Dodger Magic is Back! Shohei's Break is Over; Weird Roster Decisions

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1:28This is Markets Native from those mentioned. For more C-calshi.com, slash regulatory. Because once you start feeling good about how you can rally, it doesn't matter when and you're seeing a lot better doggers team trending in the right direction as we all predicted they would on our first chat. Hello everybody and welcome to this Monday Labor Day episode of Dodgers Territory. We are live. I am Alana Rizzo. That is Katie Wu and Clint Paseas. We're taking you through the next 30 minutes. And as we said on our Thursday show, September didn't fix anything. Guess what? September has fixed everything. Let's get to the big ticket. All right, I don't even care. Katie Wu that it was the Nats. I'll take it. Dodgers sweep them. Winners of four in a row. What's been the biggest difference? You're seeing I think some of that late inning rally that has been missing. The Dodgers have played a lot of one run games.

2:30But turns out if you play a series against a bullpen, that's tied the major league record for most blown stays in a season. You might see some luck turn around. So we saw back-to-back Joltz three run homers from Tommy Edmond on Saturday, a three run homer from Mookie Betts on Sunday. To propel these Dodgers to come from behind victories. And it just felt like to me, after the tail walkoff against the Cardinals on Thursday, that was like the big Joltz that this Dodgers team had been looking for for roughly about a month. And the fact that it was tail probably also helped just overall morale. It was a guy that really needed to start getting going. So they put that series against St. Louis behind him. They move into the nationals, take care of business, sweep them. Really like the quality of the bats and the results later in games. Because once you start feeling good about how you can rally, it doesn't matter when and you're seeing a lot better Dodgers team trending in the right direction as we all predicted they would after our first show later. Our last week. Yeah, yeah. We never overreact on this show. That's not what we're here for. No, this game, the series was fun.

3:30These last four games in particular were fun. Show, hey, not in the lineup. We'll talk about that in a bit. But it felt like other people kind of maybe got the memo. They need to step up. They need to help this team out. We know Mookie has been pretty hot over the last month or so. Teo getting hot like like Katie mentioned is massive for this team. And what you're seeing, I said this last night in my all Dodgers show, you're seeing Dodgers baseball again. You're actually seeing late in the game. You're down by a run. You go back a week ago. It's like, I don't know if they got this now. It feels like they are going to come back. They have to come back in the arsenal again. So it just makes watching this team a lot more fun. It makes covering this team a lot more fun. It's just something that had been missing. And Dave said after the game yesterday, everybody, every night, it's something, it's been somebody different. I thought we were going to break through. I really did. And that's what we're seeing. And it's it's going to be great. And a lot of it's going to be great.

4:31All right. So Jason Diamond 03 has a question. And I know that Katie said it's the worst bullpen in the league. And there is something to be said for that. But he wants to know everything isn't fixed. It's still just the next. Do we put any validity into that? Or did they beat him in ways that we are proud of? Is it would they have beaten other teams in the way that we were playing Dodger baseball, as Clint said? Is everything fixed or was it just a lower opponent? I think that's fair. I think it's a little bit of both. Again, the Nationals have one of the worst bullpen ever in terms of blown saves and keeping those late leads intact. But the Dodgers for most of August, were not exactly beating up on any of their opponents. And they played a lot of one run games. And how many times did we talk about the runners and scoring position and the lack of those transferring into actual runs? So the fact that it's been a different guy each night. Tale Thursday, Tommy Saturday, Mookie on Sunday. And Mookie, I think, has had him and Tale some of the most collective bested bats over the last week.

5:31That to me is, I think we can put more stock into than it just being the Nats. Yes, the Dodgers should beat up on opponents that are much lower than them in the standings. But you look at these guys right here with our pal Jeff and the numbers. This is what you want, especially with Freddie Freibin not having the slug he's looking for in the second half. We've had no show-a for four days. So when you're looking at guys taking up at the top of the order, no Andy Pahas still. This is important and Will Smith, I know. We'll get to him probably later in the show. It's been a little bit of a slow go. That makes sense given how much time he's missed. So the fact that different guys are stepping up, especially late in games where you have a considerable more amount of pressure, that is the bigger takeaway for me other than them just beating the Nats. It's the quality of bats and execution with runners in scoring position that's really changed. Yeah, you're beating a bad team. But the thing is they weren't doing that for a bit. They weren't always beating bad teams. This is what a team needs to do. This is what a team like the Dodgers needs to do. Go out there and beat the ass out of this bad team.

