00:00:00
Speaker 1: So he's very much so plug and play defensively. I do have concerns with the offense. I think there's still a transition period there.
00:00:17
Speaker 2: Hi, Hello, and good morning party people. Welcome to another edition of Dodgers Territory. I am not Alanaizzo. I am Clint Piscias. Joining me in my seat is my friend Casey Porter. You can find him as Dodgers Daily here or Dodger Daily here on the internet machine. Alana, don't worry, she hasn't quit. She's gonna be back everybody. She is on vacation, but she also congrats to her got a new gig doing some analyst stuff for the Boston Red Sox.
00:00:45
Speaker 3: But she will be back on Thursday.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: But for now, we got a heck of a guest filling in my friend Casey. How you doing, Casey? How are things in your neck of the woods. I don't know what the snow situation's like. And how you like these Dodgers for a second?
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, thanks are great here, and hey, it's gonna rain tomorrow night. We're gonna miss the Clayton kershed out rehab. They actually moved him to the complex for his rehab start tomorrow because of possible rain here. But I've had a chance to see him twice, so super exciting to see that get ramped up.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: Guys, if you don't mind, please like the show Rape, the show, the show five Stars, all that kind of stuff on the podcast platform, Subscribe all that stuff. Subscribe to Casey Show and all these things. We're just setting in. We're setting in, but we're gonna get into the big ticket and talk about Dodgers taking two of three from the Braves in Atlanta. Yeah, so again two of three in Atlanta. The series was a bit of a grind entering the series. Of course we learned that Casey Porter's friend Tommy Edmund heading to the injured list with an ankle issue, and then of course we find out I would say Casey Porter's friend here, Hessong Kim was the guy calling up.
00:01:53
Speaker 3: You were the first on it.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: A few people also had it, including Faby and Ardaya, but you were the first on Hessong Kim. Well, we'll talk Kim a little bit later, but if we're just looking at this particular series again, you start the series with Edmund going to the IL and then you got a three hour rain delay on on Saturday, Rookie Sasaki was pretty dang good all things considered, But the team, you know, eventually looks pretty flat on Sundays. As Bill Plunkett notes, you know, they didn't leave and get to the ballpark or sorry, get home until you know, after two in the morning, and then some people will tell you no good things happen after two am. All things considered, Dodgers take two of three. That's what you want to do. You want to go out there and and win series. But what did you see in the series?
00:02:41
Speaker 3: What do you like?
00:02:42
Speaker 2: What can this team build on moving forward and playing the pretty bad Miami Marlins.
00:02:50
Speaker 4: Yeah?
00:02:50
Speaker 1: Could the Oklahoma City comments go five and five in a ten game series with the Marlins?
00:02:54
Speaker 4: That's I think that's a legitimate question.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: That's what you saw was a team that was playing a Braves team yesterday that was desperate. And then also, you know, I commented on our live show last night, you see it, it's day in and day out. I mean, it was like the brain and I love the Braids. I grew up watching the Braids. I go all the way back to the Dale Murphy days and when they were on TBS every night. I love Brian Snicker. I love all their players, so I like watching the Braids. I like the fact they're good. But I mean, it was like the World Series last night for them, whenever they beat the Dodgers, and it was just one game out of the three.
00:03:26
Speaker 4: So it just goes to show you how difficult it is to be the Dodgers every day.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: Now, Hey, no sympathy when you have such a high payroll, we understand that, but it is tougher than people think to get everybody's best shot, everybody's World Series shot at you every day. And as far as Dustin May, I don't mean to like punt that question, but I'll say this about him. I do like the fact that he's throwing a lot more sweepers he threw I think, like thirty two sweepers yesterday or something. That's going to be a great pitch for him because late movement. You know, he's got that right turn with the sinker, now the left turn with the sweeper, I mean, and then they're both late.
00:04:03
Speaker 4: That's gonna be great for him.
00:04:05
Speaker 1: But what I'm gonna say about him is I'm gonna hold off any kind of objective evaluation on him untill about the All Star break.
00:04:13
Speaker 4: He's just gone through too much.
00:04:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that's fair.
00:04:16
Speaker 2: I do want to ask you a little bit more about about Dustin because it wasn't we'll say it's a not good start. It wasn't necessarily a bad start with you know, I would argue the start in Chicago was a bit worse, and I think he had some things working against him there.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: But in my opinion with d May.
00:04:32
Speaker 2: It feels like it's part a little part of the league adjusting to him and kind of the new armslot. Maybe they found where they can see the ball being released from. But another part is, you know, and he's mentioned he mentioned it in his previous start. I didn't see his postgame comments yesterday, but a little bit of the pitch execution, the command isn't quite as crisp it was as it was over his first three starts, and still getting used to that that you mentioned the sweeper there when he keeps it down, when he stays on top of the ball, that sweeper has been very, very nasty, you know, to at least the new version of the sweeper, as you know, tweaked the grip this spring training and over the last couple of years and he's done a lot of things to try to keep himself on the field. That's the most important thing for Dustin me. He's missed the greater part of the last four years with injuries, you know, various injuries. Has not won any one particular thing. So the fact that he's still on the mound, that's good for the Dodgers. Dodgers need him at this point, and I think his next time out, which should be at Dodger Stadium, all things should be good for d may But anything else you want to add on Dustin there before we kind of shift gears.
00:05:40
Speaker 1: I still view him a little bit as a rehab setting in the sense that, yes, all these games matter. The Dodgers still have the best record in the major leagues. They have a lot of room for these process based situations. I know we're going to talk about Michael CONFORDO. Max Muntzy. Is good to see him finally starting to hit the ball. I think people really kind of felt like that was gonna happen because because he was putting good at bats together, they just weren't ending in the results that we wanted. And we saw that with Andy Piez. But typically over the long run, the odds catch up, and when you have good at bats, even though the results aren't there.
00:06:12
Speaker 4: They eventually they will come.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: So I say that to say I'm still in processed mode with Dustin May. It's still a situation. You know. When these guys come down to Oklahoma City and rehab, literally the only thing they're worried about is like Evan Phillips, I walked off the mountaintac. I can throw my next outing, and I am healthy. And so that's a number one for Dustin May. As long as he continues to stack up one outing after the other and he doesn't have setbacks. From an injury perspective, all the fields will come back. Hey, whenever you're injured like he's been, it's not necessarily that you have any pain or anything hurts. You have all that ability where you really see the effects of an injury and coming back off of it is in the execution piece. The fields aren't the same. So for me to sit here and evaluate Dustin and May this and that at the beginning of May coming off of all the injuries he's had, and to put any kind of critical evaluation on the execution piece, I think would be a very unrealistic way of evaluating him at this point.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: No, that's fair.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, we're all on here talking multiple times a week about the Dodgers, so you're always going to force their coeratives earlier or whatever. But you're being very realistic about it. The fact that he's pitching, that that's something we should be happy.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: About, we should be excited for.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: And he hasn't really gone out and crapped the bed in any sort of way. He's keeping his team in games, and.
00:07:38
Speaker 3: That's all you could ask for right now.
