EXPLOSIVE: Kiké Hernandez SPARKS WBC vs World Series DEBATE | Dodgers TAKING OVER the world stage

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A Dodgers player just said the world baseball classic feels bigger than the world

series, and for some fans, he might actually be right.

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What's up everybody?

I'm Harry Reese.

That's Travis Rogers, and it's time for locked on Dodgers, part of the locked on podcast

network, the number one sports podcast network on today's show Andy Pahez might be playing

with the serious chip on his shoulder this spring.

Dodgers stars are making their presence felt on an international stage.

But first Travis, a bold statement from Kika Hernandez about the WBC that's going to

spark debate across baseball.

Yeah, I'm excited to talk about Kika.

I know where he's going with this, but it did catch me by surprise a little bit.

I'm looking forward to talking about it on today's episode of Lockdown Dodgers, which is

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Keke drops a baseball bombshell WBC over the world series.

The world baseball classic always brings passion, energy and national pride every three years.

But a recent comment from Dodgers utility man, Keke Hernandez might take that conversation

to a whole new level because even though Keke can't play in this year's tournament because

he's recovering from off season elbow surgery, he's still around team Puerto Rico and following

the tournament closely.

And while doing so, he said something that's going to make a lot of M.O.B fans raise their

eyebrows.

Keke basically said that the world's baseball classic feels bigger than the world series.

Think about that for a second.

This is a guy who knows exactly what the world series stage feels like.

Keke winning back-to-back championships with the Dodgers being a multiple multiple time world

series champ with the boys and blue and being a major part of those titles in October for

the Dodgers.

So Travis, when a player with that resume says that the WBC feels bigger, it tells you just how

meaningful this tournament is to the players involved, right?

Yeah, I think you bring up the most important part.

I think you're right.

I think that because this has come from somebody who's won the world series three times, it

carries extra weight.

Had this come from someone who had never won the world series, I think it would mean something

entirely different.

But Keke Hernandez speaks from a position of authority.

He is not, you know, he's won the world series three times.

That is an incredibly small group of people that can claim to have been on that many title

teams.

I don't agree with him, but I understand where he's going.

I think this is one of these things that if you are, you know, on one of these very select

teams, and I think that Puerto Rico is one of these teams.

I think there are maybe four teams that could look at this as the most prestigious thing

that they could win.

I think it's Puerto Rico.

It's the Dominican Republic.

It's Japan and it's the United States that they all, those four teams have a real

chance of winning this tournament, you know, year in and year out.

But here's why I disagree.

I think that the reason that the world series is more prestigious is a more challenging

thing to win is it is a six month slog to get through this that so many things have

to go your way.

You have to be good for, you know, by the time the playoffs are done, throw spring training

in there.

You're talking about an eight and a half month window where you have to stay healthy,

where you have to be really good, you have to fight through injury, all of these different

things.

Whereas the WBC, it's like two weeks, right, it's just a totally different thing.

So I'm not saying that WBC is anything other than a great tournament.

It is fantastic.

I like it too, but the players have to go through a totally different dynamic to win a world

series as you do a WBC.

And the other thing is the teams in Major League Baseball are better than the teams in the WBC

across the board.

Now, the Dominican team and the Japanese team, they're amazing.

Don't get me wrong.

The Puerto Rican team, amazing.

But there's a lot of teams.

There's a lot of guys in this tournament on these other teams in particular that are

not Major Leagueers that are not even affiliated minor league players.

There's a lot of guys in this thing that will never play in the Major League.

The Major League is nothing but Major League players.

So I think that just the length of it, the difficulty of it, the level of competition

to win a world series to go through that many different layers to win it.

I think that's why that's the most prestigious one.

But I get this point.

It is a very big deal and I love the tournament too.

And look, I'll be the doubles advocate and look at it from their perspective.

The players that look at the WBC being as strong or even more important than the world

series because the world series is about representing your team.

The World Baseball Classic is about representing your country, your playing for your flag,

for your flag, your culture, your family and millions of fans back home watching every

pitch.

And for example, this year, you've seen those stadiums packed in Puerto Rico in Japan,

not just in the United States and it's like, hey, it has exploded in popularity, especially

internationally.