6:32That's what they did. I don't know how you beat the ass out of somebody, but that's just what I went with. If you have a Cuban single mother, I know how. It's fine, moving on. Trauma, definitely not a Monday. It's fine. Feed later every day. Is this the happy hour show? Am I cracking up in the bottle? I'm teasing. I did not get beat, right? We're relaxed. We can tell. How dare you? Anyway, moving on. Oh, that would be me. Yeah, that would be you. Yeah, that would be me. All right, so are we moving on to the fact that the pitching wasn't super great. I feel like we should not bag on Justin Roblesky. I feel like it's your first outing coming off of the I.L. And remember, he wasn't all star for us. So can we not just absolutely want to push him to the moon and keep him off of the postseason roster, Clint? Listen, I'm not... I guess I am saying it because I wrote it in the rundown here. I think it is a fair question.

7:32Has he pitched his way out of the playoff, you know, the postseason roster picture? Because it's been a struggle. It has been a struggle for our guy, Robo. Friend of the show here in the second half of the season here. I'm going to pull up the Roblesky numbers as soon as I can here. Obviously was great in the first half. It was an all star in the first half. But you start looking at the numbers. Now we're down to 3.80, are up to 3.85 on the ERA on the season. The recent action. Last 10 appearances. ERA over 5.5 actually. Since his start against the Yankees, his first start out of the all star break, we have an ERA North of 9. He's been very hittable. He's been homer prone and that doesn't play well in the postseason. So I have some concerns. I love Justin. I love Justin particularly in the bullpen. Somebody who fought for him to not be in the rotation early in the season.

8:33I was very much wrong about that. But now he's got to find something again. Whether it's command, whether it's the league caught up to him. And now he needs to find a way to adjust back. If he wants to be a part of this postseason roster, he has two weeks to show his wares and say, hey, I deserve to be there. But as of right now, he's a concern. I see the second half numbers. And I'm not going to argue with that. It certainly has not been the first half all star Justin Robleski. We also knew coming in. He was approaching his major league. Anians limit and that wear and tear can catch up to guys. But I'm not on the fire Robleski to the Moon train at all. I think it's important. And this applies to really the whole roster, but specifically the bullpen. The how we're seeing guys being used in relief right now. And even in the rotation, isn't how this club is going to use them in October. Yesterday, Dodger just needed innings. And they were trying to ride for Buskeeper as long as possible. He looked really good in those first three innings. Questionable to send him out for the fourth. Even Dave Roberts said that,

9:34you know, just trying to get as many out as possible. Pitching him later than he has really in the last month or so. Came back to bite him. So that to me, the numbers for yesterday are more of a just product of circumstance. I do think there needs to be better execution overall. But I'm having a hard time looking at how this projected postseason rotation is playing out. Even without show, hey, who will get to you later. Seeing how robust he is going to take a bulk of three or four innings in a postseason game. I still think we're going to see Robustki take about one or maybe two innings, maybe an up down. And the stuff plays up as we've seen. So you can see the bellow start to play. The stuff gets a little nasty. Or yes, the homers are concerned. Because the last thing you want to do in the postseason is give up a bomb. That's an instant adrenaline boost to the other team. And I'm not saying all is fixed here. But I do think how we're seeing Robustki being used right now is not how the Dodger's anticipate using him in October. And I think he'll be a lot more effective in shorter stints. And we'll just add him to the list of Dodger starters, turned high leverage relievers, that go out and become really, I think, the most fearful pen in the playoffs.

10:35And I do think you're just going to manage your bullpen and your rotation, the back end of the rotation differently in the postseason. Based on matchups, based on who you're going to face early on, based on what you're going to need, the seeding, all of the thing. I want to go back to our chat here for just a moment. And this is a question that Clint, I'll ask you first. And Katie, I want your opinion on it as well. Because you're there every single day. Craig goes to broke 007. Does he need another pitch? He believes Craig does that he does. CP, I ask you because I know you're really into the pitching side of things. Does he need something else to be more effective? He put together an all-star first half. I feel like the stuff was there. The stuff is good enough as it is. Feels more like Katie was saying, there's a little bit in the execution side. A little bit of maybe just adjusting. Again, adjusting back to the league, adjusting to you. Yeah, a third pitch or another pitch, a dominant pitch. We had this rocky discussion for the better part of two years. And look how much better Sasaki became with a true third pitch.