00:07:40
Speaker 2: For again, somebody who ten months ago was potentially fighting for his life. So we'll keep on letting dust and may ride and he will figure it all out. A couple of positives, a couple of big time positives out of the starting rotation from the series Yoshiobu Yamamoto. Roki Sasaki other excellent start for the Dodger a six scoreless innings, five of those of the no hit variety, lowers his era to point sorry zero point nine zero, the best in baseball amongst qualified starters. Dude is just straight up elite. And we'll say this before we talk a little bit of Sasaki. When the Dodgers signed Yamamoto to the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history despite never pitching a Major League game. They got a little bit of flack online.
00:08:30
Speaker 3: It feels to me.
00:08:31
Speaker 2: Like maybe they knew what they are doing. What are your thoughts on Yamamoto here in season two and just how good this dude has been for this team here in the early throws of the season.
00:08:43
Speaker 1: First of all, what made that contract makes sense? Obviously the execution piece that the Dodgers knew that was going to translate.
00:08:51
Speaker 4: But then it was the age.
00:08:53
Speaker 1: So when you talk about long term contracts, the worst thing you can do is to get into long term contracts that put guys well into their late thirties. That's typically That's the only way an organization like the Dodgers cannot have a roster every year that can compete for a World Series is if they have a whole bunch of long term contracts that they can't get out of, and it's aging thirty year olds that aren't producing the way that the contract says that they should. So the fact that Yamamoto was so young was made it worth it for the Dodgers just to be as aggressive as they needed to be. I mean, you're still only going to take him into about his age thirty five year. So let's say that he struggles, say age thirty three, thirty four to thirty five. Well, you got seven elite years out of this guy. That's lovel to be three or four world titles. That makes that contract worth it in an infinite amount of times over plus just the.
00:09:50
Speaker 4: International factor of it.
00:09:51
Speaker 1: With shoe Yo Tani and Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers are going to make money hand over fist with those types of situations. To go to actually the the execution. I call him the magician because it's like he's doing a magic act every time he's pitching. The way that he executes, and something that's interesting I caught and caught onto this last year. When he throws his four seam from the sixty percent to the sixty five percent in zone, that's like whatever, he's at its absolute best. So it's just enough in the zone to where he can stay ahead accounts to where he doesn't actually have to throw a splitter for strikes. He doesn't necessarily have to steal strikes with his curveball. But it's not so much in the zone where hitters get comfortable when they start ambushing him. So that's sixty to sixty five percent range in zone for Yoshiobi. Yanomoto has been a magic number for who I call the magic Man.
00:10:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he's He's a special kid, a special cat. Fun to watch. He can throw any pitch at any count and really is the true ace of this Dodgers team. He is my pick, as people know here on Dodgers Territo Territory. He was my cy young pick, and so far I'm looking real good on that Roki Sasaki. Of course, people people like to be critical about Sasaki as well. I was just on ESPN LA with my buddy Greg Bergman and Marcus Grant, and apparently I was turned on to the fact that there was an anonymous scout somewhere that said the rookie Susaki has been the biggest disappointment in baseball this season.
00:11:24
Speaker 3: But you got a kid coming off.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: Now his first career when in Atlanta, a gritty effort over five innings, again more impressive knowing that he started three hours later than he was expecting thanks of that rain delay. Listen for all that has been said about Rokie Susaki, over the last honestly five to ten months, he seems to be getting better and better. He seems to be finding ways to keep his team in ball games. What is your what are your thoughts on what you've seen the growth of Rokie Susaki over you know, a month and change now as a big leaguer, And you know, I guess we could say kind of quiet the haters when it comes to Roki and his growth.
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Well, I'll say this just from maybe a coaching perspective, a growth perspective, as you kind of brought up. I love that term, because the Dodgers are very growth mindset oriented. This could possibly be like best case scenario for him. So we were promised one hundred and two on our fastball, the best splitter in the game because it has basically zero RPMs on it, and that's not what we've gotten. We've got ninety four, ninety five, ninety six, Fine, whatever. I think he's eventually going to be the fastball that we've heard about. I think there's a transition period, like coach Bearakos said on our show last night, a transition period to the new mound, a transition period to the new ball, A transition period to being in a foreign country with foreign languages, foreign foods, and then you're going to Tokyo, then you're coming. I mean, it's been a crazy situation for him. So I say that to say, I think the Vello as he settles in, you get around the All Star break, I think we're probably going to see that Vilo bomp as he goes on. In the meantime, what rookie Sasaki has had to do is he's really had to learn how to pitch. He's had to learn how to get gritty. He's had to learn how to just really just kind of be a guy that has to pitch like everybody else does, versus just using one hundred and two minor fastball and.
00:13:19
Speaker 4: A ridiculous splitter to bully hitters. So what could happen? You know?
00:13:24
Speaker 1: The positive side of the way I like to look at things is you could end up in say July or August, with a guy that is hitting one oh two like we thought he was going to because he's gotten comfortable, but then also had to take a period of time to learn how to pitch. At that point, now you got wow, I mean, you got the best of all worlds. Is that a little bit too Pollyannish for you.
00:13:45
Speaker 2: No, I think it's fair, And I think what we're doing right now, what we're seeing right now is him, like you said, he's learning the mound, he's learning the lay of the land, he's learning hitters. But he's also I think, learning to move the ball a little bit more, move his fastball a little bit more. And that's something thing A couple about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, we spoke with former big league pitcher Trevor May about the fact that he believes that Rokie needs to add another fastball to the mix, whether it be a cut fastball, more of a two seemer, and I think you have seen more, at least more of that armside ride to his fastball of late, because one of the critiques was maybe that fastball is a little too flat and if it's not one hundred and two, it's gonna get hit, which is maybe something we saw earlier when he was trying to kind kind of sell out for Velo. In this first couple of starts, he's been more more consistent I think of late and staying in that ninety four to ninety seven pocket and I'm not concerned. I am not concerned about the VLLO being being down because he's been pretty pretty solid for this team. We got to take a break right now. We're gonna be back in a moment after a quick word from Todd Frazier and Scott Brown, and we'll talk more Dodge baseball.
00:14:54
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00:15:19
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00:16:01
Speaker 2: Guys, we are now bleeding blue. Of course, we got my friend Casey Porter. Make sure you guys follow him here on the YouTube Dodgers Daily here on the YouTube Dodger Dogs Show. Does great work here uh, covering your team day in, day out, and also a great great follow on the social media and one of the best prospects Dodgers prospects knowers. I know, I always love talking Dodgers prospects with you.
00:16:27
Speaker 3: Of course, I know.
00:16:29
Speaker 2: Maybe you don't want to be always thrown in the prospects bucket, but listen, you know everything. So that's where I'm going to talk to you about the Dodgers team and their prospects.
00:16:38
Speaker 3: And we'll set the stage this way.
00:16:40
Speaker 2: Look, despite a Sunday night's loss, uh, the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball. They have a half game lead over the padres entering play on Monday. They play a very bad Miami Marlins team.
00:16:52
Speaker 3: Uh.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: All of that aside, Listen, pitching has been mostly pretty good for this team outside of a couple outliers.
00:16:59
Speaker 3: The offense has.
00:17:00
Speaker 2: Been okay ish, Uh, definitely improving. You know, we had an Andy Pajez hot streaking there. Shoho Tani, Freddie Freeman, Tae Oscar hernandez will Smith are all having all star caliber starts to their seasons.
00:17:13
Speaker 3: But there are complaints.
