Dodgers Nation: Blue Heaven Podcast

On an all new, jam packed episode of the Blue Heaven Podcast: - Praise for Julio Urias - Starting pitching becoming a… strength? - We talk to our friend of the show Tim Rogers about Rich Hill’s first rehab outing - Blue Heaven’s Tweet of the week - Plus our pregame coverage from today with KTLA With the show acting an iteration of the #DNpostgame show, Brook and Clint first review the exceptional outing from Julio Urias in Milwaukee. With his 6 IP and 1 hit allowed acting as a last ditch effort to remain in the rotation. Cody Bellinger remains en fuego as he shows no signs of lingering issues with his knee, and Alex Verdugo needs to play! Clint has some fun with numbers as the guys examine the recent hot streak by the starting rotation. Rich Hill Update SDDodger Tim Rogers joins us to provide an update on Rich Hill's rehab outing for the Rancho Quakes. Plus an interview with D. Mountain himself. On social media, the fanbase spoke out about their thoughts with the team in the return of our polls segment. Plus we spent some time talking Dodgers baseball with Derrin Horton and KTLA 5 ahead of Julio's start in MIL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the Blue Heaven Podcast: - Cody's not dead - Puig's wild day - New Kershaw, who dis? - Plus statistic surprises Cody Bellinger got drilled in the knee on Monday and Dodgers nation lost it. Whether the HBP was intentional comes into question. Yasiel Puig made his return to Los Angeles, and while we're tired of talking about the break up,  but with headlines including Puig being fashionably late again, this subject couldn't not be discussed. Clayton Kershaw made his 2019 season debut and it covered the full gambit of expectations: - Of course, he served up a homerun - Of course it was to Yasiel Puig - However, he finished strong - But surprisingly mainly getting by using the slider In the final segment, Clint and Brook each review some shocking stats involving Joc Pederson, and Max Muncy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the high of week one to the lows of a sweep in Dodger Hell II (St. Louis). Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register visits Blue Heaven from the evil land of St. Louis to help try and ease the jump-ship mindset of Dodger fans. We go over some of the good, the bad, and ugly with 5 topics ranging from whether Cody Bellinger's hot start is sustainable, to will Chris Taylor ever hit again. Kershaw returns It was announced that Clayton Kershaw would be making his season debut on Monday at Dodger Stadium, on Jackie Robinson Day, against Yasiel Puig and the Reds. Must-watch TV for sure. Brook walks us through some of his favorite editorials from the passed week here our dodgersnation.com, including: - Dodgers: Alex Verdugo Talks About Why He Uses Volver Volver For Walk-Up Music - The Dodgers Are Filing A Lawsuit Over 42,000 Missing Tommy Lasorda Bobbleheads - ESPN Breaks Down Dodgers Future Success; If They Don't Make Another Move - Should The Dodgers Consider Moving Walker Buehler To The Bullpen Temporarily? Plus the latest Tweet of the Week, and Brook's thoughts on MLB Food Fest 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 50 of the Blue Heaven podcast is here. 50! Thank you so much for the support. The fellas discuss the Dodgers' weekend sweep of Colorado, which included Cody Bellinger being on another planet. But it also included the embarrassing ESPN national broadcast from Sunday night. (You know know Alanna Rizza throws a subtle Twitter jab your way, you've done a bad job, ESPN...) With the loss of Hyun-Jin Ryu to another groin injury -- however severe -- the guys take a look at all the options to take his place in the rotation. Heading into week 3 of the season, Brook is concerned that AJ Pollock (has started all 11 games) and Kenley Jansen (10.0 IP) are being overused at the get go. Clint is worried that Joc has fooled the fan base yet again while Alex Verdugo sees way too much bench time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week one of the Dodgers 2019 season has come and gone, and with the help of our friend, Dodgers stats man Rick Krajewski, we break down the hot bats, and concerns in the bullpen. Before getting into the big fun, Brook provides an update on Clayton Kershaw's rehab outing on AAA opening day in OKC. Clint digs into the positives: The long ball and the 2-out knock, and the negatives: bullpen, where art thou? Craig Kimbrel finds his way into the conversation. Brook gives us his first hot take for the season, and Clint rehashes an old hot take of his regarding manager Dave Robers that still has him concerned. We bring our first edition of a new segment "Tweet of the Week", plus Unpopular Opinions: Dodger Stadium edition which