Dodgers Postseason: Terry Francona on Facing Ohtani & Reds Wild Card Rotation Plan

Dodgers Postseason: Terry Francona on Facing Ohtani & Reds Wild Card Rotation Plan

Hey Tito, do you know how you want to go forward with uh the starting pitching? Say that again. How you do you know how you want to go forward with the starting pitching beyond tomorrow? Yeah. Would you like to elaborate? Yeah. Yeah, we can. There’s no reason not to. Um Latell is on his day. Oh, tomorrow you said no after tomorrow. After tomorrow, man, got the bad ears. Um, Latell’s on his day and then Abbott will be on his day if there’s a game three. Um, we’ll put Lollo in the bullpen. And the reason being is not because we don’t want to start him because actually a really good starter. Um, but because of what our record was going into yesterday, you know, we we we pitched him, so we want to be really cognizant of him and how much we can ask of him. So, he’ll be in the bullpen. Questions, Mark? Obviously, you don’t have to have your roster in till tomorrow morning, but are you pretty close to having it figured out what you want and who’s going to make it and who’s not? Yeah, we we’ve talked to I think we’ve talked to everybody, so we’re we’re we’re good to go. Third round. You’ve even talked about how you see a lot of bullpen games in the playoffs. I’m curious what went into the decision to start Latell as opposed to making game two a bullpen day. Well, it’s Latell’s day and there’s no mandatory limit on how much he has to pitch. Any questions for Tito? Mark, you got you guys have been playing some of your hottest baseball these last couple of weeks. How much of that momentum is is big in the postseason from your experience as far as catching that wave and kind of riding? I’ve been on both sides. You feel like you’re ready to just go get them and you look up and you’re down 03 before you can even take a breath. It it’s is this is a whole new season and it’s funny because even in a short series you’ll see most of the you know you’ll have ups and downs and they just happen quicker. So you know there’s again you try to have urgency without panic sometimes that’s a hard one to you know traverse. Get that word in there too. I got that cross word puzzle today. Thank you. I appreciate that. Go back. I looked it up, so that’s all I got. It a lot of um excitement for everyone over the last couple days, but after everything Ellie has battled through this season. What’s it been like seeing him smiling, seeing him hitting well, and seeing him have this experience? I mean, did you see him in that clubhouse yesterday? That was pure joy. That’s to me that was like like sitting back watching them do that. That’s the best because it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what language you speak, what color you, it doesn’t matter if you have our uniform on. And that that that to me is what this is. It makes everything worthwhile. One row behind in the Tony, what was that from Brent Sudter in the clubhouse yesterday? We’re still trying to figure out Sudtor’s dance. Do you have any reaction to that? I I I asked him today. I said, “I’ve got you.” Normally this time of year, you get a lot of texts. I believe I’ve got more texts about him dancing than I have about like, “Hey, way to go. He is unbelievable.” Like he he is more than worth his weight and what he does in that clubhouse. It’s real. You know, sometimes people in the media, you see stuff and you think it’s real. like before a game, he’ll walk down through the dugout. He touches everybody, myself included, and he’s got something for everybody. And you never see guys roll their eyes. It’s like it’s welcome all the time. He’s real. He’s phenomenal. I think he’s a phenomenon. Just with Espie, he’s been there when you’ve needed him. What has he meant with Ellie and Noelve stepping into the spotlight like they have? I mean, when we got you, we made the trades at the deadline. He lost significant playing time and he never, you know, when I told him, he he goes, “I get it.” And he’s been a solid teammate the whole way and that’s appreciated because it doesn’t always work that way. And he’s been really good. Really good. Other questions? Doug, you know, congratulations for for starters. Thanks, Doug. I’m gonna ask a question. I asked John Snider last week uh to compare your spring training speech that I know you work so hard on to the speech you gave when you clinch. Like, give me the the breakdown between I spend a lot of time on that one of spring training because I care about it so much. Um the one yesterday was I I I I didn’t I that was just emotion. It was just emotion. Um I I would be too nervous to try to make something up ahead of time when I wasn’t sure. You know, when you you know, if somebody hits a grand slam for the Mets, you can throw that speech away. So, I just just it’s just raw emotion because that’s probably what the moment calls for. Everybody’s, you know, we all kind of blacked out anyway, so not sure they’re going to remember. Yes. So, you you take the moment to celebrate in the clubhouse yesterday. What are kind of the next couple hours like for you getting everything in order and kind of making playoff decisions? It’s kind of funny because I I mean, as much as I love what we did out there after about 10 minutes, I’m like, “Okay, I’m ready to go.” You know, first of all, you It’s cold. And when you don’t have hair, it’s really cold. Like, it’s actually awful. Um, but I’ll go I went in my office after I sat in the side for a while and watched everybody jump around and got a big kick out of that. I smoked a cigar and then I went in my office and just kind of just kind of sat there and enjoyed it. And then, you know, Brad and Nick came in and we started talking about, okay, when we get on the bus, we get on the plane, here’s what we’re going to and it’s like, what’s next? Um, what’s, you know, and that’s so that’s what we did. That’s kind of how I always have been. Yes, Pat. Tito, we’ve talked to you a lot about how you experience uh a game in game and the nerves and all that and uh genuine curiosity. Does that get ratcheted up in the postseason at all? Weirdly enough, not usually. I usually because the preparation is so that I actually get kind of relaxed and enjoy it. At least that’s the way it’s been. And again, you never know what you know, I’m sure the way the games played dictates some of that, but in the past, I’ve actually really been able to enjoy it. And just because I know once our preparation is ready, you know, that doesn’t ensure anything, but it makes gives me a little bit of a comfort level. standing back left. I I I want to ask you about Shi Otani. Uh what’s been the key to facing him? I can’t tell you that. You’ll go tell him. You know, you don’t want to let him get those arms extended because you make a mistake and it goes a long way. A long way. And he can beat you with his legs. He can beat you with his arm. He’s one of the very best. He’s he’s he’s a generational player. Other questions? Tito, still uh we’ll get you to the microphone. Austin pretty good. Um I want to wait, you know, I want to wait and see how he gets through this workout tonight and and talk to him a little bit too. You know, with a lefty pitching, he’s a perfect guy to play left field, but I want to be fair to him and I want to make sure he’s okay. So, go check on him here in a few minutes. Anything else for Tito? Yes, Trent. Yesterday, Connor Phillips threw for the third straight day um after kind of a rough outing the night before. Was that just a like a a check or um it was twofold? One, we were kind of getting a little short there and Hunter was probably next. I really didn’t want to do that for obvious reasons. And I thought getting him back out there had a chance to really help him after the day before and he threw the ball really well cuz this kid has come so far and I don’t want I didn’t want one game to get in the way at all and it didn’t look like it did. That was really good. Anything else for Tito? All right, Tito, thank you so much. Did I miss you? Nothing. Oh, there we go. Are you kidding me? I saw Will. Feel like you’re looking in the mirror, huh? How’s your physique compared to him? Not good. Not good. That’s That’s ridiculous. Yeah, I know. I know. He should be good. Try playing this body.

Terry Francona spoke about how the Reds will line up their Wild Card rotation against the Dodgers and shared his thoughts on facing Shohei Ohtani.

Francona detailed the decision to start Zack Littell in Game 2, why Lodolfo will move into the bullpen, and how momentum can shift quickly in October. He also reflected on leadership in the clubhouse, players stepping up, and his respect for Ohtani as a true generational player.

What do you think of the Reds’ chances against the Dodgers in this Wild Card matchup? Share your thoughts in the comments ⬇️

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