don't have any other options and so like and we're going to get into you know a candid comment from Dave Roberts like this I I thought that was sort of interesting just from the standpoint of he typically you know protects his players I think probably is the best way I could phrase it and that like saying it that you know we don't have other options uh is is a little bit like it's not the most uh inspiring you know for for the player that he's speaking about I all of that being said you know I guess because Yamamoto is coming back he's not fully stretched out like they want to try and be careful like I I could see why on one hand Bobby Miller is staying in the rotation on the other hand I I don't necessarily know because look I I think and you uh I lost track of who I did the show with last night Daniel and I on on our show Wednesday night uh you know we kind of touched on hey Bobby Miller has basically had a Lost season this there was the shoulder injury there's been the knee injury that he's pitched with for who knows how long at least two or three starts and this is all coming after you know expectations were set High because what we saw from Bobby last season when his timeline last year was accelerated as well like there's you could make an argument that he potentially doesn't even make his MLB debut last year and if he did or was going to it was going to be like July August September not because of all the injuries and so that like set unreasonable expectations for this year and so I part of me feels like hey you know maybe just let Bobby Miller like have the rest of the season to sort of reset like you don't need to keep running him out there over these next three weeks well and we've seen this before like I keep bringing up Gavin Stone as an example like last season was basically a Lost season for Gavin Stone so we have evidence that it is possible for Bobby Miller to bounce back and and and have the type of season that Gavin stone is having now I think the potential is there we've got a mail bad question we'll get into Bobby Miller a little bit later but um yeah I just I I don't think there's enough time in the season to fix the types of things and even listening to I believe was it Conor mcginness who had some quotes about Bobby Miller and just talking about like how some of his mechanics have been messed up because of all the injuries that you mentioned those don't sound like the type of things that you fix on a bullpen in a bullpen session in between starts those feel like the type of things you fix with a month of time um to to sort of navigate them and so it's a bummer because Bobby Miller has the potential to be an absolute stud for this team it just appears that 2024 isn't going to be that year we have another Super Chat here from Richard he said Dave and the Dodgers have lied to us about glass now and Richard I wanna I want to Echo the sentiment that we should trust almost nothing that Dave Roberts tells us about injuries okay I want to Echo that my only reason for believing glass now is very hurt is not because Dave Roberts said it it's because of the timeline I I just don't see how faking the injury is going to bleed until the middle of September and then you're going to bring him back for one maybe two starts before the postseason I just feel like that's not the timeline that would make any sense for the Dodgers it's not M because I believe that Dave Roberts tells us the truth yeah I I mean and Richard's not the only person who I've seen Express this in our chat tonight and I know that that's been a common uh thought on social media as well over recent weeks I honestly thought we were sort of past that just because yes like I didn't believe the the what I was willing to believe at the time was hey his elbow's a little sore they're choosing to just put him on the I for a couple weeks when in reality he could potentially keep pitching like yeah that made sense but at this point as after there's been you know proverbial setbacks and delays and stuff like that there's no way the Dodgers were going to give him a quote unquote break that's like you said that's going to last this long if that was their plan he would have been out the 15 days and he would have been back the day he was eligible or the next day however they wanted to line up the rotation to close out the season guys like I understand the hesitancy to trust injury updates and stuff like that but this is not some sort of fake injury this is not just the Dodgers looking to give glass now a breather heading into the playoffs they as Jeff said they would much rather have him making you know two or three starts heading into the postseason rather than again best case scenario he makes two at this point if not one before the playoffs yeah and like the the messaging of it like Glassell saying it wasn't a big deal and then saying actually well yeah like it was a big deal like just the way they messaged it if it was like Hey we're g to put you on the injured list it just feels like the whole thing was clunky if this was fake again I'm not saying the Dodgers are above that it's definitely within the realm of possibilities um I I am putting no stock in what Dave Roberts tells me I am just watching what I'm seeing and saying why is he still out why is he not playing catch if if this is all just a facade yeah and I think the other thing with glass now saying initially like you know it's kind of tightness I Pro I could pitch through it this and that like he's a competitor like what are what is there are very few athletes out there that are going to say yeah no I really can't play right now and unless like their foot like or you know shoulder has completely fallen off so and I think it's also possible that the injury was worse than glass now initially believed and anticipate which I think is clearly the case considering he couldn't start playing catch when they sort of yeah yeah I'm with you I'm with you so again just to wrap a put a bow on this uh segment Matt Knack Stone flarity buer Yamamoto Miller we both agree that if glassnow or Kershaw were to come back that Bobby Miller would be the odd man out of this six-man rotation obviously you're hoping that Yamamoto gets built up that he and flarity become kind of the stalwarts here Gavin Stone um has been solid land a knack of course where are you at real quick on Walker buer like give me a confidence level on Walker bu it as confident as you felt about this guy all season or has it sort of ebbed and flowed a little bit this is probably the most confident I've been in him but because that's what he has said about himself he feels like he is the best version that he has been post injury yeah and I think that that's fair I mean I think the results are are proving that in some sense and not that you want to predicate everything on results because look like a pitcher could go out there and say yeah I whoa whoa Matt you want some nerd stats we want to look at nerd we want some hypothetical here if you don't want results here I I've got a lot of hypotheticals for you we can hold off on those uh but yeah you know I am the most confident that I've that I've been in ber but it still is you know relatively mild like on on a larger scale just because his margin for air right now is still pretty small and so if you know one or two things kind of go wrong then the whole start could go Haywire yeah since coming back he has allowed three three two and two earned runs in his four starts since August 14th so obviously um in in a couple of those he had more runs allowed that were not not earned runs um he struggled with walks early on but even the last two 10 strikeouts just three walks 10 hits allowed in nine and two3 like nobody again if we're comparing Walker be to former sa young candidate number one starter you're going to be disappointed but like if we're comparing Walker buard to the number four starters that it feels like we've seen the Dodgers trotting out there number five starters we've seen the Dodgers trotting out there for most of the season it's hard not to be at the very least even if you're not confident Matt I don't know how you could be anything but encouraged by what we've seen from Walker beer lately yeah definitely I mean he's like you said you know he's it's been multiple Starts Now where he's sort of seemed to have figured it out it's not necessarily just one which we did see before and then he sort of regressed uh so yeah I mean it's just I think just you know you keep you remain hopeful and optimistic and he keeps uh sort of pitching this way and who knows with with all the different injuries he might be starting up a playoff game for the Dodgers and that's not something I think any of us would have predicted uh Matt people want to know what sort of drinking or drugs we're doing tonight because you just said the actual results don't matter and we just wanna we just want to see hypotheticals and some statcast stuff I think I think there was some uh very loose interpretation of that of what I said what I meant was you don't always want to live in just results like if you feel like you more if you feel like you pitched well like sometimes you know a a good fast B we're going to get into it Bobby Miller sometimes a good fast ball gets hit over the fence for whatever reason yeah it's fair it's fair there you have it folks Matt not an entirely results based business anymore we love this it's the heat it's the heat here in in Southern California it's I came back from Vegas and the the weather followed me it's not been fun okay so there you go Vegas is the answer to all of your questions people he just slipped it in there it has nothing to do with the Heat this man is still he's only three days removed from a trip to Las Vegas so he's he's not he is thinking I mean he's thinking more clearly than he's ever thought if we're being honest here so there we go let's uh let's shift gears Matt and let's talk about a quote from Dave Roberts that I think uh I'll just classify I'll start with interesting is the quote he was asked about heightened expectations among the Dodgers and and what it's like basically to manage a team that hey it's World Series or bust every single year his quote was quote it takes the fun out of it a little bit uh just I'll just leave it there World Series expectations quote take the fun out of it for Dave Roberts your thoughts surprising uh as as I alluded to you know hearing him speak you know kind of candidly about different topics is is Dave Roberts is very careful with what he says and how he says things he's yeah he's mindful of what he's going to put out there for him to say this and it did he did it was Barry Bloom who got this quote and Barry is somebody that has been around Dave Roberts for decades both as a player and now a manager so there is a comfortable relationship that the two share and I think that that's part of the reason why we got a quote like this from him uh I can understand it logically like yeah you know yes having to you know playing with the weight of the I mean I'm exaggerating the weight of the world on your shoulders and on your team like that can become tiring as as my own competitor growing up playing sports still trying to play basketball and stuff like that like to me winning is what's fun like so I just feel like if you're winning and they Dodgers have only won one World Series I get that but if you're winning during the regular season like then you're having fun like worry about the rest of the stuff later uh but yeah I mean I I I this didn't necessarily go over too well with I know a lot of fans as were seeing uh but yeah that's inter it surprised me I'm going to defend Dave in this quote here a little bit and I don't think he's saying that having bad World Series robust expectations is a bad thing I don't think he's saying he would rather manage a team that stinks that like a win on a Tuesday is like the greatest thing ever and everybody's happy for three days I do think there is something to the idea that if this team does not win the World Series it is pure negativity it is pure disappointment and they we should be like it is a disappointment if the Dodgers don't win the World Series I I want to be clear about that but I can imagine as the manager how that makes this a really really a job that isn't fun to use his own word because we've even seen it this year Matt this team goes on like a three-game losing streak and the sky is falling and it's just negativity and it's anger and it's frustration and it's disappointment and I I do think there is something that gets lost when the only way to be happy is to win a World Series you miss a lot of checkpoints along the way like I remember in my lifetime Matt when making the playoffs was an accomplish that made me happy I remember when winning a division was an accomplishment that made me really really happy I remember I spent the first 16 years of my life not seeing this team win a playoff game let alone a playoff series and so I think there are checkpoints along the way that used to be fun like there like imagine 15 years ago if I would have told myself hey the Dodgers are gonna have a five or six game lead in the beginning of September in the division I'd be thrilled I'd be like oh my gosh what a fun season that must have been how many people Matt described this this season that we're living through right now fun like what lie is Dave Roberts saying here it's not a lie but what I will say is Dave has created a clubhouse culture where they where they do celebrate a lot of the stuff along the way and he has also said like it's important to do that and the players have recognized that and done that and so he has like he's not managing or taking you know each game like as World Series or bus type thing like who cares that we just won you know five games in a row because we need to do this in October so he has done that I so that's why like you're giving him a little bit of doubt that's why I'm kind of going the other way because I I know that that is the approach he takes with the players in the clubhouse so to then say like you know it's not as fun I kind of think like well like winning is what's winning is fun so like sure like it kind of sucks I guess to have those that pressure all the time but would you rather be on the other side where you're managing the white socks and Miguel Vargas is playing for you and you guys are you know losing over many games in a row yeah and he look to be clear he didn't say that was fun either true right here's here's an analogy I'll use like I I went to the University of Oregon and my freshman year at the University of Oregon was basically the year right before the Chip Kelly Dynasty took off so my freshman year at the University of Oregon was a season in that school where making a Bull game was an accomplishment everyone was fired up my freshman year we made the L Vegas Bowl people were fired up and going to duck games that season I vividly remember how different it is because fast forward three years and they're playing in the national championship and the Rose Bowl and it's like if if the Ducks lose a single game the whole thing is over with because you lose one game in college football not anymore 12 team playoff whatever you lose one game and it felt like the whole season was over and so you went into every game not like enjoying the ride and like wow if we win this is going to be fun it was like please don't lose please don't lose please don't lose there was this weight that was like Dread of like oh my gosh if this is the game we lose what's going happen and I feel like the Dodgers there's there's a parallel to that like winning is not success but losing is failure that that feels like the mode that the Dodgers are in when it comes to the expectations they have and that's got to be really hard because basically for nine months the only thing the Dodgers could do is fail because they can't succeed until October so for March six months March through August there is no victories there is no success there is no fun allowed Because unless they win in October we're going to be told that none of this matters and I think I think I think that's kind of the essence of what Dave Roberts is getting at yeah perhaps and I think you know to your point it kind of I guess it just depends on what your starting point is with each you know kind of individual fan so to speak if you're somebody who I think both things can be true there can be fun there have been fun moments throughout this season you know sh Otani chasing 5050 that's great like literally historic like that's something that should be enjoyed and appreciated uh you know Tyler glass now having a dominant start on a random Tuesday in may like that's fun to see and to appreciate at the time so I think you're able you should be able to enjoy those have fun in those moments without necessarily needing to fully sacrifice or lose sight of the bigger picture or really worry too much about it like yeah in the middle of May I know Dave Roberts might manage sometimes like he is looking towards October but a game in the middle of may like you don't necessarily need to worry what is this going to mean for game two of the nlds right like there's still a ton of time and so I get your point I still and again I think it just it really boils down to each individual fan in person like how are you approaching That season because to me like for me ultimately if the Dodgers lose don't win a World Series this year it would be like kind of another like failure of a season type thing yeah but it doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't appreciate or enjoy some of the quote unquote fun or moments along the way yeah I mean look if Dave Roberts like three weeks ago had come out and said man I'm having so much fun this season I don't feel like that would have gone over like I think people would have been like how could you be having fun like you know this team's disappointing blah blah blah I think probably and that would have that wouldn't have been totally fair I think if he would have maybe if if that's the message he would have sent out if it would have been based on hey like We've ran away with the NL West A lot of times this season we're not doing it that's a different challenge that's fun like I think he could have I think that would have gone over better than just saying this is the most fun I've ever had and like they're struggling with all the injuries and stuff uh and maybe at that point it's semantics but I would hope that if he did say it from the standpoint of like we're being pushed by the Diamondbacks and the Padres are playing well now and this and that like this is fun this is good for baseball like I I would understand that more than honestly like his quote of saying the uh the World Series expectations take some of the fun out of things for him yeah it's an interesting quote as you said people uh are reacting to this as expected I saw the headline I was like oh my goodness Dave like I might agree with you but still that's kicking a hornet's nest what it feels like for absolutely no reason so I'd love to hear from people uh what your thoughts are because I I assume that will be a a lively conversation to say the least let's get to some questions here we'll start with a mail some a couple mailbag questions that we got on social media Matt and then you or I one of us will try our best to get to some of the questions um sort of flag those that are getting thrown in the chat as we do um let's start with this one Arthur on social media on Twitter says what's the deal with Bobby Miller's fastball I think all three of the homers he gave up were last night were on Fast balls which seemed to be in a great spot not middle middle but right on the inner edge of the strike zone does his fast ball have no quote rise there were some interesting postgame quotes from the Dodgers coaching staff so I'll let you take this there's one quote in particular that jumped out to me but I'll let you kind of paint the big picture before I sort of hone in on what I thought was the most interesting so what what did what did the Dodgers coaches say about that fastball about his pitch mix after the debacle against the Angels yes so I don't necessarily have something specific um from the coaches okay what I do I I'd have to we'd have to double check I could go through and see maybe what Dave Roberts said what I did have pulled up though was uh Bobby Miller discussing it and you know he said that he was feeling really good going into that start and aside from the first inning there was quote a lot of good in there to the fastball specifically he said quote just a couple good fastball hitters couple B pitch selections I could go back and look and be like yeah I threw those balls on the corner but there's some good fastball hitters and I threw the wrong pitch at the wrong time they put some good swings on some not really bad pitches so I Arthur was correct in you know identifying that the fast ball was what was hit for home runs boob that was something that Bobby Miller as I just you know related in his quotes he was certainly aware of what's interesting is he doesn't seem like he was overly upset with it per se it was more of kind of the um falling falling behind in counts and becoming predictable with needing to go to the fast ball and he also mentioned you know the walks and hit by pitch that set up the three-run home like that stuff being more of an issue than the actual home run because had he just given up a solo home or that pitchers typically abide by solo home runs won't beat you uh Lance Lynn might disagree but I digress uh here was the quote I found the Dave Roberts quote this is from fabbi and ARD at the athletic quote it's a fastball that hitters see it either has to be commanded really well and moved to different locations or you have to be able to get ahead with different breaking balls that's just the way it goes and if you can't do that then the catcher is in a tough spot we have to get better that was his quote about Bobby Miller and I think that's the key to me a the fastball is hard it grades out well when you look at stuff plus metrics which I know Matt likes it's one of the top I think it's like 50 fast balls in Major League Baseball when you factor in how many relief pitchers and starters have thrown more than 40 Innings that's not insignificant standing and yet he he's not throwing anything else for strikes so I think it was Taylor Ward in the same article Fabian had the quote where he was basically like yeah we were just hunting the heater um which is exactly his quote um definitely hurt the heater Ward said uh Ron Washington when he did make a mistake in the zone we didn't miss it I mean that's the game plan don't worry about any of the offsp speed stuff because he can't throw it for strikes so if you see breaking ball if you see change up leave it alone because the 100 mph fast is 100 but it's going to be in the zone and even if it's located well Matt people are going to crush it yeah and what's ironic is you know as uh Miller started to improve and use his secondary pitches that was when the results got better during the because he did like he had the bad first inning obviously and it kind of you don't want to say the game was over at that point but it did get away from the Dodgers a little bit but then he did settle in before giving up then another home run uh and one of the reasons he settled in which Dave Roberts highlighted was using some of his off speed pitches yeah and I see somebody in the chat asking didn't he criticize Austin Barnes he said he did think it was a pitch selection thing but he said it was a pitch selection thing on my part and just not executing so I I didn't read any of that as a shot at the catcher um Pitch selection now obviously the the catcher is the first step in Pitch selection but he has the opportunity to shake that off and hit his spots and apparently um he took those two things and used them to his Advantage um let's get to a couple more from social media here this is a random one John wants to know who's going to be the backup catcher next year Matt is Austin Barnes sticking around is it Hunter fedua time no it's obviously Austin Barnes he's having a resurgent season so he's he's gonna stick around at least one more year you don't think someone's gonna pay him big bucks I think he likes the uh the setup he has with the Dodgers and he he understands his importance as being a captain for the team and you know really guiding the pitching staff somebody told me I I had a little birdie that indicated there I I and I'm blanking on all the numbers here there's a number where if you play a certain number of seasons in Major League Baseball maybe it's 10 you get like a full pension or something like that and Austin Barnes is nearing it so I I there was a rumor that I heard that Austin Barnes was wanting just to make sure now this was before he hit so well this season but he just wanted to make sure that he got to that number I think you're right I think he values living in Los Angeles I just think if you're the Dodgers like what are you going to do with Hunter fedua just keep sending this guy back to Triple A when might be a better better catcher than Austin pars right now um so who knows but give me Hunter fedua that's my answer there um voms wants to know which team is more dangerous Padre's or Diamondbacks I believe San Diego with their two strike throwing starters CE and King solid re reliever and roster full of contact hitters might be the best team now I've long been San Diego scares me more than Arizona um yes you can accuse me of just taking the name brand guys over the guys that maybe have been better but I'm going to stick with it the Padre scare me more than the Diamond Backs yeah I agree I mean and and just a lot of it is from the standpoint of like you said kind of the upside the talent the potential there uh I think they they're certainly a bigger threat but I'm not going to overlook either NL West opponent this year okay that caught my attention yeah yeah fair enough we uh we were famously low on the Diamondbacks last year we'll just say that uh Laura friend of the show wants to know what does the Dodgers come from behind record when down four or more runs and when they are losing after the sixth inning we don't have those two stats specifically I don't think but you do have a couple Matt from the Dodgers so come from behind record and then losing after the sixth inning yes so when they are trailing after the sixth inning this season they are 9 and 42 so not great sounds about right I I can't imagine teams are like hovering around 500 when they're losing that late I will add by the way I have a couple numbers to throw at you the Dodgers are 18 and 17 in one run game so that's actually like one of the let's see that's the 14th best record in one-run games for what it's worth so um if we're talking about being from coming from behind and making it close and then not fairing especially well those two numbers seem to go hand inand yeah and uh to Laura's other question we didn't have the specific stat but I what I can say is when they've allowed four or more runs in a game this season they're 23 and 45 and unfortunately the information we were provided like doesn't it didn't there wasn't a comparison to other team baseball but I think kind of just deducing everything and sort of playing this all out the Dodgers have the best record right now I guess I'd have to double check what happened uh with the Phillies but one of the best records in baseball at the very least worst case they'd be tied with the Phillies and so I don't imagine that you get there without necessarily being like I find it hard to believe that they would be like a full outlier in some of the stats that Laura asked us to pull yeah yeah I'm with you um checking to see real quick if we can get a philes score they won 5 to2 so um I don't know if baseball reference which is what I'm looking at right now has updated that um let's see if probably not I know MLB is usually pretty quick it's so annoying to figure out which one of these update in real time so they are 84 and 56 so they're tied with the Dodgers for the best record in baseball um here's an interesting stat for you Matt the Dodgers tied with the Padres but they are the two best teams in baseball over the last 30 games so in their last 30 the Dodgers are 21 and N so again I just just it cracks me up because with and I'm not I'm not this is not me pointing fingers except it at myself it feels like the podr and Diamondbacks have been so much better than the Dodgers and the Dodgers are hanging on for dear life they are literally the best team in baseball over the entirety of the season and the best team in baseball over the last 30 Games as well if you want to go last 20 games they are tied for the third best record in Major League Baseball at 13- seven um and that is better than the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Dbacks both of whom are 12 and eight so in the last 20 they have gained ground in the division in the last 30 they have gained ground in the division uh obviously if you go back a little bit to 45 games or something like that I'm sure those stats are crazy so um that's what we've got as far as uh as far as some of those questions from from Twitter so thank you to the folks that thent in let's get to some of the questions from right here in the chat uh let's see Scott wants to know Matt do you think they're gonna let Knack pitch deeper into games if he is effective because they haven't yet it does feel like he has been pitching actually deep into games I mean I guess depending on your definition no he's right five is the most he's thrown in since April 24th he went six so he's gone more than five innings just one time um through 64 pitches four Innings last time out so I was my bad on that one Scott you were right do you think that's sort of a blip in the radar we're talking 78 pitches four and a third 85 pitches four and a third 76 pitches 4 and two3 thirds do you think Knack is becoming a guy that they let go into the sixth inning see the lineup a third time not yet I and not on Friday uh maybe and if he makes another start for them and he's pitching well that they