We're pleased to welcome back to the show for the first time in a long time, our friend Michael Duarte of NBC LA. Michael, what's opening day like at Dodger Stadium?
Hey Amy, thanks for having me on. Opening day is always a great time of the year. It means that winter is fading away, spring has returned, baseball is back.
We're getting ready for the playoffs and NBA and NHL. But it was a little bit different tonight at Dodger Stadium, if I admit. This is my 10th consecutive opening day, and it's the first one that was at night.
A night game, 7-10 start, a little bit different. We had some East Coast weather, to be honest with you. Not just today, but the last few months here in Los Angeles. Thunder, lightning, pouring down rain about an hour and a half before first pitch, and then it just disappeared and the sun came out like nothing happened. That's very East Coast weather, I might say.
Like those summer storms, they like to call them. But other than that, it was the same as usual with the Dodgers. I believe they're 13-2 now on opening day at the stadium, and they drove the Diamondbacks 8-2.
Even though it's a little bit of a new look roster for the Dodgers this year, and a new look stadium, and new rules for baseball overall, same result when it comes to opening day victory for the Dodgers. Just out of curiosity, did you have any of that snow that hit California about a month ago? A couple weeks ago? Yeah, we did.
For me, where I'm at, it was large chunks of hail, but people right next to me, snow that lasted maybe a few hours before it melted away. But yeah, that was a first for us here, especially in the area that I'm at, which is called the Valley in Los Angeles. So yeah, that was definitely a first. James Outman, a lot of excitement around him playing his first full season with the Dodgers. What was it, a handful of games last year? What's the ceiling for this guy?
Yeah, James Outman, he likes to do debuts better than the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. His first major league debut, he homers on the first pitch and his first at bat at Coors Field. Today, he homers in his Dodgers stadium debut. You know, this was a guy that was not even on the Dodgers radar as far as somebody who was going to be on the opening day roster. They felt like he still needed a little bit of seasoning at AAA, even though he did have a great little stretch run when he did get called up at the tail end of last season in 2022.
But obviously, the injury to Gavin Lux opened up a spot. James Outman had a great spring training. He took that spot and ran with it and was very emotional when Dave Roberts told him that he was going to make the opening day roster a little over a week ago. And so he told me after the game that this was an absolute dream come true to hit a home run at Dodgers stadium. He said it feels a little bit different with the crowd and the energy and a sold out capacity crowd of over 52,000 than what it is back in Oklahoma City and in the minor leagues when he does it. Why do you think that many prognosticators and baseball analysts have determined this will be a down year for the Dodgers?
Yeah, that's a great question. And I heard you talking about that earlier that some have them at the bottom of the standing. That to me just makes my jaw drop at hearing that because I don't think they will be at the bottom of the West standings. I can say that pretty confidently missing the postseason.
I doubt that will happen, but I could maybe maybe see it if there's some some prognosticators and predictors that want to say that. But like we said, this is a team that's been dominant for the last 10 years. The third best, I think, record as far as making the playoffs in consecutive seasons and winning the division similar to the Braves in the 90s and the Yankees. So that's not really going away and they still have superstars like Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw and Freddie Freeman on this team. But I think the reason why to answer your question, why some people are saying that is they didn't have the big splashy offseason like they've had in years past. You're talking about a team that got Mookie Betts and then got Freddie Freeman and seemingly always adds the big star and gets the big fish.
This year was probably the quietest offseason they've had in in a long time and definitely in recent memory. And they're giving the young guys that they had in triple A, they're giving them a runway to see what they can do at the major league level. We're talking guys like James Altman, who you just mentioned, Miguel Vargas is starting second baseman today on opening day. We're talking like Michael Grove, a pitcher you're going to see coming out of the bullpen, Ryan Pepio, who's going to be in the starting rotation, and we'll see him here in a couple of days. They're giving these rookies a chance to really show what they got and we'll see maybe by the trade deadline if they've done enough to maintain their spot or if maybe the Dodgers will look to add via a trade or an acquisition that way. But to me, it's that and it's the lack of starting pitching front line that the Dodgers have seemingly always had year after year.
You know, obviously, Trevor Bowers gone, Walker Bueller is hurt. They're missing a lot of guys in that rotation. They lost Trey Turner, which to me, he's one of the best shortstop in the game.
His speed was something that was a new addition to the Dodgers the last two seasons, and it's just been a killer for opposing teams and opposing pitchers. I think they're really going to miss Trey Turner this year, but I think with the new shift rules, having a great defensive shortstop like Miguel Vargas stepping in, I think is going to help. So it's going to be interesting to see what this season is. I don't think we can expect them to win 111 games and just break the National League record for wins. But I do think they're going to be a postseason team, whether that is winning the NOS or the wildcard regardless. I mean, their top two hitters are still former MVPs. And then Will Smith, who he can mash the ball.
Max Muncy, we know he can too. JD Martinez is their DH. And then James Outman is batting eight for them. So I agree that Trey Turner kind of grabbed some headlines and I know their lineup is a little bit different. But if we've learned anything about the Dodgers farm system, generally when they bring young guys up, it hasn't been a problem in the past. They have too many young guys that they need to use and not enough spots on the field.
Yeah, exactly. And this is a team and I actually asked James Outman about this after the game. I said, just, you know, how are the Dodgers?
Well, I said two questions. A, how are the Dodgers able to year after year produce these young talent that come up from the minors and are able to perform right away at the Major League level? And two, does he feel any pressure knowing that that is their track record, that guys like Corey Seeger comes up and wins Rookie of the Year?
Cody Bellinger comes up and wins Rookie of the Year. And year after year, they have somebody, Walker Buehler is another example, that just steps up that you maybe not thought of or was going to be ready to perform. And they perform. And now James Outman and Miguel Vargas have to step into those shoes, but they seem ready to do so. And what James Outman told me, though, is he said it all comes down to the player development department that the Dodgers have. They get these guys ready to play at the Major League level from single A all the way up to triple A into the majors. And they do it not just on the field, but off the field. And they work on things that maybe other teams are not working on.
And that's how they get these guys so ready. So, you know, as I said, Outman's a guy to look for. Miguel Vargas is going to be another guy that I think fans and your listeners should be watching out for. His bat to ball skills are amazing. You can play multiple positions.
So I think those are two names you really want to watch out for this year. Yet another hallmark of some of the young guys for the Dodgers, even guys who've moved on, is that they can play multiple positions. Michael Duarte is with us from Los Angeles after covering Dodgers opening night for NBC LA.
It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Before we move on, I have to ask, you know these Dodgers so well. Is there anyone on the Dodgers roster in the clubhouse who would be brave enough to step up on opening day and sing the national anthem like Adam Wainwright did? Oh my gosh, I did see the clip of that. That was pretty impressive.
I know! I don't know about this team. You know, Yasiel Puig was always a guy that was not afraid to humiliate or embarrass himself. He'd be a guy that comes to mind that would take the mic and do that. Dave Roberts' daughter is an amazing singer. She sang the national anthem. Justin Turner, longtime Dodger who's no longer with us, who looks so different now in red with the Red Sox. His wife Courtney loves to sing the national anthem. She's sang it a couple times at Dodger Stadium.
But as far as players, I don't know if this roster yet, and I'll get to know some of the young guys, if anybody has the camaraderie or the confidence to go out there and belt the national anthem the way Adam Wainwright did. Yeah, he did. He was slow and he was deliberate, and so he was really trying to work the notes, but man, the smile on his face. He was so proud of himself. You could tell he had practiced it a bazillion times to be ready.
Gosh! Hey, he went from World Baseball Classic Final to singing the national anthem on opening day. He's had quite the last 10 days or so. And if you get to it, we can talk about some other interesting things that happened on opening day. The lights, I know you mentioned we can discuss that, but fans didn't see this on the telecast. You didn't see this on the radio or the telecast, but there was a fan who jumped out of the outfield pavilion over the new home run seats onto the field to propose to his girlfriend in the middle of the game and then got absolutely trucked by a Dodger security member. I'm sure it's gone viral. If not, I will retweet it once I find it, but sign that security guy to be a linebacker in the NFL tomorrow.
Nice, that's amazing. Okay, I'm glad you brought up the lights because I wanted to ask. Let's hear from Tory Lovello who was talking about this after the game. He didn't think it's intentional, but definitely that the lights were bothering some of the D-backs pitchers.
The Dodgers beat us fair and square today. I don't know. I just take notice of it when I'm on the field.
There's a mound visit and I see the lights going on and off for pitches that are being thrown and warm-ups. Yeah, there was a couple cases. I don't think anything was done maliciously. They got to be better. We'll figure that out. They got to be better, Michael.