And I'll be like, for example, me, I'm Mexican American.

I lived in Mexico and over there, it's a soccer craze country, which has never made

it past the quarterfinals in a World Cup when it comes to soccer, which has never made

it to the quarterfinals in a World Cup that hasn't been played in Mexico.

Last year, they were this close from eliminating the eventual champions, Japan, or not last

year, three years ago, sorry, the last edition, 2023, eliminating them in the semi-finals

to going against the United States, which it's a team that they have beat three consecutive

games.

The last three times, USA and Mexico has played, Mexico has won those games and you've seen

those packed stadiums, the electric crowds.

Players are going all out in games that feel like October that are pretty much spring training

games, expanded spring training, exhibition games for them.

So of course, there's always the other side of the argument, which, for example, as a

Dodger fan, there has been nothing that has given me more excitement than seeing the Dodgers

win these three World Series since 2020.

Yes, I'm a Laker fan.

Yes, I really enjoyed the Lakers winning those five championships while I've been alive.

But at the same time, that was expected.

That was the, hey, it's either championship or bus for those teams.

The Dodgers, they didn't win anything after the 1988 World Series all the way until 2020.

So when you win that, you feel that excitement.

So right now, you've got teams that are trying to win this tournament for the first time

or teams that are trying to overcome what Team Japan is with Shohei Otani, Yoshino Miyamoto,

all their stores or even the Team USA stacked a roster, which their manager, Mark Dorosa,

said, hey, we got the 30 best players in the tournament and you've got other teams saying,

yeah, you do, but we want to be just the best team today to beat you guys.

And it's like, okay, it's David versus Goliath.

It's something very, very different.

The flavor in those stadiums, Travis, you feel it through TV where it's like unlike American

crowds, which you're usually like waiting for the crescendo for that big, exciting moment.

When it comes to Latin crowds specifically or even Japanese crowds, they always have it

all throughout the game and they don't have to wait for a home run.

They don't have to wait for a strikeout.

They are always into the game.

So it's different.

So I understand Tika Hernandez's comments and I'll be honest, Travis, I'm more of a world

serious guy than a world baseball classic, but it also makes sense that there's players,

even for those of them that weren't born in the country that they're representing.

But it's like, hey, it's for my family, it's for my grandpa who watches me play and wants me

to represent Italy or Mexico or the Dominican Republic or even Brazil.

You got Boba Schett's cousin, I think he is, Boba Schett, Jr's cousin out there playing

for Brazil.

It's like, well, it's something really cool and it has been fun to watch and I hope that

it just reaches those levels of, it's like the world cup that we get in soccer every four

years now with baseball and I think it's getting there.

Yeah, it's making progress.

It's bigger today than it was when the tournament launched about 20 years ago and that's really

all you can hope for is that it continues to grow and it continues to become more prestigious

and it continues to get more countries involved.

I think, you know, the reason that the world cup is the ultimate prize in soccer is all

the best players are playing in this tournament.

This is kind of spread out a little bit differently.

We get most of the best players.

It's not all of them.

There are a lot of guys that are still not there and I just, and again, I think one of the

things that we get in trouble with, you know, talking about things like this is that

in order to make the point of the one that we might like more than the other, we tend to

dismiss the other.

They're both great.

They're, you know, we are both really big fans of the WBC.

I've been looking forward to this.

I've enjoyed watching the games.

It's really fun.

But a six month regular season followed by a month long playoff tournament is very different

than a two week sprint where you just kind of bring everybody together and go for it.

I understand that the passions that come along with playing for your country, I certainly,

you know, Jerk Scoobles probably going to pitch a second game just because he got caught

up in the passion of representing his country and I respect it.

And I think that's really cool, but having to go through a long, long, difficult tournament

and win that whole thing, I think, is a little more difficult, a little more prestigious and

a little more something than getting together with all of your guys for two weeks and saying

because to your point, anybody in baseball, anybody can beat anybody.

If you get a good pitcher that's on a day, you know, the other guys aren't swinging

the battle that well, you can do it.

But over six months, no, that's not how that works.