potentially let him start the sixth inning but I would be surprised if they if he completes six full Innings uh however many times he pitches for them to finish up this year yeah because it and it feels like it's just uh like the the seeing teams for a third time right like it's the Blake Snell deal where you're definitely not going to trust a young guy in that spot is that sort of where you're at yeah I think so I think it's just it's early into his career they probably want him to refine you know his to have more pitches more options because that's what that's where you get in trouble right is when you're seeing a lineup the third time and you're you know fastball curveball Reliant and they know to kind of just sit on those two uh Dave with the question who's been better post trade deadline copc or Tanner Scott I don't know how to use baseball reference or Savant uh fan graphs also a great option for you uh I I mean they've both been good Tanner Scott 17 appearances for the Padres 16 Innings 2.25 ER uh the strikeouts per nine has gone down a tick but the walks per nine have gone from 5.3 to 2.3 so good stuff from him on that front um the er's gone up but the FIP has gone down I mean like he's been really really good I there's one major difference Matt between these two players two major differences I should say uh one of them is under team control for an additional year and one of them cost infinitely less than the other guy maybe so as far as player to player I'd say it's probably about a push although copc statistically has probably been better I don't think the Padres are disappointed that said copc is a Dodger for next year and cost very little let's just say yeah yeah I mean I I it's hard to be upset I mean you can't be upset with what the Dodgers have gotten with from copc here's a question for you Matt Dereck want to know what percentage of Dave's decisions in game are completely made by Dave and what percentage is influenced by Dodgers brass Andrew freedan so let me let me break this down maybe this is easier when Dave Roberts makes a pitching change goes to the bullpen do you think that's a decision that Dave Roberts is making greater than 95% of the time I yes from the standpoint of like Andrew fredman is not calling The Dugout and saying hey uh so and so is at 65 pitches you have that batter coming up Fifth in the inning get you know a reliever ready all of that being said the front office has put together a wealth of information that Dave Roberts and his coaching staff have reviewed on pitching matchups and who should face who and a starting pitcher Effectiveness after X amount of pitches or third time through the lineup whatever yeah so like Dave Roberts makes the in-game decision solely by himself there is not Andrew fredman Brandon Gomes calling down into the Dugout walking into the Dugout but he's making those decisions with a bunch of information that has been provided to him by an expansive Dodgers front office so Nomo Derek you're in here with us all the time however you want to divvy up those percentages by all means go for it but that's the best way I could answer that question yeah I I think I I will say um I I'm guessing there are conversations between the front office and Dave Roberts head of games saying like because because relievers have talked about typically they go in with an expectation of like hey uh I'm probably going to come to you for the sixth like those types of premeditated decisions I imagine the front office has more input on but when it's like hey this guy's at four and twoth thirds and there's two Runners on are we gonna leave him in or pull him I think that's a Dave Roberts got decision I would say the same with pinch hitting I feel like again the front office is prepped like hey we like Kik Hernandez against this Lefty we like so and so against righty but time situation moment in the game obviously there are so many variables in play there's no way the front office could possibly be dictating all of those decisions right yeah no there's there's no way and so like I said you know they they do prepare I'm sure they cover you know 99 possibilities but if there is a 100th option that emerges that they didn't necessarily prepare for like then like Dave Roberts is literally on his own in some regard but yeah I mean it's it's a lot of preparation before not not anything happening really during a game we got a Super Chat shelle had a Super Chat and then left this so shelle thank you for the Super Chat she saysi love this show thank you so much we appreciate you Shelley we love getting to do this show let's be honest and so thank you to all of you who are in here almost a thousand people on an off night during the first NFL game of the season as Matt made sure to clarify not the first game of the season uh but thank you all to uh for being in here and being a part of of uh of this show of this community it's been uh it's been a lot of fun for us and so we appreciate all of you um for going ahead and joining us in here um let's get to some more questions here noisy ninja wants to know we didn't have pitching last year we came into this season with pitching and now are hobbling into October is there any belief the Dodgers try to bring back bu for a year uh I would put this at under 10% chance Matt I think it's right around 10 and this is you know Daniel and I we got this I don't know if it was noisy ninja who made asked us last night but we got a we did get a couple ber questions and you know if there's a scenario where he would come back given the uh pitching depth the Dodgers have on paper uh I think it wouldn't fully surprise me if the Dodgers say Hey you know we'll do a one-year deal maybe one year with a team option bunch of incentives this is what we're willing to pay you kind of take it or leave it type thing and I know that the rotation looks good next year in terms of who should be available but as noisy ninja pointed out we've now seen multiple years in a row where the Dodgers appeared to have plenty of starters and have sort of run out by the time the playoffs have kind of gotten here so if ber is you know an option depth piece it wouldn't fully surprise me uh yeah I'm I I don't think he's coming back and the reason is yes the Dodgers never seem to have enough pitching okay so let's just look at like who's coming back GL now coming back uh Yamamoto coming back pencil those two guys in right top of the root uh Gavin Stone will be back Landon Knack will be back Bobby Miller will be back emiten will be back Nick frasa will be back Tony gonlin will be back Dustin may will be back that there's seven more so now we're up to nine I think they're resigning Jack flare that's 10 uh we haven't even talked about um oh uh never mind I'll leave that one alone that there's 10 and then Clayton Kershaw has a option on his contract for next year so he is more under contract than Walker berer would be he would be number 11 so River Ryan who will miss all of if not most of the season is another guy I didn't mention roesy I didn't mention Ben casparius two more guys who made their debuts this year so my point is I don't think you bring back a guy like Walker Bueller to pitch in front of eight of the guys that I just mentioned like I think going out and signing a jack flarity would make sense Roki szaki is going to be a name people are going to mention like a guy like that a guy that you're penciling into the top two or three in your rotation great I just don't think there's going to be a roster spot now I've been wrong it was James Paxton this past year it was Noah syn