What does that mean? What's going on with the lights at Dodger Stadium? So, fans who don't know and your listeners that don't know, the Dodgers spent millions of dollars over the course of the offseason and took two months to replace all the previous HID light fixtures with brand new custom LED lights, the state-of-the-art lights that no other stadium has except for the SoFi stadium that I'm aware of.
I do know there are teams and baseball teams who have LED lights, but nothing like the level that the Dodgers have had. I noticed it was a little bit better visibility for players and fans. Apparently, it's going to reduce the energy consumption they've had with the old lights by 50%. It's supposed to improve broadcast quality. But moreover, you get this really cool lighting experience that can all change colors.
It's going to look great for concerts. But, as I wrote in my column today, among the rookies who made their debut with the Dodgers, the lights made their debut too. And with rookies are going to come rookie mistakes, and of course, whoever the lighting operator was, I think he pulled that dimmer switch a little bit too quickly at times. There was one play on a Will Smith fly ball to right field that scored some runs. Whoever's running the lights, the light operator flipped that switch a little too early so the lights actually dimmed on the D-backs in the middle of the play. One new thing they're doing is they are turning the lights off and playing the evil empire theme from Star Wars anytime a bullpen change occurs for the opposing team.
So I'm sure Toilevelo didn't like that. But I did joke with Dave Roberts after the game. He said that now Dodger Stadium has a new competitive advantage, and I told him, hey, stop flipping that switch under your seat in the dugout to mess with the D-backs. But I think overall the lights are going to be great, the fans are going to love them, but I do think there's going to be some growing pains as we go through it a little bit.
And I think posing teams are going to hate it, but hey, that's the new Dodger Stadium home field advantage. Michael, we're going to quickly transition because the play-in tournament is where the Lakers find themselves right now. LeBron James has returned, but they are sitting right at.500. Anthony Davis says they have all the right pieces.
They can find the form. In your opinion, how dangerous can they be? Yeah, I think now that with the Russell Westbrook trade and all the moves they made at the NBA trade deadline, they are a heck of a lot deeper, and they've finally done what success around LeBron James has always been, which is put shooters around LeBron James and now put shooters around LeBron and Anthony Davis. You've got guys like Malik Beasley, Austin Reeves, Lonnie Walker, obviously D'Angelo Russell, now guys who can shoot the three at a high clip, and it gives the Lakers a lot of versatility as well, even by adding a backup center in Mo Bamba, who I know is hurt right now but should be back for the postseason. The Lakers have been one of the better defensive teams since that trade in the NBA, so have the Bulls who got Patrick Beverly who was traded out in that deal, and they look and they have a great record, so it looks like they could make some noise.
My question is, is it too little, too late? To me, if you end up in that 9 or 10 spot and somehow you can win back-to-back games and then get a first-round date with the Denver Nuggets, that's not good for the Lakers, but if they can climb out of where they are now and maybe get to that 6th spot and get them out of the play-in and potentially a first-round matchup with the Sacramento Kings, who we're all about light the beam and we're all happy for Mike Brown and that team's success, but I think they don't have the postseason experience that LeBron and AD and these Lakers have, and I think you might see a first-round upset if the Lakers can get to that 6th and square off with the Kings. Probably before we talk to you again here on the show, I will make my big trip to Arizona and we'll hike the Grand Canyon. I don't know if you've been there before, but I need some encouraging words from you, West Coast hiking guy. Yeah, so as someone who's gone to spring training in Arizona, like I said, 10 years now, you're going to love it. You're going to love the hiking. The Grand Canyon is amazing, especially on the Arizona side. I also think on the Arizona side you might be able to get to that, I don't know if they call it the glass bridge that kind of goes out. That's pretty cool if you get to check that out, but definitely go to Sedona.
You're hearing me first. Sedona, you're going to love the hiking, you're going to love the shopping, you're going to love the food. Go to Sedona, Arizona, and the last thing I'll say is I'm so glad you went to a live game, even though it was hockey, and I love live hockey, but I'm just so glad you were at live sporting events again. I know how much you love that. I do love that, and we also love talking to you. You're one of our favorites, so as Jay and I were sitting there in the press box at Prudential Center, I said, let's check on Mike and see what he's doing and if he's at the game, so we're always glad to talk to you. Happy opening day.
You can find Mike on Twitter at MichaelJDuarte, and he is an award winner now with NBC LA and one of our best buds here on the show. Thanks, Mike. Thank you. Enjoy your trip to Arizona, Amy. Thank you.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-01 06:41:19 / 2023-04-01 06:48:28 / 7