So over six months, the better team is going to now and it's short in tournament.

That's why the playoffs are so much fun, but give me the World Series.

And even this MLB clubs or fans like us, for example, me personally, I'll say this.

I won't put you in that bunch.

You can add yourself if you want to.

But when the Dodgers were getting eliminated from the playoffs, that was it for me.

I would start, but it's like, it's NFL season.

I'll focus in football.

When it comes to the WBC, if either the States or Mexico get eliminated, I'm still watching.

I still enjoy watching those teams out there.

So that puts it that little extra for me where it's like, okay, it's really, really cool.

And the cool part for us too is that the Dodgers are heavily representing it and represented

in this tournament and they're making a lot of noise and that brings us to what's happening

right now on the international stage.

Next on Lacton Dodgers, Shohei Othani is already doing Shohei Othani things in the World

Baseball Classic Japan is looking really, really good.

Meanwhile, Team USA is gearing up for a massive matchup of the undefeated with Mexico tonight.

And several Dodgers are right in the middle of it all.

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cast dot com or tap the link in the show notes for more Dodgers are taking over the world

baseball classic.

If you've been watching the world baseball classic so far, one thing has been very, very

clear.

There's Dodgers players everywhere and many of them are already making big impacts.

Let's start with team Japan.

We kicked off Friday's show talking about show, he'll tiny going berserk in the second

inning with five runs batted in.

He ended up with three hits, including a home run and they've looked as one of the most

dangerous team in the entire tournament.

Travis are three and no one pool play and they've done it in impressive fashion.

Yes, the first game, they absolutely demolished their opposition.

The last two, they were a little bit tighter against Korea and Australia and no surprise

who's eating the the charge show.

Hey, old Tony who is doing what he does best, dominating in the world stage.

Yeah, I just I just am running out of words of what to say about this guy.

It's just every time he steps on a baseball field, he does something that is a

amazing and extraordinary and I'm old enough to have gotten to see the very best of Michael

Jordan.

I never thought I'd see that again.

I saw the very best of Tiger Woods, I never thought I'd see that again.

I think Wayne Gretzky, certainly when he was at his peak, was better than everybody

by a mile and that's where Shohei is.

It's just he is so much better than everyone else when it comes to playing baseball and

it's a real pleasure to watch and you know, for guys like you and me and the Dodger fans

here on Lockdown Dodgers, that we get to see a, you know, a couple hundred times a year

between spring training, the playoffs, the regular season, it's just, it doesn't get

any better than this.

I just really have to remind myself, pinch myself a little bit to sit back and just take

this all in because we're never going to see somebody like this.

By the time another guy like this comes around, you and I are going to be long gone, Harry.

It's just where it's it's it's not going to happen again.

So when he's doing it in the WBC, I marvel at it when he does it during the regular season,

I marvel at it.

He does it in the postseason.

I marvel at it and you know, he had another home run against Korea, he just he just shows

up every single time and I've never seen anything like it.

I just love watching him play baseball.

Yeah, so far five for nine and three games, two home runs, six RBIs and he's already

drawn for what?

So basically pitches are already learning the same lesson, MLB pitches know very well.

You can't make a mistake with Shohei Otani up at bat.

You know what's funny?

It's like I just I wonder if we're getting closer to the point where they're going to start

and I guess maybe you can't do it when you're playing the Dodgers because there's just

too many other good players, but how long until he gets the bond treatment?

We saw what happened in the World Series, right?

When was that game three where he had, you know, the home runs and the doubles they walked

him out.

He's on base nine times.

Basically just, you know what, we're done with this.

We're just simply not going to throw you any strikes.

Go ahead, go stand on first base the rest of the night.

I don't care, I'll take my chances against Kyle Tucker and Mookie Benz and Max Muncie

and Will Smith and Freddie Freeman and everyone else like there was a time where bonds like

no, we're not doing it.

We're just not going to pitch to you, put him down there and we have to be getting close

to something like that with Shohei, I think.

No doubt about it.

And someone that's also been dominant since arriving to the boys and Bluey, oh, she

know we have a motto.

He made his debut with Japan in their first game on Friday.

We already spoke about it two and two third innings.