guard the year before like maybe Walker buer is that in that lane of innings eater mediocre lowc cost type thing but I just look at all of the pitching depth am I missing somebody Matt they just have so many guys yeah everybody's yelling at you that you missed Otani oh right thank you I knew there was a guy was I was like there's somebody else who didn't pitch this year that I feel like is coming back uh yeah him by the way one of the best pitchers in baseball so yeah him too that's that's a lot of depth that's a lot of pitchers to your point if everybody is healthy yes at what we've seen from Walker beer you're probably not slotting him in front of a lot of those guys what I would caution is how many of them are coming off of not only injury but significant surgeries and so that's where I think maybe the door is open either like potentially from the the Dodgers might want to be cautious with with that like they're not all going to be available for a full season and even with that they do have enough options without ber to sort of balance that depth but I think you know if if he continues kind of trending in the right direction well enough to finish this season uh that there's there's about a 10% chance that he is back with the Dodgers next year Kyle hurt by the way another name that was not mentioned um who's been up at the at the triaa level um if you want to go further down the prospect tree Jackson Ferris is a guy who's been promoted to daa he will not be ready at the beginning of the year but we've seen lots of Dodgers pitchers go from double A to Triple A and sync to to the majors in one season so Ferris could be another guy on that track so I just think I know every year same thing I get it I get it I get it I just don't think that they're gonna spend because I mean what would you be surprised if Walker bu got a $10 million one-year contract from somebody no and if it gets to that point I don't think that's the Dodgers yeah that's exactly where I'm at that's exactly where I'm at we've got a super chat here and it's a great question JC wants to know your favorite Dodgers Bobble hood that you own as you can see yeah we're both gonna have to turn around right now I don't have to turn around uh let's see if I can point to it right there it's the furthest away but it's on the top shelf and it's Eric G sa young award-winning bobblehead I freaking loved G it was a dream come true when he came on the show it was a bu list interview he came on I love that one um let's see Kershaw batting is a funny one like it's just a random dumb one obviously Vince Scully come on now Will Smith my guy um I've got two Vince Scully ones up there so and actually I'll I'll just keep naming a couple because there's the cor there's two that I purchased like I went out of my way to go buy these they were not given to me or at a game or anything Cory Seager holding the World Series trophy with the World Series Series MVP amazing and then I went and bought a p bobblehead too love P I got some good ones here Manny Ramirez next to him so I don't know I just named 12 sorry JC I I didn't answer the question G that's my answer you have well you have 12 favorites that's fine yeah exactly that's why I tell my kids not that I have 12 kids but three kids they're all my favorite for me uh I do have one of the Vince Scully ones that they did that's up there uh my Justin Turner one is auto I was fortunate enough to get it autographed right before he left so that that's a cool one uh and then I have Kershaw holding from the World Series ring ceremony uh and then FCO did one of him running in and kind of like a World Series 2020 design and just this is also an opportunity to kind of shout out folco they send us a lot of great bobbleheads uh if you want to check them out we do have a link in the description of all this uh but yeah so I think the two Kershaw ones Vince Scully Justin Turner are up there for me what's the most random bobblehead mat that is behind you like do you have any obscure players behind you uh well does does Joe Kelly in his Mariachi jacket does that count as obscure enough one I mean like I'm looking over here look folks I have more bobbleheads that don't even don't even I don't have room behind me hung quo I've got a hung quo love that guy hung cheesy uh I don't know why I have a hoe Kendrick bobblehead it's missing the bat which feels appropriate in many ways not on on purpose but yeah hungi quo I think is uh is I and yes Hawaiian Kira to answer your question you better believe we got hideo Nomo over here right next to Shawn Green and Andre Ethier so he he's on the side over here I've got tear Matt so top level up here are like current players plus G my favorite and Vince skie because he's a legend uh this one right here closest these are like random favorite Hanley Ramirez Manny Ramirez yasi El Pig then we've got Seager Kershaw batting Mookie Betts playing the infield bottom we've got Gavin Stone star rookie I don't know if you knew about that star rookie from last year wearing number 71 that's a collector's item uh Freddy Freeman ex I've got a lot of Freddy Freeman bobbleheads Dustin may Trey Turner sliding which I think's a cool one Matt Kemp up against the wall so we got that and then we got Ethier sha green and hideo Nomo up here I got some sweet Raiders bobbleheads there too and then my random ones are up on the uh there and there's one player that sadly for a number of reasons has been relegated to the closet they were cool bobbleheads but no dice getting on screen time yeah yeah there's uh I don't have uh as much space unfortunately so the one shelf that you guys make space Matt that's throw some more shelves up there yeah that's I'm gonna have to do that so right now my I went more uh selective with ones that I wanted to put up uh and then the shelf that you can't see unless I go like this the shorter one that's exclusive ly Kershaw so I may have to rearrange some things if I want to fit more uh more up there so no no obscure players for me just yet uh podre just gave up a go-ahead Grand Slam in the ninth inning to lose four to three what a shame so uh apologies to Blake for having to see that one doesn't doesn't hate the Padres so uh thank you for the Super Chat sorry for the 17 minute rant on bobbleheads don't get me started on that uh let's see uh to Tom I know the Dodgers want to keep May and Miller as starters as long as possible do you think they could ever have success as Bullpen pieces 2025 and Beyond uh I think Dustin may would be electric out of the bullpen I also think Dustin may could still be electric as a starting pitcher Bobby's an interesting one because he throws hard but like if you can't throw off speed stuff for strikes clearly the fast ball is not fooling anybody so it grades out well he's a weird one on paper the nerd stats Matt would tell you Bobby Miller would make sense and yet the actual it test performance which I know you don't like real performance but the old mat who liked performance would say that Bobby Miller does not profile as a reliever yeah what concerns me with both of them are the walks uh and really look I I get the sentiment Tom this is you know kind of looking he does mention literally 2025 which I think at that point the Dodgers would that would be the earliest where they're making I think a decision like this on either one of the two guys uh but I mean frankly in a perfect world you know hopefully that they they become some well Dustin may was pitching well like give him that credit like before he got hurt he was we were starting to see some consistency I think if I'm remembering correctly yeah uh but yeah I mean I I guess like for your reasons because of some of the limitations we've seen with Bobby Miller's pitch mix right now that he might be the better option in the bullpen but also the walks would be concerning yeah yeah I'm with you I'm with you uh let's see Javier wants to know what do you think of placing Knack and ber on the playoff roster as multiple inning relievers um Knack is not going to make the playoff roster I don't think that's a bold prediction I don't see him uh I think Beer's gonna make it in one role or another like I could see him as either the fourth starter slipping into that role somehow or being the long guy I I've said all along I don't see him as a reliever but I just think like I could just see a role is all I'm saying I don't know if he would be a reliever just from the standpoint of he has openly said that he just can't like he can't he doesn't have a routine he does he doesn't handle coming out that's GNA change when he sees the writing on the wall it's gonna be like you know what I know I think that was taken out of context it's not my favorite thing to do but I could definitely do it just to be clear yeah that is certainly a big caveat to like since the last time he said that a lot has changed for him uh unfortunately so yeah maybe he he becomes more open if they say hey this is how we need you like one thing that Walker has also always said especially this season is that he wants to be able to contribute and help the team win and so if they say this is kind of how we see you fit best then you know I think he'll certainly be more open to it than he was a few years ago okay let's get to some rapid fire ones Aaron says will Muki be allowed to move to Second his preferred position next year Allelujah similar question is Lux staying as a forever Dodger or do they prioritize muki's health and move him back to Second your answer Matt I think if the Dodgers find the right trade they will move Gavin Lux you're talking about the Gavin Lux who's actually a better hitter than mooki bets over the last couple months right yes they will s they will look to they will look to sell high on Gavin Lux it wouldn't shock me Gavin Lux will be the Dodgers starting second base next year and for the next four years that's my prediction he's gonna be there the we have the mooki quotes he wants to do whatever it takes to win like I just I'm I'm on an island on my mookie bets opinions I just like all of this stuff about like I understand what the plan was mook's gonna play The Outfield Gavin Lux is going to play second base everyone's going to be Kumbaya unhappy that's that's my prediction for next year you disagree though it's more from the standpoint of the like I think the Muki moving to second base was initiated a little bit by the Dodgers I think they saw how much he enjoys it like he was he made that pretty clear but I think the Dodgers also looked at it as we invested a lot in this guy and there's a lot more years on this contract let's keep him healthy and so that's why I think like what's changing uh credit to Gavin Lu like that is the answer of like what's changed and Gavin Lux has been amazing during the second half but I don't know if the Dodgers will want to sacrifice mook's future to that extent yeah I I just I know I said rapid fire and I keep coming back I I just I think the Dodgers plan for Muki and second base involved believing that Gavin Lux was going to be able to play shortstop and we all agree on that one okay I'm just saying Gavin Lux has now put up multiple Seasons as a well above average offensive player and yes I know that technically this season he's a 102 weighted runs created plus slightly above okay he was a 113 weighted runs created Plus in 2022 in 29 games he's now above average he's been one of the best hitters in baseball for the last two two and a half months like I I just for a team that has the contracts they have to have this guy under team control for the number of Seasons that they still have him under team control for I just don't see he's a free agent in 2027 like why would they trade this guy and then have to go fill that spot in the order in the lineup I know Muki play second then you gotta go sign a right fielder I just don't see it I just don't see it uh Shelley wants to know will Kevin km make the playoff roster speaking of controversial Jeff opinions let's just get them all out of the way in one spot uh I am going to stick to my guns Matt and say no I think Andy PES gets the last spot on the postseason roster that's my answer wouldn't fully surprise me but I think Kier Meyer ends up earning it for kind of the defensive because I don't think also he would he would be on the team right now if they weren't looking at sort of playoff decisions like I I think they probably would have just kept Hayward fair fair uh Scott wants to know Otani or Lindor for MVP go yeah I mean Otani like we've discussed this on a few a few of our videos like I I get Lindor credit to him for you know rebounding from a bad start to the season but again like what Otani is potentially accomplishing is well what he has already done has never been done before yeah and if you get to the nice round number of 5050 what else is left to do this thing's been locked and loaded game over Eric G in the middle of his streak for like a month according to Vegas and uh Vegas is never wrong Tom wants to know do we forgive the Tigers for what they did to the Dodgers now because of that Grand Slam in San Diego sure All is Forgiven Detroit you forgive them Matt yeah I I had honestly it took me a second to remember what we were going to have to forgive them for but yes now I certainly do yeah uh rod wants to know how confident are you the Dodgers will have four good and healthy starters so I mean depends on your definition like flarity Stone yamam Modo all definitely qualify do those three qualify as good like is Stone a good pitcher I mean yes but is he going to consistently be pitching okay I want to say good but well so your answer is definitely no then because you only have three good pitchers on the Dodgers roster even if they're all healthy it sounds like yeah okay so see so my my answer to Rod's question is not very confident at all flarity Yamamoto glass now if he comes back and stone and I think Stone's been good so sure give me four uh we had a good food question here and then I want to get I want to I want a Vegas report from you uh Richard KFC Raising Canes or Popeyes can only choose one what's the go-to oh this is so easy it's Raising Canes yeah okay I was terrified you were gonna say something else there is I live in Portland as some people know there is one Raising Canes I believe in the entire state it is in downtown Portland which is a mess to try and find parking in in the basement food court of Mall it is quite literally the worst location in the history of all locations to get to this place requires finding a parking spot two escalators a 15minute walk it's a disaster I went to raisin canes today in downtown Portland because I was down there Caniac combo gave One n one strip to my daughter so I only took down five didn't take down all the fries uh no col slot extra fries pay for the extra sauce unsweetened iced tea with the lemon absolutely incredible absolutely incredible and it unfortunately looks like you and I are on an island by ourselves based off the chat responses everybody is saying popey's uh I great KFC is like a mile in third like like not even in the picture it's like the 100 meter dash KFC fell down is rolling around didn't even make it out of the blocks okay they're not in the screen the Popeye's chicken sandwich is amazing amazing so I had I didn't I don't think I had that I had Popeyes twice though a few years ago because people told me that it was good and I thought okay maybe I just didn't appreciate it the I didn't care for it so Popeyes is out for me uh KFC ahead of Popeyes oh yeah but it's but it's like I get I'll get like a random craving for like fried chicken from KFC it's not anywhere I go with like regularity by means so uh it's not like it's it's not I remember I remember seeing an ad for the chicken sandwich right after Popeyes came out with theirs and again I think Popeyes is fantastic so I'm like you know what I'll try it it was like I wish I had taken a photo of how pathetic and depressing this sandwich looked it tasted the same I KFC if you put it in front of me I'll eat it I'll crush a drumstick some mac and cheese some biscuits like sign me up for all that I'm just saying raisin canes by a mile Pop Eyes in second by 10 miles and then KFC above the edible line but not not by a ton uh this Mike is just trying to incite just debate I mean we've had this debate I forget Who Who Are You The H Defender Of The Habit no no not me there's one person who I feel like defends the habit and places it in rarified air The Habit is fine yeah I can't remember who I can't remember who did it on our staff my dad loves the habit and I'm just like it's fine like it's fine it is fine I I I don't go to The Habit very often but when I do I get uh chicken Caesar salad so I think that that's tell you want hot take here Matt I I think Wendy's is better than the Habit yeah I agree I'd go to Carl's before I'd go to The Habit oh absolutely I'm not sure if McDonald's is above it I think it is okay there you go because if you go to McDonald's like you're craving kind of something very specific that McDonald's is known for in terms of like quality and freshness like no like you're going to get a better meal at The Habit in that regard but if there's only one Big Mac out there there's only one you know Quarter Pounder out there yeah Big Mac the Big Mac I remember as a child like I I've gotten Big Mac sometimes recently and I'm just like you this isn't this isn't how I remember it it's it's good it's just it's not not how I remember it we'll just leave it there uh man noisy ninja says can't trust food recommendations if he likes Raising Canes uh Blake meets your criteria then because nobody loves Raising Canes quite like Blake and I would say uh you shouldn't trust him uh Scott double western bacon cheeseburger that's that your that's Matt's love language right there there we go yeah I'm with you my famous double western bacon cheeseburger story I can't remember if I've told this my senior year of high school I know there's a guy from my high school in the chat I ran cross country and I was very bad my sophomore junior senior junior year senior year I got dramatically faster no steroids I promis no drugs involved and I was in really good shape like I was running um sub19 minute 5Ks so that's about 620 pace for 3.1 miles roughly is where I was at the last day they uh the last day of the Season like one day after the season ended they called the Golden Mile and they let everybody run the fastest mile you will ever run in your life it was like you are never going to be in better shape of your life than right now so we're going to put you on the track you know a nice whatever I forget what they call the chart and track or whatever um electric timing we're going to do the whole thing I'm like great I'm fired up my goal Matt was sub five minute mile I believe I was like I'm gonna run a sub five minute mile here's how you know 17-year- old Jeff's an idiot Matt there's lots of reasons but here's number one three hours before this race I ate a double western bacon cheeseburger from Carl's and I ran a 508 cramping the whole last 250 meters and I hated it it was the dumbest and I've never broken five that was my minut that was my moment right there Matt and I just could not say say no to the double western I couldn't say no I mean it's understandable I don't know I don't know anybody that can really it's crazy it's crazy all right I want uh give me something from Vegas Allegiance Stadium the Raiders stadium USC beats LSU I hate USC I also don't like LSU so it was not the outcome I wanted but I don't hate it so how was it it was a lot of fun obviously I mean the game speaks for itself uh had you have you been to a game at allegion I haven't I wanted to take a stadium tour it's like 80 bucks just to tour the place oh man yeah that's that's kind yeah that's a bit much uh it was my first time there as well uh I realized also that I hadn't been to I know that they played NFL games at the Coliseum I know that NFL has also been played at the Rose bow Stadium like that's but like a true what I consider like kind of a true NFL like modern NFL stadium I haven't been to one like in my lifetime so that was that was a first uh it was a lot of fun obviously it was uh it was an interesting heated crowd I know that there there's always a lot of jokes about the SEC and how much football means to those schools and fans uh I I saw it for the first time and and I believe it so that was fun uh yeah just uh was you ate you you went to a nice dinner right one of the nights yeah we went to uh Carbone which I it was more like my wife enjoys it I I think it's okay it's little overated give us the report so there we got they're known for some spicy uh the rigatoni pasta okay we got that they actually make a tableside Caesar salad that is very good so that was excellent big big Caesar salad guy over there we know that yes uh and then uh we they have it's off menu but so if if anybody here wants to go to Carbone you can order it you can just ask for it they'll bring it um some meatballs which were good they were they weren't like traditional meatballs it felt like they had a mixture of like ground beef with some sort of Italian sausage so it kind of had a different flavor than just a traditional meatball uh so it was fine I just think the restaurant is good I just think as a whole it's overrated by in generally speaking what a guy though he goes there anyways because that's where the lady wants to go and Matt man the people making her happy he knows how it works so she went to Vegas to go see a USC football game she gets to pick dinner that seems like a win for everybody well I'm glad you had a good time I'm not glad that your team won but uh I hope they lose every game for the rest of the season so uh that'll do it for us folks we appreciate everybody in here joining us live as always uh over a thousand people again we appreciate you on the first night of the NFL season again to clarify as Matt wants us all to know um Dodgers big series against the Guardians coming up uh sure you stay tuned to this channel because as always we've got content coming at you we are working on a very special very exciting interview that was potentially going to happen this morning we think it's going to happen Saturday so stay tuned you're not going to want to miss that one it's going to be a fun one so uh again thank you everybody for joining us that is Matthew Moreno if you're new around here subscribe hit the notification Bell if you're a podcast person Apple Spotify Google even if you're not just go in there find the Dodger heads podcast rate review leave us a comment we'd greatly appreciate enjoy the rest of your night everybody and as always go Dodgers