11:38I think that would go a long way. But his ability to manipulate a fastball, like it kind of acts as a third pitch because he can kind of to see him. He got a four-seam in there. I should say sink it a little bit. The sinker has been hit a lot for Robo, but couldn't hurt. Third pitch could not hurt. It's interesting because you look at just the breakdown of Justin Rebuski. And he has a whole kitchen sink of an arsenal. He can throw up to seven pitches. But predominantly the season, it's really only been the fastball and the slider. And he'll maybe mix in the sinker every now and then. You can get by and relief with a steady, strong two-pitch arsenal. And to Rebuski's credit, he was able to do that mostly as a starter, which is even harder. I guess he was working in the second area a little bit more consistently. But I can see both sides of this. To me, for looking at Robo for Justin and Inning or four outs of work, a peeking manipulate the fastball like you said, Clint. And then use the slider to play off of it. I don't feel the need for a huge desire for a third pitch. But having some new throw hitters off the fastball in the sinker,

12:39or excuse me, the slider combo, maybe working the sinker in a little bit more consistently. Certainly doesn't hurt. Again, though, this isn't like the dodges are going to go into October and say, Justin and Rebuski, we need you for four innings on and throw two pitches only. It's most likely going to be like Alana was saying, here's the matchup. Here's where they are with, you know, this part of their lineup, here's who's available, here's who's not every game, obviously, is a must win game in October and Dave Roberts manages it, such. So to me, it's less about adding to his arsenal right now and realizing, okay, these pitches are working for him currently. Let's match him up when those best fit for us against our opponent. And maybe this is a discussion later in the off season when they get there. All right, one other question before we move to break here on this live episode of Dodgers Territory. Are we ready to laud a bounce back, a Bobby bounce back for Bobby Miller, Clint? What did you see in his outing? I, some people got mad at me for appreciating what Bobby did last night. I mean, talk about just a scenario to return to Los Angeles flooding on him in his like first

13:45ending back. You have all the way to the world. All these eyes on you. It's like, can this guy be the dude that we saw in 2023 where, you know, he arguably should have been the game one starter in that postseason, very, very thin, very, very bad rotation. Nothing against Bobby there. But yeah, I mean, he's been just kind of through the ringer over the last two years, ineffective injuries, you know, battling back 16 months, I think, between major league appearances. So for him to not only have that, to have it literally rain on his parade and for him to battle back only gives up the one earn run, hat tip to Kyle Tucker, robbing a home or for him as well. Wind was weird there. That earned run probably maybe doesn't happen or maybe it's worse if he pitches James Wood, but James Wood is intentionally walked to load the bases, the hit by pitch, which was soft, soft hit by pitch, by the way, ball pops out of your hand, you know, wet baseball and a curve ball. Anyways, to the point here, it was an honestly impressive performance. And for a guy with Bobby Miller, we've talked about for the last two years, it's all

14:50for him a lot of it is between the years. For him to not let that ending snowball in the rain, that was impressive. Now do I think he is on the postseason roster from that? No, absolutely not. He's probably the guy who gets sent down for the return of Emmett Sheen today, but tip of the cat to him. Way to battle back, way to bounce back and, you know, good on big game Robert there. I'm like calling Bob Robert. We're going to talk about Emmett Sheen coming up here in our series preview, if you will, and how many bags that the reds are going to try to steal with Emmett Sheen on the hill, it's trying not to give up not all of them, but there's more to come first award from our friends at Felt Territory. Dehydration is real people. So our quince electrolyte stick packs. All of a sudden, you don't need some big bottle to carry around just these little packets. If you suddenly feel like you need a little hydration, raspberry salt, delicious citrus salt, my personal

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16:54Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital one dot com slash bank for details. Capital One, NA member FDIC. You know that we were going to get into this. Obviously it's one of the bigger stories surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers right now. So let's get into it. No show show. Hey, Katie, what is the latest in terms of show? Hey, O'Connie. And is he being shut down for the remainder of the season in terms of pitching, but moreover, it looks like he's ready for a return to the lineup? Yeah, a lot of all things pointing towards show. Hey, O'Connie returning as the designated hitter today, Monday against the Reds. He was out as we know for the last four games, the longest time that he has missed in his Dodgers tenure. So and it's worth noting that O'Connie was available to pinch hit yesterday and Dave Roberts said there was a scenario in which, you know, Mookey Bets wasn't the hero. Maybe that you see Shohei take that a bat. But you know, I think there's a much bigger issue here than just

17:58getting him four days off. It was why was the messaging so jumbled up? And a lot of this goes back to Shohei who again has not talked to reporter since August 17th. So happy three-week anniversary everybody. But, uh, so let's tell you really count down, count the days. I think it's important to note that the number one priority for the Dodgers when it came to O'Connie was ensuring that his bat remained in the lineup and they were not compromising any of the offense regardless of how much Shohei wanted to pitch and who can blame him? Like this is not a knock on Shohei saying, you know, I want to be the best I can. Of course, obviously. But I think there was maybe, and this is again my speculation here. Maybe he wasn't Shohei wasn't as honest with how much discomfort he was in. And to be fair, Clayton Kershaw, Freddie Freeman, they're not going to do this either. They're not going to say, yeah, okay, I'll take the day I'm not feeling well. Dave Roberts had to physically send a text to Shohei that said, you're not playing tomorrow for Shohei to then say, okay, that's fair. Now, what the

19:00Dodgers need here, whether or not we'll get to the pitching part in a second, they need Shohei the bat at the top of the order. Dave Roberts said, O'Connie will be back in the lead off spot and they need better production out of him looking back right before I think the last two weeks before he took this little break going back to August 19th. He was just six for 46 guys. That's a 595 OPS over that 12 game period did not try to run, struck out 19 times. All right. So clear he needed a reset. Hopefully, those four games off put him in a better place. What this means for him pitching Dave Roberts said they're not officially shutting down O'Connie but we can all look at the calendar. We could also look at the calendar last week when they shut him down without a timetable to return but I digress. Very unlikely that we'll see O'Connie pitch again this season but the more important thing for this Dodgers roster that already has a Yamamoto, a scoobal, a snail and a glass now in its rotation that can absorb No O'Connie as disappointing as it is. Not sure they could absorb No O'Connie as the hitter,

20:02so the Dodgers are making the call to do its best for him going forward. Hopefully we'll see him return to the lineup tonight. Yeah. I mean, you add Shohei to what we're seeing out of Mookey, what we're seeing out of Teo, Tommy Edmond, getting Will some more at bats under his belt. It's going to be the Dodgers lineup we expected. The last four days, I guess really prior to Sunday. There was a lot of the conversation about could Shohei be placed on the IL? Are they going to make this a longer stint? What kind of changed between, let's say Saturday night and Sunday's game to where we saw him grab a bat, grab a helmet in the eighth inning and now he's going to be in the lineup. What changed IL? Wise. I think this makes sense from the organization's perspective because of O'Connie's status as a two-way player. If he's placed on the IL it has to be for 15 days, not the 10. There are multiple other IL stints, but if you're going to be without O'Connie for just 10 days and you can back date retroactive IL stints, the question was, okay, we're not going to have him

21:06for three or four days. Is it worth just putting him on the IL and essentially losing him for about a week or so and just giving him a chance to reset if he needs it? And the quest, as it became clear over the last couple of days, at least from what we're hearing from the Dodgers, not from O'Connie himself is that he didn't need it. Now, when you're thinking about 15 days instead of 10, that completely changes it because you can get by if you have to 10 days without Shohei O'Connie. Being without him for two weeks when he didn't need that entire allotment of that time makes sense to just play short and that's what the Dodgers were hoping to do with roster's expanding to 28 players. They certainly have more flexibility to have been able to do that this week, but it really came down to, okay, what's better for us long term? We don't want to be without Shohei for two weeks if we don't have to for obvious reasons. Can we give him a three, four day break and see how his body responds? And if he feels good enough, we can avoid the IL altogether. We're comfortable playing short. It makes sense for them to do that this way because why be without O'Connie for two weeks if you

22:07don't have to? We'll see. Hopefully get a chance to talk to him today. Well, fingers crossed, how he's feeling, but given the fact that he was again available to pinch it yesterday, to me, senses that the Dodgers are more comfortable getting him back in the line up there. Katie, is there a scenario in which he begins a throwing program again? Because he was on a throwing program and then they shut it down. So it seems like it's kind of a moot point because we don't know if he's going to be pitching for the rest of the regular season or not. But is there a universe in which he starts a throwing program again and then can pitch kind of a one, two punch in terms of, you know, a later postseason option? I think with O'Connie, you can never say never, though Dave Roberts downplayed the idea of O'Connie being an opener as he works to build back innings. And again, there's no player more on baseball that I will definitively say anything about than Shohei. That's what makes him Shohei. But I think again, the big priority for the Dodgers is making sure he's not compromising the offense. And when he started ramping up his initial throwing program in the beginning of August, it is very easy to connect the dots between him throwing up,