feature a kid being bullied into throwing a game homerun ball back onto the field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dodgers 2019 season is here and they came out with a BANG! Los Dongers were in full swing on opening day as Brook mostly sort of called his shot. Clint is proud of Austin Barnes and his multi-hit effort. The 25th man turned out to be Brock Stewart, and the guys were a little suspect from the get go. Then he allowed 3 runs in the 9th inning. Our new correspondent Tamara hit the streets of LA to ask fans an important question. Friend of the show SDDodger Tim stopped by DNHQ 2 to talk about the vibe at Dodger Stadium for opening day. Plus, we re-air our KTLA piece from the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clint and Brook take a shot at calling the 25th man on the roster. Plus, starting rotation concerns after losing Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill to the Injured List to start the season. Plus season predictions on Wins, HR leader, the Wins leader, and one bold prediction. And with MLB running wild with player extensions, we wonder who on the Dodgers should be extended sooner rather than later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dodgers organist and musical director Dieter Ruehle join us this week in Blue Heaven to catch up and chat about the upcoming season! "Money" Mike Trout went out and got PAID, so the guys discuss the contract and how it looks for him, baseball, and the Dodgers plans for future offseasons. Living in the now, we look at some poll results grading the Dodgers' most recent offseason. The results were quite a surprise. We enjoy some in-game updates from Walker Buehler's first start of the Cactus League season -- he touched 99mph. Buehler and rotation mate Clayton Kershaw are ruled out for Opening Day starts, so the guys discuss their next options up. Plus, Clint is concerned about Max Muncy, Dieter loves himself some Madonna, and Brook apparently cannot cook at all. And a final call for some Opening Day homerun predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in Blue Heaven, we have some positive updates on Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager, but acknowledge that time is running out for Opening Day starts for both of them. In other non Kershaw/Seager talk, Kiké Hernandez is a man en fuego, Alex Verdugo deserves a real shot at a starting gig, and the Dodgers are putting the kid gloves back on when it comes to Julio Urias. Brook and Clint reminisce with the live stream about their favorite Dodger games of all time, and their favorite Dodgers of all time. MLB outdoes themselves with really terrible rule changes they're test driving in the Independent Atlantic League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blue Heaven welcomes back the original friend of the show, we call him "The gHoat" -- or the "greatest Hairston of all time" -- Mr. Jerry Hairston Jr! Before chatting with J Hair, Brook and Clint discuss some highlights of the recent Dodgers Nation trip to Arizona for spring training. With Jerry, the discussion opens with concerns with Clayton Kershaw and his closing window for opening day. Jerry pulls from his own experience to let us know where Corey Seager could be at this point in time. Plus we ask about his thoughts on Russell Martin, and the Bryce Harper contract. In the second half of the show, Baseball America is high on the Dodgers, and super low on the D-backs. Brook is really high on Stetson Allie. And Dustin May is a beast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryce Harper rumors rocked Dodgers Nation this week, and the Blue Heaven Boys™ got it covered from all angles. Bryce Harper is guaranteed to be a Dodger by the end of the week... unless he isn't. Clint and Brook discuss the fallout of both signing and not signing the free agent outfielder. Clayton Kershaw is struggling with shoulder issues early in camp leading Clint to ask about the possibility of evoking the lemon law. Talking down off the ledge, the guys discuss the bountiful depth the Dodgers have in the rotation. Future "FOTS" DJ Peters early showing in the Cactus League season has the guys impressed, plus Yimi Garcia is making a run at a bullpen spot for 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the podcast Machado is a Padre, Puig made some questionable statements to Cincinnati media, and baseball could be heading toward a work stoppage. But first we remember Don Newcombe, a Dodger legend we lost ahead of episode 42 of the podcast. Spring training is a week old, and Manny Machado "hustled" to the contract finish line before Bryce Harper. Brook and Clint discuss the agreed upon 10-year, $300M deal with the Padres, and how Corey Seager looking healthy makes it ok to let him