He struck out a couple of batters and Samurai Japan began its run through the tournament.

And another player representing internationally out there at the Tokyo Dome is Heson Kim

with team Korea.

He's been there starting second base been in all of their four games and the numbers

at the plate haven't jumped off the page, but he delivered a huge moment.

A clutch home run that tied the game against Japan in their second game.

It was big, but he's struggling with the bad.

And it's like, man, every time I watch Korea, it's like, okay, if he gets on base, he's

a menace, but the problem is getting on base.

It's going to be interesting to see if Korea makes it through the next phase.

If they do, that means another week of Kim with them.

If they don't make it through, then he comes back to spring training to keep competing

for second base with the Dodgers Travis for team USA.

Will Smith got to start against Great Britain.

He didn't get a hit, but he's still contributed with two walks, drove in a run.

And we're still waiting to see Clint Kershaw make his tournament debut.

And I feel the closer we get to the end of the pool stage, then we're going to be like,

okay, maybe we won't get to see him.

Yeah, maybe not.

You know, maybe he's just there as a ceremonial position, you know, vibes guy, a guy

that the other players can lean on.

And you know, who knows?

Maybe we get to see him in, there's a blowout situation, one way or the other.

And, you know, there's also the sometimes weird blank just happens.

And the next thing, you know, you need somebody in a spot.

It just, Will Smith looked like Will Smith just kind of right in the middle of that again,

even though he didn't really, you know, he wasn't asked to do a whole lot.

It's just, he's a very comforting presence in the lineup.

And it's pretty funny to see him on a team with Cal Raleigh.

Like, oh my gosh, they have two guys like that on your team is really something else.

Going back to Kim for a second, I think that if he stays with team Korea for a longer

if they're able to kind of admit good for him, I think that's a really good environment.

These are high pressure at bats.

You're seeing a lot of majorly caliber arms.

I think that's very good for him.

And if the Koreans don't advance particularly far, and he comes back to Dodger camp,

I think that's fine too.

I think he needs to hit.

Like you said, you know, one of the oldest adages in baseball, you can't steal first,

space, you gotta hit, you gotta get on base.

Because when he's on base, he presents a whole lot of problems.

We know he can deal with the major leagues defensively.

You can put him in short, get Mookiea by a spell.

If you need to, you can put him in second every day.

If you need to do that, you can fill him in in the outfield if you need to do that.

But he's got to hit a little bit.

And it just, you know, maybe he can, maybe he can't.

But the more at bats he gets against high quality arms, I think the better for him,

whether that's in Dodger camp or whether that's in the WBC.

I'm a fan of his.

I like watching him play, but he's just, he's got to get more comfortable in the batter's box.

And it's interesting.

For example, Team USA is getting the best shot from every team that they take on.

For example, with Brazil, they won 15 to five, but they scored seven of those runs

in the ninth inning instead of being able to mercy rule them earlier in the game.

Mexico was able to beat Brazil 16 to nothing to end the game early out there.

In Houston today, Mexico, USA, that's going to be huge at five PM.

And of course, we're going to be talking about it here on Lockdown Dodgers tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Edwin Diaz, he closed the door for Puerto Rico and they're five to nothing.

Shut out over Colombia, working the ninth as the Boric was improved to two to nothing in in

pool play.

They now get a huge matchup with Cuba, which should be bring plenty of intensity

Travis for Diaz.

It was like, man, going back to that stage where unfortunately three years ago,

he suffered that year ending injury, being able to pitch,

being able to do it in front of his fans and be like, okay, I'm back.

Let's go over to Miami whenever they advance to the next round and keep making noise.

Yeah, it's funny, obviously the injury was I think at the top of everybody's mind,

what happened three years ago and so it's hard not to when you see a great player like that,

suffer such a, you know, fluky incident just during a celebration and everything else.

That was certainly a top of my, I'll be honest.

I have not turned the page in my mind.

I just haven't seen him in a Dodger uniform enough to think of him as the Dodgers closer.

I know that he is and I know that he's going to be in LA this year.

But when I see him, my brain still thinks Mets.

I need to see him as a Dodger pitcher more often before.

Because when you see Wilson Smith, you think Dodger.

When you see Otani and Yamamoto and even Kim, it's like we've only seen them as Dodgers,

you know, Otani's case, you know, we've seen him as a Dodger in the last couple of seasons.

But just with Edward Diaz, I haven't thrown the switch in my brain of, oh yeah,

that's a Dodger right there.

I still think of him as a member of the New York Met.

So I need to make the mental adjustment there.

Once he hits the trumpets at Dodger Stadium, that's all going to change.

So while Dodgers are shining internationally back in Arizona,

another player is making a serious statement and it might matter a lot when the regular season arrives.

Coming up on Lockdown Dodgers, Andy Pahez looks like he's spent the entire

offseason thinking about one thing, redemption.

And they'll be opening day is almost here and you can feel it, right?

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Hey, this is Jeff Carr from Lockdown Reds and you know,

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You can find Travis at Travis Rodgers on X and Instagram.

Meanwhile, I'm on X at Harry Ruiz Instagram at Harry underscore Ruiz and TikTok

at Harry Ruiz underscore Andy Pahez is on a redemption tour.

Spring training numbers can be misleading,

but sometimes they also tell you something about a player's mindset.

And right now Andy Pahez looks like a player on a mission.

Being one of the hottest hitters in Dodgers camp early in Cactus League play.

Because in one of his recent games, he always said no time making an impact

with the 407 foot solo home run early in the matchup.

But even though that was his first spring training home or Travis,

you could also go in that exhibition him against Mexico.

Doesn't count towards Cactus League play.

He also went yard.

He's been swinging a very hot bat 390 slugging percentage pushing 740 as well.

So it's like, okay, you can see a guy that last year we were talking about.

He should be in the All-Star.

And then after the All-Star break, he declined in the playoffs.

No, and ifs or buts, he was terrible with the bat.

He saved us with his glove in Game 7 of the World Series.

But it's like, okay, he has an opportunity to be like to my left.

I got an All-Star to my right.

I got an All-Star in the outfield.

I look up to the front and I got All-Stars,

all MLB players, Hall of Famers in front of me.

If there's one guy who you look at and be like,

he could potentially be out of place.

It's him.

But at the same time, it's like, hey,

I got to raise my level to theirs

and start the contributing consistently to this team

and not just be like one half one player,

the second half another player.

Yeah, I think there's a fun little game you can play with your Dodger fan friends

and ask them, you know, last year who's second on the team in home runs?

Everybody knows Shohei who led the team in home runs.

Like who's number two?

Somebody's got to be paying pretty close attention

to know that the answer to that is Andy Pahes.

Andy Pahes had a really good year last year.

Not just a pretty hit, a very good year.

This was only his second full-time year

and really his first full season in the major leagues

before he was kind of up and down a little bit.

He's a good player.

I am very, very bullish on him.

I like that he's off to a good start

and spring training for whatever that's worth.

But here's why I like him.

He does the thing that I think

is a really positive sign for a young player.

He's adjusted when there's been struggles,

right?

And I'm not trying to throw cold water on this guy.

But think of when James Outman came up for the Dodger.

James Outman came up and was tearing the cover off the ball.

No one could get him out for about a month and a half.

And then the major leagues,

their pitchers are really good.

The scouts are really good.

Hey, he struggles with this.

In Outman's case, it was high velocity above the waist, right?

He never figured it out.

He was never able to adjust to the adjustment.

Andy Pahes shows up.

Has pretty good success.

They adjust to him.

He dips back down, but then he comes back out of it again.

I think that that's shown.

He can kind of work his way through the major leagues.

Adjustment to adjustment to adjustment.

He was really good last year

until towards the end of the year.

And then he went ice cold.

Now, if he was ice cold in May,

as opposed to being ice cold towards the end of September and October,

I don't think we talk about it too much.

It's just one of those weird things in baseball

where guys get cold.

It is what it is.

And then they come back out.

The other thing I really like about Andy Pahes

is despite being ice cold,

despite basically getting bench towards the end of the world series

and not really getting to play,

he was good to go when they needed him.

When they put him back in to be a defensive replacement,

he was there.

He wasn't pounding.

He wasn't sulking.

He wasn't doing the thing that a lot of times

do like, man, why is this happening to me?

He went out there and made a play

that might have saved their world series, Bacon.

So I hold him in very high regard.

I think he's going to have a great year.

Like you mentioned, he's surrounded by elite talent.

He's one of those guys that I think

is going to get a lot of good pitches to hit.

And if Andy Pahes is, and I don't even like

the least good player on your roster,

I'm not going to say he's the worst player on your roster.

He's the least good player in your starting eight.

It's a pretty darn good team.

The guy that hitting nearly 30 home runs

is your least good player.

That's a pretty darn good team.

A pretty darn good player.

I'm very bullish on Pahes.

Yeah, if he is the guy ranked in your M.O.B.

the show, the lowest in your lineup,

you're in a pretty good position because he could take

that spot in any other team and be a middle of the line of guy.

He could be batting 5th.

He can be batting 6th with the Dodgers.

You know, he's going to be either 8th or 9th.

Not because of the way he plays,

but because of who is around him.

So the October part still gets me.

He went 4 for 51.

He hit under 100.

He struggled badly at the plate.

And that was our last memory of him until he went back

on the field now in March out there in Arizona.

And it's good Travis, in my opinion,

that instead of having the opportunity

to go to the World Baseball Classic,

he said, no, I want the consistency

that this brings me of being out there on the field every day

with this team, with the Dodgers,

with the manager that they have,

with the players that are surrounding him.

Because the Dodgers could easily have like 12 players

in the World Baseball Classic right now.

And it's not that amount.

Because there's some players that prioritize family.

There's some players that prioritize health and recovery.

And there's players that prioritize

getting themselves ready for the start of the 2026 season

with the goal of going and winning that three beats.

So that shows you and we go back and we circle

and we finish the show saying, okay,

he says WBC Overworld Series.

There's other players that showed you

by not going to the WBC right now.

In my career, it's more important to get myself

to the next level, to win a World Series,

to have another ring in my hand,

or when that free agency hits

to be able to secure my future and my family's future,

which you won't be able to do in a WBC.

No, you don't get paid on that.

You get some prestige, you get some honor,

and you certainly get some national pride

when you get to go play in the WBC,

but you don't get paid on that stuff.

You get paid on what you do in the major leagues.

And I think Andy Pius is teed up to have a huge year.

I really do.

I don't know if he'll be second on the team

at home runs again this year,

but the fact that he was a year ago

and I bet he's top four, you know,

and that's pretty darn good.

I would still expect probably Muncie to be number two,

you know, Freddie and Mookie and Kyle Tucker

and those guys are going to be somewhere in there,

but Andy Pius is teed up to have a great year.

And again, you know, he doesn't have to be,

you know, an all-star level player

to be an important part of what they do.

He just needs to be the best version of Andy Pius

and that'll certainly be good enough.

Best version of Pius, stay healthy.

That's huge too.

And you've seen other guys like try to take a spot

in the outfield, right in Ward.

It's just right.

And they're not even close right now.

And the only situation where we could potentially see

somebody else, the Pius is a bad matchup

with a pitcher that you're like,

I don't trust by his with this guy,

or an injury that I'm knocking on wood, stay healthy,

and you're going to be able to take advantage of it.

He's raking in Arizona.

That's good for his future.

All right, well, man, I'm ready Travis.

I know it's just Monday, but Team USA, Mexico,

that's a huge matchup.

And then we got the rest of the week

and then going into next week as well.

So we got like eight days, nine days left

of World Baseball, Classic Baseball,

and it's two weeks left before opening day.

I mean, two weeks with no regular season baseball

and then the following week, Thursday, for us, Wednesday,

we know they got that Yankees giant skin,

but we are ready for that Thursday.

We are coming up.

I'm excited for this man.

There's a final stretch.

We made it.

We're almost, we're almost there.

We're on the bill lap of the non-competitive baseball thing.

And like you said, USA, Mexico,

and it should be a real fun getting to watch.

5 p.m. we'll be talking about it in tomorrow's show.

All right, that'll do it for today's pod.

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