00:17:14
Speaker 2: There's one chief complaint we see online right now, and that is Michael Confordo. We got to talk about the Confordo factor, his struggles with the plate, and how it relates to Hessng Kim eventually getting in the lineup, because I think that's your your kind of sort of clear path unless there's an injuries, that's your path to getting Kim in the lineup. And we'll we'll do it this way. We we'll set, uh, look at some numbers here, by a number of stats, Michael Confordo is the worst hitter in baseball. And I'm not here just a pile on. It's just these are numbers amongst qualified hitters. He's been rough, He's been rough as where hess On Kim is has earned some opportunity at the Triple A level.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: We know the Dodgers aren't gonna cut bait just yet.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: I guess this is more an opportunity to set the stage of tell people about hess On Kim what you've seen in his growth at Triple A, playing every day, bouncing all around for this team, and is he somebody who could be, you know, kind of major league ready at this point to get out there, play some left field, play some center, second base, maybe even short He's played all around. Give us your take on are your one month assessment of hess On Kim.
00:18:30
Speaker 1: He's definitely plug and play defensively. Now he's made some ariage at shortstop. But I said, from the very get go, Mookie Betts is great. But if the Dodgers want to make and Alex Frielan's awesome too. Matter matter of fact, Alex Freeland has by quite a bit outperformed hays On Kim to this point in the season, but there's roster issues that make it a lot easier.
00:18:51
Speaker 4: To make it. Hayes on Kim.
00:18:53
Speaker 1: Plus, he can play infield and outfield, and Kim, like I said, being on the forty man roster. So here's just kind of the nutshell of that. By Hess and Kim being on the forty man roster when he started in Oklahoma City, that automatically took up one of his option years. So his option year is already gone for this one of his three's already gone. If you put Alex Freeland Dalton Rushing on the forty man and then you put him in LA then bring them back to Oklahoma City, that then counts as one of the three option years versus right now, since they've never been put on the forty man, they can stay in Oklahoma City all year and not lose an option year. So if that's why Hess on Kim and situations like this, Plus, he exactly matches defensively what Tommy Edmund would have brought for this team. That's why it was a no brainer that he was the choice in this situation. So he's very much so plug and play defensively. I do have concerns with the offense. I think there's still a transition period there. I don't personally think that he's ready to hit major league pitching on a consistent basis at this point. I still think he needs to see Vello. I still think he needs to see Vello up in the zone. His strikeout rate, we've seen it, it's pretty high for a guy with his type of speed.
00:20:08
Speaker 4: I think there's still parts of his.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: Game that he can get in Oklahoma City in front of three thousand people on a Tuesday night and really just kind of close the holes. Because I'll say this, Dodgers fans are the most knowledgeable. They're the best fans I have ever been around. I would say Saint Louis Cardinals fans are up there too. The Cardinals fans are awesome, but the Dodgers fans are awesome. They're super knowledgeable. But when they want their prospects to come up, they're super excited. But then after two weeks, if they're hitting a buck ninety, they want to send them back to Oklahoma City. And rightfully so, because we're all like, hey man, we got zoo toime, we got three Hall of Famers at the beginning, we've got six guys that are having MVP seasons.
00:20:51
Speaker 4: We don't have time for this, right So I get all that part of it.
00:20:54
Speaker 1: So what I worry about with a guy like that, who who still has quite a bit in my opinion, transitioning left to do. I worry about that him going up to Los Angeles at not going the way it needs to. And really that's kind of two steps back for the one step you took forward.
00:21:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can understand that, and that's why I wanted to get your opinion. Here's somebody who's who's put eyes on him. There a whole bunch at Triple A, and everybody just kind of sees the numbers, but you don't see the game. You don't see some of the holes in the game, holes in the swing, things that still need to be refined. And yeah, it's fun for him to come up and steal a base and you know, late in a ballgame and all of that, but is he ready for prime time? And right now your your opinion is no, but hopefully soon, as we always do.
00:21:42
Speaker 3: There's another thing.
00:21:43
Speaker 4: I could be wrong, Clint. I could be dead wrong. I've been wrong many times before.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: So I just really want to see him get an opportunity. I mean, he's he's up right now.
00:21:51
Speaker 2: He I bet he would be at least as good as Michael CONFORDO if he's starting for the next three or four days before Tommy Edmund comes back, but hey, you know, I don't know if we'll be able to take that bet another one of the guys. Everybody kind of lost their mind over the weekend when they saw Dalton Rushing getting the start in left field, And we talked a little bit in the offseason on my channel about Dalton Rushing is the left fielder that whole experiment, experience, The whole point is getting him in the lineup, finding ways to get him here at the big league level because the bat is ready. He was great in twenty twenty four, and he's even better. It seems like this year, the power coming a little bit later. It seems like the first few weeks he was scuffling by his standards, but he has been phenomenal. He's a ballplayer, like we talked last, talked about last time, and.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: How do we get him to the big leagues? Is it left field? I'll ask you again in what is it?
00:22:49
Speaker 2: I think ten innings he's now played some left field for Oklahoma City. Is he somebody that can run out there, put on a left fielder's glove and play adequate enough defense to get in the lineup every day for this Los Angeles Dodgers.
00:23:03
Speaker 1: Team right now, I'd like if it was tomorrow. I mean, I just don't think there's the reps there. I mean, it's it's not as easy as people think, Hey, throw on a glove and head out there on the left field, by the way. Freddie Freeman's at first, by the way, Mookie Betts at second, by the way, Tayo Hernandez is the right field, by the way, Max will Smith's your catch. It's it's not as easy as just, hey, here's a glove, by the way, go ahead, and transition to major league pitching, which is like the hardest transition to do anything in sport, to go from Pacific Coast League pitching to major league pitching. Now, you see the same type of stuff in the PCL, but you see it more consistently at the major league level. It's every single night. You never get a night off from it, and then the execution is just unbelievably different. So here's here's what would be my concern there is that not only Wouldalton Rushing, Rushing have to make the incredibly difficult transition from Triple A to the major leagues, which hard enough to begin with. Now you're asking him to do it in a position in left field to where he's never played before, and so you're asking him to do on both sides of the ball something that is so ridiculously hard to do that I'm not even sure somebody that's as good as Dalton Rushing would be able to maximize what he's capable of doing at this point. So if you want him to be your left fielder, then put him in left field, give him three or four months, Let's evaluate it at the end of July, maybe August, and maybe he'll be ready defensively at that point. That would be But I'm a conservative type person. I'm the type of person that likes to put people in the best situations versus just throw them in the deep end and see if they can swim, that kind of deal. But that would be my thoughts on that.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I think with.