go. Next, we welcome DN Editorial lead Tim Rogers on to the show to discuss some misconceptions with free agency, and how MLB owners really have no reason to want to fix a broken system that is headed toward a work stoppage in 2022. In the second half of the show, our live audience wants to know what's going on with Andrew Toles after he didn't report to camp. Yasiel Puig made us question his comment to the Dodgers in his last few seasons after he made some questionable comments regarding his contract status. Clint suggests that the Dodgers protected Puig more than we all realized, and that everyone conveniently swept a lot under the rug when it came to his time in blue. Clayton Kershaw was named to make his ninth straight opening day start for the Dodgers, but Brook wonders if that is the right call. Plus Clint understands the latest changes that Cody Bellinger is trying with his swing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your one-stop Dodgers podcast shop for spring training and season previews and projections! Pitchers and catchers have reported and Blue Heaven is joined by Dodgers stats man -- "The Wiz" -- Rick Krajewski! Rick, along with Clint and Brook (welcome back!) look into stats on stats on stats for the upcoming season. Leading off, the question is asked, how can Manny Machado and Bryce Harper still be free agents? Of course, the big news since the last episode is that the Marlins finally traded all-star catcher JT Realmuto. While the Dodgers were mentioned as a landing spot all offseason, he was ultimately traded to the Phillies for a less than inspiring return. The question here is, did the Dodgers whiff, or was it the right call to hold on to 3 top prospects? With the chatter leaning toward catcher, we wonder if Russell Martin and Austin Barnes can be enough behind the dish in 2019. Our live stream audience wanted to know if AJ Pollock is enough, or if the team needed one more big bat. Act II Later in the show, Clint says that MLB clearly fixed its biggest problem when it changed the "disabled list" to the "injured list". Long live the DL! There's more on Max Muncy, and we play an audience participation on over/under PECOTA projections (with a real life baseball statistician!) This is a fun episode and undoubtedly something to look back on and compare at the end of the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It feels like it's been raining in LA for a month, but that wont stop this Dodgers podcast! The Lakers have fallen on hard times, and face trade decisions. The Rams were a no-show to the first ever Super Bore. Our producer Gary sees too many similarities between those Los Angeles teams and the Dodgers. Plus, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper remain unsigned days before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Later in the show, joined by Clint Evans, we wonder if Manny could somehow make his way back to Los Angeles to handle some unfinished business. Recent news has us discussing whether or not the Dodgers were out on Harper because they could be angling to make a run at Nolan Arenado next season. Additionally, the chat with the audience bounces between: - How much Max Muncy will we see in spring training? - When/if Russell Martin or Austin Barnes hit the DL, who could step in? - Breakfast live stream plans while at spring training. - The DH in the NL - Corey Seager to 3B? And much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stan Kasten didn't make any new friends after his comments at Dodgers fan Fest last weekend... but perhaps he wasn't that far off? Thank you to our sponsor at the Arizona board of tourism! Go to visitarizona.com/springtraining for more! While everyone in Dodgers Nation is still set on Bryce Harper as the only suitable prize for the off-season, the team has still handed out the highest priced contract to a free agent player in AJ Pollock. Moreover, they've also handed out one of highest contracts to a pitcher (Joe Kelly) this off-season. With that said, Clint believes that front office has done well to stay true to their word from the start -- spend early, and build the team from the minor leagues while supplementing with quality veterans. Fan Fest In the next segment, Clint relieves his nightmare at Fan Fest, while Brook regales us with his media coverage. Chats with Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts painted a picture of a determined bunch heading into the new season. We welcome Clint Evans (@DiamondHoggers) to chat about the Dodgers' plan for Cody Bellinger, and wonder what could be next for Alex Verdugo. Dave Roberts also lays out a plan for second base, and Andrew Friedman's comments sparked concern toward Corey Seager's status. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices