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CLUTCH: Kyle Tucker FINALLY Comes Through | Shohei Ohtani Won’t Hit Again DESPITE HOT BAT

31m 40s

CLUTCH: Kyle Tucker FINALLY Comes Through | Shohei Ohtani Won’t Hit Again DESPITE HOT BAT

The podcast hosts, Harry Ruiz and Travis Rogers, analyze the Los Angeles Dodgers' recent walk-off victory, focusing on Kyle Tucker's game-winning hit as a potential turning point. Tucker, who had been struggling despite making hard contact, finally delivered a clutch single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. The hosts see this as a psychological breakthrough that could unlock his production, noting that the Dodgers' lineup depth allowed them to overcome an eight-inning offensive drought. The rally was set up by unexpected patience from younger players Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing, who drew walks to load the bases. This disciplined approach, especially from typically aggressive hitters, was praised as a sign of growth. Shohei Ohtani contributed a key double, but the show then debates the team's decision to rest Ohtani as a hitter on his pitching days, even when he is hot. The hosts explain this is a deliberate strategy to manage his workload over the long season and preserve his elite pitching, prioritizing the team's long-term formula over short-term offensive gains. They contrast this regular-season approach with the more flexible, game-by-game management expected in the postseason.

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Kyle Tucker just silences Daughters with One Swing. And this might be the moment that changes everything. [MUSIC] You are Lockdown Dodgers. Your daily Los Angeles Dodgers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. [MUSIC] I'm Harry Ruiz, that's Travis Rogers, and it's time for Lockdown Dodgers. On today's show, why Edwin Diaz believes the best version of himself is still coming. The Dodgers are making a fascinating call with Show Hail Time. But first, Kyle Tucker breaks through getting the walkoff hit. He needed that one big swing and he finally got it, Travis. This wasn't just a walkoff. This felt like the release because for a month, you could see it. The timing was slightly off. The results weren't matching the contact. The pressure was building. This superstar brought in to be a difference maker and through April, it just hadn't clicked. But in the ninth inning yesterday, faces loaded, came on the line. He didn't try to do too much and he got that walkoff single. >> Yeah, I like what you said right there. I think the results were not matching the contact. I think that's a really, really good way to say it. Because for the last week or so, he'd been hitting the ball hard. He just had not been getting a lot of hits. And last night, he finally got a hit that got the monkey off his back. And we know this, baseball fans know this. Sometimes it just takes one to kind of unlock you and all of a sudden it's like, man, that's all it was. That's all I need to do. I know how to do this. This isn't as hard as I was making it out to be. And then all of a sudden, you relax a little bit and the hits start to come one after the other. So I'm really optimistic that this is going to unlock him and he can start to be the player that the Dodger signed in the office season because he's a really, really good player. He needed it for sure. That this guy is about as what's a polite way to say tight, intense, maybe a stoic might be another way of putting it. But the guy's kind of a flat liner is maybe the nice, not nice, so way to say it. And you can tell that it meant a lot to him. You can tell that it means like, I don't care if you make $60 million a year. If you're not contributing to the team, that's a frustrating thing. When you're not the player that you know you can be, that's a frustrating thing. So I think that that was a very big moment. Nice to Dodgers to pull one out. You know, they didn't do anything for eight innings. And that an extra base hit through the first eight innings. And then all of a sudden, it clicked. And that's why they are who they are. It doesn't take long. It just takes just takes a couple of guys to get hits in big spots. And they got it done last night. It was fun to watch. I'm glad you bring it up, Travis, because at the start of the game, I'm like, yes, this is what we needed. A first inning where you got a couple of runs. You get an early lead. You're feeling yourself. And then it's like, all right, fourth inning. They are still not doing anything. Sixth inning. All right, Miami just scored three innings, three runs in the fifth. One and the fourth thing. We're still in with two runs that shout out to ask Hernandez. He got himself that RBI single early in the game. But then after that, it was like, they were completely stopped by Patagon. It's like, all right, guys, we need to do something right here. And that's when that ninth inning was huge for the boys and blue, where you had patience, where you had that clutch. Shohei Oltani double that I have no clue how it didn't leave the park and finish the game right there on Japanese heritage night. It was like just waiting for it to happen. But that ninth inning, it was Andy Pai has walked. Dolce and rushing pinch hit for Santiago Espino. What? Miguel Rolga has a bunch pop out that right there. I don't know Travis. Yeah, that was that was something where I would have, I mean, of course, once you know the results with the benefit of the doubt, you know, it's like, just let him swing the bat. I mean, earlier in the game, he was this close from hitting a two run home run to tie the game. And he did and I would have let him swing. But then Shohei got that RBI double. Then Freddie Freeman was watchpaces. Oltani will Smith struck out, but Kyle Tucker ended up getting the RBI single with two outs and I'm very happy that he was able to do so because the narrative is completely different. Unlike if he hadn't gotten that hit, if he had been struck out, if he had gotten a ground out, if something had happened with the negative outcome, the narrative would have been right now by all Dodgers fans or the great great majority is like, what a waste of money. And it's like, it's one month into the season, but I'm just happy. Get that monkey off your back and get that swagger in your body because we know that he's one of the best baseball players in the world. If not, Dodgers wouldn't have given him the type of contract that they ended up giving him. Yeah, he's a good player. It's just it was a matter of time. I'm glad he got it and I think this will unlock him moving forward. As far as the decision of Bunkos, I didn't dislike it. Miguel Rojas is really good with the bat in his hands. He gets that rundown way more often than what happens happens. No, maybe you take the bat out of Shohei's hands at that point if he comes up. So there's some give it take. I understand the feeling to want to let him swing, but I didn't hate it in the moment. I thought the thing that set the ending up more than anything. And I think this is a really positive development for the Dodgers moving forward. I think at the beginning of the season, if I told you, hey, listen, the Dodgers are going to pull the game out in the ninth inning. Come from a couple of runs down. They're going to win the game because Andy Pahes draws a walk followed by Dalton rushing drawing a walk. I think you would have said, dude, you're out of your mind. Those guys are free. Pahes in particular is a free swinging player. Pahes in particular is somebody who will expand the zone, who will chase, who will try to, and I mean this is a compliment, but try to do too much often. And instead of just saying, okay, they're not going to come to me. Walk the first base. Let the next guy do it. Dalton rushing is still a very inexperienced, major league player. It's having a great start to 2026, but he's done a lot of damage by being very aggressive, by swinging the bat, by trying to make things happen, by being ultra aggressive. He draws a walk as well. So I think it's just a really good, if Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts or Show Aotani or Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, Max Muncie, these guys draw a walk. It's like, yeah, that's what they do. They're professional hitters. They've been around the block a long time. They're going to be patient. They're very comfortable letting the next guy do damage. A younger player is much more likely to be hyped up and go after a bad pitch. That those two guys didn't do that. I think is really good news for the Dodgers. That two young guys were very patient in big moments. Speaks very highly of them. It shows you the growth that these two guys are having in this 2026, early 2026 season. And we're loving being able to see it right now, especially on a night where we got to mention. Yoshino Miyamoto, he didn't have a very sharp outing. He battled, but the command wasn't there. The walks filed up and eventually it ended up costing him. But here's the key. Good teams pick up their starters on nights like that. And that's exactly what the Dodgers did. When you needed, you're down by two. You need to get a runner on base. You needed to get another runner on base to get the game tying run on base. And that's what Pa has and rushing did in back to back at bats. And then you get a guy like Show Aotani to be able to bring one in. And then you got that rest of that lineup. And I love to see, for example, Count Tucker. He was dropped to the cleanup spot. He has even batted 5th a couple nights ago. Right here, this is key to be able to have a guy like Freddie Freeman beat behind Show Aotani to keep that line going. We've seen Tucker, unfortunately, at times just pack at first pitches and be a terrible pop out where it's like, man, be a little bit more patient, watch a picture too. And then be aggressive and go after something. And right here, having Freddie right behind Show Aotani, I think that was key. And once Mookie comes back, being able to have Show Aotani, and then Mookie, and then Freddie and potentially Tucker, that might not be the order that you thought of things when the season began. But at the end of the day, you just need the order that helps you win games and not the way that you planned it in February, March, but have it function in April. Yeah, I mean, like we talked about, I think other than Show Aotani first, I think take the other eight guys. You can almost throw them in a hat and pick them out of random. And it's probably going to work out pretty well for you more often than not. I think as far as Tucker being aggressive early in the count, I think you're right. I think that is the quickest way to tell if somebody's going bad. Is are they taking strikes and are they swinging a ball? That's the thing that I think Tucker was doing is when you're down, when you're scuffling, when you're fighting it, you want to fix it. And the way that you want to fix it is by hitting the ball. The way you want to fix it is by being aggressive. The way you want to do it is by, hey, man, if I get a good pitch, I'm going to go, go, go, go, go. And they're all of a sudden it's ball one. And then when you say, hey, don't be too aggressive, it's strike one right down the middle. And you just can't find that groove. I think he's starting to find it. I think that with going back to Yamamoto briefly, he was way off. Now his way off is different than most guys way off. But he had a handful of walks, which is very unlike him. And he got his splitter, which is one of the nastiest pitches in baseball, tagged for a three run home run. Like that pitch does not get hit for home runs. And it did last night. So that was very unusual. I thought the other thing that was kind of interesting. And we talked about this. This is why you got to be in every day or here at Lockdown Dodgers. Is going back to the Giants series when they faced Tyler Malley. Malley was having a terrible season. Is the array around seven? You're just getting ready for the Dodgers to cave his head in early. Same thing with Chris Patic. Chris Patic came in with really bad numbers on the season. a guy that the Dodgers felt, you know, probably pretty right. for the pick and they got to him early with those two and then he settled in and just absolutely shoved the rest of the night for him. He was really, really good. So just because a guy comes in with some fat numbers doesn't mean that he's going to have a bad night against the Dodgers. They they've led a couple of you know kind of easy marks off the hook through the early part of the season. At least last night they they squared the account in the last inning. Fortunately for the boys in blue they were able to get to Pete Fairbanks who exited the game with an injury and then Phillips he gave up that RBI double RBI single to RBI single from Cal Tucker. So my question to you checking out our show today. Do you think this moment actually turns Cal Tucker's season around or is it just one big hit in an otherwise slow start? Drop your take in the comments or let us know on any of our social networks or hit up the Lockdown Dodgers decision align 2793 locks. I want to hear where you stand coming up by Lockdown Dodgers. Joe Hale Tani is coming off back to back three hit games and the Dodgers are still choosing not to let him hit today. Why they're doing it and whether it actually makes sense. Ed is way more common than most guys think millions of guys deal with it at some point and that's exactly why Hems offers a straightforward way to handle it. 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Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad free episodes and access to a group chat with me and other listeners of this show. Tap the link in the show notes or go to lockdowndodgers.supercast.com. Ohtani finally dominating, but benched at the plate. Showy Ohtani is locked in again. Back to back three hit games, power showing up with home runs, the timing seems back and now he's not hitting today. The stodgers are sending him to the mound but keeping his bat out of the line. Not because he's struggling, not because he's hurt but because they're trying to manage the bigger picture. And honestly, this is the tight rope that they will have to walk all season long because he will be available to pitch from day one from game one all the way through the end of the season, not going wood. Hopefully that's the case. But Travis, I've been a proponent since the preseason during that game that he pitched and he didn't hit an Arizona. I was like, hey, maybe that's the formula that they should use. But right now I'm like, he just had back to back three hit games. He just said his first home run in two weeks. He was able to get a clutch RBI double to put the Dodgers in a position to win the game last night. I understand that tight rope that they're walking through but is this the moment to be like, okay, yeah, don't hit today. Well, the line is when you're hot, you don't mess with hot, right? You just let hot stay hot for as long as it is. And then when it's not, then you can kind of try to figure out a way to get hot again. I tend to agree with you. I think that taking him out of the the batting order at this point is not something that I would do because of, you know, back to back three hit games. He's driving the ball. He's hitting with power. You know, and when he gets hot, he tends to stay hot for a long time. So I would leave him in the lineup. Now, here's the part that I think we're not privy to and it's clearly something that the Dodgers have discussed with him. They have a plan about how they want to use him. They have a plan about how they want to use him as a pitcher, as a designated hitter and then occasionally as both. But it does not look like the way that we've seen it up until this point is going to be the way that it is for this season. I don't know if that's in an effort to try to extend his innings. I don't know if that's an effort to try to get him sion consideration. I don't know if that's an effort to just try to get him off of his feet a little bit occasionally because he gets so little rest to begin with or a little bit of all of these things. But I do believe they have a formula. I do believe that they have a method to their madness about when he does and when he doesn't. They don't want to alter that plan just based on hot or not. I think that this is what they're doing. They're going to stick with it. He's going to have to hit and pitch on the same day occasionally because you can't go through the whole season and then in October say, okay, go do it. It's like getting in shape to run a marathon. You can't just show up on race day and go do it. You got to do it frequently and kind of stack up those miles to get ready to go. He needs to stack some miles during the course of the season, but maybe much like marathon train, you got to have some off days built in there too to kind of