00:25:00
Speaker 2: Somebody like Dalton, where again, the bat does seem ready, at least statistically, it seems ready. When you look at that Baseball reference page, you've seen him a lot more. We finally in LA are gonna get the opportunity to see him a lot more because they're going to be playing comments games on the sports in LA, which is awesome, and I think everybody, I encourage everybody to go out and watch him these games, or I guess really sit down, stay home and watch some of these games, because that is pretty dang cool. But listen, there's gonna be no better place for him to get better then at the big league level, in my opinion, and if it means saving us from a lot more Michael Confordo on his struggles, I would still agree, like maybe three weeks, maybe a month. Let's give him a solid give them the month of May. See how he comes out of the month of May, mostly playing left field, and if you know, if things aren't trending in the right direction, then you got to figure out a path to get him up there, because, as the tweet I posted from Tim Kates said, Dodgers have a first basement, they have a catcher. You got to find a way to get an elite bat, potentially elite bat in that lineup when it comes to a Dalton rushing, and this appears to be the most obvious path. Left field right now appears to be the most obvious path. One more before I let you get out of here, I want to talk about Ben Casparius because he is listed as now tonight's starting pitcher and Dodgers fans who did not watch a lot of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, No, this kid is a reliever and a very dominant reliever. But he is a dude who was a starter for the majority of his professional career. And if he wasn't starting, he was getting bulk innings. He was a multi inne reliever getting his second, you know, second start of the season, this first real start. To be honest, as a big leaguer, Dave Roberts had said, he's a different, different guy, a different kind of build now than he was even at this point a year ago. What can you tell people about Dalton Rushing, sorry, not adult rushing, Ben caspar the starting pitcher, and how do you think this version now that's you know, touching triple digits with the fastball.
00:27:06
Speaker 3: He's just he's got something going for him. This year. He's been absolutely filthy.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Can that that frame, that build, all that sustain you know, a five to six inning workload?
00:27:17
Speaker 4: Oh, one hundred percent?
00:27:18
Speaker 1: And the reason is he has two centerpiece pitches, so kind of the way that Benksparius invented himself he went to North Carolina out of high school and he was a two way player shortstop. I mean, he could really hit. And then he went back home to Connecticut and played for Tom Penders there at Yukon. Tom Penders. By the way, I wanted to give a shout out to him. I've I had a chance to see that Yukon program up close and personal twice. What a great job he does. So anyways, he goes back home to play with coach Penders. He becomes a pitcher. He develops this great arsenal of ospeed pitches and a fastball that's just kind of okay. So he comes to the Dodgers and he's still with these great secondaries and a fastball that's kind of like okay, and he does well with Rancho. He's like the California League pitcher of the week, gets promoted to Hi Great Lakes. And to be honest with you, from that point on, it's been let's reinvent myself, let's reinvent myself, let's figure this out, let's find the best.
00:28:12
Speaker 4: Version of myself.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: So he's gone through several different carnations of what is the best version of Ben Casparious and his success has been anything but linear. So for factor number one, what Dave Roberts is hitting to there, this guy's seen failure, he's had to deal with failure. He's had to figure it out and get over it. And so that's why I think you're seeing a guy that is scared of nothing.
00:28:37
Speaker 4: He's not.
00:28:37
Speaker 1: He has no fear of failure because he's already been there, done that at the minor league level. That's number one. And then number two. What happened he as he gave himself the patience to continue to find the best version of himself. His fastball started catching up to his plus slider that's a three thousand rpm slider, and so he always had the centerpiece slider. Then the fastball got up to ninety six, then it got up to ninety seven, then it got up to ninety eight. Now it's where it's at now. Now the spin is touching twenty six hundred or close to that. So now you have legitimately two pretty much elite centerpiece pitches. And I've said that many different times. When you have one centerpiece pitch, great, that's probably a reliever type deal. Two centerpiece pitches that tells you you can go through the lineup fairly easily twice, and then if you add just kind of a third pitch like in a curveball, that you can still strikes with that starter stuff.
00:29:32
Speaker 4: So this only makes sense to me.
00:29:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've everything I've heard about Benny Kapps has been good. Everything we've seen when it comes to Benny Capps has been good, and I'm excited to see him get some run in the starting rotation, even if it's two or three starts before somebody like Tyler Glasnaw or Blake Snell return. I think the Dodgers still have a need for him Casparius in the rotation when Kershaw returns to the fold as.
00:29:59
Speaker 3: Well said you mentioned earlier, is.
00:30:02
Speaker 2: Having another making another rehab outing in Arizona tomorrow. Dodgers getting a little bit healthier and things are trending in the right direction. Best team in baseball and one of my favorite people to talk to here this is Casey Porter. For the people who don't know, tell them where to find you, where your show is and all that kind of stuff, and not where to follow you home because that would be weird.
00:30:25
Speaker 3: But people know where to find you.
00:30:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, Dodger underscore daily.
00:30:30
Speaker 1: I think it is, and I think it's Dodger Dot Daily on but Dodger Underscore Daily out on X and then I think it's Dodger Dot Daily on Instagram. Also have a Facebook page and a Facebook group, and then the YouTube page, the Dodgers Daily YouTube. We have our daily Dodgers Dog Show where we have a host of guests. Had you on it a couple of times, Always gracious whenever you come on, Clint. So we do a lot of down the farm segments, we do a lot of live shows, We do a lot of just kind of differing opinions from different types of people. So definitely check out Dodgers Dogs as part of the Dodgers Daily Network.
00:31:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, always a great watch, always a great conversation, Casey, I appreciate you, and I got a couple more things to do here on the show, guys, and then we'll sign off. But for now, I'm gonna throw to last licks. All right, guys, Alana is still out. She will be back on Thursday. We will be together on Thursday for a second. But first I want to remind you one more time, while you still have time, go check out this auction to benefit Gidrey's Guardian She would appreciate it a whole bunch. Everybody in the world would appreciate it a whole bunch. Head to thirty two auctions dot com slash l A A L A D and you can bid on a package to get you some tickets. You and your friends, you and your family, you and your girlfriend, whoever you bring in.
00:31:50
Speaker 3: Just the important thing.
00:31:51
Speaker 2: It's helping support doggos in the community and supporting Alana and all that kind of stuff. I think she would very much appreciate if you do that. The last thing I wanted to touch on before we get down here, out of here, quick baseball thought for the road. My friend a buddy, I've had a beverage beer, an adult cocktail. Well it's more of a pacifico with this guy. But ross strippling Dodger legend Chicken Strip himself announced today he is retiring from the great Game of baseball. You know, probably not the way he wanted to go out. Did sign a minor league deal with the Royals this offseason. Things didn't necessarily come together for him there, but hell of a career for Chicken Strip does have himself a World Series ring with that twenty twenty team. Even if he was not on the World Series roster and all that. But I just wanted to give a shout to Chicken strip Ross. Congrats on a great career.
00:32:43
Speaker 3: Man. Hey, golf is fun.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: As well, so let's get out and do some golf while you're doing your accounting or your tax stuff, whatever it is you're gonna be doing. He's a smart kid, and we appreciate the great Ross Stripling.
00:32:57
Speaker 3: Guys, thank you for hanging out with me. Big shout out.
00:32:59
Speaker 2: Once again, Casey Porter for joining me here on the show. Go check him out on all those things. I will have them linked in the description of this video YouTube channel. Give him a follow there, give us or sorry, give him a subscription there. Subscribe to Dodgers Territory. We are getting close to ten thousand subscribers. We would appreciate it, Alana and I would appreciate it very greatly. If you can help us get there before I don't know, some point in time, that would be nice. I am real frg On the social media machines, give me a follow, smash the thumbs up button on your way out of here on YouTube, hit us up on the Apple the Spotify, rate and review the show all that kind of stuff. I'll be back tomorrow postgame show with my buddy Greg Bergman from ESPN LA and we'll have some fun talking about hopefully the Dodgers taking Game two of the series against the Marlins. But until then, bye,
Speaker 1: So he's very much so plug and play defensively. I do have concerns with the offense. I think there's still a transition period there.
00:00:17
Speaker 2: Hi, Hello, and good morning party people. Welcome to another edition of Dodgers Territory. I am not Alanaizzo. I am Clint Piscias. Joining me in my seat is my friend Casey Porter. You can find him as Dodgers Daily here or Dodger Daily here on the internet machine. Alana, don't worry, she hasn't quit. She's gonna be back everybody. She is on vacation, but she also congrats to her got a new gig doing some analyst stuff for the Boston Red Sox.
00:00:45
Speaker 3: But she will be back on Thursday.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: But for now, we got a heck of a guest filling in my friend Casey. How you doing, Casey? How are things in your neck of the woods. I don't know what the snow situation's like. And how you like these Dodgers for a second?
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, thanks are great here, and hey, it's gonna rain tomorrow night. We're gonna miss the Clayton kershed out rehab. They actually moved him to the complex for his rehab start tomorrow because of possible rain here. But I've had a chance to see him twice, so super exciting to see that get ramped up.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: Guys, if you don't mind, please like the show Rape, the show, the show five Stars, all that kind of stuff on the podcast platform, Subscribe all that stuff. Subscribe to Casey Show and all these things. We're just setting in. We're setting in, but we're gonna get into the big ticket and talk about Dodgers taking two of three from the Braves in Atlanta. Yeah, so again two of three in Atlanta. The series was a bit of a grind entering the series. Of course we learned that Casey Porter's friend Tommy Edmund heading to the injured list with an ankle issue, and then of course we find out I would say Casey Porter's friend here, Hessong Kim was the guy calling up.
00:01:53
Speaker 3: You were the first on it.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: A few people also had it, including Faby and Ardaya, but you were the first on Hessong Kim. Well, we'll talk Kim a little bit later, but if we're just looking at this particular series again, you start the series with Edmund going to the IL and then you got a three hour rain delay on on Saturday, Rookie Sasaki was pretty dang good all things considered, But the team, you know, eventually looks pretty flat on Sundays. As Bill Plunkett notes, you know, they didn't leave and get to the ballpark or sorry, get home until you know, after two in the morning, and then some people will tell you no good things happen after two am. All things considered, Dodgers take two of three. That's what you want to do. You want to go out there and and win series. But what did you see in the series?
00:02:41
Speaker 3: What do you like?
00:02:42
Speaker 2: What can this team build on moving forward and playing the pretty bad Miami Marlins.
00:02:50
Speaker 4: Yeah?
00:02:50
Speaker 1: Could the Oklahoma City comments go five and five in a ten game series with the Marlins?
00:02:54
Speaker 4: That's I think that's a legitimate question.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: That's what you saw was a team that was playing a Braves team yesterday that was desperate. And then also, you know, I commented on our live show last night, you see it, it's day in and day out. I mean, it was like the brain and I love the Braids. I grew up watching the Braids. I go all the way back to the Dale Murphy days and when they were on TBS every night. I love Brian Snicker. I love all their players, so I like watching the Braids. I like the fact they're good. But I mean, it was like the World Series last night for them, whenever they beat the Dodgers, and it was just one game out of the three.
00:03:26
Speaker 4: So it just goes to show you how difficult it is to be the Dodgers every day.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: Now, Hey, no sympathy when you have such a high payroll, we understand that, but it is tougher than people think to get everybody's best shot, everybody's World Series shot at you every day. And as far as Dustin May, I don't mean to like punt that question, but I'll say this about him. I do like the fact that he's throwing a lot more sweepers he threw I think, like thirty two sweepers yesterday or something. That's going to be a great pitch for him because late movement. You know, he's got that right turn with the sinker, now the left turn with the sweeper, I mean, and then they're both late.
00:04:03
Speaker 4: That's gonna be great for him.
00:04:05
Speaker 1: But what I'm gonna say about him is I'm gonna hold off any kind of objective evaluation on him untill about the All Star break.
00:04:13
Speaker 4: He's just gone through too much.
00:04:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that's fair.
00:04:16
Speaker 2: I do want to ask you a little bit more about about Dustin because it wasn't we'll say it's a not good start. It wasn't necessarily a bad start with you know, I would argue the start in Chicago was a bit worse, and I think he had some things working against him there.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: But in my opinion with d May.
00:04:32
Speaker 2: It feels like it's part a little part of the league adjusting to him and kind of the new armslot. Maybe they found where they can see the ball being released from. But another part is, you know, and he's mentioned he mentioned it in his previous start. I didn't see his postgame comments yesterday, but a little bit of the pitch execution, the command isn't quite as crisp it was as it was over his first three starts, and still getting used to that that you mentioned the sweeper there when he keeps it down, when he stays on top of the ball, that sweeper has been very, very nasty, you know, to at least the new version of the sweeper, as you know, tweaked the grip this spring training and over the last couple of years and he's done a lot of things to try to keep himself on the field. That's the most important thing for Dustin me. He's missed the greater part of the last four years with injuries, you know, various injuries. Has not won any one particular thing. So the fact that he's still on the mound, that's good for the Dodgers. Dodgers need him at this point, and I think his next time out, which should be at Dodger Stadium, all things should be good for d may But anything else you want to add on Dustin there before we kind of shift gears.
00:05:40
Speaker 1: I still view him a little bit as a rehab setting in the sense that, yes, all these games matter. The Dodgers still have the best record in the major leagues. They have a lot of room for these process based situations. I know we're going to talk about Michael CONFORDO. Max Muntzy. Is good to see him finally starting to hit the ball. I think people really kind of felt like that was gonna happen because because he was putting good at bats together, they just weren't ending in the results that we wanted. And we saw that with Andy Piez. But typically over the long run, the odds catch up, and when you have good at bats, even though the results aren't there.
00:06:12
Speaker 4: They eventually they will come.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: So I say that to say I'm still in processed mode with Dustin May. It's still a situation. You know. When these guys come down to Oklahoma City and rehab, literally the only thing they're worried about is like Evan Phillips, I walked off the mountaintac. I can throw my next outing, and I am healthy. And so that's a number one for Dustin May. As long as he continues to stack up one outing after the other and he doesn't have setbacks. From an injury perspective, all the fields will come back. Hey, whenever you're injured like he's been, it's not necessarily that you have any pain or anything hurts. You have all that ability where you really see the effects of an injury and coming back off of it is in the execution piece. The fields aren't the same. So for me to sit here and evaluate Dustin and May this and that at the beginning of May coming off of all the injuries he's had, and to put any kind of critical evaluation on the execution piece, I think would be a very unrealistic way of evaluating him at this point.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: No, that's fair.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, we're all on here talking multiple times a week about the Dodgers, so you're always going to force their coeratives earlier or whatever. But you're being very realistic about it. The fact that he's pitching, that that's something we should be happy.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: About, we should be excited for.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: And he hasn't really gone out and crapped the bed in any sort of way. He's keeping his team in games, and.
00:07:38
Speaker 3: That's all you could ask for right now.
00:07:40
Speaker 2: For again, somebody who ten months ago was potentially fighting for his life. So we'll keep on letting dust and may ride and he will figure it all out. A couple of positives, a couple of big time positives out of the starting rotation from the series Yoshiobu Yamamoto. Roki Sasaki other excellent start for the Dodger a six scoreless innings, five of those of the no hit variety, lowers his era to point sorry zero point nine zero, the best in baseball amongst qualified starters. Dude is just straight up elite. And we'll say this before we talk a little bit of Sasaki. When the Dodgers signed Yamamoto to the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history despite never pitching a Major League game. They got a little bit of flack online.
00:08:30
Speaker 3: It feels to me.
00:08:31
Speaker 2: Like maybe they knew what they are doing. What are your thoughts on Yamamoto here in season two and just how good this dude has been for this team here in the early throws of the season.
00:08:43
Speaker 1: First of all, what made that contract makes sense? Obviously the execution piece that the Dodgers knew that was going to translate.
00:08:51
Speaker 4: But then it was the age.
00:08:53
Speaker 1: So when you talk about long term contracts, the worst thing you can do is to get into long term contracts that put guys well into their late thirties. That's typically That's the only way an organization like the Dodgers cannot have a roster every year that can compete for a World Series is if they have a whole bunch of long term contracts that they can't get out of, and it's aging thirty year olds that aren't producing the way that the contract says that they should. So the fact that Yamamoto was so young was made it worth it for the Dodgers just to be as aggressive as they needed to be. I mean, you're still only going to take him into about his age thirty five year. So let's say that he struggles, say age thirty three, thirty four to thirty five. Well, you got seven elite years out of this guy. That's lovel to be three or four world titles. That makes that contract worth it in an infinite amount of times over plus just the.
00:09:50
Speaker 4: International factor of it.
00:09:51
Speaker 1: With shoe Yo Tani and Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers are going to make money hand over fist with those types of situations. To go to actually the the execution. I call him the magician because it's like he's doing a magic act every time he's pitching. The way that he executes, and something that's interesting I caught and caught onto this last year. When he throws his four seam from the sixty percent to the sixty five percent in zone, that's like whatever, he's at its absolute best. So it's just enough in the zone to where he can stay ahead accounts to where he doesn't actually have to throw a splitter for strikes. He doesn't necessarily have to steal strikes with his curveball. But it's not so much in the zone where hitters get comfortable when they start ambushing him. So that's sixty to sixty five percent range in zone for Yoshiobi. Yanomoto has been a magic number for who I call the magic Man.
00:10:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he's He's a special kid, a special cat. Fun to watch. He can throw any pitch at any count and really is the true ace of this Dodgers team. He is my pick, as people know here on Dodgers Territo Territory. He was my cy young pick, and so far I'm looking real good on that Roki Sasaki. Of course, people people like to be critical about Sasaki as well. I was just on ESPN LA with my buddy Greg Bergman and Marcus Grant, and apparently I was turned on to the fact that there was an anonymous scout somewhere that said the rookie Susaki has been the biggest disappointment in baseball this season.
00:11:24
Speaker 3: But you got a kid coming off.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: Now his first career when in Atlanta, a gritty effort over five innings, again more impressive knowing that he started three hours later than he was expecting thanks of that rain delay. Listen for all that has been said about Rokie Susaki, over the last honestly five to ten months, he seems to be getting better and better. He seems to be finding ways to keep his team in ball games. What is your what are your thoughts on what you've seen the growth of Rokie Susaki over you know, a month and change now as a big leaguer, And you know, I guess we could say kind of quiet the haters when it comes to Roki and his growth.
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Well, I'll say this just from maybe a coaching perspective, a growth perspective, as you kind of brought up. I love that term, because the Dodgers are very growth mindset oriented. This could possibly be like best case scenario for him. So we were promised one hundred and two on our fastball, the best splitter in the game because it has basically zero RPMs on it, and that's not what we've gotten. We've got ninety four, ninety five, ninety six, Fine, whatever. I think he's eventually going to be the fastball that we've heard about. I think there's a transition period, like coach Bearakos said on our show last night, a transition period to the new mound, a transition period to the new ball, A transition period to being in a foreign country with foreign languages, foreign foods, and then you're going to Tokyo, then you're coming. I mean, it's been a crazy situation for him. So I say that to say, I think the Vello as he settles in, you get around the All Star break, I think we're probably going to see that Vilo bomp as he goes on. In the meantime, what rookie Sasaki has had to do is he's really had to learn how to pitch. He's had to learn how to get gritty. He's had to learn how to just really just kind of be a guy that has to pitch like everybody else does, versus just using one hundred and two minor fastball and.
00:13:19
Speaker 4: A ridiculous splitter to bully hitters. So what could happen? You know?
00:13:24
Speaker 1: The positive side of the way I like to look at things is you could end up in say July or August, with a guy that is hitting one oh two like we thought he was going to because he's gotten comfortable, but then also had to take a period of time to learn how to pitch. At that point, now you got wow, I mean, you got the best of all worlds. Is that a little bit too Pollyannish for you.
00:13:45
Speaker 2: No, I think it's fair, And I think what we're doing right now, what we're seeing right now is him, like you said, he's learning the mound, he's learning the lay of the land, he's learning hitters. But he's also I think, learning to move the ball a little bit more, move his fastball a little bit more. And that's something thing A couple about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, we spoke with former big league pitcher Trevor May about the fact that he believes that Rokie needs to add another fastball to the mix, whether it be a cut fastball, more of a two seemer, and I think you have seen more, at least more of that armside ride to his fastball of late, because one of the critiques was maybe that fastball is a little too flat and if it's not one hundred and two, it's gonna get hit, which is maybe something we saw earlier when he was trying to kind kind of sell out for Velo. In this first couple of starts, he's been more more consistent I think of late and staying in that ninety four to ninety seven pocket and I'm not concerned. I am not concerned about the VLLO being being down because he's been pretty pretty solid for this team. We got to take a break right now. We're gonna be back in a moment after a quick word from Todd Frazier and Scott Brown, and we'll talk more Dodge baseball.
00:14:54
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00:15:19
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00:16:01
Speaker 2: Guys, we are now bleeding blue. Of course, we got my friend Casey Porter. Make sure you guys follow him here on the YouTube Dodgers Daily here on the YouTube Dodger Dogs Show. Does great work here uh, covering your team day in, day out, and also a great great follow on the social media and one of the best prospects Dodgers prospects knowers. I know, I always love talking Dodgers prospects with you.
00:16:27
Speaker 3: Of course, I know.
00:16:29
Speaker 2: Maybe you don't want to be always thrown in the prospects bucket, but listen, you know everything. So that's where I'm going to talk to you about the Dodgers team and their prospects.
00:16:38
Speaker 3: And we'll set the stage this way.
00:16:40
Speaker 2: Look, despite a Sunday night's loss, uh, the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball. They have a half game lead over the padres entering play on Monday. They play a very bad Miami Marlins team.
00:16:52
Speaker 3: Uh.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: All of that aside, Listen, pitching has been mostly pretty good for this team outside of a couple outliers.
00:16:59
Speaker 3: The offense has.
00:17:00
Speaker 2: Been okay ish, Uh, definitely improving. You know, we had an Andy Pajez hot streaking there. Shoho Tani, Freddie Freeman, Tae Oscar hernandez will Smith are all having all star caliber starts to their seasons.
00:17:13
Speaker 3: But there are complaints.
00:17:14
Speaker 2: There's one chief complaint we see online right now, and that is Michael Confordo. We got to talk about the Confordo factor, his struggles with the plate, and how it relates to Hessng Kim eventually getting in the lineup, because I think that's your your kind of sort of clear path unless there's an injuries, that's your path to getting Kim in the lineup. And we'll we'll do it this way. We we'll set, uh, look at some numbers here, by a number of stats, Michael Confordo is the worst hitter in baseball. And I'm not here just a pile on. It's just these are numbers amongst qualified hitters. He's been rough, He's been rough as where hess On Kim is has earned some opportunity at the Triple A level.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: We know the Dodgers aren't gonna cut bait just yet.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: I guess this is more an opportunity to set the stage of tell people about hess On Kim what you've seen in his growth at Triple A, playing every day, bouncing all around for this team, and is he somebody who could be, you know, kind of major league ready at this point to get out there, play some left field, play some center, second base, maybe even short He's played all around. Give us your take on are your one month assessment of hess On Kim.
00:18:30
Speaker 1: He's definitely plug and play defensively. Now he's made some ariage at shortstop. But I said, from the very get go, Mookie Betts is great. But if the Dodgers want to make and Alex Frielan's awesome too. Matter matter of fact, Alex Freeland has by quite a bit outperformed hays On Kim to this point in the season, but there's roster issues that make it a lot easier.
00:18:51
Speaker 4: To make it. Hayes on Kim.
00:18:53
Speaker 1: Plus, he can play infield and outfield, and Kim, like I said, being on the forty man roster. So here's just kind of the nutshell of that. By Hess and Kim being on the forty man roster when he started in Oklahoma City, that automatically took up one of his option years. So his option year is already gone for this one of his three's already gone. If you put Alex Freeland Dalton Rushing on the forty man and then you put him in LA then bring them back to Oklahoma City, that then counts as one of the three option years versus right now, since they've never been put on the forty man, they can stay in Oklahoma City all year and not lose an option year. So if that's why Hess on Kim and situations like this, Plus, he exactly matches defensively what Tommy Edmund would have brought for this team. That's why it was a no brainer that he was the choice in this situation. So he's very much so plug and play defensively. I do have concerns with the offense. I think there's still a transition period there. I don't personally think that he's ready to hit major league pitching on a consistent basis at this point. I still think he needs to see Vello. I still think he needs to see Vello up in the zone. His strikeout rate, we've seen it, it's pretty high for a guy with his type of speed.
00:20:08
Speaker 4: I think there's still parts of his.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: Game that he can get in Oklahoma City in front of three thousand people on a Tuesday night and really just kind of close the holes. Because I'll say this, Dodgers fans are the most knowledgeable. They're the best fans I have ever been around. I would say Saint Louis Cardinals fans are up there too. The Cardinals fans are awesome, but the Dodgers fans are awesome. They're super knowledgeable. But when they want their prospects to come up, they're super excited. But then after two weeks, if they're hitting a buck ninety, they want to send them back to Oklahoma City. And rightfully so, because we're all like, hey man, we got zoo toime, we got three Hall of Famers at the beginning, we've got six guys that are having MVP seasons.
00:20:51
Speaker 4: We don't have time for this, right So I get all that part of it.
00:20:54
Speaker 1: So what I worry about with a guy like that, who who still has quite a bit in my opinion, transitioning left to do. I worry about that him going up to Los Angeles at not going the way it needs to. And really that's kind of two steps back for the one step you took forward.
00:21:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can understand that, and that's why I wanted to get your opinion. Here's somebody who's who's put eyes on him. There a whole bunch at Triple A, and everybody just kind of sees the numbers, but you don't see the game. You don't see some of the holes in the game, holes in the swing, things that still need to be refined. And yeah, it's fun for him to come up and steal a base and you know, late in a ballgame and all of that, but is he ready for prime time? And right now your your opinion is no, but hopefully soon, as we always do.
00:21:42
Speaker 3: There's another thing.
00:21:43
Speaker 4: I could be wrong, Clint. I could be dead wrong. I've been wrong many times before.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: So I just really want to see him get an opportunity. I mean, he's he's up right now.
00:21:51
Speaker 2: He I bet he would be at least as good as Michael CONFORDO if he's starting for the next three or four days before Tommy Edmund comes back, but hey, you know, I don't know if we'll be able to take that bet another one of the guys. Everybody kind of lost their mind over the weekend when they saw Dalton Rushing getting the start in left field, And we talked a little bit in the offseason on my channel about Dalton Rushing is the left fielder that whole experiment, experience, The whole point is getting him in the lineup, finding ways to get him here at the big league level because the bat is ready. He was great in twenty twenty four, and he's even better. It seems like this year, the power coming a little bit later. It seems like the first few weeks he was scuffling by his standards, but he has been phenomenal. He's a ballplayer, like we talked last, talked about last time, and.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: How do we get him to the big leagues? Is it left field? I'll ask you again in what is it?
00:22:49
Speaker 2: I think ten innings he's now played some left field for Oklahoma City. Is he somebody that can run out there, put on a left fielder's glove and play adequate enough defense to get in the lineup every day for this Los Angeles Dodgers.
00:23:03
Speaker 1: Team right now, I'd like if it was tomorrow. I mean, I just don't think there's the reps there. I mean, it's it's not as easy as people think, Hey, throw on a glove and head out there on the left field, by the way. Freddie Freeman's at first, by the way, Mookie Betts at second, by the way, Tayo Hernandez is the right field, by the way, Max will Smith's your catch. It's it's not as easy as just, hey, here's a glove, by the way, go ahead, and transition to major league pitching, which is like the hardest transition to do anything in sport, to go from Pacific Coast League pitching to major league pitching. Now, you see the same type of stuff in the PCL, but you see it more consistently at the major league level. It's every single night. You never get a night off from it, and then the execution is just unbelievably different. So here's here's what would be my concern there is that not only Wouldalton Rushing, Rushing have to make the incredibly difficult transition from Triple A to the major leagues, which hard enough to begin with. Now you're asking him to do it in a position in left field to where he's never played before, and so you're asking him to do on both sides of the ball something that is so ridiculously hard to do that I'm not even sure somebody that's as good as Dalton Rushing would be able to maximize what he's capable of doing at this point. So if you want him to be your left fielder, then put him in left field, give him three or four months, Let's evaluate it at the end of July, maybe August, and maybe he'll be ready defensively at that point. That would be But I'm a conservative type person. I'm the type of person that likes to put people in the best situations versus just throw them in the deep end and see if they can swim, that kind of deal. But that would be my thoughts on that.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I think with.
00:25:00
Speaker 2: Somebody like Dalton, where again, the bat does seem ready, at least statistically, it seems ready. When you look at that Baseball reference page, you've seen him a lot more. We finally in LA are gonna get the opportunity to see him a lot more because they're going to be playing comments games on the sports in LA, which is awesome, and I think everybody, I encourage everybody to go out and watch him these games, or I guess really sit down, stay home and watch some of these games, because that is pretty dang cool. But listen, there's gonna be no better place for him to get better then at the big league level, in my opinion, and if it means saving us from a lot more Michael Confordo on his struggles, I would still agree, like maybe three weeks, maybe a month. Let's give him a solid give them the month of May. See how he comes out of the month of May, mostly playing left field, and if you know, if things aren't trending in the right direction, then you got to figure out a path to get him up there, because, as the tweet I posted from Tim Kates said, Dodgers have a first basement, they have a catcher. You got to find a way to get an elite bat, potentially elite bat in that lineup when it comes to a Dalton rushing, and this appears to be the most obvious path. Left field right now appears to be the most obvious path. One more before I let you get out of here, I want to talk about Ben Casparius because he is listed as now tonight's starting pitcher and Dodgers fans who did not watch a lot of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, No, this kid is a reliever and a very dominant reliever. But he is a dude who was a starter for the majority of his professional career. And if he wasn't starting, he was getting bulk innings. He was a multi inne reliever getting his second, you know, second start of the season, this first real start. To be honest, as a big leaguer, Dave Roberts had said, he's a different, different guy, a different kind of build now than he was even at this point a year ago. What can you tell people about Dalton Rushing, sorry, not adult rushing, Ben caspar the starting pitcher, and how do you think this version now that's you know, touching triple digits with the fastball.
00:27:06
Speaker 3: He's just he's got something going for him. This year. He's been absolutely filthy.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Can that that frame, that build, all that sustain you know, a five to six inning workload?
00:27:17
Speaker 4: Oh, one hundred percent?
00:27:18
Speaker 1: And the reason is he has two centerpiece pitches, so kind of the way that Benksparius invented himself he went to North Carolina out of high school and he was a two way player shortstop. I mean, he could really hit. And then he went back home to Connecticut and played for Tom Penders there at Yukon. Tom Penders. By the way, I wanted to give a shout out to him. I've I had a chance to see that Yukon program up close and personal twice. What a great job he does. So anyways, he goes back home to play with coach Penders. He becomes a pitcher. He develops this great arsenal of ospeed pitches and a fastball that's just kind of okay. So he comes to the Dodgers and he's still with these great secondaries and a fastball that's kind of like okay, and he does well with Rancho. He's like the California League pitcher of the week, gets promoted to Hi Great Lakes. And to be honest with you, from that point on, it's been let's reinvent myself, let's reinvent myself, let's figure this out, let's find the best.
00:28:12
Speaker 4: Version of myself.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: So he's gone through several different carnations of what is the best version of Ben Casparious and his success has been anything but linear. So for factor number one, what Dave Roberts is hitting to there, this guy's seen failure, he's had to deal with failure. He's had to figure it out and get over it. And so that's why I think you're seeing a guy that is scared of nothing.
00:28:37
Speaker 4: He's not.
00:28:37
Speaker 1: He has no fear of failure because he's already been there, done that at the minor league level. That's number one. And then number two. What happened he as he gave himself the patience to continue to find the best version of himself. His fastball started catching up to his plus slider that's a three thousand rpm slider, and so he always had the centerpiece slider. Then the fastball got up to ninety six, then it got up to ninety seven, then it got up to ninety eight. Now it's where it's at now. Now the spin is touching twenty six hundred or close to that. So now you have legitimately two pretty much elite centerpiece pitches. And I've said that many different times. When you have one centerpiece pitch, great, that's probably a reliever type deal. Two centerpiece pitches that tells you you can go through the lineup fairly easily twice, and then if you add just kind of a third pitch like in a curveball, that you can still strikes with that starter stuff.
00:29:32
Speaker 4: So this only makes sense to me.
00:29:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've everything I've heard about Benny Kapps has been good. Everything we've seen when it comes to Benny Capps has been good, and I'm excited to see him get some run in the starting rotation, even if it's two or three starts before somebody like Tyler Glasnaw or Blake Snell return. I think the Dodgers still have a need for him Casparius in the rotation when Kershaw returns to the fold as.
00:29:59
Speaker 3: Well said you mentioned earlier, is.
00:30:02
Speaker 2: Having another making another rehab outing in Arizona tomorrow. Dodgers getting a little bit healthier and things are trending in the right direction. Best team in baseball and one of my favorite people to talk to here this is Casey Porter. For the people who don't know, tell them where to find you, where your show is and all that kind of stuff, and not where to follow you home because that would be weird.
00:30:25
Speaker 3: But people know where to find you.
00:30:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, Dodger underscore daily.
00:30:30
Speaker 1: I think it is, and I think it's Dodger Dot Daily on but Dodger Underscore Daily out on X and then I think it's Dodger Dot Daily on Instagram. Also have a Facebook page and a Facebook group, and then the YouTube page, the Dodgers Daily YouTube. We have our daily Dodgers Dog Show where we have a host of guests. Had you on it a couple of times, Always gracious whenever you come on, Clint. So we do a lot of down the farm segments, we do a lot of live shows, We do a lot of just kind of differing opinions from different types of people. So definitely check out Dodgers Dogs as part of the Dodgers Daily Network.
00:31:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, always a great watch, always a great conversation, Casey, I appreciate you, and I got a couple more things to do here on the show, guys, and then we'll sign off. But for now, I'm gonna throw to last licks. All right, guys, Alana is still out. She will be back on Thursday. We will be together on Thursday for a second. But first I want to remind you one more time, while you still have time, go check out this auction to benefit Gidrey's Guardian She would appreciate it a whole bunch. Everybody in the world would appreciate it a whole bunch. Head to thirty two auctions dot com slash l A A L A D and you can bid on a package to get you some tickets. You and your friends, you and your family, you and your girlfriend, whoever you bring in.
00:31:50
Speaker 3: Just the important thing.
00:31:51
Speaker 2: It's helping support doggos in the community and supporting Alana and all that kind of stuff. I think she would very much appreciate if you do that. The last thing I wanted to touch on before we get down here, out of here, quick baseball thought for the road. My friend a buddy, I've had a beverage beer, an adult cocktail. Well it's more of a pacifico with this guy. But ross strippling Dodger legend Chicken Strip himself announced today he is retiring from the great Game of baseball. You know, probably not the way he wanted to go out. Did sign a minor league deal with the Royals this offseason. Things didn't necessarily come together for him there, but hell of a career for Chicken Strip does have himself a World Series ring with that twenty twenty team. Even if he was not on the World Series roster and all that. But I just wanted to give a shout to Chicken strip Ross. Congrats on a great career.
00:32:43
Speaker 3: Man. Hey, golf is fun.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: As well, so let's get out and do some golf while you're doing your accounting or your tax stuff, whatever it is you're gonna be doing. He's a smart kid, and we appreciate the great Ross Stripling.
00:32:57
Speaker 3: Guys, thank you for hanging out with me. Big shout out.
00:32:59
Speaker 2: Once again, Casey Porter for joining me here on the show. Go check him out on all those things. I will have them linked in the description of this video YouTube channel. Give him a follow there, give us or sorry, give him a subscription there. Subscribe to Dodgers Territory. We are getting close to ten thousand subscribers. We would appreciate it, Alana and I would appreciate it very greatly. If you can help us get there before I don't know, some point in time, that would be nice. I am real frg On the social media machines, give me a follow, smash the thumbs up button on your way out of here on YouTube, hit us up on the Apple the Spotify, rate and review the show all that kind of stuff. I'll be back tomorrow postgame show with my buddy Greg Bergman from ESPN LA and we'll have some fun talking about hopefully the Dodgers taking Game two of the series against the Marlins. But until then, bye,