23:12throwing up his ramping up his throwing program, excuse me, and starting the offensive slide that we've seen. So he threw his first bullpen in the throwing program that has now been shut down on August 8th. And since then, he's hit 204 with a 7-on-4 OPS and he struck out over 30% of the time. So are those numbers correlated? You said Dodgers brass downplayed that idea. I'm more under the impression that they are. And if ramping O'Connie back up is going to impact his offense or, you know, the physical compromise that it obviously brings being the only two-way player in baseball, I'm not sure that's a gamble the Dodger willing to take at this time. So I don't see him starting a throwing program back up unless he can absolutely be sure it's not impacting him anymore physically. Right now, though, given what we just saw over the last week, I don't see that being high chances. Yeah, it's so tough. I mean, it just had the numbers on the screen there. How good he was, obviously, in the first half as a pitcher. But yeah, the bad is just so much more important when you have all of those arms available to you in the starting rotation. Another thing, moving off a show,

24:17hey, we had Dalton rushing. Return to the IEL this weekend, as his elbow quote, got pissed off while he was beginning a throwing program behind the plate. My professional analysis of this is just sigh, like a very loud, exasperated sigh. Dave says they expect them back. I don't expect them back, but this whole thing, I mean, this is like such a big, feels like it could be a big conversation because we're also looking at the decisions they made roster-wise to bring him back and it did not work out. And, you know, he goes over four with a hit by pitch or something like that in his short return. But like, what happened with this rushing thing? Why did they rush rushing back? Why did they, you know, I guess you have to believe what the player is telling you? But I don't know, what's what's kind of, you know, your pulse of how this rushing situation or roster situation came to be for the Dodgers? Yeah, it's a fair question to kind of bounce off this level of the roster

25:25decisions where I think the O'Tonnie ones made a lot of sense in what they were doing. The Dalton one, not so much because there was no need to rush him back. I know that of all their options in AAA right now for a left-handed bat, none of them are going to out hit Dalton rushing. He is when healthy, their best left-handed bat off the bench, assuming he can't catch, which we knew he wasn't going to be able to. But the Dodgers believe that he could ramp up a throwing program while serving off the bench and they brought him back without a rehab assignment, which I thought was particularly very weird to be honest, because he hadn't played in a game in over a month. Yes, he's been taking live at bats, he's been hitting off the trajectory, but you can't replicate game day action. This is a no-fall to Dalton. Of course, if your organization goes, hey, can you help us? Of course, he's going to say, yes, I can. And I think that's what you expect from a 25-year-old backup catcher, his first full big year in the majors trying to prove himself. That's exactly the mentality you want from a player. So there's no fault, I think, in my eyes at least for Dalton wanting to come back. It was, was there a better alternative? And the Dodgers felt like Dalton rushing,

26:29as their left-handed bench bat, was their best option to balance out that bench and increase the offensive production. But you do run a risk in doing this when you're trying to ramp up a player also in major league action. Dalton rushing was supposed to make that for his first start on Saturday. Before that game, he was on the field pregame throwing to bases. An hour later, we give a notification he's been scratched with right elbow discomfort and you just kind of make those connections altogether. Like, yeah, that makes sense. And to be fair to the Dodgers, Russian could have retweeted this UCL tear, right? Not even a spray, and it's a tear. At any point during rehab, whether he was active on the major league roster or not, the fact that he did so though while being active and kind of set off this catching carousel of roster moves that they arguably didn't need to make. I think is fair to dissect. To bring Russian back, the DFA'd warp-it and he cleared waiver so he's back in AAA. But now Hunter Fiducia, who has taken good at bats, but he's now your left-handed bat off the bench and Alfonso, the guy that you sent to AAA to trade for two other catchers because you weren't

27:33confident in his abilities behind the plate, is now your backup catcher again. It just seemed like a lot of scrambling for a front office that doesn't usually do that. And I think it's fair to question, if they were to go back in time, was this the right decision and would they have done this for Dalton's sake? Because we also now, guys, don't know what his future is going to look like. He's not going to catch again the season. We don't know if he's going to be available very fair to say the rest of his year could be in jeopardy. Yeah, that's the question, too. I don't think we'll see him back certainly in this regular season. And then the ramp up to try to get ready for the postseason, those types of things in terms of timing and all of that looks bleak. Why not Ryan Ward? What was the impetus? And I'm not trying to ask you to get in their heads. That's not fair to you. But he could have been an option as well. Why do you think they went the Dalton rushing Alex Freelind route versus the Ryan Ward route? Or in this case, the Alfonso route. Why do you need a third ? Yeah. Right. And it's difficult to explain because I have a lot of the same questions. I think it ultimately came down to the Dodgers felt Dalton rushing was their best overall option even though

28:34he wasn't 100% healthy. And they weighed the risks and felt, you know, they were as high as maybe they were. They ended up being at least. And also, we know how Andrew Freelind operates with this 40-man roster. Those are very coveted spots. And there might have been just an instance of trying to do too much there, you know, and trying to debalance the intricacies of a 40-man roster. Ryan Ward obviously on it. So that was an option there. But ultimately, to me, and they're not going to go out right and say this, they just felt like they didn't need or didn't like the options they had in AAA other than what they did on Tuesday. But now you have to ask yourself, okay, this could cost Russian's availability for the rest of the postseason. I will say this if we're going to give the front-off as any kind of flowers here, great trade for 100 fiducian. That ended up being very, very valuable even more so. This is a guy that's come over since coming to Los Angeles or returning to Los Angeles, I guess, and has really been, I think, taking some of the best in bats for this team. Now the Dodgers are going to need him in a role besides backup catcher for at least the next few weeks. All right, well, we know that the Dodgers for an office tends to make better

29:37decisions than not. This one was a little bit peculiar, but as they've proven to us in the past, they seem to know what they're doing, but I do believe that Dalton-Rushing's time with the Dodgers is regular season, perhaps the season in general is over. All right, much more to come. Let's get to last list. First to break. Krat's football season is back and Fab Lettics knows all about it. They just paired with the number one wide receiver in the NFL, Jamar Chase, on a new collection. Yeah, he's going to catch some footballs. You're going to catch some deals when you go to Fab Lettics because this is all affordable stuff, but the quality is through the roof. Comfortability, like it is ridiculous. Go for it. Yeah, it's about feeling good all day and you need to feel more comfortable in your athletic clothing since you're wearing it all day. It's not just at the Gemini More and Fab Lettics is spot on with that theory. Shop now at Fab Lettics.com. Slash foul to get 70 to 80% off everything when you sign up as a new VIP. Yes, that includes the new

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31:43adopters. He followed them home. She was walking her dog and George kind of followed him her and he needs a home. We have him on a 30-day stray hold because we are trying to find his owners, but based on our experience, the fact that he wasn't microchip, the fact that these dogs get used for breeding and then dumped, we're pretty sure he doesn't have an owner that wants him. So that being said, he now has been groomed. He went to the vet just for an overall wellness check. He's approximately five years old. They think he's pretty healthy. We will be paying to get him neutered when the 30-day stray hold is up because God knows we don't need any more French bulldog glitters. He's a cutie. He's great with other dogs. He's very happy, very snuggly. So if you're interested in learning more about George, the French bulldog, please reach out and do your homework on this type of breed because they're a very specific breed. So please let us know and we could always use donations to help with the vetting care and grooming costs and all that stuff. So we appreciate

32:43your support very much. All right, baseball thought for the road. Katie, you had a great article, a great piece on Edgar Dough and Reakas and what he's been doing as far as that bullpen is concerned. Let's give him some love. Yeah, the Dodgers have another reliever that throws 100 plus has one of the best fastballs in the game that literally no one knows about. And I think that just goes to show on Friday. Edgar and Reakas threw his five fastest pitches of the season, all of them over 103.5 miles per hour. And I couldn't really find any other information about it online. And I think the Dodgers will prefer to keep it that way. They can they can keep Enrique's kind of their secret weapon here. But nothing secret about how good Edgar has been for this club. If you've been paying attention over the last really season, I think you can make the argument that he's been the most underrated reliever or pitcher really on this Dodgers squad. He's in the middle of nine consecutive scoreless appearances. He has a minuscule 0.66 ERA over his last 15. He's whipped 23 and he threw

33:45104.5 mile per hour heater on Friday. The third fastest pitch this season. We might see him a little bit more in high leverage. Edmund Diaz is making a return soon. He just started his rehab assignment with AAA OKC yesterday through a scoreless inning of work. But top today Roberts last night. And he said as we build closer to October, going to start giving guys some trial runs and higher leverage. And Gardo's pretty much nailed down the high leverage spot. But seeing him in the ninth was I think an even bigger step. So you're seeing guys like Evan Phillips start to turn the corner. You're seeing Alex Bessia, Jack Dreyer, Tanner Scott continuing to post. But I think Eduardo Enriquez could be a real valuable asset for this bullpen. He is one of the best fastballs in the game. And no one's talking about it. There needs needs more love. We are here to give Edgardo some love. And in your column, you had also mentioned some great quotes from him from Dave. I guess mainly right here. We have quotes from him. But just about him mentioning some of the

34:45mechanical changes. We have seen the slider get better. We knew the fastball. Even when he was called up out of nowhere in 23. It's like, oh, 24. It's like, damn, this dude's got an elite fastball. But the slider has become an honest weapon. What are the things that he has really worked on to get him to this point? I think it's more fine tuning the pitch selection with maybe knocking out. They're not seeing him for the curve ball as much. And the cutter is being played more, kind of plays more like a slider there. So having I think just fine tuning that arsenal, obviously the fastball plays. But as we saw last year, the hundred was still getting hit. The fastball was still getting hit. You know, he wasn't missing bats. It was getting barreled up. So it's a combination of fine tuning the arsenal, maybe mixing in more of the fastball combo and ditching the curve ball and not using it as frequently. And also just the conviction behind how he's using the fastball. You can through, he can throw 101 102. But we saw in the post season. Didn't always know where that was going. Now he knows where he's going. He can pinpoint the command. He can dot the fastball

35:48and the conviction behind it makes it play up. So you're sitting 102. Do you know how talented and how crazy it is? Where you can throw 104. But to be to have to take some stuff off your fastball, you go down to 101. That's essentially what he did. Now that he's there, he can reestablish ramp it back up. We're seeing a lot more high 102's 103's and a few 104's. It's exciting guys. It's exciting. I think no reach back too much. Just 102. Don't reach all the way. Casual 102. Casual 102. That's why they call him baby bazooka because it does come out on the hand. Pretty damn easy. I still will maintain the most impressive part of that. Just two walks over his last. What is it again? 13 and 2 thirds innings? Like for a dude throwing that hard and knowing where the baseball is going. It's a lot of fun. Yeah, that's a good combination if you will. Alright guys, we appreciate you being with us on this Labor Day edition of Dodgers Territory. Please do not forget to smash that subscribe button on YouTube. Please rate and review the pot on Apple Spotify. Wherever you get your podcasts, as we continue to make our way to 20,000

36:51subs, it helps us out of great deal. Don't forget to check out Dodgers Territory Shop.com for more cool stuff. We have a whole bunch of cool items on there. Some new things have been added as well. It helps myself. It helps Katie. It helps Clint. That's a shirt. Oh, I am wearing this shirt. Yes. I have this one. I also have one that has a hoodie on it that's super soft and super great. So, alright, we're going to be back on Thursday. Oh, there you go. Katie decides not to wear our gear, which is super cool. Alright, see you on the little shirt. It's just on the floor. Sorry. I didn't even make it to the dresser. Do some laundry, woman. Do some laundry. Alright guys, thanks for being with us. We will see you back on Thursday for sure. And if we do a show before that, you will know if you subscribe. See you then. Bye. This message is brought to you by the Capital One Venture X Card. Venture X offers the premium benefits you expect, like a $300 annual Capital One travel credit, for less than you expect. Elevate your earn with unlimited double miles on every purchase, bringing you one step closer

37:56to your next dream destination. Plus, enjoy access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. The Capital One Venture X Card. What's in your wallet? Terms apply, lounge access is subject to change. See CapitalOne.com for details. Honey, Philippe sent another photo. From Argentina. How? With T-Mobile, of course. Mita, he's video calling us. Hold up, Amelia. Did you get my photos? We did. They're so pretty. Here to share every moment with T-Mobile, enjoy data roaming at No Extra Charge in 21 Latin American Countries. Switch now on the T-Life app or T-Mobile.com slash conic.