rest and recover. So I think that's what that is. I tend to subscribe to the when when stuff's working. Don't touch it, but they're obviously going in a different direction. Yeah, and Dave Roberts had even talked about it pregame before show he had the great night at the plate that show he would have the night off as a DH on the game on Tuesday when he's pitching, but here's a situation to we got to look at all the factors where this is coming from he with 13 games and 13 days for the Dodgers. This means that he's going to be pitching on five days rest instead of six days rest. So one day shorter than he's used to and then you also have a day game tomorrow on Wednesday at 12 10. So do you want to have him exhausted from pitching and hitting a head of a day game. This is another circumstance that comes through and that's something that I understand and that I like from the Dodgers where it's like, Hey, I don't care if he goes three for three with an RBI double in a clutch situation or if he goes five from or five with three home runs, if we have a plan and this is what we're sticking with and we're going through, this is what we're going to do. So it doesn't matter what's going to what's going to happen there. They're going to stick with their plan because that's what they're trusting and maybe most importantly, if Otani is able to stay elite on the mound, that might actually be more valuable in October for the boys and blue because if you're able to keep a streak of elite pitching with the guy Travis out of the four guys that started in the playoffs for the Dodgers. Otani, for example, in the World Series game seven, he got tagged early and we know that he was was on even shorter rest for what he's used to. If you're able to have that Yamamoto glass now, snail, Otani, all in an elite level in October, this team is untouchable. Heck, we've seen that streak of quality starts that got snapped by Yamamoto yesterday, but glass now has been amazing. You've had the case of Shohei been amazing on the on the mound. You've had Justin Robleski doing an incredible job. If you had Blake's Nautilus mix, it's like, who's going to stop the Dodgers if their pitching is on that type of level? And look at the rest of the bats. You have a lot of options for the Dodgers as well. So this is a thing of the type of problem that every team in baseball wishes they had. Yeah, no, they've got a lot of guys that you can throw out there. I think that the reason that they're doing Otani, using him the way that they're using him and kind of deciding ahead of time is the very same reason that we've seen them be so successful over the last 12 years of. When they have a formula that they believe is going to be successful, they do not deviate from the formula. This is what they do. And if that means that they have to punt on any given game during the regular season, they'll do it. They don't care. And obviously they want to win as much as you can, but they would rather let something slip away than alter their plan. Now, once you get into the post season, all bets are off. The plans go out the window and you manage the game in front of you for the day that you're playing. You worry about tomorrow tomorrow, but this is the exact opposite of that. We're still at the end of April. We still have five months of baseball left. If they've decided that Otani is only going to D.H. and pitch occasionally as opposed to every time, that's what they're going to do. He could have hit three home runs last night. He could be coming off of a cycle or whatever it is. They're not going to deviate from their plan. And I respect it, that they don't really kind of let emotion dictate how they're going to do it. I like that they finally got to the spot where in the post season, they don't do it like that because for a long time, they did. They kind of continued to follow their form in the post. They didn't really get the results that I think a lot of us were hoping for. But during the regular season, they're unbelievably disciplined approach to their methodology has given incredible results. So I don't think they're going to alter it just because somebody gets hot or cold. Like if he were, had he gone 0 for five last night and struck out four times, they're like, we got to get him back in there to get him back on the horse. They're going to stick to their plan. So if you at home in your car at the gym, walking your dog, wherever you're at, if you had to choose, would you rather have Otani as a pitcher only in tonight's game or keep his bat in the lineup as well, no matter what? Drop your answer in the comments or hit me up on social @HeyRuRuize on X @HeyRu_Ruize on Instagram or on TikTok @HeyRuRuRuize underscore Travis, he's available on x-ray. and Instagram @TravisRodgers. Next on Locked On Dodgers, Edwin DS says he's 100% confident he'll be back to Elite Form. But should the Dodgers be counting on that? If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat without all the sugar. That's why the confetti craze 5 hour energy shot brings that nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way. 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Because Edwin Diaz says he'll be back, not just back but back to being elite and he sounds confident, very confident that he'll do that in the second half of the season. But let's not sugarcoat it. In his last two appearances with the Dodgers, they were very rough. The velocity was down. The command wasn't sharp. The results were very bad and then came the real issue here discomfort in his arm and we know why lose bodies in his arm. Not ligament damage, which that's huge, but still something that clearly affected him and according to Diaz, removing those bodies should fix the problem. Now, if he does come back right, this changes everything Travis because of fully healthy Edwin Diaz at the back end of this bullpen, that's a weapon that the Dodgers haven't really had consistently since Kenley Jensen departed. Yeah, maybe. You know, you know, my feelings with relief pictures. I don't know. I mean, it wasn't very good. I know he was hurt, but he's had seasons where he wasn't very good. He's had seasons where he was untouchable. I don't know which one you're going to get. I know that coming off of an arm surgery in the middle of the season is never good news. It just kind of jump right back in and think that you're going to be as good as ever. I don't know. I mean, I hope so. I hope that he looks sharp. I hope that he's healthy. I hope that, you know, he's exactly what the doctor ordered from a year ago, but, you know, once you miss three months of the season, I think all bets are off. I think you just to, I think there's hopefulness and I think that you want to remain hopeful, but to actually rely on it and assume that it's going to be that way, I think is tricky because you need to start developing plan Bs and Cs and Ds and E's and and make sure that you have other operations that can pitch that night thinning. I think that's what they've been doing for the last few weeks is trying to, I don't know if I want to say audition. That feels too, too, too strong of a word, but get a look at guys. I'll use Dave Roberts's language. Who on that trust tree is the guy that you feel most comfortable with in those big situations? Because Diaz has to earn his way back, not as far as like that we know he can get guys out. We know he can, but is he healthy? Can he pitch on back to back days? How many pitches can he throw? Like all of this stuff and stuff to build him back up is is an enormous mystery. Now, do I think he'll be Edwin Diaz in 2027? Yeah, because he'll be fully built up and everything else, but this is a this is a work in progress. And until I see it, I'm going to be, you know, curious to see what's coming next. Yeah, and so far we've seen guys like Tanner Scott, Blake, Trinon, Alex Vessia, get opportunities. And for example, Vessia, he's had kind of a rough couple of outings for him that they haven't had the dominance that we've seen from him in the past. And then you got a Tanner Scott who yes, he allowed a two run home run the other day, but besides that in the loss against the Cubs and they ended up being the difference in the game when they lost six to four. But besides that, he's been rock solid. And for me, to be giving him props, you know that he has to be pitching really good because I was anti-Tanner Scott right now. I'm like, Hey, he has been very solid and I'll say it as it is. He's been really good. He has earned these opportunities that he's getting. And there's also potential reinforcements coming later in the season when the cases of Brock Stewart, Evan Phillips, who might be coming back at the same time as in when Diaz, but Diaz, he's the big question mark right here. And I'm 100% on the same side as you Travis. It's like, how can you trust? For example, he says and and that's what he's supposed to say, right? He's not going to say, I'm going to come back at 50%. I'm not going to be myself. Hopefully, I'm okay enough to no, no, no, no, he's going to trust himself. He's one of the best closers that we've had in the game over the last decade. He's going to say that he's going to be his own elite self once he returns in July, August or September. Hopefully the sooner, the better. But for now, it's just a wait and see type of game. It's an audition. It's just the opportunity for players, like you said, to prove what they can do late in games and right here, who has earned your trust, Travis. We know we've only had like one save opportunity in a tight game and Tiner Scott got it. Anybody else that you think has because even yesterday, we had Eater, the guy that the Dodgers got from the Nationals, I believe, have the night, then he can leave the game with the Dodgers still only down by two. Yeah, I think that they're all kind of in the same bucket at this point. I think that if you said to me, you know, fast forward to tonight, the Dodgers have a one run lead and it's, you know, two, three, four coming up to bat. Who do you want to go out there? I think I'd probably pick Scott at this point just because he probably has the most experience doing things like that. But if it were Blake Trinon, I wouldn't hate it. If it were Alex Vesia, I wouldn't hate it. I think this is the the curse of relief pitching. You just never really know what you're going to have. Like, you know, Scott was bad last year. He's been pretty good this year and when Diaz kind of ping-pongs back and forth between unhitterable to kind of normal, you know, he's very rarely bad, but you know, there are times when you can get to him a little bit. So I don't know. You know, Henriquez can look great at times and then he'll walk the world other days. Jack D'Rire is pretty consistent when it comes to getting guys out, but he doesn't have a ton of swing and miss in his game either. And sometimes you need some swing and miss in those big night-thending situations. So, you know, I think a lot of it's going to be match-up driven depending on who's coming up where you are in the order, a left-right situation, and all that. But if the game on the line and I could pick my guy, I think it would be Tanner Scott and then I'd cross my fingers and hope that it works out because I don't know if I love any of those options. The good news is this is true of just about every team that doesn't have Mason Miller at the back end of the bullpen. This is true about, you know, what it looks like in April. Good luck different in July. Good luck different in October. It is incredibly fluid. Stuff changes all the time. Dodgers are usually pretty reluctant to trade for relief arms. That's not something that they typically do. So I think this is going to be more or less what you have throughout the course of the season, but hopefully the S comes back and looks good. But you just never. I wouldn't be surprised if by the time you get in October, if you're seeing a bunch of these starting pictures, eat up a bunch of those relief and exol over again. Oh yeah, and that's option C. We know that Blake's now will return sooner than later. He has a start today in Ontario. So if you're at ONT field, go and check that game out and support Snell Zilla on his return trail, somebody's going to have to leave the rotation. You're not going to carry a seven-man rotation. So will it be Roki's Asaki? Will it be Emma? Chien? It better not be Justin Robleski. So would we get Roki's Asaki be a closer again for the boys in blue? I feel that that would be his easier path to success. I don't think it's going to be keeping them ready. Everything I've heard them say they want to develop him as a starter. And I think the only way Asaki goes back to the bullpen is if something like last year happens all over again, where they literally are out of options. They're down options right now, but they're not out of options. They want him to develop as a starter. Putting him in the bullpen does not accomplish that goal. I think if he continues to struggle, I think his future is in Oklahoma City. It's not down in the bullpen. Now fast forward October and you need it. Maybe he can you know, revive his role from last year. But yeah, I was listening to that podcast. I know we've talked about it a couple of times. Jeff Passon did with John Schneider and Dave Roberts. And there was a moment where Dave said it fast. He went through it. Not like he was trying to sneak it through, but he didn't stop and dwell on it and kind of bring it up. But he said, "Roki wasn't good in the World Series." You know, we really couldn't go to him there. He was really good against Philly. But after that, we really kind of had to do different things. And that's why they used what they used in game seven of that World Series. He had already lost confidence in Rocky at that point last year. I don't think Asaki is done anything to regain confidence at this point. So Sasaki as a relief pitcher is a only if you absolutely have to option and we got tons of runway left before we have to do that. Break glass in case of emergency kind of scenario for the boys and blue. So Amit Shin, I mean, there are there will be options. But the best part is that there's still a lot of time left. The Dodgers. Yeah, the Dodgers with this win, 20 wins, nine defeat. So pretty much winning two out of every three games so far this season. They haven't played all of it. that well. That's the crazy part. Like they their their record is really good. And they haven't played badly. But I mean, you tell me what you think, Eric, like I would give him a B maybe a B plus through the first month of the season. It's been good. It hasn't been bad. But they're they're two to the good one of the bad. And they haven't really put their best foot forward yet. It's it's incredible. They haven't even shifted to full gear. They're far from it. And they got a 20 and nine record. So the Dodgers aren't just waiting. They're evaluating who steps up now might still have a role even when Diaz returns. So my last question. Let's close the show with this question. Do you actually trust that Ed Wendy as will return to elite closer form in the second half or do you think the Dodgers need to have a plan like he won't let me know in the comments or via social media. All right, that'll do it for today's pod. Thank you for making lockdown Dodgers your first listen of the day. And thank you for making lockdown the number one sports podcast network. We'll be back tomorrow Wednesday to talk about show. Hail Tony start tonight as the Dodgers take on the barlands and the second game of the series. If you never miss an episode, the everyday or club is built for you. Get locked on Dodgers ad free plus members only discord access and more. Hit the lock down Dodgers not super cast calm to join the club for those of you on video. We send you to the first average 24 seven national locked on podcast network YouTube channel. On audio for your second listen, go check out locked on MLB Travis and I appreciate you writing with us until next time. Keep it real. Keep it Dodger blue.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Kyle Tucker's walk-off single in the ninth inning was a crucial moment, breaking out of a prolonged slump where his hard contact wasn't resulting in hits.
  2. The Dodgers' comeback was fueled by patience from young players Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing, who drew key walks to set up the rally.
  3. Shohei Ohtani is being held out of the batting order on his pitching days despite being hot at the plate, as the team sticks to a pre-planned management strategy for the long season.
  4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto had an uncharacteristically poor outing with command issues, but the team's ability to pick him up highlighted their resilience.
  5. The discussion emphasizes that the Dodgers prioritize their long-term formula and player health over short-term offensive momentum during the regular season.

Summary:

The podcast hosts, Harry Ruiz and Travis Rogers, analyze the Los Angeles Dodgers' recent walk-off victory, focusing on Kyle Tucker's game-winning hit as a potential turning point. Tucker, who had been struggling despite making hard contact, finally delivered a clutch single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. The hosts see this as a psychological breakthrough that could unlock his production, noting that the Dodgers' lineup depth allowed them to overcome an eight-inning offensive drought.

The rally was set up by unexpected patience from younger players Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing, who drew walks to load the bases. This disciplined approach, especially from typically aggressive hitters, was praised as a sign of growth. Shohei Ohtani contributed a key double, but the show then debates the team's decision to rest Ohtani as a hitter on his pitching days, even when he is hot. The hosts explain this is a deliberate strategy to manage his workload over the long season and preserve his elite pitching, prioritizing the team's long-term formula over short-term offensive gains. They contrast this regular-season approach with the more flexible, game-by-game management expected in the postseason.

FAQs

Kyle Tucker hit a walkoff single in the ninth inning to secure a comeback win, which was seen as a potential turning point for his slow start.

It was his first big hit after a month of struggling, and it helped relieve the pressure, potentially unlocking his performance for the rest of the season.

Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing drew walks in the ninth inning, showing patience as young players, followed by Shohei Ohtani's RBI double to tie the game.

They are following a preplanned formula to manage his workload, with 13 games in 13 days, and prioritize his long-term health and pitching effectiveness over short-term batting results.

He struggled with command, issuing several walks, and his normally effective splitter was hit for a three-run home run, which is rare for that pitch.

Their patience at the plate in high-pressure situations demonstrated growth and helped set the stage for the veteran hitters to deliver the comeback.

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