UNREAL: Shohei Ohtani Breaks SPORTS MONEY RECORD | USA Falls Short AGAIN in the WBC

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

I'm Aaron Judge.

Welcome to MLB The Show 26.

The greatest game in baseball is back, whether you're a gamer or a baseball fan.

This one is tough to put down.

Jump into franchise mode with your favorite team.

Build your roster, chase a pennant, and see if you have what it takes to win it all.

It's the closest thing to being in the big leagues yourself.

Use it MLB The.Show slash Lockdown and use Code Lockdown to unlock a pack for Diamond

Dynasty.

Internet connection required.

Preorder now on PlayStation 5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, rated E for everyone.

MLB The Show 26.

Own the show.

Hey everyone, this is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Thank you for being here, because your support means everything, and if you're looking

for another way to support the show that you love, while getting something awesome

in return.

Check out the Every Day or Club.

You get ad free episodes of your favorite Lockdown show, access to a members-only group

chat for fans of your team, and you can even jump into the national chats and talk about

whatever's happening across the league.

Tap the Every Day or Club link in the show notes to learn more.

Show Hey Old Tani isn't just dominating baseball on the field.

He's about to have the biggest endorsement year in sports history.

You are Lockdown Dodgers, your daily Los Angeles Dodgers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast

Network, your team, every day.

I'm Harry Ruiz, that's Travis Rogers, and it's time for Lockdown Dodgers.

Today's episode is brought to you by MLB The Show 26, visit MLBThe.Show slash Lockdown

and use the code Lockdown to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty, available now

on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, rated E for everyone.

On today's show, what's going on with Hassan Kim after a rough showing in the WBC?

Team USA, with Will Smith, fall short in the World Baseball Classic Championship game.

But first, the insane financial universe show Hey Old Tani is operating in because he isn't

just a baseball star, he's a global industry.

We've always heard Old Tani being called the unicorn for his skills on the diamond, but

at this point, that label might actually undersell what he is because what he's doing

right now, we've literally never seen before.

Sportico published their list of MLB's highest paid players of 2026 and to the surprise

of absolutely nobody.

Show Hey is at the top of it, but here's the thing.

He's projected to make around $125 million off the field in a single year.

Let that sink in, that's not baseball money, that's global icon money Travis.

Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's no surprise.

The reason that he was able to defer basically all of his Dodger salary was because he's got

more than enough money coming in, away from baseball, for all of the endorsements you

may.

Dodger Stadium, you see all the things that have his picture, you walk into Dodger Stadium

every single bus that is pulling in with Dodger fans on it has Show Hey O'Tani's face

on the side selling you one thing or the other, so no big surprise that O'Tani has turned

on a money faucet, not just for the team, but for himself and obviously the Dodgers have

done exactly what you'd hope they would do with the money that they're able to, I don't

want to say save, but at least kind of allocate elsewhere, deal with it later, and they

pour all that money back into the field, back into the team, back into other players, and

this is why we are where they are, not just because O'Tani is awesome, but because the

economic might of a player like O'Tani and the ability to not be greedy, the ability

to say, I'll just, you know, I'll take the money that you will be later just as long

as you spend it on the team so we can continue to win, is a big reason why the Dodger

is our who they are, that's the kind of number though that you use to only associate

with the name like Tiger Woods in his prime, maybe a Michael Jordan at the peak of his

empire post playing career, because that's when MJ started making huge dollars, not one

when he was in the league and winning those six championships, but right now it's crazy

to say it's a baseball player, a Dodger who's just two years into a ten year contract

with the team and here's what it's even crazier is the gap, O'Tani isn't just leading baseball

and endorsements, he's lapping the field, the next two guys when it comes to endorsement

money are Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper, they don't even get to ten million dollars, it's

nine million dollars coming off of money that they make out of the diamond, that's ridiculous,

but it's simply what tells you what happens with Show Hill, Tani, it's not just the eyes

in the United States, it's the eyes in Japan, it's the eyes in the world, one was the

last time we had a baseball player that was this recognizable for people outside of our

ecosystem of crazy baseball fans like us, I can't recall when it comes to something like

this.

No, neither can I, it's been a lifetime really since a baseball player was arguably the

most famous athlete in the country and to your point Harry, it's not just because he's

famous here, in fact that has very little to do with it, it has, it's mostly because

he's famous elsewhere, if you put a picture of Aaron Judge in most places in the world

they'd be like, I don't know who that is, if you put a picture of Bryce Harper in most

places in the world, I don't know who that is, show O'Tani would have a much greater chance

of being recognized elsewhere because of where he comes from and the passion that he

inspires from sports fans all over the world, I think what's so exciting about this from

a Dodger perspective is the Dodgers have been able to turn this money on, the Dodgers

have been able to monetize this and turn this into an advantage from, I mean, keep in mind

and this is not me taking out that my baseball bat to whale away on the angels as much as

I do like to do that, it's, the angels were not able to do this, O'Tani was still O'Tani,

O'Tani won a couple MVP's, O'Tani was still the most incredible baseball player on the

planet, but they weren't able to capitalize on the O'Tani frenzy that the Dodgers clearly

have.

Now, what you said, I'm trying to think of the last time a baseball player might have been

the most famous athlete going in this country, maybe Pete Rose back in the 70s and that's

a giant maybe, and maybe the answer is it hasn't been since you go back to 10 Williams

or Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle or one of those things when baseball was still the most

popular sport in this country.

You know, here in the United States, he's probably, you know, Patrick Mahomes is probably

on the list, probably one or two other people, but that there's a baseball player near the

top or at the top is extraordinary and it's not just O'Tani, O'Tani deserves most of

the credit for all of this because he's the one doing all the work, but again, he was

here for six seasons and he was not the economic and social engine that he has become.

It was only when he came to LA and started playing with the Dodgers that he reached this

when he's become, which is one of the most popular athletes in the world.

And that was going to be a question I was going to ask you, winning.

How much has that been pouring gasoline onto the fire of Shohei O'Tani because it's

not just like, oh, look, he made it to the playoffs.

Cool.

It's no.

He's making it to the playoffs.

He's hitting a home run.

It's like a welcome to the party pal, die hard moment for him when it comes to postseason

appearances after not being able to get a single one in Anaheim and then it's winning

the World Series in his first season after being a 50-50 player the first ever in the history

of the sport.

And then it's going back the next season, going back on the mound, winning another World

Series, getting that incredible NLCS game for a moment and getting another pennant, another

championship as well in October, it's like, okay, man, you were already the most popular

player in the sport, but winning just makes it even better and puts an even bigger spotlight

on you.

And he has been up to the moment for everything that has been needed both on and off the

field because brands are just begging to get on board with Shohei O'Tani.

They're throwing money at him at the Dodgers just to be associated some way somehow.

And that's something that, like you said, how the heck were the angels not able to capitalize

on that?

I can't understand.

I'm pretty sure that right now, two years later, their understanding is like, man, we're

missing some of the money that we were getting with Shohei O'Tani, but it was never at the

level that the Dodgers have been able to take advantage of since 2024.

And they're already licking their chopsticks.

We got eight more years of this coming up and with inflation and everything that money

is going to be coming to it all our every day, as we were talking about the field naming

rights at Dodger Stadium, not even the stadium naming rights, just the field.

And it's a brand that started in Japan and is it a coincidence that it's a brand that

started in Japan and it's for a team that has not only Shohei O'Tani and Travis, that's

the thing.

You bring in Shohei, Yoshi, no, we have a moto follows, Roki Sasaki follows.

So that fan base in Japan, they're even more entrenched with the Dodgers.

They had opening day in Japan and it's just a continuation of everything and it changes

how baseball is marketed, it changes how players are valued beyond the field and it raises

a real question about the future of the sport, how much is it going to keep growing?

And hopefully, baseball is able to take advantage of it instead of being stuck in a big

negotiation with the CBA and getting a lockout.

Yeah, I don't know how baseball will take care of it.

They tend to shoot their own foot off when it comes to stuff like this.

So hopefully, they're able to avoid it this time, but the Dodgers have certainly been able

to take advantage of it.

They kind of go back to what you said that, you know, O'Tani has made it even easier for

the Dodgers to do what they've done because when there have been big moments, he steps

through the window every single time.

He takes advantage of these, like you mentioned, he has the game where he hits three home

runs and strikes out 10 guys on the mound and gives up zero runs and goes from a, hey,

what's wrong with Shohei to win in the MVP literally in one night?

Everybody's looking, he puts on the performance that everybody remembers.

Fast forward a few nights after that in the World Series and he gets on base nine times

in an 18-minute game and resets the mark of what we think is possible that every time

we're looking, he gives you a little more.

The Angels were never able to provide him the stage to go and do these things by the

time you got in July and August, his team was long gone.

You really stop paying attention, but now that he's been given an opportunity to shine

in the way he has, he's taking advantage of it.

Think of it relative to, I know we'll probably talk about this coming up in a little bit

with the WBC, but Aaron Judge is an amazing player, but every time he gets an opportunity

to kind of do something in front of the entire sports world, he misses the opportunity.

He really struggles in these moments and O'Tani is the exact opposite.

O'Tani has thrived in moments like this and made the mystery of O'Tani, the appreciation

of O'Tani, even bigger and bigger and bigger and he is one of one for a million different

reasons and his economic might is probably near the stage.

It's probably second to what he can do on the baseball field as far as doing both things,

but he just changes the economics of your team instantly with his arrival and the Dodgers

have maximized it.

No doubt about it.

And let me ask you this for you listening at home or watching us on YouTube.

Do you think Shohei O'Tani's off-field dominance is good for baseball or does it create an imbalance

where no one else can even come close?

Drop your answer in the YouTube comments or hit us up on social media at Lockdown Dodgers.

I want to hear from you.

All right, coming up on Lockdown Dodgers.

Team USA had everything, talent, depth, star power.

So how did they come up short again?

College basketball is nonstop.

Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night and there's nothing like the tournament

because you got early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts.

There's always action on the board.

And right now, Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy

into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost,

which means you can build any college hoops parlay that you want.

Rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your fancy.

You can mix your spreads with your totals, with your player props,

to match how you see the slate playing out.

Then you can apply that profit boost and instantly pump up the potential payout.

You can go big, right?

Go as bold as you want to go.

You can go a little more safe if that's more your style.

You can ride with the team that you've been following all season long.

It is your parlay, your style, now with even more upside behind it.

So head to fandall.com to get started.

That's fandall.com.

Fandall, play your game.

When work is piling up and that one open role is still empty,

you don't have to wait around.

That's where indeed sponsor jobs comes in.

Sponsor jobs puts your listing in front of people who actually fit.

The right skills, experience, and locations.

So you're not just crossing your fingers, the right candidate,

stumbles across your post.

In fact, while I've been talking, 27 hires were made on Indeed Worldwide,

according to Indeed data.

Lockdown Dodgers listeners get a $75 sponsor job credit to give your post the boost it deserves.

Go to nd.com slash podcast to get started and support the show.

Need to hire this is a job for indeed sponsor jobs.

Visit indeed.com slash podcast to get that $75 sponsor job credit terms apply.

If you've been thinking about joining the every day or club now is the time again,

you get ad free shows and access to our group chat on discord.

And if you're signed up before the NCAA tournament tips off,

you can get into our every day or club bracket poll on discord for a chance to win

Lockdown merch.

It'll be a lot of fun.

I already filled up my woman's bracket now.

I'm missing the men's, but it'll all have to do it before tomorrow when everything starts.

Right now, you can use the code march to get your first month free.

Head to lockdown dodgers dot supercast dot com or tap the link in the show notes.

Team USA had everything and still fell short.

This one is going to sting for a while for stars and striped sands because team USA didn't just

show up to the world baseball classic. They showed up with everything.

Superstars depth pitching momentum and yet Travis, they're walking away without the trophy again.

A three to two loss in the final to Venezuela and honestly,

the score almost feels misleading because the offense just never clicked when it matters most.

Yeah, that's what it was and that's I think what is the most surprising part about this.

It felt like that if there was a little bit of a weak link in the chain as far as the

American team went, it would probably be on the mound.

Once you got past the scoobles and the webs and the schemes of it all that the next wave of

guys might not have been at that level that those guys are.

No one I think was expecting this team to have a complete offensive outage and it wasn't just

last night against the Venezuelans. It was really the entire tournament.

They really didn't hit very well, which is just bananas.

When you think about it, when you think about a team that's got Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper

and Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt and just Alex Pregman just right on down the line, just

Brian Byron Buckston, Pete Crow Armstrong, just this unbelievable collection of offensive players.

They didn't scoring runs and look, baseball is one of the oldest ataches in the sport and it's true

as good pitching will beat good hitting and they ran into some really good pitching along the way,

but even with some good pitching on the other side, you really thought that they would find a way

to scrape together more runs than they did. It's a baseball game. Every game is on its own.

Every game is completely separate from what else is going on and every team that they played were

able to find the right pitching matchups at any given moment and kind of close the Americans

down. They lost by one run in the final. It's not like they embarrassed themselves or anything

like that, but they just didn't score enough runs to do it and I think that's the night that

they lost isn't a huge surprise. It's a mild surprise, but you know, it's baseball game,

anything can happen, but it's the way that they lost. It's the fact that they couldn't score that

had they lost a game 10 to 8. It's like, okay, they couldn't get enough out. They're losing games

three to two. I mean, it's just that they winning games three to two. They're winning games two to one.

They're just even the games they were winning were really close. They just never really found a way

to put a bunch of runs on the board. Yeah, and the offense just never clicked when it mattered most.

I hate to call them out, but when you're called the captain of a team and you're named Captain

America and you go five four twenty two in the tournament. That's tough for Aaron Judd. You,

I mean, I hate putting a lot of responsibility on a guy like that, but he was the face of this.

Once he committed, then you had guys like Paul Schien's committing Logan Webb committing

Bryce Harper and you ended up having the best pool of talent that team USA has ever had in the

history of the world baseball classic. And I think it just became like, hey, man, you're obligated

to win this thing because if not, then the question marks are going to start coming in from everywhere.

Or like our major leaguers are going to the big name major leaguers do. They want to participate

in this in three years because what happens if you don't win it all? We were talking about

Kika Hernandez, our everydayers know it when he brought up the situation where it felt bigger

than the world series. And it caused quite a stir. And then Aaron Judd did the same thing a couple

of days ago. And it's like, whoa, you're talking about a guy that, okay, credit to Kika is a three-time

world series champion. Aaron Judd has only been to the world series once. We know what happened on

that one, right? Dodgers fans, we remember that pop up that he dropped in center field, the

bat disappearing. He deferred the good performances to future years when it comes to clutch moments for

his team. We were like, okay, this is this time to shine. This is this time to be like all of

America. Look at me. I can do something huge flop. Heck, yesterday Bryce Harper had two hits.

Bryce Durang had one. And I feel that it might be something where in future editions,

it's like Claire's going to be like, okay, I'll go to the Olympics if I'm allowed to go the Olympics.

But I might take a little break or focus on me and my major league career staying in

spring training instead of going and having the risk of another country coming and beating us.

And I know Travis, the environment was proven as well in same way as it was pro Mexican and Houston

and pro other countries, except when you were playing Brazil and Italy. But you're playing at home.

You're playing in Miami. You're playing at Houston. You're playing at the United States of America.

And you had home field advantage and you couldn't take advantage of that. That's very rough

for this team for Mark DeRosa. Will they bring an experienced manager? It has to be in the

Olympics that they bring somebody with way more experience than the Rosa managing a team.

And maybe in the future with the WBC as well. I think the manager thing I think I agree with you.

I think you got to get somebody that's got a little bit more familiarity with the players that

they're dealing with as opposed to somebody that's on TV, you know, most of the year. I'm with you

there. The other stuff I see very if anything, I think this will encourage more people to play.

I think you saw when they lost three years ago, Team USA to Japan, more guys came in because they

wanted to come in and say, no, we're going to win this tournament. They had a better team in

2026 than they had in 23 of the American team has actually gotten better year after year after

year, win or lose. So I don't think that their inability to win this thing will keep anybody home.

I think the opposite will happen. I think you'll get even more of your star players that are

healthy enough to do it. We'll do it. The judge thing is really interesting. Like five for 22 is

bad. Don't get me wrong. It's a bad run. But five for 22 in the middle of a sea. It just it doesn't

resonate. It's just that it's in a really small window that we look at it. The problem with judge

specifically is judges had other small windows that have gone poorly, whether they're in the post

season, whether they're in the world series that judge as a as an individual. And he just gone five

for 22. And it's like, eh, whatever. You know, it's 22 at bats. It really doesn't represent what

he is. But because it's this tournament, because of what we've seen in the playoffs, I was looking at

his baseball reference page, dude, hit three 30 and hit 50 home runs last year. Like he's one of the

great offensive talents ever. Like never, never mind is right now, but he's an extraordinary offensive

player. And yet there's that little bit of man, what, why does he always seem to be something other

than the best version of himself? So I think he's got some weight on his, you know, very ample

shoulders to figure out. But I think in 2029, when the next version of this comes back, assuming that

it comes back. And I think that it probably will. I think the Americans will roll out an even better

team and so will the Dominicans and so will the Mexicans and so will the Koreans and the Japanese

and everybody else. I think the tournament gets better year after year. And you know, one of the things

I love about this tournament is the only team that's one at more than once is Japan. Like the

thing like every, the Americans of one, the Dominicans of one, the Japanese of one, now the Venezuelans

of one, it's a great tournament because everybody's got a chance to win it. It's just terrific. I

was disappointed that the team USA lost, but what a game to watch. It was, it was a real thrill.

Our guy will Smith got to start at catcher again. He went over three, unfortunately, with a strikeout,

but that also shows you the moment where this tournament happens before the regular season starts.

With players coming out pretty much cold after their off season, just a couple of weeks

of spring training and then bam, you go into this big passion tournament. I feel that that's

also going to be something where does Major League Baseball who owns the World Baseball Classic?

Are they interested on being like, okay, let's pause the regular season for a couple of weeks,

have this tournament there and have the players be at their best moment possible instead

of guys coming up just kind of cold because we saw some players get into the hot spurs,

but then others just never get Cal Rowley who last year killed it. You didn't get a single hit

in the WBC. No, no, you're right. Like again, like it is a weird time in the calendar. I don't

think there is a great place to put it. I don't know how anxious anybody would be to shut down

the season for a couple of weeks to do this. Maybe they would. Maybe it would make me,

I'm certainly open to the idea of it, but everyone else had the same amount of ramp of time as the

American team did. It's not like the American team was on a totally different schedule than everyone

else. Maybe a slightly different one, but everyone else seemed to find a way to get just enough hits.

I'm not, I don't think there were any disadvantages that everybody wasn't dealing with. I think

it's a pretty fair fight. We came up a little short and I think it makes it better. I really do.

I think that coming back three years from now, who, you know, I just genes likely

is there, healthy scoobles, likely they're healthy. Who knows? You know, I thought Nolan McLean did

a really good job stepping up in the championship game for a guy that hasn't pitched a lot in the

major leagues. He looked really good. I loved everything about it. If we get it in the middle of the

season, that's cool. I'm 100% fine with that, but there's just really no great place to put it.

There's always going to be a reason not to put it somewhere, but I'm just glad that we have it.

And more often than not, the tournaments really delivered.

Yeah, the US built an incredible roster, but international baseball doesn't care about names.

It cares about execution chemistry and timing. And once again, the US came up short. So let me ask

you at home, why do you think team USA keeps falling short in the WBC despite having the most

talented roster on paper is a pressure chemistry or are the other countries just playing better

baseball right now? Or are they more passionate about it? Let me know on YouTube or on our social

media. I want to hear what you think. Next on Lockdown Dodgers, that Hassan Kim loses grip on

the starting second baseman gig due to his performance in the WBC.

MLB opening day is almost here and you can feel it. Fresh starts, big expectations and that first

crack of the bat, whether it's a breakout rookie or division race that goes down to the wire,

there's nothing like being at the ballpark for it. The only problem getting tickets can feel

like a grind. Long queues, surprise fees, prices jumping at checkout. That's where Game Time comes in.

The Game Time app gives fancy advantage with constant innovation. It's how you unlock amazing

tickets and experiences in just a few taps. The seat views feature is huge. It's my favorite because

you can see the panoramic view from your exact seat before you buy it. It's simple to use,

plus the Game Time guarantee means you get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time

at the best price. Two taps and it's done. No stress, no hidden fees, just great seats in minutes.

That's what makes it so easy to decide last minute tickets to hit a game.

Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app,

create an account and use the code Lockdown for $20 off of your first purchase.

Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N for 20 bucks off.

Download the Game Time app today.

Today I am absolutely psyched to be talking about our sponsor, MLB The Show 26. The greatest

game in baseball is back with its newest installment. Baseball fans are going to have a hard time

pull yourselves from whatever it is you're doing and not playing this game. It is unbelievable.

I told my kids that we were getting the latest version of the show, MLB The Show 26,

and they lost their mind because they cannot wait to get their hands on all the new Dodger

players, all their new favorite players, little Kyle Tucker, a little Edwin Diaz,

all of the things that come along with it. Of course, you can live out your dream of being a

majorly player and it is unbelievably realistic and so much fun to do it in MLB The Show's

career mode. So if you're a gamer, if you are a baseball fan or you just want to enjoy America's

favorite pastime in new and exciting ways, you're going to love MLB The Show 26.

Play as your favorite team and franchise players and see if you have what it takes to win your

very own world series. Visit MLB The Dot Show slash Lockdown and use code Lockdown to unlock a pack

for use in Diamond Dynasty. Internet connection is required. It's available right now on PlayStation

5, Xbox Series S and X and Nintendo Switch and it is rated E for everyone. Have fun, man.

What we get to follow us on YouTube and across all social media at Lockdown Dodgers.

You can find Travis at Travis Rogers on X and Instagram. Meanwhile, I'm on X at Harry Ruiz.

Instagram at Harry underscore Ruiz and TikTok at Harry Ruiz underscore before going into the

comment topic. Travis, I'm pretty sure I'll be looking at social media and seeing some full

content of you with former Dodgers players very, very soon, right? Yep, can't wait to do it.

Going to get to go see my good friend, Oral Hirschizer. Again, very excited to do that. We'll

talk to him about the upcoming season. Get a chance to talk to Ramon Martinez for the second time.

Of course, nice, long, distinguished career as a Dodger and then something I actually cannot

wait to do it. I get to spend a little time with Pedro Martinez. I don't need to tell anybody

who Pedro Martinez is. I can't wait to do it. I get the chance to do it on Saturday night and

then you'll of course get to hear it here at Lockdown Dodgers shortly thereafter. Go check that out

over at Legends at it. All right. That Heson Kim just lose his edge. This one is one of the most

interesting under the radar storylines and Dodgers camp right now because just a couple of weeks ago,

Heson Kim looked like a player trending up. The swing looked better. The results were there.

Everything pointed to her guy, Caining Real Momentum. And then the World Baseball Classic happened.

A long trip all the way to Japan. Then struggling when it comes to being up at bat,

just getting one home run and that's it. That was all his production up at the plate. He struggled

to find consistency. And now even Dave Roberts has openly acknowledging what's going on. The swing

is out of sync. The timing isn't there. And at this point at camp being a week away from opening

day a week and a day for us a week for the Yankees and the Giants. That matters Travis because this

isn't happening in a vacuum. There's competition for roster spots. There's competition for starting

gigs. And Heson Kim, he might be on the outside looking in when it comes to the starting lineup

because of it. Yeah, maybe, I mean, maybe he, if you got out of sync and I understand why the trip,

you know, to Japan and back in the short, that's a, that's a lot of travel that can really kind of

mess you up a little bit. But he'll get his opportunities. Maybe it's not right out of the gate.

Maybe it's not opening day. Maybe it is, you know, and look, this is not complicated. The Kim,

the Kim question is as simple as if he hits, he will play. If he doesn't, he will not. It's it's,

it's not that hard. We know he can play defense. We know he can run. We know that he's, you know,

a very nice ball player. But the question is, can he hit enough to justify a spot in the everyday

lineup? Can he be just by a spot in a platoon sort of situation? Can he beat out a guy like

Freeland? Can he beat out a guy like Espanol? Can he beat out a guy like Miguel Rojas who can do some

of these things and get at bats ahead of those other guys? The only way the answer to any of those

questions is yes, is if he hits. Now again, this kind of goes back to what we've talked about with

a player like Dalton rushing. It's hard to hit when you don't get at bats. And when you only get

sporadic at bats and you're coming in against major league caliber pitching, it's really hard to find

your stroke in short bursts. It's very, very difficult. So we'll see. I mean, this is, this is the

life of a professional baseball player. This is the life of a guy that's trying to break in.

You got to hit when you get your chances to do it. And when a team like the Dodgers,

they're not going to wait around forever for you to figure it out. They're going to find

somebody else that can do it. Now, if you're on a team that's a little less competitive, maybe they'll

give you a little more runway to go do it. But that's not what's going on here. And I'm written

for him. I like him. I think he's a really good player. But he's got to hit. And if you don't hit,

you don't play. It's as simple as that as brutal and tough as it is. It's also that simple.

Get hits. Get in the line. If don't hit, sit down. It's that easy.

He's a good player. He's a fun player to watch on the fields. When you always have a threat

at first base or second base to steal a base, that's something that you want to watch. Or a guy

that's at second base that you know that with this speed, you might not need a double to get him

home. That's something that you enjoy watching. But when you leave camp and come back struggling,

you're not just trying to find your rhythm again. You're trying to re-earn trust because it's

different if you're Aaron Judge. And you go to Team USA and you don't look good. But you come back

to Yankee Camp and you're the best player in your team. You're the second best player in baseball.

It's different than Hassan Kim coming over and being like the only reason why you're actually

competing for the starting job at second base is because Tommy Edmund isn't healthy if not.

He'd be competing for the guy that's after Tommy Edmund. The guy that's behind Andy Pahes to be

the next in line for those gigs at second and at center field. So to Kim's credit, when he was

interviewed coming back to training camp to Dodgers Camp over at Arizona, he said that he's working

on it. He's looking at film. He's identifying the issues. He's focusing on tightening things

back up. And the Dodgers, I mean, the only thing they can do is give him time. But the thing is,

it's not unlimited time. It's not week one of spring training. It's already like a week away from

being with the real thing, being at Dodger Stadium ready to kick off the season. And we,

I think this opens up more questions. Okay, who is it actually going to be starting at second base

with a roster with a lineup as stacked as the Dodgers. We still have that question mark right now.

And it's the cool thing too. It's like, hey, let's see who shows up and shows out with the final

games of spring training. And also the freeway series and earns that spot in the opening day starting

lineup for the boys in blue. Yeah, the good news is the Dodgers don't have to have an every day

second basement to go do what they want to do. They can get there with, you know, just about,

you know, anybody that's of average major league ability, they're going to get to what they need

to do regardless. The difference is if your Hassan Kim, if you're, you know,

Freeland, if you're one of these guys, it does feel like it's the seventh game of the world series.

Every time you go up there to bat, because you know that your next at bat may be a day away.

It may be a week away, or it may be an Oklahoma city. You just have no idea when it's going to come.

And the pressure that comes along with that is very, very real. Like to your point about judge,

you know, let's pick it. Max Muncie could go through the entire spring and not get a single hit.

Max Muncie's going to start at third base. Max Muncie's going to hit in the middle of the lineup.

And Max Muncie would be given five months during the regular season to figure it out,

because there's proof of concept. Max Muncie hits. Max Muncie hits home runs. Max Muncie has hit

major league pitching for 10 years with Kim, with Freeland, with some of these other guys.

There's no proof of concept. We don't know if they can do it. And until we are certainly,

I've used this as example before. The reason Michael Conforto got six months to figure it out.

Michael Conforto hit in the major leagues for 10 years. Now, he didn't hit for the Dodgers,

but the idea of will he hit is a reasonable expectation because he has hit before. When you're a young

player, we don't know if you can or you can. So if you haven't, there's that big question mark where

a veteran player is always going to get a much longer runway. And those guys just aren't

veteran players yet. And that now goes to tell us, okay, maybe that that two, three weeks span of

him going to Japan, then to Miami, now to Arizona with the WBC or Team Korea. Is that a detriment to

him? We saw multiple players for the Dodgers and for other teams say, yeah, we appreciate being

invited to our national teams, but we're going to say it's spring training and we're going to get

ready for the regular season. And that is something that other players after seeing a case like this,

or even Aaron Judge that he got cold. He wasn't the best throughout the whole tournament. Be like,

okay, we'll stay home, not because of the competition. I think just be like, what's the money making

part of the year for you? It's April through October. You want to focus on that? And Terrick

School Bowl. He was also a great example. He went out there, had one start and said, okay,

deuces, good experience, but I'm going to go in and save my arm. School was a bad example.

That was entirely economic driven. That had nothing to do with being ready or that is entirely an

economic decision. But for Kim, it could also be an economic decision where he stays with the Dodgers

and says, I want to be the starting second baseman to start the year and leave a good impression

and for future earnings, that could also be beneficial for me right there. I was trying to make a

team. Kim's trying to earn his way in there to make like, Scoobles a made guy. You're

point about Kim, whether he should go or not, I think it's fair. I just don't think Scoobles

the right. When you're kind of on the borderline, sure, you got to make a decision whether I go

here or whether I go there. If I do poorly, does it affect me here? But Scoobles could throw

up and show up and pitch right handed for the Tigers. It'd be okay. No doubt about it. All right,

to you still believe has on Kim can lock in the gig as starting second baseman for the boys

and blue or did his WBC struggles cost him that opportunity? Let us 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 lesson of the day. And thank you for making lockdown the number one sports podcast

network. If you never miss an episode, the every day or club is built for you. Get lockdown Dodgers

ad free plus members only discord access and more heads a lot on Dodgers dot supercats dot com

to join the club. For those of you on video, we send you to the first seven 24 seven national

lockdown podcast network YouTube channel. On audio, make sure you make your second listen

lockdown fantasy baseball as you gear up for the MLBCs and Travis. Once again, this Saturday,

Legends attic, you got a stacked line up out there, uh, signing autographs, taking photos and

meeting Dodgers fans. Yep, go to Legends attic dot com. You can find out how to get tickets and

the access to the guys itself. And if you can't make it out there, we'll have a ton of great

content for you here on lockdown Dodgers, probably next week. We can't wait to hear it and see it.

All right, we appreciate you riding with us until next time. Keep it real. Keep it Dodger blue.